Chapter Twenty-One:
Run This City

A/n: An appropriate title that, coincidentally, is also a song lyric in the song I'm using in this chapter. Both work wonderfully. x3 I've been planning on using this song for as long as I've planned for Shawn to be a traitor. I'm beyond pleased that you guys weren't like "OMG SHAWN'S A TRAIOR WUT?" in the last chapter, because... I tried to drop many, many hints. x3 Thank you for your reviews, they keep me going! You know what I'd like, though? More. -hinthintnudgenudge- Alright, onto the chapter.

Disclaimer - I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Just my OCs and the plot.

'If I hear you saying something about me,

To the left I've got my friends and they're ready to swing,

To the back I've got my army they're as big as the sea

And it looks like yours is just ready to leave!'

-"Run This City" by Jet Lag Gemini

"I love you, Katalin. I love you," growled Katalin, her voice dripping with poison as she jumped away from Shawn and his horde of Heartless. She raised Beautiful Disaster in order to block a Shadow's claws. "I can't believe I believed your lies."

"Again," agreed Shawn with a bitter and amused smile. "But, really, Kat. Do you want to waste your time with me? There's other stuff to be done."

Katalin stared at him with a look that far exceeded hate, and her grip tightened painfully on her keyblade as he used her nickname in mockery. "What are you talking about?" Her voice was harsh but still managed to sound hesitant.

Shawn blinked and tilted his head to the side, still smiling. "Did you think that I revealed to you who I am without a real reason? Don't you realize why I would have had you meet me here?" Her eyes went wide with horror, and he couldn't hinder the laughter that emitted from his throat. "A fool. A beautiful one, but a fool nonetheless."

"You sound like Dempsey. I don't think I can trust you to describe who I am," replied Katalin in a snarl. "Everything you ever told me. Everything you ever did for me... They were all lies?" It was more a statement than a question, but it was still something she needed an answer to. She needed the icing on the cake.

Knowing that it would fuel her anger to a whole new level, Shawn nodded. "Yep."

Uttering a wordless cry, Katalin rushed at him, knocking away Shadows that rose before her, and raked the lethal thorns that made up her keyblade's teeth against any part of him she could reach. The teeth sliced up his stomach at stopped over his chest, where his heart was. The teeth sank themselves into the skin.

XxxxxX

Sora awoke to a peculiar noise, one that he couldn't quite place at first. Then, he heard it again and knew instantly what it was. It was the sound of something breaking. He quickly jumped out of bed, haphazardly dressed himself with whatever his fingers touched first, and slowly exited his room. When he glanced down the hall, he found that Katalin's door was open, and that a few people were also poking their heads out of their rooms. Naminé, Kairi, and Yuna looked hesitant. Rikku, however, had an earnest gleam in her eyes. Sora opened his mouth to say something -- probably order her to stay where she was -- when Rikku set off at a dead run down the hall.

She was already dressed and ready with her weapons in her hands. Paine, who had also glanced outside of her bedroom, shook her head somewhat before following after the Al Bhed girl. Sora stepped out of his room and joined the other three girls further up the hallway. "What should we do, Sora?" whispered Kairi fearfully. Naminé patiently awaited his orders, her keyblade already in hand. Yuna was more or less one to lead, but she knew that they would be better off following Sora's plans, as he was more familiar about most things than was she.

"I guess we head downstairs and let Rikku and Paine act as bait," answered Sora.

"What about me?" another voice yawned as Riku stepped out of his room. He was still dressed in his jeans and his vest, leading Sora to believe that Riku had fallen asleep directly following dinner.

"For goodness sakes, girl!" a voice hollered from downstairs following what Yuna knew to be Rikku's battle cry. "What the hell was that for?"

Naminé smiled wryly as Obsolete Nonexistence disappeared from her hand. "Well, I guess that we have nothing to worry about after all." Disappointed at being awoken so early in the morning but having to quench their curiosity, the group made their way downstairs.

Cid was sitting on a pile of Merlin's books, and Rikku was moving back and forth in front of him, her green eyes wide, while Paine watched them both with an exasperated expression. When Sora and the others arrived downstairs, Paine said, "We found the intruder."

"Intruder?" repeated Cid incredulously. His hair still held the strawberry tinge, and the heart was still below his eye. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rikku bent over Cid and jabbed her finger into his chest. "What were you making so much noise down here for, huh?" she demanded in what she thought was a dangerous voice, but what the others thought was a happy chirp.

"Someone left the door open, and when I came down here, Heartless were gettin' in!" answered Cid as he stood up, succeeding in banging his head into Rikku's. She fell back a few steps, and Cid finally succeeded in standing. "I got 'em all to get away, but some stuff got knocked over."

"Suuure!" answered Rikku with a suspicious glance. "Then, how did the door get open exactly?"

Paine jabbed Rikku in the arm with her elbow. "Rikku, stop playing detective," she ordered. Rikku flashed a grin before falling quiet.

"How the hell am I suppose' to know?!" growled Cid. "Listen here, blondie--"

"Rikku," reminded the Al Bhed in a sing-song chirp.

"I told Merlin having too many people under the same roof would be a bad, bad idea..." grunted Cid.

Sora stepped in before either of the blonds could hurt the other. Well, hurt the other anymore. "That is a good question, though. Who would have left the door open?"

"Someone careless," replied Riku as he tried to rub the sleep out of his eye.

Merlin abruptly burst through the front door, startling everyone out of their skin. "There are Heartless everywhere! We must do something!"

Identical looks of horror appeared on everyone's faces. "Okay..." Kairi could almost hear the wheels turning in Sora's head as he fell quiet. "Cid, go wake up the others. We need to devise a plan."

"Maybe Maleficent's finally coming for us," suggested Naminé quietly.

Way to Dawn appeared in Riku's outstretched hand. "Then, she'll be pretty sorry when we beat her back into whatever hole she crawled out of it." They returned to their rooms to finish getting dressed (especially in Sora's case, whose clothes were mismatched and inside-out) and grab all of the supplies they would need. Like potions. Lots, and lots of potions.

When they met back downstairs, Cid was waiting for them with Aerith, Cloud, Yuffie, Leon, and Tifa. "Well, I got everyone up."

"Where's Katalin? And Shawn?" asked Kairi. The minute the words left her mouth, she knew that she didn't want to hear the answer.

Yuffie held up a piece of yellow paper; she'd obviously been the one to go inside Katalin's room. "At the Postern," she replied, looking earnest. "In the meantime, what should--?"

Leon cut her off. "We fight back the Heartless. We're all going to have to split up. I have a feeling the keyhole should be checked on, too."

XxxxxX

"It begins," remarked a voice. Darcie forced her eyes open as more voices joined the first. It appeared that a few Organization members were having a discussion. Why they had to have a discussion in the dungeon in the early morning when she was trying to sleep, she didn't know. Then again, she realized that she had no clue at what time she had fallen asleep, or when Axel had left. "The Radiant Garden will soon be ours."Darcie rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she sat upright and threw the covers off of her. Axel had gone to the Radiant Garden. Everyone else was in the Radiant Garden. She jumped out of bed and went to the bars of her cell before demanding, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, well look who's up!" A bittersweet voice chirped, making Darcie want to gag. Larxene bounded into her sight, with a wide smile on her lips. "How was your sleep, Princess?"

"It would have been better if your vomit-worthy voice hadn't woken me up," replied Darcie smoothly. Larxene's jade eyes flashed dangerously, and she reached into her pockets for, Darcie guessed, her knives. She stopped the movement as a hand fell on her shoulder; Darcie inwardly groaned as Marluxia appeared behind the Nymph.

"Someone's rather pleasant this morning," noticed Marluxia with the hungry, creepy smile of his on his lips.

Darcie shrugged lightly. "I could say the same about you. Now, answer me. What about the Radiant Garden?"

Marluxia shrugged, as if it were a particularly trivial matter. "We're about to get two more princesses. After that, Dempsey only needs to show Maleficent what a fool she truly is, and she will hand over the rest. Then, we will track down the final one."

"And we're needed at this moment, I'm sure," noticed Vexen in his hiss of a voice. "Let us do what needs to be done."

With an eyebrow raised, Larxene observed, "I never expected to hear those words out of your mouth, Vexen."

XxxxxX

Infuriated that Katalin had managed to get a hit on him -- a deep gash, nonetheless -- Shawn pushed her back with both hands on his keyblade. He knocked her back until she was against part of the golden railing, sitting on it somewhat as she tried to angle her body away from his. "What are you so mad at me for?" hissed Katalin as she grasped the railing with one hand while she tried to separate her body from Shawn's with Beautiful Disaster.

Shawn appeared surprised by her question. The surprise quickly gave way to something of disappointment, and anger. "For stealing my heart," he answered before pushing her with his free hand and knocking her back with Eye of Truth.

Katalin's hand released the railing as he pushed her shoulder, and she was too surprised to properly react. She didn't scream, though she grunted as she hit her head on the brick wall on her way down. Shawn swallowed hard as he watched her body fade into the mist far below the Castle. "Dempsey's not going to be very happy with me," he realized.

"Does it matter so long as you're pleased with yourself?" wondered an indifferent, yet cold voice that Shawn could place almost immediately. He turned around to find Saïx with his arms folded and an icy blue eyebrow raised.

"Are you going to tell him?" asked Shawn.

Saïx's lips lifted to reveal his pearly white teeth. "No need. Now, we have things to accomplish. Come with me." A portal appeared beside him without him so much as lifting a hand. With one last glance at the depths below the Castle, Shawn followed Saïx into the portal. His heart was beating so quickly that he was sure it would burst out of his chest.

Which reminded him of something. "Cure," muttered Shawn as he pointed his keyblade, a little uncomfortably, at himself. He suddenly found himself he'd had Sora teach him more than the first-level spells before he had... Come out about his betrayal. Then again, with Katalin... He could probably still go back to them, act as if nothing had happened.

Unless they found that note. Then, they would know he had been responsible in some way, shape, or form. "Thinking hard?" Saïx's voice cut through Shawn's thoughts, and the boy immediately stuttered out an incoherent answer out of reflexes. "I hope you are not considering turning back, Shawn. You have already sealed the deal. You know what your heart is, now. You don't belong with them." Shawn noticed Saïx's voice become a little colder at the word 'heart.'

"Of course not," he mumbled. "I would never betray Dempsey; he's like a father to me."

XxxxxX

When Yuna, Rikku, Paine, and Naminé arrived at the Bailey, they couldn't stifle the gasps that escaped their lips. Well, Paine could, for the most part. Yuna, Rikku, and Paine had seen the damage once before, but they had assumed it to look excessive only because of their small stature at the time. From one of the broken windows, they could see millions of Heartless and Nobodies marching side by side through the Great Maw, working their way up the Ravine Trial. "Well, it's a good thing we've actually got weapons this time," chirped Rikku optimistically as she slashed away a Silver Rock that had been whizzing around her head."I find myself wishing that I could still Summon," admitted Yuna as she pulled the twin pistols out of the holsters at her side.

Obsolete Nonexistence flashed into Naminé's hand. "We may be only four people, but the others will join us soon. Let's do what we can, okay?" She kept her voice forcibly optimistic. The one thing she didn't understand, being a Nobody born of Kairi and, technically, Sora was how she managed to be more pessimistic than either of them combined could be.

Maybe it had been all of her time being used by people, she thought with a bitter smile before blocking a Neoshadow's claws from scratching her face. "Yuna!" a voice, static-sounding at first, rang through the area, startling Naminé and Yuna, but no one else.

Yuna fished a walkie-talkie out of her pocket after firing a few rounds at a Rapid Thruster that had been whizzing around Rikku's head and attacking her too fast for her to counter. "Yes, Brother?" she called into it.

"Do you need us? Are you hurt?!" demanded the voice, which sounded almost German. Paine was wearing an amused smile, while Yuna wore a confused one. Rikku, however, smacked her forehead and snatched the walkie-talkie out of her cousin's grasp.

"Ev oui'na ycgehk ev fa haat oui du tecdnyld ic, drah hu," growled Rikku in a foreign tongue that Naminé realized must have been Al Bhed.

"Rikku!" shouted Brother with surprise. "Tu hud nieh so lryhlac fedr Oihy!"

Rikku rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about? Fryd lryhlac? Cra'c uin luiceh!"

The following cry that emitted from Brother's side sounded like a wounded animal being tortured. Naminé raised her eyebrows, while Yuna asked, "Everything alright?"

"Wonderful," murmured Rikku before stuffing the handheld communicator into a bag hanging at her waist. "Just let me hold onto this, 'kay?"

XxxxxX

When Sora, Riku, and Kairi arrived at the Postern some time later, they noticed immediate signs of a scuffle. Someone had tried to land a few fire or thunder spells on the other, and the ground had become scorched black from it. There was mud from someone else's shoes going backward, towards the stone wall. It looked like someone else had pushed that person. But, there was no trace of either Shawn or Katalin. "This can't be good," murmured Kairi as she dared to peer over the edge of the wall, and into the foggy depths. "Did someone fall?"

"If it's Shawn, then I might be tempted to sing some sort of praise," remarked Riku with narrowed eyes. "But I don't think Katalin would have been able to push him, let alone over the edge. Unless he was caught by surprise."

Kairi, always optimistic, said, "Maybe Katalin went inside to find the keyhole. She might have a rough idea of how to get to it, since we told her everything."

"We told her that a while ago," pointed out Riku. "And I'm not sure that even we know how to get into the main part of the Castle."

Sora took a few steps backwards and turned around to look up at the Castle. The Restoration Committee sure had gotten the job done; the large clock at the top of the building had been restored, and it looked overall more stable. He noticed the entrance and knew there had to be a way to get in there. But how...? His eyes fell upon it, and Sora suddenly found himself how he had been missing it. Branching off of the path that had led them to the Castle in the first place was a staircase that had been situated so that it separated the cliff wall somewhat.

Now how had they managed to miss that? "I found the entrance; let's go," announced Sora.

Kairi bit her lip. "But, Katalin... Shawn..."

"Forget about Shawn, Kai," replied Sora, a bit more sharply than he had intended. She winced at his tone, and he gently grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Trust me, please. If Katalin isn't here when we get back, then--"

"I'll go look in the Corridors," offered Riku. "It's where she would have gone first if she missed the staircase, too."

Sora and Kairi regarded him with unsure looks in their eyes. "Riku, are you sure...? There might be a lot of Heartless," murmured Kairi, obviously worried.

Riku flashed her a grin and nodded. "Don't worry about me. The two of you just try not to get lost, alright?" Sora nodded in response, his lips pressed in a line, and Kairi looked like she was torn. Without giving either of them the chance to object, Riku took off towards the stairs that descended down into the secret corridors. "You would think they would want this staircase to be more secretive than the one into the main part of the Castle."

XxxxxX

Katalin had recalled that Sora and Riku had mentioned there being a waterway beneath the Castle but, as she treaded the pool of water around the building, she couldn't find it. In fact, all she could see was the Castle getting farther and farther as she drifted through the water, not really fighting against it because she was too tired to do it. She decided to add yet another person to her hit list. Shawn had bumped Dempsey down to the number two spot. Why? Because he had sold them out.

She had thought he was her friend, among other things, and she had counted on him. Fat lot of good that had done her. Katalin idly beat down the Search Ghosts that were bobbing up to the surface and flying around her head, only succeeding in making her body move through the water faster. She was more than surprised when she was abruptly sucked into a small hole in the wall. Her claustrophobia took over, but she was out so fast that she did not have a panic attack.

The hole spit her out into something of a small pond near a couple of houses. Katalin climbed onto the cemented ground, soaking wet for the first time in a few days. "Help! Please!" a little girl with curly brown hair begged of her once she noticed Beautiful Disaster. She was standing back to back with a brunet boy she assumed to be his brother with a ring of Heartless surrounding them.

Katalin rushed forward to assist the children, but she was cut off as another figure stepped out between the two houses and destroyed the Heartless with his blade. "Run along, now, before more come," the man ordered. The children squealed their gratitude before rushing inside of their house. As he turned to face Katalin, his arm was sliced by the teeth of Beautiful Disaster. "Ah, is that my thanks for helping you out?"

"Who said I needed to be helped out?" she growled, jumping back in order to avoid a strike from his falchion.

Dempsey's eyes settled on her, and he remarked, "You looked refreshed. Have a nice swim?"

"You brainwashed Shawn!" accused Katalin without really believing her words.

He chuckled, seeing through her transparent words. "You just really refuse to believe that someone close to you has wronged you."

"That's not true," replied Katalin, her voice a little softer. "I can admit to that; my own father did that, if I remember correctly."

"Oh, whoa is you, Katalin," growled Dempsey. "I appeared to you so that I might offer you an ultimatum."

Katalin's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "What's that? 'Join my side, or die!'?"

Dempsey chuckled. "While I appreciate your humor, that is not what I had in mind. Not exactly, at least," he added with a coy smile that she couldn't see. "I will bring back those of your loved ones that you so please, and I will even pull the Heartless and Nobodies out of the Radiant Gardens.""Nobodies?" choked Katalin. In order to answer her question, a Dusk appeared above her and struck her to the ground. She found herself on her hands and knees before Dempsey.

"Ah, no. You do not have to bow to me in exchange. Well, not yet," he corrected himself once again. "Tell me. Who is it you want back?"

Katalin glared up at him as the Dusk danced cartwheels around her. She was afraid to move for fear that it would attack her again. "Darcie, all the Princesses of Heart--"

"I meant who are the dead that you want me to revive?" repeated Dempsey with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Besides, I don't have the Princesses of Heart; just Darcie."

"Then, tell me where she is!" demanded Katalin as she jumped to her feet. The Dusk replied to her abrupt movement by kicking her back down.

"Now, now, patience, my dear," murmured Dempsey in what he thought to be a soothing tone. "I will revive your friends and family members. Who do you want back?"

Katalin scowled. "I want the ones that die without a reason," she answered in a snarl.

"Now, Katalin. Wouldn't you agree that all of the dead are taken from us unfairly? That they die without a true reason? I would know, of course. I lost my parents at a young age."

A cruel smile spread across Katalin's face as she sat herself up somewhat. "No wonder you're so fucked up." He responded by delivering a swift kick to her stomach with his steel-toed boots. She cried out in pain and fell back to the pavement.

"Have some respect!" His eyes flashed dangerously for a moment before he calmed down. Then, he settled his boot on her stomach and pressed down a little. "Now, give me the answer. Perhaps your father. Did he wrong you by dying? Would you like to see him again?"

Katalin pushed, or at least made an attempt, Dempsey off of her stomach. "No!" she cried harshly, surprising herself and himself enough to make Dempsey trip away from her. "I don't want to see him again. Auron and Tidus. I know you know who they are, right? Because you keep close fucking tabs on me, after all."

"Not your brother? Any family member at all?" inquired Dempsey softly.

Her lip curled up unpleasantly. "Leave my family out of this, alright? They died because their time had come. Or, at least, something like that," she amended softly. "Anyway, Auron was unfairly murdered because Yunalesca was a dumb bitch, and he only wanted to avenge his friends. Tidus lost his... existence after he made a great life for himself, with great friends. I want you to make my friends happy and bring those two back."

A smile slowly appeared on Dempsey's face, but she couldn't see it in the depths of his hood. "One of those is not possible, I'm afraid. But, the other..." He snapped. "There you go. Problem solved. And he's here, now. Now, you will do something for me."

Katalin shook her head and tumbled away from him as she pushed herself off of the ground. "No, I won't. And, you... There's something..." She shook her head again.

Dempsey reached out. "Katalin, if you keep that up, you will fall."

"Good," she replied before leaning herself over the stone wall and hurling into the depths of the world. Her fall was broken quite early as she landed on a familiar blue, black, and gray-stoned structure. The fall, despite its shortness, hurt her somewhat, but she quickly recovered as Dempsey's face appeared over the ledge above. A stray piece of hair, black as midnight, escaped his hood.

Katalin heard Rikku, Yuna, Paine, and Naminé's shouts and cries as, she thought, they fought beneath her. She quickly pushed herself up and ran across the roof of the Bailey, looking for a way in. "Something's up there. Attack it, kill it, Paine!" she heard Rikku squeal.

There was a moment of silence, then the roofing below Katalin's feet crumbled as a Flare spell made short work of the bricks. Yuna, Naminé, Rikku, and Paine jumped back as Katalin fell, her only landing the broken bits of brick. Katalin wasn't able to breathe for a minute, but she was pleased when Naminé exclaimed her name and no one attacked her. Paine yanked her to her feet. Katalin waited for her eyes to settle back in her head before offering a thank you to the warrior. "That beat the hell out of my plan. Which reminds me that we should get a move on."

Naminé stared at her with confusion. "What's going on? Yuffie found a note from Shawn to you. It said you would be at the Postern..."

"I was, for a while. Then, he very kindly slapped some sense into me before pushing me over the railing of the Castle," murmured Katalin, not bothering to hide the hurt and anger in her voice. "Then, I met up with Dempsey. He either revived Auron or Tidus for me," she added to Yuna and Rikku, "and he wanted me to do something in return for him. Silly, he should have done that after I agreed to help him. Of course, now he won't call off the Heartless attack..."

Yuna stared at her incredulously. "Katalin, are you alright?"

Katalin blinked as she looked around at them. "Well, yeah, as alright as I can be, I guess." Her face flushed suddenly when she realized that Yuffie had likely read the whole note. "Hey, Naminé, did anyone else read that note?"

Naminé replied by putting the back of her hand against Katalin's forehead. "Yeah, a few people," she replied uneasily. "I'm sorry."

Rikku grinned. "Well, it was sort of obvious, what you two had going on..."

"Only because I told you a lot about him," murmured Katalin. "But, really, we should get out of here."

Yuna bit her lip. "You're acting a little... odd. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Odd? Me?" repeated Katalin.

"We heard you fall, and if you from a long distance, then--" Naminé cut herself off as someone else dropped down on the roof. "Now what?" she asked, her voice in a whisper.

"Dempsey," repeated Katalin impatiently. "We have to go before he, I don't know. Kills us all and captures you, Naminé. Let's go." Naminé had nearly forgotten her title of princess until that point. She blinked and stared up at the roof.

Dempsey's steel-toed boots came into view via the new skylight that Paine had given the Bailey. They all backed up a few paces. "I really don't feel like facing those again any time soon," remarked Katalin. "Let's go. Now." Still, no one but Katalin moved as she tried to tug Naminé away.

Someone else touched down on the roof, and Dempsey's boots disappeared from their view. Instead, someone else stepped in. Someone that was relatively familiar, but still a bit different. "Go, now!" the man ordered them.

It was... Rikku's mouth dropped open. "Auron!" she shouted, taking a few steps forward. Sure enough, it was Auron, but he looked a bit different than he had before. The scar was still over his eye, although it looked much more faded, and he could open both brown eyes once again. His face lost some of the lines, and he looked about ten years younger. His jet black hair remained just about the same, but without the gray streaks.

"Go," he ordered again without emotion as he turned to face Dempsey.

"Hey, you big meanie! Look at me, when I'm--!" Rikku was cut off as Yuna and Paine began to drag her away. Naminé recovered, and she and Katalin set off after the Gullwings. "Fine, fine." The Al Bhed was completely failing to hide the excitement and happiness in her voice. She turned toward Katalin as Naminé, Yuna, and Paine jumped down the broken remains of the Bailey's staircase and headed in the direction of the Great Maw. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried, throwing her arms around Katalin's neck as they both jumped. It wasn't the safest thing that they could do, but they landed safely nonetheless.

"Uh-huh," answered Katalin as she and Rikku ran after the others. "Just promise that you'll finally do something about your feelings, and that you'll try your best to... you know, be careful."

Rikku smiled sheepishly. "I'm always careful," she reassured the other girl.

Katalin snorted. "What I saw you do in Spira could hardly called being careful."

Still, Rikku smiled. "Just remember that you and Darcie followed my lead!" As they met the others at the broken down Castle Gates, a portal appeared in front of them. There was a collective groan from all of them.

"Now what?" murmured Paine, tightly gripping the hilt of her blade with both hands.

A shock of pale blond hair partially shaped into antennae was visible on the Nobody. Larxene blew a kiss in Naminé's direction. "Long time no see. Why don't we all have a really good time, mm?" she remarked as she pulled her knives out of her pockets. "Ooh, you all don't look very good. The Heartless and Nobodies giving you a hard time?"

"No," replied Katalin with a cringe as she tightened her grip on Beautiful Disaster. "It's looking at your face..."

Lightning came within a few centimeters of hitting Katalin's foot.

XxxxxX

Riku thoroughly searched the corridors beneath Hollow Bastion, and Ansem's secret lab, but he didn't find a trace that anyone was down there. He hoped, as he closed the study's door behind him, that maybe he had managed to somehow just miss Katalin. He knew it was just wishful thinking, but as he reached an area with four different hallways and heard approaching footsteps, he became more hopeful. When a man dressed in a black coat appeared, his hope died out.

"Zexion," snarled Riku. "So Dempsey is responsible for this."

"Shawn's idea," remarked Zexion with a bored shrug. "But, yeah, pretty much." He was pressing the lexicon against his chest as if it were a particularly important artifact. Which, to him, it was. To his enemies, not so much. "And I have orders to obliterate you. Hmm, how about that."

Riku flashed a brief, dangerous grin. "I'd like to see you try."

XxxxxX

Sora stepped into the Great Hall before Kairi, although he made sure that she kept close enough behind him that he could still feel her presence. The room was pitch black, he guessed it was so because no one had bothered to visit the room in a long time, and the only way to give the place light were the torches around the room. "Fire," mumbled Kairi as she held up Radiant Destiny. Sora murmured his thanks as they headed up the stairs and faced the keyhole.

It was giving off a small glow now, but Sora could already tell that it wasn't possible to enter through the portal that had once been there. The other thing he knew was that someone had unsealed the keyhole. "Shawn," murmured Sora. He hadn't exactly wanted to believe it before, but the truth was staring him in the face. As he lifted Kingdom Key to seal the keyhole, Kairi screamed and the fire spell disappeared, plunging them into darkness once more. Her scream became muffled and there was silence. "Who's there?" demanded Sora, whirling away from the keyhole as he tried to find the attacker.

A gust of wind knocked Sora backwards, down the stairs, and into a heap at the bottom. With a snap, the assailant lit the torches around the room so that they could see exactly who was attacking them. Sora's teeth snapped together with an audible sound. "No way."

XxxxxX

Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Tifa, and Cloud, having sent Merlin and Cid to deal with the Marketplace, found themselves in quite the familiar situation, involving them all standing in the Heartless and Nobody-packed Great Maw. Tifa situated herself the closest to the Dark Depths while Yuffie and Aerith stuck together somewhere in the middle, and Cloud and Leon roamed around all over the place. "If only this was the same as last time," murmured Yuffie as she cut down several Shadows with her shuriken.

Aerith looked toward her with an understanding nod. "Yes, but the Nobodies and Heartless are working together in unison now, aren't they?" She cast a quick Holy spell at a few Dusks and Neoshadows that were drawing too close to them. "I hope the others are alright."

Yuffie smiled her brightest and widest in response. "I'm sure they're fine!" she tried to reassure her friend, but even her eyes were drawn by the fat bolts of lightning that touched down at the Castle's Gates. "I... know it," she added although with less certainty.

A/n: Ooh, that was fun to write. That whole exchange between Rikku, Yuna, and Brother was classic comic relief that's always in X-2. I figured it was necessary. xD Yep, Auron's back. Bwaha. x3 Not much to say, so see you all in the next chapter!