Riku desperately wanted to punch something. Preferably someone, actually, though at this point he would have a hard time choosing between Maleficent and Vanitas. None of that was an option, unfortunately, so he had to satisfy himself with yelling and giving the wall a good kick. A mistake, he quickly realized, since that simple move drained what little strength he currently had in him.

He hated feeling so helpless. Riku had always prided himself on being physically and emotionally strong, able to take care of himself no matter what the situation. Yet somehow he kept finding himself in situations that took away that ability – first with Ansem, now with Maleficent. As he had been sitting here over the last few days he had gone over every possible scenario he could think of to get himself out of here. He had even managed to get to his feet and hop over to the stone with the ax in it, and try to cut the cords on his wrists. But either the ax was too dull, or it just wouldn't cut through cords made of dark magic. With that idea having failed, Riku was left back at square one, with no way out and nothing to do but sit and think.

The first meeting with Sora and the others had been painful in more ways than one. In fact, Riku couldn't really decide what had hurt the worst – the physical pain from his injuries when Vanitas had practically thrown him through the corridor, the blow to his pride from being paraded in front of everyone like he was Maleficent's wounded pet, or the stab to his heart at seeing the horror and fear in his friends' expressions. The look on Sora's face, in particular, was going to be ingrained into his memory for a while, as well as the sight of Kairi hiding her face and weeping.

Riku sighed heavily, wondering what time it was. The twenty-four hour mark had to be getting close. He supposed that should excite him, since this next meeting was supposed to end in freedom for him, but he couldn't shake a bad feeling about how the exchange was going to go.

Before he could consider that thought any further, a dark corridor opened, and Maleficent, Pete, and Vanitas appeared. "Are you ready, child?" Maleficent asked him. "The time has come to meet your friends again."

"We're not going to let you get away with this, you know," Riku replied. "You can try to disappear with your precious data, but my friends and I will hunt you down and stop you."

Maleficent smiled condescendingly. "I'm sure you will try your best," she said. "But I'd watch that tongue of yours, unless you want me to silence it again. Come, Pete," she ordered, turning to open another corridor. "It's time to go."

After the two of them had walked through and the corridor had closed, Riku glared up at Vanitas. "I suppose you're here to shove me through again?"

"I wish," Vanitas laughed. "That was definitely fun. But no, Maleficent says she wants me to bring you in person this time."

Riku furrowed his brow. "For what purpose?"

"Beats me," Vanitas shrugged. "She doesn't tell me all of her glorious plans, and I don't ask. Even if I did know, do you think I'd tell you?"

"You do seem to like the sound of your own voice," Riku remarked sarcastically. Glancing at the spot where Maleficent had disappeared, he sighed. The anticipation of her summoning them was enough to make his heart start beating double time. "Anyway," he continued, turning back to Vanitas to get his mind off of it. "I'd honestly rather know about you. You never did tell me who you actually are."

Vanitas smirked. "What makes you think I'm anyone of any importance to you?"

"You have a Keyblade, for starters," Riku replied. "And I have a knack for sensing darkness in others. There's more in you than I've ever seen in anyone before."

Laughing, Vanitas stretched his arms over his head casually. "Yeah, there's a reason for that." He jabbed a thumb toward his chest. "No light in here. I am one hundred percent darkness, and proud of it."

"How is that even possible?" Riku began, but he was interrupted by the sudden burst of a dark corridor opening in front of them.

"Well, there's our cue," Vanitas said, reaching forward and yanking Riku up by his forearm. His Keyblade appeared in his other hand, and he held it out in full view. "I do have permission to cut your ankle cords so that you can walk through this time," he explained. "But I also have permission to use this to stop you if you try anything funny. Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," Riku replied as Vanitas sliced through the bonds. He wasn't going to admit out loud that he didn't have the strength to try anything, anyway. It did feel good to be able to move his legs around again, though he was a bit unsteady on his feet as they began to walk and had to use Vanitas for support much more than he would have liked.

The bright sunlight on the other side of the corridor was blinding at first, after being in the dark of the dungeon for so long. Riku blinked rapidly until his eyes adjusted and he was able to see all of his friends standing on the ground below them, watching him intently. He knew he must look pathetic to them, but he attempted a small smile for reassurance.

"Who is that?" Sora asked, pointing toward Vanitas.

"Only a follower of mine, and none of your concern," Maleficent replied. "Now, you've shown me your piece of the trade, and I've shown you mine. We both brought what we promised, so hand over the data." She motioned Pete forward to accept the data, which Riku assumed must be in the box that Mickey was holding.

"Hang on just a second," Mickey countered. "I'm not just gonna hand it over while you've still got Riku. Let him go, and we'll make the exchange at the same time."

Maleficent waved her hand in disapproval. "You're in no position to be making demands! You'll do as I say and hand it over now, or he disappears!" she screeched.

"Okay! Okay," Mickey answered quickly, beginning to walk forward. "Here ya go. It's yours."

The feeling of dread in Riku's gut was growing by the second. He didn't know what was going to happen, but something was telling him that it would not be good. "I wouldn't trust her, Your Majesty..." he tried to call out, but as soon as he began to speak Maleficent waved her staff at him without even looking, and he choked on his words again. He could hear Vanitas snickering beneath his mask, and wished he could give him a swift elbow to the ribs to shut him up. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sora and Kairi giving him confused looks, but he was too ashamed to face them.

Pete had made his way down off of the ledge, and he and Mickey were coming slowly towards one another. Finally they met, and Mickey reluctantly held out the box in his hands. Pete snatched it away and quickly began to retreat, peeking inside as he went.

"You know what to do with that," Maleficent told him, opening a corridor for him to take his exit.

Riku could tell that none of the others were liking the way this was going any more than he was. Sora definitely looked like he wanted to chase after Pete, but stayed in his spot and glanced around at the others with a worried frown on his face instead.

"Alright, you have your data, now release Riku like you promised," Mickey demanded.

Maleficent began to laugh, and Riku cringed inwardly. Here it came, the part where everything was going to go wrong. "You poor, simple fools," she crowed. "I never promised that I would release your precious Riku. I only promised that you would see him alive again." She lifted his chin with the end of her staff again, a move which he absolutely loathed. "And here he is, alive," she cooed.

Riku could see the realization dawning on the faces of his friends, and Mickey, Sora, and Lea began to rush forward towards the ledge, shouting things that he couldn't hear past the pounding of his own heart.

"I've kept my end of the bargain," Maleficent insisted, removing the staff from his chin. "Now he is of no further use to me." With that, she snapped her fingers, and in one sudden movement Vanitas lifted his Keyblade and plunged it through Riku's chest. Dropping forward onto his knees with a gasp, Riku tried to focus through the blackness that was quickly closing in on his vision and find his friends again. He could hear screaming, but that was beginning to fade, too. Blood was in his mouth, and he couldn't seem to catch his breath, but after what seemed like an eternity, he caught a glimpse of Sora, still running toward him with a look on his face that broke Riku's heart. Then he felt himself falling again, sinking into darkness, until everything went black.