Short chappie, but eh. I had some free time on my hands ... I don't think I'm too happy with this one.

EDIT: I'm on holidays now! Holidays, BABY! Goodbye year 11, hello year 12!

... It's kind of depressing when you think about it. :(

But anyway, this means that I'll have more time to write, so expect more frequant chapters and more drawings to come your way. I haven't thanked reviewers in a while so I'll do that: thank you all who review or have ever reviewed this story soooooooooooooooooooo much! It really means alot to me to hear your feed back and enthusiasum, and I'm not just saying that – I really mean it.

Now, on with the story, Enjoy!

Chapter 36: Technology of the Corrupted

2 shoved 9 aside much harder than he initially intended, ultimately causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. The tremors from the ground were escalating in intensity, and the Stitchpunks felt their balance shaking. 2 ran up to the machine, what 9 didn't realise was something monstrous in size and shrouded with a dirty sheet that once would have been white. Sora, standing some ways away with 5, 7, Kairi, Mia and Dan, guessed that whatever it was probably would have been at least a dozen or even two dozen times bigger than him if he were in his normal form.

"Don't!" he was still warning 9, even though it was too late. He then resulted in trying to pry the talisman out of the machine. "We don't know what it is …"

The device in the machine had begun to glow now, a bright, eerie green glow that looked like it was sucking all of the natural and fluorescent light out of the room just to increase its intensity.

9 noticed that something under the sheet began to twitch and shake mechanically. He was just about to shout a warning to 2 when suddenly the light became too much to bare and exploded out of the talisman, right into 2. The older Stitchpunk was knocked back in the air, but did not fall to the ground. Instead, he seemed to hover there in mid-air as the green light engulfed him. The light forced itself into 2's mouth, pushing all the air out of his lungs, and into both his eyes, so that all 9 or anyone else could see were three bight beams of electric light shooting into something brown and convulsing.

9 watched in horror as 2 floated in the air, his blood curling scream almost muffled by the roar of the machine. Behind he could just hear 5's cry of "NO!" before everything went silent and the air in the room caught still. The green light just vanished and 2 was released, his limp body falling to the ground inches from 9's feet. 5 stopped fighting against Sora's hold on him and went completely still. His head was throbbing and his eyes were wide and unblinking, but he did not break Sora's hold and dash up to the machine like he was trying to do just moments earlier, but held on tighter to stop himself from falling to the ground.

2's lifeless body lay there at 9's feet, his binocular eyes gone, burnt out of his skull, and his mouth was open wide in a silent scream. Smoke rose from all three empty holes. This time, 9 did scream.

Out of everyone in the room who stared in shock, pain and disbelief at the scene before them, Sora, of all people, was the first to notice the shaking of the ground had not stopped.

After handing 5 to 7 Sora rushed up to the little Stitchpunk on the ground as fast as he could and grabbed a hold of his shoulders. 2's body almost made him stop running.

"We have to get out of here!" The tremors were increasing greatly by this point, and Sora almost lost his balance there as he leaned down to 9.

9 didn't look like he'd heard Sora, but kept staring with wide eyes at 2.

Sora tried again and lifted 9 to his feet. "9! Come on, we have to leave. Now!"

In the back 5 stuttered, "But … 2 … what about – "

7 Pulled 5 back some ways, as the three teenagers had gotten the message and began retreating. "He's right. It's not safe here – something is happening with that thing!" 7 shouted, pointing at the huge machine. "9! Get up!"

7's snap seemed to finally knock 9 out of his trance and look at Sora in fear. The Keyblade Master tugged hard on 9's arm, "We have to leave … I'm sorry," He added, gesturing to 2. 9 was about to comment that he shouldn't be apologising to him when suddenly the earth gave the most violent shake yet and threw both boys off of their feet.

The sheet had begun to fall off whatever was under it, exposing the most horrible looking machine Sora had ever seen. It had a large red "eye", just like the Cat Beast's, in the centre of something that horribly resembled a silver brain. Coming out in hundreds all around were huge mechanical arms, ending in pincers at the ends. At the back of the brain was a long and thick wiring of some sort, tethering it to the back of the factory.

Sora and 9 were frozen stiff in shock, horror and awe all together, staring as the machine began to move. This sent them back to reality as the machine's red light passed over the two Stitchpunks, blinding them for a moment as one of its arms shot forward and tried to grab them.

They both jumped out of the way just in time and scurried along the floor, trying to flee. 9 regained his footing first and, pulling Sora up beside him, they bolted as fast as they could away from the machine's arms and out the door to the factory, almost ploughing into 7 and 5 as they stood around the corner, watching with the same expressions Sora and 9 had previously, with Kairi, Mia and Dan trying to pull them away.

Together the group of seven made their escape, with the machine, using its many arms as legs, hot on their heels. Kairi was able to jump out of the way before it closed its pincers around her, and a second later the same thing happened to Mia. Dan, a much faster runner, grabbed both girls arms and pushed them forward through the hole they'd all come through. They barrelled into the hole, forgetting the need for single file but managed to tumble out anyway.

The Machine tried to chase them still, but was not able to fit through the hole. As the seven made a wild dash through the dark passage way Sora, still holding on tight to 9, ran to the front of the madness and decided to lead the group a different way out.

"This way!" Pulling 9 with him Sora suddenly pivoted to the right and almost caused everyone to fall over each other, leading them down another passage Kairi, Mia and Dan hadn't even realised was there. Echoing down the passage everyone could hear the machine rustling around in the factory room, knocking things over and throwing them across the room, angry that its victims had gotten away.

Behind 7 shouted, "How did you know about this way?"

Sora panted but answered anyway, "I saw it on the way here. I can't believe neither of you did – it's got this huge drawing of the Cat Beast right there!"

"And we're going down this way why?" Mia asked through deep breaths. Dan was still holding on to both of the girls and 7 still with 5.

Sora didn't answer right away. "Because if we just ran out the way we all came through it would be too obvious. There we're two exits in that place, one big enough for that thing to go through. It would have been right at our doorstep waiting for us to come barrelling out of the trench!"

"He's right!" Dan shouted in agreement. "We were watching when it was trying to catch you and 9. Instead of just chasing after you like anything else, it lifted an arm up and brought it down to where you were going to be, trying to black your path! And it was watching us with that red laser eye, waiting, trying to think up a plan before it started running! I'd hate to say it, but that machine is intelligent, just like the Cat Beast was. Maybe even more so!"

Kairi looked at him before saying, "I read somewhere that machines and computers are only as intelligent as the humans who programmed them!"

"That is true," Dan agreed, "but give a machine too much free will and ability to think on its own and eventually that intelligence will grow, and grow, and grow to the point where it's a completely different machine from what you built. It also allows others to corrupt it! Create a peace keeper one month and the next you'll have a weapon of mass destruction –"

"STOP!"

Everybody dug their heels into the dirt on the account of 9's exclamation. The group didn't realise but whist running and simultaneously listening to Dan's words they had ran out of the tunnel and out into the ruins of an old battle site.

They were in an old building, half the wall to their left gone with an aeroplane propeller lodged into the wall in front. They were standing on a wooden landing, the stairs gone, with a big gap between them and the next landing.

Sora stared down at the hole in dismay.

"How do we get across?" 5 asked, leaning over 9's shoulder to look.

7 moved forward and took her spear out of her bag. reaching into 5' and taking out his cross bow she tied her spear to a rope, and then to the bow. "I have an idea." She said, moving in front of the group and aiming. The spear shot across the room like lightning, lodging itself into the wall.

"There is no way that'll be able to take all seven of us." Sora informed her.

Dan moved forward then and got out his keyblade. "Got another one of those ropes?" He asked 7, who nodded and handed him one. Dan tied the rope around the handle of his keyblade then sent it across the same way with 5's bow. "Alright, 9 and 5 you hold on to 7. Sora, Kairi, Mia; grab on to me."

The Stitchpunks nodded and did as they were told, and Kairi and Sora both grabbed on to either side of Dan. Mia, with nowhere else to go climbed on his back and held on for dear life.

"On three," 7 said as they all moved into position.

"Wait, wait, wait!" 5 suddenly shouted, "We're going to swing across?"

"What did you think was gonna happen, Phantom of the Opera?" Dan snapped dryly. "On three," He agreed.

7 and Dan silently counted before giving the signal and jumping off the platform. Together they all swung across at their own speeds, sinking dramatically in the middle and giving everyone a rush. Finally, they were at the other side of the building, but instead of landing on the other side of the landing, they swung up more than they planned and ended up in a heap of tangled limbs on a conveyer belt.

Mia and Dan, at the bottom of the heap, groaned as they tried to push everyone off of them and pull themselves out.

Sora panted. "That was fun, eh hehe …" He laughed nervously as he tried to slow his heart that was now pumping dangerously fast.

Kairi smiled at his attempt to lift the mood and helped Mia to her feet. "Let's just get out of here."

Everyone nodded and began walking along the conveyor belt, not knowing where it would take them. After some time of walking, an eerie deep chain-like howl echoed down the passage along with the horrible sound of pincers snapping angrily. They all stopped in their tracks.

"That's it," Sora clapped twice. "Everybody out now. Go, GO!"

The howling was becoming louder as the group once again broke into a run after all of a one minute rest. Suddenly the belt declined rapidly, turning into a slide. Sora, 9, Kairi, Mia, Dan, 7 and 5 all shouted as they fell and crashed hard to the ground.

Sora lifted himself up and spat dirt out of his mouth before ordering, "Everybody hide!"

The group scattered. 7 and 5 ran behind a pile of debris, Mia, Kairi and Dan just next to them inside an old tin can, and Sora pulled 9 with him behind a rusted and bent car door.

9 gasped when long metallic arms appeared around the corner, and Sora quickly slapped a hand over the Stitchpunk's mouth. The machine's red eye scanned the area, pausing eerily over where Sora and 9 were hovelled. They pulled their knees into their chest and 9 wrapped his arms around Sora, pulling him further out of sight. With all the adrenaline of the chase, Sora didn't realise how scared he actually was of this gigantic monster finding them, and what it would do once it did. If it was that difficult to defeat the Cat Beast, he couldn't imagine what it would take to take down that thing.

The red light lingered and Sora pulled 9 closer to him. He figured they must look like little kids playing a game of hide and seek, scarred to be found. The machine's eye scanned the area once more before guessing its prey was nowhere in sight, and moving off. Sora and 9 held on to each other until the sound of the pincers clapping together could no longer he heard before taking a breath of relief. Sora took his hand off of 9's mouth and together they shakily crawled out of the hole to around where the others were.

What they found then they got there was a panic and grief stricken 5, sitting on the ground and hugging his knees,

"I knew we shouldn't have come …" He was saying. "Oh, 2 … My poor old friend!" Suddenly a burst of strength hit him and he shot up from the ground and turned on 9, grasping his shoulders and glaring in anger. "Why? Why did you do that?"

9 recoiled under 5's surprisingly strong grasp and poison laced voice. "I – I don't know. I didn't know … I'm sorry …" The pain was clear on his voice. 9 looked just as devastated as 5 and 7.

They stared at each other for a moment longer before 5 let go and sank back to the ground, losing all his strength.

Kairi looked back toward the factory, the three tall chimneys. "What was that thing?"

Before anyone could answer a loud whirring sound that seemed to be coming from the machinery inside, and what sounded like the conveyer belt activating. They all stared at each other in dread.

"Can't we catch a break?" Dan groaned.

9 looked up, "What is it doing now?"

Below, 5 shock his head miserably.

7 stared at each of them. She seemed to be the least scarred out of all of them. With a sigh, she reached out and grabbed 5's arm, lifting him to his feet. Turning around she caught 9's eye and the two stared at each other in silence for a moment before she turned away and began walking south.

"Come on," She called softly. "I know somewhere safe we can go."

Oh snap, badly written chace scene!

Chapter 37 is already a quarter written, so hopefully in the next few days it should be up.

I also got around to drawing the gang in Stitchpunk form, so to view just copy/paste the URL down the bottom (without the spaces between the dots and the forward slashes). If the link doesn't work just tell me and I'll try and fix it.

http:/ / honeydripp . deviantart . com/art/KH-Stitchpunk-Designs-259746963

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