*I don't own any of the Kingdom Hearts characters or Atlantis: The Lost Empire characters; I only own Katie, Gakupo Valefor and Minato Hoshi. (and the rest of their organization)

*Render belongs to tsukuneXmoka

The trek to the city of Atlantis was long. And they were still on the bridge! But the advantage of the ride was that Render learned about the Atlantis Crew. Rourke was the leader of the team, and the girl with blonde hair was a German named Helga. She seemed to Rourke's right hand man—woman. The tall dark skinned man was their medic , Dr. Sweet. Audrey was their technician and the youngest of the team. Their explosives expert was an Italian named Vinny, who Render automatically knew that he shouldn't mess with him so he can stay in one piece. The old guy's name was Cookie, and he was the chief. Milo warned Render to not eat his food, no matter what. And the other older member of the group was their communications expert, Packard. She always had a cigarette I her hand or mouth. The shortest, and the dirtiest, member of the team was a mineralogist nicknamed Mole. Forget Vinny, this guy was freaky and weird. And last but not least, Milo. He was an archeologist who led the team to Atlantis with that journal he always carried around like a sacred book, The Shepherds Journal. Milo was the only one on the whole entire team that Render trusted right away. Right now, Render was sitting in the back seat of the lead buggy with Milo, Rourke, and Helga.

Milo was blabbing about his theory of the Atlantean language, "…Now what's really amazing is that if you deconstructed Latin, you overlaid it with a little Sumerian, throw in a dash of Thessalonian, you'd be getting close to their basic grammatical structure. Or at least you'd be in the same ballpark."

'Give this guy a girlesk figure and some anger issues; you'd get a nerdier copy of Katie…' He dozed off a little bit at Milo's talking. I mean he liked the guy but he didn't understand a single word he was talking about.

Then he snapped back awake when he heard Helga say to Rourke in a hushed tone while Milo was still talking, "…Commander, there were not supposed to be people down here…this changes everything."

Rourke said bitterly behind his teeth, "This changes nothing…"

Render raised an eyebrow at them. 'I better keep an eye on these two…'

Render suddenly heard Milo yell, "Take that, Mr. Harcourt!"

Right now, Render was confused beyond words. He somewhat understood what the archeologist was talking about earlier, but now…he had no idea. Then Milo suddenly stopped talking. Render looked up and gasped in wonder. Ruins of a great city appeared in front of them and got off the wood-and-rope bridge to a paved stone road. Through the steam of the waterfall hitting the lava floor below. Render peered down the winding road to see it lead to the top of a mountain which had a large stone structure on the top. "That must be where we're headed."

Rourke looked up to the mountain. "That's pretty high up…"

"According to Journal, that's where they're king lives."

"If that's the case, that's got to be where my friends are."

The tribeswoman lead them into the palace. She suddenly stopped and said to the group, "Please wait here for a moment." She took Render's wrist. "Follow me!"

Render nodded and followed. Even though he didn't know her name, he trusted her also.

The tribeswoman took Render to a guarded door. She spoke with the guard in her home language. The guard nodded and opened the stone door.

Inside the room, Render heard a yell, "Render!" Katie ran out of the dark room and tackle hugged him. "Thank God, you're okay!"

Render gasped for air. "Can't...breathe…!" he said in a strained voice.

Riku came up behind Katie and chuckled at her. "Katie, let him go. You're suffocating the poor guy."

Katie let go of Render and scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Hehe…sorry about that…"

"We're glad to see you in one piece," said Sora.

Render nodded in agreement. "Same with you guys."

Roxas was the last to come out of the room. He dipped his head at the tribeswoman. "Thanks for finding him, Kida."

The tribeswoman, now named Kida, smiled. "You are welcome." She turned on her heel and beckoned them to follow her. "Come. You all must see my father now." Kida took the group back to the waiting Atlantis Team and lead them to a large stone door covered with moss. It was heavily guarded. The door opened to reveal the throne room. It was breath-taking. The floor was a pond with water lilies and stepping stones that spiraled to the end of the room. Moss and vines grew on the columns that kept the roof up. At the back of room , under colorful drapes sat an old man who wore blue robes and had all white eyes. Electric blue tattoos covered him. This had to be the King of Atlantis. Overlooking the King was a severed head of a stone statue with waterfalls coming out of its eyes. Behind it was the rest of the statue. Kida approached the king and kneeled with a bow. She spoke in Atlantean to the king.

The King responded to her, he sounded angry.

As the two continued to speak, Katie's facial expression became terrified when the King spoke. Riku glanced at her and nudged her gently. "What's the matter?" he whispered.

"He sounds…he sounds just like Master Xehanort…" Katie whispered back. Her voice was shaking and so was her body.

Riku took her hand and squeezed it in a comforting way. "Don't worry about it. I can assure you it's not him at all…"

When the two stopped their private conversation, Rourke's voice sounded, "…Your Majesty. On the behalf of our crew, may I say it is an honor to be welcomed into your city." He bowed then approached the King.

Milo cleared his throat as Rourke stepped forward, "Excuse me? Commander…?"

"You presume much to think you are welcome here…" said the King.

"Oh, sir, we have come a long way looking for—"

"I know what you seek, for I have been forewarned." The King interrupted Rourke. "However, you will not find it hew. Your journey has been in vain."

Rourke tried to explain, "But we are peaceful explores, men of science."

Roxas whispered to Render, "He doesn't look like a man of science…"

Render nodded in agreement. "There's something off about this guy…"

The King chuckled at Rourke. "And yet you bring weapons."

Katie sighed, "And here comes the defense speech…"

"Our weapons allow us to remove obstacles we may encounter…" Rourke explained behind a nervous laugh and smile.

The King frowned. "Some obstacles cannot be removed with a mere show of force." He gripped onto his staff and hoisted himself up from his throne with greet effort. "Return to your people. You must leave Atlantis…at once."

"Oh, You Majesty, be reasonable!" Rourke semi complained.

Katie warned Rourke, "Don't push the envelope, dude."

Milo tapped Rourke on the shoulder. "Uh…sir…?"

Rourke snapped from the corner of his mouth, "Not now, son."

"She's right, sir. We better do what he says."

Rourke made a small growl. He returned his attention to the King to request, "May I respectfully request that we stay one night, sir? That would give us time to rest, resupply, and be ready to travel by morning."

The King thought for a moment. He heavily sighed, "Hm. Very well. One night. That is all."

"Well, thank you, Your Majesty." Rourke bowed and signaled for his crew to follow him out.

"Wait."

The group stops.

The king pointed at the Keybearers. "You five. Come here."

Katie glanced at Riku, unsure. Riku nodded. "It's okay," he assured her. The Keyblade Masters and Wielder made their way back to the king.

Milo called after them, "I'll wait for you outside, Render." He glanced at Kida for a short second then left the room. The doors closed behind him.

The King said to his daughter as the Keybearers approached, "Mmm. Your heart has softened, Kida…a thousand years ago, you would have killed them on sight…" he paused and sat back down. He looked at the Keyblade Masters and Wielder. "As you did with their kind so many years ago…"

"You…know who we are…?" Roxas asked, surprised.

The King nodded. "Yes. How could I forget the day when the ones whom wielded keys for swords?"

Katie stepped forward as she asked, "Is that why you asked us to stay a bit longer, sir?"

The King's blind eyes went over to Katie. "My, my…it has been awhile since I have seen your kind, child. I thought you have become extinct after the viruses had left my city. Have you come to spread the absurd ways of your race once more? To manipulate my people to join your cause? To become one of you?"

Katie's body tensed up. She slowly backed away from the King. "I-I don't know what you're talking about…" she lied in a shaky voice.

"Of course so…" The King's attention went back to the rest of the Keybearers. "You are worse than the intruders from the surface world. All that Key Wielders bring are chaos and destruction. Just look at what you're ancestors before you did to this city! I demand that you must leave by sunrise or you will be executed for their crimes."

Kida protested, "But, Father, they are different than them!"

"Silence, Kida!" The King snapped. "You know what those two outsiders in red and black warned us about them."

"Red and black…?" Sora repeated.

Kida spat under her breath, "I can't believe you took their word over mine…"

"Kida, that is enough." The King motioned his staff at the Keyblade Masters and Wielder. "Heed my warning…you may now go…"

The Keybearers bowed and left the palace. Riku whispered to Katie, "What was he talking about, Katie?"

Katie shook her head slowly, "I don't want to talk about it right now. I need to go think…" she ran off.

Riku sighed and shut the palace doors behind him.

Kida watched the door slip shut and turned to face her father. "Father, that girl does not seem dangerous!"

"The ones of the dark angel gene cannot be trusted…" The King explained.

"For indeed you are right…" Out of the shadows came out two figures in a red coat and black shoulder cloak. Their hoods were up. They took off their hoods and kneeled to the King. "Our ties run deep with your Kingdom. You know that we speak the truth of the Keyblade Wielders—"

"And that monster, Katie Heart." The one with snow white hair in a tight ponytail added. "I have seen the damage she has done to my former partner, he was poisoned and suffered many cuts and burns."

The one with the spikey bronze colored hair nodded in agreement. "Indeed. King Kashekim Nedakh, I propose that the One-Winged Angel be destroyed…before she destroys your beautiful city and take over it. Killing you and your daughter so she can. You have seen what her kind can do yourself, Your Majesty. She can crush this city with the snap of her fingers."

The King nodded in agreement. "And I can trust that you can do this, Lords Minato and Gakupo?"

Gakupo and Minato glanced at each other and made an evil smirk. "Yes, Your Majesty. We will neutralize the threat of that abomination of life. And her friends, too." Gakupo answered.

"And we will protect the Heart." Minato added.

"You two are disbanded." The King said. The two stood up and bowed. They left the palace through the back.

Kida sighed, "I got a bad feeling about this…"