A/N: And the search for Vans continues, will they find him? Read below to find out! On another note, sorry for the cheesy lines, my head is going through a roller coaster at the moment. Read on and review (or criticize).

Disclaimer: I'm honestly getting tired of saying this, I mean, you guys pretty much know that I'm a simple student trying to put together a decent story, anyway, let's do this: I do not own LOZ nor KH nor the new games that are coming out nor...anything!

The worlds in between: Part 3:

"Well, I suppose Vanitas is not here" Riku mused, the cuts on his face were beginning to heal.

"Who?" Impa questioned to the general confusion of both men.

"What am I doing here again?" she asked them, with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Right" Riku said urgently "let's get out" he started dragging the confounded knight out of the castle.

"Where do we search next?" he asked Auru as he vigorously tugged on Impa's hand, she was putting up a handsome resistance, of course, she wasn't the second knight for nothing.

"End of the World" Auru replied.

Nodding, Riku summoned a dark corridor, the eighth knight went through it first and the aquamarine eyed man was forced to carry Impa through it as she was threatening to draw her blade.

Zack and his company stared at the scenery before them and gaped; only Cloud looked disinterested.

"Is it supposed to be like that?" he queried dubiously "where did you bring us Sheikha?"

"Hollow…Bastion?" she seemed unsure "I've never been to this world myself and this is the only place I could warp to since I cannot open dark corridors"

Surrounding a twisted, mechanized castle was a huge waterfall…it would've made a picturesque view if the water in the falls were not running in reverse. While the knights gazed, the blonde swordsman spied a floating platform and jumped on it. Sensing his friend was not near him. The fifth knight spun around and observed the lone mercenary jumping from one floating ledge to another and nearing their destination.

"Troops, let's move out!" Zack bellowed and followed Cloud, hopping from one platform to the other till they reached the Castle gates. Once again the knights stared at the building, the heartless emblem, stamped on the middle of the structure seemed to overshadow everything else.

"It looks like a white castle has been warped and forcibly taken over by parasitic weaponized machinery yeah" stated Ashei as she scrutinized the structure. "See how the white turrets of the original palace are all twisted?"

"This place is a gathering ground for heartless and other shadow beasts" Cloud explained "you might find this Vanitas here" he said and began walking to the entrance leading to the underground water system.

"…Wherever we find the snotty brat yeah…you won't find him lurking in some underground water system" saying this she marched off and entered the castle.

In the foyer, they were given a grand welcome courtesy of hissing heartless. Sheikha materialized a giant throwing star and flung it, Zack and Cloud teamed up. Back to back they danced and sliced through countless monsters in an arc. Ashei too was powering up magic, as soon as Zack and his companion separated, she struck the floor with her black rapier and the entire foyer was encased in a thick layer of ice. It stopped the movements of the occupying beasts and prevented the formation of new ones. Breath misting, the band stepped over the glacial surface and climbed the steps and went into the next room, which turned out to be library. Here a bunch of powerful unversed and nobodies popped up and accompanying them with a large book was a barrier master. Huffing, Ashei formed numerous icicle spears in mid-air and hurled them at the monsters, but they only bounced off their protective barriers.

"We need to get rid of that librarian first" The wielder of the Buster sword twirled his blade and pointed it to the heartless.

Holding open a large tome, the blue heartless floated safely in an alcove, away from danger, unbeknownst to it, a shadow larger than itself pooled on the floor. Out of the ripples rose a masked warrior. Expertly flicking out a short blade, she plunged it neatly into the heartless and it dissipated with instantly. The rest of the circular barriers surrounding the other monsters went down and Cloud charged, drawing out two thin blades and combining them into one large one reminiscent of Zack's Buster sword. Locating the enemies nearest to him, he activated his Omnislash command. A bluish aura surrounded him as he attacked. The powerful and extremely quick slashes of his sword were punctuated with showers of multicolored light. As he finished, the rest of the team observed how the armored heartless vanished in a puff.

"How anti-dramatic" Ashei drawled "couldn't you save the move for something that actually needs it?"

Cloud regained his dignity by taking care of the rest of the shadow beasts in the room.

Next, the members wandered around the different areas fighting heartless non-stop.

"Cloud was not kidding when he said this place is filled with heartless" Zack griped as he returned his sword into its sheath. Scratching his hair spikes, the knight suddenly had a thought:

"Oh yeah! Why don't you join the Knights Cloud? We're short on a member since Vanitas went AWOL"

Behind him the two female knights glared, boring imaginary holes into his skull. In a brief moment, a flurry of emotions crossed the blonde's normally apathetic face till it settled back to being apathetic again.

"…No" came the answer and Sheikha let out a breath she did not know she was holding. Zack folded his arms behind his head and grinned.

"Knew you'd say no, not very big on working in groups huh?...Whatever let's check the next area for Vanitas, although I'm doubting if he is here. Our former third rank hates crowded places, whether they are people or heartless." The posse entered the lift from the lift stop and rode it all the way to the Castle chapel.

"This place must've been quite beautiful before it was corrupted" Sheikha voiced as they stood in the chapel. The area was constructed with a multitude of arches and alcoves, at the back, the corridor let into a circular area with a raised dais. Behind the dais, on the largest alcove was the heartless emblem. Ghostly green fire illuminated the chapel, creating a surreal contrast with the pale blue colors of the walls and floors. As the group advanced cautiously, a loud rip tore through the air and out walked a portly humanoid dog. The creature was puffing and wailing about something.

"He lets Maleficent die and now send me to stop these knights" the beast growled "who does he think he is?"

"Pete" a monotone voice rang out. "Let me take care of him" as soon as he said this, the monster turned around and grinned, showing sharp teeth.

"At least I won't have to look for them"

Cloud careered closer, moving at an impossible speed whilst Pete simply stood there. Once he came close enough, the creature sprang to the side and unleashed what looked like a temper tantrum to the observers. Face red in rage, he stomped about, flailing and waving his arms madly. A couple of loose explosions forced the blonde to side step quickly and he wove through Pete's unpredictable attacks with surprising ease, parrying any stray hits with his sword, until a loud bang echoed through the room and Cloud found himself immobilized. A shower of pretty sparks were thrown to the sky and his friends were too busy to notice his predicament because they were ogling the fireworks. The mercenary squirmed against his invisible bonds.

An exploding bowling ball smashed into Zack's face and brought him back to reality. He flew backwards and crumpled into a heap.

"Why…does this keep on happening to him" Sheikha asked and drew her sword, warping behind Pete, she attempted to strike him or at least inflict a painful slit, instead his powerful arm shot out and grabbed her by the neck. She was lifted off the ground and her body went limp.

Not fooled easily, Pete continued to strangle her for a few more minutes and let the muscles in his arm relax. The moment he did so, the ninja's form became rigid and she brought her hand down on Pete's arm. He howled and immediately let go, observing countless black needles digging into his forelimb. The lithe warrior spun around and after gaining momentum, she kicked him squarely in the gut, he sailed through the air, over Ashei's head and joined Zack at the back of the room. The vibration caused by his humongous body crashing into the floor managed to wake the spiky haired knight and he scooted away on seeing Pete's body heaving in a disturbing manner. Drawing out his Buster sword he took a fighting stance.

Cloud joined him.

Pete got up and wobbled on his squatty legs. To everyone's surprise, he drew out a sword.

"Betcha don't know I was a capable swordsman back in my days huh?" he sniggered and raised his weapon, a red and black blur stopped the downward slash of his sword. He gaped at it as it frosted over and reduced itself into sparkling white dust. Ashei ducked to avoid his swipe, then she jumped back and let Zack and Cloud finish him off while the beast bumbled around screaming curses and profanities.

"Cross slash" yelled Cloud and went for the kill, leaving an inert Zack behind, for his part, the knight held his Buster sword out and focused, his solemn eyes never leaving Pete's brutally assaulted body. As his friend drew away, his grip on the sword tightened as he jumped forward and shouted:

"Braver!"

The area was bathed in a blue light as Zack shot several feet in the air, screaming, he brought his heavy blade down and smote Pete in half, making a little crater on the floor in the process. The anthropomorphic dog vanished into a puff, twirling his sword, he put it back in his sheath and gave his team a thumbs up.

"So, was anyone impressed?" he beamed.

Both Sheikha and Ashei were, not that they will admit it in this life.

"Vanitas is not here yeah" Ashei sighed "and I'm pretty tired yeah…where next Zack?"

He scratched his hair before answering.

"How about Wonderland?" he said to the general scowls of his team.

"You think Vanitas likes tea-parties?" the masked knight hissed, she was feeling quite irritated with the situation.

"It's worth a try" smirked the brunette "you never know what dangers might lurk under a pretty face or a lively atmosphere…take you for example"

Sheikha created a warp hole and left first with Ashei and Cloud trailing behind her. The portal winked out of existence before Zack could set a foot inside.

"Guys…don't…WAIT GUYS. WAIT FOR ME!" His words were drowned out by the roaring of the rising falls.

Far, far away from an abandoned Zack and his unheard shrieks, Impa dusted off her cloak in an attempt to disguise her embarrassing behavior.

"Thank you" she intoned.

"No problem" Riku coolly stated "it happens to the majority of people who visits the castle. It was specifically designed to confuse any intruders."

Auru stared around the world. He was standing on a platform a little distance from a swirling vortex of darkness. In all the years of his life, he has never encountered such a barren, lifeless and desolate place. When he was given missions relating to other universes, he made it a point to bypass this one. The thick air choked him and imparted a feeling of despair.

"We have to get closer" Impa commanded and leapt from her ledge on to the main area. She was followed wordlessly. As they ventured deeper into the fog Auru commented:

"I feel like I'm swimming in a soup of darkness" his words seemed to reflect off the purplish black particles clogging the air.

Deep inside the black fog Impa paused and closed her eyes. Riku sensing what she was doing copied her movements and the ninth ranked knight knelt on the ground and hefted his steampunk cannon, ready to deal with any adversaries who dare show up. Of course he knew if someone strong made an appearance, he alone will not be able to deal with the enemy and he reassured himself that Vanitas would be found before Xehanort or someone equally ugly manufactures a presence.

His legs couldn't support his body weight any longer.

Vanitas crouched as far as the chains let him. Breath coming out in harsh rales.

He did not want to see the condition of his body, his sense of time had been distorted since entering the prison. Once glossy spikes now stuck to his head in wet, matted tangles. The adolescent shivered.

Blinking rapidly, he snuck a glance at his arm and stared. Yep, thin as matchsticks, his legs as well. It explains why his legs buckled every time he put his weight on it. He pulled against the chains with all his might and groaned.

Obviously nothing happened. Only the rattling of the thick bindings managed to make him slightly dizzy.

"A self healing, self binding, self catering prison" he murmured "how…awfully thoughtful of you Xehanort" he seethed as a pair of golden irises glinted spitefully.

"I'm surprised you still have the energy and strength to speak" the bald man countered. "Since I'm here, I'll let you know something interesting"

Vanitas waited with bated breath.

"Seems like your elder brother dispatched the Knights of Hyrule to search for you" Xehanort paced in front of the cage and the noble's eyes followed him, swinging back and forth like a pendulum. "Naturally this means your little brothers will also be in the search parties…" he trailed off ominously.

In the gloom, the brunette broke out in a cold sweat.

"If…that is a big IF your twin brothers do manage to make it here, I'll have a special surprise waiting for…Roxas was it? I'm sure he wants to meet some old…friends…" smirking widely the old master spun around and walked off with a single hand behind his back.

"GET BACK HERE YOU!" Vanitas screeched and fought against his shackles "come here so I can kill you…scared of me huh? It's why you locked me up in here right?" he coughed violently and retched. Swallowing thickly he continued to howl "COME HERE! Let me kill you!"

He breathed heavily; Xehanort was nowhere to be seen.

Auru was panicking…if only a little.

Surrounding them were several Darksides, the elder knight could see right through the heart shaped holes in their chests. It gave him a partial view of the surroundings.

Not that there was much to see anyway.

Throwing a quick glance at his companions who were still meditating (or whatever) he shouldered the cannon and got up.

"Looks like work is on me" he muttered and began firing.