Aros was standing inside of the bridge of Nexus' former Warship watching the recording of the Realm Gate explosion. "Such a shame. But I applaud you, Nexus. You certainly made a grand exit." Aros shut off the screen as Vanitas walked in and over to him. "Ah, Vanitas, que the audio visual. I wish to address the troops."

Vanitas just rolled his eyes but hit a few buttons on the computer terminal nearby, sending the live video to every screen and speaker on the Warship.

Aros began his little speech, "The loss of Nexus, leader of the great Dark Seeker uprising, is certainly a blow to our cause. Yet, we mustn't despair over his tragic demise. But instead embrace his ultimate sacrifice. And build upon the foundation he laid. With an even mightier hand!"

"With all due respect Commander Ar-... Uh, Lord Aros." A soldier began.

Aros turned to him, "Yes, what is it?" He asked slightly annoyed.

"If we failed to conquer the worlds under King Nexus' command, what hope do we have now that the Heroes still defend them?"

"Allow me to be crystal clear. I am Nexus' second in command, thus I am equip to lead you. I, Nexus' true heir, Lord Aros, King of Darkness!" He said.

"Last time I checked Nexus held that title which he said 'No one or thing can hold other than myself.'" Raven said behind him.

"Ugh! Nexus never had the Shard of Dark Kings. But he was still the King of Darkness." Aros argued.

"Nexus was the incarnation of darkness which that title can not be passed down to another without the Shard of Dark Kings." Xiro added.

"Well, Nexus said that Mia is nothing but an unworthy c*** who doesn't even deserve to hear such a title much less be a Queen of Darkness." Aros told them. He heard the mutters of doubts from soldiers. "What use are troops that can't even rise to the task of inflicting unspeakable destruction in my name?!"

"Please, you can't even get the soldiers to rise a loaf of bread in your name." Vanitas smirked.

Aros just growled at him before remembering something, "Wait. Legend tells of two warriors sleeping in a world where they once served the darkness. Two who can be student to my master!"

XXXX

Mysterious Tower

Nick was standing alone in the main room. Of course, until Yen Sid and Mickey noticed something. "Nick, why so glum? This universe, all universes are free from Nexus' tyranny."

"I do not disagree, Yen Sid. It's just... A small part of me hoped to change Nexus' mind. Not extinguish his heart."

"Nick, his violence was not slain by your hand, but by his own twisted arrogance." Mickey told him.

Nick just sighed.

"I'm sorry. I know that you two and your kind's have had quite a history."

"Yes, but the Nexus whom was once apart of me perished long ago. The day he chose to follow the path of the Rulers of Darkness. The Dark Seekers may be in disarray but they are not without leadership. And while Aros is no Nexus, he is far from predictable." Nick finished.

Just then, there was an explosion somewhere else in the tower. "Dark Seekers! We're under attack!" They all raced to where the explosion occurred and saw it was the kitchen.

As the smoke cleared, they saw Aqua trying to wave away the smoke. They all gave her an angry and annoyed look. Aqua noticed them and immediately smiled nervously, "Hi..."

"Aqua!" A voice called. Everyone looked to see the others sitting at the table behind a magical barrier that Riku created. The barrier disappeared as Nick turned to them.

"Who let Aqua near the oven?!" He demanded. Before anyone could answer, everyone's communicators pinged. Everyone walked to the main room and saw that the computer picked up an energy signal.

XXXX

Aros and the others were standing above a canyon on another abandoned world. Aros was talking as they all looked at the canyon, "During the Keyblade War many energy crystals were transported to worlds such as these, that our departed King's ancestors sent some of their greatest to find and guard it. True warriors, now lying in a deep slumber in order to not age and save their strength. And waiting to be reawakened."

Vanitas was holding a scanner, "This thing won't find the signals that we're looking for."

Aros turned to him, "What do you mean you can't pinpoint their signals?! I know we are close. Boost the power to the scanners sensors!" Vanitas pushed a few buttons and the scanner detected two signals. "Yes. There." Aros and Vanitas summoned their jets and flew to the location while Raven, Xiro and Venom ran to the location.

XXXX

"An energy signal. And it's on the move." Yen Sid said from the computer.

"And if we're not moving it, guess who must be." Riku said.

"Dark Seekers." Xion said.

"Without Nexus?" Ventus asked.

"Unfortunately Nexus' legacy will live on as others rise to take his place." Nick told them. "Heroes, you have chores to do." He turned to Sora. "Sora, I may require aid."

"Anything to get out of doing chores." Sora said happily.

XXXX

Xiro and Vanitas pulled a giant pod out of the canyon wall. The pod held two sleeping warriors.

"Excellent, Vanitas and Xiro." Aros said. He turned to Raven, "The energy cube." Raven pulled out a crystal cube and Aros placed it into the slot in the middle of the pod. The pod began to glow. "The energy crystal infusion, it's working!"

There was a bright flash of light that caused them all to cover their eyes and look away.

XXXX

A Portal opened and Nick and Sora stepped out of it. Sora looked around, "Everything seems to be fine."

"No, Sora, it does not. Hold your position and await my command." Nick ordered as he went to investigate. Sora took cover behind a rock to watch.

XXXX

The light died down and the pod began to open. Aros smiled, "Awaken, warriors, rise and serve your new master!" The two warriors awoken and stepped out of the pod and stretched.

The first warrior was around Xiro's height and looked around 17. He had black hair and red eyes and had pale skin. He wore a black and red shirt with a black jacket with hints of red. He wore black pants and grey, black and red shoes. His name was Anthrax.

The second warrior was Vanitas' height and looked around 18. He had slightly long silver hair and red eyes. No one could see what he was wearing as he was wearing a thick, shiny metal armor that allowed his body to shape-shift into anything that his armor scanned and programmed into it. His name was Arixis.

"Arixis serves only one master." He said with a very deep voice.

"Excellent. Your loyalty and devotion shall certainly set a fine example for our soldiers. No need to be timid, Arixis, you both may bow." Aros said.

"Bow to you?" Anthrax said. "Ha!"

"You failed to grasp my meaning. I am here to serve my one master, His Majesty, King Degra, King of Darkness!" Arixis told him.

"He has been deceased for eons. Along with our most recent King of Darkness, King Nexus." Aros explained.

"Impossible." Arixis said.

Aros was getting really annoyed by this. "Why is this so difficult for everyone to accept?! Arixis, Anthrax, I located you. I awakened you. Thus, I, Lord Aros, am now your master!"

Arixis got into his face and threateningly growled at him. But a new voice interrupted them.

"It has been a long time, Arixis, Anthrax." Nick said, walking towards them. Vanitas and the others wisely left the scene and watched from the top of a cliff.

"Who are you?" Anthrax asked, getting ready to fight.

"Nick Manus, King of Light." He introduced himself.

"Glenn's son and Nicholas's grandson." Arixis said. "I haven't seen them since the Keyblade War. Degra ordered Anthrax and I to annihilate them."

Nick was angry at that but didn't show it. "That was a long time ago."

"That may be, Manus. But our orders still stand." Anthrax told him.

"Nicholas is dead and Glenn is not here." Aros said.

Nick sent Aros a glare that could make Dezerus and the Devil flinch. And that is not a good thing...

"Is this War still worth fighting? When so many lives have been lost? And worlds destroyed?" He turned to Aros, "If you want to be a true leader, Aros, then stray from Nexus' path and lead the Dark Seekers towards Peace!"

"I would be willing to consider a truce, if you were willing to bow before me, Nicholas Manus." Aros said, smirking.

"Again? Bow to this!" Arixis said before punching him in the face. Aros flew into a canyon wall. He held his arm and limped a few feet before summoning his jet and blasting away to where the others were. Anthrax followed him, not wanting to fight a King of Light.

"Arixis, this is a new era. On another world and during a different war. Side with the Heroes and help me end this conflict forever!" Nick pleaded, taking a few steps forward.

"I will never side with a King of Light!" Arixis shouted. He roared as he charged at him and punched him right into a canyon wall. And with Arixis' strength and armor combined, if Nick was normal he would probably be dead. But fortunately, Nick only suffered a slight pain before kicking Arixis away and getting ready to fight again.

XXXX

Aros flew towards the others and landed. He shook his head to get rid of the dizziness from Arixis' punch. "What need have I for Peace when I have Arixis. And with some discipline, he will learn to respect his new master. And when it becomes known that Arixis destroyed Nick under my command, all Dark Seekers will gratefully bow to me."

Anthrax just gritted his teeth and glared at him and gave him the finger. The others smirked at the action.

XXXX

Nick and Arixis were standing in front of each other, waiting to see who would attack first. Nick summoned his Keyblade blasters and fired at him but the energy bolts just dissipated when they hit Arixis' armor. Arixis got annoyed and pulled a weapon off of his back: A Minigun.

Arixis fired the Minigun and the rapid shots caused Nick to slide back and groan from the attack. Sora, who was watching from behind a rock, charged in, "Nick!"

"Sora, no!" Nick said, still trying to recover from the Minigun attack.

Too late. Sora jumped and blasted Arixis from behind, causing Arixis to turn to and fire at him. Sora used Flowmotion to dodge the bullets and lunged at him. Arixis grabbed Sora and threw him and aimed his Minigun. But just as he fired, Nick grabbed it and changed it's direction, causing him to fire up into the sky. Sora charged at Arixis again but he once again grabbed Sora and threw him.

XXXX

"Do not miss a single moment, Xiro!" Aros ordered him as Xiro recorded the battle on a tablet. "We shall need visual documentation of Nick's demise! For the historical record."

XXXX

Arixis punched Nick in the face causing him to step back to where Sora was. Sora looked at him, "Doesn't his armor allow him to shape-shift or transform or something?"

"Arixis has not acquired a second mode." Nick told him. Arixis charged at them. Causing Nick to give an order.

"Fall back!" Nick ordered. Nick and Sora retreated by driving away on their Keyblade cycles.

"So time has made the Kings cowards, Nick?" Said Arixis, before firing his Minigun into the cloud of dust that the two created.

XXXX

Mysterious Tower: Kitchen

"I cannot believe that we have to clean up the kitchen." Riku said.

"Did you guys expect me to clean up this whole kitchen by myself?" Aqua asked them as she cleaned the oven.

"Yes!" They all said causing Aqua to glare at them. But when no one was looking, Terra tried to sneak out but was caught by Roxas.

"And where are you off too?" He asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms.

"Uh... To help Nick and Sora?"

"Those were not his orders."

"So?"

"Help us clean up this mess!" Roxas said.

"Fine!" Terra said. "But why should we, Aqua did this."

"Hey!" She shouted.

XXXX

Meanwhile in the canyon

"We've lost sight of them! Vanitas, why aren't you tracking them?!" Aros yelled.

"There is another signal." Vanitas told him.

"Another life signal? But Arixis and Anthrax are the only sleepers buried on this world." Vanitas showed Aros the scanner he was holding, which displayed a very familiar location. "The sight of our destroyed Realm Gate. You're not telling me that that signal belongs... To King Nexus."

"But he was miles from the detonation point! Nothing could have survived that blast!" He tried to make up an excuse. "That damn thing must be faulting! Ignore the contact, delete the coordinates!"

"Aros." Raven said, not liking what he was saying.

"Oh, what am I saying? Of course this must be investigated." Aros said, pointing to the sky. "If King Nexus is up there, I shall bring him home. You all remain here and monitor the outcome. When Arixis crushes Nick's heart, I must bear witness." And with that, Aros jumped off of the canyon and summoned his jet and blasted away.

Vanitas looked at the others and used his power to create an Unversed(But it hurt because he isn't supposed to have that power anymore.) The Unversed followed Aros to spy on him.

XXXX

High in the sky, Leon was flying in a jet to investigate an energy signal on another world.(Radiant Garden's technology has been becoming much more advanced.) He picked up a transmission on his radio.

"Radiant Garden Defense Committee to Central Command. We are picking up unidentified energy signals, possibly hostile. We are moving in to investigate."

"Negative, Radiant Garden Defense. This is Radiant Garden Restoration Committee leader Leon, intercepting. Strike your report from the records and provide origin coordinates. I'll take it from here."

XXXX

Sora drove his Keyblade cycle with Arixis chasing him on foot. Sora found himself at a dead end and summoned away his Keyblade cycle and got ready to fight.

"It would be a shame to crush you, young one, but it is my duty." Arixis told Sora. He heard the roar of an engine and turned around to see Nick speeding towards him. He pulled out his Minigun and fired at him but unlike last time, the bullets had no effect on him. Nick summoned away his Keyblade cycle and delivered a powerful punch to Arixis' face, sending him right into a canyon wall.

"Excellent strategy, Sora." Nick complemented. Sora just did his signature smile with his hands behind his head.

Arixis groaned as he fell out of wall and on to the ground. His eyes shot open as he got up and punched Nick.

"Arixis, stay down." Nick said before sending a powerful punch to his face again. Arixis landed flat on his back as the three of them heard a noise and looked up to see Leon's jet high in the sky. "Leon?"

Arixis saw the jet and smirked. Armor folded around his head creating a helmet and red see-through glasses that covered his eyes. The glasses glowed green and shot two green beams into the sky as Arixis scanned Leon's jet.

Nick knew what he was doing and put a finger to his ear, "Leon, fall back!" But it was too late. Leon lost control of his jet as a side-affect of it being scanned but managed to regain control. The beams disappeared as Arixis finished scanning the jet.

Arixis smiled and got up before running a few steps and jumping into the air. His armor shifted around him as he shape-shifted into a copy of Leon's jet. He flew up into the sky and flew right next to Leon, who looked outside of his jet and at Arixis not believing what he was seeing.

"What?!" He said, looking at Arixis. Arixis flew down and began firing at Nick and Sora. The duo was forced to retreat again by using their Keyblade cycles. Arixis was about to fire missiles at them but was forced to dodge bullets that were being fired at him by Leon. "Stealing Radiant Garden's military technology will not be tolerated on my watch!"

Arixis flew behind Leon and fired missiles at him which appeared on his radar. "Heat Seekers!" Leon flew around the canyon walls before flying towards a giant cliff side and pulling up at the last second causing the missiles to hit the wall. "I still got it." He said with a smile

XXXX

Aros flew towards the remains of the Realm Gate and landed on a giant piece of it before looking around. "No one could have survived this. As I suspected, faulty scanner. The last thing I need now are rumors that Nexus is still–" He was cut off by a loud, agonizing moan.

He drifted over to where it came from and saw the body of Nexus. His body was full of scratches and burn marks and parts of his clothes were burned off but almost all of his clothes were still intact. "Nexus." Nexus grabbed Aros and glared at him with his bright purple eyes but fell unconscious again. "But how?" Aros saw a glow and saw the black and purple shard of Dark blood sticking out of his chest. He grinned, "Dark blood." He got into Nexus' face, "Everyone believes you are deceased. Who am I to disappoint them, Your Majesty?"

And with that, he grabbed the Dark blood shard and yanked it out of Nexus' chest. Nexus opened his eyes and reached for the Dark blood but fell unconscious again. This time forever. "And this time, stay dead!" Aros said, kicking Nexus' almost dead corpse away. He heard a noise and saw Vanitas' Unversed flying towards him. He hid the Dark blood behind his back and grabbed Nexus, "Vanitas, if you are listening, I have found King Nexus and he is... unwell. We must get him medical attention, immediately!"

XXXX

Nick and Sora dodged another round of missiles from Arixis. Nick contacted Leon, "Leon, we require immediate assistance!" From inside his jet, Leon nodded. Nick was hit by a missile and was forced to banish his Keyblade cycle.

Sora drove at the top of the canyon and summoned away his Keyblade cycle before jumping and landing on top of Arixis' jet form. Arixis flew close to a wall trying to get Sora off of him but it didn't work. He flew higher into the sky as Sora summoned his Keyblade and stabbed Arixis causing him to fall out of the sky. Leon flew next to them so Sora could jump on to his jet.

Sora jumped on to Leon's jet and they both watched as Arixis crash-landed. Leon flew down so Sora could jump off and get to safety before flying away back to Radiant Garden. Nick and Sora walked towards Arixis and watched as his eyes closed as he died. Only his upper half was shape-shifted back to normal. Nick looked at Arixis and said, "Had Arixis chosen to stray from his master's path, we may not be burying him today."

From the top of the canyon, the Dark Seekers watched the scene and Xiro ended the recording. Anthrax felt multiple emotions right now: Sadness, anger, hurt, rage. But they all tied to one thing: A promise to get his revenge on them. "I will join your cause... But mainly for one reason: To get revenge on them. Because I swear to the heart of Kingdom Hearts that they will pay for my best friend's death."

XXXX

Mysterious Tower

Nick was speaking to Sora as they walked out of the Portal, "Sora, putting yourself at risk was perhaps not the wisest of strategies, but you performed admirably."

"Thanks." Sora said, smiling.

"What happened to you guys?" Roxas asked.

"How about we talk about it over a cheesecake?" Nick said. And to that, they all agreed happily.

XXXX

"You are fortunate that I know medical." Anthrax said.

"Yes we are." Venom said.

"Well, the troops will be pleased to hear of our success in saving King Nexus. Even though he is comatose for now." Vanitas told them.

"Let us hope that King Nexus pulls through." Aros said, angrily looking at a comatose Nexus, who lay on a metal bed connected to life support by multiple cables.


A/N: Finally, I finished this chapter. But it looks like the Dark Seekers have a new warrior. His bio is on my profile. If you have questions or anything about this chapter or anything else, feel free to leave a review or PM me. Bye! :-)