Enamis09: I'm glad you loved the last chapter and enjoyed all of Kaj's questions. Also, happy early birthday! Sorry you have to take exams!

DyingofFeels: I'm glad you're starting to like Kaj a little more. Yep, Axel has pretty much accepted how Meli feels about him, at least for now. Haha don't throw your phone, you're gonna want that! But just so you know, I am perfectly fine with "overly long comments", anytime!

Coolmegan123: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed all the banter and found it funny. I enjoyed writing that whole section.

A/N: I think I have 3 unacknowledged new follows/favorites...not that I ever say exactly who it is so you may not even know I'm talking about you...but regardless, thank you for joining us! It makes me so happy to know that people are reading and enjoying my work.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER. CENSORED VERSION BELOW THE DOUBLE LINES.

The trigger warning is for Xigbar's canon "suicide" and a short conversation following it. I figured just because it's canon doesn't mean some people want to read about it again.

We walked out of the cool, dark passageway back into bright sunlight and a huge expanse of space. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I gasped. Keyblades were stuck into the ground every few inches for as far as I could see in any direction, like a sea of fallen metal. The only open area was the path that we walked on, and a second path which intersected it up ahead.

The cold, heavy feeling from before had returned in full force, and I startled slightly when Kaj bent down to whisper in my ear. "What are all those?"

"Keyblades," I murmured. "Just like the ones that we all carry." I glanced up at him, watching his confused gaze flit over the dulled weapons. "There was a war here, many many years ago, between all Keyblade wielders. A clash between light and darkness that created a special weapon that can summon the heart of all worlds. That war is what Xehanort wants to recreate today."

"And we're playing along because...?"

I sighed. "To protect innocents that he would use in our place."

King Mickey spoke up from ahead of us. "This crossroads marks the center of the Keyblade Graveyard. Be on the alert, I imagine that we'll be seeing the Organization again soon."

Sure enough, when we stopped at the crossroads a group of hazy figures appeared in the dust beyond. All thirteen new members strode toward us in a V formation, hoods up and purpose in their steps, with Xehanort hunched over in the middle. My heartbeat sped up and I dug my fingernails into my palms. Just knowing that Saix was one of those figures, yet not knowing which one, was enough to make me have to start shoving down emotions to keep from panicking.

The procession halted as if they had rehearsed ahead of time, still keeping their neat formation. There was a moment of silent stare-down before Xehanort spoke, as everyone knew he would.

"Today, we join these other wielders and leave our mark on fate. I have waited patiently...but together, we shall unlock the Keyblade War's secrets." No one deigned to answer him, and he summoned his Keyblade, lifting it up above his head. "Now we forge it. The ultimate key...the X-blade!"

He flipped the weapon over, and as he swung it toward the ground my heart leapt into my throat. This is it. It's starting right now. Darkness flowed out over the ground on contact, and I summoned my own Keyblade, expecting an all-out brawl right then and there. Instead, the world began to shake as ancient-looking stone walls shot up all around us, sending Keyblades flying everywhere. I wasn't sure what disturbed me more, feeling like we were being trapped, or watching the desecration of the only monument to the fallen wielders.

The Organization members were carried up on a wall of their own, standing eerily still as they careened up toward the sky. In another blink, they were gone, leaving the nine of us standing in a large room of sorts, with the only openings the ceiling and one large door that led further into Xehanort's creation.

Sora turned with the most solemn expression I had ever seen on his face. "Here we go."

Everyone nodded their readiness and took off at a run through the doorway. Almost immediately it was clear that we were making our way into a labyrinth. The hallway we were in led straight ahead, but another branched off to the left.

"Should we split up?" Axel asked.

King Mickey sighed. "I don't like it, but...it's probably for the best. Everyone should stay with a partner at all times, though."

"Okay, boss." Axel motioned to Kairi with his head, and they jogged away down the second hallway, followed by Aqua and Ven. I was not overly happy about Kairi sticking with Axel, but they were used to working together by now.

The rest of us continued down our hall, which soon made a right turn and met a third path. "Come on, Kaj," I ordered, veering down the new hallway.

"Hey, I'll come with you guys!" Sora ran to catch up with us, grinning. "Not that I don't trust...uh, what was your name again?"

"Kaj."

"Right, not that I don't trust Kaj's fighting skills, but since he's a bit new to this universe, seemed like you two might need my support a little more than those two." He jabbed a thumb back over his shoulder at Riku and the King.

Wonder if that's true, or if it's actually me they don't trust? I managed a small smile, trying my best not to have to look him in the face. "Thanks."

Kaj nodded. "Yeah, I, uh...I don't think I know your name, either."

"Oh, it's Sora!"

"Sora. Anyway, my fighting skills are...basic. So yeah, I'll probably be more of a...background fighter."

"Works for me!"

We turned another corner and found ourselves at another intersection. This time, though, we could see straight down each hallway into two rooms, and there was a fight taking place in each one. On the left was what looked like Riku fighting three people at once, and on the right King Mickey was fighting four.

"So much for stay with a partner," I muttered under my breath. I glanced over at Sora and he was frozen, caught between which friend to help. "I'm going to Riku," I told him. "You go help the King!"

He nodded with determination. "Right."

As I ran toward Riku, I heard Kaj's footsteps behind me. "I, uh...guess I'll go with you."

"Just stay out of the way and don't get hurt," I called back. Up ahead, I suddenly noticed a giant stone door beginning to slide closed, blocking us off from Riku. My heart thudded in my chest. "The door! Come on, hurry up!"

Putting on as much speed as I could muster, I barreled toward the rapidly shrinking opening. Kaj's longer legs caught him up to me rapidly, and we both slid through the narrow hole just in the nick of time.

"Whew," he panted. "That was like an Indiana Jones moment right there."

I was too busy taking in the fight happening before me to answer. Ansem, who was now very close to the top of my hate list, was watching the proceedings with arms crossed and amused interest, while Riku fought with someone I couldn't quite make out in the center of the room. Eyepatch, whose actual name I had still yet to catch, was hanging out on the edges, firing laser bullets from his guns on occasion.

Before I had the chance to formulate a plan, something whizzed by me and struck Eyepatch in the arm. Growling, he turned and began pelting us with lasers. Kaj cursed, wide-eyed, and dove out of the way, summoning the dagger he had thrown back to his hand.

"Really, Kaj?" I deflected as many lasers as I could off of my Keyblade, then cast Dark Firaga when there was an opening. Eyepatch fell back, and I glanced at the cowering boy behind me. "You were supposed to be hanging out in the background, remember?"

"Sorry." He hung his head. "I just wanted to help."

I felt a teensy bit bad for yelling at him, but not too much since we had both almost died. "Well next time, wait until the enemy is already engaged by one of us to jump in. Don't throw knives at people who have nothing better to do than come after you. Unless, you know, they're already actively coming after you."

Riku and his opponent locked weapons right in front of us, and I was finally able to get a good look at the other guy's face. Kaj apparently did, too, because his jaw dropped. "Why does that guy look like...a younger version of me?"

"That's...a good question."

Riku threw the younger him back, bringing his Keyblade down hard on Soul Eater. As soon as Young Riku had jumped out of the way, though, Eyepatch came flipping up into the air behind him, turning upside down to send multiple streams of lasers careening toward Riku.

"Look out!" I cried just as he leapt and rolled to the side. Eyepatch landed, and I shot Dark Firaga again, running as it found its mark to get in one slash before he jumped away. Teleporting after him, I took him by surprise and caught him across the stomach with my Keyblade, but he teleported, too, back up into the air to send another shower of lasers my way.

I thought I had managed to miss or deflect every bullet, but then something burned the back of my arm. Spinning around, I found myself faced with a cage of bright lasers, surrounding a floating Ansem. I had knocked my elbow into it in the process of turning, and now stumbled backwards to get away from it. He followed, arms out and gaze fixed on me. Rolling on the dirt to try to escape, I looked for a safe place to teleport, but at that moment a dagger came flying out of nowhere. Miraculously, it made it through the laser bars of the cage and hit Ansem, making him drop the attack. I'll have to remember to thank Kaj for that one later.

Seizing the opportunity, I leapt forward and hit Ansem as many times as I could. He was good at floating away from me, but I just teleported after him and continued my barrage. When he started up the laser cage again, however, I yelped and rapidly got myself across the room. I was not messing with that thing anymore. That thing hurt.

Ansem landed on the ground in the center of the space, crossing his arms and bending his head down like he had before. I froze, expecting the Guardian to appear, but instead only darkness exploded out from under his feet, shooting across the ground and up the walls and lingering there in waves. That done, he rose up into the air as if to take his leave.

I couldn't help a smirk. "Idiot." I wasn't even sure what his purpose in doing that had been, but he had basically just paid me the same favor that Kaj had given him earlier – handing me a weapon. Thrusting out my left hand, I drew the darkness in to myself, creating a sphere of it floating above my palm.

"Wait!" I heard Riku yell. "Ansem!"

When I turned, he was leaping through the air, Keyblade drawn back, ready to strike Ansem. His younger self had other ideas, however. "Where are you going?" he sneered, jumping up to join Riku. In one swift motion, he karate kicked Riku right in the face, sending him flying backwards to land hard on his back and tumble over onto his stomach.

My stomach lurched. "Grim!" Without a second thought, I let the darkness I had been collecting loose, and it slammed into Young Riku's chest. He hit the wall on the other side of the room with a shower of dust.

Warping to Riku's side, I bent down to check him. His nose was bloody, probably broken, and his lip was split, too, but he was still breathing. I was reaching for a potion when Kaj called my name, and jerked my head up to see Eyepatch taking aim.

With a shout I jumped to my feet in front of Riku, knocking the lasers away left and right. One grazed my temple, and another pierced my thigh. The rest I managed to avoid, and as soon as he seemed to be finished, I grabbed for more darkness from the wall, sending a wave of it straight into his chest without bothering to gather it first.

Turning back to Riku while Eyepatch was occupied with recovering, I downed a potion to get rid of the stabbing pain in my leg, and pulled out a second for him. Kaj had joined us, watching me with breathless concern. As I uncorked the vial, Riku began to stir, and I placed a gentle hand on his head.

"Drink this before you try to move." I poured the clear liquid into his mouth as best I could, running a hand through his sweaty hair.

"Thanks," he grunted, pushing himself up to his hands and knees.

"Hey, let's speed it up!" Eyepatch called. "Keep the line moving!" Young Riku strolled up beside him, no longer seeming all that fazed from his fall.

All three of us were back on our feet, and Riku and I fell into our fighting stances, ignoring all of the new aches and weariness in our bodies. Cutting my eyes to the side, I gave Kaj a nod. Thankfully, he understood my cue, and threw both his daggers at the other Riku as I started running. The boy knocked both of them away with his sword, but it distracted him enough that I was able to come in with a nice blow to his side.

Grim and I ended up alternating between back to back and side to side as we fought, me against his younger self and him against Eyepatch. "So..." I began between swings. "Wanna tell me why I'm fighting...you? From your days of...questionable wardrobe choices? In a Dark Mode suit?" Young Riku warped around the room several times, and I followed, coming right back to where we had started a minute later.

Riku huffed a laugh. "Well, uh..." He rolled out of the way of a spray of lasers with a grunt. "From what I can tell, he's me from..." Jumping up, he pounded his Keyblade into Eyepatch several times before landing again. "From the past. Back when I was corrupted."

"Well, I officially don't like him."

That brought a real laugh, despite the situation we were in. "Good thing you met me later, then."

We somehow switched targets for a moment, the two Rikus locking weapons again while I dodged Eyepatch's bullets and threw some more darkness his way. "Wait...if he's you from the past...what happens if we kill him? Wouldn't you die, too?"

"From what Xehanort said...you know, at the end of the exam...I think he'll just go back to when he came from."

"Oh. Guess I missed that." I launched myself with one foot off of the wall, slicing into Eyepatch on my way past and skidding to a stop in front of Young Riku again. "I was a little busy dangling from a column."

"Would you two shut up?" Eyepatch snarled.

"If you'd hurry up and die, you wouldn't have to listen to us," Riku retorted.

Young Riku was starting to wear thin, I could see it on his face and in his stance. His defense was getting sloppy, and after a few more well-placed blows, he stumbled backwards and let his sword drag the ground. A furious column of darkness shot up into the air from his body, then faded into smaller tongues.

Everyone, even Eyepatch, stopped still. Young Riku's sword vanished, and he brought a shaky hand up toward his face, staring at it. "You're...not real..." Wisps of darkness were coming from his hand, and he squeezed it into a fist.

"Huh?" Riku responded.

"I'm...the real one..."

"Aren't you my past self? From when Ansem possessed me?" Riku asked, confused.

Eyepatch decided to take that moment to start shooting at me again. Honestly, I was surprised it had taken him that long. I growled in pain as one of the lasers struck the back of my shoulder, quickly diving under the rest and running as far away from Riku as I could get so that he could finish his conversation. Beyond the wall, another column of darkness erupted. That was the second one that I had seen from that direction, and now I knew what it meant. Sora and King Mickey were taking care of their Organization members, too.

"Xemnas was right, little poppet really has gotten good with darkness," he smirked as he dodged another ball of it. "Too bad Ansem didn't do his job this morning and get rid of you, would have made our lives that much easier. Oh, well. What's one more guardian to kill? Or, wait...non-guardian, I should say."

"Now who needs to shut up?" I hissed through my teeth.

"Ooh, did I hit a sore spot?"

I'm gonna give you a sore spot.

"Of course I, personally, was hoping to keep you around. Would have made my plans a lot easier if you were, you know, not dead. But oh well. I'll figure something out, I'm sure. I always do."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," I shot back, trying not to let myself wonder what the heck he was talking about. "You'll be too dead for it to matter."

Leaping up just as he was taking aim again, I attacked multiple times before getting struck back with one of his guns across my face. While I shook my head to stop the throbbing and spinning, Kaj made his move, flinging a dagger directly into Eyepatch's forearm. Gasping audibly, he dropped his gun.

"Nice one, Kaj!" I went back into action before he could think about re-summoning the gun. Riku soon joined me, and with a few more strikes Eyepatch was falling onto his knees.

"Figures," he huffed, looking down at his remaining gun. "If I had a Keyblade, it'd be different..."

"Like you're actually worthy to use one," Riku scoffed.

"Oh, I am worthy."

Riku and I glanced at each other in doubt, and I crossed my arms, shaking my head.

Slamming the tip of his gun down into the ground, Eyepatch struggled to his feet. "The old coot promised to bequeath me his. Why else do you think I would ever put up with all his nonsense?"

"It'd be wasted on you," Riku sneered.

"As if." He faltered a few steps, then vanished into a dark corridor. We jumped in surprise, but he almost immediately appeared again on the top of the wall up above us, holding onto the arm that Kaj had struck. A sinister grin spread across his face. Slowly, shakily, he began walking backwards.

I realized just before he reached the other side what was about to happen, gasping and hiding my face behind Riku's shoulder. There were grunts and jolts of shock from the two boys, then silence. When I looked up again, the guns that he had left behind were fading into darkness.

"He just..." I couldn't finish the sentence. The fact that I had once, not that long ago, considered doing the exact same thing weighed heavily on my mind.

"I guess he couldn't handle dying by our hands," Riku mused. Remembering Kaj, he turned quickly. "Even though it's not really dying, technically. These guys...they're all–"

"Nobodies," Kaj finished. "I got that explanation during my few days with them."

"Right. So...even though they die here, they'll just end up coming back to life as their human selves again. Once their Heartless is killed, anyway."

"Guess I'm a terrible person for wishing some of them wouldn't," I mumbled.

"Well, I guess some of them actually won't...the ones that are from the past, like Xemnas and Ansem. And..." Riku's gaze trailed over to the side, and I followed it to see what looked like a body in an Organization coat lying face down in the dirt.

"Who's–?"

I was interrupted by Sora jogging into the area. "Hey, everybody okay in here?"

"Yeah, I think we're good." Riku gave me a questioning glance to confirm.

I shrugged, though I regretted it when my shoulder protested the movement. "Nothing a potion won't fix." And a really long nap. And a few more Nobodies biting the dust. And did I mention a nap?

Sora had stopped by the figure on the ground, and wrinkled his nose, pointing. "What's up with this guy?" He bent down and looked closer, then straightened as we drew close. "Is that a replica for Naminé?"

"Yeah." Riku nodded, then looked at me. "Turns out that 'me' wasn't from the past, after all. He was a replica of me."

"What do you mean by 'replica'?"

"Oh, right. Guess you missed all that." Sora scratched at his temple with one finger. "There was this guy in the Organization who created these living replicas of people. Like puppets, kinda, but with data inside of them so they were just like the real thing. He was one of the ones that got recompleted, but then he got turned into a Nobody again, but turns out he was on our side still anyway."

I shook my head. "So...complicated, as usual."

"Yeah. Anyway, he managed to send us one replica already, and Ienzo has been trying to get Roxas' data inside of it. Now we can use this one for Naminé!"

My face brightened. "That's fantastic!"

Kaj raised his hand. "I'm thoroughly confused."

Shrugging with my good shoulder, I shot him a sympathetic look. "Get used to it."

"I wish we could help her now," Riku remarked. "But first..."

"I know," Sora sighed.

"I'm going after Ansem," Riku announced.

"I want to come with you."

He shook his head at me. "I'd rather you go with Sora. You'll be of more use searching out the rest of the Organization than just following me around."

"You and the King aren't so good at the whole sticking with a partner thing, you know." I elbowed him with a frown.

"I'll be fine. I'll probably run into Mickey somewhere along the way."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, he went to find Xemnas. I'll go see if I can find and help the others."

"And I guess we're coming with you." I stood on my tiptoes and gave Riku a peck on the cheek. "Be careful."

"I will." He started to walk off, then turned to point at me. "Take that potion!"

Rolling my eyes, I pulled it out of my pocket and waved it at him. "I will!"

CENSORED VERSION

We walked out of the cool, dark passageway back into bright sunlight and a huge expanse of space. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I gasped. Keyblades were stuck into the ground every few inches for as far as I could see in any direction, like a sea of fallen metal. The only open area was the path that we walked on, and a second path which intersected it up ahead.

The cold, heavy feeling from before had returned in full force, and I startled slightly when Kaj bent down to whisper in my ear. "What are all those?"

"Keyblades," I murmured. "Just like the ones that we all carry." I glanced up at him, watching his confused gaze flit over the dulled weapons. "There was a war here, many many years ago, between all Keyblade wielders. A clash between light and darkness that created a special weapon that can summon the heart of all worlds. That war is what Xehanort wants to recreate today."

"And we're playing along because...?"

I sighed. "To protect innocents that he would use in our place."

King Mickey spoke up from ahead of us. "This crossroads marks the center of the Keyblade Graveyard. Be on the alert, I imagine that we'll be seeing the Organization again soon."

Sure enough, when we stopped at the crossroads a group of hazy figures appeared in the dust beyond. All thirteen new members strode toward us in a V formation, hoods up and purpose in their steps, with Xehanort hunched over in the middle. My heartbeat sped up and I dug my fingernails into my palms. Just knowing that Saix was one of those figures, yet not knowing which one, was enough to make me have to start shoving down emotions to keep from panicking.

The procession halted as if they had rehearsed ahead of time, still keeping their neat formation. There was a moment of silent stare-down before Xehanort spoke, as everyone knew he would.

"Today, we join these other wielders and leave our mark on fate. I have waited patiently...but together, we shall unlock the Keyblade War's secrets." No one deigned to answer him, and he summoned his Keyblade, lifting it up above his head. "Now we forge it. The ultimate key...the X-blade!"

He flipped the weapon over, and as he swung it toward the ground my heart leapt into my throat. This is it. It's starting right now. Darkness flowed out over the ground on contact, and I summoned my own Keyblade, expecting an all-out brawl right then and there. Instead, the world began to shake as ancient-looking stone walls shot up all around us, sending Keyblades flying everywhere. I wasn't sure what disturbed me more, feeling like we were being trapped, or watching the desecration of the only monument to the fallen wielders.

The Organization members were carried up on a wall of their own, standing eerily still as they careened up toward the sky. In another blink, they were gone, leaving the nine of us standing in a large room of sorts, with the only openings the ceiling and one large door that led further into Xehanort's creation.

Sora turned with the most solemn expression I had ever seen on his face. "Here we go."

Everyone nodded their readiness and took off at a run through the doorway. Almost immediately it was clear that we were making our way into a labyrinth. The hallway we were in led straight ahead, but another branched off to the left.

"Should we split up?" Axel asked.

King Mickey sighed. "I don't like it, but...it's probably for the best. Everyone should stay with a partner at all times, though."

"Okay, boss." Axel motioned to Kairi with his head, and they jogged away down the second hallway, followed by Aqua and Ven. I was not overly happy about Kairi sticking with Axel, but they were used to working together by now.

The rest of us continued down our hall, which soon made a right turn and met a third path. "Come on, Kaj," I ordered, veering down the new hallway.

"Hey, I'll come with you guys!" Sora ran to catch up with us, grinning. "Not that I don't trust...uh, what was your name again?"

"Kaj."

"Right, not that I don't trust Kaj's fighting skills, but since he's a bit new to this universe, seemed like you two might need my support a little more than those two." He jabbed a thumb back over his shoulder at Riku and the King.

Wonder if that's true, or if it's actually me they don't trust? I managed a small smile, trying my best not to have to look him in the face. "Thanks."

Kaj nodded. "Yeah, I, uh...I don't think I know your name, either."

"Oh, it's Sora!"

"Sora. Anyway, my fighting skills are...basic. So yeah, I'll probably be more of a...background fighter."

"Works for me!"

We turned another corner and found ourselves at another intersection. This time, though, we could see straight down each hallway into two rooms, and there was a fight taking place in each one. On the left was what looked like Riku fighting three people at once, and on the right King Mickey was fighting four.

"So much for stay with a partner," I muttered under my breath. I glanced over at Sora and he was frozen, caught between which friend to help. "I'm going to Riku," I told him. "You go help the King!"

He nodded with determination. "Right."

As I ran toward Riku, I heard Kaj's footsteps behind me. "I, uh...guess I'll go with you."

"Just stay out of the way and don't get hurt," I called back. Up ahead, I suddenly noticed a giant stone door beginning to slide closed, blocking us off from Riku. My heart thudded in my chest. "The door! Come on, hurry up!"

Putting on as much speed as I could muster, I barreled toward the rapidly shrinking opening. Kaj's longer legs caught him up to me rapidly, and we both slid through the narrow hole just in the nick of time.

"Whew," he panted. "That was like an Indiana Jones moment right there."

I was too busy taking in the fight happening before me to answer. Ansem, who was now very close to the top of my hate list, was watching the proceedings with arms crossed and amused interest, while Riku fought with someone I couldn't quite make out in the center of the room. Eyepatch, whose actual name I had still yet to catch, was hanging out on the edges, firing laser bullets from his guns on occasion.

Before I had the chance to formulate a plan, something whizzed by me and struck Eyepatch in the arm. Growling, he turned and began pelting us with lasers. Kaj cursed, wide-eyed, and dove out of the way, summoning the dagger he had thrown back to his hand.

"Really, Kaj?" I deflected as many lasers as I could off of my Keyblade, then cast Dark Firaga when there was an opening. Eyepatch fell back, and I glanced at the cowering boy behind me. "You were supposed to be hanging out in the background, remember?"

"Sorry." He hung his head. "I just wanted to help."

I felt a teensy bit bad for yelling at him, but not too much since we had both almost died. "Well next time, wait until the enemy is already engaged by one of us to jump in. Don't throw knives at people who have nothing better to do than come after you. Unless, you know, they're already actively coming after you."

Riku and his opponent locked weapons right in front of us, and I was finally able to get a good look at the other guy's face. Kaj apparently did, too, because his jaw dropped. "Why does that guy look like...a younger version of me?"

"That's...a good question."

Riku threw the younger him back, bringing his Keyblade down hard on Soul Eater. As soon as Young Riku had jumped out of the way, though, Eyepatch came flipping up into the air behind him, turning upside down to send multiple streams of lasers careening toward Riku.

"Look out!" I cried just as he leapt and rolled to the side. Eyepatch landed, and I shot Dark Firaga again, running as it found its mark to get in one slash before he jumped away. Teleporting after him, I took him by surprise and caught him across the stomach with my Keyblade, but he teleported, too, back up into the air to send another shower of lasers my way.

I thought I had managed to miss or deflect every bullet, but then something burned the back of my arm. Spinning around, I found myself faced with a cage of bright lasers, surrounding a floating Ansem. I had knocked my elbow into it in the process of turning, and now stumbled backwards to get away from it. He followed, arms out and gaze fixed on me. Rolling on the dirt to try to escape, I looked for a safe place to teleport, but at that moment a dagger came flying out of nowhere. Miraculously, it made it through the laser bars of the cage and hit Ansem, making him drop the attack. I'll have to remember to thank Kaj for that one later.

Seizing the opportunity, I leapt forward and hit Ansem as many times as I could. He was good at floating away from me, but I just teleported after him and continued my barrage. When he started up the laser cage again, however, I yelped and rapidly got myself across the room. I was not messing with that thing anymore. That thing hurt.

Ansem landed on the ground in the center of the space, crossing his arms and bending his head down like he had before. I froze, expecting the Guardian to appear, but instead only darkness exploded out from under his feet, shooting across the ground and up the walls and lingering there in waves. That done, he rose up into the air as if to take his leave.

I couldn't help a smirk. "Idiot." I wasn't even sure what his purpose in doing that had been, but he had basically just paid me the same favor that Kaj had given him earlier – handing me a weapon. Thrusting out my left hand, I drew the darkness in to myself, creating a sphere of it floating above my palm.

"Wait!" I heard Riku yell. "Ansem!"

When I turned, he was leaping through the air, Keyblade drawn back, ready to strike Ansem. His younger self had other ideas, however. "Where are you going?" he sneered, jumping up to join Riku. In one swift motion, he karate kicked Riku right in the face, sending him flying backwards to land hard on his back and tumble over onto his stomach.

My stomach lurched. "Grim!" Without a second thought, I let the darkness I had been collecting loose, and it slammed into Young Riku's chest. He hit the wall on the other side of the room with a shower of dust.

Warping to Riku's side, I bent down to check him. His nose was bloody, probably broken, and his lip was split, too, but he was still breathing. I was reaching for a potion when Kaj called my name, and jerked my head up to see Eyepatch taking aim.

With a shout I jumped to my feet in front of Riku, knocking the lasers away left and right. One grazed my temple, and another pierced my thigh. The rest I managed to avoid, and as soon as he seemed to be finished, I grabbed for more darkness from the wall, sending a wave of it straight into his chest without bothering to gather it first.

Turning back to Riku while Eyepatch was occupied with recovering, I downed a potion to get rid of the stabbing pain in my leg, and pulled out a second for him. Kaj had joined us, watching me with breathless concern. As I uncorked the vial, Riku began to stir, and I placed a gentle hand on his head.

"Drink this before you try to move." I poured the clear liquid into his mouth as best I could, running a hand through his sweaty hair.

"Thanks," he grunted, pushing himself up to his hands and knees.

"Hey, let's speed it up!" Eyepatch called. "Keep the line moving!" Young Riku strolled up beside him, no longer seeming all that fazed from his fall.

All three of us were back on our feet, and Riku and I fell into our fighting stances, ignoring all of the new aches and weariness in our bodies. Cutting my eyes to the side, I gave Kaj a nod. Thankfully, he understood my cue, and threw both his daggers at the other Riku as I started running. The boy knocked both of them away with his sword, but it distracted him enough that I was able to come in with a nice blow to his side.

Grim and I ended up alternating between back to back and side to side as we fought, me against his younger self and him against Eyepatch. "So..." I began between swings. "Wanna tell me why I'm fighting...you? From your days of...questionable wardrobe choices? In a Dark Mode suit?" Young Riku warped around the room several times, and I followed, coming right back to where we had started a minute later.

Riku huffed a laugh. "Well, uh..." He rolled out of the way of a spray of lasers with a grunt. "From what I can tell, he's me from..." Jumping up, he pounded his Keyblade into Eyepatch several times before landing again. "From the past. Back when I was corrupted."

"Well, I officially don't like him."

That brought a real laugh, despite the situation we were in. "Good thing you met me later, then."

We somehow switched targets for a moment, the two Rikus locking weapons again while I dodged Eyepatch's bullets and threw some more darkness his way. "Wait...if he's you from the past...what happens if we kill him? Wouldn't you die, too?"

"From what Xehanort said...you know, at the end of the exam...I think he'll just go back to when he came from."

"Oh. Guess I missed that." I launched myself with one foot off of the wall, slicing into Eyepatch on my way past and skidding to a stop in front of Young Riku again. "I was a little busy dangling from a column."

"Would you two shut up?" Eyepatch snarled.

"If you'd hurry up and die, you wouldn't have to listen to us," Riku retorted.

Young Riku was starting to wear thin, I could see it on his face and in his stance. His defense was getting sloppy, and after a few more well-placed blows, he stumbled backwards and let his sword drag the ground. A furious column of darkness shot up into the air from his body, then faded into smaller tongues.

Everyone, even Eyepatch, stopped still. Young Riku's sword vanished, and he brought a shaky hand up toward his face, staring at it. "You're...not real..." Wisps of darkness were coming from his hand, and he squeezed it into a fist.

"Huh?" Riku responded.

"I'm...the real one..."

"Aren't you my past self? From when Ansem possessed me?" Riku asked, confused.

Eyepatch decided to take that moment to start shooting at me again. Honestly, I was surprised it had taken him that long. I growled in pain as one of the lasers struck the back of my shoulder, quickly diving under the rest and running as far away from Riku as I could get so that he could finish his conversation. Beyond the wall, another column of darkness erupted. That was the second one that I had seen from that direction, and now I knew what it meant. Sora and King Mickey were taking care of their Organization members, too.

"Xemnas was right, little poppet really has gotten good with darkness," he smirked as he dodged another ball of it. "Too bad Ansem didn't do his job this morning and get rid of you, would have made our lives that much easier. Oh, well. What's one more guardian to kill? Or, wait...non-guardian, I should say."

"Now who needs to shut up?" I hissed through my teeth.

"Ooh, did I hit a sore spot?"

I'm gonna give you a sore spot.

"Of course I, personally, was hoping to keep you around. Would have made my plans a lot easier if you were, you know, not dead. But oh well. I'll figure something out, I'm sure. I always do."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much," I shot back, trying not to let myself wonder what the heck he was talking about. "You'll be too dead for it to matter."

Leaping up just as he was taking aim again, I attacked multiple times before getting struck back with one of his guns across my face. While I shook my head to stop the throbbing and spinning, Kaj made his move, flinging a dagger directly into Eyepatch's forearm. Gasping audibly, he dropped his gun.

"Nice one, Kaj!" I went back into action before he could think about re-summoning the gun. Riku soon joined me, and with a few more strikes Eyepatch was falling onto his knees.

"Figures," he huffed, looking down at his remaining gun. "If I had a Keyblade, it'd be different..."

"Like you're actually worthy to use one," Riku scoffed.

"Oh, I am worthy."

Riku and I glanced at each other in doubt, and I crossed my arms, shaking my head.

Slamming the tip of his gun down into the ground, Eyepatch struggled to his feet. "The old coot promised to bequeath me his. Why else do you think I would ever put up with all his nonsense?"

"It'd be wasted on you," Riku sneered.

"As if." He faltered a few steps, then vanished into a dark corridor. We jumped in surprise, but he almost immediately appeared again on the top of the wall up above us, holding onto the arm that Kaj had struck. A sinister grin spread across his face.

(You guys know what happens here. Xigbar is now gone.)

"I guess he couldn't handle dying by our hands," Riku mused. Remembering Kaj, he turned quickly. "Even though it's not really dying, technically. These guys...they're all–"

"Nobodies," Kaj finished. "I got that explanation during my few days with them."

"Right. So...even though they die here, they'll just end up coming back to life as their human selves again. Once their Heartless is killed, anyway."

"Guess I'm a terrible person for wishing some of them wouldn't," I mumbled.

"Well, I guess some of them actually won't...the ones that are from the past, like Xemnas and Ansem. And..." Riku's gaze trailed over to the side, and I followed it to see what looked like a body in an Organization coat lying face down in the dirt.

"Who's–?"

I was interrupted by Sora jogging into the area. "Hey, everybody okay in here?"

"Yeah, I think we're good." Riku gave me a questioning glance to confirm.

I shrugged, though I regretted it when my shoulder protested the movement. "Nothing a potion won't fix." And a really long nap. And a few more Nobodies biting the dust. And did I mention a nap?

Sora had stopped by the figure on the ground, and wrinkled his nose, pointing. "What's up with this guy?" He bent down and looked closer, then straightened as we drew close. "Is that a replica for Naminé?"

"Yeah." Riku nodded, then looked at me. "Turns out that 'me' wasn't from the past, after all. He was a replica of me."

"What do you mean by 'replica'?"

"Oh, right. Guess you missed all that." Sora scratched at his temple with one finger. "There was this guy in the Organization who created these living replicas of people. Like puppets, kinda, but with data inside of them so they were just like the real thing. He was one of the ones that got recompleted, but then he got turned into a Nobody again, but turns out he was on our side still anyway."

I shook my head. "So...complicated, as usual."

"Yeah. Anyway, he managed to send us one replica already, and Ienzo has been trying to get Roxas' data inside of it. Now we can use this one for Naminé!"

My face brightened. "That's fantastic!"

Kaj raised his hand. "I'm thoroughly confused."

Shrugging with my good shoulder, I shot him a sympathetic look. "Get used to it."

"I wish we could help her now," Riku remarked. "But first..."

"I know," Sora sighed.

"I'm going after Ansem," Riku announced.

"I want to come with you."

He shook his head at me. "I'd rather you go with Sora. You'll be of more use searching out the rest of the Organization than just following me around."

"You and the King aren't so good at the whole sticking with a partner thing, you know." I elbowed him with a frown.

"I'll be fine. I'll probably run into Mickey somewhere along the way."

Sora nodded. "Yeah, he went to find Xemnas. I'll go see if I can find and help the others."

"And I guess we're coming with you." I stood on my tiptoes and gave Riku a peck on the cheek. "Be careful."

"I will." He started to walk off, then turned to point at me. "Take that potion!"

Rolling my eyes, I pulled it out of my pocket and waved it at him. "I will!"

A/N: So as you can see, I changed a few things in the labyrinth around. Hopefully that's okay with everyone, and you, like me, think it makes more sense. I added some extra hallways and the process of everyone splitting up, to make it more labyrinth-like and to explain how they got into the separate fights. I didn't include Sora in this fight, since it seemed unlikely that Riku or Mickey would be able to keep up a fight against 3-4 people for that long by themselves while they waited for Sora to show up, and since I had extra people to help out. Also, I made Xigbar attack Meli in the middle of Riku and Repliku's conversation, to avoid the whole "we're gonna kindly stand around and not attack you so that you can finish explaining yourself" trope.

On the subject of tropes, though, I do enjoy writing Riku and Meli as the "warrior couple", fighting side by side and throwing quips back and forth.