A/N: Don't rely on my Japanese translations in the titles. They're second-hand.

DIS: (Gives you Look) Baka. If you don't get it yet, I don't want an idiot like you reading this. I don't own anything owned by other people.

THANKS:

Ozric 750(As always)

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Experimental

Beginnings: Part Five

Yareru ka? [Are you up to it?]

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~~ Another dark secret passage. (Geeze, there're a lot of these...)

Takeo looks up as Oni storms quietly in. Something in Oni's dark eyes, not so much angry as offended at an interruption and totally cold, sparks a memory of Ansem. The memory of Ansem sparks another memory, much more recent- just last night.

Takeo's own aqua-green eyes widen considerably as he bolts past Oni. A few quiet words reach Takeo's ears as he runs through the secret ways.

"This'll ruin my plans totally. I thought Takeo would be a constant..."

***

~~ The brightly lit hallway we left Neko and Anzu in.

Anzu stiffens slightly as she recognizes the person approaching. Neko notices.

The Mako-eyed warrior rounds the corner and instinctively casts an offensive spell at the unexpected and unfamiliar figures, instantly knocking one out and the other nearly. Then he casts another spell, one used to keep an enemy immobile while dealing with another- a sort of cage. Then, when it finally registers on Cloud's mind that these might not be monsters, he's hit square in the chest by a few more volts of electricity than a human is built to stay awake after.

Takeo takes a slightly worried, if brief, look at the blond guy he just hit. The light mostly dies out of topaz chips at the corners of his eyes, although a tiny pulse remains. Then he walks over to the flickering iridescent blue dome over his sisters.

"Anzu? Are you okay?" he asks through the magic.

She nods. "I'm not sure about Neko, though. She looks... Really pale." Really pale is an understatement. Neko's skin is naturally pale already, she hasn't been outside for almost three years, and a powerful spell just hit her. The best word to describe her skin tone at that moment is pure white. The tiny chips of ice flaking off from her clothes with every convulsive shiver don't exactly help. "Should I try to warm her up?" Anzu asks nervously. She cups a hand and a tiny flame appears in her palm. "That might help, right?"

"I don't really think so, Ani. She's ice, so fire may hurt more than anything else."

Anzu starts to cry. "It's not fair that we're opposites! I can't help her at all!"

Takeo thinks quickly. "We might be able to help another way. Do you think if we hit this force shield hard enough, it'd break?"

Anzu nods, wiping tears from her eyes. "Anything breaks if hit hard enough."

Takeo smiles encouragingly at her. "Well then, let's try it! On the count of three, okay?"

Anzu nods.

"One-" The topazes glint with lightning, and sparks start to shimmer in Anzu's wings. "Two-" Takeo raises his hands, flicks of light glowing between his fingers and the flakes of gems embedded in them. Anzu's eyes brighten to almost a flame-blue. "THREE!"

A sharp clap of thunder fills the hall, combined with a roar of flame and a brilliant red-yellow-white light.

***

~~ Following Leon out of the Chapel.

Leon trudges out of the chapel, vaguely disturbed by what Yuffie had said as she was leaving the meeting.

:: FLASHBACK ::

"Yuffie, are you going to do anything silly or stupid today?"

"Why, need to fit it into you schedule, great fearless leader?"

:: END FLASHBACK ::

He had stood like an idiot, trying to cope with what had hit him as very true.
::I _AM_ the leader, now. How come I didn't figure it out? Even Cloud listens to me, and for him, that's a task.:: His disturbed museing comes to a sudden halt as a great, roaring noise echoes down a hallway, accompanied by a brilliant light show. ::Speak of the devil... That's down Cloud's way. What's it this time?:: Leon breaks into a quick jog.

He rounds a corner to see three small bodies huddled on the floor, Cloud a few feet away.

A quick look-over reveals that none of them are dead, just out for a while. It also reveals that all three unknowns on the floor have... oddities about them.

::Who knew that three of the experiments would show up just as I finished my speech?::

The older girl kept on convulsing, and with each shudder, flakes of ice fluttered off of her, and claws extended then retracted from her fingers. Her red-and-silver hair he recognized from the library.

The boy was fairly normal except for the silver streaks in his shaggy brown hair, and the tiny gemstones by his eyes that pulsed very faintly.

The younger girl...::Something's familiar about her. Something odd...:: And not the flame-like wings, or the hair clip Leon recognized as the top part of the Heartless symbol holding back her almost-brown, almost-red hair. Suddenly, it struck Leon- at the same time as a powerful Gravity spell.

Her innocence, projected around her like a halo, that he had last seen coming from a certain chestnut-haired boy over three years ago- just before Sora had set out for the End of the World.

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Three pages! 931 words! Be happy- and REVIEW! If you don't want me to turn my Yami on you, that is.

Yami Alana: OOH! May I torture people? May I? May I? ^_^

No. Just kill them quickly and get it over with.

Yami Alana: Aww... v_v