Well, I'm starting this at my aunt's house, the day after I posted my last chapter. This computer has a very slow connection.*Face* Ah well.

And it's now been a week since I started this chapter. I would like to mention that Sora may seem very different, with fewer illusions about how much power dark and evil has, less trustful, and in ways he is darker himself, but he still believes there is some good in everyone, and that light is the most powerful thing existent. So he may have changed, but his outlook hasn't by much.

Thanks to:

Soraoathkeeper (*BlinkBlink* Well, thanks for all the encouragement.*Blink* I'm glad you liked it enough to review every chapter.)

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Experimental

Kurayami: Part Four

To the Wall

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~~~~~ Dreamscape

@I've found out why the boy has been seeing into your experiment- universes.@

*Really?*

^Please do tell.^

Takeo only recognizes one of the wispy voices sweeping past him in this strange, uncertain landscape.

@It was this moment- Just after the first was born. We might have missed it /because/ the first was just born.@

As the voice speaks the last sentence, the area around Takeo darkens, rising up, forming into the familiar location of Ansem's lab, as it was some fourteen years ago.

Large, plain wooden tables stretch across the room to Takeo's left, covered in vials and papers and books, and to his right four clear tubes, two feet around and two feet tall, capped on the top and bottom with the coppery metal found throughout the Bastion, nestled in a sea of wiring, tubeing, and tiny monitors. Three of them have something in them. Takeo realizes with a mental shudder, as he has no body, that they are him- Neko- Anzu.

Directly before him, quietly flipping through a thick book at his main work table, is Ansem.

Quietly letting his awareness float forward, Takeo looks over Ansem's shoulder, reading a segment of the text from the large, dusty tome before Ansem sighs and closes it.

...The sample reacted positively to the subject, and the subject soon began to notice things beyond normal. This was most evident in the subject's rest periods, where it was most relaxed.

Ansem walks over to the equipment-covered tables, picking up a small bottle, and goes to one of the inhabited tubes. Fishing out a clear line, he drips a little into the end, holding it up so the clear amber liquid runs down and into the tube.

* I see...*

*******

~~~~~ Kairi's shack, Destiny Island.

"Kairi?"

Kairi turns to smile at the young girl standing in the doorway of her little shack. "Yeah, Anzu?"

"Could I borrow your brown skirt for tomorrow? It's Tina's birthday..." Anzu widens her bright blue eyes in an adorable puppy-dog look, making Kairi laugh.

"Sure, go ahead. I'd wear your caramel-gold halter top with it."

"I was planning to." Anzu flashes a grin as she heads to Kairi's closet, swinging the plain driftwood door closed behind her. "Are you coming? I heard from Selphie that one of her friends asked you to. And Tina would love it."

"Mmm." Kairi wavers a hand in a maybe, maybe not sort of way. "I'm not going to go with Rufus do go, but I would like to see Tina again. She's so different from her mom."

"Well, think about it. Rufus is cute, and you're already twenty-three." Anzu pulls out the flowing knee-length skirt, folds it over her arm, and walks to the door. "Ja, Kairi!"

"See you around, Anzu." Kairi turns back to her work table, continuing to string together her shell necklaces famed across the entire island.

*******

Sora gasps for breath, half-bent, as the strange man stands nearby, unaffected by the jerk of nausea rolling through Sora's body.

The man absently straightens the strangely loose sleeves of his terra-cotta shirt, adjusting his buff bag slung over one shoulder and sweeping his tawny and russet hair back. Only then does he notice Sora's discomfort.

"Oh." The man strides quickly over to Sora, a vaguely startled look on his face. "I'm sorry. I forgot to warn you."

Sora sips from a bottle of green liquid he pulls out of his pocket, and straightens almost immediately. He also notices immediately two rather conspicuous absences.

"Where are Donald and Goofy?!" he exclaims, quickly Scanning the strangely blank and dark landscape around him. Almost unconsciously, he summons his Ultima Keyblade, moving into a fighting stance. "Tell me where they are, right now!"

"They're safe, Sora, you don't have to worry about them." The man tries to give Sora a reassuring expression, not succeeding because of his unsettling features. "I sent them to where they're needed most. Could you put your weapon away? It's straining reality."

Sora blinks, a rather mistrustful frown stealing across his face, but lets the cream and gold blade disappear from his hand. His deep blue eyes glare out from under his chestnut bangs. "Where ARE we? Who are you? What are we doing here?" he asks, his still young-seeming voice sharp.

"Don't worry, Sora." The man takes a deep, steadying breath. "You have changed, haven't you? Sit down." The man does so as an example, and Sora copies him. "We are in a... A transition world, if you will. Only a few people... Let me put it this way. You know that there are normaly barriers between worlds?"

Sora nods, and the man continues.

"Well, think of them as walls. A few people, like myself, have... ladders... that let you climb on top, and walk on the tops of these interconnecting walls. But it puts a great strain on the walls and us, and the more we're carrying, like you and Keyblades, the bigger strain. We are here to travel between worlds.

"And you can call me... Zeff."

*******

::No... She CAN'T be here.- SHE'S HERE.::

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That's a nice ending note, ne? No Neko-kun appearance, but it neatly wrapped up the mystery of how the man was going to move them to other worlds. Not who the man is, though. And there are quite a few cryptic remarks. And... YAY! ^_^ I finally got Anzu and Kairi back! ^__^ How do you like Kairi's new profession? ~_^ Nice little tie-in from Kingdom Hearts, ne?

Oh, before I forget... Ja is basically a shortened for of ja ne, which is the shortened form of something else, which is a informal farewell. So "ja" and "ja ne" are basically "See ya!"

And... Goodness, is this whole thing only two pages? Well, then, I have to give you wonderful people some food for thought. Analyzing people, personalities, and names!

Let's start with... Sora, v2.0.

Sora. Sky. The opposite of Riku's Land. We all know this, ne? And that Kairi is Shore, or Ocean, or Separation. Or some combo of those. (I have my own little theory about her name that involves all three and ANOTHER meaning, but let's forget about that. And this part is supposed to be about Sora-chan.) And we all remember cute little fourteen-year-old Game Sora, with his stubborn illusions and foolish faith...That carried him through all the confrontations, disasters, and darkness, against all odds, to the End of the World and beyond, to Kingdom Hearts itself. The unfailing glow of dawn, with none but the faintest clouds, and these just reflecting the glow ever more strongly.

Now, nine years later, the sun is still there, but there is an almost constant haze of clouds veiling it, and muting its light. There still is light, but it's diffused, hazy... Not as strong as the beautiful red glow of dawn. Sora's faith has wavered, his kind, trusting innocence draining slowly away.

There, I think that explains Sora's OOCness, ne?

Now, let's look at Sora's closest counterpart... Takeo.

"Takeo?" you ask, startled. "Why is Takeo Sora's closest counterpart?"

Well, let's think about it. Strange, prophetic dreams and visions, a deep confusion about what's going on, heavy responsibility, life centered around friends or family... You get the picture, ne? Both Takeo and Sora have been left behind by someone they trusted and loved, although Neko left for light, and Riku for dark. Both have lost the little angel in their life- Anzu, Kairi- Both hear Words, (Or 'the voice') both have had Selphie, Wakka, and Tidus ask them about things, both were born in worlds chalk-full of Final Fantasy characters... I could go on forever. They really ARE father and son, aren't they? However, an odd combo of Sora's striving for good, and only good, and Riku's "Ends/Means" philosophy causes my little Takeo's slightly darker, guilt-wracked, blameful side. Takeo does all that he can on the good side, but deep down he knows that part of him wants to go straight for the gold, and who cares if Lani or Aerith or Sephiroth gets hurt as long as Neko and him are fine?

He represses that part of him, but he knows it's there.

Goodness, did *I* just write all that? *BlinkBlink* That makes so much sense. I was making it up off the top of my head to boost word count.

Well, that's all for now! And if you want a little... er, long segment about Riku and Neko next time I update, well,

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