Disclaimer- I do not own Final Fantasy or any of it's characters, or anything else that may or may not appear in this fic.

Note: ~ denotes a thought.

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No one quite knew why they stayed away from the man in the corner. They all knew that he was a stranger in town, yet no one ever approached him. All that they could do was sit and stare.

He could feel their stares. He was used to being stared at, but that did not keep it from bothering him. ~Well~, he thought, ~it's better than some of the alternatives~. He frowned, remembering villages that were not so friendly to strangers. ~All that they have to see is the blue robe, and they start thinking that I'm here to burn down their town. They start thinking the only way to get rid of me is to run me out with pitchforks. Black magic can have its flaws.~

He looked around, trying to find the person that he had been waiting for. He had searched the world, trying to find his three former companions, but this one somehow eluded him. The others had been found easily, but trying to find a ninja in a big city was like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

He looked around for his other two companions. After a while, he found them in the middle of the room, gambling. Just as soon as he found them, he felt the hairs raise on the back of his neck, While an ominous figure appeared in the doorway to the inn. ~Dark take it! Why does the vampire show himself now?!? And the room has to be full of people.~

He steeled his will, started gathering the strength that he would need to fend off this dark creature. The others noticed the vampire, too, and he could sense them preparing for the inevitable battle.

The vampire struck first, but the wizard nimbly dodged his attack, and cast a low-strength fire spell. Any higher would have cooked everyone else in the room. He saw the knight strike at the vampire with his legendary sword, Excalibur, and he noticed the red wizard loosening the equally legendary sword, the Masmune, in its scabbard. He cast another fire spell, wishing that the people would just get out of the way. The red wizard struck with the Masmune, and the battle was quickly over.

Both of the swordsmen cleaned their swords and sheathed them, then walked toward the black wizard, smiling for some reason. He released his will, and gave them a grim look. The smiles faded from the faces of the other two, though they still seemed unnaturally energetic.

"What's wrong with you, Jake?" the knight asked as he reached the black wizard. "That was the first battle we've had in a long time, and it was an easy one, at that."

"You know damn well what is wrong, Steven. This," he gestured at the remains of the vampire, "shouldn't be here. It means that something has forced the old monsters to come out of hiding and there are only a few entities that have that kind of power. Have either of you found our ninja friend yet?"

"Not hide nor hair of him," replied the remaining wizard, named Robert. "Not that that means much. It's going to be nearly impossible to find him in such a big city."

"I saw him before we came here," Steven supplied. "He was doing his best not to be seen, but we can always recognize a fellow Light Warrior."

"Well then, let's go find him. I have a feeling that we're going to need his help before the end of this."

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The three warriors ended up in the darker side of town.

"What the hell is he doing over here?" Jake wondered aloud. "it's not like the people over here have much to steal, and there's no one important to assassinate, so why would he be in a slum like this?"

Steven answered his question with an honest answer. "I truthfully don't know. All I remember is seeing him when I came down here last week."

Robert eyed him knowingly. "And just what were you doing over in this part of town?"

"Uh... well... you see... it had been a while since our last fight and... uh... a knight has to constantly practice and..."

Jake gave an exasperated sigh and voiced his opinion. "It doesn't matter what the hell YOU were doing here. All that matters is that you saw our own personal Shinobi."

They all felt the warning prickle on the back of their necks. The feeling that someone was watching. They split apart, pulling out various weaponry, facing in different directions to combat whatever was about to attack them. ~Oh God, why has this happened twice in the same day?~ Jake wondered. Then they heard the laugh from right above them.

"Put your weapons down. If I had really wanted to kill you, you would all be in need of a clinic right now." The speaker dropped down from his precarious perch, and looked at them all. "I see that the old 'Light Warrior' group is back together again. I assume that is the reason you came looking for me."

"Well, yeah, but how did you know we were looking for you, Kyle?" Jake asked.

"Please, don't ever ask such a stupid question again. I'm a ninja. I was stalking you from the moment you left that inn, and none of you were any the wiser."

"One question, if you don't mind," Robert said.

"Okay, shoot."

"What are you doing here in this part of town?" Rob asked.

"You should all know that by now. We're all being hunted, and I had to find a place to hide for a while. Problem is, they always seem to know where I am." Kyle shook his head. "I don't understand it. They could never find me back when we had the four orbs."

"Yeah, that's kind of why we came to find you. I have a theory, but neither of these two assholes believe that I might be right for once," Jake told him.

Steven scoffed. "Here it comes..."

Jake gave him the death-look that only a black wizard can manage. He turned back to Kyle, and began to speak. "I believe that the Dark Lord Chaos has returned."

"No kidding? Well, I guess that means that I'm in, whether I want to be or not. You can't very easily find another Warrior of Light, and we're the ones that killed Chaos the first time. It can't be much harder this time, can it?" Kyle asked.

"I am afraid to say it, but I believe that you are wrong. It is going to be much harder this time around..."

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Well, tell me what you think. And if you are going to be evil, at least make it worth my time to read.