Part Five

By Jive Maxwell

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

(Hollow Bastion, in the dungeon)

Quatre was imprisoned in the castle dungeon. He didn't

know why or even who his captors were, but he was pretty

miserable. There was no light in the dungeon save a torch at the

end of the hall, and he was scared and cold and worried about

his friends. It sounded like it was storming outside.

He curled up on the small bench he was given and hugged his

knees. Heartless coiled up out of the floor and crawled to him,

nudging him hopefully with the backs of their fists.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice failing him. "I can't help

you."

The Heartless twitched wildly for a moment and seemed to be

talking to each other. They seemed to agree on something and two of

them took Quatre's hands. They led him to the wall of the dungeon

and touched their hands to the wall.

"I don't understand," Quatre shrugged. Again they put their

hands to the wall. Quatre heard a loud creak and footsteps down the

hall.

Hesitantly, he raised his hands and put them to the wall.

Heartless raced up its stone surface like shadows and their hands

came out and grabbed his wrists. Quatre gasped.

They were dragging him into the wall.

He pulled back a bit in wonder, but the footsteps were growing

louder and the Heartless were urging him forward. Quatre allowed

them to push him in the back of the knees and grip his wrists again.

He began to phase through the wall just as the cell door was

unlocked and burst open. Quatre heard a gasp and the next thing he

knew, strong arms had wrapped around his waist and were pulling

him backwards.

The Heartless strained themselves but they weren't as strong.

They let go suddenly and Quatre and his captor flew backwards,

Quatre landing in the man's lap. Immediately the blond boy tried to

race for the open door, but Sephiroth grabbed him and gripped

Quatre tightly, despite the boy's struggles.

"Ansem was right not to trust those bloody things," Sephiroth

growled, kicking one over. "Where did you think you were going, huh?

There's no way off this world unless you can teleport properly."

"The Heartless...aren't things!" Quatre growled, struggling still.

"They were once people! Let me GO!"

"Likely," Sephiroth grumbled. "Come quietly."

"You can't make me!"

"Oh yeah?" Sephiroth shoved Quatre forward and slammed his

head into the wall, knocking him out.

The Heartless snarled at him and gathered around Quatre.

"Get lost you blasted creatures," Sephiroth snapped, and the

Heartless vanished. Carrying Quatre over his shoulder, Sephiroth

went to report the matter to Ansem.

Back upstairs, Ansem was furious.

"What is it now?!" he snapped at Sephiroth, seeing him with

Quatre.

"What's your problem?" Sephiroth grumbled. "I caught him

trying to escape. The Heartless were helping him."

"As if I didn't have enough problems to deal with," Ansem

grumbled. "Look here: this guy wants out."

"Out?" Sephiroth repeated, studying the man Ansem spoke of.

"Yes. And you know how I hate traitors."

The 'traitor' had long white hair like Sephiroth's, and cool blue

eyes. He was tall and apparently in his early 20's.

"Traitor?" the man repeated. "I don't remember ever agreeing to

this plan in the first place."

"You tried to destroy your own world once!" Ansem sneered.

"We need people like you on our side!"

"I'm lucky I was stopped," the other said coolly. "I would have

regretted my mistake deeply had I not. What have you done to

Quatre?"

"You're familiar with this boy?"

"We've met. I know his friends won't be pleased to see what

you've done to him."

"Zechs, is it?" Ansem growled. "I brought you here to aid us in

our cause, not to worry about the pathetic feelings of your enemies."

"I've fought side by side with this guy," Zechs argued. "He's not

my enemy. And I won't allow you to hurt him. We're leaving."

"If you think that you can just walk out of here-" Ansem

snapped.

"I'll run if I have to!" Zechs snapped, ramming into Sephiroth. In

surprise, the Sephiroth let Quatre fall from his shoulder. Zechs

slipped his own shoulder beneath Quatre's belly and ran for the exit.

"You won't get far," Ansem laughed.

"You underestimate the Tall Geese and I!" Zechs called over

his shoulder. Ansem's eyes widened.

"Sephiroth, stop him!" Sephiroth raised a single black wing and

glided swiftly out the door.

The Tall Geese was waited patiently outside. Zechs laid Quatre

carefully on the floor of the cockpit and took his seat in time to face

Sephiroth exiting the castle ruins. From his place now,

Sephiroth appeared tiny.

"So you want to fight, huh?" Zechs yelled, bringing the suit to

life. A burst of fire was Sephiroth's reply.

"This is Gundainium alloy!" Zechs laughed. "You may as well try

digging to China as to try burning it!"

"What's China?!" Sephiroth demanded. "Sin Harves-"

He never got to finish that attack. The Tall Geese, under

Zechs' piloting, had reared back a powerful fist and punched the

him. Sephiroth caught himself in midair but was too late to stop the

Gundam prototype from escaping.

"Its fast," he murmured. The suit was already just a speck in the

sky. "At that speed, he'll be able to travel through space. Ansem won't

be pleased." Sephiroth shrugged. He really didn't care how Ansem

felt.

'I'm more powerful than that fool anyway,' he smirked.

(Xenosaga: the spaceship Woglinde, deep space)

On board the Woglinde, Shion Uzuki sat at her computer

pondering over tables and charts of recorded data.

Shion had light brown hair that was braided above her left ear,

aqua green eyes and glasses. She wore black skintight leggings, a

short skirt and long sleeves. She was a caring and kind young woman

and was also really smart.

On the table beside her, a Heartless lay, very nearly dead, if

Heartless can die. Allen came in, looking nervous. Allen was a geek

with brown hair and blue eyes, and a crush on Shion.

"Uh, Shion, working hard?"

Shion turned to him. "Huh? Oh, yes, Allen. I just can't figure out

this creature. It's so strange; it lives and breathes like we do, but it

doesn't have any vital statistics, and, what's more, it isn't made of

matter. At least not solid matter anyway. Isn't that strange?"

"Yeah," Allen agreed. "Uh...real strange." He blushed and

caught his breath.

'Ask her now!' he urged himself. 'Come on!' But no words came

out. Then the loudspeaker came on.

"Woglinde is under attack. Enemies have boarded the

Woglinde. Activating defense mode: Defcon 7. Please proceed to the

nearest safe area and remain hidden. Do not attempt to leave the

ship. Enemies gathered outside prevent all escape. Repeat..."

"The Woglinde is under attack?" Shion gasped. Then Shion

was called on the loudspeaker.

"Shion Uzuki: please proceed to lab 2 as quickly as possible.

Repeat..."

"How am I supposed to get to lab 2 if the Woglinde is under

attack?!" Shion cried in frustration.

Allen peered out the door cautiously. Heartless rushed by

outside, and he slammed it shut.

"Uh...Sh-Sh-Shi..." he stammered, pointing behind her.

"What is it, Allen?" she scolded. "Spit it out!"

"Th...Thing..."

Shion turned and saw the Heartless on the table rising.

"Oh, honestly, Allen, it's just a little creature," Shion scolded.

The Heartless hopped off the table and tried gnawing on her boot.

She stomped on its long feet.

"Listen up you!" she roared at it. "You're going to take us to lab

2, got it? Now don't try anything funny!" She stomped on it again for

emphasis. The creature grabbed its injured limb and hopped around

for a moment. Then it went over to Shion and hugged her leg.

"That's better," Shion crooned. "Now take us to Lab 2."

The creature nodded and they started out.

Ansem and Sephiroth watched the ship blasting away at the

Heartless from a safe distance, but the Heartless kept multiplying.

"I've always wanted to see outer space," Ansem admitted. "Too

bad I have to see it when such a bloody battle is going on. I'll bet it's

much more beautiful when its peaceful."

"Ansem, are you getting sentimental?" Sephiroth chuckled. "In

any case, that fool Zechs will have no place to go. This ship will soon

be destroyed, and, once his Gundam runs out of fuel, he's a sitting

duck. Then it will be easy for the Heartless to track down Quatre

Winner and return him to us."

"I want him found alive, understood, Sephiroth?" Ansem

snapped. "Hurt one hair on the boy's head and I'll feed you to the

Heartless." Ansem disappeared.

"Hurt one hair on the boy's head and I'll-" Sephiroth mocked.

"That cursed fool doesn't know who he's talking to! Oh well. He has

his uses. I'll just sit back and watch him do all the work for me."

Sephiroth laughed and disappeared.

(The Tall Geese)

Quatre woke in a glorious blaze of pain. He had a brick sized

bruise on his head and it was killing him. He saw someone in the seat

of the cockpit above him. Someone with long white hair...

"Zechs Marquise?" he said in surprise, climbing to his feet.

"You're up," Zechs stated, without glancing at Quatre.

"What happened? Where are we?"

"I saved you from Hollow Bastion," Zechs explained. "Now we're

in space. Looks like there's a battlefield up ahead."

"Are you going to get involved?"

"There's no other choice. The defending ship is outnumbered,

and the Tall Geese is low on fuel."

"Do you think they'll help us out if we lend them a hand?"

"Quatre," Zechs sighed. "You've done nothing but ask me

questions for a minute now. Why don't you come up with some

answers? I'm just as lost as you are. One day, I'm working as a

Preventer for the colonies, the next I'm involved in some kind

of...galactic war or something. I'm just trying to swallow this as it

comes, okay? Why don't you try that? Just go along with it."

"Right," Quatre agreed.

"So..."

"So lets prepare for battle!" Quatre finished.

(Lab 2)

"What?!" Shion raged.

"You heard us!" the ship's captain snapped. "Activate KOS-

MOS! Set her against these creatures! She could defeat them easily,

couldn't she?"

"KOS-MOS wasn't built for this kind of battle! She was created

to fight Gnosis!" Shion argued.

"Our lives our in danger!" the captain retorted. "Its do or die,

missy! It's about time you tested that prototype anyway! Now activate

that thing! That's an order!"

Shion shivered in anger.

"Better do as he says," Allen whispered to her. "We may not

stand a chance otherwise."

Shion growled and sat at a computer. She typed away at it for a

moment, then the case in the middle of the room opened, revealing

KOS-MOS.

KOS-MOS was a prototype weapon created to fight horrible and

mysterious creatures called Gnosis. She looked like a blue haired girl

with red eyes and a visor. She came to life and stood up to meet

Shion.

"Your orders, Shion?" KOS-MOS asked.

"KOS-MOS, I'm sorry to wake you, but we're having a bit of

trouble on board the ship. We need you to, um... destroy the

creatures called Heartless."

"Negative. Shion, I was not programmed to be able to fight such

creatures. You of all people should know that."

"I do know that, KOS-MOS," Shion replied. "But there really isn't

any choice. Please KOS-MOS."

KOS-MOS made no reply, but took out a gun and blasted the

Heartless that had led Shion and Allen to the lab. Allen squawked

and jumped back in surprise.

"KOS-MOS!" Shion gasped.

"I was merely following orders," KOS-MOS retorted. The

loudspeaker came on.

"Captain," a voice said. "There's a strange A.G.W.S. (mecha

used in Xenosaga used to fight Gnosis) approaching. The pilot calls

himself Zechs and says he has an injured passenger aboard. He is

willing to aid us in battle in exchange for some aid, but he claims his

ship is registered as Tall Geese and none of our records agree that

such a ship even exists. What's more, it's huge! You should see this,

sir."

"Alright," the captain agreed. "Send the nearest Realians to lab

2 immediately with orders to escort me to the bridge."

"Yes sir." The loud speaker flickered out and immediately two

Realians backed in through the door, shooting back some pretty

nasty Heartless. One was missing an arm, and the other seemed to

have some facial damage, but Realians are synthetic humans and

only feel simulation pain, so they could be repaired later.

Still, Shion felt sorry for the Realians. They bled just like real

humans, even if they were built only to battle. And it wasn't fair that

they weren't allowed to have as many rights and privileges as

humans. But it really couldn't be helped. If a Realian went out of

control, there was a detonation device equipped that would solve that

problem.

The Realians greeted the captain eagerly.

"Ah, shut up," the captain snapped, strolling outside. "There's

work to be done."

"Yes sir," the Realians agreed and followed after him.

"How rude," Shion scowled. KOS-MOS headed for the door.

"Huh? Where are you going, KOS-MOS?"

"Did you not give me orders to fight the Heartless, Shion?"

"Oh, right! Hang on, KOS-MOS! I'm coming with you."

"What?" Allen gasped. "Shion, have you lost your mind?" He

followed after them.

(Tall Geese)

"Permission granted to aid in battle."

"Excellent," Zechs admitted. "And my conditions?"

"Met."

"That's great," Quatre said. "Now we can lend a hand."

"Just don't be a backseat driver, Quatre," Zechs said over his

shoulder. "And another thing: sit down."

"Uh, sure." Quatre sat down as the Tall Geese accelerated.

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

The Tall Geese raced by some Heartless and, a moment later,

the things shuddered and went still. Breaking the sound barrier

several times, the Tall Geese cleared away sections of the battlefield.

"Look, they have mobile suits here, too!" Quatre said, pointing

to some smaller than usual mechanical dolls standing on the ship and

blasting at the Heartless.

"Quatre!" Zechs yelled. "Don't distract me!"

"Oops!"

"Too late," Zechs said grimly. "We're surrounded."

"It's not my fault!" Quatre protested. The Heartless were closing

in on them, and the Tall Geese couldn't accelerate. Zechs tried

gunning some down, but there were just too many.

"Activating F-Gshot. Please, if you have any shielding devices,

initiate them immediately."

"Huh?"

The call came from a young woman standing on the Woglinde.

She was aiming a big gun in their direction.

"How can she survive without a space suit?" Quatre breathed.

"Who cares? She's aiming at us!" Zechs flicked a few switches

and activated a weak shield around the Tall Geese.

"Your shield is not sufficiently powerful enough to withstand this

assault. Probability of damage: 98.8765. Extensiveness of damage:

54.766. I will commence firing anyway. Please stand by."

"What are our chances of survival?" Quatre wondered.

Zechs gritted his teeth.

"Forget it, girl," he retorted. "I'm using my Beam Cannon."

The red eyed girl watched coolly as Zechs raised the arm of the

Tall Geese and fired.

Heartless withered away in front of them, but the were still

outnumbered. Still, they could escape.

The Tall Geese let loose a burst of speed and got out of the

way, just as the girl let loose with her F-Gshot.

The Heartless were cleared away. But then...

"Oh god..." Zechs breathed. KOS-MOS turned her head and

started firing like mad, but it was no use. A Heartless bigger than the

Woglinde was making its way toward them.

"Statistics confirm that possibility of defeating such a creature is

.0986. I will leave you to hold off this Heartless while I aid the

civilians in boarding an escape vessel." The girl jumped and headed

toward a hatch down the back of the ship.

"Great," Zechs growled, warming up his beam cannon.

Shion wandered around the halls alone. She could hear

Heartless hissing and people screaming from a distance, but so far,

very little had approached her. Bodies lay on the ground, soulless

bodies that stared blankly at her without seeing. Some of them were

Realians.

Shion gasped, seeing a Realian in a state of suspended

animation lying over the body of an empty human. It looked like the

Realian had died protecting someone. She knelt and touched the

human's chest. Nothing.

"There's no heartbeat," she said sadly. Then she studied the

Realian.

"Hmm," she mused. "There's no damage. It should be

operational. What's stopping them?" A pool of black fluid oozed

around the Realian's chest. She touched it in wonder. It was cold, but

her hand passed right through it.

"It's just...shadow..." she breathed. She heard a hissing behind

her. She turned, and a Heartless was staring blankly into her eyes.

She gasped and backed up against the wall as it approached her.

"Shion?" It was Allen calling her. He was coming. "Shion, where

did you run off to? AHH, that woman!"

The Heartless reached out to touch her, and she closed her

eyes in fear.

Allen wouldn't make it in time, and he couldn't fight it anyway...

The Heartless chuckled in its hissy voice and touched her heart.

Its long hands went through her chest and gripped her heart.

Shion went cold and shuddered all over. She felt like icy water

was coursing through her veins! Where was Allen? She couldn't hold

on much longer!

The Heartless was smiling, leering at her victoriously. Her vision

began to blur, then-

"Activating special ability, S-Sault. Please stand by." Shion

would know that computerized voice anywhere.

"K-KOS-MOS," she breathed. "Help me...I can't feel my

heart...beating...I can't feel...anything..."

The Heartless let her go suddenly and turned to face KOS-

MOS. Shion panted and lifted her hand to check her pulse. At first

she felt nothing, then-yes! -her heart gave a few rapid beats and

returned to normal, but, deep down, Shion still felt cold.

Allen rounded the corner just as KOS-MOS made a loud mess

with the Heartless. He squawked and jumped back. Then, seeing

Shion on the floor, he rushed to her.

"Are you okay?! What happened to these guys?"

"I'm...fine, really," Shion replied. "I don't know what

happened..."

"Shion," KOS-MOS said coolly, "we must get to an escape

vessel immediately. A particularly large Heartless is attempting to

destroy this ship."

"How big, KOS-MOS?"

"Visual reports confirm that the Heartless is 50.6754 bigger

than the Woglinde."

"What?!"

"Visual reports confirm that-"

"I know that, I just can't believe it!" Shion cried.

"We must go."

"Right!"

The three of them took off down the corridor.

Outside, Zechs' beam cannon wasn't taking effect.

"Dammit!" Zechs yelled, dodging a fist larger than the Tall

Geese itself. "This is impossible!"

"We have to stop it soon or it'll hurt someone!" Quatre cried.

"We're the only ones fighting this thing!"

"Didn't I tell you before not to be a back seat driver?" Zechs

growled.

Quatre leaned forward suddenly and began pushing buttons on

the control panel.

"Hey!" Zechs choked, forced to lean back uncomfortably. "It's

no use activating the visual communications system, Quatre! The

spaceship Woglinde isn't responding!"

"We're not contacting the ship," Quatre said grimly.

"What?! You can't be serious..."

"I am." Quatre flicked a final switch. "This is Quatre Winner.

Please discontinue your assault. We don't want any unnecessary

bloodshed. I repeat..."

"This is stupid," Zechs sighed. "Please, monster, be nice.

Right."

"It's stopped," Quatre sighed.

"Wha-?!" Zechs leaned forward in his seat and saw that Quatre

was telling the truth. The one giant Heartless had stopped. But behind

it, hundreds more were approaching.

"Damn," Zechs swore quietly. "There's no way we can make

contact with all of them at once."

"Let's just hope that girl and some of the others got away in

time."

Zechs nodded.

(On board the Durandal.)

The Durandal was a beautiful ship, shaped like a red arrow with

wings in the back in place of the feathers. It cut through space like a

knife, heading for the Elsa.

"Little master," a young woman reported. "The distress signal is

no longer reaching our communications system. All efforts to contact

the Elsa have failed miserably."

"That's not good," 'Little Master' mused. "It's possible they could

be destroyed already. Dammit!" Little Master was Gaignon Jr., a small

person with short red hair and an overcoat. He looked about 12 years

old, but his skill with weapons was surpassed only by skill as one of

the leaders of a group called Vector.

"How terrible," breathed another boy. He looked about 16 years

old, with silky with hair that nearly reached his shoulders that he kept

stuck behind his ears, but it stuck up in the back. He had shimmering

blue-green eyes and a melancholic smile-most of the time. Just then

he was sighing sadly. His name was chaos.

"Hey, cheer up, ya moron," chaos' captain spoke up. "You can't

feel sorry fer every poor sucker that gets in a spot of trouble these

days."

"And we may still be able to help," Jr. agreed. "You watch."

"You may be right," chaos said sadly. "I just wish...what's that?"

Everyone turned. A small black creature scampered across the

bridge.

"I dunno," the captain said in wonder.

"I've never seen anything like it before," Jr. admitted.

"Come here, little one," chaos called to it. The Heartless

shivered fearfully behind a desk for a moment. Then it rushed at

chaos, claws bared in an attack.

"Chaos, look out!"

The Heartless stopped in midair. Chaos took a slow, deep

breath, reached out, and touched it. The Heartless vanished.

Chaos stood up, his hands clasped and over his heart.

"It's okay," he told the others. "I can fight this creature the way I

can fight Gnosis. But..."

"Yeah?" the captain put his hand on the boy's shoulder and

gave him an impatient shake.

"I'm worried. Something tells me this is the same creature that

attacked the Elsa."

"So?" a guy named Tony demanded. "It didn't look dangerous to

me."

"But it is," chaos said quietly, moving closer to the captain for

support. "It has no heart, and what doesn't have a heart is very

dangerous."

(The Legend of Zelda, Temple of Time)

Back at the Temple of Time, Sora and the others had met with

the Gundam pilots. Sora was a bit edgy about letting Heero use the

dark Keyblade at first, but he soon got used to the idea.

"It's too bad you can't come with us on our missions, Heero,"

Sora mused with a grin. "It'd be great working with you guys."

"It is possible," Zelda told them. "If one of you Gundam pilots

agreed to go with Link and the others, that would make two teams of

four...Oh, I forgot...You're missing the other boy, Quatre, aren't you?"

She let it trail off.

"What happened to him?" Ashitaka asked.

"He...approached the Heartless...Then he disappeared," Trowa

told them. "I guess we're not sure, really."

"He did what?" Sora gasped. "Oh boy, that's not good!"

"He may have become a Heartless," Squall said dryly.

"Never!" Trowa argued. "Quatre would never lose his heart like

one of those creatures! He despises evil, and pities the weak. You

can't just lose a heart like that!"

"That's true," Sora said quietly.

"You guys, you must go soon," Zelda reminded them, and two

portals appeared. Sora walked up to Heero and placed something in

his hand.

"As long as you refuse to give up on your friend, there's still a

chance. Don't lose hope."

Heero nodded, and Sora went and joined his team through the

portal.

"What is that, Heero?" Duo wondered. "Lemme see!"

Heero opened his fist. There was a key chain there. It was a

dove with a sword held gingerly in its mouth.

"That reminds me of Quatre," Trowa said softly.

"I think Sora clips those onto his Keyblade," Zelda reported.

"Why don't you try that?"

"Alright." Heero placed it on the Keyblade's handle, and the

sword transformed. Its handle became shaped like curving feathers,

and the end became tipped with a sharp, curved wing pattern. "I see,"

Heero said softly. "This can be customized. Care to give this version

a name, Trowa?"

"How does...Angelblade sound?"

"Perfect. Let's go."

(Kingdom Hearts, Hollow Bastion)

"It's not going right," Sephiroth said coolly, staring into the sky.

"You said they weren't supposed to survive."

"They haven't," Ansem replied. "Now that we have them out into

the open, it's time for you and Seymour to act."

"What do you want us to do?" Seymour asked softly.

"Seymour, you will take some Heartless and lead an assault

against the spaceship Durandal and the escape vehicle. Sephiroth, I

will trust you to retrieve Quatre before Seymour strikes."

"And Zechs?" Sephiroth asked, turning to go.

"Do as you will."

Sephiroth smiled and disappeared.

"Are you sure he's the best one for that job?" Seymour asked.

"He'll likely get caught up in taking his revenge."

"That's why I sent him," Ansem admitted. "He's more powerful

than us at the moment, Seymour. We have to keep him satisfied or

he'll take measures into his own hands. Anyway, once I get the power

I desire, he will be as nothing to me."

Sephiroth, who had only teleported a short distance away to

overhear this exchange, smiled uncaringly.

"You're wrong, Ansem. That power will be mine."

To be continued...

JM: Was it too bold, including Xenosaga in this story? How many

people have even played Xenosaga?

Shion: I guess they'll just have to play the game. smiles

JM: On the plus side, I think this was a good chapter. It was quite

hectic, in fact. And let's face it people, we all know that Sephiroth is

way more powerful than Ansem is.

Ansem: I resent that.

Sephiroth: Please review.