3:15 p.m. in the World of Tomorrow, The Chateau, the home of Malvolio, is best described as "Euro-culture gone overkill". For starters, The Chateau is connected to a very tall building which is rumored to be the head office of Malvolio. One employee told his friends that he saw a couple of strange-looking people which he calls them "The Freak Parade". Now, Malvolio's house is big. Calling it a mansion is an understatement. Calling it a palace somehow fits the bill. On the front yard, a black gate guards The Chateau. The garden is marvelous and colorful with two fountains located on each side. Guards are scouting the area, looking for possible intruders. Thus, the heavily guarded palace would be hard to penetrate. Inside the palace, heavily decorated rooms are sight to be awed. A mix of blood red and peach curtains, along with white walls, paintings of European-inspired figures and places, statues ranging from gorgeous to grotesque and everything else that would qualify as one of the best homes a billionaire could afford. But this billionaire handles illegal weapons and drug exchange and supply, among others just like the Mafia would. The real mystery about this mansion is that you can get lost within it. Another mystery is the doors. They said that each door can bring you to another place but one should use a very unique key or two.

There is one weakness to the Chateau's security: the underground. The underground tunnels and sewers are only guarded by a few guards so the intruders can easily penetrate the house through there. So, why place a few guards on the most penetrable location to the Chateau? Here's one secret: the Chateau itself is an alarm system and at the same time a killing zone. At one point, a cat burglar who many people called "St. Tail" entered the Chateau and despite her fast reflexes, she was killed mysteriously. The bad part is that everytime some one got killed, Malvolio and his trophy wife complained about the mess where blood is spread almost everywhere. So, the only way to enter the Chateau is to cross the underground where now, a few soldiers are unconscious as four figures are walking to their destination.

"Do you understand about the Chateau? The place itself is a standing mass murderer," Leon notes about the danger being there.

Taro scoffs at this. "I don't get it. Why would the place be so dangerous where in fact no one knew what the traps are?"

"Who knows but what we do know is that it's dangerous, physically, spiritually and mentally," Leon points out, "so that's why we're heading to the power room. Shut it down will bring the alarms down for at least two hours"

"That's good news," Irvine replies with a hint of sarcasm

"Our mission is to rescue Riku's ass and the Keymaker."

"Key-who-what?," asks Yui.

"The Keymaker, the creator of Keyblades." Leon responds Yui's question. "Despite his looks, he's older than you think. He's as old as the time, good and evil, thus making him an ancient figure."

Irvine thinks about this. "Why would Malvolio want the guy? The Keymaker has nothing on him."

"Keyblades have different kinds of powers. Malvolio wants power, like other powerful men. As for Riku, he has answers Malvolio wants. But I doubt our favorite silver-haired man would crack easily. So we have time to save them."

"You seem pretty calm," replied Yui.

"Don't mind Squall. We've been through that situation for a long time," Irvine chuckles as he remembers their days at SEED.

"What's with the name change? Squall, Leon. Riku, Kiev. Is that the latest fad across the galaxy?", Taro asks no one in particular, but probably at Leon.

Leon responds, "In my case, it's personal."

Irvine whispers to Taro and Yui, "Don't mind him. Past through his icy exterior is a good guy. He just doesn't trust anyone easily."

"Ah, the silent, brooding, angst-y guy. They are so overrated", Yui comments.

An idea came into Taro's mind. He grins at this. He believes that if one makes him miserable, he will drag him or her with him.

"Um, Red?"

Yui looks at him. "What?"

"Q & A. Do you kill?"

"Excuse me?"

"They say that a shinobi kills everyone who stands in his way." Taro continues to walk casually, knowing that his red-haired comrade may have something to hide. Yui and the rest know where this is going. For Yui, as the shinobi of the Ichiro clan, doing missions sometimes involves killing. She decides to change the topic.

"Where's the power room and where exactly do we get in the Chateau? Are we going to do it the Trojan Horse method?", asked Yui to Leon in a serious manner. Taro was surprised that she didn't resort to her blunt attitude.

"Not far from here but we better hurry. Despite the 2-hour black out, you can be sure the place will be full with guards. We are not to make a scene," Leon responds to Yui's question. He continues on, "After we shut down the power, there is a hidden staircase that will lead to the wine cellar. From there, I'll show you the layout of this place and we'll disperse. Any questions?"

"One. Can we expect someone to stop us?", asked Irvine.

Leon sighs. One way or another, there will always be enemies waiting for them. He knew Malvolio isn't that stupid. Okay, academically most of the time. "Hopefully, none. But if there are dispose of them immediately."

Leon continues to lead the others to the power room.


In a small dark room, only a dimly light bulb is lit across it. Riku wakes up groggily and in an obviously bad mood. He gets up and looks around. The walls are painted dark green and the room itself is fit for one person. He sheepishly curses himself for capturing himself but this was the only way to get into the Chateau and get the Keymaker. He had heard of the name before when he was young. The Keymaker usually isolates himself from people because of his non-social skills. Then, he and his two childhood friends met him. The meeting was weird to say the least. He recalled that the Keymaker had warned them about the impending apocalypse that has already occurred on all worlds. He was one of the many people they had come across that either helped them or hindered them.

Riku stands up and looks around to see if there are any open windows to see where he is. He looks up and sees one. He silently thanked his lucky stars. He looks outside and realizes that he's in the dungeon. He grumbles inwardly. At least he wasn't in the bedroom. He continues to look for the Keymaker until a pair of sharp black eyes looks at him, which resulted Riku flinched away by a bit.

"Well, well. It's been a while since I caught a disgusting rat", the man sneers with pure hate and disgust. Riku just ignores his tone.

"Hello to you too, Mally", Riku replies nonchalantly.

"It's Malvolio, you indigenous idiot!", Malvolio raises his voice at him. "You better be thankful that I haven't had the chance to kill you!" He continues on with French curses Riku couldn't understand. Then again, he was thankful for that matter.

"Tsk, tsk, Mally. You think you'd take me? I heard you lost your touch", Riku continued which sparks Malvolio's anger towards him. "I always thought you were man of class. Oh wait, you weren't. Compared to Veral and the man, your ass would be owned even by your fiancée or wife or whatever."

Malvolio's anger turned into an evil smirk. "Do you know that this cell of yours can kill you? All cells in this dungeon have sealing abilities to seal off any power the prisoner has, whether be chi, charka, nen or anything." Riku didn't flinch and had his poker face ready for anything. Malvolio continues on. "The cells here have enough power to electrocute, burn, freeze or bury you. Even better, can kill you in an instant-"

His talk was interrupted when he heard a young girl crying across Riku's cell.

"Will someone let that brat to shut up?!", snarled Malvolio. He hated kids. But this girl couldn't stop crying ever since she was captured. "Yo Mally", said Riku, "show some compassion to the girl. At least she's more human than you do." Malvolio looks at Riku with an evil glare. The blindfolded silver-haired man just gives him a toothy grin. "What exactly are you going to do eh?", replied Malvolio hinting a challenge. Riku realizes this. "Please, I can knock you out with my pinky finger."

Just as a very hot-tempered Malvolio is about to give Riku a barrage of cusses, the lights began to shut down completely for the time being. Malvolio curses on what just happened. He calls or rather shouts at his bodyguards to ask them what just happened.

"Sir", one bodyguard replied, "the main power is probably shut down."

"Probably? PROBABLY?", Malvolio shouted at him. He has no time for stupidity. "Of course the main power was shut down. Who the hell was responsible for this?" He paused for while and whispers to the other bodyguard. The bodyguard nodded and tells the other one to follow him. As soon as they were gone, Malvolio looks at Riku with an evil grin.

"What such pleasure do have in mind noodle boy?", teased Riku. He wanted to know what he was up to.

Malvolio replies, "It seems that your comrades did such a good thing by coming here and rescue you. But unfortunately, they really don't know what they've brought themselves into."

"What the hell are you talking about you fake haired mini wheat?", asked Riku. He was getting into Malvolio's nerves for a long time. "How about this?," Malvolio tells him his secret, "Let's just say there are four warriors whom your comrades cannot defeat." Riku gives him a snicker. Malvolio isn't pleased with the response. He was known for being exaggerating but in most cases he is not a person to be messed with. "They come from different worlds, just like your stupid friends", Malvolio continues, "but they are considered to be the most dangerous men and they are not fools. They will kill those who will stand in their way." Riku again scoffs at this. "That is a crock of shit", he replied.

Instead of berating Riku, Malvolio decides to leave him alone. "Just remember, my dear natural born killer, it's going to get nasty and you have no chance in stopping me." And that, he left Riku and leaves the dungeon. Riku has to quickly figure out what he is going to do to get out. While he is concentrating, the young girl he heard crying earlier is calling for anyone who can help her. "Hello?", the young girl calls out, "Is someone there?".

Riku instantly replies her, "Hey kid. You okay?". The girl answers him back nervously. "Y-yeah, I think. Do you know where we are?"

"Kid, what's your name?", asks Riku. "My name is Sakura Kinimoto", Sakura, finally revealing her name, responds. He can tell she's scared to death, being in an unfamiliar place or world. "Sakura," Riku tells her assuringly, "everything's going to be okay. I want you to stay where you are. I promise I'll get you out. You and probably other prisoners who AREN'T on the dark side."

"Riku?"

Riku looks around. He had heard that familiar voice before. "Is that you?" Riku decides to answers back. "Yeah it's me. Where are you?"

"Beside your cell, on the left side", the mysterious stranger points out. "Is that really you?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Where's BLEEP?"

"He's not with me at the moment. He's, um, looking for help."

Riku lets out an small sigh of much-needed relief. He finally found the Keymaker.


"Power's out", replies Irvine.

Leon nods in agreement. "Good. Follow me."

Taro, Yui and Irvine follow Leon out of the power room and after a few blocks, they reach a dead end. Leon approaches the brick wall and pushes a hidden button, revealing a staircase. Leon leads the way to a dark wine cellar. He reaches a small flash light from his pockets and a map. Irvine helps him unfold the map and puts it on the table. Yui and Taro are awed by the blueprint of the Chateau.

"Shpedoinkle!", Taro gasps in surprise.

Yui is awed as well. "Look at the size of that building. I wonder how much they paid for this place...or how many did they killed."

"Real estate can be a bitch", Leon mutters before he decides to change the topic. "Anyway, if I'm correct, Riku is imprisoned on Malvolio's dungeon on the underground of the Chateau."

"Wait, we could've used my curse and from the sewers we've been, I could smash the walls and-", Taro replied when he was interrupted by Leon saying, "Nice idea but too risky. As I said before, we don't want to attract any attention." He points his finger at one part of the map. "Now, the dungeon is located on the other part of the house. We're currently located at one side of this place."

"How exactly is the place big? If we only have 2 hours, we might as well know the size and width so that we'll know how far this place goes", Yui comments more on the plan.

"Honestly, I don't know any construction terms but about...20-25 blocks", Leon shrugs since he has no idea on construction at all. "You can easily get lost in this place. Now, with the power off for two hours, it's best that we use stealth."

"Guess that's my excellent department", Yui comments. "Are there any other shortcuts and secret passages?"

"Sadly no. The only ones who know about those things are the Malvolio, his wife and Riku."

Irvine is surprised. "Riku? How come?"

Leon also why Riku would know the place. He was the one who gave him the map of the place. "He once went here or so he told me." He looks around to see if there are guards. "We've wasted enough minutes here. The four of us will separate into groups of two. If one of us reaches to the dungeon get him and the Keybearer out of the dungeon and sneak back here within two hours time. If the two hours has passed, prepare for a bloodbath of a battle. Malvolio's men are equipped with guns", Leon explains as if he knew the whole scenario.

Taro isn't pleased with that scenario. "G-guns? Are they out of their mind?", he gulps. As a martial artist, guns are very taboo but on the other hand...

"Does it make you feel better if we said yes?", Irvine asks Taro just to comfort him. The cursed-first named boy nods. Irvine answers, "Yes then. Well, one-half of it."

"Now that we're done in our session, we move now", Leon orders them in a serious tone. He heads to the wooden door, carefully opens it and enters a large hallway. The whole place is dark save for the flashlights by the guards. The four have a look around before they split up.

Irvine looks at Yui and Taro and asks, "You kids ready for this?"

Taro smirks. "Blind boy's going to answer my questions when we get his ass outta here."

Yui replies with sarcasm, "Yes, I felt the need to do more violence and make trophies of our enemies' spines." Everyone looks at her weirdly but she shrugs it off. "FYI, I provide the much-needed sarcasm to relieve the pressure."

Leon pauses for a while before talking to her. "Right. Right... good to have you on the team. You're a very inspirational person, you do know that?"

"Yo, Squall. How to we split up?", asks Irvine.

Irvine secretly hopes to be paired off with Yui, not knowing that she will punch him in the kidneys if he does something stupid.

Leon tells him in a commanding tone. "Irvine and I will team up." Hearing this, Irvine and Taro frown. The latter wanted to get rid of the red-haired bitch for now. "I suppose you two will know the place?", asks Leon to the teens. He knows Riku did not recruit them without a reason. For him, they're battle-tested and fared well against the Unknowns. But none of them were the actual Keybearers unless...either they're potentials or one of them is a...wait...something doesn't make sense. In his case, he came into Traverse Town, where one time Cid affectionately calls it "the dropping point of outer people". He first met Cid, Aeris and Yuffie and then later on Riku and two of his friends. Even up to now, he's still confused of the whole Keybearer business or the Heartless but it cost two of his dearest friends, Selphie and Yuffie. He missed Rinoa, Quistis and Zell and everyone else. Okay, maybe except Seifer.

"Give me the map since you know the way", Yui tells Leon. "C'mon, it's going to be easy as riding a bike", she says it in a flirtatious tone. Leon reluctantly gives her the map. Taro mentally asks why Kami would punish him for pairing him up with her. Yui looks at Taro and gives him a plastic smile with her lips reaching her cheeks. "Well, Panty Joe, you and me...again". Irvine snickered while Leon suppresses a small laugh. Taro just simply glares at the three of them. When he finds a bucket of water, he would snap their puny necks.

Leon gives them one last look. "Okay," he tells them right before two groups will split up, "once we rescue Riku, we meet here before the 2-hour blackout ends. So ready? Let's go."


"Why would Malvolio wanted you?", Riku asked the Keymaker.

The Keymaker shrugs. "He basically wanted more power."

"That's what he told you?"

"Not just that. He knew that I have the key to open the door."

"The door?"

"You've been there before."

Riku paused. He knew what the Keymaker meant or so he thought. He really didn't want to go into details. He then recalled what Leon spied on earlier.

"Listen, I need to ask you a question", Riku requested, "Earlier a comrade of mine went here to spy on Mally. He said that there were visitors who he claims from other worlds. Do you have any idea what they were talking about?"

The Keymaker shook his head. "Forgive me my son, but he didn't indulge any details except what you said. But if I am correct, he was looking for something."

"The Keybearer?"

"More than that, I'm afraid. Do you know the story of Ansem?"

Riku is more or less stunned. "Ansem? He's dead right? We fought him years ago and at the same time he possessed me for the time being. No, no, let me guess, he was resurrected?"

"No", said the Keymaker, "It is somewhat connected to him. Do you recall his journals?"

"Yes", Riku confirmed. There were 12-13 journal entries that were significant at that time. "What about it?"

"It was said that there were secret messages that needed to be deciphered by a blood of a Keybearer."

Riku is stunned. "What? How come I know this by now? A long time ago, we managed to get a hold on these entries but then we lost it."

"Ansem can be a very secretive person most of time. What the message contains is a hodgepodge of discoveries, prophecies and secret letters."

"Like what? Ansem's love letters to himself?", snorts Riku.

"Even up to now, you're still a mischievous kid, although you were the mature one in your group. BLEEP was even more mischievous but not the type that can lead you into trouble", the Keymaker heartily laughs at that memory. Then he remembered something. "I forgot...she's here."

"I know", Riku confirmed. "She's taking so long so that her "husband" doesn't suspect her of anything."

"Riku there's something you should know."

"What?" Riku wondered on what the Keymaker is going to say.

"BLEEP secretly met her two months ago", a now soft-spoken old man looking like 50 years old despite his actual age being eons old. Riku didn't know whether he would be stunned or not. He knew both of them liked each other but he also liked her. For that, that was one of the things that caused the rift among the three friends.

"BLEEP and I never spoke for months now. He now goes of the name Noah, after he read a book entitled "The Bible"", Riku comments on the memory he recalled. He still cared for him as best friends.

The Keymaker understands and nods at this. "You have chosen "Kiev" as your name when you became one of them. That is not the easiest choice but as far as things go..."

Riku decides to interrupt. "Forgive me for interrupting but what exactly does Ansem's Journals contained aside from the visible text? Are there more?"

"There is one that I remembered but for the rest you must speak to Yogensha about this", the Keymaker said in a hesitant tone. He takes a few breaths before he could reveal the first prophecy.

"Traverse Town will fall into the pits of hell by the one-winged angel."


"Irvine, hurry up! It's no use of looking at pictures of naked women who can't fondle you!", Leon quietly barks at his former SEED teammate. Irvine is offended by this. "What? Can't I enjoy the view?" Leon gives him his best frustrated sigh. "They have 3 eyes unless you have a thing for strange stuff."

Both former SEED soldiers stealthily run towards the dungeon. This is the first time they've teamed up since Selphie's death. Since then, Leon would go to missions alone. Then, he stops running. He looks around since he sensed a presence. He didn't know who it was. Irvine looks at him with a puzzled look.

"What's wrong?", Irvine asks. When Leon is serious, he IS serious.

In the other part of the Chateau, two teens quietly hid at the corridor when they saw four well-dressed guards.

"Let's break them", Taro grins.

"No", Yui hissed at him, "we don't need to make a scene."

Taro twitches his left eye. "What? Since when the hell did you become so wussy?"

"Hey, fine by me if you go John Wayne, charge at them and getting shot by their armed weapons. But since I was cursed by having a conscience, it's a risk doing so."

"You're a shinobi. You have charka. You can take those men at ease."

Yui gives him a skeptical look. "Yeah. You have chi."

"Do you know what I've learned about knowing other worlds?", Taro asks her in an amusing manner.

"That there are morons like you?", Yui replies incredulously.

"I learned that chi is nothing compared to Nen."

"Nen?"


Flashback:

It was right before they left, Taro overheard a small squabble between Gon and Naruto. After the latter left with his feet stomping loudly, he approaches the former.

"Oi", Taro lazily calls at Gon, "What the hell were you two brats yakking about?"

Gon gives him an apologetic look. "Sorry. Naruto and I had a fight."

Taro gives him an evil grin. "How come I didn't hear walls crashing in?"

"Just verbally", Gon shrugs. "We were arguing about who among us is stronger: him with Chakra or me with Nen."

Taro is familiar with Chakra but Nen is something new to him. "Nen?", asks Taro, "What's Nen?"

Gon looks at him curiously. "W-well I'm not good at explaining it but I'll try!", Gon exclaims proudly.

"Nen is the ability to control the energy that flows around the outside of the body. Everyone has a very small amount of this energy called aura flowing around the body, but most of it is lost in the air. There are different types of Nen. Mine's Kyouka."

"Kyouka? I don't understand."

Gon sighs. "Nen is very complicated to understand it at first. Okay, right I told you that Nen is the ability to control the energy that flows around the outside of the body and everyone has a very small amount of this energy called aura flowing around the body. Now, Hatsu is the ability to control one's own aura. Therefore, Hatsu is the main ability out of all the Nen powers that one can possess."

Taro is in deep thought. "So, you're saying that Nen and Hatsu are completely different?"

"No", Gon responds, "Well...Hatsu is a product of all Nen abilities that one can posses."

Taro nods at Gon's answer even though both of them weren't sure about that simple yet very complicated explanation. Taro looks at him. "You said you're a Kyouka user."

The young boy nods. "Yup! Actually it depends on the user."

"You have the stuff? When I come back I want the both of us to fight", Taro tells Gon without sounding too desperate. It's ironic really: a grown man asking a young boy to fight with him. "Sure!", Gon approves.

"P! C'mon! Get your pantyhose ass here!", Yui shouts from downstairs.

"SHUT UP MISTRESS OF SATAN!", Taro yells at the red-head.


As soon as Taro finished talking, Yui brings out a sleeping powder from her pouch. She puts it on her hand and waits until the guards arrive at their side. When they came, she blows out the powder at them. In an instant, the four guards fells on the floor and fall asleep. The duo approach and looks at them. Then she looks back at Taro.

"So, is there a difference between Nen and Ki?", Yui asks.

Taro shrugs. "I have no idea. Guess I have to wait until the match."

"Haven't occur to you that maybe Nen, Ki, Chakra and everything else might be the same but it depends on the use?", Yui says in a skeptic manner. "Assuming that Nen is more powerful that Chi, will you train for Nen after all your training?"

"Possibly", Taro responds.

"What? Not satisfied with your Jusenkyo curse? The way I figured you got superiority problems."

Taro has just thought about that now. He shows an evil grin. "Heh, with those two combined, the old freak wouldn't stand a chance against me and especially the fem-boy".

Yui mutters something about "being stuck with strong, immature idiots" and immediately continues the rescue mission with Taro on tow.

Leon equips himself with the Lionheart while Irvine with the Exeter. Someone is watching them. "Squall?", Irvine asks his friend and comrade about confirming on who is on their tail. "Irvine", Leon tells him in a serious manner, "Prepare yourself to fight." Irvine nods. "You don't have to tell me twice."

Leon and Irvine are at each other's backs. They are in a large hallway with silver armors lined up at the sides and the red carpet on the floor. In a flash, three large fireballs are aimed at them. Both Irvine and Leon use Blizzagas at the two income fireballs. But the third fireball is heading towards them so all that they can do is aim for cover. The fireball quickly hit the wall and with its powerful impact, leaves a large whole. The attacker quickly heads toward Irvine. Before the latter could do anything, the former pulls a powerful kick at the face sending the gunman crashing to the wall. The man raises his sword at Irvine but is intercepted by Leon using the Lionheart to protect his friend. Leon pushes him away with all his might. He looks at the attacker and he gives his best shocked look at the man who he quickly recognized not too long ago. The man smirks at him.

"Seifer...", is the only name Leon uttered before he attacks.


Taro and Yui are now in a very large hallway. Unlike where Leon and Irvine are at the moment, in front of them are two black staircases at each side of the room. 2 stone-carved statues of angels are at the end of the edge the staircase. The marble floors have some painting dating back to the days of the Romans. On top of the staircase is an empty place with small statues as decorations. On the walls near the stairs are weapons and shields hanging. No one knew why there were there. No one even bothered other than the fact that they were there for mere decorations.

"This guy's has some class", Taro whistles in awe. "Guess this son a bitch has a luxury of living. Living life to the fullest they say."

Yui looks around. "Profiting from illegal activities, at least this guy's got class. Sweet."

The two stopped walking. They sensed something.

"Someone's expecting us. Nice to know that we're expected and feel welcomed", Yui smirks. Taro stares at her with a bit surprise and says, "You expected this?". She rolls her eyes in hopelessness. "C'mon, it's a goddamn pattern. We enter, someone expects us, he attacks, we kick his ass, get what we want and get the hell out. It's as simple as that. Five by five. What do you expect P?"

It was either Taro wasn't listening to her or he did but he kept looking around. Yui quickly followed his suit. She reaches for her shuriken and closes her eyes. Taro gripped his knuckles and positions himself in a fighting stance. In a split second, Yui throws her shurikens at one side only to be sliced in half by cards. Both of the teens swiftly dodged. Before both of them could react, the mysterious attacker appeared at Taro's back, grabs at the back of his head and slams him on the ground. Yui, as fast as she can, appears in front of him and proceeds to punch him. He catches her fist and is about to throw her to the ground. But she flips and lands with her legs and then pulls a scorpion kick aimed directly at his face. He catches her leg and twists her, causing her to spin downwards to the ground. Taro immediately gets up and rushes towards the man with his fist. Just as the punch is about to connect his face, he disappeared in a blink of an eye. Unknown to Taro, the man reappeared below him and with just a simple push sends him crashing to the wall. Yui goes to Taro and helps him get up. The red-haired man with some few face paints smirked at them. Taro is obviously infuriated at the attacker.

The man laughs at them and flashes a smile. "For a couple of amateurs, you are good."

"Who the fuck are you?", Taro hissed at the man as he gives him the evil, intense glare.

The man gives a few chuckles and says to him, "tsk, tsk, I'm not telling."

"Oh yeah? Your outfit's so bad it needs police tape and orange cones", Yui sarcastically asks at him.

Both Taro and Yui know that this man is not to be mess with. Taro felt his pride as a martial artist and as a man is tainted. At the same time, he doesn't want some help from Yui knowing that she might be a distraction although it could be said otherwise.

"Yui," Taro said to her in a strict manner, "get out now. Find Riku. I'll handle this son of a bitch."

Yui knows that he want to settle this as a man but she can bet that his pride is at stake along with his masochistic attitude.

"Are you sure?", Yui asked in an uncertain manner. She really didn't like where this is going.

"I'll be fine", Taro assures her. "You're near the dungeon. Ichiro, don't let me down."

The man noticed the interaction between the two. He gives them a cruel smirk.

"Now, now," the man gleefully laughs. "Both of you can save the loving farewell speech later."

Taro and Yui glare at him. Before she leaves, Yui gives Taro one last look. "Hey...Taro. Fail me and I'll own your ass."

And that, she disappears to accomplish her objective. Taro and the man are now in a face-to-face, mano to mano showdown.

"Before I forget, your girl won't go to the dungeon very easily", the man tells Taro.

"What are you talking about?"

"This place...is like – no – this place is a mace. She'll encounter more than all of you bargained for. But, before I can kill you-"

Taro gives him an inquisitive look and then gives his usual arrogant smirk. "Kill me? Kill me? What makes you so sure that you'll really do that?"

The man lustfully licks his lips with his tongue that gives Taro the ultimate creeps. "But it would be a shame not to introduce myself right before I enjoy killing you. The name's Hisoka...and who might you be, dear boy?"

She saw the large door. She finally reached the dungeon. The door...is quite nice for a dungeon. Yui stops in front of the door. This is it. Rescue Riku and give him a piece of her mind right after they get the hell out of this place. She opens the door, expecting a dirty old cell, but to her utter surprise...she sees a forest. A forest full of trees and bushes. She did not expect this at all. The only thing she could muster the courage to say what's on her mind is:

"What the fuck is going on?"


"Well, well, well. What a surprise. Seriously, I would expect the chicken wuss or the instructor but YOU! You of all people! Along with the cowboy here! HA!"

Leon glares at his still-archenemy. Seifer still hadn't changed a bit, both physically and mentally. Still wearing the same gray trenchcoat. His face hadn't changed a bit except for a few unshaven hairs. He still has the same weapon, the Hyperion. After all these years, he still hasn't change.

"Seifer", Leon hissed, "Of all the people I hoped to meet, you're the last on my list. Wait, you were never on my list...at all."

Seifer, in private, took this change of attitude by surprise. All he can do is showing his usual arrogant attitude. He raises his sword and points it at Leon. "You owe me a rematch, Leonheart", replied Seifer in a dangerous tone.

In a second, he charges at his rival in full speed like a mad bull. At lightning speed, both rivals lock each other in a do or die battle with their respective swords clashing each other. After a few clashes, Leon casts Flare on Seifer, who immediately casts Shell upon himself. The impact has minimal damage on the blonde warrior but staggers a bit. Next, Leon throws his Gun Blade in a boomerang-like motion to Seifer. In the former Seed commander's strategy, the Gun Blade will serve as a distraction while he goes for the offensive. As the sword is about to hit Seifer, the latter quickly vanished much to Leon's horror. Leon grabs the Gun Blade and remains in his position. He looks around and sees Irvine about to get up. He was surprised that Seifer quickly disappeared and quickly analyzed that he had some Heartless power in him. Typical Seifer, he thought.

"Seifer's still up and running, eh? I kinda prefer Quistis, Rinoa or Zell", Irvine told Leon. "What the hell did he just do?"

"He got Heartless backing him up", explained Leon.

"Geez, isn't history repeating itself?"

"No."

Both look at Seifer, who is on the other side.

Irvine grins. "Hey! Seifer! How's it going old buddy of mine? Sorry Zell or anyone else couldn't be here for you to insult. But you got us and hell, we get to kick your sorry ass."

Seifer immediately rushes them as Leon and Irvine face their foe once again. Irvine loads and shoots Armor bullets. In an incredible amount of speed, Seifer dodged each bullet. The cowboy continues to shoot as Leon charges at him.


The Keymaker, by now is concerned at Riku. He has been hitting the dungeon door by at least numerous times, but still with no avail.

"Young man, do not harm yourself..."

"It's okay old man. I was taught by my sensei."

"But your powers are sealed..."

"I am punching this door of steel with my fist. I'll put all my might and strength, even without my powers. Plus it's a good stress reliever."

The Keymaker continues to watch Riku slamming his fist to the door again and again, despite being powerless. This could take a long time.


Speaking of long time, Taro lays on the large, impacted wall. He couldn't take it anymore. His whole body is covered with bruises and large and small cuts from his cuts. He could feel his bones broken, which in reality, aren't. Hisoka just sits on the stairs, playing his cards to keep him entertained while sporting a bored look.

Hisoka looks at him with pity. "You know, you're wasting my time."

Taro doesn't take this very well and sees it as an insult. He slowly gets up and challenges him to another battle. "You are freak you know that?"

Hisoka gets up and stares at him. He maniacally licks his lips, which freaks Taro out. Hisoka commences the battle quickly disappearing and reappears at Taro's back. Hisoka is about to hit him when the boy quickly dodges the attack and punches him at the stomach. He then punches him at the chin and kicks him at the face. Hisoka jumps back and charges at Taro, who does the same thing. Hisoka easily dodges the punch and leaps back. Taro glares at him but is suddenly being pulled towards him and is greeted by a punch. Taro is send back away due to the powerful impact of the punch but is being pulled towards Hisoka and got hit again. For the third time, Taro decides to hit back as he is pulled towards Hisoka. He avoids the attack and successfully kicks him in the face. Hisoka staggers back and Taro drops to the ground, tired.

Hisoka is now on full intent to kill him and Taro realizes that. The latter decides to use his old strategy: avoid his attacks and hit him at the precise moment, just like what he did on Ranma. Hisoka charges at him faster than usual and performs a blurry of multiple punches. Taro does his best to avoid the attack, but each time he dodges one attack, he gets hit by the other. As Hisoka continues to rapidly punch him, Taro decides it's time to use another technique that he learned: Yarikata No Sen Sasori Genko (Way of the Thousand Scorpion Punch). A technique that is almost similar to Ranma's Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken but with a difference: he only needed to use two fingers and stab the person on certain body parts. Think of it more as pressure points, offensive style. He began doing the technique in rapid succession but to no avail as his foe continues to dodge the attack. Then both Hisoka's punches and Taro's technique collided with one hit after the other. But as expected, Hisoka overpowers him and in the end, he punches Taro at the chest and the stomach that caused the boy to spit out blood and the impact causes him to crash to a wall and sending him to the other room.

As Taro would really hate to admit it, Hisoka is stronger than anyone he has faced, probably save for Happosai and Ranma. Then again, what if Ranma fought Hisoka? He tried to get up but Hisoka gently places his left foot over his chest. The red-headed clown gives the unfortunate-named cursed teen a eerie smile. Taro begins to feel nervous and for the first in his life, is scared and fears for his life.

Hisoka chuckles at Taro. "Heh, heh. Relax, I'm not going to kill you...not yet."

Taro snorts. "You're...lying". He has no idea that he's right.

"Now why would I lie? I'd kill you if I had the chance. But, I'm too softhearted to do so."

"Softhearted? You were trying to kill me!"

Hisoka pauses for a while. "You know, I was expecting some one from my world. But instead, I found you. You and I are different, yet I find you both excellent and weak."

Taro has had it with his BS. "WEAK? Who are you calling weak, faggot?"

Not pleased over what Taro called him, Hisoka stomps his foot harder that caused the young man to scream. "Now, watch your language or I WILL kill you."

"Then, why don't you kill me then? I know you wanted to do so."

"There's something I've been quite curious about. Now, I will let you go and you be a good boy now, you hear?" Hisoka asks Taro. The latter nods. The former lets him go and the latter gets up.

"Now for my question, why kind of force did you use?"

"Force?" asked a confused Taro.

"Oh you know, what aura you used in your world while we fought?" asked Hisoka in a very bored tone.

"Ki. Need I explain more? What about you?"

"Nen", Hisoka answered bluntly. The response surprised Taro the most.

"Nen? But that means...have you met a boy named Gon?"

This bring amusement and curiosity to Hisoka. "Gon? Very familiar name. How is he by the way?"

Taro realizes that Hisoka is stalling, which is in fact that is what the latter is doing. "Hey! Hey! We're supposed to be fighting!"

"Fight you say?" says a very amused Hisoka. "I'm not very accustomed on fighting weaklings and..."

Taro's hot-tempered nature takes the best or worst of him as he maniacally attempts to backfist Hisoka but fails to do so as the latter quickly dodges and grabs Taro's neck. Hisoka then slams Taro at the wall and strangles him. Taro struggles to break free, but soon realizes that Hisoka can sometimes be true to his words...well depends on his mood if you think about it.

"Heh, heh. Now now," Hisoka warns at Taro, "don't be hasty." He then punches the young man in the face. "That's HOW you throw a punch." Taro spits blood at Hisoka's face. To Taro's surprise, Hisoka licks the blood around his face like a psycho. "Hey, I think your blood just gave me high cholesterol", Hisoka kids Taro. Taro glares at him. At that moment, Hisoka notices a pantyhose tied on Taro's waist but decides to ignore it. Slowly, he drops him and walks away. That's when Hisoka begins to walk away.

"HEY! Where the hell are you going, coward!?" Taro shouted at Hisoka.

"I have fun. Thanks for the show", Hisoka replies.

"What? You mean you were trying to kill me for fun!?" asked an enraged Taro.

Hisoka looks at him sternly and then smiles. "Why yes!"

"BULLSHIT! COME BACK HERE AND FIGHT!"

"Aren't you here for a reason?" Hisoka asks Taro as he begins to emit his Nen. Taro felt it, it presence, its power and it somewhat overwhelmed him and at the same time, terrified him. It was nothing compared to Ki/Chi. "We are here for a reason."

"Don't go philosophizing on me as if you were goddamn Dali Lama", Taro snorts.

"If you must know why I am here..."

"Not interested."

"But if you think about it, you are a good fighter. In fact, you are first opponent I have ever fought since this incident", Taro comments as he sits on the stairs and begins to play with his cards. "The offer I took up is, well, quite tempting. Power, what we all need. You see, I have this desire to kill. It brings me satisfaction and lust for life". Hearing this, Taro cringes. "I have fought opponents back in my world and only a few that I have fought are stronger than I expected. Like that boy Gon. Believe me, he can destroy a mountain with a single punch. But back to my topic...You know I have talked this much."

"Then why the hell are you talking to me? And what do you mean "offer?""

"Why are you even listening when you can just simply walk away? I was offered. I didn't remember his name. But believe me, all this entire worlds thing incident will have a consequence and you can expect me to watch the massacre."

Taro is now confused. "Massacre?"

"What I meant was it's going to get ugly. It will have imbalances on all worlds."

"How do you know about this?"

"I analyzed. The fools would think they can control everything but you never know what will happen."

"Then why did you join?"

"I never said I joined. I am just...participating, for fun."

"You want fun? Why don't you go to an asylum? Freaks like you suit there the best."

"What are you going to do now? I am not staying here for long. Nice place but the people here are boring. Makes me want to rip their throats."

Hisoka stands up and leaves the hallway. Taro incredulously watches him leave. "Before I forget, two things", Hisoka tells Taro, "One, go to the library, not far from here. Just turn right and then left. Two, tell Gon hi for me will ya?"

The cursed boy is surprised that Hisoka is leaving. Needless to say, he's not pleased. "HEY! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING!?" Hisoka just ignored him as he walks away. "HEY! IF YOU THINK YOU WALKING AWAY WOULD DO YOU ANY GOOD, WELL YOU'RE GODDAMN WRONG! COME BACK HERE SISSYPUSS! COME BACK AND FIGHT LIKE A REAL MAN! GET BACK HERE SISSYPUSS!" Taro decides to stop shouting as he realizes now that he's not going to have a rematch. "I'm lonely". He uncharacteristically whines.

Taro is having second thoughts about what Hisoka said about the library. He never trusted him and why would he? He tried to kill him. But he doesn't have time. To trust him or not, he has no choice but to go the library. Following the directions what Hisoka told him, Taro immediately went there in full speed, knocking three guards out. When he arrives there, he slowly opens the door and takes a peek. No one is there. He enters the library and closes it. When he turns around, he's surprised to see a young beautiful woman sitting with red hair with streaks of black color. She is wearing a sleeveless, white turtleneck with a white miniskirt. To add the description, she isn't wearing any shoes. The woman stands up and looks at Taro.

"I've been watching you and your comrades breaking in", the woman replied with no emotion. "You're looking for him, but, I cannot allow you to do that. I am sorry." The young woman grabs her purse and brings out her gun and points it at Taro. Taro himself frowns at this predicament. He is so going to kill Hisoka when they meet again.


Yui is tired and hungry. She went to find Riku and yet so far, nada. It was easy to say she was lost but in her ninja instincts, she sensed a presence following her. She knew that this person will not appear at her immediately. Her stomach growls quite loudly. So much for stealth and the element of surprise, she thought bitterly. When she saw the room filled with a forest, she decided to find another way. She also knows that the 2 hour-limit is almost up and she has to find Riku as soon as possible. Yui stops for a moment for she knew someone is following her. She can tell by the chakra of the person, so she'll be dealing with a ninja. Right now, she has no interest in taking him or her on. As far patience goes, hers is not.

The red-head enters a very large hallway that can transform into a ballroom. Yui stops her tracks. She can sense it. This ninja is after her and can sense his abnormal chakra. She reaches for her pouch to grab three shurikens. Yui continues to walk carefully, counting from 1 to 3. When she reaches for 3, she immediately throws 3 shurikens at her stalker. The stalker quickly dodges it and out of the blue, he appears in front of her, ready to kick Yui's face. Right before the foot could connect to her face, Yui quickly disappeared and rematerializes above the shinobi. She punches him, which sends him 10 ft. away. The shinobi flips back and regains his posture. The two shinobis take a good look at each other. To Yui's surprise, her foe is a kid, possibly...then again she never got the full story, just the abridge version of it. She then notices the shinobi's eyes, which are red and has three dots. Both dash at each other and a hand-to-hand brawl ensues. The kid inhumanely quickly attacks her with his fist and kicks but all Yui could do is dodge it but with no ease. The kid is fast but not as fast as her. When the shinobi is open for a attack, Yui backfists him at the jaw and kicks him upward to the air. The shinobi, while in midair, begins to do some hand seals. Then, he inhales deeply and spouts a powerful stream of fire from his mouth. This caught Yui off-guard as she begins to escape using the Kage No Mai. Yui appears again, only she uses her chakra to connect her feet at the ceiling. She wants to take the battle easy since he's just a kid.

Yui then throws two Hono'o Shurikens at the shinobi. As he tries to escape, one of the flaming projectiles rips the side of his shirt. He imitates what Yui did and his feet his connect to the ceiling. The boy can immediately tell that the girl taking the battle easily since she thinks that he's a kid. He grinned and thought that she's going to regret it. He dashes at her and Yui prepares for another assault. But as he reaches her, he suddenly disappears in a flash. The shinobi appears at Yui's behind and proceeds to kick her. Sensing the approaching attack, Yui dodges it and tries to counter it with a sweep but the boy dodges it. The boy continues to attack her relentlessly until he manages to kick her at the ribs. For that, Yui loses her balance and falls to the ground.

When she reaches the floor, she touches the ground with her hands and back flips. The boy falls and does some hand seals. Then, he starts shooting out fireballs from his mouth at her. Yui prepares to go for the defensive and deflects the fireballs with the Ryuu Enbu two times. Next, the boy throws a large shuriken aimed directly at her. He knows that his opponent would dodge it. As expected, Yui does it. But, to her surprise, another shuriken is heading towards her. She immediately disappears just as the shuriken reaches her. Yui reappears again and this time performed six clones and all of them charge at the boy. They throw shurikens at him but the boy quickly dodges and deflects the projectiles. At an instant, the boy dashes at them in full speed. Yui didn't expect that he would all of the sudden that he would easily spot her by charging directly at her. The clones try to defend themselves but the boy manages to eliminate them. When he finally reaches her, he dashes to her back and tries to maim her. Yui misses the attack and uses a very powerful palm strike in the chest which sends him crashing to the wall.

Yui decides to wait for the boy to get up but she feels a dark aura within him. In her mind, his chakra was dark, powerful and yet deadly. The boy gets up with the evil chakra around him. Then, black marks appear on the boy's right face. He gives Yui an evil glare and grits his teeth menacingly. He's ready for the kill. He's going to make sure she's going to pay. Yui is sure, for the first time, that she may face bloodshed among herself.


Leon and Irvine surround Seifer, all of them bloody and bruised. Irvine steps back and continues to shoot bullets at Seifer but a force field around the latter deflects it making it harder to defeat him. Leon executes the Blasting Zone at Seifer but the latter dodges it. He charges at Leon with his blade being dragged to floor. Seifer's sword begins to burn with fire and swings it at Leon. Leon attempts to dodge it but Seifer pulls a fake thrust and slashes Leon's leg. Leon quickly blocks Seifer's attacks but his best wasn't enough. Then, Seifer begins to perform his ultimate move, No Mercy. But he was interrupted by Irvine as the latter blasts him away right through the wall with his Pulse Ammos. Seifer immediately casts double Ultima on the both but they defended themselves with minimal damage. Seeing that their defenses are weakening, Seifer decides it's time to use No Mercy.

Seifer focuses all his energy to his weapon, which then conjures up a large fireball. He then blasts it at Leon and Irvine, who are too late to escape the attack they've suffered before. Seifer begins to charge at them with the blade ready to hit them. In one swift motion, he runs across them in the cross formation and afterwards, a very loud explosion takes place. Leon and Irvine grimace at their wounds and Leon is about to cast Curaga when he realizes that he's low on magic. Noticing this predicament, Irvine casts Cura on him. Seifer reappears in front of them 20 ft. away from them and begins to cast Meteor on them. Irvine casts Shell on him and Leon as they tried to dodge the small falling meteorites. Afterwards, Seifer decides to use the No Mercy when Leon casts Blind on him. He used it to formulate a strategy. While looking at Seifer who is struggling to find his foes while swinging his Hyperion.

"Hey Leon, you okay?" Irvine asks Leon while limply approaches him.

"Never better", Leon mutters. "Never thought Seifer's still standing."

Irvine snorts. "What the hell do you expect? Him wearing a pink tutu?"

Leon cringes at that thought. "We have to beat him now! We only have 30 minutes left!"

"Oh fuck."

"Do you still have magic left?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Cast Aura on us both. It's time I have to end this once and for all, even though killing him wasn't on my list."

Irvine pauses for a second. "I know what you're getting at. But, isn't a little to risky to waste our strengths?"

"Don't have a choice."

Irvine begins to cast Aura on Leon and himself. Seifer looks at them after the Blind spell wore off. He notices that both of them used Aura.

"Hey! You think that's enough to kill me?" Seifer shouts at them in a cocky manner. "You'll never be able to defeat me, loser! I'll kill you and your little cowboy friend too!"

Leon gritted his teeth menacingly. "That's it! I'm gonna go Beatrix Kiddo on your bitch ass!"

Irvine begins to shoot tons of Pulse Ammos at Seifer, who dodges it. Seeing an opening, Leon charges at him. Seifer escapes from the bullets and lunges the sword at Leon. At an instant, Leon chops off Seifer's arm and performs the Lion Heart, slashing Seifer many times until at the last blow he sends Seifer to the wall. Leon falls on his knees because he was very tired. Irvine rushes over to his friend and then looks at Seifer, who looks like he's dead.

BGM: "The Sorrow of Losing One's Independence" from the Evangelion: Death soundtrack

Irvine helps Leon get up. Both turned away from Seifer. However...

"Hey...Squall..."

Leon turns around to see Seifer calling out his old name. He slowly approaches his old rival with Irvine. Seifer notices the cautionary movement.

"Eh, don't be a pussy...I'm not...going...to...bite...", Seifer chuckles but due to his grave injuries, he yelps in pain.

"Save your strength", Leon replies.

"Pfft. After...what you...did...to me...," Seifer breathes slowly, "I don't expect..."

"I didn't expect you dying."

"Liar", Seifer snorts. "I remember...I still remember...Balamb Garden...the orphanage..."

"Hey, hey! Don't die on me, Almasy." Leon chides softly.

"I honestly...expected you to...kill me..."

"That's a surprise", Irvine mutters.

Leon is confused. "Why?"

"Don't know", Seifer chuckles, "Guess I'm tired of this mess...Tired...of...fightning..." Leon notices Seifer's breathing is getting slower. He knows his time is coming up. "Take a rest, Seifer", Leon tells him.

"Nah...I...by the way...chicken-wuss and the instructor are...still alive..."

"WHAT!?!" Irvine shouts. "Zell and Quistis? Where are they?"

"Sorry...but I...forgot...", Seifer tells them regretfully.

Leon looks at him. "Seifer...where's Rinoa?"

"Don't know...I...I...", Seifer knows his time his up. "Squall Leonheart, commander of SEED, I congratulate you...and thank...you for...trying to help...me..."

With that, Seifer breathed his last breath and then he was motionless. Leon and Irvine silently mourn the loss of a great warrior. Leon closes Seifer's eyes and leaves the room with Irvine.


"Kid, I don't want to hurt you. Just get out of my way..."

"Make me."

Yui wasn't faring well. After the boy transformed into something else, he was quicker and more powerful than her. As a result, Yui suffered from bruises on her body along with a bloody nose and mouth. On the other hand, the boy also suffered some wounds. Yui also knows that he can read her moves than she can. The boy begins to attack her by performing blowing out a large flame from his mouth, which burns the floor. Yui begins to escape by using the Kage No Mai and reappears above him. In air, she throws five kunai daggers at him. The boy dodges the daggers in unbelievable speed. Then, a snake appeared from his sleeve and wraps Yui's right arm. She tried to remove the snake but couldn't. The boy hideously laughs in an eerie manner. She then has an idea. It's risky but it would be probably worth it. She grabs her Kodachi a type of a sword, not the insane gymnast we all knew from her small scabbard on her back and cuts the snake to let her go. The boy is surprised at this. The girl then runs off as the boy performs a hand seal and multiple blasts of fire are aimed at her. Yui climbs a wall with her feet and jumps forward. She performs the Ryuu Enbu to deflect the projectiles. As she lands on the ground, she performs handseals and slams her hand to the ground which then emits a large force field that increases its size as it blocks out the fireballs and knocks out the boy to the next room.

Yui runs after him and finds him charging at her. She jumps forward and executes spinning roundhouse on his face and kicks him on the stomach. He, in return, punches her on the stomach and on the face. He grabs her shoulders and hits her on the stomach with his knees. Yui then headbutts him on the face. The two ninjas simultaneously kick each other on the chest, which sends them away from each other. Yui hits her back on a wall hard while the boy falls away 10 ft. from her and lands on the ground. Yui breathes rapidly as she tries to regain her composure. She notices a large wound on her right bicep, which is pouring in blood. She reaches for her pouch for something to cover her wound until she grabs a blue bandanna with a rectangular piece of metal which is carved in a leaf-shaped design. She realizes that his belonged to Naruto. He must have put it in her pouch without her suspecting it. That son of a bitch, she grins at the thought. She wraps the bandanna around her arm, grabs her Kodachi and gets up. The boy gets up and looks for his foe.

BGM: "Silhouette of Doom" by Ennio Morricone

To his surprise, he sees Yui, armed with the knife and the bandanna wrapped around her shoulder.

"Where did you get that head protector?" the boy asks.

"From a friend", Yui dryly tells him.

"May I ask which friend?"

"How about it's none of your goddamn business?"

The boy gives her his best evil look to intimidate her. Yui isn't impressed.

"Hey kid?"

"What?"

"There's something I've been quite curious about. You know, just between us ninjas...are you Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke was now surprised. How did she know his name?

"So what if I am? What's it to you?"

"So you're the bastard he's talking about."

Sasuke realized the only person who could call him that. "Heh. So, you finally met dobe huh? What was the loser's name? Oh yeah. Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yep."

"You know what? By this time he'll be dead as we speak", Sasuke tells her in an arrogant tone. Yui was taken aback.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Guess the dobe never stood a chance in this event. What did he do, whimpering on how I defeated him? What a wuss." Sasuke snickers menacingly. "Even if he used all of his chakra, he'll never be able to defeat me. Ku ku ku ku, I have this power now..."

Yui notices the purple chakra around Sasuke as he begins to transform into something hideous. She was shocked as his hair is longer and turns from black to white. A cross-shaped scar on his nose and between his eyes while his eyes have darkened save for the red ones. His teeth has now have fangs and his skin darkened. Sasuke is now monster, something Yui never faced until now. Sasuke then collects enough chakra into his hands that become visible to Yui's eyes. Both of his hands are now covered with electric-type chakra with sound similar to a flock of birds. Sasuke smirks at her. "That's right, I'm more special than him. I'm beyond special than you, bitch. With this power, I'm going to kill you fast and painful. To my very immediate future, this will be my victory."

Yui has had it with him. "Bitch, you don't have a future", she spat out with venom and hatred. Both are in their fighting position. Yui raises her small sword at him and is ready to kill. Both Sasuke and Yui look at each other with pure hatred. Both are ready to kill the other. Yui looks at his eyes and sees the Sharingan, which she now remembered when Naruto told her about Sasuke. He smirks at her while she gives her best "you're going to regret messing with me" look. Then, both ninjas charge at each other. Sasuke drags his hands at the ground while Yui, with the sword at her right hand. She throws the sword at him and avoids it. He attempts to hit her using both of his hands but she manages to grab his wrists. Sasuke pushes her to the wall while trying to kill with his technique. At this point, Yui was weakening and tries to avoid the technique but she hits the wall while holding his wrists. She struggling to get him off but couldn't because he was stronger than she was. Yui looks at his eyes and realizes there was only one thing to do. She has no choice really, using one of her sensei's deadly moves. Yui pushes Sasuke's wrist and hits the wall, then, she uses both of her hands to snatch out his eyes.

Sasuke begins to scream out loudly as he covers his eyes, realizing they're now gone. He then accidentally went to a small room and falls on the ground, kicking and screaming. Yui looks at him with pity. "GODDAMN! MY EYES! AAAAGGGHHH!!! I CAN'T SEE! MY EYES! AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!" Sasuke continues to scream out loudly while trying to stand up, breaking a mirror and falls down as he curses out the girl who rips out his precious possession: his eyes. "I'LL KILL YOU! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" Yui drops both his eyes and proceeds to squish them with her shoes. "AAAAHHHH!!! YOU BITCH! YOU BITCH!" Yui walks away, deciding not to hear his whiny screams of pain. "AAAAAAAHHHH!!! OH MY GOD!!! I'M GONNA KILL YOU SOON!" Yui grabs her sword and places it on the scabbard. "YOU BITCH! I'LL GET YOU! YOU BITCH! I'M GONNA GET YOU – WHERE ARE YOU BLOODY FUCKING AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!" Finally, she opens the door and is about to leave when she gives Sasuke one last look. "YOU BITCH! YOU BITCH! WHERE ARE YOU GOING YOU FUCKING BITCH!?! YOU FUCKING BITCH! I'M GONNA KILL YOU FUCKER!" Yui limply walks away. In her mind, he was a genius? More like a fucking retard, which is based on her opinion. As she walks away, the door closes automatically, enveloping Sasuke's painful screams of agony to everyone. If there was one thing anyone who read this has learned, it's that Yui can be vicious and cruel to her enemies, but we'll get to that later.


The woman, while pointing the gun at Taro, grabs a remote and turns on the stereo. J.S Bach's "II Air" is being played with harmonious sound that can be heard from outside. Taro is contemplating of removing the gun from her and intends to interrogate her on Riku's location. As he slowly and carefully approaches her, she continues to point the gun at him, daring him to do anything stupid.

"What do you want? I can knock you down in a second" Taro threatens her.

She casually replies, "I can have this room full of my husband's men in a heartbeat if I wanted to. But that wouldn't serve either of us, would it?"

Great, Taro thought. "Well? What do you want from me?"

"You know, now that you mention it. It's been a while since I see face of a very compassionate man filled with hatred and anger over something quiet silly". The woman begins to giggle. Taro isn't pleased. "I've always wanted to see someone quiver in fear, no matter how hard he or she struggles to keep it. I know why you are here, like I said before. Without him, you would be wondering your purpose of life", the woman continues to reply. She approaches Taro and gets closer to him by touching his chest in a seductive manner. Taro blushes. "You have it. Buried deep inside you. Hidden, perhaps from yourself. But I see it, there creating such heat." The woman then touches Taro's crotch. Taro backs away. "Back off, bitch!" He warns. The woman grins. "You are lost, confused...and in love. If you want me to help you, you must do one thing for me in return. You must kiss me." Taro's eyebrows twitches. "W-what?"

"If you want to find your silver-haired friend, you must kiss me as if you were to kiss your true love", the woman seductively commands. It was then Pantyhose Taro blushed like a tomato. He never interacted with a woman before, save for Akane and some. "W-what?" Taro stammers. Also note that his brain is dead, at the moment. The woman sighs at the boy's inept reaction. Then again, teens do get nutty when they are faced with lusty hormones.

"You know what?" the woman tells him. "You can just forget about the kiss and I'll let your comrade die."

Taro regained his senses. "That's bull!"

The woman grins. "Then what are you waiting for? Kiss me."

Taro and the woman get closer with each other. He leans and gives her a kiss. But the woman backs out.

"God that was awful", the woman replies bitterly. Taro frowns. It was his first kiss and she tells him it was awful. That has got to hurt. "HEY! Give me another chance!"

"Fine", the woman tells him. Deep down, she was ready for another kiss. This time, Taro now gives her his best and deepest kiss. He pulls back and sees the woman giving him a seductive smile. "Guess I pleased you enough", he snorts.

"You did well. You're in love, aren't you?"

"At you. No. You're beautiful but a little bit masochistic."

"I wasn't talking about me. She has been with you for a while. Come with me."

Taro gives her a skeptic look. What was she talking about? The woman goes to the bookshelf and reaches for the book "Simulation and Simulacra". She pulls it and opens a secret passage. The woman presents him the new area. Taro reluctantly enters the room. Before he leaves, he looks at her. "Tell me, why are you helping me?"

The woman pauses. "I'm doing a favor for a dear friend. The name is Sophia, but that is not my real name. So have fun."


At the last blow, Riku finally opens the dungeon door using his own fist. The Keymaker is stunned. The young man has shown his full strength. "Hey old man," Riku replies, "let's get the hell out of here."

"I can't." That was the Keymaker's weak reply.

"What!?! Why?"

"I must stay here and wait for him. I have something that I, only must give it to him."

"Malvolio will not hesitate to kill you if he finds out."

"He won't. He needs me as long as I am still alive. He won't harm me. He doesn't even have the guts to do so even if he is a man of word."

Riku doesn't want to leave the Keymaker behind, but he knows he has intentions. The Keymaker tells him one more thing. "I am sorry but our paths were not meant to cross yet. You must go back to Traverse Town and protect it from the impending danger now!"

"I...understand. I..."

"Hey mister, will you let me out please?"

Riku hears the young girl's voice. That's probably Sakura. He looks at the Keymaker again. "Go now and take the other prisoners with you. They'll be beneficial." Riku leaves his cell and breaks in Sakura's cell. He sees the girl with her school uniform and looking scared. "Sakura. Let's get out of here. You'll be okay (I hope)," Riku coolly tells her. Just then, a woman wakes up with annoyance. "Hey! What's going on?" The red-headed girl looks at Riku with a serious look then grins. "So you're here to rescue us, am I correct?" Riku looks at Sakura and the girl gives a sheepish giggle. "Sorry mister, she slept like a log", Sakura tells him. "True, I was tired. I haven't introduced myself, I am Washu, a super genius and number one scientist of the universe!" the girl beams proudly. Riku sweatdrops at her. Then, he remembered something.

"Wait, you're Washu? Tenchi's scientist friend?"

Washu is surprised at this. "You know me?" she confusingly asks Riku.

"A few years ago, I went to your world. I bumped into Tenchi one day while he was being chased by his bickering girlfriends."

"Funny, he mentioned you to me."

"That's because he was unconscious for a day and he said that you were on vacation."

"Ah, classic Tenchi", Washu reminiscences the past with her friends.

"Also, you were famous from other worlds", Riku adds. It's not that he's advocating Washu but he definitely knew she would be an asset. Hearing that, Washu is beyond pleased. "Well, what can I say?" asks a blushing Washu. "That and you as a supposedly dried-up mummy in the form of a 12 year old", Riku dryly comments. Washu scowls at that remark.

"Whatever, I've got one more cell to bust and we're out of here", Riku tells the two girls. He goes out of the cell and moves to the other one. He can tell someone is there. The silver-haired man tells the two girls to stand back. Riku slams his fist to the door until he finally opens it. But, he was greeted by an incoming rose whip. He manages to dodge it and back out. "I'm here to free you! I promote peace and crap like that!" Riku tells him. The prisoner decides to step out of his cell while still being on the defensive. Riku takes a good look at him. He was taller, has lengthy red hair hair and looks very feminine. Riku mistakes him for a girl.

"You okay miss?" asks Riku.

The guy scowls. "I'm a guy. You said you're here to rescue me. How can I trust you?" He then looks at Sakura and smiles at her. "Why hello Sakura-chan! I'm glad you're okay."

Sakura smiles back. "Why hello Kurama-san."

Riku looks at them confusingly. "You guys know each other?"

This is where Washu decides to step in. "What do you expect? We've been here for 3 days. Better talking to an inmate than no one."

Riku realized something was wrong. "Wait. No guards. Not good."

"HEY YOU BLINDFOLDED FREAK!"

Riku winces as he recognized the voice. He looks at the very pissed Pantyhose Taro approaching, bruised and beaten up all together. He notices Taro's hands are filled with blood.

"You're welcome", Taro sarcastically replies. He grabs Riku's shirt and begins to shout at him, couldn't. He was tired. He lets go of Riku and gives a frustrated sigh as he slumps down. "I'm so tired of cursing right now I could just smack myself", he whines. Riku sheepishly chuckles. "He he, sorry. Who's with you?" Riku asks.

"Leon, Irvine and the girl who has a secret passageway to the devil itself."

Yui, Riku thought. He should've guessed that those 2 won't get along really. Like a car crash or a world destroyed. "We better get out of..."

He was interrupted by a loud alarm. Oh shit, Riku thought, the alarm. They better get out of this place alive.

"W-what was that?" asked a scared Sakura.

"The alarm...", Washu answers.

"We have to go now!" Riku orders them. Kurama looks at him curiously.

"What's wrong with that?"

"The alarm," Riku replies, "has enough power to kill a mob. Wherever you go, death will follow you."

"That's a little weird."

"It's true". This time it was Washu who said that. "Dark magic, beasts, demons, unknown powers, you name it. Booby traps as well. The only way to escape is a secret passage." She then looks at Riku. "Any idea?"

"There's a secret elevator at the wine cellar", Taro tells them. Riku grins at him. "Well, I taught Leon very well about the place. Okay everyone, get ready. Sakura, you better get closer to me. It's going to be one hell of a ride."


"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Irvine panics.

"Irvine calm down!" Leon is trying to calm him down. They hear a loud crash and then 10 large creatures bust out of the walls. 10 ft., large black armor and giant swords. Not good for the duo.

"Squall, we better run now", Irvine advises him. Leon nods at the best suggestion as of the moment. They quickly run to the left and ends up at the next room, where they are greeted by exploding bombs. They managed to get out of there unscathed. When they are at another hallway, the ground suddenly shakes and red bodies busts out. Leon instantly recognizes these creatures.

"Irvine, whatever you do. Don't let them touch you! They're poisonous zombies."

Irvine loads his shotgun. "I'm ready to pop their heads off." He first shoots five zombies' heads, which they pop out. He and Leon were running as the former continues to shoot while the latter slices them. But more and more are coming out. Luckily they reached the exit when they ran into Yui.

"FUCK!" Yui yelps in fear as she grabs her dagger and is about to shove Irvine's neck. "Hey! Don't do that! We're still alive!" Irvine tries to convince her.

"You scared me!" Yui scolds them. "What the hell's going on? I almost got soaked by acid water, ferocious canines were running after me while trying to kill them and then I run into bunnies! Evil bunnies! The horror!"

Leon and Irvine surprisingly looks at her. "Bunnies? You're afraid of bunnies?" Leon asks. He didn't know whether to laugh or to just shut up. "That's not the issue right now! We better get out of here now! Where the hell's Panty-boy?"

Both men didn't answer her question and the trio went to the next room. Both looked at place. It was already destroyed. "What the hell happened here?" wonders Irvine. Then they heard someone shouting. They went to the source of the scream and see Sasuke still screaming and yelping. "Oh! That's the boy who tried to kill me and then I ripped out his eyes", Yui comments. Irvine takes a step back away from her. "You plucked out his eyes!?!" Irvine horrifyingly asks her. All she could do is shrug. Leon approaches Sasuke and then knocks him out. He carries him over his shoulder and goes back to Yui and Irvine.

"Why did you knock him out?" asks Yui.

"Information. We needed that and he's the only one who can provide us so far", Leon answers her. "Let's go."


From another area, Kurama uses his Rose Whip to take town several heavily armed men while Sakura uses her clow cards to protect them by casting a force field. Riku eliminates the other guards by using Arcane A/N: a move when you are a Black Knight FFX-2 but it weakens him a little bit.

"We should be near the exit", Washu tells them.

"What exit?" Riku asks her. The only exit he knows of is in the wine cellar that would lead to the underground sewers.

"Um, that Malvolio guy showed me a secret elevator when he brought me in for questioning."

"Washu, you better find it now! We don't have much..."

8 Behemoths appears out of nowhere and without control, begin to eat the guards. Riku did not expect this as he originally thought. While he, Kurama and Taro are fighting back, Washu keeps tapping the walls for the secret passage anxiously. She knew it was here somewhere. Then, she sees Leon, Irvine and Yui running towards them.

"Guys", Washu calls out.

Riku looks at them. "I know them. They're harmless. They're at our side."

"You brought us here to kill us, queerbait!" Yui yells at him.

"Maybe not."

When the two groups are together, the secret elevator mysteriously appears in the walls. As soon as it opens, Riku and Leon order everyone to get in. Then, Leon closes the elevator just as the Behemoths comes crashing at them. Inside, a white button appears at the control panel. This is where everyone got curious. "What the hell is that?" Taro asks. "Could be a trap", remarks Kurama, expecting everything to happen. Riku instinctively presses the button and a white light shines on them.

Next thing they knew they are at a very large and white room. They look around until Irvine sees what he wished he didn't want to see at all. "Guys, don't turn around. If you do, please let us gather our forces and hopefully fight this thing and win."

The rest turn to Irvine's direction only to see 20 ft. monster towering them, ready to kill them without mercy. Sakura wanted to scream but couldn't due to fear. The monster is slowly approaching them as they step back carefully. "Omega Weapon", Riku replies. "No way", Irvine replies in surprise. "Can it be beaten?"

"No idea", Riku confesses. Back then he had heard stories of three Weapons roaming around everywhere. The Omega Weapon, the Ruby Weapon and the Emerald Weapon. On how Malvolio managed to capture one is the one thing he's curious to find out. Miraculously, a bright light is shone on them and blinds the Omega Weapon, sending them to unknown.

In the video room, Sophia looks at the screen. She transferred them into a secure location. She knew Malvolio would be beyond upset about this but she doesn't care as she crosses her legs, leans back on her chair and drinks her champagne.


Riku, Taro, Yui, Leon, Irvine, Kurama, Sakura and Washu, along with the eyeless, unconscious Sasuke appeared out of nowhere and are near the entrance of Traverse Town. They look around as they appeared to be very confused. On how they got here was one thing they don't know much.

"Mind explain to me what the hell happened?" Taro demanded them. He has no idea what's really going on. "How did we get here?"

Even Riku himself didn't know. "I don't know." Taro looks at him in surprise.

"You don't know?" Riku incredulously looks at him. "I don't have the answers all the time! I'm not a machine." He looks at Kurama, Sakura and Washu. "Guys, welcome to Traverse Town. Peaceful, quiet, harmonious". And about to be destroyed, he dryly thought. They proceeded to the headquarters when they see the people looking anxious while the others are in panic mode. When they reached the house, Riku knocks the door very loud. Aeris opens it and is surprised to see them.

"Riku!"

"Sorry Aeris, but we need to rest now. Something bad's going to happen", Riku tells her. Aeris nods and lets them in. Leon lays down Sasuke to the couch as Yui, Taro and Irvine slumps over the other couch. The rest of the residents see them and the results are mixed. Cid looks at them. "Geez, all of you look like shit." Irvine scowls at him. "Bleep off, old man."

Gon approaches Taro. "You okay?" Taro looks at him. "Don't know. By the way, I ran in to a friend of yours, Hisoka." The boy was surprised. "What?" The older teen sighs. "Red hair, looks like a clown or a freak. Is that him?" All Gon could do is nod.

Naruto, on the other hand, sees the still unconscious Sasuke and notices his eyes were missing. "Sasuke?" Yui looks at him. "He got psycho on me." Naruto then looks at her. "Ne, Yui. What happened to him? What happened to his eyes?" Yui couldn't look at the blonde boy. She didn't want him to find out the details. Vivi looks at Naruto.

"You know him?" Vivi asks. Naruto nods.

"Yeah, he was my teammate."

Just then Cloud, Leon and Riku approach the group. "Okay, everyone listen up. Pack you're the things that are needed. We're leaving now", Cloud tells them. This doesn't bode well with everyone. "What the hell are you talking about?" Cid asks them. But right before they could answer him, Gon hears a loud explosion from outside, heading towards them. "Hey guys, did you hear that?"

Everyone could now see a dark aura is approaching them. Riku knew one thing to do. "EVERYONE! RUN FOR COVER!!!"

The dark aura explodes the front side of the house as everyone protects themselves and each other. Riku gets up from the rubble and sees a large black circle. A figure appears out of the circle. His description are long lengthy silver hair, a black wing on the left side of his back, black outfit, piercing eyes and wields a large sword. Then, four more figures appeared. The three of them similarly looks like the man before only one of them has shoulder-length hair, the other having shorter hair and the last has long hair. The final figure has very large and big muscles that could easily crush anything, taller than the silver-haired men and wears black shades. Everyone now looks at them. Kurama is shocked to see the very large man. But to Cid, Aeris and Cloud, the presence of the silver-haired man wielding the sword is enough to make them nervous. Cloud gritted his teeth as he faces his rival as Aeris clutches to him closer. For Pantyhose Taro and Ichiro Yui, there is one thing they could only say.

"Oh crap."


UP NEXT: The NWC behind bars. Find out why.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

1. Appearances: Kurama, Toguro (Yu Yu Hakusho); Sakura (Card Captor Sakura); Washu (Tenchi Muyo); Sasuke (Naruto); Hisoka (HunterxHunter); Seifer (FF VIII); Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo (the up-coming FF: Advent Children); and yes, people, Sephiroth.

2. The Chateau scene was greatly inspired by the Matrix Reloaded and Enter The Matrix.

3. I got the name "Sophia" from "Da Vinci's Code" since the name is highly symbolical. Originally, I planned to name her Mara.

4. Trigun is next.