Title- Bright New Dawn

Summary- Riku's first mission for the Organization- to recruit three powerful characters to the black-coats' cause, aided by Axel. But their enemies, both outside the Organization and inside, have different plans…

Disclaimer- I do not hold the rights to either Square or Disney. If I did, Kingdom Hearts- Chain of Memories would come out in Britain much sooner.

Rating- PG-13

Spoilers- Huge ones for Chain of Memories. You've been warned.

Bright New Dawn

Chapter Two- Trials and Tribulations

Axel walked deceptively fast, his angular, sloping saunter disguising an unnerving speed that left Riku and Mickey behind in the fog. Riku could vaguely make out the shape of two weapons inside his closed hands- circular, with sharp points jutting out at regular intervals. So either he's prepared for an attack, or he just likes to show off.

'Hurry up, you two!' the red-haired man called. 'It's not that far! Hell, if you want, I'll carry the both of you!'

Probably the second one.

Riku watched as Axel came to a sudden halt, his weapons disappearing in a puff of light. As his eyes adjusted to the mist, he saw that he'd run into another member of the Organization- a tall man not much older than Riku himself, thin and wiry, and completely bald.

Axel was talking to the man, animatedly. 'It's alright, I've got the situation under control.'

'Ixion said that I was to escort the two new recruits to the castle,' Abraxas replied. 'Well, he actually said that you weren't to escort them to the castle.'

Axel pouted. 'Sometimes I get the feeling he doesn't trust me.'

'It's nothing personal. He just thinks I'd be better at showing them around.'

'Well, I suppose you've got to be good for something,' Axel said, smiling like a tiger. 'Fine, take them. But I'm going to have words with Ixion about this.'

'I'm sure he was expecting nothing else,' the bald man said, a darkness in his eyes the only indication that Axel's insult had hit home.

Axel turned to Riku and Mickey. 'Abraxas here's going to show you around Headquarters. I've got to talk to our boss, who you'll probably meet shortly.' As he walked behind Abraxas, he mouthed something that resembled 'complete wanker' before disappearing into the mist.

Abraxas stepped forward. 'Welcome to the Organization, both of you.' He drew a piece of paper from the pocket of his coat. 'Sorry, I have to ask a few questions. First of all, who have you spoken to between leaving Castle Oblivion and arriving here?'

Riku looked at Mickey, who shrugged. 'Just the operator,' he replied. 'Oh, and a kid in Twilight Town, but that wasn't really a conversation.'

The bald man looked dubious. 'Alright. Second question, what weapons do you have on you?'

Riku slowly reached into his coat, pulling out the vicious-looking blade that Diz had given him. 'This is my only weapon. The man who gave it me called it the Soul Eater.'

Abraxas raised his eyebrows. 'Yes, I'm familiar with it. What about you, Mickey?'

The king reached into the air, light coalescing around his outstretched hand. As Abraxas and Riku watched, it formed a Keyblade, the reverse of Sora's weapon- gold where the boy had had silver, and silver where he'd had gold, with a blue band around the hilt.

'The Negative Keyblade…' Abraxas said slowly, as if something was dawning on him. He shook his head. 'Third question. Which members of the Organization have you encountered?'

Riku laughed bitterly. 'I've… encountered three in Castle Oblivion. Zexion, Vexen, and some bruiser who I'm pretty sure was called Lexaeus. Between then and now, I've only met Axel.'

'Same as him,' Mickey said, 'exceptin' Vexen. I didn't meet him.'

Abraxas made a few notes on his sheet. 'That all seems to make sense.' He gestured towards the castle, an indistinct shape that loomed over them. 'Follow me, and I'll introduce you to a few more.'

'This is where I'm sleeping? Holy hell.'

Riku stepped inside, not caring that Abraxas was making notes with a disapproving look on his face. The room was decorated in much the same way as the train had been- dark, red-tinged wood that shone in the chilly mid-morning light. Shelves of thick, serious-looking books took up the entirety of one wall, stacked haphazardly and seemingly at random. A bed, large and luxurious with simple white sheets, lay under the windows, along with the ever-present drinks cabinet.

'So you're impressed, then?' the bald man asked, stepping into the room with Mickey, who looked around the room with a grin. Riku, turning back to face Abraxas, nodded.

'You certainly know how to make a good impression, I'll give you that,' he replied. 'The operator wasn't kidding when he said the Organization was rich.'

Abraxas shook his head. 'This castle was a gift from the Superior. One of the many things he's given to us to help us achieve our goals.'

Who exactly is that guy, anyway? Riku bit back his next question. Instead he said, taking a book at random from the precarious shelves, 'He must be a generous kind of person.'

Riku thought he saw something like anger on Abraxas' face as he answered. 'He gives us many things, and all he asks in return is complete obedience to the cause. Those who betray him betray their brothers and sisters in the Organization, as well…' And now there was a smile on his face. Not a pleasant smile. 'I think you've seen how the Organization deals with those who betray it.'

'Yeah, vengeance, blood, many unkind words exchanged, yadda yadda,' Riku answered. 'Trust me, Abraxas, I'm not here to betray anyone.'

The bald man nodded. 'Good. I'll return in ten minutes. Until then, make yourselves comfortable in your respective rooms,' he said, indicating a smaller door across the corridor that Riku assumed was intended for Mickey's use.

As Abraxas walked away down the corridor, Riku replaced the book on the shelf. 'So, what do you think so far, Mickey?'

'Well, for a start, I'm thinkin' that the Organization weren't just feudin' in Castle Oblivion. That spiky-haired fella and Abraxas didn't seem to much like each other.'

'You got that impression too, eh?' Riku said, half-laughing.

'We're meant to be meetin' some bigwigs shortly, but Abraxas never sounded much keen on 'em when he talked about 'em earlier. I'm thinkin'…' Mickey looked out the room to check that Abraxas had gone, then continued. 'I'm thinkin' that, for all Abraxas said about how the Organization's got one agenda, everyone in this castle's got at least two extra.'

Riku sighed. 'Probably.' Mickey crossed the hall, pushing open the door that Abraxas had indicated.

Riku fought back a laugh. The room was almost exactly the same as the one Riku'd been given, with the one difference that everything was half as large- miniature books were stacked on a tiny shelf, next to a selection of egg-cup-sized glasses. Even the ceiling was lower, and Riku had to duck to get in.

The mouse looked up at Riku, mock-seriously. 'This ain't a small room, Riku. This is the right size. It's you tall fellas who have odd-sized rooms.'

'Right, sure,' Riku replied, grinning. 'You keep telling yourself that, Mickey.' He backed out of the doorway, tapping his foot as Mickey explored the room.

Looking to his side, he noticed that the mantelpiece he had passed on his way in had a group of oil portraits hanging over it. He walked to it, furrowing his eyebrows. They were arranged in a line of thirteen, each showing the face of what Riku assumed were the members of the Organization, with a larger portrait of the red-bandaged man hanging above them all.

The picture on the far left showed a greying man with long hair, flinty eyes looking out from a thin, lined face. Underneath, a small silver plaque was attached to the wall, reading simply 'Ixion. One.'

So that's Ixion, Riku thought. He ran his eyes along the line of portraits, noticing a run of blank portraits from 'Four' to 'Six' and stopping when he reached a particularly striking one, such as a young woman with bright green hair- 'Exira. Ten.' At the far right end was Abraxas, looking determined with a set jaw, and between them was-

'What the hell?' Riku said, stepping forward. His face looked back at him, above the legend 'Riku. Twelve.' Looking to the left, he saw Mickey, looking serious and accompanied by 'Mickey. Eleven.'

Looking closer, he saw that his and Mickey's paintings were different to the others. Unlike those on either side of him, neither he nor the king were wearing their Organization cloaks, pictured instead in the clothes they had worn in Castle Oblivion. 'Mickey, come and have a look at this!' he called, examining his portrait.

Mickey poked his head out of the doorway, reacting when he saw his and Riku's paintings. He walked slowly towards the mantelpiece, looking at his likeness warily.

'Well, that's mighty spooky.' He looked from his to Riku's, and back again. 'You notice that-'

'-we're the only ones not wearing our cloaks?' Riku finished for him. 'Yeah, I noticed. Maybe we're not considered proper members yet.'

'Give that man a prize,' someone said, behind them. A woman's voice.

Riku turned, to see a tall woman with dark eyes and disconcertingly pale skin. She wore a black cloak, and Riku realised he'd seen her portrait when he was browsing the wall.

'Beatrix, right?' he asked.

'Well, aren't you smart?' she replied. 'Two correct observations in a row.'

Mickey stepped forward. 'Nice to meet you, Beatrix.'

She nodded. 'Uh-huh. So, you're the two that the Superior recruited from Castle Oblivion.' Stepping towards them, she inspected the two more closely. 'You've got to be Riku. Axel's told me a lot about you… which would make you Mickey.'

Riku reacted, surprised. 'What's he been saying about me?'

She smiled. 'Nothing that I can't guess from ten seconds of talking to you.'

Oh, so this is going to be one of those conversations. 'You said that we weren't full members of the Organization yet?' Riku said, letting her comment pass.

'No. You've apparently impressed the Superior, and normally that would be enough, but some of us aren't convinced that anyone with a heart can truly renounce both light and darkness.' She moved away from them, continuing to talk. 'Ixion isn't very happy about having people like you in the Organization- no offence intended, that's just what he thinks- and you're going to want to stay on his good side, at least until you've got some experience in dealing with him.'

Riku groaned. 'Another test?'

'I'd call it more an initiation ceremony. We weren't going to tell you about it beforehand, but Axel thought it was only fair that you knew.' She smiled again, with an unpleasant glint in her eye. 'He really does have your best interests at heart, Riku. Bear that in mind for the future.'

'If you say so,' Riku replied.

Mickey spoke up. 'When's this test gonna happen, then?'

'Tonight. Don't say anything to Abraxas- after all, no-one likes a tattle-tale.' With one final look at Riku, she disappeared from sight.

Riku glanced at Mickey. 'Ever wish you'd just stayed at home?'

The catacombs under the Organization's castle were strange and meandering. Exira had tried to chart them once, but they seemed to twist in on themselves when she wasn't looking, blocking entrances and leading inexorably down. Dark things scurried in the shadows, and she'd been sure that as she descended she could hear vast, echoing breathing from the walls around her. By some miracle she'd found her way out, and had sworn to never set foot there again.

So, of course, that was where Ixion had decided to hold the boy's trial. Exira swore under her breath as she stepped into the rocky corridor that led downwards from the castle's basement. 'You couldn't have asked Ixion to hold this little event somewhere else, I suppose?'

Axel, accompanying her, looked amused. 'I'm not in Ixion's good books at the moment. Technically, I'm not supposed to go within fifty feet of the new guys.'

'Why's that?'

'He's worried that I'll corrupt them.'

Exira raised her eyebrows. 'Before he gets a chance to, you mean?'

Axel laughed. 'Exactly. He wants Riku and Mickey on his side, not on Diz's, or mine, or, worse still, on their own side. He's planning something.'

'He's always planning something.' She looked at Axel. 'What actually happened in Castle Oblivion? All I've heard is hearsay and Ixion's blustering.'

The red-haired man paused. 'Okay, this is complicated. You might want to take notes.'

He walked out into the shadowy cavern at the bottom of the corridor, lighting his torch from a brazier on the wall. 'Ixion wanted the Keyblade Master dead.'

'What?' Exira entered the cavern behind him. 'Why?'

'He thought that he was a threat to the balance. Too much light in him, too little darkness. He actually sought him out a month or so ago in Hollow Bastion to kill him, which is not something many people know. Even less know that our great leader proceeded to get his ass handed to him by a fourteen-year-old with a magic key.'

She giggled. 'He couldn't kill Sora?'

'He changed his mind. Decided that the Keyblade Master was too valuable a weapon to dispose of immediately.'

Axel walked into the centre of the room, punctuating his story by waves and thrusts of his torch. 'So he sent me, Larxene, and Marluxia to Castle Oblivion. I was there to mastermind his plan, or so he told me. The other two were there to die.'

'What he didn't tell me,' Axel continued, 'was that he'd sent Zexion and that ignorant rock-man Lexaeus there as well. You following me so far?'

Exira nodded.

'Good, 'cause it gets more complicated. The plan was for either Sora to kill our traitors, or for our traitors to off the Keyblade Master. Either way, it was my responsibility to kill whoever was left, as well as that girl Naminé. The bit he didn't tell me was that Lexaeus and Zexion were there to ensure I didn't leave the castle, either.'

'He wanted you dead?' Exira asked.

'He thought I was unreliable. But I don't take it personally.'

She sat down on a flat lump of shapeless rock, brushing her hair away from her face. 'So if it'd all gone to plan, the only potential rebellion in the whole Organization would be-'

'His own, yes.' Axel smiled. 'But it didn't all go to plan. I don't know how much of the plan Diz knew about, but he knew enough to introduce a wild card into the mix.'

'Riku.'

'Right. They tried to control him. It didn't end happily for either of them, since by interfering with someone they knew to be a protegé of the Superior they'd given me a reason to do unto them before they did unto me. And as for Sora… well, he's currently marinating in a memory tank. I'm afraid I wasn't able to kill him.'

'Weren't you supposed to attack him after he fought Marluxia? You know, when he was exhausted and weakened, as opposed to fully powered and pissed-off?'

'Funny, that's what Ixion said. I guess I just got my orders confused.'

Exira didn't believe that for a second. Axel didn't expect her to. He grinned. 'Now, let's get prepared for this trial. Did you have a look at Vexen's notes?'

She nodded. 'They're disorganised and sort of illogical, but I think I can see what he's getting at. When do you want it done by?'

'The trial starts at midnight. By then?'

'Okay.'

Riku could feel gravel under his feet. Near him, he assumed, was Mickey, whose smaller feet pattered over the rocks. The air felt musty and dank. He wasn't, however, able to make out anything else of his location, because of the thick blindfold over his eyes.

He'd been led by the hand down through a bewildering series of tunnels. The dark senses that he'd cultivated in Castle Oblivion had told him that the person leading him was the raven-haired woman from earlier, and that Mickey and another woman were ahead of him. After what seemed like an hour's wandering, they came to a halt, and the pair were told to wait where they were while the trial was prepared.

They'd been waiting there for what seemed like another hour, impatient and uncomfortable. Occasionally a presence would flicker into existence near him- he'd felt Axel's distinctive aura, fiery and uncontrolled, as well as a calmer scent that he associated with Mickey's guide- but no-one had appeared for a while, and Riku was beginning to think that they'd just left him and Mickey there for fun. Hell, it's what I'd do.

Suddenly, Riku felt several auras flare around him. There was Beatrix's, the woman that had led Mickey through the labyrinth, and a metallic one that set Riku's teeth on edge. From behind him, he felt someone begin to undo his blindfold.

When he could see again, he found himself in a wide, rocky cavern. Looking behind him, he could see the green-haired woman that he'd noticed on the wall of portraits undo the fabric around Mickey's eyes. Exira, that was it. He could see that it was Beatrix who'd done his. The third presence was an older, silver-haired man with alert blue eyes.

'Ixion?'

He nodded. 'Indeed.'

Riku took an instant dislike to the man, who was looking at him with undisguised contempt. 'I've been told you've been saying unkind things about us. Not suitable to join the Organization, that kind of thing.'

'Yes, I have.' Ixion sneered. 'And I'll continue to say them until you prove me wrong.'

Riku looked around. 'So, when do we start this trial?'

The grey-haired man gestured to a corridor at the far end of the cavern, leading down. 'Mickey will go first. Then you. There will be three stages to the challenge- a test of your intellect, a test of your ability to fight, and a test of your loyalty to the Organization. You will receive no guidance.'

'Wonderful.' Riku looked at Mickey, who was staring ahead at the corridor apprehensively. 'Good luck, your majesty.'

'Thanks, Riku,' the mouse nodded. Summoning his Keyblade to him in a flash of light that briefly illuminated the cavern, showing Riku that its walls were covered in vaguely unsettling carvings, he walked forward into the darkness.

The next ten minutes were the longest of Riku's life. Exira had disappeared shortly after Mickey began his trial, leaving him with Beatrix and Ixion, who didn't talk much to each other and less to him. As the seconds ticked by, Riku began to worry about Mickey, who for all he knew could be facing a Behemoth in one of the caverns ahead of him.

A test of intellect, a test of your ability to fight, and a test of your loyalty to the Organization. It was the last one that was worrying Riku the most. What would he have to do to prove he could follow the strange red-bandaged man without complaint?

Finally, Exira appeared in the cavern again. She nodded to Riku. 'Your turn.'

'How did Mickey do?' Riku asked. She didn't reply. Mentally cursing the day he agreed to join these people, Riku walked towards the rocky corridor.

He made his way down to the bottom in total darkness, slipping every few seconds and bruising his head on the wall whenever the corridor turned a sharp corner. Eventually he came to a well-lit room, illuminated by four torches attached to the walls, and completely plain except for a raised dais in the centre.

Walking slowly into the room, he wasn't entirely surprised when the entrance sealed itself behind him. He edged around the dais, looking to see if there was anything in the room he'd missed.

'Hi.'

Riku turned to where the entrance had been. Axel was standing there, smiling as always. 'Need some help?'

'I thought I didn't get any guidance,' Riku replied, looking at the red-haired man suspiciously. He shrugged.

'Well, you're not supposed to, but Ixion can't sense me from this far away. If you'd like to do this on your own, feel free.'

'Did Mickey get this?'

'No. But then again, I don't really care about him.' As Riku gripped the hilt of the Soul Eater angrily, Axel continued. 'Don't worry, though, he's still alive and well. He's surprisingly good in a fight.'

'So, what now?' Riku asked, indicating the raised platform. 'Do I step on that?'

'Be my guest.'

Riku, still looking at Axel warily, stepped onto the dais. The next thing he knew, he was holding his ears as a deafening rumble shook the room.

'Do you wish to hear my riddle?'

'What?' screamed Riku, above the noise.

'Do you wish to hear my riddle?' the voice repeated, in a tone of infinite patience. Riku nodded.

'A prisoner is given a choice,' it rumbled. 'If the next thing he says is a truth, he will be hung. If the next thing he says is a lie, he will be beheaded. How can he save himself from death?'

Riku looked to Axel, who shrugged. 'Damned if I know,' the red-haired man shouted. 'He didn't ask Mickey this.'

Riku was quiet for a few moments, while the walls around him creaked with the tremors. I know this one, he thought. This is just a variation on that tired old two-guards riddle that Kairi used to tell me all the time. If he tells the truth, he'll be hung… if he tells a lie, he'll be beheaded. So…

Axel walked up to Riku. 'Making any progress?'

'Shut up, Axel. I'm trying to concentrate.'

'Sor-ry.'

If he tells them… no, that doesn't work. But…

He looked up at the ceiling. 'He tells them that they're going to behead him.'

The voice spoke again, shaking dust from the walls. 'Correct. You may pass.'

As the echoes died away, the wall in front of him slid to the side, revealing a long corridor lit by the same lamps that illuminated the room. Riku dropped off the dais, walking towards the faintly-visible room at the end of the tunnel.

'Not bad, Riku.' Axel fell into step beside him. 'How did you work that one out?'

'If he tells them that, then they can't hang him, because then he'll have lied when he said he'd be beheaded, and they only hang him if he tells the truth. And if they behead him, he'll have told the truth, and they should have hung him. They can't do either, see?'

Axel nodded. 'That's clever. Of course, 'if you don't let me go I'll incinerate you from the inside out' would have been a better answer.'

'Do you always have to show off, Axel?' Riku asked.

'I don't have to…'

The pair, arguing, emerged from the tunnel into a vast cavern. Riku walked forward, noticing a number of unsettling marks in the muddy floor. Claw marks. Oh, good.

Stepping further into the cavern, he noticed that it was divided in the middle by a stream. He looked at it dubiously, before tentatively prodding at it with his boot. Nothing tried to eat it, so he knelt down, scooping some water into his hand.

From behind him, he heard a growl. The water in his palm slipped to the floor, splashing the bottom of his coat. 'Is that you again, Big Deep Voice Man?'

Grrrrrrrr.

He turned around. Not three feet from him, looking at him with bared fangs and an expression of dumb fury, was a giant monster. Its horns curved in towards him, mud and blood smeared on their tips. It raised its front leg, letting out another deafening roar.

'A Behemoth. You know, sometimes I hate being right,' Riku said, mostly to himself.

It lunged.

Riku dived to the right, under its raised leg, but the tremors from its landing threw him backwards. Scrambling to his feet, he drew the Soul Eater from his coat, its malevolent green eye looking towards the giant Heartless hungrily.

'All right! Now, this, I can help with!'

Axel twisted his bizarre weapons in his hand, sending a fireball towards the Behemoth. Riku felt its heat as it screamed past his head, catching the monster on the jaw. It roared again in pain and rage, stampeding towards the pair.

Again, Riku dived, separating from Axel as the red-haired man leapt over the monster's head. He spun in the air, slashing the blades of his wheels across its horn. The Behemoth whirled its head around with surprising speed, catching Axel as he tried to grab onto its back. He shot backwards, landing on the ground with a painful-sounding thud.

As Axel cleared his head, Riku rushed the monster, jumping from its front claw to swing from a horn. He brought the Soul Eater down, cutting into its forehead. The monster swung at him with a giant claw, narrowly missing his sword arm. Riku swung again, this time cutting at the base of its central horn.

Suddenly, a beam of darkness shot from the tip of the horn he'd attacked, hitting him square in the chest. Riku managed to keep his hold on the Behemoth, although his ribs felt like they'd been broken by the assault. Through a haze of pain, he saw the monster begin to charge another beam-

only for it to shoot past Riku, impacting on the far wall. For a moment he wondered what had caused the monster to miss him, but then as the Behemoth swung its head, he noticed Axel clinging onto its back, digging into it with his wheels. The Heartless howled, rearing and bucking to shake the man off, who- Riku could hear over the noise of the monster- was laughing like a lunatic.

With this opportunity, Riku braced his legs against the side of the Behemoth's face, jumping to cling to the central horn. He wrapped one arm around it, before slicing with the Soul Eater. This time he caught one of the monster's eyes, causing it to roar even louder than before. It jumped, coming down with a thunderous noise and an impact that shook Axel off its back.

Axel was prepared. He twisted in the air, sending a pair of fireballs at the monster's head, before landing gently on the other side of the stream. Riku felt them as they exploded on the back of its skull. The monster's knees gave way, collapsing to the floor in a shower of dirt and gravel.

Riku dropped from its horn, attacking the monster's face furiously. It snapped at him with teeth thicker than Riku's arm, but it was crippled, unable to get back up. With another few swings of the Soul Eater, the Behemoth roared one last time, then exploded into a black mist. Dimly, Riku could make out the red glare of a freed heart within the smoke.

At the other end of the cavern, another door opened, a tiny pinprick of light in the distance. Axel, brushing dirt off his coat, walked up to Riku. 'Now, that was more fun than riddles, I think you'll agree.'

'Yes, but the riddle guy didn't break my ribs,' Riku replied. 'Come on, let's do this last one.'

They waded through the stream, walking towards the light. After what seemed like a mile of walking, they reached a corridor like the last one, leading towards another room, although this one seemed smaller than the cavern they'd been in. 'You first,' Axel said, pointing.

As he got further into the corridor, he could make out that someone was standing in the room at the end. A woman. Maybe it's Exira. Or Beatrix.

Getting closer, however, he could see red hair, and a smile that could only belong to one person. No. It's… It can't be. They wouldn't…

'Riku!' she called. 'Is that you?'

He stopped dead. Axel almost collided with him.

'What are you waiting for, Riku? That's your third test.'

'That's Kairi!' he hissed.

Axel shrugged. 'What did you expect your loyalty test would be? You can't afford emotional connections as a member of the Organization. More to the point, we can't afford members of the Organization with emotional connections.'

'No.' Riku's mouth was dry. 'No.'

'That's the final test. She's your past, Riku. We're your future.' He grinned, this time a malevolent, almost vampiric grin. 'Kill her, and you'll be one of us. Even Ixion couldn't argue with that.'

'No!' Riku pushed Axel aside. 'Are you insane? I'm not going to kill Kairi!'

'Why not?' Axel replied, his normal joking tone replaced by anger. 'She doesn't love you. She loves that Sora kid. If she'd ever had any feelings for you, you wouldn't be here, you'd still be on that island.'

Kairi walked towards them both. 'What's the problem, Riku?'

'Kairi, I…' He trailed off. Turning to Axel, he drew his sword. 'Tell Ixion he can stick his loyalty test. And tell him that a group that doesn't see the difference between solving a riddle and killing your best friend isn't a group I want anything to do with.'

'That's your decision, then?' Axel said, looking from Kairi to Riku and back again.

Riku nodded.

'Fair enough. The way out's down there.' He gestured towards a dark hallway at the far end of the room. 'And you can give Ixion your little message yourself.'

He disappeared in a plume of smoke. So did Kairi.

'She wasn't real, was she?'

Axel shook his head. 'Part of Vexen's research. He reckoned he could make temporary mock-ups of people with the appropriate data. Completely insubstantial if you touch them, and they fade after about half an hour, but apparently good enough to fool you.'

'What happened to Mickey?'

'We couldn't get the data for his Queen, so we had to use a replica of you. Not quite the same emotional weight, unfortunately.' Axel stood up, smirking. 'You'll be pleased to know that he refused to kill you.'

'So what happens now, then?' Riku asked. 'Do we leave the Organization?'

'No, although Ixion would undoubtedly like that. Diz has accepted you, and Ixion can't go against a direct order from him- well, not when people are looking, anyway. Be prepared for him to make your life very difficult, however.'

Riku nodded. 'I wasn't expecting anything else.'

Axel turned to go, but there was something troubling Riku. 'Hold up, Axel.'

'What?'

'You said that you needed the Queen's data to create a replica, but you couldn't get it. So…'

'Yes?' replied Axel, knowing what the next question was going to be, and enjoying immensely the thought of answering it.

'Where did you get Kairi's data from?'

'Well, that's simple, Riku. I got it when I talked to her the other day.'

Axel grinned.

Author's Notes-

First of all, yes, I will be calling DiZ 'Diz' throughout this whole fic. I'm not going to punish my readers because the Chain of Memories translators couldn't find the capslock key. If the bizarre capitalisation turns out to be important, I'll edit it.

Axel's reference to Ixion fighting Sora does, in fact, mean that Ixion is the Enigmatic Man from Final Mix. Never had the privilege to fight him myself. I hear he's difficult.

If you read this fic before the tenth of February, you should know that there's a few alterations been made to the first chapter. Go. Read.

Sorry this chapter's late. Don't expect regular updates.

Thanks for reading.