Late again, as usual. However, compared to others who take like a year to update, I'm still right on time.

Kairi heard the doorknob squeak as it was being turned. She saw the door open. And watched as five Unknown walked in, took hold of her, and shoved her out into the hallway.

"Hey!" Kairi screamed. "Let me go!" The Unknown who held her did nothing of the sort. "Not just yet, Princess. Your part will come soon enough." Kairi didn't bother protesting any further. Yelling at these guys was like yelling at a wall. She was wasting her voice for nothing.

Sora raced through the castle. He could sense a huge level of energy ahead, energy powered by darkness. However, he could also sense a fading portion of light. 'All the darkness around me must be clouding my mind. That light has to be Kairi, and there is no way that her light would fade. Unless….' Sora didn't want to follow that train of thought. Kairi was okay. She had to be. And in order to get to her, he had to get past the looming darkness before him.

Sora skidded around a corner, and followed a path that led him to the outdoor portion of the castle. Sora didn't stop to smell the fresh air, he kept on running at high speed. Kairi was close, he could feel it.

Sora whipped around another corner, and came face to face with the darkness he was sensing. "You again? So soon?" The man drew his sword. "You must have a death wish."

Sephiroth

At first, Sora was overcome by the painfilled memories of Sephiroth, more importantly, the memory of what happened so few days ago. But then, Sora saw past the warrior and watched as a familiar girl with long, red hair was ushered out of the castle and up an exterior flight of stairs.

'Kairi!!' Sora was reminded of why he had come to Hollow Bastion, and his body flowed with energy. He would let nothing stand in his way now. Not even Sephiroth. Sora's Keyblade was in his hand before he knew it. "I don't have time for this!" He roared, charging the man in front of him.

Sephiroth was caught off-guard by the fury of the attack and was smashed to the ground as Sora used a powerful move that resembled Cloud's Sonic Blade. However, Sora didn't stop to look at his handiwork. He had seen Kairi not a football field away. He was catching up.

BHK moved quickly, but silently through the halls. He suddenly stopped and looked carefully at the picture of the laughing fat man next to him. BHK sighed. "Yep. Been here before…." In truth, BHK had no sense of direction what so ever.

"Damn….Now which way was I supposed to take?" BHK felt another explosion rock the castle. "What in the heck is going on here anyway?!" BHK yelled, steadying himself. In a strange type of answer, Heartless Soldiers ran towards him from out of nowhere.

Also, from out of nowhere, came a large battle cry. "HAA!!" Two steps away from reaching him, the Heartless were destroyed. From a nearby corridor a man stepped. His hair was beginning to gray and he was clothed in a long red jacket, but had one arm resting inside of it. The man was tall, and had a scarred eye behind dark glasses.

"Thanks old man." BHK said, announcing his presence along with his gratitude. "But I probably could've handled them myself."

"Whatever" said the man. "The young generations these days don't know how to show gratitude." He shrugged. "I guess every era has its little perks." The old man drew a long sword and looked around the hallway, before resting his eye back on BHK. "You haven't happened to see a spiky haired blonde guy running around have you?"

BHK shook his head. "Haven't seen anything except the Heartless around here old man." The old man shook his head. "You kids don't have any sense of patience either."

He raised his sword and pointed it down different hallways, it was several go-around's before he settled on a direction. He immediately set off down the hallway, but stopped for a last word. "For the next time we meet, the name is Auron." He continued his brisk walk. "And don't you forget it!"

BHK watched silently as the retreating back of the swordsman left his view. BHK shrugged, he had his own people to look for. BHK decided to take the path from which Auron had initially appeared, at the end of the corridor was a long stairway. BHK sighed and started on his way up.

Sora rushed up the steps, taking them two by two. As Sora reached the top, panting, he saw the five hooded men again. They were standing above the trio on a high plateau in a V-formation, with the Heartless symbol engraved below their feet. Sora looked stared at them from every angle he could manage, looking for even a glimse of a checkered skirt or a flash of red hair.

"Sora!" Kairi yelled, breaking through the Unknown ranks. Her struggle was easily ended a second later however, as the Princess was forced behind them again. This time, her limbs were bounded with thick corded rope.

Sora desperately stretched out a hand. "Kairi!!" The Unknown laughed in unison at the poor boy's attempt to reach the Princess. Sora reverted his attention to them with a surge of anger. "Let Kairi go!"

They laughed again. Sora couldn't see any of their faces, but the one in the middle was obviously the leader, and the person who seemed to speak next. "Who are you, Keyblade Master? Who are you to order the Unknown as if we were mere servants to you?!" The Unknown continued to laugh.

Sora's anger was steadily rising. "You heard what I said! Stop laughing and hand her over now!!"

"Ha! Or else what?!"

Sora's rage broke loose. With a low, rumbling growl Sora charged toward them. He didn't care about anything. Not about how in the world he would get up to where they were standing, so high above him. Not one bit of curiousity about their powers. He only cared for Kairi. And for doing as much damage to those laughing idiots as he could.

The Unknown stopped laughing, and the leader raised his sleeve. Sora never knew what hit him. The Keybearer tumbled back, head over heels before finally stopping at the feet of Donald and Goofy.

Sora groaned and, (with the help of his friends) stood up. Now, he was dizzy, had his old headache back, and was even angrier than before. The Unknown seemed to understand this, which caused them to laugh all over again."You bastards!"

The leader shook his head, still quietly laughing inside that robe of his. "Such a peculiar object the heart is. Capable of so much stress, emotion, and never does it complain. Humans are the Masters of their respective worlds!" The Unknown exclaimed, raising his hands in the air dramatically. This simple gesture only served to annoy Sora more.

"Do you know why that is?" Sora thought for a moment, looking for the answer in spite of himself. "Don't bother, I'll tell you. Humans rule over their worlds because, they have the most complex hearts, and the most powerful minds of all other creatures, which give them the ability to perceive the heart for what it truly is.

"With these powers, all other forms of existence quake in awe of our genius. Bow in respect of our strength. And tremble in fear of our wrath! This is why we are so powerful. The heart, and the mind. We can only go so far with out the heart. We can barely move without the mind. But it is now clear to us that the mind can override the instinct of the heart, and therefore, we have come to the conclusion that in the end, the heart is not necessary."

Sora swung his Keyblade as if to bat those words away. "Of course the heart is necessary! Where would we be if it weren't for our heart, huh?! We wouldn't be able to feel anything. Happiness, love…or even anger!!" Sora aimed his Keyblade at the dead center of the Unknown.

"Such emotion, such energy! Yes, these feelings come from the depths of your heart, yet something holds you back from attacking me." Sora scowled. "That something is reason and reason exists solely in the mind and soul. The last time, you rushed in following your heart, being the reckless hero and throwing caution to the winds. And for your effort, you were smacked back to square one. So now you stand there, bluffing your strength and courage, when really your tail hides between your legs."

Sora had no response to this, he was too busy trying to contain his rage. Rage at the himself, for not saving Kairi already, and for acting like a fool charging the Unknown like that. And, rage at the Unknown, for being aholes and, more importantly, for being right.

"Aargh!" Sora rushed again. The Unknown raised his hand, but Sora was ready now. He dove to the right, and felt the wind rush past his ear meaning that he had successfully dodged the invisible blow.

Sora returned to his feet and sped forward again, ducking, doging, weaving in and out, avoiding every one of the Unknown's attacks. Sora reached the wall and leapt up, higher than even he had expected. His feet touched the wall and Sora flipped backward instinctively, pushing of the wall for an extra boost in height.

Sora was now sailing softly through the air, on level with the Unknown. "This is the power of my heart!" Sora unleashed the enormous energy of Ragnorok. He'd been charging his blade ever since Donald and Goofy had picked him up, and now, he was about to see the results.

The Unknown seemed confused for a moment, but as the Ragnorok came closer to its target, it was knocked away.

Sora took the facts in one passing moment. The Unknown's hand was steaming, a result of coming into contact with the Ragnorok, which had now smashed into the side of the castle, below a high window.

The rubble was falling, Sora was falling. He could see the giant stones destination. He could see the terror in the young girl's clear eyes. Sora blinked, and in that instant he heard the tons of brick, rock and stone crash upon the top of the wall. His eyes were closed. Sora hit the floor below him.

His eyes were closed, he hadn't seen Kairi being crushed. But he knew.

He knew.

Review Peeps!!