Well, here we go. Another review, another chapter. Things are starting to really heat up now.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Kingdom Hearts. How many times do I have to tell that to you peoples!

Phase 5: Trying to Look for the Truth

Aerith was staring out the window of the group's headquarters of sorts. It wasn't much, just some random abandoned building they'd moved into recently, but it had plenty of rooms and a couple of floors, so it worked just fine. Also to its advantage was the fact that it was somewhat isolated from most of the other houses and stores, good for discussing matters in private.

Nothing in particular was going through her mind at the moment. She was just relaxing and enjoying the view she had from here, admiring what few stars still stood in the ever-darkening sky.

Cloud was nearby, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, his wings somewhat spread out. He looked like he was about ready to fall asleep. "So where's Riku at anyway?" he mumbled.

"Oh, he's resting in the hotel," Aerith answered, looking back at Cloud. 'Been out cold for a couple of hours." Now that the she could see his wings a bit better than before, she noticed that the edges of the dragon wings were outlined thinly with white, something that wasn't there prior to his training travels. "Why do you ask?"

"I dunno,' Cloud replied. "Just thought he was acting kinda strange earlier."

"Yes, I noticed that too," Aerith responded, turning back to the window. "He's been pushing himself pretty hard lately. Some rest and he should be fine." Though in the back of her mind, something bothered her about all this. But Cloud had finally returned, and she didn't feel it was necessary to stress him out right now.

"I guess," Cloud remarked, leaning his head against the wall to look at the ceiling for some odd reason.

Then Aerith spotted a small figure running to them down below. Once the figure got closer, she recognized him.

Cloud seemed to sense the other's presence without the need of sight. "Who is it?" he questioned, his eyes narrowing as he pushed himself off the wall and walked over.

"Cid," answered Aerith, in a puzzled tone.

The Gummi Ship Maker soon reached the building and rushed up the stairs. When he arrived on the second floor, it was easy for both to see that he seemed rather pissed off.

"Where's that damn Riku!" he barked, scanning the room for any sign of the silver-haired teen.

Aerith and Cloud gave him a surprised stare. Very rarely were the words damn and Riku used in the same sentence nowadays.

"Well, that damn Riku is sleeping in the hotel," Cloud explained. "And I wouldn't recommend waking him up since he was in a quite foul mood earlier."

"Nah shit," Cid responded. "Like I didn't guess that."

This only puzzled them more. "But he was already sleeping by the time you got here."

"Well, ya see he and Sora got into a bad fight earlier," Cid began.

"Hold on, a fight as in they yelled at each other or a fight as in they beat each other up?" asked Cloud.

"A fight where they were trying to friggin' kill each other!" Cid exclaimed.

"When was this!" asked Aerith.

"I dunno, not too long ago," Cid replied. "Sora still has the wounds."

"And where's Sora?" Cloud questioned. For some reason his gaze was not on the others but somewhere at the ceiling.

'Somewhere in the second district," Cid replied. "Try to go a few feet of 'im and he goes poof."

"Poof?"

"Yeah, he learned to teleport somewhere," Cid said quickly. "But the point is Riku and Sora beat the crap outta each other for some reason, and I wanna know why!"

"Are you sure it was Riku?" another asked.

All but Cloud shot their gaze up to the ceiling, where Yuffie hung upside down.

"And just how long have you been here?" asked Cid.

"For about the whole time," Cloud replied for her.

Yuffie nearly came crashing down. "Ya mean ya knew I was here all along!"

"Yeah, pretty much," Cloud answered coolly.

"Man..." Yuffie moaned.

Cloud averted his gaze back to Cid. "How serious were his wounds?"

"I'd say pretty damn serious," Cid responded. "I dunno why Riku-"

"Are you sure it was Riku?" Yuffie repeated.

Cid glanced back up at her. "Well, the majority of the wounds were caused by a Keyblade, so I can't think of anyone else who could've done it."

'Are you sure they were Keyblade wounds?" she questioned.

"Well, yeah, I-"

"Are you sure they weren't Gunblade wounds?" she interrupted

"Eh!" Cid exclaimed.

Everyone else's attention was turned to Yuffie as well.

"What? You think Leon attacked him?" Cloud asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, by the way he was talking earlier I'd think so," Yuffie replied.

"What kind of talk?" Aerith asked.

"Like saying that Sora was bad and we needed to kill him and stuff," Yuffie explained.

"HE WHAT!" Cid yelled.

"But Donald didn't like that so they kinda ended up trying to kill each other," Yuffie added.

"So that was what that was about," Cloud growled. "Did he happen to mention why he wanted Sora dead?"

"Only something 'bout his destiny," Yuffie responded.

"What about it?" Aerith questioned.

"I dunno, he was kinda cryptic about it," Yuffie answered. "But he said something like But look what else destiny has in store for him or something." She tried to sound real manly and deep when she quoted him. The attempt was futile.

"How 'bout we go find this damn Leon and force him to fess up!" Cid hissed.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Cloud agreed.

"Oh yeah, there was something else too," Yuffie quickly said.

'What is it?" Aerith asked, hoping she could somehow get the guys here to keep their sanity.

"When I was asking him about it later, he said something like This Master of Darkness is gonna tear this alliance apart." Once again, she attempted to sound like Leon, though not too convincingly.

"Well, I'm gonna go find him and drag him here," Cid growled as he stomped down the stairs.

"Me too," Cloud added as he followed, only slightly less angry.

"Fine," Aerith gave in. "But just make sure to bring him back alive, got that?"

"Yeah, he'd be kinda hard to question if he's dead,' Yuffie chimed in.

"Don't worry, we're not that stupid," Cloud reassured as he stepped outside the headquarters to begin the hunt.

Phase 6: His Majesty Comes

A rather short figure pushed away the towering doors of Traverse Town. He wore a silken white robe, the hood up over his head. Despite this, two quite round ears were still apparent to the average onlooker. The robe dragged on the impure streets, but he didn't seem to either notice or care.

Coming not far behind was a much taller being. This one bore a shield of silver and knight's armor. Long ears hung down from the helmet, and his dog face was clearly visible since the faceguard was up.

"Ayuck, good ol' Traverse Town!" the tall one exclaimed, leaping for joy despite all the noise he made.

"Goofy!" the other scolded in an odd voice, the light now able to show off his rodent face.

"Sorry, your majesty,' Goofy apologized, calming down.

The other chuckled. "It's okay. Now c'mon, let's get something to eat."

As the duo began to travel through the 1st district, they noticed a familiar face stomping his way towards the 2nd district.

"Hey, what's going on?' the shorter one asked Cid.

"Oh, you're back King Mickey,' Cid replied. "And I'm going off to get some damn answers from that damn Leon."

"Gawrsh, what happened?' asked Goofy, looking worried.

Cid sighed. "Look, it's best if you ask Aerith about this damn mess. She's at the usual place." And without uttering another word he stormed into the 2nd District, slamming the door in their faces.

"Hmm..." Mickey mumbled. "That doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

--------

Mickey and Goofy had just climbed the stairs when they spotted Aerith and Yuffie nearby.

"Oh, welcome back, your majesty,' Aerith spoke, bowing her head down a little.

"Yeah, welcome back,' Yuffie echoed. "Too bad you picked such a lousy time to show up. Then again, maybe it was the perfect time..."

"Can you tell us what's going on here?' Mickey asked.

"Can't say I'm too sure myself," Aerith responded. "But what we do know is that Riku and Sora got into a fight recently. A bad one."

"How come, ayuck?" Goofy asked.

"We don't know," Aerith replied. "But Sora was quite seriously injured in the brawl, it seems."

"Oh no, Sora's hurt!" Goofy exclaimed.

"Yeah," Aerith replied. "But for some reason he won't let anyone get near him, so we think that this was more than just some stupid little squabble that ended up going a little too far."

"And then there's Leon," Yuffie chimed in.

"What about him?" Mickey questioned.

"Well...he don't like Sora anymore," Yuffie said. She was once again hanging upside down from the ceiling.

"We've never been real good buddies with him ayuck," Goofy answered.

'Uh...that's not quite what I meant," Yuffie began. "I'm talking about that Leon wants to downright kill him kinda thing."

"WHAT!" Mickey and Goofy exclaimed. "Why!"

"We dunno," Yuffie admitted. "That's why Cloud and Cid are out looking for him. He kinda needs an explanation for that."

"He certainly does," Mickey agreed.

"But ya see, he was talking to Donald about that, and Donald didn't take it too well," Yuffie added. "So they ended up trying to kill each other in the streets."

"You mean Donald's caught up in his mess!" Mickey exclaimed.

"It looks that way," Aerith spoke.

"We'll go find him," Mickey offered. "He's not gonna hide anything from me."

"That sounds like a good idea,' Aerith agreed.

And with that the king and his knight left the base.

Mickey stomped around town, but not just in outrage to what he had just heard.

"Can't believe this," he muttered, just enough for Goofy to hear. "We got the Master of Darkness to worry about and what do they do? They decide to quarrel among themselves." His grumblings got so low that not even his knight could hear him anymore.

"Gwarsh, but this isn't like them at all,' Goofy replied, looking worried. 'Especially not Riku and Sora. Why would they do that to each other?"

"Sigh...I dunno, Goofy, I just hope the enemy doesn't pounce on us while we're all divided like this," Mickey answered, still seeming a bit angry.

"Don't worry, your majesty," Goofy reassured. 'It'll all work out."

"I sure hope so,' Mickey responded, a bit of worry in his voice.

Just then a figure in a cape soaked in the hue of blackened cherry passed by. The cloak was newly made, as it had not yet been wearied by travel. The bearer of the garment was none other than Vincent Valentine himself, and he seemed greatly displeased. He eyed his shadowed surroundings warily, searching for a certain prey to hunt. He even emitted a low growl as he sniffed the air silently.

"What is it?' Mickey asked.

"Darkness," he hissed. He leapt onto a nearby roof and rushed off, showing off his not-so-human prowess.

"Garwsh, what do you think he's after?" asked Goofy.

"I dunno," Mickey replied. "Probably some large group of Heartless, if I know him."

Suddenly Donald was seen dashing out of the alley, skidding to a stop then rushing forward again.

"Donald!" Goofy and Mickey exclaimed, chasing after him.

Donald noticed their pursuit and stopped. "Y-your Majesty!"

"Donald what's going on!" Mickey asked, hoping for a clear answer this time.

"Riku attacked Sora cause of some stupid trick!" Donald yelled. "And now he's really hurt and Leon's looking to finish him off."

"Why?" Goofy questioned.

"BECAUSE HE WAS FRAMED!" Donald hissed back, jumping up and down.

"For what?' Mickey asked. "And by who?"

"THE MASTER OF DARKNESS!" Donald shouted back. "WHO ELSE?"

"Where's Sora?" Goofy asked, now really concerned.

"I'm right here," a quiet voice spoke as the Keyblade Master slowly stepped out of the alley's shadows.

Heh, another cliffy. Aren't I evil? XP

Please R+R

Writing as Goofy is hard…