The Castle That Never Was
Riku walked around the perimeter of the room, running his hand along the wall. He stopped when the surface felt different. The wall felt rough, but this part was smooth. Feeling around, there was an entire area that was smooth. "Glass." He turned back to the King, who stood up. Riku swept the Way to Dawn down the wall, then slashed clean through it. Glass flew outward, startling Vexen. Mickey and Riku, still in Dark Mode, jumped into the laboratory, Keyblades ready.
"You- you found a way out!" Number Five staggered back into a piece of machinery. Riku walked up to him, the King right behind. Vexen's shield flashed into his hands, covering most of his body. Riku held a free hand out, a ball of blue fire shooting out. Vexen was forced into the machine by Dark Firaga, Mickey following up with an aerial attack. The shield fell as Vexen collapsed to his knees. "Why… now?" Riku swiped across, Vexen falling to the floor, slowly disappearing.
"Let's go." He began to walk away, Mickey rushing to keep up.
"Uh, Riku? I don't think that was exactly the right thing to do." Riku stopped, turning to the King. Mickey stepped back as Riku's eyes began to fade to yellow.
"I'm not Riku. Call me… Ansem."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran through the labyrinth of the Castle That Never Was. Eventually, they ran into a man in a coat, red bandages covering his face. He was preoccupied setting up a device of some kind. "You!" Sora shouted, the Keyblade pointing at him. DiZ stood, turning to the three of them.
"Sora," He said, never moving. "So Namin'e released you, just as planned. I was wondering if you would ever get here." He began to tinker with the machine again, aiming it at the moon.
"Who are you? What are you doing?" Sora demanded, Donald and Goofy prepared to fight in the back.
"My name," DiZ unwrapped the mask, revealing an older man with short blonde hair, and a longer version of Luxord's beard. "Is Ansem the Wise, and I'm attempting to capture Kingdom Hearts. I'm converting its energy into data, storing it in here and away from the Organization."
"What do you know about the Organization." Sora asked straight after.
"I created them." Sora tightened his grip on the Keyblade, then attacked Ansem. His assault was stopped by a golden halberd, and Sora was pushed back. "You see, Xehanort was my apprentice, along with other members."
"Xehanort? I thought this Xemnas fella was their leader." Goofy put the shield down, confused.
"Xemnas is Xehanort's Nobody, as Ansem was his Heartless. In our experiments, we were investigating the effects of darkness I the heart. Later, I ordered the end of the tests, but Xehanort refused. He used himself as a guinea pig, running tests on his own body. His heart couldn't handle the pressure, and gave out. The others followed soon after. Then, I swore I'd do whatever it takes to stop the Organization from opening Kingdom Hearts."
"We sealed Kingdom Hearts. Can he open it again?" Ansem pointed to the heart-shaped moon.
"Xemnas is creating a new Kingdom Hearts from his victims and the Heartless destroyed by the Keyblade. He's planning to use the heart of all worlds as his new experiment, tampering with the darkness. Or at least, that's what I think. Anyway, he has to be stopped." Ansem made some final adjustments, the device beeping. "It will start on its own. Now, we have to find Xemnas. He should be on the top floor."
"That's where we were going anyway."
"Mind if I come along?" Ansem carried the lance at his side.
"The more the merrier." Sora held out a hand, and they shook.
"Come on, or we'll be too late!" Donald urged, waiting at the doors ahead. Ansem and Sora walked over together, shoving the doors open.
