(Cue Gandalf voice) ONCE MORE UNTO THE BREACH! I OWN NOTHING! EXCITMENT!

Axel stood across from Larxene on the altar. She looked absolutely radiant in her flowing white wedding gown. A massive smile dominated Axel's face. His life-long dream had finally come true (well other than being a filthy-stinking rich rock star…but, that could wait.)

"You look beautiful," Axel whispered, as the priest began the ceremony.

"Of course I do," Larxene replied with a teasing smile. "Though you don't look half-bad either."

The warm, happy feeling inside Axel only continued to grow throughout the ceremony, reaching a point of critical mass at the exchange of vows.

"Larxene Elizabeth Floudre, do you take Axel James Lealand to be your lawfully wedded husband?" The priest asked. "In sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do," Larxene replied.

"And do you Axel James Lealand, take Larxene Elizabeth Floudre as your lawfully wedded wife?" The priest said. "In sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I.." Axel was about to say when he was interrupted by a shout.

"Axel!"

Just ignore it Axel thought.

"Mister Axel!"

"Axel! Axel!"

Axel turned his head in the direction of the shouts to see the two children from earlier standing in the pews, yelling and frantically waving their arms.

"What are they.." Axel began only to be interrupted.

"Axel," Came a growl from Larxene, her infamous temper sneaking into her voice.

"I do! I definitely do!" Axel emphasized.

"Good, you may kiss the bride," The priest said. Desperately trying to ignore the children's voices, Axel reached forward and pulled back Larxene's veil. However, when he pulled the veil back he saw a large metal ball with a lit fuse in it.

"Crap! This is a dream isn't it," Axel muttered as the fuse burned away.


As consciousness drifted back into Axel, the first thing he felt was pain coursing throughout his body. The next thing he felt was a volley of poking.

"Axel! Axel!"

Axel opened his eyes to see the boy, Roxas, crouched next to him.

"Axel! Get up!" Roxas insisted, poking him again. Axel opened his mouth to speak, but broke into a volley of coughing. Axel realized his throat was completely dry.

"Water.. man, what I wouldn't give for.." He began until he looked around. The familiar red carpeted hallway had been reduced to a crater, covered by unevenly spread sheet of ruble. Looking up, Axel saw the pale light of a full moon shining down, where the celling should have been.

"Oh my.." Axel whispered, forcing himself to stand up.

"Axel!" Came an annoyed cry as Roxas grabbed and pulled Axel's arm. This sent a jolt of pain through Axel's arm and he quickly pulled it back. Axel examined his arm, it was covered in cuts and bruises, most of the clothing ripped away. Axel started to feel his arm with his left hand. Well, nothing's broken so that's good; probably sprained something. Axel thought. Axel proceeded to look down at the rest of his body. Nothing hurt too badly, but his cloths had been ripped to shreds and he was covered in dust, dirt, and scrapes.

"Hey…Roxas, you okay?" Axel asked turning his attention to the ten-year old. If Roxas' cloths were rages before the explosion then Axel had no idea how to describe them now. Roxas' injuries consisted of a few scrapes and cuts, nothing too bad. Of course someone would have to take a closer look, someone who wasn't Axel.

"It's not me, It's Xion!" Roxas insisted. Xion..who was..oh crap! Axel thought, dread seeping into him. Roxas started running deeper into the rubble, Axel following. The ten-year old abruptly stopped by a large pill of rubble and knelled down.

"Xion, it's okay, I found Axel," He said. Axel knelled down and saw that Xion was pinned under some debris.

"Roxas.. it hurts," She muttered weakly, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Hey Xion, don't worry I'll help ya out of there," Axel reassured. He grabbed a large piece of wall that trapping Xion and pulled with his good arm. He strained under the weight for a while until he couldn't pull any more.

"That's not good," He muttered under his breath, when he realized that the piece of wall hadn't budged. He grabbed the piece and pulled again, to the same result.

"Axel, hurry up!" Roxas insisted, his voice laced with worried for Xion.

"Look kid, I'm trying," Axel replied. He was about to try again when a voice interrupted him.

"Move aside."

Axel and Roxas turned to see the strange man from before. Axel had meet many strange looking people in his life, but this guy topped the rest. His eyes were a bright gold and he had a large 'X' shaped scar in the middle of his face. As he made his way past, Axel noticed his ears were pointed, making him look like a Vulcan.

"Xion, pay attention to me," He began grabbing the rock. How does he know her name? Axel wondered, slightly concerned. "I'm going to grab this rock and lift it, when I do I need you to get out from under it."

"I don't think I can," Xion whispered.

"You have to," The man replied, his voice never raising from a monotone. Axel and Roxas exchanged nervous glances as the man lifted the bolder. Xion half-crawled, half-dragged herself out from under the boulder. The man then dropped the boulder and lifted Xion up onto her feet.

"Xion!" Roxas cried, overjoyed flinging himself onto her in a suffocating hug.

"Are you okay?" He asked when he eventually let her go.

"I'm fine, I think," Xion replied with a warm smile. If anything was broken, she would would be screaming bloody murder Axel thought. He walked over to the strange man and extended a hand.

"Hey, thanks," He said. The man just looked over at him with complete indifference before turning to Xion.

"Come, Xion," He commanded, extending a hand.

"Hun, come where?" Xion asked.

"Nowhere, Xion stays with me," Roxas said defensively.

"Xion is my responsibility, she comes with me," The man replied, his tone slightly lowering to become even more threatening.

"Hey, buddy," Axel jumped in. "How exactly do you know her?"

"She's my sister," The man replied, curtly.

"No, she's not!" Roxas insisted. At that, the man shot Roxas a glare that could have extinguished the sun.

"Hey, Xion, do you know this guy? Is he your brother?" Axel asked, unsure if he hoped for the man to be Xion's brother or not.

Xion thought for a moment, looked at the man and then said.

"No, I don't recognize him."

"There see, now leave Xion alone," Roxas insisted and frankly Axel was inclined to agree. The man gave Roxas an irritated look and started walking toward Xion. Axel immediately stepped in front of him.

"Hey, look around you a building just exploded," Axel snapped, edging closer to Roxas and Xion. "I think we all have more important matters to attend to."

"Nothing is more important to me th-" He began when he stopped suddenly. Axel thought he saw the man's eyes widen by maybe .5 cementers. The man gave a last annoyed grunt before turning and limping off. Axel visually followed his path and saw various emergency vehicles and workers helping with the various injured people.

"Hey, guys let's go over there," Axel suggested, hoping to get the kids looked at(and out of his hair.)

"Why?" Roxas asked, grabbing Xion by the arm.

"Because there's people over there, people who can help you," Axel explained.

"No they're not," Roxas insisted. "Those are the people who took away Zack, and they're gonna take away Xion."

"Wait, does that mean they'll take you away too, Roxas?" Xion asked, panic-stricken.

"Look, nobody's getting take away," Axel said trying to reason with them.

"I don't want them to take Roxas away!" Xion almost shouted.

"Come on Xion, let's leave," Roxas said. No wait, don't! Axel screamed, mentally. He needed to earn these kids' trust.

"Wait, maybe the three of us should stick together," Axel suggested. Roxas gave him a suspicious glance.

"But you're going over there," He said.

"No, I'm not," Axel insisted.

"Then where are you going?" Xion asked, honestly interested.

Why do I always get stuck with the icky jobs? Axel complained mentally.

"I'm going to my apartment, where there's food, and beds and a roof," Axel said, almost bragging. "You two could join me if you want."

The two ten-year olds exchanged glances, obviously thinking over the proposition.

"Roxas, maybe we should stick together," Xion suggested. Yes! Axel thought, triumphantly.

"I dunno," Roxas replied, eyeing Axel.

"Just for one night, please, he said he has food," Xion pleaded.

"Okay," Roxas conceded. One night, that should give me time to get child services or something. Axel thought.

"Great, let's go," Axel announced. He started making his way through the rubble, with the children following. As he made his way, he noticed something gleaming off the moonlight. He reached down and pulled out a cell phone. I'll find the owner after I take care of these two Axel decided looking back at the two children.


Saïx limped through the ruins of the mall, glancing around fractically looking for any sign of Jasmine. His thoughts came in frantic fragments. She must be here, can't lose here, where is she, please don't die, please don't

"Hey," A voice interrupted his train of thought. Saïx turned to see a lanky man of about twenty-two with spiky caramel hair, and blue eyes. He wore a black jacket, absurdly baggy pants and a chain around his neck which had a small crown-shaped pendant attached to it. Saïx immediately clamped down on his emotions, hiding any sign of panic, fear, or pain. In an effort to regain his composure, Saïx tried to visualize the familiar glare of golden eyes, boring into his soul.

"What do you want?" Saïx asked.

"Just wanted to ask if you were okay?" the stranger replied.

"And who are you?" Saïx asked. The man reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a badge.

"Detective Sora Hikari," He replied.

"I'm fine," Saïx replied, indifferently. "Do you want my statement?"

"You don't look fine," Was Sora's reply as he leaned down to get a closer look at Saïx's leg.

"It'll heal," Saïx said, desperate to get Sora to leave so he could get back to finding Jasmine. Sora gave him a disbelieving glance.

"I think we should get you to an ambulance," He suggested. No! have to find, can't lose His fragmented thoughts burst into his mind.

"Listen to me, I'm trying to find someone, a…a friend," Saïx said, desperation filling his mind. "She's a woman of 29, Arabian, dark hair and eyes."

Sora thought for a moment.

"There was a woman matching that description, she's over at that ambulance," He said pointing an uncertain finger at one of the emergency vehicles.

"How is she?" Saïx asked, desperately trying to hide his panic.

"Unconscious but stable, they're taking her to the hospital," Sora replied. No no no no no no no My fault, my fault, why her too perfect please don't die plea Saïx's fragmented thoughts came to a sudden halt.

"Saïx, seize your whimpering. I expect more from a Recusant."

The ever familiar resonant voice echoed in Saïx's mind, allowing Saïx to immediately crush the surges of despair and guilt flooding into him.

"May I see her?" Saïx asked, calmly.

"Uh, sure, they'd probably let you go with her," Sora replied. "How 'bout I get your statement later." Saïx nodded his thanks before limping toward Jasmine.


After fiddling with his keys for at least a minute, Axel finally managed to open his door.

"Here we go," He said as he walked in closely followed by Roxas and Xion. Axel had (somehow) managed to sneak the two up to his apartment without anyone noticing( because the last thing Axel needed was people wondering why he had two strange kids with him.)

"Whoa, is this where you live?" Roxas asked, gasping.

"Are you rich?" Xion added in awe. Axel had to fight every urge in his body to not laugh at the twos' comments.

"Well, how about you to get comfortable and I'll grab some grub?" Axel suggested. He walked over to his refrigerator and opened it. He started scrounging through the morsels that made up his usual meals. He pulled out a piece of cheese in a zip-lock bag, though he quickly replaced it when he smelled the cheese. He grabbed a bottle of root beer, but quickly put that back as well.

"Maybe, I should just order pizza or somethin'?" He muttered, though his stomach voiced its disagreement with a loud gurgle. Axel searched around for a moment before pulling a box out of the back of the fridge. Bingo. Axel thought, triumphantly.

"Hey guys, look what I," he began only to stop mid-sentence when he saw what Roxas was doing. The ten-year old had just pulled a moldy burger out of the garbage and was about to eat it.

"No!" Axel said, pulling the garbage out of Roxas' hand and throwing it back in the trash.

"Hey, I was gonna eat that," Roxas complained.

"That's not food, well I mean it was, but not anymore," Axel said before holding up the thing he had taken from the fridge. "This is food."

"What are they?" Xion asked, staring at the blue piece of ice on a stick Axel was holding.

"Sea-salt ice cream, got it memorized? I figured these would hold us over while I order pizza," Axel explained handing the two a bar of their own.

The two first took a tentative bite and then another and then another. Soon, they were wolfing the ice cream down. By the time, Axel had ordered the pizza the ice cream had completely vanished.

"Well, that didn't take long," Axel commented. "Hey, why don't we watch a movie?"

"Um Axel, the theater broke, remember," Xion said. Really didn't want to be reminded of that Axel thought as he grabbed the remote to his television and switched the set on. Roxas and Xion jumped back in shock.

"It's like a mini theater," Xion gasped. Axel allowed himself a smile of amusement before settling down on the couch. He flipped through the channels for a while before eventually coming to the Disney Channel.

"Look, it's Cinderella," Xion practically screamed, pointing wildly at the television set.

Oh the irony. Axel thought, though he didn't change the channel.


A woman with long red hair glanced around at the building that had once been the movie theater. Nothing remain of the theater but most of rest of the mall was relatively unharmed. Sure glass was shattered and displays fell over but on the whole that was a small price to pay compared to what might have happened to the theater.

"Kairi," Came a voice. The woman turned around to see a man with spiky caramel hair walking up.

"Alright Sora, what's the word?" She asked.

"Well, everyone that's not in serious condition are all together by what's left of the pop-corn stand, well what's left of it. They're ready to give statements," Sora replied, before asking. "Hey, is your mom okay?"

Kairi gave him an appreciative smile. Her mother, Aerith Gainsborough, ran a flower shop in the same mall.

"She's fine thanks, a little shaken up but nothing much else," Kairi replied. Kairi and Sora had been partners for the past two years and had become very close over that time. The two knew most everything about the other and were willing to help each other in any problems with the home front.

"That's good," Sora replied, before adding with a wink. "I mean, she hasn't given her blessing yet."

Kairi tried to hide a blush. The only complication to their partnership: she was single, and Sora was a hopeless romantic.

"Ya know," Kairi began trying to change the subject. "I'm surprised the feds aren't all over this." Sora broke into a large smile and a few barely contained giggles.

"What's so funny?" She asked slightly annoyed.

"Right on cue," Sora replied pointing behind her. Kairi turned around to see a man in a long black overcoat approaching. He had long sliver hair, a pale complexion and bright blue-green eyes.

"Alright, who's in charge here?" He asked briskly as he walked up.

"No-one really," Sora replied, informally.

"I'm detective Kairi Gainsborough, this is Sora Hikari," Kairi replied. "We're calling the shots here, who are you?"

"Riku Crescent, C.I.A." He replied, a hint of superiority in his voice. Oh great, Kairi thought, while snapping to attention.

"Well, are there any witnesses?" Riku asked.

"Plenty, we put them all over there,' Sora answered pointing toward. "Well, except for the people in serious conditions, they're at the hospital."

Kairi could tell Riku was battling the urge to roll his eyes at Sora's particular style of detective work. She originally held the same opinion of Sora that Riku probably did: sloppy. However, she had learned that Sora had a certain method to his madness.

"Was there anyone, who went to the hospital that seemed suspicious?" Riku asked. They were all unconscious Kairi thought annoyed.

"No, sir," Kairi replied.

"Nope, well except for this one guy, looked kind weird," Sora said. "But I don't think he was much of a threat."

"Describe him," Riku ordered impassively.

"Well, male with long blue hair and a large scar on his face," Sora explained. "The weird thing was his eyes were gold in color and his ears were turned up, kinda like an elf or a vulcan."

"Gold," Riku repeated, his eyes widening.

"Yeah, strange right," Sora said.

Kairi heard him mutter something under his breath that sounded like "the organization." What's the organization Kairi wondered?

"You two, with me now" Riku said, sharply.

"Where are we going?" Sora asked.

"To the hospital," Riku replied.


By the time the movie was over, the two children had fallen asleep in Axel's arms. The two warm bodies closely hugging Axel's chest for security, an occasional sleep heavy cooing, and peaceful faces gave the man, a warm feeling inside, like he could grow used to this. What am I thinking, these aren't my kids, I don't even know where they're from, Axel thought trying to snap himself out of these thoughts. The sound of ringing interrupted Axel's thoughts. He looked down and saw the phone glowing. He quickly answered it, hoping that the owner had called.

"Number twelve, congratulations on beginning the Reshaping now the thirteen shall gather" Came a female voice from the other end. Reshaping, Number twelve, what the Axel thought

"Look lady, is this your phone?" Axel asked. There was a sharp intake of breath and then the person hung up.


Jasmine awoke to a bright sterile light and the sound of beeping. She looked around to see she was in a hospital room.

"Don't move," Came a concerned voice. Jasmine looked to her side and saw Saïx sitting next to her. His eyes were twitching rapidly and his jaw was clenched tight. It was the most concerned Jasmine had ever seen Saïx.

"What happened?" She asked groggily.

"There was an explosion, some kind of terrorist attack. But you're safe now," Saïx replied.

Jasmine allowed herself a surprised smile at Saïx's almost out of character expression of emotion. She then noticed that the television set was showing the news.

"Officials are still uncertain as to the cause of the explosion," Announced the anchor. "Speculation has ranged from an overworked gas pipe to a terrorist attack."

"The nurse left it on," Saïx explained reaching for the remote, however as he grabbed the device the set suddenly shorted out, the images fading to static.

"What the" Jasmine murmured. Then a symbol appeared on the screen. It was a large black and red heart with a fluer-de-lis on the base and a spiked 'x' going through the middle. The symbol then faded and words appeared.

We are heartless, all who oppose us shall be destroyed

All who bear our standard shall be welcomed.


Axel stared in shock as the words faded from his television screen only to be replaced with more.

This was a demonstration of our power

All who are not with us are against us.


In a large restaurant, the bar television blurred again only to show more words.

We are unstoppable and shall consume all

Then the set faded returning to the sports game that had been playing earlier.

"Is..is this some kind of joke?" Asked one of the patrons.

"Mommy, I'm scared," whispered a child who pulled himself close to his mother.

"Dirty commies," Shouted one patrons.

"We have to do something," demanded another.

All the while, sitting at a table in the far back, a woman in a black coat sipped at her drink. Hook, line, and sinker She thought.