SO SORRY!!!

Recently, I have been writing so little. I've been concentrating on my novel, and school work, and the NC State game, and my family's coming into town…

FORGIVE ME!

Dear Diary,

I investigated number four's private lab today. It seems that the two girls, the wife of number four and number nine's girlfriend, were doing investigations of their own. They were approached by number two, who, like the others, is also with a human female, named Paine.

The truth is terrible, and I regret that it ever fell on my ears, but I must write it down and accept it nonetheless.

The research Vexen has been relentlessly working on, and the reason why Demyx has been avoiding Yuffie, all comes back to one thing;

It is called Twilight Syndrome. If you have received it, and you are a being of the Light, you have Shadow's Burn. If you have received it, and you are of the Shadows, it is called Light's Burn. Only females can receive.

It comes from bearing children of a being from the other side. If you are of light and bear the child of one from darkness, then you will receive Shadow's Burn.

Both Shadow's Burn and Light's Burn have dangerous effects and consequences. At best… the baby will die in child birth. The worst case scenario is that the darkness welling up inside the being of light, or vice versa, will kill the woman, drive her insane, or a mixture of both.

For the past few months, Vexen has fervently been looking for an answer. None have come to his ears. In the meantime, he warned both Demyx and Xigbar. Demyx began shying away from Yuffie, his girl, but Xigbar stayed with Paine, and against his wishes, Paine implored that they both still have an intimate relationship.

I am finding myself more and more reluctant to carry out my job.

O

"So… you're Rinoa?" Sora muttered.

The cloaked woman nodded. She was sitting across from Sora at the kitchen table, and both Soras' parents had returned to the living room. The girl who had come with Rinoa was sitting on the window sill.

"I came here not only to warn you, but to escape." Sora cocked his brow in confusion.

"Escape? Warn?" Sora mumbled. "What are you talking about?"

Rinoa sighed, dropping her head a bit. As she thought for a moment, Sora waited patiently.

"I am trying to escape two parties; one, a group hunting after my young friend"; Rinoa nodded towards the girl at the sill. "And then, a man, looking for me."

Sora sighed. "Leon, right?" Rinoa didn't respond.

"As for the warning…" Confused, Sora returned to his attentive state. "Twilight Town is in danger."

Sora stood straight out of his chair. "What?!?"

"Listen, Sora, please. I don't have long." Grimacing, the boy sat back down. "You see, the Gate to Midnight is being messed with. And while that is a danger in itself, it also greatly affects Twilight Town. Twilight Town rests between darkness and light. It's like the town is the epicenter of an earthquake that is slowly spreading outward; for the moment, only Twilight Town is in danger."

"What about this… Midnight thing?" Sora muttered. Suddenly, thunder rumbled through the sky, and lightning crashed. Rinoa jumped, examining the window outside carefully.

"No one's coming." The girl at the window commented. Rinoa nodded and sat back down.

"I can't tell you much right now, but know this; just as the Door to Light and to Darkness are both connected, so are the Gate to Midnight and the Door to Sunrise. King Mickey, or Riku, might understand better. You must not let the gate open."

"Where is this gate?" Sora implored.

"As far as I can tell, it's near Castle Oblivion." Rinoa muttered. Sora cocked his brow.

"I have no clue what your talking about, but somehow, that name is familiar." Sighing, Rinoa stood.

"Ask Roxas or Axel better yet. We have to go." Beckoning to her friend, Rinoa opened the door. Storm winds and rain blew in furiously. The girl at the window stood.

Something about this girl was… odd. She stood out amongst nothing and everything.

"Hey… you." Sora asked blankly, in awe. The girl turned to him. "Who are you?"

With a serene grin, the girl backed out the door. "We'll meet again, like I promised."

The door slammed shut and they were gone.

A shrill shriek filled the house, and Sora's eyes grew wide. Dashing out of the kitchen and up the staircase, Sora flew into his sister's bedroom.

"Ah! Get away, you pedophile! Homo! Hobo sick freak!" Aisu was screaming, throwing the many pillows on her bed across the room at a tall red head, who was yelping at the blows in between his tries to explain himself.

Sora glanced past the pillows and what seemed to be a blanket messily draped over the man's spiky hair.

"Axel?" Sora implored.

The man muttered something, but then a textbook flew into his face. With a grin, Sora calmed his sister and looked to the man.

"It is you, right, Axel?"

With madly flying hands, Axel threw the sheets and blankets and pillows off his head, glaring at the monstrous girl below him. Sputtering a feather out of his mouth, Axel moodily collapsed onto the bed.

"I'm taking a nap." He muttered.

"Axel! How in the world did you end up in my sister's bedroom?" Sora implored impatiently.

"This is Axel? The guy that practically sacrificed himself for you guys? Man, I figured he'd be handsome… or at least charming." Axel growled quietly, trying to ignore the girl.

Sora noticed the summon gem clutched in Aisu's hand.

"Hey… that's it! He's the one we can summon with the gem!" Sora cheered happily, snatching the gem from his sister. Axel yawned, not really caring.

"Well, you can send me away, I have a bed waiting." He murmured.

"And let me guess, there's someone in it? A man, no doubt?" Aisu seethed.

Sora couldn't believe it; his twin had always been known for her sharp, sarcastic tongue, but Axel was getting SLAYED! The look on the man's face was priceless.

"What… did you just say?" Axel slowly tried to speak and calm himself.

"Oh, now you're deaf? I said…" Aisu sarcastically cleared her throat. Axel cocked his brow angrily. "'There is someone waiting in your bed. A man, no doubt?'"

"Oh, that's it, pipsqueak, you're dead!" Axel roared angrily.

"Whoa, you two calm down!" Sora stood between Axel's raised fist and Aisu's armed hand (armed with a stuffed elephant). "Aisu, this is one of my best friends."

"Wonderful choice." She interrupted.

"Axel, this is my kid sister!" Sora complained. Both Axel and Aisu spoke at once.

"Poor you, she's a devil, no wonder you're messed up."

"I'm only younger by three minutes, thick head!"

Realizing he was being slaughtered on both sides, Sora looked down to the gem in his hand, to the look in his sister's eye, and to the doorway. Calculating how much time Axel had left here and how long Aisu could kick his ass, Sora discreetly escaped through the doorway as the other two verbally tore themselves to shreds.

FAR AWAY

Leon wandered the halls aimlessly. Remembering what that vampire Alucard had told him at Monde Race, he thought about Hellsing.

"Our organization fights vampires. Only a while ago, we were attacked and devastated. Our staff was annihilated, and we hired mercenaries in their places. Now, the Hellsing manor is usually quiet, empty, or both. Unless Seras is messing up again, or training. If I find it too boring, I feel the need to intervene…"

With a chuckle, he continued down the hallway.

Oddly enough, Leon felt as if he were being guided down the right path. In truth, he knew he was; someone was in his head, telling him were to go. Leon could sense him there; it had to be Alucard. Not really minding, Leon followed Alucard's directions.

Soon enough, he stood outside the door to a room he somehow knew was Integra's office.

"Here goes nothing." He muttered. And so nothing went.

Yuffie wandered about Radiant Garden aimlessly. What was there to do?

The news she had learned was still echoing in her mind, disturbing whatever peace she could've hoped for. Why didn't Demyx tell her? Why did he distance himself? Sighing, Yuffie collapsed onto the wall over looking the market place.

"Yuffie." The girl spun around.

Cloud was standing behind her, enigmatic as usual. She stood to attention, as the man before her looked concerned.

"Come with me, we have a problem." Worried, Yuffie nodded and ran after Cloud as he turned and ran towards Merlin's house.

When they entered the room, Vincent was leaning against the wall, having just returned from wherever he'd been. Cloud nodded to him in acknowledgement and then walked over to the computer, standing over Cid's shoulder.

"Has it changed at all?" Cloud implored. Cid groaned.

"Not one bit." Cid typed away in a hurry. "The readings are still the same."

Yuffie quietly walked up to the computer. Vincent's keen eyes watched her every step.

"You aren't the same, are you?" Vincent muttered. Confused, Yuffie glanced back. "What's wrong?" With a sigh and a serene smile, Yuffie shook her head, and turned back to the computer screen.

On the screen was a large map of the universe and all of its worlds. Twilight Town, Destiny Islands, The World that Never Was, and Radiant Garden were all marked. Yuffie noticed that some sort of reading was erupting from Twilight Town, and the reading split into two.

"See this?" Cloud asked, pointing at a red vibrating line on the map. "The reading is headed to the World that Never Was, and then splits in half, the one half doubling back towards Twilight Town."

"What do the readings represent?" Yuffie muttered quietly. Cloud sighed.

"Massive amounts of darkness."

Tifa, who been just walking into the room, gasped.

TWILIGHT TOWN

Roxas chuckled quietly, shaking his head. As Olette and Hayner argued, and Olette verbally beat Hayner's butt, he couldn't help but relax. Pence laughed along with him as Olette glared and Hayner sighed deeply.

"So, where are you from, Roxas?" Pence asked, interrupting their argument.

Roxas sighed, pausing for a moment.

"The Destiny Islands." He told them, smiling. Hayner nodded.

"That's Sora's home, right? Makes sense." Hayner commented. Olette rolled her eyes.

All of a sudden, the ground rumbled violently, shaking everyone in the room. With a yelp, Roxas was thrown off the sofa, hitting the ground. Olette tried to stand and walk to him, but she fell, and Hayner caught her.

"What's going on?" Pence yelled over the noise. Roxas sat up, growling.

"I don't like this." Hayner complained.

Without a word, Roxas leapt up and rushed out of the room.

"Roxas!" Olette cried. Setting Olette on the sofa, Hayner ran after.

"Take care of her, Pence!" He commanded, disappearing down the bend.

Heavy breathing, Roxas let his feet carry him blindly, as he had no clue where he was running to. It felt right, but he didn't know how. Something very wrong was happening, but he couldn't tell what – not until he arrived at his destination.

"Roxas!" Yuna cried, in fairy form, shocked and glancing around. She began flying by him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know! Where are the others?" Roxas questioned. Yuna, scared and shocked, couldn't answer.

"I – I can't – they're gone! I don't – they just weren't there!" Roxas groaned angrily.

Soon, the two were at Sunset Terrace, and the shaking was even worse. Cement was falling off the buildings as they were rocked to pieces.

Finally, Roxas slid to a stop.

The waterfall was broken, cracked to pieces, spewing dark matter and misty fog. Heartless were everywhere, Neo Shadows, Shadows, Knights, everywhere. Fiercely, Roxas summoned his two keyblades, and looked to Yuna.

"Go! Find the others! Get the kids somewhere safe!" With a timid nod, Yuna flew off.

A Neo lunged at Roxas from the air, and the boy spun about, slashing the beast in half. Two more took its place, and Roxas flipped through the air, playing slice and dice with countless Heartless.

"Where the hell are you coming from?" Roxas growled looking around.

Then he saw it. As he slashed two more apart, Roxas quickly made his way to the broken waterfall.

"What the –"

There was no wall behind the waterfall, just blackness. In the middle of it was a keyhole, glimmering blue and silver, almost transparent.

With a cold grimace, Roxas lifted a keyblade, aimed, and from it light shone. It connected with the lock – and went straight through.

"Should've known it wouldn't be that easy." Roxas muttered. A Heartless leapt at his back, and Roxas spun around to meet it. Splitting it apart, Roxas leapt forward, hacking away mercilessly.

Suddenly, up from the ground rose a Dark side Heartless. With a firm look, Roxas leapt high into the air, spinning with a keyblade on either side of him, and he tore it apart. But as he fell back to the ground, another rose up, ready to destroy him…

A red and black blade stabbed the creature's head, and it fell back, disappearing. Rushing forward, Auron collected the blade and hacked away as Roxas landed.

"Thanks." Roxas grinned. Auron chuckled smugly.

The two began to annihilate the Heartless, but the more they destroyed, the more that rose from the dark waterfall. It continued to spread, as those on Radiant Garden contemplated what was happening…

"Something in the dark realm exploded into Twilight Town. Like a volcano. Since Twilight Town is between light and dark, it sits on a sort of energy bubble."

"Energy bubble?" Cid asked.

"Quite right", Merlin continued. "You see, on either side is the dark or the light. They meet at Twilight Town, curl up underneath it, and then flip back around and go out. It's a spiral on either side, and the two sides touch beneath the Town."

"So, it resides in both light and darkness. We know that." Cloud commented.

"Of course, but it seems", Merlin strolled up to the computer and pointed at the energy readings. "A sort of explosive connection occurred just beneath it, and came up at a direct point in the Town. Like a volcano, it is spewing darkness everywhere."

"Why not light?" Cloud asked.

"Because it seems that the point it connected to is dark. A… waterfall I believe."

"Waterfall?" Vincent muttered.

"Yes, it seems that the waterfall was connected somehow. To the realm of darkness." Merlin sighed.

"So, the other reading heading towards The Never World?" Cloud asked.

"Well, that is unusual. That wouldn't happen if this were a natural occurrence." Merlin muttered.

"So in other words…" Tifa sighed.

"Someone is controlling this." Vincent finished.

Axel roared in anger and stomped the beach sands. After dissipating from Aisu's room and reappearing on the beach, his fury had rushed to his head.

"Little annoying, half wit, know it all!" He screeched, kicking sand. Said sand flew into his face, and he sneezed.

Grimacing, Axel sauntered up the beach and towards the castle.

A cold wind was blowing against his back. That was odd – usually there were not many winds on the beach, and they were warm. Axel spun around.

A huge beast was diving down upon the dark ocean, mouth screeching angrily as its wings burst the water into waves. It was enormous, gigantic, and Axel could only gape in shock as it flew over him and towards the Dark City.

Remembering back, Axel groaned angrily.

"That thing, it's… Bahamut."