Sorry for the long wait but I've been busy with my other stories. I'll try to update this one more often.


Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts


Kingdom Hearts: Race to the Keyhole

Sora's Group

Ch.6 Hope?

Sora's nose scrunched up as he, along with Riku and Kairi, walked through the sewers. He was starting to get used to the smell but it did nothing to make it less repugnant. The smell alone was starting to give him a headache that only worsened his mood. The other two teens occasionally throwing him looks or attempting to start a conversation didn't help his mood either.

It was a bit ironic that the people he had avoided the most ended up being one of the only to come out of that school in one piece. Not to mention that they somehow ended up together, making him wonder if he should have left them behind instead of acting on impulse and taking them along with him.

"Do you have any idea of where we are?" Riku's voice echoed in the empty sewers. A bit of frustration could be heard on his voice which was to be expected since no sane person would be okay with spending such a long time in such a place.

The silver haired teen didn't know how long it had been since they escaped school but it felt like hours because of his bad mood. The walking he didn't mind but what he did mind was the horrible smell that forced him to hold his breath or cover his nose constantly. His patience was running out and his annoyance was starting to show.

"Just shut up and wait," Sora growled without looking back, making Riku clench his fists and glare at his back.

Kairi looked worriedly between the two teens, hoping that they would stop before things got out of hand. She didn't say anything since she thought that maybe Sora would only lash out at her. The thought made her look at Sora sadly.

It was odd to be with this new Sora. He used to be a happy person that would always be there for his friends no matter what. She remembered trying to get a look of his bright blue eyes that would hold a warmth that she loved to see. But no he was cold and rude to them. His blue eyes were cold, their warmth gone. She hated this, she wanted him to go back to normal. Back to when his eyes held warmth.

Now she couldn't bring herself to look at his eyes. Just doing so served to remind her of how much he changed and she hated it.

"There," Sora spoke up, breaking Kairi out of her thoughts. He pointed a finger to one of the walls, this one having a steel latter and a bit of light sneaking through the ceiling.

"We should be far from school now," he continued as he handed the bat he carried to Riku. The latter took it in hand as Sora climbed up the latter before looking back at them with a frown, "Wait here until I give the okay."

He moved up the ladder, stopping once he stood directly under the metal plate that led into the streets. Once making sure he wouldn't fall, he placed both hands on the place and pushed, light instantly entering dark sewers.

Sora hissed as the light hit his eyes but didn't stop pushing until the plate was finally out of the way. With his hands now free, he quickly rubbed his eyes and blinked rapidly to get used to the light. Once that was done, he scanned the area in which they had end up.

He was near the beach, that much he knew from the cool breeze hitting his skin. The streets were empty, only having a few abandoned cars and damaged buildings. A few apartment complexes were visible from where he was but they were deathly quiet.

'No sign of those things,' Sora mused before climbing out and taking a few steps forwards. The cool breeze hit his body again, making him sigh contently and close his eyes as he took in a deep breath.

"There's nothing out here."

Hearing Riku's voice, Sora glanced over his shoulder to see him and Kairi climbing onto the streets. The latter looked around worriedly just to make sure that there were really no corpses around.

"Didn't I tell you to wait for me?" Sora asked with a frown, making Kairi flinch slightly at his tone.

Riku stepped in front of Kairi, narrowing his eyes at Sora, "It's safe here so stop yelling at her. Why are you being so hostile?"

The brunette scoffed as he walked over to Riku and snatched the bat out of his hands. "You can always leave," he turned his back on the two, "If you want to end up dead that's fine by me and trust me..." he turned back to Riku with a smirk on his face, gripping the bat tightly, "You haven't seen hostile yet."

"W-Where are we going now?" Kairi broke in, trying to ease the tension between the two while telling Sora that they would still go with him.

"Axel's," Sora replied before beginning to walk with Kairi and Riku quickly following after him. "It's a bit far from here but I know the way... at least I think so," he muttered the last part.

Worry washed over Riku's face after hearing what Sora said, "Then what about our families? We have to go to them."

"He's right, we can't leave them alone," Kairi agreed.

'She's on his side of course...' he thought bitterly as he rested the bat on his shoulder. "Alright, since you two already forgot I guess I'll have to remind you," he raised the bat and pointed it at the area ahead, "We're going to Axel's first. Why? Well, because he has a car... Do you know what a car is? it's a machine. A machine that transports people to-"

"We get it," Riku interrupted with a deep frown. Who did Sora think he was? He had no right to talk to them like that. Just because he was pissed and possibly scared, it didn't mean that he could talk to them as if they were idiots.

Sora let out a gasp, taking a few steps back and looking at him through wide eyes. "You get it?" he let out in mock disbelief, "Wow! I thought for sure it would take longer for you to understand."

"Let's just go," Kairi broke in again as she moved to stand between the two teens that glared at each other, "Please, we're in a difficult situation. The last thing we should do is fight."

The brunette said nothing, instead he turned back to the road ahead, eyes wary for any sort of movement before he began to walk. With the sounds of footsteps behind him, he knew that his companions were following despite how he acted.

Sure he had overreacted but he needed to fix the wall between them since it had started to crumble. If he treated them bad then they would surely leave him alone one they got to their families.

At least, he hoped so.


The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Save for a few words there had been nothing else. Only the sound of their steps could be heard on the deserted streets that had once been filled with life. It made Sora uneasy. Made him think that the dead were just waiting for the right moment to come out.

Of course, there was always the chance that those things hadn't made it to this particular area but he knew better. The absence of people alone, was enough to tell him that and more. He wouldn't. No. Couldn't let his guard down.

He was driven out of those thoughts when he noticed what stood before him. A smile formed on his face as he looked at the familiar building up ahead, an old apartment complex. It was three stories tall and had dull grey walls. He could see a few cars on the parking lot which was really all that remained in there.

Still, his smile didn't falter. Things were bad but, at least, they had made it. There was still a bit of hope left.

"We're here," he told the others, not hiding the relief on his voice. Riku and Kairi visually relax after hearing the news, glad to finally be able to take a break. "Axel's room is on the third floor," he continued as they began to walk to the buildings, passing by a gate and reaching a set of stairs without problem, "Keep it quiet though, there could be more of those things here."

"Right!" The two responded in union.

Sora rolled his eyes at the clear irony as he went up the stairs. Besides the fact that they had just disregarded his orders, he remained glad. Glad to finally get rid of them. After he and Axel took them home, he planned on just leaving Destiny Islands.

The idea of going to see his family in Twilight Town crossed his mind but, noticing that he and the other two had just made it to the third floor, he dismissed the thought.

"So, which apartment is it?" Kairi whispered to Sora as she looked at the empty hallway warily.

Sora chuckled to himself. "Just guess which is his," he spoke in amusement, "I'm sure it's the easiest to spot."

The redhead looked back at the hallway's door and instantly knew which apartment was his. A lot of people knew Axel or at least heard of him, so seeing a bright red door in the midst of dull grey ones, it was clear which apartment was his.

Sora approached the red door as he dug into one of his pockets before taking out a key. He quickly inserted it and opened the door. It creaked loudly as Sora peeked into the familiar apartment before entering through hesitant steps with Riku and Kairi following after him, their faces showing shock.

"Did they get in here?" Kairi whispered to the others as she looked around the place. Pieces of furniture were scattered on the grounds, tons of cans filled the floor and many stains could be seen on the walls.

Riku nodded with a grim look on his face, "It looks like it."

Sora rolled his eyes as he put the bat down. "Calm down. This is how the place usually is," he waved them off before walking over to a cough with its back to them. The two teens could only watch in confusion as Sora kicked the sofa before a thump was heard, "Get up you idiot!"

"Dammit Sora. I told you not to wake me up like that..." Axel emerged from the other side of the couch, rubbing the back of his head with his face showing a bit of pain. He glanced at the people in his apartment though half-lidded eyes and turned to Sora in confusion, "Are they you're buddies again?"

The teen in question narrowed his eyes at the teason tone. "I still don't want anything to do with people like this. But that's not important right now. Have you seen what happened?"

"What are you talking about?"

Sora walked over to a set of curtains covering a sliding door and pulled them away, giving Axel a view of the town, "This is what I'm talking about."

Axel's eyes went wide, seeing th eplace deserted and having several clouds of smoke coming from different area. It looked like the place had just gone through a war.

"Don't tell me..." he began with a shocked expression on his face. Sora, Riku and Kairi looked away, knowing what he was about to say. "There was some fight between superheroes."

The three teens facefaulted.

"Of course not!" Sora exclaimed angrily as he motioned at the town, "Some... things, came out of nowhere and started to wreck the place. They can take over people and use them to grow their numbers. We're not sure how far they've gotten but at least we managed to get here in one piece."

"Whoa..." Axel grinned, "Like a zombie apocalypse type deal?"

Riku slapped a hand to his forehead, "Don't tell me this is the guy that'll be taking us home?"

"Don't worry about it old-young guy. This sounds really interesting," Axel wrapped an arm around Sora's shoulders as he grinned at the other two teens, "Besides, this guy here had been in a lot of fights. Together with your old guy hair and her... her red hair, pretty cool by the way, we make the perfect team."

"R-Right," Kairi smiled awkwardly while panicking in the inside. Axel was not to be trusted. He was too much of a wild card and it looked like all the rumors about him were trues. 'An eccentric guy that doesn't knwo when to shut up' seemed to described him perfectly.

"Just let me go get my keys," he spoke before leaving the living room and disappearing into one of the doors in a small hallway on the side.

Immediately after he left, Riku snapped his head towards Sora, giving him a stern look, "Do you really think someone like that will get us home?"

"Riku's right," Kairi agreed, not noticing the way Sora's eyes narrowed at the comment, "He's not even taking this situation seriously. People like him only mess things up and-"

"Shut up already!" Sora yelled out in rage, making the other two teens gasp in shock. He glared at them, hands balling into fists as he fought down the urge to do something he'd regret, "What gives you the right to talk about other people like that? Do you think you're better than people like us? Right now 'people like him' are going out of their way to help your ungrateful asses so the least you could do it shut up!"

The apartment went quiet after that. None of the teens int he living room wanting to be the first to talk. Tensions were high and insulting Axel had been the thing to set Sora off, pent up anger, fear and uncertainty coming out at once int he form of fear. Kairi could only look at Sora, feeling as if this was a complete stranger. Someone that didn't see them as friends anymore.

"Yo! I'm back, everybody okay here?" Axel emerged from the room he had entered with a grin on his face and a set of keys on his right hand. He noticed the heavy atmosphere upon entering the room and could only look around in confusion, "Um... what happened here?"

"Nothing," Sora responded with a shake of his head.


"Ain't she a beauty?"

Riku and Kairi only looked at Axel incredulously before glancing back at the car he so proudly presented. It was old, that much was obvious, and lacked the company's logo which left a light red mark on the dull red car. It sported a few dents on the sides and the whole thing screamed, 'danger' to anyone.

But, seeings as how they didn't have the luxury of finding any other means of transportation, they were stuck with Axel's old sports car.

Sora, having seen the way th etwo teens looked at the car, let out a sigh before scratching his head, "Just get in. It runs fine."

Axel smiled at his car before entering through the passenger's door while Sora took the sit next to his. Riku and Kairi broke out of their trance and entered the car as well though Kairi had a bit of a hard time opening the door.

"Just pull it up as you open it."

She did as instructed and, after struggling at first, she managed to open it but she quickly wished she didn't. The inside of the car was just as dirty as his apartment, filled with discarded beer cans and cigarette butts, not to mention the smell of smoke it gave off.

With a displeased look on her face and knowing that she didn't have much of a choice, Kairi entered the car.

"Good, we can finally go!" Axel cheered from the front before starting the car with a loud 'bang.'

The two teens in the backseat gulped as the car suddenly moved backwards, turning with the momentum and coming to a stop with a screech from the wheels. The redheaded driver then pulled on the shift stick and drove the car forward, making the two teens jerk forward.

"So where are we going?" Axel asked.

A screech from the tires followed his question as he drove out of the apartment complex and into the streets.

"We're going to their houses. I don't know whose first but for now just go North, I think that's where they live," Sora instructed.

Axel nodded as he turned a corner, eyes instantly widening before he hit the brakes, making the three teens jerk forwards and, in Riku's case, hitting his head against Axel's seat.

"Whoa!" Axel grinned when seeing just what was in front of the car. Corpses. They dragged themselves across the streets, some wearing swimsuits while others had normal clothing. Their bodies were mostly covered in darkness which was completely new to all of them. "This is what you were talking about? Freaking awesome!"

"Are you insane?" Riku let out in shock.

The redheaded driver said nothing as he turned on the radio, music instantly blasting through the speakers and gaining the attention of the corpses up ahead. Axel smirked as the corpses moved for the car and Sora instantly knew that it wouldn't end well. In all of his time of knowing Axel, one thing was for certain. That smirk meant trouble.

"Axel..." The three teens let out in fear as the redheaded driver chuckled.

"Let's go!" He screamed over the music as he hit the gas, the car quickly shootings towards the incoming corpses with no sign of stopping.

The three teens could only look in terror as the car drove over the corpses and knocking some aside as if they were nothing. Thankfully there weren't too many since a large number could probably slow the car down.

"AAAHHH!" Riku and Kairi screamed as Axel drove through the corpses while laughing like a maniac, making Sora question his friend's sanity.

After what seemed like hours, the car finally made it out of the small crowd of corpses with Axel still grinning like a maniac, "That was great!"

The two teens in the backseat shook in fear while gripping their seats tightly and uttering things under their breaths. Sora felt a bit of sympathy as he watched them. The first drive with Axel was always the hardest and this one had been more of a horrible experience than the others he had experience.

He shook his head before looking out the window. Bad idea. He was instantly stuck with a hollow feeling on his chest, watching the town in which he had grown up look so lifeless and ruined. He might act tough but of course he was scared, who wouldn't be?

"Driving through the deserted town~ Killing some zombie clowns~"

Sora scowled at the singing Axel, "Don't go off on another one of your singing sessions. That's the last thing we need right now."

"Is my voice that bad?"

"Mediocre at best," Sora responded with a frown as he motioned at the road ahead, "I just don't want you crashing again. Using the wheel as a drum set... who does that?"

Axel smirked, "That was one time."

"What are you talking about? What about the time you saw those two girls pass and-"

Sora and Axel continued their argument, unaware of the two teens in the backseat gripping their sits tighter. They knew Axel was a scary driver but, hearing Sora's accusations... they couldn't help but wonder if walking through zombie-infested streets had really been such a bad idea.

Ch.6 End

And that's that. I'm going to be constantly changing the name of the 'zombies' depending on how the characters view them.