Chapter VIII: Subliminal

I saw Riku scream with pain as the weapon lunged into his stomach, and King Mickey crashed down from the tall building. I cried out with fear and ran over to the King. Most of his small frame was covered with dust, and I wiped his face with my hands. His eyes opened up a little, "Riku… where's Riku?" He mumbled. I couldn't say anything. I can't say that he's fine, because he's totally not, and I also can't say that he's injured badly and needs immediate medical attention because that'll just hurt the King mentally, "Please, please go help Riku first. I'm fine…" I nodded and got myself up. I was about to run towards Riku when one of the black cloaked men stood right in front of me. How long has he been there? Did he eavesdrop of what the King was saying? I backed up, widening the gap between us and I hit my back against something else. More like somebody else. I hit my back against the other black cloaked man. Man, was I in trouble… Before I could somehow escape, the man behind me grabbed me with his arm around my neck.

"Now, what shall we do with this one?" He said playfully. I tried to escape from his grip, but we all know I can't. I'm just a little girl and he's a big man with tremendous strength.

"Axel!" The other one yelled.

The man who went by 'Axel' sighed, "I was just kidding. It's just that I don't have a lot of enemies to torture," The other just stared at Axel.

The other member shrugged it off, "Well, so far, we got the King," he pointed at King Mickey, "And Riku, too," and then pointed over at the injured Riku, "We got the people we need… so who's this one?" He pointed at me.

He looked at Axel with a question, "Don't look at me, I don't know," he simply replied, "For all we know, it can be that chick Kairi," Who's Kairi? "Or the duck or that dog looking thing… oh wait, those guys are locked up in one of those memory pod thingies that Namine put them in. Oh! Hey, it could be Namine!" Duck? Dog?? Namine????

"I highly doubt that it's the girl that Sora hangs out with… but it could be Namine…" The other thought about it, and then concluded it, "Well, we'll see who it is," He clutched the rim of my hood and was about to pull it off of my head.

Well this is swell.

Good-bye life, it was nice seeing you! And well hello to death! Let's have some fun, shall we? "!!!" I heard a small gasp. Did the guy take my hood off? Is my identity exposed? Am I going to die now…? When nothing happened, I cracked one eye open and saw that nothing has changed, except for another black coated man standing not so far from us. God, how many of them are there?

"What are you doing, number 13?" The man asked. He had a hoarse voice, enough to make me shiver.

"…Nothing," The 'number 13' answered after a long stare at the man, "Was just gonna take these guys hostage," His hands released my hood.

"Well then do it. NOW," The other one nearly yelled. 'Number 13' sighed. If he had his hood off, I'd think he would have also rolled his eyes. He walked away from us, and opened up a similar portal as the rest of them. When he opened the portal, he just stood to the side, like as if he was waiting for us to go into it first.

The guy who was holding me captive sighed and took off his hood without notice. Red spiky, long hair. Green eyes and a small diamond falling on both sides of his cheeks. That grin. Where have I seen this man before? "Here," The man said as he pushed me towards the one who opened the portal. I should have grunted and probably give the guy a punch, but somehow, this 'number 13' felt different. His embrace as he catches me felt comforting, even though it was a bit rough. It felt so familiar…

I opened my eyes wide. Olette!! Go back to reality!! These are bad people, very, very bad people! Who cares if he has a familiar feeling, they're not going to change their minds about letting us go!! The red haired guy (still looking through my memory of who this guy was) grabbed the King and Riku in his hands and carried them over to us. The one who just stood there alone came in through the portal first, then the red with King Mickey and Riku, and then finally, 'number 13' and I. I closed my eyes to keep my phobia of this portal thing not to react.

"You look great in that,"

Oh.

"Too bad he's not here to see you, huh? And you guys even promised…"

Oh…!

"Bye-bye"

OH!!!!

"Oh my god!!!" Without noticing, I accidentally screamed out loud. Shoot. All eyes laid upon me. Without their hoods on, they would probably have had a confusing look on their stupid faces. I silently gasped at what I just did, and also stepped backwards. If the 'number 13' wouldn't have been there, I would have fallen, maybe even have fainted. Thank you 'number 13'. Oh, but, I still have to make an excuse for my sudden screaming, "Uh, uhhh, ummm……" Oh no… What should I say?

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A/N: I can't keep narrating with the organization in it!! Ugh, I have to give them names soon! Even I'm getting confused about who's who. The black coated guy said this, then the other one did that. Grr. Thats why I started making Olette call Roxas 'number 13'. And Axel will be called 'red'. Let's see how it'll go with the other members…