Kingdom Hearts: System X

By Christine Lennoire

Beta: Bakageta

Summery: "Nobodies that heartless.." and no, I didn't make a grammar error. Hearts are corrupted. Heartless nobodies? Who in the hell is System X? It's from the King... But Ansem... Roxas... Sora... But he's my friend! Kingdom Hearts... Keyblade. They're... smart! They came after me... It's him... They're working together... We have to do something...

a new journey has begun

Chapter Fourteen: Return to the World That Never Was!

Sora gasped. What he saw was so NOT what he remembered. The World That Never Was... was disappearing! Together, their group stood in the middle of a path that was slowly disintegrating. Particles floated off into space and disappeared. Most of the buildings were either gone – or ready to go. All that remained in tact, was the castle they could see looming in the distance. "This is bad... what is the System DOING?" Sora shouted, looking around. Kairi grimaced as she head a small crack.

"We better get going before this piece breaks off and takes us with it!" Kairi said nervously, watching the particles that were drifting off into space. "Who knows what would happen to us then!" she shuddered. Whatever it was, would probably be very slow and painful. The others nodded in agreement, all having differing thoughts on what would happen, but not liking any of the possibilities.

Riku suddenly snapped out of whatever daze he was in and shouted, "Look!" Indeed... something was flying over the castle. There was a strange feeling since they got there. And now they knew why. Even from so far away, they could feel it's eyes locked on them. It was like this creature was staring right into their souls – and it was unnerving. "What is it? It's so far away... I can't make it out..."

For a moment, silence reigned. They all squinted, attempting to get a real glimpse of whatever it was. Finally, Zexion spoke up. "That scent is familiar. She's the one... the one who kidnapped us. The 'doctor' one is close too... the one who removed their hearts..." he said, motioning to Axel and Demyx. Sora, Riku and Kairi exchanged nervous glances and nodded. "She has black wings... she's like the devil... no better way to describe her. Be careful. From now on, we are in the range of the two most powerful members of System X..."

"But we have one advantage!" Demyx grinned. "Nobody knows the World That Never Was like the nobodies!" he laughed. "This is our turf, even if it is disappearing." That was a point. "Can't we use the... thing... to get into the castle?" he asked, wary of the eyes he felt, watching his every move. Zexion's eyes widened and he began grinning in a similar manner.

He nodded. "Of course! Let's go! Just follow me and don't ask questions... she might be able to hear us." Zexion led them down the remains of a small alley. "I hope it's still here..." he muttered under his breath. Now, they were hidden by the remains of a building – but it was disappearing and fast. Demyx quickly uncovered a hole. There was a nice drop and then it seemed to go straight.

"All the Superior's idea." Demyx said, smirking. One by one they jumped down as quietly as possible into the damp tunnel. After they were all down, they began walking towards the castle. It seemed like forever, and it was a very plain tunnel – no real twists or turns or anything. So they were all glad when they saw a ladder leading upwards. "This is our stop." For the first time, the others noticed that there was another path that branched off and kept going.

Goofy grinned. "Where's that go?" he asked, looking at it as he was climbing up the ladder and almost missing a step and falling. Luckily, he was able to balance himself and get back up. Zexion shook his head.

"That could be important later. For now, it's best kept a secret. Not even Demyx knows... it's something the original six kept locked up tight. It was... our back-up plan... and it is now, too, so let's hope you never have to find out. Because if you do, it's because we're in deep, deep, DEEP trouble." he said forebodingly, effectively scaring the others out of pushing the matter further.

At the top, Sora pushed the lid off and they all quietly climbed up into the room. It was not like the rest of the castle – or maybe the System had done some redecorating – because instead of the room being white – it was completely black. Demyx and Zexion gasped. This was not right... that meant... that System X had found this room and therefore that meant...

"Ah, do you like it? I thought it was too bright in here. Especially for such a truly grim place." Everyone turned very slowly. This woman was just like the others in one aspect. Same cloak, but longer like the Organization's robes. But that was about the only thing. Her wings... were black as night and ten times as wide as her own body. Her eyes were red like blood, and her smile was truly wicked – as if there wasn't a drop of good in the world that was inside of her body. Maybe there wasn't.

She wasn't alone, either. A man stood at her side, wearing a white lab coat over the traditional cloak that the others wore, although he looked much more human like. His hair was black with blonde tips, but that was the strangest thing about him. From just looking at him, it didn't seem like he had a weapon. But then again neither did she. Yet – appearances are deceiving. They weren't about to underestimate evil-looking people like them. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I startle you? Name's Xeo, but... you can call me X..."

Everyone shuddered. She... was number 1. "Number 2. Xu." The man at her side said, formal – just like the others. Removing the lab coat, it was revealed that his cloak only had one sleeve. The other seemed to have been cut off, but he kept his arm wrapped up with white medical wrap. These two were just plain odd. "Let's get down to it then. No playing. We know what you want. But we can't have you doing that. So I'll just kill you and end this all now – for all our sakes." he said, stepping forward.

His eyes were burgundy – slightly darker than hers but nearly the same shade. Actually – they had changed. Something so odd would have been easy to spot. But clearly, his eyes changed colors. Appearances can be deceiving. It seemed as if now he was just as strange as she was.

"Sorry. Maybe if things had been different – you could have been saved – maybe even been one of us. It's funny how fate works, ain't it? But now I have to kill you. Then, we can save this world... destroy it for the rebuilding!"

Zexion growled. "This is not a GAME! There is only one universe! It can not be rebuilt if you destroy all the worlds! What we have is what we have and if you destroy it, there will be nothing left! Is that what you want! There will be no us, no System X... no NOTHING!"

Xu laughed. "Of course it can be rebuilt. My darling X and I will become legacies... become immortal... and then we shall right this world and all the others. All their imperfections shall cease to be... until all worlds really are... perfect."

"You're crazy." Sora said. "There's no such thing as immortality. That's why we have to enjoy life to the fullest while we have it. Waste it, and you can never get it back. We're going to stop you, you know... there's no use fighting. We have no choice but to stop you. We will NOT be defeated." All the others shouted "Yeah!" in response. Riled up and ready for a fight, everyone grabbed their weapons and prepared for battle.

"So be it." Xu said angrily. He reached over with his good hand and began undoing the wrap the covered his arm...

COMING UP NEXT:

Chapter Fifteen: Master of Shadows, Angel of Death

They're a terrible pair

That woman and he protective lover

She has the appearance of a devil

And he is the master of shadows, and a demon surgeon...

What can we do?

Good thing we have a back-up plan!

We're coming up on the exciting ending! Soon... but anyway... review please! Reviews give me a reason to update sooner and not procrastinate like I usually do, if you read any of my other stories... P

Christine Lennoire