Kingdom Hearts : Worlds Apart

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The boy stood up, brushing his shoulders and chest off. He then pushed his half-moon spectacles back up the bridge of his nose. He examined the red haired girl from the top of his glasses, running his eyes over her a few times before whistling. "My, my," he said simply. His ears then picked up the sound of footsteps. As he turned, the sounds slowed to a walk and then stopped. They belonged to a girl with soft brown hair, up in a bun. The bun was tied by an odd-looking symbol. It looked like a triangle on top, then came downward in a line. Two points jutted out from the sides of this bar. It then continued downward and curved out and up into what looked like the top of a heart. Shaking his head at the symbol, he then noticed that it was all over the town they were in. "Quite a city," he said, whistling once more.

"And just who might you be?" asked the red haired girl of the boy. He took a moment before turning his attention back to her. His eyes seemed to sparkle with a boyish charm.

"Well, everyone's been calling me Maxiwill. So, I guess that's what you could call me," he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. The girl with brown hair cocked an eyebrow. He then studied the new girl, much like he had examined the first. However, he felt a swift smack to his left cheek. It caused his glasses to become askew. As he fixed them, he clicked his tongue. "Touchy, touchy..." he whispered to himself.

"Don't ogle me as if I'm some sort of..." she paused to think of the word, "prize!" Maxiwill shook his head, his long hair waving about.

"All right. No need to slap me again." He knew when someone didn't want to be bothered. He turned his back to them, looking at the lights of the city.

"And what might your name be?" the red haired girl inquired. The one with the bun looked at her for a moment before smiling brightly.

"Kri...I mean..." she thought for a moment. What was it that Axel had called her in Port Royal? "Lexstrik!" She laughed, clapping her hands together. At the sound of this clap, Maxiwill rolled his eyes a bit, the whisper of 'oh brother' being sighed. "What about you?" Lexstrik blinked.

"That man called me Elyxca," she explained. Maxiwill spun around, his cloak and hair following suit.

"Well!" he exclaimed, "Now that we're all acquainted, what do you suggest we do?" he crossed his arms over his chest, "It seems we're all Nobodies," he laughed. He noticed that the two girls were wearing the same clothes he was; a black cloak with chains around the neck, "And we're not as 'high-class' as those other ones." He spat on the ground, a small 'ugh' escaping the lips of Lexstrik. The boy ignored this sound and walked in between them.

"Excuse me for asking," piped up Elyxca, "but what do you know about all this?"

"Well, Elyxca..." he began, "When I was found in Olympus by Xemnas, he explained...though vaugley, what a Nobody is. We're beings without hearts, which were given up to the darkness. I doubt I know any more than you do."

"Well, I surely didn't know that!" Lexstrik said. Elyxca, on the other hand, was silent. She was tapping her foot on the ground and had her hand to her chin. She had heard that blue haired man mention 'Xemnas'. He had said that he saw 'great promise' in her as a Nobody. Yet she turned away from whatever this 'Xemnas' had to offer.

"Xemnas..." Elyxca whispered, "that man...he said that Xemnas saw great promise in me. What could that mean?" she tilted her head in thought and then closed her eyes. Maxiwill and Lexstrik both shrugged their shoulders.

"Come to think of it," Lexstrik said, "Axel mentioned him, too. Saying something about 'Xemnas' and a group called 'Organization XIII'." Maxiwill still stood silent. His foot was tapping in thought and his eyes were scanning the reflections of the lights in his glasses. There was a silence for about a minute or so before anyone said anything.

"Well, that must make me extra special!" Maxiwill laughed, turning around once more and slamming his fist into his opened palm, "This 'Xemnas' came and talked to me in person!" He smirked to himself, "Guess that means I had the best promise out of all us standing right here." He wore a triumphant smile that complimented the now heroic-looking pose he placed himself in. Lexstrik felt her hand twitch and Elyxca blinked at him. In a moment, Maxiwill felt himself on the ground, a foot being stomped onto his back.

"You're so full of yourself!" Lexstrik barked, stomping her leg upon his body.

"Ow! Stop! Ouch!" he cried out, "That really! OW! Hurts! OWW!" When she had stopped, the boy stood up and brushed himself off once more. He opened his mouth to say something when he paused. Someone was walking by. He quickly clasped a hand over the mouths of Lexstrik and Elyxca, and made a quick 'shh' noise. A man wearing the same black cloak walked in front of them quite briskly. When he held up his hand, a black cloud appeared. He stepped through and disappeared. "Hurry! Before it closes!" Maxiwill said. He broke into a run and walked through the portal.

"Well!" Lexstrik stomped her foot, "I am NOT going to take an order from someone like that!" She stuck her nose up in the air. Elyxca blinked at her.

"Listen, as much as we may not like him, Maxiwill has a point," she explained, "If we follow that guy, we may get some answers." A heavy sigh escaped Lexstrik as the two of them dashed off, making it through the portal just in time.

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They found themselves in an area much different than the bright city they were in before. A small sign on the stone wall bore the letters "Hollow Bastion". Maxiwill tilted his head at the sign, mouthing the name to himself. Just then, he felt two bodies crash into him. "Watch where you're goin!" he barked, turning around. It was Lexstrik and Elyxca. "Oh," he laughed, "So nice of you two to join me." He placed a finger to his lips, telling them to be quiet. He moved forward a bit, looking past a corner. He then turned his head. "That guy I followed is talking to some kid with spikey hair," he whispered, "This kid must have something to do with Organization XIII." The three listened intently on the conversation:

"I said get outta the way!" said the brown-haired boy. He wore an odd attire, his pants standing out above all else. On his body, he wore a blue shirt with a red pocket on the bottom. He had a black jacket covering him as well. It was cut short, stopping about the middle of his ribcage. It had silver shoulder pads, buttoned down to the sleeves themselves. His pants were black and poofy, with large red pockets. The pockets had black "X" shapes on them, possibly to compliment the yellow 'X' shape two belts made that crossed over his groin area. His shoes were big and yellow, rounded at the top. In his hands was a large silver key.

"As if!" said the hooded figure, "You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing." Maxiwill
noticed that his voice had somewhat of an odd tone to it. He turned to his two friends. "Guy sounds like a surfer, neh?" he smirked. They shushed him. "Then we're gonna MAKE you move!" squawked out a voice. This one was down with the spikey haired boy.
Maxiwill had to rub his eyes for a moment. It was a duck! He wore a blue hat on the top of his head that
had many zippers on it. On his body was a blue jacket, also equipped with zippers aplenty.

"See, that would work---if I were just any old dude." He explained, "'Cept I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothin' 'any old' about me." He laughed at bit at this. The boy then took a step foreward.

"Ha!" he exclaimed, "Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkeys did the fighting!" The hooded man then laughed once more.

"Oh, dear. I think you got the wrong impression," he waved a finger at the boy wearily, as if warning him not to tread into deeper water. Maxiwill didn't hear what the boy had said. It was rather a short sentence, but he believed he heard the word 'cry' in it. At the rate the conversation was going, it didn't seem as if they were going to get any answers out of them about Organization XIII. The three Nobodies took a step back when they heard the duck scream out. Maxiwill shook his head.

"It's probably nothing. That guy probably just got them angry," he said, taking one last look at the boy. He then noticed a third member to the party; a tall and lanky looking creature with floppy ears. He wore a khaki hat and large red goggles. He had a muzzle with a round nose on the end of it. He had to strain his eyes, but Maxiwill saw two large buck teeth on him as well. He wore a green, turtle-neck sweater with a black vest. This being also wore yellow pants and had large shoes, much like his spikey haired companion. A large shield was clenched in his right hand. Lexstrik looked at the three when Maxiwill had started walking away, into the view of the three. She then realized where he was.

"What are you doing!" she hissed, "Get back here!" she stomped her foot. Elyxca smiled and followed the boy out into the open. The brown haired boy at the bottom of the steps turned to get a glimpse of the two cloak wearers.

"Look!" exclaimed the tallest one, "It's more members of Organization XIII!" The duck jumped and ruffled his feathers a bit, spinning a wand with a hat on the end of it around his fingers.

"You want to fight?" barked out the Keybearer. Maxiwill shook his head and laughed. Lexstrik decided to run in as well. The boy with the key took a step back, clenching his weapon in his hand a little bit tighter. "And...who are you three?" Maxiwill looked at his two companions.

"I could ask the same about you," he crossed his arms over his chest and laughed, "I've seen some odd things in my life. Flaming chariots, talking bushes...even a half-man half-goat. But you," he pointed at the boy, "take the cake. Running around with a key?" He chortled once more.

"It's the Keyblade!" exclaimed the duck.

"Keyblade?" Elyxca repeated, "Doesn't look like much of a blade." She shook her head. Lexstrik then examined the three at the bottom of the bailey.

"Yep!" laughed the tall one, "Sora's been chosen by the Keyblade to save the worlds from dark---" he had an elbow shoved into his side by the duck, "Now, Donald what was that for?" he cried, rubbing his side.

"You don't go and tell the enemy what we're doing!" the duck growled. Sora, the boy with the key, continued staring at the three.

"What're you staring at?" Maxiwill asked, looking behind him and then back at Sora.

"You three," he laughed, shouldering his Keyblade, "Don't look like much of a threat. And it seems as if you don't even know what Organization XIII wants. Are you sure you're not just some imposters?"

"Why you---!" the long haired Nobody growled. Elyxca grabbed Maxiwill by the shoulder to hold him back, "We may not be Organization XIII, but we'll wipe the floor with you!" He growled. Then it hit him; they really didn't know what Organization XIII was after. What did being a Nobody prove? Were they really that different? Lexstrik and Elyxca seemed to get the hint as well. Sora and his friends turned their backs.

"We'll cross paths again, I'm sure!" Lexstrik annouced.

"And be ready. Next time, you won't be so lucky," Elyxca said. Sora simply ignored them. Although he was angry, Maxiwill kept himself from jumping the boy. He lifted up his hand and opened a cloud of dark smoke. The three stepped through, back into the city they had left previously.

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"So that's it, huh?" Maxiwill sighed, sitting on the curb of a street and placing his cheek in his hand, "We just wonder aimlessly?" Elyxca took his right side, Lexstrik his left. It was somewhat of a depressing sight to behold. Three people sitting in a group on the side of the street. Nobody else was around. The silence was deafening. Their ears picked up on even the slightest change in the speed of the wind. The three sat in silence for a moment or two before Lexstrik smiled.

"Wait...Axel," she said simply. Elyxca looked past the boy and cocked an eyebrow at the girl. Fixing her bun, she stood up, "The guy I met in Port Royal. He seemed nice and he also seemed to know a bit about Organization XIII." She jumped in her spot a bit, happy by her thought. However, she got the hint when she noticed the blank stares on her two friends faces, "Don't you get it? If I can find Axel, I could probably get him to tell me about Organization XIII!"

"Do you really think it would be that easy?" Elyxca asked. Maxiwill still looked down in the dumps, so he sat silently listening to the conversation unfold, "I mean, if he's got an inside scoop, he's probably a member himself. Why would he tell you their secrets and plans?" Lexstrik shook her head, her left eye becoming covered by a lock of hair that dangled in front of her face.

"No!" she laughed, "When Axel came to get me, he decided against it. Said I was 'too cute' to be involved with Organization XIII. Maybe he'll tell me more if I asked nicely." Maxiwill shook his head.

"I think Elyxca hit the nail on the head," he explained. "You're getting ahead of yourself, Lexstrik." The girl stomped her foot.

"I don't think you get it!" she groaned, taking her seat by him, "Why won't you believe me?"

"Maxi has his reasons not to believe you," Elyxca said softly, "Face it. Since none of us know what Organization XIII could want, he's just worried that he could lie to you. And then we all end up getting hurt in the process." The three of them all sighed collectively.

"There's no way this Axel guy will---" he was cut off when a man with striking red hair and emerald green eyes stood before them. He appeared almost out of thin air; a swirling black cloud rested behind him. He had cleared his throat when he had appeared.

"'No way this Axel guy will' what?" he crossed his arms, smirking.