Troy stared at the book a moment before opening it. Auron's gift was readily accepted by him in the hopes that he would finally learn a thing or two about the mysterious plague that had swept over his world - and eventually, everyone would be able to learn the truth and combat it accordingly. As he sat on the balcony and continued flipping the aged pages back and forth, however, his eyes became increasingly glued to the text therein, and before he knew it he had spent an entire three hours attempting to digest it. There was still a lot more to read. Much more. But the further he got into it, the more he realized exactly why it needed to be kept out of Sirius's hands...

One week later...

Selphie walked down the carpeted hall, shielding her eyes from the sun as it blared in through the pane glass on her left. The individual panels were nearly five times as tall as she stood. But even that itself was nothing compared to the looming entrance at the end of the hallway, with the emblem of the Mushroom Kingdom intricately carved in the dull, rippling mahogany that made up the door. She tugged at her beige cloth pants, grumbling as she planted her other hand on the portal. She was too accustomed at that point to her yellow blouse, but eventually it had to find its way to the wash. Her bundle of temporary clothing on the other hand was made of 'native fabrics' as Peach told her, but as far as Selphie knew the Mushroom Kingdom's 'native' legacy was producing the itchiest clothes imaginable.

She bashed her fist against the door several times. "Troy! This is going to be the seventh consectutive day you've spent staring at books! I know it's more productive than when you watched that four-day Dirk Drain-head marathon, but we're starting to get a little concerned! What do you do in there, anyways?"

Peach walked up from behind, staring over Selphie's shoulder. "He told me that he had some revolutionary discovery about the Vast and that he had to research it... which sounds like a load of crap to me, considering I've read every single book in this wing front to back. Oh well, if he wants to enrich his learning either way I'm not going to stop him..."

Selphie waited for a response but eventually found none. she pressed her ear up against the door, listening to papers flipping nonstop, only interrupted by loud thuds. Groaning, she grabbed onto the metal ring sticking out of one side of the door and slowly pulled it open, granting passage to the west wing library. Waiting for Peach to slump away, Selphie slowly began gripping the door handle more tightly. She eventually pulled it open, letting out a draft of cold air. She gradually crept into the expansive chamber - two bookshelves, reaching at least 30 feet tall, sat on opposite sides of a carved wooden table in the middle of the room. All the walls were shelves themselves. It would have been safe to assume that there were tens of thousands of handmade books stored in the grand hall. The ceiling directly over the table was made entirely of glass, casting intensified sunlight down onto the checkered floor below. None of this actually caught Selphie's attention however. It was more a matter of what the table actually consisted of.

Troy sat on the left side, still skimming through a tome several inches thick. Books of varying sizes, thickness and color were scattered all around the surface in front of him and on the floor around his chair; open, stacked, or both. Most were dog-earred at ten or more points. Selphie let out a dull wheeze, and Troy slowly lifted his head in response. Squinting through a pair of bloodshot eyes, he waved weakly. "Yo."

"...T-Troy? What are you doing..." Selphie's eyes floated over to a candlestick nearby, completely reduced a molten state and still smoldering. "...how long have you been at this?"

"Not long," Troy blurted, flipping his current book shut. Realizing what he had just did, he quickly hurled it back open again, thumbing through it to the page he had left off at and stuck a pencil in its place. "Just doing some research."

"I don't know about you, but if I have to research anything in school it usually takes me an hour or two tops. And if it takes any more than that, at least I have the decency to pass out slobbering."

"Well, what can I say," Troy pushed himself up to his feet, turning to face Selphie with his hands in the air. "The Vast are a very complicated subject."

"Sirius, what did you do with Troy?"

Troy let his arms drop to his sides weakly, rolling his eyes as he turned back to the table. "Yeesh. I show any sign of brain activity and suddenly my existence's threatened. What the crap does it look like I'm doing, I'm reading up on the Vast. There's things in here that I happened to find interesting. So sue me."

Selphie tilted her head. "Yeah, but... y'know, Peach's been through here a million and one times, I'm sure if there were anything in here that could help us beat the Vast she would've found it a long time ago."

She had everything here to explain everything... except this, the missing link.

"Never know if she could've skipped over something of importance..." Troy picked up the book nearest to him, breaking it open and burying his nose near its binding. "...okay, I know all this looks kind of funny to you, but I've matured enough to actually bother caring about what I can do against the Vast. Does that bother you?"

"Well, I..." Selphie blinked as she stammered. "...well I guess that's to be expected... I know it's a funny thing to ask, but... Mario and Luigi are getting a little antsy and Sirius has been too busy to grant them an audience, and..."

"That's what he always says," Troy droned, not letting his eyes waver. "What is it that they want to know, I'll see if I can dig anything up..."

"They want to know what drug them into this world, what they saw before they were sent here meant, and what they can do to get home."

"You originally said that you watched your friend get his hands on a keyblade and before you knew it, the storm consuming your island tore the place apart - not before you saw the 'black imps', as you called them, swarming all around you and him." Troy stared at Selphie with cold eyes. "I haven't forgotten... I think I might have a lead, but I just want you and the others to sit tight for a while... there's things that I have to see with my own eyes before I can draw conclusions." Troy paused as the library door rapped sharply again. "...ugh... can you get that?"

Selphie made her way back across the open chamber, and pulled open the giant door a crack. "Oh, it's just Sirius... c'mon in Sirius."

Troy let out a cough as he quickly jumped onto the table and began throwing books in a heap on one side - making sure to leave Auron's book at the very bottom. He spun around as Sirius threw the door open, marching ahead of Selphie as they both crossed back to Troy's table.

"I should've known better than to expect you to read a damned book. Quit making a mess, Peach and I read these books often and she would not appreciate you throwing them all over the place. There are some rare and exotic books in this collection and even if they were not Peach's, I would make sure that they are kept in mint condition. You can get out of here now, I was coming to look over some of the physics texts of this world, but I guess I'll take care of all this-"

"N-n-no, that's okay!" Troy waved his arms frantically. "The math and science books are on the west wall over there... you can head over there and start browsing, I'll clean all this up..." Troy waited for Sirius to stroll behind the bookcase to his left before jumping back down to the floor and shuttling armloads of books back to the empty shelves directly adjacent to him. Within minutes the table and the floor surrounding it was barren once more, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he held the last brown book in front of him. It was at that time that he finally noticed Selphie standing exactly where she was moments before, with a far more confused look on her face. "Ohh... this? This contains plans for every plastic-explosive based prank ever recorded in archived history! I'm taking it back to my room so I can look at it more tonight, and-"

"Oooh! Can I look at it for an hour or so now then? Pleeeease?"

"Actually no I'll talk to you later bye." Troy planted his free hand firmly against Selphie's face and pushed her back into the shelf. It shook for a moment before dozens of books toppled out of it, burying her up to her neck with a thunderous crash.

Troy calmly walked out of the room, whistling to himself as he tucked the tome under his arm. He checked down the hall to make sure no one else had saw what he did before strolling away.

"You CREEP!!" Selphie wretched around for a moment, freeing one of her arms before the library doors crashed closed behind Troy.

It didn't take long for Troy to sneak his way back to his room, narrowly avoiding several small groups of the mushroom retainers as he crossed through the endless corridors and open yards in the palace - it'd never occured to him exactly how many employees serviced the castle until they were getting in his way. Troy quickly rose up the stairs to the third floor of the west wing, darting down the hall to the door leading into the spare bedroom assigned to him. He quickly barged in and slid the book under his bed, looking over his shoulder to find an envelope taped to the back of the door. He grumbled to himself as he reached for it and tore it away, ripping off the top with his teeth. A rough parchment floated out, and Troy began reading the envelope as he knelt down to pick up the scrap of paper. "...Troy, you're likely not going to wake up until 4pm again so you're more likely to see this leaving your room than coming in, but I've received another message from the representatives of the Koopa Kingdom, hopefully you can resolve whatever they want done, blah blah blah..." Troy's focus shifted to the paper. "...what the... oh, you have got to be kidding me... why can't they just suffer through it until I can justify a 4 hour drive there?..."

He looked out the window, seeing Bowser's toothy grin in the clouds.

"...well, on the other hand..." Troy rubbed his chin. "...if I let Bowser and his flunkies look at the book, they'll know everything I do and get a better idea of what they're up against, and everything that Bowser announces to the Mushroom Kingdom goes through me anyways, especially anything concerning the invaders. That way I don't have to worry about them leaking anything to the King here and Sirius won't notice a thing. I guess I'll go have a chat with him."

Sirius's eyes continued gazing through the library window, eventually fixating on Troy's buggy as it rolled out of the palace grounds.

NSX: Chapter 6

Raise Thy Sword

"What do you think he's doing?"

Luigi kept his hands on the windowsill, but let his head dip back underneath it. "I can't tell. He just came in... it looked like he was talking to someone, and then he went back to the same chair he always uses." he squinted his eyes. His foothold shook. Directly beneath him, Mario clutched the bottom of his brother's boots in each palm, struggling to stand rigid.

"No, like, what books are he looking at..." Mario grunted. "...c'mon, I can't keep this up, YOU hold me up, you're the bigger one here."

"Vertically anyways. Hang on. The sun's getting in his eyes." Luigi's eyes crept upwards. Eventually he could see Sirius shrugging his shoulders uncomfortably. He raised the text he was looking at, eventually keeping it parallel with his eyes. "...Articles in Classical Physics? What the crap does he need to know about physics..." Luigi shuddered as Sirius slowly rose from his seat... and began advancing in his direction. "DOWN! DOWN NOW-"

The two toppled backwards. Luigi was promptly suplexed into the ground behind him.

"All that work for nothing..." Mario grumbled as the two slowly climbed back to their feet. He looked up as he dusted himself off, watching the now-drawn blinds glistening in the light. "...there's something weird about that guy... we just have him slipping out of our hands at every turn. He's oiled up good, that's for sure, everything he does leaves him out of the palace's surveillance."

Both ran forward again at the sound of a deafening snarl behind them, plowing facefirst into the wall.

"EXCUSE me, sirs," Wooster continued yanking hard on the ripcord of a push lawnmower right behind them. "I do try to maintain this lawn to the best of my ability, and as you two are only guests of our nation, I will not hesitate to report your vandalism to the proper authorities."

"Do you know what Sirius is doing in there?" Luigi sighed, rubbing his nose.

Wooster threw his arms up in disgust. "Don't ask me. I don't stick my nose into other peoples' business. That's what housekeepers get fired over. If you seek to harass Sirius so badly, why don't you just walk into the library and question him yourselves? Of course, I can see why a man in this times would want nothing more than to be able to shut himself into a large, warm, PRIVATE, comforting room and sit down with a good book and a bottle of fine wine..."

"Hmm..." Mario rubbed his chin, eventually reaching down and snapping his fingers. "That's it."

"What's up, bro?"

"We gotta harass him," Mario said sternly. "He doesn't like to be roused over trivial things, but if we complain and complain and complain about him not watching over and properly training the Keypers, we might be able to get some alone time with him. 'course he'll be as easy to court as pizza dough in a meat locker, but maybe we can stir him up if it's a matter of a Vast compromise."

Luigi nodded, and the Alastor flashed into his grip. He reached back, stuck his tongue out, and hurled it straight through the library window as hard as he could. Wooster stared on in horror as the pane glass window exploded into a million pieces. Moments later Sirius slammed his hands down on the lower sill, crushing what remained of the rigid glass even more with his massive claws. He stared down at the three with a cold expression on his face. "What is the MEANING of this?!"

Luigi stared at Sirius with a dull expression on his face. "...I was practicing trying to make that lightning and stuff come out of my hands, and I guess I got a little too much into it... as you can see."

"What are you even doing over here?" Sirius scowled. "You have a whole damned front yard to do that in!"

"The sun was getting in our eyes." Mario interjected.

"The sun is facing this way you morons!" Sirius shot back.

"I can personally assure you that there are many more valuable windows in the front." Wooster added.

Mario shot Wooster an annoyed glance as Luigi stepped forward again. "To be honest, Sirius, I haven't had much hands-on experience with the Alastor and I'd like it if you gave me a few pointers. If you could actually teach me and Peach how to use the blades properly like you did with Troy I'm sure we'd be bigger assets..."

"What Troy discovered was his own experience and his alone." Sirius barked.

"How about you just SHUT up, get OUT of the castle and make YOURSELF useful for once."

All four became silent for a moment.

"If I may be perfectly honest," Wooster shoved Mario and Luigi out of the way. "Now that the princess has obtained a keyblade of her own, she as well may be bringing these questions to your attention. And when that time comes, you would do well to answer them - she has offered you much of her hospitality, and if you do not do these favors for her... she shall take more offense to it than these two buffoons."

"Why are you..." Mario hissed.

"I can hope Sirius will take you somewhere to train where I don't have to look at you." Wooster spun on his heels, going back to his lawnmower.

"...very well," Sirius snarled. "As it seems I am obligated to eventually dispense what I know... I will be taking you and the princess with me in an hour so that you may see what the keyblades are potentially capable of... I'll make sure to bring Troy as well, they should see what he has learned..."

"Troy headed out this morning. He got a letter from the Koopa Kingdom saying that they needed some stray Vast cleaned up. I'm sure he should be back by tomorrow." Wooster mumbled before the lawnmower roared to life and belched out a cloud of black smoke.

"Who authorized this?!" Sirius slammed his fists down again.

"Troy most likely."

Mario and Luigi winced as Sirius stormed back into the library behind him. Mario glanced up at Luigi, drawing a finger across his throat. "Geez louise, you got his attention alright. Just remember that whatever you learn is moot to us if he decides to rip your head off moments later.

Dark Land's winds howled, sending dust flying in every direction around Last Chance Ramparts. Three Koopa guards struggled turning the crank that slowly pried the fortress gates open. As a gap began to form, light poured in out of the dust cloud that threatened to whisk away everyone not holding onto something. Before the entrance could become any larger, Troy's buggy smashed through, clipping the sides of the wooden doors and sending splinters flying. Troy turned sharply to the right, sliding to a stop in the middle of the courtyard. He vaulted out of the driver's seat and strode up the dirt ramp ahead of him that lead to the doors of the main fortress. As he did, another green-shelled Troopa with a white cord tied around its waist ran up alongside him.

Troy looked over his shoulder at his pursuer. It was female. "What's going on here?" Troy muttered.

"Not much," the grunt quickly threw up a poor salute. "Most if not all of the Troopas that were in the core that was supposed to attack the Mushroom Kingdom earlier... they've been shipped away again to get all our sludge plants back up to regular output levels. We are beginning to make progress though, our first shipment to the Mushroom Kingdom should be ready in just a few days, and-"

"Okay. That's wonderful." Troy ground to a halt, turning to face the soldier. "I received a note this morning saying that there was Vast here for me to investigate. That's the primary reason I'm here, and if I don't sort this out pronto and get back to the Mushroom Kingdom shortly my butt will be in a sling. Now, where's Bowser, I need to speak with him."

"Bowser's been shut away in his quarters for almost a week now," the Troopa said flatly. "He's been in deep meditation for a long time now."

"Oh, what the crap. What's so important that he has to plug his ears and la-la-la his cares away?"

"Well, uh... what I'm going to tell you is on a more personal note, 'ight? If anyone knows I said this I could be removed from my post."

"Just. SAY it." Troy sighed.

"...I've heard people saying that a few days after he returned to the Ramparts and sent out his condolence packages to a few people in the military and the Mushroom Kingdom itself... actually didn't you get one Troy?"

Troy tapped the back of his shell.

"Oh WOW! You got one of those? Those shells were given out to Bowser's own private guard during the first weeks of the Koopa Troop's conception! There's got to be less than a dozen of those in existence... Bowser must hold you in high regard to give you one of those, people say that the alloy plating on those is ten times tougher than the ones they usually give to recruits! I've got to say, that's really a..."

"Carry on." Troy sighed, looking away.

"...w-well, anyways... after he patched up whatever he'd undone, he just threw himself in his private chambers. He'd come out for bathroom breaks of course, but other than that... he would issue his orders through the door, and never reveal himself if someone requested his presence. He was hiding from someone or something. Anyways, here's the kicker. Apparently there's a rumor going around that Bowser brutalized one of his own medics while his battalion was camped outside of Toad Town. Raised his claw up... smashed it down. Ripped him into ribbons and pounded what was left into jelly."

"Ragh!..." Troy's right arm snapped up, and he used his other hand to clutch it.

"Are you alright?" the Troopa stared at what she saw with wide eyes.

"I guess I just..." Troy let his arm go. The gouge on his hand had spread - it nearly consumed his entire palm, and blood slowly dripped off it and onto the ground beneath him. "...ergh... just.. I can take care of myself... Bowser should know that I came, do you think he can at least tell me what I need to do here, or did he leave me a message, or what?..."

"I'm going to get some bandages... just give me a sec." the Troopa turned, jogging back to a large square tent near the gate. She rustled around in it for a moment before rushing back out to Troy. She unwound a thick white cloth from a large roll of it, tying it firmly around Troy's hand and grafting it in place with medical tape. "Did you get that on your way here? It looks like you drove something right through your hand..."

"I nicked my hand on a piece of metal left in the castle dungeons back before the invasion... it bled a little at first but after that... it didn't hurt. Now and then it'd randomly start gushing and hurting like crazy. Other than that... it's been pretty insignificant. I figured it'd just heal back on its own if I put enough pressure on it. I didn't realize it had been getting worse..."

"You're taught better than that in boot camp." the medic frowned, slapping a hand down on Troy's shoulder. "Let me know when you intend to leave. I just need to see how bad that wound on your hand is. I might need to clean it out and replace the bandage."

"That's great to know. Now..." Troy gingerly lifted the hand off his shoulder. "Can you tell me what I want to know?"

"Bowser has more than 90 of the first sludge shipment to the Mushroom Kingdom barreled up and ready to go. But since the sludge platforms have been under constant threat of Vast infusions, he said to make sure that you get here to perform the final inspections and make sure none of it goes out with the delivery. He says that if that if the Vast gets into the Mushroom Kingdom, the results could be-"

"He drug me out here because there was a POSSIBILITY of Vast?" Troy cried. "For all that's holy... I don't know if Bowser realizes it, but the Mushroom Kingdom and everything around it ALSO has a pretty high chance of getting slapped with Vast at any given moment, not to mention that every time I step out of my room some other freak wants to tear me limb from limb and/or steal that sparkly magical keyblade that I STILL don't know anything about. Well, take me to the sludge storage then, I guess I'm stuck doing that now... Sirius is going to rip me a new one if he finds out I snuck out of the palace just to play customs officer for a day."

"Right this way," Troy's companion bowed, leading him away to the left. A dirt road lead off towards a building of similar size and construct as the castle, but far less elaborately designed - it had obviously been a storage building far earlier than its owners had begun putting volitile chemicals in it. "I understand that you've been extremely busy in the Mushroom Kingdom, and you've been doing your best to paint a positive picture of us... we'll just get this over with and you can return to what you were doing."

"Whoa whoa. We? I don't think you understand exactly what you could be dealing with." Troy moved up to a pair of heavy iron doors, wrapping his hand around the left's handle. "People go insane when they come in contact with this crap. I've seen it happen before. Bowser's rumor has a good chance of being true. You're going to go back to your station and let everyone know you didn't see me, because having one overeager fan club member following me around is bad enough."

"How did you knowwww..." she sulked.

"Know what..." Troy paused, breathing in.

"About the fan club."

"...what are you saying, do you mean..."

"My name's Maple, I'm the vice-president."

Troy let his head bang against the door. "All the greater motive to get out of here."

"O-okay, just let me squeeze in here and get this gate open..." Maple dug under her collar, taking out a keyring. She slowly began sorting through the odd-dozen sigils on the ring before Troy calmly pulled the door open. "...huh? How did you get that open?"

"By using the power of high-school physics." Troy shut the door and pulled it open again. "Am I doing something wrong?"

"No, I mean... this building's supposed to be locked at all times. Everyone knows how important it is that all these barrels go to the right place, and just moving them around the fortress grounds is hazardous by itself..."

Troy grit his teeth and hurled open the door. He stormed inside, finally seeing the storehouse's contents. Several multi-layer racks stretched to the back of the room, with unmarked dark green drums stacked neatly to the edges. Troy stuck his arm out in front of Maple as he began to step forward. A single drum rolled out on its side towards him. As Troy began to close the gap, an ebony-armored boot slammed down on top of it, holding it in place.

"Go." Troy shoved Maple back.

"Who is he? Do you know him? I'll notify the guards right away-"

"Go back to your post. Forget everything you saw here. This is my concern. I'm unsure if you have any guards that can stand up to him."

Maple stared back and forth between the behemoth and Troy, eventually backing away and running back out the way she came.

"Oh. I apologize, I hope I haven't interrupted anything of importance," Nightmare's veined eyes were visible through his visor briefly. "I understand I've made a bit of a mess here... but I have to say, my armor is a bit worn and oil is hard to come across in this corner of the world. As for you... I see my prior warnings went unheeded. Still you wander outside of the protection of your damned Kingdom, claiming to surpass the darkness that already envelops this world."

"I don't recall saying that." Troy said sternly.

Nightmare stepped back to the ground, kicking the barrel away. Even though it held tens of gallons of thick liquid, it harmlessly bounced off to the side from the impact. "Perhaps you hadn't. One thing that you and I can be certain of, however, is that you are reckless. You believe that all you have to worry about is this mindless Vast of yours. It seems you need a bit of a... reminder. Auron was kind enough to, how should I put this, make your whereabouts more public than you yourself thought. I won't be coy here, I don't have an idea of where Auron could have run off to, but right now I have you right where I want you... and this time you won't have the benefit of the doubt."

Troy shook his head weakly. "Auron wouldn't have done that."

"Are you so sure now? It's one thing to not know where your loyalties lie and thus not have one, it's another to hold the wrong one closest to your heart. The chaos surrounding you is only picking up in speed, whelp. Perhaps you'd like me to end it for you?" Nightmare stuck out his hand, and in a flash of hazy purple light, the massive Souledge appeared in his grip.

"Oh, this time I'm not so sure of what exactly is ending." Troy held his arm out in front of him, summoning Chronicle to his hand in response.

"Your boasting has improved at the very least." Nightmare said coldly.

"I was about to say the same thing myself. Now, before you make cold cuts out of me, let's make one thing clear. You know last time when you said that you didn't necessarily need Vast in you to have dark thoughts? Well, I can say without a doubt that you're not Vast after all. I know that you could be a couple other things. And after some careful deduction on my part, I can tell what your guts are." Troy's keyblade gave off an unearthly glow. "You're a Nobody."

"Oh, this should be a good day for you to die," Nightmare hunched down, clasping his blade with both hands. "A shocking revelation on your behalf I take it. I congratulate you, Keyper... such a pity that you take such wit with you to the grave. What does that mean now however?"

"It means only one Nobody will be walking out of here in one piece."

Sirius let his heavy legs crash down into the grass. He stared up into the sky as Mario, Luigi and Peach all stopped several feet behind him. They left the city behind them, and now stood poised on one of the largest hills outside of the walls. Sirius turned and glanced at the three one more time, before he faced away again and sat down crosslegged. "You're all quite good at blackmail. Now that you've gotten me outside, as you insist, what do you intend to demand of me?"

"We want to know everything that you do about the keyblades." Peach said sternly.

"What's there to know? They are your first line of defense against the Vast." Sirius looked over ihs shoulder. "I'm sure we've been over this before."

"Well, you've been acting pretty passive since we found more people bearing Keys. I think Troy, Luigi and I are due for some explanation. You came here, took command of our government, and you claim that we're the only forces that can stop it or at least slow it down. Yet... you have no problem shutting yourself in your room and doing some pleasure reading while we're getting chased around by these beasts. You haven't actually explained Troy's situation in Sarasaland to us. I think that you're either clueless or concealing information. And I know how much you love being called clueless."

"I saw what your intentions were in your eyes. And I'll give you the same response I give to any of your inquests. The truth you seek so badly, you are not ready for."

"You think what I've witnessed have been nothing but parlor tricks?" Peach's tone grew increasingly agitated. "You know, there's one thing that I've noticed in your entire time here, Sirius. You've done nothing but talk about the Vast and its corrupting effects... but not once have I seen in direct proximity to it." Peach slowly reached down to her pocket, fumbling around in it for a moment before drawing something from it. She watched with satisfaction as Sirius's expression turned cold.

"...how? What... how did you get that?!" Sirius clumsily stumbled back to his feet, spinning back to face the three. He began backpedaling as he saw what was Peach held in front of her. "G-get it away!! Do you have any idea what that could do to me... I mean, what it could do to you?!"

"Just as I thought. I know your weakness." Peach held the corked vial of purple liquid in front of her, tipping it around and letting the sludge move from side to side. "You are just as weak to the Vast as we are. I managed to catch this little bit sneaking up on me while I was out Birabuto. Remember that dome that the Invincible surrounded Birabuto with? That was Vast. The keyblades that Troy and I carried granted us safe passage through. Not before I used the opportunity to get a sterile sample of the stuff, that is. Tell me, Sirius, if we're getting the keyblades to stop the Vast, how can I use the keyblades to literally control it at will?"

"Hang on hang on hang on." Mario stepped forward. "...Troy told me that SIRIUS told him that he can only use the keyblade to destroy what he truly wills. Are you saying that the keyblades can just maniuplate it? Why are we all so scared of it then?"

"Shut up and listen to me!" Sirius yelled. "I told you that the Vast are invading. Tell me, is that or is it not the truth? Bowser had been corrupted by it! There is your concrete evidence right there that what the Vast is something that should be stopped!"

"Or was it the Vast at all?" Peach stepped closer to Sirius. "We managed to contact the Koopa Troop earlier and got the exact coordinates Bowser's camp was pitched at the time he went insane. I knew that if 'invaders' had caused it that they would have left a trail. I found what caused it, alright. And guess what? It was a mixture of THIS and something else. Why are you here, Sirius? Are you looking for somewhere to stick your head in the sand to get away from this? Because I assure you, we're the ones suffering for it. Now you're going to sit down and tell us everything you know. What is this purple crap, what is this black crap, what is this white crap, how are the keyblades involved, who are the bad guys, who are the good guys, and how can we get ourselves out of this mess?!"

"...b-black?" Sirius stammered. "...white?! Where did you find this?"

"Where she told you. Shut up and talk," Mario growled. "You know way more than you're telling us. We want to know, why are these people and entities coming down on us? There are people here who are direct victims of this! When and how are we going to return home?"

"...the keyblades have chosen you to fight."

"We DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT!" Luigi moved forward in response. "We want to know WHY, and when it will end!"

"That's something I don't know."

"Then tell us what you do! Why are you hiding everything from us?! You're endangering everyone around you including yourself! What is so horrifying that we can't deal with?!" Peach cried.

Sirius stepped forward, nearly plowing through the three. "I am an agent of NSX."

"An agent of what?" Peach grumbled.

"The Vast and Heartless cannot be allowed to enter this world. I failed to enforce that fact countless times before. That is what I mean to say when many worlds have fallen. I haven't explained the Heartless because I didn't realize that they had become a factor."

"You never explained the Vast to start with." Luigi mumbled. Mario jabbed an elbow into his side.

"I cannot accurately begin to describe the effects of having one, either or both fused into you. I'm sure you've seen the effects it has had on people around you. Please listen to me, you have to-"

"This has gone on long enough," Peach interrupted. "If you think we're just going to take an apology and a pat on the back and welcome you back into my home with open arms, you've got another thing coming. Apparently I've managed to dig up more than you thought I could, so I'm going off the assumption that now with the keyblades we're going to be making great strides to figuring out what is going on here. You're still going to be giving us some tips... but you're going to be doing it on our terms. I am ordering you to be imprisoned until further notice."

"Do you honestly think you can contain me?"

"Maybe not," Peach smirked. "But the Vast can."

Sirius's eyes grew wide Peach smashed the vial against the ground. It snaked across the ground, building up dome of purple energy around him with an accompanying electronic hum. He let out dry gasps as he stumbled around inside, eventually falling to the ground and shielding himself. "You don't know what forces you are toying with!"

Mario and Luigi both stared at Peach, slackjawed. "...are you sure we can just leave him like this?" Luigi gasped.

"Don't worry," Peach stared into Sirius's eyes. "He's got to break sooner or later. I will order guards to watch over this area. Sirius, I hope you understand what measures you've made us take. I think it's time that we, as residents of this world, took this matter into our own hands. Maybe we DO have the answers that you can't spit out. I don't know who these NSX people are, but I WILL find out, mark my words."

"...I am here to preserve the balance of this world. That is my mission." Sirius added.

"You're not doing a good job of it."

"The Vast and Heartless will change you in ways you cannot begin to comprehend."

"The Nobodies. What about the Nobodies?" Peach suddenly moved closer to the orb of energy.

"The Nobodies," Sirius repeated. "...you need not worry about the Nobodies... fighting them will do more harm than good, in more ways than one..."

"I'm sick of all this cryptic crap, as I'm sure you two are. Let's get back to the castle. I don't want to give this creep the satisfaction of wasting any more of my time."

Mario and Luigi watched as Peach spun around and marched off. As soon as she had descended a bit, the two turned back to Sirius.

"We will get home," Mario said flatly. "It's only a matter of knowing how."

"Trusting the keyblades to such fools..." Sirius shook his head, laughing harshly. "Do you know how many worlds have fallen this way? When you lose every last shred of your sanity to these aliens, you will weep for having thrown away your possible salvation..."

"Okay, even I'm getting a little freaked out now..." Luigi rubbed his forehead. "Let's get out of here."

Sirius did little but watch as what remained of his audience vanished. He slowly pushed himself up onto his knees, his mouth folding into a furious frown. "Fools. Fools!... FOOLS!!"

Troy's heartbeat nearly drowned out the crashes of Nightmare's armor as watched the dark knight hurtle at him. Nightmare let out a guttural yell as he whirled in place, holding his zweihander behind his head before cleaving downwards at his target. Troy dodged right towards the ground, avoiding the decapitating blow by a thread. Troy pivoted as he moved around Nightmare's left side, ducking under the blunt edge of the sword as Nightmare continued full circle. What he didn't take in mind however was the fact that Nightmare waS facing him again - Nightmare stopped his attack, thrusting himself forward and bashing Troy back with the side of the blade. The heavy blow made Troy stumble back a solid ten feet, but he still retained his balance. Troy took a deep breath, knocking a fist against the front of his shell. "Just like they used to make them."

Troy leapt up before charging back. He crouched, spinning on his heel with his blade extended. Nightmare bounded forward to slash down from above, but felt his foot shift as the sound of ripping metal. The teeth of the Chronicle tore into the drum lying on the ground, sending oil spraying in every direction. Troy howled as he used every ounce of momentum he had to sling the full oil drum across the chamber at Nightmare. Nightmare had no choice but to continue his vertical slash in order to defend himself - the canister exploded aparty wildly as his blade ripped through its side, sending a deluge of sludge out onto the ground. Nightmare growled, wiping the grime off his armor as Troy quickly discarded his shoes. He flexed the claws on his feet before letting out a satisfied sigh.

"Being grossed out is not one of my weaknesses." Nightmare said cooly.

"The Koopas don't use oil for burning. They use it for therapy." Troy cracked his neck and gradually slouched down. "Being grossed out isn't one of my weaknesses either... it's one of my strengths."

"I see you're getting serious. As serious as you can become at the very least. I will not hold back!" Nightmare lunged forward again, moving at blinding speed across the otherwise slickened floor. Troy began moving forward as well - but as Nightmare quickly realized, he wasn't running. Nightmare shifted his blade into one hand, flailing it to the side in front of him. Troy leant back at the knees, completely sliding underneath his attack, and all the way under his legs. As Nightmare turned and slid to a stop, Troy kept on going, vaulting onto the back of his shell and spinning into the wall. He planted his feet against the wall and pushed off, shooting across the sludged ground even faster than before. Nightmare had no chance to strike him directly, much less actually track him. He let out a dull grunt as he felt one leg being pulled out from under him. Troy's keyblade dug into one of his greaves and caused him to slingshot around back to where he came, sending the armored night flying off his feet in the process. Nightmare cast his arm out as he quickly clambered back to his feet, summoning the Soul Edge back to his grip. Troy in the meanwhile regained his original posture, skating backwards towards the wall. He leapt up, twisted, and pressed off the wall again - this time sending him rocketing through the air at Nightmare proper. Troy bellowed out as he slashed downwards. Nightmare barely caught the attack with his own blade, causing a brief struggle before Nightmare hurled Troy over his head along with the Soul Edge. Troy landed back on his feet, grinding to a stop as Nightmare spun around once more.

"RrrrRRRGHHH!!" Nightmare's eyes burned even brighter than before. "I would never have imagined that you would become so annoying..."

"Aren't all officers of the law that way?" Troy swung his blade back down in front of him again, running at Nightmare again. The sludge by now was quickly dissiapating into the dirt beneath him, and his advantage was quickly disappearing.

"Your agility will not outlast me..." Nightmare held his sword out to his side, and it vanished into thin air the same way it had came. Energy crackled around his gauntlets, and he hunched down with his fists at his side as Troy intercepted him. He launched forward again, throwing a hook straight into Troy's face - who had been more eager to have slow sword strikes to evade. Troy growled as the attack struck him straight in the face with an echoing crack, sending him flying back hard against the wall. His shell again protected against what would been a far more lethal blow... the wall he crashed into. Cracks began to form in the brick behind him as Troy stumbled forward again. He leant forward, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Again Nightmare rushed him, throwing another energy-charged punch into the front of his shell - Troy would not feel the blow directly, but it rattled him enough to disorient him even more. "NOW! You will surrender your keyblade... or you will truly know what agony is!"

"Agony!" Troy coughed. "Don't even get me started."

Nightmare slammed his right hand forward and pinned Troy against the wall. He wound up with his free fist, purple energy coursing across it as he hurled it forward at Troy's head once again. Troy simply grimaced as he slid down out of the deathgrip and the death fist pummeled its way straight through the wall behind him. As Nightmare tried to free his hand from the stone, Troy dove rolled down between his legs again and tumbled into one knee. As he did so, his arm followed his movements - and the Chronicle with it. One mighty cleave of the blade phased through his upper right thigh. Troy watched, breathing raggedly, as Nightmare continued to try to pry his hand out of the wall. Eventually he did, and Troy watched grimly as Nightmare turned slowly to face him yet again.

"...how naive," Nightmare spat. "How long do you intend to run?"

"As long as I stay greased up." Troy wiped some of the sludge off his face. "...are you still worried about chasing me? How about the blows I struck to you?"

"Your meaningless assault, hm..."

"Well?"

"I... I... ghh..." Nightmare began to tremble as his helmet slowly began to lower. He stared down at his waist. "...ghhaaaa... youuu... how did you..."

"How did I hit you there?" Troy slowly began to push himself back to his feet, wobbling as he stumbled backwards onto his feet. "...all I had to do was harass you and whack you here and there... to make it look like I was trying to break through your armor. Then when you were sure I would never beat through it... I did. When you tried to kill me a few days ago, I attacked and realized your armor wasn't physical at all. I had to figure out what was underneath before I could strike through and actually harm you. Thanks for confirming you were a Nobody, by the way."

"You insolent-" Nightmare cast his mutated arm to his side, ripping through a series of leather straps with it. Troy stepped back as his massive hauberk crashed to the ground around him, beginning to gape. The corruption along his arm stretched all the way down to his torso, darkening his chest with rot. Nightmare reached up again, ripping his helmet off. Long blonde hair flowed down his back as he hurled the winged helmet to his side. "...well, since you insist this armor is hindering me so, now you must deal with losing your advantage!" He looked up once more, revealing the light shining from behind his bloodshot eyes. "Your wounds will need to be more drastic if you wish to stop me outright!!"

"Maybe I should have waited for him to actually beg for mercy before assuming I knew what I got myself into." Troy said flatly. The wind howled as Nightmare flew at him with superhuman speed, slamming his plated knee into Troy's head. Troy lost his breath as he heard a liquid flow, shortly before crashing straight through the wall behind him. He tumbled across the parade ground of the Ramparts, grinding facefirst to a stop. Troy forced himself to roll over, only managing to see Nightmare plunging down through the air after him. The massive bloodied blade appeared in his hands once more as he prepared to deliver his catastrophic vertical slash. Troy slammed a clenched fist into the ground as he realized what was happening. "No! NO way! This is like Bowser's... wait, this is EXACTLY like when Bowser... the Chronicle... I can..."

Troy closed his eyes and concentrated as hard as he could, hearing the wind shift once more and Nightmare's scream reflect back at him.

Once again, everything stopped.

Troy vaulted back onto his feet, pivoting and looking around in panic. "Where is it, where is it, where is it..." he looked up, finding Nightmare mere feet above him. The edge of his zweihander was inches away from Troy's head. Troy cast his hand back, and the doors of the sludge depot flew open again. The Chronicle drug itself along the dirt, bouncing from side to side occaisionally. Finally it launched back into Troy's hand and he spun it behind his back. With every ounce of force left in him, he thrust it straight through Nightmare's bare chest. He clenched both free fists, slamming them into both sides of the Chronicle's hilt from opposite directions - turning it into a high-speed drill. Troy threw himself out of the way as everything around him returned to life. Nightmare's face turned white as he slammed facefirst into the ground, the keyblade in him completely ripping through his torso. Troy clutched his side as his vision began to blur. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off and his head trauma was beginning to settle in. Troy couldn't keep himself conscious much longer.

Nightmare drove his hand into the ground, shuddering as he pushed himself up. "Uggrrhhhh..." he slowly pushed himself up to his knees before jerking forward to vomit. "How did you... move... get out of the way so fast... how did you strike with that precision?!... what has that keyblade done to you? This is not meant to be... this is not over, mark my words! I've underestimated you this time, but I will not make that mistake again!" Nightmare gradually began to ascend to his feet, clutching his chest as he jogged away. A white void appeared in the air in front of him. Nightmare shot one final raging glance back to Troy before hurling himself inside. Troy limped after him, but sighed as he watched the gate fold in on itself.

"...and stay out." Troy smirked and let out a dull groan before collapsing back into the dirt.

Maple watched as a baseball-sized ball of white paste fell out of the air and landed with a dull plop in the cracked bowl in front of her. She nodded to the Troopa holding to spoon and lifted her tray off of the rail in front of her. Slowly she worked her way through the other cafeteria tables of other soldiers wolfing down the gruel, tilting her head as she spotted one in the corner with a paper bag over its head. It prodded at the slop in front of it, turning to look at the other tables occasionally through a pair of holes punched in the front. Maple sat down at the otherwise empty table next to it. "You look ridiculous like that." She reached over, grabbing onto the top of the bag and yanking it off its head.

"Stop that." Troy muttered, snatching it back. "I can't be seen here."

"Well it's too late for that. I thought you'd be happy to hang out here again, just for a little while."

"I've got important things to do." Troy continued to stab his food with his spoon. "I was unconscious for a day and a half, now I'm totally out of the loop concerning what's going on in the Mushroom Kingdom..."

"I'm sure you've got important things to do, with people trying to rip you apart with weapons bigger than you..." Maple slumped down over the table.

"...wait, what? You saw all that?" Troy twitched.

"Are you kidding? We caught everything that happened in the sludge storage on the security cameras."

Troy let his head fall against the table.

"Wow, Troy," Maple shook her head. "I remember when you'd just applied here... you got to Lance Corporal and you still got slapped with latrine duty once a week. You were always telling yourself that you'd never advance beyond that point. Well, so did everyone else I assume."

"Do you understand now why I wouldn't give a crap if they unloaded a waterbomber full of praise over my head?" Troy grumbled.

"I think they're all just jealous. I know I am." Maple dropped her spoon in her bowl.

"Maybe it's not just them..." Troy slumped his arms down in front of him, laying his head down on them. "...I'm confused. I've been that way ever since I was given the keyblade and forced into this conflict. I'm not sure where my loyalties lie anymore... it seems like everyone around me is hiding things from me. The more I get run around, the more agitated I get... especially considering that people could be losing their lives over it. And it's not just me either, there are others working in the Mushroom Kingdom with keyblades that are even less informed than I am. At the same time I feel like what's happening is my fault. I should be getting to the bottom of this, but I've only just started now... that's part of the reason I came here today, to tell everyone what I've managed to figure out so far." Troy reached behind him, slamming a thick brown book down on the desk. He dusted it off for a moment before glancing back to Maple. "It got beat up a little back there."

"...what is that?"

"...actually..." Troy began climbing onto his bench, eventually standing up on the table. "...I think everyone should know."

Maple's shoulders sulked. "Whare are you do-"

"HEY!" Troy waved the book in the air, watching with satisfaction as several Troopas from nearby tables turned their attention to him - almost instantaneously realizing who was talking to them. "If you don't know me already, my name is Troy Kiemen, and I would be more than happy to give you the latest dirt involving the Vast!"

Sirius sat crosslegged on the ground with his arms folded. He took a deep breath out of the cool night air, letting out a dull grunt as he looked around again. His perception of the city lying nearby was still blurred by the haze of his forcefield. A food tray sat on the ground, with a plate of mashed potatoes lying half-eaten on it. His head slowly pivoted to the trees behind him as leaves began to rustle. Sirius's eyes dimmed as he saw the red robed figure in the darkness. "...have you come to insult me as well?"

Auron stepped out of the shadows, a look of confusion growing on his face as he saw what the forcefield contained. "...I'm going to assume that you are this Sirius I hear so much about."

"May I ask who you are?" Sirius grunted. "You do look familiar."

"You could say I'm Troy's other guardian figure. Except I made sure that he knew exactly what he was being guarded from. Auron slowly drew the long curved blade from his back, holding it forward. He slowly jabbed it forward into the Vast barrier, causing it to jump inwards slightly. Sirius fell back as the purple sludge bit at him. "...it seems I'm not the only one who was getting suspicous. On the other hand, I'm a little surprised it wasn't me who shut you down. Now... what was it that you said a while ago that REALLY caught my attention, yes... you are an agent of NSX."

"Who do you think you are?!" Sirius scowled.

"I have far more patience than I should," Auron looked away. "Don't think that I don't see what goes on in this city. You don't know who I am and frankly I don't care. Now you're going to tell me who you work for."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

Sirius crouched as Auron stuck the blade in deeper. All at once the Vast barrier began to contract around him. "You are not a Nobody, yet you fear the Vast. A Heartless would suck this up like noone's business, yet you do not do that either. The obvious conclusion is that you are a Complete. Which means you know things about the Vast that you should spill. I mean, that's all there's left to do, I've already sowed knowledge about the Heartless and the Nobodies in this world."

"What is it that you want?"

"The same thing any Keyper wants," Auron crouched down. "A full and complete understanding of what is going on in the universe. You say that you have been around to see a lot of worlds fall. I believe that. But what you don't realize is that I've seen many worlds collapse too. Only the Heartless and the Vast we've seen on a regular basis. But tell me, where are all the Nobodies?"

"I don't understand what relevance that has."

"I think you do. I know there are other Completes running around. One of them had a primal Nobody with them. What would compel a Complete to hunt a Keyper with a primal Nobody in tow, knowing that the only thing that Nobody would be good against was a docile Nobody?..."

"If you're trying to accuse me of something, do cut to the chase." Sirius growled.

"I'm accusing no one of doing anything besides lying." Auron pushed up his spectacles. "People might hunt down the keyblades, but the fact that a Complete is behind it is something that intrigues me. That and how they already knew that whoever was holding one was a Nobody with no way of telling without coming into contact with him/her previously and conducting a battery of tests... Troy is a Nobody. I am a Nobody. Everyone in this world that I have encountered is a Nobody. I am willing to assume that everyone in this entire world period is a Nobody. Yet, no one is in the pursuit of their hearts. At the same time though, the Heartless and Vast continue to pour in. I know for a fact that this is not a continuous occurence. Do you know why this is?"

Sirius remained silent.

"If someone loses their heart, all that remains is their body and mind. The Heartless represent the carnal desires of the body. The mind that usually regulates that is absent, severed off in the form of the Nobody. The Nobody retains the image of how the mind perceived itself. All the mind does is regulate. It theorizes, it learns, it comprehends, but it cannot truly act on anything that doesn't come about of those processes. On the other hand, the body simply exists to sustain itself. It might be possible to make a Nobody forget about its heart in that manner. Heartless... not so much."

"Get to the point."

"The Nobodies here have been held prisoner by someone or something. They have lost all association with the Heartless yet the Heartless still see them as competition for latent hearts. The keyblades that are here are red flags. I want to know why the keyblades are here and how they got here. I have to find my heart, as it is likely the only thing that will tell me what I need to know about the worlds around me. And... what people WITH hearts are doing wandering around here, as well as what the Vast even is. And that is why I'm here. This will be the last time I ask. What is the Vast? What is NSX?"

"This must be a joke. Even if I do have a heart, it doesn't particularly mean that I'm forced to be kind. You scum are all beneath me. You should be happy that I am working to help preserve your world! When the Vast and Heartless are gone... your lives will return to normal and you can forget that I was ever here. You Nobodies, and your lonely little world..."

"So what reason do you have to save this world?"

Sirius's eyes glowed. "I preserve the balance."

"The balance of what?"

"The singular balance."

"Your sole purpose is to ensure that nothing besides the Nobodies exist in this world."

"That is correct."

"We will resist, even if we are incapable of true love or hate. When the time comes, the other worlds you've done this to will know the truth. And eventually, your superiors will be revealed. Minds inquire, Sirius. And they usually don't stop at half-truths."

Sirius laughed harshly. "...do you honestly think you can contain me? Asides from that, do you really think that just because Troy, Luigi and Peach have spontaneously grown brains that I've lost the ability to hold this world by the throat? Do I need to remind you that they are three keypers in a virtually infinite sea of them? As you've potentially seen, it isn't incredibly difficult to seize someone's powers using false ambition. And infinite semi-experienced to experienced keypers versus three seems like perfectly good odds for me."

Auron raised his head, his shades glinting in the moonlight. "Those are bold words." his head tilted to the side as he heard rustling and clanking off in the distance. Spots of light; the guards' lamps, bobbed and flickered about as they approached.

"Who goes there?!" a voice shouted out.

Auron grumbled to himself, darting off in the other direction. He looked over his shoulder as he escaped into a grove, seeing the scintillant orb surrounding Sirius glimmer one last time.

A slender, muscular figure sat hunched on a rock, flicking pebbles off his foothold into the dried basin below him. Rain slowly slapped down onto the ground, yet again it seemed to act little towards making the terrain look any more hospitable. He tensed up as he heard footsteps behind him, and the claws on his feet dug further into the hard dirt beneath him. He pressed his similarly-taloned hand against the ground to gradually return to a standing position. Slowly he turned, fixing himself on his visitor. A tall, built man in white cloth pants stood facing him, with a head of white hair that streaked back and into the air, and a thick white mustache.

The man surveyed the cliff-facer once more, eyeing him up and down. He was in similarly-styled cloth pants, although black, and was topless as he was - but with pale purple skin adorned with various dark green tattoos around his shoulders. The wispy, jet black hair not held back by his black blindfold swayed around his head, not doing a very good job of hiding the horns that protruded from his forehead.

The white-haired man shook his head. "What are you doing out here. Get inside."

"...am I not permitted to think?" his target spat. "I do recall saying you were not my master. Even if by some fluke chance you happened to be, you would still do well to provide me with breathing room."

"I am not here to argue."

"My key has been commissioned it seems."

The older man staggered. "...what is that supposed to mean?"

The demonoid turned back around, crouching down again. He plucked a pebble off the ground, flicking it off into the pit ahead of him. "Earlier you sent your buffoons out to encounter the keyper known as Troy Kiemen. However, they were not able to seize the Chronicle. It would seem, though, that his interests are in direct conflict with my... associate's. He has also attempted earlier to use the controlled Dark Knight against him, but Troy and his friends seem to be more intelligent than they let on."

"I was not informed of this, Illidan!"

"Perhaps," Illidan slowly pivoted his head to the side. "He is not confident in your powers. I would not be offended. If your mind is not strong in his presence... it could be crushed like a gnat's. This is no longer about the Chronicle to me. That is your battle, not mine. Right now, I am more interested in Troy's demise."

"You may no longer be interested in the Chronicle, but I still am. I will pursue it independent of your interests if that is the case."

Illidan shook his head. "Heihachi Mishima. You should be honored that for some reason I'm still not insulted. Now if it silences you I'll cooperate for the time being, but if you are unable to deal with Troy than this shall be a battle of my own."

Heihachi snarled, spinning around on his heels and marching off again. As he vanished behind a cloud of dust and moisture, Illidan snapped out his wrist. An ear-piercing screech erupted from his hand along with a thick metal shaft. It snapped in half by itself, with one half sliding down and backwards to create a cross. It suddenly burst into blinding blue flame, receding to show its transformation into a grotesque, inward-curved bony-bladed star weapon. Its edges still singed with azure flame.

"Needless to say..." Illidan growled. "...Cocytus will be filling its blood quota earlier than expected."