Disclaimer: Not Mine.

A/N: I know, I know. "Oh my god, the bitch updated!" I have had a supreme lack of anything resembling time in the past few weeks. In the last few days, I've probably had less than thirty minutes to just write or fuck around. Thank god for Saturday!

Chapter 15

Crawling in the dark

Show me what it's for,

Make me understand it.

I've been crawling in the dark, looking for the answers.

-Hoobastank

"Okay," Reno said for about the fourteenth time. He ran his fingers through his sweat-dampened hair. "This is fucking blowing my mind."

Axel laughed from where he was lounging on a sun warmed rock, trailing his feet in the oasis. "It's not really that difficult to grasp. Your world got attacked by the heartless, your heart wasn't strong enough, so they ripped your being apart."

"Yeah, alright. And that's the part I'm fucking having a lot of fucking trouble with!"

Axel sighed. "Your body became a heartless," he said slowly, as though speaking to an incredibly dense child, "Your heart was absorbed into the ether, and your soul manifested and became me. Got it memorized?"

"Stop doing that!" Reno growled, fervently wishing he had his EMP rod.

"Stop doing what?" Axel asked innocently.

"Stop saying 'got it memorized'. You've done it like fifteen fucking times."

"You sure like the word 'fuck'."

"So? What the fuck is wrong with fuck?"

"Nothing. It's just, it gets a little redundant after awhile, don't ya think?"

"Fuck you!"

"My, my, you're certainly forward."

"Shut up!"

"Make me, dickwipe."

"Eat it, cocksucker!"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you!"

"Oh my god, shut up!"

"Make me."

"You're asking for it, you son of a bitch."

"Oh yeah, what are you gonna do?"

"I was thinking about kicking your skinny ass!"

"You'd kick your own soul's skinny ass?"

"You're not my soul!"

Reno spoke this last outburst without any real conviction. Axel was his soul and they both knew it, so there wasn't any real point in arguing about it. This guy just kind of pissed Reno off. He should've known he wouldn't like himself if he met himself.

Dammit, am I this annoying? Reno thought. Naw. Not nearly. And I'm sexier, too.

"Yeah right," Axel huffed.

Reno looked back his way. "What d'ya mean, yeah right?"

Axel folded his arms. He'd long since unzipped his long back coat, revealing a pair of tight-fitting pants and a very pale, lightly muscled chest. "There's no way you're sexier than me."

"Hells yes, bitch, I…Wait a minute." He thought back for a second. "I didn't even say that out loud. Christ, do not tell me that you can read my goddamn thoughts!"

Axel shrugged. "Most nobodies can. When their somebody's around, at least."

Reno, suddenly exhausted, sat down next to him on the rock. "This is a little too much to take," he admitted. He drew his legs up to his chest and rested his head on his knees. "So what is going on out there, wherever 'there' happens to be?"

"It's kinda a long story."

"Like we have anything better to do?"

"We could have sex."

Axel and Reno looked at each other.

"Or not," they said in unison.

Sai'x stood at the foot of the skyscraper. It was a tall, ominous looking building, almost as unsettling as the scarred man himself. Of all the places in the World That Never Was, this was his favorite. It just felt right. By right he of course meant 'evil in the most all-consuming way'. The second-in-command of Organization 13 sighed contentedly. Axel, that son of a bitch with a tight ass and impossible hair, was dead, and the keyblade master would soon be joining him. The cell at the top of the castle was currently occupied by Sora's one true love, who he would be visiting in a few minutes. He rubbed his hands together in expectation.

Add in the fact that Kingdom Hearts was on the verge of opening its doors, and it was the best night ever.

"Hey, psycho!"

Sai'x stiffened.

"So the little mouse has escaped her cage," he muttered, turning.

The girl, Kairi, was standing at the base of the skyscraper. There was a look of pure hatred written across her face, twisting her pretty features. Sai'x eyes narrowed. There was something in her hand, something long and shiny, something…

"Is that...?"

"Oh what, this old thing?" Kairi glanced down at her hand. "It was on sale. I just had to have it."

His eyes widened. "But—that's…no! That's impossible!"

Kairi shrugged. "Yeah? And you have a boss who's name is an anagram for 'man sex'. Some things in the universe don't make sense."

Sai'x laughed, though Kairi wasn't sure if he was laughing at the crack on Xemnas, or at the inner workings of his own devious mind.

"So you've met the leader of Organization 13, have you?" he asked.

"Not really. Axel must have mentioned him. Or maybe Riku."

Sai'x narrowed his eyes. "Riku?"

Kairi grinned winningly. "Yep. Another warrior for the light. Now that the three of us are together, me, Sora, and Riku, we're so totally gonna kick your collective asses. Oh, and I'm sure Axel'll help too, seeing as he turned on you bastards."

"Oh?" Sai'x matched Kairi's superior smile, though his made you want to run and hide under your bed. "Axel is going to help you? Form beyond the grave, I suppose?"

"Beyond the…?" Kairi found herself going cold. "No."

"Oh, but yes," Sai'x said, closing the distance between them with slow, measured steps. "Poor, dear Axel rescued your precious keyblade wielder, and died in the process. It really is a terrible tragedy."

Kairi was breathing hard, like she had just sprinted a mile. The words were echoing through her head. Dead, dead, dead! Axel was dead. She tried to calm her whirlwind of a mind, tried to focus on not hyperventilating. She growled out the only thing that instantly sprang to mind.

"I hate you."

"Yes, I know," Sai'x muttered, close enough to brush the back of his hand against her cheek, "And that's what makes all this sweeter."

The feeling of his skin against her sent a white hot streak of anger through Kairi's being. The Organization, the heartless, the nobodies. The people, they were the ones who had ruined her life. They'd taken everything from her, her island, her family, her friends, even her heart. It was only through the sacrifice of two boys that anything had been saved. Sora and Riku were the reasons that the worlds still existed. They were the universe's strength, the universe's hope. This was their story, not Kairi's.

I may be nothing but an afterthought, Kairi spoke to herself, But that doesn't mean I'm gonna stand by and watch everything go to hell.

With a twirl of her keyblade, she smacked away the hand on her cheek.

"I'm a lot like you, Sai'x," she said, staring straight up into the man's face, meeting those burning eyes. "I'm a nobody. I could die right here and the universe wouldn't know the difference. But guess what, fuckhead? I'm not going to."

She swung the keyblade at the man's head. He managed to duck, but not by much. Maybe this fight wouldn't be one-sided after all.

Riku could feel the darkness pulling at him as he fought. The moments when he lost himself, during combat or when he was asleep, his control became harder and harder to maintain. He had opened his heart to the darkness once, and now it was always there, just below the surface of his perception, waiting to drag him back under. Here, in The World That Never Was and practically right on top of Kingdom Hearts, everything was a million times worse. He had met up with Sora, who had seen him for who he faster than Kairi had, and now he and his companions were climbing the endless tower.

He jumped to one side, narrowly avoiding a giant, dog-like heartless' massive jaws. A quick sweep of his sword sent it back to the abyss. There were certainly a hell of a lot of them, though they seemed to have the decency to only attack in small groups, as he, Sora, Goofy, and Donald climbed steadily higher and higher to The Proof of Existence.

As he fought, Riku couldn't help watching the way his best friend had matured. Sora's body had become a veritable weapon, spinning and jumping, kicking and rolling all over the place. He handled that keyblade like it was another limb. The last time Riku had seen him, the time the two of them had shut the door on Kingdom Hearts, he had still been awkward in his movements, as if he couldn't believe he was actually there. Now, there hovered on his face a constant little grin. It disappeared every so often, as his face contorted into a mask of pain, but something had happened to Sora.

He was enjoying this.

The thrill of the kill, the bloodshed, the power. Riku could hardly blame him; standing at the edge of such a brilliant darkness rubbed off on one after awhile.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Riku had spent just a moment too long focusing on his friend's battle grace. Another one of those fanged heartless had crawled out of thin air right beside him, unfurling its wings and sending him stumbling back over the edge. For the briefest second, the world was nothing but rushing air and a sickening feeling of despair, until he felt a sweaty hand grip him around the wrist. He opened his eyes hesitantly.

The view was one of the most terrifying things he had ever experienced, and that was saying something. He was hanging in midair, hundreds of stories up on a twisted tower. Below him was nothing but a seething pool of darkness waiting to swallow him up. He gasped, clutching impossibly hard to his only lifeline, which happened to be a little brunette boy. Sora had grabbed his hand, throwing himself over the edge and casting a half-assed magnet spell to attach the keyblade to the edge of the building. It wouldn't last.

"Riku, hold on!" Sora called, muscles standing out on his thin arm.

Riku didn't speak, just obeyed. Damn, he wished he wasn't wearing this body. His old one was so much smaller!

Sora could feel his spell beginning to wear off. "Donald, help!"

The duck spun around, eyes going wide when he saw the position the two boys had gotten themselves into. He blasted the a heartless out of the way with a fireball, then ran to the edge.

"Wind!" he yelled, and suddenly Riku felt himself rising. The Aero spell wrapped around them, depositing the shaking boys on the hard platform. Riku panted, glorifying in the feel of solid ground beneath him. But just as he moved to rise, he felt the darkness take him.

He was being pulled down, down, down. This was it. There would be no coming back, he could feel it. Despair overtook him.

But suddenly a voice was calling to him.

"Riku! Riku, please stay with me!"

He became aware of the hands shaking his shoulder and the refreshing rush of a cure spell. The darkness was ripped away, and with it something else. He sat up slowly, focusing in on the silver hair in his eyes. That was his hair…and yes, these were his hands. He looked at Sora, who's face was shining.

"Riku, you're back!"

Riku suddenly found himself tackled to the ground by an armful of teenage boy. Sora was hugging him fiercely, burying his face in his chest. For just a moment, everything in the universe felt right. It didn't matter that a bunch of psychopaths were about to open a door to the realm of Kingdom Hearts, or that the worlds around them were slowly crumbling, or that they were under the constant threat of attack. For one tiny instant, they allowed themselves to bask in their success. All the endless hours they had spent looking for each other, and here they were. Together.

Riku had to blink back the tears. He didn't know if he had the words to describe how it felt to have his best friend back. Chuckling, he pushed Sora off him gently and stood up, brushing himself off. Somehow, bizarrely, Riku seemed to be wearing something besides that Organization coat. Jeans and a yellowish vest…where the hell had they come from?

Sora had noticed it as well. He was staring meditatively at Riku, sapphire eyes screwed up in concentration. "Those weren't the clothes you were wearing when we closed the door," he decided finally.

"You're right," Riku laughed. "That's fairly…odd."

Donald, who had finished administrating his cure spells, waddled over. "I wonder where they came from…"

"Plot device?" Goofy suggested. The dog had a knack for simplifying irrelevant situations.

Riku laughed again, hefting his sword back over his shoulder. He looked toward Sora, who was still staring at him like he might disappear, like only the force of his mind could make him stay.

"Don't worry, Sora. I'm here for good."