Realm Hearts Chapter 2: Forced Dive, a kingdom hearts fanfic

"Come on, slowpokes. We're gonna miss the tram" yells Hayner as he comes screeching round the corner that connected the back alley to Station Heights, making a quick beeline north towards Station Plaza.

A moment later, Pence appears; huffing a little while reaching out with his left hand to grab hold of the street lamp so as to use it to help swing him towards Hayner's direction. "We'd be on time for the tram if you hadn't dilly dallied on getting back."

Olette then appeared, easily dancing gracefully around the corner, heading up the sloping path; then turns her head back and says "Let's not let them beat us, Roxas."

A few moments later, Roxas finally comes around the corner and follows after his friends, his delay being caused by a sudden feeling he had experienced a moment before. "Coming, coming" he shouts out to Olette as Hayner reaches the top of the slope and turns the corner to reach the final stretch of pathway before the station.

And then he feels it again, this sense that someone of something was watching them; watching HIM. A sense that told him it was familiar, but what could it be?

And then his ears catch it; a sound like a ping or a zing ringing out.

Not that he had time for his brain to register the sound or react as within a split second of hearing it, Roxas feels something hard and painful slam into his back. The force of the impact is so great, it knocks him both forward and off the ground, sending him slamming down hard onto the unforgiving pavement.

"Ugh, that's gonna leave a mark" he groans out as he takes a moment to recover before trying to pick himself up. But the moment he starts to move, his whole body goes rigid and a drained feeling comes over him, something that felt painful to some degree. He can't speak, call for help even, as his vision suddenly blurs and becomes static like in nature.

In his distorting view, he sees both Pence and Olette turn the corner after Hayner, neither seemingly aware of what ha just happened to their friend. "Guys...he...lp" he manages to get out weakly before the darkness takes him and he goes still.

Realm Hearts

chapter 2: Forced Dive

Several hours earlier, at the Usual Spot, everyone save Hayner was present as the threesome waited patiently; quite patiently mind you, for their fourth member to finally arrive. "Geez, and after he made such a fuss about Roxas being late yesterday" says Olette, crossing her hands over her chest.

Just then, the old, moth eaten twin drapes they used as a make shift door push inwards and Hayner finally enters the hangout. "Twenty eight minutes, a new record" notes Pence, looking at his watch.

Not hearing Pence's words, or choosing NOT to hear them, Hayner says "Hey guys, your extra early this morning, huh?" He then moves over to his usual spot and leans back against the wall.

"No, you're just late as always" jokes Roxas.

"Eh, never mind that now. We need to decide what we're going to do today seeing as we only have six days left now in our summer vacation" says Hayner.

"Let me guess, you vote for more Struggle training today, huh?" asked Pence.

"Actually, no" says Hayner, surprising everyone. "I figured I'd take a break from training today and do something more fun for a change."

"Something fun, huh?" says Olette. "Well, I have a suggestion if you guys are up for it."

"Sure, I'm game" says Roxas.

"Let's hear it" adds Pence.

"Don't tell me. Let's all go and do our homework today, huh?" says Hayner in a deadpan tone.

"Actually..." says Olette, getting up from the beat up old couch and goes to stand before the boys while reaching into her shoulder bag and pulling out a flier. "Check it out, guys."

The boys lean forward and Roxas says "A triple showing at the Sunset Theater today, starting at one in the afternoon."

"And it's the three best summer movies being shown together to boot. That's an awesome idea...coming from you, Olette" says Hayner, generally excited as all three of the movies being shown were movies he had loved and had wanted to see again anyways.

"Thanks...I think" says Olette, not sure if she should take his words as a compliment or an insult.

"Yeah, it does sound great and all. But there's just one problem though" notes Pence, getting them to look at him. "What about munny? I doubt any of us will have enough for this?"

"I have 800 munny" admits Olette.

"I have 600 munny myself" says Roxas.

"I'm have 550 munny total" says Pence.

"Just 300 for me" says Hayner. "But what's the issue, though? A ticket is only 500 munny and getting both a descent sized box of popcorn and a soda will only be another 150 munny. We have plenty to go around for that."

"Read lower, dummy" says Olette, pointing at the smaller print beneath the large text and the picture.

Hayner follows the point of her finger and reads aloud. "Along with this special showing, we'll be offering for today only both chocolate covered pretzels and watermelon slices at 250 munny and 400 munny respectively."

"Boy, I would love to eat some of the watermelon slices" admits Pence.

"Yeah, no kidding" adds Hayner. "But none of us have enough munny for that though. Even if we pooled it all together, it wouldn't be enough."

"Hey, I have an idea" says Roxas, getting their attention. "How about we check the job board outside, next to the alley entrance on Station Heights."

"Yeah, good idea, Roxas" says Olette, clapping her hands together.

"But do we have enough time, though? Won't taking on some jobs makes us miss the train and the movie too? After all, the trains only come around the station every thirty minutes."

Pence looks at his watch and says "Well, it's only eight forty five right now and the job board is loaded with special quick jobs for kids to do who are on summer vacation and are in need of some quick cash. If we hurry, we can get the jobs done quickly and catch the noon train out to Sunset Park. That'll leave us thirty minutes to get to the movie theater, get our food and drinks, and find some seats."

"Then what are we waiting for then, times a wasting" says Hayner, already running outside.

"He can sure move fast when he's motivated" says Roxas before following after Hayner with Pence and Olette following him, albeit slower.

"I'm surprised, Olette. I thought for sure you'd suggest doing our homework" says Pence.

"Yeah, about that" says Olette nervously. "Actually, both me and Roxas did our homework last night, save for Roxas's essay which he decided to do it about the old lighthouse on the cape near the beach. Me and him are going out there on the last day so he can do it and I can give him some helpful info. Hope you're not mad."

"Nah" says Pence, waving her off as they pass through the drapes onto the street. "I figured you and him would get your homework done together when he took off yesterday. To be honest, I've already got mine done too."

"Seriously? When did that happen?" asked Olette.

"Remember when I went away with my folks for a week to visit some relatives over in Dawnburg a few weeks into summer vacation?" asked Pence, getting a nod from Olette. "Well, it got pretty boring so I went ahead and got mine done. I even did my essay, using the coffee shop as my research choice."

"So poor Hayner is the only one who hasn't even started yet then?" says Olette, getting a nod in response. "Let's not say anything more about it. I wanna see if he even recalls or if we're in class on the first day of our new semester and only remembers when Mrs. Bloom ask for them to be handed in."

"Sounds like a plan" says Pence as they turn the corner, seeing Hayner and Roxas already looking over the job board. "So, how many times did your mom barge in on you and Roxas?"

Olette blush's, then says "Actually, we studied over at Roxas place...alone." She then runs forward before Pence could respond.

He stares at her blankly as she joins Roxas and Hayner, then grins and thinks "I wonder if anything happened?' while breaking into a sprint to quickly join them.

"Well, not much to chose from, is there?" says Roxas, noting the small number of request on the board today.

"Let's see" says Olette as she looks them over. "I'll do this one; helping Miss Grayden with getting some of her groceries."

Pence grabs another flier and says "And I'll do this one. I've always wanted to see how they makes all those tasty sweets at Chocoking's."

"I'll do this one" says Hayner. "Delivering mail to everyone on Station Heights seems like a breeze."

He reaches out to take the flier, but Olette beats him to the punch by grabbing it and handing it to Roxas. "Actually, let's let Roxas handle this one, OK?"

"Huh? How come?" asked Hayner.

"Because the post man usually lets the kids taking this job borrow a skate board to help them get around more quickly. And the last time I checked, you couldn't skate to save your life" says Olette.

"She's got you there, man" says Pence.

Hayner huffs and says "Fine, Roxas can have that one and I'll do this then." He grabs the last flier and says "I can handle taking Mrs. Higgins poodle for a walk at least."

"Hey guys, check it out" says Roxas, seeing an important message on the bulletin board. "To all those who wish to participate in Thursday's Struggle Tournament, please be advised that the preliminaries will be held Wednesday morning starting at ten. Please arrive as early as nine so you can register for the preliminaries. Thank you for your time."

"Well, so much for going to the movies then" says Pence.

"Why are you saying that, Pence? So what if the preliminaries are being held tomorrow instead of Thursday morning. I'm confident that both me and Roxas are already prepared for it. And if not, we'll have after the preliminaries till bed time for last minute training anyways" says Hayner.

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you say there's no need for training, Hayner. You must be confident in your chances on winning" says Olette.

"He better be, seeing as he bet both you and Roxas's futures for his never ending rivalry with Seifer" says Pence.

"He did what?" cries Olette while Roxas recalls that something like that did happen yesterday, but he had forgotten do to the shadow attack on Olette.

"Hey, it's cool. As long as I don't lose, it'll all be fine" says Hayner before breaking into a run. "Gotta go guys; have alot to do after all."

"Hayner, you coward. Get back here so I can yell at you" shouts out Olette, preparing to give chase but is stopped by Roxas placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Just let him go for now. You can get him back after the tournament is over. Besides, we need to get to work ourselves or we won't make the train on time" says Roxas.

Olette blush's a little, then smiles and says "Your right. Punishing him can wait till later." And with that, the three of them break apart, heading off to do their own chosen task.

Roxas runs down the incline, passing under the arch that connected Station Heights to the large Market Plaza area of Twilight Town, then making a sharp turn to his right, making a beeline towards the postal station which was situated close to the underground waterway entrance.

Once he arrived, Roxas quickly passes inside, saying "Hey, Mr. Tully, are you here?"

And older man, with coke bottle like glass's and a long chin, pokes his head out from behind the counter, then smiles kindly as Roxas comes to a stop opposite him. "Why, if it isn't our special little ocean child. What can I do fer you, Roxas? Looking for any packages or wanting to mail something?"

Roxas shakes his head, saying "Neither, I actually came here because of this." He then holds out the flier, handing it to Mr. Tully. The older man takes it into his bony hands and reads it over.

"Oh yeah, now I remember. I did put a job request up earlier, didn't I. I'm glad it was you who responded, Roxas. I was afraid I was going to get someone like Hayner applying instead" says Mr. Tully. "Anyways, ready to get to work?"

"Sure thing, sir" says Roxas.

Tully nods, then walks back into the back, returning a few moment's later with the delivery skate board and a bag full of mail. Roxas takes them both, then says "Well, I'm off" as he turns to leave.

"Hold a moment if you would, Roxas" comes Mr. Tully.

Roxas stops and looks back, asking "Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could do me a favor while your here."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, you see, another of my regulars called in sick today and I don't have anyone to deliver the mail for Market Plaza here. I was planning and doing it myself, but I was wondering if you could do it for me? I'll give you a nice, big bonus for doing that" says Mr. Tully.

"Not a problem, I'll do it sir" says Roxas as he walks back to the counter.

"Wonderful" says Mr. Tully, returning to the back to grab the other bag. "To be honest, this makes me double glad it was you who came as I doubt I could trust anyone else to help me out here." Mr. Tully then reappears with a very big and very full bag slung over his back, which makes Roxas gulp a little.

After handing the second bag to Roxas, who felt like it would crush him if he wasn't careful, Roxas straps it onto his back, then turns and heads for the door. "Well, I'll be back soon" he says, then gets stuck in the door because of the hefty bag and needing several moments to wiggle it through.

"Such a nice, helpful lad" says Mr. Tully, grinning a little.

A few minutes later, Roxas is zooming across the plaza, skating like a pro as he pulls letters from the hefty bag and expertly planting them inside their corresponding mail boxes. He was glad the mail was not only placed into a neat order, but all the mail the went together had some sticky used to keep them connected. Once he had finished with the ground level deliveries, he does a 180 and returns to a sloping path that led to the upper sections of the plaza, using a foot to help maintain his momentum.

'Boy, now I understand why Hayner wanted to do this one earlier. This is actually a lot of fun' he thinks as he finish's emptying out the large bag. Now, all he needed to do was back track to Stations Height to finish the deliveries and he'd be done. And best of all, he was making excellent time.

Seeing an edge fast approaching ahead of him, Roxas feels a moment of daring do as he kneels down and plants a hand under the board. As he reaches the edge, he push's off as he jumps both himself and the board into the air. "I'll high five the...Vivi, watch out" he shouts as he suddenly spots the small boy directly in his landing path.

Vivi turns and looks around, wondering who yelled his name, then finds a shadow coming over him and looks up, freaking out as both Roxas and the board bare down upon him. Thinking fast, Roxas force flips himself forward while grabbing the board to keep it with him. Because of this, he's able to avert hitting Vivi, instead landing hard upon the ground behind the kid, rolling a bit before stopping.

"Roxas? Are you OK?" cries Vivi as he comes wobbling up to the sandy blonde haired boy.

Roxas groans as he picks himself up, then says "I meant to do that, heh heh" with a sheepish tone.

"I'm sorry, Roxas. This is all my fault. If I hadn't been walking so close to that wall, you wouldn't have hurt yourself just now" says Vivi, sniffling a little as big tear bubbles form in his yellow eyes.

"No no" says Roxas as he places a hand on Vivi's shoulder to comfort him. "I'm the one at fault here. I did something stupid, without taking into consideration that someone might be walking past below. I'm just glad I didn't land on or hurt you, Vivi."

"You mean it?" asked Vivi, getting a nod in response. "Thank you, Roxas. That's what I like about you. You're such a nice guy. So what are you doing, anyways?"

"I took an odd job today; delivering mail for a little extra cash for that triple movie special down in Sunset Park" explained Roxas.

"Oh yeah, I remember that one. I wish I could go too" says Vivi.

"Well, you can if you want to. I'll pay for both your ticket and food if you don't have the munny for it" says Roxas.

"I appreciate that, Roxas, but I'm gonna have to decline. I'm heading over to the Sandlot right now to train for the Struggle Tournament and since we're having the preliminaries held tomorrow, I need to get in as much practice as I can" says Vivi.

"Oh, I didn't know you were competing this year" says Roxas.

"Yeah" says Vivi, who then looks down. "I know I'm not strong enough to win or anything. But if I can at least make it into the top eight, that in and of itself will be enough for me."

"I think you're plenty strong, Vivi. You just need some confidence is all" says Roxas encouragingly.

"You really think so?" asked Vivi.

"I know so. And if it helps any, I'll be rooting for you, Vivi" says Roxas.

"Thanks, Roxas' Well, I better get going. Later" says Vivi before bowing politely, then turning and wobbling off towards the Sandlot.

"You'll be fine, I just know it" says Roxas before hopping back onto the board and heading off to Station Height, this time without any unneeded risk or stunts. But it stops momentarily as he feels something odd in the air; a feeling that he was being watched. But the feeling quickly fades and he shrugs it off, thinking it had just been his imagination and proceeds to finish the job.

(thirty minutes later)

"Oh my god, Roxas. What happened?" cries Olette, getting a little panicky as Roxas walks up, allowing both her and Pence to see the scrapes and bruises on his hands and face.

"Nothing big. I just tried something stupid and nearly took Vivi out as a result" was his response.

"Still, I'll give you some first aid though" says Olette, moving to his side while digging through her shoulder bag and pulling out a small emergency first aid kit all always carried around with her, mainly because of Hayner and his tendencies to get into accidents.

"Doing something Hayner like isn't like you, Roxas" notes Pence.

"Yeah, I know. But hey, even the best of us can have a moment where we pull a Hayner, right?" asked Roxas, getting a laugh from all Pence and Olette.

"What do you mean by pulling a Hayner?" asked Hayner as he finally arrived as well. "And just what happened to you anyways, Roxas."

"Nothing, really. And this? Skateboard accident" says Roxas as Olette finished applying a bandage to his cheek, finishing up her medical inspection.

"There, all perfect now" she says as she returns her kit to her shoulder bag.

"Funny, you never seem to act so concerned when I'm injured" says Hayner.

"Gee, I wonder why?" joked Olette.

"Anyway, we should compare our munny and see how well we each did" says Pence.

"Right" says Olette as she reaches back into her shoulder bag and pulls out an orange colored coin pouch and opens it up. "I had 800 munny before and got 500 in payment so that's 1300 munny so far."

Pence reaches into his pocket and pulls his munny out, saying "I was at 550 and add 600 munny to the mix. So that makes 2450 munny." He then slides his munny into the pouch.

"I had 600 munny and after doing my job, with a little extra from the Mr. Tully do to some extra deliveries I have" says Roxas as he pulls out his collection. "2000 munny plus the 600 and then add the 2450 to it, we have..."

"5050 munny" says Olette excitedly.

"That's amazing, Roxas" adds Pence.

"Wait, what about you, Hayner?" asked Olette, handing the pouch to Roxas then placing her hands on her hips while giving him a scolding tone.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I still haven't anted up yet, have I" says Hayner as he begins to rummage through his pockets. "Let's see, I said I have 400..."

"I thought it was 300, Hayner?" asked Pence.

"Did I say 400? I meant..." says Hayner before they hear a whistle blow in the distance. "Crap, that's the alert whistle. We need to motor to the station like now or we'll miss the tram." And with that, Hayner turns and makes a run for the station.

Olette, with both a deadpan look on her face and a deadpan tone in her voice, says "He doesn't have any munny at all, does he?"

"We can Q and A him on the train" says Pence, breaking into a run himself. "But right now, he's right though. We need to get to the station and get aboard the tram within five minutes or we'll miss it." Olette and Roxas nod before following them as well.

But Roxas comes to a sudden stop as he feels it again, that feeling that someone was watching him; someone familiar. But who could it be? And from where was it coming? Roxas shakes the thought out of his head then returns to running to catch up wit the others.

Olette then appeared, easily dancing gracefully around the corner, heading up the sloping path; then turns her head back and says "Let's not let them beat us, Roxas."

And then he feels it again, this sense that someone of something was watching them; watching HIM. A sense that told him it was familiar, but what could it be?

And then his ears catch it; a sound like a ping or a zing ringing out.

High above, atop one of the adjacent buildings, stood a figure dressed in black as he lowers his strange looking bow-gun like weapon. "Whoopsie daisy, I think I put a little to much kick into that shot. But no matter though..."

He smiles as a swelling of darkness begins to form around Roxas, pulling him into the void. "...He's still going to take the dive all the same."

Roxas felt his body being pulled downwards within the darkness, a cold and heavy feeling place. And then below him, he sees a circular plateau on fast approach. He doesn't land on the central mass, but on a smaller circular section connected to the larger by a sloping path.

Roxas groans as he finally finds himself able to move again and returns to his feet. "Ugh, that hurt something fierce. What was that?" He then looks around, seeing nothing but darkness and a dim, glowing light coming from platform her stood upon before him, all around him. "I don't think I'm in Twilight Town anymore."

After a moment, he yells out "Hey, is anyone here? Hello?" There was no response, except for his own voice echoing out in a weird sounding way. "Guess that was stupid, thinking there would be anyone else here. But question is how do I get out of here?"

Not sure what else to do, he walks forward, stepping from the small circular ground onto the pathway that led towards the bigger plateau, taking note that the ground resembled a stain glass window in appearance. He just hoped he find something more helpful at the paths end.

(back in Twilight Town)

"Four tickets for Sunset Plaza" says Hayner, standing before the ticket booth as Pence and Olette arrive.

"That'll be 200 munny please" says the woman behind the booth.

"Hey Roxas, get the munny out" says Hayner.

"Why don't you pay with the munny in your OWN pocket's, Hayner" suggest Olette.

"Hm, you say something Olette? Hey Roxas, what's the...Roxas?" says Hayner, finally looking back and noticing they were missing their sandy blonde haired friend.

"Hey, where did he disappear to?" ask Pence.

"I was certain he was right behind me" says Olette then something finally registers in her head. A sound ringing out, something she hadn't even given any thought towards till just this moment for some reason. "Roxas..." she says, worried, as she turns around and runs back outside with the guys right behind her.

(Roxas)

Roxas stepped onto the large circular center of this unknown place. Immediately, he noticed that unlike the smaller zone and the path connecting them together, this place didn't have the same stain glass look. Or at least, he couldn't tell if it did or not seeing as the surface was all fogged over and such.

But despite the fog, he could still make out a few images beneath. The form of a person in rest with smaller circles around him with faces within them. As he steps forward, he can't help but feel something familiar about them. A guy with brown hair, a blue haired girl, two older men, one bald and one with graying hair. At least, that's what it looked like to him at least.

But there was one face that wasn't quite as fogged over as the others though. A girl's face, younger than all the others with hair of auburn coloring along with a flower placed in it. Why was her image more clear, he wondered? He kneels down and places his hand against her image, feeling something beginning to stir within his memories.

"Are you OK?" asked a voice that sounded like his own.

"Yeah, because of you, brave knight. Thank you for saving me" comes another voice, the girls voice he assumed.

As this continues, Roxas fails to notice movement coming from behind him, something rising up from the darkness beyond the ground.

"I wanna give you a reward" comes the girls again.

"There's no need to reward me for anything. Just seeing you safe is reward enough for me" says the boy.

"No, no, that won't do at all. We princess's must always repay our debts. Now, what would be the perfect reward...? Oh, I know."

Roxas was curious as to what he was going to hear next and he hoped it might reveal something important about his past. Behind him though, a tendril snakes across the ground, drawing closer to him.

"One day, when I'm all grown up, I'll become your..."

The tendril quickly takes action, wrapping around Roxas's leg and yanking him back towards the edge. Roxas yelps as he falls forward, then looks back to see the tendril dragging him closer and closer to the edge. Thinking quickly, he uses his free leg to kick the tendril as hard as he could, finally getting it to release him just before he could be pulled over.

Roxas quickly gets back to his feet as more tendrils rise up from the abyss. Going by his instinct, he turns and makes a run for the path he had used before, only to find it had vanished and he barely having enough time to stop himself from going over the edge. He turns back to see a giant, gray/white colored creature finally arise from the darkness; a blue colored scarf wrapped around its neck and a cross like symbol with arrows at it's top and side and an upside down heart present on it's face.

"OK, that's a little more intimidating than those shadow creatures I battled before" says Roxas as he tries to think of a way out of this mess.

Sadly, he doesn't have much time to think with as the creature; this Twilight Thorn, brings its right hand up, causing a ball of black and white colored electricity the form around Roxas body. "What...?" he says before being enveloped in light.

The next thing he knows, he's floating in mid air with his arms and legs spread wide by mini versions of the energy that had appeared on him before. The Thorn walks forward to stand before him, then leans in as if to examine him before pulling back, then bringing it's right arm back, preparing to deliver what was sure to be a devastating punch.

Eyes wide, Roxas is helpless to do anything as the punch comes at him. But the moment the impact would come, Roxas is saved as the Keyblade suddenly appears in his hand; the power released from it's appearance blasting the Thorn back away from him. And breaking him free of the hold he was in. Now finally back on the ground, Roxas sees the Thorn recovered and coming at him again. But this time, he was ready and willing to fight back and so he rush's the enemy as well and when the Thorn swings its arms low to swat him like a fly, Roxas both avoids the strike while leaping onto the creatures arms and running up them, delivering a powerful blow to it's face that causes it to fall back, off the plateau

Was he was on the ground again, Roxas takes a moment to catch his breath, wondering if that attack had defeated the creature? No such luck sadly as a moment later, it's hands shoot up and grab the edge of the plateau then pulling hard to send it into a spin that launch's Roxas high into the air.

Twisting himself around, he sees the Thorn spread it's arms wide as the crest on its face begins to glow and a massive ball of energy forms and quickly builds up. 'If he hits me with that, then I'm toast' thinks Roxas, knowing he needed to act fast. So he closes his eyes and allows his instincts to guide his next action.

"Strike Raid" he yells, launching his Keyblade forward like a projectile. The weapon spins rapidly, making contact with the mass of energy, causing it to detonate. The shock wave from the blast throws Roxas off, making him land hard upon the ground with his Keyblade landing a few feet away.

"Ow, maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all" groans Roxas from all the aches he was now feeling. As he picks himself up again, the Thorn shoots up from the edge, landing with both hands and feet planted against the ground which causes portals to form at the contact points. Knowing this wasn't a good sign, Roxas jumps forward and grabs hold of his Keyblade as bolts of black and white lighting begin to shoot from the portals, all arching around; hunting him it would seem.

While he first felt that he couldn't dodge in time, something deep within told him he could if he just had faith in himself. As as the attacks reach him, he dodges successfully to the right like his instincts told him to. Now knowing he could do it, Roxas makes a beeline towards the Thorn's head, dodging more and more of the attacks as another ball of energy begins to form.

"Oh no you don't" shouts Roxas, tightening his grip on the Keyblade. He then accelerates forward and lands a critical blow against the Thorn's head, shouting out "Sonic Raid" while in the process. The Thorn's head jerks back as it goes to stand and stumble backwards.

"Yeah, I did...it?" says Roxas, losing his confidence when the Thorn begins to fall in defeat; right on top of him. He turns around, trying to run clear of the falling beast. But this time, he isn't quite fast enough.

For just a moment, he finds himself surrounded by darkness, being smothered in it. Then a light appears within the darkness and though he can't see it, he feels a hand grab hold of his and pulls him into the light.

(Twilight Town)

"Are you sure this is where you last saw him?" asked Hayner.

"Yeah, we were running up the street here" says Olette before yelling out "Roxas? Can you hear me?"

"Maybe we should split up and search the town" suggest Pence. "After all, he couldn't have disappeared into thing air."

A flash of light catches their attentions and they look up to its source and see Roxas appear, falling towards the ground. "Roxas..." yells Olette just seconds before said person comes landing right on top of her, sending them both to the ground.

"Though I guess he could appear from thin air though" says Pence jokingly.

"Hey, you guys OK?" asked Hayner.

"Yeah, I think so" says Roxas as he picks himself up and seeing Olette's blushing face. "Sorry about landing on you, Olette."

"No, it's OK. I didn't mind it...but..." she says, her voice a little more high pitch than normal.

"Hey, what's wrong?" asked Roxas.

"Um...Roxas, your hand?" says Pence, pointing to his right hand.

"My hand? What about my...hand" says Roxas as realization kicks in as to where his hand was and what the soft thing he was feeling was as well.

Hayner cracks a smile and says "Hey you two, save it for the honeymoon why don't ya."

Roxas immediately shoots up, off of Olette; his face red from embarrassment and Olette picks herself up, her own cheeks a heavy shade of pink. Roxas turns to her and says "Heh heh, sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't mind it, really" she says kindly, thinking 'Besides, I kind of owed you one anyways considering I did see you naked when we first met.'

Pence just smiles, thinking 'I think Roxas is the only person who could do that and Olette would be fine with, personally.' "So, what happened to you Roxas? I mean, it's not everyday you see someone fall out of the sky and all."

"Save it for when we're on the train, guys. If we hurry, we can still catch the 12:30 train and just miss the opening credits for the first film" say Hayner before turning around and running back to the station with the others following behind.

"Four tickets please" says Hayner to the attendant again.

"You know the total, honey" comes the girl behind the counter.

"Right; Roxas, the munny" says Hayner, holding his hand out.

Roxas nods as he digs into his pockets and finds nothing. "Oh no, the pouch...it's gone."

A few minutes later, the foursome was sitting outside on the steps, all of them having glum looks on their faces. "Sorry guys. I must have dropped it in all the confusion from before" says Roxas.

"Don't worry about it. These things happen" says Pence.

"Yeah, we're just glad you're safe" says Olette.

"Thanks guys" says Roxas.

Hayner takes in a deep breath, then stands up and says "Oh well, no use crying over split milk. I'll just go back to training and..."

"Go back to training?" asked Pence.

Olette jumps to her feet, her hands on her hips, as she says "Hayner, don't tell us you were training down at the sandlot again while we were working to get money for today."

"No, no, you guys got it all wrong. I..." says Hayner, but the arrival of another draws their attentions.

"Hey guys" says Vivi, who then looks at Hayner and says "So, are you done training for today Hayner? When I got to the sandlot, you were really going all out and..."

"Ah, shut up, shut up, shut up" cries Hayner as he feels Pence and Olette's burning gazes on him. He looks back and chuckles nervously, asking "I'm a big trouble, aren't I?"

"Oh, I'd say so" says Olette, cracking her knuckles.

"Um, did I say something wrong?" asked Vivi as he waddled over to Roxas.

"Not really" says Roxas, unable to repress a smile as Hayner begins running for his life with Pence and Olette in hot pursuit. "It's the only way he'll learn." Now the only question was: what happened to all the munny?

Meanwhile, a figure dressed in a dark coat walks through the Market Street, the munny bag in his hand as he toss's it up and down amusingly. "Boy, that was an easy job. And easy jobs are boring and I hate doing boring jobs. Still, I got myself a nice chunk of change out of the job. So I guess I might as well treat myself to something good." He then laughs as he continues onward.

To be continued...

Secret Report

The door to a darkened, lab like rooms, creaks open, and a person with hair that had streaks of black and gray and a ponytail steps in and says "So, you wanted to see me, ya old coot?"

The other person in the room continues his work, but does respond by asking "Do I really still look like an old coot...cyclops?"

"Wow, wasn't expecting a retort from you" says the first figure. "Anyways, you wanted to see me?"

"First, see what the Dusk has observed and you'll have a general idea" says the second.

Shrugging, the first steps forward; approaching the Dusk and places his hand on the crest upon its head like he was instructed to do. A images it recorded pass into the mind of the first man, who then pulls his hand away while a shocked look forms on his face. "No way, it can't be him."

"Same face, same voice, and even possessing the power to wield the Keyblade. Its all to much of a coincidence to be chance" says the second man.

"Maybe so, but shouldn't he be a little older than what he looks?" asked the first man.

"I wonder" says the second who then turns back with a glowing arrow like weapon in hand. "I want you to go shoot him with this."

"Wait, you want me to kill him?"

The seconds man shakes his head, then says "This will simply trigger a Dive while allowing me to monitor what happens to him during the Dive. Perhaps in this, we'll get some answers. Though I doubt it will be enough though as I'm already making arrangements to bring him here to Never Was."

The first man smiles deviously, the takes the arrow and says "Oh, I can't wait..."