large chrome door whooshed upward, and Fox led Brandon and Xanthas into a room filled with strange electrical equipment. Beeping was heard in the background, along with the crackling of short circuits and the static of broken monitoring equipment. In a large chair stationed at a computer console sat a green frog-person, effortlessly punching away at an array of millions of buttons on multiple surrounding keyboards.

"Slippy! You fix the door yet?" asked Fox.

The frog pointed with its right hand toward the other door, saying nothing, making up for the loss of one hand bye working twice as fast on the keyboards with the other.

As Fox led them into the other room, he explained, "That's Slippy, the team's mechanic. Slippy doesn't talk much since we've been having ship troubles…"

The door whooshed halfway open, but stuck, the mechanical gears whining in protest.

Xanthas commented blandly, "I see what you mean by 'ship troubles.'"

Fox sighed. "If you only knew the half of it."

He brought out his pistol and whacked the door very hard with the handle. The door instantly gave way and rose completely.

Brandon rolled his eyes. "I suppose that's called 'using technology to solve problems.'"

As they walked into the next room, Fox twirled the pistol, put it back on his belt, and merely said, "No, that's called 'shut up or you eat plasma.'"

Brandon decided that plasma wouldn't taste very good.

Brandon and Xanthas looked down the hallway and saw many rooms. "These will be your rooms until we figure out what's going on here," Fox said.

Brandon and Xanthas each walked into a room and tested the springiness of their beds. Suddenly, an electrical sound was heard, and the doorways leading into each room glowed bright blue. Examining the rooms further, Xanthas found they appeared to be cells. Great. They were prisoners.

"I still don't know if I can trust you two."

As Brandon cursed his luck, Xanthas began examining the walls of his room and found a small button. Curious, he pressed it. A large computer protruded from the wall.

Chuckling, Fox walked away. "At least one of 'em is smart."

It only took Xanthas half a second to realize that the computer was there so he could order food from the ship. Apparently Fox treated his prisoners very well. However, as Xanthas played with the computer some more, he saw that it was much more than a cook. He could do a number of things using the computer, including shut off whatever was blocking their escape. So they weren't in cells after all. They were simply rooms, and Fox had activated a lockdown protocol code. It would have been easy to override, but Xanthas decided against it. He didn't want any trouble. He'd just wait until Fox decided he could trust them.

Brandon sighed, and decided to start a conversation. "So, what's with you, anyway? You and that Diamond Wind Blade…you're so secretive. What's going on?"

Xanthas brought out the blade. "Actually, it's called…" he flicked the blade and the edge disappeared, leaving only a hilt. "…the Nothing Blade."

"Nothing Blade? What's it do?"

"Anything you want it to. Or nothing at all. Depending on how strong you are, it obeys or disobeys you. I was stronger than its last master, so I took it from him."

"So, what's with you, anyway? You don't seem to be very…happy…or sad…or anything, really," Brandon said with a confused frown.

"I'm none of those things…because I'm a Nobody."

"That's no way to talk about yourself! Everyone's somebody!"

Xanthas sighed. "No, I'm a Nobody. I'm what's left of a person when he turns into a Heartless."

"What? You're a Heartless?"

"No, it's…more difficult to explain. But I suppose, since we have some time, I could try…"

---

Asher ran as fast as he could down the dark alley. He hated working the night shift. There were always so many strange people roaming the streets of Tempest Town at night. All he could think about was getting home to Trista. Tomorrow was their wedding rehearsal. He smiled at the thought of it. The alley was barely lit under the street lamps, and the brick seemed to merge into a giant red block that consisted of the entire road. The air smelled distinctly of wine…and cigar smoke. Asher cringed. He hated smokers. They always filled his lungs with the nastiest…

Asher stopped. Suddenly, a small four-legged creature appeared in front of him, buglike in nature, but completely black, with yellow glowing eyes. It smiled a wicked smile, and before he knew it, Asher was on the ground. When he got back up, he saw the little creature giggling in triumph, holding its prize: a human heart. ASHER'S HEART.

He got up. "What…what sorcery is this?!"

The creature giggled again and showed its prize to him.

He tried to feel sad…but couldn't. He tried to be angry…but he couldn't. He could feel any emotion at all. But he could feel frustration. He was being held up from his fiancée, he was in a cold, dark alley, and to top it all off, a horrifying little freak had just stolen his heart. He had a LOT of frustration.

Without stopping to wonder why he was still alive without his heart, he walked up to the nearest street lamp and effortlessly ripped it from the ground. "You freak…you'll pay for that!" He tensed his arms, and in one fell swing removed the head of the creature that had stolen his heart. As he dropped the lamppost and ran toward the creature, it disappeared, and his heart floated into the air and vanished.

Was despair an emotion? He wasn't sure, but he was pretty sure he was feeling it right then. He fell to his knees in defeat. "What…what happened?"

A man in a black cloak appeared from the shadows behind him. "Your heart has been taken, leaving your body and soul behind. You have only those now, and your mind. You are a Nobody—a person who does not truly exist."

"How do you know this?"

"Because," said the man as he removed his hood, "I am also a Nobody."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Xemnas, and I'm here to help you. You want your heart back. I can help you get it back. Join my organization, and I shall assist you."

"I'm not so sure…"

"A doubter? Xanthas, I'm disappointed. You don't know what you want?"

"Xanthas?"

"Yes, it's going to be your name. Nobodies need fitting names…names that are not there, names that aren't real. Names that don't exist."

"I don't think I like you very much."

The man laughed.

Xanthas stood up. "I don't think I'm going to join your organization."

"Organization XIII will be very disappointed. However, I will respect your wishes."

Suddenly, the man pulled out a sword and attacked Xanthas.

Xanthas quickly dodged the attack and hit the man in the hand, forcing him to drop the sword. Xanthas picked it up. "I don't know why, but I'm stronger as a Nobody than I was as a human. Don't mess with me."

"Give me back my sword, you insolent fool!"

Xanthas looked at the sword, and watched it change, bending to his will. "No…I don't think I'll do that. I think it's time for you to leave."

He took a slash at Xemnas, who jumped back out of harm's way. "Very well. But we'll meet again, Xanthas. I assure you our next meeting won't be as pleasant as this one.

A shadow sprung from the wall behind Xemnas and engulfed him, taking him into darkness.

Xanthas fell to his knees yet again, pounded his fist into the ground, and swore.