"Ahhh… it's good to be home." Riku commented as a ferry pulled up next to the little outlet where paopu fruits grew. He inhaled the sweet tropical air. "damn, nice clean air again. Not like that shithole Los Angeles." He shuddered as he thought back to his visit of the place. "2 hours headed downtown…and that was a good day!" It was true, Riku had met, a few months ago, the producer and director of a show he heard about from a friend, who now lived in San Diego. This friend of Riku's had moved there from his home on the Mainland, as Riku and Sora called it; the island of Hawaii.

The Destiny Islands were a chain of islands formed out of a reef a little less than a mile southeast of Hawaii. You could use a row boat to get to the Mainland, as Riku, Sora and Kairi had done over the years, but the trip was just a bit longer then was comfortable, especially if you did the rowing all by yourself. You could call the ferry to come by and pick you up (the mayor of the town formed out of the population of the island chain was friends with the manager of the regional branch of AT&T, and he managed to get a cell tower installed out here. The service could get pricey, and if you weren't careful you could get dinged with roaming charges, but it meant you could have a cell phone, so it was well worth it.), but the prices of the ferry were outrageous. "30 dollars is absolute bullshit! That ferry goes all the way to Oahu; the freaking Destiny Islands aren't that out of the way." Riku thought as he walked off the gangplank and onto the warm sand of the island. He'd had many an argument with a captain of the ferry about the exorbant rates, and many times Kairi had to step in and charm the captain just so they could get a ride. Sora hassled with the captain, at first, but then he begrudgingly accepted the rates. Eventually Riku did too, but it was still something him and Sora bitched about. It was generally the start of a long conversation about how the man was keeping them down, stealing their money, and bossing them around; regular teen angst.

"Those where the good old days. Just us against the world, out to get whatever we could find." Riku thought fondly. Don't get him wrong, the last year had been awesome; the audition he went to in L.A. landed him a job as a stunt double and a NSC (Non-Speaking Character-basically, part of the background) in a major action TV series. It was an espionage thriller. It was dramatized and James Bond-esque, but there were a lot of action scenes; which suited Riku just fine.

But back to his point, those might have been the easy and fun days, but, quite honestly, being 17 kicked serious ass. Though he had only been away for 5 months (his part in the show lasted only 7 episodes), it had been a year since the excitement of all that jazz with Nobodies and Organization XIII, Two years since he was building the raft, dying to get the hell out of the Destiny Islands, out of Hawaii in general; on to somewhere totally new, and totally foreign. Well, he got his wish, alright, several times over…

"RIKU!" an attractive and slim older woman, with flowing silver hair and the blue eyes that Riku had. "AH! There he is! Come here!" said an only slightly younger looking man with dark blue eyes and the psycho hair that stuck out in a bunch of places that Sora had, only it was a golden blonde. The woman embraced Riku tightly, kissing on the cheek and then the forehead. "I missed you so much!" Riku smiled at this. "I love you too, mom." "And what about your good ol' Uncle Gerrick?" This blonde and much older version of Sora asked. "Ah, I couldn't forget a loud mouth like you even if I had my memory erased!" Riku replied, giving him a hearty man-hug. "Hey, mister emo fairy, you can get taller, but I can still put you in your place, boy!" at this he tried to put him in a headlock. Riku tried to get out of it, but in the end, good ol' Uncle Gerrick, father of Riku's best friend, won out. Even Riku's mom giggled a bit when Gerrick gave the young man a good noogie.

"Hard for you to be his uncle and step-father at the same time, Gerrick." Riku's mom commented. Gerrick turned to her and replied with a warm smile. "Hey, Uncle Gerrick still has that ring to it. I'd refer to myself as his old man, but he already has an old man." He came up and put his arms around his wife "That alright with you, Alice?" She smiled back and kissed him. "Ok, put it on ice you two." Riku said in his usual cocky manor. "I'm starving; Mrs. Makoto better have something ready for me, otherwise, I'd be really hurt." Gerrick sighed, and shook his head. "You know how she is. She prepared a feast."

Before I go on, I feel I must clairify some things about the adults on the Destiny Islands. Alice Hajime was the mother of Riku. I say "was" because she is now Alice Seijuro, wife of Gerrick Seijuro, and Sora's Step-mother. Riku's father was a military man, and was very serious about his career. Riku didn't really mind; him and his dad just made the most of the time they did see each other. But Alice was a sensitive and emotional woman, and after a tumultuous year of affairs, restraining orders and eventually a fast but harsh legal battle, their relationship ended. This was when Riku was 12 years old. In the following year, Sora's parents divorced. Sora's mom, Irina, had always been a free spirit. She was quite an artist and had a knack for verse, whether spoken or sung. Gerrick was an IT person at some big law firm in Honolulu, and pulled down good money ("it's those good ol' Japanese genes" he always said.), but Irina wouldn't have it. Her wild Siberian blood couldn't handle settling down on the Destiny Islands. And when Sora was 12, his parents split. A few months later, Kairi's adoptive parents, Tantano Makoto and his wife, Kishiria, got in a huge fight, and ended up splitting up,all a bit after Kairi's 12th birthday. They got back together, but not after quite a bit of drama and emotional pain.

The Trio agreed that 12 was their cursed number, and avoided it if possible. There were other bad things that were associated with the number 12, like Sora getting a 12% on a test, Riku breaking a window that cost $120 to replace, Kairi having 4 friends turn against her in 3 weeks, so it was generally agreed that the 12 was bad news, in any situation.

But back to the present, Riku followed his mom and step-dad across the beach, that same beach where he spent a lot of time, especially when he was smaller. They went inside, and up a flight of stairs, and to a hallway that led to the condos they all resided in during the summer. Through this door there were only 3 condos, because these where the original 3 vacation condos the 1st mayor built, when he came from Japan to America, and first settled the Destiny Islands as a sort of resort. The one at the end of the hall opened wide. "Ah, there's my boy!" a middle aged man with black hair, dark eyes, and altogether looked very Japanese (emphasis on looked; he spoke perfect American English). "HE'S HERE, EVERYONE!" he shouted back. At that, three other teens rushed out to greet him. "Welcome home, Mr. Big Shot Hollywood actor." Titus said to Riku, giving him a hearty man hug. "Yea, man; you too cool to chill with us now?" Wakka added, doing the secret handshake him and Riku developed. Selphie rolled her eyes "You two and your little dance. And you're supposed to be more mature now that you've gone off on your own." Riku gave her a hug, and replied with a shrug "Hey, some things stay with a man all his life, be it a secret handshake, be it video games, or be it his freinds. Speaking of friends, where's the Destiny Islands little lovebirds?" Wakka shrugged "Dude, King Mickey stopped by in his fancy little ship one day. He talked just to Sora and Kairi, all secretive and serious." Selphie nodded, and continued "Next thing we know, Kai and Sora are all up in arms, saying they have to leave for a while. That was 2 months ago. One month ago, we got another letter in a bottle. In it, they said their business was almost finished, they would be home soon, and asked us just to forget this trip ever happened. And then…nothing."

Riku's brow furrowed "Now, that is strange…and considering this is the Destiny Islands, that's saying something…" It was true; strange things happened all the time on the Destiny Islands. One day, a traveler from another world might show up. A strange object, a beautiful, magical sword or a lamp with a genie in it, for example, might wash ashore. Most of the time, they were merely interesting, rather than frightening…that is, before the Heartless came to the Islands. Even now, Shadows lurked in the dark places of the Islands…Not enough to raise concern; just enough so that you didn't go into any of the caves unarmed. Though, one time, a large force of Powerwilds and Bouncywilds attacked the Islands. Luckily, King Mickey, Queen Minnie, Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and good old Pluto were visiting. Daisy and Mickey supposed that the Heartless had been following their Gummi ship, and unfortunately left soon after, lest their presence attract any more creatures of the Dark. "Of course, you could have found that out if you checked your e-mail once in a while!" Selphie exclaimed. Riku put his hands up, in a 'not my fault' gesture "It's not like a have my own laptop, unlike someone" he said, looking at Selphie. "Besides, I was busy as fuck back in LA, you have no idea; I was a bloody slave-"

"What are you kids waiting for?" Mrs. Makoto asked in her usual loud voice, interrupting Riku's thoughts. The short Malaysian woman made up for her height with a commanding attitude and a lot of personality. She was very kind though, and was considered by everyone deserving of her title; Alma matter. "You can talk about Sora and Kairi, Riku's job, whatever you want, inside, over my dinner table. Now come, children. Dinner is served." Everyone perked up; her cooking was scrumptious, and for an occasion like a Son of the Islands coming home, every adult who cooked brought something. And from the smells radiating from inside, there was a feast inside. Everyone rushed into the Mayor's summer condo, and the revelry soon after could be heard from down the hall.

But outside, storm clouds where gathering. The sky became overcast and dark, but the wind was still as death. It was like the world was holding its breath, waiting for the hammer to fall. And suddenly, on the island where the paopu fruits grew, two black portals appeared. And out of those two portals, stepped two figures in pitch black robes, much like the robe another mysterious person who appeared to Sora two years earlier.

"Hmm, it is just as he left it…just as they left it." Said the figure on the left, in an emotionless and obviously male voice. "That's the wonderful thing about this Island, according to Kairi" the figure on the right replied in a slightly amused and womanly voice, and saying "Kairi" disdainfully "It never changes." The young man on the left laughed, a cold and dark laugh "How boring. It'll be too easy to do our mission here. Heh, I'm almost disappointed Lord Aku sent us here." As he said this, he pulled down his hood, revealing a teenager with charcoal grey skin, very messy jet black hair (instead of spiking up and out, it hung down, covering his forehead), and yellow eyes with a tint of red, giving them an amber color. The young woman on the left took her hood down, and smirked at him. She also had charcoal grey skin and amber colored eyes (though hers where less red then his), but she also had indigo colored hair, and she had long bangs that covered her forehead and part of her face. "This is our first mission, Auros. I didn't think Lord Aku would have us do anything terribly difficult on our first field work. Besides, this is an experiment also, so-"

"He wanted a test subject more than a conquest." Auros interrupted, turning his head to her "I know that, Irika. But I get the feeling he doesn't really trust us, and this is some proving ground." Irika turned her head and shrugged. Then, suddenly, she turned her head sharply, as if she saw something out of the corner of her eye. "What is it?" Auros asked, raising his eyebrow. Then, he sensed it too. He smiled for the first time on his visit to the Destiny Islands. "Hearts of Light" he said "This is going to be fun after all." At that he snapped his left hand out, and in a flash of shadow, a sword appeared in his hand. It was an unusual looking sword, with a handle that was a little over a foot, and a scimitar-like blade about three feet long. She retuned that smile, and snapped out her right hand out, and in another flash of shadow, an even odder weapon appeared in hers. It was as tall as she was, even went up another foot. It was essentially a short sword attached to a spear handle, only not as crude as that description would imply. With both weapons, the blades where a dark steel, grey and cold looking. Both where finely crafted, and looked good enough to kill with. "Let's hunt us some Somebodies." Irika said with an evil look on her face.

Riku rushed out of the condo, and burst into his home next to the mayor's house. He had a bit too many of those delectable fruit drinks that his Step-Dad made all the time, and he did not know what it was about those things, but they passed right through everybody. Case and point, he was running into his condo to use the bathroom, followed by his step father. He came out a minute later, much relived, and then two figures, standing at the end of the hall caught his eye. Out of the door across the hall, Sora's former vacation home until their parents got married, (It was now a lounge for the teenage population of the Island.) came Wakka, also noticeing the two hooded and black robed figures on the other side of the hall.

"Who the hell are you?" asked Wakka, instantly suspicious. "It matters not who we are. It doesn't even matter who you are. It just matters what you know." The Male figure on the right said, pointing the scimitar in his hand at Riku. Both had their hoods on, and looked ominous standing at the end of the hall way. Wakka could have sworn it got darker when they stepped into the hall. Riku slowly reached his hand into his pocket, where a certain charm that looked a lot like his weapon, the Soul Eater, resided. The figure on the right, holding a pike-like weapon moved fast, bringing the weapon he/she/it was holding to his neck. "Don't try it, punk." her voice confirming she was a woman "Just answer; where is the Heart of this World?" Riku's eyes widened in realization "I wouldn't know something like that; and even if I did know, I wouldn't tell someone like you." He replied, looking into the black space where the woman's face would be. Wakka, taking advantage of the fact that his Nobody (when he was one) was a Samurai, drew a Katana in a flash of light, and brought it to the hooded woman's neck. The hooded man responded by rushing up to Wakka and putting his scimitar to his gut. "I'd think twice before you do something you might regret." Gerrick announced, emerging from his home with a 45 caliber Glock. At the same time, Alice emerged from her former home with a revolver, and took aim at the woman threatening her son. Chuck-chick, was the sound the two matching, double-barreled, 12 gauge shotguns made as Mr. and Mrs. Makoto stepped out of their condo with them in hand.

The hooded man responded with a harsh laugh. He nodded at his counter-part, and they both took their hoods down. Everyone in the room almost doubled over. "S-S-Sora…?" Gerrick stuttered. "Kiki…?" Mrs. Makoto said in a small voice, using her nickname for Kairi when she was little. The woman who looked like Kairi laughed coldly "Stupid humans. SEIZE THEM!" Suddenly, White Knights appeared out of the ground and tackled the Sombodies in the room to the ground. "Blind fold them" The man-well, Heartless who looked like Sora ordered the rest of the creatures of the Dark. "They're obviously Heartless. Why else would they want the Heart of this World, or have yellow eyes and grey skin." Riku concluded in his mind "But why the hell do they look so much like Sora and Kairi? Why do they look human in the first place?" As he thought this, the White Knight behind him tore off his sleeve and bound it around his eyes. "You have one last chance to answer us and make this easy on yourselves." The male Heartless stated "Where is the Heart of this World?" "We'd never tell you!" Gerrick exclaimed, and from the sounds Riku was hearing, he was struggling with his captor "We know what you want with it, we're dead either way!"

Auros sighed. "There's no reasoning with these people…" Auros said to Irika, looking over and projecting his thoughts to her. "What do we do then?" She responded, meeting his glance "Aku will have our heads if we come back empty handed. And we don't have enough man power to conduct a search AND keep watch over these prisoners, nor do we have the time to spare searching the whole god damn Island." Auros thought of something, and he passed the suggestion along to Irika. "It's evil, and effective." She nodded "I like it." Auros nodded back, then mentally commanded his Heartless to follow him. "Ok, you want to play hardball, so can we." Irika commented as the White Knights led the formerly feasting prisoners down onto the beach.

The blindfold came off suddenly, revealing much Riku already knew. He was kneeling in water, a little ways out from the beach, and he was still being restrained by the White Knight. "For looking so skinny and frail, they sure do have a strong grip." He mused to himself. He looked around to see everybody that was feasting upstairs was also kneeling in the water and being restrained by White Knights. His thoughts were interrupted by the woman yanking his head by the hair to face her. "You think you're tough, huh human?" she muttered "YOU THINK YOU'RE BADASS, don't you Riku!" she practically spat out his name, before shoving him under the water. She held his head under the water for a good 10 seconds before bringing him up for air. the water in his ears cleared just in time to hear the angry protest of his Step-dad and Wakka, and hear the terrified cries of his mother and Mrs. Makoto. "SHUT UP, WENCH!" the man barked as he backhanded his mom. "DON'T YOU TOUCH HER, YOU SHIT!" Riku cried out, infuriated only the more when the backhand was followed by more abuse. In response to his struggles, the Heartless woman stuck his head under the water again. After a little longer in the water, he thankfully surfaced. By the fact that Gerrick, Wakka, and Tidus' hair was wet, he assumed they were also Waterborne by their White Knight captors. He surfaced just in time to see his mother and Mr. and Mrs. Makoto sunk under the water. Selphie was at the receiving end of a beating by the female Heartless, and the male Heartless came right up to Riku, and looked him in the eye. "You could end this, Riku. All of this is going on because you had to go and fight." He said in a low voice. "And now, your mother is going to pay for your folly." He walked over to Alice, grabbed her by her messed up silver hair, the hair she passed on to him, and put her under the water. Panic swept over Riku as he saw her thrash around under the male Heartless' iron grip. "NOOO!" as 10 seconds passed into 16, the thrashing grew more desperate, but still she was held under the water, and for a second Riku came to the conclusion that he meant to-

"OK!" he said, choking up "You win, I'll tell you where it is." He let her up, and she took a deep breath of air. The male Heartless smiled. "So spit it out; where's the Heart of your World?" he sighed, and looked at the rest of his companions. Gerrick and Wakka shook their heads when they looked at him. "Don't do it, Riku" Alice implored "Don't let them win." He looked down at the water in response. "They already have, Mom. They already have…" he muttered bitterly.

"I don't know for sure where the Heart of the World is; no one on this Island does." Auros frowned at this, but let Riku continue. "But I know, from Sora talking about his experience when the Island was first consumed, where it most likely is." Auros grabbed Riku by his collar. "Well stop wasting our time and tell me; WHERE IS IT!" Riku glared at the Heartless teen holding him up by his collar. "What will happen if I do tell you? What will you do with us?" Riku asked.

"That would depend on how good your information is." A deep and powerful male voice came suddenly from the beach. Everyone turned to see a tall man, about 6 and a half feet, easy. He donned wicked looking armor; bright silver armor plates with black chain mail under the plates, silver spikes protruded from his shoulder, knee, and elbow plates, as well and on the tip of his boots. His Helmet was a standard medieval knights full face helmet, but the thing that stood out to Riku was his Amber colored eyes. Entirely human looking eyes, but they where the eyes of a Heartless, he was sure of it. "My lord." The two human-like Heartless gave a bow, the young man setting Riku down as he did so, and into the care of the White Knight that had been loyally standing nearby. The rest of the Heartless bowed their heads before their master, never losing their grip of their captives. "I am the Dark Lord Aku, and it is in my hands your fate resides." His yellow eyes inspected the prisoners. "I almost expected more of a struggle from the friends and family of the infamous 'Keyblade Warrior'. But I guess you all still are humans. And humans can be bent around a strong will…"

"You're monsters! All of you are!" Selphie shouted out before Irika shut her up with a good punch in the gut. "And what; we're not going to get away with this?" Aku asked mockingly "Of course an idealistic little girl like you would say that. But all of you will need to face the bleak truth. No one is coming to save you, or your precious little island. Not even your little friends, Sora and Kairi. The Beings before you are the combination of their Hearts, all of their memories, and pure, undiluted Darkness." He explained, motioning to the two robed Heartless. "No, I refuse to believe it." Gerrick interjected "There's no way a black heated bully like you can be my little prince." He said bitterly, looking at Auros. The Heartless smiled in response. "Why, thank you. I take pride in the fact that I bear no resemblance to my weak-kneed Lilly of a predecessor." "You'll never be half the man Sora was!" Riku shouted. "Sora was hero, you're nothing but a Heart stealing crook!" Tidus accused, attempting once again to break free of his bondage, and once again being restrained by the White Knight. "Heart stealing?" Auros turned to him and flipped his sword over. "Oh, I'll show you Heart stealing." At that, he twisted the lower part of the handle, and a 6-inch long spike came out of the end of his sword. "NO!" almost all of the Sombodies there shouted.

Ssuck. Auros, to most everyones horror, stabbed Tidus in the Heart. Irika looked on, mildly interested, awaiting what was to happen next. Aku pulled a clipboard out of nowhere and started to write on it. All eyes were on Tidus, and what a sight there was to see. It looked as though he was having a seizure in slow motion. His eyes rolled back into his head. His arms flailed around, his head twitched to one side, and he started to foam at the mouth. After a tence minute of Tidus having his seizure, Auros drew out the spike, and the White Kinght behind him stepped back, and disappeared in a ball of shadow. Tidus remained kneeling for a second, then fell forward into the water. "TIDUS!" both Sophie and Wakka cried as their good friend dissolved into a black dye in the water, then dissolved into nothingness. Auros stared at where Tidus was. "He is with the Darkness now, a complete and stronger being."

"You sick bastard…" Selphie muttered, tears starting to flow down her face. Riku clenched his fists, a surge of anger and power running through him "You won't get away with this…and you won't because I WON'T LET YOU!" a blast of purple-black energy exploded from Riku, destroying the Heartless holding him. Auros reacted quickly, bringing the Soul Cleaver down on Riku, but Riku reacted equally fast, drawing the Soul Eater from his pocket, and blocking Auros' attack. The White Knight's grip on Selphie slackened, and she took advantage, elbowing him, and freezing the water it fell in, using the magic she learned when she was a Blue Rhapsody. She then blasted the Heartless restraining Alice, knowing she was at one time a Dancer Nobody, and control over the water was the ability she retained.

The Silver haired woman didn't disappoint. She drew the water around herself, and released it in a big tidal wave, destroying the Heartless that restrained her loved ones. The rest of the residents of the Destiny Islands drew on the powers they acquired as Nobodies and Heartless, Mr. Makoto drawing the rifle of a Sniper, and firing on Irika. Mrs. Makoto sent several bolts of lightning at Aku. He blocked them only to have to defend against the claymore Gerrick had summoned. Wakka attacked Auros, saving Riku from getting sword to the neck.

Aku was between a rock and a hard place. His large, two handed, medieval sword made short work of beat back Gerrick, but just as he was about to finish him off, that infernal Indian woman sent am arc of electricity at Aku, knocking him back. He landed with a splash, and his head hit the muddy sand hard. As he tried to rise, he found the water around him frozen solid. "This would be the time where you give up, and run off to your evil lair." Sora's dad said confidently. "The only one running will be YOU!" Aku's sword arm broke out of the ice, only to be seized by Mrs. Makoto. "Ah, ah, ah" she said, shaking her head. "You'd be surprised how much electricity can screw up the nervous system." She shocked his hand a bit, and he reflexively dropped the sword.

"You're abilities are impressive, for parlor tricks." He spat out. He closed his eyes, and took a breath. Aku continued in a low voice "the question is, can you stand up to REAL POWER!" a wave of dark energy exploded from his body, freeing him and sending his three opponents flying back a few feet. He charged Gerrick, and tackled him to the ground. After beating him up a bit, he lifted his right hand high in the air. "Now you see my true power; the power to remove Hearts!" Out of where his fingernails would be, 5 transparent purple claws retracted. He drove them into his opponent's chest, and ripped out Gerricks heart, in its full pink-red crystalline glory.

"GERRICK!" Alice shouted, leaving her engagement with Irika. The young Heartless woman tried to give chase to her, but was only attacked by sharp shards of ice from Selphie. Alice, with the help of the water that was her servant, jumped into the air, meaning to come down on the Dark Lord with the fury of a hurricane. But he simply met her in mid-air, sinking his claws into her. He pulled out her heart, and the water she controlled came rolling down. He let go of her heart, and left it to float over he still body. He looked over at his two servants just in time to see Irika stab Mr. Makoto in the heart with the other end of her spear, which like Auros' sword had a six inch crystal spike sticking out of it. Riku was bound in pitch black tenticles, and Auros was slicing Wakka with his blade. His final hit threw Wakka onto the beach, and before he could react, Auros stabbed Wakka in the Heart.

Selphie, seeing the battle lost, ran back onto the beach. "I have to get to the Talking Stone, I have to warn King Mickey!" was the only two thoughts going through her head as she sprinted up the beach. Suddenly, in a flash of shadow, Aku appeared in front of her. "Leaving so soon?" he asked as he sunk his translucent claws into her yellow T-shirt "What a party pooper you turned out to be. And you had so much spunk…" he tore out her Heart, and looked at the beautiful crystal in his hand. "I now hold in my hand the essence of your being; what was your name? Oh yes, it was Selphie. Anyway, I hold the essence of your being, Selphie. Though the human mind has certainly been of the most use to humanity, it isn't what makes the race of humanity special. Even a monkey can make a logical decision not to dive into a pool of water that is home to a lot of crocodiles. Nay, it is this Heart that is unique to humanity. Animals and other lower life forms do have hearts, but theirs are weak and primitive, not capable of feeling complex emotions, such as jealously, apprehension, and…" he sighed "…determination. This Heart drives Humans to make something of their lives, rather than just survive, like most of our neighbors in the many worlds out there. This Heart is what many a young man you know is after, the same Heart that beat with your mother's in the womb, the same Heart that gave you life and sustained you from the moment of your birth…is now mine. There are few feelings that compare to this: knowing that you now have complete control over a person, that I can kill you in an instant…and you not being able to even raise your voice in protest. This is true power…true and unchecked power." He kneed down next to her. "How sweet a feeling it is. If only you could know it too…but, alas, this treat is one that cannot be shared. The winner takes the whole, and the losers get to watch me enjoy it." He got up off his knee, and looked to his prized warriors. The Indian looking woman was gone, so he presumed she had been Injected. Riku was still struggling with a Tendrils of Darkness Auros has bound him with. He approached his minions, who where bragging about their exploits to each other. "…so I did a flip, a 360 degree flip, and stabbed that Sniper guy in the back." Irika boasted, looking pleased with herself. Auros waved his hands dismissively "Bah, that's kid stuff. I could do a kill like that in my sleep. Now the way I dispatched the Indian woman, THAT was-"

"If you two are done bantering about the battle, we have a prisoner to interrogate." He turned to Riku, who glared at the Dark Lord venomously. "The tables have turned, my dear Riku. And don't bother asking how I know you name; I have my sources. Now, when I remove the Tendril covering your mouth, you are going to tell me this place where the Heart of your world most likely is." He waved his hand, and the tendril slithered from Riku's mouth. "NO WAY IN HELL I'D EVER TELL YOU ANYTHING! You stole my friends and family from me-" Aku knelt in front of him and brought an armored finger to Riku's lips. "We're going to find the Heart of this World with your cooperation or not. If you do help us, we might spare you, and send you flying off in a Gummi Pod. If you don't, I shall see to it that you end up like your loved ones. And when I get back to my realm, I shall unleash suffering upon you like you have never felt in your life. Speaking of that, you two have some Hearts to Inject. If you run out of Darkness, let me know. These crystals have lasted longer then I predicted…" He said to the two Heartless behind him. They nodded and set off to their task. "So what is it, Riku? Honoring you sense of justice, or staying free and a Somebody?" Riku's face was full of resolve, and he was about to flat out refuse, until his mind interrupted him. "Don't be stubborn. They won, get over it. You need to watch out for yourself now; you're the only hope your friends and family have of returning to their original selves. You can't afford pride right now, just tell him what you know."

Riku swallowed his pride (though it didn't go down well…Aku was going to pay dearly for stealing his home.) "Ok…I'll show you where it is. But I want proof you'll keep your word." Aku stood up and snapped his fingers. A Wizard appeared before him. "Find a Gummi Pod, and bring it here, pronto." The Wizard answered with a salute, and teleported away. "I see the pod, AND your minions put away their weapons, I show you the place." Riku couldn't tell, but Aku smiled at this. "You're a hard bargainer, Riku. I like that in a man; shows he's not a gullible little fool. Think of the things you could achieve if you allied with a powerful Warlord like me." Riku was not amused at his offer. "I've been seduced by power before; I won't sell out my friends ever again." Aku stood back up, mentally shrugging. "Suit yourself. You'd be too much of a wild card anyways. We shall continue this conversation when your pod gets here. I'll be happy to have you out of my hair." At this, he teleported away in a flash, leaving Riku alone with nothing but the ocean and sand. He looked around, savoring this one last look at his home.