Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, though that should be obvious. I'd just like to say, thanks for all the support and helpful reviews for this story…this is my most successful one yet. If you're not really familiar with my work, please feel free to go ahead and read some of my other stories and one-shots. Maybe it's about time I started interacting with my audience a bit. So I'll ask you a few questions:

What is your favorite part about the Kingdom Hearts series? Mine is the storyline and the characters, the amazing graphics and the gameplay…come to think of it, I'm in love with everything about Kingdom Hearts. Has anyone gotten Kingdom Hearts II.5 HD ReMix? I've gotten it a while back and am in the World that Never Was in KHII (I have nothing bad to say about this game). Lastly, how do you like Domino Effect? It's a tad different from what I normally do since I'm rarely putting in characters from the already existing series. If you have anything to say to help me out, or if you feel any changes should be made, let me know. (Just because I'm asking this of you does NOT mean I'll follow through with your suggestions.

Now, if you want to send in an OC for my story if you haven't already, please feel free to lend me one. If you already did, if you'd like you can make another. I'm running out of dark users for this story so I'm mostly going to be looking for them. Anyway, I've made this author's note long enough. Now, let's continue to the story.

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Counting Stars

Everyone has those really weird dreams that start off perfectly normal but then spiral out of control until nothing makes sense anymore. Most people would forget about those kinds of dreams unless one particular part in it sticks out among the rest. However, with my identic memory there wasn't a detail I couldn't remember. It felt so realistic. There was a sun shining in my face, a calm wind sweeping through my hair and a rush of cool water flowing in between my toes. I opened my eyes and saw where I was…right next to the Lake of Destiny.

My fingers were intertwined with the warm fingers of none other than Tara Skye. The two of us walked along the edge of the lake, wading through the water as we talked. I assumed we were talking. Her mouth was moving and so was mine, but no words escaped our lips. The only things I could hear were the chirping of the birds overhead and the lapping of the waves against the grassy shore. The wind, though definitely there, was completely silent.

"It's coming," Tara suddenly said, breaking the calm silence as our hands let go of one another. "A dark, relentlessly ruthless evil. Soon to eclipse all worlds into a chasm of sadness and despair." I tried to ask her what she was talking about, but no words escaped my lips. I couldn't speak. Tara looked into my eyes. "And only I can stop it." With those words, her eyes seemed to shine with a white glow. I was nearly getting a head ache from looking into them. Her eyes dulled and her face morphed to Xena's. "Kane, you must bring peace! Domino is taking an irrational route to peace…a pathway to darkness and power…the worlds can't survive it! And I have a feeling that…" she rubbed her belly, which was suddenly larger than normal. "Kane, stop Domino!" I wasn't sure whose voice I heard coming from the girl's lips: Tara's, Xena's, or Destati's?

She held her hand out for me to grab, but a column of darkness rose from the ground below her, covering head to toe in darkness. When the darkness, it revealed Rika, her arm outstretched to me. Her hair blew about behind her menacingly, the evil glint in her eyes burning through my core. I fell to my knees, clutching my stomach as I felt myself about to puke. Light escaped my throat, exploding from my mouth. Covering my mouth, I twisted my head around to see Phoenix Asher standing inches behind me, his arm outstretched and his fist closing. With every passing second that his fist tightened, I felt a tighter grip on my heart, and the harder the light poured from my lungs.

Asher vanished in a shower of light, and so did the feeling surrounding my heart and lungs. Coughing up as little blood as I could, I looked up to see Rika morphing into Domino. He donned a black cloak, his arms crossed and his eyes glaring daggers at me as if expecting me to rise and attack.

And I did. I flew into the air, fire exploding from one hand and ice from the other as electricity swirled around my body and wind blew my hair around as if I were in a tornado. Domino looked at me longingly as if he were about to apologize, but he simply smirked afterwards and flipped his hood over his head, shrouding his face in shadows and mystery. I almost nearly forgot who I was looking at. The memories kept coming and going. The good, and the bad. And away went the memories altogether. All I knew that standing before me was nothing but an enemy. Appearing in his hand was a Keyblade…it held no resemblance to his own. The Key in his hand definitely radiated power…a dark aura that I could feel tingle through my own skin and chilling me to the bone.

The handle sprouted out into two similar looking Keyblades that intersected, forming the shape of theX and at the top of this X was the sharp tip of a blade. Darkness exploded from its tip, slamming into my chest and sending me flying into the Lake of Destiny. What should have been shallow water was a deep, dark abyss of darkness. I couldn't see the surface. The darkness smothered me. It was unbearable. When I rose up from the depths, the water had vanished. I was standing on my knees on a grassy field, filled with several people standing behind me. Of them I recognized Asher, and Six. The both of them as well as everyone else behind me appeared to be on my side; the light side.

In front of us appeared Domino, wearing his black cloak with the hood up as before. Rika floated in her normal attire to the side of him and three feet above the ground. Behind the two of them were twelve others, each donning their own black coat. Several had their hoods down—among them I recognized Dante Netherwood, standing a few inches from Domino, closer to him than all the rest. Dante smirked, his Keyblade appearing in his hand, as he pointed it to me menacingly.

I noticed at last that directly in front of me, facing Domino, was Kale Kamikaze. I jumped back in surprise. Had the kid always been there? He turned his back to Domino and stared into my eyes. Something was off about him…he seemed to have a face that held more maturity than last we met. His hair whipped around in the wind and his eyes were glowing pure white. His mouth opened as if to speak, and when he did his voice radiated with power that nearly stopped me completely.

"It's obviously clear that you are not worthy nor prepared enough for this final confrontation," the boy said, the voice of Destati's slithering its way into his voice as well. "Luckily enough, one such as I always has a backup plan." He snapped his fingers, and a comet of light blasted from the sky, disappearing over the horizon.

The scene shifted a bit. I was blasting towards the air, light trailing behind me like a comet's tail. Domino blasted towards me, a flurry of darkness trailing behind him. I felt myself colliding with his body. Was it his body. I lifted my hand up. It was stained with blood. The Keyblade he held had pierced through my chest. It wasn't deep, and not close to fatal, but seeing blood on my hands almost woke me up right then and there. I thought I could hear the voices of Asher and Desiree in the background of my dream. I ignored it though. I fell down, headfirst to the ground.

Below, I saw the white comet from before flying along the ground below me. It looked like I would land on the comet. When I thought I would fall to the ground, all of my bones crushing on impact, I felt a pair of warm arms wrapping around me as we slowly descended to the ground. I looked into the light of the comet. I thought I could see the person but…

I spit up water. My eyes snapped open, and my hair and face were soaking wet from the iciness of water. Looking up, I saw Asher standing above me with a glass of water tilted over my head. He tilted it more, allowing more water to rain down on me. I opened my mouth and allowed the water to go in, and I swallowed, the water going down and cooling my throat. Even though I was wet from the water, I felt like I was burning up. I was sweating. That dream was intense. "How long was I…out?" I asked, Asher chuckling above me as I slowly sat up, shaking my head as water flew from each strand of hair and wet the faces of Asher and Desiree who stood on their knees around me.

"A few hours," Asher said to me, poking at his foot and wincing in the slight pain.

I looked to Asher's foot which was covered with a bandage. Has the great obliterator of light and destroyer of darkness really been vanquished by a twisted ankle? Lifting my arm, I felt a warm sensation fill my senses and the scent of roses entered my nostrils, and Asher's foot glowed green for a few seconds. The green light faded and Asher slowly unwrapped his bandages, wiggling his toes and suddenly jumping up, landing on both of his feet easily. I chuckled at his childishness. But his childishness was nothing compared to Domino's. Domino.

I glanced to the couch where Domino sat emotionlessly, staring at the ground and not bothering to look up with a smile at the sound of my voice. That made me sad. He was always smiling when he heard my voice. Knowing I was okay should have excited him to no end. But here he was moping over…what exactly? Oh yeah…his sister.

I felt like a completely terrible person for forgetting about her. She was possessed by Destati, her soul probably being eaten alive by the goddess's light. Asher slipped into his socks and shoes and said aloud, killing the silence, "I guess I'll be on my way then. You guys take care now."

"Not going to try and finish off Domino?" I asked, and Asher shot me a deadly glare.

"Oh, I still want him gone," Asher erupted while trying to stay quiet for Domino's sake for whatever reason. "I spent three hours without leaving this dump and getting fresh air. I'm going take a stroll. And if you know me already, I'll be back either later tonight or tomorrow, depending on my mood." Yeah, no kidding. "See ya then." Asher walked to the door and opened it , stepping through and closing it behind him.

I looked around the room. Desiree was suddenly interested in her own shadow, despite her relationship with the Shadows before. The Moogle sat in a chair in the corner reading an old leathery book. Can things like that Moogle read? Well, if it can talk, it can read as well. Doctor Robert Julius was studying a few of his lab books and some poorly drawn sketches of Shadows, Neoshadows, and Moogles. Domino finally stomped his foot on the ground that shook the place, causing everyone to look up at him.

"I could still save Diantha, if it isn't too late," he said, clutching a fist in front of him. "And if not, I'll find a way to bring her back. And Tara. And my parents and all of those other Utopians who died."

Domino wanted this dark era to arise within the worlds…but he was also a sweet, caring guy who wanted to bring all of these people back to life. Just as it was hard for me to pick a side, I couldn't exactly place what side Domino was on either. If not for his motives hidden in darkness, you would've thought that his heart was comprised only of light.

"Everything will be alright," I told him, trying to feel sure of myself. In my dream, I saw the eyes of Destati in Kale. What did that mean? Did she move on from Diantha and straight to Kale? How many poor vessels were in between the two? And why Kale of all people? Like always, I kept this dream, or vision, or whatever it was, to myself. Domino was not to know of this. It was then that I realized someone was missing. "Where's Rika?"

"She went take a walk an hour before you awoke," Julius replied quickly without looking up from his books or his drawings. "She hasn't returned yet. Why don't you take Moogle with you? He can find her. He has a great sense of smell, you know."

"So does Domino," I said.

"Touché," the man replied, flipping a page in his book.

"I need some time to think," Domino told me, standing up and walking to me, placing a hand on my shoulder to comfort me. "I'll stay here to keep an eye on these two. If you're worried about Rika, which you really shouldn't be, then you can go with Moogle and try to find her. Be safe, Kane."

"I will," I told him, and exited out of the building. I heard the door open again behind me and the Moogle flew towards me, his bat wings flapping and barely keeping him afloat in the air. He landed on my shoulder. The creature was surprisingly weightless. On my shoulder he felt like a balloon. We began walking to the back of the Accessory Shop, when something caught our eye. "What the—" Lying on the ground on her belly, her arms sprawled out in front of her, was Rika. Surrounding her were seven Neoshadows, each jumping around her as if they were performing some sort of ritual. "Rika!"

I ran to her, but she dissolved into darkness. As soon as she did, each of the Neoshadows glared their yellow eyes at me like I was lunch, and they each jumped for me. Each of them, before they could get within a foot from me, vanished into darkness, puddles of black liquid spraying to the ground, staining the cobblestone. Rika fell from above, landing softly in the puddle of darkness underneath her feet. Darksouls was in her hand, the tip stained with black blood. She willed her Key to vanish.

"I didn't even need you to find her, buddy," I told the Moogle, patting him on the head—I guessed it was a him—and he looked into my eyes. His eyes were eye-level with mine as he was on my shoulder. I looked back to Rika. "What were you up to, Rika?"

"Seeing if I can track down Destati," Rika replied, wiping a tiny dribble of black blood off of her cheek. "For an hour I've been battling wave after wave of these Heartless." That's what Destati had called them…the Heartless. "After Destati's little light show, it seems that there's even more Heartless here than before. And I thought Destati wanted to purge the darkness." Darksouls appeared in her hand again and she swung behind her, slicing through two Shadows and a Neoshadow, each vanishing into the darkness. Darksouls vanished again. "See, there's too many."

"We'll just have to keep battling," I said, feeling lightning spark along my fingers as I got into a battle stance.

"Wait," Rika said, holding her hand out as if to tell me to halt what I was doing. "You told the Moogle that you didn't need him to find me…what did that mean? He has a strong sense of smell? Maybe he can help us find Destati! I can still sense her…she can't be far off from here. She's still in Traverse Town. Would you help us, little guy?" She held her hand out to the Moogle.

The Moogle seemed angered, its cheeks getting puffier and its face getting redder. It opened its mouth and snapped at Rika as if trying to bite the girl. Rika retracted her hand, surprised by the Moogle's outburst. "I don't help people, kupo," came the Moogle's high and squeaky voice. "What's in it for me?"

Rika looked deep in though, waiting a few seconds before responding with, "We'll bring you back a souvenir. Something from any world out there. You name it, we can get it."

"You know what I don't like even more than helping people?" Moogle asked, and Rika and I shook our heads. "I hate when people owe me something. No favors, kupo." I raised its tiny, stubby little arm. "Fine, I guess I can help, kupo. But don't expect me to be a big help. Haven't used my nose in quite a while." Could he just shut off his sense of smell?

"What about Domino?" I asked, remembering that we weren't including him in this little expedition.

"Let him rest," Rika replied. "He needs it after all he's been through. Are you really desperate not be hanging out alone with me without your precious Domino?"

"No, it's not that," I stuttered, fumbling over my words. "I'm just worried about him."

"We all are, kid," Rika said back, ruffling my hair.

I slapped her hand away and said, "Okay, so, Moogle…can you smell Destati's light? You should've gotten a huge whiff of it back when she showed up. Is it near? Is she near? Where is she, Moogle?"

"Calm down, kupo," the Moogle replied, holding both of his stubby arms on either side of his nose. "The scent is faint, but definitely there." I nodded, ready to find Destati and try to figure out more about her. Rika and I walked to where Moogle pointed at; it was a gate farther back from the shop. A sign was hanging from the door that read: Second District. "What are you waiting for, kupo?"

Rika pushed open the doors, straining to keep her balance as the doors slowly opened. I helped her, placing my hands on the flat surface of the door and pushing on it with all my might. When we got through and started walking, the door quickly slammed behind us. How heavy was that door anyway? We were on higher ground. There was a railing in front of us, so it seemed like we stood on a balcony towering over the rest of the district. Rika jumped into the air and stood on the railing, looking over the entire district. She looked to me and waved, jumping off and landing on the lower ground four feet below. I did the same, jumping off and landing to the side of her, the Moogle nearly falling off of my shoulder.

I hadn't noticed before, but the night air felt freezing, stinging at my eyes and forcing me to put my hands in my pockets. I thought that whenever we had arrived here, it was warmer, but I guess I was mistaken. "Look at all these stars," I said, my voice cutting through the silence like a knife. I nearly jumped. I hadn't expected my quiet voice to sound so loud. I pointed to the sky where millions of stars were floating in the black sky. Among them was Utopia…I was wondering how they were doing back in my homeworld. "One of these is Utopia…and one could be Daybreak Town…and—"

"Kane, I see why Domino likes you so much," Rika said, putting a hand on my shoulder. Her hand's warmth seeped through my shirt, and I was surprised to feel any warmth at all. "One, you're a little cute." She pushed the bangs out of my face. How long were they going to fall into my face today? "Two, you genuinely care about other people. A lot of people who bathe in the light are still ruthless, unforgiving individuals. You're different. I like that."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I asked, trying to figure out what someone who immersed herself in darkness was taking a sudden interest in me. "Isn't the darkness supposed to change your emotions and make you…I don't know…evil?"

"Kane, sit down," Rika told me, walking over to a bench on the side of a wall. I followed her and the two of us sat down. "Just because one chooses to ally with the dark does not mean they'll turn evil or something. Yes, it is the most likely possibility but there are always those select few who choose to do good things with those dark powers."

"But gathering an army of dark Keybearers to create an era of darkness sounds pretty evil," I retorted, knowing very well that what Domino and Rika were doing couldn't be any good. "What do you hope to accomplish?"

"I'm not supposed to say, according to Domino," Rika said, her eyes darting to the left as if expecting someone to be overhearing the two of us. "Have you heard the legend of the great and mighty Kingdom Hearts?" I shook my head, though the name did sound vaguely familiar. "We've learned this back in Daybreak High School, as well as from Merlin. Apparently, each world was born from the darkness. There's an old saying that states, 'The closer you are to the light, the greater your shadow becomes'."

"I've heard that…in a dream," I told Rika, not wanting to say that it was Destati who had recently told me that. So this entire crusade Domino was on was based on nothing more than a stupid saying and a legend?

Continuing, Rika said, "Kingdom Hearts is said to be the first world. It's inhabitants are unknown. It's a world filled with light. Now, according to legend and if the saying is correct, then the bright light of Kingdom Hearts spawned a powerful darkness…it became what we call the universe. A dark, open expanse of dark energy. The darkness is considered the creator of all things…well, after it itself was created from Kingdom Hearts' light. Anyway, it is said that each world was spawned from that darkness. Domino and I think that if we can see if this legend behind Kingdom Hearts is true, we can take control over its light and create a much darker atmosphere…something to make everyone take in and utilize that darkness, to make them stronger."

"So your goal is strength," I said, everything still seemingly out of place in my mind. "Or…as you put it back in Daybreak…to be more confident. So strong of heart, body, soul, and abilities then?"

"I guess so," Rika muttered, looking unsure of it herself. "It's all going to come to light in the future." How ironic. I felt something scrape across my left cheek…I felt my cheek and lifted up my finger, seeing it stained with blood. "Kane…" I looked up above my head to be greeted with the face of a Neoshadow, its claws outstretched near either side of my face, one of its claws stained with my blood. The two of us immediately jumped off of the bench, Rika readying her Darksouls. "You just interrupted the wrong people."

Three Neoshadows appeared right behind Rika. Instinctively, I pointed my palms at them and two of them exploded, electricity sparking around them. Had I just blown them up from the inside out? Rika slashed through the stomach of the one in front of her, quickly turning around and killing the last one behind her.

"These things need to leave us alone, kupo," Moogle said into my ear. I nearly jumped. I had forgotten he was even there. "What is their source?"

"I wish Destati could've told us more about these Heartless," Rika said, flexing her fingers in front of her face while swinging Darksouls with her other hand. "Where did they come from? Are they working for somebody? Probably not, their attacks are done through instinct, not orders. The flow of their attacks also shows that they're not afraid of attacking and being killed, so they're not intelligent. And more keep showing up!"

"Can someone please tell me what these things are!?" yelled a familiar voice. And to think I thought it would be at least a little longer of us not seeing him. Jumping from the balcony was Phoenix Asher, a Shadow with its arms wrapped around his leg as he struggled to run towards us. I nearly fell over laughing at the hilarious sight. Rika quit her laughing and jumped at Asher, swing Darksouls. Asher held his arms over his head as if expecting Rika to attack him, but she instead performed a low strike to kill the Shadow. Asher's leg was free. "I would say thank you, but I don't particularly like you guys."

"I hate you too," Rika immediately said, smirking at Asher. "Why is it that you persistently attempt on following us wherever we go?"

"You see, the big boss of the Hunters' operation believes Domino is dead," Asher explained, gaining a nod from Rika. "I'm trying to get rid of him so Lord Ibiki doesn't find out."

"So you really want to kill him," I said, making Asher look at me with a puzzled look.

Asher finally sighed and replied, "I don't know, I thought I did. I don't want to be a killer…Domino can be one all he wants; I'm fine with that. But do I have to kill him?" I shook my head, and the boy before me nodded. "Good, then I'll stop. But if Ibiki finds out that I allowed him to live…he'll do away with me. I'm his right-hand man, his partner. If he finds this out he'll get rid of me and go after Domino a thousand times over from what I've ever done. I couldn't put you guys in that position."

"Which side do you choose?" Rika asked, sending waves of confusion over to Asher and I. That was so sudden. Why would she ask that? "The light, or the dark?"

"I stand by my original thoughts," Asher replied, punching his palm with his fist. "I think that labeling someone based on what powers or what kind of person they are is wrong. Lord…I mean, Ibiki, thinks the same but takes it to a certain extent. I don't like seeing people hurt."

"Which is why you trapped me in a ring of light," Rika replied. "Or tried to drown Domino in the artificial light."

"Or almost suffocated me within that cage of light back in Enix's world," I told him.

Asher sighed and said, "Okay, you've gotta learn to let that stuff go!" Asher chuckled, holding a hand over his mouth suddenly. "Oh, I had forgotten what laughter felt like. Hunting down Domino and being ordered by Ibiki for so long has put fear into my heart. Kane…you have the power to change people. I like that about you." Almost immediately, the ground began to shake underneath us. "Do you have the power to change the way a ground moves?"

"Grounds aren't supposed to move," Rika said, readying her Darksouls.

"Thought as much," Asher replied, his gun-like Keyblade appearing in his hand. Darkness began swirling from the ground, several portals of darkness releasing many Shadows and Neoshadows that jumped at Rika, Asher, and I. The ground in the center of the district turned completely black, and a large black hand rose itself from the depths, grabbing onto the railing of the balcony on the side of it. "That, my friends, is not supposed to happen in nature."

A head of some sort rose itself, followed by a large body. What was this thing? A large Heartless revealed itself from the darkness. It was a massive, muscular, humanoid Heartless with midnight black skin. Its legs were short and its feet were very thin and curled upward. Its arms were quite long, and it had two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. The one thing that really stuck out was the large heart-shaped hole in its chest that penetrated from the front to the back. Its head is covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles. The way they flew about in the dark winds surrounding it reminded me of dreadlocks. Only its small, glowing yellow eyes were visible through its tentacle-dreadlock hair.

"Okay, let's explore all our options here," Asher said, digging his fingers into his skin. "We can try and fight this thing, or we can run. All in favor of fighting?" Rika and I chose not to answer him. "All in favor of running—oh god."

The creature before us balled his hand into a fist and slammed it forward, only a few feet away from us. There was an immense vibration once his fist collided with the ground. From his fist, darkness sprouted, and from the darkness, multiple Shadows and Neoshadows.

"I want no part in this, kupo," the Moogle on my shoulder said, floating off of my shoulder and towards the exit back to the first district.

"Had he always been there?" Asher asked, taking notice of the flying Moogle. A Shadow leapt at Asher's face. Swinging his Keyblade, the Shadow vanished into darkness. "Fine! Hey, Mr...Mr. Darkside! Yeah, I'm talking to you!" Rika slapped her forehead in annoyance as Asher waved his gun-key to get the beast's attention. It turned its head towards Asher. "Taste this!" From the tip of its blade, Asher's Keyblade fire a bullet towards the beast, who I decided then to call a Darkside. Asher should've thought this plan through. The bullet went straight through Darkside's heart…or, uh, lack of heart. "That could've gone better." Again he fired a bullet, this time at its face.

The bullet shot towards Darkside like a comet, slamming into its face and making the beast stumble back a few steps. With every step he took back, more and more Shadows and Neoshadows rose from the darkness at Darkside's feet.

"Maybe, if we manage to kill this thing, the rest of them will vanish as well," Rika said. "It keeps making those Heartless appear. So I think this is their mother…or father? How do you tell a Heartless's sex?" Asher and I shook our heads. "Oh well. Asher, aim for its face. I'll aim for its feet. Kane…do some magic."

As she said that, Asher fired bullet after bullet at Darkside's face while Rika herself jumped forward, slashing at the creature's feet. Darkside's feet were severed and disappeared into darkness. Darkside fell onto its stubby legs, but soon stood up as feet grew back on his legs. Eyes widening, I raised a hand and sent a ball of electricity towards its face. As Rika kept hacking and slashing away at Darkside's feet, and Asher and I kept firing bullets and lightning towards its face, the beast didn't show signs of being weakened yet.

Raising its hand, the sky showered us with balls of darkness that Asher and I had to keep bouncing around to avoid. Rika, however, allowed the darkness to rain on her, though it didn't hurt her. In fact, her body absorbed the darkness which she then used to power up her own attacks. And then Darkside swung its fist at me, getting ready to punch. When his fist came down upon me, I barely had time to react. But I saw someone flash by me, jumping into the air towards the Heartless.

Starlight in hand, Domino flew passed Darkside, slashing through the giant's neck with his Keyblade. Domino landed on the other side of the creature, and Darkside's disembodied head fell to the ground to the side of Rika. In a storm of darkness, Darkside vanished, each and every other Heartless around vanishing into the darkness as well. I smiled and yelled in happiness, "Domino!" Starlight vanished. He looked a whole lot better. A look of confidence, as per usual, was in his face. On his shoulder was the Moogle who had abandoned us minutes ago.

"At what point did we ask for your help?" Rika asked at Domino.

"At what point did I ask you to get attacked?" Domino retorted.

"At what point did I ever stop thinking the two of you made a cute couple?" I replied, chuckling. "You're perfect for each other. Rika's a keeper, you know." What the hell did I just say? I almost wanted to hit myself over the head for that comment.

"Gag me with a spoon," Asher groaned, looking away from the three of us.

"How 'bout a fork," Domino said instantly, scowling towards Asher. "Why is he here?"

And so I explained to him Asher's position in all of this: how he didn't want to kill Domino anymore, how he's scared of what Ibiki would do to him, and how he helped us fend off the Darkside. Domino nodded slowly, looking a tad uncertain as to if we should trust Asher. After all, he was kind of stalking us so he could get rid of Domino.

The cold air around us seemed to warm, the breeze only a tad colder than the air. The stars seemed to shine brighter in the night sky. Domino looked to the sky and said, "Betcha you can't count all those stars out there." The other three of us looked to Domino. "They say there are an infinite number of worlds…which means an infinite number of stars that we could see. I want to see every single one of them."

"Impossible," Rika said, to which Domino replied with, "Not for me."

"What did you two do out here by yourselves?" Domino asked to Rika and I. "You know, before the Hunter over there showed up." Asher stuck out his tongue at Domino.

"We just talked about stuff," I said before Rika could say anything. "We enjoyed ourselves." Domino smirked and raised an eyebrow, so I quickly said with my hands in the air, "Not like that, Domino!"

Domino nodded in understanding, but still continued to chuckle. "And since when did the two of you become friends?"

I really had to think about that one. Back in Daybreak, Rika was a normal girl with nothing wrong with her. She eventually consumed too much of the darkness and became who she is now…someone I wanted to avoid after that day. I had no intention of becoming her friend. Yet here the two of us were, having a nice chat. Well, before Asher, the giant Heartless, and Domino showed up. Rika replied with, "Since I made him my friend. What? Jealous that you can't have Kane all to yourself anymore?"

"Not at all!" Domino yelled in defense. "So…Asher, are you on our side then? Will you stop chasing us around and quit trying to kill me…for good?"

"Completely done," Asher said, making his way to the bench and sitting down with his legs crisscrossed. "I'm on your side…but what am I to tell Ibiki? He's a pretty scary person."

"Don't go back to Ibiki," Domino replied. "If you're that scared of him, don't go back. I'll take care of him…for good." Asher slowly nodded. Domino looked at the sky and his mouth moved, but no sound came out.

"Domino?" I tried asking, but my own voice couldn't be heard. I gasped, slowly realizing that I was within a dream. Was all of this a dream? It couldn't have been. That's impossible! "What's happening?" I asked myself, my voice echoing off of the walls of my mind. I felt a presence behind me. I turned around quickly, and right in front of me was the body of Diantha, possessed by Destati. Her eyes glowed even hotter now than they did before. "What is this?"

"I'll be observing all of you closely," Destati said, holding her hand out to me. "I have to make sure that none of you switch sides, for the prophecy will fall apart. Phoenix Asher, on the other hand, is destined to be allying with you, Kane. Domino, however, is destined for the dark and you are destined for the light. That's just how things are. So don't try to switch sides…or I'll just have to use other methods of keeping you in line." She shined with a bright aura and morphed into Tara, who then morphed into Kale. Destati vanished, and I could soon hear Domino talking again.

"Kane, what's wrong?" Domino asked, noticing how I was just standing there thinking about what Destati had just said. Did she enter my mind? It was bad enough that she had easy access to my heart, I didn't need her to get into my mind as well! I shook my head, not answering Domino's question. "Kane, watch this." Pointing Starlight at the sky, a beam of darkness shot from its tip and shot to the sky. Once over fifty feet above us, the darkness exploded, creating a fireworks-effect with the darkness. I smiled. The darkness and the light were both beautiful and could do amazing things…

Bits of darkness rained down as comets upon the second district. "Whoa, Domino, watch out!" I yelled out, narrowly dodging a falling dark-meteor. When it hit the ground, it dispelled into darkness. "You can hurt somebody!"

Walking over from the door back to the first district was Doctor Julius. I never really saw him leave the back of his desk so I had never seen the bottom half of his body, but I noticed that his left leg was gone. It was replaced by a peg leg, so he limped whenever he walked. "Just thought I'd come check up on you! Desiree's taking a nap, so I guess I'll head back over there. Whoa…what is that?" Almost immediately, colliding with the doctor's head was a ball of darkness, making him fall off of the balcony and to the ground below.

"Oh god," I said, rushing over to the fallen man. One of Domino's comets of darkness had fallen onto Julius. Something that looked so beautiful at first had become devastating and took a turn for the worst. I helped Julius up, but darkness began swirling around him. "What's happening?"

"I don't know," Domino said, all of us soon staring at Julius who has darkness swirling around him. "Julius?"

"I feel funny," Julius muttered, his body beginning to tingle. "What is this…power…I feel? It's making my heart race…oh no. You've triggered something." He saw that we all had looks of confusion on our faces, so he replied, "As a scientist, I inject myself with the many DNAs of specific animals. This experimenting started when I was back in my homeworld, with my mentor, Dr. Frankenollie. He experimented on every one of his underlings…I was his main packrat though. This darkness…I could feel it accelerating the molecules in my body in such a way that they shouldn't!" He dropped to his knees, suddenly shaking as if he were having a seizure. "You've done it, boy! You've unlocked by inner beast by bringing to life these other DNA particles within me!" Bots of metal jutted out of either side of his neck suddenly, making him look like something from Frankenstein.

"What kind of animal genetics are inside of him?" Asher asked, backing away from the man who was shaking out of control. His arms started to become buffer as if he had always worked out. His body became larger and his face started to become disfigured. "What is he?"

"Darkness can also accelerate genetics," Domino said, staring in awe at the man who grew at a rapid rate.

His lab coat ripped, and only his underclothing grew with him. Julius began growing fur all over his body and his hair became shorter and blood-red. Julius had dark blue fur, his fangs jutted out of his mouth and were orangey-yellow. He wore a light blue shirt, which is ripped at the sleeves, dark blue pants worn up to his chest, and still wore his gloves. There were stitches across some parts of Julius's body.

Its size was huge, almost towering over the balcony. "Master!" Moogle squealed out, flying from Domino's shoulder to directly in front of Julius. "What's happened to you, kupo?"

Julius growled at Moogle. His voice was now that of an actual beast. It snapped its fangs at Moogle, making the cute critter jump back in alarm and Moogle fell onto his back. I ran to Moogle and lifted him up, bringing him to the bench where I laid him down.

"This isn't good," I muttered, just as the beast before us growled as loudly as it could, flexing its arms through the air while intimidating us with its fangs. It began to walk slowly closer to us. Domino, Rika, and Asher each readied their Keyblades.

Thanks to Domino's darkness, Julius turned into this. We had to make sure he didn't harm anyone, whether intentional or not. Lightning sparked across my fingers as we leapt into battle.

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And so Julius is born! How was this chapter? Leave a review to keep this story alive!