Whew…with five active fics (three crossovers, a novelization and my original story, not to mention ANOTHER idea that's cropping up that I haven't posted yet (thank heavens)) going on, I've been pretty busy. Anyway, on to chapter 12!

Summary: An accident sends Neku back into the Reaper's Game, but this time it's more than accomplishing missions or even survival. Neku knows these new creatures aren't noise, and a certain keyblade-wielding teen may hold the answers for him. (Kingdom Hearts Crossover)

Playing For Keeps

By FlikFreak

Chapter Twelve: Doppelgangers

"I remember there being a saying, you are your own worst enemy," Minamimoto taunted Sora and Neku as the twisted, darkened versions of themselves lumbered closer. "I think I'll leave you to your fun." With that, a familiar dark portal appeared and Minamimoto vanished into it.

Sora narrowed his eyes. For that guy to be able to travel using that power… "Hey! Get back here!"

"Sora!" Neku cried. "We've got bigger problems right now!"

The keyblade master spun around just in time to evade a blow sent by Neku's shadow. Meanwhile, his own was headed for Neku. He scoffed. Just great. They might as well pit me against Neku himself.

Anti-Neku sent a stream of dark flame crawling along the ground toward Sora, whom didn't have time to dodge. Screaming in pain from the flames, Sora stumbled and fell to the ground, watching as the shadow approached him.

It was haunting, like he was fighting against his best friend again. He vividly remembered his struggle against Riku when Xehanort's heartless took him over; he was barely able to even land a blow on his friend due to fear alone. This encounter was no different, but with Neku it was not only harder to survive but harder to fight back. Gritting his teeth, Sora whipped out the keyblade – something he dully noted he should have done several minutes ago when Minamimoto showed his face – and struck the shade square on the ribs.

He quickly wished he hadn't.

The darkened replica of Neku screamed in pain with a voice not unlike his real counterpart, but the voice echoed oddly. Sora was about to ponder the subject when he found that it hadn't been an echo, but Neku had screamed at the same time. His pain, however, was not caused by Anti-Sora's attack. "Neku!" Sora cried. "You okay?"

"I wish I knew," the teen replied. "Suddenly I feel like I broke five ribs at once!"

It can't be, Sora thought, sneering. When I hit Neku's shadow, he felt it, too! These things are living voodoo dolls! He was about to comfort Neku when he found that Anti-Sora was also stumbling from the hit. What the…

"I think they're both paired up like we are," Neku said, dodging a swing from a pitch-black keyblade, "Only when they're hit, we feel it too!"

Sora muttered a swear under his breath and backed away, resorting to parrying Anti-Neku's attacks. "How are we supposed to beat them if we'll be erased right alongside them?"

Neku didn't respond, but narrowed his eyes suddenly. Without warning, he charged forward, letting loose a barrage of lightning bolts at his own shadow. Anti-Neku stumbled and cried out, but Neku himself wasn't harmed. "I get it!" he cried. "If we fight our own shadows, we won't get hurt!"

"How is that supposed to work if yours likes coming after me and mine enjoys kicking your butt?" Sora replied, rolling out of the way of a stream of black fire and sending his own flames shooting into his shadow's back, wincing when he heard his own voice scream in pain.

"Less talk, more fight!" Neku cried as he jumped, using Anti-Sora's head as a stepping stone (Sora wasn't too happy about that, but thankfully the resulting headache was tolerable) and shooting several bullets of light crashing into his own shade. Sora took the chance to perform a flurry of Ars Arcanum on his own shadow before firing off several bolts of ice to put salt in the wound. Hearing his own voice cry out was still horrifying, but he knew he had to overcome this.

If we don't clear this mission, Sora told himself, Then there's more at stake than just my life.

It was only after Sora pulled off a long string of attacks on his shadow that it cried out and dispersed into wisps of darkness. He spun to Neku, whom was unleashing his pin psyches left and right on what little vitality his own shadow had left after sharing the beating Anti-Sora had taken. Had it not been for the fact that they were in danger of losing their afterlives, it would have been a rather captivating dance to watch. Flames trailed along the ground. Lightning bolts and projectiles of pure light shot from his hands. Gigantic icicles shot up from the ground and threw the shadow into the air. Neku even pulled a new one when he slashed the air with his hand and a gigantic barbed wire chain shot across in front of him, catching the doppelganger on the throat and ultimately destroying him. Their shadows gone, the duo fell to their knees and gasped for breath.

"I never want to do that again," Neku said, shuddering.

Sora couldn't agree more. Though adrenalin had helped him push through the battle, the horror of seeing himself scream and hearing Neku shout out in agony was something he didn't plan on reliving. "You ganna be okay?" Sora asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He could still barely hear the echoes of their own screams in his mind.

Neku kept his gaze locked on the ground. "Two more days," he said. "That long, and it'll all be over, and we'll come back to life like Joshua promised."

"Joshua?" Sora echoed, narrowing his eyes. The fact alone that Neku trusted the one that had killed him put Sora on edge, but Neku was trustworthy, so he followed him. But now… "What does he have to do with this?"

The boy's response to Sora's question was interesting to say the least. He froze on the spot, eyes widening. Sora knew the oops look anywhere, no matter who was wearing it. Neku had just let something slip. "Er…actually-"

"The composer is the only one that can restore us, right?" Sora said, standing up and crossing his arms. "I thought Joshua was just some really knowledgeable kid that helped out Mr. H in his shop. How does he have the power to bring us back?"

Neku stood, eyes still locked downward, his shoulders sinking. "Sora…I'm sorry I never told you, but…"

I'm not going to like this, am I? Sora thought, narrowing his eyes. "What is it, Neku?"

With a sigh, Neku faced Sora with what little bravery he must have managed to salvage from the previous fight. "Sora, Joshua is the composer."

The words hit him like a mountain of bricks. How could it have been possible? That slimy, egotistical murderer was the one running the Reaper's Game?! Sora felt an intense anger well up from within him. "Why didn't you tell me?" He demanded softly.

Neku had a strange look of shame on his face. "Sora, I-"

"Partners are supposed to trust each other," Sora continued, gritting his teeth. "But you didn't. Why?!" Neku began to speak again, but Sora cut him off. "Thanks to that slimeball, the real me has a gigantic hole in the back of his head, most of the restoration committee probably thinks I'm gone for good, and I'm stuck doing his dirty work unless I feel like no longer existing!"

"You think you're the only one?!" Neku shot back. "I had to put up with him for a week, and he used me to try and jack the whole city!"

Sora paused in his tracks, practically hearing car brakes slamming on in his head. "What?"

"Joshua tried to jack Shibuya," Neku continued. "He used me as a tool in this whole game. Because of me, this place would probably not exist if he hadn't changed his mind! He killed me just so I'd be in the UG, and he made himself my partner so no matter how angry I got with him I'd have to suck up to him or else I was doomed! You think you're the only one that has to deal with that snot-nosed brat? Think again!" With that, Neku charged out of the building, leaving Sora at loss for words.

Sora could hardly believe it. He had lost his temper with one of his own friends, only to have something worse shoved into his face. He couldn't afford mistakes like that in this game, whatever it was. And he had just made one.

"Neku, wait!" Sora cried as he raced toward the doors.

A familiar ringtone caught Shiki's attention. Stopping in her tracks on the sidewalk, she called out to Beat and Rhyme. "Hang on, guys. I just got a text."

"Can't it wait?" Beat complained. "We're almost there, yo!"

"Patience is a virtue," Rhyme pointed out, much to the skater's dismay.

Mouthing a quick thank-you to Rhyme, Shiki prodded the buttons on her phone with expertise – after going through an entire week where they got text messages every day, she had become quite good at it. When she opened up the message, her eyes widened. "Guys…it's from Mr. Hanekoma."

Beat's eyes bulged from his skull in shock. "Him?! What's he want?"

"It says that two days from now, we need to be in the Shibuya River," Shiki explained. "He said to bring our psyches with us, because we'll need them."

"How come?" Rhyme asked. "Psyches don't work in the RG. And why do we need to go to the River?"

"Prolly needs us to help Phones," Beat concluded. "The one part past the river's where the RG and UG overlap, kinda like with the shops and stuff."

Shiki would have normally joked about Beat acting smart for once, but whenever the Reaper's Game was the subject, he was actually quite knowledgeable, and took it very seriously. Instead, she nodded. "If I'm right, day seven is then. That's probably what he needs us to do. You guys okay with skipping school to wait for them?"

To this, Beat gawked. "You're actually wanting to skip school?! Who are you and what have you done to Shiki?"

"This is serious, Beat," Rhyme said, taking on a strange tone of authority in her voice. "If what you say is right, Neku's going to need our help with something. You still have that skateboard, right?"

Beat stuttered, but nodded. "Yeah. What time you guys wanna meet?"

"Ten o'clock sound good?" Shiki asked. When the other two nodded, she finally flipped her phone and put it in her pocket. "Okay. We're not going until two days from now, so we've got plenty of time to come up with excuses. I'll meet you guys at the station underpass, okay?"

"Got it," Beat replied, his face full of determination. "I'll be there on time, yo. Promise"

Shiki smiled and glanced at the sky before continuing down the sidewalk with her friends, knowing that as she did, there were probably people just a few feet away battling for their lives. It didn't comfort her – it never did – but she knew she could do nothing. She crossed her fingers. Neku…hang in there.

Yeah, another shortie. Sorry 'bout that, but I really wanted to update this thing.