And so, the final day commences! Many of your questions will probably be answered here, and thus the final mission shall commence. I'm already seeing you guys make guesses on the GM, and I'm sure several of you will be surprised who it is…

I apologize for the wait on this chapter, but it's long(er) this time and there are some action scenes for you guys! :D

This fic has over 100 reviews?! NO WAY. You guys rock.

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 Fifteen: The Beginning Of The End

Neku awoke in the Scramble Crossing the next day with a renewed vigor. He found that Sora was already awake, his eyes closed and hands in a familiar pose around his ears. Anyone else would think he was meditating, but Neku could tell that he was scanning the crowd. The boy was tapping his foot ever so slightly – he had probably caught wind of the music that Neku had mentioned – and there was a slight breeze that ruffled his hair. Standing next to Sora was a ghostly figure in familiar, more light-colored clothing, nearly the same face, and spiked blonde hair. The boy also seemed to be listening, but he was far more aware of his surroundings.

Roxas?

Roxas glanced at Neku momentarily and held a finger over his lips, motioning for Neku to be quiet. "He woke up in a nervous wreck," he whispered, somehow audible over the passing crowd, "So he decided to scan and calm himself down. I think he's just weaving his way past all the noise and thoughts and focusing on that music."

"I can hardly see Sora being a nervous wreck," Neku replied. "The most worry I've seen out of him was when he found out he was dead."

"He has his moments," Roxas replied, looking at Sora thoughtfully. "I sort of wonder, too. I mean, he's been torn from his home and thrown into the middle of a universal war, then he's handed the most powerful weapon that war and barely knows how to go along with all of it. Then he had his memories taken apart and filled with lies, then he was put to sleep for a whole year while they were put back together again. After that he had to deal with even more heartless and Organization XIII, who was using him and hurting him in so many ways."

Neku gave a low whistle. "And he keeps a smile on his face the whole time?" he asked. "I'd never be able to pull that off. I can't count the number of times I got pissed while I was playing the game."

Roxas looked upward for a moment at the several clouds in the sky. "Sometimes, Sora really gets in a wreck because of it all. I mean, he's only fifteen and he's got to deal with all this and worry about if he'll ever go home. From what I found in his memory, he was waiting for his mom to call him down for dinner when the storm started up and the whole mess started. He knows everyone is counting on him, so he just takes a 'grin and bear it' approach, but sometimes he goes somewhere alone for some time to himself, like the village cave in the Land of Dragons or the old desert ruins in Agrabah. Here he doesn't have the choice of being anywhere alone, so he just scans."

"Where would you go?" Neku asked.

There was a moment of contemplation, and a pained look crossed Roxas's face. "I'm Sora's Nobody, so when he's alone, I'm alone too. Most of the time I just go to that place I took you to, in my part of his mind, but there are places I like to go that Sora will go to because of my influence, I guess. Like, I always liked to sit on top of the clock tower in Twilight Town, so he goes there too."

"I thought you didn't like being compared to Sora," Neku said, tilting his head a bit.

"I don't," Roxas replied, shaking his head, "But it's something I've had to accept. I'm okay with just being a shadow, really. It's not all that bad. Sometimes it's hard because I know I can't have any friends of my own, though…" he looked away.

Neku sighed. "I can't begin to imagine what that's like."

Roxas grinned. "Then don't. Besides, it's not so bad. People get confused when Sora buys two ice creams instead of one, though, and he's kinda interesting to watch."

It wasn't hard to figure out what Roxas meant. The way Sora stood there, scanning…it wasn't very different from someone trying to focus, but there was just something peaceful about it that he couldn't put his finger on. Neku began to hear a tune in his ears: a soft and upbeat one, a lot like something Shiki would listen to.

"Ready to save the world, Neku?" Roxas asked with a grin.

"Am I ever," Neku replied.

Nodding in approval, Roxas closed his eyes, an expression of peace falling over him. A blue light began to surround his figure, causing him to fade ever-so-gradually, and when he did, the same blue light surrounded Sora for a brief moment. Neku blinked at the display for a moment, but jerked himself out of staring when he noticed Sora letting his hands fall from next to his ears. He turned around, giving Neku a reassuring smile. "You finally awake?"

Deciding not to mention his conversation with Sora's nobody, Neku nodded. "Yeah. I saw you scanning and didn't want to bother you…"

Sora looked away thoughtfully. "I was kinda nervous this morning, so I thought if I found the music you were talking about, I'd calm down. It was a bit hard to get past everyone's thoughts and the noise that kept showing up, but when I found it I couldn't help but listen."

A familiar ringing reached Neku's ears. "Speaking of listening," he said, "It looks like we've got our last mission for the week." He flipped open the phone and stared at the screen, opening his mouth to read the mission aloud but instead staring. "Sora…you might wanna take a look."

"Huh?" The keyblade master pulled out his own phone and flipped it open.

Come to the Shibuya River. Bring your player pins.

"This is our last mission?" Sora wondered aloud. "No time limit? No 'Signed, your pal the reaper'? What's up with this?"

Neku narrowed his eyes. "That is kinda weird…but then again, this whole week has been. I mean, normally the reapers are out to get rid of the players, but in this game the GM has them helping us."

"Who is the GM, anyway?" Sora asked.

"The first time around it was some guy obsessed with food," Neku replied. "The week after it was Minamimoto. The third week it was someone we nicknamed the Iron Maiden… I dunno who they would pick this week unless Kariya decided to finally move up, but we saw him with Uzuki so that's not possible."

Sora paused for a moment, his eyes closed and his arms crossed. "We should just head in and clear the mission. We'll probably find out there."

"Sounds like an idea," Neku said. "No use worrying about it now. Let's finish this."

"It wasn't my idea," Sora began, grinning knowingly. "Lead the way, Neku."

Nodding in approval, Neku headed down the street at a running pace with Sora following closely behind.

Leon and Yuffie didn't see what was so important about a sewer, but they had gone in anyway at Joshua's urging. Yuffie in particular wasn't too fond of the place; there was graffiti everywhere, and piles of trash scattered about, including a vending machine that had been smashed into the ground by some unknown forcc. Leon just took it in stride, and led her further down the tunnel.

"We're supposed to wait somewhere," he said, "But that kid didn't tell us where."

"Are you sure this isn't a trap?" Yuffie questioned him.

Leon nodded. "That kid knew Sora. Besides, he knew who we were. As much as he grates on my nerves, I'm sure he's not an enemy."

Yuffie wasn't so sure. She continued walking, pondering Leon's words (and doubting them) when she suddenly had the sensation of physically slamming into a brick wall. Crying out and stumbling back, the ninja looked up in time to see a pattern of hexagons vanish, leaving the path ahead look just as passable as before. "What the…"

"A wall, huh?" Leon mumbled, drawing his gunblade and prodding at the wall with his free hand. The hexagons rippled momentarily. Narrowing his eyes in contemplation, he drew back his gunblade and sliced at the wall. It bounced off. "Looks like we can't go any further."

"What are we supposed to wait here for, anyway?" Yuffie asked, pulling her shuriken from its place on her back. "He just told us to come here but he didn't tell us what for."

Leon stared at the ground. "I've got a feeling it has to do with Sora and Neku."

Yuffie quirked an eyebrow. "What makes you think that?"

"This is their last day if we've counted right," Leon replied calmly. "Besides, that Joshua boy seemed to know plenty. There's something about him I couldn't brush off."

"The fact that he's a jerk?" Yuffie grumbled.

Leon shook his head. "No…the fact that he knew who we were looking for."

Sora and Neku ran wildly down the street past Hachiko and toward the station underpass. They ignored all of their surroundings and ran through people, cars, and just about everything else. They screeched to a halt when they found that the pass was blocked by a series of barbed wire and a large symbol that reminded Sora of one of the noise. "A dead end?" Sora grumbled.

"No," Neku replied. "Beat and I managed to go in here once...on the last day of his game. The wall was already broken when we got here. Why's it back in place again?"

Narrowing his eyes in contemplation, Sora felt a familiar twinge of light in his heart, and glanced down to see the keyblade in his hand. An idea went off in his head, and he held one hand out to motion Neku away. "Stand back. I think I can unlock it."

Neku quirked an eyebrow, but stepped back anyway. "Unlock?" he echoed. "Can that thing really unlock anything?"

"Sure can," Sora replied. "Let's hope it works on this, too." He whipped the keyblade into position as he had instinctively done so many times before. Light gathered at the tip for a few seconds, forming into a sizable, incredibly beautiful sphere of pure radiance before converging on the tip and shooting forward into a bright white beam. It impacted with the noise symbol and shattered it, causing the barbed wire to disintegrate.

Neku's jaw dropped. "Whoa…"

Sora gripped the keyblade tightly. "Path's open. Let's go."

They did. Stepping through the entrance, Sora suddenly found himself in a large sewer tunnel, covered in graffiti and littered with debris. He paused, taking in the sight with wide eyes. The sound of rushing water caught his ears, but he could not yet see any water. No wonder it's called the Shibuya River. But I don't see any water…

"There's no one here," Neku said.

"I doubt that," Sora replied. "Maybe we have to just go farther in." He began to step forward when he felt hesitation rise up within him. He listened as hard as he could, but only the sound of rushing water reached his ears. "Neku…I don't hear anything."

Neku blinked. "Huh?"

"I don't hear anything," Sora repeated. "Not even the music in Shibuya…it's gone."

"I know," Neku replied, shuddering. "I'm not too fond of this place, either. Let's hurry up."

There was no argument. They started forward, heading past the piles of rubbish and toward the sound of the water. Sora was somehow relieved to find that the sound was indeed from water, but there was a path over it that he barely expected to see: one that reminded him strongly of the noise. "What is that?"

"A bridge connecting one world to the next."

Sora and Neku spun around to see none other than Joshua approaching them. Both of them gave him a deadly scowl, but said nothing. I want to hit him so hard…

I'm pretty sure Neku does too, Sora, but he's the Composer. Don't do anything stupid.

Little snot…

Excuse me?

Not you. Him.

"Fancy meeting you here, Joshua," Neku grumbled. "Aren't you supposed to be helping Hanekoma run his shop or whatever, since he doesn't seem to be interested anymore?"

"Oh, he still loves that old shop," Joshua corrected him. "He's just…been busy, as of late, what with the heartless running around." He changed tone immediately. "That is a bridge that was erected by a few Reaper GMs in Neku's last game. They thought they'd be able to take over the position of Composer, especially Minamimoto."

Sora gawked. "Pi-face wanted to take over the game?"

Joshua nodded, sighing. "But he didn't, in the end. I thought I had disposed of him, to be honest, but it turns out that I didn't…not properly, anyway."

"What happened to him?" Neku asked. "I know you didn't manage to erase him, since he's been running around a bit."

The light-haired boy took on a very serious expression, his tone darkening. "I'm really not sure. All I know is that he made it back somehow, and he's much more powerful and dangerous. I don't want him becoming composer; who knows what will happen to the RG if he does."

Sora felt a prickle go up his spine. "I wouldn't want that guy in charge of anything," he said. "If he's the one pulling the strings behind the heartless, then we've got to stop him."

"My thoughts exactly," Joshua replied, drawing a cell phone out of his pocket. "And Minamimoto's probably got a whole army of heartless waiting for you. Think you're up for it?"

"That's what I'm here for," Sora said, grinning and resting the keyblade on his shoulder. "How 'bout you, Neku?"

Neku stared at Sora. "You're awfully calm about all this," he commented. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like this, but if you ask me, it's now or never. Think we can handle them?"

Joshua grinned again. "Oh, you aren't the only ones fighting. I called in some backup."

Sora exchanged a glance with Neku. "Backup?" he echoed. "What kind of backup?"

"Reliable, familiar backup," Joshua replied. "I'm sure you'll find them suitable."

Why do I get the feeling that Leon and Yuffie are involved?

Don't jinx it, Sora.

"Come," Joshua began, jolting Sora from his thoughts. "There's someone you need to meet at Dead God's Pad."

"Dead God's Pad…?" Sora echoed. Neku shook his head at him and followed the composer across the bridge. It didn't look sturdy, but it sure felt that way. He began to wonder what it was made of, but decided that such a thought was best left alone.

They were nearing a large turn in the tunnel when Sora stopped suddenly in his tracks, a familiar feeling prickling up his spine. "Guys, wait."

Both Joshua and Neku paused, glancing at Sora as he looked around. "Something wrong?" Neku asked.

"Entirely," Sora replied. The keyblade began to pulse in his grip. Something was wrong, he could feel it. The problem was, he didn't see anything suspicious. "Don't you guys feel something out of the ordinary?"

Joshua furrowed his eyebrows. "The Shibuya River isn't like Shibuya: it's voiceless. Maybe you're too used to the UG."

Neku shook his head. "Joshua, I think he means something else. I feel it, too."

Sora gripped the keyblade tightly in his hand, his eyes wary. It wasn't long before the sound of footsteps reached him. Eyes narrowed, he spun around, swinging the keyblade just in time to see the remains of a heartless vanishing and a heart floating away and vanishing. "Heartless," he growled.

On cue, more heartless appeared out of dark portals. Neku took a battle-ready stance, and Joshua held his phone out protectively. More and more portals appeared, and out of them came more heartless. Sora didn't like the way things were looking; there had to be thousands of them. Most of them were Neoshadows, others were odd assortments of heartless he found in other places.

"Think we can take on this many?" Neku asked.

"Only one way to find out," Sora replied, feeling the keyblade pulse with power. He felt himself rise in the air and grinned. Let's get this party started!

With a loud whoosh, Sora tore through the air and into the crowd of heartless before rising again, slaying at least two dozen in one fell swoop. Neku was already on the case; numerous trails of flame were spiraling far into the enemy horde. Joshua, meanwhile, took to dropping vending machines and cars on some while he snapped photos of others (how he had a cell phone with such a powerful flash function, Sora would probably never know). But no matter how hard they tried, more heartless seemed to be coming. It wasn't long until Sora saw the tunnel being filled from end to end with the vile beasts.

He was just about to dodge a blow from a neoshadow heartless when he found that his opposition had been…slammed into by a skateboard? Sora did a double-take when he saw the person riding on the board smash into another heartless and spin on him. "You two threw a party and didn't invite me? That's low, yo!"

"Perfect timing there, Beat!" Neku cried as he slammed another heartless, this time with lightning bolts. With a quick salute, Beat did a quick heel-flip and charged into the horde with a loud, whooping cry, sending several Armored Knights flying.

Now do you see why I like riding on them so much?

Yeah, no kidding.

Another group of heartless fell victim to an animated stuffed animal that Sora found quite familiar. Behind its movements was none other than Shiki, whom waved cheerfully to Sora. "You okay over there?" she called.

"Doing fine!" Sora replied as he batted away a smaller shadow.

Another trail of flame – this one blue – cut Sora off from heading forward, but in turn the heartless that were charging for him were consumed by it. He was about to thank Neku when he saw Rhyme waving sheepishly at him. "Be careful!" she cried.

Sora nodded. "You too!" With that, he jumped into the fray again.

It was a flurry, with the whirring sound of darkness dissipating resounding in the tunnel. Hearts were flying left and right, and Sora swung the keyblade at so many of them his movements almost became automatic, and he nearly couldn't stop. Before long, the crowd began to thin, but now there were tougher heartless left to fight.

The keyblade master found himself face-to-face with a Living Bone, one of those annoying heartless he had first faced in the Pride Lands. It was awkward fighting them on two feet rather than four paws, but Sora could make due with what he had. He always did. He began to lunge, but the heartless moved first, hurling him backward and sending him skidding into the ground. The keyblade flew out of his grip, but he couldn't recall it in time for the beast-like heartless to approach…only for it to be knocked back by an absurdly large shuriken, and then subsequently disposed of by a rather sizable fireball.

There was a strong reminder of the Battle for Hollow Bastion in his mind, and Sora turned to see none other than Leon and Yuffie at his back. "You guys!"

"Save the greetings for later," Leon demanded, swinging the gunblade at a small crowd of Armored Knights that thought it would be wise to gang up on him. They were proven wrong the moment they tasted steel.

Yuffie jumped into the air and used a Large Body's head as a stepping stone as she jumped even higher, hurling her shuriken into the crowd and demolishing several heartless. With a victorious cry, she landed on her stepping stone, causing him to stumble long enough for Joshua to hurl a piece of stray fencing into its back. A few shadows headed for Rhyme, but a barrier of flame surrounded her and sent them flying across the area.

Sora jumped back after smiting a few shadows, finding himself right next to Neku. "You doing okay, Neku?" he asked, keyblade still at ready.

"I could use a bit more firepower," Neku replied, grinning. "I've got my Fusion Pin ready."

"Then what're we waiting for?"

Sora pointed the keyblade straight into the air while Neku erected a dome-shaped barrier of white flame around them. Any heartless that was foolish enough to approach was incinerated immediately. A light gathered at the keyblade's tip, and the divine inferno quickly spread outward, consuming countless heartless in its path. A loud whirring was heard as every single heart that was released floated away, and the beasts that managed to escape were blinded and vaporized by the proceeding flash of light that came from the keyblade.

When it was finally dim enough to see again, everyone stared in awe at where the heartless had once been. Not a single one remained. After a brief silence, Sora suddenly realized that his energy was drained, and he fell to his knees, stabbing the ground with the keyblade for some support. Neku was similarly exhausted, and fell into an odd sitting position.

"You okay, Phones?" Sora heard Beat say as he walked up to Neku and put a hand on his shoulder.

Neku nodded. "Yeah…that took a lot out of me. I'm beat."

"No way, man!" Beat replied, miffed. "I'm Beat, yo!"

"He means to say that he's tired," Rhyme said.

Sora didn't have to look up to know that Yuffie was kneeling next to him. "Don't ever do that again," she scolded him. "Honestly, Sora, you make everyone at the HBRC worry about you when you pull stunts like this."

"I'll live."

"That's not the point," came Leon's deep, commanding voice. "Sora, one of these days if you're not careful, you're going to get yourself killed."

Sora looked up long enough to glare at the gunblade-wielding warrior. "Leon…I am dead."

Leon winced noticeably and looked away, a strangely apologetic look on his face. Yuffie sighed and shook her head. "He's been taking it the hardest," she explained. Sora only nodded in reply, still tired.

"We didn't see anyone else on our way in," Shiki began, hoping to break the ice. "If Minamimoto is here, he's either been waiting for us for a week or he probably made it in while we were fighting."

"Speaking of fighting," Neku began, "How come you guys can use your psyches? You're not exactly players, you know."

"The Shibuya River is one of the many places where the UG and RG overlap," Joshua reminded them with a trademark grin. "I will admit that it took some fine-tuning to get their psyches back up and running, though. Luckily, Sora and his pals didn't need any of that."

"You mean you can shoot fireballs without needing a psyche?" Rhyme asked Leon. "Cool!"

"What about Sora?" Beat asked. "Is that key thing his psyche?"

"No," Sora replied. "Long story short, the keyblade isn't really a psyche like you guys have. It works outside the UG, but hopefully I won't need it there after today. If we don't stop Pi-Face, then those monsters will go to the RG…and I don't want to think about what'll happen if they make it."

"I don't either," Neku replied. "I don't think I can deal with anything even close to the silence that took over Shibuya in week three. It was so quiet my ears were starting to hurt. If the heartless take over…" He shook his head and looked away.

Sora nodded to him, knowing that Neku had not had the misfortune of seeing what happened when someone fought a heartless and lost. Sora himself had seen what it was like not long after he had awoken in Traverse Town two years previous. It wasn't a pretty sight, and it didn't give him the best first impression of the town, either (Aside from Cid, whom had been rather gruff but offered to help him).

Joshua, meanwhile, had a serious look on his face again. "Dead God's Pad is up ahead," he said. "Let's go."

"Is the GM there?" Neku asked.

"Hopefully," Joshua replied as he started forward, "Unless Minamimoto got to him first."

Yeah. GM didn't show up QUITE yet. XD But he will! Chapter 16 coming soon!