Sora, Kairi, Shalua, and Vincent were seated around a table inside Shalua's laboratory as Vincent explained what had happened to him. Reeve, who could not sit down at his explanations, was walking around the table with his hands behind his back, listening in carefully. As it turned out, while Sora and Kairi met and battled Rosso, Vincent was watching carefully in the shadows, listening in on their conversation. Sora and Kairi quickly questioned why he didn't help them, but he explained that he didn't think he would need to, that was until he saw them becoming exhausted.

"So Rosso the Crimson said that Proto Materia is the key to controlling Omega…" Reeve said, facing the table with worry in his eyes.

"Yeah," Vincent said in a short reply.

"Any ideas Shalua?" Reeve asked the scientist, who sat in her seat with her good hand on her cheek with a pensive look on her face.

"It's hard to say…" She said. "However, it does seem that Chaos, Omega, and… Vincent are connected to Dr. Crescent in some way. She might have possibly talked about the subject in her thesis… But like I said, I only saw a fragment of the document. There is no explanation on how they are connected, but I think we will need to gather more information on her in order to learn anything."

It was at this time that Sora looked to Vincent, who was sitting directly across from the keyblade wielder. Sora did feel bad for Vincent, if he found out someone was experimenting on him, he'd be pretty upset too. But the only thing was it was hard to put himself in Vincent's place, since he never felt anything close to that kind of betrayal before, not even with Riku on his first journey.

"So what you're saying is, the only way to find out how they are connected is to find the thesis," Sora said, looking to Vincent.

"Yes, but the only place I would even think to look is Shinra Manor, but that place is… Creepy to say the least," Shalua stated. "You would have to be pretty desperate to go there, especially since we are finding more and more Deepground soldiers are showing up around that area."

"Well is there any way to get around those soldiers?" Sora asked.

"There is actually," Reeve continued for Shalua. "The sewers are the only way that it is remotely safe to travel that way. But as you can imagine, they aren't very… Clean."

"I think I will be able to manage," Vincent said as he stood up from his chair. "I need to go there; it's the only way I can find out anything about what's happening to me."

"But just because you have a way of getting there, it doesn't mean you will be home free when you get in the Manor," Sora added as he too stood up. "There could be Deepground soldiers all over that place, some," he began to point to himself, "should go with you."

"I can't let you do that," Vincent said immediately. "It's too dangerous."

"Come on Vincent, you can come up with a better excuse then that," Sora said with his hands on his hips. "I've been in the face of real danger to many times to call these Deepground soldiers 'dangerous.'"

"He has a point you know," Kairi helped her boyfriend out.

"Danger or no danger, I don't want you to come with me," Vincent continued to argue. "This is something I have to do alone; it is information about myself that I am trying to figure out."

"It isn't just about you," Kairi said as she stood up. "Chaos nearly destroyed the worlds less than a year ago, he affected everyone. Not only that, but he has more backup plans then Xehanort did, and that's saying something. Who knows, what if what Lucrecia did to you is just another way of Chaos getting into the Realm of Light and the only way of preventing that from happening is the Proto Materia? Then all the worlds would be affected again."

Shalua looked stunned at Kairi's statement as Kairi herself did.

Sora sighed. "Look Vincent, I know you don't want me to come with you, but I am just trying to help. Cloud was the same way, but when he let others help, well, look at that outcome. In fact, you were one of the people that wanted to help Cloud, and now you don't want help yourself? No offense, but isn't that being hypocritical?"

"I think they should go with you too," Reeve added. "While they may not be the most dangerous threat we have faced, if they succeed, then what is to come from that will be one of the most dangerous. We want to prevent that from happening, and the only way to do that is if we get all the help we can get."

Up to this point, the only person that didn't speak up for Sora was Shalua, who was also standing up now, with her hand on her chin. When she noticed everyone was looking at her, she gave in. "They should go, especially if it means getting a hand on the thesis," she said. "While the read was obscure, it was interesting; I would love to read the whole thing eventually."

Sora then looked back to Vincent, who sighed at their words. The keyblade wielder could tell that they had finally convinced Vincent. "Alright, fine, you can come," he caved in. "But please, don't do anything reckless." Vincent then turned to face the door. "I'll be waiting for you out in the hallway."

And with those words, Vincent left the room and went out into the hallway like he said he would. Before he followed him, Sora turned to Kairi and asked, "Are you going to be alright?"

"Here? Why wouldn't I be?" Kairi asked.

"I know you're safe here, but I am just worried about… You know," he commented.

Kairi then knew what he was talking about; he was worried about her not feeling well again. "I'll be fine Sora, I am feeling fine," she insisted.

She looked into his blue eyes, and could see the worry that still stayed in them. "I promise," she added.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, he nodded. "Alright, just… call me if you need anything," he said before he went up and kissed her on the cheek, and went into the hallway so he and Vincent could go to Shinra Manor.

…

Rosso the Crimson walked through the headquarters of Deepground, focusing her mind on the next mission she was assigned to do. Her mission was important, more important than any other mission she had done, which is why she was so focused on getting it done. If she failed, their plan would fail as well.

Before Rosso could continue walking, a large, muscular hand came out at her from out of nowhere, preventing her from walking any further. She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly who it was and she turned her head to look at him. The man was large and muscular, with long blue hair and glowing scar like marks on his face.

"What is it that you want Azul?" Rosso asked with a slight attitude in her voice. She needed to get to her destination as soon as possible, so his disruption was not making her pleased.

"I would not speak to me like that, Rosso," he said in a deep, menacing voice. "I have word from Nero; a new member of Deepground has joined us."

Rosso arched an eyebrow. "So what is the big deal? It's not like we haven't had a new member before." She mentioned. "And besides, what does this have to do with me?"

"Nero wants her to accompany you on your mission."

These words did not please Rosso one bit. "Accompany me? What has gotten to Nero's head, this 'new member' would only slow me down."

Rosso tried to walk off, but Azul's big hand on her shoulder stopped her from walking away. "You cannot disobey Nero's orders," his eyes looked away. "Nero told me about her, he said she is… different, that she has powers that may grant us to Omega faster, isn't that what you want?"

"Of course," Rosso said immediately. "But having her accompany me, even if she does have these powers Nero speaks of, would only slow me down. Powers or none, she is still new to this Organization, how do we know we can trust her? How do we know that she will pull her own weight? There are too many questions to consider and too little time."

Azul got slightly closer to her and began to whisper, "This is what I believed at first too, but if she has abilities that even Nero is impressed by… We will just have to trust his judgment."

Rosso growled before she turned around, not wanting to look at Azul any longer. She huffed a breath out before she finally said, "Fine, bring her to me so we can go."

Azul nodded (which Rosso didn't notice) before he turned into a room not too far away from them. When he returned, Rosso turned around to see the woman that accompanied him. Her skin was fair, having a deep tan, and she walked as if she knew she was bragging about this power Nero spoke of. She wore black pants made for combat and high black boots that went to her knees. Rosso could not see her face because she wore a sleeveless black jacket with a hood, but she could tell that the woman's eyes were looking right at her.

Once the woman was standing right in front of her Azul spoke. "I will let you to introduce yourselves and proceed with the mission," he said before he walked away.

As soon as Azul left, Rosso looked to the mysterious woman. "Listen to my words: you better not slow me down, just follow me, listen to my commands, and we will get along just fine," Rosso said. "Are we clear?"

The woman tilted her head up, and Rosso could have sworn she saw a flash of yellow eyes underneath the hood. "Of course," she said with a grin and an evil snicker.

Quicker updates yay!

Alright, after the last chapter was posted, I feel like I needed to address an issue some people were having, that issue being Xion becoming a nurse. Several of you noted that she seemed more like a fighter, and she is. But just because she is becoming a nurse, it doesn't mean that she won't be a fighter as well. Her main occupation is going to be a Summoner, but she needs to make munny somehow, right? So that is what the nursing job is for. Also, can you really blame her for wanting to be a nurse? I mean, her boyfriend did kind of die in her arms so... yeah, hope you understand now!

Also, I am rearranging some scenes, so that is why a certain semi-important scene from DOC wasn't in here. But don't worry, it will be put in later, and by later I mean next chapter later.

So who is this mysterious new member of Deepground? Well I will tell you, she is an OC, and she will be playing a big role in the story, so pay attention to her.

Kingdom Hearts III is probably going to be at E3 2014 guys, in case you didn't know already :)

So please R&R if you enjoyed and look out for the next chapter!

SHAODWS ASSEMBLE!