Author's Note: Wow! I did not expect to get reviews like that. So thanks to XesmeKH, XphiaDP, and Destinydreamer for the awesome reviews. You guys rock. Also thanks to KHLegacy for getting my butt in gear. I know I thanked you last chapter for that, but still. THANK YOU! You're awesome.

Well, guys, here's chapter six of Next Generation. It definitely takes a twist, one that I didn't think would happen. Towards the end, the chapter sort of wrote itself. Destiny intervenes once again. But I think you guys will enjoy fate's designs. Hopefully you will. It was fun and kinda hard to write.

Enjoy!

Chapter Six: Night of Fate

As soon as Sora, Riku, and Kairi arrived on the smaller island, Shadows and Darkballs began to appear.

"Darkballs?" Sora questioned. "Really?"

"They shouldn't be here," Kairi said. "We usually only get Shadows, and that's it!"

"No," a voice behind the trio said. "We get Floods, too." The small group turned and noticed that Aqua and Terra had joined them. As Terra had said this, several Floods popped up.

"Right. Forgot about those."

"You should," Sora said as he slashed at a few Darkballs. "They feed on negativity."

"That, and Vanitas is gone," Terra added. "He was the one they came from. Guess they must have appeared on their own somehow."

It was true. With Vanitas gone and pretty much everyone staying positive, very few Unversed were seen nowadays.

"Still," Kairi said. "The Darkballs shouldn't be here."

"That just means that things are worse than we thought," Riku observed. He cast Dark Firaga, and ten Darkballs and several Shadows disappeared. Ten more of each appeared in their place. "A lot worse."

The five Keyblade Masters continued to bat away the Heartless and Unversed, heading for the small islet. Above it, they could see a swirling red and black sphere. They all knew too well what that meant.

"Hurry!" Riku shouted to the others.

They ran to the small shack on the island, climbed the stairs inside, and ran across the bridge to the islet. It was there that they met a robed figure with horns, green skin, and holding a staff.

"Maleficient?" Sora sounded surprised.

They all were. No one was expecting to see the witch at all. And in his anger towards her, Riku was the first to strike.

xxx

"Yeah," Ren said as he huffed and puffed. "I read the letter, too."

Apolla, Zephyr, and Ren sped towards the beach to get to their boats. Ren had to sneak out of his house on account of his mom still being home. They had seen the swirling sphere above the island, and knew that meant something was wrong.

"Do you think all those stories are true, then?" Apolla asked, clambering into her boat and grabbing her oar.

"I think so. No, I know so."

"But how do you know?" Zephyr asked. He was curious to know his friend's theory.

"Because of that sphere. That's definitely not supposed to be there."

"Fair enough."

"Let's just hurry over there and see what's going on. Who knows? Maybe we'll be able to help," Apolla suggested.

The three friends paddled as fast as they could. In no time, they arrived at the island. As they climbed onto the dock, creatures began to appear out of nowhere. Several were small and had antennae and several more were floating balls with jagged mouths and antennae. Both creatures were black with yellow eyes. There were some more creatures that looked almost similar to the small black creatures, except that they were blue and had red eyes.

"What are those things?" Zephyr asked as he raised his sparring sword.

"I don't know," Apolla answered, raising hers as well. Then she thought about it. "Oh, wait. Are these—?"

"Heartless?" was Ren's question. "I think you're right."

"What about those blue things?" Zephyr asked.

"Not sure. But it doesn't matter. Our sparring swords are useless against them."

"We can still beat them back while we look for Mom and Dad," Zephyr pointed out.

"I don't think that we have to look for them for long," Ren said. "Look at the islet!"

Apolla and Zephyr looked in the direction Ren was pointing. Sure enough, their parents, along with Terra and Aqua, were over there, fighting with someone. A Heartless made to attack them, but the trio was quick enough to dodge out of the way and bat the few that came towards the newcomers.

When she found the time, Apolla asked "Who are they fighting?"

"Not sure," Ren said, batting away one of the blue creatures. "Probably the reason we're fighting these guys."

"Maybe we should go help them," Zephyr suggested. "They look like they're having a hard time."

"Let's go then!" Apolla shouted.

The trio gave the Heartless they were currently fight a good whack to hold them off, and then made a break for the small shack.

xxx

"Maleficient, what do you want?" Sora demanded.

"Why, dominion of all worlds, of course," the witch replied. "What better world to start off with than your own. It's way too bright for my tastes."

"What a hag," Kairi muttered.

"Cut the act, Maleficient," Riku said. "We know there's more to it than that."

"Fine. I also want Kingdom Hearts. With that, no one will be able to stop me." Maleficient paused for a moment, and then continued. "For that though, I need the Princesses of Heart. All of them."

Sora took a protective step in front of Kairi, and raised the Kingdom Key. "So you're the reason the Princesses are disappearing!"

"Partly, but you don't know the half of it."

"Why don't you inform us, then," Terra said coolly. Hatred towards the witch who made him steal one of the Princesses' hearts was boiling up inside of him. "Of what your plan is."

"Why, if I did that, it would spoil the surprise."

"Enough games, Maleficient!" Aqua yelled, raising Rainfall. "Tell us, now!"

"We're all waiting!" Sora shouted. "If you don't tell us, we'll—" He never finished his statement. The sound of footsteps on the bridge behind them cut them off. He turned around to see who had joined them, and instantly wished he didn't.

Apolla, Zephyr, and Ren were running up to them.

No, he thought.

"Mom, Dad!" Apolla shouted.

Kairi ran up to them. "What are you doing here?" she asked them frantically. "You need to go home, now!"

"But we—" Zephyr began.

"No," Sora interrupted them. "Go home!"

"My, my," Maleficient said, intrigued. "This is a pleasant surprise. The children of the Keyblades."

"And who are you?" Ren asked.

"Ren, don't!" Riku exclaimed.

"Oh, they never told you who I was? How interesting! As Keyblade Wielders, I would have thought they would tell their own children. What a shame. I suppose I will just take it upon myself to tell you all of who I am, but in a…different setting. Wouldn't you agree, Master Xehanort?" Maleficient looked behind her.

"WHAT?" was everyone's answer.

Walking from behind the witch was someone dressed in a black coat with their hood up. As the stranger turned to face the group, they pulled off their hood, revealing the face of a bald old man with yellow, piercing eyes. The older generation knew who that this man was Xehanort.

"Xehanort?" Kairi asked. "But how?"

"It's amazing what the darkness can do to a person," Xehanort replied. "Now, about those children of yours."

Xehanort raised one of his hands, dark fire beginning to form from it. Sora saw him aim the fire towards Apolla, Zephyr, and Ren. Xehanort unleashed his attack.

"NO!"

Sora ran right in front of the kids, raising the Kingdom Key to guard them from the attack. The only thing that did was trap him in black and white bonds.

"Sora!" Kairi yelled. She began to run towards them, but was soon bound as Sora had been.

"Mom! Dad!" Zephyr called out.

One by one, Riku, Terra, and Aqua were bound by black and white glowing barbs.

"Not what I had in mind," Xehanort said. "But it will do. We've got one of the Princesses. That's what matters."

"As you wish," was Maleficient's reply. As she said this, a dark corridor opened up behind her. She walked through the darkness as if it had no effect on her.

"Take a good look around you, children," Xehanort said. "Because this is the last you'll see of your friends and family."

As the trio of friends looked on in terror, darkness appeared underneath each of the Keyblade Masters, and one by one, they disappeared. The last one to go was Xehanort himself.

"Just think," he said as he opened a dark corridor behind him. "The only ones you have to blame for the capture of your parents is yourselves. Food for thought, if you even bother to come after them." With that, he was gone.

Apolla ran for the man who just took their parents, but fell to her knees when the darkness disappeared. For the first time in her life, she began to cry.

The sky began to clear up. The swirling orb disappeared, along with the Heartless and blue creatures, disappeared, and there was nothing left but the clear, starry sky.

What have we done? Apolla wondered. They're gone, and it's our fault.

She felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Ren, a look of worry on his face. "Apolla?"

"Please," she began. "Please say that I fell asleep at the island, and that everything that just happened was just a dream."

"I'm afraid not, sis," Zephyr said quietly. "They're gone."

"Just like that. It's our fault."

"No, we can't think like that," Ren assured her. "We can't let what that guy said get to us. He's wrong. Uncle Sora did that to protect us. It's not our fault." He faltered a little as he added the latter. He was beginning to doubt himself.

"What do we do now?" Zephyr asked.

Apolla looked away from Ren and out towards the sky. She noticed that there were very few stars out, which seemed odd to her. She rummaged through her memories to find the answer to Zephyr's question, but couldn't think of anything. Then, she remembered the letters their parents had received.

She stood up, and turned to face both boys. "We tell King Mickey what happened. We go to him and tell him that Xehanort took our parents, and then we help get them back."

"But how are we going to do that?" her brother asked. "We don't exactly have a way of getting off of the island."

"Maybe we do," Ren said.

Both siblings looked at him with puzzled looks.

"My parents keep a weird object locked in a glass case. They told me to never touch it, because if I did, it would do something unexpected."

"And you're thinking that this will take us to the King?" Apolla asked.

"Maybe."

"Well, let's go to your house, then."

"Wait, isn't Aunt Naminé at home still?" Zephyr asked.

Ren winced. He hadn't thought about his mom still being there, and he didn't want to explain to her that his dad had been captured by an evil bald man.

"Maybe Uncle Roxas and Aunt Xion know how we can get to the King," Apolla suggested. "Ven might know something, too."

"Yeah, let's go ask them!"

"Then we'll go ask my mom," Ren said. "As a last resort." Then he ran off, with Zephyr following him.

At least the island is still intact, Apolla thought. It was destroyed last time, according to the story, but Xehanort and that old hag left it alone. I wonder why? With newfound determination, the three friends headed to their boats, and began paddling towards the main island.

A/N: So, I'm not sure, and this could just be me, but I may have misspelled Maleficient's name. I could be wrong, but I'll double check and fix it. To be honest, I think that her name deserves to be misspelled.

Apolla: Better not think like that, Xanthe.

Me: And why not?

Apolla: Because here she comes.

Me: Oh. -_-