Author's Note: After like, six tries, I finally got this document uploaded. Sheesh. My internet SUCKS right now. Like... it just does. It's no bueno. However, here's this, so... woo! Um... not much to say here, it's Shad. He rants himself into chapters. Or something like that.

"What was that you said… about Riku…?" the Memory Witch asked, slowly. She sounded a bit… worried? Nervous? He couldn't tell. "He isn't… upset about that, is he?"

He shrugged, laughed, and stretched out casually. "Hell if I know! Without Sora as a conduit for my power, I can't read what Riku's thinking without giving myself a headache. Guess you're out of luck! Besides," he chuckled. "Do you think I'm going to answer that honestly?"

"He has a point," Real Thing muttered.

The Memory Witch glared. After a second, he could feel her poking around in his brain. He grimaced, and then waved his hand as if swatting her away (like it would do him any good).

"Don't waste your energy," he told her. "I don't know."

"You're lying…" she said, slowly.

He glared, and then threw up a couple of mental blocks.

"Okay, fine, it might have come up in our conversation," he admitted. "But he was too busy screaming at me to give me a straight-"

"'How can you not hate her' is exactly what you said," the Memory Witch spat. "You do know!"

"Okay, so I do know, shoot me!" he replied, throwing his hands up in the air. "But just because he doesn't hate you doesn't mean he's not upset! And, anyway, it was more fun to let you wallow in your anguish and uncertainty, with anger and desperation burning in your heart-" He paused, then smiled; darkly, knowingly. "Desperation is fear," he said, slowly, turning to Real Thing. "Ain't it, Real Thing?"

Real Thing looked like he was going to ask how he knew, but then decided against it.

"No, don't change the subject!" the Memory Witch said, her glare deepening. "I want to know-"

"Oh shut up," he told her. "I've had my fun messing with you. Let's mess with Real Thing, now!"

"Let's not…" Real Thing muttered.

Sora's Shadow laughed. "Like you have a choice in the matter?" He threw up another wall to keep the Memory Witch out of his head, and then started poking around in Real Thing's memories. The subject of Ansem (who had told him that desperation was fear) was still fresh in his mind, and there were plenty memories around concerning him.

And, it didn't take much poking before Sora's Shadow found something juicy.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, slightly shocked. Only slightly, though, the rest of was just for show. "Now that's new! I didn't know you were possessedat one point! Riku apparently didn't care about- well, he didn't care about you at all, so-"

"Glad he doesn't still hate me…" Real Thing said, not fazed.

"Back to you being possessed-"

"It's none of your business," Real Thing interrupted.

"See, now there is where you are wrong," Sora's Shadow said, smiling a truly dark smile. "Anything and everything concerning the darkness is my business. I make it my business."

He poked around some more, though he didn't have to go digging far. The thought of being possessed by Ansem was quickly followed by falling into darkness, and the time Real Thing had spent completely submerged in darkness, all thanks to-

Sora's Shadow frowned, concentrating. He could see her face. He just needed a name…

"Who is that…?" he whispered. She appeared to be a sorceress of sorts, apparently had control over the Heartless. (He scoffed at that thought. No typical being could truly control the Heartless.) The sorceress-lady also sounded extremely evil, and seemed a bit full of herself.

He decided he didn't like her.

"Maleficent," he said, slowly, and Real Thing cringed slightly. He raised his eyebrows at that, and then continued digging.

There were plenty of memories concerning Maleficent, and the more he saw, the less he liked. He was glad that she was dead in this universe.

Wasn't she?

He grimaced.

He didn't honestly know.

"I'm getting sidetracked!" he said, mainly to himself. "Back to the subject of Ansem!"

He came across a memory immediately, as if it was waiting for him. He could see Real Thing, floating in darkness.

"I see you now… clearly…" a voice said, and Sora's Shadow grimaced.

He knew that voice…

"Lexaeus!"Real Thing demanded.

A couple quick images flashed by. A man in a black cloak, who Sora's Shadow assumed was Lexaeus. A fierce battle. Real Thing leaping to attack. Real Thing being knocked back. Darkness.

"Riku… I can see your heart…" the voice continued, its tone making Sora's Shadow want to squirm.

He refrained.

"No… it's not…" Real Thing said, slowly. "Darkness this foul could only… only be-"

"That's it, remember me… let me drift into your heart…"

"Ansem!"

Ansem laughed.

Sora's Shadow actually did squirm, now, and he quickly pulled out of Real Thing's head. "That- that laugh," he said, cringing. "Oh- Ah- arg! You did that- you did that on purpose, didn't you!"

Real Thing smirked.

"Well, there's one thing we can agree on," Sora's Shadow said, rubbing his ear, as if it would help get the sound of Ansem's laugh out of his head. "Ansem is a creeper." He shuddered. "I told Sora to stay away from him, but he wouldn't listen to me!"

"I doubt you make a very good voice of reason," Real Thing muttered.

"Ventus listened to me," he argued, then he laughed. "Actually, I think I scared him off. He did have a panic attack when he saw me. Apparently I reminded him of someone…"

"Who?" the Memory Witch asked, and she sounded generally intrigued.

"Good question," Sora's Shadow replied, and then frowned. He couldn't remember. Well, he could remember a couple of images, most of which consisted of someone who looked similar to him. However, he couldn't remember what said someone's name was. "What's his name?" he groaned, more annoyed at himself for forgetting it than anything else. "I mean, seriously, you'd think I'd be able to remember it, given how steeped in darkness the thought was, but no! I can't remember it at all!" He sighed.

"You know we don't actually care, right?" Real Thing said.

"I was slightly curious," the Memory Witch muttered. "But, really, it doesn't-"

"I'm curious!" Sora's Shadow snapped. "I don't typically forget things! Though… his name was a bit odd… Latin or something… What was it?" He refrained from groaning again. "I wonder how strong the connection between me and Ventus is… maybe I can raid his thoughts and figure it out…"

He closed his eyes, concentrating. Since Ventus was still kind of connected to Sora, it was easier to make the connection with him than it was with most people. Now, all he had to do was-

He gasped in pain, clutching his head and quickly withdrawing. "Bright!" he spat, loathingly. "I always forget how damn bright he is!"

"Having problems?" the Memory Witch laughed.

He glared at her. "Establishing a connection across worlds is enough of a strain already, Witch," he said, and then rubbed his head again. "But since Ventus is so damn bright and gives me a headache, establishing a connection with him is pretty much impossible! It'd be different if he was standing right there or something." He gestured to an area nearby. "Maybe what's-her-face is around," he muttered. "I might be able pick up enough darkness from her to stay in Ven's head long enough to-"

"What's-her-face?" Real Thing laughed.

Sora's Shadow glared.

"As you can see, I'm apparently no good with names," he said, bitterly. "And it's not like I've ever met her, and neither has Sora, and I'm pretty sure we've already established that Ven is too damn bright for me to pick up anything from. Now…" He trailed off, then frowned.

Sora "cutting off" connection with him hadn't worked as well as Sora would've probably liked it to. He was starting to get a dribble of what was going on. Admittedly, it was only a dribble, but…

The point was.

With Sora functioning as a conduit for his power again, he could hear a couple of Riku's thoughts. The thoughts weren't very clear thoughts, but he blamed that on the fact that Sora was kind of trying to block him out (even if he wasn't doing terribly well at it). However, what he couldmake out was rather amusing.

Because, from the sounds of it, Riku was still rather upset about what he had said earlier concerning the Memory Witch.

Damn, that boy's devoted! he thought with a laugh. Wonder what would happen if she knew- no. That's not what I want…

The Memory Witch frowned.

"What's that look for?" she asked, slowly.

"Huh?" He hadn't realized he had been staring. "Oh, well, I'm debating on whether or not I can touch you," he replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the Worlds. "Because I think it would be absolutely hilarious if Riku found out that you were here, and nothing can really stop me from physically dragging you to him."

"I could," Real Thing said.

"You're not on the same plane of existence as me," Sora's Shadow replied.

"And Namine is?"

"I'm hoping…"