Day 1

The silence that follows the light is what terrified him at first. To see her disappear from his sight, burned into nothing as ash flakes break into pieces at the slightest breeze. Then it was the silence that Kuro had discovered in the city streets when he emerged from the quiet cottage.

The primary districts that were once bustling with activity and sound were now empty, barren and abandoned. The damning silence grew to irritate him quickly. Making him miss the reverberation of life in the town. Making him miss the noise.

Without a sign of anyone to be seen or show they've been there, barring the still hot cups of coffee on the table tops, the dropped items of food along the stone and the now abandoned storefronts still stocked with supplies that Kuro peeked in. The streetlights were still aglow, ever present to light the way for the lonely duo to walk through the districts.

Kuro's eyes were continually drawn to the skies above them as they walked along, the night sky lit aglow with the never ending barrage of the falling stars. Each of them falling into place against the pitch black with trails of shimmering silver and white light behind them. Each landing of their final destination punctuated by the twinkling of their shine.

Kuro let out a huff of astonishment, the beaming glow of the stars above leaving the town square in this flashing hue of a pearly shine. The town street flashing and humming in the shine of the stars. Kuro glanced over at Dusk, whose golden eyes are transfixed to the heavens as that shone. Those eyes of theirs reflecting the starlight above. Kuro's face mesmerized by the worlds that returned to the realm of light, having been lost to the dark.

"I think he won." Kuro murmured with a nod and a short grin. His arms folded over one another as the night sky above is still aglow with the heavenly light.

"Yes, I believe so."Dusk spoke gently, with a sigh of relief."With the Master-Ansem'sdeath, the worlds that were lost to darkness may begin to heal."

"So, everyone went home. The people here…" Kuro's eyes glanced around the barren square. His hands retract to his jacket pockets as he glances around the abandoned center square. His eyes resting on a lonely kickball, before slamming his foot into the red bouncy ball. It soared over the stairs ahead of him and off towards the right. Rocketing into the wall and bouncing off. Kuro let out a groan as it careened barrens out of sight."Kairi… they're all gone now."

"They all went home…"Dusk clarified, turning around to follow Kuro's back as he continued to meander through the square. Kuro's nails skimmed across the nearby table, his eyes focused on the steaming cup of coffee. Curiously, he took the cup and sipped it. The heat warmed his chest and scorched his throat something fierce. Enough so that he needed to cough. The lone burst leaving a short echo in its eruption.

The first taste was bad, grimey and bitter. The second was a little better, his frown forming as he tried to give it an honest try. The third sip captivated him and he was grabbing the other two cups to carry with him as he and Dusk walked from district one to district two. Kuro's shoulder budging the heavy gate and forcing it open. As he passed the threshold from district One into Two, the lights above swiftly ended, the world order having been restored. The night sky now plentiful with the lights of the reformed and saved worlds.

The multiple shops in District Two were still alive with light, despite their lack of customers. The storefront windows still aglow from the warm hue of interior lights. Kuro's eyes dragged to the still animated sign above a shop where a man with a bulbous nose was pulling his massive green cap with a card tucked into the band with the inscription, '10/6' painted in it.

Kuro's sights focused on the dapper and proper clothing hiding in behind windows on racks along the walls. The luggage store beside it had a window full of backpacks and messenger bags, of various shapes and sizes. Kuro's attention then turned to the sound of flowing water below him, his sights turning to the lower level.

The fountain backed against the south most wall in the center of the plaza still bubbling and flowing effortlessly. The sound of it irking Kuro, who sneered at the rushing water. The lion's downpour is still fresh in his mind.

"Where will you be going, Dusk?" Kuro asked between the last sip of the first cup of coffee he had and the first sip of the second. Kuro took the empty cup, inspected it for a moment to admire the intricate detailing of the blue paint on white ceramic before he pulled his arm back and hurled it high into the air. Watching it trail across the evening sky before landing down hard and fast, crashing into the stone with a loud burst of ceramic. The noise erupts a soft laugh out of him. "Where do you call home and why haven't you gone?"

"The Heartless have a domain we could call home, the Dark Realm. I am actually surprised I am not being driven back to the pitch right now."Dusk murmured with their eyes transfixed on the broken cup in the center of the second district. Their antenna flicks and flexes along the night air."I suppose… I am not allowed to go back home."

"Kairi mentioned that her home was the island now. So, maybe you don't feel like the Dark Realm is your home anymore?" Kuro offered with an uncertain shrug, his eyes trailing over the storefront windows before he turned attention towards the inn doors across the plaza. "Maybe someone might have stayed behind? Liked the hotel here more than their normal home?"

His eyes focused on the building just before he downed the second coffee in two huge gulps and tossed the cup over his shoulder. The crash and break made him smile. With a short and pointed gait, he marched over towards the inn doors and pushed his way inside. Dusk trailing behind him in a short sprint.

The interior of the building was gaudy and loud, with brightly colored interiors on the left and the dark paned windows on the right hand side. The windows were so dark that they did not show any light from the outside. Kuro walked along the hall, passing a door labeled the Red room, and slammed his knuckles against the door. There was no response.

He did the same to the door labeled the Green room. The rapping of his knuckles didn't summon anyone, leaving him annoyed.

Each of these doors were respectively painted their shades of color along the frame and adjacent walls that his fingertips trailed along as he passed.

Kuro moved along the hall until he reached the end, with the front desk that currently had their windows closed and a small silver bell on its counter. Kuro gave the bell a quick tap, the ringing of the small bell carried out to the other end of the hall. Then another ring. Then another. Kuro leaned against the counter, sucking on his teeth in disappointment.

"We are alone, aren't we Dusk?" Kuro asked aloud in a short hush before he turned towards his tiny companion. For an agreement, an argument. For anything to fill the silence that has overtaken the town. Dusk simply nodded, before their shoulders fell and their eyes squinted in disappointment.

"It seems that we might be the only ones left here, Kuro."Dusk muttered with a soft sigh."I am sorry, Kuro."

"It is fine. Better to be alone together, eh?" Kuro offered, reaching down to rub Dusk's head with the flat of his palm. Thumb brushing over their left eye as his fingers curl and massage the space between Dusk's antenna. The small Heartless' foot tapped rapidly into the floor at the continued contact, their eyes half lidded in ecstasy as they let out a soft purr.

That's when the Red door's wood buckled, then cracked. The impact of the first hit nearly took it off of its hinges and the second hit splintered the wood and broke it finally. Kuro readied a battle stance and Dusk scampered behind him.

The lumbering mass that bolted through the door had cracked the edges of the frame and sent splinters of pieces of wood flying off, went on and crashed into the adjacent wall. The mass turned towards Kuro, the roar that erupts from it rattling the halls.

The mass wore armor as though it were knight, its metal was shades of dark purple and matching blues with white trim along its bracers and pauldrons. The knight wore a purple helmet and a silver jaw. The arms and torso were massive and thick compared to the head and legs. The right arm resting along the floor with its armor lined knuckles digging into the floorboards. The helm reels back, before its faceplate sniffs and snarls towards Kuro. A lonelyDefender, looking for small scraps of light.

In its primary hand was an impressive shield, with what appeared to be a living maw about its face. With a snout, jagged sharp teeth and three glowing yellow eyes. The shield snapped and bit at nothing, their gaze transfixed on Kuro at the end of the hall. Kuro glanced over at Dusk, before turning his attention back to the knight Heartless.

"I guess not everyone got the message that it was time to go home." Kuro noted in an aside to Dusk as he steadily walked over towards the lumbering knight. The knuckles buckled the floorboards with every step, denting in the wood as they marched forward. Kuro raised his hand slowly, steadily moving towards the knight. "Come on now, Heartless. No need to get violent. We don't need to fight."

Kuro's hand got within arms length of the knight, which began to hide its exposed shoulders behind its shield as the canine face snapped and growled at Kuro. Kuro stepped back at the bared fangs, letting out an exasperated groan as he stared daggers at the shield. The shield slowly begins to spin in place as the yellow eyes briefly glow a burning red.

"Don't make me fight you. We don't have-" As Kuro speaks, the maw opens and a huge ball of flames barrels out of the face of the shield, the fireball crashing into Kuro's chest and sending him crashing into the floor. Kuro's body aching and his skin scalded from the contact. His eyes flared in a sudden rage and his hands coiled into tight fists. Kuro rose to his feet, charged forward and grabbed a hold of the edges of the shield.

"Fine! Don't say I didn't try to make this easy for you!" Kuro shouted, hands curling around the shield. "You're going to regret checking into this place."

The hand that was leveraging the massive top heavy knight reeled back and was soon brought down into a hammering slam towards Kuro. Kuro veered off to the right, using the momentum of the pull to slam the knight into the wall between the colored rooms, disorienting it enough to then pull it back again towards the other side of the hall.

The knight's body crashed into the paned glass and shattered it. The debris covered the floors beneath them as Kuro pulled the shield to slam the Heartless back into the wall. The knight's helmet rumbled as it roared, the massive gauntlet crashing against Kuro's chest and hooking into his jacket.

On a pivot and a sharp snap of its elbow, the knight threw Kuro out an undisturbed window off to the side, the impact rattling the silver haired warrior to his core as he soars through the air and then through glass, crashing onto the cobblestone outside. His shoulders taking the brunt of the fall as he rolls and knocks into the stone guardrails.

His eyes a blur for but a moment before they refocused on the shattered glass window as the Heartless sauntered back a few steps and then charged forward with its shield raised.

Through the wall it lunges, tearing through the window frame and wall out into the open plaza. The Heartless raises its shield high above its head before slamming its pointed edge down toward Kuro.

Kuro rolled out of the way, the tip of the shield smashing into the and shattering the stone beneath it. The most pressured point crushed the stone into a fine powder beneath its strike. Kuro's sights rest on the crater, a grim image of what could have happened.

Dusk charges out of the open wall and slam their claws into the right leg calf of the knight, the bellowing of the Heartless echoing in the plaza. The Heartless Knight's arms spread out as they wail.

Kuro rises quickly to his feet, his hands moving in to close the distance and shove his elbow straight into the chest of the Knight. The Defender readjusting its footing so as to not fall into its back.

Kuro noticed the handle being tightly gripped by the Heartless' massive hand, a wicked smile taking form. Kuro then took his heel and slammed it against the Knight's grip, breaking the hold on the shield. Kuro caught it as it slipped, grabbing hold of the shield as it fell and quickly turning around.

Kuro stabbed the top of the shield against the Knight's armor, denting it severely before pulling the shield back and smashing the face hard into their chest once again like a battering ram. The force knocked the Knight onto its back, Kuro stomping onto its shoulder to keep it pinned.

With a mighty roar, Kuro raised the shield and slammed it down into the Knight's helmet. The knight shudders at the contact of steel on steel, the Heartless' helmet briefly severed from its shoulders for but a moment before the knight then suddenly burst into a dense violet cloud of smoke and dust. Kuro, shield held tightly in hand, let out a few short breaths as the adrenaline winds down.

The shield's then massive side, enough to completely cover Kuro from the flats of his boots to the top of his head, began to slowly shrink. The canine face of the shield slowly molded and solidified into a rigid and unyielding scowl. Those yellow eyes now a glossy steel gray. The shield fit to complement Kuro's size, no longer unwieldy and cumbersome. It now was light, solid and comfortable for use. Then, just as soon as Kuro's body relaxed, the shield dissipated into a cloud of black smoke.

Kuro grumbled away the annoyance as the shield disappeared, and with a shrug, turned to Dusk with a grimace. Dusk approached the silver haired warrior with a small bob of their head, their yellow eyes focused on him.

"Maybe these Heartless are the remains of the troop that were already stationed here on this world. They might be confused from the sudden lack of light here. Perhaps there is a reason they honed in on you. That's why the Defender became so bold."Dusk uttered with a deep chested sigh, their claws walking over to the stone guardrail and climbing upon it. Their eyes focused over the empty plaza below them."I have not been able to get a trail of any kind of light since I've awoken. I smell the same sulfur and ash from the Ruins of Hollow Bastion. Then I truly focus…"

Dusk turned towards Kuro, their eyes half lidded as they honed their attention on him. Kuro resettled in his spot, an absentminded hand moving to rub over his left breast. The moment of silence they shared ended as Dusk spoke again.

"Then I turn to you and it's a morsel but not nothing. Your little speck of light, it's the only thing I can place a scent upon for a great distance. If they want light…they will come for you."Dusk folded their legs under their small frame, as Kuro walked over to the guardrail and let out a guttural growl. Staring out into the barren plaza. Kuro had wished that the world hadn't been so barren, and so quiet. He hated the quiet. Kuro let his palms spread out across the stone railings, the cool surface was rough under his finger tips.

"Let's go home, then." Kuro muttered before grabbing up Dusk, hoisting them onto his shoulder and carrying them back to the Third district.

The pair head on back into the cottage, Kuro taking out Kairi's key and unlocking it. Kuro as he walked inside peered around the room as he went and sat beside the table. He paws over the bag full of fruit still on the table, grabbing the now four pointed star and chomping a chunk of it with a stern bite. The taut skin breaking loudly in the silent room. The juice spilling down his chin as he chews.

Dusk walks over to the bed, hopping up onto the mattress and throwing themselves onto the pillow. Curling into a relaxing hall against the bag of feathers. Their claws stretched out into the air as they yawned softly.

"What's the plan for tomorrow, Kuro?"Dusk asked as Kuro grabs a few grapes and pops them into his mouth. He walks over to the bed, stretching out onto the mattress as his heels stay dug into the floor and his shoulders press into the soft surface. The bare mattress pressed softly under his head.

"I will just wake up and do the same thing, I suppose. Prowl around, patrol. Thin out whatever Heartless pass by us. I think I'll start gathering all the food I can find. Who knows how long it'll be before we get discovered." Kuro murmured with a sigh, his eyes focused on the ceiling. "Ifwe get discovered."

"I shall hold down the fort. Someone will come, eventually."Dusk's voice echoed a warm sentiment of hope, a feeling that was new to both the Heartless and Kuro. Dusk's eyes shut as they soon drifted off to sleep.

Kuro silently pondered how long it would take for someone, anyone, to eventually find them. He can't imagine being alone for too long.

To ease his curiosity, he thought of Kairi. Despite their short time together, he hoped that she arrived home safe and sound. That she was with her friends and Sora again. He let his fingers rake through his hair as he thought of her brushing his scalp and combing his locks. With that pleasant thought, he promptly fell asleep.

Day 2

Kuro awoke with a mission in mind. He rose from the mattress and let Dusk settle on their small pillow to remain resting before heading out the cottage and back into the town. Kuro's job today was to start gathering food. And to carry the food back to the cottage, he was going to need bags.

Kuro had walked along toward the luggage shop in the Second District, his hands moving and pressed against the glass as he peered inside. The cold glass under his fingers woke him the rest of the way up. He eased his heart as he ran a hand over the patch of leather along his elbow and patted it, ensuring it was thick and firm enough to not give.

"Smashy, smashy." Kuro utters with unfettered glee as he reels his elbow back and smashes the bent arm through the glass. The window pane shattered and crashed to the floor in small pieces. The glass fell in chunks breaking into smaller pieces as it tumbled to the tile floor.

His boots crunch the glass as he steadily makes his way inside and approaches a table stacked with messenger bags. Grabbing two leather satchels and draping them across his chest and along his shoulders, he matches behind the front desk and snatches a huge lime green backpack and fastens it onto him.

With bags at his sides, he proceeds to step out of the luggage store and plans to go to every shop and home he can find, raiding it for supplies. The clapping of leather against his legs as he jogs off towards the First District and starts gathering whatever he could carry.

Kuro's hands gripped and shoved open the First district gates. The lights were still lit and the humming of the bulbs was the ambience of the town now. Kuro imagined the buzzing to belong to some kind of insect making that noise. The thought of life, no matter how small, made it easier to breathe.

He ran over towards the café, throwing open the front doors and making a beeline towards the kitchen.

The café interior was lined with round wooden tables, with dark wood chairs to match. The walls were decorated with painted pictures of various landscapes, including one of a rather imposing stone obelisk overlooking the brush of the savannah, a portrait of a young woman with a small orange kitten in her lap, as well as an intricate castle surrounded by boxed shaped flora and trees.

Kuro finds himself in the kitchen, opening one of the messenger bags and proceeds to start shoving every clearly wrapped pastry, bags of unused coffee beans, and a few loose ceramic cups into the bag. Kuro walked over to one of the two fridges, opening it and finding jars of milk and creamer inside. Grabbing two of the eight bottles of milk inside, he tucks it into the bag before latching up the bag and exiting the shop.

Kuro turned the corner once back out in the plaza and walked into the Item shop next door.

Pushing the door open with a stern kick, Kuro walks on inside the abandoned shop and slides over the counter and opens the cabinet underneath the desktops. Inside he finds four small, round bottles of a swirling red liquid. Little glimmers of light inside of the glass. He opens the currently empty messenger bag and loads them in.

This is followed by six larger, more elaborate bottles of swirling red liquid. While the previous red bottles were able to fit in the palm of his hand, these bottles came with handles, and the light that shone inside seemed to almost pulse. Kuro then found two wide bottles of blue, with an oil like black weaving through the liquid and swirling as though it were fighting through some unseen current.

With the concoctions gathered, he made way towards some of the abandoned homes and planned to shovel every can and box of food he could possibly fit into the backpack.

He entered the only other fully formed cottage in the First District and was greeted by a surprising sight.

Wooden clocks. Dozens, if not hundreds of clocks lining the walls, benches and tables. If there was a surface, there was a clock. Kuro opened every drawer and chest, finding no food but lots of small tools such as screwdrivers and hammers. Kuro slammed the drawer with an annoyed grunt, his hand gripping the counter edge and grinding his teeth. He goes to leave, only to backpedal and steal one of the still working clocks off of the walls.

If not for nothing, he could at least know the time he was supposed to be walking around at. The constant night sky was beautiful, but bad for telling time.

Tucking it into his backpack and patting it down to a safe position, he set out and began heading into the Plaza. He continued his searching for scraps of food.

He walked to the front of the entrance to the Accessory shop, recalling the nice man who had given him the wardrobe he was currently wearing. Kuro thought of that man's warm smile, and hoped that he was safe wherever he ended up. Kuro was going to push on the doors to open when he noticed something odd along the wood.

The edges of the door had deep indentations that started deep from the inside near the handle and got less intrusive and less damaging as they made their way out. As if something was clawing to get inside. Kuro silently raised his fingers to trail along the markings in curiosity, finding that he has to web his fingers out wide to even get close enough to mimic the damage.

Kuro took a step back, quietly removing the messenger bags and the backpack and setting them aside. Not wanting whatever was inside to break the clock or the potions. He took hold of the handles, and with a short breath, threw open the doors and barged inside.

The place had been ransacked, the shelves were broken to pieces, the glass table in the center of the room was sundered and smashed. Ripped articles of clothing such as handkerchiefs, broke chains and flattened rings.

Kuro glanced around the room, hands curled into fists as he slowly moved into the shop. The door shut behind him with a heavy slam. The sound does not register to Kuro as he grabs one of the broken chains and pulls it taut. A once powerful protect chain now broken into improper pieces.

"What happened here…" Kuro murmured as he glanced over the shards of glass and the busted golden frame of the table. Taking a piece of glass and tossing it aside.

Letting it shatter against the wall. The sound of it breaking earned a huff of joy out of Kuro, who grabbed another piece of chucked fast against the wall in front of him. The way it crumbled into small pieces made him smile.

Kuro grabs another piece, inspecting the glass for size and clarity when something catches his eye.

As he stares, he sees a vague dark reflection in the glass. A gaseous cloud of smoke that soon materializes into its full form, before the shine of a blade blinded him for a moment.

Not wasting time, Kuro turns heel and throws his arms up in defense, bracing for impact as the sword is swiftly brought down.

The motion of Kuro's arm briefly caused a trail of smoke and ash to trail behind his hands, before the vapors solidified into a dense shape and took the form of a familiar iron shield, with a snarling beast's maw adorning the face.

The shield clashed against the flame-bladed blade, the blue hued iron of the sword waved in a zigzagging pattern and on contact it sparked.

The Heartless that wielded this blade was muscular and seemed powerful, with horns that adorned along its crown and bat wings that fluttered along their back.

Their skin was a deep shade of onyx, with a huge heart shaped hole filling out the majority of their chest. Its cloven hoofs slammed into the floor and crushed glass as the momentum of their strike broughtthem down from their hovering position.

Their powerful arms were not buckling under the weight of their swing. TheInvisibleroared into Kuro's face, their jagged teeth and large jaw inches from his own.

Kuro rose up to to his feet and parried the strike away, crashing a closed fist into their jaw and pulling their shield back to slam the pointed tip into their chest.

The heartless blocked the strike, letting their blade glide against the face of the shield before shoving their shoulder forward and knocking Kuro back.

The Warrior repositioned their feet and refused to be taken down, their shield up and at the ready as the once Invisible prepared their barrage. Right swipe, left, upward slice and back down again.

Each clash sparking off wisps of firelight and dark energy as the Heartless pursued. Each clash of iron on iron met with a resoundingClangthat reverberated in the room. Kuro remained on the defensive, meeting each strike with a shove and a steady stance. Not backing . Clang!Clang!

The last hit left the Heartless open on its left side, to which Kuro took advantage of. With a wide right hook, Kuro slammed his fist through the open cavity of the Heartless chest and crashed them into the doors behind them. Kuro felt the door buckle and give against the tumble, the Heartless rebounding off of the wood and shrieking in pain.

Kuro pulled the left arm and slammed the rough edge of the shield against the Heartless' cheek, which caused them to bellow out in pain. Kuro's eyes shot to the ground, where their leg was displaced out and unsteady. Kuro, with a rotation of the arm, slicing the shield through the knee and lodging it into the floor.

The loose appendage flopping to the floor before it burst into smoke and dark matter. The still alive Invisible grabbed the edges of the shield, its sword falling out of its grip and impaling itself into the wooden floor.

Kuro took up the sword from its spot and slammed the flat of the blade's cheek against the top of the Heartless' crown. The horns bending and snapping from the force. The Invisible shrieks in foreign pain as their throat crashes and plants itself into the top portion of the shield. The rough edge dug firmly just above the Heartless' collarbone.

Kuro, with the downward momentum of the strike, spins with the force to swing it back upright and execute the Heartless. The blue hued blade slicing through to the back of neck and beheading the Heartless. Their body falls limp just before crumbling into black dust and smoke.

Kuro huffs and takes up the shield with his left hand, the sword in his right. Just as before, when his breathing settled, the armaments dissipated into dark matter puffs of smoke, Kuro's eyes aglow with a sense of pride. Kuro, with his now empty hands, shut his eyes and let out a short battle cry.

On his command, the blade and canine faced shield take form in a smoke cloud of black matter. The sword's blue hue shone dimly as Kuro gave it a few courtesy swipes to get a feel for the weighty.

"Yeah, yeah that'll do nicely." Kuro whispered with a devious grin, a nice proper weapon in his hand before sheathing them back to the ether and returning to his dropped bags and backpack. Once properly loaded, he set upon continuing his mission.

Hours of scouring must have passed, he felt. His search wasn't unfruitful. He only found boxes of dog kibble and a healthy amount of packaged cans full of baked beans, fruits in their juices and vegetables. With a backpack full of two dozen sealed cans and four boxes of Kanine Krunchies, he decided that he will have to be more thorough tomorrow in looking for food before returning back to the cottage.

There he found that Dusk was still asleep, curled into a ball against the pillow. What little extra casing at the end of the pillow pulled up to cover them like a blanket. Kuro walked in with a soft step, placing the clock on the tabletop, making sure to face it towards the bed. Unloading the lime backpack and setting it aside, he pulled out the bottle of milk and a pastry from the café.

Uncorking the bottle, he drank a quarter bottle of milk and devoured a maple bar. His unfocused eyes staring at the wall as he chews and drinks in utter silence. He imagined eating alongside Kairi, their short laughs together making him smile amongst the less than lonely quiet.

He resealed the bottle with a twist and a tap, casting it aside with a soft push before crawling into bed and promptly falling asleep. Dreamless slumber follows.

"Thisdemoncould prove useful if we act quickly enough." The Count noted as his heels dragged along the floor. His squinted eyes focused on the orb that showed Kuro chewing on a few loose fruits before retiring to his bed. His white hair tucked away underneath his purple and black tricorn cap. His wrinkled and pale fingers curled into a tightly formed fist as he paced around the room. "Warlock, why don't you use some of that wicked magic of yours to jinx him. Pull him into the fold. Imagine if we could have this creature on the frontlines. Make yourself useful."

"Be careful who you call Warlock,TovarischFrollo." The spindly lithe man spoke with disdain and facetious joy, as he paced the Count's opposite path on the opposing side of the orb, his jagged nails combing through his long unkempt black beard. Staring intently at the glowing globe. "Not all of us are as forgiving as others with your loose and ignorant tongue. I'll have you be enlightened by my tricks should you try to order me around. You won't be the first to underestimate me, The Mad Monk Rasputin. One wrong move andDasvidaniya- you're in an eternal nightmare."

"There is no need to fight, gentlemen. Please. Not without me, anyways. No one fights like me." A baritone voice barks out. The Hunter's boots slammed against the ground as the brute approached the shimmering orb. His hunting honed blue eyes focused on the sleeping form of Kuro. His eyes were rolling, thoroughly unimpressed. The Hunter walked beside the two older men, towering over them with an imposing build. He smacks the white haired Count, nearly knocking him off of his feet. "This is the cause of such a ruckus? He's but a boy. Why worry about the presence of this mere child? When you're working alongside a strapping strong man like me, why worry about this meek thing? Let him play house in that abandoned town, we don't need him."

"Gaston, please. We will need to ensure a proper plan going forward, my friends. Haven't you heard of what happened to Maleficent, Ursula and Jafar? Crumbled to dust and cut into nothing. We could be next, should we not plan right! I am already out of so much of my precious gold to help fund the troops of this escapade. And for what?" The voice came out a whine, the crowned feline whispered before attempting to soothe his nerves with a sucking of his thumb and a soft rubbing of his ear with his other hand. His lips smacking and working around the thumb sucking. "Iff whee dhont pllan fur thhuh whurst, whe'll bhuhee nhexst hhon thhuh chhopppeng bhlohck."

"Quiet, Prince John, Gaston, the whole lot of you. Quiet!" Her voice echoed loudly in the hall, the four pairs of eyes turning to her as her hands wave and circle slowly. The image of the now sleeping Kuro dissipating into a cloud of smoke in the orb. Her illuminated purple eyes shine in the dark as her head turns towards the cabal they have assembled. The orb's surface reveals the recently formed home worlds. "We have a chance to truly get a head. With Maleficent now destroyed, the Seeker of Darkness burned into nothing, there is no one to fight for command of the Heartless. By my brother's accounts, the Keyblade wielder and the king's fools have seemingly disappeared off the known map. Leaving the worlds unprotected and leaving them susceptible to corruption. That's our way in."

"That is what we have been counting on, my fiends of the Dark. Listen to me…"The voice that broke through brought everyone to attention. The Warlock and the Hunter both rocketed their heels together, arms folding behind their backs.

The crowned feline's hair stood on end just before he jumped out of his seat and his behind pressing against the back of the chair, thumb still being sucked as he peered over the upholstered arm.

The Judge's eyes went wide as his hand moved to grip the iron cross that rested along his chest, a silent prayer being muttered as he bows hesitantly to the owner of the voice.

The woman's lips curled to a simple smile as she bowed in response to the voice's appearance.

Upon a throne high up a series of stone steps, looming above the orb and the rest of the cabal. There sat a figure cloaked in a crimson red cloak. Their claws jutting out of their sleeves. The nails scratching together in thought as the rigid dark horns protruded out of the hood. The umber stark bare bone peeking from beneath the hood. The Horned King spoke broadly and surely. Their voice rattling the room's walls.

"From The Darkness we were summoned, and to the Darkness we must serve. The Dark had called us and must answer. We shall continue our plan. Now, unless there is more nonsense, as you were. To our stations, messengers of Death. Our time has now arrived… and we must be prepared for our Master should he call. If we are called?"

They all spoke in unison, united in one purpose. A purpose they all shared despite their differences.
For if they are called, "We must answer."