Nexus: Heroes Will Rise

by tmb1112

Universal borders have been erased and beings from thousands of universes now live on the same world: Nexus. In the first Saga of Nexus, Awul was saved, but the mysteries of Nexus remain. Now our heroes sail across the sea to Aebrith to search for lost loved ones and save the world. MCs from DBZ, KH, Soul Eater, FT, Blue Exorcist, Bleach, 7DS, OP, Ben 10, SAO, HxH, and many more!

42. Nexus HWR 8-4 The Dread Fort Part 2

Nexus HWR 8.4 Dread Fort Part 2:

CA$INO

"Welcome sir, madame," a lean man in a black suit greeted Nami and Riku. He bowed to them as they stepped in the automatic double doors of the giant pyramid. The casino's interior was a sight to behold and it had both Nami and Riku staring around in awe. Past the greeter in front of them was a large open floor covered in rows of slot machines. Farther back behind the slot machines were tables with groups of people sitting around them making bets and playing card games. Bars were on the walls near the booths where people could trade chips for actual currency and vice versa. There were also bars in the middle of the huge floor near the tables where the best-dressed people were gathered.

Nami looked closer towards one of those tables and she could see huge piles of chips in front of each of the game's participants. She rubbed her hands together practically drooling at the rich interior of the casino. Beautiful paintings lined the walls, the carpets looked like they were made from animal furs, and the guests all had on fancy clothing. The two of them fit in nicely with all the classy people around them. "Let's go," Nami said excitedly. She made to step forward, but the thin greeter stepped in her way.

"I'm sorry, please present your I.D.'s." Apparently the man was more than just a simple host. Riku looked at him closely but he definitely did not look like the fighting type. Out the corners of his eyes though, he noticed two different men in suits who were pretending not to be looking over. They had sunglasses on and white earpieces in their ears. One had dark skin and the other light, but other than that they looked like the exact same broad-shouldered bouncer.

Those guys would probably swoop in and try to kick us out if we fail to show I.D.'s. Riku thought while pulling out his identification. He and Nami were allowed into the casino after a quick check and the two of them walked further into the pyramid to find it was just as magnificent as it looked. The chairs the gamblers were sitting on had different vibration settings, men and women in suits and dresses walked around with trays of alcoholic drinks, and Nami realized that she stood out a lot less in here than she did outside. Every person in the casino was dressed similarly to her and Riku and though disappointed she would not be turning as many heads, she was still smiling at the sight of so much money switching hands.

She rubbed her palms together in front of her and flashed Riku a smirk. "Let's get to work," she said excitedly.

One Hour Later

"That's it, I'm out," Riku said, pushing his chair out from the table.

Nami grinned up at him, "Aww," she said in a teasing voice. "Are you sure? You still have enough for another hand."

Riku scoffed and turned around. "I'll go find some slots or something," he said. "I know I'll just lose the rest playing another hand with you," he remarked, glancing back once and looking at the huge stack of chips in front of Nami. I knew she was too good at this, he thought as he turned back forward and kept walking away. I saw what you just did, he thought with a grimace.

Nami found herself staring at Riku's back for a few seconds longer as he walked away, a small frown on his face. She opened her mouth to send another taunt his way, but stopped herself and held her tongue. Her own smile faltered a little, but she shook her head and grinned as she spun back around to the table full of men who had steadily decreasing stacks of chips in front of them. They were all sweating and looked angry, but Nami leaned over the table and pressed her arms together in front of her, pushing her chest up towards the top of her dress and giving them all a look at her cleavage. "Come on boys, are you ready for another round?"

The men all agreed and shouted at the dealer to start the next round. Nami continued to hustle them out of their money for another few minutes until her stacks were almost up to her eye level so it was hard to see the others behind them. Because she could barely see them, she did not notice the woman behind the counter wearing a black suit make a small motion with her hand to the left.

Nami slammed down a drink she just finished and pushed her stacks to either side so there was an opening in the middle. She smirked both ways and said with a tint of red on her cheeks, "Who's ready for the next hand?!"

None of the men responded. They lost their lustful, angry, and competitive expressions. All of them were just staring at her with disdain and Nami's drunk appearance pulled a one-eighty. "What?" She asked, her voice serious.

Nami suddenly noticed that it seemed a little darker around her. That's a shadow, she realized as she saw the shape cast on the table in front of her. The female dealer did not smirk, she just nodded at the form behind Nami as the pirate turned around. Nami looked up and there was a man standing there with short black hair that stretched down the sides of his face as his sideburns connected with the scratchy goatee around his mouth. He had on a white shirt with a black vest over it and a red tie that he fixed with his white-gloved hands while looking down at Nami through a pair of black-tinted sunglasses. "Ms. Nami, please come with me."

"Who are you?" Nami asked harshly as she got up to her feet. She tried not to look nervous though her eyes did dart back and forth to see if Riku was anywhere near her.

"My name is Junior," he replied casually, "I am the head of security." Despite this unnerving statement, a smile came to his face that looked friendly which confused Nami. He held out his right arm to his side and said, "You have reached the maximum for chips in the main room. I am here to escort you to the High Roller tables in the back."

Nami's eyes turned into money signs instantly which made Junior Xiong lean back in surprise. Nami's mouth shot up into a wide grin instantly and she said, "Lead the way." He chuckled and started walking to the right, though Nami did not follow him right away.

She looked around and spotted some slot machines far to her left. That's where Riku said he was going. I should get- "Your friend is already waiting for you in the back," Junior said, snapping Nami's attention back in front of her. Junior had stopped walking and was looking at her over her shoulder. "Though he is not able to enter in the games back there," the man cupped one hand to the side of his mouth, "he ran out of money."

Nami smirked and chuckled at that. She started walking after Junior and said, "What about all my chips? Don't I need to bring them?"

"Do not worry," Junior replied as he kept walking towards the wall opposite the doors they came in from. Nami glanced behind her wondering what would happen to her chips, but between her and the table she just left were two women walking after her with straight expressions on their faces that did not look happy or angry, just blank. They were looking straight at her back though, and she started to get nervous again, her eyes darting around the room to see if Riku was actually still there.

The girls were obviously twins, but one of them had on a white dress and a furry scarf around her neck while the other had on a shorter red dress that left less to the imagination. "Meet Melanie and Miltia Malachite," Junior said and Nami turned back forward to the man whose voice sounded closer now. He was standing on her right side instead of directly in front of her now, but straight ahead of her she saw two burlier men in black suits and sunglasses standing on either sides of a double set of doors to the back. One of them reached up and touched a white earpiece he had in his left ear, saying something into it while he looked at Nami.

"All this, is VIP treatment huh?" Nami asked, trying to keep her voice steady as she did. What's going on? Is Riku really back there already? Is this even a High Roller room? She turned left and right only to notice other bouncers staring at her from nearby areas. Oh crap, what's happening?!

"Just for those who win an, abnormal amount of money," Junior replied, making Nami tense up as she wondered what he meant by that. He walked straight up to the doors and they opened for him, revealing a ten by ten foot box on the other side. He walked in and then turned around and smiled at the woman who hesitated at the entrance to the box.

"What is this?" Nami asked.

"An elevator," Junior replied. Nami noticed two people directly behind her and realized those girls with long black hair were a lot closer to her now. "Come in," the head of security told her.

"Thought we were going to a back room," Nami mentioned and her left foot inched back. It bumped into something and then Nami felt a light shove on both of her shoulders, making her stumble into the elevator. "Hey!" She exclaimed and spun around to the Malachite twins.

The girls just walked into the elevator in front of Nami and then turned their backs to her, keeping her towards the back of it near Junior. Right after the twins walked in, the doors closed and Nami heard Junior say on her left, "It's fine. We're just heading down. The upper section of the Pyramid is mainly empty, that's why the grand hall's ceiling was so high up. The back of the CA$INO is where the club for visiting musicians is, not for High Roller games."

"And the basement is where High Rollers go?" Nami questioned, snapping her gaze to the man next to her with a harsh look.

"Yes," Junior replied, though the friendly feeling Nami got from his smile before was gone completely now. "Those who make the risky gamble of cheating in this casino, a 'high roller' you might call them, all are taken to the basement."

"I didn't cheat!" Nami yelled, and then the elevator stopped moving. She reached down to her side for her Clima Tact that was hidden under her dress in the waistband of her underwear. The woman's hand rested over her waist and she made no sudden movement to take it out yet. What is going on here? Are they taking me to someone? Are they planning on killing me down here? Did they already catch Riku? I didn't see him up there! I shouldn't have, cheated… Nami mentally cursed and watched as the twins stepped out of the elevator ahead of her, then felt a shove from the man behind her.

Nami stepped out of the elevator on her own accord though and then pushed the twins to the sides and marched forward confidently into the huge room beneath the casino. It was a bright room but it was mostly empty with walls far away from her in every direction except her back, but far ahead of her she saw some steps that led up to a small elevated area where several women wearing only tiny pieces of cloth over their breasts and waists were standing or lying on the steps. There were muscular armed men on the sides of the steps all wearing sunglasses and those earpieces, but Nami focused on the woman at the top of the steps who had one leg crossed over the other, wore a long white robe, and held a fan up that covered the bottom half of her face.

The woman stood up from her elegant chair, and she shook her head once to get all the strands of her long blue hair behind her head. She waved her red fan at her face and blinked her eyes of the same color before narrowing the red orbs at the young woman walking towards her. Melanie and Miltia glanced at each other, not expecting Nami to walk forward on their own. The two turned back forward and followed after her, while Junior waved a hand at Nami's back as the elevator doors closed in front of him. "Damn," he muttered once they were shut. "Such a beauty too," he said disappointedly.

In the basement, Nami walked almost all the way to the bottom of the steps while the woman above walked to the top of them. "I know you have been stealing from me," the woman said and fanned herself a few times. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Who are you?" Nami asked. She stuck her chest out and looked up confidently at the older woman with paler skin and pointier ears that stuck out to the sides of her head. "Do you understand who I am?"

"Who you are?" the woman asked. "HAHAHA!" She tilted her head back and cackled. When she looked back down Nami tensed at the sight of her scary eyes. "I saw you on the monitors, you were quite sneaky with your slight-of-hand. I only hire the best dealers, so you are good to have gotten it past them I must admit. However, I am the Peacock Queen! I run the casinos all over Organization and Fire Nation land. I can spot a cheater from a mile away."

"You caught me," Nami admitted. "But I'm warning you, I have very powerful friends. You don't want-"

"By the time any of your friends, even the boy right upstairs, notice that you are gone," the Peacock Queen began, and she rose up her hand as she did. All of the security guards on the sides of the steps reached for their hand guns or rifles, the girls behind Nami moved to the sides, and the woman holding her hand up smirked wide. "You will be long dead!" She swung her arm down and all her bouncers fired at the young woman at the bottom of the steps.

Melanie and Miltia stood on either side of the middle aisle where Nami just was. There were several large pillars around the room holding up the floor above, and the two of them were in front of pillars fifty feet away from each other, staring inwards at Nami in the middle of them who dozens of bullets were flying towards. Yet as they watched her, the twins' eyes opened wide as Nami never stopped smirking once even as the bullets hit her.

The bullets slammed straight through Nami and she started laughing. Her body started to lose its solid form and then Melanie and Miltia both spun around in surprise as figures stepped out behind the pillars they were in front of. The Peacock Queen spun her head back and forth from one pillar to the other as five Nami's stepped out from behind each one in single-file lines. "What sorcery is this?!" The woman yelled, swinging her fan in front of her and making sharp blades extend from it on all sides.

"Mirage Tempo," one of the Nami's said. As she said it, another Nami was appearing out of nowhere in the center of the ten. She was spinning a blue staff with three blue balls on it around above her head and the guards looking at her were all getting nervous.

Peacock Queen spun back and forth looking at her men and then back at the Malachite Twins. "Kill her!" The woman with long blue hair shouted.

"I don't think so," Nami called out, all eleven of them this time. They pointed their Perfect Clima Tacts forward and yelled, "Thundercloud Tempo!"

"What did she," one of the bouncers began, right before all the hair on his neck stood on end. He and everyone else on the steps lifted up their gazes, only to drop their jaws.

"When did that get there?!" someone shouted at the sight of the sparking black storm cloud.

The scantily clad women lying down scrambled up onto their feet and people were trampling each other to run away. Lightning rained down from the cloud and electrocuted most of them, while Melanie and Miltia charged at the Nami's. Melanie, the one in the white dress, jumped up in the air and blades extended from the bottoms of her heels. She came down hard on one of the Nami's only to fall right through her as it turned out to be another mirage. Miltia charged forward and lifted up her hands, instead of kicking like her sister started to do, the girl had on red gloves which black claws extended from that she used to slice up the Nami's at fast speeds.

Three Nami's emerged away from the rest of the mirages fading away and they each had their Clima Tacts broken apart and were shooting bubbles out of them to fill up the room. The twins turned their way when the initial mirage had finally fully faded, and the Nami in the center of the three stepped forward, holding two pieces of her staff in her left hand and one in her right. She smirked across the hall at the two other girls and called out, "I told you not to mess with me." She turned sideways and narrowed her eyebrows at the girls who appeared stronger than everyone else in the room, except maybe the Peacock Queen who Nami saw staggering back up at the top of her stairs in between all her collapsed subjects and guards. "It wasn't just my friends you had to worry about. You should have been more afraid of me, because I'm Cat Burglar Nami."

---

Dread Fort (The Actual Fort)

8:00 PM

"Welcome sir," A guard said with a bow of his head. He handed the I.D. back to Sanji and the chef smirked as he walked inside the fort's tall gates.

"You know," Sanji began as he walked up next to his captain. "I could get used to this," he finished. The blond cook and his black haired pirate captain looked around with huge grins on their faces.

They were in a courtyard that stretched from the gates all the way to the steps leading to the fortress. It was over a hundred yards wide and about half that from the gate to the steps. The steps were covered in people all the way up to the building at the top as well. The fortress was a huge stone building with four towers on the corners of it. The front entrance was behind a line of ten stone pillars holding up the balcony coming out of the third story of the fort.

The courtyard itself was already bustling with people. Two of the suns had fully set and the sky was a nice orange, getting darker every minute. There were guards walking around, but the two pirates who just walked in were focused on only two things. For Sanji, it was the half of the courtyard that seemed to be covered in only women. His eyes popped out of their sockets in the shape of hearts and he raced over leaving a trail of dust behind him. Luffy sprinted the opposite direction with just as strange eyes, only his were in the shape of chunks of meat with bones through them. Drool dribbled out of his mouth as he sprinted to the all-you-can-eat appetizer table.

Sanji was only near the women for a few moments before he saw a group of them running away. He looked over and saw a short man with wavy blond hair, a big smirk on his face, and two red handprints on his cheeks. "Oh! Sanji," Meliodas greeted the pirate chef he also saw through the crowd.

The pirate walked over. He was wearing a suit which matched the attire of the guests around him more than Meliodas's usual clothes that he wore to the feast. "Guess your gold symbol beats orange huh?" Sanji asked as he reached the smaller man. Only orange and above were allowed to be at the feast, though Sanji already suspected he would see a few of the Sins here.

"Uh huh," Meliodas replied with a not of his head. He held up four fingers, "It goes orange, red, black," he said, putting a finger down at a time. "Then gold," he finished.

Sanji blinked a few times. I kicked that machine pretty hard and still only got orange.

"Don't worry," Meliodas said, as if he knew what Sanji was thinking. "the ranks go up from more than just punching a machine."

"Hmm," Sanji hummed to himself. "And how did you get that gold rank?" He asked while lifting up his swirly eyebrows. His left eye was covered by the blond flip of hair going over his face, so Meliodas only saw him lift up one of his eyebrows.

"Hehe," the shorter man chuckled. "Why don't we go join the others?" He asked. Sanji followed Meliodas's gaze back across the courtyard to where he saw Luffy standing in front of Ban and Weiss. The short Captain started walking away and he snagged a mug of ale off a tray getting carried past him. Sanji would have followed behind, if he didn't catch something out the corner of his eye and turn towards it confusedly.

The tray that Meliodas grabbed his beer off of was being carried not by a human, but by a pointy silver hand. The creature the hand belonged to was thin and constantly moving, swaying around randomly. After Meliodas grabbed his drink, the silver creature snaked away through the crowd. It bounced on its pointy feet, and its head on top of the thin body had a mouth full of sharp teeth that was closed at the moment. On top of the being's silver head was a darker gray cross symbol with points on the top and both sides, but an upside-down heart on bottom.

Now that Sanji noticed one of them, he looked around and realized there were more of these creatures about. When he noticed them though, he also spotted other silver creatures up on the walls, only these looked thicker, pointier, with sharper heads. They had those same gray symbols on them though.

"Don't worry," a voice said to Sanji from not far off. The chef jumped and spun around fast. His eyes widened a little at the sight of the figure behind him wearing a brown cloak. The person lifted his head a little so Sanji could see his spiky brown hair that was being pushed down by the cloak's hood, along with his grinning mug. "The Dusks aren't very strong. If Saix was going to try anything, he would have had more Samurai Nobodies down here," Sora continued to his friend who was surprised to see him here.

Sanji wanted to ask how Sora got in, but he was wondering about what the kid said first and foremost. "Samurai?" He muttered to the cloaked teenager who he was told was in the city by his friends who saw him earlier that day.

"Up there," Sora whispered with a nod of his head to his right. Sanji followed the nod and looked up the steps to the stone pillars of the fort. Now that he looked closer, he noticed there were creatures in front of each stone pillar camouflaging into the background. They had darker silver bodies than the smaller Dusks, with dark black hands, a black head covered in slits almost like they were wearing helmets, and two long swords on its body ready for use.

Sanji furrowed his swirly eyebrow at the gray figures. "What are they?"

"When a Heartless is formed," Sora began while staring up at a Samurai himself. "A Nobody is created at the same moment. Remember when I unlocked Kairi's heart?" He asked, and there was no way that Sanji would forget the moment he gained eternal respect for Sora. He recalled the shared dream where he watched Sora stab himself in the chest with a Keyblade to release Kairi's heart, and he nodded his head in response to Sora's question. Sora continued, "Well at that moment, I became a Heartless. And simultaneously, Roxas was born. When those with strong hearts are taken by the Heartless, their bodies remain intact. For most people though, Dusks and other mindless Nobodies are created. Anyway, it's pretty confusing, let's go talk to the others." Sora motioned over towards where Sanji was going originally.

"Ye-ah," Sanji said slowly. When someone with a strong heart becomes a Heartless... I wonder...

The two of them walked across the courtyard over to where Meliodas, Luffy, Weiss, and Ban were standing in a little cluster. "Oh, so even the pervert chef made it," Weiss said not sounding very amused.

"How did you make it?" Luffy asked Weiss while tilting his head to the side. "You don't seem all that strong."

Ban and Meliodas had to stifle laughter while the girl with a white ponytail went red in the face with anger. "I'll have you know I-"

Ban cut her off, "If a swordsman can cut steel they automatically get orange."

"Huh," Luffy mumbled. Thinking about cutting steel made him think of something else and he turned to Meliodas. "So what rank is Zoro?"

Meliodas chuckled and replied, "He's rank black."

"Wait a second," Sanji started up. "I thought you said that the shitty swordsman beat you the last bunch of times-"

"The Captain here has a different reason why they marked him as equal to a Lord," Ban said with a large smirk. Melidoas turned and frowned at his taller friend, so Ban just continued to smirk and keep his mouth closed. As many questions as this raised about Meliodas, Luffy was still thinking more about Zoro.

"By the way," Meliodas began, turning back towards Sanji. He lifted a hand and pointed next to the chef, "Who is that?"

Luffy followed Meliodas's point and his eyes lit up. "Sor-" he began excitedly, but Sanji shot forward and clamped a hand over his captain's mouth.

"Keep quiet Baka!" Sanji whispered loudly into Luffy's ear. He got quieter, "Sora snuck in, remember?"

"San-mmm-ji, ge-mm-t off mmmee," Luffy moaned through Sanji's fingers.

"As long as you understand," Sanji muttered and released his captain. He turned to Meliodas and his fellow Sins, "This is our friend, the one Riku talked about back when we made our pact."

Weiss nodded her head, remembering how when they all said 'No Matter What' there were a few people who others spoke for. She thought about who Riku mentioned, Sora. The girl stared at the cloaked teenage boy for a few seconds. He's kind of cute, she thought, and then her cheeks went red and she turned away, mentally chiding herself for thinking that.

The group of six talked to each other for a little while, with Luffy chowing down on appetizers the entire time. Meliodas and Ban drank heavily, and even Sanji enjoyed himself by indulging in more than one pint of ale.

Weiss was keeping her eye on Sora, and saw him looking around completely alert. His eyes lingered on each of the guards. He almost seemed to be counting. What the Hell is he doing? She walked over to him and stated while looking down her nose at him, "I'm Weiss."

He turned his head a little to gaze at her. The boy chuckled at her serious expression as she awaited him to greet her back. He turned his entire body towards her and reached his right arm out of his long cloak sleeve to shake her hand. "It's nice to meet you," he told her. Weiss looked down at his hand, and her eyes widened at the sight of a gold ring on his ring finger. Sora saw her expression and he chuckled again, then smiled brightly from ear to ear. "We haven't gotten married yet, but I know the first thing I want to do when I meet back up with her." He turned his hand a little with his eyes on his ring, then put it back out for a handshake.

The white haired girl hesitated for a few seconds, then reached forward herself and shook his hand. Her head wasn't lifted up as much anymore since she was not looking down on him as much as she did Sanji or Luffy. She could see a difference between Sora and the two pirates he was friends with. "So," she began as she lowered her hand. "How did you get in here?" She was looking around but didn't see any way that he would have been able to make it in with all these guards.

Sora frowned a little and looked down at his hands. I had to use the power of darkness. He shook away his frown and smiled back at Weiss again, "I made a portal," he explained. "I'm actually getting pretty good at them. Riku's much better though," he admitted and frowned with a pouting expression.

Weiss chuckled herself at the sight of his pouting face, and she covered up her mouth for doing so. Sora saw her get embarrassed and started laughing again while her face turned red. "Hey," she snapped at him, slapping him on the shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry," he apologized with his hands up defensively. His happy look settled down so that his smile was much calmer, a very small smile that somewhat unnerved the girl he was talking to. She was planning on scolding him or something, but his look had her expression become much more serious. "Hey Weiss," Sora started. He kept his voice down so no one around him would hear anything. "Now that we're friends," he continued and Weiss lifted up her eyebrows, wondering when the decision that they had become friends was made. Sora continued, "I want you and your friends to be careful." His eyes darted around and then back to her again, "You might want to-"

"You don't have to worry about us," Weiss stated, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I'm strong enough as is, but if something bad were to happen, the Captain is actually more powerful than anyone in this city…"

"That's not what I was going to say," Sora whispered. He didn't sound annoyed that she cut him off and she closed her mouth, allowing him to continue this time. "You might want to stay away from us," he warned her. She looked confused so he continued softly, "I mean, you guys seem like you can handle yourselves, but getting mixed up with us isn't the best idea if you want to stay out of a fight." He chuckled a little and Weiss felt a bead of sweat form on the left side of her face. Sora suddenly felt a twinge and his eyes focused up on the Dread Fort's huge double doors at the top of the big staircase. The doors were opening and his eyebrows narrowed down, making Weiss follow his gaze up.

"Good, maybe now the feast will start," she muttered, having gotten tired of appetizers and idle conversation. She looked back at Sora and wanted to explain how the feast would work, to show off her knowledge, but he was gone. She spun around a few times, and spotted a cloaked figure over between Sanji and Luffy. Weiss clenched her fists and grumbled incoherently under her breath in annoyance. "Grr," she growled at the end and humphed, then turned to go look for the other Sins here with her.

Sora went over to where his friends were looking towards the top of the stairs as well. Everyone in the courtyard started looking up, they heard the doors groan open and now the Nobodies around the area were gathering on the staircase, standing in two lines to make a wide path for the woman standing at the top. Sanji noticed Sora glaring really hard up at the beautiful lady and he stopped drooling over her to turn to the younger man. Sora's frown deepened as he stared at her. "Oh you're so much fun to watch…You're so stupid. Don't you get it now?… That's right, your memories are lies lies lies. Binding you in the chains of your own memories was essential to our trap. It makes me tingle to think how easily you were duped…"

Every single memory he had of the woman with blonde pigtails standing at the top of the stairs was a bad one. Out of everyone in Organization XIII, she was one of the ones he hated the most. His deep frown lifted a little as he remembered her fading away painfully after he defeated her with Donald and Goofy's help. Now though, he could see the same woman in a black cloak with her smug, infuriating smirk, looking down at the courtyard and all of them in it. "Larxene," Sora muttered quietly.

Looks like he knows her too, Sanji thought, turning and looking back at the top of the stairs. His eyes turned into hearts and his face went red, She's so cute! Wait a second, his eyes turned back to normal and he thought about the name Sora just mentioned. Larxene. There's an X in it. Just like Roxas, and Saix. Shouldn't jump to any conclusions, but she might be one of those Nobodies.

Larxene threw her arms up in the air. She had a black cloak covering her entire body with long sleeves up her pale arms. There was a silver chain just under her chin at the top of the long silver zipper that went from the top of the cloak all the way to her feet. "Honored guests, welcome to the Dread Fort. My name is Larxene," she called out, pointing a thumb at herself. "Thank you all for coming for a very special occasion."

"We just came for the free feast," a ten foot tall, burly man over on the right side of the courtyard shouted. After he did, a few others shouted similar things, all sounding pretty rude.

Sanji looked over with a semi-surprised look. This was a party they were invited to, and the guests were insulting the host straight to her face with their impoliteness. Sanji frowned a little, Then again, everyone in this courtyard is powerful. They are all stronger than Franky at least, and a few of them, his head turned over to Meliodas who was grinning up towards the beautiful lady at the top of the steps. A few of them are beyond that. The chef felt himself start sweating and he tried soothing his nerves by lighting up a cigarette.

"Ahem!" Larxene called out, clearing her throat in a fake way to quiet down the crowd. "The food is on its way out," she announced, settling down a few of the disgruntled, hungry guests. She tried to keep on her friendly smirk but it was difficult not to scowl at the group of people before her. Learn some respect for your betters, she thought while glaring especially hard at the burly man who shouted first. "Before it comes out though, I have been tasked with introducing our special guest for tonight's feast."

She stepped to the side and a figure behind her near the door started walking forward. There was a smaller figure by a few inches walking behind him. They stepped out of the shadows cast by the large stone pillars and to the top of the stairs. The figure who walked behind stepped up to the taller figure's left side. He had dark green hair that got lighter the closer to the center of his scalp it got, then spiked up in a single light green point in the middle. He was wearing a dark red jacket with a yellow tie over a dark green undershirt, maroon pants, and a pair of pointed white shoes. Next to him stood the figure that most people were looking at because of the way he was smiling like he had total control over everything, everywhere, at all times. His long purple hair was partially covered up by a white top hat and he had on a white jacket, pants, and long white cape that flapped when he swung his right arm out and held it to the side. "Greetings," he announced, and smiled a sharp smile that with the little goatee on his chin, made him look like quite the menacing person.

"Who are you?!" some hungry person shouted.

"This," Larxene shouted to stop any further interruptions, "is Mephisto Pheles!" She held out both of her hands towards the man on her right and kept smiling as he looked her way with a thankful grin. "Only recently, he was made into a Lord of the Cooperative." Most of the people who were frowning and angrily yelling before simmered down and kept their mouths closed now. The hungry person who shouted at him a second ago suddenly felt very nervous and took a step backwards. Larxene kept introducing their guest, "He has taken command of Death City in the far reaches to the northeast. His commander is the High Lord, Satan!"

Sanji's cigarette dropped out of his mouth. Did she just say…

Larxene kept talking to the crowd who looked more impressed now than before. "He has honored us with his presence and by bringing a batch of high quality slaves from the north. Everyone knows that Satan's lands produce the best, most obedient slaves, so you can be sure the private auction later is one worth visiting." Larxene motioned back to the fort behind her and continued, "After the feast, at 11:00, the auction will begin inside the lower hall of the Dread Fort." She looked towards the doors and saw someone motioning to her that the food was ready.

The blonde woman clapped her hands together and turned to Mephisto again, going to finish up her introduction quickly as she was hungry as well. "Lord Mephisto returned to Aebrith after a long absence. Where was he you ask?" she questioned, and then continued loudly, "On the other side of the world! Lord Mephisto, and his younger brother Amaimon," she motioned to the frowning figure with black eyeliner and green hair who looked absolutely bored standing next to his brother. Larxene continued, "The two of them were leaders of the Government in charge of a continent a third the size of Aebrith itself."

Many people were looking at the two demons with amazed, nervous, or impressed looks. Hearing some crazy feats about a person from someone else was a quick way to learn who you did not want to get into a fight with. A few of the people in the crowd were watching with more shocked expressions than most of the others. Luffy, Sanji, and Sora were all slowly lowering their jaws from where they watched. Weiss and the other Sins looked over to their new friends and saw Luffy and Sanji start frowning deeply after the initial shock wore off.

They continued to frown while Larxene went on with her introduction, "These two were members of the High Council of Awul's Government, so I expect you all to give them the respect they deserve while you are within in boundaries of our fortress." By the end of her sentence, her friendly grin turned into a more sinister one and her words came out sounding more like threats than anything. As she finished speaking, she lowered her arms to her sides, which signaled a few dozen staff members to run out of the doors carrying tables, chairs, tablecloths, plates, silverware, and food. The food smelled delicious and Mephisto licked his lips as the people started rushing by him to go down the stairs.

"What? We aren't eating inside the Fort?" Ban questioned loudly.

"Dinner will be served in the courtyard sir," a timid-looking woman wearing a white and black maid's uniform told him as she ran by carrying tablecloths. She looked nervous and only glanced at Ban's scary face for a few seconds. The spiky-haired Sin shoved his hands into his shiny red pant pockets and grumbled in annoyance.

"Oi Luffy," Sanji muttered in a quiet voice. The two of them were standing next to each other, though when Sanji glanced in at his captain he noticed Sora had vanished again. He kept talking anyway, "These guys, they're NEG."

"HEY YOU!" Luffy shouted, and Sanji's face coated with more sweat. He wanted to shut up his captain, but Luffy started walking towards the stairs, ignoring the other people around him and the staff who froze and stared at Luffy like he was an idiot. They all saw who he was speaking to, the Lord, and it was only seconds after Larxene made that threat so everyone would treat him respectfully. The blonde woman herself started glaring down at Luffy for ignoring her warning, and her hands started sparking while her mouth twisted into a snarl.

"Wait, Luffy," Sanji whisper-yelled, speed-walking after his captain who pushed his way to the bottom of the steps and glared up at the guy at the top. As he followed after Luffy he caught a glimpse of Larxene glaring at them, but when the woman made eye contact with him, her face took on a look of surprise instead which confused him.

Mephisto looked down at the man who called him out, and his eyes widened. The demon's mouth curled up into a grin and his younger brother next to him looked down with a confused look after seeing his brother's grin. "Do you know them?" Amaimon mumbled.

"You guys were friends of Tetsuo right?" Luffy yelled up at them, balling his fists at his sides.

Amaimon's eyes turned huge and he stared at the person down there with a more confused look. "Who are-"

"Straw Hat Luffy," Mephisto called out, holding his arms out to his sides in a friendly manner. He lifted up off the ground and floated to the bottom of the stairs where he landed directly in front of Luffy, showing no fear of the pirate who looked very menacing to a lot of other people around them. He looked behind the man and flashed Sanji a grin as well, making the nervous chef totally confused. He spoke loudly, "It is quite alright Larxene, I met this man while on Awul."

"Huh?" Luffy's fists unclenched a little and he wondered when he ever met this guy.

"To be more precise," Mephisto started. "I watched you in your fight against Akainu. That was an impressive spectacle," he narrowed his eyes while smirking with a mouth full of shiny white teeth.

"Wait a second," Amaimon shouted, and jumped down to land next to his brother. He stared at the skinny man in front of him in a red shirt opened down the middle, "This is Straw Hat?" He looked up at the hat and tilted his head to the side, "Guess so… Hahahaha! Akainu was so worried about you?!" He started cackling and grinned as he got a reaction from the pirate in front of him.

"Luffy," Sanji began from behind his captain.

Luffy's fists were clenched tight and he turned back to Mephisto. "We kicked your asses," he said to the man with purple hair. Amaimon growled furiously that not only was he being ignored, but he was reminded of his humiliating defeat in Metropolis.

"Ah yes," Mephisto agreed with a small nod of his head. "The Government did not stand a chance. How did the battle end? I had to leave early, family emergency," he said, giving his excuse.

"So you ran away?" Sanji accused, without really thinking about what he was doing. It was only after the words came out, and Mephisto turned his head towards him, that he realized just how stupid that was.

The sky around them darkened. Everything was lit up by lights around the courtyard, but the air suddenly turned dark purple. A few dozen people felt their bodies cover in sweat as the dark air around them started swirling around. They looked over towards Mephisto who just kept staring at Sanji while the air turned blacker around him. "As I said, there was a family emergency," Mephisto stated again, and the sky turned back to normal, the feeling of terror going through half the people there went away, and Sanji released a breath he had kept for a long time.

"Anyway," Mephisto added, looking back at Luffy, "I only joined the Government in order to witness the battle that I knew was coming. So no, I was not friends with Tetsuo."

Larxene yelled at the staff to continue getting things set, and a few people lost interest and took seats as soon as they were set for them. The majority of people were still interested in the confrontation that they hoped would not escalate, or for a few of them, they hoped it would. "What happened to Tetsuo anyway?" Amaimon asked, leaning in and staring at the pirate in front of him.

Luffy frowned at Amaimon because of the demon's taunts earlier, but after Mephisto's small, yet incredible, display of power a second ago, he decided not to attack the demons. Luffy didn't feel like answering though, and he turned and walked away towards the table getting set up. Mephisto laughed as his brother dropped his jaw and started fuming. Before Amaimon could rush off to kill Luffy, Sanji stepped forward, "He died," the chef stated. Amaimon and Mephisto looked back at Sanji. Mephisto was not as surprised as he had suspected as much, but Amaimon's eyes were huge.

"Really? Hmm," he hummed, and it was Sanji's turn to be surprised. He thought the talkative, annoying demon who he thought he had a grasp on his personality would have said something like 'Serves the brat right,' but instead, Amaimon looked kind of, sad. He started frowning, and Mephisto was surprised at his brother's expression as well. Amaimon was deep in thought, Tetsuo wasn't that bad. The kid was cool. Not like those other goody-two-shoes. Him and Gin, and Ansem made that place exciting. "What about the others?" Amaimon questioned.

"Like who?" Sanji asked, and finally most other people looked away from them. Now with Luffy gone, it didn't seem like anything was going to come from that nerve-wracking initial confrontation. They all headed over to the big feast tables, many of them talking about Luffy or the new Lord.

The demon with green hair who was one of the top six council members of the New Earth Government looked back at Sanji and muttered under his breath, "What about Gin?"

"Ohh?" Mephisto said to his brother in a droned out way. "Did you make a friend?"

"Quiet," his younger brother snapped at him. "Aren't you curious? The shinigami did get us these nice bodies," he held his arms out to show off how great they were. He looked exactly like a human, hiding his demon tail and form. Unlike the bodies the two demons used on their own world, the gigais they were in now were not deteriorating because of their immense powers.

"True," Mephisto admitted.

"Sorry," Sanji told the two in front of him. He was feeling a little nervous after Mephisto threatened him before, and considering he was an enemy of the NEG for a long time and these two were leaders of it. He kept his cool though as he spoke to them, "Don't know what happened to him. I recognize the name though. He was one of the ones in on the Underworld Alliance."

Amaimon frowned and started grumbling, "I'm still pissed they didn't invite me into their inner circle." He remembered watching the video where Tetsuo and the Underworld slaughtered Superman and the Jedi. He had spotted Akainu in the room, and now he heard Gin was in on it too. It made him angry that they didn't trust him with it. "What about Akainu?" he asked, not sounding as focused as with Gin. "Do you know about him or-"

"Dead too," Sanji stated.

"Really?" Mephisto asked, lifting up his eyebrows. He turned his head over towards the table that Luffy was sitting at. "And, was it your captain who finished him off?"

Sanji shook his head and started lighting up another smoke. "One of the Underworld leaders, Orochimaru, did that."

"Who from the Government did make it?" Amaimon asked, since it seemed like most of the council were dead.

The chef knew a little about how the Government reformed after the war, and how there were a few of the former leaders still in charge. "The Fuhrer guy, the Covenant leader, and Dreyfus."

Amaimon nodded after hearing Roy and the Arbiter made it, but tilted his head to the side and could not for the life of him recall who Dreyfus was. "Whatever," he muttered after thinking about it got boring. He was starting to lose interest completely but his eyes opened wide and he looked back at Sanji, "You never said Trunks."

Sanji didn't respond, and Amaimon's eyes only got wider. "And the Super Saiyan falls," Amaimon said, shaking his head and chuckling darkly. He sighed and looked up at the sky. After that first council got destroyed, I was the first one to join up. Ichigo and Supergirl quit, everyone else was dead or missing, leaving only Superman, Tetsuo, Akainu, and Trunks. Then Gin joined up, and Roy. He sighed again, thinking of all the good times ruling a country with comrades instead of working as the Demon King of Earth for his father for once.

Mephisto stepped up to Sanji and put an arm around the chef's head, pulling his shoulder to move the pirate closer to him. "Come, sit with us. I want to hear about the rest of the fight after I left." He started walking to the table without waiting for a reply and pulled Sanji along with him. Sanji looked over to his captain for some help, but sweatdropped at the sight of Luffy's cheeks puffed out, stuffed with meat. Thanks Captain.

---

"You sure we should be doing this?" Rin whispered as he and Killua climbed a little higher. They had their hands and feet against the stone wall surrounding the Dread Fort's courtyard.

"Stop being such a scaredy-cat," Killua whispered back at the older teen.

Rin frowned and almost shouted something at Killua, but they both froze as they spotted something at the top of the wall. It was dark out and they were blending in pretty well with the wall as they had both decided to wear black for the occasion. They stared at the silver creature that aimlessly walked across the top of the wall only ten meters above them. Once it was around the bend in the wall, the two boys let out sighs of relief. "Let's keep going," Killua said and started climbing again.

Rin nodded his head and followed the white haired boy up to the wall's ledge. Killua reached first and poked his head over, and seeing as he did not pull his head back right away, Rin felt it was safe to poke his head up too. They both peered over the edge of the wall and saw that the path on top of the wall was actually a little below them, with the part they were holding onto elevated so that anyone walking on the top of the wall would find it hard to fall off. At least, if they were falling to the outside it would be harder, there was no railing-wall on the inner part of the wall's walkway, giving the two boys leaning over the wall a good view of the inside of the courtyard.

"Oh man, that looks so good," Killua complained as he stared at the feast going on down below. I should have just hit the machine. Damn, Sanji wasn't around so we had to eat out, but Nami didn't leave me or Rin enough money to get more than the two hot dogs we had. Bitch, he thought in annoyance, but really was just mad because his stomach was growling at him. He smirked and turned his head a little to Rin, "Hey, wanna try to sneak in and steal some food?" Killua's question hung in the air but Rin did not respond.

Killua started looking at Rin nervously as the teenager in front of him was getting angrier by the second. Rin's face looked intense and he only held onto the wall with one arm, reaching up his other and grabbing his sword by the hilt. Killua panicked and reached a hand over, grabbing Rin by the wrist. "Whoa, what are you doing?" Killua hissed at him.

"That's him," Rin snarled, and Killua could see the older boy's teeth were sharper than a minute ago. Killua followed his gaze into the courtyard, but did not let go of Rin's wrist so that the boy would keep his sword sheathed and not ignite himself with blue flames.

"Who?"

"Mephisto," Rin growled. Killua's eyes widened as he recognized the name, and then recognized the person who the name belonged to.

"The High Council member," Killua whispered as he stared at the purple haired man wearing a white cape, suit, and top hat. Killua's eyes darted to the man's left side, "And Amaimon's here too," he added in just as quiet a whisper. "This is bad."

"I can deal with Amaimon," Rin said, brushing it off like the King of Earth was of no consequence. "But Mephisto is the one who took my brother." Killua spun to the teen who never really talked about why he came to Aebrith. He heard from Dash once that Rin was on a mission to save his brother, but never asked Rin about it himself. "When Yukio was dying in Metropolis, he took him away and said to find them on Aebrith. Well I found him, but my brother isn't down there with them." Rin was growling even more, and he turned to Killua, "Now let go of my wrist."

Killua looked into his comrade's eyes and he whispered, "Will you hold on a second?" He saw Rin frown at him, but the older boy nodded and Killua let go of him. The white haired boy put his hands both back on the wall, but he kept his head pointed at his older friend. "You said you can take care of Amaimon, does that mean Mephisto is too strong for you?" Killua saw Rin frown deeper and look back into the courtyard. "Then if that's true, let's not go in there guns blazing. Let's ask this guy if he knows where your brother is, since to me it sounds like he was trying to save him."

Rin ground his teeth together, but while he was doing it Killua could see those teeth losing their sharpness. The younger boy sighed in relief as Rin brought his hand back to the wall. "Then let's go ask him," Rin suggested.

"Not now," Killua said in a quiet voice. Rin glared at him, but Killua continued while looking into the courtyard, staring at Sanji who was sitting at Mephisto's table. "We don't want to make a scene out of it. Later, when he's alone we can corner him and ask about Yukios. I want to help you, but we have to do this smart," Killua urged.

Rin and Killua made eye contact, and after a few seconds Rin sighed. "You're right. Seeing him again, it just made me want to see Yukio so bad," Rin clenched his eyes shut painfully. When he opened them back up they had a softer look to them, "Sorry Kil."

Killua looked taken aback, "For what?" The boy asked.

"Last night, I doubted you. When you told us that stuff, I actually thought you were a bad person for a minute. Even after, I was still a little upset, but you really are a good friend. So, sorry, I should have trusted you more, like Riku did," Rin gave the stunned kid a smile, and then started climbing back down the outside of the wall.

Killua watched him descend for a few seconds before following. A good friend? He thought. Am I, really? No. He has no idea. Robin's the only one who really gets me. The only one who knows I would still leave you guys if I ever felt my life was in danger. She knows what I really am. Killua's face hardened and he kept descending the wall with a straight face. A monster.

---

"And the town actually erected a statue of me after all was said and done," a man with long, curly black hair shouted from one end of a long table. "The women called out my name, 'Theseus! Theseus!' That night was one to remember!" The Greek Hero laughed out loud and a group of men close to him joined in the merry laughter.

Luffy was one of those laughing along with the guy's story. He had a chunk of meat in one hand and his cheeks puffed out while he laughed, sending chunks of food flying about. In his other hand was an almost empty mug of ale and Theseus saw this from his seat a few away. "My new friend, let me pour you another drink!" Luffy looked over and watched the man swing his arm. A barrel of the ale far from them at the side of the table opened up and beer magically flew out the top of it in an arc directly into Luffy's mug where it filled until it was spilling over.

"Oooh! Thanks!" Luffy exclaimed, then took that drink to wash down the meat filling his mouth. He reached his arm out to the left ten feet to grab a plate of potatoes and his arm snapped back to place afterwards.

While Luffy poured the potatoes into his mouth, a woman a few seats to his left looked over at the man who stole a plate of potatoes from right in front of her. "A stretching arm?" She started interestedly. "What type of ability is that?"

"A Dev-il Fr-uit," Luffy said between bites of food.

"Ahh," a few people around him said.

"A Devil Fruit?" Theseus exclaimed. He scratched his chin and the fuzzy beard over it. "I was once offered one as a reward, but thankfully those rewarding me warned me of the fruit's weaknesses."

"Could you imagine?" A man sitting on Theseus's left side began. "The son of Poseidon, unable to swim!"

"Hahaha!" Theseus laughed and the others laughed with him.

"What, does being, ack, ack-" Luffy punched his chest and finished swallowing before continuing his question. "What does being Poseidon's son have to do with swimming?"

"Poseidon is a water god," the woman on his left from before mentioned. She leaned over the table and rested her chin on her hand while talking to the pirate. The woman looked like she was in her mid-twenties, with a purple ponytail that only held some of her hair while the rest fell messily behind her. She had a rifle slung over her upper back and two machine guns strapped lower down on her black tank top. Her right shoulder and upper arm were covered in swirly black tattoos, she had a lit cigarette in her mouth, and there were two pistols with skulls on the sides of them at her waist on a belt around her jean shorts. "Theseus over there happens to be a son of one of our captors."

"Captors?" Luffy muttered in response, not knowing what she was talking about.

"The Gods," Revy replied. The woman covered in guns leaned back on her seat and pulled out her cigarette. "This is all just one big game they put together for their own amusement."

"The Gods would never do something so cruel," a different woman across from Revy scolded harshly. She had on a white fur headdress and there was a white direwolf lying on the floor behind her chair. It growled over at the gunslinger woman the same way its master was doing on the seat in front of it.

"Sorry, sorry," Revy waved off the younger woman and her wolf. She glanced back over at Luffy, "San here thinks the Gods have a plan for us all."

"Quiet Revy," the younger woman snapped at the person across the table from her. Luffy was beginning to notice the two of them seemed pretty friendly towards each other, despite their contrasting opinions on the issue of the Gods. San turned towards Luffy and stared at the skinny pirate with a discerning gaze. "Why did you challenge Lord Pheles earlier?" She questioned the man in the straw hat.

As San asked it, a portion of their table became quiet as the others wanted to hear Luffy's response. They did not understand all that talk about Awul, the NEG, or the Underworld from before, but that did not mean they were not interested in it. Luffy shrugged and grabbed a piece of meat from in front of him, "I thought I wanted to kick his ass. But he seems okay."

"Okay my left foot," an annoyed voice said behind Luffy. The pirate turned around to see Sanji standing behind him with a pissed off expression and his arms crossed. "Way to leave me with that guy for the last half hour. He wouldn't stop talking," Sanji took a seat next to Luffy that he noticed his captain had kept empty for him. "Made me answer all sorts of questions," he continued to mutter even as he grabbed some food. His annoyed expression changed to one of interest as the food on this table differed a little from the head table he was just sitting at.

Sanji looked back over his shoulder and to the opposite side of the courtyard. The table he was just sitting at had both Meliodas and Ban sitting at it, along with Amaimon and Mephisto, not to mention the woman Larxene who was their host for the evening. He learned that since Meliodas and Ban had higher ranks than orange they were invited to that head table, and after that he felt very out of place being the only orange-ranked person there. Is everyone at that table stronger than me? He thought while looking around at the other half dozen people there he did not recognize or get to know while he was there. How did that shitty swordsman get black?

The guests continued feasting for free out in the courtyard of the Dread Fort. Over a hundred people ate and talked with servants tending to their every whims. Those servants were mainly mindless Dusks that snaked around the tables serving more food and drink.

At one point the Nobodies gathered together at the steps making two lines up to the doors of the fort. The gray Samurai in front of the pillars moved in and made up the top of the lines while the Dusks filled the bottom steps. A wide path led straight to the front doors of the fort that opened out towards the courtyard full of people looking up at them.

Larxene looked to the steps and frowned for a split second. She got out of her seat and walked towards the base of the steps with a large smile on her face. "Everyone, please welcome the Lord of the Dread Fort..." Out of the doors walked a tall man in a black cloak just like Larxene's. He had the same chain at the top of the zipper going up the middle his coat. His hood was down revealing a stern face with an X-shaped scar crossing his forehead and down over the bridge of his nose to under his eyes. His light blue hair was long, straight all the way down his mid-back. Larxene rose a hand up towards him, "Saix!"

A couple people clapped lightly while most of them just looked up and watched him step out of his fortified building. Luffy spotted something behind the man and that something walked to Saix's side. This person had on the signature black coat but their hood was pulled up keeping their face shrouded in shadows. Luffy looked closer at the shorter figure whose face was shadowed. It didn't matter that he could not see the person's face; he recognized the presence anyway.

Now that I know, he does feel a little like Sora, a lot actually. Luffy stared at the cloaked figure who Sora was here for. Roxas, he thought. Luffy frowned thinking about how the teen attacked him and Natsu, but if he was being forced into it then the pirate figured he could forgive him.

Sanji noticed his Captain's intense look and followed his gaze to the figure whose face was shadowed. So that's Roxas, he saw the figure's head turn towards him and Luffy. The man in front of Roxas walked straight down the steps, but the boy behind seemed to flinch and hesitate for a second. Sanji realized the teen's hood was not pointed towards them anymore, but more to their left. He turned and saw Sora sitting at another table in a brown cloak with the hood up too.

The chef had heard from Usopp and Rin all about what Sora told them in the alley earlier when he was out buying supplies. Sora's Nobody is only here because a lady is in danger. Sanji's eyes lit on fire and his hands clenched over the table.

Saix gazed around at everyone in the courtyard, taking it all in quickly. His attention focused down at the table closest to Larxene though, and he walked straight towards it. When he got close, Mephisto Pheles stood up and bowed to the hosting Lord. The two of them started talking, and though Mephisto was very loud and outgoing, Saix kept everything short and concise.

The reigning Lord took a seat at the main table and the feast continued. About an hour after the food came out, dinner was officially over. Everyone was invited to stay and come inside for dessert while a live performance would be taking place. During that performance, those who wished to head to the slave auction would head to a different part of the fort for that.

The meal ended and most everyone headed inside. Only a few people were there for just the food. Sanji spotted the three members of the Sins heading inside ahead of him and his Captain. "Luffy," he started while they walked towards the doors. The lines of Nobodies were still on the steps making sure to keep order in the Dread Fort. The rubberman on his side looked in at him and he continued, "Try not to start anything just yet. There are a lot of strong characters in here with us."

Luffy nodded his head while the two of them walked inside. "Hey Sanji," Luffy began as they stepped through the doors. "Have you seen So-" he stopped talking, and just mouthed the name 'Sora' at his blond chef. Sanji spun his head around looking to see if anyone saw Luffy, then sighed in relief and looked around for Sora himself.

"No," Sanji admitted. The two of them walked farther into the building that was much more illuminated than the outside, while at the same time feeling darker. The ceilings were high up and the farther up the room the darker it got, making it almost seem like night above them while the floor they were on was well lit by all the lights on the walls and even glowing panels on parts of the floor.

"Hey you two," they turned and saw Meliodas waving them over. They walked his way and spotted Ban and Weiss not far behind him. "Coming to the auction?" Meliodas asked them.

Luffy narrowed his eyes at the short man while Sanji just looked at him confused. "You want slaves?" Sanji asked the bartender.

Meliodas chuckled and Luffy lost his angered look to become confused as well. Meliodas turned and walked back towards Ban and Weiss who were waiting for him outside of a staircase that led down to a lower hall where the auction would be taking place.

Sanji turned as he heard music coming from the great hall on this floor. He spoke up, "Luffy, what are we doing here? We going to try something?" Sanji did not like this place the longer he was here. Slaves getting sold in the basement, but even the people not going down there are just sitting up here listening to a concert like nothing's happening. It makes me sick.

"Let's wait a little," Luffy suggested. Sanji looked at his captain in surprise as Luffy was not often one for waiting. Luffy continued in a casual tone, "I think Sora has a plan. He'll come tell us when he wants our help."

Sanji face-palmed as Luffy just said Sora's name out loud right as two of those Dusks were walking by. He followed them with his eyes to see if they noticed, and he watched as both gray figures stopped, looked back at Luffy, and then turned towards him and kept staring at him with their creepy faces. It did not even look like they had eyes, just mouths full of sharp teeth that looked like zippers.

"Shoo, go away," Luffy waved his hands at the weird creatures that did what they were told and slithered away from him, moving a lot more irregularly than when they were just walking past a minute ago.

"Hold on," Sanji jogged after them. He turned and growled at Luffy, "Stay here, or go to the concert or something, but stay where I can find you."

"Where are you going?" Luffy asked.

"To take out those Dusks," Sanji whispered loudly back to him. "I have a feeling they're about to report us." He ran away and Luffy watched him go before turning and walking towards the sound of that great music. He saw the stage after walking past a marble pillar, and he smiled as he thought about another musician just like the one up there playing her violin.

Luffy chuckled as he thought about his skeleton violinist. Maybe he wasn't exactly like her. Brook would probably have asked to see her panties, Luffy could not help but laugh harder in nostalgia until he stopped and his smile faded. He walked farther into the room and his mouth dropped into a straight line. He looked at the blonde woman on stage playing the violin masterfully, and only now did he notice the ankle bracelet she was wearing. If not for the Power Blocker visible on her wrist, Luffy may have thought it was just one that she wore on her foot for a fashion statement or something. Since she was wearing two though, and the one on her foot had a glowing red light on it, Luffy knew what she was. He knew that smile on her face was for the guests, and that she did not enjoy this music she was playing.

Slaves. Slaves everywhere. Luffy thought, his fists clenching at his sides and his pupils dilating. His body gave off a small aura that had other guests nearby him, sitting at tables and drinking together, looking his way and wondering why he looked so mad. Luffy held it in for now though, he held it all back. Sora and Roxas both need my help. This is one of those times that Nami talked about, umm, a delicate situation, that's it! I have to be careful, or Sora won't be able to get his Nobody back, I think.

The woman up on stage had an anklet marking her as a slave, but as Luffy continued to watch her he found it hard to imagine that she was one. The expression on her face was not of sadness or fear, but a calm, relaxed look, and she seemed to be truly enjoying herself. She was very young, in her mid-teens by the looks of it. She held her violin up at her chin and played with her eyes closed, the only lights near her all pointing directly on the stage and at her. There were others sitting at round tables around the outside of the stage, sitting and drinking and eating desserts, but no one made a sound as they did those things. Friends sat near each other and they all stared at the stage in silence, mesmerized by the girl's beautiful music. Luffy watched this girl in amazement as the song picked up speed and his own lips curled back into a smile.

He was waiting for Sora and listening to music that he could not dance along to like he enjoyed doing for most music. The song and the girl's grace while she played worked so well together. He watched for two minutes straight before the girl sped up, sped up, and then out of nowhere she pulled towards herself and did not push the bow back over the strings of her instrument. Luffy realized his breath was held three seconds after she stopped and he finally released it, though for others they found themselves holding it much longer as they waited and waited for something, only for the musician to lower her instrument. They all let out breaths of air and they stared at her in awe of what they just heard and how unexpected the song ended.

"Amazing," Theseus said from his seat, lowering his mug of ale and starting to clap his hands. Others joined in and Luffy found himself clapping a few seconds later too.

The girl on stage opened her eyes and looked out at everyone clapping, the silhouettes in the dark. She stared at them and no longer had the calm expression she had while playing the violin. The clapping slowed and stopped, then a woman with blonde pigtails stepped on stage, clapping her hands slowly and loudly so the sounds echoed around the room. "Tonight's performance will be Kaori Miyazuno's final in the Dread Fort."

The girl bowed her head and did not say a word as Larxene walked up behind her and put both hands on the younger blonde's shoulders. "She will be the final piece to be sold at the auction tonight-"

"Hey!" someone shouted from a table. "I came here because I didn't want to take part in the damn auction, don't bring it up!"

"Yeah!"

About half of those in the dark room started yelling at Larxene who held up her hands defensively, then whispered something in Kaori's ear before turning and walking back off the stage. Luffy did not shout like some of the others, and he glared around the dark room at all those inside it. He could not tell how he felt about the ones who shouted against the idea of slaves, seeing as they were not doing anything about the auction going on. There were some others who stayed silent like him who he could also see were glaring darkly at Larxene as she walked off the stage, but then he spotted a few who did not say anything but were looking intrigued now and talking to each other in hushed voices. As Kaori started back up on her violin, three of them got out of their seats and made for the exit, only they were not leaving the Dread Fort, but heading to its lower halls.

Luffy watched them turn down the same way as the stairs Meliodas, Ban, and Weiss went down, making him growl and clench his fists. Luffy took a step, then heard a voice right behind him, "Luffy." He spun around and saw a boy in a brown cloak standing there. Sora looked up into his eyes and the teen's face was intense. "Follow me, we're doing this." Luffy spun his head and looked back the direction of the slave auction, but then turned to Sora and nodded. The teenager nodded back at him and motioned with his head for Luffy to follow.

Luffy got behind Sora and they started walking off. The pirate's fists clenched at his sides and he bared his teeth. Good. I need to hit someone.

---

"That was the last one," Sanji muttered to himself. He looked around the empty hallway but no other Dusks were around. "I just hope the others don't notice when one of those things gets destroyed."

"Hey, what are you doing over here?"

Sanji heard the voice and started turning while getting ready to come up with an excuse for why he was in this hallway by himself. When he turned and looked down the hall from where he came though, his eyes opened wide and his mouth curled up into a huge smile at the sight of the blonde woman standing there. "Larxene-channn!"

"You were supposed to report to Vexen in the deep basement," she began while walking towards him from the end of the hall. "And what did I tell you? You were only supposed to put on the suit after…" Larxene faded off and her eyes opened huge as she stared at the pirate in the middle of the hall.

Sanji's lovey-dovey attitude he had towards all the ladies faded and the chef suddenly became very confused and unsettled. "You know me?" He asked confusedly. She's talking to me like I'm someone else completely. "Why do you-" CRACK The back of Sanji's head filled with a sharp pain and cut him off as he was taken right off his feet.

Sanji hit the ground and his vision was hazy. He lay on his side as the corners of his eyes went black and his vision closed in. He saw a figure who must have been behind him walk forward so he was standing right in front of him in between him and Larxene. "Nicely done," Larxene said.

"Ah! Larxene-chan praised me!" The figure in front of Sanji yelled out happily. He twirled around on one foot and Sanji rose his eyes to look at the back of the man's head. The figure in all black chuckled darkly after finishing his spin and he said, "I can not wait to become whole." Sanji stared at the back of the man's head, covered in blond hair, and the man laughing in a low tone turned his head ever so slightly. The man looked back with one eye and the swirly eyebrow over his eye was unmistakable. "Who would have guessed my Somebody would be so weak?"

"Ha, I would have," Larxene remarked, making the Nobody in front of her grab his chest like he got stabbed by her words. Larxene sighed at his immaturity and she turned away from him, walking away and saying, "Jixsan, get your Somebody to a cage. Vexen won't be able to convert you right away." Jixsan looked at her back confusedly and she explained, "The chamber is about to be used by a higher priority Organization member. Wait your turn, number XXIII" she said in a smug voice. Larxene kept walking away and she turned down another corner while the blond Nobody behind her shouted affirmation and then spun to his Somebody whose head was still rocking from whatever hit him.

"You're, my Nobody," Sanji muttered, trying to pull up his hands so he could push himself up. The cloaked figure in front of Sanji kicked him in the right shoulder though and Sanji grunted in pain.

"That's right, but soon," Jixsan said, as he reached down and grabbed Sanji by the suit collar. "Soon the two of us will be one, and my heart will finally be whole." Sanji had no idea what he was talking about, but Jixsan started walking away carrying Sanji like he was a duffle bag, dragging the chef's lower body on the floor next to him. Jixsan laughed to himself as he walked, "Who would have guessed, a half dozen of our Somebodies all show up in the same city? If it was just you Straw Hats, I wouldn't be surprised, I do have your memories after all."

Sanji's vision went black again and he yelled mentally at himself to stay awake. Jixsan kept talking while Sanji was close to passing out though, "Xirn, Manix, Bronxi, Swixes, even my own! Too bad the others aren't around to capture theirs, I'll just have to catch you all."

"Why?" Sanji mumbled. His eyes were closed but his ears still worked and he heard everything his counterpart said.

"Because if I get Manix-chan, Bronxi-swan, and Swixes-tan their Somebodies, they'll definitely fall in love with me!" Jixsan exclaimed happily.

"To get their Somebodies though," Sanji growled, his eyes opening back up and his black vision tinting red. "Just who is it you plan on capturing?" His voice was less slurred and sounded angrier now. Jixsan looked down, and Sanji's head snapped up in anger to look his Nobody in the eyes. "I won't believe it. You can't be my Nobody," Sanji spun around and slammed a kick into the Nobody's legs. Jixsan winced in pain and let go of Sanji's suit, letting the chef drop to the floor and then push himself up.

"What are you talking about?' The Nobody who looked exactly like Sanji, only with his flip of blond hair over the opposite side of his face, asked. "I am you. I have all of our memories. Owner Zeff, Luffy, Vivi, Nami, Robin, Conis, Camie, Juvia..." Jixsan lifted off most of the women Sanji was friends with and the blond chef wearing a suit only got angrier.

"You bastard," Sanji snarled. Jixsan looked confused and Sanji snapped his gaze up to look in his Nobody's eyes. "You were planning on harming a woman!"

"Who said anything about hurting them?" Jixsan growled back, angered that this man would think he could harm a woman. "Nami, Robin, Weiss, those three will not be harmed. Just like I need you, Manix and the others need their Somebodies to become whole." Jixsan stepped towards Sanji, "Now, come with me quietly. I do not wish to disturb the guests." Jixsan was acting calm, but the Nobody was currently thinking up a way to take down Sanji quickly. He thought the hit to the back of the head before was hard enough to knock out his Somebody, and that it was just taking a while, but the chef in a suit did not look tired in the least anymore.

He said Weiss, which means Weiss-chan must have fallen to the darkness once before too. In that case, she's as much of a target as we are. I have to warn her! And Nami-san, and Robin-chan! Sanji rose up his right foot and he narrowed his eyes at the enemy in front of him. "I won't let you touch them," Sanji growled.

Jixsan stared at Sanji's leg and the Nobody laughed. "Are you going to kick me?" Jixsan questioned. He stepped forward and rose up his hands, and a staff formed out of thin air that he grasped with both hands. His left hand was higher up the staff than his right, but he twirled the black staff around in a circle in front of him so fast that it became blurry. Then, he grabbed the bottom of it with his left hand and pulled back so it shot in between his side and his left arm, and he held his right hand out near the head of the staff that was wider and bumpier than the rest of the black weapon. Jixsan pointed his staff at a stunned Sanji who felt like he was looking at himself in the mirror only he did not recognize his own moves. Jixsan glared at his replica and stated confidently, "I won't even let you get close."

---

CA$INO

"So you defeated the Peacock Queen?"

Nami turned around and chills went down her spine at the dark aura spinning around the room behind her. She took a step back and the Clima Tact in her hand started shaking. She tried to put on a brave face, but she was hurt during her fight against all the now-unconscious casino staffers around the Ca$ino's basement. The Malachite twins were both pretty durable and got a couple of hits in on her giving her some bad bruises before they went down. The Peacock Queen herself turned out to be the most durable of the bunch and Nami's left leg was bleeding badly from the sharpened fan the casino owner clipped her with.

"I would say that this means it will be an interesting fight," the dark voice continued. It was somewhat high-pitched but still sounded like a man's. Yet, as Nami looked for this man in the growing darkness, she saw no one appearing to face her. "But considering your injury, I believe you will fall easily," his menacing voice said.

"Come out!" She yelled. She connected the three pieces of her Clima Tact and spun the blue staff around in front of her body. "I'm not afraid of you!"

"No, you aren't afraid of anything, Nami."

Nami's heart stopped at the sound of that voice. The man's voice was gone, and the darkness in front of her spread so it covered the floor, the ceiling, and all of the walls. The people lying unconscious around the pirate woman sank down into the darkness leaving Nami alone in a completely black void.

"Nami? What's wrong?"

That voice, Nami thought, and she stumbled back over the dark floor. As she stumbled, the ground came out from beneath her and she started falling, falling, deeper into the darkness. She spotted a circle of light down below her and her feet slowed down as she neared it. Her feet touched down gently and she looked around in shock as the darkness around the light area shifted and some of it flew forward to make a single mass in front of her. That solid darkness began to take shape and it spoke as it did, "Are you alright? I've been worried about you."

Nami's legs became weak and her lower lip dropped a few inches as the woman in front of her formed. She had long dark red hair tied in a ponytail that fell behind her back, and wore a blue plaid shirt with a yellow apron over it. "I have missed you Nami," the older woman said as she completely formed in front of her.

Nami opened her mouth but words were hard to form. The most she could make out at the moment was just, "Belle-mere-san." Her lips were trembling and she had water on the bottoms of her eyelids. "Is it," Nami whispered after a few seconds. "Is it really you?"

"Yes Nami," Bellemere responded. The woman walked towards her daughter while Nami collapsed down to her knees.

What is this? What the Hell is going- Did I- Did I die? Nami looked up with teary eyes and the woman in front of her was smiling down. That must be it, Nami thought, a small smile coming to her face at a sight she had so longed to see.

"Nami," her mother began, and lowered down her right hand to touch her daughter's cheek. Nami tilted her head to the side so her left cheek would get pressed harder into her mom's hand. She sighed in relief as it all ended, her eyes closing shut. If this was how it ended, it did not seem so bad. "Why did you kill me?"

Nami's eyes snapped open and looked up at the woman in front of her. Bellemere was no longer smiling and the hand she had on Nami's cheek was lowering down. The hand lowered to Nami's chin and then shot forward and wrapped around Nami's weak neck. "Bell-mere," Nami gasped as she was choking. "Why?"

"That's my question!" Bellemere snapped. She lifted up on Nami's throat and the younger woman's feet left the floor. "Arlong would have let me live if it weren't for you!" She clenched harder on Nami's throat but her suffocation was not nearly the worst pain she was feeling right now. "If only you had run, he would have let me live. Even if I had claimed to have daughters, if you had just escaped like the others told you to, I would have been allowed to live!" Bellemere clenched harder and Nami tried to scream but it just came out as a raspy breath of air.

"What do you think happened to everyone you left behind?" Bellemere asked, her voice getting deeper and darker. She lowered Nami and spun her around, but wrapped an elbow around her neck to keep choking her. Nami could not take it and her hands opened up, dropping the weather weapon she was holding in them. Bellemere laughed as Nami's only protection fell from her grasp. In the man's voice from before, Nami's mother said, "Look what befell your old world only months after you left it."

Nami's squinted eyes opened up a little and then shot open wide at the sight of a planet appearing in the darkness in front of her. A massive hand that was a deeper black than the rest of the darkness reached forward out of nowhere and clenched down on the planet. The vision zoomed in far and Nami looked horrified at the sight of Cocoyashi village and all the citizens on it, everyone she loved. They were all running around in panic as one of the black fingers curled around their part of the planet. Nojiko, Nami thought in horror as her sister screamed and held up her hands to try and stop the darkness. She could not though, and was crushed along with everyone else.

The person holding Nami felt all the vibrations in her neck, and though he wanted to keep choking her, he also wanted to hear her screams. He tossed her forward and she hit the ground that lost its light color from before. Nami gasped, and then screamed out in agony, and not just the physical kind. Everything she was seeing was too much for her and she grabbed her neck and the side of her head at the same time.

"Honey," her mother's voice spoke up. Nami did not want to look, but her head turned anyway and she saw Bellemere looking down at her. The woman's chest was getting red, blood soaking straight through her clothes. Tears spilled out of Nami's eyes and Bellemere reached a hand out for her. "Why?" Bellemere asked. "Why Nami? Why?" The red splotch got wider until it covered her entire body, and when she coughed, a bucket of blood splashed out, some of it getting on her traumatized daughter.

Nami lifted up her hands and stared at the blood all over them in horror. Then, her head dropped down and her arms fell limp at her sides. When the voice spoke back up, it was no longer in her mother's voice, but she could not bother to look up. "Aww, it looks like she's finally broken. That's a disappointment. Well, you were fun to mess with. Merging with Ienzo definitely made my illusions stronger."

Nami heard footsteps and though she was looking down, she saw legs coming closer to her that stopped once they were only a few feet away. "Guess it's finally time to end this. It's a pity-"

"Don't you touch her..." Nami's head flinched while the man in front of her took a whole two steps back. He started looking around and Nami lifted up her head a little. She followed the bottom of the man's feet up the black cloak he was wearing to his face. He had bright blue eyes, though the entire right side of his face including his right eye was covered by his long bluish-silver hair. He was small in stature, not very tall, nor well-built in any way. And when Nami looked at him, she saw an intense fear on the man's face that she imagined matched her own.

"Touch Nami again, Zexion," the voice snarled, and the man in front of Nami staggered even farther backwards at the sound of his own name. "And I will DESTROY you!"

The darkness surrounding the two shattered. Nami saw someone standing behind the person who had been making her see illusions, and when that man saw the look of despair on her face, his angry expression turned even more furious. "Scratch that," Riku growled and he rose up both hands. Darkness surrounded his hands and then light shone out in front of his curled fingers. Two long Keyblades formed that Riku crossed in front of his body and then uncrossed fast to make sparks fly off his weapons. "I am going to destroy you right now!"

"Riku," Zexion growled at the teen. His originally nervous expression lifted into a cockier one and he started laughing, though with sweat on his face. "I was hoping you would show up one of these days. I still need to pay you back, for what you did in Castle Oblivion!" Zexion lifted up his right hand and a book appeared on it, while he rose his left hand and a pen emerged with a long beautiful feather sticking off the back. Riku looked at the pen cautiously, and Zexion spoke up smugly, "That's right. I have become more powerful here on Nexus. And recently, I became fused with my Somebody!" The Lexicon in his hands exuded darkness from its pages and wisps of black floated off of the feather on his pen and from its tip as well.

"Merged?" Riku muttered, confused at what he was talking about.

"Ienzo," Zexion said in a smug voice. "We found him, and now I am complete! My power," the walls around them shifted again and Nami yelled out as the floor beneath her feet transformed. "It is out of this world!" Zexion roared, and the world around them shattered and got completely replaced by a new one.

Nami looked around while still on her knees and her eyes went wide. I've seen this place before, she realized. She tried to think of when it was, and when she looked at Riku she realized it. The look of recognition on his face was unmistakable. This was the same world she remembered seeing him, Sora, and Kairi on during their memory trip courtesy of the Forever Knights. It was exactly how she remembered it in that memory too, on the day that Riku's world was swallowed up by the darkness. They were on a small spit of ground while chunks of the island around them were getting ripped off into a swirling black vortex in the sky.

"It's your fault Riku," a girl said to the right of them. Riku turned and the woman on her knees twenty feet back did as well. Nami saw Kairi suddenly standing there looking at Riku in a terrified, disgusted way. "You let the darkness in. You let it destroy everything."

"Kairi," Riku whispered. His fists clenched around the hilts of his Keyblades and his eyes darted around the false world around him. "Where are you, Zexion?!"

"You accepted the power of darkness," a voice spoke on Riku's left now and he spun to see Sora standing there. As he turned, he caught a glimpse of his own skin and looked down to see he was darker, with a big red heart on his chest with a black outline. His hair was straighter and water formed beneath him for him to look down into and see his reflection. He had turned into Ansem again, and he backed up a step at the sight of his own face. It was a face he spent so long hiding from his friends because he could not bear for them to see him like that.

"You," two voices said at the same time. Riku slowly turned around and he looked past Nami's kneeling body as she spun around in panic because there were voices right behind her. Nami fell on her butt and scooted backwards as there were two men standing behind her who she knew weren't really there. Usopp and Rin pointed their arms out at Riku and spoke in unison, "You destroyed us. You turned us into your weapons. You made us your slaves."

Another three figures appeared behind them: The Flash, Brother Blood, and Wendy. All five of them continued, "An army of darkness, but you knew the whole time that we could feel everything we were doing."

"We had to watch!" Wendy yelled.

"And we couldn't control our bodies!" Barry Allen yelled. The Flash sprinted forward but Riku rose up his Keyblade and blocked the punch aimed at his face.

"You may look like them," Riku growled, his eyes shadowed over by dark lines. "Even the things you say, may be things that they never said themselves but always wanted to," Riku bashed his Keyblade forward and smashed straight through the Flash. "But you can't copy the Flash's speed!" Riku raced forward and right by a shocked Nami.

Usopp pulled back on a slingshot that appeared out of nowhere. He fired and Riku simply moved out of the way before cutting through him, "Or Usopp's accuracy! Or Rin's flames!" Riku slashed back and forth and cut apart all the illusionary figures around him.

"Riku." He turned around and saw Sora and Kairi holding hands and staring at him, both with horrified looks on their faces. They spoke together and made Nami feel shivers down her spine, "Your decisions cost us our hearts. The two of us died, but at least we got to get away from you."

"RaaAAAA!" Riku roared. Out of his body came a wall of darkness so powerful that Nami could see a darker black on the already pitch black background of the illusion. Riku's roar shook the realm and the walls twisted as they vibrated too hard. The black walls around them could not handle the teen's darkness and all at once they shattered. The Destiny Islands underneath Nami's knees shattered with the dark walls and black vortex, while Riku's darkness all stayed right where it was.

Ansem, hold back, Riku thought. He could feel the Lord of Darkness rising up to help him, but he did not want any assistance. He stared through the wisps of darkness in front of his face at Zexion who was glaring back at him and furiously writing in his Lexicon with his dark pen. I will take care of this bastard on my own!

Riku's green eyes shimmered and he flew forward fast still in his Ansem form. Zexion tried to write faster, but Riku was in front of him at the next pen-stroke. "You have no idea," Riku began. He slashed with both Keyblades and Zexion flew backwards yelling out in pain. Dark flames rose around the room while Zexion slammed into the back wall and left a large indent in it. "What I am capable of!" Riku yelled, and he threw a Keyblade forward.

Zexion's eyes opened up after clenching from the pain, and he spotted a fully black Keyblade flying straight for him. "How?! I merged with my Somebody! How could you still be stronger than me?!"

"Because I am better than you," Riku yelled, right as his Keyblade slashed straight through his enemy, hit the opposite wall, and bounced back into Zexion who was falling backwards, pulling the short man back towards him. Riku raced forward as Zexion was pulled his way by one of his Keyblades. Riku pulled back his other weapon far and he roared, "And because you hurt my friend!" Riku slashed through Zexion's front, and by stopping the Nobody's momentum all at once, his other Keyblade pushing on Zexion's back pushed completely through him at the same time.

Riku stopped behind Zexion and he faced away from him as the Nobody staggered forward. Riku looked down at Nami who was staring at him in awe, and then she looked past him at the man in a black cloak stumbling around and grabbing at his chest. "No, I- I had a heart," Zexion whispered, his voice sounding choked up, water in his eyes. The soles of his feet started seeping out darkness and he rose up his hands in front of him to see dark wisps coming off them as well. "It isn't fair," Zexion whispered, spinning around and glaring at Riku's back through watery eyes. "I was whole! Human!"

"Just because you had a heart," Riku said in a dark voice, only amplified by the fact that he still looked creepy. His body shimmered and his Keyblades vanished as he transformed back into a teenager, his long silver hair getting spikier and his skin turning lighter. Riku turned his head sideways and looked back at Zexion through his right eye. "Does not mean you were human," he finished. "For that, you would need humanity, something you were sorely lacking."

Zexion stumbled towards Riku and reached out a hand. His arm was dissolving and his whole body was fading into darkness. "Agghh, ack, RIKUU!" Zexion screamed, as his face fully covered in darkness and the ground below him opened into a dark circle. Black tendrils shot out of the floor and surrounded Zexion's body in an oval of darkness that his body just sort of merged with, and then it all faded away together. Zexion vanished from in front of them, and Riku finally relaxed as the Nobody was gone, this time, he hoped for good.

Riku turned his head back forward and looked down at Nami. "I'm sorry," Riku began as he walked towards her. "I should have stayed closer to you. I was supposed to be watching you, protecting you," he reached down a hand for her to take. "This is my fault. I couldn't find you, not until I felt Zexion's darkness. I shouldn't have-" Riku's mouth froze open and his eyes turned huge.

Nami took his hand to help herself up, and the first thing she did was wrap her arms around the nineteen year old in front of her. Tears flowed out of her eyes and she pressed her face into his shoulder. "Ah, ahh, AHH!" Nami yelled, so much sorrow and pain in the sound of her shouts. Riku did not say anything else, but he closed his mouth and he brought around one arm that he held around Nami's back and hugged her back with it. "Thank you," she whispered after a minute. "I was- he made me… the things I heard, I saw," Nami shook her head into Riku's shoulder.

"Zexion's mind tricks once plunged me far into the darkness," Riku whispered. Nami lifted her head a little and saw Riku looking over her and into the distance almost like there was no wall in front of him. "But what you need to realize, is they were just tricks, nothing more." He looked down into Nami's eyes, "What he showed you, it was not real. That woman," Nami's eyes widened and Riku looked away, "I don't know who she was to you, but whatever Zexion made her say, I'm sure she didn't mean it."

Riku had come in while Zexion was transforming back into himself, and telling from the way Nami was curled up, he knew the monster must have said some pretty sick things to her. She blinked a few more tears out of her eyes and Riku stepped back from her. "Let's get out of here, Nami," Riku suggested. He turned and looked at the wall on his left, "Something's going on in the Dread Fort. We need to see if the others are okay."

He turned to the door of the room and started walking towards it. He did not take two steps before looking back though and staring at Nami. Her brown eyes widened as she realized he really was not going to let her out of his sight again. For some reason, she felt warm knowing that, and she sped-walked across the floor to catch up to him. She nodded her head and put on a brave face despite all the horrors racing through her mind. It was all fake, just a nightmare Nami. Bellemere would never say something like that, you know that! Trust Riku, he said it was all lies… including what he showed me about Nojiko, and our world? Yea, yeah! That had to be a lie.

As Nami walked through the door after Riku though, she found herself staring at the younger man's back. Except, it wasn't all lies. What he showed Riku, the way Riku reacted, it was all true for him. Rin, and Usopp, and Wendy and the others, they all were taken by the darkness he let in. Though she thought she might get mad at him as she thought it, she did not feel any anger towards Riku. All she felt was pity, Zexion didn't even have to show him those things. She stared at his back and her eyes lowered a little sadly, He lives with them every day. "…Because you hurt my friend!" Nami's gaze lifted back up to Riku's back and she shuffled her feet to move closer to him. Thank you, Riku.

---

A/N Hope you enjoyed! Wifi was down on campus for most of the day so I couldn't post this earlier, but I guess it's not too late XD. Anyway, it was a long chapter! Mephisto and Amaimon showed up, and Luffy confronted the former NEG council members. Sanji's Nobody Jixsan appears, as well as a bunch of other Nobodies who get their first mentions this chapter! Larxene, Saix, Zexion (RIP), and a bunch of others were referred to if you want to try and figure out the anagrams of their names with 'X's thrown into them! Nami gets caught cheating but takes on the entire casino staff and wins! I'll put a list of where the characters are from at the bottom, but if you want to know where you can see Junior and the Malachite twins in action, check out the RWBY Yellow trailer where Yang and them have an awesome fight! Thanks for reading! Leave me a review telling me what you thought, predictions about the Dread Fort, etc!

RWBY: Junior, Melanie and Miltia Malachite

Gintama: Peacock Queen

Kingdom Hearts: Zexion, Vexen, Saix, Roxas, Namine, Sora, Kairi, Destiny Islands, Ansem, Riku, Dusks, Nobodies, Heartless, Larxene, Ienzo

Fairy Tail: Gray, Juvia, Natsu, Wendy

Teen Titans: Brother Blood

DC Comics: Flash (Barry Allen), Supergirl (Kara Danvers), Superman

One Piece: Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Nami, Robin, Sanji, Franky, Akainu, Bellemere, Nojiko, Cocoyashi village, Devil Fruit

Akira: Tetsuo

Blue Exorcist: Satan, Mephisto, Amaimon, Rin, Yukio

Hunter x Hunter: Killua

Your Lie in April: Kaori Miyazono

RWBY: Weiss

7 Deadly Sins: Dreyfus, Meliodas, Ban

Greek Mythology: Theseus, Poseidon

Black Lagoon: Revy

Princess Mononoke: San

Halo: Arbiter

FMA(B): Roy Mustang

DBZ: Future Trunks

Naruto: Orochimaru

Bleach: Ichimaru Gin, Ichigo

Star Wars: Jedi

-And I think that's everyone! If not and you're still wondering what media source a character comes from, (media sources that I do not own), ask me in a review! Here're the review responses for last chapter:

Darugus chapter 41 . 18h ago

Nice chapter
Can you explain the whole color rank thing and ho it works I know gold means lord but what are the other colors?
Also now the group may or may not need to take on two lord and sanji and luffy can enter the banquet
So chaos is going to start soon not that it was going to start to begin with

Thanks! Meliodas explained it a little more this time, but as a refresher we've now seen none at all, which could seem sketchy that they chose to opt out of punching the machine, there's green, which is low, there's yellow which is above green but below orange, then orange, red, black, and gold. Hope that helps! Chaos is starting as Sora and Luffy make their moves, the Sins are looking sketch, Sanji's fighting his Nobody, and Riku and Nami are made a mess of the Ca$ino! Thanks for the review!

KCSupido chapter 41 . 7h ago

Sorry of my last review was a bit long. I'm not super surprised that Sora's reaction wasn't that bad, he's too happy go lucky. But I can't wait to see what happens next

It's all good, I like long reviews! Just couldn't put a reply to it because I did not have it to copy paste on the chapter after, but as for what you said I'm glad you liked the Minecraftians, Xion... no spoilers, Link I never even considered as the only game I've ever played with him is Smash Bros. Have also never played the World Ends with You game so probs won't be adding those characters or aspects of their world into this either :P. Thanks for another review!

7lights13darknes chapter 41 . 22h ago

LET THE BATTLES BEGIN! ( too soon?) I'm getting really excited for the next chapters. I can't wait to see grays team story too. I can't believe i didn't catch on too the whole beast boys nobody. ( it annoyes because i am a HUGE fan of kingdom hearts.) but doesn't that mean Wendy starfire and the incredible family ( minus dash) have nobodies too?! THIS JUST GOT A LOT MORE INTERESTING. you should have had sora say he was a Jedi or pretend to use the force and be like you will help me fight organization 13. Just for fun( that and he probably looks like a Jedi with the brown hooded cloak. And i JUST realized that RIN himself should have nobody. Ha it is going to be intense. I also can't wait to see how serious ben and dash are going to take the job of protecting Kairi. They are probably going to go overboard. Specially ben since he knows exactly how sora will react if somthing really bad happens to her. Completely unrelated and i don't expect a strait answer but will we ever see characters like jimmy newtron or bens parents. And when will we find jackjack!? You really got me hyped up for that scene. Keep up the good work can't wait for the rest of this arc.

AND THEY BEGIN! XD Thanks for the review! Chapter 8 will continue on with Luffy's group, but don't worry 'cause Chapter 9 we switch over to see how the others are doing! Haha I tried to make Beast Boy's Nobody as clear as I could since it was the first character not actually an original Nobody who we've seen, which is why Krillin mentions not liking hitting someone who looks like his friend. And it looks like that guess of yours might pan out now that we've seen Sanji's Nobody, who knows how many others there are?! So many MCs were turned into Heartless, and that's only the ones we know now that we hear that Weiss also fell to the darkness at some point! Lol at the Sora being a Jedi cause of his brown cloak, I really just made it brown because wearing a black one would make him blend too much with the Organization members. Rin's Nobody may have been mentioned in the chapter at some point... ;) wonder if you caught it? Ben's parents at one point in the first chapter of HWR he mentioned wondering if they were on Nexus, and who knows if they are, whether Jimmy is there is also on the table from when Timmy saw Cindy and Jimmy's other friends in Metropolis and they mentioned not seeing him, and JackJack... well, no spoilers! Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, read, faved, and followed this story! 'Till next time!