Rebel Without a Flame

[Staulmaster]

Originally Posted by Allstargamer

I haven't read all of it yet, But what I had was great! Makes me want to do better on mine! I'll make sure to finish reading!

Really? 'Cause that's exactly the impression I had when I read your story. I was seriously like: 'Wow, this guy's writing is similar to mine, only it's better!'

[Ban Mido]

Heh, then let's make a deal. Let's both do our best on our Fan Fics, alright?

[iloveyou502]

Uhh! You guys had a spammy conversation without me? Too bad. Look, a New reader!
Oh yeah.

[Staulmaster]

^ lol I wouldn't call it spam, we are talking about fanfics, isn't that enough?

By the way, nice avatar. FHfIF rocks! Uh-oh...now I'm spamming.

Originally Posted by Allstargamer

Heh, then let's make a deal. Let's both do our best on our Fan Fics, alright?

That sounds great! It's a deal.:thumbup:

Chapter 6 will be back up soon, as I don't have the time right now!

[Staulmaster]

Alright everyone, Chapter 6 is back up! If you haven't read it before now's the time to read it! Chapter 7 should be up shortly as well.

Now, without further ado, here's Chapter 6:

Chapter 6

Flames of Mystery

T’was another ‘normal’ day in Castle Oblivion. The sky was as dark as ever, birds weren’t chirping, and the only grass that was growing was Marluxia’s garden of exotic plants...if you call that grass.

Marluxia, while taking a walk in one of the basement halls, pondered about something. Something suspicious. As he turned the corner of the hall, his pondering immediately came to an end as he caught a glimpse of a dark figure at the end of the hallway. He yelped.

Quickly, he ran back to the other end of the hall and pressed his back against the wall, trying desperately to hide from the dark, ominous figure.
Suddenly, something struck him.

“Wait a minute...what am I doing?” He said to himself.

Quickly, he sprung out from the corner of the hall and shouted:

“Halt! In the name of the organi--”

As he pointed towards what he thought would be the figure, Marluxia noticed that he was pointing at the end of the wall, for the ominous figure had vanished. Upon noticing this, he stopped talking to it and started talking to him:

“Wh-Where did he go?” He asked himself. “What happened?”

“Relax...” His conscience told him. “it was probably just a hallucination; you have been thinking a wee bit too much lately."

“Yeah, I guess I sorta have. Still, I’d better not tell anyone about this, don’t want them thinking I’m a little off.”

“Well, you are talking to yourself aren’t you?”

“Yeah...so?”

“Well, you know...”

“Are you insinuating something, exactly?”

“Oh nothing, nothing...it’s just that...you know...”

“No, I don’t. Do tell, hmm?” He said, sternly.

“Well, it’s not everyday we see someone talking out loud to himself.”

“Are you insinuating that I’m a little off because I’m taking to myself?”

“Oh no, of course not. Everyone talks to themselves... only not out loud.”

“I’ll have you know that it’s perfectly sane to talk to oneself.”

“You’re not listening to me, are you?”

“I’m sane and you know it!”

“Look, just quit talking out loud and we’ll end the conversation right there.”

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? Then you’d have me all to myself. Well tough luck! Nothing doing, pal!”

“Quit talking out loud!”

“Quiet! I’ll do what I want!”

“You’re still talking!”

“Stop it! Stop it! I’m sane I tell you, sane!” He said, as he put his hands on his head and bent down.

Marluxia then felt a presence behind him. He quickly turned around and saw Larxene staring at him oddly.

“Larxene!” He said, as he grabbed her shoulders. “You saw the shadow at the end of the hall, didn’t you?”

“(Pause)...please don’t touch me.” She said.

“(Sighs) Fine.” He said, as he let go of her. “But I tell you, there was a mysterious figure at the end of the hall. Are you sure you didn’t see anything?”

“Look Marluxia, I really don’t have time for this. I have to figure out where Axel went and the only other person looking for him is Zexion. And...well let’s face it, he’s hopeless. So, if you’ll please just let me--” She said, as she struggled to get around him.

“Do you have any idea where he could’ve gone?” He said, as he moved in front of her to block the way.

“Who, Axel?”

“No, the shadow.”

“Marluxia, a member of the organization who is under your control has gone missing, and you’re worried about your own shadow? You know, sometimes I ask myself why Xemnas even put you in charge of this dump...(Pause)...oh, well I guess I just answered my own question.”

“Yes, yes that’s great. You can answer your own nonsensical questions later. For now I need you to answer me this: Why would a shadow haunt this castle? Assuming that it is indeed a shadow.”

“Why don’t you ask the voices in your head,” She said, as she crossed her arms. “there must be something other than hot air filled in that inflated noggin of yours.”

“Listen to me Larxene,” He said, sternly. “as leader of this castle I deserve the majority of the respect you people have to give, and I won’t let your rebellious, prepubescent attitude keep me from getting it. And I’m certainly not going to stand still and let you waste said respect and give it, in abundance mind you, to some petty high school crush!”

“Respect? You want respect? How about I give you handful of respect straight across the face?”

“You’re just acting like this because you don’t want to admit that I’m actually right. I mean, why else would your behaviour reflect that of a 14 year-old.”

“I-I’m sorry, did you just say something? I had trouble following your lips when your hands are flailed around so flamboyantly when you speak.”

“I’m not even going to continue this conversation. It’s going nowhere. My point originally was: I saw a shadowy figure down the hall and now I’m afraid that there might be a stalker in the castle.”

“Marluxia, we have this castle guarded from top to bottom, it’s practically impenetrable.”

“What about the guy who delivered the Chinese food?”

“Him? He’s from the Chinese restaurant down the block, and Vexen was the one who let him in.”

“Chinese restaurant? Down the block? Vexen?”
“Boy, you really are out of it, pull it together man.”

“But...B-But he was right there, I tell you!”

“Will you just let it go? Quit being so stubborn about this and just admit for once in your life that you’re wrong.”

“But...but...but...”

“There’s no need for potty mouth just because you’re having delusions, Marluxia.” She said, as she walked away, smirking.

Marluxia clenched his fists as he growled.

“Calm down boy, I believe you.” His conscience told him.

“How could you believe me, you just before that you thought it was a hallucination?!”

“You really oughta stop talking to yourself out loud, you know. I bet it’s your anxiety that’s giving you delusions.”

“Anxiety? What anxie--Oh...I see what you’re getting at.” He said, as he winked.

“.......”

Marluxia pondered as the shadowy figure crept along the clear, white halls of Castle Oblivion’s basement.

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In the main room, Zexion was sitting on a chair, his elbow on the table and his hand on his chin, waiting for Larxene to come back from her search. He looked around the purely white, marble halls of the room, and while looking, noticed that the giant dent in the wall that Lexaeus had made was still there.

“Hmm...no one even bothered to fix that...“ He said to himself. “well, I guess I am the Cloaked Schemer...whatever that means.”

Zexion, while still holding his chin with one hand, snapped his fingers with the other, a white light appeared around the dent, and shone brighter and brighter until it filled up the whole room and then died down. The dent was gone.

Zexion continued doing nothing and holding his chin with his hand. Then, his hand slipped off his chin his head fell on the table, in a scene that’s strangely reminiscent. He immediately got up from his chair and exclaimed:

“Darn it!”

Suddenly, Larxene burst through the door, panting and gasping.

“Oh, hey Larxene, find anything?” He said, as he went to meet her at the door.

Larxene, sweating profusely, approached him and pointed at him before saying:

“I...(Pant)...I...I told you...(Gasp)...I wasn’t going to talk to you EVER AGAIN!”

“May I ask why you’re so out of breath, Larxene?”

“Well... (Pant)...you know, I was about to materialize a dark portal to come here, but then I thought: “Why not use the stairs?”...Big mistake!”

“Well, I assumed that you at least--”

“Quiet! You’re not allowed to talk.”

“Um...pardon me, but what gives you the right to decide that?”

“You manipulated me and gave me false hope. Therefore, you’re not allowed to talk. Simple, is it not?”

“Oh please, you and I both know that there was no hope for you to begin with. Besides, you should know by now that you’re mind often plays tricks on you when you’re a nobody, so you shouldn’t be so convinced that you’re in love.”

“Maybe so, but the thought of loving someone for me is the perfect way to fill the void inside me, left behind by my heart. Kind of like how deception and manipulation fills the void left behind by your heart, Zexion.”

“Well, maybe that’s true, but you shouldn’t feel like I ‘toyed’ with your emotions when all I did was exercise the right to fill the void inside me. Besides, you have no emotions I can play with, you just think so.”

“But don’t you see, Zexion? You’re way of filling your void interfered with my way of filling my void.”

“Maybe so, but you see, my way of filling my void is to do something to feel complete. Whereas your way of filling your void is to feel a non-existent emotion to feel complete. If you think about your current situation, that doesn’t really make sense. In fact, I helped you realize that by manipulating and deceiving you. So you see, I did you a favor.”
“Excuse me? How would you like it if I ruined your existential views?”

“I doubt you could. Besides, two wrongs don’t make a right.”

“Wanna bet?” She said, as she grabbed him by the collar.

Suddenly, the door swung open and hit both of them towards the wall and onto the floor.
Lexaeus peeked behind the door to see what he had hit, and soon apologized for it as he helped them up.

“Didn’t see you there.” He said to them. “I guess you’re not used to people using the door, but I have to tell you, using the stairs as a means of transportation is so refreshing and rejuvenating. You should try it sometime.”

“Why that sounds great, Lexaeus.” Zexion replied. “That’s a perfect way of filling the void inside you. You even felt false emotions from doing so.” He turned to Larxene, smirking. “Isn’t that great, Larxene? Lexaeus found a way to fill the void, shouldn’t you?”

Larxene smacked Zexion upside the head without saying a word, to which Zexion backed off.

“Ow...well, I did go a bit too far...“ He muttered, as he rubbed his head. “I guess I should thank you Larxene, for showing me that my way of communicating was wrong. Much like I showed you that--”

Zexion felt another smack in the upside the head.

“I guess I really deserved that one.” He said, rubbing his head some more.

“Yes...“ Lexaeus said, gazing at the entire event strangely. “anyway, Larxene, I came here to tell you that it’s your turn to provoke Sora.”

“Really? Did Marluxia send you?” Lzrxene asked.

“Yes, he claims he’s too busy watering his plants.”

“That lazy beatnik...”

“Yes, yes...so just taunt him about forgetting Kairi, or something like that, it’ll be over sooner than you think.”

“Sora forgot Kairi?” Zexion said, somewhat confused.

“(Sighs) If you actually paid attention to the situation instead of bicker all the time you would know what’s going on.” He told him.

“So... I just have to play with his emotions and mock him.” Larxene summed up.

“I suppose you could put it that way.”

“Add in some comedy and a few action sequences and BAM! You got yourself a cutscene.” Said Zexion.

Larxene and Lexaeus looked at him strangely.

“(Pause)...Well you do...” He replied.

“All right, this should be interesting,” She declared, ignoring Zexion. “I’ll make Sora suffer what I suffered.”

“Need I remind you again?”

Larxene scowled at Zexion before materializing a dark portal and entering it. As soon as she left, Lexaeus spoke to the Cloaked Schemer.

“Zexion, have you noticed any strange affairs happening in the castle?” He asked.

“Nothing stranger than usual.” Zexion replied.

“I could have sworn I saw a crimson figure somewhere in the basement, he seemed to be walking somewhere, but I couldn’t tell where he was going. When I went over to the end of the basement hall, he was gone.”

“Gone, you say?” Zexion exclaimed, trying to look smart. “Well, we’d better not tell anyone about this, especially not Marluxia.”

“Would you mind coming to the basement and investigate with me? I’ve a hunch this could be something big indeed.”

“Come to think of it, my power seems to have diminished somewhat, maybe that mysterious figure is responsible...”

Zexion looked a little worried, for the first time since he came to the castle he felt afraid of what was to come. Whatever it was, he knew that a small thing like this would most likely become an event like no other. He took a deep breath, and with a stern face said:

“All right,” He said. “I’m ready.”

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Larxene had just finished battling Sora and was now walking down the castle hallway, congratulating herself on a job well done. She was heading into the main room in the hopes of meeting with Zexion, and possibly beating him up.

“(Chuckles) There, that scene should’ve broken his spirit.” She exclaimed to herself, as she wiped her hands.

“You don’t think you may have gone a little too hard on him?” Her conscience asked her.

“Oh, will you shut up? Who are you to talk when my heart’s not even here to make me feel guilty.”

“I’m your conscience, and I point out to you what you did wrong and/or right.”

“Yeah, well try not to get too cocky and make me feel bad, I’ll do what I wa--”

“Well, now look who’s talking to themselves.” Said a voiced from behind her.

Larxene turned around and saw Marluxia, with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He figured he had caught her at her own game, and prepared to rub it in her face.

“Well, Larxene,” He started. “It appears that I caught you at your own game, hmm? Oh boy, this will be a delight to rub in your face.”

Larxene approached him.

“Listen ‘pretty boy’,” She said to him, pointing at his face. “What you saw can be fully explained.”

“Really?” He said, rolling his eyes. “Do tell.”

Larxene smacked him in the back of the head and exclaimed:

“That good enough for you?”

“Being a gentle and loving leader I’ll let that pass.” He said, rubbing his head. “But should you start up again...”

“What is it that you want exactly, Marluxia?”

“Watch the attitude, will you? Anyway, I came here to tell you that there’s to be a meeting in the main room, and I expect you to be there.”

“With Axel, I imagine?”

“That’s the problem, I can’t seem to find Axel anywhere...Don’t say it!!” He yelled, as Larxene smirked. “I want you to go find him and bring him to the meeting.”

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do all this time?”

“Well then try harder. Our plan is at stake her Larxene, we need Axel for this.”

“Fine.” She said, crossing her arms. “I’d be better off leaving now anyway, the stench of your strawberry shampoo is already starting to make my eyes water.”

“At least I take care of my hair, which is more than I can say for that dead cat on your head.”

Marluxia felt another smack on the head before Larxene materialized a dark portal and left in search of Axel.

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Vexen was in the laboratory, in the basement, mixing several chemicals into different test tubes, trying to make some Potions and Ethers if ever he had to fight Sora. He had managed to make a sort of purplish concoction that he kept in one of the beakers. Assuming, but not assured, that it was a Mega-Ether, he carefully made his way towards the door to enter the second part of his laboratory to test the concoction.

However, he never had a chance to because as soon as he got close enough, Axel abruptly opened the door and hit Vexen in the face, effectively hurling his experiment into the air. As Vexen fell down, the beaker dissipated in the air before falling to the ground, and a small ball of energy formed itself above Axel and Vexen’s heads, creating swirls of said energy that twirled around their bodies down to their feet.

“...(Pause) Wow“ He said. “...my MP feels replenished.”

“Well I hope you’re happy,” Vexen said, as he got up. “you just wasted a perfectly good Mega-Ether.”

“Why are you making your own items? The Moogles offer high quality items for a low, low price. You should check out their shops some time.”

“I say Axel, are you shamelessly advertising?”

“Look, I don't have much time,” He said, ignoring Vexen’s question. “it won't be long before Zexion and Larxene realize where I am, and I--”

Axel stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes wide open and his mouth agape. He had noticed something over Vexen’s shoulder. In fact, it wasn’t something, but someone. Vexen stared at him with a strange look on his face, asking him if there was anything, however didn’t think of actually turning his head to see who or what Axel was looking at.
Finally, Axel pointed to the end of the room, without saying a word and while still having the same expression on his face. Vexen turned around, prepared for what was to come...he saw Riku, clothed in his darkness uniform.

“Him? Oh, that’s just Riku. I say Axel,” Said the Chilly Academic, turning back his head. “You certainly aren’t in touch with what’s going on here, are you?”

“... (Mouth agape)...just Riku?” He managed to utter. “He’s right in back of you! What is he doing here?”

“Well, he’s my experiment.”

Axel couldn’t grasp what was going on, whatever Vexen said to him just went into one ear and out the other.

“But...what is he doing here?!?”

“I say Axel, are you even listening to me?”

“Oh, forget this.”

Axel materialized his chakrams and began to walk towards him.

“I say Axel, stop!” Vexen told him. “It’s only a replica!”

Axel immediately stopped and paused to ponder, as the replica stared at Axel’s greenish eyes.

“I’m no replica...” Muttered the Replica. “I’m not like that coward who can’t face the darkness...”

Axel de-materialized his chakrams and, tired of not understanding anything, turned to Vexen and asked with a frustrated tone:

“What in the realm of darkness is going on?”

“(Sighs) We’d better go into the next room,” Vexen responded, as he approached Axel so the replica would not hear him. “He doesn’t like it when we talk about him in front of him. (Whispers) he’s very self-conscience.”

“Gee, I wonder why.” He said, rolling his eyes.

Vexen and Axel proceeded to the outside corridor, where Axel came in, after Vexen told Riku Replica to stay put. He did, but not without an uncomfortable feeling weighing on his artificial conscience.

“My skirt is too tight.” He said to himself.

---------------------------

Once the two were outside, Vexen shut the door and began discussing with Axel the originis of the Riku Replica.

“I say Axel, have you any idea what’s going on here?” He started.

“I make it a point never to stick my nose in other people’s business.” Axel exclaimed. “Besides, I had some unfinished business of my own to take care of.”

“You left the castle?” Asked Vexen, in a shocked tone.

“Look, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is that I’m here, and I would appreciate it if you told me what’s going on with this Riku Replica of yours.

“Riku...yes. You see, Marluxia had this crazy idea of brainwashing Sora and making him our slave to overthrow Xemnas’ rule on the organization. Looking for a chance to show off my scientific researching skills, I proposed to make a replica of Riku, which I did, after I acquired the necessary data in a battle against Riku himself. At first he was cocky and arrogant, thinking that he actually had a heart, but after a few adjustments, he’s become quite a good fighter, and his influence on Sora is incredible, paired with Namine’s sorcery, we’re nigh unstoppable.”

“Marluxia wants to overthrow the organisation?”

“I say, yes. He even had it planned out even before we came here.”

“Wow, I sure missed a lot haven’t I?”

“Yes, you have, and I suggest you pick a faction quickly before this blows out into a full-scale war.”

“Faction?”

“Yes, you know Light and Dark? Riku and Sora? We each have one of them.”

“Wha? Riku? Is he in the castle?”

“Indeed he is, and Marluxia doesn’t seem to know anything about it. T’is only me, Zexion and Lexaeus who know. after all, I got the data for my Replica form the real Riku.”

“And where does Marluxia think you got it.”

From the Hollow Bastion computer.”

“And what about--”

“I say Axel, I’m afraid I’ve wasted enough time with this chatting. You’ll have to get your information elsewhere.”

“But I--”

“No ‘buts’, I’m afraid. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a protégé that needs guidance.”

Vexen went back into the room where the Riku Replica was waiting for him, and Axel, after pondering for a while, disappeared into a dark portal.

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Zexion and Lexaeus were in the castle basement, searching about for the supposed crimson intruder that Lexaeus had supposedly spotted somewhere supposedly around there.

“Are you sure you really saw something here?” Zexion asked sceptically

“I couldn’t be mistaken,” Answered Lexaeus. “I’m sure I saw a reddish figure skulking about in the halls somewhere.”

The two searched everywhere and had found absolutely nothing. Until, deep in one of the cellars, where no one who lived in Castle Oblivion dared to tread, they saw a mysterious figure in the hall, a figure that seemed to be talking to itself, mumbling certain things. It had its back faced towards the two Organisation members, so it couldn’t see them. The two said organisation members quickly hid behind two pillars that were across from each other, and studied the figure carefully from afar. They peeked their heads out slightly from behind the pillar, so as not to be seen. Not wanting to make much noise, Zexion whispered:

“Who is he talking to?”

“I-I’m...not sure...” Answered Lexaeus.

The two studied the figure for a little while longer. They tried to get a general idea of who or what it could be, but nothing came to their minds. It’s face was well-concealed through what appeared to be a series of red bandages. Soon enough though, Zexion had noticed something.

“You know,” He started. “his voice sounds strangely familiar, do you think we know him?”

“If he was able to get into this castle as easily as we were than I think we do know him.” Answered Lexaeus.

After studying the figure for another few minutes, it seemed to stop muttering. Zexion and Lexaeus peeked their heads out a little more. The figure didn’t seem to move at all. The two wondered really what it could’ve been and what it was doing for a pretty long while. Suddenly, the red figure turned around towards them, and they immediately retreated their heads and pressed themselves against the pillar. Soon enough, they heard a few footsteps, and then the sound of a portal opening and closing. After peeking their heads out ever so slightly, and noticing that no one was there anymore, they came out from the pillars and went over to the spot where the figure was to investigate.

“Drat!” Lexaeus said, as he inspected carefully the spot, hoping to find some sort of clue. Well, what do you make of this, Zexion.” He said, as he turned around to face him.

Lexaeus noticed that Zexion hadn’t answered, and when turned his head to call out his name again he could see that Zexion’s eyes were wide.

“...” Zexion did not utter a word, which left Lexaeus uncomfortable.

“Zexion...w-what is it?” Lexaeus asked.

“That voice...“ Zexion finally answered. “I just realized...it-it’s...”

“...”

“ANSEM! Ansem is in the castle!”

It had now finally clicked in Lexaeus’ head, Ansem, their old teacher and mentor whom they betrayed several years ago, had now found his way to one of the organisation’s hideouts. The two looked at each other, mouth agape with the widest eyes they’d ever seen.

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Axel was running in the castle halls, hoping to find Marluxia and hoping that he would fill him in on the recent goings-on that were happening. As he ran, he pondered. He was now actually regretting going back to the Castle. Not only did he risk certain punishment by almost being caught several times, but he now had almost no idea what was going on at Castle Oblivion. He needed information fast, so he figured that by going through this whole charade as fast as he could, he’d be closer to finding out the mystery behind Roxas and his weird behaviour.

Suddenly, he felt a large WOOSH pass by him as he ran. He slowly came to a stop and investigated the narrow, white halls. He turned around completely, and saw nothing, not even a single spec at the end of the corridor.

“...”

He continued, this time slowly jogging through the halls and keeping a keen eye out for whatever that ‘WOOSH‘ could‘ve been. After a short time though, he felt a strange presence. He stopped again, turned around, and still saw nothing. Fearing that the presence was actually behind him, he abruptly turned around again and saw nothing. He turned again, and another time. Then, after one last turn around, Axel crossed his arms and began to ponder.

“Could be Riku...“ He said to himself. “He is in the castle after all, but he wouldn’t be this swift. A heartless maybe...but there are none in the twilight...”

Axel turned around yet again to continue walking, and as soon as he did, he found himself face to face with Xehanort’s Heartless. The surprise shocked him.

“AAH!” He yelled out.

Axel then realized whose face he was screaming in and immediately stopped. His heart beating a mile a minute.

“Oh...it’s just you Ansem,” He said, as if it were nothing. “what are you doing her--ANSEM!?”

Ansem looked at him with a large grin on his face, it really was Ansem (Well, Xehanort’s heartless. He was dressed in the same attire, and still had his long, silver hair and yellow, devilish eyes. Axel had also noticed that he seemed to have been sweltering in darkness, even more so than usual. His entire body was covered in a dark purplish aura, and around his feet he saw a large hole of darkness with shadowy tendrils crawling out. Basically, he looked like he was stuck between the realm of Darkness and the realm of Twilight.

“...” Ansem did not utter a word, he only gazed at Axel with a beam.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Axel asked, casually.

“This world...has been connected...” Ansem asnwered, completely disregarding Axel’s statement.

“I-I-I’m sure it has,” Axel said, seeming a little unsure. “but did you--”

“Tied to the darkness...“ He interrupted. “...soon to be completely eclipsed...”

“Actually...we’re in an in-between world of everlasting night time, just in case you haven’t noticed, so it’s already eclipsed, but how did you--”

“A meaningless effort...“ He continued. “one who knows nothing...can understand...nothing...” He said, with a tone of voice that can run chills down your spine.

At this point, Axel wasn‘t as much worried as he was confused. He wasn’t sure what he should make of the situation at all, for Ansem didn’t seem to be himself at all.

“In the end...“ Ansem continued, even as Axel pondered. “every heart returns to the darkness, whence it came!”

Axel was getting tired of the constant surprises and strangeness going on in the castle and never getting the information he desired out of it.

“What is this?!...aaaargh!!!! Fine! Whatever! I don’t care anymore, just let me--”

As Axel attempted to push Ansem out of the way, he noticed that his hand passed directly through his shoulder, and created it created a strange, blurring effect on his shoulder as well. As he took out his hand, the blur that was on the part of Ansem’s shoulder that Axel touched quickly reconstructed itself and Ansem was back to normal.(...well, to a certain extent). Axel looked at him strangely, and saw him grinning exactly as he did before, appearing as if he hadn’t felt a thing, or even noticed what Axel had just done.

Through sheer spontaneity, and also to test out his own theory, Axel lunged at Ansem, only to pass directly through him. As he fell down on the other side, he did a somersault and quickly regained his balance and turned around to face Xehanort’s Heartless, who had somehow turned around completely as well...and he was still grinning.

“What is going on here!?” Axel asked out loud, with a frustrated tone.

Ansem continued looking at him and then suddenly, the dark aura around his body enveloped him, and the dark tendrils from the ground wrapped themselves around him until he was completely covered in darkness, he then began to seep into the dark hole in the floor, until he was completely gone, and the hole then closed itself up, leaving a small trail of smoke.

Axel looked at all of this, mouth agape, and as soon as Xehanort’s Heartless had completely disappeared, he saw a figure at the complete end of the hall, before he could make out who it was, the figure had run away.

“I hate everything.” He said, in a deadpan tone.

“AXEL!” Marluxia said, from behind.

“Marluxia!” Axel said, as he turned around and saw The Gardener.

“Where were you? I’ve been searching everywhere!”

‘Marluxia! Did you see Ansem too?” Axel asked, ignoring Marluxia’s own question.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Didn’t you see? Ansem was right in front of me? He was all shadowy and weird, and kept saying these--”

Marluxia grabbed Axel by the collar and brought him inches away from his face.

“Did he look like a mysterious figure from far?” He asked a bewildered Axel.

“Well...“ Axel said, feeling uncomfortable in his awkward position. :I didn’t see him from far, he was right in front of me, and the funny thing is that when I tried to touch him I passed right through him. You know, like normal people pass through us, and--”

Marluxia immediately let him go and put his hand on his chin as he started to pace and talk to himself simultaneously.

“Yes...“ He started. “well, it’s a little vague, but I’m sure it was he! That idiot Larxene didn’t know what she was talking about! I knew it!”

“Uh...Marluxia...” Axel said, trying to get through to him.

“This’ll definitely prove that I’m not insane...” Marluxia continued, ignoring Axel.

“Marluxia, I need to--”

“I’m a perfect leader, no matter what she says! I care about these idiots just as much as anyone without a heart would...well actually, I don’t…at all…”

“Marluxia!”

“What!? What do you want?” He said, finally turning his head towards Axel.

“(Pause)...You’re insane, you know that?”

“Hmph, petty jealousy expressed by a typical wannabe leader...”

“Yeah, I really envy you.” He said, as he rolled his eyes.

“Yes, yes. You hate your life, we know. Anyway, back to the original subject, I need you to come to a meeting I‘ve organized.

“Meeting you say? Well, my afternoon is kind of booked, but I think I might be able to squeeze you in right now.”

“Very funny, but you won’t sweet-talk your way out of this one. Seriously though, I need you to come with me to the main room, Larxene and I have something important to talk to you about.”

“Really? Well I do hope that the main room is well ventilated. My nostrils are burning from the stink of your strawberry shampoo.”

Axel felt a smack on the back of his head, before he and Marluxia headed into a dark portal. It’s a shame that the entered the dark portal at that time, though. For if they had waited only for a few more seconds, they would’ve run into Riku in the halls.

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Vexen was in the castle laboratory, just after he had sent Riku Replica to meet with Sora for yet another brawl. He was in a medium-sized room with a large monitor in the middle of it, he went towards a small keyboard that was placed under it, and began typing something. Suddenly, a shadowy figure appeared on it, whose face would have been hard to make out to anyone, but Vexen knew exactly who it was.

“I say, hello.” He said to the silhouette on the screen.

The figure had a somewhat high-pitched tone of voice as it spoke.

“Don’t you try and sweet-talk me you empty fool!”

“Quite the talker you always were.”

“Quiet! I was never any such thing! How would you know, anyway?”

“May we get to the subject in question?”

“I was getting to that! Now, first of all, how is the replica?”

“He’s in the middle of a fight with Sora right now.”

“...And you’re not watching over him?”

“Well, he can take care of himself, can’t he? I mean, he has the data of one of the greatest fighters out there.”

“...And do you know how hard it was to acquire that data? You’re battle was only a quarter of the work that was to be done! Do you know how much time I spent searching for the information on that dolt’s computer, let alone the security system that dared to get in my way?”

“Well, naturally it shouldn’t be too hard for someone of your caliber, I mean--

“Quiet! I suppose the Replica should be fine for now, but the next time I expect you to look after him.”

“Yes...of course.”

“Did you reprogram him like I asked?”

“Yes, Namine made the necessary adjustments.”

“Excellent! If all goes as planned, we can overthrow the organization single-handedly, as well as that dog, Marluxia in the process.”

“Quite.” Vexen said, with a grin on his visage. “I mean, how does he expect to actually conquer Sora? The only way that would be remotely possible would be with the Replica, but we have other plans for him, don’t we?”

“Oh yes, we do. Just don’t screw it up!”

“You have my word,” He said, still smiling. “I’ll be killed at the hands of Axel before I’ll ever screw anything up.”

“That’s another one, Axel...he seems like he could be of some use.”

“...Pardon?”

“No one really knows what side he’s on, he could be a perfect double agent!”

“But he’s such a scoundrel. Plus, his red hair isn‘t really--”

“Quiet! Do you want to take over this insane asylum, or don’t you?”

“Well, of course I do.”

“Then do exactly as I say and find a way to acquire Axel, let no one get in your way. Eliminate them if you have to, just don’t let anyone know about any of this.”

“That’s as good as done.” He said, still smiling.

Vexen closed the monitor and exited the room into the laboratory, where he conducted a few experiments and pondered a bit. After he was done with everything, he materialized a dark portal, and as he entered it, he muttered to himself:

“There’s no way that I’ll ever recruit Axel.”

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In the main room, Axel and Marluxia entered and saw Larxene sitting at the table, they went down to sit. Axel sat down opposite of Larxene, and was a little uncomfortable doing so. Now that he knew that she was madly in love with him, he didn't want to make it any worse. However, she seemed to pay not attention to him whatsoever as he sat down on his chair. She didn’t even look at him. Marluxia, in the meanwhile, began speaking:

“Now, Axel...Larxene...” He said, as he crossed his hands on the table. “We have a problem.”

“(Sighs) I knew it.” Larxene said, as she crossed her arms and leaned back on her chair. “There was no way your plan could’ve lasted for more than five hours, anyway.

Axel stared at Larxene for a while, particularly the way she was leaning on her chair, which was a tendency he often exhibited. However he was more perturbed by what she had just said. When he opened his mouth to try and say something, Marluxia spoke.

“Now, now...keep whatever pessimistic remarks you have to yourself.” Marluxia said. “It’s not that big of a problem. In fact, the bigger problem is Xemnas. For you see--”

“What problem?” Axel asked, wit a clueless expression on his face.

Marluxia and Larxene quickly turned their heads towards Axel and stared at him for a while, as an awkward silence filled the room.
After a few seconds, Marluxia slowly turned his head towards Larxene and started speaking again:

“I’m afraid that Xemnas might come back again for one of his “surprise visits” and find out what we’ve been planning.” He said, continuing as if Axel had never said anything.

“Well, I doubt he’d come without emo boy’s consent and anyways,” Larxene assured him. “what would you have to hide from him, anyway? You haven’t done anything yet.”

Marluxia got up from his chair and approached Larxene from the opposite side of the table.
“Are you crazy? Sora is on his way up here as we speak and I’m expected to brainwash him as Namine applies the finishing touches! Plus, Vexen has already created the Riku Replica to try and--”

“Wait a minute, you know about the Replica?” Axel asked him, completely out of nowhere.

Marluxia and Larxene stared at Axel awkwardly yet again, in the exact same fashion as before. Except this time, Marluxia was standing up, and Larxene was still sitting down.

“Where have you been, Axel?” Marluxia asked him.

Axel feared that Marluxia knew his secret the whole time, and for the first time ever, he had no alibi.

“Well, I-I-I was just...um...you see...i-it’s...uh...” He stuttered.

“I mean where is your head, man? Were you even listening to me at the meetings? Are you listening to me right now?!”

Axel was not listening to a word Marluxia was saying, he was preoccupied with something that he noticed behind Marluxia, or rather, someone. Marluxia, meanwhile was trying to get into that thick skull of his.

“Axel?” Marluxia said. He heard no response, so he continued. “Axel? Axel? Axel? AXEL!!!!”

Axel was still not listening to word Marluxia was saying, and was still staring at what was behind him. Eventually, the redhead pointed towards what he was looking at, which was situated behind Marluxia.

“W-Who is that?” Axel asked, bewildered.

Marluxia and Larxene turned their heads to the back of the room, and without any reaction they turned their heads back towards Axel.

“Axel...that’s Namine.” She said, with a tone that made it seem like it was so obvious.

“...Oooooooh...“ Axel said, as if he had just discovered a secret. “I get it...”

Marluxia walked away from the table and started pacing around the room.

“Axel,” He started. “you have got to be the biggest basket-case I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with. Do you have the slightest idea of what is going on? Is there any shred of intelligence left in that thick skull of yours?”

Axel kept pondering, this angered Marluxia, who raised his voice.

“Axel!” He yelled, as he slammed his hand on the table.

Axel was startled at this, but he had the same, hopeless look on his face when he spoke to Marluxia.

“Yes?” He responded.

“I don’t believe this! Do you think this is a game, Axel?” Asked Marluxia.

“Well, technically no, but….”

“Quiet! Let me ask you something: honestly, have you any idea what’s going on in this castle? Any idea whatsoever?”

Axel pondered for a moment, thinking what kind of answer that would satisfy Marluxia, and then, after realizing who could finally explain to him what’s been going on since he was gone, he got up from his chair and exclaimed:

“Zexion!”

“No Axel, Zexion is not what’s been going on in this castle? (Sighs) Well, I’ll take that as a no…wha…what are you doing Axel?”

Axel was already heading for the door, but Marluxia had beat him to it.

“No, Axel.” He said, as he spread out his arms in front of the door to prevent Axel from leaving. “You leave now, and you will officially be dismissed from this mission, and Xemnas won’t be too happy about that, considering how this is actually your one and only chance to redeem yourself in front of him. After all, you have been more of a nuisance to this organization as far as I can remember, I mean have you ever actually helped us out? Ever? It almost seems that you’re a hopeless case. Do you remember that time we all left the castle to go on a trip and you and Roxas were the only ones left inside. Well, we intended to leave you inside all alone, since no one wanted to see the two of you on our trip, but boy, what a mistake that was...how can two people manage to cover the outside of that entire castle with fig pudding? I mean, come o--”

“Roxas? Oh my gosh! I almost forgot about that. Boy, I really need to go now.” He said, as he struggled to find a way through Marluxia.

“Axel, what is the matter with you? You’ve been acting strangely ever since we made plans to overthrow the organization. I’m starting to think that it’s more than your outrageous behaviour that’s the cause of this. And what’s with all this Roxas nonsense I’m hearing about? I thought that--”

“I don’t have time for this! Will you just tell me what’s going on! I wasn’t here and-”

Marluxia materialized his scythe and approached it to Axel’s neck.

“Something’s going on here Axel, and I demand to know immediately.” He said, with a very stern face. “If I find out that you’ve been betraying us behind our backs there’s going to be some serious trouble.

“Would you calm down, Marluxia?” Larxene said to him, still sitting on her chair.

“Quiet you!” He answered, not even turning his head towards her.

Axel felt a little uncomfortable, what with Marluxia’s scythe barely touching his neck. However, he was more angry than uncomfortable, since Marluxia appeared to be threatening him, and he never liked being threatened. Plus, the fact that he had no idea what was going on between anybody in the entire castle worsened his mood quite a bit. So, he eventually managed to assemble his cool and spoke to Marluxia:

“Get that out of my face before I shove it in yours.” He told him fearlessly.

Marluxia was appalled at hearing this, and he figured it would’ve been the perfect time to strike Axel down now, if ever. However, after deciding that Axel might make a good addition to his faction, he kept his cool and replied:

“Is that a threat?”

No, it’s a helpful hint.” Axel said, with a smirk on his visage.

Axel ducked, barely skimming Marluxia’s scythe, all the way down to his feet. Soon after, he rolled all the way around Marluxia, up until his back, and he struck him with a chakram he had just materialized. Marluxia fell on his knees as Axel got up from the uppercut. However, as soon as he did get up, he heard a sort of sizzling noise. Immediately knowing what it was, he did a cartwheel and dodged a lightning bolt that Larxene had shot out from her arm. The bolt continued, however, and it hit the fallen Marluxia, who fell yet again, this time completely on his stomach.
Axel turned around and saw Larxene with her arm stretched out. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Not this again.” He said.

Larxene shot several consecutive bolts of lightning from her arm, but Axel dodged them all fluidly, while managing to make his way towards her. Once he did, she put her arm down and materialized her needles between her fingers, and began trying to punch him. Axel, however, was blocking every move with his chakram, and when he managed to swipe her with one of them, she ducked and landed an uppercut on his chin. Axel flew a few feet into the air as electric sparks flew by, but he managed to regain his balance and land on is feet. Larxene took this opportunity to her advantage and began punching him again, but Axel managed to block most of her attacks once more. During one of her punches, Axel managed to not only block, but to trap Larxene’s hand in the middle of his chakram. Seeing her struggle to get it out, he twisted her arm towards her back, to which she let out a cry of agony. Now that he was in back of her, he put his other chakram on Larxene’s neck and spoke in her ear:

“Since when are you in cahoots with Marluxia?” He asked her.

Larxene, with one hand free, lifted said hand at a 90 degree angle and punched Axel in the face with her knuckles. Axel backed away a bit, feeling somewhat dizzy, so Larxene used the time necessary to free her hand from his chakram, which she did. With both hands free, she put them together, side by side, retreated them, and thrust them forward, punching Axel with brute force. Axel was sent flying towards the wall, which he landed on, sideways. Larxene attempted to punch him again once he fell back on the floor, but he had regained his senses and managed to dodge it, so Larxene ended up punching the wall.

“Since I’ve had enough of this insane asylum!” Larxene finally answered, as she approached him.

Larxene lifted both her arms in the air, and Axel, immediately realizing what she was about to do, rolled out of the way as a lightning bolt almost struck him. She then proceeded to punch him again, but he blocked. Axel struck her horizontally, but she jumped out of the way, all the way to the end of the room. She then began running towards him, and after a while, jumped in the air with her fist directed towards Axel, she kept moving towards him though, in an attempted to hit him with an airborne strike. During the time she was running, Axel had put his arm in back of him, without turning around, and felt something strike his chakram. Knowing that this was Marluxia’s scythe caught in his chakram, he proceeded to hurl Marluxia with all his force on Larxene, by turning around completely and throwing him off his chakram. Marluxia had hit Larxene in the air before she could hit Axel, and the two fell on the ground.

Marluxia got back up first, and Axel could see the determination in his eyes. The Graceful Assassin jumped up and attempted to strike Axel with his scythe as he leapt. Axel rolled out of the way as Marluxia’s scythe hit the ground and made a whole in the floor, from which small waves of flowers came streaming out.

As soon as his scythe hit the floor, he quickly turned around and hit Axel in the ribs, after which Axel was sent flying but quickly regained his balance. He turned around just in time to see Larxene punch him in the face, and he managed to bend his waist towards the back and Larxene’s fist had barely skimmed his chest and ended right above his face. Very, very quickly, he got back up, right beside her arm, and stood right in front of her, with his back facing her front. With no time wasted, he punched her in the face with his knuckles at a 90 degree angle, like she did before, and after that he hit her in the face with the back of his own head by swinging it backwards.
She took a few steps back, and he turned around and threw one of his chakrams at her, she managed to dodge it by ducking.
Soon after, without bothering to reclaim his chakram, Axel turned around again and blocked an attack that Marluxia had planned. Marluxia then struck him again diagonally, but Axel had no problem blocking again. While still in the same position, Marluxia tilted his scythe so that the bottom part would hit Axel’s legs. It did, and Axel fell on his knees. As Marluxia lifted his scythe to strike Axel down, the chakram that Larxene had dodged earlier made its way back and hit Larxene in the back of the head. The chakram continued, and Axel ducked his head as it hit Marluxia in the stomach. Marluxia lost his balance, but managed to reclaim it as Axel materialized his chakram back in his hand and turned around quickly to block Larxene’s needles that she had just thrown.

Axel was now a few feet between Larxene and Marluxia, but had little time to think, for Larxene had already begun to attack. She put her fists together like she did before, and punched into the air. A large ball of electricity came out of them, traveling at a very high speed. Axel had little time to react, and the blast hit him in no time. He was sent flying through the air, but managed to regain his balance by landing on his hand, right in front of Marluxia, and then propelling himself over Marluxia, and landing on his feet in back of him. Marluxia wasted no time and quickly turned around while swinging his scythe vertically, but Axel turned slightly to the left, and the scythe barely skimmed his shoulder. Seizing an opportunity, Axel quickly punched Marluxia in the face. Marluxia retaliated by swiping his feet with his scythe, to which Axel lost balance and was about to fall on his back, but instead he fell on his hands and flipped yet again and landed on his back feet, a few feet away from the Gardener. Marluxia approached him and swiped his head this time, Axel ducked, then stuck his leg out, and turned at a 360-degree angle and tripped Marluxia. Then, as quickly as he had ever done it (and this was the first time he had ever done it), and while Marluxia was still in the air, in the process of falling, Axel got back up as soon as he finished his turning, and kicked him on his side. Marluxia was sent flying to the other end of the room and landed on the table.

Axel noticed that kicking Marluxia out of the way wasn’t such a fantastic idea, for right after he did so, he cleared the path for Larxene, who was at the other end of the room, facing Axel, to shoot another electric ball. This time, Axel lifted both his chakrams to block it, but the force of the blast was so strong that after he did so, he fell to the ground, on his back this time. Right after that, Axel, as he was facing the ceiling, saw a dark cloud appear right above him.

“...Oh dear…” He uttered, right before a very big bolt of lightning struck him in the chest.

After a blinding flash, Axel was still on the ground, Marluxia had gotten off from the table and walked towards him, as did Larxene. They approached him and saw that he had his eyes closed and that smoke was rising from his body.

“Did you...” Marluxia uttered to Larxene.

“Of course not.” Larxene answered. “That bolt wasn’t anywhere near the amount of power necessary to kill him. Get up Axel!”

A smirk grew on Axel’s face, as he lay on the ground, motionless. Immediately after seeing this, Larxene and Marluxia each struck him with their fist and scythe respectively. Axel dodged them by doing a backwards somersault and getting back up. Marluxia then hit him with his scythe, an attack that Axel blocked with one chakram. So, Marluxia hit him in the feet, which Axel blocked also. Marluxia continued his barrage of slices, in vain and frustration, and Axel continued blocking them. As this was happening, Larxene kept throwing a few of her needles every now and then, which Axel managed to block with his left hand as he blocked Marluxia’s attacks with his right. With each hit Marluxia gave, Axel backed away a little bit. Soon, he backed up all the way to the end of the wall, and with nowhere else to go, he hopped onto it with one leg. As soon as that leg landed on it, he quickly propelled himself with it and bounced off the wall. With that same leg, he twirled around himself as he kicked Marluxia-who subsequently fell on the floor- in the face. He landed next to Larxene, away from any wall in the room.

Larxene tried punching him in the stomach, but Axel dodged it by moving slightly to the right. Axel swiped her horizontally but she ducked. She punched him again in the stomach, and this time she got him. Axel felt a little sting as he backed away a little bit. Then, Larxene, still crouched, gathered her strength and took a very big swing at him, while getting up. She had punched him with her left hand in the face, so Axel fell to the right. However, while he was still in the air, he regained his balance, landed on his hands, and then propelled himself backwards to land on his feet. Larxene ran towards him and punched him in the chest, Axel blocked with a chakram, while several sparks of electricity flew out of the collision, and took a step back. She then punched him in the face, but Axel blocked again with his other hand, while taking another step back.

Everywhere she would punch him, Axel would block while taking a few steps backwards, and Larxene was punching pretty fast. Larxene then stopped, and prepared to punch. She stayed in the same position of preparation and began to accumulate energy. Axel noticed that her hand was becoming electrified, so he de-materialized his chakrams, and as soon as she took a swing, he ducked extremely quickly. A very large stream of lightning came out of her fist, as Axel could see on the floor, while lying on his back. After it finished, and the stream of lightning was gone, Larxene still had her fist out for a few seconds. Axel, very quickly, did a backwards double handstand and quickly grabbed her arm between both his legs. Then, he twirled around his hands, and began spinning her around before he her go and threw her on the other side of the room. She hit the wall, this time.

Axel, still on his hands, did a flip, landed and re-materialized his chakrams. He immediately put his left arm over his shoulder and blocked Marluxia’s vertical slice. Then, he quickly turned towards the left and struck Marluxia with his right hand. Marluxia fell towards the side, but quickly did a cartwheel around Axel to regain his balance. Axel sliced him horizontally, but Marluxia ducked. After he quickly de-materialized his scythe, he grabbed Axel’s arm, as he got back up, and lifted him over his head and smacked him on the floor. Axel quickly got back up while Marluxia re-materialized his scythe, and quickly blocked the attack Marluxia had planned soon after. Axel then applied force on his chakram and pushed Marluxia’s scythe away from him as he got back up. After that, he quickly turned around and whacked Larxene’s fist as she was attacking him. This left her a little off balance and open for an attack. Axel twirled around again and put his chakram near his hips to block Marluxia’s horizontal slice. While still in a blocking position, he managed to turn around and put his chakram against his face to block Larxene’s punch. Then, sensing that Marluxia’s scythe wasn’t pressing against his chakram anymore, he quickly lifted his other chakram towards his face and blocked another attempt made by Marluxia.

Now, Axel was standing between the two of them, with both chakrams blocking his face to block Larxene’s punch, and Marluxia’s scythe. The three stayed in the same position for a while...until Axel’s chakram began to catch fire. The other two barely had time to react as Axel grinned...

He took off his chakrams from each of Larxene and Marluxia’s weapons and twirled around once between two. While doing so, he stopped after twirling around at 360 degrees, and pushed his chakram in Larxene’s face and smacked her with it. While Larxene was losing balance, he twirled at a 180 degree angle back to Marluxia, and as he was doing so, he kicked him in the stomach. So, as the two were in the process of falling, Axel twirled around one more time and stopped, spreading out oth his arms that pointed towards the two. Then, two large fireballs came out from both of them, leaving large trails of smoke and ashes as they struck both Marluxia and Larxene, who flew towards the opposite sides of the room.

After a few seconds of standing, Axel de-materialized his chakrams, and took a look at the two. They were both on the floor, passed out.

“Well...“ Axel said. “I suppose they’ve learned their lesson, whatever that is.”

He then walked towards Larxene, who was lying on her back. He crouched down and examined her.

“Larxene...” He said, with a melancholic face. “you were one of the good ones...you were one of the ones I liked...it’s too bad though...you really held up great...”

Then, Axel felt a presence. A threatening presence. He quickly turned around, while still crouched, and grabbed the handle of Marluxia’s scythe, who was still desperately trying to strike him down.
As he looked up, Axel noticed that Marluxia looked absolutely dishevelled, and by looking even deeper into his face, he knew that Marluxia wanted to destroy him at all costs. He recognized the same glare of determination in his eyes that he had noticed before. Naturally, this meant nothing to Axel.

As Marluxia was forcing, Axel was forcing harder, with a stern look on his face...the redhead was still forcing as he was slowly getting back up.

Axel eventually got back up and stood at the same level as Marluxia. Then, as The Gardener was forcing as much as he could, Axel continued to force even harder and brought the handle to Marluxia’s face. As he did, he brought his own face closer and spoke to him:

“Can’t you take a hint?” Axel asked him.

As soon as he finished, he hit Marluxia in the stomach with his knee. The Gardener slightly lost balance and let go of his scythe, Axel then twirled around and swiped him as hard as he could with said scythe. Marluxia hit the wall and fell next to Larxene.

“They really could come in handy.” He said, as he dropped the scythe and left the room.

Namine, who had witnessed the entire fight, from her chair, yet was not even touched, was absolutely flabbergasted at the entire sequence. After seeing that Marluxia and Larxene were getting back up, she went back to work and started drawing again. Not because she was afraid they’d catch her not working, but because there was simply nothing left to see.

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Zexion and Lexaeus returned to the main room situated in the basement after their witnessing of Ansem. They had stayed a while longer to inspect the area before coming back.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get our facts straight.” Said Zexion. “What we saw in the basement was indeed Ansem.”

Lexaeus didn’t respond.

“And it’s not Xehanort’s Heartless, or anything. it really is Ansem, THE Ansem. Our leader and mentor whom we ruthlessly betrayed.”

“...”

“How did he get even get here? Does Xemnas know anything about this?”

Still no answer form Lexaeus.

“Well, say something!”

“What do you want me to say?” Lexaeus finally said. “It is Ansem, and he’s probably here to destroy our plans and to destroy us.”

“Well, we won’t let him...right? Right?”

“We should tell Vexen about this.”

“Oh, come on! We can take him. There’s five of us and only one of him, and if we still can’t manage it then we’ll inform--”

Zexion stopped in mid-sentence to ponder.

“Who?” Lexaeus asked. “Xemnas? And how, exactly do you intend to hide the fact that we haven’t done a thing he’s told us to. No...we have to do this ourselves.”

“Well, we certainly can’t say anything to Marluxia., he’s already crazy enough as it is.”

“Who do you think he was talking to? Ansem, I mean.”

“I don’t know, I don’t even think it’s important. What is important is disposing of him as quickly and as discretely as we can.”

“We already did that, remember? Apparently, he’s found a way out and now he’s back for revenge. I’m not sure if we can get rid of him this time.”

“Of course, we can. Look, he doesn’t know that we know he’s here, right? So, already we’ve acquired the element of surprise.”

“I suppose...”

“First we surprise him, then we pounce on him altogether. It’s as simple as that. There really can‘t be that much that can go wrong.”

“I’m pretty skeptical about all this...”

“You’re skeptical about everything.” He said, as he rolled his eyes.

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Axel was heading down the hallway furiously. The fight with Larxene and Marluxia had really changed his perspectives of things within the organization. He had only been gone during the span of an entire day, and already things seemed to have turned upside down: the group somehow managed to muster up the courage to plan their revolt against Xemnas; Larxene, who was a member he always admired, seemed to be conforming to them; shadows of Xehanort’s heartless had been stalking the castle; Riku was seemingly in the castle too, and Vexen had some kind of secret that Axel knew nothing about. Naturally, he went to confront Zexion about what was going on.

While walking in the halls however, Ansem’s shadow had suddenly appeared again, through a dark hole in the floor. The shadow stared at him in the same, eerie fashion as before.

“This world, has bee--” It started.

“Shut up!” Axel told him angrily.

Axel then walked right through him and continued pacing throughout the rest of the corridor. Suddenly, another shadow appeared in front of him. Axel, after staring at it for a moment, and after looking back, passed through it again. As he continued, he noticed that there were a few shadowy tendrils that were creeping along the walls of the hallway. Axel stopped, and examined these tendrils carefully. He touched them a bit, but they didn’t appear to be anything serious. Looking further down the hall, he saw that the end of it was dark purplish. He turned back to the end of the hall where he came from, and noticed that it was completely white. The contrast made him uneasy.

He started to run to reach the end of the hall faster so he could find out what would be causing this. He met up with another shadow, which he just ran through. The more Axel ran, the darker the hallways became. He met up with one more shadow before he made his way to the end of the hallway into one of the large rooms were Sora/Riku usually end up before entering the door to go into a world. However, upon coming into the room, he actually did see one of them. Upon seeing the silhouette, he quickly hid behind a pillar before bothering to see who it actually was.

Once he did so, he took a peek to see exactly who it was, and saw Riku with what appeared to be a large mass of concentrated darkness in front of him. The mass spread large, shadowy tendrils all around the room. Axel looked everywhere and saw large holes of darkness in the walls, and tendrils covering the pillars, even the one where he was hiding behind. What was most noticeable was a dark, purplish mist that covered the entire floor. The room itself looked like something out of the realm of Darkness. Axel looked at Riku and the blob, as Riku spoke fearlessly to the said blob.

“Who is he talking to?” Axel asked himself.

Axel listened and noticed that the mass was talking, and that it had a familiar voice. As the voice got louder and more imposing, Axel soon realized it was:

“Ansem!” He whispered out loud. “THE Ansem! Not a shadow, or anything….is...is that what he’s become? But...how?”

Axel concentrated and tried to listen as best as he could tot he current conversation that blob Ansem and Riku were engaged in:

“How many times do I have to tell you to get out of my heart?” Riku told the blob courageously.

“Face it. You need me to survive.” The blob answered. “You’re heart is to week and feeble to stand on its own. Only the power of darkness can sustain it.”

“I’ve already seen what the darkness has to offer, and I have to say, I’m not impressed.”

“Did you not enjoy the power that I gave you?”

“What power? Even with all the power you could supply me with, I still lost to Sora twice.”

“You simply didn’t know how to use it.”

“Maybe I didn’t then...” Riku said, getting into his fighting position. “...but I do, now.”

After listening to this, Axel heard a sort of whistling behind him. He turned around, and noticed that a shadow Ansem was staring at him right in the face. He covered his mouth to prevent himself from screaming in surprise, and then quickly waved his hand to shoo him away. He then noticed that there was several shadow Ansems around the room, appearing and disappearing here and there. He then peeked out from the pillar again to continue listening…

“Submit!” The blob said.

“Quiet!” Riku replied, as he struck him with the Soul Eater, the attack passed right through the glob.

“It is useless to even think that you can strike me, let alone sustain yourself without me.”

Riku looked at him with a scornful look on his face. He then put himself in his attacking position.

“Look at you,” Said the blob, “the darkness is eating away at your heart as we speak. You have no control over it whatsoever. A pathetic sight indeed.”

“You’re one to talk, all you can do is appear and disappear in front of me, I’m not even sure you do exist. For all I know, you could be some kind of manifestation of darkness.”
The blob chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” Riku asked.

“You. The way you fear the Darkness, the way you deny its very existence within your heart. You should be embracing your newfound power, instead of running away from it.”

“I don’t fear the darkness,” Riku answered. “and I told you that I can still manage the darkness inside me, but the reason I don’t embrace it with open arms is because of who’s lurking inside it. Namely, you.”

“You have to look at the darkness in terms of power. Having a weak and disoriented heart such as yours, it’s natural that you fear the darkness. However, it’s that very same darkness that can help you overcome it, and give you the courage and power you so desperately long for.”

“That’s how you see darkness?” Riku said, as he lowered his weapon. “Hmph…you know, I’ve always seen it in terms of odour. You see, something that reeks of the dark can be put out with the light, which I see as deodorant. You reek of the dark, but there’s--”

“Nothing that can extinguish me, so long as I stay in your heart.” The blob interrupted.

“I was getting to that.” Said Riku, with a smirk on his visage. “You see, to extinguish darkness that lingers in your heart, you just need to find the right kind deodorant…....And I sure as heck found mine!!!”

The glob of darkness charged at Riku to envelop him, but a small, bright ball of light appeared between them. The ball of light shone brightly, and the entire room was enveloped in a white flash. Axel even had to cover his eyes. After a while, he managed to open his eyes and noticed that every square foot of darkness was gone, even the glob. The walls were a sparkling white and the mist no longer covered the floors. Axel looked at Riku again, and noticed that this time he was speaking to the small ball of light, rather than the big glob of darkness. After listening to their conversation for a while, he soon realized who it as:

“It-It’s Mickey Rat!” He whispered to himself.

He peeked over the pillar to listen to them:

“You came at just the right time, your majesty.” Riku told the white ball.

“Gosh Riku, you did all the work,” Mickey answered. “the light in your heart overcame the darkness, and made it able for me to come through. You just have to remember to never lose sight of the light, no matter how bleak things get.”

“...thanks, your majesty.” Riku said, with a warm smilie on his face.”

After speaking to the ball of light for a few minutes, Riku entered the door, and Axel was finally able to come out of the pillar. After looking around and examining the entire room, he went to the place were Riku was standing and started pondering.

“Okay,” He started. so let’s get our facts straight...this could be one strange going-on that we can actually figure out.”

“No kidding...” His conscience responded.

“I like the way you think. Now, Riku was talking to a large glob of what appeared to be darkness.”

“And the glob was apparently Ansem...”

“Right, and Riku was talking to him.”

“And we all know how Riku is a denizen of darkness.”

“Right! That’s why he was talking to Ansem, Ansem was the one who possessed him, right?”

“Or, so they say...”

“Right. Naturally, after being defeated, and after Riku’s heart went back to Kingdom Hearts, Ansem should be gone from Riku’s life, right?”

“Wrong.”

“Exactly! The darkness in his heart still lingers, and so does Ansem, which is why we’ve been seeing him around the castle! Ha, ha! Case closed.” He said, as he crossed his arms.

“Excuse me? I’m afraid the case is still wide open.”

“What are you talking about? Ansem still lingers in Riku’s heart, which is why he’s been manifesting himself in the castle. Don’t you remember when we first saw Ansem‘s shadow? There was small figure at the end of the hall after he had disappeared. That was Riku.”

“So, whenever Riku is near, the darkness in his heart manifests itself all around him in ways like we just saw now...”

“Yep.”

“But what was that giant glob all about? Why didn’t he take a humanoid form?”

“Well, being nobodies, we can spot both light and dark manifestations. Somebody like Sora or Carrie won’t be able to see the shadow Ansems, but we are. However, when it comes to the heart, say Riku’s, the darkness/light (darkness in his case) manifests itself according to how that person’s heart perceives it. To us, it looks like a big glob of concentrated darkness, but to Riku, it’s Ansem. Case closed.”

“So then how come all the shadow Ansems took a humanoid appearance?”

“Well, that wasn’t concentrated darkness. It was just darkness flailing wildly. The giant glob that Riku was talking to had too much darkness in it to be deciphered by anyone.”

“Uh-huh…and what about Mickey Rat?”

“Yes…what is he doing here? I wonder…”

“Do you think the others know?”

“I wouldn’t think so. They never were quick to figure things out.”

“Should we tell them anything?”

“No….well, maybe…”

“Maybe we can use him to our advantage...”

“At a crucial moment…” He said, with a grin on his visage.

“Well, any who, that wraps up that. At least we understand something that’s going on here. Now, all that’s left is what Marluxia is planning, what Vexen is planning, and what exactly happened while we were gone.”

“Yeah...that might be hard...”

“But if anyone can do it...”

“We can.”

Axel muttered those words melancholically, for upon saying them, he remembered how he forgot completely about Roxas.

“Roxas...sorry pal...I’m not sure what’s going to happen. But for now, there’s something going on here, and I can’t leave. But don’t worry, I have a plan and I’m hoping it won’t fail!”

“I’m not Roxas, you know.” His conscience replied.

“Shut up!” He said, out loud, before he ran out of the large room and into the hall.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lexaeus and Zexion were in the main basement room, again. They had stopped talking soon after their previous conversation to ponder, but soon Zexion broke the silence.

“... (Sniffs) Do you smell that?” He asked Lexaeus.

“What?” Answered Lexaeus.

“Riku’s still in the castle isn’t he?”

“Last I saw...”

“I smelled a large mass of darkness somewhere in the basement, but it’s gone now…”

Zexion headed towards the door, when suddenly, it flew open and hit him in the face, Axel was in the doorway, panting and gasping.

“(Pant) A-Ansem! (Gasp) Ansem’s in the castle!” After saying this. he turned his head toward Zexion, who was on the floor. “Oh, hey emo boy...” He said to him.

“Yes...we just discovered it also...” Lexaeus told him. “...say, did you take the stairs to get down here, Axel?”

“Yeah...boy, what a mistake that was, and at the worst possible time. What was I thinking?”

“How do you know about Ansem?” Zexion asked, as he got back up. “You weren’t here, I was replacing you...I mean...you weren’t here for the meetings, where I replaced you...well, I was in charge of...you know...replacing members when they...Ahem...leave...for...um...unfinished...um.. .you know, it-it’s so stuffy in here...I’m-I’m sweating like a pig...”

“Yeah…about that…“ Axel said. “...I know everything Zexion.”

“…”

“?” Lexaeus was confused.

“You see,” Zexion started. “the thing is I--”

“Look, it doesn’t matter,” Axel interrupted. “I don’t care why you did it. I just need to know what happened while I was gone. As for Larxene, well I don't have any feelings for her anyway, she's all yours.”

“Huh? Oh...I don't even like her anymore...”

Axel was confused upon hearing this. It seems that in the small amount of time he had gone to see Vexen, everyone's personality had changed. They were more focused on their plans than on their petty problems...they had actually become serious about their work.

“All right then...” Axel continued. “...let me just clarify a few things. First of all, why does Vexen think I'm in on his plan? Is it because of you?”

“Uh-oh,” He said, with a disgusted look on his face. “He didn’t wink, did he?”

“Oh, don’t even get me started on that.”

“Ugh...well anyway, I kind of disguised myself as you, while Vexen was plotting his little shindig.”

“Shindig?”

“Does this have anything to do with you taking all those bathroom breaks, Axel?” Lexaeus asked him.

“I’m afraid I’m to blame for that.” Answered Zexion. “You see—”

“It doesn’t matter!” Axel cried out. “Look,” He said, turning towards Lexaeus. “Zexion took my place while I was gone from the castle, and I just need to know what’s been going on.”

“You left the castle?” Lexaeus asked.

“Oh Great,” Axel said, as he rolled his eyes. “don’t start your whole ‘Rules of the organization’ speech, Lexaeus. I seriously doubt any of you are in a position to scold me, anyway...”

Axel wanted to get back to the subject at hand, namely everything that happened while he was gone, including Vexen’s ‘shindig’, but Lexaeus had already started another conversation.

“Axel….” He said.

“Uh, yeah…” Axel answered.

“Where exactly did you see Ansem?”

“Is it really important? I doubt he can do anything to us in the state he‘s in.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

“What are you talking abou—”

“He could kill us all!” Zexion cried out.

Axel looked at Zexion strangely before realizing what he meant.

“Oh, I guess he can…“ He said. “what with the darkness and all. But it’s not really him that can do anything as much as it is Riku.”

“Yes, we deducted that he’s trying to control Riku,” Lexaeus said. “and it’s obvious that he wants him to destroy us, but I’m just wondering how he expects him to do it. Does he want him to kill us directly, or does he have other plans in order?”

“Well the first time I saw him was—”

“First time? You saw him more than once?”

“Yeah, there were plenty of them.”

“?” The two were instantly confused upon hearing this.

“What are you talking about?” Zexion asked.

Zexion than realized what Axel might have meant.

“Oh! He’s made replicas of himself, you mean.”

“Well, it’s not really him that made it…” Axel said.

“They’re probably all made out of the data he has on file in his computer.” Lexaeus said.

Axel continued conversing with the two, and at no point in the entire conversation were they talking about the same person.

“Data?” Axel said. “Do you maybe mean Darkness?”

“Darkness, you say?” Lexaeus said.

“Yeah. Well, you know what I mean.”

“Of course.” Zexion said. “He has data of the darkness on file, doesn’t he? He’s probably figured out how to make artificial darkness through the reports. And that’s how he makes his replicas.”
“Out of darkness?” Axel said, sceptically.

“That sounds challenging.” Said Lexaeus.

“Well, he was a pursuer of darkness, but I don’t think he’s really in a position to acquire any sort of data; he’s sort of tied to Riku.”

“Well, his plan probably can’t work unless he has full control of Riku,” Said Zexion. “so he has to make his moves according to him, but if anyone can find a way to destroy us, it’s Ansem.”

“He’s not really that much of a threat, you know.” Axel told him.

“What are you talking about? Of course he is.”

“How, exactly?”

“He has Riku on his side, doesn’t he? Plus, he’s probably been plotting his revenge on us since we betrayed him.”

“Well, Riku’s doing the best he can to get rid of him…did you know that?”

“He is? Good, we’ll need all the help we can get.”

“Still, I don’t really see what difference it makes, since he can’t really do anything in the first place.”

Lexaeus and Zexion looked at him strangely.

“You know what Axel, just forge”t it.” Zexion told him. “I don’t think you understand the seriousness of this problem.

“…And of course, you do.” Axel responded. “You’re so busy pretending to be me, that there’s no time for idiocy, is there?”

“Snide remarks like that are best kept to yourself, Axel.”

“Say Zexion,” Lexaeus said to him. “I would assume this would be the best time to tell Vexen about all of this.”

“Good idea.” Zexion answered. “If he doesn’t already know...”

The two left in dark portals and left Axel alone in the room, infuriated. He went to the table and sat down on a chair. He then began talking to himself.

“These idiots are getting more and more infuriating by the minute.” He said. “I almost feel like I should stop pretending to care.”

“Maybe you should,” His conscience told him. “these idiots are only getting in the way of Roxas, and it’s not like you feel anything for them.”

“No, it’s not anything like that at all, actually...”

After seriously pondering for a while, about the future of Organisation XII and of himself, Axel realized that really no one could be trusted.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Larxene was still in the main room, sitting at the table all alone. She had been waiting there for quite sometime after Marluxia left in pursuit of Axel. She started to balance herself in her chair as time went on, and after a while, she spotted Namine in the corner of the room, drawing one of her sketches.

Larxene had been left bitter by Zexion’s deception and her recent thrashing, and needed to take it out one someone. She even saw it as a way to make herself feel complete, as Zexion had stated earlier. So, she got off her chair, approached Namine, and spoke:

“Hello Glenda.” She said, with a grin on her visage.

Namine barely acknowledged her, as she continued drawing, Larxene could tell she was becoming uncomfortable. Although it actually was quite difficult to tell since Namine always looked uncomfortable.

“What’s the matter?” Larxene taunted. “Cat got your tongue? I guess I wouldn’t have much to say either if I were a hostage.”

“...” Namine did not utter a word, she just continued drawing.

“You know, I have to say, I admire your work. It certainly must be hard to work in these terrible conditions. Can you believe we only have one bathroom here? And we’re five people! (Sighs) You wouldn’t believe how much Zexion uses it, he’s probably in there right now in the middle of breaking another comb, trying to comb that disgusting head of hair...anyway, that’s not the point.”

“...” Namine had even less of a reason not to respond, as Larxene appeared to be babbling.

“I can imagine what it must feel like, wasting your powers for people like us, when you could be out there, fulfilling your ‘purpose’.” She scoffed.

“...Please go away, I’m trying to draw.” She finally said. She had uttered these words softly.

“Oh, terribly sorry...you know, you have some talent, Namine. I really hate to see it go to waste here. Then again, I’d hate to see Sora end up in the wrong hands...just imagine what he can do for us, and it’s all thanks to you, Namine. You’re to blame for what will happen to Sora, and for the Riku Replica, as if anyone cares for him anyway.”

“I said go away...”

“Oh, excuse me...” She said, sarcastically. “I wouldn’t dare want to disturb the great Namine...(Sighs) I bet you’re dying to go out and tell Sora what’s been going on. I bet you can’t wait to tell him, I also bet you’re plotting everything right now...it’s a shame though,” At this point, the grin on Larxene’s visage grew bigger. “never in a million years would we dare let go of you now, your much too precious for us, plus you don’t have a heartless to go back to...so you’re basically stuck between the twilight forever.”

“...” Namine was inspired to stay silent, just as he did before.

“I wouldn’t have much to say if I were in your position too.” She said, as she started laughing. It’s a very awkward position but hey, what else are you gonna do, huh?” She then started to laugh harder. “You’re even more pathetic than we are! At least we have Heartless to go back to, you’re just destined to fade back into nothingness, but not before we can use you to our entire advantage!”

Larxene started to break down in laughter, and headed for the door. Namine kept drawing, she was drawing more vigorously than before, she was working her pencil as hard as she could, knowing that with every trace, she would wipe out one of Sora’s precious memories. Pressed with thoughts about her own, meaningless existence, she drew as much as she could to wipe them out when, suddenly, she noticed something on her sketchbook. A small drop of water. She went to touch it with her hands...it was already dry. She then immediately touched her eyes and cheeks, but they were as dry as they always were...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Marluxia was walking furiously in the castle halls, searching desperately for any trace of Axel. The thrashing from the fight had left him bitter, plus it was at the hands of Axel. He was absolutely furious.

As he was walking, he felt a strange WOOSH feeling overcome him. He quickly turned around, and saw nothing. He turned back and immediately came face to face with Xehanort’s Heartless. He yelped before he materialized his scythe and swiped him diagonally. As soon as he did, Ansem had disappeared in a hole of darkness.

Marluxia looked around suspiciously and only managed to catch a glimpse of somebody running across the hall. He chased after him towards the end of the hall, but once he reached the end of said hall, the character was gone.

Frustrated by the infuriating events, paired with his ever-growing rage towards Vexen and his team, (plus he figured that Vexen might be behind the whole ’shadow Ansem’ thing) he made his way down to the basement and subsequently, into the laboratory, where he abruptly opened the door and hit Vexen, who stumbled down and dropped a large beaker on Marluxia. Then, a small ball of light appeared over Marluxia’s head, from which smaller, swirling balls of energy twisted their way around him from top to bottom.

“Oh, really now!” Vexen exclaimed. “That was an Elixir!”

“Really?” Marluxia said, as he studied his hands.

He then spread his hand out towards Vexen and suddenly, several vines came out from the ground and the ceiling and wrapped themselves around him. The vines around his legs were attached to the floor, and the vines around his hands reached up to the ceiling and were attached up there.

“That’s nice to know.” Said the Gardener, with a grin on his visage.

“I say,” exclaimed Vexen. “what is wrong with you, Marluxia?”

“Can it! You, of all people, should know that you can’t keep shady stuff a secret for long, Vexen.” He said, with a stern face.

“I say, if it’s an interrogation you want, then there’s a more civilized way to do it.”

Marluxia stared at him for a while, before putting his hand down. As soon as he did, the vines that were wrapped around Vexen unwrapped themselves and disappeared. Once Vexen hit the ground, Marluxia spoke:

“All right Vexen, tell me: Where did Xehanort’s heartless come from? Have you been using him from the start to scare me out of being leader? Of course! The mysterious figure I saw earlier was probably one of your creations!”

“...Why, whatever do you--”

“Stop it!” He interrupted. “I’ve had enough of the lying, and the deceiving, and the betraying. As the person in charge of this castle, I order you to tell me what’s been going on between you and the others!”

“Lying? Deceiving? Betraying? You’re not really one to talk, Marluxia.” Vexen replied.

“Don’t even try your little ‘innocent’ act, old man. Now spill it, I have every right to know what’s going on.”

“Name one.”

Marluxia could see the fearlessness in Vexen’s face, and he knew that he would have a lot of trouble getting through to him.

“...That’s not the point!” He ended up responding. “I’m leader of this castle and this pathetic group of morons and I demand to know what idiocy you’ve all been plotting! Or would you rather I ask Xemnas to ask you himself?”

“Xemnas?” exclaimed the Chilly Academic, seeming somewhat fearless. “You’d stoop that low? Well, go ahead and ask him, bring him over here, for all I care. Although, it would be difficult for you to conceal the fact that you haven’t done at all what he asked you to do with Sora, and I don’t think he ever asked you to take his place, either.” He said those last words with a grin on his face. “Perhaps somebody might even inform him on what’s going on.” He said, as he winked in the same fashion as he did with Axel, which disgusted Marluxia.

“Is that a threat?”

“I think you know the answer...”

Marluxia spoke in an angrier tone:

“You really think I wouldn’t be able to hide any of this from Xemnas?” He asked rhetorically. “Haven’t you ever noticed how oblivious this entire organization is? And are you entirely sure that Xemnas would believe you, rather than me, the leader?”

“Oh right, you’re the leader...that automatically gives you complete immunity on Xemnas’ authority, how silly of me to forget.” He said, sarcastically. “Let me ask you a question: Who do you think Xemnas would trust, between the inexperienced, garden-crazed beatnik, or the older, self-respecting academic with noticeable tenure?”

“The mere fact that you’re stalling to tell me what’s going on proves that there is something going on.”

“A fact that you can’t prove, of course.”

Marluxia looked at him very sternly, but soon realized that there was nothing more he could do.

“Let’s just see how well that Replica of yours does...” He said sternly, before materializing a dark portal and entering it.

Vexen was now left alone, and was now able to ask the questions he wanted to himself.

“What on earth did he mean by ‘Xehanort’s Heartless’?” He asked out loud. “I thought Sora had extinguished him...”

“There is a slight possibility that...” His conscience said.

“What? Surey you don’t mean...”

“Ponder it for a while, the answer shall surely come to you.”

“Riku...” Vexen answered himself after pondering.

His conscience nodded in agreement.

“Why, he might be more powerful than I could’ve imagined...” He said, feeling somewhat relieved. “Marluxia won’t stand a chance now...”

Vexen went back to work on his experiments and after a while, he materialized a dark portal and went to see Zexion in the basement, who was investigating Diz’s appearance with Lexaeus. They were on their knees, looking for footsteps on the floor, when Vexen’s voice startled them.

“I say, I need to speak with the two of you.” He told them.

“What is it, Vexen?” Zexion said, in an annoyed tone, as he got back up.

“No one else is here, right?”

“This is the very bottom of Castle Oblivion, not many people come here.”

“What is it exactly that you want, Vexen?” Asked Lexaeus. “Is your ingenious plan not working out perfectly?”

“First of all,” Vexen started. “I need to ask the two of you something, have any of you seen a shadow of Xehanort’s heartless wandering about in the halls?”

“No...” Zexion answered. “but we have seen—”
Lexaeus immediately interrupted him.

“No, we haven’t seen anything of the such Vexen.”

“I see...“ Vexen said to them. “well, if you do don’t be alarmed, his existence merely resonates with that of Riku.”

“You mean the darkness?” Zexion said.

“Precisely.”

“All right...”

“Speaking of Riku...” Lexaeus said.

“Yes...” Vexen said. “we have a problem.”

“Great, I knew this wouldn’t last long.” Exclaimed Zexion.

“I fear Marluxia might be getting on to us.”

“What do you mean; does he know what we’re up to?”

“Not exactly, but he knows something’s going on.”

“Did you not threaten him of being a hypocrite?” Lexaeus asked.

“I did, but I’m not sure how long that will last, before long he’ll probably go running to Xemnas for help.”

“Look,” Zexion exclaimed. “we just need to kidnap the actual Riku and get this thing over with.”

“There’s also a matter of the Replicas.” Vexen said.

“So what do you propose we do, Professor Brainiac?”

“ I say, Zexion, watch your attitude. However, in response to your question. “We’ll continue as planned, but we’ll have to go faster and just get it over with.”

“Who keeps the Replica once we’re done?”

“We’ll figure that out later, what’s important is that Marluxia mustn’t get a hold of their information, so here’s what we need to do…”

Vexen discussed the plan as the two listened intently.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After speaking to Zexion and Lexaues, Vexen entered the main room of the basement, where Axel, Zexion and Lexaeus were in before. He saw Axel, sitting at a table and pondering.

“Axel!” He said, as he rushed towards him.

“What do you want, Vexen?” Axel asked, not moving from his seat.

“I say, I need a favour.”

“No, you need a haircut.”

“What did I say about respecting your elders?”

Axel then realized that he now had the chance to investigate and/or destroy the plans of one of the two factions from the inside. He quickly changed his decision and said:

“(Sighs) Fine. What exactly are the terms of this favour?”

“All I need you to do,” Vexen said. “is go back to the castle and—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Axel interrupted. “Go back to the castle?”

“Yes, Marluxia might be coming on to my plan, and