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okay so this is just a theory I've been thinking about for quite sometime now so I thought I let you know why I think Terra is the guardian and then you people can add on to it. my first thought on this was at the end of birth by sleep when Terranort tried to remove Terra from his heart with his keyblade but instead of that happening the guardian appeared instead. Now if Terra's heart had been removed we would have seen it like we did when Xehanort plunged the keyblade into himself and when xehanort plunged his keyblade into Braig at the beginning of Dream Drop Distance. instead of this the guardian created a portal of darkness that send the amnesia Xehanort into darkness. My second thought was after the battle with Ansem the seeker of darkness the guardian reaches out to Riku as if it was Terra reaching out to him and the keyblade that Terra gave him before Riku said "strength, to protect what matters most" which is what Terra said in birth by sleep. I am still looking through the other games to see if I can find any more on this and if any of you notice anything about this and see anything that i haven't seen do let me know

I started writing this story 10 years ago. Obviously, it isn't the same story it started out as. In fact, this is possibly the tenth revision to what I originally had in mind. I'll go further into what I had in mind once we reach the end of the story. I have already written the first few chapters of this version and hope to post them each within the next few days. I'll also draw art for the series as we go along. The first ones I'm fully working on that will be posted once all current chapters 1 through 3 are uploaded. When I started writing it, there were plenty of tropes and ideas that were frequently used by other writers that you might be familiar with. I decided to keep them just so I could do my own take on them, since the basic concept of this story is that it is the Final Fantasy side of the original. What that means isn't that they go to FF worlds, though. (Changed my mind! ) I'm open to any critiques or thoughts. I want to improve as a writer, because the two main characters of the fic are rather important to me and my own future. So no pressure there. I also will try keeping this as close in rating to what the actual games stick to, so there won't be hardcore blood and foul language. And some music tracks to keep in mind! Dearly Beloved, well it's not Kingdom Hearts without this song. The version used as the main theme for this story is the HD version of the original. https://www.youtube.com/embed/RNHzt6pVlrE Theme Song: Hikari/Simple and Clean by Utada Hikaru (because it also isn't KH without Utada!) Well, hopefully this doesn't suck and that you enjoy it. -------- Kingdom Hearts The Other Story Chapter 1: The Starting Point The small world of Traverse Town was a world of sanctuary. A town for those who had lost their home. It's old fashioned buildings and eternal night sky was strange, but the timeless feel of the world made it a good safe house for its lost inhabitants. It was very quiet tonight and was that way most nights, there was one problem with it. And that was the Heartless. Beings seemingly without hearts, creatures of the darkness and pure evil as were clear by their very existence and intentions. The citizens of Traverse Town did their best to avoid them, and usually stayed in their homes unless they had to go out. Thankfully, they only came out during certain periods of time and when that happened, everyone in the town knew and took the appropriate steps to avoid trouble. Only a few of the townsfolk were brave enough to fight any of them whenever an attack took place. In the Third District of Traverse Town, several individuals were doing just that. Breaking the quiet of the night with their fighting, but doing so only for the protection of the citizens who dwelled there. A small black creature with yellow eyes, designated as a Shadow, tried to scurry away as a blast of fire struck it and it disintegrated. A young woman, probably no older than 15, with black hair and a dark blue school uniform of some kind, approached the spot where it had been only seconds ago. “Got another Shadow over here!” she said to her companions. Clutched to her chest a white doll with a big red nose and a pom-pom coming out of its head. She had been using it to channel her magic through. “Good,” said a brown haired teenager with dark blue eyes. He too wore a dark blue school uniform and was wielding a weapon known as a gunblade, which came in two varieties. One was a gun attached to the blade that, when the trigger was pulled, sent vibrations through the blade that could increase the deadliness of the attack. The kind he had a mechanism that switches between a gun and a sword mode. He swung the weapon in its sword mode at two Heartless that jumped at him. These were only slightly bigger than the shadows, were of a dark brown color and had armored helmeted heads that still exposed their blank black faces and yellow eyes. There was a large insignia on its chest and it had dark claws on its hands. “Got two Soldiers for me.” He said as he sliced one in half, followed quickly by the other. “Ha! I got three Large Bodies!” their other friend said; as he quickly kicked one into an exposed electrical plug. He had blond hair that he had spiked up in the front, with mostly blue and red clothing on. He didn’t have a weapon like his friends, he fought entirely with his fists and feet. “They should really fix this place up, don’t ya think?” “I agree, Zell.” The gunblade wielding teenager said, slicing through a down more Heartless. As another came at him however, the gunblade quickly changed into a gun that he shot the Heartless with. “What’s our count, Lulu?” The young woman shot off more blasts of fire. “I’d say about forty each.” She said. “Which would be about one hundred and twelve in total? Looks like we’re all cleared, Omega.” “Good, then we should wrap up soon.” Omega said, blocking a Heartless’ claws from striking him. “Just a few more to go, I think.” He said as he stabbed through it. It took them a few more moments to clear up the rest of the Heartless, but by the time they were done, the whole of the District, as well as the second had been cleared. “Whew, that was a long one.” Omega said, wiping his arm across his forehead and placing his gunblade in its holster. “I think we did pretty well, though.” Zell said as he punched the air above his head. “The citizens of this town don’t have to worry while I’m here!” “What about when you sleep?” Lulu asked with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “SO, let’s go report back and grab something to eat!” Zell said, completely ignoring his friends comment. “What are you guys up for? I’m paying this time.” “That Ratatouille place looked good.” Omega commented. “Something within my price range, please!” Zell replied, though he was laughing a little. Indeed, as they left they were laughing, acting as though everything was normal. And this was their idea of normal, so it didn’t seem out of place for them at all. It was an hour after they had finished their report, and now they were sitting in the small diner in First District. “Did you guys see the look on Rusty’s face in the debriefing?” Zell asked, chuckling lightly. “It was priceless!” “Yeah, being told that three punks did better fighting Heartless in one night than you have in nine years tends to do that.” Lulu said, trying to remain stoic. She started laughing as well after a few seconds. “And yes, it really was.” “And it came from Instructor Trepe, too.” Omega commented. “So it had to sting.” All three of them had been sitting there, laughing away and driving several of the other people who came by insane. But they didn’t care, they hadn’t been able to go out at all for a while, and so it felt good to just hang out and not worry about Heartless or anything related to them. “This was a pretty good place.” Omega noted. “We’ll have to come again at some point?” “I completely agree with that.” Zell said, raising his glass as if to toast his friend before taking another swig from it. “I agree.” Lulu said as well. “As long as Zell pays again.” She quickly added, causing Zell to spit out his drink at the suggestion. A waiter walked up to them. “Is that all for this evening?” Zell nodded and the waiter handed him a bill. “Yikes, that really was expensive.” Zell said, grimacing a little. “Sure you have enough munny, Zell? I can pay for half, if you want.” “Nah, I’m good, bud.” Zell said, pulling out some munny and handing it to the waiter. “You guys ready to turn in?” “No, not really.” Omega said, getting up. “But we probably should.” “Good to know.” Zell said, getting up as well. Lulu simply nodded as she got up. “HEY! STOP THAT THING!” someone called out. The three of them looked just in time to see something rush past them. It looked blue, but they couldn’t make out what it was. “What is that, a dog?” Omega asked. “Don’t know.” Zell said. The man who yelled out ran up to them, looking very angry. “Why didn’t you stop that that monster?!” “Why would we? Didn’t look like it was doing anything wrong.” Omega said. “Wasn’t doing anything wrong, it was stealing food from my store!” the man said. “What was it?” Lulu interjected. “I don’t know, but what about my food?!” The man said, obviously seething with anger. He began to move to where whatever it was had run to, only to be stopped when Omega grabbed him by the arm. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Omega said. “The Heartless might not be completely gone. A few stragglers could be lurking around that corner, for instance.” The man’s face automatically filled with fear, and he retreated back in the direction that he had come from “Your people skills are as impressive as usual.” Lulu said as she walked past Omega. “Well, I’m not going to let some idiot go and get themselves killed.” Omega replied, as he followed after her. “It’s already hard enough keeping the Heartless at bay as it is without people like him giving them more to add to their numbers.” Zell chuckled as he walked past. “Admit it.” Zell said, now walking alongside Omega. “You just didn’t want whatever that thing was to starve.” “Not really.” Omega said in a neutral kind of tone, but gave Zell a friendly offhand punch to the arm. He suddenly stopped though. He wasn’t sure, but it felt like someone was watching him, perhaps that creature that had run off. He turned around to look, but there was no one there. Thinking that it was probably just his imagination, he quickly hurried off after his friends. It was always night in Traverse Town, so it was often difficult for many to get used to it, especially when it comes to the time. Omega was used to it though, having lived here for so long. It was actually very early in the morning, and Omega and the others were walking around the First District. They were supposed to be meeting their Instructor, who had said to meet her at the entrance to the Second District. Omega, Lulu and Zell were part of the SeeD Program, a type of mercenary group, although it was originally a program more akin to Special Forces. After the Heartless started attacking nine years ago, the world that SeeD was originally set in was lost, and it was retooled into an Anti-Heartless mercenary group by an important world, although what world that was, it was a Level 9 secret, and since Cadets like Omega and his friends were only Level 1 holders, they were not in on it. Today, SeeD consisted of over two hundred members, with almost twenty worlds that they were stationed at. Quistis Trepe was a woman who looked to be in her early twenties, but carried herself as though she was older than that. She was not the strictest Instructor, and because of this, she was also among the most popular. She was wearing her regular clothes today, instead of her uniform. Her blond hair was still done up in the style she usually had it in, with it tied up in back, while two long fringes at her sides that framed her face. “Alright, you three.” She said as they approached. “Today will be a major Field Exam. One that has been carefully decided ever since the previous night” Omega, Lulu and Zell stood at attention and did not state anything. It would be disrespectful to interrupt with something that did not have relevance to the subject. “Your performance yesterday was incredible, and we decided that you were ready for the Exam.” Instructor Trepe continued. “We have just received word that one of our training worlds, Codenamed “Specter” to be precise, has come under attack by a large force of Heartless.” This information came as no real surprise. After all, “Specter” was a world that was filled with Darkness, which made it a perfect place to start off SeeD training. Omega and his friends had once gone there and had found it to be a slightly unpleasant place. “Since most of the more experienced members are off world, they need back up. A team from each of our training worlds will be sent to Specter to help stop the Heartless.” She said. “You three are to depart Traverse Town and head to Specter to help with the defense. This is an important mission; we cannot allow Specter to fall to the Heartless. Do you all understand?” “Yes ma’am!” “Good. You have three hours to departure.” Instructor Trepe said. She looked all three of them in the face, and gave them a kind smile. “Good luck. Dismissed!” Omega, Lulu and Zell saluted, which the Instructor did as well before leaving. The three of them waited until she was out of sight before they started talking. “Great, we finally get a real mission!” Zell said, grinning broadly. “Told you guys that they would!” “Yeah, it would appear you were right.” Lulu said. “But I’m not sure going back to Specter is a good thing.” “Of course it isn’t.” Zell said. “It’s a horrible place yeah, but soon, we’ll be real SeeD members, and get real missions, that don’t involve Specter at all!” “Yeah, all we need to do is finish this mission.” Omega said. “We can’t afford to screw up. Who knows when we’ll be eligible for the next Exam?” Lulu looked thoughtful for a moment before looking up at the other two. “You’re right. I say we go and prepare for the mission before we leave.” She said. She took a quick glance at the two of them. “I’ll handle the preparations; I’ll meet you two at Cid’s later.” And with that, she walked off. Omega and Zell. Zell turned to him. “I’m going to go over to Cid’s right now, and get the ship ready. What are you going to do?” “Well, I’m sure Lulu will be doing the supplying, I’m not sure. I guess I can always go info surfing.” Omega commented casually, but at the same time he started looking around. “Think she’ll have any idea of what’s happening in Specter?” Zell asked, doing the same. “Hard to say, but since she’s Level 4, she could.” Omega replied. “Though, some information is better than nothing. Walking into a battlefield without knowing anything will just get us killed.” “Okay, but you be careful.” Zell said having made sure no one was listening to them. “She’ll get in really big trouble if the higher ups find out she’s been giving us top secret info that we aren’t allowed.” “I know.” Omega replied. “I’ll see you later.” “See ya.” Omega stood outside the door, hoping that he wouldn’t be here long. The place always gave him the creeps. The door opened after a few minutes. “Okay, come back next week just in case.” A young woman’s voice said, as another SeeD cadet walked out the door. A young woman in a white suit, with shoulder length black hair, appeared as well. “Remember, no strenuous activities until you recover.” “Hello Aki” Omega said, stepping forward. The doctor looked at him. “Oh, hey Omega, come on in.” Omega did so. “How’s life as a doctor going?” “Oh fine, just fine.” Aki said. She had a worried expression on her face, which slightly worried Omega. “ “I see.” “So, how can I help you today, my friend?” Aki said, sitting down. “I’m just here to tell you that we’re going to be heading off in a few hours.” Omega replied. “To Specter.” “Oh, so you guys are the ones going?” Aki said, sitting up in her seat. Omega nodded. “Yeah. I wasn’t given much info on it, though.” “I know, we haven’t either.” Aki said. “Dr. Kadowaki was sent off earlier without much of a briefing as to why.” “Why weren’t you called in too?” Omega asked. “Don’t know, but I’m worried. Dr. Kadowaki always keeps me filled on what is going on when she can. So this must be something very serious.” “Yeah, I know.” Omega agreed. “But you’ve got to know something, like what happened?” “All I know is that there was some kind of incident.” Aki said. “Apparently, a couple of cadets stumbled upon something. Something that put them both in serious intensive care, and had something to do with the first wave of the Heartless attack! And whatever it was has been classified a Level 10 secret.” Omega looked at Aki in shock. Level 10 was the highest level of security that SeeD had. Only a select few were even at Level 10 clearance, and if that was the case, Omega knew he wasn’t going to be getting anything more from this. He just stood there silently, folding his arms in thought. “I’m sorry, but that’s all I know.” Aki said. “It’s okay. Thanks anyway.” Omega replied, heading for the door. “No problem.” Aki said. “Hey!” Omega turned to look at her. “Good luck.” “Thanks.” Omega said, and he left afterwards. He wasn’t sure what to think about what he had just heard. Whatever happened in Specter was definitely worse than Instructor Trepe had let on, but he still had no idea what had caused it. And it looked like he wasn’t going to, if it was a Level 10 secret. It was right as he was at the door to the First District that he heard it. They need your help…. Omega stopped when he heard that and looked around. “Hello? Anyone there?!” Nothing. Omega was confused, but shrugged a little. It had probably been his imagination. He went through the door and headed towards Cid’s shop when he heard it again. But you are not ready… “What?” Omega said, coming to a stop again. He didn’t know why he had said that, or why he was hearing these voices. All he knew was that it wasn’t making him feel comfortable. Trying to shake off his unease, he didn’t realize that he wasn’t alone anymore. “Are you alright?” Omega turned to look at who had spoken and saw a girl wearing a blue jacket and black jeans staring at him in concern. He knew her, her name was Iris and she was a SeeD cadet, just like he was. She had put red highlights in her brown hair since the last time he had seen her, however, which he thought made her look very pretty. “Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” Omega lied. “No need to worry about me. I’m just peachy over here.” He continued, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, though Iris just chuckled. Though he never really got a chance to hang out with her because they were on separate teams, every time he did, a kind of fluttering feeling appeared in his stomach that he wasn’t sure he like. Or disliked, for that matter. “Alright then.” Iris replied, smiling slightly. “It’s been awhile, Omega.” The feeling intensified, but he ignored it. “It really has, Iris.” Omega said, giving her a small smile as well. “How has it been?” “Oh, you know the usual stuff.” Iris replied. “Just the patrolling of the town and all its districts, killing any Heartless that pops up. You?” “Pretty much the same.” Omega said. “Though, on some nice occasions I get to meet up with old friends that I haven’t talked to in awhile.” His blue eyes met her green eyes for a moment before they both started laughing. “Yeah, I miss it too.” Iris said and for a moment Omega thought he saw a brief blush appear on her face. “Hey, how about after this mission we hang out more?” That fluttering feeling started to grow again and his heart started pounding with it. “Sounds cool, though I’m guessing it might still be a while.” Omega replied, trying to pretend like nothing was wrong with him. “Probably, but I’m sure we can make it work.” Iris said as she started walking past him. “See you soon, alright?” “You definitely will!” Omega said, smiling again. She returned it and walked away, that fluttering feeling becoming almost unbearable now until see left. He felt happy though, and he hoped that nothing would get him down. But then he heard it again…. You must be ready………Or darkness will conquer everything. Before Omega could say or do anything, the world went pitch black, and it felt like he was falling. To be continued....

10th grade As I sat there in English class, I stared at the girl next to me. She was my so called "best friend". I stared at her long, silky hair, and wished she was mine. But she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. After class, she walked up to me and asked me for the notes she had missed the day before and handed them to her. She said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I wanted to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. 11th grade The phone rang. On the other end, it was her. She was in tears, mumbling on and on about how her love had broke her heart. She asked me to come over because she didn't want to be alone, so I did. As I sat next to her on the sofa, I stared at her soft eyes, wishing she was mine. After 2 hours, one Drew Barrymore movie, and three bags of chips, she decided to go to sleep. She looked at me, said "thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. Senior year The day before prom she walked to my locker. My date is sick" she said; he's not going to go well, I didn't have a date, and in 7th grade, we made a promise that if neither of us had dates, we would go together just as "best friends". So we did. Prom night, after everything was over, I was standing at her front door step. I stared at her as she smiled at me and stared at me with her crystal eyes. I want her to be mine, but she isn't think of me like that, and I know it. Then she said "I had the best time, thanks!" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. Graduation Day A day passed, then a week, then a month. Before I could blink, it was graduation day. I watched as her perfect body floated like an angel up on stage to get her diploma. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't notice me like that, and I knew it. Before everyone went home, she came to me in her smock and hat, and cried as I hugged her. Then she lifted her head from my shoulder and said, "you're my best friend, thanks" and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. A Few Years Later Now I sit in the pews of the church. That girl is getting married now. I watched her say "I do" and drive off to her new life, married to another man. I wanted her to be mine, but she didn't see me like that, and I knew it. But before she drove away, she came to me and said "you came!". She said "thanks" and kissed me on the cheek. I want to tell her, I want her to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love her but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. Funeral Years passed, I looked down at the coffin of a girl who used to be my "best friend". At the service, they read a diary entry she had wrote in her high school years. This is what it read: I stare at him wishing he was mine, but he doesn't notice me like that, and I know it. I want to tell him, I want him to know that I don't want to be just friends, I love him but I'm just too shy, and I don't know why. I wish he would tell me he loved me! "I wish I did too..." I thought to my self, and I cried. He died a few months later........ -FIN </3 (kinda change the story at the end) the original story is the link below for more information ask me where i got these "stories" picture is not by me(you can tell from the link on the picture) http://www.boardofwisdom.com/default.asp?topic=1005&listname=Love

I love how Kingdom Hearts 3 isn't even out & yet RIKU POURING HIS ALL INTO AN ATTACK AGAINST AN UNYIELDING SWARM OF MANIFESTED DARKNESS IN ORDER TO PROTECT SORA IS ALREADY ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC SHOTS OF THE GAME.

So this was a idea I've been working on for a while and thought i'd share-it's basically a re-telling of the Kingdom Hearts story from the ground up. Basically i wanted to add extra characters get in depth with the characters, maybe add more of the Disney stuff in more and so on and so forth. This is my first chapter hope you enjoy I'm open to any critique. Kingdom Hearts A New Wielder Chapter 1 Paradise “Sora…..Sora wake up!” Sora’s eyes slowly began to open up. The sun was beaming down at him, making it difficult to look up. His head started to beat painfully, each pound creating a pang of agony. One moment he was falling into a void and now he felt something solid and of course plastered across his back. Slowly, he began to move his hands and legs, regaining his range of motion. He felt his gloved hands pressed up against the sand, and suddenly a shadow came over him, and it was that of a familiar face. “Guys don’t go!” Sora yelled as he jumped forward. Kairi stood behind him with a smirk on her face. Sora turned around and rubbed his head, getting some sand out of his spiky hair. The two of them looked at one another awkwardly. His mind was still thinking of the dream, he didn’t even realize that he was awake and that the Island was back to normal. She for her part just watched confused. “I thought I’d find you here, you lazy bum,” Kairi taunted with her hands on her hips. “Wha….How….I….” Sora tried to find the right words to say. “I had the weirdest dream, you were there, and Riku and…..” Kairi looked confused. Sora looked at all over the place to make sure everything was in its proper place. The trees stood tall, the fountain poured fresh water and the tree houses were placed exactly where they were before. Turning around Sora saw in the distance of the main Island, the small town glowing in the distance around a large inactive volcano. “Are you ok?” Kairi asked Sora took a deep breath as he realized everything was back to normal. “Yeah…..Yeah I’m fine.” Sora said his heart speed slowing down, but he still thought to himself, Wish this wasn’t a regular thing though. Every time when Sora fell asleep, an assortment of dreams would enter his mind. Mostly about food or whatever bizarre thing his imagination could make up on that day. But on this day, his dream was different. It was a dream that he had been suffering for the last few days it seemed. Again and again, this vision would continue to play in his mind, when he napped, when he slept, when he rested, even when he closed his eyes. It was a dream that perhaps meant something more than it appeared. This dream would always start the same way. Sora was just standing in the middle of the beach, shielding his eyes from the overwhelming light above him. Squinting, he could barely make out the features in front of him, but there was a tall muscular boy wearing a yellow gym shirt, and black jeans covered with a pair of baggy leg-guards that he always war for swordplay. He had long silver hair and piercing emerald eyes, and to Sora’s surprise and concern, he was just standing right there, looking out into the ocean. “Riku?” Sora asked, staring at his childhood friend. The silver haired boy turned around. A small smirk developed on his hand as he held out a hand. What on earth was he doing? Why was he just standing there? Sora had so many questions. He lurched forward and tried to run towards him. With each step he took, it felt like thousand of steps were added in his path. Things only got worse as a large massive wave began to form and begin to engulf the two boys. This only made him even more determined to reach his friend now. “Riku!” Sora tried to pick up the pace and called out for his friend, hoping that he’d be able to hear him. However the deeper he got into the water the more he had less maneuver to run and instead of swim. Thankfully, growing up in an island had its advantages, making it almost an improve prerequisite to swim. So he did, trying to flap his arms as fast as he could to get to the silver haired boy, who was still standing there, almost floating now in the water as the wave grew ever closer towards them. “Riku! Riku! Come over here quick!” Sora kept yelling. Fears of all of the worst possibilities flooded rapidly into his mind. He was so close now, before Riku was looking right down at him. Sora outstretched a hand as far as he could - they were too close to need the traditional Destiny Islands greeting, a bow - but Riku’s smile just widened as the two almost touched their hands, but before they could reach each other, it was too late. The wave completely engulfed them both, knocking Sora back against the beach, and Riku just vanished into the water. Sora tried to get back up and look around. He turned back to the Island, waiting for him now was a girl with bright red hair and wore a white tank top and pink skirt. The girl was Kairi, Sora’s other and only female friend since childhood. She stood there waiting on the beach waving back to him. This day was just getting stranger and stranger, first Riku stands on the ocean and now Kairi gets to the beach. As he got up, Sora tried to make his way to the beach, yet something was wrong. Kairi was looking in the sky. Sora looked as well and gasped. He saw himself falling downwards from the sky like a shooting star. But how could that be, he was down here on the beach, he could even feel himself getting wet. Yet he was also up there. “What is going on!” He shouted, more than confused what was going on. Sora had no time for answers when the ground beneath him suddenly broke and he fell. Far, far he went. Kairi was looking down at him trying to reach for him but it was too late. He now was surrounded by a black void of nothingness. Falling, falling into the darkness. “Sora…..” A soft voice called out in his ear, it was soothing and calm. “Sora……..Wake up you lazy bum!” Light! “Gee Sora, you must have had quite a dream.” Kairi said with concern. “Yeah….But hey, it’s just a dream, right? Nothing to worry about.” Sora hopped up and smiled, returning to a better mood, “So come to join me in a nap?” “No…..” Kairi snickered, with a bright crimson flush across her cheeks “Not that I’m surprised you’d ask...Lazy bum.” Something about the very thought of Sora’s statement sparked something in her, and aside from the obvious hormonal explanation, there was also something about Sora’s tendency to be just a very genuine person that Kairi couldn’t help but admire. Skinny with spiky brown hair, Sora was almost constantly wearing the same black and white athletic jack, and the same pumpkin shaped gaming pants, complete with large yellow shoes, shoes he hadn’t grown into yet, and perhaps never entirely would have - they were his father’s - as well as those white fingerless gloves that covered both of his hands. Always with the same crown necklace given to him by his mother when he was eight. Most of the time he spent lying down on the sandy beach shores and falling asleep than wanting to spend it running around with the other children. There was really nothing special about Sora, when it got right down to it. He was not gifted with wealth, with important family, with a movingly tragic backstory other than one major loss, he lacked many skills in technology, and he wasn’t even very well-educated, though his fairly sharp intelligence was often underestimated by his peers solely because they often mistook his enthusiasm for stupidity. He did, however, possess combative and athletic skills, and while these were above average, they were hardly superhuman. Furthermore, Sora was not especially rebellious, or at least, not without good cause to be so. He never envisioned himself as some warrior fighting against “the man” solely because anything he had a problem with was “the man”. He was actually more concerned with personal ethics than fighting a great crusade, wondering whether or not what he did was right, and whether or not things were fair. In fact, the decisions he was about to make would tear his heart to the very bone. No, Sora was not unusual in any way. He was nothing more than just a very common fourteen-year-old from Destiny Island, whose heart was so nearly devoid of malice that he didn’t have even have any aspirations of enacting puerile vengeance upon those whom he hated. Any ambitions he had besides his passions for delicious food, all things rare, seeing the world, and to make a new family of his own, were only about ensuring that everything was fair and just for everybody. And that’s why he was chosen. Most people from the Destiny Island chain, also often known as Spira, were slightly more “real” than most of the people in the Realm of Light, a place that exists only if you believe it exists. In spite of the fact that, or perhaps because, it was closer to reality as we understand it, most of the precious few who had been to the outside world and have also been to the Spira island chain pointed out that this chain of islands had a quality comparable to that of a very pleasantly peaceful dream. After all, it was considered a paradise. Much of the Realm of Light’s populace hailed from myths and story-books, things people took meaning to in their hearts, but never saw as real, our dreams giving them shape and life of their own. However, the people of Destiny Islands were unique in that their ancestors were legends and romanticized heroes, people who might have been real, or were real, but turned into stories. However, nobody from Spira were even aware of any of this. They believed that it all began, and will end, in the vast oceans around them, and that this was final. They were aware of little else, save that they were aware of was that they were a tiny people who lived among tiny islands, surrounded by vast spaces of dangerous oceans, and nobody knew where they ended. Many tried to find far more out there, but most came back with nothing but maps of open oceans. If anybody found anything else, they never came back, and it got to the point in which they became less and less concerned with what was outside of their islands. At that point, they assumed it was because of a monster in the oceans they called Sin, punishing them for leaving their homes and using machines. So they maintained a simple life of Blitzball and Chocobo racing, forgetting all about their missing explorers. Sora’s father was one such lost voyager, and Sora thought of him often. “So why did you come?” Sora finally asked, after dusting himself off of sand and dirt that had managed to get all over him. “I was looking for you, because Riku was searching for you back at the docks.” Sora cocked an eyebrow: “Docks? Why is he there?” “Sora….Remember, we are trying to finish the raft today,” Kairi responded with a frown. “The raft? The raft? Wait, the raft!” Sora gasped when a memory came to him. The Raft. Riku’s pet project. For the last few weeks Riku had decided to make a raft. A raft they’re going to use with one purpose, to get them off Destiny Island and take them to the worlds beyond their boards. Sora had been the first to quickly jump onto that project, to see the world beyond and go on great adventures like the hero from the stories. It was a dream come true. Ever since they were kids Riku and Sora had talked about going out on adventures, training every day with wooden swords and sparing with one another, so that in the day they would fight the villains they would encounter, they would be ready. Kairi on the other hand was a little more hesitant about it. There was only one real reason she would agree. Curiosity. Or, at least, that was his best guess. But then again, it was her old home, and she was something about the way she was with him, he really hoped that it was... “Hard to believe we are almost done with it, Kairi.” Sora said, looking out into the ocean as he relaxed by hearing the sound of the waves, getting lost in his own aspirations. “Maybe when we go, we’ll be able to find your own world. I’ll wonder if you remember any of it.” Kairi sighed, “yeah, I mean I only have vague memories of my old home, mostly of my grandmother. Everything else is just...here you know.” Sora seemed confused. Why didn’t she care so much about going back home? It was where she started out! Probably better than this crummy island. But whenever asked by Riku, Kairi often stressed that she viewed the islands as her home, a concept that Riku could hardly accept. “I mean, my life is here with you and Riku, I doubt I’ll find anything special.” Kairi looked at Sora and noticed his concerned expression, “But I’m sure it will be cool to see it.” Sora nodded and smiled, warmed by the prospect. Sora always wondered why Kairi seemed to have the least amount of interesting in seeing the world outside; Sora was intrigued by it, and as for Riku, it was all he cared about. However, something about Kairi preferring the Destiny Islands made Sora feel very reassured, for some reason... He got lost in a stream of pleasant thoughts, “just think, soon we’ll be fighting pirates, and sailing across the seas.” “Yeah, yeah….Just make sure I don’t have to rescue you too much,” Kairi teased him, and she and Sora shared a laugh. Kairi was a unique girl among the Islanders. Unlike the others, she was not native to this land. In fact, she wasn’t native to anyplace or anyone. She was an orphan, and Sora remembered the day, the day that seven years ago, when he and Riku were playing in the beaches of the Island, the two boys sparring one another until Sora tripped and fell on something. As he got up, he found the young girl sitting on the beach. Curious and concerned, he tapped on her with his wooden sword, wondering if she was a doll or something. But when she moved and looked up at Sora, he jumped back in nervousness. Almost every bit as frightened as she was, he could only muster these words: “Who… are you?” He asked again: “Where did you come from… ?” The rest was a blur, but the adults came there and the rest had been history. Sora, Riku, and Kairi has become friends since then and they formed a strong bond that had lasted years. Thinking about it, Sora couldn’t help but look at Kairi with a warm smile. If it weren’t for her, he and Riku would never have proof that outside world existed. As he kept staring, Kairi looked back at him and her face flushed a bright crimson, she glared. “Sora! Sora!” She snapped her fingers getting him out of his trance. “Stop gawking. I don’t know what’s going on up there,” she scolded, poking her finger on his forehead, “but down here, you have to stay focused!” “Sorry….I was uh….thinking about food.” Sora said, hoping his lie would work. He didn’t want her to find out that he was thinking about her. Kairi looked surprisingly disappointed. She rolled her eyes while shaking her head, “of course you are.” “Kairi…” Sora began. She turned towards him, seemingly longing for something out of him. Sora fumbled with his words, wondering if now was the time to say something he couldn’t quite grasp in his mind, but felt in his heart. “Kairi….” He realized he had nothing to say of substance, and found himself changing what he meant to say. “Kairi, what do you suppose we’ll find out there, among these worlds?” She sat down beside him, giving one of her thoughtful huffs before she had an idea: “Well...Light. We will likely find Light.” Sora chuckled, “Kairi, light is everywhere, even among the stars!” The Destiny Islands seldom had cloudy days, and their snowless winters were short. Kairi nodded, seeming to half-ignore his remark; “Long ago, all the worlds were connected and bathed in Light,” she stated, almost like it was a quotation. “Yeah until a giant monster gobbled everything up!” Sora said giving a childish laugh. Kairi responded in kind by giving him a death glare. Taking a moment to appreciate the wordless lesson, Sora thought about this for a minute, and smiled thoughtfully, “huh, I guess you have a point there! Yeah, there are must be tons of worlds with all kinds of weird and different things on ‘em, but they all might at least have Light in common!” Kairi smiled back, “Yes, there are many worlds, but they must all share one sky. One sky, one destiny. Now come on, let’s get going before...” “Before I find you two are being lazy?” Sora flinched as he turned around. Riku was walking up towards them, carrying several large logs of wood under his arm. Even at the age of fifteen, he was particularly skilled in his own strength. Riku looked at both of them smugly as he approached them. Kairi rolled her eyes, only Sora seemed a bit hesitant. “Hey Riku, how are ya?” Sora said chuckling nervously. “Let me guess, caught him napping?” Riku asked to Kairi. “Shouldn’t be surprised....Least you didn’t catch him in his underpants” Kairi nodded and giggled, Sora napping was becoming quite a daily thing. Riku believed that Sora was lazy, his mother Aiko believed that Sora was growing, and Kairi believed that it was Sora’s excuse to get lost in a realm of daydreams, mostly involving girls and their specific anatomical characteristics... “So, you were being lazy then,” Riku chuckled at Sora, shook his head, and scuffed Sora’s hair. “Should have known, not like not used to it at this point. Here, catch!” Tossing the wood all three planks landed straight on top of Sora, knocking him down. He felt the weight up his chest that caused him a small amount of pain. Riku sighed and helped push the wood off him, making sure he wasn’t seriously hurt. Sora just laid on the ground with his eyes rolling in sockets for a few seconds, before shaking them off. “What was that for?” Sora groaned as he glared at Riku. “Easy, if you wanna prove you aren’t lazy, then carry one of them, those things are heavy,” Riku snickered before gave Sora loving noogies. Sora laughed. “Hey...Let go!” “Say uncle!” “Never!” Riku snickered and pushed in harder, “I got a full nights sleep, and I have all the energy I need to do this all day.” “Alright alright! Uncle!” Sora laughed. Kairi rolled her eyes, “do you always have to bully him?” “Oh come on, he doesn’t mind. Besides, he knows I’m awesome anyway.” Riku said flicking his hair back in dramatic fashion. “Show off,” Kairi grumbled. “And what’s all this talk about light...who cares about light….if I want light, I’ll turn on my lamp,” Riku spat. “Come on Kairi use your imagination, think of something original!” He put his hand over his face to shield the blinding light of the sun away, comforting his vision with darkness. “...Light...That’s all you can think about.” After inducing just a bit more pain upon Sora, Riku helped him up, “but seriously, come on….We gotta get to work, I wanna finish the raft today.” He paused, and added, as an afterthought, “you know, I don’t know how your mother puts up with your sloth. Maybe she’d be better off if I was around more to help out!” he added with a chuckle, rubbing Sora on the head. “Think we will get it done today.” Sora said with forced optimism, strangely wounded by Riku’s last remark. “Seems like we’ve been working on it for months.” “Because we have been working on it for months,” Kairi muttered at his remark. Riku was getting impatient: “Well, we won’t finish it if we sit around and argue all day. So if you could actually help me carry this, I appreciate it, those are heavy you know. I wasn’t kidding.” Kairi picked one up, Riku took a second while Sora carried the third. Soon, all three began heading off to the docks now. “Oh man...I’m getting excited.” Sora said beaming. “Look sharp Sora.” Riku said. “It’s not gonna be all fun and games, it’s gonna be a lot of hard work from now till we find a new world.” Sora felt his excitement dwindle. “Oh.” They passed by several children and friends. Some were playing with wooden swords, others were playing soccer, and some just lay down on the beach having a picnic. Part of Sora could not help but feel envious as he watched how much fun they were having. But what they were working is important, the raft was going to take him to something, far greater than this place. -000- “Ok guys, just a little tighter on those ropes. Kairi, make sure the mast in nice and firm, if we’re good, the amount of wind will make great headway.” “Like this?” Sora asked. “No, no, no….Tighter….Really stick it! Here let me do it.” Riku kept bossing them around as the two of them worked on the raft. What made it difficult was that Riku kept micromanaging them, taking their duties personally and doing the work for them. He had becoming bossier as they got closer now to finishing it. When they started, each of them did a chore on their own, even with Riku overseeing them. However, it seemed he had become so obsessed that they weren’t even needed. It was starting to become annoying. Kairi looked at Sora with a disapproving glare, signaling him to say something. Sora just shrugged, knowing just how hard Riku had worked on this and didn’t want to interfere. “Gee Riku, you sure are getting excited about finish this.” Sora said, trying to ease his friend through conversation. “Yep,” Riku muttered. Riku was always good with building things; when he was six, he used his tools to dismantle the lock of his nursery, and when he was twelve, he modified a toy gun he had so that it could fire real bullets. When he wanted something done, it had to be done exactly as it was supposed to be done, and usually Riku’s vision was all but perfect. Riku was largely considered to be a spitting image of his father in terms of personality, and it showed more every day, which worried Riku. The last thing he wanted was to be like the man who tore his family apart, as much as he loved him. Riku would rather run as far away from the islands as possible in order to prevent this from happening. Which ironically, was not unlike how his father left his mother. Which made him feel all the more bitter. Kairi groaned, as she tried the best not to slap her forehead with her hand. He should have convince Riku that there’s no need to rush with this project, even though they are a little excited what sort of new lands they will find, there’s no reason to be in a hurry. “You know Riku, you could take a break and let me and Kairi handle this,” Sora said, noticing Kairi becoming more upset. Riku didn’t even turn around: “No worries. I got this...You two just….Do whatever it is you do when I’m not around.” “What does that imply?” Kairi asked. “I don’t know.” Riku shrugged. “I can’t babysit Sora twenty four seven.” “I don’t need babysitting!” Sora said with a indigent expression. “Uh huh yeah sure.” Again, Kairi moaned. Riku had now completely ignored them as he worked on the raft. He took a hammer and began nailing down the log planks to make sure it was nice and firm. Sora sighed and laid back, if Riku was going to do all the work then why bother sitting up then. “Well at least we can relax and nap.” Sora whispered “Don’t think you’re getting off the hook from work Sora.” Riku said before Sora could sit back down, “But you just said….” “I’m gonna need you and Kairi to collect food, books and supplies, will need to pack lightly.” “What do we need?” Kairi asked. “Cookbooks, maps, explore guides, maybe a knife, a few pieces of tech, again...pack...light. I’ve been reading a few survival guides in my father's study. They all say the same thing, pack light.” “Your dad has survival guides?” Sora asked in surprise. Riku looked up at him with a glare, and spoke with one of the most irritated voices possible: “He has a lot of books he doesn’t read. You should know that by now.” Sora was so taken aback that he decided not to bother him; instead he just went back to helping on the raft. He had only just remembered just how sensitive the topic of Riku’s parents was talk about to Riku him, or at least ever since the divorce. The three did not always see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and it eventually tore Riku’s family in two. Riku gained a new stepmother whom he absolutely loathed, and the feeling seemed to be mutual. Not like Sora and his mom. No, they were always in-sync with one another, and Riku envied this more than anything else Sora had. Riku never told Sora, but he had always felt bitter towards him because Sora’s family life was simple and clean, not torn by adultery and petualance like his own, and thus Riku somehow always felt alone in a reality that Sora would never understand. Riku often wished to himself that he could go away from his parents’ blatant efforts to use him as a pawn, and live with Sora and Aiko forever. Sora always enjoyed a happiness Riku wanted for himself, and felt was really his right to have. Sometimes he felt almost as if he flat-out hated Sora for his seeming dreamland life, and wanted nothing more than to take his place in his home. Or at least, for Sora to open up his eyes, and maybe see the reality that Riku lived in. But...he didn’t want to hate Sora. Sora was often all he had, and Riku was insistent on taking Sora with him on his journey. But Sora and Kairi were having too many doubts, he could tell, they had too much to lose. But if he traveled without them, then he would lose everything. And if he couldn’t be happy here, then damn everybody who would be sad to lose Sora and Kairi with him. Though sometimes, he did wish Sora could be a bit more...malleable, to his way of thinking. Since Sora’s father, a skilled surveyor, had disappeared without any trace when he was younger, Sora only really had his mother in his life. Sora loved his mother, more than anyone. Having memories of how she took care of him when he was a baby made him respect her even more. Such strength and compassion, she was able to make do and even help out others when needed to the point for whenever Riku and Kairi came over she would treat them as her own. Especially because she knew Riku longer and thought he was practically Sora’s older brother. Which made the very thought of leaving her by herself all the more hurtful, making Sora feel absolutely torn; he didn’t want to leave his mother, but he didn’t want to be without Kairi. What he really wanted was for Kairi to stay with him while Riku fulfilled his dream of exploration, but Kairi’s mind was already made up: She was determined to either find her old home, or find a new world. Why did it even occur to Sora to leave anyway? For some reason, all he could think about was his dad. “Speaking of which,” Kairi interjected as she spoke to Riku. “Don’t you guys think it’s a bit wrong to just leave without telling our parents?” Kairi seemed to have many thoughts rushing through her head, but Sora wasn’t entirely sure what they were, and whether Riku knew or not, he didn’t seem to care. Sora understood Kairi’s perspective. She was an adoptive child. Despite her parents loving her deeply since taking her in, she always had a small doubt on how long such kindness would last. A irrational fear perhaps, but a fear nonetheless. “Who said you don’t have to tell them?” Riku said, nonchalantly. “They’ll never agree to this. They'll say no and everything we worked for will all be for nothing.” Kairi was utterly indignant that Riku had virtually no concerns for his parents whatsoever, “I know, but it’s not fair we would leave them just like that!” Kairi complained. “How they’re gonna feel if they find out we just disappeared? Did you ever think about that?” “Look….” Riku got up and look at them both sternly, equally incensed that Kairi was pressuring him to care, “this isn’t about our parents, or the other people we know. This is about us and what we can achieve. We aren’t going to grow as people if we stay here on this Island. This is our chance to prove our greatness to ourselves. Right Sora?” Sora froze when Riku asked him for an opinion; he hated being put on the spot like this. On the one hand, he wanted to do this, see the world explore, maybe even get some fame and be a big shot. But on the other hand, he knew he was leaving his mom; what would she do after he left the island? Would she even accept this? Sure, she had to have had some adventure in her youth, many young have done the same thing. But do they just leave without a word? That didn’t feel right to him. Sora’s own father died at sea, and his mother hated him touching boats of any kind. He wanted to say something but he couldn’t. It felt also that making a decision that might put distance between him and his mother also might, somehow, bring him closer to his father. Sora didn’t know why, but he yearned for experiencing what his dad did, and he felt that somehow, being out in sea might be the way to do it. He wasn’t sure why. But he was sure about this: He knew how important this was to Riku as well. It was his dream, he couldn’t squander it. Friend or family. “Heh uh….What if we pack our favorite story?” Sora asked wanting to change subject and quickly. Sora suddenly wished he hadn’t. He was starting to think about his vague memories of his father’s bedtime stories again, and somehow, that made this even worse. “Story?” Riku let out a grumble. “Sora, we don’t have time for fairytales.” “Why not? We’re gonna be gone a long time, might as well bring something from home.” Sora attempted to convince him, now suddenly thinking more about his father, now suddenly wanting to do this more than ever. Riku let out a sigh of defeat as he shook his head. “Fine…. But ONE story!” “Awesome! I’m gonna bring mine about the Knight that slays the dragon.” The spiked haired boy stood up, pulling out his copy of St. George and the Dragon, his favorite book. But then his enthusiasm for exploration was beginning to wane, as he began to think about his mother. What would she think if he were to leave her? Who would take care of- “I’ll bring mine about the warrior princess who rescues her friends from the evil sorcerer!” Kairi beamed at his idea. Riku audibly groaned; Sora’s official story was one thing, but Kairi’s self-insert fanfiction was another, though Sora liked it, not in the least because Kairi’s “character” was really quite buxom, and it distracted Sora from doubts like the ones that were just plaguing him. Riku, however, had other opinions: “I said one story Kairi, we don’t have room for yours.” Incensed, Kairi put her hands on her hips: “oh yeah? And what’s wrong with mine?” “I can think of many things...” Riku muttered. “You just don’t like it because you can't be the hero in your own head,” Kairi gestured. Riku rolled his eyes, “As if....I have facts for that” “I’d be happy to give up my story for Kairi.” Sora pointed out. Riku scoffed: “Whatever.” “Well...What about you Riku?” Sora asked, trying to prevent yet another heated argument, “what story would you like to bring? Of your choice of course, not mine.” “Me?’ he began, looking away dreamily into the horizon, “I don’t need one, my favorite story is….” “Heads up!” Whack! Sora felt the lunge again his head as he fell back against the ground. A sharp pain began to form near his head. Kairi leaned towards him and helped him up as he grasped his forehead in pain. “Sora! Are you okay?” Kairi asked in concern. “Yeah I’m fine,” Sora grunted. “Hey be careful next time! You almost could have hurt him!” Riku yelled. The two boys who had been playing Blitzball, Tidus and Wakka, started to run away when they saw Riku getting up and sneering. Suddenly Sora found himself being pulled by Riku as he started examining his head carefully, checking for any cuts and bruises. “Riku, stop,” Sora muttered, hating when he got this way. Riku still breathed deeply, as in to restrain his anger, but his expression changed. “I just wanna make sure the idiots...Didn’t give you a concussion.” Speaking of….Sora looked up and saw three familiar faces walking towards them. Waaka, Tidus and Selphie, the three native children from the Island. They were part of Sora’s larger association of friends, while although Riku and Kairi formed the core of his trio, they were definitely on good terms with one another. “Woah, woah, calm down Riku man! It was just an accident.” Waaka said apologetically in his thick accent. “Just be careful next time. Otherwise, I’m not giving your ball back,” Riku retorted with a spiteful frown. “Riku, it’s ok. Accidents happen,” Sora said, trying to calm him down. The tall muscular boy walked up to pick the ball back up. Waaka was the oddest of the trio. He had a thick accent, one that no one could discern what it was. He was twirling a blitzball on his index finger, his subtle way of bragging about his blitzball skills. The oldest among them, he was wise beyond its years, most of the time dispensing advice to those who asked for it (though some of his ramblings about “target locks” didn’t make sense to most). Much better than the more brash Tidus, the youngest boy, always a bit of arrogant know it all. He looked at the raft with a smug expression. He always did this, as he actually often felt inadequate, for his own father was a Blitzball champion, and Blitzball, which began to become the center of the Destiny lifestyle, was not Tidus’ forte, tried as much as he could to practice. So the most Tidus could do was to hone his less socially acceptable skill, practicing swordplay, and looking down upon any other achievements of others. “Do you guys honestly think this would work?” Tidus asked smugly, causing Riku to glare back at him, “I mean really, how far will it get you, a few miles before it sinks.” “It will work,” Riku muttered through gritted teeth. Tidus remained skeptical. “Really, why are you even doing this, this paradise?” “So what, you wanna just stay here and not learn what's beyond the ocean?” Riku asked back, starting to lose his patience with the kid. “I’m cool with it….I don’t know why you aren’t.” Tidus then put his hands on his hips in an effeminate way, his “lecturing” pose. “ Did you forget what happened to the Boy when he left the island? He vanished, or most likely he drown in the ocean.” The Boy in the legend, that was a tale Riku loved to tell Sora. The legend said that the story goes that once upon a time, a boy who lived on the Destiny Islands only had one life goal: To leave and see the world beyond. So he got stronger, and stronger, doing whatever it took, each day swimming a bit farther into the sea before returning back home to try once again. He kept at it again and again and again, each day getting a little bit further out to sea, until one day, he vanished without a trace, and he was never seen again. Sora could see why Riku would love that story: Because it was him, because he was just like the boy, except that he had not managed to disappear and never been seen from again, at least not yet and hopefully not ever. “The fact he was never seen again should say something,” Riku said angrily, as Tidus just smirked back at him. “It means there is something there. I mean come on, Kairi is the proof that she’s not even from our world.” “Riku…” Sora muttered, seeing Kairi was getting embarrassed. Tidus scoffed, “you sure that Sin didn’t just eat him for breakfast? I’ll bet that Boy tasted like chicken!” Riku began to growl: “My point is, why should we sit around here all the time, if there is something out there? We will look for it, and we will find it!” “Nah man, Tidus has a point (for once),” Wakka began, “to this day, nobody who has left these islands has come back with anything, but tales of more water, or seeing Sin.” Riku began to snarl with mock confidence, “yeah, you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you Wakka?” A muscle under Wakka’s eye began to twitch. He had lost both of his parents to the sea long ago, leaving him and his younger brother Chappu to be brought up by a Destiny Islands bureaucrat. “Riku, that is enough!” hissed Sora, grabbing him by his arm. Riku brushed off Sora’s hand. “You might allow loss to stop you, because you’re weak! But I say, loss is the only reason to keep going! Riku roared. Tidus began to defend Wakka, growling at Riku, he tried to say, “oh yeah? Well, I think you’re a piece of sh-” “I like it here!” Selphie interjected, “it's nice and safe. Plus it’s where I met Kairi, and we became B.F.F’s.” “Thanks Selphie,” Kairi said with a smile, even though she was still a little bit embarrassed. Selphie had a reputation for being emotional, hyperactive, sensitive, and even somewhat dishonest, leaving her popularity tentative at best, and she was considered by some of the older girls as a generally embarrassing person to be around, as for them, to be cool was to be reserved. However, Kairi, in her infinite patience and understanding, saw Selphie in a light that no other did; she saw Selphie as a product of her background as an orphan, and of being the youngest of their circle, she was also one of the first in a new generation with different values than most of her slightly older peers, and thus taking these into mind, Kairi decided to be her most consistent friend when others only chose to be her friend when it suited them. If Kairi left, Selphie’s life would be a lonely one again...Like Sora, Kairi was starting to have many doubts about leaving the islands, but how was she supposed to explain it? Riku and possibly Sora seemed determined to make this journey, as far as she could tell. From this point, Riku, Wakka and Tidus, having no inclination of making Selphie cry, began to calmly share their various speculations on what Sin was, or if Sin even existed. Sora remained quiet throughout most of the remaining conversation. Not wanting to start anything, he knew how Riku could get when people start to question his judgment, especially on his raft project. It wasn’t the first time all the people had made fun of him for trying to get off the Island. Many people knew they’ve never wanted to leave in the first place. Like Tidus said, it was paradise. Why would anyone want to leave paradise? Perfection was such a rare thing so why squander it? Sora thought this too when he talked to Riku about leaving, but the way his imagination would wonder about what lies beyond was definitely something enticing. Finally the three of them got tired of standing around with them. It was already getting awkward enough to argue with Riku. Waaka gave them all one more nod before heading off with Tidus following behind. Only Selphie stayed for a few more moments to bid farewell. “See you later Kairi,” Selphie said cheerfully with a wave. “See you later,” Kairi waved back, once she was gone, she glared back at Riku. “What was that about?” “You already know that, their minds are small, their vision diminutive. They never want to see what lies beyond,” Riku said bitterly. “Not everyone has too,” Kairi reminded him. “Some people are perfectly happy with staying here.” For whatever reason, those words made Sora’s heart leap. “Yeah? Well, not me,” Riku responded as he went back to work on the raft. Kairi was getting upset at his behavior that she wanted to scold him like a parent should discipline a child, but she decided to leave him be for now as she sat back down next to Sora, as the two two of them just watched Riku working nonstop. “You know, if you two wanna do something useful, make a list of things you can find around the Island bring them back here,” Riku grumbled with a hint of annoyance. Sora sighed as he got back up. “Ok….Kairi coming?” “Sure.” Kairi nodded, thinking it would be good for her to clear her mind. The two of them headed off, leaving Riku alone with the raft. Both hoped that perhaps they would have a better time finding food, than convincing Riku to stop being so stubborn about everything all the time. -000- “Sora, what are you doing?” she asked in an annoyed tone. Sora snapped out before realizing that he was lost in thought that he was staring into the sky instead of focusing on the work at hand. Slowly, he turned to see Kairi looking at him sternly, tapping her foot. Sora needed to think up an excuse and quickly, otherwise he surely was going to get it from her. “Oh I uh...Uh….” He babbled, hoping the lie would work, “I was thinking maybe we could take the grass.” As the two of them continued to forge, Sora couldn’t help but realize the true beauty of the Island, from its majestic palm trees to calming rivers. When people said this place was paradise they weren’t kidding. Why would anyone want to leave? But then again Riku was never one for liking things easy and Sora knew it. Even when they were kids, Riku loved a challenge. Always egging on the other kids to fight him or getting into tussles just to show he was the best. Except for Sora, with Sora things were different. Riku tended to be more protective around him, like an older big brother that Sora ever had. Such a connection made it hard to go against him when it came to the raft. “The grass?” Kairi responded skeptically. “Yeah….I really doubt that.” “Well um…..You never know.” “First off...Ew! Second, we can’t eat grass!” Kairi pointed out, “We aren’t animals. Now come on.” Scavenging around the Island did not come naturally for both of them. Although Kairi was having a better time at it than Sora, every time he’d pick something it was either poisonous or uneatable. Kairi for her part managed to pick up a few good mushrooms, random logs, a blanket and a few berries they have collected. Of course most of what they would need would have to come from their own home. Still they searched high and low as best as they could for anything they thought it could be useful. Sora always enjoyed the company with Kairi when they do this sort of thing. Her silence, calm demeanor was much better suited for than Riku’s strong brashness. Plus Sora just really liked being with her. “You know we might have to eat grass if we run outta food,” and it was only after he said it that Sora realized just how silly it sounded. “Only because you’ll eat it all,” Kairi made fun of him. “No I won’t!” Sora tried to deny with his arms cross. “Of course you will….Because you are the grossest person I know.” Kairi snickered back at him before returning back to scavenging. She then sighed She was right; Sora was known for his insatiable appetite despite his skinny countenance. Some said he ate so fast that all of the the food he digested could never become fat. Aiko simply just said that he was a growing boy, and might even grow as big and strong as his father one day. “Careful!” Kairi yelled before Sore stepped forward, she held his foot up causing Sora to stumble backwards but she kept him still. “Now what?!” Sora grumbled that he would get scowled for something. Kairi pointed down to the ground and Sora saw a tiny ladybug crawling on the ground. Kairi lowered her finger gently and allowed the bug to crawl up her finger. Once secured she let go of Sora allowing him to stand again. Carefully, she held her hand up and walked up to a leaf high above the ground allowing the ladybug to crawl onto it, making sure it was safe and steady before she carefully stepped away. “There….Much better.” She looked at Sora and rolled her eyes. “Hey, I’m sorry! I didn’t see it.” Sora defended, getting a little irritate that she looks at him with those eyes. “Just be careful ok? You never know what you might squish here.” Kairi suggested. Getting on his knees Sora took a moment to watch as the ladybug began to scatter to the center of the leaf and lay there. Taking some time to just look at it, he couldn’t help but admire just how beautiful it was. Now he understood why Kairi would want him to be careful. As they kept scavenging, Sora couldn’t help but notice that Kairi had a dower expression her face. She tried to hide it by not looking at Sora directly when they were quiet or give him a forceful smile whenever there eyes did cross paths. Finally Sora had enough and decided to ask her outright. “Are you still mad at Riku?” For a few seconds Kairi went still. She let out a deep sigh and went back to work. Her dour expressions became exhausted as she started picking berries. “I’m always mad at Riku,” Kairi decided to be frank with him. “Remember last week when he gave Tidus a black eye?” . Sora flinched when she reminded with that incident, Riku definitely got in trouble. “To be fair, Tidus kinda deserved it.” Kairi glared at Sora for his opinion. “Eh…...Look! Riku was just passionate with this whole thing and that kid was making fun of him. He shouldn’t have started it in the first place.” Sora interjected to justify Riku’s action. “I’m sure when he gets a level head he will understand what you were saying. I’m sure he’s gonna miss his family just like will miss ours. Trust me...I’ve known him longer than you Kairi!” “But he seems almost obsessed with leaving them without a care. Doesn’t he love them?” Kairi asked, a little indignant at Riku’s words he said moments ago. “Kairi you know how it’s ….complicated with him and his parents,” Sora reminded her with a concerned look. “I’ve been there. They aren’t the most….attentive to him, and during those times that they are-” “I know. But still...what about you, or me….” Kairi asked, trying to find a reason, “Do you still wanna go?” Sora paused to make a quick thought. “I’m definitely gonna have to talk with my mom about it before we go.” “How do you think she will say?” Kairi asked as she turned to him, asking for an honest answer. “It’s gonna be hard….But I think I can convince her. Show her that I am ready for this kind of adventure. Dad did this, and...if he’s not out there, if I don’t find him…” he went on, struggling to give shape to his thoughts, realizing that he had always thought of this, that he always felt this, but never somehow gave shape to these thoughts and these feelings until now. However, fumbling over everything he was thinking, he finished, “...if I find nothing soon, I’m just going to turn around anyway.” “Better than my parents…” Kairi said with a sigh, “They are really being overprotective. I mean you know...being adopted and all. I feel wrong of just leaving them to find my own world. I mean, this is my home, they are my family.” “I get it. My mom gets worried a lot too, since my dad was gone,” Sora replied. What was his mother going to go through if he left her? He could only imagine it, her crying long into the lonely nights.... “But hey, what’s wrong with knowing, just to find out?” Of course, Sora wasn’t being entirely honest. He was mostly going at this point to protect Riku, who was like a brother to him. “Yeah….I guess you’re right.” Kairi sighed. “Still I don’t like the way he’s mean to you sometimes.” Sora looked taken aback. “He’s not mean...He’s just…. “Sora.” Kairi gave him a look. “Ok, so he can be a bit of a jerk at times...But trust me...I’ve known him long enough to know he isn’t always like that.” An hour or so passed,.Sora and Kairi were quite throughout most of the work. Only taking glances at one another to exchange some of their stock when they couldn’t hold it all. Kairi had to make sure that Sora didn’t bring anything poisonous. The more time passed, the more the food they were able to acquire. Everything was going smoothly, that was until Kairi stopped mid walk across the riverbank of the Island. Sora noticed and looked in her direction as the two looked upon a large pine tree standing near the waterfall. At first Sora had no idea what he was looking at, until he saw a tiny yellow fruit hanging against one of the leaves. Kairi looked at it as well with awe and wonder. “A paupu fruit...” She said in a soft tone. “Papu fruit?” Sora responded, trying to remember where he heard that word from. “It’s a old legend about the Paupu fruit. They say whoever you share it with, their destinies will be intertwined forever.” Kairi answered with a smile. Sora snapped his fingers. “That’s it! My mom gave my dad one of them when she was younger. It was her way of asking him out. Dad was uh...Kinda shy that way,” he said with a chuckle. “That sounds romantic.” Kairi responded with a giggle, “Guess you owe your life to that fruit huh?” “Yeah I guess. Sora laughed, he then looked at Kairi and blushed. “You uh….You wouldn’t want to share it with anyone, would you?” Kairi went surprised at his question. “Me? N-No, I don’t think so.” Kairi said, looking up at the fruit again. “But they are rare and quite tasty, I’d actually never been able to try one before.” “Really? All these years living on the Island and you’ve never tried one?” Sora asked in disbelief. Kairi shook her head sheepishly, as Sora remained shocked. It was then an idea came into his head. No not just an idea, but something just out of pure instinct. He knew what he had to do. Slowly took a few steps back, keeping the tree in his mind's eye. Taking several breaths he tried to think as best he could on how fast to go in order to achieve his ends. He got onto his knees, pushing his arms against the surface of the ground. “What are you doing?” Kairi asked as she looked at him in confuse. Sora pushed down even harder, now readying his legs and body even more so. He was going to do it. He was going to get that pampu fruit not matter what. Sora lurched forward and ran with all his might going as fast as he could. The bark of the wood was getting closer and closer. Once he felt he was close enough, Sora jumped into the air and landed in the middle of the tree bark, wrapping his arms tightly around it. Sora tried scrunching up, he began to slide onto the ground landing on the water near tree with a thump, wetting his pants and feet. . “Sora!” Kairi shouted. “No, no….I’m gonna get you this fruit.” Paupu fruit was extremely rare, and it was seldom ever picked unless it was intended to be shared. Sora backed up and tried again. This time he tried to make sure that he had a good distance between him and the tree. He needed to make sure that his speed was twofold. Plus he just really wanted to give Kairi a chance to taste the fruit. This time Sora tried to leap even farther into the air before landing on the key branch, holding onto it tightly before once again sliding down this time falling a bit father and landing on his back with another loud thud. He could feel bruises starting to form. This time Kairi had, had enough. Before Sora could step back again she grabbed his arm and stopped him before he could make another jump, looking at him with a firm disapproving glare. “Sora, stop!” She yelled, holding him still. “You’re just gonna get yourself hurt!” “Come on, I can get it, just let me do it! I promise, one more try and that’s all I need! Just one more time!” Sora tried to convince her, but to no avail. “Please Sora, it’s not worth it! I’m not going to let you kill yourself over a piece of fruit!” Kairi argued, and behind her angry tone, she was also worried. “But you’ve never tried a Paupu fruit, and for all we know, they might only grow here!” Sora insisted, refusing to let the fruit being picked up by someone else. “You don’t know that, isn’t that what’s this whole explore new worlds and discovery is all about? Who knows, we might find a world filled with Paupu fruit. But for now, just forget about it.” “But… But…” Sora knew there was no point he could try to change her mind, before he let out a defeated sigh. He was very disappointed; he really wanted to get that Paupu fruit. Though he wasn’t sure just why. For some reason the fact Kairi never had one bothered him. Not in an insulting way, it just felt wrong for some reason. As for Kairi, she must have noticed his distraught look, for she took his supply of food together in her arms. “Look um….Go the secret place, there are a bunch of mushrooms growing. Get them and bring them back to the docks, I’ll be with Riku till then,” Kairi said softly, in an effort to assure him that she held no ill will even now. Sora just nodded, without so much as even looking at her “Ok, ok...I’ll go.” Once Kairi have left, Sora looked back at the Paupu fruit one more time. He glared at it as if it had become his greatest enemy. He was going to get that fruit for Kairi no matter what. The instinct told him that this fruit was unique to the Island, it just had to be. No other fruit was like it. Guess he would have to try again later when he had time. -000- The Secret place. Not really a secret but kids would call it that do to its unique position on the Island. A small cave embedded in the rock of the mountain. A long narrow passage would lead straight into a mid size cavern. I’m there children would come in and out and explore or use it as a secret place to meet with each other. Sora and Riku would always hang out there in their younger years whenever they wanted to get away from the adults. The place had much sentiment and nostalgia for Sora. It made him sad to think he might be leaving it very soon. Sora began to walk up to the entrance to the cave. He stopped however as a small echoing came from the distance. It roared louder and louder until then Sora saw it, Wakka and Tidus running for their lives, running right into Sora, knocking him down as well as himself. “Today just isn’t my day,” Sora thought to himself as he lied flat on his face. Sora got up slowly, letting out a loud moan. All his muscles ached as he tried pushing Wakka and Tidus off him as he stood up on his own. The other two had trouble getting up as well that moaned and groaned, clearly the pain had subsided enough to make them forget s our ghost. “What was that about?” Sora yelled, obviously upset they bumped into him. Tidus fidgeted as he remembered why they were running. “We saw a g-g-ghost!” “A ghost, really?” Sora raised an eyebrow. “Come on guys, we aren’t five anymore. There is no ghost in that cave. I’ve been there with Riku so many times to count, you know that.” “No man! There was a ghost. Scary one like a phantom. Face covered by a hood. Trust me Sora, man, it was real as you or me,” Wakka was panting, his face pale, and his eyes wild and white; Sora never seen Wakka in this state before, and to see him like this was utterly unnerving... Sora just allowed it to slide, maybe it was nothing. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, “look, I’m gonna go in there and I’ll show you that there’s no ghost in there.” “Oh you’ll see Sora….You’ll see!.” Tidus said, he turned back to Waaka chattering his teeth. “Come on let’s go!” “I’m right behind you man!” The two boys ran off leaving Sora standing in the middle of the cave entrance. “Well, you're lost,” Sora snickered, looking forward to tell Riku and Kairi about what happened. Turning around, Sora headed in through the dark caverns. The light around him started to dwindle as he headed deeper into the cave. The air began to chill as a small breeze blew up against him. Sora teeth started to chatter as he kept on moving. “Oh, chilly.” He rubbed his arms to keep himself a little warm, as he kept moving forward. Finally he entered the main cavern. It was a small circular opening in the depths of the cave. A bright light emanated from the heavens from a small hole, which matched perfectly with the open sky above. Along the walls, several drawings aligned the rock, many of them drawn by Sora and the other children over the years, pictures of castles, monsters, swords and stars. Anything they could imagine was draw on the rock. But out of all the pictures in the entire cavern one or in reality, two pictures, stood out. Slowly Sora walked up to it and put his hand on the rock that laid it. The picture was that him and Kairi when they were younger, they were looking at one another, smiling and happy. Simpler times. He even remembered when he drew it. It was the first week Kairi had arrived on the Island, Sora had spotted her sneaking around the secret place just out of the blue. He remembered jumping back in surprise as she was busy drawing on the ground. “Hey you aren’t allowed in here this is a secret place.” He yelled, quite the child he was back then. Kairi turned around and then Sora saw a large picture of Kairi’s face drawn onto the cave. Sora was young and impressionable at that time. To him this was the greatest thing he had ever seen. “That’s cool! Okay, you can stay.” Sora remembering said as he rushed quickly down next to her. That was the day he and Kairi truly became friends, the day that he made the third in his trio of friends, a day that went back to everyday whenever he was sad or blue. Even at a young age Kairi had such a zen for life, always caring and kind, being around her always wanted to make Sora better, as a person and human being. To she never had the same influence on Riku, in fact in the early years it was Riku who had trouble adjusting to her as a friend. Over time though they had come to like and care about one another deeply. Yet he never seemed to have the same feelings that Sora did. As Sora thought about his feelings for Kairi and more he lay down near the picture and took a rock and began to work on it. Time passed, he didn’t know how much, probably more than it should. Kairi and Riku must have wondered where he was at this point, yet all Sora could do was concentrate on his little project until it was finally done. “Perfect!” Getting up, Sora looked at it and beamed. Sora had added hands now to the two smiling faces, and in one of those hands had a Paupu fruit. It was in Sora’s hand, and it was being given to Kairi. It was a bold statement on his feelings perhaps but right now he didn’t care. If Kairi found it then, then he would just have to deal with the consequences as they came. Sora beamed and looked around the cave; he felt proud, and he felt good. Then suddenly, he felt fear, and a chill of uncertainty. Something was out of place, he couldn’t tell what at first he looked around, hard. Finally he realized it, the door, a single wooden door in the middle of the cave, which had always been there since Sora and Riku found the place in their childhood, barren and made of wood. This was the first time that something had changed. Now in the center of the wood a single gold shaped Keyhole was embedded. Never in his life did Sora see this before. “What is this?” Sora asked, slowly walking up to it. Sora pressed his hand gently on the keyhole. He examined it closely and wondered where did it came from and why he had never seen it before. What was it purpose, what lies beyond this door? It was a question that Riku and Sora always tried to guess when they were younger. Perhaps was the day he was finally going to find out. All of his questions suddenly stopped when he suddenly smelled a powerful, malodorous stench, unlike anything he smelled for years, bringing back a particularly terrible memory. Then he heard a voice: “This world has been connected.” Sora froze. That voice, it was cold, it was soft, it was low, and it was distant, as if it came from some kind of an undead spirit. Slowly Sora turned around and jumped back: He saw the figure standing in front of him. A stranger, wrapped under the brown cloak. His face was covered in a hood, save for two gleaming yellow lights that Sora assumed were his eyes. He stood in shadow stood in front of him, gangly and deathly, as if he was a ghost. Ghost….Oh no... “W-Who are you?” Sora asked, his voice shaking as he tried to lean in as far as he could against the rock. “Where did you come from?” He could barely think past the nauseating smell. “That doesn’t matter,” the Ghost said, holding up a ghastly hand, ebony and skeletonized. “All that you must know is that this world has been connected. Tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed, and then, utterly consumed by it.” Wait, what was he talking about? Darkness? Yes, of course, but what about the darkness? What did he mean connected? This Island was connected to nothing; it was only a Island, perhaps connected to the water if you wanted to put a metaphor on it. But this Island in reality wasn’t connected by anything. It was the whole reason Riku, Sora and Kairi wanted to leave in the first place. “What are you talking about?” Sora asked, hoping to have answers to the questions burning in his mind. The Mysterious Figure chuckled tauntingly. Sora’s eyes narrowed now, gone was fear, now it was replaced by anger. This gave him a bit of bravery needed to move forward and bit, clenching his fist he made himself ready in case he needed to run. “Well...Whoever you are….Stop freaking me out!” Again the figure laughed, this time softly. “You do not know what lies beyond that door. But you will...Much like those from the other worlds did. The worlds all shared the same fate. As all hearts do. All begins and ends in the same way, and worlds are no different.” “Another world!....You- you are from another world?!” Sora couldn’t believe it, just like Kairi, another figure came from another world. But this one far older it seemed and by the looks his worn cloak, well-traveled. Already questions began to enter Sora’s mind, one after the other. Yet as soon as they came they all stopped when he thought about it for a few seconds, something about this figure did not seem like the answering type. Sora kept his guard up. “Well….What are you doing here!” He asked instead while keeping a strong stance. “And….And why are speaking in riddles?” The figure took on a tone of mocking pity: “Such a sad, sad, young boy….You have so very much to learn.” “Well...yeah, you’ll see! Me and my friends are going to go out there and learn everything we can.” Sora declared. “Once we have our raft up and running will be seeing and exploring all sorts of neat stuff.” “A meaningless effort, boy. I can sense your heart, it is far too tied to the light, and because of that, you will never be able to truly expand your mind and gain the enlightenment needed to know more than merely nothing, and one who knows nothing will understand nothing. It is the way of the heart after all.” “Are you calling me stupid?!” Sora yelled, urging to punch the so-called ghost. The Hooded Figure groaned and held out an arm, with a black, clawed finger pointing straight at Sora. Whoever this person was, he was giving Sora a strange dark vibe. Maybe he was a ghost like Waaka and Tidus said...or perhaps something worse. Again, Sora stepped back against the rock, hoping Riku and Kairi would show up and soon. The figure began to glide, as if he floated, straight up towards him; Sora meant to flee, but the smell was so strong it weakened his resolve. He put his his finger right on the tip of his forehead, and Sora felt the most uncomfortable sensation in his entire life: A touch that was cold and unnaturally icy. “Very well...if you want to understand and learn the key to all this, perhaps you deserve a taste of what is to come. But know this...The Dark is merciless.” Sora felt his entire body freeze over. Cold and ice began to ensnare him. His vision began to fade, the hooded figure continued to stand right next to him as the room around him began to churn. He wanted Kairi and Riku to show up, someone, anyone. He didn’t know what was going on, he didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he knew this much: Whatever it was, it wasn’t good. Now, he was falling. Falling… Falling… Into darkness…

Hello guys! So, I wrote this fan fiction in... 2014, after KH3D release. I've decided just now to translate it (I'm italian). The story is set after CoM - and during Days, the main character is one of my favourites and (in my opinion) one of the most underrated, Riku Replica. Hope you enjoy! Thanks to Afa Bill Aseh and his team for translation. The Hero of Darkness Chapter 1 Rebirth “What happens when a fake dies- one like me? Where will my heart go? Does it disappear?” Drop by drop, Riku Replica’s consciousness began to reform. A feeling, a memory, a thoughts... It took time for the puppet to realize that, but little by little he resumed being someone, or something. "Where… am I?" he asked weakly. There wasn't even a slight glow of light and he couldn't see anything. He was lying down, but beneath him, he did not feel the ground or any kind of floor. He was floating alone in the pitch black. "Is this the Realm of darkness?" sighed Riku. “Is here where ends those like me?” He wondered how much longer he would have to wait. He thought that some kind of entity would soon appear and would list what he had done well and what he had done badly, a short list and a very long one respectively. As long as that wasn't a lie too, he said to himself, and seeing no one arrive, he smiled almost incapable of regretting yet another disappointment. The only sensation he had left was that it was cold there, yet he didn't feel any kind of temperature. He sighed again, then tried to move his limbs. Strangely enough, he felt them distant. He had to make an effort just to bring his right hand in front of his face, trembling with exertion. “Wake up”. “Who’s there?” Riku snapped into an upright position, while floating. “You should wake up, that's your only opportunity to do it”. “Who are you?!” “I am your only opportunity”. Riku stared at the darkness in front of him, waiting for more explanation. “You have to go back, Riku, you have some unfinished businesses to close”. “I'm afraid I'm not," the boy replied, puffing. "I'm just a fake, I don't have any pending issues”. “Are you sure? Don’t you ever had anything that was real, to you?” The sound of the voice echoed into the everlasting darkness. Riku raised hesitating his face. "What are you talking about?” “A promise" answered the mysterious interlocutor. "A promise you have to keep. It's your only way”. The boy looked down. A name slipped from his lips: "Naminé...” “Of course, the little girl in your memories”, the voice said. “It wasn't my memory", replied Riku. “They weren't even real memories...” “But they were all you had, they were real to you. They had to be”. “Why are you telling me all this?" the puppet asked, raising his tone, as if he had found again all his arrogance. "Tell me who you are!” “I told you: I'm your only opportunity. This is your second chance”. “Who are you really?” The voice only answered after a brief pause: “You can call me the King”. For Riku Replica, those words had no meaning: he had never met King Mickey, nor had any memory of him. “Just don't want to tell me who you are, huh?” the boy asked. “At least explain me why you should help me”. “I need a favour, Riku, a mission that only you can accomplish”. “You don’t say! Everyone always expects something from others!” The soft laugh of the voice echoed again in darkness. “Listen to me to the end at least, after all your interests are at stake or you might never go back. You need me in order to do it”. “Why? What do you have so interesting to offer me?” “Well, I can offer you an all-new body”. “A... what?” The King's response was quick: without saying anything, the darkness surrounding Riku diminished and finally the boy could see himself. He brought his right hand back in front of his face and could glimpse through it. His skin was as transparent as glass, a little more opaque. With a mixed expression of disbelief and horror, he could not look away and could barely syllable words of accomplished meaning. “Your body has vanquished” continued the voice, “but something holds back your soul here, at the edge of oblivion. Unconsciously, your will has clung to some feelings and is struggling not to disappear completely. Maybe to obtain, one day, your own heart”. Riku was breathless. He continued to watch his limb with his mouth open, without saying anything. “Accepts my proposal, Riku. Complete the mission I want to assign to you and I will be able to give you a whole new body. It will be the first step to becoming a unique person like everyone else”. “...you said a heart of my own?" “Correct”. “Why should I trust you?" the Replica asked in a convinced tone, raising his head. “In fact, you would have no reason to do so. Unfortunately, however, I cannot offer you any alternative. Choose what you prefer; if you want I'll slip away in the dark and never bother you again”. Once again, Riku Replica looked down at the glassy hand. He knew he could not trust this King, but that could really be his second and only chance, the last of many wasted chances. Would it be a bigger mistake to attempt going for broke, or to waste this last opportunity without getting anything in return? “What do I have to lose?” “How much do you care about you have got lost so far, Riku? Your existence, your promise, everything fictitious that meant something to you... only you can know what you have got to lose”. A life of imitation which has come to an end, or perhaps something else. Everything was there. “Hey, King...” the puppet called out, closing his fist in front of him. He could only have hoped that the benefit of the doubt would be worth the risk. “I accept the mission”.

Disclaimer: I don't own any these characters besides the original ones. Storylines and characters all belong to their respective properties. The Guardian -Chapter 1- James opened his eyes. He laid in the bed. He sat up. He was in a hotel room. It’s only been 2 weeks since he had left Metrophilis. He turned on the television and saw the news. ‘’ No word on Clark yet. Where did you go?’’ James asked as the last time he saw him, was when he rushed to fight Zor, but after the fighting ended, he and Victor only found Zor’s decreased body. James then decided to leave Metrophilis in order to start a new life. He stood up and walked towards his window as he pulled back the curtains.’’ So this is Bludhaven. Why did you send me here Laura?’’ James decided to get dressed and walked outside. Meanwhile, a man stood in a conference room on the top floor of a building. This man had a bald head, blue eyes, black business suit, a red tie, and on the phone. He pondered the room as he heard the door open. That’s when he saw him. James Harper. ‘’ Let me call you back.’’ The man said as he hung up. He quickly pressed a button as the windows became tinted, so no one can see. James wore just casual clothes. Blue jeans and a white shirt.’’ You got some balls to show up here. You’re supposed to be in prison.’’ ‘’ I know. I’m currently working on getting my name cleared. How’s it been Richard?’’ James asked as he extended his hand out. Richard glare and punched James in the face. ‘’ You abandoned this company and not only that, you broke the law Harper! I wonder what Leo would’ve thought of this!’’ Richard yelled out as James wiped the blood off his face.’’ You decided to go on a little vengeance quest. You disgraced yourself.’’ ‘’ I know Richard. That’s why I’m here. I’m looking for redemption. I know I messed up. I let my guilt of losing my family cloud my judgment, but I was able to put myself back on the right path. Laura showed me who I was really and left me a message that told me to come here. I need your help Richard.’’ ‘’ You want my help? When you left, no one was willing to step up to CEO of the company. Leo had high hopes of you continuing his legacy but you were gone. So I stepped up. Something you weren’t really willing to do.’’ Richard said as he turned around to not to look at James.’’ Besides, why does the mighty Guardian need my help?’’ ‘’ Because I’m looking for something called the Syndicate.’’ James said as Richard’s eyes went wide. ‘’ I’m sorry, but I can’t help you. I’m going to ask you to leave now James. Please. Just go.’’ Richard said with a little fear in his voice. James turned to leave. ‘’ Oh. One more thing Richard. Even though you guys never spoke after Leo’s death, Laura still missed you. You should visit her grave. She would love it if her brother visited.’’ James said as he silently left. Richard turned as he got his phone out. ‘’ We got a problem.’’ Meanwhile, James walked in the crowded streets. He remembered what Laura had left for him. ‘’ James. I know you’re The Guardian and I couldn’t be more proud. I know one day, you’re going to lose your way. Wander down the wrong path. I hope you find this one day. I won’t be here forever. That is why no matter what, I want you to keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll be fine. Besides, I know you’ll just get mad for me sneaking in here so let me tell you before I leave. I love you James. Continue your work. Besides, whenever you get a chance, go to Bludhaven. I believe you might find that Syndicate you have written down.’’ James stood in the middle of the sidewalk. He breathed and looked around. He turned and walked down an ally. He found what he was looking for. He looked around until he found it. The Guardian symbol. It was small but he found it. He pressed onto it as a door opened. He walked in and saw a flight of stairs. He slowly walked down and saw it. It was a small lair. ‘’ So the map was right. Master came here too. He must’ve came here first. No wonder he had Bludhaven as a spot for them.’’ James said as he looked around.’’ This hasn’t been used in years. It’ll take time, but I can make this work.’’ James sat down and began working with the equipment to get it working. ‘’ The Syndicate? What’s that?’’ James asked as he was sparring with his master. ‘’ In my clan, we had only one enemy. They have been called The Syndicate. Or at least that’s what they’ve been calling themselves for the time being. The Guardian is responsible for protecting civilization. It has ever since the days of Rome. But at last, a group always tried to stop us. I’ve tried searching for them. I only had clues but never could actually get to them. They have more than likely become part of the elites of society, making it harder for The Guardian to take them down.’’ James’s master said as he knocked James over. James regained his balance. ‘’ Then I shall stop them Master. Whatever their planning, I’ll make sure to put an end to it. I promise you.’’ James said as he shook his master’s hand. James opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep doing the computer. He stood up and checked the time. It was night out already. He looked around and saw it. It was his old Guardian outfit. He quickly got into it. He knew it was time for him to hunt them down. James soon placed his helmet on. He grabbed his shield and quickly left the lair. Meanwhile, a truck was being driven. It stopped at a warehouse. Out came 4 men holding machine guns as another man walked out. He wore a white suit, white skin tone, black eyes, long black hair, a scar on his left eye, had a sword on his back. The 4 men stood around standing guard. The swordsman walked up to the locked garage door as it opened. ‘’ Ah! My favorite man in the world!’’ out claimed a man. This man was strange. He wore a black suit, red tie, and something was strange. His head was a black skull.’’ Glad you arrived!’’ ‘’ Black Mask. It’s an honor to meet you. I am very pleased you came all the way from Gotham to meet me. My employer will also be happy.’’ The man said as Mask chuckled. ‘’ Please. Call me Roman Sionis. You’ve earned it!”’ Sionis said as he shook hands with the man. ‘’ Do you have the product?’’ the man asked as Sionis nodded as he whistled and a group of men pushed a crate. Sionis then grabbed a crowbar and opened it slightly so the man could see.’’ I see. My employer will be extremely pleased now. Thank you.’’ The man then motioned his men to grab the box but to no response.’’ Hm?’’ Suddenly, Sionis turned and saw his men down. ‘’ Ah shit!’’ he said as he grabbed his gun and pointed it at the man.’’ I knew I would be double crossed!’’ the man drew his sword as he stared at him. ‘’ Mask. My men are down too. Whoever is here-‘’ ‘’ Is looking for information on an organization. The first one to tell me will be spared. Oh and don’t worry about your men. Their taking a nap.’’ James said as he stood on top of van as he looked down at the two. ‘’ Asshole!”’ Sionis yelled out as he started shooting at James who quickly blocked with his shield. He then quickly jumped and kicked Sionis away as he dodged a swung from the man. ‘’ So you’re The Guardian. Nice to meet you.’’ The man said as he spun his blade. ‘’ And you are?’’ James asked as the man swung again but James quickly blocked with his shield. ‘’ You’re death.’’ The man said as the two men quickly began engaging in hand to hand combat. James dodged and his a shield strike to push the man back.’’ Not back. You’re pretty skilled. Shame. I don’t have time to play.’’ The man said as he tossed a smoke pellet on the ground as James’s vision was blurred. He coughed as the smoke cleared. He noticed Sionis and the man were gone. He quickly opened the crate but whatever was in there, was gone. Suddenly, James felt a string. He checked the back of his neck and saw a dart. Before he could mutter a word, James passed out. He soon woke up chained to a pipe on a roof. He looked around. His helmet was gone. ‘’ Man. You ruined my steak out. I’ve been tracking Black Mask for weeks and out of nowhere, you come into my city.’’ A voice said as James looked up. That’s when he saw him. ‘’ You’re’’ James said as the man jumped down from the upper roof and landed right in front of James. ‘’ Yeah. I’m actually real.’’ The man said as he wore a black armor suit. Bullet proof, two short batons on his back, long black hair, a black mask that covered his eyes, and lastly, a blue bird on his chest. ‘’ Nightwing.’’ James said as the two heroes were about to have a talk. ( Author's Note: And here it is. The first chapter for The Guardian. It's a little short because I wanted to see how it'll do. I do have a solid storyline for this first season. Also, with the crossover officially wrapped up, Steel season 3 will be arriving shortly so expect that soon as well.)

Master's Report: Final entry Y'know, I'm really going to miss doing this. I'll be sure to continue this in the future, when I'm not a heart in a box and I actually have hands again. Destiny, its a funny thing. No I mean really, thinking that you're in control of where you are going when its already been pre decided is hilariously delusional. Destiny, its a funny thing. So its done then, I have done my best to make sure everything happens as the book described. I've heard their snickers and snarly remarks, “Oh the Master, he's so wacky, he is so chilled out, he doesn't seem to care.” I've wanted to let them know that this is all happening according to my design and that its actually already happened, but I've been silently laughing to myself about it, so there's a minor victory. Destiny, its a funny thing Oh and speaking of victory, I have given the key to the kid and told him about his “role”. You should have seen the look on his face when I gave him the keyblade and only told him it had an eye in it after he was already holding it. As I thought though, he quickly grasped what its purpose is, he knows what he needs to do and he also understands that its already been written, he's already fulfilled his role and the war hasn't even started yet. Destiny, its a funny thing. And with all that my homework is done, its time for me to make myself scarce and set these wheels turning. Shame I won't get to see the madness of the keyblade war, but hey, there's always next time. Oh and don't worry, I told him about the whole meteor shower thing. Once his apprentice unlocks the door to other Worlds, the boundaries between them will break and crash down. I've told him to make sure they are somewhere there won't be so much collateral damage, an island perhaps? Destiny, its a funny thing. ~ The Master ~~~~~ “Destiny. It's a funny thing.” The man in the black hooded robes thought to himself. His name was Luxu and this was his role. Take the keyblade with him, make sure it is passed down, a journey which led him here, where there were no shortage of skilled wielders. Either way he had to be here. It was his destiny. “Luxu!” A young girl's voice he recognised shouted and a bright coloured keyblade swooped past his hood as he sidestepped from harm's way. Turning to face her “Ava! Do you see? This! This is the Master's will!” He shouted back and raised his own keyblade in preparation to battle. Ava recognised the distinct keyblade. The stark contrast of the darkness inside it to hers which materialised from the light within her own heart and illuminated with warm colours to reflect that. “Y-you're the traitor! Where is the master?!” She was angrier at him now than she had ever been. Her tone didn't match her soft pink robes. She didn't give him time to answer before she struck at him again. The two exchanged clashes, fitting in with the countless armoured soldiers all around them who were all doing the same. The sound of metal blades striking each other filled the air. Ava and Luxu continued their battle among the screams and flashes of colour as magic shots of fire and ice dashed around, scorching some soldiers, freezing others in spot until their enemies shattered them with a follow up hit. Blocking Luxu's retaliating strike, the two were locked in place. “I have to do this! If you believe in our master you would let me!” Luxu shouted, the two of them grunting as they tried to force the other to lose balance. “But you're risking everything in the process!” Ava shouted. There was a plea in her voice now. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe she could change the future. But destiny cannot be changed. The blast from the X-blade shattering was like an earthquake, with the destructive blast radius of a large bomb. The light expanded like an orb, it tore through everyone in its path, shutting off their hearts instantly. And as the blades and their owners fell, as the light encompassed them, so too did Ava. The last of the foretellers was dead. Luxu stood before the chaos. The last few armoured keyblade wielders were still clashing away with their massive key shaped weapons. The sound as the metal clanged, the swishing with every swing, it was a familiar sight and sound to Luxu. The warriors were locked in their duels despite the carnage as the shock-wave took out each and every one of them, tearing through their armour, leaving them and their blades littered across the barren brown grounds. Then the last remaining keyblade wielders were extinguished like the rest mid combat. Knowing his own destiny was at times a tool Luxu used for his own benefit, knowing fate already determined he would survive this while at others he despised it. This wasn't a game, this was his life and yet here he was, at the fated lands, observing the war just as it was written in the book. After the last keyblade fell with a thud and the clanging of its armour clad owner, there was an eerie quietness and Luxu was now stood under a dark but starry night sky, the bright blue hue radiating from Kingdom Hearts lit up less of the sky as the giant heart shaped moon deconstructed, clouds covering where it once was. He stabbed a dark kayblade into the ground, the blue orb with the strange marking toward the key shaped blade at the end facing forwards at the scene in front of him. His master had told him the importance of this keyblade, the orb was called The Eye, it recorded events it witnessed and wrote them into a mysterious book called the book of prophecies. The grounds were littered with discarded armour, broken and battered keyblades and the mountains. The eye had a good view of the events, the X-blade that materialised and shattered, the summoning of Kingdom Hearts itself and the devastation the keyblade war had left behind. He stood with his hood up, that mysterious box he had been given and told never to open, which he now understood why. And two small children who had also survived. After the war had ended, he had found them asleep just near where he was. Their hearts had been damaged by the blast that erupted from the X-blade but they were alive. “But which one do I choose?” He thought to himself. But he knew the book of prophecies existed already. He hated that book. He hated being a prisoner to his destiny, he could have control over it if he had the book which foretold events yet to transpire. Whatever choices he thought he was making were just illusionary to him. He sensed the light and the dark within people, that's why the master had picked him for this role. And he sensed an equal balance of light and darkness in these two boys respectively. Whether the keyblade would be passed down to the light or the darkness was his choice to make as long as he kept the blade away from them for now. He let go of the hilt and in a flash of dark energy the keyblade vanished. “Come on you two. Let's get you home.” He reached a black glove covered hand out and summoned a portal of darkness, the black and purples coursed through it. He picked up the two young children who were still asleep with one arm and the box he dragged by the handle with his spare hand. “May my heart be my guiding key.” He said to himself as he stepped through into the darkness. And with that the only living things in the area were gone. That land would become the fated place for a war that was still yet to come as per the book of prophecies foretelling. But for now it would be aptly written into history as the keyblade graveyard. ~~~~~~ It was mid morning, although the sun light suggested afternoon as it shone into the room via the massive window, open to allow a small breeze in that made the curtains that laid over them drift but not enough to disrupt the game of light chess being played between the two young boys. A variation of chess where the goal is to get your king in the raised platform in the centre of the board, who has the most strong pieces on the board when they do so wins the game. The light white pieces being moved by a young pre teen boy in a white robe, fair skinned with dark blue shaggy looking hair that matched the colour of his eyes. This gave the other boy the opportune time to bring up the subject. “Have you heard of the ancient keyblade war?” The other boy asked. As he moved one of the black pieces. His skin was more tanned, his grey hair struck out against it as did his distinct golden yellow eye colour. His hair spiked toward the back and the rest neatly hanging around his face. Xehanort was very interested in talking about forbidden subjects, despite Eraqus''s dismissive attitude every time he did. “Yeah. The master's favourite story.” Eraqus sounded like he was starting to get a bit fed up of hearing Zehanort talk about these things. Although he believed them to be true. “So, you know the lost masters then? They are the ones who started the keyblade war.” Xehanort continued to probe, hoping Eraqus would slip up one time. “Never heard of them.” Eraqus replied, but the moment of silence before he did was telling. Besides Xehanort already knew the truth anyway. It frustrated Xehanort that Eraqus always acted ignorant, he was the only person he could talk to about these things he studied so intensely. “...You can drop the facade.” Xehanort said. The two of them moved chess pieces around as they talked, strategically sliding them even during mid sentence. They knew each other's playing style well. Xehanort always was a little more aggressive, trying to take pieces without worrying too much about what comes next, this often would allow Eraqus to make a crucial move at the right moment to beat his opponent. “Well keyblade war or not, the world exists today in a balance of light and dark because of them.” Eraqus said. The boys were almost tied in their game, an equal number of pieces and powers on the board. “But what if it happened again? And this time more darkness is left over?” Xehanort picked up a king piece and moved it forward into a position that would force Eraqus to either lose the game or to call a stalemate. “On that land, shall darkness prevail and light expire. The future... Its already been written.” Xehanort looked over at the door in front of him and then up past the golden frame and up to the plaque above it. The plaque matched the frame of the door in golden colour, seven large keys protruded from the middle at the bottom half, 13 small, sharp looking symbols he didn't quite recognise but knew represented the darkness on the top. In the centre of it all, the master's keyblade which he had heard the master refer to as No Name. The keyblade was still in great condition, its sharp edges and menacing dark glossy finish as menacing looking as ever. Eraqus noticed Xehanort look over at the blade but he remained focused on the game in front of him. Seeing a flaw in Xehanort's move. “Who's to say I can't change it. And maybe light will prevail.” He spoke calm and surely as he moved his king piece to the square Xehanort's had just moved to. Picking it up and moving it off the board as he did so. “There's more to light than meets the eye.” Victorious again in their game, he looked up at Xehanort as intensely as he had at the game board. “You might be surprised.” Xehanort returned the look but with a smirk and cockiness to his voice “Oh I hope so.” The two kings, one of dark and one of light were now in the raised platform facing each other. There were equal numbers of light and dark pieces remaining on the board. ~~~~~~ Ten Years Later ~~~~~~ There were slow and calm crashes as the water folded in on itself, echoed by ripples as it calmly flowed back out to sea. The only other sounds were the slight wind breeze and the squawking of the seagulls that sat atop of the trees that adorned the shining golden sands of the shore of Destiny Islands. The look on the young teenager's face was a vacant one as he watched the waves drifting to and fro from the shoreline, his black boots as close to the water as he could stand without getting them wet. He bit the inside of his bottom lip and his expression changed to one of deep thought, as if he was oblivious to the lush tropical island environment that was around him. For his mind was not on this World, as it often was it was somewhere else that day. The young man looked up from the waves and into the sunset horizon, the clouds furthest away shone more red the closer to the setting sun they were and through the breaks in them a light blue, fading almost to purple as the evening sky began to fade to night. He brought his hand up, brushed some loose strands of his long sliver hair away from his tanned skin, joining the rest of his slick and brushed back hair. "This World is just too small." He said to nobody. He hadn't been aware that his own thoughts had become audible. The sounds he was used to hearing every evening were joined by an unfamiliar one that evening. Shuffling. It sounded like a blanket being dragged slowly across the sands, inching closer to the young man who remained motionless, eyes and mind still focused on the forever fluorescent horizon before him. It was so far away and yet today it felt closer than ever. Although the sound became more apparent to the young man as it grew closer, something was peculiar about it, it wasn't his acquaintances with whom he shared this Island paradise, even entertaining them with the notion they were his friends. For there were no footsteps to be heard. The shuffling stopped as the sound gets next to him next to him. And to his left he could now hear the sound of a robe flapping lightly with the sea breeze. Slowly, looking irritated that his concentration into the endless space was broken, he turns toward the brown robes that stand to his left. The hooded robed figure didn't say anything at first. And more eerie than that, Xehanort could not make out any facial features at all. He looked harder, almost as much concentration as he had shown to the ocean and the sky. Still nothing. Almost as if inside the robes awaited pure darkness, ready to swallow the World whole should it leak out. A deep sounding voice boomed from within the space where a face should be "This World has been connected." No sign of any expressions, its arms, if it even had any remained inside its pockets, and it was hunched over as if the it carried a tremendous weight on its shoulders. "What did you just-" Xehanort wasn't able to finish his question and his usual calm and collected composure was broken for the first time in as far back as he could remember. "Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed." The robed figure continued on. Xehanort had spent years researching the light and the dark the made up this World and the many others that he was certain must of existed beyond his own. Perhaps this being had come from one of them. He had felt the shift as his tranquil home had slowly been infested with darkness. It seemed to pour from that mysterious cave on the raised ledge just behind where he stood now, next to the crashing waterfall with its crisp and clean water. The cave that the Islanders sometimes dared each other to go into. Even Lightning, the bravest of the children on the island had not explored deep enough in there to find what was at the end. But Xehanort had. His expression returned to a more calm one, if this being was to attack him, it surely would have done so already. And the times he had spent training for battle with the other young people on the island made him a competent fighter anyway. "The door in that cave." He said, half asking, but half making a statement that he knew what the mysterious figure was talking about. He could feel the gaze of his eyes meeting another's even though no eyes looked back at him. "Perceptive. You have realised that door is no ordinary door." The figure's tone was calm but cunning. And he was right, that door was far from ordinary. It didn't belong in an otherwise empty cave that otherwise only contained growing fungi and mushrooms and rocks. It didn't belong in this World. The yellow markings that swirled on the perimeter, just before the edges of the frame. The door was wooden but no matter what Xehanort had tried he couldn't break or open it. "It can lead you to other Worlds." The figure continued. They both turned toward the horizon together. Xehanort took a breathe and steadied himself before he replied "Why are you telling me this?" he asked, "Your destiny." the figure spoke back. "It lies far beyond this World, it lies far beyond even many others." It knew that Xehanort's curiosity would easily earn his trust. Xehanort smiled, a small laugh to himself which he kept inside. "Hm. My destiny is my own to create." He dismissed the figure now. Who was he to tell Xehanort what his destiny was? No one has control over that. "But destiny is never left to chance." The voice was starting to become familiar to Xehanort now. "Did you come from another World? Who are you anyway?" Xehanort turned towards the figure again. The brown robes shuffled around to meet his look. Slowly it pulled one arm out and held a limbless figure of an arm out toward Xehanort. The darkness swallowed Xehanort as it rushed out of the robes, it filled him and rushed through his body. Through his feet, all the way to his head, he struggled to breathe, it was like poison that filled him until he couldn't see as it made its way through his head and eyes. And then he could see. Images of what was to come raced through his mind. Faces he didn't recognise, was yet to meet. And fantastical landscapes and Worlds. Figures in black robes that at once were familiar and yet strangers to him. Three armoured warriors, one noticeably shorter with those ancient weapons that the Master had told him about the key shaped blades, just like the one that was back at his home one the wall in the Islands minus the insignia of the eye the blade without a name had. And then the darkness took over his mind and that was all he saw. When Xehanort next awoke it was another tropical and sunny day on the Destiny Islands. The same beautiful sounds filled the air, the same horizon that teased a World beyond this one to Xehanort. It took a moment for his even his golden yellow eyes to adjust to the light. But he knew what he had to do today as soon as he was himself again. "Thirteen seekers of darkness...." He turned toward to cave, the sand crunched beneath his boots as he walked toward it, up the shore, leaving behind the beaut of the island as he stepped further toward it. The sound of the waves were quiet now, louder was the breeze rushing in to the cave, Xehanort pushed aside some vines that he had placed over the top of the entrance to obscure it from the others. And then he ducked down and entered the cave. As he walked down the winding path, small insects curried away from where his next step would be. The scratching of them as they scattered up the walls was the only sound. "All World begin in darkness." He said to himself in thought as he walked further down the creepy path. "And all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts within it. It grows, consumes it. Such is its nature." Xehanort was now stood in front of the mysterious wooden door. Himself and the other small lizards were the only beings. No sign of the robed figure. Xehanort held his arm out, made a half fist and in a flash of darkness, he summoned the No Name keyblade. Now rightfully his, no longer belonging to his master. "In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came!" He swung the tip of the blade toward the door and a light beamed out from it, it connected with the door. And both Xehanort and the door and the blade glowed a bright gold hue. Then he was gone. And the door remained exactly as it was before. Back at home, Luxu looked up at the wall and at the blank white where the No Name keyblade had once been. Finally his role was over, now it was up to Xehanort to take the keyblade of darkness, it belonged to whoever was the strongest ally of the darkness, it sensed it within them and was drawn to it, like a moth to a bright light. The gathering of the thirteen had begun and with that, the master's return and the second keyblade war was set to happen. That night, there was a meteor shower. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sensation came to Vanitas every time he was unprepared for it, when he was the recessive part of Ventus that he hated most, vulnerable. Over time the feeling became more overpowering, it would channel through his body like the very darkness that he had been created from. Only he didn't recognise this as darkness. No he couldn't be weak. He couldn't think about her. The feeling intensified, it raced through him up and down, never finding a heart to rest in and so came to a still at the usual place, his mind. Vanitas had done well to ignore this feeling and brush it off as a weakness that would disappear when he one day finally defeats his weaker self, Ventus. Oh how he hated the name. But lately he had found it difficult to think about that, or to even focus on the task Master Xehanort had set for him. How could he when his mind was plagued, infested with thoughts of her. Her who he was told to forget, whose name Vanitas only knew from his time spent in the shadows watching Ventus spar with her, learning his keyblade fighting techniques so that they could one day be used against him. But whose name would stay in his mind. Her name was Aqua. Itch. She was nothing more to him than collateral damage, a pawn in the game. She would serve as the stepping stone for Terra's darkness to take over and allow Master Xehanort's plans to take form. And yet she had a strong connection to Ventus. Weak, insignificant and a tool that will eventually lead to the forging of the X-blade. And above all that, he was Vanitas's enemy. Every time he mentioned her, Master Xehanort was besides himself - for years Vanitas had showed no signs of light in him, he showed nothing but hatred and anger and resentment. Every day he handled the missions he was given with brutality, he had a vicious fighting style, overpowering his enemies by channelling the darkness in him. Why was he letting this weakness in? It happened more often lately and it happened today. Vanitas woke early as per his Master's demands. "Awaken Vanitas!" the old Master Xehanort said. "Every minute that you sleep, Ventus grows more powerful than you do." Vanitas was up in an instant, donning his mask and armour and ready for a battle within minutes. "Not a chance, Master." he said, calm and getting increasingly cocky in his confidence as his powers and abilities were growing, becoming more of an asset to his master. "Oh really? Then we can skip the formalities. Show me what we went over yesterday before we begin today's assignment." Master Xehanort said and with a wave of his white glove covered hand an unversed was spawned into the training room. But itch itch, her image returned to Vanitas again. Like a bad itch he would never be able to scratch off. He thought about her as he struggled to fight against the unversed enemies, his dark powers failing to destroy them as they usually did, merely wounding instead. She was the same girl he saw sparring with Ventus that day at the land of departure. The same one he met. As he observed how Ventus was fighting he saw her, her blue eyes and her blue hair, she carried herself strong, her keyblade fighting style was as majestic as it was masterful. She made her swings look like choreographed dances at times, but her use of magic and strong attacks made her more stronger than her beautiful appearance would let on. After the two of them had battled, Ventus left and went in to speak to Master Eraqus. And Aqua remained outside, she was stitching together was Vanitas could only see as good luck charms. As Vanitas gazed upon her, he saw her not as an enemy but as something else, he wasn't quite sure, a friend? Something more? Either way it was a far cry from the hate and fiery aggression that filled him just a moment ago. And when she spoke to him her voice was soft and calming, not at all like the viciousness he received from his Master, Xehanort. But he appreciated it. His master punished him to make him stronger. Stop thinking of her Vanitas. Stop the itching. Stop the scratching. And yet as Vanitas readied his keyblade against the unversed in front of him, itch itch, the feeling returned to him again, striking him harder than his physical swishes of the blade were to the unversed, he channelled the feeling and used it as power believing it would help to soothe the itch in his mind. A bright blue beam of water shot out of his keyblade, the edges of the blade raised toward the creature. The blast shot across the room, it took the unversed with it and pinned it against the wall and then both the water and the unversed were gone in an instant. Master Xehanort's menacing grin turned to a frown of anger his expectant look turned briefly to one of confusion and then back to anger, he knew this magic. Light. Vanitas was supposed to be created from pure darkness, why had this happened? No. This plan was years in now, Master Xehanort knew his destiny, he knew that Vanitas and Ventus must clash. But the light had to stay away from Vanitas. "There you see! She makes you weak boy! She sees you as the enemy she uses this against you." But she hadn't. She was kind. She cared and she always put her friends before herself. The short amount of time Vanitas had spent with her before Master Xehanort disallowed him to see her any more was a happy one. Don't talk to her, don't see her, don't even think about her, those were his instructions to him. The radiance of her soul and heart made him stronger. SLICE! "AH!" Vanitas was so wrapped up in his thoughts of her that he didn't notice Master Xehanort had summoned in another unversed. The creatures sharp claw slashed at his arm holding the keyblade. He slammed the blade down in frustration. The pain had at least cleared his mind of the thoughts he was having but it didn't take long for them to return. But the unversed in front of him was destroyed by Master Xehanort, who had approached the area Vanitas was fighting. Vanitas felt the wind swish past him as the tip of Xehanort's No Name keyblade passed his face. And yet through all this, the itch persisted in his mind. She would be taking her Mark Of Mastery exam soon and with that Vanitas and his master's plan would finally begin. All the training, all the physical and mental attacks from his master, they would be all leading up to this. He had the light, the feelings for her beaten out of him by his master enough now. He hated her and yet he did not. Why did he have to hate her? Was it an extension of his hate for Ventus? Was it a reflection of the hate that had consumed Master Xehanort? If I have faith that says to a mountain "jump" and it jumps but I don't love, I'm nothing. Did he love her? No he couldn't. He was born from darkness. So then why did he feel powerful when he thought of her in a warm and positive light? The only thing he was certain of was that he either wanted to be with her or for these cursed thoughts to leave him for good. For a moment his mind had left the room but was bought back into it as the metal smashed into his ribs. Screaming out in pain, he barely had time to react any further before he saw her there again, this time Aqua smiled at Vanitas, just as she did that day and she spoke to him, his vision and hearing was blurred even within his mind but he understood what she was saying "It's okay. You can lose yourself to the darkness, I'll be there to get you back." And with that the No Name keyblade pierced Vanitas this time in the chest. The last thing Vanitas saw was a blue light leaving him, it coursed through the keyblade and into the gazing eye that trademarked the hilt. When Vanitas awoke some time later, the itching had stopped. Only now it felt like it had never been there. Forgotten in a dark void with Ventus's other weaknesses that had been destroyed from him. He hurt but he couldn't remember why. "Vanitas?" Xehanort looked at him expectantly "Yes, Master?" He replied, gathering his breath and slowly standing. "Do you remember her?" Vanitas looked confused, who in the World was his master talking about? "Aqua?" "Yes boy. What is her use to us?" Xehanort knew of course but he needed to hear it from Vanitas. "She is our enemy along with Terra... And Ventus. Terra's destiny will lead her to hers. And I will destroy Ventus myself. The X-blade will be ours!" And Master Xehanort could no longer sense that light, that weakness within Vanitas had gone. No more scratching. No more itch. "At last. You are ready." Vanitas's training was complete.

Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! May God bless each and every one of you, and may you have a wonderful year to look forward to, with unlimited possibilities! 2017 is going to be a good year, I can feel it! So then, with a new year, I’ve decided to post a new story! I’ve had this story on my mind for quite some time now! Heck, I’ve had this story in my mind since I was writing the Keyblade War Trilogy, particularly around the beginning of Chapter III: Beauty Of Apocalypse! Back then, I thought of a cool concept, and then I played around with it, eventually imagining up more characters and an interesting background for them to dwell in, and well, here we are, with my new story! Obviously, it’s a non-KH story, like Seeing The World With Brand New Eyes and A Reason To Fight, which were two stories I wrote that are also not related to Kingdom Hearts! This is an original story, with characters and everything else all created by me, ya know? Anyways, enough talking! Let’s get this show on the road! I hope you’ll all enjoy this new story! Prologue: The Messenger “Where is he?” a voice asked. A soldier, well clad and with spear in hand, turned around at the sound of the voice, and faced the man asking the question. “I’m not sure. He left quite a while ago.” the soldier answered. The other soldier groaned uncomfortably. “I don’t like this, Kren…he’s been gone for too long now! He was supposed to come back two hours ago!” the other soldier replied. Kren looked up at the moon thoughtfully, and he gave out a sigh. “You’re right, Grim. It is kind of puzzling that Nero hasn’t returned…maybe he got delayed?” Kren suggested. Grim shook his head. “I think more along the lines of an ambush. I’ve heard rumor that the Craftsmen have been going on the defensive lately, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they attacked one of our own!” Grim thought aloud. “Perish the thought! True, the Craftsmen may be aggressive, but accusing them in such a way would be taking things too far…let’s just wait. I’m sure Nero will be back any moment now!” Kren said, trying to reassure his friend. Grim hesitated a bit, but then sat down on the ground. “For both our sakes, let’s hope Nero appears soon…” Grim said. Kren nodded, but shortly afterwards, they heard a sound! They both quickly took on their battle stances, with Kren holding his spear tightly and Grim drawing his sword from his sheathe! “What was that!?” Grim asked. Kren noticed something moving a little bit north from them, and he pointed towards the trees! “There! I see it! Prepare to attack!” Kren commanded, but as they prepared to attack, they saw a young armored man, walking groggily, his armor all shredded and bashed! “Good graces, it’s Nero!” Grim exclaimed, and he ran quickly towards the weakened Nero! Kren accompanied him, but kept his spear in hand, just in case there was someone else lurking nearby! “Good graces, my boy, what happened to you?” Grim asked, holding Nero’s head. The young man coughed up blood! He seemed to be fatally injured! “I…I saw him…I saw him!” Nero gasped, his eyes ablaze with terror! “Who, Nero? Who!?” Kren asked, looking down at the young man. Nero shifted his eyes towards Kren, tears forming as he tried to sit up. “T-the Wraith…he told me…to bear a message…to lady Ilia…” Nero answered. At that, Nero and Grim looked at each other with great worry. (Start Song Here) “Don’t worry, my friend. We’ll get you back to Lightbloom posthaste!” Grim said. But before he could pick up Nero, something came out of the trees and attacked! Luckily, Kren, who had been at the ready, managed to block whatever was attacking them, and flung it back! “Back away, beast!” Kren shouted! “We can’t stay here! If Nero remains here any longer, he’ll bleed out to death! We have to leave now!” Grim exclaimed worriedly! “I’m on it!” Kren said! Inspecting the creature closely, he noticed that it was one covered in shadow. It had flashing red eyes, and bore long, scrawny arms with razor sharp clawed hands! The creature hissed, and Kren felt a bit uneasy! But then, he closed his eyes and clasped his hands together! “By the grace of land and grace of life, come to me, and give me protection!” Kren said aloud, and with those words uttered, giant roots rose from the ground, and impaled the dark creature, causing it to shriek in pain! The creature was pinned to a boulder, the roots keeping it in place! Confident that the creature was now restrained, Kren looked back at Grim, and then ran to his side! “Right, the creature is trapped, we have to leave now!” Kren urged! “Right!” Grim nodded, and with that, he closed his eyes and held his right hand upwards! “Eluzia! Come and grant us safe passage!” he shouted! Within seconds, a creature that resembled a giant wolf, but apparently made completely out of tree wood, came to Grim, and it growled softly, noticing the dark creature’s presence! “Come on boy, take us to lady Ilia!” Grim commanded as he and Kren mounted Nero and then themselves onto the wolf! He howled and then started to sprint as fast as he could! (End Song Here) --- (Start Song Here) Meanwhile, Ilia, the one whom Nero was to relay the Wraith’s message to, was looking calmly at her garden. She had a variety of plants and exotic looking flowers. It looked like paradise, and the flowers gave off an alluring and peaceful essence to the air. After a busy day, Ilia liked to simply stand there, contemplating her garden and taking in the scent of the flowers. It brought her peace. After all, being the leader of the Lifespring Clan was no easy task. Ensuring the prosperity of her people, keeping good relations with neighboring clans, attending to matters that concerned the well being of the world definitely took their toll on her. And yet, despite all this, Ilia was always a calm and kind person. Many people respected her. She was a person that many looked up to. She appreciated the praise, but thought it unnecessary. Which is another reason she loved to be in her garden. She could get away from the noise of people. She reached out to touch a beautiful looking rose, when she felt someone come into the garden. She glanced back and sighed. “What is it, Oracle? Can’t you see I’m contemplating my flowers?” she asked, ever calmly. The Oracle, a man who wore a white cloak that concealed his face, simply bowed and crossed his arms. “Apologies, lady Ilia. I merely came here to accompany you, as it were.” he stated. “I see. Then tell me, what do you wish to discuss?” she asked. The Oracle simply chuckled and walked to her side. “My lady, you always see right through me. Anyways, I know that right now you are enjoying your private time, but there is something of importance to discuss…” he started. “Yes? What is it?” she asked. “It concerns tomorrow’s meeting. The heads of the clans will be there, as usual, but I’ve heard rumor from our Everbloom Knights that tension will probably ride high. Particularly when it comes to the Scorched Clan.” the Oracle explained. Ilia looked at one of her plants and sighed. “I see…well, I’ll be sure to be ready. In any case, I will do my best to keep the peace in the council room.” she said, as she turned to the Oracle. (End Song Here) (Start Song Here) “Indeed. Let’s hope tomorrow goes by without—“ the Oracle began to say, when the doors to Ilia’s garden smashed open! Through them, Kren and Grim came, carrying a bloodied Nero! Ilia’s eyes opened wide and she quickly went to Nero’s side, while the Oracle remained where he was. She knelt beside Nero, while Kren and Grim knelt across from her. “What is the meaning of this!?” she demanded! “My lady, Nero came to us like this…he said something about a message from the Wraith!” Kren explained! At that, Ilia’s expression grew worrisome, and she looked at Nero. “What is it, boy? What message could possibly be so vile as to leave you in this condition?” she asked. Nero, coughing up blood, struggled to lift himself up. But when he did, he went towards Ilia’s ear and told her what he could. Kren and Grim didn’t know what was being said, but they knew it was something bad. The look on Ilia’s face alone guaranteed it! “The Wraith…? Hmm, what troublesome times indeed. The Council will have a hoot tomorrow…” the Oracle mumbled to himself. (End Song Here) ------------------------------------------ What is this mysterious message that Nero needed to deliver to Ilia? Who is this Wraith? What troubles lie ahead? Is all this an ill omen of things to come? Stay tuned for Chapter One: “A Troublesome Affair!” So yeah, that was the prologue! I hope that you all enjoyed it! So then, as is customary with my stories, this story will be fifty chapters long! I hope you’ll enjoy what I have in store, I promise it’ll be good! I’d tell you more about the story, but I don’t want to spoil, so I’ll just let the chapters speak for themselves! The first chapter alone will have a bit of insight on the state of things! So anyways, I’ll appreciate your support! Thanks for reading, and until next time, stay tuned for the next chapter!

Summary: A sinister and manipulative sorcerer, Dariek Cahir, had become bored of his own world. He decided to use the dark magic that was considered forbidden there, and traveled to others. Along the way, he met some people he thought were interesting, including a young woman named Erica Roberts, who he has use for. Erica woke up in a world called Traverse Town. Many memories of hers include what happened to her, and the Kingdom Hearts games (including anything that hints about them) aren't able to surface. Her own world, Earth, is so far away and unknown to most she would meet. Will Sora and friends be able to help her remember? As Erica, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and others travel from world to world and fight the Heartless together, Riku discovers the darkness and becomes desperate to find a way to return Kairi's heart back to her. And a small group of Nobodies in Organization XIII discovers there's more to Dariek than he's allowed himself to speak about. Author's Note: As of now, this is partially alternate universe. The important parts to the original lore to the first Kingdom Hearts game will stay basically the same, but there will be slight to major changes that differ from it. Some minor characters will have bigger roles. Three out of my four own reoccurring characters throughout the first arc of this series will interact a lot with Sora, Donald, Goofy and Organization XIII. My fourth won't be featured until much later, during the second story arc. So much has been thought of, and planned. I think I have at least 3 pages of ideas saved in a separate word processor file. That list is only going to grow, and grow overtime. There's no denying how excited I get about this story at times, as it develops. I hope those who are reading this enjoy it as well. ^_^ Prologue: Final Game Board Placement A calm and content grin appeared on Dariek’s face, as he examined the painted figurine he held. Beautiful. Just beautiful... He already knew he would visualize her well enough, before putting forth the bit of concentrated effort in materializing the new game piece in his hands. It wasn’t hard to do the task. Minutes ago, he had used his power to send the young woman away. Now, she was where he precisely wanted her to be. He already knew and planned on what would happen, and where the interesting encounters and interactions would first take place, all thanks to what he had observed through her memories, and more. It was easy to remember Erica Roberts smiling; the tiny detail of her small pink lips, the corners upturned to match the friendliness in her brown eyes. He could still clearly remember her appearance, as well as her personality. Erica had much more of a social life than Dariek ever had. She would go out with some friends she had introduced to him once. In character, she was outgoing, but reserved at times. She was smart, kind, caring, helpful, and often put others before herself. Dariek knew she had the qualities he’d rather not have, along with having a social life. He took no interest in knowing many people. The more that knew about him, the less time he would have to himself, to accomplish his goals. It was to his benefit to have chosen her to be the next new addition to the game. In almost every way, she was the opposite of himself. In regards to Erica having the trait of easily being friends around those she had met, Dariek never had any reason to doubt about the chosen Keyblader getting along with her well. Erica was a very good asset he had encountered, from her world he had found three months ago. She knew a lot! She knew about Maleficent, and at least some of the members of the Organization. She knew of the mouse king and his trusted mage and knight, as well as the boy who would wield a tool and weapon known as the Keyblade. Erica already knew about some of the worlds he had been to, such as the jungle where gorillas and the man who walked like them called home, Agrabah, Neverland, Atlantica, and the Colosseum (in which he once sat in the audience, to watch a gladiator tournament). Her knowledge in combination with my own will be useful to me, later on... All of what he knew about Erica as a person, at least a gist of her firmly focused on in his mind, were needed to make the new figurine he was very fond of. One of the most interesting and ironic things about what Dariek had learned about her was the fact that she saw all of those worlds and individuals as fictional, from a complex “electronic game of moving pictures,” so she had first described to him. He never even heard of video games before meeting this young woman. Through watching her play some of this game series, he found out she knew of Maleficent, King Mickey, and the others came from, as just characters. She knew them from a series of those games, called Kingdom Hearts. Dariek grinned, rotating his new figurine once more, in both hands. This game piece accurately looked like Erica Roberts. That was what he wanted and intended for this game piece to be. He placed his new game piece next to Sora‘s, in the game board‘s area he set up to look like a flat map area of a small world, called Traverse Town. “Your abilities are certainly unique. Unlike anything else I’ve seen...” Dariek shrugged in nonchalance, as he looked to the young man in the black cloak, gloves, and shoes. Half of his face was concealed by those long blue bangs as usual, as the hint of awe in his tone was heard clearly. “So I’ve been told,” Dariek responded to Zexion. It was a bit flattering to know that the Organization was impressed by his power. Nice to know that I’m appreciated here... Your Superior doesn’t seem to care much, but it doesn’t matter! What does, is keeping to the deal I’ve made to the master of this castle, and making sure he’s happy and in anticipation of his potential puppet. As long as my chosen ones don’t get in the way, then both of us are content. Our alliance won’t be broken. Dancing around egg shells every now and then while here with Zexion and the other Organization members stationed inside Castle Oblivion wasn’t much of a challenge for him to do. As long as he remembered about each one correctly, he would be able to predict of where they go, and what they do. For human-like beings with no hearts, their personalities and appearances were clearly different. He knew most of the Nobodies were suspicious and curious about him. A few were more so than others, and he was certain that he could relax at that. He knowingly had his intricate plans in the grand scheme of things well thought out. Too much suspicion and curiosity among the entire Organization would have been a series of obstacles. They’d only want to use Erica and his own creation differently from the way he wanted them used, or have no use for them at all. Zexion looked at the game board set up, before looking back to him. “Is this supposed to be a representation of where the Keyblade Wielder and Erica are now?” “Sora,” Dariek corrected. “That’s his name.” A nod came from this Nobody, who had one of Dariek’s thick tomes under one of his arms. “After reading through some of your books of spells...” Dariek saw half of the small smirk on Zexion’s face. “I’m not surprised that you would only let a select few learn them. While Naminé simply draws, your own methods with altering and removing memories are much closer in contact. It’s further complicated.” The sorcerer, not much older than Zexion, took seat in a dark wooden chair, nearby where the game board and figurines were set up. “We wouldn’t want someone like Larxene getting involved with them. She’s not I would say is capable of preventing herself from going too far with such magic.” Zexion was one of the most curious in the Organization he had met, who took deep interest into what Dariek did. After some consideration, he wasn’t worried about him overseeing some of his work. A soft chuckle emitted from his associate. “That’s precisely who I was referring to.” Dariek commented no further, as he mentally noted to himself for the second time on how similarly they thought of each other. Larxene was... What he noticed in observing the blonde female’s mannerisms was the likely possibility of her abusing such power too much. Her motives were too up front. She seemed to care little for stealth, and subtleties. Teaching her anything would surely lead to his own downfall, since she’s had far too much enjoyment in putting almost everyone else down around her. He calmly proceeded to answer Zexion’s question. “I’ve already transferred Erica over to where he’ll be.” He hovered a hand over where he placed the Sora and Erica figurines. Not too far away was where he placed the rabbit, in which he had created himself. “This area here, Zexion, is Traverse Town. The drawn and colored illustrations on the board here represent a generalization of the homes and shops in the first district.” “She’s much older than Sora,” Zexion assessed. “I cannot imagine her becoming a love interest for him.” Dariek shook his head in amusement. He almost laughed at the stupid and ridiculous thing he said, of how terribly short lived the very idea would be. “That’s not at all what I had in mind... I thought Naminé was supposed to capture his heart. That is the plan in progress, isn’t it?” Zexion looked just as mildly amused. “That it is, yes... I didn’t want to assume you had that arrangement in mind, yet, it is good to be reassured of it.” He grinned, and brought his hand under his chin. “But I don’t understand what your intent is, for removing her memories and having her join alongside the hero of light.” Dariek chose his words carefully. He didn’t want to give too much away in explaining his strategy. “I did not remove her memories. I simply suppressed a number of them.” Which memories I’ve suppressed and why is only for me to know. I don’t think you’re going to be around long enough to figure this out for yourself. “There are two reasons why...” He held up his index finger. “After meeting and getting to know her a little in person, I found out that she’s a very good candidate in being a valuable companion to the kid.” Promptly, his middle finger rose to join his index. “Depending on the number of items I’ve enchanted and placed out there for her to find, in the different worlds, she will also be valuable to our cause...” He leaned forward in his chair, smiling at his intelligent and curious associate. “My power is capable of weakening and destroying Heartless. Remember?” Zexion’s eye that wasn’t obscured from view had widened. A soft gasp came from him. It took him a moment to realize how what Dariek had in mind, on this game he had started. “You’re giving her the power to destroy Heartless... You have the ability to harness light? Not just darkness?” The Nobody‘s reply caused Dariek to smirk in interest. He catches on quick. “Correct.” He predicted how Zexion would conclude on the information explained to him, and kept that to himself. “I think she’ll do well...” “Are you saying we could have two heroes of light?” Indeed, it was easy to picture the wheels in Zexion’s mind. He pointed to the small orange-tan and white colored rabbit figurine Dariek had crafted, with the same fashion he created the figurine of Erica. “And this is...?” “He’s one more companion, to support them. I created him, primarily for Erica.” Dariek’s smirk lingered. “Only, he no longer knows me, his creator. He doesn’t have a memory of ever being here.” “Does Marluxia know about all this?” Oh, I should be very careful about how much I’ll tell this guy. “Of course he does. We’ve discussed everything from the beginning.” Well, almost everything. There were some details he left out on purpose. Dariek wasn’t keen on sharing with any of the Organization on what Erica and himself both knew altogether. That would mean having no control over what he started. He also didn’t want to have too much interference into the fates of the heroes and villains in this fascinating universe. Zexion was reminding him of how curious he was, when he was younger. This Nobody paused to think a moment more, his gaze lowering towards his figurines again, on his custom game board on the table. “...You have a strangely interesting way of planning this out, Dariek.” Dariek’s brow rose a little, as he continued to observe him. “Your opinion is noted. What about this is strange to you?” Is it because I simply intended to only have the rabbit not remember me or Castle Oblivion? If I had been as inquisitive boy again, I’d be asking that. Of course I would! Again, to his amusement, Zexion had asked about what Dariek knew he had not been transparently clear on. He made eye contact with Dariek. “If you had decided for your creation, was to have its memories of you and Oblivion removed... then why do you only suppress Erica’s memories?” It took a moment for the clever sorcerer to tell him a tolerable enough answer. “As she’ll eventually help Sora up the point of returning home to us, I won’t have to do much to remind her of who I am, along with the few of us she was able to see.” That was the vague and most basic explanation he could give. Hiding or revealing too much would both lead to too many risks Dariek did not want to face. Why bother erasing all her memories of me and all she knows about this universe? I’ll want to see her reaction, when she returns here with Sora and friends, of her own will. After all, this would just make it more fun... “It appears you know what you’re doing,” replied Zexion. There was no doubt or suspicion coming from him, but there was still something else. Dariek could see in his expression that he had another thing to ask. “Will Naminé be required to change her heart? It has already been agreed and decided, to have her change Sora’s.” Dariek’s confidence was unwavering as he explained the following. “Marluxia’s witch won’t be over-worked. That won’t be necessary. I brought Erica here. I used my magic on her mind, in ways so our heroes of light won’t suspect anything. Not even Maleficent will be able to know of our plans. And it will be my responsibility to do the final revisions.” It wasn’t ever going to be that big of a deal, to do all the work on her himself. He had already thought about it, long before the final decisions had been made between Marluxia, Larxene, and himself. Maleficent was someone he saw as a rival; competition. She addressed herself as the Mistress of all Evil, didn’t she? To him, that was arrogant and stupid of her to ever want to say that out loud to anyone. He wanted to see her fail and be outplayed. He also preferred to being behind the scenes and not attracting her attention. To what he could remember, he did not see any objection from Axel on this decision to assist in the Oblivion mission. Marluxia had already decided to tell everyone else. Although, for some reason, he had forgotten to tell Zexion about this. “I wanted to hear about your plans, directly from you. I wanted to know what exactly you’ve offered us.” Zexion placed the tome he had been borrowing on the shelf, where the gap in the middle had been. “By now, the Superior probably has recieved word of this, from Lexaeus.” Ah. So that’s why you weren’t present at the last meeting. “I’ve come to understand how organized and orderly you are,” Dariek said. He knew of the pecking order. He knew Zexion had the number six rank. He knew who this Superior was. He knew who a lot of who was on the side of light, and of the many who were on the side of dark. Before he snatched his selected pawn of interest and brought her to the downstairs area of his quarters inside Castle Oblivion, he made sure to do all the research he could. “No fooling around here...” He moved from his chair to stand. “I wouldn’t have been able to get any work done if it Organization XIII wasn’t as Marluxia had said and shown.” Of course, Zexion would already have figured this out. Working all on my own wouldn’t have been as fun. And getting all of Erica’s memories about these worlds and me suppressed, without any assistance, would have been too difficult. “I used to be skeptical of you," Zexion admitted. “It was simply because you were an outsider. You weren’t a number, and you have a heart... Now, I’ve realized how you and I operate and think on similar terms. I probably wouldn’t have planned as thoroughly.” He picked up the figurines of Sora and Erica, showing them to Dariek. “You’ve proved your loyalty to the Organization, Dariek. You support our cause. And, your methodical means of doing things are impressive.” He smirked, as he put them back where Dariek had placed them. “I look forward to seeing the outcome of all the planning, and preparation.” As do I, Zexion. Very much so. Any moment now... “It’s already started. Our heroes will meet, or already have met.” Dariek stepped back, and waved down one of his arms to the side. Shimmering into view beside him was a floating mirror. Instead of Zexion’s reflection, he would see both Erica and Sora placed and propped up against the side of one of Traverse’s townhouses, unconscious. Oh, good. I haven’t missed anything. “You’re welcome to stay and watch.” As Dariek had guessed, the Nobody couldn’t resist as he stared straight at the floating mirror. “For a while.” He picked up the other chair in the other room. “I will eventually have to return to my own tasks, eventually. But, observation of how Erica and Sora meet shall prove something worthwhile to report. Anything that we see here will be reported to Lexaeus.” Dariek nodded, and turned his attention towards the two heroes of light; the Keyblade’s chosen one, and his own chosen one. As they looked to be sleeping at the moment, up against the townhouse wall outdoors, he had a hunch that they would wake up soon. As he looked at them through the round mirror-shaped, enchanted window levitating in mid-air, he privately assessed about Zexion. He’s not terrible company. If anyone wants to observe and know of my progress this much, then I’d rather allow for Zexion or Marluxia to do it. No one else. Larxene’s presence annoyed Dariek. He saw her as an irritating nuisance. He didn’t like her attitude, and how nosy she sometimes was. She tended to behave childishly at times. He remembered first reading about her enjoyment putting down others, in Erica’s world. Larxene was only going to continue to be annoy him further. She already had been such a pest to him once, before she did him that favor he asked her to do; to bring Dariek a rose from Marluxia’s garden. Vexen, and Lexaeus weren’t going to be much trouble for him. As Vexen was a self-proclaimed scientist, he seemed to be too involved in his own projects. Lexaeus was the messenger, who never spoke to Dariek. Not yet at least, he thought. Dariek had been very reserved and cautious around Axel, alone during the first night the red spiky haired Nobody was inside Castle Oblivion. He had been that way since he had found out on what Erica had thought of him, in her mind; what she knew about him. Axel was the Nobody who would eventually go a bit soft. The spiky redhead, ranked eighth in the Organization, may have currently been indifferent around what Dariek had done, not long after the castle grounds. However, Dariek wouldn’t have been pleased at all if Axel had been anywhere near her in his quarters, downstairs. Marluxia didn’t trust Axel either, for it wasn’t long ago when he had arrived to Castle Oblivion. They did not really encounter each other though. Sure, Erica saw him, but it’s not like she knew where we were at the time... Dariek’s plans had worked out so far. Erica wasn’t going to start remembering who Axel was, if he decided to locate and go see her for any reason at all. He was able to do what he wanted, and the game was about to start. He was looking forward to her discovery of his first of few gifts, spread out in Traverse Town. The first, he had already given her, not long after she had gone into a deep sleep. Two more to find. She’ll recognize them easily. With the acknowledgment that he was still very much in control of his agenda, he simply stopped thinking about Axel. Now was the time for King Mickey’s dog to come around, and wake up the heroes of light.

A New Rise; Trilogy 74 years after the fall of Master Xehanort the keyblade has extinct. There was piece in the universe. No nobodies no heartless. after 74 years of peace, a storm awakes. Young Zachary finds out about the keyblade, something nobody knew about it. His home town, Twilight Town is under attack by a weird kind of creature called Nobody’s. After the attack Zachary finds out more about the history of Twilight Town and about his fate that is much bigger he could ever expect. The Secrets of Twilight Town Chapter one. Zackary was sitting on his bed staring through the window, watching over Twilight Town. He felt a bit nauseous. Fragments went through his head of a weird shaped blade. Zackary shocked of the image he saw, it was so clear. Did he just dream for a second? What’s wrong with me…? He rubbed his eyes. He lay down on his bed and quickly felt asleep. Again, he began to see fragments of this weird shaped blade, quickly the fragment changed to the clocktower of his town. ‘’- Today makes 255’’ "A key... blade?" "Sora, Sora, Sora! Enough about Sora!" Zackary shocked awake. He was all sweaty and warm. His shirt was soaking wet from his sweat. ‘’What in the world… Who was that guy.. and… What is a keyblade..?’’. He jumped out of bed and search for some paper and a chalk and draw this keyblade he dreamed about. He was worried about what he dreamed. He woke up and puts on his clothes. He had plans to hangout at the Sandlot with his two best friends. He looked at his drawing and folded up and puts it in has back pocket. He grabbed his stuff, and went to the Sandlot. Elisa was already there. Elisa was a thin good looking blond girl, she was the smartest one of the group, which could be annoying sometimes. Like Zachary she was also sixteen years old. ‘’Hey Elisa, How are you?’’ Zackary asked. ‘’Hey, Yeah I’m great.. You didn’t bring Levi?’’ she asked. ‘’No, normally he’s always the first that arrives here’’ Zackary said. He looked around to see if Levi was coming, and looked if no one was around. ‘’This could sound crazy maybe, but do you know what this is?’’ Zachary unfold the paper and showed her the drawing. Elisa looked at the drawing and studied it all. ‘’It looks like a bladed of that kids story.’’ She said. ‘’What kids story?’’ he replied. ‘’The tales of Twilight Town, but why do you ask?’’ Elisa noticed that Zachary looked a bit worried of what she said. ‘’Look, I’ve never heard of that book. Never read it, and I’ve never seen this blade. But I’ve dreamed about it last night. I heard this young man talking and he was sitting at the top of the clocktower. He called it a Keyblade.’’ Zachary said. ‘’Look.. we’ll wait until Levi comes and then we will go to the library and we’ll go find that book.’’ Elisa said. She noticed that Zachary was freaking out about what he dreamd, she wanted to help him however she could. Zachary was playing with some rocks he found on the ground still waiting for Levi. He looked up at the clocktower. ‘’He is an hour late.. Maybe we should just go to the library.. We walk by his house anyway, so we could check if he’s there? All right?’’ He suggested. ‘’ Yeah, sure..’’ They walked in the streets of Twilight Town. Zachary heard a weird sound above them, like something was moving. He looked up at the roofs of the houses and saw these weird creatures walking really fast. ‘’Elisa, look!’’ Zachary yelled. He pointed at the weird looking creatures. Their feet and hands were pointed shaped, and the creatures were completely silver. Their mouth looked like an unzipped zipper and on the top of their head was a big symbol. ‘’Zachary, what are they?!’’ said Elisa scared. There were dozens of those creatures running on the roofs. Suddenly one of the creatures jumped off the roof and landed in front of Zachary and Elisa. Quickly Zachary stood in front of Elisa to protect her. ‘’What are you!? GO AWAY!’’ Zachary yelled with anger and fear. Weirdly enough, the creature jumped back on the roof and followed the other creatures. ‘’Hmm, I’m glad that, that worked. Where are they going…?’’ Zachary tried to follow the crowd of creatures with his eyes. ‘’Oh no… they’re going to Levi’s house! Quickly come!’’ said Zachary worried. They run as fast as they could to the house of their best friend. When they arrived, they saw Levi laying on the ground passed out. The creatures were circled around him. Out of fear for the life of his friend he grabbed the first thing he saw and run to the creatures. ‘’LEAVE HIM ALONE!’’ He yelled. He waved around with a piece of branch he found on the floor. He took a quick look of how many creatures there were around him and he noticed that there were many more on the roof back on the street. Suddenly they heard a big explosion, and the creatures run towards the sound. ‘’What the hell was that!?’’ Yelled Elisa. Zackary turned to Elisa and said, ‘’Take care of Levi, I’ll go found out what that explosion was.’’ Zackary run after the creatures as fast as he could. He knew it was probably a dumb idea of him, but he was worried if there were other people hurt. Quickly he stopped running and saw a big crowd of creatures standing by a burning building. It was the library. It was completely destroyed. The creatures were cheering about it. His eyes hurt of the heat of the massive fire. He saw some books burning up. Out of nowhere the creatures disappeared. It looked like they teleported somehow. Zachary was shocked about this. ‘’What kind of magic is this… What is happening in this town..’’

'' Imagine if you were able to hold power in your hands. What would you do? Our evolution is nearing. Now, will you help get the future ready for this next step of evolution?'' -Prologue- It is the year 2030. The world is now a fallen war zone. The population has been decimated by 90% in the last three years. All because of one reason. The Meta-humans. In the past 10 years, the world has seen the rise of a species of people who are able to have a power. The Meta-gene. A recessive gene inside the human genetic code that laid dormant since man's first steps. In the year of 2020, humanity was advancing it's research into developing cures and anti-bodies that could fight off diseases before it can even attack the cells, but what they discover was something else. The Meta-gene was then discovered. Soon, after an experiment on a healthy individual, the first Meta was created. The Meta's name was Seth Shaw. He was gifted with a powerful one. He had the power to control the elements of Earth. This lead him to become a very dangerous man. Soon, he attempted to become a hero by the name ofThe Magician. After which, more Meta's started appearing. Incidents started happening. Involving heroes and Meta's alike. The Battle of New York, the Black Death incident, mass bombing in Moscow, and more. It was not until the year of 2023 that the United Nations attempted to limit the Meta's rights. The Meta-resignation Act of 2023 was soon drafted and signed by all the countries of the world. This required all known Meta's to identity themselves and let the world know what power they had. Some opposed this act. Shaw was one of them. He attempted to lead a resistance in order to get rid of the act, but failed. In the year of 2027, an incident in London required extreme measured response. The United Nations soon passed another act that allowed the governments of the world to create Anti-Meta task forces. These task forces were operated by a United Nations panel. Meta's and supporters were soon hunted and arrested and/or killed. It was not until the year 2029 where things soon made a turn for the worst. The task forces were conducting secret experiments that resulted in discovering a way that Meta's can be identify before the gene even awoken. Soon, mass killings were carried out. Normal humans who were not born with the gene were sentenced to labor camps. Now, only the worst of mankind rule the world. The world is near total collapse, but is it too late to change this destined dark future? Footsteps are heard as someone in a black hood ran through rubble. Spotlights came down from the sky as massive search ships hovered over a war torn apart Washington D.C. The man quickly hid inside a ruined bookstore. Panting can be heard as the man's face could not be seen. His coat was opened on the bottom as he wore cut up blue jeans and black running shoes. He soon looked down and saw a tattered magazine. He reached for it and looked at the cover. It read,'' Ivan Monroe, the world's first trillionare. Has he found a road for world peace with his new invention?'' The magazine was written back in 2021. Somehow it was still here 9 years later. The man dropped it and quickly started running as footsteps can be heard. Armored soldiers in high-tech gear starting giving chase after the hooded figure. They started shooting their plasma rifles at the man. The man quickly dodged by running in different directions. He soon pointed at the soldiers and his hand glew. Out came fireballs which was sent towards the soldiers. One was engulfed by the flames, but the soldiers did not stop. The man then soon launched himself up in the air. He was flying, but only for a short moment as a missile had made contact. The man pummeled from the sky and crashed into the ruined Wall Street building. He laid on the ground until the soldiers marched up. One quickly threw his hood off. '' Target acquired. 100% match. This is Luke Shaw. Most wanted criminal'' a soldier said. Luke looked up. His white skin was covered with dirt. He had blue eyes, a scar on his left cheek, and dirty blonde hair that went to the bottom of his neck.'' Dead or alive?'' the solider asked in an earpiece. '' How about dead you assholes?'' Luke screamed as he placed his hands together as the Earth itself swallowed the soldiers and Luke made a run for it. He kept running until he was able to finally lose them. Luke panted and finally arrived to his destination. He looked up and saw a 100 story skyscraper with the name Monroe on top. There were holes in the building. He walked inside the front doors. The doors shut behind him as he heard a figure walking down a flight of stairs. Luke smiled which felt like years of not smiling.'' At last, maybe we can finally change this future'' Luke said as the figure stopped.'' But first, I want to know everything like you promise. Tell me why it's like this.'' Luke demanded. The man chuckled. The man came from the shadows. He had pale white skin, a couple of wrinkles, green eyes, brown hair that was short and spotted some grey in it as well, a black shirt, brown jeans, a pistol on his hip, and finally a walking crane. '' Yes child. I will help you. Only because I owed your father so much.'' the old man said. '' Good. Tell me everything Ivan.'' Luke said as the man chuckled. He was Ivan Monroe. '' It all began 10 years ago inside a lab in Chicago...'' - To Be Continued- Authors note: I hope you enjoyed the prologue. I wanted to give a nice dark vibe. The story does start 10 years before these events, but I wanted to give an insight on how the future will look. I also dropped some clues on what will happen throughout this series. I hope everyone that reads this help me out too with ideas. I am also open to suggestions. Now, let us enjoy this series together which I hope can expand pretty far.

My name is Barry Allen and I am Ze Flasher! I run around my city at speeds faster than any speeding bullet. To show my naked body to as many people as possible. Young and old. So the future generation can live one day truly free. Without any restriction and even clothes. Once again my name is Barry Allen and I am Ze Flasher! Got it memorized? Thoughts Comments. Did it make anyone laugh? I just thought this up.

Prologue and Tagline: " ...My name...is Bruce Wayne...i am 26 years old, single...and i have no family...well, that's not entirely true, i do have family, in the form of my family's personal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, he's looked after me ever since i was just 10 years old...the age...when i lost both of my parents, my father and mother, Thomas and Martha Wayne...all due to petty crime itself...i swore to myself that ever since their deaths would i somehow, someway find a way to avenge their deaths, though so far, i...have had no luck, whatsoever at all...that is, until just recently, i saw it on the Gotham City channel news, by pure chance, it was the Green Arrow of Star City taking down the terrorist Damien Darhk in front of all of the entire world itself, it was then, that i realized...in order to seek my revenge on crime i had to become someone else, i had to be something else...so on the outside to the normal general public, i am a billionaire playboy bachelor, flaunting his late father's pharmaceutical company family inheritance money around, but, on the inside...with the help of my most trusted associates, i also use that money to become the something else i swore i would become to seek my vengeance on crime, so that no one, especially young children who are the age i was at the time would ever have to go through what i did, ever again...seeing your loved ones laying dead right in front of you whilst villainy gets away without justice being served...well now this city, all of Gotham, all of its thugs and lowlifes will know my justice, they will know...my despair, shrouded, in wings, as dark, as the night itself, for i am...The Bat. " Year One: Chapter I: Jet Black, Stark White and Pitch Black: (What does everyone think so far of my new Arrowverse connected Batman Fan-Fiction :]?). " Part I: The Past: The year is 2017, October the 3rd, the season where Halloween takes place, it was around this time that me...my mom and my dad went to see a favorite kids' film of mine, it was called The Grey Ghost, it was an age 12 and up but because i had my parents there with me, plus my dad thought i was only just two years younger to see it, he thought that it was okay since i was just almost barely enough legal to watch it, although my mom disagreed at first, she eventually relented, seeing, as how my dad was almost, as giddy, as i was to see the film, it was a Western based Genre and my dad, boy, he sure liked watching his old Westerns, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, you name it...he was even a swashbuckling fan and, as luck would have it, The Grey Ghost had swashbuckling in it, this made my dad, as pleased, as punch, i was so embarrassed at the time...after the movie ended, my dad thought it was a good idea to take a shortcut back to our manor, although at the time he didn't what exactly that alley was specifically called...Crime Alley, it was here, that my mom, my dad...anyways, i'm sure you have heard of this tale so many times now that you can guess the rest what happens next...the mugger got away, along with the pearls he stole from my mom's necklace that he was after, the police found me at the scene of the crime and i was escorted back to police headquarters whilst my dad and mom...they were carried away on stretches with their faces covered by white sheets over their whole bodies, at the time, i was...scared, scared and lonely...i was so utterly filled with both despair and misery that i just didn't know what to do with it, i wanted to scream, i wanted to hit something, someone, just let out all my frustration, rage and anger for all that i had lost, all that i have known in my life...within mere seconds...it was then that he appeared, someone that i will truly never forget, even until the day that i die, that man was named police officer James "Jim" Gordon, he was a rookie cop working in Gotham after recently transferring here and out of all of the cops working at the precinct, he was the only one who seemed genuinely concerned for me, about what i lost, at first, i punched him straight in the abdomen but he didn't seem fazed by it all, instead, he called my punch weak but that was because in his words that my hand didn't feel like punching, instead it felt like clinging onto something, he told me that i was a man and that men shed no tears, however, he also told me that i was a child and that i was only a young man at that point and because i was only a young man, i was allowed to cry, grown men do not allow themselves to show their tears in front of others, nor do they go looking for someone to consult them, however...he told me that because i was still young and had yet to grow up and live to my full potential that i was allowed to cry and cling onto someone for comfort, letting all of my sorrows and woes out and with those words...i started crying fully, he held me like i was his very own precious child and he tightly clutched me, saying to me that things would no longer be easy from this point onward but that it was now my sworn and solemn duty to overcome despair and rise above it, that was my job, as both the new head of the Wayne family but most importantly especially, not just, as a man but, as an individual overall... Part II: The Mask: After i finished recalling my memories from that time, i returned my consciousness back to the present, where i was performing a stakeout on one of a local Mafia crime boss' storage warehouse facilities, the crime boss in question was called the Black Mask and he dealt in everything, drugs, booze, women...you name it, he both did everything and does everything that is off the book, strictly illegal and solely in the black market, for the last few months i have been hightailing his goons, picking them off one by one until eventually, i would reach a base where private operations of his took place, i had hoped on finding the Black Mask here and take him out personally but little did i know that he was waiting for me in secret, since i was taking his men both down and out like a stealthy ninja, he decided to bring in one of his own, a mercenary, goes by the name of Kyodai Ken, said he used to work for some master assassin named Deathstroke or whoever that is, at any rate, i was severely outgunned and outmaneuvered, this guy was completely unlike all of the other thugs that worked under the Black Mask up to now, he was like a master at doing everything that i did, only better, just when it seemed that this Kyodai Ken was about to finish me off, suddenly...shockingly and surprisingly, i was saved...by an arrowhead, it belonged to none other then the Green Arrow of Star City himself, the one who brought down the terrorist live and in public, he shot Kyodai Ken right in the arm and had managed to ward him off for the time being, i on the other hand...wasn't going to get the lucky treatment... The Green Arrow told me in his menacing and cold tone of voice that i had no right to stick my nose into the business of both the underworld and vigilantes like the Green Arrow himself, he told me that he was tracking down Kyodai Ken who worked for Deathstroke who i had now discovered was an enemy of the Green Arrow's and that by finding Kyodai Ken, would the Green Arrow find and learn more about Kyodai Ken's new employer, the Black Mask, the Green Arrow came to Gotham City in lead of that pursuit, only...to find me at the crossfire, he warned me not to interfere ever again otherwise he would take me down just like the rest of the criminals he's fought up to now, however, i told him very clearly that i was inspired by his victory over Damien Darhk and of how i wanted to be just like him, it was then that he shot an arrowhead right through my right leg, saying to me that he doesn't want me to become like him, saying that it leads down a very dark, treacherous and lonely path with no one, absolutely no one and all alone...either dead or in a coma, he told me that i had failed Gotham city but that i could still make it right by turning back off the path i am currently on now, he gave him a few days' head-start to think about my decision and if i hadn't made the right one by then, well...you know the consequences of exploring that building plan, as he left whilst i pulled out the arrowhead, it got me to thinking about the Green Arrow's words, as i suddenly started thinking about my past again... Part III: Home is where the Heart is: Officer Gordon was driving me home back to my manor, on the way, he made me listen to some very old cassette music, saying that it was very popular during when he was my age back then, although i appreciated him trying to cheer me up with the music, it only slightly worked and it couldn't take away all of the grief that i had felt in that one single night, although officer Gordon acknowledged that i could be allowed to feel like this, he was slightly despondent, hoping that it would at least cheer me up more slightly then i currently was, it was then that we arrived at Wayne Manor at the highest hilltop on the outskirts of Gotham overlooking the entire city, at the front entrance was Alfred, he suddenly hugged me by surprise which caused me to be shocked a little, as i saw him hugging me i also noticed something else, something running down his left cheek, it was a clear tear and, as i looked at Alfred's face, i saw that he was crying, fully and deeply...he told me master Wayne i am so very glad that your safe and sound...i am sorry...i am sorry that i wasn't there for you...for any of you! Alfred kept crying, as he held me tightly, not wanting to let me go, i felt Alfred's sadness, as his tear dropped on me and from feeling that tear, i then placed my hand on-top of Alfred's, saying to him that its alright, i am home...i am safe, thanks to both officer Gordon and you Alfred...you, are my home, Alfred shuffled away his tears and had acknowledged my words, he told me a saying that was passed down in his family from one generation to the next, that home is where the heart is and that home doesn't necessarily mean a huge house but rather, the people you live alongside by, that you love with all your heart, hence, home is where the heart is, the heart is the kindness, care, warmth, tender and especially love that you preside within yourself and have the ability to welcome that heart full of all those wonderful feelings to other people and vice versa, even though Alfred wasn't related by blood to me, i still felt like he was an irreplaceable part of my whole existence and that now, officer Gordon had become part of that cherished bond, as well, these people were my home...they are, my heart...i then returned my mind back towards the present once more. Part IV: Duty and Obligation: ...It was daytime and i was sleeping on the couch, in front of the TV with nothing but my dressing gown on, Alfred appeared, waking me up and sarcastically reprimanding me for having another one of my "late night strolls", i said Alfred's name and told him to piss off, however, he stated that it was his sworn duty, as the Wayne family personal butler and assistant that he watch over and take care of me at all times, until i was ready to take action for myself and fly like a bird, leaving the coop or the nest or whatever it is you want to call it, look, i don't care, at any rate, Alfred was then telling me to turn on the TV and listen to the Gotham City channel news, although i didn't feel like it, i did it anyways, i yawned, as i turned it on, it said on the news that Wayne pharmaceutical's stock market was falling right through the roof and that GothCorp's was rising, if not done something about and very soon too quickly, GothCorp could take control of Wayne pharmaceutical and force a merger of the two companies into one, the reporter was Vicki Vale, who for a longtime, a very, VERY longtime i have had a sort of crush on, i like to hit on her in public at charity gatherings and/or parties, however, she throws nothing but scorn and fine wine on me, saying that i am not her type and that she thinks i am a lousy company owner and i deserve all what comes to me, although Alfred slightly disagrees with the harsh words i receive from Vale, he nevertheless agrees with her about the forced merger, what i am supposed to do about this current situation both me and my father's company are in? normally at times i let my father's old university friend and 2nd in command Lucius Fox handle the situation at the company for me since i am not very good with speaking with its board of directors, however, Alfred forces me to take action this time, as this time around i hear that the famed Oliver Queen is currently visiting Gotham and he doesn't know whether to contribute money to either Wayne pharmaceutical or GothCorp, as part of his scheme to being elected mayor, honestly, i couldn't care less at all about that pretty boy Queen but seeing, as how we are kind of similar more or less, i wasn't about to let him upstage me so i decided to make an appearance in public to appeal to the mass general society, in order to get voters to kindly lend money to my father's company, Alfred said he had prepared a wardrobe full of my best suits fully ready and to wear and with that, i headed off to make a scene... At the central plaza in front of Gotham City's first national bank, Oliver Queen was making his speech, he said that with funding and contributions made from Central City's Star Labs, he was planning on handing out money to whichever company deserved it most, as an appeal to other cities of him being the new mayor of Star City, attending the speech was John Roland Daggett, the CEO of GothCorp and my father's former arch-nemesis in politics, when my parents died, Daggett said that he wanted to mend the old wounds with the Wayne family through me, as a token and, as a memorial to honor my father, he would have GothCorp do business with Wayne pharmaceutical, however, i didn't buy it for even a single second, not one bit, i knew Daggett's scheme, he was a snake in sheep's wool, he thought that by doing business with me who was young at the time and didn't even know how to run a company, he could squander off money from Wayne pharmaceutical and cash it right into GothCorp's greedy little fingers, knowing Daggett's scheme, Lucius at the company invoked its emergency company control leadership transfer powers or whatever way you want to put it into his hands and by doing so, he became the head of Wayne pharmaceutical before the board could finalize a deal with Daggett, trying to usurp the company behind my back back then just because i was only a young boy and they believed that my future was predestined to end in failure and so, they sought Daggett, thanks to Lucius' quick thinking and my keen observant mind, we were able to save my father's company from corrupt control and keep it away from GothCorp but now GothCorp is back and now has come the time for me to prove my worth and step up to the plate, i have to prove that i am, as every bit worthy to inherit Wayne pharmaceutical, just, as my father was before me, the man who founded the company. Daggett stood up to the podium and said to Queen that by giving money to GothCorp could they continue industrializing Gotham City and make it, as futuristic looking, as Gotham's next door neighbor, Metropolis, where supposedly, a man in tights is off flying around, saving the city with heat vision, superhuman strength and not to mention a bulletproof body, anyways, digressing, back to the main topic at hand, however, it was then my time to shine and take Daggett's spotlight away from him, i told my proposal to Queen that Gotham needed to focus more on helping its citizens who are suffering from crime everyday daily, from dawn till dusk, at night, real monsters come out and hurt people most precious to us, it doesn't matter if they are strangers or not, the fact is Gotham is basically like one big family and like a real family itself, one should stand up and protect that family, that is when i proposed of Queen lending the money to Wayne pharmaceutical to build a children's hospital, the Thomas and Martha Wayne children's hospital, as i call it, name in honor of both his parents who fell to the very same crime of which he speaks of and of those who had fallen just like my parents, children are the heart of Gotham City, they are its home, the one true Gotham and to ignore them and their cries for help would be to prove that Gotham's citizens are inhumane and are incapable of feeling love, even if they seek to better their city like Daggett suggests, everyone goes silent...before suddenly, Queen starts clapping, followed by an encore of a cheering public, praising my proposal whilst Daggett remains silent although it is very certain that he is unhappy with my victory over him today, just when things finally start to seem looking up for both me and my father's company, suddenly, a gunshot was heard and everyone went silent, as they saw where the gunshot landed...it was me, i was hit by a bullet, right in the upper part of my body, i started spewing out blood before falling unconscious on the ground, as everyone started running around in panic, i could hear Alfred shout out my name before losing consciousness completely, it was then that a terrorist group revealed themselves, led by Kyodai Ken, they called themselves the Fearsome Hand of Four and they also revealed that their mission was to purge Gotham of its corrupt, filthy leaders' dirty hands, starting with me, Bruce Wayne, believing me to be one of them... As Kyodai Ken and the Fearsome Hand of Four started rampaging, causing terror across everywhere in the central plaza, Queen disappeared into nowhere and then the police showed up, led by a detective Harvey Bullock and his partner Renee Montoya, they ordered Kyodai Ken and the Fearsome Hand of Four to stand down but, as obvious, they would not comply, instead, Kyodai Ken tried to slice off Bullock's face with a Katana but the Katana's trajectory and impact was knocked off course by none other then the Green Arrow again, of whom Bullock seriously disapproves of whilst Montoya fancies him slightly, digging the dark brooding man in a robin hood leotard kind of look, Bullock just shakes his head at this slight joke Montoya was making and told the Green Arrow to butt out, this was their city, their department and that they don't need some freaks in masks doing their jobs for them, the Green Arrow disapproves, saying that if they were doing their job properly, the Fearsome Hand of Four wouldn't have shown up like they did, as Bullock gets itchy with his trigger finger upon hearing that comment, it is then that comes whooshing by is another masked superhero, unlike the Green Arrow though, he is beloved by the people of his respective city more then less and that masked hero in question was The Flash of Central City, he disarmed all of the Fearsome Hand of Four's weaponry and other lethal tools they could use by using The Flash's super fast inhuman speed and then both he and the Green Arrow question both Kyodai Ken and the Fearsome Hand of Four, are they working for the Black Mask? why are they suddenly coming out into the open? what's their purpose? ...was it me? was it Bruce Wayne that they were after? Kyodai Ken refuses to answer and instead both he and his group manage to pull a fast one to escape, even for The Flash, no pun intended, as everyone is left to ponder for themselves just what the hell is going on, the Green Arrow notices Alfred taking me back to the limo and driving off, the Green Arrow places a tracker on the back of the limo and uses it to detect both me and Alfred of where we are going, The Flash wonders if everything is alright but the Green Arrow states that no, nothing is alright. Part V: What Haunts me in the Night: As Alfred was trying to bandage me up, i could feel myself drifting back into the past, it was there that i recalled something, i was trying to both eat and catch up on my studies at the very same time and Alfred told me that the Grey Ghost TV series was on and that i was missing it, i told him i didn't want to watch it but he insisted that it was my favorite and that when my parents were alive, i would never miss watching even a single episode with them, it was then that i grew angry, i tore through my studies, i threw my food on the floor and shouted out against Alfred that again i didn't want to watch it, i never wanted to watch it again, not...without mom and dad around...it was then that Alfred could understand my pain and told me that they are always watching over me, i said to him that no they weren't, they were dead, as dead, as dead can be...nothing, nothing in the whole wide world itself, could bring them back...it was then that i stormed out in anger out from the manor, running into the nearby forest, as Alfred's voice called out to me, i just wanted to keep running and running away until finally, i fell into a deep, dark, bottomless pit that seemed like it had no way out whatsoever, it turned out to be a huge and dank cave and inside the cave's catacombs were tall, huge bats, upon seeing me, i was frighten by them and they then flew off in unison, into the night sky, leaving me absolutely horrified and terrified, however, one small bat remained and it just looked calmly towards me, as i to it, we looked deep into each other's eyes and just when the small bat was about to fly off, i could see something, or rather...someone...it was a man, a tall man...wearing a bat costume, i didn't know what it meant at the time but i knew at least one thing back then, that it was the start of something i never expected would take form, my despair...full in and of revenge itself. A day had gone by, i had fallen asleep within the cave by accident and it was then that both Alfred and officer Gordon found me, Alfred called officer Gordon to help look for me, as Alfred was worried something terrible had happened to me, when they found me, Alfred had slapped me across the cheek, the sting of which i still feel today but it was then that he embraced me once more, crying, tearfully worrying that he had lost me, just like he had lost both my dad and my mom, realizing Alfred's pain, i apologized more times then i ever did in my entire lifetime back then and it was at that time that officer Gordon told me that i should remember what Alfred told me the day i came home on the night my parents died, i realized without warning and told Alfred that he was my home and without him, i have nothing left, i have...no one, left...Alfred was happy that i remembered his words and with that we both proceeded to hug one another, i then awoke from my gunshot wound in the present to find that Alfred had put a blanket over me, only to very shockingly also find whilst he was asleep, laying at the edge of the operating table i was previously sleeping on with his arms crossed whilst he snored gently that there were two people standing in front of me, as i got up in reaction in surprise at their appearance...it was none other then the Green Arrow and The Flash both unmasked, the former revealed to be Oliver Queen of all people, saying to me, had enough sleep Mr Wayne, or should i say...mister rookie vigilante? i was so gobsmacked you wouldn't believe it. Part VI: On Leather Wings: It took me a few minutes to connect the dots but i realized that it was him, Oliver Queen, who i detest, as a fellow playboy and the Green Arrow, the vigilante who was my role-model were one in the same and that The Flash was some unknown guy i have never heard of and/or met before but seemed to be Queen's acquaintance, The Flash introduces himself, as Barry Allen of Central City CSI but before he could go more into his backstory, Queen stopped Allen, saying not to divulge too much of their secret identities, as i ask both Queen and Allen how did they find him here of all places and Queen reveals he placed a tracker on the back of Alfred's limo and that the limo itself went into a secret entrance built into the side of Wayne Manor below the Manor itself and using Allen's ability to phase through walls, it was pretty easy to find this hellhole that i, as Queen puts it calls a secret hideout, i tell Queen to take that back but he refuses, saying that he knows that i am the rookie vigilante from last night and that he has come to give me an offer, i ask him what is the offer and he replies that if i stop vigilante work here and now, Queen will offer to set up a personal bodyguard to protect me at all times and when he says at all times he means at all times, he says that Alfred can't protect me now that i have gotten myself mixed up in the world that i have and that if i want out of it, now is the only chance that i have, i refuse, however...Queen reveals that he knows about my backstory and that he knows what its like to lose family, its slightly different in his case but all the whilst the same, Queen is offering me the only and final chance to get out of this kind of world whilst i still can, since if i don't take it, then there's no going back and Queen will have to expose me for the fraud i am covering up to be, i say to him that he can't do that but he says that he can and that he most definitely will if i push him too far, Allen suggests that its for the best since getting into this kind of work, there's no coming back from it, he says to me that like Queen, he too has felt the pain of losing someone most precious to him and that he would do whatever it would take to get them back, however, the way that i am currently going is not the way and that not all superhero endings end happy, the Green Arrow gives me one final day to make my final choice otherwise he will report me and with that the two leave, forced into a corner i don't know what i feel like i should be doing, its then that Alfred wakes up and says to me after having listened to everything in secret whilst pretending to be asleep that if i truly want a normal life, its entirely my own choice and my very own choice to begin with, the two heroes from before just wanted me to realize that, as i ponder on what to do, its then that i receive a house call on my front doorstep by Vicki Vale, the girl of my supposed dreams... As Alfred quickly does the final finishing touches on patching up my gunshot wound, i get dressed, looking like a slouch, hoping that Vicki won't notice the truth about me in anyway whatsoever and that i address her at the front door, Vicki reveals that she was worried for me and stopped by the Manor to check if everything was all right, i said nothing could be better despite feeling some slight pain from my gun wound, i welcome Vicki in and she agrees, inside we gather around a hot fire and whilst Vicki drinks ice cold cola, i drink a simple cold beverage of lemonade, hoping that it would help me...Vicki reports to me that she saw both the Green Arrow of Star City and The Flash of Central City today in Gotham whilst she was taking notes at Oliver Queen's press conference, something that doesn't really bother me, considering i just met the two moments ago, Vicki asks me how i am? am i alright? and what can she do for me? i ask that maybe a kiss or two might work like it did for prince charming of the toads and make all my wounds better, however, Vicki suddenly slaps me, saying that that's not funny and that i should care more about my body, its the only body that i have left, as a memento from both of my parents, she tells me to go die for all she and i care if i really don't care about my well-being, health and safety, however, she immediately takes it back saying that no, i shouldn't die, there has been enough deaths within the Wayne family and to lose another Wayne would only break the hearts of those closest to me, Vicki included, i say to Vicki why shouldn't i die? i get to be with my parents and it will be like never has ever happened up there in heaven, however, Vicki disagrees, saying that heaven may forget about pain but the living don't, the living have to go through everyday feeling and experiencing pain and wondering about it what it makes the human in particular question stronger about? is it the mind? the soul? the heart? the body? just what, just what makes facing death in real life more powerful for a human being? it is then that i recall the small bat i met within the cave so very long ago, looking into its eyes, it gave me a glimpse of the future and i tell Vicki...its despair, its the despair of the fear of dying that keeps a person going, even though a person eventually dies, they see to it that they lived their life to the fullest and that by facing the despair of the fear of death, a person could and most definitely can overcome all obstacles that lay bare within their path, its because of this that the will of mankind does not fade whatsoever, what happens is that they channel their fear into feeling the fear itself so that they can build immunity to that said fear of whatever it may very well be and in large numbers to boot, without fear, a person cannot press on, with fear, they cannot press on anyways, its always about finding the middle ground and i had believed that at that very moment i had figured what it was i want to do with my life, Vicki wonders what i meant but i told her i could not explain at the time and so without warning, i immediately shoved her out of the Manor but not before giving her a goodbye peck on the cheek, as a sign of hopefully meeting again on good times, although Vicki doesn't understand whatsoever the hell that just happened, she seems glad that i finally came up with an answer. Alfred wonders what decision i had made, as i left secretly and had entered the cave without Vicki following or even able to trace my steps and i revealed that i had made my decision, as Alfred seemed a bit bothered by this, he notices that the Green Arrow and The Flash are locked in combat with both Kyodai Ken and his Fearsome Hand of Four at another warehouse of the Black Mask's, i answered how could Alfred tell and he said that Lucius set up a supercomputer within the cave, just for me and Alfred to use alone and that Lucius had always known about my other side and yet was still willing to help, with Lucius and Alfred both backing me up, i felt strength dwelling up inside me and i just knew...that i had to help both Queen and that Allen guy, even if i were exposed to the public by them and with that, i wore my vigilante costume and proceeded to head out. Whilst climbing from building to building in Gotham City, Alfred spoke through the transmitter in my ear in my vigilante costume that Lucius added and Alfred told me that Lucius made new modifications to my vigilante suit and that was i could spread wings from underneath my arms to fly over to buildings that i can't normally reach by just jumping alone using parkour moves and such, i needed to be flexible and to do that, i needed wings that would fly me through the night itself, as i was reaching one such gap, i felt afraid but i remember telling myself what i told Vicki, to master fear is to feel fear, the fear of death itself first and then conquer it to move on living and move on living forwards...with those words repeated in my mind over and over, jumped from the ledge of the building, spread my winds and...they worked! they actually worked! never tell myself to doubt Lucius again in mind bending awesome breakdowns but anyways, back to business, i've got to head over to where the Green Arrow and The Flash currently are, no time to waste! Part VII: The Bat. The Green Arrow and The Flash's teamwork was absolutely superb, the dynamic duo surely knew how to put a show on! as they faced the terrorists that were both Kyodai Ken and his Fearsome Hand of Four, it was then that they brought out their secret ultimate weapon, it revealed itself, as the Phantasm and using its advanced abilities far beyond that of both Kyodai Ken and the Fearsome Hand of Four, it easily wiped the floor with both the Green Arrow and The Flash despite just appearing to be a normal human being behind a mask, as both Queen and Allen were cornered by all their enemies, suddenly, the lights went out and taking out the Fearsome Hand of Four members one by one was me, using night vision googles also apart of the upgrades that Lucius made to my costume, it was hard for everyone to tell just what the hell was going on but the Phantasm also had vision implants to see through the dark and it could spot me, the Phantasm and i engaged in a one on one fight which at first i was starting to lose and, as the Phantasm cornered me and started asking me why i am here and why do i fight, its because...i am vengeance, i am the night, i am...THE BAT! it is then that i used the outside windows to my advantage, the police helicopters were right on the other side and seeing, as how i was standing right in front of the outside windows, i used this to my advantage by pulling up my wings to cover the bright light to shield myself from going blind whilst the Phantasm was temporarily blinded the light, giving me the chance to slug him one, an upper right hook that connected deeply into his chin that gave a sort of pow feeling to it, in the light, i could see both everything...and nothing, for i...was blind, as a bat, after knocking the Phantasm back, he decided to retreat for now but vowed that this was not over between both him and "The Bat", as he started calling me that i firstly started calling myself, just, as Kyodai Ken and the Fearsome Hand of Four tried to make a retreat, the police appeared from outside and The Flash grabbed all their handcuffs to cuff the Fearsome Hand of Four whilst the Green Arrow threatened Kyodai Ken, as he tried, as so much, as make a single move, when he twitched a finger, the Green Arrow shoots him through the left leg, saying that he warned Kyodai Ken and with that, the police did their job and arrested all of the assailants, leaving The Bat to hide in secrecy and vanish without a trace but not before both he and the Green Arrow give one final glance at one another. Bullock wants answers from the Green Arrow and The Flash but the police commissioner arrives and tells Bullock to stand down, despite informal protesting, it is then that the police commissioner is revealed to be none other then James Gordon himself and that he approves of the work that the superheroes provide, he says to both the Green Arrow and The Flash congratulations and a job well done, however...they both agree that they don't deserve all the credit and that they should also thank Gotham's newest vigilante, The Bat, Bullock mocks the name and also mocks where is the so called bat, as commissioner Gordon tells him to stand down and that if The Bat does not want to show himself, that's fine but Gordon hopes that they can one day meet face to face and hopefully see eye to eye with one another, the Green Arrow agrees and that knowing The Bat, they will be seeing plenty more full of him from this point onward, its then that Queen goes silent, thinking to himself... Meanwhile... The Phantasm reports back to his master, saying that Kyodai Ken and the Fearsome Hand of Four are in police custody and that this was not part of the plan, the plan was to eliminate both the Green Arrow and The Flash on the spot, however, the master of the Phantasm, lurking in shadow says that his fellow clients, Prometheus and Savitar will deal with those two heroes respectively, in the meantime, they have a new superhero to "play" with, one that calls himself The Bat, the master steps out of the shadows and reveals that his neck is bent, he tells the Phantasm to inform the Black Mask that they are moving up schedule, as things have taken a rather peculiar, unexpected and especially "fun" turn for them, the Phantasm complies, as he says to his master yes...master Ragdoll, it is then that this Ragdoll uses his neck alone to bend his neck back into place, a rather impossible feat made possible, as he should already be dead from having his neck bent in the first place, he says to himself lastly that having his body parts click back into parts is a rather exhilarating feeling and that he hopes to bend this bat's body parts, hoping he will feel the same kind of ecstasy that Ragdoll does... Back at Wayne Manor, inside the cave, Alfred patches my wounds up, lamenting that i took a big risk tonight but also that he is proud of me for taking such a bold action to step up to the plate, he just hopes that master Wayne won't come back, as entirely bruised, as he did this time, i said that i got lucky and that i need to train my body, otherwise i won't be able to save this city, tonight, i bloated my mouth off to that grim reaper and now i've got to live up to the words that i said, otherwise i can't call myself a man of the Wayne family, Alfred remains silent until suddenly, barging in from out of nowhere is both Queen and Allen, Queen was far less then pleased by my performance, telling me to hang up my costume now whilst i still had the chance, however, i refused, even if he was my role model, even if he is the hero of Star City and even The Flash is the hero of Central City, i wouldn't back down to either of them and so...after hearing my words, Queen sighed before threatening me with another arrowhead, as he shot it, i dodged, like on instinct and using blindness, as my weapon, i could see through all of the arrow's movements heading straight towards me and i knew that i could both dodge and grab the arrow both at the very same time, everyone was shocked and surprised, especially Queen, after this...Queen acknowledged me, he decided to let me go about my business and do whatever it is the hell i wanted but that he didn't wanted me coming back, all the way to Star City just to say to the Green Arrow that he quits and gives up, if he does, Queen will absolutely at that point reveal my true identity to the world, The Flash being compliant with that and agreeing that it's fair, i agreed to those terms and i promised that i will absolutely not let the Green Arrow and The Flash down, no matter what, this was my decision, i had to stick to it, with that, Allen takes Queen and leaves the cave, Alfred wonders if master Wayne has made any new friends or not and i answered...we will see... Part VIII: Dawn of Dusk: I slept the night the whole way in, i found myself on the couch again with nothing but my dressing gown on and it was then that Alfred quickly appeared, woke me up and told me to turn on the news, as i did, i saw Vicki reporting, it turns out she was reporting the news that Wayne pharmaceutical had won the election in gaining money from Oliver Queen and that the Thomas and Martha Wayne children's hospital could now begin construction at any time, given Bruce Wayne's order, Queen reveals his reason for selecting Wayne, he says that he believes that Bruce Wayne has the peoples' best interests at heart and only fools would be blind enough to not see that, its true GothCorp could advance Gotham to rid the city of crime in one way but by not taking into account the people themselves' feelings do we forget what it truly means to be a city...what it means to be a family, Queen gives his regards to Wayne, as he makes his departure home to Star City, wishing Wayne the best of luck and with that, the stock market of Wayne pharmaceutical has risen slowly up again and GothCorp is now at a neutral point, Alfred congratulates master Wayne for pulling it off but he says no, he owes it...to his friends and family and that the real hard part, the real journey starts now...just then, we received a guest at the front door, it turned out to be none other then Vicki, she asks me if she wants to hit the city and go out for a early day's drink, as celebration for the victory, i merely smile right at the very end and i recall one last flashback. I look at the picture of my parents but whilst i look, Alfred places a hand on me and, as i look towards him, i smile before smiling towards the picture of my parents, knowing that they will always be in my heart for that is where home is, home...is where the heart is. (The Ending Credits Roll.). (Following is the Post Credits Scene.). Meanwhile... "Are you kidding me? ...ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!? first Robin Hood, then Speedy Gonzales and now a bat freak shows up!? seriously, ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!? DO I HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING MYSELF!? gah! whatever! you better get tonight's shipment in okay? OKAY!? GODDAMMIT! ...sigh, its tough being the boss..." said the Black Mask after getting off the phone whilst talking to himself. Again meanwhile... I went down to the cave to check if everything was in working order and then i found a heavily designed piece of fabric laying next to Lucius' supercomputer, as i turned to open it, it turned out to be a new mask, its designed resembled that of the small bat i saw years ago when i was just a child, next to the mask there was a note, it was from Allen, saying, a blind bat still needs eyes, courtesy of Barry Allen and Cisco Ramon, as it says on the note, i merely laughed slightly at the note's message before deciding to try out the new mask, with it, i felt complete, with it...i finally, truly became...The Bat. (To be Continued :].). "

Prologue: " ... The King of Kings had done it ... He had brought peace onto the world by bringing forth the end of the Starscourge ... But at a very heavy price, at the cost, of his own life ... However, since then, a new age of the dawn has swept over all of Eos ... This age came to be known, as "Luna's Love" ... Named in honor of the fallen Oracle who had helped protect the King of Kings on his journey and for her undying love for Eos ... 1000 years have passed and the era of Luna's Love still continues ... Light spreads wide and forth over all of Eos itself and Darkness has never again stepped foot within the Light ... But even with the eternal blessing of the Light and Luna's Love ... Shadows will always be cast upon the world and bringing with those Shadows ... The Daemons once more ... There is a prophecy ... It is said that should the Starscourge end and 1000 years exactly have passed ... The King of Darkness, known, as "Acerbus Ater Atra Atrum" ... Spawn of Darkness itself ... Would rise and once more engulf the world in the Shadows ... That the Starscourge once brought with it ... This would begin the time known, as "Ragnarok" ... Or in other-words, in the tongue of Eos ... Known, as "The Death of Eos" ... To prevent The Death of Eos from occurring ... The Six Astrals ... The Hexatheon ... The Archaean Titan, The Fulgurian Ramuh, The Glacian Shiva, The Hydraean Leviathan, The Draconian Bahamut ... Even The Infernian Ifrit ... Have united, as one ... Like in the times of the ancients ... Pooling all of their strengths and abilities into one ... To create what the Infernian calls a "Supreme Being" ... One that he believes is above all of Humanity itself and could even rival the King of Kings himself were he still alive in the current day and age ... This so called Supreme Being is named "The Versus" ... As in the Versus challenges the King of Darkness himself and The Death of Eos and is tasked with fulfilling a journey called "The Epic" ... The Epic is the Versus' mission to explore what has become of the world of Eos during the millennium of Luna's Love ... To be the eyes and ears of the Astrals, to see what is the new world that the King of Kings had created after 1000 years ago precisely ... This is journey is known, as "The Versus Epic" and, as the Versus embarks on his journey, the Epic whilst trying to prevent the event of Ragnarok from coming about, he stumbles upon a rather familiar abandoned post/station ... FINAL FANTASY XV-2: Chapter I-The Versus Epic: (What does everyone think so far?).

An alternate adaption of the Secret World of Arrietty from Studio Ghibli made to fit within the Kingdom Hearts universe. Some characters will be replaced, and some events will play out differently. Some characters may not make appearances at all! Besides that, this story is not canon. Without further ado, let's get into the story. Prologue "Donald? Goofy?" "Wak? What is it, Sora?" "I'm not sure about this, but have you met anyone else with a Keyblade in the past? You know, besides me, the King, Riku, and Xehanort..." "Well, there was that feller Venquist..." "Call him Ven!" "I know about him. Anyone else?" "Err... Oh! I remember! There was this one time the Gummi Ship acted all funny, and sent us back in time. We were sent to a place called Daybreak Town. We met up with someone who had a Keyblade there, and the King helped us out!" "Does that ring a bell, Donald?" "No... I don't think it does, but it sounds familiar." "Alright. So it's called Daybreak Town, right? What did it look like?" "There were lots of pretty gardens, ah-hyuck... a clock tower... and some shops and a market in the town." "Sounds cool. Wish I could have been there with you guys... I can almost imagine it. Well... It's best that we get going. We can't keep stalling for time like this. We've got to head to Twilight Town if we're gonna find a way to bring Roxas back." Time passed... the trio sat in the Gummi Ship, looking for the gate to Twilight Town... "It's missing... Goofy? What was that you said before, after we left from Yen Sid's tower?" "May your heart be your guiding key?" "Yeah, that's it. Maybe... we're not supposed to go to Twilight Town yet. Maybe we're supposed to head somewhere else? That's what my heart seems to be saying. "Lead the way, Sora! We'll be right behind you!" Donald quacked. Sora nodded, and raised the Keyblade forward... a mysterious, teal door appeared, emblazoned with a star on the top. It slowly opened to make way for the Gummi Ship... and out past the door was the town Donald and Goofy spoke of. Chapter 1 - A New World - Sora had awoke somewhere high up. He just knew he had... he had the feeling that down below was a long fall... and he was right. Standing up, he looked down from wherever he was... He was on a bookcase in a shop somewhere... A familiar, nostalgic scent filled his nostrils. It was a Moogle Shop. In the distance was a Moogle, sitting at the counter and sleeping on the job. But... something seemed... off. Where were Donald and Goofy? "Donald? Goofy?" Sora cried out. No response, but he heard a voice from somebody in the room. It wasn't the Moogle, that was for sure. He was asleep. "Shush! You'll wake him up!" A voice had cried out. "Who's there?" Sora glanced around, and saw someone far below him. This shop was awfully large... Or... had he shrunk, like what happened in that other world, with Buzz and Woody? "I'm not a toy, that's for sure. But what I'm wearing... are these... buttons?" He glanced over his outfit. A plaid vest was worn over his shirt... It felt like a scrap from some fabric, but it was comfortable. On his shoulders were some plastic buttons for armor, and on his crown necklace was made from thread, aside from the crown pendant itself. As for his shorts, there were gigantic zippers over on where his pockets would be, and he wore some comfortable boots that looked like they were made from the same materials as gloves. The whole get-up looked like something you'd put together if you were four inches tall. "Down here! You're out borrowing too, aren't you?" The same voice from before whispered. "Borrowing...?" "You know, borrowing things from the human beans. Like extra sugar cubes, springs from mousetraps, things that they won't notice." Sora looked down to find a girl a couple years younger than him, around fourteen, showing off a bag containing a thimble, a spring, and a sugar cube for tea. "Wouldn't that be stealing?" "No. It's not. Now could you get down from the shelf? Talking like this might get attention. Borrowers aren't supposed to be seen by humans... That's what my dad says, anyway." "Alright, I'll be right down." Sora jumped up from the bookshelf, diving onto the table where the girl stood. When he landed, she looked over him and nodded. "You look sharp. But first, let's get some where out of sight, okay?" The girl had ginger red hair, and wore a red dress. At her waist was a sword... No. Upon closer investigation, it was a pin... but it worked, if you were a borrower. She gestured for Sora to follow her behind a menu for the shop's items. Sora quickly followed, a bit intrigued by the whole layout of this world... "My name's Arrietty. I'm a borrower." Arrietty bowed, and offered her hand for a handshake. "I'm Sora. Nice to meet you, Arrietty. So... really... what exactly is a borrower? And where am I? I kind of just got here." "Don't you know? You're one yourself." "Listen, I'm no thief." "We're not thieves. That's correct. But we're borrowers." "I'm a bit confused. I'll try to explain my side. I'm from another world... and I'm human. Apparently when I got here, I shrank and I was separated from my friends, Donald and Goofy. Have you seen them?" "No. Sorry... So you're from another world? So am I!" "Wait, what do you mean?" "Well, one night, my family and I were out watching the sky from the grating in a house we moved into, since we were 'seen'. It was then I saw something in the sky, and I wound up here." "Did you make a wish?" "Yes." "What was your wish, Arrietty?" "I wanted to find another friend. A couple days ago I met up with a human... we were friends for a good time... but we had to leave each other. He had surgery, and I had to move... But it's fine. I'm sure he knows I'm okay." "That's good to know... Say, I think your wish has already been granted. We're friends now, aren't we? Now, how's about answering my question?" "Do you know how sometimes people lose things, like thimbles or sugar cubes? When you feel like you've put something somewhere but can't find it? That's us. We take things humans won't notice or need, and use it to survive." "Ah, so that's where my stuff went! I always thought I lost track of things back home... So you're all tiny people?" "By human standards, yes." "Alright. I think I get it now. Now how about the other question...?" "This is Daybreak Town, and we're inside the Moogle Shop. It's a place where Keyblade holders go to talk and meet up." "Keyblade?" "I don't quite know what those are, but they seem pretty handy. From what I've seen, they're able to unlock doors and fight those shadowy monsters I see around sometimes." "Heartless?" "Yeah. That's what they're called, I think." "I have a Keyblade of my own. If you want, we could go borrowing together. You look like you might need some help." Sora summoned his Keyblade... the Kingdom Key. "Thanks, Sora, but I think I've already gotten the weeks' worth of borrowings. You could help me on the way back home though. It's through the walls and under the floorboards. I think your Keyblade might come in handy with the screws so we can get down there fast." "I'll see what I can do." Sora nodded, looking down at the floor from the table.

Set in the same universe and current timeline, as Shinigami! The God of Death! My Detective Superhero Story (That's the actual title) takes place in the fictional city known, as Yahweh, otherwise known, as YHWH, it is here that there lives a young, 23 year old private detective named Even Rogers, Rogers was originally once an ordinary man, doing ordinary things, having an ordinary job but having no friends and no girlfriend whatsoever, only living with his roommate named Peter "Piccolo" Harvey, a 24 year old musician in training for preparation to enter the big leagues on the big stage with other well known musicians, be they singers, dancers, etc, anyways, getting back to the main subject at hand after digressing, Rogers used to have an ordinary job, working, as a grocery store man at a small part time job called Chinki's, the owner of the store being named Shushu Chinki, a Chinese man in his mid 40's who works Rogers to the bone and cuts him no slack, however, Rogers respects Mr. Chinki, as he calls him since he is a hard working, honest and earnest manager who especially hands out the money to his employees when they deserve it, Rogers works at Chinki's so that he can earn at least 30,400 Dollars that he can then cash in and transfer to the currency of Yen, he intends to use said Yen to travel all the way across the world to the town known, as Wakaba so that Rogers can have a small part time vacation there, having heard of its spiritual tales and what not, being interested in both spirits and the overall culture of the people of the land of the rising red sun, not to mention their take on spirits themselves, so far Rogers has earned at least 10,000, if he keeps it up, he's sure to get himself his ticket to that vacation spot of his, however, going back, remembering the words of the past, Rogers USED to have a small part time job, it wasn't until the very bane of his life had interfered both in his life itself and his work and the name of that particular bane was: ...SUPERHEROES. Superheroes or Gilgameshs, as they are otherwise referred to are known to be local around Yahweh City battling Supervillains also referred to, as Gilgameshs, the Gilgameshs first emerged over 10 years ago in the form of the very 1st Superhero to appear in YHWH City named Enkidu, Enkidu was said to be a monster of unbelievable strength and that it was not long after his sudden emergence that people just like him, be they good or evil started to appear, they had similar abilities to him but not entirely, some had superhuman strength whilst others possessed other unique powers of their very own, like breathing fire for example or causing earthquakes with just a mere tiny step of one foot moving merely in motion itself, the Gilgameshs ran like a wild fire at that point, causing people to refer to that beginning of their emergence, as Newborn, the name being called that in the vein that it was the rise of a newborn species of man, to which it was in the eyes of the ordinary. However, Rogers had a certain disliking to the Gilgamesh, not because of some personal grudge or anything but because he thought of them, as a nuisance, like they were god's booger flicked upon the Human race or something, the reason Rogers namely hates the Gilgamesh is because...every-time he hopes to start a new job, the Gilgamesh arrive, battling one another, destroying the building and/or location of the place that Rogers was hoping to earn money and start his new job at, it happens all the time with Rogers, every-single-time, when he tries to apply work at a Cinema, it burns down, when he tries to apply work at a huge mall complex building, in the spot where it once stood there's a huge gaping hole in the ground itself, finally, even when he tries to just go out and have a nice simple beer with Piccolo, the Gilgamesh arrive and are seen fighting each other on the remains of the local pub that both Rogers and Piccolo used to attend, it was the spot where they first met, the pub was called Bilsheim, this is the most particular reason why Rogers hates the Gilgamesh, because they ruined a place of a good memory for him, it doesn't particularly bother Piccolo but it does Rogers, as Rogers cares about the places where he makes memories, as they were the places he had first experiences of, something he believes the Gilgamesh have no concept of making memories at places, as they just demolish everything in sight, leaving naught a trace behind, just leaving people behind in the dirt to clean up after them, something that Rogers despises with an utmost passion, thinking that all Gilgamesh are just them type of person and that there is not even a single one amongst them that has yet to prove Rogers wrong, Piccolo thinks that Yahweh needs the Gilgamesh because of the Superhero kind, in order to keep balance against the likes of evil of which not even ordinary police can handle, still, Rogers thinks otherwise and continues to keep on hating Gilgamesh, that is, until a sudden event occurs... One night whilst working at Chinki's, a fight goes down outside of the store, causing Mr. Chinki himself to go on ahead and check what's going on, as soon, as he gets out the front entrance, Mr. Chinki is slammed away into a nearby lamppost, breaking every single bone inside of his body, as Rogers goes to try and check up on Mr. Chinki and help him, he finds himself opposed by a giant, grim reaper looking like man that calls himself Death and that he is seen with burning dark blue coloured hair underneath the hood he's wearing, something that Rogers takes notice of, as Death prepares to use a giant scythe to slice off both Rogers and Mr. Chinki's heads with, suddenly, Death is punched right back into a nearby building that thankfully no one was in, this punch belonged to a signature hero of YHWH that Rogers recognizes, he is the Gilgamesh that is Piccolo's favourite number one Superhero named Weak-Man, he is called so because of his scrawny appearance, Weak-Man tells Rogers to take Mr. Chinki and run, not wanting them to be here, as things were going to get dicey and all of the surroundings could very well be leveled, thinking back on all of the destruction that the Gilgamesh have occurred and may have very well destroyed various opportunities in peoples' lives to make livings, Rogers tells Weak-Man to shut up and that he doesn't get to decide what Rogers does, this shocks Weak-Man, as Rogers lays Mr. Chinki somewhere safe before returning back to where Weak-Man was and saying to him that real Superheroes should care about the damage that they level to buildings and stuff because if they don't even care about that then what is the point of protecting someone with their bare fists and calling themselves Superheroes? what gives them that very right!? Roger refuses! he says the likes of the Gilgamesh both good and/or evil should just go and piss off, leaving ordinary people like the police to handle their lives on their very own, they don't need super powered beings to do their jobs for them, if someone causes trouble in their neighborhood, people should just stand up and fight themselves and not let others, especially strangers with advanced skills and special superpowers protect them, in other-words, Rogers says that if it's anyone who's going to take down that Death freak and/or whatever it is he calls himself then it will be Roger himself, he won't rely on the very people, the Gilgamesh that he despises to deal with another particular Gilgamesh, Rogers only has one request however that Weak-Man uses his strength to protect Mr. Chinki since Rogers knows that Mr. Chinki holds no grudge whatsoever against the Superhero Gilgamesh and that Rogers will use all of his very strength itself alone to beat the living crap out of this Death guy and save Chinki's store, he will protect both everyone AND everything without sacrificing one or the other, unlike the Superhero Gilgamesh do to defeat their enemies, Weak-Man then senses something about Rogers, something...different, as he decides to let Rogers vent his frustration and attack Death head onwards, knowing that Rogers must have some deep seated hatred against all Gilgamesh for him to be like this, although Weak-Man was prepared to act just in case if something were to happen, nevertheless, he wanted to respect Rogers' wishes, he had seen someone just like Roger beforehand but unlike in Roger's case, Weak-Man didn't allow the person before Rogers to seek revenge against the Gilgamesh and now, not wanting to repeat what Weak-Man sees to be the very same mistake, despite better judgement, he is allowing Roger, a civilian to act the way he wants to, this is what Weak-Man believes to be the only way to quell the anger of people exactly like Roger, having seen them before Roger, as more or less previously just mentioned, Death scoffs at Roger, wondering what can he, a mere normal person can do against him, a mighty Gilgamesh? Roger says to Death to shut the hell up and just let Roger batter him, otherwise he won't be satisfied whatsoever, Weak-Man remains silent at Rogers' words, this annoys Death, as he then teleports behind Rogers and prepares to sickle his head right off, asking him what are his last words and Roger says to Death for all Gilgamesh to f*** off, extremely angered at this, Death starts to slowly stab the tip of his scythe's blade right into Roger's neck, causing him to bleed slightly, however, just then, both very shockingly and very surprisingly, Roger proceeds to move his neck right out from the scythe's blade where it was stabbing into his neck, grabbing the blade itself with one hand whilst causing it to bleed a little and then turn around and give Death a jolly right uppercut, right on Death's chin, this caused Death to be knocked back a little, shocking Weak-Man greatly, as Rogers says to Death see? it doesn't take a Gilgamesh to fight another Gilgamesh, all it takes...is a little guts and bam! you hit the target dead lock on!! said Roger, proving to everyone currently conscious and bearing witness to this that even Humans can stand amongst gods, in other-words, Humans that have guts and perseverance just like Rogers has can fight Gilgamesh without needing the protection of other Gilgamesh, Weak-Man cannot believe his very eyes, as he actually saw a normal Human not at all different to any other Human in both any and all ways whatsoever just slug a Gilgamesh just like Weak-Man himself and he starts to think to himself that maybe, just maybe...the Humans do not need the likes of the Gilgamesh to protect them from evil and in fact, the Gilgamesh may have very greatly underestimated Human potential due to the overuse of the Gilgamesh's mighty powers, Death, as his chin shakes from the simple punch cannot believe what just happened to him, as he in anger tries to strike Roger down, suddenly, he hears a voice inside of his head that only Death himself can hear, it tells Death to retreat, saying that the fight is just not worth it and that not to worry, Death will soon get his revenge on this Human that did damage to him soon enough, as soon, all Humans in Yahweh will suffer, despite the disagreement with the order given to him, Death nevertheless proceeds to fulfill the order and tells Roger that he managed to get a lucky one punch in right on the tip of his chin below on Death's face and that it seems to Death that Humans aren't just the scraggly beasts that Death made them out to be, however, nevertheless, both Humans and the good side of the Gilgamesh are soon destined to fall, at the hands of the mighty organization of evil Gilgamesh known, as Boga Czciciels, upon hearing this name, a sudden shock comes to Weak-Man's mind and he suddenly tries to punch Death with all his might, using a technique called Delinquent's Fist Times 100x 1%, upon noticing this Roger tells Weak-Man to butt out, saying that this was his fight, however, Weak-Man pushes Roger aside with one hand and proceeds to use the other hand to charge his technique and hit Death straight in the face with it, however, just before the fist could connect with the face at that precise exact moment, Death vanished into thin air, he disappeared into nowhere, leaving naught a trace, Weak-Man cannot stop his attack now and nearly levels the entire landscape all around Chinki's, fortunately no one was around and/or nearby but after seeing the huge amount of strength that was put in behind that fist attack of Weak-Man's, seeing what it had done to everything everywhere all around them, Rogers shows a angry expression upon his face, deep seated and seethed burning with rage, he shouts out towards Weak-Man to get out, get out of this area and never, EVER come back, otherwise Roger will personally execute Weak-Man himself, he is burning so much with anger, that he is trying to hold himself back but doesn't know just how long he can, Weak-Man can see the expression upon Rogers' face and recognizes it, he remembers a young woman the same age, as Roger who had that exact same expression, although Weak-Man wasn't intimidated by Roger's threat, knowing that the former was far more stronger then the latter, he nevertheless felt guilt for his actions and had remembered how Roger felt about the Gilgameshs' actions upon the landscape, not to mention especially Roger's manager having been seriously wounded from the fight and that considering all that has happened here and now, in the moments that the fight began and went on, Weak-Man believes that he has ruined yet another person's life in his role, as a good Gilgamesh and offers both a cleanup squad and money to pay for all the damages that has been done to the surrounding area, including paying for the medical bills and fees required to treat Mr. Chinki, however, Roger says screw the money, he can take care of everything by himself and that he never, ever wants to see Weak-Man around these parts ever again, NOT-EVER, Rogers mutters to himself that he cannot see what is so good about Superheroes when all they do is wreck buildings and ruin opportunities for people to change their lives, not to mention the lives themselves of the people, he cannot understand what is so special about Weak-Man that Roger's friend Piccolo sees in him, all Roger, starting to calm down a little but still burning with rage is for Weak-Man to politely leave and never bother this corner of Yahweh again, ...Weak-Man complies and using his superhuman strength, he jumps off elsewhere, leaving Roger to cry to himself, as he tries to wipe away the tears and attend to Mr. Chinki, as he lifts his manager up, Roger takes one final look at the destroyed surroundings and says to himself that Superheroes...are scumbags before lastly taking Mr. Chinki back into his shop, there Roger phones Piccolo on the work phone inside and the scene blurs out in shadow, making people wonder what will happen next? who are these people called the Boga Czciciels and what did that voice inside Death's head, as well, as Death himself mean when they said that all people, both Humans and good Gilgamesh living in YHWH will suffer? all will be revealed soon...in due time. Prologue: A Human's starting point-Concluded. Chapter I: The next move-Begins!

Prologue: Death Spirit. In the small fictional Japanese town named Wakaba, lives a young 15 year old high school boy named Akira Kenichi, of whom ever since he was naught but 10 years old has had the powers to see the spirits of the dead. Five years ago, he lost his elder sister named Shino to a car accident and ever since then, Akira has closed himself off to the world, even to his best friend since childhood and former girlfriend named Hoshi Kokoromaru, despite him having broken off their romantic relationship, Hoshi still cares for Aka-Chan, as she calls him due to the colour of his hair being red and whilst keeping an eye on Akira, she notices strange things happening around Akira that have never happened before, like Akira also, Hoshi has spiritual awareness of things, due to having lost a loved one just like him, in Hoshi's case, her father when she was just 5 years old. Losing his sister placed a great ordeal upon Akira, as not only must he deal with Hoshi worrying about him constantly all the time but he also receives requests from ghosts of the dead that refuse to pass on until their last requests have been fulfilled, being a kind and caring person by nature, Akira agrees to help them fulfil their requests, despite saying that it's only to get them out of his earshot. One day, as he was helping the spirit of a lost little girl, trying to reunite with the spirits of her parents, Akira encounters a both strange and mysterious young man with blue coloured hair about a few years older then him and upon immediately seeing Akira, the blue haired young man suddenly attacks both Akira and the young girl by shockingly summoning a scythe from within his mouth and then wielding it to try and slice Akira in half. Akira manages to save the girl before she got caught being sliced by the young man's scythe, as Akira shouts out to the young man just who in the hell is he? The young man reveals himself, as Shinigami and that he is the God of Death within the town of Wakaba and per his obligations and his duties, not to mention having a sense of a code of honour, it is Shinigami's job to wipe out all evil within Wakaba town, no matter who they are and/or where they came from and upon seeing Akira through first contact, he deemed and judged Akira to be one of the evil ones that Shinigami must eliminate, Akira, having no idea just what the hell this guy is talking about, knows he must run away, as far, as possible away from him, for two reasons: one, he can't directly take on Shinigami because of his scythe and two, because of the small girl, having no other option, Akira grabs the girl and escapes with her, leaving Shinigami to chase after them. Whilst being chased, suddenly, the colour of Akira's eyes start to change to the colour red and he starts seeing vivid images of something, something horrifying involving someone, upon being backed into a corner at a children's playground, Akira told the little girl to hide whilst he took care of Shinigami, the girl agreed and left Akira to fend for himself. Shinigami then arrived and said to Akira that it was his time to die, Akira disagreed, having only just met Shinigami and not knowing the reason just why he has to die all of a sudden, Shinigami said he had no reason to answer Akira's questions and instead, proceeded to use his scythe to cut through all the playground things that were getting in the way of him killing Akira and of which Akira himself was using to his advantage to throw off Shinigami's perception, since Akira had keen spiritual awareness that could allow him to quickly react to things. Suddenly, Akira started to hurt inside his head and his eyes turned red again, Shinigami saw this and, as he was about to use this opportunity and behead Akira, Akira remembered something...he remembered...the night that his sister died in the car accident, Akira broke his left arm that night, along with his father suffering an injury that caused him to be paralysed from the waist down, now living out the rest of his life in a wheelchair and his mother to wear an eye-patch over her right eye for the rest of her life too, having sustained a glass injury to the eye that night. Upon seeing his elder sister Shino laying dead right next to him, Akira then saw just outside her car window a visual image of someone, it was shockingly none other: then Shinigami! the same age, as he is now. Remembering this causes Akira to go into a full blown rage, causing Shinigami to stand back, wondering what was happening to Akira, as Akira shockingly underwent a serious transformation, there were blue patches in his red hair, his red hair lit aflame like a real fire itself and summoned into Akira's left hand from out of thin air was a Katana with a unique design, its scabbard resembled a snake crawling up to where the wielder places their hand upon the hilt and draws the Katana with the Katana itself resembling a snake itself, a snake crawling shaped Katana lit on fire exactly like Akira's red hair, Shinigami was shocked by this, seeing the form that was right in front of him that Akira took on all of a sudden without warning. Shinigami then talked to himself inside of his head about an old legend amongst his kind, the legend was that when the snake bearer would appear...would the entire world itself end, Shinigami believed Akira to be the one from this legend, the one that the Shinigami would call in this legend, the one named: ...Yamata no Orochi, the Eight-Forked Serpent! Chapter I: Orochi and Shini. Upon transforming into this new form all of a sudden, upon remembering that Shinigami was there the night his older sister died...Akira lost all sense of reason and instead, merely went in for the kill, clashing with Shinigami's scythe, trying to kill him for what Akira subconsciously believes to be that Shinigami was there that night and he was the one responsible for killing Shino, the young girl was watching to what was happening to her caretaker, upon seeing his bloodthirsty form, she became both scared and frightened, becoming full of tears. Shinigami tried to reason with Akira despite previously trying to kill him but to no avail, Akira was filled with so much hate and anger, that he could not see reason and instead, continued to clash against Shinigami's scythe, Shinigami, having no choice, decided that he would resort to his earlier method and kill Akira just like he originally planned, however, Akira proved no easy opponent and instead, he used a powerful technique to push Shinigami back, Shinigami recognized this technique, it was named Kagu-tsuchi, it was the signature technique amongst the Shinigami clan, it was when the Shinigami would lift their scythes all the way up or all the way backwards whilst wielding them and upon doing so, they would build up spiritual energy that would appear in the form of black coloured fire and release it, as a highly pressured density swing, the power of both the swing itself and the black fire would be used to incinerate all of the evil ones that would dare oppose the Shinigami clan but Shinigami himself had never imagined that Akira, or Orochi, as he was calling Akira from this point onwards would be capable of it himself. Seeing the Kagu-tsuchi being aimed straight at him, Shinigami used his bare right hand to block the Kagu-tsuchi and then all of a sudden, like a black hole, the palm of the right hand swallowed up the Kagu-tsuchi, allowing Shinigami to survive the attack with the Kanji for the word Seal appearing on his right hand's palm, signifying that absorbing the Kagu-tsuchi right into it was successful, although this took a great deal of stamina out of Shinigami, leaving him defenceless. Just, as Akira was about to cut off Shinigami's head like he was planning to do to Akira earlier, suddenly, the small girl leapt in the way and protected Shinigami, without warning, she rid herself of all her tears and tried to talk sense to Akira, telling him that he's acting like a bad guy and that he was scaring the girl, causing her to cry again, upon seeing this and upon seeing a tear drop touch his Katana on fire, causing the tip of it to burn out from the water of the tear drop, suddenly, Akira recalled happy memories of his time with Shino and without warning, he suddenly turned back into his old self before losing conciousness and falling right on-top of Shinigami, Akira passed out on Shinigami's left shoulder, the girl started to fully cry again, as rain started to drop, Shinigami was then wondering just who was this young man? Elsewhere, walking back from a convenient store was seen Hoshi, noticing the rain dropping, as she looked up, as a drip of water fell upon her brow, down her right eye, she started to cry a little from her left before noticing this, wondering why she was crying all of a sudden before clearing the tear up and then lastly wondering about Akira, hoping that he was allright... ...It was the next day, Akira suddenly awoke to find himself somehow back home and in his room no less of all places, his mother named Miyako called out for Akira, telling him to wake up, Akira rubbed his head back and forth, trying to remember what happened yesterday, it was then shockingly and surprisingly that Shinigami appeared outside Akira's bedroom window, shocking the poor lad and comically scaring him half to death. Akira then suddenly remembered who Shinigami was and was about to pick a fight with him before wondering what happened to the little girl that was with Akira yesterday, he had hoped that Shinigami didn't kill her, only for him to reply now why would he do that? those of Shinigami blood and/or heritage are tasked with guiding the ghosts of the dead to the afterlife and eliminating all traces of evil, Akira then said but what about her unfinished business? to find her missing family? Shinigami rest assured Akira that that was taken care of since that too is part of the job for the Shinigami clan, Shinigami in place of Akira helped the girl find her parents and all together, they ascended to the Sanzu River, the gateway to the afterlife. Before leaving, the girl left a message for Shinigami to give to Akira, saying that hope he gets better Onii-Chan and please don't be a baddie no more, that was the final message the girl had left to Akira before heading to the Sanzu River, Akira upon hearing this message cried a little, as he was mad with himself for not helping the little girl when he had the chance and instead went maverick against Shinigami like a raving lunatic, however, Shinigami again assured Akira that the young girl held no hard feelings against him and that she was happy despite being scared, being protected by Akira who she viewed like an elder brother, despite all that happened, Akira still protected the girl despite losing his way near the end and he would have given his life to save that of a ghost's if he was willing which of course at the time Akira was, all in all, the young girl forgives Akira and only hopes that once she has passed on, he will continue helping other spirits just like both her and her family, upon hearing all this, Akira now proceeds to cry tears of joy instead of tears of pain, however, he knew that this did not relieve him of his charge and that he honestly tried to kill Shinigami yesterday. Speaking of which, Shinigami wonders why Akira went all berserk the way he did, he says he cannot remember exactly other then the certain fact that when he was younger, his sister died in a car accident and when she did, a young man who looks exactly like Shinigami appeared that day, on that night, December 20th, 2018, upon hearing this, Shinigami reveals to Akira that that wasn't Shinigami, at least, not the Shinigami standing right in front of Akira, Akira is confused by this. Shinigami reveals that he comes from the Shinigami clan from which all of the members who are born into that clan are named Shinigami, they are all given the exact same name upon birth and a unique trait of the Shinigami clan is that they all have both blue coloured hair and blue coloured eyes, Shinigami remarks that he noticed that yesterday during their fight that Akira when he transformed gained blue coloured patches in his fiery red coloured hair and now having reverted back to normal the blue patches have disappeared leaving only the red entirety of hair, Shinigami knows he can't ask Akira of how he gained the blue patches since that transformation was all new to him, however, Shinigami does share with Akira certain news, the legend Shinigami was talking to himself about before. Long ago, just when the Shinigami clan came to be, making their home on the front and back bedsides of the Sanzu River where the spirits of the departed go to cross to the afterlife, there was a monster, a monster of terrible proportions and great havoc, it was named by the Shinigami clan elders the Yamata no Orochi, the Eight-Forked Serpent and you see with its mighty power did it lay waste to the Sanzu River, causing the Shinigami clan to rise up, forging scythes of both great and terrible power equal to the monster's power itself from simply the waters of the Sanzu River alone and together with the scythes, the first generation of the Shinigami clan rose up to power and fought the Yamata no Orochi, the battle was hard fought and many Shinigami lost their lives until finally, the Shinigami clan leader fought by himself, one on one against the Yamata no Orochi and upon cutting off all of the monster's eight tails after seeing an opportunity, greatly weaking the monster, proceeded to craft a Katana out of spiritual energy, exactly just like the Shinigami's scythes thanks to that of the Sanzu River and seal the monster inside the Katana, forever keeping it at bay so that it would never harm an innocent spirit ever again. The Katana was dubbed the snake bearer and it was told by the Shinigami clan elders that if the snake bearer were to ever be set loose upon both the spirit world and the mortal world, would both worlds be in grave and mortal danger, thus the Shinigami clan decided to keep it hidden, however, after 3000 years of secretly guarding it, the snake bearer was then stolen! no one knows who did it, except that he left a calling card, it said on the card simply Watatsumi and it is believed that whoever this Watatsumi person is, he is currently in this exact era that Akira lives in, manipulating strings involving spirits, the Shinigami clan highly believe that he is the one orchestrating the actions of evil doers everywhere in Wakaba. Shinigami was sent by his clan for two reasons, one, to regularly maintain the cycle of transporting the ghosts of the deceased to the Sanzu River so that they can be reincarnated back into Human life, as different people, animals, living things, etc and two, to retrieve the snake bearer wherever it may be...and kill the one who wields it, after seeing Akira possess the snake bearer, it is undeniable that he has a connection to Watatsumi and thus...Shinigami intends to try to kill Akira once more. Akira tries to comically convince Shinigami to change his mind, since the two had finally worked things out, however, Shinigami is adamant, he must kill Akira, reclaim the snake bearer, take it back to his people before returning to the Human world and finding where this Watatsumi is and bring him in for questioning, it is then Akira has a light bulb idea, how about both he and Shini work together to find Watatsumi? if they work together and find Watatsumi, he might prove to be a challenge for Shini alone, however, if Akira can aid Shini in battle, wielding the snake bearer more better then he did yesterday, in other-words, he masters and controls the blade, not the blade controlling him the other way around like before, Akira could prove to be a valuable ally to Shini in his quest to bring justice to whoever Watatsumi is. ...Shini ponders for a moment before then coming to a quick conclusion, he will accept Akira's proposal, seeing, as how Akira has spiritual awareness and helps the local ghosts around town, together with Akira's help, Shini intends to find Watatsumi and bring him down with Akira's help whilst on a gamble, Shini trusts that Akira will master the snake bearer and its powers before the confrontation, hoping that he will not succumb to its malevolent influence, otherwise...Shini will have to kill Akira and nothing will be done about that then, he is breaking a lot of rules in allowing someone to wield the snake bearer when Shini was originally supposed to kill the wielder and bring the snake bearer back to the Sanzu River, however, trusting Akira's morals, principles, ideals and good judge of character, Shini is willing to risk neck and limb for Akira, seeing, as how he just did for the ghost of the little girl yesterday, despite having only met Akira... ...It was then that Shini realised that he was being called Shini by Akira, wondering why? Akira believes that since everyone in the Shinigami clan is named Shinigami that Shini should have an identity of his own, thus Akira shortened Shinigami's name Shini, Shini thought to himself that when a Shinigami is born, all they must know is that they have no individual identity of their very own and that all they must do is carry out the cycle of reincarnation until they die and become reincarnated themselves, becoming the next Shinigami after the Shinigami that they are now, Shini always believed in that principle and didn't care for anything else otherwise, however, upon being called Shini by Akira, Shini suddenly felt something that he never felt before, he felt a sense of...identity and with that, he decided to just go along with it and call Akira Orochi, something Akira suddenly noticed out of the blue unlike Shini with his own nickname, the reason Shini will call Akira Orochi instead of just plain old Akira is because, as long, as he wields the snake bearer, he is technically the Yamata no Orochi in Human form and thus, it is Shini's job to watch over Orochi no matter what, Akira comically complains that that is just too complex for a nickname for him to have and wants Shini to come up with something better, Shini comically denies and the two then start to comically argue with one another, thus beginning the partnership of the Yamata no Orochi and the Shinigami, what will happen from here on out? Chapter II: Welcome to Yamato High School! Akira's mother Miyako shouted for Akira to get out of bed, as he then comically fell out of bed and noticed that he didn't have any underpants on, Akira comically squeals at this before using his bed covers with a Chinese dragon on them to cover himself up, as he questions Shini to this rather awkward development, saying that Shini was the one who brought Akira back home so why does Akira have no pants on whilst he is still wearing his high school shirt from yesterday, Shini says to Akira that back home at the Sanzu River, Shini would get most uncomfortable wearing pants on in bed so he would strip naked from the bottom, making him feel very comfortable afterwards, not feeling like there was something trying to claw and bite at him, he assumed that it was this way for the male Humans of their world, just like it was for him, Akira comically grows a big stress X mark on his forehead and his face turns red, as a tomato, saying to Shini hell no! that's not how we sleep in this world! just because you've got a strange sleeping habit doesn't mean that we males in this world have--huh? suddenly, Miyako appeared opening the bedroom with Akira's breakfast in hand before noticing Akira's pants hanging outside on the TV satellite just outside Akira's bedroom right next to it, something that Akira just notices now and his face turns purple and his eyeballs curl up inside the eyebrows, dropping the bedsheets covering his lower region by accident upon noticing his pants outside, as Miyako sees this, she comically shrieks out in horror, causing Akira to comically freak out and tell his mother to go away whilst he gets bathed and changed. An hour later, Miyako says to Akira comically its okay for young men to do stuff like that but not hang their pants outside, especially on their TV satellite of all things, Akira, so embarrassed just tells his mother to shut up, as he never wants to speak about it ever again, plus, he corrects her that he wasn't doing what she thought he was doing, it was the doing of a bastard Shinigami that led to the incident Akira comically replies whilst eating toast at the breakfast table, it is then that Akira's father named Shinra tells Akira to shut up, finish his breakfast and come pray with him alongside Miyako to their small portable altar showing Shino's picture inside it, to which Akira then remains silent upon seeing the picture, thinks about it and then lastly proceeds to eat his breakfast. After finishing praying to Shino, Akira proceeds to head out to school with his mother telling him to keep his pants up at all times with Akira saying to his mother to shut up, as he notices the time on his watch, noticing that he's now just 5 minutes away from being late, Miyako waves goodbye to Akira whilst Shini sitting up top of Akira's house's rooftop wonders where Akira is going and what will he possibly be doing? Akira knows that his high school is just around the corner and catching him off guard then suddenly, covering his eyeballs from behind was surprisingly Hoshi, asking for a password, wanting Akira to guess the answer to the password, however, Akira declines, as he already knows the answer to the password and proceeds to turn around and flick Hoshi on her forehead, as she replies with a boo and that wasn't very nice, Akira tells off Hoshi, saying that they are too old to be playing games like this anymore and that they have already finished dating, Akira broke up with Hoshi just before middle school ended for them, however, Hoshi declares that she still loves Akira and tries to swoop in and kiss Akira directly, only for him to hold up his notebook from his school bag and use it to cover Hoshi's kiss towards, causing to kiss the notebook instead, Hoshi again says that wasn't very nice and Akira replies with a comedic deadpan look upon his face, saying the words what is this, deja vu? 2 minutes later, the two are seen walking side by side with one another with Hoshi locking arms with Akira, as he tells her to knock it off and let go, Hoshi however replies that whenever she locked arms with Akira, she would always feel comfortable and not have to worry about anything...even, death itself, Akira just remained silent for a moment before replying so, you can still see ghosts like i can right? said Akira, however, Hoshi nodded her head left and right in a nope answer manner, saying that unlike Akira who can actually see ghosts, she can only sense them and from time to time, she would sense Akira a little, helping the spirits of the departed finally depart to the Sanzu River and the ones that would make sure that the spirits got there safely were the Mikos, you see, Hoshi comes from a long, long line of Kokoromaru Mikos, it is told in the old history books at the library of the town that whilst in the physical plane it was the Mikos who would help the spirits pass on from the mortal world, it would be the Shinigami of the spirit world that would await them and then proceed alongside them whilst protecting them to the Sanzu River, where there, the spirits would await reincarnation and a messenger from the Shinigami would appear before the Kokoromaru Mikos, telling them that they had succeeded in their job and it was a job well done. Akira is shocked to hear this, he didn't realise that Hoshi's family had a connection to the Shinigami, suddenly Akira asks Hoshi a bunch upon bunch of questions, like who is the messenger or what does Hoshi know of the Shinigami!? Hoshi, a bit weird and freaked out by Akira's reaction found it impossible to answer, instead just giving a answer that wasn't good enough for Akira to swallow but nevertheless he took it anyways, just surprised that Hoshi still had at least a connection to the Shinigami was all. Hoshi was curious, Akira was never this interested before about her Miko lineage, even when they were dating in middle school, still, Hoshi smiled a little at this, hoping this would be the start to something both grand and new and it certainly was new allright, as suddenly appearing in-between the former couple was Shini carrying his scythe on his left shoulder simply saying yo. Hoshi panicked, dropping her school bag, wondering where that voice came from, as she could not see Shini just like Miyako couldn't during the fiasco before Akira left the house, however, the difference being was that Miyako did not have spiritual awareness so she couldn't even hear Shini's voice let alone see him, whereas Hoshi because of her Miko heritage has spiritual awareness but cannot see Shini and can only hear his voice due to her awareness not being strong enough unlike Akira's, she wondered if Akira was planning a trick on her by blowing through her ear, however, Akira assured her that Hoshi was only just imagining it and looked up towards Shini floating behind the two walking to school with a comedic grumpy face and gave Shini the censored finger, Shini twinkled his eyes at this, as Akira did not understand the meaning until only a few seconds later when a stray dog was passing by and upon looking at Akira's finger pointing up, to the dog it looked like a hot dog and thus the stray decided to hunt down and eat Akira's finger, causing Akira to grab Hoshi comically in the form of a cardboard stand and rush straight on to school, Hoshi comically took this, as Akira's way of carrying her like a princess and she felt overjoyed, feeling like she was in paradise, Akira ran like the wind, causing Shini to snigger at Akira's misfortune but thankfully, he helped both Akira and Hoshi arrive to their high school to which Shini was curious about, the school itself was named Yamato High School and it was here that both Akira and Hoshi would be attending their 1st years of high school for the next few years. Upon arriving at the front entrance of Yamato High School, the bell had then immediately rung, signalling that it was now time for the entrance to close up and the students to get to their classrooms straight away with the gate just behind both Akira and Hoshi closing on them, as the two got inside the school entry grounds just in the nick of time, Akira noticed how he was holding Hoshi like a cardboard stand though she didn't seem to mind it, in fact she loved it and dreamed that it would happen to her everytime but nevertheless, proceeded to let her down gently and normally, causing Hoshi to boo Akira once more, spoiling her fun. Now that the home-rooms were about to go under-way, Akira and Hoshi went their separate ways, as they were in different classes, Akira was in class C-1 and Hoshi class B-2, upon arriving in the classroom, everyone that knew Akira looked at him with disgust, something that Akira seemed familiar with, his seat was located next to the window, the name of his home-room teacher was Kin-gin Jinnosube and the name of his peer sitting right next to him on the left side of Akira whilst he faced the window directly on the right was Tora Ryojisuke. Jinnosube was known for eccentric behaviour and Ryojisuke was known to be a delinquent that was the head of a Bosozoku group of fellow delinquents named the Crouching Tigers of Wakaba and you see, they are always constantly butting heads with the student council and especially its leader of Yamato High School that they themselves are named by everyone else within the school, as the Hidden Dragons of Yamato, led by a sophomore and Tora's one year older brother named Ryu Ryojisuke. For, as long, as anyone can always remember, the two brothers have always been at odds with one another due to their different personalities, Tora was hot headed and Ryu was cold and calculating but nevertheless, despite their differences, they made sure not to bother both the school and especially the citizens of Wakaba through needless fighting, only calling for it when a major difference of opinion was to be called, in fact, Tora leads his Bosozoku friends in helping out the town from time to time whilst Ryu keeps the peace at high school, all in all, despite their differences, the two brothers, although Tora would never admit it himself personally were a team, the adults back in town would refer to the two, as the famously named chivalrous brothers of the Ryojisuke clan. The reason why Akira is recalling all this to himself is because he remembered one day not too very long ago, a memory that suddenly just popped up inside his head that like Hoshi, it would seem that Tora was spiritually aware but could not see ghosts, only hearing their voices and sensing their presence, also, Hoshi and her friends one day got themselves into trouble with a rival high school and it was only thanks to the efforts of both Tora and his Crouching Tigers that they had beat up the delinquents of the rival high school, sending them scared like hell, Tora telling them never to bug the students of Yamato High School ever again, although Hoshi saw this, as an act of kindness, this was actually also because Tora had a crush on Hoshi without her knowing for a very long, long time, something that Akira has known about since he, Hoshi and Tora all attended the same middle school and it was only after breaking up with Hoshi that Akira started to notice Tora building up his courage and trying to ask Hoshi out a couple of times, only to be flatter out rejected or the stress got to him those times, unable to allow him to speak in those moments, because of the relationship that both Akira and Hoshi share despite no longer being a romantic couple, Tora sees Akira, as his number one rival in both any and all things but more importantly, the trial that is both in and of love itself. Although Akira is exasperated by Tora and his rivalry towards Akira, he is more exasperated by his home-room teacher Jinnosube because, as previously mentioned, he had eccentric behaviour and this was always in the form of coming to their home-room without a shirt on, showing his bare masculine chest to everyone, causing the school girls to go gaga over Jinnosube, as he was a very handsome man, despite conduct that was rather very inappropriate for a teacher to have in front of his students, especially the young female ones, Jinnosube was allowed to continue his eccentric behaviour, as his fellow teachers knew he meant no harm by it and they believed that this was one of his crazy methods to get his students to teach, he would show his masculine torso to the high school girls to get them so jittery that they would focus on doing their school work whilst for the male half of his class, he would disgust them so much that they would have no choice but to resign to do their school work, just to get Jinnosube's image out of their heads, as such is the cases with both Akira and Tora, the latter one time reprimanded Jinnosube for his improper behaviour in front of students at a school, even if it was a high school, however, Jinnosube was adamant, he would go so far, as to make a mockery of himself and a sight for the high school girls to swoon over if it would help them study and concentrate on their high school work that would help them study to become proper adults and move on to college and even university one day, a manly resolve to the testament of him being a high school teacher, upon seeing this, Tora would comically break down into tears and call Jinnosube a man amongst men despite his weirdo way of getting the students to teach, believing that his resolve was to benefit others, especially those younger then him, wanting them to grow up to be proper adults unlike him that can help teach society how to make itself a better place, believing Jinnosube was only doing what Tora believed that that was the only thing Jinnosube could do to help his students work and mature themselves so that they don't end up like him, Tora and Jinnosube would comically give manly hugs to one another, believing each other to be fellow men of romance in the term of man's dream for the future of humanity, Akira merely had a comedic deadpan look upon his face, thinking to himself that Jinnosube was merely a strip tease pervert and Tora a Baka but nevertheless, Akira knew that these two, however tiring they may be to him were still at heart, good people, even if they were bat crap crazy. It was then shockingly and suddenly whilst Jinnosube buttoned his shirt back up, believing that the female students have had enough eye candy for one day that he announces the arrival of an all brand new transfer student out of the blue, at first, Akira doesn't seem bothered by this until he discovers just who exactly it was that walked into the classroom, it was none other then Shini! using the alias Shinji Yamamoto, as his student name and that unlike before with Hoshi, people can now actually see Shini in the flesh! how was this possible!? thought Akira to himself, as he comically gritted his teeth and smashed his pencil in half, annoyed that Shini has now even intruded onto his personal school life, as well. During break time, Akira questions Shini on both what and how in the hell is he able to let everyone see him despite being a spirit, as well, as why is here at Yamato? Shini however asks that Akira refer to him, as Shinji whilst at school and the reason why he is here at Yamato is because he was curious about Akira's school life and so decided to make a quick based decision and adapt himself to said school life of Akira's, also believing that by being at Akira's side at all times will allow Shini to find out where and especially who Watatsumi is, Akira comically calls Shini annoying for this before moving onto the question of how everyone is able to see Shini despite just being a spirit before, Shini reveals that Shinigami that go undercover amongst the Humans in their world in the physical plane use a technique named Sono Sakashima Oujou Waza, translated, as The Reverse Death Technique and you see, by channelling spiritual energy that they receive from drinking the waters of the Sanzu River into their bodies which they have done since the very beginning and formation of the Shinigami clan, the spiritual energy inside their bodies can be used to create a sort of hologram for everyone to see the Shinigami using the technique, it may show them being on the physical plane but here is where lays the back-draws of the technique, the Shinigami are exactly just that, holograms in the eyes of the people and if said people were to touch the Shinigami, their hands would just go right through them, plus, upon eating food and drinking something, their insides are shown digesting their food, basically, the only real good thing about the technique is that it allows Shinigami to not only go undercover in the physical plane but also taste actual real food in the mortal realm too, the man who invented this technique was a deity of food whose name the Shinigami cannot remember but either way, do not care less, preferring just the technique itself again either way, Akira comically makes a cross symbol there and then with his hands, saying that the Shinigami can't just overlook something, as important, as the creator of the technique, otherwise, what will they know about other things all related to the technique? Shini doesn't mind that he says whilst Akira says he does, not wanting people anywhere to see him eating with a ghost and the ghost eating down all his food for the whole world to see, think of the panic that would cause man! is the message Akira tries to relay to Shini, however, he fails, Shini failing to take in how that could be seen, as a bad thing, as Akira lastly says to himself oy vey, you Shinigami really do need to learn on how to interact with Humans, especially know how Humans will react to some certain things! It is then that a both strange and mysterious voice appears from out of the blue, sounding all squeaky like, saying to Akira ah shut the hell up! your so annoying!! Akira has a comic surprised look upon his face, as he turns around and sees below him a talking rat that freaks him the hell out comically, Shini tells Akira to relax and not to worry and that this was simply the messenger from the Shinigami clan sent to the Kokoromarus for a job well done on their Miko related duties, Akira then regains his composure and starts poking at the rat's belly, wondering how someone this small could actually be that messenger he heard about from before and then the rat shockingly scratches Akira, telling him not to poke his fat jelly like body and for Akira to correct himself, to say that the rat is not a rat but is actually a mouse, due to the short tail that it has, it reveals its name, as Nezumi-kami, the god of all mice related and the eater of all fine, delicious cheeses from around the entire world itself, lastly not to mention the heavenly messenger sent by the Shinigami clan to whisper through the ears of the Mikos, telling them jobs well done for their assistances in helping guide spirits to the Sanzu River. Akira after recovering from his scratch is really surprised to hear that Nezumi-kami is the one that is helping Hoshi with her Miko duties whilst Nezumi for short, as Akira starts to call him is unimpressed by the way Akira treats Hoshi, he tells Akira that because of the way he broke up with Hoshi by the time their final year in middle school ended, she was heartbroken and could do naught but immerse herself in being a Miko, just to wipe away the tears from falling, upon hearing this, Akira thinks back to how he dumped Hoshi and feels bad about it, causing him to think about it before Shini gets Akira's attention back, telling him that Nezumi has important news for the two of them, surprised by this, Akira wishes to hear what Nezumi has to say, feeling that it might be a clue, as to the location of this mysterious Watatsumi person, Akira was of course still concerned about Hoshi and remembering why he dumped her but decided to put that aside for the moment, believing he could get back to that once matters with Shini have been settled. Nezumi reveals to both Akira and Shini that the reason why Nezumi was the one himself coming up for Shini's Shinji Human disguise at school was because Nezumi believes that someone related to Watatsumi is amongst Akira's peers, Akira could not believe what he was hearing and would not, he said to Nezumi that if there was someone that Akira didn't feel right about then it would be Hoshi and/or Tora, since they are the two who like Akira are spiritually aware of things, however, Nezumi corrects Akira, saying to him but what if there is a person amongst all the people at your school who was also spiritually aware but was hiding himself/herself from being detected that he/she was spiritually aware? Akira became shocked by this and Shini then asks Nezumi if he has a lead on this mysterious person, Nezumi replies that he does and the name of his lead is the 2nd in command of the Crouching Tigers, directly under Tora himself named Kubo Uehara, known by his Crouching Tiger title name, as the three headed Ino-shika-cho, because it is said that he has the strength of a boar, the speed of a deer and finally, last but not least, the grace of a butterfly. Akira refused to believe that Kubo was the one Nezumi was claiming to be related to Watatsumi, Kubo has been loyal to Tora since, as far back, as kindergarten from what Akira knows about the two's relationship but it is then that Nezumi raises his finger, saying the key phrase there is because of what Akira knows about Kubo, Nezumi knows that Akira, Hoshi and Tora have all attended middle school together, that includes Kubo, as well, however, Akira only knows so much, as back to when both he and Tora were in middle school, who is to say what kind of relationship that both Tora and Kubo themselves had in kindergarten and whilst growing up? Kubo maybe was secretly jealous of Tora and now wants to usurp his position, so much so, that Kubo received help from Watatsumi who saw right through the desperation within Kubo's eyes, believing that Kubo's goal is to kill Tora, Nezumi orders both Akira and Shini to protect Tora with their very lives, even with their very spirits if they so much have to, Akira, despite not agreeing with any of this, nevertheless, decides to go along with this plan, since it is the only hunch to go on to track down Watatsumi, for this plan to work, Nezumi believes that he must get Akira to help Shini join and infiltrate Tora's Crouching Tigers group in order to get closer to both Tora and especially Kubo, to find out what the latter is planning, it won't be an easy task and Nezumi expects great things from Akira to accomplish alongside Shini, since Nezumi too is keeping quiet about the fact that Akira is the wielder of the snake bearer and is not relaying that most important vital information to the other Shinigami back in the spiritual realm at the Sanzu River, sharing the same idea just like Shini that Akira could be useful in mastering the snake bearer and using it to combat Watatsumi should Akira confront him/her, otherwise, its game over for Akira if he can't master the Katana and Shini will be forced to kill Akira, upon the three all agreeing to the plan, Akira asks just one last thing of Nezumi, he comically asks why did he have Shini call himself Shinji Yamamoto of all names? Nezumi just goes that it was because Shinji sounded like Shini or Shinigami for longer words and that the 2nd and last name Yamamoto comes from the fact that Yamato High School both is short for and is originally named Yamamoto High School, in turn named after the founder of the town of Wakaba who named the town after in honour of his wife all the way back then all those years ago, Nezumi says he is proud to have witnessed that moment himself so in fond memory of that time, he named Shini Shinji Yamamoto to use, as his fake Human identity, Akira just has a sweat drop on the back of his head and goes right... Chapter III: Kubo Uehara, the three headed Ino-shika-cho! To start things off correctly in accordance with the plan, Shini must first catch Tora's attention without him being attentive, at first, Shini must look to Tora whilst in class and if Tora notices him, Tora will merely shrug Shini, believing him to be one of those stuck up pretty boy types that all the girls go for, given the information about Tora and what he's like by Akira to Shini, next, in order to further catch Tora's attention, a certain event must occur...at the next break, a fight must ensue outside on the main school grounds with all the students looking on at to see who is fighting between who? Tora will watch this fight out of interest alongside Kubo and see that the fight that is currently going on between who and who is between both Akira and Shini or Shinji known to the whole wide school. Akira and Shini will engage in a fist fight with no holds barred match rules, they will be fighting for whatever reason they decide to come up with, like if Shini accidentally spilled a canned drink's contents on Akira's pants, making it look like he wet himself on purpose and didn't apologize for it or Akira just happened to bump into Shini and Akira himself didn't apologize whilst the two give dirty looks to each other either way, personally, the damn rat that Akira comically called Nezumi inside his head wanted to go along with the first option, feeling like it had more life to it but really it was because Akira knows that Nezumi just doesn't like the former and so, despite both Nezumi and Shini's votes for the 1st option, everyone goes along with the latter option, earning Akira a boo from both Nezumi and Shini each, copying Hoshi which Akira notices and tells Nezumi not to copy Hoshi and not to teach Shini how to copy, as well. Finally, the fight went under-way, the fight had to look, as real, as real can be, like throwing insults towards one another or playing dirty, in all honesty, this hurt Shini on the inside, due to his code of honour, however, Akira wasn't the very least bit bugged by it for two specific reasons, one, he has been fighting with Tora like this almost all the time and two, because he could finally up-show the smug, smart-ass Shini for all the times up to now he's treated Akira, for Akira, this was like a dream come true and he didn't want it to end, however, Akira knew that he had to follow the plan so in order to proceed with it, he had to lose to Shini during this fight, this would allow Shini to be welcomed by the Crouching Tigers, by Tora personally and that way, Shini could spy and found out more on Kubo, Tora's right hand man, since this was his first fight, Shini didn't really know how to pick insults wisely and carefully and so he decided to chose the insults that would most definitely get Akira angry, he said that his mother looked ugly in the eye-patch that she was wearing, his father couldn't try out for sports because he was wheelchair bound and his sister probably died on him because she found Akira so damn boring... everyone was shocked by what they just heard from Shini's mouth, as Nezumi's face goes into horrified mode, this caused Tora to twitch his finger a little, looking sternly on at the fight, as he then notices Akira just standing still upon hearing those words, he looked down towards the ground, his expression not being seen by everyone, as he recalls the night his sister died and that a Shinigami was standing outside her car window, the anger boiled up inside Akira and he went into full rage mode without summoning the snake bearer but slowly summoning small blue patches in his red hair that went unnoticed by everyone, save for Tora, Hoshi and possibly Kubo, as Hoshi thought to herself upon sensing Akira's angered feelings what was he feeling? how could she make it stop? it was, as although she was being burned at a bonfire exactly just like a witch and that she was being burned to death by the fire on a wooden stick held by a Satan like imp or Satan himself the size of a beast with the beast shockingly bearing a demonic version of Akira's face with snake like features, eyes for example and a hissing tongue, as Hoshi envisioned this, she fell amongst the crowd watching the ongoing fight with no one, not even her friends watching her collapse, as she held both her hands across her mouth with tears falling down her face at an incredible speed, desperately thinking about Akira and watching him up closely, wanting his rampage full of both anger and especially hatred to stop, desperately pleading for him to stop, just stop... Realising the error in his mistake, Shini realises that if he doesn't act soon, upon seeing the blue patches emerging in Akira's red hair, he will fully transform into Orochi like he did at the playground just yesterday and he will wreck havoc amongst the innocent civilians here, following Nezumi's words telepathically speaking to him, Shini dodges blow for blow from Akira until receiving a devastating left hook inside the torso, causing different reactions from everyone, as Tora merely twitched his eye looking upon this, still looking sternly upon the fighting going on, as looking out through a nearby window on the 2nd floor of the school was seen a young man who looked exactly like Tora but seen wearing glasses and with longer hair, holding a pen and pad whilst standing right near him was a young woman who's entire head was seen covered in shadow and the only things that could be seen of her was that she had a curvy body type and that she had long hair that was braided right at the very end of it, she teased the man who looked like Tora, asking him if he was going to step in and stop the fight or not, the man replied he wasn't and that this was a job for the Crouching Tigers, not the Hidden Dragons, he says for the woman to remind herself of that, as he identifies her last name, as Honshoku whilst she confirms that this Tora lookalike is none other then Ryu Ryojisuke, the student council present and head of Tora's Crouching Tigers' rival faction, the Hidden Dragons of Yamato. After being hit straight in the gut by Akira's powerful punch, Shini spews up a little bit of saliva before leaning his hand against a post whilst Akira readies himself to hit Shini again straight away, as Shini, still listening to Nezumi inside his head sees a nearby water tap fountain faucet whilst Akira then goes in to literally kill Shini with his bare fist, Shini grabs the faucet and sprays it on Akira's face, sapping all the heat away that was emerging from him, signalling his transformation into Orochi, as Akira with blind eyes just looks on both dazed and bewildered, as the small blue patches on his slightly on fire red hair were disappearing, both the blue patches and the fire emerging on his hair were fading away quickly without everyone knowing that they were even there, Akira just stood there before very shockingly, punching him directly in the face with a straight punch was Shini, knocking Akira down and knocking him out, he was both down and out for the count, it took a few minutes for all the bystanders that were watching to take this in, looking shocked and surprised, until suddenly they screamed victory and applauded Shini's victory, now calling Shini the now 2nd strongest person in the school that there ever was, as Hoshi quickly gets up from off her legs laying on the ground and quickly rushes to Akira's side, holding him, caressing for him inside her arms, as she looks towards him with tearful concern whilst he remains unconscious before looking up towards Shini with hateful content for him, suddenly, clapping can be heard and everyone then went dead silent, as emerging from amongst the crowd was both Tora and Kubo, the former being the one clapping but the latter Shini is eye-balling with intent with Kubo upon noticing this shy-fully and bashfully looking away from Shini, his eyes unnerving him before Tora says to Shini, oi, death god, you want to beat down one of my men now? you've got some nerve, Shini upon hearing these words then looked straight at Tora who was seen grinning and smirking to himself whilst both he and Shini shared an equally sharp glare towards one another, the 1st part of the plan, despite some major hiccups was proceeding accordingly and now the next step was about to begin... Everyone talks amongst themselves, as both Shini and Tora glare at one another, they talk about who was the highest ranked in terms of the strongest fighter at Yamato High School, the 3rd ranked is Kubo, two contenders for the 2nd rank, sharing the position both together was Akira and Tora respectively and, as for the 1st ranked strongest in all of both Yamato High and the town of Wakaba that there ever was in their both the school and the town's shared entire history is Ryu, Tora's older brother, now that Akira has been defeated, he has been bumped down to the 4th strongest of Yamato whilst Shini has replaced Akira, sharing the 2nd strongest position alongside Tora, in other-words, he was now both Tora's new rival and a contender for the top ranked seat, as the top dog in all of Wakaba itself, everyone wonders what is going on through both the respective individuals' heads. Upon hearing what Tora just said to him, Shini became a little paranoid by what Tora meant, as in death god, as Tora next says to Shini what's wrong mate? you look like, as though if you have seen a ghost, again, Shini became suspicious by Tora's words, knowing that he was spiritually aware like Akira though not, as strong, Shini wonders if Tora was purposely referring to Shini being a Shinigami, since that is who the death gods truly are and if Tora knew all along about Shinji's true identity or if he was just playing on words to say towards Shini, to know for sure, Shini tried to find out if the latter was true by saying ...what do you, mean by that? death god? please, i only just slugged the poor bastard, its not my fault he got all angry and went rogue on me-- said Shini until suddenly, shouting out towards him was Hoshi saying to Shini HOW DARE YOU! you--YOU EVIL! --HOW DARE YOU SAY THOSE THINGS TO AKIRA! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY! -- shouted out Hoshi whilst holding Akira, as she tried to move from holding Akira to attack Shini for saying the both horrible and hurtful things that he said towards Akira during their fight, only to be stopped and held down by Hoshi's female friends, not wanting her to pick a fight with Shini, Shini, already realising what he had done looked down towards Akira unconscious with deep and solemn regret, having done something not only against his code of honour but, in genuinely hurting someone without realising it when he should of have right away immediately...nevertheless, Shini was determined to move on forwards, needing to continue the plan he, Akira and Nezumi all agreed upon, if they are ever to find out about both Kubo and especially Watatsumi, even so, Shini clutched his heart and felt in pain over what he had done...Tora notices this and surprisingly also looks on at Akira solemnly too... Tora reveals that he knows Akira's back-story and because of what Shini said to Akira during the fight, he would never accept someone like him into the Crouching Tigers, this caused both Shini and Nezumi to slightly panic upon the mentioning of this, however, they soon regained slight composure, as Tora continued with his words, he said to Shini that that would normally be the case, however, for some reason, there is something within Tora's heart, telling him to accept Shini within his Crouching Tigers group, especially after noticing him clutching his hand upon his heart after defeating Akira, he could see right through Shini's emotions and so, despite protesting from the rest of the Crouching Tigers members, especially Kubo, Tora says to Shini that he will accept him into the group, if that is, Shini completes a certain task that Tora needs fulfilling, Shini upon hearing this woefully accepts before looking straight at Kubo, who angrily looks away from Shini, feeling disgusted with him now instead of being both shy and bashful like he was before and with that, the Crouching Tigers, led by both Tora 1st and Kubo 2nd all leave, followed by the entire school, as the teachers were soon bound to arrive, wanting to learn of what had happened, some people were thrilled with Shini's success over the freak that they considered Akira to be whilst others just seemed both disappointed and especially disgusted that Shini, a handsome young man like himself, upon just transferring to their high school, would damage and especially ruin his reputation like that amongst his peers, now it seemed that nobody would ever like Shini, not, as a real friend anyways and, as soon, as everyone left, leaving only Shini by himself to look up towards the sky, as it started to rain whilst Akira was carried by some of Hoshi's male friends to the medical room upon her request, she looked back towards Shini who notices this and shows her cold, hateful expression for him whilst he only returned it with a cold, woeful expression upon his face, despite temporarily for a moment actually being convinced that Shini did not mean the things that he said to Akira during their fight, Hoshi reaffirmed to herself that Shini was the enemy and would stop at nothing to find a way to get her revenge upon him for what he both said and did to Akira, as everyone now left completely, leaving Shini left all alone with no one but Nezumi with the former looking upwards towards the rain, it started to pour heavier and Shini wonders if he has stayed in the Human world for too long now that he has now developed Human emotions, which are considered taboo amongst the Shinigami, as they are only meant to stay in the Human world long enough to fulfil their duties and report back to their home and headquarters, named Sanzaku town in the spiritual world on the front bedside of the Sanzu River, Nezumi reaffirms to Shini that what he did was right and that although it was a painful experience for everyone, even Shini especially himself, they needed to do what they thought was right, they needed to get close to Watatsumi, even if that meant if Akira hurt Shini and/or Shini hurt Akira in the process, either way, Shini had to win that fight to join the Crouching Tigers and now that he has, Nezumi says its now up to the two of them to complete the mission concerning Kubo until Akira awakens...Shini...agrees slightly and then decides to head back to class... Jinnosube upon hearing of the fight going down scolds Shinji and reminds him not to do it again, otherwise, the head principal of the school will chew Jinnosube out again, of which he has done so many times and not wanting to go through it again, Jinnosube gives Shinji this warning so that it doesn't ever happen again, now upon finishing up classes for today, Jinnosube believes that Shinji should go see Akira and see how he is doing, believing that to be the right thing to do and because judging from Shinji's expression that he should go because deep in his heart that he wants to, like Tora before him, Jinnosube was able to see right through Shini's emotions and this causes Shini to wonder if Jinnosube was spiritually aware himself, either way, it didn't matter to Shini, he wanted to go and see Akira and apologize to him for what he did and with that, Shini left the room, leaving only Jinnosube in the teachers' office... Suddenly, appearing out of the blue behind Jinnosube was Ryu, asking Jinnosube-Sensei was that wise to send Shini to see Akira after all that just happened? Jinnosube says that it is, for without both Shini and Akira bonding, they won't be the good friends that Jinnosube eventually sees them to become and without that, everything will not go according to Watatsumi's designs, said Jinnosube, very shockingly revealing both his and Ryu's connection to Watatsumi, the very person who stole the snake bearer that Akira currently wields, as Ryu merely tilts his glasses upwards, not saying a thing... Upon entering the medical room, Shini shockingly finds Hoshi by Akira's bedside and Akira's forehead completely bandaged, as Hoshi sees Shini she tries to get a nurse's medical needle from amongst the medical tools shown out in the open and stab Shini with it, however, using his swift moves, Shini dodges Hoshi's assault towards him and pins her down to the ground, looking deeply into her eyes, as she looks deeply into his, as they look into each other's eyes, Shini says to Hoshi that he is sorry for hurting Akira the way he did and although Hoshi seems to believe him, she nevertheless calls Shini a liar and that Hoshi will one day get revenge for Akira for what Shini did to him, as she then starts crying, saying to Shini which shocks him, that because Akira is a kind, caring and good natured, not to mention especially loving person, despite all his pent up rage and hatred for the death of his sister Shino, Hoshi cries out, yelling to Shini that Akira would never seek revenge, even if he had the chance to kill someone who deeply hurt one of his friends and/or family relatives, its just not in Akira and so, Hoshi says, as Shini releases her from his grip, shocked by her words whilst she gets up that if Akira won't do what Akira won't do for himself then Hoshi will in his place, if he won't seek revenge then Hoshi will for Akira in his stead, because...she loves Akira, so much so that it pains her to see Akira in pain just like he was when both he and Shini were fist fighting, Shini upon hearing this has a solemn expression upon his face and decides to turn around and leave, saying to Hoshi that he will not report Hoshi for the attempted assault, as she dries up her tears and Shini then tells Hoshi to look after and over Akira at all times...always, since without her, Akira may never be able to find his light at the end of the road and may forever end up wandering in darkness, crawling like a snake on it's belly, never growing and having wings like the mighty Quetzalcoatl from Aztec mythology that Shini read up about whilst attending here at Yamato High School, flying free into the heavens, shocked by these words, Hoshi wonders what does Shini mean by that? only for him to lastly repeat his words of Hoshi looking over Akira, as he closes the door behind him, leaving Hoshi to get angry and shout out DAMN YOU! before falling to the ground again like she did before, crying, right next to Akira's bed, as he is then seen twitching a finger whilst Shini stands outside the door, contemplating certain things and remembering all the things that have happened since just yesterday when he met Akira, wondering if Shini himself truly has developed Human emotions...? When Shini grabbed the arm of Hoshi with the hand holding the medical needle, upon grabbing her, it fell to the ground and shattered into pieces, the liquid substance inside spilling out everywhere onto the floor after the needle shattered, as Shini outside the medical room proceed to leave to parts elsewhere, very shockingly, without her presence being seen and/or especially detected by everyone, also especially by Shini himself, a young woman's face could be seen passing through a wall of the inside of the medical room, it was a young gorgeous woman's face that had a star marking on the left side of her face and a crescent moon marking on the right side, this face belonging to this young woman was spying on everyone, having seen the whole conversation play out whilst slightly giggling to herself, saying upon seeing the broken needle and the liquid water substance flowing everywhere that aw, you know, you should really be careful and clean up after yourselves after that, you don't want to get hurt now do you, though still, i have to admit, that was an interesting show to watch said the young woman without been heard whatsoever at all, as it seemed she had the power to completely erase her presence, even from those that belong to the spiritual realm, namely, people exactly like both Shini and Nezumi, this person was then being telepathically communicated by the voice of Ryu, telling Honshoku to return back to the student council room and not spy on the Shinigami and everyone else, thus revealing that this young woman was actually in truth the woman that was standing in shadow next to Ryu whilst watching Akira and Shini's fist fight from before named Honshoku, her full name was actually Trishiki Honshoku or Trish or finally Tri, as she prefers to nickname herself, telling Ryu to refer to her by either her first name, her nickname, Trish-Chan, Trish-Onee-Chan, Tri-Chan or lastly Tri-Onee-Chan and not just her last name unlike everyone else that knows her and with that, upon receiving Ryu's mental call to leave inside her head, she proceeded to do so, not wanting to upset her president of whom she serves, as the 2nd in command to...however, overall, from this point onwards, she thought that things were going to be quite, amusing... It was the final lesson of the day and Jinnosube decided to do one last roll call to see that everyone was in class, upon reaching Shinji's name, he was nowhere to be found at his seat, others wondered where he currently was, others couldn't care less, some called him a cheapskate because of how he won his fist fight against Akira, although some praised Shini for his victory, since they did not like Akira and considered him a freak, either way, those that did care had wondered where he could possibly be? skipping class on the rooftop of the school to take a nap for his hard earned and hard worked victory which some people said in a mocking tone for example? or had he left the school entirely? Jinnosube however thought that he had a pretty good idea of where Shini currently was... Shini had skipped class and had returned to the site of the fist fight between both him and Akira with all of the students of the whole school looking on at them upon that time, Shini was reminiscing whilst looking both solemn and depressed, as he made his way circling around the school grounds, he eventually found himself standing in front of the water tap fountain faucet that he used to cool down Akira with who was partially transforming into Orochi during the fight, after Shini accidentally said harsh things towards Akira since this was Shini's 1st official brawl ever and both he and Akira were working towards the plan of getting close to the Crouching Tigers, in order to find out if Kubo, Tora's 2nd in command, could be in league with Watatsumi, the person that both Akira and especially Shini have been trying to hunt down in order to get answers, however, although Shini doesn't regret stopping Akira's transformation fully into Orochi whatsoever, since if that had happened, he would have gone into a full blind rage and would have most definitely especially endangered all of the lives of the entire school populace itself, Shini does regret and especially hate how all of the rest of the fight went for it was because of Shini's naivety about how to trash talk to someone during a fight that led to all of this, despite Nezumi convincing Shini it was all part of and especially for the plan that Nezumi, Shini and especially Akira all agreed to, nevertheless, Shini felt like that there was a bottomless pit emerging inside of his stomach, something he felt like that he would never, ever be able to fill up, it was then, shockingly and surprisingly, appearing to Shini and telling him why does he regret the fact that he won the fight against Akira despite although using such harsh and very hurtful words against him to do so was Tora, suddenly, the sky started to darken and black clouds filled it up, followed by a very heavy downpour of rain... Shini sees Tora and notices that he has a stern look upon his face, however, Shini merely just looks away from him, looking down towards the ground in sadness, Tora remained silent for a moment whilst having his hands kept inside the pockets of his Bosozoku group leader's coat with the sentence for Chivalrous Spirit written on the back of the entire coat in Kanji before saying to Shini that it was his choice to use the tactic that he did against Akira, even though Shini may not have fully known what he was getting himself into, Shini was surprised to hear Tora's words, as the latter knew exactly what Shini was both thinking at this moment and what his true feelings are, Tora proceeded to say that he does not know of how Shini knew all that he did of Akira's past, having just transferred to Yamato and barely knowing anyone here at all whatsoever, although this is due in part that Tora does not know the true identity both behind and of Shini himself, however, nevertheless, Tora proceeded to continue talking, he said to Shini that Tora knew that Shini was a novice when it came to actual bare fist fighting and that this was his very 1st fist fight ever and so because of that, he may have not known how to trash talk properly to someone during a fight of which was confirmed during the fight earlier on but Tora proceeds to give Shini helpful advice, he must learn to read peoples' emotions and think about how they must feel about their individual respective pasts, Tora thinks that Shini may have learned about Akira's past from others whispering about Akira himself, Tora tells Shini that the reason why everyone hates Akira so much is because of two reasons, the 1st reason is that they consider him a freak for being spiritually aware and that when they see him helping ghosts when it just looks to them that he's acting like a real weirdo in public since they themselves cannot see the ghosts, not being spiritually aware, they treat him like he's a monster and that they want nothing to do with him, some even went, as far, as framing him for things related to school and tried to have him expelled or worse, killed, those that are gifted with spiritual awareness are what Tora refers to, as the cursed clan and lastly, the 2nd reason why they especially treat Akira so badly is because his elder sister Shino, who used to attend Yamato was the most spiritually aware person in all of Wakaba so naturally to them, they hated her like they hate Akira now and when she died, they laughed at Akira and his family, stepping on the flowers at Shino's grave and dishonouring her memory at every chance they could get and still do now, they passed their hatred of Shino onto Akira after she died and they tried everything they could to get Akira angry, however, just recently that stopped happening for some reason, Tora claims that they claim that when the last group of bullies tried to hurt Akira in his final year of middle school, they saw him with snake like eyes, they thought they had seen the visual of a giant eight tailed serpent standing above him behind his back, protecting him from all sorts of harm, Akira was able to withstand the bullies and push them back, he was now stronger then anyone had ever dared and/or especially dreamed him to be, although Akira felt no different, he felt, as though he just gained more confidence at that point, Tora could tell otherwise, Akira rose through the ranks of strength without himself knowing until eventually, rivalling Tora himself, asides from Tora's personal love for Hoshi, this is the other reason that Tora considered Akira to be his rival, because of Akira's spiritual awareness and this snake like demon that seems to protect him and give him awesome strength, Shini was both shocked and especially horrified upon hearing all of this... Tora proceeds to move on from Akira to Shini, saying to him that the reason why he is going to give Shini a trial to join the Crouching Tigers is because of his potential, this potential that might be able to even surpass the awesome strength of Akira that Tora has held in regard for so long, however, he makes one thing clear to Shini, as the rain suddenly starts to dry up just immediately after starting pouring down, Tora said to Shini before about despite the dirty method he used to win against Akira that because of that, Shini is now regretting having won against Akira, however, Tora tells Shini one thing, one very most important thing, that a fight to Tora himself has certain rules or rather certain codes, codes of honour to be precise, one of those codes of honour is that the victor must not complain afterwards about how they won a fight, they chose the method of fighting that they went with and so they must stick with that method, in other-words, a win is a win and no matter how bad, how disgraceful they feel about it afterwards, Tora reminds Shini that the victor won because of what they chose to do and by feeling bad about it now is just making the person who won but feels bad about their very own victory look like a hypocrite, it is disgraceful behaviour towards Tora and he would never, ever let someone like that join the Crouching Tigers, however, he is making this a one time exception, as he senses that whilst Shini did use a unthoughtful trick, not thinking about his opponent in battle and how they would fill, Tora senses about Shini that he has a strong will, strong determination and especially not to mention, a strong code of honour, although Shini was trying to uphold his code of honour, he just got lost along the way, Tora can forgive screw ups like that from time to time, as long, as he knows that they were meant in earnest and seeing Shini both during and especially how he fight Akira, he knows that Shini would never waver from his code of honour, it seems to be engrained in him from upon birth and so because of that, Tora will allow Shini the chance to join the Crouching Tigers, provided that he can clear a test for him to pass given to him by Tora personally, it is a simple one and Tora expects great things from Shini from now on, he also expects him to be a good--no, a great friend to Akira, as just before the fight began, from the way they looked, they looked, as though they were the best of friends...or partners in crime, the latter of which shakes Shini nervously, believing that Tora caught onto Shini, however, the latter decides to put faith in the fact that he hasn't and will proceed onwards with the plan that he, Nezumi and Akira all came up with together, thanks to the conviction of Tora's words, Shini felt inspired and felt that Tora could be trusted, there was simply just no way that a man this chivalrous could be in league with the likes of Watatsumi, now Shini had to find that out about Kubo, Tora's 2nd and see if he could truly be trustworthy, as well, just then, the school bell rang, signalling that school was over for today, Tora comically notices this and says that he will catch Shini later, giving him the task they were speaking about tomorrow 1st break and with that, Tora dashed like a madman, causing Shini to have a comic deadpan look upon his face with a comedic sweat drop on the front of his forehead, however, Shini regained his resolve now and thanks to Tora, he thought about how Humans were strong beings and that Shini was only starting to notice this now, thanks to Hoshi, to Tora and to especially Akira himself, the one who bears the snake bearer and who has been Shini's partner since just yesterday in all of this, Shini thought to himself that all who are born, named and die Shinigami live, as Shinigami only according to Shinigami rules, they must eliminate evil, guide good spirits to the Sanzu River and continue this task over and over until the very end of time itself which is never-ending, having emotions would only get in the way of their work, as thinking and feeling exactly like a Human would would only compromise the eternal mission that they are given at birth and must work their way through throughout all of the durations of the entire lives until the day they die, however, Shini is starting to wonder would emotions really compromise the mission itself, starting to think otherwise after interacting with both Akira and the others, either way, Shini felt more stronger because of it and was determined to outdo both Akira and Tora and prove himself stronger, despite him looking in Human physical appearance a few years older then them, something that he was somehow able to convince the school that he was younger, at any rate, Shini was prepared to fulfil his role, as a Shinigami, find Watatsumi and bring him to Shinigami justice with the help of Nezumi-kami and especially Akira, as Shini then decided on where he would camp-out until tomorrow, trying to figure that out whilst walking out towards the school front gates, appearing from the shadows, lurking behind a school pillar was seen none other then Kubo Uehara himself, thinking to himself, as he lurked within the shadows, watching Shini leave the school... Somewhere, in the midst of the night, located somewhere both strange and mysterious was seen Nezumi, he was seen in a meditating pose with his eyes closed, telepathically communicating to someone elsewhere, this certain elsewhere was the spiritual world and the whereabouts Nezumi was trying to communicate to was namely Sanzaku town, home of all Shinigami and what lays on the front bedside of the Sanzu River, the town of Sanzaku was seen at the back of its small Japanese rural like village being connected to a giant bridge that the Shinigami named Sono Kyouryou Ue Sono Ryuuchou Mizu, translated, as The Bridge Above The Flowing Water, or otherwise named for short, as Sono Anshoku Kyouryou, translation The Dark-colour Bridge, this bridge earned its other name because of how jet/pitch black coloured it was and demonic looking in appearance, the bridge itself connected the back of Sanzaku to what looked like a both huge and old looking Japanese city, this city was named Yomi-no-kuni by the Shinigami and was to them, the imperial capital where all the good spirits are sent to live upon reaching the spiritual realm thanks to the help of the Shinigami themselves, it is the central spot within all of the spiritual world and where good spirits must go to live upon arriving in the spiritual realm whilst all of the Shinigami live in Sanzaku town, guarding the capital on the front bedside whilst it stands firmly on the back bedside of the Sanzu River, the Shinigami named the capital Yomi for short and the symbol of both the capital of Yomi and all of the Shinigami, together, as a working group back in Sanzaku representing them was a threefold Tomoe, the Tomoe itself represented three aspects, life, death and limbo, life belonged to the Human world, death belonged to the spiritual realm and limbo belonged to both the mortal realm and the spiritual world, it was said that limbo was the crossing of the two worlds intersecting with one another for brief moments, allowing in those brief moments for the Shinigami to do their job and collect good spirits to bring to the spiritual world whilst going to the mortal realm to eliminate all sorts and all kinds of evil that only they can handle with their maximum spiritual awareness powers, by doing this, the cycle of reincarnation can begin for the good spirits and the Shinigami are praised for their efforts by the citizens of Yomi, in other-words all of the good spirits that they had collected and had brought to Yomi to live there, thanking the Shinigami for all that they have done for them, the good spirits live in Yomi so that they can await reincarnation, given to them by the imperial king of Yomi-no-kuni, named Sono Sennen Seijin, the translation for that being The Millennium Sage, it is by the power of the sage and the sage alone who serves, as the king of Yomi that good spirits can receive reincarnation and can be reborn within the Human realm no matter how many years it takes, decades, centuries, you name it. At any rate, back to Nezumi in Sanzaku town, he was seen floating about in spiritual form with shining light blue coloured eyes, heading for what looked like a Buddhist temple at the highest small hill peak of the town, where there, Nezumi kneel down with his head bowing before in the presence of a both mighty and big looking man, almost causing him to resemble Buddha himself that Nezumi called by his name, as Kashira Sou Saishi Shinigami, Head Monk Priest Shinigami, the leader of all Shinigami that has served that position and still currently continues to do so in the last 2,999 years and was there at the battle with the Yamata no Orochi, he served, as a direct pupil to the very 1st generation of the Shinigami clan's both founder and leader who cut off all of the monster's eight tails and imprisoned the Yamata no Orochi by sealing it inside the snake bearer Katana, its both original and actual name being Orochi Keito, Orochi Prisoner, Kashira, as he preferred to be named for short was seen smoking in and blowing out from a Kiseru, he preferred to just chill and relax whilst giving out orders to the other higher ranking Shinigami in charge directly below him to in turn give to lower ranking Shinigami, Shini for example being one of them. Kashira wonders how things are going on in the Human world and if the lower ranking Shinigami that was sent to find Watatsumi and bring that person in has also killed the wielder of the Orochi Keito yet, Nezumi gulps at this without Kashira noticing for if the Head Monk Priest himself were to learn that both Shini and Nezumi himself were actually working with the wielder of the Orochi Keito then Kashira would send a higher ranking Shinigami to go and kill both Shini and Akira whilst Nezumi again himself would be killed by Kashira, since despite his lax nature on the outside, on the inside, Kashira is truly a beast to be reckoned with and not so lightly mind you, Kashira is so strong that he would kill all evil within the Human world itself with naught but just a single swing from his ten bladed scythe laying right behind Kashira whilst he was sitting down, very different in appearance to the normal one bladed scythes wielded by the rest of the Shinigami, not just because it has ten blades but because of its both immense and powerful aura, Nezumi knew that unlike all of the other Shinigami's scythes that were without names, this ten bladed scythe had a name, its name was Amenonuhoko and with it, Kashira could actually change the world orders of both the mortal realm and the spiritual realm if he so wanted to, the reason why he doesn't and why he hasn't eliminated all evil from the Human world to this day remains a mystery but Nezumi thinks it might have something to do with the cycle of reincarnation that the Shinigami monitor, in other-words, their job of bringing good spirits to live in Yomi whilst they await reincarnation from the king of the capital, at any rate, Nezumi was trying to keep quiet about the whole ordeal involving both Shini and Akira until the time was right, however, Kashira then throws a wrench into Nezumi's plans, he shockingly reveals to the small mouse god that he has sent another lower ranking Shinigami to keep an eye on the one that was sent previously to deal with Watatsumi, namely Shini, upon learning of this, Nezumi becomes horrified and believes he must return back to his physical form in the Human realm immediately to warn Shini, Kashira merely just strokes his long dark blue coloured beard with the prayer breads he is wearing around his neck becoming slightly moved up and down from the stroking, he wonders if Nezumi is allright or if something is bothering his dear old mouse friend, however, Nezumi assures Kashira whilst putting on a brave face that everything is allright and that there is nothing to worry about, Nezumi knows he can't ask Kashira to rescind the more enforcement backup for the Watatsumi matter because once Kashira's mind is made up, its made up with no way whatsoever of changing it, Nezumi can only hope that things will go smoothly despite the bleakness of the current situation, meanwhile, in the Human world, a young woman with dark blue coloured long hair in a ponytail could be seen eating a stick full of Takoyaki whilst carrying and leaning a Shinigami's scythe upon her right shoulder before lastly grinning to herself, saying that she could feel that she was now in for one heck of a ride from this point onwards and with that, the screen blacks out, making people wonder what will happen next...? It was the next day, Akira suddenly awoke and found himself back in his room once more after losing consciousness, just like the day before yesterday, as Akira tries to remember and make sense of what happened exactly yesterday, he recalls the fist fight with Shini and of how he badmouthed Akira by accident, upon remembering this, Akira looks down upon his bed sheets covering him up, looking glum, suddenly, the bandage upon his forehead falls off and upon seeing it, Akira is shocked to see that it was there to begin with, he suddenly had a mental image of Hoshi inside of his mind, sensing that this bandage was done up by her, he could sense her spiritual power inside of the bandage and it appears that she used her Miko powers to bless the bandage with power, enough so that Akira's spiritual wounds would heal and in turn, this would heal his physical wounds, as well, this technique had apparently done the trick, as Akira got up from out of his bed and felt like his entire body was better then before, in fact, it felt like it was entirely brand new, upon getting out of bed, he comically then realised something and checked to see if he was wearing pants or not, thank goodness he was, however, he was then reminded of Shini and had wondered what had happened to him after the fight concluded, just then, very shockingly, a voice from out of nowhere spoke to Akira, calling him a useless idiot, as Akira tried to identity where the voice was coming from he then looked upon his left arm and in both shock and horror, he saw that it turned into that of a snake, this snake was shown with green coloured fire emitting both from and around its eyes, as well, as at the tip of its hissing tongue. The snake called Akira a useless idiot and said to him that he was not worthy of its power, this causes Akira to suddenly realise that the snake that was speaking towards him was none other then the Yamata no Orochi itself in physical form, using his left arm to speak with him, to keep the name short for Akira, the snake, the Orochi just tells Akira to simply call it Hebi and that Hebi was both the Yamata no Orochi itself in physical form and at the same time, it was not, it was rather just one of the eight tails that make up the Orochi and that the actual Orochi itself would not appear until it had taken over exactly eight parts of Akira's body, just like the left arm its using now for example, Hebi says that the Orochi must first take over the left arm, then the right arm, followed by the left leg, then the right leg, that makes four parts, as for the other four, three snakes would appear from behind Akira and form tail like body parts all together and finally, the eighth and final snake would take over Akira's entire head, completing the full transformation into a Humanoid Yamata no Orochi, Akira was not pleased upon hearing all of this at all whatsoever, especially after hearing the legend about the Orochi when it was fighting the Shinigami back 3000 years ago, not to mention Akira didn't want this to happen to him at all whatsoever to begin with obviously, he asked the Hebi just how did it both manifest and take over his left arm, the Hebi reveals that because Akira has already transformed into Orochi twice now, partially and/or fully, it did not matter either way, Hebi was able to form because of that and now he states that he intends to take over Akira's entire body until eventually there is nothing left of him, Yamata no Orochi will be reborn anew from using a Human body and finally, fully be free of the snake bearer Katana that has kept it imprisoned for so very, very long--however, just then, comically, Akira grabs the Hebi's hissing tongue, telling it to shut up and tell him how to get rid of Hebi, now knowing its intentions but the Hebi refuses to speak, which at the current moment it actually can't ironically, only able to mumble of which Akira can hear that there is no stopping the transformation and even if there was, why would Hebi tell Akira, Akira then replies because if he doesn't then Hebi is going to have to face up to some very mean and very spirited Shinigami which of whom are just dying to kill the snake bearer wielder and if Akira goes down by confessing then Hebi will go down too, since the Hebi is apart of Akira and cannot separate from him so easily, upon realising this, Akira lets go of the Hebi's tongue and it replies that it has no choice then and it will have to obey its temporary master, until the time is right that it can fight back it thinks to itself comically without Akira knowing, the snake proceeds to say to Akira that, as long, as he doesn't give into rage and/or hatred of all kinds then the transformation will slowly revert and not only will Hebi disappear but also, it will go straight back into the snake bearer and not crawl its way up through Akira's body, trying to take him over and transform him completely into the Orochi. Akira despite being hesitant about how to proceed with this agrees and promises that he won't do wrong by Hebi if he doesn't do wrong by Akira, which slightly surprises the snake but nevertheless agrees to Akira's terms, upon hearing Akira's mother Miyako knocking on his door, checking to see if he is awake and especially allright or not, Akira panics about what to do with Hebi, as he was still controlling his left arm and there wasn't any time for Hebi to spiritually disappear, back inside of Akira's body, as Miyako enters, she comically finds herself with a shocked expression, as Akira has a long sock covering his entire left arm, she wonders what Akira was doing with the sock, as he says that its not what she thinks before she then screams out loud, causing Akira to call out mom, not wanting her to get the wrong idea, at the breakfast table, Miyako whilst eating something with chopsticks comically tells Akira that not once but twice he has done what young man do at his age in the last few days altogether, she says to Akira that she is honestly exasperated from it all and just wishes that Akira would keep it to himself, Akira comically tells his mom to shut up, saying that again it was so not like that, however, Shinra, Akira's father tells the two to shut up and come pray to Shino's altar before Akira heads out to school, after doing the usual praying once more, Akira heads out from home to school and wonders what happened to Shini after Akira fainted from the fight, did the former succeed in getting into the Crouching Tigers and convince Tora, only going to school would tell Akira the answers he wanted--that he needed to, despite his mother trying to hold him back from going to school today because of what happened yesterday, Akira nevertheless persevered and moved forward, determined to see his goals through right to the very end. Upon reaching the usual corner that goes around and leads to his school, Akira accidentally bumped into someone, it was none other then Hoshi, after bumping into one another, Akira sees Hoshi and whilst getting up, he looks at something that he really shouldn't have, causing Hoshi to wonder where Akira was looking whilst averting his gaze more or less, as he was blushing very badly, she then realized where Akira was looking and whilst letting out a big shriek, she comically slaps him on the right cheek, causing him to wonder why does he have such bad luck with women, after the small fiasco that just occurred, the two walk to school next to one another together, remaining silent, as they faced away from one another, the two of them both knowing and recalling the fight from just yesterday and wondering what the other person is currently thinking about the other walking alongside them, it was then that Hoshi broke the silence and revealed that she was waiting for Akira, Akira solemnly replies that he sees and Hoshi asks Akira why did he get into a fight with that horrible person, by that horrible person, she meant Shini, Akira says to Hoshi that its none of her business in a cold and brooding manner but she replies that its exactly her business, she cares about Akira, they used to date one another, they have known each ever since they were just kids and that she has every right to care about Akira because...she still loves him she says, Akira then grits his teeth before angrily replying that all of those reasons have nothing to do with her, she has no right butting into Akira's life simply because she loves him, that's no excuse, Akira says to Hoshi that he just wishes she would just shut up and leave him alone and especially stopping clinging to the past, Hoshi covers her mouth upon hearing all of this before in anger, she slaps Akira's other cheek and telling him to fine be that way before running off, crying in both frustration and sadness, after feeling the slap of Hoshi's hand on his left cheek, Akira stops for a moment and says to himself in silence that he is sorry to Hoshi but he cannot, will not endanger her exactly the way that he is now with the Hebi, Watatsumi, everything, once all is said and done, Akira intends to apologize to Hoshi once everything is all over, though, Akira lastly thinks to himself that that may not be even enough to apologize for what he's done to her, she may not forgive Akira at all now at this point, because of the argument just now, Akira suddenly recalls how he called things off with Hoshi back in their final year of middle school together, it was at night and it was raining...it was the day before the graduation from middle school. The night before graduation both Akira and Hoshi decided to pay their respects to Shino at her grave with Wisteria, her favourite kind of plants, only to find a group of delinquents from their school messing up all the flowers of the graves of people who previously had spiritual awareness in their lifetimes, Shinra and Miyako previously visited Shino's grave before and that was the last grave stone with flowers that the delinquents proceeded to ruin, upon seeing this, Akira and Hoshi tried to stop them but to no avail, as the two fought against the delinquents and failed, they recognized both Akira and Hoshi, as the number one freak and the number one most popular girl of their school respectively, as they proceeded to harm Akira, beating him up and leaving him both bloody and battered, Hoshi proceeded to try and scream out for someone nearby to hear, only to fail, as there was no one nearby and so, the delinquents, believing that they had won and had the upper advantage decided that they would both cripple Akira so that he would never walk again, just like his father whilst having in front of him dark fun with Hoshi, as the leader of the delinquents that the rest of them called him by his name, known, as Koji Masasawa proceeded to lick his lips and squeeze Hoshi's face, preparing to do unspeakable evil to her with the rest of the delinquents following his lead and proceeding to hurt Akira so badly that he would never be able to show his face in front of anyone ever again, not even Hoshi after this, who Koji planned to spare after having his way with her, intending to make her live with the shame, something he found laughable, as both he and the rest of the delinquents proceeded to start laughing whilst Hoshi started crying, unable to escape Koji's grip, suddenly, Akira, upon seeing Hoshi in danger, felt, as though he was entering a trance and upon his body taking control of its own without Akira's commands, he snapped one of the delinquents bullying him's fingers, breaking it by snapping it exactly like a twig in half before proceeding to make moves with his footwork, looking, as though he was moving exactly like a martial artist would, using drunken fist style fighting, Akira fought against all of the delinquents, hitting their pressure points within inside their bodies from their outside, hitting like their kidneys, their lungs, their hearts, etc, causing them to become paralysed and unable to move whatsoever, looking exactly like strange pieces of artwork laying on the ground with their bodies all messed up despite being able to still feel their body parts moving, Koji notices this and proceeds to leave Hoshi alone and now focus all of his attention on Akira alone, Koji reveals that he is an up and coming prized champion boxer in middle school, as he takes off both his school coat and shirt, leaving the coat to land on someone's grave disrespectfully, as Koji tells Akira that he doesn't stand a chance against his Right Golden Eagle's Claw Fist, in other-words, Koji had a mean right hook and wasn't even the slightest bit concerned and/or afraid of the consequences that he might kill Akira with his right fist, as Hoshi screamed for Akira to run and escape, he wouldn't, he said Hoshi's name whilst still in a trance, unable to focus his mind properly and instead, solely focus on Koji, subconsciously intending to make him pay for all that he has done. Koji seemed slightly unnerved by Akira's movements, to Koji, he felt like he was seeing a huge python move right in front of him but nevertheless, Koji convinced himself that he was a eagle in that case, both a bird and a predator and what do the latter do when they see snakes? they grab them and then eat them for food, Koji was determined to do the same to Akira more or less, grab him and then actually kill him, Koji would say to himself inside of his head that he would use his famous, rich and powerful Masasawa family connections to cover up Akira's death, hide and dispose of the body whilst having other uses for Hoshi, inside Koji's mind, he had it all planned out until suddenly, he saw a visual of a giant eight tailed serpent behind Akira's back and upon seeing it, Koji became so scared, as hell that he accidentally wet his pants, he nevertheless tried to attack Akira with his right punch but Akira then grabbed the fist within a tight grip and smashed all of the bones within the hand, causing Koji immense and utter pain, suddenly, Akira's voice pitch starting getting lower and he then started talking like he was a completely different person, he released a huge amount of spiritual awareness power aura distribution that brought back to life the Wisteria flowers that he and Hoshi were planning on placing upon Shino's grave earlier after they were crushed by both Koji and his men whilst slowly knocking out Hoshi, causing her to faint and not watch the rest of the fight unfold and whilst causing Koji to become afraid completely, entirely for the very 1st time in his life, wondering if he was going to die here, he proceeded to continue wetting his pants until Akira slowly walked towards Koji, cornering him, shocking him and terrifying him right out of his mind by simply saying the word boo to him, Akira whilst he was possessed by this unknown spiritual force had said to Koji to never, ever lay a hand on the graves of the dead and especially Hoshi ever, EVER again, otherwise...the snake will swallow the eagle whole and whilst digesting it, it will show the eagle inside the snake's body who the true, REAL predator is, Akira wanted Koji to nod his head if he knew, Koji nodded fast both back and forth and promised by giving his word that he would no longer harm Akira and/or his friends ever, EVER again, they would leave the graveyard alone and never, ever come back, Koji gave his solemn vow whilst begging Akira to spare him, not wanting to die, Akira whilst possessed remained silent for a moment before telling Koji to get his men, leave this place and never come back, not...ever...as Koji complied, he gathered up the rest of the delinquents and they then all left upon seeing the eight tailed serpent visual behind Akira's back, as it hissed, this was enough to cause them to run away in fear, never ever coming back to the graveyard, Akira saw Koji had left behind his coat on one of the graves and, as he went to take the coat off from the grave to give it proper respect, he saw the name Musha Kokoromaru on the grave's head stone, it was the name of Hoshi's father, who although she wasn't bringing flowers for him today was still going to pay her respects to him after paying her respects to Akira's sister Shino, Akira saw Hoshi unconscious and had proceeded to carry her out of the graveyard, but not before lastly placing the Wisteria flowers Shino loved during her time when she was alive upon her grave, after placing the flowers on the grave, Akira proceeded to carry Hoshi out of the graveyard and although it seemed that no one was there, it turns out that Tora was actually there, hiding the whole time, he arrived just around the time when Akira had started transforming and was possessed into a trance by an unknown entity, Tora could sense this, coming from a family full of spiritually aware people, although Tora could not see the spirit, he nevertheless sensed its presence and knew that something was going on with Akira, something big...something, sinister...a few hours had passed and it was daytime, Akira and Hoshi were seen laying next to a riverbank nearby the graveyard with Hoshi rested very well and safely protected by Akira upon a bench whilst Akira laid next to her on the ground right next to the bench, as Hoshi was seen facing Akira's feet up above, the latter was seen facing the former's feet down below, the two resting peacefully, as though nothing had ever happened...it was then that they were found and awoken by a passing police night officer, things would continue from there and both Akira and Hoshi would return to their respective homes to be scolded by their parents for being out all night and especially not having contacted them during that time at all whatsoever, making them worried sick about what could have possibly happened to them, Akira and Hoshi assured their parents that they were both fine but that for some both strange and mysterious reason, the two of them cannot recall what had happened to them previously whilst they were delivering the Wisteria flowers to Shino's grave and paying their respects to both her and Musha, this was just the beginning for the two of them, as from here on, things would grow tough and then tougher...it was the day of graduation from middle school, Hoshi was the leading representative to give the final farewell parting speech to everyone that each other studied alongside one another throughout all their years of middle school, now finally moving on to high school, the very next step into their journey both into and of adulthood, as Hoshi whilst saying the speech wondered what Akira wanted to talk to her about something after the final graduation meeting had ended, as he had a very stern look upon his face... As everyone heads out to their respective exits both inside and outside of the school, Akira stands below a Sakura cherry blossom tree, awaiting Hoshi, he recalls that it was at this very tree that he asked Hoshi to become his girlfriend during their 2nd year of middle school to which Hoshi gladly accepted with no doubt in her heart whatsoever, as Akira happily recalls this, he then shows a solemn look upon his face, as Hoshi appears and asks why does Akira look so glum, Akira says to Hoshi that the reason he called her out here beneath the cherry tree was because he wanted to talk about last night, does Hoshi recall anything at all whatsoever about what just happened exactly last night, Hoshi twists and turns her head, as she says she can't remember, Akira then says himself that he has vague images, vague memories of what happened and because of these vague images and memories, he feels absolutely terrible about them and...wants to break up with Hoshi because of them, Hoshi couldn't hear what Akira just said to her, she asked what was that you just said Akira and he replied again that he wants to break up, Hoshi could not believe what Akira just said to her, she asks on what grounds and what purpose does Akira want to break up with her all of a sudden, especially since graduation is over and now they have the whole summer to themselves--however Akira stops Hoshi right there, saying that he feels that he will endanger her if she stays close to him like she has done always at all times that is until up to now at this very point in time, he feels that his spiritual awareness nearly cost Hoshi something last night and that not wanting to ever feel that very same type of feeling again, he wants to protect Hoshi by breaking up with her, Hoshi reminds Akira that she has spiritual awareness too albeit not, as strong, as Akira's and that she wants to stay by his side no matter what, she truly, earnest, honestly loves Akira and does not want to be apart from him, she says that she can handle herself in a fight since she learned karate martial arts here at school, however Akira is adamant, saying to Hoshi its not about holding one's own in a fight and/or whatever but about what affects both parties of a couples' relationship and thus, wanting to protect Hoshi no matter what, Akira is willing to go, as far, as cutting off all ties to Hoshi, their friendship for example, everything, Hoshi is distraught by this news and upon hearing that Akira will do this no matter what, learning and knowing exactly the type of man that he is better then anyone else, Hoshi proceeds to kick Akira where a man should not be kicked and leave, giving him merely a hmph whilst turning around before running away in tears, as she places her hands upon her face whilst running, Akira sees Hoshi's back run in slow motion, as he thinks about her... We now return to the present where Akira realizes that the reason that he actually dumped Hoshi in the first place was because of his Orochi powers, he calls upon Hebi currently residing in his left arm and says to him why the hell did he choose Akira, as Yamata no Orochi's vessel, Hebi replies that he cannot answer that, for he himself is only apart of the bigger snake itself and not even its attachments know what both the main mind and the main body are thinking, all Hebi knows is that Akira is the vessel for Orochi, no more, no less, before Akira asks the reason, as to why it helped him that night stop Koji and his goons from hurting Hoshi, Hebi again says that he does not know, only that Orochi acted on pure instinct when that happened, something that it would never normally do out of the blue or rather would never ever do, given its personality, causing Akira to grit his teeth and get angry, shouting at Hebi, saying then why the hell is all this currently happening now!? does this have something to do with spiritually aware people!? is this the real reason why my sister died that night!? it wasn't a normal accident!? tell me! TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!! shouted Akira, as he started panting after shouting out so loud, Hebi then remains silent and proceeds to go back to sleep, causing Akira to say that he is not done with the snake living within his left arm just yet, however, despite all that he tried to do, it was no use, Akira could not get Hebi to answer any further questions or even awaken for that matter...Akira was furious, as he said damn it all before then recalling Shini, Akira says to himself that its because of that no good Shinigami bastard that things ended up the way that they currently did, just then, a young woman bumps into him from behind, a young woman with long dark blue coloured hair in a ponytail, Akira apologizes if he himself had bumped into the young woman, however the young woman herself had actually bumped into Akira on purpose, upon closer inspection of the young woman's face, Akira is very shocked to find that this young woman resembles a female version of Shini exactly right down to the very last bit of her entire body, she was then seen both summoning and wielding her scythe before drawing its blade right around Akira's neck, wondering if he is the one that wields the Orochi Keito, the snake bearer... Shini is seen yawning whilst coming out of a market store, stocking up for supplies to eat at school, since its not yet time to go just yet, its then that shockingly crashing right into his face from the sky was Nezumi, saying to Shini that they have a problem, a rather big, HUGE problem! Shini wonders what Nezumi is going on about until sensing aura distribution of spiritual awareness powers being emitted somewhere nearby, Shini recognizes the aura pattern and could not believe who it was, elsewhere, Akira confronts the female Shinigami, who had him at blade point, he asked her what was her name and she replied huh? isn't that obvious? i'm Shinigami, A Shinigami, not like the half-assed guy that you've been hanging around with...Orochimaru, said the female Shinigami shockingly, as she called Akira by the name of Orochimaru all of a sudden, what did that mean and what did she mean by Orochi Keito, as well? since he did not know the true name of the snake bearer since both Nezumi and Shini felt that there was no need to reveal the true name of the snake bearer, not even the title of Orochimaru either, just both who and what the hell is this young woman Akira said, she said huh? are your ears deaf? i already told you, my name is Shinigami and i am a Shinigami! dolt!! now then, prepare...to die Orochimaru vessel!! said the female Shinigami, as just when she was about to lop off Akira's head by pulling down her scythe upon it, suddenly, very shockingly appearing from out of nowhere, blocking the female Shinigami's scythe with his very own scythe was none other then Shini himself! this was the 1st time Shini and Akira had met with one another since their fight the other day, Akira was both very shocked and very surprised to see that Shini had arrived out of the blue, protecting the red haired young man from the female Shinigami's fatal attack, this causes the female Shinigami to move back a bit and rethink her strategy whilst fighting Shini, as Akira looks on at Shini, prepared to say something to him, Shini merely says that he is sorry, sorry for all the hurtful things that he said yesterday during their fist fight, he apologizes to Akira and will continue to apologize more then a thousand times more, that is, after until both Shini and Akira work together to defeat the female Shinigami, seeing new conviction within Shini's eyes, like he was a completely changed man from yesterday, Akira merely smirks after pausing for a moment to take in everything, saying that he expects a full blown out big, HUGE apology once more from Shini after the two work together to take down the female Shinigami, the female Shinigami takes this, as an act from Shini that he is a traitor now, allying himself with the one who bares the title of Orochimaru, however, Shini does not care, saying that it was this Human in particular who taught him more about honour and for that, he thanks Akira but putting that matter aside for the moment, he asks what is the female Shinigami doing here of all places? Nezumi proceeds to answer that question, she was sent to back Shini up with his mission involving Watatsumi and eliminate the Orochi Keito Katana wielder, however, now knowing of both Shini and Nezumi's deception, the female Shinigami intends to report back to the Shinigami high council, the Shinigami Seven, as they are both named and called, led by their leader, the head of all Shinigami themselves, Kashira, the only one to wield a ten bladed scythe, however, Akira refuses to let Gami have her way and let that happen, not wanting to die anytime soon and at all, catching everyone, especially Gami comically off-guard by what Akira just called her, Shini with a comic deadpan look asks Akira why he called her Gami just now, Akira says that its because he was the 1st Shinigami to have met, thus Shini and now she is the 2nd Shinigami to have met, thus Gami, as everyone talks about Gami's new name, Gami shows a comedic angry look upon her face, telling Akira to take that name back, however, Akira refuses to do so, instead making an annoying expression towards Gami using his fingers and his nose, this causes Gami to be disgusted by Akira and she says that this has now sullied the great title that is both Shinigami and her name, the only name alone that she will ever carry in this lifetime and that she cannot understand why Shini has allowed himself to give into Human emotions and take on such a ridiculous name like Shini, Shini says that he doesn't know but that he now quite prefers both Shini and Shinji, the latter his high school and overall Human identity name, this further enrages Gami, as Akira becomes even more surprised by Shini's sudden change of character, considering that it has only been just a single day since the fist fight yesterday, Akira was curious about what this new Shini was like, however, Nezumi assured Akira that Shini still likes to sleep in bed without pants, something Akira says comically that he didn't really need to know that, as he looks towards the screen, finally, Gami was about to make her move and attack both Akira and Shini, the two prepared themselves, as the former entered his Orochi mode, his red hair lighting on fire once more with blue patches emerging inside parts of the hair, Gami was taken aback by this, as this now confirmed that she was dealing with the vessel of the Orochi Keito, the Orochimaru, the name given to those who are the vessels that wield the snake bearer, Shini warns Akira that he knows this female Shinigami and that she is not one to be taken so very lightly with, he warns Akira to stay on his guard, Akira however says to Shini that he doesn't plan on losing to a woman today, since he has already lost to a woman today, in other-words, Akira is referring to Hoshi and of how he hurt her feelings once again... Speaking of whom, we see Hoshi standing in front of the gates leading to Yamato, having finally dried up her tears a little whilst noting to herself that she has been making a very bad habit of crying so much lately, as whilst she tries to figure things out inside her mind about everything, we then see a both strange and mysterious stalker standing both right above and right behind her, it was revealed to be Kubo! of whom had a stern look upon his face, Hoshi does not notice his presence, as Kubo proceeds to reach out an arm towards her from behind, meanwhile, the battle between both Akira and Shini against Gami finally begins! Gami, seeing, as how it is a two on one fight mocks her opponents, saying to them can't they go easy on her since she's a woman? Akira says to Gami considering that Gami has a petite figure, she looks more like a child then an actual grown woman, something that enrages Gami, as she reveals that she is conscious about not looking so womanly like both Hoshi and especially Trishiki for examples whilst Akira asks Shini will this affect both him and his code of honour fighting both a fellow Shinigami and especially a woman since Gami did make a fair point, Gami regains her composure and then wonders what Shini's answer will be, wishing to hear it, for a moment Shini's expression goes unnoticed before he looks up towards Gami and says to Akira that it will not since it is because Gami is both a fellow Shinigami and a woman that his code of honour demands Shini that he sees Gami, as an equal and not just someone of the opposite sex, Gami remains silent at this for a moment before then smiling like a mad fool, saying to Shini good answer for someone who's such a weakling amongst the rest of the Shinigami unlike herself, she reveals that she is part of Sono Ashi Kari Ninmu Buryoku, The Evil Hunting Task Force, otherwise named, as Sono Kaigaishii, The Gallant, a group of courageous Shinigami willing to risk their very lives themselves to put down those of evil itself and that right now, she will uphold her very own version of justice and strike down the traitors Shini and Nezumi-kami, as well, as kill the Orochimaru, Akira, in the name of the title of the Shinigami who bares the leadership of The Gallant, his title named Jiraiya, Jiraiya of The Gallant, upon hearing this name, Akira felt something within his body, something, not right...seeing what was happening with Akira, as he felt his entire body was feeling more or less woozy, unable to control its balance, something Shini immediately notices and calls out Akira's name, Gami smirked at this and proceeded to use this, as both a distraction and a diversion to go in and immediately cut off Akira's neck, not enough time for Shini to block Gami's attack again like before, as he desperately tries to move in and save Akira before it's too late... Gami says to Akira before just about to attack him with her scythe that all Orochimaru vessels deserve to die, such is, as their both poor and terrible fates, as Gami says in that manner, something that she found slight sadism in, as she showed a slight evil grinning expression upon her face whilst she was then about to suddenly attack Akira by the neck, Shini unable to make it in time, shouting out Akira's name, wanting him to regain consciousness and save himself quickly before it was too late which it just seemed like it already was...suddenly, very shockingly, stopping the blade of the scythe before it could reach its target was a snake biting on the actual blade of the scythe or more accurately, it was none other then Hebi! stretching from Akira's left arm to protect him from being killed, very shocking everyone currently present, baring witness to this event, as Hebi tells Akira off and helps him regain consciousness, saying not to doze off during a fight or else they will both be killed! Hebi says that he will agree to lend Akira its full strength just this one time, since they are up against a Shinigami and upon calculating everything within the inside of his head, not to mention sharing a telepathic link with Hebi's mind, since Hebi himself is apart of Akira's body, the two agree to become partners in this battle and stop Gami before she goes on a rampage, Akira and Hebi with the latter returning back into Akira's left arm and then transforming his Katana wielding left hand into Hebi's head proceeds to swing Akira's Katana straight upwards at Gami, unleashing a very powerful Kagu-tsuchi technique attack, however, this was no ordinary Kagu-tsuchi, as covering all around the black flames that were the Kagu-tsuchi technique on-top of them were green flames, as Akira shockingly showed his red hair on fire turning into green hair on fire and the blue patches on the hair proceeded to extend further across Akira's entire body, almost, as though they were exactly like snake body markings, Gami is caught off guard by this sudden transformation and wonders how could a mere Human suddenly transform so far into an Orochi state, Akira proceeds to end things off by saying the name of this variation of his of the Kagu-tsuchi technique named Kagu-tsuchi: Doku Kasai Hebi Shikon!! which took on the form of both black and green flames combined to form what looked like a snake's poisonous fang, using it to catch Gami by her left arm before being lastly followed by a huge, giant explosion for people even without spiritual awareness to see, wondering just what the heck had just happened just now, what was that within the sky just a few seconds ago, amongst the people thinking this was Tora, sitting on his assigned class chair in his, Akira and Shini's classroom, looking outside the window, as he wondered just what the hell was that and was it Akira acting up again like he did before at the graveyard at that one time that night, Tora couldn't be sure what to make of it but nevertheless, he decided to sit this one out, hoping nothing bad would come of it, as Jinnosube notices Tora's reaction and merely smirks to himself that things seemed to be going according to Watatsumi's designs...that was the impression Jinnosube was giving off from himself, at the student council classroom, both Ryu and Trish could also sense and see what was going on through outside the window, the huge black cloud that looked like the aftermath of an explosion within the sky, Ryu tightly held his pencil on his pad before accidentally shattering it into small pieces which Trish notices, showing that just like his younger brother Tora, the elder brother Ryu was also unnerved by what just happened, unable to comprehend it... After a huge gust of wind suddenly appears and brushes away the huge black cloud of smoke that the explosion caused upon impact with Gami within the sky, Akira is then seen both completely and utterly drained of his energy, falling on both his knees and then his hands towards the ground with Shini going to Akira's side, as he calls out Akira's name and asks him if he is allright whilst he huffs and puffs badly a little before replying by saying Shini's name and saying to him that he is, although he is completely spent, he will have to skip school today because of what just happened, Shini for a moment pauses before then asking the question about the snake suddenly appearing from Akira's left arm, saving him when it did, not to mention it proceeded to transform into the arm itself when Akira launched his attack just now at Gami, Akira goes silent for a few seconds before he was about to say something--however, stopping Akira from saying another word was Gami, shockingly emerging from the explosion of the attack, as she was just able to survive it, she says in anger you...you...YOU...I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE TO MY HAIR!? ITS RUINED!! NOW ITS SHORT!! I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!! shouted out Gami, as the back of her ponytail was missing, meaning that she lost her long hair within the explosion of the attack and now is hellbent on revenge against Akira for destroying her long hair, just before she can lift up her scythe and prepare to use a variation of Kagu-tsuchi named Homusubi on Akira despite Shini standing in Gami's way, suddenly, Gami felt her entire body more or less going numb, as she then noticed that upon her left arm there was a scrape, a bruise emitting a small, tiny, itty bitty green flame on it, she shouted out just what the hell was this and then she heard a voice coming from Akira, it was Hebi using Akira's tongue to speak to the young Shinigami woman, saying to her that the Kagu-tsuchi that Akira used on her a few moments ago is no normal Kagu-tsuchi, it was a Kagu-tsuchi embedded with the power of the Yamata no Orochi, the technique that was combined with Akira's Kagu-tsuchi was named Doku Kasai Hebi Shikon, which translates, as Poison Fire Snake Fang and that the ability of the Poison Fire allows whoever it touches upon skin contact to be affected by a poison belonging to the Orochi, every time the Snake Fang is used, a new poison is randomly chosen each time to attack and effect the victim and upon the makeup of the victim's physical/spiritual body, a different poison could be activated and mixed with the opponent's body, giving that opponent like fatal instant death for example, however, it appears that from the random poison that has mixed with Gami's body due to her physiology, the poison she merely gained was fatal instant paralysis or otherwise named fatal instant numbness, depending on how long the fight had lasted, the poison's numbing effect should only work on Gami for about 48 hours precisely, since the fight didn't go on that very long, if it did, the effect of the poison would have worn off and Akira would have been in some dead serious trouble, this is Hebi's way of protecting both Akira and himself, though the former clarifies that it was simply just trying to protect itself and is only merely using its respective vessel, something that Akira thinks about upon hearing the words of the Hebi speaking using his tongue, suddenly, his tongue goes back to normal without warning, meaning that Hebi has done talking with Gami and has decided to leave the rest up to both Akira himself and the others. Judging from what the snake had said, Shini had surmised that the green flame still lit on Gami's arm is what is sapping her strength and by doing this, any and all attacks that she would try to use on Akira and Shini now would have no effect whatsoever, even if it was a fully powered Kagu-tsuchi, the technique would have no effect, at least not for the next 48 hours and so before Gami could even think of having the chance to escape and inform Sanzaku town of the events that have occurred just now, Shini uses a special type of spirit binding rope named Seirei Mizu Sakujou, Spirit Water Rope, draped in the waters of the Sanzu River which have a nullifying effect on all Shinigami powers and use it to restrain Gami, binding her arms, legs and mouth and causing to fall to the ground, Akira says that that was a bit sudden and he should show a little mercy to a defeated opponent, especially since that opponent is a Shinigami just like Shini, however, Shini, remembering Tora's words tells Akira to not complain of his victory and of how they deal with their opponent afterwards, they chose to fight Gami and thus, they have no right to complain about what happens next, Akira is shocked to hear this upon hearing these words, he realizes that Shini has talked with Tora since this is something Tora would most definitely say, having heard these similar words once himself from the leader of the Crouching Tigers. Gami tries to struggle out of her binding but fails to do so, Shini walks over to her and kneels down, removing her mouth binding, she says to Shini that she will kill him and snake boy for this once the green flame has died out and that once Sanzaku has heard of what has transpired, Gami looks to Nezumi and tells him that he will be stripped of his Kami, God status and even if he is the oldest spiritual familiar tied to a Shinigami, namely Kashira of all people himself, he and the rest of the Shinigami Seven will not stand for it and the Seven will send either a member of The Gallant or one of the Seven themselves to deal with Akira and all those related to him with his spiritual awareness, regardless if they are Kokoromarus, the Mikos who have faithfully served and helped the Shinigami all this time, just because of one of their relatives being tied to Akira himself, the whole family will be both immediately tried and executed just because of his crimes and his crimes when they had had absolutely nothing to do with it whatsoever, upon hearing this, Akira gets angry at Gami, saying that if he dares threaten Hoshi and her family, Akira will make the Shinigami pay if this is what they are truly like on the inside and with their personalities, Shini says Akira's name before going mute from the whole conversation, sensing and realizing Akira's pent up rage and anger towards Gami's threat, as Gami wonders how Akira can back up his own words with his own threat, Akira says to her that he doesn't need any backing, he'll just swear to it, swear to himself that he will take all of the corrupt Shinigami and make them pay for involving lives to be trialed and then simply killed off just like that when they have nothing to do whatsoever with the crimes of a/the person they are connected to one way and/or another, the Shinigami are supposed to be the guides of good spirits and eliminate all evil, isn't that correct? if so...WHY THE HELL ARE THEY HURTING INNOCENT PEOPLE!? shouted out Akira, not understanding their laws and their motives, something that very clearly shocks Shini, as even Gami herself gets slightly taken aback by this, not knowing how to reply, as all she could do was look upon Akira's face and see his earnest, truthful expressions and very real anger about what Gami had just said to him, wondering if this man was truly the vessel both of and for the Yamata no Orochi, the very enemy of all Shinigami since time began for their people in the spiritual world, upon seeing him more up close and taking a very good look at what kind of person Akira truly is and who both Shini and Nezumi-kami know him to be, Gami starts to wonder about just who in the hell is this man who changed a single Shinigami, one she has known for over 100 years exactly that was completely dedicated to his work like all other Shinigami and would have not even hesitated in killing the vessel of the Yamata no Orochi and all of the people connected to that vessel in one way and/or another before, who...just who truly was Akira Kenichi? the man that is the vessel of the Eight-Forked Serpent itself. Gami recalls a flashback from when she first met Shini about over 100 years ago exactly in the spiritual world, in Sanzaku town, Gami was seen with her long hair but without the ponytail and Shini was seen with long hair himself, it was here at Sanzaku town that Gami met Shini for the very first time and thought to herself how cold looking he appeared, it was almost, as though that he was both completely and utterly emotionless, however, this made Shini in both Gami and every other Shinigami's eyes the very most perfect Shinigami without equal whatsoever, as both according to and per the law of the Shinigami clan, they were not allowed to show any kind of emotions, as that would disrupt their mission within the Human world, however, this was not to say that the Shinigami weren't allowed to express emotion, only that it not get in the way of the mission but to Shini, the mission was at all times and so at all times, he remained emotionless, not even showing the least bit of a smile and/or shedding a tear when sad in the very slightest, he was dedicated to the mission and the mission only, this made Gami give high praise towards Shini who was known by his fellow Shinigami, as named Sono Nashini Reikon Shinigami, The Without Soul Shinigami, during the time he bore this title, he completed all of his tasks without end and without error, showing that he truly had the markings and the makings of a true born, pure blooded Shinigami, however, for some reason that remains unknown to Gami to this very day, Shini had lost the title of Sono Nashini Reikon Shinigami and had started exhibiting emotions, stating that he now had a personal code of honour unlike before when honour didn't even matter to him, this certain symptom to both her and the other Shinigami first started to appear over 50 years ago exactly, Shini was assigned a mission that he took on without caring about the details, however, upon coming back from said mission, Shini was seen all both bloodied and battered from the very top of his head to the very bottom of his feet, carrying a dead good spirit young woman's body within his arms and with tears falling down from Shini's very eyelids, Gami was shocked by this sudden event and had wondered just what the hell had happened to Shini, who was the deceased young woman that he was seen carrying within his hands very tightly and most especially above all else, why did this change the way Shini previously was from being the perfect Shinigami to a mediocre one, now no longer held high in praise and instead thought less of by his Shinigami peers, Gami just could not understand the reason behind Shini's sudden change, even after 50 years, even now, as she looked at him, his eyes brimming with emotion, the very thing a Shinigami is exactly not to have whilst during a mission... Gami asks Shini how can he now be the way that he currently is and not the way that he was before, before coming back from that certain mission, Shini knows what Gami is talking about and tells her that he can never go back to the way that he was before, as he has now lost faith in that version of Shini himself, Gami doesn't understand what Shini means by that version of him, its then that Akira interrupts the conversation, saying to everyone that they should leave this place where the explosion occurred, not wanting to attract any unwanted people that most very possibly saw that explosion occur within the sky to be witnessed by all, Shini agrees and hoists up Gami onto his shoulder before grabbing Shini and transporting him, alongside both Shini himself and Gami to somewhere else, Shini uses the technique named Seirei Tobikomi, Spirit Jump in order to do this, as Shini and everyone else end up elsewhere, near an abandoned construction site, Gami says to Shini after being put down on the ground by him that he shall not and will not get away with this, the Shinigami Seven and her superior Jiraiya will see to that, its then that Akira asks about the latter Jiraiya, about who he truly is, its then that Gami realizes that both Shini and Nezumi have not told him anything about the Shinigami system whatsoever, Gami laughs at this but proceeds to tell Akira how the system works anyways, there is the Head Monk Priest Shinigami who rules over all other Shinigami and the ones that directly answer to him are eight Shinigami in total, they are the Shinigami Seven and Gami's superior Jiraiya of The Gallant, the Shinigami Seven are named: I-Suzaku, II-Seiryu, III-Byakko, IV-Genbu, V-Amaterasu, VI-Tsukuyomi and VII-Susanoo, the latter three alongside Jiraiya had once served, as the direct pupils of the Head Monk Priest himself whilst the former four were chosen by the latter three, as by per the order of the Head Monk Priest to fill up a power gap that needed to rival Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, Susanoo and Jiraiya's strengths respectively, by having eight strong Shinigami under his direct control, Kashira could send them orders to send to the lesser Shinigami to fulfill, as their missions whilst going to the Human world to eliminate evil, each of the eight commands a different unit of Shinigami that encompasses the whole clan, Suzaku commands the Vermilion Bird unit, Seiryu commands the Azure Dragon unit, Byakko commands the White Tiger unit, Genbu commands the Black Tortoise unit, Amaterasu of the Sun unit, Tsukuyomi of the Moon unit and Susanoo of the Storm unit, Jiraiya, although a very strong Shinigami in his own right does not lead a regular unit like the Shinigami Seven before him, instead he leads his own private unit that he handpicks from the best of the best, as Gami says herself and that these so called best of the best are known, as The Gallant and they themselves primary handle missions none other then exterminating and obliterating evil within the Human world whilst the other units of the Shinigami Seven handle missions besides just evil extermination alone, Shini, the Shinigami that Akira knows so very well and almost treats like he was a very dear friend is part of the Moon unit under the command of Tsukuyomi and that under the direct authority of both Tsukuyomi himself and especially Kashira, the Head Monk Priest was Shini sent from Sanzaku town to Akira's hometown of Wakaba to both find Watatsumi, the criminal who stole the Orochi Keito, otherwise known, as the snake bearer and kill the wielder of that Katana containing the sealed spirit of the both mighty and evil Yamata no Orochi before it could take over the wielder of the Katana and use his/her body, as a vessel to wreak havoc on not just the spiritual world but the Human world also, as a precaution, those that were related to the wielder and had spiritual awareness were to be executed also, in case the Orochi's influence had extended towards them, that's why Gami mentioned about killing all of Akira's loved ones previously, now that Gami has been defeated and both Shini and Nezumi-kami will be branded traitors by the Shinigami clan, they will all be executed, Gami in her case because she had simply failed her mission, the Shinigami cannot and will not overlook mistakes, especially if those mistakes belong to they themselves, if word were to get out to Yomi, the imperial capital of The Millennium Sage about all this then the good spirit people would panic and the Shinigami will have failed them and their mission, as protectors of the spiritual realm, just one mistake, just one and the people will fall in despair and fight amongst themselves, not even the Sage himself can prevent that massive an outbreak and if that were to happen, the whole system of the spiritual world would crumble and this would in turn affect the system of the Human world, that's why its so important to the Shinigami that they must upheld their mission at all times and not be allowed to permit even just one single itty bitty mistake, they must set a perfect example by becoming and being perfection itself and with that, Gami finishes her explanation about the system of the Shinigami clan, of how it all works. However, Gami then recalls that there was one thing that she forgot to mention, it was about the messengers of the Shinigami to those who help them guide good spirits to the afterlife, the Mikos, like Nezumi-kami is the Kami, God of the Kokoromaru clan, there are 11 other clans living in Wakaba that also have personal Kamis appear to them and tell them job well done on their services in helping the Shinigami in turn help the spirits of the good, Nezumi, despite having the appearance of a mouse of which he is so very proud of is actually the Rat Kami of the Kokoromaru clan and that the other 11 Kamis are based on animals belonging to the Human world in appearance just like Nezumi himself, they are Oushi-kami, the Ox Kami, Tora-kami, the Tiger Kami, Usagi-kami, the Rabbit Kami, Ryu-kami, the Dragon Kami, Hebi-kami, the Snake Kami, Uma-kami, the Horse Kami, Yagi-kami, the Goat Kami, Saru-kami, the Monkey Kami, Ondori-kami, the Rooster Kami, Inu-kami, the Dog Kami and Buta-kami, the Pig Kami, together, all 12 of these respective animal Kamis make up what is named by the Shinigami, as Sono Kami Koudoutai, The God Zodiac, together, alongside the Shinigami, they are entrusted by The Millennium Sage to help guide the balance between sending good spirits to the afterlife whilst eliminating all kinds of evil in the mortal realm, The God Zodiac also serve, as familiars to the Shinigami and believe it or not, despite his boastful personality, Nezumi is the familiar of Kashira and that Kashira had assigned Nezumi to watch over the Kokoromaru clan, since they are the leading Mikos in all of Wakaba, another family that Akira knows very well also have a Kami, as well, however, they do not have a Miko, at least not currently present at the moment and that family in particular that Akira knows very well is the Ryojisuke clan, their Kami is Oushi-kami, the Ox Kami of the God Zodiac and both he and Nezumi have known each other for a very long, long time, in fact, they are the best of friends and that Oushi who knows more about all of Wakaba itself due to both Tora Ryojisuke and Ryu Ryojisuke being the heads of both the Crouching Tigers of Wakaba and the Hidden Dragons of Yamato groups respectively since they basically look over, watch, protect and control the entire town itself is the one who always supplies the information that Nezumi has to give to both Akira and Shini about certain things, causing Akira to comically pause for a moment before shouting out towards Nezumi, saying that all this time that the information that Nezumi was so proud of giving to both Akira and Shini came from another source, Nezumi comically pauses for a moment also before then looking away, trying to deny the truth and admitting it towards Akira, as he realizes that earlier on, he made Akira pay money for some other unrelated to the mission information and that he conned Akira out of money, Akira then comically tries to strangle the mouse god, telling him to give back the money he stole from Akira, Gami then looks in shock at this mere Human doing what he is to basically a god himself and just when she tries to tell him to stop, Shini stops Gami, saying that no matter what she does, she can't get Akira to change his mind for once his mind is made up is it made up both completely and utterly, as Gami looks on at Shini confidently looking towards both Akira and Nezumi, the latter two comically trying to beat up one another, Gami then starts to sense something about these three, something unlike she has ever felt before, she starts to sense that Akira is not the oh so willing vessel of the Orochi that she stubbornly thought him to be before and that this young man has the power to change people, even if they had just met, Gami...was absolutely terrified of this power and thought to herself that she must eliminate Akira right away before his influence affects her too, not wanting to end up like both Shini and Nezumi, as soon, as the 48 hours were over and the green flame on her arm keeping her at bay had disappeared, Gami would find the right opportunity to strike and kill Akira, as her pride and especially, as her existence not, as an individual but, as apart of the more or less hive mind Shinigami clan was at stake, not wanting Akira to change her entirely like he did with Shini and Nezumi, she was frightful now not just because of Akira being the Orochimaru but also because of Akira being just himself, true to his heart. Now that everything was truly said and done, Akira, Shini and Nezumi consulted amongst themselves on what to do with Gami, it was then that Nezumi had decided that by using the Spirit Water Robe which they are currently using to entrap Gami to begin with, they can take Gami back to Nezumi and Shini's secret headquarters, Akira wonders what secret headquarters? it is then that both Shini and Nezumi smirk towards one another before having Akira follow them, it was then that comically, Akira, twitching his eye sees a huge tent with demonic like features on it laying on the front lawn of his house, this was what Nezumi called by its name Sono Eimin Toride, which translates, as The Eternal-sleep Fortress, it is a portable sleeping tent that the Shinigami carry on their persons at all times in case they need to stay and sleep within the mortal realm for who knows how many days in order to complete their given mission, here, they can instantly recover their strength through sleep through one night's sleep alone and it is here that Nezumi will keep watch over Gami, contact Oushi and together decide on what to do with Gami, Akira comically gets angry at the fact that both Shini and Nezumi have been using the front lawn of his house to sleep on, as Shini says to Akira that they didn't have any other place to stay so this was the only way, Akira says the only way my butt and then starts to mutter to himself, Gami remains silent throughout the whole conversation, something that Nezumi notices, he asks Gami what is she planning, however, she remains silent whilst starring daggers right directly at both Akira and Shini, causing Nezumi to wonder just what is she scheming and if she tries to attack both Akira and Shini again, it will only end in her downfall just like last time, that is what Nezumi truly believes, Akira then says to Shini how in the hell does his parents not notice this and Shini replies that it is because the tent is visible only to those with spiritual awareness, Akira says oh i see...WAIT! that means anyone with spiritual awareness can see it! how in the bloody hell do you then keep THAT secret HUH!? shouted out Akira, as Shini then reassured him that the tent has a spiritual connection to the house Akira lives in, only those that have Akira's blood since he is the person living in the house, one of the technical owners basically, this is what keeps the tent hidden entirely, even from other spiritually aware people, as long, as they don't have spiritual awareness, like both Akira's father Shinra and mother Miyako and, as long, as they don't technically own the property of the house Akira's family lives in, which Akira in a way technically does, this allows the tent absolute both complete and utter hidden invisibility, Shini jokes that Akira should think of it exactly like a little kid's secret base, to them completely undetectable to others, namely adults, Akira then gives a censored middle finger up towards Shini, not liking his joke whatsoever and calling him an ass, speaking of which, he wants to hear that apology that Shini owes Akira right now, upon hearing this, Shini goes down in the slumps, something that Akira was completely not expecting, as that is a touchy subject for Shini, Gami wonders just what the hell is going on and Nezumi proceeds to give her the details despite her being a prisoner... Shini says to Akira but beforehand kneels down on all four limbs, shocking Akira, as Shini's head is buried into the ground that he is sorry, sorry and ashamed for what he said during their fist fight, he should have known that with both private and sensitive information like that that Shini shouldn't have tried to taunt Akira with said info but nevertheless did so anyways by mistake, Shini is prepared to accept any and all kinds of punishment from Akira that he would inflict on Shini, as that is what Shini believes to be the ultimate form of atoning for one's sins, Akira tries to talk Shini out of it, calling him weird the way that he is apologizing, however, Gami suddenly calls Akira an idiot, catching his attention, she explains that that is what a Shinigami when apologizing to either a good spirit and/or a spiritually aware person, it is called the Royal Bow and by committing the Royal Bow, the Shinigami committing it offers himself/herself up to the good spirit and/or spiritually aware person completely, treating themselves like slaves in order to help the good spirit whatever way the Shinigami can for the good spirits to move on, as for spiritually aware people, the Shinigami are holding themselves hostage to the desires of the spiritually aware people until they are satisfied with their desires and allow the Shinigami to move on, however, the problem with the Royal Bow is that in the case of spiritually aware people, in case they turn out to be abusive towards the Shinigami serving them, the Shinigami will have no choice but to serve, since they believe they have committed a great and terrible grave sin towards them, Akira is both very shocked and very horrified to learn this news, saying that that goes against the principles of the Shinigami eliminating evil within the Human realm, it is a both complete and utter paradox, if they turn out to be abusive, why don't the Shinigami fight back? it just doesn't make any sense, however, Gami says to Akira that for the Shinigami it does make sense for them and that despite not having codes of honour, they are subservient to the will of the good natured, even if they aren't exactly good natured at all whatsoever and Akira says that that is what doesn't make sense at all, the Shinigami shouldn't answer to scumbags like that if they are just going to mistreat the Shinigami, something that shocks Gami but nevertheless she shrugs it off, not wanting to be influenced by Akira, Akira cannot believe this Royal Bow thing and tells Shini to get up, get up now, however, Shini refuses to do so, not until he has accepted punishment from Akira, Akira says that he doesn't want Shini to be punished, only that he realizes his mistake and not do it ever again but Shini again says he cannot accept this, he feels that it is simply just wrong in his Shinigami nature, Akira was dumbfounded, as he brushed through his hair both back and forth, Nezumi then asks Akira what will he do? ...Akira for a moment remains silent but then says finally he has reached his verdict, he will not punish Shini and that is punishment alone, as Akira sees it, both Shini and Gami are greatly shocked by this answer, Akira says that by not punishing them at all, that in a way can be seen from a certain point of view, as a punishment for Shini's actions, it could also be very slightly compared to getting the silent treatment, Akira is ignoring Shini's answer for punishment and so, he is punishing him by not punishing him, that is a way to think right out of the box but pushed up against it, literally, Akira says that whoever came up with the rules for this dumb vow, once the Watatsumi matter has been dealt with will answer to Akira personally, he will not let the Shinigami punish themselves and become slaves any longer to the Royal Bow, Shini pauses for a moment, as Gami tries to convince Shini that that is not a real punishment, only to be corrected by Shini, he says that that it is a punishment if you look at it in one way and by not receiving punishment is that punishment itself, maybe not in and of itself but still punishment nevertheless, Gami could not believe what she was hearing and Nezumi nodded happily his head in acknowledgement to this and Akira then helps Shini up from off the ground, saying to him that they are partners and no matter what mistakes they have made up to this current point, they must work together if they are to take down Watatsumi--together, Shini is surprised by agrees to Akira's statement, shaking hands with him, this greatly angers Gami, infuriated that the once soulless Shinigami is now full of emotion, she grits her teeth and causes her mouth to bleed slightly, starting to feel a different kind of emotion, what was this emotion that Gami was feeling inside her heart, just what in the hell was it she thought to herself... It is then, coming out of Akira's house was his mother Miyako, shocked and surprised to see Akira standing outside their house when he should be at school, Akira then gets all scared and sweats very fast, as behind Miyako appearing was his father Shinra, Shinra shouts at Akira, saying to him JUST WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE BOY!? shouted out Shinra, as the shout was so big that it was enough to scare even Shini, Nezumi and Gami all together, Nezumi fell down to the ground and held a flower in both his hands, a ghostly spirit appeared outside of Nezumi's body before pulling itself back into the body, Shini sweat dropped whilst using a handkerchief with a skull and crossbones symbol on the four edges of it to wipe the sweat off from his head, cannot believing the strong presence and aura that Shinra despite being wheelchair bound, Miyako grabs Akira by the ear and pulls him into the house, her and Shinra wanting words with Akira and with that, the front entrance closed behind Akira, as he was pulled in, Shini and Nezumi could only pray that Akira would not get killed by his parents, causing Gami to say oi in a comedic manner, not believing the attitude of these two, just then, appearing on the scene, saying that Akira got into trouble again with his folks was a giant Ox with makeup on it's face, it was none other then Oushi, the Ox Kami of the God Zodiac, Nezumi greeted his good friend though looked a bit pale upon seeing that he had makeup upon his face, asking Oushi if he was seriously going for a Okama Ox look, Oushi believed that by using reverse psychology, by bringing out his female side would this attract the female members of the God Zodiac, although he doesn't seem to be yielding such very successful results yet, he wonders why to himself, Nezumi could only laugh in sarcasm a little with both Shini and Gami unnerved by Oushi's makeup, it is then that Oushi notices Gami and asks Nezumi if he was prepared for the consequences of having tied her up, given the current status of things, Nezumi may lose his position within the God Zodiac and, as Kashira's familiar or worse, he could be killed by Kashira himself, Nezumi states that he has made a gamble and is placing his bet on it, Oushi remains silent upon hearing this before then saying the words very well, you've made your choice Nezu-Chan, just...don't go back on it okay said Oushi, concerned for his friend, as Nezumi merely nods his head, Shini after getting over Oushi's makeup then asks him how are things here in Wakaba and at Sanzaku town in the spiritual world, surely the Shinigami high council haven't noticed a thing yet, Oushi replies that Shini is correct in that they don't and that they expect to hear from Gami who Shini and the others have captured in the next 72 hours, that gives them three whole days to complete their mission, however, Oushi warns Shini and Nezumi of a sudden new development, one that will shake the entire town of Wakaba itself right down to its very knees, it turns out that a Joutou Joretsu A, First-class Rank A criminal has escaped from the prison of the Shinigami known, as Hebi Wakame Hako Uwabyoushi Keimusho, Snake Seaweed Box Cover Prison located within the Human world, inside of down below at its deepest, most darkest depths the river just outside of Wakaba itself called Tsukishima River, Shini is shocked by this and is hesitant to ask just which criminal has escaped...Oushi replies with a grief stricken face the name of the escaped convict...: Wataru Yoshikongo, the most heinous, most evillest man in all of Wakaba, a prisoner who was given the death sentence, this man being both most famously named after and most notorious for the title of Bloodlust, his thirst for blood knowing no boundaries, no obstacles, no end...everyone was very shocked and especially very horrified to hear that the man named Bloodlust was on the loose once more and that whilst everyone is talking amongst themselves about this Bloodlust person, meanwhile, a man seen wearing a broken Kitsune mask that he is somehow holding all the pieces of its cracks all together is also seen with two holsters for two Khukuri blades on his back, standing on-top of a lamppost, licking his tongue, on it is shown blood, proving that this man wearing the Kitsune mask was none other then who Oushi was just talking about to everyone elsewhere, the one who escaped from a highly guarded and heavy security Shinigami prison, the man named Wataru Yoshikongo, otherwise known, as...Bloodlust, Bloodlust speaks to himself, saying that he is searching for both Watatsumi and the Yamata no Orochi, now that Bloodlust was back in his hometown, where would he start first? his aura brought forth a tremendous shiver of both evil and darkness to those that could feel it, even if they weren't spiritually aware, Tora being one of them, as whilst taking a bath he senses Bloodlust's killer instinct and wonders just where the hell that kind of evil yet powerful feeling was coming from? the next moment, Bloodlust had disappeared from where he stood upon on-top of the lamppost, no one knowing where he has gone and most importantly especially not even being able to sense his presence anywhere, not anywhere at all...a grave new danger and enemy has just now appeared in the town of Wakaba, what...will happen next? At the town of the Shinigami within the spiritual realm, Sanzaku, a tribunal is held amongst Kashira, the Shinigami Seven and Jiraiya about the recent breakout of Bloodlust, A-K-A Wataru Yoshikongo and that if he is not stopped, the whole town of Wakaba will suffer his wrath, Susanoo, the man who serves, as leader of the Shinigami's Storm unit, offers to go to the Human world himself and bring The Lustful-man Vampire, Sono Onnazuki Kyuuketsuki, as he is called to justice, however, Amaterasu, the woman who serves, as leader of the Shinigami's Sun unit rebukes Susanoo's demand, saying to him and the rest of the council that both Tsukuyomi's Shinigami and Jiraiya's Shinigami are still active within the Human world and going there now could disrupt the investigation into Watatsumi, Genbu says to Amaterasu however that searching for the stealer of the Orochi Keito doesn't take, as much priority, as stopping Bloodlust right now, who they consider to be the pure incarnation of evil itself, Suzaku, Seiryu, Tsukuyomi and Jiraiya all remain silent at Genbu's claim whilst Byakko speaks up, saying that unless if something is done right now, Yoshikongo will terrorize Wakaba just like he did in the past and not even the Shinigami Seven could possibly stop him, even if they all combined their powers and pooled them into one, as Kashira smokes, he says to everyone that they could always use The Human-being Representative, Sono Ningen Daihyousha, shocking everyone present, however, both Genbu and Susanoo disagree with this, the former says that the Daihyousha should only be used if dealing with a S class criminal, since Bloodlust is only a A class criminal, the Daihyousha would only complicate things, the latter agreeing with Genbu's opinion, Susanoo saying his own opinion that the Daihyousha must not be called upon under any and all circumstances and that they wish that their leader Kashira would take things more seriously, being the head of all Shinigami after all, it is then that Kashira decides to get serious and comes to a final decision, if Bloodlust is not apprehended within the next 72 hours by both Tsukuyomi's chosen Shinigami Shini and Jiraiya's chosen Shinigami Gami then Kashira will have no choice but to send in the Daihyousha to settle things and stop both Bloodlust and Watatsumi, this is Kashira's final decision, leaving the Shinigami high council only speechless and nodding towards the final decision of their leader whilst leaving Susanoo, Amaterasu and Genbu gritting their teeth whilst Suzaku, Seiryu, Byakko, Tsukuyomi and Jiraiya merely agree with Kashira's decision, all of them having closed eyes and folded arms, things did not seem to be looking up for our heroes back in the real world, not looking up whatsoever... Gami shouts out to Shini and Nezumi, saying that if things are this dire then they should free her and get all the help they will need in stopping Bloodlust, however, Shini disagrees, knowing that Gami will immediately go after Akira first so that she can put an end to him, Gami merely tchs upon Shini realizing her true goal, it is then that Nezumi says to Shini that by guessing from the circumstances, it will be placed upon both Shini and Gami to capture Bloodlust without the Shinigami high council needing to say anything, Shini agrees and believes that despite the matter going on with Watatsumi, Shini himself will have to deal with Bloodlust alone, not wanting to involve Akira in the matter, as he has already been involved far too much, Gami scoffs at this and wonders once more just why, just why does Shini stick up for Akira and Shini says to Gami that it is because of three reasons, one, he has involved Akira in this matter and by Shini's code of honour, he must do whatever he can to assure that Akira doesn't get hurt anymore then he already has and the last two reasons Shini says is quite simple, the 1st one is just like Akira said beforehand, both he and Shini are partners and the 2nd and final reason why Shini sticks up for Akira Gami probably won't understand since she is a pure blooded Shinigami is because...Shini and Akira are friends, sure they may very well not be the best and/or good, heck even the greatest of friends but nevertheless, despite having just met one another just very recently, Shini considers Akira the 1st real friend that the former has ever had in his entire life, even when he was in the spiritual world, Gami is shocked by this and grits her teeth, thinking to herself why? just...why? as a tear falls down her right eye, something that Nezumi notices and is shocked by, however, the Rat God proceeds to shrug it off and say to Shini what will he do now? will they continue investigating into Watatsumi or track down Bloodlust? Shini says that the momentary plan of action for now is to continue their search for Watatsumi by getting Shini inducted into the Crouching Tigers of Wakaba by Tora Ryojisuke, its leader and then once having entered the group, Shini can then approach Tora's 2nd in command Kubo Uehara and question him on his possible connection to Watatsumi, by doing this, both Bloodlust himself and maybe even Watatsumi may very well possibly reveal themselves right out into the open and then, as Shini puts it, they can kill two or three birds with one stone, although Nezumi doesn't really like the idea, he nevertheless goes along with it, seeing the authenticity in that plan, Gami calls Shini a fool, planning to take on a suicide mission like that all by himself, he will most surely die from all of that involved, he should untie Gami and have her help Shini but Shini refuses, not wanting to endanger a fellow Shinigami's life like that, however, Gami takes that, as an insult to her Shinigami pride, it is the mission that they always live for and if they don't fulfill their mission, what is the point, the sake of having their Shinigami pride, she asks Shini whats him so different from her? its not because of gender, Gami knows that much so why is Shini willing to do this, he answers that it is for the safety both for and of the people of Wakaba that Shini capture both Watatsumi and Bloodlust, even if he has to do it all on his own, plus, due to his code of honour, he is returning the debt, as he puts it to Akira, for all that he has done in his contributions and that he must live, for the sake of his loved ones, especially the girl Hoshi, who Shini met before, Gami is once yet again shocked by Shini's words but at this point, decides not to question and/or even think about everything anymore, knowing that this is who Shini truly, honestly is and what he intends to do from this point onwards, he is no longer the soulless Shinigami that Gami once knew, took pride in knowing and had even respected him and because of his recent actions, Gami now just treats Shini with pity and no longer has any respect for him whatsoever, believing that he has both abandoned and betrayed his Shinigami clan's laws and even the clan itself, Gami swears to herself that by the law of the clan of the Shinigami, her name being Shinigami itself, she will kill Shini once she is free, she will strike down both him and Akira, as well, as all those related to Akira, believing that there was no return from this point and that the only course of action she could take, as in her mind a respectable Shinigami herself, is to put Shini out of his misery and free him from the shackles that are emotions themselves, forevermore, in other-words, she believes that she will grant him a both quick and painless death, as that is the only thing that she can do for the fellow Shinigami she once respected so very long ago.

Please read: Chapter 1 The cargo hold of a massive, great ship sailing off the coast, filled to the brim with things ripe for the taking. Sliding down a pole, his tail tucked up to avoid a repeat of the time he skinned the tip by getting it caught in a gear off the chains, Zidane landed softly on the balls of his feet, catlike. He walked off down the hall, past flickering candles in smoky glass holders, and went in a door, letting it slam behind him. "Man...it sure is dark in here.." He muttered to himself, his eyes barely able to see the floor, let alone anything ahead in the darkness of the room he'd entered. He took three timid steps forward, looking around in the vain hope of being able to see anything in the inky gloom, no light source aiding this fruitless search. "I guess nobody's here yet...figure's they'd all be late." He complained, crossing his arms, his tail flicking, irritated. He'd had enough: striking a match, he could only just see by its dim glow. The room was still empty, no matter what he did, so he tried to be patient, walking around with no real aim in mind, and poking around in drawers. After the first few matches burned the tips of his fingers, he light the candle gracing the simple wooden table in the center of the room, the brilliant glow letting him see at last. "Who's there?!" A voice demanded. "It's...uh...me, Zidane!" He called back. The door flew open then, and a group of people rushed in, smirking. "Hey Zidane!" A man with dark hair cried, "You sure are late! Sleep in again?" "Sorry, Blank...I...ahem.." Zidane cleared his throat. "So, where's the boss?" "Ain't here yet." A short man named Cinna grunted, rolling his eyes. Just then a door burst open, a big creature with armour that looked a bit like a dragon bursting into the room. It let out an ear piercing roar, as the small group fanned out into battle positions, attacking it from the left and right, swinging at any flesh that was open. "To your left, kid! Watch yourself!" Blank cried, taking a careful jab at the monsters left leg. Zidane dodged, feeling the rush of air go by as the monster's punch missed him by inches. A final blow broke the head open, revealing a face shadowed by a beard beneath dark glasses. "Oh...my aching head...you people..." The man whined, rubbing a sore spot on his skull. The group took deep breaths, Zidane's left arm hurting from a hard impact with the floor. "Hey, fools!" The man cried. His name was Baku, and he was the leader of the group. He strode to the front of the room, and grinned at them all. "You're lookin' a lot better! But you need to work out your doge, Zidane." Zidane nodded quietly. Baku strode into the next room, and everyone scurried after, Zidane still rubbing his aching arm. He'd need a bandage possibly. He hoped it was a sprain. "Alright!" Baku bellowed from the front of the room, "Let's start this meeting already!" Everyone took a seat, watching him closely. "Here's the plan: Tantalus, that oh so infamous band of merry thieves," He tipped a wink, "That's us, is headin' to the Kingdom of Alexandria." He nodded at a miniature of the kingdom on the table, detailing every spire and window of the massive place. "Our mission: to kidnap the heir to the throne... Princess Garnet!" Everyone was silent. "I'll take it from here." Cinna said, getting to his feet. "So listen up! Our ship's about to dock at Alexandria, and when it does, we're gonna put on our costumes, and perform "I Want to Be your Canary", the most popular play in all of Alexandria!" The others showed little enthusiasm at this. Cinna grinned. "Break a leg, Marcus: you're our lead." Marcus smirked, "Leave the actin' to me. I'm a born thespian. Course, the real kidnappers'll be Blank and Zidane." "I'll distract the audience from backstage with these." Blank said. He groaned. "Ughh...I can't stand oglops..." He grinned. "But I'll manage. don't you worry your pretty heads about me. And that'll be your cue, Zidane. " Zidane had been only half listening, and jerked to attention. "Uh... that's when I kidnap Princess Garnet, r..right?" "You bet!" Baku declared, "You're gonna kidnap the most baaaabe-ilicious beauty in all of Alexandria, Princess Garnet!"

"Darkness..." A female whisper echos in the void. "Everything i see is just...Void." The sounds of ambience surrounds the female. "Suddenly, i see a spark of light..." The female's eyelids started to open up to reveal her aquamarine irises. "Where...am...i...?" The female whispers one last time. All of the sudden, a bright light covers her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "You are in the Wonderful World of Kutasia, dear." Another calming voice was heard through the young female's ears. The bright light fades slowly to reveal a society full of knowledge and seers. "You are part of one of the kingdoms, dear. The Sawaku Society welcomes you to its own kingdom of seers. But be forewarned; This society is full of False Knowledge through gossips and manipulating liars. They may fool and trick you, but if you are clever; You can outsmart them. You are reborn here into Kutasia's arms, dear. This world is ever-expanding, stretching for miles and miles. The further you venture into Kutasia, the more different and unknown it gets. Dear, now i taught you the basics, it's time for your own will to choose, decide, and where your oneself will do to the extent. It's time for my farewell, dear. I bid you good luck into this new world, into a new kingdom." The voice disappears, for the last time. The female woken up in the main marble street where an another female with lapis colored eyes, black hair that is neatly straight, pale tan skin, was wearing a purple, blue, and a radiant golden gypsy robe with a dark purple, but sparkly wizard hat covering her head. It appears to be a traveler from another kingdom far away. "Hey! I didn't see you around here! A new adventurer, maybe? Or...Oh! She's waking up!" A cheery girl voice sounded so clear to the female's ears. She stumbled groggy as she got back up in her feet. She yawns as she covers her hand near her mouth. "Where...am...i? Dang, i felt so...tired." The cheery girl giggled, "Hehe! Want me you become your friend? We'll be together, right?" The female looks confused in her eyes. Her short black and tinted sky blue hair looks neatly brushed, she looks pretty formal, as she wears a sleeveless cyan vest with a black belt buckled on her waist, along with areo/aquadynamic white/sky blue colored finger-less gloves that fits comfortably in her hands, a lapis colored skirt worn in her legs but tucked under the belt to keep it from falling, and high, long, back shoes with sky blue straps in front. "But...i don't know you. And why you want me to become your friend? We haven't met each other." She says to the cheery girl, who's giggling right at her. She takes a good look around at this place, to her it looks like a very, very advanced city. "Just tell me, where am i and who are you?" The cheery girl smiled cheerfully right at the female's eyes. "Hehe! Where are you? You are at The Sawaku Society! Oh, me? I am Anna Annabelle, the Journeyman's Magical Apprentice! So, what's your name?" Anna awaited for an answer from the female. "My name is Annie Merheart. I was reborn here, i guess? Can't remember after i blacked out." Annie scratched the back of her head, trying to remember what happened after all of that. Her memory is a blur, perhaps it'll be best to leave it alone for a while before she could figure it out herself. Anna smiled and lands a hand out to Annie, "It's nice to meet you, Annie!" Annie reluctantly shook her hand, "You too, i guess i will have to find some supplies because, hey. I am willing to become an adventurer now. Looks like my childhood dream has came true, well most of it." After shaking hands, Anna gave Annie a bag full of currency. "Here; This bag of currency is full of munny, 10,000 are inside this bag. Don't lose your own very bag, okay? Because i'll be very bad if you lost it in the first place!" Anna cheerfully said to her, she waves goodbye as she hops on her highly advanced broomstick. "Well, i hope we become friends Annie! Well, i'm off to return to La Arts! Enjoy the bag on munny, and spend it all wisely!" Annie saw Anna takes off into the east direction. "Goodbye, Anna. Now, let me see if i can buy some supplies..." Annie walked on the shiny, smooth marble floored walkway toward somewhere to search for shops to come by. All in a while, she hears people chattering about a rumor nearby her. She stopped and listened to the people quietly and stealthy. !: "....what mouse?" 2: "...They say that there is a mouse running around the society with a weird key." 1: "Oh...that mouse with a key? Yes, i have heard of him." 2: (a subtle, unknown reply) 1: "...There, i saw him again!" (The person points at the small shadow sillouette of a mouse, but it's hard to see due to a lack of clear hints.) 2: "...You are seeing this, right? Because if you aren't, i am pretty sure that it's a false rumor." 1: (a unknown murmur, possibly chuckling.) She continued on after hearing this conversation went nowhere, and entered a shop with a OLED display in front of the building. She takes a good look in the shop, goods stocked up to the fullest, strange equipment and accessories were showcased in the glass windows, and garment clothing neatly sorted into rows of rows. She was immediately greeted by the shop owner. "Well, hello there, young girl! You're here to buy and sell eh?" The shop owner said to Annie, with a smile on his face. Annie nodded and asked a question, "Um, i am here to find the recommended equipment and items because i need to explore the whole world. Can you at least guide me to the equipment that you think i needed for it?" "Why sure! Come here, lady. I have the best goods you'll need!" The shop owner guides Annie toward the equipment section first. He picked out a weapon from the combat section. "This 'ere lady, is the recently forged Atrink Cutter! It's pretty decent for a new adventure to start, lady! When you wield this cutter 'ere, it's pretty light, and enough to cut against Steel! The best part about this sword, is it has a hidden magical ability to increase your running speed by a decent bit! Would you want that, lady?" Annie nodded, "I think i'll get it. Is it cheap though?" she says to the shop owner, who nodded. "Well, only for Munny users, for others is very, very expensive, lady. For Gil, it costs 47,500 for a decent sword. For zeni, it may cost 750,000, and finally for our currency, Cora may cost around from 122,000 to 237,000. For you, it may cost 1,000 munny for you to buy." He said to Annie, who smiled at him. Annie then said, "Well, i'll take it. Because i have 10,000 munny from a stranger i recently met." The shop owner smiled gracefully, " You know, you are pretty lucky to have the bag of munny in hand, lady. Yes, i have heard of Anna. She recently visited here to buy some alchemy items for her recipe. Dunno why though she arrived here, maybe because she's in a hurry? Who knows, lady? Alright, give me 1,000 munny and i'll let you have the weapon in hand, complete with a free case for the cutter 'ere!" Annie hands over the 1,000 munny to the shop owner, who added in, "Oh, and you can call me Sir. Tsaba. I am the owner of said best shop around the Sawaku capital! What's your name, lady?" She answered Tsaba, "Name is Annie Merheart, but you can call me Annie just to make it simple." Tsaba, after giving her the weapon she ordered was in its sleeve for the weapon to put away, he guides Annie to the accessories, which range from rings, pendants, bracelets, and other fancy stuff she can have, including wings, gliders, boots that focus on either flight or running speed or both, hoverboards, broomsticks, and other stuff for travel and stuff she may find. "Lady, if you are here for a balanced adventure, have the Light Boots! These Light Boots will help you to glide far away, but not too far. Although, if you want to go really far, i can give you the Light Gliders! It'll help you very much, as it has a 25 minute flight time, what's so amazing you ask, lady? Well, it comes with a free Iruim Blast Boots which i'll help you to double jump to higher places, and has a 10 minute flight time, as well as very fast running speed. Plus, it may help you to swim faster with these on too! Also, another free outfit was the Light Grid Augmented outfit that will negate all kinds of fall damage, have a 15% increase on sword, technology driven weapons, and magic weapons! Don't forget, it has the ability to greatly increase holding your breath underwater while diving too, and when you go underwater..." There is a pause in Tsaba's offer, "...It'll make you swim faster, glow a nice sky blue color, and increases defense by a decent amount, lady!" Annie smiled, "Well, i have 9,000 munny left, is the Light Gliders affordable, Sir.Tsaba?" Tsaba nodded, "Well, yes. But only if you are Munny user as well! Otherwise, if you aren't, it won't be affordable for you, i'm afraid. But! At least it's enough, lady! It will cost you 2,500 munny!" Annie gave the required amount to Tsaba's hands. "Here, i'll take that too. Now, i have about 6,500 munny, is it still enough to buy health stuff too?" She was handed over the outfit, the boots, and the gliders which looked really cool. Tsaba answered her question, but not after he tells her, "Annie, before i tell you, go and try the outfit on and see if you like it, lady!" Annie nodded, "Sure. I'll go in the dressing room." She enters the dressing room, she took off her own outfit and puts on the Augmented outfit she got it brand new. Annie steps out after she wore the Blast Boots, the Light Grid Augmented Garments and the Light Gliders on her back by itself. "How do i look?" Tsaba clapped with a thumbs up, "You look even better than your formal outfit has! Those colors of your new outfit of Black, Cyan, Platinum, and Sapphire goes well with your new Blast Boots, as well as your Light Gliders!" Annie smiled, "Thanks, Sir Tsaba. I'll definitely put this outfit to good use!" Annie's new outfit is based on a keyblade adventurer's expert outfit, except it has some major differences. Her new garment shirt is sleeveless, with a cyan colored undershirt with the open zipper on her sleeveless Black, Platinum, Cyan, and Sapphire garment design is based on Hearts, Leaves, and flower petals, and yet blended beautifully on her new outfit. She has a new necklace, which it's the famous outlined heart symbol on her neck. She wears full on fingerless gloves, with a platinum outlined heart symbol in her left hand, and the scorpio symbol in her right hand. She wears a Jade colored belt on her waist, tightening the new black and sapphire colored skirt beneath. She wears a glow in the dark, but long Blast Boots with the cyan flames in the bottom of the shoe's design, and finally she wears a pair of knee pads covering her knees fully. She puts the Atrink Cutter inside it's sleeve to put it on her back, but Tsaba stops her. "Annie, it's best if you take out your weapon at your hands rather than the old fashioned sword pull, lady. Now, follow me to the last thing that you said, lady." He begun to guide Annie to the items section near the exit. Before she can pick, Tsaba offers her something, "Now, in order for you to save your munny savings, i have to give a free pack of health potions. Now, which one you like? The small pack or the big pack?" She points to the big pack, which contains 15x ethers, 15x potions, 10x Hi-Potions, 5x Elixirs, and 3x Megaelixirs. "Oh, the big pack, lady?" She nodded as Tsaba handed her a big pack of potions. "Here's your big pack of potions, lady!" Annie grabbed the big pack, and noticed it was gone in a small cloud of blue sparkles, indicating that her outfit has a bulti-in inventory. "Thanks sir, have a great day!" She left the shop with her new items, equipment, and weapon in hand. Tsaba waved her goodbye. "You too should have a great adventure with you!" Annie begun to try out her Light Gliders, as she went to another part of the city. "Okay, here we go. Lift off!" She felt the gliders activate with a pleasant hum as she was lifted off from the ground, with a almost quiet noise. She begun to fly forward, and upward into the urban development of the high rise buildings. "Woah! This must be a huge city! Bigger than my hometown, i guess?" She flew around the buildings, like a small plane through a futuristic city. She begun to go toward the outskirts of the Sawaka Society border, and onto adventure. But a mouse is witnessing her first step towards her direction. "This is must be her...hope she dose not meddle in this world." A small, familiar voice was heard by the ambience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ End of Chapter 1! Leave me feedback on how you like my first attempt at a fanfiction! And As always, thank you for reading this!

Strap on ladies and gents and heartless alike we are going to take a ride for my Bloodborne fic trilogy inspired by these prompts right here! WARNING! This fanfic is based on the Video Game known as "Bloodborne" and it is rated PG-14, as it includes cursing, descriptions of violence and mild gore. Reader discretion is advised. ~*~*~*~ Summary: What if the Good Hunter had reached Yharnam before the night of the hunt began? What if they had come to meet all of these wonderful people, befriended them, and loved them before everything fell into pieces? These are the memories of what could have been. Of who we were before. ~*~*~*~ Prologue “You were born with nothing, but maybe it is not the end for you. There is a city, far away from here, where you may find your skills to be useful. In the city of blood, Yharnam.” I held the letter tight in her hands, re-reading it for what it would have been the 18th. Waste of skin. Talentless. You are nothing. You should have never been born. These words were repeated to me as far as I could remember. I was born with nothing. An orphan as long as I could remember, a miracle to have survived through my infancy, and a mistake that should have never been born. Yet I survived, I persevered, I lived. And now, leaving the only place I had ever known, I traveled to Yharnam. I had heard much about this city. About its healing blood, its hunters, and of course, its beasts. Yet how with the danger there also came the opportunity that I would not be given anywhere else. Here I could have a new start. No one would deny me because of my heritage. No one would know of my past, or of my flaws. I would start anew, and maybe, just maybe, form a new life to finally be proud of. “We’re here.” The old man huffed loudly, knocking onto the wall of the carriage to gain my attention. I glanced up, my eyes turning to the window. The city was as magnificent as I had heard of before. Even from afar, its buildings displayed their wonder and size with might. I could barely contain myself as the carriage entered the city, making its way to a central plaza of some kind before coming to a halt. “This is your stop.” The old man said. I stepped out of the carriage, glancing up and around with in awe. The stench of the city’s sewage system hit me like a train, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle. The tall gothic buildings loomed eerily, as if staring down at me with a challenge. Eyes fell on me before continuing on their way, ignoring me like a beggar on the street. “Thank you.” I said, taking out a pouch of currency, taking out the payment before handing it to the carriage driver, who took it with a shaky hand. “Have you been here before?” He asked. I shook my head, my eyes glancing her surroundings once more. “This would be my first time.” I said. “Ah, a foreigner. Then allow me to give you some advice. An old saying from this city.” The man said. He signaled for me to get closer, which I did in order to hear his whispered words. “Fear the blood.” He whispered, and with that, he sat back down and bid me farewell, before riding away and disappearing into the crowd. I did not know what these words could possibly mean. But by the end of it all, I would never be able to forget them.

What's up, everyone. Its the wonderful fire type here with something new. Poetry. I decided to give this a little!e stab, and I'm making a megathread for me to post poetry on. Our first one begins with the narrator struggling to maintain between two personalities. One is positive and friendly, one is negative and hostile. In the poem, he tries to hide it, but he knows he has to confront it There's plenty where that came from. And as always, comments and feedback is optional, but highly recommended.

" This is the Devil's number...will you, answer it? if you do, you must accept and are bonded to the contract that awaits you, still, will you...proceed? Yes? or No? "