I was running. My breath was heavy as I ran through the battlefield. The war had begun and everything fell into chaos. I passed John, fighting off a Darkside, the Foretellers, fighting off Daybreak soldiers, and as I looked up atop a cliffside I saw Zeke, standing above all this, the X-blade in hand and Kingdom Hearts in the sky behind him, hearts floating up to it in the sky almost like stars.

“God damn it…” I growl. “Why is this fucking happening? And why aren't you doing anything to try and stop this!?!” I shout at Zeke, hating how he's just standing there and staring at everyone killing each other for no reason.

I saw him walk away as I got on my glider and up to the cliff. When I got off my eyes widened. Zeke sat on a throne, around him were the pale corpses of his family, and next to him was his Nobody, Drezke, and his Psychopath Light half. Zeke sat on that throne like he owned the world.

I clenched my fists and growled. “Zeke….what the fuck is wrong with you!?! Your family lays dead, and your just sitting there like you rule the fucking world!?! Where do you get off on thinking you rule when your the cause of this fucking war!?!” I bark, drawing Reunion and the other weapons I've mastered and ready to beat the shit out of him.

He raised a hand, snapping his fingers as my own shadow rose up from the ground. Then, his Psychopath light half snapped it’s fingers, his family’s corpses all rising up, blades formed from their own blood forming in their hands.

I growled, Nothingness swirling around me in my anger. “So...you really think you can do this without anyone fighting back?” I ask, shifting to Master Form. “Well...I'm not gonna just stand around and let you pull this shit!” I bark while grabbing Skysplitter and bolting forward, knocking my shadow away in my anger and rushing after Zeke.

He grabbed Skysplitter with one hand, looking me dead in the eyes as he broke it’s blade off, and rammed it through my chest.

I coughed as it was rammed through my chest, before Foudre was sparking with electricity. “Arc Flash!” I shout, Skysplitter vanishing as a massive arc bolt shot at Zeke, hoping to hurt the fucker.

When the lightning faded he sat there unaffected, his eyes flashed yellow as the sky darkened. I looked up, seeing Kingdom Hearts blue tone fade, and turn black. When I looked back at Zeke, his skin was gold, and his hair was blue, and his eyes. Heartless yellow. “From darkness, the first heart was born, and to it, all hearts return. Time to end this Cycle.” He said, reaching into my chest and pulling out my own heart. “Time to end our father.” He said, crushing it in his hand. My heart turning to sparks of light as it faded away.

I stared as my heart faded away, my emotions going haywire as the scent of blood, the sound of death, and just this whole thing was going down hill so fast. “So…” I start, my left eye turning back to an Insanity again, and I could just feel it. “This...is your decision?” I ask, my voice monotone as I grabbed Zeke by the neck. “You made a grAvE mIstAKE!!” I tell him.

Then, his Psychopath light grabbed my forehead. ”Worthless mutt.” He said, squeezing as my head cracked, and everything went black.

“Gah!” I bark, bolting up in bed and panting heavily. “Damn…” I mutter, covering my left eye in fear of what I could become. “Another…?” I mutter worriedly. ”I'm gonna have to ask Cript about...that...I don't want to become a monster…” I think to myself in fear. I quietly got out of bed and got dressed, ready for the day but hating everything else. “Well...time to start the day…” I mutter while walking out, my cloak hung over my shoulder as I walked towards the kitchen to get something to eat.

I entered the kitchen and got myself some cereal, thinking about my nightmare and how I wish it wouldn't happen. “Can't...things go back to being simple?” I mutter, wishing this damned war wasn't gonna happen. “Wonder if we're close to where the book is?” I wonder, eating my cereal and thinking about what might happen to get said book. After finishing breakfast I went out to the deck of the Zeppelin, hoping some fresh air will help clear my head.

I took a deep breath, feeling a bit shaky from that nightmare. “Greetings.” I looked to my side, Bara in control walked up, and leaned against the rails, looking at the landscape. “You're up early.”

“Nightmares…” I sigh out. “This...damned war is bugging the hell out of me...and this was the second nightmare…” I shook my head. “But you should know about the nightmares of the war, I saw you nearly kill Discord and Celestia and Luna’s parents.” I frown.

“Yeah. It was a darkness infused Mega Flare. Worked as I expected. Still, that's not the event that haunts me.” Bara said, gaining my attention.

“And what does haunt you? Lose someone dear to you? Lost so much information?” I ask him simply.

“My daughter…” Bara said, trailing off. “Well, she wasn't actually my daughter. She was a local orphan, she'd just break into my lab and try and read my notes. After the tenth time I just accepted the little spitfire wasn't leaving anytime soon.”

“Faust and her husband lost their son as well.” I tell him. “I saw it...and I held his Reunion and Wayfinder...are you sure this training will help my wives live through this war?” I ask, my voice sounding like I was wishing this event won't happen at all.

“It's the attacks and methods I did that got me through it. But the hard part is still to come.”

“Actually putting them through some simulation of it?” I ask, my voice dripping with sadness at the thought.

“Not exactly. You saw me train Coco in her speed and agility, defence will be next. It will be brutal.”

“What do you know about Psychopaths?” I ask him gently, changing the subject to...something important. “Insanities specifically…”

“Let's see...damn that was a while ago… Insanities are a failed Psychopath host. They are compatible but for one reason or another they don't connect to the hive mind properly, the failing to connect turns then into broken, insane, hence the name, abominations really. They are way weaker than a Psychopath, but way more unpredictable. They can still end universes, but they are often just either put on leashes or put down by Psychopaths. They are like cancer to Psychopaths, in their mind, it's best to put it down if it isn't worth anything to them.”

I put a hand over my left eye. “And...is it possible for an Insanity to suddenly become a Psychopath somehow?” I ask, hating how I'm apart of this damned thing.

“Yes. Though, it can only happen if they are infused with some Psychopath blood, the connection will retry. If it works, they become a Psychopath, if not, they die.”

“Goody…” I mutter bitterly. “You probably know why I'm asking this huh?” I ask him, knowing how smart Bara is.

“Yup. Question is, how are you not either dead or murdering anything with a heartbeat?”

“My family, my friends...and my Humanity.” I say, looking over and my left eye showed as an Insanity. “I can tell when my left eye looks like that...there are no whispers or anything like that...but I can still feel it...and I'm scared...if I take a single misstep...everything I hold dear to me will just…” I trail off, not wanting to finish the thought.

“Well, everyone has their demons. Wanna know how I deal with mine?”

“Looking in a mirror and saying ‘I am what I am’?” I ask him, blinking and my left eye went back to normal.

“Sex, research, and about a gallon of vodka a day.” They said, tossing me a bottle. “I got immune to it in my old body, so it's nice to feel drunk again in this one.”

I grabbed the bottle. “I think I'm gonna need something stronger but thanks.” I nod while opening the bottle and taking a swig of some of it. “Well...right now we're getting closer to this book the Zebra king wants found.”

“Seems so. So, want some endurance training?” They asked, downing half the bottle on one go.

“Your in a married woman's body dude, come on.” I joke with a small smile.

“Heh, not like that. It's old union methods.” They said, downing the other half of the bottle and throwing it over the Zeppelin edge. “Might help you out later on.”

“Okay then. So, what is this endurance training?” I ask curiously.

“Simple. It's a barrage or spells cast by me, and you have to endure them as long as possible unarmed. I start off with weak spells and as you begin to stand them better, I go a rank up.”

“Sure.” I nod. “But just to warn you...I may be highly resistant to magic.” I say, not really knowing my magic resist here.

“Well, you are a wolf man, so ice magic won't do much likely, so we will start off with fire.” Bara said, Twilight’s Keyblade appearing in their hand and pointed at me. “Fire!” The cast, the fire ball hit me. Ouch!

“Okay.” I say, having suffered worse pains than this. “Continue.” I say while bracing for it now.

“Fire!” They cast, the spells coming without any seeming end. My arms were losing their fur, my sleeves gone long ago.

“Well….good thing I'm not wearing my cloak...Rarity would be pissed…” I mutter, enduring the pain of the fire.

“I’m going a rank up.” Bara warned. “Fira!” Bara cast, a larger ball of fire shot towards me. The impact was worse, but bearable.

“Again.” I tell him bluntly. “I can take anything you can throw at me.” I say, knowing this won't amount to the pain I felt in my nightmares.

“You sure?” Bara asked.

“When you’ve been forced to see your family die in brutal ways and you not being able to do anything about it, I think this is child's play.” I tell him. “I told them all...I would give my life for them...and always be there to protect them…”

“Alright. This is my strongest, normal spell.” She said, floating as five large balls of fire appeared around them. “Tracing Balloon Flare!” They spun and all the oversized mega flares came at me. The heat scorched me, I felt all my fur burn off and my clothes too. The heat was insane. My body wanted to fall over, but I kept myself standing.

I growled, enduring the pain that was thrown at me. “This pain...if it's something everyone I care about doesn't have to endure…” I say, gritting my teeth from the pain as I still stood.

“Impressive.” Bara said, walking up to me. “Even my union leader would be on a knee after that.”

“I'll deal with any pain as long as my family is safe.” I say. “So, that's it?” I ask, grabbing a potion and hoping it will bring my fur back so I don't have to wait for it to grow.

“Still. So… you're like what? Seven inches?” Bara asked pointing down... my clothes were burned off...

I roll my eyes and grab my unburned cloak and put it on, zipping it up to cover myself. “Good thing we packed clothes.” I mutter. “And...more like nine…normally.” I say, kind of embarrassed by this but not really caring.

“Wow. No wonder you landed all those mares.” Bara chuckled.

“It was mostly due to me being the White Knight of Equis and all.” I shrug. “Being a world wide hero does help you get a girlfriend sometimes. But that's not important.” I shook my head. “But I better get some new clothes on before heading down into the forest looking for the book.”

“Fine. But before you go, can you do something for me?”

“What is it?” I ask curiously.

Bara grabbed me by my cloaks collar, and...kissed me… my brain didn't register what happened until it was over….there were tears in Bara’s eyes? “Heh, ignore those, that's just Twilight throwing a hissy fit.” Bara said, wiping them off. “Still can't accept facts. Zeke's gone.”

“No Zeke's back...he just calls himself Kexez now...and is a total asshole for some reason.” I frown.

Bara chuckled. “You mean his Nobody?” I nodded. “Heh. He is a Balanced being, his heart, light and darkness, and his body, mind, soul. Everything about his existence is in perfect balance. And now, his dark half is running wild, and his body, like his dark half, can't be guided by his heart. It's acting on all it knows. A lifetime of violence, and the blood that makes his eyes red flowing through him again.”

“But what about the parts for his friends and family?” I ask. “You can't just forget important things like that.”

“Only something with a heart can love. Can care. When Kexez escaped Purgatory, triggering this second Keyblade war, an...after image of his heart was within him, but it is rapidly fading. Soon, he can look his infants in the eyes and end them, and feel nothing. There's two ways to deal with him before that happens, cause remember Ben, he has the blood in him again, and all they really need is his body.”
“I know…” I sigh out bitterly. “Lets...just hope we’re not too late.” I shook my head while looking over, seeing our designation coming up. “Right, I'd better get dressed before heading down there. Wonder what this book has in it that's so special?” I wonder before chugging a potion and feeling better, my fur surprisingly growing back healthily somehow.

“Well, we are approaching the location of that book, go get dressed stud.”

“Get your own body first Bara.” I frown before heading off back to my room to get changed.

After I got dressed in some new clothes we finally got to our first destination in Zebrica.

The rumored location of the book. It was a mountainous valley, and the only trail lead into a cave the Zeppelin parked, er, stopped and floated over. “Many stories are told about the cave that devours souls.” Zecora said, shivering at the cave below us.

“Heartless are probably down there.” I say simply. “But the cave won't steal any of your souls, I'm here and all of you have gotten stronger.” I explain, ready to drop down and look for the book.

I jumped down, and saw next to me Luna land as I did. “You are not going in there alone, and if you say no, Sweetie Belle told me about that special collar that turned Joy into a zombie, so you've been warned.” Luna said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes. “You wish you could put a collar on me.” I say simply.

“The collar is for me, the hormones that drive canines mad with lust that it releases are for you~” She cooed, walking into the cave.

“All of you are insatiable…” I shook my head while walking into the cave as well. “But your gonna follow me anyways so what else can I do?”

When we entered the cave my canine sense went wild, a foul unnatural stench filled the air, along with a rotten putrid aroma, like a long dead creature. “If my memory serves, Starswirl investigated this cave himself, and barely escaped it's legendary beast.” Luna said, covering her nose to try and keep the stench at bay.

I zipped up my cloak all the way so I could breathe properly without smelling death. “Well...it's either something that just smells like crap, or it's an undead...what did Starswirl say about this legendary beast?”

“He said when he entered a section of the cave where corpses that looked as if all the life had been drained from them, his lantern went out, and something slashed him. He cast a single spell at is as he ran out, and he said it was a beast made of evil and corpses, with a snake length tongue that had a tooth at it's tip. When he showed me the scar it gave him...he was lucky, any closer and he would have lost his arm.”

“Hmm…” I hum, summoning Reunion and keeping it at the ready. “Now while I would say this is something trying to become Legion I doubt it…” I say worriedly. “Quite an interesting monster…”

“If it is a heartless, it's unlike any he recorded in his travels.” She said, the darkness of the cave peaking.

Tunk!

“Owe!” Luna yelped. “I think I stubbed my toe on a rock.” Luna said, feeling around for it. “Where are, got ya you...you...lantern?” She questioned, using her magic to ignite the candle on it. She then looked at it, rubbing the dirt off of a side of it. “It...it was Starswirl’s...his name is on it…” We looked forward, and before us was a large opening, a pile of mummified corpses filling it to what had to be a ten feet high ceiling. “By the stars…” Luna said wide eyed.

I gripped Reunion hard as light swirled around it. “Photon!” I shout, lifting my keyblade up as a ball of pure light encircled a part of the mound of corpses. “May the light give your bodies rest.” I say before it crushed down, destroying the corpses so they wouldn't be used by this undead ever again. “You need to get out of here Luna, now.” I growl, looking around for where the monster could be.

“How did Jenny put it...like hell I am.” Luna deadpanned. There was then a monstrous growl from where the light didn't reach. Slowly, walking into view came a large, feral beast that was a mass of darkness, skeletons adorned it's backside, arms, legs, rib cages. It's face was two skulls, their mouths open to be it's eyes as it's jaw hung loosely while a long scalded tongue slithered out, a dagger like bone at it's tip. My assistant flashed, it's hp bar showing as well as its name. Seven hp bars, name...The Fallen.

“The Fallen…” I mutter, summoning Frozen Pride and standing in front of Luna, prepared to fight this thing. “Gonna be an interesting fight.” I growl, before rushing forward and slashing at the undead.

Before my hit can land it jumped back, bouncing off the wall behind it and ramming me before it's toungue tooth scratched my face. Luna managed to get it with a Zentenzukan, it jumping off me and chasing her. “Ben, I saw it, on its belly! It's a Heartless, it has the symbol!” She yelled.

I saw the Heartless chase Luna, my nightmares of her being attacked by a monster making me...kind of snap to be honest. “Don't you fucking dare hurt my Luna!” I roar, bolting and stabbing the thing in the side in the blink of an eye. “Holy Lance!” I shout, five lances of light stabbing into the Heartless as well.

It roared in pain. When the attack hit it, the wound I made it it shined bright, like a… “Ben...that thing… it has a Keyhole in it!” Luna yelled, the beast’s eyes widening, shaking and tossing me aside as it ran towards the caves deepest pits.

“A...Keyhole?” I mutter. “How in the hell? Ugh, not important at the moment, we need to find it and either kill it or figure out how to get the keyhole out of it.”

“Ben...what if the Keyhole in it...is Equestria's?” Luna asked. “I know the heartless can feed off of them...but to swallow one?”

“It's probably why it's strong and looks like that…” I say, keeping my face away from Luna as the sudden rush of anger and fear for Luna’s safety turned my left eye again. “But we need to find it, and get the keyhole out of it...and hey maybe we can also find the book as well.”

“That is why we are here.” Luna nodded, the both of us chasing the thing down the cave. Finally, we came across a torchlit room. The heartless wasn't around, but there was a stone coffin in the center, an emblem with a hood with wings and a horn on it. “That's...the old symbol of the alicorns. Mother and father showed it to me a long time ago…” Luna said, walking up to the coffin.

“Careful.” I say, looking around the room. “Something feels off here.”

Luna looked at the coffin, and with some effort, pushed the lid off. The top fell on the ground, and Luna’s eyes went wide. “Well... it's an alicorn…”

I walked up to it, the long dead alicorn was in Keyblade armor, in one hand was the book, and the other, a Keychain. “Well...this is what we came here for...sorry.” I say while gently taking the book and keychain.

“What... something doesn't add up. A heartless that swallowed a Keyhole, and an alicorn tomb in Zebra lands… something isn't right at all.”

“I don't know...but maybe this book has some answers.” I say while gently opening the book to see if it had anything important here.

I opened the book, the language it was written in was...unknown to me, but thankfully my Assistant was translating it to English before my very eyes.

The Book of Nothingness. Vol. XVIX: Spells and Enchanting.

I blinked at reading that. “Huh…” I say while flipping the page, wondering what the book had to say about Nothingness. “Well...they were right saying this had something important in it.”

Spells, a basic introduction.

To those with basic knowledge of Nothingness and it's capabilities, Twilight Thorns (the grey, black and white vines, not the Sentinels) are the most basic way Nothingness can enter the realms of light and darkness. By themselves they harm anything with a heart, but this is just their basic form and use.

If attuned properly, they can be used to infuse Nothingness into spells, such as fire, magnet, thunder, and blizzard.

“Interesting.” I mutter while closing the book and putting it in my pocket, before changing Reunion out for the new keychain to see what it was. My eyes widened. Rather than a blade, it was a bow. The grip was the center and the bows body was like stained glass, the string was a faint light.

“Well that's new.” Luna deadpanned.

I checked my Assistant, knowing it could tell me things I had in my inventory so it could probably tell me the new bow I had equipped. “It works like a game, so it should tell me what I have equipped…” I mutter to myself, hoping to find out something about this bow.

Name: Guardian of Hope.

Att: 8

Def: 3

Mag: 12

Special ability: Monochrome. Casts Stop spell on targets (30%)

This Key’blade’ was one of the rare Key-armaments. Forged not long after the X-blade, it was a prototype in weapons against the darkness. While all it's abilities are the same as a Keyblade, it's design was scrapped for the Keyblades we know today.

“Huh...that's interesting.” I say while holding the bow properly. “A Key-Armament, I can kind of see why they stuck with the original Keyblade idea.” I say honestly. “But it does look cool though.” I point out before changing back to Reunion.

“Mind if I have it?” Luna asked. “I was quite fond or archery years ago.”

“Sure.” I nodded while handing Guardian of Hope’s keychain to Luna. “Its special ability is that it has a thirty percent chance of casting stop on anything this thing hits.” I explain.

“Cool.” Luna said, equipping it immediately.

There was a growl from behind us. We looked and saw the Fallen enter, it looked...pissed we were here. Its tongue slid back into its mouth, and then it's throat opened wide, a bright light shining as a beam shot at us. We dodged, and the beam hit the wall. We looked, it was a clean cut through easy a mile of dense rock, daylight shining from the other side of the new hole.

“Well…” I start. “Thats...a thing.” I say before looking at the Fallen. “Are you this Alicorns guardian?” I ask it, knowing it was smart enough to have emotions and it seemed rather upset we were here for some reason or another. “Or are you just a random Heartless here?” I ask the Fallen, ready to fight it if need be.

It snarled, walking slowly towards us. Luna drew the bow’s string back, an arrow of light appearing once it was all the way back. “Thundaga!” She cast, the arrow changing to pure electricity as she fired, the arrow striking the Fallen as it screamed from the attack. It shook it off, and continued it’s slow walk.

I looked at the beast. “Your not a normal heartless…” I mutter, taking a step towards the coffin where the Alicorn was to test something. I summoned a ball of Twilight Thorns and held it above the coffin, wondering if it would react to me holding something above the Alicorns dead body.

It paused, standing deathly still.

“Your smart for a heartless, and you also have the light of a Keyhole inside of you.” I say, staring at the skeletal heartless. “Can you understand us?” I ask the Heartless. “Bark once for yes, bark twice for no.”

It growled. Eyes narrowed. ”The book and Guardian are yours to take, leave him and me alone.” It said, speaking...in my head… Telepathy?

“We will.” I nod. “But...I do have some questions if it's alright to ask.” I say to the Heartless. “I've never seen or heard of a heartless like you, or the fact you have such a powerful light inside of you...what or who are you?”

”This world is unique, tied to the light in such a way, it’s strong in both the land and its inhabitants. So much so, the Keyhole of this world is not within a location, but in fact, in the heart of a special inhabitant, reborn immediately upon the old ones death.”

“So that's why you have such a light.” I say, honestly surprised about that. “I...suppose the Alicorn held the Keyhole before you?” I ask it, finding this very interesting.

”No, he was my guardian, stayed here when the Keyblade war broke out, and died, for only an alicorn can be my guardian. To keep the Keyhole within my heart safe, I fell into the darkness, the light keeping my mind sane, but the darkness still has its ways of turning me beastial.”

“Do you want to be stuck down here for an eternity? Or...do you want to come with us and we can help you regain yourself, or at least stem the tide of darkness inside you?” I ask the Heartless carefully, wanting to help it.

”For my true self to be achieved, an alicorns oath of service I must attain.”

“Luna…” I start. “Mind if I ask you to...swear an oath of service to protect Equis’s Keyhole?” I ask her, motioning to the Heartless. “Wait...if she does this...does she have to stay here?” I ask the Fallen worriedly.

”Wherever I go, she must follow. Failure to be within my sight, she will pay the price of life.”

“Oh...uh…” I trail off, scared of losing Luna. “I don't want to lose Luna…” I say, my nightmares coming up and seeing Luna die again. “Oh god…” I mutter, shaking as I try to stave off my growing panic. “Uh...Luna...did Fallen also talk to you?” I ask, trying to distract myself from my worry and fear.

“Yes… I accepted.”

“What?!” I yelled, Luna’s right hand glowing bright as a Keyhole tattoo appeared on it, the Fallen began glowing bright, it’s shape fading as now, asleep on the ground, laid a...kid? A Zebra child, at least seven. They were adorned with white robes and a crown that looked like that of a Keyhole. “Uh...what?” I ask, raising an eyebrow and seeing the child. “I...suppose that's a thing…” I say while walking over to the kid and kneeling down and gently picking up the sleeping child. “Okay...back to the Zeppelin?” I whisper to Luna.

“Ubani, ungubani?” The child spoke sleepily.

“Oh.” I mutter, wondering if the little kid was waking up. “Uh...does Zebrica have its own separate language?” I ask Luna quietly.

“Yes, while many now speak in Equis, there are those who still speak the old language and it only, while most others speak both Zalu, the old Zebra language, and Equis.”

“Oh dear…” I say worriedly. “Well...good to know cause I have no idea what this little kid said.” I say, not sure if the zebra was a boy or a girl. “I suppose you know how to speak Zalu?” I ask, hoping to learn how to speak other languages.

“No, but Celestia or Zecora must.” Luna said. “Even back when, Celestia was the one to handle foreign parties.”

“Makes sense.” I nodded, carrying the Zebra child carefully like a father would. “Alright, let's get back. The others are gonna need some explanation on why we suddenly brought this little kid with us out of a tomb.” I say simply, not sure if I should go first or if I should go second because I don't want Luna hurt, but just shook my head and headed out so we could get out of here.

It was a silent walk back to the Zeppelin, when we got up to it, Celestia and Zecora took the child, the three talking in Zalu while I spoke with Luna. “So...what does it feel like to have the oath?” I ask Luna curiously.

“Strange… Ever since becoming me again and being freed from Nightmare Moon, I always had this...darkness lingering, but now it feels far away. “ She lifted up her hand, looking at the tattoo on it. “This mark… just looking at it I feel warmth.”

“You are the guardian of Equis’s Keyhole, so it would make sense that you feel better.” I say simply. “And...as long as you're okay…” I trail off, putting a hand over my left eye. “That’s...that’s all I can ask for…”

“I’ll be fine Ben.” Luna said, elbowing me.

“Okay.” I nod. “Well...we got the book...so off to the capital.” I say, hoping the royal family won't be pissed about Zecora.

“As you can clearly see this place is big enough to train.” My clone says to all the council members, showing them the training room. The room they were all in look like it could fit a very large city in it and then some, sections were made for mountains, plains, deserts, forests, and one area looked like a standard training area but big enough to fit them all. “And this place is where all of you will be training with your new weapons and abilities.” My clone explains to them all. “Who wants to start training first?”

“I guess me.” Trixie said, walking up. “So...how do they work?” She asked, the cards appearing for her.

My clone summoned Fair Game. “So, Fair Game…how good are you at math?” I ask curiously. “Cause math was the very first thing I had to learn when dealing with these things.”

“I was a B average.” Trixie admitted.

My clone took a deep breath. “Okay...I'm gonna have to fix that drastically.” My clone says, trying to think of how to do this. “The cards in your control are more of a gambler type of weapon.” My clone says while cards start to float over my head and Trixie could somehow tell that she had to pick the ‘O’ card as it cycled through four ‘X’ cards at a reasonable pace for her. “The game hour seeing right now is simple, just pick a card and say ‘stop’, if it's on the O and your good, pick the X and your punished.” My clone explains.

“Oh...Hmm…” Trixie thought, calling stop four times, earning all O’s. “Huh, I was right.”

“Good first try.” My clone nodded, before grabbing a card and making it the size of a coffee table. “But games isn't the only thing it can do, you can resize cards to be as big or as small as you can think of, and it can also cause explosions.” I say while a card off to the side had an explosion sigil on it. “Or casts slow on opponents.” My clone says, a slow looking clock sigil on another card. “But above all, is how good are you at card games and tricks.” My clone says, probably should have told her about that part first so she knew what to immediately do. “How good are you at card tricks and games?”

“Actually…” Trixie thought, looking at her own cards before throwing them, the cards all falling in place as she jumped back, one opening up and letting her in. I turned around, seeing her appear out of a card that landed behind me. “Yeah, it’s almost the same.” Trixie said, the cards all shrinking back to normal as they returned to her.

“Got a good feeling on what your cards can possibly do?” My clone asks curiously.

“I think. It’s like when I was little. My parents worked in a casino in Las Pegasus, my dad worked the tables and my mom was a performer. When I was younger I helped my mom pull off illusion acts, something like this we did, but with fake mirrors and such. The mirrors has fake glass, and when we fell through we land on a mattress, then move quickly to another mirror and use a trampoline to jump back up. It was almost just like that what I just did.”

“Good.” My clone nodded. “Think of it kind of like that, a mixture of a gambler and a magician.”

“Oh then I so got this, dad taught me all the ways people counted cards and such, to keep an eye out for cheaters so I could help out while moms shows were setting up for other acts.”

“Basically, but now add in what you can do with a gambler that can count cards and can predict situations three steps ahead of yourself. You are the dealer and the player, remember that.” My clone says with a smile. “Think you got the general idea down?”

“Yeah. I got it, just have to practice and come up with some of my own works.”

“Good.” Clone me nodded. “Okay, who's next?” My clone asks, glad that Trixie got the general idea. “Who else wants a general rundown on what their weapon does?” My clone asks, looking at Vergil, Dante, Kat, Genos and Sonic.

“If my analysis of what Trixie has is clear, we all seem to have the base experience in order to further develop with these weapons individually.” Genos said.

“Either through the element, the base weapon, or what it is capable of doing.” My clone says while Eternal Flames appeared around in my hands. “Your weapons element is fire, while Fair Game is Time.” Clone me says. “How good are you with fire?” My clone asks Genos

Genos held up a hand, in his palm was a circle to which a flame started burning from. “It’s my primary weapon. My system is designed to ignite the air for fuel and burn it to any degree I wish, allowing me to create great destruction or minimal.”

My clone nodded. “Natural affinity for it good...but what about combat experience? How strong are you?”

Genos turned around, his arm gaining static at the flame grew. Finally, he fired, it was like being next to a sun with the heat, and when it faded, the earth before us was scorched for miles. “I did a scan, and there was no life other than plant based for the ten miles my attack reached.”

“How many times have you gotten your ass kicked?” My clone asks curiously.

“Since studying under my master, my body has been nearly destroyed at least three separate times. Before than damage was minimal, and after average damage was at least sixty four percent of my body.”

My clone nodded. “Right then, we're gonna have to fix that a lot. If your in my council wielding those chakrams, you need to be a one man army, not a pansy that always gets half his body ripped in half on average.” My clone frowns. “But do you know how to wield Chakrams?” I ask Genos curiously.

“My database contains combat information for hundreds of weapons, these included. While my worlds counterparts are far more simple, it’s nothing I can’t adapt to.”

“Good.” My clone nods. “Train and get stronger, even if your mostly machine you still have a lot of room to grow.”

“Yes sir.” He said with a bow. Seeing everyone seemed to get the idea, I headed off, feeling like they can continue from there. I entered the living room, seeing Den reading a book while Cript slept on her lap.

My clone could only smile at seeing that. “Hi.” My clone whispered to Den, not wanting to wake Cript up from his comfy spot.

“Hi Ben.” Den said, putting her book down. “So, how is your day going?”

“Fine. Just let some people know how to start their training.” My clone says honestly. “But...I'm also feeling like crap…” He sighed out bitterly. “Mostly because of...nightmares and...something worse…”

“Insanity?” She asked, my eyes widening as I looked at her. “I can smell it Ben, so no use denying it.”

My clone sighed out and covered it's left eye. “Yeah...I'm an Insanity...and you can obviously tell I'm scared of it…”

“That’s the curse, dealing with it like Cript does.” She said, looking at him and began petting his head. “An Insanity link, even broken, lingers forever, and implants fear and illusions to break you so it can take over. The Psychopaths do worse. For Cript, they make him see death, murder of the worst and brutalist kind by his hands. Day or night, happy, and even more so when sad. They are images and visions meant to break you...and remind you that they still crave you.”

“And it doesn't help that I'm having nightmares about this damned war coming up…” My clone says sadly. “God...this is a massive pain…” My clone mumbles. “How can I handle this new nightmare?”

“What was it about?” Den asked.

“The second Keyblade war…” My clone says bitterly. “My family fighting in it...and everyone dying...and how Zeke is the cause of it all as he sits on a throne like he owns all the people's corpses.” My clone growls, anger welling up as I remembered the last nightmare. “How he seemed so perfectly fine having his dead family become Psychopath puppets, how he ripped my heart out and shattered it…” My clone growled, my left eye shifting to an Insanity. “How...scared I was when I lost it...how if the dream didn't end...I would have just slaughtered so many…” My clone shook, tears brimming in the corners of his eyes.

“Hmm…” Den hummed, still petting Cript’s head. “Tell me, do you know why Cript sleeps?”

“Either one of two reasons...one because even the strongest of us need sleep...or he goes inside his head to make sure some things are kept in check.” My clone guessed.

“Close. Cript sleeps to remember, to re-live certain events from his past.”

“Both the good and the bad?” My clone asked curiously.

“Bad only. His harshest past reminds him why he fights.”

“Ah…” My clone mutters. “I...suppose that makes sense.”

“Do you want to see it?” Den asked. “I know it’s rather strange to ask, but it might help you understand how he pushes on.”

“Please.” My clone says. “I...I want to know...so I don't hurt my family…”

“Alright. This will be...hard on you, and this is what Cript went through himself. You’ve been warned.” Den said, placing a finger to my head as I began to feel...sleepy.

I opened my eyes, but I didn’t feel...myself. My body was hanging, heavy, cold chains kept my legs and arms held back. They were tight, firm, and painful. The room was dark, the only light coming from a hole in the roof some feet away. The floor was wet, blood stained and old. “Well...this...is something.” I said, though, it seemed I had no control over anything.

There were footsteps, heavy boots from the sound of it. My body, or rather, Cript, looked up, seeing a man no older than I was. His hair was cut short, and he wore black pants, and a leather jacket and boots. “Andy.” Cript said.

“Cript. Ready for round...hmm…” This Andy guy thought before smirking. “How long has it been?”

“At least six months.” He said.

”Six months of being in a torture room?” I mutter to myself, knowing I'm just a passenger here but still. ”This...is gonna hurt…” I mutter to myself worriedly.

“That sounds about right.” He chuckled. “I admit, you really are a lot tougher than when we first left for our year long round the world journey.” He said, a sword appearing in his hand as it glowed red hot. “Let’s start with the basics.” He then stabbed it into Cript, the burning alone was agony. Cript, and even I was screaming. I felt that! He then sliced it down Cript’s body, leaving a cauterized gash as the blade sliced it’s way out. I then felt Cript’s body begin to heal, painfully stitching itself back together. “Come on now Cript, you know how to make this end. How much longer?”

“Agh! Ahh…” Cript coughed out. “S...Screw you.”

”Okay...that hurt...but nothing I haven't felt before.” I tell myself, thinking Bara’s fire attacks were worse. ”But...this must be when they were...trying to turn him into a Psychopath…”

“Awh, don’t be like that!” Andy shouted the last word, kicking Cript in the head, a tooth flying out, but grew back. “Come on Cript, we both know what you are, what’s inside you.” Cript looked up, there was a mirror in front of him now. It showed him in dirty, tattered clothes, chains keeping his arms and legs still, and his body was horribly malnourished. But what made my jaw drop was the ethereal, ghost like crucified angel behind him. “Just wake it up, and this can all end. Wake up Zechariah, and all your pain will end. Let the beast Heaven cast out and hell fears out of it’s cage you wuss.” Andy moved the mirror aside, showing himself now. “At least, try now.”

”What the hell…?” I think to myself worriedly, fearing what's gonna happen next.

“I told you...that…thing is bound to my soul for a reason. What that is, I don’t know. But I’d rather not find out.” Cript said.

“Heh, like a broken record.” Andy said. “Time and time again, the same answer. Well, I did a lot of footwork to grab that Las Plagas prototype that’s keeping you alive, but that can’t keep you alive forever. So, let’s see what The One will do.”

Crit jerked up. “Andy, that’s forbidden in every field of magic and alchemy! You can’t!”

“I didn’t think I had to, but you’ve left me with no other choice.” Andy said, pulling out a stick of chalk from his pocket and began drawing a circle around Cript. Cript shouting at Andy to stop. When It was done I realized what it was… That human transmutation circle from FullMetal Alchemist. “So, gonna wake it up yet?”

“I...I can’t!”

Andy smirked. “Fime then, pray he’s generous.” The circle activated, and everything went white.

”Well fuck…” I say, having felt the pain he suffered and wondering what's gonna happen now.

When Cript opened his eyes, there were two doors, one behind him, and another behind that Silhouette thing from the FMA anime. “Well now, I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” It spoke.

“Y-You’re the one? The collective consciousness of everything on a world that has been, is or will be…?” Cript asked.

“Fools call me God, but you know better than that I imagine. Now then, what will the price be for you…” Cript flinched.

“I, I don’t...I didn’t…”

“A body part is too lacking, and your soul is… off limits by any deity. Hmmm?” It thought, finally snapping it’s fingers. “I got it.” It raised its hand, and Cript started coughing. He coughed up blood until, finally, a dark grey pearl looking item came out. It rolled over to it, and it grabbed it. “There, a fitting price I’ll say.”

“Cah! What, what is it? What did you take from me?!”

“Simply put child.” He raised the pearl up for view. “I took your ability to die.” Cript’s eyes went wide. “You can try and try, but nothing will kill you. Not even things from the void and above can do you in.”

“You...You stole my mortality!”

“Stole? Heh, you forget who you deal with child. I don’t steal...I bargain.” There was a creek, the door behind Cript started opening, as did the one behind it. “Your mortality, for the knowledge of…” He chuckled. “Everything.” Then, a black tendril came from both doors, each wrapping around Cript tightly.

“No! Keep your knowledge, give me back my mortality you bastard!”

“A trade has been made my child. And a trade like this...there are no take backs.” It smiled, the tendrils covering Cript’s face. Once all was dark… pain, everything, and I mean anything and everything that could be learned was being poured into Cript’s head. The pain from it all made us both just scream. I didn’t see the knowledge, but I felt the pain. My head felt like it was splitting. Cracking from the pressure.

”Gah! Fucking hell!” I mentally shout in pain, trying my darndest to bear through the pain that was rushing at me.

As quickly as it started, it stopped. Cript was back in the all white chamber, it across from him. “So, how is it? I give mortals glimpses for limbs and other such things, but never has a mortal taken it all in before. So tell me, what’s it like?”

Cript’s breath was shaky. “P...Pointless.”

“Huh?”

“What’s the point in all this knowledge? You show me everything that can be learned, that can be understood and what should never be understood… But...what’s the point...If I can’t die? Death is part of life, all that knowledge says so...but you...just broke your own logic.”

It smiled. “Yes and no my lad. You see...I showed you everything I know, that’s everything anyone who will live on E arth has known, knows and will know til it’s death. But you, heh, well you are not from earth now are you?”

“W-what?”

In a blink, we were back in the dungeon, Andy standing over us. “Well, no missing limbs, internal organs maybe?” He questioned.

“My death…”

“Huh?”

Cript charged, his chains breaking as if they were wet paper and slammed Andy to the ground. “My Death! He took my mortality you sick bastard!” Cript began punching Andy, each punch leaving a nasty bruise or made one heck of a crack. “What’s the point of living life if there’s no end to find!” Cript’s hand then pulsated with powerful, blue electricity as he electrocuted Andy, the man laughing as Cript did this to him.

”Cript...can never die?” I mutter to myself, not believing Truth would do such a horrid thing to him.

”Heh, Finally.”

A voice I recognized spoke, Cript’s body glowing with a holy light, altering as he grew taller, his hair changed from brown to blond, his clothes became like white silk robes with a gold belt, and two, large wings sprouted out of his back. ”Heheh...heheheh…..HAHAHAHHHAHAHA! Psychopath was free. ”Finally! Five incarnations over ten thousand years bound to this soul and I. Am. FREE!”

”Oh so that's why they always had blonde hair…” I say, wondering why I just had to point that out when a Psychopath was just freed.

It then looked over at Andy. ”Hmm for thanks I’ll let you live, shall we ever cross paths again, your head I will take. Hehehehe. Nothing personal.” It then flapped its wings, and flew up. In a haze, we were on...where are we? Everything looks… Wait, is that earth up there? There were people all around, looking at us in surprise. Psychopath then cracked it’s neck. ”I’m a bit rusty, but it’s like riding a bicycle.”

”So Earth was a real place...but now it's not cause this assholes gonna burn it to the ground…” I frown, not liking how the Psychopath immediately went to Earth here.

”You, youngling.” Psychopathe said, appearing in front of a child. ”What world is this?”

“M-m-m-m-mars…”

”Ah, the red planet.” It said, looking around. ”Not so much anymore… Let’s correct that.” Psychopath said, grabbing the kids neck, and snapped it… I felt it...snapping the child's neck.

”Oh no…” I mutter, fearing what's gonna happen next.

“Gah, wha, where?” I said, waking back up in the livingroom and getting up...Cript was up.

“So...you saw that…” He said.

“Ye-yeah…” I nod, covering my left eye bitterly as the feeling of snapping a child's neck still lingered. “I...saw it…”

“In my realm, that day is known as the Mars Colony Incident. It started a fast downward spiral, racism and abuse of ET’s who everyone blamed for that event... “

“I...can imagine.” I sigh out. “So...immortal huh? How the hell is that even possible?”

“Death is a fact, woven into everything. Even admins can die… Save for me. You see, death can come in any form, it’s a probability. The One, stole that probability from me. It’s the main reason as to why in every battle, every war...I come out unharmed, and unscaved. There’s no way for me to die.”

“But how the hell can something take that away?” I ask, still not understanding how you can just ‘take away’ someone's mortality. “Just...it should seem impossible when you think about it…”

“When you enter that...things, territory, you're being as a whole is like a market to it. It trades something of value from you, and depending on the value you placed on it, depends on the information he gives you. For me, I just wanted to live my life, and when my time was to come, reflect on my life before death took me...now...there is no death for me. Just continue.”

“Well...that sucks…” I frown. “But...you can probably tell why I saw all that...or even wanted to.” I sigh out.

“You wanted to know how to make those nightmares stop?”

“I wish I could stop these nightmares...honestly I don't know if its because of the old Keyblade war I saw...or because of this damned Insanity stuck inside my heart…” I say bitterly.

“Sad to say Ben, but it’s neither.”

“Am I getting some weird visions of the future?” I ask him. “Cause I doubt it's visions.”

“It’s not visions either.” Cript said. “Think Ben, what reasons would you have for having those nightmares? What do they all focus on?”

“Zeke and the damned Keyblade war...Kingdom Hearts being consumed by Darkness…” I say. “All my friends fighting...my family being slaughtered...Zeke acting like he's the fucking king of a death laden wasteland...” I growl, taking a few deep breaths and reigning in my growing anger. “Is it a warning or something?”

“Nope. Now, think on what they all lack?”

“They lack?” I ask, confused by what he meant. “My council for one...Nobody’s...the...Embodiments…” I name off slowly, trying to think of what these damned nightmares lacked, but thinking it lacked people instead of something

Cript laughed. “What they all lack, is hope.” Cript said. “You keep imagining a bleak and hopeless war with a terrible outcome. The first Keyblade war was terrible, and cost countless lives, but, people and the light survived. You keep thinking that this war won’t leave any survivors, or have hope for a better future for when it’s all over.”

“When it's going to last a week, and countless numbers of people are going to be fighting this damned war that shouldn't be happening to be perfectly honest...it's hard to find hope sometimes…” I sigh out. “This is the first time I'm going to be fighting in a war...and...honestly this war shouldn't even be happening. But Drezke and Kexez are so dead fucking set on killing billions because of some prophecy bullshit it's rather infuriating to be honest.” I growl. “Instincts be damned they still have their minds...they’re not stupid to willingly go through with this...“

“Who said they were going to try and kill people?” Cript asked. “Drezke said, if I remember, he was building an army to fight the Embodiments. That also includes Spoiled if he has the chance. Now, what does Kexez want to fight in this war? Didn’t he tell you anything?”

“He told me he's gonna make something to stop the third war from happening...but it'll take a week after the war starts.” I say. “But the one thing that makes me think they'll just...do that is because neither of them even bothered to tell the people they trust about this...Joy tried to talk to Kexez once, Core kicked the crap out of him...I talked to Kexez and...well we talked but he woke me up with a bullet to the head…” I say bitterly.

“Zeke is a balanced being Ben, not just his heart, but his body as well. Without his heart, Kexez is lost, without Lake, Drezke can’t ignore his instincts, and without Drezke, Lake has no meaning. Lake keeps Drezke safe, supported in his choices, while Drezke gives his strength, and Kexez channels their energies, the three making Zeke, his whole being. Heh, funny, this realm seems to work in a pattern of three, huh?”

“I suppose.” I say. “But...Yen Sid told me when I become king...I can get Lake back...somehow.” I say, not knowing how that's supposed to work. “He said I can open the Doors of Purgatory to do it...but fuck if I know how that's even possible.”

“In time.” Cript said. “You all have quite the futures ahead of you...quite the futures…”

“Yeah, gonna be a King and all.” I shrug. “But...question…” I start. “This...is crazy and stupid...but how can I...control an Insanitys power? I'm just...curious about it cause of...something I heard about before.” I say, remembering how Cript somehow fused Psychopath and Humanity together to somehow ‘cure’ Psychopaths.

“...If I can control their power, you can control that things power. In time though, it’s reckless to use it without knowing your limits.”

“I didn't think I'd get a straight answer…” I sigh out.

“It will all come in time Ben. As an admin I have seen many possibilities for your life, most which head to the same destination.”

“I doubt it's towards me relaxing at a beach resort with my family huh?” I say, making a joke about what the future will hold.

“Heh, if you want it to be… Come on, I wanna talk in private.” Cript said, getting up and walking down the hallway.

“Okay…” I say, walking along with Cript. “So, what did you want to talk about?”

“To put it simply, I wanna ask you a question. It’s a simple question, with no wrong answers.”

“That's what they all say before hearing the wrong answer.” I frown. “But what's the question if I may ask?”

“Your Nightmares, would you like to see who is causing them?”

I frowned. “So there's someone outside of me that's causing It?”

“Yes, or no?” Cript asked, finally stopping and turning to face me, a small smile on his face clearly hiding his knowledge.

“Yes.” I huff, having a feeling he's just gonna pull out a mirror and say ‘it’s you’ like a cheeky bastard.

“Heh, alright. Oh, and sorry in advance.”

“For w-” Was all I could say before Cript formed a fist, and punched me right in the forehead, everything going black as I fell to the ground.

“Ouch…” I groaned, that punch hurt like hell… I managed to look around, seeing I was… I was in some neighborhood. It looked like one from earth...but I don’t know where from earth. “The hell?” I muttered, getting up and dusting myself off. “Where am I?” I mutter to myself, walking down the sidewalk in hopes of finding something to tell me where I am.

“Hehe.” I heard, turning around. I swear I heard a...child laugh. I quickly turned back around, hearing footsteps from...somewhere.

“Hello?” I call out, moving towards where I heard the sound. “Is someone here?”

“Heheh!” I heard, seeing a bit of someone run behind one of the houses. I ran, following and skidded to a halt. It was a backyard, like many, set up for a barbecue, but there was no one. What was here, was a large sword, embedded into the nearby tree, and a pair of large handguns on a table next to it. “Those...are Dante’s?” I ask myself, walking up to the weapons. “Why are his guns here?” I ask myself, grabbing Ebony, Ivory, and Rebellion. “Okay...so this is worrying.” I frown, putting the guns and sword away as I continued to search around for the kid.

“Heheh.” I looked, seeing the back door entering the house slam shut. Slowly, I walked in, the lights all on, thankfully. It was a nice house, well decorated, and rather large it seemed.

“Hello?” I call out, searching around the rather large house. “Creepily laughing and running doesn't really help here kid.”

Tink. I looked down, stepping on something. It was a small pouch. I picked it up, inside was several small ninja throwing weapons. Stitched into the flap read ‘property of Sonic’.

“Sonic’s...throwing weapons?” I frown, putting away Sonic’s bag of throwing items and continued onward. “Vergil? Genos? Luxu?” I call out, having a bad feeling about this. “I've got a bad feeling about this…” I mutter, continuing my search for the noise and wondering who else’s stuff is lying around here.

I headed upstairs, and in a bedroom of sorts I spotted Luxu’s Keyblade, resting on the bed. I picked it up, and the door slammed shut. I turned around, and a DTD opened up, a figure dressed in a black and gold organization XIII cloak walked out.

“Why hello there.” I say to the new person. “How may I help you on this fine...kind of creepy day?” I ask them.

He turned around, and everything shook. The room, specifically, the section of floor, wall, and the door were pulled from the rest of the room, a massive, long gap separates us as random house hold items from the room floated all into random places in the now massively high ceiling. Rebellion then glowed, first a fiery red, then a bright, calming blue before becoming normal.

“O~kay then…” I say worriedly, drawing Rebellion and wondering why the hell it glowed as well as preparing myself for an upcoming fight.

It was after I drew Rebellion that I saw some strange things. Some of the furniture either had a blue or red glow around it. Pointing it at the lamp with a red glow, it changed, no longer a sword, but a whip with a skeletal demon head and moving jaw at the tip. I swung it, the whip growing in length as the demon head bit onto the lamp. I pulled, and it floated over to me. Carefully, I pressed a foot on it, the lamp not seeming to move. My next target glowed blue. Some dresser drawers. Rebellion changed into a chrome and blue whip with a dragon head at the tip. I swung it, but it pulled me, almost panicking, I did it again, it latching onto the next drawer and this time I landed on a desk. “Awesome.” I smile, understanding how this is going to work as I looked around for my next stepping stone. “Lets hope this will lead the right way.” I mutter while jumping up and latching onto another blue object and landing on it carefully.

I was on my last swing to the door when the stranger walked down the hall. The swing threw me through the door as it closed behind me. The hallway was...unchanged. Okay…”So...where the hell am I supposed to go?” I frown, looking around the room and seeing if there was another way before going through the obvious ‘repeating room’ thing.

I opened another door, it was a bathroom, shower curtains closed and the shower running. The room was filled with steam. “Hello?” I ask, hoping someone was here as I carefully stepped through the steamy room.

“La da, da da dum, da da.” A woman's voice began singing from behind the curtains.

“Hello?” I ask again, hoping the lady will hear me this time. ”This better not be a jump scare…” I think to myself bitterly.

The lady kept singing. The more I listened the more I realized...she sounded rather young. “Hello?” I ask again, the girl still just singing. Begrudgingly, I walked up the the curtains. Slowly, I opened them. Inside was...nothing. The singing stopped and inside the shower, water running on it was a shield I recognized. It was red, white and blue, with a white star in the center. “Captain...America?” I question, picking up the shield. He’s not...wait, is he going to be the next chosen? “Um...okay.” I say while grabbing his shield. “Okay...where to next?” I mutter.

As I exited the room I saw the figure across from me. He waved his hand as a shadow appeared. It looked human in shape, dressed in a dark pink top, short shorts and had red hair, but her skin was shadow black with those ever familiar yellow eyes.

“Oh come on.” I complain, preparing myself for the possible fight.

The shadow lady crawled towards me, then rapidly jumped on the wall and off, grabbing my head and opening her mouth, a bright light shining from her mouth as everything started going...grey.

I blinked, and I was standing in the backyard of this house, people around, talking, cooking, grilling and eating.

“What the hell?” I frown, wondering what in the nine hells is going on. I put away Rebellion and Cap’s shield. “Um...hello?” I ask a random person. “Where am I? I’m...new around here.”

They didn't seem to hear me...or even notice me. I tried touching them, and my hand phased through them. “You know, cause fuck it.” I frown, walking around and looking to see if there was anything of importance.

At the corner of my eye I saw someone… Zeke. Looking at him properly I saw he was younger than how I know him, his eyes for some reason we're… green? He was eating some ribs when he got up and ran inside quick. Then I saw that girl, the shadow one, but she was human here, chase after him. I ran after them, and saw Zeke in the bathroom...he took out something on his eye… Contacts? “Itchy?” The girl asked.

“Like all hell.” Zeke replied. He dripping a liquid into his now red eye as he placed the contract back in. “Worth it though.”

“Where did you even find eye color changing contacts?”

“Internet.” Zeke replied, setting it back in proper.

“What the hell?” I mutter, wondering what’s going on here.

“So, family still has no clue where you are?” She asked.

“Thankfully. Your dad, did me a miracle declaring my arrest and execution.” Zeke replied.

“Hey, you made him chief of police with that bargain, and now you're a part of this family.”

“Yeah. Mowing lawns, barbecues. Apple pie life. It's nice.”

“Is this a different Zeke’s life? One where he got a nice simple life?” I wonder to myself, now confused on how this was supposed to solve my nightmare problem. “Why am I seeing this?”

“So, where is your dad anyway?” Zeke asked the girl.

“Finishing up some work and mom just left to get more meat for the cookout.” She explained.

“So...we got time?” Zeke asked her with a grin.

“Maybe~ Door does have a lock…” The girl said, grinning back.

“I’ll get the clean clothes.” Zeke said, walking into the room as the girl laughed, starting to undress as she turned the shower on.

“Um…” I frown. “I’m...not entirely sure what to think of this and in what context…” I tell myself, shaking my head. “This is confusing…” I sigh out, wondering what the hell I’m even supposed to be doing here now.

The world changed. Everything shifted and I was in the normal hallway again. Well, normal-ish. “Oi vey.” I sigh out while moving forward, looking around trying to find something important. “Okay, so in another strange hallway...why the hell am I here?” I frown, wondering if I'll find another thing involving my Council, another weird showing of Zeke if he managed to be someone else, or if this will lead to something else. “Where's the next door…” I mutter, waking through the normal-ish hallway.

Exiting back downstairs I found myself in the kitchen. Stabbed into the cutting board was Vergil's Katana. “Okay...there's Yamato…” I mutter while walking over and grabbing the katana that can cut dimensions.

Once I pulled it out I looked it over, wondering why I was finding all my councils weapons, even one I haven’t seen yet. ”What is going on here, what...is this?” I ponder, walking out of the kitchen and seeing someone in the living room. He was an older man, bald, wearing a well worn aviators jacket and jeans with some thick leather boots. “Hello?” I ask the man, walking into the living room.

He turned around, and I saw his eyes...Red. “Come on now sonny, come back to the family.” He said with open arms.

“I think you're mistaking me for someone else sir.” I say worriedly. “Who are you?”

“Ah come on now kid, it’s been ten years and I may be a lot older, but I recognize my own kin, I’m not losing my head just yet now.”

“Who are you?” I repeat myself, a tad worried about the red eyes man. “Cause...I don't think we've ever met…”

His expression changed to one of a tad annoyed. “Now son, you are trying my patients, and I know your daddy told you just how mean I can get when I am annoyed. Are you gonna make this easy,” He said, suddenly grabbing out into the air and an ethereal image of that girl Zeke was with appeared, him holding her by the neck and holding a rather large revolver to her head. “Or are you gonna make this easy for us?”

“Gah, Zeke!” The girl called.

“Marcy!” I jumped, an ethereal Zeke came out from me and ran towards them, all three fading before Zeke got halfway to the old man.

“Uh...what?” I blink, wondering just what the hell is going on. “I...am so confused right now…” I frown.

Shaking that off, I headed into some kind of… Library of sorts. On a table in the center of the room, was a stray paint can. I took a whi- GAH that is not paint! It reeks!. Taking a quick second look, I saw the name Kat on it, as well as a small list of what seemed to be spell names written on it. “And here’s Kats can of orange piss water.” I frowned, wrinkling my nose at the creepy smell of it. “Okay…time to take this along as well...it probably has something special with it…” I mutter while putting the can away and looking around for the next spot to go.

I walked back into the living room and froze. Zeke was there, on his knees, holding that girl, a large hole in her head, blood everywhere, and he looked dead at me. “Y-You killed her…” He muttered as the tears started to fall from his eyes, his contacts sliding out as he did.

“No I didn't.” I frown. “But your not going to listen or understand me cause this world is weird.” I roll my eyes, having a feeling I'm just reliving a part of Zeke’s past for whatever reason and finding my council's weapons for some unknown reason.

“You had this coming.” I jumped again, this time an ethereal version of the old man walked out of me. “We don’t get to have normal lives Zeke, we are Ventrals.”

“I never wanted to be one!” He screamed, hugging the girls body. “I...I just wanted…” The images faded again, Zeke, the girl, the old man, and even all the blood.

”Why am I seeing things about Zeke if this is supposed to solve my nightmares?” I question, finding this all...strange. ”Well...let's hope the next spot will answer something instead of giving more questions…” I think to myself while heading off to find the next thing to spark a memory or to find another council item.

I headed outside and saw that cloaked man again, he turned to look at me before waving his hand, thirteen stones raised from the ground as he vanished into thin air. Rushing down to them, each had...shots… A sword and pistols, a katana, a round shield… I pulled out the weapons I had and placed them into their properly fitted slots. Each fitting perfectly. They all then glowed, and above them, a line stretched out to the center of this formation, and a Keyhole appeared, but it was incomplete, sections missing from it here and there. “Five down...eight more to go…” I sigh out. “Okay...which ones do I have left…” I mutter while checking the other pillars to see what inward looking for.

Let’s see here… A...Chainsaw… A Violin of sorts, Reunion Keyblade, Joy obviously, A Gazing Eye Keyblade, Luxu, a magicians hat...Trixie. Some kind of...orb, A sword, a rather important looking outline of one, and… Way to Dawn? … No...It… It can’t be Bara… “Well this sucks…” I mutter. “So, time to go on this weird scavenger hunt. And I wonder who that weird cloaked guy was…” I mutter while looking around, wondering where to go to find the items.

As I was walking back to the house, I decided to open up the garage door. Inside was tools, as to expect, but there was a red and chrome chainsaw on the desk in the back. “Just what I was looking for.” I say while walking over and picking up the chainsaw. “Wonder why there's chrome on it?” I mutter, knowing there were red chainsaws but still. “Well let's find the rest.” I say while putting the chainsaw away and thinking about where else the things could be. “The violin could be in a music room maybe? But then why was a shield in a bathroom?” I frown.

Shrugging, I noticed two doors. One just in the wall, and the other with some stairs going up. The one with stairs must go back into the house, so let's check out the basement. Walking over to the door I opened it and saw a long stairway down. “Wonder what's down here…” I mutter, heading down the stairs to see what's there.

Walking down the dark hallway was creepy, at least, till I reached the bottom and came across a bunch of boxes, old furniture, normal basement stuff it seemed. “Seems...rather normal…” I mutter, going around and checking the boxes to see if there was something important.

The first box I checked was...empty. The next, empty again. Three more boxes in I realized they are...all empty. A tad annoyed, I kicked them, the stack of empty boxes topeling on me and when I broke out I felt something on my head. I lifted it off, and it was...trixie's hat? “Not something I'd wear but glad I found it.” I say with a little smile, putting away the magicians hat and checking the rest of the basement for anything.

I didn’t find much, but I went back up the stairs and saw that figure again. “Hi, are you actually going to say something this time?” I ask the figure. He reached behind himself, pulling out a violin. He posed himself properly, and began to play. The music was...amazing. It was a sad melody that sounded like it belonged to someone with tragic life. I actually was tearing. “Uh...Okay wow…” I say, rubbing the tears out of my eyes. “But...who are you?”

“This song.” He finally spoke, his voice firm, not too deep, and...frightful all the same. “Do you know what is is called?” He said, still playing.

“No, I don't...but I can probably tell the meaning behind it.” I say to the being.

“Hm.” He said, still playing. “This song is called, Ben. It’s your song. Every heart has its own melody, altered and changed as they age, develop, the melody changing as they do. Those who hear their songs can tell how far they have come based on how it plays. These songs are how Keyblades choose their wielders, not by the light or darkness, but by the melodies.” He said, still playing.

“Well...sounds about right.” I nodded. “I...suppose the tune will sound a bit more upbeat after a bit considering...what my current life has been?”

“Yes, it should, I suppose. Now then, tell me, what do multiple melodies sound like? When two or more people's hearts are linked.”

“Hehe.” I turned around, and saw a kid, dressed in a red hoodie, green pants, and had his hood hiding his face. He pulled out a small version of my Sitar and began playing. The child's song was a mix of high exciting and low, sad notes all played in rapid succession creating a unique, interesting song that when played next to mine the older man was playing...sounded amazing.

“Sounds amazing actually.” I say, starting to think about who the kid and the cloaked man are. “But...are you two…?” I ask, trying to think of the right word here as I tried to figure out who they were.

The kids song then stopped abruptly, catching me off guard as he began to play only parts of the notes. The once mighty and interesting song now faded to almost background noise on mine. “When someone dies, those who knew them, those who had a link to them, keep parts of them in their hearts, in the memories they keep. Those fragments are what allow even the dead to give strength to the living in the afterlife, the heart remembers, the memories, and the melodies.”

“Mom and dad are alive again...granny is somewhere...and grandpa is happy in heaven…” I mutter. “So...this is a wonderful thing to learn...why bring this up?” I ask them, liking the lesson but unsure on why the sudden lesson on melodies.

“Simple. We are memories. This child and I are the fragments of someone close to you in your heart. Through the melodies of the others we have created a plan, and are trying to bring it to action. Sadly, we are trapped here. There is something you haven't done that must free us.”

“There's a lot of things I haven't done, so mind being a bit specific here?” I ask simply.

Both of them stopped playing entirely. The cloaked man then threw me the violine and I caught it. The both then took off their hoods, and I felt stupid for not realizing… Zeke, they were both Zeke, younger, and damaged, the older one was covered in black spots missing his left eye, part of his forehead and god knows what else, while the kid was missing half his mouth and eyes. “I am Nightmare, all of Zeke’s worst memories, fears and dread I keep, and my other half here is Zeke’s Joy, his best memories, aspirations and dreams are within him. We escaped into the hearts of his friends, all of us split into groups of two, and there are ten of us, five of light, the positives, five of darkness, the negatives. We...were scared. When Zeke’s heart split, and his light half changed into the abomination, his light halfs emotions escaped, and as their other halves, we followed. Us leaving is why Drezke is going insane, Lake could not fight the blood of those monsters, and why Kexez can not feel anymore.”

“Understanding.” The child, Joy, spoke. “You knew Zeke, but you never understood him.”

“So that's why I'm seeing his past…” I nodded a bit. “And...when I put all the pieces into the pillars I can free you both?” I ask curiously. “Also, some of your family are just absolute dick mongers ya know?”

“Zeke was fifteen.” Joy spoke. “He grew tired of the pressures of being the greatest Ventral in recent history.”

“He wanted the impossible.” Nightmare spoke up. “To escape his family bloodline. It took him some doing, but he found a small lace in Colorado where his family was both rarely seen and largely ignored. His plan was set, hid in the cargo hold of a bus headed to the town, and once there, use color changing contacts to blend in.”

“He was found out, quickly, or so he thought, when he picked him up. A minor in the streets, even in that town, it was odd.”

“Everyone knew everyone there. Zeke fell into the system there, no Ventral unless arrested has their fingerprints in the system, so Zeke wasn’t anyware. To them, he appeared out of thin air.”

“The sheriff took him in, and his daughter took a liking. It was her who realized he was a Ventral.”

“She had a dirty habbit, sneaking into the shower to spook people.”

“She saw his eyes, and froze… Then she looked down…”

“You can guess what happened.”

“Zeke confessed that night who he was, and she didn’t care.”

“It was a full year before they told her father about their relationship and the truth about who he was. If it wasn’t for the time, bonding and saving him from bears several times over, he would have arrested Zeke.”

“To get his family off his track, they came up with a plan, they took a cadaver from the local medical school, about Zeke’s age and build, and set up a false shootout, hitting a propane tank and gasoline can placed next to it. He filed the report, and other officers made their peace with it. Zeke Ventral, was dead.”

“The grandfather, filled with rage and grief, went to kill him, and found his grandson alive and well, hiding his eyes.”

“The rest you can tell.” Joy finished. “Josh had one red eye, Zeke was the only one, to their knowledge, with two red eyes.”

“If they had found Eclipse, back on earth, his life would have been different...darkly so.” Nightmare added.

“I can imagine.” I sigh out. “Jeez...this is quite a thing. But where are your other parts? Am I going to have to track you all down or something?”

“We are unsure.” Joy said. “We ran, riding along the lines connecting Zeke’s hearts to his friends. The others don’t know who they are in yet, though, Bravery and Rage think they are within Eclipse, the heart and body similar to Zeke’s in many ways, energy wise at least.”

“Well that’s a thing.” I say. “So...besides you having the violin I was looking for mind helping me find the other stuff I need to help set you free? I mean, I'm pretty sure that's what those pillars are for right?”

“Yes, but you are warned, the pillars will set more than just us free. They are a lock on not just us, but your most unpleasant memory.”

“I wonder which memory that is.” I roll my eyes. “Can't be any worse than the nightmares I've been having.” I frown. “But besides an unpleasant memory...does it involve...Rejection at all?” They both nodded. “Fuck…” I sigh out, putting a hand over my left eye. “I don't want that asshole getting out...especially with how he's corrupted.” I sigh out.

“The Insanity is gone Ben.” Joy said as I looked up in confusion.

“It is true, Rejection is no longer an Insanity, but he believes himself to be.”

“His mind is shattered, he is the one causing your nightmares, and believe me, I am holding back the worst of it.” Nightmare said.

“Looks like I'm gonna need to beat the bastard again, and this time till he gets his head back together and stop this foolish crap.” I frown.

“Be warned, our presence here has caused an irregularity in this place. Rejection has made Zeke’s memories his lines of defence.” Nightmare warned.

“Okay then.” I nodded. “So...just got to walk around the place and find all the things, then find Rejection and kick his ass right?” I ask. “Or am I not allowed to beat him?”

“Do what you must, be we warn you, Rejections mind is shattered, he isn’t an insanity anymore, but he truly believes he is one.” Joy added.

“Well...time to prove the idiot wrong.” I frown. “So, where to next?” I ask the two. “You two have been leading me to the items before so…” I say, hoping for a guide through this place.

“No, from now on the remaining few items will be guarded, each by a memory phantom.”

“Oh goody.” I frown. “Not like I expected this to be easy at all.” I say sarcastically. “So...do you know where these phantoms are?”

They shook their heads.

“You'd think people living in my head would know the way around.” I frown. “Oh well, I best be off to find the other items and fight whatever is here.” I sigh out while walking of to start my search.

Looking back inside the house, I went back up the stairs and found the attic entrance. It was an easy climb and once there I spotted that old guy, Zeke’s grandpa I think. “Wonder why he's up here…” I mutter to myself, preparing myself for a possible fight.

”Basterd!” Zeke’s voice rang in the air like a battle cry. An ethereal version of him tackled the old man, and began beating his head into the ground mercilessly.

“Oh...well that's a thing…” I mutter worriedly.

”Zeke, stop!” An ethereal version of Josh and who I think is Zeke’s dad came up, each grabbing and holding him back. ”For christ’s sake he’s your grandfather!” His dad yelled.

”He’s DEAD!” Zeke yelled, his arms spun, flipping Josh and his dad over as he grabbed a kitchen knife from somewhere...and plunged it into his grandfather's chest...

“Shit…” I frown. “Well...good to know that happened…”

”Zeke, what did you-”

”Hehe...Hehehe….Hehehehehhe….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!” I froze, seeing Zeke’s eyes change to that of a Psychopaths, his hair even changed from blonde to a crimson red.

”What the fuck!?” Josh yelled as they all vanished in a haze.

“Oh…” I frown, looking around the attic carefully. “That's...a scary thought.”

Where they were I spotted two swords, crossed and layed on the ground. Looking at them closely, they connected into one sword, and split into two to down the middle. “Wait...aren't these...Zuko’s?” I ask, honestly surprised to see these here. I put them away and headed out. “Okay, where to next?” I mutter, thinking of all the places I looked. “Need Genos’s core, Reunion, Gazing Eye and Way to Dawn...this is gonna take a while…”

I headed out, seeing in front of me now Josh and Zeke’s dad standing in the hallway, both shooting guns fast. “Crap! What happened to him!?” Josh yelled.

“How should I know!”

“You’re his dad!”

“You'd think they would know there own damned Psychopath rage when killing someone.” I frowned. “Or it could be something else…”

It was then when they faded, and Psychopath jumped at me, phasing through me...that felt bad… My stomach hurts. “That's...not good...” I mutter, wondering why my stomach hurts. “Well...no rest for the wicked...” I mutter, grabbing a potion and downing it just in case it was a serious problem.

”Heheheheheh…” I turned around, the Psychopath was there on all fours like some rabid animal.

“Shit.” I mutter, summoning Reunion and Frozen Pride. “That's not good…”

”Grah!” He roared, jumping and phasing through me again. When I turned around he wasn’t there, nor anywhere...ouch!

I felt my right ear...blood...and it’s...shorter… Did it...bite half my ear off? “Asshole!” I shout, shifting into master form and healing my ear before changing out Frozen Pride for Skysplitter and preparing myself for when the thing will jump at me. “Okay ya piece of shit, not gonna get another bite out of me.”

Slowly I walked down to the living room, spotting a fireplace with actual fire going. “Okay…” I mutter, wondering why there was a fire going right now.

Inside, I saw a round orb of sorts, glowing with power, the word Core written on it on several places. “Maybe this belongs to Genos?” I mutter, bringing out my chakrams and using them to control the flame as I grabbed the core and pulled it out of the fire place. “Genos.” I thought aloud, packing the Core and heading off. “Okay...now just got to get Reunion, Gazing Eye, and Way to Dawn…” I mutter, having literally no clue where to get at least two of them and not sure if I could use my Reunion for that. “Hmm…” I hum, continuing to walk around and look for where I need to go next.

I stepped outside, and saw a knight figure on the front Lawn, Reunion in his grasp as he was posed like the Lingering Will, and held a massive shield strapped across his back.

“Well I can see where this is going.” I mutter while walking over. “Hello?” I ask the knight, wondering if he was talkative first.

He rose, drawing Reunion and his shield, it was like a wall of decorative metal that he lifted with one hand, and slammed it on the ground, the earth shook, and he grew...huge...really huge. King Kong Huge.

“Well…” I frowned. “That's a thing.” I say before rushing to its feet and about to stab it's shin till it either fell over, got down to my size for a good honest fight, or it died from blood loss and pain from getting stabbed in the shin too many god damn times.

He swung, his blade phasing through the buildings, but hitting me and sending me skidding across the ground.

“I call bullshit!” I shout, getting back up and rushing back towards it carefully so I wouldn't get hit this time.

He stomped a foot on the ground, and knocked me flat on my ass with the shockwave. As I was getting up he held Reunion like a spear as it began to glow blue, and a bolt shot out, hitting near me and blasting me back across where I first fell down.

“Ow…” I muttered, getting back up and bringing out Sharpshooters and firing at him quickly.

Sharpshooters did nothing, his armor is too thick and that shield of his can block anything.

Using Sharpshooters, I teleported to his head and quickly pulled out Skysplitter, and slammed it on his head. That seemed to do damage as he stumbled around for a bit. I saw his helmet was cracked now. “Alright, glad to know this fucker can be hurt.” I say while floating in midair and pressing my advantage a bit, moving behind it and smacking the back of its head with Skysplitter.

His Helmet broke off, and inside what I saw made me freeze. It was...a pony person. Male, horn broken down the middle and wings cut, leaving nubs...an alicorn? He was blue mane with a white coat. His body was covered in black tendrils, and his eyes were black as void. His chest...was scarred over, like he was...impaled...

“Your…” I mutter, my mind going back to seeing Faust's kid killed in the war. “Oh...that's...a thing.” I muttered worriedly, keeping my guard up in case it attacked.

He looked up at me, and screamed this monstrous scream. I covered my ears, it was like hearing evil itself as he and the armor faded, leaving just Reunion sticking out of the ground.

“Right…” I mutter, walking over to Reunion and grabbing the holy and pulling it out of the ground. “Jeez…” I shook my head and looked around for where else to go.

No sooner did I turn around I saw an outline of a person, like Truth from Fullmetal Alchemist, Way to Dawn equipped in it’s hand as it was ready to fight.

“Well hello there.” I say before swinging Skysplitter like a golf club, a massive chunk of rock being shot towards the figure.

It sliced it down the middle, rushing fast towards me as we clashed blades. The way it swung was...framilier. It's not Bara though.

“Who are you?” I frown, pushing back and swinging at it with Reunion.

It didn’t speak, but continued to swing at me, and blocked each of my attacks with ease. It wasn’t till I pulled out Sharpshooters, teleporting sporadically until he did something new. He blocked, but not with his Keyblade, with a spell. It was one you’d see only one person cast in all of Kingdom Hearts two, on the very last world… “Riku?” I frowned, realizing who it was.

It stopped, it’s body growing flesh and skin, till an older, maybe early twenties Riku stood before me. He lowered his Keyblade, and nodded. He stuck Way To Dawn into the ground, and faded in thin air.

“Right then…” I mutter while walking forward and grabbing Way to Dawn and putting it away. “Okay...Gazing Eye is the last one.” I say, looking around for who might have it. “Okay...so is there someone else that wants to pop up with the thing I need?”

As if on cue, all my primal instinct screamed, and I ducked, bearly dodging whoever swung Gazing Eye. When I got back up and jumped away some feet, I saw it was someone in the simple Organization 13 cloak. Right. Luxu.

“Right then, time to fight Luxu.” I say before shooting at the guy with Sharpshooters.

Luxu blocked with perfect movements, rushing in I tried to dodge, but his swing was too large and he sliced my coat, but missed my stomach. Barely.

“Rarity is gonna kill me for ruining this.” I mutter, swapping to Reunion and slashing at Luxu swiftly.

He didn’t even block with his Keyblade. He blocked with his arm. I saw it cut into it, his blood soaking his cloaks sleeve and even began dripping. He then grabbed Reunion’s blade and forced it back to me, hitting me hard in the chest several times before I got away.

“Ow...” I growled before chugging a healing potion real quick, summoning Eternal Flames and sending a torrent of flames at Luxu.

He raised a hand… and deflected it off to the side. I saw his hand, glove gone, hand was scorched, same hand on his wounded arm, but kept on. Grabbing Gazing Eye in it again and he raised it to me. He was badly injured, but acted like nothing was the matter?

“What's wrong Luxu?” I ask, feeling like something was very off with how he just took the punishment without giving a damn.

He didn’t answer, but charged at me. I dodged, using Skysplitter to slam his body. For a moment he was still, but got up. His leg...Oh god. It was completely broken, almost falling off. Luxu stood up, casting a Firaga on it, melting the flesh back together then quickly casting freeze to stop the melting. The frost was still on his leg, but he stood on it...he didn’t flinch at all...

“I wonder…” I mutter, pulling out one of my potions and opening it, before throwing the healing liquid at him, wondering if he was hurt by healing rather than actually kicking his ass.

When the potion hit him, it evaporated on his skin, having no effect. Luxu just brushed of the glass shards and ran at me. Backing up, I used Skysplitter again, missing his head but slicing his cloaks hood… He wore a mask. It was made of sewn together fragments and parts of the Foretellers masks.

“Well...that's not good.” I frown, raising my hand and shooting Twilight Thorns towards the guy.

He didn’t move, the thorns hitting his mask and it broke… I felt sick. His face was rotting, eyes dead, skin black with rot and decay, some bone visible...and he was crying. Tears kept going, falling down. I’m fighting a crying corpse?!

“How can I put you to rest?” I ask, not believing I'm fighting a crying corpse...but he needs to be put to rest here.

He dropped Gazing Eye, and an image of the Foretellers appeared in it, in the other, what looked like his heart...it was filled with cracks and overflowing with darkness. “I won’t have long...when they find my body and reunite with me. I will only have time, for a few goodbyes. Maybe then, I can keep my promise.” Luxu said.

“What was your promise?” I ask carefully.

“Myself, and all my reflections, all promised we’d be with the Foretellers. Forever. We were family. That is why all my reflections killed themselves, all but me. I was the only one...too scared. Maybe then, I can write a wrong, put to rest that fallen Ava, and see them again, as they now see each other.”

“And what of Time?” I ask him, knowing my Luxu and this Luxu were two different people but I just wanted to check something.

“She will find me. If all goes well, when the time comes, I’ll be back, but I won't be…me. I’ll be like my family. Alive again as another.” Luxu said, fading as all that remained was his cloak, and Gazing Eye.

Hesitantly, I want up to Gazing Eye to pick it up, and saw something in his Cloak. A Keychain. It was the cloak of Organization thirteen, but it was open, like a raven...no, a crow?

I changed Reunion for it, and the Keyblade it changed too held all the masks of the Foretellers, wrapped around in the black cloak, held together forming the blade from a Starlight like grip. The tip was Gazing Eye and No Name, crossed.

I used my assistant and checked to see what kind of Keyblade this was. “Let's see here…” I mutter, wondering what this keyblade is like.

Ageless Promise

Att: 14

Def: 9

Mag: 9

A Keyblade binding hearts through time. Pair with a Wayfinder to call allies from the past and future.

“Cool.” I say while disbanding my new keyblade, thinking I'll try out something new as I headed back to the pillars, finally having all the pieces I needed. “Okay Rejection, time to kick some sense back into you.”

I walked back to the pillars. I placed all the weapons into them and the word began shaking. There was a bright light...then it all faded… the area around me looked...normal. Colors everywhere. From behind the house I spotted the old man, Zeke’s grandpa, dragging Zeke, his dad, and Josh. Josh and Zeke’s dad were beat up bad, and Zeke was...shredded, but his wounds were healing… Wait, didn’t that old guy… He dropped them all, the old man’s lethal wounds still there, but healed in seconds. “Grah, pain in the ass.” He muttered, taking a needle to Zeke and pulling out… Psychopath blood.

Near him, one of those Code portals opened up and out came a woman in a long black dress. “Nice work, how’s the new Cript Prototype coming along?” She asked.

“Strong, but unstable. Too much Psychopath blood, started an early activation.” The old man said.

“Huh, and them?” she pointed to Josh and Zeke's’ dad.

“Eh, just tell the up and ups that we need to reset this town and erase their memories, kid’s too. His body needs some more time to ferment with what he has.” He said, taking out the needle and tossing it to the woman. “Gotta say, you really think altering the past to change their biology will make a better host?”

“I’ve already traced his oldest ancestor. Once this is done, time will rewrite itself and by the time this Cript is born here, his connection to them will be unbreakable.”

“They call him Zeke here.”

“What’s it matter, he’s a project nonetheless. I’m off to the past, thanks for the fresh sample, will make one hell of a Psychopath when the time comes.”

“Eh, alright. Criminal family made worse, what can go wrong?” They all faded. Leaving me facing a doorway. I could see on the other side was my Station of Awakening...and Rejection curled up.

I opened the doorway and entered my station of awakening. “Rejection?”

“Hehehehehe, pain from the blood, pain from the moving, pain from standing. Painpainpainpainpain.” He babbled.

“Okay…” I mutter while carefully walking over with a potion in hand. “Hey there buddy, time for your crazy meds…” I say nervously, wondering what happened to the poor bastard.

“Hehehehe. It hurts, it always hurts all the blood hurts. Too many alive not enough dead, hurts from the death. Hehehehe.” He muttered.

I gently moved his head over and forced him to drink the potion, not knowing if it'll fully help but knowing it'll at least dull whatever the hell he's feeling. “Just drink up Mr. Crazy man, it'll be okay.”

‘Hehehehehehehhehehe.Need to stop, how can it stop? Pain, pain-” He then grabbed me by my collsr and slammed his head into mine, and held our heads together, our eyes directly looking into each others. “Hehehehehehhe. Why can’t our pain just go away?!”

It was like I was seeing through his...no… Through Psychopaths eyes. I could see it. ALL of it, every death, murder. All from every world, reality, life form, sentient or not, even plants. That wasn’t what was the worst though. I FELT it. ALL of it, the pain. Cyanide, bleeding out, burning alive, suffocation, cancer, heart attack, being crushed. Nuclear explosion. I was feeling it all. This is what they feel...this is why they want it all gone… When it cut, I couldn’t move. Every inch of my body felt the aftershock. The pain. I was crying, there was nothing else I could do. I couldn’t think, barely breathe, my eyes were shut so tight, everything hurt, my body was wanting to go into paralysis. This is why they want everything dead, they can’t make it end any other way? They...just want to die.

I could feel it all slipping… my mind was...breaking. I thought of Luna, Twilight, Rarity, Jenny, Dinky, Derpy. They all… Huh? I thought, realizing my body was...was feeling better. I managed to open my eyes and saw...a figure. They were a pure white silhouette, radiating with a...holy glow, is the best I can describe it.

“H-hello?” I asked, feeling my left eye be the color of an Insanity but I didn’t feel anything bad from it. “Who...who are you?”

“What, is the better answer.” They said, their voice was like a man and woman talking at once in unison. “I am Humanity, the light of it anyway. You, Cript, and another draw power from me. But I am only half of what Humanity is truly.”

“And that half won't be here cause...well…” I point to my black and red eye for emphasis.

“Heh, no. In a way, that is part of them. Tell me, do you really believe Sentient life, or life in general, is meant to be completely good? Or even balanced?”

“It should at least be balanced enough so shit doesn't go haywire and all life dies.” I say. “All life shouldn't be completely good or completely evil, but there's this mystical grey area everyone keeps forgetting about, where goods not always good and evils not always evil…” I explain simply. “But given your a fact of life what's the answer you were expecting?”

“Nothing you said is wrong, but, in truth, everything is wrong.”

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously. “Seems a tad weird that everything is wrong.”

“How to put this… There is one man I know of who has the closest answer… Ah, right. Nothing matters, as he puts it. Nothing exists with reason, we make our own reasons, and give each other reason. So long as we hold something or someone dear, that’s all we need to keep going with a sense of purpose, or destiny, as some put it.”

“I don't entirely like Destiny...but hey if I didn't have my family right now I wouldn't be where I am now.” I explain.

“Exactly...and that is where my other half has failed. They became lost, driven mad by a desire for there to be some force grander than all governing everything, and so, when the first Admins went to war, he took action, creating death, and in time, darkness, evil, The Psychopaths. Those abominations are him directly, controlling bodies directly. My power can cut the link between a Psychopath, or him, and the host, but sometimes...it’s too strong, and when the link is cut, they die. He is...no longer my other half.”

“And what would happen if some lucky jackass had both halves?” I asked curiously, remembering a thing about Cript and having both of those halves. “Can it...help stop the pain?”

“We are meant to be one, but his choices made us two. Within Cript, there is part of the answer, but there must be more to it. We exist because of life believing in things like good and evil, more must know the power of both, to understand what was meant to be true humanity, born neutral, and then chooses good and evil. Many do already, but that is still not enough. Corruption lies deep within the heart and soul of many, many, but not all.”

“Right…” I say. “So that's a thing. Can't wait to stumble upon an answer out of the blue for whatever reason.” I chuckle, knowing my luck that just might happened.

“For now, I can keep you and your darkness safe, but until you can understand evil as much as you do good, these nightmares will continue, and grow worse.”

“Maybe the bastard Psychopath can drop by and tell me that for whatever reason.” I shrug. “But Cript is gonna be a good second if I never meet the soul bastard responsible.” I say. “So...understand evil to stop my nightmares...easier said than done.”

“In time. For now, return to the waking world, for a long road ahead of you.” They said, placing a ringer to my head and I felt...tired.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh resonated in the auction hall, a fancily dressed guy being flung straight into a solid stone wall and creating a hole in it from the force. All eyes stayed on Straw Hat Luffy as Celestial Dragon blood dripped from his fist.

Now while this did cause a panic, Joy felt his fur stand on end as he looked at a white haired man glare at nothing, causing everyone besides Joy, the straw hat pirates, and two others who were just sitting in their stands. “There we go.” The old man says.

“The...hell was that?” Joy mutters, wondering how the hell the old man could force his will to knock out others.

“Well, you kids certainly seem to be having fun.” The old man said, before turning to the captive mermaid in the broken container.

“Wait!” Nami called out in a panic, only to see the old man just take the collar off with no problem. “Huh?”

“Ah come on, I just got the keys.” Franky frowned, showing he had the keys to the collar and cuffs.

“You can hand them over to them.” The old man said, pointing to the other slaves.

“Rayleigh!” The mermaid smiled, so glad to see her friend here. “What are you doing here?”

“I was sleeping, but then all this happened.” The old man said simply, looking at everyone not knocked out, his sight lingering on both Luffy and Joy. “Hmm...quite a group here.”

Joy’s ear twitched as he looked at the entrance. “Mind if we get to talking later? Sounds like the Navy is here and they don't sound happy.”

“Well looks like we should give them a nice greeting.” Trafalgar Law said, standing up and heading out, his Nodachi resting across his shoulder.

“Yeah, no need to keep them waiting.” Another said, this time it was Captain Kid that got up and walked out.

As the group walked out they were met with a crap ton of marine grunts with swords drawn, flintlock rifles and mobile cannons all pointed at the group. “Put your hands in the air pirates!” A marine shouted.

“They do know who we are right?” Joy asks curiously.

“Haven't heard anything about you pup.” Law said simply, a small ring of wind forming above his hand.

“Make sure not to get in our way.” Eustass said dismissively, his grin never leaving as he had the glint of bloodlust here.

“Oh you want to see what I can do?” Joy asks, starting to walk over to the marines.

“Hey! Put your hands in the air now!” The marine demands.

“You’re grunts, mere cannon fodder here. What do you think you'll do?” Joy asks simply, the sound of a gunshot was heard and Joy grabbed something out of the air. He opened his hand and showed a steaming bullet in his hand, completely unfazed. “Anyone else want to prove my point?” Joy asks simply.

“Damn it, attack!” The marine in charge shouted as the marines charged, Joy blurring out of existence and shocking both Kid and Law.

“Who is that kid?” Law asked Luffy, seeing him start to beat Marines with his bear hands.

“That's Joy, a new friend.” Luffy replied with a proud smile. “He's really strong.”

“Fire!” Someone shouted as cannons went off and shot towards the three pirates.

“Gum Gum Balloon!” Luffy said while inflating like a balloon and bouncing the ball back.

“Repel.” Kid said while raising a hand and pushing the cannonball back.

“Room.” Law said while a giant bubble surrounded him and bunch of marines. “Shambles.” He said, flicking his hand in a weird way, the cannonball and a marines head somehow switching places before the explosion hit several other marines.

“Interesting…” Joy muttered, seeing Law and Eustass Kids powers on display. Joy dodged an obvious swing from a marine and just looked at him. “Is there any high ranking officer here? Cause trust me...you’re not going to win here.” Joy said simply.

“What are you?” The marine asked in fear, seeing Joys eyes and knowing, even though Joy was a kid, there was power behind it.

“Someone way above your pay grade.” Joy tells the marine.

“Joy! Let's go!” Luffy calls out, running off with his crew back to Shakky’s bar.

“Right then.” Joy nodded while dashing off towards his friends.

“That kid is hiding something…” Law mutters to himself, only to hear Eustass getting hit by something, only to turn and see someone he really didn't want to. “Well shit.”

When Joy and the rest entered Shakky’s bar they noticed Rayleigh sitting at the counter with a drink already. “Oh, hey guys.” The old man said honestly.

“Hey Rayleigh.” Luffy smiled, everyone going around and getting comfy.

“So, who's the pup?” Rayleigh asked, motioning to Joy.

“My name's Joy…” The pup said, trying to figure out what was this power behind Rayleigh.

“Ah, a Keyblader huh?” Rayleigh asked with a knowing grin, causing everyone, besides Shakky, to stare at him.

“How did you…” Nami starts, before Rayleigh lifts his hand and summoned a Keyblade himself.

“Ends of the Earth?” Joy asks, surprised to see him have such a Keyblade, thinking Rayleigh would have something different.

“Well when you've been to the end of this earth it seems fitting.” Rayleigh says honestly. “Roger had one, and so did many of his crew.” He said simply.

“So...you know about the Void Century?” Robin asked him.

“Yeah. We know about it.” Rayleigh nodded with a knowing grin. “But I'm sure you'll learn about it sooner or later Nico Robin.”

“Who else knows about Keyblades?” Joy asked.

“The World Government, Shanks and his crew, Whitebeard and most likely his crew, and a few others.” He says simply, disbanding his keyblade. “Hell, there was an entire island full of them we didn't know whether we stepped onto another world or not.” He chuckled.

“Wait, Shanks knows about those key things?” Luffy asked with a smile.

“Oh yeah, he even has one.” Rayleigh nodded. “Shanks has said a lot about you Luffy, and I'm glad to meet the kid he gave his straw hat to.” He nodded, Luffy getting a giant smile and gently pulling down his hat in joy at the thought of his old friend.

Joy looked thoughtful, wondering if there was any survivors of the keyblade war on this world. “Interesting…” Joy muttered, before they heard something outside blow up. “That's not good…” Joy muttered before rushing outside with the others.