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Ienzo had just been drifting off into a nice, warm, dreamless sleep when a ruckus woke him. The boy shot up in bed upon hearing Aerith enter, looking like the world was ending. Blue eyes remained in a befuddled expression as he adjusted to the light of the room.

"Wha---?" He stared for a moment longer until he realized that it was kind of noisy close by. There was an angry yell that he couldn't quite make out, but it definitely sounded like a battle. Oh. That's what was going on.

"Ok." Ienzo nodded, lithely sliding out of the comfortable bed (he looked at it sadly for a moment before joining Aerith.) Man, action already? What on earth was it this time?

Ugh, he hated being so lost.

This was NOT the time for this s**t. The gunner was seriously P.O.ed because of various things that had happened over the internet and in his own real life. His hands tightened around his guns.

Warp.

He wasn't happy. He really could have cared less. He appeared in mid hair behind the charing beserker that moved like Saix and started firing. His eye was narrowed and he looked as cold and expressionless as he did when he was a Nobody.

((Forgive this. I'm feeling sick but since I was adressed, I had to post. I'm also about as thrilled as Xig is right now.))

I'm dead. I must be dead. That card was a bomb....a spell card...something...It must have activated when Axel met up with the rest of us...And now we're dead.

The flash of light was the last thing Yuffie could remember of Destiny Islands. In merely a nanosecond, perhaps the brightest light she had ever seen had blasted out of the card and completely blinded her. She had opened her mouth to scream, but shock had rendered her vocal cords useless. For what seemed like an eternity there was nothingness. Absolute, pure, nothingness.

I'm dead....I'll never see my friends again....I hope they'll be able to fight off the cloak guy

At the end of the presumed eternity, she could feel solid ground under her feet. She wiggled her toes, feeling gravel and stone under her boots. Her eyesight returned slowly, and she was eventually able to distinguish the basic outlines of her surroundings. From what she was able to make out, she was standing in a maw, surrounded by jagged, rocky cliffs. As her eyes returned to their normal state, the scenery became exponentially more familiar.

"Wait a minute....I'm in the Great Maw....I'M HOME!!!!!" The ninja let out a loud screech and jumped amazingly high into the air. "YAHOO!!!" She turned around and saw that the other three from the islands were coming to their senses behind her, seemingly confused at the unusual surroundings.

"Guys!!!! I know where we are!!! This is the Great Maw of Radiant Garden....which is right by the castle where your friends and my friends are!!! Come on, I'll lead the way over there!!!!"

"Damn, Saix, you don't look so good." She grimaced at the pool of blood and took a step closer to inspect his arm. "The good news is....it's not bleeding anymore. The bad news....you still have a nasty cut in your arm....and the potion I gave you was the last one I had." She crossed her arms over her chest and scrunched up her face in thought, until her eyes glittered with realization. "Of course, I'm so stupid. My friend Aerith is the best healer I know. She'll fix you up...I think."

She ran past her wounded comrade, past where Marluxia and Axel were still recovering from the blast, to the very edge of the Great Maw. "Okay guys, if you would just follow me, I'll have you all at the castle in a jiffy!" Waiting a moment for them to listen and register her words, she took off, out of the Maw, into a glacier-like cavern. She pulled her shuriken out, and carved a line into the wall as she was running so those who couldn't run as fast wouldn't be left behind. She kept running, into a winding series of caves and stone paths that seemed endless to those not familiar with the area. Finally, she reached an area just outside the construction site that had been damaged in the 1000 Heartless Battle. Originally built with ramps and equipment to get contruction materials there eaisly, most of the structures were flattened, leaving a rocky mess.

On a especially preseved section, there was a large, locked gate with a machine to swipe keycards. Leon probably closed it so that the freak show wouldn't get in.... Rummaging through her pack, she produced a small, colorful ID card bespeaking her as a Restoraton Committee member. Instead of going to open the gate then, she waited for the other three to show up.

Saïx brought a hand up to his forehead, two fingers at the bridge of his nose. Yuffie's voice hurt his ears that were now sensitive. But now that she left his head begun to stop throbbing. Suddenly he jumped from hearing a second voice. Axel.

There goes his head again...

"I don't know...she said...to follow her." Saïx's voice was quiet. Very unsual when it came from Saïx. He felt very lightheaded from the bloodloss. He had a headache, too...Upon hearing Yuffie say they had a healer he felt relieved but...why the hell did she not help him move? He was already almost stumbling to stay on two legs, now she expected him to walk?

Saïx let out a heavy sigh, slowly making his way to where she had run to. His movements clearly showed Axel that he was weak, wounded and dying. He was seeing double infront of him, which didn't help his balance at all.

Come on, Axel...wake up Marluxia and bring him along... Saïx thought sluggishly. He had thought he said that aloud, and when he heard no footsteps towards Marluxia he stopped dragging his feet in an attept to walk and turned to Axel. He opened his mouth but nothing came.

In Saïx's line of sight everything was blurry and doubled. He felt so light headed he couldn't think straight or stay up as his legs suddenly gave in and he collapsed onto the dirt infront of Axel. He must have scared the boy...he could hear him screaming at him with anger...but Saïx couldn't focus on the words as they slowly begun to die down into quietness.

Silence felt good. Even if Saïx was fainting...

Now both Xigbar and Aerith were throwing everything they had at the Saїx look alike, just as Riku and Roxas had done before. Gloved hands tightened around the grip of his Revolver. Look what was happening now. Radiant Garden was under attack again. The first time that happened, Leon had failed.

But today was not that day.

The man suddenly dashed forward with renewed resolve (and health due to Aerith’s spell) with the gunblade trailing behind held firmly in both hands. The weapon arched upwards and around and began descending upon the world’s intruder. And if he timed the trigger right, even more damage would be done.

The hostile look of Roxas watched the cloaked man carefully as he moved around. The very essence of this man seemed to wreak and fill the room. It was both hateful and choking. Something unlike any other feeling had felt before… but that would not hold him back.

Roxas watched as Xigbar first shot at the man and was soon followed by the just entering Aerith and Leon. Was this the power of the adults? Was there that big of a difference? Could he not help?

Well, he did have another trick up his sleeve.

The boy closed his eyes for a brief moment in order to fully concentrate. He held his empty hand before him… and there it was. A second keyblade. Unlike the crisp, dark look of his first one, this one was white and elegant. Names were never things he considered but since he had just met Sora, maybe he would ask sometime.

He held up the dark keyblade, the one in his right hand, and pointed it at the man.

“I don’t think any of us asked for a fight or even for you to come around! So why bother coming? Why are you here?”

Now this. This was more like it. There was a barrage of spells, compliments of the lady who had just re-entered the room. Guess she had helped a poor injured little dumpling to escape. Oh well, if they were injured, it would only be too easy to pick them off later.

The man with the eye-patch had done a complete 180 in terms of fighting. One second he had been standing and doing nothing, and the next, he was behind the growling cloaked man. Heh, nice trick, but Five had seen that too many times. He landed swiftly on his feet before turning and springing out of the way, darts just missing him, but tearing a few holes in his cloak. No matter, it was only a cloak. Mid-leap, his focus turned to the lady in pink. Yeah, never hurt a lady. Unless that lady just so happened to want you to die. Then it didn't matter.

Five let out a hissing chuckle under his breath as he landed and sprung again, aimed straight for the staff in her hands. Easy to bite into and pull out of arms that were more occupied by spells than by force.

Well, at least he thought. Until the hardass with the gunblade came throttling into him at full force. Ugh.

The cloaked man hit the ground hard, but did a backwards somersault in order to ease the impact. He heard a few crackles when he hit (probably ribs, but nothing terrible), but sprang back up in an instant, eyes still glowing dangerously.

"Heh heh." A tongue flicked out the side of his mouth, tasting blood. It only heightened his urge to fight, to maim, to kill.

So he hunched, sitting on his haunches as he waited for the next idiot in line.