[Cowering in the corner, we see, Angelo, now with shorter, closer cropped hair and wearing a jersey that said “Kwantlen Eagles”, trembling in fear at the collected wroth of Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Namine, Claudio and Rain.]

Angelo: Mercy...please....

Riku: Mercy! We've been in perpetual limbo for nine god damn months and you want mercy?

[Angelo nods weakly. Rain and Riku both kick him in the head in unison]

Angelo: What did I do to deserve this!

Kairi: You bastard!

Angelo: Oh no....

[Kairi charges and smashes Angelo in the gut with both fists. He crumples to the floor]

Angelo: Well, I can honestly say that this isn't the worst a girl has ever done to me...

Sora: What's up with you?

Kairi: Have you read this chapter? It isn't even about me and I'm pissed!

[The others leave. Angelo tries to run off but Kairi kicks him in the nuts and sends him down again. Everyone else returns, even more angry now.]

Everyone: YOU BASTARD!!!

Angelo: Please, hear me out about...the chapter...and the hiatus...

Claudio: No. Talking time is over.

[Claudio siezes him by the collar and begins to hurl him around like a ragdoll before spiking his head on the ground and chucking him across the stage]

Namine: Jeez, Claudio is even more pissed than normal.

Roxas: Well, he is a creation of Angelo, ergo an extension of his personality. So, it's easy to see that he is the part of his mind acting out all of his inner anger.

Sora: Okay...And you know this because...

Roxas: We've been in limbo for nine months. That's a lot of time to study psychology.

[Currently, Rain was using the Rose Draw to bounce Angelo off the ground like a yo-yo. Riku then comes flying, dropkicking Angelo in the back and sending him flying to the feet of Namine and Kairi. Both girls are hefting their Keyblades]

Angelo: I've had this dream before...but I don't think this will end the same way.

SIX HOURS LATER!!!

[The entire group stands about Angelo in a circle, each punching the author in turn]

Sora: This is for neglecting me in the story!

Roxas: This is for calling me chocobo hair!

Riku: This is for stealing ShireFolk's Dawn powers and giving them to me! I don't want to wield the power of copyright infringement!

Namine: This is for cutting off my hair!

Kairi: This is for that dream comment!

Claudio: This is for what you're gonna to do to me in the story!

Rain: This is for what you're going to do to ME in this story!

[Bloody and bruised, Angelo falls to the ground, as the others fall down, punch-drunk from the wicked thrashing]

Sora: Okay...you can explain yourself now.

Angelo: First...that was an epic beating....

Riku: Thank you.

Angelo: Second...my life has been hellish for lack of a better term. Starting in November...between four school plays, all my classes, a series of bad relationships and a crappy summer...I really had no desire to write and torment you all when my life was in the dumps. And now with college starting, its gonna be even harder...but I have my zest for writing back and I'll try.

[After a brief silence, someone speaks up]

Kairi: Okay...I except that.

Riku: Fine...but you've gotta say “sorry” to all your fans.

Angelo: Fans? What fans are you talking about?

Namine: Say you're sorry!

Angelo: Never!

Claudio: Say it! [Angelo starts to run but Claudio pins him to the ground] Say it, or I'll force you to watch the English dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's!

Angelo: You don't have the balls....

Claudio: I also have One Piece in reserve...

Angelo: Okay! Uncle! Uncle! Just keep that crap away from me! I'm sorry! Forgive me my loyal...pair of fans! I'll try to repair this fic ASAP, so don't leave me. Please Review! Also, since he's given me a shout out, everyone who reads this fic, should be reading ShireFolk's works. He eclipses me greatly, and is a fellow Canadian, and I gotta support my home country. Enjoy the show!

Chapter 23: Catastrophe: Revelations By Twilight

Red brick walls. Red brick floors. Red brick ceilings.

Terra couldn't help but reflect on the stark differences between the Organization's Castle That Never Was and the Immortal's Infinity Paradiso. Where the Castle That Never Was was nothing but pure white from base to peak (with the whiteness made more clear by the shadowy Dark City below the fortress), Infinity Paradiso was an entire monster entirely.

Starting with the landscape around the castle – a barren wasteland of spires, crags and unnatural rocky formations – to the castle itself, which had the form of a large stone drum at the bottom, seemingly carved out of a single black stone and, rising from the drum, was a smaller castle of faint green stone that began almost as wide as the drum but soon thinned out to near-impossibly thin spires at the tip of the castle.

The difference between the two parts on the outside wasn't just a design choice; Infinity Paradiso was actually two separate castles crushed together into layered monstrosity. The bottom portion was known as Pandemonium and the top section was Paradisium. The layout of Paradisium was unknown but Pandemonium was divided into three layers itself. The uppermost and bottommost sections were a series of large chambers connected together. In between were the endless catacombs of red hallways Terra was currently in, his eyes sore from constantly looking at the enchanted flames that lit the halls. Bright orange fire danced up and down iron pillars at every fifteen-foot interval.

Terra was followed by King Mickey, Donald Duck and Goofy. While he enjoyed the companionship, he felt fortunate the entirety of Infinity Paradiso was void of Immortals. The constant bickering and clanging of the latter two members of the party would draw their enemies on them faster than Goofy could say “Ahuyk!”

The party stopped short at a four-way crossroad, Donald and Goofy were fighting for some reason or another again and the King was doing his best to keep them quiet.

“Fellas,” The King began, friendly as usual. “You all know that we have to stay as quiet as possible. If we make too much noise, then the Immortals will find us spying.”

“No they won't.” Terra corrected quickly, scanning all four paths of the four-way.

“Excuse me?” Mickey replied.

“They won't come. Because they can't. None of the Immortals are here right now.”

“How do you know that?” Donald said impatiently, crossing his arms and tapping a webbed foot.

“I have my secrets.” Terra responded as he normally did in these situations.

“Okay...But why are they not here?” The mage asked.

“Currently all twelve of the Immortals have converged at Twilight Town to do battle with Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Namine, Claudio, Rain, Edward Elric, Alphonse Elric and Auron.” Terra replied with such speed and lack of emotion that the three Disney residence could have sworn he was reading from a script.

“Well then, we have to help them!” Goofy said. When no one responded, he added, “Don't we?”

Terra began to move down the left path. The three followed him, trying to keep up with his rushed pace. “No. They should be able to hold there own just fine. Although...” Terra kept walking, clearing his throat as he did. “There are...events that will unfold from here on out.”

“What kind of events?” Goofy asked.

“You'll know when we're done here.”

“All of this sounds awful fishy to me!” Donald exclaimed. Ever since he had met Terra, it had been nothing but secrets and silence from the knight. Even Mickey, a supposed friend of the knight, wasn't privy to all that Terra knew.

Suddenly, Terra stopped and lowered his head slightly. “Donald,” he began in a low, slow and calm voice, “What would you say if I told you that everything that you have been through since you met Sora, every event and everyone you met has been manipulated and orchestrated by a shadowy, unseen being? That this manipulation from the shadows has been going on for nearly a decade?”

Suffice to say, the three members of Disney were shocked into silence by Terra's speech. Was he joking as he always did? Or was he honestly being serious? Before an answer could come up, Terra cracked a wry smile and said, “I thought so.” He then began to walk again.

Donald, Goofy and Mickey looked to one another, unsure of what to think, before following the knight deeper into the red gloom of Pandemonium.

KHKHKHKH

With a flash of silver and a great crash, Kaiser was forced backwards, skittering across the cobblestones on his claws.

For twenty-minutes, a battle waged between the Keybladers and the Immortals, with the Keybladers holding the upper-hand. Kaiser, Aeron and Josef were all bloody in one way or another from encounters with their foes, while the remaining fiends were all banged up in some way or another. Although, the Keybladers weren't in perfect condition, they were much better off then their opponents.

“This is ridiculous!” Kaiser snarled, his tongue flicking upwards, catching the blood from his lips. “How could they have gotten so much stronger in such a short amount of time?”

“Do you think we may have to bring out...it?” Aeron asked tentatively. His left gauntlet had been shattered by Auron's sword and blood trickled down it.

“Are you kidding?” Kaiser snapped back. “We're gonna be in enough trouble as is, if Cassius found out we used the weapons or armours, he'd slaughter each and everyone of us!”

“Aww,” Claudio taunted. “Is wittle old Kaiser afraid of Cassius getting mad?” The savage glint that was constant in Kaiser's gaze flashed once more.

“Shut it you freak!” A hard look overtook Claudio. Kaiser continued. “I'm not afraid of Cassius! I'm not afraid of you! I'm not afraid of anyone! I am fear itself!” Suddenly, Kaiser entered a horse-rider stance, his muscles and tendons all became taut and shockingly visible and his eyes transformed into even more wild, savage slits.

“Oh, I hate when enemies do this crap.” Claudio mumbled regrettably.

Kaiser bared his fangs, and, like his eyes, they had become more feral, in addition to grow in size. Breathing heavily, the feral Immortal let out a roar, but it went beyond the roar of any animal. It caused a massive shockwave, trying its hardest to force the Keybladers back.

“What's going on?” Roxas shouted over the deafening sound blast.

An aura began to form around Kaiser, as even his own allies were moving away from the increasing berserking Kaiser.

“Strike him down now!” Auron suggested, forcing himself steady against the supernatural roar. “Better we do it while he's charging, than face whatever he's planning.”

Sora nodded and dashed forward, weaving side-to-side, using his Quick Run. The speed of the ability allowed Sora to bypass the roar and get within striking distance of Kaiser.

He readied his Keyblade for an attack, charging forward for the strike. Kaiser noticed this and, quit roaring; standing his ground instead, claws and teeth bared.

But neither warrior collided with one-another. A bolt of energy shot down from the sky, hitting the ground between Sora and Kaiser. Kaiser's concentration broke, the aura and the feral instincts vanishing, while Sora was forced back by the shocking occurrence of the blast.

The group looked to where the shot was fired to see another Immortal, this one wearing a white Organization cloak and holding a futuristic rifle.

“Another one?” Ed exclaimed.

“Tallgeese!” Kaiser cried in anger. “What are you doing here?”

“Stopping you from making fools of yourselves.” Tallgeese replied coolly.

“Fools?” Kaiser barked. His voice retained a feral edge to it. “We were going to finish the Keyblade Masters off once and for all!”

Tallgeese chuckled slightly at that. “Finish them off? Kaiser, at your current state, you would never be able to touch them. You need full access to your powers for that.”

“You bastard!” Kaiser roared. “Don't stand in the way of my prey! I am-”

“The predator.” Tallgeese finished with a wry tone. “We've all heard that speech more times than we care to count.”

“He's right, you worthless idiot.” Another voice sounded. This one was familiar. In a second, Kira had appeared next to Tallgeese.

But that was not all. Two more dark shrouds appeared by the clock tower and two more Immortals appeared. The first was the one Riku and the Elrics encountered on Agrabah, Arianne. The second was the other Immortal who dressed himself in the Organization cloak.

“One...two...eleven...” Riku breathed. “This is not good.”

“Understatement of the year, Riku.” Arianne said.

“Fortunately, for you all, we are not here for a fight.” Tallgeese This was a shock to all in attendance.

“What?” Aeron yelled. “What kind of crap is that! Then what are you all doing here?”

Starxys gulped. “I think I know why.”

“We're not here to punish you, you simpering jackanape.” Kira said harshly.

The other Immortal in the cloak then began to spoke. “We are here, because while you seven were planning this suicide mission, Tallgeese was doing what he was supposed to be doing.”

“Which was...?” Ed asked, curious. To say the least, the rest of the group felt a little left out as the Immortal's soap-opera played out before them.

The Immortal ignored Ed's interruption “Researching your friends Rain and Claudio.” A smirk appeared behind the shade of the hood.

Shocked looks flashed on Rain and Claudio's faces. Had they figured it out?

“Cassius!” Claudio blurted out without thinking. Everyone shot him a look.

“How do you know his name?” Kairi asked. A look of realization appeared on Claudio's face. What had he just done?

“That's right.” Cassius (apparently) replied. “I'm so glad you remember me after all these years, Claudio. So, do you want me to tell your friends, or shall I let you explain?”

No one replied. Rain had a fearful look on her face, clutching her heart in desperation as she began to hyperventilate. Claudio himself had a stony face with blazing eyes aimed hatefully at Cassius. Everyone else (even some of the Immortals) had their faces changed into ones of dark anticipation.

After a minute of silence, Cassius chuckled softly. “I suppose I will start.” He said. “Sora.” He looked to the Keyblader. “Kairi.” He looked at her too. “Let me tell you something, if you go to all the worlds that these two have live on – Radiant Garden, Twilight Town, Traverse Town – you will find no information about these two. No birth certificates, I.D. Cards, passports, no information on them except testimony from people who will tell you that they just “showed up one day”. Where do you think they come from?”

“What are you getting at?” Kairi asked impatiently.

Cassius didn't respond, instead it was Tallgeese to speak. “I also have a question to ask. Do you know how an Immortal is created? Or how about what makes an Immortal, immortal?” He gave them no time to answer. “Well, an Immortal is created when a Heartless and a Nobody are unnaturally merged together. Usually this is caused by a massive energy surge, such as the one released from a world being destroyed. All current Immortals, except for Starxys and Creed were created when a Heartless and a Nobody were on a collapsing world and were fused together.

“Now, as to why an Immortal is immortal. Although we can die of wounds and natural causes, we can circumvent the latter by one simple act: Devouring hearts.”

“Eating hearts?” Namine repeated, a sickness lacing her tone. Certain Immortals gave wicked grins in response. “That's absolutely sick!”

Riku agreed. “You really are the scum of the universe!”

“Scum?” Tallgeese scoffed. “Hardly. We are the greatest beings in the universe. Nobodies. Heartless. Humans. They all pale in our presence! We go beyond even evolution! We our beings that defy even the designs of the Gods themselves!”

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up you arrogant, miserable bastard!”

Claudio had had enough, listening to the self-righteous ramblings of Tallgeese put him over the edge. “All of you Immortals and your arrogant attitude is pissing me off! Shut your mouths now you messed-up, high-and-mighty freaks!”

This only made Tallgeese chuckle again. “Who's high-and-mighty? My, my, these are much different sentiments than what you were saying thirty-years ago.”

Claudio bristled and everyone took notice. “Claudio, what is this guy talking about?” Sora questioned, with a more stern tone than usual. Claudio looked away.

“Now, before we were interrupted,” Cassius broke in. “I believe I was going to impart some wisdom on these fools below us. We've already established that you don't know any information of Claudio or Rain, that you can't tell us anything about them. But I can.

“You see, 61 years ago, two armies were battling on a far-off, barren world. But, unbeknownst to the soldiers, as they were fighting, a group of Heartless landed on the world. They jumped the armies and then searched out the world's heart, destroying the world. But, moments before the world ended, a certain soldier was split into a Heartless and Nobody and then energies of the demolished world fused them together. This created the second Immortal, after me of course.

“Immediately I sensed this Immortal and found him, taking him under my wing as an apprentice. Over the next 31 years, we slowly gathered a few more Immortals and began to formulate our ultimate goal. But then, one day, the man I considered my successor left. Ran away from his brethren with another Immortal. A woman. It is true when they say they things that we love are the things that destroy us. But, anyways, for 30 years, those two Immortals have been running, always away from my grasp. That is, until right now.”

An eerie silence fell again on the group, as Cassius's story slowly sunk in. Realizations popped into certain heads, but were quickly dismissed. But, although they were dismissed, they could not be denied entirely. The Keybladers looked slowly to Rain, who was avoiding all gazes, and Claudio, who had his eyes fixed only on Cassius. Could it be? Was it true? What was Cassius saying?

“Wh-what do you mean?” Kairi asked, afraid of what the answer might be.

The realization also hit the rest of the Immortals, as Kaiser was roaring again, but this time with laughter. “Oh, this is rich, this is freaking rich!” He howled, joined by the laughter and chuckles of a few others. “Are you kidding Cassius?”

“No, Kaiser. You have the truth.” Cassius replied, his invisible grin wider than ever. “And, to answer your question Kairi, the two lost Immortals I was speaking of, are right next to you.”

“Cassius!” Claudio shouted.

“No...” Kairi gasped. “It can't be! It just can't!”

“It is. Claudio and Rain, you're trusted friends and bodyguards, are Immortals.”

It was as if a bomb had been dropped upon the group. Nothing could be heard. Nothing was said. Even the Immortals had stopped chortling.

Kairi tentatively stepped towards Claudio. “Claudio?” She began, but she didn't have to finish. She could tell it was true on the faces of Rain and Claudio. Everyone could. The two had downcast, sad, downright miserable looks on their faces, pointed downward to avoid eye contact with anyone else.

“You bastards!” Riku snarled, stepping pass Kairi and getting in Claudio's face. “How could you? You lied to us all!”

“We never lied,” Claudio defended weakly. “We only withheld information. You never asked us if we were Immortals.”

Riku ignored the counter and continued. “We trusted you and you deceive us like this! How? HOW?”

“You don't understand...” Rain began, drowned out by her own quietness.

“What I understand is that you betrayed us, lied to us, withheld information that could have made the difference between life and death!” Riku charged forward, forcing the husband and wife to back off at the rage of the silver-haired boy. “Do you understand that you put all of us in danger because of this! I thought you were suppose to protect people! I thought we were friends...”

Claudio tried to defend himself and Rain, but all he could manage was a weak, “We are...”

“Friends don't do this!” Sora came. From the look of it, only Sora and Riku were truly angry at Claudio and Rain while the others just shot them angry or sullen gazes. “What would have happened if we needed info on the Immortals and you were too afraid of revealing your secret, and it cost us our lives? Huh? Tell me! Why did you do this!”

“Because we knew this would happen.”

Both Rain and Claudio finally returned the hateful gazes of the two teens with wounded eyes. Even the way they stood suggested that they were wounded somehow. And they had been. Claudio raised his head and continued onward.

“For the first time in a decade, we felt like we belonged. Like we had purpose in our foul lives. We just couldn't let you guys find out...because, this would happen.” Only hateful looks responded to his plea. “You have to understand! Please, you just have to...” He sunk to his knees and shut his eyes. Rain fell to her knees too and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder.

“We don't deserve to ask for forgiveness,” Rain muttered numbly. “But, I ask you, Sora, to look around. Riku was once your mortal enemy. Namine nearly destroyed your heart. Roxas was once apart of the Organization. Please, grant us what you granted them...” Rain trailed off before her head fell too.

Sora turned away, a disgusted look on his face.

Riku gave them one last look before walking away slowly.

Roxas and Ed both hanged their heads, as if in shame. Al's emotionless helmet gave no sign of his thoughts.

Auron looked indifferent and aloof throughout.

Kairi and Namine both looked lost, dimly staring into space.

And permeating throughout, was the booming laugh of Tallgeese. He alone was laughing at the predicament and plight of the Keybladers. Claudio turned, the defeated look turned into one of anger and malice.

“Why?” Claudio spat. “Why did you do this!”

Tallgeese laughed again, harder now, as if it was a joke. “Simple. It was because you fools were rising above your stations, meandering about with the Keyblade Masters like so sort of hero.” He scoffed. “It was sickening. Like a pair of dogs eating off their master's table instead of being thankful for the scraps they're given.”

Claudio gnashed his teeth in insult. “Dogs? Dogs?” Both he and Rain took a defiant stance, the sorrow in their eyes replaced by a fierce, burning anger. A light aura began to shine about them. Both then shut their eyes, as if to calm themselves and meditate.

“It's okay that we no longer have lives with these people, Tallgeese,” Claudio said calmly. “Because, all of you will now die, even if we do too!”

Both the newly outed Immortals opened their eyes. They were now completely white, flashing with feral rage.

The aura's flared even more as Tallgeese shook slightly. “Sir!” He said to Cassius. “It seems that their power levels are rising at an exponential rate.”

Cassius nodded slowly. “Yes. It seems that their declaration was true. They're using Infuse.” He then gave a grand motion with his arms. “Immortals! Wipe those two infidels off the face of existence!”

With the exception of Tallgeese and Cassius himself, all the Immortals prepared for battle, summoning their weapons and taking their respective stances. They then all charged off their perch, screaming like demons out for blood.

Rain and Claudio were quick to answer, leaping into the sky with inhuman speed. Rosa and Starxys were the first two Immortals to make contact, armed with katana and guitar respectively.

The clash was instant. With a savage slash, Rain struck out with Scarlet Queen, severing Rosa's katana in twain and causing her blade to sink deep into her foe's breastplate and body. She pulled the blade out and then quickly hit a scissors kick, smashing her into the neck and sending the female Immortal plummeting to the ground.

Meanwhile, Claudio simply punched through the head of Starxys's energized guitar, turning the instrument into metallic shards and causing the rocker to double over in tremendous pain. Claudio then seized Starxys by the shirt and hurled him into the clock tower building, before firing a blast of energy, which demolished the section of the wall Starxys landed into.

Next came Josef, Vaniele and Ramziel. The three Immortals darted out from the night, swinging blades and firing streams of bullets. With their new, seemingly enraged and savage strength, Claudio and Rain dashed about the sky, avoiding the attacks with superb skill. As the Trinity Siblings continued their attacks from the left and right, Claudio and Rain spotted Ramziel diving from the sky, twirling his scythe. Rain fell towards the ground and Claudio charged the Immortal.

As Ramziel swung the blade to Claudio, he deftly caught the pole arm's haft. Stunned, all Ramziel could do was watch as Claudio yanked the scythe towards him, bringing Ramziel with it, and kneeing the Immortal in the gut. He then channeled a current of lightning through the metallic weapon, shocking his enemy and scorching his clothing before tossing the incapacitated foe aside.

As soon as Rain hit the ground, she sidestepped to the left before launching herself into the air again, this time hitting a missile sidekick into the ribs of Josef, sending the bewildered Immortal diagonally in the sky and crashing into his sister. Rain then teleported to the other side of the crushed Immortal twins, before hitting the Buster punch into the two, causing them to crash into the ground. She then hit several more Buster shots, crushing them into a large crater, leaving them twitching and broken.

Repeated fireballs then blasted towards Rain, before Kaiser flew by with a spiraling claw swipe. She caught Kaiser landing on the ground and saw Arianne near him, shooting elemental bursts from her gunblades.

Aeron and Claudio were striking swords against one another, drawing sparks with each successive swing. Despite the increase in Claudio's strength, the two were evenly matched. Holding each other at a lock, Claudio decided to take advantage, and revved the blade repeatedly. He then unleashed a point-blank Hell's Butterfly, driving Aeron back twenty-feet. Aeron sneered again, as Claudio came barreling forward, he readied himself for a thrust to impale the charging warrior but before he could lunge, Claudio lept over the blade and over Aeron, landing behind the sword-wielding fiend. He then snatched Aeron's ponytail and propped him forward, using him as a human-shield as a large, wayward fireball of Arianne's roared towards the two. Aeron was forced to absorb the entirety of the blow before Claudio dumped him to the ground and curb stomped his face directly into the cobblestones.

Forgetting the down Aeron, Claudio charged again; this time, though, his foe was ready. Arianne crossed her gunblades and unleashed an x-shaped wave of compressed water. Claudio placed his sword between his body and the wave, letting the water explode and wash over him. The ex-Immortal then went spiraling into the air, revving High Streak again.

“Prism Chain Arts, Aerial Style: Grand Decapitating Air Wave!”

The air rippled and shimmered and Claudio unleashed a series of air pressure torrents, driving down like a heavy storm on Arianne. In a desperate attempt to block the empowered air blades, Arianne brought her blades up to guard but the shifting air slashes by-passed her defence and crashed into the ground below, tearing it up and sending Arianne to the side and landing in a great heap.

Preparing to finish his foe off, Claudio hefted his blade upwards, but was stopped when he heard a female scream. He turned around to see Kaiser digging his claws into Rain's shoulders, blood flying into the dark sky, her aura fading, as she screamed and Kaiser cackled. She slowly fell to the earth, landing hard, but Claudio quickly took her place, flying forward in a berserk rage. He and Kaiser began to exchange fierce blows between claws and sword, Claudio not caring if he took a few slashes from his enemy. This man had hurt his wife. He was pissed!

With a two-handed blow that had the force to sunder the earth itself, Claudio brought his blade downward on Kaiser, who had his arms up to defend himself. Although the sword could not sever or cut into the supernaturally enhanced arms, Claudio felt the massive vibrations traveling from the injured arms and into the sword. He had broken something.

Kaiser confirmed his thoughts with a pained cry. “RRRRAGH!!! Bastard! You broke my arms!”

Claudio gave a look of distaste before bending over and head-butting the feral Immortal in the gut. He followed the blow with an axe kick that caused the cat-like Immortal to plummet towards the ground. Claudio drew his pistol and then, with a pitiful look, fired wave after wave of slugs at the downed fiend.

Three or four hit until Kira appeared, using his shield to deflect the slugs before charging into the sky like a meteor, a dark aura streaking off the fallen Prince. Claudio countered by diving down, his own yellow aura extending from his body. The two raging combatants met and unleashed a wave of energy that rocked the entire pocket dimension.

When the blast subsided, everyone conscious being could see that Kira's sword and shield has gone flying away. Claudio backhanded his former liege to the ground and then charged him, swinging for the fences as Kira nimbly dodged the berserk onslaught. The red-headed Immortal shot a look at Tallgeese, the two nodded in unison and Kira vanished in a dark mist.

Claudio then took a moment to assess the damage. Rain and nearly every Immortal was down for the count, bodies strewn about the entire area that was once apart of Twilight Town. The ground was shattered and torn at various places from the constant fighting. Claudio's aura was a strong as ever, with no end in sight.

Then, his eyes – which were still all white – found Cassius, standing alone beneath the clock tower itself. Seeing his chance, he warped to the clock tower building, charging forth with great intent to mangle and kill his tormentor. Only a few feet away from Cassius, the leader of the Immortals turned about, facing Claudio as his blade came swinging towards him.

With no reaction on his invisible face, Cassius stepped backwards to avoid the blade. Though it seemed he meant to avoid the blow, Claudio corrected the swing at the last moment, leaning forward even more to maim Cassius. It wasn't enough, as the sword made contact, but only with his cloak, sheering off part of the cloak but barely touching the leader. Claudio then took his fighting stance for another attack, but Cassius just stood, completely calm with no intention to move.

Before he could question this, Claudio felt a searing bolt burn through his chest and he saw a green flash leave him and hit the roof he was standing on. His eyes returned to normal and the aura faded, as pain shot throughout Claudio's body, blood leaking from his heart and staining his coat and shirt. He tried to curse, but only a small gurgle and blood came out.

He then peered behind him to see Tallgeese. His hood was down, revealing a pale face wearing a white helmet. The visor of the helmet was a masquerade mask with opaque eye holes and a pointed nose-guard. Long, pale blonde hair came out from the back of the helmet. The masked Immortal was grinning fiendishly as he gripped his high-tech laser rifle.

“You forgot about me, Deuce....” Tallgeese said viciously. He then jammed down on the trigger again, unleashing a blitz of green lasers that tore through Claudio's stunned body. When Tallgeese found his rival's body riddled with enough holes, he stopped and admired the smoking, ruined form of his enemy.

High Streak fell from his grasp as Claudio sunk to his knees, blood pouring from his mouth in copious amounts. Light faded from his eyes as he fell from the roof of the clock tower building, hitting the ground in a bloody mess.

The wounds wouldn't heal, he knew that. He had used to much energy so now even his regeneration factor would shut down on him. Even if the wounds did cauterize from the heat, he had lost too much energy and the backlash from using Infuse would hit at any moment. But, on top of it all, he had lost the will to live. If he survived, what would be left for him? His friends had abandoned him and his wife would likely die too. It was over. Nothing would be left.

His time had come. He would have to pay for all his sins. And slowly, as his vision turned to darkness, he thought he could hear someone calling out his name. But that couldn't be true, after all, who would cry for him?

KHKHKHKH

“Terra? Terra?”

Terra shook his head to snap out of his deep thought. He had been staring into space when Mickey continued to call out his name. “I'm sorry, Mickey.” Terra said, walking forward, “Something just...fell on my mind.”

That “something” was about Claudio. Terra could feel him leaving this Realm. Everything was going as it was foretold. But he couldn't dwell on Claudio as of now, he and his group were almost at the end of Pandemonium, having left the red halls long ago and were approaching a large, white stone chamber.

The chamber was a small room designed to connect the two halves of the castle together. Completely flat at the front end, with a small step of shallow stairs rising in a circular pattern at the other end of the room. The stairs led to a large, carved marble door, white as the rest of the room. Terra and Donald both grunted, the complete whiteness of the room was hurting their eyes after the constant stretch of dank chambers before them.

As the knight and the three Disney denizens entered the chamber, Terra noticed the lack of a Keyhole on the door. Mickey must of noticed it too, as when he went to summon his Keyblade, he stopped in his tracks. Terra walked to the door and gave it a shove with his hand but the door wouldn't budge. It seemed too solid. Almost like a wall.

“Well, looks like we reached the end, fellas.” Goofy said, taking the hints given to him from the King and Terra.

“No,” Terra countered, “I think I can bust this door down given enough time.”

“That won't work.”

The four turned around to see a figure, dressed all in white, and slouched over. He had small, beady eyes, slicked back black hair and stubble on his face, which had a non-caring bored look on his face. It was clear that he was an Immortal.

The slacker continued. “The door can't be destroyed. And, it can only be opened by an Immortal. The only way for people like you to open it, is to use an alchemic trigger on the lowest basement.”

Terra smiled. “I suppose you wouldn't open it if we asked you nicely?”

“No.”

Donald whispered to Terra, “I thought you said that all the Immortals were gone from the castle.”

“The rest are.” The bored Immortal said. Apparently, he had over heard Donald. “But I wasn't about to waste energy on one of Tallgeese's dumb plans.”

There's still one here. Terra repeated in his mind. Damn! Why do all of these predictions keep going wrong. It's not suppose to be like this.

“Now, are you gonna piss off by yourselves, or do I actually have to fight today?”

The others slowly began to draw their weapons, but Terra held up a hand to stop them. “Guys, sit tight.” He said. “I'll handle them myself. To be honest, I only think that the King could handle him.” He tossed Donald and Goofy a look. “No offence you two.” Before they could respond, Terra stepped forward to the Immortal. “You got a name?”

“Creed.”

“I see. I'm Terra.”

“Don't care.”

Terra then assumed a fighting stance as a golden aura burned about him. In a flash, his left arm became encased with a unique gauntlet. His entire entire forearm was covered in a leather bracer with bronze armour decals flaring out from it; a series of bronze plates ran up his upper arm and connected the bracer to the gauntlet's pauldron. The piece of shoulder armour was gunmetal gray with a copper halo toward the peak, and, as it neared his collarbone, the armour became gold and curved away from his neck.

He then shot his right arm to his side, with the golden aura returning and pieces of what looked like materialized data began to revolve around his arm. Appearing with the data-like objects were a series of metallic rings. The spinning objects then vanished with a burst of light, transforming into the knight's summoned Keyblade.

The Keyblade was easiest the largest seen to date. It was at least six-feet, overtaking Leon's gunblade in size and just slightly smaller than Cloud's buster blade. The guard was rectangular and made of blue metal and the remainder of the great Keyblade was a singled shaft of gold or bronze metal. The key's head was a series of flat tabs that jutted from the main blade and a small crescent ornament topped the blade. Terra effortlessly swung the weapon with his one hand.

The Lingering Sentiment of Destiny, a voice whispered in his mind. Divine Messenger.

Creed smirked at the weapon. “Pretty fancy there.”

Terra returned the smile and walked forward. “You see this hand?” He asked, raising his left fist.

“Yes,” Creed frowned. “And I also know that you're about to sock me in the face with your right hand and say 'Should have been watching the other one'.”

Terra chuckled before smashing into Creed's face with his left fist! “Actually, I was gonna say 'You should have been watching it closer'.” Terra corrected as Creed staggered back. “It pays to be original.”

Creed wiped his mouth with a gloved hand. “Y'know? This might actually be worth the effort.”

KHKHKHKH

Where Claudio was? He couldn't say. It may have been Hell. It could have been some sort of Purgatory. He could be in Limbo. He may no longer even be in the Realm of Light. But, wherever he may have been, he was alone.

Lying, alone, and caught within the infinite space of the crushing white void. He didn't know if this void was truly infinite, but he had no will to discover if this plane had some sort of end.

So, this is my fate? Claudio thought. He had no will to speak. He was absolutely broken and defeated. I can't say that I don't deserve this. I've done enough bad things in my life. I've killed countless people. Lied. Stolen. Cheated. I honestly thought I would end up in hell. But who's to say this isn't hell? Isolation for eternity is a fairly steep punishment.

Lying on the ground of the void, Claudio did nothing. He didn't even blink. No measurable amount of time passed as he was caught in the whiteness of his prison. Was time even a factor in this realm? He could have been in this catatonic state for hours or seconds before he noticed a change in the scenery.

He had become caught in darkness.

Still lying down, he looked to see a massive white door with stain-glass windows looming in front of him. Even though he was most-likely dead, he could still sense the great power emanating from the door. It was enough for him to slowly rise and stumble weakly to the great door.

Claudio had never seen Kingdom Hearts. He had never seen the Door to Darkness or any of the Doors that existed for travel in between the Realms. But, there was a feeling deep within him, shattered as he was, that this door before him was Kingdom Hearts...and if not, it was where he was suppose to go.

Slowly, he reached his hand out, barely touching the door when a voice rang out.

“It is not your time yet, child.”

Floating behind him, on extravagantly designed thrones, were what Claudio could only assume were Gods. There were two of them, a man and a woman; the man had spoken to him. The man was sitting upon a large, shining gold throne and the woman next to him sat on a delicate silver throne that look as if it was woven from gossamer.

“Who...are you?” Claudio said weakly. His body had given out and he had fallen to his knees.

“I am Destin, God of All Things and King of the Ancient Pantheon.” The man was outfitted in a grand set of armour. It made him look powerful, commanding and yet, at the same time, it was neither bulky nor over-large. The armour was silvery-white, streamlined to fit his body perfectly. Shining golden accessory armour rested upon the main white armour. Gauntlets and greaves, each with angelic wings extending out from the halfway point of the armour. A metallic kilt made with several separate fitted tabs wrapped around his waist and ring-like pauldrons wrapped around his shoulders. Decorated on the breastplate and the accessory armour, all wrought in gold, were depictions of great crusades and mythical beasts. Griffins, unicorns, dragons, valiant knights and scenes of triumphant victory. His helmet was also made of the same silvery-white armour, with a shining golden star planted on the face of the helmet. Surrounding the face were a series of three-inch-long spokes; three on the left, three on the right and one crowning him at the top of the helmet, giving the appearance of the sun. Finally, a cape of white and gold silk came off his shoulders and draped over the back of the throne.

“And I am Fate, Goddess of Light and Destiny and Queen of the Ancient Pantheon.” Fate herself look powerful and beautiful at the same time. Her divine being radiated a supernatural beauty that no mortal woman could comprehend. Though not as heavily armoured as her husband, Fate still look strong. Her armour was a highly polished steely blue, unadorned with decoration, with golden rings surrounding certain points. Plain gauntlets, greaves and a breastplate adorned her beautiful body. Despite the armour, much of her skin around her legs and arms were still bare. She wore no helmet, letting her dark red hair spill out around her in an elegant, twisted ponytail. Her face, framed under a silver circlet, was a vision of serenity and grace, punctuated by a kind smile. A cape of royal purple fell over her throne and a half-skirt of the same colour extended from her hip.

Claudio was not a religious man by any extent of the term, but he knew who these two were. The Ancient Pantheon was still widely worshiped on the Radiant Garden, and had been for over four-centuries.

“Why am I here...” Claudio mumbled. He normally would be more graceful and tact to the two most powerful Gods in existence (at least, according to the Ancients), but, as of now, he didn't care about anything.

“-----, you must know that we need you for the future.” Destin said. His voice sounded as powerful as he looked. “But you need our wisdom. You need our grace.”

Claudio just hanged his head. “I don't care. I don't deserve to go back.”

Destin shook his head. “You must go back, -----, you're destiny is a great one. You, and all the Keyblade Masters.”

“I told you, I don't deserve to return to them.” Claudio muttered. “Not after what I did. Besides, even if I did go back, they wouldn't except me.”

“You underestimate the strength of your heart, and the bonds it has created, -----.” Fate chimed in, her voice elegant and lilting, soft and calm.

“My name isn't -----.” Claudio protested. “It's Claudio.”

“You have just forgotten your name.” Fate replied. “You're heart has been closed for too long.”

“Because I'm and Immortal... a living sin bowing before the Gods. You created the humans and the animals. But not the Heartless, the Nobodies, the Fell Soul or the Immortals. I'm just a walking blasphemy.”

“Be thankful we are more patient than some of the other Gods.” Destin warned. “I can think of a few that would have smited you by now.”

Fate tried a different approach. “-----, let me ask you something. Years ago, what did you devote your life too? What was your purpose?”

“My purpose...my purpose was...” Claudio closed his eyes. It had been so long. “To defend the Princess Kairi with my life. To be her shield. Her sword. Her shadow. But above all, to be more than a bodyguard. I will be her companion.” His eyes rose from the floor to face Fate and Destin. “And I do swear these sacred oaths, on my life, and on my name... -----.....”

A smile broke on his face. “My name.... That's my name!” A half-laugh, half-cry came from his body as a sign of relief. “I...almost forgot about that...it had been so long.”

Both the Gods smiled. “So, shall you return?” Destin asked.

Slowly, Claudio rose to his feet and faced the King and Queen of the Gods. The misery had been wiped from his face, replaced by his normal confidence and fire had returned to his face and eyes.

“I will. I have some...demons to take care of.” As the Gods gave him a final smile, Claudio turned away as the white void faded away. Before the Limbo ceased to exist, Claudio turned back to Fate and Destin.

“Thank you.”

To Be Continued

So, there you go. It's not much, but I really do like it. After reading all my work over again, I can feel the zest of writing flow in me again! Also, my Creative Writing Class shouldn't hurt in helping me.

Describing Tallgeese is hard to do, but if you go to my profile, I've changed the Avatar Picture, to one of Zechs from Gundam Wing. I modelled Tallgeese's design from him, and even named him after Zechs's Gundam. He is without a doubt my favourite Immortal, and hopefully, you will see why in the coming chapters.

Also, I know that Claudio is getting a lot of writing time, and I am sort of neglecting Sora as the main character. The reasoning for this is that between the three games, Sora has been fleshed out enough, so I am trying to equally characterize the others, that I feel need to be heavily characterized. Sora will take the main stage again, but I need everyone to know who Claudio and Rain are, and to give you my versions of Kairi and Riku.

Please Review

SirAngelo