Chapter 33: Twilight Troubles

A/N: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. It is the property of Square Enix and Walt Disney Company. This is a creative project that I do not profit off of in any way.

"It's weird, worrying about him," Xion said. "And I feel guilty that I feel weird about worrying about him."

"That's a lot of feelings," Roxas muttered. He glanced at Xion and smiled. She brightened when she saw him smile, so that was a good thing.

It was maybe two hours since they had seen Isa off with Scrooge McDuck. Axel had gone back home, saying he needed to collect his thoughts and count his sheep. So, Roxas and Xion had been left to their own devices.

They were sitting in the Usual Spot, alone. Well, almost alone—Hayner, Pence and Olette hadn't shown up yet, but it couldn't be too much longer before they showed up. A day without training or Keyblades or fighting. A day of peace. This was something that Roxas had been looking forward to for a long time. Even with his concerns for Isa, he couldn't let them get in the way. And besides, Isa was really strong. He could handled himself just fine.

"Hey you two," Hayner said, walking in. He slapped Roxas on the shoulder. "Why the long face?"

"Oh…it's Isa," Roxas said. "He had to leave this morning. An important mission."

"What for?" Hayner asked, crossing his arms. "It's not like he has a Keyblade…wait did he get one overnight?"

In fairness, that was a pretty good point. Isa didn't have a Keyblade, even if his skills with a claymore were fantastic. But then again, Axel hadn't had a Keyblade at first, but he had one now. Isa could very well end up with one, since Keyblades weren't nearly as rare as they used to be.

"He…had a personal mission. So far as we know, it doesn't have to do with the stuff we've had to take care of."

Hayner seemed to accept that and turned towards his dartboard. Roxas grinned. This was one of the things he had done in the Digital Twilight Town, and it was also one of the things that had carried over into the actual Twilight Town.

"Whatever," Hayner said. "Not really my business, I guess. Sucks that he's gone though. He only just got back with you guys."

"Yeah," Xion said. "But this is something he's wanted to do for a very long time. Longer than we've known him."

"Really?" Hayner asked. "Man…time does funny things…not really my business though…and if it's not Keyblade stuff…man, I wish my sword would show up again."

He trailed off, and began throwing his darts. Hayner was good at darts, really good. It didn't even look like he was trying and he still hit the bullseye every time.

"Two player?"

"Sure," Hayner said, handing Roxas a dart. "Have at 'er. What about you, Xion?"

"Oh," Xion said. "I think I'll just watch, if that's okay."

Roxas took steady aim, pinched the end of the dart and threw it. It landed just to the right of Hayner's dart. Nice.

Pence and Olette showed up a few minutes later. Pence was holding up five sea salt ice cream bars. It was probably too early for ice cream, but Roxas didn't care.

"Thank you," Roxas said, taking a bite of ice cream. Salty, but sweet.

"So…what are we gonna do now?" Pence said. "I'm guessing you guys aren't really in the mood for more training."

"We could train," Xion said quietly. "It's not a good idea just to forget about it. But…"

"But my sword hasn't shown up yet," Hayner muttered. "And besides, the last time we tried training, you two completely zoned out. Like you had seen ghosts."

"Sorry…" Xion said. "I didn't mean to—"

"Forget it," Hayner said. "You know what I just realized?"

"Xion apologizes too much?" Pence asked. "No offense, Xi."

"Sorry—ow!" Xion rubbed the back of her head. "Roxas!"

"No!" Hayner said. "Well, yeah, but not what I meant! You know where Roxas and Xion have never been yet? Someplace that's really awesome?"

"Library?" Olette asked. "It's like a bookstore, but even better!"

"We know what libraries are," Xion said. "Or…at least collections of books in castles. King Mickey has a library. And Master Yen Sid."

"No! We just went to the bookstore yesterday!" Hayner shook his head. "We've never taken you guys to the arcade!"

"What's an arcade?"

"It's this place where you can play games!" Pence said. "Kind of like what we can do on our phones, but bigger and better!"

"And expensive," Olette said. "I don't know about that, Hayner. The arcade is fun, but it's kind of pricey."

"We have some munny saved up," Roxas said. "Defeating Heartless and monsters is an easy way to get munny in other worlds."

It was funny—destroying Heartless and the ghost…things in Olympus had been how he'd gotten quite a bit of munny, even if he had been a bit pre-occupied at the time. And then there had been the Heartless that had popped up in the Land of Dragons, during Shan Yu's attack.

Roxas didn't like computers much. He knew how they worked, but…he shook his head. The Digital Twilight Town was in the past, way, way in the past. And if this was something Hayner and Pence liked, then it had to be worth a try.

"Awesome!" Hayner pumped his fist. "You guys are gonna love Funville."

"What's Funville?"

xxxx

"Funville" was the strangest looking building Roxas had ever seen. Unlike the majority of buildings in Twilight Town, it wasn't orange or brown. It was purple, which perked Xion's interest right away. Roxas hadn't even realized they had purple paint in Twilight Town—though to be fair, he had never been this far down the tram line. They were way beyond even Sunset Terrace. And the building itself…were the doors in the shape of a clown? This was kind of weird.

"It's awesome, here," Hayner said, pushing the door open. "More games than you can imagine!"

Hayner was right about that. There were a lot of games…or big blocky cabinets that Roxas figured had games inside. There had to be over a hundred different cabinets and screens, all flashing different images. There were some larger cabinets with plastic motorcycles set up in front of them. Other cabinets had plastic blasters set up, so players could blast monsters away—huh, if fighting monsters in a computer game was what they did for fun, maybe it made sense that not many people in Twilight Town were really surprised by Heartless and Nobodies.

In one corner, he could see several green and brown tables with several teenagers hunched over them, holding long thin sticks, hitting balls. They looked a few years older than Roxas or the rest of his friends. In another corner, there was very large booth where kids were sitting in what looked like go-karts, in what was clearly a racing game. He thought the letters on the booth spelled out Sugar Rush.

"Check this one out!" Hayner called. "This one is called Street Fighter. You can pick any character you like and beat up all sorts of bad guys!"

"Isn't this where you got the idea to kick the evil Ansem back at the Mansion?" Olette asked.

"Yeah…that was…something," Hayner said sheepishly. "It almost worked….but close only counts in horseshoes…oh, this game's even cooler than Street Fighter! Galacta-Blasta Plasma!"

Roxas found himself rather disoriented, while Hayner described every game he liked, and Pence pointed out every game that he thought Roxas might be good at. One in particular stood out—an orange cabinet with a single joystick and two buttons. On the screen was a brick building. Climbing up the building was a little man in a blue maintenance uniform and cap…and on top of the building was a giant of a man, smashing bricks off the building.

"I'm gonna wreck it!"

"Ralph?"

"Actually, it's called Fix-it Felix Jr.," Pence said. "But Ralph is the bad guy, and he's on the box so I see your point."

"I…know him…" Roxas said. "That can't be…he's a friend of Sora's."

"Really?" Pence asked. "But how, we never brought Sora here before."

"It's hard to describe…" Roxas said, placing a hand over his own heart. "But…Sora knows him. He's helped him on his journeys…"

Flashes of memory circled in Roxas's head. Glimpses of Sora linking his power to a giant wearing tattered overalls, and building explosive torrents to destroy swarms of Heartless. But…they hadn't met in Twilight Town. Not anywhere near Twilight Town…where had it been…it was kind of fuzzy. That had been when his heart had actually been starting to merge with Sora…

"I'd say I was surprised," Pence said. "But given that Master Ansem's computer program has a heart and I've spoken to it…or him…whatever, nothing surprises me anymore."

"This does look like fun…" Xion said. "We control the little guy to fix things? I'd like to try that."

She cautiously walked over to the counter, where a man took her munny, put it into a machine and then handed her a handful of coins. Xion thanked him and Roxas noticed the man's eyebrows rise up in surprise. Holding up a single munny, Xion shrugged slightly.

"Let's see how I do…"

"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"

oooo

"We can fix it!"

"I don't believe it!" Pence shouted. "She's got the Bonus Level! It's almost impossible to unlock!"

Bonus Level? Yeah, that was what the screen was flashing. And instead of just Felix, there were a bunch of other little characters running around too. A little orange…ball with legs hopped up the walls, with Felix. There were a bunch more little…goblins…and a little purple snake coiled up like a spring. They were wrecking a lot more of the building, but with the little orange ball helping Felix, she was able to make up the difference.

"This is harder than it looks," Xion muttered. "But, I do like it. It's fun."

It was fun. Xion hadn't ever really realized that you could use computers for fun. It had always been for recording research and data in the Organization. But this? Moving Felix up and down the walls and balconies, fixing broken windows and bricks and flowerbeds. It was fun! And Felix was so happy, with his little magic hammer. It almost felt like saving the world, only without any real danger. Sure, Wreck-it-Ralph was throwing bricks and stomping around, but she hadn't been hit yet. And it felt really good, helping Felix help all the people who lived in the apartment building.

Xion wasn't quite sure how long she'd been playing the game—she should probably stop and give someone else a turn—when the screen flashed again.

"Level 122! You win! Grand Champion!"

Felix and the little orange ball and a bunch of the little people who lived in the apartment all began waving to the screen. Xion waved back, and the screen showed Wreck-it-Ralph on the ground in the mud. Xion felt a pang of sympathy. Ralph looked so lonely as he lay in the mud. The other goblins were there too…all of them pushed and pressed and covered in mud. The sympathy pangs got harsher.

"You did it," Pence whispered. "You actually did it…You beat the whole game…"

"Er…" Xion said, letting go of the little joystick she had had to hold. "Is that weird? I mean, it was my first time, but I—"

"I've never seen that before," Pence said. "This is amazing! Beyond amazing!"

"Check it out!" Hayner said. "You get to enter your name in the high score chart!"

"Oh…" Xion said. "Um…X…i…o…n…"

The high scores blinked as Xion entered in her name. She was the first name on the list. This was starting to make her feel awkward. Quite a few people were staring now—the teenagers from the pool table, the smaller kids who had been playing one of the car racing games, the man who operated the change machine, a girl carrying a tray of root beers. Several of them began clapping and Xion could feel her face reddening.

"Check out your tickets, Xion," Pence said. "We better get a bag to hold all these."

Oh man, Xion hadn't even noticed, but there were tickets spitting out of the machine. Tons of them! Roxas had already stooped down to begin folding them up, and his arms were getting full.

"Right on, Xion!" Hayner pumped his fist. "And there's plenty more where that came from! The day's just getting started!"

oooo

Wreck-it-Ralph got to his feet and began brushing mud off his overalls. He didn't mind mud himself, but it was a pain to get out of pockets, so better get it off now instead of later. That had been quite a session. He had been thrown off the building over a hundred times. The User, whoever she was, was very good.

"Ralph? You alright, brother?"

Ralph couldn't help but smile. Felix was a bit of a worrywart, but you couldn't ask for a nicer friend when it got to it.

"Fine, Felix. It's all part of the job," Ralph said. He was long past the dark days, when he hadn't been able to find any sort of light in his work. But the thing of it was, at the time, Ralph hadn't realized the truth. Sure he was a Bad Guy, but this didn't mean he was a bad guy. He gave a firm, friendly nod to Felix. "Gotta say though, it's not every day a User gets all the way to the last level. And a high score to boot!"

"#%&$%!"

"Well said, Q-bert!" Felix said. "And you're right, Ralph. This was a great game session. And we owe it to…how do you pronounce that? Xi-on? Like Zion?"

"I don't think it's that," Ralph said. "I think it might be like Shion…isn't that a type of flower?"

"We got roses, tulips, black-eyed susans, daisies," Lucy, one of the Nicelanders, said, counting off on her fingers, "But no shion…"

"This is gonna sound weird," Ralph said. "But I think I might know her."

"I'm not saying I don't believe you, brother, but I don't see how," Felix said. "But I do declare, it's weird for a first-timer was able to do so well in our game. Are we sure she's never played before?"

"$%* #$!"

"Huh, maybe Q-bert," Felix said. "I mean, we're a game. There's gotta be other arcades out there, and other Felixes and other Ralphs and other Q-berts. Maybe this User's played our game before, someplace else."

"I don't know…" Ralph said, placing a hand over his heart. "Maybe…but this still feels different somehow. But it's hard to put my finger on."

"Or maybe, you just hit your head when you fell off the building," Gene, the least nice of the Nicelanders, muttered. "The kid's probably just a freak, and goodness knows, you have a way with freaks, Ralph."

"Now now!" Felix said, putting his hands on his hips. "There's no need for that kind of talk. No need of that kind of talk at all, Gene. Ralph and Q-bert's gang are valued members of our game and you will treat them with respect."

Gene being a jerk was nothing new—even after everything they'd all been through. Ralph shook his head. This feeling was weird. Really weird. And Ralph wasn't a stranger to weird feelings, especially since he had started being more open about them. His heart felt almost lonely…but how could that be?

A sudden vision filled Ralph's eyes. He saw a boy, a User, a Hero with a strange weapon fight all sorts of monsters, standing against the darkness. And beside the boy was Ralph. Together they set up turrets to set off explosions and take down a dozen monsters in one go.

What in the what was that? Ralph shook his head again. He was no stranger to flashbacks. He relived getting his stump moved away every day. But monsters had nothing to do with his backstory. At least not those kinds of monsters. And he had never left the arcade—he had game-jumped a couple of times, but he had never seen monsters quite like those. All dark and shadowy with beady yellow eyes.

And this User…this Xion…she knew this other User. But Ralph was certain the boy had never played their game. At least not their game here in this arcade. And yet…this was something he would have to think hard about. And maybe bring it up tonight at the Bad-Anon meeting.

"I wanna play the wrecking game!"

A User, maybe six or seven, was at the screen. Alright, time to get back in the grove.

oooo

"This is pretty fun," Xion said. "I can see why you like it here, Hayner."

Hayner gave a firm nod. After Xion had set the record on Fix-it Felix Jr., Hayner had destroyed her in Street Fighter. And then he'd beaten Roxas and then Pence and finally Olette…who had spent her entire turn in a defensive stance, and Hayner had knocked her character off the cliff for the win.

After that, he had shown them skee-ball. Roxas had been really good at that. Which made some sense, since it was kind of like Grandstander. And then there was Sugar Rush, the racing game. Olette was good at that—Hayner had crashed into the volcano and died. And Pence had ruled at the game Tappers which was about root beer…and root beer…and more root beer.

"Darn right!" Hayner said. "There's no place for fun like Funville."

"What about the beach?" Roxas asked.

"Alright, the beach is great too," Hayner admitted. "But other than that—"

"There's Struggle matches," Pence said. "You love Struggle."

"Yeah, I do love Struggle," Hayner said. "But c'mon, guys."

"I just like being with you guys. It's nice, not having to fight or train or work," Xion said. "If I mess something up, then I just lose my turn, but nobody gets hurt. Nothing really bad happens."

There it was again. No matter what Roxas and Xion did, no matter what Hayner did, they couldn't get away from whatever hellhole the Organization had been. Not all the way. And who knew what was going to happen the next time they had to leave. It wasn't fair.

"It's fine, Hayner," Roxas said. "This has been really great. So…now what?"

"There's air hockey, there's that basketball booth," Olette said, counting on her fingers. "There's billiards…we can all do that together…"

"Olette, the game is called pool."

"Pool?" Xion asked, looking towards the pool tables. "Why do they call it pool? We're nowhere near water."

Hayner bit back a laugh, but he had to admit…Xion had a point. Why do we call it pool?

"Well, we can trade our tickets in for prizes!" Hayner said. "That's something. You guys both got a lot of tickets."

"We can trade these?" Roxas said. "Like the winner sticks for Granny's ice cream?"

"Yeah, just like that!" Pence said. "I saved my tickets to get a new computer game last year!"

"That's how I got my dart set too," Hayner said. "You turn in your tickets at the corner booth. The guy at the counter's really nice. This way!"

The ticket counter was across the way, at the very back of the arcade. There were all sorts of prizes—lollipops and jawbreakers, plastic action figures, a deluxe set of pastel paints, a dozen different comic books, stuffed animals, a skateboard…Hayner was't sure where they should begin. Best to start with actually talking to the ticket guy.

"Hey Bluke!"

Bluke was probably old enough to be in college, but he had manned the ticket counter for as long as Hayner could remember. Which was weird, since he'd been coming to Funville at least a couple times a year since he was just a kid. Shorter than most other grown-ups and wider, Bluke was also one of the kindest people in Twilight Town. Once you got used to how he talked that is.

"Hello, Hayner, Pence, Olette. Hello friends of Hayner whose names I do not know."

"I recognize you," Xion said. "At Twilight Treats…you like the triple scoop mint ice cream on a waffle cone."

Mmmm… Hayner had to admit that did sound good. He was getting sick of sea-salt ice creams himself. But it was Pence's favorite flavor and Pence was usually the one who bought the ice cream, so there you had it.

"That is right. That is my favorite ice cream. How nice that you remember. Now, you want to trade in your tickets? I saw you win the high score on Fix-it Felix, Jr. It looked like you were having fun."

"Yeah, I did," Xion said, blushing. "What about…um…I've never done this before…what would you recommend?"

"Hmmm," Bluke said. "What would I recommend for a prize? Well…this reminds me of the time I was with my friends and we had to look for treasure and then we came in second place but we wound up getting the best prize which was pizza. They didn't really get why we got the best prize—at the time they wanted a pool table—but the thing was, you can split a pizza five ways. And you can't split a pool table. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah…" Xion said. "I think so. Get a prize we can share…"

Hayner bit the inside of his cheek. He could see the logic in the argument of course, but the only stuff cool enough to actually "share" would cost way more tickets than even Xion's high score would have won. The thought occurred to Hayner that they could just as easily get jobs for Scrooge to make up to difference…or buy the stuff in the first place—there were a nice pair of headphones for example.

But this wasn't really fair either. Xion and Roxas had earned those tickets themselves. Hayner hadn't gotten any tickets from Street Fighter but he had gotten bragging rights, which were just as good. But the tickets…Roxas and Xion should decide for themselves what they spent them on. And if they didn't want to share, then that was fine too.

"Give it back!"

Hayner jerked around in surprise and then wondered why he was surprised. Of course, it would be him. At the end of the pool tables, he could see Seifer harassing Vivi. Again. He was holding a strand of Vivi's tickets high in the air.

"That…I told him he was supposed to lay off Vivi," Roxas girt his teeth. "What's it gonna take?"

"Roxas, careful," Olette whispered. "The last time you guys fought…"

She trailed off, but Hayner could remember what happened all too clearly. Just a couple weeks before—had it really only been a couple of weeks—Roxas had smashed Seifer and Raj and Fuu all at the same time with a Struggle bat. And then Seifer had lied though his teeth, saying Roxas had started the fight, and it had been a total mess, with that social worker Bubbles showing up and then whathisname fighting Xion and bringing in a hurricane of darkness—though that probably hadn't been Seifer's fault. Hayner hadn't done much to help Roxas then. But maybe, he could help out now.

Hayner marched over towards Seifer, anger bubbling up inside him. He always hid, or stood on the sidelines. While Roxas and Xion did all the work, and got all the trouble for it. Well, he'd had just about enough of that.

"Seifer! Back off!"

"And if I don't?" Seifer taunted. "I'm just playing with him. Vivi's just a crybaby."

"I…am…not…" Vivi mumbled. "I…wanna…go…"

"I said, back off!" Hayner snapped. "Give him back his tickets now!"

"And if I don't?" Seifer scoffed. "You're not man enough to face me, Hayner. And your freaky friends can't stop me ether."

"They're not freaks!" Hayner said. He was getting really, really sick of this. "Why can't you just lay off?"

"Well, if that's how you like it," Seifer said. "Then why don't we—ah!"

Bluke had come up behind Seifer and was gripping him by the ear. He looked very angry, and Hayner took a step back. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Bluke look angry before.

"You are disrupting this arcade! That is not fair to others and it is not fun!" Bluke said. "You have stolen from another player and that is against the rules! And you are wearing a hat indoors and that is bad manners!"

"What about that freak?" Seifer shouted, jabbing a finger at Vivi. "He's wearing a hat! You can't even see his freak face."

"And now you are calling people names?" Bluke said. "You are being very mean. Nobody can have fun while you are here. And this is Funville, where people go to have fun. So you have to leave."

Seifer yelped in pain and Bluke marched him over to the entrance of the arcade. He pushed the doors open, and fairly tossed Seifer out of the building.

"Sorry about that," Bluke said as he walked back towards the ticket counter. "I don't like it when kids are mean to others. It just doesn't make sense to me. Never did."

"Vivi," Xion said, crouching down so that she could look him in the eye. "Are you alright?"

"Why…is he…so mean?" Vivi asked. "I…didn't…do anything…to him."

"Sometimes…people are just mean. Because they don't have anything good to fill their hearts with light," Xion said.

Hayner resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her, glanced at Roxas and then looked away quickly. The two of them hadn't been around at the time, but back when they were all really little, smaller than Vivi was now, Seifer had been Hayner's friend. They'd all been six years old, they hadn't really had the idea of not being friends. But then they'd grown up, and Hayner, Pence and Olette had seen Seifer for what he really was.

"He's just a creep, Vivi," Roxas said. "You're way better than him."

"Roxas…Xion…when did you get home?"

"Two days ago," Xion said. "I missed you, Vivi."

"I missed…you too…"

Vivi huddled in a little ball and Xion looked as if she were about to start crying. Standing up, she dusted herself off—why did girls always do that? There wasn't even any dust on her pants to dust off in the first place.

"How much for…those nice bells?" Xion asked.

"They're a little pricey…two thusand tickets," Bluke said. "But these bells have a very nice jingle, like Christmastime."

"Thank you, Mister Bluke."

Hayner was about to tell Xion that wasn't Bluke's last name, but then it occurred to him that he didn't actually know Bluke's last name.

"Here you go, Vivi," Xion said, fastening the jingle bells to the tip of Vivi's giant hat. "Now, everywhere you go, you can make music. And that'll make people happy."

"Thank you…" Vivi murmured. "Are you…an angel?"

"Uh…I don't think so…" Xion said. "Roxas, do you know what an angel is?"

"No…Hayner, Pence, Olette?"

"Er…" Hayner said. "Ask Axel!"

"Oh, right," Xion brightened. "Of course, Axel knows everything!"

"I…thought his…name was…Lea," Vivi said. "Oh…well…"

Vivi looked up at all of them, his little yellow Heartless-like eyes. Hayner wondered what he might be thinking. Before Vivi could say anything else, Roxas handed him one of the large, swirly lollipops—he had redeemed his tickets too. Vivi blinked at them again and. then waddled away, his little bells jingling away.

oooo

"That was a very nice thing you did," Mister Bluke said. "Now…you do have some tickets left. Is there something else you would like to trade for?"

"Um…" Xion said. "No thank you, I'm good."

She could feel Hayner's gaze on her, and she had a feeling he wasn't very happy. She wasn't very happy either. Seife being such a jerk had kind of killed the entire mood. She just wanted to go home. Maybe read some of the book Olette had suggested. Xion's eyes lingered on some of the stuff on display. The stuffed animals…Xion knew enough to know that those were meant for much younger children than she was…but they looked a little lonely. But she couldn't afford them after getting Vivi his bells...but that was okay. Vivi seemed to like his bells...

"Um…you know?" Roxas asked. "I bet we can meet Axel for ice cream."

"I'd like that," Xion said. "I have some questions for him…"

The mood was grim as Roxas and Xion walked out of Funville. From the way he held his shoulders, Hayner was furious. Xion bit her lip. It had been his idea to go to the arcade in the first place, and it had all come crumbling down. Olette was a few paces behind them, talking on her phone. That wasn't like her…maybe she was just calling her parents to explain where she'd been all day. But then again, it was barely lunchtime. Xion sighed deeply.

"So I suppose you losers think you're smart standing up for that little shrimp?"

Xion felt her own shoulders tense. She turned around and saw Seifer slouching against a wall. He had a toothpick in his mouth.

"What the hell do you want?" Hayner growled. "Haven't you been a big enough jackass already? Leave us alone."

Xion had never heard the word "jackass" before, but judging from the way Olette gasped, she could guess it was a really bad word. Seifer didn't seem to be the least bit bothered. He waved his hand towards them in a way that Axel had once told her to never ever do, because it was obscene. Xion hadn't really known what obscene meant, but she didn't want to ask.

"Nah," Seifer said, straightening up. "I don't think so. See, what I want is you creeps out of my sight."

"Then look away," Roxas said. "None of us is in the mood, Seifer."

"Well, I'm not in the mood for a couple of freak strangers ruining my town," Seifer growled. "What is it with you freaks? You show up, you bring your freak monsters with you, and then you leave. Things finally get back to how they should be around here and then you freaks show up again."

"Roxas and Xion aren't freaks!" Pence said. "Go away, Seifer."

"Hey, it's a free town, isn't it?" Seifer spat on the ground. Xion grimaced and took a step backwards. "This is my town."

"It's our town, too," Roxas said. His hands were shaking, like he was deliberately trying not to summon his Keyblades. It would be bad if he did—he'd get in so much trouble if he hurt Seifer.

"You freaks are all the same," Seifer said. "You're a freak, Roxas. That wimpy Vivi is a freak. And…I don't even know what freak name your freak parents gave you, but you're a freak too, girl."

Xion stiffened. She liked her name. It sounded like shion, which were very nice flowers. Or the sound of the tides.

"My name is Xion. Not Freak. Not Girl. Xion. Got it memorized?"

Your name isn't really Xion, though. It's just what Xemnas called you after he branded you with the Recursent Sigil. You don't have a real name, do you, No. i?

No. She had a name. She wasn't No. i, she was Xion. Xion, Xion, Xion, Xion. She was Xion. A Keybearer. A Guardian….

A Seeker of Darkness…a murderer….an "it."

"Huh, a freak zoning out into

"Shut up!" Xion shouted. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"

She was angry. She knew she was getting angry, and that this was getting more and more precarious. She should leave. They should all leave.

"What are you gonna do?" Seifer taunted. "Nothing can stop me, now. Not you, not Roxas, not anything."

Seifer walked over to a trash can and pulled out a long jagged piece of pipe. It looked like it had nails and broken glass taped to it. Xion blinked in alarm and took another step backwards. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Olette with her phone, and there was fear in her friend's eyes.

This wasn't some Struggle match. Seifer could really hurt someone if he hit them with that pipe. That was a real weapon. Xion stepped to the side, putting herself directly in front of Pence and Olette. Roxas stepped forward, to stand in front of Hayner. Hayner put a hand on Roxas's shoulder.

"Here's how it works, losers. This is my town. You want me to back off, then you disappear. You don't belong here, none of you do," Seifer smirked. "So why don't you do the entire world a favor, and vanish? Just like that freaky Sora. Best thing he ever did was disappear."

Tears began burning at Xion's eyes. Sora…using the Power of Waking to save Kairi. After you helped Xemnas and Xehanort kill her. Sora saving Kairi….restoring her to this world. But then…on the island…Sora fading away into nothing….Your fault…

"Rah!" Xion flexed her fingers and, with a flash of light, she summoned her Keyblade. The Kingdom Key. Her Keyblade. Sora's Keyblade. Beside her, Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion.

"If you want a fight, Seifer, I will give you a fight!"

But before she could do anything, before Roxas could do anything, there was another flash of light, and the sound of metal hitting metal. And a cry of fright.

Seifer was still holding onto his pipe…but half of it was gone. Hayner was standing over him. In his hand was a sword. Xion's mouth fell open. That sword…she had seen it before. But only in her dreams…it couldn't be.

"Oh man…now it shows up?" Hayner said. "I…er…yeah! Beat it Seifer! Or I'll cut your pipe to pieces!"

Seifer looked at Hayner, his eyes wide and scared and angry. His look of shook turned into a glare as he turned to Roxas and Xion. He stomped his foot and gave a shout that sounded quite a bit more like a whine and ran off.

Xion let go a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding. Roxas dismissed Oathkeeper and Oblivion with a grunt. They had summoned their Keyblades. Against a real jerk and he had meant to hurt them…but Seifer's pipe had been destroyed like it'd been nothing. Which, it was, once she stopped to think about it. But…oh, they were going to get into so much trouble.

"I think he's gone and I don't think he'll becoming back."

"I think we have some things we need to discuss."

Xion winced. She knew that voice. She turned to the side. Axel was standing there. How long had he been standing there?

Really, really big trouble.

A/N: Another chapter completed my dear, dear readers. Sorry this one took so long, but I've been rather busy.

One of my favorite cartoons growing up was "The Weekenders." Its application of life lessons, while occasionally anvilicious, was still a lot more mature than most of its counterparts. Knowing that this show would never get a world on its own made me decide to give it some attention here—I always had a soft spot for Bluke.

"Wreck-it-Ralph" is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. "Level 122" is a nod to how the tallest residential building in the world is 122 stories tall.

Seifers' increased antagonism is going to be further explored coming up. They say the earliest sin was Pride. I think Resentment goes hand-in-hand with Pride. And given Seifer's arrogance in canon, it made sense to develop it here.

Hayner's ability to wield the Dream Sword is going to be something that he will eventually learn to master, but it won't happen for a while yet.

Until next time, my dear, dear readers! I appreciate each and every one of you.