A Kingdom Hearts II fan fiction
Note: this takes place after the Demyx and Rosalina trilogy, just so you know why one of the Nobodies is now referred to by a different name.

1: Cloaked Scheming

Nine Nobodies, tucked away in the deepest basement of Castle Oblivion, mourned their current situation.
“How did you stand being in this dusty, musty room for so long?” Xigbar asked Zexion between sniffles. “And I thought you were the one with the sensitive nose.”
Zexion shrugged. “Sacrifices.”
“I’m still kind of worried…” Luxord looked around. “It’s just the nine of us. There should be ten of us. What the heck happened to Demyx?”
“Who knows?” Lexaeus shrugged.
“Does this mean that there’s a way you can die,” Luxord said, trembling, “and go so far that not even evil resurrection can bring you back?”
“Who knows?” Lexaeus repeated.
Resurrection: the method that the Organization’s leader had used to bring his precious Organization back to life. He thought they would help him take over the worlds again, and come back in greater force than before…but they had other plans.
Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Saïx, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene had gathered in this secret place in order to discuss how they would break away from their leader. They were sick of being used…tired of not being allowed to live their own lives…and many of them were, at last, through with the cruelty they were forced to enact on the other worlds. However, they were not free to go. Their leader was more powerful than all of them combined…as well as more powerful than before.
And so they gathered, hoping to find a way to overthrow him.
“This can’t go on,” said Zexion. “It just can’t. So here’s what I think we should do…”
“When did you get put in charge?” Saïx challenged.
“Shut up,” said Marluxia, and Vexen shot number VII a glare. Zexion in charge just seemed…obvious.
“You could be our new Superior, you know,” said Xaldin, who had hardly known anything but following the crowd.
“No.” Zexion turned his head away from Xaldin. “There will be no new Superior. As soon as the current Superior is down…we’re free. I don’t care what the rest of you do with your lives. I’m going to find myself someplace quiet and never come out.”
The others nodded. They hadn’t the capacity to feel bad for the self-pitying Zexion. In fact, they were used to his gloom.
“I think,” Zexion suggested…knowing it was risky…”if we had the right kind of weapon, we could take him down.”
“I wish Axel was here,” said Larxene, surprisingly.
“Why do you want HIM here, of all people?” Xaldin asked.
“If what I heard is correct, he rebelled after Roxas left. Who better to help us than an expert in rebellion?”
“I’m an expert in rebellion,” Marluxia shot back.
“Roxas!” Xigbar moaned. “Why did you have to bring up the little dude? He was the only one who had a chance of defeating the Superior! Plus, he was cool!”
“He DID defeat the Superior,” Zexion pointed out, “in both of his forms. Roxas just did it as Sora. Dare I say it…I wish Sora was on our side, just once.”
The others, shockingly, nodded in agreement.
“Roxas, wherever you are…” Zexion said to the ceiling.
“Come on, Axel,” said Xigbar. “We made it out of the dead. So can you!”
“Demyx, you dummy,” Larxene called to no one, “where are you?”

“So it’s settled,” said Zexion. “We have talked for an hour, and…we are no closer to finding the perfect weapon than we were an hour ago. Disappointing, but…I won’t give up.”
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.
“The Superior…” Marluxia backed up against the wall, cringing.
“I’ll go check this out,” said Saïx. He portalled out of the room.
He portalled back in, stunned. “You wouldn’t believe…”
“What is it?” the others all said.
Saïx opened the door.
Axel leaned casually against the frame of the door, grinning at the rest of his former Organization. Behind him, Sora smiled and waved energetically.
“Hi, everybody!” he greeted.
Luxord’s eyes rolled up into his head, and he hit the floor, unconscious. That was the one event he wouldn’t have bet on in a thousand years.
“You called?” Axel asked.

The two were mobbed by the other Nobodies.
“Where WERE you?”
“Didn’t you die?”
“I thought you’d want to DESTROY us!”
“Um…aren’t you, like, not on our side?”
“Hey, hey, hey!” Axel yelled. “One at a time! Okay, I’m obviously not dead. Naminé saved me after I faded into the darkness. Then I went to live on the Destiny Islands with Rox—er, Sora.”
“I felt like someone was calling me in my heart about an hour ago,” Sora explained. “I could tell it was made of darkness, this call…but somehow, I knew the darkness needed help. As soon as Axel and I figured out where the call was coming from, we realized it was YOU. Now, I wasn’t really a fan of your actions, and I’m not gonna let you mess up any more worlds, but I don’t really know that I approve of your suffering. At any hands but mine, anyway.” He winked. “I’m kind of addressing you as Roxas, not as Sora. We did use to be a team, remember?”
“Worry not,” Zexion sighed. “We are not going to be ‘messing up’ any more worlds. Our target is just one man…the Superior.”
“We’re sick of him!” Xigbar spat.
“I don’t know that I want to go about finding my heart this way,” said Vexen. “I’d rather pursue its replacement through experiments in synthesis…not by forcibly ripping the hearts from others.”
“He just treats us as his slaves,” said Larxene. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being a slave.” She clenched her fists. “I’d rather be NICE.”
“And that’s saying something,” Marluxia muttered.
“Taking down Xemnas, without hurting the rest of the worlds?” Sora pondered the situation. “I guess you can count me in.”
“Me too,” said Axel. “Anything for a chance to kick that man’s butt from here to Oblivion.”
“This IS Oblivion,” Zexion pointed out with a sigh.
Luxord jerked up from the floor with a start. “Did Zexion just make a PUN?”
Sora laughed. “I guess you guys are starting to change, after all.”
“I still can’t believe you trust us,” said Xaldin, shaking his head.
“Well, believe it,” said Axel. “You know Sora…too polite for his own good. That’s gonna get you in trouble some day, buddy. And me? Like I said. Takin’ down the Superior is my recurring dream.”
“Good,” said Zexion. “Now there are eleven of us.” He sighed. “So close…if only we had our ninth…”
Axel and Sora exchanged looks.
“About that…” Axel started, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“THE SUPERIOR!” Marluxia screamed, heading back for the corner. “We’re dead!”
Sora flung open the door without even thinking. Instead of the Superior, in strolled a man with platinum-blond hair and eyes covered by sunglasses, dressed to kill and striding like a male model. He gave a wave of greeting to the Organization before turning to look directly through the fourth wall, and tossing back a lock of his gorgeous hair. “That,” he announced, “was for the fangirls.”
“Who are you?” Zexion asked, suspicious.
“Forgot me already?” The man peered sheepishly at Zexion over his sunglasses. “Figures. I heard that after the battle for Hollow Bastion, no one even bothered to mention that I was DEAD. Oh, well. Only to be expected.”
Zexion’s mouth dropped open. His eyes—well, the visible one, anyway—widened to the size of golf balls. “DEMYX?”
“We’re all present and accounted for,” said Axel.
“Actually,” the handsome man corrected, “you can call me Myed.”
Luxord passed clean out again.

“…and that’s how I got my heart back,” Myed finished. He had been through a lot since he was last seen by the Organization…a powerful witch of the galaxies had brought him out of the darkness, and an equally powerful witch of the sea (one known in most circles as Ursula) had given him his heart back. She intended to trick him out of his control over water, but he had defeated her instead.
“You…lucky…little…” Xigbar growled.
“Twerp,” Saïx finished, before Xigbar could insert a more profane name.
“No time for jealousy!” Zexion chided. “This is good. Very good. Myed…I take it you’re devoted to the cause?”
“Oh yeah,” said Myed. “After what Xemnas did to me? The teasing? The put-downs? The affirmation of my ineptitude? The times he made me CRY?”
“Everything made you cry,” Vexen muttered.
“Hey!” said Sora. “Show him some respect!”
“Oh, I get it…” Vexen joked. “He still cries now, and you’re trying to prevent that from happening.”
Axel gave Vexen a not-very-playful slap on the back of the head.
“So what ended up happening to you?” Xaldin asked.
“I live on the Destiny Islands with Axel and Sora now,” Myed explained.
“Hah!” said the now-conscious Luxord. “We all should have known! The three of them were always going to end up in the same place!”
“The infamous trio,” murmured Larxene.
“Kind of a quintet now,” said Axel, “but we didn’t bring along Riku or Kairi ‘cause this isn’t really their crowd…conflict of interest, you know?”
“This is very good,” said Zexion. “It is almost like it used to be…back when we were brothers and sister…before we fell into arguments and cruelty, before our Superior’s sourness spoiled us all. I swear, he ruined all of our lives, all twelve of them…I shall stop at nothing to end his reign.”
“I’m behind you,” said Marluxia, standing next to Zexion, “one hundred percent.” With one black-clad hand, he gently stroked Zexion’s cheek.
“What the heck?” said Axel, before covering his eyes and yelling, “PDA! PDA!”
“Yes,” Zexion growled, “Marluxia and I care for each other. I suppose this comes as a surprise. But…if I may address the audience?” Zexion turned. “I know what you’re all thinking…but this isn’t going to be like one of those smutty stories you all read about us being paired off and doing unmentionable things with each other. This is no casual fling. I care greatly for Marluxia, and I would do anything to ensure he comes to no harm…”
“As I would for Zexion,” added Marluxia.
“Um, guys?” Myed interrupted. “The fourth wall’s over there.”
Zexion and Marluxia did a 180, embarrassed. “Erm, as I was saying,” said Zexion, “this is a REAL relationship. An EQUAL one. NOT the kind you usually see in fan fictions.”
“You tell ‘em,” said Marluxia, gripping Zexion’s hand.
“Awwww,” said Sora and Myed.
“Saps with hearts,” Larxene huffed.
“So, Axel,” Xigbar whispered, nudging Axel’s shoulder. “Now that the two of them are official, ready to make a little confession of your feelings for Larx—“
“Shut up.” Axel reached out to snap the band of Xigbar’s eyepatch.
“Did I hear my name?” Larxene turned toward Xigbar.
“NO,” said Axel. That time he actually succeeded in snapping the patch.
“OW!” Xigbar whined. “Zexioooooon, he hurt me!”
“He started it!”
“Axel! Xigbar! ENOUGH!” Zexion roared, reminding everyone of the true power concealed within the essence of the quiet reader. “Back to the matter at hand!”
“Can I say something?” Sora asked. “Well, all Xemnas ever wanted was a heart, right? That’s why he kept destroying worlds! So maybe if we found a way to give him a heart, he’d stop, and set you all free!”
Zexion turned toward the wall. “It’s not that simple, Sora. It was never about the hearts. We all thought it was…but all the Superior really wanted was power. All he wants is to rule the worlds as he rules us. And I know this for a reason. It’s because he STILL won’t let us go, not even now.”
“What do you mean?” Sora asked. “What’s different now?”
Zexion turned back to Sora, fixing one melancholy eye upon him. “Our Superior is not Xemnas,” he announced. “Xemnas has found his heart, and become twice as powerful as you have ever seen him before taking back over us. The man we are against is now known as…Xehanort.”