KINGDOM HEARTLESS [M]

[classy_cat18]

Am I doomed to live in ignorance just because I don't watch Lost?

[Kuro Espeon]

Am I doomed to live in ignorance just because I don't watch Lost?

Yes....yes you are. XD

[Crystal Tears]

Sam: GOD DAMN LOST! XD I’m glad you enjoyed it. ♥

XII

Sara stood outside the doctor’s house, watching it curiously from the other side of the street. She hadn’t moved in hours, and yet no one seemed too intent in noticing her. She cricked her neck, feeling the bone snap as she tried to remain comfortable. She felt so different than before, her mouth was awfully dry and yet not uncomfortable, not as long as that gentle melody kept sounding in her head.

Some had given the pale woman an odd look, but what did they have to go on? A simple notion that she was different? Of course she was; she wasn’t from Japan. This wasn’t the hottest tourist attraction either, so why she was here, instead of at the local carnival was beyond them. The only other thing odd about the silent woman was her eyes.

Yellow, they had turned sick shade of yellow; her irises almost seemed to harden.

That lost girl back in the darkness had disappeared. She like it better this way, she felt so much stronger, like she had a true purpose.

Little did she know how much of her humanity was gone, forever taken by that voice. Her will wasn’t nearly strong enough to keep her soul intact.

“You’ve created something beautiful...” She murmured the words almost sensually, like the creature growing inside that building excited her. “We want it. You can’t keep it for yourself…” Sara smirked, bringing up her hand to look at the small, black keychain she held in her grasp, its symbol that of a fragmented heart, never to be whole again. She dropped her hand back down and looked cruelly at the house. “That’s against the rules.”

Sara moved, almost gliding across the street, she quickly bounced up the steps and knocked loudly at the door.


Hajime had been working tirelessly on the growing thing in his lab. So much in fact, that he had forgotten to sleep. For days he had studied it and watched it, trying to understand what it was. Something told him it was dangerous, but another part of him, a darker part, told him to keep going. To keep trying at it until he figured out what it is and how it survived.

Billions of notes and nothing to show for it, the poor, sleeping doctor who had forgotten to shave was fast asleep on his couch, notebook dangling in his hand.

The knocking on the door awoke him. Silently he prayed it wasn’t Katsumi, he didn’t want her to see him like this.

With a yawn he slipped on his glasses and shuffled to the door, blinking slowly as he stared at the woman through the glass.

Was that… Could it be… No…

‘Sara Bailey?’

On cue, her eyes turn a bright, intimidating yellow before the door groaned and shot off its hinge. Before he could even try to understand what was going on, the door smashed into him and sent him careening back into his kitchen. Dizzily, and in confusion he could hear footsteps, she was in his house. A dead woman was standing in his doorway.

He heard what sounded like someone’s neck cracking and then the footsteps again, from what he could make out; she was heading for his lab.

‘The sample!’

His body, and in particular his head protested to such movements. But summoning up his strength he pushed the door off of himself, his body unsteady as it stood. He didn’t know how he was going to stop the dead woman, but he had to try.

’I suppose I could shoot her in the head? That always works in the mirror? But where to find a worthwhile projectile now?

Racing forward as fast as he could he rushed down the hall and turned towards the lab.

The door was off its hinge, and Sara was standing there. But behind here was a creature Hajime had never seen, its body pitch-black with orange eyes. It stood a good foot taller than her, with a single long tail coming from the back of its skull. Just staring at the creature before him made the doctor want to run, because while Sara was creepy, that thing was just downright unsettling.

“You should’ve stayed under the door doctor.” Sara smirked. “Kill him.”

The creature didn’t make a sound, phasing through Sara and rushing towards Hajime. He opened his mouth, finding no words to appropriate convey his horror. All he could manage as the creature somehow put its hand into his chest was a mangled:

“N-No!”

* * *

Why was he doing this?

Ryou sat silent in his car, he could feel the fear pouring off of Karen, and it was mixing with his own uncertainty. There was no reason to leave the carnival and head to the park just off of the business district of the city. He could’ve just told the woman on the phone no, he couldn’t help; he could’ve been on the Ferris wheel with his date or winning her another plushie just because he could…

‘But no, you had to care didn’t you?’ His own voice was mocking him. ‘You had to say yes, you had to help. Now look at her, she’s terrified and she’s affecting your ability to think!’

“S-Saito-san…”

Her shaky voice broke the silence, he looked over at her, his gaze hard and uncertain as he continued to mull over what to do. He hadn’t actually fought the monsters before, not really, he had run one over, and survived a couple, but never actually engaged in combat he could win. On top of it all, from the girl’s urgency on the phone, there was barely enough time to arrive there before nightfall, let alone drop Karen off.

“Hm?” Was his reply, eyes so fixated on the road it was unreal.

“Do y-you have a p-plan?”

“Not really.” He admitted; it hadn’t crossed his mind. “Do you?”

“Well… N-not to b-be s-self conscious w-when someone’s l-life is a-at stake b-but…”

“You don’t want to run for your life in that skirt...” Ryou looked over at her briefly, a small smirk appearing on his face.

A weak smile appeared on hers, both of them knew the joke was to cover up their fear of what they were driving towards, but at least it was amusing.

‘Wouldn’t want a bad joke to be the last thing you remember before your heart is…’ He stopped as his heart began to beat faster at the thought. ‘Definitely need a plan, one considerably better then the last.’

“Can you drive?” He asked suddenly, glancing at her.

“Um… Y-yes I can…”

“Good… Because I have a plan.”


Karen didn’t know whether to be afraid or relieved. She fidgeted, trying desperately to keep her racing heart calm, she wanted to avoid these monsters, but here they were, driving towards one. To save someone was honourable, but there was the deep rooted need to live built into her system as well.

“W-what’s the plan?”

“You’re going to drive my car.”

“I… W-what?” Karen blinked; as if that was the most surprising thing she had heard in her life. “Y-your car?”

“Yes..” Ryou gritted his teeth, not wanting to let anyone drive his car, not even a cute girl. “My car.”

“Um…”

“When your cellphone goes off, drive the car into the park, and ram whatever thing is there.”

“R-Ryou I-“

“You can…” He stated simply, as they pulled onto the side street and caused the enclosed park to come into view. “And you will.”

“A-alright…” She conceded defeat, nervously looking out and seeing just the top of the bridge. “I-is that i-it?”

Ryou frowned, parking the car just in front of an old beat up junker that was reminiscent of a tan colour. Though it had more rust on it then paint. He leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling as he mulled over his plan. Distantly he wished that he could be like everyone else, so oblivious to what was going on that he could just continue through his day, not worrying about shadows or monsters…

“Whatever you do,” Ryou sighed, thinking about confronting those monsters. “Stay in the car, there’s light in the car.”

“S-sure…” Karen nodded, gulping.

* * *

This plan was flawed, he knew this when he left the car. He looked over his shoulder slowly, seeing Karen slip over into the driver’s side. She looked nervous, he could feel it. He hoped to hell the emotions wouldn’t affect his ability to think. That was the last thing he needed, to walk into a fight with those monsters and have a damn panic attack.

Ryou’s eyes narrowed a tad, scanning the park before entering it. He could feel something; it crawled up his spine and sank between his shoulder blades, a warning to keep away. As brave as he was Ryou couldn’t help but hesitate when he saw the bridge, maybe it knew he was coming for it. If it did, he was doomed to a very quick, probably painful death.

‘They’ll be on the bench…’ He turned his attention to the first bench.

Empty, Ryou found himself frowning as he shoved his hands in his pockets. He paused, slowly lifting out the keychain. He could’ve sworn he put it on the ring with his keys. The dark orb almost seemed to pulse as he looked at it, as if it were trying to entrance him. The man found himself frowning as he moved along the path, spotting the second bench. On it was a young woman and an elder man who looked rather irritated.

‘Fantastic.’ Ryou thought, rolling his eyes. ‘Why do I get the feeling it was those two who called me?’

As he neared, the girl looked over.

Saying she was beautiful was an understatement. Whoever she was, she was absolutely gorgeous. Her hair had this perfect dark red sheen and her body was something to envy. As she stood she moved with grace, though she didn’t seem to notice. She looked scared, and the man who rose up behind her seemed to realize just what Ryou was thinking and gave him a nasty glare.

‘Oh wow, I never thought someone could actually have a Sith Lord as a father…’ He thought, thankful that his usual cool, annoyed demeanor was hiding his attraction to the girl.

“Are you Saito-san?” She questioned, her eyes a dark, entrapping brown.

“Not exactly awe inspiring am I?”

The elder behind her snorted. “Oh you’re a charmer.”

“Why yes,” Ryou shot the man a glare. “I am, can’t you tell?” Before he could reply he looked back at the girl. “You’re Moto-san?”

She nodded and gestured to the foul man behind her. “This is Ozu, Haru.”

“Don’t tell me your pleased to meet me boy,” Ozu-san snarled. “I don’t like being lied too.”

“I wouldn’t dream of lying to you, sir.”


Suki hadn’t quite expected this. Saito-san was quite the challenge, he didn’t have respect for his elders, nor did his body language suggest he was thrilled to be here. Quietly she thought and glanced at the bridge. It almost seemed to inhibit her ability to concentrate on a plan, that wasn’t comforting in the least. Breaking the pointless bicker between the two men with a snap of her finger, she took in a deep breath.

“Ozu-san says he fought one off with a broom…” She looked over at Ryou. “And you ran one over?”

“Brave of you,” Haru frowned. “Do you ever fight fairly?”

“I’m sorry,” Ryou growled. “Next time I see one, I’ll be sure to grab the nearest cleaning appliance and dust it to death. Or do you think my mother’s vacuum would work better? I’ll go Ghost Busters on its ass.”

“Why you little-“

‘Men…’

“ANYWAYS” Suki interrupted, shooting them both a look. “We don’t have a broom or a car, so what are we going to do?”

“Whatever it is,” The younger of the two men started. “It has to be quick, it’s late, and I don’t want to fight this thing at night.”

“Agreed.” Haru nodded quickly, “The one I encountered originally attacked Yanagisawa-san when the power cut to the store.”

Ryou’s expression lightened to what Suki suspected was concern, though it still retained something close to irritation. He looked over at Ozu-san in surprise, uncrossing his arms.

“Mika Yanagisawa?”


If Haru didn’t like Ryou before, the boy mentioning his employee’s name certainly didn’t improve the relationship. He shot quite the stare at the teenager, which he seemed to either ignore or glance off as nothing. He was disrespectful, and the fact that he knew Mika didn’t sit well with Ozu-san at all. A boy who couldn’t respect tradition or his elders wasn’t worth anything.

“Yes…” Ozu-san glowered, “That’s her name.”

“How do you know her?”

“She works for me.”

“Oh wow.”

Haru raised an eyebrow. “Is that so surprising?”

“Oh I guess not, she seemed to have bad luck.” Ryou shrugged. “I just didn’t know it was that bad.”


Ryou was on the ground before he knew it, his abdomen ached from the hit he didn’t see coming. Rage boiled over as his eyes snapped open and his fiery glare was focused on Ozu-san. He leapt up from the ground and was just about to strike the older man before Suki stepped directly in his way. He stopped, looking down as he felt the girl’s hand on his chest, gently pushing him back.

“Listen,” She frowned at the two of them. “The two of you can play alpha dog later, we need to stop that thing from killing another person.”

His aggressive stance lessened, but Ryou cursed that old fart in his mind.

‘I’ll get you later…’ He growled inside his mind, slowly looking back at the bridge. ‘Hell I’ll run you over if I have too…’

As tempting as the thought was, he shoved revenge to the back of his mind. “Alright well to fight it, we need it to come out from hiding.”

“Moto-san suspects it has someone in its clutches, if that’s the case the monster will not attack unless it has too.”

Ryou scanned the area; they were the only people around. One of the few thankful things about this disaster was that after a certain time you could do anything you wanted and there would be virtually no witnesses. He summed up his courage and rage, mixing the two of them together as he stared at the bridge. God knows he would need the headstrong traits of both emotions to fight whatever was waiting in there.

Without so much as a word to the others, he walked towards the bridge.

‘I’m tired of running…’ He thought furiously, convincing himself he had to face it.

“Saito-san!” Suki cried in shock, running after him. “What are you doing!?”

“I’m going to fight it.”

She grabbed his arm in attempt to stop him, but found herself being dragged along. “But we don’t even have a plan!”

“And we never will in time,” Ryou looked at her in annoyance, tugging his arm free. “There are three of us, and one of it. It has someone, and the longer we stand here, trying to figure things out, the closer that person, whoever it is, gets to their death.”

Moto-san fell silent, whether or not she agreed was irrelevant to Ryou. He wanted to fight it, and he knew damn well that they wouldn’t come up with a good plan in time.

He had a plan anyways, no it wasn’t the greatest of plans but it was one anyway.

His plan was to improvise.

Of course the closer he got to the bridge, and the stronger the fear became, the more he thought about how his plan was really nothing more than a comforting word meant to give him hope. He remembered the definition of the word well, as Ryou found himself doing it quite often.

‘To act, sing, talk, react, make, and create in the moment and in response to the stimulus at hand.’ He smirked a little. ‘To bullshit is to improvise…’ He thought back to his old friend who had said that. ‘Oh Dai, if only you were here to see me now, if I pull this off it will be the greatest form of improvisation known to man.’

He stopped, facing the bridge.

‘And if you fail…’

That dark tone remained in his head as he crossed his arms and blocked out the fear with resentment.

“Hey!” He called. “You under the bridge!”

Nothing, he was going to have to do better.

“You with the yellow eyes, the one who gets off on apparently kidnapping people!”



Was that thing talking to it?

It swiveled around, its attention drawn from its slowly recovering prey to that thing on the ground. It was a human, a male, and very defiant. Behind it was another male, though far older, and in between was a female. But they couldn’t possibly know it was here, it had been so very careful. It had waited for when no one was watching, it should be undiscovered, for it was the essence of patience. It embodied that virtue, if it was truly a virtue.

‘How very irritating…’ It grumbled inside what could be defined as its skull, narrowing its eyes. ‘But he can’t be calling to me, I am unseen, I am stealthy-‘

“Yeah you, who steals the hearts for whatever twisted reason, the thing hiding up in the darkness of the damn bridge… I am talking to you.”

‘I have been discovered…’

And that fact infuriated it.


Ryou stumbled back in surprise as the thing came crashing down. It was massive compared to the others, its body a slick, shiny black with two bright, slit yellow eyes that were burning into him. It had six arachnid-like legs, the front two having what he supposed were elongated fingers spawning from its ‘knee’. Each limb ended with hardened, dark grey claws that had easily sent dirt flying as it landed.

“Wow…” The words escaped Ryou’s mouth before his mind could catch them. “You are one hell of a stimulus...”

I will not be splattered on some common surface like other arachnids human.

Ryou blinked, taken completely by surprise as the creature spoke, though the other two seemed to fail to hear it. He took a step back, unsure of what to do.

Oh, you are not accustomed to intelligent shadows… It mocked him, its voice smooth and dark, vaguely female. How very unfortunate for you, as from what the lesser whisper, you have enough trouble with them…

“Oh I get it, this is revenge of the spider?” Ryou regained his composure, ignoring the monster’s snide comments. “You know I was never one to fear your kind when you were tiny...”

Perhaps then I should educate you in the way of fear, though it would not benefit you for long… It’s eyes narrowed. I am so hungry….

It didn’t hesitate a moment longer, the monster launched itself at Ryou, who just barely managed to roll out of the way as it came crashing down where he had been. Suki instinctively backed up, while Haru moved forward, grabbing a fallen branch from the grass.

The creature ignored them, moving quickly to finish Ryou with one swift strike to the back. It was thoroughly displeased however, when that old man it had chose to ignore attacked with the branch. It snarled, a twisted, screeching noise that made all of them wince before it kicked the branch straight out of Haru’s grasp.

I have no use for an old and failing heart!

It rushed him, one long finger flicking out with as much strength behind it as a galloping horse. Ozu-san was sent crashing backwards into grass, knocked unconscious.

Ryou cringed as the heartless looked back at him and lowered itself, preparing to jump. “Ah shit..”


Suki watched; horror keeping her in place as the thing made of darkness pounced on top of her acquaintance. She remembered earlier, how she hadn’t been afraid, how she had passed under that very bridge without the knowledge of what was there. What could’ve grabbed her instead of the other girl… She gulped, hoping Ryou could survive as she managed to find her will and stepped quietly back, ignoring the snarling from the creature and curses coming from the boy.

As she scurried over to the bridge, her entire body told her not to go up. Something was up there she wouldn’t want to see, but she fought it. Biting her lip in frustration she leapt, just barely grabbing the lowest pole. She had never been one to keen on gymnastics, so it was a bit of a struggle to lift herself up. She groaned, swinging her weight just a tad before reaching up, grabbing another bar and climbing up.

She paused and felt her stomach roar in protest, all around her were bodies that looked like exposed mummies. They were wrapped up in dark webbing; on each were three puncture marks on the neck. Suki gulped, taking deep breaths to try and hold in what she had managed to eat today.

‘Oh God… Oh God...’ She thought, forcing herself to scan the bodies for someone alive. ‘Oh my God… How many people has this thing... Drained?’

“H-Hello…?” She questioned quietly, nimbly balancing on the one bar that seemingly lacked a body. “I-Is anyone alive up here?”


’A person!?’

Naomi had never been so relieved to hear a stranger’s voice. She struggled, using all her might to try and escape the disgusting webbing that clung to her and kept her body bound. The girl just managed to free her foot, and with that she kicked furiously, slamming her foot into one of the nearby support beams. She was ecstatic when the woman touched her side and bent down next to her.

“Are you alright?” She questioned worriedly, pulling the webbing away from her mouth. Naomi gasped, inhaling deeply.

“Y-you’re the girl from the bench…” Naomi stated with a heave, on the verge of tears. “T-thank you s-so much…”


Suki freed her quickly, and was suddenly embraced in a weak hug. The girl trembled as she wept, clinging to the colourful rescuer as she sniffled.

“W-who are you?”

“Moto, Suki.” She smiled a tad. “Are you alright?”

“I.. It hit me on the head, but b-besides that, I’m fine.”

“Alright well, we need too-“

“Suki look out!” Ryou’s cry broke their momentary peace.


Suki and Naomi screamed as suddenly the entire bridge was shaking. The spider was there, eyes a furious, ethereal yellow as it stared at them, forcing itself up with little to no grace. The bodies around them fell, some of the webbing had let go, and sent a bundle of corpses down to the ground. A couple chillingly turned to dust as they collided with the path, while others just crumbled.

But that was only a temporary distraction from the growling and chittering fiend. Naomi’s eyes widen as she remembered that beast and unconsciously retreated towards the corner of the bridge. The bars were forming barriers, but as the creature slammed its pointed foot clean through one of the supporting beams, it was clear they wouldn’t last.

“We can’t jump!” Naomi cried as Suki looked around for an escape.

I will have my heart!

That voice, that horrible voice made Naomi want to break down and cry.


He skidded to a halt, watching as the massive thing strained to get itself up, back into the rafters it had called home. The man cringed, noting the fallen bodies and the ones hanging loosely from the metal framework. The sight of the spider having so much trouble made Ryou smile ever so slightly.

‘Fatass.’

He was panting, a nasty slash across his collar bone was bleeding and his arm felt tight and ached, like he had twisted it.

“Oh for fuck sakes…” Ryou growled darkly, trying desperately to catch his breath as he tried to roll his arm and make it feel a bit better. “Will you not just die?”

“Ryou!” That was a sharp, desperate cry from Moto-san. “Help! It’s breaking through the bars!”

“Ooohh of course it is…” He huffed, forcing his limbs to carry him into a run.

Without really thinking about his plan, he leapt onto the creature’s thorax, his body turned cold and his instincts shrieked at him to let go.

The heartless slipped, and now hung lower from the girls. Forced to use its two fingers to try and slash at them as the rest of it was devoted to removing the extra weight now hanging onto its backside. Ryou gritted his teeth, so very many curses running through his mind as the monster roared at him to let go.

Foul little pest! Release me and perhaps I will spare you!

Ryou groaned, holding on with one hand for a moment as his other dived into his pocket to fish out his phone.

“You have got to die…”

* * *

‘Is that really the right choice?’ Karen nervously bit on her thumbnail, being alone for the past twenty minutes had given her time to think about some things. Night was getting close, the sun was fading and the sky was changing colour, the trees of the park were beginning to cast long shadows. ‘It’s just… Every time, something like this happens…’

She wondered briefly how she would sound, but before her thought could finish, her cell that had been sitting on the dashboard began to blink. Nervously she picked it up, and felt her heart begin to pound.

[SAITO, RYOU]

[classy_cat18]

Naomi-chan's free! Yaaaaaaay! But she's trapped with Suki and that monstrous spider Heartless! Nooooooo!

I like the Heartless design. It seemed like the KH game designers should've put something like that in the game. It's not too late, Square Enix! But give Sierra props (and profit)!

I also like the scene with Sara and the doctor. It was like something out of a horror movie. Ooh, like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom! That's what it reminded me of!

And Ryou needs to keep his eyes to himself. You have Karen, dammit! Stay loyal!

[Kuro Espeon]

Pulse-pounding excitement! I love a good battle scene! Why do I get the feeling that Keyblades are in the not to distant future....? ^_~

And bad Ryou! Checking out another girl when he's on a, err....date.... Is this really a date anymore? XD

[Kurosakura]

But but but SIEEEEEEE! I wrote that comment BEFORE I knew you had an epic vendetta against kissing!

Anyways. Sara. She's a creeper, and YOU KILLED OFF THE SEXY DOCTOR (with facial hair and bags under his eyes and whatnot, it's okay)!? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! D: I have also realized we've been lacking in the Katsumi department, I wonder where she's been.

OH RYOU. WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS BE SAVING THOSE DAMSELS IN DISTRESSES? AND THEN WHY MUST YOU NOTICE EVEN MORE ATTRACTIVE WOMEN!? XD So how many is that now? Four? Someone go count and name them for me!

Nao-chan is free, yipee! And poor Karen, I hope she doesn't run Ryou over by accident. I'm too tired to comment on more stuff. @_@

[Crystal Tears]

Shonta: Do not rejoice so quickly, it’s still quite possible for me to end Naomi. >D

To be honest the only idea I had for this heartless was that it was indeed, spider-like. Past that I created it on the fly, giving its forelimbs ‘fingers’ as they were so it wouldn’t be an exact replica of an actual spider.

Ryou and loyal in the same sentence… LOL, alright, maybe I’ll try to make him behave himself.


Sara: Wouldn’t it be amazing if I worked those bloody things in? XD

He’s allowed to look! Just not touch, lol.


Annie: No no, I’m pretty sure I had that vendetta before you replied. Lol, I just hid it well until I had an opening.

THAT’S RIGHT HE’S DEAD! MWHAHAHAHA! I’ll probably have Katsumi appear again, I’m just trying to get back into the swing of things before I further other plot points.

Oh God that would be funny, but probably won’t happen. I need Ryou as my main character, and if he dies, Becki will kill me. X_x

And... It's still technically four, he hasn't yet used his charm on Suki. But soon enough it'll be five.

* * *

Alright, to be honest, because of personal issues in my life I haven’t had the spirit to really work on KHLess. Hell my RPG post for FF: DD came out wonderfully depressing. However, I’m getting back on track again, so I’ll just update with what I have.

Chapter XIII is still basically planned, I haven’t really expanded much on it, but this will be sure to change soon enough.

Thanks for your patience!

[ChobiChibi]

XDD That's right, Sie. I wouldn't just kill you if Ryou died, I'd then mourn the death of my favourite man and lover D:

And probably be in jail for murder, but I'd have a long time to think about what I'd done.

Am I the only one desperate to know what Karen is thinking?! I think I have an idea, but that would be uber sad! D: Kareeeeeeen D:

How long had that heartless been UNDER there? Surely someone would notice that people keep going missing in the park? XD Ah humans, how niave we are to the ways of the evils...

I liked Ryou fighting with Ozu. Silly old man got knocked out though. And LOL Ghostbusters! XD Yes. Just yes! XD

Sorry, my mind isn't in the right state to write any detailed comments ;o; Errrgh stop it nose... I'll come back and edit.

*does the Keyblade dance* GO RYOU GO. KICK ASS.

[Crystal Tears]

If you killed me Becki, there would numerous other characters you love who would never return. Ever. XD

Well the Crawler relied on the idea we never actually see our surroundings. Sure people will look at the bridge, but no one ever looked up, as there couldn't possibility be anything interesting under there. Besides, the Crawler also said it was notoriously patient, so those kills might've been far apart.

Yes... Keyblade... >_> should probably include that somewhere.

On a side note, I've begun XIII. Whatever slump I'm in has been affecting my writing though, so that's why it might take longer. It's about 10% done.