Puppet: OH. MY GOD. I'm so sorry. I went all emo for a period of time and was like, "EFF THE FANFIC!" Then I got out of it and was swamped, and one morning I read your comments and was like, "I owe it to these people to write shit. It doesn't have to be good shit, but I owe them." So, here you are. Chapter 3 ½.

DDR © Konami Computer Entertainment

Organization XIII © Disney/Square Enix

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Chapter 3 ½ the Party

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A young girl walked through an archway, a large box in her arms that read, 'To Xemnas, From Marluxia'. "XEMMY-KUN!" She exclaimed, racing through the room like a maniac. Though, she sort of was. Tackling a silver-haired man, she placed the box beside herself and grinned. "Happy Birthday!"

Xemnas scowled. Catching the girl in mid-flight, he tapped his foot on the ground angrily. "Puppet?"

"Ye-as?"

"Since you put me through this hell, you'd better make a kick-ass fourth chapter." Xemnas dropped Puppet on the ground, his arms then crossing.

As he did so, a second man came up behind him. "Boo." He tackled Xemnas, causing both to fall to the floor. "Happy Birthday, Xemmykins." He stayed on top of the other, his arms wrapped around his superior's figure.

"Ooh! Xemmykins! Not in front of the children!" A certain red-headed male waltzed in, a small blond male behind him. "Tisk tisk. Can't we wait until after the party?" He laughed at his own joke, although he was accompanied by Puppet's laughter.

The blond nudged his companion. "Shut up." He strode to where Puppet had set up a Dance Dance Revolution machine. "You any good?" He asked, not caring for a reply as he stepped up on one of the platforms.

Puppet scoffed. "Of course I'm good, Roxas! D'uh." She flicked on the machine and hopped on the platform. "Speed on Beethoven Good?" She looked over to the other for a response.

Roxas shrugged. "Sure. But only if it's on advanced."

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Soon all members had arrived, each bringing a present. And gathering in a large crowd around the Dance Dance Revolution Machine. Most were there because they found it idiotic to play Puppet at her own game, and were wondering which stupid-ass member would go next. Others were there to face Puppet.

Another blond walked up on the platform, his head twitching. He smiled sheepishly and said, "Yeah… The twitching's from too much… Soda…." He stopped shaking after a second, and the room fell silent.

"Right Demyx. Totally." Puppet rolled her eyes and pushing the random select on the mat. It stopped on 'Play that Funky Music'. She nodded, scrolling down to advanced. As she hit start, she smiled.

Both moved swiftly, to spite the fact that the whole Organization XIII was watching them. In fact, it made the competition far more exciting. Almost… Fun.

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"Damn, kid!"

"Too… Much… Sugar…"

"I can't believe I lost to him."

A disappointed girl loomed over a sugar-high teen, her eyes fixed on the can of soda in his hand. "What idiot gave him all that soda? He'll be like this for days… Maybe weeks." She shook her head in dismay, wondering what she would do with her fanfic now that Demyx was out of it.

The small crowd that had gathered slowly broke off, moving to random places in the room. Most went to the refreshment table, daring to try what monstrosities that Vexen had cooked up. Though, what they found was different. Junk foods. Snacks. Oh. My. God.

"Axel!"

"I know, Roxy!"

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Several hours and consumptions of snack foods later, a shrill voice shrieked something everyone was waiting for. "Time to open presents!"

In an instant, (or two seconds, as Puppet had timed) there was a crowd around two silver-haired men and a young girl. They all stared at the pile of rapped boxes, the top almost reaching the ceiling. (Puppet measured three feet.) They all gasped, wondering who gave what.

Puppet, on a ladder, dropped down the first gift. Conveniently enough, it landed right in Xemnas's lap. "Dang. I'm good." She smiled, looking down at the nobodies below her. They were like mini ants… All in a crowd around two silver-y ants. Dude. Sweet.

Xemnas stared down at the small, pink box, his eyes wide. "It's from… Axel?" He knew better than to open it, but it was only polite. "Please don't kill me…" He murmured as he slowly untied the bow and lifted the lid. "Oh. My. God."

"Isn't she adorable?"

"No!"

Everyone came closer to see what was so bad, and ended up laughing. It was a small kitten.

Saix, being the man he was, patted Xemnas's shoulder through giggles. "Can… We… Name… Her… Mrs… Fulffums?" He held his stomach, afraid that his non-existent heart might have a heart-attack. Yet again, it was non-existent.

"No."

As a small, white kitten crawled up onto Xemnas's head, it surveyed the scene with round, blue eyes. People were laughing… At what? She only walked around a bit on her new owner's head and eventually settled, now curled into a ball.

Xemnas scowled as the next box fell into his lap, reading Roxas's name. "Ah, one of the more sensible members." He opened the box, only to see a book. His scowled hardened as he lifted if up, staring at the cover as if to make sure it was true. "How to Care for Your Cat?" His voice sounded disgusted with the idea, and he set the book down beside his chair.

Another plop.

"From… Where is it?"

"It's on the bottom superior! Zexy and I made it together."

"Oh god no." Xemnas slowly picked at the black ribbon that was set on a black box, careful as if not to be infected by emo. He finally managed to remove the black ribbon and opened the box gingerly. "Is that…" He stared down, seeing a small necklace… It was black. And white. And grey. He lifted it up and stared at it a moment, speechless. Then, he was saved.

Mrs. Fluffums bent down and slid her head through the beads, quite liking the colors. As Xemnas let go, she retracted and curled back into a ball, mesmerized by the shining beads. Maybe having a cat isn't too bad…

Xemnas was interrupted by another box falling into his lap, this one bright pink and tied with a sun flower. "Marluxia? Never, ever tie a bow with a flower again. Ever." He touched the once bright flower, watching as it died in his hand. Depressing, much? He tossed it aside, watching as the box opened itself. Out sprang a flower… A really big flower. Taken aback, he set the box down and found it was as tall as he was, had he been standing. "Damn."

Puppet nodded. "That's one big flower… Where you going to put it?" She thought of all the possible places. Bedroom, office, kitchen, outside, in Saix's room…

"In your room."

Bang.

"God! What is this?" Xemnas stared down at the next present. He un-taped the wrapping paper and blinked. It was three rocks… On top of each other… Covered in snow. "What… In… Hell…."

"It's a rock snowman!" Vexen smiled happily, putting one finger at the corner of his mouth. He also had one leg lifted, as if the cuteness factor was a high.

Lexaus coughed. "I… Er… Couldn't think of anything else, and Vexen seemed pretty set on the idea…" He looked to the left, as if avoiding looking at Vexen who kept his ridiculous pose on the right.

"Vexen?"

"Ye-as?"

"I command you to stop with that ridiculous pose. Now."

Xemnas rolled his eyes as he placed the 'rock snowman' on the ground to his right. This was turning out to be… Interesting. Very… Interesting. He awaited the next falling gift, hoping that it would be lighter than the last. And it was. A feather came floating down from the ceiling, the names 'Xaldin' and 'Xigbar' scribbled on in purple magic marker. "A… Feather?"

"Yus! Isn't it a pretty feather, dude?" Xigbar smiled in that neko-hard-to-resist fashion, hoping that his superior wasn't going to exile him. It was last minute, due to the fact that neither Xigbar or Xaldin had had the time to buy or make an actual present.

"But it's a feather."

"Yes, a very pretty one at that," Xaldin agreed. He knew that this was going to be followed by some serious ass-kicking, so now was the time to butter Xemnas up, if ever.

Xemnas was about to say something, but was interrupted by the next gift. A rather large bottle of rum fell into his lap. "I know who this is from, no need to check the label." He rolled his eyes as several members chuckled, seeing the rum bottle.

Larxene stepped forward a moment, handing Xemnas a piece of paper. It was one of those not-cardboard-but-not-quite-paper things, stuff written on it in ink. She stepped back into the crowd smirking.

Xemnas paused. "That's… Nice. Very… Nice." He blinked a couple of times, then slid the paper into his pocket. That piece of paper could save his life… Or so he hoped. With a shrug, he felt something else fall into his lap. It wasn't a box, though… But it had a bow. And a large 'x' on its face.

Saix smiled. "Happy Birthday." He leaned against Xemnas, causing the Organization to laugh. Even Vexen chuckled a bit, and Lexaus ceased to hide a chuckle or two. It was… How could one put it… Hilarious.

Puppet shook her head and grabbed a red-head by the arm. Trying her best to look innocent and cute, she attempted to go neko. "Axel? Since you're such a big, strong, manly nobody, could you help me move my present over here?" She knew the flattery would work. It always did.

Axel shrugged. "Eh, sure." He followed Puppet to a large box, blinking at its size when he stood before it. "This… Is… Huge." He shook his head, then began pushing from the back alongside Puppet.

After a few minutes, the two had managed the box up in front of Xemnas. Puppet walked up to him, hugged him, then handed him the end of the green ribbon, which lead to the giant green box. "Dare I open it…"

Xemnas pulled, gasping along with many others at what it was. Before him, sat one of the best gifts he'd ever gotten. It was shiney… And Large… And it was even painted his favorite color. It looked like everyone had signed it… Including Sephiroth. "I… Love it."

He walked up, tears in his eyes, and hugged his favorite gift. Ever. It was the best thing he could wish for…

All the members and Puppet climbed up onto it and they took a picture.

A picture… Of the Organization XIII and Puppet… And a giant, signed, purple, rock.