There is no excuse for how long I've been gone, but I hope this makes up for it. This chapter is pretty long no?
And I think my writing skills have improved a bit. But that's for you to judge. XD

In the mysterious and ominous place known as "The World That Never Was" dark and treacherous experiments were being held on innocent people with the purest of hearts. One of these people, Ventus, was a part of a powerful keyblade-wielding trio known to all of the worlds. Unfortunately for him, his youth made him naïve, his heart was naturally purer then those of his companions.
Because of his power to wield the keyblade and his purity, a wicked man, a man known as Master Xehanort, targeted him. Those who are aware of his existence also call him, "No heart, or "Another."
Xehanort and his Dark Soldier were able to capture the boy, and use him as a test subject. These two have been researching and using the power of darkness for a long time; they've been corrupted by it; at the same time they had gained nearly unstoppable power.

They found through research that darkness is attracted to those with purer hearts, and can morph and corrupt those pure ones. For those who already posses darkness in their hearts, they are not so easily corrupted, and can actually use the darkness as a weapon and control it. That is why Master Xehanort wants to use pure hearted people, so he can corrupt them, control them, and use them for his own purposes.
Many people have died under his hands; the darkness consumed their hearts before they could stabilize as a heartless or a new dark being.

The process of injecting darkness into one's heart is tortuous even for cold-hearted murderers; it acts like a poison to most, destroying the heart slowly, and damaging the body. For those who can survive it, they are re-born as a heartless, or are granted power.

Now Ventus was struggling for his life. He was located in one of the most isolated areas of the world that never was. Strapped to a table, his hands, mouth, and feet were bound. He did not have the strength to fight back at the moment, for the battle that had taken place earlier had worn his body out. Aqua was not there to cure him, and Terra was not there to protect him. He felt his hope dwindling as he waited for Xehanort to return to his holding place. Finally the Dark Soldier had stopped mentally and verbally assaulting him. It was the Dark Soldier's nature though; he naturally hated pure hearted people because he was one of the people who could survive the darkness even though it had corrupted him. Ven was finally able to have his own thoughts.

I wonder how long it has been now… minutes? Hours? Is this really happening right now? I know Terra, Aqua, and I have been in jams before, but this, this is nothing like those situations. I'm…I'm really…scared.
Feeling panic once more, Ven tried again at the restraints. The leather creaked from the strain, but they did not budge. They only tightened as he struggled. He tried thrashing, hoping that maybe something would rip or loosen; his back lifted off the table and he pulled as hard as he could manage. Nothing ripped, nothing loosened. Ven collapsed back onto the cold metal table, his chest rising up in down more quickly, and his breathing was heavy.
All I'm doing is wearing myself out even more… I can't get out of this by myself this time.
Terra…Aqua… I need you guys; you're the only ones that can find me.
Closing his eyes, he felt tears surfacing again and he bit down on the cloth in his mouth. Please hurry.
Almost as if Xehanort could hear Ven's thoughts, he entered the room smirking maniacally as he did. "How's our patient feeling today? My, you look pale. Are you not feeling well Ventus?
Ven lifted his head and glared at the man. He tried to respond, but only muffled words escaped his lips.
I can't even fight back with words. I feel so useless!

"I wouldn't even bother with speech, it is no longer an option for you." Xehanort said as he pulled out a tray of what looked to be medical utensils. Ven eyed them wearily. They were all sharp, obviously made for surgical operations. I can't let him get to me, I have to stay strong, I have to. Aqua and Terra will make it I know they will.
"Don't get too comfortable child, my apprentice will be back with the injector. We are going to find out if a pure-hearted-keyblader such as yourself can handle the power of darkness. If you can, you will be the second to join my army. I will rule these worlds with the power of darkness! Haha! You must be so honored to participate!"

"Mmrph!" Ven tried to shout his objections. He feared for his life. But what really scared him, was the possibility of surviving, he would become a monster! What if he loses his sanity, kills people, attacks those he loves. He'd rather die.
Master Xehanort glared at the boy. Moving away from the tray of utensils and supply drawers he walked over to Ven. Without warning he interlaced his fingers through the boy's yellow-spiked hair and yanked his head up. "Seems that nobody taught you manners, I'll mention that to Terra the next time I see him."
Xehanorts grip was painfully tight now, his anger building. "You will learn discipline today, and you will obey through the entirety of this experiment! If you choose to continue your outbursts I will make this more of a hell then it should be!" With those words he violently slammed Ven's head down onto the table he was restrained to.

Once again, Ven felt himself slipping in and out of consciousness. He fought to keep his vision focused because the pain of the blow was overwhelming him.
"Oh don't go passing out now, my apprentice has finally arrived with the equipment." Xehanort patronized.
Ven's eyes widened when he saw the injector. It was big, the top of the machine held compartments of what looked to be pure darkness. Those containers flowed to the center and down to the attachment at the bottom. This attachment looked like a giant needle, or a metal rod with a sharpened tip. There was a long metal support beam that held the machine up, and a metal base supported the entire machine that had wheels attached.
"Thank you my apprentice." Said Master Xehanort. "So any last words before we begin boy? Oh right ahaha!"

Ven felt sick to his stomach, and glared at Xehanort with a new intensity. This machine reminded him of why Terra, Aqua, and himself were trying to stop Xehanort.
This man has killed so many people with these kind of machines. I hate him!
"Why that's a dangerous look in your eyes. A rather disrespectful one as well, I suppose I should take care of that." Xehanort said menacingly. "Apprentice! Blindfold him. Once you do that, we will begin immediately."
Master Xehanort's apprentice nodded, walked to a supply drawer, and pulled out another dark and thick piece of cloth.
Ven continued to glare as the armored man tied it around his head.

Now I don't even have vision. How can I possibly get out of this!
Just when he thought he had his emotions back under control, fear bubbled back up again. With his vision gone, he had no idea what was happening.
Xehanort smirked as he saw the boy tense up "Okay now to begin! Bring the machine over. Set it to the minimum dosage. We do not want to kill him on his first injection."
Without a word the Dark Soldier set up the machine. The thick needle was positioned directly over Ven's heart, the dark liquid churning it its container.

The Dark Soldier decided to take the opportunity to utter one last threatening remark to the trapped boy. "What happens next, you will never forget."
He backed away and nodded once more to Xehanort. Xehanort responded with a dark smile, and proceeded to the machine.
"Brace yourself boy…" He warned, and then he turned on the machine.
The needle-like rod shot down and stabbed through Ven's armor into his chest, embedding itself in his heart. Ven immediately screamed into the gag, his limbs thrashed from the pain. He was given no anesthetic, no numbing, the pain he felt was as intense as it could be.
"Now settle down, this isn't even the bad part yet." Xehanort said in a threatening voice.
"You can remove his blindfold now, I don't think the boy will be glaring at either of us anytime soon"

Small grunts were escaping Ven's lips as he tried to endure the pain. The apprentice moved to where Ven was and pulled off his blindfold with one yank. He then walked across the tiled floor and put the material back where he found it.
The boy's eyes were squeezed shut, tears trickling from them, slowly moving down his cheeks. The muscles in his body were completely tense from the pain that throbbed through him. Blood had covered his armor and parts of the table, it was gushing from the wound.
"Now to inject the darkness into his heart." Xehanort stated. He pushed a button on the machine. The dark purplish liquid filtered down through the metal rod. As soon as it made contact with Ven's heart, it had the effects of venom. The darkness was inserted into the heart and the heart pumped it throughout the body. It was causing internal damage, bruising and bleeding.
Ven screamed into the thick cloth until his throat felt raw. He pulled at the restraints, and lifted his back of the table again. His hands were pulled into fists, his body shook, and fresh tears continued to fall from innocent blue eyes.

The pain racked his body, and he could feel the darkness tearing it up from the inside. He didn't even feel it when the large rod was removed from his chest, and the pain overshadowed all of his other senses. He couldn't even bring himself to think properly.
After what seemed like hours of throbbing pain, Ven had finally collapsed under the strain. His body was worn, and damaged. Black and purple bruises now decorated his entire body under his armor. The blood from his chests still trickled out; his forehead and hair were damp from sweat, and his breathing was heavy. All he remembered was the sound of his own breathing as he slipped out of consciousness.
Aqua…Terra…
"That was only the first dosage, and his body rejected most of it. We will have to work on getting his body prepared for the next dosage, but for now, remove is restraints and the gag. I want you to also remove that armor, treat his wounds, and put him in prisoner's clothes. Then place him into a prisoner's cell until he is healed." Xehanort ordered. "We won't worry about feeding the brat until he wakes up."
"Yes Master Xehanort." Responded the dark soldier.

Terra and Aqua
"Why did you stop Aqua?" Terra asked. Turning to her as she had fallen behind him.
Aqua and Terra had traveled to four different worlds already, and nobody had helped them. Nobody knew where Master Xehanort resided, and nobody had seen King Mickey. Now they were at Radient Garden, hoping that someone there could point them in the right direction.

Aqua replied, "I just felt a sharp pain in my heart." She lifted a hand to her heart and her eyes closed, her face contorted into a pained look. "I'm worried Terra."
Terra looked at her expression and turned away. "You felt it too?"
Surprised by Terra's response, Aqua looked back up at him. "Aqua, we know what Xehanort does to his test subjects…That is probably what is happening to Ven." Aqua heard the hint of sorrow in Terra's voice, and she wanted to comfort him, but how could she? Ven was Terra's first real friend, but he was now in the most dangerous and painful situations any being could be in.
Nonetheless she walked over to Terra and gave him the only thing she could offer at the time. She hugged him from behind, and she felt him tense. Terra was not the kind of person the expressed affection well, he didn't receive it well either. "Terra…" Aqua said as she released him, "Let's keep looking, we won't stop until we find out where he is, and then when we do find him, we'll stop Xehanort and take Ven home."
Terra knew the odds weren't so good right now, but he looked at her and gave a small smile. They both looked forward and entered the town that was known as Radient Garden.