Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts (although that'd be pretty awesome!).

Vexen looked around at the mess before him, a room wrecked by a chemical explosion. As he surveyed the damage, he sighed heavily. "That's the third time this month. This is getting ridiculous," he said as he combed his hands through his long blond hair, frustrated.

Vexen was referring to Roxas, the thirteenth member in the Organization. Known as The Key of Destiny, Roxas was Sora's Nobody and was able to wield the Keyblade as well. Unfortunately, he did not retain any of Sora's intellect. Roxas was not stupid, but he certainly lacked the intelligence that would make him the true Chosen One.

Roxas was one of the youngest members of the Organization. He shared that distinction with Xion and Naminé, numbers fourteen and fifteen respectively. Both of the ladies were quicker and better learners than him, though. Having three such youthful members in the Organization, The Superior, Xemnas, deemed it important that they were educated properly. As such, Vexen had been tasked with teaching math and science, while Zexion taught the humanities. Vexen had created Xion, so her math and science skills were inordinately proficient. Naminé was a fast learner, so she did fairly well. But poor Roxas could not seem to get the concept of chemistry very well. He frequently made mistakes, and it appeared that he had again today.

At that moment, Vexen heard someone enter the room and turned to see who it was. A very sheepish Roxas entered the room, attempting to avert his eyes from Vexen.

"Sorry, Vexen. I messed up again."

"That would be one way to put it, yes," Vexen retorted.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get this."

Vexen mostly agreed with this sentiment. However, he was not going to give up on Roxas. "Well, at least you tried. If you keep trying, perhaps you'll succeed one day. Even I have made mistakes in the lab."

Roxas' face lit up. "Really? You were as bad as me once?"

"Absolutely not! I didn't say that!" he exclaimed. "I just said that you shouldn't let one mistake rule your life."

"Oh. I see," Roxas responded, although Vexen sincerely doubted he truly did.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of this mess. You best be off."

"Okay." Roxas then rushed away, eager to escape.

Vexen then heard a collision of bodies and a yelp, followed by Roxas saying "Sorry Dusk!" and then sprinting off.

"Good timing, Dusk," Vexen said as he turned to face Dusk. The Dusk looked just like any other one, with a flattened cylindrical head and the trademark thin arms and legs. There were, of course, many Dusks that existed; they made up the backbone of the Nobody army. But several members of the Organization had specific Nobodies that served as their personal henchmen. For example, there were many Dragoons, but a specific one served as Xaldin's henchman. Confusingly, he was simply called Dragoon, and he worked directly with Xaldin. The same thing occurred with several other members in the Organization. Vexen, however, did not have a specific Nobody, so he had adopted Dusk as his henchman.

Dusk served as a lab assistant to Vexen most of the time. While he was not a genius like his master (mind you, he's still a Dusk), he was by far the most intelligent of the Dusks and was capable of meeting Vexen's requests.

"I see Roxas has screwed up again," he said in his nasally and ditzy voice, which was a trait that all of the lesser Nobodies shared.

"Correct, Dusk. Can you get this room cleaned up? I'd hate to have to lose another room."

"I'll call in the cleanup squad."

"Did 14 and 15 succeed?" Vexen asked.

"Yes, sir. I checked on their progress and they completed the stage you required of them. That reminds me, I have a question."

"Yes, Dusk?"

"If we have fifteen members in the Organization, why are we called Organization XIII?" Dusk asked.

Even though Vexen's intellect was unmatched, he had no answer to that logical question. "I really don't know, Dusk. That's…a good question. Anyways, you get this place cleaned up and then later tonight we'll test that experiment in my lab." Vexen always made sure that his pupils did not experiment in his lab; it was his pride and joy and he certainly did not want risking them messing anything up.

"Sounds good. Everything will be cleaned up by then."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go meet with The Superior." Vexen then left the damaged room. He had taken only four steps into the hallway when he stopped. He scanned around the hallway before saying, "Come down, Xigbar. I know you're there." He heard someone drop to the ground behind him.

"Oh man, Vexen, you're getting really good! Didn't know you had it in you, dude," The Freeshooter, ranked second in the Organization, said to Vexen.

Vexen turned to face Xigbar and smugly answered, "Well, you've been trying to sneak attack me for many years, even before we were Nobodies. It was easier to stop you then. Yet you've been doing it so long that my intellect has far succeeded your sneakiness. But I appreciate the effort."

"As if! Are you sure about that, bro?" Xigbar asked, squinting his one eye quizzically.

Vexen gave a puzzled look before he heard a beep and felt himself hit by a laser, which knocked him onto the ground.

"Great shot, Sniper!" Xigbar told his henchman and buddy. Sniper and Xigbar caused a majority of the mischief that took place in The Castle That Never Was, so this was nothing new.

Sniper laughed and yelled, "Winning!"

"Looks like you're the one getting old and slow, Vexen!" said Xigbar while tossing his ponytail proudly.

Vexen got up and spat out "Why you…" But before he could finish his sentence, Xigbar and Sniper teleported away, leaving only the echoes of their laughter behind. "I'm surrounded by idiots. What did I do to deserve this?" Vexen grumbled as he continued on his way to Xemnas' office.

Xemnas was currently sitting at his desk in his office. The office was drab; only black and white adorned the room and its sparse furnishings. The Superior was on his computer and was very invested in the contents on the screen. He was so involved that he did not hear the initial knock on his door. A second, more forceful, knock occurred, startling him. "Um, come in."

Into his office walked Saïx. With blue hair and an X-shaped scare on his face, Saïx was one of the easiest members of the Organization to recognize. This worked well for many of the members, as they tried avoiding him at all costs. There was a valid reason for this: The Luna Diviner read all of the mission reports and informed members of new missions they had. Technically, Xemnas was supposed to create all of the missions, but almost the entire mission assigning went to Saïx, who was Xemnas' second in command, even though he only held the seventh rank in the Organization. Saïx worked basically as Xemnas' henchmen. Yet they were an unlikely duo, as Xemnas was prone to being dramatic and Saïx was emotionless.

"Ah, Saïx, how goes it?" Xemnas asked.

"Well, sir. Hard at work?"

"If you mean winning at this game of Hearts, than yes."

"I don't know what you enjoy in that game. I find it boring," was Saïx's dry response.

"You find everything boring, Saïx. And besides, this is as close to hearts as I can get these days!" Xemnas laughed at his own joke, but Saïx did not even crack a smile. "Oh come on, Saïx, that was a good one!"

"Indeed, sir. Vexen is here to see you, sir. You requested a meeting with him," Saïx stated.

"Very well. Send him in."

The Luna Diviner left Xemnas' office, putting him into his own. There, Vexen was waiting. Vexen had been watching Saïx's top assistant, Berserker, try to work at a computer. Like most Berserker Nobodies, he was very large, and the concept of squeezing him in an office chair and having him try to type on small keys kept Vexen entertained.

"He is ready for you," Saïx informed Vexen.

"Wonderful. Thank you, Number Seven," Vexen answered and then went into Xemnas' office. He rather loathed Saïx, seeing him as an upstart and a suck-up. Vexen always took the opportunity to remind Saïx that he technically served under him.

"Vexen, please sit down," said Xemnas. "I've been informed that there was an explosion in the Castle today."

"I am a scientist. Experiments are what I do, yes. Some explosions should be expected."

"Now, Vexen, I know how valuable your experiments are, but I simply cannot afford…"

"With all due respect, Superior, the explosion was not my fault. Roxas had another accident during his lessons today," Vexen explained.

"Is that so? That's happened several times this month, has it not?"

"Indeed. Thrice, to be exact."

"And what do you propose to do about this?" Xemnas questioned.

"The boy is untrainable. He is too incompetent. I remain unconvinced he is truly worth such coddling."

"But I do. Aren't you the amazing Vexen? Aren't you the greatest scientific mind to grace our existence? That's what you've told me!" Xemnas thundered.

"Of course!" Vexen exclaimed.

"Then, shouldn't you be able to train this boy?"

Vexen was rendered speechless. "You are…correct, Superior. I will…try harder," he stammered out. Vexen loathed The Superior at times like this. Perhaps it stemmed from jealously of Xehanort being Ansem's favorite apprentice back when he was Even. But he did fear Xemnas enough to not want to mess with him or draw his ire. Xemnas was rather proficient with his Ethereal Blades, and Vexen did not want to see a personal demonstration of how they worked.

"Excellent! And how's your newest project coming along?"

"It is proceeding according to plan," Vexen replied. "An experiment I planned for tonight should reveal some answers I've been seeking."

"Good. Then we have nothing else to discuss. You are dismissed."

Vexen could hardly get out of there fast enough. Seeing The Superior of the In-Between always made him anxious. "I shouldn't expect them to appreciate my true might. Hmph," he scoffed as he headed back towards his laboratory.

On the way there, he ran into Demyx. While admittedly, Vexen held disdain for almost all of the members in the Organization, the ninth ranked member and his sitar playing poignantly annoyed him.

"Oh, hey there Vexen! Whatcha up to?"

"If you must know, Demyx, I am going to my laboratory."

"You know, I've always wondered why you get your own bathroom," Demyx mused.

Vexen was perplexed as to what Demyx was referring to. "I don't follow."

"Laboratory? I learned that's a fancy name for a bathroom. Why do you get your own?" Demyx asked.

Vexen wondered how it was that possible to be that idiotic. "I think you are referring to a lavatory, not a laboratory."

"Oh."

"Yes, my laboratory is where I do my experiments, Demyx."

"So, it's like your lab?"

Vexen just looked at Demyx and sighed. "Yes. Like my lab."

"Mmmkay. Well, you have fun!" He then ran off to go start another jam session.

Vexen just sighed and continued on to his lab. "You know, I think his mullet is higher than his intellect."

Hi everybody! Hope you enjoyed this first bit here! Since this is my first fanfic, I would greatly appreciate any reviews.

-Mustachioed Academic