I haven't woken in months. I'm still here, fighting creatures with yellow eyes and little black bodies (they're clawing me. Goofy! Donald! Anybody?) I have to save my friends. I have to save them from the darkness. It consumes everything in its path, eating away my island, my love, my right hand man. Everything.

"We're losing him!" a girl screams.

I hear noise, like a heartbeat fluttering. Only faster. Beep, beep, beep. Faster and faster the machine shrieks. I feel the adrenaline rushing through me. It's just another fight – but instead of creatures, it's me. I'm fighting myself.

"Damn it, Riku, do something!" Riku? He's here? But I lost him – to the darkness. I lost everything to the darkness. The beeps are getting faster. The girl is crying now. She's crying loud sobs over my body. "Sora, you can't leave me!" I'm not leaving anybody, I want to tell her. But I'm alone in the darkness. I'm alone, still fighting. Donald isn't here to heal me. Goofy isn't here for backup.

The darkness is a big, scary place. I can't fight it alone.

"Clear!"

One shock. My body flies up. I swing my keyblade at nothing, and slowly it's disappearing. It's leaving me, too. I'm not worth saving. I'm not worth fighting for. I saved worlds – I locked them away from darkness and threw away the key. I rescued princesses and fought the monsters. But none of that matters now. It's too late to try to heal my wounds. They're far past repairing.

"Clear!"

Another shock through my system, but I'm not waking up. No. Not this time. I might have beaten the darkness those other times, but it has me cornered now. There's nowhere to run from here.

"Sora!" she screams again, gripping my hand hard. "You promised!" She repeats that hysterically – it's becoming her mantra. I know I promised. And I tried. I tried my best.

But it wasn't good enough.

I hear the beginning of the flat note, and then I'm gone.