I fell to my knees, gasping for breath, feeling the rain soak my clothes and weigh me down. I was sinking down from exhaustion, and if I didn't make it…No…Don't think of that, I reached for the black keyblade that lay before me and grasped the handle hard, determined to go on.

Fight. That's all Roxas knew he had to do. If he didn't, the creatures before him would definitely kill him without a second thought. These monsters made of darkness, the Heartless. They stared at him from the shadows around him with their bright yellow eyes and featureless forms. Xemnas had called them Neo-Shadows, and that they were more powerful than the other Heartless he had in his possession.

The fact that Roxas was fighting them alone was not the big issue. All he knew was that no matter how many he struck down two more always took its place. It was an endless battle, and now Roxas was feeling that dread of not being able to make it out of this situation alive.

Well…'feeling' is a bit too mildly, isn't it; he chuckled, standing back up on his feet. "Nobodies don't have hearts, remember?" The Heartless surrounded the young boy, ready to pounce when they saw the opening. They may not have hearts, but that doesn't mean they lacked common sense. Roxas, though tired from his constant fighting, was still a viable threat and they were slowly wearing him down.

And even though Roxas knew he had little chance in a war of attrition, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Raising his keyblades the white keyblade Oathkeeper and the black colored Oblivion, he stood ready to face the onslaught he knew was coming his way.

One Shadow jumped at him from behind, but Roxas saw it coming. He spun in a quick 180 degree turn and stabbed the creature in the chest with Oblivion. It disappeared in a plume of black and violet smoke. Two more jumped from the right and the left. Roxas jumped up into the air, and got them as well, also getting the three that came up to meet him before his feet hit the ground. Doing a spin, twirling his keyblades to meet every one of the monsters as they began to swarm him. Roxas through Oathkeeper and like a boomerang it went in a complete circle, destroying over a dozen of the heartless before it made its way back to his hand.

They still kept coming.

The storm began to heat up and a downpour began. The temperature also dropped what felt like ten degrees, and Roxas was beginning to wonder what his chances were for him to survive.

Still, as long as he had a heartbeat (if he had one that is), he'd go on. Giving up wasn't something he knew firsthand, and others in the Organization could testify for him. He stood up straight up, his grip on his keyblades in a near death grip, "Well…let's see if I can end this in one blow—" Roxas threw both his keyblades into the ground and raised his right fist into the air. This is going to be risky, since I've never done it before, but here it goes!

A very bright white light began to emit from his fist, and though Roxas couldn't see it himself the Heartless backed up a couple steps out of fear of the light. The light grew in brightness until it was nearly blinding to look at. Roxas kept it up, concentrating all his power into his hand until he was going up. He went off the ground, and while he hovered in the air at least a dozen lights shot out of his hand and started to fly around him. Unable to contain it any longer, Roxas lit the fuse to the proverbial bomb, and just let it go.

The lights went off in every direction, going after the heartless like they were like magnets attracted to them. The instant they made contact the creatures disintegrated, and when the first of their number were destroyed the other heartless either tried to run or fought back.

Let's just say that neither of those tactics proved effective.

The lights kept going, destroying all the heartless until they were gone. Roxas returned to the ground, but he didn't stay on his own two feet for long before he felt back to his knees once again. "Damn…what do you know, it worked," he said.

Three portals of darkness appeared before the boy as he began to breathe heavily, and out stepped three individuals wearing the black cloaks of Organization XIII.

The one in the middle was the only one who was not wearing the hood. He was Xemnas, the leader, long silver grey hair, and he had a smile on his face.

"Good work Roxas…You've passed the test. Now, go and get more hearts…"

Roxas took a deep breath and got back to his feet, "Sure…" He didn't like Xemnas on a personal note, but orders were orders, and Roxas turned and walked away without a second thought.