A world reflected, a plan of existence were darkness had swallowed everything, and one could see not from the light, but from the shadows creating a darker darkness within the dark. Everything, seemed to be twisted and hallow, misshapen rocks jutting up from the surface of the black stone ground looking like bony hands reaching out for a sun that did not exist.

As Roxas tried to push himself up off of the ground he found himself looking out into an ocean of shadows, its surface rippling with truest darkness that surpassed anything he had ever imagined. As it's dark waters lapsed up against the shore, it seemed to eat away at what ever it come in contact with, before the waves would recede, leaving new dark stones in the place of the old.

"All things were born from darkness, and it is to darkness that all things must one day return." Even Xemnas's powerful voice seemed lost on the place, hardly even a murmur underneath the crashing waves of shadows. Still, it was his voice that Roxas latched onto, and it was him that the boy nobody tried to find, spinning around with his and Xion's keyblades held out to his sides, the Oblivion and the Oathkeeper. But when he actually did spot the man he had to take a step back.

The massive blue moon of Kingdom Hearts still hung in the sky above him, though now, large black ribbons were seeping out of the heart, twisting in the air and seeming to darken even that black sky. The leader of the Nobodies had his arms stretched out and his had tilted up to the sky as if in prayer to the darkness that came from Kingdom Hearts. A prayer that must have been answered as the shadowed started to descend upon him, twisting around his body.

"The power of the light is nothing compared to the all reaching darkness. Just a cry, shrill, piercing and unpleasant, but ultimately fated to fade away into the nothing, never to be heard from again!" Xemnas's voice turned into a shout as the darkness pushed itself inside of him, a cry leaving his open mouth as if it was trying to rip him apart from the inside.

The shadows squeezed down on him harder and harder before finally seeming to turn into a sold metal. Dark steel gray armor shaped itself around his body, decorated with black feathers on one shoulder and three spikes on the other of the same cold golden color as the man's eyes. Shadows moved along the surface of the metal, making it look as though it was shining, though that couldn't be further from the truth. The armor seemed to have granted the already tall man another half meter in height, leaving him towering over Roxas even more than before.

Xemnas's eyes were pushed upon and he gritted his teeth, revealing that the whites in his eyes had turned to a midnight black, so dark that his golden eyes seemed to glow like a heartless's by comparison.

"Hearts... Hearts filled with darkness! Give me more!" He shouted, his voice losing the old hollow qualities it once held as a sort of blood thirsty madness took its place.

The darkness that had been so absorbed with his body spread out over his hand, reaching outwards as if to form on of his Ethereal Blades, only far more power was gathered and it was condensed into solid mater, just like the armor. The slab of dark metal was as large as Xemnas was tall, one of its edges was the same sickening pale gold that adorned his shoulder while the other had been stained a bloody red, at the guard, the steel grey symbol of Organization sat, the only sign that this creature standing before Roxas might have once been just a nobody.

Xemnas turned himself to face Roxas, a look of a cat playing with a mouse playing on his lips. Even the way he moved had changed, turning into a chaotic sort of shuffle as he dragged his oversized sword across the ground behind him with just one arm.

Roxas couldn't believe the amount of magical power that was coming from him. It was far greater than even the mind bugling heights that he held before. It sat heavy in the air, making it next to impossible breath, Roxas's legs shook under him from the effort of standing in the presence of all of this power.

"Wielder of the Light, why is it that you tremble before me?" Xemnas said as he slowly moved towards Roxas, his unblinking eyes baring down on the boy. "Is it perhaps that you feel the storm approaching? The dark wind that will blow out that tiny flame you have been struggling to keep burning for so long? Are you afraid of what will happen once the light has finally gone out? Do not be afraid. Just like all the others, you are simply returning home. Back into the darkness for which all is born."

The move was so fast that Roxas barely had time to block it. One moment Xemnas was slowly dragging the sword towards him, the next he was gliding across the ground in a roar of speed that shook the still air and sent the water in the nearby ocean rushing back in the wind kicked up by the massive sword.

Roxas had crossed his blades in front of him, trying to take the brunt of the attack, but the amount of strength in the swing sent him flying regardless. Beyond simply the physical strength, waves of the dark energy grabbed onto Roxas, flinging him around like a single twig in a raging ocean. And when he was finally slapped against one of the rocks that stuck out of the otherwise flat landscape, the blow echoed through his body.

His vision was blotchy for a few moments as he tried to regather himself. Fear had gripped him. A fear like nothing he had ever known before. Until this instance he had never been afraid of any challenge or any opponent. But this... this was insanity incarnate.

But as his eyes moved though the empty sky around him, they locked onto Kingdom Heart. He felt the tug in his chest, the memory of Xion's last wish. His promise to her. He felt her presence inside of the Keyblade he gripped tightly with his left hand. He would not fail her. He wouldn't just let it go.

So, struggling to his feet, he again faced Xemnas. "Wielder of Light, why is it that you continue to struggle? Look around you. You are in a land where no hope exists. Why not simply..."

"Shut up!" Roxas shouted in an annoyed voice as he pointed a Keyblade at the figure that had once been Xemnas. "I am tired of all of your crap! I don't care about the light or the dark! I don't care about your all powerfulness!And I don't care about your stupid goals! I've got a promise to my friends to keep, and I'm not going to let you stop me!"

Roxas throw reason into a gutter and began to run towards Xemnas holding his swords at the ready. Just before he reached the madman, he jumped forward into a cross slash, putting all of his strength behind the strike.

Xemnas had moved his blade into the way, expecting the attack to just bounce harmlessly off as his strength completely overpowered the boy's. But to his shock, the blow was strong enough to force him to take a step back. Xemnas was actually being pushed into a retreat as the twin blades whistled around him, striking against his guard.

"How is this possible?" The Seeker of Darkness wondered aloud in shock, until he noticed a light glow starting to form around the boy. The power of the light, released from Kingdom Heart when Xemnas himself separated the light and darkness that made it up, it was starting to be drawn towards the boy, filling him with renewed and greater strength. "No!" Xemnas cried out, sending out a powerful blast of darkness to smoother the boy before it was too late.

Roxas was pushed back out of his charge, the darkness covering him from view for a few moments. But then specks of light began to erode away the darkness, growing brighter and brighter as the light released from Kingdom Hearts focused more and more power on Roxas.

The darkness cleared entirely to reveal Roxas, standing there in shining silver and blue armor, a golden aura surrounding him and coating his twin blades. The light pouring off of him was more than blinding in the dark world.

"Accursed light." Xemnas, or whatever darkness controlled him hissed angrily, a black and crimson fog starting to swirl around him. "You think that you can survive, in this of all places?"

"You talk too much." Roxas said before blasting off the ground to fly towards Xemnas, the golden aura pushing him along as he cut though the darkness. Xemnas also took to the sky and the two began to clash again and again in the air, the power from their strikes throwing about entire bolts of magical lightning as the two opposites struggled against one and other. The rocky ground began to buckle underneath the weight of their combined powers before being forced up into the air and blown away. Each attack held enough power to level castles and with the rapid tempo of the attacks, the world itself was shaking in panic.

With a leg up in speed, it seemed as though Roxas held the advantage, hammering away at Xemnas's defenses, but when the Xemnas sent out one of his spheres of destructive black power, Roxas was pushed away once again, and the stalemate reset.

Xemnas glared with his angry black and golden eyes, pure hatred for the light that was attempting to burn into them, but as he noticed the golden light around Roxas flickering. "It would seem that you can not last forever. The brighter flame burns out all the quicker. Where as the power of the dark is infinite." Xemnas said with a laugh as the dark aura around him feed of the darkness of the evil world.

"It doesn't have to last forever!" Roxas shouted angrily as the golden light flared up again. He started to raise his keyblades up above his head, crossing them together as the light grew stronger and stronger. The two keys seemed to merge into one and other and a spectral light came out of the point where the two met, growing stronger and thicker until it resembled an actual blade. The combined sword just as large as Xemnas's own. "I just need to last long enough to destroy you!"

Roxas let out a roar as he swung the combined blades to point at Xemnas, a giant ray of pure white flashing from the point and heading towards the Seeker of Darkness. But Xemnas answered with his own attack, a midnight black and crismon red stream of dark energy that bleed from the tip of his massive sword.

The sound of thunder surrounded them as the air was torn apart again and again from the violent clash. Each power fought to gain ground on the other, but they seemed equally matched. At least at first.

Slowly, the light started to recede as Roxas's energy was drained by the attack, while Xemnas's blast remained unchanged. The steel haired man started to laugh. "I told you, Wielder of the Light, your power is finite! The light will always fade way before the darkness!" He laughed as his beam slowly gained ground.

But his laughter was cut short when two heavy objects thudded against his shoulder plate. The man turned his head in confusion to see two red chakrams embedded in the metal of his armor.

Down on the ground, leaning up against one of the stones that had been turned up during the course of the fight, was Axel. Blood dripped down from his head and into one of his eyes, and he held his side where his black coat was stained red, but a victorious expression was on his face. "Burn in hell, asshole." He said with a grin as he lifted up one hand and snapped his fingers.

The chakram's exploded, disrupting Xemnas's balance and weakening his attack.

Almost immediately, Roxas's attack gained grounded, completely overwhelming the former leader and blasting a large hole in his chest, straight though the armor.

Xemnas's face was shocked as he slowly fell towards the ground below him, but before he reached the ground, a sad smile passed over his face. "Aqua..." He murmured, before his body started to dissolve into a silvery sand, disappearing in the wind.

Roxas himself returned to the solid surface, burying the edge of his new blade in the ground and leaning in on it for support as he panted uncontrollably.

"You alright there?" Axel said as he limped over towards where Roxas was, his every move screaming a man in pain.

"I... I thought you were dead." Roxas said between gasps.

"Yeah... well... I thought so too, but I doubt even the dead could sleep though all that racket you were making." Axel said as he slide to the ground against a large rock. "Then again, considering where we are right now... probably still going to die."

"Kill joy." Roxas mumbled, looking around him at the dark world. At the edge of his vision he could see forms moving about. Massive Heartlesses the size of houses, each being drawn towards them by the light of Kingdom Hearts, more of them than Roxas cared to count.

"Yeah well, life sucks." Axel said sadly as he looked up at Kingdom Hearts. "Better get on with it. Before the Heartless get here. We have to go out with a bang, don't we?"

"Right." Roxas said standing up straight as he could, looking up at the pale blue heart in the sky above them. "This is for you Xion. We'll be seeing you soon." He said gripping the handle of the crossed keyblade. Putting all the strength he had left into it, he swung the blade again, using the same attack he had used to finish off Xemnas.

Axel had to struggle not to be blown back by the attack as it raged on for a whole three seconds, hammering at the heart shaped moon above them. But when the attack finally died down and Axel's vision started to recover again, his jaw dropped to see that Kingdom Hearts remained in the sky, completely unscratched.

"Well ain't that a kick in the balls." He mumbled as his shoulders dropped. "We'll have to try something else. Any plans?.. Roxas?" He looked over to see the boy falling to the ground, the two keyblades splitting apart and the silver and blue armor evaporating as all the light he had absorbed from Kingdom Hearts had been used up. Axel didn't even have to check to know that the boy was now unconscious. "Typical, for you to nod off at a time like this." Axel said as he turned outwards to face the army of Heartless that had gathered around them. "Well! What are you waiting for!?" He shouted as he summoned up his strength to bring out another pair of his Chakrams. He stood on unstable legs in front of the mob of dark figures, a grin spreading across his face. "How about we see just how many of you I can take down with me."

But before the Heartless could attack, a hum rumbled though the air. Axel paused, along with all of the heartless as he tried to figure out where the sound was coming from. He looked up to see the slightest of cracks in Kingdom Hearts, and light pouring out of it. Before he could even start to understand what was going on, the cracks exploded outwards in a blast of light that struck the ground where he and Roxas stood, the light was so strong that Axel was completely blinded as he felt himself being pulled away, unable to fight back against the power that now pressed down on him.


It wasn't until some time later that Axel woke up. His body was sore all over and his head was spinning. He felt like shit, but he was still breathing, so that was something.

He looked around himself, trying to take stock, but his brain was having a hard time understanding it all. He seemed to be in some kind of park, surrounded by bushes. A few meters away was a sidewalk and lampposts that you would usually have in some kind of public park. If he focused his hearing beyond the pounding in his head, he could even hear the sound of children's laughter a short distance off.

He shook his head and glanced around his more immediate surroundings and spotted Roxas laying nearby. "Roxas..." He said, pushing himself over towards his friend to give him a sharp shake. The boy gave a grunt in response, but didn't wake up. Didn't matter, it was enough to let Axel know the boy was alive. "Thank goodness." He said, leaning up against a nearby tree and giving a short sigh, trying not to think to much about his aching body. But then something caught his eyes. Something... or someone he hadn't expected.

A third figure lay nearby in one of the black coats of the Organization IIIX. A small figure, the same height as Roxas. Axel's eyes widened as he slowly moved towards the person, putting a hand on their shoulder and flipping them onto their back so he could peek underneath the hood. "I... I don't believe it." He said, forgetting all about his pain as he looked down at the sleeping face as a young girl with short black hair. "Xion."

...

To be continued...


Axel is always there to save the day... serious, it's canon.


Campoine won out 3 to 1 if you include the two people who only responded in PMs. So a Campione story it is.

Next chapter, Coming of a Moon Goddess.