A/N: Final chapter of this half! Why do I end it the way I do? Because I'm just that cruel.
I do have another chapter coming soon in which I write an alternate ending so that the storyline is actually
complete since I have put the story on infinite hiatus. When one loses their muse, you know, that kind of puts a stop to a story like this that relies on that certain muse. So look for that in the next couple months (hopefully). I will leave this chapter posted, but there will be a 10th chapter that has what will be the 'true' ending. Thanks for reading!

Overcoming the Darkness

Last chapter's closing line:

She sighed, massively relieved at how easily the magic flowed again. Abry, assuming the sigh was directed at her, glared in mock annoyance, though her grin betrayed her true feelings.

Chapter Nine: The End…For Now

Suddenly the sky grew dark. Abry stopped chattering and even Haru became alert. In the center of the plaza, lightning struck once and green flames billowed up around the area. Maleficent appeared in the midst of them.

"Why, Lita. I see that you have lost the dark powers I so kindly gave to you. Did you think that I would not notice?"

"Maleficent, I'm done with you. I don't want your powers, and I don't want your dark promises that you weren't going to fulfill anyway! My friends are my power and they'll protect my light to the end!" Lita quoted Sora.

"Oh I do not doubt that. But I am not so willing to release you. I had you once, I can get you again."

"Your spells won't work on me now that I'm aware of them!" Lita summoned her Keyblade, noting with great pleasure that the weapon had returned to its true appearance.

"I never said I would bewitch you. I am taking you back with me, Lita. Just try to fend off the darkness when you are alone and surrounded by it at all times! How will your friends 'protect' you then?" Maleficent summoned dozens of Heartless, filling the square. The others quickly grabbed their weapons and started destroying them as fast as they could to get close enough to protect Lita, but too late. Maleficent was faster, and she grabbed Lita. She disappeared in a flash of green flames, her evil laughter filling the plaza in her absence.

"Damn!" Riku cursed.

"We have to get her back! Where do you think they went?" Abry demanded. She had finally gotten her friend back only to have her stolen again right in front of her. Needless to say, she really wanted to punch Maleficent's face in right now.

"How am I supposed to know! The only place I knew she ever stayed in was Hollow Bastion, but she's not stupid. She won't return there with Lita. She'll probably go where we least expect it. Rrrh, she's seriously gonna pay for this…" growled Riku. What's with that? He had reconnected with Lita at last, how dare Maleficent intervene again? When was she going to leave him and his friends alone? "Once we find her, we're teaching her a lesson she'll never forget, got it?"

"You don't need to tell me! Let's give her a reason to fear us!" Abry was getting pumped despite the circumstances. Even though her best friend had been kidnapped, she was about to go on a journey to take out the great evil sorceress once and for all! She couldn't help being a little excited.

"All right then. The gummy ships are at the mansion, let's get moving!" Riku immediately ran off.

Abry paused to ask Roxas and Haru, "You guys coming?"

Haru replied simply, "I'll work from here. I'd be of little use to you in the field." She turned and left for her house.

Roxas smiled sadly and answered, "I'm sorry, I can't. Someone has to protect the town in case something decides to attack while defenses are low."

Abry thought about this and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I can see that. Well, we'll be back soon, with Lita and leaving the world with one less evil witch!"

~Fin…

For Now…

A/N: So, this is the end of part one of this story! I plan to start working on the sequel in which Abry and Riku go after Lita and Maleficent but I'm a huge slacker so that will take some serious work on my part. The second part will be more difficult to write than this half because there's a lot more I have to expand on that I didn't bother with in my basic outline, whereas I had already planned a good portion of this half out beforehand. There are places and quests and thoughts I have to fill in, and it'll take a while for me to do all that.

Anyway, I want to thank everybody who took the time to read this story of mine. I really appreciate it! Arigato gozaimasu, minna-san!

Edit: I'm finally getting the sequel written. Finding the Light, it's called, and I'm literally in the process of writing it right now (7-7-12). I know, I'm terrible for taking this long to write it! To those of you reading this story for the first time, you can go right on to the sequel! Good for you! For those of you who read it before now, I am truly sorry for the wait. Thank you so much for your patience!