Chapter 9
"Ow! Oof! Argh!" Raimundo grunted, bouncing across the floor. The wind had followed him through the portal and resulted in him bouncing along like a ball.
"Waah!" With one last bounce, he finally crashed down in the middle of the room.
"Ok, that was no fun." Rai groaned as he pulled himself up, rubbing his backside tenderly. Wincing in pain, a low chuckle caught his attention and looking up, he found the man responsible for his pain.
"You're the one that separated me from the others. Who are you?" Rai growled, dropping into a defensive position, his aches and pains forgotten.
"I am Xaldin, number three of Organisation 13 and the master of wind." Was the Nobody's response as he lowered his hood, revealing a rugged face, long black hair and sideburns. "You are Raimundo, of the Xiaolin temple. The chosen one of wind. You are the greatest wind wielder in this world. Defeating you is the perfect way to prove that I'm the greatest wind walker of them all."
"We'll see about that." Rai retorted. "No one beats me in my own element. Now put up your dukes."
Xaldin jus grinned in response and flung his hands out to his sides. Strong winds picked up again, forming a ring around Xaldin before spiralling into six columns. Each of the columns solidified before Raimundo's eyes and a second later, Xaldin had surrounded himself with six, spinning lances.
"Talk about unfair advantages." Rai grumbled as he dug his own weapons out of his pockets. "Crest of the Condor! Blade of the Nebula!" slashing his sword, Rai released an intense gale right at Xaldin.
Raising his arms, Xaldin had his lances spin around him fast then the eye could see and created a tornado that intercepted and neutralised the gale, much to Raimundo's annoyance.
"Surely that isn't the best that you can do." Xaldin smirked, causing an angry vein to pop out from Rai's head. Not giving him a chance to respond, Xaldin leapt forward, two lances in hand while the other four shot ahead.
Eyes wide in fear, Rai flew into the air, narrowly avoiding the lances before being forced to constantly dodge left and right as Xaldin followed him into the air, launching his handheld lance with stabbing thrusts.
Man he's fast. Rai mentally scowled, flying further back as continued dodging strikes intended to impale him. Not only that, he just keeps going. He added as he kept watching Xaldin's attacks through fierce eyes, continuing his dodging method. It did feel like the battle was going to continue like this forever, with Rai continuing the simple pattern of dodging left and…
That's it! Rai's eyes widened in realisation. Tornados and impaling thrusts. His attacks are repetitive. This might be easier then I thought.
At that moment, the sound of something cutting through the air nearby caught his attention and through the corner of his eye, he saw the other four lances coming up behind him.
"Don't think so." Rai smirked and dropped his altitude just as the lances were only a few seconds away. Xaldin's eyes widened and he quickly refocused his control over the wind, stopping the lances a bare inch before they pierced his skin.
"Don't congratulate yourself yet. Wudai Star Wind!" Before Xaldin could so much as redirect his lances, cyclone level winds blew him up fast and hard, scattering his lances across the room in the process. The winds proved unrelenting to Xaldin and kept pushing him quickly upward until he hit the ceiling with a bang, causing a loud grunt to escape his mouth.
The wind quickly stopped shortly after, causing Xaldin to plummet towards the ground. Intent on not colliding with a hard surface at high speed again, Xaldin focused his energy and gathered the wind around him again. However, just as he managed to cease his decent, directed a blasting at the ground and propelled into the air at breakneck speed and slammed his metal covered fist into Xaldin's gut.
"AARRGGHH!" Screaming in intense pain, Xaldin smashed back into the ceiling, this time leaving a few cracks in it before falling back down and hitting the ground with a thump.
"You know, I thought fighting an Organisation member by myself would be difficult, if not downright impossible, yet here you are looking like a used punching bag." Rai taunted as he dropped lightly back onto the ground.
"Trust me boy." Xaldin scowled, slowly pulling himself back onto his feet. "Playtime is definitely over."
Raising his hands, Xaldin created strong winds again, simultaneously gathering his lances and blowing a surprised Raimundo back. The wind swirling around him, Xaldin surged forward at high speed and attacked quickly and ferociously with all six lances while simultaneously using his powers to disrupt Raimundo's movements.
Grunting frequently as his body was covered in more and more slashes, Rai found his manoeuvrability almost non-existent as the Xaldin's winds basically kept him in place.
I've got to break free. He thought as another pained gasp left his mouth in response to his left hip gaining another deep slash. Time for a change in strategy. Hope this isn't like the Sword of the Storm.
Just as three lances plunged forward for another attack, Raimundo whipped out the Blade of the Nebula and thrust it forward, blocking all three.
"I've had more then enough." Rai growled, glaring fiercely at Xaldin's surprised faced. "Typhoon Boom, Wind!" Clapping his hands, Rai released a wave of wind, blowing Xaldin back into the ground with a grunt. He gasped in sharp pain a second later as his lances followed him, two of which had pierced his left arm and right thigh.
"Not fun when you're the pin cushion, is it?" Rai called as he landed, panting as he placed a hand gingerly over his hip. The last slash had definitely been the deepest and he was very aware that it could lead to passing out due to blood loss. He had to finish this fight soon.
"Your tricks are- Grr- impressive, but I assure you, this won't happen again." Xaldin growled heavily as he pulled his lances from his body. "It's time that I ended this battle." Tensing himself, Xaldin had all his lances connect together, looking like a snake about to strike, and jumped on top. His body and weapons all started to glow, much to Rai's surprise, before all the energy gathered to the tip of the front lance. A second later, Xaldin released an extremely powerful vortex of wind right at the monk.
"AAAHHH!" The shot hit before Rai could even begin a counter measure and threw him back with so much force that he hit the wall way across the other side of the room with a loud bang, screaming in agony as his body broke through the wall's surface, the sharp debris cutting deeper into his wounds.
Xaldin smirked victoriously as Raimundo's body slumped, unable to even pull himself out of the wall.
"It appears that I have proven myself to be the greatest wind warrior." Xaldin stated, jumping off his still hovering lances as he walked towards his young foe. "Now, it is time for you to return to the dungeon and wait for your fellow intruders to join you." He added as he reached the wall.
Clenching his teeth, Rai slowly raised his head and glared hatefully at Xaldin. He wasn't going to back down. He wouldn't Xaldin win. Even if it meant his death.
Scowling and grunting in pain, he gathered his strength and pulled himself out of the wall, causing Xaldin's eyes to widen slightly in surprise, having believed that Raimundo had no strength left. Breathing deeply, Raimundo raised his blade again pointing it right at Xaldin's head.
"I'm not going to stop fighting. As long as I'm conscious, you're in danger. Crest of the Condor! Blade of the Nebula!"
Xaldin screamed as he suffered the same fate that Raimundo had only a minute before. However, before he could hit anything, he reapplied his own power over the wind and caught himself in the air.
"You will not defeat me child. I am well beyond your strength." Xaldin scowled. Not wasting a second, he jumped back onto his lances and concentrated on his power, glowing again.
This time however, Raimundo was ready. Gathering all the remaining strength in his body, he activated the power of his magical items and channelled all of his own strength with theirs into a wind vortex just as Xaldin released his.
As the twin vortex' collided, bursts of wind flooded the room, assaulting both warriors and nearly knocking them off their feet. Their hair and clothes flapping around, both fighters planted themselves as firmly as they could, both feeling themselves being pushed back by bursts resulting from the struggling vortex', barely stopping themselves from being blown away like paper in a cyclone.
I can't give up. Gotta break through. Rai thought as he slipped another inch back. Feeling himself stop with an undamaged part of the wall at his back, he leaned back onto it, grateful for the support it supplied.
Xaldin wasn't so lucky. He realised that he'd underestimated the boy's strength and it was proving to be a serious mistake. With only the thin metal of the lance to stand on, it was almost impossible to keep his balance under the freed wind raging around the room. On top of that, he was fully aware that he couldn't keep an attack of this level up much longer or he'd destroy himself. His clenched teeth tightened and his frown deepened as he felt his feet slide back again, despite his best efforts to hold himself steady. Unlike the times before however, this time he didn't stop. Instead, he felt himself moving back at increasing speed. Determined not to give in, with a grunt, he refocused some of his energy so as to use the wind around him to stabilise himself.
That was all Rai needed. Letting the wall at his back handle his stability, he put all his focus into his power. The swirling winds coming from his blade increased in strength. Not by much, but with it's opposition weakened, it was more then enough to break the stalemate.
Xaldin's eyes widened in horror as he saw the change in the balance of power a split second before it hit. The pain he felt at the impact was comparable to being hit by a flying dump truck as he was sent flying backwards faster then the eye could see before crashing into a wall with so much force that, despite the already proven strength and thickness of the materials used to make it, small holes revealing the outside world could be seen around Xaldin's head and shoulders. Before Xaldin could even gasp at the raw agony running through his body, the attack revealed that it had one final assault to make as the lances were blown back too, impaling Xaldin in each limb and twice in his torso.
Panting heavily, his body quickly started to deteriorate. With the last of his strength, he looked up at the collapsing Raimundo with a look that the teen had never seen there before; one of respect.
"It appears that I have been bested, both as a fighter and a wind wielder. Farewell Raimundo, Xiaolin chosen one of wind." With that said, Xaldin let out one final breath as his body fully dispersed into wisps of darkness.
Black eyes opened tiredly as he slowly came too, showing him a blurry, white room. He frowned slightly as his mind tried to figure out where he was. Did he end up in the hospital or something?
"Look, he's waking up." A familiar voice called, catching his attention as a blurry, red and blue figure came into view. "How are you feeling Gohan?"
As his vision cleared, he realised that it was a Chinese boy a second before his mind snapped back to reality, all his memories coming back. It was Jake, the American Dragon, looking down at him with a small, relieved smile.
"I'm feeling fine." He replied in amazement as he accepted Jake's offered hand and stood up. Surprised by the lack of pain, he checked himself over and though his clothes were still ripped and torn all over, there wasn't a scratch on him. Turning to look at the group around him, he directed a grateful looked to a particular, tired blond. "Thank you Namine."
"You're… welcome." She yawned, giving him a tired smile from where she was sitting, leaning on Roxas.
"You had us worried." Kim said from her place on the floor. "Roxas is the only one that got hurt worse then you and he was apparently fighting a fire guy."
"Yeah, I came out pretty bad, huh?" Gohan responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was fighting a guy wielding two broad swords and still moving as fast as I was. I'm surprised I came out in one piece."
"I wish my fight was a fierce, physical one like yours were." Gwen sighed, her eyes watering, causing the others to look at her with deep worry and concern, scared of what had happened. She hadn't said a word since she came back through the portal. The only positive reaction she'd given was a look of relief when she saw Ben and the others exiting their portals.
"Zexion's mental torture is something only someone with a heart as cold as ice could possibly handle." Roxas said softly, causing the others to look from the sorceress to the Keyblade bearing and back repeatedly with panicked faces. Roxas had been worrying about Gwen since she came out, the fifth person to return to the room. However, he was still impressed with her. She had broken through the illusions and defeated Zexion, something no one had managed to do before.
"What happened Gwen?" Ben asked, more then a little panicky.
"He made me live my worst fear. Our home destroyed and everyone dead in front of me. Then he disguised himself as Kevin appeared and laid a guilt trip on me."
Ben didn't know what to say. He wasn't the best person to get comfort from for this. Fortunately, he didn't have to as Danny placed a reassuring hand on his cousin's shoulder.
"I've been through that before Gwen, so trust me when I say don't believe a word that lowlife said to you." He said comfortingly, looking at her with warm eyes. "Even if something like that happens, it isn't your fault. You're a hero, not a God. Everyone knows that even now, in the world's darkest our, you're doing everything you can to save it. Your friends and family will be proud of you no matter what happens. Just do your best, that's all anyone can ask of you."
"Thanks." Gwen said softly, smiling slightly. Danny just grinned, happy he could help.
Before anyone else could do or say anything, a pained gasp caught their attention. Turning to the top level of the room, their dying panic returned full force as Rai stumbled through the portal, his entire side from his hips down covered in blood. He tried to take another step, but his shaky legs gave out and with another gasp, he fell. Fortunately, Gohan's reflexes proved to be quicker then he was as he instantly appeared before Rai, catching him mid fall.
Focusing his senses, Gohan gasped fearfully before rushing back in front of Namine. Raimundo was barely awake and his energy was almost gone. Blood was still pouring from the gash in his side and it was painfully obvious that he wasn't going to live much longer if this kept up.
It took a total of two seconds for Namine to come to the same conclusion and tired or not, she shot her hands out over his body.
"Namine, hold on a sec." Roxas said, placing his hands on hers. A second later, his hands were glowing white, much like hers did. "You're too tired to do this alone. I'll help."
"You can heal people too?" Ben asked as Namine smiled and began her work.
"No, but I can amplify Namine's powers and just like she can amplify mine. I would have helped her before, but my power's getting drained here too and I need all I can get when we fight Xemnas."
"Even with us all here?" Danny asked, his relieved eyes turning away from Raimundo when the escaping, red liquid ceased and Rai's breathing became more stable. "I mean we all just took down one of these guys on our own."
"Yet it took two or three of you to take down your first encounters." Roxas responded firmly. "Each member has their own power level and manipulates a different power. Xemnas is the most powerful by far. Somehow, he draws power from nothingness itself."
"What?" Jake cried, flabbergasted. "How do you draw power from nothing?"
"He draws power from a place outside of light and darkness. Or maybe in between, I don't know. I just know that it's not light or darkness and it's the power that allows Nobodies to exist." Roxas shrugged just as Rai sighed in relief and sat up, albeit slow and sluggishly, his body fully healed.
"And we're not exactly… in our best fighting form." He yawned, rubbing his eyes.
"I think it would be best if we rest for a few minutes. At least until Raimundo can gather the strength to stand up unaided." Gohan said sitting himself down.
"But we do need to keep ourselves alert." Danny responded warily, looking around the place. "Xemnas and armies of Nobodies could still be around."
"Don't worry, the only one I sense is up there." Gohan replied, pointing his thumb at the largest arch.
"You can sense through portals?" Jake asked, sitting next to the half Saiyan.
"That's not a portal." Roxas interrupted. "The lights are just for show. That's a doorway leading up to the top of the tower. Xemnas' sanctuary."
Turning to look at it, a golden glow caught Gohan's attention. Recognising the colour from the heart shaped moon in the sky, he quickly turned an intrigued eye to Roxas.
"Hey Roxas, what is that incomplete, pink and gold heart in the sky about?"
"It's completion is the ultimate goal of Organisation 13." Roxas answered softly, scowling at the ground. "It's a giant collection of hearts."
"WHAT?" Gohan cried, wide eyed.
"You can't be serious." Kim gasped.
"How is that possible?" Danny exclaimed. The others, minus Namine, just turned wide, disbelieving eyes to Roxas, nodding in agreement with the others.
"You all know that a Heartless is created when one of them takes the heart of someone, which causes the stolen heart's darkness to be released and create a solid form around it, right?" Roxas began, earning slow nods from his audience. "Well, under normal circumstances, when a Heartless is destroyed, the heart eventually just regenerates the darkness and eventually creates a new Heartless. However, when they're destroyed by a Keyblade, the hearts are released and congregate together. Whoever finds the congregation can release the hearts and send them back to their owners, restoring their complete forms, release the hearts and create an army of Heartless, or continue to gather them. If enough are gathered, the immense energy can be used to awaken the power of Kingdom Hearts, the most powerful force in all of existence. It's power is infinite. With that power behind him, Xemnas could not only become complete, but destroy all that exists. That's his ultimate goal, something I only discovered recently. While most of us just wanted to be complete again, he wanted to destroy everything and create what he called a perfect world, built in his image. And thanks to myself and the other Keyblade bearers running around the worlds, it's almost complete."
"In that case, we really should move." Rai stated, jumping to his feet.
"How did you just manage that?" Danny asked, coming out of a worried stupor. "You could barely move before."
"I'm naturally energetic and adrenalin does a lot for ya." Raimundo responded. "Now lets move."
"Well, if you're ready then I'm ready. Lets do the save the world thing." Kim said jumping to her feet.
"Just be ready to move." Ben spoke up. "If he's as powerful as Roxas says he is, we'll need to hit him hard and fast."
"Are you all sure you're ready for this?" Gohan asked, looking at each of the determined face before him. "I don't want to spend any of my time after this at someone's funeral."
"In all honesty, I'd prefer to wait, but we don't have that option." Jake responded, getting five nods in agreement. Seeing Gwen was on their side, Gohan turned to the blonds.
"Are you two ready for this?" He asked, his eyes lingering a bit longer on Namine's exhausted face.
"Not really, no." Roxas sighed, but he got up anyway.
"But you'll need all the help that you can get." Namine added, joining the others on her feet.
Nodding gravely, Gohan turned back to the giant arch, a worried look on his face. He had no doubt they were about to fight the toughest opponent any of them had every faced. It was more then a little intimidating for him, especially since this time there was no chance of his father coming to the rescue. But he was going to fight anyway. One look at everyone else's faces showed him that they held the same scared, but determined mindset and it was more then enough to boost his confidence. He wasn't alone, he had friends by his side. And they would win.
His mind set, he headed for the arch, the other eight teenage heroes only one step behind him.