(Battle Music Cue: Clash on the Big Bridge – Final Fantasy V, FF Dissidia OST) Sora and Ven were standing ready to strike in an instant. Exdeath stood with his sword in hand. Sora charged in first, Keyblade raised with Ven right behind him. Exdeath simply caused a pentagon of glowing blue energy to appear in front of him just as Sora swung his Keyblade at him. The Keyblade harmlessly bounced off the shield just as a powerful black tornado instantly formed around Exdeath, spinning Sora around in the air before launching him away.
"Sora!" Ven exclaimed. He had managed to stop before the tornado appeared. Sora pulled an aerial recovery and landed on a lower level of the arena. Ven turned back to see Exdeath approaching him with his sword reared back.
"Feel the void!" Exdeath said before he swung but Ven leapt up and over Exdeath just in time. Ven quickly spun around with his Keyblade and delivered a painful upwards swing with his Keyblade up Exdeath's back. Exdeath grunted in pain before quickly summoning a yellow sphere to appear around him just as Ven swung his Keyblade around for another attack but, like Sora's Keyblade, it bounced off harmlessly. Ven was suddenly catapulted into the air by a near instantaneous upwards swing of Exdeath's sword. Ven landed on the top of the castle's flat roof. He quickly scrambled to climb to his feet, his armor having withstood the blow from Exdeath's blade. He turned and saw the familiar blue circle on the ground on the opposite side of the roof.
"Is that all a Master and Apprentice of the Keyblade can offer? Pitiful." Exdeath said, shaking his armored head in disappointment.
"You haven't seen anything yet!"
Exdeath quickly whirled around in time to see Sora fly into him with his Keyblade summoned and deliver a painful blow to the stomach. He had used his Keyblade Rider to reach the top of the castle and then converted the Rider back to its Keyblade form before delivering the blow. Exdeath was thrown off the roof of the castle from the blow but he vanished in a blue flash of light.
"Nice one, Sora!" Ven said.
"Thanks." Sora replied. Without warning, something unexpected happened. The large rectangular castle beneath their feet suddenly vanished in a white glow, only to reappear in another part of the arena in midair. The base of the castle remained but with a large square of a liquid purple substance in the spot where it once stood. The four towers had vanished and reappeared elsewhere, upside-down, sideways or even at an angle all around the arena. Sora and Ven were dropped onto the purple substance just as Exdeath reappeared on the grassy ring around the purple area.
"If that is all you can offer, then I do believe your abilities have been greatly exaggerated." Exdeath said as Sora and Ven dropped back into their battle stances. Sora said nothing, charging at Exdeath but quickly stopping and aiming his Keyblade at the warlock. Ven quickly ran up next to Sora and did the same thing.
"What is this?" Exdeath asked curiously before suddenly Sora leapt forward but landed just in front of Exdeath, and drove his Keyblade into the ground, causing a large symbol to appear on the ground (A/N: The symbol from the Trinity Limit slight in Chain of Memories) before suddenly causing a single mighty pillar of Light to erupt from the ground within the symbol. It was one of Sora's Shoot Locks, the Trinity Drive. Exdeath was dazed as Sora leapt back just as Ven fired off his Lightning Ray Shoot Lock. He became surrounded in an electrical charge before launching at Exdeath, striking him lightning fast several times from different angles as he attacked. Exdeath could hardly respond but finally Ven clashed with him for the final time, landing back at where Sora was with the electrical charge gone. Exdeath staggered forward slightly in pain as he attempted to stay on his feet.
"It seems I underestimated your strength, Master of the Keyblade. But if such is the case…" Exdeath said as he started to straighten up. Black energy started rising from around him suddenly as his armor suddenly turned dark blue and the yellow seams in his armor became more distinguished. (A/N: Neo Exdeath/Dissidia EX Mode)
"…then I shall not hold back any further." Exdeath said as Sora and Ven quickly dropped back into their battle stances. Exdeath then leapt into the air slightly creating a glowing round light yellow and blue symbol in the air in front of him.
"Death APPROACHES!" Exdeath shouted before a powerful beam of energy burst forward from the center of the circle.
"VEN! WATCH OUT!" Sora exclaimed as quickly shoved Ven out of the way but at the cost of being hit head on by the blast and catapulted across the arena.
"SORA!" Ven exclaimed as he saw Sora collide with the floating castle and knocked unconscious. His armor had fortunately borne the brunt of Exdeath's Delta Attack but returned to Sora's shoulder guard. Ven turned back to Exdeath who started laughing sinisterly.
"Foolish mortals. You cannot withstand the power of the Void." Exdeath said as he turned his attention to Ven. Ven quickly leapt back and cast Aeroga, creating a whirlwind where he stood, but Exdeath remained unfazed. Ven quickly cast it again, but still nothing. Now Exdeath was approaching Ven, slowly walking as usual. Ven leapt back again before charging at Exdeath. The Warlock threw up the red circular energy shield he had used against Bartz but Ven stopped before he even touched the shield. He quickly slid around to behind Exdeath and delivered another fierce blow, knocking Exdeath into the air. Ven leapt up after him and proceeded to deliver a fierce downward blow to the confused Warlock. Exdeath crashed into the ground, bouncing forward onto his chest before climbing up onto his feet. Exdeath glared at Ven who suddenly began glowing with a yellowish light, the light of his Speed Rave Command Style. He quickly sidestepped another of Exdeath's shields and started barraging the slow reacting Exdeath with multiple quick attacks. Exdeath finally attempted to attack, swinging his sword around but Ven blocked, causing Exdeath to stagger slightly, giving Ven another opening which he promptly took. Ven cast Magnega, this time Exdeath was forced to stand against the powerful magnetic pull but this was enough as Ven entered the Wing Blade Command Style, allowing him to unleash even more ferocious attacks on the Warlock, culminating in Ven's throwing down the six blades of light in a hexagonal form around Exdeath that released a sudden burst of powerful light before he finally landed. Exdeath dropped to one knee in agony.
"That oughta teach you what us Keyblade wielders can do." Ven said as his helmet disappeared, revealing a grin on his face. He didn't expect Exdeath to start laughing.
"Foolish mortal. You don't understand the power of the Void." Exdeath said as the black energy appeared around him again. He then started standing up, looking no worse for wear.
"What the-?" Ven said as he started backing away from the fully revived Exdeath who started walking towards him.
"You cannot stop the void. Grovel before its power!" Exdeath declared as he waved his empty hand before him, opening up a strange imploding black hole in the air behind Ven. Ven attempted to keep from being pulled into it but Exdeath was getting closer.
"Uh, Sora! A little help!" Ven shouted to the still unconscious Sora. Sora didn't react, and Ven suspected that he was probably in the fight alone.
…
He couldn't see anything, only darkness. He could smell the distinct smell of seawater and the sound of waves crashing against the shore. He could also hear the sound of gulls overhead. He then heard the sound of footsteps on wood planks nearby.
"(Sigh) Come on, Sora, you lazy bum. Let's get you on your feet." A girl's voice said. The voice was familiar and he knew whose it belonged to.
"Yeah come on, up we go!" a familiar boys voice said. This one Sora recognized as what he assumed was Ven's. He felt himself being grabbed by the arms and hoisted onto his feet. He opened his eyes to see he was back on the Destiny Islands. The sun overhead shining brightly.
"Huh? My Island, but how?" Sora asked confused as he looked around.
"Hate to burst your bubble; buddy, but these aren't the Destiny Islands." A voice that sounded eerily like his own said. Sora turned and saw three people behind him. It was Roxas, Xion, and a third person, one who looked exactly like him. The only difference was the color of his clothes. The clothes were the exact same as Sora's own, but minus the Master's haori and the colors had been reversed. Instead of the black with white lining, it was now white with black lining. His shoes were black with yellow crisscrossing stripes as well. The crown necklace around his neck was black however. Xion was still in her Organization XIII robes but Roxas was in his Twilight Town garb.
"Roxas? Xion? What are you guys doing here?" Sora asked confused. He then noticed that his own Haori was missing.
"These aren't the Islands, Sora. You're inside your heart." Roxas said as Xion and the other Sora nodded.
"Yeah. You got knocked unconscious." Xion added.
"So…I'm in my heart? Shouldn't I be in that weird, "Station of Awakening" place then?" Sora asked as the other Sora laughed in amusement.
"The heart takes the form of the place you call home. Kinda of a literal interpretation of the old cliché, "Home is where the heart is." The other Sora replied before earning curious looks from the other three.
"Who are you exactly?" Sora asked as the other him smiled and shrugged.
"You don't know who I am? Oh that's easy. I'm the light of your heart, Sora." The other Sora replied.
"The Light of my Heart?" Sora asked confused.
"Uh-huh. You might not realize it, Sora, but you have a heart of pure light, thanks to Ventus." Light Sora said.
"Ven? How did he do that?" Xion asked.
"Yeah. How did Sora get a heart of pure light from Ven?" Roxas asked as Light Sora crossed his arms.
"Well, let me ask this. Did anyone know that Ventus had a heart of pure light as well?" Light Sora asked.
"Yeah. Xehanort removed the darkness from Ven's heart, creating Vanitas, a heart of pure darkness. Ven's heart became made of pure light. Then Sora got Ven's heart and carried it for ten years until he finally became a master and restored Ven's heart to his body." Roxas explained.
"You've been paying attention, but did you know that Ventus's heart bled Light into Sora's as Sora grew stronger?" Light Sora asked as the three pondered.
"So…Ven's heart fed Light into my heart?" Sora asked confused as Light Sora nodded.
"Uh-huh. Ventus's heart slowly but surely evaporated all the darkness within your heart during your time as Aqua's Apprentice. As Ventus's heart awakened, more and more of his light was fed into your Heart, eventually wiping out all darkness within you, and making you the male equivalent of a Princess of Heart." Light Sora explained, causing Roxas and Xion to look at Sora and burst out laughing.
"What?" Sora asked as he scrunched up his nose in irritation.
"Sora's a Princess." Roxas bawled.
"It's not that funny!" Sora argued.
"Yes it is! It's hysterical!" Xion giggled, hanging onto a nearby tree for support. Light Sora simply stood with his arms crossed, looking silently at the two.
"Anyway, the result of Ventus's heart, purging the darkness from within you, caused me to manifest within you." Light Sora said as the laughing died down.
"I see. Uh-oh! Ven! He might be in danger with Exdeath!" Sora exclaimed as he turned away from them.
"Then we'll let you get back to the matter at hand. I suggest giving Exdeath everything you've got. You can dodge his shields and attack him from different angles. That should give you enough of an opportunity to bring him down." Light Sora said as Sora nodded. Beams of light started appearing in the ground beneath him.
"Right, wish me luck guys." Sora said before the whole area was enveloped in light.
"Uh Sora! A little help!" Sora heard Ven shouting. Sora opened his eyes and saw Ven backing up towards a black hole while Exdeath continued to approach him. Sora quickly leapt to his feet and summoned his Keyblade, aiming it at Exdeath. He quickly fired off his Ragnarok Ultima Shoot Lock, a large circle of red and yellow energy appearing at the tip of his Keyblade and firing off multiple streams of golden light at Exdeath. The beams crashed into Exdeath, sending the warlock flying. The black hole behind Ven even closed up. Ven turned and saw Sora leap towards the main castle platform, using his Keyblade Rider to close the distance.
"Thanks for the help, Sora." Ven said as Sora nodded and summoned his armor again.
"Anytime, Ven. Any ideas how to take him down?" Sora asked as Ven shook his head.
"I hit him with my unique Tier Two but he's still standing!" Ven replied as Exdeath reappeared before them in the circle of blue energy on the ground.
"Did you think that would work? Pitiful creatures. All you can do is show your bravado while you still can. You cannot defeat me." Exdeath said as he raised his sword. But as he did…
"They may not, but I bet that I CAN!"
Suddenly Exdeath was hit by a thrown hand axe that hit him from behind and then boomeranged back, pulling him along with it, just before getting hit by a flourish of attacks from a pair of long curved and serrated daggers. Exdeath was launched into the air, revealing Bartz standing with the daggers in hand.
"Bartz! You're alright!" Sora exclaimed as Bartz grinned cheerfully.
"I couldn't just stand idly by and let two friends of mine fight my battles for me. Besides, Exdeath is a result of my own fear of traveling through the void of space. That's why he exists. I'm the only one who can defeat him so I might as well defeat him now while I've got the chance. That said, here we go!" Bartz said as he leapt up to the disoriented and still airborne Exdeath.
"The four essences!" Bartz shouted as the twin daggers, sword, hand axe, and lance appeared in the air around him and suddenly converged into him as spheres of light. He suddenly summoned both the sword and the axe before flying into Exdeath, delivering a fierce blow and flying past. He then summoned the twin daggers and the lance before turning and delivering another attack. He then summoned the sword and kept the daggers before attacking again. Finally he summoned the sword and the lance before attacking once more. He then turned with the weapons he could mimic overhead in a crescent formation.
"Let's go!" Bartz shouted as the weapons converged into a single red sword which Bartz grabbed a hold of and then launched himself towards Exdeath.
"For a SHINING WORLD!" Bartz shouted as he delivered one final yet powerful blow through Exdeath before landing on the ground with Sora and Ven. They each turned towards Exdeath to see that his colors had turned to a pale green and a dark aura was rising up from around him.
"You believe you have conquered your fear. If you believe as such, you are a bigger fool than I thought, and I will continue to live." Exdeath sneered as Bartz shook his head.
"No. I'll always have fear. Fear is a part of life. Only if I continue to face my fear will I eventually overcome it. You will always be there too Exdeath, but you will never overpower me again." Bartz said as Exdeath snorted.
"We shall see. Eventually, you will come and join me. But for now, I will admit defeat and bide my time until your fear arises once more." Exdeath said before he disappeared in a cloud of black smoke which slowly dissipated. The arena then started fading out to black around them.
"Was that it? Did we defeat him?" Sora asked as Bartz turned towards them and nodded. The arena Lobby then started fading in around them.
"Yep. Exdeath was a result of my fear. Only by overcoming my fear and defeating him, would I finally be rid of him." Bartz replied.
"So you were afraid of the void of space?" Ven asked as Bartz nodded.
"Yeah. There's a lot of darkness out there and I don't have anything to protect me from that darkness. You guys have armor, that protects you out there but I don't. That's why I was so afraid. But now I know, all I need is the light of my heart. Like I told Exdeath, I'll always have fear. But I'll always have the light to guide me. As long as I let the light guide me, then I'll never get lost in the darkness." Bartz said as Sora and Ven both smiled and nodded.
"Then I guess we should be going. We've got to meet up with some friends of ours." Sora said as Bartz nodded.
"Yeah, I probably should be leaving too. Hey, you mentioned that you knew Firion. Do you know where he is?" Bartz asked as Sora and Ven both nodded.
"Yeah. He's in a world called Radiant Garden." Sora replied.
"Cool. I guess I'll head there and say hello. See you guys later!" Bartz said as he ran for the teleporter and vanished in a flash of light.
"So shall we D-Link now or do it on the fly?" Ven asked as Sora took out his lucky charm.
"Let's do it now so we don't have to worry about it while flying." Sora said as Ven took out his lucky charm and they both established the D-Link. Within the D-Link they found themselves alone within the empty white chamber.
"I guess we're the first ones here." Sora said with a shrug.
"Sora! Ven!" They heard Kairi's voice call. They turned and saw Aqua and Kairi approaching.
"Hey, did you guys find anything?" Ven asked as Aqua and Kairi both nodded.
"Oh we found something alright. We found Sephiroth!" Aqua said as Sora and Ven both jumped in shock.
"Sephiroth? You ran into him? Are you alright?" Sora asked.
"Yeah we're fine. But we also ran into this woman. She was dressed in flowers and had blue hair that was like a crashing wave. She fought us but Kairi couldn't attack her for some reason. I think she did something to her Keyblade." Aqua said as Ven arched a curious eyebrow.
"Wait, you mean she was able to stop Kairi's Keyblade from moving? If so that's the exact same thing that happened to me when we fought that Wind guy." Ven said as Kairi nodded.
"That's exactly what happened to me. But I was able to fight those weird blue things." Kairi said as Ven and Sora both arched confused eyebrows, but they weren't alone.
"Strange blue things?" Riku asked as he and Terra approached.
"Riku, Terra, glad you guys could make it. I'm afraid Kairi's referring to an old enemy of ours. An enemy that Ven, Terra, and I faced long ago." Aqua said as Terra and Riku both gave her looks as if knowing what she was talking about.
"Wait, you encountered them too?" Terra asked in surprise.
"I'm afraid so." Aqua sighed.
"What are we talking about?" Sora asked curiously.
"I'm afraid we're talking about a horde of fledgling emotions once under the control of Vanitas, the Dark side of Ven's heart." Aqua replied as Ven's eyes widened.
"You don't mean-…" Ven said as Aqua nodded and replied…
"The Unversed have returned."
End Chapter 13.
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, the true origins of the character Wind has been correctly guessed by the reviewer lightanddarktwilight (light-and-dark-twilight…I write it this way just in case the stupid editor software acts up again).
Wind's character model is the character Black Star from the anime/manga series Soul Eater. Wind's appearance (described in chapter 1) and personality are directly modeled after Black Star. His weapon, a giant shuriken, is just one of the forms his weapon partner, Tsubaki, can transform into. One of his signature moves, the Black Star Big Wave was also used during the fight between Wind and Sora, Ven, and Mickey in chapter 8.
So congratulations to light-and-dark-twilight for correctly guessing his origins. His prize was acknowledgement in this chapter…and the internet.