When our heroes arrived in Hollow Bastion, they had an unfriendly reunion with Riku. Before there very eyes, he had stolen the Keyblade from Sora, along with Donald & Goofy. Ash, Bonnie and Clemont offered to stay behind to help Sora back on his feet, while Aladdin, Ariel and Genie search for Kairi and the others. When they regrouped inside the castle, Sora regained his companions and his Keyblade, only to be revealed that his heart was stronger than Riku's. Now our heroes will face off against the cloaked figure, will they withstand against him?
Riku: W-Why? It was mine!
Frustrated that he lost the Keyblade to Sora, Riku could feel his anger growing and growing within him.
Know this...the hear that is strong and true, shall win the Keyblade.
From behind Riku, a man in a brown cloak stood, behind him, glowing with a blue aura.
Riku: What? Your saying my heart's weaker than his?
For that instant, it was.
Riku: So...so he was right, after all.
However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear, in stepping through the door to darkness, it held no terror for you. Plunge deeper, in the darkness and your heart will grow even stronger.
Riku: What should I do?
It's really quite simple. Open your heart to the darkness, that is all. Let your heart, your being become darkness itself.
Riku's body began to glow with a evil-green aura. With Ash and his friends, they were finally able to defeat the boy in a black coat. In pain, he fell to his knees and his hood fell off. Ash and his group took a deep breathe and fell on there butts, in relief. Ash slowly walked towards the boy in black, to get a look at his face.
The boy lifted his face, glaring at Ash, slightly revealing his face, flashing in Ash's face. He was then sent back flying, from a dark figra attack.
Ariel: ASH!
The group ran over to Ash and helped him back on his feet.
Goofy: Are you alright?
Ash: I'll be fine.
He was to lost in thought to pay attention.
Ash: That face...it...it looked like...
Just then, the gates behind them opened and out came the Beast.
Beast: So your heart won this battle.
Sora nodded, in response.
Bonnie: Ash, we have to keep going.
Clemont: She's right, May and Serena are still in the castle somewhere.
Sora: Along with Kairi.
Ash: Yeah...your right, let's get going.
With the Beast, our heroes made there way through the castle, in search for there friends.
Ash: May, Serena, hang in there.
Ash and his friends made there way through the castle, through many Heartless and solved many puzzles to proceed and get to there friends.
Ash: Sora? I'm sorry about Riku.
Sora: It'll be alright. We'll find a way to help him.
Bonnie: How do you know?
Sora: When it comes to best friends, you never give up on them.
Aladdin: Sora is right, when Genie was in need of help, I chose to stay by him.
Flounder: It's the same with me, Ariel would need my help, even if we're out of Atlantica.
Ariel: Flounder is right.
Ash: Riku is my friend as well and I'll be there for him too.
Clemont: Then let's find a way to help Riku and save May, Serena and Kairi.
The group nodded, in response. With Serena, she and her Pokemon Braixen were still examining Maleficent and awaiting for there friends to come and find them. Just then, they noticed someone coming and walking towards Maleficent. It appeared to be Riku...but something about him was different. He had that same outfit on, when he lost the Keyblade.
Riku/?: So, I see the path has emerged at last.
Maleficent: Yes, the Keyhole to the darkness.
Riku/?: Unlock it and the Heartless will overrun this world.
Serena seemed worried, that's what Jafar meant, when he said one of seven who somehow held the key to opening the door.
Maleficent: What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me, rather I will use it's power to rule all worlds.
Riku/?: Such confidence.
He stuck his hand out and summoned a Keyblade...but it was different from the one Sora and Ash held. The Keyblade had a simple design of red and black, akin to the Kingdom Key, with its teeth forming the outline of a heart. It had a rather dark design, despite being created from hearts of pure light. As it lacks Kairi's heart, this Keyblade is incomplete, and has never been seen at full power. It also lacks a Keychain.
Serena: What is that? Is that a Keyblade?
Maleficent: Impossible. The princesses of heart are all here. It must be her.
Serena: What does the Keyblade have to do with Kairi?
Riku/?: Without her heart, she'll never be able to release her power.
All of a sudden, there was a noise, from outside the room. It sounded like a giant door closing.
Maleficent: The kings fools are here. I'll deal with them myself. You stay here and guard the princesses.
Serena: Ash. He made it.
Sora and the group ran through the giant doors and made there way to the end of the hall. However, they were stopped in there tracks, thanks to Maleficent.
Aladdin: Step aside!
Maleficent: I'm afraid you're too late. Any moment now the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable.
Sora: We'll stop it!
Ash: He's right. After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!
Maleficent: You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?
During the battle, Maleficent attacked the group, from a floating platform. She summoned Defenders and Darkball Heartless to aid her in battle and used powerful magic attacks. Ash cast the Aerora spell to reduce damage upon his friends, as well as deal sufficient damage while attacking Maleficent and the Heartless. When Sora, Donald and Goofy attacked the platform enough, it droped to the ground and Maleficent was open to attack, as Ash and the others kept the Heartless distracted. When Maleficent couldn't take anymore damage, she chose a powerful spell for assist.
Maleficent: Meteors of heaven, unleash thy fury!
Clemont: GUYS, LOOK OUT!
When the dark vortex opened, behind Maleficent, they move to the far edge of the curved area of the Chapel. This prevented Sora and his friends from receiving large amount of damage. When that failed, Maleficent used another attack—lightning strikes which follow the party members—however, they were easily avoided by jumping or dodge rolling. When things were turning for the worst, Sora chose to summon Tinker Bell to periodically heal there damage. The battle took a while and Maleficent was no pushover but our heroes managed to defeat her. Badly bruised, Maleficent retreated, through a black-purple vortex.
Bonnie: We did it!
Aladdin: It's not over yet.
Beast: He's right, we can't let Maleficent get away.
Ash: Then let's go after her!
Sora: Aladdin, stay with Ariel and Bonnie, we'll go on ahead.
Aladdin: No problem.
Sora, Ash, Clemont, Donald, Goofy and the Beast dashed through the vortex and chased after Maleficent. She moaned in pain, walking in seriously injuried done to her. Through the vortex, Riku walked through.
Riku/?: Do you need some help?
Sora: Riku!
From behind him, Sora and the other caught up with them. The first thing Clemont noticed was the weapon that Riku was holding.
Clemont: Impossible...is, is that...?
Riku/?: Yes, a Keyblade. But unlike yours. This Keyblade holds the power to unlock peoples hearts. Allow me to demonstrate...
He turned to Maleficent and jabbed his Keyblade through her. The group was in shock, by his actions.
Ash: Did he...?
Riku/?: Now, open your heart. Surrender it to the darkness. Become darkness itself!
Ash: Riku!
But it was too late, he vanished into the vortex.
Maleficent: This is it! This power! Darkness... The true darkness!
Maleficent shouted out and bursting into flame. Her appearance changed into a giant black dragon with small wings and fire-green eyes.
Ash: Uh oh...
Goofy: Gwarsh...
Sora: Come on, guys. We can do this!
Sora summoned his Keyblade, ready to fight. Ash responded by summoning his Keyblade and standing ready. Clemont pulled out his Pokemon and his hand-made staff, Donald pulled out his staff as Goofy took out his shield and prepared themselves. Beast had there backs, ready to attack.Outside the vortex, Aladdin, Genie, Ariel and Bonnie waited for there friends to arrive.
Aladdin: What is taking them so long?
Genie and the others looked at each other, not responding to Aladdin's question.
Aladdin: I'm going in there to help!
?: I wouldn't do that.
From the shadow, the mysterious boy appeared.
?: They're fighting Maleficent one last time...and it won't be as easy, when you fought her the first time.
Ariel: Who are you?
He said nothing, thinking if he should respond or not.
?: My name is Obscuro and I'm not an enemy...OR an ally.
Sebastian: If you aren't with us or against us...they who's side are you on?
Obscuro: Mine. Ash has something I want and I intend on getting it back.
Bonnie: What is that?
Obscuro: My existense.
Aladdin: What does that mean?
Just then, the doors behind Ariel and Bonnie, revealing a way out of the chapel.
You wanna see your friends, then go to them.
Ariel: What does that mean?
Aladdin: It means that Jasmine might be at the end of the halls.
Genie: Along with the others.
Bonnie: Then, let's go.
Back with Sora, Ash and the others, they finally defeated Maleficent Dragon, as she died and turned into giant flames.
Ash: It's over.
Riku/?: How ironic. She was just another puppet, after all.
Donald: What?
Riku/?: The Heartless were using Maleficent, from the beginning. She failed to notice the darkness in her heart, eating away at her.
Clemont: Maleficent was being used by the Heartless?
Riku/?: A fitting end for such a fool.
When the group returned to the chapel, they noticed that there friends were gone.
Goofy: Where are the others?
Donald: Look!
Everyone looked and noticed Donald pointing at a hole in the wall.
Ash: They must've went through here.
Clemont: Well, let's get moving.
Making there there way through the hole, the party arrives in the Grand Hall, where the legendary Princesses of Heart are held captive and the Keyhole to Darkness forms.
Aladdin: Jasmine!
From inside, they could see Aladdin, Genie, Bonnie, Ariel...and Serena.
Clemont: BONNIE!
Serena: ASH!
Ash: Serena! There you are! I looked all over for you.
Serena blushed, feeling special to him.
Ash: Is May here with you? Or Kairi?
Serena: Yes, they're up there.
Ash: Sora, come on!
Sora, Donald and Goofy followed behind, as Ash led the way to the top. At the top of the stairs, Kairi and May were lying on the floor.
Ash: MAY!
Sora: KAIRI!
Neither woke up to there voices.
It's no use.
From on top of a Heartless shaped emblem, Riku was sitting on top.
Riku/?: The girls have lost there hearts, they cannot wake up.
Ash: Lost...there hearts...?
Sora: What? You—You're not Riku.
Riku/?: The Keyhole cannot be completed, so long as the last princess of heart still sleeps.
Ash: Princess?
Sora: Are you saying Kairi is a princess?
Riku/?: Yes and without her power, the Keyhole will remain incompleted. It is time she awakened.
Clemont: Be careful, Ash, something doesn't feel right.
Sora: Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!
Riku/?: But first; you must give the Princess back her heart!
A sudden pain developed inside of him and he dropped to his knees.
All: Sora!
Sora: What's...
Ash: What did you do to him?!
Riku/?: Don't you see yet, the Princesses heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!
Clemont: What?
Sora: Kairi...Kairi's inside me?
Ash: What about May? Where is she?
Riku/?: Don't you know?
Ash: Are you saying...?
Riku/?: The moment your world was lost to darkness, her heart sought refuge within you.
Ash: She...She did?
Riku/?: It is because you two share a bond...an unbreakable bond.
Clemont: I knew it...this whole time, if Kairi and Sora have a strong bond, then Ash and May would be no different.
Riku/?: I know all that there is to know.
Sora: Tell me, who are you?
Riku/?: It is I...Ansem. The Seeker of Darkness.
Donald: Ansem?!
Goofy: You mean, the Ansem in that report?
Clemont: No...it...I can't be...
Riku began walking over to Sora, with the Keyblade, in hand. Donald dashed towards Riku, trying to protect Sora but Riku simply pushed him aside.
Riku/Ansem: So, I shall release you now, princess. Complete the keyhole with your power.
Ash: Riku, don't do it! Fight back!
Riku/Ansem: Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!
He raised his Keyblade and was struck down at Sora. Suddently, a sudden voice called out to Sora...the voice belonged to Kairi. Snapping back to reality, Sora blocked Riku's attack, with his own Keyblade.
Sora: Forget it! There's no way your taking Kairi's heart!
Ash: That's it, Sora! Take Ansem down! Bring Riku back to us!
Sora: Got it!
It was the fight for the history books...Sora fighting a possessed Riku. The fight began with him attempting to toy with Sora, passing around him and executing his standard two-hit combo; Sora simply dodged and attacked him. Riku has fast recovery and unleashed devastating counterattacks. If Sora thought it would be the perfect time to use his Ars Arcanum that he learned from Peter Pan but he chose to save it for later. Using magic didn't have an effect on riku, it simply caused Riku to counterattack with Dark Firaga. After taking a few hits from Sora, Riku will start using a new attack; he'll spin around while swinging his Keyblade, similar to Sora's Vortex that he learned from Leon. He uses this attack very often, mostly to break Sora's combos. During this time, Sora tried to stay at a safe distance, but not too far or Riku would make a high leap and attempt to stab him with his Keyblade, creating shockwaves that move sideways from his position. Now was the perfect time for Sora to use his Ars Arcanum combo.
Eventually, Riku cloaked himself with darkness and a purple aura will surround him. During this period, his speed and agility increased and he gained two new attacks; one involves throwing his Keyblade at Sora, similar to Strike Raid and his infamous Dark Aura. Fortunately, his thrown Keyblade could be deflected either by guarding or striking with perfect timing; for each successful deflect, Riku received damage and be momentarily stunned. Sora seized this opportunity and attacked. When Riku was beginning to grow weaker, he became more aggressive and used Dark Aura very often. Riku's Dark Aura is predictable, but difficult to dodge. He began floating and charging, Sora tried moving at a safe distance away from Riku and High Jumped right before he started shooting around. Immediately, Sora began to glide and move around in a circular fashion. Riku's finisher covers about 60% of the arena, so it was hard to evade it. However, when Riku charged to one particular end of the arena, Sora jumped and stayed there: Riku wouldn't charge into the same area twice.
Attacking and counterattacking were good tactics while Riku is in this form, Sora just had to pay attention and heal occasionally. Aside from the first hit, he cannot use Dark Aura when Sora stood directly next to the computer. However, he will Strike Raid and combo Sora. When Riku was at critical level, Sora tried to finish him quickly, as Riku would use Dark Aura very often, prolonging the fight. Aside from that, he'll start to keep his distance from Sora, so Sora trackd him down and continue attacking. Before everyone knew it, the fight was over and Sora won Riku dropped his Keyblade and faded away.
Sora: Riku!
Donald: Sora, Sora, look!
Goofy: Uh, the Keyhole!
Aladdin: Get over here!
Sora was at a moment of pause and walked to there side and pulled out his Keyblade to lock the keyhole. However, for some reason, it wasn't working.
Goofy: It won't work, the Keyhole's not finished yet.
Serena: He's right, we can't lock the Keyhole, if it isn't completed.
Sora: What can we do?
?: Are you all that stupid?
They turned around and saw Obscuro once again.
Obscuro: You need to awaken Kairi's heart.
Clemont: Awaken Kairi?
Sora: Guys, he's right...if we can free her heart...but...But how?
Obscuro stepped aside and pointed to Riku's Keyblade.
Ash: Your saying...
Obscuro: He must use Riku's Keyblade to free the girls heart from within himself.
Serena: Isn't that dangerous?
Obscuro: Yes but he has no other choice.
Sora took a thought for a second and began walking over to the Keyblade.
Goofy: Sora?
Ash: And what about May? What can I do to free her heart?
Obscuro: I'll show you.
He stuck his hand out to Ash, asking him to grab it. The two grabbed each others hands and began glowing bright gold color.
Ash: I...I finally understand...this is who you are...you...you're...
Obscuro: The other side of you...your aggressive side...one that you refused to unleash.
Ash: But how?
Obscuro: When your world is taken by the darkness and you were sent away, the darkness sensed something within you...which was me. So it split us apart, making me my own person.
Ash: You...are my aggressive side?
Obscuro: Yes...but now, the time for me to leave is here and I will return to where I belong.
As the same time Ash and Obscuro became one, Sora stabbed his chest with Riku's Keyblade and released Kairi's heart. However, at the cost, Sora disappeared as well. Even the hearts of the princesses were released as well, returning to there rightful place. Kairi was awake rejoined with her friend, Ash.
Kairi: Ash?
Ash: Kairi, you're awake!
The two hugged in joy, reuniting with each other. However, the happiness ended shortly as a man walked out of a dark vortex and standing in front of the group.He was wearing silver-white gloves on his hands, each with a grey band on the wrist, while the rest of the glove, which has three black buttons lining one side, bells outwards. There was a black pauldron on both of his shoulders, each attached to his coat by two straps. He also wears black pants and black, silver-lined, knee-high boots. On the Heartless's chest is the Heartless emblem, but it seems that it is not part of him.
?: So, you have awakened at last, Princess. The Keyhole is now complete, you have served your purpose. But now it's over.
Bonnie: Who are you?
Clemont: It's Ansem!
Serena: What?
Ash: THAT'S Ansem?!
Ansem began walking towards the group and staring at Kairi.
Ash: Stay away from her!
Ansem: Step aside, boy!
Ansem raised his hand to slap Ash. But his hand was stopped by a mysterious force. That force was Obscuro, glowing in a yellow color.
Ash: Obscuro!
Ansem: I see, so the boy in black was you. I'm surprised you still have enough power to reveal yourself, even after giving up your existence.
Obscuro: You will not hurt them...I refuse!
Ansem: You think you can stop me, after you returned to your original self? hmph...fool.
All of a sudden, Ansem's body was frozen in place.
Ansem: I...Impossible.
The group was confused.Out of nowhere, Riku revealed himself, same as how Obscuro was. He was using what he had to keep Ansem in place.
Ash & Kairi: Riku!
Riku: You gotta run! The Heartless are coming!
Just then, the little Shadows began to appear, from the floor.
Ash: Guys, let's go!
The group began taking off, making there way back to ship.
Goofy: What about the Keyhole?
Ariel: And the princesses?
Donald: Let's just get out of here!
Clemont: He's right, we'll figure everything out, when we're safe.
As they were running, Ash stopped in place and turned to see Riku, still struggling to keep Ansem in place.
Ariel: Ash, come on, we have to go!
Ash: I...I can't.
Ariel: Huh?
Ash: You guys go on ahead, I'll stay behind.
Serena: Ash, no...
Ash: I can't leave Riku back there, he needs my help. And Sora is still here somewhere, I won't leave my friends behind. You have May and Kairi, now go, take Pikachu and get out of here!
The group hesitated in making a decision but chose to make a getaway.
Ash: Alright, hang on, Riku, I'm coming...and Sora...where are you?
TO BE CONTINUED...