Me: If you haven't figured it out by now, the "Kingdom Knights, Master Xehanort, and the armored foe" are all from the secret Final Mix+ trailer and upcoming game known as "Birth by sleep." I would advise watching that video just so you can get an idea of what the characters look like. You can watch it on YouTube so no worries…now before I continue… (Going into evil rant) THE NEXT ONE OF YOU TO RUN ME OVER AND GIVE THE "FLAME AND DIE" SPEECH WILL MEET A FATE WORSE THAN DEATH!!
Everyone: (Cowers)
Me: There now that that's done…onto business…Oh be forewarned this chapter contains mild blood…now on with the chapter…
The shimmering portal of light vanished as our heroes fly through it just in time.
"That was close…" Sora said as he looked around. They were in the middle of what was once a massive metropolis but now reduced to near ruin due to Sephiroth and the Heartless.
"Whoa!" was the word on everyone's mind as they looked around the ruined city, then Fuu spotted a sign on a burnt out old building.
The sign read "Welcome to Midgar."
"We have to find Cloud, if we find him we can help him defeat Sephiroth." Roxas said as the rest nodded.
"We should split up, Riku and Fuu go one Direction, Kairi and I will go another, Roxas, Zexion, and Auron, will go one other direction." Sora explained as the group nodded and split up.
"What do you suppose we'll find here?" Roxas asked the Cloaked Schemer after a while.
"With any luck someone friendly." He responded as Auron signaled for them to stop.
"Wait…I heard something." The Guardian said as they drew their weapons.
They waited for a moment before Auron turned and hurled his sword at the column of a small building and a man jumped out with a large sword from behind the column.
The man had brown spiky hair, and bore a slight resemblance to Terra in both appearance and dress except minus the red suspenders, tan pants (which the man's were blue) and armored boots. His eyes also had a strange glow similar to Cloud's.
Auron flew off towards his sword but was blocked by the man.
"Look I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but this is not the place to be poking your nose around where it doesn't belong!" the man said as Auron stepped back a bit.
"Take it easy friend; we are not your enemy." Auron said as the man furrowed his brow.
"Prove it." "Ok…I'm Roxas, this is Zexion and he's Auron, we came from another world called Radiant Garden…" When Roxas said Radiant Garden the man's eyes lit up...well more than they were already.
"Wait did you say Radiant Garden?" the man asked as he lowered his sword slightly. Roxas nodded.
"Do you know a guy named Cloud Strife?" Again Roxas nodded.
"Is…is he okay?" "That's why we came here, we followed him here." Roxas said as the man's eyes lit up even more.
"Why is he back here?" the man asked again as he put his sword away and allowed Auron to do the same.
"He was following this guy named Seph…" "Sephiroth?!" The man interrupted and Roxas again nodded.
"What are you friends of Cloud's?" he asked.
"I guess so…we're all for him, and we want to see Sephiroth defeated as much as the next guy." Roxas said as the man lowered his head and sighed.
"Then…you don't know, do you?" "Know what?" Zexion asked.
"The truth about Sephiroth." He replied as the others looked at him confused. He paused before taking a breath and explaining.
"Sephiroth…is no mere man…he is the embodiment of Cloud's darkness…he…is Cloud's Heartless." The man explained as the three's eyes widened.
"We've got to warn the others!!" Roxas said as they turned to head back the way they came.
"WAIT!! You've got to let me come with you…if they're both here Cloud's going to need all the encouragement he can get." The man said as he caught up with them.
"Right let's go…" Roxas said as the man drew his sword again and began to follow them.
"The name's Zack Fair by the way." Zack replied as they ran.
Riku and Fuu were walking along rather quietly, usually neither one minded the silence but it was just too quiet for either of them to feel safe.
"Fuu?" Riku asked breaking the long silence.
"Hmm?"
"I was wondering…why did you decide to come with us in the first place?"
Fuu thought for a moment before looking at him and shrugging.
"Unknown…Adventure, Thrills, Danger…You." Fuu said as Riku looked surprised. He had felt strange about her ever since they met, and he couldn't figure out what it was.
"Why Travel?" Fuu asked.
"Well…I guess because it's what I need to do…I travel around to keep the light strong in the worlds I suppose…and to hide from my darkness too I guess." Riku said as his thought flashed back to a moment when he was possessed by Ansem and his mood noticeably darkened. Fuu noticed.
"Resist." She said with a smile.
"Don't worry…I won't let Ansem take control of me again." He reassured.
"Is that right?" a voice called. Riku and Fuu summoned their Keyblades and looked around.
"Have you truly let go of the Darkness? Or do you need something to shadow your judgment and block the light for you hmm?" the voice said as Riku knew who it was.
"SHOW YOURSELF!!" Riku called out.
"If you insist." The voice replied and a black streak shot out of one of the windows in a burnt out skyscraper towards the two.
Riku quickly blocked the shot but Fuu was knocked over.
Riku snarled at his opponent…the armored soldier from before, who had Soul Eater held vertical against Way to Dawn.
Riku swung backwards causing his opponent to fall over him.
"Now why didn't I think of that?" the armored man asked as he climbed up to face Riku.
"Is that all you got?" Riku said as he could feel the smirk from within the man's helmet.
"Why no…WATCH THIS!!" the man yelled as swirls of dark energy gathered around Soul Eater and the warrior hit the ground causing the ground to buckle and send Riku flying.
"RIKU!!" Fuu yelled as she watched him land on his back. She then turned to the warrior.
"VENGENCE!!" she yelled as she charged the warrior and the two started dukeing it out.
After a moment Riku came around and sat up to see Fuu and the warrior in mid-duel.
As he climbed to his feet he saw Fuu attack when she should have parried. Riku's eyes widened as he saw what came next but was powerless to stop it.
The warrior swung around and sliced her across the face with the edge of the Keyblade, causing her to fall to the ground.
"FUJIN!!" Riku yelled as she slumped over. The rage within him was so great he did what he swore he wouldn't do again.
As the sky turned black, a black portal enveloped Riku and as it dissipated it revealed him in Dark form once again.
"HEY YOU!!" Riku yelled as the warrior, who was about to deal a killing blow to the injured Fuu, turned and looked at the dark Keyblade master.
"YOU WANTED DARKNESS…" Riku yelled as he suddenly charged at him "…YOU GOT IT!!"
And their Keyblades clashed…
Earlier…
Kairi and Sora both were walking through the war torn metropolis, looking for Cloud and hoping to find him before Sephiroth did…that is as long as he hasn't found him before now.
"Sora?" Kairi said as she turned to the Keyblade master at her side.
"Yeah Kairi?" Sora responded in his usual optimistic tone.
"I don't think I ever asked you about this but…" Kairi started as Sora looked at her waiting for the question.
"…where did you get that necklace of yours?" "What this?" "Yes…who gave it to you?"
Sora paused before he answered.
"My mom gave it to me a few months before the islands were destroyed by the heartless. She said it was my dad's." He answered. Kairi was surprised, in all their years not once had Sora even mentioned his father. All she really knew is that Sora and his mom lived alone.
"You've never mentioned your dad before Sora…did you ever meet him?" Kairi asked as Sora shook his head.
"No, I never knew him; Mom said I was very little when he left home." "He Left?" "Yeah…" Sora then realized what she was thinking.
"OH NO it's not like that…" Sora quickly said. "He didn't leave because he wanted to; he left because he was…" Sora tried to think of the word his mother used.
"Drafted?" Kairi asked as Sora nodded.
"But before he left, he gave my mom this necklace, and told her to give it to me when I was older." Sora explained as Kairi understood all too well.
"Mom said it was during a dark time in the worlds…in fact I think it was during Terra and Aqua's time." He added.
"He's right…I remember his father quite well…handsome son of a gun I'll give him that." Aqua gushed as Kairi shook her head at the thought of some decade old dead woman in love with her boyfriend's father…who was probably also dead.
"Aqua says you're right, he was in the same war as she and Terra." Kairi said as Sora looked surprised…but it wasn't Kairi's answer that had him looking that way, it was two figures on the top of a very tall building.
The one lowest to the ground was definitely Cloud; they could tell by the blond spiky hair, the other was…
"It's SEPHIROTH!!" (Me: this is where the Advent Children's version of One Winged Angel would start playing)
Both of the figures looked down at the two on the ground as Sephiroth raised his fist into the air and opened it causing the sky to turn black.
Sora summoned the Keyblade and flew towards the two with one great leap.
Kairi on the other hand found herself surrounded by a bunch of large dog like pure-bred heartless.
But before the heartless could do anything a flurry of purple spears flew past her and took out the heartless. She turned to see Roxas, Auron, a strange man with spiked brown hair, and Zexion running up to her.
"Oh no we're too late." The man said, as Roxas quickly introduced Kairi to Zack Fair and vice versa.
"Yes and soon the master shall have this world's heart along with the heart of one of your friends." A calm yet cold hearted voice said.
"What the…you three again?!" Zack said as Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz appeared from one of the buildings.
"Roxas, Kairi, you two handle the Heartless. Auron, Zack and I can handle these punks." Zexion said as the two Keybearers nodded and charged at the Heartless wolves (Me: I'm calling them Shadow Hounds).
The other three raised their weapons as they charged the three silver haired men.
Meanwhile…
Sora leapt up to the top where he landed next to Cloud.
"So…the Keyblade master comes to face me once again?" Sephiroth said tauntingly as Cloud leaned over and whispered to Sora.
"You can't help me Sora, this is my fight alone." Cloud said as Sora shook his head.
"I can't do that Cloud; you've forgotten how to find the light inside of you." Sora said as he took his battle pose and Cloud looked at him slightly confused.
"Remember what you told me a year ago?" Sora asked, Cloud shook his head.
"Don't lose sight of it…" Cloud smiled slightly as he remembered that he had indeed told Sora those very words.
"But he has Sora…he's lost not only sight of it, but his entire grip on it too." Sephiroth taunted.
"You're wrong…he only needs someone to remind him how to find it." Sora said as Sephiroth's eyes narrowed on the Keyblade master.
"You don't get it do you?" Sephiroth said with a sinister smile.
"I'm not someone who embraces darkness…I exist because of Cloud's darkness…I think you know what I mean." He taunted as Sora realized what he meant.
"YOU'RE his heartless?!" Sora exclaimed as Sephiroth smiled evilly.
"So…you do understand…a pity it will be the last thing you know." The one winged angel said as he launched forward at the two with the Masamune in hand…
Meanwhile…again.
Riku and the warrior were fighting furiously; every time they Keyblades clashed sparks would fly off.
"The darkness suits you Riku…" the warrior said during a parried swing.
"…I don't know why you gave it up…" "SHUT UP!!" Riku yelled as he hit the warrior with a blast of dark energy, that sent him flying.
The warrior landed on the wall of a building and pushed forward, sending him shooting back at Riku, who blocked his attack and sent him flying towards a small, burnt out building with a sign on the roof that read "Tifa's Seventh Heaven." (Me: I'm assuming it's still around in this story considering meteor never happened in this universe.)
The warrior crashed through the window, and as he climbed up Riku noticed he was weakening, because he was breathing heavily.
"…You see the darkness makes you stronger, you should have never given it up." The warrior taunted as Riku realized what had happened to him.
He looked at his gloved hands, then felt a warm hand on his leg, and saw Fuu with blood coming what was left of her left eye giving him a pleading look.
"Resist." Was all she said as he threw Way to Dawn away from him, and it landed with a clang.
"What?" the warrior asked surprised. "This wasn't supposed to happen!" he yelled as Riku's dark form faded away like when a nobody faded into darkness, revealing his old basic self.
"That's where you're wrong…the darkness may give the illusion of strength, but the light grant's unimaginable power…power that you would never understand." Riku said as he started to glow with white light and both Way to Dawn and Way to Dusk appeared in his hands.
"AT A BOY RIKU!!" Terra said from within his mind. "NOW LET'S GET THIS SUCKER!!"
Riku nodded and charged the warrior, but said warrior black portaled away and onto a crumbled wall nearby.
"We'll meet again Riku…only next time you won't be so fortunate." He said as he black portaled away.
Riku watched him leave then dropped the Keyblades and ran to Fuu's side.
Fuu was smiling at him.
"Resist." She said with a smile, she was still going strong as her voice showed only the slightest sign of weakness.
"Fuu…I think I found my light." Riku said, still glowing slightly.
"Do you know where it came from?" Fuu shook her head.
"You…it came from you." He said as he smiled.
"Ever since I met you I've felt like the darkness in me has been progressively getting smaller…now I know why…you are my light." Riku said as he leaned closer to her.
"I think Sora was right…our destinies are intertwined…and it's not because of the Keyblades…" Riku was glowing even brighter.
"…it's because I love you Fujin…with all of my heart." Riku said as Fuu's smile changed to shock, she wasn't expecting him to say that, but she smiled back at him as a tear ran down from her remaining eye.
"I Love you too." She responded as she fell unconscious.
Riku could sense she was still alive, but she wouldn't be for long if she didn't get help.
He stood up and stretched out his hand creating a portal of light, much to his surprise, and carried Fuu through the portal back to Radiant Garden.
But their departure didn't go un-noticed, from the shadows an unknown figure ran out from inside the building the warrior flew out of, and ran towards where the others were fighting.
End Chapter 21.
Me: I never knew I could be so sappy.
Marluxia: Me neither.
Me: Oh shut up Captain Flower Power. (Sora attempts to run me over but I see him coming and give him a death glare with the Ultima-weapon Keyblade in hand…he stops, turns around, and runs back to his seat.) Ok…I will choose who gives the flame and die speech…I choose…Yuffie.
Yuffie: (Bouncing up and down) REALLY?! (Run's me over) Hey you readers! Review without flaming or face the mighty power of the Grand Ninja of Wutai!! (Steps off me) How did I do?
Me: (From floor…again) Oh I'd say about three months worth of physical therapy…ow.
Xemnas: (while dialing his cell phone) (sigh) I can get Vexen to fix that up easily with a single potion.
Me: (from floor…still) Make it fast…I'm losing the feeling in my legs. (Axel and Roxas pick me up…well more like peal me of the floor)
Larxene: Want an acupuncture treatment? (Smiles sinisterly)
Me: Well what do ya know…I'm cured. (Whispers to Xemnas) If Vexen isn't here in five minutes you're going to wish you never existed.
Xemnas: But I don't exist (Smiles…I roll my eyes and hold Ultima-weapon to his chin) Right…calling!!