Sora awoke and sprang to his feet. A door had appeared at the end of the chamber. That was where the light was coming from! He woke Krillin and Gohan and the three of them examined the door.
"Ansem has got to be setting a trap for us." Krillin concluded.
"But it looks like we don't have any place left to go." Gohan reasoned.
Sora pulled the doors open and the chamber was flooded with golden light. When it cleared, they found themselves standing on a lush island under a rich blue sky. Sora recognized this island instantly, he had lived here for fourteen years.
"This is my island!" he exclaimed.
He looked toward the beach and saw Riku standing there, still wearing his dark bodysuit, staring out into the blue-green sea. Not knowing what to expect, he approached Riku with the Oathkeeper ready and Krillin and gohan at his side.
"Look at this tiny place." A familiar voice rumbled softly. It was not Riku.
"To a heart seeking freedom…this island is a prison surrounded by water…until a boy sought to escape from his prison. He sought a way to cross over to other worlds. And he opened his heart to darkness."
Riku began turning around to face Sora but there was a flash of blackness and when it cleared, a man stood before him. He was tall and muscular with very tan skin, a mane of white hair and yellow-orange eyes. He wore a black and grey coat with red lining over a white tabard, black pants and black boots.
"Riku!" Sora gasped."
"Your voice can no longer reach him where he is." Ansem declared, "His heart belongs again to darkness! All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different! Darkness sprouts within it! It grows, consumes it! Such is its nature. In the end every heart returns to the darkness whence it came! Darkness is the heart's true essence."
"You're wrong!" Sora cried. "Hearts may be weak, they may even give in but deep down there's a light that never goes out!"
Ansem folded his arms and rose slowly into the air, his features cool and dispassionate.
"So you have made it this far and still you understand nothing." He judged. "Every light shall fade. Every heart return to darkness!"
He lifted his hand and a ball of blue flame came to life in his palm. The flame started out quite bright but quickly turned black. He cast it onto the ground and it spread quickly. The three friends jumped onto the roof of the shack and Sora hurled himself toward Ansem, who shifted to the side. Krillin shot a thick yellow lightning bolt at Ansem but he caught it in his hand. The bolt turned black and Ansem hurled it right back at Krillin, searing him and knocking him off the shack. Sora struck wildly at Ansem with the Oathkeeper but Ansem parried each strike with Riku's wing-sword. Gohan flung his shield at the back of Ansem's neck but it didn't even stun him. Krillin shot a salvo of fire balls but Ansem encased himself in a sphere of burning red energy and Krillin's fire balls only made it hotter. Ansem zoomed forward in an attempt to ram Gohan with his red-hot sphere but Krillin cast Aero which protected him. Krillin then sprayed a thick stream of water which doused Ansem's sphere, allowing Sora to score several hits in the back of his head. He attempted to strike Ansem in the chest but Ansem seized him tightly by the throat and hoisted him off the ground.
"Submit!" he thundered.
Krillin conjured a large sphere of water and soaked Ansem with it. Sora wriggled free of Ansem's grip just as Krillin stunned him with a cluster of lightning bolts. Gohan then threw himself on his back and put him in a choke hold but Ansem threw him off and soared toward the hillside, it began to crumble along with Sora's favorite tree. He cried loudly, outraged at seeing his home ruined and charged into the deep crack Ansem had made in the hillside. He was determined to punish Ansem severely for this, he could feel the darkness growing in his heart like a black flame but he tried not to feed it. As soon as he entered he heard Gohan and Krillin grunt loudly. He turned his head to see a lucid black force field keeping them out. At that moment a great shadow was cast upon him and he turned his head back to face a very familiar Heartless. Its incredible bulk, jet-black skin, and tentacled head were unmistakable; it was Darkside. Darkside conjured a large black ball of energy with a burning red core and lifted it high above its head.
"That much dark energy could corrode what was left of this island!" Krillin shouted.
Sora hurled the Oathkeeper into the lethal ball and it burst into a hundred tiny balls which began raining down on Sora. The ones he could not avoid, he hacked apart. Darkside reached down to snatch Sora but he jumped on its arm, ran up to its head and raised the Oathkeeper to strike. Darkside thrashed its tentacles, knocking Sora off its shoulder but he dug his blade into its chest and with a cry of "Thunder!" he discharged a bolt of lightning into its body. Darkside grabbed a hold of Sora and hurled him into a wall but Sora got right back up and summoned the Oathkeeper. Darkside slammed its hand into the ground, creating a swirling black pool which five Shadows scurried out of. Sora cast Thunder again and vaporized three, then the remaining two leapt toward his chest and he sliced them in half with one swing. He then shot three bolts of lightning into Darkside's head and followed through with a Thunder Raid. The Oathkeeper hit Darkside right between the eyes and electrocuted it. Darkside finally collapsed and dissolved into black mist, and then Sora summoned the Oathkeeper back into his hand as Ansem descended.
"Come, guardian!"
At his command, a Heartless more imposing than any other appeared in front of him. It was a bit bigger than Ansem, had bindings wrapped around its chest and ghoulish face, and a pair of long, thick tendrils on its head. Sora prepared himself to strike this Heartless as soon as it got close but it began flinging sharp spinning blades at him, which took him by surprise. He managed to knock two away but the rest sliced into his chest, arms, and legs. He collapsed to one knee and took out an elixir he had been saving.
"What do you hope to accomplish?" Ansem asked in mock curiosity.
When Sora gulped down half of the elixir, the blades in his chest, arms, and legs disappeared and the wounds healed. The Heartless Guardian flung two more blades but Sora cast Aero and his protective wind shroud stopped the blades. A black and blue aura surrounded Ansem and he began zooming every which way, ramming into Sora like he did in Hollow Bastion. But this time, Sora's Aero spell reduced the damage he took. Ansem finally came to a halt and his Guardian dove into the ground. A black portal opened under Sora's feet and he leapt to the side as the Guardian came rocketing upward and then vanished. Portals kept opening under Sora and each time he leapt or rolled away, he narrowly avoided being hit by the Guardian. Finally the Guardian appeared right behind him and wrapped its massive arms around him so tightly his ribs might have snapped.
"You cannot escape your fate." Ansem stated grimly as he floated toward Sora with Riku's sword.
Sora kicked and squirmed desperately to free himself from the Guardian's clutches. Suddenly the Oathkeeper felt very hot. Sora could feel energy inside waiting to be unleashed. He moved his arm just enough to point it at Ansem and three red-hot beams shot out of the blades tip, sending him tumbling back. The Guardian released Sora and he whirled around to strike it but it was not there. Ansem was gone too and the entire island was ripping itself apart. In a matter of seconds all the ground beneath Sora shattered and he plummeted through blackness.