AN/ Heya! Now that it's not spoilers, you can check out the Cool Trailer I made for Dead Inside. (As of updating this in 2017, I still consider it among the best AMVs I've ever made). Profile links off-site don't work anymore, but it's at "watch?v=O5CcEfdsa5Q".
Also to go with this chapter and the New Character introduced, there's concept art... well... Again, profile links don't work, but if you head over to the FtPverse Character Resource (ftpcast on blogspot) you can find his character page there! It'll be, pretty obvious, I hope, who I'm referring to. But read the chapter first, of course!
Chapter 29: Taunting Darkness
Sora groaned as soon as he had landed.
Somehow, he hadn't been thinking clearly, and had ended up in Hollow Bastion.
The place he didn't want to be.
"Well… crap!" he muttered, glancing around.
He appeared to be in… the entrance hall. Except, now that he looked around, the castle of Hollow Bastion itself didn't seem to be in good shape. There were actually a few holes in the ceiling, and many of the walls were crumbling. Sora frowned for a second, wondering what in the Worlds had happened to this place.
A sudden laughter brought him out of his thoughts and he frowned. He turned, and noticed that shadow standing in the shadows.
"You!" he shouted.
The laughter slowly died down, and the figure slowly stepped into the light.
"Just who do you think you-" Sora stopped suddenly, as he could finally get a full view of the shadow.
The shadow was no longer just a shadow. It now had form, a face.
A face that looked just like Sora's.
In fact, this shadow looked like Sora in almost every way. The only difference; the Shadow's hair was jet black, and his eyes were a sharp gold. A smirk was clearly present on his face, obviously enjoying Sora's surprise. The Shadow also wore the form of Sora's dark mode, which was similar to Sora's regular clothes, just primarily black with a bit of red.
"Who am I?" the Shadow laughed. "I'm the dark shadow that still rests within your heart."
"What?" Sora asked. "What are you talking about!"
The Shadow just laughed.
Enraged, Sora drew his blade.
"Hmph," the Shadow muttered, drawing a Keyblade of his own. It appeared in a cloud of darkness, slowly taking shape in his hand. The Keyblade itself was also primarily black and red, a pair of demon's wings forming the hilt, and many red thorns making up the teeth of the blade. The most interesting part about his Keyblade was that it was bound in chains. A string of darkness slowly formed out from the blade itself, and the Shadow took this in his other hand. The string of darkness slowly transformed into a string of chains, which the Shadow immediately began to twirl playfully.
"Now are you going to fight me?" the Shadow laughed. "Or did I come all the way out here for nothing?"
A scream of rage left Sora's lips and he rushed forward, bringing his blade crashing down.
The Shadow only smirked. He dropped his chains and raised his hand, easily stopping Sora's blade. Sora's eyes went wide in shock, realizing this, and he quickly struggled to pull his blade out of the Shadow's grasp. The Shadow held on tightly, still grinning. After moment, however, he simply threw Sora back, and burst out laughing.
"Pathetic!" he taunted. "Is that seriously all you've got? Please tell me it's not, because otherwise my life is going to be very boring."
"Shut up!" Sora shouted, quickly jumping to his feet.
"Shut up? You're telling me to shut up already? This is seriously going to be too easy! I've only just gotten started!"
The Shadow dodged out of the way of another of Sora's attacks and quickly retaliated with quite a few strikes from his own blade, which landed rather nicely.
Sora cried out in pain.
The Shadow only laughed, seeming extremely surprised. "I haven't even started up any of my dark attacks and you're screaming! No wonder why you could never beat Riku."
"What!" Sora shouted. "How do you know about-"
"I am you, idiot," his Shadow replied. "I don't just look like you, I am you."
Sora frowned.
This shadow that's been following me all this time… is… me?
That's crazy!
"Crazy?" the Shadow laughed. "Are you kidding? It makes perfect sense when you think about it hard enough."
And he can hear my thoughts!
That's not fair…
"Leave me alone!" Sora yelled, charging forward again.
The Shadow merely teleported out of the way and then sent his chains lashing out, grabbing on to Sora's leg. He quickly pulled, causing Sora to land flat on his face. Sora groaned and rose to his feet, shaking the chains off of him.
The Shadow only continued to laugh.
"Boy are you weak," he taunted. "Weak! I'm barely even trying over here!"
"What do you want?" Sora asked.
The Shadow paused for a second. "I was trying to drag you back into darkness somehow," he said with a shrug. A wicked grin formed on his face. "But at the rate we're going, it looks like I'm going to end up killing you instead."
Sora rushed forward again, managing to land a few hits. The Shadow jumped out of the way after a moment and sent a few bolts of dark lightning lashing out. Sora gasped in pain and stumbled back.
"Oh! Look at that pain on his face!" the Shadow laughed, clearly enjoying this. "Has poor little Sora never been struck by dark lightning before? Oh wait! No he hasn't."
"Would you quit it?" Sora snapped. "You're getting annoying!"
"Can't a guy have some fun?" the Shadow asked, twirling his chains playfully again.
Sora rushed forward again, ready to strike.
"Apparently not…" the Shadow sighed. He, for once, brought up his blade to block Sora's attack. There was a flurry of strikes and blocks for a bit, as Sora continued to attempt to attack. Eventually the Shadow just got tired of this and teleported out of the way, leaving Sora rather confused.
The Shadow's chains lashed out again, like a whip, catching Sora in the shoulder. Sora turned to him, furious.
The Shadow only smiled. "I bet this battle would be a lot easier for you if you started using some dark attacks," he said.
"I'm not going to use the darkness!" Sora shouted.
"Really now?" the Shadow laughed. "Lame! It would be a lot more fun that way, you know that, right?"
"I'm not giving into the darkness!" Sora insisted.
"I can feel it growing inside of you," the Shadow said, voice quiet. "The darkness. It's rearing up, feeding off all the rage you're throwing at me."
"Shut up!" Sora screamed, charging again.
"I don't think so," his Shadow laughed, throwing his chains out and catching Sora by the waist, easily pulling him to the ground.
Sora groaned.
He's so… strong…
Why is he so strong?
Would it really be easier if I gave into the darkness…?
No! I can't think that!
I won't give into the darkness.
I won't!
But how am I going to get out alive?
I have almost no way of winning this…
The Shadow quietly drew his chains back to him, enjoying Sora's internal struggle. Amusement danced across his face, as Sora practically admitted that he couldn't win this battle. This was going to be easy.
And boring.
He didn't like boring.
"Well… I'll just have to make it more interesting…" the Shadow muttered to himself.
He grinned, getting an idea.
He quickly shot Dark Firaga, which to his surprise Sora blocked with his blade.
"Hey! That's more like it!" the Shadow laughed.
He let the battle play out for a while longer, postponing his plan for the moment. As long as Sora put up a good fight, he could keep himself entertained.
They were currently clashing blades as Sora continued to strike and the Shadow continued to block. Occasionally the Shadow would block with his chains instead, and land a nice hit on Sora. Besides that his chains remained in his left hand, constantly twirling as he blocked Sora's every attack with his blade.
"You're not as bad as I thought you were!" the Shadow said, taking a step back.
He's good at close-ranged combat…
Well, then I just need to gain the upper hand.
The Shadow jumped back, and then unleashed a large amount of dark lightning. Sora quickly dodged out of the way, avoiding many of the strikes. The Shadow continued throwing lightning at him though. Eventually, one would have to hit.
Finally, one did. Sora stumbled, a gasp escaping his mouth. The Shadow grinned and shot another dark lightning bolt, and then another.
A scream escaped Sora's lips as the dark lightning lashed at his back and he fell onto his face. His Keyblade spun out of his reach. He lunged forward to grab it, only to have the Shadow's chains catch him by the wrist. The Shadow slowly pulled, dragging Sora into a sitting position.
"I didn't think so," the Shadow snorted, and then stuck his blade into the ground, restraining Sora.
Sora tried to wriggle free, to no avail. The Shadow waltzed past him, right to his abandoned Keyblade.
"How pathetic," the Shadow muttered, slowly reaching down and picking up the Keyblade. He made sure to take his sweet time about it. "Here you are, trapped, and here I am about to kill you with your own blade."
"Shut up!" Sora shouted, again trying to pull free.
The Shadow just chuckled. "It's not going to work," he laughed. "Enough of you wants this to happen that the rest of you won't be able to break free."
"What are you talking about!" Sora screamed, furious.
The Shadow just laughed, waiting for the realization to hit him.
Sora gasped.
"My darkness…" he whispered. "My darkness wants this…"
"Exactly," the Shadow said, a cocky smile on his face. "Now, if you'll give in, I guess I could let you off the hook."
"Never!" Sora snapped.
The Shadow shrugged. "Have it your way then," he slowly walked over, Keyblade bared.
He's taking his time on purpose, Sora thought bitterly. Just giving me more time to change my mind… He glanced behind him, seeing the Shadow's Keyblade.
"Huh," he muttered. He shifted, and then kicked the blade out of the ground. It flew through the air for a second, before he caught it. He rushed forward, striking through the Shadow.
He burst out laughing, as if the blade didn't even hit him. "You did not want to do that," he laughed.
Sora was about to ask why, when he got his answer. Darkness shot from the Keyblade in his hands to the chains at his wrists to the rest of him, coursing through him like a snake. He gasped, and fell, writhing in pain.
The Shadow just continued to laugh, as he watched, obviously amused. He then summoned his Keyblade to him. The chains let Sora go, but it didn't matter. He was in too much pain to move.
"I guess my job is done," the Shadow shrugged. "See ya!" And he was gone, leaving Sora to writhe in pain.
