Aqua and Rain flew in with fast towards Seeker as he stood atop the tall rock mesa that Xehanort had formed eleven years ago during his and Vanitas's battle with Ven, Terra, and Aqua. Rain had her Keyblade form in her hands while Aqua flew in with Mark of Mastery. Seeker spot them and raised a pair of his glowing blue swords in time to block them, causing Aqua and Rain to flip over his head and land on the opposite side of the mesa. They quickly spun back towards him, Rain dismissing her Keyblade form and allowing the ice blades to form over her hands.

"Well, I must say that I am surprised that the two of you are to be my opponents in this battle." Seeker said as he pulled back his hood, revealing his mimicry of a young Master Xehanort.

"Don't be too flattered, Seeker. We're here to put an end to Vanitas's plans." Rain replied as she and Aqua dropped into their respective battle stances.

"Oh I wouldn't be too sure of that. You see, no matter what you do at this juncture, this battle will result in Vanitas's reawakening into the worlds, wielding the greatest Keyblade known to exist. The X-Blade." Seeker said with a grin.

"We're not going to let that happen, Seeker! As a Master of the Keyblade, I will not let Vanitas return to the worlds!" Aqua replied but Seeker gave a malicious chuckle.

"Why you poor blind little soul. Everything that has happened has all been according to Vanitas's plan. He's had three whole months to prepare this plan and at this point in the game…there's nothing that can be done to stop it." Seeker said with a laugh. He quickly had to deflect a blade of ice that came flying towards him from Rain's sleeve.

"Enough talk, Seeker…this ends now." Rain said with a scowl. (Battle Music Cue: Otherworld – Final Fantasy X OST) (A/N: I'll explain why I chose this battle theme at the end of the chapter.)

"Oh, and what are you going to do about it girl? Throw snowballs at me?" Seeker asked but Rain reached for her glasses, her eyes turning into cat-like slits. Her clothing also turned red, flames appearing on her hands.

"Aqua, let me take care of him. You need to save your strength for the Master." Rain said as Aqua watched in unseen awe at what happened. Rain pulled off her glasses, causing a mighty burst of flames to appear around her. When the flames died down, she had undergone a drastic change. She now had long flowing red hair that went down to her waist like a mane. Her skin was a fiery red along with her eyes. She also had a pair of large demonic looking horns that were curved up and towards her back. Her arms and legs were now well toned and muscular and her hands were now like feral claws. Her shoes had burst open, revealing a pair of clawed hound like feet.

"What did you-?" Aqua asked in awe. Rain smirked as she glanced at her Heart-Bound.

"I am channeling all my fire magic into this form…I call this form, Ifrit form." Rain replied, causing heat vapors to appear from her mouth with every word. When she exhaled through her nostrils, heat vapors could be seen. (A/N: this is an homage to the reoccurring Final Fantasy Summon, Ifrit. I have Ifrit's Final Fantasy X appearance in mind when making the visual modifications to Rain's appearance.)

"Then let's see if your words aren't just full of hot air." Seeker grinned before he hurled one of his glowing blue swords towards her. Rain quickly spun to the side, dodging the sword which disappeared. However when she spun back towards Seeker, she opened her mouth and caused a massive stream of flames to fire towards him. Seeker quickly threw up a Guard Wall, (the spell Xemnas had used in his human form battles) just in time to deflect the flames around him, sending them flying in all directions. When the attack ended, the wall went down and Seeker grinned.

"Is that all you've got?" Seeker asked with a grin before dodging a Blizzaga blast from Aqua.

"There's two of us here you know." Aqua said before Seeker grinned again.

"Oh I'm well aware of that." Seeker said before he hurled another sword at her but the sword was intercepted by a fireball and knocked away.

"Aqua, I mean no disrespect…but you're in my way." Rain said as Aqua nodded silently before performing a cartwheel off the mesa and onto her Keyblade Rider, taking to the sky and circling around the mesa to watch.

"So, what now Rainfall? You going to try and burn me to pieces?" Seeker asked mockingly as he coupled his swords together into a single double blade. Rain snorted, a flicker of flames exiting her nose upon doing so.

"That…and more." She replied before she was suddenly engulfed in flames, clinching her fists at her sides with her eyes shut. Seeker stood his ground as Rain unleashed a powerful wave of fire that consumed the entire mesa in a column of flames. Aqua had to throw up a Reflega to keep out the heat even. She had used a move called Hellfire. When the flames died down, Rain's Ifrit form had vanished and she stood looking a little ragged. Seeker was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly however, a Corridor of Darkness opened and closed, revealing Seeker standing with his arms crossed.

"Missed." He chuckled as Rain's eyes widened in shock for a moment before narrowing in anger. Her clothes then turned yellow and volts of electricity appeared around her fists. The cloud filled sky above started flashing with light as thunder boomed mere seconds apart.

"Alright…then how does this strike you?" She asked angrily as dozens of lightning bolts struck her instantly. When the lightning stopped, it revealed Rain with a single horn on her forehead that was curved upward in the middle but curved back forward to end in a straight point. Her hair was long and white like a horse's mane. She had large patches of white fur on her shoulders, around her wrists and her legs and feet had transformed into black horse legs and white hooves. Her clothes were still yellow but her pants had been heavily torn.

"Ixion form!" Rain shouted before thrusting her head forward, firing bolts of lightning at Seeker who deflected the shots and started charging towards her. She quickly leapt up with her legs pulled back before kicking him in the chest with both hooves, nearly sending him over the edge of the mesa. As he precariously attempted to retain his balance at the very edge of the cliff, he looked and saw Rain leap into the air, her feet pulled back again but sparking with electricity.

"It's hammer time, Seeker!" Rain shouted as she came down onto the mesa with a crash that sounded like thunder, sending up a mushroom cloud of dust. She had used a move called Thor's Hammer. Aqua watched silently as the dust cleared. When it finally did settle, Rain's Ixion form had vanished as well and now she was alone on the mesa…but not for long. (End Battle Music)

"Rain LOOK OUT!" Aqua exclaimed. Rain spun around just in time to be run through the stomach by Seeker.

"Nice try, Rain." Seeker grinned but Rain's stunned expression turned to anger again.

"Same…to you." She grimaced as her clothes turned blue and she became enveloped within a block of ice. Seeker's arm was stuck in the ice as well and he was struggling to get free but to no avail. When the ice finally shattered, His feet had been frozen in place but now Rain had shifted to yet a different form. Her shirt had been torn off from just above the stomach, revealing her midriff and her pants were now just a pair of makeshift shorts. Her skin had turned a pale blue and her hair had become dark blue and reached well below her waist but tied in a number of large dreadlocks.

"Shiva form." She said as she grabbed Seeker by the wrist, keeping his sword embedded through her. Seeker realized her intention with widened eyes. Rain glanced up at Aqua who hovered around to look at her from the front. Aqua's helmet vanished, revealing a stunned and hurt expression.

"Rain." She whispered as she realized what Rain was thinking. Time seemed to slow down as Rain smiled up at her, an icy tear running down her cheek. A sudden torrent of cold white-blue energy started swirling around both Rain and Seeker as Rain prepared to use her final move…Diamond Dust.

"Thank you." She whispered before the white-blue energy formed a thick dome over the mesa before the energy vanished, revealing a solid dome of ice that covered the whole mesa. The ice was so thick that Aqua couldn't see a thing within it. In her heart, she sensed Rain had returned to her Keyblade form, sacrificing her human form in a final display of loyalty to her Heart-Bound. Aqua allowed a tear to run down her cheek as she smiled.

"Thank you, Rain." Aqua said before she turned her Keyblade Rider around and start flying towards the castle in the distance.

Meanwhile…

Terra had turned sharply and was flying down towards Mark who noticed his sudden change in course. He quickly raised his sword before Terra slammed into him, his Keyblade back in its normal form. The sheer force of the attack shoved the two of them across the sand covered ground on their feet until they finally stopped a quarter of a mile from where Mark was once standing.

"Back for round two, are we?" Mark asked as Terra snarled.

"I'm going to put an end to you right now! I won't let you continue to defile Master Eraqus's memory anymore!" Terra replied as he dropped into his Zantetsuken stance, the pink cherry blossom petals of energy appearing. Mark braced himself for the attack but it made no difference, Terra vanished in a blur, dealing a devastating blow to the Keyblade Villain. Mark clutched his side with a grunt of agony.

"Curse you, Heart-Bound." He grimaced through clinched teeth. Terra had gotten the drop on him and Mark was paying dearly for it.

"I'm going to make this quick for you, but first I want to know one thing. Why do you want me to succumb to the Darkness?" Terra asked, both he and Mark facing away from each other. He then heard Mark start laughing with a dark tone.

"Why? The answer is simple. It's so you won't be a problem when the true master reawakens." Mark replied.

"Vanitas? Not gonna happen." Terra said as Mark chuckled and the blade of his sword shrank down slightly to half length.

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure of that. His heart is already waiting for just the right moment." Mark said as he positioned the sword over his own chest as if he were about to run himself through. Terra's eyes widened at the comment.

"Where? Where is he?" Terra asked as he spun around in time to see Mark stab himself in the chest with his sword. Mark started to glow with a grey aura as he grinned.

"That…I'm afraid…will have to remain my little secret." Mark said with a chuckle before he threw back his head and started laughing, his laughter continuing even as his body became nothing but shimmering white sparks of energy that started rising up towards the cloudy sky, leaving Terra to himself with a stunned expression on his face.

Elsewhere…

Kairi, Ion (in his ninjato form), and Keep landed on the ground near Beco who turned towards them with a bored expression.

"Oh…lucky me. The Princess and the Sibling Blades. How wonderful." Beco said sarcastically in her usual bored tone. Ion and Keep immediately switched places, Keep taking her sword form while Ion returned to human form.

"What's with you, Beco. Why do you seem so lethargic all the time?" Ion asked as Beco shrugged.

"Beats me. However, I must admit, I am excited about what will happen soon." Beco said as a small yet sinister smile appeared on her face.

"Why? What's going to happen soon?" Kairi asked. Beco chuckled delightedly.

"The moment that all four of my cohorts and I have been waiting eagerly for. The reawakening of Vanitas." Beco replied as she stretched her arms up towards the sky as if basking in glory.

"We won't allow that to happen. We'd die before that happens!" Ion replied as Beco chuckled darkly.

"Ah, but that's the point. It just so happens that the second we knew that the X-Blade fragments had been purged from the Princess's heart that we were to make sure that the Princess herself was…removed, from the equation entirely." Beco said as a pair of Samurai Nobody swords appeared in her hands. (Battle Music Cue: Revenge of Chaos – KH Re: Chain of Memories OST)

"Kairi, we're not going to let her harm you." Ion said as he dropped into his battle stance.

"And I'm not going to just stand idly by and let you get yourselves hurt in the process." Kairi replied as she too dropped into her battle stance.

"Then we'll take her together. Ready Keep?" Ion asked as Keep's sword form glowed.

"Ready, Ion!" Keep replied. Before they could blink, Beco had vanished in a flash of light. Ion instinctively raised Keep's sword form in time to block Beco as she came down on them with a Dragoon Nobody's lance.

"Nice reflexes there, Ion." Beco said with a bemused smirk.

"You forget, that you're not the only Keyblade whose original Heart-Bound was a Nobody." Ion replied before swinging the sword, and launching Beco into the air. Before she could react, she saw a barrage of Holy spheres flying up towards her. The spheres impacted on the hapless Keyblade, causing her to crash into the ground.

"Um, Ion, I thought that her Heart-Bound was actually a Replica of Sora that thought she was a Nobody." Keep said as Ion gave an exasperated sigh.

"You really want to discuss this now, Keep?" Ion asked before using her sword form to block a retaliatory barrage of red bolts of energy as Beco double-wielded a pair of Sniper Nobody guns. Kairi quickly leapt in the bolts path and used her special "Holy Reflega" (A/N: That's what I chose to call it) to protect both herself and the Sibling Blades. The resulting burst of Holy spheres launched themselves towards Beco who sighed in frustration.

"Not again." She grumbled before getting hit head on by the spell. Ion quickly leapt up and charged at her but was suddenly knocked back when Beco recovered and summoned a Berserker Nobody's possessed hammer, causing it to bounce up and down rapidly towards the Sibling Blades. Kairi quickly cast Thundaga, striking Beco on the top of the head, dazing her for a second.

"Nice shot." Ion said as Kairi shrugged.

"It just kinda came to me." She replied innocently. They then saw Beco disappear into the ground. Ion froze when this occurred.

"Watch your back, she might reappear any second now." Ion said as Kairi stood poised and ready for anything. None of them noticed as a pair of Assassin Nobody blade arms rose up from out of the ground behind Kairi. However, Kairi suddenly cast Firaga Shield, the swirling fireballs taking Beco by surprise and knocking her out of the ground. Kairi and Ion spun towards her.

"We've got you now!" Ion exclaimed as he raised his sword but he froze when he noticed Kairi was glowing with white light.

"Ion, let me do this." Kairi said as Ion smirked.

"She's all yours, Princess." Ion said as Keep reverted to her human form on his back and started beating on his head.

"We're-not-going-to-fight-any-more?-What-are-you-thinking?" Keep asked as she continued beating on his head but he didn't even flinch.

"Watch and learn, sister." Ion replied with a smile. Kairi suddenly started floating a couple of inches off the ground as she continued to glow with light. She suddenly slid forward, gliding gracefully over the ground as if she were using Sora's Wisdom Drive Form. Beco snarled and summoned the Sorcerer Nobody's pink magic cubes but Kairi raised her Keyblade and with a single swing, shattered the cubes and nearly hit Beco had she not leapt backwards.

"Wh-wha-what is this?" Beco asked in fear as Kairi continued sliding towards her.

"It's my Unique Tier One Command Style…Rising Sun!" Kairi replied as she swung her Keyblade across in front of her, firing five Holy spheres at once that launched towards Beco at lightning fast speeds. However, instead of exploding on impact, they became stuck to Beco where they impacted. Beco tried to pry the spheres off but to no avail. Kairi started firing more Holy spheres until finally she raised her Keyblade up into the air, causing the symbol of a giant glowing crisp white heart to appear in the air behind her. (A/N: Think the heart design as seen on the Kingdom Hearts logo).

"This is for Des." Kairi said before the glow from the Holy spheres suddenly intensified before consuming Beco in a single radiant pillar of crisp and clean light. When the light faded, all that remained of Beco was her Keyblade form, hovering in midair before it disappeared in a swirl of black and white thorns. (End battle music) The glow around Kairi had vanished along with her armor's helmet as Ion and Keep approached.

"Is that it? Is she gone?" Keep asked curiously. Ion nodded silently before replying.

"Yes…Beco has returned to Sora's heart, where she belongs." Ion said as Kairi turned towards him with a smile on her face.

"Then that means Sora's gotten stronger right?" Kairi asked as Ion nodded again but this time with a smile.

"Yes…yes he has." Ion said. They then saw King Mickey approaching in the distance.

"Your highness!" Kairi exclaimed as she and the Sibling Blades hurried towards him.

"Kairi! Glad to see you won against Two Become One." Mickey said with a smile.

"Yeah. I discovered my tier one Command Style too." Kairi said as Mickey smiled even wider.

"Hot dog! Way to go Kairi!" Mickey said.

"Your highness, what of the Master's hired henchman, Pete? What has become of him?" Ion asked as Mickey crossed his arms with a sly smirk.

"Oh Pete's been taken care of. Donald and Goofy are keeping him prisoner while the others finish up with the remaining Unversed." Mickey replied.

Back on the front lines…

Pete was being dangled by his ankles upside down near the ground from a nearby cliff ledge while Donald and Goofy remained posted on either side of him.

"Ouch." Pete moaned as his bruises from his battle with King Mickey continued to sting.

"Oh quit your whining Pete." Goofy said as Donald nodded.

"Yeah, you brought this on yourself." Donald said. Pete simply moaned in pain again as a response. Hope then approached, catching his breath.

"Good news, we just heard that three of the Keyblade bad guys are dead." Hope said between breaths.

"Well that's good news." Goofy said with a smile.

"It's far from over though. Sora and the Kingdom Key are still dealing with the Dark Kingdom Key. Once they're down then all they've got left is-…" Hope said, his sentence dropping off as he noticed Donald and Goofy both looking around curiously.

"Say, ya hear that?" Goofy asked. Hope started to listen carefully and then he heard it. It was hard to hear over the sounds of battle nearby, but he could still hear it clearly. It sounded like something large breaking. Hope then saw several small chunks of some form of solid white stuff fall down from overhead. He looked up and saw what the source of it was and his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Look!" He exclaimed as he pointed to the top of the nearby mesa where the ice dome from Rain's Diamond Dust attack was shaking, the ice starting to crack and break. Suddenly from the very top of the dome, a blade of blue energy burst up from within the ice, causing the ice around it to crack and break until the entire ice dome shattered, revealing a still very alive Seeker underneath. He was panting heavily and he was getting oddly blurry and occasionally became transparent. He then started to grin as he caught his breath.

"All…according…to plan." He said as his eyes went from their insidious Xehanort mimicking yellow to a distinguishing shade of cyan blue with cat-like slits.

End Chapter 36.

A/N: Okay, the reason I chose Otherworld from Final Fantasy X to be the song that played while Rain and Seeker battled was to reference Rain's use of the three Final Fantasy Summons in battle. All three of the summons used played a major role in Final Fantasy X and I had their FFX designs in mind when describing them. On a similar note, I am a happy Dissidia fan because the FF Wiki has revealed that Yuna is one of the new characters for Dissidia 012 and she fights using the summons from FFX which looks AMAZING! She may end up becoming my favorite character to play as in that game…when it's released that is. (Cannot wait until March 22nd)