"I didn't know you could expand dimensions." Dende had been working with Bulma and Darryl on enhancing the effects of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He had directed his question at Darryl, since the whole thing was Bulma's idea.
"I don't. I'm just a fast learner." While it was true that Darryl was contributing quite a bit, his mind was roaming elsewhere. Distracted. "You can feel it, can't you?" Finally, Darryl couldn't take it anymore. "The Darkness in Thomas' heart, and the guilt in mine." Dende paused for a moment, but nodded. There was no point in hiding it anymore. "It's bad enough that I wasn't able to protect him from his own darkness, its bad enough that I slaughtered all those innocent people, but the fight between us unlocked something inside him. I made it stronger." Darryl was referring to the events that happened in the previous world.
"People make mistakes." Bulma chimed in. She was clearly better at talking to people than Dende was who had resorted to simply looking down in introverted shame. "Hell, my husband used to be one of the biggest baddies we've ever faced. The bad that you've done isn't the important thing. It's how you decide to repent. You can start by sticking by Thomas' side. It's never too late to bring light into the darkness." Bulma's words made him smile quite a bit, for the first time in a while. He would bring Thomas from the darkness, and would start as soon as he got back from his mission with Vegeta.
The two flew off the lookout in silence, with Vegeta leading and Thomas following a little far behind. Vegeta flying very annoyed because Thomas wasn't used to flying yet. The two remained silent for what seemed to be an hour as they were flying to find the dark wizard known as Babidi. "Vegeta right? Tell me, are there any more like you and Goku? Saiyans I think you called it." Thomas asked, finally breaking the silence. Vegeta slowed down almost to a complete stop.
"Kakkarot and I are the last pure blood of our race. We each have children which are half Saiyan- half Earthling. Now if you're done with the questions we can hurry up and end this little journey." Vegeta said with the same angered voice he had on the tower.
"He's stronger than you isn't he?" Thomas muttered.
"What was that?" Vegeta replied clenching his fist in Thomas's face.
The two stared each other down for a moment. "Goku or Kakka- kakaa- carrot top whatever you called him. He's stronger than you isn't he?" Thomas said once more, as he could see Vegeta's anger rising.
"You idiotic fuck! I am Vegeta! Prince of all Saiyans! Kakkarot is a clown; he only wishes his power would rival my own". Vegeta cried as his aura began to flare up, Thomas noticed this and the aura of his keyblades began to swarm around his hands.
"Then why did he talk down to you earlier? Almost like you were nothing to him." Thomas continued egging him on, fueling his anger. "Why from where I'm standing you don't look that powerful at all. I'm sure that I could take you wi-"Vegeta disappeared from sight. Thomas extended his hands to summon his keyblades, just as his hands began to glow; Vegeta appeared out the corner of his eye.
As Vegeta cocked his arm back for a haymaker, in that brief moment Thomas noticed that golden aura appear around him again as it did on the lookout. He also noticed his eyes turn from black to a greenish blue color. Vegeta's punch then connected and sent Thomas flying down in a spiral towards the ground where he then crashed and created a crater. "Okay ow. What the fuck? How am I not dead?" Thomas questioned as he stood up rubbing his face. He then summoned his keyblades, looking up to see Vegeta descending down towards him with his arms folded.
"You're not dead because I barely put any power into that one. That should teach you to mock me boy." Vegeta said with a smirk on his face with that golden aura around him.
"Wha- barely any power…geez I can only imagine the beatings his kid gets when he acts up." Thomas muttered to himself. "What's with the gold aura and the fact that you became a blonde in a split second… and are those colored contacts... Gay."
"What you see before you is the most powerful transformation in the universe, this is a Super Saiyan. And I, Prince Vegeta am the strongest there is in the universe!" He proclaimed.
"I'm not sure if it's healthy to talk in the third person as much as you do. But enough of that back to the fighting!" Thomas said as he charged for Vegeta and began swinging his keyblades at him; Vegeta began dodging them effortlessly, barely moving and still keeping his arms folded. "Aw c'mon that's just not right! Wait I got it!" Thomas said as he jumped back lifted his Chaos Star keyblade into the air. "Dimension blade!" He cried as he slashed down, ripping a hole in dimension then jumping through it. Vegeta seemed unimpressed with his facial expression barely changing. He closed his eyes, as he awaited Thomas's attack. Thomas opened up the rip right above Vegeta, as he was falling preparing to strike, Vegeta lifted his arms and opened his hands, pointing both of his palms at Thomas as they began to glow bright yellow. "Oh fuck." Thomas said as he was blasted in the face and back into the portal he was coming out of, and out of the original one he went into. "Okay! I'm not sure how that's physically possible, but okay." Thomas said as he sat up and realized his Shattered Dreams keyblade began to glow, in one of the shards of the blade it showed when Vegeta transformed into super Saiyan. Thomas' eyes began to glow while staring at it.
"Are you done yet? Can we end this now and get back to the fucking task at ha-"Vegeta began to say until he felt a cold sweat run down the back of his neck. "Whe-where is this power coming from, it feels just like mine yet different." He turned to see the golden aura flowing around Thomas. "H-how is this possible? You're not a Saiyan… Are you?"
"I don't think so, but I've got the power of one now." Thomas said with a smirk as he looked up at Vegeta, his eyes now the same color as his, but his hair remained the same black.
Thomas began to hover off the ground before charging for Vegeta. "Enough!" A small voice cried out, Thomas paused in mid-flight and turned to see a yellow-green bug with an elongated head, and bulgy eyes in a somewhat robe.
"GIANT TALKING CRICKET!" Thomas cried as he prepared to throw his keyblade at him.
"Wait you idiot!" Vegeta said finally snapping out of his awe. "That's the wizard Babidi."
"Ah I see you've remembered me Vegeta." Babidi said with a smile as he took a bow. Vegeta looked annoyed as ever as he raised his hand and pointed it at Babidi.
"What say we end this now and get back to our lives already bug?"
"B-but Vegeta wouldn't you like one more chance to prove you really are stronger than Goku?" Babidi offered with a devilish grin. Vegeta lowered his hand.
"You're not gonna listen to this fucking cricket are you Vegeta?" Thomas questioned as Babidi turned his attention towards him.
"And you there, wouldn't you be interested In knowing it was me all along pushing both your buttons and setting up that little skirmish." Thomas sighed and decided to hear the evil wizard out. "Mmm I can feel darkness in you too boy, how about I give you both the power you desire? Vegeta can go and defeat Goku, now that I see Saiyans are capable of going beyond a level than super Saiyan 2. And I give you the power to defeat the one your heart yearns to fight eh?" He said as he could see the expressions of the two become more willing. They both nodded as Babidi placed his spell upon the two. Both Thomas and Vegeta began to cry out in agony as this new power overwhelmed them, Vegeta's hair began to grow longer as lightning began to form around him as it did Thomas. They both stood up from their transformation; Vegeta now with a dark "M" on his forehead instantly flew off in search of Goku. Thomas with the same "M" on his forehead remained with Babidi for a moment. "Now Thomas who is the one your heart is yearning to fight?" Babidi questioned as Thomas looked up towards the direction the lookout was at, as the "M" on his forehead began transform into what appeared to be an "A" with a circle around it. "Hmm that's odd, what does that mean?" Babidi asked as he looked up at Thomas.
"Anarchy." Thomas replied as he stabbed Babidi with his shattered dreams keyblade. "I'll absorb some of your energy to make sure Vegeta stays in his Majin form." Thomas replied as he took his keyblade out of the wizard's chest and flew towards the lookout.
"There we go, it's finished. We just need to get some test subjects, and we should be able to freely enter in and out as many times as we want, with as many people as we want. After they've been in for twenty-four hours, there will just be a week waiting period before you can re enter. In theory at least." Bulma explained with a grin. She was quite proud of her work.
"He's back." Darryl looked to see Thomas walking towards him. Darryl decided to meet him outside to tell him the good news, and to explain that he knew about his darkness. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Thomas walking toward him; keyblades drawn and a weird symbol on his head that looked like a mix between an "A" and an "O". Thomas lunged at Darryl, who quickly jumped back to escape the blow.
"Fight me! Here and now, no interruptions. No one to stop us."
"What are you talking about, Thomas I don't want to f-"
"Shut up! I can feel it just as well as you can. You've always wanted this. To see if you could knock the darkness out of me. To test the strength of our bond. To see if you are as strong as you need to be to protect everyone. Purify me Darryl! Let's see the strength of your soul!"
"Is Babidi controlling you?" Darryl summoned his keyblade in a swirl of water. Thomas was right. He did want this. It was the only way he could think of to save Thomas from himself.
"Please. You can't control Anarchy." Thomas threw his Chaos Star keyblade and was right upon Darryl as he dodged it. Thinking quickly, Darryl kicked his massive keyblade at Thomas and back flipped out of the way. As the two regained their keyblades, they became locked in a furious battle. Thomas struck Darryl more times than Thomas was struck, but Darryl's strikes held more power.
"You don't have to do everything alone!" Darryl shot Thomas with a beam of water that Thomas proceeded to split in half.
"You could never understand that I do! You, a prince born with everything would never understand what it's like to be born into nothing!" Thomas struck Darryl hard on both sides of his torso. "To have to strive for everything!" Thomas sent Darryl sliding across the ground. "To be a commoner!" Thomas charged after the recovering Darryl. "But that's where Anarchy comes in. Everyone has to strive for everything. No one runs the city because everyone runs the city. No rules, no inhibitions, only survival." Thomas got right next to Darryl, and suddenly his eyes shifted to a blue-green color and he gained a bright, yellow flame aura. "The wheels of fate are turning! Will you survive?" Thomas landed a powerful, Super command style enhanced blow that knocked Darryl into a pillar and out of sight. "Get back up! You aren't that weak." Thomas was met with a torrent of water shots that were launched from Darryl's safe location.
"Water Herald!" Darryl unleashed his Water Herald command style to combat Thomas' Super command style. Thomas flew at Darryl, whom was surfing on water to meet him. Thomas strikes caused a small flare of his aura to hit Darryl, while Darryl's strikes carried a wave of water with them. The two fought like animals. No dodging. No blocking. Just striking one another; their command styles getting stronger and stronger with each blow.
"Let's finish with this!" Thomas jumped back and held both of his keyblades out to his side. Two large, energy balls formed at the tip of each keyblade, and he then slammed his weapons parallel to one another and proceeded to thrust them forward. "Lion's Final Flash!" Thomas shot out a massive, yellow beam that had a Lion's head and slammed into Darryl; propelling him into the sky. When the attack ended, Darryl began dropping towards the ground.
"Tsunami Wave Train!" Darryl began spinning in mid air as water rushed near his bloodied body. "Bigger!" The wave grew in size. "Bigger! Bigger!" The wave towered over Darryl, and he sent it flying towards Thomas and hit him with a furious power. When the attack ended, Darryl and Thomas both looked battle-worn and were staring each other down. "Have you woken up yet?" Between pants, Darryl managed to ask.
"This is the first time I've been truly awake. Let me show you the power of my determination." Thomas was engulfed in crimson light. When it faded, Thomas had taken on a different appearance. His entire body was glowing red, with his hair slightly standing up. His eyes were white with no pupils and the symbol on his head had been glowing white instead of black. Silver, broken chains were wrapped around his arms and legs. "Anarchy Drive form!" Darryl could tell he was in trouble. A drive form that sacrificed magic for a huge boost in physical abilities and access to dark and fire magic could be trouble. The only upside was that he was cut off from other magic and he had weaker defenses. And suddenly, he was beside Darryl.
"Too fast..." Darryl barely had time to finish his sentence.
"Know terror." Thomas' attack nearly knocked Darryl unconscious; propelling across the floor with the grace of a rag doll.
"Fine." Once Darryl recovered, he went down on all fours. "The power of my loyalty." Thomas rushed towards Darryl, but was knocked back when a bolt of lightning struck his opponent. Darryl let out a fierce roar, while he was in his new form. His clothes were white with black stripes, as was his hair, and his eyes were golden with tiger slits. His Tiger Drive form was fast enough to keep up with Thomas but his power was lowered a bit. His powerful lightning magic and long combos would hopefully make up for it though. He no longer held his keyblade, but rather it floated behind him like a tail. "Come at me!"
Thomas charged for Darryl, using his new speed, which Darryl was keeping up with in his new drive form; the two clashed, matching attack for attack. Thomas, with a little more power to his, was staggering Darryl more. "Do you feel it Darryl? Do you feel the anarchy growing inside yourself? Is it corrupting you yet?" Thomas questioned while he attacked, kicking Darryl into a wall.
"No, I'm loyal to our friendship, Thomas; I will save you from your own darkness. It's not too late Thomas." Darryl cried out as he flipped off the wall and went back on the offensive. "Lunar Storm!" Darryl cried as his keyblade shot spheres of light right above and around Thomas. Each then shot out barrages of lightning. Thomas began bobbing and weaving between the blasts.
"You're gonna have to do better than that prince." He said with a smirk, letting his guard down and being struck by the lightning spheres. Albeit they only seemed to slightly affect him. Darryl looked upon Thomas from a ledge as he waited for the smoke to clear but to his surprise, Thomas was gone. He began scanning the area, keeping his guard up the entire time.
"Thomas let's end this."
"Let's!" Thomas's voice echoed around Darryl.
"Show yourself!" Darryl cried out to Thomas, still unaware of his location.
"Your wish is my command, prince. Lion's Assault: Anarchist wave!" Thomas yelled as the ledge that Darryl was upon exploded with crimson energy, launching Darryl into the air as Thomas appeared from the rubble, darting towards Darryl, and preceded to hit him with a 10 hit combo before knocking him towards the ground. "Do you see the difference in our power Darryl? Your so called light you keep trying to shine on me, to save me from myself appears to be snuffing out. Accept anarchy, embrace anarchy." Thomas said, while Darryl, still plummeting towards the ground regained his composure and stopped himself before collision. The two hovered in the air with their eyes locked. Darryl stood up and his drive form released, he was now holding his keyblade regularly now.
"I'll never embrace it, we're friends Thomas. You're like my brother… Does this mean nothing to you?"
"Brothers?" Thomas repeated with confusion in his voice. "N-No, I don't need you or any of the rest of them. I'm the strongest! I'll prove it! You can't possibly expect to win, let alone survive this fight without one of your drive forms." Thomas said with anger pointing his keyblade towards Darryl. He simply remained still, staring up at him, gripping his keyblade even tighter. "Transform now and finish this fight Darryl! This has to happen; this fight has been sparked since the moment we met. Let's truly see which of us is better." He said, yet Darryl still remained silent and motionless, only staring. "Answer me! Fucking answer me!" Thomas cried as he spread his arms apart, holding his keyblades then slammed them together. A light blinded them both; Darryl trying to shield his eyes with his arms. The light faded and he looked upon Thomas in awe. "This… this will be what I use to defeat you. This keyblade will end it all." Thomas said admiring his new keyblade, The keyblade was a black combination of both his Chaos Star and Shattered Dreams, the stained glass on shattered dreams now held images of stars and exploding stars, the end of the blade was a crimson red star with black cracks in it, the hilt appeared to made up of nothing but stars; a small nebula. "I call it, Harbinger. For it shall bring in your defeat and everyone else that stands in my way. Now Darryl, do you still see me as a brother? If so then know this, one brother is leaving this battle." Thomas said as his golden aura became infused with crimson as he stare at Darryl with a devilish grin.
"Thomas, please! Don't do this!" Darryl could barely get the words out before Thomas vanished from sight. "Where..." Darryl's thoughts explored every possible angle of attack that Thomas could utilize, before settling on the fact that Thomas would come from behind. In response, he began to summon water to rush towards him, but he was too late. Thomas was upon him just as the water formed a barrier around him, and knocked Darryl back several feet.
"Where are you looking?" Darryl slid to a stop, only to hear Thomas' voice whisper in his ear. His new form had given him a massive speed boost, along with the newfound power of his keyblade made him a force to reckon with. "Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Pestilence." An orb of Darkness slammed into Darryl's back from Thomas' new keyblade and propelled him across the battlefield and into a nearby tree. Oddly enough, even though the orb had disappeared, he still was feeling the pain of the blow. "You like? That pain will stay with you for a while...like a sickness." Darryl couldn't even stand because the pain was too intense.
"I've failed you Thomas...I think I'm at my wits end." Darryl beat his fist into the ground in tears. His eyes turned crimson as his tears slowly began to dry; the whites of his eyes turning black and he became consumed with a dark aura. And then he shifted to his Demon drive form. "You know something, Thomas." Thomas tilted his head in confusion at his rival's newfound power. It radiated an evil that was not unlike Thomas' own current evil; even his voice sounded consumed with darkness. "Fuck the light." It was Thomas' turn to be surprise attacked as Darryl shifted into the ground and became a shadow; appearing behind him and tapped Thomas on the shoulder so he'd turn. "Amaterasu." Darryl's attacked hit Thomas square in the chest and turned him into a black fireball of death that flew into a tree. If it wasn't for Thomas' resistance to dark and fire techniques, he would still be ablaze.
"Now we're getting somewhere! Doesn't it feel good? To feel the sweet embrace of mother Nyx? To relish in the killing intent that naturally resides in all of us?" Thomas swung his keyblade in a circle.
"Shut up." Darryl had traveled in the shadows and appeared behind Thomas, but he was ready this time. He whipped around to block the move and locked their keyblades together.
"Make me." Thomas etched a grin upon his face, which Darryl returned. "Dark..." Thomas jumped back out of the stalemate.
"Shadow..." Darryl's keyblade glowed and his own shadow began to lift off the ground.
"...Ragnarok!" Thomas charged at Darryl and began slashing his keyblade at Darryl.
"...dance!" Darryl swung his keyblade, while the shadows began to block the strikes from Thomas' barrage. The two blades finally met with an explosion of dark energy that blew both of them to opposite sides of the arena. "What am I doing...I can't face Thomas like this. I'm encouraging his darkness instead of restraining it. Focus Darryl...focus." Darryl emerged from the rubble, back to his normal self.
"What is this? Giving up already?" Thomas looked almost disappointed that Darryl had returned to normal. "You're so pathetic, it bores me. Why do you keep running from this fight?"
"Running?" Darryl gripped his keyblade tight. "No, I won't quit. I won't run. Even if I have to destroy my body in the process, I will save you Thomas." A light from the sky blasted down at Darryl as he transformed into his Angel drive form. Thomas simply rolled his eyes.
"You're getting on my nerves with your idealistic shit. I don't need to be saved. I'm not one of your subjects. Spare me the lectures, I'd rather you just curl over and die." Darryl interrupted Thomas from talking any further by teleporting beside him.
"Lig-" Thomas flung his right hand over Darryl's mouth and gripped tight.
"Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Famine." Thomas began sucking energy from Darryl to use as his own. His plan backfired however; Darryl's pure light drive energy actually damaged his body rather than healing it. "Son of a b-" When Thomas released Darryl to escape the pain; he was hit with a beam of light in the torso.
"Halo Wave!" Not wasting any time, Darryl aimed his keyblade at the recovering Thomas and a halo of light formed around his keyblade.
"No you don't!" Thomas managed to recover and charge at Darryl before he could pull the move off. "Harbinger of the Apocalypse: War!" Thomas unleashed a vicious combo, slamming into Darryl with his keyblade at least twice in every limb and his torso, before finishing the move with a swipe that exploded in Darryl's face. If he didn't use the aura from his Angel Drive wings to block the attack at the last minute, he probably would be missing a limb right now.
"Halo Wave, fire!" Despite the onslaught of attacks, Darryl didn't release the energy from the attack he charged up and because of that he was able to catch Thomas off guard. He was consumed with a large wave of light that exposed Thomas to constant light energy; the weakness of any form centered on darkness.
"That the best you got?" Thomas sprung to his feet, injured but still able to fight. His drive form got stronger the longer the fight dragged on against the same opponent, so it was perfect for situations such as this.
"Damn. I can't win like this. I've only got one option at this point...but can I do it? With so little energy left, and its such a big risk. Unless I let him..." Darryl had reached a conclusion in his own head. He knew how to end the battle. Meanwhile, Thomas had been charging up his energy for an attack that seemed to be powerful. But Darryl remained unraveled. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for him. He watched Thomas charge him. He watched Thomas get right up on him. "Harbinger of the Apocalypse: Death!" He tapped Darryl's heart, head, and throat with his keyblade and each formed a head of Cerberus upon them; infused with dark energy. Darryl's smiled brought a look of confusion upon Thomas' face. He had let that attack hit him. But surely he knew...he knew what that would bring.
"Celestial Deliverance!" Darryl placed a hand over Thomas' heart and poured all of the light energy he could into it. He poured his very spirit into his heart, which traveled into the depths of Thomas' own soul. Thomas' soul was caged in by darkness, looking frail and emasculated. He had lost the fight to the darkness, and needed to be saved. Darryl's own soul destroyed the cage that held Thomas' soul and extended a hand towards it. "I'm here. I told you I'd come get you." Thomas soul touched Darryl's and it instantly became engulfed in a warming light.
"What?" Thomas' body had returned to his base form, as did Darryl's. "You saved me..." Thomas quickly began panicking when he saw the marks of Cerberus didn't fade. "Darryl! Why did you take that attack?! You could have moved! Or counteratta-"
"It was the only way." Darryl had been smiling the whole time. "I told you, I'd gladly give my life to save yours. But I guess this is goodbye for me. Protect everyone, okay? Don't let me die in vain." Thomas reached out for Darryl, but the marks of Cerberus began to glow a bright red, before they caused Darryl's heart, head, and throat be skewered by numerous spears of darkness. He fell limp and towards Thomas' arms, which were extended out to catch him, before his body faded away. Thomas had been brought back from the darkness, at the cost of Darryl's life.