Larxene carried the unconscious body of Sora over her shoulder, emerging from a dark portal into a darkened, enclosed space. Her eyes struggled to adjust to the dim light, but there were enough features here to be a dead giveaway. "You brought us here?" she sneered, her voice betraying how put-upon she felt as she laid Sora's body out against a wall.
Kara stepped out behind Larxene before the portal vanished, holding her blue and glass keyblade, on guard just in case, "Sora needs to be in this place, I'm sure of it. Something important will happen soon."
Larxene's eyes narrowed with suspicion, but she didn't comment on it. Instead she took stake of the new surroundings. "Hollow Bastion…" she muttered, looking up the vaulted walls and massive pipes that ran around the central platform, making the central hub of the fortress look like some sort of cathedral. Larxene studied the points of entry. Two...four...five total. Too many for two people to guard. She spoke to Kara but not directly to Kairi's split half, "Can we move to a different room, at least? One without so many exits and the roof falling apart?"
Larxene turned when Kara didn't answer, only to find the silver-haired Kairi knelt by Sora's side, studying him while he slept. Only seemingly now aware it was her that Larxene was addressing, she answered without looking up, "No, it has to be here."
Larxene looked around, inhaling deeply. She didn't detect Xehanort's scent, that much was good. And there weren't any Heartless here. Yet. But both would look upon Sora as some kind of prize. "I'm going to make a perimeter search," she said as a warning.
Kara didn't pay much mind as Larxene wandered off to make their location more secure. She decided to spend her time studying Sora. There was something about his face...perhaps she could learn something of it? There was a memory there...a feeling. It infuriated her, but not in a way she was accustomed to. Usually she was full of vitriolic hatred for others when they angered her, but this was...different. She couldn't place the way she was angered at the sight of him sleeping so peacefully. But it was there.
She clenched her weapon, watching him sleep, her hawkish gaze staring until he would wake.
Donald studied his 3D projection of the known worlds. He suspected a number of problems to come if what Maleficent said was true. Heartless, on their own? Wild? And still so destructive.
He hadn't even noticed Mickey enter the room, startling him when the king suddenly appeared at the side of the table, "Ah! Your Majesty!"
"Any ideas, Donald?" Mickey asked wearily. Knowing his leader, Donald surmised he hadn't slept at all since the battle at the Graveyard.
"Not a one," Donald despondently sat back in his chair, folding his arms.
Mickey sat down in an unoccupied seat, "Ienzo and Maleficent are...theorizing in the antechamber. I'm not nearly as well versed in the Heartless, though. I figured I'd give them some space." He whistled, and chuckled lightly, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.
Donald waved a hand over the spell he had laid out on the tabletop, "I've been looking for a pattern to Heartless attacks over the past few years, using Jiminy's journal."
"Anything?" Mickey asked hopefully.
Donald's head shook, "Not yet. It seems to be random." He zoomed into a world. Mickey didn't recognize it, but Donald elaborated, "The only good news is that when the Heartless attack a world, their pattern is very predictable. We can follow their attack patterns. Here," he indicated several red spots on the map that grew, "the Heartless are distributed almost perfectly along the surface of the world. It's like they know how to cover the most ground. And it doesn't matter if the area is inhabited or barren, they still emerge in equal spacing."
"Good work, Donald," Mickey patted his friend on the back, "how about their expansion?"
Donald nodded, "Almost mathematic. It grows exponentially, like the Heartless can only spread out in rings. It makes the speed towards the end very fast."
"And when they find the heart of the world?" Mickey asked with trepidation.
Donald shook his head, "We can't really predict that pattern. Jiminy only has records of our worlds, and we were always very successful with Sora. What I can tell you is what we already knew; immensely powerful Heartless appear near the heart of the world. But this seems to be different from their expansion." Donald's face scrunched up in frustration, "If only we knew if the Heartless knew about that pattern."
"How do you mean, Donald?"
Donald pointed to a bright blue spot on the world he had zoomed into, "We could track a world's heart if we had Riku's ability to feel Darkness. We just find the biggest Heartless and we'd have it! But I can't tell if the Heartless have figured that out, or if they are blind to the way big Heartless are drawn to big hearts."
"We'll figure out something, Donald. We have to," Mickey vowed, clenching a fist.
Squall's gunblade found itself locked with a keyblade, rattling as he tried to overpower his enemy with a hard shove, but their lock remained in a standstill. He didn't know the Xehanort clones by name, but that didn't entirely matter now, did it?
Though his thoughts were mostly on his companions. Cid and Yuffie were nearby, he could hear their combat, but they were outnumbered by the other three of the four Xehanort's that had appeared in the Radiant Garden.
Seeing no openings, he opted to at least interrogate his enemy, "What are you after, Xehanort?"
"All I want is your Heart, dear Squall. Maybe the girl's, as well. But I'll only come back for it if I can't find a better option," the bearded Xehanort smiled unpleasantly.
Squall let out a small Tch, twisting his wrist so he could pull the trigger of his gunblade to at least force the clone to disengage. I hope Aerith got back to warn the rest of the defense forces...
Xehanort stood upright as he steadied himself, a thought crossing his wicked mind, "Although...it occurs to me your heart may be strong enough to join me. How would you like to help recreate the universe in a more perfect image?"
Squall readied his gunblade again, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. Try again, but much closer," his eyes narrowed, studying the keyblade master's body for the slightest vulnerability.
"As you wish," Xehanort shrugged, raising his blade again, "But I will take your heart, Squall. It will serve me one way or another."
"What do you want with my heart, Xehanort? You think a new Heartless is going to help you with Kairi?" This seemed to hit a nerve with the keyblade master, his lip twitching. Squall smiled, "I heard she got you good last time."
"You will become my new weapon, Squall. A keyblade strong enough to do battle with the Princesses. That is your part in our grand destiny, and you should feel privileged to become a part of it!" he lunged at Squall, who sidestepped readily, blocking Xehanort's blade, trading strikes with the old master.
"Hyuraagh!" Cid's spear came charging at Xehanort from outside Squall's vision, forcing the dark master to retreat once again. Cid was short of breath, but took up a position beside Squall. Two of the Xehanorts leapt to the bearded one's side. "Alright kid…any brilliant ideas?"
Squall chuckled, readying his stance again, "You're not getting tired, are you, old man?"
"I'm just here to make you look good," Cid responded, lowering his lance to aim it at the clones.
Flink!
A glowing light dagger struck the ground between the combating sides. Xehanort immediately recognized the shape of the hilt, narrowing his eyes and looking skyward for where it had come, behind and above the two obstinate mortals.
Fliink-a-tink-tink-tink!
Dozens more of the blades pelted the ground, creating space between the combatants that no one would dare cross.
A shadowy blur appeared next to Cid and Squall. A woman wearing a Nobody coat.
"Larxene," Xehanort growled at seeing the minion who got away.
The blonde's eyes were thin, enraged. But she suppressed her emotions just enough to taunt him, "Xehanort. I didn't sense you when I came to this world. Are you suppressing your power? You must be if these two are giving you trouble," she glanced to the side condescendingly. She turned her green eyes back to the clones, "But why would you do that? Are you scared of her finding you?"
"Silence," the Luxord clone barked at her.
"Ha! Oh that is precious!" Larxene squealed in genuine amusement, "You're terrified of the big bad princess! Tell me again how you're going to bathe the world in Darkness? For old times' sake?"
One of the hooded clones raised a keyblade. Larxene looked at it, a copy of Riku's blade, but she didn't have time to ponder before he spoke, "I only need to be at half power to handle an insubordinate mistake like you."
Larxene's body crackled with energy, lightning tendrils wrapping around her like serpents, waiting to pounce.
Cid regarded the young woman delicately, "I'd be happy to have your help lady, if you don't mind butting in," he said, still sounding somewhat winded.
Larxene's teeth barely moved, gritting them as she sized up the clones. Marluxia's wasn't among them, that was good, she felt. "Gladly," she growled, a hand at her side, and her spiked keyblade formed in her hand.
This seemed to catch Xehanort off guard. Larxene was disappointed only one was showing his face at this moment. The look must have been priceless on all of them. With a quick wave, another series of glowing daggers formed behind her, like stars illuminating behind her in some sort of frame, like a headdress made of the points of light, and another slash across the air with her keyblade pelted the daggers machine-gun style at the Xehanorts, sizzling with electrical power as they impacted his keyblades.
Combat began in earnest again, the clones advancing on the trio with strikes and clashes of their weapons. Larxene was battling the Zexion clone, she was fairly sure. His illusory blade was familiar from their skirmish in the Graveyard.
Xehanort blocked and parried her blows easily, but was taken aback how equal the fight was between the pair. Two of his clones were still after Squall, their primary objective. He was content to wait for the clone battling Cid to finish the old man off and remove him from the fight.
"Hagh!" he didn't have to wait long, the Luxord clone stabbed his black and white blade through Cid's leg, leaving him limp, leaning on his spear just to stand upright.
"Cid!" Squall shouted, but he had little recourse, only able to defend himself from the clones.
There was a break now, however, and all the clones sensed something. The Luxord clone nodded to his doppelgangers, then looking to Squall and Larxene, "Where is Sora?"
"We split up," Larxene lied poorly.
Luxord closed his eyes, inhaling, "No, Kara is here...Sora must be close by. I cannot…" he furrowed his brow. "You approached from the opposite side, didn't you? Yes...that makes sense."
"Aw hell," Larxene muttered.
With a nod, the Xehanorts broke formation, two attacking Larxene and Squall, two headed straight for the Hollow Bastion.
"Sora!" Larxene cried out, but her blade was met with the illusory crystal keyblade, and the Zexion clone blocking her advance.
A bright glow was emanating from Squall's weapon, and it glowed fire hot, a heated, energy blade extending and swiping a wide arc in front, forcing the Xehanorts to avoid the attack, "Let's go!" he shouted, indicating their opening. Larxene nodded at him, and they pursued the two Xehanorts towards the decrepit fortress. They were too far behind now, though. Larxene didn't have much hope for Kara's ability to hold off two clones by herself. And the Xehanorts were fast, able to swipe and cut at them to slow them down further.
As the two clones, one Luxord and the other carrying Riku's blade, approached the blown out hole in the castle's wall, a compounded dark shield blocked their path. The Riku vessel slammed its keyblade into the shell, forcing it to rupture, but it bought precious seconds. The Luxord vessel leaped into the hole, landing on his feet inside.
Kara stood, brandishing a keyblade he didn't recognize, blue and crystal, crackling bolts of energy. Behind her was the unconscious form of Sora.
It's too perfect! Xehanort thought to himself. He made a move towards the boy but from behind he heard the whistling of energy. He turned to block more of Larxene's energy blades shot towards him. They were weaker than the ones she had fired before. The fresh keybearer was having difficulty adapting her Nobody magic to being a complete being again.
The Riku vessel swung around Kara, tripping her up with his blade, causing her to stumble. She scrambled across the floor to cover the unconscious keybearer when Riku's blade swung down to impale him, "Sora!" she cried out.
A flash of light burned the vessels all, causing them to back away, shielding their eyes. Squall and Larxene got between them and the unconscious keybearer, and when the glow reached its climax, flaring brightly for an instant, it caused them all to pause and regain their vision.
Sora was still unconscious. But on top of him, standing over him, was a figure in red and black. He had a black helmet on, and in his hand was a red and black keyblade, with an almost plastic-looking texture.
The Luxord vessel looked surprised, "It...it isn't possible…" he murmured.
The figure of Vanitas flexed his hands, staring at them to make sure they were really there. Though where his eyes truly were was up for debate, as his helmet concealed his face from the outside.
Larxene and Kara were uneasy, guarding against the new body that had emerged. Squall followed their lead; if there was a plan, certainly the ladies would know it better than he.
Vanitas took a few steps forward, methodical, approaching the vessels, "Master Xehanort. I heard you're lacking in vessels. What a surprise to meet you here."
Xehanort quickly adapted to the circumstances, growing more confident, puffing his chest at the reinforcement, "The Keyblade war has not gone as I planned."
"Well, you need a vessel. I need a more complete Heart. It seems we're made for this moment," he proposed, the sound of his smile seeping into his voice.
Xehanort regarded the reborn Vanitas with distaste at the remark, "No, Vanitas," he said, raising an arm, squeezing his hand into a fist that glowed with dark energy, "a broken vessel is less than worthless, now. But you will help me destroy Sora and his friends. Spare that one," he indicated Squall, "we still require his heart."
Vanitas clutched at his forehead, grunting at the command, lifting his head after some moments and nodding, taking a swing at Larxene with his keyblade. The Savage Nymph parried the strike, swinging her blade into a slash at the masked fighter. Vanitas vaulted over and behind the vessels, who readied their own weapons, now all filed into the chamber.
"There is something you should know about Sora's plans, Master Xehanort," Vanitas said in a dry, calm voice.
"Mm?" the Xehanorts were focused on the quarry before them.
Vanitas raised his red keyblade with its spoke-like teeth, "He erased the bit of you inside my heart that compelled me to obey you," and a static charge ran through his blade as he stabbed one of the vessels in the back.
Mayhem broke loose as Larxene, Kara, and Squall moved to attack the distracted vessels. Sparks and fire and ice flew about the battle arena, the four unlikely allies driving the Xehanorts back, helped in no small part by the wounded one becoming a liability, even against Vanitas.
Larxene clashed blades with Luxord, the pair of them causing small shockwaves with the force of their blows. Xehanort cursed to himself, trying to pull the keyblade wielder away from the rest of her companions, where should help them the least. A mortal, a shattered heart, and a split vessel with a broken blade would be no match for him. Drawing the only one with a proper symbiotic relationship with her weapon away from the battle was his best option. To that end he continued to apply pressure, making her assume that his Luxord form was the largest threat to the group.
Vanitas was doing battle with a vessel wielding a blue and white blade, made of ice it seemed, curved like water, but with rather rigid edges, it reminded Vanitas of a glacier. The wound he had delivered it was deep. There was a manic joy in his heart that he hadn't felt since he had beaten Ventus all those years ago. The freedom! He felt so light, like there was no wrong to be done. He lunged at the vessel battling him, but it was a calculated move. The Xehanort sidestepped him, and his free hand came to Vanitas' helmet, crushing it against the stone wall he had backed the vessel into. Xehanort's distorted voice came out in a low, steady scream of rage, even wounded he channeled enough dark power that Vanitas' pitch black mask was cracking, pieces of it cracking and falling away under the pressure. Still dazed, Vanitas swiped at the Xehanort, but his keyblade was blocked, though it did buy him some time as the vessel was forced to pull his attention away from his deathgrip.
Time froze for a moment as the Xehanort reeled, keeling towards his side, a small black-purple orb impacting him in the ribs, and he thudded into the wall, releasing his grip. Vanitas peered through his shattered helmet to see that copy of Kairi, having shot a gravity spell at the one that had been pinning him down. She quickly spun to block a swipe from the Riku vessel she was battling. Vanitas gave a pleasant smile. That might be the prettiest thing I've seen in a decade. Turning his attention back to his opponent, he shouted a war cry as he slammed his keyblade down on him.
In the melee, Cid had finally reached the battle, limping his way but finally coming into the chamber. He looked around, seeing the battle unfold. In a corner he saw the unconscious form of Sora. "Kid!" he whispered, making his best speed to his side. Before he could reach it, he saw Squall losing ground to a vessel. The Xehanort was slamming his blade against Squall's Lionheart. He finally managed to knock the weapon away. On his downward slash, Cid's spear found its way to catch the keyblade, halting and the speartip embedding into the stone wall. "Someone help Squall!" Cid roared at the top of his lungs.
In an instant the entire flow of battle focused on the vulnerable target of this entire operation. Vanitas managed to push his way past the wounded vessel, momentarily dazing him. Kara had less luck, but was advancing to his position, being the closest. Larxene was too caught up in her duel to make any kind of move.
Cid, from his vantage point, only then noticed how the shadows of the room had grown...larger. Wider. Blacker. As if on cue, all around the battle Heartless rose up. All naturally occuring; Shadows, Neoshadows, Darkballs, as metal chains fired from the pools of darkness with Shadow Stalkers trying to bind the warriors, allies and Xehanort alike.
The Riku vessel shouted, "Get the heart! Now!"
Kara was knocked away, dazed. Vanitas was able to reach Squall, blocking a Xehanort's blade, his fire magic burning a Heartless alive that was creeping towards Squall.
Cid limped his way to Sora, picking up the Lionheart blade and using it as a crutch. Squall crawled over to meet him.
The Riku vessel tried to dive through Vanitas, but Squall got a hold of his blade just in time to block it. The vessel was forced back when an Invisible, the Heartless' blade emerging from the dark corridors, tried to stab it through his heart.
Squall breathed a sigh of relief, "Whew. Can't believe I'm gonna say it, but thank goodness for the Heartl-"
His blade clattered to the floor. Xehanort eyed him, confused. He tried to peer around his frame, and saw an arm sticking out of Squall's back. The arm reached back, adjusting its angle as its owner stood to his feet. Shadows grew from Squall's chest, his body being consumed, vanishing to show only a standing, wakened Sora.
Vanitas' expression was condescending, shrugging, "Sorry, pal," he almost chuckled, going back to trade blows with his Xehanort opponent.
Sora was almost unaware of the battle, like his mind was operating on some other kind of plane. He watched as Squall's heart energy concentrated into his palm. It was swirling in darkness now, and Sora watched with his hawkish golden eyes as the light faded even more. Only when it seemed like it was about to fade entirely, did Sora push the mass into his own chest, his body glowing in green fire, hand buried in what looked like a dark portal to his chest, and when he pulled it out, there was no more energy.
In a swift motion his Oblivion was at his side, and he sized up the opponents he saw in the room. His eyes leveled at one of the Xehanorts, "I guess we don't need much from this world anymore, do we?"
The face of Zexion sneered beneath a cowl, "But your forces are severely weakened. We can continue our fight," he said quietly.
Sora's eyes wandered, shrugging, "Probably," he mused, but there was a dark blur as he rushed across the room. He found the wounded Xehanort, his blade was so fast that Vanitas couldn't follow the movement. All he saw was that a keyblade went flying, and Sora's black keyblade was buried in the vessel's chest. He slowly drew it out like it were sheathed, and a dark light orb was embedded in the tip; Xehanort's heart.
Whether out of stunned silence, or his compulsive academic curiosity, none of Xehanort's clones moved to save their comrade. Even the Luxord clone stopped his engagement with Larxene, watching.
Sora, seeming to relish his captive audience, plucked the Heart from the tip of his blade. He studied it for a moment, as if making up his mind what he would do with it. A black spot emerged in his chest again, that same swirling storm as before. It pulled the heart of the copy into its mass particle by particle, like sand in an hourglass being drawn into Sora's body. Sora's eyes closed as the energy was pulled into him. His body glowed green again, the dark fire flaring out.
Xehanort's clones were transfixed, as were the Heartless, all paused in their attacks. Sora's chest rose with a deep breath, his shoulders rolling back as a dark hum emanated from his body. He turned his gaze towards the other Xehanorts, inviting them to attack.
Wordlessly, three dark portals opened up, the Xehanorts making their exit, but not before Vanitas charged a thunder spell and threw it through one of the portals before it closed completely. He spat through his shattered helmet, "Good riddance," he taunted to the empty halls.
From his spot on the floor, Cid lifted himself to his feet, "Kid...what have you done?"
Larxene stepped into the chamber as well, looking wide eyed, concerned, between herself, Kara, and the apparent Sora clone. However, the former was as expressionless as ever, and the latter seemed very pleased with how things turned out.
Sora held a hand in front of his body, ignoring Cid's question. An enormous dark ball formed in his palm, swirling in black and red energies. Larxene recognized that...she had seen it the night the Destiny Islands were consumed. Sora looked to his assembled servitors, "We're leaving," he said curtly, a dark portal opening for all of them.
As they made their exit, warily, Sora raised his palm above his head, searching for something, "There you go," he said quietly, and threw the orb down, sinking the ball into the world's surface before black fissures opened up. Cid watched as Sora abandoned the Radiant Garden to its fate, though it wasn't long before the consuming blackness swallowed the entire world up.