Oh boy, get ready for a rough one. It's also a bit longer than usual, but I love me some fight scenes. ;)
Inverted Sky: Kingdom Hearts II
Chapter 85: The Caribbean part VII
A flurry of darkness swirled around two figures as they flew through the air at nearly sound breaking speeds. Though, once they lost altitude, the pair slammed into a small tidal island. Of which caused a great deal of water and sand to erupt out from their impact. By the time it cleared, Sora was already on her feet in a battle-ready stance. Her eyes were heavily narrowed on the figure standing in front of her, which was still covered in thick shadows.
"Alright...you have my attention." she muttered silently, lifting her fists up.
"So who are you?" the teen demanded while shifting her weight onto her back foot.
However, as the two seemed to stare at one another, there was no response from the figure. But a pair of yellow eyes flashed through the shadows, seeming to give some kind of recognition. "No answer, then?" Sora hummed out while bending her knees slightly.
"Fine." she almost growled out before leaping forward with great speed.
The figure fully mirrored her movements though, to which they met in the middle in a mere instant. When they did, the two swung their fists and smashed them together. This causing a massive shock wave to form around them, kicking up enough sand and water to create a large crater. It looking, and even sounding, as if an explosion had detonated at this point of impact.
But as their knuckles ground together, Sora's eyes narrowed heavily. Her able to feel that their strengths were fully equal; "Then how about this!" she called in a battle-cry, swinging her other fist at the figure.
Which had once again mimicked her movements at the same, causing yet another collision of their strikes. The force of this one however, was twice as much as the previous, as well as three times as loud. Alerting anyone well over a kilometer away, for which, two vessels had in fact heard it. Yet only one of them started sailing toward the sound. The other continuing on its way, even even faster than before.
Though, as Sora pressed her fist against her foe's, the darkness shrouding them appeared to temporarily lift. And as she stared at what was revealed, her eyes widened in shock. It looking like a shadow version of herself, very similar to that of the form she would take when overcome with the power of Darkness. But this momentary distraction was all the figure needed to press forward even further and push the teen back.
Flying through the air many meters backward, the brown-haired teen caught herself on the edge of what was left of the island. But she barely had a moment to react as the shadow was already in front of her, swinging a spinning kick toward her head. Of which Sora ducked away from as, despite all the questions she was trying to process, she knew that this fight needed her full attention. Something she was quickly proven right about as her foe then spun in mid-air to attempt a downward kick.
Sora swiftly brought both arms up, blocking the attack with a firm and unmoving stance. However, the strength behind the blow was still enough to cause the girl's feet to dig into the sand heavily. There even being a dozen wisps of darkness that swirled out from the impact, all of which carved through the ground as they eventually dissipated. The teen ground her teeth together slightly as she pushed the shadow away, Sora then summoned her Keyblade and charging after her opponent.
As the teen thrust her weapon toward the shadow's chest, it spun around to avoid the attack and even swung a heel kick at her. Sora watched these movements carefully with narrowed eyes, to which she ducked under the blow and spun a similar kick at where the shadow's momentum would take it. But this still missed, as the figure flipped over her leg with the same grace that the girl herself normally had. But at the same time, it held a hand out with a rapidly growing orb of darkness, that formed in front of its palm.
This made Sora's eyes widen briefly in realization before she switched into her Wisdom form. There being a shattering of red energy, before it was quickly replaced by a blue hue. And even during this transformation, Sora also lifted her free hand toward the shadow. There being only a split second before a massive wave of dark energy burst forth from the shadow's hand. Though, just as it seemed to consume her, the teen unleashing an equally massive wave of ice magic that appeared to match her foe's attack.
The two forces battling against one another, like two immovable objects attempting to force the other into submission. Yet neither side seemed to weaken as a large gale began swirling around the two, kicking up sand and water along with it. Both of which started turning to shards of ice, thanks to Sora's magic. But as this struggle stretched longer and longer, Sora could feel the cold of her own magic beginning to flare back at her. Freezing the tips of her fingers and palm, causing sharp pain to shoot through her system.
Wincing and groaning silently in a mix of anger and pain, Sora stepped forward and made one final push against her foe. Which had done the same, making their powers seemed to fully merge in the center before exploding outward violently. This throwing Sora and the shadow many meters away from one another, and then slamming hard into the now frozen ocean water. The ice magic having caused everything to freeze over within a fifty meter radius from the initial clash.
With a strong chill in the air, Sora slowly stood back to her feet in a crouched position, before staring at her opponent. Said shadow had its leading arm completely frozen over, as not even the darkness surrounding it could penetrate through. Though, Sora herself winced once more in pain as she quickly looked to her own arm. It not only being somewhat frozen over as well, but it also had many gashes and burns from the darkness. This making it clear that her limb was completely useless and unable able to move at all.
But as Sora took in and let out a deep, yet shaky breath, she forcibly straightened her posture. During of which, a green glow emanated from her wounded hand and rapidly spread up her arm. This aura remained for a brief moment before it vanished, revealing her arm to be fully healed. Even the glove that was in tatters, was now reformed as if nothing even happened. Sora breathed in another long breath before gazing back to the shadow with a heavily narrowed gaze.
The figure itself not seeming to be making a move, as if unsure of how to attack with only one arm. Yet just as Sora moved to charge forward again, her eyes widened greatly when the shadow suddenly ripped off the frozen limb. "W-Wha...?" was all she could manage out in her shock, before her foe began zig-zagging toward her with great speed.
It appearing behind her in an instant, but when its attack came toward the teen, a Refleza spell blocked it. The teen turning quickly to see the shadow pulling its fist back, only to swinging it forward again and again into the powerful barrier with blinding speed. Even as Sora pushed more magic into this spell, cracks were forming faster than they could be fixed. So with a growl of frustration, the girl then moved to the side and allowed the barrier to shatter.
In the same moment though, she pushed a great of magic into what was left of the spell and clenched her hand tightly. Her action causing the shards to glow almost blindingly bright before they exploded outward. This fully engulfing the shadow and giving Sora time to leap back from the series of blasts. 'I'm running out of magic really fast, I need to do something now or I'm not gonna have anything left.' she thought to herself quickly, taking a few deep breaths.
During these few seconds of time, Sora shifting into her Valor form briefly before going back to her Wisdom yet again. Her letting out a growl of frustration when doing so; 'I was hoping that could merge the forms like Mulan said, but all I'm doing is alternating between them. And now I've wasted even more stamina.' Sora thought in frustration as the explosions slowly died down/
It revealing the teen's opponent to be crouching slightly without many signs of further damage. "Guess I'll need to rely on the strengths of others if I'm gonna win this." Sora whispered to herself as her eyes flashed red.
As this happened, the shadow rushed forward, but the sand under its feet gave way and caused it to fall forward. The girl then lifted her free hand up slightly, making a large dune of sand to rise up and over the shadow. She then swung her hand down, to which the dune did the same and collapsed atop of her foe. Immediately afterward, the red glow faded from her eyes as Sora wobbled slightly on her feet. 'Looks like that's all I can do with Jafar's power for now.' she mused, her breathing slowly becoming more haggard.
A moment later a vortex of darkness disbursed the sand with relative ease and allowed the shadow to step out of the pit it created. Sora then breathed in a deep breath once more as she then swung her free arm out in front of her in a circular motion. Forming a trail of blue flames in a ring shape around her, which then erupted into a pillar of similar colored fire. But once it cleared, Sora's hair was now fully blue and was projecting flames as well. Even the aura that normally surrounded her in Wisdom form was generating fire, creating scorch marks on the ground merely from standing there.
However, she was immediately blind-sided as the shadow moved directly to her left and punched her across the cheek with great force. Her being knocked to the side a few meters before finally catching herself with the floating property of her Wisdom form. During the attack though, a massive burst of fire shot from the point of impact and burned away at the shadow. In seeing the aftermath of this effect, Sora smirked briefly as she had a moment of appreciation of Hades and his power.
She then narrowed her eyes as the shadow once again went on the offensive, charging forward with a trail of darkness. It very clearly having something powerful ready to throw at the teen, yet thanks to the distance between them, Sora was able to slam her Keyblade into the ground. Upon doing so, a brief spark surged from her hand, down to the tip of the weapon. There being a violent rumble in the ground before everything was engulfed in a pillar of fire, the girl not even being able to see anything as she too was within the flames.
Yet, unlike everything else in a one hundred meter distance, she was unaffected by this attack. Something she was thankful for, but this feeling was short lived as she felt an impact in her stomach. Not only knocking the air from her lungs, but also threw her backward a few meters. The inferno of flames instantly died down afterwards, revealing that the shadow was only mildly effected by this attack. It likely being good for many weaker enemies, but not very good against singular strong ones. Though, it had been effective in lessening the shadow's attack. By how much, it was unclear.
Struggling for breath, Sora stood up once again, yet could feel this form starting to fade. So with her eyes narrowed and Keyblade at the ready, she just stood there without defense, preparing herself. "is that all you've got?" she growled out as a small bead of blue energy slowly appeared on the tip of her weapon.
It being almost invisible to the naked eye, yet the tiny sphere was spinning with great speed. But the shadow either didn't seem phased, or possibly notice it at all, as it charged forward once more. It using a zig-zag movement as if to keep the teen from fully predicting which direction it would attack from. However, Sora didn't move at all as she just remained still. "Come on..." the girl whispered.
With a resounding crack, the shadow slammed its fist into Sora's chest, just below the neck. Her chest cavity all but shattering from the impact, yet the teen remained on her feet. "Gotcha..." she muttered while grabbing the shadow by the wrist and thrusting her Keyblade forward in the same motion.
While nothing seemed to happen at first, the bead quickly turned into a thin beam that became larger and larger until it engulfed the shadow completely. The sudden burst from the attack happened before the shadow could pull away as it seemed to take the full force of the flames. Which were enough to knock Sora backward slightly as she could barely even stand in her condition. But with the flames burning everything nearby and the girl laying on her back in the scorched sand, her hair returned to normal. Along with this, the flames in her aura disappeared as well.
As Sora laid there straining to breath from the pain, she used the last of her magic and Wisdom form to heal this wound in her chest. This allowing her to breathe more properly and slowly sit up, there not being any sign of the shadow. 'Please let that be it...' she thought to herself, standing very wobbly in the process.
But in that moment, a breaking of the water was heard directly ahead. Sora's gaze snapped in this direction, to which she ground her teeth and growled in frustration from seeing the shadow emerging from the water. There being a massive hole in its chest, only being held together by paper-thin strands of darkness. "Fine then..." the teen muttered, stepping forward on her shaking limbs.
Something of which the shadow mirrored once more, it too seeming to be barely standing. This being the very last of either of their strength, as well as the only chance they would get in finishing off the other. Knowing this, Sora readied every last bit of power she had left and poured it into a final attack. "...one last push..." she continued while closing both eyes.
Despite not seeing the large ball of darkness the shadow was gathering in its hand, Sora's body actually began to blur slightly. "...with an old gift from Cloud." the teen finished just as her foe shot the sphere of dark energy at her.
But before it hit, Sora actually seemed to vanish as she thrust forward with her Keyblade out, striking the shadow with great speed. The sudden momentum creating an actual vacuum along her path for a split second, to which the lingering flames were instantly extinguished. But as the shadow recoiled from the impact, several more came from different sides. Sora continuously attacking it with such speed that she left afterimages.
Yet after creating a star-shape in the ground with her movements, she stopped and turned toward the shadow. Which was actually slowly disappearing in a similar manner as a Heartless. "You know..." Sora started in a weak voice.
"...taking away the possibility of death, it was almost nice fighting something as powerful as me." she continued, slowly moving toward her vanishing foe.
"It shows just how far I've come, even just from yesterday." the teen finished with soft and actually thankful smile.
Once the shadow vanished fully, a small golden coin dropped from where it stood. This making Sora blink a few times as she bent down to pick it up, but it swiftly moved on its own and flew into the open hand of Luxord. Whom was standing a few meters behind Sora; "An excellent performance Sora...I'm very impressed." he said with a smile on his features.
The girl however, was staring at him with a mixture of shock and a cautious readiness to fight. Her knowing that if she tried to fight him in her current state, she would certainly lose. But he simply chuckled and flipped the coin in his hand; "Worry not Keyblade wielder, I wouldn't dare to ruin this game for you by intruding. I'm merely the referee after all." he claimed confidently, his smile widening in a bone-chilling way.
"What do you mean?" Sora questioned while grasping her Keyblade with both hands, unable to keep her grip with just one.
"Did you not pay attention to my warning? You defeated one..." Luxord started, to which he snapped his fingers.
This summoning a massive number of shadow figures that looked exactly like the one Sora had just fought. "...you have eight hundred and eighty-one left to go." he finished in an amused tone.
Sora's eyes widened in pure shock and fear, as she looked around to the sheer number of foes surrounding her. "But first...lets go somewhere a bit more...entertaining." the man added with another snap of his fingers.
Upon doing so, all of the shadows swarmed around Sora. Them creating a corridor of darkness beneath her in a familiar fashion to something she's felt before. But it was the cold running up her spine that made her realize where it was this portal would bring her. Something that, even in such a weakened state, caused Sora to lash out violently in order to escape.
"No! I won't go back! I'm not going back!" Sora screamed out as she was pulled into the Realm of Darkness.
Well...that just happened. So yeah...we'll be switching over to a different perspective for a few chapters, so look forward to that. But I hope everyone enjoyed and will let me know what you thought. Until next time.