"Gawrsh, look at that!" Goofy pointed out the floating isles of rock leading towards the half destroyed castle sitting before them.
"Kinda spooky..." Donald muttered, filling a chill up his spine.
Kairi held her head, clutching her necklace,"I wonder why..."
"What's wrong?" Donald asked.
"I think I can feel Riku up there." She pointed towards it.
"What about your other friend?
Kairi shook her head, closing her eyes to try and focus, a sudden roar from a distance shook her out of it as the trio looked around.
"What was that?" Goofy questioned.
"Hope it's not another Heartless." Kairi admitted as she summoned her weapon.
"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku questioned as the Beast knelt over.
"I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me. I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!"
"So, you think that just believing could've led you here." Riku muttered under his breath. "Take her if you can!"
The Beast jumped at him, snarling with his claws outstretch, but Riku evaded and struck him to down without even breaking a sweat. He looked over the beast once, lifting his weapon.
"Stop!"
Riku flinched as he turned towards Kairi and her friends with their weapons drawn. His best friend had the same look of anger on her face when he was especially inconsiderate towards anyone and for once, it wasn't Sora. "So, you finally made it. Do you know how long I've been waiting for you?"
"It didn't help that you kept disappearing once I found you! And the last time you took Sora away before we even had a chance!"
"We've always been rivals, haven't we?" He chuckled knowingly. "You've always pushed me as I've always pushed you, now look where we're standing."
Kairi glanced towards the beast next to Riku, struck down mercilessly. "But at what cost Riku? The Heartless took away our home, took away our friend, and now it's going to happen to other worlds, other places that people call home.
Riku closed his eyes, turning his head away from her, as though not looking at her could hide away his guilt. "It all ends here, so long as we're there together, we'll be able to find Sora's heart within the darkness."
"What are you talking about?" Kairi asked gripping her weapon.
"Let the Keyblade choose its true master." Riku held his hand towards her, and just as before the Keyblade disappeared form her hand and into Rikus; leaving the trio in confusion as it wouldn't return to Kairi.
"So, he was right, you weren't it's true master " He said as he walked towards her. "Kairi, only the chosen Keyblade master can open the secret door and change the world."
The former Keyblade wielder fell to her knees, her hands empty as she longed for that warmth back in her hands. Now replaced with Riku's as he knelt down in front of her, placing his hand over hers.
"But we both need it to awaken Sora from his slumber before his heart disappears within the darkness forever."
Kairi immediately raised her head, fear in her eyes.
"There's a chance that Sora's heart is still on the Destiny Islands, trapped within the darkness, waiting for us to save him." She could feel Riku place his forehead against hers. "You have your part to play as well Kairi. Once you're ready, come after us, Sora's been waiting to see you again."
He then rose, turning his back to her and never looking back.
"Goofy, let's go. We have to remember our mission." Donald said with a wavering expression.
"Oh! Well, I know The King told us to follow the key and all...But..."Goofy glanced back to Kairi, he was knelt down by Kairi's side, with a hand on her shoulder as their friend held her head.
"Goofy." Donald sternly said. "The King gave us one mission."
"Oh well." Goofy said. "The King said to follow the key, so we will."
"Wha?" Donald quacked with a cocked head.
"Well, Riku has the Keyblade now doesn't he? So, if we follow him, then we'll be following the key." He reasoned. "We're in this together Donald. You, me, and Kairi, it's all of us of none of us."
"Aw fooey." Donald mumbled walking back to his friends, sitting next to Kairi as all three sat together in silence."You're right."
Donald Duck and Goofy left the scene. The Beast tried to move but collapsed. Kairi stumbled as she walked over to him, kneeling by his side casting a cure spell. "Hey, don't move. You're hurt."
"Who...are you?"
"I'm Kairi," She smiled warmly, "These are my friends, Donald and Goofy. What are you doing here, don't you know it's dangerous?"
"I came to find Belle..." The Beast grumbled towering over the trio as he stood. "And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That is why I am here."
Kairi nodded, she gripped her hand into a fist, feeling the warmth in her hand beginning to fade; the Keyblade would not return to her. She picked herself up,
"I'm not going give up now. I came here to find someone someone, and bring them both back to the islands."
"Know this."
Riku didn't turn around as he knew the hooded figure stood behind him, radiating a foul stench of darkness. The boy held his friend in his arms as he walked towards the gate.
"The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade, even one that is fragmented can still persevere towards what is theirs."
"What? You're saying my heart's weaker than Kairis?" Riku asked turning towards this figure.
"She and the the other are your weakness, a weakness that the witch has exploited, a weakness that will prevent you from finding the one you seek." The hooded figure didn't flinch as an aura of darkness suddenly formed around Riku, clutching his friend closer.
"My heart is not weak, and if you think that anything will stop me from finding Sora's heart then you don't know anything."
"I have no doubt of that, but how can one find a single world lost to the abyss, a single heart no less?" The Hooded figure suddenly said as he approached while Riku took a step back, not wanting this person near his beloved friend. "You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. No terror as it consumed your friend right before you." Riku flinched at the memory, feeling weakened. "Plunger deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself, and claim a greater power over the one that keeps your friend from you..."
Riku knelt down as he could feel a tremendous amount of strength overcome him, his vision beginning to fade as he saw someone familiar standing behind the hooded figure, a young boy whose wide blue eyes feared for him.
Sora...Kairi...
The four traveled through the maze, proceeding towards a giant room that held the familiar and unfamiliar faces of those taken from their worlds, all unconscious, trapped.
"Be on your guard. They're close, I can feel it. Are you ready for..." His eyes widened as he saw a familiar women in a yellow ballgown, sealed away. "Belle!" The beast ran towards her without thinking, but was blasted by powerful magic to the back of the wall. Kairi glanced towards the source and saw an evil-looking woman draped in a cloak smiled towards her as she opened her arms towards them.
"I've been waiting for you, Princess Kairi."
"Maleficent." Kairi gritted her teeth together looking at the woman that destroyed her friend's home, but the witch paid her no mind as she spoke again.
"O purest of hearts! Reveal to me the Keyhole!"
Six lights from the princesses beamed towards the giant keyhole that radiated a dark aura.
"Ugh-" Kairi winced as she felt lightheaded, she fell to knees, but through her hazy vision she saw her friend, carrying someone...
"Impossible!" Maleficent yelled in anger looking towards the gate missing the power of the final light.
"Riku!"
"I'm glad you're here. Now, the door will open..." Kairi flinched back as her friend's voice was distorted, unfamiliar, as he now dawned some sort of darkness aura that changed his appearance, he stood near Maleficent with a dangerous smile on his face.
Kairi's eyes widened as her vision cleared. "Sora!" she called out towards him, but he was unresponsive as Riku placed him on the ground before them. "Wha...why won't he wake?!"
"His heart is gone, stolen by the darkness, and soon, it will be impossible to track down. That's why we needed the princess's, needed you, as well as the Keyblade."
"Me?"
"You're the final heart we need to open the gate, Kairi, with your help we can finally open the gate, now, come with me." Riku said holding his hand out towards her. But this wasn't her friend, not by a long shot...
Donald and Goofy stood between them, their weapons up, ready to protect their friend.
"Kairi ain't gonna go anywhere!
"You'd betray the orders of your king?" He questioned.
"Not on your life!" Goofy said harshly, surprising Kairi as she'd never heard him angry before. "But technically, The King just said to follow the Key."
"That's right!" Donald agreed, "Nothing about clobbering you!
"Hm." Riku smirked in amusement. "Is this path you choose Kairi? To abandon your friends?"
"...Never." Kairi pulled herself to her feet, standing beside her friends with her head held high. "I will never abandon my friends, just like I know they'd never do the same for me, even Riku. No matter what, we'll find Sora together with or without the Keyhole."
"So you believe." Riku mused as a dark aura radiated around him, the three then prepared for any attacks that Riku may throw at them. "But how will you fight without a weapon?"
"I don't need the Keyblade, to take you down." She smirked cheekily as light radiated from her hands.
"Hm," Riku smirked, "You may be a Princess of Light, but as the boy found out, the brighter light, the greater the shadow it casts." Riku summoned a black Keyblade, placing it in the grip of both hands, admiring it for a moment. "A keyblade created from the shadows of those six lights...I wonder, how powerful would that darkness be to a heartless vessel?"
"Huh?" Kairi dropped her guard slightly as she saw her friend brandish the weapon pointing towards Sora's heart, the weapon lighting up in response.
"NOO!"
She yelled to late as Riku plunged the weapon into their friend, terrifying her and her friends.
For a brief moment, she saw Sora's eyes open, a bright blue against the black that began to consume his body, making those sky blue eyes disappear. Riku took a step back, smiling to himself as he saw the shadow of their friend rise to their feet, spurring as though he were a heartless, Sora's blue eyes now a shining yellow.
"Consume all in your way." Riku smirked as he turned his back to his friends, the black Keyblade disappearing in his hands in favor of hers.
"You fool!" Maleficent scolded furiously, "We need her alive!"
"Do you doubt me?" Riku questioned with a unsympathetic expression on his face. "You who cannot even fathom how blind your lust for power has left you?"
Maleficent gritted her teeth at him, gripping her staff as her magic radiated around her. "Do you think you can defeat me? The mistress of all evil?!"
"Perhaps." Riku smirked as he sheathed his weapon, leaving him wide open.
"You imbe-ugh!" The witch tensed up as a hand thrust through her heart, the Shadow Sora remorselessly destroying her and absorbing her darkness as he turned his attention towards the trio, cocking his head like an owl as he movements became jagged.
Kairi could feel her entire body tremble, terrified as she realized her friends were gone. She was alone for the first time since the islands...since her home...
"The Heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning." Riku smirked. "She failed to notice the darkness in her heart eating away at her. A fitting end for such a fool." He turned and walked towards the keyhole.
"Kairi!"
She snapped out of it as her friends called to her.
"We gotta save Sora!" Donald almost screeched.
"That's right, all we gotta do is find his heart, right?" Goofy reasoned.
"Donald...Goofy..." Kairi murmured, as she pressed a mournful smile to her lips. She wasn't alone, and she wasn't going to save her friends alone. All three charging towards the Shadow Sora.
Defeating a heartless...a friend, that used dark voids to teleport and deal heavy damage was not an easy task. Without her keyblade, Kairi relied on light magic to knock back Shadow Sora. As both neither had a weapon, it soon became a battle of fists, both dealing serious damage.
"Sora!" She yelled as they caught each others fists, neither wanting to lose any ground. Kairi placed all of her power to knock him back, and aura of light engulfing the two of them...
...
...
"Kairi?"
Kairi opened her eyes to feel Goofy's hand on her shoulder and Donald's on her hand. The shadow, knelt before them, looking up, and reaching his hand out towards her. She hesitated for a moment before taking a step forward reaching out towards his hand, her friends hand. But before her, the shadow faded just before she was about to touch his hand, leaving her with a feeling of emptiness in her chest.
She saw both of her friends looking up to her with sad expressions as she clutched her necklace. Pushing back the tears, she took a deep breath.
"Now, we get Riku back."
"So, you have awakened your power at last, Princess." A tall man with a sinister expression smiled at her. "The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose."
"Who are you?!" Kairi demanded.
"It is I, Ansem, the seeker of darkness." As he said this, darkness radiated around him, summoning heartless around them.
Donald Duck and Goofy readied their weapons reflexively.
"Don't make another move!" Donald threatened.
Goofy muttered to Kairi, not removing his gaze from the enemy. "Do you think we can stop him all by ourselves?"
She shrugged her shoulder, uncertain, but knowing that no matter what, she needed to get Riku back.
"Disappear."
Donald and Goofy were knocked back like toys as Kairi looked up to see Ansem smirking down at her, then grabbing her neck as she was lifted off of the ground.
Ansem steps forward, just as Kairi does, gripping her fist. "Give...me..back...my...friend." She rasped out as she tried to use her light to protect her, to little avail. But the seeker just smirked at her futile attempt.
No...You won't use me for this!
Kairi heard Riku's voice, but her vision failed her, only seeing black as the darkness clawed into her skin.
Leave her alone!
Riku rasped as he fought to keep his consciousness awake, forced to watch his friend being about to be struck down. He was falling from the light, only using his will to break Ansem's control over him. His heart stopped as he saw Kairi's body go limp, her hands falling to her side as he saw Ansem's darkness being to consume her just as it did Sora.
Kairi!
Suddenly, Ansem flinched as he was slashed back, dropping Kairi. She coughed the breath back into her lungs, the darkness being repelled as she gained her strength back.
"How?!" He curled his lip in annoyance as he saw the shadow of the boy appear before him, no doubt trying to retain his connection to the world of light.
Kairi looked up to see a shadow jumping back, placing it's hand forward unflinching. She saw the Keyblade appearing within it's hand, shocking all of them as the weapon of light now had a dark aura around it.
"So, you've found the link back from whence you came. But you are still a shadow, of the original." Ansem grumbled as he summoned more power to deal with this new threat.
"Riku! Sora!" Kairi yelled out as she saw the vision of Riku fade away, just as the shadow of her friend attacked Ansem without remorse.
"Kairi, we've gotta go!" Donald said pulling her back, all of them running towards the entrance of the castle.
Last thing that Kairi sees is the Shadow defending itself, dealing heavy damage, but ultimately being caught by a giant heartless that Ansem summoned. Angrily crushing the shadow infront of her eyes as it struggled to escape.
Ultimately leaving Kairi's eyes as her friends pulled her out of the castle, just as the entire thing was consumed by the heartless.
Omake:
["_"]
"Na..mi..ne...?"
Notes:
Anti-Sora is like the Lingering Will, and whose form is destroyed by Ansem.