Chapter 76

Back on the Gummiship, Laxus told the group what he saw on the highway in San Fransokyo.

"You saw the fake Riku talking to Maleficent?", asked a surprised Sora.

"Yeah.", he answered. "He asked why they were snooping around the city."

"They must've been looking for that Black Box.", said Lucy.

"If he was asking why they were wandering San Fransokyo, does that mean the Organization doesn't know they're searching for the Black Box too?", asked Juvia.

"That's my belief.", said Laxus.

"The Black Box…", said Erza. "What is it."

Suddenly, they all heard a ringtone. Sora then reached into his pocket and took out his Gummiphone.

Jiminy appeared on Sora's shoulder and said, "Sora, somebody's callin' us on the Gummiphone."

Sora answered the phone and they all saw Dale's face close to the screen and he looked upset.

"We got baaad news.", he said.

"Huh?", said everyone.

Chip appeared on the screen and pulled Dale away from it.

Chip then said in a panic, "We've totally lost contact with the King and Riku! They're all on their own in the realm of darkness!"

"Whaaat?!"

"Sabertooth and Crime Sorciere are down there too!", said Wendy.

"See? I knew I shoulda gone!", said Sora.

"You people screwed up big time!", said an annoyed Natsu.

"We are going after them right now!", shouted Erza. She then glared at Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy. "And you're not going to stop us!"

"Yes ma'am!", the three of them said nervously.

"How do we get to the realm of darkness?", asked Gajeel.

"It's not like we can use that big old door anymore.", said Goofy. "It's completely gone."

"Yeah, we closed it after beating Ansem.", said Sora.

"And we certainly can't asked the King or Riku.", said Jiminy.

"Yeah, no duh!", said an annoyed Gray.

"'Cause you wouldn't let me ask.", said Sora.

"Well we gotta do something, our friends are down there!", said Natsu.

"Only King Mickey can open a door to the realm of darkness.", said Dale.

"Huh?"

"It's because he has a special Keyblade of darkness. He figured out how to make it open the way.", said Chip.

Everyone sighed.

"Gawrsh, what'll we do then?", asked Goofy.

Then Sora said, "May my heart be our guiding key. It'll show us the way."

Sora then summoned his Keyblade and opened a gateway in front of the ship.

"A gate!", said Donald and Goofy.

"But where does it lead?"

"I doesn't matter", said Donald. "Go!"

"Hurry, Sora!", said Goofy.

"Yeah, our friends are in trouble!", said Happy.

"Okay."

The Gummiship then flew into the gate and disappeared.

After passing the gate, the group was now standing on the beach of Sora's homeworld, The Destiny Islands.

"So this where you grew up?", asked Lucy.

"Yup.", answered Sora.

"It's small.", said Natsu.

"But it looks so pretty.", said Wendy.

"Yeah, that's what everyone says.", said Sora.

"But why did that gate take us here?", asked Gray.

Sora then stopped and looked down. He saw a Keyblade on the ground and picked it up. It had a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapers outward at both ends. It has a boxy guard, made up of two small, light grey boxes and copper rod. The base of the guard connects to the grip, and both sport several small indentations lining them. The Keyblade's grip was squared and the teeth are in the shape of an "E".

"A Keyblade?", question Sora.

"It looks so old.", said Donald.

"I can't tell.", said Happy.

Sora looked amazed by it. "How did it end up here?"

"And how did you guys not notice it?", asked Gray.

"Hmm, maybe it's another guiding key.", said Goofy.

"Sure, but to guide us where?", wondered Sora.

"To our friends?", Wendy suggested.

Sora pointed the Keyblade and a light beam was blasted out of the Keyblade and headed towards the cave to the Secret Place. Once the light was gone, a blue wooden door with golden curves appeared in front of the cave. Everyone quickly ran towards the door.

"A door!", said Goofy.

"Let's go.", said Donald.

"Not you guys.", said Sora.

Donald and Goofy looked surprised and confused. The Fairy Tail mages were not surprised.

"The realm of darkness-it isn't safe for you."

"Forget it. I'm going.", said a determine Donald.

"Yeah. You can't make a whole pint without us.", said Goofy.

"Come on , guys, think about it.", said Sora. "Even the King and Riku struggled in the realm of darkness. And I don't know how the mages are doing there either, but I assume they're struggling too. Someone needs to stay out here, just in case. If something happens to the rest of us, you two need to carry on."

"Sora…", said a worried Donald. His expression quickly changed to anger. "Stop it!"

"We understand, but we don't want you goin' someplace dangerous on your own."

"We'll be accompanying him.", said Charle.

Donald and Goofy then faced the mages.

"Our friends are down there.", said Natsu. "You're not going to stop us."

"Your right.", said Sora. "Your friends are down there too. They'll probably need back-up."

"We'll make sure they're all okay.", said Juvia.

"But…", said an unsure Donald.

"Sora is giving you an important mission.", said Erza. "If you are his friends, then respect his wishes."

This surprised Donald and Goofy.

"Thanks, guys. We'll be fine. We'll make sure our friends are safe. Trust me.", said Sora.

Donald and Goofy still looked unsure.

"You promise to be good?", asked Donald.

"And come home nice and safe?", asked Goofy.

"Right."

Sora and the mages then entered the door, leaving Donald and Goofy behind.

"Riku, look!", shouted Mickey.

Riku turned and saw the Tower coming at him. But, colorful waves surround him and he was right next the Minerva before the Tower could hit him.

"Minerva!", he said with relief.

"Watch out!", she shouted.

The Tower came at the two and they immediately jumped into the air, but the Tower knocked Riku's Keyblade out of his hand.

"Riku!", said a worried Mickey.

"Mickey!", shouted Jellal as he ran up to him.

Suddenly, Shadows surrounded Mickey and Jellal and they were both swallowed by the Tower when it came up to the ground, making them yell in pain. After they were swallowed, something fell from the Tower and onto the ground, and it was Mickey's upgraded Keyblade.

"Mickey! Jellal!", shouted Riku.

A dark vortex appeared on top of the tower, causing all of the Shadows to scatter. Once they were gone, a dark sphere appeared inside the vortex.

"What is that?", asked Yukino.

Suddenly, a figure jumped out of the dark sphere and landed on the beach. The figure was completely shrouded in darkness. Everyone then noticed Mickey and Jellal's head sticking out of the sphere and they were both in pain. Mickey the looked at the figure as it made its way towards his Keyblade on the beach. The figure then picked it up and examined it.

"This Keyblade…", the figure said, sounding a little feminine.

Mickey looked shocked. "Is it her?"

The darkness then started to disappear as the figure faced him and said, "Mickey… You're too late."

The darkness was completely gone and the figure was an angry Aqua. But it was not the Aqua they knew. Her hair was bleached blue, her eyes are yellow, and her once-white dress has darkened and become tattered. Her arms and legs have also begun to darken, and her hands are now black with red fingertips.

Everyone looked shocked.

"Aqua?", said Riku.

"That's Aqua?", question Sting.

"Is that what she looks like?", wondered Sorano.

Mickey then looked worried. "What happened?"

"You abandoned me, that's what.", she said coldly. "Left me in this shadow prison for more than a decade, knowing what it would do to me…"

Mickey then looked guilty. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

Aqua then headed towards the water. "I reached this shore after endless wandering. Waited forever for help to arrive." She then started walking on water. "But no one ever came. I lost my Keyblade. Had no means of fighting my way back through the Heartless. You should have known I was stranded. Do you have any idea how lonely it is here? How frightening it is to have no one? All that's left in my heart is misery and despair...and now, you can share it!"

Everyone then looked sadden and guilty about what she said.

"Don't let this get to you.", said Jellal. "It's true that you failed to save her before, but you're here now, aren't you? If you want to save her, then we need to release her."

Aqua spoke angrily. "You have no right to say that to him! He left me behind so I can suffer here. You have no idea what I have been through!"

"Your right. I have no idea what's been going on here. But I can relate to your problem. Some of us were once slaves, forced to build a magical tower to revive someone. If we failed to carry out our duties, they would kill us." He then smiled. "But we still believe that we will be saved and that day came when someone special decide to free us. Mickey has never given up on you."

Riku, Sting, and Rogue walked up to the shores of the beach.

"You're not the only ones that felt alone.", said Sting. "Our guild only cared about one thing, to be the strongest. That was our Master's rule and if we failed to keep that, we would be punished."

"So we had to constantly keep up our status as the strongest guild.", said Rogue. "But, even though we were in the same guild, we never had any strong connections with each other. We were on our own."

"Until another guild came and taught us the importance of being in a guild."

"There's no need for more despair.", said Riku. "We got our own."

Riku was in his own thoughts. There was blackness all around him. Someone then came up to him. It was the younger version of Riku that was possessed. The young Riku smiled at him and disappeared.

"You ready?", asked Rogue.

"Yeah.", said Riku as he summoned his Keyblade.

The three of them headed towards Aqua and they were able to walk on the water. Aqua was not surprised and remained relaxed as they came closer. Suddenly, the sphere that held Mickey and Jellal was pulled towards Aqua, surprising them. Shadows emerged from the ground and completely consume Mickey and Jellal, forming the Demon Tower.

"Guess we have to defeat this thing in order to get to her.", said Sting.

"Let's finish this quickly.", said Rogue as he, Riku, and Sting charge towards the tower.

Suddenly, Aqua came out of the Tower and charged towards Riku with her keyblade.

"Sonic Blade!"

Aqua attacked Riku with her keyblade at maximum speed, but Riku held his keyblade up and blocked the attacks.

"Riku!", shouted both Sting and Rogue.

"I'm fine!", he shouted while keeping up with the attacks. "Just destroy the Heartless!" His keyblade then started to glow bright and then he raised it in the air. "I had enough of this!"

"Zantetsuken!"

Riku lowered his weapon and in a blink of an eye, he slashed Aqua with one devastating attacking, causing her to yell in pain and collapse onto the water.

"Alright!", said Sting when he saw that attack. He then faced the Tower with Rogue. "Now, it's our turn."

Sting and Rogue then created multiple thin beams of light and shadow from their fingertips and dragged them towards the Tower.

"White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk!"

The attacked pierced through the Tower, causing multiple Shadows to be destroyed. But the Tower still stands. Aqua saw the attacked and yelled in a fit of rage. She then got up and charged towards the Twin Dragons.

"Die!", she shouted.

"Seeker Mine!"

A green and orange circle appeared underneath the Twin Dragons and they exploded, causing them to yell in pain.

"Sting! Rogue!", shouted Riku as he ran up to them.

"Teleport Strike!"

Eight purple spheres of energy appeared around Aqua. She then hit the spheres with her Keyblade and sent them flying towards the boys. The spheres hit them and they all screamed when they hit them, causing them to fly towards the beach and crash into the water.

"Riku-san! Sting-san! Rogue-san!", shouted Yukino.

"Sting!", shouted Lector.

"Rogue!", shouted Frosch.

After the water splashes cleared, the boys slowly got onto their feet and got into their fighting stance while Aqua stood there with the tower next to her.

The three of them were breathing heavily.

"This is getting us nowhere.", said Sting.

"Sora…", said Riku.

Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the skies of the realm of darkness, surprising everyone.

"What is that?", asked Erik.

"Don't tell me…", said Minerva.

The light began to dim a little, revealing a wooden door. The door then opened, releasing an even brighter light, blinding everyone. As they tried to get a closer look, they saw some figures coming out of the door. The light disappeared on the figures, revealing to be Sora and the Fairy Tail mages. They all landed near Riku, Sting, and Rogue.

"We made it!", said Sora.

Riku smiled.

"Natsu-san!", said Sting with joy.

"So this is the realm of darkness.", said Laxus as he looked around.

"Definitely lives up to the reputation.", said Lucy.

"Agreed. This darkness here is very pressuring.", said Lily.

"Me and Sora will finish this off.", said Riku. "Watch over the others."

"Got it!", the mages said.

The mages ran towards the others on the beach while Sora and Riku lifted one of their arms up and summoned two Keyblades in the air.

The Keyblade Sora had was a simple, dark hilt with blue strips that form X's all over. The guard is incomplete, with a golden color scheme on the incomplete end and an initially teal scheme for the completed end, gradually becoming green. The blade forms one half of a heart at the tip. The teeth of the weapon consists of a stained-glass window pattern, bearing blue, teal, yellow, magenta, and orange colors. The Keychain consists of golden links, with the charm a silver heart with golden angelic wings that gradually become teal. The one Riku's Keyblade was a similar style to Sora's, but has a periwinkle scheme for the incomplete side of the guard and a pink scheme for the completed side, gradually becoming periwinkle. The blade initially has a teal color scheme that merges into black, with the teeth bearing blue, teal, and violet colors. The Keychain's links are silver, and the charm has a black demonic wing that merges into magenta.

Once they were summoned, the two keys attached to each other, forming one giant key glowing with a bright light. The light then continued to grow until it was a large laser light sword. Once it finished growing, Sora and Riku lowered both of their arms the the light sword came down onto the Heartless. The sword completely cut the Tower in half, defeating all of the Shadows. When the Shadows were gone, Mickey and Jellal flew out of the Tower and crashed onto the beach.

"Mickey! Jellal!", shouted everyone.

Seeing the two on the beach, Riku ran after them. But before he could get close to them, Aqua immediately charge after him, ready to strike him with Mickey's Keyblade.

"Look out!", shouted Sting.

Riku quickly summoned his Keyblade and Aqua crashed into him, causing them to be engulfed in a giant splash of water.

"Is he alright?", asked a weak Jellal while Erza lift his back up.

"I don't know.", answered Erza. "Is that Aqua?" Jellal nodded.

"What happened to her?", asked Lucy.

"She's been possessed by someone or something.", answered Minerva.

"Where did Natsu go?", asked Happy.

Everyone looked around, but there was no sign of him on the beach.

"Don't tell me…", said Macbeth.

When the water splashed cleared, everyone saw with surprise, Sora and Natsu blocking Aqua's attack with his Keyblade and fire respectively, and protecting Riku in the process. The boys then pushed Aqua back, making her jump away from them. Sora turned to face Riku and smiled.

Riku smiled back and asked, "How, Sora?"

Sora's Keyblade disappeared from his and summon the Keyblade he found on the Destiny Islands.

"I...had a little help.", he said.

"We found it on the islands of Sora's home.", said Natsu. "That really is a helpful key."

"Watch over the others. I've got this."

"Leave it to me!", shouted Natsu as he ran after her, surprising the boys.

"Wait, Natsu!", shouted Sora as he too ran after him while Riku headed over to Mickey.

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"

Natsu attempted to strike Aqua with that attack. But Aqua blocked the attack with her Keyblade and push Natsu away from her. Sora then charged towards her and attempted to strike her with his Keyblade, but Aqua dodged the attack by Cartwheeling away from him.

"Bubble Blaster!"

Tones of large water bubbles were fired from Aqua's Keyblade and attacked both Sora and Natsu. They both yelled in pain and were sent flying until they crashed into the water, but they were still on the water's surface.

"Water attacks, huh?", said Natsu.

"Raging Storm!"

Three pillars of flame appeared around Aqua and she flew towards the boys. But Natsu came up to her and started to eat all of the fire.

"Man, this is good!", he said while he was eating. When he was done, he smirked. "Eat this!"

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"

"Deep Freeze!"

Aqua fired a large blizzard attack from her Keyblade at Natsu. When both attacks hit each other, it caused a huge explosion. But the two of them jumped away from the attack at the last second.

Sora then charged towards Aqua and starts attacking with his Keyblade. But Aqua blocked his attacks with her Keyblade and they then started exchanging blows with each other. They continued to exchange blows over a while with Sora actually keeping up with her. Aqua was getting annoyed with this.

"Enough!", she shouted with anger.

She created a large blast around, causing Sora to jump away from her and land near Natsu.

"She's tough…", said Natsu.

"Well, she is a Keyblade Master.", said Sora.

"Why.", she said. "Why are you defending him? He was the reason I suffered another year here! He promised me to take me back to the Realm of Light. But then he ditched me to save himself."

"Mickey would never do something like that!", shouted Natsu. "Yes, he failed to save you, but he was separated from you and he's been trying to find a way back to you."

"And he's here now!", shouted Sora. "Trying to bring you back home."

"No… You all want to kill me. Since I became one with this place, you are now here to kill me because I pose a threat against the Realm of Light."

"That's not-"

"Shut up! People who use the power of darkness is considered an enemy no matter what and they are killed in the end. I wandered this place for a decade and I became this! I was so afraid of dying and I had no one to help me, there was only the Heartless and this dark place. I'm am not going to die. I'm gonna kill you all and then I'll be free!"

Aqua then roared out in anger, causing a large amount of aura coming out of here. Sora and Natsu covered their faces with their arms as the aura hit them directly.

"Man, this place really messed her up.", said Natsu.

"I don't blame her.", said Sora. "Being alone, in a place like this, fighting for your life, most people shouldn't suffer like this."

"May I handle this?"

Sora and Natsu turned around and saw Erza standing in front of them.