The chaos starts as soon as Roxas, Xion, and Mickey exit the study. Nobody and heartless alike battle it out inside the maze-like corridors.
"Hear me, my Heartless! Attack these white husks! Sweep them away!" Shouts the familiar voice of Maleficent, the mistress of all evil.
"What are you nuts? There's no way we're gonna win. I don't know about you, but I'm out of here sister!" Says the voice of Pete, stomping is heard as Pete exits.
"Pathetic coward." Maleficent remarks. Mickey, Roxas, and Xion enter the large section of the corridors and lock eyes with maleficent.
"Hmmph. It seems our rematch will have to wait, witch of the light." Remarks the mistress, as she disappears in an eruption of green flames. "Heartless. Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to the keyblade wielders!" Shouts Maleficent's disembodied voice.
"Looks like we've got trouble," Says Mickey, as the nobodies and heartless turn to them and attack. Mickey shoots pearls of light from his keyblade and Roxas and Xion hack and slashes at the foes, taking them out with incredible speed. With the path forward cleared, the three race to the outside world. And see Namine, backed into a corner by three nobodies, Roxas and Xion slice through them without hesitation.
"Are you okay?" Xion asks.
"Yes, thank you, both of you," Namine says with a smile.
"Watch out!" Mickey shouts, the three turn to see more nobodies appear They prepare for battle when the nobodies are suddenly destroyed in a flash of bright white fire. Before them stands a tall man facing away from them. He has long silver hair and strange armor, but most notable, a single, large, black wing. He turns to face them. The three stand their ground, the man's presence alone gives off intense darkness. He turns away from them before flying into the air and disappearing into a portal of darkness.
"Who was that?" asks Xion.
"I don't know. But he's definitely trouble. Be prepared for anything guys!" Says the mouse. The four run from the postern and see the others fighting ahead.
"We'll help!" Says Roxas, coming to join their allies. Aerith turns and points to something behind them.
"Watch out!" the four turn to see a pack of nobodies charging from behind, Roxas, Xion, and Mickey attack the nobodies with all their strength and manage to take them out without too much trouble.
"Most of the damage is at the Bailey, head over there!" Yelled Leon. The four nod and get going to that location. The four arrive to see a massive open space and rubble where a section of the wall once stood. The three look out from their vantage point and see a horrific sight: legions of heartless approach Hollow bastion from the dark castle on the opposite side of the canyons. Thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of heartless make their way to Hollow Bastion, to join their brethren in the fight. From their vantage point, they see the large scale this battle is. Yuffie and Aerith side by side, destroying as many heartless as they can as the heartless run past them. The little fairies who once were on the side of maleficent, joining forces to push heartless of cliffs, Cloud and Leon fighting side by side, destroying waves of heartless in the ravines. Even the one-winged menace can be seen slashing away at the heartless with ease. Barely putting effort into protecting Hollow Bastion, yet despite that being surprisingly effective. The brown-haired girl takes down groups of heartless by herself, making her way towards Cloud. This battle is larger than anything they've ever been a part of before.
"Everybody. . .Hang in there." Says Roxas. The three step forward, but King mickey runs in front of them and stops, facing away from them.
"You three, you've gotta go!"
"What!? But Leon and the others are fighting! We have to help!" Says Xion.
"Don't worry. There's already lotsa help here! We'll take care of this fight!" Says the King. The three look at each other and nod. Before running past the king and over the cliff to the ground below.
"I'm sorry your majesty, but we've stopped taking orders from people in black coats a long time ago." Says Xion. The three turn away from the king and run to join the others in the battle. The Battle of Hollow Bastion. The three Run down some stairs, entering what looks like the ruins to some sort of fountain. Suddenly, Namine is cut off, and separated from Roxas and Xion by a wall of light.
"What's going on?" Roxas asks, but they find their answer almost immediately, as a corridor of darkness appears in front of them, and emerging from it is a familiar face of. A certain joke of the organization. Demyx steps back as if he's caught off guard by the presence of Roxas and Xion.
"Hey, you guys are looking lively." Says Demyx
"Get lost Demyx. We have more important things to do than mess around." Says Roxas,
"How'd someone like you even get into Organization thirteen? You can barely even fight!" Says Xion. Demyx is taken aback by their confidence.
"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." Says Demyx. The two materialize their keyblades and make a stance signifying their willingness to battle. Demyx flinches before turning around. "Oh. .. I told them they were sending the wrong guy. . ." Says Demyx with a mix of anxiety and anger. Roxas and Xion lighten up a little, remember who they're dealing with.
"Geeze, I know we don't have hearts but at the very least we have spines! Unlike you anyways." Says Roxas. Demyx perks up and turns around.
"Oh, you don't actually believe that do you? We do too have hearts! Don't be mad. . ." Says Demyx.
"You're awful attempts at lies don't trick us Demyx. We know how to feel because we have each other. Because we have friends who stand by our side. What do you have? You're Sitar? The couch you laze around on back at the castle?" Xion snaps, her eyes set on Demyx "You wouldn't know what it's like to have a heart Demyx, you don't know how to feel, because you're friends with no one but yourself!" Demyx faces away from them for a moment, no flinching or strange reactions. Suddenly, he turns and points at them.
"Silence, traitors," Demyx Says. Now Roxas and Xion are the ones taken aback. Seeing Demyx acting serious for the first time ever, they can't tell if it's a joke or not. "If you're foolish enough to believe the lie, then I guess I'll have to rip your hearts out myself and show you." Water rises in the air. Demyx raises his hand to the skies and the water converges onto a single point. From a bubble emerges Demyx's signature blue sitar. Xion and Roxas ready themselves for what comes next.
"Dance Water Dance!" Shouts Demyx, playing his sitar to form a protective hydro shield. Water clones emerge from the shield and begin to attack Roxas and Xion, swinging their sitars wildly and throwing bubble projectiles their way as they play their own sitars. Xion casts a Blizzard spell and freezes the clones long enough for Roxas to slash through them in one fell swoop. Demyx's shield and concentration break, stunning him for a brief moment, allowing Roxas and Xion to get the jump on him Roxas Slashes at him repeatedly, and knocks him towards Xion, who's about to cast a fire spell when suddenly, from below her, a pillar of water rises and knocks her over. Demyx Regains his composure and uses the waves to his advantage, charging straight through Xion and knocking her away with his sitar.
Roxas charges at Demyx, and Demyx responds by playing a few notes on his sitar, surrounding him in pillars of water that knock Roxas back. Roxas and Xion realize just how capable Demyx really is. It's not that he can't fight, it's that he just simply chooses not to, Roxas and Xion get back up and begin to put everything they have into this fight. They perform an attack in unison. Roxas throws his keyblade at Demyx while Xion shoots multiple Ice projectiles at him. Demyx reacts quickly
"Dance Water Dance!" Demyx shouts, as the hydro barrier is reformed and Water clones appear yet again. Roxas and Xion think quickly and take out the water clones yet again, leaving Demyx Vulnerable, This time, however, Roxas doesn't want him to recover. Roxas envelopes himself in red energy and materializing the black and white keyblades. He attacks Demyx with everything he has and chains attack after attack on Demyx keeping in the air while Xion shoots Blizzard spells from below, Demyx Plays a riff on his sitar as a shockwave of water pushes Roxas back. Demyx swings his sitar and hits Roxas with the sharp end of his sitar so hard it actually takes him out of Valor form. Demyx attempts to summon more pillars of water, but Xion grabs Roxas and holds him in her arms before summoning a reflective shield. Reflecting all of Demyx's attacks back at him. Xion lets go of Roxas as he gains his composure, and he slashes at Demyx, Demyx looks like he's about to summon more water when Xion jumps in with a reflective shield. This backfires however and Demyx hits Xion over the head with his sitar once the shield is down, knocking her into a wall and knocking her out. This doesn't turn the tides, however, as Roxas responds by stabbing Demyx through the chest, finishing him off. Demyx falls to his knees unable to support his body anymore. His sitar disappears as Demyx begins to disintegrate.
"I'll admit it Demyx. You are far stronger than we thought." Says Roxas, gasping for breath. "But you won't be hurting anyone anymore." Says Roxas.
"Roxas. . ." Roxas turns to see Xion awakening, She tries to get up, but struggles and falls back to the ground. Demyx suddenly laughs a little. With the little will he has left in him, Demyx snaps his fingers, and a bubble forms near the cliff's edge above Xion. It explodes and causes a shockwave, causing large rocks to fall below.
"Xion!" Roxas shouts, he runs as fast as he can, but he knows he won't make it fast enough to pick her up and get her out of there safely. He leaps as far as he can and dives towards Xion, his arms extend and pushes her out of the way, getting her to safety as the Rocks fall on him. Xion's eyes open wide
"Roxas!" Xion and Namine shout. The King finally catches up to them and sees the aftermath of the battle. They all turn their attention to Demyx as he speaks.
"I won't be hurting anyone huh? Bet you feel. . . dumb now. . . Roxas. . ." Says Demyx, finally caving into and falling face-first to the ground, as he makes contact, his body disappears into black dust that flows with the wind. The light barrier disappears. Namine and Mickey rush to Roxas aid. Xion gets up and joins her, they move the rocks with the best of their abilities and retrieve Roxas. They remove the rubble on top of him and see the horrific sight of black dust rising off of him.
"No. . . no no no no NO NO!" Xion shouts, she clutches Roxas' limp body. "This isn't happening, this can't be happening." Says Xion, tears running down her face. "Roxas! Don't go! Please! You can't just steal my heart and disappear forever. . . you can't. . . you're all I have. . ." Xion says, her voice choking up as she does so. The three look around, for anyone who could possibly help, but Xion finds the opposite. At a faraway cliff, Xion sees a tall man in a black coat, staring back at them. Her breathing becomes heavy, her sadness turns to anger and hatred as she stands up. "You. . . You will pay for that!" Xion shouts the blue gemstone on her ring glows as the red stone on Roxas' necklace glimmers, Xion is enveloped in yellow energy as a yellow gemstone appears on her second ring. When the energy dissipates, Xion dawns yellow clothing with a black thorn-like pattern. Xion summons two keyblades, a black and gold one, known as Missing Ache, and a black, pink, and silver one, known as Pain of solitude.
"Xion wait!" Namine argues but Xion doesn't listen, she charges off into the distance to meet the one who did this to her, the cause of all the pain and suffering in Xion and Roxas's life. Xemnas. King Mickey looks at Xion as she runs off, then at Roxas, then back at Xion. Mickey grabs his black coat and throws it off as he materializes his keyblade, the keyblade of darkness, the Kingdom Key-D, before running in and joining the others in the fight against the heartless, leaving Namine behind. Xion slaughters every heartless in sight as she approaches the cliffs. She runs through tunnel after tunnel, She passes by Yuffie and Aerith and casts many powerful spells as she runs by, obliterating a multitude of heartless. They try to thank her but she runs off, there's only one thing on her mind, and it's at the edge of the cliffs. As she exits a cave she passes by the brown-haired girl, who also destroying the heartless as she tries to reach someone. Though, unlike Xion, she's looking for a person close to her, while Xion runs towards the person that took exactly that from her. While all of this happens, however, Namine looks over Roxas as he disappears. She stares at the limp body, tears hitting the ground as she stares, shock, anxiety, it all begins to fill her body as she stares at her companion, one of her only friends, slowly disappear in front of her. Suddenly, however, the feelings go away as she sees something amazing. Roxas begins to stir.
Roxas opens his eyes, he slowly puts his palms on the ground and gets up. He looks around and sees endless darkness as far as the eye can see. He looks to the ground, the only source of light, and sees that he's standing on a strange stain-glassed platform. The stained glass shows a familiar face, that of a slumbering Sora, with the faces of Riku, Kairi, Donald, and goofy next to him.
"Sora. . ." Says Roxas "I promise, I will save you. Just give me more time." Suddenly, however, Roxas here's another voice.
"Join. . . Me. . ." Roxas looks behind him to see a figure at the other end of the stained glass platform. Its armor and helmet are unmistakable. It's the very same entity that plagues his nightmares. "Together. . . Become one. . ." Says the nightmare, it speaks with a voice of a million whispers.
"Who are you!?" Shouts Roxas
"Us. . ." The voice says slowly
"What does that mean!?" Roxas asks. His voice filled with many emotions
"Join. . . Us . . ." Says the nightmare. It materializes a keyblade, a kingdom key, and charges at Roxas. Roxas barely blocks the attack in time as the nightmare gets right in his face, the glass of his helmet is too dark to see through, it's impossible to see what lies behind the nightmare. The nightmare Jumps back before slashing a myriad of times at Roxas. Roxas is launched back, and the nightmare hops into the air and aims the keyblade at Roxas. Shooting a multitude of homing light projectiles at him. Roxas gets up in time and parries the attack, sending all the projectiles back at the nightmare, knocking it backward. Roxas charges and returns with slashes of his own, hacking and slashing at the nightmare with everything he has. The nightmare blocks an attack and pushes Roxas back. The two jump back and face each other, both on the opposite edges of the platform. They ready their keyblades and charge at each other as fast as they feasibly can. The two meet in the center, the two are about to slash at each other and enter a blade lock when Roxas changes his plan last minute and knocks the nightmare's keyblade into the air with a parry. Before the nightmare can react, Roxas hits the nightmare with his keyblade as hard as he can with his keyblade launching him back. Roxas lifts his hand into the air and catches the other kingdom key, and charges at the defenseless nightmare. The nightmare gets up and attempts to stop Roxas, but Roxas slices right through it. The second kingdom key disappears and Roxas turns to face the nightmare.
"I won't go. I can't. I still have to make good on my promises." Says Roxas. The nightmare stares back at Roxas.
"Promise . . ." Says the nightmare, as if it's trying to remember something. Suddenly the two look towards the ground. The stained glass of Sora suddenly changes, the glass turns white and rises to the air slowly, revealing a layer of glass beneath. The background color of the glass is now a bright red. At the center of the design stands Roxas, holding Kingdom key, as the faces of his friends are lined next to him. Xion, Namine, Axel, Hayner, Pence Olette, everyone who's shaped him into who he is. Roxas clutches his chest, as he feels a strange feeling. He looks back at the nightmare, as sees it slowly fade away. "Keep. . . Promise. . ." Says the nightmare, before fading away entirely.
As Roxas Stirs, the dust coming off of him suddenly returns to him, before it all is a part of him once again.
"Roxas!?" Asks Namine. Roxas Gasps for breath as he jolts awake and sits up. He looks around.
"Namine, where's Xion? And the Ki-" But before he can finish He feels Namine's embrace.
"Roxas! You're Okay! We thought you died!" Namine Says, letting go of Roxas.
"What?" Roxas seems confused.
"You were disintegration like Demyx, and you weren't moving. . ." Says Namine, her voice filled with the sadness from early, and the joy of her friend being alive again. Roxas looks down to the ground before looking around.
"Where did the others go-" But something catches his eye. He sees Xemnas in the distance, staring right at him. He looks around and sees no sight of the other two, before turning to Namine. "Did she. . .?" Asks Roxas, not wanting to finish that sentence. Namine nods. He looks out at Xemnas before standing up
"Wait, Roxas! You're hurt!" Says Namine, grabbing him by the arm attempting to stop him.
"I'm sorry Namine, but I can't let her do this alone." Says Roxas, he swings his arm away from Namine, forcing it out of her grasp. He runs to the edge with a limp and jumps to the clifftops. Hoping he can reach her faster if he doesn't have to weave through the cliffs. As Roxas makes his way to where he assumes Xion is, He's surrounded by a vast amount of Heartless, the charge at him when they're suddenly launched back. Roxas envelopes himself in a strange red-brown energy as a new gemstone appears on his necklace. The energy dissipates and Roxas dawns red pants and a black jacket over a white shirt, and yellow shoes. He materializes his keyblade and takes a page out of Kairi and the Nightmare's book. He slashes rapidly at the heartless, before jumping into the air and aiming his keyblade in their general direction, before shooting a multitude of small homing light projectiles, destroying all of them in one fell swoop. Roxas jumps from cliff-face to cliff-face, passing by Leon.
"Leon! Have you seen Xion?" Asks Roxas, Leon shakes his head when suddenly, large heartless attack the two. Leon's blade glows with white energy as he slices through the heartless. Roxas dashes through the heartless repeatedly striking while doing so. Once the way forward is clear Roxas continues to move closer to Xion's location.
Roxas finds an opening to a large cave, he looks around and sees no sign of Xion, so he jumps to the floor below and heads toward it. However, many shadows appear suddenly and surround him he prepares to take them out when from the skies comes Cloud Strife, he strikes the ground with his massive blade, destroying all heartless around them.
"You go on ahead. I'll take care of things here." Cloud says to Roxas. Roxas nods and continues moving through the cave at top speed. Eventually, he nears the end of the cave and sees Xion running to the exit.
"Xion!" Yells Roxas. Xion stops dead in her tracks She turns to face Roxas. She stares in complete disbelief, which turns to joy.
"Roxas!?" She says, sprinting towards him as she practically Tackles him, holding him tightly. "Roxas! You're alive!" Says Xion, tears running down her face out of joy. "You scared me so much. . . . I thought you were gone. . ." Xion says, her voice choking up. "I- I didn't want to be alone again," Xion says, her tears not stopping. "How would Axel react if he found me, only to find out that you. . . That I let you. . . I couldn't face him again . . ."
"I'm sorry, Xion. I didn't mean to make you worry. I just wanted to make sure you were safe. . ." Says Roxas, beginning to tear up as well.
"It's not just that Roxas. . . You and Axel. . . you make me feel like I have a heart. . ." Xion lets go of Roxas and looks him in the eyes. "But you. . . You make me feel things nobody else can make me feel." Xion says. "I was so scared that I would never get to tell you that. . ." Says Xion, finally mustering up her courage. "Roxas. I love you. You're more than just a friend to me. You're someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. . ." Xion confesses. "Even if you don't feel the same way. I at least wanted to tell you, so that I wouldn't regret keeping it secret. . ." Xion looks to the ground, unable to look Roxas in the eyes if he were to turn her down.
"Xion. . ." Roxas says, he wraps his arms around her waist and holds her close. "I never wanted to hurt you like that, You matter so much to me, seeing you in pain only makes me feel worse. . ." Roxas says. "You make me feel the same way Xion. I hadn't understood why for so long, but now I know. And I can say for certain that I love you too Xion. . ." The two hold each other for a long time, everything around them seems to disappear from their minds, as they focus on each other. The two don't even hear the sound of light footsteps approaching them
"There you two ar-" says Mickey cutting off as he realizes his sudden intrusion. Roxas and Xion's faces turn red as they quickly let each other go and look at the mouse.
"Oh- Hello your majesty." Roxas tries to play it off cool but it's not very convincing. Mickey smiles
"Sorry for interrupting you two. I'm just glad you're safe!" Says the mouse. Roxas and Xion smile.
"It's okay. We were about to go anyways." Says Xion. The three turn to face the exit, and leave the cave. They run through the barren floor of the caverns until they come to a stop. in between them and their enemy is a legion of heartless. They aren't moving though, they just stand there and stare. Suddenly, Xemnas disappears into a dark corridor and reappears at the edge of a nearby cliff. He removes his hood and looks right at them. Mickey gasps, coming to a sudden realization.
"You. . .! I remember now!" Says Mickey. Remembering of a distant time, when he was speaking to Ansem the wise. "You're Xehanort! Ansem's apprentice!" Says mickey. Xemnas smiles "The leader of Organization Thirteen is Xehanort's Nobody!" Mickey explains to Roxas and Xion, before materializing his keyblade and running at the nobody. Roxas and Xion attempt to follow, but are surrounded by the legion of heartless.
"How many are there?" Asks Roxas.
"I would say about two thousand," Xion replies.
"Do you think they'll be any trouble?" Asks Roxas.
"Hmm, maybe. If one more shows up." Says Xion jokingly.
"That'll be the one you take on then." Says Roxas with a smirk.
"You're fighting?" Xion says smirking as well. The two give each other a good look before charging at the heartless. Xion casts a myriad of spells as she shreds through the heartless like butter. Roxas performed many advanced keyblade techniques, dashing through enemies repeatedly with his keyblade out, killing them instantly, swinging his keyblade wildly, before shooting hundreds of light projectiles. Thunder reigns from the sky as Xion raises her keyblades, destroying many, many heartless. Finally, with only a hundred heartless left alive, Roxas and Xion meet in the middle, they face away from each other and aim their keyblades straight ahead. The two focus their energy and fire large beams of light, as the two spin slowly, eradicating all the heartless. The two catch their breath and looking at each other to make sure neither is hurt, but they're both completely fine. The two smile before turning and running to the location Mickey ran off to.
They reach Mickey in time to see him slay one last heartless. He turns to them, and then to something in front of him. The two stand by him and stare with him. At the edge of the cliff is Xemnas, staring at the dark castle.
"Xehanort!" Says Mickey, his voice filled with disdain.
"How long has it been since I abandoned that name. . ." Says Xemnas
"Where's Axel!?" Shouts Xion angrily.
"I do not know where he is. . . But he will be dealt with soon enough. . ." Says Xemnas, not even turning to face the three keyblade wielders behind him. He motions his hand and a corridor of darkness appears in front of him.
"Stop!" Yells Mickey, sprinting after the nobody. Xemnas enter the corridor, and Mickey enters just barely before it closes. Xion and Roxas Run with Mickey, but they were unable to reach the corridor of darkness in time. The two don't have time to think about that, however, as they notice something off about the castle.
"Roxas look!" Xion says, pointing to the ground below. Roxas looks and sees nothing.
"What is it?" Asks Roxas.
"Don't you remember? This whole area was filled to the brim with heartless." Says Xion. Roxas thinks for a moment, before remembering their first visit to Hollow Bastion.
"They're all gone!?" Roxas says in shock. "Did we do this?" Roxas asks, referring to everyone who fought alongside them, not just Xion and himself.
"You ask that like it's a good thing." The two perk up and turn around to face the familiar voice. The silver hair and blindfold make it clear who they're facing.
"Riku. . ." Xion says, stepping back.
"Did you two forget already?" Asks Riku "About Kingdom Hearts?". Roxas and Xion jump back, as Riku reminds them of their previous task as members of Organization XIII
"Destroy the heartless. . . complete kingdom hearts. . ." Says Xion in disbelief. Riku puts his index and thumb over his two eyes, or where they would be if they were not covered by the blindfold. "You two are hopeless. . ." Says Riku. "Everything was going to plan until you had to mess everything up." Says Riku, pointing at Roxas. "Sora would be back to normal, and he would have taken care of all of this by now." Says Riku. "What is YOUR plan?" Asks Riku.
"We'll stop the organization, and save Sora our own way!" Roxas responds. "And we'll do it without trading lives." Says Roxas.
"That's not a plan, that's a goal," Riku interjects. "How will you achieve it." Roxas and Xion stare back without a response. "So what you're saying is, you have no plan. . ." Says Riku, drawing his keyblade. Roxas and Xion do the same. "Then I'll just need to recomplete Sora myself." Riku is about to charge when a large wall of green fire is erected, separating him from Roxas and Xion. Maleficent appears behind Riku.
"You two, find a way to vanquish that organization, forever!" Yells Maleficent, Riku turns and attacks. Maleficent tries her best to block and dodge the assault.]
"Maleficent. . ." Xion says in disbelief.
"Do not misunderstand this action. I shall have my revenge . . ." Says the mistress of all evil. "Now go!" Roxas and Xion nod, before aiming their keyblades to the sky, and disappearing in a flash of light. The two appear in the gummi ship yet again, and Namine awaits them, though she's a bit surprised.
"I guess sometimes help comes from unexpected places. . ." Says Namine. Looking to the sky.
"So you saw all of that. . ." Xion looks away
"I should have known Riku would try something. . .I just didn't expect it so soon." Says Namine. She looks at her two dejected friends and speaks up. "But we can still do this!" Says Namine. Roxas and Xion look at her, then at each other, before smiling.
"You're right." Says Xion, Her mood lifted.
"As long as we have each other, we will always find a way." Says Roxas.
"But what should we do about the heartless?" Asks Namine.
"There's no real way we can avoiding fighting the darkness." Says Xion. "We can only hope we stop Xemnas in time."
"Right. Let's get to one of the worlds we've visited and see if we can make a breakthrough there." Says Namine. Roxas and Xion nod, before getting into their seats. Namine sets course to the next world and blasts off. She looks over at her two friends but sees they've already fallen asleep. "The fighting must have been exhausting. . ." Namine says to herself. But she finds it in herself to smile as she sees something. The two have their hands intertwined. Even while they slumber, the two can't help but show their love for one another.