'What are you doing to me?' Riku fell to the floor in the main chamber of
Hollow Bastion, his whole body shuddering.
~We wanted to kill Sora. So we tried our best.~
'You wanted to kill Sora.'
~He killed your lover. Are you saying you don't carry any malice towards him.~
'Of course I do. But we've taught him his lesson now. It's enough. We don't have to kill him.'
~But you want to. Accept it already Riku.~
"Never."
"Never what boy?" Maleficent strode across the room, but stood with her arms crossed over her chest and did not offer any comfort to the boy who was shaking on the floor.
~"It doesn't matter. Where is the keyblade master?"~
"On his way here. The castle's forces are slowing him down, but none of them are strong enough to stop him completely." She smirked down at Riku as she spoke to him. "Do you need some help dealing with him?"
~"No, but if it would please you, try your hand at the keyblade master and his friends."~
With an icy smile, the woman glided away, leaving Riku with only Ansem for company. His arm moved without him, and he sunk slowly into the darkness beneath him. When his feet hit the dark ground, Riku looked at himself and saw his familiar yellow shirt and blue pants.
White gloved hands slid from his shoulders down over his chest, and Riku flicked his eyes to the side and was met with a cold orange glare.
"You sure seem to get angry at me a lot lately Riku. And over such silly little things. I know someone else who tried to kill Sora, and you had no problem with that......"
Riku felt his heart seem to slow down. It was like he couldn't feel it anymore, like there was no feeling in his body whatsoever. The he saw two black hands trail up from his chest and along his neck. The hands had on gloves, and Riku leaned towards the hand that began to caress one side of his face.
"Come on Ku, you need to relax." The happy voice came from behind him, and he felt spiky hair brush against the back of his neck, making him shiver.
When the hands on his face turned him around, Riku was face to face with Shadow. The dark boy smiled cheerily and his yellow eyes shined brightly against the dark background of the shadow world.
"Shadow?" Riku reached out with his hands and felt the warm flesh in front of him. Shadow laughed and then flung his arms around him, letting Riku pull him into a tight hug.
"Gee Ku, you act like it's been years or something?"
Riku's teal eyes met with Shadow's and his hand firmly grasped the back of the boy's neck, pulling him against him. Shadow turned his head and opened his mouth, impatiently bringing Riku into the kiss. He complied and gently began to massage Shadow's tongue with his. The lips were soft and silky, same as the rest of him.
'Tastes....like....nothing.'
Riku pulled away from the kiss, leaving a breathless Shadow still leaning towards him. In a split second, Riku's hand slapped across Shadow's face. The boy prayed that Shadow would yell at him, curse him, or make some quip. Instead, another face melted out of the darkness that made up Shadow.
"Your hits didn't seem so hard when I was in your body with you." Ansem ran a hand through his long white hair and looked down at the silver haired boy, with an almost betrayed look on his face.
"Damn you."
"How did you know it was me? I thought the illusion was quite complete."
Riku spit at the ground and Ansem looked at him disdainfully. "You taste terrible. Shadow tasted like salt water and tropical fruits."
Ansem let a finger trail around his mouth as he gave Riku a sensual look. "I don't mind telling you, I quite liked the way you tasted." The nobleman tried to approach Riku, but the anger in his eyes told him that he was treading on thin ice.
"I don't want you in my body anymore. Ever. Let's go and get Kairi her heart back, so you can have your own body."
Ansem bowed, his cape swirling gracefully behind him.
"As you command."
Riku opened his eyes and was back in his own body, standing in the center of the room, directly in front of the final keyhole.
~Apparently your friend has been giving the pathetic witch a run for her money. She is almost completely emptied of dark power. Shall we?~
'Fine, it should be entertaining to watch.'
Riku walked forward and reemerged a large circular room that was Maleficent's own private room. Huge thorny rose vines grew around the outside, and sealed everything in. The woman herself was struggling across the floor, panting and grabbing at her chest.
~"Do you need some help?"~ Riku sneered. For the first time, he saw fear plain as day in the old woman's eyes.
"Riku!"
~Your friend is here.~
"Riku why are you doing this?"
~"I am doing this to save us."~
"Us?" Sora looked at his childhood best friend as if he were a stranger.
Holding out his hand, the black and red keyblade formed in his hand. He smiled and took a step backwards, keeping his eyes locked with Sora's as he approached the weakened Maleficent.
"This keyblade can unlock people's hearts, and it can unleash," Riku turned and plunged the sharp tip of the keyblade deep into Maleficent's heart. She gasped and made a choking sound, just like Riku had down when Ansem dug his fingers into his chest. "The true dark power within!"
Pulling hard on the hilt, the dark keyblade came out of Maleficent's heart with a sickening wet sound. Then she raised her head, and green mist began to swirl around her. Her powers rose and Riku stepped backwards through a portal Ansem had conveniently created for them.
Expecting Hollow Bastion, Riku found himself confused as he looked around at the barren shadow world.
"Why did you bring us here?"
"Because my dear Riku, I tire of this." Ansem extended his arm and a thick coil of darkness shot out of his hand and wrapped around Riku's neck.
He began to claw at it, trying to get the strangling darkness off of him any way he could. Riku felt his lungs burn. Felt his chest heave and try to breathe.
"I really thought we could work this out. That you would accept me and that we could work together. But now you're just becoming more and more rebellious. You didn't want to give Maleficent her true power, because of your feelings for that boy." Ansem hissed out the words and suddenly more dark ropes erupted from the ground and snatched at parts of Riku, holding him in place.
"Don't worry, as soon as I get Kairi's heart from within Sora, we can work this out."
Ansem's boots hitting the black ground was the only sound that echoed through the world, as he walked directly up to Riku. Leaning down, his long white hair spilled over his should and brushed against Riku, causing the boy to try and shrink away. The older man moved sharply forward, pressing his lips against Riku's for an instant, before turning on his heel and stepping into a portal.
The darkness faded and fell apart around him, and immediately Riku tried to call forth a portal, to reclaim his body from the thief named Ansem. But all he could do was make a small ripple on the floor. Ansem had left him completely powerless here, except what he had within himself.
"ANSEM!" His voiced screamed back at him over and over as it bounced around the void.
Riku bent down and got on his knees, pressing his palms to the floor. 'Come on.' Using every bit of concentration he had, Riku forced the darkness inside him into the floor, and slowly an image flickered there. For a second he thought it hadn't worked, before he realized that the large portion of blackness that was moving across the screen was actually Maleficent's most powerful form. The dark dragon opened it's mouth, showing it's terribly long fangs and spat out a plume of green flame.
Somewhere in the cloud of fire and smoke, three figures leapt at the overbearing creature and began to attack. Sora, Donald, and Goofy refused to be beaten or discouraged, even by so huge a creature.
It was then that Riku realized that he couldn't stand seeing Sora hurt. And especially knowing that it was his fault. He wanted to help him. Wanted to save him.
Riku realized all the times that he had tried to hurt Sora, sent heartless after him, and almost killed him. He felt ill and had to keep from throwing up right then and there.
He watched Sora attack and eventually defeat Maleficent. And then he vaguely felt something. It was the weird feel that always came with traveling through the darkness. Even with Ansem in complete control, he could vaguely feel his body's movement. And he could see himself in the dark mirror, pressing his foot in the spot where Maleficent had been destroyed.
"Her greed for the darkness was her downfall. She was a mere puppet for me. Just like Riku." Then his body slipped through a portal again, but Riku couldn't see where it had gone.
He had heard footsteps approaching.
"Who's there?"
His aqua eyes squinted through the darkness, and could barely see a figure walking towards him, bent forward in an aggressive way. For a moment he thought it was Ansem, and at this fleeting thought the darkness on the ground showed him where Ansem had reappeared. Riku saw his body, clad in black and red and purple sitting on a pipe in the main hall of Hollow Bastion. He was holding the dark keyblade, and swinging it idly, his eyes trained on the entrance to the main hall.
"He will have that worthless boy's heart." A voice sneered nearby, and Riku reached up and clutched at his throat, knowing that it was his voice that had called out.
A sharp whistle rang out and echoed in the darkness, and finally Riku's head snapped up and saw bright yellow eyes staring down at him. But they were different than Shadow's. Thinner, and more angled. And it's hair was longer and hung down instead of out in all directions. His clothes were all in shades of blacks and purples, and his skin was the same shade as the world around him.
"Very funny Ansem. These games are really starting to piss me off." Riku shouted into the oblivion, and his dark reflection just laughed at him.
"What makes you think Ansem has anything to do with me?"
Riku's eyes flicked back to the mirror on the floor, and saw that his body was still sitting there, which meant Ansem wasn't in the shadow world at the moment. He stood up and gave the dark version of himself a good looking over.
"So if you weren't sent by Ansem, then what are you?"
"Same thing as Shadow. But...let's just say tweaked a bit."
Riku was quickly becoming annoyed by this smirking teenager and turned from him, to look at what was happening in Hollow Bastion. He could see that Sora and his party had finally reached the main hall, and were rushing up the stairs. Able to see everything, Riku caught the slight hand movement of his own body, which sent up a force field around the entrance to the keyhole, hurling back Goofy as he tried to follow Donald and Sora.
The only reason Riku took his eyes off of the floor was that he felt an odd prodding in the middle of his back. The feeling trailed up his back and over his right shoulder, where he could see the sharp curve of the dragon blade, only this one was pitch black.
"Care to dance?" Riku spun and managed to form his dragon blade in time to block the overhead slash that came from the dark version of himself. Riku felt himself stumble back a step, having called out the sword using only his own power had left him feeling drained.
The dark Riku leapt backwards, before rushing at him again. His blade was deflected and a well-placed foot sent him sprawling to the hard ground. He landed on top of the image on the dark floor, and that image caught Riku's attention for a second before his opponent regained himself.
Sora was yelling to Ansem, and the only part Riku caught before his battle continued was "Give Riku back his heart."
So Sora realized that he wasn't in control. Riku smiled and parried another blow of his counterpart, feeling the guilt on his mind lessened, even if for only a moment.
"That Sora really is a cutie isn't he?"
Riku lashed out and managed to connect with the dark boy's thigh, leaving a tear in his pants that just barely missed carving into his flesh. He grinned a black smile at him before continuing their duel, lunging and blocking as the two alternately gained and lost ground to each other.
Pushing the other version of himself away physically, Riku took the brief moment to look at the ground, and see what was happening. Another battle was being commenced in that world, between a third Riku and Sora. 'There are getting to be way too many of me around here.'
As Sora struck out at Ansem and connected, Riku felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as the curve of the dark dragon blade grazed his skin. Deciding that his own fight was a bit more important to pay attention to at the moment, he ran full tilt at the dark Riku and began to slash at him like his life depended on it.
Had he been paying more attention to what was happening in the dark mirror, Riku would have seen Ansem defeated by Sora, and slinking away through the darkness. He also would have seen Sora selflessly impale himself on Ansem's forgotten dark keyblade, and therefore release his and Kairi's hearts.
Riku and his dark self clashed again, but both suddenly lost interest in each other when a body fell directly on top of them both. Riku managed to climb to his knees first and rubbed his now throbbing head. As he looked down, he saw a mass of body and limbs trying to separate from each other on the floor. One of them was wearing a red jumpsuit.
Bringing the dragon blade threateningly against the back of the shadow's neck, Riku allowed Sora to climb to his feet. As soon as he had, he looked around and recognized the horrific shadow world he had only been in once before. The brunette's whole body shook from the memory. Then his bright sapphire eyes turned and met with Riku's.
"Riku...." He barely whispered, as if anything louder would cause the illusion to blow away like sand. But for the first time since they had left Destiny Island, Sora saw the same Riku behind the green eyes and couldn't help but throw himself forward and into his embrace.
Riku welcomed the feel of his best friend against him, and the time he's spent with he and Ansem beginning to meld together seemed like a faraway dream. Then he looked over Sora's shoulder, half obscured by the spiky brown hair, and saw the dark version of himself standing up and holding out his dark sword.
Sora stood back, disbelief still clinging to his bright eyes even as he was thrown away from Riku as the boy picked up the fight he had begun. The two dragon blades clashed as each Riku tried to gain any sort of advantage on the other. Then the dark one turned and looked at Sora, a bit of surprise in his dark face.
Sora's breath seemed to have suddenly run out. It was like being underwater, and being unable to suck in the air that your body was crying out for. The yellow eyes bore into his, and then that sickly grin came to the dark Riku's face. The keyblade master began to shake and fell to his knees, but never broke eye contact.
"Sora, get up!"
"No, stay down. You always did look better from above."
Riku didn't like where the conversation had abruptly headed and lunged for the dark boy's throat. He parried and the two danced again, briefly forgetting about the boy who sat on the floor shuddering. Everything seemed to happen so fast that Riku wasn't sure what had happened, just that his opponent was laying on the floor, holding his stomach.
Sora was panting, now that his lungs finally decided to work again, and he was holding a keyblade that dripped with something dark. His shoulder was touching Riku's, and the silver haired boy knew that Sora remembered everything that happened when they first came to the shadow world. He had done well convincing himself that it wasn't real, but seeing the dark Riku in person had done him in.
Riku watched his darker self struggle and finally stand, black blood seeping from the stab wound in his stomach. He still held his weapon in the hand that was covering his injury, and held it in front of him. His face was screwed up in pain, but he still managed to sneer over to Sora.
"All you've been is trouble. I should have killed you after I raped you." Even as he finished his last words, Riku's dragon blade sliced through his throat. His yellow eyes widened in surprise as his body fell to the floor and the darkness sucked it through.
The whole world was silent except for the steady dripping of black blood from both keyblade master's weapons. Riku let the dragon blade disappear, and walked back to where Sora was standing, still looking at the spot where the dark thing's body had been sucked down.
"Sora? You okay?"
He nodded, a halfhearted movement that told almost as much as his blank blue eyes. Riku walked over and sat down next to Sora, giving them at least a foot of space between them. Sora's eyes flicked up and seemed to accept Riku.
"Sora....hey!" Riku shouted and Sora's whole body jerked. He looked up at him, and slowly smiled.
"Sorry. I just...didn't realize it had been real. Or that..."
"That it wasn't me who did it."
Sora nodded and leaned back, getting into a more comfortable position, sitting cross legged next to his best friend. After a few awkward moments the keyblade master scooted over and leaned his head on his best friend's shoulder.
Riku wasn't entirely sure what to do. Sora had been through a lot, and he knew that he couldn't have known at times whether Riku was really himself or not. He gently moved his arm up and let it rest lightly on Sora's back. The smaller boy seemed not to mind and leaned farther into Riku, his spiky brown hair tickling Riku's neck.
"I missed you a lot Riku." He mumbled into the shirt his face was pressed against. Riku squirmed a bit, shifting back and forth, and unable to find a place for his arm to go. Sora had no such problem, and wrapped his arms around Riku in a half tackle, sending the two rolling.
Habit took over, and Riku rolled over so that Sora was laying beneath him, his hands pressing down the boy's shoulders. The two laughed, until Riku realized exactly what type of position they were in. He quickly let go and rolled back onto his knees, trying to look casual about it.
"Riku, I'm glad I found you again." Sora sat up and crawled on his knees over to Riku. The older boy was beginning to feel a little too warm and tried to find something to change the subject to.
"Uh....you know, we really should-" Whatever he was about to ramble about was cut off as Sora pressed his lips firmly against Riku's. As first kisses between friends go, it could have been worse. Riku closed his eyes and brought his hand up to the back of Sora's neck, pressing his lips closer.
Sora let himself relax against Riku and leaned over onto him, opening his mouth and tasting his best friend. Sora's tongue moved all on it's own, brushing against Riku's teeth, tentatively touching the other's tongue as the two boy's sat on the cold dark floor.
Riku remembered Shadow for a moment, and realized that he was wrong. Sora didn't taste like sand and fresh sea air. He tasted like Sora. There was no describing it. Riku's partially gloved hands began to slide down across Sora's shoulder, then down onto his chest. Sora shivered but pressed against the soft hands that were trailing across the muscles on his chest.
After a few second of remembering exactly where it was, Riku found the zipper to Sora's jumpsuit and slowly tugged it down. Sora complied and leaned back, allowing Riku to easier take down the jumpsuit. Again the brunette had his back to the dark ground, with his childhood friend on top of him.
Riku slid out his tongue and licked along Sora's neck, feeling the vibration there as the keyblade master groaned. Then Riku skipped down and began to kiss Sora's chest, right above his stomach. Gently Sora's hands found there way into his long silver hair and began to comb through it, softly pressing the mouth harder against his chest.
"Sora!"
Both boys stopped and shot up at the high feminine voice. Sora panicked and thought he'd been caught, quickly zipping up his jumpsuit and leaping to his feet. Riku had a better idea of what was going on and looked towards the floor where he could still see the events going on in Hollow Bastion.
"Kairi's awake." He said quietly. A small smile tugged at the boy's lips. Until he remembered exactly what that meant.
"Oh no. I have to save her."
Sora reached out and caught Riku's wrist before the boy managed to get away.
"Take me with you."
Using all the energy he could muster, Riku created a portal through the darkness, but he knew it was too weak to send him directly to his body. Ansem had taken all his power with him, and Riku snarled in anger.
Not quite sure what was going to happen, but knowing that he and Sora would go together, Riku stepped into the black portal. The warmth of Sora's hand disappeared from his wrist, and Riku felt lightheaded. He could almost feel his body, it was much closer now.
Concentrating, Riku tried to force himself back into control of his own body, sensing Ansem's presence and heading for it.
"What...is this?" Ansem said, stopping dead in his tracks. Kairi looked at him in fear as Donald and Goofy tried to pull her away.
"Come on Kairi, we gotta get outta here." Goofy yelled and pulled her towards the staircase.
Riku didn't realize that he had his eyes closed until he opened them. He could see Ansem. The way he had always appeared in the shadow world. His true body.
'Except that it's not yours. It's mine.'
"Riku?" Kairi said hopefully. Riku turned around and met Kairi's soft scared eyes. 'She can see me?'
"Run Kairi!" Doing his best, Riku placed himself in front of Ansem and fought with him for control of his body.
"But Riku..."
Ansem was beginning to gain control again and Riku could feel himself being pulled back to the shadow world, slowly.
"Get out of here Kairi!" He screamed at the girl, and finally she turned and ran away.
"You will pay for that dearly."
Riku's energy finally ran out and he felt himself lose consciousness and fall through darkness. Only then did he question where Sora had gone.
'He'll do it. He'll save us both.'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Wow. I haven't updated in forever. :::bows::: sorry faithful readers. But as you can see, this chapter is rather long. ^_^ only one more, so prepare yourselves for the finale of Darkside. If you've played the game all the way through, then you know what's going to happen, but stay tuned to see my twist on it. Thanks again for sticking with me. The last chapter won't take as long as this one did.
~We wanted to kill Sora. So we tried our best.~
'You wanted to kill Sora.'
~He killed your lover. Are you saying you don't carry any malice towards him.~
'Of course I do. But we've taught him his lesson now. It's enough. We don't have to kill him.'
~But you want to. Accept it already Riku.~
"Never."
"Never what boy?" Maleficent strode across the room, but stood with her arms crossed over her chest and did not offer any comfort to the boy who was shaking on the floor.
~"It doesn't matter. Where is the keyblade master?"~
"On his way here. The castle's forces are slowing him down, but none of them are strong enough to stop him completely." She smirked down at Riku as she spoke to him. "Do you need some help dealing with him?"
~"No, but if it would please you, try your hand at the keyblade master and his friends."~
With an icy smile, the woman glided away, leaving Riku with only Ansem for company. His arm moved without him, and he sunk slowly into the darkness beneath him. When his feet hit the dark ground, Riku looked at himself and saw his familiar yellow shirt and blue pants.
White gloved hands slid from his shoulders down over his chest, and Riku flicked his eyes to the side and was met with a cold orange glare.
"You sure seem to get angry at me a lot lately Riku. And over such silly little things. I know someone else who tried to kill Sora, and you had no problem with that......"
Riku felt his heart seem to slow down. It was like he couldn't feel it anymore, like there was no feeling in his body whatsoever. The he saw two black hands trail up from his chest and along his neck. The hands had on gloves, and Riku leaned towards the hand that began to caress one side of his face.
"Come on Ku, you need to relax." The happy voice came from behind him, and he felt spiky hair brush against the back of his neck, making him shiver.
When the hands on his face turned him around, Riku was face to face with Shadow. The dark boy smiled cheerily and his yellow eyes shined brightly against the dark background of the shadow world.
"Shadow?" Riku reached out with his hands and felt the warm flesh in front of him. Shadow laughed and then flung his arms around him, letting Riku pull him into a tight hug.
"Gee Ku, you act like it's been years or something?"
Riku's teal eyes met with Shadow's and his hand firmly grasped the back of the boy's neck, pulling him against him. Shadow turned his head and opened his mouth, impatiently bringing Riku into the kiss. He complied and gently began to massage Shadow's tongue with his. The lips were soft and silky, same as the rest of him.
'Tastes....like....nothing.'
Riku pulled away from the kiss, leaving a breathless Shadow still leaning towards him. In a split second, Riku's hand slapped across Shadow's face. The boy prayed that Shadow would yell at him, curse him, or make some quip. Instead, another face melted out of the darkness that made up Shadow.
"Your hits didn't seem so hard when I was in your body with you." Ansem ran a hand through his long white hair and looked down at the silver haired boy, with an almost betrayed look on his face.
"Damn you."
"How did you know it was me? I thought the illusion was quite complete."
Riku spit at the ground and Ansem looked at him disdainfully. "You taste terrible. Shadow tasted like salt water and tropical fruits."
Ansem let a finger trail around his mouth as he gave Riku a sensual look. "I don't mind telling you, I quite liked the way you tasted." The nobleman tried to approach Riku, but the anger in his eyes told him that he was treading on thin ice.
"I don't want you in my body anymore. Ever. Let's go and get Kairi her heart back, so you can have your own body."
Ansem bowed, his cape swirling gracefully behind him.
"As you command."
Riku opened his eyes and was back in his own body, standing in the center of the room, directly in front of the final keyhole.
~Apparently your friend has been giving the pathetic witch a run for her money. She is almost completely emptied of dark power. Shall we?~
'Fine, it should be entertaining to watch.'
Riku walked forward and reemerged a large circular room that was Maleficent's own private room. Huge thorny rose vines grew around the outside, and sealed everything in. The woman herself was struggling across the floor, panting and grabbing at her chest.
~"Do you need some help?"~ Riku sneered. For the first time, he saw fear plain as day in the old woman's eyes.
"Riku!"
~Your friend is here.~
"Riku why are you doing this?"
~"I am doing this to save us."~
"Us?" Sora looked at his childhood best friend as if he were a stranger.
Holding out his hand, the black and red keyblade formed in his hand. He smiled and took a step backwards, keeping his eyes locked with Sora's as he approached the weakened Maleficent.
"This keyblade can unlock people's hearts, and it can unleash," Riku turned and plunged the sharp tip of the keyblade deep into Maleficent's heart. She gasped and made a choking sound, just like Riku had down when Ansem dug his fingers into his chest. "The true dark power within!"
Pulling hard on the hilt, the dark keyblade came out of Maleficent's heart with a sickening wet sound. Then she raised her head, and green mist began to swirl around her. Her powers rose and Riku stepped backwards through a portal Ansem had conveniently created for them.
Expecting Hollow Bastion, Riku found himself confused as he looked around at the barren shadow world.
"Why did you bring us here?"
"Because my dear Riku, I tire of this." Ansem extended his arm and a thick coil of darkness shot out of his hand and wrapped around Riku's neck.
He began to claw at it, trying to get the strangling darkness off of him any way he could. Riku felt his lungs burn. Felt his chest heave and try to breathe.
"I really thought we could work this out. That you would accept me and that we could work together. But now you're just becoming more and more rebellious. You didn't want to give Maleficent her true power, because of your feelings for that boy." Ansem hissed out the words and suddenly more dark ropes erupted from the ground and snatched at parts of Riku, holding him in place.
"Don't worry, as soon as I get Kairi's heart from within Sora, we can work this out."
Ansem's boots hitting the black ground was the only sound that echoed through the world, as he walked directly up to Riku. Leaning down, his long white hair spilled over his should and brushed against Riku, causing the boy to try and shrink away. The older man moved sharply forward, pressing his lips against Riku's for an instant, before turning on his heel and stepping into a portal.
The darkness faded and fell apart around him, and immediately Riku tried to call forth a portal, to reclaim his body from the thief named Ansem. But all he could do was make a small ripple on the floor. Ansem had left him completely powerless here, except what he had within himself.
"ANSEM!" His voiced screamed back at him over and over as it bounced around the void.
Riku bent down and got on his knees, pressing his palms to the floor. 'Come on.' Using every bit of concentration he had, Riku forced the darkness inside him into the floor, and slowly an image flickered there. For a second he thought it hadn't worked, before he realized that the large portion of blackness that was moving across the screen was actually Maleficent's most powerful form. The dark dragon opened it's mouth, showing it's terribly long fangs and spat out a plume of green flame.
Somewhere in the cloud of fire and smoke, three figures leapt at the overbearing creature and began to attack. Sora, Donald, and Goofy refused to be beaten or discouraged, even by so huge a creature.
It was then that Riku realized that he couldn't stand seeing Sora hurt. And especially knowing that it was his fault. He wanted to help him. Wanted to save him.
Riku realized all the times that he had tried to hurt Sora, sent heartless after him, and almost killed him. He felt ill and had to keep from throwing up right then and there.
He watched Sora attack and eventually defeat Maleficent. And then he vaguely felt something. It was the weird feel that always came with traveling through the darkness. Even with Ansem in complete control, he could vaguely feel his body's movement. And he could see himself in the dark mirror, pressing his foot in the spot where Maleficent had been destroyed.
"Her greed for the darkness was her downfall. She was a mere puppet for me. Just like Riku." Then his body slipped through a portal again, but Riku couldn't see where it had gone.
He had heard footsteps approaching.
"Who's there?"
His aqua eyes squinted through the darkness, and could barely see a figure walking towards him, bent forward in an aggressive way. For a moment he thought it was Ansem, and at this fleeting thought the darkness on the ground showed him where Ansem had reappeared. Riku saw his body, clad in black and red and purple sitting on a pipe in the main hall of Hollow Bastion. He was holding the dark keyblade, and swinging it idly, his eyes trained on the entrance to the main hall.
"He will have that worthless boy's heart." A voice sneered nearby, and Riku reached up and clutched at his throat, knowing that it was his voice that had called out.
A sharp whistle rang out and echoed in the darkness, and finally Riku's head snapped up and saw bright yellow eyes staring down at him. But they were different than Shadow's. Thinner, and more angled. And it's hair was longer and hung down instead of out in all directions. His clothes were all in shades of blacks and purples, and his skin was the same shade as the world around him.
"Very funny Ansem. These games are really starting to piss me off." Riku shouted into the oblivion, and his dark reflection just laughed at him.
"What makes you think Ansem has anything to do with me?"
Riku's eyes flicked back to the mirror on the floor, and saw that his body was still sitting there, which meant Ansem wasn't in the shadow world at the moment. He stood up and gave the dark version of himself a good looking over.
"So if you weren't sent by Ansem, then what are you?"
"Same thing as Shadow. But...let's just say tweaked a bit."
Riku was quickly becoming annoyed by this smirking teenager and turned from him, to look at what was happening in Hollow Bastion. He could see that Sora and his party had finally reached the main hall, and were rushing up the stairs. Able to see everything, Riku caught the slight hand movement of his own body, which sent up a force field around the entrance to the keyhole, hurling back Goofy as he tried to follow Donald and Sora.
The only reason Riku took his eyes off of the floor was that he felt an odd prodding in the middle of his back. The feeling trailed up his back and over his right shoulder, where he could see the sharp curve of the dragon blade, only this one was pitch black.
"Care to dance?" Riku spun and managed to form his dragon blade in time to block the overhead slash that came from the dark version of himself. Riku felt himself stumble back a step, having called out the sword using only his own power had left him feeling drained.
The dark Riku leapt backwards, before rushing at him again. His blade was deflected and a well-placed foot sent him sprawling to the hard ground. He landed on top of the image on the dark floor, and that image caught Riku's attention for a second before his opponent regained himself.
Sora was yelling to Ansem, and the only part Riku caught before his battle continued was "Give Riku back his heart."
So Sora realized that he wasn't in control. Riku smiled and parried another blow of his counterpart, feeling the guilt on his mind lessened, even if for only a moment.
"That Sora really is a cutie isn't he?"
Riku lashed out and managed to connect with the dark boy's thigh, leaving a tear in his pants that just barely missed carving into his flesh. He grinned a black smile at him before continuing their duel, lunging and blocking as the two alternately gained and lost ground to each other.
Pushing the other version of himself away physically, Riku took the brief moment to look at the ground, and see what was happening. Another battle was being commenced in that world, between a third Riku and Sora. 'There are getting to be way too many of me around here.'
As Sora struck out at Ansem and connected, Riku felt a sharp pain in his shoulder as the curve of the dark dragon blade grazed his skin. Deciding that his own fight was a bit more important to pay attention to at the moment, he ran full tilt at the dark Riku and began to slash at him like his life depended on it.
Had he been paying more attention to what was happening in the dark mirror, Riku would have seen Ansem defeated by Sora, and slinking away through the darkness. He also would have seen Sora selflessly impale himself on Ansem's forgotten dark keyblade, and therefore release his and Kairi's hearts.
Riku and his dark self clashed again, but both suddenly lost interest in each other when a body fell directly on top of them both. Riku managed to climb to his knees first and rubbed his now throbbing head. As he looked down, he saw a mass of body and limbs trying to separate from each other on the floor. One of them was wearing a red jumpsuit.
Bringing the dragon blade threateningly against the back of the shadow's neck, Riku allowed Sora to climb to his feet. As soon as he had, he looked around and recognized the horrific shadow world he had only been in once before. The brunette's whole body shook from the memory. Then his bright sapphire eyes turned and met with Riku's.
"Riku...." He barely whispered, as if anything louder would cause the illusion to blow away like sand. But for the first time since they had left Destiny Island, Sora saw the same Riku behind the green eyes and couldn't help but throw himself forward and into his embrace.
Riku welcomed the feel of his best friend against him, and the time he's spent with he and Ansem beginning to meld together seemed like a faraway dream. Then he looked over Sora's shoulder, half obscured by the spiky brown hair, and saw the dark version of himself standing up and holding out his dark sword.
Sora stood back, disbelief still clinging to his bright eyes even as he was thrown away from Riku as the boy picked up the fight he had begun. The two dragon blades clashed as each Riku tried to gain any sort of advantage on the other. Then the dark one turned and looked at Sora, a bit of surprise in his dark face.
Sora's breath seemed to have suddenly run out. It was like being underwater, and being unable to suck in the air that your body was crying out for. The yellow eyes bore into his, and then that sickly grin came to the dark Riku's face. The keyblade master began to shake and fell to his knees, but never broke eye contact.
"Sora, get up!"
"No, stay down. You always did look better from above."
Riku didn't like where the conversation had abruptly headed and lunged for the dark boy's throat. He parried and the two danced again, briefly forgetting about the boy who sat on the floor shuddering. Everything seemed to happen so fast that Riku wasn't sure what had happened, just that his opponent was laying on the floor, holding his stomach.
Sora was panting, now that his lungs finally decided to work again, and he was holding a keyblade that dripped with something dark. His shoulder was touching Riku's, and the silver haired boy knew that Sora remembered everything that happened when they first came to the shadow world. He had done well convincing himself that it wasn't real, but seeing the dark Riku in person had done him in.
Riku watched his darker self struggle and finally stand, black blood seeping from the stab wound in his stomach. He still held his weapon in the hand that was covering his injury, and held it in front of him. His face was screwed up in pain, but he still managed to sneer over to Sora.
"All you've been is trouble. I should have killed you after I raped you." Even as he finished his last words, Riku's dragon blade sliced through his throat. His yellow eyes widened in surprise as his body fell to the floor and the darkness sucked it through.
The whole world was silent except for the steady dripping of black blood from both keyblade master's weapons. Riku let the dragon blade disappear, and walked back to where Sora was standing, still looking at the spot where the dark thing's body had been sucked down.
"Sora? You okay?"
He nodded, a halfhearted movement that told almost as much as his blank blue eyes. Riku walked over and sat down next to Sora, giving them at least a foot of space between them. Sora's eyes flicked up and seemed to accept Riku.
"Sora....hey!" Riku shouted and Sora's whole body jerked. He looked up at him, and slowly smiled.
"Sorry. I just...didn't realize it had been real. Or that..."
"That it wasn't me who did it."
Sora nodded and leaned back, getting into a more comfortable position, sitting cross legged next to his best friend. After a few awkward moments the keyblade master scooted over and leaned his head on his best friend's shoulder.
Riku wasn't entirely sure what to do. Sora had been through a lot, and he knew that he couldn't have known at times whether Riku was really himself or not. He gently moved his arm up and let it rest lightly on Sora's back. The smaller boy seemed not to mind and leaned farther into Riku, his spiky brown hair tickling Riku's neck.
"I missed you a lot Riku." He mumbled into the shirt his face was pressed against. Riku squirmed a bit, shifting back and forth, and unable to find a place for his arm to go. Sora had no such problem, and wrapped his arms around Riku in a half tackle, sending the two rolling.
Habit took over, and Riku rolled over so that Sora was laying beneath him, his hands pressing down the boy's shoulders. The two laughed, until Riku realized exactly what type of position they were in. He quickly let go and rolled back onto his knees, trying to look casual about it.
"Riku, I'm glad I found you again." Sora sat up and crawled on his knees over to Riku. The older boy was beginning to feel a little too warm and tried to find something to change the subject to.
"Uh....you know, we really should-" Whatever he was about to ramble about was cut off as Sora pressed his lips firmly against Riku's. As first kisses between friends go, it could have been worse. Riku closed his eyes and brought his hand up to the back of Sora's neck, pressing his lips closer.
Sora let himself relax against Riku and leaned over onto him, opening his mouth and tasting his best friend. Sora's tongue moved all on it's own, brushing against Riku's teeth, tentatively touching the other's tongue as the two boy's sat on the cold dark floor.
Riku remembered Shadow for a moment, and realized that he was wrong. Sora didn't taste like sand and fresh sea air. He tasted like Sora. There was no describing it. Riku's partially gloved hands began to slide down across Sora's shoulder, then down onto his chest. Sora shivered but pressed against the soft hands that were trailing across the muscles on his chest.
After a few second of remembering exactly where it was, Riku found the zipper to Sora's jumpsuit and slowly tugged it down. Sora complied and leaned back, allowing Riku to easier take down the jumpsuit. Again the brunette had his back to the dark ground, with his childhood friend on top of him.
Riku slid out his tongue and licked along Sora's neck, feeling the vibration there as the keyblade master groaned. Then Riku skipped down and began to kiss Sora's chest, right above his stomach. Gently Sora's hands found there way into his long silver hair and began to comb through it, softly pressing the mouth harder against his chest.
"Sora!"
Both boys stopped and shot up at the high feminine voice. Sora panicked and thought he'd been caught, quickly zipping up his jumpsuit and leaping to his feet. Riku had a better idea of what was going on and looked towards the floor where he could still see the events going on in Hollow Bastion.
"Kairi's awake." He said quietly. A small smile tugged at the boy's lips. Until he remembered exactly what that meant.
"Oh no. I have to save her."
Sora reached out and caught Riku's wrist before the boy managed to get away.
"Take me with you."
Using all the energy he could muster, Riku created a portal through the darkness, but he knew it was too weak to send him directly to his body. Ansem had taken all his power with him, and Riku snarled in anger.
Not quite sure what was going to happen, but knowing that he and Sora would go together, Riku stepped into the black portal. The warmth of Sora's hand disappeared from his wrist, and Riku felt lightheaded. He could almost feel his body, it was much closer now.
Concentrating, Riku tried to force himself back into control of his own body, sensing Ansem's presence and heading for it.
"What...is this?" Ansem said, stopping dead in his tracks. Kairi looked at him in fear as Donald and Goofy tried to pull her away.
"Come on Kairi, we gotta get outta here." Goofy yelled and pulled her towards the staircase.
Riku didn't realize that he had his eyes closed until he opened them. He could see Ansem. The way he had always appeared in the shadow world. His true body.
'Except that it's not yours. It's mine.'
"Riku?" Kairi said hopefully. Riku turned around and met Kairi's soft scared eyes. 'She can see me?'
"Run Kairi!" Doing his best, Riku placed himself in front of Ansem and fought with him for control of his body.
"But Riku..."
Ansem was beginning to gain control again and Riku could feel himself being pulled back to the shadow world, slowly.
"Get out of here Kairi!" He screamed at the girl, and finally she turned and ran away.
"You will pay for that dearly."
Riku's energy finally ran out and he felt himself lose consciousness and fall through darkness. Only then did he question where Sora had gone.
'He'll do it. He'll save us both.'
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Wow. I haven't updated in forever. :::bows::: sorry faithful readers. But as you can see, this chapter is rather long. ^_^ only one more, so prepare yourselves for the finale of Darkside. If you've played the game all the way through, then you know what's going to happen, but stay tuned to see my twist on it. Thanks again for sticking with me. The last chapter won't take as long as this one did.