Chapter 3: Reunion and Second Fight

"Riku!!" exclaimed Sora. "I can't believe you're here! But, how? Ansem said—"

"Don't believe what that jerk told you," Riku pointed to an unconscious Ansem. "That old geezer couldn't keep me down. I was just waiting for the right time to make my entrance."

"Well you sure picked a good time to do it!" Sora said, a little annoyed. "Why didn't you just get out here when I started fighting the guy!?"

"I could've done that, but you had said you wanted Ansem 'all to yourself,' remember?" Riku said. "And I didn't want you to get lazy if I was there." They both laughed. It made Sora feel great to be able to be able to laugh again. Just then, he remembered something.

"Hey Riku," he asked. "I thought Ansem had completely taken over your body?"

"Just because he tried to trap me in my own body doesn't mean that he could get rid of me. When he got strong enough to rejuvenate his body, he 'packed' mine away (for safekeeping I guess). Once he changed, I woke my heart up from the 'nap' it was taking, joined together with my body, and made a break for it. Easy, right?"

"Uh, yeah Sure," Sora said. "Makes perfect sense."

"Oh!" Riku said. "Just remembered! Where's Kairi? Is she okay?"

"Don't worry, Kairi's fine," his friend reassured him. "I told her to wait in Traverse Town, so she could be safe."

"Good idea. We wouldn't want you to get distracted Lover Boy!" jeered Riku.

"Hey!" said Sora, his cheeks turning bright red as Riku laughed. Suddenly, they both froze. They had heard a noise behind them.

"He's getting up," Sora said.

"I guess the separation wasn't as hard on him as I thought it would be," Riku responded. "Could've sworn he would be out for hours at least. Oh well," he added, bringing out his Dark Keyblade, "I guess we'll have to make him stay down."

"Hey!" cried Sora, surprised. "How do you still have that thing?!"

"I sort of brought it with me when I left Ansem. It's not the only thing I brought out..." he said as he tapped his head. "I still have all of those cool moves I learned. Up here."

"I can't wait to see you use them on someone besides me!" Sora joked.

"Heheh, sorry about that," Riku said. "I wasn't exactly myself then."

"Don't worry about it," his friend reassured him. "It wasn't your fault." As they were talking, Ansem stood up. He glared at the boys.

"I don't know how you got out," he snarled at Riku, "but I will make sure you have no time to enjoy your freedom! As for you," he added to Sora, "I was holding back before, but I won't go easy on you any longer!"

"Oooooooo, we're sooooooooo scaaaaareeed!" mocked Sora and Riku. They brought out their Keyblades and stood together. They charged at their enemy, ready to give it their all, and the battle began.

Ansem seemed just as powerful as before, if not stronger. Sora used most of the same attacks and magic as before. Once in a while he added in a Ragnarok or two in between. Without all the anger he had felt before, his mind was clearer, and he could fight with even better potential.

Riku's attacks were exactly the same as the ones he had used on Sora in Hollow Bastion. One of the more powerful ones made it look like he was making a light show. He would disappear then reappear, quickly attacking Ansem then disappearing again. While he did this, he would cause lightning to come from all directions.

The fight didn't seem to be going either way. No one could tell who would win. Riku began trying to distract each Ansem to make him angry.

"Hey Ansem!" Riku yelled at one point. "Barbie just called. She wants her hair and make-up back!"

"You insolent little nuisance!" Ansem said, his entire body seeming to ignite with the frustration rising in him.

"Riku...be careful," Sora warned. "You don't know what he might do if he gets mad enough."

"Don't worry," his friend assured him. "That old windbag can't do anything about it. I mean, how ancient is he anyway? A hundred? Five hundred?"

"Haven't you ever heard that wisdom comes with age!?" Ansem muttered, his anger turning into fury.

"Well then you must be the wisest man in the world Gramps!! Hahahahahah!!" Riku almost fell to the ground from laughing, and even Sora couldn't resist his friends antics.

"That—is—IT!!" screamed Ansem. "I will take no more of your insolence!!" He moved as if made of lightning, seeming, like in Riku's attack, to disappear and reappear in several places. Suddenly, he was right in front of Riku, knocking him to the ground. The Dark Keyblade sliding away from him. Sora was next. Ansem shot him onto his back as he tried to help Riku. His Keyblade flew towards Riku's, too far to crawl to.

Both boys lay next to each other, unable to get up. It was as if their bodies had given up from the shock. Ansem walked where they lay, anger and triumph gleaming in his eyes. He leaned down, grabbing Riku and Sora by their necks and lifting them into the air. They tried to get away, but they no longer had the energy to fight back.

"Now..." Ansem said. "I don't need either of you any longer. I could just leave you here and take your Keyblades. Then again, I could destroy you now and finish my experiment unchallenged. Frankly, I prefer the latter." As he said this, his grip tightened around his enemies' throats. Riku and Sora fought to get him off, but to no avail. They were slowly losing consciousness.

Just as Sora began to accept that they were going to die, he heard Kairi's voice in his head. He could almost see her in front of him.

"Sora!!" she cried. "Don't give up! Everything depends on you and Riku! Don't let Ansem beat you! Fight back! You can do it!!"

"Kairi," Sora whispered. "I'm sorry, but I can't beat him. He's too strong. He beat me and Riku easily."

"You just let your guard down for a second. You can still do it!" the girl assured him. "You just need a little more help."

"But where am I going to get help from? And how do I call for it?" Sora asked.

"Don't worry Sora," Kairi said. "Help is on the way." For some reason, he felt as if he wasn't just imagining the voice. He opened his eyes, and at the same Riku did too.

"So I guess you heard her too," Riku wheezed. Ansem's grip was making it hard to breath or speak, and impossible to move their heads.

"Yeah," Sora said. "It's like she's right here."

"Well well," Ansem said. "I'm surprised you're both still conscious. Don't worry though; I'll end your suffering soon."

Suddenly, there seemed to be a glow coming from several feet behind Ansem. He didn't seem to notice it, but above his head Riku and Sora could see it clearly. It seemed to grow in intensity, then shrink again. Ansem noticed the boys' surprised stares.

"Now what are the two of you looking at?" he asked. He barely got to finish the sentence before he was blown forward as if kicked in the back. Sora and Riku were freed from his hold. Instead of quickly falling to the ground though, they seemed to float for a bit before landing softly on their feet. Together they turned around to see where the glow had gone. It was gone, and in its place, they saw a very familiar face.

"Hiya guys!!" Kairi said. "Looks like I got here just in time."

End Chapter

Author's Note: Hey Everybody!! Here's my third installment! Hope you guys like it. It's the longest one yet. Just wondering, who did you think the familiar face was going to be. My sister thought it was going to be Mickey. Anyway, I'm going to get Chapter 4 in as soon as I can. See ya later! Ttfn! -Cheza