Chapter 4: Final Battles!!
"Kairi!" Sora cried as he ran towards her. Riku held back, too ashamed to go forward. He watched his friends hug each other, then run back to him.
"Hey Riku!" said Kairi, waiting for her hug. Riku looked down at the sand, not wanting to look her in the face.
"Kairi," he said quietly, "Sora, I'm sorry I hurt you guys. I don't know why I did it. I could've killed the both of you…"
"Stop beating yourself up about that Riku!" Sora told him. "It wasn't your fault!"
"Yeah!" Kairi joined in. "That was Ansem doing those things, not you!"
"Still, I did kidnap you Kairi," Riku persisted.
"Well, that's true…" Sora said.
"You were only trying to help me!" Kairi reassured him. "You were just being competitive, like always!"
"Yeah!" Sora chimed in.
"Thanks guys," Riku said as he looked up. "Now where's my hug?!" They gave each other a group hug (a completely not gay one). Then, Riku realized something. "Kairi!" he said. "How did you get here!?"
"And what did you do to Ansem?" Sora said.
"Actually…" Kairi began, "I'm not sure exactly how I got here!" As she talked, there is a flashback. Kairi is in the secret cave in Traverse Town. "I was worried about you guys. So I got Chip and Dale to take me to the End of the World." A gummi ship travels to End of the World, and Kairi gets out. "Once I got there, I knew I wouldn't be able to help you guys fight, even if I could find you."
"Suddenly, I somehow knew you both were in trouble." Kairi holds her head, a surprised look on her face. "I felt your minds, somehow, and I was desperate to save you. All I could think about was being there with you, wherever you were. I wanted to give you support, and cheer you on!
"While I was thinking, I felt like I was moving. Everything around me was darting by and swirling around." Everything around her seems to dissolve into a multicolored, chaotic background. "Finally, I ended up here." Kairi is standing on the beach as a light glows around her. "I saw Ansem holding you two up in the air, and I noticed what he had done to our island." Kairi looks around at the beach, seeing the abyss and Ansem holding Sora and Riku up by their necks. "I was furious!! I wanted to knock Ansem into the sky, then make him come crashing to the ground!!" Kairi's face shows pure fury and hate, and her hair seems to stand up with her anger. Somehow, I guess my wish came true. He flew backward, and was smashed into the sand!" Ansem lifts into the air and falls hard to the floor. You guys were falling, but I hoped you wouldn't get hurt, and you just floated down!" Sora and Riku float gently to the floor. The flashback ends.
"I'm so glad you two are okay!!" Kairi finishes.
"Woah," the boys sigh, their mouths agape.
"Kairi," Riku said in awe and admiration, "I think you're telepathic, and telekinetic too!"
"I'm tele-what?" Kairi asked, confused.
"He means that you have mind powers!" Sora helps. "We heard you when you tried to give us support. You teleported yourself, and you threw a guys six feet into the air just by thinking it!!"
"Wow! I didn't realize it!" Kairi said. "Maybe I should try it out again, just to be sure. She closed her eyes, concentrating. The three of them floated upwards, light as a feather.
"Woah!" the three of them said. "This is amazing!!" After a minute, Kairi brought them back down.
"Man, Kairi" exclaimed Sora. "Where'd you learn to do all of this?"
"Well…" Kairi replied. "I can't actually remember having these powers when I was little."
"So you've got your memory back, huh?" said Riku.
"Yup!" Kairi said. "I can remember almost everything from when I lived in the castle at Hollow Bastion! I still don't remember learning anything with my abilities though."
"I think I might know how it happened," Riku said. "Maybe you had the power inside you all along. It was just hidden too deeply to ever notice. When you had all those emotions occurring at once, it sparked your power and helped it to awaken."
"Wow Riku!" said Sora. "That's a great theory! How did you think of it?"
"Well," replied Riku, slightly sheepishly. "I saw it on an anime once, and thought it this might be the same." Kairi and Sora fell to the floor in embarrassment.
"This isn't a cartoon!" Kairi scolded. "It's real life!"
"Hey!" Riku said defensively. "It's possible! Enough weird stuff has happened to us already. What's one more weird thing going to do?"
"That's true," Sora agreed.
"I guess you could be right…," Kairi said.
"Shhh. Hold on a sec," Riku said suddenly. "I think our friend is waking up." As he said this, they saw Ansem get up again.
"Well," the scientist said, "hello Princess Kairi. It's nice to see you."
"Don't talk to me like that!" said Kairi. "I don't care if I'm a princess! It's not like I'm any different from who I've always been!"
"Oh?" Ansem replied. "I'm sorry then Princess. I didn't mean to.," he continued with no real guilt in his voice.
"Don't worry Kairi!" said Sora as he jumped in front of her.
"We'll protect you!" Riku joined him. They took out their Keyblades. Kairi's face grew red with frustration.
"Will you guys cut it out already?!" she said. She used her powers to pick the boys up and put them behind her. "As you can see, I can take very good care of myself now. It's my turn to protect you. I can put up a barrier that you guys will be able to attack in. It'll probably be a lot better than that aeroga, and you can save your MP for attack magic and summoning. Plus, I'll try to make Ansem's power blasts go off course." Her friends stood there, their jaws dropped.
"Woah Kairi…" Riku said in admiration, "you're really starting to take charge here!"
"Yeah!" Sora chimed in. "You're turning out to be a great leader!" Kairi giggled.
"Heehee! Thanks guys!" she said. "These powers make me fell a lot more confident! For the actual fighting though, I think you two should be co-leaders. I'll just stand by to help when I can." Ansem cleared his throat for attention.
"Ahem!" he said. He stood in the same place he got up from, tapping his foot.
"Oh yeah," Sora said, scratching his head casually. :I forgot he was even there for a while."
"Well excuse me children," an indignant Ansem hissed. "If you're done with your strategical chit-chat, I'd like to get this battle over with."
"Hey!" said Riku. "Don't call us children! We're not just some kids you can push around!"
"Yeah!" added Kairi.
"That's it!!" Ansem exclaimed. "You three have been a thorn in my side for too long! It's time for me to get rid of you boys, and the princess, and to get on with my plans! I will soon prove that everything is, and always will be, overshadowed by darkness!!"
"It's time to prove you wrong!" the three young friends shouted together. "Bring it on Grandpa!!"
Kairi quickly set up a barrier as Riku and Sora rushed forward. Ansem summoned some of his toughest Heartless (Behemoths, White Angels, Wyverns, etc.) to slow them down, but the boys just ran past them, slicing left and right their weapons. They cut a path through to the evil scientist. He was still just as powerful as in the previous battle. Nevertheless, with Kairi deflecting most of his attacks, and sometimes sending them back at him, Ansem was having a hard time of it. Sora and Riku took turns attacking, barely needing to use special attacks. Finally, the coward decided to pull out some tricks again…
Ansem put up a barrier and jumped high into the air. He floated too far up for Riku and Sora to jump to. Suddenly, the ground began rumbling.
"What is it now?!" Riku called over the noise.
"I think I know what this is!" Sora replied. It's Darkside!!" As he said this, a huge shadow appeared and spread on the ground. Out of it, a tall figure grew. It was Darkside, the monster that Sora had fought several times before. Alone, Sora had beaten him over and over with not a lot of effort. With his friends there, he knew this time would be no problem.
"Don't worry guys!" ha said with confidence. "He's easy! Just go after his hands, and try not to show any fear!"
"Alright! No problem!" Riku shouted.
Sora and Riku each took a hand, hacking at Darkside when its arms were low enough for them to reach. The monster tried to shoot small black balls of energy at them, but thanks to Kairi, few even hit. Then, it tried to swat wildly at them, trying to knock them down and get them away. Though it was dangerous, this made it easier to get hits in. Soon, they could tell they had it beat.
Suddenly, Darkside staggered near Kairi. For just a second, she became a little frightened and lost concentration. This gave it enough of a chance to knock her down.
"Kairi!" Sora cried.
"Are you all right?!" Riku said as Kairi stood up. Her eyes seemed to burn with a white-hot fire, and a white glow emanated from her hands. She pointed a finger at the monster.
"How dare you, you big bully!!" she yelled at Darkside. Her power shot out like white-hot bolts of lightning from her hands. It hit the figure, making it shatter into thousands of little pieces and dissolving before their eyes.
"Woah Kairi!" Sora cried, eyes growing huge with awe.
"You're just full of surprises aren't you?" Riku said.
"Heehee!" Kairi giggled. "Guess I am!" From high above them, Ansem was shaking with fury, as well as a tiny spark of fear. His pompous nature wouldn't allow him to show that fear, though. He tried to calm down.
"Well Princess," he said, "congratulations on discovering all your powers."
"I don't need your congratulations, jerk!" Kairi snapped.
"Well!" Ansem said sarcastically. "I'm hurt. You have deeply scarred my feelings Princess."
"Good! I'm glad!" Kairi said. "And stop calling me 'Princess!'" Now get down here so we can finish you off!!"
"Hey Kairi," Sora said, surprised, "I agree with you, but it isn't like you to be so angry at people."
"I'm sorry guys," the small girl said. "I know I'm not usually so mean, but I can't help it. Ansem is so horrible! He's done nothing but hurt people! He could help people with his research and knowledge, but he's just using it to prove that he's right. He'd rather that everything be destroyed than for him to be proven wrong." Her hands began glowing again. "I can't let him do that! I want to stop him from hurting so many people!" She looked down to hide the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Her hands faded, and she started shaking.
"It's alright Kairi," Riku said gently as he put his hand on her shoulder. We're right here."
"Yeah," Sora said as he joined them. "And together we'll make Ansem pay!"
"Thank you guys sniff,"Kairi said. She looked up, her eyes free of tears. "Watch out Ansem! We're going to bring you down!" She shot out her power at the scientist. It hit him, and he fell far to the ground. When he got up, he was laughing.
"Hahahahahahah! So…" he said menacingly. "As long as you're together, you can beat me? Well, then I'll just have to separate the three of you!"
Suddenly, the world seemed to melt away around them. The beach, the trees, the entire island faded away from right beneath their feet. Everything was black, and the three heroes felt weightless. Kairi summoned rings of light around each of them so that they could see. Apparently though, there was nothing to see. All that filled the place was emptiness.
"Where are we?" asked Kairi, her voice echoing off of nonexistent walls. They split up, flying around and looking for a way out.
"Wait!" cried Sora. "Do you hear that?" They listened, and recognized Ansem's laughing. First it was faint, but it got louder.
"He's got a great sense of humor, doesn't he?" joked Riku.
"Nah," replied Sora as he tried to suppress his laughter, "I think he's just lost it!"
"Umm…guys?" I think you should look over here!" Kairi called. The boys stopped laughing as soon as they turned around. Behind them was Ansem, but the scientist was different. Somehow he'd transformed again.
From the waist up, his entire body was the same: but everything below that was completely changed. His legs were gone. They were now a mass of muscle and skin that attached Ansem to a huge, ship-like structure. The structure was called Dark Chaos. It came from all the hate and darkness in the world. It had a huge pink head at the front with a mouth full of sharp teeth. The whole thing was actually very colorful (but in an evil way)! It was mostly pink, purple, and dark blue. There were wiggling, blue-black, pointy protrusions all over the bottom of the monstrous "ship." In the middle there seemed to be a huge light blue "room" with transparent walls. More of the wiggling protrusions were inside it, and in the middle was a sort of column (also light blue). A large sphere was in the column. It had eyes and a mouth that were white. Its expression seemed excited, but in a cruel way. The entire structure glowed with an evil light.
Sora, Riku, and Kairi managed to hide it, but they were terrified. Each wondered how they could possibly beat Ansem this way. When they looked each other though, they gained confidence. "Together we'll beat him!" they thought at the same time (Kairi, of course, could tell that the others were thinking it). Suddenly, cages of black-and-purple fire encircled each of them, shutting out Kairi's light. They could hear Ansem laughing outside.
"Hahahah! Let's see how well you three do alone, without each other!!" he said. The three friends were teleported to three smaller empty dimensions. In front of each of them was a small army of all types of Heartless! They began their separate battles.
Sora waited as the Heartless surrounded him. When they came at him, he'd target a few and destroy them, then go for another group. Once in a while he got tired and used potions and elixirs. It took a long time, but after a lot of slicing and spell-casting, he had taken down every Heartless there.
Riku's situation was the same, except that he was the first to attack, before the Heartless even moved. He tired out less quickly, but he didn't know any magic. His Dark Keyblade swiftly took out several Heartless at a time. He could even control a few, making them destroy each other. Finally, he'd finished with his group too.
Unlike the boys, Kairi didn't have a real weapon. She did know a lot of magic though, and she had her powers. She lifted as many as she could into the air and knocked them together. Firaga, Blizzaga, and other attack magics were useful too. After trying for a while, she decided to get rid of them all in one sweep. Concentrating as well as she could, she charged up her attack. Since she couldn't put up a barrier while charging, she had to keep dodging the enemies that would jump at her. Eventually, she managed to fully charge up. Kairi lifted her self high above the monsters, and blasted every one of them into oblivion.
When each of them beat the Heartless in their smaller dimensions, Sora, Riku, and Kairi returned to the original place. They were in the black-purple cages again.
"Well done, young ones," said Ansem sarcastically. "Welcome back to the Hallway," he continued as a tiny light appeared far behind him. "Behind me is the Doorway. You'll have to get through me to get to it. Of course, you can't do much in the position you're in! Hahahahaha!!" He laughed madly at his apparent victory. It was cut short, though, when the three friends easily stepped out of their cages!
"Th…this…can't be!" cried Ansem. "How could you possibly…?!"
"What part of 'as long as we're together we can beat you' didn't you get Ansem?" Sora shouted to him, a big grin on his face. "We don't have to be right next to each other to use the power of our friendship," he continued.
"You've never had anyone who loved you dearly, no matter what," Kairi said sympathetically.
"So you don't understand what we have," Riku added. "And you can't ever really beat us."
"This is impossible!!" Ansem screamed. "It goes against all scientific reasoning! Only the strongest and most experienced are supposed to survive! You are only children! You don't know anything! I can beat you!" he said, calming down a bit. "And I will prove what I have dedicated years of my life to find out!" Sora shook his head in sympathy.
"You'll never understand Ansem," he said. "The inly way for you to learn is for us 'kids' to prove you wrong." His friends nodded behind him, and the three of them flew at the scientist to fight one more time.
They first went after Ansem himself. The madman seemed to have used up most of his powers, but he had made two staffs of light from what remained or it, and he could still use regular magic. Sora and Riku sliced at him directly: sometimes taking turns, while other times they attacked at the same time. Kairi stood back to block Ansem's magic, occasionally getting a shot at him.
After a while, the cowardly villain put up a barrier, and the friends had to find out how to get rid of it. They found out that by destroying all the purple wiggling things, they made the walls of the inside room go down (apparently that had also been a barrier). Inside, they destroyed the last of the protrusions and went after the ball in the middle. Its expression changed from sadistically excited, to angry, and finally to fearful. Once it was destroyed, Ansem's barrier went down.
Finally, Sora, Riku, and Kairi went after Ansem for the last time. His power was depleted down to his last reserves, so it didn't take too long. He was out of strength, out of tricks, and out of luck. At last, the corrupt scientist was defeated.
They had finally won, and it was all over. Or so they thought…
-End Chapter
But not the end of the story!!
Author's Note: Hiya everybody! I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. I have almost no free time! High school is a lot harder to get through than they let you believe. Anyway, I'm already almost done with the last Chapter (#5). I won't post it until next Friday though, so you'll all have to wait! Also, could someone give me some helpful criticism here? I love the good reviews, but I want to know if I'm doing anything wrong too. My next stories will be coming soon. I hope they're as good as this one. Anyways…I talk too much!! My next chapter will have a review corner at the end, so look for yours!! Bye! TTFN!!
—Cheza