The One Winged Angel

Part II

By Sephiroth-Safer

Ch. 1

The Peace

"Gah, I'm so bored." Sora said lazily as he stood to grab his Keyblade. The Heartless weren't gone, but lately they had been very sparse. As far as he could tell nothing was going to happen today. He grabbed his Keyblade and turned to look at Donald who was standing impatiently as though he had been waiting an eternity, and Goofy who was snoring loudly as he slept. Sora walked over to Goofy and woke him. They all stretched and began to walk though the Second District of Traverse Town. Earlier they had received a message from Yuffie to come over to Hollow Bastion, they had found someone they wanted them to meet. They wouldn't say who, but they said that the Heartless were appearing a bit more now and it was unusual to see them fighting the way they were. They were fighting as a unit. They had grown larger, stronger, faster, and worse of all smarter. They were beginning to be a bigger threat to their friends in Hollow Bastion. So the plan was to leave tomorrow, but they decided tonight would be just as good. but there was something else. Something in Traverse Town that kept them there. They stood there and looked to the sky... lately also the stars were disappearing again. This was not a good sign.

"Well, I guess we can leave now." Goofy said, almost not sure of himself.

"Hmm, yea I guess so." Sora agreed in the same tone Goofy's had been.

"COME ON, LET'S GO ALREADY." Donald seemed more ready than the other two.

So they were off, heading for the doors to their ship. As they did, Sora stopped. He heard a voice. It seemed familiar. It was a cold and heartless voice.

'Come to me, I await you,' the voice said 'no more games show me what you've got.'

Who was it, it sounded so familiar but he couldn't place it. The voice was constant, ringing through his head until he got to his ship. At that he began to look in all directions to see if there was something there, waiting for him.

Ch. 2

The Front Gate

They got off of there ship looking at the world that not so long ago was an evil place full of Heartless and other vile creatures. They began to head up the stairs to the front gate when they all noticed a black spot on the ground, shifting and glowing. It was the first Heartless they had seen in a week. Sora jumped at it, Keyblade in hand. He brought it down, but it was stopped. The Heartless had caught the blade and threw it aside as it leapt in the sky, claws ready. Suprised, he hesitated and the Heartless struck him. Just a scratch. What was going on? He lifted the Keyblade again, this time striking the target. It didn't budge... not an inch. Goofy ran into it, top speed. It knocked the Heartless off of its feet and off the ledge of the castle. It disappeared into the void below. Was that a Shadow? It looked like it, but it was bigger and meaner than the ones he was so used to fighting. The ground seemed to shift and become distored. Eyes began to show up everywhere. There was no way possible to destroy that many, especially these new breed of Shadow.

"RUN" Sora yelled. They all began to run for the doors into the castle, maybe they could get some help beating these monsters. The whole ground in front of them went black, with the exception of the glowing eyes. They were surrounded, there was no way to get by them all. They all stood up and stared at Sora and his Keyblade with their lifeless eyes. No one moved, Sora breathed heavily, Donald and Goofy stood ready but in disbelief in the sheer number of them, the world seemed to stop. A cry came from the sky. A man with a very large sword jumped down from one of the towers and landed instantly killing five of the Heartless. It was Cloud. But now there were others dropping from the sky. They saw Leon, Yuffie, Cid, Beast, and even Aerith leapt from the same high tower. As they landed they all went into action, making short work of the Heartless. They made it look so easy.

When they were done they all ran towards the gate, closing it behind them. They stood trying to catch their breath, when Yuffie started laughing.

"What's so funny, we could have died out there" Sora yelled.

"What? We won, they lost. What more do you want" Yuffie replied.

"ENOUGH" Leon yelled. "This is no time to start arguing. We need to get somewhere safe, they can still come inside. Let's go to the library."

As they went to the library the main hall turned into a swirling vortex of darkness. They needed to get out of there, fast. They ran as fast as their legs could possibly carry them, but it seemed like an eternity trying to get to the library which was only a few yards away seemed to become a mile. As they ran they knocked the Heartless off of their feet, because that was about all they could do to these newer and more evil monsters. When they were so close to the door that if they reached out they could grab the handle, Sora turned and looked behind him. As far as the eye could see the ground was covered in these evil monsters staring at them with their lifeless, yellow eyes. Leon opened the doors and waited until everyone was through before closing and putting his back against the doors. They stood there trying to catch their breath. Cloud seemed the least tired. He was standing straight up, but was still breathing heavily. Everyone else was hunched over, hands on knees, trying to catch their breath.

"Sora, meet Cloud Strife. Cloud, meet Sora." Yuffie said, taking deep breaths in between words.

"We've met before." Sora replied.

"Really, where" Aerith asked with amazement.

"The Coliseum." Cloud replied.

They all sat at the chairs on the second floor and began to talk about the problems going on recently. Especially the new Heartless. It seemed that right after Ansem was defeated they began to replace the other kinds of Heartless. The only kind they had seen were these new ones. They were much stronger than Sora had expected and now he was intrigued by the fact that he couldn't hit take that one Heartless down. This was weird. Cloud stood up and walked towards the window. The others turned and looked at him as he did.

"What is it" Aerith asked looking at him.

"He is here. Still alive. He is laughing." Cloud replied.

At that moment both Cloud and Sora fell to their knees and clutched their heads. Sora gave a cry of pain as he tried to stand up and look towards the window. When he did he saw a man standing on a distant tower. It was Sephiroth. He was laughing.

Ch. 3

The Battle

Sephiroth made a great leap towards the castle and landed in front of the window staring at the heros when he made another leap and disappeared from sight. The pain left Sora and Cloud and they ran towards the window. Everyone was standing. Everyone, except Leon, stood in awe. He was alive.

"Oh my god, please tell me that wasn't who I thought it was." Yuffie said as a chill ran up her spine.

"It's not possible." Aerith said. She began to reach towards her chest. There was a pain in her heart. She knew what was going to happen. The only question was when.

"Who was that" Leon asked confused as to why everyone was freaking out over this one guy. Was he a Heartless or something?

"That... is someone I wish I hadn't just seen." Cid said. "How is Sephiroth still alive"

"It doesn't matter. Come on, we got to get to him. He could destroy this world." Cloud said with anxiety.

They all ran for the doors so that they could head for the roof. When they opened the doors the Heartless were standing there waiting. Ten of them leaped into the air towards them.Cloud and Leon managed to close the doors before they got in.

"Forget that." Cid said.

"The window." Cloud said, and as he did his wing grew from his shoulder and he flew out the window going up towards the roof.

"NOT ALL OF US CAN FLY YOU KNOW" Yuffie yelled.

When they got to the window they noticed a stairway. It seemed to lead them to the roof. As they climbed out the window the sky turned dark. Black clouds began to cover the sky. It was happening again. Meteors began falling from the sky with such force it was destroying parts of the castle. Thats when the sky began to glow ambiently. They all looked up to see the huge ball of energy growing in the sky above them. Suddenly a meteor came down on the wall next to them, destroying the stairs and sending everyone falling to the gate entrance below. They all got up, unhurt suprisingly considering the large distance they fell. They looked up and saw Cloud falling from the castle top. He stood no chance against Sephiroth by himself. He landed with a very loud crash creating a crater where he lie. He stood up. It seemed he was unhurt. The ground turned black. The Heartless were here. As they got ready Sephiroth fell from the sky landing on the ground next to Sora. He drew his sword and swung. Sora raised the Keyblade just in time to parry it, but he wasn't strong enough to stop the force of the blade. The Keyblade flew from his hands. Squall charged Sephiroth, who turned and gave a quick laugh before raising Masamune to parry Squall's gunblade. The sheer power of Squall's strike forced Sephiroth to grab Masamune with both hands. He then gave a powerful push and Squall flew back into the castle taking out an entire wall. Yuffie was up in the air and throwing her shurikens at Sephiroth when Cloud, Beast, Donald, and Goofy ran towards Sephiroth weapons ready. They had forgot that the Heartless were all around them and waiting to strike.Aerith ran to Leon who hadn't got up yet. When he did, she stopped and turned towards Sephiroth. Should she help them fight. She was no fighter she would do more harm than good. She noticed all the Heartless appearing and she then dropped to her knees and began praying. She was going to help somehow. Leon ran to help the others with Sephiroth. Sora now had the Keyblade again. But what were the Heartless doing standing there. What were they waiting for the end of the battle so they could pick off who was left? It didn't matter if they weren't going to fight so be it. Beast was knocked straight into the air when he made an attempt to pounce on top of Sephiroth. Blood rained down from the wound. Goofy attempted to parry an attack from Sephiroth only to have his shield destroyed and Goofy sent flying into the closed gates of the castle. Donald jumped back and a small fireball came from his staff. Sephiroth laughed when he saw the pathetic excuse for an attack and merely waved it off. Sephiroth was now curious as to what these creatures were surrounding him. What were they. They made no hostile moves towards him so at the moment they were of no concern. He turned and parried a downward slice from Cloud. Cloud's sword was knocked back which left him wide open for an attack. Sephiroth did a complete circle using his sword to cut Cloud across his chest. Blood began to flow from the wound. Sora charged. He made a great leap into the air and tried to bring the sword down on Sephiroth. Sephiroth rose Masamune up into the air and parried the attack. Sora landed and tried to attack again. It completely missed. Sephiroth brought the sword down and made a deep wound into Sora's back. Sora gave a loud cry of pain. At that the Heartless began to move foward, towards the battle.

Ch. 4

Death of a Savior

They all stopped fighting and watched as the Heartless now stepped closer to them. Sephiroth grunted and leapt high into the sky, way out of sight. What a coward. running away from the battle because the Heartless were now fighting. They all noticed Aerith praying on the ground, the Heartless stepping towards her. They ran to her aid. They seemed to be able to predict every move they made. And they were even strong enough to parry Cloud's huge Buster Blade sword. There was no way to stop all of them. Sora knocked one of the Heartless off of its feet and then looked into the sky. He gave a cry of dismay. Meteor was very close, too close for comfort. Tornados of fire began appearing around them, melting or destroying everything they touched. The heat was now intense, all of the heros were sweating profusely. The battle was not going well. There was a loud voice heard at the top of the castle... Sephiroth. What was he doing. Suddenly pillars of flame began appearing all around them. The flames were instantly destroying anything they touched, including the Heartless. After several seconds the pillars disappeared. Was he trying to help us. There were only a few Heartless left, but they were starting to come back now. A Tornado of fire was drawing close. It began to get hot fast. Sora took another look into the air... Meteor was crushing the castle, pieces were falling on the ground around them. A piece struck Cid on the head and he fell unconcious to the ground. There was a loud yell from above them.

"SIN HARVEST" Sephiroth yelled.

The fight stopped and everyone fell to the ground clutching their heart. That is everyone except Aerith, who was still on her knees praying. Sora looked up as Cloud gave began to yell at Aerith to run away. They all turned towards Aerith who was now looking at them all.

"It is done." Aerith said her voice was very weak.

A shadow appeared over her. They all looked into the sky. The shadow was Sephiroth. He was falling from the sky, wing out fully, hair flailing, his overcoat hissing in the wind, and his sword drawn.

"NOOO" Cloud screamed as he tried to stand up. He couldn't.

Sephiroth's sword went through Aerith, who fell lifelessly to the ground. Her eyes still open, tears falling from them.

"I'm going to kill you" Cloud yelled, standing up weakily. He grabbed the handle of his sword but could not lift it. So instead he limped to Aerith and lifted her body from the ground and held her close, tears dropping from his eyes. "How could you do this to her? She was praying for our safety. Why? WHY" He was crying uncontrollably. Everyone stood silent, except for Sephiroth. He stood there laughing, a cold harsh laugh. "You're laughing? She's dead now, because she didn't want any of her friends to get hurt. You evil son of a bitch! HOW COULD YOU? Aerith is dead now. She is not coming back. She will never laugh again. Never feel again. Never see again. Never love again." He said, his voice raspy.

"You are a pathetic excuse for a human." Sephiroth said, he stopped laughing and he looked at Cloud with disgust. "You are sitting there, a dead witch in your lap, crying. I could destroy you right now." He held Masamune next to Cloud's face. "Wake up! You insignificant pest. Get up and fight me! NOW" He prepared Masamune, ready to decapitate Cloud. Sora looked and was helpless to do anything. He wanted to get up but he didn't have the strength to move. "DIE" Sephiroth screamed. As he did, a bright light appeared from high above. A beautiful blue light, moving fast and stopping right under Meteor. Sephiroth lowered Masamune. Everyone was silent and staring into the sky, watching this anomoly glow. Sephiroth began to look worried.

Cloud somehow managed to get to his feet. "Holy." He said with a little hope in his heart. The clouds began to seperate and a bright sun shone out. Holy was now begining to turn a purplish color. The ominous red glow of Meteor showing through. But suddenly the sky went black. Not a cloud in the air. The sun had disappeared instantly as though it was never there. The only light was coming from Holy and Meteor now. Everyone began to look around but it was so quiet.

"LOOK" Sora yelled. When they all turned they saw a swirling vortex of darkness. The Heartless had there own plan for this world. It began to suck up any loose objects, like a vacuum cleaner. But the sheer power of it was incredible. The power of it started to increase. The lights began to fade. They looked at Holy and Meteor. They were being pulled into the void.

With that happening Sephiroth went berserk. "No! This is my world. I claim its life." He readied Masamune and turned towards the heros. He then charged. Cloud grabbed his sword and parried Masamune. Suprised by the sudden show of power he leapt back. Cloud stared at Sephiroth with a look of pure hatred. He began to glow, he held his sword ready, and his wing extended fully.

"Farewell." Cloud said softly. He ran at Sephiroth with great speed, aided by his wing. Sephiroth began to laugh and disappeared in a flash of light and black feathers. Cloud, as though he had foreseen what was going to happen, turned and dropped his sword. Sephiroth appeared behind Cloud just in time to be hit by the huge blade. Sephiroth was knocked into the ground leaving a crater where he lay. Angered, Sephiroth hopped back onto his feet and thrust Masamune into Clouds chest.

"Don't push your luck." Sephiroth said. But as he did Cloud grabbed the sword and picked Sephiroth up off his feet. Pulling Masamune out of his chest, Sephiroth still holding onto the handle, He threw Sephiroth into and through a wall. Everyone began to stand up. How Cloud had suddenly got the strength to stand up and actually beat Sephiroth by himself was unthinkable. When everyone got to their feet, they looked towards the hole in the wall to see if the One Winged Angel was still willing to fight. When they saw Sephiroth walk through the broken wall, everyone seemed to lose their strength again. But Cloud stood ready. Sephiroth looked into the air, the void was growing in size and strength. Not much longer and this world won't even exist. Sephiroth turned to look at Cloud a smile on his face. "This is my world, its fate is mine to decide." With that he went into the shadows, disappearing from sight.

Ch. 5

The Heart of Hollow Bastion

Looking into the sky, they knew they only had at most half an hour before this world was nothing. How could they stop it though. Never before had it been done. No one had any idea as to what they could do. Cloud stood looking at it, everyone else was trying to decide what to do. Cloud turned to Sora. "You have the power to stop it." He said.

"Me" Sora said. everyone was now looking at Cloud hoping he had a plan to stop the destruction. Sora then looked at his Keyblade. Then back to Cloud. Cloud nodded his head. "Heartless are everywhere, how am I supposed to even get there"

"We'll cover you as you go." Everyone else was staring, still confused with what was going to happen. Cloud went over to Cid who was still out cold, and shook him until he woke up. Cid stood and stretched.

"Did we win" He said as he yawned and scratched his head where the rock had landed. He then looked up and saw the void. "Oh crap, tell me that isn't what I think it is."

"Sora, let's go." Cloud said.

"Right." He replied.

"What? Where are we going" Yuffie yelled, confused and a little annoyed.

"The Keyhole." Sora and Cloud said simultaneously.

They were now running as fast as they possibly could through the seemingly endless corridors, killing any Heartless they encountered. The ground was now slightly vibrating. The void was getting big. Even though they couldn't see it, they knew it was happening. They finally reached the top tower. They looked at the huge room where not so long ago Sora fought his best friend Riku. They ran towards the Keyhole as fast as possible now running past the Heartless, knocking them back if needed. Sora stood in front of the Keyhole. He checked it. Somehow it had been reopened. How could that happen? It didn't matter now. He held up the Keyblade, and instantly it aimed towards the hole. A bright light appeared, brighter than what the others had been before. Who cared, if it worked then the Heartless would not be able to destroy this world. The Keyhole began to glow, but it stopped. WHAT! Why did it stop? Of all times to stop working. How could it happen. The room went dark and only the Keyhole was glowing. Sephiroth appeared from within the Keyhole. He was different somehow, he seemed more evil. If you could get any more evil. Darkness just seemed to "shine" from him. But when he began to walk closer something really shown out. On his chest was the symbol of the Heartless.

Ch. 6

Heartless Angel

"Sephiroth" Sora said suprised to see him. Everyone thought that after the beating he recieved he wouldn't come back "Is that a...oh no! He's a Heartless." Sora said what was on everyones mind.

"Do you think I would give up so easily? It takes more than a human to destroy me." Sephiroth said, it sounded like there were several voices speaking at once. "I got an offer I couldn't refuse. I was offered unlimited power. All I had to do was offer my heart. I still control my life. Who needs a heart? I have no feelings but hate in this world. And I intend to finish the job I came here to do." He unsheathed Masamune, bringing the blade into the air and putting the handle next to his face. Cloud stared at Sephiroth with a look of pure hatred. Cloud raised his sword, ready to strike. Sephiroth leapt foward with amazing speed, bringing Masamune down on Cloud's sword. Cloud's blade was cut in two. Sephiroth then made an upward slash cutting deep into Cloud's chest. He then turned looking at Leon who was running towards him. He parried the gunblade and knocked him to the ground. Goofy ran towards Sephiroth, hiding behind his shield. He wasn't even sure if he was heading in the right direction. Sora leapt into the air. The two missed Sephiroth and Sora knocked Goofy unconcious. Sora then turned and made a horizontal slash to try and make up for the miss he had made. He didn't realize that the attack he had just made had just saved his life. Sephiroth had turned and tried to strike at the same time Sora had. The two swords colided and bounced off each other. Sephiroth was suprised he was not strong enough to knock Sora clean off of his feet. Yuffie had thrown her huge four-point ninja star at Sephiroth and it had almost hit. Sephiroth had turned in time to counter the attack, cutting the weapon in half. He then leapt towards Yuffie and lifted his blade to strike. Donald used his magic to create a barrier that stopped the attack. Yuffie looked at Donald and then ran off to keep her distance with Sephiroth. Sephiroth, angered that he hadn't destroyed the young girl, turned to Donald and ran towards him with great speed. Sora ran to stop Sephiroth and deflected his attack, keeping Donald alive to fight another day. Cloud got to his feet and picked up Leon's gunblade and shot it at Sephiroth, who somehow had been ready and knocked the bullet from the air. Cloud ran to Sephiroth and lifted the gunblade to attack. Sephiroth smiled and raised his hand. Three huge pillars of flames came up around him, Cloud couldn't stop fast enough to dodge the fire and ran right into flames. When the pillars disappeared, Cloud was on the ground badly burnt and breathing shallowly. Sephiroth turned to look at the Keyhole. It was glowing like a rainbow. He knew that behind that light there was a place of evil. A land controlled by the Heartless. He looked up. Not much longer before this world will be destroyed. He looked to Sora who was looking at him too. No one was willing to fight Sephiroth. Sephiroth started walking towards Sora. "You are coming with me." He said, he then grabbed Sora and threw him into the Keyhole and into the Land of Chaos. Sephiroth jumped through, and saw Sora running at him prepared to destroy the great warrior. Sora was familiar with this place. No matter how far you wandered from the entrance the scene never changed. All you saw was a shifting multi-colored wall, floor, and ceiling. That was all you could see for miles. The only thing you could do is keep your eye on the entrance and don't get lost. Sora was very close to Sephiroth, still running at him. Sephiroth raised Masamune. Sora struck the mighty blade, knocking Sephiroth off balance. Sora brought the Keyblade back and attempted to strike again. Sephiroth was amazed that his power was being surpased by this kid, who not so long ago he had beaten within an inch of his life. Sora struck Sephiroth in the chest knocking him off of his feet. Sephiroth regained his balance using his wing to bound upward into the air, landing next to Sora and attacking. Sora parried and tried his own attack. Sephiroth was getting annoyed with his sudden burst of strength. It didn't matter, he was the greatest sworsman in the know universe. No kid stood a chance against him. That in mind he parried Sora's attack and did a complete spin, making a horizontal cut along Sora's chest. He leapt into the air and brought Masamune down as hard as he could holding nothing back. Sora didn't bother trying to parry. He jumped aside and dodged the blade. When Masamune hit the ground a loud crash was heard through the otherwise silent and desolate land. It was a deafening crash. Sora stood and was shocked to see Sephiroth was coming at him with a second attack. He lifted the Keyblade to parry, and Masamune stopped dead in its tracks. Sephiroth was now furious, he leapt back and landed with a loud thud. He looked at Sora and asked "How do you do that? While I was fighting the other humans, I didn't even have to try and I beat them. But you... you now have the power to stop me. How can this be" He seemed very annoyed.

Sora thought for a second. He knew how he was able to stop him. It was now so simple. "You are a Heartless now. There is no Heartless who can defeat me." Sora said proudly. Now with a big goofy looking smile on his face. Sephiroth now had a look of dread on his face. He looked at Masamune and then at Sora's Keyblade. He then started to circle Sora. Keeping a slow walking pace, he held Masamune ready. He wanted one more chance. He ran towards Sora. He lifted Masamune. Sora lifted his Keyblade. The power of the two clashing this time was incredible. Sephiroth stood looking at Sora and Sora stood looking at Sephiroth. Sora fell to his knees. He had been cut across his arm and chest. Sephiroth began to laugh. The blade of Masamune fell over. He had destroyed Masamune! Sephiroth stopped laughing and then a look of suprise came over him. It was not because Masamune was destroyed. He fell to the ground blood draining from his chest. A heart floated away from him. Sephiroth began to change into a human. His wing was gone, his clothes went normal, and he then gave a loud cry of pain. He again disappeared in a bright blue flash of light. He left a pool of blood, which quickly disappeared into the shifting ground. The heart that was floating in the air began to move. Sora was following it. It continued to move across the vast and endless room.

Ch. 7

The Savior Returns

The heart left the chaotic room and went through the Keyhole. It began to leave the room. "Go on without me. Follow that heart" Sora yelled. The others all seemed to be fine now. They all turned and ran to follow the moving heart. Sora turned around and looked at the Keyhole. The Keyblade lifted into the air and a light came from it going into the Keyhole. The Keyhole then disappeared. It was done. The ground stopped shaking, the lights came back on, and all was quiet. He turned and began to run as fast as he could to the gates. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling thats where the heart was heading. He was expecting to see Heartless all the way back. He didn't see one. He continued to the gates and when he got there his heart skipped a few beats. He saw Cloud standing... and holding Aerith, who was now alive and good as new. Cloud looked at Sora and smiled. It was the first time Sora had seen Cloud smile.

Epilogue

1 week later

'Here I am again. Better than ever. Things have been looking up. And as far as I can tell, Sephiroth stands no chance against me anymore.' Sora though, a big goofy smile on his face. The three were walking down a path in Traverse Town. 'Wait a second. What am I going to do now? Oh no! I'm bored!'