Reign of Shadows

The KH team, were familiar with these shadows that appeared before them. However, Kenshin's group never had an encounter with such terrifying entities and they quickly joined Sora and the others.

"I don't understand it." Sora said. "How could the Heartless return?"

"You are a fool." Kahn chuckled. "To be a master of the dark element, you need to know every possible technique and summon any entity from the shadow realm. In this case, I am able to summon the Heartless!"

"But that can't be! We sealed the door to darkness long ago!"-

"That was merely to stop the Heartless from entering other worlds at their own discretion. But just because they can't invade at their own will, doesn't mean that they can't be summoned by others. However, when summoned, only the strongest Heartless are able to emerge. So these are the more powerful of the Heartless realm, the elite, the cream of the crop. So they won't be as easy to take down as the Heartless you fought before. Their power is impeccable, their agility impressive, and there speed unrivaled. Even you, Sora, an experienced key bearer, will stand no chance against the might of elite Heartless."

"Then, we'll just have to find out!"-

"Let's!" Kahn snapped his fingers and the Heartless began their assault. Weapons drawn, both the KH and the Kenshin teams took the Heartless onslaught head on. Riku deployed several attacks with his swift strikes and the Hurricane Slash. The Heartless went flying through the air. At the same time, Sora deployed Ragnarok, Ars Arcanum, and the Turdra Canister. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy, deploying their signature moves and elemental attacks, overwhelmed the oncoming Heartless. Meanwhile, Kenshin and Seijuro Hiku deployed the Kuzu ryu sen. Saito attacked with all three style Gatotsus simultaneously. The battle outcome was turning out to be different from what Kahn had expected.

"That's impossible." Kahn thought to himself. "These particular Heartless are the top fighters of their realm. Their strength was supposed to equal Riku and Sora's strengths. How could it be possible for them to lose ground so easily?" But Kahn's shock soon gave way to a smirk. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. I still have reserves."

Riku observed that the damage they were inflicting on the town was starting to increase due to the large, more powerful attacks that they were deploying.

"Don't use too powerful an attack!" he shouted. "We don't want these people to become homeless!"

"Right!" the others cried.

But as they mellowed down their attacks, the KH team and the Kenshin group soon realized that they were losing ground more rapidly. Sora observed to see more Heartless appearing to take them on.

"Here they come again!" he cried.

"I've had enough of this!" Kenshin said. He thrust his sword, swinging in upward. "Hiten Mitsurugi Style, Do ryu sen!" A powerful energy wave crashed into the ranks of the Heartless, but the terrible shadows only reformed their ranks and continued their assault.

"How many more of these things are gonna pop out of the ground like that?" Sanosuke asked.

"Quit complaining, moron and do something useful for once." Saito said.

"Shut up, Saito! I don't see you making any difference!"-

"Come on! Now's not the time for us fight amongst each other, that it isn't!" Kenshin uttered.

"We're losing ground!" Yahiko cried.

"We won't be able to hold against these Heartless!" Misao uttered.

"We can't give up yet!" Miss Kaoru asked.

In the meantime, Khan continued to overlook the battle between the two allied groups and the Heartless onslaught.

"Well, this will be going on for some time then." He uttered. "Well, since Sora and those other idiots are occupied, I might as well, get the power stones." He began to levitate himself and headed towards the Aoiya.

"Come back here!" Sora shouted, spotting Kahn's movement. Kahn landed on the street leading to the Aoiya.

"Sorry, Sora, but I have a mission to fulfill and you have your hearts to protect." Kahn went on his way. Sora tried to force his way through, but the ranks of Heartless held fast. Even when using powerful attacks to clear the way, the Heartless wouldn't give way.

At the same time, The Oniwaban group was attending to its wounds. Okina helped them mend their cuts and scrapes.

"It's a good thing that you four managed to survive that bout with Aoshi." He uttered.

"I still can't believe that he was actually possessed." said Kurojo.

"It's all that Kahn guy's fault." Masukami added. "He's the one that took control of Lord Aoshi."

"Even so, at least Lord Aoshi was knocked out instead of killed." Onmime replied. "Thanks to Mr. Seijuro Hiko."

"Guys!" shouted Shirojo. "We have company!"

The five Oniwaban members looked out of the window to see the figure of Kahn approaching the demolished Aoiya. Okina turned and grabbed the box which contained the power stones.

"This is what he's after." He said. He gave it to the young lady, Masukami. "Now Omasu, I want you and Onmime to get this box as far from here as you possibly can. Take the rear exit and keep this box safe.

"I understand." Omasu replied. And she and Onmime withdrew. Okina then turned to Shirojo and Kurojo.

"It is up to us now to protect Lord Aoshi and the little boy Sojiro, that Mr. Hiko brought in earlier.

"Okina!" Kujoro said, pointing at the place where Sojiro was placed. Before them was a vacant sleeping spread.

"He's gone." Okina said. "But where did Sojiro go?"

Meanwhile, Kahn neared the Aoiya, feeling confident in the accomplishment.

"That was easier than expected." Kahn chuckled. "With Sora and the rest of those fools occupied with the Heartless, I am left with an open road all the way to the power stones. And there is no one to stand in my way." But as he drew closer to the building, he noticed a figure standing before the Aoiya, with sword drawn in hand. It was none other than the young man, Sojiro. "So it's you again boy? I could've sworn you were done away by Lord Shishio. But I still see that you've managed to survive some how." Sojiro drew his sword in front of him.

"You won't be going anywhere, Kahn." Sojiro uttered.

"And how you do plan on stopping me?" Kahn observed some of the wounds on Sojiro. "It looks like you've been wounded severely. A severe slash across the chest and abdomen and what looks like a stab wound to your left breast, which indicates that you must have a punctured lung. So you can barely stand and hold your sword, let alone attempt to fight me."

"I will stop you no matter what."-

"Sojiro!" Okina cried.

"Are you crazy, kid!" Kurojo added.

"Get back into the Aoiya!" Shirojo implied as well.

"You three stay out of this!" Kahn suddenly lashed out a strange dark energy and paralyzed the three remaining Oniwaban group members. "You're time will come soon, so don't go away." He then looked at Sojiro. "Your time however has reached its conclusion, boy." Kahn's aura began to bellow in a dark shadow. "Shadow Death Wave!" From Kahn, bellowed forth a powerful dark wave. The same move he used that killed hundreds of policemen an hour before. Now the wave went head on against Sojiro. It seemed imminent that Sojiro would meet a sorry end. With his wounds prohibiting him from engaging in any strenuous physical evasion and with the Oniwaban members paralyzed with Kahn's strange shadow hold, the end cams swiftly for Sojiro. Or so he thought. From out of the blue sky, a figure swooped down and picked up Sojiro, just as the wave was about to strike. The wave struck to late and diminished before the walls of the Aoiya. Kahn and the Oniwaban were dumbfounded at what just occurred. Kahn looked from the side of his eye to see a figure with long brown hair, a black leather jacket, blue jeans, a protective shoulder guard, and an extensively long weapon strapped to his back, land just a few yards away. He held Sojiro in his arms.

"Who are you who dares to interfere with the activity of the Dragon Ninjas?" Kahn declared.

"You might say that I'm the cavalry coming to the rescue." The figure turned, his eyes as blue as the sky itself. It was none other than Cuchulain.

"The Hound of Ulster."-

"Taking the life of a young boy isn't what I would call a brave act."-

"What are you doing here!"-

"I came here to give Riku and Sora a hand. And by the looks of it, I was cutting it a little close." Sojiro opened his eyes and gazed into the eyes of his rescuer.

"Who…who are you?" he uttered.

"Glad to see that you're still alive and kicking." Cuchulain chuckled. "First things first though." He jumped up to the Aoiya, where Okina and the others, now free from the shadow hold, were awaiting them. He gently laid Sojiro on the ground. "I want you stay here and let me do the fighting."

"Exactly who are you, stranger?" Okina asked.

"I'm the answer to your prayers. I am Cuchulain."-

"Cuchulain?" Kurojo asked. "That's a strange name?"

Cuchulain only smiled and then turned back to the street. Jumping from the second story, he landed on the street and faced the cloaked ninja.

"So you dare to stand in the way of the Cavendish Shinobis, eh?" Kahn uttered. "You were very foolish to do such a thing, Hound."

"I see your gums flapping, but all I hear is mindless squawking!" Cuchulain said.

"How dare you, you insolent young pup!"-

"Stop your monologue and let's get to the real fight." Cuchulain drew out his trident, the Gae Bulga, from his back. "By the way, why don't you fight me right and show your face instead of wearing that black cloak!"

"There is no need for that. I can easily take you out with my elemental attacks!" Suddenly, Kahn caught Cuchulain in his shadow hold, paralyzing him. "You see how easy it was for me to take you by surprise and deprive you of your movement.

But Cuchulain only smiled and broke free of the hold.

"Imbecile." He chuckled. "That attack only works on those who are weaker than you. However, if your enemy is equal, or greater in strength, they could easily break that paralysis hold. That shadow hold is no different from the Stopga spell that Sora used on me during our trial battle."

"Is that so? Well then, perhaps escalating my skills would be the best strategy."-

Kahn stretched out his hand and deployed his Darkness Shurikens. But despite that, Cuchulain only dodged with ease.

"Not this stupid technique again." Cuchulain said, in a sarcastic manner. "You've already shown me this trick. And even then, it didn't work."

"Go ahead and praise yourself boy. I haven't even begun to fight you yet. If you thought I was terrifying before, you haven't seen anything yet."-

"That may be so. But I've gained knowledge of the possible attacks you would deploy. Ever since that fateful day, I've never forgotten your style of fighting, or your use of the dark element. For what you did to my best friend, I will take revenge."-

"Still gnawing away at that bone are we? His life was just a waste from the start!"-

"As is yours!" Cuchulain threw his Gae Bulga before him. "Now will you talk, or fight."

"Doomed to repeat history."-

Meanwhile, Sora and the others continued their efforts against the might of the elite Heartless. Unlike the average Heartless, these elites would not go down so easily. Their speed, strength, and agility, had been heightened to an impressive level. Both the Kenshin and KH groups began to tighten themselves in a circle, to watch each others backs.

"We're not gonna last here!" Yahiko cried.

"We'll be overrun!" added Goofy.

"We have to break out of this onslaught somehow!" Riku shouted. "We have to prevent Kahn from getting those power stones!"

"But we're not exactly in a position to say something like that." Sora said.

"If we don't this entire campaign would have been for nothing!" Kenshin uttered.

"Damn it!" Saito said. "These Heartless seem to have no end to their numbers! And to further add, each of them is as powerful as Usui!"

Suddenly, the fighting stopped and the group found themselves surrounded by Heartless. Kenshin, Sora, Riku, Saito, Seijuro, and everyone else grew tired and weary now. They could only watch as the Heartless continued to emerge from out of thin air and from the dark shadows on the ground.

"There are just too many of them and their just too strong!" Misao said.

"We may have to consider giving up." Donald added.

"What!" Riku protested. "Giving up isn't an option."

"If we must die, then die we shall!" Saito said. "The code of Aku Soku Zan remains unchanged for me!"

"We all may have to consider going by that code of Aku Soku Zan, that we may." Kenshin said.

But as the Heartless began to close in, two powerful sound waves approached and cut their way straight into the ranks of the Heartless. Sora and the others looked to see two familiar faces standing not to far away. It was Lu Xun and Goten.

"Did we come too late?" Goten asked.

"We thought you guys could use some help." Lu Xun added.

"What're you two doing here?" Sora asked.

"Actually, we started out with three."-

"What do you mean?" Riku implied. "Who else accompanied you?"

"Cuchulain did." Goten chuckled. "He's got a score to settle with tall dark and scary! But enough blabbing, I see you guys could use some help!"

"Then, let us give you a hand!" Lu Xun said, drawing his double swords.

The Heartless began their attack against Lu Xun and Goten now. But Lu Xun easily plowed through the ranks, deploying his musou attack and eliminating a dozen Heartless. At the same time, Goten slashed through the ranks in a matter of seconds.

"Did you see what that guy did?" Misao asked. "He plowed through those Heartless in only a matter of seconds."

"His speed far surpasses even the god-like speed of the Hiten Mitsurugi style." Kenshin uttered.

"Who are those guys?" Yahiko uttered. "They just appeared out of nowhere?"

"That's Goten and Lu Xun." Sora said.

"Goten and Lu Xun?"-

"They're our reinforcements." Mickey explained.

"They've never shown these types of attacks before in Traverse Town." Goofy said.

"That's because we weren't there to witness the fight, remember!" Donald uttered.

Lu Xun, after sweeping through the ranks of the Heartless, slid over to Sora and Riku.

"I understand you guys made allies with Lu Bu." He said.

"How'd you know about that?" Sora asked.

"Lu Bu himself dropped off a letter saying that he left two of his deadliest attacks with you and Riku. The infamous Foot Stomp and his Musou."-

"That's right." Riku said.

"Then, let's see it."-

"We can't though." Sora said. "If we deploy those attacks, there'll be a chance that we ruin the surrounding community. We don't want to be responsible for destroying half of the community."

"That doesn't matter as long as the populous themselves have been evacuated. If you keep holding back, and continue to take puck shots at these elite Heartless, then we'll be here forever. Deploy your most powerful attacks so we can end this."-

"He has a point, Sora!" Goten shouted. "That's the only way we can defeat these Heartless. Besides, the Alliance will compensate for any damaged made on the world!"

"We have no other choice, Sora!" Riku agreed. "If we don't stop this now, Kahn would have retrieved the power stones and would have departed from this world! Demolishing a small part of the city will be nothing compared to the scale of destruction of the Imperials decided to return to this world with mobile dolls and destroyers. This world wouldn't even stand a chance!" Riku ran into the thick of the Heartless.

"Riku!" Sora cried.

"What the heck is he doing!" Kaoru asked.

"He's gonna get himself killed!" Misao added.

"Riku, come back!" Kenshin cried. But they could only watch as Riku was consumed by the Heartless. But as it seemed to be over for the gallant young man, Riku suddenly deployed the musou attack he gained from Lu Bu. Swinging he sword around, Riku managed to make twenty repetitions before finishing off with a side slash sweep, cutting the Heartless in half and blowing the others away.

"If we're not holding back anymore, then let's defeat these Heartless once and for all!" Kenshin shouted.

"Finally, you're using your head, you block head." Seijuro chuckled.

"Alright!" Sanosuke said. "Now this is a fight I'll definitely enjoy!"

"Let us begin then!" Saito added.

Seijuro and Kenshin stood side by side and deployed the Kuzu ryu sen at the same time, plowing through the ranks of the Heartless. At the same time, Saito, following them, used his Gatotsu to strike the Heartless. He then used a violent side slash to wipe out four more Heartless. At the same time, Sano jumped over the heads of the three, after their attacks were deployed and used the Futae no kiwami, causing an explosion amongst the ranks. Misao, Yahiko, and Kaoru followed there after and swiped at the Heartless. But because they were armed with menial weapons, they did not fully eliminate the Heartless. So Goofy, Donald, and Mickey used themselves as body guards against he Heartless, protecting the rear.

"Come on Sora!" Riku cried. "Give 'em hell!"

Sora found himself surrounded by masses of Heartless. He crouched down and began to power up.

"OK! Here goes nothing." He stomped his foot into the ground and a 360 explosion rang out, blowing all the Heartless away.

"Whoa!" Lu Xun cried.

"Take cover!" Riku shouted, lunging his sword into the ground. The explosion blew the majority of the fighters and all of the Heartless away.

"Man!" Goten uttered. "I didn't know that Lu Bu's foot stomp was that powerful!"

"You should've seen what Lu Bu did in the 'Ico Realm' against those wraiths!" Riku replied. "Hard to believe that I managed to defeat Lu Bu! He was merely playing the last time we fought!"

As the dust settled, there were no longer any Heartless. The attack was over, but it left Sora almost dead. He fell to his knees and gasped heavily.

"Man Sora, that was awesome!" Goten chuckled.

"Here you go, Sora." Donald said and used the Curaga spell to heal him.

"Hey, what kind of magic was that?" Sanosuke asked.

"It's called the Curaga spell." Mickey explained. "It's able to fully restore your strength, your will power, and prevents your heart from being swallowed by the Darkness."

"Too bad it doesn't work on physical wounds to the body." Sora said. "We use the senzu beans to do that. That makes a full restoration of strength, will, and mends wounds, broken bones, torn muscles, and restores blood."

"Even if you were cured by Curaga, your strength wouldn't last if your body has no more blood."-

"Speaking of which." Goofy said. "We better heal you guys."

Since Seijuro Hiko, Miss Kaoru and Yahiko were only deprived of energy, Donald gave them a bit of Curaga to fully restore their strength. Goofy gave senzu beans to Kenshin, for the burn and wounds from Shishio, to Saito, whose legs were crippled by Usui, to Misao who suffered some broken bones from the bout with Aoshi, and Sanosuke, whose head had been injured against Shishio.

"Man, I feel great!" Sanosuke chuckled.

"Excellent." Saito added. "Now I'll be able to use the full power of my Gatotsu."

"Now we're all back in top shape, that we are." Kenshin said.

"I hate to break this up!" Lu Xun said. "But we still have a shinobi to worry about."

"That's right." Riku said. "Cuchulain is fighting with Kahn and he may need our help."

"Then, we better go give him a hand, that we should!" Kenshin said and the groups scurried off to fight the wrath of Kahn. Just one more enemy to defeat before peace could be restored.