Sora vs. Agent 47:
The Sorashank Redemption
By Daredevil3181
Morning was just breaking upon the 21st floor terrace of the Trump Towers Hotel. Although it was summer in the city of Grandis Somnium, today the sun seemed to be even brighter than before. The few guests that had gotten up early to take in the sunrise were forced to shield their eyes for protection against the fierce glare. One particular guest didn't even blink as the day continued to grow brighter, however.
'Morning truly brings out the best in this place, sometimes,' thought Vincent Valentine, as he sipped his coffee from the café that was comfortably situated outside. 'No matter how grim things seem to get, at least there's always the light of dawn to look forward to.'
"Vincent!" a voice called out. "I never fancied seeing you outside here so early in the morning. Especially after our little card game lasted so long into the evening."
"The same could be said of you, Daywalker," Vincent grinned, not bothering to turn around. He was still transfixed by the rising ball of light. "Most vampires tend to avoid the light, not embrace it."
"It's true I am not as strong in the daylight as others due to my nocturnal side," Alucard consented. "But I'm not helpless either. Besides, I couldn't sleep at all last night. I figured the best thing for me would be a breath of fresh air and a little walk around the premises."
"Still thinking about the match yesterday?" Vincent asked. "It was a bit taxing on you. I can tell just by the way you carry yourself now how tired you truly are."
Alucard sighed. "Yes. I can't say I was completely disappointed with the way it turned out. I mean, I am here now because of my victory. On the other hand, though, I wish it could have ended without another senseless killing. There already seems to be enough evil around without me adding to it."
"I know the feeling," Vincent said, as he finally averted his gaze away from the sun and toward the half-vampire. "There's a darkness inside all of us. And it seems this tournament has a way of bringing it out."
"Yes, I just pray it doesn't get the best of people such as ourselves," said Alucard. "So much pain…so much suffering…These people have already been through so much here as is."
"Yes, but like it or not, I don't think this dark cloud will dissipate anytime so-" Vincent was cut off by a smaller figure who skidded to a stop a little behind them.
"You might want to save some of that energy for later on today," observed Alucard. Sora was panting a little and had a few beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Nah," Sora laughed. "I'll be fine. Besides, I was just training a little outside. The virtual reality center can only do so much. Nothing holds a candle to a little rooftop vaulting."
"You were flying from rooftop to rooftop?" wondered Vincent, as he raised an eyebrow at the teenager.
"Flying? No, I've only done that in Neverland," Sora smiled. "Here I can only glide."
"Like that echidna fellow?" asked Alucard.
"I guess," Sora shrugged. "From what I understand we use the same mechanics, but his is used more for offense. I use my gliding mostly for evasion and maneuverability. Anyways, I overheard you talking about the evil around here a little. What's that all about?"
"Don't you sense it? The way the very air around here seems to be charged with something less than holy." Vincent couldn't believe the naivety of youth sometimes.
"Yeah, I guess," Sora said. "But I choose not to focus on that. I look at things through a different perspective."
"And what's that?" Vincent asked, his curiosity piqued.
"I prefer to see the light in everyone," Sora explained. "There's that little spark of good in all of us. And no matter how faint, so long as it's there, no one is truly lost within the sea of blackness."
"Sora, I commend you for your upbeat attitude," chuckled Alucard. "But seriously, not everyone can be saved. Take your opponent today, for instance. Agent 47 is a hired assassin. He's probably killed more people than you could even think of. And for what? Something as simple as money. A man like that learned to bury his emotions a long time ago, and no one will be digging them out anytime soon."
"They might be buried," Sora huffed. "But they're still there. It just takes a little encouragement sometimes."
"And you think you could be that guiding force in his life?" scoffed Vincent.
"In all honesty, he won't be here long enough for me to totally help him," Sora sighed. "But I can start to lead him down the right path. He just might listen."
"You have great ideals, Sora," Alucard commented. "But they're just not based in reality. You need to get a little more experience in life. Then you might be able to see where Vincent and I are coming from."
"I really am sorry for you guys," said Sora, looking down at the ground.
"And why is that?" wondered Vincent.
"You've lost the abilities to dream and to believe in others." There was a long silence that just seemed to hang in the air after the youth said this last statement. "Look, I gotta get ready. Maybe we'll talk later. Just watch me in my match today. You'll see that I'm not just a little kid who'll be pushed around any more. I find my own path and I'm not afraid to follow it through to the end." Sora then jumped off the building and glided down to the ground below.
"Good kid," Vincent said. "A little misguided, but he has a strong heart."
"Yes," agreed Alucard. "I just hope he doesn't go anywhere for a while. He can be a little annoying at times, but I'm afraid to admit that his optimism can be a little infectious and I rather like having him around."
"What'll you do if you have to face him, though?" prodded the red-coated gunman.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Alucard answered. "For now, I just want to relax and clear my thoughts. I've had a lot on my mind lately and a well-deserved break is definitely in order." The half-vampire then turned to leave.
'We all have things on our mind, Daywalker," Vincent thought. 'But it takes a truly strong individual to see them through to the end.' He then looked out toward the horizon, content to let his mind wander as it may.
---
'What a weird business transaction,' thought Agent 47. 'Most of the time people pay me to kill others. I think this is the first time I've been paid to NOT assassinate another. Still, the money's good and what should I care? I'm 100,000 richer because of it.'
The man adjusted his tie and then ran his hands across his bald head. It was about time for his match and he wanted to make sure he was presentable. He'd be hiding out of sight for most of it anyways, but a hitman should always look professional at all times. Anything less and people start to think you're a joke. And Agent 47 was anything but a joke.
'I had to run back to the hotel and switch out all my weapons for non-lethal substitutes,' the assassin frowned. 'Rubber bullets, stun grenades, tranq guns…such a hassle. I can't guarantee that the kid won't feel any pain, but if he does die, it won't be because of me. It'll be because he's just too weak.'
The hitman looked around his locker room one last time. He knew that the audience and judges outside were waiting and it would do him no good to be late. It just wouldn't be professional.
'Alright, let's get this over with,' Agent 47 told himself as he secured his weapons on his person. 'Who knows…once I'm done with this match maybe I can get some extra work around this place. I've already sinned so much in my life that I'll pretty much take any job. No point in backing out now.' He then stepped outside and into the sunlight.
"Damn. It's real bright out here today," Agent 47 muttered. "Good thing I'm wearing these shades. I'd be practically blind in this light otherwise."
---
The hitman moved silently through the building, looking for a secure vantage point. It didn't take him long to find one in which he could see his opponent down below. He took out his automatic and aimed for the youth, who looked like he was lost in an environment such as the one the assassin had chosen.
'I did well,' Agent 47 congratulated himself. 'Picking this alleyway set-up with a few buildings around it was the perfect terrain for skills such as my own. And to think that the boy wanted to start down below...Hasn't he heard anything about the high ground?'
Meanwhile, Sora scanned the tops of the buildings from the ground below. He was a little annoyed at where his opponent had chosen to start, but what could he do? 'He was purposefully vague when he said he would start somewhere "up there", but I guess everyone isn't as open as me. But he didn't have to taunt me with that last statement, though. "Don't worry where I start. It's not like the bullets would miss a target as easy as you, anyways". What a jerk!'
"Alright, kid. Time to say goodnight," whispered Agent 47. He pulled the trigger on his gun and a rain of bullets immediately flooded out of the firearm.
Sora knew he was in danger as soon as he heard a clicking sound reverberate throughout the previously silent arena. He dodge rolled forward and not a moment too soon, narrowly missing the ammunition that ricocheted off the gravel behind him. Sora knew that the hitman would continue to fire at him with all the firepower he had, so he had to act fast. There were just too many bullets to realistically dodge, so the teen did the next best thing.
"Defense!" he shouted, as he raised his keyblade into the air and cast a spell. A wall of air immediately surrounded him as the assassin again fired at the youth. Nothing happened, though, as the defensive barrier effectively blocked the bullets from penetrating through and damaging the keyblade wielder.
"Where are you?" Sora called out. "Just stop hiding already!"
If Agent 47 did hear those words, he made no effort to answer them. Instead, Sora was greeted by a third round of gunfire. He ducked behind some nearby trashcans, desperate to find any cover. His Aero shield would only last so long before it vanished, and he didn't feel like being caught in a compromising situation.
Sora peeked out over the metal bins and let his eyes wander around the windows of the buildings. Agent 47 was firing from a space that allowed him easy access to Sora down below, so he had to be somewhere up there. Finally, Sora caught the sleeve of an expensive suit, just as it pulled itself inside a building and out of sight.
'There you are,' smiled Sora. He then raced for the side of the building that housed his opponent, making sure to dodge roll away from any potential gunfire that threatened him. As soon as he reached the structure, he jumped up, planted his feet on the outer wall, and gathered energy into himself.
'What is he trying to pull?' Agent 47 wondered. 'This will only make him easier to hit. I can't see any advantage to-'
The hitman really had no words for what he saw next. Sora had unleashed his stored up magical power and was moving at an incredible rate. Not only was he moving ever closer toward the assassin, but he was doing it by running UP the side of the building. The boy had an extremely determined look on his face as his held his keyblade out in front like a lance.
"Trying to scare me are you?" asked Agent 47. "I'm not one to be easily intimidated. Guess I'll just have to stop you in your tracks then." The hitman ducked inside the room, quickly slipped on some sound dampening headgear, and pressed down on a remote trigger he had been holding.
Sora's senses were suddenly assaulted by a blinding flash and a deafening roar. It was so loud and bright that a few people who were sitting up in the very highest part of the stands had to blink their eyes and cover their eyes a little for protection. The stun grenades had done their job as Sora fell down toward the ground below.
"Happy landings," said Agent 47, his voice devoid of all emotion. He took a glance outside to watch his opponent's falling form, but his confidence was short-lived. Sora had quickly recovered and grabbed on to the catwalk of a nearby building. He had managed to avoid serious injury…for now.
"My eyes," Sora groaned, as he pulled himself up onto the metal grating. He hadn't been able to see the catwalk…he grabbed it on mere instinct. He tried to blink and shake his head a few times, but it was no use. For the rest of the match he'd be fighting deaf and blind.
Agent 47 had found a position on the roof of one of the buildings. He rummaged through his belongings before he finally came up with the pieces he was looking for. He extracted the gleaming black metal and quickly assembled it into a sniper rifle. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out some interesting ballistics.
"It'd be so much easier to just use bullets," Agent 47 whispered. "But these tranqs should do just fine. One of these could knock out an elephant alone. Let's see how well he handles three or four of them."
'I can't see him…I can't hear him. This isn't too good,' thought Sora. 'I know another attack is coming and I'm just hanging around like a sitting duck. Got to think, got to think.'
Agent 47 had loaded his rifle and was now taking aim at the young man. He stared intently through his scope, searching for the perfect spot to fire the tranquilizers at Sora. In just a little while, this match would be over.
'No, I can't see him. But I don't need to, do I?' Sora smiled as he finally came up with a plan. He plunged his hand into his short's pocket and rooted around there for a little while. He finally found what he was looking for. Sora ripped off the current keychain that was attached to his keyblade and placed another one on. He rubbed the weapon with the back of his hand to make sure it had transformed into the desired conformation. The stony exterior quickly confirmed this and told him all he needed to know.
'Now to move on to bigger and better things,' Agent 47 thought. 'I was expecting a better fight from you, kid. Come back when you're a little older. Then you might have a shot at beating a professional like myself.'
The hitman fired the tranquilizer bullet but it missed its mark, landing mere inches below Sora's feet. The keyblade wielder had leaped into the air and spun around quickly two times. With a mighty heave, he hurled his keyblade into the air. Agent 47 showed no signs of concern as he merely watched it fly wide to his left.
"Amateur," he sighed. "You made me miss the first shot, but I can guarantee with this next one you won't be so lucky. I don't miss twi-"
That was all the hitman could say before a very hard and fast moving object smashed into the back of his head. It was true that the keyblade had completely missed him when it was initially thrown. Too bad Agent 47 hadn't checked to see if it had begun a return trajectory though. That was a dire mistake. The assassin tried to blink a few times to clear his head, but he knew it was over as soon as his eyes rolled back and his body slid off the roof.
Sora noticed his vision was beginning to clear as he rapidly tried to blink away a few bright spots. He scanned the rooftops for his opponent with no luck. It wasn't until he glanced a little lower that he saw the limp form hurtling towards the ground. Sora didn't waste any time, as he pushed off the catwalk and tucked his arms at his sides.
The warrior of light raced toward Agent 47 as if he was pure lightning. Just as he got close, he put out his arms and lunged forward with both his hands. His left hand came up with his Olympia keyblade. In his right, he had firmly grabbed a hold of the body of his opponent. He glided back down to the ground as best he could and skidded to a stop, kicking up a few clouds of dust in the gravel that littered the ground.
Observing the damage Agent 47 had sustained, Sora frowned at a large gash on the back of the hitman's head. His keyblade had done a little more damage than he had hoped, but at least it had not killed the assassin. With a hopeful expression on his face, he looked at the judges, expectantly waiting their decision.
Cloud and Link nodded their heads almost immediately. Sephiroth seemed to be mulling something over, however. After thirty seconds he finally nodded his head just once, a small scowl on his face. It was now official. The teenager from Destiny Islands was indeed the winner of the match.
Sora jumped up and down for a second and then took his keyblade out and began a little flourish. He slashed downwards two times in rapid succession and then turned around, resting his keyblade on his right shoulder. The crowd seemed to be eating this little display up.
Squall, on the other hand, couldn't stop from laughing at this little show.
"What's so funny?" asked Rikku. The girl hated being left out of a joke.
"Nothing, nothing," Squall replied, trying to control himself.
"If it's nothing then you wouldn't be laughing," Rikku pouted. "C'mon, you can tell me!"
"Well, it's kind of stupid actually. It's just that…I taught him that."
"What? You mean that taunt?" wondered Rikku, not exactly sure what Squall was referring to.
"Yeah. I just never thought he'd use it in battle." The SeeD just shook his head in disbelief.
Back down on the field, the medical team quickly ran out to treat Agent 47's probable concussion. Sora waved them off, though. He'd inflicted the pain and he would make it up to the man. Gathering magically energy at his fingertips, he directed it out and into Agent 47's wound. It quickly closed up and stopped bleeding, as the Cure spell did its job.
Agent 47 blinked a few times from underneath his sunglasses. The world was slowly coming into focus once more. And standing over him was Sora's beaming face.
"Is it over?" the hitman asked.
"Yeah," Sora replied.
"I lost, right?"
"Yeah."
"Fine with me. I'll get my money just the same," Agent 47 scoffed. "But I do have a question for you, kid. Why did you save me at the end? You could have just as easily let me fall to my death and no one would have blamed you. It's just business around here."
Sora stopped for a second and thought over how he should answer this question. Finally, he came up with a suitable reply. "You have light inside of you. It's real faint, but it is there. So long as you hold on to that, there's always a chance."
"A chance for what?"
"Redemption," Sora quickly said, ignoring Agent 47's snicker. "Listen, I can sense sadness in your heart. You've buried your feelings a long time ago so that your guilt wouldn't eat you up inside, but they're still there. So long as you hold that spark inside of you, there's always hope. I don't expect you to change overnight, but keep your eyes open to the other possibilities out there. No matter how bleak things long, you're never trapped so long as you don't let that light escape."
After Sora finished his little speech, Agent 47 smiled and laughed a bit. "You're a riot, kid. You and your silly ideals about 'light' and 'redemption'. This world is just too crazy for me, so I'm actually happy to be heading home in a weird sort of way. Anyways, take care."
Agent 47 dusted his suit off and got up. He had lost, but at least he could walk out with his dignity. A grim visage etched on his face, he took a few steps before he stopped and turned around. He said nothing as he looked back at the optimistic youth. Then he opened his mouth, determined to tell Sora something.
"I know this is pretty out of character for me…but here you go," Agent 47 said, as he took off his sunglasses and tossed them to the teenager.
"What's this for?" Sora wondered, a little shocked at this gesture. He caught the dark shades and just turned them over in his hands a few times.
"I hate owing anyone debts," Agent 47 explained. "Consider it my payment to you for saving my life. It's not the contract a normal hitman would take, but for you…it kind of fits." The assassin then turned around and continued walking toward the stadium's exit.
'You know,' Agent 47 thought, 'I had those shades for quite a while. But after looking around for a bit now, the light really isn't so bad. I could get used to this.' He then walked through the door and out of Grandis Somnium. It was time for him to go back to his homeworld, but this time he would be a slightly different person than when he left. This time his eyes would be fully open.
---
"Sora!" a strong voice called out. "Wait! I need to ask you something!"
Sora turned around to face one of the champions himself. "Sure, Cloud. What is it?"
"That final attack you used to knock Agent 47 out…How did you do that without being able to see?" It was clear that this had been bugging the ex-SOLDIER for quite some time.
"I didn't have to see him," Sora explained. "My keyblade naturally seeks out and strives to banish the darkness. And although it was true that he did have some light inside of him, Agent 47 was anything but a saint. I simply threw my weapon and let it do the rest."
"I see. And then you ended up saving him from death. Very admirable."
Sora shrugged. "Some might say that, but it never even crossed my mind. It's just what I do. Besides, I believe in people and always want to bring out the best in them. That also means not adding to the darkness around me. I was just doing my job as the chosen keyblade wielder."
"Well said, Sora. Well said," Cloud chuckled. "Don't let me keep you here any longer then. We'll talk later. I guarantee it. And congratulations once again."
"Thanks, Cloud. See you around!" Sora waved and then ran off to join up with some of his friends.
'He's matured quite a bit since the last time he fought here,' mused Cloud. 'Yet, at the same time, he still holds on to the optimism and brightness that so many people gave up on long ago. I guess my investment really did pay off. So what if it cost me 100,000 gil to make sure he stayed alive? The return I'll get will be worth much more in the long run.'
"Sora, go forth and spread your light," smiled Cloud. "Recruit as many people to the side of good as you can. Heaven knows I'll need all the power I can get, as the future will be anything but easy." The spiky haired blonde man silently walked off, going wherever the whim might take him next.
