P.S. Hope that wasn't too long winded for you. P
Chapter Four
Heroes Clash
The sun beat down on Sora as he stared across the Coliseum at his opponent. The light breeze was hardly refreashing in this kind of intense heat, but he didn't let it get to him. Sora gripped his Keyblade tightly and charged forward.
As he ran across the marble tiles he stared at King Mickey, his expression never changing. He had his game face on. Normally he would never fight one of his friends, but it was decided he should test his new Keyblade in a friendlier environment before he used it in a real fight. It didn't bother him so much fighting King Mickey; he knew The King could handle himself.
He was only a few yards away now, and he drew his Keyblade upward to slash from below in an attempt to catch The King off his guard. But there are a good many reasons King Mickey is the king. Aside from his kind personality, unmatched courage, and strong sense of justice, he was also next to invincible in combat.
He raised his Keyblade to meet Sora's a split-second before it would have hit him, and matched the boy's blow effortlessly. He wasn't thrilled to be matching blades Sora, but it was all for the sake of testing Sora's Keyblade. And The King had his own reasons as well. It was all for the greater good.
The King Twisted his Keyblade around in a semicircle; knocking Sora's blade away. In an instant Sora had already retaliated, swinging his Keyblade towards King Mickey once again. Though this time from the side.
King Mickey jumped into the air and landed at the opposite end of the Coliseum, and he and Sora both closed the distance between each other in a classic sword-fight clash. The King pushed Sora back a few inches, but Sora was able to hold his ground. He strained his entire body now, just trying to keep The King at bay. And, to no one's surprise, Sora's Keyblade proved capable of as much strain as he himself.
The King held his Keyblade with only one hand, but seemed to withstand all of Sora's efforts with little strain. He pushed Sora back and said, "I think that's enough Sora, it looks like your new Keyblade is easily on par with your old one."
Sora wiped the perspiration from his brow and said, "Yea, I bet it'll hold up just fine." He grinned broadly as he withdrew his Keyblade.
Leon and Yuffie approached from the stands. Their detour to the Olympus Coliseum, though not a voyage made from necessity, left few people with nothing to do. With many people wanting to train and others seeking information only Leon and Yuffie were left to observe Sora's test run of his new Keyblade. Although it was decided that having some people to view the fight was important as well anyway.
"It's good to see you aren't rusty at least", Leon said gruffly.
Yuffie sighed at Leon's heart-felt words of encouragement and said, "What he MEANS is good job."
"Whatever", the Gunblade wielder said shrugging off Yuffie's words.
"He's just sore cuz he wanted to fight you again", Yuffie said, hitting the nail right on the head.
Leon flinched at this perfect insight into his character, something he had never much been a fan of.
"You wouldn't stand a chance against him", came a voice from the other end of the stadium. Everyone turned to see Cloud approaching them. He seemed his usual quiet, detached self. Upon landing on this world, Cloud had gone off on his own. He was supposed to find out any information he could about the current situation with the Heartless, but it was believed he had some of his own business to attend to here as well.
"And you would? I seem to recall us both having lost to him before", said Leon.
"Hardly, but at least my Buster Sword would stand up to him. That's more than I can say for that butter knife of yours there", Cloud said disregarding Leon.
"Now girls don't fight... At least not each other anyway", Yuffie said. For once breaking up the chaos instead of wreaking it.
"You could find a more productive outlet for your energy I'm sure", offered King Mickey. "Now anyway Cloud, did you find anything out about the Heartless?"
"Nothing to report", Cloud replied. "No one on this world has noticed anything. Except the Keyhole reopening. No one saw it happen, one day it was sealed the way Sora left it, and then the next day it was open again."
"When did it reopen?" Sora asked, a tinge of urgency in his voice. Though he had himself sealed the Keyhole when they first got to Olympus, he was still shaken by the fact that all his hard work sealing the worlds seemed to be unraveling at the seams.
"From what I heard it was about the time we set off from Destiny Island... Though I can't be entirely sure..." Cloud said.
"This isn't good..." King Mickey said. "None of this makes any sense at all. Nothing should be able to UN-seal something The Keyblade locked..."
"Well sitting around here won't solve anything; the answers we need are most likely at Hollow Bastion. We need to stop wasting time and get to the bottom of this before it's too late", Leon said.
"Leon... You have to understand. If the world's Keyholes are reopening then it is vital that they be sealed once again", The King explained. "The lives of all the inhabitants of the worlds are in jeopardy if we neglect them. We have to--"
"No!" snapped Leon. "We have to worry about the greater evil; we have to tackle the source. If whatever unlocked all the worlds is allowed to remain at large then it could easily unlock them all again by the time we get to it, and what good will that do us? What good will that do anyone? We are wasting time doing nothing when we should be working to get to the bottom of this."
"That's not true!" said Sora. "It all makes a difference. We can't just leave the Heartless unchecked on all these worlds!"
The King could see Leon was still unconvinced. "You know he is right", King Mickey said. "The damage the Heartless would do to all the worlds if they are just allowed to continue like this would be catastrophic. It's our responsibility to see to it all the worlds that come unlocked be locked again."
"Whatever", Leon said as he began to walk away. "Maybe it's YOUR responsibility, but my responsibility is restoring my own world."
Yuffie was about to start after him, but The King caught her arm. "Let him go Yuffie", he said. "He just needs some time. It's alright."
"No it isn't", came Cloud's stern voice. And he proceeded to go after Leon despite The King's protest.
Sora sighed deeply and said, "Things are really starting to fall apart..."
"It'll be okay Sora", The King reassured him. "Have faith."
The three began to head for the Lobby. As they passed through the doorway Riku emerged from the other side. "Oh hey, I was looking for you Sora. You up for some friendly competition?" he asked.
King Mickey continued through the door and said, "Go ahead Sora, I want to have a word with Hercules myself before we leave."
So the two boys went to opposite sides of the arena and faced each other, battle ready. Sora stared across the Coliseum at Riku. The sun was so bright his vision was a little blurred, but he recognized Riku's form as always.
Sora made the first move; he ran towards Riku and swung his Keyblade down on the older boy hard. Riku met his blow and struck back, but Sora had already moved out of the way. Riku smiled slightly. He was enjoying their fight, and Sora was too.
But Sora also felt odd fighting Riku again, the last few times he had matched blades with Riku he had done so in real combat. But now it was all in good spirit, just as it had been back during their lazy days on Destiny Island. Though they had been there not so long ago, it hadn't really felt like things were back to normal then.
Their fighting now was almost like having opened a time capsule, reminding Sora of all the things from a long time ago. Looking back on their days before he had left Destiny Island behind for the first time, it seemed like an eternity since he was able to enjoy a peaceful moment. It seemed like forever since he had been able to run around in the sunshine in the company of his childhood friends.
The two fought for a long time, their attacks so graceful it was almost like some kind of dance. Each attack was met with an equally powerful blow, and neither of them backed down an inch. The bout between Keyblade Masters was truely incredible.
Had there been an audience their battle would have been considered one of the most spectacular of all time. People would look on in awe of their ability; they would be amazed at seeing two of the most powerful beings in all the worlds do battle. But even watching them fight for an eternity would not be enough for anyone to understand the true depth of it all. Only Sora and Riku could feel how deep this was, only they knew.
After both boys were thoroughly exhausted they decided to call it a draw, for now. The sun was setting as they returned to the Lobby to meet up with everyone else. No doubt they had kept them waiting for some time now, but when they got there they only saw The King, Aerith, and Yuffie.
"All this really makes me uncomfortable", Aerith said. "Who could be doing this, and how?"
"I really don't know, no one should be able to unlock a locked world", The King said.
"What if someone else had a Keyblade? Riku was able to get one, maybe someone has one now too and they just happen to be bad news?" offered Yuffie.
"I don't think so..." King Mickey said. "Riku created his Keyblade not only from his darkness, but also his light. No evil being could do something like that under any circumstance. The Keyblades Sora, Riku and myself wield are pure, and no evil being could use them. Not like that anyway..."
"Are you so sure?" Riku asked. "Before I got my Keyblade I did take Sora's from him for a short time, and I was anything but 'pure' back then."
"What!" The King asked, more than a bit surprised.
"Yea, he took my Keyblade once", Sora said, remembering the incident not without a twinge of unease. "But I got it back from him before he used it."
The King sighed deeply. "I guess there is a lot even I don't know about the Keyblade", he said.
"You know, I kind of have to agree with Leon now that I think about it", said Yuffie.
"What do you mean?" Aerith asked.
"Well", Yuffie started. "Does any of this even matter? Do we care who is doing this? Or how? We are at least pretty sure that the root of the problem is at Hollow Bastion, so why are we wasting time with all the other worlds?"
The King walked up to Yuffie, the smile he normally wore was long gone. He stared her down with a look on his face that was unmoving. He said, "What would happen to all the people on all the worlds if they were destroyed? What would happen if Traverse Town for example was gone? Everyone who would normally manage to survive their world's destruction would be lost to the Heartless. Do you really want that on your concience? Can you really handle being responsible for that?"
King Mickey turned and walked away in quiet concentration. He wanted desperately to have answers; everyone seemed to be against him now. But he would endure, his heart was strong. All he could do was keep going anyway, and he knew despite their doubt that they would follow him. He was confident they could handle this new threat... Whatever it was...
A single, solitary tear rolled down Yuffie's cheek. "Aerith..." she said breathlessly. "We should go find Cloud and Squall--I mean Leon." She wiped her face as though it was a fleck of dirt instead of a tear and she and Aerith went outside in search of their two friends.
"... Could... ... Could someone REALLY be using a Keyblade to unlock all the worlds?" Sora said, thinking aloud more than really asking a question.
Riku put his arm around Sora and said, "Don't worry about it. Whatever happens, its okay."
Sora looked up at the other boy with a worried look on his face. He said, "Are you sure? What if it has something to do with my old Keyblade? Then it could be--"
"It's not your fault", Riku said. "Just please... Don't worry." He leaned in close to Sora. "It's okay, and even if it was somehow related to you we will all still stand by you... ... ... I will."
Sora relaxed a little, he didn't even know he had been tense. He looked into Riku's teal eyes. "Riku... I..." he trailed off.
Riku let go of him then. He still held Sora by the arm now and straightened Sora's posture so he didn't fall. "I'll be here for you Sora", he said. "I promise." He smiled and Sora could tell he was sincere. Whenever Riku smiled like that he always meant what he said.
Sora returned Riku's smile with his own and said, "Thanks. I wouldn't have it any other way."
The two walked out into the courtyard casually. It was night now, and they could see many stars in the sky above them. Sora wondered how many of them he could keep from disappearing, but he wasn't troubled so much with Riku walking by him. He felt almost invincible.
He noticed Yuffie and Aerith coming towards them. "Did either of you see Leon or Cloud in there?" asked Aerith.
"Uhm, no. I don't remember seeing either of them after they left the Coliseum", Sora answered.
"Tch... Where did they go", Yuffie said, clearly annoyed at having to hunt them down. "Know what, forget it..."
"Yuffie--", Aerith started.
"They'll be fine", Yuffie said. She tried to be cheerful, but she wore a troubled look on her face she didn't normally show. The ninja looked down and pretended to straighten out her clothes. "I wish Leon wouldn't do stuff like this. I guess it's just in his nature though... ... Well, as he would say; 'whatever...' Heh..."
"It's starting to get cold... We should head back to the ship", Riku said just as a gust of wind blew past the group.
As everyone walked away Sora remained behind and looked up at the sky again. He wondered if he could really handle this. But Riku's words stuck with him. 'I'll be here for you' he had said. That struck a note with Sora somehow. It gave him confidence. It made him feel like he could do anything. It was lucky for Sora he felt this way.
He would need every bit of strength for what was to come next.
Eventually Leon and Cloud were located; they were deep in the Coliseum. They both looked very battle worn but neither of them would say what happened. With everyone together at last they planned their next course of action.
It was decided they would go to Traverse Town. If Yuffie hadn't been the one who had insisted on it so desperately Leon might have tried to argue, but he remained quiet until everyone was finished and had gone off to bed.
He cornered The King before he went to sleep. "This doesn't mean I've changed my mind", he said.
"I know", King Mickey replied. "And this doesn't mean I won't stop trying either."
Leon looked frail then, very unlike him. He had been on edge a lot lately; it had worn him paper thin. He looked at The King with eyes that looked to belong to that of an old sage and said, "You would take this new force on by yourself if you had to wouldn't you?"
The King didn't even have to think. "Of course I would", he said.
"... That's very foolish. You would never win", Leon said.
"I won't ever give up Leon, you know that. Whatever it takes I'll give if I can, and even if I can't I'll still try", said King Mickey.
Leon turned around and without the smallest hint of emotion in his voice he said, "You won't have to do it alone, we will all be there when the time comes. To fight; win or lose. I'll be there, even if I don't like how things are now. I know how hopeless it is to fight alone against something like this..."
"I know", The King said. "Thank you Leon. And I promise, we WILL get your world back."
"... Whatever", Leon replied, and he left.
Oooooh, what will they find on Traverse Town I wonder! -- Oh wait, I know actually... But I'm not telling! I guess you'll have to wait till I finish Chapter 5 to find out. Sorry... I know that seems so far off (it most likely is). Hmmm... Oh I know! How about I give you a little something to tide you over till then?
The following is a bonus passage to my fanfic, it goes along with this chapter, but I felt it wasn't neccisary to write it into the story directly, things got too wordy and messy (like they aren't enough so already). Hope you like it, I have been waiting SO LONG for an excuse to write something like this...
Bonus Chapter
Heroes Clash Extended
Leon had cut down countless Heartless the past few hours. After his confrontation with The king he felt like blowing off some steam, much as he hated to admit it he WAS glad to be at the Olympus Collesium for this. He looked around for his next opponent, but no Heartless appeared.
He looked around questioningly, then he noticed someone coming towards him. He recognized Cloud in an instant, he must have really been mad to have come all this way Leon thought.
Cloud stoped in front of Leon and neither of them said a word or a moment. Cloud decided to break the silence and said, "Suprised?"
Leon chuckled slightly and said, "Only that it took you this long... ... ... So what now?"
"I'm sick of your attitude", Cloud said. "The King is doing his best, and he knows better than us what our priorities should be. You need to trust him or get the hell out of the way."
"Whatever, look I'm not here to please anyone", said Leon. "If you don't like the way I operate thats your problem."
"Well I don't like the way you handled that back there", said Cloud as he drew his Buster Sword. "And it just became your problem!"
Without warning Cloud lept towards Leon and with all his might he swung his sword down at him. Leon was ready with his Gunblade before Cloud was halfway towards him and he met the blow with his own.
Leon had been known for being cold and solitary at times, when he wanted to push someone away it was a simple matter of giving them the wrong look. But as he looked Cloud dead on in the eyes neither of them backed down.
"Whats your problem", he said as he continued to keep his Gunblade braced against Cloud's sword. "What are you fighting for anyway?"
Cloud pushed Leon back and continued his offense; a Gunblade met every one of his attacks. Leon rolled away to the left and brought his Gunblade up. He aimed directly at Cloud and fired, but Cloud took refuge behind the broad side of his Buster Sword.
"Thats not any of your concern", Cloud yelled as a rain of bullets met his sword. "You wouldn't understand."
The bullets stoped for a moment. Cloud took a risk and looked past his sword for a second. Leon was running towards him at full speed with his Gunblade held ready to strike. He pulled his sword up and swung it just in time to meet Leon's attack.
"Try me", Leon said continuing to attack. "I'm a little more complex than you give me credit for."
Cloud forced Leon back using his sword's greater size and momentum. While Leon was taken off balance for a split second Cloud used this opening and attacked swiftly.His blade left a shallow cut across Leon's right shoulder, and though the blood flowed freely Leon ignored the pain.
With a surge of strength Leon leapt into the air and swung his Gunblade down on Cloud hard. Cloud managed to fend off his blow but he could not push Leon back this time.
"Complex?" asked Cloud. "You're the most simplistic person I know! You hide behind a fake name just because you're sad you couldn't hold the world over your head. Squall, thats your real name isn't it? Well WAKE UP SQUALL! Sometimes bad things happen and you just can't do anything about it, but you can't take it out on other people just because you're too weak either."
Leon's eyes burned with rage now. In one deft move he turned his Gunblade, pushed Cloud's Buster Sword aside, and cut him vertically across his left arm. He raised his Gunblade to strike again, but Cloud jumped across the stadium before he could land another blow.
"That isn't my name!" Leon yelled. "And don't preach to me about being weak; you don't know anything about real power!"
"Fine", Cloud said. "You want to play for real? Lets see what you've got."
Red sparks surrounded Cloud now, and Leon could tell he was about to show his true strength. Blood covered Cloud's left arm, but his concentration never wavered. Slowly, Cloud began to lift into the air. A demonic black wing sprouted from his back on the left side, and he had a cold look of death in his eyes.
In a heartbeat Cloud was on the move, tearing his way across the stadium towards Leon beyond what any normal person would be able to react to. But Leon was no normal person.
Leon widened his stance a little and raised his weapon above his head. His right arm, like Cloud's left, bled profusely. His Gunblade began to glow with a spectrum of every-colored light. Then his sword was transformed; the blade was longer than before and it glowed with an ungodly power.
He met Cloud's assault with his own, and the two exchanged blow after blow. Cloud was moving incredibly fast flying through the air, but he could hardly get close With Leon swinging that gigantic blade around at lightning speed. The two titans continued to attack one another relentlessly with one lethal blow after another. After one especially powerful clash, both Leon and Cloud were sent reeling backwards from the backlash.
"Truely fascinating", Cloud said.
"I warned you", Leon said, not letting his guard down an instant.
Cloud watched Leon stand there, he was undoubtedly an incredibly impressive fighter. Cloud lowered his blade slightly and said, "My name is Cloud Strife. And I am searching for the person who decimated my home town and killed every person I ever cared for. So I will find him and destroy him, that is what I am fighting for."
If Leon was affected by this he didn't show it. He said, "My name is Squall Leonheart, but I have thrown that name and that identity away. I am Leon now, and I am fighting to repair the world that I was too weak to protect in the first place. I will succeed at any cost; if my world needs blood to be reborn, then it will be my blood."
The two stared each other down once again, but it was different this time. Instead of rage burning in their eyes, they had admiration for one another's cause in their hearts. To truely appreciate something it is not necissary to understand it, but with this new found knowledge of one another Leon and Cloud were able to reach a sort of unspoken understanding.
"Let us pray we both find what we are searching for then", Cloud said.
Leon, said, "Okay. Does that mean you give up?"
Cloud raised his sword again and said, "Not on your life."
Leon smiled, if only for a fraction of a second, and said, "I was hoping you would say that."
And so their quest continued...
There, finally we get to see a battle between the two great bishounen of Kingdom Hearts... The older ones... ... That don't smoke (sorry Cid P). And yea, it's A DRAW! P Sorry, they BOTH pwn.