Chapter XXXIII: The Final Duel in Darkness Part I
Sora's mind was baffled with riddles as he laid beneath his quilt. After the battle against the strange clocked figure, the others were able to get him to a bed. In his mind, he was haunted by the stranger's words. "He looks just like you." Those words he couldn't shake off. Finally, Sora could feel his body regain consciousness. He opened his eyes slowly, taking his time in doing so. His vision was blurry as came to. He saw a green blur in front of him. He knew who it was right away.
"Yoshi?" Sora asked weakly.
"Hi, Sora." Yoshi said softly. "Take it easy."
Sora took his left hand and rubbed his eyes, trying to gain his vision back, wiping any particles in his eyes away. He finally looked up to see Yoshi clearly, looking at him with a smile. He looked down to see he was in a bed with red sheets, and a giant blanket. To his left, he saw a study with a desk, a small candle lantern, and books neatly stacked around it. He saw tons of bookshelves all around the room with books resting inside them.
Sora remembered his fight against the cloaked figure. Such a power, he thought. It was nothing he's ever seen before. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that this wasn't going to be the last time they would meet that cloaked figure. Sora turned back to Yoshi and pet his head.
"Hey, little buddy," Sora smiled. "Are you alright?"
"Yoshi should be the one to ask that." giggled Yoshi. "Sora one who fell down and went boom!"
Sora rubbed his head and chuckled, "Guess you're right about that, Yoshi."
"Well, at least you're okay, kid." said a relieved voice.
Sora recognized the voice, he knew it was Luigi's voice. He noticed the plumber sitting at the edge of his bed with a relief look in his eyes.
"Luigi, you're okay too." Sora said.
"No, I'm in a wheelchair, and I can never move again." Luigi said sarcastically.
"Heh, heh, good old Luigi." snickered Sora. He then groaned, rubbing his face. "What happened?"
"Well, we were in a fight with that cloaked freak," Luigi explained. "He seemed to be speaking in tongues though. I had no idea what he was talking about."
"Who was he?" Sora whispered.
"Beats me," shrugged Luigi. "If you ask me, that guy is probably just a lost soul looking for a good time. We shouldn't worry about him."
"Yeah, we should be going after Ansem." Sora responded. "He needs to be dealt with first."
"Others outside." Yoshi told Sora. "They worried about Sora."
"Then let's go see them!" Sora announced.
"Hold up!" Luigi said, stopping everyone. "Before we do go outside, there is something we need to discuss." He then slid closer to the other two. "Now that it is just the three of us here, with no other interruptions," He then turned to Sora. "It's time you told us what you're hiding." Sora was about to speak, but Luigi snapped at him. "No excuses! You know what they say, 'the truth will set you free'".
Sora sweated nervously. He knew that he wasn't going to get off so easily this time. He wish he didn't have to tell them right now, but there was nothing he could do. He felt his breath become hard as a rock. He was cornered by his two companions and friends. Yoshi walked over and sat next to Sora.
"Sora, if you don't tell, Yoshi going to make that face." Yoshi threatened.
"You wouldn't dare!" Sora snarled.
"Oh, Yoshi would dare." laughed the dinosaur. "I going to do it."
"Confess now, kid," Luigi said. "Or prepare to have extreme cuteness rain upon you!"
"I can take it!" Sora said bravely.
Yoshi widen his eyes which caused a sparkle to appear in his pupils. Yoshi shook his lower lip, making a pouting look. Yoshi whimpered lightly at Sora, who tried to resist the look, but it was too adorable, Sora couldn't take it. Yoshi was winning over the keyblade master.
"Please!" Yoshi said with cuteness in his voice. "With a cheery on top?"
Sora screamed, defeated from the cuteness. He couldn't resist it anymore.
"Alright, alright!" Sora shouted. "You win! I'll tell you!" He then sighed and turned to Luigi. "How can you deal with that?"
"Stare at a picture of that face for five hours." Luigi responded. "That always help." He then frowned. "Don't stall kid! Out with it!"
Sora took a deep breath in and out, ready to confess his secret. He feared the results when he told them how they were never going to see each other again. Luigi, probably would understand, but Yoshi...that's another story.
"Guys," Sora gulped, chocking up a little bit. "You two have made my adventure totally fun. I'd rather be here with you, than go back to my island. It would have been more fun if Riku and Kairi were here but, I'm just glad I had this chance to travel to other worlds."
"So, your point is.." Luigi asked, trying to get to the bottom of the situation.
Sora sighed sadly, "When we beat Ansem, the worlds will become separate again. We'll go back home to our own worlds."
"Is that what this about?" Luigi said. He then sighed with relief. "Oh, kid, just tell us where you live and we'll..."
"There's more," Sora interrupted. "The reason we never knew about other worlds was because we were all surrounded by a barrier." Luigi and Yoshi started to get a little worried upon hearing that. "That barrier was destroyed by the heartless, and when we beat Ansem..."
"...those walls will return." Luigi concluded. He was at a lost for words. He knew what was going to happen. He clenched his hand onto the bed sheets, upset and angry.
The trio remained silent for the moment. The room was engulfed by the sound of silence. Sora put his head down, extremely upset about the whole thing. Sora felt tears pouring into eyes. With all his might he held them back. Slowly looking up, he looked at his two friends who looked at him.
"That means..." Sora said sadly. "We'll never see each other again."
Yoshi was shocked. He couldn't believe that he was never going to be able to see Sora again. His best friend was going to leave him forever. He couldn't accept the fact. Tears rushed down his face, his heart felt like it was smashed into a million pieces by this painful turn of events.
"Why?" Yoshi shouted. "Why? Sora promised that we stay together forever! Sora can't leave Yoshi! Sora can't leave Yoshi! Please don't leave!"
"I wish I could stay," Sora whispered sadly. "But I can't." Yoshi jumped off the bed and ran for the door. "Yoshi, please wait! Let me explain!"
Yoshi angrily turned back to Sora, tears pouring down his face. Anger rising from him. Sora promised they would be together forever.
"Sora don't need!" Yoshi said angrily. "Sora lie to Yoshi! He said we stay best friends forever, and now Sora have to leave?"
"But..."
Yoshi abruptly slammed the door as Sora ran up to it. Sora pressed his face against the door, his depression filling his entire body. He felt like a fool, he should have told them when he had the chance. Luigi walked over to Sora and patted the boy's back.
"Sora, I'm sorry." Luigi said calmly. "I didn't know how painful this was for you."
Sora slammed his fist into the door, "This is all my fault. I should have told you earlier about this."
"It's okay." Luigi said warmly. "Kid, I know how badly you feel about this. I'm going to miss you so much, and I honestly mean that." Sora turned to Luigi, feeling a little better. "We're your friends and we had a right to know. If ever something is wrong, always talk about it with us. I can deal with the pain...except if it's falling down a flight of stairs." Sora lightly chuckled. "You've been a good friend, you'll always be a memory that can not be forgotten."
"Thanks, Luigi." Sora smiled. "What about Yoshi?"
Luigi gasped in horror, "Oh, no! He ran out of the room! He could have ran to somewhere in this castle! Come on, Sora!"
Luigi and Sora both left the room and headed down the main hallway. The duo arrived back in the chapel, where the others all ran up to them.
"Sora, are you okay?" Dixie asked.
"I'm fine now," Sora said with haste. "But Yoshi ran off and we need to find him!"
"Oh, dear!" Peach exclaimed. She then looked at her hand. "I broke a nail!" Everyone else groaned. She then turned to Sora. "What were you saying, Sora?"
"I said that Yoshi ran off." Sora repeated.
"Goodness!" she exclaimed again."We have to find him! Everyone split up!"
Sora, Luigi, Toadsworth, Fox, and the princesses ran off into separate areas of the castle to find Yoshi. Zelda and Samus checked the room where the keyhole was, searching high and low. Dixie and Tootie searched the upper hallways. Peach and Toadsworth checked the lower hallways, the two foxes checked the library, and Sora and Luigi checked the basement.
The basement was dark and someone could have easily gotten lost. Sora hope that the heartless didn't get to Yoshi and hurt him in anyway. Sora remembered the basement from his first visit to Hallow Bastion, when he and Fox came down here. Sora continued to walk through the dark area with Luigi at his side. He was about to give up hope when he heard a familiar whimpering noise.
"Take one guess on what that sound is." Luigi told Sora.
"Yoshi whimpering?" Sora replied.
"I thought so." Luigi nodded
The duo followed Yoshi's frightened sounds until they reached the end of the basement. Sora walked behind the only corner there and saw Yoshi, curled into a ball, shivering with his back against the wall. Sora bent down to him and tried to pet him, but Yoshi waved his arm at the boy, indicating not to touch.
"Keep away from Yoshi." Yoshi said hurtfully. "Sora just a big lair!"
"Listen, don't you want to hear what I have to say?" Sora asked, a bit disappointment.
"No!"
"Yoshi!" Luigi snapped, fed up with Yoshi being stubborn. "Sora isn't a liar!"
"But...he promised we best friends forever?" Yoshi said sadly.
"And we are." Sora nodded in agreement. "But you can't blame me for something I can't control. If there was someway to prevent the walls I would have found away to stop it. There's nothing I can do though." He bent down to Yoshi. "I didn't want to tell you because it would break your heart. I'm not lying about being your best buddy, I'm just as upset about this as your are. No matter what happens, we'll always be best friends forever."
Yoshi looked up at Sora and ran into his arms. Tears poured down his face. He felt so bad for being rude to Sora.
"Yoshi so sorry, Sora." Yoshi said with his face buried in Sora's chest. "Can Sora ever forgive Yoshi?"
"You know I always do." Sora smiled warmly. He then rested his head on Yoshi's shoulder, whispering in the dinosaur's ear. "I'm going to miss you so much."
"Yoshi going to miss Sora times a million." Yoshi responded.
Sora smiled and stroked Yoshi's back. He pulled him away and held him in the air. Yoshi looked at Sora's blue eyes, seeing the joy and carefreeness that Sora had. He knew nothing would be the same again without his yellowed shoed pal. Sora then made a serious look at him.
"Right, now," Sora said in all seriousness. "We have a mission to complete. We need to be strong, Yoshi. The three of us need to stick together."
Yoshi nodded, a sign of seriousness in his eyes. He nodded bravely, knowing they had a job to do and that was to save all the worlds. Everyone was depending on them to bring down the darkness. Sora smiled at Yoshi, and turned to Luigi who nodded. The trio looked at each other, knowing they may never see each other again, but their hearts would stay connected no matter what.
"Let's go!" Luigi announced. "To our destinies, to where the stars are the limits."
The trio left the basement and headed back to the chapel, where the other princesses awaited their arrival. Peach walked up to the group and looked at Yoshi.
"Yoshi, you scared us to death." she scolded Yoshi. "Don't ever run off like that again." Yoshi put his head down.
"Take it easy, Peach." Luigi said. "He was just a little upset."
Peach smiled and pet Yoshi's head, "I'm sorry I yelled, but don't wander off like that again, okay?"
"Okay." Yoshi nodded.
Sora walked over to Peach and made a sad look, "I'm going to miss you, Princess Peach."
"Take care, Sora." Peach responded shaking his hand. "Always remember that you have friends who are by your side."
Sora nodded and said good-bye to the other princesses as well. He then shook Fox's hand.
"Bye, Fox."
"Take care, kid." Fox said. "Wish you could travel to other world though. Could have stopped and see our world. We could always use another Starfox pilot."
"I think I'll pass on that." Sora chuckled. "You see, awhile ago I caused the Toad Express to make a crash-landing."
"Please, don't remind me." Luigi groaned.
Sora and Yoshi started laughing, remembering the look on Luigi's face from when the Toad Express went out of control. Luigi, Yoshi, and Toadsworth said good-bye to Peach and said, that they hope to see her later. After saying good-bye to everyone, the four left the area and headed for the Toad Express. Peach stepped forward and worryingly watched them leave.
"Come back alive." Peach whispered.
"Do you think they can beat Ansem?" Dixie asked them.
Fox just smirked, "Without out a doubt they can. Those three are the greatest heros I've ever met. They've got to drive to fight, the power to succeed, but Sora's got a chicken in the group."
"Fox!" Krystal snapped.
"What?" Fox argued. "Do you know how many times Luigi ran behind something when we fought an enemy?"
Meanwhile, the four boarded the Toad Express and Tails started the engine. Sora sat back in his seat and looked out the window, seeing the blackness of space. He took a deep breath, knowing they had to take care of Ansem now. He relaxed though, knowing that Luigi and Yoshi had his back through thick and thin.
The Toad Express left Hallow Bastion and flew into the darkest part of space. Tails had never flew in these parts before, and dark waves of energy impacted the Toad Express. The waves were harsh and they were actually tilting the Toad Express. The group were tossed all over their seats, the impact was so strong that their seatbelts broke, and they dragged across the floor.
The four ran into each other and crashed into the side. The plane titled the other way and they all dragged across the floor. Luigi hit his head on the wall, groaning all the way. He looked up and saw the others sliding towards him. Luigi screamed and quickly spun out of the way as the others crashed into the wall.
Luigi sighed with relief, "That was close. Finally, my luck must be changing." A flower pot then hit Luigi on the head. "Ow! Ugh, never mind!"
The air pressure around the area began to increase, the wind pushed against the Toad Express. A thunderstorm emerged from a dark cloud in the sky. It was like a nightmare, a storm that violently tossed the Toad Express around. Tails gripped the controls tightly, trying to gain control, but it was no use. Sora quickly got to the cockpit to where Tails was.
"Tails, what's happening?" Sora asked.
"This storm is too powerful," Tails struggled. "I don't know if she can last much longer." The two then looked out the window to see a world approaching them. The world was a giant purple ball with light blue rings around them. "I think that's the world we've been shooting for."
All of a sudden, a lightning bolt blasted the wing of the plane. The blast was so strong, that the wing fell of, causing the plane to spin out of control. Everyone screamed as they were spinning to their doom.
"This is not cool!" Sora cried. "Unless we don't find away to get out of here, we're going to end up being piles of ruble."
"We need to evacuate the premises immediately!" Tails instructed.
Sora and Tails both left the cockpit and returned to the room where the others were. Tails quickly ran to the door, aggressively opening the door. The wind rushed into the room as the plane began to spin its way down into the world. Tails grabbed Toadsworth and jumped out of the plane. He used his tails to fly their way down safely. The trio used the glide ability to escape as well. The Toad Express spun out of control, with the entire body burning from flying down so fast.
Finally, the Toad Express exploded before the group's eyes. Toadsworth was in shock upon seeing this.
"No, the Toad Express," Toadsworth said sadly. "It took us two years to make it for the princess, and now it's destroyed."
"You should be more lucky to have your life, Toadsworth." Tails pointed out.
Toadsworth sighed, "You're right, Master Tails. Life is the most important value."
Sora's group flew over to join the others.
"You guys alright?" Luigi asked.
"We're find, Master Luigi." Toadsworth responded. "But we have no way to return to any other worlds now."
"Well, this is our final destination," Sora said. "When we beat Ansem, it will all end here."
Yoshi and Luigi nodded in agreement and Toadsworth sighed sadly. They slowly turned around and made their way into their final world. They knew that the road ahead wasn't going to be a piece of cake, but they were willing to go the distance. They descended into their final world, the final world where evil awaited them.
World Name: End of the World
The five slowly floated down and arrived on the surface of the final world. Upon landing, Tails returned into his summon gem for safe keeping. Toadsworth slowly got onto Yoshi's back, and the trio walked over to their right. They arrived inside a small cave and walked through it. At the end of it, they saw a light and entered it.
Upon exiting the cave, they were in amazement upon what they saw. The world was on a water-like surface. Small stone that contained treasure chests were set up all over the area. Further down, they noticed a giant purple ball, glowing with a sense of darkness. They've been worlds where there have been towns, jungles, and castles, but never a strange world like this.
Yoshi stepped forward and looked around at the area. Sora could feel the heartless all around them. They knew that this wasn't a ordinary world. This world was in fact a world created by the heartless.
"So, this all that's left of the worlds taken by the heartless?" Yoshi asked.
"Possibly, Yoshi," Toadsworth figured. "A great source of darkness seems to be gathered here."
"If we beat Ansem," Sora began. "Then those worlds will become restored, right?"
"Of course!" Luigi responded with a nod. "The darkness should lift, and the worlds that were long forgotten will be restored. I bet a meatball grinder on it."
"Indeed," Toadsworth agreed. "All those hearts who were lost by the darkness should return home." He noticed Sora resting his chin on his hand. He could tell Sora was in deep thought. "Something troubling you, Master Sora?"
"Yeah." nodded Sora. "I've been thinking about this, and I wonder, if we do beat Ansem and the worlds become restored and disconnected, what would happen to this place? Better yet, what would happen to us?"
"Why that's easy." Luigi said proudly. "It's...um..." He then began to ponder to himself
"Well? Got an answer, Mr. Know-it-All?" Sora asked, impatiently tapping his foot.
"Yeah," Luigi nodded. "And that is...I'll tell you next week."
Sora smacked his forehead in frustration. Yoshi was thinking about it too, and he may have found an answer.
"This heartless world, right?" Yoshi asked. "Maybe it just disappear."
"Huh?" Sora gasped in shock, looking at Yoshi.
"What?" Luigi and Toadsworth exclaimed in unison.
They were shocked. They never expect Yoshi to say something like that.
"A-are you sure?" Sora asked.
"Pretty sure." Yoshi responded with a nod. "We no heartless, it won't hurt us." He then walked up to Luigi and Sora. "But Sora, Luigi, and Toadsworth no worry because even if place go bye-bye, our hearts not going anywhere. We'd find our pals again. Yoshi feel it in his gut that we will."
Sora smiled, feeling reassurance from Yoshi. He knew that everything would turn out alright in the end. Even if this world disappeared, Sora would safely be back on his island.
"You're right, Yoshi." Sora said. "We shouldn't worry at all." He then smirked at Luigi. "Too bad you couldn't think of that."
"Oh, I did," Luigi lied. "It's just that Yoshi beat me to the punch."
Sora rolled his eyes and chuckled. He then remembered something and went through his pocket. After a few seconds of searching, he pulled the charm that Kairi gave him. He knew that he wasn't alone anymore as long as his friends were with him, and Kairi was there in spirit. A part of her was inside of him, and he made a promise to her. A promise he will never break.
"Kairi, when this is all over, I will return this to you." Sora thought to himself. "I promise."
The group stepped forward, ready to enter their final world. They looked at each other, knowing this could be the last time they see each other. Luigi smiled and put his hand out.
"We may not come out of this alive." Luigi realized. "But, for old times sake, let's make the promise we made when we first met."
Yoshi placed his hand on top of Luigi's and Toadsworth reached over, placing his hand on top of Yoshi's. Sora looked at his three friends with tears streaming out of his eyes. He was so happy to have known his three friends would always be there for him. Sora sniffled his tears away and placed his hand on top of Toadsworth's hand.
"All for one and one for all." Sora said out loud.
"Together we stand..." Yoshi began.
"...together we fall." Luigi finished.
The group released their hands and turned back to the entire area. Sora took his keyblade out and bravely pointed it at the area.
"Guys, let's go!" Sora announced. "To Ansem!"
The group made their way into the world of darkness, expecting the worse from the heartless. As they walked forward, they saw a giant ball of darkness appear above them. They were shocked to see it fall right on top of them. They arrived on a small island, surrounded by purple rocky mountains, and beautiful pointy crystals. The group looked in awe at this amazing place, but soon a group of old "friends" came to play.
The heartless they encountered where the ones they fought against during the tournament. That included the heartless with giant swords, the magical winged heartless, and the floating round ones. Sora used his keyblade and slashed aside the sword heartless. He clashed with one and ducked as another one a gave him a hard thrust. Sora bent over and kicked both heartless back up, sending them high into the sky.
Sora used Strike Raid, finishing off the two heartless. Luigi used Aeroga to block the magic attacks from the flying heartless. He tried to use firaga, but the flying heartless defended themselves with their wings. Luigi used a fire uppercut, and knocked them out. Yoshi shot eggs at the round heartless, also trying to protect Toadsworth in the process. The group continued to fight the heartless until they were defeated.
Upon defeating the last one, a bright light consumed them and returned them back to the main area. The group looked around, a bit dazed and confused by what happened.
"Uh, what was that about?" a confused Sora asked.
"It's obvious, Master Sora," Toadsworth responded. "Ansem knows we're here, and probably set up booby-traps all over this world. I fear that was only the beginning."
Luigi and Yoshi gulped in unison, knowing that things would only get worse from here. Sora ran forward and the others followed.
"I'm ready for anything he dishes out!" Sora cried. "Let's rock and roll!"
The group continued to walk through the surface of the world, staying full alert and aware of there surroundings. Though it was tempting, the group stayed away from the treasure chests, fearing there may have been a trap planned for them. The group felt their hearts beating, feeling nervous, knowing that the heartless were around every corner.
All of a sudden, the group looked up and saw another dark energy ball approaching them. They tried to run from it, but a force of gravity pulled them into it. The group arrived in the exact same area again, encountering more heartless. Sora delivered blows on the heartless, feeling the force of their bodies at he sliced through them. Sora used Sonic Blade, dashing through them, delivering quick and hard blows.
Luigi used F.L.U.D.D to spray some of the shadows away from him. He also used his smash moves to knock some of them back, such as the Luigi Tornado or fireball attacks. Yoshi ate some and spat them out at others. Because of their intense training, it was a fairly easy battle against the group of heartless. After defeating them, the four once again returned to the surface of the world. The group continued to make their way through the area, once again keeping their eyes peeled for the heartless.
The group continued to walk without any disturbances, until they finally reached the giant purple ball in the middle. Sora took a deep breath, and bravely jumped into it. The other soon followed into it, flying through a dark purple vortex. They didn't know what was awaiting them on the other side, but they were ready for whatever it was. The group finally reached the edge of the vortex and another flash appeared before them and they arrived inside the purple core.
The group looked to see the outside of the core. The group then heard a growling sound, but were unaware about what it was. Sora's group glanced over their shoulders and saw another Behemoth standing before them.
"Oh, no!" Luigi exclaimed. "You again? Can't you bother some other keyblade master?" It roared at their faces. "I'll take that as a no."
Sora and his group charged at Behemoth who made his horn glow a bright yellow. He released the energy from within his horn, shooting dark energy balls at them. The group quickly jumped out of the way, dodging all of the attacks. Sora and Luigi used gravity magic, weakening the heartless beast. The trio quickly jumped onto the bask of the beast and attacked the horn with all they've got.
Since they already faced this heartless twice, they knew his weakness and had no problem defeating this creature again. Sora finished the battle quickly with a hard, critical blow to the back. The creature roared in pain and caused a massive explosion, sending the four flying across the area. As they landed, another light consumed them and warped them through it. After floating through it, they arrived in another area.
This one was on top of a mountain area with ledges sticking out of it. The mountains were colored purple, and crystal stuck out of every part of the mountain. Above them was a sky completely covered by darkness that extended across the area. There were high up on the mountains, looking down at the ledges that stuck out from it. The wind blew lightly in the sky, giving them a small chill.
"Where are we now?" Toadsworth asked.
"No where close to Ansem." Sora sighed in disappointment.
"Bad man really good at hide-and-seek." Yoshi complimented. "Where do you think he go to hide, Luigi?"
"Probably to the most dangerous place." assumed Luigi. "That's where most bad guys usually hide out."
Sora put his arm up heroically and said, "Then to the darkest and most dangerous place here!"
Luigi got nervous, "Um, did I say dangerous? I meant less dangerous?"
Sora narrowed his eyes at Luigi, "Nope. You said dangerous."
"Me and my big mouth." Luigi groaned to himself.
The four slowly made there way down the mountain, slowly jumping onto each ledge. They carefully watched where they were going. Being the cautions one, Luigi took an even slower time then the others. The others finally reached the bottom and noticed a small, bright hole below them. They saw a bright light pouring out of it. The light looked like a vortex to another place. Meanwhile, Luigi was still taking his time getting down. He all of a sudden hit a loose rock and fell down, bonking his head onto other ledges.
He continued bouncing around until he ran into the others, and they all fell into the hole. They were lost in the light, flying through an endless area. The light then dimmed around them, revealing a giant mountain area. The group flew over to a small, round, mountain with spikes around the edge. Above them was a giant ring, also with spike edges. The group noticed a giant, pink energy wave in front of them, its energy flowing up, going through the middle of the ring.
"Luigi, you are a hazard to one's health." Sora stated.
"Hey!" Luigi shouted in offense. "I am not!"
"Boys, boys!" Toadsworth shouted. "Please, no arguing right now! We should figure out where we are."
"What that?" Yoshi asked as he pointed at the energy.
Sora walked over to the energy and observed it. He felt a familiar presence with inside the energy.
"Honestly, I don't know." Sora responded. "But there is something familiar about this energy pattern. I just can't put my finger on it."
"How about you don't put your finger on it?" Luigi suggested. "Let's move on!"
"No, I think we need to go in here." Sora debated. "Something is tell me that this is the right way."
Yoshi nodded in agreement, "Yoshi believe Sora."
"I believe you, Master Sora." Toadsworth agreed.
Luigi complied and smiled, "Aw, okay, we'll go."
Sora slowly walked up to the glowing energy. He looked up at it and took a deep breath. He knew that at any moment they could run right into Ansem. In fact, Sora thought that this was it, the final battle was about to commence. He felt a bit scared, but knew that he had to be brave. He closed his eyes and walked into the light. He kept them closed, but felt his body being pulled by gravity.
Seconds later, he felt his body coming to a complete stop. He heard the sounds of seagulls, chirping all around him. He felt the warm breeze engulf his face, and heard the sounds of the waves. Sora opened his eyes and was shocked on what he saw. They couldn't believe their eyes. How was this possible? They were on Isle Delfino, better yet, Pinna Park. The area they were in was where Sora first met Luigi and Yoshi.
"Isle Delfino?" Toadsworth said baffled. "Why are we back here?"
"Ah, maybe Ansem decided to surrender." Luigi said with relief. "That wasn't so bad."
Sora had a bad feeling. The entire area was quite. The rides weren't even working, nor were the inhabits around. Soon enough, the heartless appeared.
"Heartless!" Yoshi cried.
Sora's group took the heartless head on. The battle didn't last too long as Sora slashed, Luigi smashed, and Yoshi ate their way through the heartless. The heartless they fought were the soldiers and the shield heartless. The battle finally ended as the group defeated the last wave of heartless. The group caught their breath from the battle, and Luigi sighed sadly.
"Why can't something good ever happen to us?" Luigi sighed.
Ignoring Luigi, Toadsworth turned to Sora with a confused look, "Master Sora? How did we end up back here?"
"I don't think we're on Isle Delfino," Sora said. "I think this is an illusion created by Ansem, or maybe a memory of each world we visited."
"Sora sure?" Yoshi asked.
Sora shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not too sure, but we should keep going." Sora then noticed a door has appeared before them. "Maybe this door will lead us somewhere."
"Well, lead on, kid." Luigi said.
The group walked up to the door and Sora opened it. A flash brightened their eye sight for a moment. As the light dimmed, they noticed they were back in the Space Pirate lab. Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi were also back in their suits they wore from Planet Zebes.
"Luigi?" Sora began to ask.
"I didn't do it." Luigi said shaking his head.
All of a sudden the heartless attacked again. This time they fought the red, blue, yellow, and green space pirates. Sora quickly took out the green pirates, preventing them from healing their allies. Luigi used firaga to melt away the blue space pirates. Yoshi dodged the attacks of the yellow and red ones. Sora cast stop on all of them, freezing them in place. Upon defeating the heartless, another wave entered with wizard heartless.
The wizards cast powerful thunder spells, preventing the group from attacking. When they stopped, Sora slashed through them as quickly as he could. Yoshi rammed his head into another one, knocking it into Luigi who did Luigi Tornado on it, juggling it into the air. Sora jumped into the air and slashed the heartless through the middle of it. After the battle, another door appeared in front of them.
Upon entering it, the group next arrived at Pokemon Coliseum, arriving outside the entrance. They encountered heartless from Hallow Bastion, such as dragons, shields, flying warriors. The group once again made quick work of the heartless and after that, another door appeared.
"And what's behind door number one?" Sora asked in a cheesy game show voice. The group opened the door and arrived in the Bamboo Forest from Kongo Bongo. Sora then started signing, "Wah-wah-wah."
"Shut up!" Luigi snapped. "That's the last time I let you watch let night game shows."
"Man, just trying to lighten the mood." Sora said upset.
The group ran into power wilds from this world, including female monkeys. The females left giant bananas out which everyone, except for Luigi dodged. They also shot magical balls out of a slingshot they carried. Sora threw his keyblade at them, destroying them. The group took care of the remaining heartless, and moved on. The next arrived at the Hyrule Market place, encountering old "friends" such as Gerudo Thieves and Fire Bandits. Luigi took care of the bandits with his blizzard spell while Sora defeated the thieves with his improved sword skills.
After defeating the heartless, the group took the next door and arrived in Dreamland. The group noticed they were in their cappy disguises again. They were in the main hallway of King Dedede's castle. They fought against star warrior heartless and others. They had a bit of trouble because they haven't been in this form for awhile. Pulling together though, they managed to defeat all of the heartless in the room. The next door lead them to the room where they battled Black Shadow in Mute City.
Again, the group were in their racing uniforms as they arrived. They ran into more heartless such as F-Zero races who tripped them. Sora used stop magic, freezing the heartless in place. They then attacked them before they could revive themselves. More heartless appeared around them and they finished the fight with Trinity Limit, putting their energy into one attack that drained their energy.
The group used elixirs to recover themselves from the loss of energy. Another door appeared and the group entered it.
"This is getting annoying." Luigi groaned.
"We're almost there, Master Luigi." Toadsworth said with influence. "Let us press on!"
The group arrived on the Egg Carrier next, encountering robot heartless, and Egg Mobile heartless. They fired lasers at the group who dodged the attacks. Sora jumped onto two of the Egg Mobile heartless and flew around on them. The two tried to shake Sora off, but he held on tightly. He then kicked both of them off, sending them crashing into the wall. Luigi used F.L.U.D.D on the robots, zapping them away.
Yoshi gave a mighty kick at a few others, knocking them aside as well. He then ate one and digested it, causing the heartless to come out as an egg. Yoshi threw the egg, destroying two of the heartless. Sora gripped the handle of his keyblade with one hand and slashed it at three of the heartless, cutting them into pieces. The group began to grow tired from all the fighting. Sora walked up to the next door that appeared and opened it.
Inside, they arrived on Yoshi's Island. Sora and Yoshi remembered this part of the island. It was the same place where they helped Baby Mario get pasta from the pasta tree. Luigi and Toadsworth looked at the place in amazement. They have never seen anything so beautiful before.
"Where are we?" Toadsworth asked.
"This is Yoshi's home." Sora responded. He then paused, remembering this world was an illusion. "Well, sort of, but this is what it looks like." He looked around to see no heartless in sight. "I think we're safe here."
The group noticed another door appear in front of them. Sora began to walk towards it, but Luigi stopped him.
"Kid, let's take a break for a little bit," Luigi said tiredly. "I'm pooped."
Sora tiredly yawned, knowing he needed a rest as well.
"Okay, we'll take an hour break." Sora announced.
The four sat against a log, resting their backs. They felt their muscles relax from the pain of all the fighting. Sora looked up at the sky, knowing this was the last peaceful moment they would have. The rest of the way would hard and painful for them. The four also got into discussions, recalling past situations they got into. A lot of it was funny. They laughed away at all the good memories. They did that to keep a positive attitude on their goals.
Yoshi rested his head on Sora's chest, causing Sora to smile. He gently stroked the little dinosaur's head, sadly knowing this was the last time they would see each other. An hour passed ever since they arrived. The group stood up and stretched out, ready to take on their next challenge. The group approached the next door and opened it, expecting the worse. The group arrived in a very small hallway which appeared to have the same setting as Hallow Bastion. To their left, they saw a sliding door.
The group headed towards it, but the heartless appeared again. This time it was the heartless with swords. During the battle, Sora called in Ness to use some of his psychic powers, knocking the heartless back. He then used Mr. Game & Watch to knock some back with his sausages. As always, the attacks had barely any effect. Sora then used Marth who sliced a few of them up. Navi offered any advice to Sora who used it well, dodging some of their attacks.
Sora also called Tails in to recover health when needed. Last but no least, Sora called in Kazooie to finish the job with exploding eggs. Sora thanked each summon with all his heart for the hard work they did to help fight off the heartless. The door on the left opened, and the group curiously walked in. The room was in the shape of a rectangle. In the middle of the room, the group saw a strange machine with golden pipes moving up to the ceiling.
"Wow! Now that is one plumbing job that would be a pain in the rear." Luigi commented.
Sora also saw a giant heartless symbol in the middle of it, which was colored blue. Sora also saw a small panel in front of it with words written on it.
"Guys, come look at this," Sora called to his friends. "There's something written here."
The others walked over and noticed the writing on the panel.
"What it say?" Yoshi asked, a bit intrigued. "Can Sora read it? Yoshi not good reader."
"Sure," Sora responded with a nod. "I'll take a look." Sora cleared his throat and read the all of the words."Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness sealed within the great heart. Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness."
Toadsworth put on his reading glasses, "I'll finish the rest, Master Sora." He then cleared his throat. "For the heart of light shall unseal the path. Seven hearts, one Keyhole, one key to the door. The door of darkness, tied by two keys. The door of darkness to seal the light. None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness. Ones born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens."
"Kingdom Hearts?" Luigi asked in confusion. "What kind of kingdom is that?"
"That easy," Yoshi said with a small chuckle. "It a kingdom where the hearts live."
Sora tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. He knew that the seven hearts were the princesses of hearts, but what did the keyblade have to do with this? He thought that maybe this Kingdom Hearts needed to be sealed. He then realized something.
"Hey, isn't Kingdom Hearts the same door everybody's been talking about?" Sora asked in surprise.
"The door to darkness, tied by two keys." Toadsworth quoted from the panel. "Possibly, and this door could be in this world. Who knows."
"Let's go!" Sora announced. "We'll figure this out later."
The group left the strange room and turned to notice a dark, round portal with a fiery, red color around the edge. Sora's group jumped through the portal and arrived outside at the mountain area again.
"Weren't we just here?"
"Yeah," nodded Luigi. He then moaned. "Don't tell me we have to do this all over again."
"Look!" Yoshi cried.
The group turned to see Yoshi pointing at a giant hole that appeared. A light blue wave surrounded it, slowly moving in a clockwise position. Sora walked over and examined the hole. He had a feeling in his stomach, a feeling which told him to go for it. Sora stepped backwards, getting a good distance from the hole.
"This is our only way, guys." Sora told the others. "When we enter this portal, there will be no turning back."
"As if we had a choice already." Luigi said sarcastically. "Don't make any speeches and just get it over with."
Sora nodded and ran for the portal. He jumped up and dove into it, disappearing before everyone's eyes. Toadsworth got onto Yoshi's back, and the dinosaur jumped into the portal next. Luigi walked over to the portal, sighing with a worried look. He knew that there were about to run into trouble.
"It was nice knowing me." Luigi whispered. He then jumped into the air, plugging his nose and holding his breath. He then flew down into the portal.
The group flew the endless darkness, picking up speed from falling. It seemed like an endless path until the group saw a platform in the shape of an octagon. As they got closer, they could see spike purple outlines all around the platform. There were some chained parts that were seeable. The group noticed a energy ball that looked like the sun in the midst of a solar eclipse. Surrounding it was a bunch of brick-like supports.
The four safely landed on the platform, except for Luigi who landed on his head. Everyone chuckled at Luigi's goofiness and clumsiness. The group looked around at the entire area. In the sky they stars twinkling in the sky, each one as bright as the next one. The group then noticed the stars disappearing and turning into an outlined vortex, with the lines being pulled through the darkness of space.
"This is weird," Sora said, observing the area. "That background just changed settings. Maybe we ended up in a world between space and time." For a moment, Sora thought he was hearing things, a faded manically laugh. "Okay, what's so funny, Toadsworth?"
"That wasn't me, Master Sora." Toadsworth said innocently.
Sora gulped nervously, "That's what I was afraid of." Sora turned to Yoshi and Luigi. "I guess that wasn't you guys either, right?"
The duo nodded, both feeling a little worried. Sora heard strange eerie noises coming from the west side of him. He turned around, he froze, simply left speechless by what he saw. The others noticed this and turned to look at what Sora was. They were also in shock, a giant white glove was floating towards them, laughing all they way.
"A flying a hand?" Toadsworth exclaimed. "Goodness!"
"I guess Ansem needed a 'hand' around here," Luigi joked. "Get it? Hand?"
Everyone else groaned at the joke.
"Dude, you had to pick the worst time to make a joke, especially hand jokes." Sora said in annoyance.
"What?" Luigi responded. "We walked right into that one."
The group saw the giant hand form a fist, appearing to prepare attack. In the back of the glove, the opening where a hand would normally go in created a wave of fire, almost like a rocket taking off. It flew at them, fist and all. The group quickly dodged the attack as it flew passed them. Sora took his keyblade out, knowing they had to fight.
The giant hand flew over the arena, slowly floating onto the arena. Yoshi got Toadsworth to a safe distance so he wouldn't get in harms way. Sora gripped his keyblade and ran forward, with Luigi and Yoshi close behind. The giant hand spun around, changing into appearance of a person walking, pounding the ground with its index and middle finger. The group quickly dove to the side as the hand "walked" by them.
Sora took the chance to jump up and deliver a hard blow, knocking the hand back. It quickly gave a hard slap back, knocking Sora to the other edge of the arena. The giant hand flew up, spreading its fingers out. Luigi and Yoshi gasped upon seeing this. It then slammed at them, crushing them on the surface. The two felt their bodies crushed between them and the giant hand.
Yoshi quickly bit the finger, causing it to bolt back from the pain. The hand flapped around, trying to lessen the pain. Sora used fire which burnt the hand, causing it to fly up. The hand flew like an out of control plane, and then charged at them with a hard fist, knocking them back. The trio held onto the edge of the area.
The giant hand pointed at the group like a gun, the middle and index finger vertically together, and the thumb pointing north.
"I've got a bad feeling." Sora said nervously.
"So do I," gulped Luigi. "I've got to' hand' it to this guy, he's pretty challenging."
Ignoring Luigi, Sora was able to push himself back up. The hand fired two giant bullets at him, quickly and harshly. Sora put his keyblade up and blocked the attack, but the impact knocked him back. The hand quickly whisked Sora into its palm, gripping into it. It began to crush Sora from the inside, the boy feeling his spine being crushed. Yoshi and Luigi quickly ran to help as they heard Sora's cries of pain.
"We coming!" Yoshi called to Sora.
"We'd give you a hand, but you seem to already have one." Luigi joked.
Luigi shot a thunder spell, zapping the hand, making it opening itself. Sora fell out, catching himself at the ground. Sora jumped up and used Ragnarok, delivering rapid blows to the giant hand. Luigi used his fire uppercut while Yoshi gave mighty kicks to the hand. Then, it swatted the group away like flies. It then slowly curved it's fingers, releasing small lasers upon the area. The group quickly avoided the attacks. One almost his Sora's foot, but the boy raised his giant feet, avoiding the attack. Sora quickly slid under the attack, and jumped up with an uppercut to the palm.
The hand spun back from the pain. It started to weakly shake as the trio delivered hard blows upon it. It appeared that the hand was finally beaten, as the group jumped back for one final attack. All of a sudden, the group heard maniacal laughing. This one however, sounded a bit more wild and frantic. The heard the laugh come from the other side.
They saw another hand, wiggling and squirming onto the opposite side of where the right hand was. Sora's group panicked, knowing that one hand was bad enough, but now two?
"Looks like our friend brought out his right hand man." Luigi said. He then noticed the other hand on the left side. "Or left hand man."
Sora noticed the left hand waving to the right hand. The right hand made a fist, ready to attack.
"Get down!" Sora shouted.
The trio quickly ducked as the hand flew past them, punching into the palm of the other hand. The group quickly stood up, seeing the two hands surrounding them.
"Man, they're going to win this thing "hands' down." Luigi said nervously.
Sora was now annoyed at Luigi for his endless hand jokes.
"Luigi," Sora said with a raspy breath. "If...you...say one more hand joke, I swear..."
"Look out!" Yoshi cried, interrupting Sora.
The trio saw the right hand give them a hard smack, knocking them into the left hand who jerked back, and slammed the trio into the ground like dice. The group quickly recovered from the blow, and cured themselves. The trio devised a strategy to win. The group decided that Sora would deal with the new hand, while Luigi and Yoshi took care of the other hand.
Sora leaped forward, keyblade held high, a strong will at his side. Sora gave a thrust at the hand who moved out of the way. Sora tried to swat at it, but the hand proved to be too fast, even for Sora. The hand hovered over the boy, making him look up. The hand's hand glowed with a dark energy, powering up. Sora gasped as he saw giant domino type objects falling on him.
Sora bolted backwards, narrowly escaping the attack. He looked to see the hand was following him still. He walked back as fast as he could, dodging any dominos that tried to hit him. Sora quickly kicked his foot up, hitting one of the dominos, knocking it right back at the hand. An explosion occurred, sending the hand and Sora flying across the area. Sora quickly ran forward as the hand fell onto the ground. Sora rapidly slashed with fierce blows, until the hand wiggled around the arena, knocking Sora off it.
Luigi jumped on the right hand, riding it like a horse. He held on with all his might, trying to gain control. He then made his fist glow green and punched at it. Luigi delivered a blow so hard that the hand felt extraordinary pain in it's wrist. The impact also sent it off of the cliff, sending it down into the endless abyss of darkness. Luigi curiously looked down to see if the hand was gone. But in a blink of an eye, the hand quickly came back up, delivering a punch in the jaw to Luigi.
The man fell back, feeling the pain in his lower jaw. He stood up, holding his jaw, letting it slowly move around to reduce the pain. Yoshi walked to Luigi, looking at him with relief, knowing he was okay.
"Look, the hand gave Luigi the slight of hand." Yoshi joked.
"Hey, only I can tell the jokes," Luigi complained.
The hand fired more bullets at the two who rolled out of the way. Meanwhile, Sora jumped back from another attack, barely missing it. Sora went back to back with his group. They didn't know how much longer they could go on. They then noticed the hands coming close to them, slowly easing their way back and forth. The trio got worried, knowing what was going to happen.
"Guys, I think they want to give us a round of applause for our efforts." Sora gulped nervously.
"And you said I told back jokes." mocked Luigi.
The two hands began to glow with power. They were ready to make one final attack on the trio. Sora, Luigi, and Yoshi couldn't even lay a finger on the two giant hands. It seems that they were going to lose. Finally, Sora smirked, knowing there was one chance left.
"If we can't beat them apart, then we can beat them together!" Sora shouted with confidence.
"Wha-?" Luigi asked, slightly confused.
Sora quickly grabbed his comrades hands, closing his eyes, "Quick, focus your energy on each other. We'll give them a taste of their own medicine!"
Luigi and Yoshi both nodded. The three focused their energy on each other. They could feel their life force combined into one giant ball. The hands were ready to attack, when they stopped to see the trio, glowing a white aurora around their bodies. Toadsworth was amazed at this power he saw. A force of gravity seemed to be pulling the two hands in, a force they couldn't escape.
The hands gripped onto the platform, trying to hold on for dear life. The force was simply too strong. The hands lost their grip and flew into the trio. Sora noticed they were coming, smirking with confidence.
"Do it now!"
They screamed at the top of their lungs, releasing their energy. The energy formed into a giant flash of light that brightened the entire area. The two hands screamed in pain, the damage they received was simply humongous. They couldn't even move, every part of their fingers were numb. Finally, the two hands obliterated into a million pieces. The bright light continued to glow, until it slowly faded.
After it faded, area of darkness remained. The platform that was once there was gone. Slowly floating down in the area of darkness was the four heros. Toadsworth was looking around in confusion, while the other three flew weakly down. Sora chuckled weakly, knowing they overcome all odds, but he knew that the war has only begun.
Story To Be Concluded...
A/N: For some fans who are wondering, Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix was a special edition released in Japan only. Why? Because in the English release, there were a few bosses added that the Japanese version didn't have. Examples would be Kurt Zia, Ice Titan, and Sephiroth. Final Mix not only brought those guys to Japan, but also added new weapons, new cut scenes, better gummi ship, etc. See you later for the final battle. It will be one long chapter.