Axel

"Sora." Axel spread his arms out, welcomingly. "I'm touched you remember me, especially after Namin'e erased your memory." Sora stepped out to the center of the platform.

"She gave me a little recap." They began circling each other. "And it's hard to forget someone like you." Sora coughed, raising his sleeve to cover his nose and mouth.

"What's the matter?" Axel took a deep breath. "Isn't the heat and sulfur invigorating?" Sora coughed some more. "Then again, some of us can't take the heat." Axel extended both of his arms forward, a pair of chakram appearing in his hands. Sora removed his arm from his face, pulling the Kingdom Key out.

"I thought you didn't want me dying on you." Sora moved into a defensive position.

"I don't." Axel moved into an offensive stance. "I want you alive." He charged.

Cinders flew as weapons clashed. Axel flipped over Sora's head, turning and kicking him to the ground midair. "You're slowing down." Axel smiled. "C'mon, make this fun. Or at least entertaining." Sora pulled himself up. Donald and Goofy started to run to him, when Axel waved a hand at them. Blue light flashed as white and purple creatures slipped out of the ground. The looked as if the wore light robes, wielding small weapons. They slid around, dancing acrobatically. "Stop them." The creatures leapt on Donald and Goofy. Sora turned to Axel.

"What kind of Heartless are those?" Axel laughed.

"Heartless? These are the Nobodies, the bodies and souls of the dead. The Heartless are the hearts." Sora looked back at is friends, then began running towards them. Axel appeared in a flash of dark light in front. "Excuse me, but it's rather rude to stop in the middle of something." He knocked Sora onto his back. "Please do something."

"Fine." Sora rolled back. "Blizzard!" Ice shot at Axel, freezing his feet to the platform, his hands together. "How was that?"

"Pretty good. I actually didn't see that coming." Fire shot in all directions, sending water droplets everywhere. "But it's not good enough." He walked over to Sora, kicking him across the head. "You disappoint me." He lifted an arm. Down below, lava and fire flew from the molten river to the sky, where it circled above Axel's head. Sora rolled onto his back, realizing this was it.

'There's got to be something I can do.'

Valor. A voice spoke in his mind. Valor. It sounded familiar, but it wasn't Kairi. Valor. The voice started screaming. Valor. Valor. Valor. Valor. It was Eve. But why was she in Sora's head. Valor.

'Wait. That's what she did.'

Scream it. VALOR!

"Valor." Sora said to himself. Axel frowned. Puzzled by the final words, he shrugged it off, sending the lava flow down on Sora. "VALOR!" A bright light swallowed him, destroying the fire on impact. Axel put his hand up, blocking out the light. Donald turned to Goofy, who melted away in a red light. The Assassin Nobodies blew into nothing as the light crushed them. Sora was lifted into the air, the light intensifying. It turned red, and then released Sora as it broke. He landed on his feet unarmed. His black clothes had turned red, including his gloves and shoes. Even the decorations changed. "What was that?"

"So," Axel raised the chakram. "That's what she did. Impressive." He threw the weapons at Sora, who leapt into the air, flipping over them. He ran with amazing speed to Axel. Sora slid on the ground, bringing Axel to his knees. He pushed off the ground with one hand, flipping up to land on his feet. Axel pulled himself up. "Pretty nifty trick." The flying chakram turned around, returning to their owner. "But you can't fight without a weapon." Sora backed up, holding a hand out for the Keyblade.

"Keyblade!" The Kingdom Key dropped from the volcanic sky, burying into the platform. As Sora reached out for it, it split into the Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Sora pulled them both out, wielding them as dual swords.

"Two Keyblades." Axel pulled one of the chakram back. "Most impressive." He leapt back. "Firetooth!" He threw one first, then the other. The chakram transformed into enormous fireballs halfway there, spiraling to Sora. He jumped sideways between them, rolling onto the ground. He ran double-time to Axel, driving the butt of the Oblivion up Axel's chin, sending him into the air, then knocked him back to the edge of the platform with the Oathkeeper. Axel hung on the edge with one hand, looking at the lava flow below him. The Keyblades disappeared as Sora ran over, extending a hand to him.

"Grab my hand!" Axel looked up, smiling.

"Until we meet again, Sora." He let go, falling to the river below, disappearing in a dark cloud halfway down. Sora turned to Donald, who just stared. They were the only two people on the platform.