CH 24

"Regina! How DARE you cross me! You know good and well, Sora's friends are under my protection unless I say otherwise!"

"Yes Maleficent, but this boy is a problem that needs to be remedied before it comes to bte us hard." The evil queen said, stroking the chest of the prone silver teen, whose heart she now held in her hand.

"You killed him." The witch snarled "THAT was unwise." She raised her staff, only to be surprised as Riku stopped her strike with his blade. Regina smiled in satisfaction and the silver teen knelt at the witch's feet.

Maleficent was pleasantly surprised and curious "How are you doing this?"

"You may think the heart is simply metaphysical. On the contrary, if one holds another's physical heart in one's hands by magic, one can seize complete control. Or..."

Riku clutched his chest, groaning and doubling over in his agony. Maleficent looked and Regina showed her the reason. She was tightening her grip on the boy's heart, causing Riku unimaginable pain.

Something clicked for Maleficent, and her mood turned sour. She turned away, and said commandingly "Put it back."

Taken by surprise, Regina protested "Why? Don't you understand? You can make him do anything you want with this method!"

"I said put it back! Riku and I have a war of wits to wage. I refuse to win it this way. I want my victory to be his ultimate humiliation and I can't do battle with a marionette!"

Regina sighed and replaced the boy's heart, knocking him out with Sleepra.

Maleficent pondered for a minute, then smiled wickedly.

"Actually, your technique could prove useful later on. Tell me, is it able to be passed on?"

"Of course. Even Pete can learn this magic."

Malefiscent smiled as a thought began taking shape in her mind, stroking her staff in concentration.

"Very good. The irony builds. Revenge just became that much more relentless."

Regina's eyes went wide. "You aren't serious. Maleficent, Sora is many things, but ruthless is not one of them, sadly. I can't teach a dog a trick he refuses to learn!"

"No, he isn't ruthless." Maleficent agreed. "Not yet anyway. You see my dear, Darkness has an extraordinary effect on one's personality."

She strode to Riku's prone form and stroked his cheek "A perfect example is this boy, here. When the Darkness claimed him during that first adventure, he became incredibly callous, brutal, and yes, even a bit cruel. Especialy towards his best friend. These are traits he no longer possesses thanks to his conquering and assimilating of his Darkness."

The Evil Queen nodded, slowly understanding, "So even though Sora doesn't possess any callousness in his heart, and has not a drop of cruelty in his veins, you believe that once Darkness claims him, he will be more able to stomach this magic?"

"More than stomach it. I sense in that meddlesome brat a growing hatred, not only for his situation, as is to be expected-even he has his limits of tolerance, but for his captor as well."

"But he's Sora. He doesn't hate anyone. It's not in his nature" Regina argued.

"Even Sora, as I said, has his limits. At the moment, his hatred is not towards me, but rather my actions. Regardless, the Darkness will use that bit of hatred. Then, my dear, he will not only stomach the magic, he wil revel in performing it."

Regina pondered her coleague's words. "If you're wanting the Darkness to consume the boy to that exstent, then why do you need Riku? Won't he try to teach Sora how to bypass those negative traits?"

Maleficent waved her hand dismissively "Riku's function will be to keep Sora sane and keep him from turning into a Heartless again during the process, not to keep the boy from falling. I will make that point clear when it's time."

The witch looked again at her rival, an idea forming in her crafty mind.

"Sora will want to keep the Dawn Treader close at all times, such is his need for guidance in the Dark. Riku will hardly object, no doubt he'll insist on staying by Sora's side. This makes the irony of what I'm planning to use as Sora's initiation as my son sweeter than all the vengeance I've gorged on so far!"

She smiled, then let out a cackle and teleported out, leaving her voice behind.

"Return Riku to his friends. I have business to discuss with my son!"