Chapter Twenty-Three: Roy vs. Sora –Epic-
Part I – Spring
After entering the orb of light, Riku, Jason, and I found ourselves in a grassy field. The horizon and sky were white, and in the center of the field stood four cherry trees, all in bloom. I could faintly see Sora standing in the center, his back turned to us.
"You guys… are you sure you're ready for this?" I asked them.
"Yes. Sora saved me… I can save him," Riku answered.
"Even if I'm not ready, it's coming," Jason said. "I won't hesitate any longer."
"He'll try and turn us to the darkness, as well. Riku… do you think we'll be able to resist?" I asked him.
"Honestly, I'm not sure. But we can't stand around any more! Now is the time to act!" he shouted.
"… okay. Let's go," I said, walking forward. As we walked across the large, open field, the wind blew, ruffling my hair and making some of the cherry blossoms blow around. We slowed our walk as we approached the center of the field, ready for mental combat.
"You guys finally made it. So, what took you so long?" Sora asked as we approached him.
"Oh, we just had a few things to do, a few Heartless to kill, ya know, the stuff you're supposed to do?" I asked back.
"What I'm supposed to do? It's your fault all of this happened, so don't go making obligations," Sora said back.
"Who's making obligations? Sure, it's my fault, but that doesn't mean you have to turn to the darkness," I told him.
"Turn to the darkness? No, I haven't turned to the darkness. But I wouldn't expect you to understand why I'm helping Senka," he said.
"It's… because you love Kairi, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically. A few moments of silence went by as the wind blew an audible gust past the cherry trees.
"Yes, it's because… Kairi," he answered. "None of you understand how I feel," Sora said with contempt in his voice.
"I can't say I do understand," Riku said, "but I do know Kairi would reject you as you are."
"Sora… Kairi's your friend. But more importantly, she loves you. You… can't let your passion blind you," Jason told him.
"Blind passion? I'd be careful of who I lectured on that, Jason. She's got Serenity, too, ya know," Sora revealed.
"What? She's got Serenity? How can I save her?" Jason asked furiously.
"Help me defeat Roy and Riku," he said, "and Senka will let her go." At this uttering, Jason ferociously attacked Riku, and they both summoned their Keyblades. Riku managed to block the attack, but was thrown out of the orb of light. Jason went charging out at him.
"So now it's just you and me, Roy. So, whadda ya say we start out easy?" Sora asked, summoning his Keyblade.
"I'd like one last word before we begin. And just so you know, this is where I really come into my own: in single combat," I replied.
"Fine, say your death prayer," Sora sneered.
"If you throw away one friend, does another have any value?" I asked him, drawing my Phoenix Sword and pointing it at him.
"Well… I can't… I just…" Sora muttered, holding his head in his hands. "HYAAAAAAH!" he shouted, charging at me. I got into my ready stance.
Part II – Summer
Sora's first attack was a simple vertical slash, which I easily parried. I returned the attack by swiping at his feet. Sora was easily able to backstep and dodge it, then attacked me again, this time with a diagonal slash meant to hit my shoulder. I parried it, sending his Keyblade flying out of his hands. Moments later, the grass changed to a dry yellow.
"I'm the better swordsman here," I told Sora, sheathing my Phoenix Sword.
"Yeah, right. Come on," he replied, pulling out the Oathkeeper and Oblivion Roxas-style.
I only scoffed as he charged at me. I quickly used an iaijutsu to block the attack, then to parry the second hit. Jumping up, I came down hard on Sora's Keyblades, only to be blocked and thrown aside. Doing a backflip in the air, I skidded until I almost hit a tree, then blocked one of Sora's charging hits.
We did a few sets of quick attacks and parries, followed by an improvisational batto-jutsu from me. Sora dodged the attack, but I cleverly used my saya to block the inevitable parry. Then I jumped into the air to come down hard on Sora again, only to be blocked and sent flying against a tree. I landed on the tree, and used the momentum to ferociously attack Sora. He wasn't easily able to block the attack due to the speed at which I moved, and was sent flying near the center of the field.
I re-sheathed my sword for a batto-jutsu or an iaijutsu just as Sora shot fire magic at me. I dodged it easily, but the grass behind me was set ablaze. I charged at Sora, using a batto-jutsu that he dodged. I once again used the saya to block his parries.
"You've resorted to using your sheath to block and you've only got one good hit in. Still think you can beat me?" Sora sneered.
"Neither of us is using our whole strength. So whadda ya say we really turn things up?" I asked, going to the fringes of my True Form and overpowering him.
"Okay, fine," Sora said, upping himself to his Master Form. Moments later, in a dark flash, his Master Form went from yellow to purple.
-NEW Ability!-
Sora: Dark Master Form – Sora's Master Form, twisted by the powers of darkness. His clothes are purple, and Sora possesses strength and speed just beyond his normal Final Form in this form.
"Then, bring it on!" I shouted, going into my True Form and the highest strength I could use at that level, causing small amounts of white lightning to surge around me.
Part III – Autumn
"Now, let's play!" Sora shouted, rushing at me. I easily dodged his attack, countering with a good parry. His offhand Keyblade moved to attack me, but I jumped above it. Sora then attacked me again, but I jumped over it, and stood on it. While we were attacking, the trees' leaves changed to fall colors.
"So, is this all you can do? I'm disappointed…" I taunted him.
"Hmph. I'm not trying," he taunted back, making is offhand Keyblade float in to attack me. I jumped off his Keyblade and behind him, doing a swift 90 degree turn. Sora blocked it with Protega. I backed off, now somewhat unsure of what to do with his use of magic.
"Doubting yourself, huh?" he asked as he charged at me. I hesitantly attacked his feet, then parried a blow from his offhanded Keyblade. I got down on my hand and pivoted around, swiping at his feet. Sora protected himself with Protega again, but my sword managed to slightly pierce his shield.
"I see…" I muttered to myself, now understanding the barrier in his seemingly absolute defense. I then backed off for a moment. I then charged at Sora, dual-wielding my sword and saya. I blocked one blow with my sword, then attacked him with my saya. He raised Protega to protect himself. I then drove my sword through the barrier, knowing if he wasn't concentrating on the attack, he wouldn't be able to totally protect himself.
My blade, having gone through the guard afforded by Protega, knocked Sora to the fringes of the area. He soon got up and shouted, going beyond his Master Form… up into his Final Form, which also was corrupted seconds after his usage of the form. It changed from its usual chrome silver to a shiny black.
-NEW Ability!-
Sora: Dark Final Form – Sora's Final Form, twisted by the power of darkness. The clothes' color scheme is reversed, and in the form, Sora possesses abilities far beyond the normal Final Form.
In an instant, Sora was hovering in front of me, staring deep into my eyes. I could practically feel the malice he exuded.
"It's over. I'm ending this now," Sora said coldly.
Part IV – Winter
With Sora's cold declaration, the area became covered in a thick snow. It was steadily falling, stinging my eyes slightly. I was also somewhat exhausted, seeing my heavy breaths in the cold air.
He attacked me, disappearing behind me and jabbing me in the back with his Keyblades. I did my best to parry the hits, but it was just too fast. I was thrown into a tree, then assaulted with a barrage of random thrusts. I parried some, but was still impaled with Keyblades more than a few times.
I then dodged to the side, and Sora's Keyblades got stuck in the tree, giving me a few seconds to get some distance and prepare an iaijutsu. Sora came charging at me moments later, and I used the iaijutsu to block one attack, then attempt a parry. Sora's second Keyblade had struck me in the shin, though, and I fell down on the snow. I was then forced to roll around, dodging Sora's constant thrusts into the ground. I eventually recovered, then charged at him.
Sora used his two Keyblades as a whirring defense. I blocked one, then jumped over him to attack from behind. His Keyblades were between my arms before I could attack.
"That's enough. This battle's over," he said. "If you leave now, I won't hurt you any further."
"I'm… not leaving!" I shouted through heavy breaths. "I refuse to… let you walk this… path!"
"Then… so be it," Sora said coldy, going in for the deathblow. I closed my eyes, ready for what seemed like the end, when I heard a loud CLANG!
I opened my eyes to find a red-wrapped katana blocking the blow from Sora's Oblivion. It was…
"Amy! What the hell are you doing here?" I shouted at her, getting back on my feet while Sora backed off.
"I couldn't just let you go fight Sora alone! You'd probably end up killing him!" she said back.
"I wasn't going to kill him… at least, not on purpose…" I muttered.
"Exactly. You'd probably end up recklessly killing him," Amy told me. "Here he comes!"
Sora apparently didn't want to give us a few moments of reunion. He attacked me with his Oblivion and Amy with his Oathkeeper. We did our best to block and parry his hits, Amy dual-wielding. We got in what seemed to be a few blows, but those attacks were quickly blocked with a Protega.
The counterattack sent Amy flying into a tree. Before I could react, he was all over her. I could only look on helplessly as Sora beat her over and over… I began to lose myself…
Part V – The Hitokiri
When I regained myself, I was holding Amy's body in my arms. She was either passed out or…
"Now that you've had your little outburst, let's get back to the main event," Sora taunted.
"Shut up! None of that matters anymore… my throat is dry… my eyes are burning… my heart feels like it's about to explode!" I yelled at Sora through tears.
"You know, you're the one who did it," Sora told me.
"I know. And that only makes it worse… I wanted to be a hero. More than anything…" I told Sora, baring my soul. "I wanted to be a hero… because heroes protect the ones they love. I… could never do that, and that's why I'm not a hero."
"A hero…" Sora said quietly.
"I'm no hero. So instead…" I said, building my power to its breaking point, and unleashing a new transformation, "I'll take on the title of hitokiri!"
-NEW Ability!-
Roy: Aether Form – Roy's form beyond his True Form. It is immensely powerful and blindingly fast, allowing Roy to attack at speeds almost invisible to the naked eye. Its power rises until it reaches an apex, the Limits of Power, whence Roy loses the form. In this form, Roy's eyes return to their normal color, and his hair becomes slightly tinted blue (from its True Form snow white). White lightning constantly surges from him, increasing in size and frequency the longer he is in this form.
"What… what are you!" Sora shouted as wind from my energy blew past him. I sheathed my blade and turned around to face him.
"You… you're not the Roy of moments ago!" Sora yelled as I stood there, waiting for his move.
Part VI – Finale
I closed my eyes, placing my left hand on my saya and making a pose with my right hand, which I held in front of my face. I opened my eyes, seeing Sora blazing at me from my left. I quickly used an iaijutsu to block the attack, then warped behind him. I had fused my Keyblade with my Phoenix Sword in that instant.
-NEW Weapon!-
Roy: Gaia's Edge – essentially, the Phoenix Sword with a Keyblade-like indentation at the tip of the blade. It can latch onto Keyblades, allowing for a variety of offensive or defensive moves.
We attacked and parried for a few seconds, though it seemed as if Sora was moving in slow-motion. We then attacked each other, our blows matching. I eventually latched my blade onto his Oathkeeper, casting it aside. I hit him in the shoulders before Sora was able to block one of my blows.
"That's… impossible!" Sora shouted before I hit him in the neck. I made sure to soften the blow so he wouldn't be killed. I warped over to him and knocked him into the air. I then proceeded to beat him around in a trine formation, my strength upping with each blow. Eventually I knocked him above the apex of the trine, hesitated for a moment, then hit him on the head with the flat of the blade, sending Sora flying down into the snow below.
-NEW Attack!-
Roy: Grand Trine – an overbearing move that can only be executed properly in Roy's Aether Form due to the speeds involved. It is simply Roy knocking his opponent into the air, then knocking them around in a trine formation for 31 hits, then knocking his opponent into the center of the trine. The 32nd blow knocks them above the trine, and a 33rd blow knocks them to the ground. Roy can make the move lethal or nonlethal by using the blade or flat of his sword, respectively.
I fell to the ground, landing smoothly, but was then exhausted. I had lost my new form, and kneeled with my knee and sword in the snow. I looked up just in time to see Sora's Protega shield fading. Through my heavy breathing, I could tell this battle couldn't be won with strength, but with words.
"That was… brutal," Sora said, hovering over to me. "One more hit and I probably would have lost! But now, it's time to end this," he said, hitting both my arms with his Keyblades, dislocating them. I jumped back, placed my sword in the ground, then picked it up in my mouth.
"I'll ask you again; if you throw away one friend, does another have any value?" I asked again. He hesitated for a moment, then stopped hovering over to me.
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.
"You… betrayed everyone… all your friends in search of Kairi," I said. "If you threw away them, what makes you so sure you won't throw Kairi away?"
"Because…" he said, hesitating. "Kairi's…"
"You love her, don't you? If I've learned anything…" I said, "it's that love can save you, not condemn you."
"What's that mean?" he asked.
"I… loved Amy. And that's what stopped me from going all-out. Come on, Sora. Let's find a way to save Kairi… together."
"But I… I betrayed everybody," Sora said, dropping his Dark Final Form. "I don't have any friends left."
"I never offered before, but neither did you…"
"What?"
"Friends?" I asked him.
"… friends," Sora said, taking my outstretched hand and helping me up. The snow and sky faded…