Chapter Twenty-Seven: Aboard the Black Cannon
"Holy…" I muttered as repeated explosions rocked the ship, sending us careening into the ebon leviathan. We managed to get a ways into the hull before the ship stopped completely. I had been thrown about for a few moments, having lost my Aether Form. Staggering to my feet, I saw the smoldering remains of our once-proud ship.
"Sora! Riku! Are you guys okay?" I shouted into the darkness.
"Yeah… I just wanged my head on something…" Sora muttered, stumbling over to me in the darkness.
"I'm fine," Riku said, stepping forward.
"Okay. We know what has to get done! Let's go!" I shouted, going out through our broken hull. Coughing from smoke, I stepped onto the enemy's… Senka's… flagship.
I was not outside of the smoldering remains of our ship for a second before I was attacked by Dark Keybladers. I slew them all with a single batto-jutsu. Sora and Riku had then stepped out of the ship.
"Okay, let's go," Sora said.
"Be careful. We'll encounter… heavy resistance. This IS their flagship, after all," I told them.
"Yeah, yeah…" Riku muttered. We began forcing our way through the ship, with the same heavy resistance. I slew them all with a little bit of assistance from Sora and Riku. I wasn't about to let them fight these guys. This… is my fight.
"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Sora shouted to us through the red-lit halls.
"What?" Riku asked.
"It's the ship's name. This is the Black Cannon," Sora stated.
"The Black Cannon, huh? Then that means…" I began, but trailed off to think to myself.
"What?" Sora asked.
"… nothing. Let's go," I finished.
"Roy, you always say it's nothing. For once, tell us what you're thinking about!" Riku shouted.
"Well, if this ship's name is the Black Cannon, then it would stand to reason there may be a massive cannon empowered by darkness aboard the ship," I said.
"Yeah, and?" Sora retorted.
"That only makes it more imperative that we get to the bridge and stop… Senka," I said.
"All right! To the bridge!" Sora shouted. We then resumed forcing our way to the bridge, shutting off whatever systems we encountered along the way. I, of course, simply bashed all the panels with my sword.
Eventually we reached an elevator.
"Hm… it says we're on Deck 8. The bridge is here," Riku pointed to a map, "up on Deck 1."
"Then punch it! Let's go!" I yelled, mashing the button for Deck 1. The elevator whirred into motion, and despite resistance from Dark Keybladers at every level (which the elevator conveniently stopped at) we made it to Deck 1.
It's never that simple, of course. We had to go a bit farther before we made it to the Bridge, encountering ridiculous amounts of resistance from Dark Keybladers. Honestly, I wonder why Senka sends more at us, even though we just keep slaying them.
"This is the door to the Bridge. Ready?" I asked.
"Of course! I'm just itching for a fight!" Sora said.
"I'm always ready," Riku answered.
"Okay," I said quietly, punching the door button. It opened, revealing the spectacular Bridge. There were Dark Keybladers littered at various panels, mashing buttons for the weapons and shields. There, in front of the glass viewing windows, stood two people. One I immediately recognized as Senka. The other was wearing a long coat exactly like Xemnas'. The hood was up, but I had a good idea of who it was.
"So glad you could make it, Roy," Senka said, turning around. "Dark Keybladers?"
With that order, all of the Dark Keybladers left their posts and assaulted the three of us. We easily slew them.
"Is that the best you've got?" I sneered. But instead of coming to face us, Senka simply walked past us.
"Our fight will have to wait," she whispered to me, touching my shoulder. I felt a shudder run through my body as she did so. "I'll leave this to you, General," Senka finished, going out the Bridge door.
"So, General, whadda ya have in store for us?" Sora sneered from behind me. I didn't hear him or Riku say anything else, but the General never turned around. I didn't turn around or say anything until I saw Sora and Riku being dragged into dark portals from out of the corner of my eye. I turned back around to face the General, who had in turn turned around.
"So, General… Jason, how've you been?" I asked with my hands on my scabbard and sword hilt.
"Not like it matters to you, Hitokiri Kensai," Jason said, removing his hood. "Hmph. Here you come, reckless as usual, thinking you can beat me."
"Shut up. We don't need to go the rounds, ya know, 'I'm fighting for Serenity! Senka has her!'" I mocked. "I'm beating you and taking you back!"
"I don't want to be saved," Jason replied coldly.
"… you can only save yourself," I said.
"You take me on? That's a laugh," he sneered at me.
"In case you don't remember, I killed you once. I can easily do it again," I threatened.
"That may be true. But I was far weaker… back then," Jason said. "I'm stronger than you realize."
"Yeah, so what? I'm way stronger, too," I told him.
"Then let's see it!" he shouted, summoning his Keyblade.
"Fine…" I muttered, drawing my energy about me and closing my eyes. I felt my powers upgrade into my True Form powers, then further into my Aether Form.
"Whoa," I heard Jason say, eyes still closed.
"You really think you're a match for me?" I asked, slowly picking my head up and opening my eyes slowly. "Then show me. Let's play."
Jason then charged at me with all his speed, though it seemed to be slow-motion. I easily blocked his simple hit with an iaijutsu. I then made a clean, small cut on his left forearm, but I forgot my weapon's properties. The cut went all the way through his arm, severing his muscles and tendons.
Jason stepped back, howling in pain.
"So, that's what you can do, huh?" he sneered through the pain, slinging his left arm into his coat. "Way more than I anticipated."
"Stop this now," I said. "You can't beat me."
"No way! This is the only option!" Jason shouted, charging at me once again. I easily dodged his swiftest strokes, but returned no more, fearing I would mortally wound him.
"Pitiful. Is the best you can do?" I taunted. "I'm disappointed in you, General."
"Try this!" he shouted, making a full downward stroke. I blocked it with ease, using Gaia's Edge's special ability to latch onto his Keyblade. I threw it aside, kicking him down onto the floor.
"Not only am I stronger, I'm the better swordsman. It's over," I said.
"Never! It's never over!" Jason yelled, summoning his Keyblade back to his hands and striking me in the shin. It almost tickled. I then looked at him coldly. I took one last look at him before knocking him out with the blunt side of my sword. I then felt my Aether powers leave me, leaving me exhausted.
I saw dark portals open up behind me, throwing out Sora and Riku.
"What happened?" Sora asked.
"Nothing. Nothing at all," I replied, breathing heavily.
"I can tell… you used that transformation, didn't you?" he asked.
"I had to. He wouldn't listen to reason," I replied.
"Well, anyway, it's about time we self-destructed this leviathan," Riku said, walking up to a control panel. "Let's get Cid to pick us up, then blow this joint sky high!"
"Wait. I'll see if there's a self-destruct button for all the ships," I said.
"What? Why would there be a button like that?" Sora asked.
"This is the flagship, after all," I replied.
"Okay. Here we go," Riku said. "Cid. Cid! We need a pickup!" Riku shouted into the comm. After a few moments of static, Cid's face appeared on one of the viewscreens.
"So you guys did it! Hit the self-destruct button!" he commanded.
"We need a pickup first!" Riku shouted.
"We can't get anywhere near you! There's too many damn ships!" Cid shouted.
"Here it is! 'Armada self-destruct'…" I said aloud. "What does this button do?" I said in a stupid voice, hitting the button. A huge explosion then rocked the ship, and all I could see out of the windows were explosions.
"Holy /($#! You almost killed us!" Cid shouted.
"Yeah, yeah. Now get our lift here!" I yelled.
"Awright, hold yer horses. I'll be there in a minute," he said. Sure enough, a Highwind-Alpha model ship filled the windows moments later. Riku timed the self-destruct for one minute. I grabbed Jason by the collar as we beamed over.
I saw we were in the transport room before I passed out from exhaustion… Damn, I thought. Aether Form takes too much out of me…