Chapter Twenty-Nine: Judgment Day
After we had arrived in the World that Never Was, Sora, Riku and I meandered through the Dark City, effortlessly slaying Shadows and Neoshadows for a while before we chanced upon the Memory's Skyscraper. I felt the darkness within me stirring… but I pushed it away through sheer force of will. We immediately went to the Edge of Despair before we could be assaulted by more Heartless.
"So, let's go," Riku said, jumping off the Edge of Despair. Sora followed him without hesitation. I stayed a moment. I closed my eyes and calmed myself, then fell backwards off of the Edge.
I opened my eyes in mid-fall only to be surrounded by light. After a few moments of that, it turned to darkness. I felt the darkness stirring within me begin to resurface, this time stronger, but again I suppressed it. I eventually felt myself land on hard ground, surrounded by darkness. After getting to my feet, I could see Senka's castle naught but a few hundred meters away.
"This is it. Our final battle… together, anyways. Ready, guys?" I asked Sora and Riku, whom had landed just moments before me.
"Yeah," Sora said quietly.
"Definitely," Riku replied.
"Then let's go," I said, stepping forward toward Senka's castle. After walking for a minute or so, we reached the steps. I could see someone there… it wasn't her, so it must have been Senka. We ascended the steps quickly.
"At last, the hero, the dark knight, and the hitokiri arrive. Tell me, what has been delaying your arrival?" Senka asked as we ascended to the platform she was standing on, a few dozen steps below the castle gate.
"Well, if you really must know, we had to find a way into your castle. So, if you don't mind, we'll be going in now," I said. "Be it around or through you."
"Amusing. You think you have a chance against me?" Senka sneered.
"A chance? You're the one without a chance," Riku said arrogantly. Senka laughed.
"Come, then. See what light and twilight can do against pure darkness!" Senka shouted, blasting out waves of pure darkness at us. I braced myself as best as I could, being dragged back slightly. I closed my eyes to protect them from debris, and when I opened them, I saw Senka enveloped in darkness. It flowed off of her like water.
"You earnestly believe that you can defeat me?" Senka sneered.
"You? You're nothing," I said, going to my True Form and standing on the fringes of my Aether Form. "Not compared to her."
"Of course," Sora said, stepping up to his Final Form. "It's an internal battle that we'll have to fight, and a battle like that is nothing compared to fighting you."
"We won't lose. Not today!" Riku shouted, despite his lack of an empowered form.
"Well, then, heroes. See what fate awaits you!" Senka challenged us. We surrounded her in a triangular pattern, attacking simultaneously. Not one of our attacks worked; they were all blocked by Senka's darkness.
"Is that… all there is?" she asked, slamming Riku away. "No challenge?" she asked, slamming Sora into the steps. "No… resistance?" she asked again, attacking me. I blasted into my Aether Form to stop the attack. I parried all the blows she sent at me, narrowly getting in what seemed to be a hit… but it was stopped.
"Roy!" Sora shouted, getting back on his feet. He tried more hits, dodging the parries with lightning speed. I did the same, and while we scored no hits, we didn't take any, either.
"Pathetic. I expected more from you two," Senka sneered, charging at us with her mutable darkness. We blocked or parried all the hits she sent our way, but we didn't get a good hit. I was beginning to despair when I found the answer: the Light Crystals. I pulled out my crystal and put it in a slot on my sword hilt. The blade shone with a brilliant light. Sora seemed to notice, and did something similar.
"It's only light. No light can pierce my darkness," Senka told us. Despite what she said, our next parries made it through her dark barrier. A bit of blood ran down my sword as I stood before her, now holding the secret to defeating Senka.
"That is… impossible. You cannot defeat me!" Senka shouted, charging at Sora. He dodged the attack and went into his Ragnarok combo. After his final hit, I charged down through Senka with a ball of energy I had been building up since Sora's first hit, planting my sword in the ground along with Senka. I snapped my fingers, exploding the ball of energy and making a flare go up through the darkness. I turned around to see Senka still alive, just barely, writhing under my blade.
NEW ATTACK!
Sora and Roy – Ragnarok Supernova: Roy and Sora's Limit Technique; Sora's Ragnarok combo followed up by Roy throwing his sword through their opponent, then exploding a ball of energy beneath their opponent.
"Pretty… good…" Senka squeaked, still writhing.
"It was… what we had to do," Sora said. Riku promptly jumped back up to our arena.
"Now, let's go, guys," I said, dropping my Aether Form. Sora dropped his Final Form, as well. I pulled Gaia's Edge out of Senka as I began walking up the steps to the gate. Senka's body disintegrated after I pulled my sword out, but her darkness loomed above us, then blazed into the castle.
I pulled the Light Crystal out of my sword's hilt once we reached the gate. Holding up our Light Crystals, the barrier was dispelled. I shoved both of the doors open at the same time, stepping into the castle.
"What… what is this?" Sora asked, shocked beyond belief.