Chapter Thirty-Three: Rairin: Katayoku no Tenma

I continued to shout as my power raged beyond control… beyond limits. The ground itself began to make a crater as my power rose… higher and higher… until it was beyond limits… I could see the Limits of Power as an orange barrier around me… it shattered like glass…

NEW Ability!
Roy: Katayoku no Tenma (One-Winged Demon): Roy's true ultimate transformation. Having opened his heart, Roy is now able to transcend the Limits of Power (represented as an orange barrier around his body). In this form, Roy possesses unparalleled speed and strength, and his appearance returns to normal; however, a single white demon wing protrudes from his right shoulder (though he doesn't realize it). It can be maintained for an unlimited time, but leaves Roy exhausted upon dropping the form. The white demon wing represents his rising from dusk to dawn.

NEW Ability!
Amy: Akuma (Demon/Devil) Form: Amy's ultimate (and thus far only) transformation. It can only be achieved through unnatural means; notably, forceful corruption and subsequently surrendering oneself to the darkness. It stands at the very Limits of Power, constantly skirting on them. Amy's skin turns completely black and her eyes turn blood red (similar to Roy's old Dark Form). The Darkness of Eternity also produces black, formless wings instead of a shield.

"K-katayoku no Tenma…" Amy stuttered. "Roy… you're…"

"I'm?" I asked. "I'm what?"

"You're too much!" Amy laughed. "Beyond the Limits…"

"Want to see what real power can do?" I asked, giving her a two-fingered 'bring it on' taunt.

"Fine!" Amy shouted, rushing at me. I seemed to be able to see all her moves before she made them… dodging them was ridiculously easy. I knocked her back with the blunt edge of my sword.

"Are you even taking this seriously?" Amy asked, breathing a little heavily after her barrage.

"No. Why should I?" I asked. "You're all bark and no bite."

"Yeah? Then I'll let you make the next move," she said. I got into the same calming pose I had used against Sora, then teleported above her. I came down with an unbelievably powered vertical slash, but was blocked by Amy's katana and sakaboto. She knocked me up into the air, then gave pursuit. We attacked and defended several dozen times in the air, then fell back to the ground. We dashed at each other, our speed rending the earth beneath our feet and our blades clashing with a massive shockwave that crumbled more pillars.

"Those eyes…" I said, staring deep into her hate-filled eyes. "They're like my eyes were…"

"Likewise," Amy said, looking deep into my eyes… and maybe my heart… maybe even my soul. "Those eyes are…"

We jumped back, getting back into our ready stances. I calmed myself again, closing my eyes. I opened them slowly again, but Amy hadn't made a move.

"That power… it's dangerous for you, isn't it?" I asked.

"No more dangerous than your power is," Amy said, flinching slightly.

"Come on," I taunted. She charged at me, intending to impale me. I dodged the blow, then turned for a spin slash. She blocked the blow, then proceeded to jump back and attempt to cut my shoulder. I grabbed her katana instead of dodging it, feeling my warm blood running down the cold steel. I looked down.

"You… Katayoku no Tenma…" she said, seething. "You're too strong…"

"Shut up, Akuma," I said, looking up and breaking her katana with my grasp. She jumped back, then threw aside her broken sword. I held my hand in the same position for a moment before letting my arm down, blood still dripping from my palm. I clenched my bleeding hand into a fist.

"Katayoku no Tenma… no, Roy Hartmut! Why can't I beat you?" the Akuma asked, clearly frustrated.

"… because… I'm fighting for what's right!" I shouted, flaring out a bit of power.

"What is right? I thought you threw away such 'childish concepts,'" the Akuma teased me.

"When you're fighting against someone who desires the destruction of all that exists," I told her, "you have to believe in something! And seeing as how I can't believe in the light or the darkness, I have only one thing to believe in: myself!"

"And I believe in love!" the Akuma shouted at me.

"Love? That's… funny…" I said. "You're not one for love."

"But I… I love you. AND YOU NEVER RETURNED MY LOVE!" the Akuma shouted, blazing at me with all her strength. This was the last move; I could see this was the endgame.

I dodged her final move, then knocked her into the air with my own sword. I forcefully separated Gaia's Edge into its six component blades, then performed a six-bladed version of my old Grand Cross maneuver. I followed that up with my Grand Trine attack after recombining my blades. Instead of dropping back to the ground, I stayed in the air, gathering energy at the tip of my sword.

Even after all that punishment, the Akuma still got up, though she was barely able to stand and was staggering. She slowly looked at me, painful hate… painful love in her eyes.

"Why do you hate me?" Amy asked, barely surfacing through her new Akuma personality.

"Even now, you still don't realize it!" I shouted, completing the energy ball I dived down at the Akuma almost instantly, leaving her with these words as my blade pinned her to the ground:

"I always loved you!"

My blade pinned the Akuma to the ground, leaving her writhing. I turned around and walked away from her, snapping my fingers with my head hung. The explosion rocked the throne room, crumbling any structure that was still standing. I was halfway to the door I had come through when I heard Amy say something… I was surprised she was still alive.

NEW Technique!
Roy: Judgment Crest – a blending of all of Roy's older finishers, this is a technique that can only be performed as the One-Winged Demon (as it requires enough strength to split Gaia's Edge, a strength no other form possesses).

I turned around to see Amy, halfway Akuma. Half of her skin was black, but it was irregular… not like normal Dark Forms. Only one of her eyes was red…

"Katayoku no Tenma… as long as you exist, so will I. As long as I exist, so will you. We are each other's light and darkness…" Amy said just before she faded away in a large cloud of black smoke.

"Yeah, I know…" I said, dropping all the power I had gained. I turned around to go back to the door I had come in, but stopped short. I felt an ominous presence behind me… the Darkness had not yet faded…

I turned around yet again to see the Darkness of Eternity taking the shape of a human. I stood defiantly, despite being exhausted beyond description. Just as I was about to charge face first into my death, I heard Sora and Riku's voices…