A/N Hey guys! This chapter's actually the last one I have finished for now. When I started uploading again I had up until the start of this chapter finished, and then I finished this one as well and part of the next. I haven't finished 36 yet though, and I'm also working on Nexus Heroes Will Rise, as well as working on chapter 253 of Death which I spent all day today working on. So probably going to be a bit longer before I post BLP 36. Just wanted to give y'all the head's up! Anyway, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or One Piece
BLP 35:
"You have to be kidding me!" Nami yelled.
They ran through the doorway from the room they had fought Maleficent in and found themselves back in a massive elevator full of platforms and electric barriers. They stood on one of the interior halls wrapping around the elevator shaft, and Nami instantly started looking around for the next path to take. "This place is ridiculous," Nami snapped. "Who designs it like this?!"
"Hey." Nami paused and she spun around in surprise at the person who she heard speak up.
Zoro looked past everyone else between them to the woman at the front of the group. He hesitated for a second as they all looked back at him with varying levels of hostility to their gazes. He nodded his head to the left though and down the short platform that Goofy, Donald, Sora, and Beast were fighting some small Heartless Shadows on. There was one other doorway on this hall, and Zoro motioned towards it with his head. "The Grand Hall is through there."
"Oh…" Nami turned to that doorway that was much closer than she thought it would be. She sweatdropped but did not start for that door right away. Instead she reached down and checked her item bag. "Uh, let's see. I… I have an Ether. Donald?" Nami lifted it up and the duck waddle-ran back towards her and thanked the woman who handed it off to him.
"I've got nothing."
"Same here."
"Ahh haahh, ahh- me, neither," Luffy said.
"Using those Gears of yours has way too big a setback," Sanji muttered towards his captain.
Luffy wanted to counter him but had to save his breath for the fight they all expected was coming in the next room. He glanced over his shoulder when he felt his heart pang with a sharper pain than the rest of his body felt from just his regular exhaustion. "Robin?" Luffy wondered.
Robin snapped her head up and spun towards her captain with her eyes opening huge. How? I didn't even flinch. I felt that sharper pain, but I didn't show any outward indication. It was just a theory, but he does know. He does feel it too. Is it because the only thing that tethered me to the light was Luffy's heart? Luffy's care for us as his comrades?
"Robin-chan?" Sanji wondered softly at the shocked woman looking too flustered at Luffy just checking on her.
"I-I'm fine," Robin whispered back hoarsely.
"Alright, everyone," Sora jogged forward through the short hall cleared of all Heartless. "Follow me."
The Shadows they just defeated felt a lot weaker than the Heartless they had been fighting up until now, and most of them believed that it was due to Maleficent's defeat that the Heartless' strength decreased. They stayed cautious though while moving into the next room that was darker than the elevator shaft and had most of its light coming from the blue cauldrons lining the floor on either side of a long red carpet splitting the hall down the middle. No more Heartless emerged when they ran into this room.
A few of the pirates and Smoker stopped after running right behind Sora into the Grand Hall. They did not look to their sides immediately as Beast did, breaking off from the group and sprinting towards one of the glass cases. Even Sanji took a second to stare straight ahead first and up the stairs past the second floor section above, to the huge heart-shaped symbol in the wall full of swirling strange colors and a sparking ball of electricity that never stopped.
Sanji did glance to his left towards Beast after a second though. He turned back forward, then he did a double-take and spun with his eyes turning into hearts and popping out of his head. Sanji spun the other direction and his world blurred pink around him as all he could see were the six gorgeous women in the glass cases. They all looked to be sleeping where they stood. Everyone else around Sanji spun one way or the other after noticing that they were in the middle of a hall full of unconscious women.
"These are, the princesses?" Tashigi wondered confusedly. She turned back towards Zoro who kept his gaze locked straight ahead towards the heart up on the second level and a presence he felt up there that had his heart still pounding crazy fast. He took a step and tried to steady his legs, but he was barely keeping himself on his feet and could only just keep up with the others.
"Jasmine," Usopp said while stepping towards one of the cases.
"Alice too," Nami spotted the young girl with long blonde hair who she had only met for a short while but still felt relieved to see. She felt pain after that though and turned around to look at Zoro. "What's wrong with all of them? What happened to them?"
Zoro looked back into Nami's eyes and stopped where he was. He silently lifted his gaze back up from her and towards the huge heart on the other side of the room that Sora had kept running towards when the rest of them slowed or stopped. Donald and Goofy were right up there with Sora, and Luffy finally pushed off from Usopp who had been helping him stand and started running himself towards the stairs that Sora was jogging up. "Wait up," Luffy tried calling out loudly, only to have to raise an arm and cough into it in pain.
Smoker glared ahead and turned his lower body to smoke to fly that way as well and catch up to the others. "The door hasn't opened yet," Zoro said while looking towards that heart on the other side of the room. "She never got it open…"
"What did she need to open it?" Usopp asked while looking back at him. "Come on, Zoro. Help us out here. Maleficent's gone!"
"I'm not, hiding anything," Zoro muttered back at him. Though, I'm not one of you again just because I'm no longer with her. I attacked the crew. What happens from here onwards… I'm not sure about. I don't think I even have the right to travel with you. But in this moment, in this place, I am definitely on your side. Because I can feel that thing up there.
Zoro took another step but his right leg collapsed when he stepped down on it. He fell face-first to the ground, and a second later Robin yelped in pain up ahead of him and fell completely to her knees.
"Robin-chan!" The sound of her agonized voice shook Sanji out of his lover's stupor as he leaned in front of one of the glass cases where a beautiful woman in a bright blue dress was sleeping. He sprinted to Robin's side and dropped next to her.
"Sanji, get us, up there," Robin hissed at the man next to her who stopped asking if she was alright and just nodded fast at the urgency in Robin's tone.
"Usopp, let's go!" Nami yelled at the man next to her. She heard Robin's tone and did not know what it was that just freaked out her friend, but she instantly felt worried about those farther ahead of them and started rushing after them too.
Zoro rose his head slowly and with his vision shaking as he stared towards the heart and someone sitting just above it on one of the metal tubes sticking out of the wall. Who is that?!
Sora, Donald, and Goofy reached the top of the stairs first. Luffy was catching up right behind them, but the pirate cocked his head to the side in confusion as Goofy hit an invisible barrier when he reached the top of the stairs only a second after Donald and Sora. Goofy bounced backwards and fell down a few steps. Donald jumped and spun around in surprise to see Goofy had gotten bounced back, but Sora did not notice as his attention was solely on the girl laying on the ground ahead of him. "Kairi!" Sora yelled out at the sight of her.
Luffy ran the rest of the way to the top of the stairs and pressed his hands forward where he saw that barrier appear for a second in a shimmer of pink light. He was confused but watched as his hands pressed against something that would not push in at all. He pulled his right fist back and slammed it forward with as much strength as he could muster. Goofy sprinted forward at the same time and jumped, smashing his shield into the invisible barrier at the same time. Both of them bounced backwards this time off the magical wall that they could not break through.
"Hey Donald," Usopp called through the barrier to the duck who just spun back Sora's way. Donald glanced sideways back through the barrier at them, and Usopp told him, "Use your magic to get rid of this thing."
"Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"
"It's no use."
Donald spun back around himself and then sprinted up to Sora's side rather than try to mess with whatever that strange barrier was. He ran right up next to Sora and glanced up at the silver-haired teenager who just spoke down in a very dark tone towards his friend. Sora had not even noticed Riku sitting above the huge glowing heart on the wall. He turned his head though and looked up as Riku continued down to him, "That girl has lost her heart. She cannot wake up."
"That girl?" Sora thought in confusion at the wording while looking back down at the girl he held in his arms.
"No," Robin whispered while staring up above the sparking heart on the wall herself.
Nami moved a hand nervously next to her and held onto Usopp's arm as she stared through the barrier and up towards Riku whose voice was really scaring her now. Usopp gulped but slid his left hand up and curled his fingers to interlock with Nami's.
"What?" Sora lowered Kairi carefully back flat on the ground. He stood up and stepped between her and the boy staring down at them with a smirk on his face. "You… You're not Riku."
Luffy turned his head in confusion and looked up at that person who definitely looked like Riku. Chopper lifted his head as well on Usopp's shoulder, looking groggy but finally waking up and realizing where he was and what was going on. Chopper looked through the transparent barrier and then up at the dark figure whose voice made him want to run, only for him to realize that he could not move his body an inch.
"The Keyhole cannot be completed, so long as the last Princess of Heart still sleeps." Riku dropped off of the metal tube he was sitting on. He did not drop to the ground though. Rather, he held his arms out to the sides and floated down slowly as if it was by choice and not because gravity had anything to do with it. Dark pink flames started to rise up in a perimeter around the second floor platform that Sora, Donald, and Kairi were on.
Riku floated down in front of the sparking ball of electricity in the heart. Sora turned his head away and looked down in more confusion at what this person who looked like Riku just said. "'The Princess?' Wait- Kairi's a Princess?!" Sora exclaimed in shock.
The others staring in all spun towards Kairi's body themselves in shock at the revelation. Then they turned to Riku again, or whoever this being masquerading as Riku really was. Robin had been helped up to the top of the flight of stairs by the blond-haired man who held onto her with one hand while staring in shock towards Kairi himself. He turned back to her though as Robin wobbled where she stood and gripped her heart in agony. She felt it pulsating as she glanced up at the huge portal of dark colors behind the creepy teenager with silver hair. Her eyes shifted from the Keyhole back to that boy though.
That's not Riku. It hasn't been Riku for a while now. What he's saying… The things I'm hearing from this man… "To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a target, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence." Oh no. "Sanji," Robin whispered. She practically gasped it out at the man who needed to grab her with both arms as Robin's knees suddenly felt extremely weak.
"Yes, and without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete." Riku landed down at the base of the Keyhole and glared into Sora's eyes while still holding his dark Keyblade at his side. "It is time she awakened."
"It had a large keyhole, but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door. What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy? That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?" I recognize the tone. The words he's speaking! Robin was panting heavily but dropped down to her knees when she opened her mouth to say it to Sanji.
"Robin-chan!" Sanji exclaimed at her.
"It's, him," Robin hissed. She seethed it through her teeth then darted her panicked and scared eyes to the side at the chef who immediately knew who Robin was talking about without her needing to specify it.
Oh… fuck, Sanji rose his head and looked through the barrier again. He thought of the conversation he had had with Robin before they landed on the world of Hollow Bastion.
"Who? Robin?" Nami whispered down to her right side without tearing her eyes off the man speaking so menacingly inside that barrier.
"From the cave," Robin gasped.
"Whoever you are, let Riku go!" Sora shouted at the figure who the Straw Hats were staring at in much more fear than the fearless kid yelling at his friend's possessor. "Give him back his heart!"
"But first, you must give the Princess back her heart," the evil figure countered Sora. He pointed the black Keyblade down at Sora and aimed the sharpened point at Sora's chest.
Sora staggered and hunched forward. "Ah-" he dropped down to his knees in pain while his chest flashed with pink light.
"Sora!" Donald yelled next to him, spinning to Sora's side and looking down in concern at his friend.
"Hey! Sora!" Luffy pounded his fists into the barrier and got bounced back again so he tumbled halfway down the stairs.
"What's-" Sora gripped at his chest while feeling tremendous amounts of pain inside it.
"Don't you see yet?!" Riku's voice shouted, though overlapped with a darker and much more menacing one. He walked down the steps from the base of the Keyhole to the level that Sora was on, "The Princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you!"
"K-Kairi's… inside me?" Sora looked down at his chest that he felt pounding over and over again.
"What is he talking about?" Nami gasped in panic.
"He knows, so much," Robin whispered. "The only one… who could know-" Robin's teeth clenched and she snapped her head up.
"I know all that there is to know." The man spoke while standing across the second floor platform as where Sora was down on his knees.
"Ansem," Robin said.
The man standing there facing Sora turned his head to the right. He looked through the barrier and straight at the woman down on her knees who was grabbing at her own heart in even more pain than Sora looked to be in right now. Sora turned his head to that side while Donald looked up over him, and all the others outside the barrier turned to Robin as well. "You're, Ansem," Robin called him out.
"Yes… very good." Riku responded with his smile growing even more menacing. His true voice came out louder than Riku's as he announced, "You are correct. It is I, Ansem! The Seeker of Darkness!"
"Ahhh!" Nami pulled backwards and leaned into Usopp who also yelled out and leaned back into her.
"EEe!" Chopper fell off of Usopp's shoulder while screaming himself.
"What's wrong with all of you?" Smoker snapped angrily at the group of three who leaned or fell away from the barrier.
Sanji darted a look back to Usopp with a swirly eyebrow raised up at the man's shout. "What?" Usopp snapped at Sanji. "That was, really scary!"
"Ansem," Smoker muttered. He's supposed to be a benevolent ruler. That's what Leon's group thought at least. But this person…
Ansem continued to stare straight towards Robin through that barrier. Sora was gasping in pain ahead of him and Donald got between Sora's knelt form and the evil figure who stared at the pirate woman looking back at him. "Kairi is not the only one whose heart was lost during the fall of your world. Since you figured it out, I suppose I shall tell you. Because you still know so little," Ansem smirked even more at the woman who recognized the words and shivered to hear them spoken by Riku's mouth.
Riku's body turned more towards the pirates standing outside of the barrier. "Do you know why it is that Kairi's heart rests within Sora? You were there when it happened. As were you," Ansem added while looking away from Robin and towards where Luffy had staggered back up the stairs and stood outside the barrier. Luffy furled his lip and tilted his head a bit to the side wondering what this person was talking about as he was completely lost. "In that cave. You saw it happen." Riku's right arm swept through the air and made images start to appear in a dark haze that hung over his head.
The cave on the Children's Island appeared in the vision. The strange door inside it swung open and a dark wind flew into the cave, sending Kairi flying towards Sora who held his arms out to the sides to catch her. She hit him and went straight through his body, and then Sora was taken by the wind and thrown backwards. "In the moment she passed through him, their hearts were connected. But you," Ansem continued while looking towards Luffy. "Naively thinking that you could save her by grabbing Nico Robin first, reached out."
The others all watched as Luffy stretched his arms towards Robin in the vision when she was thrown by the same wind towards him. His hands grabbed on but she vanished anyway just as well, yet Ansem told them, "You managed to grab hold before she had the chance to disappear. Before her heart could be lost completely… When it was only, broken." Ansem glanced back towards Robin who grabbed her chest over her pained heart again. He shook his head at the sight of her, "Fragmented." The images above him faded away.
Ansem continued in a more taunting voice, "Only such a person who had already hidden their heart away in the first place could even continue to function with so little of their heart remaining. Just a fraction of it lived on in her body, while the rest of it," Ansem swung his Keyblade towards Luffy and made the pirate captain stumble backwards and then fall down to his knees just as Sora had on the other side of the barrier.
Robin's eyes bulged and shook like crazy as she realized something. Sanji had noticed Luffy asking Robin if she was okay so often that he figured it out quickly as well while Nami and Usopp shouted Luffy's name and just ran to his sides. "It was only thanks to the fact that you had already accidentally been granted the Keyblade," Ansem continued towards the collapsed man outside the barrier. "That your heart was strong enough to contain more than just your own. You are not a true keybearer though. The proximity to the door to darkness is too much for what remains of her fractured heart."
"Ahnn-" Robin groaned and she bowed her head as she failed to speak up.
Luffy's eyes were huge and shook as he looked over towards Robin. He heard Ansem's voice continue as he looked at the woman in so much pain, "…She would not be in as much pain. However, your heart weakened when you began to realize that Zoro would not be rejoining you, even after you've saved him." Luffy's eyes shot open even wider and his chest tightened up more as those hidden fears were spoken aloud, which made Robin gasp out in pain, which caused a cyclical reaction making Luffy's own arms shake as his chest hurt more too. Ansem scoffed at the sight then turned back forward but looked past his closest enemies and over the ledge down to the hall below where he knew that swordsman was listening, "Just like Maleficent, he was an easy pawn to manipulate. Puppets. All of them."
Ansem lowered his gaze back down onto Sora's head. Donald shook around angrily as the figure of Riku started forward towards them. "Wawawawa!" Donald sprinted towards the enemy who was targeting his friend while Sora was clearly hurt.
Ansem swung his left hand across his body. He did not use his Keyblade or any special powers. He just smacked Donald so hard that the duck flew the opposite way as all the others stuck on one of the staircases that wrapped up to the second floor. Donald flew out the invisible barrier that shone clearly when he hit it but closed back up instantly so he could not get back in, disappearing into transparency once again.
"He's been pulling the strings the whole time," Nami whispered softly and in fear while looking in towards the self-proclaimed 'Seeker of Darkness.' The title alone had terrified her because she realized when his name was spoken that this person was way worse than Maleficent. "S-Sora! Hey! Look up!" Nami yelled towards the boy who Ansem kept walking towards.
Luffy lifted his own head and a new fear filled his eyes at what he saw. "Sora. SORA!" Luffy got up to his feet and pounded his fists into the barrier again. He jumped around to his left side and hit another part of the wall. Smoker darted his eyes over and grimaced as he did not think it would work, but he flew around the other direction as Straw Hat anyway and hit at the wall himself to try and find a way in to stop this.
Everyone attempted to get in if they had the strength to try. Sora was not responding to them though while down on both knees and one hand, holding his other hand to his chest in pain. Ansem stepped straight up to Sora and pointed the Keyblade down at the top of the boy's head as he panted and struggled with his head still bowed. "So, I shall release you now, Princess. Complete the Keyhole with your power!"
"Open the door, lead me into everlasting darkness!" Ansem smiled wide inside of the vessel he was possessing. He rose up his Keyblade and slashed down at his collapsed opponent.
"Sora!" Kairi's voice shouted in Sora's head. He felt his heart pulse again but not in pain. Warmth filled his heart, and his head snapped up. Sora rose both of his hands and the Keyblade had already appeared in his grasp. Clink! Ansem's Keyblade slammed down into Sora's but the brown-haired boy held back his enemy's blow.
Sora's right leg pushed down and up to one foot. Then his left started to push off of the ground as well even as Ansem leaned forward and put even more weight into it. Everyone else stopped trying to break through and stared towards Sora in amazement as he got back up. "Forget it!" Sora declared with a voice full of conviction. He slashed his Keyblade and knocked back his enemy who leapt away to make a gap between them. "There's no way you're getting Kairi's heart!"
Ansem rose up his Keyblade to the side of his head in the same kind of stance that Riku would fight in. Sora held both of his hands down on the hilt to his right side. They each slid their feet apart while glaring at one another. Then they charged and attacked. No more talk. The fight was on.
Sora slashed back and forth into his friend who lifted his dark red and black Keyblade against him. A white aura lifted up underneath Riku's feet and surrounded him, flaring wildly as Sora slashed away. Sora leapt backwards before his opponent could slash whatever he was charging up with. Riku's slash sent a visible slice of air flying away from him though so it hit Sora and knocked him backwards.
Sora rolled onto his feet though and ran in a circle around the enclosed fighting area. Riku's body shot behind him in the veil of aura, then sped to his next position, and another, but Sora was just fast enough that a constant sprint kept him ahead of his enemy's blows. Sora spun and threw his Keyblade behind him. It flew through Ansem and bounced back towards him, but Ansem leaned his friend's body to the side and let the Keyblade barely miss him on its rebound.
Ansem sprinted forward while Sora was catching his blade. He slashed down and Sora parried, then Sora slashed and Ansem blocked that as well but with his weapon flaring in aura again that pushed Sora farther back off the bounce. "Defense!" Sora swung his Keyblade while dodge-rolling to the side. Aero magic surrounded him, and just in time as Ansem predicted his dodge and leapt his way, slamming him in the side with the Keyblade but only knocking Sora half as far back as he had meant to.
Riku's right hand glowed bright blue with dark wisps coming off of it. Sora spun his head then leapt up high in the air and backwards as Ansem leapt to his position and punched that fist down. The explosion of darkness that blew up did not go straight in the air but made a wave out to either side too and spiked up above to show that had Sora dodged left or right rather than backwards he still would have been hit.
Ansem ran to where Sora was coming down though and was vicious in his attacks, two of which got past Sora's guard and hit him hard. Sora flipped up into the air and glided away from Ansem to the opposite side of the battlefield, and he swung his Keyblade above his head, "Cure!" Green light shone on him as he landed. Then he put his Keyblade back down at his side and sprinted back at the enemy who just pointed his Keyblade at Sora to make the air of the entire hall drop several notches darker.
Pools of glowing light formed all over the battleground. Dark swirls came up out of them slowly then thicker, then they exploded upwards in bursts of energy that Sora darted back and forth between right before one popped up directly below where he was running. The light shot up in the air, then Sora flipped over the top of the spike in a 720 spin and slashed down into Ansem's Keyblade that the villain rose up and grabbed with two hands to block his opponent. "You're not taking Kairi's heart! And I'm not going to let you have Riku either. Riku! Can you hear-"
Ansem swung out his blade and parried Sora's up in the air, then he slashed across the front of Sora's body and made his opponent hunch over the shaft before flying backwards all the way into the invisible wall that glowed bright pink when he hit it.
"Sora!" Nami yelled through the barrier just ahead of her. She had flinched backwards away from it when he flew straight at her, forgetting for a second that he was trapped in there and them outside. "Luffy!" Nami called towards her captain higher in the air where he was feeling around the barrier for a hole to sneak in from. He pulled an arm back and punched into it, but his punch was weak and he knew it was because of using Gear Second and Third at the same time to fight Maleficent.
Luffy looked down at Nami as he started falling again. He lifted his right hand and made his Keyblade appear, but when he swung it nothing happened to his friend on the inside of the barrier who had dropped down to his butt and was shaking his head around. "It won't, lock on," Luffy said in frustration right before falling down next to his crew.
Smoker's large smoke body pulled back together in one form next to Tashigi. "Didn't find a hole anywhere," Smoker grumbled in frustration. "And we can't help him from out here. Damn it. You can do this, Sora!" Smoker yelled through the barrier towards the kid who struggled up onto one leg, then the other.
"Cure, and, Cure," Sora swung his Keyblade twice to bring his health back up. "That hurt," he muttered before raising his Keyblade back up to his side and running forward again.
"Multiple Cure magics at a time?" Usopp wondered under his breath. He lifted a small but somewhat hopeful smile. "His magic gauge must have gotten a lot larger since we started this journey."
"It's just him in there, alone," Nami scolded back frustratedly at him. "He can't do this."
"Trust-" Robin groaned and her voice cut off before she could finish saying it.
Sanji held her up a little so her head was over his knees. He saw what she was trying to say though and how her head turned to look back into that barrier and at their friend. "Trust, Sora?" Sanji wondered if that was what Robin was going to say. Her head nodded slightly on his legs. "Alright then," Sanji told the woman who he grabbed one of the hands of and squeezed it to comfort her. Her palms were sweating badly and she looked so weak this close to the door they had finally reached, and they finally knew why it was too. Sanji saw Luffy give a pained look down towards his crewmate whose pain he could sense right now in his own heart, and Sanji felt even worse for her when he saw that expression that Luffy did not hide as well as Robin did.
They looked back into the barrier and could only root for their friend who was alone in this battle.
"Stop, dodging!" Sora swung his Keyblade up two more times but stopped himself after missing another cast of Thunder on his enemy dodging around as fast as he was. Sora pulled his Keyblade down to his side and bent his legs. Just need a burst of speed. Use it all at once, rather than continuous sprints! Sora shot to Riku's form and straight past because he was moving too fast to stop right away. He did jab forward while sprinting by though at such a speed that the light glowing off his Keyblade during the move seemed to lag behind and cover his body. It appeared like Sora was an arrow of light that shot past Ansem then stopped, before turning to where Ansem had moved to and speeding past there as well.
Sora did a five swipe combo back and forth across his enemy's body. He was panting when he could no longer find that burst of speed to attack like that anymore, and Ansem turned to him and jumped his way before slashing back and forth with his Keyblade. Sora recovered as fast as he could and tried parrying, but Ansem smirked past their clashing blades at the boy he was pushing down with more power in his weapon. "You think that was fast?" He wondered at Sora.
A white veil surrounded Riku's body and glowed brighter while the room dropped ten more notches into darkness. Ansen floated back up into the air and rose his arms at his sides. Sora slashed back and forth into him, but he had become invulnerable and did not flinch at the blows from the Keyblade while wrapped in the protective aura. Then Sora gasped. He leaned backwards while gasping and with his eyes growing wide as he did not even see Ansem move. His eyes darted to the sides though and he looked back to where Ansem stopped behind him like how he had to stop after each time he had passed his enemy when moving too fast to control his momentum.
Ansem's movements in the air were smoother though. He just arced up at the end of his slash, then curved back towards Sora and sped up again. Sora was not as fast, but he knew the momentum at that speed could not change easily. Just need to dodge a little- Sora rolled half a second before Ansem would have collided with him. He got up and spun towards where Ansem stopped again, and he had to predict the next swipe too. He could not dodge too early or Ansem would speed at that position rather than where he just was standing, but thinking too much about that, Sora dodged too late and was grazed by another swipe from his invulnerable enemy.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Donald yelled through the barrier. He smacked his arms into the wall a few times and yelled at the villain who could hit Sora while Sora could not hit him back.
"Just, keep, moving," Sora got back up and dodged away in time this time, only to get hit again in the back and sent flying back across the battlefield.
I need more strength, Sora staggered up onto his feet. "Cure," he swung his Keyblade and gave himself more health again. But I can't use Valor. I can't risk losing my magic. I've needed to heal myself a half dozen times in this fight already. I need to time his attacks better. Speed, and intelligence? So Wisdom? But he's already stronger than me. My moves are barely doing anything, so I need more physical strength. What if… What if there's another Drive Form? Merlin was busy, but he talked about there being many.
I need the strength of Valor. The magic of Wisdom. A combination of both. Not focused in either one but still an increase! Do it! Help me, Keyblade! Give me a combination of Wisdom and Valor- "Master Form." Sora's eyes shot open while his body surrounded in a bright light.
The white veil was just fading from Ansem's form and the room shifting back to a dark shade but not pitch black like it had practically just gotten. Ansem glared down through Sora's glow however at the boy who stepped forward out of it in clothes that had turned yellow. The yellow and black outfit Sora wore surprised everyone watching the fight who had never seen him use it before. Sora lifted up both hands and rose his Three Wishes and Dragon's Breath Keyblades at the same time.
Ansem was still up in the air above him, so Sora bent his legs and jumped up. His own eyes widened a bit but he smiled wide as Ansem snapped his head up to look at the boy whose jump gave him more height than either of them expected. "A novice with the Keyblade already advancing to Master Form?" Ansem wondered, and Sora's smile dropped in an instant even as he started slashing down at his enemy.
"How, do you know what it's called?" Sora wondered back.
Ansem smirked back at him using his friend's mouth and it made Sora bite down in anger and push harder down with his Keyblades. With two Keyblades pressing down against his one, and Sora's boosted strength in Master Form, Ansem's Keyblade got pushed to the side and Sora slashed into his body. He slashed back and forth, both directions, up and down, spun himself around with blue light glowing on the tips of his Keyblades that he smashed into one of Ansem's sides and made ice cover part of his dark coating. He slashed back the other way with one Keyblade glowing red and the other sparking, and Sora shot a fireball and a bolt of lightning into his enemy he blasted backwards through the air.
Sora kicked off of the air and did a triple front-flip before throwing the golden Keyblade in his right hand down at Ansem before he could fall. Ansem leaned away from it, but Sora dove down towards him and slashed his other Keyblade down into Ansem's that the villain had to parry with. Sora lifted his other hand, and the Three Wishes boomeranged back to him and hit Ansem in the back. That strike in the back weakened Ansem's parry for a second and let Sora slash through it with Dragon's Breath.
Ansem slammed down into the ground. His left hand glowed bright blue with darkness in the core of it, while his blade shrouded in the aura as well. He spun and jumped towards Sora, but as Sora twisted in midair and glided away, Ansem slammed his missed attacks into the ground. Sora was landing, and he did not have the time to bend his legs and jump away from the glowing line on the floor before the wave of dark explosions blew up into him. He got blasted up into the air with smoke coming off of him, then he twisted and tried to parry but was too slow as Ansem's glowing blade smashed into his side.
Sora flipped around in midair and Cured himself in mid-flight towards the barrier of the fighting area. He bent his legs against it and shot back towards Ansem, but the white veil surrounded his friend's body before he could get off another mid-air combo like the one higher up that had been longer than any he ever managed before it. The amount of swipes Sora managed to get off in that one combo in the air stunned all of his friends watching him who saw the barrier around them flashing pink over and over with each attack Sora made seeming stronger than the last.
Luffy's eyes sparkled as he pursed his lips together right next to Usopp. "Oooh," the two of them breathed in awe as Sora glided away from Ansem as the villain used his fastest attack again. Sora was quicker now in Master Form, and he avoided the attacks better than he did the first time to only get hit once this time around. Sora's MP seemed endless in this Drive Form though, as he Cured himself twice in succession before blasting Ansem with stronger magic he tried to break through the enemy's personal forcefield with.
Ansem came out of the smoke looking fine, but his white veil did fade after another second. "Now Sora! Get him-" Nami dropped her jaw and pulled her head back in worry as Sora flashed with light and lost the second Keyblade and his cool new outfit. "No," Nami whispered.
Sora landed back down and was panting heavily but brought his Three Wishes Keyblade up held in both hands again. "You're not getting what you want, Ansem. I'm not letting you!"
Ansem charged back at him and slashed down at the boy who turned sideways and let the blade pass through where his head just was. It slashed down in front of his chest while Sora swung his right arm up at his side in a curved swing under Ansem's blade and towards the villain's chest. He hit Ansem but the man was already flipping backwards to lessen the blow as he moved with its momentum. He flipped and while upside down swung his free hand down at Sora, and a dozen bright flash explosions blew up from the floor around him. Sora sprinted through one though.
He got burns on both arms and on his face. Sora ran to where his enemy was landing though and could not dodge easily, and he rolled underneath Ansem first anyway. Ansem managed to land before getting hit, but he was facing the wrong way now and only got his Keyblade half risen behind his back while in mid-turn. Sora slashed into his back and sent him stumbling forward, then Sora leapt up and slashed down and knocked his enemy away. Ansem turned towards him and slashed Sora's way as his enemy ran towards him.
Sora dropped to his knees and snapped his body backwards so the dark slash went right over his sliding body. He came up with another slash into Ansem, then jumped around his side and hit him again. Ansem elbowed backwards with Riku's free arm, and he spun and slashed into Sora's unguarded chest when the boy stumbled back. "Cure!" Sora's Keyblade glowed as he was getting hit. He flew backwards with coughed with blood splashing out of his mouth at how that Keyblade had just hit his chest so hard, but the healing magic absorbed into him that same second and fixed the damage Ansem had caused. Sora landed and coughed a few more times but while already sprinting back at his enemy who he combo-ed while Ansem was still raising back up the arms of this boy's body he only recently started possessing.
Sora was faster. He slashed into Ansem's chest this time and knocked him away. Ansem slashed his Keyblade while in midair. The room turned darker again while a glowing bluish-black disc flew at Sora and hit him. Sora aimed his Keyblade forward and blasted fire magic at his enemy who tanked it while sprinting back, only for Sora's Keyblade to already be glowing white when Ansem got through the fireball. He sped at Ansem and shot past his other side, and bright white explosions blew up out of the ground all around them.
The battle looked insane to those watching outside the barrier. Ansem slashed down and an X of dark flames shot up across the whole platform, but Sora had dodge-rolled away from it before spinning and blocking with his Keyblade. The second Ansem was blocked by Sora's Keyblade and put slightly off-balanced, Sora sped past him with a slash of his Keyblade before turning and cutting him over and over even as Ansem spun and tried slashing him back.
Ansem glowed white again. When he was invulnerable was when he was getting the most damage in on Sora, or at least when Sora was getting the least done on him. He shot faster than ever and broke through Sora's guard twice when Sora could not dodge in time but at least tried to protect himself. As soon as the white veil faded though, Sora cured himself again and again before attacking physically to restore his MP gauge before the next time Ansem could get a combo on him that he would need to recover from. The amazing and powerful attacks that Ansem was carrying out in this fight had been seen by this point, and Sora knew his counters now.
The concerned looks on his friends' faces as they tried to break through the barrier and save him faded more and more. "Sora!"
"You've got this!"
"Kick his ass!"
"Go for it, Sora!"
Zoro staggered closer to the fight that he had initially collapsed farther away from. The Beast downstairs had demanded to know what was wrong with Belle from him while gripping him by his collar, and Zoro had been unable to do anything against him in his condition. He just told the Beast to come up here as well to help find a way to get Belle her heart back.
He dropped to a knee again though and just looked through the barrier towards Sora's fight with this Ansem person who Zoro had heard about before himself. Maleficent didn't think he was, someone like this. How did he possess Riku? Has he, really been orchestrating everything? I'll kill him- "Ack, ughhh," Zoro groaned and bowed his head while his heart pains spiked and he felt weaker than ever. His head shook around while raising up so he could glare at that heart-shape on the wall that he knew led somewhere full of darkness. Had that been opened already, I would have been stronger and less crippled from getting her heart- don't think like that. I fell to the darkness. Maybe it's just being this close to that doorway that makes me want to use it even more. Or, maybe I just know that once that door opens, darkness really will be the most powerful thing in this universe.
Zoro's eyes lowered from that heart back down to the fight ahead that was more intense than he thought it would be. Sora… really got strong.
"Hi-ya! Take this!" Sora shot towards Ansem but stopped short and threw his Keyblade this time as he knew his enemy would be expecting another Sonic Blade attack where he rushed straight by his enemy. He did not even start the combo this time, just throwing his Keyblade and then pointing a free hand towards Ansem who got hit by the weapon then opened Riku's eyes wider to see Sora's hand glowing even without his weapon in it.
Sora's closed eyes snapped open, "Fire!" A huge jet of flames shot out of Sora's hands with much stronger Fire magic than he had had before coming to Hollow Bastion where he leveled it up again. Sora ran forward behind his flames and caught his Keyblade that bounced back to him and hit Ansem on the way.
Ansem was about to dodge the flames when the Keyblade that already hit him once hit again, slowing him so he was hit by the magic attack too. Ansem glared up in the air as he spotted something above him, but it was only the Keyblade that his enemy was using that Sora must have thrown up there while running behind his fire. That Keyblade Ansem looked up at vanished into light particles though, and the man's eyes scanned back down as he realized that it was a distraction.
Sora was twisting his body in front of the villain who looked back and saw the Keyblade forming into Sora's hands mid-swing. He slashed with all his strength and hit the villain in the body as Ansem had lifted his own Keyblade too high to block an attack coming from above. "YEAH!" Usopp cheered towards him as Sora's Keyblade connected into his enemy's chest.
"Go! Sora!" Luffy yelled too as loud as he could, though he coughed up a storm after it. He pumped a fist up in the air while cheering for his friend who had this fight won all on his own.
Sora ran back at Ansem who landed after that blow and sprinted at him once more with his Keyblade and hand glowing dark. They clashed, and slashed, and Sora was knocked backwards but healed himself then countered right away. He knocked Ansem away, then he pulled his Keyblade down to his right side and sprinted forward at the enemy in mid-step backwards to steady himself. Sora slashed past Ansem, then he turned quicker this time and slashed past him again, darting through and then back the other way six times before stopping behind Ansem's back.
Ansem's body glowed with light and wisped more darkness than before. It almost looked as if he was going to attack, but then his legs wobbled and he dropped down to his knees. Sora spun towards him and his eyes opened wide, but darkness shrouded the villain who was dropping down and made him disappear before the other boy could say a word. The Keyblade of Heart dropped to the floor where Ansem collapsed, but Ansem was nowhere in sight around it.
The pink barrier finally dropped down, but no one celebrated just yet. The second that Ansem was vanishing, the giant heart on the wall started to spark more violently than ever. The sphere of condensed electricity in the center of it was jolting out lightning bolts to either side while dark wisps seeped from the strange colors inside it. "Sora! Sora look!" Donald yelled towards his friend after running up towards the heart and looking at it closer himself. "The Keyhole!"
"Where, did Riku?" Nami wondered softly next to her at the long-nosed man who just shook his head confusedly while at the top of the steps still.
Most of them were still just staring towards Sora in amazement over the battle they just saw. Smoker took a step from the top of the stairs on one side, and Luffy jogged a few steps closer himself before turning towards the Keyhole and losing his smile. He wanted to tell Sora how cool that fight was, but Sora jumped up in the air and landed next to Donald and Goofy who were focused on the mission and the Keyhole that looked a lot more menacing than any of the others.
Sora pointed his Keyblade at the Keyhole and everyone stared up towards him. Zoro shook his head though right behind Tashigi and Beast where he had collapsed. Tashigi looked back at him as the man with green hair lifted his head back up and muttered, "It's not, complete."
"'Complete?'" Tashigi wondered in confusion.
Smoker looked back towards them too, while Beast walked over to the edge of the platform and stared down to the princesses below who were still asleep in their glass cases.
"It won't work! The Keyhole's not finished yet," Goofy figured out on his own as Sora's Keyblade was not doing anything.
Sanji turned his head and looked down to the bottom of the steps. Nami and Usopp spun as well when they saw him look down there, but the small Shadow they saw at the base of the staircase stopped before it could come up towards them. A shimmer of dark purple surrounded it and made the Heartless creature disappear, as if someone did not want it to come up there and interrupt them. An ominous sensation surged inside the pirates, including Chopper who could not move but was able to dart his gaze down those steps when he saw his friends turn that way as well.
"What can we do?" Sora wondered while swinging his Keyblade out to the side then letting it vanish as it could not seal the Keyhole yet.
"Maybe, we've gotta go wake Kairi up," Goofy suggested while looking back behind him and down towards the girl laying still on the platform below.
Sora turned and looked down there himself. "I think you're right," he said softly. "If we could just free her heart." His hand reached up towards his chest and rested over it. "But, but how?" He wondered.
"Straw Hat! If you and Sora both use your Keyblades at once," Smoker said towards the pirate on the same level as him who turned back from Kairi towards Smoker who came up with the idea. Smoker looked up towards that sparking Keyhole again and glared darkly at it imagining what those villains were planning to do if they got their hands on something that felt so powerful. "Maybe you can seal it…" Smoker turned his head back and watched as Sora walked between him and Luffy.
Luffy glanced at Sora then back towards Donald and Goofy who were looking at Sora walk away from them. He looked above them and to the Keyhole though. Then he lifted his right hand and watched as his Keyblade reappeared in his grasp. The sight of the black shaft of his Keyblade reminded him of the one that Sora just walked over to, even if his own Keyblade had a white hilt unlike the red one that Sora reached down for.
"A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts. I wonder…" Sora said while lifting that dark weapon up.
"S-Stop, him," Robin gasped. Her hand gripping Sanji's tightened more and she pulled on it, making the pirate who was glaring around the lower level of Hollow Bastion's top floor look back at her wondering what she was saying. He turned and looked towards Sora himself, while Robin pushed her other hand down on the ground and tried raising her voice louder. "Sora- don't," Robin gasped out.
Smoker turned his head slowly towards the boy behind him. "Hey kid," Smoker began. "Whatever you're thinking…"
"Sora! Hold on!" Goofy yelled down while throwing his hands up in panic as he saw Sora staring down at the blade in his hands too thoughtfully.
"No wait!" Donald yelled too.
"What is he…" Nami whispered.
Usopp stepped forward. Sanji saw the look on Robin's face and figured out what she had been the quickest to realize, but the weakest to do anything about. Sanji got up to one foot, but he froze.
Everyone looking towards Sora froze as he stopped turning the blade over in his hands to turn and look around at them all. Sora flashed the widest smile at all his friends who froze at that look, other than Luffy who just stepped a foot closer to him with a confused look on his face. "Sora, what are-"
Sora grabbed the middle of the Dark Keyblade's shaft and spun the weapon around. Luffy's mouth froze open and his eyes bulged while half a dozen others moved at once. All of them were too slow.
Sora stabbed the sharp point of the Keyblade into his own heart.
"NOO!" Luffy screamed.
"Sora!" Donald yelled.
Beast turned his head sideways and looked back towards the boy who had the Keyblade plunged into his own chest.
Everyone watched as Sora's arms dropped limply off of the weapon that exuded dark wisps the entire time, even as a bright white light glowed out of Sora's chest. After a second the weapon pulled itself back out of Sora's body and floated into the air. Sora's hands lifted up to his sides and his head tilted back with his eyes closing. The Keyblade above him stopped pouring out darkness though, instead glowing purple and then breaking apart into six different spheres of darkness that were quickly overcome by light instead.
Six glowing bubbles full of light replaced the Dark Keyblade in the air. They sparkled while flying up over Sora's head then past Beast and down to the glass cases below that Beast spun his head back to. Sanji was still only up on one foot back at the top of the stairs, but he turned his head and tears filled his eyes as he watched those glowing lights fly down and into the cases of the princesses down below. A giant smile spread over Sanji's face as he realized that their hearts were returning to them.
"Sora," Chopper whispered in fear, and Sanji froze and spun back ahead of himself with even his smile dropping as he stared at the boy who leaned back farther while his chest flashed even brighter.
Instead of coming out of the Dark Keyblade this time, the light that shone came directly from Sora himself. Luffy stumbled towards Sora then stood back up straight, looking down at the Keyblade he was still holding in his hands that started shaking. Then he looked closer to his chest than the Keyblade he held in front of him. Luffy lowered his weapon while everyone else stared at the thin golden line that shone between Luffy's chest and Sora's.
A small bubble of light pulsed out of Luffy's chest. The bubble was only three-quarters of a sphere, incomplete, but the majority of another heart that shot towards a woman whose eyes snapped open wide as all the pain in her chest vanished. Robin pushed off of the ground as she finally felt some strength back, but she stopped on her hands and knees and just stared with shaking eyes towards Luffy and Sora who were only ten feet away from each other.
Luffy was raising his free hand up towards the glowing line connecting them. He grabbed onto it… and then halfway between the two of them, the line snapped. The Keyblade Luffy was holding in his other hand shattered. It turned to light particles that floated away from him and faded. Luffy did not care. He did not even look towards the weapon that he could feel had left him. Luffy just stepped towards Sora, before freezing and lifting his eyes up in awe as another bubble of light pulsed out of Sora's chest.
Larger than all the others, this heart shone up in the air and then curled in a much steeper arc to drop right back down rather than fly through the air of the hall first. It dropped right next to Sora, into the body of still girl laying at his side that it absorbed straight into. Kairi's chest glowed as the light glowed through her white tank top.
"Sora! Soraaa!" Donald was running towards his friend who glowed brighter gold now that Kairi's heart had returned to her.
Kairi's eyes opened back up at the sound of his name being shouted. "Sora?" She whispered. Kairi sat up and looked next to her at the boy whose actions she had just witnessed through his own eyes. She knew exactly what was happening, which was why panic covered her face even as she finally regained her own heart.
Kairi pushed down on the floor at her sides. Smoker reached towards Sora and his arm started turning to Smoke. Luffy finally found strength in his legs and ran towards Sora who had a satisfied smile lifting on his face while he started falling backwards off his feet. His eyes had opened for a second and he saw Kairi sitting up in the corner of his vision. He could not help but smile as he saw it, even in a moment when his heart was no longer beating. Bright golden light shimmered all around Sora's body, and Kairi sprinted towards him the second she got up to her feet. "Sora!" She called out.
Kairi ran right to him and put her arms behind his back to catch him as he fell. Her arms touched Sora…
And he shattered.
Everyone looking towards Sora in horror gasped. Nami covered her mouth with her hands and then dropped down to her knees. Usopp's right arm held out in front of him trembled as he reached for the empty space where shards of light just scattered and flew up into the air as they dispersed.
"This, can't be," Chopper whispered while tears stayed stuck in his frozen-wide eyes that could not believe what he just saw.
Tears did flow down Robin's face though. Her head bowed in pain again that she felt in her heart that was finally whole again, and yet hurt as much as it did a minute ago before she got it back. "Sora," Robin whispered.
"No- No! Sora! Get back here!" Luffy yelled up into the air.
Smoker's smoke arm returned back to normal as he was too slow to reach the kid. Not that grabbing onto him would have done anything anyway. "He, saved her," Tashigi whispered behind him while staring with shaking eyes past Smoker towards where the girl now stood in Sora's place.
"He sacrificed himself to do it," Smoker muttered. Then he turned his head and looked towards the dark Keyhole. Everyone had been so focused on Sora that he almost missed it. Even he had cared more about the kid as Sora fell, but he was also the quickest to look back at the Keyhole that no longer had the sparking energy in front of it. Nothing's blocking the door anymore. He did exactly what Ansem needed him to. And now no one has a Keyblade to stop him. This isn't good.
He saved her heart without the darkness. Zoro's eyes were as massive as everyone else's. He protected her. Even though it meant completing the Keyhole…
"Sora!" Donald yelled while running right up next to Kairi and looking up into the bright sparkles that floated up and away. "Come back, Sora!" Donald yelled while jumping to try and get closer to his disappearing friend.
"Sora? Are you really…" Kairi stared up in horror like everyone else. She reached up a hand to her chest but winced in pain as she no longer felt him. She shook her head around anyway though and denied it. "No. He can't be! I won't let him go!"
The castle around them shook. The floor under their feet vibrated. A dark portal swirled to life on the platform that everyone was still just staring above in faint hopes that Sora might reappear at any second. They turned towards that portal where low footsteps echoed out from. No one recognized the tan-skinned figure who came stepping out of the shadows. Emerging from the darkness. Smirking at them in a way they did recognize though, just like his voice that no longer had Riku's overlapped in it, "So, you have awakened at last, Princess."
"Ansem," Smoker growled. He was going to stop this villain's plans anyway, and yet it felt a lot more personal now as he balled his fists furiously at his sides.
Luffy's head turned sideways. His huge distraught eyes continued to shake as he looked at the man who just smirked at him then continued while waving an arm towards the heart on the wall. "The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose."
"Where's Sora?" Luffy asked. He curled his own fists and swung one to the side while yelling at the evil man, "What happened to him?!"
"Gone. As you will be soon," Ansem remarked coldly back at them. "All of you have served your purpose. Delivering me my goal." Ansem's dark orange eyes narrowed forward at his enemies. He wore a black jacket over a gray cloak with white belts on the front under his opened shirt that exposed his muscular chest. In the center of his chest was the red and black symbol of the Heartless. His silver hair fell long and straight behind his back. He was unarmed, and yet as he started marching towards Donald, Goofy, Smoker, Luffy, and Kairi, not one of them considered the possibility that this man was weakened.
"Don't take another step!" Donald yelled.
"Can we take him?" Goofy wondered with a look to either side.
The castle shook around them again. Sanji turned his head while about to run at this bastard's back, and he looked down into the lower hall where Beast had dropped into and run up to one of the glass cases. "Guys," Sanji began in a low and nervous voice.
Ansem marched towards his enemies including the Straw Hat captain whose legs were weak below him. "Sora's…" Luffy was trying to wrap his head around it. He looked back up in the air, then down at Ansem who he felt so much rage at. Ansem had not killed Sora though. He watched Sora stab himself, and so the biggest emotion he felt right now was just despair. Luffy started lifting his fists but dropped down to his right knee with a cough, feeling weaker than even after using both Gears at once one too many times. After that gold light snapped, Luffy thought, imagining how the connection between him and Sora had broken and made him feel even weaker.
Smoker stomped forward past Donald and Goofy. Ansem kept glaring past all three of them though and straight at Kairi who took a fearful step back while looking into Ansem's eyes that were done with her. Then Ansem froze. Everyone stared confusedly towards the man who stopped for some reason instead of attacking.
"Ah- ah- What? Impossible!"
Ansem was being held back by something. Some invisible force had frozen him in place before he could try to hurt Kairi. A golden light shimmered in front of Ansem, and Luffy's eyes illuminated while a smile grew on his face. "So-" Luffy started.
A person appeared in that light. It was not Sora though. Riku was hunched forward in the light. He looked translucent, and he was gripping his chest in pain but threw both arms out to the sides while standing between Ansem and those he had been marching towards. "No! You won't use me for this!"
"Riku!" Kairi yelled out.
"F-Fight it!" Usopp shouted as he realized that Ansem might look different but was still inside of Riku's body somehow.
Smoker balled his fists even tighter and covered them in Haki. I should attack now. While Ansem is being held back. It might be my only chance!
"You've got to run!" Riku yelled at the people in front of him though. Smoker hesitated and looked down at the boy's face. He thought of this boy as an enemy, yet Riku was back in his normal yellow shirt and looked afraid for them as he leaned their direction while still holding Ansem back. "The Heartless are coming!"
As soon as he said it, a dozen Shadows emerged out of the ground around the top platform. The pirates and Marines spun either way and looked down the steps as more Heartless appeared on them. The castle shook again, and dark wisps came out of the Keyhole while Ansem struggled harder against Riku who pushed right back against him.
"I can't hold him back! You need to go!" Riku's half-invisible glowing arms shook and Ansem's mouth started curving up into a smile.
Only at that moment did Luffy dart his eyes around and realize the situation they were in. Tashigi stumbled backwards and called for Smoker's help as her side of the stairs where she stood alone had way too many Heartless at it, and Zoro was not helpful collapsed on hands and knees. Chopper was out of action, and they were out of healing supplies, and they were injured, and he could barely move himself. I'm not going to just lose Sora! Luffy thought. He was terrified by the thought of it, and he rose his head back up and saw Riku look down from Kairi to his face this time. "Please, Luffy. Get her out of here. It's- ah, all you can do for him now."
"Guys," Luffy pushed his fists down on the ground then looked back towards Kairi who he saw nodding her head towards Riku. She was reluctant to leave him, but she agreed not to let this effort be in vain. Luffy looked around towards his crew then lifted his Straw Hat on top of his head and turned away from Ansem who had only apparently left to give Sora time to finish the Keyhole for him. The Heartless were just being held back, and now they were released all at once on the crew too tired to handle this right now. Luffy looked towards his crew and yelled at the top of his lungs, "RUN AWAY!"
A/N Hope you enjoyed! Sora fights Riku/Ansem and obtains Master Form in mid-battle when he needs both Valor and Wisdom at once. He defeats his opponent but completes the Keyhole when he frees Kairi and the other Princesses' hearts. Sora breaks apart afterwards too, and Ansem reemerges in his true form, now with the Keyhole completed... Parallels to Sabaody at the end here as Luffy realizes Sora's not going to be the only person he loses, and he yells at his crew to run before the Heartless can swarm them. Will they be able to escape the castle? Save Sora? Stop Ansem?! Find out... whenever I finish and post BLP 36! XD