Final Fantasy XV - Kingdom Hearts

Part 84

Summary: Two warriors of Light, the Chosen King and Keyblade Master, face an unseen Darkness.

Unity. Perfect synchronization. Three hearts working as one.

This is what anyone who witnesses the battle unfolds would describe the bond between the three islanders.

Sora and Xehanort's keyblades clash in the air while above the raging ocean, flashes of sparks so bright you could see them even standing on the other isolated islands with force so powerful the vibrations reached the other islands. With Sora's multiple swords at his beck and call against Xehanort's darkness and raw power, the battle of light and darkness reaching its peak. Flying backward from the boy, Xehanort shoots tendrils of dark flames at the boy.

Only for Sora's telepathically controlled swords to swing in the air with such power and force, they blew out the tendrils, allowing the chosen hero to dash in the air at Xehanort. The seeker of the darkness meets his nemesis' keyblade with his, halting his attacks and throws his key off himself. Sora then vanishes before his eyes and now Riku flies towards Xehanort with his left hand enlarged and demon-like. He grabbed the old man, flying them both back onto the main island and planted the old man into a wall.

Pinned in the wall, staring down the violet-eyed master before him, Xehanort growls and uses darkness to blast Riku off him and cast him to call to the other levels. As Riku falls, Kairi soars past him and aims her keyblade at the old man, shooting several barrages of fire at him. Xehanort meets her spell with an armada of ice that collided with hers, either the flames melted the ice, or the ice froze the fire. Neither opposing elements reaching their target, but only one side had numbers beyond their spells.

From above Sora dives down upon the old man, bringing his keyblade upon his back and slammed the old man into the street below them. Smashing into the pavement with a thud, Xehanort returned to his feet and aims his hand at the two guardians above and fires a large spread shot of darkness at them shaped like spikes, covering so much of the space and almost trapping them. Kairi quickly dashes in front of Sora and erects a beautiful barrier to shield them, the blasts knocking them higher in the air and further from the old man.

On the ground, Xehanort turns around to meet with Riku's keyblade, the oldest amongst the trio unrelenting his attacks. He struck the master with controlled strikes that started to wear on the old man, even forcing him to resort using both hands this time. Riku took pride in this, the fact the man who is hailed as the strongest keyblade master of all worlds was forced to use two hands for the first time showed him how much of his strength was fading and how far the trio was pushing him.

Xehanort and Riku's hands locked when they both tried to grab the other, their darkness clashing and fighting for dominance while their keyblades locked. Teeth gritting as the younger master tries to overpower the heartless man had led him down the dark path, Riku tries to fight back but Xehanort smirked cruelly. Slowly Xehanort's darkness begins to overwhelm Riku's darkness, burning his flesh and earning hisses of pain from the younger man. Then to save himself, Riku reels his head back and with all his reckless adrenaline, he slams his head into the old man.

With a grunt of pain and a sound of cracking, Xehanort relinquishes his grip on the boy's hand, allowing Riku to elbow him in the jaw with his freed arm. He knocks aside the keyblade and finally lands a strike on the old man, with one-handed strikes he beats the old man with all the anger instilled in him by the old man's selfish curiosity. One upward strike sends the old man back to the air, while he yells out for the two fellow masters to join him.

Like appearing from thin air, Kairi and Sora both dashed towards to old man from opposite sides, bypassing the old man six times whilst striking him with their joint light, and upon the seventh they both appeared before him and together struck him with their keyblades, sending him flying further into the town. Kairi raises her keyblade and aims it to the sky, lightning dancing around the tip of the key while Sora flies towards the old man as dark clouds of magic gathered for the mage.

Xehanort falls to the ground on his feet, digging his heels into the cobblestone and ripping the earth. He grunts and hacks out blood from his lips, baring his teeth as Sora reaches him. Sora quickly changes out of his Ultimate Form and goes into his Blitz Form, equipping himself with ice skates and gauntlets. Moving swiftly in the air, Sora performs a set of hit and run tactics on the old man, constantly attacking from one spot then move too quickly for Xehanort to properly retaliate.

When his feet touch the ground, Sora skirts around the old man whilst being chased down by balls of darkness that explode upon impact. Flipping and performing ice skating gymnastics, Sora shoots chards of ice at Xehanort while on the run. He leaps over a bench before it is obliterated into nothing, hops on a railing leading up a flight of stairs that is demolished by the darkness, and then leaps onto a building. He quickly jumps off it when it was bathed in darkness and no sooner when his feet were no longer touching the ground, the building collapses under the dark pressure.

Sora reverts to his normal form and with Ultima in hand, he flips and aims his keyblade. Only to be enveloped in a barrier of darkness, keeping him in place. Surprised and horrified, Sora tries to break free, slowly the barrier grows smaller and smaller, forcing him to curl into a ball. Below him with his hand darkening, Xehanort smirked smugly as the barrier slowly squeezes the boy, granting him a very gruesome death for sure but after all the trouble Sora had caused his plans, a fitting one.

But the seeker of darkness's attempts to rid the worlds of the boy was stopped by the armored princess of light, who is right before the old man like she just appeared from thin air. His eyes widened in shock, shamed he didn't even sense her getting within an inch close to him. Keyblade gripped in both armored hands, bathed in lightning, Kairi swings the keyblade with all the might in her arms and slammed the keyblade into the old man's stomach. Not only did Kairi slam with the strength of an airship going a thousand miles per hour, but the lighting sunk into the old man's body.

Xehanort gasps as the air is knocked out of his lungs, a loud booming like thunder roared upon impact as if Kairi had struck him with thunder itself. Kairi then struck the old man with three more hits, each one heavier and just as powerful as thunder combined with the vengeful strikes of one who has lost someone dear to them. Kairi jumps back as Xehanort staggered back, throwing her keyblade to the barrier trapping Sora. While her keyblade flies to rescue her lover, her hands are glowing in white light and then clapping them together, Kairi's armor shines.

A wall of blue shells with a dome of red shines around her while four colors representing the four elements flutter around her in the form of spheres. Her keyblade stabbed into the barrier, piercing it. It crackles and breaks apart after a burst of light from Sora, who falls to the ground with Ultima in hand. Kairi aims her right hand at him and encases him in the same number of magical wards as herself, ensuring his safety before her keyblade reappears in her hand again. Nodding to his girlfriend, Sora rushes towards Xehanort while Kairi charges from the rear.

Xehanort though warps before their very eyes and reappears behind Kairi. He grabbed the back of her helmet and slams her face-first into the ground with a loud smashing noise, breaking the earth beneath her helmet and likely her skull were it not encased in armor and magical barriers. He tosses her aside and into a building with amazing strength despite his wounds and prolonged battling, removing her from the fight for now and facing only Sora.

Until Riku emerges from behind him using his darkness enhanced speed to catch him off guard. Xehanort turns just in the nick of time to slam his keyblade against Riku's and use his free hand to catch Sora's. Trapped in the middle of two meddlers of his plans, Xehanort stares down both as they, with eyes alit with determination and anger, glared at him with gritted teeth. He didn't have to think long of a plan, because like before, reappearing in front of him was Kairi.

She blasts him with her keyblade, shooting a bolt of light that sends him flying across the empty park and through another building, which leads him to land in the docks like before. He rolls on the ground before teleporting onto his feet, and when he stood back up, the trio was already right in front of him. Kairi's visor however shows cracks and even a few pieces had broken off, resilient and far more dense than even Aqua's from years ago.

Kairi then charges at him, only to be gut-punched by a rising pillar of stone and is lifted high into the air while her boys dash around Xehanort's pillar. Sora and Riku land on opposite sides of the old man and both rushed in to strike. The three keys clashed with Xehanort dancing around their attacks with master footwork, his powers against the two was enough to match even two masters. Yet Riku and Sora still land hits on him while combing their efforts in the assault, their speed starting to outpace Xehanort.

The master smacked Riku's keyblade out of his hand, turns and slammed his palm into Sora's chest, firing a dark firaga upon impact and blasted the chosen hero across the battleground. Once Sora was removed from the attack, he turns back to Riku and brings down the keyblade that struck down Eraqus upon the master. Riku sidesteps the attack and with his right fist channeling darkness, he struck Xehanort in the jaw, causing him stagger and become dazed. The young silver-haired master then uppercuts him straight into his jaw, launching him into the air.

As Xehanort is flying upward, Kairi dives from the rising pillar. Upside down she faces him through her cracked visor, and at once they exchanged blows from their keyblades while hovering on the spot. Xehanort manages to knock Kairi further down the pillar and while she descends, he shoots three large fireballs at her. Kairi flips in the air and grabbed onto the pillar, hand digging into the stone while her armored boots buried themselves to keep her from falling while splitting the stone. She stops her fall and with a burst of Flowmotion, she rockets herself back to Xehanort.

The fireballs struck her and detonated with a thunderous bang, smoke covering the air. Kairi shoots out of the smoke completely unscathed by the attack, and when she reached the old man, she gives him a bitter taste of his own medicine by aiming her keyblade and firing at point-blank a Firaza right into the older man's stomach. The explosion from this attack demolishes the tower of stone and the blast throws both keyblade masters away from each other, Xehanort to the sky while Kairi rockets back to the ground.

She manages to flip and land on her feet with a heavy thud, cracking the earth beneath her feet and almost buckled her knee from the impact. Looking up, she sees Xehanort, much to her dismay, healing himself. Just how much magic did this old man have left?

As the pillar crumbles and breaks apart, debris falling from the sky above, Xehanort raises his empty hand and suddenly the debris halts their fall and is shrouded in darkness. With a wave of his hand, they all gathered up and danced in the air, creating a wind tunnel of debris along with whatever building that was broken apart getting sucked up. The tunnel carrying the debris was then hunting Kairi, forcing the youngest to make a run for it.

Kairi jumps and dodges the thrown debris, occasionally aiming her keyblade to blast an oncoming piece of the buildings into oblivion and uses several low bridges to try and make the tunnel break itself chasing her, using the waterways' tight and narrow corridors to escape. She runs up a wall as the tunnel chases her, and once she manages to run up the very top, Sora runs past her and falls to the tunnel chasing her. He changes into his Ultimate Form and with all his swords, he eviscerates the debris like they were nothing but paper, freeing Kairi from the pursuit.

Once lands on the street, he looks up to her and sees the girl was already leaping across the buildings to re-join the clash against Xehanort. Without missing a beat, Sora follows suit.

Together they arrived to see Riku and Xehanort fighting above the ocean with several raised platforms of the streets of Scale ad Caelum. The two masters fight on a single platform while dark lightning dances in the skies, striking the other platforms and tiny pieces of land as the users of darkness clash. Kairi and Sora managed to jump onto the floating islands, Flowmotion working overtime and upon landing on the same battleground, they both joined Riku's side.

Kairi intervenes between the two to hold back a swipe from Xehanort's keyblade, and Sora manages to strike him in the back with a two-handed strike, cutting into the master before him. Xehanort snarls in pain but with Sora's attack catching him off guard, Kairi and Riku took this chance to knock aside his keyblade, and at perfect timing, both struck him with their keys. Slashing down from his shoulders to his hips in an X patterned strike. Their united strike knocked him back from them, giving them some breathing space.

On the edge of the platform, Xehanort sees Sora and Riku running at him. He swings his keyblade at them, firing six giant arcs of darkness that carved their way through the ground to them. Sora and Riku dodged and weaved around the attacks while Kairi warp-struck through them and by the time she materialized before the seeker, her most precious lights were already close enough to Xehanort for their united attack.

From above Kairi brings down her keyblade while from the right Riku stabs forward and from the left Sora swings his keyblade at him. Xehanort times their joint attack perfectly and managed to wedge his keyblade to hold all three keys from extracting more blood from his form. But even this was proving to be more strenuous than he ever anticipated because all three keys almost overwhelmed him, the light of their bond almost crushed his dark power.

The trio of masters pressed down on him, metal groaning as the ground beneath the old man cracked. He growls as his eyes take on an ominous violet glow and with a roar, a powerful gust of power blows the trio from him, throwing Kairi in the sky while the boys were skidding on the ground. Xehanort aims his hand at Kairi, encasing her form in a dark aura and holding her in the air like a puppet, then he slams her into the ground, slams her into flying debris before she is thrown through a flying island and falls back down to the ruined town below them.

A cry of rage tips off the old man and granted him enough time to raise a barrier to shield himself. Sora's keyblade smashes into the barrier, the teeth breaking through it but is caught between the magic. Until Sora's swords, all plummet into the barrier and shatters it, exposing Xehanort and gets one sword impaling his right shoulder, earning a yell of pain. Sora charges forward, taking himself and Xehanort off the platform and together they fall towards the ocean.

The dark master kicked the boy in the stomach during their fall, knocking the wind out of him and freeing himself. He grabbed Sora's neck and turns them around so Sora's back was facing the waters, where his remains could join the fallen king. Except Riku had joined their fall and grabbed the back of Xehanort's head with his right hand, and with a cry, Riku squeezes his skull whilst injecting darkness into his head.

Xehanort bellows in pain, forced to release the boy so he could focus on Riku. He teleports the two of them above the island where the guardians had fallen. He frees himself from Riku's grasp by using force magic to throw him off, making the boy careen to the large tower overlooking the town. He lands on the wall of the tower, knees bent with one hand down on the tower, a large crater formed upon landing and in seconds the tower collapses just as he leaps off it to battle Xehanort.

Riku roars as his body is enveloped in darkness while cloaking his keyblade in black flames. Xehanort throws more arcs of darkness at the boy, but Riku's cloak of darkness shields him from the attack, the arc phasing through him like they were nothing but wind. He closes the gap between himself and Xehanort, striking him with a flaming keyblade four times and then with a fifth hit, knocks the old man to fly down back to the earth. Instead of following him, Riku grits his teeth as his darkness manifests and begins to grow.

"I'll end it…here…", he grunts out as his eyes take a violet glow, darkness cloaking his form. Grabbing his keyblade with both hands, he channels every ounce of darkness within his heart, the darkness spreading from his body as if he were growing vampiric wings. Riku roars before he dives down to Xehanort like an arrow of the darkness, closing the distance within two seconds. He strikes through Xehanort, then from the corner, the left, behind, and every direction that was possible for the boy to exploit.

Darkness and steel cutting into the old man, every bit of anger within Riku's attacks, all the pain this man had caused him, and his friends were poured into this attack. Riku re-appears above the seeker of darkness, his keyblade held upside down with both hands grasping it. He plunges the keyblade onto Xehanort, together with falling back to the streets like an anchor. As soon as they hit the ground, the entire island shook underneath Riku's power as a pillar of darkness erupts from where they landed.

To the absolute dismay of Riku, his keyblade did not pierce Xehanort's chest. Held back by the keyblade wielded by the man who brought so much ruination and destruction, Riku's keyblade was uselessly held in place. With a curse and desperation overtaken his senses, Riku desperately tries to press down and stab the old man, yet his limbs couldn't grant him the strength he desperately begged for. His heartfelt lighter and weaker, the darkness at an all-time low.

"It would seem you've overestimated your power…boy", lectures Xehanort with a smug look on his face. Easy as it was to trick Terra, Xehanort lifts Riku's keyblade off him with barely any effort put into this act, and once Riku's key was no longer pointing at the old man's chest, Xehanort blasts him with a fully charged dark Firaza. The explosion throws Riku into a building wall, burying himself in it as his keyblade flies from his hand and far from his grasp. Riku groans in pain, spitting blood, and feeling the burning sensation burn his chest.

He forces himself to remove himself from the wall, but no sooner does he accomplish this he falls to his knees, hands on the ground to support himself. But nothing could replenish his strength, the dark power he used had run completely dry and with exhaustion and pain, his body couldn't handle much more of this constant battle. His arms shake and wobbles like he was trying to hold up a boulder on his back, vision hazy and disorientated.

Riku grunts out in pain, his neck grabbed by the old man and lifted uselessly like a doll. Defiantly glaring at Xehanort even broken as he was, Riku watches the old man's brows furrowed in contemplation. "Once I had considered you a perfect vessel, and had you not made the darkness within your heart, you could've been the one I sought over Sora", he says with a semblance of disappointment, "But in the end, it didn't matter, did it?".

Riku weakly grabbed the hand holding his neck, baring his blood-stained teeth, and said: "Like I'd work for you again…". Xehanort barks a laugh from his cruel smirk, almost amused by the bravado the boy still had even in his state. "Indeed…such a rebellious youth would never have worked well for us…too wild, too much of a loose cannon", Xehanort remarks, "And a failure…". Slowly a dark pool forms beneath Riku's feet, the master sensing the dark world was calling him.

"Perhaps a trip to the dark world will help you expand your horizons? Certainly a better fate than what has befallen your friends, isn't it?", cockily mocks the old man. Riku grunts in defiance as the old man slowly loosens his grip on him, but Riku's body shines in the light and the power burns Xehanort's hand forcing him to let go. Riku does not fall into the pool as the light dries it out like a burning sun drying up a lake and is instead on his knees, encased in a familiar set of armor. Helmet and all.

Xehanort turns around to see the princess marching towards him, looking no better than her boys. Clothes ripped and torn with her arms bare, bracelets missing with scuff marks and tears in her boots, the hood was torn off. Cuts on her arms and legs with several bruises, on her face, there is a lone cut down her left eye with another just above her right eyebrow, yet the girl stood tall like a beacon of light. Joining her side, Sora leaps down from above, stumbling as he reverts to his normal form.

"You're not separating anyone", Kairi says defiantly, "Not while me and Sora have anything to say about it". Xehanort scoffs before he uses his darkness to levitate Riku and without even looking, chucks him aside from the level they stood on. Sora calls Riku's name out in fear but Kairi catches his arm to stop him. He snaps back at her, but her stern and confident gaze halt any words of protest. "A fall won't kill Riku so long as he's donning my armor", assures the princess of light. She turns her gaze towards Xehanort and says: "Right now, we need to focus on this".

Sora's worried looks fade away into a stern glare with a nod, turning back to Xehanort. Together they called their keyblades back to their hands as Xehanort takes up his stance once again.

Together Sora and Kairi dashed towards the old man, keyblades swung at once and collides with his. Their joint attack is more than even Xehanort expected, knocking him into the air despite his keyblade holding the attack, and as he is tossed to the air, Kairi shoots her Rays of Light at him whilst Sora jumps to him. The old man swipes his hand across from himself, a wave of darkness shielding him from the darkness while Sora performs front flips over it and clashes him.

Sora unleashes a frenzied flurry of attacks upon the man who had taken so much from his friends, Ultima clashing with the dark keyblade. Sparks shining so bright it acted like a beacon of a lighthouse, their collision of steel sending vibrations into the world around them. Sora locks keyblades with Xehanort just as Kairi appears from above and falls while grabbing her keyblade in both hands. Xehanort throws the boy off him to block Kairi's ambush. While in the air, he struck Kairi aside and as she flew towards a building, he shoots dark lightning at her.

Kairi flips in the air and aims her keyblade at the charging bolt of white and black lightning. "AEROGUN!", she loudly shouts. A monstrous green hurricane erupts in the air between her and Xehanort, trapping the lighting and creating a small hurricane of lighting. The spells burst, sending them both farther apart, Sora flying towards Xehanort. Kairi lands on another level of the town, feet digging into the cobblestone, and just barely managed to stop herself from slamming into a building. She takes a sharp breath and rushes back to join the fray.

Descending to the docks, Xehanort and Sora fight on still with the boy striking at him with all the might he had accumulated throughout his journey. He flips over the old man in the air, using Aqua's lessons to grab his collar and throw him further down the island's levels. Xehanort slammed into a tower, breaking through the wall as Sora dives after him. He spins his keyblade in hand, spins in the air, and swings the weapon to Xehanort.

Xehanort catches his breath in time to strike at the keyblade. Their keys clashed with a thunderous boom, the shockwave so powerful it made the tower collapses around them while above the ceiling was blown into the skies. Sora pushes him off and swings again, except Xehanort vanished before his eyes and reappears farther from the boy. He raised his hand, bathed in a golden fiery light, and then four pillars of flames roar around the boy. Sora tries to escape but his body freezes in place as if someone had paralyzed him.

Outlining his body is a white sheen, his body stiffened and unmoving. The pillars all converge and nearly condense into one mighty pillar with Sora entrapped. Kairi suddenly appears by his side and with a yell, she shields them with a golden barrier of light just as the pillar consumes them both. The inhuman heat enshrouds them, the intense heat so monstrous it was like they were thrown into a volcano, and the barrier itself would have melted their hands if they so much as grazed it with their palm.

Kairi, however, grits her teeth as she draws more mana from within her, and slowly her body shines with the same light the barrier was shining with. Kairi opens her arms and stretches them out, the barrier turns into a pillar of light that rocketed beyond the clouds as the light turns the flames into the divine light. Her magic frees Sora from the strange paralyzes inflicting his body, and together they both vanish.

Reappearing before Xehanort, keyblades raised high, they struck the old man at once, hitting him on his shoulders and finally returning him to the ground. He lands on his feet as they dive after him, and no sooner did the tips of their shoes tap the ground, they rocketed themselves to the old man. The three keyblades struck at each other with lightning fast speeds and blows as strong as thunder, two powerful lights against world-ending darkness.

The two wielders of the keyblade on the side of light were in perfect sync, a feat Xehanort himself could not disregard easily. Whenever Sora was exposed, Kairi is there to shield him or take over the assault, and whenever the girl was about to be harmed Sora seemingly appears out of nowhere and takes over. Their attacks were so well coordinated and calculated as if they were conducting plans before they even knew what to do, even if one was hurt the other took over and vice versa.

Xehanort' key slashed Sora's cheek and forced the boy to reel back in pain, Kairi immediately rushed in between them and slams her keyblade at him. Her divine keyblade matching the strongest key, she dances, exchanging blows with the old man despite her smaller and weaker form in comparison. A strike across his chest was her prize and vengeance for her boyfriend, but Xehanort shoots back with a bone-breaking elbow.

Struck in the jaw, Kairi is knocked off her feet and onto her back, her world spinning with intense throbbing and pain shocking her nerves. Xehanort tries to blast her with darkness, only to have Sora appear between them and shoots him with a burst of magic that destroys the darkness and almost hits Xehanort. The old man backhands the spell aside as if it were nothing and stabbed at the boy. Sora parries it and swings back to Xehanort's neck, but the seeker of darkness uses the darkness to armor his hand and punched the keyblade down.

Sora's keyblade is stabbed into the ground, leaving him exposed and vulnerable. Xehanort swings his keyblade to the boy's neck but is interrupted by Kairi jumping and holding back his keyblade with hers. In the air, Kairi flips as Sora yanks his keyblade out of the ground, and with one uppercut, he struck Xehanort, knocking him back into the air. But before Sora could give chase, Xehanort, during his ascension, he uses his magic to grab the boy telepathically and brings him up with him. Kairi calls his name in fear as they both ascend to the skies.

Quickly Kairi begins to run and parkour around the ruined town, gathering energy into Flowmotion. Using the broken ruined town like a playground, Kairi gathers more and more magic from her skill mobility, until she shined so brightly it was like she was the human manifestation of Flowmotion magic. She then starts to scale a half-broken tower with new speed she had never been able to pull off in the past, shining so bright. Once her foot touched the broken tower, she propels herself like a human rocket up after Xehanort.

Holding Sora a prisoner, wounded and almost at death's door, Xehanort revels in his prize. The last true defense of the realm of light, and as much as it hurt his pride to say it, the true threat to his goals. No one, not even Eraqus had come this close to defeating him. Aqua's power is nothing to laugh at and where she is more experienced and strong as he is, she could have been a successor to his mantle, but this boy before him is an enigma beyond even his wisdom.

Uniting several powerful vessels from the light, defying fate time and time again, and finally pushing Xehanort on the edge of failure. The battle is over, and without Sora to inspire these fools, no one would dare try and stop him now. "You have proven yourself boy…I have underestimated your tenacity", he praised darkly with keeping his anger in check. "But you will not defy destiny any further, your fate is written".

Sora struggled against this prison as Xehanort raises his keyblade to deal the final blow, to strike down the boy who has challenged fate for too long. As the spell breaks and Sora is just about to fall, Kairi soars between them and pulls Sora into a protective hug.

Just as Xehanort's blade comes down.

A slash cuts into Kairi's back, a burst of red spurts from her as her eyes and mouth open with shock and pain, yet she makes no soundbar a sharp breath. Sora's skin turns ashen as his eyes drank in the horror of the sight that befalls him. The two are thrown forward and fall together, Kairi unwillingly and subconsciously releases Sora from her arms as they fall, her body limply rolling the air. Sora screams her name and dives after her, catching her in time as Xehanort aims at the two and shoots one final ball of darkness at them.

Grabbing Kairi, Sora holds her against him with one arm, and with his keyblade, he roars and shoots one ball of light at Xehanort's attack. The two balls of opposing forces explode upon contact, a ring of energy stretches across the sky and seas, the shockwave blasting both opposing sides away. Sora and Kairi roll in the air as they fall, he sees they were heading for a tower in the distance. He turns his back against it with Kairi held close to his chest, he slammed through the building and holding her as tight as he could, he rolls along the floor and rubble.

One bounce with all the pain in his body forcing him to release Kairi, he rolls around the ground before coming to a painfully slow stop, rolling on the jagged and pointy rubble. Groaning in pain as he forces himself up onto his elbows, Sora turns to Kairi's still form, cries her name out in fear. He scrambles to her and quickly holds her up while on his knees, looking at her form. His hands are seeped in her blood, making him ruefully lift her to assess her wounds.

His heartbreaks.

A long slash reaching to her hip, clothes torn asunder and cake in her shiny red liquid. Too much blood he thinks, panics. "J-Just hold on! I'll…I'll heal you!", he pleads, helping her sit up as his hand glows green. He places his hand on her back, touching the wound yet Kairi doesn't whimper nor give out any signs of pain, furthering the fear that…no, he tries as hard as he could to avoid that thought.

His magic fizzles and green tendrils flutter around the girl, but nothing happens. Bits of her flesh is slowly knitting itself back together but not fast enough to stop the bleeding. "No…NO! NO!", cries Sora, "Come on! Heal! CURAGA! CURAGA!".

His hand shook as the fear clutches his heart, his magic so low from all the fighting and that last attack to protect himself and her may have taken away any chances of saving her. He shakes her and lowers her to look at her pale sleeping face, tears rushing down his eyes. "Kairi! Kairi, please wake up!", he begs, shaking. "Come on! Y-You can't! This shouldn't do you in! You're stronger than this! You're stronger…than me…", he whimpers.

The sound of feet landing catches his ears, and when he turns, he sees Riku falling to the ground with a thud and a groan. The master and oldest amongst the trio slowly got to his feet, unarmoured and looking far less than ready for battle. He clutched his right arm in pain as he drags himself to Sora, but when he saw Kairi's form, he grits his teeth and speed walks to the two. Once there, he kneels and helps Sora sit her up.

"No…this…", Riku gasped, horrified by the sight.

"Riku…please, tell me you can save her", begged Sora.

"I'm…out of mana", confessed the older boy.

Sora shakes his head and holds the slowly dying girl in his arms tighter, whimpering. Riku stares at Kairi's wound, then to Sora, and finally to the highest point on the island, where Xehanort would likely reside. They were out of options, and worst of all out of guardians. Noctis, himself, Kairi, and even Aqua were completely out of the battle, and more so for Gladiolus and the other four. As he is now, his darkness is the only ace he had left in the proverbial hole…

Closing his eyes, he takes a sharp breath and when he opens them, he looks at his best friend. "Start healing her", he orders, taking Sora's hand and delicately placing it on Kairi's wound. Sora opens his mouth, likely to tell him his healing didn't work but Riku places his own on Sora's hand. "I can use the darkness to amplify your magic but only for ten seconds", he stresses, "Focus on healing this, and nothing else". Sora tries again but Riku silences him with this final warning.

"If you don't focus, then Kairi dies! So shut up and DO IT!", ordered the older boy.

Quietly and obediently, Sora resumes his attempt to save his precious light. Green tendrils connect to Kairi's wound while Riku's hand is shrouded in darkness. The chosen hero feels power pouring into him like his entire form had been rejuvenated. Any exhaustion or pain sustained from all the fights had left him like he hadn't fought at all today. With revised power, Sora pours every ounce of this strength within his magic and pours all of it into saving Kairi.

Slowly they see the wound closing in a much faster rate, closing that jagged and horrible scar as the flesh knits itself together. When it reached her hip, both hands from the boys fall in a slump, drained. Sora pants and looks at Riku, who then falls against the wall, looking so drained the chosen hero panicked. Did he have to sacrifice Riku to save Kairi or worse?

Riku waves off his worries and says: "I…I can't…use anymore…".

Sora opened his mouth but then Kairi stirs in his arms, prompting him to look her. The princess weakly opens her eyes, yet they were dull and so weak she had trouble keeping them open. Sora could sense her power is at an all-time low, there is nothing left for her to use to even stand up and with the wound, likely lost so much blood she wouldn't be fit to fight anymore. She glances up at Sora and tries to whisper his name, but even that is too much for her. Sora holds her close to him, breath hitched as Riku looks down in defeat.

"…we couldn't stop him in the end…huh?", Riku sighs before a rueful chuckle escaped him, "Even with all ten of us…we still lost".

Sora and Riku looked to the skies, the darkness gathering and soon enough Xehanort would use the X-Blade to unlock Kingdom Hearts. All worlds will be swallowed in darkness, and he will be able to satisfy his greatest curiosity while bringing doom upon the realms. Looking to his light, seeing the look of defeat in her eyes as she weakly clings to Sora, then to his best friend who sat there in misery, failure etched on his face. Thoughts of those who went so far with him, who stood by him through the worst of it all.

Mickey and the others are keeping their side clear for them, Roxas, Axel, and Xion risking their recent reunion to help him prevent a great tragedy, Terra and Ventus likely fighting with all their might so that they could see the future with Aqua again. All the people who had helped him, the RC lending their strengths to him in their hour of need, Cindy going through an adventure never planned to be their transporter throughout the worlds.

Donald and Goofy putting themselves between him and Xehanort to keep him safe, Ignis, Gladiolus, and Prompto still fighting on despite being outclassed because they believe in them. Aqua throwing her life to the winds to help them defeat the man who had wrought so much destruction and pain to their lives. Everyone who helped him, those who put their very hearts on the line for him to succeed in this battle, to reach the end of this journey he was unknowingly put on.

Naminé and Lunafreya's faces shined his heart for a moment, furthering the losses of their side and further strengthening his heart by their loyalty and faith in him and the other guardians. Noctis' smirk, though playful but kind and strong shines next, and with a gesture of his hand encouraging him, he whispers:

"You're the one who will open the door".

Opening his eyes, Sora glanced at Kairi. He leans in and captures her lips, for what could be for the final time. Breaking it, he brushed her cheek with his cheesy smile adorning his face and says: "I'm always with you". Kairi smiles softly at him, her eyes speaking the words she wished she could exchange with him. Slowly though her strength wanes and slumber takes over her body, becoming dead weight in his arms. Sora looks to Riku and gets to his feet, carrying the girl.

He placed Kairi next to him, the older boy looking at him with confusion. Still smiling, Sora gives Riku a gentle look of acceptance and says: "Take care of her".

Riku's eyes open with realization, but he holds his words back. There was no changing Sora's mind, not that he ever could. He steels himself and his heart and nodded to his best friend, his brother. Sora returns the nod to his best friend, turned back to where Xehanort is, and then sprints to the newly made window's ledge, then leaps off it into the final battle. Riku lays against the wall as a lone tear runs down his cheek, a heavy sigh and hitched breath escapes him.

"Sora…I'm so sorry…", he whispers.

*Atop the building*

Sora managed to scale the tall building, reaching the very top of this old world's forgotten building. Ahead of him, Xehanort stands there like he was waiting for his arrival. Xehanort watches him approach him, even as wounded and beaten as both wielders of the keyblade were, though Sora was in a far worse state than even Xehanort. It was still a horrifying thought to Sora that even with ten guardians who have all transcend the limits of humanity, this man was still so close to victory is was a mockery to their efforts.

Sora wasn't even sure if he could win this fight without his friends or with the state he was in. Heck for all he knows he was just walking to his execution and the old man would be the executioner who would extinguish the final light that defied him. But even with fear squeezing his heart, Sora still walked down this road to the crossroads of destiny, all his friends lingering in his heart, their hopes lied upon his heart.

"You persist? Even as you are, boy?", Xehanort asks with a raised scarred brow. Sora flicks his wrist and summons Ultima as he marches to Xehanort. "Things haven't been decided yet, Xehanort", rebuked the boy, "If you want to do whatever you want, you've still gotta beat me first". Xehanort chuckles darkly as they both stood within the ring of the architecture, impressed by the boy's tenacity. "You know that when you fall all worlds will follow you, correct?", asks Xehanort, "Has that sunk in yet? Knowing your failure will damn you, the worlds and all you hold dear?".

"No. Even if I die here, Ven and the others are still here! They'll stop you if I fail!", says Sora. Xehanort laughs mockingly, shaking his head. "Oh? Is that so? And how will they last against me? You saw not even Aqua nor Riku could defeat me! And you foolishly believe weaklings like them would be enough to stop me?", he asks rhetorically, never finding such a sense of humor like Sora's. The chosen boy's eyes darken at the mockery of his friends, but Xehanort raised his right hand, flexing his fingers. "I've tolerated you long enough, Sora. It is time for fate to play its part", he proclaims. A ball of light shines in his hand, it expands and brightens so much even Sora had to block his eyes from the blinding light that Xehanort carried only because of the key to Kingdom Hearts was misplaced in his hands.

Sure enough when the light disappears, in the hands of the wicked man is none other than the X-Blade. Xehanort levitates himself to the air, smirking victoriously at Sora's looks. "There is one sky, one destiny!", he boasts. He raises the X-Blade into the air, and slowly the clouds darken like a horrible storm was coming to destroy the world around them all. A dark wind surrounds the building as rubble flutters around it, entrapping the two masters in their arena where the fate of all shall be decided.

Sora takes up his stance as Xehanort smugly glowers at him. "What now, boy? Here you stand alone against fate, can you still say I will not win?", asks Xehanort. Sora shakes his head and as the thoughts of his friends, both the fallen and those who are still with him, connect with his heart. "I am not alone! I never am, never was and NEVER WILL BE!", boasts Sora, "So long as my friends and I share this connection, our hearts will always be one!".

Xehanort smirks as he raises the X-Blade, gathering light within the weapon. "Your final words? Then take that belief to the beyond with you!", roars Xehanort as he swings the key, shooting a wave of light arcs. Sora raises his keyblade to block it…but a blue light forms a wall in front of Sora and shields him from the attack. Sora's eyes widen with surprise as Xehanort glowers in annoyance, certain Sora didn't have such a pool of mana so deep he could pull off a spell like this.

"Didn't you hear what he said?".

Sora gasps and turns behind him as Xehanort glares darkly. Standing the ledge of the building, discarding his ruined jacket with his keyblade in his hand, with eyes glowing with renewed fire and will, King Noctis glares at the old man.

"He is never alone, no matter what you throw at him", Noctis states with utter confidence as he walks to join his friend. "Keyblade, X-Blade, or whatever you've got, it doesn't matter. None of that power means a damn if all you're gonna do with it is destroy the things that matter", Noctis speaks as he stands beside Sora. He looks to the boy, smirks cockily at the relived look of joy on the hero's face. "What? You thought this old coot killed me that quick? I didn't even get a swing at him yet", Noctis says bemusedly.

"Sides, you promised me we can save Luna and Naminé", he reminds. His eyes darken with resolve and determination, just like Sora's as they both faced Xehanort. "I promised I'd bring Luna home, I'd give her the future she had dreamed of, and I will do my father proud as a king", proclaims Noctis as he and Sora glowed in their light, blue for the king and divine for the chosen wielder of the keyblade. "For everyone who stayed by our side, who gave their lives, place their hopes in us, as the king, I will see this to the end!".

With a burst of the Armiger, Noctis unleashes his Armiger to its fullest potential while Sora dons a combination of his strongest forms. Surrounded by his weapons of his ancestors, while carrying Ultima Blade and Night's Sky in hands with Raksha blade hovering behind him, eyes glowing blue with flickers of crystal dancing around him. For Sora, in one hand is Ultima while the other is a new keyblade, granted to him by his bond with Noctis, Royal Key.

The blade was in the form of the sword edge of the Engine Blade's original design, the ring guard was square-shaped that represented the Citadel palace, grey and black steel with the key-chain is a sigil of Noctis' family. The teeth of the keyblade is shaped like a crown, six prongs while the tip had a roaring dragon, homage to the Draconian. Steel grey for the blade while crystal blue lines trace along with the steel to the tip, the connection between the ring guard and blade had an emblem of the Regalia's sigil.

Sora's clothes were white with his light and black with the power of the Armiger, his jacket a mix of black and white like his Dual Form except there were emblems of the Kingsglaive instead, along with fluttering crystals hovering around him. The swords from his Ultimate Form turned into keyblades that were ghostly white, taking on the forms of the fellow masters and wielders of the keyblade who each were a part of his heart. Nine keys representing those who were connected to his heart except for Noctis.

A new form, Ultima Dual Form.

They raised their keys at Xehanort, daring him to brag about his victory being within arm's reach. "As Sora said before, you won't win, Xehanort", reminds Noctis. Together the two warriors of light charged towards Xehanort as the seeker of darkness raised the X-Blade.

The end draws near…

A/N:

I am so sorry this took so long.

Many of you can probably tell by now, but I'm just sick of the fighting and was burned out. Along with obligations elsewhere, I just didn't have it in me to write this chapter until I took a break. But hey, its done now so I can take it easy!

Next time we'll go back to Xion and co, then we'll finish things off with Xehanort.

QUESTIONS!

Q1: Thoughts on this chapter?

Q2: The fight between Xehanort and Island Trio?

Q3: The lengths okay?

Q4: What are looking forward to in the next chapter?

Q5: Surprised to see Noctis is still kicking?

Q6: Who do you think is dead?

Q7: Sora's new form and keyblade?

Q8: Eager to see this end?

Q9: Kairi and Sora's performance against Xehanort?

Q10: Kairi's "death"?

As always everyone, thanks for reading! Stay awesome but more importantly stay safe!