Chapter 27
"Two philosopher-" Edward widenened his eyes. Before he could move, Bradley teleported behind him, slamming him out of the building.
"No! Brother!" cried Al. Al tried to attack Bradley, but Bradley slashed and ripped Al's arms off him. Al fell backwards, hitting the floor and grunting.
"You monster!" Sora attacked Bradley, only to be repelled back.
"As God, I can put the lower forces of nature where they belong. Young keyblade wielder-"
"Magnera!" Sora pointed his keyblade up, creating a magnetic sphere. Bradley was pulled towards it, unable to back out. "Take this!" Comets formed from parts of the building, going towards Bradley.
"Fool..." Bradley released energy, creating a massive explosion. Sora collapsed, unable to get up from the energy release. Donald, Greed, and Goofy also collapsed. Only Mustang was up, his composure rigid as Bradley smiled at him.
"Mustang, I must say, you can't win. You should surrender and join me-"
"Like hell he will!" Hawkeye appeared, pointing a sniper at Bradley.
"No, Hawkeye, get out of here!" warned Mustang. He snapped his fingers, distracting Bradley with fireballs.
"It's no use, Mustang!" Bradley slashed the fireballs apart. "I already said it. I AM GOD!"
"No, you are not."
Suddenly, Bradley gets pushed back. Sora is standing up, holding a pokeball.
"It took time, but I found this. It might be the only way to defeat you...Lucario form!"
Sora's body changed. It became more sleeker, muscular, and graceful. He has the good red eyes, the one that reassured others that the person has a heart of good. Sora's keyblade was blue and black, where the keychain is a pokeball.
"What is this?" said Bradley. "How do you think that this power of yours is going to change anything-"
Sora slashed his new keyblade, hitting Bradley and sending him flying to a pillar. "Dragon pulse!" Sora released a blue aura blast, hitting Bradley and exploding. The explosion damaged Bradley, who was numbed from below the waist.
"Damn you! I can't feel my legs...why..."
"The pulse must have damaged your sense of feeling," realized Mustang. "Your legs are useless!"
"NO!" Bradley charged up, only to be hit by a metal rod.
"Surprise, Wrath?!" Ed was up, carried by Demyx, who stood on top of a water spout.
"The tyke nearly fell all the way down. I just happen to be messing up the water lines. Time for revenge, dude!"
Demyx threw Ed, who transmuted more metal into mini metal spears and threw them at Bradley. While the metal was not harming him, it was distracting him from charging up power. Just then, Sora rushed towards Bradley.
"This is it! Close Combat/Arcs Arcanum combo!" He extended his left arm, creating another replica keyblade of his right handed one. He slashed at Bradley, increasing in intensity until the final blow, where Sora points the keyblades at Bradley releasing an energy blast that destroys the philosopher stones.
"AUGHHH!" Bradley was engulfed in light. The entire building glowed for a moment, and then stopped.
Bradley was dying, panting as Sora and the others walked to him.
"You've...no...hate..."
"I don't hate. Hate only hurts." Sora glanced at Bradley. "Being a leader means that you have to-"
"Don't give me crap about being a leader..." Bradley smiled. "I admit that you are powerful...more than I...but do you think that you are powerful enough to save the others?"
"The others...?" Donald just got up, along with Goofy and Greed.
"The old keyblade wielders, cursed by the Keyblade War...they drift, waiting for someone...I happen to know because I was almost one of them..."
"What?!" Sora gasped.
"Hmph, you have to find my Father. Only he can tell you why I know of this...and good luck in your adventures..." Bradley's body vanished into thin air.
"Al!" Ed pointed behind Greed, where the metal suit was resting. "Are you alright?!"
Al's eyes were not glowing. His body was in pieces, mashed up from the fight. "No..." Ed's eyes began to water.
"Hey, kiddo..." Greed looked down, then looked at Ed. "I know that your brother can be brought back here-"
"I'm not using you to get my brother back!" cried Ed.
"What?" Goofy scratched his head.
"I'm technically a huge philosopher's stone. I can transmute him-"
"I promised to Al that I will not transmute a stone for his real body. I won't!"
"What about transmuting another object so that he could be brought back-"
Ed cried in pain, widening his eyes as his right arm returned into existence. He thought of an idea.
"Guys, back out." Ed painted a transmutation circle around him. "This will be my final transmutation! So enjoy the show!"
"What?!" Sora and Greed cried. Ed smiled, activating the circle and teleporting to a set of gates. A mysterious white figure looked at him, smiling.
"Well, here for your brother? What price-"
"This!" Ed pointed behind him, revealing a stone wall. "This is all of my alchemy skills I have. Take it!"
"Why would you do that...?" The figure was shocked, unable to comprehend what it was seeing.
"I don't need alchemy if I have my friends. I want my brother back, but I don't want him to be alone, or bought back on anyone else's lives or powers. This is my sacrifice to bear."
"Alright then, hero! Take your brother back!" Al, in his human form, seemed frail, but he was able to walk to Ed.
"Can we go back home?"
"Yes we can!" They vanished, back into their reality. Sora and the others cheered, along with other military officials whom participated in the fights.
"Good job, kid!"
"Hi, Alphonse!"
"That was HARDCORE!"
"Well, we did it," said Ichigo, appearing behind Sora. "This world is safe. We should go now."
"Are you bringing Scar with you?" asked Mustang.
"Yes. I spoke to some shinigami friends of mine, whom decided to stay at their headquarters. They said that I drop him off there, and that he can do so as long as-"
"I won't have any problems with this." Mustang shook hands with Scar. "May we see you again someday."
"It's a small universe. We will." Scar walked away. Sora and his friends made their last goodbyes before leaving.
Back at the ship, Riku was surprised to see Kenpachi. "Whoa, what do we have here?"
"Don't worry, just a friend of Ichigo's." The others came back on the ship.
"So, what's new with you guys?" said Cloud, holding a beer.
"Well, we discovered...a new problem." Ichigo explained what he heard and his hypotheses. "How should we handle this?"
"Well, we could split up...Sora and I should head to Merlin's place and check on the others. Cloud, Axel, and Roxas should come with us too. You go and train Scar, or whatever, and start exploring worlds on your own."
"That sounds good." Ichigo stretched. "Do I teleport, or do I get a miniship?"
"We found this capsule." Axel appeared, holding a mini-capsule. He threw it up, creating a mini-ship outside.
"Cool!" Ichigo decided not to ask about where they got it from.
"It has food and everything, so you'll be fine."
"Alright, see you all around!" Ichigo, Kenpachi, and Scar went in the ship, happily heading towards Soul Society.
"Time to head back and check on Kairi and the others." Sora smiled as the ship sent towards the tower.