Chapter 56

The rock creature lunged at the heroes. Sora held up his blade to block it, but not before the creature swiped at him. Sora was pushed backwards, grunting as he hit the floor.

"What the -" Aladdin saw that the creature was very agile. It kept running around, smashing everything in sight. Goofy held his shield up, fending off blows from it while Donald healed Sora.

"Be careful! That thing hits like a truck!" Sora held his fists up started to gather aura in one hand. Instantly, the thing stopped attacking Goofy and stared at Sora's hand intently.

"Wait why's it just looking at Sora?" Donald asked.

Sora threw the aura ball at the rock-like thing. It chased after it with glee, smashing the place apart with its leaps until it sunk its teeth at the aura ball. Instantly, Sora thought of an idea, and threw another aura ball away from their crew. The thing followed it all the way out of the very surprised heroes.

"So it follows that aura," said Donald. "What a relief!"

"Alright, let's stop my father!" Aladdin pointed to the exit that his father made on the way out. They all ran past the hole and deeper into the cavern. Unfortunately, the thing followed too, but it was more energetic, like as if it wanted to play with them instead.

"What's going on?" said Donald. "It looks like it wants to join us or something."

"Gwarsh, it reminds me of Pluto!" said Goofy. Just like the dog, the being kneeled in anticipation.

"Can we keep it as a pet?" said Sora.

"WHAT?!" shouted Donald. "You want a pet that looks like a bunch of pebbles?!"

"Well Donald, looks aren't everything!" Sora argued. "I mean, it was brought to life, so I mean..."

Before Donald could object more, Sora put his hand up. Suddenly, an aura surrounded the being, and it began to shrink down in size. In a mere second, it was reduced to the size of a dog.

"What the-" Sora looked at his hands. "What did I just do?"

"Gwarsh, maybe that's a new power that you have," said Goofy. "You might see more and more powers as you fight here."

"So this is just a taste...of what I can do." Sora looked at his hand for a second, and then looked at the being. "Anyways, I want that thing with us. I'm going to name it Rocky."

"You're so original," said Aladdin. "Now can we please move and find my dad?"

"Alright, let's go!" Sora and his friends, including the pet Rocky, ran forward into the cavern.

"Well...this isn't good," muttered Axel.

Axel looked bruised. He was holding keyblades in his hands, pointing them at Marluxia, who was very injured. Around them, nobodies and neithermen were being pushed away from the Palace by the combined efforts of Blue, Cloud, and Trunks. Unfortunately, there was still so many of their enemies swarming the place.

"Why are you doing this again Marluxia?" said Axel. "You aren't one of the thirteen vessels of darkness. You have no real reason for joining the neithermen. What are you after?"

"I am after Sora and Riku," said Marluxia. "I want them to suffer at my hands. You lot seem to think that I should just turn the other cheek and pretend that Castle Oblivion never happened."

"So what, you're angry that you were beaten by Sora?" said Axel. "Still doesn't explain why you're angry at Riku, who actually never took a part in it."

"That's fair enough to say," said Marluxia. "Be that as it may, he is one of Sora's closest friends. Anyone associated with that boy is my enemy."

"Well then...I guess it's time to burn you now." Axel fired off a shot of flames at his foe, who countered it with his scythe. Immediately, Axel teleported next to Marluxia and hit him with both keyblades. Marluxia was rolling on the ground, groaning in pain after he stopped rolling.

"So, teaming up with Xheanort was not in your best interests," said Axel. "You are strong, but you cannot possibly be after Sora with your power."

"Fool. Soon, I will have more power than even he has." Marluxia smiled weakly. "We have more allies than you can possibly imagine..."

"So? We will win and come out as winners like we have always. Got that memorized?"

A dark portal appeared beneath Marluxia. Marluxia laughed as he began to disappear.

"I don't believe you. You thing that you can just run away-" Axel backed up suddenly, seeing a yellow glow surround the portal. A being with a white face suddenly nearly slashed at Axel.

"A Menos Grande!" Axel looked at Marluxia as he kept laughing.

"You think that you'll win this one?! Memorize this Axel! Next time, when we meet, you will be at my mercy. The darkness has consumed everything, and you are only going to feel despair when you challenge it! Prepare yourself!"

Marluxia disappeared, but his laughter echoed throughout Agrabah. Axel looked tense. This wasn't the Marluxia that Axel knew at all. This sounded like someone else...

After Marluxia disappeared, most of the enemies were already defeated. The survivors retreated away from the palace. Trunks and the others met up with Axel.

"So, we were able to protect the princess this time. How are you feeling?" asked Trunks.

"I'm fine," said Axel. "I did wish that you guys would have helped me out though."

"You had it Axel," said Cloud. "Now then...what should we do now?"

Just at that moment, Axel's pockets were vibrating. "Oh, it's a call."

"From who?" asked Trunks. "And...how are you able to do that?"

"Magic. Anyways, Yen Sid is calling."

Axel took out his phone, and on cue, a hologram of Yen Sid appeared. "Is this Axel?"

"Yes this is, old man. What is it?"

"I need you to do something important. I need you to slumber after taking care of business over there."

"Uhhh, what?" said Blue. "We don't need sleep, we need to fight these things!"

"He will be fighting, but to protect. In the dream world."

"What?" Blue was scratching her head in confusion.

"Just don't ask," said Axel. "So anyways, what happened?"

"I'm afraid that Roxas is trapped in there," said Yen Sid.

"R-Roxas?!"

"Yes. I'm afraid that Roxas is being held in the Realm of Sleep. I need you to slumber and wake him from his sleep."

"So what else has to happen?"

"There is a group that is keeping him imprisoned. You, Demyx, and a couple of others are going to be needed so that we can free him."

"Alright Yen, so should I go over to your place?"

"You can stay where you are. If my calculations are correct...then you will be slumbering for two minutes."

"WHAT?!"

"Just wait until I tell you to do so." Yen Sid's hologram disappeared.

"So...can anyone explain to me what's going on?" said Blue.

"Well, we can...but it will take about an hour or two," said Cloud. "For now, let's check up on the Palace and find out if Sora and everyone else is alright, okay?"

"Yeah sure..." Everyone headed back to the palace, confused and aching from defending the Palace.

"There he is!"

Sora and his friends reached the deepest caverns. Cassim was muttering something when he saw Rocky. "What in the-"

"This ends now, Cassim!" Iago looked determined to stopping the man.

"So, you think that taming my creation was going to stop me? Then prepare yourself...as I create something worse!"

Cassim pointed his scepter to them, and something humanoid materialized. However, this being was shining silver as its armor was being created out of thin air. It began to glow radiantly as it stood up, facing the group with a blank stare.

"This time, let's see if you can tame the greatest enemy in the world - a monster created from the resentment left behind by the petty emotions of humans!"

The being held out his right hand. Before everyone's eyes, it materialized a keyblade, one that was composed of the air.

"Now then...my keyblade servant, assist me, and remove these fools from existence! NOW!"

A flash of overwhelming light filled the cavern...