Update Sept 7 2014 - Wondering what happened in the Riku vs Maleficent battle? ASAS ch67 has you covered.

Chapter 28: Confronting the Darkness

After dealing with Maleficent, which didn't take long, Riku arrived in the Grand Hall. Maleficent had been easy to deal with, though Riku had a feeling she wasn't dead. However, he really didn't care. He had other things to worry about.

One of them being Kairi. He ran over to her, wondering what was wrong. She seemed to be asleep.

He kneeled down next to her. "Kairi?" he asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. She didn't budge. He frowned. Something wasn't right…

"I was wondering when you were going to come back," someone laughed. Riku turned, shocked. It sounded like Sora, but yet… not entirely him. There was something off about his voice, as if another person was speaking with him. And he kind of recognized that voice. Why, however, he did not know, as usual.

"I knew I couldn't keep you away forever," Sora said.

Riku stared at him. Sora was still in Dark Mode and his Keyblade was already out. The thorns had gotten worse. However, he managed to say: "You've got that right." He swallowed. Something definitely wasn't right. "What's wrong with Kairi?" he asked after a moment.

Sora seemed to wince slightly at that, but didn't answer.

"Sora!" Riku called, shocked. Normally Sora would have at least said something. But- not even saying anything… That worried Riku. And Riku had never worried this much about Sora before. He slowly rose to his feet.

"Sora, what did you do?" Riku asked.

"Hmph," Sora said. "What does it matter to you?" he asked. His voice had its usual bitterness in it, but the voice behind his was almost amused.

Riku scowled, glancing over at Kairi, and then back to Sora. He then glanced past Sora at the Keyhole, and could just feel the darkness flowing out of it. He shook his head in disgust. "What are you planning?" he asked. "You know that the darkness will devour you!"

Sora laughed. "The darkness holds no power over me." However, Sora didn't sound too sure about that. The voice behind his, however, seemed perfectly confident in this.

This isn't Sora, Riku concluded. Someone else is just using him. I wonder if he's even awake down there…

"Who are you?" he shouted. He had given up on trying to get through to Sora. The question was directed at whoever was controlling him. Maybe he'd be able to squeeze some answers out of them.

They smiled at this. It was a smug smile, which didn't really belong on Sora's face. "It is I, Ansem, the Seeker of Darkness!" Sora's own voice had gotten quieter with the statement, while Ansem's had gotten louder.

"Ansem?" Riku asked. The word tasted vile on his tongue. He knew the name. However, where from was fleeting. But he did know one thing. He kind of hated this person. He didn't know why, he just knew that he did.

"Tell me, Ansem," Riku said. Ansem's name came out loathingly, as if was poison to say it. "What are you trying to do? Why do you need Sora?"

Ansem (Riku had given up on calling him Sora, as Sora was long gone) raised an eyebrow at this. "I needed to assemble the final Keyhole," he explained, almost lazily. Sora's voice just trailed along behind his, dull and emotionless. "And I required a key to unlock it. You're friend did the rest."

Of course. Things were starting to click in Riku's mind. Keyhole = Keyblade = Sora. Ansem was giving away things so easily, though. Riku smiled slightly at this, but did his best to hide it. "What did he do?" he asked, curious. Maybe Ansem would give this one away, too.

"His heart was weak," Ansem laughed. Sora, however, didn't sound too happy about that statement. "He craved strength, and willingly let me in."

Riku shuddered at that. "That doesn't sound like Sora…" he muttered, and then glanced over at Kairi. "What did you do her?"

"The Keyhole could not be completed, while she was still conscious, for some reason," Ansem replied. Sora's voice sounded almost… hurt about the fact. However, if Ansem noticed this, he didn't show it,

"And so you-" Riku began, but paused, not wanting to say it. He shuddered. "And you made Sora-" he stopped, grimacing, definitely not liking that thought. Sora, how are you NOT awake down there? he thought. You must be furious, if you are…

"You know," he told Ansem. "I am starting to like you less and less as time wears on." He shifted in to Dark Mode. "Now, I'm going to ask you nicely: let my friend go. I'll fight you, if that's what you want, but I'd rather not hurt Sora."

"How touching," Ansem laughed. "But what about you, Riku? It seems that you also choose to wield the darkness."

Riku rolled his eyes. How many times was he going to have to tell people this? "I didn't choose it," he said. "I was created this way. And I'd prefer not to get into details. Just let Sora go!"

"I'm afraid not," Ansem laughed.

Riku sighed, pulling his blade. "Then I guess I have no choice," he sighed. "Honestly, I really didn't want to have to fight you. But if you aren't going to let Sora go willingly, I'll force you to do so, if I must." He grimaced. "Sorry, Sora," he muttered, charging up a Dark Aura.