Chapter 31: Master of Shadows

Riku charged forward, striking hard. He got in a nice combo before pulling back. However, Ansem didn't seem to be taking much damage. He grimaced and tried again, with no better results. And it didn't help that Ansem just stood there, letting him attack, as if he knew it wasn't doing anything. Riku scowled, teeth clenched, and then pulled Helm Split. Ansem's cries of shock and pain were oddly satisfying.

I wonder if I'm hurting Sora any though… he couldn't help but think, as he dodged a punch from Ansem's Guardian. This is going to be a fight to SOMEONE'S death, and it would suck if was his and not mine or Ansem's. He avoided another of Ansem's attacks, taking great care to also avoid the thorns. How would I explain THAT to Kairi?

He rushed forward for another combo, but was blocked by Ansem's Guardian. He jumped back and shot Dark Firaga. However, that was also blocked.

"Coward!" he called. "You're guardian's doing all the work!"

He was forced to dodge another punch from the guardian, just after saying that. He turned and shot Dark Firaga again, and it thankfully made contact this time, and seemed to do a lot of damage.

"Fool!" Ansem shouted, and charged up Dark Rush. He rushed forward, surrounded in darkness. Riku quickly dodged, dodged, dodged again, and then just when he thought the attack was over, was hit. He groaned, stumbling. "Take this!" Ansem said, and then used the attack again. Riku blocked this one.

Riku quickly charged up Dark Aura, and when that was finished charged it up again.

"How do you like that?" he taunted, finishing the attack off.

Ansem was stunned; however, a bunch of shadows popped up out of the ground just then and launched themselves at him. He quickly disposed of them, rather confused. Of all things to show up…

He ignored the new batch of shadows that popped up, and quickly located Ansem. He leaned back, charging up Dark Firaga. Something grabbed a hold of his arm, causing him to stop. He turned, shocked, wondering what the heck had a hold of him. He was surprised to find that the thorns had suddenly sprung to life. He quickly shook them off his arm and rolled away.

"Great, just what I didn't need," he muttered. Having a bunch of shadows after him and thorns trying to pull him down while he was fighting probably one of the hardest battles of his life was definitely not fun.

"My strength returns…" Ansem muttered, and his Guardian dove into the ground. It popped up, right under Riku's feet. He only barely managed to avoid it. The Guardian repeated this process, and Riku just kept running, dodging it, the shadows, and the thorns.

"What do you hope to accomplish?" Ansem taunted. Riku shot a glare at him, narrowly avoiding his Guardian.

I really… don't… like you, Riku thought, as the Guardian struck the ground, sending out a shockwave. He avoided that easily, but was nearly tripped by the thorns. He jumped out of their way, and then set to eliminating some of the shadows before their numbers got to large.

Ansem charged up Dark Rush and hit him from behind, while he wasn't even paying attention. The attack hit him full on, and the damage he suffered was great. He paused after the attack was over, panting, as Dark Mode fell off of him. He took a second to recover, and then quickly rushed forward to attack Ansem again.

Or, he tried to. The thorns had gotten a hold of his leg, and had pulled him back, causing him to fall flat on his face. He groaned, and then quickly turned around and hacked at the thorns until they let go. He staggered to his feet, and then tried again to attack Ansem, succeeding this time.

"Will you just die already?" he asked. Ansem just laughed. Riku scowled, his breath coming hard to him. He was running out of strength. He couldn't keep going much longer. Nevertheless, he rushed forward again, managing to get in a massive combo. Ansem threw up his Guardian suddenly, and Riku hit it instead of him. Riku gasped, stumbling backward. It felt as if he had just hit a brick wall.

He waited for Ansem's Guardian to withdraw, eliminating some shadows. He rushed forward as soon as he could and pulled another combo or two, jumping back quickly before Ansem threw up his Guardian again.

Dang, I wish I hadn't fallen out of Dark Mode so soon, Riku thought bitterly. This is just ridiculous. It's like I'm not even doing anything!

He scanned the room, hoping that something that he could use as an advantage would come to him. However, there was nothing. "Gah," he muttered, rushing forward and attacking Ansem again. He pulled back, while Ansem was again stunned.

"Quick, Riku! The Keyblade!" a voice shouted out to him. Sora's voice. Riku hesitated for a moment, slightly confused, and then quickly ran over to Sora's Keyblade. The shadows attacked him restlessly, almost as if they knew what he was doing. He quickly knocked them away. The thorns angrily lashed out at him, trying to pull him back.

He grabbed the blade and tried to pull it free. The thorns that anchored it there were strong though. Shadows jumped onto his arm, trying to pull his hand away from the blade. He tried his best to shake them off, and somehow managed.

Riku frowned, teeth clenched with concentration. The blade wouldn't budge. He groaned, and then started hacking away at the thorns with his own blade until they let go. Finally, they did, and he managed to pull Sora's Keyblade from the ground. A burst of light filled the room, and a scream escaped Ansem's lips.

Riku, however, wasn't paying much attention. He watched Sora's Keyblade in shock, as the thorns around it slowly died and fell away and the cracks slowly mended.

"Riku! NOW!"

He snapped back into reality, and then quickly rushed forward, Sora's blade ready. He struck, and Ansem staggered back.

Sora's Keyblade vanished from his hand, and the form of Ansem slowly faded away, leaving a confused Sora standing in the center of the room.

"Sora!" Riku said, smiling slightly.

Sora looked up at him, looking scared, but slightly relieved. "Is he… is he gone?" he asked.

"I think so, yeah," Riku said. It certainly seemed like Ansem was gone. "He probably faded back into darkness."

Sora smiled. "I'm… I'm free," he said, a grin spreading across his face.

A pool of darkness opened up below Sora, and a hand shot out and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"YOU ARE MINE!" Ansem shouted, slowly dragging Sora down. "And you will fade into darkness with me!"

"No!" Sora gasped, trying to fight it. "I won't- I-" He looked at Riku, eyes filled with terror. He knew he wasn't going to be able to escape.

Riku shook his head. He wouldn't let Sora give up that easily!

Sora just smiled, weakly. "Tell Kairi I'm sorry, will you?"

He managed to get that out, and then he was engulfed in darkness. He and Ansem both disappeared.

"No…" Riku muttered. He gasped as there was another flash of light, and he found himself back at Hollow Bastion.