Chapter 212: Puppet
Sora bolted down the hallways, Daisy somewhere behind him.
The Library. Mickey was in the Library. Maleficent was… who knows where. But somewhere. Sora could feel her presence tainting this world worse than the Heartless had, and it made his stomach flip.
Speaking of the Heartless, they still cluttered the hallways. Sora didn't have any trouble slipping past them, however. They continued to ignore him, though he thought he felt one of them swiped at his ankles as he passed, much like a cat would.
He vaulted around the final corner, hand against the wall to control his speed and his turn, and then he skidded to a halt.
Maleficent had beaten him here.
She and Mickey were fighting already, and the hall stunk of magic as a result. Magic, and darkness.
Mickey paused when he saw Sora. He mouthed something, urgently, but Sora couldn't make it out. Unfortunately. Mickey was distracted enough that Maleficent nearly hit him with a blast of magic, but he noticed it in time and jumped out of the way. He kicked off the wall, lunged at Maleficent—but she vanished, reappearing at the other end of the hall.
"Your Majesty!" Daisy cried, finally catching up to Sora. "Maleficent's he—oh." She skidded to halt, and then without hesitation called "Firaga!"
The spell went straight for Maleficent, but she vanished again before it could hit her.
"Is this the best place to be fighting her?" Daisy asked, looking worriedly at Mickey.
He shrugged. "Well what else are we supposed to do?"
Daisy shrugged back.
Maleficent reappeared, and immediately a torrent of lightning bolts rained down from the sky. Sora rolled forward to dodge, then rushed forward. He jumped into the air, brought his blade down—
Maleficent swung her staff to deflect him. It hit him in the stomach and knocked him backwards and into—
—and into the garden below them.
Sora groaned. He'd landed on one of the hedges, and it was a soft—though scratchy—landing. He'd have a bruise on his stomach, though, where Maleficent had hit him. He slid down the hedge, grimacing as the branches caught on his clothes and his skin. Once on his feet, he tossed up a Cure. It'd fix his wounds, at least, though not so much his clothes. Oh well. He'd needed a change of clothes anyway.
The sound of Maleficent teleporting made him look up from picking twigs off his jacket. She was in the garden. But where?
"Sora!" Mickey called.
Sora looked up, but couldn't see Mickey from this angle. He did, however, see the barrier go up around the garden. He tensed, summoning his Keyblade immediately. He was in the garden. Maleficent was in the garden. No one else could get in. Just the thought sent shivers down his spine.
"What do you want with me!?" Sora shouted, frantically surveying the area.
"Want with you?" Maleficent laughed, and suddenly she was about five feet away from him, walking casually past one of the hedges. "I think you're missing a vital piece of information, boy. I didn't put up the barrier."
Sora frowned at her.
"But… but you knocked me down here," he said.
"An accident."
"And you followed me."
"I was… compelled to," Maleficent explained. Her voice was distant, and she stared at the wall behind Sora, absently. "But… now that I think about it, I suppose this whole ordeal would be easier if you were out of the way." She met his eyes, ran her hand over the top of her staff. "After all, you've been nothing but a terrible inconvenience!"
She spread her arms wide, the air darkening around her. Something that looked like a piece of the night sky came hurling at him, and Sora brought up his blade to block—
It never hit him.
Something had gotten in the way. Someone had gotten in the way, taking the blow themselves. Sora had to blink a few times, not believing what he was seeing.
Maleficent burst out laughing.
"You again, pest?" She smirked. "What do you expect to accomplish here? Wasn't the last time we met enough to prove you're no match for me?"
Sora's Shadow straightened and dusted himself off. He appeared completely unharmed—besides the slight damage to his clothes, anyway.
"Maybe not on my own," he said, sounding incredibly pleased. "But this time, I've got a secret weapon." He turned and flashed Sora a smirk.
Sora blinked a few more times, still trying to get over the fact he'd just been saved by his Shadow.
"M-me?" he asked.
His Shadow rolled his eyes, made a sharp sound in his throat. His hands flopped to his sides and he literally slumped with annoyance. "Well I don't see any other idiot in this room—well." He paused, smirked, eyes darting over to Maleficent. "Not one I can use anyway."
Maleficent scowled. "Was that a thinly veiled insult?"
"Oh, no! It wasn't thinly veiled at all."
"Wait wait wait, wait, wait." Sora held up his hands and shook his head. "You're helping me?"
His Shadow just laughed. "Helping you? Heh. More like using you."
And as Sora watched, his Shadow raised a hand and held it out in front of him, fingers poised much like those of a puppeteer's. He flashed Sora one more grin, before closing his fingers together—like grabbing something—and then pulling upward.
To Sora's surprise, his body responded to his Shadow's pull. His muscles tensed and he straightened out of his slouch. He stood there for a horrified second before quickly clutching a hand to his chest. Thankfully, his arm did exactly what he wanted it to—though he had felt a slight pull trying to prevent him from moving.
"What the heck—"
His words stopped there. His Shadow raised his other hand, clenched it into a fist, and Sora found he couldn't move his tongue. His Shadow forced his arm back to his side, too.
"Sora, this is going to be a lot easier for the both of us if you don't resist," his Shadow said, sternly, eyes narrowed in a fierce glare.
Sora swallowed, fear sliding down his throat like ice. Being alone in the garden with Maleficent had been scary, yes, but this was even worse. He could still move his fingers of his own free will, but he didn't dare try any more than that.
And worse still, Maleficent was watching with an incredibly pleased smile on her lips. That scared Sora's almost more than the grip his Shadow had on his body, and the look of angry determination on his Shadow's face.
"Y- y'know," Sora swallowed again, quickly, wanting to get his words out before his Shadow silenced him again. "I'd be perfectly okay with helping you fight her—"
"Just shut up and attack!"
Sora's body was pulled forward, Keyblade raised to strike. His muscles were all too tight, though, and his fingers were clasped around the hilt all wrong. His arms swung—but the swing was wrong, too. It was no wonder Maleficent had enough time to dodge and then poof away.
"I'm really not okay with you doing this!" Sora shouted, rounding on his Shadow. His Shadow had climbed to the top of the hedges to get a better vantage point, and replied only with annoyance.
"I don't need your permission! And I don't want your opinion, either."
"It's my body—"
"She's over there!"
Sora's body moved—his arms dragging him forward, his feet stumbling to catch up. It was like he was on strings. He tried to resist, but the more he resisted the harder his Shadow pulled and the sicker his stomach felt.
"What your Shadow is failing to mention is that he can't harm me," Maleficent said. She was laughing. Amused by all this.
It made Sora's blood boil. He was being used and it was humiliating.
"I still don't see how that warrants using me as a puppet!" he screamed, digging in his heels, trying to keep his body from moving any further under his Shadow's will.
"I said shut up!" his Shadow called back.
And Sora's arms wrenched him forward, his legs picking up off the ground against his will. He ran forward and managed to hit Maleficent one, two times, despite Sora trying to resist and force his arms to stop moving, along with how tight and jarring all his movements were.
"I just need some light!" Sora's Shadow explained, tugging Sora backwards and out of the way of Maleficent's staff. Of course, he tugged too hard and Sora's body flew backwards, nearly landing in one of the hedges. Again. "Just a little bit of it! A little bit of you. I'm too dark to—"
"Lies!" Maleficent cried, and she laughed again. And it wasn't just laughter, she was full out cackling, clearly enjoying this. "He's not too dark—he's too weak!"
"No one asked you!" Sora's Shadow roared. His anger shook in Sora's bones, and Sora found his body lurched forward again, taking another—angrier—swing at Maleficent. It missed.
"Quit it!" Sora dug in his heels again and then banished his Keyblade. It was lucky Maleficent was too amused by the situation to turn this moment of defenselessness against him. He rounded on his Shadow, shouted so he could be heard. "I won't do this! It is my body and you aren't going to pull it around like some—"
His mouth snapped shut, then, against his will. Even though they were nearly on two separate sides of the garden, Sora could still see the fury on his Shadow's face. In fact, he could feel it in his blood, feel it in how tightly his Shadow was holding his body under this spell.
His Shadow forced him to reach out, close his hand into a fist—the motions of summoning his Keyblade back. But no Keyblade came. Sora hadn't willed it too and, after all, magic was always a matter of will and not of motions.
"Summon your Keyblade again!" his Shadow ordered.
"No," Sora replied.
Relief flooded through him. So his Shadow couldn't force him to summon it back. Of course, that left him completely defenseless against Maleficent, but if she tried anything he supposed he could throw magic at her. It wasn't like he was terrible at magic.
"Summon it!" His Shadow was moving towards him, now, closing the distance between them, rage shaking his every step.
"No," Sora said again.
His Shadow was in his face, now, eyes narrowed in a furious glare, mouth contorted. Sora held his ground, trying to look determined—though showing any emotion besides the potent fear he was feeling would be just fine. His Shadow's shoulder shook, a little, and he turned away, just slightly.
"Fine," he hissed. "Then I'll make you wrap your pretty little hands around her neck and choke the life out of her." He looked back at Sora, then, eyes blazing. "One way or another Sora, you will kill her for me. And if you want to go into it bare-handed, then fine. It's not my problem."
Sora bit his tongue. That didn't sound very pleasant.
"Why have him choke the life out of me when you can cast him into darkness?" Maleficent asked, coming to his rescue. Sora couldn't turn to look at her, but she was somewhere behind him and slightly to his left, from the sounds of it. And she also sounded incredibly pleased—though there was an edge in her voice. "I don't know when a better opportunity will ever arise—he's weaponless, held immobile by your spell. So do it."
"No!" Sora's Shadow turned to glare at her. "He's my only means of killing you! Maybe after you're dead, I will. But you won't be alive to see it. You don't deserve that satisfaction."
"Pah! Words of a coward! You won't do it because you simply don't have the guts." She paused for a moment, and then continued with a sick satisfaction: "You won't do it because you're tainted."
The fury that flashed across Sora's Shadow's face was incredible, and painful. Sora grimaced a little, confused. Tainted? What did that mean?
"I'm not tainted!" Sora's Shadow screamed. Clearly, whatever it meant, it wasn't good.
"Then prove it!" Maleficent said.
"I DON'T NEED TO PROVE ANYTHING TO YOU!"
Spit flew from his Shadow's mouth and hit Sora in the face. Sora crinkled his nose with disgust. Unfortunately, he couldn't move to wipe it away.
"Fine. I'll do it myself."
Sora's heart hammered in his chest. He couldn't move, and Maleficent was preparing to throw enough darkness at him to drown him. He could feel her summoning it.
Before she could, his body was simultaneously thrown to the ground and shoved to the side. His Shadow had moved to block blow. Again.
"No!" he shouted. "He is mine! My job! Not yours."
"Then do it and get it over wi—"
A flood of light filled the area, and Sora squeezed his eyes shut. The light was followed by something like the sound of shattering glass, though it tinkled less than glass would and rumbled in his bones.
"I'm afraid Sora's not goin' anywhere today," Mickey said.
Sora pushed himself upright, and was very much relieved to find he'd regained control of his body. The barriers around the area had vanished—and Mickey stood not far from him, Keyblade bared. Sora's Shadow was on the ground, cursing up a storm, and Maleficent was recovering, muttering something foul under her breath.
Healing energy surged through Sora, then, and he straightened further to see Daisy rushing in, hiking up her skirts so she could move faster. "Thundaga!" she called, and a rain of lightning bolts crashed down around Maleficent.
"You okay, Sora?" Mickey asked, reaching out a hand to help him up.
"NO!" Sora's Shadow screamed. Both Sora and Mickey turned to him, surprised. He was clutching at the grass, but as he kept shouting he pushed himself up. "I won't let you ruin this!" He glared at Mickey. "I didn't come here to plunge Sora into darkness. I came here to kill her!"
He waved his hands in Maleficent's direction.
"And I'd be happy to let you do that," Mickey said. "If it didn't require harming Sora."
"Please." Sora's Shadow's eyes narrowed, and Sora flinched a little, knowing that look and tone of voice. "Like you can stop me."
Sora prepared for the tug on his heart and body again, but was surprised when his Shadow threw himself at him, instead. He scrambled backwards but his Shadow still hit him. Went right through him.
Sora blinked a few times, and turned to look behind him. Nope. No Shadow there. But then where had he…?
Something like fire shot through his veins, accompanied by a pounding in his mind and in his heart. He bent over double, clawing at his chest. He knew what this was—he hadn't felt like this since Ansem, though, and that had been bearable. This was painful. Disgusting.
"Get out of my body!" Sora screamed.
"Just give me five minutes!" was his Shadow's reply, and the words left Sora's mouth.
Sora clutched at the grass beneath him, touching his head against the ground, his face scrunched up as it tried to display two different expressions—one his, one his Shadow's.
Unlike being used as a puppet, his body wasn't urged or even made to do something he didn't want it to. His body responded naturally to his Shadow, as if it was his Shadow's. Of course, it was responding both to his Shadow's will and his own, at the same time, so it only resulted in a lot of pain. For the both of them. Eventually one of their wills would win out, but for the life of him, Sora couldn't remember how to make sure it was his.
It wasn't like he'd kept Ansem from using his body like this, anyway…
"Sora…?" Mickey asked.
"We're fine!"
The words left Sora's mouth but they weren't his. He quickly protested.
"We are not fine! I am not fine! He is a filthy liar and—"
His words cut off as his mouth closed. His Shadow obviously didn't want him to finish.
"Are you guys going to help me or am I going to have to fight Maleficent on my own?" Daisy called. Sora focused on her voice, on the sound of her spell casting. On the sound of Maleficent's slight chuckle. He needed to stay grounded. Needed to stay in control.
"Work with me, Sora!" his Shadow shouted.
Sora gagged. This whole struggle was starting to make him feel sick.
"I think I'd prefer being pulled around like a puppet," he muttered.
"No you wouldn't."
Sora wasn't sure if his Shadow was right, but he didn't have the strength to protest. It all felt much worse: the gross feeling of having someone else control his body was amplified, plus the pain, and the extra set of thoughts pounding at the back of his head that he couldn't make sense of unless he focused but couldn't shut out either.
Then again, at least, here… he could relax. He didn't have to be in control. Didn't have to focus on how his body moved against his will. He didn't have to be conscious. If he wanted to, he could just… close his eyes. Let his Shadow have the control… just for right now.
It wasn't like his Shadow could keep this up for too long, anyway. At least, that's what his Shadow was thinking. Was worried about. He was afraid he wouldn't have enough time to finish Maleficent and…
What could it hurt for just a few minutes? Struggling was too much work, anyway.
So Sora relinquished control.
It wasn't like giving up control meant he had to be completely unaware of his surroundings or anything. He could still feel what was going on, could still hear it, still see it. And if he had to, he was sure he would be able to snatch control back long enough to keep his Shadow from doing anything stupid.
Since he could still feel his surroundings, Sora still very clearly felt the steel of Mickey's Keyblade being pressed to the back of his neck. Sora felt his body go rigid with… not fear. No, his Shadow wasn't exactly afraid.
"Get out of him."
Mickey's voice was threatening, but it wavered, just a little.
"What are you gonna do if I don't?" Sora's Shadow asked, through Sora's mouth. He smirked, too. "You don't want to hurt Sora, after all."
"I think I could manage without harming Sora," Mickey replied.
Sora felt his eyes go wide, then, followed this time by fear. Now his Shadow was afraid. There was a word accompanying the fear, too.
Light.
And then a memory. Being pinned to the wall. Light flooding through him, downing him. But it wasn't the light he was afraid of.
I'm not tainted!
The memory—memories?—left as quickly as it had come. Sora's Shadow put on a straight face, pushed Mickey's blade away, getting to his feet.
"Just let me kill Maleficent," he said. "Then you can have him back."
Liar, Sora thought, smiling. You're going to end up give me my body back whether you want to or not, and you know it.
Even when he wasn't in control, he could feel his Shadow's presence pounding against his skin, wanting to be released. This couldn't last long, and they both knew it.
Maleficent laughed, deflecting Daisy's spell with her hand.
"Are you really going to go to such great lengths to make sure I die by your hand?" she called.
"You've humiliated me!" Sora's Shadow rounded on her, screaming. His anger was so strong, so potent, that Sora was practically choking on it. "You called me scum—said I was incapable of doing my job and you think I'd let you get away with it?" He laughed, bitterly, and the sound of it made Sora want to squirm. He didn't like that sound coming out of his mouth. Didn't like how the laugh felt in his throat.
"Because I won't!" Sora's Shadow shouted, and he summoned his Keyblade—it was his Keyblade, not Sora's—and took a running leap at Maleficent.
"So be it!" Maleficent laughed.
A wall of green flame went up around them both, separating them from Mickey and Daisy.