Chapter 233: Darkness of the Unknown or something

Sora opened his eyes. The area had shifted around them, and suddenly they weren't on the tower. They were in a wide open space, or something that looked like it. Sora couldn't tell where the sky met the ground, or if there were walls or anything. It was all just a bunch of shifting greys.

Before Sora had a chance to figure out what exactly he was standing on, someone grabbed him by his jacket and threw him in the air. Mickey'd been thrown, too. Obviously, Xemnas had thrown them.

Sora did his best to recover mid-flight, but something hit him in the back. A tendril of… something… and there was another! He shifted his weight to avoid them as best is possible. They weren't darkness… didn't look or feel like it… but then what—

Nothingness.

One had pierced his skin, and that's all it took. Something about the way it stung, the way it cut, and he knew. It was nothingness, turned into a solid form. Ironic, really, but now wasn't the time to consider that.

Sora threw himself this way and that, trying to avoid the tendrils. They didn't fade quickly, unfortunately, so not only did he have avoid the new ones, he had the old ones to worry about, too. They tore his clothes and cut his skin in places where the clothes couldn't protect it—

But then there were no new tendrils, and the older ones had faded. It was enough for Sora to be able to drop to the ground, and he did so, only stumbling slightly.

Mickey was already running at Xemnas. He jumped over Xemnas's attack—a blast of what looked like Riku's Dark Firaga—and then brought his Keyblade down on Xemnas.

Sora rushed over there to help. He hardly made it three steps. Xemnas shot a bunch of nothingness tendrils out at him, forcing him back. Sora gritted his teeth in annoyance. What was he supposed to do? A spell like Fire seemed a little dumb, especially when he felt as low on magic as he did. He should save that for Cures.

Sora made his way to Xemnas again, slowly, so he could avoid whatever Xemnas threw.

This isn't going to be an easy battle. Survival is key. Don't get reckless.

Deep breath in.

Deep breath out.

That's when Xemnas appeared right next to him.

Sora jumped in surprise. Once he'd regained himself, he dealt a combo, but it was all he got before Xemnas vanished again.

Sora scanned the area, waiting for him to reappear. When Xemnas did, there were two of him. Sora thought that was a little strange, but upon attacking the nearest one he discovered it was an illusion. That would explain it.

The sound of clashing blades made him turn around. Mickey was blocking Xemnas, who'd attempted to attack Sora in his distraction. Xemnas had some sort of blades made of solidified red light… Ethereal Blades…

Sora pushed the thought aside and attacked while Xemnas was trying to break Mickey's defenses. He hardly got a combo before Xemnas vanished.

There were two of Xemnas when he reappeared again, and again Sora went for the closest one. His blade didn't go right through this time. One, two strikes and then Xemnas retaliated with a strong counterattack that knocked Sora off his feet and forced the air out of his lungs.

"Heal!" Mickey called. Strength returned to Sora's bones, and the air returned to his lungs, but he stumbled as he got back to his feet.

Boy I'm glad Mickey's here, he thought with a sigh.

Xemnas teleported again—it was just one of him this time—but Mickey was quick to reach him. Two leaps, bringing his blade down on the second. He did this every time Xemnas teleported, dodging whatever Xemnas threw, then striking Xemnas with a consistent three quick blows before darting away so Xemnas's counterattack couldn't hit him.

Sora was incredibly impressed, and wished longingly that he was that good.

Mickey's been doing this for longer, though, he told himself. Regardless, you'll never keep up like this. Magic's probably your best bet.

He sighed, but couldn't argue with himself. And he had a couple ethers on him, still.

Sora raised his blade and cast Fira, waited, cast Fira again. The first missed because Xemnas teleported. The second hit, but it didn't seem to do much. Sora grimaced and jumped back to further distance himself from Xemnas—not that'd it do him any good, since Xemnas could teleport. He dug an ether out of his pocket and took another step back anyway, only to hit a wall.

Or, a barrier…

He put a hand against it, completely captivated. It wasn't like the other barriers he'd seen, which tainted the air with a yellow or bluish color. This one didn't even look like it existed. It was completely invisible, an impressive illusion.

Was all of this an illusion? Or, the battleground, at least….

But now isn't the time to be thinking about that! he scolded himself. You're bait sitting here, c'mon! Get moving!

He downed the ether he'd pulled out, sent out another blast of Fira, and rushed forward to attack Xemnas. His blade went right through—the copy! He started to turn to locate the real Xemnas, but that's when Xemnas's blades struck him from behind.

They scraped along his back once, twice, at least. He cried out in pain as his body was flung forward, and the world went black—

—the next thing Sora remembered was his feet touching the ground. Mickey backed away from him, sending a glance up at him. The way Mickey radiated energy made Sora think he'd just been healed, and the look Mickey was giving him made him wonder how serious it'd been.

"You alright there?" Mickey asked.

Sora nodded.

"Good. Get moving."

And Mickey darted off.

Sora swallowed the thank you on his lips and summoned his Keyblade again. He'd have to thank Mickey later.

The battle continued like it had. Xemnas kept teleporting, and Sora could hardly keep up. Mickey managed to attack Xemnas nearly every time, however, picking up for Sora's slack. Sora felt bad, but there was nothing he could do. He just wasn't quick enough.

Xemnas moved around too much and his nothingness tendrils kept pushing Sora back. It wasn't long before Xemnas was shooting lasers at them, either. Lasers. And to make things worse, his copy could shoot lasers—real lasers—too! Sora could hardly avoid any of these attacks, let alone avoid them with as much grace as Mickey could.

We're doing fine, though, Sora told himself. Even if I'm not quick enough, Mickey certainly—

The thought broke off as Xemnas hit Mickey with his counterattack.

"MICKEY!" Sora shouted, rushing forward.

He slowed as Mickey got to his feet. He'd gotten up much quicker than Sora expected him too. Sora prepared a Cure, but he didn't need it. Mickey tossed one up for himself almost immediately. The healing effects flooded through Sora, too, which was a relief.

Then Xemnas threw Mickey back with a blast of his nothingness tendrils.

"Could you spare a heart?" he asked, mockingly.

Just as Sora was trying to figure out what that meant, Xemnas turned and plunged his hand into Sora's chest.

Pain washed through Sora—so much more acute and horrible than any physical pain. Xemnas's fingers curled around his heart. He was paralyzed, literally hanging in mid-air in Xemnas's grasp. He couldn't do anything. Couldn't even scream. His heart was being ripped from his body and there was nothing he could do about it.

NO! he cried out, silently, as his vision blackened at the edges.

He didn't want to die.

Let alone let Xemnas have his heart.

That's when Mickey reached them.

Mickey pried Xemnas off of Sora, and shoved him back with a clean kick to the chest. Sora's knees nearly gave way beneath him as his feet touched the ground. He started to thank Mickey, but Mickey was already attacking Xemnas.

Xemnas scoffed, and vanished.

Mickey tossed a Cure up for Sora.

"Thanks," Sora said. One thanks didn't seem like enough, but it was all he could get in at the time.

"Uh-huh," Mickey replied, absently, as he scanned the area for Xemnas.

Sora looked around, too, and then pointed. "There!" he called.

Xemnas was floating about twenty feet off the ground, his arms raised high above his head. The sky darkened around him, and then darkness fell on the whole area. Sora took a breath to keep himself from panic. Light was already returning, in spots…

…except that wasn't light.

Those were lasers.

Mickey quickly cast Reflect. It caught the first brunt of the lasers as they rained down.

"Get ready to block," Mickey warned.

Sora did so, unquestioning. The Reflect came down within seconds, and then it was all Sora could do to block and dodge the lasers. They kept coming, and coming. Sora kept blocking, and blocking, until his arms were sore but he didn't dare stop.

Mickey threw up another Reflect, to catch the last of the lasers, then threw up a Cure for the both of them. Sora slumped forward, exhausted.

"Let's finish this now," Mickey said. He grabbed Sora's Keyblade with his own hand, forcing Sora to raise it.

Sora was a little confused at first, but then the energy started flooding through him, and he realized why the physical contact was necessary. They were building power, channeling it between them and then through Sora's Keyblade. Sora poured his own power into it, not holding back.

They aimed at Xemnas. Sora's Keyblade glowed white hot, and then light burst from it. It solidified into one streak. Pierced Xemnas clean through.

"Accursed… Keyblade…" Xemnas grumbled.

And then he was gone.

It was over.

The illusion around them faded, and they were back on the tower. The Kingdom Hearts hanging in the sky had vanished.

Sora turned to Mickey. "Is that it?"

Mickey nodded. "Uh-huh."

"Should we wait around in case he comes back?"

Mickey laughed. "Nah, I can tell he's gone for real this time," he said. "The air just… feels cleaner, ya'know?"

Sora shook his head.

"Oh well." Mickey shrugged.

"So… now what?" Sora asked.

"We go home. And… maybe get some sleep."

Sora chuckled. That sounded nice. "Yeah, okay—" But then he paused. There was a tug on his heart. A pounding in his mind. Something was wrong. He looked down at Mickey, face scrunched up in concern. "Riku's in trouble."

"What?" The smile fell from Mickey's face. "How can ya tell? What's wrong?"

Sora shook his head. "Not sure. But I've gotta go help!" He started off.

"Sora wait!" Mickey called. "Do ya even know where he is?"

"I can get there!"

Sora didn't stop again.