Sora vs. #13 Prt. I
Sora, Donald, and Goofy headed through the streets of Radiant Garden.
"So" said Sora, trying to make conversation. "Are there any criminal forces here?"
"Oh, you bet" said Goofy. "There's Xavier's Flyer's they're the worst!"
"Who're they---" Sora was about to ask, but he was cut off by a loud, whirring alarm.
"Sounds like trouble he said. "Is this what happens when criminals atta---"once again he was cut off as a claw slashed his back. "Ahh!" Sora cried out in pain and staggered forward. He whirled around to block another attack by a Neo-Shadow. Sparks glanced off the Keyblade.
"Heartless!" Donald cried in alarm. It was true. They were surrounded by Heartless. They were Neo-Shadows all of them. They could hear screams of people in the houses and the Marketplace.
"Where're they comin' from?" Goofy asked. He smashed a Neo-Shadow across the chest with his shield, destroying the Heartless.
"How should I know?" Sora said, swinging the Keyblade to keep the monsters at bay. Suddenly, the Keyblade began to glow with white and blue light. It vibrated sharply, sending pain up Sora's arm. "Wha---?" he gasped. "Something's happening!" he called to Donald and Goofy who were embattled with the dark armies surging from the archways and walls.
Suddenly, a Neo-Shadow knocked Sora to the ground. Before he could move, more of them pinned him down. "Oh no" Sora muttered, trying to get free of their grasp. He could feel the cold of the dark places where the sun did not shine, radiating from their bodies. He rolled and struggled, but it was no use. Then, there was a huge flash of orange light and explosions that Sora felt burn some of the hair on his head. Three of the Neo-Shadows were annihilated by it. The remaining Heartless' confusion was enough for Sora to finish them. He looked to see who had saved them.
"Merlin!" he cried. The old wizard was standing outside his house. He raised his wand again, and a majority of the Heartless besieging Donald and Goofy were killed as well.
"Get inside, quickly!" Merlin yelled from the doorway. "I don't know how long I can hold them off!"
Sora knocked another Neo-Shadow out of the way and headed toward the house. Donald and Goofy did the same, Donald covering their escape with occasional bursts of magic. When they got inside, Merlin slammed the door and locked it. "Good!" he said. "They can't appear inside the house."
"Why not?" asked Sora.
"Maleficent isn't the only one who knows how to put wards on dwellings" said Merlin grimly. "Now sit down."
"Alright" Sora said. He struggled with the Keyblade which was still making a fuss. It was almost as if there was a Keyhole nearby, but Sora had sealed all those during his first mission. Why was it vibrating and glowing like that?
"What's going on?" Donald said, but not in his usual impatient voice.
"What's going on is that the citizens of Radiant Garden are being attacked by Heartless" said Merlin, pulling at his beard. "But how, I have no idea. This world has been sealed from them. I made sure of it myself when I helped the Restoration Committee!"
"Maybe they just passed through?" suggested Goofy.
"No, they did not just pass on through!" Merlin snapped. It seemed that he had learned a bit of Donald's temperament during their time together. "Something is allowing them to set foot in this world without being hampered by the sealing of the Keyhole, and my barriers."
"What could it be?" Sora asked.
"I sense a tremendous dark force" said Merlin. "It's bigger than anything that I've ever felt before."
Sora remembered what had happened earlier that night at Disney Castle. He explained events to Merlin. Merlin nodded. "I see. Then there is no other explanation. Some tremendous power, most likely the power that Riku felt is causing this disturbance. I'm not surprised it made him ill. He is sensitive to the darkness. It must have been an overload on his heart."
"Kairi thought he was having a heart attack" said Sora.
"Let's stop talking and get out there!" Donald squawked.
"Wait" said Merlin, going over to a large cabinet. "I had hoped to show you your new abilities under less…unpleasant circumstances, but I suppose that we can't help what happens." He took out a small blue sphere. "Donald, this is for you. It contains the essence of the Flare spell. That was the spell I used to save you, Sora" he explained. "I wish I had more time, but from the sounds out there, the Bastion Knights aren't able to keep things together. If only Captain Nexumair wasn't on his trip…" Merlin shook his head and said. "Fine! Go on out there! Sora, your Keyblade must be reacting to the presence of a being of the darkness. It must be very powerful to react this strongly. All of you be careful out there for the Light's sake!"
"We promise!" Goofy yelled as they went out the door. It slammed shut behind them.
"Come back alive at least" said Merlin.
Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran through the streets attacking the Heartless. There seemed to be more and more of them, and Sora realized with a sickened horror that they must be adding to their ranks by using the citizens of Radiant Garden. That made him hack at the monsters even harder, trying to battle his way to where the source evil was coming from. Finally the reached the Marketplace. The place which had so entranced Sora was in ruins. Shop windows had been broken, doors hung off hinges. Merchandise lay scattered in the street. The Sora's arm was numb the Keyblade was vibrating so badly.
"Be careful, and watch for danger" said Goofy. He had his shield up and was looking around. For some odd reason, the Marketplace was empty of Heartless. There wasn't a single creature in sight. The place was silent, empty. Then a voice called from above.
"Keyblade Master!" it was clear and full of laughter. Sora looked up to see a figure leap down in front of them. He blinked. It was a girl. She had red hair that reached her shoulders, and green eyes. Her red lips opened in a beautiful white smile. She was wearing a sleeveless black shirt with a silver Heartless insignia on the front. Her jeans were torn out at the knees, and she was wearing silver sneakers with black laces. The Keyblade gave one massive vibration that seemed to wrench Sora's arm out its socket…and then grew quiet. Its glow faded.
"Hi, Sora" she said. "It's so nice to meet you."
"Sora" said Donald.
"Yeah, I know" Sora whispered through his teeth. He didn't have to be told that this was the presence that had done this. This was Maleficent's experiment. He walked toward her, his Keyblade extended. Sora reached in his jacket. Pinned inside was a row of Key Chains for the Keyblade. Sora selected the Oathkeeper. It was, after all, Kairi's good luck charm and it reminded him of her. He would wear it proudly into battle. And Sora had a feeling that this was going to be one of the toughest battles of his life. As the Oathkeeper chain attached, the Kingdom Key became white with angel wings growing from the handle. The end was replaced by blue and yellow pinwheels.
The girl's eyes widened. "Whoa! Your light power just increased." She sounded more amused than scared.
"Of course it did" said Sora. "I'm fighting with a memento of a friend."
"Before we fight" said the girl. "And before I kill you, I want you to know my name. After all, I know your name---it was downloaded into my brain by Maleficent's magic while I was still in the tank. But you don't know mine. I know everything about you, Sora. And you know next to nothing about me."
"Save it!" Sora yelled, brandishing the Oathkeeper in a furious gesture. "I couldn't care less who, or what you are! You hurt a lot of people, and you hurt Riku too! I'm taking you down. Then I'm coming to get your masters!"
At this the girl laughed. She laughed so hard that tears trickled down her face. "M-Maleficent and Pete? My masters? Ah, ha, ha,h a! That's great Keyblade Master, it really is!"
Sora was puzzled and a bit concerned. From the looks on their faces, so were Donald and Goofy. "What do you mean?"
The girl pursed her lips and an exact replica of Maleficent's voice came from her mouth. "I'm your mother! You must do what I say! Or I will punish you in a very painful way! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" Again that joyful laughter, but it had a sick undertone, making Sora think of things lying deep and buried in darkness, things under the bed, and hearts drowned in their own greed.
"You're…you're not under her orders?" Sora said.
"Nope!" the girl said, walking a bit closer. "I came her on my own. And do you know why Sora? Because I came to kill the Keyblade Master. I was made to kill you, you and everyone else who wields one. That includes little Kairi too. I learned information about all of you in the tank." She smirked. "By the way, my name's Tine. Hag horns wanted to call me 'Roman Numeral Something, but I knew what my true name was. She started talking to me like I was a robot. But I taught her a lesson. I taught them all a lesson!" she shouted "DO! NOT! MESS! WITH! TINE! THE! BEST!" then she turned her insane, green gaze to Sora. "As you and your bumbling friends are about to find out."
"We'll see" Sora said, holding out Oathkeeper in a guard position. "I'll take you on alone."
Tine raised her hand and formed a sword from dark energy. It reminded Sora of Auron, the warrior they had met in the Underworld. It was like his sword, only it had no symbol on the hilt. "I have a large sword and unlimited control over the darkness power" said Tine, her grin fading. "And you have a friend's good luck charm that somehow makes your light aura a little higher." She ran toward Sora with unbelievable speed. "Let's get it on!" she shrieked. She brought her sword crashing down toward him.
Sora barely managed to bring the Keyblade up to block it. The impact shook his arms all the way into the sockets with pain. Pain that felt cold. He managed to dodge another one of those powerful blows. It smashed into the wall of one of the shops. The entire wall smashed open like nothing. The building leaned to the side. When he turned to strike at Tine, he saw that she had disappeared. But she had been right there a second ago! He moved aside just in time as a sword whistled past his head. He had just avoided being decapitated. Sora then understood what she was doing. She was teleporting from place to place, appearing in the Dark Realm, where he would be in the real world, tracking him by the feel of his light aura. She then materialized the sword near him and swung it before coming out herself. Unfortunately, knowing what your enemy was doing did not enable you to stop them. With such power at her command, Tine was impossible to hit. And Sora didn't know what other nasty little tricks she had hiding up her sleeve.
He wasn't sure he could win.
Ohhhh! A cliffhanger! Don't worry, I'll take good care of our boy Sora!