Sora vs. #13 Prt. II

Sora stood panting heavily in the middle of the Marketplace. He was exhausted. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and he raised a gloved hand to wipe it away. "Come out!" he called, lifting the Oathkeeper to face Tine. But the girl was nowhere to be seen. Then Sora felt a movement behind him. He moved but wasn't fast enough. A burning line of pain traced its way down his back, along with blood.

"Agghh!" Sora cried out as he was hit for the fifth time. He already had four other such wounds as these. One for each hour they had been fighting. He had not managed to hit Maleficent's loathsome experiment once.

"What's wrong Keyblade Master, I thought that you were going to take me down!" Tine's voice called out of the air. It resonated hideous cheerfulness.

"Stop playing with me and fight fair!" Sora screamed. He was beginning to get desperate. He had told Donald and Goofy to focus on killing the Heartless in town and getting the citizens to safety. He wanted them to leave for another reason.

Sora didn't want his friends to see him die.

He had faced that fact. He was quite possibly going to die. Tine was way out of his league. She had already managed to injure him five times. He felt another movement. He brought Oathkeeper up to block Tine's black blade. It shook his arms again. Then it vanished and Sora thought how long? How long before I get too tired to block and this thing finishes me? He wondered if Tine would kill him quickly, or drag it out. From what he had seen of her personality, she would probably drag it out to prolong his suffering. Sora swung out at a space of movement, and was rewarded by a flash of stars and a cry of surprised pain. Tine reappeared. Her grin had faded. "You think that just because you hit me, that you could defeat me that easily?" she snarled. Really snarled. It sounded like an animal. Her eyes glowed yellow for a few seconds. "I'll kill you, you little chicken."

"I'm a chicken?" Sora burst out, feeling outraged in the midst of his pain and fear. "You're the one who hides in the Dark Realm and strikes out at people."

Tine was so abruptly in front of him that he had to throw himself to the ground to avoid her blade. Sora took advantage of her opening to land several blows on Tine's head and chest. She cried out in pain as she was driven backwards by his rain of attacks. She staggered back, definitely looking a little less assured of her victory than before.

"Not so smug now, are you?" Sora said. He lunged forward. It was a mistake and he knew it as soon as he tried. He ran right into Tine's blade. He managed to avoid being injured by the blade by blocking it with Oathkeeper. The force of it sent him flying across the Marketplace. Tine fired a blue ball of dark energy at him. It hit Sora in midair, blowing him up in a powerful explosion. He cried out in pain and was hurled even further. Sora jumped to his feet right before Tine's blade slammed into the pavement, cracking it. She tried to pull it out, but Sora kicked her in the stomach. While she staggered, Sora beat her in the back with Oathkeeper.

Yes! He thought. If I keep at it, I just might win!

Tine demonstrated more of her inhuman speed and punched him in the face. Sora saw stars and staggered, trying not to fall to his knees. If he did, then she would kill him. He was really starting to get tired now, and that was a bad thing. His legs were like lead, and he couldn't feel his arms. They had been fighting for five hours. It was one o'clock in the morning, and still the sky retained its bright pink color. As bright as the pinkish foam he had begun to cough up around ten thirty. His injuries bled, soaking his magical clothes. Hope Master Yen Sid isn't too angry he thought crazily. It occurred to him to heal himself, but he realized that Tine could strike a fatal blow while he stood to perform the magic. He dodged again, as her sword slammed into a wooden stall selling carpets from Agrabah, smashing it to splinters.

I have to end this Sora thought. If I don't I'll die. He stood, swaying, trying to think what he could do to win this. He didn't have Donald and Goofy to help combo attack her, so he would have to find another way. He dodged another swing. Tine didn't appear to be tired at all. In pain, yes. But not tired. Particles of darkness leaked from places where Oathkeeper's spines had cut her skin.

"You're tougher than I thought" she admitted, shaking her head. "But you're still no match for me. I have unlimited energy, Sora. I never get tired. The darkness is my energy and the darkness is eternal, as is the light. I could fight an army, and never get tired." She offered another one of those creepy beautiful/hideous grins.

"I'll…fight…'till…I drop" Sora panted.

"Looks like I won't have to wait long" Tine said. She swung her blade out. This time, Sora was too slow to avoid it. It slashed him across the stomach. Blood spattered the ground.

"Ugggghhh!" Sora grunted, and fell to his knees. Now, the only thing keeping him from falling facedown in a pool of his own blood was Oathkeeper. He used it as a cane to drag himself forward on his knees. Sora did not look down at the horrid injury. He only kept going forward. He now fully expected to die. But, if he had to die, he would at least die like a pirate, facing death armed, as Jack Sparrow had told him. "I can't die!" he muttered to himself as he pressed forward toward the agent of his certain death, leaving an incredibly large trail of blood behind him. "If I die now, I'll never finish ninth grade! Mr. Harding will be furious!"

"What are you talking about?" Tine said. "Why are you still alive anyway?"

Sora didn't know how to respond to that question. He didn't know if he could respond. He couldn't make his mouth work. It was like when Merlin had poisoned his water with the Night Juice, except that this was a pleasant feeling. He looked down at the blood that now covered almost every inch of his body and his black clothes. It was red, beautifully red like Kairi's hair. Kairi. She had given Oathkeeper to him as a token of her friendship. Friendship. "Fr…ship…" Sora muttered. His face was gray and he sounded like someone talking in his sleep. "Kari is a friend…Sora muttered…Riku is a friend…Donald is a friend…Goofy is a friend…" he was unconsciously raising the Keyblade so that it pointed at Tine's chest, at where her heart should have been.

"What are you doing?" Tine asked, and if Sora had been conscious enough to pay attention, he would have noticed that there was fear in her voice.

"YOU'RE ALL MY FRIENDS SO COME TO ME COME TO ME NOW!" Sora shrieked.

"Flare!" Donald cried as he blew several Heartless from the face of existence. Suddenly, Donald cried out as he felt a bit his substance taken away. Goofy did the same.

"Agh!" Riku cried as he felt something leave him. Kari felt the same thing…but she felt that she knew what it was, and sent a bit of her power along with it.

The tip of Oathkeeper was lit with a dazzling display of light; light strong enough to pierce the greatest darkness. "IN THE NAME OF ALL LIGHT, BANISH THIS MONSTER! GET YOU AWAY FROM THE WORLDS!" a blast of molten blue light, glowing so brightly that it left an afterimage across Sora's eyes for days afterwards, flew across the Marketplace and struck Tine directly in the chest. The result was spectacular. Tine was blasted backwards, screaming and crying. Crying! Her sobs became shrieks and yells of agony. She was suspended within a glowing cocoon of light, writhing and twisting, trying to free herself. Sora saw for an instant, Tine's skin became transparent, and Sora saw that inside, instead of organs and bones, there were merely swirling patterns of darkness power. Then Tine fell to the ground with a thump!

"I…win…" Sora said, and collapsed. He felt a Dark Corridor open, and raised his head to see Tine vanish inside it.

"I'll kill you all!" her voice came through, choked with darkness and hate, barely human. "Kairi and Riku, Donald and Goofy! All those who you mentioned will die slowly and painfully! Kill you ALL!" then the portal vanished. The battle was over.

Donald and Goofy ran to the Marketplace. Any Heartless that got in their way was mowed down. Any person was shoved aside. They knew Sora was in trouble. He had called on the last thing he had left: their friendship. It was a mark of how connected their hearts were, each of their hearts had given Sora little boost of power. They only prayed it was enough.