When You're Strange

Chapter2

Arena

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The world the two friends emerged in was unfamiliar to both of them. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but desert wasteland. Guts of wind howled, kicking up clouds of sand as they went. The sun beat down with a merciless heat, and beads of sweat had already begun to form on the foreheads of the two. They were standing in front of some kind of ruin, towering above the desert below, made of crumbling stone. Several statues lined the entrance of this massive structure, but they were all too worn away to decipher what they were sculpted after. More importantly, there was no one to be seen.

"Where-?" Sora began.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" interrupted a voice. "BOYS AND GIRLS! WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE TRIAL OF ANUBIS!"

Sora and Riku looked up and spotted the black-cloaked man standing high above on the top of a broken obelisk with his hands raised dramatically in the air.

"Welcome, contestants! It's time to play a little game."

"'A game!?' Where's Kairi!?" Sora asked impatiently.

"Matte, matte, my spiky haired friend! The reward of any challenge is always at the end."

"KAIRI ISN'T SOME PRIZE, YOU-!"

"What are the rules?" Riku interrupted.

"I'll keep it simple. To achieve what you want you must make it through the trial. There are a series of battles and enemies that you must overcome. But be warned, they are no pushovers. Clear out all the opponents to win. To put it simply, your goal is to live."

"Fine. We'll play your game," said Sora through clenched teeth. "And when we're done, the three of us are going to make you suffer!"

The man let out a maniacal laugh.

"Good! Keep yourself motivated! Let your anger carry you through the trial! Adieu, my friends! See you at the finish line!"

Another dark portal and he was gone.

"Come on, Riku. The sooner this is done, the sooner I can beat the shit out him."

"Y-Yeah. Gotcha…" Riku was a bit taken aback by Sora swearing like that. Even when he was angry Sora never usually said more than "damn." But, on the other hand, it wasn't every day your true love got kidnapped by a psychopath.

The two quickly entered the structure, climbing the stairs for several minutes before reaching a completely flat room that stretched from end to end. The two took a minute to catch their breaths then calmly, but cautiously, walked to the center of the room. For a few moments it seemed like nothing would happen, but suddenly several dark portals opened. Surrounding them were creatures wrapped in bandages, carrying hooks in one hand and ankhs in the other and wearing pharaoh styled headpieces. They had no faces save for two glowing yellow eyes. Hanging from their chests was a symbol that they found all too familiar.

"Heartless…" Riku muttered.

"Yeah," agreed Sora. "Let's finish this quickly."

Riku nodded in agreement and both friends summoned their weapons, standing back-to-back. The Heartless levitated slightly off the ground, then began to quickly rotate around their prey. They were so fast that all the boys could see was a circular blur around them.

"Wait for it…" Rku commanded.

After rotating for a few more moments Heartless made a brief stop before rushing forward with blinding speed.

"NOW!"

Sora cast Reflega, halting all the attacks and blasting them back with the spell's nasty after-effect. Sora then began to pick off the enemies with Blizzaga while Riku did the same with Dark Aura. Within seconds, the fight was over.

"And he said they wouldn't be pushovers," Riku commented with a grin. Sora flashed a quick smirk to his friend before returning to his serious demeanor.

"Come on,' said Sora. "Let's hurry to the next-"

Suddenly a massive dark portal opened up and out popped a monstrous Heartless resembling a sphinx. It was so tall that it barely fit in the massive room. It let out a bellowing roar that shook the whole tower. Riku and Sora stared wide-eyed.

"Holy-"

"-Shit." Riku finished.

The beast then proceeded to open it's mouth and let loose a massive fireball…

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Kairi groaned as she opened her eyes and struggled to lift her head. Her vision was blurry and for several minutes she felt nauseous. She tried to touch her forehead but found herself unable to move her arms. Panicked, she struggled violently for a moment until her head began to throb with pain, causing her to cease her actions. She tested her range of motion and found that she was bound to some kind of chair with her shoulders and neck tied securely to it, as were her ankles and thighs, which were bound together. Her wrists were tied together not just behind her back, but behind the back of the chair as well. As her vision began to clear she found that she was restrained not with rope or chains, but with darkness itself. She tried to summon her keyblade but found she was unable to do so.

Great. The damsel in distress, again. This is exactly the kind of thing all the practice was suppose to prevent.

She sighed and relaxed, realizing she wasn't getting free unless someone else did it for her. She gazed around the room to find she was in a massive stone chamber with towering statues lined across a pathway leading to her seat. The statues were mostly destroyed, ranging from having the detail worn away to being completely smashed. The seat she was tied to was made from what was unmistakably gold, though it's shine and veneer had long since dulled. If it weren't for the torches that lined the room she would have been unable to see anything.

Kairi felt something brush against her bare shin. Looking down she was horrified to find it was a Heartless. It was pure black and gazed upon her with glowing yellow eyes. It twitched its head, antennae, and small arms restlessly. If she remembered correctly, this kind of Heartless was called a "Shadow." Bound and unable to use either her weapon on magic, Kairi seized up and held her breath with fear, desperately hoping it would just go away. To her dismay it climbed up the seat and sat itself promptly in her lap. It gazed at her with its beady eyes for a moment before proceeding to gently rub the side of its head against her body like a cat. After a few minutes of this it curled up and proceeded to fall asleep in her lap. Kairi was baffled; she had never seen a docile Heartless before.

"He likes girls," said a voice. "Especially cute ones."

Kairi looked frantically for the voice's source, but found nothing.

"Up here, sweetness."

Kairi looked up and was stunned to find her captor standing upside down on the ceiling. He then began to… well she wasn't sure what to call it. She probably would've called it an evil giggle if it didn't sound so masculine. He then slowly floated down, not turning himself right side up until he had reached the floor.

"Is our guest comfortable?" he asked.

"Oh sure," Kairi answered, thickly laying on the sarcasm. "Like sleeping on a cloud."

"Oh come now. You're sitting on a throne! Made of gold, no less! Surely something like that is a suitable for one of the prestigious Princesses of Heart."

"You know about that?"

"Please. That kind of thing is common knowledge to those who travel between the worlds."

"Is that why you kidnapped me?"

"Not at all. That status of yours has nothing to do with what I have planned."

"Ok, drop the act."

"What act?"

"That one. On the islands you talked like some sort of surfer dude. Now you're acting like a butler."

"Why whatever do you mean?" he asked in fake British accent. He then let out that same deep giggle as before. "Come on, babe. A little role play can makes things more entertaining!"

Kairi groaned. Not only had she been kidnapped, but also her captor felt the need to annoy the hell out of her. She couldn't wait for Sora and Riku to come get her so she could bash his head in. The Shadow in her lap shifted a bit before sleeping contently again.

"Get this thing off me," she demanded.

"I told you, Twitch likes girls."

"'Twitch?' You named this thing? And you chose a ridiculous name like Twitch?"

"What? It suites him. 'Sides, you gotta admit, he's cute." On that note he calmly strolled over to her. "But not as cute as you…" He reached forward and brushed a few strands of hair away from her eyes. "Damn, you're pretty. Looks like the kid knows how to pick 'em." Kairi cringed as he stroked her hair, desperately hoping Sora and Riku would burst in and stop this. He leaned forward and took a whiff of her scent. "Nice smell, too."

"Get. The hell. Away. From me. NOW!"

The man backed off, but not before giggling again.

"I hope you enjoyed that, pervert, 'cause when the guys get here and free me the three of us are going to slaughter you!"

Her captor quizzically cocked his head.

"Did you say 'the three of us'?" he asked. "You can fight?"

"Think I can't 'cause I'm a girl?"

"Hey, I'm not sexist, chica. I just haven't heard anything about your epic tales of heroism. 'Sides, you don't look like you could even kill a low rank Heartless."

Kairi did her best to lunge forward and wring his neck. She had had enough of being taunted. For several minutes she struggled with all her might. Finally, tiring out, she stopped but still held her death glare.

"…But I guess looks can be deceiving." He leaned in closer to inspect her. "Whether or not you can fight well, I don't know, but you definitely have a fighter's spirit." He scratched his chin for a moment, then let loose a hearty laugh. "I think this calls for a change in plans! Looks like you'll be seeing your two knights sooner than either of us had anticipated!" A dark portal opened behind him. "I'll be right back, so don't go anywhere!" And with that he disappeared.

Kairi groaned. Dear God, what a horribly overused joke! She looked down in her lap to find the Heartless quizzically staring at her with those beady eyes. However, it soon lost interest and went back to sleep. Kairi sighed. I guess you are kind of cute…

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Sora repelled another fireball with his keyblade. He ran forward for another attempt to hit the Heartless, but was stopped short when a massive paw sent him flying backwards. Pain surged through him as his back slammed into the opposite end of the room. His willpower allowed him the strength to land on his feet rather than flat on his face.

"SORA!"

Sora lifted his head in time to see another fireball just moments away from him. Before he could react, Riku jumped in the way and summoned Dark Shield. The blast was unable to penetrate the barrier. Riku let the barrier drop and nearly fell over, just barely able to keep himself up.

"This… is bad…" he panted.

Sora nodded. "We can't keep this up. We have to finish it."

"Any ideas, oh fearless leader?"

The giant sphinx tilted its head back as fire began to billow from its mouth.

"Looks like it's charging for a more powerful attack," Riku noted. "If you've got any ideas, now's the time."

Sora just stood there, dreading the incoming attack. He was barely able to handle its regular fireballs; there was no way they could take a hit from a charged up version.

"We need to use Session," said Sora.

"It won't let us get close enough for that," argued Riku.

Sora groaned. The beast looked as though it was nearly done with the preparations for its blast.

Damnit! Damn those freaking fireballs… Wait a minute…

"I got it!" he shouted, and rushed forward.

"What are you-?!"

"Just trust me!"

"'Trust the idiot?" Riku muttered, but rushed after his friend all the same. "This better not get us killed!" he shouted.

"If it does, it wouldn't be any different than if we didn't try it!"

"Is that your idea of a pep-talk!?"

The monster launched its attack, an enormous ball of flame that glowed with a terrifying light. Sora raised his weapon behind his head and continued forward towards it. At the last second he planted his feet and swung his weapon with all his might.

"BATTER UP!"

The keyblade blade slammed into the attack, slowing down its movement but still having the force to slide Sora backwards. Sora kept pushing but found himself unable to overpower the force against him. At that moment Riku joined in, hitting Sora's weapon with his own to support it.

"In its face?" Riku asked.

"You got it!"

The two managed to overcome the power against them, turning it back towards its source. The attack smashed into the monster with an ear-splitting explosion, causing significant cracks in the wall behind it. While it was still stunned the two friends rushed forward.

"Now, Riku!"

The two began the devastating attack, rapidly slashing at the beast's face. Next they unleashed Last Saber on its right front leg, crippling it. The Heartless raised its head in an attempt to retaliate, but the repeated blasts of Dark Cannon knocked it down again. They attacked its face once again with Master Hearts and then proceeded to cripple its other leg with XIII Blades. Finally, the two used All's End causing the two weapons to fire beams of light and darkness at each other, with the monster's head between them. The beast finally collapsed onto the floor, where it then proceeded to fade and vanish, releasing the heart from inside. The two comrades, thoroughly exhausted, fell to their knees out of breath. After a bit of panting, Riku was the first to speak.

"Where… Where did you get… the idea… to hit it back?" he asked. It was a few moments before his friend replied.

"Baseball."

Riku raised an eyebrow at his friend.

"It just… sorta hit me… If they were balls… of fire… why couldn't I…. hit it like a ball?"

Riku just stared for a bit, then let out a light laugh.

"You really… gambled with that… didn't you?"

Sora just smiled and nodded. After a few more minutes, they two had finally recovered enough to get up.

"This isn't good," Riku stated. "It took everything we had just to get past the first level."

"Ah, but you did get past it!" replied a familiar voice. The two turned to see the dark man step out of a portal from behind them. He applauded vigorously, as if he was genuinely happy at their victory. "Bravo! You were splendid! Well done!"

"Stop acting like you're happy for us," Sora commanded. "And stop pretending you have class. You're just an underhanded criminal!"

He let out a cackle that echoed throughout the room, making it seem more evil. If he wasn't so tired, Sora would've tried to take a swipe at him right then.

"She said something similar to that. She seemed to be pretty annoyed that I was being nice to her."

"KAIRI!" Sora shouted, and rushed the man with a raised fist. He calmly stepped aside and tripped the boy, who landed on his face. "WHERE IS SHE!? WHAT'VE YOU DONE WITH HER!?"

"I don't see a point in telling you. Especially considering that depending on how you answer my little question she could be somewhere very different very soon. As could you."

"'Question?'" Riku asked. "You're here to ask us something?"

"That's the case."

"Is that the only reason you came down here?"

"Actually, there is another reason." The man raised his hand and pointed one finger into the air. A flash of light appeared from the end of it. The two friends looked above their heads to see a familiar spell at work.

"'Cure?'" Sora asked. "You're healing us? Why?"

"Because you went through such an exhausting battle. I wanted to see if you could beat all the rooms individually, not in a row. I'm not that cruel."

Sora used his revitalized strength to summon his weapon.

"I wouldn't if I were you," the man warned. Sora growled. He couldn't risk endangering Kairi. "Now Riku, since you seem to be the most reasonable of this bunch, its time for my question. Your friend, can she fight?"

"You bet she can!" Sora yelled angrily. The man gave him a quick glance before turning back to Riku.

"Well Riku?"

"We've been training her for a while now," he answered. "She can hold her own."

The man let out a deep and masculine giggle. "Perfect! A change of plans it is!"

"'Change of plans?'" Riku tensed. He didn't like the sound of that.

"What are you gonna do with Kairi?" Sora asked.

The man let out a truly demonic laugh. The echo made it sound like a chorus of devils was all around them. The man raised both hands and a dark tendril shot out of each one, wrapping around Sora and Riku.

"The same thing I'm going to do to you," he responded.

Another corridor of darkness opened and the two boys were hurled through it. The force by which they were thrown was so great that the two went soaring through Betwixt and Between and into another corridor. The two tumbled across a dirt ground before sliding to a stop. After recovering the two looked around to find themselves in a stadium of some kind. Enormous didn't begin to describe it. The stands surrounding the dirt ground where they stood were so far way that they couldn't see where the ground and the stands met. The seats, however, were still high enough to be seen from their current position. The place seemed to be devoid of all life in every way possible. The ground was dry and cracked, the stands had noticeable chunks removed, and even the sky was a dull red. On top of that there was no wind and no sound. Not a single thing could be heard.

"What freaky place are we in now?" Sora asked. Riku didn't answer. Just then another corridor opened in front of them. The two summoned their keyblades and took their battle stances, but dropped them when they saw who came out.

"Kairi!" they both shouted. The man in the coat was pushing her forward, and her arms were tied behind her back.

"Sora! Riku! You're ok!"

"Let her go, NOW!" Sora demanded. The man made no movement for a few moments, then proceeded to violently push her forward. Kairi did her best to keep her balance, but tripped and began to fall. Sora rushed forward and caught her in his arms while Riku stepped in front of them with a defensive stance.

"Aww! What a pwecious wittle moment!" the man taunted in a babyish tone.

Sora ignored him and cut the darkness binding Kairi's wrists. Sora began to frantically question her well-being. "Are you ok? What did he do? Did he hurt you?"

"Nothing like that. But he wasn't really accommodating. He tied me to a chair."

"'Throne!'" the man corrected. "It was made of gold and in the chamber of a former royal! I don't think a kidnapee could hope for better place to be held hostage!"

"Where are we?" Riku asked, "And why did you bring us here? Why does Kairi being able to fight change what you had in store for us?"

"This, my inquisitive friend, is a coliseum of a society long since passed. It is so old that no one knows it exists, much less its name. I call it simply "The Arena." I stumbled upon it a few years ago and decided that this would be the perfect place to have some of my grander battles."

"You brought us here so you could fight us?" asked Kairi.

The man chuckled. "It's been a hell of a day! I find a new vacation spot, stumble across a group that I hoped I would bump into eventually, and to top it all off I find out I have three opponents instead of two! This couldn't get much better!"

Kairi summoned her keyblade and joined her friends in an offensive stance.

"Originally," he continued, "I was going to wait for the two guys to make it through the trial before we battled it out for the girl's fate. But when I found out the girl could fight too, I just couldn't wait that long!" He raised his arms in a dramatic fashion as darkness began to gather around him. "So come at me! Humble me with the power of three keyblades! Show me how much your friendship and love empowers you! Unleash your aggression! Test your skill!" The darkness that gathered around him steadily grew more intense until it finally erupted into a swirling aura. He took a hand-to-hand fighting stance and tightly clenched his fists. In a completely serious and deep voice he shouted,

"FIGHT!!!"

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So another chapter is done. I guess I'm on a roll here! Sorry for leaving you at a cliffhanger like this, but I felt it was the perfect place to do so! I tried to do something I haven't seen anyone else do in a KH fanfic and that's try to describe a Limit being used. Tell me if it was good and what I could improve cause a few them are going to show up really soon, including one's that I've made up myself! A personal shout-out to the Magnificent Tim Fortune, the man that made me think "You know what, maybe I can make a good KH fic" with his superior work, Cognito. Seriously man, it's an honor to have you even comment on a story of mine, much less fave it. I desperately hope you get out of your writer's black soon.

Also, if you haven't guessed already, one of the villain's personality quirks is to use word from other languages in his dialect. I figure everyone knows the ones I used here except for Matte, matte, which is my lame attempt at the Japanese for "Wait, wait." I wanted to use more than just Spanish and French.