Chapter 14
Roxas's POV
The World That Never Was- Same day
Because of Axel's request, we stood in front of Memory's Skyscraper along with Ichigo and Rukia. Mr. Pineapple head (I can't remember his name) stood on the sidelines along with the rest of the organization. Whenever some of us want a fight, we would all gather and place our bets on who would win. Saix was probably betting all his munny on Ichigo and Rukia. I gripped Oathkeeper and Oblivion as Axel twirled his Chakrams."Everyone ready?" Mr. Pineapple head asked. "Begin!"
That's when my adrenaline started pumping. Ichigo drew his sword and tried to slash at me with it, but I quickly dodged and countered by swinging Oathkeeper at him. Ichigo quickly sidestepped and swung his sword at me, but I jumped away and shot a fireball at him. Ichigo blocked it with his giant sword and I swung my keyblades at him, catching him off guard. I jumped in the air and shot a blot of lighting at him. Ichigo smirked and jumped back a couple feet, the blot missing him by a matter of feet.
Without warning, something slammed hard into my back. I felt the wind get knocked out of me as I fell to the ground. I flipped in mid-air, landing on my feet and re-filling my lungs with oxygen. Rukia landed gracefully her white sword shimmering. Her joy didn't last long; Axel threw one of his blazing Chakrams at her. Rukia disappeared for a moment before re-appearing a couple feet away from Axel.
"Dance! Sode no Skiroyuki!" She yelled out as tiny snowflakes gathered around her sword's blade. "Pakurn!"
Out of nowhere, a HUGE blast of snow shot towards Axel. Axel's Chakrams lit up in an orange glow as he blocked Rukia's attack. Ichigo tried to jump behind Axel and surprise him but I made an X with my keyblades, blocking his sword. Ichigo smirked and jumped back a couple feet before he swung his massive sword at me.
"Getsuga Tensho!" He yelled as the blade of his sword glowed blue.
His sword sent out a blue shock wave that I easily dodged before countering with a swing from Oblivion. Ichigo knocked away Oblivion as if it were a toothpick (which it probably was) and slashed his sword at me again. I jumped away as axel shot a giant fireball at Ichigo. Ichigo jumped up and stood in mid-air as Rukia held up her sword. She didn't try to swing it; instead, the ground under us glowed white.
"Kootta kyoofu," She whispered (Author: That's Japanese for frozen terror).
I literally froze when an icy feeling gripped me. I looked down as ice began to creep up my legs. I tried to move my legs, but a thick sheet of ice held both of them in place. I stabbed at the ice with Oathkeeper, hoping to shatter it, but no luck. I gulped as the ice crept further up my body. Determined, Axel shot a fireball at the ground. The ice quickly melted into a puddle of water and burnt the soles of my feet in the process. I shook off the pins and needles feeling and jumped into the air before slashing at Ichigo.
Ichigo's brown eyes grew wide in shock. He pushed back with all of his strength, knocking me back to the ground. He sent out another blue shockwave, throwing me off my feet. Before I could react he swung his sword at me again, but I blocked it with my keyblades while lying on the ground. I jumped up and kicked him in the ribs, knocking the breath out of him in an OOF! I ran up to him and attempted to swing Oathkeeper and Oblivion at him. Ichigo blocked my swift attack and jumped back.
Without warning, Ichigo dropped his sword and gripped the sides of his head. Rukia's eyes filled with terror as she gripped her sword. What was going on with him? Ichigo's face was twisted with pain and confusion as took a step back.
"No! This isn't a real fight!" He yelled.
Another voice came from Ichigo's lips. A sharp, metallic voice that sent shivers down my spine.
"Come on, I wanna have some fun too," It tried to convince Ichigo. "Even in Hueco Mundo you didn't want me to help you. Come on, I just want to play with the kid,"
"Shut up, Hichigo!" Ichigo screamed in his normal voice. "If I let you out, you're going to tear this whole world apart!"
"Hichigo? Rukia, w-what's going on?" Axel asked, almost shaking.
"Ichigo's inner hollow-Hichigo-he wants to take control of Ichigo's body to fight. If that happens, we're all screwed," Rukia explained.
"How do we stop him fr-" Roxas stopped dead.
"Too late," The metallic voice sneered-Hichigo's voice.
Ichigo no longer looked like himself. His hair and skin had turned snow white and his eyes were gold. Not the shiny money gold, but the type of gold on a bullet. Hichigo sneered and licked his lip with his blue tongue.
"That's more like it!" He screamed as reshi engulfed him.
Hichigo emerged a few minutes later completely dressed in black. He held out his sword, which now had a completely black blade. I gripped Oathkeeper and Oblivion so hard that I thought my hands might bleed. Hichigo disappeared for a couple of seconds before re-appearing in front of Rukia. Rukia held up her sword Hichigo met match with it, smirking evilly. Hichigo jumped away and slashed his sword at Rukia; she dodged quickly barely missing the sword. Hichigo slashed at her again, but Rukia jumped back as her sword began to glow white.
"Tsukishiro!" She yelled out as the ground under Hichigo began to glow.
Hichigo disappeared as ice shot up from the ground, making a HUGE column of ice. The column stood tall before it collapsed and shattered. Hichigo re-appeared and swung his black sword at Rukia, making a clean cut on her arm and knocking her to the ground. Hichigo raised his sword, ready to deliver the final blow to Rukia. Rukia swung her sword, meeting match with Hichigo's. I could see how much pain she was in by looking in her violet eyes. Hichigo jumped above her and shot a HUGE red beam at Rukia, who cowered in fear and waited for her life to end.
Axel quickly jumped in front of Rukia and held up his Chakrams, blazing with fire. Axel blocked the beam and threw one of his fiery Chakrams at Hichigo. Much to Axel's surprise, Hichigo caught the Chakram without flinching from the flames. Before Axel could react, Hichigo disappeared and re-appeared behind Axel, slashing at his shoulder with Axel's Chakram. Axel roared in pain and gripped his shoulder as Hichigo swung his sword at Axel.
I knocked his sword away with Oathkeeper and attempted to slash at him. Hichigo blocked my Keyblade with Axel's Chakram and weaved it through my Keyblade. He yanked away the Chakram, throwing Oathkeeper with it too across the battlefield. Now weaponless, I tried to slash at him with Oblivion but Hichigo dodged easily. I kicked, but he dodged it easily. I swung Oblivion at Hichigo, landing a good-sized cut on his arm. For a second, I saw Ichigo's orange hair and brown eyes filled with pain before he turned back into Hichigo.
"Roxas why-" I heard Ichigo's voice as he gripped his bleeding arm. Hichigo shook his head, trying block Ichigo from re-claiming his body. "You little brat! You're going to pay for that!" Hichigo screamed at me with his metallic voice.
Deep down, I still knew this was Ichigo's body. I was battling my own ally, well not technically. I was fighting his inner hollow, but they shared the same body, but Hichigo was like the darkness the engulfed people when they became heartless. As much as I considered Ichigo my friend, I had to fight this…thing.
"Ichigo, I know you can take him!" I shouted loudly.
"I'm not that damned brat!" Hichigo screamed as he gripped the sides of his head. "Roxas, Axel…help," Ichigo's voice chocked out.
"You can take him Ichigo, I know you can," Axel joined in. "I've seen your power, you're stronger than him,"
"I'm not Ichigo!" Hichigo continued to scream. "Get that through your thick skulls already!"
"We know you're not Ichigo, but the real Ichigo's in there somewhere!" Rukia came forward too. "Ichigo, don't let him completely take over!"
Ichigo's POV
"…Don't let him take over!"
"Rukia?" I wondered. "Rukia, is that you?" I shouted.
"We're not done yet!" Hichigo demanded, charging at me again.
Hichigo swung his sword at me, but I jumped away and met match with his sword. Hichigo growled in annoyance as he swung his sword at me again, but I didn't have time to dodge. The blade slashed against my skin, making a nasty cut on my arm. Ignoring the pain, I swung my sword at Hichigo but he jumped away, smirking that creepy smile that reminded me of gothic clowns like Gin. Hichigo fired a cero at me, but I flash-stepped behind him and swung my sword at him once more. Hichigo whirled around and met match with my sword.
Hichigo kicked me in the gut, knocking me down. Hichigo tried to stab his sword into my shoulder but I knocked it away with my sword and jumped to my feet in mid-air. I couldn't lose this, not when my friends' lives were at stake. Axel, Roxas, Rukia, and Renji…I won't lose. Hichigo landed a hard roundhouse kick on my side, making me wince in pain. I swung my sword at him, aiming for his chest. Hichigo saw right through me and fired s cero. At, literally, point black.
My whole body filled with pain after that. The blue buildings flew past me as I shot through the air. I slammed into the side of a building, making more pain course through my veins. I hacked up mouthfuls of blood as Hichigo walked on the air to approach me, to make the finishing blow. I tried to stand but my body was so overcome with pain, I collapsed. I saw Hichigo's ugly grin reflect off his sword before he swung the sword at me, ready to take away my life.
"You're gonna give up that easily?"
I glanced up and saw Roxas holding his keyblades in an X, blocking Hichigo's sword. Hichigo's eyes were filled with shock and confusion as Roxas swung the black Keyblade at Hichigo, landing a nasty cut on his side. The red liquid stained Hichigo's white clothes as Rukia and Axel approached.
"What? How are you here? It's not possible!" Hichigo shouted, backing up into a wall.
"Damn straight it's possible," Renji smirked as he approached too.
Come to think of it, how the heck are Roxas and Axel walking on air when they're not even Soul Reapers? I stood up too, ignoring that pain and stumbled over to where we had all cornered Hichigo. His golden eyes were filled with fear as I held onto my sword tightly. Now this was where everything became a little bit of a blur, so I'll give you a basic idea of what happened:
Ever played don't let the balloon touch the ground? We played don't let Hichigo touch the ground. I stabbed my sword into his shoulder as threw him up in the air. Before he had a chance to react, Rukia appeared behind him and shot a powerful beam of ice and snow at him, shooting him away from her a 200 hundred miles an hour. Axel threw his Chakrams at Hichigo, knocking him to the ground. Roxas slashed at Hichigo with both of his Keyblades, throwing him up in the air again. Renji grabbed Hichigo's shirt and did a good old-fashioned-Renji-style kido. Hichigo gasped his disbelief as I swung my sword at him one last time, landing a wound on his shoulder.
I don't really know what happened after that. All I remember is collapsing and falling down, the ground rushing up to greet me…then nothing but black.
"Hey, Ichigo? You okay?"
I opened my eyes and met the sea-green eyes of Demyx. My arm was over his shoulder and Renji and Rukia stood in front of him. I was exhausted and sleepy. Demyx handed me off to Renji; who carefully put my arm over his shoulder. I gave Demyx a thankful smile and he flashed me his goofy grin.
"Thanks for everything, we owe you a lot," Rukia bowed respectfully.
"No, thank you for you assistance," Xemnas told us as he walked over, Saix beside him. "Without your help, we would have never gotten Roxas back. Send Kisuke my thanks," He said, trying to keep his thank-you short. Thank go it was short.
"We will, don't worry," Rukia assured.
Saix sighed deeply. "As much as I hate saying this, I underestimated you, Ichigo. I thought you were some inexperienced kid, but I have to say you're pretty good with that sword of yours. I'm sorry, as I hate saying this," Saix said.
"So you were the guy that said I was only a kid?" I confirmed.
"No, that was Luxord," Axel chimed in. "Anyway, nice knowing you Ichigo," He said.
"Thanks for rescuing me," Roxas cut in. "Will we ever meet again?"
"Hopefully, Kisuke will figure out one way or another," Rukia took out a silver box and threw it up in the air. She drew her sword and cut the box in half in mid-air, making the box flash brightly. I shut my eyes tightly, not risking my eyesight. When I opened them, a portal was open and Karakura town was in view.
"That's the town you live in? Nice place," Demyx complimented.
After a couple more minutes of thank-yous and good-byes, we finally stepped through the portal. As the portal began to close, one last though crossed my mind.
"Hey, Axel, Roxas!" I called out.
Axel and Roxas looked up surprised my call and saddened by my departure.
"I have one last request: kick Luxord's ass for me, will ya?" I winked at them as the portal closed.
"Will do!" Axel and Roxas promised as Luxord's mouth dropped open. Revenge is sweet.
Author: I'm SOOO sorry it took me so long to get this up! I was originally going to put this with chapter 13, but then my motivation ditched me, again. I enjoyed typing this and I just finished typing it! Thank you weekends. The next chapter won't be posted for a while because of end-of-the-year-schoolwork, eye doctor appointments (I just got glasses), and whatnot. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~yukihikari99