Disclaimer: I don't own the game!! Wow, there goes two seconds of my life that I'll never get back….
Authoress' Notes: I don't like Kairi…at all. Especially, when the little slut doesn't seem to mind that her friends, Riku and Sora, are rivaling each other over her. I can tell that she can't wait to get older so she can get laid by both guys. Riku, Sora, you two need to raise your standards and find another girl. Some of the names mentioned in the fic are mine. You'll know when you read it. I'll take any and all good comments and criticisms or ideas for this fic. Such as what world the heroes of this fic will go that has not appeared in the games. Wow, this may end up as pretty long story. All flames will be either be ignored, or sent to Sephiroth for him to use in Kairi's big bonfire! Enjoy, the fic! (Yes, they will be cursing, though I don't know how bad.)
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The Search For Sora's Heart
Prologue
The World of Divine Hope, formerly known as the World That Never Was. This newly named world is the new Traverse Town for those in other worlds that were taken over to meet and reunite with friends. It is primarily used for the heroes of all worlds to come and relax for some time to get away from the everyday life of their worlds. But in reality, it's used as the meeting area for the KH Guardians, or Guardians for short, since unfortunately, the Heartless and Nobodies are still present everywhere.
The Guardians was created from the heroes of different worlds. Each hero(es) or heroine(s), is the guardian of their respective worlds and they meet up every month to give status reports on how well their worlds are holding up against the Nobodies and Heartless. If needed, Sora goes out to help the world that is in danger of a Heartless and Nobody overrun. Once the meetings are done and if every world is fine, the heroes are free to do what they wish for the rest of the time they are there. Like shopping, hanging out, making friends, and play games. Especially the Struggle Tournament that Sora had brought over from Twilight Town.
Everyone loved Struggle and participated every time they got a chance, but were forbidden to start one in their worlds for fear of throwing everything off balance. An Annual Struggle tournament was always held at the end of every year for the fun of it. And at the end of the tournament there was a party held in the honor of the winner of the tournament. And today is no different, everyone had just finished the tournament and are throwing the party right now…
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Chapter One: A Darkness Released
As always, it was a clear and starry night in the World of Divine Hope. Everyone was at Palace of Keyblades, which used to be known as Palace of Empty Hearts, for the Struggle winner's party. By everyone's surprise, this year's winner was Olette of Twilight Town. Everyone applauded for the girl's win and Sora presented the belt to her at the party while Hayner gawked at the fact that she, of all people, had won. Seifer, simmering over the his loss to Olette, stood next to Cloud, who smirked slightly over the ordeal.
"I can't believe I lost to her." Seifer griped outwardly, though he was actually proud that someone other than Hayner and Sora had won the tournament. Fuu stood next to him, watching the cermony with disinterest. "Next time." she said in monotone, sticking by her leader and trying in her own odd way to comfort him. Rai was in complete shock and was running around telling everyone that Seifer hadn't feeling well at the tournament or that he purposely lost so Olette could win for once.
After Sora had presented the Championship belt to Olette and said his congratulations, he announced the start of Winner's party. As the signal to start, he lifted his Keyblade, twirled it once, and threw it into the air. Fireworks exploded and illuminated the night sky, which can be seen easily through the palace's large windows. Everyone cheered for the event as Sora caught his Keyblade expertly.
"Let's PARTY!!" the young king declared and everyone again erupted in cheer as music started while food and sweets were delivered. Everyone in room quickly went about their partying business while others headed straight for the dance floor or buffet table. Kairi was chatting with the other Princesses of Heart, Riku was talking to Leon and Aerith, King Mickey was dancing with Queen Minnie, Goofy was flirting with Clarabelle and Donald was getting an earful from Daisy for missing their date again.
Sora was sitting at one of the many tables scattered about the room, eating his fill of food. He was enjoying the festivities and the sounds of laughter when he suddenly felt a painful pulse rack his body. It wasn't painful enough for him to cry out, but just enough to paralyze him for a few seconds. Sora froze as he waited of the wave of pain to pass, his eyes wide with surprise.
What was that? Sora thought as he breathed slowly. The pulse afflicted him again, this time it was a little more painful, at least enough to cause him flinch. What's wrong with me? The teenager let his breath out in a low hiss as shadow covered him. He looked up quickly in surprise to see Yuffie holding a glass of punch. She was looking at him with concern.
"Hey, are you okay, Sora?" the ninja asked, noticing the pale color of his skin. The teenager flinched inwardly at the question. He rubbed at one of his arms with one hand in hopes of getting back some color.
He smiled faintly, "Uh, yeah."
"You don't look well. Are you sick?"
"Uh, no. I'm fine, I just ate too fast."
"Oh." Yuffie didn't look convinced about his answer.
Sora thought quickly. "I'm going upstairs for bit. Y'know to be on the safe side. I don't wanna puke all over the floor during a party."
The ninja grinned slightly. "Right. That'll be a social killer."
"Yup. I'll see you later, Yuffie."
"Later, Sora."
The teenager got up and scurried up the stairs to the balcony above as Yuffie watched him go. When he was out sight, she frowned to herself. The kid was good, but pretty much sucked at lying. The female ninja saw right through his little act. She turned and headed straight for Leon. She spotted him talking to Aerith and Riku with Cloud not too far from them.
"Oh, come on Leon. At least say that you're happy and proud of Sora." Aerith said as she smiled. Leon didn't give a reply but pursed his mouth shut at the request.
Riku grinned at the response, "Ah, I see you don't like to show you're emotions much."
"No, he doesn't like people reading him. He's just like Cloud." The flower girl turned to smile at the busterswordsman, who sitting on the edge of a table in his usual, cool like manner. He opened one blue eye to look at her irritably.
"I heard that." Cloud muttered as Yuffie jogged up to them. She had a look of concern on her face as she stepped up to them. They turned to her with some smiles and holding some glasses of punch.
"Hey, guys." she greeted as she stood next to Leon.
"Hey, Yuf." they greeted back, knowing that she was about to just explode from the excitement of the party. But to everyone's suprise, she wasn't bouncing around the room in hyper Yuffie mode.
"Um, I think there's something wrong with Sora." she whispered, so that no one else heard her words. The foursome's smiles faded. How could anything be wrong? They've just about finished rebuilding Radiant Garden, Organization XIII was finished, and all was well. Granted, that there's still Heartless and minor Nobodies to deal with day in and day out but they were manageable. And Sora was just as hyper and cheerful as can be...
Right?
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Sora reached the top of the stairs as another pulse of pain rocked through him, causing him to rear back in agony. He caught himself with the rail before he could end up falling back down the steps and collapsed to his knees as his body quivered in pain. Once the pain subsided a bit to a bearable level, the teenager pushed off from the wall and stumbled into the room where the balcony was located. Another painful throb shook through him, causing him to let out a soft cry of pain and fell to his knees again. He grabbed the front of his shirt and breathed heavily.
What's going on? What's with this pain? Sora thought as he tried to ease the pain which now came in waves. He fell to his side as they became unbearable and curled up to try to supress them. He whimpered and withered on the floor as the pulses turned into waves of pain that crashed over and over within him. A familiar voice, but darker in tone growled at him.
"I demand that you release me now!" the voice hissed angrily as the young king continued to wither on the floor. Sora cried softly as he tried to think of who it was but the pain clouded his thoughts.
W-who are you?
"Who am I? Oh, please, it's obvious that you should know who I am!"
The teenager tried to make sense of what was going on and figure out who the voice was. He had no idea who it was but the voice sounded so familiar. Just who was this? Another wave of pain and Sora was growling from it.
I don't know who you are!
"Then forget it! Release me NOW!" the voice snarled angrily. The Choosen Keyblader shook his head and curled up into a ball, trying to cope with the burning pain. The voice grumbled a bit at the teenager's refusal and hissed darkly. "Then WRITHE in agony you fool!!"
Sora's eyes widen as pain surged through him, nearly causing him to scream out. The Keyblade wielder thrashed wildly on the floor and arched his back as the seemingly endless pain coursed through his body. The pain was so strong that he thought it was ripping him apart but he refused to scream. The pluse ended and he relaxed, feeling the muscles in his body twitch and jerk awkwardly from the pain.
He breathed heavily as he tried to keep himself from passing out. Come on, Sora, think! W-who is that voice? If you want to kick the dude's ass you better not pass out and --! Another wave spiked up and Sora arched his back again, mouth open in a silent scream of agony. He didn't know how long he could take this and wished that he didn't lie to Yuffie.
Please...some...one...help...
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"What do mean?" Riku asked warily, gripping his glass. Sora's his best friend, if anything was wrong... He gripped the glass a little tighter. Cloud and Leon noticed Riku's grip was straining the cup. Yuffie looked uncertain, like she couldn't pick out what exactly was wrong.
"I don't know, but he looked sick. The kid said he was fine, but I saw right through that little lie." the ninja replied in a low voice.
Cloud frowned at the idea of Sora being sick and lying about it. The teenager never lied unless something was very wrong and he knew this because of how the boy acted. Whenever he lied, Sora acted like Cloud, dodging questions and being moody until he felt ready to tell the truth. The busterswordsman placed his glass on the table and left the group, heading for the stairs he saw Sora went to. The others watched him go and noted that he took the steps two at a time. Aerith smiled.
"He's worried about Sora and is going to check up on him." she said softly to the group as he disappeared from their sight. "I'm sure he's fine so we shouldn't worry."
The group still looked a little uncertain but relaxed a bit. Leon glanced at Riku's cup and noticed that he still hadn't loosen his grip. Which resulted in half of the glass being webbed with cracks. The teeanger looked in embarrassed at the Gunblader's comment of him worrying too much and tossed the glass away in the trash. Aerith countered his comment on Riku with her own. Saying, that he shouldn't talk since she saw him gripping the table tightly. Leon pursed his mouth as he looked away to hide the blush creeping over his face. The ninja still didn't look convinced.
"If you say so, Aerith. I guess Sora is just fine. Maybe I was worrying too much as well." Yuffie murmured, taking a sip of punch.
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Cloud bounded up the steps and heard a whimper. Knowing that it was Sora, he pushed open the door and stared in horror at the scene before him. "Oh, shit..." he breathed as he watched the teenager convulse on the floor. He ran to him and tried to get him to calm down but the teen too much in pain to notice him.
"Stop... pain... want... to... leave... can't... go...!" Sora babbled breathlessly as he thrashed blindly in Cloud's arms. The lone wolf wrapped his arms around the teenager's upper body, trapping his flailing arms to his sides, and tried to make sense as to just what hell was going on. The Keyblade master only responded to this tactic by kicking out with his legs and squirmed around fiercely.
"Sora! Sora, you need to tell me what's wrong." he hissed in a low voice, worrying over the young king.
He didn't want to freak anyone out at the party, which will only result in making things worse. All people do when seeing someone like this is just stand there and stare at them, which doesn't help matters. The Keyblade master struggled violently against his friend, managing to free one of his arms and claw at the lone warrior's arms.
Having no other choice, Cloud whirled Sora around and pinned him to the floor. He held the teenager's arms against the floor and sat on his legs so he wouldn't kick out. But it didn't seem to affect Sora since he continued to resist.
"Leave... Cloud..." the young teenager mumbled as he tried to break out of Cloud's hold. The lone warrior blinked in confusion. What the hell did that mean? Leave Cloud? Leave Cloud what? Did he mean for me to leave? Or he thinks there's someone out there trying to get to me by messing with him? Other than Sephiroth I can't think of anyone else trying to mess with me. Cloud thought as he tried figure out how to help Sora, who withered on the floor. This was scaring him. The fact that someone who risked his life to help him was writhing in pain, possibly dying, on the floor and he couldn't do jack to help.
It scared him badly.
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Cloud was still there.
He was still there even after Sora had told him to leave. This wasn't good. The teenager's resistance to the waves of pain was diminishing quickly with each one that passed into him. But the voice kept the waves coming for its own pleasure. He wanted the pain to stop but in order to do that he had to release the voice. Only he didn't know who the voice was or how to free him. Even if he did know about the who and how, he wouldn't release him anyway.
Sora wasn't about to unleash Evil upon the worlds just to allow himself a few minutes of relief. He was a Hero, for godsake's, this what being a hero was all about. You bite through the personal pain so that no one else will ever go that suffering. The young king growled and gasped from the another pluse of agony that ran through him, his vision blurring. This wasn't good either. His strength was weakening rapidly and he had to find out who this was and warn Cloud so he can warn the others. But it was impossible to think with all this pain going through him.
"Still resisting are you?"
I'm not letting you go.
"You will. It's just a matter of time before you do. Which is pretty soon from the looks of your condition."
I'd rather go up against Xemnas again with a wooden sword, get captured and magically electrocuted to death.
"I'd like to say that can be arranged but you've already destroyed him. Besides, I'm far worse than he is."
Really?
The voice laughed coldly.
"Hell yeah. But before I tell just how bad I am and that you can't stop me from creating chaos and all that, I feel like telling you who I am."
So you're just going to tell me who you are?
This was great! If this guy reveals his identity then he can tell Cloud, who could probably find a way to stop him! But why does the voice so damn familiar?
"I'm not going reveal it just like that. I'm going to give you a hint as to who I am."
And just how in the hell can a hint help me figure out who you are?! For all I know you can some surviving member of Organization XIII!
"Believe me, I'm not. Anyway, the rage and hatred you feel deep in your heart is what gives me strength. I feed off your pain and suffering. Your sorrow is my hope. As long as the Heartless and Nobodies still exist, I'll always be here. Actually, I'm here no matter what happens to them."
The young Keybearer whimpered from the pain still coursing through him as the strange yet familiat voice went on, uncaringly.
"As Leon once said, "There is a darkness within every heart." And you saw it for yourself, who I am. You felt it and you enjoyed it. Of course it was short living at the time but still... You enjoyed the power it gave you for those times so much. You just need to remember it. Think back a while. Your dreams from back then and what you experienced earlier this year portray to what I am."
Sora thought for second before his eyes widen in realization. It can't be! But he was destroyed, wasn't he?! No, this kind of thing cannot die easily... if it could ever die. The voice laughed at the expression horror in the teen's eyes.
YOU?!
"That's right! ME! Here's your prize!"
Sora's eyes went wide as the final wave of pain crashed into him. This took the pain he already was feeling to a whole new level, a level he couldn't bear as he tried to brace against it. The voice laughed darkly as the wave finally overcame Sora...
Aaaaaghaaaahaa!
Cloud stared at the Keybearer as his body stiffened, eyes wide in terror before he thrashed violently again. The lone warrior tried to restrain him but was thrown off. Cloud couldn't help but sit there and watch in horror as Sora's body quivered violently on the tiled floor in spams. The Keybearer continued to thrash trying to fight off the pain as an eerie light radiated from his body.
"What the f-" Cloud didn't finish when Sora arched his back, his entire being glowing and screamed...
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"AAAGGH!" Everyone in the Hall of Hopeful Melodies turned as one to the scream in the balcony far above them. Was that Sora? Riku, Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie looked up at the balcony then at each other. That was Sora! Just then there was an explosion of magical black light and Cloud came flying out of the balcony room, landing hard on his back on top the table next to them.
The very force of his landing crushed the table and left small crater in the floor. Everyone stared at him as a dark laughter filled the air, sending chills through the spines of those in the hall. Cloud struggled to his feet and nearly fell over but Aerith caught him and looked at him in worry.
"Cloud, what happened?" Aerith asked in confusion as she slung one of his arms over her shoulders. The warrior was completely dazed from the explosion and landing but managed to say one thing. "Sora..." he murmured dizzily as the flower girl sat him down on one of the undamaged chairs. Cloud was covered in scratches, his clothes and scarf were torn and singed. He looked like he went through all nine levels of hell and back in under five seconds.
Riku took one look at Cloud and made a run for the stairs to check on Sora when something black leapt from the balcony and landed gracefully on the floor on its two feet. Everyone in the room froze and gasped at the figure that stood in the middle of the room that wore a predatory grin. Cloud stood, held his arm up in front of Aerith in defense and narrowed his eyes. This was the creature that attacked him and caused Sora so much pain.
Donald and Goofy looked at the creature and paled. They recognized it very well and hid behind a table to avoid looking at it anymore. Leon noticed their response and kept it in mind. The dark creature smiled at Cloud as the dark wisps around its body worked quickly to finish the form.
"I hope you're still willing to fight, Cloud, because that was just too quick." the creature hissed darkly, "After all, you are trying to get something back. Something precious that I took from Sora..."
Cloud growled, blue eyes flashing angrily but didn't move. He knew all too well that this thing was trying to rile him up on purpose. Leon stepped toward the creature and glared at it. "Just what the hell did you do to Sora!?" he snapped, wishing that he could shove the Gunblade in its head but-
The shadow's grin grew wider as it turned to him. "But if you did that without knowing who I am or what I have, you could very well kill Sora yourself."
Leon's eye widen in astonishment. How did it-?
"Know what you were thinking? Quite easy, really." it sneered, "You've always had trouble masking your emotions."
"What!?"
"Oh, come on. If Sora could see it then anyone could. The only reason why you worry over the boy so much when he's not in your line of sight is because you think of him as a younger brother. One who is much too young to take on the task of saving the worlds."
Leon bristled at the shadow's words and brought out the Gunblade, trying his best to get his anger under control. The shadow smiled and held out its clawed hand as something glowed brightly in its palm. It smiled at the bright object that was reforming itself.
"To answer your question as to what I have that could kill Sora is this little beauty..." it hissed darkly as the little object finally reformed itself into the shape of a heart.
Everyone in the room looked at it in horror, even Cloud was shocked. It...it...it couldn't be! The little heart that glowed in a soft rose color and pulsed with life... A life that should be, by all means, here to destory this shadow creature. A life that was full of laughter and courage. It just wasn't true! That was Sora's heart! This thing had stolen Sora's heart and was holding at it like it was damn medal!
Suddenly, little black wisps of tendrils wrapped around the little heart and were tugging it down into the creature's palm. The heart was turning black...it was tainting the purity of it! Wait...no...it was something far worse than that! Riku's eyes widen in horrified realization. The shadow was absorbing the heart!! Once the heart disappeared, the shadow grinned as its formation was finally complete, flexing its hand in glee. The creature that stood in the center of the room now took on the mirror image of the Keybearer...Sora.
"Aarrgh!" Riku raged as he dashed at the shadow Sora, his weapon Way to the Dawn drawn and ready to beat the creature senseless. The shadow didn't seem to notice as the silver haired teen charged at him until it looked up at him with glowing white eyes and grinned suddenly.
"Dark Sphere." Shadow Sora held up his clawed hand and fired off a blast of dark energy in a shape of an energy orb. Riku dodged it but the black ball swerved, grew twice as big and slammed right into the teenager, sending him flying into the buffet table. People screamed at the fight that was starting and began fleeing to the doors as Leon jumped into the fray. Yuffie grabbed a random wrist from one of the fleeing people and pulled him aside. The wrist belonged to Jack Sparrow of Port Royal, who looked at her in surprise. She remembered him from Sora's stories of his adventures, he was a pirate of that world and not the most favorite of their people but he did get Sora out of a few scrapes.
"Jack! You need to get these people out of here and to safety! Tell them to get to the transporters!" Yuffie exclaimed over the noise of the fight going on behind them. A Dark Sphere flew overhead, causing the pirate to duck the flying projectile before he nodded. He probably knew it was better to cooperate in an area the he didn't know much about than trying to figure everything out the hard way.
"Aye, love! I see a profit in this for me as well." the pirate agreed and left to corral the others to the transporters. Leon came flying back and slammed into the band equipment set up on stage and collapsed against the mess. Shadow Sora seemingly phased in from nowhere using Sora's Quick Run ability and threw out a new attack at the Gunblade wielder.
"Shadow Blade!"
A blade of dark energy shot toward Leon, who rolled painfully out of the way as the wave sliced the instruments into pieces. He looked around wildly for the creature but it had already phased in behind him, a predatory grin on its face.
Yuffie saw it and screamed for her friend's attention, "LEON! BEHIND YOU!"
Too late, the shadow had already grabbed ahold of the Gunblade wielder's shoulders, bent him back toward itself and gave a powerful kick in the back, sending him sailing into the air. But it was still with him and continued to kick him in the back with one foot then the other, all in a rapid motion. Leon couldn't register anything else but the pain being forced upon his spine. He couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't do anything but trying not to scream in agony.
Suddenly, it ended just as quickly as it started. And Leon had felt the bliss of relief on his back when the attack stopped. Maybe the shadow had phased away to attack Cloud, Yuffie or Riku? The Gunblader wanted to relax but knew he couldn't afford that when there's a crazed shadow creature running around. Leon's eyes went wide in shock as the creature phased back with a object held high over its head and still wearing that damn wild smile.
That's when everything slowed to a crawl. The creature swung his new found weapon downward, slamming it into Leon's chest. The burst of unbelievable pain coursing through the Gunblader's body. The scream of pain that escaped his mouth despite his efforts to keep it shut. Then the horror when he saw the weapon that was still pressed against his chest, up close. It was the Keyblade... no... it's the Dark Keyblade that Xemnas's Heartless wielded when it possessed Riku's body!
How in the hell did he get it?! Leon thought in horror, Unless he... aw hell... He stole the hearts of the Seven Princesses!
"That's right. I did steal them, which I can tell you know that by the look in your eyes." Shadow Sora hissed softly, "Happy Landings!"
Leon screamed once more from pain and rage as his body was hurled downwards from the force of the blow, heading straight back toward the battered stage.
Yuffie shrieked in terror as she watched her partner plow through the ruined stage and screamed again when it completely collapsed and buried him underneath the debris. She wanted to help but couldn't leave Aerith's side, it was her job to protect the flower girl. It was either that or have a pissed off Cloud coming after her.
Riku raged again and charged after the shadow just as it landed from taking out Leon. It turned toward him and twirled the Dark Keyblade in its hand and grinned. Seeing the weapon, Riku's eyes went wide and slowed down in his charge as shock and horror overcame him. That was a mistake as Shadow Sora seized the moment of the sliver haired teen's hestitation and rushed in for his own attack.
"Dark Ars Arcanum!" Shadow Sora hissed evilly with wicked grin on his face. His eyes shifted from white to red at the call of the attack and became a blur of black. Riku yelped out in surprise as he was caught in the flurry of swings and could do nothing to break away from it. But what stopped him from trying to block was the way the shadow moved in the attack and could almost see Sora's image overlapping him and that sent chills down his spine.
Shadow Sora grinned impishly as he could easily tell that the teenager was once again distracted and fading quickly under the onslaught of swings. Not only that, he could tell that he was nearing the end of his combo and needed to get this fool out of the way. The shadow's grin grew wider as an idea came to mind.
At the end of his combo and using Riku's lack of concentration, Shadow Sora spun around (a 360) and slammed the blade against Riku's arm, putting force into it. There was a loud and sickening crack! and Riku howled in agony as the bone in his arm shattered. He stumbled away from the creature, clutched his broken arm and continued to scream.
The pain that streaked through him was powerful and paralyzing, he couldn't do anything to stop this thing from doing what it wants with a broken arm. Even if he tried, the pain would stop him dead and the condition could worsen from his moving. He collapsed to his knees and cradled his arm and glared vemonously at the shadow that merely grinned at him.
Cloud decided at that moment, that this thing had to go and it had to go now before it decided to kill them other than beating them half to death. It seemed that the shadow probably knew what went through his mind as it turned to him and continued wearing that damned predatory grin. It turned to him fully, ignoring Riku completely since now that the teen didn't pose a threat anymore. The two were focused on one another and circled each other slowly. Cloud glanced over at Yuffie and Aerith and saw that were well away from him on the otherside of the large room.
He looked back in time to see the shadow charging at him while he was distracted and activated his attack. Cloud hid a grin at the action, knowing well that it was the Ars Arcanum and blocked it. He'd seen Sora use it a lot and knew how to block it very well. This apparently pissed the shadow off when it saw that its attack wasn't working and leaped away from the lone wolf before he had a chance to counterattack.
It glared at him and flung its weapon at him in a perfect imatation of Strike Raid. Cloud held his weapon in front of him and angled it, causing the shadow's weapon ricocheted off. He then noticed that the shadow had disappeared. It had phased in, caught its weapon in mid air and flung it again. This was repeated several times, Shadow Sora using Strike Raid and Cloud blocking it. And the lone warrior didn't understand why. Why was it still using Strike Raid if it wasn't doing anything? Realization dawned on him then and grinned slightly.
"I get it. I don't have anything in a way of long range attacks and you knew that. Clever." he murmured to himself and felt a sudden chill run down his spine. He blinked as he blocked another Strike Raid. Now he was confused. Something was wrong about this... but what? Shadow Sora was still there flinging his weapon like it was nobody's business and he yet to hit him with it. So why did it feel wrong?
Then he felt it, a strong grip on his shoulders and soft jeer behind him.
"It was much more clever than that Cloud." the real Shadow Sora hissed darkly and Cloud froze. Real realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. The Shadow Sora in front of him that was using Strike Raid was a fake! The shadow clone grinned wickedlyat him before it vanished into the thin air. It was a distraction and he fell for it! Cloud berated himself for falling for the trap. It was all so simple! When he looked away to check on Yuffie and Aerith, Shadow Sora cloned himself and sent the clone to attack while he sneaked around behind. Damn it!!
"Dance Kick!" Cloud felt the barrage of kicks slam him in the back and knew he was about to undergo the same punishment as Leon did. The kicks pushed him into the air as the lone wolf looked over his shoulder and saw Shadow Sora's grin. The shadow creature had something else on mind for him.
"Wild Dance!" Shadow Sora laughed and within seconds it was nothing but a blur of black that surrounded Cloud. And the busterswordsman felt the full fury of the shadow's flurry of scratches and kicks. All excuted in an exotic and savage dance.
Yuffie and Aerith watched in horror as Cloud struggled wildly, trapped in the black whirlwind that was Shadow Sora itself. And getting a ton of injuries from rapid attack. His clothes and scarf were getting tattered and torn; his body and face were bleeding from the multiple wounds that were being afflicted upon him. And he couldn't break free from it. No matter how much he struggled and thrashed, Cloud couldn't escape Shadow Sora's favorite move.
The two women were completely mesmerized by the chaotic dance that Shadow Sora did while attacking. But they were quickly snapped out of it as the dance ended in a powerful two feet kick to Cloud's stomach that sent both fighters racing to the floor with a loud BAM! When the dust settled, all they could see was a large crater, but something leaped up from it.
They shrieked in terror when they realized that it was Shadow Sora who came out of it, perfectly fine and healthy. It looked at them and a vicious grin slowly spread across its face. Yuffie held up a shruiken and stood in front of Aerith protectively, terrified beyond belief. How can she win against something that took out Cloud, Leon, and Riku like they were nothing?!
"This was fun and all but I've got to go! Later!" Shadow Sora jeered and phased out of sight, laughing. Its demonical laughter echoed throughout the hall as Yuffie told Aerith to check on Sora while she checked on the others. The flower girl scurried up the stairs to the balcony as the ninja ran toward Riku, who was the closest one.
Riku stood up carefully, trying not to move his arm much and looked rather pissed. The ninja check him over and asked if he was fine, even though she knew it was a stupid question to ask. The teenager shook his head and growled angrily. At least he was fine compared to the others. Yuffie ran toward Leon, who was already up and shoving debris away from himself. She helped a bit and looked concerned when he straggered out and wrapped one arm around his side.
"Are you okay, Leon?" she asked worriedly. He sighed and shook his head at the question.
"Beaten to a pulp by some shadow thing and breaking several ribs doesn't qualify as being okay." Leon muttered bitterly, using the Gunblade as a prop to lean on. The three of them headed toward Cloud and gasped at the damage done to him. He was completely unconscious at the bottom of the crater his body created. His clothes were ragged and torn open; scrapes and bruises covered his being. And he was bleeding pretty badly all over the place. He was the worst one of all in taking the full brunt of Shadow Sora's fury. It didn't look like he's going to heal fast enough to fight again for a long while. Just then Aerith screamed from the balcony above.
There in front of her, heaped on the tiled floor, unconscious, were two bodies...
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Chapter Two: The Return of A Trio of Shadows!
Riku, Leon and Cloud are out of comission and Shadow Sora still runs freely and someone has to stop him. But who? Looks like its up to an unsuspected ally to take up the task. But he can't do it by himself, Yuffie and Aerith can't go with him since they have to care for the others and protect Sora's body. Who will go with him? He has an idea but will Kingdom Hearts grant his wish?
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Dodging fire spells from Riku, Leon, and Cloud fans.
Pikpixie03: I'm sorry! But I couldn't help it! Hurting them makes 'em really cute! Please read and Review!
Fans still throwing out fire spells.
Pikpixie03: Responds by hurling plushies of the three (Riku, Leon and Cloud) at them.
They stop and play with the plushies.
Pikpixie03: Sneaks away