A/N: So… I gotta give a lot of credit to Brightshadow 5 for this chap, because he gave me some great ideas!! So prepare yourself for some serious darkness… Anyways, kudos to him and thanks and all that: )

The parts in bold and centered are from Sora's first surrender to darkness, when he attacked the shadow and then attacked Kairi… they are phrases that the shadow used when they first fought on the gummi ship on the way to Disney Castle… Chapter 6, I think…

Disclaimer: Damn… haven't done one of these in like 10 chapters. I don't… Never will… Happy?

Just One Swing

Anger, hatred, fear, lust, guilt, jealousy... I know all your heart's hidden secrets…

The Coliseum Arena faded into the background, the crowd blurring into grey lines on the edge of Sora's periphery as he made his way over to the pale blond that reflected in his darkening sapphire glare. Each step Sora made etched into the ground like a print, leaving dark sticky footprints in his wake. His fists clenched so tight, his knuckles blanched white and his fingernails dug into the flesh of his palm in little crescent shaped imprints. The black glare that emitted from his usual carefree blue eyes pierced straight through the crowd of random faces, and all Sora saw was Tetsu. Surprisingly, even the snickering voice in Sora's head was blocked from his consciousness. Tetsu… with the flirty smile and deceiving chocolate brown eyes that would inevitably pay for their promiscuity. All Sora wanted was one swing… one swing to knock that pearly white grin off that bastard's face and leave him with a bloody nose and broken dignity. Then he would go find Kairi and suggest they ditch the preliminaries and find something else to do. Just one swing…

Yes Sora! You feel it, don't you? Feel the anger giving you strength! The hatred giving you power!

Sora's dark presence and piercing glare went completely unnoticed by Tetsu as he smirked and stared at the young attendant that was bent over the ice-cream cooler, fishing through the dozens of flavors looking for the blue-green wrapper with the words 'sea-salt' etched across it. In fact, the blond was so preoccupied with the young girl's curvy hips and long legs that he barely felt the cold fingers tapping on his shoulder irately. In his dreamy distant smirk, he turned towards the source of the tapping absentmindedly.

Yes Sora… use that anger and hatred you have for me…

… only to have Sora's strong fist collide with the side of his jaw in a powerful punch that knocked him into the counter and ricocheted him to the dirt ground, dark red blood already oozing from the thin cut at the corner of his mouth. Sora's fist was more than enough to knock Tetsu out of his flirtatious façade, and he grabbed at the dark purple stain already bruising his jaw line. "What the fuck!" He grabbed at the counter for support and clumsily pulled himself to his feet as Sora continued to glare at him through darkening irises. "What the hell is your problem?!"

It feels good, doesn't it? To be able to use your hatred to fuel your control...

"That's for Kairi…" Sora growled, unaware of the black pooling smoke that was collecting at his feet in a cloud of darkness. He took a determined step towards the blond, the smoke trailing up his body and licking at his fingertips compellingly. He grabbed Tetsu by the collar of his shirt, his blackening stare boring holes in the back of Tetsu's skull.

Ah, I see that the darkness has already started its tear on you…

"And this is for me…" Sora hissed, feeling the cartilage in Tetsu's nose break under his knuckles as he sent another punch flying into his face. Just one swing…

Tetsu reared in pain as blood spewed from his broken nose onto the front of his shirt, creating small turrets of the dark red liquid to stain his face and chest in crimson revenge. Sora released his grip on him and threw him into the counter of the concession, the shadow laughing manically in his head.

I am born of all the darkness you have kept in your heart over the past two and half years….

Sora raised his bloodstained hand to his face as Tetsu struggled back to his feet. Black wisps of smoke trailed rhythmically from the corners of Sora's eyes as he looked at his fingers and ran his thumb in circles through the thick blood, feeling the slick substance slide between the pads of his fingers.

Let the hatred running through your veins do it. Give in to it… It only makes you stronger…makes me stronger

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Kairi searched intently, her violet-blue eyes darting all around her as she pushed through the crowd of pestering patrons. Her new resolve shown brightly in her smile and her eagerness displayed in her pace as she hurried through the bustling arena. She clumsily pushed people aside as she squeezed past them, earning her several glares and dirty looks along the way. But, when she bumped right into the back of a tall muscular blond in a blue cape and dark brown sandals, she quickly mumbled an apology before glancing at the short half-man half-goat he was talking to.

"Oh, um… I'm sorry," Kairi said softly, all the while unable to take her eyes off the satyr.

"Not a problem at all!" the blond turned around smiling warmly, his blue eyes shining brightly underneath a maroon headband.

Kairi smiled meekly in return, only averting her eyes momentarily from the short tubby anomaly in front of her.

"You should take a picture," the miniature 'goat-man' muttered as he grabbed at the blond's elbow. "Come on Herc… we've got more battles to scout. I want you in top shape for tomorrow's fight." The satyr stole one more glare at Kairi before the two turned on their heels and headed the other direction.

Kairi didn't mean to be rude, but honestly… she had never seen a creature as bizarre. It was even weirder than a talking duck. Suddenly, she remembered Sora's description of his comrades from Olympus that he had so eagerly befriended during his travels. A tall blond demigod and a short round satyr…

"Hey! Wait a second!" Kairi called out as she chased after them. The two stopped in their tracks.

"Look… Herc doesn't sign autographs," the satyr rolled his eyes. "If you want a T-shirt they're selling them in the gift shop."

"Do you know… Sora?" Kairi interrupted, ignoring the annoyed satyr's frown.

Suddenly, the frown on the fawn's face disappeared as he pondered her question, and the blond's eyes grew wide.

"Yeah! We know him…. How do you know…" the blond trailed off. "Wait! You must be Kairi!!"

"Well yeah, but how did you…"

"Man, Sora said you were pretty…" Kairi blushed… "…you look just like how he described!" The blond stuck of his hand. "Name's Hercules," he grinned and motioned to the fawn, "The moody one's Philoctetes."

The satyr, now identified as Philoctetes, rolled his eyes at Hercules before turning his attention back to Kairi, "Call me Phil."

Kairi smiled warmly as she took Hercules' large calloused palm, "Nice to meet you both! I've heard so much about you."

"As have we!" Hercules gave Kairi's hand a friendly shake, before glancing around the trio anxiously as he released Kairi's hand. "So where is Sora, anyways? We've got a lot of catching up to do! Is he fighting in the tournament??"

"Oh um…" Kairi's smiled turned downward into a worried frown as she followed Hercules' eyes. "I was actually out here looking for him… I think I may have upset him."

Hercules turned his attention back towards Kairi with warm blue eyes. "Well, I'm sure whatever happened… Sora will forgive you. He's the most laidback guy I've ever met! I think that kid would forgive Hades if he asked him to! I mean, he's the Protector of Light! He can't hold a grudge…" Hercules laughed lightly, but noticed that Kairi's frown didn't change and her eyes shifted nervously under his words. "Am I right??" he chuckled anxiously.

Kairi sighed as her eyes fell to the dirt floor, "Hercules, I'm afraid Sora hasn't exactly been… himself… lately."

"What do you mean?" Phil asked. "He's Sora… he's a ju-, I mean… He's a hero, now!"

"Well, it's kind of hard to explain," Kairi struggled to choose her words carefully. "I think that being in contact with darkness for so long has… stained him. It's changed him, made him darker. He's just… different," she finished sadly, fighting back the tears threatening her eyes.

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Sora?" Phil laughed nervously. "Because the Sora I know would never turn… dark."

Kairi didn't say anything, but her silence spoke volumes. Phil's smile faded and Hercules rubbed Kairi's shoulder sympathetically. "Kairi, I'm sure Sora will be fine. I you want," Hercules managed a friendly smile, "we can help you find him!"

Kairi forced her mouth into a faint smile, "Thanks, I would like that."

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With darkness comes strength… With strength comes control… Control is lost in darkness… Leaving only strength… Strength and darkness…

Darkness… A part of the mind labeled with dark thoughts and plagued with shadowed memories. Darkness better left forgotten, which until now… had lain dormant in the back of Sora's mind. The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes… Previous encounters with darkness only revealed the tip of the iceberg that consisted of Sora's dark capabilities, but as he turned to leave Tetsu a pile of shattered integrity and bloody shame on the dirty blood-stained floor of the concession counter…

"This was so not worth some lousy lay…" Tetsu muttered under his breath, his words barely reaching Sora's eardrums through the crowd.

The growing crowd of onlookers all gasp in unison as Sora stopped dead in his tracks, black smoke weaving up his arms in long thin tendrils, his fingers igniting with tiny deadly bolts of white and purple lightening that danced between his fingertips. Behind him, Tetsu wiped the blood from his nose, smearing it across his face in a wave of crimson as he balled his hands into tight fists.

"Oh Fuck-up… we can't let him get away with that…"

"What did you say?" Sora growled as he slowly turned around to meet Tetsu's coffee-colored glare.

Tetsu sent a cold snarl Sora's direction and stepped towards him, his fists clenched tightly at his sides as blood continued to trickle down his mouth and chin. "You heard what I said," he spat out before launching a fist towards Sora's jaw.

Sora averted his chin in the opposite direction, easily dodging the clumsy assault before Tetsu's second fist collided with the other side of his face. For a few seconds, the crowd was completely silent as Sora stood frozen, his chin turned downwards, eyes closed quietly as dark red blood curled out of the cut on his lower lip and oozed down his chin.

"Now… he's going to get it..."

Unbeknownst to Tetsu and the onlookers, the shadow's darkness was slowly igniting in Sora's core and gradually coursing through his veins to fill his body with rage. His fingertips incited with bolts of white hot lightening as the smoke that had been trailing up his limbs slowly began to encase his entire body, winding around him in a veil of ash and darkness.

Tetsu slowly began to back away from Sora, his eyes wide in fear as the crowd surrounding them began to dissipate. Some people stayed to watch in horror as the young brunette stood eerily still, as they eagerly awaited his next move.

Suddenly, Sora's eyes shot open and looked on Tetsu's face in a sinister stare. His usual clear blue eyes… eyes that had seen pain and destruction, and the downfall of thousands on the blade of his weapon… his eyes had turned completely white, only a thin line of violet encircling his line of vision.

His translucent glare sent a chill down Tetsu's spine and the few onlookers that were left stood paralyzed and speechless. The dirt floor cracked under Sora's feet as he stepped towards Tetsu, black flames igniting in his wake. "This ends now." Sora's voice boomed throughout the arena, reverberating off the crowd like a siren.

Tetsu drew a deep breath and lowered himself into a fighting stance. "Bring it on jackass!" he hissed.

Sora snickered at Tetsu's attempt at intimidation as he wiped at the blood still oozing from his lip, smearing it across the back of his hand in a long trail of scarlet that quickly obscured behind a cloud of darkness.

"You heard the guy, Fuck-up… I believe he wants you to 'bring it on'…" the shadow snickered.

Tetsu swung his fist in a fast uppercut, narrowly missing his target as Sora quickly backpedaled to dodge the blow. Another clumsy swing missed Sora's jaw as Tetsu growled in frustration before Sora's hard fist collided with his stomach, causing him to double over. While clutching his stomach, Sora grabbed Tetsu under the chin and forcefully pulled him up to eyelevel. "Kairi is not just some "lousy lay"," he growled, darkness dripping from his words.

Tetsu's wide brown eyes met Sora's cold white and violet glare. "Right… And I guess you would know from experience…" Tetsu mocked, his words barely passing the knot in his throat created by Sora's grip around his neck.

In one smooth motion, Sora threw him several feet into the air before kicking him in the stomach, sending him flying into a pile of wooden boxes several feet away.

Sora closed his eyes and sighed heavily as the darkness slowly dripped from his frame and saturated into the dirt floor beneath him. He could feel the dark power dissipating from his muscles as he slowly breathed in and out, filling his lungs with the smell of blood and dust. Satisfied that Tetsu had gotten most of what he deserved, Sora opened his sapphire eyes and just as the last veil of black soaked into the ground, he turned to leave his foe a pile of blood and broken boxes.

"Sora! Watch out!!"

Sora's ears instantly perked up at the sound of Kairi's voice and he looked up to see her locks of beautiful crimson, unaware of the worried expression set in her face or the hesitancy in the words she had yelled at him. He was still lost in her features when he felt his legs give out from under him causing him to get a face-full of bloodstained dirt. He moved to get up, only to have a heavy foot meet between his should blades to push him back to the ground. Sora grunted as the breath was knocked out him. Suddenly, he felt the cold steel of a blade on the back of his neck, threatening to break skin as the tip dug into his flesh.

"Nobody fucks with me and lives to tell the story." Tetsu's voice came from behind the blade and Sora bit the inside of his cheek as he tried to get up again. This time Tetsu's foot pushed him back down as the edge of the blade ran along the side of his neck, leaving a long thin line of blood as it pierced the skin superficially.

"Just say the word Fuck-up… I can end this… Just say the word!!" the shadow sneered.

Just as Sora opened his mouth…

Kairi turned to Hercules frantically, tears in her eyes, "Do something!! He's going to kill him!"

Hercules nodded and ran after Tetsu, tackling him to the ground. The force of Hercules' blow combined with his previous bruises from Sora knocked Tetsu unconscious. Hercules stood up and kicked Tetsu's sword several feet away as Kairi quickly ran over to help Sora up.

"Sora! Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" he mumbled as blood slowly trickled from the cut along his neck. His clothes were dirty and dotted with several large splotches of blood. The cut on his lip had finally started clotting, but a faint purple bruise was visible along his jaw line. Kairi looked at him sympathetically as he answered, "Yeah Kairi, I'm fine. How about you, are you alright?"

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I'm okay Sora…" she answered as she handed him a small green vial. "Here, drink this and let's go get you cleaned up."

Just one swing…. Sora thought as Hercules grabbed his arm and helped him back to the rooms. Just one swing…

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A/N: So… you know, review and all that… Next chapter starts the tournament, so it's still not too late to give me your ideas for opponents and all that if you want. If not, that's fine too…