Hi guys! A New Pencil returns to the desk!
Underline is for Japanese again.
Italics is either thoughts, a flashback, or a song/poem.
[Brackets] Represent digital dialogue or text.
I do not own any of these characters, universes, or music. They all belong to their respective companies and owners.
Enjoy!
Chapter 32: Unbreakable Valor
Word of advice. If a gentle person stops smiling, you get out of there as fast as you can.
What happens next is not going to be pretty.
(Play: KH 2.5 Remix OST - Missing You)
As he walked past Strelitzia, Sora sighed and trudged onward. He was right when he said he was going to Faraway Library, and honestly, he needed this.
Though speaking about it with Strelitzia had lightened the weight a bit, it was still trying to pull him down. He wouldn't let it. He had to be strong.
He had just caught the train to the hospital and made it just in time to talk with his mom for a bit before she was wheeled off to another part of the hospital. She'd told him that everything would be alright, even if her injury wasn't all that great. He had watched as she was wheeled away after they shared a hug (even if it did make her wince a bit). He probably wouldn't see her until the end of the day, and even then, she'd likely be asleep.
Regardless, he had to press forward. Right now, he just needed to clear his head. It was spinning at the moment. It had been ever since his loss at the festival, though he did his best not to show it yesterday. It was almost like there were two opposing forces fighting in his brain, one that said he did the right thing in that match, and the other that was shaming him and ridiculing him for doing such a stupid move.
It felt awfully familiar… but where had he gone through a similar experience?
Ugh… focus, Sora. he thought, Right now I should be more focused on what happens next. I can't believe I left Izuku behind, though.
He pulled out his Gummiphone, and immediately saw a text from the kid that came several hours ago.
Izuku: [Mom and I didn't see you this morning. Where'd you go?]
Sora was quick to type a response.
Sora: [Hospital. It was about my mom.]
Izuku: [Oh… is she okay?]
Sora: [Yeah. I think she'll pull through. I'm heading to Faraway Library. Wanna meet up?]
Izuku: [Later. I'm helping Mom out right now.]
Sora: [What for?]
Izuku: [I'll tell you when I get there.]
That was new. Guess Inko wanted to keep Izuku distracted for the time being after what Sora relayed to her. Either way, he was at least keeping up his end of the bargain.
He was so focused on texting he didn't even realize he was at his destination already. He entered the library and found nobody familiar there. It was just as busy as the day his mom was injured, so he didn't mind. He browsed an aisle before taking out two books: The second Lord of the Rings book, "The Two Towers," and a book on Japanese customs.
Why he grabbed the latter book, he had no idea. He just sat down and read the first book for a couple of chapters. He had been surprised when Frodo had chosen to go on his own with the dangerous One Ring, and when it had ended with him and Sam heading alone to destroy it, he had to read more. Sure, it probably wasn't as grand or as colorful as the other adventures he had gone through, but he had rarely gone to worlds that had dwarves, elves, or orcs all in the same world. Each of them holding their own special magic, and it was something to behold.
Plus, it would give him some time to distract himself and not worry too much about how his mom was doing. He was sure it would be okay.
(Silence)
He was so entranced into the story, he didn't even realize how much time had passed. 20 minutes, to be exact.
"There you are!"
"Huh?" Sora perked up from his book. Sure enough, there they were. Kel, Hero, Aubrey, Basil, and Sunny had walked in.
"Hey guys." Sora grinned as they all sat down at the table, "How are things so far?"
"Never better, but seriously," Sunny said, "How about you? First it was that jerk who insulted you and us, and now your mom?"
(Play: KH BBS OST - Destiny's Union)
"Straight to the point, huh?" he chuckled, his smile fading, "It's alright. In all honesty, I made the stupid move of healing him right after giving him his just desserts."
"Yeah. Why did you do that, anyways?"
Sora paused at this, as something in his brain and heart seemed to flicker. Sunny had a point. Why had he done that? Sure, it was a bit traumatizing to see Bakugo bloodied and beaten, but looking back, he deserved every last second of it.
And it wasn't like he'd seen this before. The village in the Land of Dragons was a perfect example of that, as well as many other post-battlegrounds in the worlds he has visited.
What had come over him that day?
"...I'm not sure…" Sora admitted, and shook his head, "But I don't wanna think about it right now… it's embarrassing enough as it is…"
"Got it…" Kel nodded, "But other than that, dude, you killed the competition. That match with Hanabi must've been the fight of your life."
"Heh heh… I guess so."
"To be honest, a lot of people admitted that you were the real winner of the Festival." Aubrey revealed, playing with one of her bangs, "Sure, people might see you as a pushover now, but they still think that without that side of you, you'd be a huge contender for the Number One Hero."
"Is that right?" Sora asked, "I guess… but I really don't like the fact that the world might see me as a pushover now. I'm not always like that."
"Yeah… you're not." Sunny said, "With how much the Heartless have been a pain in the butt for you in the past, it's kind of weird to even think of you as a pushover. You just hold back to make sure nobody gets hurt."
"There's nothing wrong with that. It just shows how considerate you are," Basil added, "But I agree with Sunny… that semifinal match was…"
He paused as Sora looked down at the thought. Something wasn't adding up. Holding back… he understood why he did it… but… for some reason, doing it at the festival felt… off.
He shook his head and looked at his phone to distract himself as Kel and Aubrey began to speak to one another on who in the Sports Festival they could potentially take on in a fight. He could now see that along with several other icons, a familiar symbol was just below the bottom row on his Gummiphone. He smiled as he recalled last night.
Tron being the gift Ansem gave was a surprise in itself. Not to mention he was fully upgraded, though the program was sparse on the details. It made sense, since during their attempt to restore Roxas, the Organization decided it was a good day to hop in and make a complete mess of Radiant Garden while Sora and Lea went searching for Roxas's data in the Digital Twilight Town.
Tron was beside himself that day, as were the members of the Radiant Garden Security Committee and Ansem the Wise. It made sense that they would decide to upgrade him to better protect Radiant Garden through the security system.
Though… after all that trouble, why send him to help Sora, and not keep him at the castle? Sure, he was his friend, but wasn't his function to oversee the Hollow Bastion OS? It must have taken a ton of convincing for Tron to agree to this.
A question Sora would ask his friend later, he thought to himself.
(Silence)
"Are they done?" Basil asked Hero as Sora's head returned to the conversation at hand, "At least, with Mrs. Nakajima, at least?"
"As far as I know, I believe she's currently resting," Hero replied, "They put anesthetics on her to dull the pain, but it's too early to say when she'll be up and running again."
"I see…" Sora sighed, before smiling slightly, "Good to know she's still kicking, at least."
"On that, we can all agree."
"Excuse me?"
The six of them stopped and turned to see who had spoken.
To any normal person, it was just a normal man with black hair and noticeable sideburns wearing a large leather coat. Yet Sora felt something… off.
"You mind if I join your little conversation?"
"Uh… sure?" Sora replied, "You didn't miss much."
"I see." he paused, observing the group around him, before saying, "Nice place… anybody can just relax here, can they?"
"It is a library," Sunny muttered. The man said nothing as he looked down at them. It was the smallest bit intimidating.
"Yep… a nice place indeed…" he continued, looking around, "I almost feel sorry for it…"
"What was that?" Sora asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Forget I said anything." he said, before rummaging through his pocket. But the six of them froze quickly before he pulled it out. Because there were strange purple wisps coming off of him. Wisps that seemed awfully familiar.
The man pulled out a picture and asked, "Any of you seen this guy? You look an awful lot like him."
Sora raised a brow at the picture. After all, it was a picture of him, seemingly ripped from the news regarding the Sports Festival. He and the man stared at one another, and Sora already had his right hand open underneath the table.
"Spiky hair… eyes like a kid… Yeah." he said, "You're the kid I'm looking for. Have to say, you look like a toddler with those eyes. Makes me wonder how a kid like you got 3rd place. Did you use your puppy doll eyes to beat your opponents?"
"Ouch. My feelings are hurt so bad," Sora replied with a hint of sarcasm, "Are you done rambling, or is there something else you wanted?"
"Oh no, I'm not done. Take it from me, kiddo." the man continued while leaning down and slamming a fist on the table, "If someone decides to piss you off badly… you don't let them get away with it. You give them what they deserve. Give them hell… and make sure they regret ever messing with you."
"Are you talking about-?"
(Play: Chainsaw Man Soundtrack OST - Destroy them All)
"Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not. I'm even more surprised about the company you're with," the man said, "You all look a lot like delinquents. Who the hell even raised you?"
Aubrey wasn't having any of it as she slammed her hand on the table and stood up. "Cut the crap, old man! What the hell do you want with Sora?"
"Aubrey, calm down…" Hero said, but the guy didn't seem fazed.
"Nothing in particular." the man said, before placing a foot on the table, "I just wanted to give him a message…"
Without warning, the man kicked the table they were sitting at, causing the six of them to tumble and for Sora to get the brunt of it, crashing into one of the columns with the table in front of him. The man pulled out a gun, and pointed it towards Sora's head.
"...Regarding his impending death."
Sora quickly ducked as the man opened fire, rolling to the side and jumping to avoid two shots, before casting Reflect to deflect two more. Deciding to ignore him, the man took aim at Hero. Before the young man could react, he pulled the trigger, hitting him in the stomach and grounding him. He quickly turned around and tried to shoot at Aubrey next, but Basil was quick to pull her away, the bullet nicking her shoulder. In response, the man simply shot Basil in the gut, causing him to drop Aubrey as he fell.
"Hero! Basil!" Sunny shouted.
"I've got them!" Sora got up and tossed two potions in the air. The man fired at it, hitting one but missing the other. The potion's healing effects showered onto Hero, forcing the bullet out and closing the wound.
Unfortunately, Sora was unaware of something flying at him until it was too late. A piercing pain from his left shoulder suddenly registered in his brain, before he gasped and clutched said shoulder. His hand met a handle, and Sora found to his shock that it was a small dagger with a dark aura around its blade.
He pulled it out with a grunt, tossing it away and raising his hand, "Cure."
But nothing happened. He raised a brow, and said, "Cure!" again. Nothing. He stared back at the dagger he had tossed, before realizing what had happened.
Whatever it did, it had locked his power to heal away. Whether it was a temporary measure or not didn't matter. It would make the fight ahead a lot harder if he wasn't careful.
The man tried to shoot again, but found he was out of bullets. He was also unaware of the raging bull that was Aubrey that was heading his way. He couldn't even reload as Sunny rushed in and knocked the pistol off with a hidden knife. Grunting in annoyance, he kicked the teenager away, only to be met with a sucker punch by Aubrey.
"That's for shooting my friends." she snarled, "Sora!"
"I'm on it!" Sora sprinted forward as Basil slowly got up while clutching his side. With a shout, Sora jumped and spun in the air, before going down for an overhead finish.
A loud clash was heard that sent debris and books flying.
"You shouldn't have done that, you know. This could've been your chance to run." the man said, before literally pulling off his hand to reveal a blade underneath as a dark aura suddenly appeared around him.
With a roar, the assassin exploded with power and pushed Sora, Aubrey, and Sunny away. To his horror, when the smoke cleared, the assassin had grown taller, as large bloodied blades had been revealed to have extended from his arms.
But what shocked Sora more was how the man's face completely changed. What was a normal face was now replaced with that of a monster's, with ragged flesh and a lipless jaw, and where his eyes should've been, now lay a sword whose blade width was as long as his forehead, with the handle sticking out from the back of said head while a hat now covered it.
Crap. He's definitely not a normal assassin. Sora thought. He might be more trouble than I thought.
"Sora!"
"Huh?" the boy looked to where Sunny was staring at him aghast. Aubrey was on another side, her shoulder wound surprisingly closed, and Basil and Hero were right next to her. Suddenly, a stinging sensation caused him to gasp out in pain as he looked down. Sure enough, there was a cut that went across his chest, and was now making Sora lose blood.
When the heck did that guy strike him?
"Hold on, I'm coming- ah!" Basil was about to say before wincing and falling to one knee.
"Wait a sec." Kel said, looking back to where the assassin had been, "Where did he go?"
They turned to find that the assassin was gone, and they quickly looked around to find him. Hero looked up and shouted, "SORA, MOVE!"
Though some were confused, Sora quickly rolled away as the bookshelf behind him suddenly was cut into multiple pieces. He turned to find that the assassin was there, blades drawn and ready.
"Get the others out of here! Now!" Sora shouted, ignoring the stinging pain of his injuries.
"What about you?" Aubrey asked.
"It's me he wants." he replied, gripping his weapon, "So it's me he'll get."
The girl pauses, before nodding and rushing over to an elderly man to escort him to safety. Sora turned back to his opponent and was immediately greeted with blades in his face. He swung his blade to knock them aside, but was met with a kick to his face, which made him see stars.
Another kick to his gut pushed him back, but he remained on his feet and recovered, staring back at his opponent, who had both blades up and was armed.
This was bad. In an enclosed space like this, one wrong hit would send the library crumbling. Not to mention he was at a huge height disadvantage. This guy was taller than Cloud, by the looks of it. He had to be careful.
Unfortunately, the katana-hand guy who wanted his head didn't seem all that bothered with the idea. He rushed towards Sora with arms extended, and in response, Sora jumped over him just as his blades were about to cut him in half through the stomach, scoring a hit to the back of the attacker's head before landing on the ground. He turned around to see that the katana attacker had recovered rather quickly and was charging at him again. The two exchanged blows, blocking, parrying, and countering.
But eventually, one of them had to give way. An overswing on Sora's part gave the katana-wielding assassin a chance to score a hit on Sora, managing to slash the boy's other shoulder. Grunting, Sora reared back to try and get distance, but the assassin was already on the move, going for a cross-slash that Sora barely managed to block, but was knocked away from the sheer force of the attack and tumbled to the ground.
(Silence)
When he got to his feet, he found his Gummiphone had fallen out of his pocket and was several feet away from him. He had no time to grab it as he blocked an overhead strike from the assassin. Noticing the phone, he simply stomped on it, grinding on it before kicking it away.
Make no mistake, this guy was huge. And he was using that to his advantage as he pressed his weight onto Sora's blade. He grunted in effort to try and push back, inwardly cursing his own lack of strength. Losing his powers again was getting real annoying, and it was showing in this fight.
Sora tried to push upwards, but this assassin wasn't budging. If this kept going, he'd be stomped like an ant. This guy was definitely stronger than he expected. Even more so than he was in this weakened state. Three more seconds, and Sora knew he'd be paste.
Reacting fast, Sora broke the guard and rolled under the assassin's open legs, grabbing the phone and gaining some distance.
"Stop!" Sora shouted, casting Time Magic on the assassin. He panted in exhaustion, using that time to take a breather.
He stared at his phone, which had suddenly started ringing, and through its cracked screen he could just barely pick out the name.
But… how?
He had three seconds left, so he said to the phone, "Answer the call." before pocketing it and turning to face his opponent. The magic had worn off, and he was quick to turn around.
(Play: KH 2.5 Remix OST - Vim and Vigor)
He roared in fury, and to his shock, Sora saw small shadows suddenly appear around the assassin.
"Oh, come on…" Sora muttered. This guy could even summon Heartless. This was making things even worse than he thought.
And get worse it did, as suddenly, he heard screams from beyond where he was at.
"The monsters are back!"
"Run! Get away!"
"Stay back! No! AAAHHH-"
Sora couldn't even hear the rest. In a split second, the man had charged, and Sora was barely able to block the attack. But this time, the sheer force and speed at which the man… devil… whatever this guy was… was a lot more than normal. The darkness was enhancing his opponent's strength. Before Sora knew it, he was sent crashing through several bookshelves before his back met the base of a pillar, which caused him to cough out blood as he fell to his knees, using the Keyblade to keep himself from collapsing.
Sora got up and swung his weapon, but the man crouched and simply swung below his Keyblade's aim, slicing into Sora's stomach as he passed before turning around to slash at Sora's back. The Keyblade wielder cried out in pain as he staggered back, both injuries having drawn blood.
He turned around, teeth grit as he pushed past the pain to block another attack, but it left him open to a boot to his wounded stomach, causing him to get pushed back again as he tumbled to the ground. He groaned as he tried to get himself back onto his feet.
It was then Sora noticed that the assassin had stopped, and was suddenly crouching down, with his right blade to his side, and his left behind him. It was a split second later that Sora realized what was happening. In response, he stood up tall and held his blade in both hands to one side.
(Silence)
At first, neither of them moved a muscle, as if waiting for their opponent to make the first step. Time seemed to slow down as it happened.
And then, they moved.
In a split second, the two of them were now in the position the other was, with Sora behind the assassin and vice versa, blades swung out. A Duel Stance, before attacking. That was what happened.
Initially, neither of them moved, but one second later, Sora cried out in pain as a third slash mark across his chest formed and released more blood.
What?! I… I wasn't fast enough?! He thought as he fell to his knees, Not good… was he that fast… or am I too slow?!
The assassin wasted no time, turning around and stabbing Sora in the back with both weapons, moving towards a nearby wall and grinding the boy's face on it, making the wall crack and crumble as he did so, even crashing him into some of the supporting pillars before slamming the wounded Keyblade wielder down with both blades.
To say that he was in pain was an understatement. These attacks hurt. He was losing too much blood, and he could barely move.
"So this was all you had to offer?" the man said, looking down at Sora, "You disappoint me."
"Guh!" Sora gasped in pain as he felt himself being lifted up by the taller man.
"Guess you really were what they said. Nothing but a pushover." the assassin replied. Sora couldn't see his eyes, so he couldn't even tell what the man was feeling, "You've wasted enough of my time, so I'm ending this right now. See you around, you weak-ass pushover."
And in a split second, the assassin flung him upward, which for a second confused Sora on what his intention was. The next moment, he saw the assassin swing his arm downward, the blade cutting into his skin and creating a massive gust of wind that sent him flying towards the window and shattering the glass behind him, leaving him to flail helplessly outside, before he hit the pavement once, twice, and a third time before suddenly crashing into… something.
He couldn't tell where he had crashed. His ears were ringing and his head was spinning. He couldn't even muster up the strength to cough.
Was this it? Was this where he was going to die?
Riku… Kairi… I'm sorry. He thought as his face scrunched up, Looks like… I won't be coming home after all.
And in that moment, he couldn't think anymore.
Back inside the library, the assassin notices several bystanders trying to run, some that the young man called Hero seemed to miss, and simply crouches down again. In another burst of speed, the assassin began to slash through those bystanders into bloody ribbons, their dying screams do nothing to faze him.
However, it did grab the attention of the other four kids who had been with his target. Their looks showed horror and fear upon seeing the mutilated corpses of those he killed, which then morphed into fury and defiance as they stared murder at him. He sighed.
"I'm warning your four. You don't want to end like these poor shitty piles of trash I mutilated over there."
All of them rush at him, but the man remains unfazed and crouches down into the same stance, before disappearing in a burst of speed. The others wonder where he went, but before any of them could process what had happened, they suddenly felt an impact somewhere on their bodies, knocking them down or sending them spinning and tumbling as the mysterious assassin's assault finished.
"You see this? This is what I'm going to do to your pathetic little friend..." the assassin replied as he advanced on the boy with black hair, "...Until his corpse is nothing but bloody chunks of meat."
The boy struggled to get to his feet, and his other three friends ran up to him as he advanced onto them. "Now if you value your lives..." the assassin raised his blades up, "Get the hell out of my way."
With that warning, he swung downwards, performing the massive shockwave attack he had done on his target, sending them all outside.
He retracted his blades as he walked out, taking the time to rest his arms before getting back into battle. The library itself, which was once peaceful and serene, was now crumbling from the battle that had just occurred. He wasn't lying back then. He did feel a little bad for wrecking it. But the target was priority.
He noticed that there were two newcomers, seemingly friends of his target, and that one of them was just about ready to run towards the target to help him
That wasn't a desirable outcome. So, he projected himself so that they could freeze and hear him.
"You're not going anywhere."
Play: KH 2.5 Remix OST - Deep Anxiety)
This day couldn't get any worse.
Riku had just found his best friend. After over a year and a half of searching, he had finally found Sora in this place on the other side.
Only to see him get sent flying and crashing into an empty building 50 yards away, looking close to death and bleeding. The person who had just attacked him, who looked like a mix between a man and a devil, had just come outside with a small horde of Heartless at his side.
This definitely wasn't a dream.
The group looked on in horror as the assassin glared towards him as the Shadow Heartless at his side suddenly surrounded them.
"You see what I mean? This guy's a pain!" Kel grumbled. "Out of all the times, why did this have to happen?"
"Quit complaining Kel. Right now, we should be focusing on what's in front of us." Aubrey scolded her friend and pointed to their opponent with a metal bat, "Him."
"If you think you can stand a chance against me, then you're fools. Your little friend I sliced into minced meat is close to death, unless you all make it to him in time." the assassin replied, "Then again, his injuries were fatal, so I expect he'll be dying pretty soon."
"What the hell is this guy doing here?" Riku snarled, fists clenched.
"Katana Man over there attacked the library to kill Sora." Sunny explained, "He's also got those Heartless with him. We tried holding him off, but he's pretty strong. You saw what happened."
"'Katana Man?' That's your nickname for him? Seriously?" Kel asked. His friend only grunted.
"I-I don't like this…" Basil muttered, shaking as the man stood there, "This was supposed to be a peaceful day…"
"Basil. It's alright. We'll need to hold him off until Sora recovers." The boy looks surprised as Sunny steps forward with Kel Aubrey and the former follow suit, "I don't believe for a second that Sora's gone. We just need to buy time."
"You're deluding yourselves." the newly named "Katana Man" replied, "That boy is dead and you know it."
Ignoring his statement, the four go into battle position, ready to face this mysterious assailant. "Wait! You four are injured too!" Mari shouted, "Are you sure about this? I... We can't lose any of you here..."
"I get it, Mari. But it's not like we have a choice right now. Sora's hurt and needs to recover fast. He's done it before, and he can do it again." Sunny turned to Riku, "Could you please get my sister to safety? She has a bad knee and-"
"I know," Riku nodded, before turning to Sunny's sister, "C'mon Mari, we've gotta get you out of here." He then regarded Sunny, "Don't die on us, you guys. I'll return as soon as I can to back you up."
"Be careful, Sunny. Please."
Sunny nods back, while Kel tells Riku, "Take her to my brother, Hero! He's several blocks away from here."
"Got it."
In a flash, Riku picked up Mari, using Flowmotion to weave past the Heartless and blitz away, leaving the four of them to face the man who bested Sora alone.
"You see me as I am... and it will be the last thing you'll ever see." Katana Man snarled, before pointing towards them, "Go and tear them to shreds!"
At his signal, the Heartless begin charging at the group, who all brace themselves. Two Neoshadows lunge at Sunny, who responds by ducking and slashing at them with his knife. A Large Body rams itself at Basil, who uses his vines to jump up before shooting some of those vines to knock the Heartless off-balance.
Aubrey locked her metal bat with the sword of an Armored Knight, before swinging her bat upward to stagger it before amplifying her strength with her Quirk to headbutt and swat the creature away. She then turned around, whacking another Soldier that had tried to converge on Kel. The boy follows up by bouncing his weapon, which was a very strange-looking ball, rapidly before flinging it towards the Heartless in front of him, the ball ricocheting off of one and hitting another, repeating this cycle before it bounced back to its owner.
Unbeknownst to Kel, however, the assassin appeared behind him, kicking him hard to the ground. Katana Man rushes towards him, but Sunny gets in front of him and knocks the man back with a series of red hands from behind his back while Kel rolls away from the danger. The assassin swings his weapon downward, but Sunny brings his extra hands to block the strike. Unfortunately, this left him open for the assassin's kick, which knocked him aside.
He then sets his sights on Basil, who is currently flinging Air Soldiers to the ground. Katana Man lunges towards the unsuspecting young man, who turns around just to get slashed on the chest and sent tumbling to the pavement. Basil coughs in pain, bracing himself as the assassin charges towards him.
"NO!" A feminine voice calls out as Aubrey slides between Basil and the assassin, blocking the katanas with her metal bat.
"You won't take his life here!" she said as she grabbed Basil and threw her bat to knock Katana Man and some incoming heartless aside. Sunny stood there with a look of frustration, continuously using his red hands to rip apart the Heartless coming at him and Kel.
"They won't stop coming!" he shouted, "It's just like…"
"Yeah. Don't need to remind me of them," Kel grimaced as he dodged an attack from a Red Nocturne, "Let's just focus on buying as much time as we can!"
Sunny nods and continues assaulting the Heartless with Kel, who uses his speed and special ball to knock some of them away. Meanwhile, not far from them, Katana Man roars as he moves towards Aubrey and Basil, both of which are dealing with other Heartless that caught up to them as they were catching their breath.
Before the two can react, the assassin lunges, and in a series of swings with his sword-like arms, the two teens are sent flying in separate directions.
"Aubrey! Basil!" Kel screamed. Sunny turned around and reacted, extending his red hands out to grab them in the air and soften their landing.
"You take Aubrey. I'll get Basil." Sunny replied. Kel nods and the two split up, sprinting as fast as they could to their friends.
Sunny rushes forward, sliding and spinning as he avoids all the Heartless he can as he reaches the injured Basil. Once he arrives, he helps the flower boy up.
"Are you alright?" Sunny asked.
"Y-Yeah…" Basil coughed with tears in his eyes, placing a hand to where he had been slashed. Strangely, it had disappeared, "What about you? You're pushing yourself…"
"Doesn't matter," Sunny grits his teeth and shaking his head, "If we relax for one second, he'll go after Mari and the others. We can't let that happen."
At the mention of their friend group's big sister, Basil got up with a determined expression, "Right." The two turned to see that Kel and Aubrey were running off from Heartless, and they nodded in agreement before haring after them.
Meanwhile, Kel had managed to grab Aubrey and carry her to a distance to where she could stand up.
"Holy cow... those wounds..." Kel said as he let Aubrey down, seeing the slash on her side, "You sure you can keep going?"
"I won't go down without a fight. You know that Kel," the girl replied, "They'll have to try harder if they want to put me down."
"That's the spirit!" Kel smiled. He turned to see that Sunny and Basil had arrived right next to them and just in time. The katana-wielding assassin charged towards them, swinging his swords and forcing the four of them to split up in order to dodge.
Sunny, despite being on the ground, grunts as he summons more red hands from behind his back to restrain the assassin. He roars in exasperation as the hands grab his limbs and kept him from moving. Aubrey and Kel dash behind him, Kel throwing his ball forward to strike at the man's back, while Aubrey slams her bat into the assassin's face.
To her surprise, however, the man lets out another roar as he frees himself from the hands and knocks Aubrey back again, both attacks seemingly doing nothing to him. Sunny responds by sending in more hands, but the assassin repeatedly starts chopping them up with sheer irritation.
"What is this guy made of?! Titanium?" Basil wondered.
"Don't know, but that silver-haired guy's got to hurry with Mari and get Sora... otherwise we're toast. Literally." Sunny replied while sweating and gritting his teeth. The assassin kept slicing through the barrage while Sunny continued to grunt in effort.
"I don't think we'll be able to hold him off forever." Aubrey turned around, "And we've got company." True to her word, more Heartless had begun to show up from behind.
"Sunny…" Kel said, "I know this might be too much to ask, but could you…"
"I understand... and I'll try…" Sunny grits his teeth more, blood trickling down his nose as he places a hand on his head.
"Y-You'll be fine, r-right Sunny?" Basil asks, but he gets no response. Aubrey places a hand on his shoulder, and the young man sighs. With no more words, Kel, Aubrey, and Basil raced towards the Heartless coming at the group, while Sunny continued his red hand assault for a few more moments as the assassin tears through despite getting injured.
"You know... those annoying-ass red hands. This brings me back to the time someone else used something similar on me before." the assassin cursed, "That one-eyed black-haired bitch... GRAGGHHH!"
As if recalling the very memory was like fire to his skin, he intensified his assault on the red hands with a new fervor.
Can't do this much longer! Sunny thought as his head began to throb, and he lowered his hand, stopping his assault of red hands as they retreated into his back, allowing Katana Man to lunge at him. Sunny immediately dodges his blows while trying to swing back with his knife, narrowly cutting the assassin in several places.
"Hmph. Unlike the others, you're quite skilled with that knife of yours. You'd make a fine assassin yourself," the assassin replied after gaining some space. "Tell me kid… what's your reason for playing 'Hero' if you've got a knife for a weapon?"
"...I'm not giving you the pleasure of knowing, you monster."
Sunny aimed another knife swipe at Katana Man, but the assassin dodged, dragging his blades into the ground and aiming them towards the boy. With a roar, Katana Man lifted his blades up from the ground, creating a large shockwave that could've turned the young boy into sliced chunks of flesh had he not braced himself with his red hands.
"Graghh!" Sunny felt the shockwave pushing him back a bit, looked up, only to see Katana with his right arm raised. Wasting no second, the assassin slashed downwards, creating another shockwave that Sunny was only barely able to dodge. He regained his balance, only to turn and see the shockwave headed right towards his friends. He couldn't warn them as the assassin had advanced on him way too quickly, forcing him to react and send out his hands again, suppressing a cough filled with a copper taste while doing so.
Dammit, Sora. Hurry!
Meanwhile, Kel continued flinging his projectile onto the Heartless, with Aubrey swinging her bat nonstop against any that lunged at them. As Basil finished squeezing a squad of Soldiers with his vines, he noticed the shockwaves out of the corner of his eyes headed towards them.
"Aubrey! Kel! Hit the deck!" Basil yelped as jumped away. His friends stopped what they were doing and did the same. The shockwaves tore into the Heartless they were fighting, reducing them to specks of darkness.
As Kel was in midair, Katana Man suddenly appeared behind him with his blade arms in a guarded position as he dived down.
I can't dodge this! Kel couldn't brace himself in time as the assassin suddenly blitzed through him, creating multiple tears into his clothing and skin.
"Kel!" Aubrey shouted as Kel crashed into the ground hard, blood trickling from his head. She charged at the assassin just as he landed too, swinging her bat to try and hit him, but the assassin blocked the swings with his sword-like arms while Basil checked on Kel.
Aubrey grunted as she swung her bat to try and hit Katana Man, but the assassin was now dodging too fast for her to land a blow. In a flash, Katana Man swiftly spun around with his blades like a tornado, catching Aubrey off guard as the blades tore into her skin, making her scream out in pain as she too was sent crashing down.
"No... you won't get away with this!" Basil shouted as he looked towards the assassin, who had now begun to lunge towards where he now stood, and proceeded to swing his blade arms rapidly as he continued moving towards the once timid plant-lover. In response, Basil calls on his vines to rush towards the assassin, some managing to hit him, but doing nothing but slow him down,
"Is that all you got, flower twink!?" Katana Man roared as he swung his blades downwards, creating a hole crack in the ground upon missing Basil. The boy knew he couldn't keep it up for long, but smiled once he saw Sunny come up to him.
Both boys then use their red hand and vines respectively to trap Katana Man in an attempt to suffocate him.
"Agghhh... What the fu- You little..." Katana Man gurgled as he felt himself being squeezed tight. He screamed as the hands and the vines squeezed tighter, and for a moment, Sunny and Basil thought they could finish it here.
However, much to their horror, the sound of blades swinging proved their initial belief wrong, as the assassin destroyed all the red hands and vines with nothing but raw strength, and before Sunny and Basil could even react, the assassin lunged at them.
"I've had enough of both of you!"
(Silence)
Riku and Mari found a group of people close to a park, and skidded to a halt, dropping Mari down.
"Mari!" a boy Riku assumed was Hero ran up to them, "You're alright!"
"I am. But Sora's in bad shape." she replied, making the young man gasp, "I'm worried he might not make it… and if that happens…!"
"It won't." Riku's declaration made the two of them stare back at him, "Not on my watch. I'll be right back."
"Better hurry. The police are coming, but I don't know how long ." Hero told him
"Riku, you're still tired," Mari told him, hands clasped together, "Are you-?"
"I won't be fighting alone," the silver-haired teen smirked, before turning around and using Flowmotion again to race back to the scene of the battle.
(Play: Fire Emblem Engage OST - Engage)
His allies were slowly losing ground out there. Though most of the Heartless had been disposed of, the mysterious assailant was currently trying to overwhelm the four people that were fighting back. The blonde boy had placed his hands on the ground and summoned vines to keep the attacker's arms in the air as the pink-haired girl got back to her feet, sporting several wounds while the tallest person, who was just as wounded was propping her up. Mari's brother had been pinned by the assassin with a foot on his chest, and was struggling to break free.
He turned back to Sora and gasped: Shadow Heartless were starting to devour him at the building he had crashed into. He had to move fast before it was too late, so he used Flowmotion to sprint towards them, hopping from whatever wall he could and slashing through the Neoshadows that stood in his way.
"GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF!" Riku roared, rearing his left hand back before launching Dark Firaga to disperse them. Quickly, he raced towards the downed Sora, who looked even worse the closer he got to him. He was bleeding in several places, and he'd clearly been stabbed more than once.
He couldn't tell if Sora was breathing, and that only made his concern grow.
"For fuck's sake," he muttered, "The one time I can't cast Curaga…"
He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder, before saying, "Regen!"
A green light emitted from his hand and spread across Sora's body, slowly patching up the smaller cuts, but it was doing it way too slowly.
Riku cursed. He should've slept a couple of days before this. He couldn't lose Sora.
"Wake up, Sora." he whispered, "You've pushed through tougher spots than this. There's no way you can kick the bucket now."
Though Regen was slowly doing its work, no response came from the boy. Riku heard a scream of pain and closed his eyes, focusing his magic further on healing his friend.
"Come on, dammit!" he shouted, "Don't you dare die on me! I know you're stronger than this!"
Still nothing, and Riku clenched his teeth in response.
"I'm not giving up on you. You never gave up on me, so don't start now!" he said, before exhaling with a shaky breath, "Don't you dare break your promise to us… please… wake up…"
Suddenly, he felt contact on his wrist, and he gasped, looking up to see that Sora had opened his eyes and was looking at him. His best friend, with those sky blue eyes, was looking at him.
He was alive.
And of all the times, he was sporting a small grin.
"Don't worry, Riku," he chuckled weakly, "I'm not going anywhere. I just had to take a quick nap."
That was enough to clear the silence, as Riku chuckled back in kind, "Well, you wouldn't have woken up from it if I wasn't here. Don't scare me like that, buddy."
"You, scared? That's a first."
"First time for everything, then."
"How…" he coughed, "How are the others?"
"Losing ground," Riku replied, examining Sora as the two heard another yell, "Your wounds are mostly healed, but the stabs on your chest haven't done so fully."
"Hasn't stopped me before," the boy grinned, before taking Riku's hand and getting up. He stared at his friend, "And you're actually here… you're not an illusion."
"Tron got through. And like you said," the Keyblade Master smiled, "I'm not going anywhere. And besides, with a guy like that running amok, you've got no need to hold back."
No need to hold back…
"Heh heh… that's right." Sora grinned, before looking down and placing a hand on his heart. Riku raised a brow at this.
"What are you doing?"
Sora opened his eyes at this, and Riku noticed a very particular symbol appear in his right eye.
"Something I haven't tested out yet. Worst case this doesn't do anything. But if it works, thank me later," he said, before his body became encased with light.
"Now… give me strength!"
Back on the street, Katana Man lifted Sunny with one arm, blade now contracted while keeping Basil pinned down with one foot. Kel and Aubrey were still grounded and struggling to get up.
"Heh... you little shits had no chance of defeating me." The assassin laughed as he watched Sunny flail helplessly, with Basil struggling to get out of his grasp.
"Let go of Sunny, you monster…!" Basil coughed, only to yelp in pain as Katana stomped on the flower boy harder.
"I'll make all of your deaths quick. Consider this a scant mercy." Katana Man declared, ready to impale Sunny's body with his free arm.
Sunny opened one eye, but instead of looking fearful, he remained defiant, "I-I wouldn't say that if I were you."
"Huh? What are yo-"
Before he could say another word or even react, the assassin suddenly felt a great force slam right into his back as a purple-blue light slammed right into him. Sunny and Basil were released from the assassin's grasp as the latter was sent crashing into the library's debris, further burying him in.
The library suddenly shook, before the entire front half of it started crumbling and collapsing on itself, making dust kick up. It could no longer take anymore punishment from what had transpired today. When it settled, the four injured fighters could see their saviors, and sure enough, it was Sora and the silver-haired man from before.
But something was different about Sora. It wasn't his clothing, but it seemed like a red aura seemed to be radiating from his body, and electricity sparked from all over it. And to top it off, not only was Sora wielding the Kingdom Key. He was also wielding Oathkeeper as well, and was in a new stance with Oathkeeper at his side and the Kingdom Key over his head.
"You're okay…" Basil said in awe.
"I knew it…" Kel grinned, "Thanks for the save,"
"No problem." Sora nodded, before turning his sights toward where the assassin got back up to his feet, kicking off some of the rubble from the now defunct library.
"Impossible…" he said, "You're supposed to be dead!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble, then," Riku replied, getting into a stance, "My best friend isn't dying to scum like you anytime soon. Not while I draw breath."
Shouting in frustration, the assassin charged at them, while Sora and Riku responded in kind. Their swords clashed, Sora with the right arm and Riku with the left. The three of them grunted with the effort as they tried to overpower each other, before the duo of Keyblade wielders pushed the man back, sprinting after him and swinging their weapons again. The assassin parried them, but Sora and Riku followed up with a horizontal swing, one which the assassin jumped over.
He attacked with a horizontal swipe of his own, which Sora and Riku ducked under before they leapt back from a downward strike. Then, Katana Man swung towards Riku, who blocked the attack with both hands on his blade, but was noticeably knocked back. The same was said when the assassin swung at Sora, but the two friends recovered and leapt back to gain space.
The two exchanged a nod, before Sora rushed in and went on the offensive, swinging both his Keyblades at the assassin, who raised his arms to deflect the attacks. But the Keyblade wielder, now having used two Keyblades and no longer limited by the space around him, could move around without risk, making him able to strike at the katana-wielding assassin with much more freedom. To top it off, he seemed to be going much faster, as the assassin was getting pummeled by Sora's barrage of strikes.
Sora's assault lasted several seconds before he rolled under another slash and instead of moving up to block the incoming swing, he stayed under as the attack breezed over him before hitting the assassin with an upward slash. To his surprise, however, his opponent managed to recover quickly and slash at Sora, who just managed to block the strike with both weapons. However, the force of the blow sent him back into the ground on his feet, with Katana Man slamming his weapons into the Kingdom Key and Oathkeeper, while Sora pushed back with equal force.
"You won't be getting a second chance, you scrawny wimp." the assassin snarled, trying to crush the boy under his own weight, "And you can't do anything to stop me."
"Get real," Sora retorted, "You're the one who won't get a second chance."
"Wha-?"
Just as he said that, he heard someone lunge, and the assassin turned around just in time to see a large blast of purple flame nail his face, sending him tumbling away as Riku landed on the ground after casting his spell.
"That was risky." Riku chastised.
"You'd do the same if you were in my shoes." the boy retorted.
"Then make this count. You can only hold that form for so long."
Sunny, Aubrey, Kel, and Basil were shocked, even if they had regained their footing. They had only just met this silver-haired guy and he was already showing a decent amount of skill.
"You guys alright?" Riku asked, turning around to face them as Sora charged towards the assassin.
"Thanks to you." Sunny replied, "You want us to get clear, now?"
"That's a good idea, but…" Rikuj stared beyond them, "We need those guys gone. Can you take care of them for us?"
The four of them turned to where he was staring, and upon seeing that there were more Heartless appearing, they nodded back. "Leave this to us," Aubrey replied, "You focus on making Katana Asshole pay."
"Oh trust me." Riku said, "We will."
(Silence)
Riku gripped his weapon, turning back to face their opponent. While the assassin was still trying to swing at Sora, the boy appeared not to be struggling at all, weaving past his opponent's attacks and striking at him without relent.
(Play: FF7 Remake OST - Fires of Resistance)
Alright, you bastard. Time to make you pay, Riku thought, before joining the fray himself. The assassin took notice and let out a shout of effort, briefly knocking Sora back as he changed targets to block Riku's strike with both sword arms. He turned to see Sora sprinting in with Keyblades in hand, and he thrust out with his left arm in an attempt to skewer him mid-sprint.
To his shock, however, Sora stopped running and pushed his arm upwards with Oathkeeper, the blade grinding on his own, sliding under the thrust and pivoting on his feet. With a yell, Sora turned around to face his opponent and slammed both weapons into Katana Man full-force, sending him flying into the air. The Keyblade wielder then leapt high into the air, meeting the assassin in the air, before slamming his Keyblades into his gut once more to send him crashing into the ground.
The assassin moved out of the man-made crater, looking to his right and seeing Riku rush towards him. Snarling, he swung out, and the Keyblade Master parried the strike, before ducking under another and reared his hand back, ready to launch more flames.
Unfortunately, that left him vulnerable.
Katana Man used this opportunity to swing at Riku, who stopped prepping his left hand and brought his Keyblade out to block the strike. The force of the swing, however, was too much for a tired Riku to keep it locked, as Braveheart was swatted away and clattered on the ground. He turned just in time to see Katana launch a downward swing at him.
The hit connected, slicing through Riku from the right shoulder diagonally down.
Riku froze, eyes widened, as Katana Man smirked at his triumph as the boy collapsed onto the ground. He turned around to face his other opponent, but instead of Sora, he was met with a series of strikes, before getting struck a fourth time and knocked back. He found himself in the same spot Riku was moments earlier, and where he should have been on the ground, dying or dead.
But to his surprise, the young man had somehow managed to appear behind him and counterattack, and to add insult to injury, there was no sign of injury from Katana Man's previous strike.
How did he-?
He had no time to think as Sora was already charging at him, swinging his Keyblades again and forcing Katana Man on the defensive.
What the fuck?! This is ridiculous! he thought as he jumped back and parried more of Sora's swings. Not only was the brat dual-wielding to match his own, he was way faster than before. When the hell did his power jump so high from last time?! He was significantly weaker before!
"Not answering that question, you jerk!" Sora shouted, seemingly reading his mind, before getting past his guard again and unleashing another flurry of strikes into his body, before finishing it off with a two hand slam which launched a shockwave that sent the assassin upward to be greeted by Riku, who spun around with his weapon exposed, hitting the assassin again before raising Braveheart and slamming it down on Katana Man.
That attack once again sent the assassin back into the ground, tumbling before getting back into a kneeling position. Sora landed right next to Riku, the two of them ready and braced for anything else that might be coming. And come it did, as the assassin, while kneeling, got into a very familiar position. At least, familiar for one of them.
"Oh no you don't! You're not getting the jump this time!" Sora shouted, crouching low as red electricity radiated from his body, "I'll use both of my blades to end this!"
"You filthy trash!" Katana screamed.
Before anybody could react the two lunged towards one another at near supersonic speed, sending a mighty shockwave that forced Riku to leap back. In a second, they were behind one another again, blades extended.
Sunny, Aubrey, Basil, and Kel turned around, having just finished mopping up the last of the Heartless. They looked around just in time to see the clash. The two were still for a moment, before to their horror, they saw Sora suddenly fall on one knee with a grunt of pain.
"Didn't that mentor of yours ever teach you… about knowing when to quit?" Katana Man asked, before standing up without looking behind him.
"Accept that you've lost, brat… and I'll end your misery."
Sora initially said nothing at this, before he staggered back to his feet. To the assassin's surprise, he heard the boy scoff.
"You really thought I would fall for that trick again?" Sora asked, turning around. Riku could just barely discern the slash on his cheek, which trickled blood down towards his chin, "You're slower than I thought you'd be, 'Katana Man,'"
"Hu-?"
Before he could speak further, he suddenly felt his lower body cracking up as he fell to his knees. "Gragghhh! but how?!"
"You're clever. Figure it out." Sora said as he blitzed towards the downed assassin.
In another flurry of red electricity, Sora repeatedly slammed his blades at Katana Man's body, knocking him back and forth, until after kicking the assassin away, he rushed up till he was behind him in a burst of speed, dismissing his weapons and uppercutting him in the air, knocking the wind out of him and making the assassin cough out blood.
I can't move! What the actual fuck did that scrawny shit do to my body!? Katana Man internally thought. Somehow, that brat had outpaced him and struck his legs, breaking his root and leaving him paralyzed from the strike. He watched helplessly as Sora crouched down low again.
Sora resummoned and twirled his blades, and in the blink of an eye, lunged and performed a series of multiple slashes that pierced through the assassin's body. Time seemed to slow down as Sora became a red blur slashing at the assassin without relent or mercy. Eventually, Sora decided that it was enough, and landed with the Kingdom Key pointed downward and Oathkeeper to the side, saying only two words with a cold tone.
"You're finished."
Katana Man barely could scream as he felt multiple slashes ripping through him, seemingly delayed from Sora's movement from before. Slash after slash pummeled him in the air, as Sora's new Special Move began to activate in full force.
Again and again, the bystanders of the battle watched as Katana Man was tossed around by attacks that only now he began to feel, before a final hit sent him crashing down onto the pavement.
Sora looked back at the man, who attempted to move and get up, to show that he was not done, but ultimately, after a groan of pain, he collapsed, moving no more from the spot.
It was done.
(Silence)
Sora took a deep breath, and exhaled, the red electrical aura disappearing as he staggered and was about to fall. Thankfully, he was caught by Riku, who put his arm over his shoulder to support his best friend.
"I guess… I should've expected… to be so drained…" Sora panted, looking at Riku, "I was using… Valor Form… without Goofy's help, after all..."
"Yeah… but at least you finished it." his friend replied, now looking exhausted himself despite supporting Sora, "It's done."
They saw Sunny, Aubrey, Kel, and Basil limp their way to them and smiled with exhaustion. "Holy crap…" Aubrey said, "That was… well…"
"Amazing…" Kel grinned, clutching his arm, "It's like you went Super Saiyan. Ow."
Sora raised a brow, before Sunny elaborated, "He means that you powered up a lot in that fight."
"Heh… I guess you could… call it that…" he chuckled, "In fact… there was a chance that stunt I pulled… might not have worked."
"Well, it did, and that's all that matters." Aubrey said.
"Uh… wow…" Kel looked to the side, now looking uneasy, "I think we drew quite a crowd…"
Sora and Riku followed his gaze, and sure enough, there was a group of people a safe distance away, most with phones out, and they weren't saying much other than muttering amongst each other.
"Hey… that's the kid who placed 3rd in the Sports Festival."
"What's he doing here?"
"Did that creepy monster pick a fight with them?"
"Poor kids… where were the Heroes?"
"Well, it doesn't matter now. The villain's been beat and they're still alive."
"A shame, though... the library's a wreck now... I liked doing my work there."
"That was one heck of a fight."
"Hey, isn't that the Shibuya Vigilante?"
"Can't be… there's no bat-winged sword."
"We don't even know what he looks like. Don't make assumptions."
"Oh crap…" Riku froze, horrified, "How long were they there?"
"I would guess for a while… several moments after you and Sora saved us." Aubrey deduced. Sunny and Basil were clearly uncomfortable with being filmed, while Sora sighed. At least with the Demon Tide, there weren't many people watching him fight. But now, there were actual people recording this.
"This won't end well, will it?" he said.
"Nope." Riku responded.
"Everyone!"
A familiar voice made all six of them look to the other side. Mari, Hero, and some of the other people that were inside Faraway Library were racing back to them.
"Oh my gosh, you're all in bad shape…" she said as she hugged Sunny, before letting go and looking stern, "I knew leaving you all behind was a bad idea…"
"Well… at least it's safe now." Sora said, "We did it…"
"Doesn't excuse all those wounds though," Hero told him, "And why aren't you and your friend injured?"
"Oh, uh…" Sora scratched his cheek, "I guess… I went through another Awakening…?"
Hero stared at him, before shaking his head, "You are full of surprises, aren't you?"
"At least it makes my life less boring."
The group chuckled a bit, before Kel and Aubrey looked back towards the downed assassin, "So… is he dead?"
"No." Sora replied, which made Riku look at him with a brow raised.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Well…" Sora paused at this, frowning, "Because it's against the law?"
"Since when were you a sucker for rules?"
"The moment I got arrested."
"...What?" Riku gawked at him, "When did that-?"
Suddenly, the Keyblade Master stopped cold, his confused expression morphing into one of shock, and Sora asked, "What?"
(Play: MHA OST - Enemy Strike OR Play: Chainsaw Man OST - A Tombstone)
"Uh…" Kel said, now looking horrified as he stared past Sora and Riku, "Why the heck is he getting back up?"
The duo of Keyblade wielders turned, and to their shock, the assassin was slowly getting back up. Sure, he was still staggering and struggling to do so, but the fact he had withstood that barrage of attacks from Sora and Riku was alarming.
What made things more alarming, was the fact that there was a dark aura surrounding him, seemingly the cause of why he was getting back up. It was more intense than Bakugo's aura. As he was getting up, the group that was taking pictures became more restless and were stepping back.
"Uhh… please tell me I'm not the only one seeing that…" Aubrey looked stunned.
"Y-You mean th-that wispy aura?" Basil stammered, "N-Nope… you're not the only one."
"You've gotta be kidding…!" Riku cursed, "And after all that? That's not normal. Especially that darkness."
"Dammit…" Sora muttered, "Who is this guy? And how did he get command over the Heartless?"
As the assassin got back to his feet, panting like a dog, Sora, Riku, Sunny, Aubrey, Kel, and Basil prepared themselves for another fight, but it was clear they were not in any shape to. Hero put a protective hand in front of Mari as the assassin snarled.
"You should've killed me when you had the chance…" he said, the dark aura intensifying, "Now… you're going to suffer for it!"
Katana Man suddenly lunged towards them, and Sora braced for the attack to come as he summoned the Keyblade again. Riku stood in front of them and thrusted his hand forward. A hexagonal barrier appeared in front of them, protecting the injured fighters from the incoming attack. The bystanders watching yelled in surprise.
"Ghh!" Riku winced as he concentrated on keeping his Dark Shield up.
"You really think this will stop me?!" the assassin roared as the barrier began to crack, much to Sora's dismay.
"Riku! Don't push yourself!" Sora shouted.
"You're… one to talk!" he retorted through gritted teeth.
"ENOUGH!" Katana Man screamed, and with a two-handed strike with his arm-like blades, the Dark Shield shattered, sending Riku, along with the others that were with him, flying back. All except for Sora. The bystanders could only watch entranced and horrified, focusing on the dire situation at hand.
But nobody noticed a blonde teenager suddenly move away from the crowd and turn into an alleyway, pulling at something in his chest…
"Riku! Guys!" his friend shouted, before suddenly, he was slammed to the ground by the assassin, before a foot was planted on his chest to pin him to the ground.
"You… you little shit…" the assassin said through ragged breaths, "You've just pissed me… all the way off." he pointed one of his sword arms at the boy while putting more pressure on him with his foot, making him cry out, "I'm going to make you suffer, boy… Your death will be very slow… and your friends will do nothing but watch!"
"GAH!" Sora cried out again as Katana Man twisted his foot deeper. He tried to struggle free, but his body wouldn't listen. He had used too much energy to maintain Valor Form by himself.
Dammit!
He could just barely see Riku and the others trying to help, but they were all either too injured or too exhausted to try anything. No… this couldn't be the end. Not yet. He could barely hear the bystanders speaking.
"Why aren't there Heroes coming?"
"Someone help the kid!"
"All Might? Where are you?"
Come on, body… don't give up! Sora thought. But his body still wouldn't listen…
(Play: Chainsaw Man OST - Edge of Chainsaw)
Just as the assassin raised his blade to deliver a mortal blow, something caught his and everyone else's ears. It was… a motor engine?
No… not just that… it was…
"Chainsaws…" the assassin stopped, before turning around and facing the direction of the sound, preparing himself, "No… how did he-?!"
But he never got the pleasure of finishing. An orange blur suddenly flew past him, attacking the assassin and leaving a slash on his chest, before landing on the ground and giving Sora room to see who had just arrived. And… he couldn't exactly describe what he was seeing.
It was somebody who looked similar to the assassin, but was wearing a wrinkled dress shirt and black pants. Instead of long katanas, there were chainsaws embedded in his arms, and his head was orange with holes that showed yellow eyes.
It was like he and the assassin were cut from the same cloth, but…
"Hold on, kid. I've got ya!" the newcomer replied, his chainsaws on his arms retracting and grabbing Sora, carrying him away as the assassin staggered back from the wound that had been inflicted on him.
The newcomer stopped in front of Riku and the others, dropping Sora on the ground and giving them a thumbs up, before turning to face the assassin, who was now recovering.
"Curse you… of all the people…" he snarled, "How in the hell did you find me?!"
"You're easy to spot, Sideburns! Just need to find somebody who's got swords for hands and looks like a guy from an edgy manga, and it's easy pickings!" the newcomer jeered, "Now what happened to the 'no killing children' rule you had? Looks like your old geezer won't be proud of you since you're not following his footsteps anymore!"
"You little shit!" Katana Man roared, as he charged towards the newcomer, and the two began to fight. They swung their arms to try and give the other a brutal injury, but it was clear that even with this new darkness on his side, the assassin had not fully recovered from Sora's assault from before.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" the newcomer with chainsaws cackled, "Just like old times, ain't that right?!"
He swung a chainsaw forward, and when Katana tried to block it, the chainsaw shattered both of the blades in his arms, before tearing into his flesh, sending him back several feet as he fell to his knees.
"No… NO! You bastard… I'll carve your scrawny ass for this!" he screamed as he stood back up, using the darkness to keep him up on his feet as he started to look up.
"You wish!"
Only to find his opponent right in his face.
In a flash, the newcomer did a spinning kick in the air, moving past the assassin and landing in a heroic pose with his chainsaws still revving on his arms.
"Always putting the 'dick' in 'predictable,' Sideburns." the mysterious newcomer declared to the assassin, "And that's why we call you a dip~shit!"
The assassin said nothing as he opened his mouth in shock, before his body began to split in half vertically. In seconds, he was enveloped in an explosion of darkness which shocked the bystanders and Sora and his friends. They watched the newcomer retract the chainsaws on his legs so that he could stand up.
"Wow! That's new!" he replied, watching the darkness explode out of the assassin, "When'd you learn to go out in a blaze of goo, Sideburns?"
Sora and his friends raised a brow at this. Why was he so casual about slicing this guy in half? Who even was he?
"Eh, doesn't matter.'' he replied as he looked to where the assassin was down on the cracked road unconscious, and back in human form, "You're going back to where ya belong. In the slammer."
(Silence)
He extended his arms out, and the blades of the his chainsaws extended and wrapped around the downed assassin like bindings, before he turned back and waved to the crowd.
"I can't believe it…" one of the bystanders said, "It's Chainsaw Man!"
"Surprised to see him out here in this neck of the woods, though."
"Who cares! He saved the kid's life! Let's hear it for Chainsaw Man, guys!"
"Chainsaw!"
"Chainsaw!"
"Chainsaw!"
(Play: KH OST - Oopsie Daisy!)
The newly named Chainsaw Man seemed happy with the attention and struck a pose.
"Okay… I'm going to say it." Aubrey said, "What… the fuck?"
"That's from all of us." Sunny replied, wincing as he clutched his side.
"Well…" Riku grunted, "At least the attention's no longer on us."
"Yeah." Sora nodded, before standing back up, turning to Riku and examining him and his untidy outfit and hair. "Riku… uh…"
"What?"
"I'm going to say it…" Sora stared at his friend, "You…"
"...Look like shit." Riku finished, looking at himself, "Trust me, I know. I already heard it from Mari..."
"When was the last time you slept?"
"...I don't remember."
"Riku…" the boy shook his head, "Let's go find a place to sit down."
"Finally…" Aubrey groaned, "Something normal…"
And so, the group of them walked away, leaving Chainsaw Man to hog all the glory as he continued to pose, only stopping to kick the assassin in the groin to shut him up once he regained consciousness.
Of course, that didn't work as he only screamed more.
(Play: KH CoM OST - Namine)
Eventually, they found themselves in the very park Sora had crashed into all those months before. Now Sora and his friends were sitting under a tree, drinking some water while Hero tended to their wounds with what medical equipment he was carrying.
"Ouch, ouch! Could you be a little softer bro?" Kel complained as Hero put a bandage on his cheek.
"Kel, it's going to hurt. You know that."
"But-!" The little brother began to protest, but got elbowed in the stomach by Aubrey, who looked at him with a gaze that said, "shut up."
"You two are okay, right? That man didn't poison you or anything?" Mari asked, fretting over her brother and Basil.
"For the last time, Mari, we're fine." Sunny said, while poking at a bandage he was wearing around his arm, "We're not dead. That's the most important part."
And while Riku was sitting at the base of the tree and looking up at the sky with eyes closed, Sora was sitting and thinking about what transpired... how in the world did he get jumped on by a katana-wielding monster so easily? How did he know about him in the first place? Where did that darkness come from? Who hired that guy to kill him?
He needed answers. Hopefully soon.
"You okay there, bud?" Riku asked his best friend.
"Yeah... just unsettled by what just happened." Sora grimly muttered, having flashbacks to Katana Man's assault on him, who, had it not been for the arrival of Riku, might have killed him in those first few minutes.
"I still can't believe he'd do such a thing." Mari sighed while she tended to Basil's wounds, "It's not like your enemy Xehanort is back or anything."
Sora and Riku stared at her, before sighing, "Let's hope not."
"Heya!"
A voice made all of them look up and turn towards the source, which belonged to a blond-haired teenager with bright red eyes and sported a tired but friendly grin.
"Y'all doing okay there?' he asked, "Hope Sideburns wasn't giving you all too much trouble back there. He can be a real pain in the ass."
"You can speak English?" Mari asked.
"Hell yeah! Had to take a test several times for my job!"
Sora raised a brow. The guy's voice was strangely familiar… and weren't those clothes…?
"We're doing fine, thanks," Riku said before yawning and rubbing his eyes.
"Wait… Weren't you that chainsaw guy that saved us all back there?" Sunny asked him.
The others looked at the man's features, and sure enough, the clothing matched.
"Seems like it," Sora commented.
"If that's the case... you really put up a show there, dude." Kel grinned at the guy, "Those were some wicked moves you pulled against the bastard. You've gotta teach us sometime!"
Aubrey and Hero shared a knowing glance and sighed in unison.
"Thaaat's right! You're looking at him right here!" the young blonde replied with a wide grin as he pointed to himself, "The name's Denji, but you also call me Chainsaw Man!" He extended his hand out to them, and Sora was the one who took it.
"Nice to you too, Denji. I'm Sora, and I really appreciate what you did for us. Fighting that guy wasn't great at all."
"Tell me about it," the man sighed.
"You're familiar with him?"
"Sure am. He's been a pain in the ass for a long time." Denji shook his head and shrugged, "I've dealt with that bastard a few times before... Once in a ramen restaurant... then a second time inside a bullet train... he's so annoying to fight with that cheap draw and slice move of his. Least you folks weren't slaughtered by him. That's what truly matters."
"Speaking of that... he also seemed to know about Sora here." Hero replied, "How did he figure out where to look?"
The Chainsaw Hero pondered that thought, before shrugging, "Well... there was that Sports Festival a while back. Wasn't 'Sora' the kid who placed 3rd?"
"Yeah… that's me…" the boy in question replied, "He probably found me through that. But why target me?"
"Dunno. Probably had it out for you."
"He did call me a pushover…" Sora sighed, "All because I made a stupid mistake…"
Riku was quick to notice Sora's demeanor change and said, "Hey easy, Sora. We'll think about that later. Right now, you need to rest."
"Yeah… what he said," Basil replied, looking away from Mari. All of Sora's friends were looking at him as he nodded his head and yawned. Even still, it was clear that what happened was still fresh on Sora's mind, and being reminded of the fumble at the festival wasn't helping his mood.
"Hey... whatever Sideburns said to you, don't listen to him," Denji told them, "You're all still here in one piece."
"Your point being?" Aubrey asked.
"You still have a lot to live for regardless of everything thrown at you from today. So don't worry. Just be happy and relax. I think you fellas have earned it." the man said as he gave them a peace sign.
The group of people stared at him, before Riku chuckled: "He's got a point. I think we all just need a rest."
"You especially, Mr. All-Nighter."
"Least I'm not a lazy bum like you."
Sora puffed his cheeks, "You just had to bring that up."
"Why not? It's always fun to bring that up."
"Well, I'm not that guy anymore! I get up early now!"
"Oh yeah? I'll need to see it to believe it."
"Oh, you'll see it, buddy!"
The rest of the group chuckle as Sora and Riku bickered playfully with one another.
(Silence)
After a moment's silence, Denji replied, "Well anyways, if y'all need help from monsters like Sideburns, just call me and the Chainsaw Hero'll come running!"
"Sure thing," Sora nodded, "We'll give you a hoot if something's up."
"Okay, here's my number. It's-"
"There you are, Denji." A voice interrupted him, which belonged to a man who was walking up to the group. He was quite tall, wearing an unbuttoned light-blue jacket, and had a pretty passive expression on his face. He also seemed around Denji's age.
"Friend of yours?" Riku asked.
"You could say that…" the man said as he stopped in front of Denji.
"Ugh. Just hold on for a second, will ya?" the chainsaw hero looked annoyed, "I'm having a little talk with my new fans here…"
New fans? Sora looked over to his other friends in confusion. They'd only known each other for like a few minutes. Sure he saved their lives, but they weren't exactly "fans," of Denji.
"That's great and all, but Hayakawa asked for us both to report back to the headquarters ASAP. You know how he is." At the mention of that name, Denji looked even more annoyed, slumping down a bit before resuming his posture with a neutral expression.
"Fine, fine." he grumbled before elbowing his companion, "This better be something good, Yoshida."
The man called Yoshida chuckled and the two began to walk away, but not before Denji turned around and waved to the group, "See ya guys around! Don't forget my phone number is-!"
But before he could finish, Yoshida snapped his fingers and out of nowhere, a pair of large octopus tentacles surrounded the two, producing a large black smokescreen that concealed their forms. When the smoke cleared, the two were gone, leaving Sora, Riku, Mari, and the others to stare at that spot.
"Well…" Kel replied after a few moments, "That's one way of making an exit."
"True enough." Sunny nodded.
There was a comfortable silence as Sora lay down underneath the tree with a small smile on his face. Sure, today might have had a lot of downsides, like his mom undergoing surgical procedures and an assassin nearly killing him, but there were silver linings regardless, with Riku's sudden appearance meaning that his friends had found him at last, and a new acquaintance in Denji, who had saved his life from that assassin.
Perhaps the chainsaw guy was right. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all…
(Play: Majorlink - Oath to Order (The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask))
"Sora."
He opened his eyes, moving up to a sitting position as he found another person standing before him and his friends.
"I hope this isn't a bad time," Naomasa replied.
"Oh, uh…" Sora glanced at Riku, "No?"
"Good. I'd like to speak to you about what transpired today." the detective replied, before glancing to Riku, "And would it be alright if you came as well?"
"Um…" Riku paused, "Sure. Where are we going?"
"Not far. Just around the corner,"
The Keyblade Master narrowed his eyes at this, turning to Sora with a raised brow. "We can trust him." Sora said.
The older boy hummed, before sighing and standing up. "We'll be right back," Sora told Mari.
"Okay. Be careful."
"Yes, Ma'am."
With that, the two followed Naomasa into a nearby spot in the park a safe distance away from their friends. It was then the detective spoke.
"I assume you are Riku, aren't you? Sora's friend?" he asked.
"Uh… yeah. Riku Mizushima, Mister…" Riku paused.
"Tsukauchi. Naomasa Tsukauchi, Riku. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise." the Keyblade Master bowed as Naomasa looked at him with a hand to his chin.
"So you were the Shibuya Vigilante. The so-called 'Knight of the Dawn.'" he said to Riku, who widened his eyes.
"How did you know?"
"I didn't." he replied, "I simply guessed. And also because Sora said you once wielded a bat-winged sword."
"So he's told you about…"
"Yes. I know about his true identity and where you both really come from." Naomasa replied, "Do not worry. Your secret is safe."
Riku frowned at this, before turning to Sora, "Sora… could you explain?"
The boy scratched the back of his head with a sheepish expression, as he said, "Well… I guess it all started when I got arrested and interrogated by Naomasa four months ago…"
And that's it! Chapter 32 ends it off with a true proper reunion between Sora and Riku, as well as new enemies and allies, including... Denji from Chainsaw Man? Yeah, It was kinda thrown in there. After all, he did make a cameo in the manga, so it wouldn't hurt to include him here.
Oh yeah, and look at that! Looks like Sora was able to awaken an old power, and without the assistance of his old clothes, too! Welcome back, Drive Forms! To explain how his Drive Forms work now, he's basically doing the same thing as when he is Formchanging (Explained in Chapter 27), except he's doing so with his body and heart instead of through his Keyblade, stockpiling energy and magic from battle into his body and releasing it all at once (Basically the Drive Gauge). However, because he's not relying on any of his friends, using the Drive Forms as he is now doesn't do wonders on his body after the form disperses, hence why despite being restored to full health thanks to the nature of the Drive Forms, he was still completely exhausted after dispersing Valor Form.
Anyways, now Sora has to explain to Riku what's been going on these past four months, and figure out what's been happening back home! We'll be getting a sneak peak of that in the chapters to come!
Though it is a bit concerning... who ordered the hit on Sora in the first place? And why him, specifically? Only time will tell.
Onto Reviews!
Gamelover41592: Yep. A real "oh crap" moment indeed.
Shadow Tiger24: Well... you weren't exactly wrong, ShadowTiger. I'm happy that you're excited over Riku's inclusion. And as for Streltizia's plight... let's just say it's linked to how she got here in the first place.
Volatile: Maybe, but that's if Yozora himself was in the world of MHA.
Breeden22: Hi!
keybladelight: Well, it wasn't the reunion you expected, but I hope you liked it all the same.
Tiger1301: Glad to hear that, Tiger.
ArguableReader: Thank you for understanding, Arguable Reader
MK: On this, we can both agree.
Guest: Well, you were right. It was an assassin. One that one of our newcomers know all too well.
Duskbrony94: Thank you! I hope I can continue to deliver!
blueassassin996: I couldn't agree more.
The OC Maniac: Honestly, couldn't they just reunite casually anymore? Nomura's always driving the Destiny Trio apart in the series, save for the ending of KH2. LET THEM INTERACT PROPERLY, PLEASE!
Jaded671: Well, nobody knows what it really means. They just called him that because he's been sighted mostly in the early hours of the morning.
ShadowsofValenth: As for that, do you think WttD was the only bat-winged sword Riku wielded in the series?
What were your thoughts on this chapter? I'm happy if you enjoyed it, and if not, I'm sorry for not meeting expectations.
Thanks for reading my story, and until our paths cross again!
(Play: OMORI OST - White Space (Piano))
Meanwhile, up atop a building, two figures were standing and observing the park down below.
"So they didn't need our help after all..." one of them said, "I suppose that's a good thing."
"Maybe..." the second one replied, "They came out alive. That's all that matters."
"Those monsters... you sure it's not because of them?"
"No... they're different. That kid said so himself."
"Whatever you say, old friend." the first figure replied before walking away, "Let's head back. We shouldn't be here for too long."
The second figure nodded, but looked back down at the park where two people were interacting with one another, one of them fussing over the wounds of another. He sighed, before turning around and walking away.
Don't worry. I'll come back soon. But only after our enemy is defeated. he thought, Until then... be well, you two.
And in the blink of an eye, he, along with his companion, vanished into thin air.
(Silence)