Exception 3: Power and Strength

"Ggh..." Lance gasped, staggering back. "You guys are tenacious, I'll give you that. You can't win, though."

"I'd beg to differ," I said, pointing my blade at him. Everyone mimicked me.

"Well... then... let's see how you do without support!"

Lance disappeared, and a massive sphere of darkness appeared where he once was; the rest of the room had become white.

"He's there," Sora said.

"Of course. He wants to face me in single combat," I said. "He probably won't let anyone but me into that dark sphere."

I went up and placed my hand into the sphere. It felt cold, but nothing more.

"Guys... let me do this. It's my final act of atonement," I said to them.

"Roy... you can't take him alone," Sora said. "He's got the unlimited power of darkness. It took eight of us to hold him back, and that was a harrowing fight."

"This is my fight," I said. "You can help me, though."

"How?" Riku asked.

"Lend me your strength... your Keyblades," I said, summoning my broken Keyblade. "I can use my powers and make a new weapon... one with the light's power. One that can stand up to... Lance..."

"Roy..." Jake started.

"I understand how you all feel. But... I have to..." I stammered. "I..."

"Okay," Sora said, handing me his Keyblade.

"No hesitation?" I asked in awe.

"It'll take that much," Sora said.

"Here," Amy said, handing me her sakaboto. "Don't break it."

"The Dawn is at your command," Riku said, handing me his.

"Face your darkness... and overcome it," Kairi said gently, handing me her Keyblade.

"I know you're a coward, but even cowards must face thier sorrow," Jason said. He tossed his Keyblade at me.

"Roy..." Jake muttered. "I know you can save him from the darkness if you try."

"I'm not sure."

"I... I want to help..." Jake said. "I want to fight alongside you."

"You know how I am," I said, turning back to the sphere. "I stand alone."

"You're not alone," Jake said. He handed me his sword... it was... a uniquely crafted broadsword, ornately decorated. Its edges were serrated.

"Jake."

"Yeah?"

"Everyone... thanks," I said, fusing all the blades. "Even though you won't be with me in body, our spirits will fight as one!"

"Whatever you say," Riku muttered.

ROY'S ULTIMATE KEYBLADE - OMEGA WEAPON -
Roy's true ultimate weapon, a combination of seven blades and Keyblades, and a Keyblade in its own right. It is roughly the length of Roy's Masamune, but a bit thicker, with a serrated Key pattern. The metal is scarlet in hue, and the weapon itself contains the essence of pure light.

"I swear... by the strength you've lent me... I will save you. All of you."

I stepped into the sphere of darkness.

A harsh wave of cold blasted me. I kept struggling through the dark and cold until some light from Omega Weapon let me see. I was standing in a frozen wasteland; there was nothing but ice and shadow. The endless plain of ice was interrupted by only one thing; a man in a green trench coat.

I stepped toward him, hearing each step I took reverberate in the empty realm. I soon stood face-to-face with my older brother once more.

"You came alone? Why?" he asked.

"I've come for my atonement," I said to him. "I carry everything on my shoulders... the past, present, future, and the light."

"Ah," Lance remarked. "A new Keyblade."

"Tell me one thing," I said. "Tell me why it's so cold here."

"Heat comes from light," Lance said. "There is no light here... save the light in your Keyblade. If it were not for that cursed weapon, you would have frozen to death long ago."

"Is this Hell?" I asked.

"You could say that," Lance said.

I could feel our auras clashing... electricity crackling... our wills fighting as we stood there. Darkness and Light struggled with each other, causing sparks to crackle in the air. We both stood in our fighting stances, our hands on the hilt of our swords. We stared at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

I made a lightning fast charge; so fast it was impossible to see. Lance reacted, blocking my blow and sending out a shockwave of force that sent aside the falling snow.

We stood there for a moment.

"Is that all?" Lance asked snidely.

I jumped back, making hand seals, then unleashed a Bloody Raikiri. I charged forward with Omega Weapon and my Raikiri, making several thrust attacks to lower Lance's guard, then thrusting my Bloody Raikiri at his heart.

Lance grabbed my wrist, twisting it almost to the breaking point.

"That IS all..." Lance said. "And here you said you were going to take me down."

I grunted and growled in pain. He released me.

"Well... I suppose it's time to end this."

Lance moved at lightspeed, making dozens of attacks which I could barely keep up with. He did get a small stroke into my left shoulder.

I staggered back.

"You think I'm done yet?" I asked, lifting Omega Weapon with my bloody arm. "You obviously don't know what I've been through."

"I know all that you've been through," he answered.

"No..." I said, "you don't."

I readied Omega Weapon, drawing my wild aura about me. It materialized itself around Omega Weapon.

"What is this?" Lance asked. "That red aura... what are you doing?"

"Showing you... brother... what I've been through."

My aura began to drip blood. I used that aura to dash forward at speeds greater than light, scoring a few hits before I was knocked back. I skidded, coming to a stop, then got back on my feet. I looked up at Lance, who had taken a few good hits to his torso. Not only were they bleeding, but because of my aura, he apparently couldn't heal it with the darkness.

"You... you're not human," he said. "Humans can't manipulate auras like that."

"A lot of people have questioned just what I am," I said solemly. "No matter what they say, I've always held on to a shred of my humanity. Even if I had to loan my soul to the darkness, I always kept my true self."

"Your true self?" Lance asked rhetorically. "Don't make me laugh. Your true self is a demon."

"Perhaps so."

I felt my powers ascend to the Demon Form.

"But then again..." I muttered, "A demon possesses celestial powers... maybe enough to take you down."

My aura was now surging around me, causing blood to rain down with each step I took. I walked up to Lance slowly, until I was just the right distance for a batto-jutsu. I made the moves, then did it...

My blow struck air.

I closed my eyes and slowly readied myself, taking in a deep breath to keep up with the oncoming onslaught.

I quickly parried a blow to my left, then slashed, striking air again. I wheeled around, attempting to get Lance with my sideswing, but only missed. I jumped back, barely managing to catch a glimpse of Lance. My next blow would have cleaved him in two, but he dodged it. I managed to counter the oncoming parry, pushing Lance back, until he disappeared again.

I was out of breath from that move...

I see even your true self has limits, Lance's ethereal voice taunted.

"Maybe..." I muttered, gasping, "but everything has its limits."

Not the darkness...

I growled and looked up, barely managing to parry Lance's stroke before he disappeared again. I flared out my bloody aura, increasing my powers more, then struck my blade into the ground. A huge aura field spread out from me, drenching the ice in blood. From that, I was able to see Lance's attack just before he readied it, and sidestepped to dodge the blow. I whacked him in the back of the head with the serrated end of Omega Weapon.

He disappeared again.

"Give it up," I muttered, exhausted but still standing, raidiating an aura of blood. "My bloody aura will detect you before you can make a move."

You can't win, Lance called out. Your light isn't powerful enough.

I laughed.

"Is that what this is about?" I asked, panting. "I thought you knew... this is about our pasts. We are related by blood, you know."

Blood ties mean nothing, Lance said. I've got blood ties elsewhere I have to protect.

"At what cost?" I asked.

An icy wind blew past me.

I swiveled around to parry a blow intended to decapitate me. Lance and I stood there for a few moments, looking in each other's eyes with our cold, steely resolves. He was as determined as I was...

I slowly lowered my blade. Lance did the same.

"The light isn't infinite, Roy," he taunted. "You can't win."

"I'll forge my own destiny," I told him. "I don't care about the past anymore. I'm fighting for the future."

I flared my aura out as much as possible. An aura of darkness, combined with dark spheres, began to flow around Lance.

"If this is the way it must be... then so be it!" I shouted.

"It ends here, one way or the other!" Lance shouted.

We dashed forward, putting all of our strength into the blow. We groaned and pushed forward, our blades clashing in a thunderous roar that melted some of the ice. I was pushing forward with all of my strength, but Lance was slowly pushing me back...

Not soon after, I was at the very edge of the ice sheet.

"See what your light gets you?" Lance asked. "I'm far more powerful than you. Even if you had the True Light, it wouldn't be enough."

I hung my head and closed my eyes.

"You say your power is too much?" I asked solemnly, using all of my strength to stop from being thrown out. "Power is good... but you're blind. Raw power is no match... for true strength."

I felt myself become stronger, somehow...

Now I began to push Lance back. He seemed distracted by something. We reached the center before he jumped back.

"Your aura... it's not dripping blood any more," Lance commented. "And... it's yellow now."

I looked down at my hand, which was now covered in a yellow aura.

"Maybe. But I still haven't atoned... not until you're dead," I said. "You're the biggest threat to light and... life. I won't let it end in darkness and ruin."

"You just don't get it, do you?" Lance asked. "Light has no purpose without darkness. If you purify all of the darkness, life will fade. You're just as much of a threat as I am."

"Many people have told me many times that without darkness, light has no meaning, and therefore can't exist," I said to him. "That may be true, but... I'll take my chances."

"Such a fool," Lance uttered.

We dashed forward and clashed again; this time, I was using my full strength, not holding back like usual. We were about equal, but after about a minute of struggling, I began to slowly push him back. Slowly, my speed began to increase, until I had pushed him back to the edge. I sent him falling over the edge. I didn't here a death scream, so I knew he wasn't dead, and jumped off after him.

He met my clash, this time melting more of Hell's ice. We struggled, but I jumped back. I noticed human heads sitting in the ice.

"Come on, show me what your 'true strength' can do," Lance mocked. I flared out my aura again, and he met it with his darkness.

We blasted each other with lightspeed strokes, and I began to use new light techniques... Light Spiraling Sphere, Shining Lightning Blade, and Moon Slicing Waves. Even with these new moves, we struggled, and the ice began to melt.

I stood knee-deep in ice water from Hell's ice.

"I see... your real strength isn't massive power... it's strength and the ability to assess your opponent's abilities as a battle goes on," Lance muttered. "You learn fast."

"True," I said, making hand seals. "Now, watch me! Shining Lightning Blade!"

A Lightning Blade enhanced by my new light aura formed and crackled in my right hand. I charged forward with my Shinkogan, using them so that I wouldn't get hit and die. The beeline attack connected, and Lance was pierced in the heart with my Shining Lightning Blade.

I stepped back, vaporizing the blood on my hand using a little more energy. Lance staggered back, but eventually regained his composure.

"Sorry... koff... but my aura softened that blow. You can't win that easily," he sneered.

I scoffed.

We moved again, making superlightspeed strokes that were nearly impossible to dodge. I blended Light Spiraling Spheres and Shining Lightning Blades into my moves. I took a few little scratches, as did Lance, but it was nothing more than a stalemate.

We jumped back.

"If this is all your fault, Lance," I said with resolve, "then I pity you."

"I don't need your pity," Lance said. "You're a fool to pity someone like me in single combat."

"Lance..." I said sadly. "If this is the way it must be..."

I unleashed Omega Weapon's secondary abilities, causing it to become segmented and serrated all over. I felt myself become even stronger, maybe enough to match Lance's power. More of Hell's ice melted, leaving me knee-deep in ice water.

We dashed forward and clashed again, struggling with all of our being. We struggled, pushing back and forth, until I began to give a little. Stopping in the water, I pushed back with all of my might, until Lance began to give. I shoved him off, then swung Omega Weapon's released form...

The blade broke into pieces, which sliced him a few times, then came back and reformed Omega Weapon.

"So... that's what happened," Lance snickered, walking up to me. Our auras clashed and raged, sening out sparks of lightning. "You changed it... it's an all-weapon, capable of striking from any distance for any amount of damage on any part of the body."

I scoffed.

"You think it's that simple?" I asked. "Try me."

He dashed forward over the ice water, and I scattered Omega Weapon. I was able to use the hilt to parry his strokes while he tried to kill me. I was able to keep up, but his coat was soon shredded and he was littered with cuts.

We jumped back, and Omega Weapon reformed.

"You're powerful, I'll admit that," Lance said. "Your variety of skills is so wide you can counter any situation. But one thing you can't match is my raw power."

His dark aura increased even more. I struggled to stand, and kneeled down as he flash stepped and knocked me up into the air. He began knocking me around... as if to mock me... then knocked me back into the now-freezing water. I was frozen into the ice, though my arms were still free.

"And so it ends," Lance muttered. He held his dark blade at level to decapitate me.

"Awaken, Omega Weapon!" I shouted. The weapon glowed and, in a flash of smoke, a huge, roaring creature appeared. It was black, with four legs and even two arms, and was not unlike a demon in its facial appearance.

"You just keep upping the ante," Lance muttered. "Even that power isn't enough... it calls on the darkness."

"I'll purify it, so that this will be the end!" I shouted, releasing my aura. Omega Weapon's released form became white, and settled down. "Go, Omega!"

The creature now charged at Lance, spitting blasts of white energy. I dismounted it and attempted hand-to-hand combat. Thanks to my abilities, I was able to keep up, even using my bare fists to block hits. Omega Weapon attacked with its hands, claws, and energy blasts, but it was a slow creature; Lance was easily able to dodge its strikes. Fortunately, thanks to Omega Weapon distracting him, I was able to get in a good few hits, causing him to go flying backwards. I reformed Omega Weapon into its initial form.

Lance got to his feet on the far side of the ice. Before I could react, he flash stepped and stuck me in the chest with his sword. I staggered back, pulling the blade out and tossing it onto the cold ice.

I promply dropped to my knees.

"Am I... being defeated?" I asked, barely able to stand.

"What's wrong?" Lance asked. "Come on, get up! You can do better than that!"

I growled as I staggered to my feet, then flared my aura out as much as possible. I also pulled out Omega Weapon, and stylishly got into a charging stance. Lance summoned his sword, then mirrored my stance. The darkness he was spewing forth was unbearable; even though I had suffered grievous injuries during our battle, my inability to stay standing was entirely because of his shadow aura. I dropped to my knee for a moment, then regained my resolve and stood back up.

"Let's finish this, Lance," I called out. "I have to stop you, even if that means killing you."

We dashed forward, forcing our way through each other's auras. Lightning storms raged and crackled as our blades met, blasting each other with power and aura. We struggled again, locked in a contest of strength. He began to push forward, but I found my resolve, and pushed back. He kept on struggling, and managed to push me back. We stood deadlocked in the center, with Hell's ice melting all around us. The force of our auras made sure we didn't get wet; soon we had melted the layer of ice and were free-falling down to another layer of Hell.

We continued struggling with all of our force, causing even this layer of Hell to begin melting. Our auras clashed and roiled, sending out destructive blasts of lightning and wind. Ice flew up all over the place, stinging my eyes. As our clash drove on, I noticed the sky changing colors and the ice beginning to fold over on itself...

Time and space are being torn apart by the sheer force of our clash, I thought to myself. Just how inhumanly powerful are we...?

So much ice had been kicked up that it was forming irregular clouds of diamond dust near our feet.

I felt my arms starting to give out...

"Lance, enough," I muttered, hearing my voice warped by the space-time anomalies. "This is too dangerous... if we go on like this, neither of us will live to see tomorrow."

"You're right," Lance muttered, closing his eyes.

Before I could react, Lance had flash stepped...

and...

stabbed me...

in the back...

I gasped, staggering as Lance stuck me in the back over and over with his back turned to me the whole time. I began spitting up blood, but still managed to stay on my feet. I heard Lance walking away.

"So... this is the best the light can do? I'm disappointed," Lance taunted. "Knowing you're a hero of some sort, I thought you'd be a more worthy opponent. But I was wrong."

How... did I lose? I asked myself, standing half-dead. I was in the right... I had the power of light... how could I...

"You fought with courage, wisdom, and power," Lance said. "You died with honor here. Your power was truly commendable... but in the end, it just wasn't enough."

"You... you..." I gasped.

"Don't worry. I'll purify the world... but not the way you wanted it to be," Lance said. "The darkness will reign supreme!"

I felt myself begin to fall, but steadied myself with Omega Weapon.

"I... I'm not done... koff... with you... koff... yet..." I grunted, unable to stay on my feet without Omega Weapon.

"Oh, you're quite done," Lance muttered. "You were strong, swift, and had more abilities than I was aware of, but in the end, the only thing that is left for you is to die in the frozen wastes of Hell, devoid of any friends or comfort. Such is the path you chose... hero."

"My... koff... path..." I muttered as my vision started to get blurry.

"Your courage won't do you any good," Lance said. "Your arrogance has been your undoing."

He flash stepped in front of me.

"So farewell... brother," Lance said with disgust. He moved to decapitate me...

I ducked just in time.

"Hmph... resilent as ever," Lance muttered. He moved to slice me in two across the head...

I raised my spare hand to block it with the adrenaline coursing through my body.

"Give up. It's over!" Lance shouted.

"No... not yet," I gasped.

"It was over the moment you begged for it to be," he taunted. "You asked for atonement, and so you shall have it. The only way to atone for your sins... is payment in the form of your life."

He began stabbing me in the chest. I couldn't count how many times he stabbed me, but I grunted and gasped each time, losing my breath as I felt my lungs get punctured. I was still standing when he was done, but was breathing very haggardly and barely on my feet.

"You're durable, I'll give you that," Lance admitted. "There's one reason you could never beat me, though. It's because..."

He picked me up by my shirt, putting his mouth right by my ear.

"...you lack hatred." he sneered.

Lance threw me down onto the ice, then walked away. I lost consciousness... or died... soon after...