Chapter 17

Sora sat in silence for a moment. Riku finally began to come to from the blow Axel had dealt him.

"Sora? What happened? Did you…beat him?" Riku asked weakly, barely standing after the blow he'd taken.

"He got away…Riku…that guy was Axel." Sora said, still not able to believe what he'd seen.

"Sora, that's impossible! Axel died before you came to the World That Never Was…Nobodies can't come back from the dead." Riku said, leaning on Way to the Dawn. "And besides…you said that Axel used an attack that killed him because he had nothing left afterwards…that meant that he couldn't even have faked it. It must have been…a look-alike." He concluded.

"But—"

"Sora, there's no time. The Remnant has already left. We should try to pick up Goofy, Donald, and Zack and get out of here." Riku said.

Their two friends were right outside.

"Sora! Riku! What happened in there?" Goofy asked worriedly.

"We met up with someone from the Remnant. He…looked exactly like Axel." Sora said. "He hurt both of us pretty bad and got away."

"Couldn't have been Axel. He wouldn't attack you. I bet it was a fake!" Donald asserted confidently. Sora nodded, still looking unconvinced.

"You're probably right. Let's go find Zack." He said.

The room they'd left Zack in was a total disaster. Riku looked around in shock at the massive slashes in the stone walls.

"Geez…it looks like a bloody war broke out in here!" He commented, looking at the damage.

The entire room seemed to be slashed apart. Deep gashes ran through the stone, and tire tracks covered many parts of the floor and walls. There were also oddly dispersed burns on some of the walls.

"Cerberus?" He asked, looking back at the others. Riku shook his head.

"There's a ton of gashes in this room, but none of them are from claws…" He looked at them.

"Whatever went on in here, every one of these were made by weapons. Zack was fighting someone with a sword or spear…and from the looks of it, a motorbike." He commented.

"A Remnant ambush, perhaps…" Sora said. He suddenly looked around, alarmed.

"But where's Zack?"

There was no trace of the soldier anywhere. Sora was worried.

"You don't suppose he…?"

"He's a spirit, Sora. He couldn't die like we can." Goofy reassured him. "I'm sure he's fine. Remember how Auron disappeared down here too?" Sora nodded reluctantly.

"Let's get out of here. We should check up on Herc." He said.

Once again, there was an eerie lack of Heartless on the way out. Finally, Sora came to the entrance, and realized something was standing in the way.

The creature was humanoid, but there were numerous clues it was no human; the creature stood about a head taller than Sora himself. It seemed to be wearing some sort of armor; its helmet was a featureless, visorless piece of grey metal that wrapped around its head, but a black Nobody Insignia was on the front, and two black horns curved out of the back. It reminded Sora of the Twilight Thorn's head. The creature's body armor was a thin grey metal with a white Heartless insignia on the front of it, and had two black, spiked shoulder pads. The creature also was wearing black armor on its arms, and its hands, an unnaturally pale white, hung limp at its sides, revealing long claws instead of fingers. The creature's legs were encased in jointed white armor, ending in a pair of massive, cruel talons. Sora picked up on an unusual feature of the creature; though there was the light of the Coliseum' entrance behind it, the thing cast no shadow.

The creature's helemet turned to face Sora and his friends. Sora heard a strange buzzing, and realized that there was a voice working constantly under it.

Four targets acquired…keyblade x2danger advance with caution…light insignificant- unimportant to Collective…subject "SORA" identifiedsearch for Princess 7 "KAIRI" and capture immediately…subject "RIKU" identifieddanger! Prepare for combat maneuvers! Subjects "DONALD" and "GOOFY" identified…dismiss. Unimportant. Scanning area for presence of Princess 7 "KAIRI"…scan negative. Subjects' collective importance…negligible. Eliminate immediately and harvest light of KEYBEARER 1 and 2.

"Watch out, guys! I think it's going to attack!" Sora shouted, summoning Oathkeeper.

The strange creature suddenly stretched like a Nobody, landing behind Sora and smashing Donald and Goofy into the floor with its hands.

Subjects "DONALD" and "GOOFY" neutralized. Proceed with binding and harvest of KEYBEARER 2.

The creature's head snapped towards Riku. Riku raised his hands.

"DARK FIRAGA!"

Attack analyzed: Dark Firaga. Dodging intensity: 75 Threat level: Minimal. Initiating evasive procedures.

The creature suddenly turned black and flattened into the ground like a shadow. It rushed forward, going underneath Riku. Its pale hands rose up and grabbed his legs.

Target acquired. Permission to Harvest? Permission…granted. Proceeding with Light Harvest and Conversion of KEYBEARER 2…

Riku suddenly gasped.

"Cold…" He whispered, his eyes starting to dim. "Why is it…so cold?"

"RIKU!" Sora shouted in alarm. He pointed his Keyblade at the shadow at his feet.

"THUNDER!" He roared, striking the black shadow with a thunderbolt. It released its grip, springing out of the ground, now intent on Sora.

Harvest and Conversion failed. Priority threat: KEYBEARER 1: subject "SORA". Subject's light reading: Superior. Target priority: 2nd to Princess. Harvest and Convert immediately. Emergency Harvesting Technique: Permissable. Preparing to Harvest…

The creature stretched out its hands. All the light in the room went out. Sora looked around, seeing only a black void. The creature slammed its hands against the ground, and black and white nothingness bolts, a Nobody attack resembling thorned vines, burst out of the ground. Before Sora could move, he was bound completely. The creature's thoughts continued to bombard him as he walked closer.

Nightmare Dimension engaged…target bound. Chances of Success: 99.9

The creature suddenly was in front of Sora. Its arm became a black, smokey substance, and it plunged it into Sora's chest. Sora could almost feel his blood freezing as the immaterial fist closed around his heart. The creature retracted its arm, and Sora's Heart floated out of his chest, hanging suspended. The creature now returned its arm to normal, and plunged its fingertips into Sora's heart.

Sora screamed in agony as the creature tore through his Heart, finally wrapping its hands around something.

Sora saw the hands leave, and realized there was a feeble light, still connected to his heart by a thread, in them. Sora's vision darkened…he saw his heart slowly turning black.

"So…cold…" He whispered, as his view of the creature began to blur.

"NOT THIS TIME, MONSTER!"

The creature began to wheel, and a sword pierced it all the way through. The creature gave an extremely high-pitched inhuman scream. Sora gasped, and the light raced back into his heart, which returned to his chest. Sora fell to the ground, breathing heavily for air. He saw someone in an Organization XIII jacket slashing at the creature. Sora could hear its thoughts fading.

New target acquired…DANGER! Target: Nobody! Secrecy of mission compromised! Harvest failed! Retreat at once! The creature's thoughts were now disjointed and confused. It lunged away from the man, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Sora was having difficulty staying conscious. He tried to look up at the man's face, but fell lower, his vision blurred from pain and exhaustion.

"Sora…hold on. You're going to be OK." The man said, trying to reassure him despite the worry Sora detected in his own voice.

"Hold on." This person could help him…he didn't have to worry about the thing killing him…

Sora, overcome by the assult on his mind and body from the day's events, passed out on the floor of the Underworld's Atrium.