AN: So, as the year winds down and final papers and exams dates draw closer by the day, I have to admit not being able to provide a consistent effort on this story has been one of the larger disappointments I've had through this entire school year. Every time I get focused or start anew, something goes wrong to distract me or throw the precious level of balance and discipline I've created out the window. This last month was no exception unfortunately. Approximately a week after the last chapter was finished, one of the residents on the floor I am the Resident Advisor for passed on from this world. The following weeks have been a rush of funerals, celebrations of life and attempting to restore some amount of normalcy in the building as she was exceptionally active here despite the medical troubles which eventually led to her passing. I wish I could say that I plan to be exceptionally active and make up for my lack of progress over the summer but I can't as my summer plans are up in the air as well for the time being. That being said, to the precious few who have stuck with me, submitted reviews and told me what you thought, who waited patiently for chapters, you will forever have my thanks and gratitude. If I knew all your names, I'd be putting them in a dedication but for now the best I can do is say a public thank you to you all and hope you'll see it and know it's from me to each of you.

Anyway, now regarding the actual story you are all here to read as opposed to my drabble; as some of you have guessed, we're approaching the conclusion of the first arc of this story. I do still have the other two arcs planned, but I'm still not sure if I'll simply continue on this story or start a new fic for each arc. So if you have an opinion and haven't stated it yet, please feel free to do so. I really want to do what the readers would prefer.

For A Friend

Far Above Destiny Islands

"Cid! The back left stabilizer shield is failing! It won't take another hit like hit!"

"Well kid, I guess I will just go out back to the engine room and fix it now! Nothing better to do right? Could use something to help keep myself busy!

Even as Cid snapped back at the young Princess of Heart, his hands were flying over the console of the Gummi Ship's controls. For some time now, he had been expertly weaving, dodging and diving between Heartless ships, trying in vain to escape the constant barrage of attacks long enough for him to activate the warp drive and get them away to relative safety. Their pursuers had been relentless thus far however. Despite Cid's exceptional abilities, even he could not shake them off entirely. Although Kairi had taken a moment in awe as she had watched him maneuver the enemy ships across from one another and then dodge the attacks, causing them to hit the other ships. Furthermore, even while doing this he had been constantly instructing her on what to do.

As she was lost in her reflection though, a loud bang echoed in the ship as alarms went off and the screams of the refugees joined it in filling the King's Gummi Ship with noise and terror.

Glancing down at the displays in panic, she found that not only had the shield over the left stabilizer finally given out, but the blast that had broken it's protective barrier had also managed to slightly damage the warp drive and give significant damage to the stabilizer. While the stabilizer wasn't a major concern until they entered another world and attempted to land, the loss of the warp drive would all but doom them. Unable to warp and incapable now of landing back on Destiny Islands once again.

"Cid!"

"Damnit Kairi I know! Look I'll go down and fix it, just try to avoid getting us killed for five…" His words went dry as another major alarm went off and a camera showed the engine room where Shadow Heartless could be seen entering. Without the shield, nothing was there to keep them out anymore.

"Okay…new plan. Get down there, protect the refugees and clear those heartless out. Once you get rid of them, go to the shield block, there should be a tool kit somewhere in there. You need to take out the blown Shield Gummi and Warp Gummi and put a new one onto the engine. It'll only take a few minutes to charge and adapt to the ship before we can start it up. Just keep those heartless away from it until we can start it. I can manage without a stabilizer but we're sitting ducks if we stay out here much longer. …What the fuck are you waiting for? Get going!"

A shove was the only inspiration Kairi needed as the sprinted out of the cockpit and towards the back of the ship on the lowest level where the engine room was located. Along the way, she saw families cooing to small children and trying to tell them that everything would be fine. Parents also tried to stop her and demand answers about what was going on but instead she simply shoved her way past them and kept running. There was no time for civility and tact at the moment.

Finally though she got down the stairs, slicing down a few shadows with her keyblade as she did, thankfully only a few had gotten this far into the ship. She also found the unconscious bodies of some of the refugees along the way. At least she hoped they were merely unconscious. Considering the force of the impact that Cid and she had felt on the other end of the ship, it was perfectly plausible that the shock could have killed someone this close. Still nothing had prepared her for the carnage of the engine room.

There was heartless everywhere, mostly shadows and a few soldiers but that was not nearly the worst part. There was a young boy, no older than seven likely. His body was on the floor and his chest had been ripped open as they clawed for the heart. He had probably just been separated from his parents by the shock or perhaps one of the people in the hallways had been his family. Now he was most assuredly dead. The hate that welled up inside of her vanished immediately as her heart could not stand or tolerate darkness but the anger remained. Anger at these heartless for what they had done to a child pointlessly and anger at everything that had happened filled her entire being.

Was this what Sora had felt? Every day of his life for the past few years spent with this pain filling his entire being?

Was it even possible to exist in this sort of pain, let alone to actually try to live?

Even as she angrily slices through the bodies of the Heartless and regretfully did the same to the heartless created from the stolen heart, she could not take the time to move the body. Instead, Cid's voice came on over the intercom, bellowing angrily at her:

"Look princess, he'll be there later but if you don't do this NOW, none of us will be here later."

Nodding to no one in particular, she diced through more heartless and finally got to the engine, covered with gummi blocks of all sorts and sizes. However, there were two in particular that jumped out at her. A shield and warp gummi that had smoke fizzling out of them. Even as she reached to pull the shield gummi off the attachment she had to immediately rip her fingers away from the sheer intensity of the heat radiating off the gummi block. After ripping off a piece of her sleeve to cover her hand slightly though, she managed to get it and the warp gummy off. However, even as she looked around frantically she was unable to find the spares that Cid had assured her were down here. After emptying the shelves, she found tools and some spare thunder blocks, but nothing of the sort that she was looking for. Racing over to the intercom, she punched the comm. link and shouted into it in frustration:

"Cid! There's nothing down here! Are you sure it was in here!"

"Of course I'm sure. I put them in there before we took off when I was checking the engines and I… That's it! Check behind the Teeny Ship deployment chute. I was upgrading them."

Kairi hadn't even waited to hear the rest of his sentence, rushing off the sides of the room where two longer cylinders where the Teeny ships were housed. Sure enough, next to the first of the two tubes was a bag filled with Gummi Blocks. Grabbing the two she needed, she raced back over and forced them on, slamming her hand over the button to begin charging them before taking a breath to wipe the sweat from her forehead in relief. Finally it was quiet for a second…

However, as seemed to always be their luck, she had spoken too soon. A large blast rocked the ship and, while the shields absorbed the damage, it knocked her from her feet and headfirst into the cool steel of the ship walls. Her vision was already blurring as she managed to bring herself shakily to her feet and finally saw more soldiers flooding in and already heading for the engine.

Weakly and uncertainly, she ignored the copper taste of blood in her mouth and began attempting to cut the villainous creatures down. However, her sudden loss of mobility and agility was not lost on the minds of her opponents who began jumping around and forcing her to try and keep up, her vision dancing and blurring more and more by the moment. Finally, she found herself knocked onto her buttocks, a heartless diving at her to rip her heart away from her. Raising her Keyblade weakly, she couldn't help but wonder if she had at least stalled them long enough to buy Cid some time. At least then she would not have been completely useless to the cause this time…

Flashback

"He's going to kill himself by training this hard if he keeps this up Riku" Kairi murmured in concern as she watched Sora fighting against Tidus, Wakka and Selphie, sweat dripping down his body. Normally of course it would not even be a challenging fight for the Keyblade Master, let alone difficult but he had set some different rules this time. They were all with weapons, he was unarmed, blindfolded and was required to stay within a five foot circle at all times. If he exited, he lost the fight. He also was not capable of using any offensive magic, and only low level defensive magic such as the most basic healing spells and only the most basic forms of the Aero spells."

"He feels he no longer has a choice. He's been given an enormous burden and all the worlds are putting their hopes onto his shoulders."

"It's so unfair of them to put all their pain on him like that and to do nothing to help him though."

An indulgent smile crossed Riku's face as he watched Sora grab Tidus's Bo staff and force him to the side, vaulting him bodily into the way of Selphie's attack. After a moment of though, he spoke to Kairi:

"He told me something when we clashed at Hollow Bastion after I took the Keyblade from him. That he had become a part of everyone he had met, a part of their heart. That if they thought of him and did not forget him, their hearts would be one. That they were his power. They aren't able to stop the heartless so they lend him their burdens yes, but also their hopes and dreams. They lend him their strength, he is their power, and they are his. In the end, they're fighting for each other."

"But they attack him like a villain when he can't do everything and…" Here Riku cut her off

"Such is the nature of grief but they all know he tried his hardest. Still though, he uses that pain, that feeling of not being able to repay their strength they have loaned him to go further and push himself beyond the limits of his strength. In the end, they're fighting for one another. He may destroy himself with how hard he continues to push his body and his heart may fade from the pain he has taken on, but his will has never been stronger. That pain he has taken, the memories of all the people she has hurt, the lives that have been ruined, he fuels them to his power to do what he can, with what he has, where he is. When the time comes, you find strength you could never imagine but it doesn't come from you. It comes from within, yes. But the source of it…comes from those people who have placed their faith in you.

End Flashback

The Refugeese

Cid

Her Family

The fighters back on the Islands

King Mickey, Leon, Cloud

Riku

…Sora

They were all counting of her to do this…their strength was her strength. Their dreams were dreams. Her successes were theirs!

Rising to her feet, her eyes glowing pure white and an aura of radiance surrounding her body, Kairi felt the Keyblade in her hand change form. Instead it became longer and more slender, a key of pure white and soft gold hues. From the keychain hung a pink heart and beneath that a small blue star.

Inner Strength.

The name simply flew into her mind before she could even grasp where it had come from exactly.

"These people are under my protection. My friends are counting on me. You will not harm anyone else on this ship! You will never hurt anyone else again!"

The white aura exploded from her body, the Heartless exploding into nothingness as it came into contact with them. It was similar but different from a keyblade destroying them. The Heart was not released; instead it was as if the Heartless had never even come into existence. Even from the surface of the islands below the bright spot in the sky could be seen exploding outward before receding and vanishing from sight once again.

From the cockpit, Cid felt his jaw fall and could only manage to simply stare at the screen. She hadn't only destroyed the heartless onboard the Gummi Ship, but probably about a fourth of the remaining enemy ships. Those that were remained also seemed stunned and the attacks hadn't yet resumed. Still, even as the light from the teenage girl's body faded away and the screen display of the engine room became fully clear once again, he watched her knees buckle and she passed out in a heap. Despite the amazement, he couldn't help but chuckle in amusement before he hit the button to reactivate the new Gummi Blocks and grinned as the shields came back on.

Punching in the commands to prepare for entry into warp drive before the other ships snapped out of their stupor, he couldn't help but whisper fondly, "Rest easy kid, you've certainly earned it."

Just as the other ships began firing, the light came on showing the ship was ready for the jimp. With a hurried thrust of the command stick, a loud hum took over before the sky in front began to blur and then all the ships around them faded away.

It was only much later that he realized that, in his rush, instead of inputting Ivalice where they had allies in the empires of Archadia and Dalmasca, the line had been let blank and the ship had simply chosen a random world among the cosmos to go to.

They had gotten out of the lion's den, but now he had no clue where they were rushing to.

Simultaneously

CLANG!

Mickey's Keyblade sounded across the staff of Maleficent with deadly precision. He had been close to getting past her defenses but she had managed to block just in time. They had been going at this for some time now, neither wearing down and while Maleficent had the clear upper hand, Mickey had pushed her immensely. Putting so much energy into killing Leon with such a spectacle had drained her slightly and had made Mickey's injuries far less of a disadvantage for him than they like should have been.

A gasp of air from the dark fairy followed by a snarl of anger sounded off in the clearing along the beach. She had long since given up trying to be aloof with him. While Mickey was fueled with anger, he was still clear minded and calm enough not to be overtaken by fury. The trials Yen Sin had put him through hadn't been simple after all and one could not become King of the Worlds without being able to restrain their emotions.

"Why don't you just give up this foolish charade Mickey. We both know that no matter how long you drag this out you're incapable of besting me. My powers far exceed yours. I was made superior to you petty mortals in anyway. I will spend as much time as I need to in order to bring you down."

"If you are so all powerful Maleficent, then why are you having so much trouble with one little king like me?"

"You insolent fool. Do you truly believe yourself comparable to me by any standard? I merely wish to savor this victory on a personal level. You are no match for me"

With that, dark magic erupted from the orb atop her staff in a formed slicing motion. It cut Mickey across the waist and pushed him from his feet. After being knocked back about 20 feet, he finally fell onto his stomach. However, before he could blink, she was standing over him once again. In her left hand was the staff and in the other was a black whip that seemed to have been conjured from out of nowhere. With a single gesture, the whip came down on Mouse's back harshly.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Still though, Mickey refused to give her the satisfaction of giving a cry of pain. Already his back was covered in welts and his jacket was ripped and torn. A smirk of triumph split across her face though at last as a harsh gasp of pain erupted from the mouse's lips and she banished the whip only to raise her staff.

"It has been fun Mickey and you were entertaining to me at least, but alas all good things must come to an end!"

Just as the sharp point of the staff came down though, another Keyblade found its way into the fight. Glancing up with a snarl at the fool who dared to interrupt her moment of triumph, Maleficent could only smile as she saw her one time pupil-of-darkness there before her. He had certainly been on her list of people to kill and now she could finish him off and then finish Mickey as well. It would be ending two major thorns in her side at once. It was almost a pity, Riku had such a strong talent for darkness and now she had to kill him, but alas he has used her hard work against her. He had to suffer for that.

"Well Riku, I thought I would have to go track you down so I could finish you off but I guess you're just so kind that you came right to me. Pity it won't bode well for your health to have come back to try and save your friend."

He did not even seen concerned with responding to her barbs, instead swiping a hand and firing a Dark Firaga at her stomach. Maleficent managed to block but the sheer close range knocked her back several yard. By the time she had rightened herself, Riku was finishing up healing spells on Mickey who was rising shakily to her feet, a newfound look of determination present on his face

Just as she was about to rush her though, she felt a sudden change in the world. The destabilization of the world had been present on her mind since the battle began but this was new. What's more, it seemed her two opponents could sense something was different as well as Mickey smiled mockingly:

"I sense it too Maleficent. The Princess and the refugees are all gone. You won't be capturing her again Maleficent. I won't allow you to try and open Kingdom Hearts again, no more power increases Maleficent. I won't allow it, no matter what it takes to stop you.

A snarl crossed the fairy's lips as the king spoke before slipping back into a confident smile, "I admit this is an irritating setback but that is all it is. A setback. Soon you will all be dead and I will search the worlds for the Princesses, there will be no one and nothing to possibly stand in my way once you all are dead. Really this is quite convenient, I can get rid of the both of you pests at the same time…"

With that, she charged, dark energy pouring off her body and bloodlust in her eyes, long since having lost any color but bright yellow.

"Get ready Riku! Here she comes!"

Slipping into a defensive stand, both of their Keyblades came up to block her staff as it came down on then, forcing her back,

A confident smile still adorning her face, Maleficent merely lifted the staff over her chest diagonally, the orb over her right shoulder beginning to glow slowly

"Well then gentlemen, shall we begin…?"

And so they did…

Off in the Distance

There's just no getting through his defenses. I try everything and he has an answer every time!

"Well Cloud, is this really the best you can do? I had expected better. You're barely worth my interest right now. As long as you focus on something other than this battle, you will never be able to best me. The outcome of their battle is pointless to us, regardless of who wins and yet half of your mind is there, sensing to make sure they are still holding their own in battle and no in serious trouble. Their lives are like candles. The flame will eventually go out, regardless of how soon or how late. You should not concern yourself with such pedestrian creatures. Darkness. Light. It's not even relevant, we are above it. Now, give into the rage and let go of all your restraints Cloud. If you want vengeance, you will have to think of only one thing, me. Now give into your hatred, embrace it! Let it fill your entire being!"

Maybe…is he right? Could Sephiroth be right? I need to destroy him…I promised to kill him and avenge all the people who suffered and died because of him. That's always been my only goal, so why should I focus on anything else. Everything else can wait until after Sephiroth is dead…he is all that matters to me. That's how it's always been.

Still, what about Sora, Leon, Riku, Yuffie, King Mickey, Tifa…All the people who had helped him over the years, he had fought beside them in battle. Could he really ignore them when everyone's life was in danger?

Still…he had to finish this. He couldn't wait one more day, more searching to find Sephiroth.

This ends now!"

As a flurry of light and dark energies erupted around his body in a whirlwind, he lifted any attention from the battles below, finally putting the entire body of his focus and concentration onto Sephiroth. Everything else was unimportant!

A cold grin lit up Sephiroth's face as he lifted his blade once more from where it had been hanging loosely at his side.

"At last Cloud, you're finally ready and finally worth my time. Now we see which of us is truly greater. YOU SEE! THIS IS OUR FATE, OUR BATTLE!"

Cloud couldn't even find himself caring about the words, his eyes darkened with hatred, remembering the bodies of the fallen, that Sephiroth had killed simply for sport and enjoyment because their lives weren't important beyond helping him to perfect his abilities and pushing his powers to their absolute limits.

So instead, he charged, bringing his blade that was also bathed in mixed energies or light and darkness down on Sephiroth as their bodies rose into the air. It was almost like a dance with the flurry of their blades. Skillfully and artistically they danced and dodged one another, occasionally managing to land small blows. To the naked eye it might appear to be exactly how the battle had been going previously but instead it was entirely the opposite. Previously Cloud was pushed to his limits while Sephiroth could deflect and attack without even trying. Now Sephiroth had his entire focus on the battle and even had a few beads of sweat trickling down from his silver hair. New bruises and cuts adorned his skin, the first time he had been even mildly injured in years.

They pushed each other in this manner for some time, each gaining and then systematically losing ground before it became a stalemate again and then the cycle began all over again.

Just as it had always been since that fateful day…

Flashback

"Sephiroth! Wait!" The young teen came racing down the road after the silver haired warrior ahead of him. He had always been somewhat aloof but this…there were so many people dead. The whole village was dead. Burned to the ground. Everyone was dead. People who had thought of him as their hero. He had murdered them all! He…He had even murdered Zack

Ahead, the man turned, his eyes cold with disinterest and indifference as they locked onto Cloud. Just one more who needed to die for humanity's crimes. They all had to pay. The village of Nibelheim had paid and he would now suffer the same fate.

"How could you do it Sephiroth! Those were innocent people. What gave you the right to just…kill them on a whim. They had dreams, goals, families! You destroyed all of that!

"Well" Sephiroth replied after a moment in almost quiet amusement at the young swordsman's agony, "They don't have any of those anymore so nothing to worry about is there. I would worry more about yourself if I were you because you are about to share their fate Cloud. I do hope you will put up a good fight at least though. You may have Zack's sword but you are by no means as strong as him."

"S-Sephiroth…I won't forgive you for this…I will never forgive you for this! I'll make you pay!" and so the young fool charged into the face of death incarnate.

Sometime later, the battle was ended, Sephiroth cornered. At first it had been easily one-sided with Sephiroth toying with him. However, as the battle wore on and Cloud's rage grew, his powers did as well. In the end, he had been able to completely overpower and mortally wound Sephiroth. However, now darkness was pouring off of Cloud's body like steam from a boiling pot. It seemed almost as if it was burning his very soul.

Lying on the ground, Sephiroth couldn't help but laugh, "Well done Cloud, a decent fight once you realized that hatred is all that matters in this world. Vengeance means everything. Once you accepted the darkness you were strong enough to best me and now you can rejoice in knowing today you were strong enough but by relying on that darkness to defeat me, you have destroyed any chance you had of peace. I will haunt you for the rest of your days Cloud. We are the same now, warriors of the dark and there will no dawn for either of us as we wade through the endless night."

With that, his body vanished but Cloud felt a piercing and horrible pain fill his heart before he collapsed onto the ground unconscious, Zack's Buster Sword landing next to him.

End Flashback

"I told you at the beginning Cloud, there is no end to this unless you fully give into your darkness. I am the memories you can't escape, the pain that you cannot cope with. Until you can accept it you will never be able to best me. You murdered me Cloud and you will never be able to move past that fact. Your very being is pure darkness. With every thought you have, you make me stronger, more powerful.

It was as if the past decade of fighting and searching finally made sense and clicked in Cloud's mind with Sephiroth's words. His eyes slid closed and even as Sephiroth charged, he found he knew exactly what Sephiroth was going to do, dodging and ducking exactly as necessary without knowing why he needed to move that way.

"I didn't murder you Sephiroth. You killed innocent people, I performed justice. I gave into darkness then but my heart is not darkness. You're not even the real Sephiroth…you're only in my mind, the embodiment of my own guilt. No longer though, you won't run my life anymore Sephiroth. I did what was right and I've let the guilt torture me all this time and I let myself believe you were still alive so it meant I hadn't killed you and been responsible for someone's death, even a murderer, even Zack's murderer. It's time for me to move on though Sephiroth; it's time for you to go…I have accepted it."

Even as he spoke, the calm Sephiroth seemed to grow demonic and enraged before his eyes, his skin melting and hanging from the skin. His eyes turned blood red and he lunged hatefully towards Cloud once more, but Clouds blade impaled him through the stomach. "I'm ready to move on Sephiroth, to forgive myself. I don't need you anymore, get out of my heart." Taking Sephiroth's own Masamune from the limp hand, he placed it up against the throat of the master's swordsman's embodiment and almost whispered "This time you won't come back"…

Then he sliced the head from the body, watching as the body melted away into dark energy as the head fell, evaporating into nothingness.

Looking around at the ravaged world around him, the only thing Cloud could honestly say he felt was emptiness. Everything he had spent his life trying to accomplish was suddenly over and there was nothing left.

"I just…need to be alone for a little while. Please, my friends, forgive me"

And with a burst of light, Cloud vanished from Destiny Islands to try to find meaning once again in his life.

With Maleficent, Mickey & Riku

The battle was fierce and the combatants were certainly holding nothing back. A few times it had even appeared that Riku and Mickey's combined strength was pushing Maleficent back. It did not hurt them that their styles of combat meshed together so effectively either. Mickey's acrobatic and agile strikes combined with Riku's more straightforward but cleverly timed and precise ones made for a difficult tag team to face for any opponent. Still every time they managed to push her back, it seemed like she only just gathered more energy and re-engaged them once again, this time with her holding the upper hand once again.

Furthermore, she had begun summoning high level Heartless and Nobodies to the battle to occupy the two so they could not synchronize their attacks as effectively. Since joining the battle, the Heartless and Nobody numbers had dwindled heavily as she had wanted the pleasure of ending the battle personally but with threats now against her victory, she was using any means possible once again. The shadows and dusks would have been no great challenge but by this point she was summoning Large Bodies, Orcus, Invisibles, Dark Followers and Defenders which forced them to split their attention.

This led them to the predicament they were currently in. Mickey was swarmed by over a dozen Defenders and Invisibles and his energy was finally running out. Battles with the beast, followed by Maleficent and now high level Heartless and Nobodies, all following the endless swarms at the beginning of the fight, had taken a heavy toll on him. Only healing magic, potions and ethers were keeping the King on his feet. The fact was Mickey was not a young mouse anymore and while his experience made up for his advanced age, the fact was he had been a Master back when the age of the Keyblade Master's ended, served as king in the ten years between then when Terra, Ventus and Aqua fell and Sora received the Keyblade and then spent a year in the realm of darkness and now had spent years fighting this war. His age was catching up with him.

Furthermore, Riku for all his skill and poise did not have Mickey's experience and as such as struggling in a drawn out battle against Maleficent. He held his own effectively early on and had even surprised her but when his surprised ran out, she had began to turn the tide on him and now, with their tandem attacks ended, the battle was coming close to its end.

Then, in one sudden moment, the battle went from bad to worse. Mickey had tripped when a part of the ground vanished and knocked him off balance and in his distraction had taken a hard magical blow right to his skull, followed by a slam from a Defender's shield, knocking him across the beach and unconscious. Riku immediately tried to race to him to heal his friend but Maleficent took advantage of his distraction and sent an arc of magical energy at the young man's left calf, knocking him to his knees as the leg exploded in pain. As she moved towards the boy to finish him off at long last, she allowed the smile of triumph to cross her face. Destiny Islands was continuing to destabilize faster and faster by the moment. Already much of the foliage was gone and chunks of the ground were vanishing. While Sora was still gone, she had eliminated much of her troubles today and the rest could be easily dealt with. Her reign was all but assured to last for a millennia. The words would bask in darkness.

Even as Riku tried to summon his keyblade to block her, she was ready. Sending a cutting spell at his hand, it sliced cleanly through the wrist, leaving him without his right hand at all and causing the silver-haired youth to cry out in agony.

"This is the end of the line for you boy. You were a few decades short of the skill needed to best me."

As she drove the pointed edge of her staff downward though, a burst of wind hit her and then the staff was blocked by what appeared to be a Keyblade but different. Almost two Keyblade joined together into a single blade. What was worse was the person holding it.

Sora.

"Well I see you decided to join us after all Sora. A pity, I was so looking forward to the pleasure of killing him now. I suppose I'll have to stomach merely destroying you."

The coldness in his eyes along with the confidence was certainly alarming though despite her boast. Normally he looked so broken and down-trodden. Now he looked utterly murderous however.

"I don't want to see you right this second. Get lost"

With the words, as if the cosmos obeyed his very whims, an invisible force slammed into her gut, sending Maleficent flying into the air and knocked her back almost one hundred yards before she finally landed on the ground in a heap, her robes torn and frayed.

Looking up despite the pain, Riku saw his best friend's serious gaze and couldn't help but chuckle weakly "Well…back from your vacation Sora?"

As if to show that he was still Sora, Riku received a half smile in reply "Yeah, it was nice. Little sun, little sleep….Rest now Riku, she belongs to me. She dies here for what she has done to the worlds and to our home…"

Next time: Salvation

AN: Again, let me know what you thought. Hope you liked it and I hope the extra long chapter makes up for the huge wait everyone.