DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts but I do own the lone OC that is Gentai and the two Keyblades Kingdom's Crown and Pale twilight.

Chapter 44

The Dawn is Come

"No, it's the road to dawn."

-Riku

Riku was breathing heavily as he tried, desperately, to regain his strength. But the battle with Xehanort inside his mind, his heart and his soul had physically drained him. But still, that battle was over at last. He no longer felt that pervading stench of darkness in his heart any more. It had always sat there, lingering, waiting for its chance to strike and consume Riku once more. But he had never given it the chance to. Now, when it laid out its full assault at him, he had succeeded and expelled that darkness from his body and heart.

But he was weak and though he wanted to get up, he couldn't. His strength was coming back to him, but only slowly. That was why Kairi rushed over and quickly supported him as he nearly stumbled down on to the ground. She slumped him over her back much like Sora had seven years ago and Riku was almost surprised as to how strong she had become since that time. Sora meanwhile faced Gentai with a look of anger, calm anger, but still there was anger.

"What did you do that to him for?!" Sora screamed at the boy who stood there, resolute as stone. Gentai looked at him and for a moment all was silent in the hall save for Riku's haggard breathing. "If you wanted to try and kill him, why not just stab him with your Keyblade?!" Sora cried and Gentai shrugged.

"I did nothing…clearly his coming into contact with me had an adverse effect on him." Gentai said calmly and Sora now realized that there was no humor in his voice. "He had the darkness invade his heart. He made the choice to battle against it until the very end and it seems that he won. Why should you hate me for that? If Xehanort is truly gone from the shadows of Riku's heart then I am the one who helped bring it about."

"Shut up!" Sora said and he summoned his Keyblade to his hand. The gold exterior of the Keyblade glinted in the hall and dazzled on all the faces of the people in the room. Gentai's eyes widened a bit but only for a fraction of a second.

"So…you have a new Keyblade?" Gentai said with a cock of his head. "How interesting…and what, might I ask, does it signify?"

"That I am the rightful king of radiant Garden, the world that you broke and that I will rebuild." Sora stated triumphantly, as if to prove a point and now Gentai's face hardened into a smirk.

"That's if you get out of here alive, I presume." Gentai said calmly, not moving a single muscle save for those needed to form the sentence that he spoke to Sora. Sora spread his legs apart and got himself into a defensive stance.

"Oh I will…you've caused enough damage to the worlds, Gentai. And today, you're going down once and for all!" Sora said and Gentai merely stared at him, apparently soaking in Sora's words.

"So then…just the two of us, huh?" Gentai said and he looked down at his feet and closed his eyes. Then his head shot straight up as his eyes snapped open. "Oh, I accept. The light against the overwhelming darkness right. The Keyblade Master against the Key of the Future…who will win I wonder?"

"We will!" Kairi cried out, setting Riku down gingerly as he began to regain himself. Kairi moved to join Sora while also summoning her Keyblade, but Sora held out a hand as if commanding her to stop. She did so, but fixed him with a confused stare as it happened.

"Kairi…this is my fight." Sora said calmly. "Take care of Riku…Gentai is for me, and me only, to fight alone." Kairi looked at him for a moment and then nodded, accepting her fiancée's wishes. She picked Riku up and dragged him to a corner of the hall, where they would hopefully be able to go unscathed. Gentai smiled a wicked smile at Sora.

"Ohh…I've been waiting for this." Gentai said, and Sora felt that his smile was betraying his wicked thoughts. He held his right hand to the side of him, outstretched and a ripple of light formed around it. Soon after, Sora saw the sight of Pale Twilight, extending from Gentai's hand, its black and white finish gleaming maliciously. He held it across himself, ready to battle the man he had once admired.

"Be careful!" Kairi's voice cried out from her secluded area. Sora nodded, steeling himself for this final battle against Gentai.

"I will." he responded, fully prepared to do what he needed to. Gentai smirked.

"We'll see about that!" He lunged at Sora and Sora swung his Keyblade out. The two connected with a mighty CLANG! that echoed through the entire hallway. Sora twirled around and struck at Gentai who reflected the blow and thrust his Keyblade forward. Sora batted it away and spun out of it quickly aiming once more at Gentai's midsection only to have his blow blocked by Pale Twilight. Once more, Gentai took a swipe at Sora and Sora batted it away again, leaping backward. He summoned a rush of energy into his Keyblade and plunged it into the floor, sending multiple beams of energy through the ground at Gentai.

Gentai leapt into the air and threw his Keyblade down at the floor. The energy beams hit the Keyblade, which seemed to absorb it for a moment, before suddenly there was a mini-explosion in the hall. Gentai landed gracefully on the ground and grabbed his Keyblade once again, lunging at Sora. Sora parried the first strike before he made his own attack which Gentai parried himself. The two exchanged a series of blows in quick but not too quick succession before they leapt apart. Gentai ran at Sora and swiped at his legs which Sora managed to roll away from. Gentai took this moment to fire five shards of ice at Sora that began to home in on his position. Sora quickly righted himself and fired his own sets of fire at the ice in rapid succession which destroyed them upon impact.

Gentai gasped a bit but it was barely audible as Sora was dashing straight at him. Sora aimed for his head which he cocked to the right, avoiding the blow and he brought his Keyblade up to bat away Sora's own. He used his Keyblade to guide Sora's along as well, forcing it to his side before bringing his own up quickly to try and attack Sora. Sora didn't fall for it and he blocked the blow before thrusting at Gentai's stomach. Gentai quickly brought his Keyblade in front of his belly to block the blow and then he began to push his own offensive. Sora quickly parried the blows before swiping again at Gentai's head which he blocked. Sora was ready for it though and went for his legs. Gentai made a small leap into the air in order to avoid the attack and Sora quickly jumped into the air and used an aerial dodge to come around to Gentai's backside. He brought his Keyblade down upon it but Gentai's hand shot back with his own Keyblade and blocked the shot. He twisted his body around and pushed Sora's attack off of him. The two now stood apart from each other for a moment.

"You…you've improved." Sora gasped out, a little tired from all the events he had been through in the past few days. Gentai lowered his Keyblade for a moment.

"No…you're just weak!" Gentai yelled and Sora flinched as though he had been whipped. But something inside of him knew what Gentai was saying wasn't true. "You couldn't even defeat or kill anyone that wasn't a Nobody or Heartless…you only killed Maleficent as a dragon!"

"And what about you Gentai?! You think you're strong?" Sora called out, his face reddening with a fury. "You think you're the best in all the worlds?!"

"My hearts the strongest in all the worlds! Yours is just a weak nothing that could barely even face the realm of death!" Gentai cried. But Sora just stared into his eyes and for some odd reason, saw a sense of conflict there, and he smiled. This wasn't over for him…not by a long shot. If Gentai believed he was so powerful then…

"Oh really? Maybe I can't because I have too much light! But you know what Gentai, it doesn't matter. Because unlike you," He grinned brighter than the sun and it almost seemed like a slap to Gentai's face. "I rely on the strength of my heart!!" And he ran at Gentai as Gentai held his Keyblade across him. Sora didn't memorize the movements, he just reacted and the two began a quick succession of blows with Sora saying his actions in his head as he performed them. Strike, parry, swipe, parry, twirl, strike, parry, parry, parry. Kairi herself was watching the fight in awe as Sora deftly battled Gentai with extreme speed. Soon enough, their two Keyblades connected for a few seconds before they broke apart and, breathing heavily, put a few good feet between them.

"So…you think you're so strong?" Gentai said, one of his hands resting on his knees. He saw Sora get up from his own panting position and he quickly readied himself for the attack. Sora looked at him and knew that there was only one chance for him to end this fight now…and it would have to come from within the strength of his own heart. Kairi herself watched in worry as Riku managed to get up, finally able to move at last.

"What's going on?" Riku asked, regaining his bearings. Kairi just pointed to where Sora and Gentai were facing each other down. Riku's eyes narrowed at the sight and he nodded his head. Sora, meanwhile, looked at Gentai and knew that he just had to strive for it in his heart. He extended his left hand out and a new ripple of light formed and suddenly a new Keyblade appeared in his hand. Everyone was shocked to see Sora holding two Keyblades at once without using one of his drive forms. His first Keyblade was still Kingdom's Crown, however, his second Keyblade was very differed with a strange silvery handle that had a black shaft but split into spikes for the blade that looked very similar to the Oathkeeper. Riku himself looked at the Keychain dangling from it and he saw the pendant that Roxas had worn in the virtual Twilight Town he had monitored with DiZ.

Sora was wielding Two Across, a symbol for both of the friends he was fighting for. Gentai gasped in awe and anger.

"That's impossible!!!" Gentai screamed in rage. "I know that nobody but your Nobody Roxas and your pitiful friend Edge has ever wielded two Keyblades at one on their own." Sora didn't say a word and instead leapt at Gentai, swiping both of his Keyblades across and connecting them both on Pale Twilight.

"You don't get it!" Sora yelled as he took the Keyblades off and spun around, both of his Keyblades aiming at different parts of Gentai's body. Gentai quickly put his Keyblade vertical and blocked the blow. "I AM Roxas!!!" With that, he broke off and pursued his attack on Gentai. Gentai blocked the first few blows of Sora's flurry of attacks but he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up that kind of defensive forever. He just dodged the next one before Sora came around to hit him yet again. He clumsily sidestepped that attack and nearly tripped over his own feet, barely able to bring up his Keyblade in time to block Sora's attack. Sora twirled around again and there were two clangs as the Keyblades connected with Gentai's own in an attempt to batter down his defenses. Suddenly, an idea sparked in Gentai's mind. He pushed Sora's attack off of him and leapt upwards before Sora could get another attack in. Suddenly, Sora couldn't see him.

"Where are you?! Don't you dare hide from me?! Come back here!!" Sora yelled angrily, searching all around the room and onto the thrones for signs of Gentai but to no avail, as he couldn't find the sixteen year old Keyblade wielder. Kairi watched Sora fidgeting around and she clutched at her heart, hoping that Sora wouldn't fail and she herself began to scan the top of the room in the hope of locating Gentai. Sora growled as he continued to whip around looking for Gentai. "Come on out! Where are you hiding?"

"HERE!!" Gentai's voice yelled quickly but Sora couldn't see him anywhere before he heard Kairi's voice yell something out.

"Sora, above you!" Kairi screamed and Sora, without even thinking, brought his Keyblades above his head and felt the full force of Gentai slam down into them and flip off. Gentai then ran at Sora in hopes that he would be able to get the surprise offensive and keep Sora too busy to attack him. Sora twirled one of his Keyblades around and blocked the blow before swiping at Gentai with yet another one. He twirled around, his Keyblades spiraling in a circular fashion. Gentai felt both of them glance off his own Keyblade and he himself made an attack which Sora used both of his Keyblades in a cross-like fashion to block and fend off. Sora ran at Gentai a little and leapt into the air, spiraling around quickly, his Keyblades appearing to be blurs. Gentai managed to block all of the strikes and leapt backwards to stop the onslaught. He himself, then lowered his Keyblade.

"So…it seems that we're evenly matched." Gentai panted out but as he looked at Sora he saw that the Keyblade Master looked to still be at full strength. Gentai chuckled a bit. "I guess there's no escaping destiny, huh?"

"Gentai…" Sora breathed out. "Come back with us. I know your soul is twisted but there's still time to turn from this path. You can still fight with us."

"No I CAN'T!!!" Gentai yelled loudly and Sora recoiled a bit. "How much blood do I have on my hands?! How many people have I killed?!" Gentai's body was shaking and Sora finally understood why Gentai had seemed so conflicted before. "Don't you get it, Sora?! We all thought we could be decent men, in an indecent time! A time where there is darkness to plague our lives! A time where we still have to fear the darkness!"

"But if you fight with us, then we don't have to fear the darkness!" Sora yelled, trying to reason with this boy. "Come back, Gentai!"

"How can you ask that of me?! After everything, I was the only one who had everything taken from me! I was the one who caused a reign of chaos the likes of which these worlds have never seen and you ask me to come back." A tear slid down Gentai's cheek and his body started shaking harder. He began to sob. "No…I wanted to be a hero, I really did, but now I know that for me, there's no such thing."

"There is if you strive for it." Riku answered, his voice having gained the strength to speak to him. Gentai shook his head.

"No…not for me…not anymore. All that's left for me and my legacy is to make sure I can end the darkness…" There was silence that pervaded the halls after he spoke those words. "WITH ME!!!" Suddenly, before anyone in the room could stop him he shifted his Keyblade around and stabbed himself in the heart, like Sora had done with the dark Keyblade eight years ago.

"NO!!!" The other three that were standing in the room yelled as Gentai's heart began to be enveloped in shimmering light. Gentai's hands slackened on his Keyblade and it fell out, vanishing into thin air as soon as it left, knowing that its wielder was gone. Gentai smiled and began to embrace the blissful plane of death.

I'm sorry for all I've done…he thought to himself. But before his body was carried away to blissful oblivion, one more thought entered his head: I'm coming…Demora. Then the light grew and everyone shielded their eyes as it reached its peak and at last faded away. When the light receded, Gentai was gone, vanished from the worlds and all the wielders there knew that the Unbirths, too, had fled from the castle, sensing their master's defeat. Riku stood up on his own; his strength returned and looked around. He hung his head.

"He couldn't deal with life…so he left it for the madness of death." Riku breathed out and he shook his head. "We won the battle…but we lost the war."

Author's Note: Well, there we have it. Gentai is gone at last and I'm actually rather sad. I'm sorry Captain A, Gentai didn't really live to see the end. But still! This is not the final chapter, we have one more to go before this story ends and I promise it will be this week. I really hope you enjoyed the battle since I had been choreographing it in my head for a very long time. I also thought that Kingdom's Crown and Two Across would be potent for what they represent ultimately. Yes, I made Sora wield two Keyblades because it's about damn time! Now then, I have one point to address: at the beginning of Part II (about a month ago) I asked all of you to think about whether Gentai or any of the characters became heroes. The time is come for you to think of that in context for all my characters, from Sora to Riku to Kairi to Edge, even Demora. While you may not be able to form true opinions till next chapter I still would like to know what you think. As for the title of this chapter, you'll find out why I called it that next chapter. Until then, pretty please review, and Dare to Be Silly.

Captain A: I'd appreciate if you would review both chapters in seperate reviews...thank you.