Test of Strength

After Kid discovered that the monsters who attacked him and the rest of the team were humans who were subjected to experiments, the group started to clear the mansion from them and when they arrived at the mansion's library, they didn't expect to encounter one of Xehanort's allies. At this moment, Sora was fighting the man known as Braig.

Sora was following Braig in the air, the man dodged all his attacks and he kicked Sora in his back, sent him to the ground and started to shoot him. The boy turned around and used his Keyblade to deflect the shots. Braig aimed to his left and right and started shooting again, he used his powers to teleport the bullets.

The Keyblade wielder only could dodge some of the shots, but he recovered quickly, aimed his Keyblade at the sniper and started to charge energy. The charge finished and the boy fired a cluster of energy bullets from the tip of his Keyblade. The attack could hit Braig and also destroyed part of the room.

Sora rushed to attack him, but Braig teleported before the Keybearer could land his attack. The boy started to look at his surroundings, trying to spot his enemy. Suddenly he heard that Braig shot his Arrowguns, so he jumped back and dodged the bullets. Braig took the chance and teleported behind Sora and kicked him and sent him flying to a column. The spiky boy used his blade to stand up and looked at his enemy.

"Come on Sora," said Braig trying to provoke him, "show me that you are a worthy Keyblade wielder."

Sora was starting to realize that Braig was more powerful since their last fight so he needed to take the fight more seriously.

"Alright, it's time to stop playing around," he thought.

Another flurry of bullets was being directed to Sora, but this time he used his Keyblade to change the bullets' trajectory and now they were headed to Braig. The man vanished before his own bullets hit him, but when he appeared in another stop Sora was already waiting for him.

"You should try to be faster, Braig," said Sora and he sent Braig flying to a bookshelf with a horizontal slash. Braig recovered and used the shelf to impulse himself in Sora's direction and started shooting. Before the Arrowguns' bullets could hit him, Sora faded and appeared above Braig.

"Firaga!" Sora shot a great fire ball with his sword and produced a huge explosion. Braig could avoid being hit by the fire ball, but the explosion damaged him. The room was almost completely destroyed; it looked more like an empty room than a library. He recovered and looked at the Keyblade wielder.

"Not bad," he said. "By the way, the name's Xigbar, maybe I am a complete being, but I'm still an Organization's member."

"Whatever your name is, I'm still going to kick your ass!" Sora dashed to hit Xigbar again but he vanished. Sora threw his Keyblade to where Xigbar appeared but he could block it with his guns, however the Keybearer took the chance and retrieved his sword to attack the man.

Sora started to swing his Keyblade and Xigbar dodged his attacks, but then Sora pointed his weapon at Xigbar chest and used an ice spell. A burst of sharped ice came out from Sora's sword that injured Xigbar.

The Freeshooter jumped away and started to charge an attack with his Arrowguns and then a huge energy arrow came out from his weapons and started to pursue Sora. The boy started to run around the room so the large arrow didn't hit him and when he was near Xigbar, he jumped to him, but instead of attack, he teleported when he was close to him. This took the man by surprise and because of that, the energy arrow he shot went through him and caused the man severe damage. Before Xigbar could recover from that, Sora appeared behind him and sent his enemy to the ground with a strong vertical attack.

Xigbar stood up and threw his guns to the air and they started to shine. A rain of bullets was directed to Sora and he started to dodge. He realized that he had to hit the guns if he didn't want to get hurt so he threw the Kingdom Key and moved the guns so they weren't aiming at him anymore, however Xigbar took advantage of that and grabbed his Arrowguns really fast and teleported near Sora.

At first Sora was surprised when he saw Xigbar at his right, but then a smirk appeared on Sora's face which Xigbar found strange. He was about to pull the trigger when suddenly the Freeshooter felt how a sword hit him in the stomach and made him crash against a wall. When he recovered and turned his head to look at Sora, he saw that he had two Keyblades.

"Looks like he is almost awake," thought Xigbar. "I should leave before he-"

Before he could say something, Sora was already running toward him and when he was in front of him, the Keyblade wielder started to attack him with both swords. The Organization's member tried to block Sora's attacks, but the Keybearer was too fast so he couldn't do anything.

Sora grabbed the two Keyblades tightly and launched Xigbar out of the library, breaking the barrier the man created. Sora was moving Xigbar around the mansion with his attacks and they ended up outside, at the front door.

Xigbar panted as he tried to stand up. "I…I see why Xehanort is interested in you," he said. "I guess I can consider you a threat now."

Sora chuckled slightly. "I don't think you should keep trying to anger me."

The man stood up completely and clapped for a second. "Congratulations, you passed this test."

"What? Are you going to run away?" asked Sora.

"Not really kid," replied the Organization's member. "I only came to visit because the old man told me to test your strength; we've been doing it since you failed your exam."

"So it was you the one who sent that Dark Follower to attack me," said Sora when he remembered the incident during the training class.

"Yes and no," answered the man. "It was my idea to send that thing after you, but it wasn't me the one who did it."

Sora was confused at this, but then he realized that Xigbar wasn't the only one who was watching over him in Death City.

"As you may have deduced, there is another Darkness keeping an eye on you," said Xigbar. "He will fight with you as I did, and who knows, maybe if you pass his test, he'll make the Heartless leave that city alone."

"Who are you talking about?" asked Sora.

"Oh, I don't want to spoil the surprise," said Xigbar as he opened a Corridor of Darkness. "But I assure you that you will have fun…Master Sora."

Sora saw how the man disappeared in the corridor and when he was sure that he was gone, the boy vanished his two Keyblades and knelt on the ground. He wasn't badly injured, but using two Keyblades, for some reason, took him a lot of energy. After a few seconds he recovered and someone started to call his name, he turned his head to see that it was Kid and the sisters, he was glad that to see them.

He was about to ask if they were fine when Patty approached him and started to poke his arm.

"He-hey Patty," he said as the girl poked him, "that hurts."

"I want to make sure that you're whole," said Patty as she poked his other arm.

Sora grabbed her hand and smiled. "I'm fine, don't worry."

"Are you sure?" asked Kid and Sora nodded.

"What about you three? Where were you?" asked Sora.

"We fought the Heartless in a wide courtyard," answered Liz. "There were a lot but we managed to defeat them."

Sora sighed in relief, he was glad that they were okay, but now is more immediate problem was the other Darkness that was watching over him. If he wanted to save the city, he had to defeat that person, although he didn't trust Xigbar's words it was a possibility that he could save Death City if he wins that fight.

"So, what shall we do now?" Sora asked Kid.

"I've already collected all the Kishin Eggs, we should return to Death City," said Kid. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I'm fine," said Sora. "I'm just a bit tired, let's go."

The next day, the team arrived in Death City at the morning, they walked to Shibusen to talk with Shinigami-sama but when they were half way, Sora told them to wait. The boy said that he was going for a walk and that they could told the headmaster about everything since Sora thought that he probably already know about what happen in the mission.

Now Kid, Liz and Patty were going to the Death Room, the shinigami couldn't stop thinking about the person who attacked Sora and he wondered what he told Sora. He thought that maybe he should ask his father about it or that maybe he should wait until Sora decides to talk about it.

"Kid, you should wait until he tells you," said Liz and Kid looked at her confused. "You were thinking about Sora, aren't you?"

"Yeah," admitted Kid. "That man told him something that is worrying him and-"

"Don't think too much about it," she interrupted. "He wouldn't hide important things from us, I'm sure he'll tell us when he's ready."

"I guess you're right," Kid said, grateful that Liz said that. "Let's talk with my father and see how the others are doing."

Meanwhile, Sora was walking down the streets. He was looking for a café or something to rest a little and think about what Xigbar said. He passed by the local where he saved Maka's father, but the Keybearer thought that maybe he should go to another place. Sora arrived at another street and saw a local called Deathbucks Café; it looked nice so he decided to enter.

When Sora entered, he saw a man in the Café's bar. He was middle-aged and had stern-looking eyes and short black hair. The man looked at the boy while he cleaned a cup. He was about to welcome the person that entered his local when he realized who he was.

"Oh, you're Sora if I'm not mistaken," said the man with a serious and calmed voice. "Welcome to Deathbucks Café."

"Do you know me?" asked Sora, although he already knew that his name was well-known in Death City since he started to protect it.

"Yes, of course," he replied never changing the expression on his face. "Some students of Shibusen come to this place to work when they need money or just to take a break and lately I've been hearing them talking about the Keyblade wielder that came to Death City."

"I see," said Sora. "Then, it's a pleasure Mr.…"

"Call me just Master," said the man. "Let me thank you for the hard work. Thanks to you I could reopen the local and people started to feel safe enough to come here at night."

"Oh, no need to thank me," replied Sora. "Knowing that the residents of this city are safe is enough for me."

A little smile could be seen in Master's face. "Then let me invite you a tea," he said. "I saw that you were slightly nervous when you entered so maybe a drink could calm you. Sit down and I'll tell one of the girls to bring you the drink."

Before sitting, Sora took a look at the waitresses and he saw that they were, at most, one year younger than him, but what he noticed the most was the uniform, it was like if someone paid so the waitresses wore a really short skirt.

"I suppose that the skirt of the uniform wasn't your idea," said Sora looking at Master.

"No…" replied him a tad nervous. "It was a suggestion I couldn't refuse from a certain person from Shibusen. He's an old acquaintance…"

Sora raised an eyebrow, he wondered who would make that kind of suggestion and then he remembered something Soul said when he found out that Spirit was Maka's father. He said that he was a dirty old man.

"Could it have been him?" thought Sora as he sat on a chair to wait for his drink. "Well, it's not my business."

Sora forgot about the uniforms and started to think about what he will do when the other Darkness appears and most importantly, who it was.

"I doubt that the old Xehanort would even bother," he muttered. "Maybe Xemnas or Ansem…I mean Xehanort's Heartless or one of the seven members that are still unknown to us."

"Um…." Sora didn't notice, but one of the waitresses was stood up near him with his drink. The girl was a year younger than him and had black hair tied into two short ponytails that remembered Sora of Maka a little.

"Oh sorry," said Sora. "I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice that you were waiting."

"No, don't worry about it," she said shyly. "You are…Sora-senpai, right?"

"Senpai?" said Sora confused. "Oh, are you a student of Shibusen?"

"Yes, I'm from the NOT group," she replied. "My name is Tsugumi Harudori, nice to meet you."

The Keybearer remembered that Sid told him that there were two categories of students in Shibusen, the non-combatant students that were the NOT group and the ones who are talented people with great power belonged to the EAT group. Shinigami-sama enrolled Sora in the EAT group, although that was obvious.

"Well, you already know my name," said Sora smiling at her, trying to make the girl feel more comfortable since she looked nervous. "But call me just Sora, okay?"

"But-"

"No buts," interrupted Sora and winked at her. Tsugumi blushed but smiled anyway and Sora was glad that he could make her feel less nervous toward him. Then another waitress approached Tsugumi, she looked around the same age and had long blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Tsugumi-san, you should attend the other customers," said the girl. "We need the money and Master won't pay us if you flirt with the customers."

Sora couldn't help but laugh when Tsugumi started to deny that she was flirting with her face completely red. After the blonde girl, whose name was Anya or at least that's what Sora heard, left, Tsugumi looked at Sora again.

"Sora-sen…I mean Sora," she said and then she bowed which took Sora by surprise. "Thank you very much for protecting the city!"

At first Sora was surprised but then he smiled, he knew that a lot of people were really grateful that he was in Death City and he couldn't disappoint them so, whoever the Darkness was, he was going to win no matter what.

While Sora was in Deathbucks Café, Kid and the Thompson sisters were talking with the others about their last mission. Kid didn't want to talk about it, but Maka was good at putting pressure on people.

"Are you serious?!" exclaimed Maka.

Kid nodded. "Sora told me that," he said. "I don't think he would lie about that."

"Was he strong?" asked Black*Star as if he only cared about that, but he was also concerned about the Keyblade wielder.

"We didn't see the fight, that guy took us out of the room and sealed it," Liz said.

"But he is okay, right?" Tsubaki asked.

"Yeah, he won the fight," Kid answered. "He was a bit wounded when we found him but he was fine."

Maka had a thoughtful expression and they noticed. Kid was starting to get nervous since he knew what she was thinking.

"What is it, Maka?" asked Ox who was curious about what was the girl thinking.

"There has to be more," she said and the group looked at her confused. "I mean, one of Sora's enemies followed him just to fight? I'm sure that guy told Sora something."

"Maybe you're right, but please don't start pressuring him," said Soul.

"Hey, I wasn't going to do it," Maka said and then she looked at Kid. "By the way, where is Sora?"

"He said that he was going for a walk," he answered. "To be honest, I also think that Braig told Sora something important, but we better wait until he decides to tell us."

"That's if he wants," Kilik commented. "Probably it's just some 'Keyblade wielders' affairs'."

"You could be right," said Liz. "Perhaps that's why he wanted to be alone."

"Look, let's stop thinking about it," said Kid. "Did something happen while we were on the mission?"

"Well, I don't know if you guys heard it," said Harvar, "but I some students said that Hiro left to try to be Excalibur's meister again."

"What?!" exclaimed Kim. "I hope you're kidding."

"If he makes it, the academy will be under his control again," Kilik said.

Everyone sighed, the last time Hiro partnered with Excalibur, he did what he wanted whenever he wanted and no one could say anything because he was the strongest student. Kid and Black*Star had the weird face that they put when Sora told them that he wanted to call his raft Excalibur and the others had worried and annoyed expressions, however Soul looked very calm.

"Soul, aren't you worried?" asked Maka.

"Not actually," he said nonchalantly.

"Why not?" asked Jacqueline. "Don't you remember that he beat Black*Star, Kid and Kilik with just one attack?"

"Yeah, I remember that," said Soul and then he smirked. "But this time we have another legendary sword that can stand up to Excalibur with ease, don't you think?"

"Wait, do you think he could win?" asked Ox. "I don't doubt that Sora's strong, but Excalibur is really powerful."

"And so is the Keyblade," said Kid. "Remember that Sora also fought against us in the training class and we couldn't even land a hit on him."

"It's going to be an interesting battle if Hiro shows up with Excalibur," said Kilik. "By the way Kid, did you and Sora perform a Chain Resonance?"

The shinigami shook his head. "We didn't have the chance," he said. "I'd have liked to try, but it wasn't necessary."

While they talked, Sora was already entering the academy looking for them. He felt more relaxed after hanging out in that Café and talking with Tsugumi, but he still wanted to know who the person that is going to fight him is.

Sora walked near the receptionist lady and looked at the Mission Board. There weren't any missions for anyone, maybe they were changing it. He walked around and he encountered his group of friends, they also saw him but instead of greeting him, they just looked at the boy. No one said anything and Sora was starting to feel awkward until he realized what they were thinking.

Sora sighed and gave them a smile. "Do you really want to know?"

"Just if it's okay with you," said Maka. "It's something bad?"

"Let's say that if everything goes well, it's a possibility that your city will be free of Heartless soon," said Sora and suddenly everyone looked happier.

"Really? That's awesome!" said Kilik. "But what do you mean when you said that it's a possibility?"

"One of my enemies is going to appear and I'm going to fight him," Sora said. "If I win, he will probably make the Heartless leave."

"Do you trust that guy?" asked Liz.

"Nope," said Sora bluntly and the others sweat-dropped. "But I have no choice."

"Do you know when it's going to happen?" asked Maka and Sora shook his head. "Then, what are you going to do until he appears?"

"There aren't missions for me so I don't know," said Sora. "I kind of feel bad, I still owe Black*Star a mission with me."

"Don't worry, I guess I can forget about the basketball match," Black*Star said as he smirked.

Hope you liked this chapter; it's a bit difficult to write a fight between a swordsman and a sniper. I thought that it would be nice to make the characters of "Soul Eater NOT!" appear.