Chapter 8: The Darkness at the End of The World

However, a silver-haired, tan-skinned man, suddenly appeared.

Kairi stared at him. "Wh-who are you?"

"It is I, Ansem, Seeker of Darkness."

Sora was now angry. "You! You monster! Get out of here!"

Ansem simply laughed him off. "So, Sora, you've convinced the Princess to let you live even with me inside of you. No matter, the princess's heart shall be mine." Ansem then summoned Soul Eater and moved to strike.

But an ethereal apparition of Riku defended Kairi from Ansem's blow. "You won't use me for this!"

"Stop this, you foolish boy. I will banish you to everlasting darkness!"

Riku was visibly struggling. "I won't be able to hold him back for longer! Go!"

They did not need to be told twice. So, they rushed to the Gummi ship, avoiding the strong heartless on their way there. Once Sora looked behind him and he saw a flood of Shadows racing to greet them. He quickly became very conscious of their running pace and began to go faster than he could ever imagine. But, finally, after all that running, they spotted the Gummi Ship. They quickly opened the lid, leaped in, and closed the top, right as the Flood of heartless pounced onto the ship. They set the engines on max, and blasted through the torrent of heartless, ending up in space.

Sora breathed a sigh of relief and moved to turn the thrusters down. But it was jammed. "Guys, the thrusters jammed on max, can you help unjam it before we crash?" So Sora kept pulling and pulling, while Donald, Goofy, and Kairi tried to assist Sora by adding their strength. But this only led to the handle popping off.

They saw the outline of Traverse Town rapidly approaching.

"Aw, phooey"

CRASH!

They wake up, unharmed in the Gummi Ship. Nothing seemed to be busted there, but Sora exited the ship just to be sure. The only component that seemed to be damaged was this unfamiliar component.

Kairi, Donald, and Goofy groggily exited the ship. Sora was sitting down analyzing the damaged component.

Sora's eyes widened. "Let's go meet Cid, he'll know what to do!"

Kairi shook her head. "Why'd you want to talk to that crotchety old man?"

"That crotchety old man taught me how to create Gummi components!"

"Fine, don't come crying to me when he doesn't help."

So, they went to Cid's shop. As they entered, a bell rang, signifying a new customer.

Cid was bent down, working on a mysterious Gummi component. "Hold on will ya, I'm makin' something." He stood up and looked at the group. "So, whadd- Sora, is that you?"

"I'd hope so!"

"I've been so worried. Why didn't you tell anyone where you were? We thought you were dead!"

"For all Intents and Purposes, I was. But enough about me, what can you tell me about this piece." Sora showed Cid the piece.

"Oh no, you don't! You don't get ta shrug it off! Where were you?"

"Fine. If you must know, I was in a torture device and then in the realm of darkness thank you very much. Escaping there isn't really possible except when you somehow are able to by drowning in a pool of blackness! I MEAN WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, HUH? When you randomize the place you're going to, you don't expect to be mysteriously transported into a torture device, where the only way to escape is to punch through a meter-thick wall of diamond, by dying over and over again! And then, when you think you're free? You get placed in another special hell of pure darkness! So if you wanted to know," he breathed sharply, "THAT"S WHERE I'VE BEEN! BETWEEN HELLS!"

The room was silent.

Sora panted deeply. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to blow up at you like that."

Cid just continued staring in shock. "I'm sorry if I pushed a boundary. So I'll tell you, this is a navi core mark 2."

"What is it?"

"Well, it basically takes world beacon locations and reports them."

"I think I've got a Mark 3 of the Navi Core here somewhere, maybe Leon has it?"

"You were talking about me?" Leon was right at the shop's gateway, Navi Core in hand. "I didn't expect to see you, Sora. So, where were you? Gallivanting around while Kairi did all the work?"

Cid shook his head. "Do you want an answer, or are you just pissed, Leon?"

"I am very pissed, Cid, because this kid had the gall to abandon us! And left Kairi to pick up the pieces!"

Sora summoned his keyblade and pointed it at Leon's chin. "I would never abandon Kairi and make her save the world all alone."

"But you did! You found her and sent her back with your ship to do your duty!"

"Do you think I planned to be trapped in the realm of darkness? Or tortured? Did I force my duty on Kairi to get tortured and trapped? Leon, calm the frick down."

Kairi spoke up. "Yeah, Leon, calm the frick down!"

Leon sighed and put his hands to his face. "I had to make sure. I'm sorry about that, but I had to make sure. Because I abandoned my duty, MY HOME, as it was falling apart. I don't want another of me flying around space."

Cid tried to inject some more humor into the situation. "I don't think anyone but you could be as angsty as you, Leon."

Sora and Leon snickered. Then everyone else followed.

Leon handed Cid the component, and they followed him to the Gummi ship.

He inserted the Navi Component where it was supposed to go, and they began to wait for the system to reboot.

Donald and Goofy motioned to Sora that they wanted to speak to him alone. In a private place, they began to talk.

Donald and Goofy began to say at exactly the same time, "We were worried about you, Sora! Never, ever, ever leave us like that again!"

"I won't. I did something stupid, and I paid the price."

An alarm blared on the ship, signifying that the ship was up and running and that it found a new world.

Sora started to input the coordinates of the new world to the ship to teleport there.

But Donald and Goofy were afraid that Sora would disappear again. So they both yelled, "STOP!"

"Why?"

Donald pointed a finger at him and said, "Because you got lost that way!"

"Yeah, Sora! We wouldn't wanna get lost again now! Ahyuk!"

"It was the Randomizer."

Donald and Goofy just gave him a stare that told him he wasn't winning this one.

"Fine."

"Kairi and I will man the guns. You guys make sure we're going the right way and have adequate shielding."

"Aye-aye Capt'n!" the duck said.

"On it," said the dog.

"Got it, Sora," said Kairi.

And so they started blasting.

One giant Heartless ship? Bang! Gone.

Another? Bang, gone!

The gunning was the easy part, the hard part was going on above.

Goofy was rushing around the ship, looking for the right button to press to enable the shielding. "Gawrsh, who designed this ship? I can't find anything!"

And Donald? "Move forward, you big palooka of a ship! Wak! This ship deserves to Rust in a dumpster! Kairi was saving us from having to do this! I will never question it when she asks to drive anymore, I promise!"

They were only used to blasting apart the ships, but Sora and Kairi decided to do that for once. They were screwed, all of them thought.

Luckily for them, they were at the new world. They were relieved, but the darkness sensor was off the charts.

Sora climbed up to see what was going on.

"Huh. This must be Ansem's hideout. It's practically crawling with darkness. We can't go back now, everyone."

So they stepped out of the ship. They walked forward onto the path. They saw tons of treasure along the way. Sora pointed this out. "There's treasure ove-"

But he was interrupted by a bubble of darkness descending over them. Tons of heartless suddenly appeared, and it looked like a massive fight was on their hands.

Sora led with an attack on the Invisibles, having fought them before in the realm of darkness. He was able to quickly cut them down, while Kairi worked on the Darkballs, Goofy on the Wizards, and Donald on the Angels.

They kept walking down the path, fighting many of these bubbles, including fighting a bigger Behemoth! But they were able to get out of that area and into the mysterious cavern.

They rush through the cavern, slashing and killing all of the heartless in the way. They end up in a network of the worlds they saved, including Hollow Bastion. Entering the pillar of light to the Hollow Bastion section, they find an interesting laboratory, filled with empty pods and tons of heartless.

Kairi, upon seeing the pods, suddenly put her hand to her head and groaned. "I've been here before, when I was younger, but how?"

Sora paused. Could Hollow Bastion be where Kairi had come from? "I think you may be from Hollow Bastion, Kairi."

"Really?"

Donald and Goofy just stood there in shock.

"Yes! After we beat Ansem we'll look into it and see what you can remember!"

Kairi frowned. "We'd have to beat Ansem though, Sora."

"We've come far enough. We can't lose."

So they exit the fragment of Hollow Bastion and go into the green beacon, which transports them to the air around the peak of the rocky mountain, where they begin floating.

Suddenly, a rumbling comes from inside the mountain. Like a chicken breaking out of an egg, a giant demon burst out of the top of the mountain and began to hurl fire at them.

Sora was having none of that, so he launched himself at the demon, straight through the fire. Kairi also rocketed there, and they began bashing the monster.

Sora yelled with the conviction of a thousand crusaders, "Die, demon scum!"

Kairi, having been given a few light-grenades by Sora in Traverse Town, struck the final blow. She pulled the pin, and launched it straight into the creatures mouth. With the sound of an explosion, the creature dissolved.

They floated down to the center of the mountain, and entered a room that was filled to the brim with heartless. They had to kill all of them to move forward. With a slash and a schling, Sora eliminated the Invisibles. With a stab and a klink, Kairi eliminated all of the Angels. Donald and Goofy were left to get the Neoshadows, slightly more powerful shadows. When all of that was said and done, only a fourth of the door had filled in, and more monsters appeared.

Sora disappointed said, "So we have to do this three more times? What a terrible thing!"

And so, in the same manner, as before, they took out the heartless.

And quicker than they had expected, the door was complete. They stepped inside and found a rocky enclosure, with a mysterious wooden door.

Kairi noticed the similarities between the room and the secret place. "Woah, this looks kinda like the secret place, right Sora?"

"It doesn't just look like it, Kairi, it is the secret place. It has the same door, same rocks, same— same everything!"

Kairi's eyes widened in shock. "Woah!"

Sora sighed. "I guess to move forward, we have to open the door. Last chance to back out."

Kairi, Donald, and Goofy looked at Sora with the deepest conviction.

Kairi said, "I can't let you do this all alone Sora."

Donald squawked in agreement, "Yeah, we aren't gonna quit now!"

Goofy ahyucked. "We ain't gonna leave you now!"

"Great. So, I guess I open the doo-"

Suddenly, a big white flash blinded them momentarily.

When they saw again, they were on Destiny Islands.

Sora stood in disbelief. "Did I wake up from a dream?"

Donald squawked, "No you didn't, Sora!"

"Good, just checking. Because this is Destiny Islands."

Kairi tapped Sora's shoulder. "Is that…Riku?"

Over on the island where Sora and Riku used to spar, a grey-haired figure was standing there, waiting for them.

They rushed over there to see if it was really Riku.

"Take a look at this tiny place. To the heart seeking freedom, this island is a prison surrounded by water. And so this boy saught out to escape his prison. And he opened his heart to darkness."

The small vizier of Riku disappeared, instead, Ansem, in his true form replaced him.

"Riku!" both Sora and Kairi yelled.

"Do not bother. His heart is somewhere where so deep into the darkness that no heart can reach him. You had your chance to reach him, Sora, but you failed. It was so easy to get Riku to give in to the darkness if it allowed him to save his friends. He was a foolish child."

Sora, who had been keeping a cool veneer up until this point snapped, and launched himself at Ansem. "You'll pay for that!"

But he could not reach him before Ansem's black guardian held him back. The guardian launched him across the sand, and he skidded to a halt.

Ansem turned his attention to Kairi. "And Princess, you are to thank for everything."

Sora began to get up.

"You were so Heartless that Riku fell to the Darkness to make you whole. And in the fallout, I was able to place my heart into Sora, and soon he shall turn into my pawn."

Sora and Kairi began to laugh. Sora began to approach Ansem, with new confidence. "I will never be your pawn as long as I live."

Ansem narrowed his eyes at Sora. "Then die!"

Sora went closer and prepared to strike. "I did. Kairi made sure of that." And he pounced.

Slash! Sora struck Ansem's face, scarring him. "Augghhh! Come, guardian!"

The final battle has now begun. Sora led the charge with a swing and a jab toward Ansem. He continued to pelt the seeker of darkness with attacks until the Guardian struck him. As he was hit, he felt a dark presence enter his body. It felt like a being was rummaging around his organs, stabbing needles into them. And when he went to attack he was frozen in place by the Guardian. But, as Ansem smugly looked at his now prisoner, Kairi swung at him from the back and picked up Sora's slack.

The Guardian threw Sora down, which broke a few ribs. Luckily Donald was able to heal Sora with a quick Curaga.

So under their combined assault, Ansem was hurt enough that he needed to recover. "ENOUGH!" He burst through the sand, and out of view.

Sora and Kairi began to approach the hole. Climbing down, they see a large pool of darkness on the ground.

A giant hand emerges out of the dark portal, pulling up a Darkside.

Sora recognized this creature. "That's the Heartless from the islands!"

"You know what, Sora, I'm sick and tired of these heartless. Can't you just blow it up with a mouthful of Light Grenades?"

"Actually, yeah!"

And so the giant was defeated by taking the easy way out. Very sad, Sora, Kairi, we could have all had an epic fight scene. Too meta? Oh. Well, fine! Ansem exits from wherever he was hiding in and starts another fight. Now, they only have 10 light bombs, so they can't do the same trick! Hah!

THE NARRATOR IS BEING TAUGHT TO STOP BEING META, PLEASE STANDBY. ========================================================================

Ansem emerged from the shadows. Our heroes knew that the same trick that they used before would not work. Ansem began the fight by firing a series of energy disks at Sora, which he deflected back at Ansem, causing him to be damaged. He then charges at sora, saying "Take this!"

But Kairi interrupted him with a swift slice and a cut. So, Ansem turned around and fired a shockwave at Kairi, and it hit.

Sora swiftly rushed to inflict hell on Ansem, slashing and hacking at the seeker.

Ansem was low on health, so he unleashed his final move. "My strength returns. What do you hope to accomplish? Do not deny your fear. The final darkness is nigh!" The air thickened and Ansem surrounded himself in a dark aura. An inky black pool of darkness appeared underneath Sora, and the Guardian launched out of it, knocking Sora away. Then it shifted to Kairi, who rolled out of the way. This alternated between Sora and Kairi, 3 times until finally, Ansem unleashed a wave of darkness. Sora and Kairi launched themselves at Ansem at the same time, and delivered the final blow.

K.

Now, Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were floating in an endless abyss.

Ansem's voice boomed around them. "Behold the endless abyss! Within it lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts! Look as hard as you are able. You'll not find even the smallest glimmer of light. From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours."

Suddenly, a huge fleshy ship appeared before them. And Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were sucked into a Dark portal.

"Darkness conquers all worlds!" Ansem announced as Sora fell down into the abyss.

But a voice of reason led him to float. Riku, as if from the abyss called out to him to say, "Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that."

And so he floated up.

Ansem laughed at Sora. "Truly a pity. Your friends are gone. I sent Kairi and those Toons off to the deepest pits of Darkness. You have nothing."

Sora laughed, surprising Ansem. He then stared him down. "I was afraid before, but now I have nothing to lose. You took anything that I had away from me. You took Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, my Mother, my Home! Now what do I have left? Nothing. Nothing but an unending desire to make you pay. Because you have something to lose. You have your master plan that I can stop. So I will stop it. And then I'll make sure that you have nothing to lose. Because you will have nothing. You will be nothing. I am Sora Nomura, you took my friends. Prepare to die."

Sora then struck at Ansem with all his fury, pelting him with blows, not caring whether billions of lasers were piercing billions of holes through his body. He kept repeating the mantra, "I am Sora Nomura, you took my friends. Prepare to die." Another few hits, "I am Sora Nomura, you took my friends, prepare to die." It was as if the saying was the only thing keeping him going.

He inflicted alot of damage, enough to be worrying to Ansem. So, Ansem retreated into the thick shin of the Guardian, sealing himself away with a Heartless seal.

Sora steamed at this. "Come out you Coward!" But then he realized that he had to stop the ship. A dark portal had appeared near the center of the ship. He entered to find a ton of heartless, which he wiped out with a few Gravigas. He then snapped the strand that just appeared in the middle of the room.

Then he focused his attention on the artillery shooting at him from the base. When they finally were gone, another portal appeared, this time in front of him. He entered and fought off Darkball heartless, again snapping the strand that appeared right after.

He checked his pockets. There was only one light grenade left. And by the look of things, he would have to take out the face of the ship to be able to progress. So he waited for the heartless to open its mouth, and he threw.

Bang! The face of the ship stood slack jawed. He entered to find Kairi, Donald, and Goofy trapped in cages, manned by Invisibles.

Sora gasped at the sight. "You guys are really alive! Why didn't you escape?" he whispered.

Kairi shook her head. "What's the point? You're just a figment of my imagination."

"Wha-?"

"You haven't been with me for a year, ever since I got sucked into the dark portal."

"The Sora I know would never abandon us!" the duck said.

"Get lost, faker!" the dog yelled.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, No, NO! It's only been seconds for me!"

"Oh god, Sora, if its really you, get us out of here."

"Ok!"

This shout alerted the Invisibles to Sora's presence.

Sora beat the heartless guarding them by simply charging blindly. He unlocked the doors to the cages, and snapped the thread in half.

They burst out of the head, exploding it in a shower of heartless goo.

The protective bubble protecting the center of the ship was gone, and the heart of the ship was visible.

They rushed to the heart of the ship, and sliced and diced it till it beat no more.

Then the emblem protecting Ansem was lifted, and he climbed out of his incubation. He chuckled at Sora. "Did you like what I did to your friends?"

"You took a year of their lives to mess with me?"

"So astute!"

Sora charged with the fury of a thousand Huns. He stabbed, sliced, emacerated, whatever, and the rest of the crew could only stare in shock at the rage he displayed. They focused on the artillery, while Sora took out the big bad.

But soon Ansem could withstand no more hits. So he turned to his last resort, the door to Kingdom Hearts. "You may have ended my ship, but I still remain. I am at Kingdom Hearts, and you shall soon see that I have won. You had not lost everything yet. But now you have. For Kingdom Hearts, as is the heart's true essence, is darkness. Open and show me Everlasting Darkness!"

Sora just shook his head. "You are wrong. I know one thing for sure. I haven't lost anything more. Because you see, there's one teensy weensy problem. Because I know and you know: Kingdom Hearts is light!"

And the door opened releasing alot of light, resulting in Ansem being overpowered. "Light," he groaned as his body disappeared and the rest of his heart that he still had floated away.

And then, the world known as the End of the World, exploded.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi all approach the door to the light that has just been opened up.

They start to push the door shut, but then Donald and Goofy notice the sheer magnitude of the heartless behind the doors.

"Hurry!" Donald yelped.

A familiar voice came out from the other side. "Don't give up! Come on Sora, Kairi. Together we can-"

Riku was interrupted by a giant gummi ship appearing around Sora.

Sora pounded on the windows of the ship in shock. "Wha-? Let me out you stupid ship, let me out! The fate of the universe is at stake!" But the ship didn't listen. It simply dematerialized to another place.

Kairi shocked by this turn of events, still helps to push the door shut, and Mickey appears telling them not to give up hope. But it all falls on deaf ears, as she mechanically closes the door, and seals it.

Meanwhile, where Sora landed…

Sora kept pounding at the ship's walls, hoping for it to take him back. "I need to help Kairi! Let me go!"

And as it materialized, it ejected him.

Sora looked around him. Everywhere was just marble walls, some ornate, some just white. "I need to go back! I don't need to be in this white prison!"

He sobbed. "I need to see Kairi!"

So he ran back to the ship, intending to use the randomizer to find the Destiny Islands.

But as he moved to enter the ship, a pink scythe appeared around his throat.

"Going somewhere?"