Sorry for the long delay guys, I've been swamped getting ready for graduation and for life after school. Also I had several breaks in there, a condo to close on, and a warcraft addiction to feed. Also baseball season is finally kicking off so I will be spending some time with that.
Now I do have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I decided that I am going to extend this story to 16 chapters so you will have more stuff to look forward too. The bad news is that most of the chapters are going to be rather short. Same length overall, actually a little bit more on the overall length this way. This way I can build up to different things rather than having 4 chapters with tons of words that are a trial to read.
Anyways here is chapter 9, and I would start paying attention in this and future chapters as there will be plenty of stuff that will eventually be in the sequel. So…yeah…read it lol.
I own Ankoku, Selene, Anne, and Yamato; everyone else is owned by Square-Enix and Disney.
Here it is Chapter 9!
Chapter 9: Darkness Incarnate
Sora continued to stare at the figure that stood before him. He felt the cut along his gut, and felt it ache at the slightest touch. Yamato looked at the pain that came across Sora's face and grinned. Sora continued to stare at his friend, wondering if it was the lie that he had told him that had caused his body to be possessed. He continued to process these thoughts, but Yamato was quick to break his concentration by lunging forth with his blade at the ready. Sora quickly readied himself, despite the best efforts of his abdomen to become a distraction.
The battle started out fast and furious with Yamato completely on the offensive. He seemed to have a game plan, as he immediately targeted Sora's injured abdomen. All of Yamato's offensive attacks all were designed to inflict damage on that specific area. He attempted a few direct attacks on the area but Sora was quick to block those attacks. After those failed, Yamato seemed to target different points of Sora's body, causing Sora to stretch his body out in different ways. By doing this, Sora was causing considerable pain to his abdomen, so while Yamato wasn't making any contact with his attacks, he was still doing damage to Sora.
The battle continued to wage on, with Sora trying harder and harder to block Yamato's various attacks. Yamato was relentless; working over the various parts of Sora's body in an effort to further inflame the abdomen. As the battle continued to progress, Sora began to feel weaker. It became harder and harder to keep with the attacks, and he was barely getting his blocks up. His vision had started to become bothersome as well. He was having difficulty seeing the attack patterns that Yamato was using. Yamato seemed to realize that Sora was fading, and seemed to increase his assault, throwing out his previous strategy and unleashed with a barrage of cuts and slices with his golden blade. Sora had continued difficulty with dodging the blows, and got very sloppy. Soon, Yamato was able to expose an opening and caught Sora with another slice, this time carving a nice cut into Sora's side. Sora shrieked in pain at the attack, and Yamato bounced back to admire his handiwork. He charged at Sora again, who was busy trying to adjust his eyesight. He finally cleared his head enough to quickly duck Yamato's lunge and was able to connect with an elbow to the back of Yamato's head, sending him sprawling.
Sora used this breather to cast Cure on himself. A soft, green, glow enveloped Sora, and the cut on his side closed up. Sora's vision slowly returned, but it was still a bit blurry. Sora quickly checked out his stomach but was stunned to see that the cut and the pain was still there.
"Something's not right here…" Sora thought to himself. "Cure isn't working on this cut or my vision…"
A primal roar interrupted Sora's thought process. He turned and saw Yamato charging at him. Sora quickly readied himself for the incoming attack. Yamato's attacks became far more erratic, and Sora did have an easier time blocking the attacks. Sora was actually able to score a couple blows on offense, which really only seemed to infuriate Yamato further. Over time Sora's vision slowly began to go out again. Sora began to waver, and Yamato seemed to pick up on it again. Yamato reverted back to his original plan of attacking a body part. Sora again began to have difficulty seeing Yamato's attacks. Yamato laid into Sora with a nice combo that Sora was just barely able to block, and then stunned Sora by a flip over him, and knocked him down with a kick to the back of Sora's knee. This brought Sora down to one knee, and Yamato quickly took a slice at Sora's neck, which Sora was just able to duck down and avoid. Yamato quickly retreated, only to charge as Sora got to his feet. Sora prepared for the strike as he watched Yamato raise his blade to strike. Sora then watched as Yamato got close to him, but rather than striking him; Yamato ducked down and worked his way behind Sora. Sora's eyes grew wide as he realized that Yamato had just given him a feint! Yamato quickly cracked Sora in the back of the knee again, sending him down to the ground.
Yamato then took his right hand and slugged Sora right in the face. Sora's face began to throb and the right side began to puff up. Sora's vision was severely impaired, but he staggered to his feet. He felt a solid shot to his gut, which caused agonizing pain to Sora. Yamato's sadistic grin emerged as he realized that he had Sora right where he wanted him. Yamato's demeanor became much cockier following this. He ignored his Keyblade and went to work with his fists and employing his boots as well. Sora's eyesight continued to get worse, and it was almost to the point that Yamato was just a blur. Sora's face was covered in crimson from several gashes that had opened up above his eyes. His face was puffy as well, and his abdomen was killing him from the boots that Yamato had delivered to that area. Roxas was watching this happen with horror. He cringed every time that Sora took a blow. He was itching to help Sora fight, and was trying to get himself to turn whole again. No matter what Roxas said or did however, he couldn't get it done.
"Come on Sora!" Roxas thought to himself, urging his friend on.
Yamato continued to work over Sora, before seemingly getting tired of this battle. Sora was on his knees dazed from the assault. Yamato raised his blade to finish off Sora. Sora was too out of sorts to really notice what was going on. Yamato let out a primal scream and brought the blade down. All Sora heard was Roxas's loud screaming, and then he heard a primal cry of anguish. For a second Sora had to make sure that it wasn't his own scream. He looked up and through the blur was able to see a figure standing over him, and another on the ground. The figure leaned over to Sora, which caused Sora to back up a bit out of fear.
"Relax Sora…you've been infected with pure darkness…and I'm going to heal you…" Yamato's soothing voice said.
"Yamato!? Back off! You just tried to kill me!!" Sora screamed, inching away.
"Sora that wasn't me…it was a fake…and its dead now…" Yamato said.
"It's okay Sora! It's really Yamato…it was another clone!" Roxas called out.
Sora seemed to calm down. Yamato walked over to him and held out his Keyblade. He closed his eyes and a golden aura surrounded him. The aura transferred from Yamato over to Sora.
"Stay still Sora…I need to heal you…" Yamato said.
Sora saw a golden flash, which forced him to rub his eyes. He felt a strange warm feeling, as if his innards were being cleansed. When he opened his eyes he saw Yamato standing there with a smile on his face. Sora looked puzzled, until he looked past him and saw a glob of black ooze bubbling nearby.
"It was a fake…" Sora said in a low voice, realizing that Roxas and Yamato were correct.
He tried to stand up, but he was still in pain. He muttered under his breath and then tried to cure himself again. This time he was able to fully heal the cuts on his gut, and shrink the puffiness in his face. He stood up and turned towards the smiling Yamato. Roxas floated over to Yamato with a grin on his face.
"Can't you two stay out of trouble for one night?" Yamato asked with a hearty chuckle.
"We were trying to find out where you went!" Roxas cried out.
"We searched all over…and when we got here we were assaulted…" Sora said stoically, weary from the battle.
"I know…I was actually looking around for the next access point. Yamato explained. "I was actually able to locate the point in this very mansion. I went back to wrest you two awake, but I found you two gone. I went searching for you when I was attacked by some heartless. I fought them off, and continued to search…looks like I made it here back in time." Yamato said.
"Yeah…I thought I was a goner…thanks…but how did you do it?" Sora asked.
"Well I took him out with an attack, and since it was just a being of pure darkness, one hit from my blade reduced it to its element." Yamato stated.
"Okay…but what I meant was…" Sora began.
"How did you return Sora's health to normal?" Roxas asked, interrupting Sora.
Yamato held up his Keyblade.
"This blade has a special power…it has the ability to cast a special light to combat darkness…it cured the darkness that was infecting you…but I can't use it very often, as it takes a lot of energy to do it. It was incredibly powerful in the real world, but here all it seems to do is cure infections…probably due to the fact that in this realm darkness in enhanced ten fold…still I guess the healing effect is good enough for you!" Yamato said with a smile.
"I saw King Mickey's blade do that to Riku back in the courtroom…" Sora thought to himself. Roxas and Yamato were still having their conversation and didn't look at Sora.
"I'll say…but I'm glad you're alright! I was afraid that was you…given the state that you might have been in…" Roxas added.
Yes…I did feel longing and sadness for Animus…but it was a situation in which there was nothing I could do…" He said with a touch of sadness. "But at least I'm glad that none of my family or friends were harmed as a result of all that…but thank you for telling me about that…I'm sure it took some courage to tell me about the fate of my world." Yamato said.
Roxas and Sora exchanged grim looks as he mentioned that.
"It's funny you should mention Animus…" A voice called out from behind the trio.
The three of them whirled around and looked to the direction of where the voice came from. There floating with a smug grin on his face was Ankoku. The ruthless madman was floating with his arms crossed, wearing his regular garb and his trademark sinister grin. Sora gritted his teeth as he spied his nemesis, and Yamato drew his Keyblade. Ankoku laughed at this.
"Oooh so scary!" Ankoku said feigning fear.
He looked down at the glob of goop that was oozing around, the floor and the absence of the heartless in the room as well.
"I must say I'm disappointed that you were able to slice through my clone so easily…especially after I spent so much time working on that…oh well at least my experiment worked." Ankoku said with a smile.
"I don't know what you're talking about; but I should have figured that abomination was your doing…" Sora said through gritted teeth.
"Especially after my wonderful Riku one that I created earlier…I guess some Keyblade masters just aren't that smart…" Ankoku scoffed. He unfolded his arms and grinned at the trio, who didn't take their eyes off of him.
"However, that is beside the point…I'm actually here to play good Samaritan." He said.
"Yeah I'd believe that…" Sora said rolling his eyes.
"Such sarcasm…and yet you're the one that I am here to talk about!" Ankoku said clicking his tongue.
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked.
"You see…little do you know that I have been following you…simply biding my time for the horrors that I am waiting to unleash on you…" Ankoku started. "I was listening in on one of your conversations when I happened to hear something that didn't sound quite right to me." Ankoku said, his eyes beginning to flash wildly.
"You see…I heard you mention a world called…Animus." Ankoku said.
Sora and Roxas's eyes grew wide.
"What are you blabbering about!?" Yamato said, itching to attack.
"Well…I heard our friend Sora made mention of how Animus fell due to a civil war some 150 years after the Eternal Void first enveloped the worlds…but I seem to remember a different version of the story…" Ankoku continued.
"What are you saying?" Yamato said, lowering his weapon slightly.
"What I am saying…is that I do believe that your companion has lied to you about the fate of your people." Ankoku said with a grin.
Yamato thought about this for a second and then let out a roar of laughter. Ankoku merely maintained his grin, while Sora and Roxas looked away.
"You're insane…Sora would never lie to me about something that important!" Yamato said, turning to Sora as if he was looking for reassurance.
"Isn't that right Sora!?" Yamato said.
He saw Sora looking away, not looking him in the eye. Yamato started to stare closely at Sora.
"He's lying…right Sora?" Yamato asked again, but Sora continued to look away.
Yamato turned around to Roxas, looking for some answers, but Roxas only looked down at the ground. Ankoku watched this scene with amusement.
"Oh how glorious this is…and to think…who would've thought reading a book would ever pay off?" Ankoku said. He then sighed.
"Unfortunately…I don't really have time to stay and watch this compelling saga unfold, as I still have some business to attend to…" Ankoku finished.
He held his hands out and small circles of black energy emanated from them. Hordes of heartless sprang up around him. He smiled at the trio.
"To show that I am a gracious guest…I will leave you three with a parting gift…have fun!" Ankoku laughed as he created another portal, and exited the area.
The armies of heartless all turned their attention to the trio. Yamato turned and saw the heartless advancing on them. He then looked at Sora, who looked back with a hint of guilt in his eyes. Yamato's eyes seemed to grow serious.
"The access point is up those stairs and to the left…let's go!" Yamato said as he tore towards the armies of heartless.
Sora was quick to follow. The two of them were able to slice their way through the heartless, and they were able to make there way over to where the access point was. The heartless were right on their tails and most of them were popping up as the trio made their way over to where Yamato had found the access point. They threw open the door to reveal the white room where Roxas had met Naminé, and quickly shut the door to prevent the heartless from coming in. The room looked no different from the times that Sora and Roxas had been there, with the exception that there were no drawings on the wall. There in the middle of the room on top of the table was the access point. The heartless were starting to break down the door, so the three of them were quick to jump through the access point. They emerged into a familiar place for Sora and Roxas.
"This is Disney Castle!" Roxas exclaimed.
"Yeah! Sweet! Maybe we're getting closer to home!" Sora stated.
"Let's go find the access point!" Sora said as he began to race off.
"SORA!" Yamato said in a stern voice, which sent shivers down Sora's spine.
Sora turned around and faced Yamato. Yamato's eyes no longer had the warmth that they used too. Sora walked over to where Yamato was, but stayed away from getting up too close to him. Sora looked into the cold eyes of Yamato, and looked away out of guilt. If there was any doubt in Yamato's mind about whether or not Sora had been lying to him, this didn't help matters.
"Sora…I want to know something…" Yamato said calmly.
Sora continued to look away, while Roxas contemplated hiding inside Sora during this conversation. Yamato cleared his throat and then continued.
"Is what Ankoku said about Animus true…?" Yamato asked.
Sora didn't look at him, but nodded affirmatively. A cold feeling ran through Yamato's body, a feeling of betrayal and fear over what really happened.
"Sora…I want you to tell me the truth about Animus." Yamato said sternly.
Sora finally looked up into Yamato's eyes, and Yamato could see the guilt and sadness in Sora's eyes. Sora looked around at Roxas, who looked back at him, and gave him a nod of confidence. Sora turned back to Yamato who was still looking at him intently. Sora breathed in, and let out a deep sigh.
End of Chapter 9
DUN DUN DUN! See what I mean by cliffhangers? I guess you all will have to wait for chapter 10! When is that coming up? I really have no idea, just stay tuned. BTW things are coming great for the sequel…including new worlds from movies not seen in the game, new characters, new plot, and a whole lot of fun.
Until Next time!
Later!