Yeah…yeah it's been awhile so let me bring you up to speed with what's going on.

With a full-time job, a dog, as well as taking care of my house; the story has been one of the last things on my mind. Hence why I haven't updated since the fall. I've actually had a lot of this chapter done, just couldn't finish it.

Now I do plan on finishing this, and hopefully now I can finish it quicker. Although with summer and a social life, who knows when this will get finished. I am hoping to have this done by the end of the summer so I could start on the final book in the fall, but obviously that's a tentative plan at best.

However! You still have a new chapter so enjoy!

Square and Disney own all except Yamato, Anne, and Ankoku.

Chapter 12: Dueling with Death

"Now it's time for you to die Sora!" Ankoku said, licking his chops to get at the injured Keyblade master.

Sora's body coursed with pain, and Sora struggled to focus on Ankoku. He held his Keyblade at the ready, eyeing Ankoku warily. Ankoku gleamed at the state of Sora, almost salivating at the retribution that he was certain to obtain. True to Ankoku's wild nature and erratic fighting style; he wasted no time in charging right at Sora, hoping to catch him off-guard. Sora was ready and quickly deflected the attack. Ankoku was not deterred and continued his assault on the beleaguered Sora. Sora defended the attacks well, but it was slowly becoming obvious that the pain was starting to take it's toll on his body. Ankoku's attack was relentless, and Sora was having an increasingly harder time keeping up. With Sora constantly on the defensive Ankoku was successfully wearing Sora down. With his strength seemingly being sapped at every attack, Sora realized that the time was coming soon for him to make a move. Ankoku unleashed with a horizontal slice, and Sora took the opportunity to duck the assault and went low with his blade on Ankoku. Ankoku was able to dodge the attack, but Sora was now able to go on the offensive, preserving some of his strength in the process.

In another plane:

Roxas was wandering around in the Pridelands, searching for the access point. He was hurried in his search, as he didn't know how much time Sora had left. He continued to search high and low for an access point, but no access point revealed itself to him. He was starting to get very frustrated, and upon finding no access point in the jungle area, let his frustrations come to fruition.

"WHERE THE HELL IS IT!!!??" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

A rustling from behind caught Roxas's attention. He turned around and saw a familiar person come through the heavy brush. Roxas's jaw dropped as Yamato came bursting through the brush.

"Yamato!? What are you doing here?" Roxas asked.

Yamato came up to Roxas with a determined look on his face. Roxas caught his gaze, and noticed a bit of sadness in his eyes as well.

"I thought about what you said, and I realized that you were right…" He admitted.

"I was right?" Roxas said, not sure if he really heard Yamato correctly.

"While I am mad at Sora for lying to me…I do realize that he did it to protect me." Yamato explained. "I also feel that even though I have only known him for a short time, he has been trying to help me for awhile, unknowingly cleaning up the misdeeds that my blade and I have caused with my actions." He said.

Roxas smiled at him.

"Well it's good that you decided to come along, because I can't find the access point…and if we don't hurry…Sora could be a goner!" Roxas stated urgently.

Yamato raised his blade up to his face.

"Well then…let's go!" He cried as the duo headed off in search of the access point.

Back at the battle:

The two sides were evenly matched in the battle, as Sora could gain no ground with his offensive onslaught, much as Ankoku was unable to earlier. The one thing that was happening is that Sora was slowly getting weaker and weaker from the infection that riddled his body with pain. What had started as a pain in his abdomen had spread throughout the rest of his body. His vision was starting to fade as well and his attacks were getting sloppy. Sora realized that he needed to try and heal himself, but he couldn't get the necessary separation from Ankoku to get the Curaga spell off. Sora decided to make a ditch effort to get some separation. He took his blade and went low on Ankoku, hoping to take his legs out from under him. However, Ankoku was able to flip over the attack and over Sora as well. Before Sora could spin around, Ankoku was able to slash at the back of Sora's thigh, dropping Sora to the ground in tremendous agony. Ankoku sneered as he watched Sora attempt to get back to his feet. Sora was able to get back up, but he couldn't put any weight on his left leg without having the leg collapse on itself. Sora hobbled to his feet, and held the Keyblade at a ready position. Ankoku switched up for his next assault, and adopted a more systematic strategy. He started to attack at the injured leg of Sora, causing Sora to flail away at him in an attempt to protect his leg. With Sora concentrating so much on his leg, Ankoku switched his attack style and started to pick apart other parts of Sora's body; namely his right arm, the one that held the Keyblade. Ankoku's assault continued to wear down Sora even more. Finally, Sora made a desperate lunge at Ankoku and missed horribly. Rather than assaulting Sora with his Keyblade, Ankoku grabbed Sora's arm and locked it up in an arm bar. Ankoku's face went sinister as Sora squirmed trying to get out of the submission hold. Ankoku pulled back on Sora's arm until there was a sickening snap. Sora screamed in agony as Ankoku took the injured arm and judo flipped Sora on the ground. Sora was now left with one arm and one leg, the arm being the non-Keyblade one. Sora tried to crawl away but a sharp stab from Ankoku's blade in Sora's right rotator cuff.

"AHHH!!" Sora cried out in pain.

Ankoku laughed at the pain Sora was in. Sora continued to crawl, and attempted to get back to his feet. Sora was able to get halfway before Ankoku took the hilt of his blade and smashed Sora in the back of the head. Sora sprawled out groggily on the ground. Ankoku laughed and grabbed Sora by the throat, lifting him several inches off the ground. Sora struggled to fight back, but was unable to in his weakened state. Ankoku gleamed at this situation.

"Get ready Sora…because I'm about to take you to hell!" He roared.

On Destiny Island:

"This party is going to be so amazing!" Selphie said, as she scoured through the various party favors that were strewn about on the floor.

"I know I can't wait for it!" Naminé said, as she floated next to Kairi, who was busy looking in the mirror.

Kairi was busy trying on a new dress that Anne had seamed for her graduation party. It was a beautiful strapless, teal, satin dress, that went down to her knee and cut off half-way up her bust. She admired it in the mirror with quiet awe. Selphie looked up from what she was doing at Kairi.

"You look so beautiful!" Selphie gushed.

"Thanks…" Kairi said smiling.

"I think those coral pink wedges that you have would look great with it!" Naminé squealed.

"And I have a faux flower that we could put in your hair for a more summer look!" Selphie added.

Kairi turned and smiled.

"That sounds great! We'll have to try those on…" Kairi said, turning her attention back to the mirror.

"So who is all coming to this party?" Selphie asked.

"Well Riku and Anne are locks, so are our friends from Twilight Town." Naminé stated.

"Wakka and his new girlfriend are able to come thanks to this being the bye week for the Destiny City Sharks…" Selphie added.

"What about Tidus?" Naminé blurted out, before covering her mouth after Kairi gave her a glare.

Selphie was taken aback by Naminé's sudden inquisition.

"No…he's not coming, he has a game this weekend and has to practice …" She said, seemingly a little peeved.

Kairi noticed the look on her friend's face.

"How are you holding up?" She gently asked her friend.

"I'm good…school has kept me busy and really not thinking about it." Selphie shrugged.

"But are you ok?" Naminé asked.

Selphie looked up with a smile.

"Well yes and no…" Selphie started. "I mean we agreed to the break-up mutually, so I'm not as sad about that…" She stated. "The thing that gets me is that he's already dating again…I dunno…a part of me still hoped that we could still be together." She said.

"Aww I'm sorry Selphie…" Naminé said.

"It's okay…I mean…how could any man resist Yuna?" Selphie said, with a hint of anger in her voice.

Kairi didn't know what to say. The news had broken a few weeks ago that Radiant Garden's #1 over-all pick was spotted around town with the pop-singing sensation Yuna, and they were being more than just friendly. The worlds were ablaze with speculation and rumors until finally Yuna's publicist admitted that the two were indeed a couple. Selphie, while never fully letting on, was obviously bothered by this recent development.

"Don't worry about it Selphie…aren't there any cute guys that go to college with you?" Naminé asked.

Selphie thought about it for a bit.

"Well…there's this one guy named Irvine…" Selphie said, semi-blushing. "He's in a class with me…"

"Well that's good!" Naminé said. "You should date him!"

"Hold on now Naminé…I don't even know if the guy likes me." Selphie stated.

"You should go and ask him out…if anything it will help you forget about Tidus." Kairi chimed in.

Selphie seemed to mull it over. She looked up at her friends who had their gazes locked on hers. Selphie tired to hide the smile, but it eventually broke out, causing Kairi and Naminé to laugh.

"Alright…I'll give it a shot…" Selphie said, relenting to her friends.

"YAY!!!" The two girls squealed.

The three shared a laugh that was only interrupted by the sound of loud cursing being done by someone outside. The girls stopped and peered out the bedroom window. The looked down to see Riku and Wakka moving a rather large object, or at least they were but it looked like it landing on Riku's foot.

"Come on Wakka!" Riku snapped at Wakka.

"Sorry jah? Lost my grip." Wakka apologized.

"Well be more careful!" Riku said, rubbing his foot furiously.

"HEY!!!" A group of voices called out from up above.

Riku looked up towards Kairi's window, where the voice called out from. He saw the trio of girls, and immediately sprang to his feet, forgetting that his foot was injured, and then fell back down. The girls laughed from high above, as Wakka joined in. Riku slowly got to his feet.

"What are you two doing?" Kairi shouted down.

"Uh…taking this…television to my house!" Riku said, stuttering a bit.

The girls looked at the box.

"That doesn't look like the box that a television would be in…" Selphie pointed out.

"Uh…" Riku stammered and looked to Wakka for help.

"Uh…it's a special one jah?" Wakka said quickly.

The girls looked at each other with smirks on their faces.

"You're totally lying to us." Naminé stated.

The two guys looked at each other and quickly picked up the box and took off with it.

"See you at the party jah!?" Wakka called out and they raced off.

The girls laughed as the two ran off in the opposite direction.

"What do you think they are up to?" Naminé asked.

"Who knows?" Selphie laughed as she looked at her watch. "Aw jeez…I have a class in an hour…" Selphie said.

"Ok Selphie we will see you at the party tonight!" Kairi said with a smile.

"Right! See you!" Selphie said as she waved goodbye to Naminé and exited the room.

Kairi turned back to her dress, as Naminé took a place on her bed. The two went about their business for a few minutes. Kairi would say things to herself but Naminé was eerily quiet.

"You okay Naminé? You seem quiet" Kairi said, as she dug through her closet for the shoes she was going to wear tonight.

Naminé didn't respond right away, she hesitated for a moment.

"What do you think they are doing right now?" She asked quietly.

Kairi continued to rummage through her closet.

"Riku and Wakka? Who knows." Kairi said.

Naminé was quiet.

"No…" She said. "Sora and Roxas."

Kairi stopped searching and turned around. She saw Naminé with a tear in her eye. Kairi walked over and sat down next to her. She wanted to hug her friend, but she knew that she couldn't. She smiled at Naminé and attempted to put her arm around her. Kairi was amazed to feel that she was actually touching something that felt like a human body. She pulled away fast and looked at Naminé, but noticed no difference. Kairi shrugged it off.

"Don't worry Naminé…I'm sure those two are just fine!" She said warmly.

Back in the Dark Realm:

Sora smacked into the side of a tree with a sickening thud. Ankoku laughed with glee as he watched the battered Sora slowly crawl to one leg.

"What's the matter boy!?" Ankoku mocked. "Am I too powerful for you?"

Sora staggered to his feet. He was only able to stand on one leg, and held the Keyblade in his left hand, which was not his battling arm. It felt awkward to Sora and looked like it even more. His arm and leg were racked with pain, which shone through on Sora's face. Ankoku saw this and mockingly struck the same pose. Sora took a wild, bumbling lunge at Ankoku, but Ankoku was too much for Sora in his weakened state. After a few meager swipes, Ankoku sent Sora sprawling back towards the tree again. Sora again slammed into the tree, his body almost wrapping around the trunk. Sora's body crumbled into a heap. Ankoku laughed and causally strolled over to where the fallen Sora lay. Ankoku saw Sora reach out for his Keyblade, so Ankoku kicked it out of his reach. Ankoku dragged Sora away from the tree and stood over him, with Sora laying between his legs. He lorded over Sora, sneering at the pain on Sora's face. Ankoku bent down towards Sora's face, slapping him while verbally assaulting the Keyblade master.

"Didn't I tell you that you couldn't defeat me boy!?" Ankoku snarled, slapping Sora in the face yet again. "This is my world! You can't ever match my power here!" Ankoku grinned as he lifted his manifested Keyblade and held it to Sora's throat.

"I could kill you right now Sora…but then I wouldn't the pleasure of torturing you…" Ankoku said coldly, stepping on the injured arm of Sora; causing him to cry out in anguish.

Ankoku slapped Sora again and then pulled him up by the front of his shirt and close to his face, with Sora's lower half still on the ground.

"And after I finish with your carcass; I will do the same to your friends." Ankoku sneered, his eyes flashing wildly as he stared into Sora's aggrieved eyes. Ankoku smacked Sora in the face again for good measure.

"And Sora…" Ankoku said, as Sora was still smarting from the latest slap. "Once I gain access to the Realm of Light…the first thing that I am going to do…" He started, a sick gleam forming on his face. "is pay a visit…to that little girlfriend of yours." Ankoku finished.

Sora snapped out of the trance of pain that he was succumbing to. His eyes locked with the sadistic eyes of Ankoku.

"After all…someone will have to bear my descendants!" Ankoku screamed in Sora's face.

If looks could kill, Ankoku would have been six feet under. Ankoku paid no attention to the rage building in Sora, confidant that he had control of the situation.

"And once her body is used up, and she becomes no longer useful to me…she will be treated just like the rest of you…tortured slowly until she too is deaAAHHH!!" Ankoku tried to finish but Sora unloaded with a rake of the eyes to Ankoku.

Ankoku dropped Sora to the ground and rubbed furiously at his eyes. Sora used this brief lapse to sweep Ankoku's legs out from underneath him. Sora quickly hobbled to his feet and grabbed the Keyblade. He pounced on Ankoku and held the Keyblade to his neck. Now it was Sora's eyes that were flashing wildly, with a rage not ever seen in his eyes. Sora gazed at Ankoku with murderous intent, and the pain that was in his body seemed to melt away.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't cut your vocal chords out right now!" Sora bellowed in a beastly roar.

Sora's eyes closed into slits and his eyes began to turn blood red. Rage and murder was all that he could think about, and Ankoku didn't like it one damn bit.

"S…Sora…think about what you're doing!" Ankoku cried out of fear.

"Oh I know what I'm doing!" Sora roared again, even more beastly than before.

"Think about it Sora…if you kill me like this…you are no better than me!" Ankoku quickly pointed out.

Sora paid no attention to this, and nothing changed in Sora's persona. Ankoku decided to press the issue for self-perseverance.

"You may not care…but what would your family and friends say?" He said.

"I don't care what they think!" Sora again snarled.

"Really…?" Ankoku questioned. "Not even…Kairi?"

Sora held the Keyblade there in place, but his eyes began to flash back to normal, as if he was coming around. Inside his brain there was a battle going on between his mind and the rage that was caused by his corruption. This also caused his arm and leg to slowly start throbbing. While this was going on Ankoku took this as an opportunity to kick Sora right in the groin. Sora staggered around clutching his family jewels, which allowed Ankoku to get up and knock Sora down with a solid right hand. Ankoku recreated his blade, and jammed it in Sora's previously injured shoulder. Sora let out a blood-curdling scream, but this only further incensed Ankoku. He pulled out the blade and kept ramming it back into various parts of his right arm relentlessly. He then brought the blade up to the neck of Sora, but lacked the arrogance that he had earlier.

"You know what?" Ankoku stated. "I'm sick and tired of dealing with you."

Ankoku took the blade up high.

"I'm going to finish this right now!" He screamed as he brought down the blade.

A blinding flash stopped Ankoku in his tracks. He rubbed his eyes, trying to regain his sight. A huge haymaker put him down. Sora looked around in a daze, but only saw a blur.

"Take it easy Sora, you've been corrupted." A familiar voice said to him.

"Yamato?" Sora called out bewildered.

"Yeah it's me." Yamato stated.

"I'm here too!" Roxas's voice called out.

"I can't believe you guys are here…after how I treated you Roxas…and how I lied to you…" Sora lamented.

"Jeez…mellow out man!" Roxas chided. "We had a fight…friends do it all the time!"

"But…I lied to Yamato about the fate of his people…" Sora rebutted.

"The past is the past son…don't dwell in it." Yamato said as he closed his eyes and held his hands over Sora.

A golden light emanated from Yamato's hands and pulsed over Sora's body, healing him of his corruption and healing the various injuries of his body. Sora tried to get up but pain still shot through his arm and leg.

"Best take it easy Sora, your arm isn't up to full strength…he got you pretty good." Yamato cautioned.

"I can't…Ankoku…" Sora started.

"Relax…I can take care of tall, dark, and ugly." Yamato assured Sora.

Roxas looked over at Ankoku, who was slowly regaining his sight, and was seething at this intrusion.

"Well…I would recommend that you hop to it, he looks pretty mad." Roxas pointed out, urging Yamato to battle.

Yamato stood up and called forth his golden Keyblade. He started to walk over to Ankoku, but Sora grabbed his leg. Yamato turned and looked down and the pain-stricken face of Sora. The two warriors locked eyes, the grizzled veteran and the young lion seemed to understand the other without a word spoken.

"Take him out." Sora finally uttered.

Yamato nodded, and then turned towards battle. Sora and Roxas watched as he walked with determination towards Ankoku. Ankoku ripped at his eyes, and turned towards the footsteps that were approaching him. He could make out the figure of Yamato. His rage boiled over.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!!" He roared at Yamato.

"YOU RUINED MY CHANCE AT REVENGE!" Ankoku screamed, his eyes boring a hole through Yamato.

"I AM GOING TO TEAR YOU LIMB FROM LIMB…AND THEN I'M GOING TO…" was all Ankoku was able to rant before Yamato slapped the taste out of Ankoku's mouth.

Ankoku raised his hand to where Yamato slapped him. His eyes burned even more as he turned back towards Yamato who was at the ready with his blade drawn.

"Enough talk…now we fight." Yamato said bluntly.

Ankoku seethed at Yamato, and was quick to draw his manifested blade. He took a stance as the two combatants stared each other down.

"Now…I shall destroy the last survivor of Animus…putting to rest the last remnants of that disgusting city!" Ankoku growled.

Yamato's eyes tensed up and his lipped curled up into a snarl. The mere mention of his lost home had struck a chord in him.

"Shut up and fight me!" He said with force.

Ankoku sneered, sensing the nerve struck.

"As you wish!" Ankoku said and tore into Yamato, who did the same.

Back in the realm of light:

"This party is going to be awesome!" Naminé shrieked with delight.

Anne and Kairi were busy setting up balloons and tables for the big graduation party in the park. They were just about finished but had some difficulty with a rather large table.

"This would be a lot easier if we had some help." Kairi said, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"I suppose I can help out." Riku said, walking up to the group.

"Hey Riku!" Naminé greeted. "Where have you been all day?" She asked.

"Oh just helping Wakka set up that new television." Riku said, clearly fibbing.

"Oh right…the television…" Kairi said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Well whatever you were doing, would you mind helping us with the main table?" Anne ask, taking a seat.

"No problem!" Riku called out.

"Ok on three we lift…one…two…thre…?" Kairi said as she felt the table lift without her.

Riku had lifted the table and placed it down effortlessly.

"Wow…" Naminé said.

"Cool!" Kairi said.

Just then a small beep went off. Riku checked his cell phone. He quickly put the phone back in his pocket and turned to the three women.

"So…that's Wakka…must be something with the…television…" He stammered out.

"Oh really?" Kairi said with a smirk.

"Yeaah…so I gotta go…I'll see you at the party!" Riku said as he took off for Wakka's house.

The women watched him run off and then turned to each other with grins on their faces.

"He's lying!" They all blurted out at the same time.

The ladies shared a laugh and then continued to set up for the party.

End of Chapter 12

Okay… the next chapter will be a long one so give me some time to get cracking on it. I hope to have it up by the end of April, but we shall see what my schedule brings.

Later ladies and gents!