I don't own anything associated with Kingdom Hearts or Silent Hill. They belong to Square Enix/Disney and Konami respectively.

Chapter 29

The darkness clung to him like a second skin, but Terra did not fear it; rather, he fed it handsomely, channelling all his rage into bolstering this new power. In the back of his mind, Master Eraqus' warnings echoed, but Terra ignored them. He knew that without the darkness to aid him, he would stand no chance against Vanitas.

He roared, the darkness rearing high above him as he closed the distance between him and his opponent. Clenching his jaw, Vanitas raced out of the way, not even bothering to glance back at the dark bolts Terra sent at him. Terra growled; Vanitas was almost as difficult to hit as Ven!

He slammed Earthshaker into the glass platform, revelling in how the entire arena wobbled. He had a moment of panic as he remembered Aqua was sitting at the platform's edge. However, when the wobbling stopped, she was perfectly safe and he relaxed.

He knew that Vanitas wouldn't let her fall.

Again, Vanitas leapt out of the way of Terra's keyblade. Like a mouse dodging the clumsy pounces of a cat, the smaller boy slunk low to the ground, so close that he may have been walking on all fours.

"Stand still, you coward!" Terra shouted.

Terra tried to grab Vanitas as the small boy shot past him, but his fist closed upon empty air. By the time Terra had absorbed that, Vanitas was behind him, watching through narrowed eyes.

"Aren't you going to fight?" Terra said.

"Why?" Vanitas asked that with genuine confusion, and Terra's rage was momentarily replaced with confusion. "This has gone far enough. I don't want to kill you."

"You . . . huh?" Terra shook his head, letting his anger heat his blood again. "This isn't about you! This is about what you're doing to my friends!"

Vanitas actually groaned, hitting his forehead with a hand. "Why don' t you guys get it? I'm a part of Ventus. Do you really think I want to re-join with that loser?"

"You're not Ven," Terra said, "the real Ven would never do what you're doing. You're just some creep trying to take over his body!"

Vanitas twitched. "Ventus stole my life from me, and I . . ."

And Terra exploded. "Give it a rest!" he bellowed. "I don't care! Just let my friends go, both of them, or I'll destroy you!"

The darkness took over again, wrapping around Terra's keyblade in thick strands. His eyes flashed yellow, flickered back to blue, before settling on yellow again. The darkness curled around him, giving the illusion of a giant monster standing at his back. Terra, with a cruel sneer on his face, held out a hand to Vanitas. "So, what are you going to do? Release them, or fight?"

Vanitas grunted. "If you insist on fighting . . ."

Terra chuckled darkly. "Oh, I do."

He lunged at Vanitas, who again dove out of the way. But things were different; before, Terra merely used the darkness to bolster his natural strength. Now, he let himself fall completely, indifferent to the consequences so long as he could protect his friends.

Vanitas swept past him, but Terra merely swiped through the air with a free hand, and his darkness lashed out in a flurry of sharp blades. They didn't just shoot forwards, but everywhere in front of him, carving grooves into the glass and cracking it. Vanitas, having just turned around, cried out in astonishment, and then pain as the darkness sliced into his skin. Blood fell to the ground, congealing in small puddles.

Terra walked forwards slowly, dragging Earthshaker. Vanitas, still glowing a murky green after healing himself, stiffened. A keyblade, one that Terra had never seen before, appeared in his hands. It was long and sharp like a sword, with two crossed keyblades forming the pommel and handle. Weird, but if Vanitas felt so threatened that he had to call upon this new weapon, then Terra was quite pleased with himself.

He tried to snap Vanitas' new keyblade, but it stubbornly endured the weight of his might. The keyblades hummed and to his shock, Earthshaker began to tremble. Quickly, he stepped back, staring at his keyblade in astonishment. He knew that it wasn't Vanitas who had caused that, but the power in that weird keyblade.

"What is that?" Terra asked.

"The X-Blade," Vanitas said, holding it up. "It's a symbol of my heart's union with Ventus."

"Can't be a very strong bond, then." Terra sneered as he said that, but in reality, he began to sweat. He'd felt the strength of the X-Blade, and it was much more powerful than he was comfortable with.

With the darkness making him swift and light, he wordlessly lunged at Vanitas again. Dark claws reached out in front of him, thick and curved like scythes. With one swipe of the X-Blade, Vanitas destroyed them all, and still managed to bring it back in time to parry Terra's thrust.

The air between them seemed to crackle with energy. Vanitas leapt back, far back, all the way to the other side of the platform. He landed slowly, on the tips of his toes, as if he had momentarily become weightless.

And they charged. The entire universe seemed to go quiet, so that all Terra heard was the calm beat of his heart as he closed in on his opponent. It was like a countdown, like an official of a race declaring 'Get set!'. He swept Earthshaker up, holding it with both hands, so that it was perpendicular to the ground right before he stuck.

The keyblades shrieked as they slid down each other's shaft. The sound made his eardrums want to curl up and die, but he clenched his jaw and forced himself not to react. This was too important to be distracted by something as minuscular as that. Neither had broken stride in that mutual attack, but they slowed now, pushing off of one foot so that they could spin around and run at each other again. Vanitas was smaller, lither, slicing through Terra's leg just as Terra had completed the turn. It buckled underneath him, nearly sending him to the ground, and he stumbled with a shout of pain and anger. Vanitas, hearing his weakness, pounced, but Terra was ready. He waited, casting a Cura and timing his counter, and then copying Ven, he turned and flung his keyblade at the airborne Vanitas. Although he was clearly caught off-guard, Vanitas managed to deflect Earthshaker; however, the X-Blade was yanked out of his hands.

Leaving him defenseless against Terra's darkness.

It moved in the form of a spike, seeking to impale the younger boy in the chest. Terra saw Vanitas cloak himself with a dark shield just before the spike made impact, but Terra didn't let that weaken his resolve. His natural strength was greater than Vanitas; he was confident he would overpower the barrier in the end.

He was wrong. Instead, both of their powers failed at the same time. Terra was right in that he was the strongest in terms of muscle, but Vanitas had been using the darkness much longer. Simply put, Vanitas' experience made up for his weakness.

They breathed heavily, weighing this new knowledge. It didn't take Terra more than a second to summon his keyblade back to him; he didn't care how strong Vanitas was, or if he was a so-called god. Mortal or not, it made no difference to him.

"I don't understand," Vanitas said, "how can you have such power?"

"Anything's possible when you have something to fight for," Terra said hoarsely.

Vanitas growled. "You think I don't? I-"

Vanitas was silenced when Terra tried to behead him. "Like I told you before, I don't care. Unless what you're saying involves the subjects 'my friends' and 'releasing them', I don't give a damn for what you have to say!"

He left no room for Vanitas to respond. Terra had never been one to fight with words, but with his fists. Fists that just happened to have a giant keyblade in them. The glass cracked whenever Terra missed, and those blows that hit the X-Blade would have brought Terra himself to his knees. Yet the X-Blade stayed sleek and sharp, dangerous.

The fight went on, vicious and bloody. His major injuries, Terra healed, as they impeded his movement. However, wounds left over from minor and glancing blows mostly went unhealed. Simply put, Terra didn't notice them, too caught up in his anger to feel pain.

Darkness clamped around Terra's ankles, only for his darkness to claw it off. It all happened unconsciously; he didn't even need to think about it. In this fight, he and the darkness were one, moving in perfect sync. When his overreaching swings left him open, the darkness moved to shield him; when he saw it fit to attack, the darkness fused with his keyblade and strengthened him. And although Vanitas had the strongest and longest keyblade, there was no denying that it was Terra who was winning their brawl. Vanitas could hardly make contact without Terra's darkness clawing and tearing at his bodysuit.

Blood covered the glass around them, lying in randomly strewn puddles. Somehow, the area around Aqua managed to stay clean, though that didn't lessen the horror of it. Now, he and Vanitas stood across from each other, keyblades hanging, hearts pounding with anticipation. This was it; he could feel it.

They charged, leapt, blades colliding in mid-air. Terra twisted, sliding Earthshaker under the X-Blade and towards Vanitas' vulnerable midsection . . .

And it was done. He landed hard, keyblade glistening with fresh blood. Behind him, Vanitas tumbled onto the ground, splotches of red marking the place where he had landed. The god of Silent Hill struggled to stand, but failed, and fell into a pool of his own blood.

It was over.

"Aqua!" He ran over, collapsing to his knees beside her. She still wasn't talking, but when he lifted her chin, her eyes focused on him. Fighting back tears, he stroked her cheek with his thumb, hurriedly drawing his hand back when he saw that he was getting blood on her face.

He glanced sideways at the sleeping Ven, and his darkness shot out to grab him. Easily, it severed the vines tying the young boy to the glass, and dragged him over the way a dog would drag its unconscious master. Terra scooped Ven up, cradling him in one arm. The other he wound around Aqua's shoulders, needing to touch her.

He closed his eyes, sobbing dryly. It was over. He had them back –

Metal screeched against glass.

Ven slipped to the ground as Terra stood, mouth dropping open at the sight of not one, but two Bogeyman. One held the giant knife, the other, a lance, and both marched towards him with no hesitation.

Terra stepped back.

"You put up a good fight," Vanitas said, "but enough is enough."

Terra roared, and sent the darkness to attack. It struck true – he saw it cut into the Bogeymen's skin – but they didn't react. No blood fell from their wounds. It was as if he had done nothing.

"They are born from darkness," Vanitas said, "they do not fear it."

That seemed to be true, and it was horrible because Terra feared them.

He fought, fought as viciously as a cornered lion, but his strength was nothing compared to theirs. He felt himself grow weaker from the strain of his many Cura spells and wounds, and his breathing became laboured and sluggish. He knew, even before it happened, that this was not a battle he would win.

Which one dealt the blow that forced him to his knees, he did not know, but he knew which one came next. The Bogeyman's lance tore through his upper leg, bursting through on the other side, and pinned him to the glass. He cried out in pain, his sweat-soaked fingers losing their grip on his faithful keyblade. The smack of Earthshaker hitting the ground was like the banging of a judge's gavel, condemning him.

"Game over," Vanitas said softly. He walked over so that he could look straight at Terra, who snarled at him. "This would be so much easier if Xion hadn't killed the Corruption, but beggars can't be choosers."

He pointed the X-Blade at Terra. "I'll finish this with a more personal touch. Sorry, Terra, but this is going to hurt."

Vanitas said nothing more, but his keyblade began to glow. And then a beam shot from the tip of it, connecting with Terra's chest.

Terra's head whipped back in a silent scream. This was pain unlike anything he had endured before, like his skin was on fire or a million needles were forcing their way into his flesh. He could feel something inside him moving, burrowing through his flesh and concentrating around a single point: his heart. The darkness inside him raged as it was torn to shreds, and to his terror, he could feel himself growing hollow as Vanitas began to remove everything that made Terra himself.

"Give up," Vanitas said, shadows weaving around his feet. "Once you entered this town, you sealed your fate. There is no escape from Silent Hill."

Terra arched his back, shaking as his sanity started to erode . . .

A cool wave swept through him, soothing the burns that Vanitas' spell had left. The great vice upon his heart weakened. In the air around him, the shell of a Reflect spell glimmered in and out of existence. Slowly, he raised his head to meet Aqua's terrified stare. She had her keyblade out, but it was weird. The colours were all wrong, and it made Terra angry when he looked at it.

"No!" Vanitas snapped. "Stay out of this!"

With a flick of his wrist, Aqua's strange keyblade exploded into a thousand motes of darkness, taking her spell with it. At the same time, Aqua screamed, clutching her head, and collapsed to the ground. But while Vanitas was distracted with her, Terra reached back and pulled the lance out of his flesh. Strings of gore followed it, and he tried his best not to look. He tossed the lance to the floor, drawing the attention of the Bogeymen, who shambled towards him.

He forced himself to stand through the pain. He had one chance, and that was it.

As the Bogeymen closed in, he raised Earthshaker, which was crackling with the power of a shot-lock.

He aimed, and fired.

Just as he hoped, the Bogeymen faltered and groaned when the shot-lock ripped through their master's defenses. Vanitas screamed, but when the shot-lock ended, he wasn't holding the place where Terra's attack had hit him. Instead, he clutched at his chest, right over where his heart laid. Vanitas stumbled back, face twisted in pain, and Terra could only take pleasure in the sight.

Unbeknownst to them, close to where Aqua laid incapacitated, blue eyes drifted open.

The Bogeymen began to move again, and Terra hesitated. To fight them, he would have to turn his back on Vanitas, and he wasn't sure for how long Vanitas would be distracted . . .

Not long, it appeared. "You!" Vanitas snarled. "I've had enough of-!"

Vanitas had attempted to brandish his keyblade, but as he raised it skywards, it suddenly crumbled.

"No!" Despair written all over his face, Vanitas reached for the falling X-Blade. But he was too slow, and then the X-Blade was gone as suddenly as it had appeared.

"So, that's it, huh?"

Even the Bogeymen froze at the sound of that voice. All heads turned to face Ven, who had risen to his feet and was staring at his darker half with utter hatred in his eyes.

"How . . .?" Vanitas choked on his question.

Ven ignored him. "Terra, we need to go."

Terra nodded, reading the other apprentice's mind.

Before Vanitas could gather his wits, Ven thrust his keyblade into the air and screamed, "Light!" The explosion blinded Vanitas and the Bogeymen, the latter raising their meaty hands to shield their hidden eyes. Protecting his own eyes, Terra rushed forwards, scooping up Aqua easily and throwing her over his shoulder, then yanked Ven along by the arm. Together, they raced for the exit.

But Vanitas saw them and with a snap of his fingers, the Bogeymen disappeared and then rematerialized at the exit. Terra and Ven skidded to a halt, backing away.

"Going somewhere?" Vanitas asked.

Terra growled, but it was Ven who spoke. "As a matter of fact, we are, and you're not stopping us!"

Vanitas laughed. "As if you could! I control this town; you're not going anywhere."

And the smile that crossed Terra's face was triumphant and cruel. "Is that so?"

Ven, sensing the change in his friend, backed away. With one deft move, Terra passed off Aqua to him, and took up Earthshaker in both hands.

"This ends here!" he hollered.

He drove his keyblade into the glass station with all his strength, all his rage. The glass cracked, dipping up and down in a wave, knocking over everyone save him and Ven. As the stunned Bogeymen fell out of the way, the two of them ran for the exit, leaping over the great knife.

Ven shot up the stairs, but Terra lingered. He slammed Earthshaker into the glass one more time, and then the station shattered completely. The Bogeymen fell, disappearing into the darkness below.

Ignoring Vanitas' furious cries, Terra turned, and ran for the exit. They raced up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and then Terra ripped open the trapdoor to the church.

This chapter is pretty short, but the next one's longer.

Anyways, as I mentioned previously, both this and the last chapter occurred at the same time and affected each other. Here's a summary of what happened:

1) When Vanitas initially defeated Ven last chapter, their hearts joined together, allowing Vanitas to summon the X-Blade in his fight against Terra

2) Likewise, when Terra defeated Vanitas (before the Bogeymen showed up), this fractured the weak bond between Vanitas' and Ven's heart, allowing Ven to reawaken to fight Vanitas again.

3) Terra's shot-lock struck Vanitas just as Ven stabbed Vanitas in the heart with his X-Blade, and the combined force caused Ven/Vanitas to completely separate

Stayed tuned for the next chapter!