This chapter just sort of came to me one night. It's a bit weird, but I thought Sora could use some kind of new powers.

Sora: "And I thank you for it! DarthKingdom doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything else. Just his plot and O.C.s."

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Chapter 35: Sora's New Tricks

"Lexeaus, huh?" Riku said almost an hour later, back on the Unity. It was currently in warp drive. "Yeah, I remember him. I've still got a few scars." He pulled back his vest a bit to show a long, pale scar on his shoulder.

"Hah! I don't have scars!" Sora said with his trademark smile.

"Yeah, but you had Kairi and Tarzan with you." Riku retorted, smiling smugly. "So that means I did better."

"Does not!"

This childish banter went back and forth for several minutes. Eventually, it escalated to an even more childish wrestling match on the floor of the crew lounge.

The room was large, and comfortable. A deep red rug embroidered with gold covered the whole floor. There were several comfortable chairs and couches in the room, some tables, and a nice pool table that was now being used by Axel and Nehrut.

Those two stopped their game to watch the fight. Sora rolled on top of Riku, and pinned his shoudlers to the ground.

"How's that?"

Then Riku flipped himself over and put his friend in a key lock. "How's that?"

"Like brothers, aren't they?" Axel said as Sora broke loose and went at Riku again.

"I wouldn't know." He said. "I never had a real brother."

"Oh... sorry man."

"No, it's okay I –DUCK!" They dove out of the way of Sora, whom Riku had just thrown through the air over the pool table.

Everyone else in the room (namely Bariss, Donald, and Goofy) busted out laughing. With a flick of the wrist, Nehrut caught Sora in midair. Then he did the same with Riku. The two were flailing around in the air, trying in vain to get loose.

Nehrut cast a barely noticable look over at Bariss, and winked. He then proceeded to juggle the two Keybearers over his head over and over, laughing at their reaction.

"Stop!"

"We'll stop!"

"I think I'm gonna hurl!"

"Let us down!"

"Okaaay..." He said after a few minutes. He released his grip and sent the two falling to the floor with two heavy thuds. The entire room was in hysterics as Sora and Riku staggered back to their feet. Sora fell over onto Riku, who promptly caught him, dropped him, and fell over himself out of dizziness. Needless to say, this only added to the laughter.

When the two of them finally managed to stand up straight, they looked at Nehrut for a few seconds, and screamed, "You're DEAD!"

The resulting chase through the ship lasted for thirty minutes before they all got too tired to continue and the King ordered them to stop. And when a king gives you an order, you follow it.

That night, as Sora lay in bed with Kairi asleep beside him, he thought.

It was so easy for him to subdue me. Thank God he's on our side.

"You need a bit of practice, man." Roxas said.

Yeah, I need some new tricks.

And, as if by some ridiculous cosmic joke, he went through the second Deep Dive of his life.

--

Suddenly, Sora was in the Station of Harmony. He looked all around, wondering why he was here. The ever-present dark clouds were the same as ever, but the platform he stood on was different. It was his own platform.

The portrait had a light blue tint. Now fifteen, (nearly sixteen) the Sora in the picture was leaning against the left side of the portrait. The Kingdom Key was held in his right hand. He was looking up at the sky with a smile at something the viewer couldn't see. Behind that Sora was island scenery that showed mostly a cloud-filled sky. The outer ring was made of Sora's crown emblems. There were seven rings on the portrait, for Riku, Roxas, Namine, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, and Nehrut. There was also a heart with Kairi's picture in it.

After admiring the picture (and wondering if his feet had always looked that big), Sora looked around. There was nothing to be found.

"Why am I here?" He asked the air.

He certainly hadn't expected to get a response.

"It is time you learned the secrets of the Keyblade." Came a voice from the clouds. Sora knew the voice, but not the speaker. It had come to him last time he was here.

"You must learn, if you are to face the challenges that will come. But do not be afraid. You are the Key that connects everything."

The voice went silent, and all was still for a moment. Then, out of the shadows just beyond the platform stepped a horribly familiar figure. One that should have died in Neverland.

Shadow-Sora. (1)

A horrible, twisted version of Sora that Riku had conjured up during his apprentace-ship under Maleficent. Though it seemed older now, to match Sora himself more than ever. It walked calmy onto the platform, it's yellow eyes glowing.

Sora immediately summoned the Keyblade and prepared for a fight. The shadow paused, and it's eyes locked onto the blade. The being extended it's hand, and a dark version of the Kingdom Key appeared. It took up an identical fighting stance to Sora's.

Neither of them moved for a minute, waiting to see what the other would do.

Finally, the shadow charged at Sora, blade poised to strike. Sora ran to meet it with a lunge at it's stomach.

The Keyblade passed through air, and Sora stumbled to the other side of the shadow.

He caught himself, and spun around to face it. It came on with a flurry of powerful strikes, which he barely managed to block. He searched for an opening, retreating across the platform to avoid injury.

He nearly fell off the platform, and he looked at the being. It charged at him again, and right before it reached him, Sora ducked and swept the Keyblade at it's legs. Nothing happened.

The shadow wound up outside the platform, but floated on the shadows as if it was standing on a floor. It just stared at Sora, who was getting very worried. He couldn't hurt it, and it wasn't like he could hold out against it forever.

And what happens if I die in here?

"Do not be afraid."

He drew strength from those words. Putting on his bravest face, he prepared to fight the shadow again. It let out a strange hissing noise, and ran at him again. He held his position, Shadow-Sora jumped at him ready to deliver a killing blow.

And time seemed to slow down. Something was happening to the Keyblade. (2)

The whole thing floated out of Sora's grasp and began to reassemble itself. The handle, main shaft, 'key tip', and chain all separated. In front of Sora's astonished eyes, the Keychain attached itself horizontally to the face of the tip. The tip went into the center of the handle. These pieces together floated in front of Sora's knuckles. When Sora made a fist, it flashed.

The shaft floated over Sora's forearm, and the chain that had previously held the small motif to the blade wrapped around it and Sora's arm, pressing against it.

It was strange looking, and resembled a twisted version of brass knuckles with a bar held behind it. It was a totally new weapon: the Keyfist.

Reacting on instinct, Sora clenched his fist, causing the knuckle plate to shine brightly. He pulled his fist back and the whole thing let out a nearly blinding light. He bashed his fist right into the face of Shadow-Sora.

The imitation Sora let out a strange shriek and flew across the platform. Sora stared at the altered weapon with wide-eyed curiosity. He smiled.

Looks like I have a new toy.

Shadow-Sora got it's bearings back and ran at Sora yet again. He charged as well, and raised his fist. The shadow brought it's Keyblade down, and Sora blocked it with the bar on his arm. Sora pushed forward with his arm, knocking the fake Keyblade from the shadow's hand. And then he beat it senseless.

The Keyfist let off a bright flash of light every time he struck the shadow. And with every blow, the shadow staggered back a little more, but Sora wasn't going to give it an opportunity to catch it's balance. He pummeled it.

After a few minutes of this, the shadow let out a grating shriek that hurt Sora's ears. It fell to the ground, thrashing about like an animal, fading away into darkness. It wasn't a pretty sight. And after one noisy minute, Shadow-Sora was gone. Hopefully for good.

Sora smiled in satisfaction, and took another look at the Keyfist, and it immediately returned to it's original appearance.

How did I do that?

"You will know."

Can I go now?

"There is more you must learn."

Great...

Another figure moved in the dark shadows toward Sora, who pulled out the Keyblade again. When it moved into the relative light, Sora sighed in exasperation.

It was the Guardian. Xehanort's puppet that had battled them at the End of the World. It was nearly seven feet tall, and heavily muscled. It had two head-tentacles on it's head. It was jet black, and wrapped in bandages in some places. It's eyes were eerie and yellow, and it bore a hideous smile.

Sora wondered how it fought when on it's own. He found out in about two seconds.

The Guardian charged at him –floating- shoulder first. Sora barely had enough time to roll to the side to evade it. He had just gotten back on his feet when the Guardian charged again. Sora ran at it as well, Keyblade ready to strike. But it closed in on him too fast, and hit him with the force of a wrecking ball, tossing him nearly over the edge.

Sora got to his feet ungracefully, just in time to be smacked in the face by a big, black fist. He staggered backwards and received another punch in the gut that sent him all the way across the platform and onto his back.

He struggled to get up again, and stared the Heartless down. He really hated that thing. In his hand, a ball of blazing fire appeared. He threw it with all his strength, and amazingly, the Guardian slapped it away like a fly.

So he tried ice, and the Guardian caught it. It crushed it in it's massive fist. Water and ice particles fell to the ground. And if he didn't know better, he'd have said that the Guardian's smile widened.

Now would be a good time for another weird, key-based weapon.

And indeed it was, the Keyblade in his hand changed yet again. The chain at the end popped off the handle, which separated from the blade. The chain reattached itself to the front of the handle, and connected it to the blade. The tip came off the blade, and reattatched horizontally at the front. To top it off, the chain stretched itself out to a length of four feet long.

It had become the Keywhip.

Sora took a moment to admire it, and took up a fighting position he had once seen Bariss in. The chain made a jingling sound as it and the handle struck the ground. It was an awkward weapon to hold, but he'd learn.

The Guardian charged again, and Sora swung the length of chain at it. The end caught it full in the face, and for the first time, it flinched. Sora flexed the end of the weapon, and found it remarkably easy to control the other end from a distance. The blade practically hopped up from the ground and smacked the Guardian in the chest.

The Guardian tried to retreat, but if it could, then Sora knew he'd regret it.

Displaying skill he didn't know he had, he swung the Keywhip all around, covering virtually every inch of the platform, leaving no safe place for the Guardian to retreat to.

The being was smacked around on all sides by the blade and chain, and eventually was on the ground –no longer floating a few inches above it. It tried to push itself up with one hand, but to no avail.

Sora decided to finish it. Flexing the whip, the chain wrapped all around it and tightened. It silently thrashed around in it's grip, which only tightened.

The chain started glowing, and shook. The Guardian reared it's head and appeared to scream, but it was voiceless. Eventually, it went still, and the chain flashed. The Guardian vanished into darkness.

Sora pulled the other end of the whip back toward him, and it transformed back to normal.

"You have done well." The voice said, "It is time you ended it."

Once again, a being walked from the shadows. This one was much, much larger than Shadow-Sora or the Guardian. And the Keybearer's eyes widened in horror when he realized what it was.

Darkside.

It was the Heartless that had destroyed Destiny Islands. It was at least thirty feet tall, heavily muscled and jet black. In it's chest was a heart-shaped hole that went all the way through it. It's arms were long enough to touch it's knees while standing straight up. From it's back protruded two demonic wings. It's entire face (apart from the eyes) was covered by tentacle-like growths sprouting from the top of it's head.

It gazed down at Sora from it's superior hight. It's fists were engulfed in dark energy. He reeled back, and struck it's fist into the ground. The energy spread out from that point, and the first wave smacked Sora full on, throwing him totally off his platform.

Through his bleary eyes, he could see Darkside looking back at him from far away. He tumbled through the dark clouds, and he could only see the faint glow of the platform.

Come on Keyblade! I need some help here! If you have any more surprises, now is the time!

Fortunately, the Keyblade divided up again. The handle turned on it's side, so it was attached horizontally to the end of the blade. The chain connected to the opposite end, and hung by both ends from the handle, trailing behind it with the chain in the middle. The tip came off and enlarged itself a bit, to attatch itself horizontally to the front. Then the blade itself elongated.

It didn't float to his hand however. It rocketed around his body to float below him.

In perfect synchronization, Sora landed on it with one foot on the handle, and the other on the tip. He stood on it like a strange, floating surfboard. He steadied himself, and wondered how he was supposed to move on this.

And with a single thought, Sora streaked through the air back toward his platform, and Darkside. He buzzed around Darkside's head avoiding it's flailing fists. Then he realized that while he was riding the Keyboard (he laughed at his own pun) he had no weapon.

Another Keyblade appeared in his hand. It was grey, and bore a slight resemblance to Squall's Gunblade. The tip was made of two fluer-de-lis patterns, and topped with a roaring lion's head that matched the keychain. The Sleeping Lion.

As he passed Darkside's face, he slashed at it, leaving a narrow gash that released a stream of black smoke. He continued his assault on the face for as long as he could before the giant Heartless threw a punch that nearly knocked him off the board. He sped away from it to a safer distance.

Darkside gathered energy unto itself again, and fired it at Sora in the form of a dark ball. He swerved out of it's path, and inadvertently into the path of a second ball. He shot up to avoid it, and then ducked under yet another one.

He sped at Darkside, shooting over and under three more attacks as he went. When he got too close, it delivered a punch. Sora saw it coming and skimmed over it's outstretched arm, raking the Keyblade across it as he went. He closed in on Darkside's face and punched in to the hilt between it's glaring yellow eyes. And to add to the potency of the attack, he set it on fire.

Darkside writhed in agony and tried to shake the blade away, but Sora held fast. After a painful minute, it let out an unnatural wailing noise, and began to dissolve. It faded into darkness, turning to smoke that mixed with the clouds all around them.

As Sora floated back to the ground, he dismissed Sleeping Lion. When he touched down, the Keyboard formed back into the Keyblade and snapped into his hand, before vanishing as well.

"Master of the Keyblade," The voice said, "You are indeed strong. Use your newfound abilities well. And remember not to be afraid. You are the Key that connects everything..."

There was a bright flash of light, as opposed to swirling darkness.

--

And Sora was back in bed. He gazed up at the ceiling with the crown emblem painted on it for several minutes, trying to process what had happened. He looked down at Kairi, still fast asleep, and wondered if she would ever go through the Dive Into the Heart. It was a difficult trial, and he wondered how she'd fare.

She'd pass with flying colors. (3)

The Key Forms were inspired by the Terra fight in Final Mix. His weapon turns into a whip, giant laser thing, some kind of floating jet ski, etc... So if Terra can do it, why not Sora?

(1) Anyone else absolutely HATE fighting him?

(2) Bear with me on the description.

(3) Wink wink. Nudge nudge.

Review please!