Author's Note: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.
Ch.23 Those Who Stand in The Way
"Aaargh!" Sora yelled, falling back after he had been zapped by the Pot Centipede's antennae. He wasn't the first either; all of us with the exception of Aladdin had been hit in the same way. The reason he hadn't was because he stuck to attacking the tail end of the Heartless. But that didn't mean he wasn't hurt; the stingers on the end had left his body covered in scratches. Luckily almost all of the Pot Spiders had been destroyed, so the Centipede couldn't regenerate itself. It hissed and barreled forward, tackling Donald out of the way and running for the exit to the city. "Not a chance!" I said, and cast Zero Gravira. The Heartless rose into the air as the gravity around it was cancelled, and Sora jumped up to slash it on its underside.
"Come on!" Goofy said, and he hit one of the pot segments with his shield it. It shattered, and now the Heartless was down to only two segments besides the head and tail. The spell wore off and it landed on the ground, zapping him with his antennae and running. Aladdin was unmoving for a second, until suddenly he turned and ran off in the opposite direction. "What-? Where are you going?!" I yelled, dodging a hit and casting Blizzaga at the Centipede. "Don't worry! I have an idea!" he promised, and jumped out of sight. I wasn't sure what Aladdin was thinking, but I decided to trust him and turned back to the Pot Centipede. Donald cast Fire and hit another of the pots, causing it burst apart and leaving the monster with only one.
It hissed loudly and turned to Donald, snapping its teeth at him. He jumped back and yelled "Hey!" when the Heartless forgot running away to run after him. "Donald!" Sora said, and cast Fire to try and distract the beast. It missed though, and the Centipede closed in on the duck. But at that moment Aladdin jumped down from a building above, and said "Take this!" before plunging his sword into its head. The Centipede jerked and screeched in shock and agony, before falling limp and fading away. I quickly smashed the last Pot Spider, but Jasmine wasn't inside. "Where'd she go?" I asked, and Aladdin called "Jasmine!" Jafar's laugh ran through the air, and I pointed. "It came from the desert!" I said. "Then come on! Let's move!" Aladdin urged.
We ran out of the city exit and made it to the desert, where the Magic Carpet appeared and gave us a ride. It dropped us off at the same place where we had found Aladdin in the quicksand, only now I could sense a dark presence here. As if to prove my point, the ground shook and a huge shape rose out of it, resolving into a lion head with glowing eyes. But the eyes were covered into clouds of darkness, and it was from the head that I could feel darkness emanating. "The Cave of Wonders' has been possessed! We have to beat it!" Aladdin said. Just as he said that though, another group of Bandits, Pot Spiders and even a Fat Bandit appeared in front of it, and I grunted as I had to summon my Keyblade.
"I'm really getting tired of this," I said, and without another word charged forward. The Fat Bandit swung at me in a wide punch that I ducked under, casting Glacier and freezing it before it could spit out any fireballs. Then I kicked the frozen Heartless and sent it sliding across the sand into the Cave of Wonders, which roared and fired a pair of beams at me from its eyes. I blocked them with Barrier and used Counter Blast, sending shards of it flying into the beast and any Heartless around me. Aladdin drew his scimitar and stabbed another Bandit into the stomach, before drawing it out and leaping away from being scratched by a Shadow. An Air Soldier appeared and grabbed Goofy, raising him into the air and dropping him once they were high enough.
"Goofy!" Donald and I called, while Sora tried to cast Aero and lessen the impact. While he failed to do that though, he did give Goofy a few seconds to place his shield below him and turn it so that he slid forward across the ground on impact. What he hadn't planned on was that his impromptu sled had no brakes, and so he slammed right into a Shadow, then an Air Soldier, and then a Bandit, before finally colliding against the stomach of another Fat Bandit. All four Heartless burst into darkness and faded away, while Goofy lay back on the ground with birds flying around his head. I glared at the Air Soldier that had caused all of it, and cast Thundaga Shot to vaporize it. Sora took a Shadow with a swift cut to its back, and then proceeded to stab the Cave of Wonders Guardian in the left eye.
The darkness around that eye burst and it returned to normal, but the other eye was still showing that it was possessed. And the fact that it had been injured did not make it happy. In fact, it roared loudly enough to send me and others back from the blast of hot air. It raised its head out of range and shook it from side to side, firing beams like no tomorrow. Back on the ground, the Heartless redoubled their efforts, along with their numbers. I was suddenly surrounded by a trio of Fat Bandits, all of whom proceeded to suck a huge breath in before unleashing a torrent of fire on me. I screamed in agony and dropped Stormfell, falling to my knees and curling up in an attempt to escape the fire. But they kept on going, and I could feel myself being burnt.
"Dexal!" Aladdin called, and he jumped up to slash one of the Bandits across the back. It stopped roasting me and turned around, where Donald stood to give it a barrage of Blizzard spells straight to the face. It fell back and covered its face, but Goofy charged into it and hit the beast into the stomach hard enough to double it over. The Fat Bandits did just that, and left its face exposed long enough for Sora to deliver a crushing blow to its head. The Heartless vanished, but a scream from me reminded them that there was still two breathing fire on me. The pain was actually starting to fade, but I knew that it's wasn't because they were letting up; it was because my nerves were literally being burnt away.
Suddenly I felt the power within me emerge, that dark tide of chaos that I kept tied down within the depths of my being. I tried to keep it back, but the pain in my body ruined any resistance put up by my mind, and I could feel the dark power flood through me. What happened next I only vaguely remember; the details had been told to me later by Sora and the others. Donald called "Dexal!" and ran towards me, only for he, Sora, Goofy, Aladdin and both Fat Bandits to sent flying by a massive wave of energy, accompanied by a blast of swirling darkness that took the shape of a dome around me. The others could see me stand within its, and the hot temperature of the desert plummeted until they could see their breath when they exhaled.
The darkness faded to show that my appearance had changed. My hair was pitch black rather than silver, my skin had turned pale, and any blue in my eyes faded to leave behind ruby red pupils that glowed with an inhuman light. I smiled, one lacking all my usual kindness, and with a snap of my wrist Stormfell reappeared in my hand. The moment it did a black aura surrounded me, similar to the ones that had surrounded Xehanort and Terra when they had felt the powers of darkness run through them. "…Dexal?" Sora asked hesitantly. My smiled grew wider, and I held up a clawed finger and shook it from side to side. "Oh, how clueless you must feel. I am Dexal, but now you see the true power that lies within me. And now, I intend to use it," I said my voice sharper and ice-cold.
The Heartless took that as a challenge and charged, more than dozen of them with the Cave of Wonders Guardian still firing away. I smiled and blocked it with Renewal Barrier, healing myself and sending the beams right back at the Heartless. In total there were six Shadows, five Soldiers, three Air Soldiers, six Bandits and the two Fat Bandits. Actually, there were four Shadows, as two were destroyed by the beams I blocked. Without waiting a called "Chaos Blade!" and cloaked myself in dark before shooting forward. I stabbed a Soldier in the stomach and flung it at a Bandit, killing them both with one blow. I rushed back and hit another Heartless, then another and another.
With every heart that their deaths released I felt joy, glad to see the hearts freed from these weaker beings. My strength was almost incomparable; there were few still alive that could hope to match the power of a Keyblade Master. One of the Bandits tried to breathe fire on me again, but I responded with Dark Firaga, sending a ball of black flame that cut through the Heartless' attack and exploded against it, killing the Fat Bandit and the other Heartless around it. I cut through them without care or remorse, relishing in their destruction. Heart after heart rose into the air, until the only enemy left was the Cave of Wonders Guardian. I smiled once more, and ran forward before jumping into the air. "Face the end!" I called, and I threw Stormfell at the beast right eye.
It pierced straight through and I snapped my fingers, the aura around my Keyblade winking out in an explosion that can best be described in one word: cataclysmic. Wave after wave of raw power blasted outwards, and the Cave of Wonders Guardian roared in agony from the hit. After a full minute it faded, and I recalled my Keyblade to my hand. "Whoa…" Sora said his eyes wide while the others nodded in agreement. I looked over at them, my smile still present and jus as frigid. "This is only a taste of my power. I can do much, much more, and once we find Jafar I intend to do just that," I said, before suddenly running forward and entering the Cave of Wonders. "Wait a minute! Dexal! Come back!" Goofy called him and the others running after me.
As they chased after me Aladdin looked at Sora. "What's going on with Dexal? He's completely changed," he said. Sora nodded his expression troubled. "I'm not sure. The last time this happened was in another place we were at, called 'Wonderland'. And the last time that happened, he nearly destroyed someone," he said. "Destroyed them? And… you're saying that he might do the same to Jafar?" Aladdin asked, shaken. "If that's the case, then we have to stop him!" Donald said. They all nodded; they wanted to see Jafar stopped, but not killed. I was ahead of them by a good amount, the darkness in my veins increasing both my stamina and speed. The others called for me to stop, but their words fell on deaf ears.
Heartless appeared constantly and tried to block my path, but I cut them down as easily as if hey were weeds. Using my power, I sent my senses outwards, looking for Jafar. I sensed him in one of the deepest parts of the Cave of Wonders, along with Jasmine, Genie and- I smiled widely- Maleficent. The witch's heart was rich in darkness; to rip it away from her would give me the greatest satisfaction. Some part of me yelled to stop, to not let this dark power control my being and to fight against it. But the rest of me no longer cared, and I kept going with the power of darkness rushing through me.
The team has made it to the Cave of Wonders, but now the darkness within Dexal has taken control! Can Sora and the others snap him out of it? Where did the powers come from? And will they be able to save Jasmine in time? Find out next chapter!
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