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.37 Darkness
The moment I leaped into the middle of the Heartless I knew it was a bad idea; now my back was exposed. One Darkball Heartless proved that when he tried to bite my shoulder from behind, and it was only a quick Aerora spell that I sent I back. "Trip!" I called, and I cast Zero Graviga to send all Heartless and on the ground into the air, with the exception of the Behemoth. The airborne ones I stopped with Magnega, and so I turned to the Behemoth, the one that had trapped me in here. "Time to die!" I said, and I ran towards it. The beast growled and lowered its head, prepared to spear me with its horn. But when I tried I leaped over it, and landing on the beast's back.
I smiled and cast Thundaga, raining down bolts of lightning to hit the beast. It groaned from the voltage and I cast Deep Freeze. The air temperature around me plummeted and while the Behemoth wasn't frozen in a block of ice, its skin did turn and even darker shade of purple. I kept it up and cast Glacier, Blizzaga and even Triple Blizzaga. Ice began to form on the Heartless' body, and with one last spell it was completely frozen. I smiled and jumped off, and the Zero Graviga and Magnega spells wore off. Just as the other Heartless came at me though, I used Brutal Blast and shattered the ice block, and shards of it rained down while the Behemoth faded into shadows. The shards killed several more, and a Wyvern roared before dive-bombing at me. I side-stepped and the monster crashed into the ground, and I stabbed it in the back with Stormfell.
A trio of Wizards came forward and they each cast a different spell, and I used Barrier to block them. Then I used Collision Magnet to draw one Heartless towards me before throwing it into another. The third Wizard cast Cure on them, but then I used Thundaga Shot and killed them all. With a silent cry two Invisibles flew at me, enraged by the fact that I was defeating them. They both slashed as one and I flipped back, casting Firaga Burst. A ball of fire flew forward and exploded on Impact, sending one Invisible flying while the other faded away. "You really are stubborn! Why don't you just go ahead and give up?" Oogie called from where he was still standing. I blinked; I had almost forgotten he was there. Then I looked at him and said "Because I'm too strong to do something like that!"
To prove my point a Bit Sniper flew at me and I sucked, casting Meteor. A giant flaming boulder appeared above us and flew down, exploding on impact. Pieces of burning rubble hit perhaps half a dozen Heartless, destroying them. The ground turned dark and a total of six Neoshadows began to rise, but I used Sonic Blade and took care of them the moment the fully appeared. Quickly I cast Cura on myself, just in case I had sustained any injuries. Then again, with all this adrenaline I probably wouldn't even feel it. And speak of not feeling anything... A Pot Scorpion snapped its pincers and charged at me, but I blocked it and flipped the beast over on its back. With a cry, I stabbed Stormfell right into its underside. Three Large Bodies all came at me at once, but I used Tornado Strike and sent them into the air before knocking them into the other Heartless. I was smiling; even before Stormfell had become my Keyblade, I had been a Keyblade Master. No enemy could face me and win.
Then one small Shadow decided not to face me... and attacked from behind.
My eyes widened and I cried out in pain, feeling a long score of claw marks being made across my back. While I was distracted a Powerwild bounded up and leaped, wrapping its arms around my midsection. I grunted and said "Get off!" and cast Fira at it. The beast fell back with a burning tail, but then one of the Large Bodies from before tackled me from the side. I was sent flying and landed on my back, and when I tried to get up more Neoshadows rose from the ground to hold me down. A Pirate swung with its sword and knocked Stormfell out of my hand, which spun across the ground and out of my reach. "Let go!" I called, and I tried to cast Thunder to hit the Neoshadows. But without being able to properly move my hands the aim of the spell was off, and it only hit a trio of smaller Shadows.
Now that I was pinned more and more Heartless were surrounding me. Another Pot Scorpion avenged its brethren and pierced me with its stinger, and I could feel the poison already run through me. The Large Body punched me in the stomach and knocked with wind out of me, and a Darkball bit me on the leg. Once a Heartless gotten a hit through, it was shoved aside by another, and that Heartless in turn dealt me and hit. Over and over the cycle went on, and in minutes I was covered with bites, scratches, bruises and slash marks from swords. I could feel my consciousness starting to go under, and Oogie laughed. "I warned ya! Now say hi to the world of Heartless!" he called. I could have come up with some witty reply, but then a Cannon Gun fired and hit me right in the side of the head.
I cried out and could feel myself going under, my consciousness at last fading away. And as I fell, the darkness within me began to rise.
(Point of View Change: 3rd Person)
"Dexal!" Sora called, and he redoubled his efforts to break down the rubble blocking the doorway. He and the others had been trying to clear the rocks so that they could help Dexal clear out the heartless, or at least let him escape. On the other side they had seen him fight with the skill and strength that he imagined a Keyblade Master would possess. But after the Shadow had pulled that dirty move and hit him from behind, they could see things quickly go sour. And now Dexal was being held to the ground while the Heartless took their time to pummel away at him. "We have to get rid of this stuff! Come on!" Donald said, and he cast Gravity on the rocks. That did nothing but push them further together, so that when Goofy charged with his shield he bounced right off.
"Sora, we can't get through!" Goofy said. Sora shook his head. "We have to try! Dexal's my best friend! And he needs our help!" he said, and he went back to swinging away at the rubble. "Granted I haven't known any of you for very long, I can see that Dexal is a good person. It would be cruel of us to leave him in the hands of Oogie Boogie," Jack pointed. Out. He cast Blazing Fury and the blast shifted the rocks ever so slightly. "It's working! Come on!" Sora called, and he cast Fira. Donald and Goofy looked at each other before nodding; Jack and Sora were right. They began helping again as well, but then the three stopped when they suddenly felt a wave of dread spread forth, from inside the room. Oogie stopped laughing as well, and said "Huh?" They looked through the hole in the rubble and saw that Dexal was lying on the ground still, but none of the Heartless were even close to him. And they could see why.
Dexal's body was covered with a current of purple electricity, sparking and snapping as his wounds glowed before they were slowly healed. And it was from his body that they felt the dread they were feeling was coming from. "What in the name of Halloween...?" Oogie muttered, before suddenly the current stopped... and a pillar of fire burst into existence around Dexal. The Heartless nearby cried and fell back, some burned from the intense heat. Sora, Donald and Goofy knew what was going on, and were filled with an even greater sense of dread. "Oh no..." Sora said. "What's going on?" Jack asked. "The darkness inside Dexal, it's starting to emerge!" Donald said. "Darkness? What are you talking-" Jack began, but they were cut off by a loud laugh from inside the pillar.
The flames of the pillar faded away to reveal Dexal, and his dark form looked even worse than it did in Agrabah. The blue had left his eyes so that they were the color of blood, his silver hair was as black as night, and his skin was pale and ivory. His nails had also lengthened and sharpened into claws, and his clothes had changed into a pair of black pants, shoes and a tattered sapphire blue shirt. Dexal looked at them curiously. "Interesting," he said, but his voice was sharper, and cold as ice. The other Heartless hesitated, feeling the aura of darkness that was surrounding Dexal. Then he looked up, and smiled at seeing them all around. "Oogie Boogie," he said, and said person froze. "So, you tried to do away with me using these Heartless, hmm? You are a fool; now that I have embraced the darkness once more they don't stand a chance against me," he said.
Oogie tried to act brave, and said "Oh yeah? Crush him!" The Heartless nodded and charged again, but Dexal hold up both his hands. In one Stormfell reappeared, clocked in dark energy, and another Keyblade appeared in his other hand. It was the Void Gear, the Keyblade once carried by Dexal's old enemy Vanitas. He smiled; he had been able to obtain this black and white version of the blade after he had regained his memory after the incident that had caused him to leave Radiant Garden. What was left of Vanitas's spirit still lingered around the Keyblade Graveyard, and although the battle had been hard, he had won and obtained this blade. "What the-? Two Keyblade?" Oogie asked.
Dexal's smile turned feral, and he said "Precisely," before launching himself forward. "Dark Haze!" he called, and he wrapped himself in shadows. He tackled into several Heartless and the darkness leaped onto them, destroying every one that he had hit in seconds. A Defender tried to block with its shield but Dexal slashed his Keyblades in an X and knocked it away, stabbing the Heartless in the stomach. Seeing his new-found strength the others began to retreat, but Dexal smiled and said "You won't get away! Dark Splicer!" He shot through the air and stabbed one Invisible in the chest, before moving through the room again and slashing an Air Soldier at the other end. Any Heartless that tried to escape were instantly cut down, and Dexal relished in their demise.
Oogie began to look genuinely worried as Dexal flew around the room, and began to wonder of he should flee himself. But then Dexal looked at him and smiled, and realized that very thought would spell the end of him. "Time for you to perish!" he called, and he leaped over the Heartless and used an Aeroga spell to propel himself forward. Oogie cried out and ran to the side, but Dexal saw it coming and altered his course. He landed right of front of Oogie, and said "Let's see what you really look like!" He slashed with both the Void Gear and Stormfell, creating pair of holes in Oogie's chest. The bugs that made up his insides began to spill out, and Oogie called "No! No, no, no, nooooo...!" After about a minute all that was left of Oogie was an empty bag, and without Oogie to keep them there the Heartless took the chance to flee, disappearing back into the darkness.
Sora and the others watched in horror from the other side of the rubble, and Dexal saw them. Before he could say anything though, the room began shaking again. Dexal frowned. "Stubborn fool...," he muttered, and pointed the Void gear at the rubble. "Dark Firaga!" he called, and sent a ball of black flame flying at the rubble. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Jack fell back, and the spell exploded against the rubble with such force that it cleared the doorway and left the rocks but dust. Dexal ran out, saying "Oogie is trying to merge with the manor! If you do not wish to be trapped inside, hurry!" They didn't decide to argue, and the whole group ran out. They made it just in time, and looked up too that Oogie had indeed combined his essence with the entire mansion.
"How do we defeat something that big?" Goofy asked. Jack gasped and pointed. "Look! It's brimming with the power of darkness! Oogie is drawing power from those dark globs!" he said. Indeed, the mansion was dotted with dark globs that pulsed with energy. "So we just have to destroy those, right?" Sora asked. Dexal smiled and said "Exactly. Oogie, your time has come!" and he charged forward. Sora and the others didn't know what to do about Dexal, and decided that the only left to do right now was take care of Oogie. Then they could work on freeing Dexal from this darkness.
Dexal has fallen into the dark once more! Oh no! But why is the darkness there in the first place? Will Dexal be able to escape it? Can Sora and the others stop him? Keep reading to find out!
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