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.47 Plunge into Darkness
I grunted and blocked a strike from Riku, pushing him back. He leaped away and ducked, avoiding a Fira spell from Donald. He swung and nearly caught the duck with a blow to the knee, but Goofy blocked that with his shield, striking sparks. Sora prepared to use Sonic Blade and I did the same, both of us shooting forward at the same time. Riku grunted as he stopped Sora, but since he did that he was left wide open for me. With a cry, I sped past him while giving him a cut to the side. He cried out in pain and glared at me, using his free hand to charge a Dark Firaga spell. He pushed Sora away and fired it. I replied with a Firaga of my own, and the two collided in midair. Each spell pushed against the other, before finally exploding in a blast that caused the ground to vibrate slightly, as well as create lots of smoke.
Sora called "Wind!" and cast Aerora on himself, blowing away any smoke around him. Donald did the same and also cast one of Goofy, while decided to do something different. "Vanish!" I called, pointing my Keyblade towards the ceiling. With a flash my body turned invisible, and I ran deeper into the smoke. I saw Riku exchanging blows with Sora, while also kicking away Goofy, who had tried to charge him. I smiled and ran behind him, casting Blizzara and hitting him in the back with a chunk of ice. He shouted and countered a blow from Sora, causing him to jump back. Now that he was free he looked around, but I was completely invisible. I ran to the side and cast Thundara, firing a bolt of lightning. It hit him and his body crackled with electricity. He looked my way, and said "I see your trick now. And it won't work!" he called.
He jumped towards me and I backed up, but then he hit the ground hard enough to send smoke outwards in every direction. It parted on either side of my body, and Riku smirked. "Got ya!" he said, and jumped again. But when I rolled to the side he saw how the smoke was moving because of me, and slashed. His Soul Eater cut me on the arm and I cried out, my roll ending terribly and with me on the ground. The Vanish spell flickered and faded, and I stood. "Not bad, Riku. I see I taught you well on the islands," I said. He scoffed. "What you taught me were only the basics. The things I've learned since I left were what truly made me stronger," he said. At that I felt a pang of sadness; he truly was so deep in darkness as to believe that. "The dark may make you stronger, but only if you can control it. But now it controls you," I said, casting Quake.
Chunks of rock burst from the floor and Riku jumped away, having been nearly struck by them. Donald was waiting and cast Gravity, while Goofy used Rocket. The spell made him pause but didn't flatten him, and that pause gave Goofy the time to hit him. Riku fell back and nearly lost his balance, before recovering it and using Dark Firaga again, this time on Donald. He tried to dodged but the spell hit his tail feathers, catching them on fire. "Oww, that's hot! Hot! Hot! Hot!" Donald called, running around at such speed he kicked up a cloud of dust behind him. I rolled my eyes and cast Stop on him, putting out the flames with a simple Blizzard spell. Riku tried to stop me with a running kick, but I grabbed his foot and threw him to the side, aiming for one of the stone pillars.
But he twisted so that he could launch himself against the pillar, shooting at Sora with increased speed. Sora blocked him but was forced to take a step back. Riku pushed him harder and dropped to the ground, planting his feet as well to push even harder. The two of them gritted their teeth as they pushed, each of them trying overcome the other. "Just give it up, Sora. I was always stronger than you, and that'll never change," Riku said. Sora was silent for a moment, trying to hold his ground, before saying "Even if that's true, there's at least one quality I have that you don't." Riku raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?" he asked. "The unwillingness, and the refusal... to ever give up!" Sora yelled, taking a step forward. Riku's eyes grew wide as he was forced to take a step back, and then another, and another.
Sora kept gaining speed until he was charging, Riku backpedaling to keep his balance. With a shout he shoved Riku back and he did falter, and Sora used that moment to swing his Keyblade upwards, cutting him from the right side of his waist, across his chest, and up to his left shoulder. Riku screamed in pain and fell back, dropping to one knee. His body was enveloped in darkness before it returned to normal, his dark outfit having faded away. I stepped forward and pointed Stormfell at him. "It's over, Riku," I said. Riku looked up and glared at me, before turning and rising to his feet, running away. I started to go after him, before stopping. Nothing I did would help him now.
From behind the heard the sounds of feet and turned to see that the Beast had come back. "So, your heart won this battle," he said. Sora nodded. "Well c'mon fellas, we gotta go after Riku!" Goofy said. "Right," I said. We ran up the steps, but at the end of the hallway we saw something made us all groan. The door ahead was locked, and on it was a Heartless crest with four different slots. "How much you want to bet we have to find those to keep going?" I said. Donald rolled his eyes. "Well, let's start on that. Once we've found all the pieces, we can get going!" Donald said. We all nodded, and moved out to find them.
Beyond the door Riku kept running, until he finally stopped in the middle of the Castle Chapel. "Why? It was mine!" he said to himself. It was impossible. He had always been stronger than Sora. He was stronger than Sora. So why did the Keyblade still choose that loser? Then, out of nowhere, he heard a voice say "Know this." He stopped; the voice had come from behind him. Riku turned around, and he saw that a figure wearing a brown hooded cloak with a hunched back was standing before him. "The heart that is strong and true shall win the Keyblade," the figure continued, its voice deep and male. "What? You're saying Sora's heart is stronger than mine?" Riku demanded.
"For that instant, it was. However, you can become stronger. You showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. It held no terror for you. Plunger deeper into the darkness, and your heart will grow even stronger," the stranger promised. "What should I do?" Riku asked. "It's really quite simple. Open yourself to darkness. That is all. Let your heart, your being, become darkness itself," the hooded figure said. Riku hesitated for a long moment, unsure. Then he slowly nodded, and his body began glowing with power.
"...And that!" I yelled, striking down a Defender from behind. The being looked back at me before falling forward, its massive shield clattering against the ground beside it. We were currently situated on a giant life that was moving across the front of the castle, reaching the other end. As we were in one place and moving very slowly, the Heartless saw it fit to swarm us while we were stuck on the lift. To prove my point three Wyverns rose over the edge, all of them glaring at us. "Will these things quit attacking?!" Donald yelled, casting Gravira. The spell hauled the two that had made it over the lift down onto it, while the third was pulled down to the depths below. A few seconds later, a heart rose into the air.
"We just have to hold them off until we reach the end of the path!" Sora said, halting a pair of Red Nocturnes with Stopra. They froze in midair and Sora used Ars Arcanum, slashing through them with hit after hit before using the last hit to slice a Neoshadow behind them in two. One of the Wyverns tried to get up and I used Glacier, freezing it before sending the frozen Heartless into its allies. It shattered and the Wyvern vanished, along with the Large Body it had crashed into. When I did that two Wizards tried to attack me from behind, but the Beast roared and grabbed them, smashing them into each other. I looked back and nodded my thanks, looking forward and charging again.
I could see the end of the lift getting closer and closer; we have had to hold out a little while longer. But I could see that Sora and the others were starting to get fatigued, burnt out from fighting the swarm of Heartless that wouldn't stop coming. I grunted and jumped into the air, calling "Meteor Crash!" and slamming Stormfell into the ground. A rain of flaming rocks came down with me, crashing against the Heartless around us with ground-shaking force. The lift shuddered and I decided not to do that again, opting instead to blast away a trio of Blue Rhapsodies with Triple Firaga. With a groan of stone against stone the lift finally stopped, having reached the other end of the castle. When that did the Heartless began to back off, seeing that their window had been lost.
Once they were all gone I looked at the other, saying "We're here." Sora stabbed his Fairy harp into the ground and used it stand, while Donald groaned. "Why do Heartless always have to come at us like a stampede?" he wondered aloud. I smirked and decided to help his ego for once, saying "Because they know we're too strong to lose otherwise." That made him blink in confusion, before smiling and puffing out his chest. "Oh, uh, yeah! You're right! Those pesky Heartless won't stop me!" he said, walking off the lift and marching forward. Sora rolled his eyes while Goofy and chuckled, and Beast simply drank a Potion to get rid of any injuries he had. On the other end of the castle was the entrance to the Castle Chapel, where we walked in.
Further in, in the room where the unconscious Kairi was laying inside a purple pod, Maleficent raised her arms. "Princesses of Heart, hear my command! Reveal to me the Keyhole!" she called. Below were six pods, each containing one of the Princesses, and from each of the chests a beam of light shot into the air. They met in the center of the air and combined as one, firing past Maleficent and hitting a large opening shaped like a Heartless crest. She turned to look at it, and from a portal of darkness Riku emerged. He was back in his dark suit, and possessed a far more evil look in his eyes than before. When he spoke both his voice and another came out, saying "So, I see the path has emerged at last."
"Yes. The Keyhole to the darkness," Maleficent said, smiling. "Unlock it, and the Heartless will overrun this world," he told her. "What do I care? The darkness holds no power over me. Rather, I will use its power to rule all worlds," she said. "Such confidence," Riku replied. Then suddenly a Keyblade appeared in his hand. This Keyblade was different though- it had an aura about it that radiated darkness. "Oh?" Maleficent said, seeing it. Riku smirked and pointed it at the Keyhole, waiting for it to unlock and flood Hollow Bastion with darkness. But... nothing happened. "Impossible! The princesses of heart are all here!" Maleficent cried in outrage. Then she looked back, and remembered about Kairi. "It must be her," she said. "Without her heart, she will never be able to release her power," Riku said.
It was then she senses us in the Castle Chapel, and said "Dexal and the king's fools are here. I'll deal with them myself. You stay here and guard the princesses." To that Riku said nothing, but merely walked forward. Maleficent vanished in a burst of green flames, appearing moments later in front of us in the Chapel. "I'm afraid you're too late. Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable," she gloated. I drew my Stormfell. "I hate to break to you, you witch, but we're going to put a stop to it," I said. "Dexal's right! After coming this far, there's no way we're going going to let that happen!" Sora said, summoning his Keyblade. The others prepared for battle as well, and Maleficent laughed. "You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat me? Me, the mistress of all evil?!" she called.
The ground shook and suddenly a chunk of it broke off, rising into the ground with Maleficent on top of it. At the same time several Heartless appeared, their eyes all trained on us. Despite all of that, we cried out and charged.
Not only has Riku been possessed, but now the group has to fight Maleficent as well! Can they defeat them both?
Please review! If you flame me Liam Neeson will look for you, he will find you, and he will kill you. (I'm just kidding... or am I?)