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.54 World Terminus

After the four of us made our way through the Giant Crevasse we ended up in the World Terminus, consisting of several areas that led to facsimiles of the worlds we had previously encountered. There was Traverse Town, Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, and more. Currently we were situated in a replica of the Deep Jungle, fighting off a wave of Heartless. "Die!" I said, and I slashed at a Powerwild. But it leaped away, dodging my attack. Sora was there though, and slashed with Oathkeeper. The Powerwild let out a cry of surprise before fading away. A Bouncywild glared at him and fired a rock from its slingshot, hitting his in the back pf the head. "Ow!" Sora said, and looked around the culprit. Before he could attack it the Bouncywild leaped onto a tower of crates, out of his reach.

"Oh no you don't!" Donald said, and cast Firaga. The Bouncywild leaped over it, but while it was still in the air Sora cast Graviga. The Heartless was smashed against the ground where Goofy smashed his shield against it, destroying it. We heard a growl and turned to see that a Stealth Sneak had appeared during the commotion, and it vanished as soon as I saw it. "Over there!" I said, and I cast Thundaga Shot. But the Stealth Sneak had apparently moved, because my spell kept going until it hit a wall and dissolved into a blast of sparks. "Where'd it go?!" Donald said, before something suddenly punched him in the side hard enough to send him flying. He hit that crate tower and fell to the ground, buried under the boxes when they collapsed. "Donald!" Goofy called, and he ran to help him out of the pile.

But when he ran close the invisible Heartless gave Goofy an uppercut to the stomach, launching him skyward. I glared at the spot where the Stealth Sneak was, and said "Alright, that's it! Deep Freeze!" I spun my Keyblade over my head and the air temperature around us plummeted, until everything was covered in a fine coating off- including the Heartless. It realized that it's cover was blown and decided to attack, charging at Sora. But he rolled out of the way and cast Firaga, this time hitting his target. The Heartless cried out in pain at being burnt and lost its invisibility. Goofy managed to stand and help Donald out of the wreckage, who cast Aeroga on them both. "Let's get 'em!" Donald said, and he cast Blizzaga and Stopga. While the second spell failed the first one did not, smashing against the Heartless's side.

The Stealth Sneak glared at him and began to swing back for another punch when I used Blitz, jumping up and smashing Stormfell against that hand. There was a crack as bones were broken, and the Heartless yelled in agony. It turned to look at me and I hit it again, this time across face. The Stealth Sneak fell back and it delivered the third hit, striking the same hand as before and further ruining. The Heartless tried to hit me with its tail but I ducked, and watched as Sora came close. "This is it!" he said, and used Ars Arcanum. His Keyblade glowed gold before he unleashed a blinding fury of hit all over the Stealth Sneak's body, ending with a single blow to the head that caused the glow to wink out. The resulting explosion caused a dent of the Heartless's skull, and it moaned weakly before falling forward, it eyes darting in random directions as it died.

Now that the last Heartless was dead the area was filled with bright flash, before we ended up back in the World Terminus. The device to warp us to the next area was now working, and so we kept going. The last portal took us to an area that I guess was Hollow Bastion, but even I had never seen it before. The path behind us that led back was a single hallway that faded into darkness as it grew farther, and a short distance ahead was a giant Heartless emblem that wouldn't allow passage. The most surprising part however, was that there were no Heartless. "What the-? Where'd they go?" Donald said, looking around. "Maybe they're waiting for us to do something," Goofy suggested. We walked forward with caution, and once we neared the Heartless crest I saw a small side-room. "Hey guys, come check this out," I said, and I walked inside.

Within the room was a strange mechanical device with several pod-like devices, and the walls were covered with holes of darkness. The monitor was flickering faintly, and I could see text appear on it. "Gawrsh, what does it say?" Goofy asked. "Let's see..." I said, and I looked closely at the screen. "Ones born of the heart and darkness, devoid of hearts, ravage all worlds and bring desolation. Seize all hearts and consummate the great heart. All hearts to be one, one heart to encompass all. Realize the destiny: the realm of Kingdom Hearts. The great darkness sealed within the great heart. Progeny of darkness, come back to the eternal darkness. For the heart of light shall unseal the path. Seven hearts, one keyhole, one key to the door. The door of darkness, tied by two keys. The door to darkness to seal the light. None shall pass but shadows, returning to the darkness. Ones born of the heart and darkness, hunger for every heart until the dark door opens."

I stood there, staring at the screen. These few lines had given me more information that Ansem's entire report. So this was what Ansem had planned all along. He planned to have the Heartless consume the hearts of every world they could find, and when they did all of those hearts would return to Kingdom Hearts, the greatest heart of all. Using the seven princesses, the Keyhole, and the Keyblade he planned to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, and the resulting flood of darkness would give him power unlimited. I realized then the gravity of our task, having not thought about it until now. "If we don't defeat Ansem, the worlds will be swallowed in darkness," I said. "Well, then we just have to beat him!" Sora said, smiling courageously. I nodded, grateful for the encouragement, but then suddenly an influx of Heartless appeared all around us.

There were four Defenders, three Neoshadows, and two Darkballs. At their appearance we all took a step back, raising our weapons. As one the Heartless all tensed, before shooting forward. The two Darkballs immediately fell, slain by Sora and me. Donald froze one of the Neoshadows while Goofy and a Defender charged each other, their shields clashing and pushing. The face of the Defender's shield growled and snapped at Goofy, its fangs striking sparks off of his shield. Goofy frowned and said "I'm not goin' down like that!" He pushed and the Defender pushed back, the two of them in a stalemate. That is, until another Defender came in and shoved Goofy from behind. He fell forward and the Defender in front took that chance, overpowering him.

"Goofy! Hold on!" I called, and I cast Triple Blizzaga at the Defender behind him. They bounced off of its shield, but it was enough to turn the monster's attention from Goofy to me. It ran at me and I smiled Zero Graviga, sending it into the air. The Defender kicked its legs as it tried in vain to land back on the ground, and Sora blasted it to ashes with Firaga. Goofy was on the ground after having been overpowered, and his shield was knocked. Both the Defender above him and the face on its shield smiled, before jabbing at him. But Goofy smiled and rolled, grabbing the Heartless's ankle and casting Thunder. He wasn't as good at magic as the others, but he was good enough to shock the Heartless and make it stop, giving him enough time to stand and grab his weapon. He slammed it down on the Defender's head and finally defeated it.

I attacked a Neoshadow with Spark Raid and destroyed it, while Sora blocked a swipe from another and countered with Sonic Blade. Donald destroyed the third Defender with a combination of Graviga, Aeroga, and Thundaga. Now all that was one more Defender and one Neoshadow. The Neoshadow dropped into the ground and tried to escape, but I called "Not a chance!" I cast Quake and the ground beneath the Neoshadow burst into shards, causing the Heartless to rise from the ground and hit the ceiling. It fell back down right onto the point of Sora's Oathkeeper, impaling itself on it. The Heartless faded away, and Donald and Goofy came from either side of the last Defender, hitting it with Rocket and Blizzaga at the same time. Like before, the moment the last Heartless faded we were blinded by light, and ended up back in the World Terminus.

Rather than a portal to an area further ahead through, the area where the gateway to Hollow Bastion had been now possessed a large hole. I looked down and saw that below was what appeared to be a mountain, one that gave off a sinister aura. "Well, looks like to go forward we have to go down. You guys ready?" I asked, looking back at the others. They all nodded, and one at a time we leaped through the hole. Below was an area composed a single large mountain and nothing else, save for swirling green and black clouds around the edge. As we fell I began to see sparkles of light appear from our bodies, and I realized that we could fly here. "Fly, guys!" I said. They did as I said and we stopped, hovering in midair. It was a good thing too, because at that moment the top of the mountain rumbled before a pillar of flame erupted, a dark shape rising from it.

So this was the cause of that sinister aura. The dark shape stood at is full height, which was that of a skyscraper, and spread a pair of equally massive wings. Now I knew what it was- Chernabog. Said demon glared at us and roared. I got the message: If we wanted to go any further, it would be through him. Despite that, I smiled and held up Stormfell. "Time to die!" I said, and I flew at him.

Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, but the next one will contain the battle against full. And as we wind ever closer to the final confrontation, I bid you all to stay tuned!

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