Chapter 113: Beginnings of Wrath
The crowd screamed with terror as dark spheres began to shot over the sandy coliseum, the battle arena collapsing as the dark sphere began to crush the piece of surface that it was attached too, as if the sphere was sucking the surface into it like a black hole. It didn't take long for the spheres of darkness to turn away from the destroyed coliseum to the crowd; a maniac's laugh echoes through the arena as the spheres were shot.
"Take this!" Snow was the first to act, jumping in the crowds as he protected the Olympus people, punching the spheres away from the innocents, allowing the dog archer to dispose of them quickly with his bow. "I'll protect these guys. Help your friend." Snow shouted down to the other two before turning back to the crowd, aiding them in their retreat out of the arena.
Hikari and Max jumped into the arena, running up towards their friend to aid him back to his feet before looking back at the former hero. His pale like skin was contrasted to his jet black hair, looking crazier and curlier than the last time the group had seen him. His garments were ripped and slowly being consumed by the familiar shadows of the Unbirth, his skin was cut and covered in bruises as if he had been in a struggle. His orange Greek armour was ripped off, his right silver pauldron was missing as his entire right arm was completely covered in shadows as his fingers were sharp and his forearm held two huge spikes on the side, slightly bigger than the ones on Sora's forearm. If it wasn't for his pulsing golden yellow eyes glaring at them, they would had fought they were looking at a dead corpse. "The Keyblade with sent us all into the darkness!" The hatred rang in his voice as he summoned a barrier around them using Brian's staff. "Why protect them? They will send us to our doom!"
"The Keyblade protects us," Brian groaned slightly as he placed himself back onto his feet with the help of his friends. "Not destroy us. You need to calm down! We can help you."
"WHY WOULD I WANT YOUR HELP?" The newly named Crush raged as he spun Staff of Myths in front of him. "The Light has betrayed me! I can feel the darkness left in me destroying everything I was." His unequipped hand grasped his chest, grasping the shadows that hovered deeply in that area. "So if I'm falling into the dark, then so should every keybladers in the worlds! And if you want to defend those monsters, so be it." He pointed the white engraved staff at its owner as a dark like flame began to form at the end of the staff. "Dark Firaga!"
"Firaga!" Brian fell quickly into his element as he blasted his spells to defect Crush's dark attack. The pace of his spells as Crush began to fire rapidly at the red haired mage.
While the two teens battled their way in a flaming inferno, Hikari and Max began to run their way to Crush's side with their weapons in hand. Hikari was the first to charge at the infected teen, swinging her weapon down on Brian's staff, causing some dark magic to blast into the ground, allowing Brian's attack to strike him on the chest. The teen ignored the damage, bringing his attention towards Hikari as he began to strike at her at a fast rate with the Staff of Myths. Hikari grunted slightly as Crush slammed the staff into her brother's sword, holding her ground with great force.
It wasn't until she saw Max in position that she mustered her strength to push Crush away from her, allowing Max to swiped in and strike. "Stop this!" She told her opponent. "We can help you."
Crush only huffed at the suggestion. "I'm not going to stop just because you've told me too." He growled before blasting a dark sphere towards of the Staff of Myths, preventing Brian from grabbing his weapon.
"You're going to destroy your world at the rate you're going!" Brian growled at the teen, his claw glowing rapidly from under its cover, clicking his claw as he saw Max aiming from the corner of his eyes.
"This isn't my world no more…" Crush's golden eyes looked around his former training ground. "The mighty gods on Olympus themselves allowed this to happen. This world is nothing but a fighting pit!" His voice began to rise again, his hatred growing stronger. "I don't know what I am now but everyone will face my vengeance!" His mind was so focused on his hatred towards his world that he didn't even noticed the flame lit arrow that Max was forming, gasping from the pain in was deep in his shoulder.
Brian didn't waste any time to dive for his beloved staff, allowing him to jump back up with victory. "AH HA!" He cheered as he and his friends pointed their weapon at the black haired teen. "You have no chance now!"
"Magnet." Crush simply said, waving his infected claw as it pulsed to life. He watched with amusement as the three fighters struggled to keep a hold of their weapons before releasing them to hover around his body. He grabbed Eternal Blade from the weapons above him as he smugly smirked at his enemy. "You were saying." He mocked them as he began to cover the blade in hand with darkness.
"NO!" Hikari didn't waste any time to begin her charge towards the fighter. There was no way she was going to let some infected kid destroy her brother's sword. "Let go of that sword!"
"Hikari!" Brian and Max called her back, preventing her from running towards the fighter, only for her to pull out of their grasp. "Hikari! No!"
Crush's expression turned cold as he aimed the darkness covered sword towards the angered girl and fired the weapon without a weapon thought.
Hikari's eyes widened as she quickly dived to the ground to avoid the weapon. As soon as she pushed herself back up through, Crush hovered above her as he was quick to pull her up roughly by her hair before right hooking her, making the tomboy stumble slightly. Her expression only sharpened into a powerful glare as she charged towards him once more. "Take this!" She jumped slightly in the air, kicking Crush across the face.
The teen only growled at the stricken pain to his head, slashing his infected claw at the girl, only to catch her arm. From the corner of his eye he could see her two friends coming towards the fight. "Back away!" A large dark orb appeared in his hands, blasting the unexpected Hikari in the chest, sending her between her two friends, knocking them both down. While Brian only span onto the ground, Hikari was blasted into Max, sending the both of them against the coliseum walls next to the unconscious satyr. Crush chuckled slightly at the quick damage he caused to the girl and the dog being before turning back to the Aversion Endless, only to notice something fall out of the teen's pocket. "What's this?" Crush began to walk over to the object.
"Firaga!" Brian blasted a fireball into the dark boy's chest, making him back away enough for him to grab the broken keychain and place it back in his pocket. He had completely forgotten about his father's chain being in his pocket.
Unfortunately, Crush seemed to recognise the small item as he spoke his anger and hatred. "Is that a keychain?" He looked up at Brian, his rage controlling him as he quickly blocked Brian's attempt of an attack and quickly grabbed the teen by the throat. "You're a keybearer."
"I'm not-" Brian gasped for air.
"LIAR!" Brian felt his entire body crash to the ground, feeling his head make the most impact as his vision began to become blurry, he was losing oxygen. Crush only grinned madly at the sight of Brian's skin turning blue. The barrier around them disappearing as he crushed his claw onto Brian's throat harder. "You'll be the first keyblader to feel the wrath of Crush!"
"THUDERAGA!" A deep, countryside like voice shouted.
Brian gasped for his needed oxygen as he felt Crush release his throat, seeing the heartless like teen get blasted back by a thunder strike. As his vision started to clear up, he looked up to see the mysterious Nightmare making his way onto the arena, showing his pulsing yellow claw with pride. For once, Brian was thankful that the Order was here, seeing that they wanted to stop the boy for destroying the world too.
"What's with the look of surprise, Brian." Nightmare chuckled, grabbing his outfit and ripping it off as it was just a mere wrapping that covered him. The disguise was off, his appearance shown; he lifted Brian up to his feet and threw two Hi-potions towards Max and Hikari's way before looking back at Brian. "Or are you just happy see me?"
"What are you doing here, Abroc?" Brian questioned.
"You should already know why I'm here so don't ask." Abroc replied with a growl as he stepped towards the pale boy. "YOU! You're making us Endless look bad. You're nothing but an infected Heartless." Brian quickly took this time to aid his friends at the side.
"So what if I am?" Crush spat out with venom, his golden yellow eyes glared with the older golden ones.
"Because even though you have all the abilities of a Normal Endless, you are still only infected, you are still not one of us. And since you are not one of us-" Abroc shot his claw out, pulsing madly as he watched Crush gasped in fear while grabbing his chest. "You're not immune to our abilities."
Weapons crashed to the floor as the young boy looked back at Abroc in fear, stumbling back slightly as he held on to his chest lightly. "Leave me be!" He quietly begged. "You've took everything away from me! What more do you want?" The boy cried for mercy.
"You can't defeat us!" Abroc smirked, stepping closer as Crush's fear.
As Brian aided his friends, he looked back to see Crush falling down near where his staff and Max's bow was dropped while Abroc slowly walked up to him, his thunder shaped broadsword appearing from small sparks of lightning. While Brian watched the scenario perform in front of him, he noticed an hidden smirk on Crush's face, his empty claw slowly reaching for Max's weapon. Crush wasn't effected by Abroc's ability, he was faking.
Before anything could be said, Abroc went to strike, only to be blocked by black haired boy, catching the Endless off-guard. Using Max's bow, Crush struck Abroc away from him before yelling out loud, darkness surrounding him as well as a number of sphered coloured lights circling around him. "This coliseum will fall by my hand!"
Vases and Pots from the side-line began to slowly shake in place before beginning to move towards the spinning vortex of darkness lay, as well as a number of weapons that rested on the side. Max had to quickly grab the unconscious Phil from moving towards the vortex before noticing the coloured spheres around the vortex. "Brian!" He shouted to his friend, seeing him keeping a hold on injured Hikari. "Is he using Magnet?" He questioned, knowing to know if he was seeing right.
"Yeah he is." Brian confirmed. "And if we don't stop him, he's going to gather the entire town at this one spot!"
BOWBOWBOW
Sora and Riku didn't waste no time leaving the Underworld after getting their hint of Hades, they were surprised that Hades told them so easily but then Hades didn't what the Order to take over Olympus Coliseum, he wanted to, even if it meant helping the good guys for a change. Of course, they would have been out of the underworld quicker if it wasn't for Hades being up to his no go tricks by sending some Heartless to block their way. The Heartless was a breeze compared to fighting Unbirth and Endless; it didn't take any time to leave the Underworld, their energy intact for the fight headed.
Making their way through the town, they could see the amount of damage that had already been caused while their absence. The crowd were screaming in panic but yet fleeing in an orderly fashion, as if they had had lots of practise in running away. They began to see a number of Unbirths, infecting the town as the familiar shadows seen in the Underworld and other worlds was covering the buildings.
BEEP BEEP!
"Guys! What's going on? The world looks like it's in mayhem from up here." Kairi's voice announced itself from the communicator in Sora's pocket.
Hearing her concerned voice, Sora quickly dug into his pocket and pulled out the communicator. "We've just reached the town—something's not right." Sora asked her, confusion hitting him hard from the sight that he was seeing. This shouldn't be happening, the keyhole was sealed, the Unbirth cannot create their infected shadows for a base.
"I'm coming down there-" Kairi began to move.
"No!" Sora looked at the girl seriously. "You're still hurt. The sooner we get back to the coliseum, the sooner the world will calm. Scan for any sign of Order members, we need to know what we're up again."
"Sora!" Riku quickly jumped in front of his friend, Way to Dawn in hand, as he blocked one of the Unbirths from attack. Using the keyblade, he pushed the Unbirth back and slashed the Unbirth down before looking back at Sora. "We need to get to the coliseum!"
"Right." Sora quickly sent Kairi away before placing the communicator back in his pocket. "Let's go." Summoning the Kingdom Key, the Keyblade Masters began to make their way to the coliseum, taking out Unbirth along the way and aiding the public before reaching the end of the town, leading its way to the coliseum.
"Sora…"
Sora quickly halted and looked around, hearing someone say his name. He checked his surroundings before looking back at Riku, seeing his friend look at him with concern. "Did you hear that?" Sora quickly asked.
"No Sora I didn't." Riku told him, beginning to feel annoyed from Sora's stalling. "C'mon! We need to help the others." He turned back around and ran towards the coliseum once more.
BOWBOWBOW
Abroc only growled at the Heartless' attempt in swallowing the town, disposing of his broadsword before stepping towards the dark vortex, pointing his claw towards the black hole. "Silence!" The Fear Endless spoke, his claw glowing brightly, forced in position as the vortex began to slow down. "Thunder!" He pulled his claw back before thrusting it forwards, shooting a huge thunderbolt from the yellow claw into the centre of the slowing vortex. He smirked as he held a cry as the vortex disbanding, just to see Crush crash into the ground, Max's bow dropping beside him. "You are really something." Abroc laughed as he approached the injured boy, watching as the boy attempted to shout something back at him, only to come out mute.
"Hikari! You okay?" Brian quickly cured her; his eyes were on the scar on her arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Hikari got up to her feet, seeing Abroc slowly approaching the muted teen. "C'mon, we need to help Chris." She quickly ran up to his weapon on the ground, the darkness covering it disappeared from the touch of its wielder.
"What?" Brian looked at her in disbelief. "He's trying to kill us!"
"He's also Hercules and Phil's friend." She reminded him.
Max pointed down to the unconscious satyr in his arms. "I think this is proof that there is no more friendship in Chris's eyes." Max looked back at Abroc and Crush, as he noticed darkness began to form below Crush. "Guys!" He pointed out what was happening to the others.
Crush glared up at Abroc as his wrath began to build up inside him, he may be unable to cast his infected ability but the darkness was aching to be released. It didn't take long for him to blast Abroc away as darkness surrounded the teen, the darkness covering the arena as Heartless began to appear. The Fear Endless summoned his broadsword once more and began to defend himself from the Heartless.
"I think we should stop him before saving him." Brian quickly rushed up to his staff, placing it in his hands as he began to push back the Heartless with the staff before destroying them with a numerous amounts of magic. He looked back to see Hikari by his side, slashing at the Heartless while Max summoned his bow back to his procession.
Abroc groaned with annoyance as he took down another Heartless before looking at Brian. "Brian! Use it!" He shouted over to him, dodging a Heartless' attack. "We can't let him outburst in this state!"
"What are you talking about?" Brian looked at Abroc, clueless of what the Endless was talking about. "Use what?" A quick dodge and water spell was casted at the Neoshadow.
Abroc slashed another Heartless before looking back at the teen as if he was an idiot. "Your Endless Attack!" He shouted to him. Seeing that he wasn't making any sense to the teen, he rephrased it. "That special attacks that Endless use while in their Outburst Mode."
Reminders of Skullo and Lizza's attacks flashed his mind, making him growl at the suggestion. "Why can't you do it?" He question, blocking a Large Body before Hikari jumped behind and distracted it. He watched as Abroc casted Thunderaga on a group of Shadows before showing him his golden claw, dull of colour or life. "I'm not doing it!" Brian quickly pointed his staff near Max, casting fire to take out the shadow sneaking behind him.
"Do you want a rouge?" Abroc raged. Distracted from his conversation with Brian, the Fear Endless didn't have any time to block an attack from the shadow covered Crush, his golden eyes pulsing through the black smog that covered him. The only thing that he could do was block Crush's strikes as he entered a fierce swordfight with the teen. He only hoped that the Aversion Endless will listen to him.
"Guys!" Brian pointed over to the battle going on between Crush and Abroc once more.
"Brian! Go!" Hikari told, earning a look of surprise from the red haired teen. "Me and Max will take care of the Heartless."
Brian quickly nodded to this as he began to run towards the Endless battle with his staff in hand. He halted his pace halfway between each battle, looking at each of them taking on the enemy before looking at his claw, seeing that his was pulsing slightly from the anger he felt towards the Order and Crush for destroying his own home for insane reasons. "God damn it!" He cursed as he lifted his staff up before placing it in an aiming position, holding the end of the staff with his claw before closing his eyes, slowly letting the pulses onto his staff.
"Why won't you just die?" Abroc yelled as he tried to take a hit at Crush, only to gasp in surprise from the sudden orb of darkness that appeared in his face. The blast sent the Endless back, losing his weapon as he made impact on the darkness infected floor. He looked around to see that he was slowly sinking into darkness; he attempted to pull himself out only to fall in deeper.
Brian gasped in shock as he felt his staff vibrate; the markings on his staff glowed red as a red beam began to form at the end of the staff, his claw pulsing rapidly causing the young mage pain. He yelled in pain as he released the red blast forming from his staff, hitting the unexpected Crush as it destroyed the darkness around him and into the stands. The Aversion Endless placed his staff away from his dully coloured claw before looking at it, seeing the markings on it fade back to its original colour in disbelief.
Hikari and Max watched as the Heartless and the darkness disappeared, turning their attention to see Crush unconscious on the stands. They both sighed in relief at the sight. "That was close." Looking around the broken arena while the sounds of battle outside the coliseum, hearing familiar voices cast spells. Hikari seemed to be the first to pick up on the voices but the sight of Abroc kept her mouth closed. Hikari quickly elbowed Max, grabbing his attention as she watched Abroc silently make his way towards the unconscious crush, sword in hand. "What are you doing?" She questioned him, catching Brian's attention away from his claw.
Abroc groaned slightly before facing the three. "You and I both agree that Crush is too dangerous for the worlds." He began to explain. "So it's best to get rid of the creature before it causes more trouble."
"But we can help him with the cure!" Max told him.
Abroc only laughed at this. "You're still going along with the Devon Boys little item chase?" He said in disbelief. "Those items will do nothing for you." His expression turned back to an serious one. "The kid is long gone now. He is a danger to the Order and to you. It's for the best." He turned back to the unconscious boy.
"Get away!" Brian stepped forward, blasting a fire spell at Abroc's shoulder blade, making the Endless stumble slightly from the impact.
"You're going to regret that…" Abroc muttered deadly before jumping back down from the stands and back on the arena, slamming Max to the floor. Pulling his sword to Max's neck, he was surprised to see a spell coming from the side of him. He turned his attention away from the dog teen and placed his sights on the oncoming keybearers. "Well, look who has arrived. The Captain and the Keyblade Master." Abroc only smirked.
Riku and Sora quickly stood by their friends, knowing full well that they didn't have time to question what was Abroc doing here or why Chris was unconscious in the stands, they needed to protect this world and the sooner Abroc is gone, the more information they can get on the plans the Order have. "Do the wise thing, Sergeant. Give in." Sora offered him.
"Or what?" Abroc questioned with an cunning smirk on his face.
"Don't ask!" Brian taunted, earning snickers from the others.
Abroc's smirk dropped off his face as electrical charges began to form off him. "You don't stand a chance against me!" The Endless surrounded an electrical barrier to surround them. "Especially if you can't even face your own fears." His claw glowed rapidly.
A/N: This chapter is painful. Next is properly going to be more painful :( Right! The battle of Fear is next. YAY! Will the group be able to save Chris from his dark fate or will they get trapped in their own fears….we'll just have to see.
Kingdommad