Chapter 49

[Play Boku no Hero Academia OST Analysis]

As Recovery Girl was checking on Reiko and Shihai in the temporary nurse's office, the students were discussing with each other as they waited for the next pair of students to show up. The topic of discussion was definitely keeping them occupied though. The previous two matches were impossible not to talk about, and not because of the action.

The first match with Axel was more or less of an introduction to a situation that was unexpected, yet not impossible. A Villain with the same type of quirk and control over said quirk as a top ranking Pro Hero. To say that Axel was like Endeavor was an understatement. There was no doubt that aside from their physical builds, and personalities, they're practically the same guy. Both are absurdly strong fire users that are ridiculously hard to combat, as well as quick and efficient with their fire.

Then there was Ansem. A man with such a terrifying quirk, that its primary function had to be disabled in order for there to even be a slight chance of success. But even without the ability to possess someone, which in itself is disturbing, the fact that he can use the quirks of any people he possesses, inside or outside of their body is just frankly unfair. And that's not even mentioning the fact that he's part Heartless, which just makes his dark powered quirk even more unfair. Pretty much all of the students present had unanimously agreed that if they ever encountered the real Anesm, then they would have most likely been killed or taken over with ease.

As the students were talking, Kinoko Komori and Kojiro Bondo entered the room, ready to take their practical. Of course 1-B, Sora and some of 1-A gave them their good lucks, to which Kinoko confidently accepted, while Kojiro just shyly nodded at the support. Then the two got onto the platform and were transported into the datascape.

[Silence]

The two 1-B students materialized and the first thing they saw was that they were in an elevated area. Not only that, but they were specifically on stone. They took a moment to scan their surroundings and were able to figure out that they were in some mountain zone.

Some of the students in the real world recognized the place as the same area that Minoru and Hanta fought Larxene, but now it would be used for this practical.

Elsewhere in the datascape, a boy in a mask was materialized.

[Play KH BBS OST Drops Of Poison]

Once the boy in the mask was seen by the students in the real world, they once again noticed the lack of a black coat. This time however, said masked boy had a unique, almost organic looking red and black bodysuit, with a few belts holding up a ripped cloth that wrapped around his waist and had the same black and red color pattern.

Most of the students' primary thought was that this guy just screamed edgy. But then the students noticed something else. Unlike the Organization member's they've seen so far, that were all middle aged or young adults. The masked boy looked as young as they were, maybe even a little younger.

Sora involuntarily formed a fist in his left hand as he growled "Vanitas..."

The students close to Sora, immediately noticed the change of tone that Sora had, and then Ochako asked him. "Hey, are you okay?"

Sora immediately calmed himself down and then said "Yeah, just...he's a familiar face that I really don't like seeing again."

"Wait a second. Out of everyone we've seen so far, including Xemnas who physically scarred you, and Ansem, who is just a really morbid guy, THIS guy gets you riled up?" Tetsutetsu pointed out.

"I watched Vanitas terrorize thousands of children to near death, then he bragged about it to my face, before almost killing me with a single strike." Sora recounted his first encounter with Vanitas. "Then he goes on to almost kill one of my friends right in front of me. And then just before he dies, he talks about how he's proud of it and doesn't regret anything at all. Everyone else in the organization, even Ansem and Xemnas, felt some kind of regret or accepted that they were in the wrong. Vanitas was the only one that didn't, even when I talked to him before he died."

When everyone heard that, not only were they surprised, but they were also angry as well. The teachers knew that Sora didn't like Vanitas, but he never told them specifically why. But now that they've heard of what Vanitas did, they could all understand exactly why Sora would not like seeing him again. Then the announcement went off. "Team Komori and Bondo, Practical Exam. Ready? Go!"

[Play KH2.5 Remix OST Sunset Horizons]

In the datascape, Kinoko and Kojiro began moving away from their starting position and were looking for the best way to scale down the elevated mountain side they were on. From their vantage point, they were able to see the exit, but in order to get there, they needed to be careful, as neither of their Quirks would really help them in this situation, as mushrooms from Komori won't cushion their weight, and the glue like substance from Bondo will just get them stuck in place. They looked around for a moment and found a section that was slanted enough for a downward climb. It would take them in the opposite direction of where they needed to be, but they really didn't have any other options.

Kinoko went first, both because she was a bit more eager to pass the practical, and because she doesn't want to chance an upskirt, even though her partner isn't a pervert. Kojiro then loosely followed her, making sure she had space to climb back up if she needed to. While they needed to look down in order to see where they needed to safely plant their feet, it didn't really help them when they saw how high they were. They were lucky that neither of them had any kind of fear of heights, or they would be getting some serious vertigo right now. In spite of the long distance they were from ground level, they continued their track down anyway, to at least get to safe and level ground.

Off in the distance on the peak of another elevated and steep rock, Vanitas sat and watched them climb down the side of the mountain. He had orders to guard a gate, but those orders didn't mean much to him. He'll guard the gate, but only if someone gets close to it. He was more interested in the only pair of people that he could sense right now. The anxiety coming off of them, as well as the slight discomfort allowed him to detect them, but when he saw the pair from where he was, he knew that this task was just beneath him. He watched the pair as they wandered around the other rocks in their way until they stopped a dozen yards away from the exit.

Vanitas could already tell from the emotions that he was feeling from them that they were likely looking for a guard, feeling their doubt and uneasiness. The masked boy then stood up and measured the distance from him to them, before summoning Void Gear and then taking a leap towards the pair of people that were nearby the gate. The two didn't realize it yet, but they were about to have an extreme encounter that will either toughen them up if they endure, or break them permanently.

[Silence]

Over at the exit, Komori went forward first, still skeptical about how easy this practical was for her and her partner. Bondo loosely followed, feeling very tense, like something should have happened a while ago. As the pair got closer to the exit, the uneasiness only grew.

Suddenly a small whooshing sound could be heard from behind them, and as Kojiro turned around, he saw a black and red blur just blitz past him, then he heard a slash and Kinoko yelp. The boy quickly turned around and then saw his partner's body fly towards him. Before he could even react to it, her body slammed into him and the two were sent back a good distance before tumbling on the rocky surface.

Komori grabbed her stomach and winced in pain, as Bondo rubbed the back of his head, then the two of them looked at their opponent and saw the weapon he had in his hands.

[Play KH3 OST Enter The Darkness (OST Version) ] A.N. There's apparently two versions of this track in KH3. A piece of this was used during the cutscene where Vanitas shot Ven's body with fire and had Aqua use her body to block the attack. I found the full version of it.

Back in the real world, the rest of the students present also immediately noticed the weapon as well. It looked like a gear themed Keyblade with eyes on the keychain, the center of the gear on the tip of the blade and hilt. Before any of the students could dismiss it as just a design choice, Present Mic spoke up. "The Masked Boy, Vanitas! His Quirk, Nega Summon. Similarly to Sora, he can summon key themed weapons, as well as elemental based attacks like fire, ice, electricity and what not. But unlike Sora, his summoning gets stronger with negative emotions."

As the students then realized that Vanitas had a quirk almost identical to Sora's, their views on Vanitas changed from just anger, to both anger and fear. They've seen what Sora can do with his quirk, and if this guy was able to almost kill Sora with that power, then they were glad that he was dead in the present time.

Back in the datascape, the pair of 1-B students pushed themselves to their feet and got ready for combat. Kinoko with her dual shroom themed spray bottles and Kojiro with his eye holes. Vanitas then spoke up, as he got into his battle stance "Ok then. Let's see what you're made of."

The masked boy just stood there and waited for the two to make a move, while also soaking in their inherent fear they were trying to hide. He liked the negativity, but he also didn't want to get bored too quickly.

Bondo made the first move by spraying a large amount of glue from his eye holes, but Vanitas just cartwheeled to the side and avoided it. "Too slow." He taunted as he then pointed his Keyblade towards the big guy and sent out a crawling fire. The glue spraying Hero in training initially covered his face and braced, but then noticed that the fire was approaching him at a very slow pace. He then thought that he could maybe just keep track of it for the match, but then that fire split into five smaller and much faster fireballs, which then all hit him head on and blasted him back.

Before Komori could even call her partner's name, Vanitas warped above and behind her then swung Void Gear down her back until it slammed into the ground and froze the ground below her, freezing her feet and keeping her in place as she yelped in pain once again.

Kojiro heard that as he pushed himself back to his feet and was the condition of his partner. Vanitas saw the boy and was about to head over to him, but before he could do so, he saw droplets get sprayed onto his mask, by something, and then suddenly the outside of his mask began to swiftly grow mushrooms that blocked his vision.

"Got you!" Kinoko exclaimed before turning to her partner. "Get him now, Bondo!"

The glue themed Hero in training nodded and charged forward with the cuffs in his hands, ready to end the match, but then suddenly, Vanitas slashed upwards as he backflipped away from where he was, creating a dark energy wave that forced Kojiro back and broke the chains on the cuffs, rendering them useless. "Ah!..." he yelled out in panic.

Vanitas then quickly ripped off the mushrooms on his mask so he could see again, and then noticed Komori spraying the ice on her feet, as well as mushrooms quickly growing from them, before she managed to slip her feet and shoes out of the mushroom covered ice. The girl then looked at him and got ready to spray him again if he got close.

Thanks to that show, Vanitas figured out who blinded him and planned to take her out. He ran forward towards the two. When Bondo let out more glue from his eye holes, The Masked Boy then jumped up, saying "Nope." before Void Gear began to emit dark thunder magic from it. While in the air, he then slashed horizontally towards the two and the dark thunder magic whipped out of the blade like an extension, slashing the two students and giving them both a shock.

As the dark Keyblade wielder landed in front of Kinoko, she attempted to spray him again, but when she let out the spray in his sprayers, he was no longer there. She then felt something strike her back hard and she was then sent flying forward. As she was still in the air, Vanitas then warped in front of her and then slammed his blade down on her body, bringing her back to the floor a few feet from the exit.

It was so fast that Kojiro didn't even see it happen, but when he saw the aftermath, he already knew that he had to hurry and help his partner. "L-Leave her alone!" Bondo yelled out, which caught Vanitas' attention. The glue themed boy ran forward towards his opponent.

The Masked Boy then kicked the girl's body to the side of the gate before turning his attention to the other student and sending out another crawling fire. Kojiro kept running forward, ready to use his quirk, then when the crawling fire split into five fireballs, he used his quirk and blasted a huge amount of glue from his eye holes, creating a glue barrier that he instantly dried up to make solid. The fireballs hit the barrier and destroyed it, but left him untouched as he continued his charge forward.

"Pathetic." Vanitas said as he then jumped into the air and dived into the ground, leaving a small fire where he was. Then that small fire on the ground began to quickly move towards the glue themed Hero in training. Bondo shot glue on the ground between him and the fire, but the fire just ignored the glue and continued under it. As soon as the fire was just under the boy's feet, Vanitas then came out of it, spinning and dropping dozens of fireballs around him. "Gocha."

"N-Not yet!" Kojiro yelled out as he once again sprayed glue above him and used it to block the fireballs that were coming towards him. He couldn't stop them all, but he stopped enough of them so that he could still fight.

"Hmm. Playtime's over then." Vanitas simply said as he blitzed towards the boy.

Back at the exit to the datascape, Kinoko groaned before opening her eyes. That last attack that Vanitas did to her knocked her out for a moment, she felt hurt all over, but then she heard what sounded like a fight a dozen yards away from her. She looked to where she heard the fight and saw that it wasn't actually that.

Bondo was literally getting beaten around by Vanitas, his costume was cut up in some spots, his face looked roughed up and he looked like he was about to collapse. Komori then saw Vanitas quickly get to her partner and continue beating him with his weapon. The girl knew she had to do something, but the cuffs were destroyed. She then remembered that there was another way to win, and she was lucky enough to have been left right next to the gate.

Kojiro was sent flying back and then skidded to a halt on the ground, groaning in absolute agony. He coughed a few times before he felt a hand grip the neck portion of his costume and then drag him back up to Vanitas' eye level. The Masked Boy then spoke up. "Any last words, white wash?" The glue themed boy couldn't speak at this point, due to the pain he was feeling everywhere.

Just as Vanitas was about to deliver the final blow though, he heard another yelp of pain come from behind him, and he looked back to see the girl, not only standing, but struggling to get through the gate that he was assigned to guard. The mushroom themed Hero in training noticed that the fighting stopped behind her and just uttered out "Crap..."

Vanitas then let go of Bondo and was about to dash towards Komori, but then the glue themed Hero in Training managed to shoot out more glue, which distracted the dark Keyblade wielder as he had to dodge that first. To make sure that he didn't have to deal with any more glue, he pointed Void Gear at Kojiro's face and then casted Dark Blizzard in the spot where his eye holes were, freezing the top part of his face and making him collapse to the ground.

Kinoko was inches from the exit as she heard "There's no escape!" and then heard the sound of someone sprinting towards her. Just as the footsteps were about right behind her, she turned around and pulled her spray guns in front of her, but before she could use them, Vanitas slashed them out of her grip with his weapon. The girl fell back through the gate and just as Vanitas yelled out "Write!" and thrusted his weapon towards her chest, she dematerialized from the datascape.

[Silence]

As soon as she disappeared, Vanitas noticed and exclaimed "Huh!? Where'd she go?"

As soon as he said that, an announcement went off. "Team Komori and Bondo have passed the finals."

[Play KH DDD OST Distant From You]

In the real world, once Kinoko was materialized, she fell to the ground and landed with a thud and a groan. Sora and the 1-B girls went to help her, and as soon as Recovery Girl left the temporary nurse's office, she saw the mushroom themed girl's condition, sighed and got ready to deal with yet another injured student.

Back in the now dematerializing datascape, Vanitas just looked up for a moment, before looking towards Kojiro and saying "Hmm. You win." in a very unimpressed tone. Just as he was about to dematerialize, he said "Consider yourself lucky." Then he went back to being ones and zeros.

The glue themed boy was then transported back to the real world and helped out by all the boys in 1-B that were there, who helped him to the temporary nurse's office. Once he and his partner were there, the rest of the students ended up discussing Vanitas and what he did to the two of them.

"That was...brutal." Rikido commented.

"That is an understatement." Fumikage said.

"Out of all the fights I've seen, none were as brutal as that." Itsuka pointed out.

"It was so unmanly." Kirishima berated. "At least for the other fights, the Organization knew when enough was enough."

"Yeah. That guy, Vanitas...he didn't stop at all after he got surprised by the mushrooms on his mask." Toru stated.

"And keep in mind, he was altered to be not as powerful as he actually used to be." Momo pointed out.

The students then remembered that point and had two thoughts about that. First off, they thought about how even though they were still winning the fights in the practical, they were made to be barely winnable. The fact that practically every fight boiled down to luck or the enemy making a mistake proved that all of the students here still had a long way to go.

Secondly, they thought about the final match that Sora was going to have. It was stated by the principal that Sora himself fought all of the members that the class had faced and were facing. If Sora could fight and beat these guys at their full power, not only were they going to see how strong Sora had gotten since the Sports Festival, but they were also going to see just how powerful that an actual member of the Organization was, without restrictions.

But before that could be seen, two more matches were left, and one was about to start as Pony Tsunotori and Sen Kaibara entered the room and were ready to start their test. As the pair got onto the platform and were being sent into the datascape, they each got their words of encouragement from Sora and their classmates. As soon as the two were transported into the datascape, the students then watched the screens.

[Silence]

As the pair of 1-B students materialized, they took in their surroundings. The first thing they noticed was that they were standing on dirt. Just that, and it spanned across the whole area. The second thing they noticed was that there were construction vehicles scattered about as well. That was it really, just dirt and some construction vehicles. The gate could be seen straight ahead, though it was a very long distance away.

[Play KH3 OST Strange Whispers -cutscene-]

A hundred yards in front of the gate, data was converging into one place until the data formed yet another boy. This boy had the same organic bodysuit that Vanitas sported, yet the color scheme was different. Instead of black with red outlines and highlights, it was black and purple, with a small bit of red where the wrists were. The cloth was an off white color that faded into dark purple at the ripped portion of the cloth. There was a heartless emblem on his chest as well.

But unlike Vanitas, this boy didn't cover his face. If his not so tall body didn't give it away, then his face certainly showed that he was a teenager, most likely 15 at this point in time. His skin was pale and he had silver hair that reached down to his shoulders. But one of the more notable things about his face were his eyes. Similar to Terra's eyes, they were golden in color, and he had an evil looking glare coming from them, as well as a proud and cocky smile on his face.

Back in the real world, Setsuna spoke up. "Ok...that's unsettling."

"He looks...unnaturally evil." Tenya described.

"Yeah. Like he shouldn't be, but he is." Kirishima agreed.

"Well, that's because he isn't evil." Nezu spoke up, getting the students' attention. "At least, Riku himself isn't."

"Riku?..." Uraraka repeated the name.

"Why does that sound familiar?" Shoto muttered, while Iida was also pondering the name.

"He's my childhood friend and rival that I told you about." Sora answered.

"The guy that you looked for, for over a year?" Todoroki remembered.

"The guy you said that Ansem possessed and tried to kill you?" The class 1-A rep also remembered.

"Whoa whoa whoa." Sato spoke up. "This guy is your childhood friend?"

"He tried to kill you?" Hagakure questioned.

"Your friend was the second person in this organization that was possessed by Ansem?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Ok to answer your questions. Shoto, yes. Tenya, yes. Rikido, yes. Toru, yes, but he wasn't in control of himself. And Momo, yes." Sora answered.

Before any more questions could be asked, the announcement went off. "Team Kaibara and Tsunotori. Practical Exam. Ready? Go!"

In the datascape, Pony and Sen looked towards their distant opponent, waiting to see what he would do, but he didn't move from his spot. All he did was pull out a falchion-like sword that was designed like a wing, with an eye at the base of it, from seemingly out of nowhere and rested it on his shoulder. He looked at the two students from where he was and just waited with the same cocky evil smirk, daring them to come over to him.

While both students were more than a little unsettled by his appearance and confidence, they didn't really have much of a choice, as they had to go that way anyway, so both 1-B students just sucked it up and began their walk towards him.

[Silence]

Riku watched as the pair of students walked over to him, feeling as arrogant as ever. He had orders to guard a gate, but those orders didn't mean much to him at all. Unless he got to annihilate whatever weaklings tried to get through it, there was no point. He could easily tell that the two heading his way were probably going to try and get past him, but he still had to make sure. Even if they didn't, they still saw him, and the Organization had to be a secret, so he would need to deal with them anyway. So it's a win for him regardless.

The moment the two students stopped walking, Riku spoke up. "So...who's first?" The fact that he asked that to the pair made them know that there wasn't going to be much talk. Riku then pointed his blade at each respective student as he said "The horse girl...or drill fingers?" Pony crouched and launched her two horns out of her head. The pair of horns hovered to her side as two more horns grew in their place on her head. Sen went in front of her and got into a fighting stance. "Alright then."

[Play KH Re:Chain Of Memories OST The Force In You]

Dark Riku simply just got into his battle stance and said "Show me your power."

Tsunotori sent the two horns towards Riku, while Kaibara followed the projectiles towards their target. As soon as the two horns were about to reach Riku, he twirled his body around to parry the horns and sent them away. The drill themed boy then got up close and went to spearhead Riku, but the Dark boy grabbed Sen's hand with his free hand and pulled the boy's face towards his own. "Come on." He said before throwing the boy away from him.

As soon as he looked back towards Pony, he saw two more horns coming towards him much faster than the first two did. The Dark boy jumped up in the air to avoid them, but then saw the two horns that he swatted away earlier heading towards him in a pincer attack. Acting fast, he threw Soul Eater towards one of them, knocking it off course, then grabbed the second horn and used its momentum to throw it towards the girl.

The horns however corrected their courses rather quickly, and as soon as they did, they once again went after Riku. The Dark boy resummoned Soul Eater and then used it to parry the horns away, only to watch them come back for another attempt. This repeated while he was in the air and once he landed back on the ground and swatted them away again, he briefly charged up his dark powers until his unarmed hand began to glow purple.

As soon as he finished charging, the horns came back for another attempt, but this time Riku slashed towards one of the projectiles and created a red disk like projectile that destroyed the horn on contact. He quickly turned around and then used his free hand to throw out a purple fireball that destroyed the other horn.

Back in the real world, Present Mic decided that now was the time and announced "The Possessed Prodigy, Riku! His Quirk, Construct! After taking a second to charge up energy, he can create unique constructs that can help him control the battlefield. And thanks to his possessed status, not only do his attacks get amplified, but he can use them in very quick succession and his energy pool is much larger than it normally would be!"

In the datascape, Dark Riku was about to go on the offensive, but then noticed Sen in the corner of his eye and dodged another attempted spearhead, Kaibara went for a kick but Riku grabbed the drill themed boy's ankle mid kick. "You didn't get enough last time?" he mocked, but as soon as he was about to throw the boy again, he suddenly felt the leg rotating in his hand.

Riku looked and then saw that Sen's leg was now rapidly rotating like a drill, which forced the Darkness user to let go of it. Kaibara pulled his leg back and then did the same thing with his arms, using his 'Gyrate' quirk to make them rotate like drills before thrusting them towards his opponent. Riku was quick enough to get Soul Eater in front of him and blocked both arms. He then saw Pony launch two more horns towards him, and he used his free hand to throw out another dark fireball, destroying one of them.

Just as he was about to send another one out however, he felt his stomach get hit, which he saw came from Sen's already gyrating leg, and it staggered him long enough for the horn to hit him in the wrist and knock him off balance. Kaibara took that moment given to him by Tsunotori and hit his opponent directly in the chest with his gyrating arms, pushing him back even more.

[Silence]

Dark Riku skidded to a halt then his body slouched forward. His head hung down, obscuring his face from his opponents' view, and he stayed like that for now. Sen was ready and waiting for a retaliation of some kind, but nothing happened. "What...why is he just..." The drill themed boy began to speak.

"He's distracted! Don't stop!" Pony called out to her partner as she launched out two horns from her head, took control of those horns, then launched out another two horns towards Riku while simultaneously commanding the first two horns to attack the Darkness user from another direction. Kaibara stopped his train of thought and followed Tsunotori's lead, charging towards their opponent with his gyrating arms and aiming to strike Riku from a third angle.

In the real world, the students were pleasantly surprised when they saw Sen and Pony manage to stagger and strike him a few times. Not only that, but since Riku didn't immediately retaliate, they figured that he was either stunned from the attack, or was so shocked that he got hit, that he couldn't process what happened, which left him open. Sora however, knew better and uttered out "Oh no."

Back in the datascape, just as all three attacks were about to reach their target, a dome that looked like Sora's Dark Form barrier without the chains had formed around Riku. The two 1-B students looked surprised, but then Riku tilted his head back up to look at them both.

[Play KH3 Re Mind OST Forze Del Male]

With a frightening looking smile on his face and an intense look in his eyes, he said "I'll show you how powerful I am." As soon as he said that, the barrier around him expanded and shattered, creating a shockwave that blasted Kaibara away and destroyed the four horns that were there as well.

Pony was about to launch two more horns, but then saw a small shadow creep under her. She had no idea what it was going to be, but she chose not to find out and began moving away from her current spot, only for the shadow to remain under her feet. She continued to run, but then suddenly, a wave of purple energy intercepted her and forced her to stop in her tracks. She tried to run the other way, but another wave of purple energy cut her off there. As she stopped herself from running into those, the shadow below her expanded and out of the blackness came six massive claws that surrounded her and would skewer her if she didn't move. Luckily, she had fast enough reflexes to pounce through one of the open spaces in between the claws and tuck and roll on the ground until she pushed herself back to her feet.

Her luck stopped there however as Dark Riku was now right in front of her and slammed the ground with his dark infused hand, creating more purple waves of energy that knocked her into the air. Before she could even recover, Dark Riku already closed the distance and slashed at her horns with Soul Eater, cutting them just above the base and making that pair useless. He then kicked her to the ground and she landed with a hard thud.

As The darkness user landed on his feet, he saw Sen coming at him with his gyrating arms, but Riku just exclaimed "Think fast!" before summoning multiple large purple crystals that were similar to Ansem's and surrounded the drill boy with them. Kaibara stopped in his tracks and attempted to evaluate his situation, but wasn't even given a second to rest as Dark Riku was now in his face and attempted a downward slash attack. Sen dodged and was about to counter, but then Dark Riku got his barrier up, which stopped him from trying it. He watched as the barrier vanished on its own, but before he could even try to retaliate, Dark Riku slashed towards him again, forcing the drill themed Hero in training to focus on evasion. He dodged the first two slashes, but was unprepared for the third and fourth slashes to be followed up by those purple energy waves, which knocked him back and made him hit one of the crystals, which detonated on contact and blew him back into Dark Riku's melee range.

Tsunotori pushed herself back to her feet and shot out the bases of the horns on her head, so that she could regrow another pair of horns, but as she did that, she saw her partner getting thrashed around, but still holding strong. As soon as her horns grew back, she immediately fired them and controlled where they would go. The first horn moved quicker than the second and detonated another one of the crystals, which got both boys' attention, and then the second horn came in from the opening and went for Dark Riku.

The Darkness user reared his aura covered hand back and charged a dark firaga, but then felt that arm get grabbed by his other opponent, who then had a set of cuffs in his other hand. While Dark Riku didn't understand why someone would even try to do something like that to him, he still figured that he shouldn't let those get on him, so he decided to ignore the horn coming towards him and slashed at the cuffs with Soul Eater, shattering one of the wrist restraints.

Before either student could even process what just happened, Dark Riku then pulled Sen's body around and used it to knock Pony's horn away from him, then he had his free hand release the dark firaga at Kaibara, which then blasted him towards Tsunotori, who then got slammed in the stomach by her partner's body. "Try again." Dark Riku taunted them, as he then made even more explosive crystals around the area.

Both Students pushed themselves back to their feet and looked at the now destroyed cuffs. Neither of them said a word to each other, as they knew that they had to get to the exit, but with how fast and relentless Riku was towards them, there was no way that they could think of a solid plan. So Sen didn't bother to think of one of his own and just trusted Pony to come up with one, as she was a much quicker thinker than she was.

After a few seconds, The horse legged girl had a plan and grabbed her partner, before getting him on her back, launching two horns out of her head that then hovered on both of their sides and telling him. "Be my eyes and tell me which direction to go."

"Uh, got it." Kaibara replied, and just like that, Tsunotori took off, running at full speed with her head down. She trusted her partner with guiding her, so it was now up to him to lead them to victory.

Dark Riku looked at the two coming towards him and he just laughed before he sent out another red disk attack towards the pair. "You didn't get enough last time?"

"Bank left!" Sen told Pony and she compiled, quickly going left to avoid the attack. Kaibara then saw their opponent create more crystals in front of them and he exclaimed "Explosive purple things in front of us!" Tsunotori countered this by launching the pair of horns on her head towards the crystals and making an opening for them to go through. That opening however was blocked off by Dark Riku as he dashed through it, towards them and attempted to slash at the girl. "Back off, bad guy!" The drill themed boy exclaimed as he used his gyrating arms to block Soul Eater's attacks and keep his partner from getting hit.

"Vanish!" Dark Riku yelled out as he jumped up into the air and then warped above the pair, before diving down and attempting to skewer the two with Soul Eater.

Sen saw it coming and said. "Veer right!" which made Pony change course and get out of the way. "More mines straight ahead, then it's the exit!"

Dark Riku then reared his hand back and yelled out "One more!" before casting a dark firaga towards their backs, and then another red disk attack.

Kaibara heard Riku and looked back to see the projectiles. "And we've got a purple fireball and the red disk thing coming from behind!"

"On it!" Tsunotori replied as she used the two horns she had kept at their side to intercept the projectiles coming from behind them, while quickly shooting out the pair of horns that regrew on her head towards the mines at the exit, getting rid of them and distracting Dark Riku just long enough to run through the gate.

[Silence]

"We're through!" Sen exclaimed before both of them immediately dematerialized from the datascape.

Back in the real world, the 1-B students were of course ecstatic to see that not only did their classmates pass, but that they didn't get battered around like the last match. The 1-A students were of course happy to see fellow Hero course students pass the practicals, but they were much more calm about it. Suddenly, Pony and her partner were formed in the real world, and the girl skidded to a halt, stopping just inches in front of the other students. Then the announcement went off. "Team Kaibara and Tsunotori have passed the finals!"

[Play KH2.5 Remix OST Riku]

Back in the datascape, Dark Riku just looked at where the two were, and then fell to his knees. He knew he failed. He knew he lost, but he couldn't understand. As the world around him was turning into numbers, he just said "But why…?" then he too became nothing but a series of numbers.

In the real world, Sora didn't need an earpiece to know what that Data Riku was thinking. The Keyblade wielder watched his defeated friend disappear into the data, before the screen just showed numbers flashing on it like the many other times before. His gaze lowered and his head slightly slouched forward. He normally wouldn't be like this, but it's been months since he's seen his friends, and while leaving the messages and pictures gave him some comfort, it still stung him a bit that was all he could do.

Sora then took a quick breath and put a smile on his face before he went over to the pair of 1-B students and said "Nice job, you two."

"Huh?" Pony turned around to see who said that and then saw the Keyblade wielder. "Oh. Well, thank you...um...I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."

"That's fine." The Keyblade wielder replied as he held out his hand "I'm Sora."

"Pony Tsunotori." She returned the gesture and the two shook hands after exchanging names.

"Hmm, that's a unique name." Sora commented.

"I'm from overseas." Pony told him. "The United States actually."

"The place that All Might named his moves after?" Sora asked. He knew this because Yagi told him that way back during Izuku's garbage training days.

"That's the place." Tsunotori confirmed.

"Cool. Well, nice to officially meet you." The Keyblade wielder changed the subject back to that.

"Nice to officially meet you too." The horse themed Hero in training responded.

"So what are you and your partner gonna do now that your match is over?" Sora wondered.

"I figured I'd stay and watch the last two matches." Pony informed him. "I don't know about Kaibara, but if he doesn't go out the door, then we'll have an answer."

"I'm watching the last matches too." Sen spoke up when he heard the two talking about him. "Might as well, since there's nothing else to do."

As the boy said that, the door to the hallway opened and through it came the last two students of class 1-B, Hiryu Rin and Togaru Kamakiri came in and walked over to the platform. As the pair were getting their words of encouragement from their classmates, Sora then realized something. "Hey. This is 1-B's last match, right?"

"Oh yeah." Tetsutetsu realized. "Man. It feels like we really breezed through these."

"Probably because you guys went after us." Kirishima pointed out. "I feel like we've been on these practicals for a while."

"You were out for more than half of them though." Shoto also pointed out.

"Either way, the point is that we're almost finished with them. After this match is Sora's and then the practicals are over." Itsuka stated.

"Oh yeah, Sora's match is right after this." Rikido spoke up. "Oh man, that match is gonna be crazy."

"Considering that Sora's opponent won't be handicapped like all of ours were, it will be interesting to say the least." Tenya said.

"We also get to see what one of these guys is like at full strength." Tsuyu added.

"We also get to see how much 1-A's star student has improved since the Sports Festival." Setsuna added.

Sora rubbed the back of his head and felt a bit embarrassed about being called the star student. "Well, before we get to that, let's watch this match first. Let's see if the last team on 1-B can win and give your class a...kind of perfect score."

And with that, everyone watched as the final pair of students were transported into the datascape.

[Silence]

As soon as the two boys were materialized, they took a look at their surroundings. They were in an urban area. Buildings everywhere, neatly kept, and in good condition, the pair knew that they were in Ground Beta. As soon as they knew where they were, Hiryu had already activated his 'Scales' quirk on the section of his arms where his gauntlets were and began storing them up in said gauntlets. Togaru then used his quirk 'Razor Sharp' and sprouted a blade from his right forearm, then receded the blade shortly afterwards, repeating this action a few times to see how quick he was on the draw.

[Play KH2.5 Remix OST Sacred Moon]

Elsewhere in the datascape, someone else was formed. This person was also young, like the other two before him. Unlike the previous two people however, this boy was wearing the trademark black coat that the other members of the Organization had. His hood was still up, but from the way the boy turned and looked around the place, it was reasonable to believe that he had no idea where he was or how he got here. His right hand forms a fist as he seemed to be angered by this, then the announcement went off. "Team Rin and Kamakiri. Practical Exam. Ready? Go!" The hooded boy just walked forward with a purpose, and that purpose was to find out how to get out of here. He had his own personal mission to complete.

Back with the two students, once they heard the announcement go off, they too walked forward with a purpose. They had to either apprehend the Organization member that was here, or escape through the gate that was at the edge of the city. Togaru took point, while Hiryu closely followed his partner. Both boys remained alert while they walked forward, carefully watching every alleyway they walked by, every manhole they stepped over, every door and window that was close to them.

Back with Roxas, he didn't bother to take any stealthy measures. He was through with the Organization. No more hiding, or running. He only had one objective. Undo the wrongs he had done and in turn, get his life and friends back.

Back in the real world the students watched as both 1-B students and the hooded boy were taking the main road. They were inevitably going to meet soon, and everyone knew that once they did, there was going to be a fight. Everyone that is, except for Sora.

He knew Roxas better than anyone here, so Sora knew that his Nobody wouldn't make the first move unless provoked to. But since this the 1-B students were told to either capture or flee, and given that literally everyone has at least tried to capture their opponent when they see them, Roxas would no doubt defend himself. Though he'll most likely give a warning against attacking him, and if the two run, he might not give chase.

There was only one way to know, and that was to watch what will happen, as it was now only moments away.

[Silence]

In the datascape, the two boys stopped in place and had their eyes forward. They saw their target, walking directly towards their position. Rin checked his gauntlets while Kamakiri called out "Stop where you are." The hooded boy didn't stop at all. He just continued walking, getting closer to them. "Are you deaf? I said stop."

Hiryu pointed his gauntlets towards their opponent and said "Do as he says."

The hooded boy then stopped and looked at the two, sizing them up before saying "What do you want?"

"We're here to apprehend you for villainous deeds." Togaru informed him.

"Villainous deeds." The boy repeated. "Really? Now of all times? After the damage was already done? Now you decide to show up?" Both boys didn't respond and he then continued. "Trust me when I say, you don't want to start this."

"Maybe not..." Rin spoke up. "But it's our job to deal with people like you."

"You've got one chance to walk away without a scratch. I'm going to walk past you, and you're going to let me. If you make a move against me, then you'll regret it." The rogue Organization member told them.

"Like hell we'll just..." Kamakiri began to speak, but then was interrupted as Roxas began walking again. "Hey! I didn't say you could keep walking." His words rang on deaf ears as the hooded boy just kept walking. "Hey!" the green insect looking boy raised his voice as a blade came out of each of his forearms. "Stop walking!" Roxas didn't listen and he was now right in front of the boy, about to walk past him. The blade user couldn't take it anymore and swung his blades towards his opponent.

As soon as the blades were about to make contact however, a key shaped sword that was silver in color, with a feathery hilt design and the kanji for light at the teeth of the blade was formed, blocking the attack entirely.

[Play KH 358/2 Days OST Critical Drive]

Hiryu could see from the blade alone that this was going to be an uphill battle, and as Togaru realized what happened, Roxas said "You're gonna regret that." before swatting him away with the Keyblade in his hand. The Key of Destiny then got into a battle stance similar to Sora's and was ready for a fight.

Kamakiri skidded to a halt a few meters back, but once he rebalanced himself, he just ran forward with his arm blades ready to strike. Rin was so busy seeing his partner come towards him, that he almost didn't realize that Roxas was now behind him, rearing Oathkeeper for a slash. The Chinese student activated his scales where Roxas was aiming to strike, knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of the way in time, and took a blunt hit to his left bicep. The force of the attack pushed Hiryu away a small distance, but then Togaru already closed the distance between him and his opponent.

The Green skinned student began a ferocious assault of slashes, but with each slash came a clang or a skid, or a whiff, as none of his attacks landed on Roxas' body, only striking the blade or the air as the Nobody blocked, parried or outright dodged his blades with relative ease. Kamakiri then spread his arms out and attempted to cross them together to do a scissor attack with his blades, but as soon as they were about to cross each other, the tip of Oathkeeper was locked between the crossing point of the blades, then with a twist, both of the blades were forced out of the way, and with them, the arms that were connected to them, leaving the insect looking boy vulnerable to attack.

As Roxas prepared to thrust his Keyblade into his opponent's chest, he was interrupted by multiple scales blitzing past his face, forcing him to cease his attack and see where they came from. He looked in the direction and saw Rin with his gauntlets smoking for a second. Then suddenly more scales came out of the gauntlets at high speeds, aimed at Roxas' current location. The Key of Destiny leapt away to avoid the scales, then saw Hiryu move his arms while still firing scales, correcting his aim. Roxas stayed on the move, jumping over, ducking under, sidestepping and leaping out of the constant line of fire until the barrage suddenly stopped.

Before the Nobody could ponder why, he once again saw a blade coming towards him, which he then parried with his own. Togaru once again went on the attack, but this time his attacks were more coordinated, and his blade work was more precise. Kamakiri seemed to have adapted to Roxas' defense, or he just got himself more focused and therefore his senses and reflexes were sharper than before. This forced Roxas to block and dodge more attacks in quick succession.

Once he managed to parry one of the attacks, causing the green skinned Hero in training to stagger, he went for a counter slash, but he saw a silhouette out of the corner of his eye and he turned to block an attack from Hiryu, who attempted to hit him in the back while he was distracted. The rogue Organization member pushed Rin back a few feet and then began an assault of his own, striking the Chinese Hero in training in multiple spots and pushing him back even further. Even though he was hitting the boy, there wasn't too much damage being done, aside from a couple dozen scales coming off of the parts that were struck by the Nobody.

As Roxas continued his attack, he got interrupted by another attempted back attack, this time by Togaru who tried the scissor attack again. Instead of turning around to block the attack, the Key of Destiny jumped up and over the insect looking boy and attempted to strike his back, only to be forced to dodge a barrage of scales coming from one of Hiryu's gauntlets. That attack gave Kamakiri enough time to turn around and attack again with more slashes, keeping Roxas on the defensive.

As soon as Roxas was getting the hang of the attacks however, Rin fired more scales from his other gauntlet, while his partner ducked down and attempted to scissor slash his legs. The Nobody jumped up, but then the Chinese boy had already corrected his aim. Roxas was forced to twirl his body and Oathkeepter around with great speed while in the air, barely managing to block and deflect the numerous sharp projectiles that were aimed at him. As soon as he landed on the ground however, he had to immediately deal with Togaru's blade again, blocking and dodging until he once again parried an attack and caused the boy to stagger. As soon as Roxas was about to attack though, Hiryu once again came to support his partner. This time however, he got up close and not only blocked the Nobody's attack with one scale covered arm, but he used his other scaly arm to land a solid hit on Roxas' head, staggering him.

At this point, Kamakiri recovered and then followed up by locking his blades into the open space in the mid section of Oathkeeper's blade. From there, he pulled back as hard as he could and pulled Roxas towards the pair, allowing Rin to land a second punch, directly into the hood's opening and punching the boy directly in the face.

[Silence]

The Nobody let go of his Keyblade and he let the punch's force push him away from the pair. Once he skidded to a halt however, his hood fell back on its own, showing his face to everyone present. The fight paused. While both 1-B students knew that this was someone close to their age, they still weren't expecting someone who looked similar to Sora.

Back in the real world, the other students thought the exact same thing. The face was very similar and even the eye color was the same. The only difference was the hair. If they didn't know any better, then they'd think that this was just Sora trying out a different look. It also didn't help that he had a key shaped sword and a fighting style similar to Sora's.

[Play KH 358/2 Days OST Another Side ~Battle Ver.~]

Back in the datascape, Roxas decided to speak up. "Okay then...you've asked for it." He held out his left hand and after a brief moment, the Oathkeeper Keyblade disappeared from the pair's location and then reappeared in his left hand. But then, very familiar dark particles came from Roxas' right hand, and in it formed the Oblivion Keyblade. He then took on another, much more aggressive fighting stance.

Back in the real world, Present Mic finally announced "The Key of Destiny, Roxas! His Quirk, Summon. He can summon key shaped weapons, elements like fire, ice, lightning, wind, water, basically everything that you've seen Sora do. But due to Roxas' time in the Organization and all the battles he's been through, his skill and power with the quirk is even greater than Sora's!"

While the students in the real world began to discuss what they just heard, back in the datascape, Roxas blitzed towards the pair of students and slashed at both of them with his blades, sending them flying in the direction that he came from. Both students ended up tumbling on the ground until they each skidded to a halt near the exit, but neither of them noticed it, as they were focused on their opponent, rapidly approaching them.

When Roxas reached the pair, he got right in between them and swung both his blades at Hiryu first, making the Chinese student hold his arms up and brace as he got his with both blades head on. The force of the attack, flung him to the wall of a nearby building. Roxas then set his sights on his other opponent.

Togaru, who at this point had only been on the offensive, was now forced to try and defend himself from not one, but two Keyblades. He raised his arms up, only for them to get smacked out of the way by either Oathkeeper or Oblivion, sometimes even both at once. With each strike, he could feel his arms getting weaker and weaker. He was durable and his reflexes were just as sharp as his blades, but he could still get overwhelmed with enough pressure. Then, with two powerful swings from each Keyblade, the blades on Kamakiri's arms shattered and he fell on one knee.

Rin got back on his feet after getting launched into a wall and saw his partner in trouble. Thinking fast, he aimed his gauntlets at Roxas and fired on his location, but the Nobody heard the shots and turned around to not only face the attack head on, but deflect every single scale that was sent towards him at a speed that was almost impossible to track with the human eye. The Chinese Hero in training continued to fire, slowly walking forward as he did so, to close the distance and add more pressure on his opponent. Roxas however wasn't affected and also began to move closer as well, still keeping up with the merciless barrage of sharp scales.

As soon as the two were almost face to face, Rin stopped firing and pounced forward in an attempt to tackle the dual Keyblade wielder, but Roxas instantly gout out of the way, sliding around to the the chinese boy's back and then striking it with both his blades in an X formed slash attack. The force of the attack not only pushed Hiryu into Togaru, but it also detached the cuffs from his belt and let them fall in front of Roxas, who saw them and just slashed the chain, breaking the cuffs that he correctly assumed would be used to restrict him.

[Silence]

"Why don't you quit?!" Roxas suggested to the pair. "You can still walk away!"

Both boys were panting, but Rin answered the question. "Like I said...it's our job to stop you..."

The blonde haired boy looked at the tired out pair and then pointed Oblivion towards the cuffs. "Look! I already destroyed your handcuffs! And I don't have any reason to fight you!" The pair noticed the handcuffs and realized that now they had only one option.

Togaru briefly looked behind him and it was then that he saw the gate. He then silently said "Rin...the gate's behind us."

"Make a break for it while I deal with him." Hiryu quietly ordered.

As the three boys stood still for a brief moment, Kamakiri then got up and sprinted towards the exit at his top speed. Rin quickly raised his gauntlets and fired the rest of the scales he stored inside them towards Roxas, but the Key of Destiny deflected the barrage and closed the distance between them. The Chinese boy moved his arms up to defend himself, but in doing so, his gauntlets were shattered by the tips of Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Togaru was almost at the exit when Hiryu once again got his guard up with his scale covered arms, only for the scales to be forcibly struck off of his body from both blades, forcing the Hero in training down to his knees. Roxas stood in front of him, but did nothing. Instead he just watched as the other boy ran through the gate.

[Play KH 2.5 Remix OST Roxas]

Back in the real world, Kamakiri rematerialized and when he saw where he was, he stopped sprinting and immediately looked towards the screen to see his partner's condition, ignoring the congratulatory dialogue directed towards his victory.

In the datascape, Roxas unsummoned his Keyblades and put his hood back over his head. He then just turned around and began walking away, leaving Rin to look on. It was then that the announcement went off. "Team Rin and Kamakiri have passed the finals!" and the datascape, as well as the dual Keyblade wielder began recompiling into numbers, while the Chinese student was transported out.

Once he was out, he was greeted by the compliments of his fellow classmates of 1-B, as well as Sora and some 1-A classmates. While Recovery Girl went to check up on the pair, Sora was then mentally prepared himself, because it was his turn now and he was ready to go. He began to walk towards the platform, but then he heard "Not yet Sora, Kupo."

The Keyblade wielder turned to Moogle and then asked. "But I'm next, right?"

"Yes, but yours is gonna take a bit longer than the others to set up, Kupo." The merchant said.

"O...kay?" Sora replied. "How long are we talking?"

"Five minutes, Kupo." Moogle answered. "Seven at most, Kupo. Gotta make sure that the settings and win conditions for the last 20 fights still work in spite of her not being restricted and all that, Kupo."

"Got it." Sora responded. "I'll wait." So he leaned on the closest wall and began to wait for his turn. After this upcoming fight, the practicals would finally be over, and he could not be more eager to end this trip down bad memory lane.

Here we go. 20 fights done. 1-A has done their battles. 1-B has done their battles. Now all that is left is for Sora to fight his battle, and then the final exams ark will be over. As Xion was not fought by Sora before the exams, she was not tampered with, therefore, she will not be nerfed at all during her fight. Speaking of nerfs though, let's get those out of the way. Vanitas was nerfed to be his first encounter boss fight in BBS. He also does not get his unversed, because that is just unfair, period. Dark Repliku was nerfed to not be immediately throw everything he has at once, like he did in Re Mind. He also did not have that nightmare of a DM, Dark Aura to spam until death. And lastly, Roxas was nerfed to have no access to magic or limits. he only had his Keyblades to work with. Like he really needed magic to kick ass anyway. Speaking of that though, while Roxas technically didn't pursueTogaru when he attempted to flee, Roxas didn't really care about protecting the gate, as the data Roxas had the mindset of Roxas shortly after he killed Xion and was going to try and destroy the artificial Kingdom Hearts that he helped make. He had no orders to follow, unlike the rest of the Organization, and he only attacked the students because one made the first move. If Kamakiri didn't attack, the pair could have literallyjust walked to the exit and won, but that would not have been nearly as entertaining. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and until I decide to upload again. ;)