Chapter 87

Skills of the Scholar

Zeromast simply nodded. "Correct, Keyblade wielder," he answered. "I must say, it is quite an honor to meet you."

Sora blinked in surprise. He had expected a little more of an evil monologue. "Uh, okay…"

"Yes. I have watched you carry out both of your quests, and you never stood down from your mission despite the seemingly-insurmountable challenges; you never faltered in standing up for what you believe in," Zeromast continued. Maleficent and Pete looked at him with the same amount of surprise that Sora and his friends exhibited.

Kairi nudged Sora in the arm with her elbow. "Looks like someone's got a secret admirer," she joked.

Sora crossed his arms. "Let me get this straight. You're a fan, and yet you teamed up with Maleficent, Pete and Hades to destroy everything," he said.

"It's not quite as black-and-white as that," Zeromast argued. "And I can understand that you would not be able to see things from my perspective. But I have seen the entire development of history, and I concluded that the world should be made perfect."

Riku pointed accusingly at Zeromast. "Yeah, at the expense of everyone and everything!"

Zeromast shook his head. "I make no attempt to justify myself to you," he replied. "But the World must be rewritten."

Sora summoned his Keyblade back into his hands. "Well, if we stop you right here, that won't happen! And you won't be able to hurt anyone else along the way!"

Zeromast smiled. "You are welcome to try." He reached into his right pocket and, in spite of the small volume, pulled out a five-foot long rod made of some sort of silvery metal, which Mickey, Donald and Aeleus studied curiously. Next, he took out six planes of a similar metal, each of an identical trapezoidal shape. He tossed them into the air, and they floated around the top of the rod before attaching in such a way that the smaller edges of two of them fit around the top circular edge and the other three attached to the long faces of the first three. Lastly, he pulled out a tiny cinch sack and dumped out a glowing red crystal, holding the staff low so that the crystal would insert itself into the slot enclosed by the small edges of the top three panels. He pocketed the cinch sack and held the spear upright, allowing all around him to examine the weapon he had just constructed.

"Is that…" Aeleus began to ask.

Zeromast nodded. "Yes. Pure adamantite," he answered. "One of nature's strongest substances, and not easy to come by, I'll have you know."

"But I doubt it's any stronger than a Keyblade," Sora quipped.

There was a standoff for several seconds. Sora remained focused on Zeromast, while Riku locked eyes with Maleficent and Mickey looked up to challenge Pete. The others looked from one adversary to the next, each one trying to decide who to fight. Kairi and Donald began to consider matching up with Dr. Facilier, in order to counter against his magic. They could all tell that Yzma, in her feline form, was almost not worth fighting, but would certainly prove to be a nuisance.

"Are you not curious as to what sort of power allows the changes we seek?" Zeromast asked.

Sora shrugged. "I am kind of curious," he admitted. "But I'll get over it."

Zeromast nodded. "Fair enough," he replied.

Sora charged toward Zeromast, signaling the others to engage their opponents. Sora delivered a quick opening combo, but Zeromast blocked each blow with a seemingly-rehearsed deftness. Riku fought Maleficent with his Keyblade and his Dark Fire spells, while the sorceress fought back against him and Dilan's wind-guided spear attacks with blows from her scepter and psychokinetically-guided magic fire which she swirled around her body and thrust at her targets. Kairi, Donald and Yuffie left Dr. Facilier on the defensive, running around to avoid Kairi's close-range Keyblade swings while avoiding her and Donald's spells and Yuffie's shurikens and fighting back with his own spells and tricks. Mickey and Goofy clashed with Pete, though the fat cat did what he could to hold them off. Yzma jumped between fighting groups, trying to attack the heroes, though she was usually snatched off and pitched away. Donald eventually dealt with her by immobilizing her with a Stopga spell.

Zeromast continued to block each of Sora's attacks, but Sora hit hard and ferociously enough to push him back a step each time. At a few points, Sora brought his foot up to kick Zeromast, but he stepped out of the way and pushed his foot aside with the lower end of the spear. Once they had moved back several feet, Zeromast smiled and jumped back a few more feet. He then slammed the bottom of his spear against the ground.

Sora whirled around as he saw a honeycomb barrier materialize in a dome around the two of them. He saw that his friends and other enemies were surprised by the development. Looking at the ground, he noticed that there was a circle of chalk, about fifty feet in diameter, drawn around the two of them. He turned back to Zeromast, realizing that it was his doing.

"This should ensure no interference," Zeromast said, his lips curling into a smirk.

"Shouldn't be a problem," Sora replied. He pointed his Keyblade at his adversary and shouted "Freeze!" A Blizzaga spell flew at Zeromast, who dodged the attack. His free hand reached into his pocket. Sora cast Blizzaga again, but Zeromast disrupted the spell by swinging his spear at it. Sora then cast Firaga, and a large fireball sailed straight toward Zeromast, intent on homing in on its target. However, Zeromast pulled out a rune with a rectangle drawn on it and held it in front of him. The fireball made direct contact with the stone and vanished into it.

Sora's eyes widened in surprise. "That's a neat trick," he said. He thrust himself into a Quick Run, swinging his Keyblade to attack as soon as he landed, but Zeromast blocked it. Sora dealt a fast combo, but Zeromast parried each strike, then brought the bottom of his spear up to strike him in the side. Sora recovered from the blow and swung his Keyblade at Zeromast's head, but the taller man leaned back to avoid the strike. He then grabbed Sora's arm, holding it above both of them, and brought his knee up into his ribs.

Meanwhile, Pete rolled an explosive bowling ball right at Mickey and Goofy, but Goofy bumped it aside with his shield, where it exploded near Yzma half a second after the Stopga spell wore off, blasting her several feet and causing her to splat into the barrier dome. Pete raised an energy barrier to block Goofy's tornado attack and Mickey's Pearl shots. He laughed confidently as he saw their attacks fail to reach him. However, his eyes widened and he gulped as he saw Aeleus charge at him, massive axe sword in hand. Aeleus swung the Skysplitter, hitting the spherical barrier with the enormous front face of his weapon like a baseball bat, launching Pete into the air and sending him flying across the town, screaming all the way.

Riku swung his Keyblade at Maleficent, who blocked the strike with her scepter. A thin laser shot out of the crystal ball at the top and hit Riku in the shoulder. While he was momentarily stunned from the burn, she blasted him away with a fireball. When Riku fell out of view, Dilan became visible, as he aimed his six spears in her direction. Maleficent vanished in a burst of green flame before the wind-propelled weapons flew straight through her. She reappeared right behind Dilan and shot a fireball at him, but he spun around and created a wind funnel fast enough to create a vacuum that caused the fireball to dissipate inches from his hand. He summoned one of his spears back to his hand and stabbed it toward Maleficent, who blocked it with her scepter. She tried to blast him with a laser, but Riku threw himself at her and struck out, sending her stumbling back. The sorceress conjured her dragon made of green fire and sent it swirling around Riku. Riku simply teleported out of its radius and reappeared behind Maleficent. He brought up a Dark Shield to block the dragon when it flew after him and resumed his attack on the sorceress.

Dr. Facilier gracefully dodged Kairi and Donald's magic spells while keeping his distance, and sometimes sacrificed an unmarked voodoo doll (though there may have been a few marked ones there; he could not tell) to protect himself from Yuffie's shurikens. As he did so, he lobbed fireballs and gravity spheres, and occasionally blew some purple powder at his opponents. Kairi and Donald used Aero magic to disperse the powder before it could make contact and expose what effects it caused, and the witch doctor gritted his teeth at seeing his resources be wasted in a diversion tactic. On a few occasions, when Kairi drew too close for him to dodge her strikes, he made an effort to counter with his staff. However, it became apparent that, however limber and athletic he may be, he benefited more from being a trickster by trade and was not adept at combat, even against the mildly-skilled Kairi, so in those instances he put more effort in getting out of melee range and getting back onto even ground with his opponents.

Sora continued his duel with Zeromast, though he was starting to become worried. Everything he threw at the man, his foe was able to anticipate and counter. When Sora jumped away to launch a strike raid, he simply dodged the Keyblade, on its throw and return trips, and he then swatted the final throw away with his spear. Each blow of Ars Arcanum was blocked just as flawlessly, as if he already knew exactly how, where and when each hit would come. At the end of Sora's attempted assault, Zeromast rolled out of the way and slammed an elbow into his back as he landed, knocking him face-first into the ground.

Sora began to push himself to his feet, but Zeromast grabbed onto him by the hood and lifted him up, throwing him into the barrier. Zeromast ran to swing his spear at Sora, but Sora silently cast Reflega. The adamantite bounced right off of the shield, which promptly exploded in a kinetic burst that sent Zeromast flying. Seeing an opening, Sora cast Thundaga, figuring that his foe could not dodge it or absorb it into a runestone so easily. However, he did not consider Zeromast using his spear as a lightning rod (in part because he did not know the properties of adamantite and if it would conduct electricity like iron or copper). Indeed, his foe let the spear fall from his hand in such a way that it pointed up and connected with the ground before Sora cast his spell, and the lightning bolts missed Zeromast entirely in favor of coursing through the metal rod. However, he quickly realized that Zeromast would not dare to grab it with his bare hands while it might still be electrified, which meant that he would not be able to block his attacks.

Sora ran forward and jumped into the air, raising his Keyblade over his head to strike Zeromast. However, the scholar performed an acrobatic flip forward, bringing is feet up to kick Sora's legs and throw him off balance. The boy crashed to the ground, his Keyblade skidding away. Sora quickly pushed himself to his feet and spun around to punch his opponent, but Zeromast caught his fist in his hand. He brought his opposite arm down on Sora's arm, forcing him to lurch forward, then brought it back up to strike him in the face, then let go of his fist to punch him in the gut.

Gradually, everyone fighting outside became distracted by the duel that took place within the dome, and they ceased their own battles to watch. Leon, Lea, Isa, and Ienzo rejoined the party and were taken by surprise to see Maleficent on the scene, but their attention quickly fell on Sora's fight with Zeromast as well.

Lea leaned in to whisper to Isa. "You think that's the new baddy?" he asked.

Isa nodded. "Must be," he replied.

"What did they say his name was? Zemus? Zorro?"

"Zeromast," Isa corrected him.

"Right. Thanks."

Sora gained some distance and cast Agua, spraying the ground and Zeromast's legs. He then cast Blizzaga, freezing the water and causing ice crystals to grow. Zeromast's feet were frozen to the ground as well, but he picked his spear up, turned it so he was holding it upside-down, and tapped the ice with the crystal at the tip. The crystal glowed red and the ice began to melt, then the water evaporated. He jumped over the ice surrounding him and brought the lower end of the spear up to hit Sora's chin. However, the boy leaned back to dodge and brought his Keyblade up to strike him in the arm. He followed up on the hit by casting Zero Gravity, lifting Zeromast into the air in a spherical force field.

Before Sora could take advantage of the opening, Zeromast clicked his boots together and the soles emitted a dark light. He instantly rotated so that he was upright, then he dropped through the force field, shattering it and landing on the ground. The dark light faded away a few seconds later while Sora gaped in utter shock.

Ienzo looked up at Aeleus. "Were those the gravity discs that Even designed for Braig to stabilize his quantum distortions?" he asked.

"I believe so," Aeleus replied.

Sora propelled himself across the ground with his Keyblade to try and trip Zeromast up, but Zeromast swiped the bottom of his spear in his path, tripping up his legs and causing him to fall on his side. Sora scrambled to his feet and swung wildly at Zeromast, who blocked his attack, forcing the Keyblade to bounce off. He took a second to study the top of the spear, then flicked his wrist. In a flash, the Keyblade's position in his hands reversed. He swung again, this time catching the top of the shaft in the teeth. He pulled his weapon, yanking the spear out of his opponent's grip. He dismissed his Keyblade, allowing the spear to fall.

With both of them disarmed, Sora hopped into a stance with his left foot forward and his hands raised in fists. He raised his knee and snapped his leg out, kicking Zeromast in the side and knocking him ten feet away. He could hear Riku and Kairi letting out a cheer.

Zeromast pushed himself into a kneeling position. "That's new," he mumbled. A second later, he saw Sora running after him and swinging his Keyblade. He caught the weapon and pulled it away, using the motion to also pull himself to his feet, and kneed Sora in the gut. He followed that up by punching him in the jaw, and then turned around and flipped him over his shoulder, slamming him onto the ground. Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy gasped.

He calmly walked back to his spear and picked it up, keeping his gaze on Sora as he struggled to get to his feet. "You think yourself powerful," he said condescendingly. Sora picked his Keyblade up and charged at him, swinging it ferociously, but Zeromast blocked each strike and managed to deal a few hits with the bottom of his staff. "But I have sparred with simulations of the greatest senseis—" he dealt a karate chop to Sora's shoulder in between parries "—sparred with facsimiles of the most skilled swordsmen—" he pushed Sora's Keyblade aside, then spun around and latched the spear's shaft into the key's teeth and yanked on the key to make him stumble "—and studied with recollections of the greatest minds in history. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about." He dealt a sharp karate chop to Sora's back, sending him tumbling forward. "I have watched your growth—" he wrapped one arm around Sora's neck and hoisted him up before throwing him back over his head "—observed your style—" he took his spear and held it over his head to defend himself as Sora swung an arcing attack from above "—studied your strengths—" he jumped out of the way several times as Sora launched into a desperate but sloppy Sonic Blade "—your weaknesses." He withdrew a handful of orange marbles and threw them at Sora. They exploded into fist-sized fireballs in midair a few inches away from him. While Sora was stunned from the blast and the heat, Zeromast charged in and punched him in the gut. "You have faced great warriors and tremendous monsters," he continued as he backhanded Sora in the face, then raised his forearm into Sora's chin, "but in this fight, on this day…" He grabbed Sora by the jacket collar and threw him to the side, sending him tumbling. He picked Sora up and twisted his arm behind his back. "You…" He let go of Sora's arm and kicked him in the back. "Are…" He took his spear and tripped Sora, causing him to fall forward, then jumped in and punched him hard in the center of his back, knocking the wind out of him and slamming him to the ground. "Lacking!" He kneeled on Sora, putting his entire weight on his back, then pressed down on his neck to hold his head to the ground.

"Sora!" Riku and Kairi shouted simultaneously. Mickey, Goofy, Leon, Yuffie, and Lea gaped in shock. They could not believe what had just happened. Even Maleficent was bewildered. Donald attempted to charge to his defense, but he forgot about the barrier and ran straight into it.

Zeromast shifted Sora about, then stuck his hand in one of his pockets. He felt around for a few seconds, but shook his head and exited the pocket, realizing that he was searching the wrong place. He shifted Sora about again and reached into the other pocket. He smiled when he closed his fingers around the item he sought. He pulled his hand out and held the teardrop-shaped crystal in the sunlight.

"Hello, Virgo. How long have I been searching for you?" he mused. He glanced back down at Sora, who could see the stone out of the corner of his eye. "Thank you for retrieving this for me."

"Retrieving… Wait… You're the reason… Mirror Aqua attacked us…?" Sora asked, coming to understand what had gone on.

"Mirror Aqua? So, that's the form its avatar took." Zeromast chuckled. "The powder was meant to call out to it and make it come to you. I imagined that it might be hostile due to the Auracite's nature, but to shape itself into a parody of your friend… That requires further analysis." He slipped the stone into his pouch. He shifted as if he was about to get off of Sora, but he stopped when Sora's muscles tensed. He could tell that the boy was already preparing to get back up and retaliate. He shook his head and grabbed Sora's right arm. "So that you don't get any unwise ideas…" He lifted Sora's arm and grasped under his armpit with his free hand, and pulled. Sora heard a popping noise and felt an aching pain shoot up his arm. He could not restrain a scream in pain.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out.

Zeromast stood up and retrieved his spear. He made his way toward the barrier. Everyone on the other side slowly backed away. Sora did not get up to retaliate, still aching and realizing that he could not feel the fingers on his right hand. The scholar held his spear horizontally and jammed the tip into the barrier. The energy shield glowed red at the point where the crystal touched, and wavy red lines spread around the dome. After several seconds, the entire barrier glowed red and dissipated.

He turned to face Maleficent. "So, shall we be on our way?" he asked.

Maleficent, after regaining her bearings from the shock, scowled at him. "Why don't we just finish the job right here, right now?"

Zeromast shrugged. "You're welcome to try, though I doubt the dozen champions behind you will give you the chance to take a step toward him," he retorted before turning away. Maleficent glanced over her shoulder and saw that she and her cronies were clearly outnumbered and outmatched. Her stubbornness fought against her sense, but she finally sighed and began to follow after her ally.

However, Aeleus hefted his axe sword upon his shoulder. "Sora may have been disadvantaged, but I do not believe that you will fare quite as well in a different kind of struggle," he announced, before he leapt high into the air and raised the Skysplitter up. As he came down, he swung his enormous weapon over his head to crush Zeromast under its bulk.

Zeromast calmly gripped his spear in both hands and stabbed it upward. When the crystal on the tip met the face of the axe sword, the crystal glowed a brilliant red. The axe sword became illuminated in a similar hue, then a fifth of a second later it turned completely red. A third of a second after that, the weapon burst into atom-sized particles, releasing a resounding boom as Aeleus' enormous axe sword, which he had used as his own for ten years, was no more.

Aeleus landed on the ground and dropped to one knee from the momentum, then refused to move. He remained in that position for a solid minute, staring at his empty hands, trying to process what had just happened.

Everyone else simply stood gaping. Riku was quite familiar with the axe sword. The massive weapon, in the hands of its powerful master, had packed a powerful punch when he had fought Aeleus' Nobody form Lexaeus in Castle Oblivion. Lexaeus had used it to cause earthquakes inside of the castle and rip pointed rocks from the floor, and he had nearly killed him with it at the very end of the battle. And yet, Zeromast had just obliterated it with a single tap from his spear like it was nothing. They were too stunned to react, and too afraid to do anything even if they were not.

Zeromast lowered the spear so that the crystal was level with the lower half of his face, and blew on it as if he were blowing smoke from a gun.

Sora growled. "What is it that you want?" he shouted, gritting his teeth through the pain that ached his entire body.

Zeromast turned to look at him in his peripheral, regarding the question he posed. "A better World," he replied. He began to walk away, with Maleficent, Dr. Facilier, and a dizzy Yzma following.

Sora looked at Maleficent, trying to get a read on the witch. He found it difficult to understand how she was reacting to the day's incident. He was wondering what she had come to do on this morning, anyway. Zeromast had come to confiscate the Realm of Darkness stone, while Dr. Facilier and Yzma attacked them to collect materials that they had gathered in the Realm of Darkness. But Maleficent had simply shown up, summoned Heartless, and fought them.

"Maleficent, what did you get from this?" he asked.

Maleficent smiled and turned to address him. "Plenty," she replied, an amused tone in her voice. She raised her hand and conjured a Corridor of Darkness, through which she and her allies vanished.