My Armour was... a little strange.

Actually, it looked like what might happen if somebody had seen a Neoshadow and then decided to make a Keyblade Armour based on its appearance.

Oh well.

No time to ponder on that.

"I'll be taking that girl's Soul Gem back now."

I rushed forwards, moving as fast as I could, lashing out with an overhead strike.

With a frightened expression, he brought his Keyblade up, resting the shaft on his palm and holding it out to block.

There was a metallic clang the two Keyblades collided, mine with enough force to send him sliding backwards slightly, dropping him to his knee as he desperately blocked.

I twisted space around us, taking the both of us out of the lab.

It'd be a real shame if anything in there was damaged.

With a huff of exertion, he pushed back, displaying strength that I didn't expect; throwing me into the air.

I flipped around, landing on my feet, facing him.

Slowly, I began to circle, my Armour not making a single sound as I moved.

"You have strength... But if that's all you have, it will not be enough to face me."

He settled into a stance -defensive, prioritising reaction speed and mobility-, staring warily at me.

"How do you have a Keyblade, creature of Darkness?" He began to circle, heading in the opposite direction. "Only those of the Light can wield these sacred weapons."

My head tilted to the side. "Now, what idiot told you that?"

His eyes narrowed, anger blossoming in his Heart.

"Whether you wield the Light, or the Darkness... You can wield a Keyblade."

For some reason, he didn't seem to like that.

I stopped moving, pointing my Keyblade at him. "But since this is a game of twenty questions... I have my own. For starters." I moved forwards, going slightly slower this time.

He raised his Keyblade, blocking the slash.

I pulled to the left, catching the shaft of his Keyblade on the bit at the end of mine.

He pushed back and to the left, sliding forwards in an attempt to stab me.

I stepped to the left, twisting my Keyblade and taking the pressure away at the same time, letting it glide past me.

Suddenly inside his guard, I lunged forwards, ramming the forehead of my helmet directly into his nose, sending him backwards with a pained yelp.

Yugao was fast enough that the one time I had tried that on her, she'd cut my head off.

But this time, I was the faster one, a fact that I was making full use of.

I quickly stepped backwards, once again out of range.

"Why do you want that girl's Soul Gem?"

He gets back up, left hand covering his nose, right hand still holding his Keyblade.

"What's it to you, creature of Darkness?" He sneers- and then winces in pain.

He isn't healing himself. Why isn't he healing himself?

Does he not know how?

No ranged attempts, either.

No magic? He has a Keyblade, but if there was nobody to teach him...

He might simply not know that it is possible.

"Rather important, you see. Since you stole that girl's Soul Gem." I started circling again. "Who knows, I might actually consider being lenient on you if it turns out that you have a good reason."

If he did have a reason, then it had better be a good fucking reason. I was more than a little pissed right now.

"I am trying to save lives." He growls, his other hand going away from his nose as he changed into a two-handed stance. "That Soul Gem will help."

"That is not a good reason." I stared at him. "That Soul Gem contains her Heart and her Soul. You stole it and now you're analysing it. No doubt, you intend to experiment on it."

"I must find out how." He dashed forwards, Keyblade ready to thrust.

I swung, deflecting the Keyblade to the side before it could damage me, and then reaching up to catch the thrown fist, gripping his hand.

I'm going to have to thank Yugao so much after this.

I brought my knee up, ramming it into his stomach, forcing him to keel over.

I threw his fist backwards, flipping him over, onto his back.

So much.

He groaned, before moving to get back up again.

Persistent, I would give him that.

"E-end it, creature."

"No." I stabbed my Keyblade down, burying the shaft between the handle and the guard. "I haven't gotten my answers yet."

I began pressing down on his fingers, eventually forcing him to let go of the blade- which I then immediately sent flying to the side, out of the way.

If he was in any way intelligent, that wouldn't actually stop him.

"Disgusting creature of Darkness."

"You're... not referring to what I think you're referring to when you say that."

I shifted my Keyblade, holding the bit to his neck. "Tell me, what is a creature of Darkness, to you?"

"All that wields Darkness is a creature." He spat. "Unworthy of respect. No longer human, no longer of the Light. To wield Darkness is to be pathetic!"

He leapt upwards, his hand clenching- his Keyblade instantly reappearing in his hand and now positioned to skewer me.

A shame for him, then, that I was used to fighting beings much faster and stronger than he.

I batted in to the side, and promptly drove my fist directly into his face, sending him back to the ground.

He groan again, and then shifted to get back up.

Really persistent.

But he wasn't strong or fast enough- which was odd, given his apparent age. Unless he'd only recently attained a Keyblade, he should be way the fuck stronger, faster, and more experienced than this.

And Madoka had said that he had wielded the Light, but I hadn't seen him actually do anything.

A few haphazard blocks and a couple of attacks had been everything, really.

Something was wrong, here.

shudder

Excitement appeared in his Heart. A smile stretched across his face.

In an instant, I backed up, putting as much distanced between us as I could.

Light