A/N: Just wanna let you know, that I've recently started a collab fanfic with my good friend Kristen Verne. It's called Radiant Garden Renegades. I takes place in her KH Universe and it focuses on Kairi, Lea, Isa, and my OC Sasuke when they were kids and the misadventures they get into. You can read it either on Kris's Fanfiction profile or my Deviantart page.

Speaking of Kris, thanks goes to her for her ideas used in this chapter.

Power of Darkness

KAI: It was day I first questioned my worth.

"AAAUUGGH! I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!" Ryu was in a prison cell, punching and kicking at the walls, cursing his predicament. First he lost to Kai in the tournament, then he failed to kill the runt while his guard was down, and now he was being punished for his attempt. And meanwhile, Kai was still out there hogging even more his glory. "It not fair. IT'S JUST NOT FAIR!"

"No use throwing a temper tantrum about it," a voice was heard. Ryu turned around and saw a man in a black coat, his hood shrouding his face, standing inside the same cell, leaning against the wall. "Because the sad truth is life is not fair. There will always be winners and losers, and we don't always get to pick which one we are."

"Who are you? And how did you get in here?" Ryu snapped.

"Not important," the man answered. "I'm more interested in you, Ryu Kurai."

"How do you know my name?"

"I know a great deal about you." The man then starts pacing around the cell. "Unlike those ignorant snobs, I actually agree with your line of thought. Survival of the fittest. That is the only real truth in this world. It is how wild animals live. Why should it be any different for the more...civilized folks? I believe this, you father, Zabuza, believed it, and you do as well. Unfortunately, many others refuse to accept this reality, prefering to keep everyone alive and in order, one person kills another and they get punished for it. Wanting quiet and boring peace where progress is slow, instead of thrilling and might-testing war where true progress resides. Now how are we suppose to evolve by denying our natural instincts like this?"

"You're getting on my nerves for beating around the bush, and telling me what I already know," said Ryu. "Get to the point already!"

The man stopped walking and had his back turned to the imprisoned recruit before saying, "I understand you have a serious contempt for that squirt, Kai Hikaru. A kid who represents what you despise about our society. The son of the man your father was punished for killing. The one who gets a lot more attention than you despite him being younger and the fact that you've been in the Recruits longer than him. And finally the one who has one-upped you on more than one occasion."

The boy growled at that statement. "He got lucky!"

The man turned around and pointed at the boy right in the chest. "Tell me something, Ryu. How badly do you want to prove you're better than Kai? If given the opportunity, how far are you willing to go?"

Ryu growled and thought for a second before answering. "I want to crush him. I want him to suffer, wish he was never born. I want him to plea for death, and then give it to him!"

The black coated man chuckled and said, "Good answer! I like you kid, so here's what I'm gonna do for you. What you really want to do is break him before you end him. You can do this by exploiting his weakness. Everyone has one, and the little squirt is no exception. I know his weakness, and I know the perfect way to break him. Interested?"

Ryu then smirk with glee. "I'm listening."

It had been three days since the tournament.

The Recruit were training in the east side of the Outer Gardens like normal. Laguna had decided to put the newly promoted Guard, Zack Fair, in charge of today's training. Bartz and Tifa were in the middle of a spar while Kai was taking a break, sipping on a sports drink as he watched. However their training routine was just about to be interrupted.

"LIGHTNING! LIGHTNING! HELP US!" Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked toward the source. They saw Lightning's sister, Serah, running toward them, followed by Yuffie, Rydia, Palom, and Porom. They were all looking very scared. Upon closer inspection, each one of them had one or two noticeable bruised on their faces and arms. Something about this disturbed Kai in particular: they were all Kairi's friends, but Kairi herself was not with them.

Lightning was quick to run up to Serah, putting a hand on her sister's black-eye. "What happened?!" she asked with a mix of anger and concern.

Serah clutched her older sister in fright, she cried as she said, "A b-bad man...dressed i-in a black coat...c-came to us!"

"He came out of nowhere!" cried Yuffie.

"W-we didn't do anything to him," whimpered Porom.

"But he kicked us around!" cracked Palom.

"He...he..." Rydia struggled to get out her sentence until she bursted into tears, "HE TOOK KAIRI!"

Those last three words made Kai freeze for a second. A man in a black coat hurt Kairi's friends and took Kairi herself. Many thoughts about this man might do to his little sister flooded his mind. Anger and worry filled his heart. Without even hesitating, Kai stood up and dashed away from the training ground toward the town.

"Kai! Wait! Where are you going?" shouted Zack, but it fell on deaf ears.

"There he goes again," Squall sighed. "As soon as his sister's in danger he has a one track mind."

"Great!" complained Zack. "My first day of supervising and I can't keep one recruit in check." He then turn Lightning. "Lightning go follow him and make sure he doesn't do anything rash!"

Lightning nodded and pried her sister off her and said to her, "Everything's gonna be alright." She then took off after Kai.

Zack then turned to the other recruits. "Zidane, Tifa, take the kids home. Everyone else split into teams of two, spread out and search the town! If you find a man in a black coat, send word out immediately but do not engage if you can help it!" Everyone did as they were told. Zack then hurried to the castle to inform all the guards of the kidnapping.

Kai didn't even know where he was going. All he knew was that he had to find his sister before it was too late. If anything happened to her, he would never live with himself.

Lightning was trailing behind the boy. "Kai! KAI! Slow down!" Her shouts weren't reaching him so she picked up the pace and managed to grab onto his arm.

"Let go!" Kai snapped.

"Get a grip!" Lightning chastised.

"There's no time!" Kai shouted. "He's got Kairi!"

"And you're only wasting more time by running around aimlessly!"

"That's my sister! You can't expect me to sit around doing nothing!"

Lightning turned Kai around a slapped him in the face, making him stop in place. "I'm not telling you sit around! I'm telling you to be smart about this!" She then gripped his shoulders. "Look. We don't why he kidnapped her to begin with. We don't know his motive. This is NOT a time for RASH actions! If you just go charging in blindly you may only make things worse for you and her."

"I...I..." Kai was struggling to decide whether to listen or not. He didn't know how much longer Kairi had, but he knew Lightning had a valid point.

"You're not the only one looking for her right now." Lightning softened her tone. "The guards and recruits are searching every square inch of town for her and the man in the black coat. I know I'm not gonna let him get away with hurting MY sister, and I'm not gonna rest until you find YOURS. You don't have to do this alone you know. We are going to find her, but you have to be patient."

Kai took a few deep breaths too calm himself down before saying, "Okay!"

Lightning nodded, "Now let's go find her."

Lea and Isa were searching around the south end of the Outer Gardens.

"Remind me again why where look around a place that's so out in the open?" asked Lea.

"We have to search every corner we can find," answered Isa. "You never know what you could find in the most unexpected places."

They walked around until Lea's attention was caught by a little cyprus kitten sitting front of the large castle-tower-shaped fountain staring at the side of it. "What do you suppose the cat is doing all the way out here?" asked Lea.

"Lea, we don't have time to get distracted," Isa berated.

"Hold on, Isa." Lea started walking toward the kitten. "I think this is actually Kairi's cat."

When Dawn noticed the boy coming, she meowed at him and then stood up, placing her front paws on the side of the fountain. Lea then crossed his arms as he looked closely at the wall. He started touching the wall all oven until suddenly he pressed something and a hidden door opened up.

Lea turned to Isa and said, "You weren't kidding about unexpected places."

Isa only smirked in response.

The two then entered the door and soon found themselves on a large balcony above a large stream inside an underground structure.

As the two gaze down at the streamed, Lea wondered out loud, "What is this place?"

"If I had to guess," said Isa, "we're looking at the town's water supply." Indeed, for they had arrived at the Purification Facility.

They then heard Dawn meow again, Lea looked at the cat saw that it was facing away from them, looking up. He followed the cats gaze and jumped at the sight. "Isa look!"

Isa turned to look at what caught Lea's attention and he too jump.

Up on a high ledge, lying against a large pipe unconscious was a little girl, specifically the one they were looking for: Kairi.

"It's her!" Lea exclaimed. "We found her!"

"You are not who I wanted to see!" called a voice and the boy saw a figure in a black coat standing on the same ledge as Kairi. The figure walked in front of her. "What are you doing here?" Judging from his height and voice, he wasn't that much older then them.

"Well, actually we were looking for that girl you kidnapped," Lea stated. "So why don't you give her back before you become the victim of a serious butt whooping."

"How about...NO!" the figure declared as he launched a black fire ball from his palm.

The boys rolled forward, narrowly dodge the attack. Isa looked back up and said, "Well this isn't gonna be good."

"You were just about to leave, right?" said the figure. "I have bigger prey to catch than the likes of you."

Lea stood up and shouted, "Ha! You wish! We're not leaving until you release the girl!"

"Tsk." the figure jumped down to their level. "Fine, have it your way." Darkness then erupts from his hands and a pair of cutlasses with blood-red blades and indigo hilts appear. "I could use a little warm up anyways."

Lea drew his chakrams and Isa drew his longsword. Lea smirks. "What better time than now to try this out." One of his chakrams ignited when he said this. He was starting to get the hang of the spellblade art, particularly infusing fire magic into his chakrams.

Meanwhile, Kai and Lightning continued their search. They had looked all over the town, and there was no sign of Kairi or the man in the black coat. They soon arrived in the south Outer Gardens.

"Where could they have gone?" Lightning asked as she looked around the garden.

As they walked closer to fountain, Kai noticed an opening on the side of it. He rushed over to take a closer look, followed by Lightning once she noticed the same thing. When they got to the door, they could hear the clanging of swords echoing from inside. Once they heard a loud shout in agony, they wasted no time and ran in. When they arrived in the Purification Facility they Lea and Isa, as well as the black coated figure. Lea was fighting of the kidnapper, but he look pretty beat up. Isa, however, was on his knees, his longsword was broken, and he had an x-shaped wound bleeding profusely on his face in between his eyes. Kai also spotted Dawn staring up the wall, and looked to where she was gazing and saw his unconscious sister, who appeared to be stirring. Lea tried to throw a fiery chakram at his foe, only for it to be knock away by his sword. Lea tried to attack up close with his other chakram, only to receive a hard kick in the stomach, knocking him onto the floor next to Isa.

"You're out of your league!" the kidnapper taunted as he raised his cutlasses. "I'm done with you weaklings."

Thinking fast, Lightning drew her gunblade in its gun form, switched off its safety stun, and fired a bullet at the attacker. To her surprise, he actually managed to block it with his sword. Lightning grunts in frustration as she fired a few more shots, to which again the figure blocked, followed by a couple thunder spells, which he sidestepped. All the while, Kai had been running right to the kidnapper with Muramasa drawn and his Windcutter activated. He leapt up and clashed swords with him, the force of the wind blowing his hood off. What everyone saw caught them off guard.

Kai's surprise quickly turned into disgust. "Ryu!" he growled.

The black coated kidnapper identified as Ryu smirked in delight. "Ah, just who I was waiting for! Kai Hikaru!"

"Ryu!" shouted Lightning. "How the devil did you get out of your cell!"

"I had a little help."

"From who?"

"I don't know he was, but I don't really care. Especially after he gave me this new power!" Ryu then began emitting an ominous violet glow. The floor beneath them trembled. Kai couldn't help but stare in awe at the creep's dark aura. It reminded him of the aura he saw on Xehanort. Lightning was nervous, and Dawn turned around and hissed at the dark boy.

Meanwhile Lea got up, grabbed the injured Isa, and moved to Lightning's position. "Are you two alright?" Lightning asked.

"Do I look alright?!" Isa grunted as he held his wounded face.

Ryu chuckled. "Quite remarkable, if I do say so myself. The power of darkness is so... intoxicating. Observe!" He swords disappeared and he launched a dark fireball from each hand. One hit Kai square in the chest. The other flew towards the other, causing them to duck in cover before it impacted the wall behind them.

When everyone recovered, and they saw the Ryu had vanished from his position. Before anyone could question where he was, they heard a light squeal from the upper platform. They looked and saw Ryu picking up little Kairi, who had fully awoken, before leaping high into the air, casting a blizzard spell on the set of stairs onto the balcony to create a wall of ice to separate Kai from the others, and landing near the far end of the balcony. He dropped the girl on her bum behind him and resummoned his dark cutlasses, one of them right in front of Kairi, startling her.

"You want her?" he said smugly. "Come and get her, Shrimp!"

Kai raised his wind-covered sword as he shouted, "RYU!" The two young swordsmen then charged at each and began clashed swords.

As the fight began, Lightning approach the thick wall of ice and casted a fire spell on it. To her surprised, the fireball barely made a dent on it. She then noticed hints of black mist emitting from the ice. She continued to cast fire spells while Lea reignited is chakrams and began slashing at the ice. They were making slow progress melting the wall.

Meanwhile, Kai wasn't fairing well in his fight. The younger swordsman had been unable to gain any ground on Ryu. His spellblade arts weren't helping at all. Flametongue wasn't landing its mark, Icebrand's freezing effects were easily shattered, Thunderblade's electric current seems to be constant resisted, and Windcutter wasn't damaging the cutlasses at all. Meanwhile, Ryu had successfully slashed Kai in the left shoulder and right thigh, as well as scorched his uniform with dark flames. And all the while, he has a maniacally smile on his face, while Kai just kept getting angrier. Soon the older swordsman, landed a hard kick to Kai's stomach, causing him to drop his katana, and sending him crashing into the balcony rails.

Ryu laughed and said, "As you can see, Hikaru, I'm a lot stronger now. Stronger than you! Take a good look at your superior! This is what the power of darkness can do!" Kai struggled to stand up. "But I'm didn't lure you here just to show you my power. I want you to suffer." He dismissed one of his swords, then grabbed Kairi, held her in front of him with his other sword at her neck.

"Big bro! Help me!" she screamed.

"Kairi!" Kai shouted back and prepared to charge.

"Go ahead!" Ryu dared the younger recruit. "Come at me! But just so you know, one step and the girl gets it to the throat."

Kai froze in place at that declaration. He couldn't move knowing his sister would pay for it.

Lightning, having heard Ryu's threat, move away from the wall of ice to get a better view. Seeing what was going on, she proceeded to point her gun at the turncoat.

Ryu however noticed. "Don't even think about it, Farron! The second you fire, this girl will be my shield."

Lightning grunted in frustration. "You dirty son of a gun!"

The kidnapper smirked. "You guys are just like everyone else. Always protecting the weak. Tsk. What have they ever done for you? Why bother defending those who can't defend themselves. They're nothing but dead weight. The weak should just disappear. Survival of the fittest! We do what we must to survive! War is the true ticket to progress! It pushes us to become stronger, broadens our minds to create new weapons, and gives us opportunities to achieve great feats! Peace? Just a wall blocking the path to evolution! Compassion? Just a ball and chain that holds you down and prevents you from doing whatever it takes to crush your foes!" He chuckled Kai's frozen stance. "Case in point, you can't attack me as long as I have your parasite of a sister in my grasp! That's what makes you weak! That is why you're inferior to me!"

The wounded Isa then decided to speak up. "So, you kidnap a helpless little girl and hold her hostage...just to prove a point? Tsk. The only thing you've proven is how much of a coward you are!"

"Think what you will," replied Ryu. "All I know is I'm gonna enjoy making this poser suffer. I'm sure looking forward to seeing him break after watching his own sister die in front of him. But first, given his position, I think I'll play with him a bit first!" As he said that, he held out his free hand and fired a blast of darkness at Kai, who could only stand there and take the blast and get knocked onto the floor.

"Kai!" the little girl screamed.

The older swordsman was laughing like a maniac as he began zapping the prey with dark lightning in short bursts while he's down. Kai was writhing in agony. It was painful for the others to watch, especially for Kairi. "Not so high and might now, aren't you? You pathetic worm!" Ryu said as he continued to pummel him with dark blasts and lightning.

Kairi could not stand to watch her brother being tortured like this, and so she did something unusually bold. "You leave my big brother alone!" she yelled as she elbowed Ryu in the gut as hard as she could.

Ryu was caught off guard by this, however this only seemed make him mad as he diverted his attention from Kai to the girl, and then whacked her in the face with the back of his fist. Kai saw this, and stared in shock as he watched his sister fall onto the floor, then Ryu stepping on her back pinning her down, and then thrust his sword right next to her face, cutting her cheek, drawing blood. Kai's heart broke at the sight. And Kairi was trembling in pain and fear.

Lightning, seeing an apparent opening, got ready to fire again only for her target to throw a blast of ice at her, freezing her gunblade to her hands. Lightning growled as she tried to thaw herself with fire magic, with slow progress.

The crazed swordsman gave Kairi a sour look. "Pesky little brat. I don't see why this goodie-two-shoes cares about a pathetic weakling like you. I don't get why my benefactor, prefers you of all people alive. But, you know what? Screw them! You're going to die!" He raised his sword and prepared to behead her.

"How dare you..." Kai whispered loud enough to hear. Everyone look to him and saw him standing up albeit hunched over. His head was down so no one could see his face. He just stood there quietly.

"Your a real glutton for punishment, aren't you?" Ryu scoffed as he fired another dark blast at the younger swordsman.

...

Kai didn't even flinch, much to everyone's surprise, especially Ryu's. Confused, he launched a few more blasts, and even a few bursts of lightning. But no matter how many he threw at him, he wouldn't budge an inch. Ryu was starting to get frustrated until he saw black mist surrounding Kai. No sooner did an ominous crimson aura start emitting from his body.

A moment of silence was broken by a very loud, "YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" followed by an intense pillar of darkness erupting from Kai's body, shaking the entire area, so much so that the wall of ice had finally shattered and collapsed. Everyone was frightened, not only at the power the boy was exuding, but also at the face they saw when he finally showed his face...it was a look of pure rage.

Ryu only looked in anger and disbelief. "No way! Since when could you use the power of darkness?!" Soon, Kai suddenly vanish from sight. "What the-" but he was cut off when a palm grabbed his face.

Kai was so blinded by his rage, that when he charged forth to grab Ryu, he didn't notice that he had accidentally stepped on Kairi arm, very hard, braking it, nor did he listen to his sister's cry in pain. All he could think about was to crush this whack job. He pulled him onto the floor, pinned him down and proceeded to punch him in the face continuously, until his face drew blood.

Soon Ryu let out an angry shout as in a burst of darkness, he blasted Kai off of him. He got up and resummoned both of his cutlasses. "You dare make a mockery of me!" he shouted as his violet aura showed itself again.

Kai recovered quickly and managed to retrieved Muramasa. As soon as the katana was in his hand he used his Flametongue, coated with hints of darkness. Neither wasted any time in charging at each other.

As the two angry swordsmen crossed swords, the frightened little Kairi crawled as far away from the battle as possible, dragging her broken arm along the floor. She was crawling toward the stairway off the balcony, all the while not taking her eyes off the battle.

Lea saw Kairi and took the opportunity to rush over to her. "Come on kid. This is no place for children." He picked her up gentle and carried her off the balcony and safe with the others.

Lightning had managed to thaw out her weapon and hands. She kneeled down to Kairi and asked, "Are you okay?" Kairi didn't answer, just sat on her knees and stared at the battle, all the while holding her broken arm as it rested on her lap. Dawn had laid down next to her owner, covering her head in fear.

Kai was moving so fast that Ryu was struggling to keep up with him. Nevertheless, the older boy was able to land a few kicks and a slash to the side. The younger boy fought like a wild animal. He was attacking without restraint, without finesse, without mind. He was acting on primal instinct now. And his attacks were so strong, every time his sword slam onto the ground, another tremor occurred. And whenever they locked swords he was always able to push Ryu back. All in all, Kai was having the upper hand in this fight.

"That's it!" Ryu shouted as he leapt high into the air. "YOU'RE DEAD!" Darkness shrouded his cutlasses. "Black Comet!" He point his swords and a flurry of black energy spheres rained down.

"Sonic Wave!" Kai shouted back as unleashed his Limit Break. With his Flametongue still active and darkness seeping into his attacks, the Sonic Wave was amplified with fire and darkness. This wave was also was larger than usual. The attack intercepted the dark spheres, destroying them. The wave barely missed Ryu and impacted the ceiling, creating a large scar and causing a bunch of debris to fall.

Ryu landed back on the floor, but Kai was not giving him a chance to regain his bearings. The younger swordsman repeatedly launched more sonic waves at him, making the older one dodge frantically. The blasts were collide with the walls all over the place. A few of them even flew toward the others, to which they had to take cover each time.

"Okay! This is starting to get really nuts!" exclaimed Lea. "They're just not letting up!"

As little Kairi continued to watch, she couldn't help but feel terrified. The animalistic look on Kai's face, his vicious attacks, the destruction he was causing, and worst of all, the darkness that was emanating from him. She had never seen her big brother like this before. It was like he was a completely different person now. The girl had tears in her eyes right now.

"Will you just die already?!" Ryu was really getting tired of being pushed around like this. He charged at his prey, only for Kai to shoulder bash him when he least expected it, and was sent crashing into the rails. Before he could get up, Kai leapt into the air with his flaming sword held high. Ryu tried to move out of the way, but was too slow. Kai managed to slice Ryu's left arm right off of his shoulder. The older boy yelled in agony as his severed arm fell lifeless on the ground, and the flames from the sword burned his shoulder. He began to pat the flame out, before the younger boy grabbed his head and began pounding his face against the rail.

Soon, Ryu became to disoriented to act and his face was a bloody mess. The enraged Kai then threw the kidnapper so hard, he crashed into rails of the other side of the balcony. Kai took only a few steps toward his foe before halting. His Flametongue had dispelled but was only replaced by more darkness.

Ryu struggled to stand up. This is absurd! he thought. How did he gain that power?! Why can't I kill this runt?! Why is it no matter what I do, he comes out on top?! Am I truly inferior to Kai?! THIS IS ABSURD!

"You belittle me at every turn." Kai growled. "You disgrace the Guard. You try to have me killed! You insult my father! And you threaten my sister!" He raised Muramasa, channeling darkness through it, darkening the blade's red color. "Ryu Kurai! YOU'RE GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL!"

Kairi couldn't take the sight anymore. "Stop it, Big Bro!"

But it was too late. For Kai had already launched a large wave of darkness, blasting Ryu right off the balcony and into the water below.

After a moment of silence, Kai found himself breathing heavily, with a shocked look on his face; as if he just woke up from a nightmare. What...just happened? he thought. He looked at his sword, and saw the residual darkness emanating from it. He also noticed the blade was no longer just a tint of red, but now it had turn blood red. He dropped his sword and looked at his hands; they were coated in blood and also emanating residual darkness. He look around the place and saw all scars on the walls caused by his sonic wave. He then looked at the other. All of them were looking at him apprehensively. Soon, the events of this fight started to comeback to him. He just killed someone. He just used the power of darkness. Then, Aqua's words sounded in his head:

'But beware, as darkness lurks in every heart, even yours. If you are not careful, then hatred and lust for power could lead you off you're intended course.'

His eyes settle on his sister, whom look at him with terrified expression. He noticed that her arm hung on her side, and didn't look right. He could tell it was broken. At first he wondered how it happened, until his remembered feeling a funky step when he charged at Ryu, then heard a crack followed by a cry of pain. It was then he realized that he was the one that broke her arm. I...hurt...Kairi? he thought. He took one step toward them, before seeing Kairi instantly hide behind Lightning, making him stop in his tracks. The act only, pierced his heart. She was afraid of him now. The boy dropped to his knees in shame.

Soon, Aeleus walked into the facility, and saw the damage all around him. He even saw the severed arm lying on the balcony. "What happen here!" he shouted firmly, gaining everyone's attention. While everyone proceeded to tell their side of the story, Kai just sat their, frozen in shock.

Meanwhile on a far off balcony away from view. Two figures in black coats stood watching the whole thing. One was Braig and the other was Xehanort.

Braig whistled softly. "Well that was a lot more than I expected. Who knew that kid would be such a little monster."

"Indeed," answered Xehanort. "His darkness sure was strong. Now if only that darkness wasn't such a wildfire." He turned to him accomplice, with a disapproving stare. "I must say it was very risky using the girl as bait. Ryu would've killed her, you know. And she's no good to us dead."

"Hey! A new one would've been born in her place. You're the one who told me that!"

"But then there would no telling when or where her replacement would turn up. But whatever the case, your plan did provide me with valuable data. So I will overlook your disregard this one time."

"Eh, whatever. So what should we do with him?" Braig pointed at the one-armed, unconscious Ryu lying next to them. Braig had used his warping power to save the boy from a watery grave.

Xehanort smirked. "Confined him in our lab. We may yet have a use for him."

Braig looked back toward Kai and smirked. Look at that squirt, he thought. He may not be dead, but it seems that his spirit has broken. I don't think he'll be a problem anymore.

KAI: I couldn't believe what I had just done. I grew afraid of myself that day. I no longer wondered why the Keyblade never came to me; for it was clear to me that day,...that I was unworthy to wield it.

A/N: Whew. As you can probably tell, all the hints of darkness you've seen in the past few chapter have been building up to this. What's gonna happen after this? *evil smirk* You'll just have to what and see.

Funny story, I was originally planning on Ryu taking Kairi hostage right when he loses to Kai in the tournament in the previous chapter, which would've resulted in Kai going berserk with darkness in front of many people. In hindsight, the scenario probably wouldn't have been very plausible because of the many guards present. I'm sure they would've figured out how to put him down and save Kairi(I can see Sephiroth doing that in the blink of an eye). It was actually my good friend, Kristen Verne, who suggested that Braig(disguised as a black coated man) enlist Ryu's help, give him the power of darkness, and have him kidnap Kairi and take her to the Purification Facility. Kris didn't even know I was already planning on having Ryu take Kairi hostage to get to Kai, and when she pitch this idea in I thought, "You know what? I like that idea better. Much more plausible than my original idea." So kudos to Kris.