I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.
Formidable
Tyler had almost never been more wrong when he said there wasn't a single being in the city. Just as soon as they'd stepped out of the alleyway the portal had dropped them off in, they'd been swarmed by Shadows, hundreds of them. They'd had to fight their way through the entirety of the city so far, and they'd only made it about halfway to the castle. Just up ahead, there was a massive open area with the tallest skyscraper in it, and for the moment, the Heartless seemed to have backed off.
"I hate this place," Tyler said flatly, rolling his right shoulder, which was getting tired of swinging around his keyblade.
"You and me both," Lightning said. "This world's too close to the darkness. There are Heartless everywhere."
"Agreed," Tyler nodded, looking up at the clouds above them, rain beginning to fall lightly around them, though it was quickly growing heavier.
Suddenly several Samurai Nobodies appeared in front of them, stopping everyone but Sora. However, as Sora turned to help them, darkness suddenly shot up around him, swallowing him, then fading. Then, something exploded down in the center of the area, cracking the ground. The Samurai Nobodies turned, readying their weapons as Tyler and the others backed away, readying their own. Suddenly the Samurai shot forward as Caius's Nobody shot out of the dust cloud and roared, splitting them all in one slash. Tyler swore streaking forward, and blocking Caius's blade, skidding backward a foot before stopping, his body beginning to glow. He supposed it was too much to hope that Caius would stay away. Suddenly, Caius's free hand crashed into his gut, sending him bouncing along the ground as Lightning moved to fight Caius instead. Tyler flipped, landing on his feet and slammed a hand into the ground. Instantly, stone spikes exploded out of the ground at Caius, only for him to streak into the air, his body flipping, stretching and waving like a flag in a strong wind. As he landed, his sword blocked Tyler's keyblade before shoving him away and deflecting both Oswald and Mickey's keyblades. Oswald summoned his second keyblade and slashed at Caius but Caius flipped over it, then spun, slashing downward at him. Before it could hit, Goofy stepped into the way, slamming a round shield with the silhouette of Mickey's head on the face of it into Caius's sword, deflecting it before Donald blasted it with a Firaga. It sailed backward toward Tyler and Lightning, who both glowed bright white, streaking forward and slashing.
Caius's sword drove itself into the ground, blocking theirs at the same time as allowing him to flip and kick them both away. Tyler flipped and landed on his feet and left hand, skidding to a stop and ignoring the road rash on his hand as he looked up at Caius as he began to expand, transforming into a silver version of Fang's Bahamut Eidolon, except with the three fin-like wings on its shoulder each bearing the Nobody emblem and with the tips of its claws black. It roared and shot down at Tyler, slashing in a blur, only for Tyler to flip over it, slamming his keyblade into its face. It rocked backward and he flipped, swiping a hand downward and sending several bolts of lightning down into Caius's back, blasting him into the ground. The moment he hit, Mickey and Oswald both slashed him up across the face with their keyblades before leaping aside, Lightning and Noel both reaching him and slashing down through his face. Caius roared instantly, rearing up before exploding forward, one hand grabbing Lightning and the other grabbing Tyler as he moved to slash him. Caius shot into the air, only to stop abruptly as the cables from Vanille's Binding Rod hooked into him, Fang helping her hold him back. Noel, Mickey, Donald, and Oswald all instantly sent a Firaga each exploding into Caius, and he dropped, releasing Tyler and Lightning as he crashed to the ground, Vanille whipping her Binding Rod and retracting her cables. Tyler used magic to hover I the air, holding Lightning's hand and keeping her hovering beside him. He glanced at her and she nodded, both raising their clasped hands as lightning magic began to flicker from their hands.
"Thundaza!" they shouted, swiping their hands downward, a bolt of pure white lightning a almost ten feet thick exploding down on Caius's chest, blasting a crater into the ground and sending little veins of electricity racing across the ground for a moment as the lightning dispersed into the ground.
Tyler and Lightning dropped to the ground, landing lightly as Caius began to fade. Just as he disappeared, Sora reappeared in a swirl of darkness, standing as though nothing had happened at all.
"You make a good other," Sora mumbled.
"Well, look who decided to show up," Tyler said. "You missed the party."
"Party?" Sora asked, looking around. "What happened to you all? And where are those Nobodies?"
"And old pain in the ass my group's dealt with three times now, more for everyone but me, showed up and killed them all then beat our asses for a few minutes," Tyler said. "Where were you?"
"I...don't know," Sora said. "I was on some tower with a glass roof that had a picture of me. And...I fought...some guy in a black coat."
"Which?" Tyler asked.
"I'm...not sure," Sora said.
"What did he use to fight?" Oswald asked.
"He...He had keyblades," Sora said. "Two of them. He said...he defeated Riku."
"But nobody could defeat Riku," Donald said.
"Y...Yeah," Sora nodded. "You're right."
Tyler glanced at Oswald, who must have guessed what Tyler was thinking, because he nodded. Tyler nodded back. It was Roxas. But if only Sora could see him, and only Sora fought him, that would mean he was linked to Sora's heart, making him Sora's Nobody, somehow.
"Come on," Tyler said. "We should keep moving."
The others all nodded and they began toward the castle again.
Tyler looked around in silence as they walked up the stairs. They had been attacked by a few Nobodies as they made their way through the castle, which they entered because Sora somehow formed a bridge, but so far, they hadn't met any Organization XIII members, or enough Nobodies to actually qualify as an attempt to stop them, only to harass them. They were also down two members. As soon as they had entered the castle, Mickey and Oswald had taken off.
Tyler stopped at the bottom of the flight that would head back into the castle. "I've got a feeling we're about to meet the actual welcoming committee."
"How can you tell?" Sora asked.
"I can sense something, or maybe someone, incredibly powerful inside," Tyler said. It's hard to explain. I just...sort of know."
"Well, it's our only way in, unless you can run up walls," Fang said.
"Not yet," Tyler said. "Now that you've brought that up, though, I'm definitely going to spend some time figuring that one out."
Fang shook her head, smiling.
"Come on," Sora said. "We shouldn't keep them waiting."
"Oh yeah," Tyler snorted. "What a shame it would be if we caught them all napping and vulnerable."
They all walked into the next room, finding a blue rectangular floor in the center, a pair of bridges connecting it to the door they were entering through, and the one on the far side of the room, and an upper level walkway wrapping around the side of the room they were entering from, probably twenty feet up. The blue rectangle had a black design almost like an hourglass, except that the rectangle was turned so the broadside was to them. Tyler walked ahead of the others, keyblade in-hand. he could sense one. The one from the Keyblade Graveyard.
"Sora, Tyler, you've done well," the man's voice said from above.
Tyler's head snapped up, seeing the man standing over the door directly ahead of them, over a small enclosed area, but on the opposite side of the room from the upper level's walkway.
"You're Saix?" Tyler guessed.
"That is correct," the man nodded.
"Where's Kairi!?" Sora demanded.
"Who knows," Saix said. "I expect she's catching up with her friend from the darkness."
"What do you mean!?" Sora demanded.
"She doesn't need you anymore," Saix said.
"I'm supposed to believe that?" Sora asked.
"Well, you don't have to," Saix said. "But you can believe this. Organization XIII has no further use for you. Just look there." He gestured out a massive window taking up most of the wall behind him, where the heart-shaped moon was clearly visible. "Our Kingdom Hearts. Thanks to you, we've collected countless hearts. Can you hear their euphoria?"
Tyler swallowed hard. He could. Not hear it, exactly, but he could sense it. There was power radiating from that moon. Power, and emotions. Joy. Love. Longing. Sadness. Hate. He could feel it all.
"Now all they need is one more helping from the keyblade bearers," Saix said, snapping his fingers.
Instantly, darkness formed along the walls and Heartless began to swarm from it. There were mostly Shadows, but some were Armored Knights, and others were Soldiers.
"We gotta fight!" Donald said.
"But...Kingdom Hearts!" Sora said.
"Is useless if the organization members are all dead," Tyler said. "Don't worry about it. Do what you came here to do."
"Sora!" A voice shouted suddenly, just as Tyler and his group took off, beginning to tear through the Heartless. "Sora! It's really you!"
Tyler risked a glance up, seeing a girl with shoulder-length brown hair and a pink dress on a patform above upper level walkway, leaning over the railing. Then, he directed his attention back to the task at hand, just in time to deflect a knight's blade and destroy it. Several Shadows swarmed toward Sora, but Tyler spun around him, slashing them all before grabbing him by the front of his shirt with his free hand.
"Wake the Hell up!" Tyler snapped. "If you want to save your girlfriend, fight the goddamn heartless!"
He shoved him and spun, slashing a pair of knights before Lightning flipped over him, hurling a Firaga into a group behind him. He nodded to her just as Sora passed him, beginning to fight as well. However, just as he did, glowing red energy arrows began to fly down from above, slaughtering the Heartless around them. Tyler stopped, turning and looking up where they'd come from.
"Have you been a good boy?" a voice asked.
"Show yourself!" Sora ordered.
"Oh, it sounds like you haven't," the voice said as a guy with greying hair in a long ponytail, a scar on the bottom left side of his face, and a pair of arrow guns stepped into view. "Sora! Roxas!"
His arrow guns were rings with handles extending from the backs, a curved row of flat, sharpened metal diamonds, then a long, four-sided crystal spike extending from the front as a barrel.
"Is he talking to you?" Sora asked.
"I think he was talking to you," Tyler said.
"You've really put Organization XIII in a pickle," the man continued. "I guess that's why the keyblade chose you. But man did it pick a dud this time. you don't look like you're half the hero the others were. Not like your friend there with the much fancier evolved keyblade."
"Evolved?" Sora asked.
"Long story," Tyler said. "Who are you?"
"My name's Xigbar," the guy said, resting his right arrow gun on his shoulder.
"What others are you talking about?" Tyler asked. "Are there more keyblade wielders?"
"Not anymore," Xigbar said. "I met three of them, but they all bit it a long time ago."
"Are you done?" Sora asked. "I've got better things to do than listen to you."
Xigbar huffed. "All I'm trying to tell you, traitor, is that your time is up!"
"Here he comes!" Goofy shouted as Xigbar leapt off of the ledge, landing lightly in front of them.
"You really shouldn't have betrayed us," Xigbar said, fingers moving to his arrow guns' triggers.
Tyler shot forward instantly, Lightning at his side, and both slashed, Xigbar deflecting their blades with his arrow guns' rings, then flipped forward over Noel's sword and Fang's staff. He spun instantly, firing back at them all, only for Lightning and Tyler to slash the arrows out of the air rapidly. Xigbar flipped, diving sideways into a roll out of the way of Sora's strike before firing a barrage of arrows at him, Goofy stepping into the way and blocking the shots. Tyler, noticing Xigbar's guns were empty, shot forward, slashing at him. Xigbar swore, spinning to avoid it, only for Tyler's keyblade to tear through his side, sending him staggering away. His arrow guns shone as he reloaded just before vanishing in a cloud of darkness just ahead of Lightning's blade. Then, suddenly, the world around them blurred before refocusing, leaving them all suddenly crowded on a tiny square of floor. Fang and Lightning began to fall outward instantly, only for Vanille and Tyler to grab their respective girlfriends. Suddenly, Xigbar appeared over them, but before anyone could attack, shining blue magic arrows began to flash toward them out of portals that were appearing and vanishing at random all around them, Xigbar firing a near-endless stream into a pair of portals below himself. Tyler, Noel, Fang, Lightning, and Sora all deflected the shots as fast as they could, since there was no chance of them avoiding them, and when Tyler formed a barrier they simply punched straight through.
After several seconds, an arrow grazed Tyler's right leg, then stabbed into Goody's calf. Another stabbed into Tyler's left bicep. One grazed Fang's left shoulder and stabbed into the front of Vanille's right. One grazed Lightning's left side and stabbed into Tyler's side. Several grazed Sora, only to hit Goofy's shield. Finally, the shots ended and Sora leapt up, slashing at Xigbar, only for him to vanish. At the same time, Tyler dropped, Lightning kneeling beside him instantly and pulling the no-longer-glowing arrow out of his side as Fang pulled the one in Vanille's shoulder out. Vanille began to try and heal them all, but an arrow grazed her arm and she shouted in pain, the spell fading.
"Oh come on now, that's not fair," Xigbar said from the enclosed space where he had attached one of his arrow guns sideways to the back of the other. "No healing, little girl."
Suddenly, a short burst of arrows flashed down at her, Fang tackling her out of the way and the arrows grazed her back instead, leaving what looked like horizontal claw marks. Tyler grit his teeth, standing just as Xigbar fired at Lightning, only for Tyler to deflect the arrows back at Xigbar. One grazed his left shoulder, another his right side, and the third grazed the outside of his right leg from knee to hip.
"Ugh!" Xigbar shouted as he shifted his weight on his injured leg. "You clever little sneak."
He vanished, reappearing off to one side and Lightning and Tyler both charged, Tyler deflecting a pair of barrages on the way. Xigbar swore, then deflected Tyler's keyblade, kicking him away. Tyler spun as he passed Xigbar, seeing him use the underside of his left gun's barrel to block Lightning's gunblade, then grin as his right barrel began to glow.
"Gotcha!" Xigbar said as his barrel touched Lightning's abdomen.
A single arrow punched through her entirely, then sped across the platform toward Serah, only for Noel to step into the way, the arrow hitting him in the right side of the chest and burying itself deep. Both collapsed and Tyler shouted in rage, slashing at Xigbar, only for him to teleport away again. Tyler dropped beside Lightning, who looked up at him with wide eyes that were beginning to water. The wound had punched through her diaphragm. She couldn't breathe.
"It's going to be okay," Tyler said, pressing a hand to her wound.
However, when his hand began to glow green, an arrow punched through his forearm.
"I said no healing," Xigbar said from the top of the platform where he'd been first.
Tyler's eyes began to water, and he grit his teeth, ducking his head and shifting so that his back was to Xigbar before focusing. His hand began to shine green and arrows began to stab into his back instantly. After five, Sora reached him, deflecting the arrows rapidly. Tyler grit his teeth. He could barely focus through his fear of losing Lightning and the pain of being wounded. He could feel the arrows resisting his magic. However, finally, he managed to cast his spell. He, Lightning, and Noel all shone green, the arrows stabbed into him and Noel clattering to the ground before all of their wounds healed. Lightning sat up instantly, hugging him tightly.
"Are you okay?" Tyler asked.
"Yes," Lightning nodded. "Are you?"
"I'll be fine," Tyler said, standing and bringing her with him. "Let's finish this."
Lightning nodded as they turned to Xigbar, who sighed, shaking his head.
"Keyblade wielders," Xigbar sighed. "I keep forgetting how annoying you can be. And to think, I even made sure my arrows cancel out magic to deal with you. Oh well. Guess I'll just keep picking you all off until none of you are left!"
He leapt into the air, only to vanish, reappearing behind Fang and Vanille, holding his arrow guns to their backs, only for Goofy and Serah to both knock a gun upward. Then, Fang and Vanille both turned, slamming a Firaga into his chest and sending him rocketing backward. He teleported again before hitting the wall and reappeared in front of Tyler, driving a barrel at him. Tyler knocked it upward, then lashed at him, but Xigbar blocked the blade. Then, he teleported again as Sora slashed at him from behind, Sora and Tyler's keyblades crashing together. both instantly leapt away, a short barrage of arrows streaking between them just before Tyler hurled his keyblade behind Lightning. A moment later, as he'd guessed, Xigbar appeared there, shouting in surprise as the keyblade bit into his side and instantly teleporting away. He reappeared off to the side, holding his newest injury as Tyler's keyblade spun back to him and he caught it.
"Just hold still and let us kill you!" Tyler growled. "You're making this unnecessarily difficult."
Xigbar snorted. "As if! I'm going to beat you kids. No way is a child going to take me down."
"We'll see about that," Sora shouted.
Xigbar laughed, then vanished, reappearing directly over them and spinning. Suddenly, shining blue arrows began to flash out of his arrow guns and into portals, reappearing all around the platform, as well as in it. Tyler began to glow white instantly, deflecting the arrows around himself and Lightning before she also began to glow, both of them taking off and beginning to help the others fend them off. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't clean. Everyone came out covered in scratches, and most of them had to pull an arrow out of themselves, Tyler and Lightning both having a couple stuck in them, though not anywhere important. Finally, Xigbar reappeared off to one side, firing a barrage at Tyler and Lightning. However, just as he did, Sora appeared beside him, slashing him across the torso in a diagonal slash from his right him to his left shoulder. Xigbar shouted in pain and vanished, reappearing beside the bridge they had entered through, and aiming at them at him and Tyler, who both stepped up in front of the others. His arrow gun trembled for a moment before he collapsed to his knees and left hand. He let his arrow gun fall to the ground and sighed, lowering his head in defeat.
"Why did you call me Roxas?" Sora asked.
Xigbar chuckled. "Wouldn't you like to know."
He began to fade and Sora stepped forward to try and force him to answer the question, only for Donald to catch his hand.
"Sora, it's Kairi!" Donald said urgently, pointing up to where Kairi, who was holding a gold keyblade decorated with flowers, and a guy with a black cloak, tan skin, long silver hair, and a what looked like a keyblade made of a devil wing were surrounded by Heartless, though they were holding their own.
"Let's go!" Tyler said.
Sora nodded and they turned, continuing deeper into the castle.
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