I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters.
Lost
Tyler groaned as he stirred. As his eyes creaked open, he found that he was still holding Lightning, but that all of them were unconscious. Also, Riku had changed. He was shorter, his skin was no longer tan, he had a blindfold on, for some reason, and his silver hair, which had been feathered back, now hun loosely and messily. Tyler gently shook Lightning, who scrunched up her nose and tucked her face into his chest.
"Not yet," Lightning mumbled. "I'm comfy."
Tyler laughed quietly and kissed the top of her head. After a moment, she sighed heavily, looking up at him with a decently convincing glower.
"I hate you," Lightning said. "I was trying to sleep."
Tyler smiled, kissing her, then pushed himself up. "You'll be fine."
He helped her to her feet as the others began to stir, Sora instantly going to check on Riku when he noticed he had changed, likely back to his true form.
"Ansem did say that anything could happen," Mickey said.
"Riku, you gonna take that off?" Sora asked after a moment.
"Oh," Riku said, seeming to only just notice he couldn't see. He reached up, pulling the blindfold off and dropped it to the floor.
"What was that?" Sora asked.
"His eyes couldn't lie," Mickey said.
"Lie?" Sora asked, then turned to Riku, putting his hands on his hips and bending forward. "And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huhhhh?"
"Myself," Riku said.
"Riku..." Sora trailed off, frowning. "Come on, man. Why did you try to do so much on your own?" He ran over to his group and Micky, holding his arms out to his sides. "You've got friends. Like us!"
All of the others smiled and nodded.
"Have you forgotten?" Riku asked. "I'll tell you why. Cause I'm not a total sap like you."
Tyler shook his head, smirking from where he and the others were waiting by the stairs leading up to the next level of the castle. This is what he got for asking children for help dealing with serious problems. Just then, however, he sensed a spike in the darkness around them and looked up at the moon, which had a massive, jagged hole through it, taking up easily two thirds of the moon, then over the edge at the Heartless swarming up the walls of the castle. Hundreds of them.
"Hey guys," Tyler said. "If you're done your second reunion now, we still have one guy to beat, and I'd like to get there before the Heartless catch up."
Sora's group all nodded and they turned, hurrying up the stairs back into the castle. The next chamber was enormous with several disconnected, floating platforms spread around the room, each with a pair of small openings on them, and darkness flowing over the walls and filling the floor of the chamber below them. Tyler stopped, looking around, only for Oswald to walk past him. Oswald moved to step off the platform, but just as he did, a barrier made of dozens of hexagons appeared, his foot landing on it like a solid floor.
"Let's go," Oswald said. "They have barrier roads between the platforms."
"That's just stupid," Tyler huffed, everyone following Oswald up the path.
As they walked, more barriers appeared, forming a curved path to the first platform, then another road formed as they walked from there to the next, and so on. As they progressed through the room, several Nobodies appeared and attacked them using cubes made of energy, but they weren't exceptionally strong, and there weren't a lot of them, so they made short work of any that appeared. However, just as they reached the door out, Tyler stopped, turning just before Kairi called out to Sora and Riku. He stared up at the openings lining the walls like giant windows, or gun ports. In the openings several levels up, Heartless, mostly Shadows, were beginning to swarm in, scrambling down the walls and falling to the platforms. Tyler sighed, summoning his keyblade.
"We were close," Tyler said. "Looks like we'll have to deal with them first."
Lightning stepped up beside him, followed by the rest of his group.
"There's gonna be no end to this," Riku warned.
"Together, we can stop 'em," Sora said.
Then, there was a short column of black and green fire and a cloud of pale purple smoke ahead of them before a woman with a black robe and black horned headdress holding a staff appeared from the flames, a fat dog-human hybrid that Tyler recognized as Pete, from the same cartoon Mickey had been from in his old world, appeared from the smoke, wearing a red shirt and blue overalls.
"Begone from here," the woman said, looking back at them coldly. "Leave these creatures to us!"
"But there's no way we can take 'em all!" Pete said.
"I will be sending them after Xemnas," the woman said. "Or perhaps you would rather fight them yourself."
Pete held a hand to his massive chin for a moment. "Frankly, my dear, I'd rather RUN!"
"Off with you, then," the woman said.
Pete began to back away from her, then turned, only to stop as he saw Mickey and Oswald. "Well, if it ain't the boat-boy king, and the exile that got beat by him."
Oswald rolled his eyes.
"Time to weigh anchor, Captain Pete," Mickey said.
"What, like abandon ship?" Pete asked. "I don't think so."
"Sora," the woman said. "Your Majesty. Do not forget, when I've destroyed them all, this castle shall be mine!" She held her hands up as she said it and Tyler shrugged.
"I'll be sure to send it crashing into the abyss below it, then," Tyler said. "Somehow, you just strike me as not a nice lady."
"That's Maleficent," Sora said. "She's a witch we fought and defeated in the past, but she got brought back."
"Like I said," Tyler said. "Not a nice lady."
"Now lookie here," Pete was saying to Mickey. "Opportunities like this don't come along every day, ya know." He ran back over to stand beside Maleficent, preparing himself to fight. "Bring 'em on!"
"I say we let them fight the Heartless," Tyler said. "The Heartless kill them both, and while they di, they stop coming after us for a little bit. Win-win."
"You underestimate me," Maleficent said, then charged the Heartless with Pete.
"We gotta hurry," Mickey said.
"But..." Sora trailed off as Tyler and his group, including Oswald, headed for the stairs.
They climbed them quickly, and after a couple of moments, they left the castle onto a dark staircase wrapping around the top of the central tower, which they had finally reached. They all made their way up the stairs before finally reaching the top, finding Xemnas standing there, arms raised toward the moon, which seemed to be just out of reach here, and which had also broken apart even more, only barely more than the outline of the heart-shaped moon left, the rest black and crumbling into the pink void in the center slowly.
"Oh, my Kingdom Hearts...ruined," Xemnas said. "Now, I'll have to start all over again." He lowered his arms, turning to them. "Warriors of the Keyblade. Go forth, and bring me more hearts!"
"No!" Mickey, Sora, and Riku all said, summoning their keyblades, Tyler and Oswald both summoning theirs in silence.
Tyler glanced at Riku's keyblade. He liked it. It had a bat-wing-like blade, an angel's wing extending off the back of it near the tip and folded back along the blade a few inches as the teeth, a teal eye with a black slit pupil at the top of the grip, a white angel wing for the front guard and a blue bat win for the back guard, a chain of spike-arm crosses, and a Heartless emblem for a keychain.
"Denizens of Light, answer this," Xemnas said. "Why do you hate the darkness?"
"Aw, we don't hate it," Mickey said. "It's just kinda...scary. But the world is made up of light and darkness. You can't have one without the other, cause darkness is half of everything. Sorta makes you wonder why we are scared of the dark."
"It's because of who's lurking inside it," Riku said.
"Then allow me another question," Xemnas said. "You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark, never given a choice."
"Because of the choices you make," Tyler said. "We don't hate you for being what you are. We hate you because you destroy our worlds."
"But our Organization sending Heartless to your world, was what both allowed you to receive your keyblade, and to meet your friends," Xemnas said.
"And for that, you have my thanks," Tyler said. "But you caused a lot of pain and suffering. You killed a lot of people, including my family. You've caused a lot of suffering in a lot of other worlds too, not just mine."
"That may be," Xemnas said. "However, what other choice might we have had?"
"The one Roxas and Axel made when they left the Organization," Tyler said. "To do what's right, despite being rejected by the light."
"Just give it a rest!" Sora said. "You're Nobodies! You're not sad about anything!"
Xemnas laughed. "Very good. You don't miss a thing. I cannot feel sorrow. No matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think, what you feel, or how you exist."
He suddenly raised his arms and the floor below their feet began to shine blindingly, specks of light beginning to streak into the sky like an inverted rainstorm of light. Tyler shielded his eyes, but a moment later, when the light faded, Sora and Xemnas were gone. Tyler looked around, frowning. He could still sense Sora nearby through Sora's friends' connections to him, though he couldn't explain how. But he couldn't see him.
"Sora, where are you?" Kairi called out.
"Sora!" Riku tried after a moment of silence. "Answer me!"
Suddenly a Dark Corridor appeared over the center of the tower and Sora fell out of it. Tyler looked around, but he still couldn't see Xemnas.
"You're okay!" Mickey said.
"Where's Xemnas?" Sora asked, just as Tyler finally found him.
"There," Tyler said, pointing up at the moon, where Xemnas was hovering before it, absorbing power from it.
"Hear me Kingdom Hearts," Xemnas said. "It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give to you as many hearts as it takes. Mark my words! You can no more be complete without me than I without you. Heed me Kingdom Hearts. Lend me your power so that we may be complete. The power to erase the fools that hinder us."
"Xemnas!" Mickey shouted. "No!"
"Hearts quivering with hatred!" Xemnas continued.
"Xemnas!" Sora shouted. "Don't!"
"Hearts burning with rage!" Xemnas said.
"You'll never win!" Donald shouted.
"Hearts scarred by envy!" Xemnas said.
"Let him do it," Tyler said. "We'll beat him either way."
"That fool Ansem said a heart's true nature was beyond his understanding, but it's not beyond mine!" Xemnas said. "Hearts are the source of all power!"
The moon began to shine suddenly, and they all shielded their eyes, only to find Xemnas had disappeared when the light faded.
"Xemnas!" Sora shouted. "You can't hide from us!"
"He's not hiding," Tyler said, seeing the air begin to shimmer between them and the moon. "His invitation just hasn't arrived yet."
The others looked at him, then followed his gaze as a light began to shine in the air, spreading and forming a huge, silver door with spikes extending off the sides of it and a Nobody crest on the top.
"What's going on?" Goofy asked.
"Kingdom Hearts," Mickey said.
"That's Kingdom Hearts?" Tyler asked.
"It's a doorway to the heart of all worlds," Mickey said. "A dimension linked to every world."
"Well, we'd better kick him out of there, then," Tyler said.
Mickey nodded and he, Sora, and Riku all fired a beam of light into the sky, the doorway slowly swinging open as they did. Tyler swallowed hard as he watched. This wasn't going to be easy. Lightning slipped her hand into his and smiled supportively.
"Are you scared?" Lightning asked.
"Not for myself," Tyler said, staring through the door, where he could sense darkness waiting. "There's so much darkness."
Lightning nodded for a moment before reaching up and pulling off her necklace, one that he'd bought her with a pendant shaped like an arrowhead but looking like either a jagged crystal or lightning bolts making up the pointed webbing of lines. He wasn't sure what it was actually supposed to be, but she had liked it, so he had bought it for her at the resort during their training.
"Here," Lightning said, slipping it around his neck and tucking it into his shirt. "Hold onto this for me. I'll get it back after the fight."
Tyler watched her for a moment before nodding, kissing her. "I love you."
"I love you too," Lightning smiled. "Now let's go kick his ass."
Tyler nodded, smiling, and they turned, following everyone else through the door, only to find themselves in the same city they'd just left, the only difference being the red and black darkness filling the sky. Also, there was the massive, white, metal dragon holding up the same castle they'd just left, now with a pair of massive, hexagonal jet-engine-like structures on the bottom of it.
"So, your hearts have led you to obliteration," Xemnas said, voice magically amplified through the dimension they were in. "Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure and remember that."
He swung an arm forward, and suddenly a shadow began to darken the world around them. Tyler looked up and swore, seeing a building falling toward them as they all turned to run. It shattered as it crashed down, the concussion throwing Mickey, Kairi, Fang, Vanille, Noel, and Serah all back through the door before it closed.
"Well, so much for that half of the team," Tyler said. "You four trash the right thruster. Me, Oswald, and Lightning will handle the left."
Everyone nodded and they stood, sprinting along the street, scrambling over the fallen building's rubble. In the distance, the dragon dropped, then rose again, sending buildings exploding up from the ground, one after another, toward them. However, before the wave could reach them, Tyler focused, channeling magic to his keyblade, then shot forward, slashing his way through the buildings in the blink of an eye before landing lightly on the other side, the buildings he'd carved his way through crumbling and fading, everyone running to catch up. He began to run with them again and lightning smiled and nodded approvingly. Then, a building suddenly shot up from beneath them before stopping level with a building ahead of them. The dragon waved its arms and half a dozen buildings suddenly began to spin through the air at them. Sora took off instantly, slashing the buildings into pieces, leaping from one chunk to the next before launching himself at the right thruster-like structure. As he was, Riku followed with Donald and Goofy. Tyler and Lightning both began to glow white and leapt across the falling rubble toward their own thruster with Oswald just behind them.
As they landed on a catwalk in front of it, several nobodies with round heads, long, thin bodies, and small metal bell-like objects on top of their heads began to appear around them. Tyler instantly recognized them as explosives, which had attacked their Gummi Ship on numerous occasions, and also attacked him when he was on his keyblade glider. He jumped and slashed one, sending it speeding into the thruster instantly, where it exploded against the huge red interior of the thruster. Lightning and Oswald both instantly began to do the same, the three of them rapidly sending any and every Nobody that appeared around them into the thruster. And the Nobodies kept coming.
The thruster began to glow suddenly and Tyler swore. He was wrong. It wasn't a thruster. It was a laser cannon big enough for the laser to hit a quarter of a city even without exploding. Just as he was considering fleeing, Lightning and Oswald blasted a dozen of the Nobodies with a Thundaga and the charging cannon sucked them in, only for the light begin to flicker when they exploded. Then, explosions began to go off along the outside and inside of the cannon. At the same time, Sora's side began to explode as well. Tyler looked up at the castle, seeing Nobody-emblem-shaped opening, which Sora's group was heading for. Tyler and his two companions all used magic to hurl themselves at the opening as well, and arrived just as several Nobodies that had spikes along their arms moved to slash both Sora and Riku, who were slamming their keyblades into some kind of machine. Tyler reacted instantly, activating his keyblade armor and leaping over to land behind Sora and Riku, his armor blocking the Nobodies' attack, though Tyler was launched into the wall by the impact. Then, Oswald and Lightning slashed the Nobodies, destroying them.
Tyler shoved himself up just as the machine suddenly jerked upward, locking into place as the red Nobody Emblem on the face of it began to shine white. Suddenly, they were in a different room, one with an open ceiling and nothing but darkness above it, and a throne before them, where Xemnas sat in a suit of what looked like silver keyblade armor, a tall gold crown on his head, half of a taller gold crown as a left pauldron, white fur covering his right shoulder, and a huge red cloth extending from the wall behind him to his throne, fusing with the back of his armor and turning white around him, then extending from the insides of his gauntlets to the floor before them, turning whit before ending in red, three-clawed hand-like shapes. He held a long red sword in his right hand with a yellow edge, and a massive white Nobody Emblem across the center of the blade, sticking out of it in the front and back.
"Ah, you have Keyblade Armor," Xemnas said. "How very quaint. However, it will not help you in this fight." He raised his hand, then swung it forward. "Curses, move!"
A half-dozen spears with spiked crosses on one end and jagged blades on the other swung off the wall to Xemnas's left as Tyler and Lightning charged. Xemnas slashed at them and Lightning blocked it, being launched backward, but Tyler jumped over it. However, just as he did, the spears all exploded down on his back, blasting him into the ground before Xemnas extended a hand, a blast of Darkness exploding into Tyler and launching him backward into all of the others, the shattered remains of his armor skittering across the floor around them.
"How disappointing," Xemnas said. "Your armor was barely more than decorative."
"We'll see whose armor is decorative," Tyler growled. "You're the only thing keeping me from living a peaceful life with Lightning. I'll be damned before I let you stand in the way!"
He shot forward again, dodging around the spears this time, then flipping over Xemnas's sword, only for Xemnas to shout in effort, swiping his left hand. A shockwave exploded into Tyler and sent him spinning out of the room, which he realized was the dragon's head. He flipped, focusing his magic into warping gravity. He had never been so glad his natural affinity was for Gravity Magic as he was when he stopped falling, the raced back up toward the dragon's head. He could see the others fighting, avoiding the former Organization XIII members' weapons and Xemnas's own sword. Finally, he reached him just in time to use both his own keyblade and as powerful a barrier as he could make to block Xemnas's sword for Lightning, whose gunblade split Xemnas up across the chest.
Darkness flooded out of his wound instantly and he shouted in agony before the darkness suddenly exploded outward, filling the would around them, then faded, leaving them on top of the castle again, back outside of Kingdom Hearts. Xemnas was kneeling before them, holding a hand to his wound.
"I need...more rage," Xemnas panted. "I need...more hearts."
"You don't understand anything," Tyler said. "Anger and hate aren't the only things that make up a heart."
"A heart is filled up with all kinds of feelings," Sora said. "Don't you remember?"
"Unfortunately, I don't," Xemnas said before disappearing in a cloud of darkness.
Tyler sighed as the others began to cheer. They had won. That hadn't been nearly as bad as he though. Compared to Saix, Xemnas was a pushover. Just then, a Dark Corridor appeared off to the side, and an orange dog that Tyler was pretty sure belonged to Mickey, charged up the stairs, barking excitedly before charging through the portal.
"Wait for me!" Goofy shouted, chasing him.
"Come on!" Donald called to the rest of them before walking through.
"Somehow, it doesn't feel like it's really over yet," Tyler said as the rest of their group walked through the portal.
"I know what you mean," Lightning said. "One minute he's shattering your armor like it's nothing, and it's all we can do to avoid his strikes, and then the next he's finished after one hit."
"I don't doubt your ability to finish the fight in one blow," Tyler said. "But...I just sort of...have this feeling." He frowned. "Like...I can sort of...sense him."
"Let's go home," Kairi said, Tyler realizing that they, Sora, and Riku were the only ones still on the castle. "Let's go you two. Your friends are calling you slow."
Tyler laughed, nodding, and the four of them turned to walk to the portal, only for it to suddenly darken and rapidly shrink into nothing, sealing them off. Tyler swore, looking around. "I knew it wasn't over."
"What's going on?" Sora asked.
"Xemnas isn't dead yet," Lightning said, drawing her gunblade.
Tyler nodded in agreement just as the world around the castle changed. Suddenly, there was a sea of blue and red darkness below it, and in the distance, barely on the horizon, there was what looked like a bubble of green magic with something floating inside of it, stone both above and below it, despite there being nothing but a black void above them. Tyler squinted, then swore as he saw the same silver dragon as before inside the seal, though this time without the castle ore the two laser cannons. Then, just as he opened his mouth to warn the others, the bubble burst and the dragon uncurled, beginning to fly toward them. Tyler swore again, turning and hurling his keyblade, which transformed into its glider form after a moment, turning to fly back to them. Tyler glanced back at the dragon as it neared them. Massive wings with feather-like spikes extending from a plate at the end which bore the Nobody Emblem, a pair of arms tipped in claws, a pair of gigantic white jet engines in place of legs, a long tail tipped with four metal cylinders, and so much dark magic power radiating from it Tyler felt like he might pass out. As the glider began to near them, the dragon passed, its left turbine smashing through the castle completely. The top began to tilt and Tyler grabbed Lightning, hurling himself to his glider and pulling her on it behind him.
"Hook your legs under mine and hold onto me!" Tyler shouted.
Lightning did as instructed, looping her legs around in front of his in place of foot rests, then wrapped her arms securely around his torso. Tyler glanced back at Riku and Sora just as they both landed on a sort of glider of their own with a serrated blade-like piece wrapping around the main bike, a spike on the bottom of the bike, and a small platform on the left side like a sidecar, which Sora stood on while Riku flew. Riku and Sora nodded to Tyler, who nodded back just as the dragon roared.
"You take the left wing and turbine, we'll take right!" Tyler shouted.
Riku nodded and they flew after the dragon, pulling up behind it quickly. As they neared the tail, the small spike on the bottom of Riku and Sora's glider began to fire lasers just as the same kinds of Nobodies that existed in the darkness between the worlds began to appear, the lasers taking them down rapidly. Tyler began to try to anticipate how far ahead of the dragon's tail to aim in order to hit it as it waved around, and once he had his lead, he squeezed the triggers, holding them. Light began to charge in the glider's railgun, building until it filled the space. Then, a blast of light that was as big as the glider exploded from the rail gun with enough force to actually shove it back and make it fishtail for a moment. Tyler watched as the blast streaked after the dragon, flashing through several Nobodies in an instant, then hit dead center of the tail before exploding. Explosions ripped through the tail in a wave all the way to the dragon's body, the entirety of the tail being blasted into scrap, which the two gliders sped through quickly. Tyler cheered as he caught up to Riku and Sora, Lightning giving him a squeeze.
"Nice!" Sora said.
Tyler steered toward the dragon's right side and Riku headed for its left. Tyler glanced at his glider's railgun, but there were still heatwaves radiating from it. He sighed, swiping a hand and sending a Thundaga exploding into the thruster on the right side. As soon as he did, Lightning did the same. A pair of massive explosions bloomed from it and the dragon roared as several Nobodies were on the receiving end of Sora's keyblade and crashed into the left side's thruster. The dragon roared, holding its hands in front of itself for a moment before swinging its arms downward. Instantly, Nobodies began to swarm toward them, firing rapidly as massive white seals appeared. Tyler formed a barrier around them and swerved just as the white seals began to fire concentrated lasers of magic energy, Tyler only barely able to keep out of the way of them as they swung around and around after him. Finally, the glider's gun was done recharging and he began to spray. Any Nobodies he blasted began to fall, and after a moment, he got the hang of making them crash into the thruster. Then, the seals stopped and he charged another shot before firing. A moment later, the entire thruster erupted into a fireball, sending the dragon careening to the side, Riku and Sora swerving around it before it flipped, righting itself just in time for the other thruster, which was heavily damaged, to tear free.
"Almost there!" Tyler shouted, Riku nodding as they flew after the dragon which turned to flee.
Both of them pushed their gliders' speed just as the dragon began to summon a flood of Nobodies and seals to try and stop them once again. They dodged and swerved around the lasers, Tyler and Riku respectively holding barriers to shield them. Then, suddenly, the spike under Riku's glider began to shine and unleashed a beam as big around as the glider. The beam exploded into the dragon's back, sending explosions ripping along its surface, before splitting, Riku steering the glider carefully to make the two beams, which spread outward, tearing along the wings. As the laser faded, the wings were both badly damaged. Tyler grinned, beginning to spray their side's wings while still holding a barrier while Riku held a barrier for him and Sora, Sora sending any Nobodies he could reach with his keyblade into their side's wing. After a few minutes, both wings exploded, tearing free of the dragon, which roared one final time and began to fall, crashing down in the sea of darkness below them. However, as soon as it had crash landed, it rose, waving its arms and sending a massive wave of darkness out in every direction. When the darkness settled as much as it would, they were staring down at the dragon, a brand new set of wings formed from a half dozen aligned turbines each extended from its back, the city the castle had once been on the edge of now revealed from beneath the darkness that it had crashed in, and darkness formed around them like spiraling clouds of smoke. Gravity was also skewed now. Despite the fact that they were hovering with the nose of the glider pointed downward, gravity was still holding them to the glider's seat, and Sora likewise was still standing on his glider's platform.
"Let's finish this," Lightning said.
Tyler nodded and flew to the dragon, he and Lightning leaping off of the glider and landing in the throne room inside the dragon's head again just as the glider began to fly away. Tyler summoned it back to himself as his keyblade, but now that he was looking, he felt stupid for not noticing what was behind them sooner. A massive spiraling vortex of red and blue darkness, all spiraling into a massive black hole of pure darkness, through which Tyler could somehow tell the Realm of Darkness awaited. he swallowed hard.
"Well, that's going to complicate matters," Tyler said.
"Only if we don't kill him," Lightning said.
Tyler nodded and they turned back to Xemnas just as Sora and Riku arrived, their glider spinning into the vortex. All four readied their weapons, and charged as one. Xemnas shouted in effort, strings of darkness like thorned vines forming around his sword before he slashed. Tyler encased himself in a barrier before jumping over the blade, but the other three didn't think to, and the vines flooded past them, tearing shallow, yet painful, scratches into their arms, legs, and sides. Tyler let his barrier fade and slashed downward at Xemnas, only for a rectangular barrier to flash into existence before him. As Tyler's blade hit it, it flashed again and he shot backward, crashing into the wall and groaning. He shoved himself up as Lightning slashed Xemnas across the chest, only to be rewarded with sparks and leaving a small scratch. His armor was harder now. Tyler growled in annoyance, standing as Xemnas backhanded Lightning with his left hand, sending her crashing into the wall off to Tyler's right. He charged as Riku and Sora both slashed at Xemnas, only to get blasted by the same barrier Tyler had. However, just as Tyler hurled himself into a stab, the barrier faded. as Tyler was airborne, the dragon's head swung sideways, Tyler's keyblade scratching the side of Xemnas's armor, but missed hitting him. He swore, shifting his grip to slash sideways, only for Xemnas to slash downward, forcing him to dive to the side, leaving the keyblade embedded in Xemnas's chair. Xemnas ripped it free and cast it aside, only for Tyler to summon it back to himself. He glanced at Lightning as she finally stirred, pushing herself up. He looked back to Xemnas, who raised his left arm across his body. Tyler shot forward, focusing on how the barrier Xemnas had used felt. Then, just as Xemnas swung his arm downward and sent out a massive blast of darkness, the same barrier appeared in front of Tyler, reflecting the blast back into Xemnas. Xemnas shouted in pain, his armor denting, crumpling slightly, and the points of the two crowns on his head snapping off.
He shouted in pain, then raised his sword, slashing downward. A massive blast of wind sent all four of them streaking toward the vortex. Tyler began to glow white instantly and stopped himself, catching Lightning, who began to shine as well. he hurled a barrier spell at the vortex, plugging it just in time for Sora and Riku to hit the barrier, then leap off as the barrier shattered. All four flew back toward Xemnas just as four massive Dark Corridors appeared over the dragon, each of them spitting a building at them the buildings spinning and flipping rapidly. Then, the wings fired a barrage of glowing red lasers at Sora as white seals began to appear around Riku, firing the same compressed lasers Tyler and Lightning had been dodging on Tyler's glider.
Tyler and Lightning flew ahead of Sora and Riku, slashing their way through the buildings before Tyler used gravity magic to hurl the buildings' debris at the dragon. It slammed its arms together, a massive, circular, metal shield forming, the Nobody Emblem emblazoned on the front of it. Then, the debris all exploded into the shield and smashed the two halves apart. The two of them instantly flew to the dragon's head and landed on their feet, only for Lightning to be blasted by a wall of compressed air, sending her crashing into the wall behind them. Tyler shot forward, flipping over Xemnas's sword and ignoring the darkness tearing into his body, slashing Xemnas across the chest at the same spot as Lightning had. Xemnas shouted in pain as Tyler's keyblade tore into him. Then, he shoved his left hand forward. Tyler leapt away, only for a bolt of electricity to explode into his chest anyway, forming a sphere around him as it began to electrocute him. Tyler shrieked in agony, his entire body contorting and spasming beyond his control. Xemnas raised his sword, dark thorns swarming along the length of the blade, which Tyler was well in range of, but Tyler could do nothing to stop him killing him.
Lightning crashed into his side, knocking him out of the sphere of electricity. A barrier shone from her body, shielding her from the electricity, but when her gunblade moved to block the sword, the impact knocked the blade out of her hand and Xemnas's sword tore across her torso, darkness warming off of it and tearing into Lightning, this time also tearing into her directly, rather than just scratching her extremities. Blood splattered across the ground, but the force of the blow, coupled with the darkness ripping through her, sent her flying off out of the throne room, the vortex instantly grabbing hold and pulling. Tyler shouted in terror and dismay, rocketing out of the dragon's head and flashing past Sora and Riku, both of whom looked conflicted, but who went after Xemnas, since Tyler was flying faster than they could anyway.
Tyler watched as Lightning flipped and spun toward the vortex. He could heal the physical damage. He could even purge her body of any darkness that invaded. All he had to do was catch her first. He reached out, grabbing for her. He was almost there, but the vortex was so close. His fingers brushed her ankle. He surged forward. They were entering the edge of the vortex now, but he could catch her. He reached out. Her wrist swung toward his hand. He had her.
A hand grabbed his other hand and yanked him back and he shouted in abject horror as the darkness swallowed Lightning in an instant, ripping her away from him. He couldn't see her. He couldn't sense her. She was gone. He wheeled around summoning his keyblade to kill Xemnas, only to find Serah, still holding his hand and sobbing.
"I'm sorry!" Serah sobbed, just as a Dark Corridor appeared behind her and they both rocketed through, getting spit out inside of the Gummi Ship's cockpit in seconds, Serah bouncing away from him as they landed.
"Why?" Tyler asked, tears flooding down his cheeks as he pushed himself up to his knees. "WHY DID YOU STOP ME! ? !"
"I promised!" Serah sobbed. "She knew! She knew she would die! She made me swear not to let you catch her! She made me swear to stop you from going with her!"
"I could have saved her!" Tyler half-sobbed-half-shouted. "I was right there!"
"You would have been pulled in too!" Serah said. "She knew it would happen! She made me swear not to let you!"
She hugged him and his will broke. He began to sob, clinging to her, despite how much he truly hated her in that moment.
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