As the light that filled the room settled down, Sora, Donald, and Goofy cautiously peeked their eyes open, one at a time. Sora took that moment to look and pat himself over, making sure nothing was wrong. And much to his relief, he seemed to be completely fine. "You guys okay?" Sora asked, looking toward Donald and Goofy who were doing the same.

"I think so?"
"I don't feel nothin' wrong."

Their respective answers further relieved Sora as he sighed and nodded. "Me too." he said, before looking around the now quieted battleground. His eyes widened when the first thing he noticed...was Ruby laying on her side, not moving. "Ruby!" he cried out as he and the others ran to her. Sora knelt down, holding her gently by her back with one hand and holding her head up with the other. "Hey, Ruby! What's wrong?! Say something!"

Her silence chilled them with worry. Donald rushed to the girl's side and held his staff out over her body. Curative magics flowed out of it, but fortunately...there seemed to be no need for healing. "She's still breathing. She's fine. Just out cold." Donald assured Sora, earning a sigh of relief from the boy and Goofy.

As for their mutual, murderous enemy..."Looks like that Cinder lady is out cold too. But she's got some weird scars on her now." Goofy said, drawing everyone's eyes in her direction. How in the world did that happen? They were certain none of them managed to do that to her. Was that because of...whatever lights emerged from Ruby's eyes? If so...just what DID she do to make this happen? Before Goofy could theorize, his eyes shifted past where Wyvern was last scene, only for them to fly back where it was. "Look at that!" he exclaimed as he nearly jumped with shock and awe.

Turning their heads toward where Goofy was pointing, Sora and Donald were astonished at what they saw. It looked like the Wyvern had become some sort of...stone statue. None of them had any clue how that happened...but so long as it didn't un-petrify and start attacking again, that was enough for them.

The awe turned to sorrow as Sora's eyes fell next to where Cinder lay. He gently lay Ruby's head on the floor as he walked over...and picked up the discarded golden tiara of the dear friend they tried desperately to save. "Pyrrha..." Both Donald and Goofy lowered their heads mournfully at the loss of the red haired, kind hearted huntress. The loss of a wonderful friend...

Their mourning however was interrupted when suddenly...Sora felt as if someone else was here. He turned around and gasped as he was face to face with a tall figure clad in a black, leathery hooded, long sleeved cloak with a long zipper running down the middle, with equally black gloves, boots and leggings underneath. Two silvery ornaments held up by chains dangled from the chest area of the cloak as the figure stepped toward Sora and suddenly phased through him! In that instant, Sora suddenly heard a myriad of words, statements, questions, and phrases flow through his head. Words that he himself said. All the way up to his promise to Kairi to return her lucky charm to her.

Sora nearly fell to the ground as he tried to shake off the intense head rush he was afflicted with. Turning around, Sora saw the mysterious figure standing at the center of the room, looking down at the unconscious Cinder. "Who are you?" Sora asked. The figure remained silent...until a deep, smooth, almost emotionless sounding bass voice rang out through the room.

"Ah. It seems you are special too."

Something about this person was rubbing Sora and his friends the wrong way. Almost as much as... "Ansem?" The instant Goofy asked if that was who they were dealing with, the enigmatic man turned toward them, saying,

"That name rings...familiar...You remind me of him."

'Him'? Sora wasn't sure who this he was talking about. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked angrily. Was he saying that he reminded him of Ansem of all people? Suddenly, Sora gasped as he saw what looked like a series of sparks and surging light rising from the enigmatic man's hand. Worse still, he was turning toward Ruby's prone form! He didn't know what this mysterious figure was doing, but Sora refused to stand by and let another friend die! In a split second, he dashed in front of Ruby, summoning the Keyblade, as the figure unleashed the energy built up in his hand in a stream of arcing bolts of energy.

Donald and Goofy were stunned, barely able to perceive what just happened as Sora grunted from the force of the attack he barely felt himself holding back. He felt the force of...whatever this was pushing him harder and further, but with a sudden burst of strength and adrenaline brought about by his instinct to protect Ruby, he gave a great swing of the Keyblade and sent the attack flying upwards. The energy somehow shifted into a sphere as it flew toward the opening in the rooftop and suddenly impacted against the head of the petrified Wyvern, shattering it upon impact! The rest of its body began crumbling away as the tower shook though not enough that it was unstable and likely to break down. It was safe to say they wouldn't have to worry about it un-petrifying anymore.

But they had a new, potentially bigger problem on their hands. The one who almost attacked Ruby stood in the center of the room, staring at Sora with their hidden face focused right on Sora. Though he and his friends couldn't see them, Sora could feel his eyes staring into him, practically staring THROUGH him, under that hood.

"It means you are not whole...You are incomplete."

Goofy and Donald noticed the shift in their foe's demeanor as their foe's deep, chilling, voice seemed to resonate around them. Despite the initial, seemingly emotionless tone, they detected a clear hint of malicious intent in it...which was obvious after what he tried to do to Ruby. But that was not truly what their foe had come here for...What he had set everything here up for.

"Allow me...to test your strength."

Realizing this mysterious person wanted to fight, Sora composed himself. He couldn't deny the fear in his heart, or everything else that occurred mere moments before, but it was clear he didn't have a choice here. This hooded man was just as unsettling to be near as Cinder...if not even more so. Despite that, he swallowed his fear and held his Keyblade firmly in both hands while staying focused on the enemy before him. Donald and Goofy readied themselves as well, preparing to fight alongside Sora. They'd already lost one friend today. They refused to lose another. Especially Ruby.

The unknown figure suddenly vanished in a shimmering sphere surrounded by black clouds. The sphere shifted in Sora's direction and suddenly, the figure appeared again. In that split second, he lashed out a hand, and a light red beam of energy extended and struck Donald in the beak, before swinging back around to hit Goofy who barely managed to raise his shield. Donald was sent skidding, but was still up. He briefly looked toward Ruby's form, relieved that she was unharmed. They had to be careful that she didn't get caught in the crossfire.

The figure turned toward goofy and suddenly summoned with a circular rotation of his arms, two large orbs of sparking light similar to the bolts that he unleashed upon Sora briefly. The Keyblade wielder swung the instant that his foe seemed open. To his shock, his foe didn't even flinch before suddenly turning to him and lashing those solid beams of energy at him. Sora barely had time to block the first one, but as the second one came around, he managed to parry it. Yet even then, he barely seemed remotely bothered by it. Sora could barely even get hits in as suddenly, he was thrown off by another strike. Donald tried to help out unleashing a "FIRAGA!" blast on their mysterious foe. Yet he barely even seemed to register it as he struck Sora.

Sora lurched but remained on his feet thanks to Goofy attracting their foe's attention. The captain of the guard kept his shield up, protecting himself as Sora swung at his foe again. In that instant however, his foe suddenly shifted into that dark mist surrounded orb and shifted away, making Sora instead hit Goofy's shield. The trio followed the movement of the orb with Sora immediately giving chase and performing a Sliding Dash, to catch his foe as he re-materialized. As he did however, it seemed that their mysterious foe saw Sora's plan coming from a mile away. For the only thing the Keyblade struck, was a bright, shimmering, wall of light that suddenly appeared in front of their foe.

In the moment his attack was blocked off, Sora staggered and the unseen person slashed at him with another momentary beam used almost like a club or a sword, causing a sting to Sora all over as he fell back. Sora was a little dizzy but regained himself in time to roll away from another strike. He tried getting distance and at first it seemed his enemy was briskly walking towards him until covered in another shimmering sphere within clouds of darkness and moving much faster, appearing in front of Sora.

"AERORA!"

At the last possible moment, Sora was surrounded by a swirl of wind. This one moved a little faster and though he was struck, the pain wasn't anywhere near as much as before. "Thanks, Donald." Sora said before returning the favor before dodge-rolling away from his opponent's next strike. Goofy looked toward Ruby, making sure she was still okay before he glanced over at Sora and Donald fighting for their lives against their mysterious foe. Goofy wished that he could have helped them far more on the magic spectrum, especially since that magic was likely one of the only things giving them a chance in this fight.

As he thought about his friends, Goofy felt a warm tingle rise up in his chest. Closing his eyes, he found himself...focusing on it and subconsciously raised up his free hand. Suddenly, a small shimmering light emerged from his palm and split into two, flying over the heads of his comrades before descending upon them. Both Sora and Donald blinked when they suddenly felt as if the magic they used...had just come back, stronger than ever!

Donald smiled to Goofy, saying, "Thank you!" before using an Aerora spell on him as well. Goofy gave a cheerful "Ah-hyuck." happy that he managed to help his friends...even though he wasn't quite sure how he did that. But regardless, Donald cast that spell in the nick of time as Goofy let out a yelp of pain when he was struck by one of the stranger's red, ethereal blades, sending him rolling for in their direction.

As the guard captain recovered alongside his friends, the trio realized that more importantly than ever before, they needed to avoid any of the hits the robed figure swung or shot at them. Because even with the protection of Aero spells, his blows landed HARD. Worse still, even when they DID manage to land hits on him, it was like he felt no pain at all! He didn't even seem to flinch or stagger half the time!

'Who is this guy? And why is he fighting me?'

Sora didn't have time to linger on those questions he felt a beam from the mysterious enemy graze his arm before he conjured another shimmering wall to push the boy back. Thinking quickly, he rolled aside and moved to gain some distance. If he could get a safe enough distance, then hopefully he could catch his foe off guard with a Strike Raid.

However, again it seemed like their enemy prepared for this eventuality. For an instant later, he unleashed a new trick for them. He summoned a ring of light blue beams of light in front of himself. A second later, they all flew one at a time at insane speed toward Sora. Thankfully his windy barrier managed to mitigate the worst of the damage, but it was still enough to stagger his retreat. A stagger their foe took advantage of by shifting back into his orb-like form, and closing the distance. Donald and Goofy quickly dashed toward Sora to protect him. But as soon as the distance was closed, their enemy yet again, unleashed a brand new trick.

As he re-materialized, the robe clad figure summoned a blade from both of his hands, and began to swing them around rapidly. He jumped and spun and twirled in an almost dance-like maneuver, forcing all three of his hapless foes on the defensive as those red, shimmering blades whirled along with him.

"WAAAK!" "Wah!" Donald and Goofy cried out as they both flopped and toppled almost comically from the onslaught, barely managing to block a flurry of strikes. Sora was forced to duck and dodge and weave about more than he ever had before. Every new trick this guy introduced was an absolute nightmare! More still, Sora felt his foe was even stronger than he was letting on. THIS was his idea of testing Sora's strength?! If so, just how powerful was he!?

Now still wasn't the time for questions however, as Sora once again noticed a ring of those beams flying toward him. This time he managed to dodge it, but that wasn't the last he had of it as once again, another pair of those sparking orbs of light drifted in their direction and expanded. Test or no test, this...person was relentless!

As their foe once again shifted form to close the distance, Sora stood his ground, waiting for the moment to strike. He miraculously managed to strike true as the hooded man re-materialized, and even ducked under the blow he had prepared for Sora thanks to a well timed sliding dash to his knees, with the boy rushing behind him for a followup. But their foe was not so vulnerable as he turned sharply and thrust out both his hands, catching Sora with what appeared to be stream of shimmering blue bolts arcing right at his chest, and lifted him off the ground.

"Sora!"

Shouting in concern for their friend, Donald and Goofy rushed at the one holding Sora captive, whacking away with their staff and shield, but their attacks hardly made the hooded man flinch or even react at all.

Strangely, in a flash of light, Sora was suddenly released from that hold. But as he hit the ground, he felt a pain surge through him. That strange energy seemed to be lingering upon him, draining him of strength. Donald and Goofy never ceased assaulting their opponent, though he seemed tired of their attempt as he struck them both with those shimmering red blades, sending them flying again. As they impacted against the ground, both of them looked ready to keel over. But fortunately, Donald had something to help them out. Reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out a liquid filled vial with three little green stars over one small yellow moon, and he threw it into the air. A green light encompassed the bodies of himself, Sora and Goofy as they felt their stamina return. And as he pushed himself up, Goofy returned the favor by channeling his 'magic giving gift' to restore Sora and Donald's magic. Though they were clearly outmatched, even if this was supposedly a mere 'test', they couldn't back down now.

Just as their magic wind defenses wore off, the hooded man turned to Sora again, moving in his dark clouded form toward the boy continue the. Sora felt so overwhelmed by everything this man was throwing at them. At this point all he could do was block or roll away from his attacks in hopes that he'd find another opening. As Goofy ran to charge at and distract their foe, Donald felt his temper was boiling over from all the unbelievable stressful things that had happened in the span of minutes. "You're exasperating!" the duck shouted, running toward their hooded foe, waving his staff wildly as he flung spell after spell with reckless abandon.

"FIRAGA! BLIZZAGA, THUNDAGA! STOPGA! GRAVIGA!"

Donald was halfway to him before he found himself stopping and panting with exhaustion already. He let his temper get the best of him and used too much magic at once. With the first three spells barely hurting the target, the fourth having no effect at all, and then...Donald's eyes widened with surprise when he saw what happened with the last spell. As the dark purple half-sphere rose up and pressed down on him, their opponent finally seemed to react to something. He writhed in place, trembling as he was forced into a strained squat under the sudden, oppressive increase of gravitational force.

At that same moment, Sora finally seemed to have a moment of peace, shaking his head and reaching into his pocket to down a potion. When he looked back at their foe, he noticed the staggered position he was in after Donald's Graviga spell. "Wait a sec..." He couldn't actually be vulnerable to that, could he? Sora felt the need to find out as suddenly their foe turned to Donald and slashed him right in the beak, sending him tumbling across the room. It was now or never.

"FORCE!"

And sure enough, as the great, dark purple sphere of magical distortion enveloped their foe, he once again seemed to crumple ever so slightly from the sudden increase in gravitational force. "It's Gravity, Sora!" A weakened Donald corrected, his finger wobbling in the air as he tried to rouse himself from his daze.

"Same difference, Donald!" Sora countered with annoyance. Why was Donald arguing semantics NOW of all times?!

"Uhh, fellers? Maybe we shouldn't argue now?" Goofy, being the voice of reason as usual, pointed toward their foe who stood up and suddenly shifted away to the far side of the room. As he did, he suddenly levitated off the ground and dashed around the chamber in a circle. As he went, he dropped those ethereal projectiles, creating a perfect ring. "Look out!" Goofy yelled out, hitting the deck with his shield raised. Donald was already down, but Sora was not fast enough and was struck from all sides by those blasts.

Things only got worse as before Sora could properly recover, he found himself face to face with their foe's outstretched hand, sparking with that ethereal energy. But this time, it was as red as his blades. "Sora!" Donald and Goofy cried out again as suddenly, Sora was pelted with an absolutely relentless rapid-fire barrage of those bolts of energy. Donald barely managed to cast an Aeroga spell to protect the vulnerable Keyblade Master. Goofy desperately reached into his pockets and pulled out a golden vial with a shimmering liquid inside, and desperately threw it at Sora.

When it touched his body, Sora felt his vitality return and all the magic energy fully replenish. With his fully renewed stamina and power, Sora smiled to Goofy, thanking him before joining in the fray again. With more focus and determination to win, Sora tried to fight more but was having difficulty with the new ethereal attacks combined with fast, hard hitting punches or kicks from their one opponent. Sora took the opportunity to use a graviga spell of his own and it worked, allowing him to strike when the black-coated man was vulnerable. The second attempt at it didn't work because he reacted fast enough to swipe at Sora in the middle of his casting.

Now that he'd caught on that they found his weakness, his assaults were becoming more relentless. They would eventually run out of magic and even with all their potions or ethers, those were limited as well. There were no signs of their enemy anywhere near his limits, either. This might be a one sided fight unless they thought of something quick.

'If only I could use my magic physically somehow. Donald told me before when I first started using magic, I needed to accumulate the power to the tip of my Keyblade. I've always been able to but if there were another way to-"'

In the midst of Sora's thoughts and the clash of their weapons, Sora noticed the entire blade of his weapon began to glow with the starlit night that arose with the use of his gravity spell. But this time, it was...much more powerful. It was as if the power was all over it, inside and out. A familiar, inexplicable instinct came to his mind as he struck his opponent. A strike which seemed to have the same effect as a Gravity spell as the Keyblade made contact.

Effective as the strike was, their foe wasn't giving them much of a chance to ruminate. For the next moment, he suddenly toward them, once again unleashing the deadly dance of those light red ethereal blades. Donald and Goofy scattered, but Sora stood firm with a confident frown. As his foe lunged forward, flourishing his unusual weapons, Sora clutched the Keyblade firmly in his hand, heaved it back, and with a great yell lunged forward and swung it with a slash that seemed to cleave through the very air itself, physically and even audibly going by the sharp metallic ringing that filled the chamber as he passed his foe.

A moment of stillness filled the room before suddenly their enemy dismissed his weapons and stumbled with his hand clutching his chest. The cloaked man turned toward Sora and his friends, staggering backward in the direction of Cinder's prone form. His body was surrounded by a strange blue shimmer and black streams radiating from the center of the light that was akin to those dangerous orbs he unleashed upon them. Did they manage to beat him?

A moment later, he threw his hand off his chest and the central light sparked out of existence with the rest of it gradually fizzling out.

"Impressive."

Sora blinked with surprise as that low, smooth, unnerving bass voice rang out in his mind again. Was this whole thing part of his test? This test which nearly brought them to the brink of death? And much to his shock...their foe didn't seem even remotely tired or weakened anymore! How was that even possible after that fight!?

"This will be enjoyable."

By now, Sora was beginning to get REALLY angry. "What're you talking about!?" he demanded. What was enjoyable about ANYTHING that had led up to this? Pyrrha was gone, this strange figure tried to attack Ruby, pushed them harder than anything they'd faced so far, and he had the gall to call this 'enjoyable!?' None of this made any sense as it was! Enraged, Sora charged toward the unknown figure and raised his Keyblade to strike him.

Suddenly...it was as if time had briefly come to a halt. The mysterious figure shifted to the side enough to easily dodge Sora's attack. And as time resumed, Sora, confused at having hit nothing, turned to see his opponent reaching down and dismissively picking up the unconscious Cinder in one arm.

"It is beyond your comprehension, for now."

Turning his hidden face toward Sora, the unknown man kept a firm hold over Cinder's hanging body in his arm. Sora, Donald, and Goofy couldn't help wondering what connection he somehow had to her. They would find no answers from their hooded menace as he simply told them

"Until we meet again."

Sora looked from him to Cinder's knocked out body, momentarily realizing what he was doing but didn't understand why. There were so many questions in his head. About this hooded man, about why he did this, what his connection to Cinder was, and most of all..."Wait! What are you-?!"

The moment that question left his lips, Sora saw the man's body...fading, as if it were transparent. Cinder was also fading from sight as well. And before any of them could stop him, the man vanished...but not before leaving one final, cryptic answer for the boy.

"I am but a mere shell."