Chapter 20 - Xemnas Battle Revised

      Xemnas Battle Revised

Prologue

Before beginning this chapter, I would like to point out an important factor. Because Riku and Sora will be reenacting the battle against Xehenort, they will also be confronting their original selves as they had appeared at the end of KH2. So when addressing the KH2 version of Riku and Sora, their names and certain key words will be written in italics. However, if their names or preceding key words are not italicized, that indicates that I am referring to the grown-up versions of the key bearers from “Final Confrontation.” With that in mind, I hope you will take this factor into consideration and enjoy the preceding texts.

Further note: Due to some problems with the download, the italics do not work. Therefore, you will have to read very carefully in order to distinguish between one set of key bearers from the other.


Now, it was the end of the great climactic battle against Organization XIII. It’s last surviving member and supreme dictator, Xemnas, the Nobody of Xehenort, now confronted two heroes. Riku and Sora, the youths who had caused the downfall of his once mighty empire. Prior to this stand off, the key bearers had caused a great deal of damage, depriving everything that the Organization had achieved, including the destruction of the once magnificent Kingdom Hearts. One by one, each of the members fell until only Xehenort remained. His first attempts to fight Riku and Sora were in vain. And once again, he stood against them alone in the realm of light. But this time, he was preparing not to hold anything back.
His once full black jacket had regressed to something more menacing as Nobody white intermingled with Heartless black. Like a tall tyrant, he glared at the key bearers.
“Heroes from the realm of light,” he began, “I will not allow it to end this way, not yet. If light and darkness are eternal, then surely we nothings must be the same, eternal.” There was a brief silence between the two sides. Then, Riku broke the silence
“You’re right,” he replied, “Light and darkness are eternal. Nothing probably goes on forever too.” Riku then gave that stern glare. “But guess what, Xemnas?”
“That doesn’t mean you’re eternal!” Sora added.
Xemnas, overwhelmed by the confidence of the key bearers only brought himself to chuckled
“No more eternal than that radiance of yours.” He replied. Appearing in his hands, he drew out glowing red sabers, which would be the envy of any Sith lord. The key bearers drew out their weapons, ready to battle to the death. “Anger and hate are supreme.” Xemnas suddenly vanished. The key bearers were caught off guard. Suddenly, the Nobody appeared before them. He first took hold of Sora and threw him into the air. Believing that Sora was powerless airborne, Xemnas flew at blinding speed and went slashing away at the key bearer. But Sora was able to evade and retaliate. However, Xemnas’ energy of thorns was just as formidable, strike and spreading, attempting to maim the key bearers.
“I’m coming, Sora!” Riku shouted. He lifted himself up and joined his comrade in the flighty air battle. In synch, the two key bearers fought, facing energy orbs, thorn waves and sudden teleportation attacks by Xemnas as he appeared suddenly before them with his red twin light sabers. At times, his speed was so ridiculous, he created an after image. In the process, he also created clone which appeared temporarily at times to attack the key bearers and catch them off guard.
“Be gone!” Xemnas would cry as he struck another blow. Compared to Xemnas’ skills, the key bearers were still rather sluggish. Sora and Riku used the power of Curaga and their number of potions to their full advantage, continuously healing themselves when severe damage was taken. “You can’t hope to defeat the likes of me!”
“That’s what you think!” Sora shouted. He unleashed his keyblade and managed to pummel Xemnas, dealing a critical blow. But even so, it seemed that Xemnas had not been affected by the attack.
“I hope you enjoyed your little fiasco, boy, because it’s going to cost you your life.”-
Xemnas suddenly unleashed a plethora of spinning attacks, appearing and vanishing before the key bearers like a phantom and striking them when the opportunity made itself known. Riku and Sora did all in their power to evade and retaliate, but it was apparent that Xemnas was through playing games as his attacks became more aggressive and more complex. Riku acted as a shield while Sora went in for the kill, but even their coordinated strategy wore thin as Xemnas eventually found a counter for it.
“Here, take this.” Xemnas shouted. He started to unleash laser barrages on the ground and in midair, attacking the youths at their vulnerable spot. He would first battle the youths in mid air swift attacks. And when they were tired and started to descend, he would then use a barrage of lasers to strike them from every designated angle. However, it seemed that Xemnas’ main target was Sora as most of the Nobody’s aggression was going against him. At times, he would pummel the youth in mid air with a continuous stream of lasers. Xemnas would smirk as he saw Sora’s body torn away little by little and heard the boy’s cried. “Die,”
“Riku,” Sora cried. “Help me!”
“Sora,” Riku replied, jumping in to aid his comrade. “Don’t panic, I’m coming!” He flew in protected his comrade. The chaos of the confrontation went on for ten minutes straight. And despite that length of time, Xemnas did not seem to lose stamina, whereas the key bearers seemed to lose it constantly.
As it seemed that things could not get any worse, Xemnas himself went in for what he believed would be the final blow. He rushed in and grabbed hold of Sora in a powerful energy hold. He pummeled Riku away, to far to help. Riku looked on as Sora was suspended in mid air by this bright energy.
“Now you will die.” Using the orb of energy, which encompassed the key bearer, Xemnas began to slowly sap away Sora’s strength. Sora cried out as he felt his life source slowly leaving him.
“Riku,” the youth strained.
“Sora,” Riku cried. He rushed into help. But no sooner had Riku begun his run, the clone of Xemnas appeared before him, preventing him from advancing any further, using energy shields to repel the key bearer. But despite the formidable foe’s efforts, the key bearer was not deterred. Instead, Riku continued to advance, despite the resistance. He fired a barrage of energy waves to fend off the clone and continued this process until he reached the Xemnas who held Sora captive. Riku grabbed the Nobody’s hand and broke the hold, setting his friend free.
“Thanks Riku,” Sora complied.
“No problem,”-
Sora quickly healed himself and was again back on the battlefield, ready to fight.
“Impudent fools,” Xemnas growled.
“Shut up,” Riku pummeled the Nobody, spun him around and threw him into the distance. “If you ever touch Sora like that again, I swear your life is mine!”
“Big words, Riku, but can you back them up?”-
“It’s my turn,” Sora shouted, rushing in. “I’ll teach you for sucking the life out of me!”
Again, for a prolonged time of another ten minutes, the key bearers engaged in tough and rather sticky battling with Xemnas, teleporting, evading, and retaliating. Lasers, thorn energy, and repelling orbs spread and intermingled in the epicenter of battle where the clash of keyblades commenced.
“We can’t keep this up, Riku.” Sora said.
“Neither can Xemnas.” Riku replied.
“But he doesn’t seem to lose any stamina.”-
“It’s all just a façade. I bet he’s drained completely.”-
As the final blow was given, Xemnas and the key bearers broke off their battle. The Nobody hovered high in the air while Riku and Sora looked at him upon the ground.
“I’ve had enough of this.” Xemnas uttered. “You will not look to the sky with hope.” He concentrated their energy to its full potential. “Let’s see how you enjoy this, my trump card.” All of a sudden darkness encompassed the room and a dome consisting of stationed lasers, each geometrically separated with great perfection, appeared around the key bearers, high and low and from every angle.
“Oh boy,” Sora uttered.
“Brace yourself, Sora.” Riku said. “This is gonna be bad.”
“Now die,” Xemnas shouted. And with that, hundreds of lasers flew at the key bearers from every direction. Using all the energy and stamina they had left, the key bearers evaded and blocked each laser that flew at them. Riku and Sora watched each other’s backs and deflected every beam that attempted to strike them. The longer they resisted, the more intense and condensed the lasers became in their ferocity. For almost a full minute, the key bearers had to maintain their guard, spinning about their keyblades to repel the dangerous light. In the end, however, they managed to survive the onslaught around them and the trump card of Xemnas. But the result left them tired and weary. Both key bearers fell to their knees. With energy drained and no more potions to revive them, Riku and Sora were unable to put up resistance any further.
“Our energy’s completely drained.” Riku uttered.
“We can’t stop though.” Sora replied.
“As I had expected,” Xemnas chuckled, “You have no energy left to battle with.” He slowly approached the key bearers. “And so it ends here for you.”
“No,” Riku growled, “It can’t end like this.”
“Is this it?” Sora uttered.
But as it seemed over for the youths, a sudden flash of light bellowed behind them. There was a strong gust of wind and surge of energy. Xemnas and his opponents looked on to see this bizarre phenomenon occur before them. From the bright light, two shadowy silhouettes appeared and stood tall before the trio.
“What is this?” Xemnas thought to himself.
“Riku,” Sora cried, “What’s going on, who are those two?”
“I don’t know.” Riku replied, just as stunned.
As the light faded, those present were in awe as who appeared. Riku and Sora had finally arrived.
“We’re back.” Sora said, “The battle against Xemnas.”
“And there they are.” Riku chuckled.
“What in the world…?” Xemnas uttered. “Who are you?!”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Sora added.
“Those two guys just appeared out of nowhere.” Riku said.
The key bearers approached, in unison, a fearsome sight to their younger counterparts. They past their former selves, a quiet smirk on their faces.
“Riku, Sora,” Sora addressed, “You two have done well. Now let us take it from here.”
“But, who are you guys?” Sora asked.
“You might say that we’re your backup.” Riku replied.
“Our backup, eh…?” Riku said.
“What is the meaning of this interference?!” Xemnas demanded. “Who are you?!” The key bearers glared at the Nobody.
“But Xemnas,” Riku declared, “Surely you should know us. You should know us very well.”
“I have never laid eyes on you before!”-
“Are you that dense, old man? You’ve been fighting us this whole time.”-
“What are you...?” It was then Xemnas realized what Riku was talking about. He looked at one duo and then to the other. After realizing, Xemnas began to guffaw. “Well, well, as I live and breathe, it is you.”
“You…?” Sora wondered. “Has Xemnas met those guys before, Riku?”
“I don’t know.” Riku replied. “But they do look a little familiar…very familiar actually.”
“You’ve certainly grown up haven’t you, Riku and Sora, wielder of the keyblades!” Xemnas declared. Riku and Sora were stunned to find that the two strangers who appeared before them were none other than themselves.
“What,” Sora uttered, “Those two guys are us?”
“No wonder they were so familiar.” Riku added. He gazed at his older counterpart. “I still look like a stud even after a few years.”
“So tell me,” Xemnas asked, “What is it that brings you here to this time?”
“Just came to deal a little payback.” Sora declared.
“Is that so?”-
“You put us through a lot of hell, I just wanted to come back and give you the beating of your life.”-
“You might have aged a little, Sora, but I highly doubt that you and Riku are a match for me.”-
“So that’s your opinion?” Riku asked.
“I guarantee it.”-
“Then it just goes to show how little you know.”-
“Fool, there are no others as powerful as I!”-
“Egotistical aren’t we?”-
“If that’s what you think,” Sora said. He looked at Riku. “Hey, Riku, what do you say I take care of this little problem myself?”
“It’s your score to settle, Sora.” Riku replied. “You do what you want.”
“Very well,”-
“Idiot,” Xemnas chuckled, “Are you so confident in your own abilities that you mean to battle me on your own?”-
“That’s exactly what I mean.”-
“You two might want to get back.” Riku instructed the younger duo.
“But…” Sora uttered.
“Do as I say. Sora can handle himself.” Riku looked at his elder counterpart with curiosity.
“Are you and he for real though?” he asked. “Are you two guys really us in the future?” Riku suddenly turned around.
“That’s right.” Riku replied. He walked up to younger Riku. “You and I are the same. And you will be surprised what we are capable of doing in the future.” He then turned to Sora who was about to enter battle. “You will see how much we have progressed.”
Sora stood before Xemnas, ready to battle against his old foe.
“Well, this should be review for you then, Sora.” The Nobody declared.
“Actually,” Sora replied, “After everything I’ve put myself though, I came to realize how weak you were. Recalling the details of this battle and your methods weren’t worth taking into account.” This statement caused Xemnas’ blood to boil. He had never before been insulted in such a way.
“How dare you speak like that to me in such a manner? You insolent pup,” Xemnas suddenly attacked. He deployed his double light sabers and struck with all his might. But to his surprise, Sora was not there to be hindered. Xemnas was confused. “Where did he go?”
“Sora just vanished.” Riku uttered. “But where…?”
“Do I have the ability to disappear?” Sora asked.
“That’s right,” Riku chuckled, “You two haven’t developed that keen sense yet.”
“What sense…?”-
“Sora didn’t disappear, he’s simply moving very fast. However, he’s moving too fast for you guys to detect him.”-
“But how can that be?” Riku asked. “No one’s capable of moving like that, not even Xemnas.”
“Well, as you can see, Sora’s achieved that.” Riku gawked at Xemnas who was still looking about confused and bewildered.
“Where did he go?” Xemnas growled.
“Above you,” Sora replied. Xemnas looked up to see the key bearer hovering about like about him, perfectly stationary. “I’m really disgusted with your tactics. I expected more out of you Xemnas.”
“Fool boy,” Xemnas attacked again, holding nothing back, he used his thorn energy, his spinning attacks with his twin light sabers. He unleashed a barrage of lasers, but for some reason, despite his ferocity and close proximity to the key bearer, he was not able to hinder him. And what made it more aggravating to the organization leader was the fact that Sora had not even deployed his keyblade yet. He was only dodging and evading as if with little effort, predicting the attacks Xemnas would use ahead of times.
“Look at that,” Riku declared while folding his arms in front of him as if a proud Saiyan warrior, “Xemnas is so slow, he can barely keep up with Sora.”
“What are you talking about?!” Riku shouted. “I can barely keep up with Xemnas!”
“Don’t I have a keyblade in the future?” Sora asked.
“You do have a keyblade.” Riku replied. “It’s just that this fight is so futile for Xemnas, Sora doesn’t have to worry about deploying his keyblade. But he’ll deploy it sooner or later.”
“Why don’t you fight me right, boy?” Xemnas mocked the key bearer. “Where’s your keyblade? Or don’t you have one in the future?”
“I have a keyblade.” Sora replied. “I’m just not gonna use it on you. You’re not worth the effort.”
“Is that so?” The Nobody slightly scoffed at that statement. “Are you just saying that because you don’t have one and are hoping to bluff your way out of this?”
“I don’t need to bluff.”-
“Admit it, Sora. Even in the future years, I still accumulate a sense of fear within you.”-
“That’s not true, if it were then I wouldn’t be here right now would I? You would have defeated me way back then, or should I say here and now.” Xemnas realized the truth. Had he been victorious, Sora would not have been there, facing the Xemnas, in his older form. “Despite my disliking of you, Xemnas, there is still a chance for you to walk away. I don’t wanna have to take your life a second time.”
“I will not back down to idle threats.” Xemnas began to attack again with just as much ferocity. “You destroyed everything that I had created! You toppled my control of all worlds! You destroyed by Kingdom Hearts! You brought down the might of Organization XIII and all Nobodies! And even more detestable, though I don’t know if you still do, but you have that traitor Roxas residing within you.”
“You envied Roxas didn’t you? Not only because he obtained the power of the keyblade, but he also had me, his original self, to reside back to. You never were able to reunite with your original self because Riku took it over and you feared the fate of a Nobody. Without the one half, the other could not maintain its existence. Therefore, you would fade into nothingness. I can understand that sentiment and the fear of fading into nothingness, but to use the methods you required to carry it out…” –
“To each his own, Sora,” Xemnas suddenly split into two. While one attacked Sora from the front, the other appeared behind the key bearer. Sora was able to evade the first blow, but as he turned to confront the second Xemnas, the Nobody appeared before him and using his energy, sent a powerful surge through the body of the key bearer. Sora was suspended as the energy encompassed him.
“Oh no,” Sora cried, “That’s Xemnas’ life absorption technique.”
“He’s gonna suck the life out of Sora.” Riku added. He turned to his future self. “You have to help him!”
“There is no need.” Riku replied, unwavering. “If this were serious, then I would have jumped in without pause. But Sora can take care of this situation all by himself.”
The three watched as Xemnas slowly drained the key bearer of his life force.

“And so you will meet your end.” Xemnas chuckled. But to his shock, Sora suddenly looked at him with those deep blue eyes of his as if nothing remotely dangerous was happening. His façade was calm and expressionless. This was a concern of Xemnas. For some odd reason, his grasp on Sora seemed to slip.
Then, in a sudden burst of power, Sora’s aura broke the hold, shattering the encompassing surge around him, dispersing the energy into the atmosphere. Xemnas stepped back in terror. The others were just as shocked.
“Did you see that?” Sora uttered. “Sora broke the seal!”
“But how can that…?” Riku added.
“Bravo, Sora,” Riku applauded. “I bet Xemnas didn’t see that coming.”
“How on earth did you overpower my technique?” Xemnas uttered.
“It just goes to show you that I’ve progressed a great deal.” Sora replied. Xemnas jumped back.
“You…you’re not the same Sora.”-
“I was wondering when you were gonna figure that out.”-
“You dare to insult me?!” Xemnas began to increase his power to its maximum. But still Sora was stalwart.
“You can resist all you want and use any of your attacks as many times as you desire. But all of your efforts will be in vain.”-
“Is that so? Then maybe you’d like a taste of my trump card!” Xemnas accumulated his infamous dome of lasers.
“Oh no,” Riku cried. “It’s this technique again!”
“Xemnas’ trump card,” Sora added.
“Sora…” Riku said. His emotions were undeterminable.
“Now die,” Xemnas sent an endless barrage of lasers to strike Sora. Sure enough, one hit him, then another, then another, and another and another until the lasers started striking the key bearer by the dozen, then by the score, and finally a hundred in one swing. A bright light and clouds of smoke began thicken in the center of the dome. Xemnas’ fire continued until the laser icons on the dome itself were starting to explode due to the continuous fire.
After a full minute of barraging, the attack finally settled and only a cloud of smoke remained. Xemnas smiled to himself, satisfied with the results.
“Maybe that’ll quiet that future self of Sora for good.” He then looked at Riku and the other key bearers. He landed short of twenty feet from them. “Well, it seems there are only three of you left.”
“You monster,” Sora said.
“You’re cruel.” Riku added.
“It just goes to show that even in your future forms; you stand no chance against me.” Xemnas declared. But as he gazed at Riku, he noticed a calm look on the young man’s face. “Why are you so calm, Riku? Aren’t you shocked that I killed, Sora?” But Riku only smirked silently.
“Who said anything about me getting killed?” a voice suddenly shouted from behind the Nobody. Xemnas was stunned. He quickly turned towards the cloud of smoke that slowly dissipated into the air. To all their surprise, except for Riku, Sora emerged from the cloud without a scratch.
“Impossible…”-
“He’s alive…?” Sora uttered.
“Sora’s alive?” Riku added.
“Now you see why I wasn’t the least bit concerned about Sora’s safety.” Riku chuckled. “In his present state, you couldn’t hope to defeat him no matter how hard you tried.”
“This cannot be! How in the world could you have improved so much?” Xemnas growled.
“It has been a few years.” Sora declared. “And a lot can happen in that extension of time.”
“I see…” Xemnas suddenly began to smile a devious look. His lip corners lifted up indicating a possible concoction in his mind. “If that’s the case then,”
Xemnas suddenly unleashed a barrage of lasers. Sora easily evaded. But while the key bearer was in his eluding, Xemnas took the opportunity and attacked the two key bearers who were standing behind Riku.
“What is he doing?” Sora wondered.
“He’s attacking us!” Riku shouted. The key bearers, except for older Riku, deployed their keyblades. Instead he just stood before the younger duo and deployed an energy shield.
“You’ll have to go through me first.” Riku declared.
“I think not.” Xemnas suddenly split and vanished. He then reappeared and got hold of the young Riku and Sora, encompassing their bodies with a powerful energy. He then threw the duo before their elder counterparts as a barrier. Riku and Sora watched as the Nobody deployed his despicable act against their past selves.
“What’s your game, Xemnas?” Riku growled.
“If I can’t defeat you physically,” the Nobody declared, “Then I’ll defeat you the next best way! I’ll outwit you!”
“And you’re taking them hostage?”-
“You prattled on continuously about how you were the future selves of Riku and Sora. You actually managed to survive this fight with me, indicating that you, by some miraculous twist of fate, were able to defeat me in your own time. However, if I kill these two now, then there is no way that you’ll be able to survive. Thus, you’ll disappear into oblivion!”-
“You…”-
“That is your one great weakness, Riku, Sora. You never thought about that twist did you.”-
“You bastard…” Sora growled.
“Let me see how you like this little maneuver.” Xemnas began to suck the life out of the key bearers who were suspended in the air. Riku and Sora began to cry out in agonizing pain as their felt their life force being drained. “Now watch as I kill your past selves and send you to suffer the same fate as my followers!”
“Help us…!” Riku cried.
“Help us…!” Sora added.
“That’s enough…” Sora growled. “You leave them alone…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll drain them to the point where they can’t fight back.” Xemnas chuckled. “In the meantime, why don’t you play with these for a while?”
Xemnas snapped his fingers. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, hundreds of Dusks appeared around the older pair. Riku looked about to see all the dusks around him. Sora, however, seemed rather absorbed, hearing the screams of his past self.
“You…” He growled.
“Sora,” Riku uttered, “Take it easy.”
“Now let’s see how you fancy taking on an entire legion of Nobodies!” Xemnas chuckled. He looked to the Dusks. “Destroy them both.”
The dusks suddenly attacked.
“I hoped it wouldn’t have to come down to this.” Riku said. He deployed his keyblade. Then, with one strike and a sudden flash, the key bearer eliminated a good half of the entire Dusk force. Xemnas was stunned.
“He destroyed that many Dusks already?” he uttered. “It can’t be…”
“Riku…” Sora uttered as he felt his energy slowly leaving him. “Look…”
“He defeated all those dusks with one blow.” Riku added. He then glared upon the weapon of his elder counterpart. “Look at that keyblade.”
“What kind of keyblade is that?”-
One, two three, the Dusks were eliminated in couple of slashes. Riku on the other hand did not break a sweat. He felt no fatigue.
“If that’s the best you can do,” Riku chuckled, “Then you really are in trouble.”
“Fool…!” Xemnas shouted. He called forth more Nobodies, this time ranging to a plethora of different types, with its own unique and devastating power. But still, Riku defeated them with such ease. “This can’t be happening. Riku’s strength is so great, he can slash down Nobodies by the waves in one movement. Had he fought Organization XIII as he is now, all the members would have been wiped away in a single breath.” He then looked at Sora who still stood about. “But why is it that Sora does not fight back?” He then glanced at younger Sora, who was still moaning in agony from his slowly draining energy. “Does he not care for the fate of his younger self? Do they not care of what happens to these boys?”
“Sora,” Riku said. “I know I can handle this by myself, but aren’t you gonna join in? Aren’t you gonna save our pasts, or are you expecting me to do all the work now?” But Sora was silent. But then a strange surge began to uplift within Sora. Like a dark phantom, the aura began to bellow, dark in its nature, a darkness that even the Heartless would not dare accept. Riku felt the chill. He looked at Sora and dared not question his friend’s actions. “Sora,”
“No more…” Sora growled. “No more…”
“Sora,” Riku suddenly began to sweat. “Sora, don’t do it. Don’t lose control.”
Just then, the key bearer’s body began to glow profusely. The winds suddenly picked up and the ground began to shake.
“What is this power?” Xemnas uttered.
“This strength…” Riku whispered, straining himself to stay alive.
“Incredible…” Sora gasped. “I’m that powerful in a few more years…?” Overcome by exhaustion, Sora fell limp and unconscious.
“You’ve caused enough pain.” Sora growled. “Let justice be done upon you!”
“Damn it,” Riku said.
Xemnas’ eyes grew wide with apprehension. Never before had he felt so much energy.
“Where did Sora gain so much power?” he thought to himself. Just then, as Sora looked up, his eyes had changed from a gentle blue to a soulless yellow. As he gritted his teeth, his K9’s elongated to sharp fangs. His fingernails grew pointed and his body seemed to flex giving Sora hard muscle tone. His hair seemed to suddenly sprout about, becoming more spiked, stretching upward. Xemnas felt the inner part of himself turn cold with an indescribable fear. “What is this power?”
“Sora’s delved into the rage,” Riku uttered. “And he’s fixed on attacking Xemnas.” He then looked to his counterparts. “If I know Sora, he won’t know the difference between friend and foe. It’s up to me to save them.”
Sora’s energy suddenly burst into the air and every Nobody that was present was destroyed by the surge.
“This is not Sora.” Xemnas uttered. “He’s a demon. He’s much too dangerous to keep in existence.”
“It’s over for you, Xemnas.” Sora roared in a deep and sinister voice. “What you have done is unforgivable. Let justice be done upon you.” He then unleashed his keyblade. Xemnas saw the menacing eloquence of the keyblade. Its strength matched Sora’s yellow eyes. “Prepare to die…”
“You dare come close to me and I swear I will kill your past counterpart without hesitation!” Xemnas held the orb containing Sora. “Try me if you dare!”
But such a threat did not deter the now enraged key bearer. Again Xemnas cried, putting pressure on young Sora.
“Don’t you even care about the fate of your younger self, Sora? Don’t you care about your own existence?!”-
“I am not Sora.” The key bearer declared, his eyes glowing with the slit pupils of a wild animal. “I am the Keyblade Hound…”
“Keyblade Hound…?”-
“Whether I live or die, I will rip your head from atop your shoulders…!”-
Just then, as Xemnas was overcome by fear, Riku appeared before him and broke the hold he had on the key bearers. He then kicked Xemnas in the chest before sweeping the younger counterparts under his arms and dashing away.
“I have them, Sora!” Riku cried. “Now do what you have to do!”
“Yeah…” Sora looked at Xemnas with those cold eyes and without pause, charged head on against the Nobody. Time seemed to stand still and Xemnas saw his life, his achievements and his failures flash before his eyes.
“This can’t be the end…” he uttered.
“Die…”-
“No,” Xemnas deployed his light sabers and charged at the Keyblade Hound. “I will not let it end like this! I will be the one to strike first!”
There was a bright flash of light and a high pitched clang of metal. In a heartbeat, the two were opposite each other, their weapons still raised. For a moment, it seemed there was no clear winner. But then, Xemnas collapsed to the ground.
“Cursed keyblade…” he uttered. His body dissipated and vanished into the light of the atmosphere as if his form was made of ash. Nothing was left of Xemnas. As it had been before, he was slain by the hands of Sora.
Allowing his will and pure heart to take hold, Sora regressed back to his normal self. Riku approached him.
“That was going a little overboard, don’t you think, Sora?” Riku asked.
“Sorry,” Sora replied. “He just got me really angry.”
“Well, make sure not to overdo it next time.”-
“I will.” Sora then looked to he and Riku’s slumbering past selves. “How are Riku and Sora?”
“They’re doing alright. It’s just that they had all the energy drained out of them.”-
“Damn that Xemnas…”-
“Could you give me a hand, Sora, and take one of them?”-
“Sure Riku.” Sora took hold of himself. “I’ll take care of my past counterpart.” Both key bearers lay motionless in the arms of their future selves. “So what should we do with them?”
Just then light appeared before the key bearers.
“Light…” Riku uttered.
“Let’s go…” Sora replied.
With past selves secured in their grasps, the key bearers entered the light and came before the darkened beaches at the end of the world.
“End of the line…”-
“Yeah…”-
“Even still,” Riku’s ears picked up the gentle crashing of the waves. “That sound is so peaceful here in the realm of darkness.”
“To think that we almost declared exile here,” Sora added. They lay the key bearers gently on the black sand, “This brings back old memories.”
The two looked to the dim light like a pale moon in the distance. But as they did, the sound of a slow tick-tock began to echo. Then, the world seemed to fade around them.
“The simulation is over.” Riku said.
“But what about…?” Sora asked. He kept his eyes upon their past selves as they turned blurry before him.
“They’ll be alright. Remember, nothing ever actually happened.”-
“Yeah, I guess so.”-
Within moments, the scene of the beach at the end of the world had vanished and the key bearers again found themselves before Lord Thundro.
“Well,” he asked. “How did it go?”
“We beat Xemnas again.” Sora replied.
“Don’t let that battle go to your heads, boys. You must remember that the fight against General Saber will not be as easy as that. In fact, you may more likely find yourselves in Xemnas’ shoes for that confrontation.”-
“We’ll keep that in mind, sir.” Riku said.
“Since we still have a full day, let us continue training a little longer, for the sake of maintaining your skills.”-
“Right,” the two youths concurred.
“Then adjourn to the gravity room. We will commence our last training session there.”-
The three dispersed from the Scenario Chamber and continued their training for one more day. It would not be long before they would return to the others and help them in the up coming battled against General Saber, the last of the Blade Generals and the final link to saving King Mickey.

However, rejoining their comrades in Traverse Town was not to be. Later that same day, a message arrived in Traverse Town, delivered by Leon and Cloud. The message itself seemed rather desperate.
When receiving the message, Ophelia, Kairi, and Olette were spending their leisurely relaxing time at the Inn drinking custom made coffee.
“Miss Billiard,” Leon shouted, as he and cloud rushed to the table from which the ladies sat.
“What’s the problem?” Ophelia asked.
“We have a big problem.”-
“What is it?” Kairi wondered.
“We found the location of General Saber!”-
“What…?!” Ophelia stood up. “You know where Saber is?”
“Yes,” Cloud replied. “But we should discuss this issue with the others.”
“Have everyone assemble at the green room.” Leon added.
“Very well,” Ophelia acknowledged. She looked at Kairi and Olette. “Find Goofy, Donald, and Kirin and tell them to assemble at the green room in thirty minutes.”
“Right,” Olette and Kairi concurred and scurried off to fight their comrades.
“You guys come with me,” Pointing to Cloud and Leon.
“Right,” the two young warriors replied. They accompanied the colonel back to the hotel in the second district.
Thirty minutes had passed and the KH team was once again together.
“So what’s the news you have to tell us?” Kirin asked.
“What’s the news on Saber?” Kairi added.
“Apparently, he’s been assigned to a world called Atlantis.” Leon explained.
“Atlantis…?” Donald inquired.
“The lost city of Atlantis to be precise. Apparently, Saber found out from an anonymous source that there is a powerful energy essence that resides in that world.”-
“An energy essence…?” Goofy wondered.
“It is believed that that this energy source has incredibly destructive power.”-
“How destructive…?” Ophelia asked.
“Very destructive, in fact we believe that that same power source was used to destroy the entire continent of Atlantis. Plato put it that Atlantis was swallowed by the sea in the course of a single night.”-
“I see…” Kirin said, “With a force that powerful, the Imperial Axis would prove invincible. They could threaten the whole of the Alliance. They could even attack Oceansburg again and this time they’ll be able to destroy it with very little effort. There would be no way to stop them if the Axis gains control of that power source.”
“Sneer has no one strong enough on reserve to go after Saber.” Leon said. “We’re the only ones that stand in the way of him and his men.”
“This time, I’ll be going with you?” Cloud added. “I want to know if the rumors are true myself.”
“What rumors…?” Goofy asked.
“If it’s true that he and his gang have come back.”-
“Who…?” Kairi asked. Cloud stalled for a moment before giving them a name.
“Kadaj…”-
“Kadaj…?” Donald asked. “Who is that…?”
“You might say that…” Cloud again hesitated. “He’s my brother…”
“Your brother…?”-
“I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard that Saber had recruited someone with features that matched that of Kadaj and his gang. If it’s true, I have to stop him.”-
“Well, whatever the issue may be,” Ophelia declared, “We know for certain that if the Imperial Axis gains access to that energy source, we might as well kiss all our efforts good-bye.”
“But what about Riku and Sora,” Kairi asked. “Aren’t we supposed to wait for them?”
“Our priorities rest with stopping Saber right now. If the mythical energy source of Atlantis is as great and powerful as you say it is, then even Riku and Sora won’t be strong enough to withstand its potency if it’s unleashed. We have to go as soon as possible.” Ophelia turned to Leon. “When will you need us?”
“We depart now!” Leon replied.
“Then get your gear ready, ladies and gents. Rendezvous to the ship immediately,” She turned to Olette. “Olette, you remain here and take care of the children.
“I will.” Olette replied. “Good luck.”
“Let’s head out!”-
“Yeah,” the others cheered.
“I want a message sent to Riku and Sora. Tell them to meet us at Atlantis as soon as their training is over. In the meantime, we’ll do all in our power to hold off Saber until they arrive.”-
“Right,” Leon replied.
“Move it!”-
The KH team rallied. Twenty minutes after, the message had been sent and the team was on their way to Atlantis. Armed with their signature weapons, the members boarded the gummi and were swiftly on their way.
“Set coordinates for Atlantis.” Ophelia ordered.
“Coordinates set,” Leon replied.
“All hatches secured?”-
“All air hatches sealed.” Kirin said.
“All rockets ready to launch.”-
“Rockets reaching critical level,” Donald declared.
“All personnel fastened?”-
“All personnel fastened and secured.” Kairi said.
“Cloud, take us out.”-
“Ready for take off,” Cloud declared. “Preparing to launch in T minus five…four…three…two…one…zero…”
Igniting the rockets, the gummi sped off at lightning speed towards the Atlantis Empire and General Saber.
In the meantime, Olette, Hayden and the children watched from the walkway of the second district as the gummi ship lifted into the sky and vanished into the distance like a shooting star.
“There they go, kids.” She said “Wave good-bye!”
“Bye-bye,” Hayden cried out. “Come back soon!”
“You take care of yourselves.” Olette said with an inward voice. “The fate of all worlds depends on you now.

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