Solo project this time. This is far shorter than Golden Chamber. So, I hope you all enjoy it!
You all know the story. Roxas stands alone on a dark night. Heartless swarm and multiply, and he defeats them all. He climbs the Skyscraper, and he and Riku cross blades. Roxas defeats Riku, and they argue before Roxas walks off. But that’s just one side of things. Let’s take a step back, and see what would have happened if the players switched sides…
Riku walked down the calm, dark street. He looked to his left and right, into dark, foreboding alleyways that could hold all manner of dark creatures. He quickened his pace. Tonight was not a night he wanted spoiled. He came to some stone stairs, darkened by a blue tint caused by the fading sunlight. He raised his left foot… and stopped. Something was wrong…
Snap. His leg flashed back down, and he drew his blade. He twisted his body round, slashing the air above him as he did so. A Heartless exploded, a second away from eliminating its target. Another fell as Riku slashed his blade to the right, and he replaced his blindfold. His long, silver hair fell over the black cloth, and he raised his hand in an unknown direction to show that he was ready to fight. The Heartless sprang. Flashes of light followed the sound caused by sword cutting magic, and the Heartless began to fall. Riku simply jumped, dancing on the spot, his blade an extension of himself. Slice, Slash, Thrust. That’s all it came down to. How quick you could be with your blade.
Another Heartless fell, followed seconds later by yet another. They dropped like flies, dissipating into nothingness. Riku’s breathing became faster, and his movement slowed by a fraction of a second. No man could keep this up forever. He did, however, keep it up. He could not stop, could not rest until all his foes were vanquished, and if he did stop, the Heartless would surely rip him to pieces. This was a fight to the death, and he was not ready to die just yet.
The Heartless attacked, wave after wave, creature after creature, but none lay a claw on the young man. Though his eyes were covered, his senses were heightened to an intense degree only found in the heat of battle, when the adrenaline coursed through his veins and eliminated his fears and faults. While he battled, he was invincible, he could feel every movement in the air, taste the darkness on his tongue and smell the stench of evil. He had sided with the dark once before, and through that he became immensely powerful: now he simply used it. He fought for Light, using Darkness as his weapon.
Had the Heartless not disappeared after death, Riku would not be able to move due to the bodies. Though he was not counting himself, another was: 57, 58, 59… Riku slashed more and more, his steps sure, his arm unwavering, and defeated each Heartless standing in his way. When the battle finally finished, and he caught his breath, he removed the blindfold. Sitting down on the cold, hard ground, he looked around, his eyes a necessary part of this survey. He shook the hair out of his eyes, and wiped the sweat from his brow. Nothing to his left, front or right, he flipped where he sat to face the structure. A man stood in the doorway, concealed beneath a dark cloak worn only by members of Organization XIII.
Riku replaced the blindfold as he rose. Taking strong, imposing steps he closed the distance between himself and the man, and stopped a few feet before the stone steps. “Who are you, Organization member, and what business do you have with me?” The man laughed. Man? The laugh belonged to a boy, younger than himself but only slightly, as confidence (or was it resignation?) seemed to radiate from him.
“My name’s not important. What really matters is you. I’ve been watching you, and the Organization would like to have you on our side. Like, now.” Riku smiled. “Fool. I’ll never join you. Nothing you can promise me can make me join a group like yours!” Riku drew his weapon once more, raising it towards the boy. “It’s a shame we disagree. I know for a fact we’d be such good friends.” The boy drew his own weapon, and Riku did not need to see to recognize the force of the weapon in the boys hand. And then a second force registered, and he was taken aback. “Two Keyblades?”
The boy pounced. Riku threw his blade up just in time, parrying the blow with no time to spare. The boy ducked, slashing his own weapon down to Riku’s legs and dashing to the side. Riku jumped, avoiding the blow, and followed the energy he felt from the Keyblades. Slash, Parry, Thrust, Dodge, Slash… the battle was only just beginning, and Riku was becoming tired quickly.
The boy dodged one of Riku’s blows and his hood fell down, revealing his youthful face, his shock of blonde hair, and two eyes that were unmistakably…
Riku fell. The boy took the opportunity, pointing a Keyblade to Riku’s face. Riku stuttered. “Y… your eyes… Why? Why do you have the Keyblade?”
The boy merely laughed. “My name is Roxas. R-O-X-A-S. Take out the X and you’re left with an R, an O, an A, and an S. Even you can spell that out. You’ve proved how weak you are. Go on. Scram! Before I call the others on you.”
Riku, his pride broken, his right arm sore, his legs aching, began to walk unsteadily away from the boy who had defeated him. Roxas. R-O-X-A-S. That could mean only one thing. The boy who defeated him, the on who works for the Organization, who had skill with not just THE Keyblade but two… He had been defeated by the alter-ego, the Nobody, of his best friend, and he would never be the same again.
