Kingdom Hearts: Destati

[Lanydx]

I'm starting to think it needs a rewirte. I wanted An Inuyasha or Naruto world before they go to Hollow Bastion but i didn't to stay cannon but I should have. "I am a fool." ATW. My story's a fail.

[Lanydx]

I need to rewrite it. I wanted a Naruto, FMAor Inuyasa world before Hollow Bastion but chickined out.My story realy starts after COM when Lanydx(the character) joins OrgXIII.KH1-COM is to show his character,and to make Sora a teen.

[Zero Inferno]

Did you guys hear what Merlin said?
Discuss your own writing in its own thread.

Any further non-Destati fan fic discussion?
I will report every post that does so, lest it be by Merlin.

[Merlin326]

And now, part 3 of ENDGAME.
*******

ENDGAME
Part 3
Fourteen

Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aqua and Axel walked through the magnificent castle, transfixed by its beauty. The walls, ceiling and floor were all pure white, with tapestries decorating the walls of the castle. The tapestries themselves were alive with color, using shades that seemed almost impossible to recreate. There was one room that was decorated with hundreds of statues, each of them carrying a different Keyblade.

“These statues must be of each Keyblade wielder that ever lived,” Aqua said, her breath stolen from her. It didn’t take them long to find Sora, Riku and Kairi’s statues, each one looking as if it was ready to battle. Aqua stopped and gazed at three statues that were standing together. She smiled and wiped a tear from her face; the statues were of her, Terra, and Ven.

“Yes, it’s all so breathtaking, isn’t it?”

All eyes turned to the source of the sarcastic voice. Leaning against the far wall of the room was number XIV of Organization XIII, Xion.

“Too bad there isn’t a statue for Roxas,” Xion said, her voice oozing with sarcasm, “but then again, he never was anything more than a Nobody.”

“Xion…” Sora breathed.

Xion faked a surprised look. “Oh, you know my name.” Then she added in a sing-song voice, “Someone’s a tattletale.”

“It’s over, Xion,” Riku said, “This ends now!”

Xion threw her head back and laughed. “You think this is the end? You think I’m just going to let you beat me? Me, the future Queen of all existence? Such conceit! Well, my little Keyblade Master, things aren’t going to go as you hoped. No one will stop me from becoming queen! Nobody! Not Xehanort, not Aloz, and certainly not you poor fools!”

Xion held out her hands, and her two black daggers of Antimatter materialized in her hands. “I hope you’ve enjoyed life! Because when I’m done with you, there won’t be a single PROTON left of your beings in existence!”

Xion gripped her two blades tightly and held them in front of her. Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Aqua held their Keyblades at the ready, while Axel pulled out his sword. Xion grinned sinisterly, and then phased out of existence.

Sora cautiously glanced about the room, searching for any sign of the rouge Nobody. Sora remembered that those blades she held were made of pure Antimatter; a single strike against flesh could be fatal.

Sora gasped and raised his Keyblade just in time. At that same instant, Xion jumped from her hiding place and thrust her dagger forward. Sora’s reflexes were faster, however, and the dagger bounced off the Keyblade harmlessly. Since the Keyblade was crafted with ancient and powerful magic, not even Xion’s blades could destroy it.

Xion cursed and disappeared again, changing her molecular structure to turn her into Antimatter itself, and virtually invisible in the darkness of night. To her simple minded opponents, it would seem like she just disappeared in thin air. The 14th member silently moved about, seeking an opening in her enemies defenses that she could exploit. She was severely outnumbered here five to one, but she had patience and superior intellect on her side.

Axel stepped through the room even more cautious than the rest. Unlike the others, his sword was not magically gifted, and would be less than effective against Xion’s daggers. He eyed the shadows carefully, searching for any sign of the rouge Nobody. There! Axel jumped back just in time as Xion materialized and slashed the air with both her daggers. Seeing a hole in her defenses, Axel thrust his sword forward, expecting it to cut into flesh. However, Xion brought her arm up, and easily sliced off the end of Axel’s flaming sword with her dagger.

“That just isn’t right,” Axel breathed, “a dagger cutting clean through sword? Not right.”

Xion smiled, “Antimatter beats all.” And then she was gone, disappearing once again into the shadows.

Aqua cautiously crept around the room, lighting a fire in her free hand for light. The light, she hoped, would make it harder for Xion to sneak up on her. She scanned the dimly lit room, but there was no sign of the Nobody. Then… there! Aqua’s eyes scanned the area where she had caught the movement. There! She followed the signs of Xion’s movement, but she never laid eyes on her. Then she saw it, and screamed a warning. All eyes turned to Axel.

“Axel, look out!”

Axel began to turn, but Xion chose that moment to strike. She leapt from the shadows, becoming a physical being once again. The first dagger arched downward, cutting Axel’s back. Axel never had time to scream in pain before the second dagger plunged downward and pierced through the skin on his back and through his heart.

Axel nearly gasped in surprise, and then his eyes lost focus. The broken sword dropped from his hand, and his arms fell limp to his side. Axel’s head slumped forward, and with a sickening sound his body pulled free from the dagger and hit the ground.

Sora nearly dropped his Keyblade. Axel had seemed so energetic, so… alive. And now the red haired man was dead. He would never again laugh and poke fun with sarcastic remarks, never again utter his famous catchphrase ‘got it memorized?’. Now, he was dead, and his murderer was standing right there.

Anger is a powerful force. If not controlled, it can destroy us. It can make us break our rules and forego our moral compass. If not kept in check, anger can destroy everything we stand for and turn us into something ugly. And sometimes, trying to bottle it up inside you, trying to lock it away in the farthest corners of your mind, can be just as dangerous as letting it out. It can control you both ways, make you forget who you really are.

Despite this (or perhaps because of it), anger is not easy to control. It is almost impossible when you watch as your friend is murdered in cold blood. And at that moment, Sora forgot everything else. He forgot about Aloz, and about Xehanort, and even about his friends. He forgot about everything but his grief. Grief turned to anger. Anger turned to hatred. Hatred turned to rage. Rage took rational thought and threw it off a ten story building.

Before anyone could react, Sora took his Keyblade in both hands and charged blindly at Xion. The bloodcurdling scream that escaped from his lips made Xion take an involuntary step back, a movement that cost her dearly. Without time to escape into the shadows, Xion could only watch as Sora charged forward and stabbed her in the leg with the Keyblade.

Cringing in pain, Xion raised her daggers to counterattack, but Sora was too fast. With his free hand, Sora grabbed Xion’s right arm and, with strength increased by rage, forced her hand and the dagger in it into a new direction. Xion screamed as the powerful dagger ripped into the flesh of her left hand, dropping both daggers in the process.

Xion backed away, terror in her eyes, as Sora slowly encroached upon her. Some small part of Sora that still had the capacity for rational thought told him this was wrong, but a much louder, more primeval voice told him to finish the job. It was a third voice that kept Sora from taking the first step down the dark path.

“Sora, stop!”

Sora turned to see Kairi standing next to him, her free hand holding the one that held his Keyblade. Suddenly, the cloud of anger faded from Sora’s mind, and he turned to the Nobody that stood before him, near dead from fright. Sora took one look at the Nobody girl and lowered his Keyblade. Sora shook his head and looked down in shame.

I nearly became as bad as Aloz, was the only thing Sora could think, I nearly became a killer…

Xion glanced around. All eyes were on Sora and Kairi, and the two of them had lowered their guard, think her beaten. The fools, she thought, I am never beaten. Xion raised one hand and prepared a bolt of Antimatter that would kill both of them. Sora and Kairi looked up and saw the black ball of death.

“Say goodnight, Keyblade whelps,” Xion spat, and fired the ball. There was no time to react, no time to dodge. Sora and Kairi would be dead…

… If it wasn’t for a ball of darkness that came at the last minute and smashed into the Antimatter ball. The energies of both spells nullified each other, and both blinked out of existence.

Xion would have gasped at what happened, if Riku hadn’t charged forward and plunged his Keyblade into her chest.

“Impossible…” Xion breathed, “I am… the queen… of Kingdom Hearts…” And then she fell to the ground.
Riku turned to face his best friends. “You alright, Sora?”

Sora didn’t speak for a moment, and then finally recovered his voice. “I… nearly became like Aloz… I almost became a murderer.”

“But you didn’t,” Riku said, “and that’s what matters. You managed to stop yourself before that happened.”

“I lost control,” Sora said, “I gave in to the anger.”

“And you fought it off. You stopped it before it turned you into something ugly.”

Kairi added, “The fact that you got angry only means you cared about Axel, just as we all did. But you also realized that killing won’t solve anything, revenge won’t bring Axel back. That’s what matters, Sora.”

Sora looked up at his two lifelong friends and smiled. “Thanks, you two.” Sora looked over to Aqua, who was bent down next to Axel’s body. She looked up and shook her head slowly. Magic didn’t work; Axel was gone.

Grimly, Sora nodded back at her, and the four heroes turned to the doorway and continued their journey through the castle.
----------------------
Minutes after they left, the body of Xion began to stir. The fools, they thought a simple stab would kill me. Oh, I shall make them pay for that mistake, and for causing harm to my person. They shall pay.

Xion struggled to her feet, already feeling the Antimatter seal her wound and rejuvenate the lost blood. After a few moments, she was able to stand again, and Xion smiled.

“Now that I’m dead,” she whispered, “they won’t expect an attack from behind.”

“Neither would you.”

Xion gasped and turned to face the voice, only for her face to come into contact with a fist, and moments later her body with the hard floor. Xion picked herself up and stared at the figure. It was Aloz the Dark. One hand, the hand he had hit her with, held a jet black sword. The other hand held something else, something that filled Xion with absolute dread.

A heart.

“You always wanted one, didn’t you?” Aloz said, slowly walking toward the Nobody, “All Nobodies want a heart. And yet, you never really had one, didn’t you, Xion? Or at least you never used it. Such a waste. Nevertheless, as a thank you for putting me on this path I have found, I’m going to return your heart I stole so many years ago."

Aloz dropped his sword and picked Xion up by the collar of her coat. He held her up high and, with the other hand, plunged the heart into her chest. Xion felt the emptiness in her chest disappear, and she knew that she was a Nobody no more. However, that meant she was weaker, with no Antimatter to save her from a wrathful Aloz.

“You know, that was quite a show,” Aloz said, “Sora nearly giving in to the darkness when you killed Axel. You should be lucky it wasn’t Kairi or Riku you killed, or there would be no stopping Sora’s plunge into darkness. As it is, he only had a taste of the power it gives you… as well as the cost of that power.”

With unimaginable might, Aloz threw Xion into the far wall of the room. She managed to pull herself to her feet, but Aloz was already there, his hand reaching out and grabbing her by the throat. Slowly, he pulled her off her feet and raised her into the air.

“I trusted you,” Aloz spat, rage in his eyes, “I loved you! And you repay my love with betrayal!”
Xion wanted to scream. She wanted to call out for someone, even Sora, to come and save her from this madman. But she couldn’t scream. She could barely even breathe. Aloz’s hands clutched her throat tighter and tighter.

“You broke my heart,” Aloz said, “now I’m going to repay you for all the suffering you caused me!”

His hand squeezed tighter, and Xion began to kick and scratch, desperate for air. She flailed about, desperate get the pressure to stop, desperate to get air to her lungs. Gradually, the kicking and scratching came with less force, and Xion could feel the blackness closing in on her. She tried to raise her hands, but they wouldn’t respond; they just hanged loosely by her side. She tried to kick, but her legs wouldn’t respond; they just hanged limply above the ground.

Xion could feel her eyes growing heavy, and she suddenly wanted to sleep. Sleep, for all time. She began to drift off into sleep, her eyes fully closing. The blackness had almost fully engulfed her, sleep was nigh. Before the blackness fully overcame her, Xion heard one final sound, one noise before she fell asleep.

It was a sick, cracking sound. Had Xion’s brain been functioning properly, she would have registered it as a bone breaking. Had Xion’s nerves been working properly, she would have registered it as her neck snapping.
-------------
Aloz discarded the corpse like a worthless ragdoll. His eyes turned toward the door where Sora and his group had exited.

That’s one down, Aloz thought, and one more to go. Then this play reaches its final scene.
******************

exit Xion.

With all due respect,
Merlin326

[Zero Inferno]

..........................

That was

Pure. F**king. Epic.

I could see Axel dying several paragraphs beforehand, but Xion? Wow.

Just goes to show you how awesome/evil Aloz is. He brings his enemies back to life before killing them.



As you can probably guess, Merlin, I'm in a spamming mood, as usual.

[TwilightRiku_13]

Sweet Jesus muffins of Holy Hell!!! That chapter was totally epic!!! That evil psycho b!tch Xion deserved to die, but I am really upset that you killed off Axel; he was one of my favorite characters. Anyway, great chapter as always, Merlin. I really look forward to the ending.

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Blaze

..........................

That was

Pure. F**king. Epic.

I could see Axel dying several paragraphs beforehand, but Xion? Wow.

Just goes to show you how awesome/evil Aloz is. He brings his enemies back to life before killing them.

Axel i thought would be a fitting death (a former Organization Nobody fighting a rouge Organization Nobody), as well as a way to give Sora a little darkness. This was done to give Sora a taste of the darkness (and what kind of threat it is). Aloz wont hesitate to use that later on.

Yes, Aloz is quite the evil villain. And deffinetly insane. However, he's one of those type of villains. the type that believes they are doing something good. Aloz believes he is acting with the universes best interests in mind. He believes the only way to destroy the darkness is to cut off its food source (hearts), and he's decided to do that by cutting off the source (Kingdom Hearts). So while he is deffinetly evil and psycotic, he truely believes he is doing the right thing.

and when you take his origin into account, you could almost (but not quite) pity him. remember, this all was started when Xehanort revealed (in a not so kind way) that Aloz was nothing more than an experiment. This (along with 14's betrayal soon after) drove Aloz to insanity. it doesnt excuse him for the things he's done, but it can make you pity him almost.

something funny i just realized. Aloz murdered Xion in cold blood. but before he did, Xion had been plotting to kill Sora and the others. so ironically, Aloz the Dark just may have saved Sora's life by killing Xion.

I'm starting on the next chapter tomorrow. school's starting again next week, so my writing may (depending on how homework gets loaded) be primarily on the weekends. I should still be able to post once a week (maybe even twice if i feel like a writing spree), but keep this in mind.

on another note: by my calculations, there are only about 4 more chapters in Destati (one for Xehanort, two for Aloz, and then the finale). however, once the ending is posted, i'll have a little surprise for you readers...

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Zero Inferno]

I await it eagerly...

Cutting off the food source?
Sounds like another reference to the Halo Rings, just like your spin off of it, tha Armagedon Device.

[Xuan]

Cutting off one of its food supply doesn't mean it would destroy the one who feeds... It could just find something else.

The Axel's death part wasn't so... tearful. In fact, it was kinda dull. Almost as if you're trying discard that character in haste.

[Lanydx]

Aloz makes me think of the joker. I sawe batman so epic.

[Xuan]

It's good alright, after all that's a new level of insanity I'm seeing. Although I always had that strange feeling that the actor is holding something back.

[Lanydx]

Well the chapter was good but Axel's death seems half-assed. Sorry but KH2'one was better it's the way i wanna go.

[Merlin326]

okay guys, bad news. for some freaking, insane, completely dumb reason, MY DUMB LAPTOP WONT CONNECT TO MY DAD'S DUMB NEW WIRELESS ROUTER THING!!!! sorry, i'm just very upset at the moment.

this means that i wont be able to post a chapter until i get back to my mom's house (sunday night or monday morning). because of school, posting the chapter monday morning will be next to impossible. so the chapter will either be up late sunday night, or monday afternoon. I'm still able to write stuff, but i won't be able to post it (this is being written from my dad's laptop.)

with all due respect (and a lot of frustration)
Merlin326

[Xuan]

OK. We'll wait. Hopefully...

[Merlin326]

okay. i apologize for the lateness of this chapter. our high school has seniors do a year long project as a graduation requirement, and we had to start the researching phase this week. today school starts later than usual, so i have a free hour to do some revising i needed to finish.

I hope you enjoy it. writer's block has still been bugging me. i've been having trouble finding a good way to bring the story to it's final battle. the good news is that is next chapter, so i hopefully wont be plagued by writer's block this next chapter.

and with that, let the story continue.

***************

ENDGAME
Part 4
Master Xehanort

Sora, Riku, Kairi and Aqua walked through the majestic halls of Kingdom Hearts. It had been some minutes since their battle with Xion, and they had yet to see Xehanort or Aloz. However, something else was bothering Sora, something he couldn’t quite place. Something in the back of his mind told him that something was wrong.

But what? What’s wrong with this picture? What am I forgetting? Sora glanced at his companions. We’re all here. Me, Riku, Kairi, Aqua… Then it dawned on him.

Sora stopped and turned to his companions, his voice serious and his face grim. “Where are Maleficent and Pete?”
---------------------
At that moment, Maleficent and Pete were far ahead of the others. The two had stayed behind with the party until they reached the statue room, when Xion appeared. During the commotion of battle, no one noticed as the two figures snuck past and continued onward alone.

Even through she knew they should be working together, Maleficent couldn’t swallow the concept of working with Sora. He was, after all, just a young brat with a sword, how could he be the one destined to save them from Aloz? Maleficent found it difficult to believe, and she and Pete had snuck on ahead during the fight.

Now they were on the third floor of the castle, in a room with tapestries that seemed to illustrate the history of the universe. It was strange, the castle was long abandoned, and yet everything looked as if it was constantly polished. And the tapestries, some of the pictures were of recent events, including Aloz’s release and attempt to destroy the universe.

Maleficent strolled through the room, observing each tapestry as she went past them with mild curiosity. Mild curiosity… until she came upon one tapestry in particular. She stopped dead and caught her breath, and Pete stumbled right into her.

“What’s wrong?” Pete asked expecting that Aloz or some guardian of the castle had come to meet them. But Maleficent didn’t answer with words, instead pointing at the tapestry, and at the horrific scene woven on it.
It was a bleak sight. There were people bent over, wearing nothing but rags and forced to mine strange orange crystals from the ground. Their feet were chained together, and they were being watched by strange, black beings of various size and shape. In the background was the apparent overlord of this bleak world, as some of the dark creatures and the slaves were bowing toward him.

It was a monstrous creature, yielding simultaneous pictures of an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature. The picture represented a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind it. The creature was larger than the surrounding mountains, even using one as a throne as it observed its kingdom.

“Do you know who that is?” Maleficent asked, barely able to hide the slight tinge of fear in her voice.

Pete nodded, unable to speak. The duo moved on soon afterwards, hoping that they might be able to force the image from their mind. They exited the room and came outside, on a walkway on the castle rooftop leading to a tower, where the throne room would be located. The sight of their goal nearly in reach gave them new strength, and they continued walking until an old man appeared in the middle of the path.
--------------------------------------
Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Aqua entered a large hallway with tapestries lining the walls. They hadn’t located Maleficent and Pete yet, and had to assume that the two had abandoned them and continued on their own. It was Maleficent, after all. So they had decided to continue through the castle, hoping to find the duo.
Sora walked up to examine one of the tapestries, struck speechless by the sight of it. It depicted a castle with a heart shaped moon in the background, with the castle being held in the hand of a person they all knew very well.

“That’s Aloz…” Kairi breathed, standing next to Sora.

“Sora, Kairi,” Riku called over, “look at this.”

Riku was gesturing to a tapestry he was standing next to. This one depicted 13 people in a circle, each one with a roman numeral next to them, each one wearing the familiar coat.

“Organization XIII,” Sora said, recognizing coat. But there was something else. On the bottom of the picture was a young boy, about 15 by the looks of him, holding a key shaped sword and charging at the Nobodies. “And… me?”

“It’s a history of the universe,” Aqua said, realizing the meaning of the tapestries, “that one represents how you defeated the Organization, and that other one shows that Aloz tried to destroy Kingdom Hearts.”

“Then… does that mean this room knows the future?” Riku asked.

“No,” Aqua said, “the tapestries end with the picture of Aloz. That’s because history after that hasn’t been written yet.”

“Are you saying that once we defeat Aloz, there would be another tapestry here to show that?” Kairi asked, “But then who puts them up? Who maintains this place? Besides from Xehanort, Xion, Aloz and the others, we haven’t seen a soul here.”

“It is Kingdom Hearts,” Riku said, “I think they wanted it to be self maintaining.”

Sora nodded at the logic. “Let’s move, we can sightsee later.”

And the heroes moved onward, passing through the doors at the end of the hallway to continue their climb of the castle. Had they stayed, they might have noticed the picture that had caught Maleficent’s attention when she passed through the room. However, perhaps it is better they had missed it. Some people were better of not knowing the terrible secrets of the past. That was how it worked with the Great Old Ones, and Cthulhu especially.
------------------------
Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Aqua walked out of the history room and into a battle. Farther along the rooftop were Pete and Maleficent, engaged with the aged figure of Master Xehanort. They were fighting Xehanort… and losing. Xehanort locked his Keyblade with Maleficent’s staff, and held up a hand to fire a blast of lightning at Pete. With no way to block the magic, Pete was blasted into the wall of the tower behind him, slumping down as consciousness left him.

Xehanort turned to see Sora and the heroes enter. “Ah, the cavalry has arrived,” Xehanort smirked, “Good, now I can end the opposition and take the throne for myself!”

“We’ll just see about that!” Sora yelled, and summoned his Keyblade.

Xehanort smirked again and dislodged his Keyblade from Maleficent’s staff. With his free hand he blasted her with a fireball and charged toward the Keyblade heroes. Sora was ready for the attack, raising his Keyblade in defense as Xehanort swung his blade in a horizontal slice. Keyblade’s locked for a second, and Xehanort held up his free hand to blast Sora with a fireball at point blank range.

However, Sora was ready for this. He disengaged from Xehanort and quick stepped out of the path of the flame sphere that emerged from the old man’s hand. Aqua fired a blast of ice from her Keyblade and neutralized the fireball before it could hurt anyone else.

“You’re outnumbered, Xehanort,” Riku said as they circled around Xehanort, “You can’t win.”

“Outnumbered,” Xehanort said, “but not outmatched.” At that moment, Xehanort unleashed a powerful blast of darkness, catching everyone off guard and sending them flying. Riku was send over the edge of the rooftop, but managed to thrust his Keyblade into the side of the wall for support. Kairi came flying past him, and he grabbed her hand to save her. Aqua flew into the door they had come through, breaking it off its hinges and sending her flying into the history room.

Sora flew into the stone wall and screamed in pain. He had landed directly on his left arm, breaking the bones in it. He painfully removed himself from the wall and brought his arm around. He quickly laid the tip of his Keyblade on his arm, using healing magic to mend the bones.

Xehanort watched with an amused smile. “You can heal yourself all you like,” he said smugly, “but you’re going to run out of magic sooner or later, and when that happens, nothing in Kingdom Hearts can save you.”
Once his arm was healed, Sora took his Keyblade in two hands and charged at Xehanort. He stopped just out of reach of the old man’s Keyblade and jumped into the air, turning his Keyblade so the tip pointed down. Xehanort watched with an amused smile and casually waved his hand.

A huge breeze came and threw Sora off, and he landed just behind Xehanort. Sora turned to face the man, and was met with a blast of lightning that tore the Keyblade from his hands. Xehanort increased the force of the lightning, driving Sora to his knees.

“Scream,” Xehanort said, “cry out. Yell your head off in pain. And while you do, know this: none have the power to defeat me! No one can defeat Master Xehanort, King of the entire universe!”

Sora tried to do something, tried to counter with a spell of his own. But his muscles wouldn’t respond, they were too busy contracting both ways as the electrical current passed through his body. He was helpless to do anything, unable to even call for help.

“And now, my boy,” Xehanort said in mock sadness, “I’m afraid it is time for you to die!”

Xehanort ceased the spell for a second, gathering his power for a blast that would correct the mistake he made two years ago when he didn’t kill the boy first. Xehanort released the spell, and Sora closed his eyes, waiting for the end.

It never came. At that instant, a figure sped in front of Sora and took the blast for him. The surprise cost Xehanort his concentration, and the spell ended prematurely. He started the blast up again, hoping to bring down the Keyblade Master’s savior and then finish off the boy. But it was not to be. The blast hit, alright, but the figure didn’t hesitate.

Maleficent forced her way through the barrage of electricity and came closer and closer towards Xehanort.

“Sora!” she yelled through clenched teeth as she closed in on the old man, “The rest is up to you!”
Sora opened his eyes and saw the tall figure of Maleficent shielding him from Xehanort’s blast, though not even she could withstand the lethal power of the blast. Maleficent came closer, and finally Xehanort ceased the current of electricity, if only to build up another spell.

But Maleficent was too close now. She charged right into Xehanort, plowing her shoulder into his stomach, knocking the wind from his longs. Maleficent continued to plow into Xehanort, forcing him backward towards the edge of the walkway. With one final push, she sent the aged master over the side and plummeting to the ground. They were three stories off the ground, and a fall like this was guaranteed to kill a man.
Maleficent collapsed to the ground, fatally wounded from the electricity. With much difficulty, Sora pulled himself to his feet and ran over to Maleficent.

“Leave me,” she commanded, “I’m finished. Now… it’s up to you.”

“Maleficent…” Sora breathed, “Why did you save me? You hated me.”

“I still do, Keyblade brat,” Maleficent spat through gasping breaths, “but I will not… allow Xehanort control over MY dominion.” Maleficent breathed heavily, and then continued. “Go… fight Aloz. Stop him… and have your light you so cherish… there is nothing… left for me now…”

“Maleficent…”

“Go now!” Maleficent ordered.

Sora was silent for a moment and nodded. He looked around, seeing Riku and Kairi finally manage to pull themselves back on the ledge with Aqua’s help. He nodded to them, and the four silently continued through the castle. Aloz was bound to be in the throne room, at the top of the tower. It was the most logical spot for him to hide.

Maleficent watched them go and gave a weak smile.

“Oh… how ironic,” she whispered, “how perfectly… ironic. The mistress of all evil... dying for the Keyblade brat… cruel irony…” Maleficent closed her eyes, and died alone.
--------------------
He pulled himself off the ground, wincing in pain as he did so. That had been an unexpected move, sacrificing herself to save the Keyblade brat.

“There was a miscalculation… that will NOT happen again.”

He laid an arm on his chest and smiled as the healing magic did its work.

“Very soon,” he said, “I will rejoin the game.”

Now all he had to do was wait. Xehanort had been waiting for over ten years for this day. He could wait a few more minutes.