The Champ Returns [Monarch Glade, Invite]

A Heartless was meant to be his enemy, and one that took a human form as well.  Most interesting.  Xehanort had not seen another Heartless take a human form other than his own Heartless, Ansem.  The Heartless had introduced himself, accompanied by a Powerwild that seemed to be a subordinate.  Very intriguing.

Xehanort began to introduce himself.

"My name is-"

"Terra here's a true hero and former champ of the Games!  If you're his opponent I got two words for ya: Keep on your toes!"

Xehanort couldn't help but smirk as he turned to enter the arena without another word.  He couldn't help but be a little perplexed.  This was supposed to be a creature of darkness, but he didn't act like it.  Xehanort sent out a wave of power as he entered the arena to attempt to take control of the Heartless, but he had a strange feeling that it wouldn't work.  These didn't seem to be garden variety versions of the normal mindless beasts.

As he walked out into the wide open arena, the wind caught the hood of his black coat and began blowing it around vigorously.  The stands were indeed full and the tiled ring stood center stage.  The sun was beginning to set giving the entire arena an oddly fitting twilight glow.  The cooler night temperatures began to take hold and Xehanort could see the smoky breath leave his lungs.  It wasn't overly cold, just cool enough to give each exhale a physical shape.

As he reached the far end of the ring, he turned to face the odd Heartless that would be his opponent, and he began to wonder if this Heartless had ever encountered a being filled with darkness such as himself. 


"A creature born of darkness such as yourself, how is it you command yourself with such intelligence?"


In a plume of black flame, the keyblade without a name entered his firm grasp, and Terra-Xehanort stood still, awaiting the Heartless's first move.

Terra-Xehanort listened intently as the Heartless screamed in agony.  He was strong indeed, but was having a great deal of difficulty in resisting the temptation that Xehanort had offered.  Heartless were meant to serve a higher power, but to whom did this one owe allegiance?  Sure, his own Heartless had operated independently, but that was because of the elder master's vessel's plans.  No other Heartless had ever been known to act truly independently without being a mindless lesser beast.

The other thing he was having difficulty imagining was why this Heartless wasn't seeking the various lights scattered about the arena?  Mice seek cheese.  Felines seek those mice.  Heartless seek hearts, its only natural.  Why was this one so different?

Xehanort finally spoke up as the beast in front of him came to his senses and made his correct accusations.

"I only sought to correctly prove that you were an independent Heartless.  It is extremely rare that one acts on his own and resists a pull as strong as mine.  To that I must applaud you.  But I ask, do you know what you are?  Allow me to explain."

With that, Xehanort pushed his empty hand forward and opened his palm as if it were an invitation.

"All things begin in darkness, and all so end.  The heart is no different.  If a person were to succumb to the darkness in their heart, then a Heartless is born from that heart.  There are two ways to avoid this:  First, push the darkness down, but then you risk becoming a purist.  I must say that is more dangerous than a creature of absolute darkness.  There must be balance between the darkness and the light.  It is only natural.  The brightest lights cast the darkest shadows.  Secondly, you could channel the darkness within you.  Use it.  Control it.  Make it a part of you and become a master to it."

The crowd began to grow antagonistic towards "the former champ," and even Phil was left dumbfounded by the lack of combat.

"Are you guys gonna get started.  People in Pompeii are showing more signs of life than you guys!  Attack!!!"

The tiny satyr, Phil, began jumping up and down in anticipation.  Xehanort finally took his battle stance and dashed forward.  The crowd, seeing action finally begin, roared in approval as Terra's body pulled his keyblade in an upward strike towards the Heartless.  He then continued his movement with a horizontal strike before hopping backwards and attempting to finish his combination with a dashing strike through the enemy.  His hope was that the change of pace would catch the Heartless off guard and if it happened Terranort would cash in with the devastating finish of the dashing strike.

He didn't take time to look for his success.  After dashing through the Monarch, he turned mid-dash and began to reverse this dash.  This time, he cloaked himself in a veil of darkness as he activated his Dark Haze ability.  This meant he used the size of his larger body and threw it at the enemy as if he were a missile.  Speed and strength of a normal physical attack increased as he pressed onward toward the unique enemy he was faced with.

"All of this power can be yours, and I can teach it to you."

The battle was underway and the crowd was going absolutely bonkers.  Xehanort took the early advantage my landing a few basic strikes, in an attempt to size up his opponent.  However, his Dark Haze had absolutely no effect.  'Ansem' made a mental note that darkness based attacks would have little to no effect against the Heartless.  Fair enough.

Something then began to take hold of his enemy and he flew towards Xehanort with a spinning attack.  He attempted a quick leap backwards, to escape the spin, but it seems that he underestimated his opponent.  Towards the end of the attack, Xehanort took the edge of the blade across his midsection, tearing at the coat he wore, partially revealing the red belts and black shirt beneath.

The heartless took the opening and unleashed a quick flurry of physical blows.  A little faster than this body would have liked.  With his keyblade, Xehanort managed to parry the first few attacks, but he barely managed to escape the last horizontal strike.  It was close enough to tear a little more out of his coat, but he just barely managed to avoid another hit.

Then the oddest thing happened, the beast ceased his flurry of attacks that had just finally found the slightest success and called out the name of an attack.  Something called a Shadow Crusher Beam was about to be unleashed, but the time he took to call it out was his first huge mistake of the match.  The beam of energy soared towards Xehanort, but he dodged underneath the humanoid heartless.  Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xehanort's key transformed into a large barreled weapon and he turned it immediately upwards and he locked on.

The second he landed, with all the cockiness to ask if Xehanort submitted, a giant ball of light burst from the tip of the barrel and sped towards his location.  Terranort knew he wouldn't be expecting a blast of light after the extravagant display of darkness he'd been putting forward thus far. And, if he managed to dodge the first blast, the second would be a bigger challenge as it ripped forward.  Ultima Cannon was one of the most devastating light centered attacks in his arsenal.

"SUBMIT!"

Xehanort then lept into the air, focusing on his target.  He readied his key and, just as the second blast of light cleared its target, he slammed downward at the Heartless. Just as the blade made contact with the tile, the tile itself erupted upward, creating a secondary attack of earthen spikes that attempted to skewer his target with the end of his Geo Impact.

If this creature wouldn't willingly join Xehanort, then he would force it into submission, weaken it, then, when he's weakest, allow his darkest pulls to lure the creature under his control.

In a reversal of fortunes, Terra-Xehanort's own attack was used against him.  Some fancy footwork led the Heartless to an offensive hold just as the end result of his physical attack burst upward, striking both of them with shards of earth.  The good news was that the previous owner of this body was well enough conditioned that the earthen shards merely burst into him, without actually piercing skin. The bad news was that it brought forth a great deal of pain.

In the scuffle, the Heartless managed to knock free Xehanort's keyblade as it skidded along the broken tile of the arena.  Apparently, this creature wasn't aware of how keyblades worked.  Did he not know that 'Ansem' could summon it back into his hand?

Then, the creature was brave enough to put a blade to his throat and demand that he yield.  Oh...he wasn't going to like that.  See, there is a creature who looks after Xehanort's best interests, and he doesn't respond well to threats.  With the cold steel pressed against his skin, the beast reached out, and, first, a hand became visible as its clawed hand grasped the blade by the edge, pushing it away from its true master.

Xehanort's cold, amber eyes relaxed as the other hand emerged, grasping Monarch by the throat.  It speaks volumes to the size of the creature's hands that, even grasped around the neck of a Heartless creature, his fingers still overlapped as he began to squeeze.  Guardian then peeked his black and blue head and shoulders from behind Xehanort as he easily lifted the Heartless from atop his master.

"My name..."

With that, Xehanort rose; not to his feet, but a few inches above the ground as he began to levitate.

"...is Ansem."

A green mist began to cover Xehanort as he stretched his arms outward.  Every wound on his body immediately began to close, and, within an instant, he looked as if the battle had just started.  Such was the power of Curaga

The Satyr fell to his knees in disbelief.

"...That's not...Terra...Kid, you better run!"

"As I've said before.  All things begin in darkness, and all so end.  The heart is no exception.  You began as a creature created from the darkness in one's heart-"

With that a black aura enveloped Xehanort and he began to 'reach out' just as he had in the foyer.  To put it into perspective:  That time was more of a firm handshake; this time he was squeezing with all of his might.  That creature would become one of his.

"-just as these creatures will all succumb themselves."

An immense pressure filled the stands as Xehanort reached out to the hearts of each person there, offering the temptation.  As he did, Guardian, with the Heartless firm in his grasp, slammed his captor against the tiled floor, making sure his head was pointed towards the stands.  First, it was a single person that transformed into a Shadow.  Then, another became a Heartless.  Then, two more.  4 more. Then 7. Then 15.  As Phil yelled for the crowd to run, they began to convert into Heartless, one by one.  The heartless stood completely still.

"It seems the Games have been cancelled.  No matter, I have what I came for."

Things were definitely getting stranger.  How do you baffle a man who has 11 other incarnations of himself and have him thinking things are getting weird.  The heartless began arguing with himself apparently and began a metamorphosis.  And the new form...looked like Sora?  How on earth was this possible?

That was enough.  Xehanort had just seen enough to determine he no longer wanted this unpredictable Heartless, so that meant it needed to be destroyed, and the whole returned. And who better to do the job than the masses of Heartless now surrounding the ring.  Shadows, Neoshadows, Soldiers, Large Bodies, Wizards, and the a couple Invisibles surrounded the ring.

"You are no longer worth my time.  I cannot use a heartless this unpredictable as a vessel.  I have too many things that could go wrong if things go haywire.  I leave you to these mindless creatures."

With that Xehanort stepped out of the ring and began to walk towards the entryway.  As he did, the Heartless charged forward with one thought, destroy the one that doesn't belong.

Now, where would Terranort go?  He would continue his search for a new vessel elsewhere.  Perhaps he would return to Twilight Town and continue his search there.

Without an additional movement, Xehanort summoned a Corridor of Darkness where the entrance to the foyer would be, and stepped inside, allowing the passageway to close behind him.

As he left, he took a final look to see the heartless all pounce at once at the Persudo, whatever that was.

-Terra-Xehanort has exited the thread-