Chapter 56 The Unknown

(Takes place after sealing the Final Keyhole but before Sora and Co head off for the Hades Cup)

Reuploaded due to me forgetting to add something. Whoops XD

"So, the energy you guys detected is just up ahead?" Sora asked

"That's right." Leon said as the five walked down the halls. "The princesses say there is some kind of dark energy coming from up ahead."

"How interesting it chooses to spawn in the same room where we defeated Maleficent in." Corrin said.

"Just be careful. Who knows what's lurking around?" Leon warned as the five made it to the now thorn less room.

"Like maybe that?" Goofy asked as he pointed ahead. The other four looked forward to see a man in a black coat. His face was completely covered by his hood.

'Who is that? And why do I feel I've seen him before?' Corrin thought as he stared at the man before him.

"Who are you?" Sora asked

"Ah, it seems you are special to." The mysterious figure said to Sora.

"Ansem?" Goofy asked

"Ah, that name rings familiarity." The man said as his hand started to crackle with electricity as he turned his attention back to Sora. "You remind me of him." Sora instinctively brought out his Keyblade to block the attack that was coming his way as the mysterious figure shot a bolt of electricity at Sora.

"What are you talking about? Sora grunted as he struggled a bit holding off the attack but was able to knock the attack away to the ceiling where it blasted a hole through it with debris falling.

"It means you are not whole. That you are incomplete." The figure said.

"Enough games. Tell us why you are here and what do you want?" Leon demanded as he drew his Gunblade.

"Let me test your strength. Keyblade hero." The man said as energy crackled in his hands once again.

"Here he comes!" Goofy cried out as he and Donald summoned their weapons.

The figure fired more balls of energy at the five you promptly dodge rolled out of the way. Sora and Leon charged in but two pink blades of energy emerged from the figures hands to block both blades and knock them back. Leon retaliates with a Figara spell but the figure releases an energy shield and blocks the attack.

Corrin, who was observing the fight, had kept this nagging feeling about the figure when he looks at him.

'Why do I feel that I've seen him somewhere before?' Corrin thought.

"CORRIN!" Donald shouted getting the white-haired boy's attention.

"What?"

"Stop staring and help us fight!" Donald said

"Sorry, I just couldn't help but feel that I've seen that guy before." Corrin admitted much to Donald's suprise.

"Well, we can figure that out when he's not trying to kill us. For now, we need some help." Donald said.

"Right." Corrin agreed as he summoned his mask. "Hydro shot!" Corrin shouted as he fired a ball of water at the figure. The figure saw the attack coming and leaped out of the way.

Sora then launched a Strike Raid at him who blocked it with his energy blade.

"No matter what we do, this guy is like four steps ahead of us." Sora grunted as he retrieved his Keyblade.

'What do we do?' Corrin thought as he glanced at his dragon stone. 'I could use this, but I'm afraid of what will happen. I need training with it first.'

We need to catch him off guard first. THUNDARA!" Donald shouted. The man vanished before the lightning bolt could even hit him.

"GOOFY TORNADO!" Goofy shouted as he spun right to where the figure appeared, but the figure summoned another shield in front of him to block the knight and send him flying back.

"He's pretty fast." Leon muttered as he gathered energy into his Gunblade to activate his Limit Break.

"I think I have an idea." Corrin said.

"What is it?" Sora asked as Corrin whispered it to Sora.

"Got it." Sora said.

Leon rushed forward and jumped up as he slammed his Gunblade down on the figure who vanished out of the way again.

"Oh no you don't! GRAVITA!" Sora shouted as he unleashed a gravity spell on the figure as he reappeared causing him to fall to the floor with a grunt.

"Now for the finisher." Corrin said as he summoned his mask once again, "DRAGON FANG!" Corrin slashed the figure with his sword as his other arm turned into a lance that knocked the figure back and then unleashed a ball of water on him sending him flying into the wall.

"We did it" Goofy and Donald cheered.

However, the cheering was cut short as the dust cleared to reveal the figure took no damage from the attack.

"You've got to be kidding me." Sora said shocked

"All that he doesn't have even a scratch?" Leon asked shocked

"Well, I'm not giving up!" Sora declared as he charged at the man once again. He swung his Keyblade at the figure who blocked it with another energy blade.

"ARC ARCANUM!" Sora shouted as his blade glowed with energy and managed to break the lock and strike the man a few times.

Despite that though, the figure still didn't seem to take any damage.

"I've seen enough." The figure said much to Sora's surprise. "Most impressive."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked

"It is still beyond your compression, for now." The figure said as he turned around. "Until we meet again."

"What are you?" Corrin asked

"I am but a mere empty shell. And you are more interesting than I thought you would be." The figure said ominously.

"Wh-What?" Corrin asked shocked.

"WAIT!" Sora shouted as he charged at the man, but seemed to just faze through him. "What?"

Just like that, the figure vanished into thin air.

"Where did he go?" Goofy asked

"I-I'm not sure." Corrin said

"Who ever that was, he was strong. Way too strong." Leon said

"That was just strange." Sora said 'I just hope we will be strong enough to face Ansem.'

"Well, whatever the case, we should go report back with the others." Leon said

"Good idea." Donald agreed.

Corrin looked back one last time to where the figure once stood. 'Still, I can't help but feel I've seen him before.' Corrin thought. However, he shook off the feelings. Right now, Ansem was their number one priority.

As the group exited the room, no one noticed that a small puddle of pure darkness above scurry away slowly.

And that's a wrap.

Yeah, the battle was short, but to be fair, Xemnas was just toying with them in this fight. His fights in the future will be more intense. And before anyone questions why there was no dragon transformation here, keep in mind that this happened before the group went to the Colosseum to train it and partake in the Hades Cup, so Corrin wasn't comfortable using it in fear of what might happen if he did at the moment. That's also why the spells were not at their final stages.

Anyway, the poll is now closed and here are the results:

Aqua: 5 Votes

Roxas, Terra, and Lea/Axel: 3 Votes

Xion and Ventus: 2 Votes

And in the end, Aqua won to literally no surprise. Quite frankly though, Terra surprised me since I know a lot of people aren't a big fan of him.

As I said before, this was more for curiosity sake so I could see which Keyblade Wielders my readers were hoping for the most. Thankfully, I already have plans for Aqua later so that's not going to be an issue. In fact, I already have the ideas for earlier returns for every of these guys except Roxas and Xion. Kingdom Hearts 3 is suppose to be getting some DLC, so maybe I'll wait and see if there is some more info that I can use for how to bring these two back earlier. Especially Xion. In the mean time, if you guys still have some ideas I am all ears. I got some, but nothing is set in stone yet.

As for my research, I do have up through KH2 planned out, so I will get started on Chain of Memories some time this summer. How that will be handled will be talked about in its first chapter.

Anyway guys, I want to take a moment and say thank you for the support and some advice you guys gave for this fanfiction so far. It really means a lot. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I hope to see you all again for the next arc: Of Key and Sword Chain of Memories. See you guys then.