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KH:PoT :x: CO Ch.1c

Deviation Actions

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Ash stood on one end of the beach, Lucario in front of him. At the other end stood Riku, holding his sword at his side. Sora, whom Ash had told about the job, acted as referee. The brown-haired Keyblader looked left and right at Riku and Ash. "This unofficial battle between Ash, using Lucario, and Riku, using...himself, will now get under way," he announced. He held a sword in each hand. Riku got his sword up into stance. "Ready? Aaaaaand..." He shot both arms up, holding out the two swords like flags. "BEGIN!"

Immediately, Riku charged forward with amazing speed. Ash nodded. "Lucario! Get ready to dodge!" he called.

Lucario nodded, crouching. Riku came forward and then let out his first attack. Instantly, the pokémon dodged the swing, sidestepping. Riku looked over.

"Metal Claw!" Ash ordered as soon as Lucario had dodged, knowing how fast Riku was.

Lucario's paws glowed, then he let out a scratching swipe. Riku raised his sword and blocked it, though, and quickly counter-attacked. Lucario grunted as he got hit.

Ash, expecting quick attacks and used to not hearing what the enemy will do, cried, "Screech, now!" when Lucario's attack reached its hit-or-miss point.

Lucario, as an effect, was able to let out his attack, which caused Riku to grunt and stop further attacks while he bore it. However, as much as he tried, he soon had to clasp his hands over his ears. When Ash saw this, he ordered Lucario to use Tail Whip. Although weak, Lucario was able to land the quick attack across Riku's stomach.

Riku grunted. "This ain't as easy as I thought it'd be," he commented, "what with hearing what attacks are being used on me..." He held his sword ready again. "Alrighty, let's get down to business." He ran and feinted before lashing out. Lucario was hit, but it appeared it didn't do much.

Ash grinned. 'That must have been like Feint Attack, which is a Dark-type move and therefore didn't do much against Lucario!' "Quick, Low Kick!"

Lucario complied, foot lashing out in the fast, but weak, attack. It was a bit straight, though, and was easilly dodged.

"Behind you!!"

He jumped out of the way of the swinging attack, soaring high. However, Ash remembered that Riku, too, was a good jumper. As Lucario came back down, Riku launched himself upwards and unleashed a three-hit air combo on the pokémon, slamming him back down to Earth. Lucario grunted as he hit the sand, then rolled and got up again.

Ash frowned. "Sorry, Lucario, I forgot he uses air attacks, too," he appologized.

''No worries,'' Lucario returned.

Ash nodded and pointed. "Alright, let's bounce back by charging him!" he commanded.

Lucario did as he was told. Riku chuckled and readied himself. When Lucario approached, the Keyblader decided which way to dodge.

"Low Kick!"

Lucario did so. He, sharp-eyed pup, saw which way Riku sidestepped. As he did, Lucario launched a sweeping kick with extra power from the move in the direction the human dodged. Riku grunted in surprise as he was sweeped. He fell to the ground.

"Ngh!" He rolled backwards and got up. "Heh...Sneaky," he said. 'Why did that hurt a little more than I thought it would?'

Ash grinned. "When I'm going against you, I've gotta be, sometimes," he said. "Now, start hitting him using normal fighting moves!" he commanded.

Lucario nodded and began free-forming. He and Riku engaged for a while, Ash watching intently, waiting for the right time. Then, it came when Lucario managed to parry a move and give a mighty uppercut to the white-haired Keyblader. "Metal Claw!" Lucario hurriedly launched the attack. It struck the stunned Riku, causing him to give a little shout of pain and slide back.

Riku grinned as he halted. "Not bad," he complimented. He stood straight and held his hand out to his side. "Let's see how you handle this!" Darkness began to accumulate in his hand.

Ash gasped in surprise, as did the others. "What the--?!" He thought furiously about what attack that resembled, and could only think of Shadow Ball. He frowned and nodded. "Lucario! Try and defend!" he cried.

Lucario braced himself.

"Riku! Why are you going to use that?" Sora asked.

Riku smirked over his shoulder. "I said I wouldn't go easy on him," he reminded, then finished charging the attack. "Alright! Eat my Dark Firaga!!" he cried, and threw the ball of darkness.

Lucario grunted as it struck him, exploding into a burst of black fire. He slid back so far, he ended up in the water a little. He panted when he let his guard down. ''Ow.''

Ash gritted his teeth. ''Alright, so it looks like it's part Fire, part Dark, meaning that Lucario's combination of Steel and Fighting types cancel out any move effectiveness. It did normal damage, and it did a lot even so. I'm going to have to try and dodge it!' He nodded and watched Riku. He was advancing, charging another Dark Firaga. "He knows I'm going to try and tell him to avoid it, so he's gonna keep on Lucario so he can't evade it!" he muttered, then shouted, "Lucario!! Run towards him and try using Low Kick!"

Lucario did so, but Riku was smart enough to jump the sweep.

"AGAIN!"

Lucario, being ordered mid-spin, understood and spun around again as Riku fell. Riku couldn't land safely and was hit, knocked down again. His Dark Firaga was disrupted. Ash pumped his arm in victory, his plan having worked.

Lucario awaited further commands while Riku rose. He thought himself. 'If I'm not mistaken, my Low Kick seems to be doing something to him,' he mused. 'I wonder if he's sort of like a pokémon himself...'

Riku smirked. "Alright, enough of this," he said, and summoned darkness around his toy sword. "Let's see how you like me now!" He began to attack viciously.

Ash ordered Lucario to block it, then dodge it as best he could and use Metal Claw. It failed, though, and Lucario was hit. When he did, it looked like it hurt him so much, it stunned him. Then, he got hit by a combo...well, almost. At the finishing move, he reached up and grabbed Riku's darkness-covered weapon. Riku raised his eyebrows. After surprising his opponent, Lucario quickly released the sword and slashed with Metal Claw. He hit again.

Riku was getting either mad or just excited. "Pretty brave, grabbing a blade of darkness," he commented.

Ash raised an eyebrow. 'I knew it! His special attacks are Dark-based!! That means...' "Lucario! Try, um, Focus Punch!"

Lucario raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told. He focused intensly, hoping the move worked. Then, to his surprise, his fist began to glow.

However, Riku was ready. He charged and slashed. Lucario was able, though, to dodge just in time. The pokémon unleashed the move, and connected with a retreating arm. Riku grunted and held his arm breifly before getting back to it.

Ash grinned. 'Yeah, that looked like it really hurt! He's got to be like a Dark-type, weak against Fighting-type moves!' "Lucario! Tail Whip!" he ordered. "Then jump away!"

Lucario tried Tail Whip, missed, but jumped back when the next attack came.

"Now start charging up your Aura Sphere!"

He nodded and began, midair. He still charged it when he landed. It was still slow to charge, but Ash had gotten him far enough away that Riku couldn't get him in time. Riku was charging his own Dark Firaga, which charged just a tiddly faster than Aura Sphere.

They both launched at the same time.

Ash waited until the right moment, then said, "DODGE!"

Lucario jumped to the side just as the ball of darkness approached. It curved to him a little, but ended up missing and hitting the ground.

Riku, meanwhile, tried dodging the other one. He was surprised when not only did it home in on him, it also went straight through his sword, which he'd raised as a last-second defense. "AAUGH!" he cried, getting nailed in the face by the Fighting move. He went to the ground, where he stayed a second before getting up, laughing. "Okay, that felt like it hurt a lot more than it looked like it should," he laughed. "What's the deal?"

Ash grinned. "Each pokémon and move has its own type," he explained. "One type of attack does more damage to another type of pokémon. For instance, Fire type attacks do more against Grass type pokémon; it's super effective!" He held up a fist. "Fighting type moves are super effective against pokémon whose type..." He pointed with his fist hand at Riku. "...is Dark!"

Riku blinked, then laughed. "Great, just when you think you're human!!" he joked. "I suppose that's why some of my attacks didn't do as well against Lucario as I thought?" he asked.

Ash nodded. "Yep!" he replied. "You'll have to figure out the types on your own, since us trainers have to," he told Riku. "So, we gonna keep going, or what?"

Riku smirked, then put his sword on his shoulder. "I think that's enough fun for today," he said. "Unless you'll let me try one more move...?"

Ash looked at Lucario. He nodded. "Sure! Lucario, get ready!"

Lucario nodded, then braced himself.

Riku grinned viciously. "Oooh, bad idea," he said, and everything went dark. Only Lucario and Riku were visible.

From the darkness, Sora gasped. "RIKU!! NOT DARK AURA!!" he protested.

He was too late, though, and Riku had disappeared.

"Dark Aura?" repeated Ash.

Sora grimaced. "Something that's a really big pain in the...well, all over!" he explained.

Lucario looked around him, sensing something. He then saw a burst to his right and Riku searing towards him, blade out. He couldn't avoid the attack quite well and got hit. While he recovered from the hit, he got slammed again and again and again from nearly every direction as Riku mercilessly executed his most powerful move. Lucario grunted in pain each time, and tried to analyze where he was coming from. Unfortunately, the darkness surrounding the boy caused him to have no aura while the attack took place, despite the name of the attack. Finally, Riku finished by appearing in the center and unleashing a ring of dark flames, which hit Lucario, too.

After the attack ended, Lucario fell to the sand, gasping for breath. ''That...is a powerful...attack,'' he complimented. He then struggled, trying to get up. ''A little...too powerful...ooof...'' He collapsed, spiraly-eyed.

Sora held up his left sword and cried, "Lucario is unable to battle! Riku--by a really cheap shot--wins!!"

Riku gave him an eyebrow raise. "Hey, he said I could try it! I didn't even know I could use it without entering my Dark Mode..." He shrugged, then knelt down to the pokémon.

Lucario groaned in a second, then looked up at his smiling face. He took the offered hand and stood up.

"Good fight," Riku said.

Lucario nodded. ''Good fight.''

Ash, amazed look on his face, walked over to Riku. "You...Wow. That's one scary attack," he said. "Glad I'm never going to have to deal with that in real life!"

Riku raised an eyebrow. "If you do end up nabbing a Keyblade, you'd better be ready for it," he warned, crossing his arms. "Heartless do all sorts of moves like that."

Ash looked a little surprised, but then sighed and nodded. "I guess you're right," he said. Then he shivered. "Man, I hope I don't have to fight YOU anytime soon, though!"

Riku raised his other eyebrow, switching them. "Really? I wanted to check and see if Sora hasn't been making you soft," he said, and Ash meeped, causing everyone to laugh.

The remainder of the day was spent playing with the other kids, who all were eager to try Ash out. They had fun with him, and he had the opposite with them--despite his newfound ability to focus instantly, he still either had a lot of trouble or he just outright lost. He DID have a time with Wakka, though, since he knew how to fight him from the previous experience he had with him. He even beat back the ball he had thrown to him.

Lucario, meanwhile, decided to practice his meditation, attempting to work on rehoning his skills with seeing waves(and, yes, I'm going to be switching off "aura" and "waves" whenever I want throughout this fanfiction. I appologize if this annoys you). He sat on a rock by the waves (of the ocean) for a couple hours, motionless.

Finally, sunset arrived, and the others had to leave. Ash and Lucario bade farewell, then retired after getting something from the fridge there.

---

Ash was falling. He was falling through the sky, soaring past the memories of his past encounters with legends. However, there was one encounter missing...He suddenly hit water, floating down until he landed gently on a black surface. He took one step, then gasped as thousands of doves flew off, revealing a circular, stained-glass platform. Upon it lay an image of Celebi in a forest.

He looked around, seeing just that mysteriously-lit platform and himself. "What happened?" he asked nobody. "Where am I?"

So little time...so much to do...

Ash gasped as he heard a voice.

...Take your time...

A trio of pedestals appeared before him, each bearing an item.

...For your greatest journey has yet to begin.

The voice was gone. Ash stood, looking at the items on the pedestals, then wondered if he should take one of them. He walked over to the first item he saw, a sword. "Wow..." he mumbled, feeling the weight of it. He swung it around some. "Pretty cool! Wherever I am, I know I won't be in danger anymore!" He smiled and put it in his belt.

As soon as that happened, the pedestals all suddenly fell through the glass, which caused it to break in a chain reaction. Screaming, Ash fell down from Celebi...onto Jirachi, set against a feild of stars, a few shooting. He blinked in confusion as he landed. "Huh?"

You, who have chosen the weapon of the warrior, must now prove thyself worthy in combat, the voice said. It was mysterious, and it felt more like a thought, but not like telepathy. Ash gasped as, suddenly, silvery-white creatures with unzipped heads appeared around him. You are in danger. What do you do?

Ash reflexitively reached for his pokémon, but remembered he had none. Instead, he drew his sword and held it at stance. "I face it head-on, that's what!" he answered in his determined-Ash voice. Before rushing off, he remembered the trick Lucario taught him and calmed his mind and body, entering the zone. With a more ordered mind, he analyzed the situation from his own standpoint. Three of the enemies surrounded him. He had to fight them off, he knew, but it wouldn't be hard, he knew as well.

He chose the one in front of him and charged forth, sword raised a little. "No offense, but I think you're in my way!" he said as he approached the creature. He swung out as he reached it and struck. The strike stunned the creature, and so Ash continued with his combo by stabbing and then finishing.

He cried as he was hit from behind by another one's attack. He turned and saw, puzzledly, another one hanging upside down in the air in front of him, as if floating along after someone grabbed its head and used it as the axis around which the hand turned its entire body. Ash growled and jumped and swung. He struck, but had to fall again. "How can Sora and Riku stay in the air so much longer than I can?" he asked aloud. "It's impossible!"

He remembered that he was surrounded, and turned just in time to see a strange arm swing at him. "WOAH!" he yelped as he ducked quickly. He grabbed his hat as he did. From his crouch, he sprang forward, trusting the sword through the middle of the creature. He gasped as it went right through, then gasped again after he saw nothing from withdrawing the blade. "Wait, don't these things have blood?" he asked. "There's...there's..."

Then it hit him. He looked at the three and gasped, "...nothing..." He shook his head, clearing it again. "There's too many for me to fight off one at a time!" he mumbled. "I have to get to a corner where I can fend them off with the same swings of my sword!" He looked and saw no corners on the platform, since it was absolutely circular. He gritted his teeth. "Darn! I have to get far away, though, so they have to come almost one at a time. I'll have to hit and run!" He ran straight to the other side, slashing away one of the white things as he did.

He got there and found one of them flying at him as he turned. He instinctively blocked with his blade the attack it tried, then countered with a few slashes. The next two came nearly one after the other. He gave a mighty horizontal slash at them, using his finishing move on them instead of the first one. "These things...They...They feel like they're hollow inside when I hit them!" Ash mused aloud. "They must be those Nobodies Sora, Riku, and Kairi told me about! Oh, I wish I had a Keyblade...Wait..." A thought occured to him that puzzled him for a moment, making him stand still for a second. "Why are they called KeyBLADES when they're so blunt-looking?" he wondered aloud.

He got his answer from a double strike from behind, causing him to slide and roll on the ground. He slammed into an invisible wall guarding the edge of the ring. "Owowowowowowow..." he grumbled, getting up into a kneel, holding his sword as if he would use it to stand up. "At least my backpack helped me against the attacks a little..." He rose, indeed using the weapon to help, and got ready for more. They came at him again, and he began running around the edge of the ring. He slashed at any of them that came, sometimes able to get a combo in, before running away again. The adrenaline pumping through his system helped keep him from becoming tired.

Finally, he destroyed one, then another. Finally able to go one-on-one, Ash stopped and squared off against the final one. He dodged as best as he could, but had a hard time breaking its defenses. Suddenly, at one point, he felt something in the flow of aura gently coursing through his veins and body. It was as if it was tensing, ready to pounce. Ash looked at the Nobody and realized what his aura told him to do. "Right!" He let the aura guide his body as he skidded a half circle around the Nobody, going so fast he blurred. Stopping behind it, he let loose a three hit combo, knocking it back. He grinned as it fell down for a second. "Alright! That's it!" he said, pumping his arm. "If I feel my aura do that again, I'll react to it and see what I should do! I'll maybe be able to defeat this thing easier, that way," he reasoned. He smiled as the Nobody got up. "Lucario, thank you so much..."

He continued on, using Reversal whenever he found the defenses too bad in front. Finally, after some time, he defeated the Nobody. Panting, Ash looked around, making sure nothing else was coming, then jumped and thrust his sword into the air. "YAHOO!! I did it!!" he cried in joy. As he fell, though, so did the floor. He yelped as he fell down, waving his arms and nearly letting go of his sword. As he fell, his hat came loose, and he barely caught it and shoved it back on his head. He landed on his feet, strangely feeling no shock from the landing. He stood and looked around. This time, it was of a Mew, floating in front of a great tree in the mountains. Ash knew where that was. "The Tree of Beginning!"

You have chosen your path...Ash looked around, trying to find the voice, again futilely. You have proven yourself in battle...Now prove yourself in puzzle.

Suddenly, the floor began shifting, breaking into sliding rings. These rings slid around in many which ways, the center remaining a solid circle. A pillar appeared on each ring after they stopped, in different places. Ash looked around, "sheathing" his sword. He frowned worriedly. "But I'm not good with puzzles," he whined. He sighed and looked around at the pillars. "I guess I have to do something with those pillars to turn the rings back so that they are all in line again." He walked over to the nearest one and looked around it. Solid white stone, like the pedestals before. He shrugged, then put his weight on it. He pushed and pushed, but felt no movement. Aggrivated, he smacked it with his sword. Nothing.

He growled, then looked down. He blushed when the thought occured that he might've been standing on the ring he was trying to move, thus getting no real push at all. The ring was narrow enough that he didn't have to spread his legs uncomfortably to push. He yelped in joy as the ring moved. It took one push, but it turned a distance until it stopped with a dull thunking sound. Ash also noticed another ring moving as it did, going the opposite direction. Ash frowned, but he went to the other rings and pushed them around. He found there were six rings each, but he could only move three. He noticed the ones with white pillars were the ones he could move, but the black pillars he couldn't. Each white-pillared one moved a black-pillared one. Each one moved a set distance each push. After Ash operated the puzzle for a while, he looked at it and discovered that there was a way to make the puzzle fit back together again!

Excited, he tried it. He pushed one ring this way, then another that, and the third that again. He whooped when the rings stopped and the beautiful floor was all back together again. "YES! I did it! I solved the world's biggest puzzle!" he cried in joy, jumping and pumping his arm up. Then he sat and rested against a pillar, panting. "My whole body's tired, now, though..."

He had no time to rest, though, since the pillars suddenly all fell over and broke the stained glass. Ash complained how his hard work had been for nothing as he fell, this time smart enough to hold onto his hat.

When he landed again, he was on another Mew. This time, however, it was floating and looking serious, which is saying something for a Mew. It had a pink glow around it. Ash gasped and looked at it. "This is from--!!"

Your final task is now at hand...

The Mew's eyes began to shine, and Ash yelped and jumped back a little.

...Now face your fiercest enemy...

The Mew stopped glowing, but something behind Ash caused him to slowly turn around from the shadow it cast. He gasped when he saw an immense Nobody. It appeared to be a giant knight in armor, white and silver all over. Its shoulders were like two enormous triangles, and a blue scarf appeared to be wrapped aruond its neck. It appeared to have a zipper running up its front.

...This is your fate, should you choose it. Are you ready for the difficulties that come with the item you desire?

Ash gave no answer, and instinctively knew that he could only give it by drawing his sword, calming his mind by tapping his Aura, and backing up a little from the behemoth in front of him.

Suddenly, Ash was flung up into the air, causing him to yelp. He was then stopped around middle-height to the Nobody in front of him. His arms and legs began to splay outwards. He grunted and tugged at his limbs, but he couldn't move them. The Nobody took a step forward.

Suddenly, Ash felt his aura pulse. He growled and, with a roar, unleashed the aura within at the sites of his bonds. The aura flashed blue and bright at his wrists and ankles, and he began to fall. However, with determination filling his heart, Ash swung forth and sent a whip of his aura at the beast. "GO!" It latched onto it and he swung around. He went underneath its arm and then around onto its shoulder. The aura snapped back into his body. "Wow," he muttered in surprise at what he'd done.

Then, it tried to whack at him. Ash felt his aura pulse again, and so he reacted to the attack. "Nice try!" He leaped higher than he'd ever done before, the aura helping him. He jumped over and landed on the hand that had been slapped down where he was, then ran along it. It lifted the arm, and Ash felt the floor below fall away. The Nobody, agitated, thrust its arm upwards, flinging the poor Trainer(who was clutching onto his hat for dear life).

As he hung there, Ash felt his aura pulse a third time. He nodded and reacted. "Here..." He reached his arm back, winding up to throw his sword. Then, although he saw nothing below him at first, he swung down his weapon. "...GOES!!" A second after he did, the Nobody suddenly appeared before him, rushing up at frightening speed. It sailed right into Ash's sword, which collided with its cross-like symbol-bearing face, abruptly stopping it. In fact, it swatted the Nobody down to the stained glass floor. Ash fell and landed on the creature's front, surprised he was safe. He reached and caught his sword, which had fallen slower than he had, without even looking. "Not bad," he laughed, trying to ignore his astonishment at his amazing abilities he suddenly obtained.

Finally, Ash was able to land a few hits on the Nobody's head on his own. He jumped down and landed a few three-hit comboes before the giant being rose again. It dashed and hunched over the battlefeild, then sent a storm of lightning down. At the same time, a pair of the smaller Nobodies from before appeared and tried to reach Ash.

However, Ash, now getting used to it, felt his aura pulse again. He had been runing around, trying to avoid the lightning, and had jumped to avoid an attack from one of the smaller Nobodies. He felt the Reversal Reaction, but did something completely different. He suddenly swam through the air around a bolt of lightning, heading forward to the face of the beast before him. He did this a few times in succession, then reached the face. When he got there, Ash shouted and swung at the foe before him. "Sorry, bub, but if there's anyone who knows how to deal with electric attacks, it's me!" he shouted while making his way to the head of the Nobody.

After he swung first, a diagonal-down-left, he noticed that, oddly, he hung in the air a second afterwards. Using this time, he continued, going from his spin into another attack, this time a strike downwards. This somehow suspended him in the air a second more, so Ash decided to, with a happy/determined face, end with a strong diagonal-down-right slash that spun him so fast that he ended up spinning around again horizontally and getting another slash in.

He then dropped down, holding onto his hat, as the Nobody shook its head and leaned back. Ash noticed the smaller Nobodies were now gone. He didn't have time to ponder on this, for he had, again, been grabbed by an unknown force and strung up like a puppet. He gritted his teeth and growled, "Not again!"

However, he felt his aura pulse again, so he broke free and swung down and onto the shoulder opposite the one he went on last time. He then, although his back was facing the direction of the attack, backflipped and avoided the slap down. He went right through the fingers of the Nobody. He landed and ran along the arm again, trying to reach the other side before--"WWOOAAAAAHH!!"--he was flung skyward again. He waited this time after his aura initially pulsed, then sent the sword down. 'I don't want to be too early,' he knew, 'because the more time that my sword goes, the weaker the spin will get.' He was a bit too late, though, and although the beast was struck, it still hurtled a little for him. Remembering one of his more recently-learned tactics from his pokémon training, Ash spun to the side as the Nobody approached. He dodged it, even without using his aura to assist him.

He landed again, grabbing his sword like before, though he was on the floor this time. Amazingly, he still wasn't hurt. He comboed the knightlike Nobody again, but it rose up once more. "Darnit!" Ash growled. "Come on!"

This time, he just jumped from the shoulders of one of the summoned Nobodies and leaped into the Reaction sequence. However, he was caught off-guard when a more solid-looking strand that appeared to be a lightning bolt soared at him, and his aura didn't pulse. He was struck, which let him know Yep, it's solid, all right, and the trainer fell down. He also got whacked by one of the Nobodies as he fell, so he wasn't in a good mood when he stood up.

"Argh...Owch..." He panted. He felt bruises and pain from the attacks. "I'm only human...I can't take much more of this..." He shook his head and made his determined face. "But I've made it this far, and there's no way I'm going to let anything stop me from beating this thing now!" he vowed. Filled with energy from his assertion, Ash stood and rushed forward. He again stomped on one of the Nobodies' heads and went into his Reaction sequence. This time, however, whenever a solid bolt came to him, he struck it away and THEN could use Reversal. He alternated between attacking and Reversal, until he got to the face of the beast.

He felt his aura pulse up and stay up, so Ash decided to attack a two-hit combo, Reversal, attack once, Reversal, and finally a three-hit air combo. This allowed him to swim to the side in the air before the Nobody and stay afloat so he could land more moves. He used his three-hit when he got tired of the feeling his aura gave him, which he really wasn't completely used to. (I meant that he was used to expecting the feeling before.)

The Nobody staggered back a little as Ash fell, and he wondered if this was it. He let out an exasperated groan as he was strung up again. This time, when he broke free, he swung right-forward, going through what looked like the space between the ribs and hips on a skeleton that the Nobody was formed to be. He swung back and up, landing on top of the head of the gigantic enemy. This time, both hands slapped down, trying to swat the human fly, which is basically what Ash did when he dove off the front of the head. Before he could swing, though, the Nobody caught him by surprise and, with a part of its scarf, grabbed Ash and tossed him up.

Ash knew what to do. He reeled back his swordarm and let fly. "GO DOWN AND STAY DOWN!!" he hollered as he threw it. It struck in the nick of time, and Ash had to spin to the side to evade the body again. He fell down and grabbed his sword again as he did. Still in the air, Ash felt that he could get in another toss of the sword at the Nobody's face, and did so. It hit, and just before landing, too. When it hit, the Nobody caused the floor to shake a bit from the force. The Nobody looked like it had stars swimming around its head from TWO strikes down.

Ash, getting that feeling that this was it, clutched his sword and charged, launching as many comboes as he could. One...two...three...(the Nobody remained motionless as Ash ended the third, which was when it normally rose)...FOUR! Ash finally swung his sword in his finishing move once last time. As soon as he did, the Nobody began to writhe and beat the floor. It rolled this way, then that, then back on its back. And then, it faded away in a swirl of darkness.

Ash, gasping for breath, could only get out a weak, "Yaaay..." before the floor started to crack underneath him. He looked in disparagment down at the floor. "Noooo..." The Nobody finished vanishing, and when it did, the voice returned.

Then you have sealed your fate. Let the mighty task be placed before you. Let many worlds be placed upon your shoulders. Let your fate begin.

Ash cried as the floor finally shattered. He saw no floor below, only darkness, and as he fell, he couldn't help but wave his arms in panic. He was only able to grab his hat from reflex, but his sword dropped away from him. "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!" he screamed. "AAAAAAHH!! AAAAAAAHHHH...Aaaahh...uuuhhhnnnn..." Soon, the exhaustion caught up with him, and he slowly closed his eyes and fell down, head-first, hat being pushed onto his head. All went black.

---

Ash gasped as he sat up in bed, panting. It took him a second before he realized that he had been dreaming. It was daylight, and Kairi, who had been entering with a tray of food, squeaked and nearly dropped the items. "Ash! What's wrong?" she breathed, holding a hand to her chest as her heart thudded.

Ash panted, sweat on him, as he stared in front of him. 'I...What...Huh...?' He shook his head and looked up. Now Lucario, who had been sleeping on a couple blankets that had been spread out on the floor and had been woken up by Kairi's squeak of surprise, joined the girl as they looked in concern at Ash. He smiled weakly. "Oh, it's nothing," he assured them. "It was just a nightmare, that's all."

Kairi smiled. "That's good," she said. "I thought you suddenly had gotten a fever and was starting to get delerious." She laughed at her joke, then came in, giving him the tray. "Here you guys go, some fresh breakfast for you! Eat up, and I guess I'll be seeing you guys in a bit, huh?" She smiled and walked back out the door.

Lucario walked over to Ash, who had swung out of bed, in nothing but a pair of shorts he wore when he slept. ''I was detecting strange aura pulses from you when I was sleeping,'' he said. ''What happened? It must have been some nightmare...''

Ash nodded in agreement, then explained the whole thing while he took some still-warm toast. When he had finished, he was eating his scrambled eggs. (He'd been brought some American breakfast today.)

Lucario, munching on some of the bacon that Ash said he could eat, bowed his head in thought, chewing thoughtfully. ''Hmmm...It appears that you have now chosen to embark on some sort of journey, since this dream, although strange, indeed, sounds both too real and too organized. Normally, dreams are fickle, and almost never remain in one situation for the entirety of it. Yours was, as far as I can tell, of special significance.''

Ash chewed his eggs and swallowed, nodding. He then smiled at Lucario. "Thanks for teaching me how to use my aura," he said. "I never would've felt those pulses if I wasn't letting the aura fill my body like that." He took another bite of eggy goodness. "I have a feeling that if I was knocked out--or worse--in that dream, it wouldn't've turned out well," he muttered through a full mouth.

Lucario shrugged and finished his bacon. ''This was cooked in too much oil,'' he grimaced, and Ash laughed as best he could with his mouth closed so he didn't spray anything. Lucario gave a small smile. ''Oh, well. I guess I shouldn't say that to Kairi, since I think she cooked it. But I shouldn't complain, anyway, since I wanted meat in the first place. Berries are good, but I DO eat meat now and again,'' he told Ash. ''I'm not a total carnivore, though.''

Ash smiled, then ate the rest of his breakfast while Lucario ate his berries. When the two finished, Lucario went outside while Ash dressed and such. When Ash grabbed his wooden toy sword, he held it for a moment, looking at it. It felt almost alien to him, now, after he'd used that other sword so much before. 'It almost feels like this isn't real anymore,' he mused, then put it in his belt and went out the door.
Chap. 1 part trois. Yes, it's a long chapter. And yes, I DID have Ash fight the Twilight Zone (Twilight Thorn? I have no clue what that thing's actually called--I mean the thing Roxas fights in his Dive sequence) because I'm a lazy ass. XD;;
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