//------------------------------// // CH47: The Final Boss // Story: Kingdom Hearts F.I.M: Rise of The Elements // by Spirit Shift //------------------------------// Shattered Light and metal sparks, battle cries and laboured breaths, all of these continued to fly through the air as the time counted down and the team struggled to save as many as they could. With each swing they fought and saved another fallen character, but with each character saved another would appear, wordlessly begging to be saved as well. It wasn’t too long before some of the less athletic members of the team began to feel themselves taking laboured breaths. Rarity, unused to such close combat and intense physical activity, started to slug first. Groaning, Rarity brought a hand to her face and, feeling something wet, gasped. “Girls?!” she whined jumping out of the crowd. “My make up is starting to run, how much time is left?!” With a flick of her wrist three Keyblades appeared in front of her and began spinning like buzzsaws towards the characters rushing at her. Twilight, the magic user that she was, was second to begin huffing a bit harder. Raising a shield to block three incoming sword strikes, she was sent skidding back some. “There are ten minutes left I think. Reflect!” At her call a shining dome appeared around her, just in time for several more enemies to try and bum rush her. Absorbing the impacts the shield exploded outwards, sending all of them flying back. However, the amount of the energy it required caused her to take a few deep breaths afterwards. “I think we might have underestimated this a bit though,” she said, her voice raspy and out of breath. Grabbing the sword arm of a large man, AJ swung him around, bashing him into three smaller fighters before tossing him away. Unfortunately, her toss left her wide open from behind as an assassin like character got in a quick slice across her back. Though the cut was shallow, AJ seethed in pain before turning and cutting right through her with her Keyblade. This wasn’t the first time either that her broad fighting style had left her open to sneak attacks. Luckily, with her earthan build and thick skin, most of the cuts, though numerous, were anything but lethal. Unfortunately, they did manage to slow her down and bloody her clothes. “There are just so many of them,” she hissed through her teeth. “By the way, has anyone seen Pinkie anywhere? Ah thought I’d at least hear her during all this.” Deep within the crowd and fairly far from the others, Pinkamena sidestepped a stab from a young girl and, taking advantage of her opening, brought her Keyblade down on her neck, beheading her easily. With a cruel smile, Pinkamena looked around the crowd and smirked. “Oh Pinkie and I are having a wonderful time,” she muttered. Unlike the other girls who couldn’t get the fallen fighters to back off, the fighters around Pinkamena seemed to be just a bit more hesitant about rushing her, even those from behind didn’t seem keen on attacking her so called ‘blind spots’. Over the course of the battle whenever Pinkamena wasn’t on the attack, she had a pretty clean radius around her. Of course this only amused her further. With shocking speed she closed the gap between her and the closest character to her left. Before he even knew what hit him, her Keyblade was through his chest. As he faded away, he looked down at Pinkamena who was chuckling. “You know… this is a nice loophole isn’t it. Normally, Keyblades can’t be used to draw blood or kill. “ She effortlessly ripped her Keyblade out of his chest, shattering him. “But this isn’t really killing now is it?” Over in a lesser dense part of the crowd Dash came down on a helmeted man from the sky with a fierce dropkick, completely knocking his helmet off. However, the man simply shook it off and swung at her with his blade. Dropping to the ground, Rainbow sucked her teeth, knowing that a move like that had shattered tougher looking people earlier in the fight. Keeping low to the ground, Dash leg swept everyone around her and dragged them all to her level. To her dismay, even she was starting to feel a bit tired. While she knew that under normal circumstances it'd take far more than thirty minutes if straight combat to wear her out, she was also aware that she was putting in more effort, more strength into each punch, than she normally did. Three characters from her right side exploded into golden light, revealing Kirito behind them. Dash couldn’t help but take in a sharp gasp of air when she saw him. He was breathing very heavily, his eyes were bagged and tired, and he looked as if he could barely hold onto the swords in his hands. “Woah, Kirito are you alright,” she asked, standing up. Hearing her voice, Kirito’s eyes focused on her and widened. “Watch out!” At his cry, Dash spun around just in time to see a large axe wielder bearing down on her. Blade held over his head, he began to bring it right down on her. Cursing her tired state, Dash hopped the the left. Unfortunately, the axe wielder read her move and curved his strike, aiming right towards her. “Rachelle!” Bursting through the crowd Asuna stabbed the man in the side and shoved him away causing the axe to just miss hitting its target. The man shattered after hitting the ground. It was immediately apparent to her that Asuna, too, was tired. Though not as tired as Kirito, she still looked bedraggled and overtaxed. But before Dash could say anything, the man lifted his head and called out over the crowd. “Regroup!” “Wha- why?” asked Dash, looking at Kirito. Wordlessly, he sprinted away. Asuna and Dash exchanged a short confused glance before following the leader out of the crowd and towards the front hall. It wasn’t long before everyone else had broken away from the fight to meet the trio. Twilight, though, she was the second closest to the front, was the last to arrive. Somehow even Pinkie, back to her poofy haired self, showed up before her. Twilight hunched over and began to catch her breath, while she did, Rarity, though tired as well, looked over worriedly at Pinkie.”D-darling are you alright?” Pinkie just nodded taking short but deep breaths. While tired, compared to the others she seemed the most physically unharmed and unexhausted. However, she did seem to be sweating a bit more than the others. Even so she still gave the group a smile. “So what now? Everyone disappears in a few more minutes. Why’d we stop?” Kirito quickly shook his head as if he were trying to physically shake off how exhaustion. “I was wrong. I thought we could fight the entire time and take Kayaba… but I was wrong.” Craning his head the man looked at each and every face around him, all of them out of breath and sweating. “We’re running out of stamina because we underestimated the skill level of our opponents. Even though they can be taken out in one hit and act like zombies, some of them are still smart enough to strategize and defend… at least a little bit.” He looked directly at Twilight and Applejack who were arguably the most injured out of the group. “Isn’t that right?” Reluctantly, Twilight nodded. “Y-yes. More than once one of them blocked my attacks or snuck up behind me with surprising silence.” Kirito let out a small sigh. “So I have a plan. Two of us will stay behind and rest for five minutes while the others continue saving the players. Kayaba is fast and he knows the game inside out, so I’d like one of you girls to go with me.” Dash smirked. “I guess that implies that you’re one of the two who will fight?” Kirito could only give a weak smile in response. Asuna sat a hand on Kirito’s shoulder. “Did you find who you were looking for?” she asked quietly. When Kirito failed to answer, Asuna closed her eyes and continued. “I… I don’t like this plan, I want to fight with you… but I suppose you’re right. We need someone who can’t be predicted as easily.” Twilight lifted a hand. “I nominate Pinkie Pie then.” AJ nodded in agreement. “If we’re gonna take Kayaba out we’ll need someone who can catch him off guard. I think Pinkie should go too.” “I disagree,” said Kirito. “While Pinkie is unpredictable. I might need someone with a similar fighting style as me to be able to coordinate with as well as match my speed. We’ll need to overcome both his reflexes and intelligence. Personally I’d like for Rachelle to fight with me.” Dash flinched when everyone turned to face her. “Well, I… uhhh,” she stammered, glancing worriedly at her right hand. Clenching her teeth she shook her head and threw an arm around Pinkie Pie. “N-no, I agree with Twilight,” she said, putting a strained smile on her face. “Pinkie can turn brainiacs like Kayaba insane just by being normal. If there’s anyone who can take him down it’s her.” Kirito frowned but nodded nonetheless. “Alright then if it’s decided you guys need to go, now.” At his command the girls ran back into the group while Kirito and Pinkie took to their knees and began resting. As they ran forward, Twilight arched her head too look at Dash who sped past her. Time slowed as her eyes took in Dash’s state. The girl’s head was lowered and her teeth were clenched, even worse was that her Keyblade was still nowhere to be seen. Though soon enough a tall skinny soldier entered her vision and time resumed as normal for Twilight as she went on the attack. Back by the two in waiting, Kirito continued to brief his teammate.  “You understand right, what I just told you about Kayaba and how he fights?” Pinkie nodded energetically. “Yep! Watch out for his shield and stick to the plan!” Kirito continued to stare at Pinkie who was fidgeting in place. Raising a quizzical brow, he opened his mouth. “Pinkie you know we’re supposed to be resting right?” Pinkie nodded frantically, a wide grin on her face. “I know! I’m just so excited. We’re about to fight the final boss! I know I can’t use my summons but I’m still suuuuper excited.” Kirito, while equally as anxious, couldn’t help but smile at the girls energy. “Why can’t you use them?” Pinkie twirled a finger around in the air. “I tried, nothing I try to summon can make it into this world. It’s like our ship all over again. I can summon people to me like I can normally, and I can use Garyon’s and Tigger’s powers to help me out, but nothing much more than that.” Kirito hummed in thought. The two rested in silence for another few seconds before, he spoke once more. “So are you and Pinkamena going to fight or is it just you?” Near instantly, Pinkie settled down and froze. Her smile faltered before disappearing entirely as her head lowered. “N-no. We were able to have fun in the crowd but I don’t think we’d get away with it in the open.” Kirito tilted his head. “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to ask, why did you show her to me but not to your friends?” “Because, Pinka doesn't want to. She wanted to fight you because you’re strong and remind her of Spike.” Pinkie shook her head. “But… there are reasons that the others can’t know about her.” Kirito, though not fully understanding, still nodded. Noticing Pinkie’s reluctance, he decided to change the subject. So, turning his head back to the crowd, he spoke once more. “Hey… did something happen to Rachelle?” Pinkie perked up for a second before cutely putting a finger to her lip and tilting her head back and forth. “What do you mean?” “Ever since we made it to this floor, I haven't seen her use her weapon. She’s been going fist to fist. I’m just wondering why.” “Hmmm, I don’t really know,” she muttered, crossing her arms. “We all met with the spirits of our Keyblades, I think. I had a lot of fun… but the others…” her mood soured once more, “they seemed upset. I don’t think they had as much fun.” Kirito arced his eyes along the crowd until they fell on the faint colourful movement. Through the crowd he could see Dash float in the the air and deliver a spinning kick to someone's face before dropping to the ground to aggressively flip someone else over. “I think that something happened to her, something worse than the others,” he muttered before turning to Pinkie. “After this is all over could you please bring this up to Twilight?” As Pinkie nodded, Kirito looked back up to the clock and let out a deep slow sigh. “One minutes left, get ready,” he told her. Slowly, Kirito’s gaze fell from the counter and met with Kayaba’s own calm look. All sound faded for Kirito and the room went grey. Soon enough, there was nothing between them, nothing else in the room even. Silently, as his anger rose, Kirito spoke to himself, telling himself that anger will not win, that desperation will slow him down. This was something that he had been telling himself for years but never truly believed. Eventually, he calmed, and the two firmly held each other’s gaze. For the first time, Kirito was able to clear his mind and see his opponent as something more than the target of his rage. Kayaba Akihiko, a man who was once his idol and goal. A Master Programmer, an idealist and paragon of imagination, and most importantly, the man who let Kirito live when he had his blade at Kirito’s throat. Finally, in this room, he was the final challenge, a challenge that Kirito had no other option but to meet. With a single blink, all of the sound returned and the clock hit zero. With five minutes left on the clock, both he and Pinkie nearly vanished from their spot and tore through the crowd of players at top speed easily tearing through everyone in their path. With a turret of golden fragments behind him, Kirito broke through the crowd first and lept at Kayaba, one sword raised to strike with the other one held horizontally in front of him. Kayaba simply smirked and with equal speed, he drew his sword and shield, taking a battle stance with his shield held outwards to block the incoming attack. To Kirito’s surprise, Kayaba retracted his shield at the last second and parried with a swing of his blade. The force of their blades clashing knocked Kirito out of the air and sent him skidding back a few feet. Seeing Kirito’s shocked look, Kayaba spoke. “Don’t look so surprised, even I know to change how I fight. Plus, I feel like I going to need my shield for something else.” Suddenly, Kayaba spun around and slammed his thick shield into Pinkie Pie whom had been sneaking up on him. As the air was forcibly knocked out of her lungs, Pinkie found herself flying backwards. “I’ve seen how you fight, young miss. From the time you entered, and every attack you’ve done.” Coughing for a second, Pinkie rose her head with a mischievous smirk. “If you did then you probably would’ve moved by now.” Realization coursed through Kayaba’s mind and he leapt out of the way before even looking down. In his wake, an explosion rang out. Before he could even reassert his stance Kirito rushed him, swords swinging furiously. Unbalanced, Kayaba couldn’t help but continuously take steps back while struggling to maneuver his shield to block Kirito’s rapid attacks. Unlike before, Kirito didn’t have a face filled with rage, wide eyes and clenched teeth. This time his eyes were calm and cold. As Kayaba soon found, each of Kirito’s attacks, his left diagonal strikes, his horizontal attacks, sideswipes, roundhouse swings and even faints, all of them were deliberately aimed to make him maneuver his shield as much as possible. Kayaba as he was being pushed back, couldn’t help but be impressed. However, impressed as he was, Kayaba wasn’t going to back down any further. Stomping his back leg down firmly, Kayaba shot forward and body slammed Kirito with his shield, stopping the onslaught. With Kirito now the one unbalanced, his blades forced against his body, Kayaba rose his blade to stab the boy past his shield. As Kayaba thrust forward, Kirito disappeared. Wasting no time in being surprised, Kayaba twisted his body around to put his shield between him and an attack by Pinkie Pie. As her strike skid harmlessly down his barrier, Kirito rushed his other side. Kayaba crouched and hopped out from between them, leaving them to meet in the middle. Taking the opportunity, he counterattacked by trying to sweep his blade across both of their guts. “Pinkie do it now!” Kirito called. Crossing his blade the man stopped Kayaba’s blade cold while Pinkie rushed him. However, as soon as her blade touched his shield, an explosion of confetti rang out. While the confetti itself was harmless, the force of the explosion did carry some weight. The boss immediately backed away from the explosion and readied his defense. Turning to his left he reacted just in time to catch Pinkie’s blade. From its touch another, more dense explosion rang out, littering the area with such dense flighty pieces of square paper that Kayaba found himself comparing it to an effective smoke screen. A shift of his shield to the right caught two of Kirito’s strikes, one half turn of his body let him block Pinkie, who provided another dose of confetti screen. A complete spin, a ninety degree sharp turn, a duck of his head. At this point, without being able to see or counterattack, it was all Kayaba could do to dodge the fast attacks. And while Kayaba was able to more or less track the duo’s movements through the paper his reaction times were slowly become less effective as the their attacks increased in both speed and occurance. Not mention the repeated explosions were slowly whittling his health away with indirect damage. With every turn he made, the gamemaster found himself taking more and more steps back… until… *Clank* To his immediate shock, Kayaba heard and felt his armour clang against the metal walls of the corridor. In his defence, the man had completely forgotten his spacial reasoning and lost track of himself in the room. Out of the screen, low to the ground, Kirito came up at him with a diagonal slash. Just barely able to block it, Kayaba was sent skidding, right towards Pinkie who was coming down with an upwards slash. Kirito watched as Kayaba looked upward at the incoming attack. He could see it in the man's eyes, he knew. With his back completely turned and lowered, he had no room to dodge, no time to move his shield. Kirito grinned victoriously. They had him. The man grinned and, just before Pinkie’s Keyblade could connect with his skull, he tapped the bottom of his shield onto the ground. The object let out a shining light before letting out a shining explosion that dwarfed Pinkie’s. Both the girl, the boy, and all the confetti were shoved backwards as an invisible wave coursed from the man’s shield in all directions with him the center. While Pinkie, light at she was, flew through the air, Kirito instead dug his blades into the ground to stop himself. As the mysterious force subsided Kirito was left gaping. “What the hell was that?” he muttered. Kayaba chuckled. “My first trump card and a little something that you all inspired. I’ve given my shield the ability to store the kinetic energy of your attacks and even release in all directions at my command. Thanks to your attacks I have quite a lot saved up actually, I’m sure you can see where this idea comes from.” Pinkie, half a yard away, picked her face up off the floor and glowered at Kayaba. “You stole Twilight’s move?! That’s cheating!” Kayaba went from a chuckle to nearly full blown laughter. “Y-young miss, please. If this is cheating than Kirito would have to lay down one of his weapons as well.” Kirito glared at him. “What? Why?” Kayaba nodded his head towards Kirito. “Where do you think your dual wield ability came from? Before your friend arrived I had never even considered letting a character wield two blades that aren't daggers, but after seeing… Spike, was it? After seeing him I was convinced. And who better to test it than the man with the fastest reaction time.” Kirito opened his mouth to respond, but Kayaba continued. “But nevertheless that is irrelevant. You’ve managed to harm me somewhat and make me use my first trump card. So, let’s start the second round shall we.” “Pinkie Pie come on!” “Got it!” Once again at his call the duo rushed forward, Pinkie going straight for him while Kirito arced around to the left. Being faster, Kirito closed in first, rushing at him with a quick swipe that Kayaba parried with his blade. On his other side, Pinkie came in with a similar attack, but just as he rose his shield to block, Pinkie vanished and a large gash appeared across his chest. Reacting instantly, another kinetic blast shot out, knocking Kirito away and blasting Pinkie out of her quicksilver state and away from him as well. Recovering fairly quickly, Kirito rushed him again. Kayaba, for his part, kept most of his sight on Pinkie as she recovered soon after and hung back. While she did, Kayaba focused his remaining attention on Kirito who was now trying his damndest to stay on his right side, away from his shield. Then, Pinkie vanished and Kayaba’s shield activated sending Kirito skidding back. Pinkie was still nowhere to be seen, telling Kayaba that she was moving around outside of his shield’s range. His mind raced, wondering where she was and what she was up to. Kirito rushed him once more, unfortunately, despite his efforts some of his attacks did bounce off of Kayaba’s shield, causing him to silently curse himself. Spinning around, Kirito lowered himself to try and get in a surprise leg sweep under the shield. Kayaba, ever the genius simply braced his legs and stopped Kirito’s leg cold against his armour. With Kirito’s leg stopped, Kayaba rose his blade and stabbed down at his nearly prone form. Crossing his blades, Kirito blocked the tip of Kayaba’s even as he pushed him to the ground. “Well this is precarious position,” muttered Kayaba, pushing further, “I wonder what the force of my reflect shield would do to you in this state.” At his words the shield began to glow more brightly than before, almost as if it was charging. Kirito, sweating a little bit, called out. “Pinkie are you done yet?” Pinkie blurred into the visible spectrum a few yards away huffing and puffing slightly. “Yeah, I’m ready whenever you are.” “Now, now! Do it now!” Kirito screamed as the light reached blinding levels “Jeeze,” scoffed Pinkie. Hey Keyblade began glowing with a faint pink colour just as Kayaba’s shield erupted, sending out the mother of all shockwaves that cratered the ground and staggered even the army and the girls still fighting on the other side of the room. When the wave faded, Kayaba frowned at the sight of Kirito now standing by Pinkie Pie instead of smashed into the ground. However, in the span of an eye blink Kirito was gone and he was being lurched forward. Craneing his head, his eyes widened when he realised that Kirito had somehow gotten behind him and had slashed him across his armoured back. In his shock, Kayaba released another large blast from his shield. Unfortunately, the action was repeated with Kirito somehow dodging the initial burst and reappearing by his side to get in a hit on his arm. Kayaba’s mind raced until it finally found a conclusion. This time keeping an eye on Pinkie who was holding her Keyblade with both hands outright, the weapon glowing intently, Kayaba released another blast. Like he expected, Kirito vanished and reappeared next to Pinkie before disappearing again. “What a troublesome ability,” he muttered before spinning around and raising his shield in anticipation. “But predictable,” he said, just as there was a small flash of light. Kayaba found himself with a face full of strawberry cake, forcing him to stagger and allowing Kirito to reappear behind him once more, his blade raised to strike. His mirthful and confident attitude now gone, Kayaba growled and the cake shattered. “Enough of these games!” Releasing another blast, Kirito vanished, however unlike before, Kayaba moved, darting towards Pinkie while continuing to release waves of force from his shield that had sent Kirito flying away when he tried to attack. It was only a matter of seconds before he was on Pinkie, blade raised to strike her down. He grinned once more as his broadsword clashed against her Keyblade. Almost effortlessly, he was able to start overpowering the already drained girl. ”I’ve studied you,” he hissed, “I know you can’t move yourself, only others. You are defenceless.” Pinkie, though she strained under his weight, could still smile. “Yeah, I guess that’s about right, but I can be a smartypants too you know!” And suddenly, she was gone, Kayaba’s sword smashed to the ground and the point of Kirito’s black blade tore through his chest from behind. Kayaba gaped until his gaze fell to the floor where a balloon shaped keyhole sat. His eyes then arced up to see Pinkie a ways away on her knees completely out of breath. His eyes widening he frantically examined his armour to see a balloon shaped keyhole on his shoulder pad. Staring at it for a few seconds, Kayaba could only laugh. Craning his head to look behind him his gaze met Kirito’s. “I see, I underestimated you two. And for that… I must apologize. I think you deserve a much better final boss than what I’ve provided here today. You’ll find the terminal to end the game behind that door behind me. As the victor, only you may enter.” Kirito narrowed his eyes. “Kayaba… there’s more to life than just this game… you are a human, just like me. Don’t you remember? Remember what it’s like to not live your life in a video game?” Kayaba smirked and closed his eyes. Slowly, his body began to dissipate in black and red digital  fragments. “Unfortunately… I don’t.” And with that, his body shattered in a field of crystals and fragments. A few seconds later the clock at the top of the room also hit zero. And, like Kayaba said, the army in it’s entirely exploded in a shower of crimson red fragments. With them gone, the group all darted towards Pinkie and Kirito. The girls made their way to Pinkie Pie first, who was laying flat on the ground. “Pinkie!” cried Twilight, Rarity right behind her. Falling to her knees, Twilight lent down and gently lifted Pinkie’s head and cradled it. “A-are you alright? You didn’t over tax your magic did you?” Pinkie gave a weak smile and an even weaker thumbs up before falling asleep on the dot. For the first time in her life, Twilight was able to see a completely drained Pinkie Pie, and she could only give a relieved grin at the sight. “Is she alright?” asked Rarity leaning over the two. Twilight her eyes having began to water, nodded. “Yes, she’s fine. Just exhausted. How about Kirito?” Rarity giggled into her hand, a wry smile on her face. “Jackie and Rachelle are going to him right now, but I think they’ll have to wait for a second.” Blushing, Dash could only look away at the sight of Asuna tackling Kirito to the ground and giving him a deep kiss. When he finally broke free, Asuna then wrapped him in a tight embrace. “Thank god, I was so worried!” she cried. Kirito, also blushing, looked from her to a chuckling AJ to Dash whom had turned away before returning his gaze to Asuna who was silently shedding tears of relief. “I-it’s alright, Asuna, I’m right here. I’m fine unless you want to finish me off with hugs.” Asuna let out a weak chuckle before lifting her head from his chest and looking up at him. “So, what do we do now?” she asked, wiping her eyes. Kirito, standing up alongside her, gestured with a finger to the door behind them. “Kayaba said the master controls are in there and that once I go in and claim victory, everyone will be released.” Asuna nodded and almost ran towards the door. However, to her surprise, the door refused to open. “W-what’s wrong with it?” she frowned. Kirito, Twilight with Pinkie on her back and the others all walked up to the door. When Kirito came close a screen opened up in front of him. “It says, ‘Proceed to the end?’ I guess he was right, only I can go in.” Asuna gaped and glowered. “What?” “Don’t worry about it,” Kirito grinned. “Once I go in and stop the game, I’ll come straight back here. Then, like I promised a long time ago, I’ll find you on the other side.” Asuna prodded him in his chest. “You’d better. We probably look all malnourished in the other side,” she chuckled. “I want to see your face one more time over here. Also, drink a potion, you look like crap.” AJ let out a sexy wolf whistle that sent the entire group into a fit of good natured laughter. Even Pinkie, completely knocked out, gave a few weak giggles. Turning around, Kirito took out a sparkling potion and gave it a drink. Miraculously, his body shined and his health was entirely restored. Now feeling a bit better, Kirito pressed the button on the screen in front of him. Immediately, the door opened showering the group with cool wind and golden light. Twisting his body, Kirito smiled at the girls. “I just want to thank all of you, one more time, nothing in the world could repay how much you all have helped me.” AJ just scoffed, “Don’t worry about it! Hurry up and get everyone home.” Twilight nodded in agreement. “Just knowing that you and everyone else is safe is repayment enough for me personally. Kirito nodded and stepped forward and through the door. The door silently began closing behind him as he did. “Rachelle hold on a--” Kirito turned around just in time to see the door shut completely. Raising a brow, he hesitantly turned back to see Dash hovering in front of him at eye level. Surprised, Kirito staggered backwards. “W-what are you... How did you get in here? Dash shrugged, a mischievous smirk on her face. “Hey I missed out on the final battle, I at least wanna see what the winner’s circle looks like. Consider that to be payment for my help.” Kirito just rolled his eyes and moved forward. “Alright then, come on. I can’t exactly tell you to go back.” Following Kirito down a hall the two came upon a large set of stairs. “More stairs? Why?” asked Dash, crossing her arms in annoyance. Kirito paid them no mind and began climbing them as normal. “Well we are still on floor ninety-nine. I guess it makes sense that the top of the tower is the winning point. Let’s go.” As Dash gently floated up the stairs next to him, she looked at him curiously. “Why are you so serious? You won, shouldn’t you be excited?” Kirito did smile, but the serious atmosphere remained. “I am happy, but I won’t be relaxed until I can feel like I’m in my own body again. The real question is what’s wrong with you?” Dash flinched slightly. “Wha-what do you mean?” “Pinkie told me how you guys met with your Keyblades,” he said, glancing at her. “Did something happen with your’s? You haven't used it at all.” “W-well so what? I knew I could take those guys on with my hands. I-It was a challenge to myself alright.” Kirito hummed. “If that’s what you say. If you wanna make yourself weaker, I’m not gonna stop you.” “Shut up, I can take you on bare handed!” she growled putting herself in his face. Kirito let out a low chuckle and moved past her. “You keep telling yourself that.” Before she could respond, Kirito stopped and stared at her with a serious look. “I don’t know what happened in your encounter, but it’s not my place to fix it. If something’s bothering you, please… talk to your friends.” With that, Kirito continued up the stairs, leaving, dash to stare at the ground solemnly in thought. Lowering herself to the ground, she ran to catch up with him. Soon enough, the two of them were able to make out a shining golden light at the end. Glancing at one another the two rushed towards the light and came out shielding their eyes with their arms. Finally adjusted, the two gasped at the sight of beautiful clouds illuminated golden by the setting sun. Below them was a transparent floor showing the vast earth of Aincrad’s world beneath them. Rolling green fields and vibrant towns were all visible under the floor. While Kirito was looking down, Dash was gaping at the wide open sky, her wings appearing nearly instinctively. “It’s amazing,” she muttered. “I wanna go out there and fly so badly!” She nearly did until she felt a hand on her head and force her down. “Hold on there. I don’t want you getting lost.” Dash slapped it away. “Whatever, I’m not a child. Where is this thing you’re here for.” “Right here.” At the sound of another voice, everything went dark, the sun faded and the clouds around them turned black. The two warriors fell to their knees when the entire platform began shaking fiercely. Under the floor the clouds closed, hiding away the towns and forests and shutting the two into what seems like a black abyss. Near the other side of the platform and in the direction of the voice stood a single pedestal, the terminal hovering in a holographic screen above it. However, in the air above that the black and red fragments from before appeared and began gathering together. “Kayaba!” Kirito yelled as the fragments formed into The red armoured mad man from before. “What are you doing! You lost!” Kayaba, floating in the air, let out a mad laugh, completely unlike his usual calm chuckle. “And what kind of final boss would I be if I didn't have a final form, Kirito! Welcome to Floor 100, the final showdown.” Kirito drew his blade while Dash stood up. “You’re insane! Let it go!” Kayaba glared at him his smirk vanishing. “I’m not insane, Kirito, I’m dissatisfied. I’m dissatisfied with how things turned out. I wanted to duel you fairly. That’s what I’ve always wanted since the first time we crossed blades. But you had to rely on tricks and your friends. And while I commend your strategy, I simply can’t give up without one last try, so I told you to come alone.” Kayaba pointed a rigid finger at Dash, who glared in response. “But here we are, and you still have one of them with you. Well that’s alright. She’ll enjoy what I have to showcase. Afterall…” From his body exploded a luminous golden light, forcing the duo to cover theirs in order to see. By the time the light faded, their jaws fell and they gave a sharp gasp at the sight of Kayaba Akihiko’s final form. The man hovered angelically as he once more donned his shield. Though this time his normal broadsword was replaced with a golden ornate longblade. Kirito could see the word Excalibur written along the side of it and realized that it was the legendary blade. Unlike his earlier armour the one he wore now was pure white to match his shield, the armour itself even radiated a small amount of light as well. However, what had gotten the most attention from the two were the two angelic wings spread from his back. Unlike Dash’s wings these were completely physical. “It’s her power that created this.” “You bastard!” she cursed, glaring daggers at his new appendages. “Rachelle summon your Keyblade!” ordered Kirito, his eyes wide and frantic. She looked up at him hesitation written all over her features. “B-but I--” He turned to face her and put his palm on her shoulder. She could feel his palms shaking even as he looked into his eyes. “I can’t do this without you, please!” He gave a strained grin and continued, “I-I’ll be honest because there’s no time. I’m scared. I know you are too, not of him, but I can see it. But no matter what it is we can deal with it later. I need you at your best or we’ll both die here.” Dash looked up at him eyes, speechless, then down at her right hand. Clenching it she shrugged Kirito off and took a deep breath. Holding her hand out, she concentrated and soon, light of all colours began began emitting from her palm. In a prismatic flash, her Keyblade appeared and she took her stance, a cocky grin on her face. “You can be a scaredy cat later, Kir,” she called. “We can take him on our own!” Seeing her cocky again allowed Kirito himself to smile as well. Taking his normal stance, he too got ready to fight. “You know, I keep ending up telling you and Spike the same thing. Don’t ever call me that again!” Dash and Kirito both braced themselves for the final battle atop the platform in the sky. “I hope you two are truly ready,” muttered Kayaba. His eyes began began glowing a violet colour as several blades identical to his his appeared above him and spread out, forming a fan of golden metal over his head. “Because I won’t underestimate you this time around!”