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Cast into Darkness, Suihei woke to the sounds of waves lapping against the surface of sand. Swish, swish. The dull roar of waves soothed her, gave her enough of a reason to stand to her feet shakily and try not to stumble over herself. Her body disagreed with her for the few moments that it took her to regain her composure, causing her to steady an arm against the cool, uneven surface of a nearby wall.

A cave, of all places, seemed to be where she, Noxic and Nyx had woken up in- she could barely remember the sensation of the wave of Darkness that swallowed them crawling over her skin, only that they had managed to destroy the Mammon Machine. Did that mean--?!

Suihei ran outside the cave, paying little heed to the disgruntled groan from the Dark Lagomorph, and a soft reproach from Nyx. Once her eyes managed to catch sight of where they were, her eyes widened in disbelief. This definitely wasn't home of all places.

They'd made it.

It'd taken far too much time for any of their liking ; but the course of their journey had taken them all across the Worlds, exposing each member of the trio to sights both wondrous and despairing, taught each history that had been long abandoned to the winds of time.

'Is this finally it?' Suihei thought to herself as the sounds of her feet disturbing the sands beneath them caught her attention. Nervously, she lifted her eyes towards purple skies, obscured by cloying, dark black clouds with the occasional rumble of thunder causing her ears to ring. Normally she'd have a lot more confidence in herself- willing to jump head first into the situation, no matter what it may have been.

But now? Now it was a struggle for her to realize that they had made it this far, that they had finally reached their last destination.

"So, this is it, huh Sui?" Noxic's voice caused the sensation of foreboding that had settled into the pit of her stomach to fade away, leaving her to shoot a half-hearted smile towards him.

But they weren't alone, for a third voice- soft, almost like a ghost in comparison, answered the question without hesitance. "Yes, it is- it appears that this is the final stage. All of the pieces are in place." Nyx, though not as constant as Noxic in presence, had accompanied them as well. Whether because of obligation, or his own curiosity, Suihei had never figured out herself. But the fact of the matter was that they were all there, together, facing odds that initially seemed insurmountable with the strength and conviction needed to push on.

Suihei nodded in agreement, folding her arms over her chest. Eyes settled forward, affixing themselves on the several islets scattered across the seemingly endless sea of purple. "Yeah. . . but, if we defeat Seria, and the Worlds are going to be restored. What's gonna happen to this place? And-- more importantly, what's gonna happen to us?"

An somber silence settled between the three companions, before Noxic shook his head and punched his fist into the palm of his free hand. "That ain't nothin' t'worry about, Nyxie, Sui- cuz, I know that we'll find a way outta here one way or another, we're just that awesome!" Well, they were slightly less awesome than him, but anyone who could deal with him were definitely worth their weight in a grain of salt. Noxic's concern wasn't limited to only himself, even if he was poor at showing it. He didn't know if they'd live, or die. The same thought had crossed his friend's minds, despite their attempts to try to hide it. A swirl of energy in the distance caught Noxic's attention, causing him to point his finger in that direction. "Right there! Let's shoot for it."

Nyx was annoyed at the little nickname, but he could see the logic in that speech. He was trying to cheer them up, especially since Suihei's shoulders seemed to be heavy with the weight of the World at that moment. Noxic's instructions, if they could be called that, caused Nyx to peer from beneath his hood in curiosity. "Perhaps it would be for the best if we did head in that direction." He nodded in agreement.

They had finally reached the final act.

The End of the World.

'Just a little longer.' Suihei thought, bringing her left hand up across her heart. 'Just a little longer, and we'll be home.'

---

Proceeding forward through the terrain was a harrowing experience, Suihei decided. Though the ground seemingly had no sort of foundations, they had been able to move on without much of a disturbance for a fair few minutes. Yet that wasn't to last, as they had the misfortune to discover.

A large, dark orb fell from the skies. Suihei shielded her eyes in tandem with her friends from the bright purple light, blinking the small dots in her vision away in order to take in the sight of a rather gargantuan Heartless in front of her. A Behemoth of all things, certainly something she'd never seen in their wayward adventures along the worlds.

"Why can't we ever get a break--"She whined, Keyblade forming in her hand with a few grains of light. Surrounded entirely by Darkballs, Crimson Jazz and Shadows alongside big- mean, and ugly, the trio didn't so much as wait for a sign before all three of them darted off in opposite directions. Just in time, too, if the scorching earth where they previously stood said anything.

Nyx was the first to go on the offensive, saturating his claws with a mild blizzard spell. While certainly not the fastest of the group, to the naked eye it would appear that he'd simply blinked out of existence, courtesy of a minor teleportation spell. Rearing back his arms and tensing the muscles within, the Nobody dove from the portal to shear through the first Crimson Jazz with the magically enhanced blow.

Ice crawled from the wound, freezing the Heartless in a matter of seconds, before he lashed out with his right arm to send it into its fellow spellcasters. It shattered in a small explosion of glacial matter, and though it didn't freeze the other Crimson Jazzes, it did slow their movements enough for him to leap away from the mines of fire magic they'd laid down for him.

Twisting his body to just barely avoid a barrage of fireballs from the one to his immediate left, Nyx whispered a low Blizzaga beneath his breath, sending the Crimson Jazz hurtling away from him with an incredible amount of concussive force. Enough to send it hurtling some few feet away before the Crimson Jazz impacted the ground. Ice clusters burst from the area of impact, shearing through the near innumerable amount of Shadows that'd surrounded them before dissipating in a whirl of glacial wind that diced the second legion to bits.

Nyx was relentless, quickly following his landing up with a subconscious protect, absorbing the impact of yet another searing hot fireball that caused his dark fur to cinder for all but a few moments. The remaining Crimson Jazz, seeing that it potentially had him on edge, continued to batter the spell with fireball after fireball. Nyx's lips pinched in a frown. Clenching his fingers together, he tugged at the few invisible strings of mana feeding the spell, severing the tie to fire that it had in an instant.

Sliding back from the sheer force of what was previously a fireball, Nyx quickly converted the formless mana into a bolt of lightning that cleaved through the earth beneath the Heartless. With the debris floating midair, Nyx hastily sharpened them into crude blades with a gust of wind. Lurching them forward with yet another silent gesture, countless blades of earth were guided to impact the remaining Crimson Jazz, knocking it right out of his striking range and some several feet away.

It just so happened to fall into Noxic's striking range, and the lagomorph was quick on the draw by gripping the hilt of his twin-edged scythe before twisting, causing one of the curved ends of the scythe to straighten out like the head of a spear. Dark flames formed on both edges, enhancing his already formidable striking power further while he pivoted on his heel to lash out with the curved sickle of his blade.

Momentum played a key role on maintaining his advantage over the Heartless that had surrounded them. Like Nyx, he'd jumped straight into the fray with twin-ended scythe slashing and dicing. With sheer speed along, the weapon simply looked to be a circle of black and red in his hands, though the Darkballs remained persistent in avoiding his blows.

Just as quickly as he moved, they'd turn into mist, taunting him by circling around, then rapidly darting forward to chomp at him. Noxic's lips were quirked into a frenzied grin of excitement, eyes alight in mirth as he caught the Darkball's maw on the shaft of his weapon. Darkness rose off of his body, coalescing into a burst of power that cleared the air around enough for his legs to tense and leap forward.

"Whoohoo!" He cried in exuberance, Darkness flowing freely through his body as he cracked down with a punch. It might've hurt, a lot to feel teeth clench around his wrist and grind in, but Noxic continued to push forward with his legs, shoulders tensing like a spring before his fist sheared through the Darkball with such unfathomable force that a spear of dark fire burst from the edges of his enclosed fist.

He'd gotten better, much, much better in comparison to the unrefined style he had before. Skidding to a halt, the lagomorph offered Nyx a cocky grin, dusting his hands off with an almost nonchalant gesture. Setting his reformed weapon onto his shoulders, his crimson eyes eventually flicked over to see how their so-called 'leader' was doing.

Focus. Suihei reminded herself harshly, weaving between the seemingly innumerable Shadows that teemed beneath her feet. She'd had more than enough time with her Keyblade to remember the motions. Rapid slashes tore through the initial wave of Heartless like wet paper, releasing their Hearts in bright motes of pink.

A twirl of the Kingdom Key caused starbursts of light to begin accumulating at the teeth of the weapon, before it exploded forward in several rays of searing light and heat that devoured the Heartless that'd surrounded her for all of those few grueling seconds.

Rubbing her heel against the ground, Suihei fell forward in a roll to avoid the Shadow that leaped for her with its claws poised for a deadly strike. With another flick of the wrist, she lashed out against the belly of the Heartless, and with another flick of her free hand she sprung back onto her feet, charging forward while slashing the heartless with her keyblade in fluid gestures.

What they'd all really had been looking at was the Behemoth collecting energy at the top of its horn - the scent of ozone permeated throughout the air, causing goosebumps to rise on all of their skin. Suihei's eyes widened slightly, once she noticed the monstrous orb of dark lightning blending together at the tip of the Behemoth's horn. With nothing guiding her but her instincts, she hurled the Keyblade forward with all of her might, enhancing it with a burst of light that sent it singing through the air in an attempt to dispel the dark orb before it was released.

Nyx, seeing what she was attempting, just as quickly funneled his own power into the hurtling weapon, causing vines of nothingness to spiral alongside it. Noxic was also as quick, throwing his own arm forward to enhance the weapon careening through the skies with a pulse of darkness. It was like a comet through the night sky, leaving behind a trail of Light, Shadow and Nothing in a radiant blur that tore through the dark orb with enough force to cause it to destabilize and implode in on itself.

Grasping her Keyblade in her hands once it returned to her, Suihei offered naught but a sigh of relief. "Oh man if that wasn't something--" She grumbled, turning around to face the cat and feline with a cheeky grin. This wasn't as bad as she thought! Sure, there were still all sorts of crazy things here, and it definitely wasn't something she'd wish on anyone, but it wasn't even that hard! "See that? That's what I call unlocking a can of-"

Her boast was cut off by Noxic pushing her shoulder hard enough for her to nearly lose her footing anid Nyx's own bemused shake of the head. How did he end up stuck with such children, again? It was endlessly amusing for the Nobody, who had spent eons alone - hunted down for what he was, yet never losing the will to survive. Now was no different, though suddenly, his ears stood erect at the sound of air displacing itself. "What is--"

Nyx's observation was cut off by an explosion of energy that knocked all three party members onto their backsides. The implosion of darkness that had completely eradicated the behemoth hadn't ended, itself. Instead, it rapidly began to expand, flowing out in an explosion of pure force that caused Noxic's eyes to widen. "Sui! Look out!"

Suihei hardly heard Noxic's sharp cry of her name, until she turned around. Her eyes widened in fear at the wave of darkness rushing their way. Catching Nyx's hand in hers at the last second, Suihei didn't so much as notice the fact that Noxic had manage to shield the both of them in his arms. Being separated wasn't something that would benefit any of them, especially when he was probably the only one that could tear them out of oblivion.

"Hang on!" Noxic hissed, holding them both to his chest and tugging on the inner reserves of power sleeping within him. It wasn't easy for him to change the intent behind the Darkness sent after them - which was to eliminate into warp. Suihei had long since succumb to her exhaustion Winded and short of breath, the lagomorph's fortitude eventually gave out beneath the constant downpour of pitch black waves against them.

The Darkness embraced them, and into its depths, did they fall.