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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn	By : RotSeele Category: Kingdom Hearts > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. I do not make any money from this story.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
Twenty - Tsenacommacah/Jamestown

“Well, well. Looks like they were right. A little Keyblade rat.” Ratcliffe said. “I see you’ve met my pet. That’s good. I had to reeducate him after his first debacle, so don’t expect him to stop and let you go. John, make sure this one dies this time. Don’t let him escape. I don’t need any more interruptions.”
“You won’t win!” Kaoru shouted. “You won’t win, Ratcliffe. You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Ratcliffe grinned widely. “Oh, I know exactly what I’m doing. The powers of darkness are far stronger than the powers of the light. Darkness consumes light. I’ve seen that first hand with Johnny-boy over there. Such a good man, so filled with light, and now look at him. A beast, filled with hate and darkness.”
“That’s not what he is. He’s a kind, gentle man, who cares deeply for his friends.” Kaoru said, unsure if he was talking to John or Ratcliffe. “He fought back the darkness once to save Thomas. He can do it again.”
Something clicked behind Kaoru. This time he took his eyes off John and turned to face Ratcliffe. The man held a huge pistol in a meaty fist, raised and aimed at Kaoru’s chest. Ratcliffe’s victorious smile became a grimace of anger. “I suppose you’re right, Keyblade brat. I shouldn’t take any chances.” He pulled the trigger.
Kaoru summoned Guardian at the same time fire and thunder erupted from the pistol’s barrel. Almost at the same time, John rushed forward, roaring. A prismatic glimmer surrounded Kaoru, his armor extending out from the pauldron on his shoulder to cover his bicep and then his wrist and hand, and Guardian itself seemed to glow with light. John let out a roar and threw his arms over his face to shield his eyes, as did Ratcliffe. The bullet struck a shimmering golden wall two feet away from Kaoru, mushrooming before falling to the floor. Kaoru stared at the golden wall for a minute, stunned. Then as the light faded, Kaoru ducked out of the room, past Ratcliffe, and into the sitting room. He raised his arms to shield his face and dove through the window there, tumbling out into the street.
The crowd there stared at him, shock and surprise written all over their faces. Kaoru rolled to his feet and fell into stance, gripping Guardian in both hands. A second later, Ratcliffe slammed out of the house, pointing at Kaoru and roaring, “Kill him! He’s with the Indians, sent here to kill us before we can take revenge for our fallen brothers and sisters! Kill him!”
There was a moment’s hesitation before the men with guns raised them and pointed them at Kaoru. The young Keyblade user knew even if he tried to run, he wouldn’t escape being shot. So he stood his ground, tightening his grip around Guardian. The air around him shimmered again with golden light, barely discernible, like a heat mirage. But before the men could fire, there came a deep, angry, tormented, bellowing roar from within the Governor’s House.
John Smith’s transformation had progressed. He was no longer recognizable as John Smith. The black on his face had oozed down his neck and beneath his torn clothes. The wound in his arm - self-inflicted, Kaoru realized now - pulsed with an evil purple/black light as the flesh began to knit itself back together. The darkness had even swarmed up into his hair, turning the blonde strands black and slicking them back and down. His blue eyes glowed gold, and were narrowed to pinched points. Seeing him, the people in the square let out strangled yells and screams and tried to flee. The men with the guns turned toward the monster and fired. The bullets only made John angry.
He roared and launched himself toward the riflemen, claws extending from fingernails for a killing blow. The men yelled and scattered, but one or two were unlucky and were slammed to the ground by those sharp nails. On the stoop, Ratcliffe’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open in shock, as if he hadn’t realized just what kind of monster he was creating. Kaoru watched as Ratcliffe ran for his horse and kicked the animal into a gallop, escaping out of Jamestown. He knew where the man was going, but he had no way of warning Rin. He also had no way of catching up, and he couldn’t very well leave the people of Jamestown to deal with the transformed John Smith. So he turned and launched himself toward John, Guardian drawn back for a powerful two-handed swing.
The Keyblade hit the monster square in the side, flinging him away from a downed rifleman. The monster hit the ground and skidded halfway across the square. Kaoru stepped over the man and snapped, “Get out of here! Get everyone out of here! He’ll kill you if you don’t!”
The rifleman hauled himself to his feet and ran screaming. Soon, it was just Kaoru and the monstrous John Smith. The transformation was continuing to take over John’s body, bulking up his shoulders and thighs to turn him into something nightmarish. He hauled himself to his feet, bellowed, and launched himself at Kaoru. Kaoru brought his Keyblade up to block the strike, skidding backwards under the monster’s considerable weight. Kaoru twisted, throwing Guardian to the side and spinning around to land a hard hit to John’s back. The move enraged the monster even more, and even though it hit the ground from the attack, it was up again to attack Kaoru.
How long they traded blows back and forth he didn’t know, but Kaoru felt as though the fight was taking far too long. It wasn’t that he was growing tired or weaker, but the monster John Smith had become seemed to be getting stronger. Kaoru jumped backwards and fell into a dodge roll as John pounced on him and pounded the ground where Kaoru had just been into dust. Kaoru came back to his feet and flung Guardian toward John. The Keyblade hit the monster in the face, driving it back further, then came back to Kaoru’s hand.
“This isn’t you!” Kaoru shouted, holding his ground as the monster gained its feet. “Don’t let the darkness win! You did everything you could to protect your friends, and they’re alive today because of you! Fight, John! Fight the darkness inside you, and then we can go save Pocahontas!”
The monster hesitated, muscles bulging as it strained one way or another. Its claws flexed, and its maw opened to reveal blackened, sharp teeth. He was barely unrecognizable as John Smith. Then he let out a roar and charged Kaoru. Kaoru brought Guardian up to block and the golden glimmer surrounded him again. John hit the barrier and Kaoru was flung through the air, bouncing once before the shield broke and he hit the ground, coughing as the air was forced out of his lungs. The monster roared again and jumped into the air, diving straight down for Kaoru and what would be a killing blow. Kaoru rolled to the side and launched himself back to his feet, whirling to block a strike to his back. He spun in the opposite direction and flew into a flurry of attacks, Guardian flashing. Bright light shone from the Keyblade as it howled in to strike John on his arms, chest, thighs, and shoulders. It was enough to drive back bits of the darkness, but it would just flow back into place. Kaoru could fight back the darkness on the surface, but he realized that it would be up to John to fight the darkness inside him.
And they were running out of time.
Kaoru danced with the monster, trading blows and blocking attacks, and doing whatever he could to ensure the monster tired before he did. His armor deflected the worst of the attacks if he was able to present his right side, and the golden shimmer granted him even more protection if he was able to concentrate enough that even he could see it clearly.
“John!”
Both Kaoru and the monster froze. Kaoru saw Thomas standing a stone’s throw away from them, his arms at his side, his face set in a determined mask.
“Fight, John! This isn’t you!” Thomas shouted. “Kaoru’s here to help us! He’s here to help us stop Ratcliffe from hurting everyone! Right now, his friend is with Pocahontas, trying to save her people. Ratcliffe’s ridden out with a bunch of men to kill her and everyone with her! Do you really want to be the cause of that? Do you really want him to win? Fight, John! Fight the darkness! You’re not evil!”
The monster roared and shoved itself away from Kaoru, charging toward Thomas. Kaoru shouted and threw Guardian hard. The Keyblade rotated twice before the long part of the blade crashed into the back of John’s head. It flung him forward to the ground, where he skidded on his chin and shoulders right up to Thomas’ feet. Instead of running away, Thomas crouched down and touched his fingers to John’s face. As the young man smiled, Kaoru saw Thomas beginning to glow with a bright white light. The light warred with the darkness consuming John, making the monster he’d become thrash and struggle.
“You saved me,” Thomas said quietly. “You saved me from being killed by him. You stopped yourself. You’ve always been outspoken against Ratcliffe, because what he’s been doing is evil. We’ve all seen it. You’re the only one who had the courage to stand up against him.”
The monster that was John Smith groaned. “Thomas...”
“Fight, John. I know you can. Remember when you saved me from drowning? You sacrificed yourself to save me, someone you barely knew. You’ve always looked out for me. Pocahontas isn’t so bad, either.”
As Thomas continued to talk and distract John, Kaoru quietly approached them. He swept Guardian up and around in a half circle this time, different that he’d done before. He gripped the hilt with both hands, then released the hilt with his right and gathered the light to it. Then he flung Guardian skyward and said, “Cascade.”
Just like before, when the Keyblade reached its apex, it burst into a prismatic rain. The droplets hit the ground, bouncing up and then back down, turning into a puddle of light before disappearing. When the prismatic rain touched the darkness on John Smith, it began to smoke and bubble up like some sort of odd infection. John howled and writhed, but the darkness continued to recede, leaving his skin and hair and face. Thomas continued to whisper to John throughout it all, coaxing the good man he knew to come back from the monster he had become. Kaoru watched as the wound in John’s upper arm began to pulse and writhe, and he watched as the black rod inched its way out of his skin, much like a worm trying to wriggle its way out of the wet earth. Kaoru approached quickly but kept his steps as quiet as possible, and reached for that rod with his gauntleted hand.
When he gripped it, he gasped as his hand began to burn. It was a cold burn, rather than a hot one, and though his armor was protecting his skin from actual damage, he could still feel the darkness trying to eat away at the light contained within his armor. It was all Kaoru could do to not let go, and instead pull on the rod to get it fully out of John Smith. Cascade ended at the same time Kaoru wrenched the black rod from John’s arm, and as he did so, the last vestiges of darkness dissipated from John’s skin. The man collapsed at Thomas’ feet, panting harshly. Thomas set his hands on his friend’s shoulders and leaned down close to his ear, asking softly if he was okay.
Kaoru stared at the rod in his hand, watching the shifting colors of deep violet and royal blue that swirled in the deep black of the creation. That in itself was new. The rods they’d collected in Belle’s world and the one they’d seen in Traverse Town hadn’t glowed like this one did. Not even the one he’d wrenched out of Gaston had glowed like this one.
Kaoru yelped as the rod in his palm suddenly jumped and snapped like a firecracker, and shattered into deep violet and black motes. The armor covering his palm was sooty black, the only remains of the rod that had changed John into an entity of darkness. He flexed his fingers, watching the shadow stuff flake off to the ground, dissipating just before it touched the dirt. He glanced toward Thomas and John, then dismissed his Keyblade and armor before he approached them. He crouched down beside John and set his hand on the man’s wounded shoulder, inspecting the flesh that had now become a puckered scar. John flinched at his touch, then looked at Kaoru with a shocked expression.
“You...” he whispered. “I remember you.”
Kaoru met John’s eyes and smiled. “I’m glad you’re back to your normal self. Do you remember anything I said?”
John shook his head slowly, then refocused his gaze on Thomas. “I remember you, though. Speaking to me. Talking to me through that haze of hate and violence that was consuming me.” He looked back at Kaoru. “But I don’t remember you.”
Kaoru shrugged. “That’s okay. The point is, you’re back to your usual self. We don’t have much time to stay here and talk, though. Do you feel well enough to move? We have to go stop Ratcliffe.”
“That’s right!” Thomas said. “Ratcliffe followed a bunch of his men out of Jamestown and they’re set to attack Pocahontas. We have to stop them.”
John grimaced as he got to his feet, his arm around Thomas’ shoulder as the young man struggled to support him. “It’ll take hours for us to get there.” he said between clenched teeth. “We won’t make it in time.”
Thomas looked at Kaoru with a helpless expression. Kaoru didn’t know what to do. It had taken him and Thomas almost two hours to cut through the forest after Pocahontas had dropped them off on the bank of the river, and they were healthy and able-bodied, if only a little exhausted. John, however, had been tortured before all of this, had become a monster, and then had suffered through battle against Kaoru and battle against the darkness that had consumed him. If they moved now, it would take them twice the time it took Kaoru and Thomas to get to Jamestown to get back to the riverbank, and then follow it to where Pocahontas said her village would be.
Then an idea struck Kaoru. He looked at John and asked, “Where are the stables?”
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Kingdom Hearts: Dark Dawn