The True Evil [PM to Join]

[Ophelia]

A portal opened in the Shadows Citadel throne room, out of it stepped Ophelia followed by Jett and an invisible carrying Hayden. On the floor was Hayden's mask, where the heartless witch had thrown it earlier. A seat of darkness formed from the floor created from Ophelia's magic, here was where Hayden was placed by the invisible who vanished as soon as the somebody was bound in by strong bands of darkness, immobilizing him completely. The witch turned her head to her assistant, his glowing eyes stuck on Hayden, an evil grin on his face. "Fuck off Jett." This was Ophelia's trophy and that was easy for him to see, he was just always so interested on transitions, that was after all what the heartless queen usually brought people here for. And so, Jett did exactly what she told him to do, flying out the door to go do some angsty teen heartless thing in the castle.

Now it was just the Heartless Queen and her prize. She had known Hayden before but until today she was unaware of his strength.. A person like this would only make a great heartless, one stronger than her most likely... an idea that she wasn't too fond of... But the chaos that would erupt from this heartless, it would be immaculate, one of the witch's greatest achievements after today's destruction of Disney Town. It was all almost worth taking her mask off, to reveal her face to her defeated opponent.. But such a thing was always too risky, no one ever seemed threatened by the face of a late-teens girl. Ophelia stood there and stood straight into Hayden's eyes, trying to think of the emotions he'd be feeling right now... How to make him sink into the darkness.

"Well that was a weak attempt." The witch teased, pausing to let it sink in before she'd continue. "To stop the darkness, ahem. Me, from consuming a world. I wonder how my brethren would respond to this... I guess I'll see but for now there's you."

She paused again, moving closer to Hayden. The paralysis poison would have worn off by now but he was bound, the Heartless Queen bathing in her victory by coming in dangerous range of such an enemy. She touched his chest, pointing into it firmly however keeping a feminine touch. "You can do great things you know, you just need to unlock your full potential." She stood up straight again, despite the mask one would be able to tell that there was a glorious smirk on her face as she spoke. "You could have stopped me and the other heartless... You could have saved Disney Town." She stepped back, beginning a contemplative pace as she did so.

"But you didn't."

[Hayden Keegan]

With Hayden's mask removed, an alarming thing would have revealed itself- all of his Keyblade armor was gone. Instead there was just a man, normal clothes with long, ragged black hair that hung over his sharp face. It bore an expression of defeat that seemed contained by his largely emotionless smile. His toned body was adorned in standard and plain clothing: a white T-Shirt with some dirt and stains adorning it, and some ratty burlap pants which also contained dirt marks. Both garbs seemed to hang off of Hayden's body in partial ribbons, but the damage seemed recent. Until the last few hours, no one had managed to put up a fight.

The result of the last few hours of conflict was this. His armor wasn't completely sealed off from the environment. Water from melted ice pooled at his joints, leaving the liquid trailing down the areas were his armor had segmented. This covered dust from Disney Town in a layer of water, as well as ash from Wonderland. His own sweat marred his chest and arm pits, his muscles slicked in the strange, alien light of this castle at the edge of Armageddon. He did not make eye contact with his captor at first. She mocked him for his efforts. He scoffed in derision at her initial assertion.

She talked for but a moment regarding what he assumed to be other heartless, before she moved closer and applied a finger to his chest delicately. He raised his head and levied his brown eyes against her gaze as though he were a man on a cross. Behind her mask he could see a wide smile- the kind that made him uncomfortable. Such a sinister expression must be gracing her brow behind her mask, it made Hayden's stomach twist.

"No," Hayden replied back to her blankly. "There was nothing I could have done." Submission. Not aggression. He had to wait for his moment if he was to get out of this... and right now, that was a very big if. He kept his eyes on her as she walked away. "Strange. Strong Heartless look like people. I've always thought it was strange. Just like the Nobodies. You're all too human, and yet when I fought you I didn't forget that you were a monstrous bitch wearing the skin of a woman." He stopped there, letting it linger before continuing. "You're just a sad echo of what you could have been. Did you even have a life before you turned?" He said the last part derisively.

[Ophelia]

It troubled Ophelia in the slightest that he didn't fight against what she said, most hero-types usually did.. Raving on about light and all that. But Hayden wasn't a hero. He didn't want Disney Town to be taken by the darkness but he didn't seem to care much for the citizens, maybe he just wanted to cause chaos without the destruction. The witch couldn't be sure but she continued to listen. His insults caused Ophelia to bring her fingers to her chin as she contemplated with joy on the words he spoke. Her pace continuous and most likely annoying as she listened to Hayden, until it came time for her to speak to which she stopped.

"Not all of us were completely born of darkness you know? Of course I had a life before this, in fact I'm still living the same life. I was never weak enough to have my heart taken." She paused, perhaps the fact that she was human from the start would surprise Hayden, unless he already knew that. "You learn after awhile that there's not much point in fighting the darkness.. Its everywhere you go, lives inside everyone and more importantly.. It makes you stronger."

[Hayden Keegan]

"I know."

The words hung in the cold air of the dark castle like an ornament, decorating a sentiment. "Darkness makes us more powerful. I spent two years on your world mastering it. I've swept across worlds like a plague taken the corrupt and sick with me- of course the darkness makes me stronger. It's obvious, because by the time they even could fight back it was too late. I'd already won." He grinned an arrogant, defiant grin right at her. "But now here I rot with unfinished business."

He jerked on his binds once, seeing if they would give, flexing his muscles out and trying to force his limbs to move. His body bulged slightly as everything contracted and he grunted against the darkness. He paused for the moment, then laughed quietly. "I'll hazard the guess. You're going to offer me the chance to give into the darkness." His grin turned from arrogant to expectant as he let his eyes sweep across her form. When Hayden had first met Ophelia, he did not know Heartless could take human shape. Actually, that was partially untrue- he had been told but it sounded insane, so he disregarded it.

Maybe it was because of the environment he had found himself in at the time. He was just twenty-one when he arrived at the End of the World for the first time, disillusioned with with the worlds, his life, and his cause. He first laid eyes on Ophelia, the only other vaguely human looking thing on the world, and felt a very brief attraction- something which turned to confusion when he realized what she was. Sometime after that, it evolved into fear.

Yet, he wanted to play. He was prisoner but not helpless. His tongue was as sharp as his blade, but he didn't want to start cutting, just wanted to prod. Harmless little sentences to see if they would trigger anything. Almost immediately after he ended his last round of words, he spoke just a bit more. "Tell me, did you become a Heartless as a virgin?" His face suddenly shifted to something mocking and cocky.

[Ophelia]

Standing a short distance from the prisoner Ophelia listened to him speak of time in her world and other places, his destruction and mastery of the darkness intriguing her more and more. Why hadn't he made the transition already? Humans were weak and vulnerable. As he jerked in his seat the witch smiled, he wasn't going to move unless she wanted it. The heartless took a seat as a gothic style chair formed below her, once seated she crossed her legs and sat as though the conversation was casual. What he said was true, the offer would be there for him to give in however it seemed he hadn't realized it was already there.

"Hayden, honey... Take it as more of a choice. If the offer wasn't there I would have ripped your heart out the moment you were paralyzed. You can either give in or I'll take your heart, by the end of this you'll be a heartless whether you like it or not."

Ophelia's true bitchy side had begun to show with her tone sarcastic and playful on the matter of such a serious situation for Hayden. It seemed he had tried to make light of the conversation by asking such a cheeky, personal question. In such a mockingly fashion too. Truth be told, the girl was a virgin and now a heartless, still was. She didn't seem to show an interest in it and the man before her wouldn't have a clue of what age she was when she became a heartless or even her age now. The Heartless Queen thought for a moment, would such an answer reveal so much about herself she wouldn't be threatening anymore? Probably.

"That's none of your business."

She would respond. Simple and easy but the thoughts lingered in her mind. Her older brother psuedo-heartless looked like he would indulge in such a thing but perhaps that was part of his trap, luring people in to have their hearts taken away.. The pun of it was just ridiculous. The thoughts eluded her mind however, moving her focus back to Hayden.

[Hayden Keegan]

"Hmph," the sound came from Hayden's lips as he smirked. "I'm not afraid of becoming a Heartless," he replied. "I'm curious about what of me will linger. Look at you," he remarked, drawing attention to her. "Small. Intimidating. A whelp of the darkness. You being a virgin becomes my business, because the truth is I've been terrified of you since I met you. You were scary to me. But all Heartless come from us. You didn't just appear. We made you exist. You are us. We become you. I find the idea that you as a immortal being of darkness that is also a completely virtuous and innocent little flower beyond hilarious." He chuckled louder.

"The fact of the matter is, there is no difference between you or I in most basic terms. You're just a human. Just like other humans. Or maybe you're a lion from the Pridelands in human shape- I could really give a shit less. My point is, that ultimately, you aren't better. Just a shadow of who you were. As long as you know how much you really don't matter, I could care less what you do with me. Whether I use my own Keyblade to release my heart or somehow those weak arms of yours manage to pry open my chest, you simply are just... a virgin. Just red riding hood with blood on your finger tips. I had it the wrong way around. You aren't a monster trying to look human. You're a human, trying to be a monster. And failing. That's probably why you're such a cunt." Hayden, at no point during this, stopped smirking.

[Ophelia]

The heartless placed her elbow on her knee and leaned forward, her demeanor coming off as unnerved by Hayden's words. So it was easy to tell that Ophelia was a virgin from the way the conversation was going, bringing the Heartless Queen back to a human level. Something she did not care for, the person he described was a somebody, a somebody that was lost a long time ago. The heartless had heard a lot of insults and jabs in her time, being the small female figure she was it was only natural.. No one wanted to admit they were below a teenaged looking girl.

The girl giggled, showing she couldn't care less for what Hayden had to say. Though his personality would stay, he'd realize after that at this moment.. She was better. She had the power, she had consumed a world, she fought him with a menacing calm and she, was going to be the one to kill the Somebody before her. Soon enough, he'd have power and would be on her side, consuming hearts and worlds with ease. He would understand, soon enough.

"Really? You're going to play on sex to make yourself feel better? How human of you. Its okay for you to lash out like this though, you're on your last whim, afraid, with no one to help you and no where to go."

The heartless laughed. She stood up, the seat below her dropped into darkness which this entire castle seemed to be made of. She stepped closer towards Hayden, the temperature dropping immensely just to make him feel the cold against his no longer shielded body, she wanted him to feel what she could do, that her being this "innocent flower" wasn't going to stop her from being the monster he thought she was. Swiftly the witch held this blade against his neck, the cold most likely making the hairs on his skin prick up with contact.

"I'll help you though. You can thank me later for it."

With that the witch dragged the blade across Hayden's throat, blood squirting out. His blood painted the heartless' lower torso and body with red. Her white mask shielding her face from the crimson that would normally hit her. She took a step back, watching calmly as the man had only a minute to live. Ophelia wanted to make something out of him for sure, something strong, stronger than her and there was only one way he could do that and that was give in or die. His entity would carry on or end just like that and he would know, whatever way it went was because Ophelia did it. He said she didn't matter, she knew that was a lie, she mattered in the way that these worlds would end, she mattered to him because in the end, she was the cause of this.

[Hayden Keegan]

Hayden's smirk remained, even as he coughed and blood sputtered from his lips onto Ophelia's mask. His speech was a mess of gurgling and crimson splatter, but it was understandable. "I'm not going anywhere," he coughed, "because I have no need to run." The wound across his neck suddenly healed as his laughter began to rise, the blood still caked him shirt and mouth, but the cut was gone as a sudden surge of power gripped his body. In that moment he snapped his restraints with the full force of his power, falling to the floor as he was gripped by laughter.

He caught himself on his hands and shins, laughing as he reared up to reveal his chest and summoned his Keyblade, the massive weapon floating in mid-air as he rose up. The Keyblade's position shifted, the blade pointed at his chest. "I am far from my last limb" he informed with a sick amount of malicious glee in his voice. "I was a creature of the darkness for a long, long time," he practically giggled. "I've done enough for every one else. I'm tired." He wrapped his fingers around the clod metallic blade of his weapon, the power of darkness coursing through his body.

"Tired of being selfless. Tired of being persecuted. Tired of being secretive. I asked for it all, though. And I'm tired." He gave a knowing look towards Opehlia as he pressed the blade against his chest. "And I always knew that my days were numbers. I was never such a fool to think the darkness would not eventually have me." With that, he jammed the Keyblade into his chest, and then his arms splayed wide. The blade floated out of his body, leaving no wound as it vanished in a puff of darkness. Hayden's form began to glow and he examined the new trait. He began to sparkle into light and his smirk, that resilient and knowledgeable expression, faded into a serious one as he watched his heart leave his body.



"I would be afraid," he informed Ophelia, "if I were you." With that, his physical form vanished into a flash of light and traveled higher and higher, leaving his heart floating only a few feet from where he stood. For a moment it seemed peaceful and quiet, before it began to shake and tremble, the darkness from within rushing outward and warping it, twisting it inside out as the immediate area began to pulse with darkness. An ethereal, almost undecipherable voice came from the darkness, yet somehow it's intention could be understood with absolute clarity.

The air around the room began to thicken and the temperature in that immediate area began to rise versus the rest of the room, as the black smoke pooled like liquid on the floor from where the Heart once stood, now already consumed by the black mass. The dark form sunk lower, seemingly devouring the heart as a twisted, ugly Keyblade was leaked from the goop. The black mass began to take a shape that would be familiar to Ophelia- it was indeed Hayden, the same shape as before, but with a decidedly different look about his eyes. Instead of brown they were now a sharp, almost golden yellow. Those amber orbs lifted up from the still forming black mass, examining the world as though they were a new born.

Seconds passed and the form was standing, now looking just as human as the man who has once inhabited the space behind it, holding in it's hands the twisted Key. Darkness still wafted from its form as steam from a fresh bun, but an otherwise emotionless face now looked at Ophelia expectantly.

[Ophelia]

Ophelia watched silently as all things human seemed to slip away from Hayden. He had healed the wound and escaped his seat however the witch didn't budge, she knew before he spoke that he'd make the change. He had talked so much before that it was obvious and even in his last moments he was fucking nuts. Ophelia remembered the transition for herself being quite liberating and calm but she had aimed for that for many years, for Hayden perhaps acting like this was the only way to accept the circumstances of the end, who knew and quite frankly who cared? This version of himself was gone and the new was about to be born before her very eyes.

Darkness formed the human shape and form that Hayden had before, as expected there was little change. Ophelia could only examine him from bottom to top where her gaze met with his expectant look. His eyes were a golden yellow, a distinct change she'd remember. His personality seemed to have changed, before he was cocky and extremely talkative but now in his new found form, he stood silently. It was hard to tell at this stage but Ophelia could feel the change lingering in the air with silence piercing the tension between them. Perhaps this was the moment she was meant to say something but right now she was proud. She made something stronger than herself and that was okay, the way he acted before just screamed the fact he'd be a destructive malicious cunt like herself, perhaps a bit more ruthless too.

It was all okay however, she had her intentions and they had gone well so far. She looked his body up and down again, he was as a result of the change butt naked but it didn't seem to bother Ophelia's "precious" virgin eyes. Instead it took only a moment before more darkness seeped from the floor upwards, wrapping around Hayden's legs like ribbons before forming a slick pair of pants and boots that seemed to show off the muscular parts of his legs, however his torso was left exposed. He was taller than Ophelia and judging the way their previous conversation went maybe she should have been scared, but she wasn't. The silence ended with the Heartless Queen's words rolling off her tongue.

"That's a lot better now isn't it?"

[Seeker of Retribution]

As the darkness enveloped his lower body, forming a blanket around his muscular shape, Hayden's emotionless expression shifted. A very, very malevolent smile pulled his lips back from his teeth, his yellow eyes going wide as he started to chuckle, and howled with a sort of psychotic laughter. His head lifted upwards as he surveyed the ceiling, the arches therein, and the weird light from the world that seemed to filter through the castle halls into them. Slowly, his laughter died back into silence as his head lowered back down, and his eyes locked back onto Ophelia.

They had an entirely different look to them than they did before. Not empty, not pleading or curious. They were hungry. Predatory. The gleam within them was that of a monster, not of a man, but yet his face held some semblance of humanity in his current expression. The mania there was obvious. The brutal, excited face of a creature that wanted it's power to be expressed. His chilling smile seemed to make the room colder than it already was. "Better?" He hissed the word, his breath misting through the temperature of the room in a thick cloud. It was like a dragon breathing smog.

He raised his arms up to his face, examining him as it turned them over. Those striking, yellow eyes were marks of those afflicted with the Darkness. But this was no mere affliction. This was his new state of being. His eyes traced to his biceps, and then his torso and legs as the hair fell over itself in waves. His transformation had left him without injury, without filth, and without mercy. "For who? Better... what an odd way to describe the situation you're in now." His voice was like venom, and it dribbled from his lips.

[Ophelia]

The witch observed as the heartless before her showed his insane laugh, that last bit of crazy at the end was sure to last. After all, the transformation never changed a person completely, it just seemed to take the more human of parts away. His stare screamed for prey and it seemed Ophelia would be that, staring straight into the eyes of a lion ready to claim territory. However she remained calm as words began to spill from his mouth. Threatening the one who made him in a typical heartless manner, the males always seemed to be the power hungry kind and that was shown by the queen's brother after all.

"Better for me and you." She paused, an attack was waiting and that was fine but she'd have her say. "Look at you, you're a malicious beast and I created you. Isn't that pleasing to know? Things are just so. much. better."

The Heartless Queen didn't show an ounce of care for the fact she knew he was stronger than her. He was on grounds of the Main Core, if he were to attack her he'd find himself swarmed with heartless stronger than himself, tearing him apart whether he told them to or not. There was a way in End of The World and it was simple and basic - no one fucked with their queen. She could only anticipate it was going to happen anyway, he should have remembered where he was and who it was he was talking to, but by his actions he was assumed to be pretty much too crazy to care.

"Today has been successful. A world taken and a monster created. What's next? A medal for me and my valiant efforts?"

She laughed, exerting her sarcastic humor to take away from the tense situation that the two were in.

[Seeker of Retribution]

Hayden raised his hand, the cold grin now becoming wicked. "Curious," he remarked. "Why celebrate your usurper? I no longer need food. I no longer need sleep. I can fight forever," he replied. "But why would I fight for you at all? You go against everything I stood for. I may have become Heartless, but I am still me. Just a little..." he clenched the raised hand and pulled it downward, curling it back towards himself dramatically as the bicep flexed. "...bent." He began to circle Ophelia, his Keyblade still in his hand. "A little less merciful. A little more malicious. A lot more difficult to stop. I can't even bleed. I can't even suffocate." He fell silent shortly after, just to observe a response.

While waiting, his foot brushed against something lightly and it skidded a little. He paused his walk to his his mask laying discarded on the ground, and picked it up with great care. For just a moment he held it to his face, before placing it back upon its rightful spot. The Armor of the Blade Foreteller closed back around his body, and Hayden felt natural wearing it as he once had. He looked over his form and grinned. "My next question is why shouldn't I kill you? Right here, right now. I get the feeling your little 'trick' from last time won't work on me in this form. You probably couldn't stop me. The only disadvantage I have is learning the ins and outs of this body, and what it is now capable of. Seeing as you don't have a Keyblade, even if you did kill me here there would be no consequence."

He chuckled to himself. "So, I think I might try. It feels harder and harder to not, but I'm choking it back, Ophelia... why shouldn't I dispatch you forever?"

[Ophelia]

A crackle of lightning raised the volume of a shallow laugh. Ophelia had traveled a far distance in only an instant, bringing her to the balcony exit of her castle. It would take only a few steps to get outside to see what was in store for hostiles to the world's main core, heartless or not. Even then, the guy was talking like he could take her down in a single moment, like she was some weak human from Disney Town who couldn't fight on her own. It was clear what he was trying to do, make himself feel better by attempting to kill Ophelia. It was strange, did all these people not like her because she was a girl? A girl in power? A girl that did more chaos than they had? At this point it seemed that way. After an array of laughter Ophelia's voice filled the room.

"You forget who you're talking to. Remember who defeated you, took Disney Town down and made you what you are now? Do you REALIZE where you are standing right now? Or did you forget that when you transformed?" She laughed even louder as heartless of all levels of strength filled the room in nearly an instant, emerging from the darkness that made this world and castle. "Hayden, you sweet keyblade wielding heartless baby. You're in my world now. You don't get the chance to try and kill your queen, not yet anyways."

With that the witch stepped ever so calmly outside of the castle, even with his strength and speed he wouldn't be able to get outside to reach Ophelia. The heartless inside would already be attacking him, though weaker than him on their own they'd swarm him, tearing at his armor and mask as much as they could to attack his real body. The witch didn't doubt for a moment that he'd be able to fight them off, so precautions were to be taken. The witch traveled at lightning speed again, brining herself to be standing in the middle of a field of darkness, facing the castle where Hayden would eventually emerge from.

Yellow eyes glowed as far as the eye could see as rumbles of movement plagued the chaotic world. These heartless, immensely powerful on their own and in numbers would kill this heartless if it tried to attack their queen. He would know by now that stronger heartless like himself controlled other heartless, but here he was powerless. The Main Core of The End of The World had utter control. It would eventually lead him to his temporary destruction to return to the realm of darkness, or he'd have to take his anger.. power.. mania, whatever it was, somewhere else. A sense of satisfaction overwhelmed the heartless queen on the idea of her creation attacking another world.

[Seeker of Retribution]

Underneath his mask, Hayden cracked a smile. As the Heartless swarmed in and grasped his body, as Ophelia fled in what he could only imagine was some convoluted plot of overconfidence, he began to laugh as the bodies of his new brethren writhed and massed over him. He was encased in black, covered by darkness and yellow beads of eyes peering out, shifting endlessly. Then an arm swiped out of the mass, slamming dozens of them against the wall adjacent, with most of the creatures vanishing into puffs of black on impact. Other heartless clung to rest of him as he strode forward unimpeded, some of them being trampled by the one man. Their collective weight was not enough to slow him down.

He stepped onto the edge of the balcony, grinning wildly. He stomped a foot lightly and the balcony cracked, visibly moving. The Heartless behind him piled afterwards, and the plane began to groan with their weight. He stepped onto the balcony and leapt down, some Heartless railing after him in a massive pillar while others spilled over the edges of the balcony. The thing finally shifted and broke, falling to the ground behind the descending forces of darkness. The stronger Heartless that appeared lagged behind their smaller number, but leapt from the side of the building and landed.

Hayden hit the ground first, and took off running. He picked up speed and suddenly sprang into the air, sailing towards an open plane of darkness that Ophelia stood in. The sea of yellow eyes meant nothing to him, and he was approaching Ophelia fast. He twitched, and then realized that his clones were not appearing. The epiphany hit him like a sack of potatoes, soft but covering his mind in a dirty haze. He sailed into the mass of Heartless, immediately setting upon the endless horde with his fists. Each time he called upon his powers of illusion, he came to know to his ever mounting frustration that he no longer possessed them.

[Ophelia]

Ophelia stood between two darksides, her stance calm and collected as she watched her new brethren sprinted across the field. Heartless sprung at him from all directions, his strength proving itself as he battled them off to get to her. It was interesting to see however, that he summoned no clones, nor displayed any kind of magic he had used in their battle earlier. The transformation didn't change his personality too much but it seemed it had affected his powers quite a lot. There must have been some sort of catch, no one would become a strong heartless such as himself and gained no powers from it.. Perhaps it was just a matter of discovering it. That was the situation for him now, after he had threatened the very heartless who helped the transformation.

As for Ophelia, this was pretty great. He was a strong individual on his own but that wouldn't be nearly enough to get close to the Heartless Queen in her own world. Weaker heartless were the ones throwing themselves at Hayden but that was about to change. From the ground right in front of him erupted a darkside with surrounding behemoths that rammed forward at the psuedo at once from several directions. The darkside's hands swept at Hayden, attempting to knock him back or grasp him in it's hands.

The witch stood and watched patiently as Hayden would display his strength against a never ending horde of heartless. Perhaps she was going too hard on the newborn heartless, but he threatened her and that was something she didn't take lightly. A sigh would escape her lips as she scratched her head. "You only have to calm down and ask if you want me to stop this Hayden. I've never been one to attack my own kind but you, you're special aren't you?" She laughed, it was clear he still had his human ideals intact which wasn't favourable but despite the reckless and aggressive behaviour of her kind, Ophelia was always up for negotiation.

[Seeker of Retribution]

Behemoths, Darksides... child's play. Well, normally. With his magic seemingly vanished from him it was all he could do to fight off the weaker Heartless- they were no threat, for he was a physically intimidating and powerful specimen. And really, even a handful of these larger creatures weren't as huge a threat as they could have been- should have been. Hayden own raw power matched theirs and more.

But, not all at once. He was forced to evade the behemoths and leapt into the air, right up towards the Darksie's descending hand. He latched onto a finger as the beast brought him crashing towards the earth, only to catch himself on his legs. The ground cracked beneath his legs from the pressure, planting him there firmly.

With a mighty heave and grunt, he hoisted the Darkside into the air by its hand, throwing it at a pair of the Behemoths. The trio of lumbering Heartless crashed into the ground as they slammed together. They were far from dead, but standing up would be difficult for them as long as they lay in that tangled state.

Hayden was not lost to only the battle, however. He had heard Ophelia's plea. And he acknowledged it with a voice of conceit and arrogance. "I would never insult you," he cried as he leapt forward over the mass of tangled Heartless towards her, "by assuming you were anything more than a beast!" His eyes were wide and he was grinning- this was the most fun he had allowed himself to have in a long time. It hearkened back to his days of suicidal fantasy when he first arrived on this world.

He landed some odd feet in front of her, the two Darksides beside her seemingly to escape his focus. In reality, he was simply ignoring them. "No, the truth is that this is fun. I want to keep fighting. It's not like I have anything to lose any more. I'm only still alive by a technicality."

[Ophelia]

The Heartless Queen watched and listened as Hayden went about going through heartless mindlessly as he spoke of the monster that Ophelia was, as if he weren't on the same level now. He didn't have much to help himself fight at this stage other than his body which ultimately, the witch could easily overpower on her own. He wanted to kill his predecessor now that he was stronger and able to go on longer but it seemed he wouldn't have the means to do so at this point. Landing right in front of her being one of his largest mistakes in this arrogant state.

Darkness would slither around his legs, locking him in place with no warning other than the appearance of it if he looked. The very air he was in was of darkness, he and every heartless knew that this air was under the control of Ophelia. Vines of darkness similar to before would shoot out, snaring the Seeker of Retribution by the wrist and pulling him down to rest on his knees in front of the Main Core, easily pulling down with strength that edged at ripping his arms apart. Resisting was futile, though he was strong it wouldn't be enough to break free of the solid, regenerating darkness magic that held Hayden down. There the two would be in silence and darkness as heartless twitched around them.

"If that's the case, I'll send you to my brother. I'm sure you'll find some place to release your frustration on from there."

Her calm and passive tone remained the same as eight, red rings formed around her. The sight and small noise of them spinning revealing how devastating they could be (DESTRUCTO DISC YES). Ophelia stared Hayden in the eyes as each of them would swiftly pierce through his body, cutting his limbs and torso into pieces which would in the end, destroy him to regenerate in the Realm of Darkness as expected.

________

Chaos Rings used 4 times simultaneously.

50 x 4 = 200MP used

400MP left.

[Seeker of Retribution]

Even as the cutting rings slammed into Hayden, he could only really laugh. Yes, they would have normally cut and somewhat deeply, but they did not slice through his body because of his durable Keyblade armor. Instead, he only felt the impact. He grinned as he stared up at her from his imprisonment on the ground. "You mistake me for someone who can not take hits," he explained with a spark of Sarcasm in his voice. That was when his Keyblade appeared to his side, levitating in the air as it lashed out at the dark mass that held him, slicing through them and freeing him. He flipped up from the ground as he became free and moved like lightning towards Ophelia, a fist rocketing towards her stomach.

[Ophelia]

Zap. Ophelia was gone, quite a few meters behind Hayden as he punched into the space the heartless occupied. The single movement of his keyblade slashing through the darkness was enough of a warning to the witch to move. Her sarcasm shooting right back at his. "You mistake me for someone slow." Her remark was made in a quiet voice, just loud enough for Hayden to hear as if she couldn't be bothered with the effort of talking. Which was fair, it seemed as though round two was about to begin, not something she wished for but it was now inevitable. Hayden wouldn't stop trying until he was dead, something Ophelia commended him for, however she wouldn't let him go on forever.

With no time to waste Hayden would feel the repetition of hail falling from a storm cast by the witch. Ice covered the ground like a sheet of glass, spreading to its maximum distance of a two hundred meter radius from the point where Ophelia stood. Hail falling to add to the hard floor of this battlefield. All the while darkness tangled itself around Hayden once again like vines, attempting to snare him as more and more heartless threw themselves at him. Though weak on their own, they'd be strong in the masses at hindering his movement.

[Seeker of Retribution]

Hayden's new body, despite being powerful, still lacked development. Physical changes had occurred- changes he was not used to. He knew enough about his own limits though to know he wasn't going to win this fight. He also knew enough to know it didn't matter. Perhaps his strangest move, when wrapped in the mass of darkness and tendrils and the swarm of Heartless that writhed across his body was reach one arm up, almost effortlessly over the group, and remove his mask from his face. A portal of darkness opened up in front of him as his armor dissolved off of his body in a flurry of black energy, retreating immediately into the mask. He placed it into the hole, and it closed as he removed his hand.

He was now only in the black pants Ophelia had conjured around him earlier as Heartless clawed at his body, only minor scratches appearing, hardly even breaking his skin. Yet, he was sinking beneath the waves of darkness as his Keyblade hacked fruitlessly at the bodies and tendrils. It relented, also vanishing a "flash" of dark energy. He muscles forward though, bogged down by the weight of the darkness, tearing slowly through tendrils or grips of lesser beasts. His eyes were locked on Ophelia as he approached slowly.

Two tentacles slapped over his shoulder. One wrapped around his torso, the other his throat, and despite him knowing he had no lungs that needed air, or a spine that could be snapped, the fading mortal instincts within him bade him to choke. He gritted his teeth and widened his eyes, baring them at Ophelia maddeningly. He wheezed out a laugh. "I'll come back for you eventually," he assured in a rasp.

He had removed the armor to die faster, to hide it for safe finding later, and to let Ophelia see his face- to let her remember it. Her arrogance would be her undoing, in the mind of the Seeker. As she had taken off her mask to him, he had done the same to her. Then the two tentacles jerked on his body and brought him sailing into the dark mass that writhed about his waist, banishing him from sight.

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