Chapter 11: The Confrontation Castle Sharak, the home of the source of all darkness, taken from his old enemy, Mahanah, after killing him in battle eleven years ago. Sharak sat in his throne room. Waiting. Waiting for the son of his old adversary, the Saviour known as Jaron. Sharak had killed Jaron's father, when he was five. He had sent Jaron and his brother, Adam into exile for five years, separated the two of them six months ago, and had made Jaron impale one of his closest friends on his sword. Jaron wanted revenge and Sharak knew this. The emperor himself had waited a long time for this battle to happen. He knew that once his personal war with Jaron was over, he could carry on with his plan. Jafar entered the throne room. "That boy, Jaron, has arrived, Sharak." Sharak's eyes changed position to give Jafar the impression he was smiling. "Right on time", chuckled the creature. "What are your orders?" "I want you and the other members of the Council of Darkness to leave the castle", replied the emperor, "I want you all to go back to your respective worlds and do not return here until I say so." "Emperor?" "This is a personal matter between me and the Saviour, Jafar. It is up to us two and us two alone to finish it." "I understand", replied the royal vizier, "I will inform the other members of your orders. Like I, they will respect your wishes." "As will my children", replied Sharak. Jaron stood outside the main gates. He hadn't been here in eleven years. It had changed so much that the Saviour almost didn't recognise it. What Sharak had done to his home was inexcusable. Darkness and evil was absolutely everywhere. Mountains and houses outside the castle were burning fiercely as though there was no chance of restoring them, the sky was a fiery red colour and the castle itself was covered with statues of evil demons and it only got worse as the Saviour went inside. As Jaron roamed around the castle, he noticed more evil statues, the inclusion of a torture chamber, a dungeon, a feeding pit and a factory to mass produce artificial Heartless. And to add more insult to injury, there were paintings of Sharak killing some of what he viewed to be his most commendable adversaries, with Mahanah "ranking" at the bottom. All of the bedrooms had been replaced with museums of weapons and galleries of Heartless. The conference room still remained, however. Jaron remembered that this was where his father had many a discussion with his guards, guests, friends and many other people but he noticed that it too had changed dramatically. It too indicated a presence of total darkness and pure evil. Jaron wasn't surprised that he hadn't encountered any Heartless. Or any of Sharak's allies for that matter. The Saviour knew Sharak better than anyone. He knew that the source of all darkness wasn't afraid of getting his own hands dirty or afraid of fighting an opponent all on his own. The Saviour also knew that the emperor also had a twisted sense of honour. He knew that this was between him and Sharak and vice versa. Sharak, like Jaron, realised that this could only be solved between the two of them and the two of them alone, with no help from anyone else. After spending several minutes roaming around the castle, Jaron made his way to the doors that lead to the throne room, the only other room in the castle that had any trace left of his father. The Saviour knew that this was it. This was the time to finish his war with Sharak. What Sharak had done was unforgivable and Jaron couldn't bear to occupy the same universe as the source of all darkness. The Saviour wouldn't rest until he was destroyed or Sharak was. One way or another, it would end now. Jaron entered the throne room, and walked to the middle of the cavernous room, where he saw Sharak sitting in his throne. The creature rose out of his throne, his eyes glowing the familiar bright red light that Jaron had seen many times. Those sinister eyes then changed position to give Jaron the impression that he was smiling. "I knew you would come", confessed Sharak. "Did you know that you would die?" responded Jaron. The Saviour revealed his sword and threw it at the emperor. Sharak teleported out of the way and the sword ended up being impaled in the creature's throne. The source of all darkness reappeared behind Jaron, altered his right arm into a scythe and swung it wildly at the sixteen-year-old, hoping to slice him into thousands of pieces. "Honestly, Jaron", said Sharak as he still continued trying to connect with the Saviour, who persisted in dodging out of harm's way, "I would've thought that you had learned that throwing your sword at me in rage wasn't getting you anywhere with me. I'm sure Lisa did when you killed her." "IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" roared Jaron as he kicked Sharak in the gut and then delivered a ferocious uppercut to him, sending him flying into the air. The emperor back-flipped in mid-air, landing on his feet and shooting lasers from his eyes. They connected with Jaron's chest, forcing the Saviour to scream in pain. "It was you that threw the sword", taunted Sharak as he punched the ground and pillars of darkness emerged from the ground. Jaron rolled out of the way and threw ninja stars at the emperor. Sharak managed to swat them aside. "And it was you that pushed her into its path!" argued the Saviour as he held his hand out and his weapon returned to his grasp. He ran up to Sharak and swung his sword at him. The creature blocked it by morphing his hand into an axe. "True, but you should have prepared for such an eventuality. You should have known that I was capable of doing that whilst I was walking away with her and you shouldn't have pulled off such a reckless move. It cost you." The two enemies still continued clashing their weapons. "If you're trying to make me feel guilty about what happened to Lisa, Sharak, then you're wasting your time. You made me feel guilty six months ago. I've blamed myself everyday since for Lisa's demise but I don't blame myself for what you did to Adam, my parents or my home." The two still clashed their weapons against each other's. Jaron then back-flipped out of the way to get more space and then plunged his sword into the ground. A trail of light emerged and headed straight towards Sharak. The creature avoided the attack by jumping over it and towards Jaron, morphing into a wolf-like creature whilst doing so. The Saviour pulled the sword out of the ground and slashed Sharak across the jaw just as he leapt in for the kill. The creature screamed horrendously as the light burned his body and threw him to one side. Jaron rushed in hacking and slashing away at the source of all darkness. Sharak continued to scream in pain. The creature teleported away from the onslaught and morphed back into his humanoid form. He held his hand out in front of Jaron as he rushed towards him. The Saviour held his hands over his head and fell to his knees as Sharak psychically attacked him. Jaron screamed as he felt an incredible surge of pain running through his mind. Sharak's eyes went redder and redder as he increased the psychic torture he was delivering. Jaron took one of his hands off his head and reached into his belt. He took out an exploding orb and rolled it towards the creature. "It is like I told you six months ago, Jaron", said Sharak as he kicked the orb to the far corner of the room, "You are so predictable." Sharak still continued his psychic attack on Jaron. Despite the enormous pain he was feeling, Jaron managed to produce a smile as he jested, "Am I now?" Instead of exploding, the orb cracked and light flowed out of it in a sort of liquid form. In seconds a large puddle of "liquid-light" flooded towards Sharak. The creature screamed like never before as a stream of liquid-light covered him and viciously corroded him. The emperor lost control of his psychic attack, allowing Jaron to recover. The Saviour ran up to the severely wounded creature, jumped towards him and kicked him in the face. Sharak was sent flying across the throne room before crashing through the doors that lead to the stairs. The source of all darkness tumbled down two flights of stairs before landing at the door that lead to the conference room. Sharak grunted and seethed in pain as he slowly regenerated himself. As he groggily looked before him, he noticed Jaron running down the stairs, faster than the Saviour had ever ran before. Sharak had only just got up when Jaron, who hadn't stopped running, leapt at him. The Saviour speared the emperor, sending him crashing through the doors and into the conference room. Jaron hurled more ninja stars at Sharak as he tried to get back up. The stars were lodged into the creature's back who continued to express his agony. The boy ninja ran up to his greatest enemy and kicked him in the face and the stomach. Enraged, Sharak got up and delivered a brutal uppercut that sent Jaron crashing through the ceiling and back into the throne room. Sharak leapt up to join his enemy and punched the floor, just missing the Saviour as he rolled out of the way. Jaron swung his sword at the emperor again. Sharak blocked it and grabbed his wrists, holding the Saviour high up off the ground, leaving him dangling in the air. Jaron tried to kick Sharak but to no avail. The Saviour then head-butted the creature in the face, stinging him and forcing him to release Jaron. Back on the ground, the sixteen-year-old leg-swept the creature, knocking him over again. Sharak rolled out of the way to prevent Jaron's sword strike from going through his face. Sharak hurled fireballs at his adversary. They burned Jaron's stomach, forcing him to scream again and drop his sword at the same time. The source of all darkness used his telekinetic talents to lift up and propel Jaron's weapon back at him. The Saviour leapt above the sword and grabbed the blade by its handle. He landed back on the floor only for Sharak to modify his left fist into a hammerhead, extend his left arm towards Jaron's stomach, connect with brutal impact and send him crashing through a nearby window. As Jaron fell out of the five hundred-foot castle, Sharak followed after him, morphing into a hawk-like creature. Sharak dived towards the falling Saviour, hoping to rip him to shreds with his beak and talons. Jaron grabbed Sharak by the throat, swung onto his back and repeatedly punched him in the back and in the head. Sharak flew as fast and as acrobatically as he could, trying to shake the boy ninja off of him. Despite the creature's best efforts, Jaron still held on, striking him again and again. The source of all darkness morphed back into his humanoid form and slashed the Saviour across the chest. Jaron retaliated by doing the same with his sword. The two continued to trade blows in mid-air as they fell faster and faster to the ground. Sharak kicked Jaron away and tried teleporting back to inside the castle, leaving the Saviour to plummet to his doom. Jaron impaled his sword in Sharak. The source of all darkness screamed in agony for the umpteenth time as he teleported back inside the castle. Jaron still held the sword, which was still impaled in Sharak whilst he teleported, and ended up being teleported back in the castle along with the creature. The two re-emerged in the factory, with the sword still impaled in the emperor and the boy ninja still holding on to it. Jaron kicked Sharak off his sword and than leapt at him again hoping to finish him off. The creature, on the ground with his hand over his chest, launched razor-sharp saw blades at his attacker. The blades viciously cut Jaron and tore his mask. He landed on the floor in a weakened heap. Sharak groggily stood up and propelled a spiked fist at the seriously wounded Saviour, who only just managed to move out of the way. A kick from Jaron found its mark, which was Sharak's throat. More orbs exploded and corroded on the source of all darkness, more darts and razor-sharp weaponry stabbed and cut the sixteen-year-old. Their brutal battle continued to wage all over the castle for hours. Sharak even resorted to tearing apart his machinery that created Heartless and throwing pieces of it at Jaron as well as throwing him through it. Jaron responded by sending the giant statues of monsters that were all over the castle crashing down on Sharak as well as smashing the cases of weapons in the museums and using them on the emperor. As their battle exploded into the dungeon, Sharak tore Jaron's mask off and sent his head smashing into the cell bars. A battered and bloodied Saviour responded by grabbing chains and manacles and choking the creature as well tying his hands behind his back and tying him to the cell bars. Grabbing a mace, Jaron clubbed Sharak with it. The emperor had never been this gravely injured before in a fight and he had never been involved in a battle that had gone on for this long. The same could be said for Jaron. These two hated each other with a passion and they were determined not to let each other win. Both of them refused to tire or more importantly, lose. Sharak broke his restraints and the two continued fighting. Jaron had run out of orbs and ninja stars and so the two continued trading blows. Sharak was so badly injured that he couldn't morph, teleport, fire lasers and fireballs or use his mind to attack. He could only try to heal himself, solidify his body and fight hand-to-hand. The two continued to tear into one another with kicks, punches and weapon strikes for another hour where they ended up once more in the main entrance hall. The two viciously struck each other in the face, sending each other crashing to the floor. Jaron breathed heavily and grunted and seethed in pain as he tried to bear with his injuries and get back up. Sharak shook violently and also tried to cope with the immense pain that he had suffered, grunting and seething. He slowly got up to his feet and ran up to Jaron just as he was getting back up. A brutal shot to the face, then the stomach, and then a kick to the knees put Jaron back down. The Saviour tried to get back up but his body had simply had enough. There was nothing more he could do. Jaron had lost. "The battle is mine", spoke Sharak, "And so is our war." Gathering whatever power he had left, Sharak forced spikes to come out of his fist. Jaron looked up to see his enemy ready to administer the killing blow. Jaron gave Sharak a look of sheer contempt. "F-f-finish...me." Sharak "smiled" and the spikes retracted back into his fist. Jaron looked confused but his looks soon changed once more into that of contempt. "If you don't finish me", began the Saviour, "I'll finish you. You have my word on that." "Like...I said", explained the creature once more seething in pain, "The battle is mine, I have won the war between us. There is no reason...to end it with death. However, there is...plenty of good...reason, to end it with a new beginning." "I don't understand." "I'll explain later", replied Sharak as he hit Jaron in the face one more time, this time rendering him unconscious. Hours later, Sharak had fully recovered from his injuries. The Heartless had returned to the castle along with the other members of the Council of Darkness. Hades, Jafar, Captain Hook, Sephiroth, Maleficent, Ursula and Oogie Boogie were all assembled in the throne room with Sharak sitting in his throne. The still unconscious Jaron lay in the middle of the room. "Jeez, boss", said Hades, "You brought a whole new meaning to the phrase "bringing the house down"! It took ages to clean all this mess up! Wish I'd been here to see you give that little punk what he deserved though!" "Yeah, me too!" chuckled Oogie Boogie, "I'd have paid full price plus tip to see it!" "Are you sure it was such a wise idea allowing him to live?" asked Maleficent. "Yeah, the little brat can be quite the pain in the butt!" agreed Ursula. "Oh, I fully concur", agreed Sharak. "Then why did you spare him?" asked Sephiroth. "The little codfish should be gutted and hung!" shouted Hook. "With him gone, we lose one more threat to our supremacy", agreed Jafar. "All of your concerns have been noted", explained the source of all darkness, "But there is no need to kill him when his talents can be used in ridding us of our biggest problem." "So this was your plan to eliminate the Keybearer", smiled Maleficent, approvingly, "Pitting a hate-filled Saviour against someone he has become so close to." "Part of the plan, Maleficent. I have many more surprises in store for our Keyblade wielding friend. Revive him but only at a quarter of full strength." Maleficent rose her arms high into the air. A green field appeared around Jaron and he slowly woke up, still injured. He looked around him, still on his hands and knees, to see all the members of the Council of Darkness looking at him. Jaron knew that his chances of escape or victory was nil. "I am so glad to see that you are awake, Jaron", replied Sharak as he rose out of his throne and walked down to the defeated Saviour, "I would like to thank you and congratulate you. You are by far the most credible and most outstanding opponent I have ever faced. Today I had the most fun I have ever had in my existence. The battle you and I had was by far the best one I have ever fought. You are certainly the most worthy one of them all to pit your skills against mine. Much more worthier than your father." "Save it, Sharak", spoke Jaron, "You always did love the sound of your own voice too much. Why haven't you just fed me to the Heartless and have done with it?" "Jaron", soothed Sharak as he stood over the kneeling Saviour, "I have more suitable things in mind for you. Remember when I told you that our war is ending with a new beginning? Well the new beginning is you serving me as my personal slave." "You're insane. I'll never obey you. Never." "An interesting theory", remarked the emperor, "Let us put it to the test." Sharak enlarged his fingers to twice their normal size and altered the tips into razor-sharp claws. "Now. Say "arr"." Sharak plunged his clawed hand into Jaron's heart. "AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "Very good", chuckled Sharak, "I haven't even begun the transformation yet and already you're following commands." Jaron felt Sharak's fingers touching his heart and corrupting it. "What...are...you..." "Doing? I'm beginning the transformation. Your spirit is weak and so is your heart. You embrace the light. Your body on the other hand, is strong, powerful. I'm erasing all the weakness and amplifying the strength, making you a flawless assassin." Jaron cried in agony as Sharak, holding him by his heart, lifted him off the ground. "Now, open your heart!" "Never!" "Surrender it to the darkness!" "Never!" "BECOME DARKNESS ITSELF!" The entire council evilly smiled as they watched on. Jaron's screams echoed throughout the entire castle. | 
