A Kingdom Hearts Alternate Future: Sora and Kairi's Wedding

Discussion in 'Archives' started by Destiny's Force, Sep 30, 2007.

  1. Forever Love Life Without Limits

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    I must say that your are great at updating this story.
    And your writing is fantastic. I loved Kairi and Namine's conversation. Was hilarious.
    Good job. Keep up the great work.
     
  2. Mr. Pumpkin Hollow Bastion Committee

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    You are a great writer. i have publiced 1 book so far, and i can see that you write the same as me. Only... I'm Dutch so i write in a different language but i wrote 1 story in English.. pretty difficult.. but

    *thumbs up*:noworries:
     
  3. Destined Working for WDW

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    I'd like to congratulate you on this story, it's extremely well put together and there is a constant flow. I would also like to say that you have been able to replicate each characters dialogue fantastically.

    Kudo points, and keep it up!
     
  4. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

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    Kairi vs. Gambler of Fate, Another Side & A Far-off Memory

    "You know, I never liked playing games that much," Kairi said. "Like that one time last year while Sora and Riku were away. Selphie was throwing a party for the girls in our class and we ended up playing "Truth or Dare.""Kairi wobbled a bit, but she remained rooted to the spot. "It was horrible. I stupidly chose dare. Next thing I know, I'm over on the diving board at the academy's pool."

    Namine took a few seconds to register what she was getting at. "You were dared to go skinny-dipping, weren't you?"

    Kairi shuddered. "That wasn't the worst part."

    "Oh?"

    "The worst part was that it was winter, rainy, and typhoon season."

    "Ouch." Namine said with a sympathetic tone. "You might've caught hypothermia! At least there were no boys around, right?"

    "Fortunately, it was raining so hard, visibility was almost null. That and the fact the pool was self-heated."

    "Always a silver lining, huh?"

    Kairi rolled her eyes. "Unfortunately, a couple of the girls decided to steal my clothes while I was in there."

    "Oh my gawd, that's awful! Did you at least get them back for that?"

    Kairi giggled. "Let's just say that those girls will never look at a fire hydrant the same way ever again."

    "Well, look at it this way. At least Sora and Riku don't know about it."

    "Somehow I think Riku knows about it. Don't know how, but as long as he doesn't tell Sora..." Kairi's thought trailed off. "Um...shouldn't I have gotten hit by now?" Indeed, Luxord's spinning card attack was not as effective as she thought it would be. The cards propelled him toward Kairi like a frisbee. Due to her size and form, though, Luxord's attack kept carrying him over her in an arc, missing her completely.

    Kairi wasn't damaged, but it was wasting her time bar. "How long do I have to stay like this?" As soon as the thought formed in her mind, she felt feeling returning to her limbs as she transformed back into her human self.

    She shook off the numbness. "Alright, now back to business." She raised her Keyblade and charged at Luxord. Unfortunately, with a wave of his hand, the cards that were circling around him flew off and started to home in on Kairi. This effectively stopped her attack and forced her to back away. "Oh no."

    Kairi held her Keyblade in front of her as the cards closed in spinning dangerously like sawblades. "What's with these cards stalking me?" The Gambler of Fate chuckled.

    "When in the chronicles of wasted time
    I see descriptions of the fairest wights,
    And beauty making beautiful old rhyme
    In praise of ladies dead and lovely knights."


    Kairi stared. "What in the world was that?"

    "Shakespearean Sonnet 106," Luxord explained. "It's a great read and I like to expand my vocabulary that way."

    Kairi kept backing up until she almost lost her footing. She looked behind her and saw that she had been forced to the edge of the arena. Kairi could make out the ground forty stories below. There was nowhere else to run. It was either take the attack or jump. She tightened her grip on the Keyblade as the cards began to come steadily closer.

    "This is going to leave one huge paper cut," Namine commented.

    Kairi shook her head. "Had to be Shakespeare. It just had to be freakin' Shakespeare!"

    * * *

    "This is awful!" Queen Minnie cried. "Why did this have to happen on such a happy occasion?" She was with Lady Daisy and the other wedding guests in the safe room away from all the danger. Staying as bodyguards were all of Sora's formerly summoned allies, excluding Simba, Peter Pan & Tinker Bell. Genie was busy entertaining the kids with his impressions. Chicken Little and Mushu were swapping stories.

    Since they couldn't go outside, everyone didn't know how the battle was taking place. The most recent visitor they had was Jack Skellington, who had only stopped by to check in on Sally. He told them what he knew and then dashed off to help the others.

    Daisy patted the Queen's shoulder reassuringly. "It's alright. These things happen." Minnie only hung her head in sadness. "If you think about it, this interruption is like a blessing."

    Minnie raised her head in confusion. "What do you mean?"

    Daisy placed her hand under her chin in thought. "Well, from what I heard from the Maid of Honor and the Flower Girl, Princess Kairi didn't seem so enthusiastic about the marriage."

    The Queen looked at her in surprise. "Really? That's the first I've heard of it." As she was speaking, Stitch crawled across the ceiling in his spider-like fashion. "I thought the Princess loved Sora!"

    "She does, but you know how it is at that age. Neither of them have even reached adulthood yet. Putting the fate of Radiant Garden and the other worlds on their shoulders must be a terrible burden."

    Stitch finally found his target underneath him. Bambi was trotting around, blissfully unaware that Experiment 626 had let go of the ceiling and was diving straight for his back.

    "Cowabunga!" Stitch hollered gleefully as he soared through the air.

    As Bambi thrashed around with Stitch riding him like a rodeo clown, Daisy walked up to a window on the far side of the room and started gazing soulfully toward the horizon.

    "So the only reason she agreed to this marriage was because of the letter?" Minnie asked.

    Daisy nodded. "Yes, I believe so. That's probably why Sora went along with it, too."

    "Oh dear. Ruling a kingdom is one thing, but having to deal with the entire universe..." The Queen shook her head. "I can't even begin to imagine what it's like for those two."

    There was a bit of silence between them. The other summons were trying desperately to remove Stitch's perch from Bambi. Eventually Dumbo was able to wrap his trunk around the little alien and started slamming him comically against the wall.

    Queen Minnie looked out the window, following Daisy's gaze toward the horizon. "Still, I hope those boys will be alright."

    * * *

    "Hey, you're that boy who helped me earlier! Sora, right?"

    "Yeah, that's me! And you're that new girl...uh, Kari, right?"

    "Close. It's Kairi."

    "Oh, right. Sorry about that."

    "It's okay. So, Sora, why exactly are you somersaulting on the ground like that?"

    "This? It's a new technique I've been practicing! You know how it's harder to hit something that's small and moving, right? Well, if I tuck my body in like this and roll, attacks might pass right over me."

    "But who would attack you? This seems like a peaceful village."

    "Well, me and a few other kids hang out on that island over there. We sometimes go on adventures, goof around, get into fights..."

    "That sounds awful! Violence doesn't solve anything!"

    "What? Oh, that's not what I meant! I meant we get into PRETEND fights. No one really gets hurt."

    "I see. So, that somersault you were doing is supposed to prevent you from getting hurt?"

    "Yup! Doesn't it look cool?"

    "But why not just sidestep attacks like that friend of yours does?"

    "Who, Riku? Nah, he's got his own way of fighting and I have mine. I can't expect to beat him with his own techniques, right?"

    "Hey, Sora?"

    "Yeah?"

    "Do you think you can teach me how to fight too?"

    "Uh...I don't know, Kairi..."

    "Please, Sora?"

    "..."


    * * *

    "Are you really worthy to wield such a powerful weapon as the Keyblade?" Luxord asked. "At least Sora seemed to be a worthy opponent."

    Kairi could feel her temper flaring up again. "I'm not worthy, huh?" The cards were only a few feet away. "Sora's got his Dodge Roll, Riku's got his Dodge Leap," Kairi thought, "so why can't I have my own dodge move?" She stretched out her arms in front of her and dived underneath the cards, her nose just inches from the floor. As soon as she passed them, she slapped the ground with her hands, pushed her body into a handstand and immediately flipped herself into standing position.

    "Think I'll call that my Dodge Flip," Kairi thought, smiling to herself. She focused back on Luxord and charged at him again. The spinning cards trailed behind her, but she ran so fast that they couldn't keep up. Luxord only looked at Kairi, his face expressionless.

    "Look closely," was all he said before his body transformed into a card. The cards behind Kairi disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared at Luxord's sides. Before she could blink, the cards flattened face-down on the ground and started shuffling themselves.

    "What kind of attack is this?" The cards finally stood upward and started to circle around her like moons in orbit. All Kairi could see was the back of the cards, unable to tell which one was Luxord.

    "We have to touch the card that Luxord's hiding in with the Keyblade," Namine said.

    Kairi shrugged. "I guess I'll just attack them all!" She leapt at one of the stray cards.

    "No, wait! You don't know what'll happen if you attack the wrong card!" But Kairi was already in mid-swing. As soon as her Keyblade touched the card in front of her, the card flipped itself to face her. She caught a glimpse of a fiery-red spiral before the card exploded in her face, temporarily blinding her.

    Tears blurring her vision, Kairi started to swing the Keyblade wildly, desperately trying to hit anything. She eventually made contact with Luxord's card, causing the remaining one to disappear.

    "Lucky guess, princess," Luxord said before flipping himself back into his card form. And in another puff of smoke, new cards were summoned to the field.

    "Six cards this time," Namine observed. "Come on, Kairi, you can do it!"

    As her vision returned to normal, Kairi found herself surrounded by more cards. Since she had been blinded, she had no idea which card was Luxord. Her eyes gazed at them, trying to figure out if there was some telltale behavior that would give him away. In her peripheral vision, she noticed a card on her left was vibrating slightly.

    "It was this one!" Kairi flipped the card with her Keyblade. She knew the card was wrong as soon as it showed its face: a clock. Glancing at the time bar, she was horrified to see that the rate of her time bar decreasing had sped up. "Oh no."

    "Don't squander your time," Luxord's voice taunted from one of the surrounding cards.

    Kairi tried to focus on which card that she had heard the voice from. She thrust her Keyblade at the card, not sure if she guessed correctly.

    She was pleasantly surprised to see the other four cards disappear, leaving the gambler hobbling a bit.

    "You play the game quite well," Luxord said as he summoned a total of ten cards this time.

    "Again?!" Kairi was getting extremely ticked off now. As the pack of cards circled around her, she took one look at them and said, "You know what? Screw it." She raised her Keyblade. "THUNDER!" Lightning rained down from the sky, instantly obliterating every single card that was not Luxord.

    Luxord brushed the leftover ash off his cloak. "Hey! That's grand-scale cheating!" he coughed.

    "I'm through playing games with you!" Kairi shouted, pointing her Keyblade. "Why don't you actually fight me yourself?!"

    Luxord smirked. "Well, well, well." The sky darkened as more cards appeared in his hands. "Look who's on top of the game!" Kairi braced herself as the cards flew out in every direction, scattering themselves onto the floor.

    "What is this, 52-card pick-up?" Instead of responding, Luxord changed himself into his card form and fell flat on his face. Kairi ran up to the card that she had seen her opponent in and thrust the Keyblade into its body.

    Nothing happened. Sweeping some stray hair off her face, Kairi scanned the field. "Where is he?"

    "Kairi, I just went through Sora's memories again," Namine said. "Luxord can transfer himself from card to card. That means he can pop out from under any of them."

    "Any of them, huh?" Kairi rolled her eyes and sighed. "Ten bucks say he's going to appear right behind me." Without turning her head, Kairi took the Keyblade, tucked it beneath her arm and stabbed blindly behind her.

    "Hoooph!" The sound of her blade making contact with Luxord's abdominals felt extremely satisfying to Kairi's ears. The cards that littered the playing field disappeared in puffs of smoke. With the wind knocked out of him, the crafty gambler staggered around like a drunk.

    Kairi looked up at the display and was astonished to see that Luxord's time bar was completely depleted. Luxord clutched his stomach in pain.

    "Yet do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong," he recited, "My love shall in my verse ever live young." (Sonnet 19)

    "Will you shut the $#@*&@% up, already?!?!" Kairi roared as she slammed her Keyblade straight across Luxord's head, leaving a beheaded data body that dissolved back into code.

    Anger and adrenaline were still coursing through her as she reappeared in the Garden of Assemblage. Kairi leaned up against a wall, attempting to calm herself down.

    "I'm sorry. I think Shakespearean sonnets are romantic and all," Kairi huffed, "but anyone who recites it just to show off deserves a can of Whoop-A 55."

    (Note from author: This took all my willpower and focus to get this chapter finished. To be honest, my homework's starting to pile up, but I don't want to leave all you readers out there hanging like this. It's a dilemma in my opinion: Work on something I like that's appreciated by the public or work on something that I'm going to regret not working on if I put it off too long. I'm supposed to be working on this other fiction piece for my Creative Writing class that's due at the end of the semester. I'd post it up here, but I'm feeling a bit hesitant about it for two reasons:

    1. I haven't worked on it since starting this series.

    2. It's not KH-related in any way.

    Anyway, I digress. I've got a few other projects due this week. See you next chapter!)
     
  5. Thebazilly King's Apprentice

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    That was another great chapter! And don't worry about your homework. It happens. And you have to get it done. I know for sure that I'll still be looking forward to this story. I think the Luxord fight was the funniest yet. Great job.
     
  6. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

    Joined:
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    Location:
    With Amber <3
    141
    Kairi, Boys & Jack meets Jack

    (Note from author: Was debating whether to hold off posting this chapter until I was at least one chapter ahead or to just go ahead and post it instead of needlessly bumping something that was on its way to the second page. Guess which one I chose... ;) )

    "Did you feel that?" Kairi pressed her hand against her chest. "It's that weird feeling again."

    "You're right," Namine agreed, "it feels slightly stronger, though."

    A thought occurred to Kairi. "You don't think someone's messing with my memories, do you?"

    "What makes you say that?"

    Kairi crossed her arms in thought. "I remember Sora said he felt the same thing when you were messing with his."

    "No, that's not possible," Namine replied immediately. "As far as I know, I'm the only one who had that type of power. And you can't tamper with someone's memories just like that. It's a long and subtle process."

    "So, it's possible?" Kairi asked, worry starting to creep into her voice.

    "Like I said, it can't be or else I'd know about it."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I may be merged with you again, but I've retained my own memories and thoughts. Although the process may affect you, I'd know what your true memories are." Namine would've been smiling if she had a body. "Just think of me as storage backup for your memories."

    "So, even if someone were to mess with my memories," Kairi paraphrased, "they can't mess with yours?"

    "Exactly." Kairi stood silent for a moment. She walked up to one of the cascading waterfalls, extended an arm out to cup some water and splashed some of it on her face.

    "I don't know how Sora does it," Kairi said as she stretched her arms over her head. "Going from one battle to the next. When does he ever get some rest?"

    "Well, he did sleep for about a year," Namine said. "I'd think he'd be full of energy after a nap that long."

    Kairi walked over to their next target: a shadow of a strange, yet familiar object. She leaned forward for a closer look. "What is this supposed to be?"

    "It looks like a weird test tube or something." Namine gasped. "You don't think it's Vexen, do you? I mean, he's a scientist after all."

    Kairi shook her head. "I don't know who Vexen is, but this looks more like a guitar than a test tube."

    "A guitar?" Namine stared at the shape through Kairi's eyes. "Now that you mention it..."

    "Well, let's get this over with," Kairi sighed as she reached out to touch the object.

    When the light cleared, Kairi immediately felt a sense of familiarity with the environment. "Hey! We're back in Radiant Garden!"

    Namine wasn't convinced. "No, if that were true, then there should be other battles taking place right now." Indeed, other than the occasional breeze howling, the area was eerily silent...

    Data streams shot out of the void forming their next opponent: a blond, geeky-looking kid with a crew-cut. Kairi stared him down like any other dangerous opponent. Her piercing glare made him cringe back a few steps.

    Kairi waited for her opponent to make the usual taunt or psychologically damaging insult she'd come to expect. So she was taken completely off guard when the guy winked at her and smiled.

    "Hey, you're looking vivacious," the stranger greeted cheerfully.

    Kairi looked at him as if he were crazy. "Namine, who is this kook?"

    "Not sure. Sora's memories say that this guy's Demyx," Namine quoted. "He met him back at Olympus Coliseum and during the Hollow Bastion assault."

    "He seems kinda...young," Kairi thought.

    "Remember that a Nobody doesn't necessarily look like their original form," Namine reminded her. "Me and Roxas are proof of that. Besides," she added, "I think he's kinda cute."

    Kairi's eyes widened. "Are you serious? You actually think he's cute?"

    "What's wrong with thinking another guy's cute?" Namine huffed defensively.

    Kairi rolled her eyes. "Um...what about Roxas? You know, your soulmate?"

    "Like you should talk. I've seen you eyeing Riku."

    "What?!" Kairi reddened a little. "That...that doesn't mean anything!"

    "Uh huh. Admit it. You sometimes thought he was a lot cooler than Sora," Namine teased.

    "Well, yeah," Kairi stammered, "he may be serious and all, but Riku doesn't have Sora's sense of humor. Not to mention, Sora's got that cute, adorable dim-wittedness he always has." She shook her head in disbelief. "Wait, why am I arguing with you about this?"

    Namine giggled. "Consider that payback for the whole direction thing earlier." Kairi turned her attention back on her opponent.

    "A girl, huh?" Demyx gave the red-head an up-and-down. "This might actually be easy for once."

    Kairi raised an eyebrow. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked, anger seeping into her voice.

    Demyx shrugged. "Oh nothing. It's just that I've been getting beat up by a bunch of real tough people recently. I mean, there's that boyfriend of yours," he started counting on his fingers, "that bird with the speech impediment, the suspenders guy on two legs, the Yoda wannabe with the ears, Xigbar, the Accessory shop owner..."

    "I'm starting to almost feel sorry for this guy," Kairi muttered. "Emphasis on 'almost'."

    "...that big, scary dog with three heads, Sephiroth, those chipmunks, the freaky chick with the giant shruiken..."

    "You know," Namine said, "I'm thinking this guy used to get beat up even before he became a Nobody."

    "...that guy with the spiky hair, Sea-Salt ice cream, a plumber, a hedgehog, some guy called "Nomura"..."

    "Shut up, already!" Kairi snapped. "I don't want to hear how pathetic you are!"

    "Besides, a couple of them are from the wrong game platform." Namine chipped in.

    Kairi ignored her. "What does me being a girl have to do with anything?"

    "What?" Demyx scratched his head. "I mean everyone hits so hard! You just look easy."

    "Oh, he didn't just..." Kairi tried to bite back the insult that was boiling inside her.

    She failed. "Yeah? Well, the sixties called. They want their mullet back!"

    Demyx's eyes widened. "Now that's just plain rude!"

    Kairi shook her head. "Just give it a rest! I've only known you for five minutes and you already seem like a complete wuss."

    "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," Demyx said, wagging his finger.

    "You're one to talk!" Kairi shot back. "You just said that it'd be easy to take me down because I'm a girl." She pointed at Demyx with the Keyblade. "So don't start preaching me about appearances."

    Demyx was silent for a moment. Then he dropped his playful demeanor and growled, "Silence, girl." He raised his arm into the air, water appearing out from underneath his feet. Flowing upward into the palm of his hand, the water formed into his weapon: a sitar. Demyx twirled it around a few times before pointing at Kairi. "Just thought of the perfect piece to play with your defeat."

    Demyx strung a few chords from his sitar. "Dance, water, dance!" Next thing Kairi knew, she was surrounded by water clones that looked exactly like Demyx. "Got thirty seconds, girlfriend!" The clones started to pulsate with a wicked-looking light. "Or else the next song that'll be playing is at your funeral!"

    * * *

    Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, ran as fast as his spindly legs would carry him. "Now that I know Sally's safe, I've gotta catch up with the others! Those fellows need my help!"

    He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't notice Captain Jack Sparrow running the other way. The two collided with a thunderous crash. Jack Skellington rubbed the back of his head. "Well, that was unexpected." As he stood brushing himself off, he finally got a good look at what he crashed into.

    "I'm so sorry about that! Are you okay, sir?" Jack Skellington extended a hand to the fallen pirate. Sparrow took one look at the skeletal hand and decided he could help himself up.

    "Thank you, but it takes more than a bump like that to harm a pirate captain!"

    "Oh my!" Skellington's eyes grew rounder with wonderment. "A pirate you say?"

    The captain brushed himself off. "That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow, if you please." He looked at the Halloween Town denizen with pure curiosity. "I've been around the seven seas, but I've never seen anyone like you before."

    "Forgive me," Jack Skellington bowed, "I've forgotten to introduce myself. Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!" On the last syllable, he immediately went into his scariest pose, causing Jack Sparrow to leap back a few steps.

    "Really?" Sparrow shook his head. "Sailin' the waters, I've heard some tales, but not a one like this."

    "By the way," Jack Skellington began, "what exactly is that you're carrying?"

    In the crook of one of Sparrow's arms was a jar of dirt. "Just something I carry around for good luck. Never you mind."

    "So where are you off to, Mr. Sparrow?" the Pumpkin King asked enthusiastically.

    "That's CAPTAIN Sparrow! And I wouldn't know." Sparrow shifted the jar to his other arm. "Ever since that Laddie fellow stole my compass, I've been trying to find somewhere safe away from all these blasted Heartless." He shrugged. "There's no reason why I should get involved with matters like these."

    "Because they would do the same for you?" Jack Skellington guessed.

    "Right you are! But would I do the same for them? I AM a pirate after all."

    "Hmmm..." Skellington scratched his cheek in thought. "But isn't there something about honor in the pirate's code?"

    Sparrow gave him a sharp look. "How do you know about the Pirate's Code?"

    "I...guessed?"

    The captain went silent for a moment. Then he said, "You've got a point there." He brandished his sword. "Alright, as a man of honor, I'll help get rid of those little buggers..."

    "Great! Mr. Sparrow, we're off!" Jack Skellington ran ahead before Jack Sparrow could finish his sentence.

    "...for a price," Sparrow finished. But with his only listener out of earshot, he had no choice but to run after him. "And that's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow!" he muttered.
     
  7. Destined Working for WDW

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    oooo good, and nice little twist at the end makes you wonder what good ol' jack has up his sleeves.

    Keep it coming when ya can
     
  8. W7F King's Apprentice

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    XDDD I luv Demyx. He's such. . . A wuss? so easy to mak fun of, too. Grr. . . I still can't rep you. I'm starting to like these constant updates of yours. Just dun forget your homework, :P
     
  9. Forever Love Life Without Limits

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    This made me smile and giggle, especially "Nomura." Priceless!! XD
    Ehehehe.

    Good job on this chapter.
    Your updates make me ecstatic.
    =]
     
  10. Kelly Killz Merlin's Housekeeper

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    Wow... You're an awesome writer. Have you ever considered writing teen novels? Of course, it wouldn't be on KH, but your style of writing is so easy to follow, its entertaining, and I don't think I found any typos, either. Then again, I'm not very good with grammar and stuff myself, ha.
     
  11. O R A N G E C is the heavenly option

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    ROFL!!

    Demyx getting beat up XD

    And the Jar of Dirt!!!

    AHAHAHA! That is really funny.

    *waits for update*

     
  12. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

    Joined:
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    Location:
    With Amber <3
    141
    Kairi vs. Melodious Nocture & Materia Hunter Strikes Again!

    (Note from author: This was actually a hard fight to map out. Hence, the long gap between updates. But, I like how it ended. And the next one shouldn't be too har...wait. On second thought, I'm going to have to do some research on the next one first...)

    "Any thoughts, Namine?" Kairi asked as the water clones danced to Demyx's haunting melody.

    "There's only one thing to do," Namine replied, "ATTACK!"

    "Don't have to tell me twice!" Kairi targeted the nearest clone and swung the Keyblade for all its worth. As soon as it sliced through its thin permeable skin, the clone burst like a balloon, drenching her.

    She spat out some water that got in her mouth. "Great, now my underwear's soaked," Kairi pouted. She rounded on Demyx. "Do you know how hard it is to dry cotton clothing?!"

    "That's the least of our problems," Namine said. "Just shake it off and keep going!"

    Kairi shook her head angrily. "Forget this! I'm taking him down!" She leapt into the air and barreled down on her opponent. As powerful as the Keyblade was, an invisible barrier surrounded Demyx. He didn't even flinch.

    "Nice try, princess!" Demyx taunted, still absorbed in plucking the strings. "But as long as my water clones are around, you can't hit me!"

    "Kairi, hurry!" Namine shouted. "You have to destroy these things, now!" Kairi bared her teeth and started attacking the clones left and right. As soon as the last clone was destroyed, she turned back to Demyx.

    "Now to..." Kairi began. Before she could continue, Demyx started to string another melody.

    "Dance, water, dance!" More clones materialized around him. "Ten in thirty seconds was way too easy. Let's amp it up, shall we?" This time, fifty water clones surrounded her.

    "I knew this guy couldn't really fight," Kairi muttered. "He's just hiding behind these stupid clones!"

    "Either that or he's toying with us," Namine said. "There has to be a faster way!"

    "What else can we..." Kairi stopped in her tracks. "Wait a minute..." The idea just popped into her head. She raised the Keyblade over her head. "This better work."

    "GATHER!" Kairi's Magnega orb appeared, sucking in any clone that dared to dance in its presence. "THUNDER!" Lightning shot out of the sky and started blasting its target held captive in the sphere's orbit. Kairi repeated the spells, destroying the majority of the clones. She kept the pattern up until...

    "THUNDER!" Kairi shouted. But nothing happened. "Wha...THUNDER!" She swung her Keyblade around wildly. "THUNDER! THUNDER!" Kairi shook her head. "What's going on?"

    "Kairi, you're out of magic!" Namine explained. "You have to wait for it to charge up again!"

    "Ten clones left," Kairi panted as she dashed toward the nearest target.

    "Ten seconds!" Demyx sang. Kairi's composure was starting to crumble as she realized that she might actually lose this fight.

    "Use your opponent's strength against them!" Namine cried.

    Kairi's Keyblade flashed as it destroyed another double. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

    "I don't know! That's the only thing that came to mind!"

    "But..." An image of Sora doing a "Wild Dance" flashed through her mind. Kairi's body trembled and it had nothing to do with being soaked.

    As creepy and disgusting as it felt, she grabbed one of the water clones. It felt like a water balloon getting ready to burst. "Don't think about it, just do it," Kairi chanted to herself. Feeling silly and stupid at the moment, she gripped onto the struggling clone and started swinging it above her head like a lasso.

    To her surprise, the technique actually worked for her. With two seconds to spare, she eliminated all of the clones. Kairi brushed some wet hair out of her eyes as she shifted her focus back on Demyx. "You jerk! Do you seriously know how uncomfortable this is? It feels like I wet myself or something!" She charged like a bullet train off-track at the Melodious Nocturne.

    "I can't believe you just said that out loud," Namine sighed. Before she could get within five feet of Demyx, powerful geysers erupted out in front of Kairi.

    "It's just water, right?" Kairi smirked. "What's the worst that can happen, I get soaked even more?" She blindly runs at the wall of geysers protecting Demyx.

    THWHAM! Kairi felt the water geysers awesome pressure send her flying into the air.

    Demyx laughed. "C'mon! I thought you'd have at least hit me once by now!" Kairi pounded her fist on the ground in frustration as she stared daggers at her opponent.

    "This guy..." Kairi tried to regain her focus and tried to prop herself up. "...is SO dead!"

    Demyx hummed and strummed almost serenely. "Got you now!" Kairi was confused for the moment before she realized what was happening. She whipped her head around and realized that her opponent had summoned two walls of geysers that surrounded her in a pincer-type formation. The walls of water rapidly closed in on Kairi as she made her way back to her feet. Not knowing what else to do, she reacted by attempting an Aerial Dodge through one of the walls, but ended up being blasted sky-high again.

    As she landed with a dull crack, Kairi couldn't help but think, "And here I thought water was the softest material there is."

    * * *

    Aerith and Cid finally made it to Ansem's Computer where Yuffie was waiting for them.

    "What took you guys so long?" Yuffie greeted.

    "Had a few roadblocks," Cid replied, "but nothing we couldn't handle."

    "Has Tron been able to get the security system back online yet?" Aerith asked.

    Yuffie nodded. "He's been working on it since the wedding disruption." She pointed toward the computer screen. "He should be done any moment now."

    At soon as she finished her sentence, the alarm rang out.

    "Greetings, friends!" Tron said. "I've just finished repairing the security grid! It should be active as we speak."

    "Thank you, Tron," Aerith said. "We really appreciate this!"

    "It's no problem. We're friends after all."

    "Speaking of problems," Cid began, "has there been any trouble on your end?"

    "Actually," Tron replied in a confused tone, "there hasn't been any anomalies since this event began."

    "It's too bad you can't be here, Tron." Yuffie said. "We could definitely use all the help we could get."

    "It's interesting you should mention that," Tron said. After he said that, the digitizer started to hum to life.

    "Tron, what's going on?" Aerith asked. In response, the digitizer fired its scanning beam. Something was being materialized right in front of their eyes. After a few seconds, it was obviously human-shaped, but no one that looked familiar. One look at the stranger and it was painfully obvious that he wasn't from around this world.

    "Greetings, friends!" the stranger said. It took a few moments for them to place the familiar voice.

    "TRON?!" Aerith, Yuffie and Cid yelled in unison. Tron smiled.

    "I want to help you Users fight," he explained. "I've done all I can from inside."

    "It's great to finally meet you in person, Tron!" Yuffie said as she hugged him enthusiastically.

    "So, what's the plan?" Cid asked.

    "May I suggest that we meet up with our other friends?" Tron said.

    "Great idea, but..." Aerith's face was etched with worry. "What do we do about the other Heartless and Nobodies? I need time to recover my power and Cid's airship had to land for repairs."

    "Oh, don't worry about that!" Cid looked extremely pleased with himself. "I've got our secret weapon in case we get in trouble!" He reached into his pocket, eager to flaunt the goods. After a few seconds, his grin changed into an expression of confusion. "Wait," Cid patted down his pockets. "where'd all my Materia go?"

    Yuffie grabbed Tron's hand. "C'mon, Tron! Time to go!" Before Cid could react, Yuffie threw down a flash bomb, resulting in her and Tron disappearing in a puff of smoke.

    "Doggone it, Yuffie!" Cid began chasing after her out the door. "I was saving those Materia for Cloud!"

    Aerith giggled. "Poor Cid. At least I still have my Holy Materia." She reached into her braided hair expecting to find her special Materia. Her eyes widened as she discovered that it was gone too. "Yuffie!" she yelled before giving chase as well.

    * * *

    Kairi swung her Keyblade in a downward arc, interrupting Demyx's playing. She was taken completely by surprise when he raised his sitar and blocked her attack.

    "I guess we underestimated each other," Demyx grunted as he pushed back as hard as he could. Shoving Kairi off of him, he slammed his sitar into her side, sending her reeling.

    "You know, I kinda like you," Demyx said, "In a respectful enemy type of way. I mean, if I wasn't being forced to kill you, I'd be asking if you wanted to hang out."

    Kairi clutched her side in pain. "You've gotta be kidding me," she muttered.

    Demyx twirled the sitar in a flamboyant manner and started to play furiously. Giant water bubbles formed up above and started raining down from the sky. Kairi leapt up to her feet and started to run, but a couple of water orbs slammed her back into the ground, soaking her even further.

    Looking like a drenched alley rat and feeling the need for a warm shower, Kairi staggered back to her feet. "Is my magic recharged yet?" she asked Namine.

    "It needs a few more minutes," Namine replied. Kairi shook her head.

    "I can't wait! This guy's seriously ticking me off! And if I hear him say..." Kairi began.

    "Dance, water, dance!" Demyx strummed his sitar again. Ninety-nine water clones materialized, lining the area's edge. "Can't attack me now!" he laughed.

    Kairi let out a yell of frustration and annoyance. "Okay! That's it!" She stomped straight up to Demyx who was humming to himself.

    "Kairi, what are you doing?" Namine asked. Kairi glared at Demyx, fuming with anger. He barely glanced up at her.

    "Running out of time, princess! And your attacks won't hit me while my clones are here!"

    Kairi stood there silent for a moment. "My attacks can't hit you, huh?" she said quietly. Then without warning, Kairi's hands shot out at Demyx's sitar and ripped it out of his grasp.

    "Hey! What are you...?" Kairi held his weapon straight in front of her and with a quick jerk over her knee, she snapped his sitar in two.

    The water clones instantly evaporated into mist. As she threw the splintered halves away while still maintaining her glare, Demyx stood there dumbfounded. "Wait...but...you can't..." he stammered. Kairi made the motion of rolling up her sleeves.

    Demyx's eyes widened as she started tapping the Keyblade against her palm in a menacing manner. The last words out of his mouth were, "I knew they were sending the wrong..."
     
  13. Forever Love Life Without Limits

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2007
    Location:
    Shaping my life.
    71
    869
    Ahaha. The last part made me laugh.
    Like W7FHAX said, I'll be thinking of Kairi grabbing his sitar and breaking it and tapping her palm with her keyblade everytime I fight that boy. =]
    Good job!
     
  14. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2007
    Location:
    With Amber <3
    141
    A stronger doubt & the Lion, the Princess and a Guy That Needs New Wardrobe.

    Kairi was backed up behind the crevices of a cove so as not to be seen if anyone happened to come in. She had quickly stripped off the majority of her outfit and was now in the process of squeezing most of the water out of her skirt.

    "Seriously, I wish I had my purse on me," Kairi was saying. "Maybe I could've used my cell phone and told someone where I was."

    "Wishful thinking. But your phone only works on Destiny Islands." Namine replied. "You're definitely out of its service range."

    "Well, I definitely could've used the hand warmer," Kairi said as she started wringing out her socks. "Or at least a comb. Do you know how hard it is to keep my hair straight like this?"

    "Maybe you should think of changing your hairstyle," Namine suggested. Then she changed her mind. "On second thought, guys always seem to go for the girls that just let their hair down. Wonder why that is?"

    Kairi started to air out her undershirt. "I don't know. Maybe guys think that with the hair up, girls look reserved. But with the hair down, they look like they've got nothing to hide."

    Namine pondered her reasoning for a few seconds. "Maybe. Either that or they're just a bunch of overly critical dorkwads."

    "I could go for a warm shower right about now," Kairi said dreamily. As she held her undershirt in her hands, she closed her eyes and started to imagine the warm, pleasurable rush of water washing over her. Her muscles relaxed as all her aches and pains just seemed to melt away. A smile started to form on her lips as a feeling of blissful contentment filled her body.

    "Um, Kairi?" Namine's voice echoed in the back of her mind.

    "I'll be out in a minute," Kairi mumbled softly. Namine sighed.

    "Okay, that's enough daydreaming," she said sternly. "Just put your clothes back on before...Hey! There's Sora!"

    Kairi's eyes snapped open and quickly covered herself up. "Where?!" she squeaked, panicking. She took a quick peek around the room before she realized that Namine was giggling. Kairi rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's real mature, Namine," she huffed, pulling her top back on.

    "Hey, you needed a reality check, girl," Namine laughed. "Besides, if you keep standing around naked, you're going to catch a cold."

    "Sorry," Kairi said as she pulled her skirt up, "I guess it's just been a long day for both of us."

    As soon as she had finished putting her wrinkled outfit back on, they walked over to their next target. A shadow of a circular object with points hovered in place. Namine gasped.

    "I know who this is," she said quietly.

    "So do I," Kairi agreed. There was no mistaking it.

    "Axel," they said in unison.

    The girls stared at Axel's symbol. "You know, maybe we should choose someone else," Namine suggested.

    Kairi shook her head. "No, I've got a lot of stuff that I've been meaning to say to him." She reached for the shadow.

    "But, Kairi," Namine started to say, but it was too late. They immediately found themselves surrounded by walls of flame. As Kairi began to sweat, Namine chuckled. "Well, at least you're no longer cold, right?"

    Kairi started to fan herself with an open hand. "It's like standing in a baked oven!" She could feel the Keyblade's metal start to grow warmer underneath her grip.

    "Just remember to act calm when he appears," Namine advised.

    "Don't worry, Namine. I'm like a mountain of tranquility at the moment."

    The data streams appeared right on cue. When Axel's body fully formed, he seemed astonished to see who his opponent was.

    "Kairi?"

    Kairi stood silent for a moment. There were many things she had wanted to say to him. Word choices rambled around in her mind. In the end, though, Kairi ended up shouting, "You sonuva...!!" and made a mad dash toward him, her eyes reflecting the fiery anger within her.

    Axel barely had time to raise his chakrams to defend himself. "Wait, Kairi! Let me explain!" Kairi wouldn't listen and kept up her berserk assault.

    "You lousy...piece of...rotten..." Not knowing how else to calm her down, Axel quickly spun around behind her and locked her into a bear hug, pinning her arms to her sides.

    "Will you just cool off and listen for a sec?" But Kairi felt venomous intent controlling her emotions at the moment. She slammed her foot on to top of his boot. Axel immediately let go, hopping on one foot trying to shake off the pain.

    He immediately stopped cold when Kairi held the tip of her Keyblade underneath his chin. "Shut up and talk," she growled quietly, keeping her gaze intensely focused on Axel.

    "Look Kairi. I...I wanted to apologize to you. You know, for the whole kidnapping thing." Axel was trying not to make any sudden movements as Kairi's eyes were still staring daggers through him. "I'm sorry. It's just that I thought I'd be able to see Roxas again if I could get Sora's heart to..."

    "I'm sorry? I'M SORRY?!" Kairi removed the blade from his throat and slammed its handle into Axel's stomach, knocking him back a few feet. "Do you have any idea what I've been through?! My heart was stolen, my boyfriend left me, my memories were tampered with, I had to play damsel in distress, TWICE!" she raged. "I've been forced into a marriage that I'm not ready for, kidnapped yet again, had to put up with a giant Heartless, was violated by a perverted Nobody, and had to be insulted, tortured, blasted, soaked, electrocuted and beaten up by your freakin' Organization!" Kairi fixed an intense glare at Axel. "And you expect me to just forgive you just like that? JUST LIKE THAT?!"

    Axel massaged his stomach. "Hey, if you hadn't run away from me, I'd have kept you safe from the rest of the Organization!"

    "You know what? I wish I wasn't a stupid Princess of Heart!" There it was. The stress and pressure finally made her doubt her own heart. "Then I wouldn't have been kidnapped off my world! I wouldn't be stuck in this stupid marriage! I wouldn't have had to put up with this...this..." She struggled for the right words. "...idiotic lunacy! I'd be sitting at home, hanging with my parents! I'd be going to school and not have to worry about other worlds!" She fell to her knees, her face in her hands. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "No Keyblades or Heartless to deal with. None of this hearts and darkness junk! I'd have..."

    "Never met Sora," Axel finished quietly. Kairi froze. "You don't really believe he hasn't suffered as much as you have, do you? Do you have any idea how much he gave up just to bring you and Riku back in one piece?" He crossed his arms, his face expressionless. "Yeah, I had my share of sins too. I'll admit that. I kidnapped you to try to bring back Roxas. It was selfish, I know. But Sora..." Axel turned his head away from her. "He never once stopped believing in you. He gave up his home, his innocence, his memories, and more importantly," he fixed his gaze back on Kairi, "he gave up his heart. All of that just to be with you."

    Kairi couldn't think of a counter-argument, so Axel continued. "I wish I could say I know how you feel. Really, I do. But we both know I don't have a heart to understand with. You may not like how your life turned out up to this point. But you know what? Deal with it."

    "Kairi," Namine whispered. "You can't give up now. I know you're tired and exhausted, but you can't give in to these doubts lingering in your heart. Remember what I've always told you?"

    Kairi rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. "Yeah. Believe in yourself." She slowly inhaled, counted to three, and exhaled slowly.

    Axel just stood there waiting as Kairi got back up to her feet. "You feel better now?"

    Kairi wiped off some leftover reticular fluid and nodded. "Listen, can you tell us what's going on?"

    The other redhead scratched his ear. "I wish I could, but it's kinda out of my hands right now."

    Kairi's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

    "In other words, I'm forbidden from telling you anything. This security system I'm trapped in won't allow me to."

    "Couldn't we just guess at it and you can just say if we're on the right track?" Kairi suggested.

    Axel shook his head. "Like I said, I can't even tell you if you're right."

    An awkward silence hung in the air between them. The only sound was the crackling of flames around them. Finally, Kairi spoke. "So what happens now?"

    "Well, once you enter one of our coves, you can't leave without annihilating its occupant."

    "So, we have to fight against each other?"

    Axel nodded. "To the end."

    Kairi could feel Namine's reluctant feelings of fighting Axel. "What's wrong, Namine?"

    "It's just that...Axel actually helped me escape from Marluxia," she replied bitterly. "I'd feel a bit guilty if we have to destroy him like this."

    "Namine...I know you're there." Axel looked directly into Kairi's eyes. "I just wanted to apologize to you too. I hope there's no hard feelings," Axel twirled the chakrams in each hand. "but that doesn't mean I'm going easy on either of you!" He smirked. "I do have a reputation to think about after all."

    "Do we really have to fight?" Kairi pleaded. Axel gave her a smug grin.

    "Sorry Kairi, but it's the rules of the system after all. And if you don't mind, I'd rather go out fighting."

    "But..."

    "Don't disappoint me, Kairi! Stop moving and the darkness will overtake you! Simple as that!" He pointed at her with his weapon. "Got it memorized?"

    * * *

    Aladdin and Abu were running along following wherever Jack Sparrow's stolen compass pointed. So far, they ended up going around in circles. "How does this thing work anyway?" Aladdin muttered to himself. "The needle keeps pointing in random directions!"

    Suddenly, Abu started screeching excitedly as he tugged on Aladdin's pants. "What's up, Abu?" The little monkey jumped up and down, pointing toward a herd of Assault Riders in the distance. They had a sword-wielding Chinese woman who was protecting a wounded lion surrounded. Aladdin whipped out his scimitar. "Looks like they need some help!" With a warrior's cry, he used his acrobatic skills to flip up onto one of the Heartless' backs. "Time for a little teamwork!"

    The other Assault Riders noticed Aladdin and mindlessly started swinging their spears, striking their own ally. Sensing itself being attacked, the Heartless Aladdin was riding retaliated against its comrades, clearing most of the herd. "Come on!" the former street rat taunted as he leapt onto the back of another Heartless. "Is that all you got?"

    Aladdin continued the baiting until there was one Heartless left, which he finished off by plunging his sword into its back. The girl stared at him curiously as he brushed himself off.

    "Not that I don't appreciate the help," the girl began, "but who exactly are you?"

    Aladdin held out his hand. "The name's Aladdin."

    "I'm Mulan," she said as she grabbed his outstretched hand and gave it a firm shake.

    "So, Mulan," Aladdin said as he grinned from ear to ear. "Why exactly are you protecting a lion?"

    "His name's Simba," Mulan explained. "They ambushed him about a few miles from here. I was able to save him temporarily, but as you just saw," Mulan pursed her lips, "they caught up with us."

    Aladdin rubbed his chin in thought. "So where are you guys headed?"

    "We were hoping to find a healer or at least someone with a Potion."

    Aladdin grin grew even wider. "What do you know? I just happen to have a couple of them on me." He reached into a vest pocket and pulled out two Hi-Potions. Mulan took one of the bottles and poured the drink into Simba's mouth. Instantly, the scratches and bruises healed up and disappeared.

    "I think we better try to find Sora and the others," Mulan suggested. "They might know what's going on." She and Aladdin started to help Simba back on his feet.

    "Simba, was it? Are you okay?" Aladdin asked. When Simba didn't say anything, the prince of thieves turned back to Mulan. "Why exactly am I talking to a lion? They don't talk."

    "Hey, you'd have a hard time talking too if you were just trampled by a dozen Heartless hooves," Simba groaned.
     
  15. Forever Love Life Without Limits

    Joined:
    Jul 18, 2007
    Location:
    Shaping my life.
    71
    869
    Oh my goodness.
    That was amazing.
    It was... intense, heartwarming, sad, and sort of romantic at the exact same time. I swear.. that part where Axel said "Never met Sora", it kinda caught me off guard. I froze just as Kairi did. No joke. It was... weird. I dont know what came over me.

    Good chapter none the less.
    Can't wait for more!
    =]
     
  16. Heaxrt17 Gummi Ship Junkie

    Joined:
    Mar 22, 2007
    2
    341
    Amazing chapter! Really good job. I like the conversation with Axel and Kairi. It's very interesting and full of emotions. Can't wait for the next chapter. :)
     
  17. Destined Working for WDW

    Joined:
    May 6, 2007
    Location:
    Lost in the Rockies
    191
    your chapters get better and better and each disney character has something to fight for, you have an intricate story surrounded by many sub stories. If i had a say, i'd say this would make a really good story line for a game.
     
  18. Thebazilly King's Apprentice

    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2007
    Location:
    *Throws dart at map.*
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    460
    Excellent job as usual. Kairi has some pent-up frustration apparently. I'm glad you made Axel incapable of talking about whatever's going on. Subtle foreshadowing=teh bestest.

    Anywayz, keep up the good work!
     
  19. O R A N G E C is the heavenly option

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2007
    Location:
    between an erupting earth and an exploding sky
    194
    Hmmm...

    I have a feeling that Kairi will be about to kill Axel and he will give her some information about what's going on becuase he's going to die anyway.


    .......But that's just a feeling.


    Great chapter.

     
  20. Destiny's Force Mess with the best, lose like the rest...

    Joined:
    Apr 16, 2007
    Location:
    With Amber <3
    141
    Kairi vs. The Flurry of Dancing Flames & Tidus Can Fly?

    (Note from author: I worked as fast as I could on this chapter, mainly because it's my birthday! Woo-hoo! Just don't ask me how old I am. Let's just say I'm kinda reaching middle-age, but I'm not THAT old yet. ;) Anyway, enjoy!)

    (EDIT: I guess YESTERDAY was my birthday. Stupid Daylight Savings. :( )

    "Burn, baby!" Fire rippled outward from Axel's position covering the entire floor with magma. Fortunately for Kairi, her boots were flame-******ant so she didn't have to worry about her footwear being set aflame. Unfortunately, they didn't protect her from the sweltering heat. It was like sticking a two-layer waterproof glove into 200-degree Fahrenheit water. Her feet weren't getting burnt, but her boots were absorbing most of the heat.

    "I'm so glad I paid that extra 1000 munny for fire protective boots!" Kairi thought.

    "I thought these boots were Selphie's..." Namine said.

    "We went shopping together," Kairi explained. "And it seemed like a good idea at the time."

    "Wow. Talk about being prepared," Namine replied, obviously impressed.

    Kairi giggled. "If I were prepared, I'd have bought the quick-dry wrinkle-free fabric with the pockets for this outfit as well."

    With the grace of a ballerina dancer, Axel spun and twirled with his weapons, each strike aiming to kill. Kairi was starting to get the hang of guarding against attacks, but her strength was already leaking out of her. The combination of both the constant barrage of attacks and the sweltering heat were beginning to overwhelm Kairi. Her movements started to become clumsier and twice she almost burned herself against the fire wall.

    "What's the problem?" Axel taunted. "Don't tell me you're giving up already!"

    "Kairi! You're too exhausted!" Namine shouted. "Let me fight!"

    "Just...just for a little...while..." Kairi panted. She closed her eyes and felt herself giving up control of her own body as Namine's consciousness emerged from within her.

    Namine's eyes snapped open as she swiped the Keyblade, ready to fight.

    "Alright! It's my tur..." A smell of familiar burnt rubber wisped across Namine's nose. She looked down and was horrified to see that the lava floor was starting to melt the soles of her sandals. "Aah! My sandals!" Namine hopped quickly from one foot to the other trying to avoid her feet being burned. "You know, on second thought, he's all yours!"

    As Kairi felt control return to her body, she quickly noticed that her outfit was fresh and comfortable as if it were tailored and dry-cleaned and her hair was back to its silky shiny state. Physically, she was undamaged, but mentally, Kairi felt like she would collapse at any moment. "Sorry, Kairi," Namine apologized. "I guess my footwear wasn't created for extreme heat."

    Kairi rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Namine."

    * * *

    "Man, these guys are tough!" Tidus shouted over the clanging of weapons. The Berserkers were too overly powerful for Tidus and Wakka to deal with on their own. Auron was trying his best to attack with his "Battlefields of War", but the massive Nobodies were quickly ganging up on him.

    "There'll be no end to this!" Auron grunted through bared teeth.

    "Come on, old man!" Wakka teased as he ricocheted his Blitzball off Nobody after Nobody. "We can keep this up all day!"

    "We're wasting time!" Auron snapped. "We have to finish this now or retreat!"

    As soon as the words left his mouth, the entire battle halted as the crow of a rooster cried out from nowhere.

    "What the...?" Wakka was the first one to see him. "Look up there!" A boy in green tights and a feathered cap swooped out of nowhere and needle-dived into one of the Berserkers, destroying it.

    "Who the heck is this guy, Robin Hood?" Tidus wondered.

    "Whoever he is, he can sure kick butt!" Wakka said. The boy that never grew up flew back up into the sky to get a birds-eye view of the situation.

    "Well, it doesn't look like Sora's here either," Peter Pan said to Tinker Bell who was tinkling around his head. "Are you sure that he was heading in this direction?" Tinker Bell only crossed her arms and pouted. "Come on, Tink! You're not still sore about Disney finally giving you a voice, are you?" When she refused to make eye contact, Peter shrugged. "Anyway, it looks like those people need some help!"

    Peter went into a corkscrew dive and grabbed a hold of Tidus. "Need a lift?" Peter Pan hoisted Tidus under the arms and flew into the sky.

    Tidus marveled at the new perspective. "Don't know who you are," Tidus said thankfully as he targeted himself over a couple of Berserkers, "but if you could just fly a few inches to the right...there!" With the increased altitude, Peter held onto Tidus, who had his sword ready and willing to do some serious damage. Streams of blue energy burst from his sword and rained down onto the battlefield, frying anything in its path.

    "Hey, watch it!" Wakka cried as a few stray beams almost hit him.

    "That's not going to be enough, though," Auron said grimly. "You three might want to get back for this." As soon as Wakka, Tidus and Peter were a good distance away, a wind tunnel started to circle around Auron's body. The wind velocity picked up rapidly as Auron flung the hurricane at the Berserkers. Like a vacuum cleaner's powerful suction, the remaining Nobodies were lifted off their feet.

    With all the Berserkers trapped inside the swirling tornado, Auron reached into his coat, pulled out a jug of alcohol and flung it straight into the swirling wind. As soon as the container shattered on contact, the entire mass burst into flames, incinerating all the Nobodies.

    Tidus and Wakka looked at Auron in awe. "Why didn't you do that before?!" Tidus screamed.

    "If you'd have preferred I did it when you were in range..." Auron began rhetorically.

    Before Tidus could reply, Peter yelled, "Hey! Have you seen the groom anywhere?"

    Tidus, Wakka and Auron just stared at the flying boy. "And here I thought I've seen everything," Auron muttered. Then to Peter, "No. We've been looking for him, though."

    "Man, my throwing arm is killing me," Wakka complained, massaging his sore muscles. "How many of these creatures are there?"

    "Heartless." Tidus and Wakka looked up at Auron. "That's their name. Heartless."

    "Really?" Tidus ruffled his hair. "I remember Sora and Riku saying something about them."

    "But they're usually black and bug-like, ya?" Wakka asked.

    Auron squinted at him. "If that's true, then these creatures names are unknown to me."

    "Hey, since we're looking for the same thing, why don't you come with us?" Tidus asked Peter enthusiastically.

    Peter Pan thought it over for a moment. "Alright, but we're only in this together until we find Sora!"

    The group started heading north. "Why exactly are you looking for him?" Wakka asked.

    "I had something urgent to ask him involving the wedding," Peter replied.

    "I just hope those fairies can find the others," Tidus muttered under his breath. "This feels like a big waste of time running around in circles."

    * * *

    Namine moaned in frustration. She wanted to fight Axel face-to-face, but the lava-like floor prevented her from staying out too long. Namine also noticed that switching back and forth with Kairi put a massive strain on their heart. They wouldn't physically be damaged, but the switch would always sap both of their strength a bit.

    It had been more than five hours since Kairi and Sora were at the wedding hall about to exchange vows. Four hours before that, Kairi had just woken up from a troubled sleep. She was so worried about the marriage that she barely slept two hours. Despite using Curaga and "form-switching" with Namine, the exhaustion was catching up with her.

    "Get back!" Axel threw his chakrams like giant, flat yo-yos. He performed tricks that even an expert would have a hard time performing. "Around the World" while flipping sideways; behind the back and underneath his legs; he even was able to pull off a double "Warp Drive" following with a "Time Warp." Kairi could only weakly parry or deflect the attacks with her Keyblade.

    "Stay focused, Kairi!" Namine shouted. "Don't let down your guard!"

    "Won't forget this!" Rings of flame swirled around Axel's body as he channeled his energy into his weapons. Instinct was telling her to avoid this attack at all costs, forcing Kairi to begin running out of range. Then like an expert juggler, he tossed his chakrams with pinpoint precision straight at her retreating form.

    Kairi shrieked as a stray chakram nicked her butt. "Hey! Watch where you aim those things!" she shouted, rubbing her bottom.

    "Come on, Kairi! You should know by now never to leave your back exposed to an opponent!" Axel wagged a finger at her. "One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?" Before Kairi could react, Axel leapt backward into the fires behind him.

    "Where'd he go?" Kairi constantly shifted her position, attempting to track Axel's movements behind the flame wall.

    She only had a split-second to react when Axel burst out from her right side. Kairi backflipped out of the way as the Flurry of Dancing Flames skated by her, leaving a streak of fire pillars in his wake. Before she could make a move, Axel jumped back into the wall.

    "He's not going to do the whole Luxord thing again, is he?" Kairi panted. She was feeling faint from heat exhaustion which made it hard to keep thinking.

    "Kairi, your energy's dangerously low!" Namine warned. "You have to finish this NOW!" Kairi nodded as she lifted her Keyblade wearily.

    Axel exploded from the wall, hurtling toward Kairi. This time, however, she was ready. Using the last of her strength, she high-jumped into the air until she reached Axel's level. They stared into each other's eyes as time seemed to suspend them both.

    Their paths intersected with each other and Kairi swung her weapon the same time Axel sliced with his.

    As their weapons made contact, a brilliant burst of light blinded both combatants. Kairi and Axel both landed on the extinguished magma-free tiling, waiting with tense anticipation. The only sounds that were audible were their heavy breathing against the crackling flames. Whose attack hit first?

    Kairi was shocked as Axel broke the silence. "Not bad, Kairi," he said, collapsing to his knees. "You'll make a great Keyblade master yet."

    "Flattery will get you nowhere," Kairi replied as she leaned on her Keyblade for support.

    Axel lifted his gaze, staring into Kairi's soot-filled face. "Let's meet again in the next life."

    Kairi nodded. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."

    Namine giggled. "Admit it. You SO stole that from Leon."

    "And Axel?" Kairi gave him a gentle smile. "I forgive you."

    Axel shook his head in amusement. "I see why Sora loves you so much. You really do complete him."

    "I try my best," Kairi replied. Axel let out a short chuckle.

    "Just never lose sight of your light in the darkness," Axel said. "It's the only thing that'll save you." His form's glitching was speeding up rapidly like a virus.

    Kairi's eyes widened. "Wait! What do you mean by that?!"

    Axel's head hung low, a man with a forbidden secret. "Commit it to memory. That's all I have to say."

    "Axel..." In the back of Kairi's mind, she could hear Namine sobbing.

    "Oh, almost forgot." Axel pointed to his neck as his body began dissolving back into data. "You weren't exactly..." His voice trailed off as he faded back into nothingness.

    Kairi stood there for a few seconds trying to figure out what Axel was trying to say. It took the feeling of a warm liquid gliding smoothly down her neck before she realized. Her hand flew to her neck and felt a deep gash that was bleeding steadily.

    "Kairi! Cast Curaga!" Namine shouted. Kairi was about to raise her Keyblade to cast it, but she started to feel that strange feeling in her heart again. Her body started to sway as she began to feel a little light-headed. She felt her muscles slacken as the world around her swirled around her.

    Kairi didn't know if she was sitting or standing. All she could think about was sinking down into the comfortable light that surrounded her body. Namine's voice echoed in her mind, but it rapidly faded into white noise. The last thing that Kairi remembered was hearing her own voice whispering, "Sora..."