Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Riku nodded once. "That's exactly what I'm thinking," he said. He turned his eyes to Sora and Roxas then, pointing something out that he hadn't realized until now. "Think about it. Every person that any of us have sent to the Realm of Darkness has wanted power in one way or another. Now that he's escaped the Realm and come into this one, he's only looking for more of it."

Roxas was beginning to catch on, his eyebrows furrowing. "The Realm of Light is stronger," he stated then, his eyes on Riku. It only made sense. Light had defeated Darkness for years, and now that Smith escaped the Realm of Darkness, the Realm of Light only had more opportunities for him.

 

"But doesn't this realm make him weaker?" Sora asked, glancing at Roxas before he looked back to Riku. "The Realm of Darkness made him stronger, since he's naturally full of darkness. Shouldn't being surrounded by light have the opposite affect?" Sora was confused now, trying to figure this out. When he, a person from the Realm of Light, went into the opposite realm, he became weaker. Shouldn't the same principle apply to Smith?

 

Riku's eyes narrowed slightly as he thought about it. "You have a point. But I think he's trying to find a way to gain more power anyway. Once you leave the Realm of Darkness, you never want to go back." He knew firsthand, and the fact that he had to return only to be set up in a trap really ticked him off. Regardless, he was just glad to be out of there for now. "I have a feeling that's exactly what he's trying to do: make the two work together."

Kairi's eyes were down on her hands, but then she looked up. "...Kinda like what Nathaniel wanted with me?" she asked, remembering how he had wanted his Darkness and her power of Light to rule together over his Kingdom. Did that apply here as well?

Roxas ran his fingers through his hair, not sure how to answer that question. It was a possibility, but Sora was right. How would that work out?

 

"Something like that," Sora said with a nod, shifting his gaze to Kairi. That was a good comparison, only instead of there being two opposite people being brought together, it was two opposite realms. Sora could only imagine the terrible things that could happen if Smith gained power over both realms.

 

Riku glanced to Kairi and then looked back at Sora and Roxas. Now that they established that... "Any ideas on a plan?" he asked. Now that they knew what Smith was after, perhaps it would be easier to come up with a plan.

"Somebody definitely has to stay with Namine and Kairi," Roxas stated instantly, knowing that Smith was seeking vengeance. One of his ways of finding it would be through the girls. He just knew it. "After what he said to us back there, we can't risk leaving them by themselves."

Kairi bit her lip, growing nervous at the turn this conversation was turning. Her eyes found Namine immediately at the mention, knowing that they were in the line of fire as well.

 

Namine glanced up at Kairi when she felt her friend looking at her, her gaze moving over to Sora when he began speaking to the boy beside her.

"You think there's any chance he's trying to lure us to him like last time?" Sora asked Roxas, the brunet turned to his best friend. Last time, when Smith had Namine as his captive, he had lured Sora, Roxas, and Kairi to the abandoned warehouse where they had originally fought Smith and Carter.

 

Roxas shrugged a little, his eyes on Sora now. "Possibly," he said, admitting that it could happen. "The thing is, we have no idea where he is." How could he lure them somewhere when they didn't have a clue as to his whereabouts?

"That's when you have to trust your senses," Riku said instantly. He remembered that he could smell Darkness during his visit to Castle Oblivion in the past. It was kind of like that.

 

Sora glanced at Riku before an idea came to his mind, the brunet turning back to Roxas. "Before we start randomly searching, we need to check that old warehouse. He's already been there twice; if he wants us to find him, then he'll be there." That was the only place Sora could think of that was connected to Smith, so it was the best chance they had.

 

"Right," Roxas said, nodding once in agreement. That sounded like a good idea.

Riku looked from Roxas to Sora. "You two go then. I'll stay with Kairi and Namine," he declared. He had no idea where the warehouse they were talking about was. It would be easier for them to go and for him to stay here.

 

Sora nodded, looking at Roxas, then Riku, before he shifted his gaze to Kairi. "Kai, can I have your cell phone?" he asked. He didn't have his on him, and it would be good if he and Roxas could contact his friends in case anything happened. Of course, it would have to go through Namine's cell; she was the only other person to have theirs with them. Or at least, he assumed she had hers.

 

Kairi nodded, leaning forward to pull the device out of her back pocket. Once she had it in her hand, she handed it to Sora wordlessly.

 

Sora accepted the phone out of Kairi's grasp, enclosing the cell phone in his hand before he shifted his gaze to Namine on the couch. "Do you have your phone on you?" he asked her, needing to make sure that he would be able to contact somebody through that device.

"Yeah," Namine said with a nod. She had it in her front pocket in her jeans, though she didn't quite understand why Sora was asking about her phone if he already had one that he could use. She supposed that her tiredness was getting to her; that must have been it.

 

Riku looked from Sora to Namine, understanding what was going on here. Sora was taking Kairi's phone so he could in turn call Namine's while she was here, just in case they needed to contact each other. It sounded like a good idea to him.

 

"You mind letting Riku borrow it for now?" Sora asked, keeping his eyes on Namine as he spoke to her. "In case Roxas or I need to contact him later." It would be easier if Riku had the phone on him instead of having Namine pass it over to him whenever Sora and Roxas called.

Namine nodded, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her cell phone. She reached forward and handed it to Sora, who seemed to wince a little bit when he leaned towards her and grabbed it.

 

Riku held his hand out in front of Kairi for the cell phone, knowing already that Sora was going to pass it to him. "When do you two plan to go?" he asked. The sooner they tracked Smith down, the better.

Roxas looked from Riku to Sora at the question. "Whenever we're both ready, I guess," he answered honestly. If Sora was ready to go, then they would leave now; Roxas had mentally prepared himself for this on the way over here.

 

Sora passed Namine's phone into Riku's hand, his gaze them moving to the redhead beside him. "Kai...you think you could get me some medicine?" he asked, clenching his hand in a fist with how badly his chest was throbbing. He needed something to cover that pain up, even if just for a little while.

 

"Sure." Kairi pushed herself up from the couch and passed Riku as she made her way out of the living room and into the hallway, heading for the bathroom, where she kept the painkillers. She always had some, knowing how unpredictable things could be. She poured two pills into her hand before shutting the cabinet and making her way back to the living room.

 

Sora exhaled a breath, both his hands in fists. He would stuff Kairi's phone in his pocket when he stood up instead of moving around excessively now and causing himself more pain. He wasn't looking forward to searching, but he would suck of the pain and look for Smith anyway. Things were serious for him to not push his pain away.

 

Kairi entered the living room again, immediately moving to the couch and taking her seat back. She held the pills out to Sora, not bothering to bring water; he usually swallowed the pills without it anyway.

 

Sora unclenched his fist, reaching to take the pills out of Kairi's open hand. He would have preferred to swallow them with water; he had gotten into the habit of doing that lately, since he was no longer used to taking pills. Regardless, he popped a pill into his mouth and swallowed, grunting at the pain in his chest from the hard swallow.