Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Kairi was thankful she had made the wise decision to improve her stamina over the summer, because she wouldn't have lasted running this long if it weren't for her morning jogs. She tried her hardest to keep up with Nathan, but she noticed he was still faster; she knew it was from his days in soccer, like he had told her once before. Kairi felt his tight grasp on her wrist, not even paying attention to how hard the grip was as she ran away from the group of men chasing them.

 

Sora kept riding, getting closer to the block where Nathan lived. As soon as he got there, he would look for any traces of Kairi. As he approached the area, he noticed that it wouldn't be too hard to notice anything out of the ordinary; it was a pretty empty area. Not many people were around, or cars. He could do a search without others interfering, so that was good.

 

"Across the street!" Nathan demanded, pulling onto Kairi's wrist again.

Kairi winced faintly at his strong grip, but followed him anyway. She heard a snap and then the sound of clattering. She glanced back and only briefly caught a trace of her bracelet from Nathan on the road, the thing immediately disappearing as the feet of the men pursuing them blocked it from her view. She whimpered in fear and turned around, running beside Nathan. She could see they were approaching an even less populated area of the city, abandoned business buildings coming into view.

 

Sora came up on the street corner, bringing his skateboard to a halt when he reached what Namine said was Nathan's home. He looked around, but he didn't notice any signs of people being around. He grunted, scanning over things one more time. He didn't see anything, so the only choice he had was to sweep the whole area. He set a foot on the ground and pushed himself off down the sidewalk, looking around for anything that could help him.

 

Fear was the only thing Kairi could register in her heart. Pure fear. What did these men want with her and Nathan? They hadn't done anything wrong! They were just on a walk! She and Nathan hopped over another patch of snow in their way as they ran, the girl nearly slipping on covered ice. Nathan glanced back at her and continued to lead her away from the men, who were still in hot pursuit. Where were they going? And how long would they be followed?

 

As Sora went further down the street, he felt something under his skateboard. He skidded to a halt, kicking up his skateboard so that he grasped it in one hand. He ran back a few steps and saw something on the ground: a charm off a bracelet. He picked it up, seeing the letter "K" on it. "Kairi," he muttered, rising to his feet. She had been here, and since the charm was broken off, that meant that something wasn't right. He turned his head forward again, seeing something else shining on the ground in the distance. Another piece of the bracelet? He jumped on his skateboard and rode on ahead, knowing that he needed to get to Kairi as quickly as possible.

 

Kairi realized that Nathan was heading straight for one of the abandoned buildings, and she felt another wave of fear rush over her. Any place abandoned never resulted in something good; she knew from experience. Regardless, Nathan tugged her in the right direction, and he rammed his shoulder into the door, which opened quite easily. He grabbed onto her hand again and pulled her inside the building, which was full of dust and dirt. She hardly paid attention to that though, Nathan guiding her up a flight of stairs.

 

Sora slowed down by the shining object, seeing that it was another piece of the charm bracelet. He picked it up as he rode, not stopping completely. He saw a street up ahead, and he crossed it on his skateboard, knowing that he was coming up on a section of abandoned buildings. He was always suspicious of places like that, and his instinct was telling him that he was heading in the right direction.

 

Nathan could hear both his and Kairi's heavy breathing as they ran up the stairs, reaching a hallway. He raced down it with her in tow, seeing an open door not far away. That was where he and his "friends" decided to go. "In here!" he said urgently, and he was happy when he saw Kairi oblige and follow his order, running inside. He glanced down the hall when he heard the men's footsteps, locking eyes with one of them.

"Nathan, come on!" Kairi cried, the boy instantly looking at her and running inside. The room was empty for the most part around them, and she ran alongside Nathan into the middle of it, seeing that it was about half the size of a football field, maybe a little bigger. But, there wasn't anywhere to hide! "What do we do?!" she cried, turning to Nathan, whose eyes darted to the doorway at a roar of voices and footsteps. Kairi found her hand being grabbed and Nathan pulled her to the far side of the room, to a corner. She glanced behind her and saw one of the men check their room, whistling for his friends.

 

Sora looked over all the buildings, silently approaching a group of three of them. The large one looked like the door was broken through, and he knew that he was in the right place. He reached the door and silently got off his skateboard, setting it in a shadow just inside the door as he stealthily walked through the empty area. Nobody was there, but he knew that they were close.

 

Kairi realized they were trapped instantly. Nathan had his arm in front of her and backed both of them into a corner, the girl feeling her back meet the joining of the walls. "Nathan," she whimpered.

"Leave us alone!" Nathan yelled across the room, his voice echoing and bouncing off the empty walls. He watched as the men, buff and tall in size, only started laughing.

"Not gonna happen, I'm afraid." It was one of the men in front that spoke, and Kairi registered that there were about five of them total, all dressed in black and all looking very dangerous. It was when one of them pulled out a sword from his belt that she instantly began to panic.

 

Sora wordlessly summoned the Kingdom Key and Oathkeeper into his grasp, silently climbing the stairs. He heard voices up here, so he knew that the trouble was located on this floor. He noticed two men keeping watch in the hallway, but their backs were toward him. He approached them and swung a Keyblade at their heads, knocking them both out with one blow. Then he crept forward, ears and eyes attentive for any more signs of trouble.

 

"What do you want with us?" Kairi asked, her voice shaky from fear. That was the one thing she couldn't understand; they had simply been walking down Nathan's street. What exactly had they done that was wrong?

One of the men wearing shades spoke this time. "What, can't have a little fun? An innocent girl like you and a 'tough guy' like him? How much better could this get?" He smirked, which sent a creepy-crawly feeling down Kairi's spine. She felt even worse when he twirled a dagger around in his hand, cowering back against the wall.

 

Sora heard a man speaking from a room in the back, and he slid himself up against a wall so that he wouldn't have been seen. He slipped into a neighboring room that connected to the one where the noise came, the door between his room and the adjacent one being left wide-open. He saw a group of five of them, and in the corner...Kairi and Nathan. He furrowed his brows, seeing how close she was to her boyfriend. However, then he looked away, seeing something between himself and the men--a boiler. He brought back his right hand and chucked his Keyblade at it, his weapon a blur for the millisecond before it pierced the boiler. Smoke poured into that side of the room, and he knew now was his opportune moment to get in a sneak attack.

 

Kairi gasped at the piercing noise in the room and then the sudden smoke that began to fill the air. She sensed Nathan tense up as she herself had done, frozen in surprise. The five men that were together in front of her and her boyfriend looked around, their expressions alarmed and angry. But they started to disappear due to the smoke quickly filling the room.

 

Sora summoned the Kingdom Key back into his grasp and ran into the room, the smoke right by his door so that none of the men could see him. He went right into the midst of it and fought through the men easily, his fighting skills so well-toned that defeating five of them was no problem. He swung his Keyblade at the last henchman, hearing him cry out before he fell to his blade. Yup; that was easy.

 

Kairi's eyes were wide, the girl only able to hear the sound of combat. "Nathan," she whined in fear, reaching forward and grasping onto his arm with one hand. He didn't glance back at her, but peered into the fog that was slowly starting to fade, broken windows in the room releasing some of the smoke. Kairi followed his gaze, the last cry of one of the men making her jump slightly. What was happening?

 

Sora kept his Keyblades in his grasp, turning his head in the direction of a whine. He knew immediately that it was Kairi, and he took a few steps forward, able to see Kairi and Nathan once he was standing out of the smoke. "You okay, Kairi?" he asked, his voice calm and smooth, as he hadn't even broken a sweat defeating the five henchmen.

 

Kairi's eyes widened in surprise. "Sora!" she cried in relief, moving to take a step toward the brunet. However, Nathan's arm blocked her from moving from the corner. Her relieved eyes turned confused as she glanced up at the guy beside her. What was he doing?

Nathan's green eyes narrowed at Sora, his main focus being on the kid's weapons. "No, Kairi," he ordered, keeping the redhead back. She was his, not Sora's. Kairi was staying with him.

 

Sora furrowed his eyebrows when Nathan kept Kairi with him, the brunet seeing anger in the teen's eyes. "Nathan!" he called, taking a step forward as he gripped his Keyblades tightly. "It's over! Whatever you had in mind here today failed." These henchmen were defeated easily; surely Nathan could tell due to Sora's relaxed, even breathing.