Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Roxas set his arm back where it had been before, letting it rest on the arm of the couch. He thought for a moment and then spoke a question that came to mind. "How powerful was his darkness?" he asked, eyes resting on Sora. "You seem pretty beat up."

 

Sora frowned, looking down at the question. "Powerful enough to transform him into a huge, strong, fire-breathing dragon," he said, eyebrows furrowing at the memory of it. It had certainly been unexpected, but despite that, Sora had come out of the battle the victor.

 

Roxas arched an eyebrow. A dragon? "You're kidding," he said, though he knew that Sora was definitely not kidding. But a dragon, in New York? How exactly did that happen?

 

Sora looked up, nodding solemnly. "At first, it was a sword-to-sword fight," he informed him. "But when I proved to be the better swordsman, he transformed into a dragon." Not only had Sora been the better fighter when it came to their first battle, but he also suspected that Nathaniel made his transformation because he didn't keep any of the wounds he received when fighting Sora before that point when he was a dragon.

 

"So he obviously used his darkness to help make the transformation," Roxas assumed, declaring it and not questioning it. It could only be the power of darkness that would result in such a thing. But still, Nathaniel had seemed odd to him earlier, but he never would have guessed he would turn into a dragon, of all things.

 

"Right," Sora said with a nod, agreeing. And he had to say, Nathaniel was much more powerful in that form. Sora had only taken a few small injuries before the transformation, but after that, he had been beat up pretty badly.

 

"Where were you guys even at?" Roxas asked, that having been a constant question on his mind. "A dragon in New York would have been a little noticeable." He also wondered where Kairi was during all this, but he decided he wasn't going to ask; Sora obviously protected her. She was alive, after all.

 

"We were in an abandoned building a few blocks away from Nathaniel's old home," Sora responded. He wasn't sure of the specific address, since he had obviously been concerned about other things at the time. And he didn't care enough to go back and see exactly where the destroyed building was.

 

Roxas nodded slightly, his eyes drifting to the floor in thought. Well, it was good that they hadn't been anywhere out in the open. That would have revealed too much. But he did notice a pattern: things that involved Darkness around here always took place in abandoned buildings. It was either that, or they were off this world. Either way saved them from becoming discovered.

 

"It wasn't a very sturdy building, though," Sora said, shifting his gaze to the ground as he recalled what happened. "With the way Nathaniel kept stomping around and swinging his tail on the second floor, the floor eventually gave out and he crashed onto the ground level." And because of the floor giving out, Sora had been put in the position of protecting Kairi. He was proud to say that he had not only reached her quickly enough, but also saved her without allowing her to receive any physical harm.

 

"He didn't plan on fighting you apparently," Roxas said, looking back up at Sora. "If he did, he would have paid more attention to his surroundings and chosen a better place." That was one of the most important rules of battle; the fighter had to know his surroundings so he could use them to his advantage. Nathaniel clearly didn't do that.

 

"He wasn't planning on me even returning home," Sora informed Roxas, lifting his head and looking at the boy on the couch. "He was expecting me to be killed off by the Heartless." And, just like Sora had told Nathaniel during battle, he wasn't one to die easily. In the end, Nathaniel had realized that.

 

Roxas blinked and arched an eyebrow. "Wait. The Heartless?" he asked, his voice very serious now. Nathaniel knew about the Heartless? How? Roxas felt there was a piece of information he was missing, and he wanted to be included. Now.

 

Namine walked up the stairs of Sora's front porch, coming up to his front door. She was dressed in her black coat, jeans, and black boots, while underneath the coat, she wore a teal blue sweatshirt. That hardly mattered, though; she just wanted to know what was going on with her friends. She stopped in front of the door and lifted a finger, ringing the doorbell.

Sora opened his mouth to answer Roxas question, though he was wishing Namine would have been there when he responded to it. Before he could speak, though, he heard the doorbell. He turned his head in that direction without thought, though he couldn't see the front door from where he was sitting. "That must be Namine."

 

Roxas looked to the doorway at the sound of the bell, then turning his gaze back to Sora. "I'll get it," he said as he got up, holding a hand up to his friend to tell him not to worry about getting the door. Roxas pushed the sleeves up on his black sweatshirt as he left the living room, exhaling a breath. He approached the door in the hallway and opened it, his eyes falling on his girlfriend immediately.

 

Sora nodded slightly, setting his hand on the side of the couch when he stopped reaching for his crutches. He would have gotten it, but Roxas was on his feet and out of the room before Sora could even respond.

Namine looked up a little bit, seeing that Roxas was the one who answered the door. She wasn't overly surprised, but she was curious as to where Sora was. "Hi, Roxas," she said, offering him a weak smile. She hadn't seen him in a few days, so despite the circumstances, it was good to see him again.

 

"Hey," Roxas greeted, his lips turning up slightly in turn at the sight of Namine, but the smile faded just as quickly as it came. He then opened the door more, stepping out of the way. "Come on in. Sora's in the living room." He knew she probably wanted to get down to business, so he wouldn't keep her from it.

 

Namine nodded, her smile fading when Roxas did. He sounded very serious, which must have meant that he and Sora had been discussing something serious before she got there. The girl stepped inside, coming in a few steps so that Roxas could shut the door behind her.

 

Roxas felt his expression go back to the strict one he had worn before he saw Namine, the boy shutting the door once she was inside. He and Sora had gotten to a point in the conversation that especially intrigued him. Namine was in for some news as well.

 

Namine stopped a few steps inside, looking down to her coat as she undid the belt and the buttons. Sora's house was warm and cozy, so there wasn't any point in her keeping on her coat and boots. She assumed that she would be there for a while, since she had a lot of unanswered questions.