Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Sora shut his eyes for a brief moment, taking in a breath and then releasing it. This was getting too heated, and he and Roxas were making no progress with this. He opened his eyes again before speaking. "I can see why you would want to remember it," he said, his voice back to its normal level. "But what you did then doesn't define you. It's who you are now that defines you. Believe me, you're not like the rest of them." Roxas was kind and loyal, not vicious and back-stabbing. There was no way Sora would sit by and let Roxas think of himself that way.

 

"He was once," Riku commented casually, having been watching the scene unfold before him. He looked at Sora, and then at Roxas, his eyes seeming to sharpen as he looked at the Nobody.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Roxas practically growled, his anger pulsating through him with every beat of his heart. His adrenaline had kicked in when the hollering began a long time ago, and if his fists weren't clenched, his hands would be shaking.

 

Sora looked from Roxas to Riku, his eyes staying on his tall best friend. Yes, what was that supposed to mean? Riku, don't make him more upset...Sora mentally pleaded, his blue eyes looking up at Riku as he waited for the answer he dreaded to hear.

 

Riku only stared at Roxas. "You were like the rest of them when you were in the Organization," he said again. "You were one of them." He'd seen it firsthand; Roxas had been one of the members of Organization XIII.

Roxas furrowed his eyebrows in both ferocious curiosity and frustration. "How do you know that?" he asked, his voice tight. Where exactly was this even coming from? How did Riku know what he was like in the Organization, when he just now remembered?

 

Sora looked up at Riku, arching a brow. How would Riku come across that information? He sounded pretty sure of himself now, and Sora knew that his friend wouldn't share these things unless he knew them for sure. That's what made his heart skip a beat in his chest, knowing Riku meant the words he said.

 

"I learned most about your kind from DiZ," Riku explained calmly, still staring at Roxas. "He told me the worst of Organization XIII, the group you were a part of. Even when you were in Twilight Town, I could still see it in you."

"DiZ?" Roxas looked at Riku incredulously, that part confusing him more than anything else. But there was still more that interested him, made his heart skip a beat. "What do you mean when you were in Twilight Town? You were never there. I never saw you..."

Riku smirked. "It wasn't my place to stand out from the shadows. DiZ did that himself." Or...Ansem the Wise, really. He took the initiative to project himself into the data world when things got difficult.

Roxas blinked, utter confusion and disbelief written across his features, mixing with the emotions of anger and frustration. He could feel that sensation coming back to him; another vision would appear to him soon. "DiZ..." He still couldn't picture the man, the memory hazy, but he jumped to another thing Riku said. "So you were in Twilight Town," he continued, glaring into Riku's eyes. "You said you still saw something in me...from the Organization..."

 

Sora looked between his friends, mouth agape with shock. Riku had never said he was in Twilight Town, or that he had ever been watching his friend. Sora only knew of one occasion where they actually met, but even then, it was only said in passing. He didn't know the details of anything, and now he was wishing he had been more inquisitive in the past.

 

"The power and darkness were hovering inside you, even with your new personality," Riku continued on cue, knowing that was what Roxas wanted to know. He shook his head. "DiZ never could really get rid of that side of you. It's too powerful in all Nobodies. Even Axel still had it in him."

Roxas shook his head. "Stop for a second," he practically growled in demand, gritting his teeth. "What do you mean 'new personality?' And what does Axel have to do with any of this?" Riku's tone... It was like one of harshness, derogatory and insulting. He was talking down about him, it seemed, and Axel too.

 

Sora would have scolded Riku for his tone of voice, but he was just as confused as Roxas was. What was Riku saying, about the dark personality Diz couldn't get rid of? The brunet had never met Roxas during that time since he had been asleep, so he was having trouble filling in the blanks of what Riku and Roxas were discussing.

 

Riku's narrowed eyes stared at Roxas, even though he could feel Sora's gaze on him as well. "Organization members have one thing in common, and that's their need for power, even though they hold extraordinary power within them to begin with," he explained. "The hunger for Kingdom Hearts's power fed the darkness inside them, even if they didn't belong in the Realm of Darkness." Riku continued to lean against one knee, one arm propped up on it. "Even if you don't remember it completely, you were the same way, Roxas. I witnessed all of it."

Roxas blinked hard, in both confusion and the cloud that was threatening to obscure his vision. "You were..." he started, pausing for a second as a picture flashed in front of him. "You were the spy." He lifted his sight to glare angrily at Riku. "That was you!" Roxas remembered that part of his memory perfectly, how he had to chase the fake Organization member down with Axel.

 

Sora raised his brows and looked between his friends, utterly confused. "H-huh?" he stuttered, looking to Riku in the end. He was lost now, but he still had a bad feeling in his stomach. This conversation just kept getting worse and worse...

 

Riku smirked. "I'm glad you connected the dots. I'm surprised you hadn't figured that out sooner," he said, aquamarine eyes still narrowed at the blond Nobody before him.

"It wasn't so easy," Roxas replied harshly, "considering my memories were gone." He felt his hand tighten into a fist. "I get the feeling you know exactly how that happened." Riku knew too much to begin with, and it was all coming out of nowhere.

"Why do you think I had to wear the Organization cloak, Roxas?" Riku asked then. When the blond didn't reply, simply glaring at him, he continued. "I had to get information on Organization XIII's intentions, so we could bring it to an end quickly. Of course, I found out that wasn't possible since Sora was sleeping."

 

Sora looked up at Riku, his confusion starting to frustrate him. Why did he have to be so out of the loop here?! "What are you talking about?" he asked, looking up at his taller friend. He wanted answers here, and he wanted them now. He may not have been as ticked off as Roxas, but he was starting to get annoyed with the arguments and harsh words.

 

Riku turned his head to look at Sora, seeing the apparent confusion and agitation on his friend's face. "While you were asleep for a year, King Mickey and I disguised ourselves as Organization members once we found out about the threat they posed. We weren't for sure what it was, which was why I had to sneak around the worlds," he explained, his tone still darker, but not as bad toward Sora. "But then I found out who put the XIII in Organization XIII, and knew that in order to wake you up and deal with the Organization, Roxas had to be returned to you."

Roxas's angry blue eyes darted toward the rocky earth beneath him, his teeth gritted as he breathed through them. His vision was clouding over, Riku's words somehow encouraging a new vision to come to him. A new memory.

 

Sora arched a brow, having a bit more understanding than he did before. Still though, he began to recall something he had briefly thought of earlier, something that never was answered. "But why?" he asked Riku. "Why did Roxas have to come to me for me to wake up? Wasn't Kairi able to live her life before she met Namine?"

 

Riku paused, lowering his sight to his leg. He couldn't tell Sora that now, not when there was so much to tell already. "...I'll get to that in a minute," he finally answered, a little hesitance in his voice.

Roxas sucked in a breath, but silently, hearing the words being exchanged. He and Sora were both confused, but with the help of his memories, Roxas thought he was beginning to understand. "What...did you do?" he grumbled lowly, not lifting his eyes to Riku as he struggled to stay in touch with the conversation, too many questions needing to be answered before his memory overtook him.

 

Sora was a bit surprised at Riku's response; his friend hardly ever showed any hesitance. Before he could question it, though, he heard Roxas' inquiry. He turned his head to look at his friend, seeing that he seemed to have been having difficulty. "Roxas?" he said in worry, seeing the odd and troubled expression his friend held. Something is very wrong here...

 

Riku turned his focus back to Roxas, seeing the troubled expression on his face. He didn't think anything of it, other than that he was struggling to take all of the information in. "DiZ and I already had connections," he started again. "It was his idea to give you a new personality, that way the Organization couldn't track you."

"What are you talking about?!" Roxas cried, his eyes flashing with anger as soon as they lifted to Riku. He ground his teeth together harder as he blinked, forcing himself to resist the intensity of the memory that wanted to flood his mind.

"Don't you remember? Before you merged with Sora you saw DiZ. You saw both of us," Riku said. "Think about where you were. The computer, the data-based projection..."

Roxas's eyes suddenly widened as a picture quickly flashed before his eyes. The speed of it let him know that it wasn't the memory threatening to take over his mind, but simply a flashback to the time Riku was telling him about. The computer... After a painful memory of leaving the Organization he had destroyed it, and then followed a door to fight Axel before seeing Sora, Donald and Goofy in pods. "Data..." he said without thought, his voice suddenly without tension, seeing himself slashing at a man's projection. DiZ.

 

Sora looked over at Riku for a brief moment before looking to Roxas again, still concerned and confused but choosing to stay silent. Data projections? Computer? New personality? So much of this was over his head, but he had a feeling Roxas understood. Maybe later he could get some answers himself, but now seemed like a bad time to bring up any questions he had.

 

"...You weren't there," Roxas insisted once more, his voice showing vulnerability now, confusion overrunning his features. He shook his head as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I never saw you. Just some guy with a really deep voice..."

"Dressed in an Organization XIII cloak," Riku said, finishing. "DiZ and I were working together, and I was the one who brought you to Twilight Town in the first place. I was there, Roxas." His tone was still harsh toward the Nobody, even though he saw that Roxas was struggling to handle all of the information.

The words triggered the memory in Roxas's head, the blackness behind his eyelids disappearing as everything turned white. A high-pitched ringing entered his ears and he cried out, digging his fingers in his hair again as his eyes squeezed closed even tighter.