Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

"Heh," Sora let out a dark chuckle, a frown on his lips. "My two best friends are out to kill each other. I don't think it gets much worse than that." He didn't care just how serious his friends were about this; it needed to end.

 

Sora's words reached Roxas, and they only angered him more. Roxas kept Oblivion on Riku's blade and quickly brought back Oathkeeper, swinging at Riku with a battlecry. He watched as Riku jumped back slightly, but immediately retaliated with a swing of his own. Roxas flipped out of the way, spinning and landing a hit in Riku's side.

Riku grunted in pain but immediately jabbed his blade at Roxas, a cry leaving his lips. He saw Roxas flip backward to avoid the hit, but that didn't stop Riku from pursuing him. He ran a few steps forward, still on the outstretch of the rock as he slashed at Roxas, who swung back with equal force.

 

Sora stood, frozen by indecision. He needed to end this, but he had no idea how. "Stop!" he ordered, rushing over. He physically used his Keyblades to separate the two of them, pressing the blades up against the two boys' chests as he pushed them apart. "I mean it."

 

Controlled by his anger, Roxas swung Oathkeeper to the left at Sora's Keyblade, knocking it out of the way. "Didn't you hear what I said?" he hollered, but then found himself being forced back. He grunted as he pushed back with his Keyblades, his feet sliding against the rocky terrain.

Riku's push was finally halted, the boy back to blade-to-blade with the blond Nobody. "You don't want him involved? Don't swing at him," he ordered darkly. He only received a furious glare from Roxas, who jabbed his blades at him again. Riku jumped to the side, but not without swinging.

Roxas hissed at the pain that stung his arm, the boy side-stepping from the blow. He glanced down at his arm once he caught his footing, seeing blood begin to trail down the length of his arm, a deep gash near his elbow. His stormy eyes glared up at Riku, the boy gripping his Keyblades tightly.

 

"Riku, stop it!" Sora ordered, yelling at the silver-haired teen. "You two are out of control." Seriously; these two were so in the dark. Couldn't they see that nothing was resolved by this physical fighting? The only thing that would work out was talking it out, but they didn't seem to have the patience for that. Hopefully that would change soon.

 

"Quiet, Sora!" Riku ordered, his eyes not leaving Roxas. He could feel his blade begin to shake against Roxas's. They were both putting their strength into this fight, and he had a feeling it wasn't going to end until someone collapsed from fatigue. Or worse.

Roxas's jaw flexed with the anger that overflowed in him, pumped through his veins. Staying in this hold wasn't going to do him any good. He thrusted his blades up, making Riku's do the same before he spun and swung his blades, striking Riku in the side.

 

"Roxas!" Sora hollered, trying to get through to him. These two were really leaving him with limited options...Soon he would have to take action to stop them. And if that was separating them and hurting them to keep them apart, then that was what he had to do. At least that way they wouldn't kill each other.

 

Roxas ignored Sora's outcry, continuing the combo against Riku. He was finally getting more than a single hit on him, the boy swinging Oathkeeper and Oblivion in fury. He heard Riku's grunts and winces in pain, but that didn't stop him; he continued to slash, slowly pushing Riku in the direction opposite Sora. "You ruined everything!" he cried as he swiped at Riku again, this time the attack being blocked, but he had another Keyblade, so he swung it, using it to his advantage. It struck and he roared a battlecry as he swung again. Riku caught his blade with Way to Dawn, and Roxas brought up Oathkeeper to put more pressure on the hold. "If you would have just stayed out of it, nothing would have changed! Axel and I would still be together! We'd still be friends!" Roxas ground his teeth together and brought back Oblivion and swung it down with a furious cry, doing the same with Oathkeeper right after the dark blade struck. He did this repeatedly, just like he had done against Sora in their fight in The World That Never Was.

 

"Roxas! Stop it!" Sora cried out, standing a distance from the battle. He had seen this attack before--when Roxas had performed it on him. And that time it hadn't ended too well. He ended up in a very bad position, and just the thought of it made him cringe.

 

Roxas didn't listen and instead continued to bring his blades down on Way to Dawn relentlessly. The constant sound of clashing metal reached his ears, light sparking every time his Keyblades made contact with Riku's weapon. Finally, after a few more hits, he saw Riku's form quake slightly under the pressure. This allowed him to bring Oathkeeper down one more time, sending Way to Dawn flying out to the side.

Riku gasped, eyes widening instantly at the loss of his weapon. He was about to go retrieve his blade when he suddenly saw one coming at him. He grunted and quickly dodged the attack by jumping back. Once he landed he suddenly brought his hand out, summoning balls of blue fire and sending one toward Roxas with a cry.

Roxas didn't have time for any other reaction other than the widening of his bright eyes. He cried out as the fiery orb hit him, throwing him off his feet. Roxas soared back, landing with a thud and grunt of pain on the rocky terrain, sliding a little. He groaned as he lay on the ground, eyes closed as he tried to catch his breath; it had been knocked out of him.

 

"Knock it off!" Sora hollered, his heartache shown on his voice. "Please!" He took a step back, horrified at his friends' actions. Nothing was getting through to them...Things were even worse than he had thought. Much worse.

 

Roxas heard Sora's cries in the daze he was experiencing. He shook his head, opening his eyes and blinking. They instantly widened when he heard a grunt and saw Riku's form in the air. Roxas quickly rolled backward, toward Sora, and raised his Keyblade just in time to feel a jolt run through his arms; Riku's blade had made contact with his own. His eyes caught onto Riku's movements, and he brought Oathkeeper up in time when the silver-haired teen brought Way to Dawn back for another attack. Roxas was only vaguely aware that he was being forced to step backward.

 

Sora grunted in surprise, being forced back, toward the edge. There was no way he could get around the two of them; he'd get hit in the process. He held his blades at his side as he kept moving back to avoid the fight, his eyes gradually getting wider as he got nearer and nearer to the edge.

 

Riku did a three-sixty turn, only to have his attack blocked as he forced Roxas to step back once more. He continued to slash at him, both horizontally and vertically, as well as diagonally. Roxas had wanted the fight, and now he was getting the fight of his life; he had ticked Riku off too much for the silver-haired teen to control himself.

Roxas grunted with every attack that he blocked, only wincing when Riku managed to hit him in the shoulder. Every few seconds he would be forced to step back, briefly noting that the landstrip grew thinner and thinner every time.

 

Sora's big blue eyes widened further when he felt some loose gravel on the ground. He slipped briefly, holding his breath as he attempted to balance himself. He succeeded and regained his footing, but the whole thing was enough to make him tremble faintly. That would have been very bad.

 

Roxas finally started to push back, finding a break in the attacks. He dug his shoes into the rock the best he could, half-aware that Sora was also behind him. He had to get off this stretch. He thrusted Oblivion at Riku's midsection after pushing the block off him, only to see that Riku jumped back half a step to dodge. He continued the assault, seeing that he was getting closer to the wide area of land.

 

Sora took one step forward when he had room, a breath of relief leaving him. He was too stunned, though, to move to the main area like he should have. For the time being, though, it didn't look like the battle was coming back in his direction. Oh, but he had forgotten how quickly a battle could suddenly change.

 

Roxas swung Oblivion vertically, seeing Riku dodge, but then he swung Oathkeeper horizontally, swiping at the older boy's stomach. Riku, however, quickly jumped back a good distance, so he was standing near the middle of the wide area they had been fighting at before. Roxas tightened his grip on his blades as he began to race after him. But just as he reached the beginning of the stretch, where it met the flat land, he saw Riku was summoning more of the energy blasts. Roxas saw one coming for him and immediately rolled to the side, dodging the attack successfully.

 

Sora's big blue eyes widened, seeing three blasts coming in his direction. He grunted and lifted a blade, but not before one struck his shoulder. He took a few steps back with that impact and lifted the Kingdom Key to block one of the others. When it hit his weapon, it forced him back again. And then when the third hit Lion Heart, he had to take yet another step back. But the land wasn't there. With one foot over the edge and the force of that last blast, it was impossible for him to regain his balance. A cry left his lips as he fell over the edge of the rock, a reaction he couldn't control.

 

Riku had blanched as soon as he saw Roxas dodge his fireballs, instantly aware of who they were heading toward. And as soon as they hit, he gasped, stiffening at his friend's cry. "Sora!" he screamed.

Roxas rose to his feet to hear Sora's scream and his eyes widened, only catching a glimpse of his friend as he fell from the ledge. No!