Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

The next world Sora entered was much more challenging than he had anticipated. He was forced to mostly defend himself against ambushes instead of being on the offensive. Worse than that, he couldn't run straight through without them clawing his back and pulling him back into a fight. His stay in the world felt like an eternity, but he knew that the Heartless wouldn't be coming back there for some time. Not that it mattered to him, considering he was heading upwards. A harsh battle cry left his lips as he hurried forward, only one door away from the exit. Then it was back into the main Castle, where Nobodies awaited him.

 

Roxas's breath caught slightly when they stumbled into a room, nothing but glowing eyes greeting him. This room was pitch black, not a light in sight. He heard Riku's battle cry and knew that he wasn't letting it bother him in the least. After all, he had gone through darkness once before. However, Roxas hung back slightly before he jumped into the fray, having a moment's hesitation until his instinct and power kicked in.

It felt like hours before Riku heard Roxas finish off the last Heartless in the room. It was then that a light illuminated from the far corner of the room. "This way," he called, and then he was off, running through the door with the Nobody not two steps behind him. Once he reached the familiar territory of Halloween Town again, he continued on, not stopping. They needed to reach Sora quickly; if it was difficult for just them, then Sora must have been having a harder time than they were.

 

Sora ran through the last room, ignoring the Heartless rising out of the ground. He couldn't take them, but he also couldn't take the Nobodies that waited for him at the exit. But at this point, he knew that he had a better chance with the Dusks. He winced when a Neoshadow scratched at his leg, but he continued on, running out of the eighth floor door and into the castle once again.

 

Roxas sensed that the door just along the path was the last one in this world, and he pushed himself harder because of it. Riku was right beside him, both of them panting as they ran toward the door. They were done with this world, thank goodness. Roxas ran through the door, the white walls of Castle Oblivion greeting him instantly. However, he didn't stop running, but instead kept going. Just as he expected, Dusks appeared. He pulled a Reversal quickly and started attacking, knowing Riku was doing the same.

 

Sora gasped, his vision fading. He stumbled forward a few steps, a groan leaving his lips. Ever since he met Larxene on the last floor, the memories had become more intense. And now, much like the episode Roxas had at Pride Rock, Sora was being overtaken by a memory. Fortunately for him, no Nobodies were around him at the time. Even if they were, he couldn't stop this one. He winced and gripped his head, Keyblade disappearing as a memory clouded his vision.

 

Riku fought off the Nobodies with the hatred he felt for both this place and for them. Nobodies had inhabited this place, a place that had been enough for him over the past few years. It had quite possibly been the worst thing to happen to him, with all that occurred here. He chucked Way to Dawn at a Dusk closing in, stopping it before it got too close. In just a matter of minutes, with his and Roxas's skills combined, the Dusks were gone.

 

Sora, younger and dressed differently than he was that current day, looked up as he exitted the world. he gasped when he saw the person in front of him, his eyes wide with both shock and happiness. "You're...Riku!" He ran to meet him as Riku descended the stairs, staring at him in a way that unnerved him a bit. "What're you doing here?" How did you get into Castle Oblivion? he silently wondered, not saying the words aloud.

"Not happy to see me?" Riku asked, his voice flatter than usual. "Let me know if I'm getting in the way, you know, of something more important?"

Sora looked at Riku in shock, but he recovered quickly from the harsh words. "Huh? I didn't mean that..."

"Hmph. Spare the excuses. I bet...you had all but forgotten about me." Riku spoke the words coldly, and Sora knew that this wasn't a joke. But, how could Riku think like that?! Of course it wasn't true! And he said so.

"Are you crazy?! C'mon! I came all this way looking for you!" Sora cried, his confusion and concern coming through in his voice. Why was he saying these things? To him, they obviously weren't true. But...Riku...He was saying horrible things, and he didn't seem to care. It hurt him deep inside as he recalled more of the situation.

 

Riku didn't say anything to Roxas as he walked toward the next set of stairs, leading to the door to the next floor. They had to go through one more world before they reached the eighth floor. He sighed inwardly. Sora must have been moving fast if they couldn't catch up with him at the speed they were moving.

 

"But you're not anymore, right?" Riku asked, staring coldly at the brunet in front of him. He continued on without waiting for an answer, since he already knew the truth. "Now it's only Namine you're looking for. You don't care about me. Just like you never cared, at all, about her feelings." He didn't elaborate on anything, which left Sora with a million more questions, both in the present and in the past.

"...Namine's?" young Sora questioned, needing elaboration. He was completely confused at the time. He had always cared for Namine, and always treated her well. That was what was running through his mind at the time, but Riku's words planted some doubt.

"Hmph. I knew it," Riku said, his voice snobbish. "Never even gave it a thought, did you? Just because you want to see Namine-sorry-doesn't goes both ways. Tell you the truth, Namine doesn't even want to look at your face."

Sora groaned, falling to his knees at the impact of the words. Deep down, he knew that this whole thing with Namine couldn't be true, but Riku's words still cut him down, making his heart and head ache more than they already were.

 

Roxas realized they were cutting short on time. What would happen if Sora reached the top floor before they could reach him? The next world he and Riku entered was empty of enemies, so Riku directed to just run right through. It worked a lot faster than he thought. In a matter of minutes he saw the last door of the world. Roxas ran through it alongside Riku, Keyblades in hand.

 

"Why not?" Sora asked, sounding naive and innocent. Innocent of what? Wrongdoings? Or innocent of knowledge that would make him see something in what Riku was saying?

Riku paused for a moment, as if contemplating what to say. Or, Sora hoped, if he should speak more kindly to his best friend. Unfortunately, the latter did not come true, since Riku spoke in the same tone as before."You should ask your memories why Namine disappeared from the Islands. Remember that, and you'd know."

Sora looked down at the ground in sadness, saying his thoughts aloud. "Did I...Did I do something? Was it my fault?" The words came more quickly at that point, anxiety making him nervous. He looked up at his friend, sadness written on his face. "Riku..."

Riku transformed then, his clothing changing from his old outfit into the one he wore when he utilized the power of Darkness. "Go home Sora. I'll care of Namine. Anyone who goes near her..." He summoned his blade into his hand, a look of fierce anger crossing his expression. "...goes through me!" He jumped forward and swung his blade at Sora, only to be blocked by the sudden appearance of the Kingdom Key.

 

Riku ran through the door, following Roxas out. He took in his surroundings and noticed spikey brown hair a few feet ahead. "Sora!" he cried instantly, recognizing that his best friend was on the ground. He ran forward immediately, concerned over what was happening, but he already knew: memories were returning.

Roxas stopped on the other side of Sora opposite Riku, kneeling down next to him. Sora looked as if he were in pain and Roxas instantly recognized that he was most likely remembering something. From what he understood about Castle Oblivion, it was only full of hurt and sadness. At least from what Riku had explained and the look on Sora's face now.

 

Sora winced outwardly, both as a reaction to the memory and to his friends coming up beside him. However, he couldn't do anything else to acknowledge they were there, since he was in the middle of a memory. The story continued to unfold in his mind, catching his attention again.

Sora grunted in surprise, feeling the pressure of Riku's blade against his. "What's-what's wrong with you?" he stuttered, his voice showing his heartbreak. "We're supposed to be friends!"

Riku scoffed. "Please, Sora. Since when have you ever cared about me?!" He paused for a moment, his dark glare staying on Sora as he pressed his blade against his. "Namine's not the only one sick of looking at you...So am I!" He grunted and launched himself backward, landing back where he had been before. He lifted his blade into a battle position, his body language showing what he wanted to happen next: a fight.

"Riku...stop it!" Sora ordered, standing upright and looking at his friend across from him. How could he say such a thing?! And now, he was starting a fight. Sora swallowed and lifted his Keyblade, resigned. He had to fight; he had no choice. He battled Riku for a while and in the end, Sora came out the victor. After it was over, Riku just ran off, Sora calling after him desperately. "Riku, wait!"

 

Roxas watched his Somebody, but it was harder than he originally thought. He had been like this, going through pain like this for months. Now he knew what it was like on the outside; it hurt to see someone close to you go through something so life-changing. Roxas would know; he wasn't exactly the same person anymore. Regardless, he set a hand on Sora's shoulder, big blue eyes looking at him.

Riku glanced at Sora before letting his eyes dart around the room. He didn't see anything, but he sensed that a threat was near. Dusks, no doubt. If Sora wasn't able to recover soon, he and Roxas would have to fight for him and defend him against the Nobodies. Riku was kind of used to it; after all, he had to do a little bit of it when Roxas went through this.

 

Sora furrowed his brows, the memory fading as he saw his younger self running in the direction Riku came from. He knew that the rest would come to him as soon as he hit the next floor. He lowered his hands from his head and set them on his knees, keeping them as fists. He gasped and opened his eyes, his breathing slightly heavy both due to the intensity of the memory and his tiredness from earler. What in the world was that? How could that have happened? How could Riku have said such horrible things? None of it made sense to him, but he was too hurt to look for the answers at that moment.

 

Riku turned his head back toward Sora, seeing that his friend seemed to be calming down. He lifted his hand to Sora's shoulder. "You alright?" he asked, voice calm. However, that was hardly how he felt; he was tense from just being in this place, angry about being in this place, and hated that the enemies had somehow gotten stronger without the presence of Organization XIII. He was surprised Sora got this far on his own.

 

Sora nodded slightly, the memories still whirling through his mind even though the vision had faded. Riku...why did you fight me? I thought we were supposed to be friends. He shut his eyes and tried to calm his breathing, which was still not quite back to normal.

 

Riku kept his eyes on Sora for a second, squeezing his best friend's shoulder in a brotherly way. Seeing him like this didn't make him happy, but he had to deal with the consequences of coming to this awful place.

"We've got company," Roxas said, instantly standing up. He took a few steps forward and positioned himself slightly in front of Sora, summoning Oblivion and Oathkeeper to his hands. Dusks appeared only a few yards away in the white room.

Riku's eyes darted up at Roxas's words, and when he saw the Nobody take guard, he stood up as well. He called Way to Dawn to his hand before stepping over in front of Sora as well, arm up and in his stance. Even though these were the simplest of Nobodies, he hated them greatly, especially since they got stronger on every floor.

 

Sora opened his eyes, looking up past Roxas and Riku. Sure enough, the Dusks had appeared. He was very fortunate that they hadn't come earlier, when he was experiencing the memory. He shook his head slightly and summoned his Keyblade, knowing this fight would be almost too difficult for Roxas and Riku to handle while defending him. He could fight them off; after all, that's what he had done for the past eight floors. He stabbed his blade into the ground and rose to his feet, a little shaky but more confident when he was fully upright.

 

Roxas glanced slightly over his shoulder, questioning Sora's motives for a moment. But then he remembered that his own memories had made him stronger, and perhaps that was what Sora was experiencing. Plus, the Keyblade Master had gone through all eight floors alone. Roxas tightened his grip on his Keyblades as he faced the Dusks again. Well, now they had to deal with all three of them.