Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

"Fine. You probably know more about this place than I do," Sora admitted joylessly. "That doesn't change what I saw. Whether you remember it or not, I did fight you." He was prepared to leave it at that, since he had said that at least three times during the conversation. Right now, he just wanted to move forward and figure out more of what happened here. He needed closure now, to finish what he started when he set foot in this place for the second time.

 

Riku turned his sight back to Sora, his eyes narrowing into a glare again. "Despite what you think, I know that I wasn't here." He stared at his friend for a second, deciding whether or not he should tell him about Repliku. Not that he'd believe me at this point, Riku thought. Might as well let him figure it out on his own. "You came here searching for answers. I'll let you find the one to this problem yourself." Riku's aquamarine eyes stared at Sora for a second longer before glancing at Roxas. The expression didn't change, but he looked away, starting up the stairs to get this all over with. He just wanted to get out of here.

 

Sora didn't respond, simply following Riku up the stairs. If that was how Riku wanted things to play out, then he was fine with that. They'd go through the floors and he'd discover whether Riku was lying or if he truly forgot about what happened. The answers were waiting for him, and he would get them and be fulfilled. Unless, of course, they ended up changing everything. They possibly could, but Sora didn't care anymore. He would finish this.

 

Roxas followed his two comrades automatically, knowing that he couldn't risk getting left behind in this place. He stepped up the stairs after them and followed Riku and Sora through the next door, knowing there would be another world of Heartless and battle waiting for them.

 

Upon reaching that floor, Sora had another memory come back to him. One where he was depressed over his and Riku's fight and Donald, Goofy, and Jiminy cheered him up and convinced him that he had to remind Riku what good friends they were. This memory, unlike the other one, didn't overtake him. It simply appeared to him in a flash, only making him blink a few times as they went into the next world.

 

Riku walked ahead of the other two, summong his Keyblade to him as soon as they were on the other side of the door. A new world, no surprise there. He hated having to go through all of this a second time, but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it but fight to the end.

Roxas still had a hold of his two blades when he reached the next world. He looked around, taking in the new place. Well, it wasn't new to Sora or Riku. They'd done this whole experience once before. He hated it now; he could only imagine what they were both feeling.

 

Floor Twelve

Sora exited Twilight Town following his two friends, Keyblade loosely in his hand. Much like the other floors, he felt another memory coming back to him. Most of the time, he was able to hold it back, but whenever it concerned Riku, it always clouded his vision before he could even try to control it. He winced and brought up his free hand, grabbing his head and shutting his eyes as another memory flashed before his eyes.

 

Roxas turned around at the faint sound, recognizing it instantly as one of pain. He looked over his shoulder, eyes landing on Sora. His eyes in turn widened at the look of hurt on his Somebody's face. He quickly made his way toward him, having only been a few steps away. Another memory, no doubt.

Riku had gone through the last few floors without much trouble, fueled by his anger and hatred to get through the enemies. Things had been silent throughout the last few worlds, and he didn't even have to question why. After a few seconds he noticed that he only heard his footsteps on the white floor of the Castle and he turned around. His eyebrows instantly furrowed at the sight, but he knew what was happening. Sora was experiencing another memory.

 

Sora gripped his head with his left hand, paying attention to the memory but not having the whole thing play out in front of him like other fights with Riku had. It was more like a flash, playing out in fast forward but still being clear enough for him to understand. He and Riku were standing there, discussing Namine and how they had both made a promise to protect her. Obviously that wasn't true; Sora had made that promise to Kairi, and Riku hadn't been anywhere near at the time. But Riku picked a fight with him all the same, and for the third time, he lost.

 

Roxas stood in front of Sora and summoned one of his blades away so he could put a hand on his shoulder. He bent his head a little to try and get a good look at his friend, but didn't say anything. It didn't matter if someone spoke, because the process of regaining a memory couldn't be interrupted.

 

Just like the previous fights, Sora saw Riku running off again. Then as Sora headed forward, Donald and Goofy called out to him. They wanted to discuss what was going on, since something was fishy. Sora agreed with them now; they should have discussed this. But his younger self insisted they get a move on and save Namine, and after some harsh words on his part, he ran off without them. That was the last of the memories he regained on this floor. He shook his head faintly, his senses returning to him after a few seconds. Something was definitely wrong here...Why was he such a jerk over Namine? He didn't love her, not like that.

 

Roxas saw that Sora was coming out of the memory and he stared at him. "You alright?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed. This was serious, mostly because it had a huge part on the victim. He had experienced it as well, so he knew better than anyone.

Riku held Way to Dawn loosely at his side as he looked at Sora. He had been wondering since the eighth floor when Sora would finally see that he really hadn't been fighting him during the events in Castle Oblivion. He had been down in the basement for some of it, and hadn't found Sora until Namine had already put him to sleep. Whatever. Until then, he would just worry about staying alive.

 

Sora lifted his head and opened his eyes, meeting Roxas's gaze. "Yeah," he said, nodding faintly. He slowly lowered his left hand back down to his side, looking past Roxas and Riku to the next set of stairs. "Let's keep going," he said. He wouldn't let this memory slow him down, or the questions he had. He was wondering when the answers to these questions would come, and the tension was getting to him.

 

"Are you sure?" Roxas asked, letting his hand fall back to his side. He arched an eyebrow. "You don't look so good, man." Sora really didn't. He seemed a little exhausted, as they all were, but there was something else. Roxas just couldn't figure it out.

"I'm sure he's fine," Riku cut in, looking from the Nobody to Sora. "Remember? He doesn't even let the pain slow him down. His determination is too strong, even if it hurts." Riku looked at Sora a while longer, but then he turned around and started across the white hall to get to the next door.

 

Sora glared after Riku, eyebrows furrowed. Yes, he was determined to get through this, even if it did hurt. But a little bit of support from his best friend would be helpful. Riku was being completely unreasonable; he needed the help of his friends to get through this. Roxas was trying, but Riku was countering it, dragging him down. Was he doing it just to stand against Roxas, someone he didn't get along with, or was it because he and Sora really weren't friends?

 

Riku barely glanced over his shoulder when he didn't hear following footsteps. "You two coming or not?" he called, voice tight as he continued forward. He was happy Sora was remembering everything and getting his memories back, but he just wanted to leave. This place didn't hold good memories for him, and the ones that were forming now weren't so great either.

Roxas looked across his shoulder at Riku. The guy was being sour, and for multiple reasons. But Sora had good reasons to be upset as well. Roxas scratched his head, frowning. He didn't want to get in the middle of this.

 

Sora shook his head, staring at Riku. "No," he said simply. He had something he had to say. He had been putting up with Riku's bad attitude for long enough. And now he was about to snap due to his "best friend's" rudeness.

 

Riku stopped and turned around halfway. "What, now you don't want to keep moving?" he said, eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't sure why Sora wanted to stop, but he was going to stay anyway. It's not like he could leave him. Even if he was a little more than upset with Sora, he wasn't going to just ditch him. Not like what had happened to him earlier.

Roxas looked from Sora to Riku and then back again. His eyebrows furrowed slightly at Sora's answer. He couldn't really think of anything being wrong...

 

"Of course I do," Sora spat. It was obvious he did, and Riku's comment was just plain stupid. "But not like this. I've had it, Riku. I'm so sick of your attitude!" And if you keep acting like a jerk, then I'll have to knock some sense into your head, he added mentally, tightening his grip on the Keyblade.

 

Riku smirked slightly, but not in a good way. "Good to know that feeling's mutual," he said simply. It wasn't like he was the only one who had a bad attitude here. Sora had his moments as well. Riku wasn't very fond of his attitude either.