Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

At the last moment, Sora threw his Keyblade at Riku's lower legs, rolling to the side in case Riku recovered and swung his blade. And then when he was back up on his feet, he brought up a leg and kicked Riku in the back, a cry leaving him as he performed the strong attack.

 

Riku recognized the pain in his legs first, a muffled grunt leaving him at the impact. But as he stumbled forward, he felt the force of a strong attack to his back and found himself sent forward. He rolled a little bit before landing on his stomach, the wind currently knocked out of him.

 

Sora landed on one knee, his knee still in pain from a fireball he took earlier. Regardless, he quickly rose to his feet and summoned the Keyblade back into his hand. He momentarily pondered if he could pin Riku to the ground, but he knew that wouldn't work, since Riku was stronger. Then he thought of a move that would work. But he would need Riku on his feet.

 

Riku pushed himself up with his arms, Way to Dawn having been knocked out of his grasp at the kick. He took in a big breath, the rest having been knocked out of him seconds ago. He brought one knee up and then the other, slowly standing up. He wasn't just angry now; he was raged.

 

Sora tightened his grip on the Keyblade and then ran forward, his enraged eyes on a pair as equally angered. He had lost himself in the anger; there was no turning back now.

 

Riku's trained ears caught on to the sound of rushed footsteps. He summoned Way to Dawn back to him quickly, but somehow, deep down, he knew that wasn't going to be enough. Warning bells went off inside his head as he whirled in Sora's direction and attempted to block the blow.

 

Sora swung his blade vertically, performing a move he learned as "Blitz". It was a simple attack with only two swings. The first one stunned your opponent long enough for you to perform the second one, which would send them flying.

 

Riku knew as soon as Sora swung that the feeling in his gut was right--he couldn't block the attack. Riku grunted in pain at the first hit, momentarily tensing up because of the pain. The move had been powerful, something he had never had used against him before, and it left him in a daze.

 

A harsh cry left Sora's lips as he pulled back the Keyblade and swung it vertically, seeing that Riku was already stunned by the first blow, as he was supposed to be.

 

The hit that came next caught Riku completely off guard. The power of the attack sent him off his feet, the boy flying back a few feet before landing with a hard thud on the ground. His body skidded along the floor until his back ran into the wall. Hard. Riku grunted at the pain, but that was the only noise he made as Way to Dawn came clattering and sliding across the floor a foot from him.

 

Sora winced at the thud, though the reaction was caused by more than that. At that moment, his vision had blinked, showing a younger form of Riku being through to the wall like that. But then, just like that, it disappeared. Sora took a few steps back in surprise, Keyblade at his side as he stepped toward the stairs that led to the next floor.

 

Roxas was frozen in shock, the boy's hands out as his sides as he looked wide-eyed at Riku's form. Then his eyes darted to the retreating brunet. "Sora," he started, taking a step forward. The fight had been very intense and very aggressive. Now, there was nothing but silence.

Riku didn't move, having blacked out from the force of the hit. He lay still on his stomach, body limp on the cold, white floor. Way to Dawn was summoned away immediately due to the short period of unconsciousness, disappearing in a shroud of dark color.

 

Sora's widened eyes looked from Riku's fading blade to Roxas, who had taken a step forward. He stopped right by the stairs and spoke to Roxas briefly, saying his thoughts. "He hasn't been honest with me," he said, some anger still apparent in his voice. "He's hiding something from me." He turned his head toward the stairs. "And I'm going to find out what it is." With that, he ran forward, leaving his friends behind on the twelfth floor.

 

Roxas watched Sora go in a shocked silence, his Somebody's words hanging in the empty air. The door closed behind Sora and Roxas was left there with an unconscious Riku, who lay still on one side of the room. As much as Roxas and Riku disagreed with each other and didn't get along, the blond rushed over to the silver-haired teen's body to see if he was alright.

 

Sora ran up the stairs without turning back, ignoring the memory that flashed before his eyes one second and then disappeared the next. It didn't matter anymore. What he needed to find out about happened on a later floor. He opened the door and headed into an unexpected world: Destiny Islands.

 

Thankfully for Roxas, Riku was coming to just as he reached him. The blond knelt down next to the older boy, hearing him groan and watching him stir. Once Riku's aquamarine eyes could be seen, Roxas spoke. "You alright?"

Riku blinked a few times to clear the haze, the voice that spoke to him having echoed in his ears. Riku turned slightly and pushed himself up a little bit, grunting. "Yeah," he managed. "...I'm fine." His sides were still killing him from the electric shocks earlier and now his chest hurt severely. He looked around silently, recognizing that it was Roxas who spoke to him and that he was the only other person with him. Sora was gone.

 

Sora didn't let the sight of his old homeland get to him; he was numb to everything but getting his memories back now. Deep down inside, he hated himself for it, but that hatred was too deep for him to even comprehend at the moment. He tightened his grip on the Keyblade and ran, ignoring any Heartless that appeared.

 

Roxas saw that Riku's clothes were sliced in several places, and that his skin was cut and bruised in those areas. He looked away, toward the door, unsure of what they were to do now. Could they just follow Sora? Or was there some sort of sign that they shouldn't? He couldn't be sure, so he stayed where he was, silent.

Riku groaned again at the aching of his body, as well as his head. He brought a hand up to his silver hair, closing his eyes. He sighed, both in exhaustion and disbelief. Sora had gotten what he wanted--he beat Riku and pursued his memories once more. Wish granted. Now Riku had to either hope he still had some magic left in him, that Roxas knew a Cure spell, or that one of them had enough potions for him to heal up.

 

"Move!" Sora cried out, slashing at a Neoshadow that threatened to get in his way. With his forward momentum, he slashed right through it, killing it in one blow. He felt as if he were short on time; if his friends decided to pursue him, he would have trouble discovering the truth. Especially with Riku...he had no idea what their next interaction would be like.

 

Riku pushed himself up a little more, a small grunt of pain leaving him as he did so. It took him a small moment, but he managed to have his back against the wall. He sighed and closed his eyes, looking inside himself to see if he could feel how much magic was still within him after his Dark attacks against Sora. There wasn't much left, and he realized that it wasn't enough to create a Cure spell.