Author's Notes: A piece of a KH AU that Delena/Aneled Hupp and I are working on. The beginning isn't quite done yet, but this, this is interesting enough by itself. So why are these characters fighting each other, why is Selphie even in the picture, all very good questions. But questions that won't get answered until the actual AU is out. Delena-chan has a bit of it posted, too, go to her profile for some more interesting AU bits.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. This idea, however, is D's and mine. So don't steal that, mmkay?

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Nunchaku rings against Keyblade and snags, is ripped from Selphie's hands. A well-timed Blizzard cast distracts her opponent long enough for her to retrieve her weapon and start swinging again. She gets a blast of dark fire for her efforts, but continues to fight as if it hadn't hurt her, hadn't burned her right arm beyond current use. She switches hands and flies back into the fight. Cures be damned, those are for her teammates, Riku knows.

Riku enjoys seeing this side of Selphie, more than he did the last time. She's smarter, stronger, and -but fuck, when did she get that fast?- using everything she remembers from their previous encounters, plus little tricks that she learned along the way. Like the move she uses now. The nunchaku snags on the Keyblade's sharp edge, but isn't pulled from her again. Instead, she yanks hard, sending the Keyblade flying. It comes back anyway, but the move allowed for a small window of time in which Selphie dove forward and steel met ribs and Riku is sure a few ribs were broken and Sora isn't near fast enough right now to stop her from dealing a second punishing blow, this time to his dominant arm.

The two take a brief second to heal their major injuries before attacking again with more ferocity than before. Riku thinks that if Selphie had tried this hard back on the island, she could've given him a run for his money instead of depending on Wakka and Tidus to do most of the work while she snuck in from behind to deal a few quick blows. He'd dismissed her as a nuisance then, but knows much better than to do that now.

This is hardly the same Selphie he'd grown up with, like the Kairi who is fighting him now -and he should start paying attention, that last blow laid his leg wide open from hip to knee, he Cures himself while she recovers from a blast of Dark energy- is so different from the girl who tried to convince Sora to leave Riku behind on the islands while they set off. Kairi instead abandoned them both, and for Selphie, no less, but she's stronger now. The one the Keyblade chose out of a last resort is starting to be less of a bother and more of an actual problem. Riku isn't sure of her speed, but Kairi has one wicked Lightning cast that seems to be her favourite and is starting to deal more damage than just shocking him long enough for her to hit him once or twice. Kairi is working in combinations now, and Riku has to draw more on the Darkness just to keep her from killing him outright.

Riku calls both fights to a close by hitting both girls with a Stop cast and pulling Sora back from killing Selphie when he has the chance (Riku isn't sure why he stopped Sora, it would be saving them the trouble of doing it later, but attacking when the opponent is incapacitated never was his style).

Riku can appreciate what Kairi and Selphie have become: able, versatile fighters who will stop anyone in their path or die trying. He thinks he might like them better, though, if they would've just stayed home.
"C'mon," he says instead, smirking. "We've got a world to end."