Chapter 7—Showdown of Fate (Part 3)

Riku had no choice. He was going to have to break the steady locks he and Shadow had been trapped in. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it to be true. This fight was a diversion. Something was happening inside the cave and they wanted him out of the way.

Pulling a deep breath into his lungs, he lunged, as he had a hundred times at that point. But this time with more force, shoving Shadow further back. The spear traveled down at Riku from over Shadow's left shoulder in a slicing movement. Riku's Keyblade was near the ground, giving him the advantage; he thrust upward and the two collided, electric sparking and both fell back.

Shadow was stunned; he hadn't been prepared for it and after so long of the fixed exchange. Riku took his chance. He turned on his heel and ran, hard and fast, towards the cave. He was horrified to find that the battle had drawn him much further away then he had thought, and knew even when he was half way back that that would be his undoing. He was so close, so close and yet still too far away when a sharp pain erupted in his back, on the inside of his right shoulder blade.

He jerked with the pain and the pointed end that Shadow held to his back was jabbed further into Riku's skin, burning, and provided the chance for Shadow to shove it further, turning the weapon as he did. The combined pain, Riku's now clumsy feet, his nearly walking pace, and Shadow nearly jumping on his back, forced Riku to the ground, the breath dragged out of his lungs.

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The one with the blue-orbed spear hissed when she saw Kairi standing in the way. "I don't know how you got in there, but for your own sake, leave now." The words were firm, confident.

"And leave Riku to take care of Mark and Lucia? No." Kairi held her Keyblade level, ready for one or all of them to attack. The two holding Mark threw the poor kid against the stone wall. He collapsed unconscious, blood on the side of his head, above his right ear.

The two withdrew their spears and flanked both sides of her. They were in a small space, providing little room for movement. The only advantage that Kairi could see was that she was smaller then either of them.

Simultaneously, the two sharp-ended spears came at her and Kairi jumped back a second before they would have made contact. They left large holes in the loose dirt ground. Then they were yanked from their position in the ground and returned to an attack position.

This time, the one on the left came first and she hit it back, only to meet the sting of the other on her arm.

Sora and Riku had been training Kairi, so she was a vast improvement from her performance in The World that Never Was, but still nearly overwhelmed by the two attacks coming together and one right after the other. She fought back, but despite everything, the two were fast and didn't seem to have a hard time of keeping up with her movements.

There was one good point, she conceded: the fight was taking place in front of the stone passageway; there was no way anyone was leaving unless it was out the cave entrance.

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Shadow laughed at his triumph as Riku wrestled to get up off the ground, but it wasn't working. He fought, harder and harder, but it wasn't working. The pain on his back had engulfed his shoulder and was starting to creep down his arm, the arm he wielded the Keyblade with. Riku couldn't see into the cave, could only see blackness, as Shadow turned him over, keeping him pinned, and held the spear high.

Riku grappled furiously.

"Stop struggling; die with at least a little dignity." Shadow mocked. The spear was poised to come down into his chest. Shadow was grinning evilly, obviously pleased with his work.

A second was all it took to let his doubts flash through his mind. Mark, poor kid, needed to get back to The Ranch, to a place where he was familiar with his surroundings. Sora and Kairi were waiting for him to finish up here, waiting for him to catch up. And Lucia... he'd never get to see her smile again, never get to kiss her again, never get to tell her...

Had he failed?

The point came down an inch in mock threat and Shadow laughed at the way Riku flinched.

Had he really truly failed...?

Now, the spear sliced through the air in a downward plummet.

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Mark moaned as he regained slight consciousness. His arms were sore from being held in place by the rope behind his back, and he felt the warm trickle of blood on his head, running down his ear.

Kairi was fighting two of the three. The other one still held Lucia, standing almost in front of him, like she was guarding him from interfering. Kairi was doing well, especially consider the tight space and numbers against her, but she wasn't making any ground. Mark strained to listen beyond the sounds of battle that echoed through the cave to hear what was happening outside.

He didn't hear anything.

There were no cries of frustration, no sounds of metal on metal, no feet shifting the dirt, no gasping breaths.

What was Riku doing? Standing the man off? Had Riku won? Had the opponent won? What was going on?

Kairi grunted, a sound mixed with a stifled cry of pain. Mark turned to see her collapse to the dirt, holding her leg as blood oozed from behind her hand. Her Keyblade, a strange thing with flowers as ornaments, lay just out of her reach and two spears pointed down at her.

"Kill her," the one carrying to blue orb ordered. "Kill her now. End it."

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Angel Of Blacksouls, I'm glad you like it and thanks for reviewing!

Cheekie Excel, thanks so much for the compliment on the action scenes. This one was vague on purpose, to give it a feeling of not really happening. Also, thanks for reviewing!

Hope you guys like cliff hangers. :)