"Your Majesty!" Telary exclaims, accidentally tightening his grip on Azlyn's arms. The knight squeaks in surprise and forcibly extracts herself from the entanglement.
The king makes his way down the short staircase to the reactor, Cid and the Flynn-Fletcher boys following behind him. He doesn't take his eyes off the two lovebirds for a moment, a small, bemused grin decorating his features.
"Go ahead and say what you're gonna say already," Azlyn grumbles, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "I can tell you're not mad."
The king chuckles, shaking his head. "Well gosh, why would I be mad? I had a major bet going with Donald that you two would get together before Azlyn turned eighteen!"
"I get a percentage of that right?"
Beside Azlyn, Telary lets out the breath he'd been holding.
"Well, I suppose it would only be fair," the king agrees, still quite amused at the whole situation. He finally stops in front of the pair, close enough that they can make out tears in his eyes.
"Your Majesty?" Telary blurts, frowning. "Are you okay?"
The king wipes his eye with one gloved finger. "I'm just so happy for the two of you!"
Azlyn reacts first, reaching down to scoop up Mickey and twirl him around in a hug. Telary laughs once, crying a little bit himself at the moment, and joins in on the embrace.
Sora watches it all, a bittersweet feeling churning inside him. It's the same way he'd felt at the Disney Castle trio's initial reunification: longing for a reunion of his own.
"Musta been some brawl you had," Cid's gruff voice suddenly sounds behind the Keybearer. Sora turns to see the engineer gesturing to the broken power cable hanging over one of the consoles.
The Keybearer's bittersweet feeling turns simply sour, the image of Demyx smoking and dying replaying in his mind, still fresh. He'd felt numb at the initial event, too hyped on adrenaline and concern for Azlyn to think of what was actually happening. Reflecting on it after the fact, however, he almost wants to hurl.
"The bastards did a number on the damned defense system, no doubt about that," Cid says to Phineas and Ferb, apparently unconcerned with using such harsh language in front of them. For their part the kids just nod, already going through the innards of another control panel.
"How long is it gonna take to get it back up?" Sora asks, concerned with the massive force of Heartless undoubtedly still terrorizing the town.
"It'll be a while," Phineas sighs, already grabbing some tools from a small box. Perry sits beside it, his "placid pet" disguise firmly in place. "Five minutes, maybe more."
Sora frowns. "Five minutes, that's all?"
Phineas nods, looking a bit bewildered. "Our record for a complete reboot is two minutes." He glares playfully at his stepbrother. "But we could have been faster if someone hadn't been staring at Miss Gainsborough."
Sora raises an eyebrow and looks to Ferb, who raises a debonair eyebrow in reply. When the green-haired boy turns back to assist his brother, Sora makes his way over to Mickey and his companions.
"So, Maleficent and Organization XIII were here," Mickey is saying, scratching at his chin in a very concerned way. "Double the trouble. But, with the defense grid up again soon, we can concentrate on taking the fight to them."
"You mean that big tower out in the canyons?" Telary asks. "Whichever of our enemies are behind this, they must be using it as their base."
Azlyn grimaces. "Yeah, but that's miles outside the city. No way could we make it in time to stop anybody, not on foot."
An idea sparks suddenly in Sora's mind. He turns to where the Flynn-Fletchers are working diligently to restore power.
"If we need a ride" he says with the slightest of grins, "then I think I know where we can get one."
KH-KH-KH
Leon swings the gunblade down again, cutting through what has to be the hundredth Armored Knight in the last hour. Turning his head, he spies Quistis fighting not far away, her whip proving useful in swatting Heartless out of the air. Behind him, he can hear Cloud slicing through more opponents with his huge sword.
The vast blue expanse of the Hollow Bastion Badlands stretches out below him, the massive force of Heartless continuing their march on his city. If it weren't for having the high ground, and the relative weakness of each individual Heartless, things would be a lot worse.
Not that they're great at the moment, of course. Most of the defense force remains inside the walls, helping civilians against those Heartless that have inserted themselves inside the walls. That leaves only Leon and his two compatriots to hold the line at the massive hole in the side of the wall by the bailey.
Once again, a force of Armored Knights charges up the ridge. Leon gets the leader with his first swipe, then brings his sword back around to knock into another's shoulder. The blade doesn't penetrate the Heartless's thick armor, but it does send the creature tumbling backwards. It collides with two of its brethren, who fall back into five more. The chain reaction grows and grows, and suddenly an avalanche of Heartless go plummeting down the mountain.
Leon stops to watch his work, making the mistake of taking his focus off the battle. Only the loud buzzing of propellers prompts him to look up to see a swarm of Surveillance Robots descending on him. Grimacing, the main raises his blade again.
Just as the first wave is about to crash into him, the familiar form of the Buster Sword swipes through the air, dissecting a line of five Heartless. Cloud twists in midair, coming to rest on his feet beside Leon.
"I guess it's true, what they say about being the man in charge," the blond man comments with a playful smirk. "Dulls your fighting spirit."
Leon rolls his eyes, running through two Armored Knights with one thrust. "I'm actually surprised to see you out here, Cloud. Must be cutting into your brooding time."
"Like you're one to talk."
Leon's retort dies on his tongue as a group of a dozen Heartless finally organize themselves for a proper charge. The playful energy of the moment evaporates, and the two men prepare for battle once again.
"No matter what happens," Leon barks as Quistis joins the defensive line, "we hold them here. We can't let them get into the city."
The Heartless are only a few yards away now, a green-armored Morning Star leading the charge. The deadly sharp tip of its spikes gleam in the afternoon sun. Leon barely has time to grit his teeth before the creature and its subordinates reach resistance.
Several feet before they expected to encounter it.
"Get back!" Sora calls out, his shout muffled by the huge impact of Phineas and Ferb's mechanical canine landing on the blue stone. "Get back into the city, quick!"
Azlyn, Telary, and King Mickey leap off the robot's back, immediately taking out what Heartless they can. Sora remains atop the Robodog, swatting airborne enemies down.
Leon hesitates for barely a second before responding to the Keybearer's orders. Immediately he and his two compatriots fall back, turning and running for the hole in the city wall.
It isn't long before the Restoration Committee members are through the gap. Leon's gaze immediately swivels back to the fighting quartet, silently wondering what their plan could be.
King Mickey suddenly starts, and with a single nod from him the heroic trio begin their own retreat. Telary provides cover fire as the other two back towards the wall. A few Armored Knights sneak past, but Sora quickly shuts them down.
"Leon!" Quistis exclaims from his right. The committee leader turns to his former mentor just in time to see the family orange flash of a claymore security laser. He allows himself a small smirk as he realizes Mickey's plan.
The outside defenders reach the gap, Azlyn and Sora diving in first, followed by Telary, then finally Mickey. Then the Heartless come, too simpleminded to recognize what can only be a trap.
The first claymore erupts into a column of orange flame at a perfect sweet spot between two Heartless, sending them both flying up into the air. They quickly disintegrate, but by then it's no longer remarkable, dozens of claymores bursting upward to eliminate Heartless.
Leon watches it all with a sense of fierce proud, quietly overjoyed at his city's superior defense. This place is a safe haven for his people, now and forever.
The fireworks show dies out within seconds, the Heartless wising up that their entry point is no longer leading anywhere they'll want to go. The sound of hundreds of dark portals opening and closing echoes throughout the ruined bailey.
"The city should be safe now," Mickey informs Leon, surveying the empty courtyard and the cliffs beyond. "The Heartless won't be able to bother you anymore."
"Not without getting their asses vaporized, anyway," Azlyn chuckles. Mickey gives her a momentary look, and the knight frowns. "Forgive my language, Your Majesty."
"So it's all over then?" Quistis asks, looking hopeful.
Sora steps up and shakes his head. "No, not yet. Not until Maleficent is dealt with."
Leon frowns at the mention of the jade-skinned witch. "So, she's back for more. I should have guessed the second I saw that tower pop up." The gunblade wielder casts his gaze around the ruined outpost. "I should've done something immediately. Now, because I didn't…"
"It's gonna be okay, Leon," Quistis assures her old pupil, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. On the man's other side, Cloud reluctantly follows suit.
"For some reason the Organization was involved, too," Azlyn says. "But Sora and Telary took care of that."
The boys exchange slightly queasy looks. Sora shudders, almost able to hear the sizzling sound of Demyx's death in his ears once again.
"Now, it's Maleficent's turn," the knight continues, patting Robodog on its side. The metal canine barks once affectionately.
"The four of us will ride out to that tower and confront her," Mickey adds.
"I'm going with you," Leon insists, stepping forward only to be held back by Quistis and Cloud.
"You're needed here," Quistis argues, shaking her head firmly. "Things are gonna be bad out there, and the people need to see their leader."
Leon looks like he wants to argue, but thinks better of it. He scowls, fiercely shaking off the blonde woman's hand. "You're right," he sighs after a moment.
"It's alright, Leon, we can take care of it," Telary assures his friend. "After all, this is our home too."
"I can go with you," Cloud offers, shrugging once.
Mickey shakes his head. "I'm afraid me and the kids are all we can afford to pack on."
Leon nods, though it's clearly a struggle to accept his role. "Okay, good. I trust you four to handle it."
"We will," Sora swears, Telary pulling him up onto Robodog's back. Once all four are secured, they head off through the wall.
Robodog takes a running leap off the cliff, landing on the blue stone several dozen feet below with a fierce jolt. The impact rocks its riders, but they hold on as their transport takes off into the wild blue yonder.
The canyons are surprisingly empty, as if all of the Heartless have simply given up. Or, more likely, are just biding their time.
"I don't like this," Azlyn says with a grimace, shouting to be heard over the rush of the wind.
"Keep an eye out!" Mickey warns, jolting several inches into the air as Robodog leaps over a particularly large blue rock. In the distance, Maleficent's tower looms ever closer.
Sora is just about to say something when Robodog once again plows through a rough patch, nearly throwing him and his companions from its back. He catches a glimpse of the ground below, but it looks as smooth as ever.
He's just about to point out the discrepancy when the transport shakes again, then again. Each tremor seems to grow stronger than the last, each in a steady rhythm. The quartet look around frantically, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever is causing the ground to shake.
Azlyn opens her mouth, a smart-mouth comment almost visible on the tip of her tongue. Then the Behemoth leaps over the cliffs behind them, sending the words back into her throat.
The great creature lands heavily, the impact of its bulky frame staggering Robodog and throwing back all of its riders. The beast is massive, with a gunmetal grey torso, dark brown legs, and armored pauldrons on its shoulders. Two huge tusks curve upwards out of its mouth, ending in wicked points above its face. A blood red horn protrudes from the center of its forehead, and its yellow eyes burn with fierce hatred and hunger.
Spotting its prey, the Heartless bounds after them.
"GO!" Azlyn shouts at Robodog, furiously banging her hand against its metal back. The mechanical canine roughly barks a response, and suddenly the journey's speed is tripled.
The Behemoth doesn't seem to care, something like a smile decorating its massive mouth. The four little hearts before it can run all they like. It is the apex predator, created for this very purpose. And today, it will feast.
Despite the speed of their doglike vehicle, the creature quickly gains, roaring a challenge. It lowers its head, rapidly approaching the fleeing party with its horn outstretched, the spear-sharp tip glinting in the afternoon sun.
Robodog leaps to the side as the horn sweeps upward, propelled by the Behemoth's massive head. Sora watches it go past, remembering facing a similar (though significantly smaller) version of this Heartless in the past. He wracks his brain for a weakness he might be able to exploit, but in all the terror and adrenaline of the moment he can hardly think.
Mickey needs no time to think however. Concentrating, the mouse king thrusts out the golden tip of his Keyblade, flinging a fireball the size of his head at the pursuing monstrosity. It impacts against the Behemoth's face, and the great Heartless staggers back, losing ground as it cries out in pain and rage.
Telary immediately follows up on his king's attack, summoning two fist-sized fireballs that home in immediately for the Behemoth's eyes. They miss their marks by inches, but once again the Heartless roars in pain.
But such trivial pains are as nothing to a creature such as it, and with gritted teeth it shakes off its injuries. The hunt has change now, no longer the playful affair it was before. Now, it's time to pull out its ultimate weapon.
Noticing that the Heartless is pulling back even further, Azlyn lets out an excited whoop. Until, that is, she looks up and sees that the red horn of the Behemoth is glowing with an unearthly light, slowly building up a charge. Accompanied by the sound of a hundred electric generators powering up at once, the display takes her breath away. Her mouth falls open dumbly as a ray of red fire, as thick around as the Gummi ship, shoots directly at them. The light coming off the beam bathes the canyons in red, turning them dark purple.
Robodog's sensors, finely tuned by the boy genii Phineas and Fern, detect the energy discharge as soon as it fires. Despite the quickness of mechanical reflexes, it barely manages to leap to the side.
The beam crashes into the rock, drilling a hole at least twenty feet deep. Blue stone and dirt flies up like water from a spout. The sheer force of impact shakes the ground like a blow from a giant sledgehammer, sending Robodog flying into the air gracelessly. Sora, Azlyn, and Telary let out terrified screams, clinging to each other tightly. Only Mickey remains stoic, his face locked in an unbelievably calm expression.
It flips over, sheer inertia the only thing keeping its screaming passengers from falling off its back and to the ground below. With a short bark of determination it lands correctly, all four metal paws planted firmly on solid ground.
The bump of landing jolts the trio out of their terrified fits, their screams abruptly ceasing. Sora risks a cautious glance backwards, and pales as he realizes that the Behemoth has not been deterred in the least.
The race is on again, Robodog once again only barely managing to outpace the monstrosity on its tail. Its metal joints squeal and squeak with every moment, strained to their very limits.
"Look!" Mickey calls out over the rushing wind and booming impacts of the Behemoth's feet. "Up ahead!"
The trio's gazes follow his black-gloved finger to a ravine only about a hundred yards up ahead, a thin gap surrounded by hundred-foot blue cliffs. Immediately they can tell that the crevice is far too narrow for the Behemoth to fit through. It seems now that all they have to do is keep going, outpacing the Heartless just long enough to…
Red light catches in the corner of Sora's vision, and the horrible sound of the charging horn-beam stabs at his ears like a knife. Robodog picks up on it too, racing even faster forward, straining against all of its limits.
The ravine is yards away now, the group within seconds of reaching safety. Azlyn bangs her hand against the mechanical canine's back, urging even more speed. The robot immediately complies, thrusting its front right foot out as quickly as it can.
The impact of paw against stone is muffled by a sudden loud pop, as finally the appendages of the quartet's transport meet their limits. Robodog's leg collapses, breaking up into a dozen pieces.
The mechanical canine lets out a pitiful sounding bark as it crashes into the ground, skidding several feet along the canyon floor. Its passengers resume screaming, but their cries are drowned out by the sound of the Behemoth's beam firing.
The column of fire misses them by inches, the out-of-control machine scraping just out of reach. Heat blossoms from the beam as it carves another hole in the ground. The ground shakes, thrusting Robodog up into the air and flipping it over.
Sora, Azlyn, Telary, and Mickey jump off at the height of the arc, crashing into the canyon floor. Pain wracks their bodies, and immediately Azlyn and Telary black out.
Sora flips over once more and lands on his back, darkness encroaching on the edges of his vision. When he finally slides to a halt, he looks up to see the Behemoth readying itself for another charge, one there will be no chance of outrunning.
Fighting against his aching bones and muscles, the Keybearer pushes himself up. Pain shoots through him though, and with a cry he collapses back to the ground, spent.
His head lolls to the side, affording him a sight that sends a ray of hope shooting through his heart. Mickey stands firmly planted on the ground, shining golden Keyblade in hand.
The mouse king charges forward, his cloak whipping along behind him in the wind. With a grunt Sora rises (painfully) into a sitting position, looking forward to the coming fight with a kind of morbid fascination.
A feeling the Behemoth evidently shares, glaring down at its miniscule opponent like a bug to be squished, Keyblade or no. With a roar of challenge it charges forward, intent on ending this battle with a single footstep.
Narrowing his eyes and gripping his Keyblade tightly, Mickey starts a charge of his own. The king runs full tilt at the Heartless without a trace of fear.
The Behemoth stretches out its cloven foot to stomp the small Keybearer, but Mickey easily dodges to the side. He lands, gathers himself, and launches towards the creature's left leg like a rocket. Flipping over, he plants his feet on the trunk of the leg and pushes off into a backflip.
Behemoth tracks the king's movement with its eyes, watching as he stops midair with a twist and slashes out. The golden Kingdom Key-D slashes against the Heartless's face.
The creature rears back and howls, then pitches forward as Mickey lands on the ground. The mouse king nimbly dodges the Behemoth's cloven hooves, but lands awkwardly as the huge feet impact against the canyon floor and cause a tremor. Taking advantage the Heartless swipes sideways with its hoof, but Mickey simply flips forward twice to avoid being swept away. Midair he once again stops and turns, this time slicing his Keyblade through the back of the creature's leg.
Behemoth stumbles forward as pain shoots through it once again. Mickey wastes no time rushing up the creature's back legs, his Keyblade swishing side to side to make numerous shallow cuts and further dilute his opponent's focus. The Heartless sways from side to side, but somehow Mickey manages to keep his footing and momentum.
Left without any other choice, the Behemoth growls and rises up on its hind legs, ignoring its numerous small injuries. Mickey yelps in surprise and stumbles back, falling all the way to the canyon floor. He tucks and rolls immediately, however, and sustains minimal damage.
Behemoth brings its forelegs down, then immediately kicks back in hopes of knocking the key-wielding mouse into the canyon wall, stun him.
The attack comes too fast for Mickey to move, so instead he raises his gloved hand and mutters a simple spell. A solid barrier of white light surrounds him, and instead of flying back he merely skids several feet back along the ground, dust and pebbles flying up outside the barrier.
It isn't much, but it's enough for the Behemoth to press the advantage, quickly turning with its red horn already powering up. But Sora can see immediately that this attack will be different, the creature's curved tusks lighting up as well.
Rather than a beam, Behemoth creates an orb of its own. Purple and black shadow energy surrounds a raging red core. With a groan the Heartless releases its orb, sending it flying into the air.
The dark sphere bubbles and rages, then explodes into a hundred identical globes of Darkness. All of them head straight for Mickey.
The tiny Keybearer grits his teeth and calls up another barrier spell, several dozen dark attacks exploding harmlessly against it. But even the king's power is not unlimited, and another volley of Darkness shatters his protection spell into a million fragments of light.
Mickey is prepared, however, flicking and spinning his Keyblade around his body. The remaining spheres impact against it, exploding instantly into harmless flickers of pitch black energy.
Knocking one last orb aside, Mickey lowers his head and charges forward. The stray orb glances against the hem of his flapping coat, igniting it in purple flames. Mickey barely takes note, casually tossing the dark coat off with his free hand to reveal a red and yellow outfit. The mouse king never falters a step.
Behemoth notices the charge and roars, already hunkering down to make its own run. Mickey doesn't give the creature time to do any more than that, leaping straight for the underside of its jaw. Behemoth attempts to rise, but Mickey is already there, slashing through the beast's chin again. On the way down the king twists, sending another Light orb spell directly into the wound he just created.
Mickey lands to the creature's right and jumps, scoring a powerful hit on the opposite side of its head, then following it up with the same orb of Light spell. The Behemoth is staggered, falling to its knees.
Mickey is already off and running, leaping up to scurry up the nearest cliff. At halfway up its face, the king leaps backwards, launching himself at his massive opponent.
The Kingdom Key-D penetrates the Behemoth's skull at the exact center.
The Heartless roars and shakes, trying to dislodge the weapon jammed in its head, but Mickey keeps the pressure on his blade, refusing to let it slip. Raising his right hand, Mickey once again gathers pure Light in an orb. As soon as the ball is formed, the king slams it straight into Behemoth's head.
The Light spreads along the creature's body like a flood, disintegrating the dark flesh of the monstrosity and leaving nothing behind. Mickey falls to the canyon floor on all fours, panting and huffing as the Heartless fades into darkness, releasing the captive heart within.
Sora falls back himself, staring numbly up at the sky. He'd known that the king was powerful, but he'd had no idea that the little mouse could use magic and his Keyblade to such an impressive extent.
"Wow," is all the young Keybearer can say as his older counterpart offers him a hand up. When he finally stands, he can only look down at the king in awe. "Your Majesty, that was amazing!"
"Aw, shucks!" the king exclaims, shuffling one yellow-shoed foot in the blue dirt. "I was just tryin' to keep it from hurtin' you kids."
Two matched sets of groans sound out nearby, and the Keyblade wielders turn to see Azlyn and Telary helping each other up, shaking off the dull ache in their bones and muscles.
"Are you kids okay?" Mickey asks as the group reconvenes around Robodog's remains. All of them are trying their hardest to not look into the mechanical canine's lifeless sockets.
"We're fine," Telary assures the king. Beside him, Azlyn grunts once affirmatively. "All thanks to you of course, Your Majesty!"
"You should have seen it!" Sora gushes in admiration, grinning. "It was, like, the greatest fighting I've ever seen in my life! Seriously, he was like…"
"Sora," Mickey admonishes the boy gently. The other Keybearer's mouth immediately clamps shut. "I'm afraid the story tellin' is gonna have to wait. We still got a job to do, remember?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Sora, Azlyn, and Telary declare, instantly lining up and snapping to attention, hands raised in salute.
Mickey nods once, a hint of a grin playing across his lips. "Good. Now c'mon, the tower should be right through that ravine."
The gap between the cliffs is rather narrow, forcing the party to move along single file. Sunlight from above reflects off of numerous blue crystals jutting out of the canyon walls, bathing the crack in an almost eerie light.
"So, uh, Your Majesty," Telary speaks up after a moment, turning sideways to dodge a protruding crystal. "Not that I don't have confidence in you, of course I do, but… What exactly is the plan once we get to that tower?"
"Plan?" Azlyn exclaims, snorting slightly. "Who needs a plan when you've got four bada… Uh, four great warriors on your side?"
Mickey chuckles. "Y'know, in this case Azlyn's sort of right. You three have handled Maleficent on your own before."
"Hopefully this time she doesn't get all dragony," Sora comments, shaking his head and actually scraping his temple on a crystal. "That wasn't very much fun. Well, until the part where I threw the Keyblade into her heart."
"That's how you slayed Maleficent?" Mickey says, sounding impressed. "Gosh, that's way more impressive than me takin' on one little old Behemoth."
"So," Telary buts in as the head of the procession, Mickey, begins to approach the ravine's exit, "just to reiterate, there's no real plan whatsoever? Because, to be honest, that sounds kind of…"
"Relax, Tel," Azlyn interrupts her boyfriend, waiting for Sora to exit so she can follow. "There isn't gonna be anything we can't handle out…"
Telary, concerned about the sudden interrupt, as well as the silence of his other companions, quickly shuffles through the narrow crack and out into the open. What he sees stops him in his tracks, right alongside the others.
The top quarter of Maleficent's tower, along with the roof and of course the giant red Heartless symbol stamped on it, rises above yet another gap between two blue cliffs, though this one is a bit wider.
In front of that is a huge open space, surrounded by gently sloping cliffs. It looks to be a good mile long, and at least half again as wide. It's as barren as the rest of the wasteland, clear of any indication that any living thing could or would wish to survive here.
It is also full of Heartless. Armored Knights fill almost every conceivable space, thousands at the least. They're all standing as still as statues, but just the sheer quantity is enough to give even the bravest heroes pause.
Which is exactly what's happening now.
"Okay," Telary speaks up after a moment of awed/fearful gazing. "This might not be the best time to say it, but this scenario is kind of why I suggested we make some kind of plan."
"They're all just standing there," Sora notes. "What's with them?"
"Has Maleficent had all of these Heartless the whole time?" Azlyn asks, not expecting an answer. "We might have underestimated Pete a little."
Mickey suddenly snaps to, and the trio follow his gaze up to the top of a nearby cliff. A man in a black cloak stands there, featureless hood gazing down at the heroes.
After a moment of staring each other down, the Organization member raises its gloved hands and pulls back the hood. Silver hair falls out to frame a gaunt but attractive face, yellow eyes gazing imperiously down into the Great Maw. Eyes with no emotion whatsoever.
"Wait a minute!" Azlyn exclaims, drawing her shield and stepping back into a fighting stance. "That's the guy in the picture! The guy who's not Ansem!"
"Offhand, I'd say it's his Nobody," Telary suggests, shakily drawing his staff from its holster.
Sora's eyes narrow on the man. "The leader of Organization XIII!"
Mickey takes several steps back, eyes widening as realization dawns on him. "Wait a minute, now I know!"
"Know what?" Azlyn asks.
"The man in the picture, that's Ansem's apprentice Xehanort!" Mickey declares. "And that's Xehanort's Nobody! He's the leader of Organization XIII!"
"So, what does that…?" Sora begins, only to be cut off by the sound of Mickey's Keyblade appearing in the mouse king's hand, shining as brightly as the sun above. He appears not to hear the boy, gritting his teeth and immediately rushing after the Organization's leader. "Your Majesty!"
He moves to follow the king, but the Heartless spring into action as well, the entire horde rushing forward and trapping the trio against the cliffs behind them. Sora tears his gaze away from the retreating king and instead faces them, thousands of monsters fixated entirely on devouring the hearts of him and his friends.
"So, Sora," Azlyn says with characteristic confidence, loud enough to be heard over the sound of Kingdom Key appearing. "Which do you want: the thousand on the left, or the thousand on the right?"
Sora gulps, swallowing his fear and forcibly pulling all the bravado he can from the depths of his heart. "Gee, Azlyn, I was gonna let you pick. Ladies first and all that."
The knight snorts. "Why do you think I asked you?"
"Y'know, I'd ask you two to take this more seriously," Telary practically sighs. "But if you're not automatically doing that in this situation, then there really is no hope for either of you."
Sora shakes his head, turning to look at his companions. They've followed him to the absolute edge of reason before, and beyond even that. If the confident grins and thumbs up they're giving him is any indication, they're willing to do the same now.
"Alright guys," the Keybearer declares, gripping his weapon tightly in both hands, legs bending in anticipation. "Let's do this."
As one, Sora, Azlyn, and Telary let out wordless cries and spring forward. More than two thousand versus three. Bad odds.
For the Heartless.
There's no really good explanation for how long it took between last chapter and this one. Partly I was busy, partly I just couldn't get any momentum. I'd write, like, three lines and then be stuck for days. Most of it I kind of furiously wrote in the last three days, which is just how I roll.
And of course this isn't the 1,000 Heartless fight. But as I was writing the last part of this I was just like "Oh god, this is a chapter ending, isn't it?" So, I told myself that if the chapter so far was over 5,000 words, I'd just bite the bullet and post it. It was, and here we are.
Rest assured that I will not let another gap like the last one happen. Even if I have to tie myself to the chair and write through the nights, this Hollow Bastion visit will conclude before the end of the weekend.
Anyway, shoutouts for Bezerker21, Crescet Sunrise, and 1st time reviewer Patience and Diligence for their reviews of the last chapter. And bonus shoutouts to CS and PaD for their kind messages asking how I was doing. You're the ones I'm doing this whole crazy thing for, I absolutely never forget that.
Well, anyway, until next time! (Which I promise will be soon).