It felt a little like a lost opportunity to not take the flag with them, but Kairi knew that destroying their opponents was the only reason Roxas had switched sides, which meant it was going to have to wait. Go big or go home. And Kairi was tired of being stuck at home.
They ran back to Team Super Friendship's base as quickly as possible. The four sitting in the forecourt looked up as they passed, and for some reason when Axel caught sight of Roxas he dropped his head into his hands and started muttering under his breath. Kairi decided not to think too hard on it.
"Plan successful!" Kairi grinned, slamming open the throne room door.
Xion and Sora stared at Roxas with troubled expressions, despite having already been filled in on what she'd been planning. Kairi was a little offended that they'd so obviously doubted her persuasive abilities.
"Something doesn't feel right," Sora said.
"Have your moral crisis later," Kairi told him, dragging Roxas over to the dais. "Roxas, give us the deets."
"I got stuck guarding the flag," he crossed his arms. "We couldn't agree on a plan, so they all kind of just ran off. We didn't know where in the castle your base was, so they probably split up to search."
It wasn't all that much to go on, but it was better than what they'd had. And the confirmation that they would only have to face one of them at a time was helpful.
"Okay," Kairi hit her palm with a fist. "We should make the most of our element of surprise while we've got it. Roxas, do you think you can track down Ven and lure him back here?"
"Sure," he shrugged. "But he probably won't believe that I found your base on my own and then didn't just charge in." He nudged Xion with an elbow. "Wanna pretend to be my prisoner?"
Xion shared an uneasy glance with Sora. Kairi didn't know what they were so upset about. It wasn't a secret how much Roxas had it out for Riku. And had he ever actually talked to Ven? There were no feelings lost there. If they ran into Naminé, Kairi bet she could convert her, too. Who wouldn't want to be on Team Super Friendship?
"Xion, you go with Roxas," Kairi decided. "Sora and I will hide behind the thrones so it looks like no one's here. Then, when Ven turns up, we jump him!"
Xion bit her lip. "Okay."
.
.
There was something... wrong. Xion couldn't quite pick what it was, but there was definitely something. Roxas was silent as he walked alongside her, the two of them following his connection straight to Ven and being careful to keep an eye out for the other two.
"Did you really sell out Naminé so you could beat up Riku?" she asked as they stepped out into the entry hall.
"I'd never sell out Naminé," he said. "I'm only following along with Kairi's plan because it sounded fun. As long as she stays hidden, Naminé will be fine." Rejection of Fate suddenly appeared in his hand. "He's coming," Roxas whispered. "Get ready."
The front entrance creaked open and Ven stuck his head in through the gap. His eyes widened when he spotted Xion being marched forward at Keyblade point.
"Hey," Roxas called. "Found a prisoner."
Ven hurried over to join them. He eyed Xion's armband. "Couldn't take her out, huh? Hi, Xion."
"Hello," Xion said. At least she didn't have to pretend to be uncomfortable. Something was still niggling in the back of her mind.
"I know where Team Super Friendship's base is," Roxas said.
Xion spun to face him, surprised. That wasn't the plan. She was supposed to lead them there so they wouldn't have a reason to take her out. "Roxas-"
"Sorry, Xion," Roxas said. "Stop."
Xion's whole body froze. No matter how much she tried to move, she was petrified. And by the time anyone came to find her, it'd be too late. Roxas tugged off her armband. She was out.
"They fell for it, huh?" Ven said.
"Sora and Xion suspected something, I think, but Kairi has no idea."
"So we just have to find a way to lure Sora out then." He held up a hand and Xion watched in absolute amazement as Roxas returned the high-five. "Good job, Ven."
Wait.
Wait, what?
It clicked. The thing that had been bugging her wasn't that Roxas had switched sides so easily. It was that he wasn't Roxas. They'd switched clothes and Keyblades. And she'd fallen for it. Sora and Kairi had fallen for it too. And it was too late for her to warn them.
Now Axel's advice made sense. She wished she'd listened.
"Sorry for tricking you, Xion. I'll make it up to you," Roxas – the real Roxas – told her with a sad smile.
She wanted to hit him, but by the time stop wore off they were both gone.
.
.
Ven slipped back inside the throne room, making a show of being distressed. There was no sign of Kairi or Sora, which meant they were probably still hiding.
"Hey, uh, change of plans," he called out to them, taking a peek through the door into the hallway. There was, of course, no one there. Roxas had gone back to their flag to find Riku and fill him in. And Naminé was exactly where she was supposed to be.
The two of them emerged from their hiding place and it didn't escape either of their notices that he was alone.
"Where's Xion?" Sora asked.
"Ven figured out that I'd switched sides," he told them, hurrying over. "He caught us by surprise. I managed to take him out, but not before he got Xion."
"Damn," Kairi huffed. "Well, we've still got three people. And now we only have to worry about Riku and Naminé."
Sora was staring at him. Ven very deliberately kept his attention fixed on Kairi.
"I don't know where Riku is, and I don't have any sort of connection with him I can follow." He paused. "But I can trace Naminé."
"I'll go with you," Sora announced. Perfect. "Kairi, you'd better wait here and guard the flag in case Riku shows up."
Kairi nodded. "Try to convert her if you can."
Ven gave her a thumbs up and then gestured for Sora to follow him. He'd have to be careful; he had a connection to Naminé in a similar way that he did with Roxas, but Sora did too. He'd know if they were heading in the wrong direction.
.
.
The throne room door eased open. Kairi stood to attention, ready for whoever was about to come through. It was way too soon for it to be Sora and Roxas.
Riku leisurely strolled in, offering her a smug grin.
"Hey, Kairi," he bounced Braveheart against his shoulder a couple of times. "Heard you tried to use me as a bargaining chip."
Kairi stared at him in shock. He knew. How did he know? Had Ven told him, before Roxas had taken him out? Come to think of it, how had Ven known?
"The double-agent thing was unexpected. Guess it goes to show we shouldn't underestimate you." He smirked. "But you overlooked one tiny thing."
Oh this was bad. "Which is?"
"Your double agent was a triple agent."
Ven stepped through the door behind him, Wayward Wind held in a forward grip.
"Ven? You're supposed to be dead!" Kairi pointed accusingly.
"There's something else you overlooked," Ven smiled in a way that was entirely out of character. Oh no. "I'm not Ven."
"Roxas?!" They'd switched clothes? And Keyblades? They were cooperating enough to actually willingly do that?! But wait, if Roxas was here, then that meant- "Where's Sora?"
"Dead," Roxas shrugged. "Or he will be soon."
The gravity of the situation hit her. A furious scowl settled on her face and she shifted into a battle-ready stance. She might be the only one left, but she wasn't going down without one hell of a fight.
Riku and Roxas readied their Keyblades. "Suit yourself."
.
.
Things had definitely not gone to plan. She'd known that the moment Roxas had come to warn her that Team Super Friendship had 'converted' Ven as a 'double agent'. But, if anything, that had only worked to their advantage. Instead of having to wait for the other team to come to them, they were able to take a little more initiative. Naminé could be flexible.
She remained exactly where she'd been hiding for the past however long – in a little alcove close enough to the throne room that she could hear what was going on, but still out of the way enough that she wasn't overly worried about anyone finding her. According to Roxas, though, that would soon be changing. But she wasn't worried. Ven had it all under control.
"Down this way," she heard Ven say, and braced herself.
Two pairs of footsteps drew closer. Naminé pushed herself up to her feet, holding Two Become One at the ready. She, Riku, Roxas, and Ven had spent most of the night training together – apparently Roxas had decided to cooperate, at least for the rest of the weekend. Ven had taught them all the friendship commands he knew. It would certainly come in handy now.
"Vanish," she whispered and her body disappeared.
"There's no one here?" Sora asked, coming around the corner and glancing around. He couldn't see her. But it wouldn't last long. "Weird. I can definitely feel the connection."
Ven looked in the general vicinity of her face and gestured with his head towards Sora. "She must be here somewhere," he said, drawing Sora's attention in a way that left his back exposed to her.
Sorry, Sora, she thought, and hit him with sleep.
Sora crumpled, only saved from hitting his head on the floor by Ven's quick reflexes. Vanish wore off in the next second, leaving Naminé once again visible.
"Nice work," Ven propped Sora up against the wall, removing his armband.
It was ironic, in a bad way, that she'd sent him to sleep again. At least this time she wouldn't have to sacrifice two lives to wake him up.
"Just Kairi left now," he told her. "Roxas and Riku should already be in there keeping her busy. You ready?"
Naminé nodded. "Ready."
.
.
Kairi was putting up a significant fight. For someone who'd only been in training for such a short time, Roxas was impressed. Her specialty was definitely magic – especially light magic. Unfortunately for her, light magic was his specialty too, and while it was effective enough against Riku, it did very little to slow Roxas down.
Two blond heads poked through the throne room entrance. Roxas nodded to them and turned back to the fight. They needed to draw Kairi away from the dais.
Roxas aimed Wayward Wind at her. He'd managed to get the hang of Kingdom Key's shotlock thanks to Riku, but he hadn't tried it with a different Keyblade yet. The principle was the same, though.
"Riku!" he warned, and a wave of fireballs launched from Wayward Wind.
Riku jumped back out of the way, giving Kairi enough warning to catch the shotlock on her Keyblade. She rushed at him instead. Roxas braced himself. Behind her, Naminé slipped into the room and then disappeared as vanish was cast on her.
"Riku, Roxas!" Ven called, running into the fray.
They'd practiced one particular friendship command more than the others. Ven initiated the spell, and as the light pattern spread out across the floor around him, Roxas and Riku pushed away from Kairi to add their own strength.
The light generated by Trinity Limit had Kairi stumbling back, shielding her eyes. By the time she'd recovered, Naminé and the flag were gone.
.
.
A flare lit up the sky as Naminé tied Team Super Friendship's flag beside their own. The rest of her team weren't there with her, but it did nothing to dampen the smile on her face.
They'd won.