AN: Man, I really do spoil you guys with these massive updates, don't I? :) I hope you all enjoy.


-Ruby-

The anxiety within Ruby's stomach magnified three fold as she watched Roxas' rush down fail, only for Sora to go on the offensive immediately after.

Ruby couldn't fathom what she was seeing.

She'd thought Roxas fast in his own right, likely faster in his strikes than any of their friends—save herself when she engaged her semblance. Despite this, Sora's speed made Roxas appear sluggish by comparison.

In a blink of the eye Sora had closed the distance between the two of them, swinging his hand outward which prompted one of his Keyblades to initiate a spinning slash that sped towards Roxas like a bullet. Roxas was quick to react, leaping over the flung weapon in a single bound before spinning and landing with his own attack, bringing both Keyblades down in a flourish that made Ruby's mouth fall open in awe. Sora's other weapon was there a second later, moving as if itself sentient from Sora raising a single hand. Despite the intensity of Roxas' attack, the single Keyblade proved more than enough to stop his swing as Roxas' attack came to an abrupt halt, his teeth gritted as he pushed his weight into the blades, with little to show for it.

What should I do?!

Roxas spun as to perform a slashing attack in an attempt to connect with Sora's feet, only for Sora to twist in the air, his body now shifted horizontally as he easily avoided the viscous swing before pulling his arm towards his body in a sharp motion, resulting in the Keyblade previously sent flying to come back at an alarming speed. Instincts told Ruby that Roxas hadn't noticed the weapon currently flying straight towards his back, leading to the girl aiming her Crescent Rose in a desperate attempt to intercept the Keyblade currently spiraling back into the fight. She barely had enough time to line up a shot, uncertain if her aim would be true as she squeezed the trigger and let loose a shot she was uncertain of.

Much to her own amazement, the bullet managed to connect with the oncoming Keyblade at the very last second, causing the weapon to veer off course before twisting midair and returning to a rotating float just behind Sora. She managed to catch an annoyed glance from Sora before Roxas was engaging him once more, launching a series of savage strikes that each transitioned expertly into the next—only for every blow to miss by centimeters as Sora avoided Roxas' onslaught as if effortlessly.

Should I help?!

Roxas had told her to hang back and focus on assisting from the outside of the fight. She could understand why he'd come to this decision, even if she didn't agree with it. It was clear to her that the two fighters before her were clearly past her own skills, and predicted that Roxas was worried that she would be hurt if she tried to involve herself any further than she was.

Sora flipped backwards, gracefully avoiding a sideways swipe meant to cut him in half on Roxas' part before rushing forward, his arms forming a cross in front of his chest as his Keyblades spread out behind him like wings. His hand spread apart in a flash, launching the two floating weapons into a flurry of attacks which seemed to catch Roxas by surprise. Ruby watched, horrified, as Roxas managed to block the first two strikes of the Keyblades, only for the weapons to double back in an impossible motion for anyone actually welding the weapons before cutting straight through the bewildered young man. Roxas' Oblivion moved to meet the followup only to be a millisecond late, resulting in the Keyblade raking against his chest with such force that Ruby watched as her boyfriend let out a sharp cry of pain. His defensesdefences momentarily broken, the second weapon spared no time in driving in once more just as it's brethren had. Its shape twirled vertically, cracked against Roxas' chin and forcing the teen's head to snap back in a wince before the previous weapon returned to deliver another strike to Roxas' abdomen, knocking the air from Roxas' lungs as the teen was launched backward, skidding on his back before performing a flip that returned him to his feet.

Roxas snarled as he regarded Sora, his eyes alight with a pain stricken loathing for the teen before him. Sora's expression continued to exude confidence, deciding not to immediately, press his advantage, instead choosing to float before Roxas, bearing the demeanor of a god before a mere peasant. Ruby could tell immediately that Roxas was outmatched. Whatever strange form Sora was taking, it was more than enough to handle the powerful transformation Roxas had only learned a day ago.

A flicker of movement behind Roxas caught her eye. Silver pupils turned to regard the sharp motion before she immediately recognized the shape of Riku rushing up to reenter the fight. Roxas' gaze shifted, seemingly noticing Riku's approach from his flank as the Heartless appeared to part to form the silver haired teen's path, only for Sora to attack an instant later, forcing Roxas to redirect his attention to his front just before the more immaculate looking Keyblade came down on him, necessitating Roxas to block with his own.

Ruby could tell immediately that Roxas wouldn't have enough time to respond to the threat of Riku's approaching form, his dangerous looking Keyblade poised to strike as Roxas was forced to step to the side, narrowly avoiding a swipe from Sora's simpler appearing Keyblade which spun in the air, transitioning into a followup strike that Roxas only just barely stopped by slashing with the Oblivion, knocking the weapon away.

Riku was behind Roxas a moment later, his weapon raised above his head, a vicious snarl marking his face before he brought the Keyblade down to slash against Roxas' back.

Here goes nothing!

In a flurry of motion and a trail of rose petals, Ruby was there behind Roxas, her back to the teen as she raised the Crescent Rose to meet Riku's downward swing. Ruby grunted as she felt the impact of the Keyblade slam against the middle of her scythe's long hand. Her legs nearly buckled, the muscles in her arms burning from having to use both hands to stop Riku's one handed attack.

Roxas stole a glance over his shoulder, his eyes wide with shock at seeing her there. "I said to hang back! It's too dangerous for you to-"

"I'm not doing that!" She snapped back as she spun the Crescent Rose in her hands, knocking Riku's weapon back before transitioning the swing so that the tip of her scythe came down on top of the silver haired teen. Riku responded quickly, hopping back so that the scythe's blade embedded itself into the road just before him, missing its mark. Ruby's back hand slipped from its normal grip, finding the trigger to her weapon a split second later—the barrel of her sniper rifle now aiming directly at Riku's chest.

She pulled the trigger.

Riku's eyes widened, seemingly startled by the nature of Ruby's mutiversitile weapon as the barrel of the rifle exploded. The distance between her and Riku was too short for the teen to react, the bullet burying itself straight into Riku's chest, forcing him to skid back on the heels of his shoes as the Heartless behind him parted once more, stumbling over themselves to make way for Riku's involuntary retreat.

Ruby could feel the swings of Roxas' weapons as they split the air, knocking back more of Sora's unpredictable attacks as he did. It appeared that it was all Roxas could do to defend against Sora's unorthodox bombardment, let alone initiating a counter attack.

"Ruby, you don't know how dangerous these guys are!" Roxas urged, his concern more than evident to Ruby. "Just one of their attacks might be enough to-"

"I know how dangerous it is!" She shouted back, growing frustrated from Roxas' insistence that he needed to handle these two alone. Ruby's eyes were focused on her opponent before her. Riku was rubbing his chest where her bullet had managed to land, although it was clear to her that her lucky shot would not be repeated as his eyes flickered to the barrel of her weapon, and then back to her. "You can't handle these guys alone, and I'm not going to watch my boyfriend die again while I do nothing!" She looked over her shoulder for a brief moment, catching Roxas' eye. "And besides, I'm your crimson guardian angel, aren't I? It's my job to protect you."

Ruby could see a level of confliction and worry in Roxas' gaze as he glanced back at her, but she could also see an understanding that he now knew that she would absolutely not be backing down from her decision. She would fight to protect him, no matter the consequences.

Roxas nodded, finally seeming to accept her decision. "Hold off Riku as long as you can. I'll try and see if I can take down Sora."

"On it!" she called out as the two broke apart, charging towards their own fights. Riku regarded her with a curious look before a smirk crossed pulled at the corners of his lips before he raised his weapon, as if saying 'come get me'.

Ruby knew she was at a disadvantage as she approached, closing the distance between her and Riku in a heartbeat. If these guys were anywhere near how strong Roxas was, then she knew she would be no match for them in a straight out fight. That left her with one option, something she'd been practicing back with Jaune, but had yet to be given the opportunity to actually use.

Now or never!

She'd been saving the technique for Demyx back during their fight in the warehouse, only for Blake and Ren to go down early. Their dire injuries had required her to expend so much of her semblance on getting them to safety before rushing as fast as she could to get back into the fight. By that time, she'd already been exhausted, and to push her semblance even further than she already had been would have been dangerous to herself, as well as others. Now, though, she was practically fresh, and knew she had enough reserves to let loose everything.

"Let's see if you can keep up!" She called out defiantly as she engaged her semblance, allowing herself to be overtaken by her speed.

She shot forward, a trail of scarlet following her as she shot past Riku so fast that he could barely blink in response. She disengaged her semblance once she was behind him, watching his head snap over his shoulder with surprise, before she enveloped herself in her semblance once more, shooting straight back towards him. Riku barely had enough time to spin back around, raising his Keyblade at just the right moment to block Ruby's scythe as he swiped towards his throat before she was blurring past.

Once again, Riku spun on his heel, expecting Ruby to have aimed for his back once more, only to find that she was not there, instead having decided to dart off to his side in a single, precise burst of speed before engaging her semblance again to deliver a bewildering slash that caught Riku in his legs. The teen let out a sharp cry of pain as his legs were knocked out from under him. The Keyblade wielder was quick to recover, finding his feet beneath him an instant later as Ruby continued her onslaught. It appeared as if Riku was fighting no more than a trail of dancing rose petals, Ruby's shape only ever appearing in blurs so fast that a single blink would be enough to miss her.

Riku snarled as Ruby continued to appear all around him, coming in unpredictable dives from the ground and air as she kept him guessing, slashing out at him each time she dove past. It surprised Ruby that Riku was even able to react at all given the extremes she was pushing her semblance. It was a testament of how quickly the teen was able to react that his eyes were able to spot her even when she was certain his gaze had been searching the other direction before she re-engaged her semblance,only to have her slash stopped at the very last moment from Riku raising a hastily formed defense.

Ruby could feel an intense burning in her limbs as he forced her extreme momentum to a halt once more, twisting as to not give Riku even a second to breathe before initiating her semblance again, draining her aura even further as the world blurred around her. She knew she couldn't keep this up. Back in the woods during her training with Jaune, she'd found that her main issue with her semblance was that she could only give herself a burst of her maximum speed in a single, linear direction, making turning mid-flight almost impossible aside from the slightest of adjustments. No matter how much she tried to change this fact, she couldn't force her body to shift its momentum to move a different way unless she drastically dropped her motion to the point that even Jaune could track her movements with ease. This meant that, despite her newfound speed, she could only ever travel in a straight direction with it. Despite this ability being useful in and of itself, she knew that someone who took notice of this weakness of her semblance would be able to predict her movements, determining where she would reappear once she reformed into her normal self.

And so, Ruby had come up with this idea. She'd decided to call it the 'Rose Petal Storm' engaging and disengaging her semblance in such a rapid succession that the moments she spent outside of a blur were so brief that not even a second would pass by before she was nothing but a blur once more. The tactic involved her commanding her semblance in tight, controlled bursts that allowed her to dart about an opponent in unpredictable, unseeable paths—or at least, that was what was supposed to happen. Somehow, Riku's reaction times were just fast enough that he could spot her attack and block her scythe just in time, although she did notice that he couldn't prepare a counter attack of any sort, forcing him to remain on the defensive as she maintained this strategy.

Unfortunately, she predicted it wouldn't be long until he got his chance to even the odds.

A major drawback to the Rose Petal Storm was that it put an immense strain on her body, as well as her aura. Even now, she could feel that her aura had depleted itself by almost half, and was draining rapidly with each new burst of speed. She'd had Jaune time her during their time in the Emerald Forest, and found that she could only maintain the technique for no longer than two minutes worth of time before either her body or her aura gave out—sometimes both. Already her arms and legs felt almost numb from the extremes she was pushing her body, and knew that she would be barely able to stand, let alone fight once she was forced out of her semblance. She'd hoped the technique would serve to damage Riku more than the handful of strikes she was managing to land when she selected a particularly tricky route to attack the young man from, but even then she could tell that the strength behind her attacks were hardly harming the teen as she continued to blur all around him.

She wanted to look over her shoulder to see how the fight between Sora and Roxas was going, but didn't dare pull her attention away from her opponent. She knew she needed to give Roxas as much time as possible to hopefully land a lucky shot that would assure their victory, and that meant focusing on her fight more than anything. She could see spots of darkness beginning to fill her vision, telling her that she only had maybe 45 seconds left before she collapsed into the ground, utterly exhausted. She decided that she would push past that time, disregarding what it would do to her once she was released from her semblance. Roxas needed her, and that meant she needed to push past her breaking point, if only this one time. She was his crimson guardian angel, wasn't she?

She felt she needed to make good on that name sake.

Her only hope was that, if Roxas' fight wasn't going well, then hopefully her friends would find a way to rescue them, or at least Roxas, from this situation.

Please save Roxas.

She begged within her mind, knowing that she didn't have much time left.


-Roxas-

The teen growled as he shot forward in a blink of the eye, lashing out with his Oblivion as he aimed to rake the weapon from Sora's hip to his shoulder. Despite moving at speeds even he hadn't realized he could muster, his weapon struck air as Sora flipped up and over him, stopping with his legs above his head, his arms crossed, a sneer staring back down at Roxas.

Roxas could feel his frustration mounting as he realized Sora was toying with him. He let loose a snarl before raising his Oathkeeper straight up, aiming directly at Sora's face—before he remembered.

Damn it! I can't use magic in this form!

His weapon flopped back to his side before he lowered himself to a squat and launched himself upward to meet the still hovering form of Sora.

The teen in white let out a bemused chuckled, flying off to the side as Roxas unleashed a wild swing at the space he'd just been before gravity brought the blond back down. Sora righted himself before slowly lowering himself back to the road below them, his Keyblades still spinning in slow patterns behind his back.

"It appears that you are not well practiced in the form you use. I imagine it must have been quite the shock to discover your magic locked behind such a powerful drive form."

"He's wasting time! He knows you can't stay like this forever!" Xion chimed urgently within his thoughts.

Roxas knew it to be the truth. He'd already sacrificed over half a minute in his initial blitz, and knew that it had already been longer since then. Each second felt longer than it normally did in this form with his muscles and mind moving so quickly, but even with that advantage, he knew he didn't have forever. He needed to end this quickly.

He charged once more, darting to Sora's left before rolling back to the right, avoiding the Kingdom Key as it slashed forward, producing a trailing white light as it did. Once he'd rolled back to his feet, he rose with his Oathkeeper outstretched to catch Sora by the chin, only for the Ultima weapon to be there just before the attack landed. Roxas spun, knowing that the Kingdom Key would need a moment to return to Sora before he struck again.

Sora's eyes were wide as the tip of the Oblivion managed to crack against the corner of his mouth, snapping his head to the side in a violent jerk. Roxas dove to the right, avoiding the returning, spinning shape of the Kingdom Key and moved into Sora's newly made blindspot as his opponent blinked rapidly, his head still cracked to the side. Roxas surged forward, driving his Oathkeeper into Sora's midsection like a spear, knocking the air out of the brunette before raising the Oblivion over his head and letting out a roar as he brought it down with as much ferocity as he could produce.

Sora's hand raised out as if to catch the weapon before the Ultima weapon appeared a split second later, slashing out against the Oblivion and knocking Roxas off balance as it did. Roxas staggered back a step, taking only a second to gather himself—but that second proved to be too long a time.

Before Roxas could even see the weapon, the Kingdom Key slashed into his midsection, ripping at his coat before his aura engaged to protect his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the Ultima weapon coming in and attempted to raise his Oathkeeper in time, only for the Keyblade to slip past his defense and crack against his temple. Roxas could see black spots in his vision before he leapt back, avoiding yet another dangerous slash of the Kingdom Key before he staggered for a moment, gritting his teeth as he tried to compose himself. His head shook from side to side, ridding his vision of the black spots.

When his vision finally returned, he could see that Sora's hands had raised, his palms pointed out towards him. Although Roxas did note that his Keyblades were still at his side, their tips now pointed towards him as well.

"You will soon realize that not all of Sora's drive forms have such limitations as the one you now find yourself suffering."

Roxas only had a moment to realize what Sora meant before the word "Blizzaga" was uttered.

Each weapon birthed a massive shard of jagged ice that came rocketing at Roxas at blinding speeds. The former Organization member darted to the left, narrowly avoiding one of the shards before two more exploded out from Sora's weapons, the enemy Keyblade wielder having adjusted his aim with Roxas' movements. The blond decided to leap over these two frigid projectiles, allowing them to plow past into the sea of waiting Heartless before flipping and raising his Keyblades above his head in a single, fluid motion. He came down on Sora a heartbeat later, preparing to bring his weapons down on the teen before he saw Sora adjust his hands yet again, firing off a third volley of ice shards.

Both the Ultima weapon and Kingdom Key were pointed directly at Roxas' chest, almost less than three feet away.

Roxas felt the two massive chunks of ice plow into him, knocking the air from his lungs as he felt a sharp, digging sensation stabbing straight into his chest. The shards erupted a moment later, exploding with such force that Roxas was launched back, his Keyblades ripped from his hands by the force of the attack. Roxas clattered to the ground as he landed, feeling his head snap back and slam straight into the hard asphalt as he did.

Roxas felt dizzy as he tried to force himself to his feet, knowing that he didn't have long before his power gave out.

"What are you doing?!" Xion shouted within his mind, sounding much like a parent scolding their child.

Roxas grimaced as he rose to his feet, wiping his mouth with the back of his glove as he did. "What do you want me to do?! He can use magic and I can't! He can keep me out way easier than I can get in!"

"Then don't try to get in!" Xion snapped back. "Stop fighting like Sora did when he used the Valor form! Fight like you do! This isn't just the Valor form, it's Valor's Light, isn't it?"

Roxas blinked, realizing that she was right. He'd seen how Sora fought with this power in his dreams, and had naturally tried to replicate that style from not having anything else to go off of. Sure, magic was locked away from him, but his light was not.

Sora readjusted his aim once more, his two Keyblades twirling once before falling into position on either side of him, their tips still aiming dangerously straight for Roxas. In response, Roxas reached deep within himself and forced his light to burn brighter, causing the burning scarlet aura surrounding him to pulse with energy, his weapons now wrapped in the same light his body was.

"It's over, faker!" Sora roared as suddenly each of his Keyblades began to produce a turrent of Blizzaga casts, firing them off in rapid succession before the ice came charging for Roxas' still form.

This time, he decided against dodging the attacks, summoning his Keyblades back to him in bright flashes of light. Instead, he would face them head on.

He gripped the Oathkeeper tightly as he twisted, pushing out his light to the edge of the blade before slashing out just as the first of the wave of ice shards had made it halfway between them. The light trailed behind his Keyblade as he swung, coalescing into a crescent slash of vibrant, scarlet energy that surged out to meet the oncoming chunks of ice. The blade of light connected with the ice, before cutting straight through it. The energy continued to charge forward past the two pieces of ice it just cleaved through, repeating the process with each of the following castings of Blizzaga before heading straight for their sender. Sora appeared shocked to see his spells be utterly ripped through by this single blade of light radiating a dangerous red before leaping over the attack at the last second. The energy continued to shoot forward, splitting the unfortunate Heartless behind Sora in half for several more feet before finally dissipating.

Roxas felt a confident grin pulling on the corners of his lips. Xion was absolutely right. Fighting like how Sora did simply wouldn't work for him. He needed to fight like he did.

He pushed out his light again to the tips of his weapons before lashing out in a series of strikes, each manifesting their own burning crimson blade before they came shooting to where Sora still stood, dumbfounded.

"What is this?!" He roared as he was forced to dodge past the first two slashes—only to be caught by the third in the shoulder, causing the teen to flip involuntarily from the impact before landing with a thud flat on his back. The rest flew past harmlessly overhead as Sora rolled to his stomach before pushing himself up to his hands and knees, his eyes finding Roxas' a second later.

Within them Roxas could see pure, unbridled rage at being so thoroughly humiliated after looming over the blond like a god who didn't think Roxas worth his time.

Roxas snickered before his feet began to carry him forward in a charge. "Just a little trick I figured out. Care to see another?!"

Sora scrambled to his feet as he watched Roxas' approach, a flicker of nervousness crossing his face before he forced his expression to return to its typical confident smirk.

Sora's hands lashed forward in violent gestures, commanding his Keyblades to slash out towards Roxas in ferocious, swift movements. Roxas decided not to challenge those, knowing that their unpredictable nature would make overcoming them nearly impossible. Instead, he crouched and shot straight above them, leaping with a flip before finding himself just above his opponent.

Sora's weapons retracted instantly. "Wrong move!" He called out before pushing his hands straight above his head, his Keyblades responding by coming together and swirling in a rapid motion inches from his open palms. "Thundaga!" he seethed.

Immediately, Roxas could see sparks of lightning beginning to form all around them, knowing the look of lightning before it crackled against the ground from his own experience with the spell. His mind working faster than it ever had, he could see that Sora's reach with the spell was all encompassing, completely surrounding the area with electricity just as the first bolt of energy crackled to life beside the teen. He knew that he had no escape, no way to dodge this attack.

And so, he decided not to.

An idea formed within his mind, and knowing that he didn't have time to second guess it, he determined now was the time to try it out. He let his Keyblades disappear before pulling his arms and legs to his chest. He felt his Valor's Light deep within himself before pushing it to form a small bead of light at his center. He rapidly pushed more and more of the burning sensation there, building up its pressure before he felt the first of the lightning bolts rake its energy across his side. He grimaced as he felt the tingly sensation of his left side growing numb from the powerful impact, and decided that he didn't have any more time to waste as he let his limbs shoot out in all directions, releasing the burning sphere of energy.

His world turned red.

Energy exploded all around him, burning through the lightning charges in an instant as the light continued to expand all around him before finally reaching the stunned form of Sora.
Sora let out a startled cry as the light impacted him, flattening him to the ground when it slammed into him. Roxas was breathing heavily as the last of the Light Bomb's aura dissipated, leaving Sora's form slumped against the ground. He hadn't known if his own Light Bomb could hurt him, especially if he made its origin point himself. It turned out, he couldn't. He grinned.

Good to know.

He dove straight down, summoning his Keyblades back to him as they raised above his head. Sora rolled over so that he was now laying flat on his back, before his eyes bulged at seeing Roxas falling straight on top of him, ready to swing. They both knew Sora didn't have enough time to rise from the ground before Roxas managed to reach him, so, at the last moment Sora crossed his arms in a hastily formed defense, moving his Keyblades to form an X before him.

Roxas knew it was over now. He didn't need the attack to connect with Sora's body, all he needed to do was form a light bomb the moment his weapons clashed with Sora's and then he would-

Suddenly, the world around him seemed to spin, his vision growing foggy as his grip around the Oblivion and Oathkeeper released, their weight proving too much for him to carry all of a sudden.

"No!" Xion screamed, although even that sound seemed distant to Roxas as he could no longer tell up from down, his entire body feeling exhausted as he fell to the ground. He landed in a heap, slapping against the hard road, his thoughts too dizzy to understand what just happened. He'd just been about to win, to land a decisive blow against the corrupted form of Sora, so why then was he instead lying on the ground, his body too sore to even push himself up?

His head sluggishly turned to his side, seeing an equally surprised looking Sora regarding him with wide, amber eyes. Then, a wicked sneer pulled at his lips.

Sora began to push himself back to his feet, prompting Roxas to do the same, but no matter how much he pushed, he couldn't bring his arms or legs to move past a few inches.

"What's happening?"

"We were so close…" Xion murmured, sorrowful.

"It seems your time limit has run out, Number Thirteen." Sora remarked in a cold, hateful tone as he took a step towards the fallen teen.

Roxas finally found the strength to slowly raise his hand over his face, and immediately knew Sora's words to be true. His gloved hand was no longer radiating the powerful scarlet glow it had been moments before. He'd wasted too much time trying to understand Sora's strange, powerful form, and had lost the precious seconds needed to win.

"I will admit, your performance was quite the spectacle. Of course, there was never any chance that you would defeat me. No imitation could ever hope to prevail over the original." Sora's hand raised above his head, the Ultima weapon floating there dangerously, ready to come down.

Roxas chose to turn his head the other direction, searching out to where he could hear the fight between Ruby and Riku still raging. Much to his surprise, he saw that the Huntress had found a way to hold Riku back far better than he could have ever imagined. She'd managed to lock Riku in place, moving so fast that Roxas couldn't even spot her in his hazy vision. He felt a swell of pride within his chest as he watched Ruby continue to push Riku into the defensive, darting all around him, slashing as she did. A part of him found it funny. He'd been so worried about Ruby going down first in this fight, only to find that she'd managed to outlast even himself.

He knew then and there that his words to her back when they'd been sitting, watching the sunset before their fight against Demyx, were more than true. She wasn't just an amazing Huntress, she was the most amazing Huntress he'd ever seen.

I'm sorry, Ruby. I wish I could have been as strong as you.

"Well, would you look at that?" Sora began, clearly having noticed where he was looking. "It appears that one is managing to fend off Riku. Quite the impressive feat. I will say that you and your friends will make wonderful new additions to Organization XIII once we allow Xemnas to enter your hearts.Thank you, Roxas, for bringing us such capable new members. You always were the most valuable member of our team."

Roxas closed his eyes, preparing himself as he heard the whistle of Sora's weapon splitting the air.

"Burning Bullet!"

Roxas' eyes snapped open, confused as he heard what sounded like Nora's voice call out from the distance. Why was-?

"What's-" Sora began before his sentence was cut off from the sound of something very hard slamming into something very soft. There was an abrupt booming sound as Roxas saw Sora suddenly flying past him, his cheek having formed a distinct imprint of a fist on it. Sora flew several feet before coming to a rolling stop, landing just beside the ring of Heartless still waiting all around them.

"I really, really hate that team attack!" he heard Yang's voice snarl. Roxas' head turned to find Yang standing just beside him, her eyes alight with the color of flame as her hair burned a similar color. She rubbed her fist—likely the one she'd just slammed straight into Sora's face—before awkwardly reaching around and rubbing her backside as well. "So much hate." She grumbled before looking down and meeting Roxas' stunned look. Her expression softened immediately after, kneeling and gingerly pulling his head up to better support him. "You gonna be okay, big guy? It looked like you were in a pretty heavy fight there."

Roxas let out a soft cough before finally beginning to feel some of his strength return. With Yang's help, he slowly managed to push himself back to his feet, before sagging.

"Yeah, you could say something like that." Immediately, his eyes flashed wide before snapping his head towards where Ruby was still fighting. "Ruby needs help! Get to her before-"

"Already on it!" Yang growled before charging to help her sister in her fight. Roxas turned his head and saw that Yang hadn't been the only one to come to their aid. The Dust Vortex Namine and Weiss had been previously using to annihilate large groups of Heartless were now carving a pathway straight towards them with their group charging after it. The only ones who remained seemed to be Weiss and Namine who were focusing on maintaining the Dust Vortex with sweat on their brows, alongside Sun, Neptune, and Nora who seemed to have been selected to keep the pair protected as they maintained their attention on forming a path through the Heartless.

After a few moments, the Dust Vortex broke as Jaune, Pyrrha, Blake, and Ren all exploded into the circle of Heartless forged by Sora and Riku.

Jaune motioned with his sword in hand, pointing to where Ruby and Yang were now challenging Riku."Blake, Ren! You go assist with Ruby and Yang! Pyrrha! You're with me and Roxas!"

Ren and Blake immediately broke off, charging towards where it appeared Yang and Ruby were doing surprisingly well against the Keyblade wielder, with Ruby creating openings for Yang to then exploit, landing explosive hits against Riku's torso, causing him to open up to further punishment from the red blur.

For a moment, Roxas felt a surge of hope rising in his chest. Could they actually win this fight? It had all seemed so hopeless before, but now, he could see this fight finally swinging in their favor.

Then, Ruby's blur stopped. The girl appeared abruptly, her body going limp mid-air as she flew past Riku harmlessly, crashing into the road with a painful sounding thud as she did. She rolled once before growing still.

Roxas felt panic burn in his chest as well as the immediate urge to go to her, his feet beginning to move that direction as he needed to know if she was okay. She hadn't been hit as far as he knew, so what happened? Was she alright? He was determined to find out.

"Well, well, well…" Sora began as he slowly pushed himself to his hands and knees before staggering back to his feet. He appeared just as exhausted as Roxas felt, and Roxas could understand why. The teen was back to normal, his clothes were their normal colors again, his feet now touching the ground once more. He imagined that Sora was experiencing the same level of exhaustion he had when his drive form finally ended. "It seems the cavalry has finally arrived, hasn't it?"

Roxas stopped in his march towards where Ruby's limp form lay. He shot a glare at Sora before turning his eyes back to the still form of the woman he was rapidly realizing he loved. He wanted nothing more than to sprint to her for a moment and cast a cure spell to ensure that the girl was okay, but that would mean leaving Jaune and Pyrrha to confront Sora on their own, and he didn't like that idea any more. He stole one final glance at Ruby and saw that Yang was now redirecting the fight, pushing them away from the fallen girl, an equally concerned expression on her face as she regarded her fallen sister. That was good. It meant that Yang was making sure that Ruby stayed safe—for now.

He decided he would have to settle for that, at least until they were finished with Sora.

He gritted his teeth as he turned back to face the teen in question who had now summoned the Ultima Weapon back to him. A second later, his hand lifted into the air as he mumbled something under his breath, producing a simple green symbol that floated above him for a handful of seconds before dissipated.

Roxas growled, recognizing the spell as 'Cure'. He knew that meant that much of the damage he'd just inflicted on the teen was now gone, and that they were likely having to start from scratch.

Roxas saw Jaune and Pyrrha fall into battle positions on either side of him, preparing themselves for the fight ahead. Knowing that he too would need to be fresh for this fight, he summoned his Oathkeeper back to him before lifting it above his head.

"Cura!" He exclaimed, producing the same green symbol Sora had moments earlier. Immediately, he felt the tiredness in his arms and legs fade as the bruises he'd collected during their battle disappeared entirely. His eyes narrowed as he realized he needed to test something. He reached inside himself, finding his light still there, although diminished greatly after being expended so recklessly in his and Sora's last moments of combat, but he also found that the Valor form was barred entirely from his access.

"Good. So, assuming Sora is operating under the same rules, at least he won't be able to access that 'Final Form' or whatever he called it, right?"

"Correct." Xion confirmed. "The transformation is exhausting, and needs a long time before it can be used again. Sora won't be able to use that any time soon."

Roxas nodded, feeling a little more confident in their fight ahead. He didn't want to picture what a fight against Sora in that form again would be like when he couldn't access his own.

"I hope you realize that your friends' inclusion makes your situation far worse than it had been before." Sora said with a malice to his words.

Roxas' eyes narrowed to slits. What did he mean?

Sora let out a dark laugh, shaking his head. "While you were always the most valuable member to the Organization, I cannot say you are the sharpest." His hand motioned out to all around them, gesturing out towards the sea of Heartless currently surrounding them. "Did you forget that we are currently surrounded by an ocean of those controlled by me."

Roxas blinked, before his eyes grew wide with terror.

"The only reason I chose not to have them descend on you and your friend over there earlier is because of this one's-" He made a gesture towards himself. "Desire to challenge you in one on one combat. It seemed he had something to prove against you, perhaps from a prior engagement?" Sora appeared to contemplate the idea for a time before nodding in conclusion. "It appears that even now under Xemnas' control, some of the heart's true desires still manage to seep through." He let out a soft chuckle, bringing the palm of his hand to push against his forehead before shaking his head. "I suppose that was my mistake, deciding to listen to that desire that even I didn't know I had. Now, I know it was a foolish one, and what I must do to ensure the Organization's victory."

The feeling that their teams' combined efforts would be enough to win this fight quickly fled from Roxas' mind, realizing that they were all now surrounded by the enemy.

Sora raised a single hand, drawing the attention of the army of Heartless surrounding them. "Heartless, I release you from your restraints. Serve me, and consume them."

Immediately, the Heartless began to close in.


-Jaune-

His mind was sent into a panic as he watched the mangled, various shapes of the Heartless beginning to close in all around them, their beady yellow eyes set on their forms.

"Stay close to me!" Roxas roared as suddenly his light enveloped him. Jaune didn't need to be told twice as he and Pyrrha closed in just behind the boy before he raised his Keyblades above his head and brought them down with a grunt. Light erupted from him, forming massive pillars of light that shot off in all directions, eviscerating all the Heartless that made contact with them, and clearing a small space for their group to move.

"This way!" Roxas shouted as suddenly he was running straight towards where Yang, Blake and Ren were now noticing the surging Heartless. Yang had since collected Ruby's seemingly unconscious form, placing her onto one shoulder as the trio backed into each other with worried expressions on their faces. Jaune and Pyrrha were quick to follow.

After a few moments, the group found themselves together once more as Roxas shouted. "Stay close to me! I can hold them back!" The sentence seemed to leave out the addition of 'for a time' as Jaune watched the teen grimace before slamming his weapons down onto the ground once more, causing another explosion of light to occur that enveloped the creatures all around them, burning them to nothing and forming a clear space around them which quickly began to fill up onces more.

Roxas turned, raising a single hand that began to summon the dark flames Jaune knew to be the Corridor of Darkness.

"Quickly! Everyone, in there-"

"Ah,ah,ah," Called out a voice somewhere to Jaune's right. That was Riku, wasn't it? Just as it had begun to form, the flames dissipated, leaving a distraught looking Roxas as he stared with wide eyes. Riku's voice continued. "That was a gift bestowed upon you by the Organization. Did you really think Xemnas would give a gift that he could not control himself? Foolish boy."

Roxas' face twisted into a snarl before he turned back towards the oncoming hoard of Heartless and slammed his weapons down once more, producing a blinding flash of light that once again left nothing once it dissipated.

Jaune could see by the strain on Roxas' face that he couldn't keep this up for long. He'd already exhausted his abilities in his fight against Sora, and doubted that his endurance would be able to keep the Heartless at bay for long.

Roxas' weapons slammed down once more and erupted with light, the result this time appeared slightly weaker to Jaune, however. It seemed that the radius of Roxas' light attack had been less so than the previous one, giving the Heartless even less space to collapse upon as they continued to storm towards them.

"Jaune!" Roxas called out, his voice sounding desperate as he turned back towards his team leader. "I need you right now!" He shouted before turning back and slamming his weapons down once more, keeping their group safe—for now.

Jaune understood the message immediately. Roxas was giving him precious time to form some sort of plan out of this mess that Jaune quickly realized he had been wasting in his panicked state. He wished he would have realized sooner what Roxas was doing rather than panic and run like a sheep. Immediately, his eyes fell closed as he tried his best to focus, blocking out the worried sounds of his other classmates as well as the massive booms from Roxas' desperate attempts at keeping the Heartless back, each and every swing of his Keyblades producing strained gasps of air from the rapidly tiring boy.

He began to form a plan in his mind. He needed a way to put a stop to these Heartless. How? He didn't know. From what he saw, it appeared that the Sora individual had been the one to command them to attack, so, did that mean if they managed to put down Sora, and possibly Riku as well, then the Heartless would stop?

His eyes snapped open at this revelation, his blue pupils scanning all around them to find where the pair had ended up once the Heartless began their attack once more. After a second of searching, he found them off to the side, roughly thirty or so feet away, standing beside each other with confident smirks on their faces as they watched Roxas struggle. He could see that the Heartless had formed a small ring around them, rushing around them to attack their group.

Jaune's eyes narrowed. Why would Sora and Riku decide to fall back when they could be aiding the Heartless? Wouldn't their involvement make their group's fall that much faster? He'd seen just how powerful they were, both powerful fighters that seemed to rival Roxas in skill at the very least, so what reason did they have for hanging back? It didn't seem likely that they simply enjoyed watching their team struggle, although he couldn't rule that possibility out entirely. There had to be a reason they kept out of the fight now…

"Jaune!" Roxas croaked as he let loose a light bomb that was significantly weaker than the rest. He raised his weapons above his head once more, his arms trembling from the effort before his aura of light evaporated. Roxas crumpled to the ground on hands and knees, sweat drenching his face as he sucked in heavy, exhausted gasps of air. "J-Jaune, I hope you have a plan." He said in between ragged breaths.

"Working on one!" Jaune admitted before turning to the rest of their terrified group. "Yang! Set Ruby down beside Roxas! Everyone else! Form a tight ring around them and get ready for a fight!"

"I-I can still fight." Roxas let out in a shaky breath as he tried to force himself back to his feet.

"No!" Jaune commanded, shooting a sharp glare down at Roxas. "You need to rest. You've already done more than enough for this fight. It's time for us to do our parts." He turned his back to the fallen teen as the others formed up just as he'd ordered, the Heartless closing in on them. "Besides, you're gonna have to be the one who protects Ruby while we fight. We'll be moving soon. Get ready to carry her once we do."

The workings of a plan continued to form within his mind, his eyes glancing out towards where Riku and Sora still stood, their arms crossed, condescending smirks resting on their faces.

Jaune planned to wipe those insufferable smirks off their faces, soon.


-Namine-

"It's getting bad out there!" Sun shouted as he twisted through the air, spinning rapidly before coming down on a much larger Heartless that Namine knew by the name of a 'Neo Shadow', slamming the heel of his foot against the creature's head before unleashing a barrage of fire from his gunchucks that forced the Heartless to fall.

Namine and Weiss were just beside the rest of the group, having been forced to engage in close combat as their Dust reserves were drawing at a dangerous low, needing to reload their rapiers with the extra reserves Weiss had brought along with them for this mission. Until they got that chance, they could only use what remained of their Dust sparingly, and for emergencies.

Namine spun on the toes of one foot, performing a technique she'd learned from Weiss that culminated in a slashing sweep that beheaded an oncoming soldier Heartless. Her team leader was just beside her, lunging forward with a well practiced penetrating strike that impaled an Air Soldier that had managed to sweep dangerously low to their group. She ripped her Myrtenaster free of the creature before engaging the next, a gleam of sweat having formed on her skin.

Namine decided to use this opportunity to glance out towards the rest of their group, curious on how the fight was going for everyone else.

She gasped at what she saw.

It appeared that the group had been completely surrounded. Each of their friends were currently fighting for their lives at the center of this sea of darkness, having formed a protective ring around Roxas and Ruby who appeared unconscious now. Namine could only hope the wound that had brought her down hadn't been inflicted by a Heartless.

"We need to do something!" Nora cried out as she twirled her Magnhild over her head before bringing it down in a mighty crash that completely flattened the head of a Large Body Heartless she'd managed to tip over moments before. The girl's cheerful demeanor had completely evaporated the moment Ren left to go save Roxas and Ruby. Her face was serious now, focused as she drove her hammer through countless Heartless.

As if on command, Namine suddenly heard a voice in her earpiece. "Namine! We're gonna need you guys sooner than later! Are you still able to create a Corridor of Darkness?"

The blonde girl blinked as she registered Jaune's words. Why wouldn't she be able to create a Corridor of Darkness? Had Roxas been unable to for some reason? She decided to question this later as she hopped back, taking precious few seconds to raise her hand and concentrate. It took her some time, but the dark flames erupted just like they should, forming the oval portal just like she'd practiced. She let it fall soon after, knowing that she didn't have time to waste as she reentered the fight.

"Yes!" She called out, impaling a black Ballade as she answered. "What do you need us to do?!"

She heard Jaune breathe out a sigh of relief from her answer before continuing, the sounds of combat picking up through the mic. "Good! I need you to-whoa! Nice save Pyrrha-I need you guys to try and make a corridor over to where Sora and Riku are! We're pinned down and can't get to them, but I think if we take those two down, we might be able to stop this hoard!"

It was a risky strategy, but Namine could see the logic in it. It seemed that, despite their time killing what seemed to be hundreds of Heartless by now, their numbers never seemed to diminish. Was it possible that Sora and Riku were purposely calling them here, somehow? Did that mean that once Sora and Riku were out of the fight, that the number of Heartless would lessen? It seemed like a dangerous idea, but it was clear to the girl that they didn't have many other options at the moment.

"I need you to make the portal behind them! Try to enter quickly because I think they can make the corridors fail if they want them to! You'll only have one chance at this before they stop you too!"

Namine swallowed hard as she absorbed this new information, her nerves getting the best of her as a Gargoyle managed to slip by her defenses, nearly managing a lethal strike had it not been for Neptune managing to get there just in time, delivering a spinning slash that detached the Heartless' head from its shoulders.

"Careful there, cutie." He winked at her before twisting around her, plunging his Tri-hard straight through the chest of an approaching Minute Bomb before flinging the Heartless back at the approaching hoard, resulting in a detonation that sent many of the Heartless flying in different directions.

Namine felt her cheeks burning red at the compliment, but forced her attention back into the fight. Jaune needed her to make a Corridor of Darkness, quickly? She'd barely learned how to form them consistently, and now he wanted her to make one that formed so fast that neither Sora or Riku noticed in time to stop it?

"You've got this." Weiss said, finding a brief interlude in the fight to shoot her a confident smile. It seemed that everyone had heard Jaune's strategy, which made sense when Namine thought about it. "You can do this, Namine. Don't think about it too much. You'll make this plan work. I know you will." Weiss' encouraging message was brought to a close as a Bully Dog suddenly charged her, forcing the girl in white to leap over it in a flip before placing a glyph at her feet on a platform to launch her straight back down at the still charging Heartless. Her rapier drove straight through the creature's skull, causing it to skid to a halt, dead.

Namine swallowed once more, before nodding. She couldn't hesitate, otherwise her friends currently surrounded might end up dead, or worse. She called out, trying to sound confident as she said, "Get ready to fall back everyone! We'll need to get through this thing all in one go!" She didn't want her Corridor of Darkness to form only for Riku or Sora to take notice, closing it before they were all through. That left the possibility of just one of them being left behind to handle this entire hoard by themselves, and she didn't want to be the one responsible for such a dire fate.

She turned, running back several feet to create distance between her and the army of darkness they were doing their best to hold back. As she turned back, she could see the rest of her friends slowly falling back towards her, preparing to dive through the corridor once she had it open. Her gaze stretched past them until she found where Sora and Riku were standing, their yellow, glowing eyes watching the rest of their friends as they struggled to hold off the Heartless all around them. She tried to gauge where exactly she needed to place the portal so that neither would notice in time to stop it, her eyes studying exactly which way both Riku and Sora were facing before an idea struck her, her eyes lingering on Sora. From what she'd been able to understand about the situation, it appeared that Sora and Riku had fallen under the control of Xemnas, much like Riku had to Ansem all that time ago. If that was the case, then that meant the darkness had been kept into their hearts in order for Xemnas to seize control of them, right?

And she just so happened to know a way to enter a person's heart.

She'd at one point rewritten the memories locked away within Sora's heart before, having a powerful connection with the boy through Kairi, and knew that she could do it again. She doubted she would be able to do the same for Riku, as her connection to him was far weaker, but if she could somehow manage to enter Sora's heart...then could she maybe break him free from the darkness holding him captive?

The idea was certainly a risky one, and she had no idea if she could even defeat whatever darkness currently resided within the young man, but it wasn't as if the alternative was any better. From the sounds of it, Jaune expected them to rush through the portal and hopefully bring Sora and Riku down through combat alone, which was not something she was confident her group of five would be able to do considering just how powerful those pair of Keyblade wielders are.

She set her jaw as she decided that the idea was worth a shot. Her connection with Sora was stronger than with any other—save Kairi—which meant she would be able to enter his heart far easier than she had with Roxas. Back in Castle Oblivion, she'd been able to subtly rewrite Sora's chain of memories from a distance even while the boy had still been awake. She predicted that if she got so close to touch Sora, then she would be able to enter his heart almost immediately if she really tried.

Of course, that meant she would be rendered basically unconscious, although she predicted that Sora would be as well considering what she understood about people's hearts. Someone foreign entering your heart took quite the toll on the individual, often leading them to fall unconscious, and stay unconscious as a result. That was the reason Sora had to be asleep for her to fix his memories once she'd been freed from the Organization, as well as the reason Roxas had stayed asleep when she'd entered his heart before. Of course, that also meant that the other four would need to protect her from Riku while this happened. If he broke her apart from Sora by simply removing her touch from the teen, she predicted she would be ripped away from Sora, or maybe even trapped within the boy's heart, unable to return to her own body.

She swallowed nervously. She didn't like the prospect of that possibility, but four on one were better odds than five against two.

"New plan!" She called out to the others as they drew close. "I'm going to do something that puts Sora down for a time. I need you four to make sure that Riku doesn't get to me when I do! I won't be able to protect myself at all when I do this, so I really need you guys to keep me safe, got it?"

The others shot each other curious glances before turning back to Namine and nodding, knowing they didn't have the time to discuss it. A nervous look from Wiess told Namine that her team leader didn't particularly like this idea, but trusted her enough to go along with it.

"Alright!" She shouted before raising her hand. She waited a time, focusing on the process of summoning a Corridor of Darkness for several seconds. She went over it as well as her new plan over and over again in her mind before finally deciding that she knew exactly how to do it. Her hand flexed, forcing the flames to suddenly erupt in blaze that surged upward, swirling rapidly to forge the Corridor of Darkness.

C'mon, c'mon!

A moment later, the vortex of purple and black flames sprang to life, and Namine was relatively certain that she'd done it right.

"Now!" She shouted before diving through the portal, seeing the others moving quickly behind her as she did.


Namine exploded out from the portal exactly where she'd envisioned in her mind, appearing just behind Sora and Riku as the others came flooding through behind her.

A split second later, Sora and Riku reached, unable to suppress their surprise as they spun on their heels, quickly summoning their Keyblades as they noticed them. Namine seized this opportunity, leaping forward towards Sora who tried to step back, his eyes wide and bewildered at her sudden appearance.

Her fingers shot forward, reaching out to clutch the sides of Sora's face-

Only for her to miss!

No!

She screamed with her mind, knowing immediately that she'd lost her opportunity. Sora's reaction time had been too fast, backpedaling so that her leap had been just short of his-

Suddenly, she felt a hand press itself against her back. Weiss' voice was in her ear a moment later. "You got this."

She felt herself be abruptly shoved forward, closing the small gap Sora had managed to create in his surprise and wrapping her hands on either side of the teen's face.

Thank you, Weiss! You're the absolute best!

She was definitely going to take that girl out for some ice cream or something when they finally got through this!

Namine clasped her eyes shut as she focused, drawing upon that strange tug she'd felt as their group had gotten closer to the action. She found it immediately, the intensity of that pull strengthened by just how close they were. She tightened her focus on that connection, forcing it to intensify in magnitudes as she focused her mind, and then her heart on the tether connecting her to the boy before her. She could feel something resisting her, wanting to keep her out, but at the same time, something else, something deeper than that resistance grabbed hold of her as well, seemingly wanting her to enter.

It was as if a hand had outstretched itself from Sora's heart to her own.

She immediately clasped onto that hand, and suddenly, her world went dark.


-Weiss-

The heiress to the Schnee Dust Company couldn't help but smile as she watched Namine's plan succeed. Just as her friend had said, the moment she made contact with Sora, the two collapsed, with Sora falling back, his eyes closed and Namine resting just on top of him, her hands still wrapped firmly on either side of the teen's face.

I don't know what you're doing in there, Namine, but I know you're going to be successful. I believe in you.

She redirected her attention from the pair, her pale blue eyes now regarding the stunned form of Riku, looking down at Sora and Namine with a baffled expression.

"What? What did she do?" Immediately, Riku reached down to try and pry the pair away from each other, only for Weiss to get there first, slashing viciously at his hand, forcing the silver haired teen to pull back. Neptune and Sun moved in a second later, the former slashing out at Riku which was stopped by the amber eyed boy's Keyblade—the very same one that she had at one time used to fight the last time she'd been here—and the latter delivering a well placed roundhouse kick that impacted with Riku's chest, pushing him back several more feet.

Before he had time to recover from the strike, Nora was running forward, lifting her massive hammer before bringing it down in a swing that would have crushed Riku's head had he not hopped backward, narrowly avoiding it. The four formed a wall between them and the slumbering figures of Sora and Namine, their weapons gripped tightly as they regarded the new opponent.

Immediately, the Heartless surrounding them began to close in, making their small ring even smaller. Riku appeared confused for a moment, and with his back now a mere foot away from the ring of Heartless, didn't notice as a smaller Heartless that Weiss thought she remembered Namine call a 'Shadow' leapt up from behind to rake a claw against Riku's back.

Weiss' eyes grew wide as she watched the Keyblade wielder grimace from the pain before immediately spinning around, performing a slash that cut the Heartless in two before his other hand raised, motioning for the Heartless to stop as he snarled, "Halt!" The ring of Heartless came to an abrupt stop before retreating back several feet, once again forming the ring he and Sora had been standing in before.

Weiss smirked as she felt she was beginning to have an understanding on how Riku and Sora's relationship with the Heartless worked. It appeared that when their group had abruptly come through the Corridor of Darkness, the Heartless which had previously been commanded to attack them had decided to follow those orders instead of the ones telling them to hold back. The only issue was, the creatures were mindless beings, and seemingly couldn't differentiate friend from foe when they were all so close to one another. So, that meant, in the case that Riku did order them to attack, they would be as much a threat to him as they were for her and her friends.

Good to know.

Now it made sense why the pair had decided to hang back rather than decide to attack Roxas, Jaune, and the others before. She'd been wondering why that had been the case. Now, she had the answer.

Riku turned to face them, his eyes flickering for a moment to where Sora and Namine were lying behind them, before returning his evil gaze back to their faces.

He snarled. "So, you think that your friend will be enough to beat back the presence of Xemnas within Sora's heart?" He scoffed. "What a foolish idea. I hope you all know you've just sent your friend to perish to the darkness that Xemnas has planted there. I know that one." He motioned his weapon to where Namine was still laying atop of Sora. "Her heart is weak and easily manipulated. She was a fragile, pathetic thing when we had her under our control. She was the first to corrupt Sora, in fact. Did you know that? I doubt she told you. She is a deceitful creature, after all. Namine is the entire reason Sora's heart fell to oblivion in the first place. She was the reason he needed to be restored, and, by extension…" He motioned out towards the scene unfolding all around them. "The reason you are all here, fighting this hopeless battle ." He grinned wickedly. "How does it feel to know you stand beside the person who is now personally responsible for each and every one of you risking your lives, here and now? And soon, she will be the reason why you all fall before your hearts are consumed to fulfill Xemnas' plans. Not one of you will escape here with your lives, in one way, or another."

Weiss looked back towards their friends, and caught uncertain glances back towards where Namine was currently resting, challenging whatever force was currently controlling Sora's heart. Weiss knew she didn't understand half of it, but she knew her friend was doing something dangerous right now, and that they needed to stand strong in order to ensure she had the chance to do it.

"Tell you what," Riku began casually, lowering his weapon to his side as he raised a hand. A few feet away, a Corridor of Darkness erupted in place. "If you four allow me to remove that little liar from where she lays, you can all go home right here, right now." He motioned towards the swirling vortex of purple and black flames. "That there is a portal back home to your lives in Remnant. Yes, I know where you all come from. Your friend Roxas made sure to put that location on our radar. None of you are important to Xemnas in any capacity, and I know that you all understand this is most definitely not your fight. You've been roped into something that is far beyond any of your capabilities, and I think many of you are starting to realize this by now."

Weiss felt her face contorting into a snarl as she regarded the teen, before looking back and noticing that the rest of their group were shooting anxious glances towards the Corridor.

"This is your last chance at making it out of this place alive. There is no way you can defeat me, and even if you did, Xemnas is still waiting at The Castle That Never Was. You do realize that the only reason Sora and myself are currently working under his control is because we ourselves fell to his power? If you can barely manage to take us on, then what hope does your group have against him?"

He smirked, clearly noticing the nervous glances towards the portal from some of her friends. Even Weiss had to admit that some of his logic was sound. This fight was taking everything they had, and even then she wasn't certain that they were going to win. The rest of their friends could fall at any time, or maybe Namine would fail in her efforts to free Sora's heart. What then? So much of their success hinged on chance that Weiss felt a nervous knot forming within the pit of her stomach.

"...Do you really think we're that stupid?"

Weiss turned to regard Nora who had stepped forward, her expression absolutely furious.

"There's no way I'm going through that portal! It could lead anywhere! What if it opens up to a giant volcano and we all fall to a fiery doom or something!"

Riku's eyes narrowed. "I assure you it does not lead to-"

"And so what if it does lead us back home? It's not like we're suddenly going to be safe! You guys can literally make portals to other worlds! How long is it gonna take until you decide to stop by our world and do something like this to it?!" She shouted, gesturing up towards Kingdom Hearts. "There's not a chance in Hell I'm going back knowing I could have done something to stop this! Not when I know people like you will never stop. I have too many people I love here and back home to leave even the possibility of people like you coming by to destroy it." Her grip around Magnhild tightened until her knuckles were white. "Sorry, Buster, but even if everyone else goes, I'm sticking around to pound your butt into a puddle! You got that?! You aint convincing me of crap!"

Weiss' mouth had fallen slack jawed from Nora's speech. She'd always considered that member of team Rainbow as nothing but a nonsensical loose cannon operating on barely half a brain cell. To hear that speech come from her left Weiss utterly baffled. What's more, they had been exactly the things she needed to hear to calm the fears she'd been having earlier. Nora was right, Weiss would not back down from this fight. She had friends and family she had to protect back home. Weiss' jaw set as she resolved that she was not backing down!

Neptune let out a laugh, shaking his head. "Man, I really couldn't have said it better myself." Before falling into his fighting stance.

"Yeah!" Sun cheered, hopping from foot to foot as he readied his Ruyi Jingu Bang, transforming it into its pole variant. "Let's pound this guy's butt into a puddle!"

Weiss smirked. "As much as I don't want to go into a fight with that as our battle cry…" She raised her rapier, pointing it at Riku. "Nora's right. We're not going anywhere." She sighed, before adding. "I guess...let's turn him into a 'butt puddle' as you put it..."

Riku scowled, his eyes narrowing before the Corridor of Darkness whisked away. "Very well then. Just know that I gave you four an out."

Weiss' eyes narrowed as she came to another realization.

If this guy is so desperate to have us leave without a fight, then he must actually believe that Namine has a very real chance at stopping whatever force is controlling Sora! He talks big, but he's actually scared!

Weiss readied herself as Riku charged forward, knowing that, despite their numbers, they definitely had a hard fight ahead of them. She'd seen what this man could do back when he resembled Xemnas—a connection she'd made by the weapon he was wielding—and knew that he was no slouch.

We'll give you as much time as we can, Namine. Make the most of it.


-Namine-

This place feels so...wrong.

The moment she'd entered Sora's heart, she could already feel the terrible presence lingering here. It was powerful, leaving a scent that was vile as she felt it, and made it that much easier to follow.

She approached deeper into the dark void, now knowing that she was going the right direction and noting that it resembled nothing like how it should. The entire place was completely empty, devoid of the memories that made up a person's heart like what she'd encountered when she stepped into Roxas' heart. She knew that there were moments in a person's life that they would carry with them for the rest of their lives, memories that formed the foundation of who that person was and would become as they continued to have significant moments. Those memories are what were meant to appear here, to create their chain of memories which allowed a person to, well, be a person. To see this vast place—so large that it seemed to go on forever—so entirely empty felt disturbing to Namine as she continued to press forward.

Another thing she noticed was how the floor was not like the splashing, soothing platform which she'd encountered when traveling through Roxas' heart. Instead, it was sticky and sickly, just another signal to Namine of just how corrupt this place now was.

She looked down at her clothes, noticing for the first time that she was no longer in the outfit Weiss and Ruby had made for her, and was now back in the ripped and torn white dress the Organization had provided her with during her stay with them. She didn't have her weapon with her either, leading her to feel a little nervous that she had no protection against whatever it was she was about to go up against. She supposed that was just another effect of this corrupt heart, sensing her presence in some way, and finding whatever way it could to make her feel small and weak.

She steeled her resolve as she quickened her pace, determined to not allow this place make her feel weak. She was here for a reason: To free Sora's heart of the darkness Xemnas had put here, and she was determined to succeed.

Before long, she spotted a small shape off in the distance and grew still for a few moments trying to identify it. Her eyes narrowed in on the puny figure, before eventually realizing that it was shaped like a small boy—no more than six—with his knees pulled up to his chest, his arms wrapped around his legs with his head down.

She spotted a large head full of brown hair, and immediately Namine's heart thundered within her chest.

Sora!

She raised forward, breaking out to a full sprint as she attempted to close the distance between her and Sora. As she grew nearer, she noticed her feet beginning to sink deeper and deeper into the tar like substance coating the floor, until she was eventually forced to move at a trudge, the sticky dark substance making it all the way up to the bottom of her knees now.

She looked out to Sora, now being able to see that many parts of his body and clothes—a simple tank top and some summer shorts—were coated in the black substance, as if the child had tried to escape through the tar on multiple occasions before residing to simply sit on the small platform barely large enough for him, having given up.

"Sora!" she called, reaching a hand out towards him.

Immediately, Sora's head raised, his eyes—which Namine could tell now were red from crying—widening surprise at hearing another voice. His head whipped around frantically before eventually landing on her.

"H-hello?" The boy seemed utterly shocked at seeing another person, his mouth falling open with wonder before a bright smile split his face. "H-hello! I c-can see you!" An instant later, the child was on his feet, regarding Namine with an excited look as he waved frantically with both hands. "I can hear you! I can see you! P-please! Can you h-help me?!" he shouted the words so frantically and desperately. It was clear to her that he was terrified of going unnoticed by this seeming stranger to him, worried that if he didn't shout as loud as he could, he might not be seen and become doomed to continue to exist in this place forever.

"I'm coming!" Namine shouted back, forcing herself to smile brightly for his sake. "I'm going to help you, Sora! I'm going to get you out of this place! I promise!"

Sora sucked in a sharp breath of air at her words before tears began to trickle from the corners of his eyes, his hands moving to wipe his cheeks. "R-really? You really mean that? You promise?" he sniffled, a smile beginning to work at his lips as he continued to cry.

Namine could feel his intense emotions hitting her like a wave, feeling the sorrow, the relief, the worry that this was some sort of mean trick that he didn't fully believe could be real. That was a part of entering a person's heart; you felt their emotions just as they did.

It was all Namine could do not to cry right there and then, understanding the torture this small child had been forced to endure over all this time. Instead, she forced herself to wear a confident smile for the youthful form of Sora. "I promise! I'm not going to leave you! I'll make sure that you and I come out of this place, together!"

Sora's tears came down harder then, a bright, happy smile pulling at his cheeks now. "T-thank you, miss. Thank you so, so much. I was so scared. I-I didn't think I'd ever leave this place."

Namine was struggling to move forward now, the sludge beneath her now reaching almost to her waist. Regardlessly, Namine pressed on. She would absolutely not leave this place without getting Sora free from it.

Then, she felt another presence make itself known.

"You should not be in this place."

Namine's head snapped back and forth, her eyes bewildered. She watched as Sora's eyes snapped open, terror overcoming his features as he suddenly fell to a crouch, his knees pulling to his chest in fear.

"H-he's coming!" he called out, his eyes pleading to her. "Run! Get away! He'll get you too!" His tears came down harder now, his body trembling as he wrapped himself in his arms. "I-I'll be okay! Just go, nice lady! I don't want you to be stuck here like me!"

"I am not leaving you!" She commanded firmly as she continued to trudge forward, the sickly substance beginning to stain the upper parts of her dress now.

"Y-you can't beat him!" Sora called out, shaking his head frantically for her to stop. "H-he's too strong! He'll take you too!"

"He won't." she stated firmly. "I promise."

"Why are you in this place? LEAVE!" The voice boomed, seemingly closer now.

Namine jumped as the voice roared its demand, seeming to be calling out from everywhere at once. Again, her head snapped from side to side, trying to discern where the voice had come from.

Her eyes landed on an approaching figure, walking atop of the tar as if it was a platform for him, and not an ever deepening lake as it was for her. She came to a stop, her brow furrowed defiantly as she regarded the newcomer. The figure was tall, wearing the coat of an Organization member with their hood up. She watched as Sora appeared to notice the newcomer as well, and immediately set to making himself as small as possible, wrapping his arms around himself and pulling his legs in tight before ducking his head down to best block his vision. She could see him trembling as he sat there, quietly whimpering, "Please go away..please go away...please go away...please go away…"

She couldn't tell if his words were directed at herself, or the newcomer.

The Organization member walked up slowly, coming from the other side of Sora until he came to a stop just beside the trembling child. Sora's voice fell silent then, his entire body quivering with fear as the figure regarded Namine.

"So, you are here to free Sora, are you?"

Namine snarled back at the man. "I am! And you won't stop me! I'm freeing Sora from this place whether you like it or not!"

The figure's head tilted to the side before he bellowed with a deep, rumbling laugh that seemed to make the lake of darkness tremble all around her. Namine had to admit, the sensation was unnerving.

"Really now?" he asked, sounding amused. "And how do you plan to do that? You have no weapon to defeat me. You are just as hopeless in this place as he is." He reached out and slowly stroked the child's head, causing Sora to jump in fear when he felt the man's fingers. When his hand retreated, Namine could see that a dark, black residue had been left on Sora's head from the contact.

The sight disturbed her.

"I'll find a way! I'm not leaving this place until Sora is free of you! You're disgusting, and you don't belong here!" she called back, trying to think of a way that might free the young child currently trembling at the man's feet.

"Well then, I suppose we are in agreement about one thing." His arm lifted until it was stretching out towards her. "You were correct when you said that you are not leaving this place. You should have heeded Sora's warning, because now you are NEVER leaving!"

Suddenly, Namine watched as the sickly black substance shifted all around her, seemingly coming to life before it started to crawl up her torso. Namine let out a cry of alarm as her hands frantically moved to try and scrape away the advancing ocean of darkness, only to find that, once her hands were coated in the substance, the darkness there began to slowly crawl up her arms as well. She let out a panicked scream, terror filling her eyes as he felt the sickly substance continue to make its way up her body, consuming her.

"I hope you like the scenery." The figure said in a tone filled with malice. "Because you're going to be here for a very, very long time."

Namine felt the liquid begin to crawl up her chest, and could feel its presence seeping into her.

She felt the substance beginning to reach up her neck, grabbing at her arms and legs with such a weight that she now found them impossible to move anymore. Tears began to brim in the corners of her eyes as she understood how foolish she'd been to believe that she would be enough to stop the darkness within Sora's heart. She knew then that she had failed, failed her friends, and most of all, failed Sora.

She continued to squirm as the darkness inched its way up to her cheeks, drawing nearer to her eyes. Finally, she found just enough strength to rip one arm free, reaching out towards the dark sky above before screaming out one final word.

"Help!"


-Roxas-

Okay, I'm finally starting to feel some of my strength return.

His reservar of magic was beginning to replenish itself once more, but the strain in his muscles as well as his overwhelming fatigue remained. Jaune had made good on his promise as Roxas had been needed to carry Ruby's still unconscious form while the others fought tooth and nail against the enemy all around them. Roxas regarded them with reverence, acknowledging the incredible fight they were putting up against the Heartless—with Jaune's direction, of course. The five maintained their circle, never giving ground escape for the times when their group was forced to move, whether that be from the approach of a Heartless too massive to put down swiftly, or due to one of their groups being forced to retreat after suffering a wound. Now, they held their ground some thirty feet to the left of their original starting point. Roxas could see from Jaune's commands that his team leader was trying to slowly shift their fight towards the outside of the swarm, hoping to perhaps hatch an escape strategy once they were close enough to the edge. Roxas couldn't see this plan coming to fruition, their progress too slow, and their collective stamina draining much too fast to make it.

"Blake! Your right!" Pyrrha called out, diving out of the way from a Aerial Master Heartless before stabbing her Miló straight through a Minute Bomb that had managed to creep up along Blake's flank unnoticed. The girl flipped, snapping out a kick that knocked a Shadow to the side before swiping out with her spear, slamming the Heartless straight into the open jaws of a Snapper Dog charging their direction. She spun, slamming her Akoúo̱ straight into the creature's face before hopping up and driving both feet into the shield's back, knocking the Heartless back and into the swarm.

The Minute Bomb detonated moments after, sending dozens of Heartless flying in opposite directions as a result. Her shield came flying back from the explosion, caught expertly in Pyrrha's hand a second later as she continued to slash through the endless hoard.

Blake, her breath sounding ragged, shot Pyrrha a thankful nod before turning back to the fight, sinking the edge of her Gambol Shroud straight into the skull of an approaching Red Nocturne moments away from firing a fireball into their group. She grunted as she tugged on the weapon's ribbon, snapping the Heartless' face to the side before its attack triggered, unleashing a fiery explosion that washed over its brethren.

"Wow. They're incredible." Xion commented, awestruck.

"They really are." Roxas smiled, proud of his allies. "But now isn't the time to admire. We need to get back into this."

"Now? But you're still exhausted!"

"Not with a Cure spell, I won't be."

Sure, his drive form and light abilities wouldn't return to him, but at the very least he'd felt his stamina come back. That should give him long enough to reenter the fight and buy Weiss' group enough time to succeed with Jaune's plan.

"But, what about Ruby?" Xion asked, concerned.

Roxas paused, before frowning as he looked down at his girlfriend currently held in his arms. Xion had a point. If he went to fight, then no one would be able to move Ruby as they tried to change positions whenever they got the opportunity.

Then, an idea struck him.

He smiled. Maybe he could do more than just rejoin the fight, but instead give his friends two exceptional fighters, instead.

In fact, he was willing to bet he could give them all a boost.

He pulled her tight to his chest, clasping his eyes closed before he said. "Curaga!"

Immediately, a swirling emerald symbol began to float over all of them, cascading a sparkling dust that bathed his friends and himself in new energy.

He watched the fatigue in Pyrrha, Jaune, Blake, Ren and Yang all suddenly vanish, their eyes blinking with surprise. He caught several cocked eyebrows turn his direction, their grimaces now shifting to smiles as they realized what happened.

"Thanks, Roxas!"

"I think I needed that."

"Let's do this!"

Roxas smiled, feeling his own stamina now restored as suddenly, there was a shift in movement in his arms.

Ruby shifted, frowning for a moment as she pressed her hand against Roxas' chest. "Hmm, where's the cover? I'm not ready to wake up…"

She reached up further, her hand pressing up against Roxas' face before her brows furrowed, confused. "Now that doesn't feel like my bed…"

Roxas let out a chuckle, shaking his head. "Wake up, sleepy head. Now's not the time to take a nap."

Ruby's eyes snapped open a second later before her head turned sharply to her right and left, realizing the situation they were in.

"Huh, so it's not."

He gingerly set her back to the ground before the girl in red reached around and retrieved the Crescent Rose from its folded position.

"Looks like we haven't won yet." she growled, frowning as she regarded the Heartless all around them.

"Not yet." Roxas confirmed. "But we have a plan. Namine and the rest of our group are working on it right now. We just need to hold out." His grin widened further as Ruby's hand twisted, causing the weapon to spin and unfold until it was the massive, intimidating shape of her Crescent Rose once more.

"Got it!" She turned to form into their circle, seeming to understand Jaune's formation immediately.

Roxas held her hand a second longer, causing her to look back. She cocked an eyebrow as she looked down at his hand and they met his gaze.

"You were awesome against Riku, by the way." He grinned wide. "Just wanted to let you know."

"Ugh, I think I'm going to be sick." Yang complained as she slammed her fist straight into a High Soldier's chin, knocking it to the ground before aiming both of her fists down on the Heartless. Her shot-gauntlets exploded into life, tearing the creature apart and leaving nothing once the barrage of gunfire ceased.

"I don't think now is the time to get sweet with each other!" Ren urged as he dipped below a wild swing from the claws of Neo Shadow before rising with a slash, cutting the Heartless from its hip to its shoulder before spinning to perform a roundhouse kick that sent the Heartless flying back.

Ruby blushed, her head looking down. "Thanks..." She quietly murmured, a subtle smile on her lips before Roxas released her hand, allowing the girl to spin on her heel and reenter the fight. She fired a single shot at her feet that thrusted her into the air before she let out a roar, twisting and gaining momentum before slamming the business end of her scythe straight down the center of a charging Defender, splitting it in two.

Roxas found himself smiling wide as he watched.

"You realize that you're grinning like an idiot right now." Xion said in a way that made Roxas picture her rolling her eyes, likely shaking her head at his clear awe of Ruby.

"Don't care. My girlfriend is awesome."

"I can clearly see that, but you need to get back into the fight!" she scolded.

Roxas laughed before summoning the Oblivion and Oathkeeper back to his ready hands. He gripped them tightly as he charged forward, watching Ren and Blake make way for him to line up and spread their circle wider.

"You're just jealous that you don't have a super awesome girlfriend like mine."

"Ugh. You're sooo dumb sometimes!" Xion complained within his thoughts, seeming to throw up her hands in annoyance.

Roxas let out another laugh that caused some curious looks from the rest of his group. He couldn't help it. Seeing that Ruby was back on her feet again and okay just made him inexplicably happy. He couldn't have contained it even if he tried.

He shot forward, folding his arms back before slashing out with both weapons at once, dicing an unfortunate Bubble Beat into four separate pieces before its form began to fade.

"Wait." Xion said abruptly, sounding clearly troubled. "Something's wrong."

Roxas frowned as he spun past the wild swipe of a Stealth Soldier before cutting it down in a single swing. "What do you mean?"

"I...feel something...something strange."

Something strange? What did that mean?

"Can you tell where?"

"Over to the right, where Namine's group is fighting Riku and Sora."

Roxas turned his attention that way, focusing on the battle going on. What could Xion be sensing right now that he wasn't? What could…!

"I don't see Sora or Namine there. Where did they go?"

"They could be down. There are so many Heartless surrounding them, it might be that we can't see them from behind the swarm."

That didn't sound right. Sora had been refreshed by his 'Cure' spell. Unless the group had managed an extremely lucky shot, there was no way Sora would have been put down so quickly.

"It's...it's coming from Sora." Xion murmured, clearly not fully understanding the feeling herself. "It's...it's a call...for help?" He could visualize her cocking her head to the side within his mind. Was she sending those visions of what she was doing to him? Was that the reason he could seemingly see her reactions sometimes?

Xion was quiet for several seconds as Roxas concentrated on his fight, knowing that he couldn't let even one Heartless slip past him, less they now be at the backs of those forming the other side of their ring.

"I'm going." Xion finally stated firmly.

Roxas blinked. What? She was going? What did that mean?

"What do you mean you're going? Going where? I didn't even know you could go places!"

"I'm going back to Sora's heart. The link is still there, connecting you two. I think that I can use that to get back into his heart. I don't know what's happening, but I think I'm needed there."

Roxas frowned, uncomfortable with the idea of Xion leaving him so abruptly. He'd actually started to enjoy bantering with his old time friend. What's more, Xion was going back into a heart that had been corrupted by Xemnas' presence. Roxas had to assume that meant she was going back into dangerous territory. What would that look like? He had no idea. Nevertheless, he nodded, understanding.

"If that's where you feel you need to be, then go, and be safe. I...I don't want to lose you a second time."

"Don't worry, I'm not planning to go in there without protection."

Roxas frowned. What did she mean by that?

"Taking the Oathkeeper with me!"

Roxas was startled as suddenly, the Keyblade in his left hand disappeared, forcing the teen to adapt quickly, reaching his Oblivion across his body to block an attack that his Oathkeeper had been previously dealing with.

"At least warn me, you jerk!" he mentally scolded.

He paused, waiting for a response before realizing he wasn't going to get one.

He let out a soft sigh, his annoyance giving way to concern.

Be careful, Xion.


-Namine-

Everything around her was now nothing but the unyielding shadow that she'd so desperately fought against. She found herself underneath the waves of darkness she'd been trudging through before, completely consumed by the presence that held Sora's heart captive, and now her own as well. For a moment, she thought to struggle, to thrash against the onyx ocean in a desperate attempt to free herself. That thought quickly washed away, slipping to the all consuming despair she now felt. Her body grew still, her expression emotionless as she felt the overwhelming feeling of failure plague her thoughts. They'd all been counting on her. Weiss believed in her. The others had all known that their very survival had depended on her succeeding in infiltrating, and then freeing Sora's heart. Now that she'd failed, she wondered what would become of them. Sora would no doubt be waking up soon, with her body still unconscious at his feet as he rose to reenter the battle. She couldn't help but imagine the despair the others would feel, knowing that their last effort at success had been dashed away by her own incompetence. She'd wanted to succeed for them. She'd wanted to show to everyone that she really could be helpful. She'd wanted to be just as exceptional and incredible as the rest of the team, showing them that she wasn't just a new recruit, and that she really could be valuable.

And now...she was here. She imagined that she would be here for the rest of her existence, left to contemplate her failure, relive the event over and over again and try to think of ways she might not have failed had she gone forward with a plan that amounted to more than just rushing in and hoping she could figure it out. She wished she had thought through this plan better now that she knew she would not get a second chance. She should have known that she wouldn't be strong enough to challenge the darkness so strong as to consume Sora himself. How could she? She wasn't as powerful as Sora. She was just Namine. The child who was so weak as to allow the Organization to manipulate her into corrupting Sora's memories so that he could then be better manipulated into serving the Organization. It had only been Sora's strength which had eventually given her the chance to do right by the boy she'd wronged so dearly.

She'd hoped this would be her chance to repay that debt. She'd been so eager, so desperate to do so, that she'd been blind to the fact that she knew she wouldn't be able to.

She was just Namine. She was no hero. She was just a Nobody. A being who was never even supposed to exist in the first place.

She let her eyes fall close, tears beginning to trickle from the corners of her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself, pulling her knees to her chest as she sunk further and further into the darkness. The surface seemed so far now, but she didn't care. It didn't matter anymore, at least not to her. She knew that she deserved this. She deserved to be swallowed into this never ending pit of despair. She'd caused it, after all. Had she been stronger, then maybe things could have been different. She deserved no less than the sorrow that now filled her heart. Forever.

"..."

She felt her eyes slowly flutter open. She could hear something. Like the distant sound of approaching footsteps. And...was that...a voice?

"Na-...!"

Her head slowly shifted until her eyes were searching towards the surface of this passive pool of eternal darkness. Her brows furrowed. What was that? It was so hard to hear. Was someone saying something? Was it Sora's voice? Whimpering in his terrified state as she'd seen him do before? She decided to listen closer, puzzled.

"...Namine!" called out the voice once more.

Namine's eyes flashed open, her mouth falling agape in shock at hearing her own name called. Who was here? That voice had certainly not been the figure of darkness she'd fallen to, and it certainly carried with it too much confidence to be Sora. So, who did that leave? Had someone else come here? Who could that be?

"Namine! Please! Where are you?!"

The voice came in clearly now, drawing ever closer. It took the blonde only a second to think before she immediately recognized the voice.

Xion!

Xion was here! She'd come and was now likely drawing near to where she'd found herself swallowed up by the darkness. Panic began to rise in her chest, realizing as much as Sora had on the danger she'd put her friend in. He'd told her to go, to flee before the figure of darkness realized she was there. She hadn't heeded his warning, and she imagined that once Xion found Sora, she would do much the same.

No!

She couldn't let that happen. Xion had already sacrificed herself once to save Sora, imbedding herself into his heart so that he could be restored, and in turn sacrificing herself to an existence that could hardly be called living. Namine couldn't imagine the despair Xion would feel once she was locked away within an entirely new prison, denied even the ability to look out into the world. Xion was too good of a person to deserve such a fate. Namine could accept herself suffering beneath the waves of darkness; it was a fitting punishment for someone who'd done so much wrong, but she would absolutely not let Xion suffer the same fate!

She immediately began to thrash, jerking and fighting against the sea of darkness that fought to keep her within its grips. She let out a seething roar as she fought, beginning to climb her way back to the surface with renewed determination to reach the top. To break free for even just an instant and scream for Xion to flee as to not suffer a similar punishment. She could barely move with the restraints of the darkness pressing back against her very heart, but she fought anyway, pushing her body with every ounce of strength she had within her to swim back to the surface.

She knew more than anything that she absolutely had to save Xion.


-Xion-

This place is really gross.

Her lips formed a permanent frown as she stepped further and further into the dark, rippling waves of corruption which seemed to spread out as far as the eye could see. Her grip on the Oathkeeper tightened as she continued to trudge forward through the enveloping sludge that seemed to sink deeper the further she pressed on. She'd noticed the distinction from Roxas' heart almost immediately. She'd spent so much time walking through the shallow waters that had appeared in both Roxas' and Sora's heart that she'd begun to understand the water's nature, and what it served to represent.

No person was completely pure. Xion knew this to be fact. Every person, no matter the life they lived, had a lingering darkness that resided within their hearts that they had to battle with every day. It was only through knowing this darkness that someone could then make the active choice to follow the light. That was why—Xion assumed—no matter who's heart she entered, the waters would appear dark and tainted which she would then have to walk through to reach the deeper parts of what made a person who they were. The fact that the waters here had instead formed a thick, sticky tar made Xion snarl at just how much Xemnas' touch had corrupted Sora.

The moment she'd noticed the difference, she'd spun the Oathkeeper in her hands before bringing it down in a powerful flourish, plunging the tip of the blade into its surface and twisting. The result had been immediately with light beginning to spread out in all directions, combatting the corruption in such a powerful and overwhelming way that the tar returned to how it had been before, a shallow, almost comforting current that allowed her feet to pass through with nearly no resistance. She'd been forced to repeat the process a number of times. Once she noticed the water turning thicker, she would plunge the weapon in again, and free that area of the corruption that plagued the rest of this poor, suffering heart.

The second thing she'd noticed was that Sora's heart wasn't the only presence she could sense here. Much like how she'd sensed before when Namine had entered Roxas' heart, she could now feel the girl here as well, although the emotions that sang out to her were far different from before. When Namine had entered Sora's heart, she'd noticed an immediate curiosity, and wandering sensation as the girl had followed across Roxas' chain of memories. The sensation was like a beacon which had drawn Xion to Namine in the first place. Now, it was as if the only emotion Namine was exuding was despair. Xion could feel Namine's presence further in, seemingly having pushed too far into this place without a method to defend herself before eventually falling to the dark force which plagued Sora's heart.

"Namine!" Xion called out once more, wanting her friend to know that she was not alone in this place. She pushed further, eventually spotting a lone figure out in the distance. At first, she assumed it was Namine, spurring Xion to break out into a dash before realizing that the shape was much too small to be the teen she'd become further acquainted with during Roxas' time with the Nobody.

Xion slowed to a stop as she approached the small shape of what she was rapidly realizing was no more than a small child. Her brows furrowed as her head cocked to the side, confused by the sight. Who was this?

She took several steps through the water which only managed to go up to the heel of her boots as she approached now.

The boy was quivering, his knees pulled up to his chest as he let expelled soft, quiet fits of tears into his arms which were wrapped around his knees as well.

She paused, studying the child with a head of wild, untamable brown hair.

She made the connection to who this was in a heartbeat.

"...Sora?"

Immediately, the boy's head lifted, fear in his eyes as his head snapped towards her. His mouth fell open, his eyes wide with terror as he stared back at her.

"No…not again..." He murmured so quietly that she barely heard him as he spoke.

Xion took a step forward, raising her hands in a comforting gesture as she said, "Sora, it's okay. I'm here to help-"

' "Get away!" the small child suddenly shouted, leaping to his feet in an instant. She could see tears rushing down his cheeks, his eyes red and puffy as he regarded her. "It's not safe! Y-you need to run! You're gonna to be sucked up just like the nice lady was!"

The nice lady…! Namine!

"You met my friend?" Xion said in a soothing tone, taking another step towards Sora. The boy waved his hands frantically for her to stop.

"P-please! Don't come closer! He'll come! H-he's gonna come and you'll be gone too!"

"I'll be fine." she said in a reassuring tone. "I promise I won't go away like you saw my friend did." She smiled sweetly before raising out the Oathkeeper for him to see. "See? Watch this."

She raised the Keyblade above her head before bringing it down with a grunt, stabbing it straight though the darkness which she'd noticed had begun to deepen considerably as she drew nearly to Sora. Just like before, light flashed all around her before she was able to step up and out of the darkness which had begun to rise up to her shins. Now. she was comfortably standing normally within the shallow waters that typically appeared within a person's heart.

Sora's frantic motions for her to retreat came to an abrupt halt. His head slowly tilted to the side, his eyes full of wonder.

"W-what did you just do?"

Xion's smile widened. "I returned things back to how they should be. See this? This is a 'Keyblade'. You have one too, Sora. Do you remember?"

Sora slowly lowered his gaze until he was staring down at his open palm, his eyebrows furrowed in a confused look. His eyes returned to stare back at her. "I do?"

She nodded encouragingly. "You do. It's a very powerful weapon against the darkness. Do you think you could bring it out for me? I know you can do it."

Sora paused, studying Xion for a time before returning his stare to his open palm. His face tightened, his bottom lip quivering with determination as Xion watched a shape beginning to coalesce within his hand. Light began to form, materializing into-

"And so, another lamb has come to meet their slaughter. It appears Namine was so foolish as to invite a friend for me to devour next. How considerate."

Immediately, the focus in Sora's face relinquished before he crumpled to the ground, pulling his knees tight against his chest in the same way she'd seen the boy do before she called out to him. His eyes were filled with fear as they turned to her, shouting out, "Run! Please! You can't beat him!"

Xion stood her ground, her face tightening into a look of rage at seeing how much fear this presence instilled within Sora.

"Yes, I can." She stated firmly as she could now see a figure beginning to approach from behind Sora, materializing as if out of the darkness itself before it drew closer.

The figure stopped just beside the now quivering boy, his face shrouded in darkness by the hood of the Organization coat pulled over his head.

"How very curious. I did not expect to find you here, Xion, number XIV of the Organization."

Xion didn't respond. Instead, she lowered herself until she'd adopted her signature battle stance, gripping the Oathkeeper tightly with both hands as her legs spread apart to better distribute her weight.

"I'm here for Sora and Namine. Give them back, and I'll try to make your complete and utter destruction as painless as possible."

The figure said nothing for a time before letting his head fall back, laughter rumbling through the air with such magnitude that Xion could feel it all around her.

Try laughing at this!

Xion immediately broke out into a sprint, having provided herself just enough platform to dash forward before leaping into the air, closing the distance between herself and the mysterious apparition before raising her weapon above her head and bringing it down in a mighty slash.

The Oathkeeper drove through the figure as if he was barely there at all, feeling much like she'd slashed through a liquid rather than an actual person.

The apparition staggered back, stunned as a line of light was now present across his chest.

Xion landed, before immediately noticing that her feet had begun to sink into the dark sludge as if she'd just stepped into quicksand. She raised her Keyblade above her head an instant later before plunging it deep into the darkness and twisting. Light exploded out from her, allowing her to step out of the darkness and onto a platform that now held her weight.

The figure took several steps back, regarding her with an expression Xion could not see, but was willing to bet now held the face of fear beneath that hood.

She raised the Oathkeeper so that its point was aimed at the stranger's chest. "I will not repeat myself a second time. You know what I want. Release them, or face the consequences."

The cloaked individual did not laugh this time but instead regarded Xion for a stretch of time that felt long to her, although she knew it was only a handful of seconds in reality.

"So, you think that because you managed to bring a Keyblade with you that you've already won this battle? Did you forget that Sora is a Keyblade wielder as well? Did you think that Xemnas did not prepare for such an outcome that Sora would try and fight back against my presence with his own?"

It was then that the figure decided to pull back his hood, revealing his face.

Xion sucked in a sharp breath of air as she immediately recognized the face. The face of Xemnas.

"I am a part of Xemnas as much as I am a part of Sora now. You have no hope in defeating me, lone Keyblade wielder. Put up as much of a fight as you wish, but know that ultimately, your fate will be the same as your friend's was minutes ago."

Without another word, Xemnas' form began to warp, the dark tar all around them beginning to suck back to the man before enveloping him and rising, building around him as his shape grew larger and larger.

Xion watched the transformation with a hardened stare. She could tell that this fight would not be an easy one.


-Namine-

"How very curious. I did not expect to find you here, Xion…"

.

.

.

"I'm here for Sora and Namine…"

.

.

.

"-your fate will be the same as your friend's was minutes ago."

Namine had managed to hear all of it as she continued to struggle towards the surface of the pool of darkness that continued to fight against her as she rose. By the sounds of it, Xion had come into this fight with a far stronger strategy than she had. She could hear the sounds of combat above her now from Xion's fearsome roars as she charged the darkness Namine had confronted not long ago. The retaliations of that darkness tried in equal efforts to strike Xion down in each clash. Looking up, Namine could see bright flashes of light whenever Xion brought her weapon down on the great, looming creature above. Despite this, Namine could also hear Xion's cries of pain whenever she was struck. It appeared that not even Xion was incapable of harm within this place. The fight raged on above her, only serving to strengthen Namine's drive to reach the surface before it was too late. She didn't know what she would do once she reached that surface, but she knew she had to try to help at the very least. Perhaps she could serve as a distraction, giving Xion just enough time to flee once she convinced her that this fight was hopeless, that the dark presence within Sora's heart could not be defeated.

Somehow, she felt that Xion would not back down, believing herself capable of stopping this threat even with her urgings to the contrary.

After a short time, Namine began to finally see the outlines of the fight above her, seeing Xion's shape launch into the sky, wielding a bright white Keyblade and delivering powerful slashes that prompted roars of pain from the massive creature the darkness within Sora's heart had now become—only to watch as the far larger shape lashed out, knocking away Xion and prompting yet another cry of pain from the teen.

Namine let out a cry, driving her arm upward once again, before feeling it finally breaking the surface!


-Xion-

Man, it's been awhile since I've done this, hasn't it?

The Keyblade wielder found herself on her hands and knees, her breathing ragged as she looked up at the enormous, looming shape the replica of Xemnas had now taken. She couldn't help but compare it to one of the very first Heartless she and Roxas had ever faced together, a Darkside, Xion rapidly recalled. However, parts of the Heartless appeared somehow...different from how she remembered it. Its shape was less solid in some aspects, appearing to drip and sag in places as if it was a liquid being forced into a shape that it didn't want to be. There were several gashes across its body which bled light where Xion had managed to slash it. She'd expected the creature to fall a number of times after she'd landed a critical blow, only for the Heartless to retaliate with a powerful strike which sent her spiralling through the air.

Sora had since pulled his head from his hands, staring wide eyed at the exchange, seemingly baffled that someone was actually managing to put up a fight against his darkness which had plagued him for so long. Xion felt determined to prove to the young boy that the well of hope she could now see appearing on his face was more than justified. Xion set her jaw as she knew she had to defeat the Darkside now—or rather—the replica of what a true Darkside should be.

She pushed herself back to her feet, feeling absolutely exhausted as she prepared to charge in once more—before something to the side caught her eye.

It was a hand breaking through the surface of the water.

Xion stared at the hand for a short time before an arm followed. A second arm shot through the dark, sickly substance before finally a head emerged.

Xion realized that she recognized their face immediately.

"Namine!" She called out, feeling a surge of relief rising in her chest at seeing her friend trying to break free of the darkness currently enveloping her. She watched as Namine continued to struggle against the onyx corruption sticking to her arms as she continued to push herself out.

Immediately, Xion's legs shifted into a sprint towards the girl, before a booming voice called out.

"You again? Did you not understand how helpless your situation truly was the first time?! Fall into the darkness and know your place! You are a mere bird within a cage! Return to that cage!"

Xion watched, horrified as the Darkside redirected its attention to where Namine was struggling to pull herself free from the sticky tar, patches of black staining multiple parts of her skin and clothes as she finally began to pull her torso up and out. The Darkside raised a single fist before bringing it down in a mighty thrust aimed directly for Namine's form.

Xion tried to push herself to go faster, sprinting as fast as her legs could carry her, but even then, she knew that she would not be fast enough to protect Namine in time. The blonde's eyes reached out and found Xion's a second later, before looking up and widening as she saw the massive onyx fist come crashing down on her. She raised her arms above herself, trying in a desperate attempt to block the attack as she remained stuck in the darkness.

"No!" shouted a youthful voice.

A bright, blinding light suddenly exploded out as the Darkside's fist crashed down on Namine. Xion was forced to close her eyes from the intensity of the flash, and when they opened again, she watched, shocked as the Darkside staggered back, clutching the fist it had been driving straight towards Namine with its other hand, bellowing in pain.

Xion's eyes returned to where she'd seen the blonde, only to find an equally stunned looking Namine, a Keyblade clutched tightly in her hands.

Xion immediately recognized the Keyblade as not any Keyblade, but as the Kingdom Key.

Immediately, Xion's head snapped to where she saw the youthful shape of Sora, his eyes wide with fear, his hand outstretched towards where Namine remained, her lower half still embedded in the darkness.

Xion smiled.

So, it looks like Sora really did remember.

She wasted no more time, sprinting the rest of the distance to where Namine was before reaching down and gripping the girl beneath the arm. She tugged, grunting with a strained voice before finally managing to tear the blonde free from the tar. Namine stumbled as she found the platform Xion had managed before eventually regaining her footing. She shot Xion a confused look, before returning her gaze to the Keyblade still clutched in her hands.

"W-what's going on? Why do I have this?"

Xion smirked. "It looks like Sora has decided to let you borrow it for awhile. Now, are you ready?"

Namine shot her a bewildered look. "Ready for what?"

"Just follow my lead."

Xion turned, standing alongside Namine as she raised the Oathkeeper so that it was now pointed straight at the chest of the Darkside who was slowly beginning to recover. Namine's eyes stared, her lips frowning as she regarded Xion, but, all the same, she raised the Kingdom Key in the same way, her weapon's point aimed in the same direction.

Finally, the Darkside's eyes landed on them and froze as he realized what they were aiming at them.

"Fools!" It bellowed, angrily. "Your efforts are in vain! Even with the both of you, you cannot free Sora's heart! He is mine, and mine alone! Leave, before I decide to do away with you both!"

"W-What are we doing, Xion?"

The girl in black smiled fondly. "We're freeing Sora's heart. Are you ready? All you have to do is use the right key."

Namine blinked, before nodding, seeming to understand before she gripped the Keyblade with both hands.

Together, the two girls twisted their Keyblades.

Immediately, the streams of pure light exploded out from the tips of their Keyblades before racing forward and slamming straight into the Darkside's chest. For some reason, Xion had known the moment the Kingdom Key appeared, it was the key to releasing Sora from his curse. Had it been mere instinct? The Oathkeeper somehow telling her as much? Or had it perhaps been the deeper parts of Sora's heart reaching out and telling her this? For some reason, Xion felt it had been the latter.

The light pierced the Darkside, forming a massive hole through the Heartless' chest before cracks began to slowly spread out in all directions from this newly made center. The replica of Xemnas tried to wrap his arms across his chest, attempting to contain the light as it spread further and further across his body until eventually, the cracks began to leak a bright, powerful light that could no longer be contained.

Xion lowered her Keyblade, prompting Namine to do the same just as the Darkside exploded in a brilliant cascade of light that seemed to spread from his feet, rapidly rushing through the dark, tainted waves. The transformation continued far past Namine and Xion's lingering forms, spreading out until it seemed to reach up into the sky, forming jagged cracks in the place above them before it too shattered, falling like shards of darkness which quickly decomposed as it touched the newly restored floor.

Xion smiled, looking over to Namine's stunned expression before reaching out and grabbing the girl's hand.

Namine's head snapped back to her, a still worried look washed across her face.

"W-what now? What do we do?"

"Nothing." Xion grinned. "We already did it."

The light spilled from the soothing waters beneath their feet, growing in their radiance before expanding in a massive, impressive force that bathed them both in water.

Xion closed her eyes, knowing what came next.


-Roxas-

He spun, lashing out with the Oblivion in a slash that ripped through a Possessor that had been poised to strike against Ruby just beside him. He watched the Heartless dissipate a moment later, satisfied, before he felt something else.

He frowned before looking down at his now empty other hand. His eyes narrowed before he flexed his palm, and suddenly the Oathkeeper burst to life within it.

He blinked before his eyes grew wide. Whatever mission Xion had sought to accomplish had finally reached its climax. His head snapped towards the battle going on between his friends and Riku, before something else strange occurred.

The Heartless surrounding them suddenly stopped fighting. All at once, their hasty advance halted before their beady yellow eyes all turned to regard where Riku was still fighting, seemingly unaware of the abrupt change.

What's going on? Xion, are you there?

He heard no response.

"Why'd they stop?" He heard Ruby question alongside him. The rest of their group seemed to notice the change as well, drawing back from the Heartless with equally confused faces.

Roxas wished he had an answer, but he, too, was just as lost as the others. Somehow, though, he knew that he would find his answers over by where Riku was still challenging the rest of his friends. Unfortunately, there was still a small army of Heartless surrounding them, blocking his path towards where he needed to find Namine. His head immediately snapped to Ruby before reaching out and taking her hand. "I need you to get me over there." He motioned with his head towards Weiss' group. "Quickly."

She nodded, her face now firm as she drew closer to Roxas before enveloping him within her semblance. The two suddenly launched into the air, manifesting as a swirling mass of crimson and blackness before turning to race straight towards the still ongoing battle. In seconds, the pair emerged from Ruby's semblance, with Ruby landing in a skidding halt and Roxas transitioning into a roll before springing back to his feet. He forced himself to pause for the few seconds it took for his vertigo to subside, before looking out and seeing where Namine and Sora laid some several feet away from where Riku was challenging his four friends.

It was clear to Roxas that the four had been doing everything within their power to hold Riku back as the silver haired Keyblade wielder made repeated attempts to try and dart past them, his eyes never leaving Sora's slumbering form with an almost worried expression. The four were effective in holding him back, with Nora's wild, dangerous swings of her hammer forcing Riku to back away alongside Neptune and Sun's coordinated, swift assaults that kept the teen busy. Weiss lingered on the outside of the battle, picking her moments carefully before darting in with swift, piercing stabs of her rapier whenever she saw an opening created by the other three.

Despite all this, it was clear that Riku was still more than a match against the team. His speed combined with his talent and strength allowed him to level the playing field easily. He slipped by one of Neptune's slashes before narrowly ducking beneath a flying kick executed by Sun. With his back now turned, Riku spun rapidly, driving a powerful slash into the Faunus' back which prompted a cry of pain from the startled teen before Riku was forced to leap over a swing of Nora's hammer and reach out to aim his open palm towards the girl.

"Fira!"

A powerful orb of flame erupted from his hand, catching Nora at the center of the chest before exploding, launching her away.

"Ruby, help them out." Roxas commanded quickly, his feet already carrying him towards where Namine was crumpled atop Sora, the two sleeping in a way that Roxas would almost assume had been peacefully decided upon had he not known the dire situation that had built up to it.

Ruby exploded into a haze of rose petals, moving so fast that Roxas couldn't even track her before she was there in the mix of battle. She spun as she reformed before slashing down with her Crescent Rose in an expertly placed strike that caught Riku dead center in the chest and launched him back straight into a swing of Nora's mighty Magnhild which cracked as it slammed straight into the center of Riku's back. The force of the impact sent Riku flying back before he regained his footing, skidding against the road with a grimace on his face. His eyes flickered to Ruby as she landed and he scowled.

"You again…"

Ruby smirked, spinning her scythe around her small frame before driving it straight into the road with a powerful strike. "Remember me?" she chimed, confidently.

"I do, and I hope you're prepared to suffer for the annoyance you served to be in our last fight…"

"That's cool." She said, shrugging before ripping her Crescent Rose free and gripping it with both hands. "I hope you're ready for round two then!"

"Our battle cry is 'make his butt puddle soup', by the way." Nora said with a smile.

Ruby frowned, confused. "What?"

"Ignore her." Weiss said in a breath that displayed a clearly annoyed attitude. "Let's just focus on the fight at hand."

With the others tailing her, Ruby launched forward, her speed fueled by her semblance as she came like a bullet towards Riku's awaiting form.

Roxas wasted no time, skidding to a halt beside where Namine and Sora lay before crouching down beside them. His hands reached out before pausing as he noticed that Namine's hands had been deliberately placed on either side of Sora's head. He frowned, not knowing if that was somehow significant to their situation, and instead decided to shake Namine gently, making sure not to disturb where she'd positioned her hands.

"Namine? Namine are you okay?"

He waited for a moment, not certain if he should do more. For a few seconds, Namine remained unconscious, leaving Roxas to wonder if he should turn away and leave the two where they lay to join the fight against Riku which was going significantly better now that Ruby had joined the fray.

He began to rise back to his feet, summoning his Keyblades to him once more before he noticed the blonde begin to stur.

Immediately, Roxas returned to a crouch, his eyes wide with anticipation as Namine's eyes began to flicker open, appearing dazed before they finally shifted to meet his.

"Namine, are you okay? What happened?!" he asked urgently.

Within his thoughts, he called out. "Xion! Xion are you there? Are you back yet?"

Once again, he received no response.

Namine slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, holding the side of her head with a grimace. "I...no, we managed to free Sora's heart, I think."

Roxas blinked, surprised by the new information before a smile began to form on his lips. So, that was what Xion had gone to do. He felt a swell of pride at knowing his friend had managed something so important in saving them.
"Xion was there?"

Namine startled before looking to Roxas with surprise. "Wait, how did you know?"

His grin widened. "She told me before she left."

Namine's eyes grew wide. "Wait, she's been talking with you?!"

He shrugged before nodding, feeling it didn't matter if Namine knew, before realizing that Namine's response suggested something he hadn't considered. Had Namine known that Xion had been with him this whole time? How? When? For a moment, Roxas wanted to confront her on this knowledge before thinking otherwise. That conversation could wait. There were more pressing issues to address right now.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

Namine paused, frowning before nodding her head. "Yeah, I'm alright, I think." She reached out, taking Roxas' hand before he pulled the shaky girl back to her feet. Despite her response, he could tell by the troubled look in her eyes that she'd definitely been affected by whatever had transpired within Sora's heart. It seemed, however, that she too understood that they still had troubles to deal with, and that whatever had happened to her could wait for now.

"Do you know why the Heartless stopped attacking?" he asked.

Namine gave him a confused look before her eyes turned to regard the sea of Heartless all currently staring out towards them with expressionless faces.

"...No…" She finally answered with a troubled expression. "But, maybe it has something to do with Sora. He and Riku had been controlling them before. Maybe that control is weaker now that Sora isn't under Xemnas' control?"

The theory sounded like as much of a question as it was an explanation. Roxas nodded. He could believe as much, but that still didn't explain why the Heartless had stopped in their rampage. Heartless when left to their own devices were naturally dangerous and hostile creatures. He'd imagined that, once control of them had been lost, they would simply continue with their onslaught, attacking in an effort to convert more unfortunate souls to the empty, hellish experience of being a Heartless.

A movement at Roxas' feet pulled him out of his thoughts as Sora's form began to stur. Immediately, the blond shifted so that he now stood protectively in front of Namine, his Keyblades ready just in case Namine's assessment of Sora's current state was wrong.

Sora's eyes finally fluttered open, and Roxas was met with a set of ocean blue eyes that matched his own.

"Wha?" Sora grumbled, rolling to the side slowly. "Where am I? What's...what's going on?" The teen pressed a hand to his head, closing his eyes as he shook his head. Even that subtle motion seemed to cause pain to the young man as he grimaced. "My head is pounding. Ugh...I feel terrible." His eyes opened once more to regard Namine and Roxas' figures just before him. "Roxas? What are you doing here? And...Namine?" He blinked a few times before Roxas noticed tears beginning to form at the corners of his eyes before spilling down to the sides of his cheeks. The teen frowned, bringing a hand up to wipe at his face. "W-why am I crying?"

Namine stepped around Roxas who was lowering his Keyblades to his sides, deciding that whatever she and Xion had done had worked. Namine crouched beside the dazed looking teen before reaching out and taking his hand.

She leveled a smile at Sora as he looked back at her. "It's okay." she said in a sweet, almost motherly tone. "You're okay. You're back to normal. I promise."

Almost immediately, the tears began to run down his cheeks in streams. In an abrupt motion that made Roxas almost leap forward with his Keyblades raised before Sora pushed off the ground to wrap Namine up in a hug.

"Thank you..." he whispered, his voice trembling. "Thank you so much."

Namine appeared dumbstruck for a moment before her arms slowly wrapped around Sora, returning the hug. "You're welcome. I'm so happy I was able to help you, Sora."

Roxas smiled at the heartwarming display before frowning as he came to a realization.

Slowly, he allowed his voice to call out within his mind. "...Xion?"

He waited patiently, sorrow beginning to fill him at each second he did not receive a response. Eventually, he decided that he would not receive one. His eyes fell shut, his head lowering as he began to understand. Sora had returned and was conscious once more. He'd been afraid that once that happened...Xion would naturally return to him. It had been what she wanted in a way, right? She'd told him before that it felt—in a way—better to be complete within Sora's heart than to linger within his own. At least—Roxas decided—she was happy having returned to the place where she was meant to be.

Roxas fought back tears realizing that, once again, he'd lost his friend.

"...Pfft…"

Roxas' eyes snapped open, a single tear managing to escape before sliding down his cheek. He'd heard something, something that had not sounded like his own thoughts.

"Xion?! Xion is that you?!"

"...Nah, it's the other voice in your head. I'm pretty sure you're going crazy, Roxas."

That was Xion!

Roxas felt his face split with a wide, happy grin as he staggered a few steps back.

"Xion! You're back! I-I thought you...were gone." He breathed a slow sigh of relief before thinking, "I thought...you'd gone back to Sora."

Her response came slowly, pausing for several moments before she finally said, "I thought about it. A part of me thought I should return to Sora. I know that you probably don't want a voice in your head for the rest of your life. Besides, I'm supposed to be a part of Sora, right?"

"I'm so happy you didn't." Roxas admitted, feeling like cheering for joy that he had his friend back. "But...why didn't you?"

"...I realized...that I didn't want to be back with Sora. I know I said that it was better with him. A part of me really did enjoy not knowing that I didn't really exist. I felt...complete, in a way. I knew that I was supposed to be where I was, and that I was satisfied being complete within Sora's heart." She let out a sigh, her voice tender as she continued. "But, at the same time, I saw that Sora could exist even without me there. I knew then that I had a choice to make, to stay with Sora, or come back to you. When I was making my choice...I knew that I would miss you. I...I didn't want to lose you again either, Roxas."

Roxas felt more tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. He pushed his hand to wipe them away before they could fall.

He sighed. "What took you so long to return? I was so worried."

"Oh that, right." Somehow, Roxas could see her smirking deviously within his heart. "I wanted to play a prank on you and see what'd you do if you thought I was really gone."

Roxas gasped. "Jerk!"

Xion snickered, before her tone grew solemn again. "Sorry. It was really nice to see you cry for me, though. I wanted to make sure you weren't relieved to have me gone. I didn't want to burden you with my presence, Roxas. I know it must be troubling, knowing that I'm gonna be here awhile."

Roxas laughed before shaking his head. "Not at all, Xion. I couldn't be happier to have you back."

"Good." she said, smiling. "Now then, I do believe we have one more person we have to beat up."

Roxas nodded, turning to face the battle still raging between his friends and Riku. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Namine trying to gently pull Sora to his feet, before the teen fell back to the ground, seemingly unable to get back up. Whatever control Xemnas had held on the teen had been a harrowing, and exhausting experience. It was clear to Roxas that Sora would not be ready to fight any time soon.

"Namine, stay with Sora. Keep him safe. I'm going to end this."

Namine halted in her next attempt to help Sora up, turning to Roxas before nodding.

The blond took this as his cue to start running.

"So, I figured something out during my time with Sora. You just need to get close enough to touch Riku. Then, I can get in and fix whatever is wrong with Riku's heart."

Roxas cocked an eyebrow at the new piece of information. "Really?"

"It's what Namine did. I think I can do the same."

He nodded as he suddenly leapt forward, darting into the fray of battle just as Weiss was delivering a flourishing slash against the Keyblade wielder which was swiftly blocked by The Way to Dawn before Riku stretched out a hand, unleashing a burst of air that knocked Ruby away from the other side. Roxas took this as his opportunity to drive forward, connecting a downward strike with his Oblivion that caused Riku to stumble back in pain, grimacing as he did.

He let his Oathkeeper vanish from his hands before reaching out a single hand, almost slapping it against Riku's face as he did.

Riku's glowing yellow eyes snapped open the moment Roxas main contact, his mouth fell open to let out a bellowing, "Nooo!"

It seemed that Riku knew exactly what was about to occur.

Roxas could feel Xion's confidence as she said. "Here I go."

Roxas' world went black.


-Xion-

She stumbled as she was pushed into a world of darkness, her feet splashing against the water before she fell onto her hands and knees, gasping. The link from Riku's heart to Roxas' had been a far less stable one when compared to that of Roxas' and Sora's connection, but there all the same. Through Roxas' relationship to Sora, a bridge to Riku was present from the strong bond the teen held with Sora, and, by extension, Roxas.

Still, the experience had been a laboring one, forcing Xion to break through the walls within Riku's heart still contaminated by Xemnas' darkness in order to enter. It had nearly taken her all she had in order to accomplish it, but now she was here, and she knew what she had to do.

She took several moments to catch her breath before slowly pushing herself to her feet, her eyes scanning before her with a serious expression. This place seemed almost identical to the way Sora's had been, although she felt something was strangely...different here, somehow. The despair she'd felt from Sora's heart when she'd entered was not present here. Instead, she felt a second, rivaling force seeming to be pushing back against the darkness Xemnas had infected Riku's heart with.

"Huh, so this is what it looks like to be in a person's heart. Weird."

Immediately, Xion's shocked face whirled around to find Roxas standing just beside her, his eyes scanning around them to regard the strange space.

"Roxas?" She gasped, her eyes wide. "What are you doing here?"

The teen shrugged, smiling. "Not sure exactly. I felt a pulling sensation when you left. I decided to follow it, not fully understanding what I was doing myself." He cocked his head to the side, frowning. "I think you left a pathway behind when you went to enter Riku's heart. I figured that I should tag along." His head righted itself as he regarded his friend with a warm smile. "I didn't want you to have to go into this alone."

Xion's surprised expression slowly eased until she was smiling back at him fondly.

"It's good to finally see you again, Xion." he said, taking a step forward with his arms beginning to slowly part to the sides as he did.

Xion didn't need any time to understand what he was doing. Immediately, she plowed into him, wrapping her arms around her friend as he returned the hug. She clung to him, happiness surging within her chest at finally being able to hug her friend again.

She buried her head into Roxas' shoulder, trying to mask the tears spilling from her eyes.

She felt a dampness in her shoulder as well, knowing Roxas was doing the same.

She sniffled. "It's good to see you again too, Roxas."

The pair stayed like that for a long time, enjoying this short moment they had to finally interact with each other again.

Finally, they broke apart, each wearing bright smiles as they did. "I really wish you had a body again, Xion. I promise I'll try and figure out a way to get you one."

Her smile faltered slightly, knowing that such a feat was impossible. Nonetheless, she nodded. "I bet you will."

"We'll go back to the clock tower in Twilight Town once I do. We'll enjoy some Sea Salt ice cream, just like old times."

Xion let out a soft giggle at the suggestion, shaking her head side to side. "You're silly. I can't believe you're thinking about ice cream at a time like this."

"Hey, I know you were thinking the same thing."

Xion sighed before admitting, "Fine. You got me." Her head turned, knowing what direction they had to take by the powerful, sickly sensation she was feeling deeper into Riku's heart. "But right now, we have a mission to do."

"Just like old times, eh?" Roxas commented as the pair fell into step.

Xion couldn't contain the grin she felt spreading across her face. She was so happy that Roxas had decided to follow. "Just like old times."

It didn't take long before Xion could see a shape out in the distance. Much to her surprise, the water splashing at their feet didn't appear to deepen or even thicken the further they went in as Sora's had—although it was somewhat deeper overall, rising so that it was completely enveloping their shoes as they walked. She'd idly questioned why that was, before noticing the shape of a figure as they approached.

Infact, there were two figures, she quickly realized.

There was a sudden flash of light at her side, prompting her to look and see that Roxas had summoned his Oblivion to his side, his eyes narrowed as he regarded the two figures standing before each other. Xion nodded, doing the same as the Oathkeeper appeared in her hand a second later.

The two grew closer, prepared for a fight ahead before, eventually, the details of the two figures standing to face each other became clearer.

Xion stopped in place, her eyes wide as Roxas did likewise.

"Is...is that?"

"Riku, yes." Xion answered, not understanding what she was seeing before her.

They stood no more than forty feet away now, regarding Riku as well as the person cloaked within the Organization coat with curious stares.

Much to Xion's surprise, Riku's form had not been reduced to a small child much like Sora had. Instead, he'd stood tall in the form Xion had seen within Sora's memories during his time with him. He looked like he had when he, Sora, Kairi lived at the Destiny Islands, sporting a bright yellow vest and baggy, sea blue pants as he stared up defiantly at the mysterious figure Xion knew had taken the face of Xemnas.

Riku blinked before turning to stare out to where Xion and Roxas now stood.

"So, you two have finally come." He bore a tired smile, his eyes revealing exhaustion. "I was hoping someone would come sooner rather than later. I'm sorry if I've been trouble out there in the real world. I tried to stop him. I was hoping my experience with Ansem would be enough, but...it seems that Xemnas was too powerful even for my heart." His gaze flickered to the looming, hooded figure still staring down at him with a hate filled intensity, before his blue eyes turned back to regard them. "I kept the darkness away from some of my more...dangerous abilities, hoping that might help in stopping me." He released a sigh, shaking his head. "I hope everyone is alright outside."

Xion smiled in understanding. So, it appeared that Riku had managed to put up more of a struggle than Sora had. It made sense once she thought about it. Riku had dealt with darkness entering his heart before, and had clearly developed an understanding of it due to that experience. She'd been wondering why Ruby had managed to last as long as she had when going toe to toe with the powerful Keyblade wielder. Had Riku been, perhaps, stopping the darkness controlling him from delivering any fatal strikes that might have put Ruby down for good? Maybe he'd even been pulling his punches against the rest of their group when Namine, Weiss, Nora, Sun and Neptune had challenged him. It had surprised Xion to see that not one of them had fallen to Riku's powerful attacks when she'd finally returned to Roxas. She could even imagine Riku infiltrating the darkness' thoughts, perhaps stalling for time once Namine had managed to infiltrate Sora's heart. She idly questioned if Riku had even managed to convince the darkness into speaking to her friends before their fight had begun, giving Namine even more time to break through. She decided to ask about it later.

"So," Riku said. "Are you two ready? You know what you have to do, right?"

Xion nodded as she raised the Oathkeeper, pointing it directly at the dark shape of the Organization member still looking down at the silver haired teen hatefully.

Roxas was quick to imitate her, pointing the Oblivion the same way she was.

"See you on the other side, Riku."

She twisted her Keyblade, prompting Roxas to do the same before two jets of light surged from their weapons' tips. The figure made no effort to evade the light as it came rushing towards him, clearly still focused on fully corrupting the person before him who refused to submit fully to his control.

The light impacted before the world exploded with a bright white light.


-Roxas-

His eyes slowly fluttered open, finding Ruby above him, having positioned his head to lay on her lap as she loomed over him, a concerned expression on her face.

"Roxas!" she shouted, lowering her face to his, cupping his head between her hands. "Are you okay? How are you feeling? Do you need some water?!"

Roxas resisted the urge to grin,instead forcing himself to croak out the words, "I...I need…"

Ruby's head inched closer, trying to hear him clearer. "What? What do you need?!"

His head suddenly lurched up, pressing his lips against hers as he stole a kiss before letting himself fall back to her lap, his lips spread apart in a devious grin. "There, all better."

Ruby's cheeks burned a bright red.

"Ugh. You're so corny sometimes." Xion complained within his mind.

Roxas let out a laugh as he pushed himself back to his feet with the aid of Ruby's hand. He kept it in his as his gaze shifted to see Riku slowly beginning to awaken, having been laying just beside him.

His eyes slowly opened before his blue pupils slowly moved to take in all the new faces. "Hello. Sorry if I tried to kill any of you..." He grumbled before pushing himself to a sitting position. He groaned, placing a hand to the side of his face a moment later. "I feel...like crap. Ugh. This headache really needs to stop."

Jaune's voice rang out next. "So, is he back to normal now or…?"

Riku slowly nodded, letting his hand fall to his lap. "Yup. I'm not gonna hurt any of you. Just...give me a second to recover. I'm feeling seriously sore right now."

"Sorry!" Ruby chimed, looking apologetic as she did. "That's probably from me stabbing you a whole bunch…" She rubbed one arm uncomfortably.

Riku waved her off. "It's fine. I...was probably trying to stab you a lot, too."

Ruby nodded her head, shrugging in a gesture that seemed to say, 'that's fair'.

"So…" Jaune continued, his gaze shifting to look out towards the sea of Heartless still surrounding them. He frowned nervously. "What happens with all of them now?"

The rest of their group, which Roxas had only just realized had all gathered together finally, turned to regard the Heartless all around them. Riku had been the last person in control of them, and Roxas figured that now that the darkness within his heart had finally been vanquished, he likely held no control over them anymore.

The Heartless suddenly began to shift, moving as if only now realizing they were no longer in control of another person. Roxas felt a nervous knot forming within the pit of his stomach as he summoned his Keyblades, preparing himself for a fight as the others within their group did likewise.

Then, the Heartless turned their backs to them, and fled.

"What?" Xion asked, clearly just as confused as he was. The Heartless all began to form a stampede away from them, running as fast as each variant could before their shapes bled into the road, disappearing entirely.

"Um, what just...happened?" Pyrrha asked, turning a confused gaze towards the rest of them.

Riku slowly began pushing himself to his feet, only to stumble and fall back to his hands and knees, breathing hard. His head turned to look up towards the sky, his blue eyes narrowed to slits as he focused.

"It's Kingdom Hearts." He finally said, before trying once more to rise—only to fail once more, clearly exhausted. He growled in frustration before turning his head to address the rest of them. Roxas noticed then that Namine was currently supporting the now standing shape of Sora, having pulled the teen's arm around her shoulder so that he might lean on her. Roxas found it surprising that Sora had yet to say a word to Riku, but upon seeing his face, Roxas could see why he did not.

Sora's eyes were downcast, his head lowered in a defeated looking expression. It was clear that whatever he'd experienced while locked away in the darkness inside his own heart had clearly left him shaken. He doubted that the teen wanted to talk to anyone right now.

Instead of focusing on that problem right now, he decided to heed Riku's words and turn his attention to the massive shape of Kingdom Hearts overhead.

He squinted, trying to notice what Riku had, before his eyes flashed open wide with understanding. It appeared that Kingdom Hearts was beginning to slowly shrink from the sky!

"Sora and I were deeply connected to Xemnas. He knows that we've both been finally severed from him. Now, he's trying to absorb what we collected. All the hearts we took from the Heartless are now beginning to flood into him, and the Heartless can feel that exchange going on. All those hearts finally touching down to a place they can actually reach is attracting them so much that they're instincts to fight us is barely a factor." He growled once more before trying to shove himself back to his feet. For a moment, he succeeded, only to stagger again and begin to fall just before Sun moved in to intercept him, catching him by his shoulder.

"Whoa there," the Faunus said. "Take it easy. We just spent the last half-hour making puddle soup out of your butt. I doubt you're ready to stand after a beatdown like that."

Riku shot him a strange look before turning his attention to Roxas. "We have to stop him before he completes the transformation. If we don't, then I doubt anyone will be able to stand up against him."

Roxas nodded before turning his attention back to Kingdom Hearts, seeing now that the massive heart was slowly beginning to suck towards the Castle That Never Was, where Xemnas was.

He swallowed before nodding.

"I hope you guys are ready, because now the real fight begins."


-Author's Note-

Roxashadow:

And there you have it, the true last installment for this story in what will be quite some time. As previously mentioned in my last author's note, these last 47 or so pages were quite literally written in roughly a week's worth of time as I desperately tried to ensure that you guys got at least a somewhat satisfying ending to the conflict built behind Sora and Riku's defeat. Admittedly, when I'd set out to continue this story last we left off in chapter 42, I had planned to basically write out the entire final conflict against Xemnas, including in it the big fight against Riku and Sora. Low and behold, some 88 pages later, I had only just wrapped up the resolution against the two friends from the Destiny Islands. My outline for this section of the story was incredibly short by comparison. The outline is only like, 10 pages long in total, and only goes into the fight against Sora and Riku for about, a page, max. Imagine my surprise when I discovered over 60 or so pages worth of content to explore. Definitely didn't see that coming when I eventually sat down to write this section. That being said, I'm glad that I decided not to rush through this section and really gave the battle the gravity it deserved. I know I've gone on record for not really liking Sora as a main protagonist for the series, but I think writing this chapter made me care for him a little more, and be more considerate with how I depict him in my story. This especially became apparent when regarding the scenes where I showed him as a child. As a writer, I definitely have to get into the headspaces of my characters, and having to so fully visualize the scene of poor 6 year old Sora begging for Namine to run away broke my little heart. I guess I'm a sucker for kids.

I'm especially glad I found a way to make Xion's character so influential in this chapter considering how long she's been locked away behind plot. I absolutely love Xion as a character, so finding a way to make her be a badass even when she doesn't have a body of her own was definitely an awesome experience for me.

I also feel happy that a lot more characters got moments to shine within this chapter, especially Nora who's speech I absolutely loved writing when confronting Riku (It's time for butt puddle soup!) Even Shiloh commented that she enjoyed that section.

I plan to have the characters have future scenes to further punctuate their strengths the further into the climax the story goes. My prediction is that I'll only need maybe two more chapters before we reach the official climax against Xemnas...but considering that it took me two whole chapters just to reach the climax against Sora and Riku...it'll probably be more like, 4 or 5 chapters, lol.

That being said, I have a whole lot of fun stuff planned for the future of this story. What a bitter irony it is that, once my drive to write this story manages to produce some seriously massive, back to back updates after a serious burnout resulting in several months of leave, I'm suddenly forced to leave the story on hiatus once more against my will.

I'll definitely miss you guys. This fanbase had made writing this little fanfic an absolute delight to create, and I'm sure I'll be eager to return once I'm back. If you managed to read through both of these back to back updates before I leave, please, please, consider dropping a review. At the time of posting this chapter, I quite literally only have a day left before I go, so those of you who wish to get a response from me will likely not if you don't post a review in that time. As always, I will do my absolute best to respond to each and every review over these next two chapters before I leave and am locked out of my devices.

I suppose there is nothing left to say except, thank you all for sticking with me over all this time, and I can't wait until I'm able to tell more of this story.

Until Next Time!

Shiloh Aldwin:

Hello again! Glad to see you all again with RoxaShadow here before his departure to bootcamp. So what did you all think of this chapter? Did it surprise you that Namine could be able to wield Sora's weapon? Well I loved that surprise when I first read it while editing this chapter :D Poor Namine was feeling low after her failed attempts to save Sora from Xemnas' grip, so I thought it was fitting for Sora to enable her to borrow his Keyblade to help Xion get rid of the darkness that the leader of Organization XIII implanted into his heart. This chapter was a crazy one, let me tell ya! Just when I thought one thing would happen, something else would occur and prove me wrong! That's RoxaShadow for ya! Always luring us into thinking one thing will happen until he suddenly grapples us by the neck and throws us into something unexpected XD I hope this chapter made you sit on the edges of your seat and pray that Sora and Riku would be released of their cruel imprisonment of Xemnas' grasp on them. I also hoped you all loved Xion's shining moments in this chapter! The girl deserved more spotlight and character development in the canon series, so be sure to give RoxaShadow a round of applause for doing Xion justice on this chapter :D As for the rest of our heroes, well…what they faced is just the tip of the iceberg. The real challenge now awaits them in The Castle That Never Was. Do you think they will succeed? Will Roxas be able to finally put an end to Xemnas' plan? We shall see. Though by that, I mean we will have to wait until summer to see what happens next. Sad and unfair, I know. How do you think RoxaShadow and I feel? T_T But don't you worry, RoxaShadow and I will return and be sure to give you all another awesome chapter. Though for now, be sure to tell RoxaShadow 'thank you' for posting this chapter before leaving for a while and wish him luck on his training :) As for you RoxaShadow, it's been fun editing these two chapters, I gotta say you never disappoint me. You did awesome, and for that I thank you. I'm gonna miss you while you're gone, my friend, but I know this goodbye won't be permanent. I know I'll see you again real soon, so be sure to take care of yourself and be careful out there. I'll be rooting for you :D