The Tides Go Out

by Regiss

Four months later, the war between Maleficent's Heartless and Braig's Nobodies threatens to consume all worlds. In the middle of the conflict, Sora, Xion, and their friends continue the search for Riku while also dealing with Vanitas, who will stop at nothing to get Ven's heart. Sequel to Remember the Tides.

68. Sunset Horizons

Chapter 68: Sunset Horizons

They could see nothing. On the other side of the gate, the group was met by a billowing sandstorm that blotted out the sun and surrounded them with a funnel of intense winds, forming a curved wall on all sides out of sand, dirt, and rock that flew through the air at breakneck speeds—flew through the air around them, but never at them. It was as if they were standing in the tiny eye of a miniature hurricane, only one that had formed over a desert instead of an ocean. No light shined from beyond the storm, for there wasn't even the tiniest crack between grains of sand for the light to come through. Instead, Sora and Aqua's Wayfinders emitted glows that cast eerie shadows at awkward angles. Their surroundings, and any potential threats, were a mystery.

They could hear nothing. The howling winds drowned out all other noises, to the point that even their own thoughts were muddled and muted. The roar of the wind and the shifting, slight clattering, of the sand, dirt and rock as they flew in that wind were all that anybody could concentrate on. If words were spoken, nobody could noticed.

Donald and Goofy exchanged nervous glances, then Goofy squeezed Sora's shoulder. Sora gave a nod to Xion and Riku, who in turn smiled disarmingly at Naminé who stood in the back of the group, watching Xion sadly. Aqua, still armored and with her helmet masking whatever expression was on her mind, glanced down at the King for a moment before taking a step toward the wall. Before everyone's eyes, as she moved forward a cape billowed out from the neck of her armor, the outside grey and the inside blue. It blew as if only caught in a gentle breeze, ignoring the horrible storm raging just yards from the group.

The storm seemed to slow slightly, as if reacting in response to Aqua's presence; slow, but not cease. The sand wavered lightly as she walked toward the rapidly shifting wall, like it was afraid of what a Keyblade Master could do. Or, perhaps even more alarmingly, the person behind this unnatural weather could sense their arrival. The sandstorm shuddered once more and then died down considerably, dirt and rock falling to the ground around the group and forming a ring of the stuff that almost blended in to the already covered, rust-colored earth below them. But though the wind died down it didn't stop. That said, it no longer ignored them either; now, the sand and wind whipped through the air uncontrollably as sandstorms tended to do, stinging their skin and getting in their hair.

But none of that was on their mind, for the place they had arrived in had now become clear to them. With awe and worry coating his features, Sora spoke up. "I don't think we're in Hollow Bastion anymore."

They stood in the middle of a desolate wasteland, empty and dead to the point that it was clearly unnatural. This was no simple desert; the land had been devastated by some sort of catastrophe, the very life torn from its proper place long, long ago and the earth left to rot. The air was dry, almost dangerously so. The instant the veil of sand had fallen, their lips had become parched and their mouths full of cotton. Xion licked her lips and turned behind her, scanning for something besides this desert that stretched on forever.

She didn't have to look far. As Xion let out a gasp at the structures that towered behind them, the others turned around. Not even a mile from where they stood, several veritable mountains thrust high into the sky, each at a different height. Standing there in the middle of nowhere, with their flat plateauing tops, they were just as unnatural as the rest of the area. Sora squinted as light from the setting sun, which painted the horizon a sunset, pierced his eyes. As the rays danced over the group, they caused something to glint in the sand. Something metal.

As if on cue, the last of the sandstorm vanished. The winds and dust that had kept the larger surrounding area still somewhat murky dropped at last, leaving only dead air in their place. The setting sun's light glinted off of countless weapons plunged blade-first into the hot, dead earth.

Keyblades. Thousands of them.

Keys of every shape and size formed a field of them, and all but Aqua, the King, and Riku turned every which way as they took in the sight. The Keyblades went off in every direction, looking like tall desert grass as they vanished into the distance. All of them lay rusted and worn by the elements, but they were recognizably Keyblades. Their Keychains dangled lifelessly, and they held no warmth or light. So vast was the field of Keyblades that the space between them was able to form very clear and visible pathways; three paths in fact, and the group stood in the crossroads.

In the direction of the plateaus, however, the Keyblades weren't pierced into the ground. No, they were scattered along it haphazardly, and most were covered by a layer of dirt with only some of their metal peaking up to greet the visitors. It was as if something had torn them from the earth and sent them flying every which way, not caring where they landed.

"Everyone…" When she spoke, Aqua's voice sounded deafening in the utter silence. "Welcome to the Keyblade Graveyard."

"Xehanort is here?" Sora asked while summoning Oathkeeper. He looked around at the fallen Keyblades, each one a mark of remembrance for a soldier in the Keyblade War, and visibly suppressed a shudder.

"And he's not alone," Riku said. The group looked into the distance, and brilliant flashes of light Way to the Dawn, Two Become One, the Kingdom Key D, and Stormfall joined Oathkeeper. Donald raised his staff and it lit aflame, while Goofy stood straight as an arrow and held his shield up before his chest.

"Xion, avoid Vanitas at all costs," Aqua warned without looking back. "We can't let you fight him. Got it?"

In front of the unarmed Naminé, Xion nodded. "Right. I'll be careful."

From the direction of the fallen Keyblades and unnatural mountains, three figures walked down the desert path. Vanitas stood on the left, his mask gone and a madman's smile on his disturbing face. Braig was on the right, unarmed and unpredictable. And in the center, the main who had haunted everyone's nightmares smiled at the Keybearers and their friends, stretching his hand out in a beckoning motion, as if to say 'come with me.'

"Terra!" Aqua cried out. She stepped forward and brandished Stormfall as her cape fluttered in the wind.

"It has been a very long time, Master Aqua," Xehanort replied with sarcasm dripping from every word. "But surely not so long that you have forgotten my name?"

Aqua didn't reply, instead focusing on the person she hoped—she knew—was listening. "Terra! Fight this! You've done it before, you can do it again!"

Xehanort's expression contorted into a smile for a moment, but only a moment. He lowered his hand and scoffed. "I always tell you people this, and yet you insist on repeating it again and again. Give up. Your voice can no longer reach him where he is."

"I'll fight as long as Terra does!" Aqua spat back. Even with her armor on, one could almost feel her look of pure, unbridled hatred directed at Xehanort.

"That's right! And we're all fightin' together!" Mickey added.

Braig barked out a laugh. "Then you should have stopped a long time ago, because Terra ain't around anymore!" Grinning, long ponytail blowing in the breeze, he tilted his head back and looked at them all down his nose. "Then again, if you had stopped we wouldn't be here right now, would we? Little Poppet fighting on as long and hard as she did, getting Ventus's light brighter and brighter, is the reason we're all here today. Ain't that right?"

Xion replied with a glare and tightened her grip on her Keyblade.

"Miss Master, it's just great to see you back with us—just in time to forge the χ-blade and usher in Master Xehanort's new era!"

"Vanitas rolled his eyes. "Wrap it up already."

"Fine, fine…" Braig held out his hand and called forth a gun; but oddly, only one of them. "Vanitas, Aqua and the King are all yours!"

Vanitas let out cackling laughter. "That's what I wanted to hear!" A horrible wind kicked up at his words, and beside him Xehanort nonchalantly waved a hand back over his shoulder. The wind all coalesced in one spot, forming a tornado that stretched up to the rapidly clouding sky and pulling in dirt with its mighty force. Not just dirt either, Aqua braced herself as if she knew what was coming, and soon enough the scattered, fallen Keyblades near the mountains were sucked up into the whirlwind.

The tornado, carrying its deadly load, then curved downwards and flew at the group. Vanitas leaped up onto one of the blades and from his perch rained Blizzaga and Thundaga spells on everybody, scattering them across the wasteland, splitting them into smaller groups. Braig had taken to the sky and rained fire down on the isolated heroes, still strangely only using one gun instead of two. As for Xehanort…

Xion, ducking under a Reflect spell that Sora had set up, gasped as a corridor of darkness opened and invited the ringleader of this whole thing inside. "Sora!" she grabbed his shoulder and pointed forward, directing him to Xehanort.

"Get back here!" Sora shouted, shattering the Reflect and sending its counter strike Vanitas's way. Without waiting to see if it hit, he and Xion took off toward Xehanort and dived into the darkness after him.

Aqua gasped and whirled around as the corridor began to close. Braig and Vanitas hadn't even made an attempt to stop the two of them from chasing after Xehanort, and somehow she doubted that it had been a simple oversight on their part. Forgetting Vanitas's spells for now, she took off toward the corridor, sprinting toward it at top speed. "TerrAAH!"

Ice blasted Aqua at her feet, freezing them to the ground and sending her toppling forward. Before she planted face-first into the ground, a rough hand grabbed her by her cape and tugged back violently. Aqua spun around just in time to barely parry a blow from Vanitas. Up above, the Keyblade tornado roared violently. Vanitas bared his teeth in a ferocious half-smile, half-snarl and his eyes flashed dangerously.

"We've got a score to settle." Vanitas swung Void Gear in a long upwards arc, striking at Aqua in the arm. While the armor defended from most of the blow, it still stung. Aqua winced just barely, but enough for Vanitas to follow up with a spinning horizontal strike aimed for her neck. But before that made contact, a golden blade came between the two of them and knocked the black and white key away from Aqua. Mickey jumped down in front of Aqua and held the Kingdom Key D high.

"Mickey, Xion and Sora are—" Aqua turned from him to the corridor of darkness, which had closed behind. "No!"

"I saw, but don't worry. They can handle themselves."

Aqua whirled around back to him. Her fingers tightened around the hilt of Stormfall until her knuckles were white under her armor. "Against Xehanort?"

Mickey hesitated. "We're just gonna have to believe in 'em. It's all we can do right now."

Agitated, Vanitas clicked his tongue against his teeth…and then burst into laughter. Lifting the hand with his Keyblade upwards, he held the other one out. "Just like the good old days. Time for round two."

Aqua grit her teeth and moved into a battle stance of her own. Beside her, Mickey did the same. "Fine then, I'll finish what I started back then!"

"That's my line!" Vanitas spun his Keyblade around in his hand and then dashed forward. As he came at Aqua and Mickey the storm of Keyblades returned, wind kicking up sand and dirt as the roar of metal on metal grew louder. Vanitas jumped and flipped over the oncoming torrent, landing unharmed on the other side as the weapons made their way toward the other two. Reacting quickly, Aqua threw up a barrier around her and Mickey. The Keyblades stopped, but not without effort. They slammed into Aqua's shield with such force that the sphere was knocked back, digging a trail into the earth until it reached the rock wall of the mountains Xehanort had raised years ago.

At that moment the barrier shattered, sending the Keyblades raining down around them; some clattered to their sides, others fell blade-first into the earth. Before the last Keyblade hit the ground Aqua moved toward Vanitas and swung Stormfall with all her might. Vanitas parried her blow and gave the Keyblade Master a taunting grin, but he was too caught up in that. From behind and below, Mickey jumped up and spun around, slashing Vanitas across the back.

"Gah!" Vanitas let out a cry of pain and whirled around on the King, but he dropped to the ground and avoided the blow. Aqua thrust her Keyblade forward and Vanitas vanished in a blur, so she quickly cartwheeled away as he came down on her from above with a blow that sundered the brown stone beneath them. "Get back here!"

"Thunder!" Aqua raised her Keyblade to the sky and rained bolts of lightning down on Vanitas, opting to stay distant for now. Vanitas was hit dead-on by two bolts of lightning but avoided the third and began barreling toward her with ice forming around his free hand. Aqua narrowly avoided the Blizzard spell and spun around on her heel to fire Fire his way, sending three large, burning orbs out at the humanoid Unversed. Vanitas deflected tem all.

"No running, coward!" His figure blurred and he reappeared behind Aqua. Sweeping his leg out, Vanitas knocked Aqua off of her feet and left her prone to a strike from his Keyblade. Aqua bit through the pain and caught herself with her hands before she face planted into the rust-colored dirt. Spinning around, Aqua used Vanitas's own ploy against him: she swept her legs out at him from below. As Vanitas lost his balance, Aqua pushed up against the earth and jumped into the air, backflipping over Vanitas and casting another Fire spell down at him.

"Aqua!" The King jumped up, grabbed Aqua's hand in midair, and spun around so they were back to back. "Let's team up!"

"Right!"

Holding their Keyblades out, Aqua and Mickey spun around and conjured up an aura of light around them. Bolts of light flew out of their Keyblades in every direction as the spun, raining down on the desert and leaving Vanitas without anywhere to run. When they ceased, Mickey used Aqua's own Keyblade as a springboard and came at Vanitas while somersaulting through the air.

Vanitas parried the first blow, but the King flipped over his head with a "Hup!" and swung at him from behind. Vanitas growled as he was slashed by the golden blade and sent ice flying out at Mickey, but Mickey met them with a Pearl spell of his own.

"You rat!"

"Sorry 'bout this!"

Again and again Vanitas swung at Mickey, but Mickey avoided each and every blow with lightning-fast reflexes as he flipped and rolled around him. With each dodge, the King followed up with a spinning slash out at him. Not only was he dealing a fair bit of damage to Vanitas, but he was giving Aqua the time she needed.

Fire struck Vanitas once more, another spell from Aqua. Before the flames died out she charged at him while alight herself, her Keyblade burning with orange flames and a matching aura radiating off her armor. Vanitas dodged the first swing from Firestorm at the last second by leaping upwards and then diving down, melding into the shadows. Aqua, still in her Command Style, only landed on the ground for a second before Vanitas erupted out of the earth with a mighty explosion.

But Aqua recovered quickly enough and swung her Keyblade down at Vanitas. He blocked the first blow, so she spun in midair and struck from a different direction. That one he didn't get in time. Allowing herself a smile, Aqua swerved through the air and attacked Vanitas again, digging her burning Keyblade into his back. She landed on the ground and struck him from below, then jumped up and slashed him across the chest. Releasing her Keyblade from her grip, Aqua allowed it to spin through the air and explode once more in a brilliant finisher. At that same moment she cast a Thunder spell to evolve further.

Vanitas crashed to the earth on one knee but recovered very quickly. He dashed forward, dodging the swing of Aqua's massive violet sword. Aqua spun Stormfall around in her hand, and the sword with it. Bladecharge glowed brightly, bright enough to eat away at the shadows, and the matching faint aura lifted off of Aqua's body like mist. She swung relentlessly at Vanitas, and her greater range meant she could do so at a distance. Vanitas couldn't even get close enough to fight back, and she only cartwheeled away when he teleported behind her. Not to mention, since her weapon was still-one handed the annoying Master kept assaulting him with Fire and Thunder spells.

Mickey wasn't sitting it out as they dueled, either. Standing atop a boulder, he held his Keyblade out and took aim. Then, jumping into the air, Mickey let loose a barrage of Pearl spells that struck Vanitas from behind while he was distracted by Aqua's Bladecharge. When the orbs of light exploded, Vanitas whirled around to cast a Blizzaga the King's way. At that moment, Aqua gripped Bladecharge in both hands and hammered it down on Vanitas with a brilliant explosion of violet magical energy.

"Son of a bitch!" Vanitas roared, slashing wildly with Void Gear. Aqua's Command Style had vanished, and now he began a relentless assault against the Master, both hands holding his Keyblade and putting all his might into every swing. He chipped away at her armor again, and again, again, again, again. "You won't take this away from me!"

x-x-x

Riku, Donald, and Goofy weren't exactly having a swell time either. As Vanitas handled the two Keyblade Masters, the three of them found themselves tasked with both fighting Braig and protecting Naminé while they did it. Their battlefield was a narrow one, one of the paths through the desert with Keyblades on both sides. Braig continued to teleport just out of Riku and Goofy's reach, always playing tag with them. And for whatever reason, he still hadn't drawn his second gun.

Dark Firaga soared through the orange sky and Braig vanished before it could reach him. As he reappeared off in a completely different direction ready to fire, however, Riku caught him by surprise. He had been waiting for that teleport and hadn't gone chasing after Dark Firaga; instead, as Braig popped up behind him, Riku spun around and slashed Way to the Dawn through the air. A wave of darkness shot out of the Keyblade and struck Braig head-on, knocking him over in midair. Riku leaped into action, locking Braig in a combo of slashes and jabs before he grabbed the gunner by his wrist and tossed him down to the earth.

Goofy came barreling forward and slammed his shield hard into Braig's side, then followed it up with a slash from the shield's sharpened edge. Braig grunted in pain and turned his gun on Goofy, firing point-blank in his face. As Goofy was blown back a green glow overtook him, and he recovered in midair to land on his feet. Donald and Goofy ran forward together down the dirt road as Riku attacked from the opposite direction.

Riku jumped into the air and brought his Keyblade down on Braig, but Braig swerved to the side and Riku's weapon simply pierced into the earth. Braig pressed the barrel of his gun against Riku's neck, and before Goofy's flying shield struck him in the head space warped around him. The shield vanished, only to reappear in the rippling air behind the pair and collide with Donald's back.

The wizard went toppling forward, the Fire spell he had been charging going wild. It flew haphazardly and out of control, exploding at Braig's feet. Braig grinned down at the failed spell and then turned his expression back to Riku, ready to pull the trigger. Unfortunately for him, Donald's failure had still served as a fitting distraction. Flipping his Keyblade around in his hand, Riku thrust the sword into Braig's thigh. As Braig roared in pain, Riku flipped up onto his feet and quickly followed through with a slash and battle cry.

Clang!

The sound of metal on metal was followed up by a powerful ripple in space that sent Riku backwards. Skidding to a stop, he glanced up at Braig with confusion—how had he blocked the attack? His gun? Braig had never used his guns like that before.

And that's when he saw it.

It was long and silver, with purple accents along the length of the weapon. At one end, the far end, was a semicircle of purple and silver spines that resembled the spikes on Braig's arrowguns only smaller. More of them thrust out near the base, and the shape of the familiar Nobody emblem formed into a handguard as Braig's gloved fingers wrapped tightly around the hilt. A purple heart token outlined in silver hung from a tattered red scarf instead of a chain, but its meaning was clear nonetheless.

"Impossible…" Riku's breath caught in his throat and he barely managed to choke out the word.

"You like?" Braig raised his Keyblade up, holding it in is formerly empty hand and examining it in the glittering light of sunset. So that was why he had only used one gun, he had a better, newer weapon to deal with. "One of the perks of working for a Keyblade Master, I suppose. Oh I have wanted one of these babies for way too long."

Riku shook off his shock. No, of course. That only made sense. "Well Keyblade or not, that doesn't mean you know how to use one."

To Riku's surprise, Braig nodded at that. "Of course, I haven't had much time to learn how to fight with one, and Xehanort isn't exactly a hands-on teacher…" He flashed a feral grin toward Riku. "But I've managed to make up the difference. I never was one for following in the footsteps of others!"

Before Riku's eyes, Braig lifted up off the ground. Rather than standing way out of reach as was the norm for this gunslinger, however, he hovered mere inches from the surface. With his gun hand at his side, Braig raised his Keyblade up once more and spun it around a few times tauntingly. Then, leaning back and still hovering, he pointed it forward.

Bang!

A magical purple bullet shot out of the tip of Braig's Keyblade as if he had been using a gun. Riku rolled out of the way of the surprise blast and began to run from a barrage of the things, but Braig was on his tail the whole time. Laughing and taunting, the one-eyed man floated over the terrain with ribbons of magic following behind him and blasts of power firing from his Keyblade.

"Riku!" Donald and Goofy charged at Braig once more, but without even bothering to look their way Braig raised up his other hand—still holding his gun—and fired on them. The bullets vanished before they made contact and then rained down from above through rips in space.

"Stay back, you guys!" Riku came to a stop and sent Dark Firaga to meet Braig's latest barrage. Purple met blue and caused an explosion, which Riku immediately followed upon before Braig could start firing again. Still gliding around, never holding still once, Braig turned his motion into a jump to the side and flipped over Riku's fireball. Before he landed he started firing again.

Careful to keep Braig's aim away from Naminé's direction, Riku spun on his heel and ran right at Braig with a barrier held up in front of him. Braig began to glide backwards as he kept firing at Riku, but Riku just ran faster in return. Taking a running leap, he came upon Braig in the blink of an eye and thrust the shield in his face, shattering it at the last second. The shockwave did little harm but knocked Braig off balance, allowing Riku to slash at him from above and dig the tip of his Keyblade into Braig's arm, hoping to release his grip. But Braig held fast.

Riku landed on the ground and turned back around. When Riku came at Braig from behind, Braig was expecting him. Spinning around with a laugh, he brought up his Keyblade to meet Riku's own. The two struggled, each one trying to push the other away, and Riku was winning. Snarling, Braig spun his arrowgun in his other hand and aimed it to the left while continuing to look at the Keybearer. "Don't lose focus, now."

A pink flashed erupted from the arrowgun, the knockback breaking Braig's footing and giving Riku the victory in their struggle. But Riku didn't take the opportunity to swing at the sharpshooter a second time, for a terrified gasp broke out from the direction Braig had fired. Riku whipped his head around to see Naminé backed up against the field of Keyblades, cornered. The earth was scorched mere inches from her pink shoes where Braig's blast had landed.

"Naminé!" Riku called, and her head looked up from the mark to him with wide eyes.

"Riku, look out!"

"I said not to lose focus, kiddo!" Braig's eye was wide and mad, with a gruesome smile bearing his teeth as shadows danced across his face in the sunset. Grabbing his Keyblade with both hands, Braig viciously slashed across Riku's back, tearing at his jacket and earning a pained scream from the young man. Braig slashed a second time, carving a bloody X into Riku's back, before he simply flicked his finger and cast a spell that sent Riku hurtling towards Naminé.

Naminé didn't have time to dodge. Riku crashed into her violently and the two went flying back into the Keyblades. Metal clattered onto sand as the grave markers were uprooted. Grunting, Naminé slowly crawled out from under Riku's heavy body. Sitting up on her knees, she gently shook him.

"Riku? Riku, come on! You have to wake up! Please!" Her shakes grew rougher, and eventually she earned a hacking cough for her efforts. Relief washed over Naminé and she brushed messy red hair out of her eyes.

"Kai… Naminé?" Riku was awake, and more importantly alive, but dazed. His clothes and skin were coated in dirt and blood from the two of them skidding across the desert ground, and Naminé had a feeling she didn't look much better. But of the two of them she certainly felt better, and she could do something.

"Stay still." Naminé held her hands out over Riku with her fingers fully stretched. She had never done this before, but Kairi had, and if Kairi could do it then she should be able to as well. Right? With some effort, she was able to get a green glow to form around her hands.

"Braig—" Riku began.

"We'll handle him, Riku." Donald stepped up in front of the Keyblade graves, facing Braig defiantly with Goofy at his side. "Naminé, you gotta get Riku back on his feet again. We're not as strong as he is."

"Oh, so you admit it?" With a hand on his hip, Braig tapped his Keyblade against his shoulder. "You two just aren't as powerful as all the others, and you never will be. Why even bother fighting when you know you can't do anything? I mean hell, you weren't even able to beat Maleficent on your own—Maleficent, of all people! You had to throw her into the trash and run away like cowards! Boy, you are sure—"

"You'd see it if you paid attention," Donald snapped, cutting Braig off. His entire body was shaking, but rather than throwing one of his tantrums Donald was keeping it inside. He was standing bravely in front of Braig with his staff held and ready to cast at a moment's notice. "Why would Sora and Xion keep fighting for us—no matter how hard things got for them—if they didn't care about us?"

Beside Donald, Goofy nodded. His face was set, his jaw tight and eyes glaring ahead at Braig. His shield stood defensively in front of Naminé and Riku, as if daring Braig to attack. "And me and Donald, we're always gonna fight for them, too. That's because they're in our hearts as much as we're inside of theirs." Allowing himself a smile, Goofy looked down at Donald, and the duck up at him. "It's real simple, Braig. But it's somethin' you just can't seem to understand."

The two of them took a step forward and stood back to back, brandishing their weapons toward Braig. "Our friends are our power!"

Braig snarled at the pair and held his Keyblade out, ready to fire. "Just words, you pair of losers!"

"We'll show you!" Donald waved his staff in front of him and a barrage of rockets manifested before him. Silence by the bizarre spell, Braig didn't move as the rockets took off toward him. He vanished at the last second, space folding around his body, and teleported off to another direction…but the rockets didn't care. They all changed course, following Braig's every move. Raising his Keyblade, Braig fired off blast after blast, but for every rocket he shot down two more seemed to take its place.

After pursuing him across the wasteland with every warp, Braig was finally overwhelmed by the sheer number of rockets that Donald was continually spawning with every wave of his hand. Impact! The first one made contact with their foe and exploded in a brilliant array of fireworks, leaving an opening for another, and another, and another. Fireworks went off over the battlefield as Braig was continuously rocked by the exploding rockets. And Donald wasn't done yet, either.

Donald jumped up high and flipped through the air. Raising his hand above his head, he conjured dozens more rockets that surrounded Braig from every direction. Sweeping his hand downward, Donald launched the rockets at him and finished his display with a massive firework that soared high into the sky before exploding in a golden shower.

Braig crashed painfully to the ground and his Keyblade landed some distance away from him. He began crawling toward it with his hand outstretched, but couldn't get to it in time before he was barreled over and knocked aside by a whirlwind. Donald and Goofy held both their hands together as they spun around wildly, smacking Braig again and again in unison, Goofy holding out his shield as well for that extra oomph. Then, still holding tightly to each other, the pair began rolling like a wheel right over the prone rookie Keybearer. But on one run, they overshot. Donald and Goofy lost control and crashed into the dirt, giving Braig time to recover and retrieve his Keyblade.

"No more mister nice guy!" Braig roared, his sole eye wide and mad, and glowing in the sunset. "I'm tired of playing games with you freaks!" Leaping high up into the air, Braig vanished.

An instant later he reappeared, an expression of pure rage on his face, right beside Donald and Goofy. Kicking Donald in the gut and sending him toppling toward the taller knight, Braig gave them no time to recover and began to glide in a wide circle around the pair while firing off blast after blast from his Keyblade. Every time Donald or Goofy would turn to face him he vanished in a blur before they had a chance to even see him fully, let alone make a move to attack. Again and again, from every direction, Braig launched bolts of magic from his Keyblade until he reappeared in the air above them.

"Go to hell, all of you!" Braig screamed. Holding the Keyblade up to his eye like a sniper rifle, he fired. A lot. Bursts of energy shot out of his Keyblade wave after wave, without even a second of break between them. They shot down in a straight line and vanished above the pair's heads only to reappear at their side from every conceivable direction. Blue was all that they could see as Braig's onslaught began, his furious attack tearing away at them. When the barrage ceased, it was only for a moment.

Braig spun his Keyblade around once and then took aim. The entire weapon glowed a deep, dark purple and darkness began to surround the blade. The keychain began to crack and an inky blue-black mist seeping out from within. All of this was concentrated at the tip, as a massive purple star grew and grew and grew until it was larger than Braig himself. "I'm not dealing with you anymore!"

"NO!"

A brilliant golden lance flew out from nowhere and pierced Braig right through the torso. His Keyblade fell from his grip, but the darkness he had charged did not vanish. It fired upward, high, high into the sky, and shattered. Purple, red, and black energy rained down over the Keyblade Graveyard, exploding as they made landfall. Braig, hanging in the sky, paid no heed to any of this as he stared with utter disbelief at the hole now going right through his gut.

A dome of interlinking hexagons larger than any they had seen before passed over Donald and Goofy, leaving the two of them safe from Braig's attack gone wrong. Turning to the source of the spell, and a brilliant light, their jaws dropped as they saw Riku lying on the earth with a similar expression on his own face. Naminé stood in the battlefield, red hair whipping in the wind, and the glow came from both her chest and the object in her hands: An amber blade wrapped in golden vines, with flowers at the end. A handguard that flowed out and shifted to blue like an ocean wave. And a red chain which dangled from the hilt, with a paopu fruit charm at the end.

A Keyblade.

"Naminé…?" Riku breathed. "Or, are you Kairi?"

Before the girl could answer, the Keyblade and barrier both vanished. Her eyelids drooped and her limbs grew limp. Her wobbling legs couldn't support her and she fell to the side, saved at the last second by Riku as he jumped up to his feet. Resting on her knees, she slept soundly in his arms.

"Gawrsh…"

"Goofy, come on!" Donald ran over to the Keybearer—pair of Keybearers—with a Curaga already on his lips.

Behind them Braig fell to the earth, as lifeless as the wasteland around him.

x-x-x

"You see that?" Vanitas suddenly stopped attacking. He kicked Aqua in the chest and swatted Mickey aside before grinning in another direction entirely. Paling beneath her helmet, Aqua followed his gaze and saw an explosion of darkness erupting high in the sky further into the wasteland, raining meteors down on the battlefield like a black firework. "Looks like Braig just took care of your new friends."

"No…"

"So then, guess it's time for phase two."

"What do you—Hey!" Mickey jumped up and blocked another swing from Vanitas that had been aimed for Aqua. Shaking her head, Aqua tore her eyes away from the vile show and returned her attention to Sora's doppelganger.

"You're going to have to try harder than that to keep me out of this fight, Vanitas. I believe in my friends, there's no way Braig took them out."

"That right?" Vanitas smirked and rolled his shoulders. "All your friends, right? Even Xion?"

"Of course we do!" Mickey said at her side.

"Good. Because you see…" Vanitas took a step back and Void Gear disappeared from his hand. Aqua held her stance and stared him down, ready for anything Vanitas was about to throw their way. Vanitas raised his hand up above his shoulder…and then waved goodbye. "I believe in her as well."

"What?" A corridor of darkness formed behind Vanitas, and he was already turning toward it. Mickey jumped after him with light shining from the Kingdom Key D. "Get back here!"

But floods of large, powerful Unversed erupted out of Vanitas's shadow, swarming the King and pinning him down. Aqua moved to aid him only for even more Unversed to strike her from behind and hold her against the rock wall. Vanitas turned his back to them. "Hope you enjoy the show, you've got front row tickets."

Mickey and Aqua swiftly regained their composure and defeated the Unversed, but Vanitas hadn't counted on them dying from his forces, only being delayed. And he had succeeded; the corridor shut behind him. Frantically whipping her head back and forth, Aqua searched for a sign, any sign, of where he could have gone.

And then something caught her attention.

Above, high, high above, at the top of the highest mountain that stood over the Keyblade Graveyard, the lights of spells could be seen and the clashing of swords could be heard. Aqua's throat grew dry.

Oh, no…