Chapter 3: Friends
Sokka's mind raced as he fought to process the chaotic strategic situation. Most of his allies had reached the enemy leaders, but the power of those champions defied description. The scary lady in black was particularly bad news. She'd basically gone nova, even managing to injure Avatar Aang with a volley of small blazing meteors. Zuko and that unreasonably buff Riku guy were badly injured, and the others would soon join them. Glancing over his shoulder, Sokka took in the plight of those white-cloaked samurai that had been summoned by Sora's fair-haired doppelganger. Yeah… I'm not even gonna try to figure out what's up with that... Alarmingly, most of those deadly faceless thingies had been destroyed already. Only a handful remained, drowning in a sea of Heartless. Already too few to hold back the horde, or even just distract most of them, they had served their purpose. Sokka could only hope they weren't actually people.
We've got seconds before these creepy shadow monsters are all over us again... and we may not even last that long…
At that moment, a blast of dark lightning from Ozai's Heartless sent Sora sprawling. The boy's mirror image stood over Sora while he struggled back to his feet, deflecting vicious strikes from Not-Azula's deadly whips.
Sokka grabbed Donald's shoulder as the duck made ready to attempt another ice attack. "Don't bother!" Sokka shouted, snagging Katara as she passed. "We don't need more of us attacking! We need Donald healing our champions! Suki, Katara, Goofy, and Kairi! Help me defend the duck! Donald is now the cornerstone of our formation! We'll defend his life with our own, so he can keep our strongest warriors in the fight!"
Sensing the authority and conviction in Sokka's voice, the others followed his orders without question. Pulling out all the stops, quacking, screaming, and straining his powers to the limit, Donald obeyed. He infused one ally after another with a level of healing energy that acted far faster than Katara's typical healing. It seemed on par with the Spirit Water Katara had used to revive Aang a year before. Sokka didn't know how this silly duck could do it, but he didn't really care. "Prioritize our champions attacking the enemy leaders!" Sokka commanded. "Only heal us when you've got nothing better to do!"
Katara formed and maintained a vast, flexible water canopy which she focused entirely on blocking ranged attacks targeting the epic duck. Goofy stood as close as possible to Donald, blocking what little slipped past Katara's breathtaking defensive umbrella. Suki, Kairi, and Sokka himself all held off the dark swarm that surged around them. Kairi hacked away with desperate fury, bursting Heartless with her white Keyblade. Suki weaved and danced with remarkable skill, her terrifying clawed gloves raking countless sets of glowing eyes. Despite their deadly peril, Sokka still noticed how beyond awesome his girl looked with those scary new weapons. If they both survived, he'd suggest she keep them, reserving her fans as backup weapons.
With his commands issued and followed, Sokka now put his life on the line as just another bodyguard. He handled his black sword with calculated precision, focusing primarily on beheading Heartless that rose up from the ground. As he did so, he made sure his boomerang never stayed still. Every time it returned to him, he'd spare less than a second to catch it and send it off on another attack run.
With such constant, life and death struggle, Sokka didn't notice one of those building-sized giants until it was too late to run. The boy turned and craned his neck in time to see a huge fist rushing down at him. Eyes practically bugging out of his head, but determined to go out with a bang, Sokka dropped to his knees and held his sword straight up. At least this will cost it a hand!
A huge water tentacle ensnared the monster's wrist and turned it aside. The punch that would have splatted Sokka into an asymmetrical pancake instead did so to a cluster of Heartless. A moment later, a compressed ice crystal shot up at the beast. As it passed through the large, heart-shaped hole in the enormous monster's chest, the ultra-dense crystal shattered into icy shrapnel. Shredded from within, the shadowy giant melted into black fog.
Sokka got back to his feet in time to catch and throw his boomerang, then spared a moment to turn to Katara. "It bears repeating: You are the nicest sister ever! Keep it up! I'd really prefer to stay three dimensional!"
Barely even noticing the praise, the waterbending prodigy kept up her flowing, shifting, multi-pronged defense.
Sokka caught a glimpse of Suki putting her clawed gloves through a shadowy head. Smiling, he proudly returned to his swordplay. Katara's our best hope of keeping Donald safe, but it will take all of us to turn this disaster into a victory. I really hope the crazy bird can keep everybody alive. With his support, the others can take the fight to the enemy.
Sora flipped back to his feet, marveling as his terrible burns vanished in mere seconds. I don't care what Riku says, Donald is great to have around!
Roxas spun and lunged a short distance away, crossing his Keyblades and scattering a bolt of dark lightning from Ozai's Heartless. "I can only fight like this for a few more seconds," he said grimly. "Namine's putting a lot of effort into making this possible, and that's seriously starting to distract Kairi."
It was true. Fear leapt up in Sora's heart as he looked behind to where Kairi battled with increasing difficulty against a growing host of Heartless. The last of the Samurai Nobodies that Roxas had summoned had now fallen, and the small knot of defenders around Donald were the only obstacle holding the horde's attention. Katara had drawn up a tremendous amount of seawater, and controlled it with amazing skill and fury, but they still wouldn't last much longer.
"Ok then," Sora said. "You'll just have to help me from within. We'll use the Final Form again."
"It's only been a few minutes since you last did that," Roxas reminded him, hurling his Keyblades forward and forcing Ozai's Heartless to block. "It will… hurt me... A lot. I'm not sure what might happen. And if I die, your power-
"Kairi and Namine are running out of time!" Sora shouted, surprising himself with his own intensity. "We have to make our move, now!"
Roxas nodded. "Understood. Thanks for keeping me on track."
Hunger, desire, and darkness. These made up the "existence" of the Heartless that had so recently been Ozai. Left on its own, it would have wandered the world mindlessly, devouring the hearts of all it met. But right now, it answered to Maleficent and Xaizo. Rather than being free to feed, it filled the role of an obedient slave soldier, and its fighting style showed it. More calculated and observant than it otherwise would have been, the mighty Heartless was more than a match for any one of its enemies.
But now it would face two in one.
The two boys, so similar in appearance, charged, and Ozai's Heartless instinctively knew this would be their final attack. Intending to turn their courage into their undoing, it drew on all its powers to create a terrible aura of dark energy around itself. This darkness clung so tightly to its shadowy body that the boys likely couldn't see it. The fearless doppelgangers would kill themselves if they came too close, for that dark energy field could be expanded at any time, and with surprising speed.
Just before the boys made contact, they sped away from each other, circling the Heartless in opposite directions. When on either side of it, they each flung both of their weapons with strength that belied their featherweight builds. The boy with the white jacket and lighter hair shouted as he did so, and as the Heartless ducked low, it chose him as its target. With a wailing hiss, it vented its pent-up dark power in a murderous wave.
The boy vanished in a white glow just before he would have been hit. For an instant, the Heartless felt as if another consciousness briefly phased through it, moving toward the other boy. Spinning with sudden, instinctive understanding, the Heartless attempted to build another wave of similar power to the first…
But it was too late.
Orbited by four Keyblades, and seething with white energy, the Keyblade Master was now whole again, though his face twisted with pain. He flew over the head of his prey with fury burning in his eyes. Oathkeeper, Oblivion, Ultima, and Fenrir shot out in four directions, circling their bewildered target with phenomenal speed.
All four weapons slashed inward simultaneously, while intense blasts of brilliant energy burst from the boy's hands.
Not bad, Sora. You and Roxas make a great team, whether you're using one body or two. Still, I can't let you steal all the glory. Riku, aching but functional due to Donald's repeated healing, took just a moment to watch the display. Sora, exhausted, reverted to his normal form and tumbled through the dark mist left behind by Ozai's Heartless, which had briefly existed in two many pieces to count.
Very cinematic… ya showoff.
For a moment, Riku worried that he would have to abandon his attack on Axulza to defend Sora. The skinny kid now barely had the strength to stand, let alone fight.
But then, from over the horizon... the cavalry arrived.
For several seconds, it looked almost like two threads, one blue and one red, fluttering through the air on a stiff breeze. Soon though, it became clear that the shapes were very far away, very large, and very fast.
"They've come Uncle!" Zuko shouted from a good distance to Riku's right.
"Of course they did!" Iroh replied, redirecting what could have been a devastating hit from Xaizo's now blunt but still deadly flail. "This is their world too! They will defend it!"
A mighty roar echoed across the battlefield, followed closely by another, and for a moment, the fighting lessened. All eyes turned toward the sources of the sound, and by the time they realized what had come, it was too late for the Heartless to react.
Riku could hardly believe his eyes. Two dragons, larger and grander than any he had ever seen on any world, burst upon the battlefield in a blaze of glory. So that's what Zuko and his uncle were doing earlier. They didn't waste a combined attack, they sent a signal!
Multicolored flame burst from the dragon's mouths in a torrent that exceeded anything the battlefield had yet seen. The twin rivers of devouring fire burned wide trenches through the vast Heartless host, incinerating hundreds of shadowy creatures with every breath. One of the Darksides drew back a great fist, but its head vanished between the jaws of the red dragon as it flew past.
In a matter of seconds, those spectacular creatures had cut the enemy's numbers by half.
This is our chance! Riku thought. I couldn't have asked for a better distraction! "Your Majesty!" he shouted. "Now!"
Diving in and spinning like a drill, Mickey closed inside Axulza's guard, forcing her into a desperate evasive stance. Against one as agile as the King, it took all of Axulza's focus just to avoid oblivion. Based on her earlier movements, Riku knew she would soon pull some trick to gain the distance she needed... but he would not give her the chance.
Charging in from behind, Riku intentionally caught one of Axulza's bladed whips around his sword. He used it to yank her to one side, wrenching the chain from her grasp. The Nobody planted a vicious kick to Riku's face, driving him back, while simultaneously slashing out with her second weapon. Staggering in a daze, Riku only managed to bring up his arms, shielding his neck and face. The terrible weapon wrapped around Riku's body, and the Nobody leapt back, intending to shred Riku to ribbons.
But she never got to. Axulza had leapt directly into King Mickey's expertly timed lunge, and his golden Keyblade overflowed with brilliant light.
Iroh didn't know what to think or how to feel. He didn't know whether or not it could be said that his niece had just "died." From the cheers sent up by several of the offworlders, Iroh assumed they hadn't really viewed Axulza as a person.
Still, nothing could change this simple truth: Whatever had remained of Azula… was no more.
After mere seconds of pained contemplation, Iroh set his jaw. The same must now come to pass... for my brother.
Xaizo whirled and spun, wielding his heavy flail with inhuman strength while blocking incoming flames with expert firebending. He could barely believe that he'd lost his three greatest weapons, including all that remained of his daughter. At least most of my enemies are worn down. That absurd duck had finally exhausted itself, and Katara stood alone, defending her wounded and weary comrades against a force of powerful Heartless. Those Heartless had learned that the only place safe from the dragons was close to the enemy. Zuko and Iroh, clearly fatigued, wouldn't last long, and Maleficent's evil strength managed to hold back both the Avatar and his blind earthbending teacher. They had both caused general havoc from the moment those strange Samurai had appeared. If Xaizo were free to assist his dark savior, victory would be assured. Those dragons are the biggest obstacle to that strategy. As it stands, the surviving Heartless will fall in seconds. But animals of that size, exposed in the air, cannot possibly avoid my lightning...
Leaping back, Xaizo filled his flail with fire and hurled it at his former family. Iroh and Zuko both dived out of the way, but just as the weapon passed them it exploded in a great fiery gush. Iroh and Zuko went down, injured by shrapnel, and Xaizo seized his chance. With a speed that no other firebender could possibly match, he prepped and fired two terrible lightning strikes in as many seconds.
Stunned, both massive dragons tumbled from the sky, roaring in anguish and pain.
Xaizo smiled, but almost immediately his smile died on his lips. Despite his injuries, Zuko had struck the ground in a controlled tumble, spinning in place while lying on his back, sending furious ripples of flame along the ground. These struck Xaizo's feet with surprising force, and the Nobody pitched forward. In that instant, Iroh flicked his thumb, and something small and hard drove into Xaizo's left eye with terrible force. His hands came up instinctively, and he failed to catch himself properly. He hit the ground hard, and had to flame-jet back to his feet while wrenching the object from his eye.
Barely in time, Xaizo noticed that Iroh had prepared lightning from where he lay. Desperate, Xaizo flung himself to one side only just in time. The strike came with such power, such deadly concentration, that Xaizo nearly lost consciousness just from what little grazed him as the bolt passed.
But that terrible power didn't dissipate...
Strangely, the crackling of that energy seemed to pause for a moment behind him...
Too late, Xaizo realized that his son was no longer lying on the ground where he'd been a moment before. Zuko had stood, fearless, in the path of Iroh's lightning.
The voice of the new Fire Lord was cold and grim. "You are no longer my father."
Iroh's lightning stabbed forth from Zuko's hand and pierced Xaizo from behind.
As he pitched forward, Xaizo became aware of two things.
Most importantly, he was fading, and nothing could change it. The damage he'd received could not be mended. He'd taken the ultimate gamble by accepting Maleficent's offer, and he had lost that gamble to his brother and son.
Far less terrible, but more insulting, Xaizo finally realized what he held. The object Iroh had flicked into his eye. The tiny distraction that had cost Xaizo all that remained of his existence:
A white lotus tile.
Toph stomped hard, and instead of executing another earthbending move, she sent powerful vibrations through the ground to get a clearer picture of the battlefield. Virtually everyone was down, and most of those who could still fight defended those that couldn't.
Just me and Twinkle Toes verses the alien multi-bender who caused this whole mess…
We've got this in the bag!
So far, neither Toph nor Aang had landed a solid hit. This hag's firebending is unreal. It consumes water and even rock. But I just noticed something I bet she doesn't know about. I kinda hope I don't accidentally kill her... but I sure won't cry about it if I do.
As if reading her mind, King Mickey shouted to her from where he battled to defend Sora and Riku from the surviving Heartless. "Don't hold back! Physical attacks can't kill her permanently, so give her all you've got! Drive her from your world!"
Smiling, Toph dropped beneath the ground and tunneled rapidly toward a subterranean ore vein that she'd discovered with her last stomp. Don't mind if I do!
"Your allies may have destroyed Ozai and Azula," Maleficent announced grimly, "but now you are alone, Avatar! Release your connection to your ancient predecessors! Otherwise, your impending death will spell the end of the Avatar for all time!" She could safely let the boy choose. Whether or not a new Avatar was born, she would darken the heart of this world after his death. No infant would live long enough to truly replace Aang.
"You're joking, right?" Aang shouted from above in the voice of a hundred Avatars. "You can't even touch me!" Raising his arms, Aang brought a great, crashing wave above the nearby cliff-face, deluging Maleficent with far more water than he'd attempted to bend since defeating Ozai. He rocketed in, gathering fire around his hands and preparing to strike, but something ominous caught his attention.
Every surviving Heartless burst simultaneously... and the dark wisps of their dematerializing forms now sped directly toward Maleficent.
Aang broke away at the last second, barely avoiding a great shockwave of sickly green fire that exploded from Maleficent's body in all directions. The blaze devoured Aang's tsunami and nearly engulfed him. Drawing that fire back to herself, Maleficent held out her staff, and the shadowy remains of her Heartless army collected and surged around the dark gem at its crest. Soon, neither Maleficent's staff nor the arm that held it could be seen, for light itself vanished within that dark aura. "You disregarded my warning, little boy," she chided mildly. "Now your world will never know balance!"
Maleficent raised her light-consuming staff, aiming for the Avatar. Strangely, he made no attempt to dodge. Aang just hung there in the air, eyes glowing brilliantly. So he's finally given up. It makes no difference. He could not possibly have survived this anyway… Aloud, the sorceress stated, "Die now, and curse in vain!"
Behind Maleficent, the earth burst open. A horrific pain shot through her body, starting in her lower back and emerging near her throat, while a terrible force drove her high into the air. A jagged spire of raw iron ore obstructed her view of the Avatar, and she barely kept her grip on her staff.
What… how…? Even while flying into the air, Maleficent managed to get a look over her shoulder. Her vile, yellow eyes locked on the young girl, who stared sightlessly back from inches away. The little earthbender still grasped the crude iron lance she'd formed underground.
"Get off my world," Toph growled.
"It seems I have no choice," Maleficent admitted in a dangerously calm voice. Then, that voice morphed into an evil hiss: "And you are coming with me!" Despite the tremendous spike of iron running through her body, the sorceress twisted around in midair with inhuman flexibility and grabbed the blind girl by the throat. Maleficent's other hand held her staff aloft, and that concentrated dark power flowed over both of them, opening a rift to another realm. "Feeding on your life will speed my recovery!" she whispered. "I'll return for your friends soon enough!"
Surrounded by spiraling wind, Aang smashed into Maleficent from behind, spinning her around, and loosening her grip on Toph. Aang got a heavy dose of that dark, evil cloud, but as he tumbled from the sky, the King finished his job for him. Brimming with pure light, Mickey leapt into the air, piercing the darkness and snatching Toph free from Maleficent's clutches.
Half a heartbeat later, the frustrated dark mistress vanished through the rift.
Relative silence settled upon the blasted, charred battlefield. Benders, Keyblade wielders, and their allies heaved a deep sigh of relief as the foreboding sense of darkness and dread faded away. The two ancient dragons, injured but far from broken, rose to their feet and let out triumphant roars.
Sokka didn't seem to notice everyone else's mood. "Awww, man! She got away! And here I'd hoped Toph would give the dragons some witch kabob for dinner."
"Ok, a little too gross," Suki said.
"Plus he stole my joke," Toph mumbled.
"Gawrsh, everybody," Goofy said. "I guess we won... Hip hip hurraaaay!"
Aching, battered, and in most cases bloody, the victors rose to their feet and gathered near the two glorious dragons. Some ogled, some fidgeted nervously, and Katara focused on healing everyone's injuries. Donald was way too exhausted.
"I thank you for answering our call," Iroh said, bowing to the dragons.
King Mickey stepped forward, bowing so low that his ears brushed the ground. "Am I guess'n right? Dragons like you are part of why the Heartless and Nobodies left this world alone for so long?"
The red dragon nodded its great head, and the blue dragon also raised one arm and gestured toward the Avatar.
"I see," Zuko said. "Well, we're on our way to healing our world, and balance will one day be restored. Eventually, you'll have no more reason to hide from humans."
"Your kind will forever be welcome friends of humanity," Aang said, stepping forward. "You have my word."
Bowing low, the dragons beat their great wings, rising smoothly into the sky.
"Wait!" Sokka shouted. "Could I have a ride before you go?"
With odd grunts that may have been laughter, the majestic beasts soared away, vanishing into the distance.
"Bummer," Toph observed. "Life just isn't fair."
"Thanks for the sympathy," Sokka whimpered, failing to detect her sarcasm.
Kairi took Sora's hand. "Is Roxas ok?" she whispered worriedly.
Sora looked weary, and pained, but he still smiled. "Of course he's ok. He's at least as tough as me." Sora's smile briefly faded, and he spoke more softly. "He is hurting though. Really bad. Using Final Form a second time was way too soon." Then Sora's smile returned, brighter than ever, and the weariness seemed to lift from him. "But I'm proud to report that I'm hurting too. I figured out how to take half of the pain for him, and he's sleeping right now. He might be like that for a while... but my heart will help him heal. I bet he'll be stronger than ever when he finally wakes up."
Kairi looked overwhelmed. "If he's asleep, then with just as much pain, how...?"
"I'm not tougher than him," Sora explained, briefly letting his agony show. "But when you know the pain's for someone else... it's way easier to bear it." He gave her hand a squeeze. "What about you two?"
"We're both very tired," Kairi admitted, wiping away a tear she'd shed for Sora, "but we'll be ok. Namine's still awake. She's very proud of both of you."
"I have almost no idea what you guys are talking about," Aang said, stepping over to them. "But I'd really like to. Can you please stay on our world for a while and explain everything that just happened?"
"We should probably go…" Sora said sheepishly. "We're sorry for meddling... We sure caused you guys a lot of trouble."
"Are you kidding?" Toph laughed, dealing Sora such a powerful slap on the back that he fell on his face. "That was the most fun I've had since the war! You guys aren't goin' anywhere! I won't let'ya!"
"I agree," Iroh said, smiling broadly. "Now who's hungry?"
"Me!" shouted Toph, Sora, Goofy, Sokka, Donald, and Aang in unison.
Mickey pressed a button on his keychain, and the Gummi ship soared down from orbit, hovering nearby.
Despite everything, a colorful world-hopping spaceship was still enough to start a whole new round of disbelief and wonder from Aang and his friends. Eventually, talk turned practical.
"Can we all fit in that thing?" Suki asked dubiously.
"What's wrong?" Katara asked playfully. "After a battle like that, are you really going to complain about a cramped ride in a space machine?"
"If she's thinking what I'm thinking," Kairi said, "it's all about the smell. Being stuck in an airtight cockpit with so many gross, sweaty guys… Ick.
"And three of them are animals," Suki added helpfully.
"Ugh," Katara groaned. "You have a point. I'll help Aang to operate the new showers they installed in the palace."
"I guess dinner's on me then," Zuko observed, as everyone filed wearily up the ramp. Well, almost everyone looked weary. Aang and Goofy were practically skipping.
"Are you trying to say you can't afford it, Mr. Fire Lord?" Riku asked.
"I'm guessing the duck can eat quite a lot," Zuko observed dryly. "Not to mention the mouse. I hope Mei doesn't mind so much company..."
"Kairi and I will each be eating for two!" Sora announced.
"I still bet I can out-eat everyone here," Toph declared proudly, just to make Zuko fret.
"Come now, Nephew," Iroh chided, as he brought up the rear. "We must always be ready to show generous hospitality." The old man took a long look at Goofy, and then added, "With that in mind, I think I'll prepare several more gallons of Jasmine tea."
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this little romp as much as I enjoyed writing it. When I saw the airport fight in Captain America: Civil War, I remember thinking that juggling twelve different heroes in one big fight looked complicated... and awesome. So I wanted to go even further with this wild crossover. I tried to give everyone a moment to shine, while never losing track of anyone or forgetting the epic scale. I hope I succeeded.
Reviews are appreciated, just avoid spoiling major details.