The Night Within My Eyes
Description: A sequel to Kingdom Hearts II. When a Gummi Ship crashes into Disney Castle, King Mickey calls on Sora and Riku to help a previously unknown world rid itself of some very familiar Heartless. Eventual pairing: RikuxOC, plus some SoraxKairi because they're cute. Rated T because I can't see myself ever writing K.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and its characters are the property of Square-Enix. But you knew that already.
Sixteen
"So whaddidya say to her anyway?"
"Shut up, Sora."
"I saw her throw herself at you. You probably said something sweet and sappy, right? Man, you should have kissed her right then."
"I'm not having this conversation."
Sora swung his legs back and forth and banged his heels against the wall beside the tennis courts. He grinned at Riku who was leaning against the bricks next to him, arms and brows folded angrily. "C'mon, we're best friends! You're supposed to let me in on things like this."
"Okay, fine," Riku said, turning his head to smirk at Sora. "I'll tell you everything that Yuko and I said last night if you tell me everything you said and did with Kairi the night before we left."
As expected, the younger boy flushed to the roots of his spiky hair. He quickly turned his attention to the courts where Yuko and Vincent were fighting Heartless. "Hey, Vincent's not a bad shot, is he?" He coughed a few times in embarrassment.
Riku smiled. "Thought that would shut you up," he said quietly to himself. He also gave his attention to the two on the courts. It's what they were supposed to be doing after all.
Yuko and Vincent had discovered that they worked extremely well together. Their combined long-range attacks would knock their enemies silly, and then while Vincent continued to harass them from afar, Yuko would close in with the Keyblade to finish them off. They had eliminated several dozen Heartless this way, but the Large Body that had appeared seemed to be giving them some trouble.
"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate these things?" Yuko growled. She slipped the knives she held into the belt she had found and called up her Keyblade.
Vincent raised an eyebrow at the creature as it blinked at them; his bullets had bounced off its belly harmlessly. "I can see why," he replied in a calm tone. "How do we defeat it?"
"You have to hit it from behind which is impossible because it -"
"I see," he interrupted her. He jumped. From their spots on the wall, Sora and Riku both gaped in astonishment as Vincent soared over the head of the Large Body, twisted his body to face it, and began blasting away at its back, all with a speed and grace that could rival Nature's finest bird of prey. Confused, the rotund Heartless turned to face the source of its pain, exposing its sensitive spot to Yuko who whooped once in joy and pounced on it. Unsure of which way to turn, the muddled giant looked back and forth between them until it exploded into a spray of black dust.
"All right!" Yuko cried, jumping a little in celebration. Vincent just smiled and reloaded his gun.
"Good job!" Sora called to them, his hands cupped around his mouth to help his voice carry. He took a breath to yell something else at them, but instead his eyes brightened and his hands fell back into his lap. Turning to Riku, he asked, "Do you hear that?"
Riku cocked his head and listened. And heard the sound of someone clapping. He caught Sora's eyes and nodded in confirmation.
"There's an apprentice on the building behind us, isn't there?" Sora asked with more annoyance than anxiety.
Riku turned his head to look at the mentioned spot. "Yup."
"It's Braig, isn't it?"
"Yup."
The boys turned around just as Braig's lilting drawl floated overtop them. "Well, well, not bad for a couple of Even's rejects." He grinned at Yuko's and Vincent's looks of surprise and then lowered his eyes to Sora's and Riku's dark faces. "You seem to have a knack for attracting discarded dolls. If we ever lose one we want back, I'll know where to come look first."
Riku winced involuntarily at the insult to Yuko and Vincent, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sora flush in anger. "You here to fight us this time," the younger boy demanded, "or are you just gonna taunt us and then run away?"
Braig pulled a gun out of its holster and began to spin it around on his finger lazily. He was sitting on the roof of the cafeteria with his back against an exhaust pipe. One leg dangled over the edge while the other was pulled up so that he could rest an elbow on his knee.
"Well, that's a good question. Y'see, Even ordered me to come here and call up some Heartless for you to fight so he can get some more of his precious data." He scrunched up his face in obvious distaste. "But now that I'm here …" He trailed off and waved his free hand in the air. A Red Nocturne popped into existence before him. Braig shot it through the head. As it faded into dust, he finished, "… I'm realizing just how bored I am. So now I need to decide whether I want to follow orders or have some fun." He showed them his teeth in a dangerous grin.
Riku's mind quickly turned and deliberated. If they could convince Braig to fight, they could reduce the number of apprentices to three and finish their mission here on Midgar. He had no doubt that he and Sora could win over the trigger-happy loud-mouth, and with Yuko and Vincent to provide backup, the fight would be even easier. But how to do it? Well, Braig liked to talk trash, and those who did generally couldn't take it. Riku smirked to himself.
As a Blue Rhapsody appeared and met the same fate as the Nocturne, Riku said, "You'd better just follow orders. Dilan told us, you know. That you're scared of us."
"Scared?" Braig barked, sitting up straighter. "As i- … uh … You wish!" He nodded to himself for the quick recovery. "I'm not scared of a few kids with toys."
"Reeeally," Sora drawled, catching Riku's eye. He had picked up on his friend's train of thought. "'Cause I might be scared of the kids who totally wasted one of my allies."
"Yeah," Riku added, "and you can't count on Even or anyone else to come bail you out. He doesn't care who he gets his data from."
"Huh, well that's true enough." Braig flipped the gun into the air, caught it, and twirled it into his holster. Rising to his feet, he said, "But y'see, I'm not scared of you for a very important reason. Even told me all about your fight with Dilan and that very impressive attack you pulled off. Unfortunately for you, in order to do a double attack, you kinda need two people."
Before either boy could question this odd statement, Braig disappeared with a flash and reappeared on Riku's right only a dozen feet away. Riku only had enough time to turn his head and catch a glimpse of the ball of energy zeroing in on him before it had engulfed him. His entire body froze into place.
"Oop … aisy …" The energy distorted the sound of Braig's laughter as it filtered through to his ears.
"… iku! …" Sora's worried voice drifted to him. Riku tried to turn his head but quickly stopped the effort. He could move if he tried hard enough, but it hurt!
Sora rushed at Braig with Keyblade ready, but the apprentice leapt up into the air beyond his reach and stayed there. He drew both weapons and began firing at Sora who blocked the shots with his blade. Behind him, Riku heard popping noises which he soon realized were Vincent discharging his gun. Braig stopped firing at Sora and used his large weapons to block Vincent's bullets and also the knives which soon began flying at him as well. Riku slowly began to turn, working through the pain and bringing Yuko and Vincent into his line of vision.
"Ow! …" Braig cried as a few of the projectiles found marks in his arms and legs. "… ittle brat!" He turned his weapons on them and unleashed his fury in bolts of energy. Yuko summoned her Keyblade and blocked as best as she could while Vincent merely dodged with an air of detached calm. Sora stopped the onslaught by jumping up on the wall and then leaping towards Braig; he did not have enough altitude to do any damage, but his blade crashed against the guns and knocked them sideways before he fell back to the ground.
"... too high … I can't … up to you …" Sora called to the other two.
"…and back!" Vincent replied. As Yuko complied, he hung his gun in his belt and then crouched to one knee, already beginning to glow a faint red. Riku swallowed hard as he realized what the tall boy was attempting to do. If he could control it, Braig would be so toast, but if he couldn't … Riku desperately hoped Sora and Yuko would be able to handle two opponents.
With a great roar that Riku could hear clearly even through the energy ball, Vincent changed. But instead of the form of Chaos that he had expected, the other boy had become a large bluish-purple beast with great claws and two horns rising out of a mane of white hair. It lifted its head to Braig, and Riku saw the face of a wolf with glinting yellow eyes and a red beard. It grinned.
Braig's expression was appropriately surprised as the creature lunged at him. He phased out just in time to prevent being gutted by a set of sharp claws and phased back in several feet away. The beast relocated him quickly and hurled a fireball at him. Braig dodged and managed to get off a shot before being forced to phase out and in again as a well-placed slash attempted to tear him in half. The two combatants flew about the courts in a wild dance of flame, bullets, and claws.
Riku watched as much of the battle as he could while keeping his head still. He stood in awe of Vincent's speed and of his predatory ability to find Braig instantly whenever the apprentice jumped to a new place. Sora, for his part, tried to stay close to the other two, and whenever Vincent would force Braig down towards the ground, Sora would leap up and slash at him with his Keyblade. Sora got in quite a few hits this way, and once he even managed a short aerial combo before Braig escaped.
"…ku? … Riku?" The voice on his right drew his attention away from the fighting. He moved his eyes and saw Yuko standing next to him, her face full of concern. "… you all … ight?" she asked. She lifted a hand and pressed it against the outside of the ball that had trapped him.
I'll be okay, he wanted to say to her, but his vocal chords would not respond. He smiled as best he could, although he had a suspicion it looked more like a grimace. His eyes fell upon her hand, and slowly, he lifted his own to mirror her action. She watched him carefully, noting the progress of his arm and the pain in his face that he tried to hide from her. Eventually, he succeeded in placing his palm parallel to hers, and he lifted his gaze to see her smiling at him with obvious affection. He felt a pressure in his chest that had nothing to do with the energy that surrounded him.
"… 'll be … ay. We … et you … t of there." She pulled her hand away and reached into her belt for her knives. Riku watched her expression harden as she shifted her attention to Braig and the battle that continued to rage above and around the courts. Then she was gone, racing toward the action at top speed.
The fight shifted in and out of Riku's line of sight, moving far too fast for him to follow with his body constricted as it was. His eyes noted that Yuko and Vincent had begun to work together again, the beast hurling her light frame at Braig like one of the knives she preferred, the girl somersaulting over him to strike him with her blade as she passed. When Sora caught on, the attack became devastating indeed; he waited below and unleashed massive combos on the falling apprentice who would escape only to have the girl fly over him again and smash him back down to Sora.
Riku did not see the finishing blow, but he heard it. Braig's death wail reverberated through the ground and up through his feet, causing the ball to shake. Within seconds, the light began to flicker and fade. Riku tried moving an arm to test the ball's strength and, finding that movement was much easier now, turned around in time to see the cocky shooter dissolve into a shadowy fog.
"Ha!" Sora cried, twirling his blade a bit. "Two down!"
Yuko turned to Riku to check on him, and he smiled at her to let her know he was fine. Then his eyes shifted to Vincent. The battle was over, but the beast remained, and Riku was concerned to see what would happen to the other boy now. Thankfully, the purple creature began to glow and transform, and within seconds, Vincent stood before them again, breathing heavily and a bit pale, but human.
"That was great, Vincent!" Sora told him with wide-eyed appreciation. "Just awesome!" Vincent brushed damp hair from his eyes and nodded.
"Good job, you guys," Riku called to the three of them. He started walking towards them … and fell to one knee. His legs felt like jelly and could not support him. "What the ... ?" he whispered to himself.
"Riku!" he heard both Sora and Yuko cry. They ran to him, one dropping down on either side. He lifted his head to gaze into their worried faces.
"I'm okay," he assured them. "My legs are just weak for some reason. That energy must have drained them."
A playful smile flickered across Sora's face. "You want me to carry you inside?"
"No," he replied with emphasis. "Just let me sit here for a minute and see if they recover." He tipped his weight to one side to force his body to sit down. When he raised his eyes to Sora again, he saw the younger boy glancing between him and Yuko on his other side. A small grin crept into his face that made Riku want to deck him.
"Okay," Sora said with a hint of amusement. "Take your time." He rose before Riku could snap at him, walked over to Vincent, and easily roped the quieter boy into conversation.
"Are you sure you're all right?" Yuko asked. Riku turned his head to look at her and noticed the lines in her forehead and the anxiety in her eyes. To his delight, they melted away when he smiled at her.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied. And then, to keep her there and to stave off any awkwardness, he added, "You know, you had some pretty good moves yourself out there."
She brightened. "Really?"
"Yeah." Using her participation as a springboard, he led her into a conversation about the battle that had just happened. She listened appreciatively to his compliments and added her own thoughts on her various attacks. Together they discussed improvements, variations, limitations, strategy, like two detached soldiers analyzing strengths and weaknesses.
Through it all, she kept hold of his hand which she had taken upon settling next to him, and for the first time, Riku allowed himself to hope. That he could banish her sadness, that they could save her from the darkness, and that someday they might have a future with each other. That Yuko would be his as he was already wholeheartedly hers.
A/N: And the surfer dude wipes out. ... splash ... When I first thought of this idea, I thought about having Riku cut off from all sound, but then I decided that would be too extreme. Besides, ya gotta have Braig/Xigbar say "Oopsy daisy" at least once!
My image of the Galian Beast comes from Dirge of Cerberus, as did the one I used of Chaos. I've never played the game and probably never will since I don't like shooters, but the graphics sure are pretty.