Last time Riku and Kairi's group finally infiltrated Cloud Tower. One thing led to another, resulting in Bloom leading them to the room where she sensed her powers were being held captive. Naturally it was a trap set by The Trix. But then Sora, Donald and Goofy arrived on the scene, accompanied by some not so evil witches. After helping the staff and students of Cloud Tower escape, Riku and Kairi went with Bloom and Sky to distract The Trix and The Heartless, resulting in them nearly getting killed, but they survived. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 7: Just when you thought Things couldn't get worse
"Well," said Sky as he and Riku examined the hover-bike, "It's busted."
"I could have told you that," said Riku.
"So now what?" Bloom asked.
"Wasn't there a city nearby?" Kairi asked, "We saw it before falling off the road."
"That's the city of Magix," said Sky, "Our best chance is to head there. Hopefully we'll find help."
"That's probably a twenty mile walk," said Riku.
"At least there's no Heartless around," said Kairi.
"You got that right," said Sky. With that the four of them began trekking towards the city, unaware that things were about to change, for better or worse.
********
To Sora it was nearly instantaneous, the transition from Cloud Tower to Alfea. He looked around to see that everyone who stepped into the portal was accounted for.
"So this is Alfea," said Sora as he, Donald and Goofy looked around at the pink buildings. Even in the gloomy darkness, Alfea was a beautiful sight to see.
"It's alright," said Elise in an uncomfortable tone, "If you're into that sort of goody-two shoes thing."
"Well I happen to like it," remarked Stella.
"Good for you, sugar," said Morgan.
"Just back off, Morgan," said Carmen, "Things are bad enough without having us fight each other."
"Yes, 'mother,'" grumbled Morgan.
Sora then saw Griffin approaching a woman, whom Stella identified as Faragonda.
"Watch out," whispered Elise, "Those two have a history of not liking each other. This could get real ugly real fast."
Fortunately the meeting of the two rival headmistresses was more cordial that what Elise predicted. "I see that you and your students made it to Alfea safe and sound, Christine" said Faragonda.
"Yes, Eleanor," said Griffin, "But I doubt we would have escaped the clutches of those lunatics without the assistance of your students. And with no small help form a few others."
"Well you're here now," said Faragonda, "You can fill us in on the details later. In the meantime, we shall do all we can to help"
"Seems to me that you and Saladin are in need of help," said Griffin.
"Unfortunately yes," said Faragonda, "and it seems that we're all in a situation were we can help each other."
Sora then saw several Red Fountain students greet Brandon, while Stella was swarmed by several Alfea girls, including Flora, Muss and Tecna.
"Where's Bloom and Kairi?" Flora asked.
"And Sky and Riku?" Musa asked, "What happened to them?"
"We don't know," said Stella sadly, "Last time I saw them they were alright. They distracted The Heartless so we could get back to Alfea."
"What your friends did was incredibly brave," said Carmen, "A little reckless, but brave nonetheless."
"We would have stayed with them," said Elise, "But time was against us, we had to leave."
"Yeah," said Morgan, "If I stayed, I would have shown those Heartless bastards a thing or two!"
"They would have," said Sora, "And so would've I."
"And you are…?" Tecna asked.
"He's Sora," Stella said eagerly, "He's the one who held Kairi's heart."
"Oh," said Flora, "Kairi's talked a lot about you."
"What about us?" Donald asked.
"She didn't say much about a talking duck," said Musa, "And an…" she faulted as she looked at Goofy, "an…I don't know what."
"I'm Goofy."
"And I'm Donald."
"Pleased to meet you," said Tecna as she shook hands with Goofy and Donald.
"What about them?" Musa asked, indicating Carmen, Morgan and Elise.
"We're enemies of The Trix," said Carmen, "Let's just leave it at that for now." They went to join their fellow witches. Sora guessed that Carmen didn't want to cause any more tension.
********
"Are you sure this is the shortest way to Magix?" Bloom asked.
"Maybe not the shortest," said Sky, "But it's a lot safer than other routes. We'll be passing close to Black-mud Swamp, I'll give us good cover against any nearby Heartless."
"You hope," said Riku.
"I wonder what we'll find in the city?" Bloom asked.
"Let's think about getting there first," said Sky.
"If we ever get there," Kairi muttered.
"Sky," said Bloom, "I…I'm scared," she stopped, "I don't know if I can go on," she sat down on a nearby rock, "I feel like such a burden, without my powers."
"We've had this conversation before," said Kairi, "You're not a burden. You've proved it when you bitch-slapped Icy. Believe me; you're not a burden."
"Kairi's right," said Sky, "Bloom, you've lived most of your life without any powers at all."
"That's exactly why I'm a burden," said Bloom, sounding more depressed, "I used to think that the people I grew up with were my real parents, then I find out it's not true, that I'm from another world. Just when I begin a new life, my powers are snatched away from me. And before you say anything, Kairi, I know that I can get my powers back, but how?"
"With or without magic, Bloom," said Sky, "You are who you are."
"But I don't know what to do," said Bloom.
"Well first thing's first," said Sky, "You're gonna stop feeling sorry for yourself. Then you're gonna get up and we'll all go to Magix, we'll figure out everything else from there."
This seemed to lighten Bloom's mood. She got back up and they all continued towards the city.
It was a short time later when Bloom paused, "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" Sky asked.
"I thought I heard someone say something," said Bloom.
"I didn't hear anything," said Riku.
"Me neither," said Sky, "It must have been an animal."
"Maybe," said Kairi in an uncertain tone. She wasn't sure, but she thought she felt a presence nearby. Just then both she and Riku tensed.
"Now what?" Sky asked.
"We're being watched again," said Kairi.
"And three guesses who's doing the watching," Riku said.
********
"So those weaklings witches managed to escape the grasp of The Heartless," said Darcy as she, Stormy and Icy observed events at Alfea, "And managed to take refuge with the fairies and Specialists." She looked closer into the eye-viewer thing, "Hmm, looks like Bloom isn't with them."
"And neither is Sky or those two Keyblade brats," said Stormy.
"Why should we care?" Icy asked, "It's not as if Bloom could hurt us."
"Just humor me," said Darcy.
"Oh alright," said Icy in an annoyed tone. She directed the eye-viewer thing to do a search, eventually focusing on Bloom, Sky, Kairi and Riku walking through the forest.
"See?" Icy asked, "There they are," she got a closer look at which way Bloom and her group were heading, "And they're on their way to Magix."
"Won't they be in for a surprise when they get there," said Darcy as she smiled viciously.
"In that case," said Stormy, "I think we should refocus our efforts into the conquest of Alfea."
"A foolish suggestion if I might say." With a flash of green and black flames, Maleficent appeared before the dark trio. "Even deprived of her powers, Bloom is still a threat."
"What are you doing here?" Icy asked, "We didn't ask for your help."
"True," said Maleficent, "But nevertheless, you three younglings are in need of assistance, or at least guidance."
"We'll you're not needed," said Icy, "We're doing things just fine without you."
"That remains to be seen," said Maleficent, "But since you are confident that you can do without my help, I shall take my leave, for now." With another flash of green and black flames, Maleficent vanished.
"She's such a bitch," said Stormy.
"That so called Mistress of Evil needs to learn some respect," said Darcy, "Once we've crushed Alfea and the rest of The Magical Dimension, we'll put her in her place."
"And we'll do that," said Icy, "without a doubt. We'll deal with Bloom when we feel like it. Anyway, let's start by assembling the largest host of Heartless yet; Alfea will shake under it's might!"
********
Back at Alfea, Sora was reassuring Flora, Musa and Tecna that Bloom and Sky are alright. "How can you be so sure?" Flora asked.
"Because I can feel that Kairi and Riku are alright," said Sora, "And since they're supposed to stay close to Bloom and Sky, I'm pretty sure they're alright as well."
"I still don't get how he can be so sure," said Musa.
"I'm guessing that Sora has an empathic bond with his friends," said Tecna, "Where they can sense each other's emotions. Yes, that sounds reasonable and logical."
Sora then saw Carmen, Morgan and Elise coming over. He also noticed that the other witches were congregated at one corner of the school campus, as if staying away from all the others.
"What brings you three into fairy territory?" Musa asked. From what Sora could tell, Musa had issues against witches. "Aren't you afraid of getting contaminated by all the goodness floating around?"
"Oh shut up!" said Morgan, "You're not gonna goad us with insults, that's my specialty."
"Then why are you over here and not with your fellow witches?" Tecna asked.
"Because the whole thing is stupid," said Carmen, "This rivalry between witches and fairies, it's just plain stupid. Why should we hate each other over an incident that happened so long ago that nobody remembers exactly when it happened or what it was about in the first place?"
"I'm confused," said Flora.
"So am I," said Musa, "Why are you being nice to us?"
"Allow me to explain," said Elise, "You see, not all witches are as foul, vicious and insane as The Trix, that I'm sure you already know. But what most people are unaware is that just because we witches use dark magic, doesn't automatically make us evil. Sure, history is full of witches who delve into the darkness and spread evil in their areas, but for every witch who's openly evil, there's another who wishes to use her powers for more beneficial reasons. True, it's in our nature to cause mischief, but occasionally we strive to be helpful."
"When it benefits you the most," Musa interrupted.
"What can I say," said Morgan, "greed is a witch's favorite sin, or at least my favorite."
"To continue," said Elise, "Or rather, to summarize, the three of us, Carmen, Morgan and myself, we see ourselves as awesomely bad, meaning that when the mood strikes us, we can be very, very good."
"What happens when you feel like being bad?" Tecna asked.
"Right now the only thing I feel like doing is kicking some Heartless ass," said Morgan, "If that's bad, then so be it."
"Let's not forget The Trix," said Carmen, "I've got a score to settle with them."
"So what you're saying is that we're all on the same side," said Flora, "Live and let live."
"Exactly," said Elise, "And in the case of The Heartless, live and let die."
"But what about them?" Tecna asked, referring to the other young witches, "What do they feel?"
"There's a few more who share our beliefs," said Carmen, "But the three of us are the only ones in our age group who are open with how we feel, us and one other."
Sora saw that the other witches looked very uncomfortable being at Alfea, surrounded by those whom they have tormented. He was also sure that many fairies weren't happy to share their school with withes either.
As if on impulse, Sora said to Carmen, "You should say something to them, your classmates."
"Huh?" Carmen asked.
"They look like they need to be cheered up," said Sora.
"I'm sure they do," said Carmen, "But they won't listen to me, they never have before."
"That was different," said Elise, "Back when nearly all of our classmates were members of the 'Icy Darcy Stormy fan-club.' Now that everyone knows just how fudged-up The Trix are, you might just get through to them."
"This is what you've been waiting for," said Morgan reassuringly, "If there's a better chance for you to convince them that our way is better, now's the time."
"Okay," said Carmen, "I'll try." She walked over to her fellow witches and got their attention.
"I know most of you don't like me and my friends, mostly because of what we believe in. But that's beside the point.
"I also know that you're all feeling very uncomfortable with being surrounded by those whom our kind has spent, or should I say wasted, so much time and energy, just to make their lives miserable. You all already know how I feel about that, but that's also beside the point.
"The point is that we're here and we're going to be here until this situation is resolved, one way or another; either we win, or we die, because I would rather die than submit to the likes of The Trix and their Heartless minions. That's where I stand, and my friends stand with me. It's time you all choose where you stand."
"You're asking us to fight Icy, Darcy and Stormy," said one witch, "They were too strong even before they took over Cloud Tower."
"They only seemed to be so strong," said Carmen, "Because you were too scared to stand up to them. Creatures like The Trix get the majority of their power from fear. Sure, their magical prowess has been exceedingly enhanced, and yes, they have at their disposal the seemingly invincible Heartless, but we can beat them."
"How?" asked another witch, "We tried to stop them from taking over our school, and they kicked our asses. Even Ms. Griffin was helpless before The Trix."
"You don't have to remind me," said Carmen, "I was there with all of you. But even after all that's happened, despite all the terrors those psycho bitches throw at us, we can still beat them.
"'How?' you ask. The only way possible, the only option left for us; we need to stand together. All of us; Witches Fairies and Specialists. Only together, as one, can we all hope to stand against The Heartless and The Trix! Only together can we stand against and defeat the darkness!"
"You're asking us to work with fairies," said another witch, "Do you honestly expect us to forget a feud that has lasted for thousands of years?"
"I'm not asking anyone to make friends with a fairy," said Carmen, "What I'm asking is that we should be civil and courteous with them, if only this one time. My grandmother once told me 'The enemy of my enemy is my ally.' Icy and her sisters are the enemies of freethinking people throughout The Magical Dimension, so this automatically throws both our peoples into the same boat.
"Just think about it. If we can't all work together just once for our mutual survival, then none of us deserve to live, for to live as a slave is no life at all. Think about it." With that she walked back to Sora and the others.
"That was beautiful," said Morgan, her voice full of admiration.
"You think so?" Carmen asked, "I'm not sure I got though to them."
"Well I thought you did good," said Sora.
"Yeah!' said Donald, while Goofy nodded in agreement.
Just then a loud klaxon sounded across the school. "That's the early-warning alarm Timmy and I set up!" said Tecna.
"Looks like we're gonna put your words to the test," said Elise to Carmen.
Within minutes the school was crawling with Heartless.
"Here we go again!" said Sora as he summoned his Keyblade. He launched a Gravity spell at a nearby flock of Gargoyles. Goofy smashed them before they could recover, while Donald blasted several Shadows with a Blizzard spell.
Just then another Gargoyle tried to grab Flora. She fell out of the way and was helped up by Musa and Tecna, who then transformed into their Fairy modes.
Stella, who was still in her fairy form, used a teleportation spell to get the four of them out of the way of a lumbering Large Body. Flora cast a spell that entrapped the creature in vine-ropes, which crushed the Large Body.
Musa and Tecna rose to the air and combined their magic to shatter another Large Body. But then several Shadows and Neo Shadows took the place of their fallen comrades.
"This is not good!" said Stella
"Stand aside, ladies!" said Morgan eagerly as she, Elise and Carmen advanced, "We'll show you how it's done!" Morgan formed several gold-colored disks in her hands and threw it at the enemy. Each disk slashed through at least four Heartless before dissipating. She then saw a Large Body approaching her from behind. The creature tried to crush her, but its arms bounced off of a energy barrier that Morgan summoned.
Just then the creature was destroyed by a bolt of yellow lighting from Elise. She then cast a spell over a large group of nearby Shadows. The one in the middle was charged with a negative magnetic field, while the ones around it were positively charged. Anyone who knows about magnets knows that opposites attract. That group of Shadows soon found themselves incapacitated as they were forced together. Elise then destroyed them with more yellow lighting.
Carmen was alternating between throwing spheres of dark magic and casting gravity spells; switching between blasting and crushing various Heartless.
"You three are good," said an impressed Stella.
"We're not good," said Carmen, "We're awesomely bad!"
********
Having been walking for hours, they had decided to call a rest. Sky had a fire going, with Bloom and Kairi sitting opposite him, while Riku kept watch for any nearby Heartless.
"You think it's safe here?" Bloom asked.
"I don't think anywhere is really safe," said Riku, "when The Heartless are involved."
"I doubt The Trix will want to bother us," said Sky, "not right now anyway."
"They're not watching us anymore," said Kairi, "No doubt their attention is elsewhere."
"Of course they're not interested in me anymore," Bloom said, still depressed, "I'm not worth much."
"There's nothing wrong with not having magic powers," said Sky.
"But the witches," said Bloom, "It's like nothing can stop them."
"Oh for crying out loud!" exclaimed Kairi, "I've had just enough of you feeling sorry for yourself, Bloom; you've got to snap out of this!"
"Or what?" Bloom asked, "You'll walk away?"
"No," said Kairi, "I promised that I'd help you to the bitter end. But that's no excuse for all this self-pity."
"Everyone just calm down," said Riku, "We're all tired, so let's get some rest while we can."
"My worlds exactly," said Sky, "Bloom, everything's going to be alright, I just know it will. All our friends are working together to stop Icy, Darcy and Stormy. Even Griffin and the other witches are no doubt helping."
"I wish I could feel as confident as you, Sky," said Bloom as she tried to make herself comfortable on the forest floor, "I just…"
"What is it?" Sky asked.
"Nothing," said Bloom, "you're right, maybe I'm just tired."
"You two get some sleep," said Kairi, "Riku and I will keep watch."
Within a few moments both Bloom and Sky were asleep.
********
Stella and the others flew out of the way of a flamethrower attack from a Fat Bandit. Tecna maneuvered behind the creature and zapped it, while Flora crushed two Neo Shadows with summoned vines.
"Is it me or are they getting tougher to destroy?" Flora asked.
"It's as if The Trix have doubled the strength and overall prowess of The Heartless!" said Tecna.
"Or maybe they just get stronger on their own!!" shouted Brandon as he and Riven slashed at a Large Body.
"There's no end to them!!" shouted Riven as more and more Heartless were spawned.
"There has to be!" shouted Brandon as he sliced apart two Neo Shadows, while Riven decapitated four Soldiers.
Elsewhere, Musa and Tecna were fighting back to back in the air, when Tecna was grabbed by a pair of Gargoyles.
"Let go of me you slime buckets!!" exclaimed Tecna. She zapped both of the Gargoyles, but two more came from behind. But Elise was there to zap them.
"Thanks," said Tecna.
"Anything for a fellow genius," said Elise.
"Smart people," remarked Morgan as she threw more slicing disks at the enemy, "Can't live with them, can't live without them."
Back on the ground, Sora found himself along side with Carmen. Together they formed a perimeter of destruction; any Heartless that got within ten feet of them was doomed to oblivion.
"I don't get why you're down here," said Sora as he cut apart two Shadows, while Carmen blasted three, "Why aren't you up there with your friends?" Sora had noticed that nearly every other witch had taken fight.
"I was hoping I wouldn't have to talk about it," said Carmen as she crushed four Soldiers, "But since we're both here, you should know that I can't fly."
"I thought all witches could fly," said Sora as he sliced a Neo Shadow in half.
"True," said Carmen as she threw a dark sphere, "some witches fly more easier than others, while some need extra practice to learn how to get off the ground. I'm a rare exception, a fact that the frosty bitch and her sisters exploited."
"Is that why you hate The Trix so much?" Sora asked, "Because they teased you about not being able to fly?"
"That's part of it," said Carmen.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Donald and Goofy were near Timmy, who was shooting at several Gargoyles as they flew around him, "I've had it with these things! They're making me dizzy!"
Just then a Gargoyle swooped down from behind and knocked Timmy off balance, forcing him to drop his blaster. Two more Gargoyles dived in for the kill, but were zapped by Tecna, "Pick on someone else, you slimy buzzards!!"
"Thanks, Tecna," said Timmy as he retrieved his blaster, then shot at more Gargoyles, while Tecna zapped a bunch of Shadows. Neither of them noticed the pair of Large Bodies running towards them until it was too late.
Fortunately, Donald and Goofy saw the approaching Heartless. Goofy threw his shield at one Large Body, hitting the oversized creature in the back and destroying it, while Donald blasted the other with a fireball spell.
"Thanks, guys!" said Tecna.
"It was nuthin'," said Goofy.
"Just pay attention!" said Donald.
Just then a wave of bright indigo energy passed over the battlefield, destroying a large number of Heartless, while leaving the defenders unharmed. Unfortunately more and more creatures replaced their fallen comrades.
"We can't win this way!" shouted Faragonda after she and Griffin saw the results of their combined spell.
"I'm open to suggestions!" shouted Griffin.
"At this rate," said Carmen as she blasted another Neo Shadow, "We'll all run out of energy before they run out of Heartless!"
"Not if I can help it!" said Sora. Channeling his powers, Sora activated his Master Drive form. His clothes, normally mostly black, were now bright yellow. Not only was he more faster and stronger in this mode, he also had a Keyblade in each hand; the blue Ultima Weapon in his right, the yellow version in his left.
With his powers amplified, time seemed to slow down to Sora, but what was really going on was that he was now much, much faster. To everyone else on the battlefield, Sora was a bright yellow streak that rushed back and forth across the school campus, destroying Heartless by the scores.
"Incredible!" said Carmen, Flora, Brandon and Riven.
"Fascinating," said Elise, Timmy and Tecna.
"Cool!" said Stella, Musa and Morgan.
"How long can he stay like that?" Griffin asked as Sora systematically cleared the school of Heartless.
"Not long," said Donald as he and Goofy panted, clearly out of breath. The down side of Sora using his Drive forms was that either Donald or Goofy had to temporally give their powers to Sora, or in the case of the Master form, both of them, leaving Donald and Goofy nearly out of energy until Sora returned to normal.
Before everyone knew it the school was free of Heartless. With no more enemies to fight, Sora reverted to his normal attire, returning their powers to Donald and Goofy, while leaving Sora nearly exhausted in turn.
"You alright?" Carmen asked as she helped him up.
"Just tired," said Sora. He then saw Griffin, Faragonda and Saladin approaching him.
"Young man," said Saladin, "That was quite possibly the most outstanding display of swordsmanship I have seen in a long time."
"I guess I've had a lot of practice," Sora said modestly as he regained his breath.
"They're not coming anymore," remarked Carmen, "The Heartless."
"They'll be back," said Sora, "soon."
********
Riku and Kairi took turns keeping watch, one would sleep for two hours, while the other stayed awake. It was early morning, or so Riku's watch said, for it was still overcast above, when both Kairi and Sky woke up.
"What time is it?" Kairi mumbled. Clearly she wasn't a morning person.
"Dawn, I guess," said Riku, "Hard to tell with all the clouds."
"Time to get up, Bloom," said Sky, he gently shook her, "Bloom?"
"Don't squeeze the pancake batter," mumbled Bloom, obviously still asleep, "yeah, I know, they're playing chicken ball out on Bone Row." she then opened her eyes, "Oh…hi, I hope I didn't say anything embarrassing."
"Must have been one wild dream you've been having," said Kairi as Sky helped Bloom up.
"I was," said Bloom, "I guess I crashed out after all of yesterday's excitement."
"Don't worry about it," said Sky, "We're all feeling rested, so let's get walking."
As they made their way through the woods, Bloom jumped, startled, and clutched at Sky's arm, "Surely you heard that!"
"Heard what?" Sky asked.
"Someone was calling my name!" said Bloom, "I swear I heard someone calling for me!"
"I believe you!" said Kairi, for she definitely was feeling a nearby presence.
********
An hour after the end of the last attack, Sora, his stamina fully recovered, along with Carmen, Brandon and Stella, sat in attendance in Faragonda's office as the heads of the three schools discussed the situation.
"It's only a matter of time before The Heartless renew their assault," said Faragonda.
"I hate to say this," said Griffin, "But I've a strong feeling that those lunatics are playing with us."
"With each attack," said Saladin, "The Heartless get stronger and in greater numbers."
"The only way out of this mess," said Griffin, "is to eliminate the root cause of it all."
"In other words," said Faragonda, "Confront the Trix themselves."
"You'll get no arguments from me," said Carmen.
"But how?" Stella asked, "Icy, Darcy and Stormy are all the way back at Cloud Tower. We'll never get to them with all those Heartless all over the place."
"Then we've got to somehow get them to come to us," said Sora.
"Lure them into the open where we can destroy them," said Carmen.
"But again, how?" Brandon asked.
"I'm sure we'll think of something," Faragonda said reassuringly, "for now, the best thing you younglings can do is to get some rest."
"I don't need to rest," said Carmen as she, Sora, Brandon and Stella left the office, "I'll sleep when I'm dead."
"With that kind of attitude," said Sora, "It won't be much longer."
"Don't try to banter with me," said Carmen, "I've gotten stranger things for free in my breakfast cereal."
"Now you're talking nonsense," said Brandon.
"I am?" Carmen asked, "I guess I am tired."
"Do you think we can resist the next attack?" Stella asked as they stepped out of the building, "Whenever it comes?"
"I really can't say," said Brandon, "the harder we fight, the stronger The Heartless get. Sora, you've been fighting The Heartless for a long time, don't they have limits?"
"I wish I knew," said Sora, "a wise man once told me that as long as people have even a small amount of darkness in their hearts, The Heartless will continue to exist."
"I don't know how much more of this I can take," said Stella, who sounded like she was halfway to an emotional breakdown, "I'm so scared."
"Don't be," said Brandon, "I'm here with you."
"But that's exactly what I'm afraid of," said Stella in a teasing tone as she winked at Brandon, clearly sounding better, "my darling 'prince.'"
"Stella," Brandon said hesitantly, "I want you to forgive me."
"For making me believe you were a prince?" Stella asked, "When in fact you're just a simple page?"
"Uh…" said Brandon.
"I don't care if you're a prince or not, Brandon," said Stella, "My parents are the King and Queen of Solaria, and that hasn't done them much good."
"From what I heard," Carmen whispered to Sora, "Stella's mom and dad got a divorce not too long ago."
Just then Musa, Flora and Tecna came over, "Hey lovebirds! What are you doing?" Musa asked, "Seems we can't leave you two alone for two seconds."
"Oh leave them alone," said Flora, "Stella and Brandon are such a cute couple."
"Don't you three have something better to do?" Stella asked as she used her magic to conjure up a pillow, which she threw at Musa, which knocked her down.
"Are you out of your mind?!" snapped Musa, "That could have hurt me!"
"Good shot!" said Brandon, "that must have been a 3ft fall."
"Be nice to my friends," said Stella, "I'm the only one allowed to torment them."
"You get the feeling that you're the only sane person around?" Sora asked Carmen.
"Constantly," replied Carmen, "Now if you'll excuse me, my mantis looks dashing in a tux." Leaving Sora highly confused, Carmen went to sit with her friends and recover some stamina
"I wish I knew where Bloom was," sighed Stella. Flora and the others signed in agreement.
"She's with Sky, Riku and Kairi," said Brandon reassuringly, "they're all safe. I'm sure they all got away from Cloud Tower.
It was an hour or so later that Timmy and Riven came over, "Faragonda want's to talk to us."
A few minutes later everyone, witches, fairies and specialists, were assembled before the staff of the three schools.
"The next attack is imminent," said Faragonda, "The only way we can resist the hoards of Heartless is to combine all our skills and talents. Our mutual survival depends on all of us working together."
"That's what I said," muttered Carmen. Clearly that one hour of rest was all she needed to get back into fighting shape.
"Ah, but now everyone's listening," said Elise.
"Keep in mind," said Griffin, "that The Trix are driven by hatred, they have no idea what the power of unity can do."
Jus then the early warning alarm went off. Everyone looked up to see the sky being darkened by hundreds of Gargoyles and a different type of Heartless; Wyverns.
"I can't believe my eyes!" said a surprised Stella, "there's so many of them."
"Good," Carmen said grimly, "Plenty for all of us. Hey, Sora, I bet I can destroy more of those bastards than you can."
"You're on!" said Sora as he summoned his Keyblade.
********
"Oh my god!" exclaimed Bloom as she, Sky, Riku and Kairi saw the hoards of Heartless head toward Alfea.
"We're wasting time here," said Sky, "We've got to get to the city now!"
"I can't go with you," Bloom said solemnly, "I have to go to Lake Rocclouche."
"What are you talking about?" Sky asked.
"That voice I've been hearing," said Bloom, "It's my sister Daphne, she's calling for me; I have to go."
"Well then I'm coming with you," said Sky.
"No," said Bloom, "This is something I have to do alone. You, Kairi and Riku should go on to Magix."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Kairi asked, "I'm not supposed to leave you alone. Whatever your sister wants of you, she'll have to deal with me as well."
"Oh," said Bloom as if she had forgotten that Kairi was there, "You're right, Kairi, we'll both go."
"Alright then," said Sky, "But if I don't hear from you in two hours, I'm coming back to find you."
"I know you would," said Bloom, "Just stay safe for me."
"I'll make sure he does," said Riku.
"You'd better," said Kairi, "or I'll find the both of you in the next life and kick you in the teeth."
"She would," Riku told Sky the two of them continued towards the city, while Bloom and Kairi took a different path.
********
"Forty-three!" shouted Sora as he slashed another Neo Shadow in half, "Forty-four!" he stabbed a Large Body in the back, "Forty-five!" he threw a Strike Raid at a diving Wyvern, "Forty-six!" another Neo Shadow bit the dust.
"Not too bad!" said Carmen as she blasted four diving Gargoyles, "but I'm up to forty-nine!"
"Fifty-one!" said Riven as he took down a Fat Bandit, then sliced apart three Soldiers, "Fifty-four!"
"Fifty-five!" shouted Brandon as he took out another Soldier.
The fact that Carmen and Sora were seeing who could destroy the most Heartless had spread throughout the defenders. Even though the attacking creatures were much stronger than before, requiring a lot more effort to destroy individual Heartless, keeping track of the number of kills was having a positive morale effect on the defenders.
Brandon grabbed hold of the legs of a Wyvern that got too close to the ground. He leapt onto the creature's back and stabbed in inn the neck. He jumped to the ground as the creature self-destructed, "Fifty-six!"
Just then several Large Bodies demolished one of the school's towers.
"Oh that's just plain wrong!" spat Morgan as she threw several slicing disks at the culprits, destroying them, "Fifty-nine!"
Up in the air, Stella used a teleportation spell to get Musa, Flora, Tecna and herself behind a swarm of Gargoyles. Musa used a sonic pulse that disintegrated six, while Tecna electrocuted five.
"Sixty-four!" said Stella
"Sixty-eight!" shouted Tecna.
"Seventy-two!" said Flora as she used her summoned vines to crush several Shadows.
Musa and Tecna then hit a Large Body with both their magic, "That counts as one for each!" said Tecna, "Sixty-nine!"
On the other side of the battlefield, Faragonda and Griffin were casting a combined spell.
"Fairies of Alfea!" shouted Faragonda, "The time has come! Let us unite and combine our powers!"
"Witches of Cloud Tower!" shouted Griffin, "Let us reveal the might of our magic!"
Sora saw both groups of magic users channel their respective powers into one point above the battlefield; a pale gold sphere that expanded to encompass the whole school. Any Heartless caught inside the energy field was disintegrated, while those outside tired to get in and were in turn destroyed.
The field then dissipated. There was a tense moment as everyone expected more Heartless to appear, but they stopped coming. The combined three schools cheered at their victory.
"Thank goodness," sighed Stella.
"Everyone's alright," said Riven, "we were lucky."
"But how long can our luck last?" Flora asked.
"As long as it can," said Brandon, "And then we'll just make more luck."
"So how many did you get?" Sora asked.
"Final count," said Carmen smugly, "One-hundred and seventeen."
"Nice," said Sora, "But I managed to take out one-hundred and eighteen."
"Is that so," said Carmen. Without warning she threw a dark sphere past Sora's shoulder, destroying a lone Shadow that was scurrying away in it's 2D form, destroying it.
"Now we're both tied," said Carmen, "so we'll settle this in the next round."
"You okay, Sora?" Goofy asked.
"I'm not sure," said Sora as they watched Carmen join her friends, "Either I'm scared, angry or impressed."
"Maybe all three," said Donald.
********
"No!!" raged Icy as she and her sisters observed the end of the battle, "that does it! Enough screwing around!"
"I'm sick of sitting around and doing nothing!" said Stormy.
"You said it!" remarked Darcy, "Let's use the power of The Dragonfire and crush those fools once and for all!"
"If this what it takes to destroy Alfea," said Icy, "then so be it! It's time we took direct command of The Heartless! I want to see with my own eyes the extermination of all those who would stand against us!"
********
"What the heck's going on here?" Sky asked. He and Riku had finally made it to the city, only to find the streets deserted, "Where is everybody?"
********
"This is Lake Racolouche?" Kairi asked as she and Bloom reached a small pond. "I'm not getting it."
"It's difficult to explain," said Bloom, "You see, Lake Racolouche is not a real lake, it exist on a spiritual plane, or so Ms. Faragonda explained to me."
"I still don't follow," said Kairi, "But I'm willing to keep going. So now what?"
"We get our feet wet and hope for the best," said Bloom as she took her shoes off. Kairi followed suit and followed Bloom into the water.
"Daphne," said Bloom, "I'm here."
The end of chapter 7. Next chapter, it's the prelude before the final battle and, well, you'll have to read it to believe it. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!