Battle Rage

Kairi rowed her boat to the dock, just as it exploded in a flash of brilliant light. She screamed and covered her face with her arms as she was hit by a rain of splinters that splashed into the water next to her. Kairi thought she saw a white motor boat fly past her stricken craft, but then it was gone in the darkness. "Riku" she said. "I'm not just going to sit by and let you and Tine get away with leaving me behind!" she knew that Riku had used the rain as an excuse to go off with Tine. It made her angry and she wanted an explanation. Riku and Sora! God, they could be so irritating. She was going to go to the Island and give him a piece of her mind.

Kairi, they just want some quiet time alone, can't they have it without you? Namine asked her quietly. Kairi ignored her, and pretended she hadn't heard anything. In her anger she had forgotten about the curfew her parents had imposed on her. She was soaked from the rain and thought if I get a cold from this, I'm going to kill you Riku! She was also a little worried now too. This was a strange storm. It had started off as a normal summer thunder storm, but now it was as if someone was making it happen. Welcoming Garden appeared in the seat next to her. "Oh, crap" Kairi said. The appearance of the Keyblade meant that something was fishy on the Island. And she, Kairi was going to find out what it was.

On the tiny piece of land, Larxene was letting her powers go wild all over the small Play Island. Lightning struck small huts, wooden forts and created long glass patches in the sand. "What fun!" she said as a boat evaporated into flame. "I wish I could keep doing this forever."

"Tine is here" said Lexaeus. He was sitting still and looking around at the place. "I sense her energy…hmm, I see how even an experienced person could mistake her aura of many hearts for a dark one…there are so many hearts that it pleasantly numbs the senses."

"You sound like one of those wine critics" said Larxene. "Just tell me where she is, and I'll take her down."

"She is to be taken alive" the Silent Hero reminded. "I---" he pointed silently at Riku and Tine as they climbed down the ladder of the Great Tree House. Larxene grinned evilly.

"Bingo" she said as she pointed her knives at the pair. "They must have been sharing a moment together…how romantic! It's like one of those stupid novels that Zexion liked to read."

Lexaeus felt something like anger and grief as he heard his friend being mocked. "Please, Zexion was…a good member of the Organization. It is wrong to talk of him as such."

Larxene shrugged. "Whatever. Fine. The Kingdom Hearts bitch is mine. The silver hair is yours."

"Hmm, yes" said Lexaeus. He teleported, and Larxene followed.

"We've got to reach the boat!" Riku called to Tine. He pulled her hand in his as they ran toward the shattered docks. Suddenly, a voice called to them. "Riku, walker of the dark path…stand where you are." Riku saw the large Organization XIII operative standing only a few feet away from them. The man pulled his hood back to reveal a familiar face.

"You…" Riku said. "The earth magic guy! I thought I wasted you back at Oblivion?"

Lexaeus smiled grimly. "I was brought back thanks to the genius of our leader, Xemnas…but that is neither here, nor there." He stretched out a large, black gloved hand. "Deliver Tine to us, or I will have to use force."

"Force?" Riku asked, summoning Way To Dawn. "I'm okay with that." He settled into his fighting stance and planted his feet in the sand. "You robed freaks don't know when to give up. What about the word 'no' don't you guys understand."

Lexaeus took several steps forward. "Perhaps you should try to understand. We have no choice. To have Tine is to have Kingdom Hearts, and to have Kingdom Hearts is to be able to feel, to enjoy, to hate life in all its glory, good or bad."

"I feel sorry for you all" Riku said. "But I heard from Diz that you brought it all on yourselves…so I can only feel a little sorry." He pointed Way To Dawn at the Silent Hero. "I'll say it again. You're not getting Tine. Now get off this island before I move you guys myself!"

"You, guys?" the Nobody asked.

"That's right" said Riku. He suddenly dodged a shower of daggers. "After all, there are two opponents."

"So you have some power" said Larxene. She smiled at Riku. "Wow, you're so much better looking than Vexen's replica. He did a terrible job. He got almost all the features right…except for the look in the eyes…it is the look of a man who is fighting for something. Fighting for love perhaps?" she said mockingly and made a heart out of purple electricity. It floated around Riku and Tine's heads, making their hair stand on end. Then it disappeared. Larxene teleported right into Riku's face and caressed his chin with her fingers. "I hate people like you" she said, her hair tickling his face. "You're all so strong willed. It gets annoying trying to break people like you. But don't worry…I'll see those love filled eyes turn to nothing…and fill with emptiness, just as we are."

"Bitch!" Riku swung his hand to hit her, but she teleported away too quickly. She appeared next to Lexaeus.

"So what will it be, Riku?" said Lexaeus. "Will Tine come to us with your blessing, or will it be settled by fighting it out in battle?"

"I have one question" said Tine. She looked at them and Riku saw that all the malevolent hatred that had once been for the Keyblade Masters was now directed at Organization XIII. Her eyes glowed green in the dark. "Who the hell do you cloaked fools think you are?" she said. An evil grin appeared on her face. She took a step toward them. "Let me tell you something. I…don't…like…people…using…me...for…their…GOALS!!!!" she screamed loud enough to be heard across the ocean on the main island. Tine summoned Riot and settled into a fighting stance as well. "Get out of my face, or die" she said. "I don't care if I have to pile your particles in a jar and send them to your Superior, or whatever he calls himself, I'll get it through your heads…no one uses me for what they want without my consent!" she slammed the strings of Riot and let loose a wave of blue energy. The pulse hit both of the Nobodies and sent them crashing into the wooden embrace of the Great Tree twelve feet away.

"Good job, Tine!" Riku said. "Now, let's get out of here!" the two teens ran toward the dock, not looking back behind them. As they approached, they could see a figure waiting for them at the beach. Lightning flashes illuminated the mysterious stranger. "Damn, another one!" Riku cried, drawing Way To Dawn. He lunged at the figure.

"Wait!' Kairi called as they ran at her. "It's me, you idiots!"

"Kairi?!" Riku called. "What are you doing here?" he screamed. "It's too dangerous!"

Kairi sighed and summoned Welcoming Garden. "Do we have to go over this again? You and Tine are my friends. I can't let you guys get kidnapped by Nobodies with nothing better to do." She put her arms around Riku and Tine.

"Thank you Kairi" said Tine. She smiled. "I promise I won't steal any more of your teen magazines anymore after this."

"What?!" Kairi snarled. "I am going to---"

"It seems that battle is the only way that you are going to accept this" said Lexaeus, walking out of the hole in the Great Tree that his crashing had made. He hefted his large tomahawk on one shoulder. "I assume that you have no intention of letting this go?" he asked.

Riku smiled. "You're pretty polite, you keep asking me whether I want to fight or not." He sneered at the Silent Hero. "You know what I think? I think you're scared of us!" Kairi and Riku readied their Keyblades and Tine readied her guitar.

"Scared…of you all?" Larxene asked. She was fiddling with her hair, brushing the wood splinters and leaves out of it. "Let's see your smug faces when you writhe in agony."

The two sides faced each other. Keyblade Master and Organization XIII. It was going to be a hell of a battle.