Disclaimer: I'm not making any money off of this. Trust me.

A/N: …There are no words. There are no words to describe how sorry I am for the accidental hiatus I seem to have taken. You guys probably thought I was dead. My bad. I love you guys more than you can possibly fathom! OTL If parts of this chapter are a little unwieldy, it's because I was listening to rap music while I wrote it, and that tends to make my thoughts disjointed.

Proofreading is for sissies and smart people.

Bon à lire!

-Slay

A Day of Mercy

Chapter 19

The Key to Success

-o-o-o-

This was a lot harder than it looked.

…and he wasn't even the one doing it.

"No, I think your feet have to be level…" Riku muttered unhelpfully, bracing Sora's arms while the brunet wobbled back and forth on the skateboard.

"Oh, like you know anything about skateboarding," Sora bit back, concentrating on the way the deck was dipping under his heels and toes, making it hard to hold his balance. His grip on Riku's shoulders tightened as he tried to resituate his feet, but in the end the board got away from him, sending him pitching forward into Riku's waiting arms.

Once Sora was stable on his feet again, he huffed, watching the board roll away mockingly. Riku gave his arm a pat and went to retrieve the board.

"I can't believe you made all that fuss over a skateboard you don't even know how to ride."

Sora crossed his arms over his chest. "Well how am I s'posed to learn if I don't have a board?"

Riku rolled his eyes and scooped up the board, which was on its way behind a cluster of trashcans. It was true; he was neither an enthusiast nor an authority on skateboarding; but even he had to admit, the Range Tech was quite a piece of work (solid and sleek, its deck printed with smooth black and white fractals). He laid the board back on the pavement by Sora and stuck his foot under the front wheels so it couldn't roll. "C'mon, let's just work on your balance for now."

After digging their way out of the astounded throngs of people surrounding the strength game, Sora and Riku had retreated to a deserted residential street that sloped into a substantial hill (which, in his infinite optimism, Sora had decided to conquer by the end of the day).

It was a sizable undertaking, but after about ten minutes of dedicated practice, Sora had already overcome the balancing problem. Riku was actually starting to believe he might pull it off, if he kept excelling like this.

"Okay," Sora nodded carefully, motioning Riku back. "I think I got it. Lemme go."

Riku watched his friend slide along on the board in short bursts, smiling. Though as time continued to pass, he found his attention straying to the skyline constantly.

Soft, pre-dusk shadows were finally pressing in on them, sweeping the street with a heavy, orange light. The sun was starting to set. If he wanted to do this safely, they would have to leave soon. "…Hey, Sora—"

"WAH!"

Sora must have hit a bump or something, because out of nowhere he pitched over, hitting the ground as his board kept rolling—right down the massive hill behind them. Riku jogged over to help Sora up. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Sora got to his feet and stared forlornly at the slope of the hill. "Crud. I'll get it." With that he sprinted after the board, chasing it into an alleyway at the bottom of the hill.

Riku stuffed his hands in his pockets and waited, his eyes straying back up to the deepening sky.

"Incredible, isn't it? Being a creature whose very form relies on the rise and fall of the sun?"

Riku started and whirled around. He was neither happy nor surprised to find Kadaj leaning against the wall of an apartment building across the street with a knowing grin on his face. "I was wondering when you'd show up again."

"But of course we wouldn't leave," Kadaj crooned genially, spreading his arms wide. "Not without our beloved little brother."

Riku threw a quick glance down the hill, a bit concerned that Sora hadn't reappeared yet. "Don't call me that," he said absently, looking back at Kadaj. "I'm not your brother."

"Sure you are. It's written in your blood—"

"Look, whatever you and your cronies are up to, I'm not interested." He did his best to keep it out of his expression, but Riku was seriously starting to worry that Sora hadn't come back up the hill, especially if Kadaj was here. "It's all bad news."

"Bad news," Kadaj repeated, his tone aggravated. "Now where have I heard that before?" He started sauntering forward with a dangerous glint in his eye. "You know, your friend Axel isn't exactly a saint," he sneered. "I'm sure if you knew the truth about him, you wouldn't trust him so blindly."

Riku's first instinct was to back away, but he decided hesitance of any kind was counterproductive with this guy. He forced himself not to glance down the hill again. "And what, I'm supposed to trust you blindly?"

"Well I am family."

This was getting ridiculous. Riku folded his arms and gave Kadaj a hard look. "No family of mine. Every time you show up something bad happens to someone I care about."

"That's because you care about the wrong people."

Okay, too far.

"Listen, you arrogant son of a bitch—" Riku lunged forward, ready to strangle the haughty grin off the bastard's face, but Kadaj vanished.

"Tsk, tsk, so shabby. So inexperienced." Kadaj had materialized behind him, shaking his head in disappointment. "Getting physical? Really?"

"How boorish," someone else chimed in, appearing at Riku's elbow. He whipped around to see Kadaj's long-haired henchman grinning sadistically at him. "Looks like we have our work cut out for us."

"Don't worry, little brother," Kadaj crooned warmly—warmly being a relative term. "Once we arrive at Whirlwind, we can show you how to fight properly. How to harness your powers."

"Whirlwind?"

"Yes," Kadaj jerked his chin up proudly. "Our home. A sort of…sanctuary for rare creatures such as ourselves. That's where your real family is, Riku. Our family. Our kind." He extended an inviting hand. "And they're waiting…for you."

As desirable as the notion may have seemed even a week before, Riku wasn't buying into this "family" nonsense. For him, family had stopped being about blood a long time ago. Blood ran out at the smallest cut, retreating in every available direction until none was left to keep the body alive—and life was full of cuts; cuts and gashes and gory dismemberment of every horrible kind. So no, blood wasn't nearly reliable enough. There had to be more to it than blood, and when he saw these three hacks pretending to be his brothers, he saw nothing. The only promise they could make was that they shared the same twisted genes, and that was hardly what he would call glamorous.

"Since when was I so special?" Riku hissed, glaring down Kadaj's offered hand until it lowered.

"You've always been special," Kadaj said simply, not perturbed in the slightest. "Since the day you were born."

"But…?"

Something unpleasant slipped into Kadaj's feral eyes, his mouth raising in a quick sneer. "But Kira made a stupid mistake and dragged you down with him," he snapped. "He rejected the clan and left you to pay the price. He's the reason you got separated from us—"

As Kadaj's temper began to flare, Yazoo swept in with a soothing tone, his voice was a sickly-smooth as ever, "Don't you understand, little brother? All those years, all those decades alone…feeling miserable and unwanted, rejected, outcast…It all could have been avoided. …If only you had been with us. Where you belong."

"Uncle could have taught you so much," Kadaj added thickly, bitterly. "We all could have grown up together, the way siblings are supposed to—alongside the other clans. You could have been part of our family this entire time, if only Kira hadn't double-crossed us—"

"Listen," Riku cut in harshly. "He may not have been the 'world's best parent', but my father wasn't an idiot. If he left your little Dungeons and Dragons Glee Club, I'm sure he had a good reason for it." Riku crossed his arms and stood his ground. "So, if you want me to join up that badly, you'll have to persuade me the old-fashioned way."
Kadaj and Yazoo exchanged, dark, unsatisfied looks before turning their sharp eyes back to him.

"Very well."

-o-o-o-

"Well where'd ya go, you stupid—oh, there you are!"

Sora arrived at the bottom of the hill just in time to see the Range Tech toddle off into a nearby alley. He darted after it, careful not to crash into a huddle of trashcans around the corner, and passed into the alley where he was greeted by an unexpected sight.

The first thing he saw was his Range Tech, only it wasn't bumping casually into a brick wall, or rattling against more trashcans—it was hung up under the arm of an unfamiliar man, with a curt flurry of silver hair and a mean-looking smile on his face.

"Er…Sorry, that's mine…" Sora muttered, reaching awkwardly toward the board, but not quite having the nerve to grab it. "It rolled down the hill, and I came to get it back…If you don't mind…"

"Oh, this?" The man gave a heavy, mocking laugh. "Sure, kid, sure." He lifted the board up and looked it over. "It's nice," he smirked. "Must'a cost a fortune, huh?"

Sora couldn't help twiddling his fingers a little, nervous about the man's strong, insensitive grip on his precious skateboard. "Yeah…well, actually…I won it…at the festival just up the road…"

"Yeah? What game'd ya play?"

Sora could feel the back of his neck heating up in a small, humiliated kind of way, because this guy was tall and pretty built, and would probably laugh when Sora said, "The, uh…the 'Test Your Strength' game. With the mallet…?"

"No kidding?" The man gave the Range Tech another cursory look, a thin appreciation stretching across his face. Sora really didn't like the way he was handling the board—it seemed all too likely that he might try and break it. The man's gaze then swung over to Sora himself, and his neck got hot all over again because he could clearly see another laugh swimming up through the man's features. "Don't tell me you're the one that broke the bell," he jeered.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Sora mumbled, but this only seemed to amuse the stranger more—he started on a full-out guffaw at the idea of Sora doing such a thing.

"You gotta be joking," he howled. "A punk like you? Heh—So I guess ya must be pretty strong, eh lil' fella?"

This was starting to get old. Sora tightened his hands into fists and grimaced. "Can I just have my board back?"

"I didn't hear the magic word…"

Sora huffed. "Can I have my board back please?"

"Not if you're gonna be a little shit about it."

"Come on, man…" Sora made a more determined snatch at the board, but the man just held it out of his reach.

"How 'bout we play a little game," the man smirked, continuing to hold the board high over Sora's head. "I'll give ya the stupid board back, if you beat me in a fight. Shouldn't be too hard for a stud like you, eh?"

Sora frowned. "I'm not fighting you over a skateboard. If you want it that badly—"

"Oh, I don't wanna skateboard, punk." The man hurled the board back across the alley, where it snapped against the wall with a loud crack that made Sora wince. "I just wanna fight."

Sora barely had time to throw himself out of the way—a tight fist came hurtling forward, missing him by inches and smashing into the pavement, sharp bolts of hot green curling over the man's fist like lightning. Sora yelped, the man's fist coming at him again and punching a crater in the alley wall where his head had been half a second earlier. This continued, Sora darting from spot to spot, narrowly avoiding a very painful, very messy death.

"What is your problem?!" He managed to gasp as he rolled out from under another attack.

"Don't you remember?" The man growled, swinging at him in a wanton rage.

"Remember what? I've never seen you before!"

The man kept coming at him with brutal throws, his hits getting harder and harder to miss. "The last time we tangoed, you gave me a present," he snarled, holding out his ungloved hand, where a nasty scar was visible behind the ridge of his knuckles.

"You're crazy," Sora insisted, jumping from side to side as the man chased him backward, quickly boxing him in at the end of the alleyway. "You're confusing me with somebody else."

"I am not!" The man bellowed, charging Sora with a crackling hand cocked back. Sora bumped into the ragged brick wall at the end of the alley. There was nothing for it—he was trapped. Time seemed to drag into an agonizing crawl, the man coming closer and closer with the death blow, and Sora helpless to avoid it. But for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to be afraid. Alive like a wire, but not fearful. In fact, he felt quite the opposite. Something akin to confidence was swelling in his chest—a humming knot of energy that was working its way up through his skin.

His assailant was practically on top of him now, the electricity flickering like madness in his eyes. The killer punch was coming in closer and closer, faster and faster—and Sora moved. He swept his hand through the air with a flash of light, the sharp ring of metal, and without even realizing it, he had met the man's blow, holding that crackling fist at bay with a weapon that had only just appeared in his grasp.

He wasn't even sure he could call it a "weapon"—it certainly wasn't like any weapon he'd ever seen.

What Sora was now holding in his hand, wielding against the weight of his opponent's blow, was a massive skeleton key the size of a long sword, complete with sharp teeth and a yellow hilt. When he saw it, Sora had confusion to spare, but now wasn't the time for musing over how a weird sort of key-type blade-thing had magically appeared in his hands. Right now he had to focus on not dying.

The key was heavier than it looked—almost as heavy as the Test Your Strength mallet, but Sora found he could manage it if he minded his balance. He seized the opportunity to knock his assailant back, falling into a defensive stance, holding his giant key at the ready.

The man didn't seem pleased with this new development, and gave the key a nasty look. "What the hell is that?"

"I don't know," Sora admitted. "But I've got a feeling it's gonna help me beat you." That was the truth—as strange as the key was, he felt a commanding boost of strength with it in his hands. "Back out now and I'll let you go."

A heavy laugh rumbled out of the man's chest. "Yeah, right. I'm not goin' anywhere, ya little punk!" With that the man charged again with a renewed vigor; but Sora was ready this time.

He wouldn't even question how the motions came to him so easily—the counters, the parries, the slashes the blocks. It took no thought, he just had to keep moving and let the motions come, clean and quick like he'd been performing them his entire life. Before he knew it he had his opponent on the defensive, knocking him back again and again until they emerged from the alley, the man finally losing steam as Sora continued to lay into him with fluid swings of his key. A finishing blow smashed the man into a nearby wall with a surprising amount of force—he crumpled to the ground, barely conscious, the lightning fading from his fists.

Finally starting to feel a strain in his arms, Sora sighed and straightened up, lugging the key onto his shoulder and watching his fallen assailant carefully.

"I don't know what your problem is," he said, breathing slightly labored. "And I don't care. Stay away from me. Next time I won't go so easy on you."

"That's some big talk…punk…" the man grumbled, barely able to lift his head for a proper glare.

Sora didn't say anything. After a moment the man wilted completely, and Sora was sure he'd finally tapped out. He glanced back into the alley where the Range Tech had been discarded, and then at the massive key propped on his shoulder, and decided that there were more pressing matters than learning to skateboard. Since he had nowhere better to put it, he kept the key balanced on his shoulder as he trekked up the slope of the hill.

"Riku! Hey, Riku, you won't believe what just…Riku?" When Sora came over the crest of the hill, what he saw wasn't pretty.

The first thing he saw were blast marks—explosions of char ground into the pavement and the backs of surrounding shops. Great rifts had been torn in the road, rubble scattered across the street, trashcans and signage all wrecked and scattered. Then he saw Riku, braced against a wall and cradling his left arm, slowly buckling under some invisible pressure.

"Riku!" Sora dropped the key without a second thought and rushed to his friend's side. "What-What happened to you?" As he came closer, the extent of Riku's injuries became clearer; ugly dark bruises and freshly bleeding gashes littered his skin, not to mention his arm which was obviously out of commission.

"Those freaks from the concert showed up…" Was all Riku managed at first. Sora guarded him worriedly as he slid down the wall, coming to rest on the ground with his bum arm in his lap. "I chased them off, but they'll be back…You need to get out of here."

"Okay—let's go." Sora made to grab Riku's good arm to help him up, but the other boy gasped the second their skin touched and cringed away. Sora winced. Was he really hurt that badly? "Riku…"

"Just...Go get help," Riku grunted, inching farther away, under the shade of a toppled awning. "I'll wait here."

"But what if they come back—"

"I said go."

Startled and a little hurt, Sora nodded and got to his feet, extremely uneasy about leaving Riku alone in his condition. "Wait right there, Riku. I'll be back soon. I-I promise!" He whipped around to retrieve the key, only to find that it had disappeared. He let the thought slip from his mind—he had more important things to worry about. After one more terrified glance at his wounded friend, Sora took off up the street, his head spinning.

Hold on, Riku. I'll be right back. Just hold on…

A/N: Sorry guys I broke Riku. WHAT WILL BECOME OF HIM? WILL SORA GET HELP IN TIME? WHAT HAPPENED DURING RIKU'S FIGHT WITH THE REMNANTS? TUNE IN NEXT (week/month/year) FOR THE THRILLING NEXT CHAPTER OF…A DAY OF MERCY! DFJEWFOIWEJFODIJVOWIGLEKJDFKLJWEOFJEIOFDVJM

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Toodles~

-Slay