CHAPTER 8

Sora stood in front of the smashed window, and starred down at Saix. He could've gone down there to finish the job. Hell, if he were still as mindless as he was when he first became what he is, he probably would have. Sora simply dropped the claymore in his hand. As soon as it hit the ground, it vanished. Sora slowly walked over to the unconscious Kairi. She wasn't bleeding, but she didn't look great.

"We need to get her to the infirmary," said Riku as he picked her up. "We can fix her up there. After that, we're getting the hell outta here." Sora looked at Riku's left leg, and noticed it was covered in blood. "Don't worry about me Sora. I can patch myself up in the infirmary after we help Kairi."

The quiet that surrounded them had suddenly been broken. "You think that you're actually gonna make it there alive," screamed a new voice. "As if." Riku's eyes widened. At first he couldn't tell who's voice that was, but that phrase was used by a particular Organization member. Xigbar was close by.

Before they knew it, a round from Xigbar's gun was heading straight for Riku's head. Sora stepped in and slashed, shattering it into pieces. "Go," he growled. Riku looked like he wanted to protest, but Sora had pinpointed Xigbar's location the very second that shot had been fired. Sora ran to the origin source, scratching the ground as he ran.

Xigbar jumped out of the shadow he'd been hiding in. "So, you're the intruder huh, Sora?" Xigbar landed behind Sora and shot a few rounds at his non-vital areas. Sora dodged them easily. "So Sora," Xigbar continued, still firing shots at him, "what's with the new look? Going for a more vicious thing these days? Gotta tell ya, it's working for ya." Sora kept dodging his shots, trying desperately to stay alive. "C'mon Roxas, is that all you got?"

Sora was still exhausted from the last fight. He wouldn't be able to keep running for long. Suddenly, the shots stopped. He looked over to see that Xigbar had run out of ammo. This was his chance. Sora ran straight towards Xigbar, and slashed at him. However, he hit nothing. Xigbar had vanished. "You think it's gonna be that easy kiddo," echoed Xigbar's voice. Sora looked up to see him hanging upside down near the ceiling. "As if!" Sora saw that his guns had been fully reloaded. Sora began his new run again. Xigbar's powers were over space. He could teleport anywhere that was a short distance away. And long ranged attacks were his strength. Sora had an easier time fighting Saix. At least he was a close range combatant. But now Sora was forced out of his comfort zone of fighting.

Meanwhile, Riku had carried Kairi to the infirmary. "Okay Kairi," he said out loud. "Wait here for now." Riku turned to leave, but something had grabbed his arm.

He turned to see Kairi, fully awake and standing. "You're not going alone," she stated. "Listen, I care too much about Sora to let him do all the fighting. I'm going back, and don't bother trying to stop me."

Riku could barely stand, let alone stop her from going. "You don't even have the Keyblade anymore. You dropped it when you were knock out."

"And you think that's gonna stop me?" Kairi looked like she could take on another army at this point. She pushed past Riku like he was a light weight. "I'm going. End of story."

Sora was still running for his life. Dashing around the room left and right. Every time Xigbar ran out of ammo, he warped away to reload. This was less of a fight and more of a game of cat and mouse. "Ain't you tired yet Roxas," screamed Xigbar. Sora was starting to lose speed. If he kept going like this, he'd drop due to exhaustion. Xigbar's shots seem to have their own limit. Six per gun. Sora kept running until he noticed Xigbar's shot had reached 10. With his new strategy in play, he charged at Xigbar. He shot at Sora with his last two shots, but Sora was too fast. "Damn!" Xigbar would've warped away, but Sora had already gotten him.

Xigbar fell to the ground, blood dripping from the side of his head. Sora loomed over him. The game he had been forced to play had infuriated him to no end. He raised his claw to deliver the final strike, but stopped himself. Some part of him was holding him back. Xigbar took the opportunity. He used his secret weapon. He put his two guns together and fire off a huge shot. Sora managed to jump out of the way, but that wasn't enough. Xigbar's normal shot shattered after making contact with whatever they hit, but this shot was larger and bounced off any surface it hit. Sora wasn't ready for a rebound attack, it grazed against his back, causing blood to spill from him. Sora let out a roar of pain so loud it could break glass. It probably would have if Saix hadn't already smashed through it.

Xigbar got right next to Sora and pointed his gun at him. "Today's not your day kiddo." Before he knew it, Xigbar's gun was knocked out of his hand. Kairi had returned with Riku. Xigbar just laughed. "So, you ran away, only to run straight back? Man that's stupid of you poppet."

Kairi looked both confused and offended. "Poppet," she complained. "Just cause I'm a girl, don't think I won't kick your ass for that!"

Riku got between her and Xigbar. "Look after Sora," Riku said softly. "I'll handle him." Riku summon his Soul Eater, and prepared for battle. "Try fighting someone with an actual chance!" Riku rushed towards Xigbar, as he shot continuously at Riku. Riku simply knocked every shot away, without losing and speed. Xigbar had run out of shots, and he didn't have enough time to build up power for his large shot. SLASH! Riku had gotten a clean cut on Xigbar's chest, ripping his coat in the process.

Xigbar looked shocked that he had actually been hit. "Well what do ya know," laughed Xigbar, "I haven't been in a fight like this since Terra!" Xigbar warped away into nothing. Riku looked all around the area, but he couldn't tell where he was until it was too late. BAM! Riku gasped in pain. Xigbar had warped right behind him, and shot him, point blank, in the back. The shot had gone straight through him. "You thought you could beat me?! AS IF!"

Riku fell to his knees, blood dripping from the wound he was holding. Xigbar pointed his gun to Riku's head. "STOP," screamed Kairi. Xigbar turned to face her, she was holding the Oathkeeper ready for battle. "If you do anything else to him, I'll make you wish that I'd kill you!" Kairi stopped for a second, pondering over he statement. "I-I mean, cuz you know... I'll beat you up... Repeatedly!" Xigbar just started laughing like a maniac. "HEY! IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Kairi looked angry as Hell now. Her recent comment didn't seem to help her with this fight. She noticed something though, Xigbar's eye, that wasn't covered by an eye patch, was closed tight. Kairi took the chance and rushed at him. Her poorly executed threat had actually given her an opening. By the time Xigbar had opened his eye, Kairi was slashing upwards to his face. Xigbar didn't have time to dodge, as a result, Kairi had made a small cut on his face.

Xigbar had lost his footing, Kairi slashed more and more, forcing him to back up repeatedly. Xigbar was so distracted by the Keyblade coming towards him that he couldn't think clearly. 'Damn girl. She's got the edge on me,' thought Xigbar. What he did manage to notice was that Sora wasn't where he left him. Only a small puddle of blood was there. Sora was gone. Xigbar surveyed the area, searching while dodging all of Kairi's blows. He finally caught a glimpse of Sora in the corner of his eye. Sora was hanging high on the ceiling. Sora then jumped towards Xigbar, roaring with claws covered in his own blood. Kairi saw Xigbar's distraction and went in for a stab. No where to run anymore. Kairi's stab had grazed him on his right side, and Sora had given him a second gash on his chest.

Xigbar dropped to one knee, clearly in pain. Kairi lifted the Keyblade under next to his neck. "You thought you could beat us," Kairi mocked, "AS IF." Xigbar smiled at the irony of someone using his own phrase against him. "How do we get out of here?"

Xigbar laughed, "You think I'm just gonna tell you? HMPH. As If." Xigbar dropped face first to the ground. He hadn't faded away, he just passed out out from the pain.

Riku now stood next to the two. "Good job," he said weakly, holding the wound where he was shot."

Kairi's internal alarm suddenly went off. "Oh no! Are you alright?!" Riku moved his hand from the wound. Kairi looked shocked. The wound had been closed, from both sides. "How-"

"I used my Dark Fire to sear the wound close. Hurts like Hell, but I'll live."

Sora looked at the wound closely. He put his hand to it and felt something. Darkness. It may have sealed the wound, but it was still causing him harm. Sora pulled his hand away, and as he did, he pulled the Darkness from the wound. In his hand was a small ball of Dark energy. With nowhere else to go, it merged with Sora, healing the gash on his side.

"Well," Kairi started, "this has been one hell of a day." She relaxed her shoulders and let out a big sigh. Smiling for the victories that they all had made today.

Unfortunately, it was short lived.

A/N : So yeah, a shorter chapter than last, but I'm building it up to a big climax, so keep on reading.