When Sora landed next to her, she thought maybe he was going to help her dispatch Luxord and was eternally grateful. That lasted only a moment as Sora threw a barrage of Keyblades at the Nobody to distract him. He clearly wasn't aiming to harm, just sufficiently throw him off.

Sora turned to Kairi, his grin infecting her. "Riku needs your help, I think."

Kairi followed his gaze as it turned up. Riku clashed blades with Ansem, the boy being thrown back only to rush forward for another attack. She nodded to Sora and jumped into the air, flying off to the Heartless. Riku slashed at the man relentlessly. Kairi screamed as she swung her heavy blade, clashing with the double-ended sword.

"So, you finally made it." Riku grunted as Ansem pushed back.

"Sorry, got caught up in my poker game." Kairi cast gravity, causing Ansem to shrink back some. Oh. He didn't like that, huh? It didn't push him to the floor, but it certainly hurt him. Good to know.

"Hope you got some munny out of it." Riku yelled, leaping back to blast dark fire.

Kairi swung around behind Ansem as Riku attacked from the front. She slashed at the wires that Ansem had attached himself to. It didn't release him, like she'd hoped. Him being attached to this ship must do something to him, right? Maybe increase his power? Feed him energy to keep fighting? Kairi wouldn't know. They hadn't had the opportunity to fight him before.

That was when something hit her. Oh, ow that hurt! She dodged to the left, turning to look behind her. Lasers. Spinning lasers. Oh, great. Three orbs spun, shooting lasers at her. She let out a small scream as she dodged them as best she could. Riku moved, teleporting here and there to keep the lasers off of his tail. Lasers too?! She supposed this fight wouldn't be easy.

She danced out of the way, making her way back to Ansem. She landed a few attacks before the lasers caught back up to her, forcing her to retreat. The second time she had gotten close enough, Ansem raised his blade. She pulled hers up to block and was caught off guard when the Guardian Heartless behind him grabbed her. She gasped, feeling the air leave her lungs. Its grip on her was so tight. She forced herself to hold tight to the borrowed Keyblade. She couldn't lose that. That was her first priority. Her second was to attempt to get air in her lungs.

Its hand tightened, bringing her before Ansem.

"What is it you hope to accomplish?" he asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

"To bring back the light!" she gasped.

He gave her a look of pity. "You've come so far, yet, you understand nothing."

She saw spots dance in her vision and metal cracking against her skin. Her armor that was supposed to protect her dug into her flesh and grated against her ribs. She heard her name being called as she closed her eyes. She needed to get out of this.

"Holy!" she breathed, calling light to burst from her. The hand released her and she slumped to the floor, wheezing to catch her breath. Above her, Riku became shrouded in darkness, slashing and hacking at Ansem who pulled no stops to attack back.

Kairi pulled off her helmet to catch her breath as she pulled off loose chunks of armor. There was no way this was going to get her home. Maybe, wherever they ended up, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy would find them on the Gummi Ship and bring them back home to Traverse Town.

Wait. If they defeated Ansem… and sealed away the darkness… that would restore the worlds, right? Well, what was going to happen to them? Kairi shook her head. She couldn't think about that right now. She heaved her Keyblade beneath the Heartless, shooting light up at him. Riku jumped out of the way just as the light engulfed Ansem.

Ansem looked between the two, smirking as he pulled back. He nested into a crook under the Guardian, a Heartless emblem appear over his face and chest. … What? Kairi jumped up, swinging her blade into the emblem. It knocked her back. What, what?!

"He retreated!" Kairi screeched in frustration.

"No!" Riku pounded on the emblem. "Come back out here, you coward! You don't get to do that!"

Kairi turned up to the Guardian that folded its arms, tucking its head in. She flew up to it, smashing its face. She rebounded, flying back. She knew the Guardian was nothing but a shield. She was sure it was made of entirely the same stuff as the Large Body's front. Whatever make up it had, it only deflected attacks.

Riku yelled out in frustration, turning back to the fight. Sora was flying around, attacking these weird growths that begun to shoot lasers at everyone. Luxord had vanished. Ven was still fighting against Lexaeus, the battle showing how long and grueling it was becoming for both of them. Aqua on the other hand, was wiping the floor with Xigbar.

The two of them had to wait it out until Ansem pulled back out. That didn't sit right with Kairi… They had to do something. She scanned over the field, her eyes landing on something peculiar. She elbowed Riku, pointing at a strange… tear in space. She glanced at him, raising and eyebrow. She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was thinking the same thing she was.

"Come on."

The two flew into the tear, dropping into a dark space. The only light source, a glowing blue emblem, lay below them. Oh, well, this was a good idea, right? Maybe? Kairi took a moment to drink a potion to repair an aching rib she noticed as she landed on her feet. Flight didn't work here, that much she was certain of.

It didn't take long for the Heartless to show up. When they did, Kairi had to actually laugh. After fighting Luxord and battling Ansem, the Shadow Heartless that cropped up were laughable. The two blasted through them, glad to pick up the recovery items. It was difficult to see the buggers, since it was so flipping dark. As soon as they were dispatched, in a flash of light, an orb appeared in the middle of the emblem, floating just above their heads.

When it doubt, give it a good smack.

Riku hit the orb a few times until light engulfed them, putting them right back at the ship. They were tackled out of the air by a body that cried their names. Sora landed on top of them, grinning down at them.

"Where'd you guys go?! Are you okay?!" he asked. "I turned my back for a minute and you were gone and Ansem was sleeping!"

"We're fine," Riku grunted. "Now, uh, could you maybe get off of us?"

"Oh, right!" Sora lifted himself off. "What's going on? What's up with all the lasers and balls of darkness being blasted at us?"

Riku got to his feet, handing Sora an Ether he so clearly needed. As Sora downed it, Riku explained what happened as concisely as possible. This wasn't the time to explain. They had to wake Ansem up and it seemed that maybe those tears were the key. They had to find more of them.

"What can Ven and I do to help?" Sora asked. "Aqua won't let us help her with Xigbar."

"Lexaeus?" Kairi asked.

"Gone," Sora smirked. "Ven took care of him. He won't be bothering us anymore."

"Find more of those tears," Riku instructed. "Maybe try and give the ship a good beating."

"Aye aye!" Sora saluted, flying off to join Ven.

Kairi grabbed Riku's elbow, dragging him back into the air. She knew how much he hated flying, but if they were going to get anywhere on this stupid ship, they'd have to fly. The two rounded around the front only to have the masthead snap at them. Okay, this was a good place to start, right?

The two slashed at the head. Lightning erupted around them, making things a bit harder. Plus, those stupid lasers and now darkness being thrown at them, they were being attacked from every which way. It made things difficult, that was for certain. But it wasn't impossible. Eventually, the masthead succumbed, opening its mouth to reveal another tear.

The two flew in, dispatched the group of Darkballs, destroyed the orb, and returned. They flew back just as masthead exploded. The entire ship trembled as another explosion was heard from above. Kairi rose, seeing the deck of the ship decimated as Sora and Ven high-fived. Aqua turned up to Riku and Kairi, Xigbar having seemed to vanish. Their victory was so close. The Organization was weakened, this ship was demolished, and Ansem was rising from his rest.

Sure, they were having lasers and lightning and darkness thrown at them. But this was it. Five against one, this Heartless stood no chance. They charged at him, blades ready and flying.

Sora helped deflect attacks to protect his friends. He held the defensive as the other four attacked. There was so much going on, it was hard to keep track of the attacks being thrown at them. She hit him with as much as she had whenever she got close enough.

When Sora pushed her out of the way, she tumbled to the deck. There he was. In the grip of the Guardian. A force pushed their friends back as the Guardian held Sora at Ansem's level. He spoke to the boy, his words not quite reaching Kairi's ears, and touched the double-ended blade to Sora's chest. Whatever he said, Sora was clearly not having any of it. Keyblades surrounded them. Countless. So many, Kairi was more than certain that was more than she'd ever seen Sora summon.

Ansem smirked. The Guardian reeled its fist back, hurling Sora towards the dark vortex. The Keyblades dropped with a clatter and vanished.

"Sora!" Kairi heard Aqua scream.

"No…" Kairi rose, watching her friend disappear into the darkness. She whirled around to face Ansem. "NO!"

Riku whizzed past her, grabbing her hand as he shot at the Heartless. Kairi was right with him, light collecting on her Keyblade as she charged for a devastating attack. Darkness swirled around Riku's Keyblade as the two rose up in front of Ansem, finishing with a final blow.

Below them, the ship began to evaporate.

Ansem smirked at them, darkness rising from his weakened form. "All hearts are born in darkness, and all so end. The Door to the Darkness will be opened. The World will be reborn."

Kairi tilted her head, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Eh?" What was he even talking about? He was clearly finished. They had just made a huge dent in Xehanort's plans, hadn't they? … They did something good, right?

Then why was Ansem the Seeker of Darkness laughing as he vanished completely?

Their victory was short lived. It seemed they were no longer in a field of safety. As soon as the ship was gone, they began hurtling towards the vortex. Kairi reached for Riku, trying to grab him. She couldn't get separated from him. She wouldn't! They were so close… She brushed his fingertips before she felt the gravity take full force on her.

She screamed for her friend as he disappeared in the darkness above her.

I'm sorry this is such a short chapter. It was a fight scene chapter and I really just... couldn't find much else to put in besides the fighting?

Anyway, yay fight! Yay Ansem's gone! Or is he?