Everything had been going so well, Roxas thought to himself as he spun through several Heartless, coming out the other side of that group only to find himself faced with another pack of angry, and in some cases armored hissing and slashing Heartless. Cloud had caught it of all people; that it was going too easily. When they'd found Riku and Kairi the Heartless had fallen back as if afraid, they'd moved back into the shadow the clock tower to come up with a plan only to be met with dozens of fresh Heartless coming at them from all sides, even above as they flew, or in many cases simply jumped off buildings, to land in the midst of their prey. He felt they were lucky no one had been killed.
"Roxas!" He turned to see Leon jump atop of a large rhino-like Heartless and fire into its head before landing besides him. "Don't get too far away from everyone else or we can't help one another."
Together they pushed back towards the rest of the group, Leon cycling through various spell types on his sword-caster while Roxas slashed at anything that got too close. They reached the group, Roxas saw Tifa punching her latest victim, lighting coursing over the Heartless with each strike she landed with her gloves or boots, Cloud and Zack where besides her with their giant blades swinging them deftly about and clearing swathes of Heartless from their path, Roxas was still unsure how they ever learned how to use something that looked so unwieldy.
"How is our little hellcat?" Zack called.
"He's fine, just ran off for a moment." Leon responded, firing from the hip.
Roxas flushed, Zack had started calling him when he'd seen Roxas fighting two handed and wildly in the middle of all the Heartless when the ambush had first been sprung. Namine, Sora and Kairi were beyond the adults fighting in a tight bunch blasting everything in sight with magic, Roxas wished he could do the same with as much ease as they seemed to have. Granted he made up for it he found with the twin blades, maybe that was why he'd been given two when everyone else had a single keyblade. It made sense.
"Hey, I don't see Riku."
Zack looked around. "Where the hell did he go now, Tifa!"
She sent her opponent flying with a roundhouse kick and leapt upwards, scrambling up the nearest wall and perching atop an overhang and looked around. Roxas tried to keep an eye on her as she searched the melee below, worrying for her safety so far from the rest of them. There was a glint of silver and his head spun, that was a new Heartless, it carried what looked like a crossbow instead of arms, and it was aiming at Tifa. He threw one of his blades and it wind-milled up towards the Heartless, it looked down in time to see the keyblade though and moved, the keyblade soared past and it fired, the keyblade whipped back around and took the Heartless' head off but the bolt was already in the air.
"Tifa!" He screamed.
She looked his way frowning, her eyes widened as the bolt caught her in the chest and she was thrown back against the building. She began what seemed like a slow motion rag doll fall from her perch, to Roxas' horrified gaze it seemed like she hit everything she could conceivably hit on the way down. Cloud was there to catch her though, she reached up, smiling weakly at him.
"Zack, we need to get her somewhere safe!"
Zack glared at Cloud. "I'm open to suggestions."
"Oblivion," Leon called.
"We need all four of us; it might kill Tifa in her state." Zack said, shaking his head as he cut through another Heartless.
"We can help!" Namine cried, "let us cast with you, we've seen the spell."
The three standing adults shot each other dubious glances before Zack nodded.
"Let's send them to hell, Sora and Roxas give us some cover."
Sora reached for Roxas' hand. "I have an idea, but I need you too. Can you cast something basic?"
Roxas opened his mouth to protest but then just nodded. The pair stood together, hands clasped as the Heartless reformed for another attack.
"Okay," Sora said, he sounded nervous, Roxas swallowed. "I need you to be a battery okay? I can't maintain this unless you keep pouring energy into me."
Roxas looked at Sora, understanding what he wanting but unsure how he could help.
Sora smiled, "here goes, thunder!"
Electricity fired from the sky, cascading in a wall to slam into the Heartless advancing on them, they began spasming and twitching as the energy coursed over them and threw them back. Roxas felt his own energy bleeding through his hand into Sora. Had Sora known that this would happen or was this just his luck at work? It didn't matter; it was buying them the time they needed. Then he heard screaming, at first he thought it was the Heartless but then he looked at Sora and saw his eyes, ears, and mouth glowing with light and energy coursing over his body. He was overloading somehow.
Roxas let go of him, wrapping his arms around his cousin, feeling the energy assault him as well, it hurt but he clenched his teeth and tried to suck up the excess charge from Sora. The pair collapsed, Sora was unconscious, his skin and clothes burned.
"Zack!" Roxas screamed.
"Oblivion!"
Came the answer to his call and the same white energy charge that had shattered the Heartless at the gorge surged over them, searing Sora and himself, before striking Heartless now though on a much smaller scale. It was enough though, the Heartless were inundated by the wave of destruction and thrown back against walls, lamp posts and vanished. When the energy settled the group stood there, Tifa bleeding from her chest wound and panting heavily as she tried to stand, Roxas holding Sora's unconscious and burned body, there wasn't a single Heartless in sight.
"We need to get inside." Zack said grimly.
"You can't sedate me, we're in a combat zone, just take it out and heal me." Came Tifa's irate voice.
"I'm not going to rip it out of your chest and hope you don't bleed to death Tifa." Zack returned calmly.
"Screw that!" Tifa spat. "This won't kill me, but it might kill all of us if you don't take it out."
"She's right Zack, we need her on her feet and she can't move with that thing in her chest." Leon said.
"Okay fine, here goes nothing." Zack said with a resigned tone.
Tifa's scream brought Sora out of his sleep, his head snapped around to see Tifa writhing in agony on the bed besides him as Leon and Cloud held her on her side as Zack pushed something through her back. Sora watched in horrified fascination as the barbed tip of the bolt pushed out through Tifa's back, blood dripping onto the bed between them. When it was far enough through Zack grabbed the barbed end and pulled, Tifa screamed again as he got the shaft clear and tossed the bolt aside.
"Give her a potion and patch it up; we don't have the time or energy to waste on a healing spell."
Cloud looked like he wanted to protest but Leon put a hand on his shoulder, Tifa had curled up in a fetal position and she was clutching her chest. Sora could only imagine what she must be feeling. Cloud knelt besides her, gripping her hand tightly and whispering to her as he fed her a potion, Sora watched as the wound on her back began to sizzle as the liquid found its way to her wounds and stopped the bleeding. Leon rolled her onto her back and unzipped the top of her armor, pulling it open. Sora flushed bright red as Tifa's bra was fully exposed now and he looked away as Leon bent over her with a needle and thread.
"You're awake," Zack said, Sora turned to face him as the older man knelt besides him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "That was pretty impressive back there; you used Roxas as a sink to draw up enough power to keep them off us, haven't seen anyone do that before."
There was a new respect in his eyes, Sora nodded a thank you. "What happened?"
"I think we scared them off, we're holed up in the hotel across from the clock tower. We were going to work on Tifa first but she insisted we make sure you were alright before we did anything with her."
"Uh, thanks." Sora said sheepishly.
Zack shrugged. "Namine, Roxas, and Kairi are looking for Riku. Normally I wouldn't let kids go out on their own like that; but I couldn't have the three people who actually know how to heal go when I had you half dead and Tifa bleeding out."
Sora felt a little angry that Zack had sent the others out to search for Riku, but worry for Riku overlaid that anger somewhat. The door to the room they were in opened and the group in question entered, with Riku.
Zack surged to his feet, slamming Riku into the wall. "Where the hell were you?"
"I found a way down into the underground," was Riku's terse reply.
Zack let him down, glaring. "Good, don't go off on your own again."
He turned back to Tifa, who was now on her back, still topless as Leon stitched the otherside of the hole. "How is she?"
Cloud looked like he'd aged ten years. "Nothing serious was punctured, she got lucky, the potion is doing its job and with the stitches she'll be able to move."
Zack nodded, griping Cloud's shoulder sympathy written on his features. "I'm sorry Cloud; I can't do more than this."
Cloud nodded his voice hard "We're soldiers, we know the rules."
Zack winced at the tone, but nodded his understanding; Sora imagined that to be fair, he'd react similarly if that was Kairi being denied healing magic instead of Tifa.
Sora sat up, looking at Riku. "Why did you leave in the middle of the fighting like that?"
Riku merely shrugged. "We had to find a way down, the Heartless were paying attention to all of you so I took the chance to go find us a way underground."
Sora frowned. "You could have helped us."
Riku snorted. "You handled yourselves, and now we can find Xehanort."
"I guess, I sti—"
"Don't bother Sora." Roxas said. "He's just being a hotshot."
Roxas and Riku exchanged glances, Kairi stepped in between them. "Okay, that's enough, come on we're supposed to help each other."
Both boys nodded, Cloud was helping Tifa stand, she was smiling heartily despite the hole in her armor.
"What's next?"
"Riku found a way down, from what we heard of the attack here it's pretty certain that Xehanort is beneath the town so we need to get down there as well."
Tifa nodded, taking a hand and turning Cloud's face to her she kissed him passionately, and everyone else in the room just stared, and then looked away as the kiss lingered for over a minute.
She smiled at Cloud's surprised face when she finally broke the kiss. "For luck and in case I don't get the chance to do that again."
Cloud's lips formed a grim line. "You'll get the chance."
Zack snorted. "Now I know why I'm glad Aerith isn't in the military. Let's go."
Riku led them out behind the hotel; there was a small canal that passed there before heading underground.
Leon frowned at the raised grate.
"Does this look like a trap to anyone else?"
"I checked inside." Riku said his annoyance evident.
Zack and Leon exchanged glances. "Check it." Zack said.
Leon moved forwards slowly, Tifa besides him, she was moving very well for someone with a hole in her chest. They dropped into the waist high water and began moving forwards towards the darkened opening, Tifa raised her hand as they passed beneath the grate and a blue flame appeared in her palm. She held it aloft and looked around them before turning back.
"I don't see anything, I think we're good."
They all moved into the water and through the grate, Zack was last and as he passed under the grate it slammed down, he barely managed to jump out of the way. Scrambling to his feet he tried to lift it but nothing happened. Leon and Cloud moved to help but they produced the same result.
Zack sighed. "You ever get the feeling that you're right where someone wants you?"
Riku smiled nervously. "It didn't do that before."
Tifa had moved ahead, and now called back to them. "I found a pathway."
They followed the glow from her flame, there was a pathway and it led downwards, a lip kept water from flowing over the stairs.
"I don't like this." Kairi murmured.
"What's to like." Zack responded.
He went first; climbing up on the stair and helping the others get over the lip. They began their descent, Tifa leading with her light, with Namine and Kairi in the middle with lights of their own. Leon brought up the rear, his caster drawn as he watched their backs.
"Does anyone else here a clicking sound?" Roxas asked.
Everyone paused and listened, there was an audible click-click now that they were listening for it. They searched in the gloom but there wasn't anything to be seen, then the stair gave way and the lights went out. Everyone yelled or screamed and it was nearly impossible to tell who was who in the blackness. Roxas fell for what felt like hours until he hit something solid, twisting and coming to stop with a groan, holding his stomach where he'd hit the wall.
"Hello?" He called quietly.
"Roxas?" Came Namine's voice.
"Can you give us light?"
The blue flame appeared again and he moved towards it, he found Namine sprawled on the floor; one of her legs was out at an odd angle.
He knelt next to her. "Can you walk?"
She shook her head; he reached under her as she looped her arm around his neck. Looking around he spied an archway in the dark. He sighed and looked at Nanime.
"I hate this, we're being herded."
She nodded agreement. "Do you think the others are okay?"
"I hope so, because I think its everyone for themselves."