Chapter 17- Fighting for others
After receiving a most unusual piece of advice from the enigmatic Joshua, Sairu made for the fountain plaza as fast as he could. When he did eventually emerge in the plaza, Heartless appeared, yet they were dealt with swiftly. Once Sairu emerged into the plaza from the alley itself, he was greeted with a terrible sight: hundreds of Shadow and Soldier Heartless encircling two individuals, one of whom was unconscious: a teenage boy with blonde hair who wore a black hat adorned with a skull design on the front, a white vest lined with red, beige-yellow cargo pants, red and black shoes with black socks, a thick black chain with another skull as the token and a black buckle on his left wrist. The other was a young girl with the same blonde hair, who wore a similar looking hat to her companion, though the skull was featured on a pin as opposed to the hat itself, wearing an orange long-sleeved shirt stylised with an elongated black skull and crossbone design adorned across her chest, white dungarees that hung under her shirt, with a necklace featuring a bell, and yellow and black boots. The girl was unconscious with her teenage companion bravely making a stand, before he too fell to his knees in fatigue.
Seeing their prey unable to stand up anymore, one of the Shadows made a lunge for the girl. Seeing this, the boy quickly threw himself over the girl to shield her, waiting for the creature to take him out. But it never happened, as by the time he opened his eyes, he saw a figure in black stand over him, having vanquished the one that attacked. "Who are you?" the boy asked in a gruff voice. "Don't worry, I can handle them. I should be able to help her, so pass her to me, quickly" Sairu answered. However, the boy was reluctant and retorted protectively "Why should I believe you? Yo, for all I know, you might be with those creatures" "I wouldn't be standing here if that was true. It's alright, you can trust me. If you pass her to me, I promise you she will be alright. Now, hurry" Sairu insisted, meeting the boy's gaze directly. As they made eye contact, the boy on the ground then exhaled, and then propped his companion so that she was in arm's length of their saviour. As Sairu held her arm in his free hand, the Heartless lunged all at once, but they would never reach their prey.
In an instant, Sairu had conjured his Full Moon Shield technique, surrounding the three of them in a dome of pure white, eradicating every single Heartless and Sairu transferring the energy he absorbed to the girl who rested in her companion's arms. Once the Heartless were eliminated, the technique dissipated, leaving the three of them alone. Then, the boy laid his companion gently on her back. For a few seconds, she laid there, still yet breathing comfortably. Sairu then dropped to his knees as he looked the girl over as she began to stir. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and the first thing she saw was her partner and a stranger looking at her with relief. For a few seconds, she laid there, her stare drawn to the stranger as he exhaled in relief and gave her a gentle smile. Seeing this, she couldn't help but blush at the sight before she rose to a sitting position.
"Rhyme. I'm glad you're okay" the boy said, on the verge of tears. "Beat? What happened to the Heartless?" Rhyme asked groggily as she looked around. "It's all good, yo. This guy not only got rid of them, but he used this cool technique to fix you up as well. I had you all wrong when I first saw you. Thanks a lot, yo, you're alright" Beat said to them, giving a thumbs up to their new friend. "Oh yeah, I'm Beat, just so you know. And this is Rhyme, my partner" he added, whilst Rhyme still couldn't take her eyes off her rescuer. Sairu had pretended not to notice while he focused on Beat. "Nice to meet you guys, I'm Sairu. And this is Lunar Bahamut" Sairu spoke, introducing the miniature dragon atop his shoulder, who bowed his head in confirmation. "Uh, dude, why have you got a winged lizard on your shoulder?" Beat asked, but almost regretted it when he heard a loud hissing coming from the 'lizard' in question.
"Hmph, such insolence. I am a dragon, not a common lizard, as you so put it" Lunar Bahamut angrily retorted, turning away from Beat in disgust. Sairu couldn't help but chuckle and jokingly quipped "What happened to not taking it personally?" Hearing this, Lunar Bahamut froze for a split second before lowering his head in embarrassment, much to Sairu and Rhyme's amusement. "Sairu, why are you here?" Rhyme asked after their laugh. "Well, Joshua told me you guys may be in trouble, so he sent me to come and help out while Neku went on to find... Shiki, was it?" Sairu briefly explained. "Oh so you know Phones! He's a real charmer, huh?" Beat spoke up sarcastically, to which Sairu nodded in agreement. "Yeah, well, now that those Heartless are taken care of, we better get moving. A giant Heartless appeared in the Fifth District, according to Joshua, and we need to take care of it pronto" Sairu spoke as they all rose to their feet, knowing what to do next.
However, While Sairu and Rhyme began to run, they then noticed that Beat stood where he was. "Beat, we got to get moving. That Heartless won't take care of itself" Sairu spoke up. "Yeah, you heard him. Neku and Shiki are fighting that thing on their own. If we don't go to help-" "Forget it, yo. Phones couldn't give a care in the world for our safety. Why should we risk our necks for the likes of him?" Beat interrupted, which earned him glares from Sairu and surprisingly, Rhyme. "Beat, I know he's not the easiest guy to get along with, but right now, if we don't help them, how can we live with ourselves if they both end up suffering?" Rhyme said scathingly, which surprisingly still, made Beat flinch a bit. "She's right, Beat. Even if he denies it, Neku still needs us. Besides, your mission is to take care of that Heartless, isn't it? Which means, if you help him, you all can complete the mission for the Game, but if you don't, then you and Rhyme will have failed. You can't afford to lose, right? So put your pride aside and help them and us both" Sairu added.
For a few minutes, Beat stood there, contemplating all that was said. Eventually, he gave in "Ok, fine. But we had better get a thanks for our help" Beat insisted as he rejoined the others, taking off for the Fifth District together. As they emerged into the next area, Sairu couldn't help but think this was it. "No time to slow down, yo. This is only the Fourth District. The Fifth's further this way" Beat called out to Sairu, having noticed their friend lollygagging. Clearing his head, Sairu bolted after them and caught up at the base of an area under construction. "What's that over there?" Sairu gestured to the construction site. "That's the Colosseum. It's where tournaments are going to be held for fighters, but it won't be finished for a while yet" Rhyme explained as the three approached the door and emerged into bedlam.
Beyond the door stood a tall building filled with numerous forms of greenery and vegetation. Atop the glass framed roof floated what Sairu could only guess was their target: It was a large, vaguely humanoid shape shrouded in a long tattered black cloak which gradiated into an aqua colour blow the waist. If this creature had a face, it completely shrouded by the hood it wore, if there was even one to begin with, and two clawed, five-fingered hands. Sairu could tell just looking at this Heartless that this battle was going to be even more difficult than other battles he had faced. "A Phantom Heartless" Joshua suddenly spoke, making Sairu jump. "How did you get here so fast?" Sairu asked. "No time for that now. That Heartless is in a class of its own. So you see why I asked you to help us" Joshua quickly explained. As Sairu turned to face the Phantom, he also saw Neku, Beat, Rhyme and a girl with red hair he assumed to be Shiki standing on the roof of the gardens.
Suddenly, the Phantom decided to fly into the sky. "Oh no. It's getting away!" Beat exclaimed. "No he isn't. Leave it to me, I'll knock it back down to earth" Sairu shouted as Lunar Bahamut immediately grew to his original size and Sairu stepped up onto his back, taking to the skies. "Whoa" they all couldn't help but say. As soon as the Phantom reached its desired altitude, it noticed its pursuers: Sairu and Lunar Bahamut floated in front of it, Sairu wielding his Lunablade in his left hand. "I hope you're ready" Sairu said as he got into a battle stance as Lunar Bahamut roared his own confirmation. Realizing it had to fight to get its prey, the phantom revealed an orb at the centre of its being, glowing an ominous white colour. Lunar Bahamut immediately sent a stream of white fire in his direction, but then the Phantom's orb neutralised the attack immediately appeared unscathed. "Huh? What just happened?" Sairu asked. But then, to his horror, the Phantom suddenly shot forward and struck with a powerful sweep of its claws, dealing intense damage to Sairu and Lunar Bahamut alike, though Sairu quickly performed Curaga on them both. Then, to Sairu's eyes, the orb that was white suddenly turned red.
"We need to get closer" Sairu called over the rushing wind. "I'm stronger with long-range attacks. And any close range attacks in my arsenal are better without carrying passengers on my back" Lunar Bahamut responded. "Well, it looks like I'll have to try that move out, but you'll have to keep it at bay for some time" Sairu then said. "Understood" Lunar Bahamut responded and immediately struck with a stream of white fireballs that actually dealt damage this time around. Meanwhile, Sairu had entered a meditative state whilst standing, his blade pointed to the ground far below. After a few minutes, his eyes shot open and then, he became surrounded by a sphere of purple energy and leapt off Lunar Bahamut's back towards the Phantom, using his new ability to fly in midair, and proceeded to strike with a powerful string of combined attacks, then the orb changed colour to white again, allowing Sairu to inflict serious damage to the Phantom, only for it to retaliate and send Sairu flying with another sweep of its claws. With his concentration broken, Sairu's technique was dispelled, though Lunar Bahamut immediately flew to catch his partner in the nick of time.
"What's going on? When the orb was white before, we didn't even scratch it. Now when I attacked it just a second ago, I actually inflicted damage. Why just now, not earlier?" Sairu asked. "That orb changes colour at differing times, and from what I can ascertain, the types of attacks we can injure them must depend on the colour. So far, white must mean that a physical attack will injure it, and red I feel, must be fire-based techniques" Lunar Bahamut explained. "But that's a problem. My speciality is swordsmanship, not sorcery; my magic skills are limited and those are centred around the element of light, not fire, ice or lightning. We may have to use our ultimate technique to defeat it once and for all" Sairu summarised himself. "That appears to be the only way we can win. We must use it this one time" Lunar Bahamut agreed, and then proceeded to fly right above the Phantom.
When they felt that they were in the right position, Lunar Bahamut opened his mouth and both he and Sairu began channelling their energy into a single sphere of energy. After several seconds, when the coalesced energy was successfully gathered, with an almighty roar, "Holy Flare!" Sairu exclaimed, the energy exploded and focused on the target below him. When the Phantom felt the immense energy upon it, it was far too late. The force of the blast was too strong for it to block and it was sent to the ground at a breakneck pace, until it collided with the roof of the gardens in the Fifth District. Once the technique faded, the Phantom remained face down on the roof where it was suddenly struck by the force of four simultaneous attacks from the four Game players, and the Phantom faded into darkness for good.
"Mission accomplished" Neku stated. "Yes" Shiki exclaimed with a fist pumping the air. "We did it" Rhyme cheered happily. "Who's awesome? We are, yo" Beat exclaimed joyously as he jumped up and down. Joshua then appeared on the rooftop alongside them, smiling in victory. "But, let's not forget: it wasn't just us; our friend up there was a big part" Joshua said as he pointed above where the figures in question were descending, until they were in line of sight. Sairu stepped off of his dragon companion, who in turn transformed into his miniature form atop Sairu's shoulders. "Well done. I did tell you we needed your help, so we owe you a great thank you, Sairu, and your dragon, too" Joshua said as he walked towards them. "Hey, glad to help" Sairu said with a beaming smile as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, thanks a lot, Sairu" Rhyme added cheerily. "Man, you really are awesome" Beat exclaimed as he wrapped an arm around Sairu's neck. "Thanks so much, Sairu" Shiki said as she approached as she gestured with Mr. Mew nodding his head. After speaking to each of them in turn, a voice they least expected to speak, spoke "Thanks, guys; you too, Sairu. You helped us. I guess I have to be grateful for that" Neku spoke up, much to everyone's surprise. "Hey, say that again" Sairu spoke, with humorous intent. Hearing this, Neku quickly blushed in embarrassment as he turned away. "Neku, embarrassed? Wow, I think we just saw a miracle" Joshua spoke aloud, which got everyone laughing, and unbeknownst to them, even Neku quietly chuckled.
Meanwhile, back in Twilight Town, Naminé was still hard at work, rearranging Sora's memories as best she could until she realized she couldn't continue, much to her horror. "Oh no..." She exclaimed, as DiZ walked up to her. "What has happened?" DiZ asked worriedly. "It's Sora... His memory has stopped" Naminé responded sadly. "Stopped?" DiZ said alarmed. "Unless something is done, he'll never wake from his slumber" Naminé added. "Then so be it. The gloves must come off" DiZ answered decisively. "But... what'll happen to..." Naminé said alarmed, but trailed off unable to comprehend what must be done. "Those Nobodies had no business existing in the first place- as you know fully well, Naminé" DiZ said sternly, as he turned to face her. Realizing there was indeed no other way, all Naminé could say was "Yes..."
A/N: Ok, another chapter has been said and done. Now with the next chapter, the time skip I mentioned will occur then. I'll be jumping to around day 354. Please, enjoy and review!