Part I. Truth about Riku and Windelle
Once we were out of 'Destiny Islands', we finally saw Naminé and approached her.
"It isn't you.", Sora said to her. "The person most special to me-- It's not you… Right?"
"No. The girl you really care about… The one who was always with you… It's not me. It's her."
"But then who…who is she? Cuz I can't…think of her name. If she's so special to me, then why can't I remember?"
She started to reply, "Because I want into your memories and--" but she broke into tears.
"Kairi is the girl special to him, right, Naminé?", I said.
"Who are you two?", referring to me and Florina.
Before we could introduce ourselves, Riku and Windelle butted into the conversation saying. "Let US explain for Naminé about your memory problem."
"Plain and simple.", Riku continued as he approached us and blocked Naminé from us. "Your memory is a train wreck. You're not the one who's meant to protect Naminé. It's supposed to be me! But you and your messed-up memories are always in the way, Sora!"
Then Riku got ready for battle.
"WINDELLE! Stop this madness! Don't you see that Riku has gone completely insane to the point he wants to kill his best friend?!", Florina demanded.
"A promise is a promise, no matter what.", Windelle said as he prepared to fight as well.
"Are you sure you're staying with him because of that promise? It's because you don't deem to be reluctant at all to eliminate us!", I said as the three of us got ready to fight while Naminé retreated to a corner. Then the 'battle matrix' initiated. (I seem to use this sentence before EVERY battle; I can't help it at all.)
In this battle, The two of them have become a real pain, while our former strategy worked for a while, Riku and Windelle suddenly did a Dark Aura sleight, as we had witnessed back at our battle with them at Hollow Bastion. We were attacked real bad at the first one, I managed to Card Break the next one with a combination of two Attack Cards and a Friend Card (which would be of Florina, who appears next to me and does two charge shots, intensifying in power as more of her card is stocked). Then after exchanging a lot more strikes and shots, Sora and I finished off with Ragnarok and Taiyou, sending off 2 strong beams of light at Riku and Windelle. We then got the goodies, the Riku card and the Windelle Card (prevents enemy from breaking Friend Cards).
As the 'battle matrix' dissipated, they fell to their knees but when Sora and I approached them (Florina was at the side), they fired a dark blast which sent us to the wall. They then approached us saying that they were the winner. Despite Naminé's pleas, they readied their weapons to finish us off. Finally, Naminé shouted for them to stop and at the same time, Florina fired at Windelle's head, and both he and Riku fell over. As Sora and I struggled to get up, Naminé was crying silently and I saw a tear drop fall from Florina's face.
Part II. The Truth about Naminé
"What did you do?", Sora asked Naminé, referring to Riku and Windelle. "What did you do to them?" Just then, Larxene and Yellow Ranger appeared.
Larxene answered, "Broke their hearts. I'd say more like she smashed them, really."
"Smashed!… their heart?!", Sora said. "Then…what's gonna… What's gonna happen to Riku?"
"Don't forget Windelle.", I added.
Yellow Ranger then laughed maniacally, then said, "Oh you're so much fun to watch. If it's Riku you're worried about, then don't. Because Riku was never really here. Same goes for Windelle."
"What do you mean?", I demanded.
"Do you really think I'm just gonna say it? That's too easy! Oh, what to do?"
"Quit the games!", Sora shouted, then ran for Larxene who merely kicked him away.
"All right, have it your way, then.", Larxene told Sora. "I know, it'll kill you to hear this, but I think I can live with that. Those thing lying there are puppets Vexen and Cyan Ranger made as an experiment. No more than a toy."
"It's laughable, really.", Yellow Ranger remarked. "It called you a fake, but IT was the fabrication all along."
"Not Riku? Not Windelle? Fakes!?"
"Fake in every possible way. They were only finished recently. How could they remember anything?"
As she picked up the replicas, Larxene said, "You get it? Its memories with Naminé were just planted, not real."
When Yellow Ranger threw away the replicas like a broken toy, she continued, "Yup. That means, all this time, it's been picking fights with you over memories that were counterfeit, trumped up, and completely bogus. Isn't that the truth, Naminé? Behind that cute little face you do some awful things."
"Naminé?…", Sora called out.
"You're so stupid. Don't you get it now? That's what Naminé's powers are about. She can enter, rearrange, and even create new memories of anything, even things that never happened. The girl you've been trying to protect all this time is a manipulative witch who shackles people's hearts!"
"Then…my memories…are all…"
"Oh, you do get it!", Larxene finished for him. "Lies, lies. All lies! Just Naminé's illusions, nothing more. Binding you in the chains of your own memory was central to our trap. It makes me tingle to how easily you were duped. So close to it--we were almost there. This was our only chance to turn the Keyblade master into our puppet, and the Gunners of Light too (so far, me and Florina), but-- that jerk Axel, without Red Ranger at that -- he used Naminé to betray us!" She then summoned her kunai between her left fingers, while Yellow Ranger called out her left-hand dagger.
"So now, we're left with no other preferable choice but to eliminate you!"
As the two of them approached, Naminé and Florina blocked their way.
"Huh? It's a little late to grow a conscience, Naminé.", Yellow Ranger said.
"And for you, Gunner of Light, we shall deal with you after them. Last time we checked, dear Naminé, YOU'RE the one who fooled around with Sora's memories creating this mess."
"I know, but--", Naminé began to say, however, Larxene interrupted her confession, saying, "I should tell you that I am in an EXTREMELY foul mood. (At this point, Larxene summoned her other set of kunai while Yellow Ranger called out her right dagger) Thanks to you, all our plans are ruined!"
And in her rage, she pushes Naminé over next to the replicas. Yellow Ranger did the same with Florina before she could even call out her RefLuxGun.
"Naminé!", Sora called out.
"Florina!", I called out.
"What's this?", Yellow Ranger said to Sora. "Are you upset? And you don't even actually know her!"
"Maybe not. But still…I made…a promise.", Sora answered.
"What?", Larxene said in disbelief.
"A promise I made to Naminé to keep her safe. Maybe my memories are fake. But the promise is real to me. That's why--I'll keep it."
"While Florina is definitely not a stranger to me, that was a severely offensive action you did to Naminé.", I countered to the two lightning users.
"Hmph. Such idiots.", Yellow Ranger said. "There is no promise and there never was! You're just delusional. Must you insist on playing the hero? Whatever. If that's the way you want it… You two are going down and the girl (Florina) will be next!"
They then came at us, but we see Goofy and Gregorio jump out in front and try to knock them back but Larxene and Yellow Ranger jumped away in time. A ball of ice then followed and struck them. A Curaga on us followed as Yoris and Donald came into the scene.
"Not if we can stop you!", Yoris called out.
"You have to go through us!", Goofy said.
"Donald! Goofy! You found me!", Sora said to his friends as he got up.
"Yoris! Gregorio! You're back!", I said as I got up as well.
"Of course we did. We were worried about you!", Goofy replied.
"And we promised! We promised that we would protect you!", Donald said.
"By the way, the 'mission' you assigned to us was a success!", Yoris told me.
"We weren't about to let you, Sora, and Florina have all the credit!", Gregorio remarked snidely. "We won't separate anymore. It's been the seven of us since we started taversing this castle and we stick together…"
"And that's how it will be! At least until the end of our journey here!", Yoris finished (But for this battle, Florina is unavailable).
After they recovered from the ice ball, Larxene and Yellow Ranger replied. "Okay…Have it your way. More pain for you means more fun for us!" The 'battle matrix' then initiated.
The first thing Sora did was perform Thunder Raid (which was unlocked by efforts from Gregorio and Yoris), but I did not do Bolt Discus since our foes are Thunder-affiliated and that they would heal (but since their HP are full they won't benefit from it). After the 'attack', Larxene responded by performing a Sleight called Teleport Rush: She warps around Sora, striking him from the back, then to the front, then back again. When Yellow Ranger was about to do the same, I immediately did a Card Break (since I would not be able to defend against it well) with three Gregorio Friend Cards, which results in him doing a mimic of Sora's Sonic Blade. Sora then performed a Gravity Raid while I performed Weight Discus (which mirrors the ability Sora's using now). Both struck our opponents and we followed up with a Stop Raid and Time Discus, which succeeded again. After hacking and blasting away at them for some time, they got back in time and did a Teleport Rush at us. I countered that with a Haste on Sora and myself as we dodged with less effort than before. After their sleight was over, Sora performed Aqua Splash while I did a Quake, which caught them both by surprise. I then did a Bind on Yellow Ranger while Sora slashed away at her, avoiding Larxene all the while. Once Yellow Ranger's HP was critical, I preformed Synchro on her, resulting in the Savage Nymph's HP to go critical as well. Before they could perform another attack, Sora and I struck them, resulting in their defeat. After we got the goodies and their cards (Yellow Ranger's card mimic's Larxene's), the 'battle matrix' dissipated.
Part III. The Reason Why
We were now in front of Larxene and Yellow Ranger, exhausted from the battle, but still standing.
"No…No!", Yellow Ranger rambled. "We… refuse to… lose… to such a bunch of… losers!" She then fainted 'powered down', revealing (what the?) a doppelganger of Larxene in a yellow frilly blouse, and jeans.
Just then, dark lines and blurred lines were appearing around Larxene (soon, I realized she was fading into darkness). "I think I'm…I'm fading?! No, this isn't…the way I…I won't…ALLOW…" By then, Larxene was gone, and left one of her kunai. I pulled out my Delta Device, and accused the still unconscious Yellow Ranger for offensive actions against Naminé.
When the device proclaimed her "Guilty", I promptly 'contained' her (I needed to blame her for something bad, be it a sin or a crime, to be able to capture someone, after revealing them to be "Guilty" of course). After picking up the knife and having it end up flying to Yoris' cannon. We all then looked to the left, where Naminé was kneeling helplessly with Florina trying to comfort her.
"You must be Naminé!", Goofy said. "It's good to meet ya. We're friends of Sora and my name is--"
"Goofy, and the other one is Donald.", Naminé finished referring to Sora's closest buddies. "But, for some reason, I do not know the names of the other four."
"Oh.", Sora said. "The one with glasses (I sighed) is Rael, your 'look-alike' here is Florina, the tall one with the spear is Gregorio, the guy with the bazooka is Yoris."
"How did you know my name and Goofy's?", Donald wondered while Goofy congratulated Sora for finding Naminé.
Just then, Jiminy jumped out from Sora's back, saying, "Gee, there sure are a lot of questions… Naminé, I know this probably won't be easy for you… but could you tell us what happened?"
"Of course.", Naminé replied as she stood up. "It's my fault, after all. I took the people and memories that were inside Sora's heart…and little by little, I replaced them with false memories."
"What about Sora's promise?", Donald asked.
"Made up. It was fake. He never really promised me anything. Me being with him on the islands-- that was a lie just like everything else. We never met. I was never Sora's friend--"
"And you were never anything more--either…", Sora finished.
"No. You see, in all of your true memories, I was never really there."
"Gee.", Jiminy said. "Then that must mean it was your magic that made me Donald, and Goofy lose our memories, too. But our four friends here seem to have retained them. I wonder how."
Just then, our Memory Shield Helmets appeared for a second for everyone to see, then vanished again.
"Oh.", Naminé said. "So that's why I could not sense you and tamper with your memories; those helmets have a way of hiding your minds from me."
"I see.", Jiminy realized. "Well, is there any way for them to ever get their memories back, Naminé?"
"I can fix everything if we go to the thirteenth floor. But Marluxia and Pink Ranger, they--"
"Bet I know who they are. Were they the ones who made you do this to us?"
"If I didn't obey, they said I'd be locked in this castle forever. I've been alone for so long…"
"So you did what he told you do because of loneliness?", Gregorio asked.
"I'm so sorry…"
"Don't be. Please don't cry…", Sora then said, to my surprise.
"Oh… Of course. I know I really don't have the right to."
"That's not what I meant!"
"What?"
"It's like this… I'm really not happy about you messing with my memories. But…you know-- I can't really get mad at you for it either."
"Sensible.", I muttered. "After all, while Naminé is responsible, she did not do it voluntarily."
Sora continued, "These memories you gave me… In my head, I know they're lies-- but they still feel right. Like the promise I made. I said I would protect you and that I wouldn't make you cry…not ever. …If you cry now-- I'll feel guilty, like I let you down. So don't cry…please. Until I get my memories back, smile and try to be happy. It's easier on me that way."
"Sora…", Naminé began to say.
Yoris sighed and said, "Oh, brother! That's a bit much."
"It's okay.", Goofy replied. "Sora always gets like this every time he's around a girl!"
"Hey!", Florina snapped back. "Cut it out! Didn't you lose your memories as well?"
Donald then laughed and said, "Too bad, good friends don't forget the good stuff."
"You mean Naminé didn't bother to erase that, right?", I said.
Goofy then laughed. Gregorio and Yoris followed. Then Florina and me, next was Naminé.
"There! That's it!", Sora told her. "That's the Naminé I remember. Yeah…I really liked it when you used to smile."
"In your fake memories, that is.", Florina reminded him.
"But what I'm feeling now definitely is real."
"Thank you.", Naminé said.
"Well, then, let's go."
"Oh boy!", Donald said in glee. "I can't wait to get my memory back!"
"Naminé, Marluxia and Pink Ranger is gonna be up there.", Goofy said. "So maybe you'd better stay down here."
"Yeah. maybe you could look after Riku and Windelle? We'll come get you when it's over."
"Okay.", she replied.
"Wait a second.", I said. "What if 'they' kidnap Naminé while we are coming to get them? Shouldn't she come along with us so we can make sure."
"And leave Riku and Windelle behind?", Sora countered.
"Of course not. We'll take them along."
"And just how are we gonna do that?"
"My bag here has got a lot of things. I'm sure we could find something to solve this problem."
But for some reason, I didn't so I gave up and said, "Let's hope Marluxia and Pink Ranger don't find out about this."
As we headed to the thirteenth floor, Naminé told us to be careful. We waved at her, then proceeded to climb the stairs.