Larxene bolted at Kairi with such blazing speed, the Princess of Heart barely got her Keyblade up to defend. Larxene swiped and clawed like a ferocious animal, forcing Kairi to jump back, the knives barely missing her face. Unfortunately, Larxene used her momentum to whirlwind kick Kairi in the stomach. Kairi doubled over in pain as the wind was knocked out of her.

Larxene chuckled. "Aw, what's wrong, princess? I thought you were going to show me how strong you were with that heart of yours."

Kairi massaged her abdominals, shaking off the pain. "Kairi, you okay?" Naminé asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Kairi glared at her opponent.

"I see why you and Sora were meant to be together," Larxene laughed. "You both are totally pathetic!"

"Then how'd you die in the first place?" Kairi shot back. "Your acne medicine give you cancer?"

"How'd you...?" Larxene stopped herself. "You insolent brat! My complexion's much smoother than yours!"

"Really?" Kairi smirked. "I thought your skin was shiny because of all the oil clogging up your pores!"

"Shut up!" Larxene was no longer smiling. "How about I mess that pretty face of yours with these!" She wiggled the knives in her hands and started flinging them out in rapid succession.

Kairi found herself in a hailstorm of projectiles as Larxene threw her kunai with ferocious intent. She dodged and deflected as best as she could, but the knives managed to cut across her bare skin and outfit leaving deep gashes in their wake. "If I can't stop her attack, I'm going to end up grated like shredded cheese!" Kairi thought. Maybe due to the adrenaline pumping through her body or the stress starting to take its toll, an idea popped into Kairi's head. She aimed her Keyblade outward.

"GATHER!" The small orb of gravity appeared in front of her and redirected Larxene's knives toward its center, dissipating them. Kairi brushed her frizzled hair out of her face. "How'd you like that?!"

"Kairi, behind you!" Naminé yelled. Too late.

THWACK! Kairi felt the imprint of a boot slam into the center of her back. She whirled around and was shocked to see Larxene standing behind her. "What..." Kairi couldn't believe her eyes. The Savage Nymph was simultaneously behind and in front of her.

"Specialty of mine," Larxene giggled. "Just as lightning can split apart, I can too." Her hands sparked as more kunai appeared. "And FYI, princess..." The blonde's forms crackled with maliciousness in their eyes. "I haven't even shown you my true power yet."

"Hey, there's Leon!" Sora shouted from the sky. The two Keyblade masters finally caught up with Selphie and Leon's group.

Selphie ran up to them, worry etched on her face. "Sora! Have you seen Kairi?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, it seems that someone was after her and decided to resort to kidnapping."

Riku turned to Leon. "What's our status so far?"

Leon crossed his arms in thought. "The Heartless and Nobodies have Radiant Garden completely surrounded. It's as if they're concentrating all their forces to this particular world."

"Riku thinks that this entire battle is a distraction for something," Sora explained. "Kidnapping Kairi was only the start of their plan."

Riku shook his head. "The one thing that doesn't make sense is why they would choose to attack when almost everyone here is capable of fighting."

"Maybe they underestimated us," Olette suggested.

"The invitations for the wedding were public," Riku continued, "so whoever's behind this must have known that the guests would be able to fight back."

"But that's crazy!" Sora objected. "Security was supposed to confiscate all weapons before entering the main hall! There's no way they could've known the guests would've had their weapons!"

Riku gave him a hard look. "Sora, Goofy was in charge of security."

Sora stared back blankly. "So?"

Riku could only run his fingers down his face in annoyance. "You never did pick the brightest friends."

The entire group looked at Riku, clearly insulted. "Um...Riku? Aren't you my friend too?"

Riku's eyes widened at the realization that Sora was right. "Oh. My bad."

BZZZTTT! Larxene summoned thunderbolt after thunderbolt, forcing Kairi to run for her life. However, she was too preoccupied dodging that she ran right into one of Larxene's clones who wasted no time in delivering another powerful kick. The blow caught Kairi off-guard, causing her to step into a bolt's path.

"AAAAAAHHH!" she screamed. Every nerve ending seemed to be on fire as Kairi took a direct hit of electricity. As the current left her, Kairi found herself on the ground, her body involuntarily spasming and smoking.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Did that shock you?" Larxene cackled. Kairi staggered to her feet, struggling to stay conscious.

"Kairi! Hang in there!" Naminé said.

Kairi shook her head as her vision returned to normal. "Note to self: "Never try shock therapy, ever," she groaned, propping herself back up with the Keyblade.

"If you think two's bad..." Larxene and her clone teleported out of sight. Kairi's eyes scanned the battlefield, bracing herself for a surprise attack. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for what happened next. Multiple clones surrounded Kairi, circling around their prey like bloodthirsty sharks. They rammed into her at lightning fast speed, pummeling the Keyblade holder from all sides. Kairi heard a small POP! as she felt her entire right arm go numb with pain. She clutched it with her left hand, knowing full well that Larxene had just dislocated her shoulder from its socket. Larxene fused herself back together, grinning with glee.

"You know, maybe you aren't cut out for the big leagues after all. You should stick to playing damsel in distress."

"Like hell," Kairi growled through gritted teeth. Larxene teleported out of view getting ready for another quick multi-blitz. "She's going to home in on my position again, isn't she?"

"You know what they say," Naminé quoted, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice..."

Kairi immediately dropped into a full split. As soon as the first trace of electricity was around her, she swung the Keyblade over and around her head, thwacking all the incoming Larxene clones across their kneecaps. Now, it was Larxene's turn to hobble around.

"What's the matter, sore because you can't kick me anymore?" Kairi taunted as she stood back up. In response, Larxene whipped out her kunai and shoved them toward Kairi's face. The redhead raised her Keyblade to block, but was forced backward into a pillar. The combatants pushed against each other in a test of strength. However, Larxene was using her full weight and both hands while Kairi could only use her left arm and the pillar behind her for support.

"You're not strong enough, girl!" Larxene mocked as she pushed against Kairi's Keyblade even harder. Kairi could feel her knees start to give way to the intense pressure. "I can see the fear and doubt in your eyes. You were always the girl that everyone fawned over. Although you had your beauty and looks, you could never physically fight as well as your friends. You never had the strength or the gifted ability to fight back. All you could do was watch helplessly as the people that you cared about were taken from you." Larxene laughed again. "In the end, you're just a scared, weak little girl who can't do anything by yourself!"

Kairi knew what she had to do. She closed her eyes and opened her heart. Larxene's eyes widened in shock as Kairi started to push back with steadily increasing strength. Kairi could feel Naminé's power combine with Sora and Riku's hearts; their energy was pouring into hers. "You don't know anything about me, Larxene," Kairi said with a gentle smile. "I may not have the reckless courage and daring as Sora or the strength and wisdom that Riku has, but I possess something that's just as powerful that you'll never understand!"

With one final effort, she heaved Larxene away with her Keyblade. "My heart!" As Larxene's momentum shot her forward, Kairi pulled back her weapon and stabbed with all her might. "TAKE THIS!" Uncontained data bled from Larxene as the Keyblade impaled through her other side. Complete and utter disbelief was the last expression on Larxene's face before she dissolved back into data.

After Kairi found herself back in the Garden of Assemblage, she collapsed to the ground, weary and worn out. As she sat there, panting and catching her breath, Kairi raised the Keyblade over her head. "HEAL!" Magical bells appeared over her head and rang out a sweet chime. She could feel her shoulder pop back into place as well as all of her other injuries vanish. Her clothes remained in their disheveled and torn up state, though.

"I see why you hated her so much." Kairi sighed. "Well, it could've been worse."

"How so?" Naminé asked questionably.

"I could've been wearing that flimsy dress of yours. Two snips to those straps and we'd have been..."

"Don't...even say it, Kairi," Naminé said.