"Burn, baby!" Fire rippled out from Axel's position, blanketing the entire floor with magma. Fortunately for Kairi, her boots were flame-retardant, so she didn't have to worry about her footwear being set ablaze. Unfortunately, they didn't protect her from the sweltering heat. It was like sticking a two-layer waterproof glove into 200-degree Fahrenheit water. Her feet weren't getting burnt, but her boots were absorbing most of the heat.
"I'm so glad I paid that extra 1000 munny for fire protective boots!" Kairi thought.
"I thought these boots were Selphie's..." Naminé said.
"We went shopping together," Kairi explained. "And it seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Wow. Talk about being prepared," Naminé replied, obviously impressed.
Kairi giggled. "If I were prepared, I'd have bought the quick-dry wrinkle-free fabric with the pockets for this outfit as well."
With the grace of a ballerina dancer, Axel spun and twirled with his weapons, each strike aiming to kill. Kairi was starting to get the hang of guarding against attacks, but her strength was already leaking out of her. The constant attack barrage combined with the sweltering heat were beginning to overwhelm Kairi. Her once precise movements became clumsier and twice she almost burned herself against the fire wall.
"What's the problem?" Axel taunted. "Don't tell me you're giving up already!"
"Kairi! You're too exhausted!" Naminé shouted. "Let me fight!"
"Just...just for a little...while..." Kairi panted. She closed her eyes and felt herself giving up control of her own body as Naminé's consciousness emerged from within her.
Naminé's eyes snapped open as she swiped the Keyblade, ready to fight.
"Alright! It's my tur..." A smell of familiar burnt rubber wisped across Naminé's nose. She looked down and was horrified to see that the magma floor was melting the soles of her footwear. "Aah! My sandals!" Naminé hopped quickly from one foot to the other trying to avoid her feet being burned. "You know, on second thought, he's all yours!"
As Kairi felt control return to her body, she quickly noticed that her outfit was fresh and comfortable as if it were tailored and dry-cleaned and her hair was back to its silky, smooth state. Physically, she was undamaged, but mentally, Kairi felt like she would collapse at any moment. "Sorry, Kairi," Naminé apologized. "I guess my footwear wasn't created for extreme heat."
Kairi rolled her eyes. "Thanks a lot, Naminé."
"Man, these guys are tough!" Tidus shouted over the clanging of weapons. The Berserkers were too over-powered for Tidus and Wakka to deal with on their own. Auron was trying his best to attack with his "Battlefields of War", but the massive Nobodies were quickly ganging up on him.
"There'll be no end to this!" Auron grunted through bared teeth.
"Come on, old man!" Wakka teased as he ricocheted his Blitzball off Nobody after Nobody. "We can keep this up all day!"
"We're wasting time!" Auron snapped. "We have to finish this now or retreat!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the entire battle halted as the crow of a rooster cried out from nowhere.
"What the...?" Wakka was the first one to see him. "Look up there!" A boy in green tights and a feathered cap swooped out of nowhere and needle-dived into one of the Berserkers, destroying it.
"Who the heck is this guy, Robin Hood?" Tidus wondered.
"Whoever he is, he can sure kick butt!" Wakka said. The boy that never grew up flew back up into the sky to get a birds-eye view of the situation.
"Well, it doesn't look like Sora's here either," Peter Pan said to Tinker Bell who was tinkling around his head. "Are you sure that he was heading in this direction?" Tinker Bell only crossed her arms and pouted. "Come on, Tink! You're not still sore about Disney finally giving you a voice, are you?" When she refused to make eye contact, Peter shrugged. "Anyway, it looks like those people need some help!"
Peter went into a corkscrew dive and grabbed a hold of Tidus. "Need a lift?" Peter Pan hoisted Tidus under the arms and flew into the sky.
Tidus marveled at the new perspective. "Don't know who you are," Tidus said thankfully as he targeted himself over a couple of Berserkers, "but if you could just fly a few inches to the right...there!" With increasing altitude, Peter held onto Tidus, who had his sword ready and willing to do some serious damage. Streams of blue energy burst from his sword and rained down onto the battlefield, frying anything in its path.
"Hey, watch it!" Wakka cried as a few stray beams almost hit him.
"That's not going to be enough, though," Auron said grimly. "You three might want to get back for this." As soon as Wakka, Tidus and Peter were a good distance away, a wind tunnel started to circle around Auron's body. The wind velocity picked up rapidly as Auron flung the hurricane at the Berserkers. Like a vacuum cleaner's powerful suction, the remaining Nobodies were lifted off their feet.
With all the Berserkers trapped inside the swirling tornado, Auron reached into his coat, pulled out a jug of alcohol and flung it straight into the swirling wind. As soon as the container shattered on contact, the entire mass burst into flames, incinerating all the Nobodies.
Tidus and Wakka looked at Auron in awe. "Why didn't you do that before?!" Tidus screamed.
"If you'd have preferred I did it when you were in range..." Auron began rhetorically.
Before Tidus could reply, Peter yelled, "Hey! Have you seen the groom anywhere?"
Tidus, Wakka and Auron just stared at the flying boy. "And here I thought I've seen everything," Auron muttered. Then to Peter, "No. We've been looking for him, though."
"Man, my throwing arm is killing me," Wakka complained, stretching out his rotator cuff. "How many of these creatures are there?"
"Heartless." Tidus and Wakka looked up at Auron. "That's their name. Heartless."
"Really?" Tidus ruffled his hair. "I remember Sora and Riku saying something about them."
"But they're usually black and bug-like, ya?" Wakka asked.
Auron squinted at him. "If that's true, then these creatures names are unknown to me."
"Hey, since we're looking for the same thing, why don't you come with us?" Tidus asked Peter enthusiastically.
Peter Pan thought it over for a moment. "Alright, but we're only in this together until we find Sora!"
The group started heading north. "Why exactly are you looking for him?" Wakka asked.
"I had something urgent to ask him involving the wedding," Peter replied.
"I just hope those fairies can find the others," Tidus muttered under his breath. "This feels like a big waste of time running around in circles."
Naminé moaned in frustration. She wanted to fight Axel face-to-face, but the lava-like floor prevented her from staying out too long. Naminé also noticed that switching back and forth with Kairi put a massive strain on their heart. They wouldn't physically be damaged, but the switch would always sap both of their strength a bit.
It had been more than five hours since Kairi and Sora were at the wedding hall about to exchange vows. Four hours before that, Kairi had just woken up from a troubled sleep. She was so worried about the marriage that she barely slept two hours. Despite using Curaga and "form-switching" with Naminé, the exhaustion was catching up with her.
"Get back!" Axel threw his chakrams like giant, flat yo-yos. He performed tricks that even an expert would have a hard time performing: "Around the World" while flipping sideways, behind the back and underneath his legs; he even was able to pull off a double "Warp Drive" followed with a "Time Warp." Kairi could only weakly parry or deflect the attacks with her Keyblade.
"Stay focused, Kairi!" Naminé shouted. "Don't let down your guard!"
"Won't forget this!" Rings of flame swirled around Axel's body as he channeled his energy into his weapons. Instinct screamed at her to avoid the attack at all costs, forcing Kairi to flee out of range. Then like a frisbee champion, he tossed his chakrams with pinpoint precision straight at her retreating form.
Kairi shrieked as a stray chakram nicked her butt. "Hey! Watch where you aim those things!" she shouted, rubbing her bottom.
"Come on, Kairi! You should know by now never to leave your back exposed to an opponent!" Axel wagged a finger at her. "One of life's little rules. Got it memorized?" Before Kairi could react, Axel leapt backward into the fire behind him.
"Where'd he go?" Kairi constantly shifted her position, attempting to track Axel's movements behind the flame wall.
She only had a split-second to react when Axel burst out from her right side. Kairi backflipped out of the way as the Flurry of Dancing Flames skated by her, leaving a streak of fire pillars in his wake. Before she could make a move, Axel jumped back into the wall.
"He's not going to do the whole Luxord thing again, is he?" Kairi panted. She was feeling faint from heat exhaustion which made it hard to keep thinking.
"Kairi, your energy's dangerously low!" Naminé warned. "You have to finish this NOW!" Kairi nodded as she lifted her Keyblade wearily.
Axel exploded from the wall, hurtling toward Kairi. This time, however, she was ready. Using the last of her strength, she high-jumped into the air until she reached Axel's level. They stared into each other's eyes as time seemed to suspend them both.
Their paths intersected with each other and Kairi swung her weapon the same time Axel sliced with his.
As their weapons made contact, a brilliant burst of light blinded both combatants. Kairi and Axel both landed on the extinguished magma-free tiling, waiting with tense anticipation. The only audible sounds were their heavy breathing against the crackling flames. Whose attack hit first?
Kairi was shocked as Axel broke the silence. "Not bad, Kairi," Turning to face her opponent, she saw him collapse to his knees. "You'll make a great Keyblade master yet."
"Flattery will get you nowhere," Kairi replied as she leaned on her Keyblade for support.
Axel lifted his gaze, staring into the redhead's soot-filled face. "Let's meet again in the next life."
Kairi nodded. "We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other."
Naminé giggled. "Admit it. You SO stole that from Leon."
"And Axel?" Kairi gave him a gentle smile. "I forgive you."
Axel shook his head in amusement. "I see why Sora loves you so much. You really do complete him."
"I try my best," Kairi replied. Axel let out a short chuckle.
"Just never lose sight of your light in the darkness," Axel said. "It's the only thing that'll save you." His form's glitching was speeding up rapidly like a virus.
Kairi's eyes widened. "Wait! What do you mean by that?!"
Axel's head hung low, a man with a forbidden secret. "Commit it to memory. That's all I have to say."
"Axel..." In the back of Kairi's mind, she could hear Naminé sobbing.
"Oh, almost forgot." Axel pointed to his neck as his body dissolved back into data. "You weren't exactly..." His voice trailed off as he faded back into nothingness.
Kairi stood there for a few seconds trying to figure out what Axel was trying to say. It took the feeling of a warm liquid gliding smoothly down her neck before she realized. Her hand flew to her neck and felt a deep gash that was bleeding steadily.
"Kairi! Cast Curaga!" Naminé shouted. Kairi was about to raise her Keyblade to cast it, but she started to feel that strange sensation in her heart again. Her body swayed on the spot as she became light-headed. Her muscles slackened as the surroundings swirled around her.
Kairi didn't know if she was sitting or standing. All she could think about was sinking down into the comfortable light that surrounded her body. Naminé's voice echoed in her mind, but it rapidly faded into white noise. The last thing that Kairi remembered was hearing her own voice whispering, "Sora..."