"Hey, Kairi?"
"Yes, Sora?"
"Remember that note you sent? You know, the one inside that bottle?"
"What about it?"
"How exactly did you know that I would eventually receive it?"
"To be honest, I didn't."
"And you did it anyway?"
"Pretty much. But..."
"But what?"
"There's something that I didn't tell you."
"What's that?"
"That wasn't the only note in a bottle that I sent out."
"Huh?"
"Um, I really missed you and all, so I ended up tossing a bottle in the ocean every day."
"A bottle...every day?"
"Yeah..."
"So what you're saying...is that you littered the entire ocean with hundreds of bottles and hoped that at least one of them would've made it to me, even though it was a million-to-one shot that they would even leave this world?"
"This from the guy who could Super Glide great distances, but couldn't even manage to jump across five feet and left his future fiancée by herself in the first place?"
"Touché. Where exactly did you get all the bottles?"
"I walked with Selphie every day after school and bought a bottle of milk."
"And you were actually okay with buying milk every day?"
"Sora. You think I became this well-endowed without drinking enough milk?"
"What are you talking ab...oh."
"Sora?"
"Yes, Kairi?"
"Quit staring. My eyes are up here."
"Oh, sorry. Who would've thought that one letter would end up changing our lives?"
"It could be worse."
"How so?"
"The letter could've been some lame plot device that would send you on another adventure that involved searching for Riku for the third time in a row, stabbing yourself with the Keyblade and leaving me on the island acting as a Mary Sue...again."
"Heh. Maybe in some alternate future."
"Well, isn't this a #$%ing predicament?" Cid and Marluxia's weapons were locked together as they struggled against one another. "What the hell are you supposed to be, sunshine..." Cid grunted. "...gay?"
"You insolent little..." Marluxia roared. Enraged, the Graceful Assassin shoved the Gummi mechanic away from their parry and swung his scythe straight down onto his head.
Before the blade made contact, Jack Skellington tackled Marluxia with enough force to temporarily stun him.
"Surprise!" Jack clapped Marluxia's head between his bony hands, further enraging the Graceful Assassin. Without even thinking, Marluxia spun the scythe in his hands and lashed out at the Pumpkin King, trails of petals streaming from the weapon's path. Using his unmatched flexibility, Jack bent the upper half of his body backward, the scythe whizzing by harmlessly. His upper half snapped upright and he twisted his bony face in the most grotesque expression yet.
"BOO!" Taken off guard, Marluxia instinctively took a step back. With Number XI distracted, Cid grabbed the opportunity to Dragon Dive from above. Skellington leapt out of range of the resulting explosion. The dust cleared to reveal Cid's spear wedged in the earth between Marluxia's legs. As Cid struggled to remove his spear from the ground, Marluxia jumped backward and swung his scythe, forming an energy wave that blasted its unlucky victim back with an enormous slash.
Meanwhile, Xaldin was getting increasingly frustrated with the Lord of the Jungle. Despite the six lance advantage, Tarzan was bobbing and weaving through every one of his swipes.
"Stay still, you animal!" As far as Tarzan was concerned, Xaldin's weapons were nothing more than a jungle gym. Although the Whirlwind Lancer was distracted by the opponent in front of him, the only other available fighter could only stand helplessly out of attack range. Because of his current human state, the former Beast knew he wouldn't have been able to react fast enough to dive into the fray.
"Who would've thought that regaining my humanity would also give me back my sense of mortality?" the Prince thought.
"ENOUGH!" Xaldin roared. Metal crashed through wood as he smashed through Tarzan's spear, splintering it in two. As if in response, the human gorilla snatched one of Xaldin's floating lances and slashed it across its owner's face. Temporarily blinded, Xaldin lashed out with all six of his lances like a giant blade. Tarzan managed to leap on top of one of the outstretched lances, ran along its length and headbutted Xaldin in the face with a concussion-forced blow, forcing the Whirlwind Lancer to the ground.
Not wanting to lose the opportunity of fighting an opponent on more even terms, the Prince charged in, his claws at the ready. Unfortunately, the lack of speed gave Xaldin enough time to recover. A victim of momentum, the Prince's eyes widened as one of Xaldin's lances gutted straight through him like a fish. His hands attempted to close around the lance, trying to pull the obstruction out of him, but his strength was fading fast and the claws on his hands made it almost impossible to get a good enough grip.
"You made a better beast than a human," Xaldin scoffed. The mortally wounded Prince sank to his knees, unable to remain standing. Adding insult to injury, Xaldin effortlessly lifted the lance in the air with its victim still skewered.
"At least I wasn't beaten up by girls," the Prince coughed.
"Your precious Belle took me by surprise!" Xaldin cracked his lance like a whip, cleanly sliding its victim off and leaving him bleeding in the dirt.
Cid picked himself off the ground and rushed toward the dying Prince.
"Get out of here!"
"I'm...not through yet..." the Prince growled through gritted teeth.
"Now's not the time to argue! That was a clean thrust through your internal organs and I know for a fact that it's very rare that anyone can be in fighting condition from an attack like that!" Cid whipped around toward Jack. "Get him to safety! Me and Mr. Loincloth will hold them off!" Before the Prince could protest any further, Skellington scooped him up in his deceivingly thin arms and strode for safety.
"Belle..." the Prince silently cried, "...forgive me."
Tarzan's knuckles and feet padded along the dusty terrain as he strode up next to Cid and offered him back his dislodged spear. Cid gave a quick sniffle, wiping his nose with his thumb as he tightened his grip on the regained possession.
"Alright, you &*! #$!" He twirled the spear in his palm. "Bring it!"
"Come on!" Xaldin beckoned.
The two heroes lunged at Xaldin, vengeful intent flashing in their eyes. Xaldin charged to meet them, his Lindworms already pointed at their victims.
Cid hurled his spear directly into Xaldin's Aeroga shield where it immediately began hovering amongst the rest of the lances. Before Xaldin could contemplate why his opponent would deliberately sacrifice his weapon, Tarzan and Cid managed to grab a lance each and started attacking him with his own weapons. Number III tried to concentrate on summoning back his spears, but for every one that he managed to take back, another one was swiped in its place. The battle began to become reminiscent of a certain double-sided lightsaber duel.
All Xaldin could do was grasp a lance in each hand and parry oncoming attacks, forcing him to go defensive.
"Cid!" The Highwind pilot was briefly startled not by Tarzan's warning, but that he was actually speaking any English at all. Catching a sudden blur of pink out of the corner of his eye, Cid instinctively plucked his own spear out of the lances and parried Marluxia's scythe.
"Forgot about me?" Cid shoved Marluxia's weight off him and swiped his spear to give himself breathing room.
With the two Organization members surrounding them from both sides and without any other allies available to support them, Tarzan and Cid were effectively outmatched by Xaldin and Marluxia.
"Do you want to scream?" Marluxia asked, a cold smirk forming on his lips.
"Hey, that's my line!" The Pumpkin King sprang out from behind Marluxia and slammed his foot on the scythe, embedding it into the ground. Skellington followed up with a graceful spin kick to the face, knocking Marluxia's grip from his weapon. With an effortless twirl, Jack casually landed near Cid and Tarzan. "Are you two alright?"
"Nothing a Hi-Potion won't fix," Cid sniffed. "How's Mr. Chivalrous?"
"He'll be fine. He's being taken care of by that Pence fellow."
"You know, Xaldin..." Marluxia's body began to become engulfed by wisps of darkness. "I think we've been playing with these fools long enough."
Xaldin responded with a Cheshire-like grin. The Org members glowed with rapidly increasing brightness, signaling that they were ready to bring out their ultimate trump cards.
"What the #^ &!" Cid, Jack and Tarzan shielded their eyes from the sudden brightness.
"Stay on guard!" the Pumpkin King warned.
The light faded to reveal a giant humanoid Nobody that towered over the fighters. It resembled an angel of death with Marluxia's scythe in hand, his true power unleashed. Xaldin sidled up next to him riding his giant spear-formed dragon, its gaping mouth building up power.
"You'll now know REAL fear!" Marluxia taunted.
Jack scratched a spindly finger on his skull. "I'll give them credit for execution, but the presentation could've been better. One bright light doesn't exactly scream 'Fear me'."
Cid couldn't help but sigh. "What I would give to be fighting Shinra right about now?"
"#$%*$#," Tarzan said. Cid nodded.
"Took the words right out of my mouth."
"Hey, Tron?" Hayner pointed his blade at Lexaeus." What's your scouter say about his power level?"
"Well, according to these readings..." Tron furrowed his brow. "It's over nine..."
"Oh, will you two shut up already?!" Lexaeus snapped. "You know how annoying that stupid cliché is?! I mean, seriously!" His eyebrow twitched spasmodically.
"So much for being a 'Silent Hero," Tidus snickered.
"Are you guys serious?" Leon rubbed the bridge of his nose with the tips of his fingers. "That joke is so dated, it's not even funny."
"What joke?" Tron asked with a puzzled look.
"Move aside!" Saix snarled, pushing past Lexaeus. "These fools are dead!" Still powered by the faux Kingdom Hearts, he charged at Tidus and Hayner with berserk fury.
Not ones to back down from a challenge (even with the mismatch in power) the two boys lunged directly at the furious Luna Divider with their weapons at the ready.
His ragged blue hair flowing with energy, Saix whirled his claymore and slammed it down repeatedly, sending blue shockwaves that knocked Tidus and Hayner down gracelessly on their behinds.
While Saix was still intensely focused on the two teens, Tron attempted to slow down the berserker with a well-aimed throw to the face. The projectile almost hit its target when Lexaeus came in to swing his giant tomahawk, swatting back Tron's disc with such force that when Tron reached out to retrieve it, everything below his left elbow was blown off, leaving nothing but fragmented data bits in its place.
Tron collapsed onto one knee, staring at his digitally dismembered stump of an arm.
"Tron!" Leon rushed up to his wounded ally's side. "Hold on! I've got a..." He made a motion to reach for a Mega Potion, but his pockets came up mysteriously empty.
"I'm attempting to repair my data, but..." He gave Leon a worried look. "...I don't seem to have that ability here in the User world."
"Damn it! Where's Aerith when you need her?" Leon took a quick look around the battlefield and spotted Aerith being blasted by Larxene's lightning. "Okay, Plan B. Get to somewhere safe and see if you can find someone with a healing item." His Gunblade clicked as he shouldered it. "I'd go with you, but I can't leave the kids." Tron nodded.
"Understandable. Good luck." And with that Tron made for an escape to find sanctuary.
"Can't run!" Lexaeus shouted. A fiery aura burst from his body as he attempted to bumrush Tron with his giant girth.
"NO!" Leon's Gunblade shone with light as its owner raised it toward the sky. A single beam of light extended from the blade before Leon brought it crackling down into Lexaeus' path with a thunderous crash, forcing the behemoth to alter his trajectory.
Tron gave an appreciative nod toward Leon before making it to safety.
Meanwhile, Hayner and Tidus scrambled back to their feet, embarrassed and angry that they had been taken down so easily.
"Did that really just happen?" Hayner coughed. "To US of all people?"
"As Auron would probably say, 'This is your story and you're the comedy relief.'"
"Not on my watch!" Hayner's Gunblade clacked with fury. "Let's try this again!" Sharing a quick, subtle nod, the two boys ran at Saix for a second strike.
The Luna Divider had his eyes closed with his arms raised to the heavens, recharging his expended energy from the Kingdom Hearts in the sky. He seemed completely unperturbed that he was about to be attacked again.
Before they managed to get within five feet, Lexaeus' hulking body dropped from the sky and slammed the earth, causing powerful tremors to radiate from underneath his feet. The teenagers became nerve-rackingly numb as the quakes ripped through them. Hayner could barely control his body as the Gunblade began slipping from his shaking fingers. Tidus desperately tried to remain upright as he instinctively pedaled backwards.
Saix's eyes snapped open with renewed rage as he hurled his claymore at his closest target. Hayner tried to bring up his weapon to defend himself, but the sheer strength of the throw knocked the Gunblade flying out of his hands. He watched helplessly as the weapon twirled end over end until it pierced itself into the ground with a dull "SHOONK!"
"Hayner!" Tidus shouted. He attempted to run, but the teenager hadn't regained his equilibrium yet, causing him to trip over his own feet. Leon ran as fast as he could, but he knew he wouldn't make it in time.
"BE GONE!" Saix raised his claymore with killing intent in his eyes. Hayner cringed at the instrument of his destruction cutting through the air. It seemed that Saix would bring the underaged minor defeat count up to six...
...until a molten fireball slammed him in the face. As Saix roared with pain, Hayner could only stare in astonishment.
"Well, isn't this romantic?" came the familiar voice. Hayner's eyes widened as Seifer came walking in with his usual swagger. "Looks like you should've been the one to go back to Twilight Town." Hovering around his head was the unmistakable form of...
"Yuna!" Tidus cried. The faerie waved enthusiastically at him. "What are you doing here?!"
"I could ask the same to you," Hayner said as he quickly stood up, brushing himself off. Seifer smirked.
"I had some unfinished business with this loser," Seifer said, jerking his head toward Saix.
That's when Hayner recognized the weapon Seifer was wielding. "Hey! That's mine!"
Seifer only smirked, shouldering the newly acquired Gunblade. "You lost it, fair and square. Besides..." The weapon began to radiate with a faint, but powerful aura. "I think this fits me better than you."
"It wasn't easy to get here," Yuna explained. "Rikku and Paine are on the other side of this portal keeping the link open." She motioned toward a swirling, rainbow portal behind her.
"But won't the Organization be able to exit through this end?" Leon asked.
"No one can use this portal unless I allow them to."
"Well, we've got injured. Do you think you can transport them to safety?"
"INCOMING!" Seifer's warning snapped the group out of their conversation. Lexaeus and Saix charged at the group in a pincer formation.
"Hayner! Get behind me!" Weaponless, Hayner had no choice but to hide behind Leon.
"You little..." Saix's claymore scraped the ground behind him, his glowing eyes pierced Seifer with intense anger.
"Show me what you got!" Seifer raised the Gunblade. "I'll show you who's the better man!" The claymore slammed into the ground, causing a neon blue shockwave to pulsate outward. Unlike Tidus and Hayner, Seifer was able to jump high enough to avoid the attack.
"Come on! Don't leave me hanging!" Seifer taunted.
Meanwhile, Lexaeus and Leon were trading strikes and parries with each other. Leon almost felt his legs buckle as he took each earth-shattering blow as it came.
"Is this the best your heart can yield?" Lexaeus asked. Leon attempted to swipe underhand, but Lexaeus chose that moment to increase his power. With a giant's roar, a red and black aura engulfed his body. Leon struggled to maintain his footing, but was pushed back against the pressure released by the aura.
Lexaeus tossed his weapon up in the air and rammed his boot into the ground. The stomp caused rock formations to erupt from the earth, sending Leon flying into the air. In a single motion, the Silent Hero caught his tomahawk and slammed his foot down again. With the full weight of his giant frame and the heavy tomahawk, the ground was torn apart with stone pillars, battering the helpless "Squall."
Not to let their ally fight in vain, Hayner intertwined his fingers together to give Tidus the boost he needed to soar up into the air. Energy streams accumulated into his blade before transforming into blue fireballs that peppered the ground around Lexaeus' feet. The behemoth braced for the explosions, but nothing happened. He chuckled slightly.
"Is that all you've got, boy?"
"Wait for it..." As soon as the last word left Tidus' lips, the ground burst underneath Lexaeus where the fireballs had marked their territory. Not waiting for the dust to clear, Tidus plunged his sword into the ground and used it as a jumping point to hurl his body into the debris cloud.
He pirouetted in the air, flipped around and landed a solid bicycle kick straight into Lexaeus' rock-hard head. Despite the attack extinguishing the aura, Tidus' teenage body wasn't powerful enough to damage a reinforced body of iron.
Lexaeus' hand shot out and seized Tidus by the throat. Like a child throwing a rag doll across the room, Tidus' body was hurled straight into one of the landscape's natural rock pillars. His body went limp as Lexaeus smashed his tomahawk into the ground, forming a streamlined shockwave that tore through the earth.
Tidus could do nothing but endure the numerous stabs of rocks pounding across his body. It was when he finally stopped bouncing around that his mind registered how battle-sore he truly was.
"Tidus!" Yuna flew up to Tidus, grabbed his wrist and attempted to help him up.
With the annoyance out of the way, Lexaeus returned his attention back to Leon, who was struggling to stand up with the help of Hayner.
"Now where were we?" Leon's legs were still wavering as he maintained his glare at Lexaeus.
A few feet behind them, it had become apparent that Seifer was just toying with Saix. "Down boy! It's not my fault you were neutered at twelve!" Again and again, he jumped back and over Saix's shockwaves.
The head of the "Disciplinary Committee" kept backing up until he bumped into somebody behind him. He whirled around as his opponent did the same. Gunblade met Gunblade as Seifer and Leon clashed at each other's swords, almost cutting Hayner's head off. Leon raised an eyebrow with surprise.
"I thought you went back to your hometown, kid," he huffed. Seifer only smirked.
"And leave before showing off some of my moves? Dream on." He gave Leon and Hayner a sly wink before backflipping high into the air. Whirling around in midair to face Saix, Seifer swung the Gunblade as if drawing a cross onto the ground where the Luna Divider stood. Instantly a flaming cross engulfed Saix before the ground opened up from underneath, swallowing him into what looked like a flaming pit to the Underworld.
Hayner and Leon were awestruck.
"How are you able to wield the Gunblade so well?" Leon asked.
Seifer shrugged. "It just comes naturally, I guess."
"So, where'd he go?" Hayner asked.
"I honestly have no idea. I didn't even know I was able to do that." Seifer began calmly walking back toward Yuna's portal.
"Hey, Seifer!" The usually smug teenager stopped. "What happened to the others?"
"Oh, them?" Seifer waved his hand dismissively. "They're still back in Twilight Town. I just told them that I had a 'debt' to repay." He smirked. "Here, catch." Hayner jumped back slightly as Seifer's Gunblade stabbed into the earth just inches from where his left foot had occupied. "I'm done here." Puzzled, Hayner gripped the handle as Seifer gave him a quick salute goodbye before leaping through Yuna's exit.
After making sure Tidus was alright, Yuna began heading toward the portal herself when he stopped her with a gentle tug of her dress.
"Are you leaving?" Tidus asked.
"You should probably follow him," she replied with her back facing toward him. Yuna's cute face was gently etched with concern. "I don't want you to..." Tidus shook his head.
"Even if I'm not in the same league as Sora and Riku, I don't think I can just watch on the sidelines while my friends are fighting." Yuna considered this for a moment.
"Then I'll stay with you." She turned around and looked Tidus in the eyes with a shine of adoration. "I want to make sure you come out of this alive." Tidus smiled back at her.
"Thanks, Yuna."