"My head hasn't felt this bad since I took those Skittles shots as a dare!" Kairi groaned through gritted teeth. Her head was throbbing from Xemnas' clawed gauntlets squeezing her skull like a juicer from hell. Despite Sora and Kairi's Keyblades being free, they couldn't get enough leverage to free themselves from Xemnas' vice-like grip.
"Aren't you underage?" Roxas asked.
"That doesn't matter right now!" Naminé snapped. "Kairi, I think I may have found a weak spot!" Peering through the miniscule gap that her opponent's merciless palm left her, Kairi's eyes zeroed in on the only unarmored part of the body within kicking distance.
"Way...ahead of you, Naminé!" Her lilac boot shot out at the exposed black pants, half-expecting Xemnas to have his crotch protected too.
She should have listened to her instinct.
A dull clang rang out as agonizing pain shot up through Kairi's toes. "OW! He's wearing armor! Of course he'd have it protected!"
Xemnas chuckled quietly as he hurled the stunned girl straight upward like a dart toward a helium balloon. Despite his bulky appearance, the Armored Superior was deceptively agile as he rocketed up past the airborne Princess of Heart, swung Sora around by his head, and spiked the poor boy's body straight into her, causing the couple to crash into the ground with a thundering impact. Before either of the betrothed could recover, Xemnas' arm bracer shifted down his body into a greave around his right shin as he targeted his metal boot at the fallen Kairi.
"KAIRI!" Catching the incoming attack out of the corner of his eye, Sora twisted his body around and shoved Kairi out of the way, leaving him to take the full brunt of the stomp. The sheer force crushing into Sora's stomach caused splatters of blood to rupture from his lips.
"SORA!" Xemnas' head snapped up as Kairi hoisted her body upright and raised Riku's Way to the Dawn toward him. "FREEZE!"
He raised his shin, transforming the Keyblade back to its original state before its blade retracted into the handle and doubled in size. A barrier of dark energy pulsed out of its center, effectively shielding Xemnas from the icy blast.
"Okay, seriously?" Naminé groaned in disbelief. "How many forms does that Keyblade have?"
The Armored Superior lunged to grab Kairi, but she barely managed to backflip out of range. Without hesitating for an instant, Xemnas commanded his Keyblade to shift again, this time into demonic-looking wings that fused to his shoulder blades and he took to the air. An amorphous purple cloud of darkness began forming around him.
"What..." Before Kairi could react, phantom Keyblades shot out of the cloud and began homing in on her. Rising to his knees and clutching his stomach, Sora's arm shook with painful tremors as he raised his Keyblade and took aim.
"RAGNAROK!" A sphere of light burst from the tip of his weapon before splintering off into multiple beams that snaked and homed in on Xemnas' attack. With the resulting explosions distracting Xemnas, Kairi took her chances.
"THUNDER!" Bolts of lightning streaked through the sky and blasted Xemnas in full force. "Yes! Direct hit!" Unfortunately, Xemnas used his falling momentum to hurtle himself boot-first at Kairi again. Despite his weakened state, Sora threw back his Keyblade-wielding arm.
"STRIKE RAID!" Sora's Keyblade smacked Xemnas enough to alter his trajectory. The Armored Superior sailed harmlessly over Kairi's head and slammed his heel into the ground, causing a small shockwave that made the cockpit's floor vibrate.
Xemnas ruthlessly rushed at Kairi with the aggressiveness of a football player. The redhead inverted her grip on her Keyblades so they ran down the length of her forearms. Xemnas' Keyblade crashed down onto Kairi's, locking themselves into a test of strength. Her knees buckled as she strained against her opponent's brute force.
"I don't suppose a panty shot will work this time?" Kairi grunted.
"He's already seen you naked," Naminé reminded her. "I don't think you can flash any more than that." Knowing full well that her petite frame couldn't withstand the full weight being pressed on top of her, Kairi decided to give herself some breathing room.
"FIRAGA!" Flames encircled Kairi, causing Xemnas to recoil from the attack. As soon as the fireballs had passed, Xemnas quickly came back in with an overhead swing, forcing the Princess of Heart to Dodge Flip out of range.
Meanwhile, Sora shook his bushy head to clear out the dull, throbbing pain that was subsiding.
"Sora! You okay?" Roxas asked. Sora wiped the blood trail from his mouth with the back of his arm.
"I'm fine, Roxas." Gaining his second wind, he leapt at Xemnas from behind and took a batter's swing at his opponent's shoulder. As the Keyblade connected with a satisfying smash, Kairi pirouetted around and windmilled her arms, slashing into Xemnas' other shoulder.
Enraged, Xemnas quickstepped behind the two, pulled back his free hand and fired off a Dark Firaga burst. Sora shifted his balance and raised his Keyblade to Guard while Kairi twirled around and shouted, "WIND!" The fireballs of darkness fizzled on contact with Kairi's wind barrier.
Unfortunately, the Dark Firaga achieved its purpose of distracting Kairi long enough for Xemnas to blitz in and body check her with his pointed shoulder. Kairi involuntarily coughed as she felt the steel prongs dig deep into her stomach. Naminé couldn't help but be thankful that Kairi's stomach hadn't been penetrated.
As the Princess of Heart flew back, Sora rushed forward at Xemnas, who stood calmly waiting for the incoming attack. No sooner had Sora swiped his weapon, Xemnas had already slipped around behind him with a quick reversal. Sora was caught off guard and felt Xemnas' Keyblade crunch into his spine. The Keyblade master rotated his torso around and met Xemnas' weapon with his own. As the two continued to trade blows, Sora was stunned how fast and precise his strikes were.
"Is it just me or does this remind you of that other armored guy we fought back at Disney Castle?" Sora muttered as he did his own quickstep behind Xemnas.
"The 'Lingering Will?' Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." Sora's Keyblade flashed as he took another swing, but Xemnas had already turned around to guard.
"Where do you think they get that armor anyway? Is there a 'Ye Olde Blacksmith' shop we don't know about?"
"Nah, these things look like they were forged at least eleven years ago."
A few feet away, Kairi took some deep, staggered breaths to get oxygen flowing back into her lungs. Gritting her teeth with a mixture of pain and frustration, Kairi jumped back into the fray swinging. Despite the two-on-one advantage, Xemnas was somehow able to keep up by parrying back and forth between his opponents. It was as if he were anticipating every attack they were to make, fluidly countering strike after strike.
"This is unbelievable!" Roxas cried. "There's no way Xemnas is this good!"
"He couldn't have been holding all this power and skill back, could he?" Naminé asked hypothetically. "I swear, this better not turn out to be some mental illusion and we're actually fighting each other..."
Xemnas did a quick slide step back out of their range, his opponents' Keyblades whiffing air. He merged his Keyblade into a greave again and cyclone kicked both Sora and Kairi across their faces, knocking them back. Kairi managed to land on her feet, but Sora wasn't as lucky as his head cracked against unforgiving steel floor.
The Princess of Heart rubbed the side of her face with her shoulder.
"I've felt worse," she reasoned. Xemnas once again shifted to an arm bracer as he blitzed Kairi. She attempted to Dodge Flip away, but Xemnas managed to catch her in mid-flip with an upward slash by his Keyblade, sending her careening into the air. A mist of darkness congregated around her, dispelling her Aeroga barrier. The air around Kairi became so thick that her body was completely immobilized. Numerous phantom Keyblades appeared out of the darkness, all pointed straight at her.
Unable to move or defend herself, Kairi braced herself for the upcoming pain. Sora was still disoriented from the blow to assist her and could only watch helplessly as his fiancée was pierced simultaneously from all angles. Kairi could feel her clothes once again ripped to shreds before she felt her body released from paralysis and drop toward the ground.
Sora shook the cobwebs out from his head and staggered slightly as he rushed forward to catch Kairi. He made a miraculous dive, squeezing her close to his body as they tumbled to a halt. As she felt Sora's welcome arms soften her fall, Kairi was afraid to look at how much of her outfit had been removed.
"How bad is it this time?" she asked Sora.
The Keyblade master loosened his hold on her and gave a quick scan of her stripped female form. "At least your panties aren't showing."
"You know, I'm glad that it's Sora on our side," Kairi murmured internally to Naminé.
"Who else would it be?"
"I don't know. Maybe some random OC that we've never heard of in the context of this universe."
"Yeah, and going to high school as twin sisters," Naminé added.
"Last I checked, Sora got impregnated with my heart, so I'd be more of your father than sister," Kairi reasoned.
"I don't know. You'd be surprised how many pictures of Sora in labor are out on the internet..."
As they got to their feet, the couple glanced up and saw Xemnas had begun twirling around with his wings expanded to their full length.
Kairi couldn't help but feel worried. "What is he doing?"
"It's like he's drawing in the darkness around us and absorbing it!" Roxas guessed.
Indeed, the air around them began to feel dry and stuffy, as if all the oxygen was being replaced with stifling sawdust. It was Sora who realized what was happening first. Without any hesitation, he whirled around, yanked Kairi's arm and hurled her clear across the arena. Her body rolled around painfully before finally skidding to a halt.
Kairi weakly lifted her head just in time to see Sora flash her a quick grin before...
*KRACKABOOM*
Kairi and Naminé's heart stopped as an ear-shattering explosion engulfed Sora. Even though they were safely out of range, the girls could sense the overwhelming waves of excruciating pain that Sora and Roxas were experiencing.
"NO!" Kairi cried. As the smoke cleared, she could make out the Keyblade master's ravaged body lying sprawled out uselessly on the ground. The redhead let out an exhale of relief to find Sora was still breathing, albeit shallow. To her surprise, the explosion had managed to burn away most of his clothes, leaving a few well-placed tatters around his crotch area.
"Wow. Sora's actually been working out," Kairi groaned weakly from the ground.
"I can almost hear hundreds of fangirls squealing from the implied nudity right now," Naminé replied.
Xemnas casually kicked Sora's Keyblade out of his hand and pointed his own reformed weapon at Sora's throat. Kairi propped herself up with her Keyblades and with a roar of anguish, she charged at Xemnas, her Keyblades glowing as she channeled her heart's power into them.
"HEARTBREAK STARBURST!" Swinging both weapons out in a wide arc, a tidal wave of heart-shaped bubbles flew toward Xemnas, exploding on contact in a dazzling display of light. As Xemnas shielded his eyes from the blinding distraction, Kairi flung her flowery Keyblade at him and dived for Sora's fallen weapon.
The projectile snapped Xemnas' neck back, giving the Princess of Heart the seconds she needed to wrap her fingers around Sora's Keyblade. The instant her fingertips made contact, a cool, tingly rush of power surged throughout her body as her outfit tinkled from pink to translucent silver. Wings of light burst out from her shoulder blades. As Sora's Keyblade transformed into Naminé's, Riku's Way to the Dawn made its own surprising transformation. His blade shimmered from the purple, red and blue falchion into a straight, thin, navy blue Keyblade.
"Well, that's new," Kairi commented. As Sora and Riku's Keyblades hovered on each side of her, she extended her arm and summoned back her own Keyblade, bringing her weapon count to three.
"Wait a minute. We didn't transform into Final Form when we had our Keyblade and Riku's. But as soon as we toss ours away and grab Sora's, it works? How's that make any sense?!"
"It's magic. Are you really questioning it?"
Xemnas growled as he regained his bearings. To the girls' surprise, the Armored Superior hesitated for a few moments when he saw the new, blue Keyblade in her hand.
"YOU...YOU DARE?!" Xemnas fused his Keyblade back into an arm bracer and made a lunging stab at Kairi.
The Princess of Heart grabbed the new Keyblade out of its levitated state and held it up horizontally to guard. To her surprise, her body was encapsulated within a sphere of light similar to Sora's Reflega, absorbing Xemnas' attack. The sphere exploded into shards, giving Kairi the opportunity to counter. She swapped her Keyblade for Naminé's and shoved Xemnas' extended arm out of the way, allowing her to duck underneath and take a stab at his exposed middle. Xemnas managed to cover up with his free hand, causing the Keyblade to clank against his forearm, but reading its owner's thoughts, Kairi's flowery Keyblade flew up and over his occupied limbs, smacking Xemnas upside the head.
As the Armored Superior staggered back from the blow, his Keyblade reformed into wings and flew him upward to give him time to recover. However, unlike last time, Kairi was no longer grounded. Kairi's Final Form flapped its wings as she rocketed up to continue her onslaught.
"Wonder what got him so mad?" Naminé wondered.
"Bet he's missing using those laser blades of his right about now."
Xemnas threw his arms out, sending out phantom Keyblades like heat-seeking missiles.
"Oh yeah, almost forgot he could do that." Kairi backed up and mimicked her opponent's motion. "HEAVEN'S WING!"
Feathers of light shot out of her wings and intercepted the Keyblades in midair, resulting in miniature explosions. Under cover of the smoke, Kairi burst through the screen and let out a warrior's cry as she blitzed at Xemnas. Determined to stop the Princess in her tracks, Xemnas cocked back his arm and fired off a Dark Firaga barrage. Kairi took hold of the navy, blue Keyblade and pointed it toward him.
"PRISM RAIN!" Rainbow colored lights burst out of the weapon's tip and eradicated the Dark Firaga on contact. Xemnas seemed to be at a loss for words and hesitant on what to do next.
"Kairi! Now's our chance!" Just like she did with Twilight Thorn, she began rotating her body and raised her Keyblade over her head. As she spun faster, the other two Keyblades joined Kairi's outstretched one as she spun into a needle dive towards Xemnas.
"Taste the rainbow, mofo!" Her multi-colored drill speared straight through the armor's core, causing Xemnas to grunt out in pain and his wings to return to Keyblade form. The Armored Superior plummeted to the ground, landing on his knees and clutching at the spot that she managed to hit. With deep satisfaction, Kairi smiled inwardly as Xemnas pulled back a clawed hand to reveal a newly-developed crack in his armor.
Kairi dive-bombed at Xemnas, channeling all her heart's energy into her Keyblades.
"NEVER A-" Just as she ended up in range, Xemnas quickly sidestepped her charge and grabbed her by the leg. "...gain?" Kairi felt sudden whiplash as she was yanked out of the air. Before her other Keyblades could react to defend their owner, Xemnas tightened his grip on Kairi's leg and began spinning into a giant swing. Her body flopped around like a rag doll as he rotated his shoulder, leapt up and seismic-slammed Kairi into the ground, shattering her crystallic wings and destroying Kairi's Final Form.
No longer being supported by magic, Riku and Sora's Keyblades returned to their original states and clattered uselessly to the floor. Kairi's fingers twitched as she struggled to make her body move, but her nerves were too numb with pain to function properly.
"I'm starting to think that Final Form isn't all that it's cracked up to be," Naminé stated.
Kairi moaned as Xemnas calmly positioned himself over her helpless body. He carefully set his Keyblade so the tip gently rested over Kairi's left breast.
"CAN YOU SPARE...A HEART?"
"There's got to be something we can do!" With the Kentauros' roof open, the remaining heroes had regained visuals and could only watch helplessly as the fight between Sora, Kairi and Xemnas unfolded before their very eyes.
"Riku?" Queen Minnie noticed the Dawn Wielder was heading toward the exit with a determined glint in his blue-green eyes. "Where are you going?"
Riku's silver hair shimmered as he looked impatiently back over his shoulder. "I think I've rested enough. Those two need help. I'll-"
"Hold it!" Chicken Little yelled. "Your Majesty! We've got hostiles!"
Queen Minnie's hands flew up to her mouth in shock. "What?!"
"Multiple giant Heartless just appeared out of nowhere and are targeting us! Smaller ones have also materialized on the ship itself and are attempting to break their way in!"
"How did they manage to follow us all the way out here?" Lady Daisy asked.
"Maybe it has to do with the fact that there are six hearts of pure light all in one place?" Riku suggested with a barely noticeable tinge of sarcasm in his voice. "It attracted them to us like sharks to blood."
"Our reinforced hulls are taking a beating!" Alice cried. "The ship can't repair itself fast enough to compensate for the damage!"
Riku shook his head. "I'll hold them off."
"But Kairi still has your Keyblade," Snow White reminded him. This made the former "Ansem" vessel hesitate. He could easily summon his Way to the Dawn back, but...
"No matter how small the chance, I believe they can still make use of my strength," Riku reasoned. But he still couldn't help feel doubt cloud his heart.
Stitch suddenly leapt out of the pilot seat and skittered toward Riku. He belted out some alien gibberish, motioning toward his seat with one pair of arms and pointing toward the exit with the other. The Dawn Wielder looked around helplessly for a translator.
"I think he's saying you should take the wheel and he'll deal with it," Bambi said. Stitch nodded excitedly, whipped out two blasters, and dashed out the corridor, leaving behind the echoes of "Cowabunga!" ringing throughout the ship.
Cinderella placed a warm hand on Riku's shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. "Someone once told me that strength of heart will carry you through the hardest of trails. Although we might not be able to do anything to physically help Sora and Kairi, we can't underestimate the strength of their hearts."
"Kairi's a Princess of Heart and Sora's heart is powered by the bonds he has with his friends," Snow White added. "I'm sure you'd agree that the deep connection they have with each other will be more than enough to win."
"Of course," Belle chimed in, "it wouldn't hurt to have a little more faith in them."
The corners of Riku's mouth slightly twitched upward. The Princesses' words lightened the burden a bit, but didn't completely vanquish it.
Onscreen, the outside of the mecha seemed to be swarmed with ants with only a fuzzy blue dot futilely fighting back. The Gummi Ship was also doing its best to take down any giant Heartless that happened to attack with its blades. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Experiment 626 was eventually knocked off the ship, hurtling into oblivion.
"The hull's been breached!" Jasmine reported. "All external weapons are offline!" The ship's arms dropped uselessly to its sides, allowing the giant Heartless to attack undeterred.
"Rerouting power to internal security!" Aurora said.
Alice slammed her palms down onto the security console, eliciting a few sparks. "They're making their way to the bridge via the ventilation system!"
"ETA?" Lady Daisy asked.
"Five minutes max. The internal security systems are slowing them down but they're not able to fully hold them back."
Riku clenched his fists in frustration. The helpless feeling of not being able to assist his friends was not an emotion he enjoyed. "I don't suppose anyone here has any weapons?"
Jasmine smiled. "Hey, we may be princesses, but we're not useless." She pressed a few keys on her console. A trap door slid open in front of the captain's chair and up rose a circular rack stocked with swords, pieces of armor, whips and a few projectile weapons. The Princess of Agrabah calmly walked up to the display and unsheathed a scabbard.
"Wait a minute." Cinderella looked at the rack curiously. "I thought only Keyblades were the only weapons that could defeat Heartless."
The Dawn Wielder couldn't help but cough. "Tell that to virtually every other wedding guest that fought alongside Sora. I heard someone once took down Heartless with just a stick." At the word 'stick,' Pluto's ears perked up and started wagging his tail happily with his tongue rolling out.
"A stick?" Cinderella didn't know whether to take Riku seriously or not. "You're joking."
"And yet Sora couldn't even take one down with a wooden sword," Riku thought to himself. Belle grabbed one of the whips and gave it a few tugs to test its flexibility.
"Gear up, girls. We can't let Kairi be the only Princess of Heart who can fight."