A Skittering Heart

by stewart92

Taylor's trigger was interrupted by a very different source of power. With Keyblade in hand, Taylor must open the way.

21. Chapter 21

Chapter 16: To Save Them All

Thanks to Major, FlameKing and Knolden for the help.

Taylor didn't feel anything when she awoke, just heat and a soft, warmth pulsing under her head.

As comforting as it was Taylor was starting to dislike heat with a passion; she had experienced far too much of it for one night. Slowly her eye opened, she stared at the darkness before her, and as her swimming vision slowly settled,she realized it was the street. Looking around despite the throbbing in her head that made it hard to think Taylor noted that the street looked devoid of life. There was no noise, no movement, and most importantly, no Lung.

No screaming, no snarling, no sounds of fire devouring her world, nothing.

Was… Was it over?

Taylor struggled to lift her head, her skull blaring with white noise, the roar of flames rushing through her head, yet she couldn't hear them. It was so… so hard to think, hard to focus.

She should…. What should she do? She… She should get up right? But it felt so… so…

After failing to move for some time, Taylor finally stirred and lifted her head. She struggled to hold it… hold it up? Down? The world tumbled as she moved her head and Taylor briefly closed her eye, moaning as a spike of pain was driven into her empty eye socket, nausea it provoked threatened to make her sick. Slowly opening her eye again Taylor looked in front of her. It was... odd? Like… Like as if… as if… Like as if there was a frosted window in front of her.

Swallowing as her nausea roiled, Taylor tried to sit up and slipped, elbow buckling as her strength failed her. Falling back down Taylor let out a pained whimper as her head throbbed violently, feeling like she'd burnt her brain as her head bumped against the ground. Her mind felt so muddled? Confused? It was hard… hard to… har… It was hard to pierce the cotton wool that had replaced her brain.

She had to… had to do… something. She had to save someone.

Painfully, Taylor flipped herself onto her stomach and began to crawl. As she approached the glass barrier, sights, sounds, images… all became clearer as she moved closer.

When she reached the barrier Taylor reached out, trying to go past… and was stopped? Taylor tried again, putting her hand the transparent barrier and pushing. She couldn't though, couldn't push past, it just shimmered under her fingers and a jolt of heat made her pull back in alarm. The whole dome that was surrounding her rippled. More of her mental fog cleared, as she sat back and slowly forced herself to her knees. It still hurt, pain like she'd never imagined, it felt like her brain was burning, but… She could think again, understand that the world she was seeing wasn't right.

The ground below her was carved with grooves that circled each other to form a strange demonic symbol, a grinning face with fangs and horns, though one appeared broken. The fact that the lines were aglow with a strange light only reinforced the idea of demons as they pulsed like a heartbeat.

Taylor frowned, it reminded her… reminder her of… of something. Something she needed. Her… her weapon her…

Taylor jolted. Her Keyblade! Where was her Keyblade? Frantically searching, her head shaking side to side despite the jolts of pain Taylor finally looked up. There, above her was the Keyblade. It spun lazily on top of the dome she was in, like a broken weather vane, spinning aimlessly. Taylor reached for it and for the first time ever, it didn't answer her call.

Taylor's hand dropped weakly and she stared at the Keyblade in confusion and disbelief. Why? Why had her power… her weapon… her friend betrayed her? Would… would her friends always betray… No! Sa… Sa… She… wouldn't. Wouldn't betray…

Crash!

Something large smashed against the barrier in front of her and Taylor fell backwards as Lung shook his head from the impact, ignoring her as he stood back up.

He was back to the same size and form he was in when he threw Taylor through a building, possibly even larger. Two leathery wings, not yet big enough to lift him, flicked out of his back. Taylor pushed herself as far away as she could, her back hitting the solid wall behind her.

One of Lung's eyes flicked to her briefly, before he stomped off towards a large fire, beast, demon thing.

Taylor stared as the two monsters crashed into each other, the beast… Ifrit… Ifrit was even bigger than Lung, which was saying something. His disproportionate claws reached for Lung, his face more animal than human, and one his horns was broken off near the base of his head, the stump looked old and scarred.

The pair clashed, grabbing and slashing at each other with monstrous claws. Ifrit seized Lung, fingers digging into the dragon's shoulders in a spray of boiling blood. Lung roared, driving his head forward to tear great chunks of flesh from the demon's chest, but it wasn't blood that leaked out between Lung's teeth, it was liquid flame, dripping and burning like lava.

Grunting in annoyance Ifrit pushed its claws deeper into Lung until they pierced right through, the demon grabbing the still roaring dragon. Using his new leverage, Ifrit lifted Lung above his head, not even straining at the dragon's weight and slammed him head first into the pavement.

This didn't even slow Lung down as he whipped Ifrit across the chest with his tail, sending the hell demon staggering back. Lung roared as scrambled upright, neck wrenching disgustingly as it healed. Fire exploded around Lung, enveloping him in seething flames. Ifrit laughed, a deep guttural sound as he tackled Lung without a care and the fire…seemed to flow towards Ifrit, sinking into him.

Ifrit started glowing ever so slightly and grew taller, His wounds closing with a hiss like that of boiling steam.

Taylor pushed her hands against the shimmering glass and stared in horror.

Taylor remembered now.

Sabah...

The rage, the pure unfiltered anger she couldn't stop, Taylor had wanted to kill everyone, to burn the world for taking Sabah away from her. There was no lying to herself about it, she wanted to kill everyone but then that… that demon, Ifrit… Somehow she knew that his name was Ifrit. Somehow Ifrit had crawled out from the cracks in the ground, answering her scream, her rage, her desire to destroy; as if rising from Hell, the Devil himself come to walk the Earth.

Taylor recalled the feeling of sudden emptiness, the almost peaceful feeling as her rage left her, the soothing embrace of unconsciousness had taken her. Did she...call this thing? This monster that seemed as eager to tear into Lung as Lung was to claw at him?

Why was she in this dome? Where was everyone else? Was Sabah really...

'Quiet, your endless self pity bores me.' A voice in thundered in her head. Taylor's head slammed back, mouth open in a silent scream as her head twisted, burning from the inside, agony turning her world white. Panting as her vision cleared, Taylor lowered her head again, eye opening to flicker over her surroundings in panic before the voice laughed, rumbling through her head. Taylor flinched, spasming as her head throbbed. Then she saw Ifrit's shoulders move up and down, still chuckling as Lung seemed to grow taller to match the demon.

Taylor had the demon's voice inside her head. Movie references aside, this idea made her realize she was in even more danger than she'd thought.

Lung was bad enough, but now Taylor had brought someone, no something, even worse into the world. And it was apparently telepathic.

Only the Simurgh was capable of such, there were reportedly no other telepaths, and that did not set a good precedent for Ifrit.

"G-get out of my head!" Taylor hissed through gritted teeth, not sure if speaking aloud would get an answer back. Could he hear her voice too, or only her thoughts?

Ifrit replied while getting thrown through the air by Lung, crashing into a fire hydrant, the water boiling instantly into steam as Ifrit stood back up.

'You are in my head as much as I am in your's, do not flatter yourself Keyblade Master.' Ifrit said, his voice making her skull feel like it was splitting open, her brain burning. Worse, his tone when he said master was… mocking. He was… laughing…

Lung's wings spread wide as muscle grew and bone expanded. He roared, great flaps launching him forward towards the demon. Ifrit simply grinned in delight, flecks of magma flying from his jaws, burning all they touched.

Taylor stood, her knees wobbling, legs shaking. Her chest felt like she had inhaled something odd, her breathing not fulfilling no matter how deeply she inhaled. She felt woozy, lost, like… like… She was supposed to be protecting someone… Who was she…

Staggering the last few steps forward Taylor nearly fell, only and arm thrown out to catch herself against the barrier saving her. Spreading her fingers across the barrier, Taylor idly noted it felt smooth and cool, where everything else was unbearably warm; it was nice, comforting. Looking past the rippling barrier she saw Lung finish his charge, wings tearing at the air. Ifrit opened his mouth and a dark fireball shot out with a thundering boom, like the world's biggest cannon. The dark flames hit Lung dead on and exploded. Taylor blinked, surprised there was no flash as she watched Lung veer sideways, thrown by the sudden vacuum and the intense heat that scorched even the dragon's flesh.

"W-who are you?" Taylor stammered while her vision swam. It was so hard to think.

Ifrit leapt at Lung without fear, the Undersiders came into view as they circled around the battlefield, keeping as much space between them and the warring monsters as possible. They placed themselves so as to put the barrier Taylor was trapped in between themselves and the fighting.

'I am the one who answered the call.'

Taylor listened as Ifrit bellowed in delight when Lung began to push him back. There was an odd ringing noise as Taylor turned to see one of Bitch's dogs was pawing at the barrier with interest, Bitch gave a quick chin thrust and she must have said something as the dog stopped. A wave of emotion overcame Taylor, the first truly strong emotion she had felt since she woke up.

It was joy and anticipation.

These… these weren't... weren't her emotions, not even close. Taylor gritted her teeth as her head rippled with pain, feeling as if flames were licking the inside of her skull.

"You're enjoying this?" Taylor asked with shock, gasping as the pain doubled. Taylor closed her eye, teeth grinding as she grimaced. She refused to scream though, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

A wet snapping pop made Taylor open her eye again, breathing heavily through her nose. She saw Ifrit had ripped off one of Lung's wings and was holding it triumphantly in front of him as Lung stumbled back. Shaking himself, blood spraying from the wound the dragon charged back at the demon, his wing stump already bubbling as new flesh began to grow.

'This feeling, this air… It is glorious! It has been so long since I have had a chance to get my blood boiling!' Ifrit said with relish, as if he wasn't already leaking fire instead of blood. He didn't seemed worried about anything, not about his opponent, the area, the people and not even about himself.

The fight was everything.

Taylor wasn't sure who she was thinking about now, Lung or Ifrit. Thinking hurt so much.

A series of ringing noises alerted Taylor to a blindfolded Tattletale, who was knocking on the barrier series of taps and paused.

Taylor hobbled over, walking away from the barrier and across the strange pulsing symbol. Each pulse drove another spike of agony through her empty eye socket and it was all she could do to keep stumbling forward. As Taylor approached the thin sheet of light that kept her prisoner, the Undersiders voices slowly became more audible, though distant and distorted like they were underwater or in Gr… Gru… skull guy's darkness.

"...five minutes okay, then we go, this job went wrong in so many ways." Grue said and Tattletale tiredly nodded.

"Sure, I think we pushed our luck tonight. I'm hoping Keynote can hear us before we go."

"She can, she's in front of you." Bitch grunted, pulling her jacket closer. Tattletale slowly raised her blindfold, a strip of gauze, and peeked at her with a bloodshot eye.

"Jesus Christ, Key, you look like shit." Tattletale joked as the light of an explosion lit up her face

Taylor didn't need to turn around to know who had caused it. Ifrit's joy was singing to her loud and clear, burning inside her head. Lung's roar echoed it disturbingly close.

"T-thanks, you g-... got something useful to say? I'm... not really in the… mood for jokes." Taylor mumbled and slumped forward, falling to her knees. She leant forward, forehead pressing against the barrier, one hand planted on the ground the other on the barrier.

Tattletale followed, kneeling down in front of her, brushing her hand against the barrier over Taylor's, wincing as the light rippled at her touch.

"Not light, not solid, made by the creature. It's feeding off her weapon, weapon is a power source somehow. Can't break with force, not with ours anyway." Tattletale murmured to herself as she took in the light rippling under her fingers.

"What is... this? H-how did I get here?" Taylor demanded weakly, Tattletale said 'the creature', so she assumed Ifrit somehow but she still wanted to know.

"Lung's furry cousin popped out of the ground and this thing appeared after he left the circle. I have no idea what it is, I think it might be a protective shell." Tattletale said with a shrug and stood.

"Listen, I'm being out voted here and to be honest there isn't anything we can really do, so we're leaving before this entire part of the city burns down, I mean I'm surprised the Endbringer sirens aren't already going off." Tattletale said apologetically.

Taylor glared at her.

"Then w-why are you still here?" Taylor spat, feeling the pleasure of anger flow through her. This girl had been nothing but bad news, she brought Lung here! She should die. She should burn! Taylor bet Sabah would…

Taylor stopped, choking for a moment as it felt like her skull had been cut into, pain stabbing through the top of her head.

...Sabah would have told the other girl to get lost. Even now, thinking of Sabah made Taylor feel empty, hollow. Where there had been grief and pain, now there was only a bitter numbness.

Taylor knew this wasn't right. Sabah was dead and she felt… nothing? No anger, no pain, no blame, just... nothing. It was wrong and it made Taylor perk up, alert as she could be with her headache.

The more she tried to think, the more the cloud that seemed to be obscuring her thoughts lifted, the flames inside her skull dying as it became easier to think.

Tattletale smiled, it was a knowing one and Taylor felt the urge to punch her.

"Yeah, about that, before you went nuclear, I was trying to tell you, I don't think Parian is dead." Tattletale said with a grin, almost like the blonde knew what she had been thinking.

Taylor snapped her eye to her in an instant, searching for a hint of a joke.

If there was even one shred of mockery on her face…

Ifrit's voice raked across her thoughts, leaving heat and rage in its wake.

'Shall I burn her, let her ashes be at the mercy of the wind?' Ifrit whispered, his voice just behind her ear. Taylor turned her head panting, but saw nothing.

Was fighting Lung not enough for him, did he have to torment her too? The two were grabbing at each other, tearing flesh apart in sprays of blood and fire, throwing each other every which way in gouts of flame and melting rubble. Tattletale spotted her erratic movement.

"Chill, seriously. Her body vanished, but her mask was barely damaged? It stinks, and Lung isn't that good with his fire… Well he might be, but he doesn't care enough . No, Parian is alive, I just don't know how." The blonde girl exclaimed with frustration. Taylor forced herself back up from her slump so she was kneeling she was face to face with the villainess.

"If you're lying… I will burn you." Taylor said,the heat in her mind slipping into her words. Her voice becoming rock solid. The battling monsters crashed into a apartment complex and it toppled down on them.

"I'm not." Tattletale said calmly, looking at her with a speculative gaze.

"You're connected to that demon. You did something just now." The blonde said with an eager tone.

Taylor wished she could slap the Keyblade in her face or something.

"If you're not going to... help then g-go away. If… if she's alive… then we'll t-talk." Taylor answered back. The idea of Sabah… alive.

There was a tingle of emotion in her chest. Joy of her own? Hope? The feeling flittered away before Taylor could get a proper grasp on it. Taylor tried to hold on to it, but it vanished beneath the endless burning in her mind.

"We'll talk soon then." Tattletale shot back with confidence in her prediction, but before she could step away she stopped, frozen.

The space next to her suddenly held Clockblocker, his hand touching Tattletale's shoulder.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you're in a bubble, there's a cute girl here that I know isn't a hero, and Lung is fighting Rover from hell. What's going on?" Clockblocker said in an exaggeratedly pleasant voice as he looked between Tattletale's frozen form, the now tense Undersiders, and Ifrit getting a chunk torn out of him by Lung, the heat of the dragon now completely gone.

Guess he finally noticed it wasn't helping.

"Oh you know, the usual. Cape fights, dead people, Key girl here summons a demon. Typical Monday." Regent called out and twirled a scepter that had been hooked to his belt before. It looked loud and gaudy, which seemed to fit him perfectly.

Taylor blinked at the sudden blur of colour as the rest of the wards approached. Their colourful uniforms clashing with the Undersiders.

Their details were fuzzy at a distance through the barrier, but she could sort of make out who was who. There was red, dark red, silver, and green, … So that… That was... Aegis, Gallant, Vista and Clockblocker who was in front of her. Only Kid Win and Shadow Stalker seemed to be missing, but her dark colours would blend easily into the night.

Taylor wasn't sure if she felt better knowing that they were here, or worse.

It was nice to finally see some friendly faces, but she didn't want any of them near Lung or Ifrit right now.

Especially Ifrit.

"Portunes? Can you hear me?" The green blur came into focus as Vista came near the glass, her voice sounding calm amidst the chaos. The younger girl stumbled as a tremor shook the ground, Taylor turned her head as another wave of Ifrit's emotions washed over her.

Ifrit had smashed Lung into a, hopefully, flat like the one she and Sa… they'd live in together. The whole building came thing toppling down on the two monsters in a series of wrenching crashes. Dust flooded the street and everyone, except for Taylor, suddenly had trouble seeing and breathing, hacking coughs coming from outside the dome.

Taylor blinked, trying to feel something as she saw that not even the dust was filtering into the dome. She still felt empty, hollow except for a rage she knew wasn't her own. Clenching her jaw, she reached for the Keyblade again, pressing her need, her desire, her will into effort. It stopped spinning and wobbled out of balance at the top of the dome.

She tried to push the call further, but a wave of heat broke her focus. Taylor clawed at her head, whimpering as it felt like her brain was boiling inside her skull.

'Don't ruin my fun. You're too fragile to be wandering about, like most of your kind.'

Refocusing Taylor saw Vista had become visible again just in front of her, with one hand covering her mouth to protect against the dust in the air, her visor keeping her eyes safe. The younger girl looked at Taylor and then their was an odd distortion in the barrier in front of her. A moment passed and the the barrier flashed with a brilliant white light and Vista was sent flying backwards.

Aegis caught her without much effort and in the confusion, Tattletale who'd still looked frozen, suddenly shuddered and reoriented herself. Realizing the Wards were here the villainess ran towards the rest of the Undersiders while Clockblocker was distracted by the apparent unseen attack on Vista.

Reaching the Undersiders, Grue hauled Tattletale up to sit behind him on the Hellhound.

Aegis turned towards them, but another Ward, one in silver armor stopped him by grabbing his foot as Aegis went to fly past.

"Stop Aegis. They're terrified, well, those two are anyway, Grue and Tattletale. That one, Regent, doesn't really seem to care and Hellhound is kind of erratic. Trying to fight them won't help right now, I don't think we can hold them and stop Lung at the same time."

Aegis stopped and seemed to think about this, looking back and forth between Gallant and the Undersiders. But, before he could make a call, the Undersiders took off, Bitch's Hellhounds racing off into the dusty murk.

Taylor watched them go, unsure how she felt about them. Taylor didn't like them, but she was sure… sure there was... was more to their actions tonight. Another motive.

But… Taylor didn't exactly care about it, she had trouble caring about anything right now. The burning in her head, the pain… It was all she could focus on, care about.

Realizing she'd closed her eye again Taylor opened to see Vista was already back at the barrier, her face almost touching it as the younger girl stared back at her.

"You going to be okay?" Clockblocker asked, his usually light tone conveying worry as he dropped on hand on his teammates shoulder.

Vista waved him off.

"I'm fine, seriously, we need to get Portunes out of there." She said with a stubborn look on what visible of her face. Clockblocker tilted his head forward, crossing his arms in disapproval but didn't voice his objection.

"Portunes, can you hear us?" Vista asked, then screamed as Ifrit smashed into the other side of the barrier and the whole thing flashed white. The blonde leapt backwards, putting a hand up to shield her eyes from the light.

Lung wasted no time as he crashed into the demon, following him in a reckless charge. The second impact made the barrier glow so brightly, that Taylor couldn't see what was happening on the outside anymore. There was a lot of noise leaking through, the combination of light and sound making her head spin and she struggled not to be sick. When the light finally died down, Taylor gaped at what she was seeing.

Clockblocker was straddling Lung's head.

Taylor blinked, unable to believe what she was seeing. The image failed to vanish though. So she just stared at Lung, immobile, the dragon frozen in time. The Villain who had bested her, who had seemed unstoppable, an inferno she could hardly match was beaten.

Clockblocker climbed up the frozen dragon, using scales and wounds frozen mid-regeneration as handholds to reach a better position to hold onto when Lung unfroze. While he climbed, Ifrit was forced back as an airborne Aegis rammed into him at high speed.

Vista was still near Taylor, and regained the white cloaked girl's attention by waving her hand.

Realizing the situation Taylor… She wasn't sure what she felt beyond the hollowness but she knew… knew what she had to do.

"You… You have to leave, all of you, you can't stay here. It's t-too dangerous." Taylor pleaded to the younger girl, who shot her a look.

"You're one of those types, aren't you?" Vista said with a sigh and small grin.

Taylor winced as Ifrit swung at Aegis, the Ward diving out of the way of dark red flames and giant claws. A second swing missed as Gallant shot Ifrit with a pale blue energy bolt, making the demon stumble.

Gallant… he was an empa…. Empa… Emotion thingy… Empath. He was an empath with the ability to shoot bolts of kinetic energy that could also inflict someone with different emotions, if Taylor remembered rightly. Maybe… Maybe he could make her feel something? Something beyond the numbness and the rage? Then an odd thought struck Taylor that made her feel like laughing, just a little.

They were literally trying to kill Ifrit's mood.

'It won't be so amusing when their charred bones snap under my feet.' Ifrit whispered in her ear again, the demon's tone much more dangerous as he belched fire at Aegis. The rust coloured Ward flying out of the way again as fast as he could.

The barrier flashed next to her and Taylor snapped her attention back to Vista once more.

"O-one of those t-types? I'm telling you to r-run, save yourselves, you can't… can't win here." Taylor snapped, gritting her teeth when her temples throbbed.

The Ward in green seemed unbothered by Taylor's words though, or the danger her teammates were in. Instead she shot Taylor a wry smile.

"Yeah, the self sacrificing types. Listen, it's nice that you want to save us, but here's the bottom line. We're heroes. Saving people is what we do. You need to stop panicking every time someone else takes a swing at the villains, it's our job you know?" Vista said with hint of annoyance.

Taylor didn't think their PRT contract covered magic demons, or maybe it did? What did she know of Wards contracts? Either way, Vista wasn't wrong, but if Ifrit killed them, any of them... Then it would be her fault. She was the one who brought him here, his actions were on her head.

Movement caught her attention and Taylor looked up as Clockblocker shifted on Lung to lean forward.

"Short stack is right, have some faith. Big guy here is contained for the moment, so there's one problem solved. Fuzzy Mcfireballs over there won't be nearly as much trouble as Lung." He said with confidence. Taylor frowned up at him as he shifted again.

"You know, scales don't make a good sitting material, it doesn't matter what way I sit on Lung's face here, it doesn't feel good, rubs me the wrong way... A line I never thought I would say." Clockblocker said, muttering to himself at the end.

Vista shook her head and the barrier rippled as it bent slightly, a small hole appeared before it snapped shut. The blonde Ward frowned as she twisted the light again. Aegis flew above Ifrit, who flung a car at him, Gallant took the opening to fire another blast at Ifrit, who seemed to stagger slightly. By way of force or emotion, Taylor didn't know, only that it made her head throb.

"Where is everyone else? A-arm… Armsmaster, Miss Militia? M-Mush can't be th-that bad, I heard he was a joke on PHO?" Taylor asked Vista, the need to know why Mush was more pressing than Lung growing. Why the Wards were here saving her instead of the Protectorate.

"Mush is a joke, but I heard there's a thinker that joined them recently. No details about them, but the Merchant's suddenly pulled out 'Super Mush.' Worse than that, they loaded his body up with all kinds of crap. Mostly explosives, which sounds suicidal until Miss Militia shot one and it rained napalm." Vista explained as she tried to warp another hole for Taylor to escape through.

'I can feel the girl messing with the shell. I could end her tiny life form here. These two are a nuisance at best. Would the space witch prove more of a challenge, I wonder? Maybe I'll melt the time mage and resume the fight with the dragon, he was fun.' Ifrit's voice commented calmly as he ignored Aegis's tackle, shrugging the Ward off as he eyed Vista.

"Don't you dare!" Taylor growled, her eyes locked on Ifrit.

The demon stopped and looked directly back at her, pausing while Aegis tried to find something to grab.

Vista followed her gaze and then looked back at Taylor.

"You're talking to it? Port... is this thing one of your powers?" Vista asked carefully.

Taylor bit her lip and nodded. Ifrit snorted, flames shooting on his nostrils.

"You think to command me?" He said aloud for the first time. Everyone looked at him with various expressions of shock.

Clockblocker was the first to snap out of it and respond.

"Do we give him a treat for speaking? I'm kind'a not sure how to handle this. Port, ideas?" The clock themed boy asked.

Taylor turned her head and blinked up at him, struggling to process the question, then shook her head. Her eye snapped towards Ifrit as he moved closer to her.

"I… I am. I am and I'm telling you to leave them alone." Taylor commanded with as threatening a tone as she could muster.

Ifrit chuckled and the feeling of heat left her head entirely, the burning and pain finally gone. Taylor had a moment of blissful peace... then everything crashed down on to her at the same time.

Anger, grief, hate, fear, loneliness… All her emotions washing through every thought. Taylor collapsed, as her breath suddenly left her, pushed out of her by sheer shock. She curled up, hands wrapping around her head as she struggled not to scream, tears making her vision blurry.

The grief of watching Sabah being ripped away from her bubbled over and began to consume her again. She wanted to scream, to beg and cry and…

No.

No!

Sabah…Sabah was alive. The idea gave Taylor a spark of hope, and even if just a spark, it allowed her to push back the tide of emotion, set aside her grief. It gave her the edge she needed to hold on.

Vista altered space as Ifrit finally grew tired and batted Aegis away. The altered space allowed Aegis to come right back as Ifrit ended up on the other side of the street when he took a step towards Taylor. The rust colored Ward grabbed the demon's unbroken horn and with a lot of effort that made his arms move in an inhumane way, threw Ifrit down the street.

It didn't stop the fire demon's words echoing in her head though.

'You would seek to control me, when you can't even control yourself?'

Taylor gripped her head as the heat returned, once more losing her grip on rational thought as her mind burned.

The demon's laughter drowned everything out. Clockblocker slid further down Lung's snout, keeping one hand on the dragon, his arm bent awkwardly to maintain contact as he leant forward.

"Port, talk to us." He urged at her.

Taylor didn't know whether to say other than 'ow' and 'fuck' so settled for a moan.

Then a clear thought swam across the flames.

"Parian… is alive. Y-you have to find her." Taylor struggled to avoid grunting in pain, thinking was easier now. There was only so much mental demonic torture you could take before you adjusted. The hope taking root in heart didn't hurt either

"She was dead? No one told me that." Clockblocker said accusingly as he turned his head to look at Vista.

"I didn't know either." The younger girl said with a pointed tone and her hands flexed, making another hole in the barrier, bigger than before, until it flashed and closed again. She was getting better at least.

Clockblocker looked out at the street as Ifrit chased Aegis around, fire splashing into buildings as the beast missed him. Most of the older stone and metal buildings didn't catch fire, unlike some of the newer, cheaper ones. They still sagged though, brick and metal melting like candles just from being near the sickly flames.

Aegis sharply turned and flew into a small gap between buildings, Ifrit snapping at his heels.

"Any idea where Parian is?" Clockblocker asked, Looking ever so slightly more relaxed with Ifrit moving out of sight.

Taylor shook her head, wincing as it made her vision swim.

That… That was the question of the year. If she was alive, and Taylor really hoped so, then there weren't that many places she could have conceivably gone.

As far Taylor knew, Parian couldn't fly or teleport.

Though sometimes Taylor had a sneaking suspicion that Sabah actually could; whenever Taylor made food usually.

But if Sabah had been rescued, then it it meant someone else must have reached her, taken her away and hidden her. All within in the span of a few seconds when the flames hit her.

Oni Lee might have been able to do so, Taylor didn't know if the assassin could take others with him. However, even if he could, from what Circus had said Oni Lee should be at home trying to plug the holes the manic clown had put in him. Also, why would he defy his own boss?

Taylor fought through the fire and flames in her head, the haze lifting as she struggled against the demon's influence. Her feelings were coming back stronger than before, her thoughts actually moving instead of being consumed.

No one else had the ability to teleport in Brockton Bay as far as she knew... Maybe a speedster?

That really only left Boco and Velocity, so one of them maybe? Boco wasn't one for kidnapping people and running away as far she knew, besides, he was a giant stuffed toy really. Running into flames would have killed him. It couldn't be Velocity either, the Hero would have returned by now to help the Wards.

The facts didn't add up and nothing she could think of made sense.

But not a lot did right now anyway.

"I… I think someone grabbed her, but I don't know h-how." Taylor said and stood for the first time since she woke up, struggling to her feet.

The world threatened to push her back down, but Taylor pushed the world back, she refused fall!

She'd had enough. Taylor was done being pushed around by the world.

'Dangerous thoughts for someone so weak.' Ifrit murmured, sounding something other than loud since Taylor had first heard him.

"Potential AWOL doll girl, gotcha." Clockblocker said with grin in his voice.

Taylor blinked at him and felt her lips curl. He was joking? Now?! Her friend was gone, lost… maybe… maybe dead and he was joking about it?! Taylor could now understand Vista's complaints about the boy. While he was fun, he could also never take anything seriously and it was now pissing Taylor off. Her friend was missing! Taylor vowed that if she ever got out of here she would strangle him!

"I think if we look near the impact sight we mig-" Taylor began to tell the boy, but before she could finished the sentence,he was gone. Instead, in his place atop Lung was Sabah, standing where the Ward had sat, shouting in the other direction.

"-And I will shove it so far up your backside you'll burp cotton!" Sabah yelled, her fist raised, clenched tight, and being shook in anger. A brown paper bag was over the older girl's head, sliding down slightly.

Then she seemed to realize she was standing on a Dragon's head and promptly slipped, falling towards the ground with a screech.

Taylor watched amazed and horrified as her friend appeared then fell and… felt her jaw drop open.

Sabah had caught herself in mid air, slowly turning herself upright as she now drifted to the ground. Landing lightly on her feet the doll cape turned towards the two girls staring at her in disbelief. Taylor saw the blue eyes through holes cut in the paper bag were blinking rapidly in confusion.

"What the hell?" She muttered and then Sabah took in the sight of the shimmering barrier. The older girl turned her head to look at Taylor, who was still gobsmacked at her friend's sudden appearance.

"Taylor? What are you doing in there?" Sabah asked slowly and touched her hand to the barrier, which rippled at the contact.

Taylor's mouth opened and closed, her lips trembling... but she couldn't speak, couldn't say anything. There was just… there were no words, no expression, nothing she could voice that could convey the feelings that bubbled up inside her heart at the sudden appearance of Sabah. Happiness? To weak. Joy? To brief. Relief? Not enough. There was no word that Taylor could think of that could describe the those feelings and all the others that made her heart lurch.

Sabah was alive.

Taylor threw them altogether, pressing her hands and face against the barrier, and just drank in the sight of the other girl breathing, moving and not burning.

Sabah was alive!

'Hope is the most dangerous thing of all.'

Sabah was alive, Sabah was okay, looking utterly ridiculous in her doll dress and paper bag, but alive.

"Taylor? Can you hear me?" Sabah asked sounding worried.

"She can, I think she's in shock, what happened to Clockblocker? Where is he?" Vista half asked, half demanded as she looked about. Her posture was tense and alert, having gotten to her feet the instant Clockblocker vanished

Sabah looked at the Ward, noticing her for the first time.

"Clockblocker? I didn't see him. I don't even know how I got down here exactly." Sabah said, her head craning up towards one of the rooftops. Taylor and Vista followed her gaze and spotted Clockblocker, visible against the night sky in his white costume, waving his hands, his voice lost in the racket of fire, roaring and sirens in the distance.

Vista made the building bend down until the roof was level with the street, the now empty building offering no resistance to Vista's control.

When Clockblocker reached the ground, he shot towards them in a dead run, his hand outstretched.

"MOVE!" He yelled, sprinting towards… Lung, who was no longer motionless.

Vista let the building snap back to it's rightful place and was ready to push Lung away, but his claws were already moving down towards Sabah. A flick of Lung's tail caught Clockblocker by surprise, his hands failing to grab the appendage as he was sent flying.

Taylor threw herself against the barrier, making the dome ripple violently, but she failed to burst through.

Lung's claws stopped suddenly as another set of claws crashed into his face. The blow sent the dragon flying off his feet and crashing into the wrecked street and tumbling backwards.

Boco landed with a graceful step and chirped at Sabah, who threw her arms around the bird and tried to hug the stuffing out of him.

"Boco, where on earth have you been?" She said, the sound somewhat muffled, as her face was buried in Boco's feathers.

Taylor smiled at seeing the giant bird look confused at the odd reaction, Sabah usually scolded, not hugged him. Taylor felt her own urge to hug the bird that had just dropped kicked Lung, Mog was floating near his friends head, looking confident, the girl on Boco's back looked horrified, Sabah was on the verge of tears, the...

Wait, girl?

Taylor snapped her eyes back to the young, no, very young girl in naught but a pajamas and a coat atop Boco's back.

"Mog?" Taylor asked, as he floated around the dome.

"This… this is one of Carbuncle's tricks, kupo, no wait... It's too rough, too forced." Mog said, sounding more serious than Taylor had ever heard him and ignoring her. Vista was staring at Boco, Boco was staring back.

"Parian, your doll is staring at me." Vista said faintly before she shook her head. Turning away the Ward broke into a run, heading towards the now limping Clockblocker, his twisted leg showing that he wasn't going to be jumping on any more dragon heads tonight.

Lung picked himself out of the destroyed car that finally stopped his tumble, his body language somewhere between angry and apocalyptic.

Taylor wasn't sure how he kept going. Well, she knew how, but she didn't know why he didn't want to just throw his hands up in the air and go home by this point.

How could anyone take all this abuse, and still want to keep going?

If she was Lung, and that was a interesting thought, she would fly home, lock the doors and go to bed.

This fight had no end. Lung would get stronger, Ifrit would eat more fire and Taylor would get even more exhausted.

The girl slid off Boco's back and looked at her, the girl's lips moving silently as if asking a question.

"I think… there's a 50 percent chance that you will die tonight, but I can't be sure." She said slowly.

Great, Boco decides to make a friend, bring them to a fight, and he brought little Miss Negative. Maybe she could make Lung depressed enough to go home and think about his life, it was working for Taylor.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" Taylor bent down so she was face to face with the girl, who looked shell shocked, as Vista helped Clockblocker rest against the barrier, meanwhile Lung had spotted Ifrit and was running at full speed after the demon, wings pumping at the air for more speed while he ignored the rest of them, deeming them lesser than Ifrit, the demon being a greater threat to him. Taylor wasn't about to correct him.

"I was running away, because bad people broke into my house, then Mr. Boco saved me." The girl replied looking up at the giant bird, her face brightening as Boco looked down at her, drawn by the sound of his name.

Sabah gasped as she realized there was a young girl here, and shied away. The older girl wasn't good at interacting directly with children. She usually sent dolls, the bigger and fluffier the better, to distract the hordes of kids she would entertain at charities or parties.

Sabah's actual feelings on kids in general, Taylor didn't know. Because as nervous as her friend got around them, she also seemed to like entertaining them, seeing them smile. Just… Well, if any of them started crying...

Crying children and Sabah weren't a bad mix as Taylor had learned, they were catastrophic. From Sabah's work stories Taylor had quickly realized that leaving Sabah alone with any child who had the slightest hint of tears was a recipe for disaster.

"Bad men? You… No. Listen, you need to go somewhere safe. It's too dangerous here." Taylor warned her, hoping that the girl wouldn't back chat her like Vista had and actually listen to her. It was much easier to think now, she could even speak without stuttering Sabah's presence a balm to the rage she could still feel flowing from Ifrit.

Sabah looked at Taylor and she could swear the older girl was almost directly speaking into her mind the word 'hypocrite' was projected so strongly by her look.

Taylor ignored her, it was a pretty decent strategy really since she was untouchable at the moment, trapped inside the bubble as she was. Sabah couldn't poke her in here.

"No! It's not safe anywhere away from Mr. Boco. The numbers say so…" the young girl said, her voice trembling with fear and her face bleak and sweaty as she stared down the street at the flashing police sirens.

Numbers? An explosion rumbled nearby and Taylor had bite back her question. There were more pressing concerns and number one was getting the non-hero child away from the ongoni deathmatch between the dragon and the demon .

"Okay, okay. What's your name?" Taylor asked in a hurry, feeling her head throb slightly with the demon's glee.

"D-Dinah." The young girl, Dinah, said with watering eyes .

Sabah shuffled back at the tone, her eyes widening through the bag holes. Taylor really needed to ask her about that one day.

"Okay Dinah, do you know Vista?" Taylor asked and Dinah nodded, looking unsure of why Taylor was asking. The blurry barrier seemed to have hidden Vista and Clockblocker from Dinah's view, as she didn't look in the Wards direction.

"She's a hero." Dinah said simply and then goggled as Vista appeared around the side of the barrier, having heard her name. A kid's usual reaction to seeing Vista, sometimes Taylor still stared too. In Taylor's experience other capes still felt like celebrities to her, an aura of importance or menace seeming to surround them, depending on if they were a Hero or a Villain.

Shaking her head to clear her wandering thoughts, Taylor focused back on Dinah.

"Well, I need you to go with Vista, do the 'numbers' trust her?" Taylor asked, grasping for any reason to get Dinah away from here. It wasn't safe, Lung or Ifrit could crash into them at any moment, tossed from their melee.

The young girl looked at Vista, who stared at Dinah in horror.

"I should… almost definitely be safe. The numbers are high, 93 percent." Dinah agreed and seemed to relax even more.

Numbers that predicted safety meant the little girl was either crazy or a cape. Taylor didn't think the girl was crazy, she seemed to… sure for that. But that meant she was a parahuman… She didn't want to know what horror Dinah must have experienced to make such a young girl trigger. The idea of someone so young being pushed that far, potentially by being bullied was…

Was making Taylor feel angry.

More, someone attempting to kidnap her suggested cape... And that someone knew about it.

And that made her anger boil!

"Portunes? Why is the mayor's niece here?" Vista asked, attempting to maintain a calm tone, despite the mild panic creeping into her voice.

Wait, Dinah was the Mayor's niece? Who would be stupid enough to attempt kidnapping her?

"I think my bird friend saved her from the 'scary men.'" Taylor said and Boco let out a cheery chirp, staring Vista.

"Parian, can you stop that?" Vista said, sounding sour.

Sabah looked at Vista in confusion, her head tilted to display at as her expression was hidden by the bag.

"Stop what?" Sabah asked, sounding genuinely perplexed.

Vista gestured vaguely at Boco.

"This doll, it's kind of creepy with how well it moves, it's almost lifelike." She commented as Dinah slipped a hand into Vista's green gloved one.

Sabah stared at her, not quite sure what to say.

"Sabah doesn't control us, kupo." Mog said as he floated down from where he had been examining the Keyblade. Dinah smiled and Vista promptly freaked.

"Fu… udge, the bat thing talks!" Vista said, stating the obvious, and looking fairly gobsmacked. Clockblocker slowly hobbled around the corner and Taylor was fairly sure he was squinting under his mask, given the way his head was thrust forward.

"It's a bat, fairy, bear thing. Why is there a bat, fairy, bear thing? And why is it talking?" The clock themed Ward asked bluntly and leant against the barrier idly touching his fingers to the glow, the shield flashed and Clockblocker's hand flew off, repelled by an invisible force.

He shook his fingers, hissing like he'd touched something hot.

"Moogle is the word you're looking for." Taylor informed him, slightly amused despite herself, and saw that the part of the barrier where his hand had rested, had now turned into a static gray patch instead of the normal translucent white.

Feeling both brave and stupid, she poked at the patch, and to her surprise her fingers went straight through with no resistance.

"You might want to pull your hand back before your fingers get the world's worst manicure." Clockblocker advised. Taylor snapped her fingers back and stared at them in worry.

"Kupo, you broke the magic!" Mog said in awe, his face close to the static patch.

Clockblocker nodded slowly.

"Yeah, totally what I meant to do, being such a great wizard and all!" He said, sarcasm and smugness practically dripping from his voice, wheezing though it was. The hand held firmly against his side gave a fairly good indication to the source of said wheeze.

"Vista, can you get Dinah somewhere safe? I think she needs a bodyguard right now, someone is after her and I think Dinah's a cape." Taylor said, drawing Vista's gaze.

"Bat fairy, giant bird, fire demon, and now, the Mayor's niece is a cape?" She asked, the Ward sounding one or two steps away from a panic attack… or possibly strangling someone, the two were normally pretty close.

Taylor shrugged.

"Moogle." Mog muttered in the background, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Busy day." Taylor muttered.

Vista shook her head and turned to look at Clockblocker.

"Let's go, you need those ribs looked at, and we need to find Gallant, Aegis too." She ordered, the other Ward shook his head, holding his ribs tighter, and flinched.

If Taylor wasn't stuck in the bubble, and could get the Keyblade to actually come to her, she would have healed him, even with all the horrible puns.

"You go, if Lung and his new boyfriend come back, these two… four? They're toast. I can still freeze them or at the very least, call them ugly, and shatter their self confidence." He said sounding surprisingly casual for someone Taylor suspected had broken ribs.

She knew how painful those were, having had her own broken less than an hour ago.

Vista's mouth thinned and she opened it to argue when Clockblocker cut her off.

"Vista, you really don't have the right to tell others to stop saving people because of injuries, do you?" He said without his usual snarky attitude, giving Vista a fixed stare, managing Sabah's trick of glaring with his eyes concealed.

Vista flinched back like Clockblocker had struck her and without a word she turned,the street pulling in on itself.

The police patrol cars were suddenly only a stone's throw away.

"Don't leave her alone." Taylor told her.

Vista looked at Taylor, trapped in the dome still, and nodded, keeping a firm grip on Dinah's hand.

"Hurry up getting out of there, and go kick some ass, Portunes." Was all Vista said in return, before the street snapped back to normal, Vista and Dinah on the far side.

It was a pleasant thought, that Vista believed in her in like that. Like it was a certainty she'd escape and beat Lung and Ifrit, not a remote possibility or… well 50 percent Dinah had said.

"Girl has the attitude of a bull sometimes." Clockblocker sighed, shaking his head as he tried to keep his ribs from moving.

Mog floated up to him.

"If you're in pain, kupo, then you should retreat." He said as his paw rested on the barrier. The Ward looked at him.

"What kind of hero runs when it gets dangerous?" Clockblocker said, his tone suggesting he was getting a kick out of talking to Mog, the bat, fairy, bear thing.

The Moogle answered without looking up.

"The one's that live."

Sabah rolled her eyes, and knelt down next to Taylor, pressing her hand to the barrier over Taylor's own, ripples spreading from the contact.

"You okay?" Sabah said, floundering for a better opening.

Taylor snorted, both pleased and trying not to cry in relief.

"Y-yeah. How's the weather out there?" Taylor said with a false casual tone, a smile tugging at her lips despite the ongoing chaos. Sabah was alive and she was so happy.

Sabah rolled her eyes and shifted from kneeling to sitting to be as close to Taylor as she could get with the barrier in the way.

"Shush, I'm way out of my element here and you're avoiding the question." Sabah said and stared into Taylor's eye, demanding an answer.

Taylor paused, gulping in nervousness. She… she didn't know. She didn't know how she was, not good probably given her tiredness and aching head. Closing her eye Taylor stopped and took assessment of herself, feeling out injuries subtly and prodding the inferno in her head. After a few seconds, Taylor decided that she was right, she wasn't at her best though she was better than she'd feared.

"I've been better, what about you? You nearly… you nearly… I thought you'd died. I thought Lung burnt you to ashes. You got burnt!" Taylor said, trying not to choke. . Sabah was okay, she was alive and right in front of her. Taylor's voice rose at the end though when she saw Sabah's costume.

Sabah paused, looking down and spotting the hems of her costume were charred, layers of singed cloth shriveled up, and others burnt black. Sabah looked back up and shook her head, shrugging as she did so.

"I still don't know what happened. One minute you look like you're about to scream, then it suddenly got hot and the next thing I knew, I was face to face with this guy, a cape. He was wearing a top hat, but I didn't get a good look, he turned when I landed on the roof." Sabah rambled as she idly stroked her knees, where her white leggings had been torn to show a bad burn where she had landed roughly on the roof, the skin red and raw looking.

"It was a good thing he did, I dropped my mask. So he empties out a… lunch bag and gave me the bag to wear." She said with embarrassment, her eyes clenched shut as if she couldn't bare to even see the ugly paper mask.

"It… uh… looks practical?" Taylor said, pausing briefly with hesitation.

Sabah sighed as she opened her eyes.

"It's a doggie bag, Portunes. It isn't anything, and it smells of turkey. Just… Just ignore it. So how do we get you out of there and why is your Keyblade up there?" Sabah said, abruptly and bluntly changing the topic, Taylor followed her gaze.

"I dunno, I tried calling it, but it won't answer. It isn't listening to me!" Taylor told Sabah, panic beginning to build again. Taylor thrust her hand out and nothing happened, no light and no key, no thrill as the Keyblade answered her call.

Sabah shushed her gently as Taylor began to grow increasingly panicked and frustrated. Mog floated up to it, let loose a yelp and floated back down.

"What has he done? This is terrible, kupo!" Mog said sounding furious, Boco joining in with an angry squawk. Everyone looked up at the moogle as he floated over towards Taylor.

"Ta-" Mog began, but Sabah coughed loudly and glared at Mog, who nodded furiously.

"Right, Keynote, do you feel something in your head, kupo? Like something that isn't normal?" He asked with a serious tone, that Taylor hadn't heard from him before. It was odd enough that she let the Keynote comment slide.

"Fire. I feel like t… I feel like here is a fire in my head, like my brain is burning." Taylor answered softly, and somewhat ashamed, as if admitting it made her weak.

Mog started to shake with fury, his fur bristling in anger.

Taylor noticed, shrinking back slightly. She had never seen Mog angry before and… she didn't like angry people.

"Ifrit! He's… he's almost broken the taboo, kupo. Lord Alexander will be furious!" Mog said, spitting like a cat as his anger rose. Everyone stared at the usually quite jovial Moogle.

"Lord who?" Clockblocker asked sounding bemused, and Mog answered him without actually paying him any attention.

"Lord Alexander is the embodiment of the heavens, stars and protection, kupo, his will alone is enough to bring salvation or damnation." Mog said as he leaned in to take a closer look at Taylor.

"Right him. Is he a nice embody thingie of the heavens and stars who may or may not ruin everyone's day?" Clockblocker said, his question tinged with humour, but he was nevertheless paying very close attention to Mog now.

Boco wandered over and nuzzled Sabah, her paper bagged head to be more precise. Sabah smelling like a bird was inspiring nurturing feelings from Boco it would seem. Or perhaps he was just worried.

"Lord Alexander is fair." Mog said with a shrug and then nodded to himself.

"Keynote, Ifrit is drawing strength from you, and the Keyblade, kupo. The seal you're standing on is his crest and usually this bubble is made to protect the summoner, for cases when they aren't fit to fight themselves, kupo. It's not normally used without a good reason. Ifrit has reversed some of the seals key components though…" Mog said and flew off to a rounded part of the crest that might have looked like a horn.

"This part controls power exchange between summoner and summon, kupo. He's reversed it so he gets to control the energy flowing between you both. Without you supplying him with energy, kupo, he would fade from this World. This is one step down from outright human sacrifice, kupo!" Mog shouted and rammed the barrier, where he bounced off. He didn't let it stop him though rammed it again.

Seeing Mog attacking the barrier Boco let loose a shrill screech and stepped forward. Lashing out, the giant bird kicked the barrier, the light flashing brightly. Boco kicked it again and again. Every time the dolls hit it, the barrier would repel them, a ring like a gong being struck accompanying their attacks.

'That feeling…'

"Stop it, you're going to hurt yourselves!" Sabah cried as Mog teetered in the air. A moment later he dropped. Luckily Clockblocker caught him, wincing as his ribs were jostled painfully. Boco stopped kicking and let out a frustrated screech, his leg shaking slightly when he stood on it.

"You okay little dude?" Clockblocker asked and Mog looked up at him, red pom-pom bouncing.

"I'm fine, kupo. I keep forgetting I'm not my usual self." Mog muttered and floated up slowly.

"Keynote, this barrier is also reversed on purpose, kupo." Mog explained as he put one paw on the white light.

"It feeds on your feelings of helplessness and fear, kupo. If you can pull yourself together, you'll break it, kupo, I think." He said sounding a little unsure. Practical magic wasn't his strong suit, as he had mentioned before.

There was a roar and then Gallant came running round the corner as fast as he could, close to the destroyed studio.

He looked a little toasty, his once pristine armor now bearing black scorch marks. Gallant came to a stop near Clockblocker and when he spoke he was clearly trying to sound professional and in control. Though the slight timbre of fear in his voice and the panting for breath ruined the effect somewhat.

"They're heading this way, the demon suddenly stopped and glared in this direction, it looked furious. It was making its way here when Lung tackled it again, but that won't stop it for long." Gallant wheezed out, the panic in his voice very real. As if summoned by his words Ifrit came tearing around the corner at such a rapid pace that he was tearing gouges in the concrete.

"Kupo, he's already absorbed so much energy. I can feel it from here." Mog said and Boco puffed up his feathers and made a goose like honking noise. Sabah stood and stared at Ifrit, eyes widening.

"That thing… I... I can feel it it." Sabah whispered to herself, but she was close enough for Taylor to overhear. Maybe it wasn't as bad as it looked, maybe help would arrive or Mog would float Ifrit away, or… or something like that, Taylor thought, attempting to be optimistic, trying to follow Mog's advice as best she could.

Then Lung turned the corner, chasing Ifrit. The dragon's body was now positively bursting with muscle, plated in silver scales snout to tail tip, fangs and claws gleaming as fire ignited down his back. There was no humanity left in the draconic visage hunting down the demon.

Okay things were bad, but… but they could be worse? It could always be worse, Taylor tried reasoning.

Lung flapped his wings and suddenly shot forward, tackling Ifrit from behind, sending both of them hurtling towards the barrier, where Clockblocker, Gallant and Sabah were. Mog and Boco jumped on top of the barrier to get a better view of Ifrit and Lung.

Optimism clearly wasn't working here, so Taylor tried the next thing on the mental checklist: common sense.

"MOVE!" Taylor yelled, snapping Sabah out the state of transfixed terror she'd been stuck in. Clockblocker was looking around, his body language tense and worried, his ribs making running as good as impossible for him.

"Gallant, bollard tactic!" He finally barked and Gallant groaned.

"I hate this one." Gallant muttered but stood up, turning to face the onrushing monsters and spread his arms. As Lung and Ifrit rapidly drawing closer Clockblocker froze him and pulled Sabah close to him, standing directly behind Gallant's now inviolable form.

The two monsters of fire and rage crashed into Gallant, Ifrit first taking the brunt of the impact And then Lung, the dragon being unable to slow down as he rammed into the back of the demon. Gallant's form didn't budge an inch as Lung and Ifrit bounced back, roaring in pain and frustration.

Suddenly, there was a man standing near Lung, the space near him warped and a box of odd silver grenades appeared near him, Vista briefly appearing with the delivery and then she was gone. The red suit with the racing stripes and his sudden appearance seemingly out of nowhere made him pretty easy to identify.

Velocity.

As lung grappled with Ifrit on the ground, he picked up two of the grenades and threw them at the brawling monstrosities.

When they hit the mass of rolling flesh, they hissed like a gas grenade and suddenly the beasts were covered in a yellow foam.

There was sudden silence as the foam took both Lung and Ifrit by surprise.

Then the foam began to bubble, Velocity began to run then blurred, turning into a red streak before he appeared next to Clockblocker near the the barrier.

"It's never that easy, is it?" Velocity asked rhetorically and a resigned tone.

Taylor had never been so happy to see a stranger in her life. She knew of Velocity, she'd seen him on tv and posters, but he was still an unknown element to her.

"You taking over?" Clockblocker asked eagerly.

Velocity shook his head, sounding a little frustrated as he replied.

"Distraction and back up since you lot charged in. Dragon is sending some mechs and a special helper, they're the lynch pin in stopping Lung apparently. In the meantime, we've been told to hold out and try not to die." He said with a sigh and looked up at Boco and Mog.

"So, question time while we wait on this 'helper', unless you think you can tag them Clock?" Velocity said.

Clockblocker shook his head.

"I've got at least two broken ribs here, so I think I'll just sit here and moan quietly thank you." Clockblocker answered with a self deprecating chuckle, despite the pain.

Sabah said nothing, trying to keep her paper bag as unnoticed as she could manage.

"Right. Anyway, so… who's the fire dog thing and why is there a giant bird, and a… flying koala? That on top of a bubble dome with a giant spinning key on it, and who is that trapped inside it?" Velocity asked, sounding completely at ease with what he was seeing, even as he rattled off the absurd sounding questions.

"Simple answers are, in order: Portunes pet or something; Parian's pets or something; I don't know; and that's Portunes." Clockblocker answered him with another grin.

"I not a pet, kupo! I'm a Moogle." Mug huffed from where he was hovering over by Sabah side, where he'd retreated to when Ifrit charged.

"You look like something kids would want for christmas." Velocity answered and Mog deflated at his words, his pom-pom drooping.

"I can be cute and respected, kupo…" Mog said glumly.

The pair of juggernauts were once more engaged in their brawl, now dangerously close and deafeningly loud.

As they tumbled closer Mog shot forward, his pom-pom glowing a furious red and Lung suddenly found himself floating above the ground, aloft without aid of his wings. Lung flapped his wings, beating at the air, but only succeeded in moving himself backwards a bit.

Ifrit smirked and poked Lung with a finger, without any grip on the ground, Lung floated off further backwards. The dragon roared in fury at the action and began to slash in every direction, limbs flying everywhere as he tumbled, slashing and burning everything in reach, trying to catch whatever was holding him up. Snarling as his spinning turned him towards the barrier Lung shot a fireball at the barrier in anger, but like iron to a magnet the fire was draw towards Ifrit, who glowed as the flames hit him, wounds sealing up and the veins beneath his skin glowing like magma.

"Tch, and I was having such a good time too." Ifrit grumbled as he turned to face Mog, his face twisted, half snarl, half leer. Mog didn't seem threatened though and Boco lined up next to him, adding his own glare to the mix.

"Ifrit, explain yourself, kupo." Mog demanded without a shred of hesitation, to the beast that was Matching Lung blow for blow. Boco squawked a demand of his own, unintelligible, but Taylor knew it was a voice… One she just couldn't understand yet.

The battle came to a pause, almost quiet as everyone stared at the interaction between the espers, Lung's inability to actually seem to hurt them at that moment giving everyone a welcome bit of breathing room.

"Explain? To whom? A pair of the lowest class Espers in the space between?" Ifrit snorted in amusement at his own words.

Mog bristled, Growing even angrier than he already was.

"That doesn't matter, kupo, you're breaking the taboo!" He yelled and Ifrit smiled, his mouth a pit full of fangs.

"Breaking, is not the same as broken." He answered before he flicked Mog with one of his large claws.

The Moogle sailed back through the air and lost his balance, hitting the ground and bouncing. Boco screeched and jumped, kicking Ifrit in the face, lifting the demon off his feet.

Sabah screamed as she watched Mog fly and Boco jump, Taylor hit the barrier again, ignoring the pain in her shoulder and twinging of her ribs.

"It's official, I have no idea what's going on." Clockblocker said as the chaos erupted once more.

Velocity, taking this all in and processing what he saw in what seemed a like second, moved. He dashed past Ifrit in a red blur and stopping to return to normal speed as he barreled into Lung, pushing the weightless dragon even further away as Ifrit, flying backwards from Boco's kick, crashed into the ruins of the studio.

As Velocity fell back to a safer distance after his charge, Lung screamed something so garbled that Taylor was sure not even Lung himself knew what he was saying at this point. The dragon seemed beyond words now, just… noise. The noise of a raging beast.

When Boco landed his claw looked a like it was smoking from the impact, as if the cloth that made him had been burnt. Boco let loose another noise, but this time it was less like a bird and more like a predator. A screech Taylor would have thought belonged to a dinosaur.

Mog struggled out of Sabah's grasp, little wings pumping furiously as the studio ruins glowed ominously through the dust and smoke.

"Kupo, I'll show him low class. Let me go. Let me go! I'll show him!" Mog yelled in anger as Boco was forced to dodge, darting away as a huge dark red fireball impacted where he had been standing.

Ifrit walked out glowing the ruins of the Studio, rubbing his cheek. The demon spoke as he slowly walked closer.

"As fellow Espers, I will give you one chance, and only one. Fade away, run, hide, cower behind whatever lord you feel loyalty to. There is nothing here for you anymore. This Keyblade Master is nothing, less than nothing. She is one who would doom us all with her weakness. She is pathetic." Ifrit said and Taylor felt her head burn hotter with every word.

Each word made her eyes pulse harder and harder, her entire skull alight with pain.

It hurt. It hurt so much. Taylor felt like her eye was melting, dripping down her cheek… Or were those tears? She bent over, curling like she had been sucker punched. She fell, tumbling over and onto the ground as Ifrit siphoned more of her energy away, if what Mog said was true.

Mog flew off then and landed on Boco who kicked his feet at the ground like an angry bull getting ready to charge.

Then through the haze of pain Taylor heard a voice. One she couldn't ignore, so… so she… she...

"Taylor, look at me. Please." Sabah whispered again and Taylor dragged her eyes up, tears of pain running down her cheek. Sabah looked her in the eye, a solid look that pierced the darkness of her hood. Now, as Sabah looked at her, even the paper bag seemed... serious.

"You are important. Do you understand?" Sabah asked softly and Taylor shook her head.

She… She wasn't important. She wasn't! Her… her purpose… She was supposed to help over people. Protect them. Protect Sabah. Sabah was important, not...

"Enough of that! I didn't risk my neck, fighting Lung, Oni Lee or anything else that's happened tonight for a nobody. For someone who doesn't matter. I did it for my friend, some very important to me. Maybe you've heard of her? Portunes the hero? You need to get it together Portunes. If this what happens when you get angry, then you need to learn some control and tell this stupid. Ugly. Animal. To shut up!" Sabah said, her soft tone growing louder and louder until by the end she was shouting.

Taylor stared up at her agape and then swallowed hard.

"Y-you got angry w-when you thought I died." Taylor panted out raggedly.

Sabah shook her head and stood.

"Yeah, but I don't summon ether monsters when I get pissed." She said and put her hands flat on the barrier down near Taylor's face. Looking at the soft tan fingers normally hidden by white gloves Taylor swallowed hard, then put her hands under Sabah's.

Not touching, but perfectly in line across the barrier.

Sabah slowly pulled her hands up, sliding them slowly up the barrier. Taylor followed them, pulling herself first to her knees and then to her feet up to keep up, to keep her hands together with Sabah's.

Sabah's hands let her focus, let her ignore the demon in her head. Sabah was her life line and Taylor grabbed hold of her.

There was a crash in the far off distance as Lung finally found himself free of his altered gravity prison.

"Portunes, I need you to believe in yourself. You brought that demon here, no one else and that means you can send it back. Without you, he is nothing. I can feel it, almost see it. I can feel that even now he's trying to take energy from you, but you have so much." Sabah said and Taylor knew she was smiling.

"I can't control him, please listen, I'm not that strong!" Taylor pleaded with her. Ifrit was right. Emma was right. She was nothing, just an ugly, pathetic, useless loser that...

Sabah shook her head, her voice cutting across Taylor's thoughts.

"You don't even know it, do you? I can't believe I've been so blind to it for so long. You have so much power, it's beautiful, you're beautiful. You're being drained by Ifrit, powering this barrier and on top of that, even through this barrier that's keeping us apart, you're giving me energy as well." Sabah said with a laugh, her voice practically smiling.

Taylor mind went blank though as she heard what Sabah called her. The same words repeating, ring through her mind.

'You're beautiful.'

Sabah thought she was… Beautiful?

Sabah thought she was beautiful.

Ifrit roared and threw a car at Sabah which was intercepted by Boco, who's kick almost tore the car in two.

"I'll show you." Sabah said and her voice was… alive. Taylor had know Sabah for nearly five months now and thought she knew the girl pretty well.

This tone though, this tone that rang with confidence, so sure and firm was one that she'd never heard Sabah use before. Absolute believe in herself.

Sabah's hands suddenly flex and huge cracks formed in the barrier, spreading out from her hands to cover the entire dome. Sabah gritted her teeth and pushed again. Taylor felt the fire in her head give way to something soft, something pure. A gentle warmth that embraced her instead of burning.

Sabah.

The barrier let loose a shrill noise and shattered above Taylor, raining white shards of glass that blinked out like stars around her. The Keyblade clattered down next to her and Taylor carefully picked it up, the soft glow it released making her feel safe. Then her other hand was clasped and Taylor looked up as Sabah pulled her back up.

Sabah who made her feel safer than even the Keyblade, which at first surprised Taylor, but then as Sabah pulled her into a close hug, she decided she didn't mind.

"This is extremely gay, just so you know." Clockblocker said calmly.

They both turned and looked at him.

"What? I'm not judging." He said defensively.

Taylor frowned at him, even if the effect was hidden by her hood.

"I'm not a lesbian." Taylor said confused.

Clockblocker stared at her, even with his face covered, like how Sabah glared.

"...Really?" He asked surprised.

Before Taylor could ask him to what he meant by that, the seal below them flickered and vanished, like a light turning off, startling them all.

Mog floated over and spoke with awe in his voice .

"You broke the summoners barrier, kupo. Parian... you're leaking magic!" Mog exclaimed and Sabah looked down at her hands.

"I feel it, Mog. I can feel this warmth flowing through me." The older girl said and Taylor looked at her, seeing no obvious tell. Mog did, however and was floating around her in excitement.

"A source, you've become a source! Me and Boco can feel it, kupo!" He said, while Boco rushed at Ifrit again.

The demon was charging forward when he stumbled suddenly, giving the barrier a stunned look as in broke and faded.

Ifrit roared and he glowed differently than he had been before. Boco cried a warning, which made Mog turn around sharply and fly back towards Sabah.

"He wouldn't, kupo! He'll destroy everyone in the street!" Mog cried out.

Taylor and Sabah both looked at Mog wide eyed shock. Taylor grabbed Sabah ready to run and then paused, stopping her retreat. What would she do about Clockblocker? She was a hero, and even if he was one too…

"Hey, not a problem, just go. I'll be fine." Clockblocker said with false cheer, clutching at his side.

Taylor hesitated, unwilling to just abandon someone. Because even if he was a hero… She was supposed to save him too. Nodding to herself to confirm her resolve, Taylor turned her head and was about to direct Sabah to take Clockblocker under one arm and she would take the other one, when a noise rumbled across to them making them all stop.

Then they all heard Ifrit roar and turned just in time to see him leap into the air. Mog shouted as he latched onto a nearby street light.

"Grab something, quick, kupo!" He said as Ifrit hands glowed and twin dark fireballs appeared and quickly grew to impressive size.

Ifrit threw them both downwards, and they slammed together as they hit the street.

Boom

The resulting explosion unleashed a huge pillar of fire, flames roaring into the sky. The flames were so hot that Taylor felt her tears instantly evaporate and her face begin to burn, stinging like sunburn.

Mog's advice of grabbing a hold of something suddenly made sense as a powerful vacuum began to pull them towards the growing firestorm, caused by the hot air rushing upwards into the sky and being swallowed by the flames.

Without a warning, Clockblocker let himself slide in front of the two girls and froze his costume, his free arm wide, the other still clutching his ribs.

Both Taylor and Sabah hit him and grabbed hold of the white Ward's frozen body.

"You know..." Clockblocker said loudly over the rushing wind, startling Taylor, whose ear was near his head, back against his chest.

"Aren't you frozen?" She yelled and Clockblocker might have tried to nod, she couldn't really tell.

"Costume only, can't freeze myself, but like I was saying, the one time I have two girls clinging to my body, I'm too hard to move." He joked and Taylor rolled her eye so hard, she could practically see herself thinking.

Boco's claws, dug deep into the concrete and began to carves gouges into the street as he strained against the pull of the inferno which drew him ever closer.

Suddenly Lung flew over them all, wings pumping as he actually pushed himself faster into the inferno rather than resisting.

Taylor saw his shadow enter the bright funnel and shoot up, hit by the raging hell winds. Ifrit landed with a crash and buried his clawed hands into the street below him. He bellowed as his muscular arms bulged with effort, flames spurting from his arms as his skin itself tore with the strain, then a massive chunk of the street in front of him cracked and was lifetd up. Ifrit heaved and sent the colossal rock flying up, smashing into Lung, destabilising and detonating the fire funnel.

The entire inferno seemed to explode then, contracting towards and shooting away from the impact point. The force seemed impossibly strong, the winds and heat scroching even from here a few hundred feet below. The explosion sent Lung veering off into the distance trailing smoke and embers, his wings torn to shreds.

Ifrit watched Lung until the dragon was out of sight, still hurtling towards the bay. The demon then turned back, glaring at the rest of them. Taylor stood and dragged Sabah up with her, Clockblocker was still frozen and inviolable.

"What the fuck is happening?! Was that Lung?! I can't turn!" Clockblocker demanded, sounding like it was killing him not to see the detail

"Why didn't he aim at us?" Sabah said, sounding winded and panicked.

Mog answered as he came closer.

"He needs Keynote, without her, he fades." Mog said simply before Boco snapped at him.

"Wark, wark." Boco said and Mog stared at him.

"You want to do what, kupo?"

"Wark, kweh!" Boco replied and looked at Sabah, who took a step back at his sharp look. Mog mulled over his words.

"It could work, but the both of us? It would be dangerous, kupo." He muttered as Ifrit stared at his hands, his body shrinking. That last attack drained him of energy he was no longer taking from Taylor.

Taylor had to admit to feeling a little bit of vindictive glee as she thought about Ifrit feeling worried.

"Wark."

"Agreed, kupo" Mog said with a nod. Mog floated over to Sabah.

"We have an idea. It might be enough to help you out, kupo." Mog started as Ifrit rushed at them, the demons face twisted with rage.

Taylor gritted her teeth and began to rush forward to meet him, but was stopped as Boco stepped in front of her.

"Wha… Boco! Move!" Taylor demanded.

Boco just squawked at her, then Mog pulled her back by the hood.

"You can't fight, Kupo. you'll just feed him more energy. Hey you, Clockmucker!" Mog shouted out.

"Clockblocker." The frozen Ward corrected.

Mog ignored him.

"I need to borrow your energy. It won't hurt." Mog requested as Ifrit stopped, suddenly wary at their lack of counter attack.

Clockblocker made a sound of interest.

"Why do you need it?" Clockblocker asked and then heard the crunch of Ifrit's claws as the demon stopped staring and began approaching them again, a little more cautiously this time.

"You know what, just take it, have as much as you need." He said quickly.

Mog nodded and his pom-pom glowed red and then suddenly Clockblocker unfroze, falling to the ground with a groan.

Taylor raised the Keyblade and the green flash of cure washed over him, making him stop shaking.

"Okay, that is awesome, thanks." Clockblocker said feeling his ribs, wincing as he prodded a sensitive one.

Boco rushed forward with Mog quick on his tail feathers as the chocobo leapt. In response Ifrit raised both arms in a block, anticipating a kick. When none landed the demon looked up as Boco hovered in the air, wings fluttering desperately.

"STOPGA!" Mog said flying close to the ground, getting close as Ifrit's attention was directed upwards. An ethereal clock with spinning hands appeared above the demon, the hands slowing down, before stopping altogether.

"DAMN YO-" Ifrit froze mid roar and Boco landed. The bird then kicked Ifrit in the face a few times for good measure as the hands on the clock slowly began to turn again, picking up speed.

"We don't have much time, kupo, Keynote! Hit him and keep hitting him, kupo, the hits will affect him all at once when the spell wears off, Parian come over here, kupo." Mog commanded and then Velocity was suddenly back again.

"Clock, you've been ordered back, you're too injured to risk being in the field any more." Velocity said with grim tone.

Clockblocker nodded.

"I guess I was pushing my luck, where's Aegis? I haven't seen him since he lead those two off." The Ward asked as he began to move towards the flashing lights.

"Lung got him, he's currently in two pieces, and while both are still moving..." Velocity's voice trailed off as he blurred into a normal run, carrying Clockblocker away for medical help.

Wherever he was ordered back as well was left unsaid.

Taylor grimaced at that description and turned to look at Sabah. Mog and Boco stood on either side of her and both were glowing. Still, she had a job to do. She was supposed to...

Any thought of hitting Ifrit went out her mind as Sabah began to glow too.

"What's happening?" Taylor asked, hoping someone beside Boco would answer.

"These dolls aren't are our true form, kupo, we Espers aren't easily defined. Over the times of great challenge and strife, we've taken many different forms and as many different names, kupo. On worlds with loose rules or no previous focus form, such as this World, with enough magic behind us, it's possible to conjure one of those forms, kupo. To bring our pasts into the present." Mog said and began to glow brighter. Boco warbled softly on the other side of Sabah, who looked a little panicked.

"Then why do you need me?" Sabah asked, as the older girl too began to float.

"You are a source, kupo, a new born spring of mana in this otherwise magically barren world. With your new reserves, we have more options, with you we might be able to slow him down." Mog said and to Taylor's eye, he began to break apart at the bottom, unraveling into thin golden strands from his feet upwards.

"Ifrit?" Sabah asked as Boco began to unravel as well.

"No, kupo, Taylor must fight her demons, or she will never be free of him otherwise, kupo. We will give her that time." Mog said, somehow, as he was nothing more than a golden ball of light surrounded by string. Boco vanished quickly as well.

"Mog? Boco? What's happening to you?" Taylor asked, worried for her friends. She'd nearly lost them once with Sabah's death, to lose them now even if Sabah was alive…

Then the golden lights began to circle Sabah slowly, gaining speed as they orbited the floating, glowing girl.

"We are using our connection to Sabah, kupo, we connecting to her on the deepest level. We are some of the lowest Espers in the space between, but together, there isn't anything me and Boco can not do! And with Sabah, we're only going to be even better!" Mog yelled, sounding ecstatic, his ball of light, slightly darker in shade than Boco's spun faster, the pair almost becoming rings of light as they moved faster and faster in their orbit around Sabah.

"We will protect her. I promise, please leave the fell dragon to us." A voice she hadn't heard before spoke from Boco's orb. The voice was smooth and happy. Taylor blinked at the spinning light and so did Sabah.

"Boco? Is that... you?" Sabah asked after a pause.

A laugh rang out.

"Yes, I guess you've not heard me like this, it is hard to speak human tongue with a beak. My voice seems to always catch you humans off guard when I do speak, it's rather odd." He said and Sabah covered her eyes as the dust and debris began to swirl around her.

"Now go, Ifrit won't be under that spell for long, Espers aren't easy to contain. Trust us, kupo, and don't try and beat him with your feelings, he can feed off that." Mog insisted and Taylor gripped the Keyblade and nodded.

She turned and ran. The clock above Ifrit began to crack.

Even when there was an enormous light behind her, Taylor kept running towards Ifrit, her trust in her friends the only thing keeping her gaze forward. Taylor leapt as the clock shattered above Ifrit.

"-OU!" Ifrit finished, Realizing what had happened the demons blazing eyes darted around until they snapped on to Taylor who had leapt above him, the Keyblade already coming down in an overhead strike, rose head glinting.

Ifrit threw his entire weight behind a fist aimed at Taylor, meeting the Keyblade head on.

"The Keyblade 'Master' has finally deemed me worthy of attention has she?" He mused as he pushed Taylor back forcefully, the Keyblade doing no damage to his bare skin. Taylor felt the heat trying to creep back into her head, but pushed it down with ease. The words still ringing in her head.

You're beautiful.

"Yeah, sorry it took me so long. I was locked up and being used like battery for some flaming asshole, wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Taylor snarked as she back flipped mid-air, landing smoothly.

Ifrit was about to respond when his gaze fell on something behind Taylor's head and he froze, out of shock rather than time magic this time.

"It can't be..." He said in a faint voice. Ifrit took a step forward and Taylor pointed the Keyblade at him.

"Stop." She commanded and to her surprise, he slowed. Ifrit looked down at his feet and then to her, rage filling his voice as he spoke.

"You dare command me?!" Ifrit roared.

But Taylor stood unafraid, the light shining on her from behind filling her with the feeling of comfort, the same warmth of Sabah rippling all around her. Taylor felt her lips quirk as she realized how she must look to Ifrit, the light from behind transforming her into a glowing silhouette, one striking a heroic image, standing tall with sword in hand.

"I dare." Taylor said quietly but firmly and moved faster than she could ever remember having done before. And this time when her Keyblade met Ifrit's desperate swing, she smashed his arm backwards, throwing the beast off balance. She followed it up with a swipe at his legs, smashing a knee and making it buckle, Ifrit falling to the ground as his leg collapsed.

She backed off, but he didn't try to set her on fire. Mog had said Ifrit needed her to sustain himself, so he was likely holding back to conserve his power with her no longer fuelling him. Taylor, however, had no such need and had no intention of showing mercy.

The glow from behind her suddenly died down and Ifrit stared, not bothering to swipe at Taylor any more, his attention fully focused the events unfolding behind her.

"A true materialization on such a barren world?" He said, his claws clenched tightly with some unknown emotion.

Taylor wanted so badly to fall back, to turn her head to look, but...

'Trust us.' Mog had said and that was what she would have to do. She would believe in her friends as they believed in her. Taylor rushed forward and at the same time she spotted a figure break through the clouds above.

It was the draconic figure of Lung, with his four wings outstretched, looking almost as big a truck, he was an armor plated and winged menace, his neck bulging as he strained to grow even bigger. The dragon dived at Ifrit claws bared to strike, the moment he had a clear shot at the demon.

Taylor felt herself wanting to dodge aside or run, it was the sane thing to do, but Taylor needed to buy Sabah and Dragon didn't know what either one would do, but she had to trust them and… She trusted Sabah at the very least.

Taylor dashed forward and used Ifrit as a springboard, launching herself into the air. Tucking into a roll for speed, Taylor uncurled and threw the Keyblade at Lung, raid style. Lung in turn, swerved to the side, twisting in a desperate roll to avoid Melody's vicious sting. This threw the dragon's trajectory off, forcing him to take a second to redirect his path when he finally stopped his roll.

Taylor landed and rolled backwards as Ifrit attempted to wrap his claws around her. The relatively slow movement and the lack of muscle flexing showed Taylor that Ifrit's intent was to grab her, not crush her. So, at least only one of her opponents would kill her. That was one positive at least.

Lung landed on her other side of Taylor, putting her between the two brutes. Lung tried moving his hulking body aside as he heard the Keyblade return with its distinctive whistle, roaring as Ifrit leaped forward, bounding toward Taylor, eager to continue his fight with Lung.

Taylor let the Keyblade fly over her, willing it to continue past her. It obeyed.

It smacked into Ifrit's face, where it bounced off into Taylor's waiting hands as she spun before shooting back up into the air. Lung slashed at her as she jumped and Taylor turned around in the air and blasted Lung with Ice, the action pointless, but reassuring all the same. Still, it bought her precious seconds to land on Lung's momentarily blinded head and roll down along his back and past the wings, leaping off to land on safer ground.

Lung turned, not managing to see her despite his elongated neck. The dragon tried to set the air on fire to hit what he couldn't see as Taylor darted about to stay behind him, but Ifrit was on him, healing his smashed face with Lung's flames.

Both beings smashed together then, grappling like demented sumo wrestlers, before Lung slammed Ifrit down before picking him up despite the demon's struggles and throwing Ifrit at Taylor. She was about to dive into a dodge roll when she was promptly picked up and carried away by a blonde girl.

"Woah, close call. You always stand around and wait for the last second before trying to run?" Glory Girl said as she place Taylor down to the side of the road, next to the still frozen Gallant.

"I wondered why he wasn't answering his phone." She said dryly knocking on Gallant's helmet.

Taylor stared at the blonde heroine. Glory Girl aka Victoria Dallon was part of of the famous, in Brockton Bay at least, New Wave. The family of heroic capes who chose to forego a secret identity, to try and usher in a new way of being a cape. It didn't take from what Taylor remembered.

Most of New Wave, if not all, had some form of light based powers and wore no masks. Like Glory Girl in front of Taylor, who had her face bare and unblemished. Though Panacea, Amy Dallon, was the odd one out, wearing a half mask on her lower face and having healing powers that cured cancer on a bad day and regrew legs on a good one.

As Taylor stared at her, she felt herself drawn to look harder at Glory Girl, but other than that, felt nothing. She had heard that Glory Girl had some kind of Shaker affect to make people like her or fear her. Maybe Taylor just felt too relieved to see help to feel anything else?

Glory Girl was a bombshell in white and Taylor was certain she herself looked like brick wall that some hobo had puked on just standing next to her, and not just because she had been thrown through a building either.

The girl looked amazing and Taylor thought genetics were unfair. She'd… well, not kill, but do unspeakable things to look like Glory Girl on a bad day.

Ifrit pushed past Lung and ran at Taylor, his anger at her freedom and ability to move surpassing his battle lust for Lung.

Glory Girl didn't even blink, she just charged and met him half way, her body glowing as she smashed into Ifrit, lifting him off his feet. Lung, who had been chasing the demon, was surprised to find that his maw was suddenly filled with Ifrit's mane.

Glory Girl retreated starting to smirk and then frowned at her hand, which had light scorch marks on her skin, and she had moved away before the heat could truly begin to hurt her.

"Okay, so punching fire capes might not be the best idea without my shield…" She muttered.

"Glory Girl, you okay?" Taylor asked and moved closer, Glory Girl nodded.

"I got a good healer on tab, I can afford a few scrapes, but I don't think I actually did much damage, just sorta pushed dog boy around. Keynote, right?" She asked and Taylor opened, and then closed her mouth, with a resigned sigh she spoke.

"Yeah, that's me. Where's the rest of the backup?" Taylor said resignedly as she looked to the sky, expecting the rest of New Wave to come rushing in. Or Dragon, she was supposed to be on the way.

"I rushed ahead, sounded bad here when we heard about Aegis. Mom is going to kill me, but that's nothing new." Glory Girl said with a shrug and worked out a few kinks as she rolled her shoulders, watching Lung and Ifrit going at it again.

"So, plan?" The blonde asked Taylor who blinked.

Glory Girl was asking her? Well, she supposed she did have a plan, even if it was a bad one and put Sabah in danger.

"Lung needs to be kept away, he's using Ifrit to fuel himself and grow bigger. I can… I can deal with Ifrit if I get the time." Taylor said with hint of confidence leaking in as she got use to Glory Girl's sudden presence.

"So separate them and keep them apart until the backup arrives? I dig it, Armsmaster and Miss Militia are heading here according to the radio chatter I heard before I got bored and rushed in." She admitted and began to shift from foot to foot like a boxer, sizing Lung up.

"Lung's pretty big, might be a tough one on my own." She said with not a shred of fear, but something more akin to excitement.

Taylor was about to ask her to be careful when Ifrit pushed away from Lung and charged Taylor again, he seemed more desperate to remove Taylor from the fight than to defend himself from Lung now.

"This guy… seems like an idiot. Who tries the exact same trick twice?" Glory Girl asked incredulously and was about to charge him head on when a blur past them in a flash of silver and yellow, the sound of metal clanking ringing out.

"Kupo!"

A shining knight sped past, the figure wielding a spear that she spun with fluid grace, the sharp metal head ready to sink into anyone foolish to come near.

Boco smashed into Ifrit, where they both ground to a stop, equal in force and Lung leapt to claw into both of them, before the gleaming figure in armour on Boco's back flashed the long spear up at him, where it pulsed and Lung was suddenly weightless again. The fireball he let off only serving to enhance Ifrit before Ifrit batted him away. Lung beat his four wings to stop himself from tumbling, but unable to stop himself from floating away.

With Boco so close to Ifrit, it was easy to see the bird had grown a few feet in every direction, matching Ifrit in height. More, Boco's entire front was covered in dark grey metal that; his body, neck, face, legs and wings, all plated in metal. His normally cute appearance was transformed into an appearance more fierce and heroic than Taylor had thought possible.

Atop Boco's back sat a Knight in shining armor. Sabah, it had to be, swung the spear the knight was carrying at Ifrit who leapt back and roared before Glory Girl appeared in a golden blur, sending him crashing to the pavement with a haymaker.

Sabah turned and Taylor saw her upper face was covered by a metal helmet, that looked like it was dyed green, the design was of a chocobo beak that centred down her nose, leaving the cheeks and mouth exposed. The chest plate was simple with only an X shaped in the metal, a red and gold cape floating regally behind her

Her spear glowed and Mog's voice came out from it.

"Next time, Stab him… Kupo." He said and Sabah shook her head.

"I can't just stab someone, kupo. Wait, why did I say kupo, kupo?" Sabah said with annoyance, twitching at the verbal tick.

Mog spoke, and Taylor could practically hear the Moogle's smile.

"You're connected to us, kupo, it's simple bleed over. Perhaps, we should avoid fast food places, kupo, just in case." The Mog spear muttered.

"Sab… Par… What happened?" Taylor asked in a distant voice. It was a calm voice, the kind of voice you use when you see something so mind boggling that you don't know exactly know how to react.

"I have no idea, kupo." Sabah said and twirled the Mog spear with a flourish and whirled it around to smack Ifrit in the face as he rose. There was a crack of thunder at the impact and lightning shot from the spear into the beast.

Ifrit's body spasmed and charred, smoke billowing of the demon before he stumbled away. Sabah moved away, carried atop Boco as the chocobo dodged Ifrit's drunken retaliatory swipe.

"I was aiming for ice… Kupo!" Sabah said and shook Mog.

"S-Stop that, kupo, I can't control the magic, that's up to you." Mog said alarmed as Sabah's lips pursed.

Glory Girl whistled as she saw Ifrit's hair stand up on end, smoking slightly.

"Nice! Got a name there knight girl?" She asked and Sabah looked down at herself and then paused.

"...Choco Knight." Sabah said suddenly then slapped a hand to her mouth. Boco gave a little hop and cheered, warbling cheerfully.

"No, that wasn't me!" Sabah in alarm, but Glory Girl had already flown off.

"Hurry up, if you can Choco Knight. Lung is ours, leave big and ugly here for Keynote." Glory Girl shouted and flew fist first into a helpless Lung and sent him soaring down the street, tumbling and belching flames in distress.

"I'm Parian!" She cried out desperately and Taylor came closer as Sabah's hand reached out as if she could push the information at Glory Girl. Taylor put a hand on her armoured knee. Ifrit paused, a confused look on his face as Glory Girl flew right past, repeatedly battering the floating Lung ahead of her.

"I feel your pain, and be careful." Taylor said and squeezed softly.

Sabah looked down at her, metal beak looking sharp.

"Just hurry up and kick his ass. I'll be waiting for you, kupo!" Sabah said and suddenly she was down the street, easily catching up with Glory Girl, Boco's claws tearing up the wrecked road at an amazing pace.

"I won't be long." Taylor promised with a last look after Sabah, then turned her full attention back to Ifrit.

"What do you want? You've been standing there long enough to escape, kill me or even cause wide scale destruction, but you haven't. So… What do you want?" Taylor asked the demon as she twirled the Keyblade around fluidly. Her head finally feeling like it was all her own again.

"What do I want? I want whatever I feel like wanting. Right now, I want to crush that woman's skull, tear Mog and Boco into non-existence, and melt Shiva's latest ice palace. Does that answer your question,Master?" He replied with that mocking title again. Taylor wasn't as bothered by it now, but it pulled her attention none the less.

"Keyblade Master, you keep calling me that with sarcasm like I'm not." Taylor said idly as she sized him up, making note of the area she had to work with. Ifrit snorted, and flames shot out of his nostrils.

"You're definitely not. You're no master, you're barely even a pupil no matter what the Moogle says. Mog was not around before the Sundering, there were far more Keyblade users then. But I was. I saw what mortal men and woman could do with that Key in your hands. It was a thing of wonder and ruin, life and death, light and dark. The Keyblade is not a simple weapon, nor is it complex." He spoke as he pointed the Keyblade, his voice no longer angry, no longer full of rage, but instead he spoke quietly, almost reverently. His voice was soft as the demon spoke of ages long since past.

"How can something be neither simple or complex?" Taylor tried to ask without her tone becoming insulting at such a contrary statement, she'd inherited her mother's hate of oxymorons.

Ifrit took a step forward and answered her.

"It is always simple to those who know and complex to those who don't. The Keyblades have caused so much strife and destruction throughout the sands of time. Yet no matter how deeply one tries, you cannot erase the Keyblade wielders, nor should you. To try would require you to destroy the true heart… But you wish to know why I haven't killed you, fled, or bathed in the blood of a thousand warriors?" He asked her his voice becoming deeper with every word. Taylor didn't back away, her stance firm.

"That's what I asked. So are you going to monologue or answer me?" Taylor responded and Ifrit threw his head back and laughed.

"Hahahaha. I'd find your bravado more convincing if I hadn't already been inside your head little Master. Perhaps you should bring back your Knight? She seems to inspire your heart." Ifrit said mockingly.

Taylor leapt forward, intending to smack him in the head, but he belched fire at her. She responded with what was quickly becoming her default action by meeting it with a wave ice. It worked about as well as it did with Lung, the fire over powering her ice, the flames creeping towards her. Before Ifrit could smack her like Lung did, Taylor dropped and rolled, circling to come up behind Ifrit and jabbed the Keyblade into his lower back. Ifrit grunted and let himself be moved forward by the blow, lessening the impact.

In a flash of fire he disappeared and reappeared a fair distance away.

Ifrit could teleport. Fantastic, what next? Could he make the floor into lava?

Snarling, Taylor threw the Keyblade at him, Melody of the Lost spinning end over end with a piercing whistle.

Ifrit grabbed it as the weapon reached him, his huge hand rocked back from the force of the Keyblade crashing into it. Yet the demon held his ground, refusing to yield. With some shuffling he held the Keyblade between two nails.

"This tiny thing, much like yourself, causes far too much trouble. I was sent here at his... request... to test the newest chosen of the Keyblade. To see how strong your heart was, to test its mettle and make sure you were... balanced." He said with a smile, an inside joke, Taylor thought pulling the Keyblade back to her hand.

"Balanced?! You lock me up, talk about eating my friends, make Lung almost unstoppable and call me pathetic. I think I'm being remarkably well balanced right now." Taylor said through gritted teeth.

Ifrit flexed his hand.

"And if you're Knight dies? Will you plunge this world into darkness with your grief? Will you destroy it all in your sorrow?" Ifrit said his voice soft once. Taylor, caught off guard, took a step back.

"What? Sabah's alive!" Taylor said with heat, she could see Boco in the far distance behind Ifrit, dodging around fire blasts, Sabah riding proudly atop his back.

"Today, maybe. Tomorrow, next week, probably. But some day, perhaps some day soon, she will die. Maybe a nothing shoots her for her money? A man who is nothing, who was nothing, and will be nothing. If that man ended your knights life… What do you think would happen? What do you think you would do?" Ifrit said with steel in his voice, making Taylor take a step back.

"I...That wouldn't…" Taylor stuttered, unwilling, unable to process that terrible thought. She couldn't understand, couldn't comprehend a world that no longer contained her friend. It wouldn't be her world if Sabah was no more. Such a world couldn't exist.

Ifrit pressed on, taking a step forward and then another, coming closer as he talked.

"You would do what you have done tonight. You would give in to the darkness in your heart, you would sink so deep into despair that the dashing hero you are now would crumble and die. Then, in its place would arise a monster, a being that would repulse even I. You would seek comfort in the darkest numbness, flee from your reality, flee from your feelings, flee from your own actions and next time, I might not be able to come in time to stop you making the worst mistake of all." Ifrit said, rhythmically exhaling flames as he spoke.

"...What mistake would that be?" Taylor said quietly, looking at him. It… It hurt. To know the demon was right. Because she understood that if Sabah died then she would be unable to bear the pain. She'd suffered so much for so little… Then she'd met Sabah and found hope. To feel her hope die… Taylor knew she would do anything to take away that pain.

Ifrit paused and looked heavenward, through the smoke and the dust, past the lights of both fire and city, gazing to the stars above.

"You would end them all because you would decide you weren't strong to feel. That oblivion is better than the pain. You would stop being hero and become a true monster… Heartless." Ifrit said sounding both contempt and yet… So utterly sad.

Taylor shook her head, trying to deny what she knew in heart to be true.

"You're wrong. I would never kill someone!" Taylor denied with a yell.

Ifrit held both palms up in an exaggerated shrug.

"And Yet… here I am. A being of fire, a being of darkness, a creature with no purpose but to destroy, to kill. I do not get summoned by the will of protection, safety, light, love or healing. I am here because you wanted people dead, Lung dead, the world dead. You wanted me to 'burn them, burn them all', did you not?" Ifrit said and Taylor felt a flash, not of fire but of memory.

Ifrit was right. She… She had said… She had said that. Oh god.

Taylor had wanted people to burn. Taylor had actually wanted people to die.

She had wanted the world to burn.

"I appeared and took your rage into me, it empowered me, revealed to me your heart's deepest desire. I have seen you heart, Taylor Hebert. Do you know what it whispered to me?" Ifrit murmured as he drew close, his claws clacking on the rubble as he slowly, calmly drew closer.

Taylor shook her head violently, whispering denials, begging for him to make it stop but Ifrit pushed onwards, his voice calm, almost… caring.

"Help me, please, help me." Ifrit answered. Taylor looked up at him. Ifrit stared back his eyes alight with fire.

"Even in the deepest pits of human rage, buried in the darkness of your own despair... You clung to hope. You cried out for salvation and I answered your call. I saw your heart sitting on the knife edge that is destiny. Which way would you fall, I asked myself, and then decided Destiny was a fool and helped you. I took your rage, gave you my control. I traded what little peace I had, so that you could hang on to that hope." Ifrit said and began to glow, Taylor did to, much to her shock.

"What's happening?!" Taylor asked as her chest began to feel light, her feet left the ground and she felt a door open in her mind, inside she saw endless flames, yet they didn't intrude into her mind. Through the door she felt pride, energy, heat, courage and passion.

"We are connected, Taylor Hebert, Keynote, Portunes, Daughter, friend, inspiration, hope, light and loved one. I blinded the door to you the best I can to give you time and now I can no longer do so, your passion must return home and I must regain myself." Ifrit said and began to unravel at his feet, like Boco and Mog.

"I thought you said I was unbalanced?" Taylor said feeling a dark sense of humor, her body tingling and every open flame on the street began to flicker wildly. Ifrit snorted and Taylor felt amusement leak through the gateway, the door between them.

"Very much so, but if you have come this far and have not yet fallen, I can at least see this arrangement to its end. I will put my power at your disposal, if you lend me your heart to sustain myself longer still." Ifrit said, his eyes burning with more than just flame, his sincerity and his passion burning as hot as his flames.

Taylor spoke without thinking.

"I kinda need my heart, to live, like, a lot." Taylor pointed out and Ifrit did another one of those odd snort laughs.

"Your heart is more that just a thing of flesh and blood, it is who you are Keyblade Master. I shall simply connect to it. Do we have an agreement?" Ifrit proposed.

Taylor asked him one more question, using the door to gauge his honesty.

"Once again, I ask why? Why would you help me?"

"Because I can keep you safe from the darkness. Because at the heart of your darkness… There is light. And I am extremely bored of the space between." Ifrit said and his emotions reflected the dullness well.

Taylor imagined the home of the Espers was without Wifi.

"I can see that point, but the moment you start making my head spin 360 degrees I'm booting you out, cool power or not." Taylor warned and Ifrit growled as his head vanished into golden red strings.

"As if you could, human." Ifrit said and amusement leaked over their bond.

"Then… it's a deal." Taylor said. As soon as the words had crossed her lips, Ifrit began to spin around her like a small orbiting sun. Every bit of fire on the street began to trail after him, creating a fiery ring around her body.

"Ifrit, the fire is getting awfully close here…" Taylor muttered.

"Fire is the element of life and death, it will not longer be your primordial fear, but your greatest weapon thus far. Do not fear the flames." Ifrit said as the fire began to gather faster every time Ifrit completed an orbit around her.

The ring became a rushing inferno around her, stretching high into the sky, parting the clouds in a tornado of fire. Taylor felt herself lift up inside the funnel as Ifrit slammed into her, the glowing orb, vanishing into her chest.

"Embrace them!"

And Taylor felt.

Taylor felt the rage and hate that had consumed her before rise up. The blood boiling rage that she had felt when Sabah vanished in Lung's fire. The mind numbing, heart stopping hate that that she had never realized had disappeared so utterly when she had woken up.

Taylor knew she had been somewhat numb inside, even to the extent of panic, but this…

This emotion made every part of Taylor burn. Even with the knowledge that Sabah was alive, the proof within view, outside the flames, the rage did not rein back. Taylor gritted her teeth and with Keyblade in the hand, swallowed back a grief fueled scream.

"I will… I will not go back to being like that. I will not fall into darkness. I am better than that. Even if Sabah dies, I can't… I won't let her down by becoming a murderer. I won't let her down. Not now. Not ever!" Taylor shouted and felt the tears in her eye dry up, taken by the heat or her resolve, she didn't know which… and it didn't much matter. Not now.

"Good answer, now I won't crush your heart like a grape." Ifrit said, somehow. Taylor closed her eyes as the fire washed over her, the tornado becoming a sphere, that shrunk in around her until the flames were licking at her feet.

"Less talking, more ass kicking." Taylor commanded. Ifrit pulsed somewhere deep inside her chest, almost like a second heart.

"Of course, Taylor." He answered with heat and power. Taylor smiled slightly as the flames swallowed her.

"Call me, Keynote, everyone does."

Sabah decided that having two other voices in her head was decidedly weird.

'Watch out for the tail, kupo!'

'I see it, strike true, Sabah!'

Boco, in his dark armour, her current ride, leapt over Lung's tail as Mog, currently in the form of a spear, jabbed at Lung, firing off another spell.

Cold, ice. Sabah wondered if this was what Taylor felt like when she cast magic, like she had the world at her fingertips.

As Lung stumbled back, an icicle through his eye, Sabah tried to not puke on Boco.

"Mog… that was horrible." She gasped. Mog vibrated in her hand, in acknowledge or sympathy she wasn't sure.

Sabah flicked her eyes over her transformed friend. Mog's transformation was simple, but elegant. The spears main shaft was deep blue, a single flowing golden sentence inscribed along the shaft, spiraling all the way down the metal. The spear was completed by a capping of solid gold at the end. At the business end was a red gem that mirrored Mog's pom with two bat wings on either side, both ending in very sharp points, while the spear head itself was a brilliant silver.

Mog had said he was a winged spear, but with the occasional water spells she fired off, she felt it was closer to a trident, like that of Poseidon of Greek myth.

Looking back towards where Taylor was, she saw the sphere of fire that currently held Taylor prisoner begin to shrink. Sabah bit her lip, but stayed alert as Lung yanked the ice out his skull.

Glory Girl floated down near her.

"Doing great Knight, notice he's stopped growing?" She pointed out as Lung crushed the bloody ice with a growl. Sabah nodded.

"I think I'm doing that sometimes, kupo." She admitted and Glory Girl nodded with a grin.

"Having a trump back you up is pretty handy, noise quirk aside. Wanna see if I can get you into New Wave?" Then without waiting for an answer, she shot off suddenly and blocked a car being flung their way, making it look effortless as she put out on hand and it just stopped and crumbled.

'Am I stopping him from growing?' Sabah asked her giant bird mount and her talking spear. This was her life now, fighting dragons dressed up as a knight.

...Did that make Taylor, her princess?

'I think so, kupo. You've been dishing out some dispels randomly. My draw combined with your source is making some nice low to mid tier spells happen, like dispel, kupo, which is good. I don't think you want to cast death, even if it would solve your problem. Death is… isn't a nice lady.' Mog muttered that last part and Boco nodded slightly.

'I agree, her words are kind enough, but one always gets a feeling of finality around her.' Boco expanded for Sabah. Sabah suddenly feeling off balance, spoke aloud.

"There is a spell called… 'death' and on top of that, kupo, Death, the person, exists?" Sabah asked faintly.

Mog shook in her hand.

'Does it matter, kupo, 'cause there is only one thing we say to Death. Not today! Now, onwards!' Mog yelled and Sabah felt herself become motivated to do something she never thought she would look forward to.

Hurting another person, but there it was, the desire to ram her spear so far up Lung's-

'Don't you dare, kupo!' Mog screeched as Lung slammed into Glory Girl, whose shield took the hit and then flickered out, Glory Girl saw Choco Knight coming and rammed Lung back into the ground where Boco crushed an arm as he ran over Lung. Sabah waited until Boco turned before she threw the spear, thinking the word in her mind as loudly as she could.

Dispel.

Mog shone with a golden light and when he struck, sinking deep into Lung the light transferred itself from spear to dragon. Lung glowed then bright as the sun for an instant until, with a sound like breaking crystal, the light shattered like glass, sending shards everywhere and Lung was suddenly reduced by a few feet and one of his set of wings shrunk back to spines.

Lung staggered and before he could rip Mog out, the spear tore itself free with a wet ripping sound, and flew back into Sabah's waiting hand.

'Ugh, I feel dirty. I hate being the weapon.' Mog complained and Sabah wasn't surprised, she wouldn't want to be used like Mog was being right now. Just seeing Lung's bleeding wound made her queasy, but Glory Girl was obviously less squeamish and took advantage of the opening to send Lung's face into the concrete.

'We can't stay bonded like this much longer, I can feel the bonds beginning to fray.' Boco warned. Sabah blinked and felt the two spools of string connecting her to Mog and Boco thinning, their emotions fading.

"What do we do?!" Sabah asked in panic, the idea of the paper bag returning, actually made her feel a greater amount of panic than facing Lung.

'The classic, kupo?' Mog said, sounding almost impish. Boco ruffled his feathers under Sabah.

'It has been awhile since we last used it.' Boco mused.

"Used what, kupo?" Sabah asked as Boco ran a small distance away from Lung before turning. The chocobo slammed his leg down into road, cracking it.

'An old trick we picked up awhile back, kupo. We're going to go out with a bang!' Mog said and Sabah paused.

"Hurrah bang or bang bang?" She asked carefully.

'The Mighty Deathblow, bang. Hold on tight, my featherless friend.' Boco murmured and kicked his feet like a bull readying for a charge, Sabah shook her head.

"No, it has the word 'death' in it! I am not a fan of death bangs!" Sabah tried to put her metaphorical foot down, but Boco pushed off and charged at Lung,his body being enveloped in a green light, Mog exploded from her hand into a spiral of blinding shards and began to whirl in front of Boco, who was rapidly picking up speed.

"I don't want to die!" Sabah screamed as she held on to Boco's neck for dear life.

'You misunderstand, we are the death blow!' Boco said as they rammed full into Lung at full speed.

There was a moment of absolute silence as Sabah stared into the shocked eyes of Lung, his draconic maw parting four ways as Boco's head met his stomach.

In the silence, and to the day that she died, no matter the impossibility, Sabah swore she heard Lung say two words, torn from his disbelief.

" Bull… shit."

The world exploded and Sabah felt all her senses become mere white noise.

When her eyes readjusted she felt someone pick her up by the back of her normal costume.

"Time to go, kupo." Mog said and Boco, now back to his normal stuffed body, picked her up and began to carry her away.

Sabah's paper bag in the open once more for the world to see.

"...What happened?" Sabah muttered and it was Glory Girl who answered, surprisingly excited.

"Your bird head butted Lung so hard, he got blown away! No idea where he went. Through a building at least, looked empty so I think you're fine, hey! You're Parian, right? Are you also Chocoknight? You have a triple identity? What's with the bag? Did you forget your mask?" Glory Girl said without pausing and then took a deep breath, her pupils wide from the adrenaline rush.

Sabah stared at her, as the world stopped spinning. Glory Girl opened her mouth to start speaking again and without thinking Sabah put one hand over Glory Girl's mouth, her shield not deeming Sabah's action threatening enough to stop her.

The floating blonde blinked down at Sabah's dirty glove.

"You will never speak of the bag." Sabah whispered and Glory Girl eyes flicked to the doggie bag covering her head and then down to the dangerous glint in Sabah's eyes..

Glory Girl nodded and pushed away.

"I... Bag? What bag? I don't see any bag. But, I do see the weirdest, cutest little thing ever!" Glory Girl said with a slight squeal and snatched Mog out the air. Mog tried to protest against the treatment, but found the air needed for speaking squashed out of him as Glory Girl squeezed him in a vice like grip with her arms.

Boco seem to snuffle in quiet laughter. Glory girl spun once in the air.

"I need one. What's its name?"

"M… og ...kupo." Mog managed to squeeze out in between the bearhugs. Glory Girl looked down and her expression turned from delighted into awe.

"It sounds… adorable!" Glory Girl gushed, rubbing the red pom-pom against her cheek.

Seizing her distraction Mog managed wrench himself free and quickly floated away from Glory Girl.

"My ribs are all crushed, kupo!" He snapped.

Glory Girl just cooed at him while Sabah huffed.

"You don't have ribs, Mog." Sabah said.

Mog crossed his arms and grumbled. Boco just kept snuffling. Glory Girl turned to look at Boco, a wide grin on her face.

"Who's a pretty bird?" She asked reaching out to stroke his head, Boco blinked at her then preened under Glory Girl's petting, accidentally losing his grip on Sabah's dress as he relaxed too much.

Sabah grunted as she landed on her feet and staggered. Boco didn't seem to notice the dirty look Sabah shot him as she stood up, his eyes closing in pleasure.

"So, Lung, eh?" Glory Girl said, changing the topic.

"Yeah, not the smartest thing to do, but backup, as you keep saying, will be here soon, right?" Sabah asked and Glory Girl shrugged.

"No idea, details were kinda mixed up with the boring stuff. Like estimation of destruction, and troop formations and paperwork and Ca-" She stopped abruptly as she spotted something above them.

"Lung's got his wings back." She said and flew up to intercept him.

As the golden heroine streaked upward Lung smashed into her, his armor not even damaged despite the thunderous crack. Glory Girl rolled to the side as her shield flickered out, the impact stunning her for a second.

A lazy backhand sent her tumbling away as Lung kept coming, his blazing eyes locked onto them, focusing in on Sabah.

Seeing the danger, Boco and Mog valiantly stood front of her, but Lung sent fire raining down, as Glory Girl caught herself and struggled to catch.

"Move!" Sabah screamed and without thinking, threw the two Espers away, sending them crashing to safety with her telekinesis. The fire smashed down in front of her, forcing Sabah back with the rush of hot wind that raked across her body. Seh snapped her eyes shut as she flew, feeling them dry out instantly. Even as she hit the ground Sabah could feel her exposed skin burning from the heat, sweat streaming down her back. From the heat or fear she couldn't say.

Snapping her head up when she landed, Sabah saw Lung was almost on top of her.

For just a few seconds the world seemed to slow. Sabah had always thought that just before you died your life flashed before your eyes. Her father's death had made her too cynical for that idea afterwards though. But now, the entire world almost frozen in front of her, she wasn't so sure because… For an instant, there was smiling face with a single eye grinning at her surrounded by dark curls. Maybe it wasn't your whole life… but just the most important things.

Then everything else faded in her mind, and there was just her and Lung, frozen in time as the dragon bore down on her.

Sabah looked at him, took in the monster that would be her death.

The dragon was growing a second pair of eyes, barely slits above his original pair, all of them locked on to her. There was no hate in his expression, no anger, no fury, not even superiority.

To Sabah's surprise, there was respect, no… not respect.

Recognition. Recognition of a fellow predator. Lung thought she, Parian the Doll cape, the dress maker, was worthy of his attention.

Or… did he think Choco-Knight was worthy of his attention? It didn't matter, the world was speeding up again and Sabah blinked as the moment faded.

Lung flew over his own fire, sending the flames roaring up behind him, the powerful gusts fanning the hungry flames.

Sabah said a prayer for safety, not for herself, but for Taylor.

Still, she had done what she could. Sabah wasn't ashamed if Lung got her now. Only worried for Taylor. Because even if she were to die here, she wanted more than anything right now for her friend to be safe as the younger girl faced her own demons quite literally.

Taylor was so… fragile.

A noise like the roar of a rocket interrupted her thoughts as a Keyblade smashed into Lung's face. It didn't come in spinning or flashing as it crashed loudly in the dragon's head, no, it came in head on, cutting through the air in a straight line at breath-taking speeds, like it had been fired from a cannon.

More… It wasn't the Melody of the Lost.

It wasn't anything like the Taylor's Keyblade.

Where the Melody was both elegant and sad, forlorn she'd call it, this Keyblade had no such gentle illusions hiding it's deadly nature.

Sabah spotted a violent red dragon coiled around a rocky pillar like chilled magma, both the dragon's tail and the bottom of the pillar forming either side of the handguard where a reptilian eye hung from the keychain on the handle.

The dragon had it's mouth opening, forming the teeth of the blade, ready to rend armor and rip flesh.

Which is what it did when it met tore through Lung's faw in a spray of blood, one of his four jaws lopped off. It carried on not slowed in the slightest, burying itself into the dragon's neck where it stuck. The blow threw Lung back, bouncing him across the battlefield that was once her street.

The handle ignited into flames and exploded outwards, dying down to show a figure now gripping the weapon.

Sabah felt her heart tugged, almost torn in two directions.

Hope and alarm.

Hope because the figure attached to this dangerous Keyblade was Taylor.

Alarm because at the same time it wasn't.

Where Taylor once wore the white coat Sabah had made, this person wore the same coat but colored a deep crimson red, the once calm green vines now veins of liquid fire. With Taylor's back to her, Sabah had no idea what the front of her costume looked like.

But even from behind, Sabah saw the horn, a single black horn that pierced itself through Taylor's hood on one side and grew jaggedly off her head. On the other was a single broken off stump that barely stuck out enough to be seen.

Lung turned his head, trying to look at his own neck. He chomped at what he could see, trying to take Taylor's head off with his teeth, despite his missing jaw. But with a twist of the Keyblade a stream of fire blasted out of the keys dragonhead mouth, propelling Taylor backwards at breakneck speed.

Slamming the keyblade into the ground, tearing up what remained of the innocent concrete as she slowed herself down, Taylor came to a stop near Sabah. Turning her head so Sabah could see her face revealed her eye was glowing under the hood, the light piercing the darkness. The hand wrapped around the keyblade and what more her skin Sabah could see was tanned a deep bronze, like she had spent a long time in the sun.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" Taylor asked her with a wide grin. Sabah took a step forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

Heat that nearly burned her immediately cooled under her touch, still Sabah hissed and withdrew her hand. Lung put a hand to his neck where hot blood leaked out through his deformed fingers.

"What happened to you? Where's Ifrit?" Sabah demanded in alarm, seeing the horns were indeed sticking out of Taylor's skull and not just a part of her knew costume.

"I… got things under control. Sorry about that, by the way, but Ifrit and I came to an understanding. We both really want to kick Lung's ass!" Taylor said and the veins on her coat pulsed briefly.

Taylor tilted her head as if she was listening to something.

"I know you were already doing that, but you weren't exactly helping either." Taylor answered, apparently into thin air and swung her new Keyblade with two heavy swings, the air crackling with heat at its passing.

"Keynote, you're looking…" Glory Girl trailed off, as she flew down next to the pair her expression a mix of interest and mischief despite the regenerating Lung eyeing them.

"...Horny? Yeah, Clockblocker radioed Gallant when he unfroze, made Gallant say the exact same thing. Spying on me through binoculars as they loaded him into an ambulance apparently." Taylor said rolling her neck.

Glory Girl frowned.

"How does he always beat me to the punch? Even when he's not here!" Glory Girl asked with fake grumpiness and then turned to face Lung, whose neck finally seemed to have healed.

Lung was now stained with his own blood, the injury having clearly taking him by surprise. The dragon eyed Glory Girl and Taylor, his tail whipping behind him.

Waiting, worried by the wound perhaps? Cautious of Taylor's transformation?

"So, you wanna help me smash Lung around?" Taylor asked, smoke leaking from her mouth as she talked, taking her by surprise.

"I'm smoking?" She asked and then shook her head.

Glory Girl waved the black ash away.

"I'd say you were more terrifying and awesome than smoking, but I'm game, distract Lung for as long as possible?" She asked for clarification and floated up, glowing.

Taylor nodded.

Sabah watched Taylor with worry, trying not to wring her hands together as they were burnt and it hurt. They were still gripped together though, her knuckles white.

"You're acting…" She tried to say, but didn't know exactly how to describe it. Taylor nodded anyway.

"Aggressive? Yeah, side effect of the giant asshole demon in my head, but I won't lose myself this time. Got too much at stake for that. You said you were waiting for me right?" Taylor asked and the large grin she flashed her way made Sabah blush, seeing Taylor so confident was… interesting.

"Of course. I'm not going anywhere without you." Sabah said seriously.

Taylor nodded and Glory Girl made a gagging noise.

"Come on, Key, before you two make me want to punch a puppy, or worse, Mog." And with that the golden heroine shot off, flying straight at Lung.

Taylor nodded after a moment.

"Ifrit agrees. I'll be back soon, so don't you go getting sappy on me." Taylor said and threw the Keyblade, which matched Glory Girl quickly and when it neared Lung, it shot skywards and Taylor disappeared in a flash of dark fire, and reappeared grasping the Keyblade above Lung.

"That's my girl." Sabah said under her breath and began to usher Mog and Boco back down to relative safety.

Thinking all the while that Taylor looked damn good with a grin.