Chapter 3: 10,000
"Yah!" Riku shouted as he thrust his keyblade forward, launching a massive fireball from its tip. It exploded as it made contact with the figure inside, creating its own smoke cloud while blowing the much larger dust cloud away. The smoke quickly cleared, revealing Tomura Shigaraki with a scathing burn mark on his chest... Yet he maintained a twisted, devilish grin as his skin melded back together before everyone's eyes, the burn mark healing until his chest was good as new.
Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, nor Goofy couldn't hide their shock seeing that. They all gasped, their heads flinching back as they tried processing what they just saw.
"Wak?!" Donald shouted, "What kind of magic was that?!"
"I dunno Donald," Goofy said, "It doesn't look like Cure, Second Chance, or Once More. If I had to guess though-"
"It's not magic," Sora said, "It's a power called a quirk. He's got several, and it looks like this one is some kind of healing ability."
"A quirk?" Riku asked, "I see. So this thing is from a different reality, like Quadratum."
"Well aren't you a clever kid?" Riku's head shot up at Shigaraki, who had a bright light emitting from his chest as he spoke. "If you're as smart as I think you are, you should already know defeating me isn't an option." Shigaraki's eyes expanded as he glared at Riku with a massive grin, arms outstretched to his sides. "I'll kill you, just like your master!"
Riku began squeezing his keyblade, his body visibly shaking as his forehead squished inward and he grit his teeth. "I'll never forgive you for-"
"RIKU, STOP!" Sora shouted, making all his friends flinch, "That's another one of his quirks. He can learn more about us if we converse with him, and see himself meeting someone close to us." Sora's tone quickly shifted from excitedly concerned to regretful, his head hanging with his voice. "I already talked to him a lot. Sorry about that."
Riku shook his head as he smiled at Sora, his anger fading as he loosened up. "It's okay, you did what you thought was best. Even if you think you screwed up, you still got us away from that destruction attack." He placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Don't go doubting yourself now. We'll all need each other if we're gonna win this."
Sora turned to Donald, Goofy, and Kairi, who all gave him reassuring nods. A bright smile sprouted across Sora's face. "Right! Thanks guys!"
As the band of juveniles had their little moment, Shigaraki couldn't help but grin at the display. (If I knew they were gonna get backup, I would've kept Network a secret from him.)
Shigaraki thought about a scene forcefully planted in his mind, a moment of him riding atop a brown, black and tan, winged creature high in the air above the city, looking down at Sora as he fell toward a sea of Heartless, before being enveloped by an orb of white light before his vision went dark. (I couldn't care less about knowing their emotions, but getting this vision was invaluable. I should play things safe till I get to this moment.)
"Seriously? You twerps think you can still beat me when you need your friends for emotional support?"
Sora and Riku both held a hand up to their friends, who all nodded in agreement before silently staring at Shigaraki. (Clever kids, Network only works if they talk directly to me.) Seeing this, he sighed, and the light on his chest vanished.
"Sora, that quirk of mine that left a crater in that city. Any idea how it works?"
Sora faced his friends. "He touched the ground and that giant wave came out from his hand. It seems to be a power that destroys things it touches, and keeps spreading like a shockwave af... ter..." His voice lowered until going completely silent. His friends looked at him in concern as the memory of shaking hands with Tomura returned to him.
(We... already touched. Then... why didn't he...?)
A loud, violent smash against concrete erupted in front of everyone, and the group saw Shigaraki's hand firmly planted in the floor of the tower.
"RUN!" Riku shouted, grabbing Donald and Kairi and rushing to the edge of the tower. "Wait!" Sora shouted, a request Riku ignored. "Riku, listen to Sora!" Kairi insisted, convincing him to stop.
"Look," she said, pointing to Shigaraki. Although having his hand firmly against solid ground, both he and his surroundings remained still, tranquil and unmoving. All of them, even Sora, were confused by this inaction.
Shigaraki puffed a breath, its trail visible as it left his mouth. "I was worried. After I wiped out hero society from my world, I didn't think anybody would be able to pose a threat to me. I was afraid I already peaked, and would remain atop my throne as the Lord of Death for the rest of my life."
He let out a twisted, wicked laugh. "It's not like Izuku Midoriya can stop me now either!"
He plucked his hand out of the ground, chunks of concrete flying out with him. "Even after stumbling into another universe, knowing there might be a limitless number of them out there, I never thought I'd meet someone like you. Someone that can challenge me." Shigaraki lifted his head up, greeting Sora with an unhinged, cracked smile. "Sora, you're exactly who I need right now."
Donald and Kairi began sliding back, while Goofy, Riku, and Sora stood their ground, all of them narrowing their eyes and glaring at Shigaraki.
"But now that I do have you guys, it would be such a shame if I just went all out and killed you all right away."
Donald chuckled to Sora. "He's got another thing coming if he thinks he needs to hold back."
"Really? How about you all prove you're worth my time?"
Numerous Black and Purple spheres appeared all across the Castle's Peak, all containing Heartless. In less than a moment, the group of five came face to face with a horde of fifty Heartless of varying types.
Sora's body shot up, adrenaline pumping him up. "Oh man, I should've known he can control the Heartless!"
Riku glanced around the crowd, taking note of the kinds of Heartless summoned. (Soldiers, Armored Knights, Zip Slashers, Satyrs, Minute Bombs, Cannon Guns, and Bizarre Archers.) He let out an angry huff. (He didn't just pull out his favorites from a hat, this is a calculated composition. Front line Heartless to take our attention, and ranged Heartless to provide support from the back.)
Shigaraki leapt back as the melee Heartless all charged forward. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy counter charged, colliding with the horde and relentlessly barraging them in kind. Kairi and Donald casted magic while Sora and Goofy went in close, evading and blocking while whacking everything they could, the four covering each other and preventing Heartless from getting too close.
Riku leapt above the horde and made way for the ranged Heartless, maneuvering around their fire and ripping them apart when he got in range. The Minutes Bombs lit their fuses and tried plowing into Riku, but he'd swat them back into the Cannon Guns and Bizarre Archers, blowing up on and eliminating them instead. Riku dealt with all ten of them in no time flat, and when he finished, so did the others, the battalion of fifty Heartless reduced to nothing in a mere ten seconds.
"Man, that wasn't even a challenge," Sora bragged, "This Tomura guy needs to step up his game if he wants to beat us."
Shigaraki chuckled. "You really think that was it?" With an explosion of air behind him, he started sprinting forward at them. "We're just getting started!"
Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy all jumped forward in his path, moving to cast magic or throw their shield. Before any of them could get off an attack, Shigaraki jumped over them.
Riku could feel his heart freeze solid. He and everyone's heads turned, terrified by the sight of Shigaraki flying at Kairi. Her muscles, body, and mind all began tensing up. (They were too slow to cast magic. But, magic's what I'm best at, what can I do?)
In her desperation, faced with this threat, she thought about Sora. With him on her mind, she regained control, firmly grasping her keyblade. (It's not enough that Sora protects me.) She flung her keyblade around Shigaraki, a trail of light following it. Just before Shigaraki reached her, her body vanished with a flash, reappearing at the end of the trail her keyblade traveled. (I'll protect myself, and everyone else!)
She readied herself for a counterattack, but was surprised to see he kept flying forward, eventually falling off the tower out of their sight. "What's he doing?" she questioned, "wasn't he going to fight us now?"
"That was never his intention," Riku said, "I didn't notice at first, but he wasn't aiming for you at all."
"He wasn't?" Sora asked, "then, why would he jump off the castle?"
Moments later, Shigaraki reappeared, sitting on the shoulder of a Dark Inferno Heartless, floating in the air before them. Sora flinched a tad seeing that Heartless. (Seriously?! That Heartless is super strong, and he's controlling it no problem?! I don't know how long he's been in our world, but his control over the Heartless is already incredible.)
"Here's the real challenge." The Dark Inferno began drifting back away from them. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy ran forward to the edge, but the castle began rumbling just before they could make it, shaking everyone off balance for a moment. They all glared at Shigaraki, but he shook his head and pointed a finger down with a narrow eyed grin.
Everyone took a few more, uneasy steps forward, always keeping one wary eye on Shigaraki. Once they reached the edge and looked down however, the image below stole their attention, shocking every single one of them.
The city, the crater, most of the castle, the very landscape itself had been overtaken by Heartless. They covered everything as far as they could see, not a single veritable inch of space was devoid of Heartless, and there were many, MANY more types than the seven from earlier.
The Dark Inferno floated down, creating the image of itself and Shigaraki perched atop the torrential ocean of darkness. "Our fight doesn't start until you beat my army of 10,000 Heartless!"
The sight sent a shiver down Kairi's back, her heart growing heavy and nervous. When she looked to her friends though, they all had confident smirks.
"It's a lot of 'em alright," Sora said, "but we've done this twice already! This is nothing we can't handle!"
"A-yup!" Goofy exclaimed, "Plus we've gotten a lot stronger since both of those battles, it ain't nothin' to worry about!"
Their reassuring words brought a smirk out of Kairi.
"Enjoy your friendship speeches while you can," Shigaraki shouted, "and wait till after the gauntlet before you kids start dropping like flies, alright?!"
Riku angrily huffed. "As if we're gonna follow his rules!" He leapt off the Castle's Peak, time around him slowing to a crawl for a moment before a blue aura enveloped his body, and he sent himself zipping at Shigaraki.
"Tch, stupid kid." Shigaraki rose a hand forward, ejecting a yellow barrier from his palm that Riku crashed into. With a small frontward push, the yellow barrier blasted Riku back to the Castle. "You're not the important one here."
Sora and Goofy helped Riku to his feet as the Dark Inferno carried Shigaraki away, far out of their airstep range. He continued giving them a snarky, condescending smirk as the gang took a moment to reorient themselves.
"Are ya okay, Riku?" Goofy asked. "Yeah," he responded, "To be honest, the Heartless don't worry me nearly as much as this guy and how many 'quirks' he has. If I counted right, the yellow barrier he just used makes six. Speaking of that, Sora, he used quirk to disguise himself as Master Yen Sid over the Gummiphone, right?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. He told me it lets him influence technology in a lot of ways, even shut stuff down outright."
Riku thought back to the conversation with Sora over the phone, remembering what appeared to be purple static flowing by Sora's hair just before 'Yen Sid' showed himself. "We'll know it's that if we see purple static. But, hopefully we won't need our Gummiphones anymore."
"What do we do now?" Donald asked, peering over the edge at the ocean of Heartless below, and more pressingly, the flood of Shadow Heartless climbing the building, and all assortment of flying and levitating Heartless ascending with them.
"That's easy," Riku responded, "we cut the problem at its neck and defeat Shigaraki for good."
Goofy nodded. "A-yup! We've defeated fellers like Xehanort and everyone with him, I'm sure we can beat this guy too." Donald also nodded. "Yeah! We gotta take this guy down so he doesn't destroy anything else!" Riku gave the two a nod.
Sora didn't reciprocate the plan. He was silent, staring at them hesitantly. "Do we... have to eliminate him?"
Silence befell the group, the Heartless army and Castle's rumbling becoming a distant memory. Riku, Donald, and Goofy all had skeptical expressions, their eyes squinted as they looked at Sora. He already had a nervous half-smile, but seeing their doubt made Sora's expression droop, his mouth and eyes hanging glumly.
Suddenly, he gasped, feeling Kairi holding his hand, and seeing her smiling gently at him. "What's on your mind? You can tell us."
Sora's sadness soon disappeared with a nod. "We all know about what he's done, there's countless worlds and friends gone forever because of him. But, when I was talking with him, I didn't sense an evil person with nothing but malice."
He held a hand up to his chest. "It's deep, and trapped under a lot of darkness, but I feel a strong light inside of him, the light of someone that wants to be a good person. I don't know how to get it out of him, I don't even know if it's possible, but I do know that I want to try, even if eliminating him is easier."
He paused for a moment before looking up to everyone. "Well?"
"Gawrsh Sora, ya didn't need to be worried about talkin' to us."
"Yeah," Donald added, "I get why you were scared, but we're not gonna think you're crazy for that idea."
"It is pretty crazy," Riku said, "at least, that's what I think, but if you want to give it a shot, then we've all got your back." Donald and Goofy nodded with his words. "But, I want you to promise me something. If this guy is really beyond help, then give up on that idea once you realize it. I don't want to lose any of you for this guy, no matter how much good he might have inside him."
"I... I promise."
Riku nodded. "Good. Until that happens, I promise not to destroy him. Sound like a plan, everyone?" Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.
Kairi placed a hand on Riku's shoulder. "Thanks, Riku." Her friend smiled back. "Anytime."
The Castle's rumbling violently erupted, all five of them falling to the floor from the tremor. "I think that's our cue," Riku said as everyone got back on their feet.
Goofy checked over the edge, gasping at the sight. "Gawrsh! The Heartless are almost up here!" Donald whipped his magic wand up, its tip crackling with electricity. "Lemme at 'em! I'll clobber them all myself!"
"Hold on guys," Sora shouted, "staying up here isn't a good idea. If this is anything like before, Tomura probably summoned Heartless that work well in pairs. If that's the case, we'll need to stay on the move and disrupt their order."
"Yeah, good idea Sora," Riku said with a grin, "you wanna head down the castle? We might lose Shigaraki if we head inside."
"Oh, we're going down the castle." Sora took a running start, dashing at the edge. "We're just not taking the stairs!" Everyone followed his lead, not caring to question his plan, and one by one they all jumped off the edge of the castle, beginning a lengthy descent to the ocean below.
They quickly came head to head with the Heartless horde ascending the castle, all of them being ones they're familiar with. The Shadows scaling the wall, Rapid Thrusters, Air Battlers, Air Soldiers, Wyverns, along with what must be at least a dozen different colors of a Heartless that looked like a lantern wearing curly-tipped witch hats made up a majority of the horde, with some more unique creatures scattered about.
Leading the charge, Sora was the first to begin slicing them up, smacking nearby ones with aerial spins and launching fireballs and blizzard blasts at ranged ones, all while evading magic blasts from the lantern shaped ones. A group of Rapid Thrusters started approaching from all sides, charging at him in unison. Sora spun his keyblade, drawing them in as light gathered around him, and blasted his surroundings with a burst of energy, beating them and a host of others caught nearby.
Riku swung his keyblade at anything with yellow eyes, piercing the air in a flash and cutting Heartless in half with single, swift strikes, and maneuvering around the thunder and aero attacks of the lantern shaped ones. Air Battlers suddenly surrounded him, firing blasts of green wind from their wings. Riku patiently waited for the blasts to reach him, and just before making contact, flipped under them and casted Thundaga, the lightning shooting off the wind blasts into the crowd around him, frying a good chunk of them.
Kairi fired off spell after spell, doing what she could to keep a distance from the swarm of Heartless all around her, bobbing and weaving around the constant slew of magic spells from the lantern Heartless. Her attention was caught by a bunch of Air Soldiers grouped together in a triangle formation in front of her, watching as they backed up slightly before dashing at her. Just as they reached her, she glided back and tossed her keyblade forward, hitting the one in front and smashing it into the others, the entire cluster dispersing and smashing into other nearby Heartless before fading away.
Goofy barreled through the mob, plowing through Heartless after Heartless with his shield like a bullet train, and relentlessly bashing any that dodged, tanking the magic blasts from the lantern Heartless as he committed this onslaught. Amidst his carnage, he spotted a gang of Wyverns heading for Donald, who was on top of a Wyvern, smacking its head with his staff. "Take this ya big palooka!" he taunted, oblivious to the rest moving in.
Goofy thrusted his shield forward, launching himself at one of the Wyverns. They all turned their attention to and flew at him, brandishing their talons, but Goofy began spinning with his shield, catching them all as they reached him in his attack and slicing them up with dozens upon dozens of shield slashes, wiping out the crowd just as Donald landed one final hit against his. "Wah hahahahaha!" he laughed.
"Donald, why aren't ya using magic?" Goofy asked. "I'm saving it," Donald responded. Before Goofy could ask why, what sounded like a tsunami rang out from the Castle, catching the attention of all five of them.
The stream of Shadow Heartless scaling the Castle suddenly started leaping off, joining together and creating a colossal wave of darkness over the land. It casted a shadow over everything, consuming the other Heartless in its path as it made its way toward Sora and his friends.
"It's gonna crush us!" Kairi shouted. Riku swung his keyblade to his side. "Everyone, group up!" Sora, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy all convened on Riku. "Let's cut a path through! Focus your fire on one spot!" He thrust his keyblade forward, launching a massive Firaga ball at the wave. Sora and Kairi wasted no time shooting their own Firagas, exploding on impact with the wave.
They left impressive dents, but within seconds, Shadows filled up their giant hole, patching it up like their attacks never happened. The trio continued firing off Firagas, but the Shadows simply kept coming, no matter how much they threw at them.
Riku and Goofy jumped in front of everyone, readying their weapons to intercept the mass, but their eyes suddenly went wide with fear as the wave barreled through them, collapsing over the five and swallowing them in its endless stream of darkness.
Silence... then, from the spot the wave consumed everyone, a faint, green light appeared. More and more spots appeared in the wave, all leaking out this green light, until...
"AEROZA!"
With a stalwart, high-pitched shout, the green light became a bright beacon, ripping more and more holes in the darkness, until, out of the other side of the wave, a giant ball of green air, surrounded by layers and layers of rapidly flowing wind popped out, shredding a clump of Shadows to mist, revealing Sora and his friends inside and unharmed.
What remained of the Shadow tsunami continued falling, soon crashing into the city below, washing over and consuming an innumerable number of Heartless on the ground. Flying and levitating Heartless tried fleeing, but many were too slow and swept up in the chaos, disappearing inside the mass of darkness.
Donald lowered his staff, the green light radiating from it and wind ball around them disappearing in unison. A light updraft remained, keeping them all in place as everyone gathered around him. "Wow, that was awesome!" Sora ecstatically shouted, to which Donald chuckled cockily. "Wah hahahaha! It was nothing."
Riku patted Donald's back. "Thanks Donald, but we're nowhere near done yet. Be sure to pace your use of Grand Magic, don't want to overexert yourself," he bent down and whispered into his ear, "and try not to show off too many more moves. We'll need to keep some of them a surprise."
Donald squawked in confusion, but he noticed Riku's gaze shift, glaring at something above them. Following it, Donald also donned a glare when he met with the object of Riku's scorn, Shigaraki, perched on the Dark Inferno, staring at them from high above.
(Not bad Riku, already cracked what this whole 10,000 Heartless fight is really about.) Shigaraki thought back to the vision he got from Network, standing on a brown, black and tan, winged Heartless high in the sky, watching Sora as he fell to the ground, only to be enveloped by an orb of white light with many strange markings and patterns within before abruptly ending.
(I don't expect any of these trash mobs to get a single kill, but these kids have powers even I can't afford to underestimate.) Shigaraki's eyes changed from black to multi-colored. (They might beat these things, but I'll see all of their tricks in the meantime. They won't be catching me off guard.)
Shigaraki's gaze moved to Donald. (I'll make sure of it.)
Goofy's head shot up. "Guys, up there!" he shouted, pointing at a horde of flying and levitating Heartless coming down on them. Kairi looked down, seeing a horde erupting from the sea below coming up at them. "Sora, what do we do?"
He turned to her, giving her a firm smile. "We keep going down, into the city. Trust me, okay?" Kairi returned a nod. "Don't need to ask me that."
Riku smiled at Sora. (I get it. I don't know what's going on in your head, but you're thinking ahead again.) The updraft keeping them all in place began weakening. (Take the lead, Sora. You can do this.) The updraft disappeared completely, resuming everybody's free fall.
The five of them continued getting pelted with magic by the lantern Heartless, and they resumed dodging and evading the best they could. "Darn," Riku spat, "these things are so hard to hit airborne like this, and a lot of them are immune to magic." Donald shuddered a bit. "What are we gonna do?"
"I got 'em!" Goofy shouted as he charged into a huge crowd of them. The creatures quickly turned their attention to him, blasting him with dozens upon dozens of magic blasts, explosions ringing out from the epicenter and constant puffs of both hot and cold air breezing by everyone.
"NO! GOOFY!" Sora shouted. He dashed forward, moving with bursts of speed so fast, air lines were visibly coming off of him. As he moved in to help, some of the Heartless surrounding Goofy began spinning in circles, faster and faster, with the circle moving around and sucking in more of them, as if purposefully seeking them out. After sucking in the whole crowd, Sora realized the circle was Goofy spinning at rapid speeds and constantly smacking them with his shield.
"I'll finish 'em!" With a quick twirl of his keyblade, Sora blitzed forward in the blink of an eye, going from one side of the crowd to the other. From that moment to the next, all of the Heartless burst into mist, and Goofy ended his attack seemingly unharmed. "Thanks, Sora!" he said, giving him a thumbs up. "Heh, no problem!" he reciprocated with a smile.
As Riku bashed his way through the Heartless horde, he was suddenly assaulted by a MASSIVE barrage of lasers, deflecting what he could but sustaining a number of hits. "Agh! Darn, where did those come from?!"
His eyes began wandering through the horde, not taking long before he found the culprit, a HUGE pirate ship donning the Heartless insignia. (A Battleship. Haven't seen one of those since Neverland, and it's way bigger than usual.)
The vessel's deck was brimming with Heartless, at least twenty donning a large dress, aiming parasols at Riku like they were weapons, and another big group masked with bandages around their heads, wielding curved swords. (Funny, it's even got a crew. This one is gonna be trouble, better take it out now.)
"Donald! Kairi!" He aimed his keyblade at the Battleship. "Let's storm that ship!" The two nodded and moved next to him.
"Riku!" Sora shouted, "Me and Goofy will hold off the Heartless out here, you guys take the crew down and sink that ship!" He returned a nod, then he, Donald, and Kairi adjusted their free fall angles, lining themselves up with the Battleship.
The Heartless wearing dresses readied their parasols, aiming at the trio as they descended. Donald and Kairi braced themselves, but Riku grit his teeth. (Not this time.) The Heartless fired a massive volley of lasers. Hardly a second later, a blue aura enveloped Riku, and he dashed through the air, zipping around the projectiles and onto the deck in the blink of an eye.
Donald rushed in front of Kairi, going to thrust his staff in the air. Before he finished though, Riku's advice came back to him. (and try not to show off too many more moves.) He scrunched his beak and stuck his arms and legs out, protecting Kairi while eating a ton of laser fire.
Kairi floated in place, holding up Donald as he seethed in pain. "Donald! Are you okay?!" she asked worrisomely, thrusting her keyblade up and coating the area around her in green magic. The magic gathered around Donald, and in a flash, all of his injuries were gone.
He sighed in relief, moving back from her and floating as well. "Thanks Kairi, but you didn't need to use Curaga yet." Kairi gasped in confusion. "I... didn't?" Donald shook his head. "Nope. It's important to save that spell for when one of us really needs it."
He crossed his arms with a grumpy look on his face. "Besides, I was just fine." Kairi giggled. "Sure you were." The two resumed their free fall, oblivious to Shigaraki closely watching them.
Riku wasted no time in cutting down the Parasol Heartless. They glided across the deck and fired off lasers to keep him at bay, but Riku slid and dashed through the barrage, and turned any of them he could into mist with a single attack.
Amidst his assault, from the corner of his eye, he spotted a mass of spinning creatures soaring at him. This premonition gave him moments to dodge, leaping high above the deck as the bandaged Heartless flew by, their curved swords swooshing by his back as they flipped past him.
(Bandits. They're fast and agile, and are likely just here to protect the snipers.) Riku turned his back to the Bandits, aiming his keyblade at the Parasol Heartless as they aimed at him. (All the more reason to get rid of them first!)
"FIRAZA!"
Riku fired off a massive fireball as the Parasol Heartless shot another volley of lasers. The projectiles flew past each other, Riku being pelted by more lasers, and the Firaza reaching its targets.
Some of them held their parasols in front like shields as the Grand Magic spell slammed into one of them, creating a HUGE explosion that kicked up a sizable smoke cloud and rocked the ship violently. Riku held his guard up, but seeing a collection of hearts flying out of the smoke cloud made him sigh in relief.
Suddenly, another premonition. He turned on a dime, seeing the Bandits flinging themselves at him again. He took a defensive stance as they reached him, blocking their strikes with his keyblade. The onslaught was constant, and soon began wearing on him.
(Darn, I'm losing my grip, and they're coming at me too fast to dodge. What do I do?) Before he could find an answer, his guard was broken, his Keyblade thrown to his side as another Bandit came flying at him.
"Riku!" Kairi shouted, landing in front of him and blocking the rest of the barrage with her keyblade. "Kairi?!" The Bandits all landed, staring off against the duo. "Don't worry Riku." The Bandits wound their blades back, preparing another assault. "We'll protect you!"
A horde of lightning bolts struck the Bandits, obliterating many and paralyzing the remaining ones. Soon after, Donald landed next to them, launching another Thundaga that defeated the rest of them. "Don't worry Riku, we've got you!" Donald said with a smile. Riku simply chuckled. "Thanks, both of you."
The ship suddenly jerked to the side, knocking the three off balance and sliding to the edge, landing on the ship's cartoonishly large cannon. "What's going on?!" Kairi asked. "It's the captain!" Donald shouted, pointing at a raised platform in the ship's center with a Heartless five times their size wearing an eyepatch and spinning an equally large wheel.
"Let's get him!" Riku shouted. The three of them began gliding up the ship at the captain. The Heartless began shaking, jittering and backing away slightly while turning the wheel faster. "Hah! That big palooka is scared of us!" Donald said with a snide confidence.
"Good, maybe it won't put up much of a-"
Riku received another premonition. From the corner of his eye, he saw multiple red beams traveling in their direction.
Acting fast, Riku activated focus, slowing down time around him. They were laser blasts, fired from two Parasol Heartless. (What?! There's more?! No, they're not new. These are ones that survived my Firaza!)
The lasers had already traveled a good distance, and, after calculating their angle, Riku could tell they were going to hit Kairi in a matter of moments. His body jolted forward, almost moving on its own, but he clammed his emotions down, remembering his own advice to Donald.
(No, I can't use Dark Roll yet. I have to save that for Shigaraki.)
Kairi and Donald both appeared oblivious to the lasers, they were already right on top of her as was, and Riku could feel time beginning to speed up again.
So, Riku did the only thing he could think of. Enveloped in a blue aura, he airstepped to Kairi and pushed her out of the way, taking the blasts himself.
Kairi and Donald turned to see Riku getting slammed into the deck of the ship, before swiftly sliding down it again. "No! Riku!" Kairi bolted down after him. "Stop it Kairi!" Riku shouted back. He jammed his keyblade into the ship, piercing a hole in it and latching onto the spot, securing his position. "Get the captain!" He paused to huff and puff. "Don't worry about me!"
Donald continued gliding up, but Kairi hesitated. (This is what Donald was talking about. Curaga disables my magic for a bit, so I can't heal him now.) "But Riku, you're hurt. I can't just leave you!" Riku swatted his hand at her. "I'll be fine!" He took a heavy breath. "Trust me!"
A loud boom echoed around them, vibrating the ship for a moment. Two massive yellow rockets came out from the ship's cannons and both began traveling at Donald. Seeing them approaching him, he groaned to himself. "Ah, phooey."
He rose his staff into the air. "THUNDAZA!"
At least a dozen thick thunderbolts came down, hitting the missiles, parts of the ship, and the captain, before a single, colossal thunderbolt crashed down on the captain, creating a blinding flash of light.
(Perfect,) Riku thought, (The ship didn't take much damage, but it and the captain are linked.) Once the light cleared, the captain was nothing more than mist. Just as it disappeared, so too did the ship. (When one falls, so does the other.)
With his support gone, Riku began falling. Kairi and Donald both rushed down after him, watching him strain his ribs and grit his teeth as he tried moving.
Suddenly, Donald gasped. "Kairi. Riku pushed you earlier, right?" She nodded confusedly, before gasping herself. "Yeah! He took a hit for me! From-"
They spotted the two Parasol Heartless, their parasols aimed at Riku as they fired another volley. The two flew down with all their speed, unsure if they'd make it to him or not. "Kairi!" Donald shouted, "Throw me at Riku, I gotta get closer to help him!"
Without a moment of hesitation, Kairi grabbed Donald, doing two quick spins and chucking him with all her strength. He hurdled down at insane speeds, but even that boost wasn't enough. (No! I need to be closer to cast Aeroga!)
Suddenly, Goofy jumped in front of Riku, catching him over his shoulder and blocking the laser with his shield. Donald and Kairi's faces both lit up. "Goofy!" The two shouted in excitement. "G- Goofy?" Riku uttered.
The two Parasol Heartless started charging up another volley when Sora rushed in and smacked one into mist. The other tried thrusting its parasol at him, but he deflected it out of its hand. The poor thing began panicking, jittering and waving its hands erratically before Sora struck it down all the same.
He rejoined his friends floating in place as Donald casted Curaga, fully healing Riku's injuries. "Phew, thanks guys." As if he already knew what was coming, Riku turned to Kairi. Her face was quivering, eyes squinting as if on the verge of tears.
"You're upset I put myself in danger, right?"
Kairi nodded. "I know you were looking out for me, but I would've preferred just getting hit. You were already hurt, that wasn't a smart thing to do." Her eyes began to water. "And, you shouldn't have had to do that. I was the one who didn't see it, it should've been me who suffered, not you. I should've been faster, I should've-"
"Kairi." She stopped. After a moment of silence, Riku lightly shook his head. "Keeping you all safe will always be the smart call. Simple as that."
Kairi sniffed as she continued. "But, I don't want you to sacrifice yourself. We just got Sora back, I don't want to lose any of you again."
"I feel the same." Riku glided closer to Kairi, floating in front of her. "I don't intend on throwing my life away. In fact, I could've gone that whole fight without getting touched. I'm just saving a few surprises for Shigaraki so we can beat him easier."
Kairi gasped. She paused for a moment before holding out her pinkie finger. "I see, but, when the time comes, promise me you'll do your best." Riku extended his pinkie. "I promise." The two wrapped their pinkies together, Kairi sighing in relief with a smile.
"Ya know Riku," Goofy said, coming in close, "I don't blame you for putting everything on the line to protect someone ya care about. I think we'd all do the same for each other."
"Yeah," Sora added, putting an arm around Riku, "well, except Donald. He's a pretty big chicken after all!" he said with a cocky grin.
"Ha Ha," Donald sarcastically laughed, "once I save you, I'm gonna say 'I told you so'."
"Oh really? You think-"
Riku threw a hand in front of Sora, surprising him. "Riku?" Sora saw him looking up, watching the flying Heartless they didn't beat getting closer to them.
"We'll have to continue this talk later. Let's take out the rest of these flying ones!"
"No!" Sora ordered, "There's not many left, and we shouldn't destroy all the flying Heartless. We'll need them for later."
That was an... interesting request to say the least. Not destroy Heartless? Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were at least curious, and while Riku was too, he thought about what they all knew about Shigaraki, and simply smiled.
"You've gotten really good at thinking ahead. I don't even think I would have thought of that."
Sora smiled back with a wide, toothy grin. "I'll explain later, we gotta go now!" The five of them continued their descent downward.
They had already been falling for some time. With only very few flying Heartless between them and the ground, they could finally see they were close to land again, or rather, they were close to plunging face first into an ocean of Heartless.
"We're almost there!" Goofy shouted, "How are we gonna land Sora?"
The number of Heartless and differing types of them were too numerous to count. There were plenty of small Heartless, some a tad larger than Sora and everyone, and hulking monsters towering over the rest. The tsunami of Shadows that previously crashed upon them didn't seem to reduce their numbers at all, but they did appear to be disorganized and randomly placed.
What's more, the Shadows seemed to combine once again, forming thirteen rapidly spinning twisters that shred across the army, uncaringly flinging Heartless wildly all about.
"Where are we landing?" Sora pointed at one of the Shadow twisters. "Right on them! Everybody, pick one and give it all you've got!"
Everybody spread out, all taking aim on a Shadow twister. As they all got closer and closer to the vast ocean below, a myriad of thoughts ran through Kairi's mind.
(I'm not fast enough.) She thought back to Riku pushing her out of the laser's way. (I'm not thinking enough.) She thought about Sora and Riku's constant assessments of Shigaraki and what to do, while she sat on the sideline remaining silent for a majority of it. (I haven't been through what they have, I barely even did anything in Quadratum. I just... don't have their experience.)
She tilted her gaze at Shigaraki, who continued to watch them as he floated in the sky on the Dark Inferno. (But... that doesn't matter now.) She turned back to the twister, seeing it was almost time to strike. (I'm not sure why he's just watching us, but this is my time to get in some real experience. While we're fighting these 10,000 Heartless, I have to do everything I can to catch up before he gets involved.)
Sora flashed through her mind. (I can do this. If Sora can do it, then I can too.)
Just a few feet away from the twisters, everyone readied their weapons, briefly stopping midair as they wound up their attacks. (Next time...) With a quick thrust, everyone blitzed downward, piercing the Shadow twisters right down the middle, and hitting solid ground with an explosive impact, sending the Heartless around them flying away. (I'll be the one saving them!)
They all landed in the city, isolated and surrounded by Heartless, the small circle they all made already becoming infested as Heartless moved in on them.
Riku held his keyblade up, assessing the situation with a grim stare. (Mickey... Everyone...) He looked up, catching Shigaraki staring back at him. (You all better get here soon.)