Welp, Rapunzel had wanted to see a light show.

And she sure as heck was getting one now!

However what she hadn't counted on was all the collateral damage and mass hysteria that came with it.

The horde of Fireflies acting as one to create some sort of gigantic nightmarish monstrosity hovered high above the city, spewing forth fireballs from all over its "body" that then fell to the earth like blazing meteorites. Each one was ginormous, big enough to crush cars into nothing more than flattened burning heaps, big enough to tear elephant-sized holes through buildings.

Axel and Elsa were doing their best to play damage control. With a wave of his hand, he was snuffing out what fires he could before they even hit the ground, while she was frosting over any flames that did manage to strike their targets. Unfortunately, there were only two of them versus the hundreds of fireballs pelting down from the sky. It was impossible to keep up. Even as Elsa put out one fire with an ice blast, a couple more impacts exploded creating two more infernos to replace it. Shaking her head, she called out to the others, "There's too much! If that thing up there doesn't stop, the whole city will end up burning down!"

"And all these people will get hurt!" Sora added as he glanced around. Although many had managed to escape by now, there were still some remaining fairgoers running around the area in a confused panic, all but trapped as more and more flames and smoldering wreckage blocked their paths. "We have to get it away from here, away from everyone! Somewhere where no bystanders will be put in danger!"

Pausing for a second, Elsa gnawed her lower lip in thought. Some place nearby that had no people? Corona was a bustling jam-packed city, would that even be possible? She thought back over the past couple of days and couldn't remember a time or spot where there hadn't been some sort of crowd. The train station where they had arrived, the nightclub where they'd fought Larxene, the hotel they'd stayed the night at, the river she'd seethed at after Larxene's "sales pitch" to Axel, the-

Elsa stiffened, breathing in sharply.

The river!

"I have an idea!" she exclaimed before pointing. "Everyone, there's a river a few streets over in that direction! Lead it that way, just give me a few seconds headstart so I get there first!"

"Lead it, she says. Ha!" Flynn gave a hollow laugh, shaking his head. "I'm just an idiot trying to save the world here armed with only a frying pan and my good looks. I don't know how you expect me to lead anything, let alone Giganto up there!"

Axel blew out an amused pft through his teeth. "'Sides, I don't think taking Lanternzilla skinny dipping is gonna do us all much good."

"Just do it!" Elsa huffed before turning and dashing off, clearing away any flames that barred her way by freezing a path through it.

The others just wordlessly exchanged looks with each other. Then Axel smirked and shrugged, knotting his fingers together as he stretched his arms out before him, making his knuckles crack. "Well? What're we all waiting for? You heard the lady!" Whipping his hands out to either side of him, his chakrams halted in their fiery slaughter of whatever solo Nobodies still remained on the ground and flew into his grasp. Then with a mocking salute to the others, a Corridor of Darkness popped up from his feet to engulf him whole and he vanished.

"Hey, you overgrown, sorry excuse for a Zippo lighter!" Axel's voice could suddenly be heard yelling from somewhere way up above. The others looked up to see him popping out of a dark portal high above the flying behemoth. The thing turned its rough approximation of a head to regard him as he plummeted down, still shouting at it, "That's right, I'm talking to you, hothead! This town ain't big enough for two pyros and I was here first! Ever hear of fighting fire with fire? It goes a lil something like this!" His chakrams ignited once more and he hurled them with a whip of his arms. They spun together, blurring into a ginormous buzzsaw wreathed in flames that tore into the creature's side. Countless eerie lantern voices joined to bellow out in pain and fury.

"What's that numskull doing?! The girl said to lead that monster away, not piss it off!" Maximus snarled as they all watched Axel disappear into another Corridor of Darkness just in time to avoid the leviathan smacking him out of the air only for him to reappear above it once more for another attack.

"He is trying to lead it away by pissing it off!" Sora grinned, tearing his eyes away from the sky battle to look at the others. "Punzie, think you can get me up there too?"

She beamed back. "I can certainly try! Hope you don't get dizzy easily!" Whirling her hair about a couple times, she lashed it out and lassoed Sora, coiling her locks around him a couple times. Then she started twirling about on her heel, wheeling Sora around her and picking up speed with each rotation until she finally catapulted him up into the sky straight towards the swarm beast.

Flynn and Maximus gaped as they watched Sora get propelled. Then Flynn shook his head, "Sorry, how exactly do you have the strength to throw him that far?"

She shrugged, still smiling big. "Dunno. How does my hair glow and heal people? All part of the magic, I guess!"

"Uh, your hair does what now?" Maximus deadpanned, but she was already swinging away on said hair to join the fight herself.

As Sora landed on the back of the giant, Axel smirked and called out, "Nice of ya to join the party!"

"Better late than never!" he laughed back as golden light burst from his hand to materialize his Keyblade. Then he cupped his free hand to his mouth, yelling at the swarm beneath his feet, "Hey, you big dummy, you're going the wrong way! Try hanging a left right about… here!" He slashed into the thing's spine (or where a spine would've been if it'd had one), his weapon slicing in the direction he was trying to force the ominous cloud of Nobodies to go towards.

It unleashed another spine-chilling roar and wildly thrashed into a turn, colliding with a nearby building. The impact threw Sora from its back and he landed on the roof of the building in a roll, immediately hopping back onto his feet into a sprint. He ran alongside the thing as it flew past, leaping onto its back once more before it could get too far ahead.

Between hits from Sora's Keyblade, calculated fire strikes from Axel, and Rapunzel alternating between using her hair to swing and using it to whip at the creature, it wasn't long before they were corralling and steering it in the direction of the river. The colossus continued to expel flames that everyone kept narrowly dodging, but the city below wasn't remaining so unscathed. Not wanting to become nothing more than blackened scorch marks on the ground, Maximus and Flynn scrambled to evade the large fireballs pouring down from the sky as they raced to keep up. The detective fired off shots at the horde and any straggler Nobodies foolish enough to stray from the pack, while Flynn just did his best to look as threatening as he could while only defending himself with a freaking skillet.

A couple blocks ahead of them all, Elsa had just now managed to reach the river. She skidded to a stop against the railing that stood guard between her and the rushing current below, her hands coming up to grasp hard at the metal bar. Panting as she tried to catch her breath, she looked out over the wide expanse of water that stretched far before touching the distant shore on the other side. Just as she thought. This was perfect.

Perfectly devoid of people.

Just one minor hitch to the plan.

Neither she nor any of her friends could walk on water.

At least, not in its current liquid state they couldn't.

But Elsa was about to change all that!

… she hoped.

Annnnnnnd now she was second guessing herself. Great. Just dandy. She really didn't have the time for this, but gee, the waterway suddenly looked extra deadly now. What if her idea didn't work? What if her powers disobeyed her like they always did at the worst possible times and she just ended up getting pulled under and drowning? Her heart pounded louder in her chest now. Oh, this idea was either genius or pure stupidity. Probably a little bit of both.

With a start, she realized ice crystals had begun to sprout and spread along the rail around where her hands gripped it so tightly, her knuckles were turning stark white. Releasing it, she stumbled a step backwards as her fingers absently came up to grasp and twist her braid. She couldn't do this. She was too scared, too-

Lesson four: fear doesn't always have to be scary. Sometimes, fear can be used to your advantage.

She sucked in a breath as Axel's words from earlier came back to her.

Maybe… maybe it was okay for her to be afraid? …maybe she could even use that fear, almost kind of like some sort of tool?

CRASH!

She jolted at the sudden explosion of noise that had come from somewhere behind her and she spun around. It seemed her friends had done their part well, for the swarm beast could be seen heading straight towards her now and slamming into just about every building along the way.

There was no more time left. Elsa had to act now.

She turned to face the river once more. Her heart still raced, but now she stubbornly embraced the fear. It was going to work for her, damn it! Nostrils flaring, she took off running and her hands latched onto the railing again, this time vaulting her over it. As she watched her reflection get closer in the rippling rapid water below, Axel's voice returned to her mind as she recalled the rest of lesson four.

Sometimes, fear is even fun.

Her hands reached down as she dropped, her eyes squeezed shut and she began chanting to herself in a hasty whisper, trying to convince herself, "This is fun, this is fun, this is fun, this is-"

She hit the river.

But she didn't keep going, didn't plunge down into its wet murky crushing depths.

No, thank goodness, instead what broke her fall was a very cold, very solid surface.

She slowly, cautiously opened one eye. Then the other.

Ice.

A small part of the river had hardened into a patch of it where she'd landed. It branched out from beneath her feet and hands in a large, almost snowflake-like pattern. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

Huh. Seemed like those silly little lessons hadn't been totally useless after all. Thanks, Axel.

…Axel, who she did not, repeat, not in any remote way, shape, or form have some sort of ludicrous little crush on.

Another thunderous BOOM from the city reminded her there were more pressing matters to be thinking about at the moment.

Right. She still had a job to do. There was still a whole river to freeze over, not just this one tiny spot on which she currently perched. With a firm nod to herself, she took off running across the waterway. With each step, ice sprouted from the current to meet her foot and spread out almost like a frosty spider web. The further she went, the more the river slowed and hardened into a chilly surface that grew larger and larger. Within seconds, she'd created an improvised massive glacial arena just right for battling a jumbo possessed lantern horde currently on the rampage.

And not a moment too soon either it seemed. She spun around just as aforestated horde crested the railing with a blood curdling howl and took a nosedive straight into the frozen solid river. The ice quaked with a crackling sound on impact, but held firm. The Fireflies started cascading out in waves from the collision point, scattering momentarily only to fly up, regroup and reform into the serpentine behemoth once more.

In that brief moment it was without shape however, Sora lost his foothold and tumbled down for a shaky landing on the cool, glossy surface. He blinked, then took a brief pause to survey Elsa's handiwork. Then he flashed her a huge grin, giving her the thumbs up. "Nice! This is amazing, I-" he slipped but caught himself without full-on face planting, steadying himself as his feet slid slowly along the ice. "Heh… just'll need a sec to get the hang of it!"

A Corridor of Darkness swirled into existence above the once more fully intact swarm beast and Axel came leaping out of the blackness to land in a crouch on its back. "Think I'll pass on the ice skating down there and take my chances riding bronco on ol' Flamebreath here instead, thanks!" he yelled to them as "Flamebreath" wooshed past in a blur.

Rapunzel arrived just then, hair-swinging in for a landing beside the two on the river. As she threw her hands out for balance, she frowned, "Not to be a buzzkill here, guys, but shouldn't we be worried about it all melting beneath us? I mean, that monster up there is just made up of a bunch of flying flamethrowers with minds of their own…"

"We should be fine," Elsa assured her with a nod. "Yeah, we'd probably be in trouble if this were normal ice. But magical ice fueled by my emotions while those very emotions are at an all time high because I'm doing my best not to get murdered at the moment by a flock of evil psychotic lantern mutants out for blood? Trust me, it's not melting any time soon."

"That's all well n' good," Maximus's voice called out from behind them and they turned to see him and Flynn having just hopped the railing and skidding down the river bank towards them, "but now that it's here, what makes you all think it's even gonna stay? What's to stop it from flying off again to burn and pillage and-ACK!" The two men threw themselves down flat onto the ice just in time to dodge Lanternzilla taking them out in one fell swoop. Instead it merely rushed harmlessly passed just inches above their heads, sending their hair fluttering wildly.

Flashing a toothy grin from where he was still mounted on the thing, Axel shouted down, "What's to stop it is there's now a bullseye painted on all your ugly mugs!"

The detective glowered as he stood back up, cocking an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, my mug is very pretty, thank you very much!" Flynn huffed, pointing an angry finger with several jabs for good measure.

Heaving a sigh with a roll of her eyes and shake of her head, Elsa said, "What I think he's trying to say is that you all royally ticked it off while getting it here and now it's going to be looking for revenge."

"Meaning it's not going anywhere until it either obliterates us or we obliterate it!" Sora's face broke out into a fierce smile as he brandished his Keyblade, looking ready for a fight. The others around him took on defensive stances as well, bracing to spring into action.

Stabbing his cookware-turned-weapon into the air, Flynn declared, "Prepare to be crushed beneath the cold iron of my frying pan, you big ol' dumpster fire!"

Flying up and around into a loop until it was aimed for them all once more, it charged as hundreds of shrieks mingled together into a deep, earth-shaking roar that nearly knocked them off their feet.

Flynn paled, muttering in a tiny voice, "...I think I'm gonna need a bigger frying pan."

That's when the leviathan struck.

Sora had barely enough time for a couple slices with his Keyblade, taking out a handful of the lanterns in the front before the entire horde was hitting them all with the full force of a tidal wave. The Nobodies flooded over their small group and things broke out into chaos. It was impossible to see anything much less make out the person not even standing two inches away from you, there were just so many of the little monsters! And each one ripping with their bony claws, each one leaving stinging singes as the candles at their cores burned bright and hot. Yelps and hisses of pain could be heard before everyone just started attacking blindly.

"When I said I wanted to see the lanterns up close, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind!" Rapunzel complained as she desperately flung her hair about trying to keep the things at bay.

"Hrk- Hey! Watch where you point that damn freeze ray!" Maximus's voice snapped from somewhere amidst all the madness.

"Oops, sorry!" Elsa winced, pointing her hands in a different direction (where hopefully one of her friends wouldn't be standing this time) and blasted off a barrage of icicles.

Just as suddenly as it'd begun, it all stopped. One second the mass of Fireflies were rushing at them in a high-speed stream that seemed to be without end, the next it mercifully and almost surprisingly ended. Apparently, Lanternzilla had at long last passed through them all in full and they'd come out the other side, each one looking the worse for wear. Hair windswept frazzled messes, clothes tattered and covered in slashes, skin marked all over in small burns.

"Woah, you guys look totally trashed!"

They all turned to find Axel standing next to them now, looking pristine by comparison as he smothered a snicker behind a curled knuckle.

Elsa drooped her eyelids at him. "What're you doing down here? Thought you were passing on," her fingers came up to insert air quotes here, "ice skating with the rest of us."

He shrugged, smirk stretching wider, "What can I say? I'm a wildcard. My whims are as ever-changing as the wild flickering of a flame caught in a warm summer gust."

They said nothing, just directed several flat looks his way.

Axel shrugged again, "'Sides, I was feeling left out. Can't let you guys have all the fun down here!"

"Oh yeah," Flynn mumbled weakly, his eyes wide and unblinking, his knees trembling and unsteady, "it's been a total blast so far. Right…"

"We can't take another hit like that, guys, otherwise it'll be game over," Sora frowned as he did his best to straighten his rumpled jacket. Then he was tapping the side of his fist into the open palm of his other hand, "We need a plan of attack!"

Rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck, Axel said, "Alright, a plan. Love it! So, lay it on us, oh great Keyblade Master. What's the strategy here?"

Sora stiffened, then averted his gaze as he scratched his cheek, "Er… well…"

"Nothing? Really?" Axel cocked an eyebrow before bending to poke Sora's brow with a soft tsk, "Coming up with calling 'em Fireflies used up every last drop of brain juice in the ol' think tank, huh?"

"Hey now, give him a minute, he'll think of something!" Rapunzel chimed in.

"Yeah!" Sora tacked on indignantly before crossing his arms and squinting off into space. "Hmmm, lessee here-"

"Too late, we got company!"

Flamebreath had swerved into a wide curve. It had appeared unhurried, almost as if it were taking its time to savor having its prey at its mercy. However as soon as it finished its one-eighty to face them, all the little lantern fiends it was composed of seemed to writhe in eager anticipation before surging forward, shooting towards them now in a streak. Lacking any better ideas, they all tensed, ready to dive out of the way as best they could and defend themselves however possible, be it by ice, fire, gun, key, hair, or squeezing your eyes shut and swinging a pan frantically while screaming at the top of your lungs and hoping for the best. In the space of a heartbeat, the swarm beast had closed in and-

-rushed right on past them to their left, leaving them untouched.

Stunned silence, a couple blinks, then Flynn was the first to shatter the hush as a sharp laugh all but exploded out of him. "Ha! It missed! You hear that, you stupid buncha cheap paper, melting wax, and creepy faces?! Ya missed!"

Rapunzel grimaced, "Uh, Flynn? I don't think it actually missed…"

"What are ya talking about, Blondie? Of course it… did?"

The last word was uttered with a note of uncertainty now as it slowly began to dawn on him and the others what the swarm was up to. As it'd zoomed past them, it'd immediately circled around. And around and around, forming into a large ring that enveloped their tiny band with walls that stretched high towards the heavens. They were caged in now like being caught in the eye of a cyclone, only instead of raging winds, it was more like a swirling vortex of malevolent lantern death.

"Great," Maximus grumbled, "now the damn thing's got us all trapped. Remind me again, who's genius idea was it to get on the demonic flying mob's shit list?"

Sora piped up, "Look on the bright side: at least it can't get any worse!"

And that, of course, was precisely when it got worse.

In eerie unison, all the Fireflies opened their jagged mouths wide, inhaled deeply, then expelled long unceasing breaths of fire.

The good news? They were no longer surrounded by that swirling vortex of malevolent lantern death.

The bad news? That's because it'd been upgraded to a swirling vortex of malevolent fiery death.

"You were saying, kid?" Maximus deadpanned.

Sora just gave a feeble chuckle and made no further comment.

Scowling, Axel yelled out, "Hey now, the Firenado is my move! Come up with your own material instead of stealing mine, you two-bit hack!"

"Guys?" Rapunzel suddenly spoke up, sounding nervous as she took a tiny step back. "Is it just me, or is the Firenado getting smaller?"

Unfortunately, it wasn't just her. The circling Nobodies were closing in, tightening the ring around their group. Beads of sweat prickled their foreheads from the rapidly rising temperatures as what little space they had left in the center grew smaller and smaller by the second while the halo of flames surrounding them inched nearer.

"Sora? Buddy ol' pal?" Flynn weakly called out, pointing the skillet threateningly (for all the good it'd do him) at the approaching inferno. "Remember that plan you were supposed to be coming up with? Well now would be a great time to come up with it!"

"Er…"

"Correction: If anyone wants to come up with a plan, now would be a great time to do it!" Flynn amended, his voice rising an octave in desperation. "Anyone? Anyone at all, I'm not picky! Anyone got anything?!"

By way of response, Elsa was suddenly thrusting her hands in a direction. However it wasn't towards the scorching walls closing in around them, but rather at the cool surface beneath all their feet. Frigid, blue magic sparkled from her fingertips to strike the ice floor and with a massive jolt, a ginormous frozen pillar began to rise under them, lifting them all up. Faster and faster it ascended, racing against the ever shrinking whirling flames while its passengers did their best just to keep from slipping and falling off.

Just as the fire seemed to be so close it was licking at their skin, they all suddenly emerged out the top just barely above that spinning mass of Nobodies. The flames struck the rounded sides of the arctic pylon, hissing and fizzling out as the Fireflies crashed into it as well. Elsa slumped down to her knees, panting from exertion. The reprieve was short lived however as hundreds of ghastly voices once again shrieked as one, setting the hairs on the backs of everyone's necks on end.

"Now what?" Flynn half groaned, half whined.

The Fireflies had reshaped themselves into the leviathan once more, coiling around the glacial pillar like a colossal snake. Its "head" reared up over the edge, big enough to swallow them all whole in one bite and staring down at them with two brightly blazing Fireflies in place of eyes.

Gulping, Flynn asked hopefully, "Uh, heh… any chance it's had enough and is here to surrender?"

Its maw parted, opening wide to reveal the sparks of a crackling flame, small at first, but swiftly growing larger and larger.

"Yeah, no, don't think so," Rapunzel shook her head.

"Move!" Sora shouted and everyone jumped apart just as Lanternzilla unleashed a mammoth jet of flame that slammed into the spot where they'd all been standing, sending chips of jagged melting ice flying everywhere.

As if things weren't bad enough already, a loud CRUNCH suddenly reverberated throughout the air and with a violent shudder that sent them all tumbling flat on their faces or rears, the frozen platform supporting everyone was abruptly beginning to tilt. It seemed the swarm beast was squeezing the pillar in its crushing coils, causing it to crack and start to break. The fiery beam from its mouth had kept raging as well, like a gigantic blowtorch with a never-ending supply of fuel. With the slightest turn of its head, the behemoth was chasing them down with its destructive flames, forcing them to run even as they fought for balance on the shifting, shaking ice column that was slowly crumbling bit by bit beneath them.

Ducking beneath the jumbo ray of fire, Maximus snarled over at Axel, "Can't you do something?!"

"Me?" Seemingly more relaxed than everyone else about the entire situation, Axel casually sidestepped out of the beam's path before shooting the detective a shrug. "Whaddya expect me to do about it, Dick Tracy?"

"Isn't fire your thing?!"

He tossed his hands up with a sigh, "Well yeah, but what do I look like here, the high lord supreme commander of everything and anything that burns?"

Maximus squinted at him with a frown. "…yes?"

"Tch, I wish! But seriously, ya think Flamebreath over there is my henchman that I can bend to my will? Nah man, I got my fire, he's got his. I'm just tryna survive here, same as the rest of you clowns."

The molten beam made another sweep that sent everyone scrambling. Elsa dove out its way, then was picking herself back up with a scowl and a tiny huff. "Enough is enough," she grumbled, taking a step forward now. The fire laser was burning a path directly towards her, but she merely stretched her hands out in front of her and stood her ground, even as that very ground kept shifting and shattering under her boots.

Just as she was about to get hit full blast by the flames, she shot off from her fingertips a beam of her own to counter it. Ice met fire, setting off a sizzling wave of steam that hurled ice fragments and smoldering motes in every direction. The swarm beast did not relent, focusing its attack solely on her now. She had no choice but to put everything she had into maintaining her own chilly ray of magic just to keep the flames at bay.

"Go on!" she called back over her shoulder to the others while keeping her glare glued on the enemy. "Get out of here!"

Sora blinked, head reeling back. "Wha? But-"

She cut him off, "We're never going to win like this! We need to retreat and regroup so we can attack with a better advantage. I can keep it distracted for a second while you all get away, so just go already!"

"But we can all get away together, we just need a-"

"I said go!" Elsa stomped her foot and the ice beneath it flashed, sending a glowing path of frost creeping out from where she stood and over to the frozen surface holding everyone else up. With a glimmer of her magic, the ice abruptly bent at a sharp angle, causing the others to collapse and slip down a glacial slide that suddenly appeared and expanded out over the body of the swarm beast to deposit them all safely on the ground below.

Elsa now faced the swarm beast alone atop her frozen tower. With a deep rumble that she could feel in her bones, the pillar shook again, cracks spreading throughout its reflective surface as it became cragged and uneven. It wouldn't be able to withstand the assault from Flamebreath's chokehold around it for much longer. Same could be said for Elsa as she grit her teeth, her hands trembling slightly as she struggled to maintain her constant ice blast, the only thing between her and getting fried to a blackened crisp. She had to figure out how to get away herself before she drained the last of what little power she had left. She had to-

"Didn't think I'd be that easy to get rid of, didja Snowflake?"

She sucked in a sharp breath, glancing over just as a Corridor of Darkness sprang up and a certain redhead stepped out of it with a smug little smirk.

"Axel?" her eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, what are you-"

A thunderous crackle tore through the air just then and suddenly there was no longer anything holding either of them up. The chilled column had crumpled under the might of the swarm beast, reduced now to nothing more than broken bits and pieces of ice succumbing to gravity.

"Elsa!" Axel shouted, reaching a hand out for her as they both plummeted towards the very solid, very hard frozen river far below.

With no time to think, she grabbed it.

In the space of a second he yanked her to him, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close as he rolled their bodies so his was between hers and the ground when they came crashing down into it. A pained grunt escaped him as they hit the growing pile of ice rubble, jagged chunks still raining down around them in a noisy clatter.

With a gasp, Elsa was scrambling to get off him. Then her eyes narrowed, her nostrils flared, and her hand swiped at his shoulder with a resounding thwack!

"Ack!" He flailed then propped himself up on his elbows, one hand holding his head with a wince before shooting a tiny scowl her way. "The hell?! Yeesh, that the kinda thanks I get for rescuing your sorry butt for the umpteenth time?!" Her answer came in the form of smacking him in the arm again. "Gah! Woman! Stop!"

"I told you all to escape!" she snapped at him. "You weren't supposed to come back!"

"Well good thing I did! If it weren't for me, you'd be an Elsa Pancake right 'bout now, so dunno what your problem is!"

"My problem is you, you big dope! Are you okay?! What on earth were you thinking?! Were you even thinking?! Why did you risk breaking your neck instead of just corridoring us both to safety?!"

"Pssh, it wasn't that big of a fall, I'm fine," he waved a dismissive hand, fully sitting up now and tucking his feet in to assume a cross-legged position. Shaking ice shards from his hair, he then flashed her a grin. "'Sides, a trip through a Corridor of Darkness causes you pain. If someone's gotta get hurt and it's between you and me," he reached out a finger, lightly booping her on the nose with a wink, "I'll pick me every time."

The fight fled completely out of her, her shoulders slumped and she just stared at him dumbfounded.

…oh.

Oh crud.

Right, so… remember that crush that she most definitely and in no uncertain terms did not have on him, not even in the slightest?

She might be slightly having it now.

Axel blinked at her, then squinted. "Hold up… are you blu-"

"No!" Elsa said, perhaps a touch too hastily as her hand shot out to clamp over his mouth, silencing him.

A blank stare, then he was pushing her hand away, "But you didn't even let me finish my sen-"

Her hand slapped back up over his lips as she quickly blurted out, "Don't need to, I'm not."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously and he muffled out against her fingertips, "...not what?"

"Not, er… doing whatever it is you thought I was doing. Which I wasn't." The last part was tacked on in a rush as she now tentatively pulled her hand back.

Axel turned his head slightly as he eyed her, quirking an eyebrow. "But if you don't even know what I was going to say you were doing, how do you know you weren't doing it?"

"I don't."

"You don't know what it is or you don't do it?"

"Uh… both?" Elsa ventured, to which he simply gave her a flat look. Eyes shifting, she tried again, "I mean… neither?" The flat look persisted. She glowered, "Ugh whatever, the point is I wasn't!"

"Wasn't what?"

"Doing the thing."

"What thing?"

"The thing that you think I was doing."

"Which was?"

"The thing I was most definitely not doing."

"And that is?"

"Blushing." The traitorous word escaped her lips before she could catch herself and she gasped, clamping both hands over her mouth. Too little, too late.

"HA!" he crowed, pointing at her triumphantly. "I knew it!"

"No, no you didn't! You did not! Because I wasn't! I was… I was just… red because I was so, so mad at you for that boneheaded stunt! Besides, there are more important things to be thinking about right now than whatever my face may or may not be currently doing without my consent, which it isn't! You hear me?! It. Isn't!"

"Pfft," he rolled his eyes and echoed mockingly, "more important things, yeah right! Like what?"

As if on cue, a nightmarish howl pierced the air all around them as Lanternzilla's massive shadow swept over and past them.

Elsa gestured up and deadpanned, "Oh I don't know, maybe the gargantuan freaking monster trying to kill us all?"

"Huh," he scoffed, crossing his arms with a tiny shrug. "Well isn't that just awfully convenient."

Her left eye twitched. "Really?! Is a jumbo swarm of evil possessed fire-breathing lanterns from hell ever really convenient?!"

"Dunno, you tell me, lil Miss Trying-To-Change-The-Subject from the fact that you were totally bl-"

"Hey guys, are either of you hurt?" Rapunzel suddenly came running up and skidding to a stop next to them, hair in hand, ready and eager to heal any and all injuries.

Just in the nick of time too, because Elsa had been exactly zero-point-two seconds away from lunging at the cocky jerk with every intent of turning his smug ass into a goddamn redheaded popsicle. Instead she just rose to her feet, dusting frosty debris from her clothes as she grumbled, "We're fine."

"Yeah, well we won't be for much longer if that thing has anything to say about it!" The others had not been too far behind Rapunzel and had just rejoined them as well. Maximus had been the one to speak and he added, "Anyone come up with any new ideas in the last thirty seconds for how to waste this giant freak of nature?"

No one said anything, just frowned and silently exchanged glances.

Maximus sighed, "Take that as a no."

"I just don't get it!" Sora huffed. "The Fireflies were so easy to defeat on their own, they were just a buncha total weaklings! But get them all together and somehow they become some sort of unstoppable wrecking ball!"

"And there's just so many of them too! How do we even fight that?!" Flynn shook his head in exasperation.

"Well we better figure it out, and fast too!" Rapunzel said. "We may have gotten a breather just now because Lanternzilla decided to gloat and take a victory lap, but it'll be back any second."

Eyes widening, Sora pointed straight up, "And that second is right now!"

They all looked up as well to see the horde directly above them and hurtling downward in a blur. Bolting in different directions, they all barely got out of the way in time just as the swarm beast came down like an enormous hammer with a booming CRASH on the spot where they'd just been standing. The frozen river cracked and splintered on impact, but otherwise managed to remain whole, unbroken. Flamebreath chaotically swirled and looped around and in on itself seemingly without rhyme or reason before rocketing skyward once more.

"Guys, guys!" Rapunzel was calling out excitedly as they all hurried to group up again. "I think I maybe possibly might have just thought of a plan right now!"

Axel gestured for her to continue, "Well then go on, hurry up and share with the rest of the class already, Goldilocks!"

"Elsa." The girl in question stiffened at Rapunzel saying her name. "You're keeping the ice beneath our feet from breaking, right?"

"Um… yes?" she answered uncertainly, fingers unconsciously fiddling with her braid now.

With growing barely contained excitement, Rapunzel told her, "Well don't! Let it break!"

That was met with blank stares and utter silence from all.

"I'm sorry," Maximus was the first to speak up, face scrunched up as he scratched his temple, "is the plan for us to all drown?"

Flynn paled, rapidly shaking his head, "I seriously do not like that plan!"

"No wait, it's brilliant! Before it can take us out, we take ourselves out first and don't give it the satisfaction! That'll teach the big wormy punk!" Axel snickered.

Holding her hands up, Rapunzel began, "Now guys, just hear me out, it wouldn't need to be the-"

"Incoming! Run!"

They all jumped apart and fled just in time to avoid Flamebreath once more smashing down hard where they'd all just been not even so much as a split second before. Again, the ice floor quaked and fractured under the heavy bombardment, but continued to hold strong. With a powerful whoosh, the swarm beast had zoomed back up into the heavens.

As they all rushed to gather yet again, Rapunzel panted from all the running around and tried a second time, "As I was trying to say, it wouldn't need to be all the ice! Just the point where Lanternzilla hits! Keep the rest frozen beneath us, but let those monsters crash on through and straight into the water!"

"Love that you're whipping out ideas, Blondie, really, but explain to me how exactly quenching the giant snake monster's thirst helps us out here?" Flynn asked, eyes warily watching overhead for the next attack.

"Well just think about it! They're all lanterns, right? Living, sentient lanterns! Doesn't that kinda sorta make the flaming candles at their cores like their life force? Their hearts?" she asked hopefully, glancing around.

Ruffling his fingers through his hair, Sora shrugged. "...maybe?"

Rapunzel determinedly pressed on, "So then, if we get them all to take a surprise swim and put those flames out, that should destroy them, right? Or maybe at the very least it could weaken them enough for us to start taking out the lanterns one by one, right?"

Elsa tucked in her bottom lip, mulling over the theory. "...I mean, it sounds like it could work, but I'm just not sure. I'm not our resident Nobody Expert here."

All eyes turned to Axel, who just blinked at the sudden attention. Then he pursed his lips to one side, squeezed his right eye shut, and tapped a finger to his chin in a show of deep thought. Finally, he flashed a grin and shot them all two thumbs up, "Sure, why not!"

Elsa groaned, "Seriously? This is life and death here and we're betting this whole plan on, 'Sure, why not'?"

"Trust me, guys, it'll work!" Rapunzel stated, all but bubbling over with enthusiasm now. "I can feel it in my very soul, I got a good feeling about this! The water is this thing's kryptonite!"

"And even if it only weakens it, that's all I'll need for me and the Keyblade to finish the job!" Sora declared with a cheeky smile, slashing his weapon through the air as it began to glow gold and bright.

"If we're really going to do this, everyone better be ready to run and I mean just straight up book it with everything you have," Elsa said. "I'll do my best to stop reinforcing the ice only where that thing hits, but my powers aren't exact. I have no idea how big the hole it'll make will be, how much around it will break further to make it even larger, so please just… try not to fall in as well and-"

"Run!" Flynn yelled.

She nodded, "Yes, exactly."

"No, I mean here it comes so everyone: RUN!"

Once again they scattered, escaping by the skin of their teeth. Once again the swarm beast struck down on the precise spot they'd all just moved out of. However, this time the ice did not endure. Instead it shattered under the assault in an eruption of jagged frozen wreckage and cold water as Flamebreath took an involuntary plunge, disappearing into the river's depths. The ice rumbled as it broke apart, causing several to slip and fall before scrambling to keep ahead of the crumbling bits of the chilly surface beneath them as the hole continued to expand.

They hurried to huddle all close together again and watch as the opening in the ice finally seemed to start settling down. It had stopped chipping away at its glacial boundaries and had thankfully ceased growing. The choppy waters were churning less now as well, no longer splashing up over the edges as everything slowly calmed and stilled. A hush fell as everyone waited with bated breaths.

A few seconds ticked by where nothing happened. It felt like an eternity.

"...is… is it dead?" Rapunzel finally asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Hard to say," Flynn narrowed his eyes skeptically at the hole. "Go check it out, Keyboy Wonder."

Sora yelped as he was unceremoniously shoved out of the group, stumbling forward a few steps. He glared back at Flynn, who just flicked his hands through the air a couple times in a shooing gesture. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he held his Keyblade out in front of him and started creeping towards the opening. As he inched up to the edge, he pointed his weapon threateningly at his own reflection in the still rippling water, cautiously peering down into it.

That's when it began to bubble before Lanternzilla came bursting back up out of it once more, its multitude of unearthly voices wailing as water sprayed every which way. Startled, Sora tumbled backwards onto his rear but still held his Keyblade before him at the ready. Then and only then did he really see the swarm beast - or rather, what was left of it after its little dip in the river. He blinked.

The number of Fireflies forming its body had decreased. By like… a lot. There are still too many to count at a glance, but the thing had to be half its former size at least. What Fireflies that did still remain were soggy, miserable looking things that were shrieking in seeming distress now as the glow formerly at each of their centers had all been snuffed out. Flamebreath thrashed about, but it was no longer the same. No longer as targeted or devastating.

Now it was more like the desperate last ditch efforts of a wounded animal that knew it was knocking at death's door.

"It worked, the plan actually worked!" Rapunzel laughed as Sora hopped back up to his feet and ran back over to the rest of the group, high-fiving her. "No doubt about it, that thing is way less strong now!"

"Quit patting yourselves on the back and attack already now that we have an actual shot at this!" Maximus raised his gun, taking aim. "Let's cut this bastard down to size!"

Everyone immediately leapt into action. They surrounded the thing, which for the most part seemed to be staying grounded at the moment as it blasted off weak gouts of flame and the dispirited Fireflies it was composed of lashed out frantically with their claws. These halfhearted (at best) attacks were easy for everyone to dodge as they unleashed their own counterstrikes.

Rapunzel mainly focused on staying on the move as she lassoed small groups of lanterns with her hair and yanked them away from the pack, making them easier for the others to pick off. The air flashed and blazed as Sora and Axel sent their weapons flying, mowing down Fireflies by the droves now. While those two were in the thick of it, Elsa and Maximus stayed back to offer cover fire with bullets and ice, making sure no one was caught by any surprise ambushes from behind and slowing down any enemies who tried to flee. As for Flynn, there might have been a slightly sadistic gleam to his eyes as he swung his frying pan about in a maniacal frenzy, taking a little too much pleasure in squashing whatever unlucky Firefly came into contact with his skillet.

Before long, they'd whittled the once mighty Lanternzilla down to a mere wisp of its former glory. A handful of Nobodies remained in the flock, maybe a hundred at best, more likely less. It finally seemed to sense the shift in the tide of battle, realize that the fight had not been going in its favor for a while now. It paused in its wild flailing, almost as if it were suddenly hesitating as it just hovered there for a moment. Everyone tensed, waiting to see what it was going to do next, ready to defend against the thing in case it had one final ace up its sleeve that it'd been holding onto as a last resort.

Finally, with one of its infamously eerie screeches, it whirled around and-

-and bolted.

"It's making a run for it, trying to escape under that bridge!" Sora shouted as the swarm beast barreled through Flynn, knocking him over as it steamrolled past. Indeed, it seemed to be making a beeline straight for a stone overpass that crossed above the currently solid cold river. It wasn't much, but even just the shadows beneath it could possibly provide enough cover for the thing to give them all the slip so it could hide and lurk until it had a chance to recover enough for another strike. Sora turned to the others, "Punzie! Do you think you can get me to it?"

By way of answer, she smirked and started twirling her hair, spinning it faster and faster until at last she sent it soaring. It latched onto a decorative outcropping on the bridge and she pulled it taut, making sure it was secure. Then she was reaching a hand over to Sora, "C'mon!"

He didn't need to be told twice. Even as they clasped each other's wrists, Rapunzel was already swinging the two of them away. Flamebreath may have gotten a bit of a head start, but it did it little good. After the battering it'd just taken, it was now too frail, too slow. Though it still hovered, it seemed it couldn't lift off into the skies anymore and instead just hobbled weakly along, keeping low to the ground with nowhere near the speed and ferocity it once had.

Rapunzel and Sora were able to close the distance swiftly and easily.

They gained on it just as it was reaching the arch forming the underside of the bridge. Without hesitation, the pair swung directly into the heart of the swarm, Keyblade a beacon burning brightly as Sora gave it one final slash with a flourish.

Brilliant golden light exploded from Lanternzilla's core and spread out in rapid shimmering waves in every direction that sent the others' hair and clothes flapping as they ran to catch up. When at last the blinding radiance dimmed and faded, there was nothing left of the horde. All that remained now was Sora and Rapunzel cheering and laughing in the middle of a shower of tiny white lights all around them that danced and swayed as they fluttered down to the ice floor before flickering out one by one.

"We did it! We actually did it!" Rapunzel whooped as everyone else rejoined them. She and Sora gave each other well-deserved double high-fives this time before she rushed over to link elbows with a startled Elsa and pull her stumbling into a twirl with her before releasing her just as suddenly to dash off yet again and launch herself at Flynn in a bone-crushing hug. "Can you all believe it?! We slayed the big evil beast, saved the city, saved all the people, saved-"

"Rapunzel?" a deep, mysterious voice suddenly floated down to them all from somewhere above.

Axel blinked, then squinted upward. "...God?" Then he gave a snort and shrug, "Woah, the big man upstairs really does exist, mind blown! I better start to clean up my act, cuz I am definitely on that guy's naughty list!"

"Rapunzel, is that really you?" the unknown voice came drifting down once more.

"Um… yes?" she called back uncertainly, glancing up with a frown. "Who's there?"

It took a second to spot him all the way up there standing on the bridge over all their heads. Surprisingly, it seemed their big, monster fighting spectacle on ice just now had earned them a spectator. Or maybe after all that, it was more surprising that there was only one. Rapunzel peered up at the man, trying to make out details from this far away. He seemed to be a rather stately older man, with silver wingtips in his brown hair and a neatly trimmed mustache that-

She inhaled sharply as she abruptly recognized him, "Mr. Tyrann?!"

Axel gasped in shock, then frowned. "...who?"

"The guy who runs the Starlight Festival," Sora whispered to him behind his hand.

Ignoring the side commentary, Rapunzel kept shouting up at the gentleman, "What're you still doing here?! It's not safe, it's-" she froze as something clicked in her mind. Brow furrowing, she asked slowly, "Wait, how do you know my name?"

Even from this distance, it was impossible to miss how taken aback he looked. "You mean you don't- Zoe never told you-" He cut himself off, shoulders slumping as he breathed a defeated chuckle that echoed faintly down. "...of course your mother didn't, why would she? And you wouldn't remember, you were so little when she-" Heaving a sigh, he finally said, "Rapunzel, it's me. I'm… I'm your…"

She exchanged a confused glance with her friends, then looked back up at the man as he struggled to get his words out.

"Rapunzel, I'm… your father."


Author's Note: DUN DUN DUN! Even tho we all knew that was coming, but shhhh xP And that wraps up Lanternzilla, that was a fun fight to write! Went on a bit longer than I originally intended, but I think it all came together nicely. And amongst it all, Elsa starts to feel a bit more control over her powers while at the same time continuing to struggle with the slowly dawning realization that she might have feelings for someone who doesn't have feelings himself, oi… oh the tangled webs we weave xD

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