Right. So… that ceiling that Elsa had thought vanished into shadows because it was so high? Not actually as high up there as it had previously appeared. And those shadows? Not really shadows. At least, not in the traditional sense of the word. Those lights that she had thought were moving? Well, they had been moving, but they hadn't been lights so much as the glowing, unblinking eyes of Heartless skittering around in a swarming, writhing mass high above the unsuspecting clubgoers below.
Too bad they hadn't all just stayed up there.
Too bad for them, that is.
Recovering from her surprise quickly, Elsa flung her hands upward. Before the first on those dark little fiends had even landed, she'd conjured several giant frozen lances and rocketed them off into the air. They speared dozens of the creatures before smashing thunderously against the ceiling. The club around her broke out into hysteria, filled with shrieks and yells as people began to rush in every direction. Whether they were running from the horde of shadows pouring down onto their heads or from Elsa's freakish display of power, she could not say. There was a good chance it was both.
Strangely, it didn't bother her for once. She wasn't afraid. She probably should have been, what with unleashing her magic to let it run amuck while so many potential victims stampeded about. But instead, a eerie calm had settled within her as she took control. There was no time to be scared or to let herself panic. She had to fight and focus on what mattered.
And what mattered most at this very moment was protecting the mystery girl with the magic hair.
Elsa didn't know who she was or what the Organization wanted with her. But given it was the Organization, whatever plans they had for her probably weren't pleasant. Any questions Elsa had would have to wait until later. Now, she had to find a way to reach that girl!
And to get to her, Elsa only had to get past a pack of encroaching Dusks, an army of frenzied Heartless, and a maniacally cackling madwoman perched atop a table throwing lightning bolts left and right at all the fleeing people.
Heh… no sweat…
Two of the Dusks were charging at her from opposite directions. Thrusting one arm forward, she sent the first flying with a chilly gust of wind and it collided with a far wall. She turned her other hand palm up, driving it high over her head. With the motion, a massive column of ice burst forth from the ground beneath the other Dusk and took the creature with it as it shot up in a blur. The top of the pillar slammed into the ceiling hard, crushing the monster between the two surfaces and making it explode in a shimmering puff of white. She balled her hand into a fist and the column splintered, shattering into translucent, knife-like shards that she then ruthlessly rained down upon the Heartless.
Out of the corner of her eye to her right, she spotted Axel smirking from ear to ear. He dropped into a low crouch and banged his palms down against the floor. From where he struck, fire erupted and hurtled out in a wave before him, leaving what appeared to be boiling lava in its wake. Any Heartless unfortunate enough to be caught in the roaring flames instantly burned and disintegrated to ash. Luckily, while there were panicked people still running about, none of them were hit by the attack. There were a couple close calls though.
"Hey, try not to hit any innocent bystanders!" Elsa called to him as she shot a frost beam at the Dusk recovering from its impact against the wall.
Straightening up, he shrugged and snerked, "Yeah, yeah." He then outstretched his arms to either side of him. Fire flickered and sparked into existence within his hands, burning brightly as it swirled with tendrils of darkness. The flames grew and spun faster and faster until at last they exploded into his chakrams.
He flung them forward, one after the other and still ablaze. The weapons seemed to fly of their own accord, streaks of bright red in the air as they twirled and danced around each other, mowing down Heartless and Dusks. A few human stragglers that had yet to escape the building screeched and ducked as the searing wheels rushed past them.
As she continued her own fight, Elsa could see Sora to her left fending off a handful of enemies himself. His Keyblade slashed to and fro, chopping down a Dusk here, slicing a Heartless in half there. She could tell he was of a similar mind to her - he was trying to get to the girl Larxene had singled out. He swung his weapon in silver arcs, carving out a path inch by inch towards the girl. But it wasn't going fast enough and you could see frustration etching its way into his face.
He abruptly leapt backwards to give himself some room and stabbed his blade forward. A glyph on his bracer began to light up blue, but then it crackled and sparked and Sora jerked his arm back with a pained hiss.
Elsa blinked.
What… just happened?
Sora's brow furrowed and he seemed just as confused. Eyeing the bracer with a frown, he gave his wrist a shake and jabbed his Keyblade forward again. The glyph sputtered out a weak glow for what felt like the longest second ever. But then at last it flared up a brilliant blue once more. A large clump of shadows and Dusks in front of him suddenly lost the ground beneath their feet as they were lifted into the air and yanked towards Sora, as if being pulled in by a powerful magnet.
They were gathered into a floating sphere at the tip of his weapon, growing with each foe that came flying into the mix. The mass spun wildly in the air as the creatures crashed and banged against each other, some unseen force crushing them in more tightly together. Just as the monster ball had expanded to be bigger than Sora himself, he swiped his Keyblade to one side and the whole thing blew apart, sending mangled shadows and Dusks scattering in every direction.
Sora had managed to clear a sizable chunk before them, but the way to the girl was still not yet totally clear. With a start, Elsa also realized that Larxene had vanished from her table top at some point. She didn't know where that maniac had disappeared too, but Elsa had the feeling their time to reach 'Lite-Brite' was growing dangerously short. They needed to get to her now.
Looking to a second ice pillar she had used just a second ago to make another creepy-crawly go splat against the ceiling, she struck both her hands out towards it, fingers splayed wide. "Sora, move!" she shouted as she willed the frozen column to topple over.
Sora turned and watched as the monolith teetered and began to fall towards him. He sprung out of the way just as it came crashing to the ground, crushing any fowl critters beneath it. Then she slapped her palms together before separating them with a flourish. The pillar cracked and split lengthwise down the middle and the two halves pushed apart, forming walls around a now cleared path leading straight to the girl with the hair.
Flashing his bright, trademark smile, Sora gave her the thumbs up before barreling down the new opening. "Come on, Axel!" she shouted over her shoulder as she followed closely after Sora.
Hearing his name, he glanced back in their direction. By now, he'd managed to wend his way into the middle of a whole mess of Heartless. Realizing his allies were shifting position, he looked to his chakrams and crooked his neck. The flaming wheels stayed their massacre of the monsters, darting back towards their master. He took off running and his weapons swirled around him, forming an aura of metal and fire that shredded any critters who got in his way as he moved to close the distance between himself and the other two.
Not being very tall, the frigid walls Elsa had formed were only a temporary solution. Dusks and Heartless were already scaling up and over them, the first couple hitting the floor and blocking the trio's path. It wasn't enough to stop them, but it did slow them down as they began to near the other side. As Elsa knocked a shadow out of her way with an ice blast, she caught her first glimpse of the other girl since this whole ambush started. She was darting about, bobbing and weaving away from any attacks thrown at her, fending all the monsters off with-
-a frying pan?
Alrighty then. Sora now officially had some competition for wielder of the most bizarre weapon.
There was someone else. Most of the people had cleared out of the club by now, but this person was not one of them. And they were heading straight for the girl. Elsa's first guess would have been Larxene, but this figure was most definitely not her.
...wait a minute…
Elsa squinted.
Was that…
"Flynn?!" the girl shouted as she cracked her skillet over the head of one of the creatures. She then held it up defensively as she watched him skid to stop beside her and hunch over, breathing heavily. "Oh gosh, are you okay?"
"Am… am I okay?" he asked incredulously as he looked up at her, letting the backpack he'd been carrying for her fall to his feet with a weighty thud. "For starters, your hair glows. Flipping. Glows. Think you would have mentioned that minor detail during the introductions. But oddly, that's not the craziest thing to happen in this loony bin in the past five minutes. No, there's been a psychopath with a fetish for electricity throwing lightning bolts around… something, or hell, possibly someone throwing blizzards and firestorms around on the other side of the club... and let's see, what else?"
"Duck!" she snarled and he did not hesitate to do just that as she batted a shadow fiend away that had been pouncing straight towards his back.
"Oh, that's right," he deadpanned, straightening up once more. "Monsters. Literal bloodthirsty, soul sucking, teeth gnashing monsters trying to kill me."
She snorted, using the frying pan to deflect a Dusk. "Oh quit whining, you're fine. Pyjama monsters, by the way." At his blank look, she tacked on, "That's what I call them. At least the ones with the zippers. The other ones are new to me and I haven't come up with a name for them yet."
His eyebrows knit together as he shook his head slightly, "Pyjama…?" Then his eyes widened. "Wait! You mentioned those earlier back at your place! You mean to tell me you've had run-ins with these things before?!"
"Well, not things plural! It was just one! I trapped it in my closet!" she sniffed proudly.
"Trapped it in your…" he pinched the bridge of his nose, then threw his hands up. "Forget it, we don't have time for this right now! Can we just get out of here and go already?"
"Go?!" Her pan slammed down on one of the creatures, squishing it into to cloud of smoke. "We can't go! They're all here for me! This is all happening because of me! I can't run to save my own life, not if there's a chance more people could get hurt!"
"Listen, Blondie, you want to go to the Festival tomorrow, right?" he asked, sidestepping out of the way as a shadow lunged for him.
"Yeah, but-"
"Well you can't go if you're dead! So let's hightail it out of here and-"
"Flynn Rider!" a voice boomed behind him.
He stiffened then rolled his eyes. "Oh great. This guy again."
There was the unmistakable click of a pistol being primed. "Stick 'em up, you're under arrest!"
"Seriously?" he grumbled, raising his hands and slowly turning around to face the man in a trench coat training a firearm between Flynn's eyes. "Listen, Detective… it is Detective, right? I mean, you got this whole Private Dick vibe going for you, so I'm just taking a wild guess here. Anyway, look around you," he lightly flicked a wrist towards the general chaos, "the whole place is literally going to hell in a handbasket and you're still arresting me? Come on, man! Priorities!"
One Heartless suddenly broke away from the rest, leaping straight towards the detective. Without so much as a glance, the man shifted his gun, pulled the trigger and blasted the thing to smithereens. Still glaring at Flynn, he pointed the pistol back at him and growled, "My priorities are just fine. Now down on the ground!"
He gulped.
"Flynn!" Blondie's voice called out from over his shoulder. "Catch!"
He peeked out of the corner of his eye to see she was tossing an object towards him. It had to be a weapon! Something to defend himself with! Perfect! With cat-like reflexes, he snatched the thing out of the air and brandished it towards his opponent. Ha, that's right, Detective, taste the cold steel of his...
...frying pan?
Mr. Trench Coat looked from Flynn to the cooking implement and back. Then he cracked a tiny smirk. "You gotta be kidding, Rider. Just what do you plan to do with-"
Flynn sprung forward, slamming the skillet into the hand holding the gun. The detective yelped and his firearm went flying, disappearing into the sea of darkness and yellow eyes.
The two of them watched it until it was out of sight before looking back at each other. Then the detective scowled, thumbed his nose, and did what could only be described as putting his dukes up. "Fine then, Rider. We'll just have to do this the old fashion way."
"The old fashion way?" Flynn cowered behind his pan. "W-what's the ol-"
The detective moved in a blur, throwing a punch. Flynn dodged out of the way, stumbling to the side and doing his best to keep the cookware between him and his attacker. "Hey now!" he snapped, parrying fists with the flat underside of the frying pan. "Ever hear of a little something called police brutality?!" The last syllable was punctuated with a jab of his makeshift weapon.
Making an X with his forearms, Trench Coat blocked the attack and shoved the skillet back. "Ever hear of resisting arrest and assaulting an officer?" he barked, crouching low with a kick to try and sweep his feet out from under him. Flynn jumped over the leg but as he landed, the detective came back up at the same time and smacked the pan out of his hands. It launched straight up, doing a couple somersaults over both their heads before coming back down and the detective caught it. Flynn lifted his hands in surrender as Trench Coat pointed it at him with a triumphant, "Ha!"
A loud crackle, the smell of burnt ozone, then a lightning bolt struck the detective. It sent him catapulting off his feet and smashing out a window with a loud crash. The pan was airborne once more, left behind in the detective's wake, and Flynn grabbed it before it could clatter to the ground. His eyes were practically popping out of his head as he stared as the sizzling scorch mark where Trench Coat had once stood.
Beside him, Blondie had just hair lassoed a bunch of the shadows and… ugh, Pyjama Monsters into a neat little ball and slingshotted them across the room. She and Flynn exchanged a brief look - the devastating electrical strike had not gone unnoticed by her. Inching closer together, they slowly turned to face the source of the attack.
"So, Lite-Brite," a voice giggled as the mob of foul creatures parted. Larxene strode forward, the heels of her boots clacking against the floor with every leisurely step. She came to a stop a few feet away from them, a handful of her creepy minions swaying behind her. "Do we do this the easy way?" She raised her hands to shoulder level, palms up, lightning dancing along her fingertips and giving off an ominous light to her wicked half-grin. "Or the fun way?"
Blondie frowned, narrowing her eyes. She began swinging a long loop of her hair at her side in slow, lazy circles. "Bring it, lady."
The color drained from Flynn's face and he hastily scooched to hide behind her.
Larxene's grin twitched wider. "Fun way it is then." She thrust a hand out at Blondie and shot off another lightning bolt.
Suddenly Sora came running out, skidding to a stop between the two girls and throwing up his arm. A blinding flash of green and his emerald shield of light manifested just in time. The lightning slammed into it with a deafening crash, scattering chaotically every which way. He grunted but firmly stood his ground until the last of the electricity fizzled out.
"So. The baby has decided to put on his big boy pants? How adorable," Larxene cooed as Sora dropped his shield to glare at her. Elsa and Axel came running up to stand on either side of him and Larxene tsked. "But you should know better than to get between a girl and her toy."
Keyblade poised at the ready, Sora grit his teeth. "Better run while you still can, otherwise you'll have to play with me instead!"
"What's that?" She bent forward, cupping a hand to her ear. "You're volunteering to be my new toy? Well," a savage curl tugged at her lips as her fingers sparked and shimmered before knives appeared between her knuckles, "I simply can't wait to break you."
"I'd like to see you try!" With that, he charged towards her, feet pounding against the ground.
"My pleasure." Her arms whipped forward, releasing her deadly blades. He deflected three of them with his weapon before slashing it out wide, knocking the next one from the air. Then he dropped into a roll to avoid the remaining few, feeling the sharp steel brush past his hair as they missed by scant inches. He came back up into a leap, Keyblade raised high overhead and prepared to come smashing down on his opponent's cranium. Larxene dodged to one side and Sora hit the ground hard, Keyblade cracking the floor where it struck.
Before he could recover, she pounded a kick into his chest, punting him flat onto his back. With a grunt, he swung his legs up and launched himself back onto his feet just in time to see the flash of lightning hurtling straight for him. Springing out of the way as stray sparks singed his clothes, he stabbed his weapon high overhead and the glyph on his bracer beamed blue once more. The ground beneath Larxene's feet quaked suddenly, causing her to stagger. She stumbled out of the way just as a ginormous stalagmite thrust up out of the ground beneath her. Sora then jabbed his Keyblade forward, slide dashing towards her as she resummoned her knives with a smirk.
Meanwhile, the others were doing their best to defend themselves against a small army. Axel pointed and his chakrams rushed in the direction indicated, eager to do his bidding. Once they were positioned deep within the surging mass of Heartless and Dusks, he twirled his finger and the weapons began to spin circles around each other parallel to the ground. Holding a hand up, he blasted off a jet of fire into the swirling blurs of metal. He kept feeding them flames and soon an inferno tornado raged, sucking foes in to be scorched and torn to ribbons. Axel sniggered, muttering, "Burn, baby, burn."
Elsa covered their flanks. Shadows stampeded towards them, using the very path she'd cleared with her ice walls. Gritting her teeth, she cast her hands out. An immense wave of frost energy shot forth from her fingertips and rushed at the evil horde. Every monster it struck and passed through was completely iced over in an instant. The chilly force did not slow, moving swiftly through dozens of the creatures and leaving a collection of solid frozen statues in its wake.
"Who… who are you people?"
Her spine snapped straight on hearing the voice behind her.
Oh right. She'd almost forgot.
Gnawing her lower lip, Elsa slowly turned her head towards her. The girl with the hair. She expected, almost dreaded but was more or less resigned to, seeing any number of emotions on her face. Confusion, panic, horror… the usual reactions Elsa got when she used her powers in front of people. But then she locked eyes with the girl and blinked.
Her gaze was not met with terror, but… awe. And maybe a little bit of wonder.
Time being of the essence, she decided not to question it. Frosting over that first wave of attackers had had the added bonus of creating an obstacle course for the second wave, slowing their advance. So Elsa had a brief moment to talk, but only just. Facing the girl fully, she urged, "There's no time to explain right now, we need to-"
"You're like me," she cut her off, a huge grin spreading across her face. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she lunged to take hold of Elsa's hand, startling her. "We're the same! Well, I mean, not exactly the same, cuz you know, me, with the hair and you, with the ice, which by the way, oh my god, wow!" She chuckled as Elsa snatched her hand back, a few snowflakes trailing after it.
My, my. She was… perky.
The girl's hands clapped together, "But still, you know… you have powers! We're the same! We all are! You and me and him," she pointed to Axel, "and him," to Sora, "and even her," a gesture towards Larxene. Her nose scrunched up a bit, "But hopefully not a lot like her, cuz she seems a lil, ya know…" she spun a finger near her temple with a grimace. "Oh my gosh, did you see what she did to that other guy a minute ago?! Zapped him right out a window! I hope he's okay! But that's besides the point, this is so exciting! Are you excited? I'm so excited! I mean, what are the chances? All of us-"
"We have to go!" Elsa blurted out, desperate to stop the onslaught of words.
Her head rocked back, eyes widening. "You want to run away? But… but no! You're winning! I don't know if you've noticed, but you guys? Kicking some serious butt! And I can help too! Oh, please please let me help! This hair? Not just a light show, my friend! Just let me at 'em, they'll be sorry for messing with us! Besides, we need to save everyone!"
"Look around!" Elsa spread her arms wide. "Everyone else has escaped already, we're the only ones left. And believe me, we can't win against these monsters. There's no end to them, they'll just keep coming."
She gasped, "Do you know what these things are? Where did they come from? What do they want? And that lightning chick? What's her deal? Why's she so freaky? How-"
"There's no time! Please just trust me when I say we need to leave. Now. They're after us, so if we escape, they'll clear out and no one else will be in danger."
She pursed her lips, hesitating for a heartbeat longer. But then her face brightened, her nostrils flared and she gave a determined nod. "Alright then. Let's do this!"
Relieved, Elsa took a quick look around. They were now towards the rear end of the club and it only took her a second to spot it beyond the droves of shadows and Dusks. A door near the bar counter only a few yards away from them. Hopefully a back exit - their closest and best shot for a way out. "Axel!" she shouted, grabbing his attention and pointing towards the door.
He nodded in immediate understanding and whipped his hands in the direction she'd indicated. The cyclone of fire and red hot steel followed the gesture, searing out a path for them. He then flashed a grin and bowed, sweeping a hand out to one side, "Ladies first."
Shaking her head, she told the girl, "Come on, let's go!"
Before Elsa had taken a full step however, a hasty "Wait!" made her freeze. Glancing back at her with a raised eyebrow, the girl flashed a smile and tipped her head to one side. "My name is Rapunzel by the way."
She couldn't help the tiny smile of her own. "Elsa."
"Nice to meet you, Elsa!" she beamed. "And this is Flynn!" she jerked a thumb over her shoulder towards… empty space. "Huh?" Rapunzel frowned, glancing around before finally looking down. "Oh, there you are, silly! What are you doing down there?"
The man in question had curled himself into a quivering ball on the floor, eyes squeezed shut, backpack hugged to his chest, doing his damnedest to hide (quite unsuccessfully) underneath the frying pan held tightly within his grip. As if feeling the several looks now settling on him, he cracked one eye open, flicking it about from person to person. Then in the blink of an eye, he was on his feet, back straight, shoulders squared, chest puffed and clearing his throat. "Ah. Yes, well… I was… luring the monsters into a false sense of security! Then when they got close, I was going to unleash a deadly attack!" He lunged into an aggressive stance, skillet brandished before him.
Axel snorted. "Course ya were, buddy."
"As I was saying," Rapunzel placed a hand on his shoulder, "this is-"
"Flynn," Elsa finished. "Yes. We've, ah… met."
"We sure have, haven't we?" Axel graced him with a toothy smirk, wiggling an index finger in greeting. Flynn paled.
Retrieving her backpack and slinging it over her shoulder, Rapunzel grabbed Flynn's wrist and tugged him along, "C'mon!" Once he had stumbled into a run, she let go and sprinted for the door, followed by Elsa then Axel, with Flynn bringing up the rear. The chakrams were doing their job well, keeping the way open for them. There were a few enemies that managed to slip through - a Heartless here that got a frost ray to the face, a Dusk there that was spun up in hair and sent flying - but for the most part, their path remained clear. Just a few more feet and-
Sora suddenly appeared in front of Elsa, staggering back into her path and she scrambled to stop in time. His teeth were clenched, his eyes fierce as his Keyblade parried daggers flying at him. Just as quickly as he had shown up, he was springing backwards and gone, hardly a split second before Larxene landed in a crouch where he'd been, sparks flying everywhere.
"Stupid little toy! Think you could defeat me?!" she laughed, pouncing after him, lightning erupting in her wake.
The explosion of electricity knocked Elsa back and she collided hard with something behind her. She felt hands on her shoulders steadying her and she looked behind to discover what - or rather, who she had crashed into. "Got you. You okay?" Axel asked as he looked down the few inches that separated them.
"F-fine," she said, shaking off the daze from the shock to her system. Lightly brushing his hands away and ignoring a flutter in her stomach that was becoming all too familiar, she moved to catch up to Rapunzel who'd already made it to the door. She noticed there was a frown on the girl's face as her eyes scanned the room, brow furrowed.
"Where'd Flynn go?!" Rapunzel asked when Elsa got close enough. She looked behind her and while Axel was hot on their heels, Flynn had disappeared and the opening behind them was rapidly filling with monsters rushing to close in on them.
"There!" Axel pointed off to their right. Somehow, Flynn had gotten separated from them during their mad dash for the exit. He was now surrounded, having taken refuge atop a table like it was the sole island in an ocean of Heartless as he frantically beat their shadowy claws away with the pan.
Rapunzel released a tiny huff through her nose and set her jaw. "I have to go save my guide. Hold this," she shoved her backpack into Elsa's arms.
Knees wobbling slightly - the thing was heavier than it looked - both her eyebrows shot up her forehead as she watched Rapunzel grab several large loops of her hair and twirled them beside her hip. "Save your what? Wait, what are you-?"
Having built up a enough momentum, Rapunzel flung her hair up high where it latched around a pipe running along the ceiling. Giving her locks a couple yanks to make sure they were secure, she then took a running leap and swung off. Her hair swiftly carried her over the crowd of creatures grasping for her feet as she zoomed by and straight towards Flynn. The shadows having sheer numbers on their side were easily overpowering him and were mere seconds away from swarming him.
"Heads up!" Rapunzel called.
Still batting wildly away with his skillet, he turned towards her voice, eyes wide and emitting a startled, "Huh?"
She met him in a blur, her arm connecting with and wrapping around his waist, forcing a strangled grunt out of him as she took him with her. Her swing slowed and she arced around into a u-turn, carrying them both back towards the other two. Axel had summoned his chakrams back into his hands and was lashing out with them to keep the monsters at bay while Elsa sprayed icicles around, providing cover fire.
Rapunzel and Flynn landed beside them with an unceremonious thud, Rapunzel taking her bag back as her gaze went immediately to Flynn. "You okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"
"Monsters," he muttered, eyes round and staring off into space, knuckles going white from clutching the frying pan between his hands as if it were his only life line. He appeared not to have even heard her. "So… many… monsters…"
"He's fiiiiiiine, right buddy?" Axel nudged Flynn's shoulder with his own, to which Flynn swayed slightly but gave no other reaction. "See? A-okay. But what we really need to worry about now is Wonder Boy. He and Lady Sparks-A-Lot are still locked in their lil tango. We need to shake her so we can snag him and split."
It wasn't hard to spot Sora and Larxene. The two were making quite the flashy display in their little duel as they bounced all over the club, obliterating furniture, walls, Dusks, and Heartless alike. Elsa frowned. True, Larxene was a problem that needed to be dealt with. But right now, she had the serious advantage, what with getting the drop on them and having legions of minions to back her up. Plus, even if all the bystanders had fled outside, they probably hadn't gotten far enough to be truly out of danger. No, this wasn't the time nor place to try and take her out. Axel was right, they needed to get away and fight her later, preferably on their own terms.
But how to go about disengaging Sora and losing Larxene?
A pause, then a slow smile spread across Elsa's face.
Wiping sweat from his brow, Sora sneered as he shot off fireballs from the tip of his Keyblade. Larxene backflipped out of the way before flourishing her hands out wide, sending several lightning strikes raining down where Sora stood. Lifting his weapon up, a shimmering, iridescent ball of light surrounded him, taking the hits of electricity and reflecting them back at the caster. With a snort, she held up a hand, the energy being absorbed harmlessly into her palm.
A Heartless sprang from the shadowy mass around them and lunged at Sora's side. He slashed his blade out, dissecting the thing in twain. As it evaporated into smoke, he pointed the Keyblade back at Larxene, panting heavily with a glare.
"Awwww, is the wittle hero getting all tuckered out?" Larxene made a show of pouting. Then she snickered, conjuring her knives back between her knuckles. "Well too bad, I'm just getting warmed up. I'm going to light your skeleton up like a string of christmas lights, you-"
A cold, wet snowball splatting against the side of her face stopped her words dead.
It almost seemed as if the whole room, even the monsters, stilled to hold their breaths. With as much dignity as she could muster, Larxene lifted her hand to her face and aggressively flicked the white powder away. Then she turned her gaze towards Elsa, who stood there arm still outstretched and the obvious source of the wintry assault. Larxene's eyes sparked dangerously before a cool grin turned her lips. "Now now, Frosty, did you really think that would stop me?"
She shot a devious smirk back. "No. But this might." With that, she curled her fingers into a ball and jabbed out hard.
From a darkened corner of the club, a disembodied fist the size of a boulder and made entirely of densely packed snow charged straight towards Larxene. She only had time to gape before the thing rammed into her whole body and sent her rocketing far off into her throngs of underlings.
Sora blinked a couple times before whooping with laughter and running to join the others, leapfrogging from table to table to bypass the evil critters underfoot.
"That… was… AWESOME!" Rapunzel cried, clenching her hands and hopping up and down as Sora landed beside her.
Axel ruffled Elsa's hair, "Nice job, but we're not out of the woods yet. She'll be back in a sec and she'll be out for bloody murder, so let's go go go!" Dispelling his chakrams, he held the door open and everyone ran through, Rapunzel dragging a still rather stupefied Flynn behind her.
They all piled into what appeared to be a storage room before finding another door further back that lead out into a narrow alley. Turning left brought them to an immediate dead end. Flipping around, their path out to the main street was instantly blocked as hundreds of Heartless and Dusks came pouring out of the club's door after them. Not stopping to think, Elsa threw out her hands and a glacial wall sprang up from the cobblestone at their feet, climbing stories high and forming a barrier cutting them off from the creatures.
Flynn chose this second to finally snap out of his funk with a yelp, jumping back from the massive amount of ice, eyes darting back and forth between it and Elsa. "What the-?! How did-?! Is that-?! Did you just-?! What are-?"
"Welcome back to earth, space cadet," Axel chirped before turning away to knock a knuckle against the frozen barricade. "That won't hold 'em off for long. Those things are dumber than rocks, but they'll figure out soon enough they can just teleport on over to this side. Not to mention the crazy lady out for our hides." He crossed one arm over his chest and rubbed his other hand under his chin in thought. "I could pop up a Corridor for a quick out, but the ride will royally suck for the rest of you guys. Maybe-"
"Wait! Hold it! No! Nu-uh!" Flynn snapped and stomped his foot. "We're not taking another step until someone starts explaining this to me! Why do I feel like I'm the only one out of the loop here? There are freaking monsters everywhere. Some nutjob chick back there that's a walking bug zapper." He pointed to Rapunzel. "Your hair? Glows. Like the Main Street Electrical Parade. You?" his index finger shifted to Elsa. "Did… that!" he gesticulated wildly at the ice wall.
A cheshire smile curved Axel's lips. "You think that shit's wild? Get a load of this." He snapped his fingers and his whole body from head to toe was engulfed in roaring flames. Flynn's eyes bulged. Rapunzel's lips formed a perfect O. Sora rolled his eyes and Elsa facepalmed. The fire crackled merrily away before extinguishing a few seconds later, revealing Axel once more, uncharred and smug grin still in place.
Rapunzel applauded loudly. "Woah, do it again!"
Flynn collapsed in a faint.
It seemed that had been the last straw for the poor guy.
"Huh. Weird time for a nap, but whatevs," Axel shrugged.
"Hey guys, look what I found!" Sora called. Those still conscious glanced his way and he was squatting next a manhole cover. Digging his fingers into the side of the lid, he flipped it up and off with a grunt. "We can probably lose them through the sewers if we move fast."
Elsa suppressed a grimace. The sewers wouldn't be pleasant, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"Dude, give me a hand with the dead weight," Axel called as he began to drag Flynn by the feet over to the opening.
"Toss him down, I'll catch him," Sora said before jumping into the hole. The mass of shadows and amber eyes pressing against the frozen wall was swelling by the second, the scratching of their claws getting louder and more frenzied. Flopping Flynn down next to the manhole, Axel gave him a final shove with his foot and the man awkwardly collapsed into the darkness below.
Rapunzel was gathering as many bundles of her hair as she could in her arms, Elsa picking up the slack at the tail end. Then both girls jumped in as well. Axel was the last one in, sliding the round cover back into place just as the first of the various little beasties began to poof in.
The creatures' heads swiveled to and fro, rapidly taking in their surroundings, but the only thing they found was an empty alleyway.
AN: Annnnnnnd we're back! Heeeeey, see? Was a quick update this time! Well, sorta... quick for me anyway xD This chapter DID end up being roughly twice as long as the last one (I honestly did NOT think it was going to be), so understandably took a bit longer to write! But all things considered, I think I got it to you guys pretty quick! And fantastic news once again - I've already started writing the next chapter! I *believe* it's gonna be shorter than this one, so the wait should in theory be even shorter than it was for this one!
Before I forget, MUCH praise and MUCH worship to all my wonderful readers, in particular these amazing individuals who left me such lovely reviews last chapter: SoraKairiRikuNamine and Spiderfan626! You're gorgeous people and I'm sending all my love your way!
Hope you liked the action in this chapter! It's been a while since this story has seen any battle, so it was about damn time! I hope you all enjoyed it and maybe even had a laugh or two! And hey, our heroes have finally officially met for realsies! AT LAST! Oooooh, the fun I'm gonna have with this gang xD Poor Flynn, being the only normie caught up in a band of teens hopped up on super powers! Lord help him xD
Side note, partially on and off topic - me being the lil crack shipper I am of Axel/Lea x Elsa, I am no longer content to keep my obsession to writing alone anymore. Don't worry, I'm not gonna stop writing, not by a long shot, but I've taken up doodling as well! That's right, I'm trying to become an arteest! All for the sole purpose to draw my fave fire boi and ice queen being cute together xD I have a loooooooong way to go tho, but all that's to say that hopefully I shall have art to share with you all... one day... some day... probably many many moons from now xD
Anyway! Thank you so so sooooo much for reading, I super duper appreciate it! If you have any comments or friendly feedback, please make my day and leave a review! Catch you at the next update, lovelies, which will be sooner than you think, I swear! Much love, peace out, and catch ya'll on the flip side!