"Over here! There's a light coming through that doorway!"

Sora and Axel rushed towards the faint golden glow in the otherwise still utterly dark mansion. They'd managed to fight their way through the small horde of Shadows and Dusks that'd been pestering them, leaving them in the dust several rooms back. However, the little monsters were relentless and had most likely given chase. They probably weren't too far behind, so the boys had to keep moving if they wanted to stay ahead.

The new room they entered was expansive, with a ceiling that stretched all the way up to the second floor even though they themselves were still down on the first. A grand, exquisite staircase linked the two levels together in here. And currently flowing down said stairs like a molten river of gold and burning twice as bright? None other than-

"Rapunzel's hair!" Sora sucked in a sharp breath, gripping his Keyblade tighter as both he and Axel skidded to a stop next to the gleaming locks. His eyes followed it up the steps, its gentle light highlighting his worried frown. "...but why is it glowing? Just to help her see in the dark or…?"

"Or someone's hurt," Axel finished, expression hard. Then he began jogging up the stairs, "C'mon, let's hurry up and follow these flaxen breadcrumbs Goldilocks has only been too kind to leave for us."

A sudden crash behind them made them both jerk to a stop and spin around, readying their weapons as a large darkened figure abruptly burst into the room, swinging what appeared to be a large silver candlestick and shouting, "Not so fast, you blackguards, or I'll-"

"Mr. Tyrann?!" Sora gawked, squinting as he started to make out dimly lit details now. Then he gave a relieved grin, "So glad to see you're okay!"

Realization dawned on their esteemed host as he finally recognized who he was threatening and sheepishly lowered his weapon. "Ah, it's only you lads! My sincerest apologies. It seems my house has been beset by those same little beasts that assailed the festival earlier, so I've been wandering around in the dark with nothing but this," he lightly smacked the candlestick into his other open palm, "to defend myself while I searched for my daughter. When I saw a strange light coming from this direction, I headed towards it and heard you two, mistaking you for more of those vile otherworldly creatures."

"Eh, no biggie," Axel brushed off with a shrug, then cocked an eyebrow. "Where's Captain Skillet?"

Mr. Tyrann blinked, slowly shaking his head in confusion, "...Captain…?"

"He means Flynn," Sora clarified, shooting Axel a flat look, who merely gave another shrug. Glancing back to the older gentleman, Sora asked, "Last we knew, he was with you. Did you two finish your talk before the lights went out?"

Lips parting, Mr. Tyrann was about to respond when there was a loud gasp from a new voice above them. "There you all are!" They all glanced up to discover Rapunzel at the top of the steps, looking quite out of breath but beaming at all of them. Humming the whole way, she practically blurred down as she took the steps two and three at a time to leap at her dad in a massive bear hug. "I'm so happy that you're safe! That all of you are!" she tacked on, glancing back to the others.

"Yeah yeah, good to see you too, but let's save the reunion party for later. Where's Snowflake?" Axel asked while glancing back up to the second floor, expecting to see her right behind the other blonde.

Suddenly looking dead serious, Rapunzel said quickly, "She's fighting Larxene alone and-"

"She's what?!" Sora snapped, horrified. Behind him, Axel had already reignited his chakrams as he charged up the steps.

"Just hurry, she needs back up! Follow my hair up the stairs and down the hall to the right, you can't miss them! You'll probably hear them fighting before you see them!"

Axel had already disappeared around the corner on the second floor. Brandishing his Keyblade, Sora was halfway up the staircase himself when he stopped just long enough to glance back and ask, "You coming?"

Rapunzel nodded, "In a sec, I'll be right behind you! I just want to first make sure I hide Father somewhere where he'll be out of harm's way." Good enough for Sora it seemed, for he took off running again, hot on Axel's heels. Rapunzel then glanced around, frowning with her brow wrinkled. "...Flynn's not with you guys?" A quick scan of the room confirmed it was still only her and her dad. She looked up at him, tipping her head uncertainly to one side. "Where is he?"

Mr. Tyrann bowed his head slightly, "That young man is probably long gone by now. He graciously accepted his munny and departed shortly ago. It couldn't have been more than a few moments before the power shut off."

Her humming stuttered before coming to a complete stop as she stiffened, head rocking back slightly and frown deepening. "...munny? What munny?"

"Why, his reward for reuniting me with my beloved daughter, of course," he smiled softly, cupping a gentle hand to her cheek.

"What? But no, he… He wouldn't just… Not without…" Rapunzel felt a sinking in the pit of her stomach as her breathing began to grow shallow. The light in her hair was slowly beginning to fade now that she'd fallen silent, but she hardly noticed. Her eyes blurred as tears slowly began to well up. "...that's it? He… he just… left? He-"

"Rapunzel, look out!"

Mr. Tyrann suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her towards him. She glanced back just in time to see a tall and lumbering form lunging from the shadows towards her. She could just barely make out a face before the final faint glow of her hair died out.

One of the Stabbington twins. The one who'd tried to kidnap her earlier. The one with the empty, lifeless eyes.

That's all she saw of their attacker before her father was pulling her behind him with one hand while thrusting the other hand still holding the silver candlestick out before him. Abruptly there was a loud blast, a bright purple flash, and a burst of… something that sent the Stabbington twin flying across the room and crashing into a far wall. There he crumpled to the floor, seemingly unconscious.

Rapunzel gaped.

All that… from a freaking candlestick?!

No way.

No possible way.

"H… How did you do that?" she asked slowly, unable to tear her wide-eyed gaze away from the other man's prone form.

Her father glanced back at her, but before he could say anything, another shadowed figure came leaping out at them from the darkness. This one was smaller and quicker. It was hard to make out details with so little light now, but there was one shape held in their hand that had an unmistakable silhouette.

A winged blade.

"No time to explain, just run!" Mr. Tyrann urged, grabbing Rapunzel's hand and all but dragging her into a dodge with him, sidestepping just in time as the girl in Riku's hoodie came slicing down to sink her weapon into the carpet where the two of them had just been standing. With that, he took off racing down one of the halls, his vice-like grip forcing his daughter into a stumbling run to keep up.

As they sprinted through the moonlight cast by the tall windows blurring past, Rapunzel hazarded a glance back over her shoulder to see the enemy giving chase not too far behind them. And even though their pursuer had donned her hood once more to hide her face, Rapunzel could practically feel the cold gaze concealed within piercing through her. She quickly looked away, suppressing a shudder.

And yet, even as she ran quite possibly for her very life from some deranged, evil, dark-magic-sword-wielding maniac…

…that's not what she was thinking about.

It should have been what she was thinking about, but it wasn't.

No, all she could think about as she fled beside her father, fighting back tears as she went and heart feeling like it was about to crack and break in two…

…was Eugene.

Eugene and one little thought:

…but he didn't even say goodbye.

"Damn it, where'd they go?" Axel ground out through his teeth as he slowed to a halt, Sora sliding to a stop beside him as well.

Before them now the mansion corridor had been blocked off by a massive jagged glacial wall. It gleamed red and orange in the light cast from the fires of Axel's chakrams, but unfortunately, that's all the flames revealed. There was no Elsa. No Larxene. No one.

"C'mon, let's start checking rooms, maybe they haven't gotten far!" Sora said hopefully as he ran over to the nearest door, jerking it open and poking his head inside, using the soft warm glow from his Keyblade to light up the otherwise pitch black room on the other side.

Axel shook his head, "If Larxene took Snowflake into a Corridor of Darkness, they could be anywhere by now."

Shoulders slumping, Sora looked back at him once more. "What do we do now then?"

He opened his mouth but before he could utter a word, a ringing suddening went off in his jeans. Cocking an eyebrow, he banished one chakram in a smolder of flames, keeping the other one at the ready. He dug his now freed up hand into his back pocket, fishing out his phone as its jingle went off again. He frowned down at the "unknown" caller ID for a second, then he pressed a finger to his lips with a pointed look at Sora before swiping his thumb across the screen and holding it up to his ear. "Well well, if it isn't Lil Miss Thor Junior. Got yourself a new phone, I see."

"Haven't changed your number, I see," Larxene's sly voice answered back. "Might want to do something about that. Any creep can track you these days if you're not too careful."

Humming a low chuckle at that, he said, "It's sweet, the way you're always looking out for me. Where are you? I'm just itching to show you my gratitude in person, dollface."

A soft, almost content breath of a sigh. "That rich old fuddy-duddy really does have quite a stunning view out here, I must say. You really can see the whole city from here. Snowcone and I just can't get enough of it."

"Right. Be seeing ya real soon."

"And Firecracker," she purred before he could hang up. "The Superiors grow impatient waiting for you to pick a side. So be a dear and take out the key brat."

With that, the line went dead.

"They're behind the house, probably on a patio or veranda or something," Axel told Sora as he pocketed his phone. That was his best guess anyhow, seeing as how that was the side of the mansion that overlooked Corona.

"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!" Sora piped up, tense and raring for a fight.

Axel bowed, sweeping his hand out to one side, "After you."

Sora went charging down the hallway. The redhead was slow to follow as he simply stared after the other boy for a second, Larxene's final words echoing once more in his mind.

So be a dear and take out the keybrat.

His eyes narrowed on Sora's retreating back. Then willing his second chakram into existence once more, he took off after him.

Elsa slowly came to with a tiny groan, eyes screwed shut in a wince as her whole body seemed to throb. She was laying on some surface, uneven and hard with a rough texture… wooden planks? A cool breeze brushed against her skin. Where…? Had she been… sleeping outside? On the ground? Why-

"Aww, did my widdle sweepyhead finally get enough beauty rest, hm?"

She inhaled sharply, eyes snapping open at the sound of that mocking voice. It all came flooding back to her - Mr. Tyrann's mansion, the power going out, the fight with Larxene before-

Panicking a bit, she started scrambling to sit up.

It was a bit awkward, considering something apparently had her wrists tied together and restrained behind her back.

She finally managed it however, puffing low from the exertion as she hastily glanced about, taking in her surroundings. She had indeed been passed out on the floor of what looked to be a massive terrace behind Mr. Tyrann's manor. Beyond its railing, a lush well-manicured lawn stretched out a bit before there was a steep drop, revealing the city of Corona nestled in a large valley far below. The lights of the city twinkled almost as if in reflection to the thousands of stars dotting the night sky above.

A tiny beep to her immediate right caught her attention and Elsa whipped her head towards it to discover Larxene. She was looking quite relaxed, sprawled out all regally in a plushly cushioned patio lounge chair, a fancy fruity drink (complete with tiny paper umbrella) cradled in one hand that she'd probably mixed from the nearby minibar and her phone in the other hand - the supposed source of the aforementioned beep. Slipping the device into one pocket of her long black coat, Larxene smirked and toasted Elsa with her cocktail, "Worry not, galpal. Your knight in shiny armor is rushing here to save the day even as we bond over girl talk and gossip all nice and cozy-like."

Elsa said nothing to that, her lips remaining firmly pressed together into a thin line as she glared back at her. Behind her, frost began to glimmer into existence bit by bit on whatever it was that had her hands bound, slowly coating it and spreading. Maybe if she could freeze the thing cold enough, it would shatter and-

"You think I can't hear that?" Larxene tsked softly into her drink, rolling her eyes and reaching her free hand over to give the tip of Elsa's nose a tiny zap as she lightly scolded, "Quit it."

Elsa jerked back from the little jolt, blinking a couple times but immediately putting a stop to her ice magic.

Patting her on the head now as if she were an obedient pet, Larxene said, "Good girl. Now don't go trying it again, otherwise I'll just have to use my slender little taser-fingers to make you go all nighty-night again before you can put that zip tie on enough ice to break it." She held up her hand in front of her face, a little electrical current running up between her fingers for emphasis.

Narrowing her eyes, Elsa looked away. Larxene seemed perfectly content to just chill, casually sipping and swirling her drink while letting her unwilling companion stew in silence. Finally however, Elsa reluctantly dragged her gaze back over to her captor with a tiny frown. "...why are we still here, at the mansion? Why haven't you-"

"-brought you back to HQ?" Larxene supplied, loudly slurping up the last of her beverage before puffing out a satisfied sigh and setting it aside atop the minibar. "Trust me, sweetie, there's nothing I'd love more than to drag you back kicking and screaming and serve you up like a plump lil sacrificial lamb to the slaughter for the Superiors. However I don't know if you've noticed, but we're still one galpal short of a slumber party here."

One galpal short of…?

Realization struck and Elsa inhaled sharply, "Rapunzel!"

"Mmhmm! I'm sure Lite-Brite'll be here any second though, Snowcone. After all, she couldn't let her bestie down, now could she?" she cooed, pinching Elsa's cheek. Expression scrunching up, she pulled her face out of her grasp, to which Larxene merely snorted. "While we wait for our fun little girl's night here to get rolling, I figured this was a good a spot as any to sit back, relax, and enjoy the show."

"Show?" Elsa's brow furrowed. "...what show?"

Larxene held a curled finger up to her lips, giggling. "Oh, that's right, you don't know, do you? Well, while you and your lil Friendship Is Magic Club were taking a spa day up here in Daddy Warbucks' pocket-sized castle, poor sweet Corona down there has been slowly but steadily succumbing to Darkness."

"What?!" Eyes widening, she quickly looked to the city below. Nothing… seemed amiss, she didn't think. But wait! She squinted.

…had the ambient glow of the city dimmed a small bit? …were there less lights now than there had been a moment ago?

Larxene gave a languid little stretch, "It looks so calm and peaceful, doesn't it? You'd never know that even now, it's being swarmed by endless upon endless waves of Heartless. Poor little metropolis, all alone in the big bad world with no one left to defend it. It won't be long now before those wriggly shadow bastards zero in and find it… the Waypoint Keyhole."

Elsa shook her head, whispering, "Oh no…"

"Oh yes." Larxene bared her teeth in a cruel grin, snapping her fingers, lips parting to speak once more.

"Boom."

But it wasn't Larxene who'd said it.

The Nobody tensed at the sound of the new but all too familiar male voice inserting itself into the conversation. A split second later the minibar - empty glass and paper umbrella and all - burst into flames. Larxene recoiled from the small blast, arm coming up to shield herself from a few stray embers that came shooting towards her. Then she was hastily throwing herself out of her lounge chair just as it too blew up, becoming nothing more than a fiery heap of broken debris.

Elsa squeezed her eyes shut against the explosion, leaning back slightly from the heat. She cracked one eye open just as Larxane rolled back up onto her feet, lightning sparking around her fingers as she summoned her daggers just in time to block-

"Axel!" Elsa breathed, heart leaping in relief at the sight of him. He'd charged onto the scene seemingly from out of nowhere, blazing chakrams a blur as he wasted no time ambushing Larxene.

Spirits lifted with a new sense of hope as the two Nobodies now became locked in heated combat, Elsa swiftly set to work once again freezing the zip that was keeping her wrists bound, the ice crackling as it rushed to encase her restraints. After all, Larxene couldn't possibly hear it now, not while she was otherwise distracted. And if Elsa could free herself quickly enough, maybe she could help too!

Axel broke off from his frenzied exchange of attacks and parries with his opponent to leap backwards just then, hands stretching out wide to either side of him. His chakrams hovered at his palms, whirling red-hot as their flames roared bigger and brighter before he launched them towards Larxene. She cartwheeled to dodge the first one and side-stepped the second, twirling out of its burning path as gracefully as a ballerina.

As she spun around to face him once more, her arms lashed out to send her knives flying back at him, their blades buzzing angrily with electricity. The redhead summoned his chakrams back to him just barely in time, holding the still swirling wheels of spikes and flames out before him to deflect the daggers. The small blades were sent catapulting wildly in every direction, one sinking into the wood of the terrace just an inch to the left of Elsa's foot. She sucked in a breath, tucking her foot back.

As she redoubled her efforts to get her zip tie chilly enough to snap open, she couldn't help but wonder where Sora and Rapunzel were. Surely they wouldn't have been too far behind Axel and should have been here by now to join in on the fight, right?

The low, telltale rumble of thunder suddenly filled the air. The only warning Axel got. Then he was half leaping, half rolling to avoid getting struck by a colossal lightning bolt that speared down onto the spot he'd just been standing in. He drooped his eyelids towards Larxene, who simply hummed a chuckle and waggled her fingers back at him in a tiny wave.

He gave a tiny hmph at that, then he lifted his chin with a small jerk. With the gesture, steam and lava seemed to bubble up at a point in the ground between Larxene's boots. She glanced down at it, one eyebrow quirked. Then a massive column of flames shot up towards the heavens, the inferno seemingly engulfing her.

"Please," her disembodied voice giggled from elsewhere in the surrounding dark of night, "as if I'd let something like that get me."

A Corridor of Darkness suddenly burst into existence behind Axel. He whirled around as a once more knife-wielding Larxene came lunging out of the portal, bringing up his chakrams just in time to block her stab. Their weapons remained entangled together as their faceoff momentarily came to a deadlock, both just staring the other one down, neither budging so much as an inch back.

"There!" Elsa whispered, face brightening as the zip tie finally cracked and crumbled into frozen dust, freeing her hands. She hopped up to her feet and opened her mouth, about to call out to Axel.

"So," Larxene spoke just then, smirking at Axel over their interlocked weapons, "have you finally come to your senses, Firecracker?"

The words got stuck in Elsa's throat.

Axel stared back, expression unreadable at first. But then a toothy smile broke out. "What do you think?"

She hummed a soft heh, her posture relaxing now as she backed away from him. Dismissing her daggers in a small burst of flashes and sparks, she jut her hip out to one side, resting her fist on it. "Ha, knew it! I always just knew who's team you were really playing for."

Elsa slowly, uncertainly glanced from one Nobody to the other.

What…

…was happening right now?

Easing his own stance, Axel banished his chakrams as well in a rush of flames that fizzled out, leaving nothing behind but wisps of smoke that dispersed on the wind. He snorted, ruffling his fingers through his hair and gave a flippant little shrug, "Never could pull a fast one over you. Guess we both always knew which side I was on."

"So why drop the act now?" Larxene tipped her head to one side, a wicked curve pulling at one corner of her lips. "What, finally got sick of the ice queen here giving you the cold shoulder and not getting anywhere with her, hmm stud?"

No, seriously. What the actual hell was happening right now?

"Does it really matter?" he asked, moving a step towards her. "Maybe-"

"Hold it, Slim," she jabbed a finger into his chest, stopping him in his tracks as she fixed him with a hard, cool stare. "Prove it. Prove where your loyalties actually lie."

Both eyebrows shot up his forehead. "Hey now, I did as you asked. I got the key runt outta the picture."

Key runt…? Elsa's eyes grew round. What had happened to Sora?!

Axel continued, "I think that should be more than enough to prove to the Superiors-"

Larxene once again silenced him, this time by shifting her fingertip up to press to his lips. "No no, not the Superiors." That sly little smirk of hers re-emerged once more as she trailed her finger down to play with the silver drawstring of his hoodie. "Prove you're loyal to me."

A slow half grin tugged at one side of his mouth. Then Axel looped an arm around Larxene's waist, eliciting another one of her giggles as he dipped her back.

And then he was kissing her.

Author's Note: OH THE TEEN DRAMA, SOAP OPERA, AND ANGST! xD It's too fun to write sometimes! Let's rewind a bit first however - Tyrann gave Punzie the news that Flynn apparently accepted some munny and skedaddled without so much as a toodle-loo! What's up with that? Hmmm... then Tyrann apparently did SOMETHING hinky when that entranced Stabbington tried to attack, double what's up with THAT?! Then Larxene told Axel to take out Sora, Axel didn't seem to share that bit of info with Sora, and now we're at the final scene of the chapter and... no Sora! Triple what's up with that?! xD Did Axel really do it? Or is something else up? And then, the cherry on the sundae for the ultimate place to leave it at a cliffhanger - Firecracker kissed Sparky, what the ever flipping fudge is up with that?! Okay I'm done asking that now, sorry, was having too much fun lol. Back when I was writing this whole story out to completion before posting any of the new chapters, it was immediately after this chapter that I had a bad resurgence of health issues and didn't get back to writing the remaining chapters for close to 2 years. So my bestie/beta-reader had to wait over a year for an update after that cliffhanger, what a place to leave her hanging, lol oops! But the good news for you guys, you only have to wait a week to see what happens next!

If you've read all of my Heart of All Worlds series up to this point and have been enjoying it so far, it would mean the absolute world to me if you left a review and let me know!

Thank you so so so much to all of you who have faved, followed, and left a review so far, seeing those little FFN notifications really brightens my day and gets me pumped to keep writing more for you all!