Chapter Thirty Two: Loss
The legends said that when the worlds were born and bathed in light, the air would sparkle under the sun, and the moon could cast its silver rays over raindrops of light in the night sky.
A tiny star glittered over Aqua's palm. She watched as the star flickered, the light casting bright shadows over the sinew on her red and black fingertips. Her eyes roamed the dark spots in the sky. Flutters of holy light entered the realm of darkness. The dark realm twitched, its atmosphere rippling and rolling as the darkness felt the princess's touch.
Good.
She looked down from her perch atop the fire-escape of a thirteen story building. There were people reuniting on the street far below her feet. Her yellow eyes followed a boy with silver hair. He kept his distance as his two best friends reunited.
"Only loose end left."
"Kairi! Wake up! Please!"
That name. Wasn't it hers? Why her eyes were closed? She didn't really feel tired.
"Ozzie?"
Something soft landed on her belly. Kairi opened her eyes and looked down on the rabbit that was pressing his face into her shirt.
"You're okay! Thank goodness."
Max's face appeared above her. "Are you trying to kill me?" He swayed, leaning on his father. "Dad, I am so sorry."
"For what?"
"I never knew that worrying about someone would be this stressful. I was such a brat growing up."
"Ah-yuck! You don't have to apologize for that, Maxie." Goofy hugged him. "It's a parent's job to worry."
Donald tapped his foot on the floor. "And a friend's job. I sure hope Sora is okay."
Kairi squinted up at Max, Donald, Goody, and Oswald. They all looked as though they had been ambushed by ghosts.
"What happened?"
Dash and Violet grabbed Kairi's arms and hauled her to her feet.
"You collapsed after releasing all that light," Violet explained. "You were out for like, twenty minutes."
"Yeah, and your face was all grey," Dash added. "You weren't moving or anything."
"Oswald and Donald kept funneling healing magic into you until they was exhausted," Max said. "Are you okay?"
Kairi blinked. "I'm fine."
She swayed. Max put her arm around his shoulders and propped himself against her side to keep her standing. Kairi wiggled her nose, feeling the strange need to sneeze. No, that wasn't it. She just felt...off. Something was missing, something-
She met Oswald's eyes.
"It's gone," she whispered.
"What is?"
"I can't," Kairi shook her head, "I used too much."
"Too much what?"
"Light," Kairi whispered.
Fear swirled in Oswald's eyes. "Is there darkness in your heart now?"
"I don't think so." A familiar pulse rang in her chest. Weak, but ever present. "No. No darkness. But my holy spells. I don't-I think-" Kairi's grimaced. "I can't do them anymore. I used up all the holy light inside me." She looked up at the sky. "So that was the price."
"Price? What price?"
"KIDS!"
Frozone, Elastigirl, and Mr. Incredible landed on the roof of the building. Violet, Jack Jack, and Dash collided with their parents. Foreheads were kissed, hugs were given, compliments and congratulations were earned. Frozone couldn't help but smile as he watched the family. He eventually had to stop the celebrations to suggest they continue their meeting on the ground. As she slid down the ice slide, courtesy of Frozone, Kairi looked up at the sky.
The black rain was gone, and many of the deadlier dark patches had faded. Many, but not all of them. Red and blue veins still pulsed among the clouds. So even her power couldn't fix the imbalance. Without knowing how, Kairi was certain that the point of no return had already passed. The black rain wasn't the first nightmare to come falling out the holes in the sky. Her final holy spell was no more than a bandaid on a broken arm.
While the superheroes were busy, Kairi pulled Donald, Goofy, Max, and Oswald in for a huddle. Their faces were overcome with grim shadows as she explained her concerns.
"Something worse is coming?" Max repeated. "What could be worse than heartless rain?"
"Or worlds disappearing into the light?" Donald added.
Oswald shuddered. "You just released all the holy light in your heart. What does that mean for the imbalance?"
"More chaos, more worlds disappearing, more heartless tearing everything apart," Kairi bit her lip. "It's just like Aqua said."
"What did she say?" Oswald asked.
"When Sora first fought her, and freed her from her armor, she said she had a lot of things to do before 'the end' comes."
"The end of what?" Goofy asked.
"The universe?" Donald guessed. "What if The Land of the Dead disappearing was just the first sign that everything else is going to disappear?"
Max threw up his hands. "Why would Aqua want to destroy everything?"
Donald glared at him. "How should I know?"
With a sigh, Oswald reached out and snapped Donald's beak closed. He didn't even blink at the fierce glare the duck gave him.
"Geez you have a big mouth. It can't be that simple."
Donald flapped his arms, getting Oswald to let go of his beak.
"Well, what's your idea, Mr. Master's Apprentice?"
Oswald shrugged. "I don't know, but at least I don't jump to conclusions."
Donald seethed. He and the rabbit would have been two seconds away from starting a pummeling match if Kairi hadn't heard someone calling her name. Turning, she spotted Sora, Riku, and Mickey running along the street.
Kairi stumbled toward Sora on jelly legs. He must have seen how she wobbled because he dashed forward and wrapped her arms around her waist before she collapsed face first onto the concrete. Leaning her chin on Sora's shoulder, Kairi groaned sadly.
"Oh no. I still feel funny."
Sora patted the back of her head. "Are you okay? What happened?"
Kairi sighed, using the last of her balance to step closer to him. "Oh, who cares?" She wrapped her arms around Sora's back. "I'm fine now."
Sora chuckled. "Is that so?"
For a second, the rest of the universe didn't matter. Even though Kairi could no longer feel that familiar glimmer of holy light within her, being held by Sora in that moment made her feel a new light shining in her heart.
"I did it," Kairi whispered into Sora's shoulder. "I stopped the black rain. And this world is still here. Just like I promised."
"I knew you'd do it."
Riku cleared his throat, making Kairi look up. He seemed strangely uncomfortable as he came closer. "You guys are cute and everything, but we really need to talk."
Kairi winced. The moment was over. She stepped back from Sora, looking from him, to Riku, and then to Mickey. The party moved away from the other superheroes as they shared information. Once everyone's story was told, there was silence. Kairi sighed when she heard the news about Cloud and Sephiroth's fight, and when it turned out that no one could get anything out of Aqua after all.
"UGH! Her and her dumb blue hair are more annoying than finding a seagull egg in the middle of winter," she groaned.
"Wait, are you talking about the blue haired lady?"
The group jumped as Violet appeared out of thin air.
Donald and Oswald growled. "You were eavesdropping on us? Hey! I said it first! STOP COPYING ME!"
While Sora and Goofy pulled the two of them apart, Mickey turned to Violet.
"Sorry Miss, but how much did you hear?"
"You guys are worse at keeping secrets than my parents," Violet said. "You're talking about the blue haired woman, right? I saw her."
Donald and Oswald stopped struggling to get free of Goofy and Sora. Kairi, Max, and Mickey stared at Violet expectantly. Riku rubbed his forehead in tired annoyance.
As if summoned by her words, Mr. Incredible appeared behind his daughter and tapped her shoulder.
"Violet, you can't just use your invisibility to listen to other people's private conversations."
"But Dad-"
"No buts, missy," said Elastigirl, joining the party with Jak Jak in her arms.
"No, really-" Violet tried again.
"You three are going home with Frozone while your mother and I sort out the whole giant robot mess."
"But-"
"No arguments."
"THE BLUE HAIRED LADY SET OFF THE ROBOTS!"
Now it was Dash's turn for everyone to turn and stare at him.
"That's what we've been trying to tell you," Dash said. "We saw her. She turned one of those things on while we were looking for Jak Jak in the city." Dash waved his hands around ominously. "She did some weird, dark magic thing. Said something about 'going back for the rest,' whatever that means."
Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl exchanged looks.
"The island," they said.
"Island?" Mickey prompted.
"Those mechanical monstrosities came from a super villian's island. We thought we had shut down all the facilities there," Mr. Incredible explained.
"Looks like we need to go take another look," Elastigirl finished.
"Then we're going with you," Mickey said. "We have to hunt Aqua down. She's our super villain."
"She might be there," Oswald said. "Or she might be still be in the city."
"You're suggesting we split up," Riku concluded.
Oswald nodded. "You, Kairi, and Sora should go to the island with the superheroes, while the rest of us take care of the town."
Max glared. "Excuse me, why are you separating us like that?"
"We'd be more balanced that way. You, me, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey can keep searching for Aqua. The superheroes know the island better than we do. And besides," he gestured to the sky, "there's something I want to check, and I need your help."
Donald tapped his food, narrowing his eyes at Oswald. "Hey, wait a minute. Since when did you start addressing His Majesty by his first name?"
Mickey stepped in front of Donald. "Let's try Oswald's plan for now. Sora, Riku, and Kairi have all fought Aqua before. I'm sure they can handle her if they are together."
"Hey," Mr. Incredible huffed, "don't forget that they have some amazing supers to help them out too."
"Don't count your chips yet, Bob," Elastigirl snapped. She turned to Frozone. "Mind staying here and making sure they," she gestured to Violet, Dash, and Jak Jack, "stay out of trouble?"
"WHAT?" Dash yelled.
"That's not fair!" Violet echoed. "We want to help out too!"
Jak Jak thrashed in Elastigirl's arms.
"Enough," she yelled. "You three are staying out of danger. The least you can do is make sure civilians are safe. Supers don't just fight bad guys, they also help regular people."
Dash and Violet crossed their arms, muttering under their breath.
"Don't worry, kids," Frozone said. "I'm sure there are still some bad guys to take care of in town. Crooks love a mess like this, makes things easier to steal."
Dash's eyes lit up. "Sweet."
One gummi ship ride later, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Elastigirl, and Mr. Incredible landed on a jungle island in the middle of the sea. As Sora waved goodbye to Donald and Goofy, he took a deep breath of ocean air.
"Can't believe that just a few months ago, we were dumb enough to think we could get to Antlantica by taking a raft out to sea," he said.
"And now we're here, potentially getting ready for the end of the worlds," Riku added.
The boys felt a small whack on the backs of their heads.
"I know that was a joke, but enough doom and gloom, dummies," Kairi said. "We've saved the worlds twice. What's one more time, huh?"
The boys gave her a sheepish smile.
"Come on, you three," Mr. Incredible called. "We've got robots to destroy."
"And an evil facility to investigate," Elastigirl added.
The island was eerily quiet as Sora and the others trudged through jungle foliage. When they reached one of the entrances to the evil facility Elastigirl had mentioned, Sora was sweating. Sparing a moment to remind himself to restock on potions and ethers later, Sora looked up at the aircraft terminal built into the island's mountainside. A long monorail, about fifty feet above them, led into a tunnel alongside the side of the terminal. The tunnel vanished into the mountainside.
"That's our way in," said Elastigirl.
She stretched her body, looping her arms around the railing like a rope, and then pulling herself up. Once up top, Mr. Incredible put his arms around Sora's torso and threw him up into the air. Lucky for him, he was pulled safely onto the railing by Elastigirl's long arms. Riku and Kairi followed, with Mr. Incredible leaping up last. The group walked into the side of the mountain. Once inside the tunnel, a massive cavern opened up. Grey walls, illuminated by powerful, ceiling-mounted, florescent lights, revealed a massive space full of abandoned machines and missiles.
"Electricity still works," Mr. Incredible said, his voice echoing. "So this place was turned back on."
"How did the government not know about this?" Elastigirl added. "Didn't they tell us they were keeping a close eye on this place after Syndrome disappeared."
Kairi had grabbed Sora's arm.
"Somehow, this room, and all these weapons, creeps me out way more than that haunted mansion ever did."
"Guess they haven't cleared out the weapons yet," Elastigirl commented, knocking on what looked like a large tank.
Riku summoned his soul eater. "Maybe they didn't get to it because the darkness kept getting in the way."
The air popped with menace, and more red eyed shadow heartless oozed from the walls, the ceilings, the floor. The group sprung into action. Mr. Incredible was squashing, punching, and pulling heartless apart like taffy, while Elastigirl punched, threw, and used her long arms to loop around the heartless and throw them around like a wrecking ball. Riku weaved in and out of the darkness, alternating between light and dark attacks to weaken the heartless while Sora and Kairi picked them off one by one.
Like the city, the whole weapons' terminal was packed to the brim with heartless. Just as the team had defeated all the shadows, darkballs and neoshadows had replaced them. All that was left in Sora's pocket was the mega-elixir that Locke had given him, and he pushed through the exhaustion settling in on his bones, refusing to give in, or stop and catch his breathe until-
"Kairi!"
Riku's shout turned Sora's attention away from the neoshadow he had just bashed on the skull. He was just in time to see the ground open up beneath Kairi's feet. She fell through a trap door, disappearing under the concrete. Sora took one step in her direction and his stomach lurched. What he thought had been solid ground turned out to be a moving slab. He fell.
The last thing he heard before he was swallowed by darkness was Riku's desperate call for him. Sora spread his arms, trying to feel around for where he was. The air around him was dusty, and smelled like gasoline. He reached out until his hands felt a rough surface. He was in a tube.
Using fire or lightning magic was probably dangerous if there was gas nearby, so Sora walked carefully, keeping his ears open and searching for red eyes in the darkness. There was light in the distance, and Sora exited out into a large cavern. Heat throbbed on his skin. The dark brown rock of the cavern was illuminated by a waterfall of molten lava, which was falling, slowly, from the ceiling, and disappearing into a massive chasm below.
There was a yell, and then something flew at Sora's left. He turned just in time to see a heartless crash into the wall of lava. Kairi skid to a stop, coming out of a much larger passageway, her sword raised, her face fierce. She relaxed when she saw Sora.
"Trap door?"
Sora nodded. "Trap door."
The room shook, and Sora moved to Kairi's side, keyblade up. A wall of the cavern exploded. Out of the dust came Mr. Incredible.
"You kids okay?" he said when he spotted Sora and Kairi.
"Yeah," Sora cracked his back. "I've been through worse. Where are we?"
"Looks like we made it to the inside of the volcano. This is the inner sanctum of Syndrome's whole operation." Mr. Incredible faced the lava wall. "If we can get past this lava, we can get to the control room for the entire island. Maybe there's some kind of clue there."
Sora looked at the lava wall. The room was so hot, he felt his throat burn with every breath. Kairi pulled on her dusty undershirt, which had turned from white to brown in all the fighting.
"I don't think even a hundred blizzaga spells can keep a continuous lava flow from flowing," she said. "This is going to be tough."
She moved toward the lava wall and conjured a reflect spell. Pushing the ball of magic glass just enough so that the lava could flow over the side of the sphere, Kairi waited. It took thirty seconds for her face to pale. A minute later, the glass popped.
"How long is this water…uh…lava-fall?"
"Not far," Mr. Incredible answered. "But I'm not so sure we can cross safely. Maybe there's a switch on the walls."
"Or we could just combine our powers."
Violet appeared out of nowhere.
Mr. Incredible's face turned red. "Violet! We told you to stay in the city."
"It's not my fault! Dash started running after the ship the moment it flew off-"
"That's NOT TRUE!"
Dash zipped into the room, pointing accusingly at this sister.
"You said, 'There's no way Mom and Dad won't run into something super dangerous on the island.' So we both agreed-"
"I tried to stop him, but he was too fast, so I figured I'd go with him to keep him out of trouble-"
"-It was all your idea! We even ran across the ocean like a hamster ball in your shield!"
"ENOUGH."
Mr. Incredible put his hands on his hips. Violet and Dash fidgeted. With a sigh, Mr. Incredible gave his kids a defeated smile.
"Well, you're here now. So, let's work together."
Dash smiled and then glared at Violet after she bonked him on the back of head.
"You're supposed to go help Mom."
"Oh right! See ya!"
Dash zipped out of the room. Then he was back, holding onto Mr. Incredible's leg in a fierce hug. "Good luck, Dad."
Mr. Incredible only had a second to pat Dash's head, smile, and say, "You got this, little man," before Dash went zipping down the tube, back to Elastigirl.
Sora and Kairi turned to each other and grinned, enjoying the family's antics for a moment before their faces turned serious.
"I think this can work. With Violet and I interchanging her shields and my reflect spells, and you cooling us off in between, we can make it through the lava safely."
Sora nodded as he patted down his pockets. "I'm out of ethers." He held up a bottle of galaxy colored liquid and shooting stars. "Unless we use the mega-elixir."
"Save it. We can do this," Kairi said.
Mr. Incredible went to a corner of the room and picked up a massive, stone statue that been looming quietly in the corner. It was as wide a bus, and almost as high as the ceiling. He held the statue over his head, balancing it on his plans. Sora hoped Mr. Incredible wasn't easily scared, because he was sure that the statue would smack him across the face if Mr. Incredible turned too fast.
"Violet, Kairi, can you make a shield big enough for this?"
Kairi put her hands on her hips. "You bet."
Violet bit her lip, but nodded.
Kairi walked to Violet's side and gave her a small hug. "The two of us working together? Easy-peasy, right?"
Violet smiled.
The team huddled under the statue. Violet and Kairi took front, while Sora stepped behind Mr. Incredible.
Violet conjured a shield. They stood in a massive purple and silver sphere. Kairi then conjured a reflect spell on top of Violets shield. With the double barrier in place, and Mr. Incredible's statue acting like an umbrella, the team began walking. The lava-fall parted when the shield came close. A narrow walkway appeared. The only way forward was single file.
Kairi took deep breaths, lines appearing on her brow as she walked forward. With the full force of lava on top of her shield, the spell popped. Kairi wheezed, and then relaxed a moment later as a healing spell cascaded over her. She turned her head to wink at Sora, thanking him. He winked back, and then casted a small blizzard spell to keep them cool. Violet took over, shielding them until Kairi conjured another reflect spell, allowing Violet to release her barrier for a moment so that she could rest. The two girls alternated between magic and superpowers, stopping only once for Sora to heal them. Mr. Incredible's statue kept the lava off just long enough for them to do one more shield-spell combo before they finally came out of the lava-tunnel.
The room they entered had a single circular platform, suspended over a deep abyss. On the platform was wide desk with a computer terminal and keyboard. A series of concave screens lit up the walls of the cylindrical room.
Sora, Kairi, and Violet froze as the ground beneath their feet began to shake.
Mr. Incredible threw down the massive statue into the abyss below. Without the extra weight, the platform was still.
"This place is falling apart," he said. "Sorry kids. We're going to have to find a different way out."
"We'll get to that later," Sora said. "How do we access the terminal?"
Mr. Incredible went to the terminal and pressed a few keys. The screen flashed with a warning.
Password Required to Proceed
Mr. Incredible typed. The word "Kronos" appeared beneath the warning. The screen flashed again, this time with new text and a the symbol of a lock.
Incorrect Password. Access Not Granted.
Mr. Incredible slapped his hands on the keyboard. "What?"
Sora stared at the screen, raising his keyblade. "Mr. Incredible, could you step aside?"
Kairi looked from the keyblade to the screen. "I hope that works."
"The keyblade can open any lock, even a digital one." Sora swallowed. "I hope," he whispered.
As if rising to the challenge, a beam of light appeared at the keyblade's tip. The light traveled into the lock on the screen. The screen twitched.
Access Granted.
Kairi and Violet whooped. Mr. Incredible gave Sora an approving look before he went to work. The screen displayed several options.
Island Operations
Finances
Omnidroid Metatraining
Supers
Mr. Incredible selected "Omnidroid Metatraining." Several images appeared one the screen, all describing various log dates, experiments, and results. Most of the information flew right over Sora's head, but Mr. Incredible stopped somewhere near the bottom of the list.
"This is from when I fought the last Omnidroid."
"From when we took it down together in the city?" Violet asked.
"Yes. The date matches."
"So, then there's one more experiment?"
"Could it be from earlier today?" Kairi wondered. "Does that mean that the system here is still gathering information on all the giant robots?"
"No." Mr. Incredible shook his head.
He opened the last file. It which was red in color, unlike all the others that came before it, which had been dark grey.
"This is from three days ago."
Sora squinted at the screen. There was a series of numbers and power outputs he did not understand, but Mr. Incredible spotted something. He stood straight, stepping back from the screen.
"New model input activated," he said to himself.
"What does that mean?" Sora asked.
Mr. Incredible went back to the main screen, and then went to "Island Operations." He and Violet read though several more logs, before Violet said, "stop."
She pointed to another small, red file that said, "Island Bird Audiovisual Recordings."
"Can you check the logs on that one?"
Mr. Incredible went into the files and was greeted with a list. Violet stopped him again.
"There. The one that says, 'Incorrect voice key, log date 7.13.2XXX.' Can you play it?"
Mr. Incredible clicked the keyboard. The screen flickered, turning black. Then, slowly, a black and white image appeared. The view looked as though someone were peering down onto the jungle floor from atop a tree branch.
A robotic voice spoke.
"Identification, please?"
There was no response to the robot voice.
"What's going on?" Kairi asked.
"This island has robot birds that do surveillance," Violet answered. "I think this recording is new."
Something was moving in the foliage below, and the camera followed the shivering bushes and leaves. The robot voice spoke again.
"Identification, please?"
"Just a ghost from the past, moving things along as they should be," a voice answered.
Sora and Kairi jolted.
"Aqua."
Sure enough, the woman appeared on the screen. Aqua glanced up at the camera.
"Voice key, incorrect." The robot voice said.
The black and white image was not able to show Aqua's yellow eyes, but her cold gaze made Violet hold onto her dad's arm out of instinct. Aqua raised her arm, pointing to the camera.
"Voice key, in-"
A moment later, the camera fizzed with static, and the image was gone.
"So she was on the island," Kairi said.
"The date of this recording matches the one for the new robot meta training thing," Violet said.
"So this was three days ago."
"Dad, if she messed with the robots, can you find out where on the island they're held? We should destroy any that are left before they can attack the city."
Mr. Incredible gave his daughter a quick side hug. "That's my girl."
Violet and Mr. Incredible began scouring the computer for the island's blueprints, maps, anything about the robot manufacturing facility they could find. Sora paced while they worked.
"Moving things along as they should? What does she mean?"
"There!" Mr. Incredible shouted.
He pointed to a section of the map on the screen. A massive, circular room was highlighted in bright yellow.
"The manufacturing plant is on the other side of the island, near the launch facility for the rockets. Let's go."
"Wait. Don't change the screen just yet." Sora reached into his picket and then whispered. "Jiminy?"
The cricket jumped onto Sora's shoulder. "Yes?"
Sora pulled out of piece of magic paper and handed it to Jiminy. "Can you draw the map and send it to Riku and Mrs. Incredible?"
"Of course. Good thinking."
Jiminy began scribbling. Once finished, he tapped the paper, and it vanished. Jiminy hid back in Sora's hood.
"Should we go back the way we came?" Kairi rolled her shoulders. "All right Violet, looks like we're doing double the work this time."
The team lined up on the narrow walkway that led back to the lava-fall. Mr. Incredible moved to turn off the control panel, but seconds before his fingers touched the keyboard, the screen flickered once more, and a voice came out of the speakers.
"So, you followed the breadcrumbs, did you?"
Sora whirled around, staring, horrified at the screen. Aqua's face looked down at him. She stared into the camera, tapping her cheek with her index finger.
"By now, I suspect that you must have found out where the machines are being made and are on you merry way to shut them down."
"How did she know that?" Violet said.
Aqua clapped on the screen. "Well, since you've put two and two together, why don't I give you a hand. Sora. Kairi. You want to go to the manufacturing plant? Let me help you get there."
The ground beneath Sora's feet crumbled. He fell into the dark chasm below the control room.
Riku leapt on top of a dark ball, driving his soul eater right into the creature's open mouth and feeling it burst into dust underneath him. He rolled when he hit the ground, and was about to charge back into battle when someone appeared beside him.
"That was so cool!"
The voice sounded from Riku's right one moment, and then appeared on his left the next.
"Is it true that you can't see?"
The voice moved again, so fast that Riku was getting whiplash from turning his head to keep up with it.
"How do you fight then?"
"Dash!"
Elastigirl's long arm came flying out of nowhere, punching the heartless that had been sneaking up behind the annoyingly energetic voice. Now that the voice was still, Riku was finally able to realize that a little boy, with speed that would make Peter Pan jealous, was standing before him.
"What are you doing here?"
Despite being across the room, Elastigirl's arm stretched all the way to Dash's face. She wagged her finger disapprovingly in front of the boy's eyes.
"I told you to stay in the city? How did you sneak by Lucius?"
"Mom, I'm so fast that I can literally run on water, and I have a sister that can turn invisible," Dash deadpanned.
"We'll, he's here now."
Riku charged a heartless, slamming his soul eater into its side. The sturdy, red eyed darkball didn't explode, but Riku was able to send it careening into several more darkballs a few paces away. Once the heartless were gathered together, he blasted them into nothing all with a single dark firaga spell.
"So, kid, can you fight?"
Dash's light sparked with way too much happy energy. It made Riku dizzy.
"You bet I can!"
"Then don't you dare let up! Go as fast as you can!" Elastigirl shouted from across the room.
"Really?"
"Yes! And when we are done taking down these heartless, you are in so much trouble!"
Being scolded by his mom didn't seem to bother Dash much. He ran around the room, rapid punching the heartless, tricking them into attacking each other, or distracting them long enough for Riku and Elastigirl to take them down. When the battle was over, Riku leaned forward, hands on his knees, panting.
There would be more. He knew. Red eyed heartless were like roaches. If you see one, that meant there were hundreds more hidden somewhere else. He opened his mouth to ask about their next move, when he felt a flutter of light appear before his nose. A second later, a tiny piece of paper was floating in front of him.
"Can you read this for me?" Riku asked, pointing at the paper and then to Elastigirl.
She snatched the paper out of the air. "It's a map. Looks like the other team is headed toward the manifacturing plant."
"Yeah baby! Are we going to blow it up?"
"Dash, sometimes superheroes need to go in with a little restraint."
"Ugh, come on, Mom! That's so boring."
"It's a lead," Riku straitened. "Let's go regroup with the others there. Lead the way, Mom-I mean ma'am!"
Elastigirl and Dash snickered.
Riku hoped he wasn't blushing as he followed the mother-son duo through the facilities. The place was eerily quiet, a massive space full of weapons, technology, and whirring electrical signals, left abandoned and infested with heartless. He wondered if Kairi and Sora were okay. Who was he kidding? The two of them were probably having the time of their lives making moon eyes at each other, while he-
"You okay?"
Riku turned his head toward Dash. "Just thinking."
"Were you thinking about math? Because I only make that face when I have to divide decimals."
"Actually, I'm pretty good at math."
Dash tilted his head. "No way, but you're so good at fighting."
"What does that have to do with math?"
Dash shrugged. "I thought the brainy types weren't good at sports or anything like that. Isn't being smart only good for school?"
"You can be good at school and athletic. It's not like one cancels out the other."
Dash groaned. "You sound like my mom."
"Well, he's right," said Elastigirl, proudly. "But more than that, if you want to be a superhero, you have to smart. You have to be able to think around your enemy, learn their weaknesses, and what they're up to, so that you can stop them. And if you're not smart, people around you can get hurt. If we want supers to be legal again, we can't let anything happen to civilians. That's why we are here."
Dash shrugged. "I guess."
His somber attitude didn't last long. After walking for a few minutes he got bored and zoomed out of the room and back within seconds, complaining that getting to the manufacturing plant was taking too long. Though he could sense if there was any danger nearby, Riku told Dash to be their scout, to make sure the coast was clear. With a task to do, Dash became a little less impatient and Elastigirl gave Riku an approving nod at his clever distraction. Riku wondered, again, why he was always put in the role of babysitter as they finally made it to the manufacturing facility.
It was a massive cavern on the side the mountain, empty and hot, and Riku could sense movement underneath the floor. Lava, he guessed. Fighting here would be tricky. He didn't know any shielding spells like Kairi did. Taking a mental note to brush up on his ice skills later, Riku walked further into the cavern, stretching his senses, waiting for something. What he was not expecting, was to hear a series of screams coming from dark abyss of the ceiling.
Sora was tumbling toward them at break neck speeds, with Mr. Incredible, Kairi, and Violet right behind him. Dash and Mrs. Incredible yelped, rushing toward a river of lava, on a crash course with the rest of their family to try and keep them from melting. Riku jumped from one floating chunk of rock to the next, trying to position himself right under Sora, who was spinning like a top, unable to do anything by flail his arms and legs.
Then, the energy above Riku shifted, as he felt a glimmer of light. From the air, Kairi crashed into Sora, wrapped her arms around his waist and casted a reflect spell. It would have been a great defense, if they weren't hurtling toward molted rock. Trying to keep his friends from boiling alive, Riku casted a blizzaga spell right under them. But then, the energy shifted again. Sora, now free from the virtigo of spinning, threw out his keyblade and casted a firaga spell so immense that it shattered Kairi's reflect spell and sent the two of them rocketing out to the left, away from the lava. They crashed into a nearby rock wall and fell down onto the floor, protected from the impact by one more last second reflect spell from Kairi.
Riku stood where he was for a moment, trying to calm down from the sudden adrenaline rush, and something clawing deep in his heart.
They don't need you.
Movement around him made him shift his focus. Dash and Elastigirl were able to save Mr. Incredible and Violet. With the family out of harm's way, he ran to his friends.
"Guys, are you okay?"
Sora got to his feet in a snap. "I'm great. Nice save, Kairi."
"Are you kidding? We would have been boiled noodles if you hadn't thrown us to the side like that."
"Yeah, but my bones would have been crushed if you didn't save us from the impact."
"Well," Kairi wheezed, getting to her feet. "I am pretty cool."
Riku turned around and tried not to feel the tingly light behind him as his two "best friends" laughed. He needed something to do, something to stop the squeezing in his heart, something-
"Kairi? You okay?"
Riku felt Sora reach out and grab Kairi by the upper arm. She swayed for moment, as though she were going to puke.
"Whoa. I felt dizzy for a second."
Sora casted a healing spell. "Any better?"
Kairi held her head. "A little. I still feel funny."
"You did release a cosmic ton of light earlier today, and we haven't stopped since Agrabah," Riku offered. "Maybe you need to rest."
"Maybe," Kairi agreed, finally standing straight. "But I'm not the only one pushing myself. You and Sora literally fought Sephiroth an hour ago and you haven't rested either. Besides-"
The walls and floor shook. Riku felt deep vibrations under his feet, but mixed with the molten lava and the heat, it was hard to concentrate on it. That was until a massive ball of hot metal and bubbling lava burst out of the lava river in the middle of the cavern. Darkness coated the air like smoke filling a bottle. The metal monstrosity used its long, cylinder like arms, to pull itself out of the lava and began stomping toward Riku.
"I really don't think our enemies will give us time to rest," Kairi said.
"This is getting old!"
Dash zipped to Riku's side.
"I was hoping we'd fight more than just these big round robots!"
"Sorry, kid," Riku summoned his soul eater. "Part of being a hero is that you don't get to choose your enemies."
The group sprang into action. Kairi and Sora looped around the massive robot, freezing the lava still coating its body with ice spells. The solidifying rock slowed the robot down, and made it cool enough for Elastigirl to stretch her body like a trampoline and bounce Mr. Incredible toward its head. He grabbed the rotating disk and pulled, sliding into the robot's body and pounding it from the inside. The robot shuddered, and then threw its body onto the floor, rolling until Mr. Incredible tumbled out of it, dizzy and disoriented.
The rolling robot was on a collision course toward Riku, and before he could think to block, Dash zipped to his side with Violet in tow, and she protected him with a force field. Riku was stunned. In the chaos around him, he was able to make out that the robot had crashed into the wall of the cavern. The earth shook and the lava bubbled upward.
"This thing will bring down the entire volcano on our heads!" Elastigirl shouted, coming to a stop next to Mr. Incredible.
"We have to take it out quick," he said, standing up and lifting his fists. "It's not enough to go for the core. There's some weird, black, smokey eye thing that's making the robot move."
"It's a possessor heartless," Sora shouted. "Get it out of the core and the robot won't be able to move!"
The heartless/robot finally pushed itself out of the massive dent it had made in the cavern wall. It began rolling again, this time too fast for anyone to do anything but avoid it and try not to get squished or pushed into the lava. Riku jumped and rolled out the way, stopping just a few feet from Violet when the robot suddenly stopped mid-spin and veered toward Kairi faster than Tinker Bell on a fury fueled flight.
Riku slipped through the darkness, appearing at Kairi's side, about to try and throw her out of the way when Sora came darting out of nowhere and threw a wind spell on all three of them, which gave Kairi enough time for instinct to kick in. Her reflect spell, combined with Sora's wind magic somehow made the heartless roll atop them, hovering off the floor for just a few seconds, the hole that led to its torso exposed.
"DASH! NOW!" Riku roared.
The boy slipped into the robot's core, a second later, the robot began to shudder and shake. It rolled back onto the ground, but it was slower, as Dash used his speed on the inside to mess with its circuits. Then it was Violet's turn. Launched across the cavern by a punch from Mr. Incredible, she and her field crashed into the robot, knocking it off balance again. The robot crashed, half of it sinking into the lava.
Dash jumped out before he could be cooked from the inside. The heartless, having sensed that it too would melt now that the robot's head had been ripped off and the core was exposed, drifted out from inside the robot. It zoomed through the cavern, heading to a hole in one of the walls.
"Oh no you don't!"
A whip of light, one butterfly attached to the next, stretched outward and looped around the spiky ball of darkness. Kairi grit her teeth, her feet sliding, as pulled her sword backward, playing tug of war with a heartless that was desperate to escape.
"Riku! A little help!"
He grabbed the cross guard on Kairi's sword and pulled.
"Sora! What are you waiting for?"
"There's only an entire river of lava between me and it!" He snapped at Riku.
"One launch, coming right up."
Mr. Incredible barreled into Sora, picked him up, and tossed him like a torpedo across the air. He flew straight toward the heartless, and ripped right through it. It wasn't enough. Red eyed heartless were durable and the possessor slowly rose back up, hovering back toward the hole in the wall. Riku heard the sound of fabric ripping as Sora rolled on the hot rock. He needed to get to him, to-
"Riku, let go!"
Without pausing to question, Riku released the cross guard on Kairi's sword. In his worry over Sora, he hadn't noticed that the whip of light that had connected from Kairi's sword to the heartless was still intact. Without Riku and Kairi pulling the line taught, it snapped back like a bowstring, sending Kairi flying across the lava river. Several more spots of light told Riku that she had wrapped the heartless in a yarn ball of light, keeping it from moving long enough for her to heal Sora, and for him to bludgeon it, over and over, into nothing.
The robot melted into the lava. Everyone regrouped. Congratulations and celebrations were had for a job well done. Nothing like working together to beat monsters and robots in a life or death all out stakes brawl to make people instant friends. Yet, even as Dash and Elastigirl complimented him on his leadership and quick thinking, Riku felt as if their words were far away. He tried not to think, not to notice, not to focus on how Sora and Kairi were bumping each other's shoulders and radiating with so much light that his eyes burned, even though he could not see.
They don't need you.
Mr. Incredible cleared his throat. "We're not done yet."
"Right," Violet added. "There may be more robots in the weapons facility, and this tunnel should take us there."
"Lead the way, Riku," Sora said.
"Huh? Why me?"
"You are the one that can sense danger ahead, and it's pitch black in there."
"And you'll be able to sense possessors faster than we can," Kairi added.
"Oh right. That's about the only thing I'm useful for," he snapped.
Before anyone could actually say anything, Riku was moving down the narrow passageway. It was so dark and tight that even Dash didn't dare run ahead, too scared to possibly trip on something. The tunnel eventually opened up, Riku's steps echoing as the rock under his feet eventually turned into metal and wiring. He wasn't able to see all the details of the massive room they stepped into, but he heard the gasps from all of his companions. Riku couldn't tell how far, how high, or how low the space stretched around them. All he could tell, was that they were in some kind of vertical tube. The walls weren't smooth, there were spheres bulging out, arranged in a spiral pattern along the cylinder.
"Syndrome had this many robots?" Elastigirl said.
"I don't think so," said Mr. Incredible."We think these were made recently." He explained about the camera and log footage they had discovered.
"We'd better destroy them before any heartless can find and possess them," Sora said.
"There's a terminal," said Violet.
She walked to a nearby table that was welded into the floor. On the table was a massive cube with a screen and buttons.
"Riku, I think Aqua knew we would come here," Sora said, coming to stand at Riku's side while Violet worked.
He listened as Sora told him about the message Aqua had given them before they fell into the volcano.
"If this was a trap, it was too easy," Riku replied.
"Yeah," Sora sighed. "I think this was a wild goose chase."
"I know the robots still had to be stopped, but I can't help but wonder if she had another reason to send us here."
"Done!"
Violet twirled, and Riku could sense that she was beaming.
"I've set this place to explode," she said brightly.
There was a moment of silence as everyone, except Riku, stared at her.
"Violet," Mr. Incredible said calmly. "Did you just engage the self destruct?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because there's no way we can take this many robots on at once, and according to the console, they are still being made, even right now. Either we take out the manufacturing facility with everything in it, or we will be fighting these things forever. And the longer we wait-"
A voice echoed from the nearby speaker. "My my, you sure have taken things to the extreme."
Riku hissed. "Aqua."
"I was expecting some kind of show, but not fireworks. Well, I certainly hope you're quick enough to escape. In the mean time, perhaps I'll give your other team a visit."
Violet rubbed her arms. "I had a feeling she was still nearby."
"You went with your gut," said Mr. Incredible. He turned to Elastigirl. "Helen, I think our kid just made the tough call we were too hesitant to make."
Elastigirl smiled. "I'm not angry, I'm proud. But how much time do we have?"
Violet fidgeted. "Well, there was only one option…"
The room blared with noise.
Self Destruct Sequence Initiated.
All island staff is to evacuate immediately.
Island protocol level Manhattan.
Repeat. This is not a drill.
Self Destruct will occur in twenty minutes.
Head to the nearest escape pod and vacate the island immediately.
"Oh no! We've got to go and go right now!" Sora boomed.
The alarm echoed throughout every room they had come into contact with. The entire base shaking, making running through tunnels and avoiding lava a real nightmare. The walls were bursting, with lava spewing out of the cracks and holes. Riku could feel the heat pressing against his skin, even as he tried to concentrate on all the movement and darkness around him. The team had just made it to a lava cavern they had fought the giant robot in, and if the sudden waves of angry lava weren't bad enough, heartless popped in the air.
Violet gasped. "Kairi, gather everyone close and cast a reflect spell. Dash, you say out here with me."
Mr. And Mrs. Incredible breathed in as though they were about to protest when Sora and Kairi shouted at them. "They've got this, just trust them!"
Kairi casted a reflect spell around herself, Sora, Riku, and Mr. and Mrs. Incredible. Then, Violet put a forcefield around Kairi's reflect spell, making a sphere within a sphere, with Dash on the outer layer. With Violet floating neat the top of the sphere, Dash began to run as fast as he could.
"This is going to be a bumpy ride!"
It took all of Riku's concentration not to vomit from the sudden lurch of the sphere charting forward. Outside of Kairi's reflect spell, Dash used the forcefield like a hamster ball, making them roll over hot lava, and barrel through heartless. Once close enough to the wall, Dash shouted.
"Dad! You're up!"
The shield and reflect spell dropped, and Mr. Incredible raced toward a wall and smashed through it with his fist. The entire cave shook, the walls and the ceiling coming down, and the lava behind them bursting outward. There was no time to hesitate. The team jumped through the hole and crashed into several tree branches below. The volcano behind them was roaring angrily into the clouds. Riku coughed as ash rained down around him, but he didn't stop, did not waste time to think about geysers of molten rock that were bursting up from the ground, all around them.
He pulled down the gummi ship hatch and practically pushed Sora, Kairi, and the kids ahead of him. The thrusters came to lift and Mr. Incredible shoved Riku into the ship before he hauled himself and Elastigirl in. The ship shuddered, but floated off the ground. Riku was too exhausted to try and stretch his senses to perceive it, but he felt the impact nonetheless. The gummi ship shook as Sora maneuvered them around hot falling rocks and away from the roaring mountain. It wasn't until the ship was able to fly smoothly and Riku could no longer smell the bitter smoke that he realized something.
"This wasn't a wild goose chase. She wanted us to separate."
Riku felt Sora's hands tighten on the gummi ship's steering wheel. "She's going after Mickey, isn't she?"
"Oswald! Over here!"
Max grunted as he moved lifted a slab of concrete. In moments, Oswald was at his side, pushing the concrete back with his powerful legs. The man underneath the rubble blinked and slowly crawled out from under the grey stones.
"All you all right?" Oswald asked.
The man nodded, looking at his legs in complete wonder, as though he could not believe they were part of him.
"Good," Oswald said. "Get to safety."
The civilian ran off.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Oswald stared at the sky above him.
Something was wrong. They had been patrolling the city. No heartless, no robots. People were uninjured, fires had been put out, the smoke had been cleared. Civilians were easily found and taken care of. The world glittered with the remains of Kairi's holy light. Everything was fine.
So why did his fur stand on end?
Oswald turned, hopping as fast as his feet could allow through the streets. Max, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy saw his mad dash and chased after him. He leapt, from roof to roof, using magic and his windmilling his ears to get higher and higher, until he finally landed highest rooftop he could find.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Oswald held out his hand, watching a glimmer of Kairi's light float in his palm for a moment, before it was swept away.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Ozwald?"
Mickey panted as he came to stand next to him. "Is something wrong?"
Oswald didn't look away from the sky.
Mickey looked up, trying to find the missing puzzle piece Oswald was looking for up there.
"One of Master Yen Sid's very first lessons-"
"Is to trust our instincts," Mickey finished. "Well, what do your instincts tell you?"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Mickey looked down at Oswald's tapping foot.
"Jasmine, Belle, and Alice."
"What about them?" Mickey asked.
"I've never doubted my magical instincts. Except once. When Ortensia and I joined Marluxia and the other mages to attack the realm of darkness. I thought destroying the realm of darkness was the right thing to do, but when the time came to fight, it felt wrong. Why? Fighting darkness with light. That what mages and key bearers do."
Oswald paced around the roof, eyes still at the sky, at the black patches above, at the veins that shuddered somewhere deep within the realm of darkness.
"We just wiped this entire world clean with Kairi's holy light. Why does that feel so wrong?"
He paced faster. "I'm missing something, Mickey. Something important. Kairi said she paid a price for releasing all the holy light inside her heart. What is that price?"
"Wouldn't it just mean that Kairi's power is weaker now?"
"It can't be that simple. There has to be a deeper catch. Kairi said something bigger is coming. But what?" Oswald shook his head, eyes scanning the rooftops for something. He stopped, he listened, he watched.
"Oh."
"What?"
"Look around," Oswald said.
Mickey looked up at the dark patches, eyes narrowing at the red veins that pulsed and writhed deep within them. "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be looking for," he admitted.
"It's hard to make out at first, but I know you can see it," Oswald encouraged.
Mickey looked around. Light sparkled in the air, like millions of tiny prisms that glittered in the atmosphere. His eyes followed a spec of light as it moved with the wind, fluttering up and up into-
Mickey's eyes widened. "Oh no."
"What is it, Your Majesty?"
Mickey turned to face Donald, Goofy, and Max. They had finally caught up to them, and they stood to attention, straight and alert like the gallant knights and mages they were. Mickey hoped that their bravery was enough to whether the implications of he was slowly beginning to realize.
"Kairi's holy light, it's being pulled up into the dark patches."
"And that's not all," Oswald said, turning around to look at the rest of their team, his eyes grim. "When we were in the realm of the darkness, Kairi and I casted her first ever holy spell. It was so powerful that it blasted a hole through the realm of darkness itself. Kairi escaped to the realm of light, and I was able to dive deeper than ever before into the realm of darkness."
Max crossed his arms, his expression fearful, but also impatient. "And?"
"Mickey, can I bother you for a pearl of light?"
Mickey summoned a light orb. "Now what?"
"Nothing. Just watch."
A minute passed. Then two. Then three.
"Nothing's happening," said Donald.
"Exactly."
Oswald tapped the light orb with his wand, and even made it bounce up into the air. It came back down. With nothing to attack, the light orb eventually vanished, but Mickey understood the implication.
"The realm of darkness is only absorbing Kairi's holy light."
"The light from a princess of heart." Oswald met Mickey's eyes. "A heart so pure, it cannot enter the realm of darkness unless there is already light somewhere else within it. Aqua told me she wants to go to the deepest part of the realm of darkness. What do the legends say is in the deepest darkness, Mickey?"
"The true light. Kingdom Hearts of course. But Sora and I already closed that door. Aqua can't open it without a keyblade. It's already over."
Oswald shook his head. "All this extra light had to come from somewhere. And twice, in your past adventures, you've ripped holes in the realm of darkness."
Mickey's nose twitched. "What do you mean?"
A familiar voice spoke. "Let me save you the trouble of all that conjecture."
Oswald's eyes shot up and he pulled his wand from his pocket, his fist tightening around it.
"I'm right, aren't I?"
He stepped forward, past Donald, Goofy and Max, so that he could face the other side of the roof, so that he could look directly into Aqua's yellow eyes.
"The influx of light that has thrown everything into chaos. It comes from the deepest parts of the realm of darkness. Doesn't it?"
Max and Goofy exchanged a glance. Mickey and Oswald pointed their weapons at Aqua. Donald's feathers stood on end. Aqua simply walked along the edge of the roof, holding out her arms, balancing perfectly.
"For thousands of years, light has slumbered, trapped between the layers of the shifting labyrinth that is the realm of darkness. What happens when those layers are torn through? Where else would the light go, but back to where it should be?"
Aqua faced the city, her back to Oswald, her hands folded behind her.
"I tore though layer after layer of the realm of darkness, releasing that light as I got deeper. And now, the realm of light is imbalanced, and the realm of darkness is hungry. Wasn't it just perfect that your dear friend Kairi released all that holy light up into the sky?"
"This was a trap," Max snapped. "What do you want with Kairi? With the other princesses?"
"So sorry. There's only time for one reveal. You'll get the rest soon enough."
Aqua stepped off the roof. By the time the team had made it to the edge, to look down, she was gone.
To say there was tension in the gummi ship was like saying there was water in the ocean. When Sora picked up Mickey and his friends, he could practically feel the gloom coming off of them like an invisible slime. Though the Incredible family was polite and thankful for all the help, they still fidgeted when Sora dropped them off safely in an open parking lot in the city somewhere.
"Sorry we can't say goodbye," Sora said.
"I'm happy your city is safe, but we must regroup and plan our next move," Mickey added.
"Wait. Surely you have time for one more thing," Elastigirl said.
Mickey tilted his head, but she did not look at him.
"You three?"
Sora, Riku, and Kairi paused on their way back into the ship.
"Don't tell me you're going to go back out on your mission looking like," she pointed to their clothes, "that."
Sora and Kairi exchanged looks, while Riku patted himself down. Sora had lost his outer jacket, the belts and pockets on his pants had ripped, and a layer of ash had turned his outfit from black to brown. Riku's pants had turned into burnt shorts, his yellow vest was torn, and his hair was tangled and gnarled. Kairi's gauntlets were destroyed, her leggings in ribbons, her blouse covered in grime, and the soles of her boots were starting to peel off.
Suddenly feeling self conscious, the three friends crossed their arms and turned away from each other.
Elastigirl chuckled. "Lucky for you, we know the perfect person to patch you up."
Mr. Incredible laughed. "And trust us, you'll go into battle not only looking good, but feeling powerful."
"Ugh, you three look as though you've gone through a jet turbine."
Sora held still as the Edna Mode moved about him and took his measurements. She was surprisingly fast for someone that was as short as Donald. Her bob-cut hair bounced as she moved. Sora forced himself not to twitch as she pressed a long tape measure against the length of his leg.
"All these zippers and belts. Pah! I can see vy Elastigirl brought you here."
Sora breathed a sigh of relief when the fashion goddess moved on to his friends. He wasn't sure why, but he had the strangest suspicion that Edna was a lot like a stick of dynamite. Anything could set her off.
Finished measuring, Edna stepped back, putting a finger to her lips. "Hmm. YES! I have it."
Kairi leaned forward. "So you can fix our clothes?"
"Don't be ridiculous, darlings. Of course I can! I vill have you three looking fabulous in no time." Edna moved about the trio one more time. "Now then. Elastigirl did her best to explain your powers, but in order to design the best hero-wear, I demand a demonstration. YOU!"
Riku stiffened. "Y-yes?"
"Vell, don't just stand there? Vat are your skills?"
Shrugging, Riku stepped forward. "Sora, give me a hand."
Edna sat down on a metal chair. She patted the seat next to her, and Kairi, nervously, went to sit down. As the two ladies partook in tea, Sora and Riku duked it out, showcasing magic, darkness, light. Eventually, they got so lost in the fight that they were no longer sparing. The only thing that stopped them from gleefully pummeling each other was Edna's shout.
"ENOUGH!"
Riku froze, his soul eater still raised in the air. In front of him, Sora balanced on one leg, having been caught in the middle of landing a backflip. Shaking hands, the two boys stepped apart. Edna turned to Kairi next and then nudged her head. She waved at Riku.
"Come. Sit."
As Riku awkwardly sat down next to Edna, Kairi and Sora got ready for their battle.
"I won't hold back." Sora grinned.
"Aw, you're so sweet." Kairi pulled out her sword and lowered her stance. "I'm going to make you wish you were never born."
"You better not blink then," Sora warned.
Kairi gave him a sweet smile. "I only have eyes for you."
"W-what?"
She flashed forward, capitalizing on Sora's shock. Their match followed the same pattern as Sora and Riku's had. Sora had stronger and more lethal sword swings, but Kairi was faster, ducking and dodging before he could land a hit. Eventually, they started pounding each other with magic.
"Whoa!"
Sora ducked as a light butterfly nearly sliced into his face. He retaliated with lightning. Kairi defended herself with a reflect spell, but was knocked back when Sora's keyblade came flying across the distance and smashed her protective glass.
"Nice shot but it's not enough!" Kairi called before firing another volley of light spells.
Sora weaved and sliced through her attacks. He managed to get close, and Kairi blocked his keyblade swing with her sword. The two of them pushed their weapons against each other, getting so close that their noses could almost touch. Next to Edna, Riku turned away from the fight, and let out a sigh.
"All right, stop."
Sora and Kairi blinked. Putting down their swords, both of them looked up to the ceiling, clearing their throats.
Edna lifted her round glasses off her face so she could rub her beady eyes. "Ugh. Teenagers."
She stood and hustled the teens out of her workspace. "Go to the kitchen and eat some cookies, or vatever. I must create!"
Once out of the dark, steel room, Sora, Riku, and Kairi collapsed into the black couch seats inside Edna's cavernous living room. They sat for a while, in comfortable silence, enjoying the splashing of water coming from the golden statue fountain Edna had in front of her massive floor to ceiling window.
Even though he'd had enough energy to briefly spar with both Riku and Kairi, Sora was utterly exhausted. He'd been going non-stop since the Land of the Dead. Eventually, he dozed. Sometime later, a shout jerked him awake.
"It is COMPLETE!"
Edna stomped up to the three of them. She threw a duffle bag at each teen. Catching his bag, Sora was about to pull open the zipper and look inside, but Edna pushed him into a private room.
"Hurry up, darling, I must see my vork in action!"
Sora started when the door was slammed shut behind him. He opened his duffle bag. The smell of the fabric was fresh, as though it were laundered in blackberry and lavender. There was a hint of leather musk as Sora took out pants, gloves, boots, a shirt, and a jacket. His jaw dropped at the new design. Removing his stained and ripped clothes, Sora tried on his new outfit and then checked himself out in front of the mirror.
His sneakers had been replaced by black and yellow combat boots. His new cargo pants had several fashionable pockets along the sides, and there was enough space and cushioning for Sora to stock several potions and ethers. Red, grey, and yellow-belted gloves covered most of his forearms. Finally, Sora's jacket came with golden buttons, and a collar that was covered in a red, plaid pattern. The color scheme went well with his keyblade. Sora spared a moment to pose before he left the room.
Kairi was already outside, standing in front of Edna. The older woman made a twirling motion and Kairi spun. Looking at her new outfit, Sora began to sense a theme. Kairi wore a light pink dress, with black and white accents, and pair of black shorts. There were plaid patches on the hem of her dress. Silver buttons adorned the front of her dress, and there was thick belt on her waist. Like Sora, she also wore combat boots, except hers were completely black.
"Fabulous!" Edna clapped. She spotted Sora coming into the room. "Ah! I see my genius suits you as vell. Good, good."
"These clothes are amazing."
"Yes, I'm aware, darling," Edna waved Sora off. "Now stay here and vait. I have some final tweaks to make with your friend's outfit."
Edna vanished into the hallway leading to her super-wear workspace. Sora and Kairi turned toward each other.
"You look great!" Kairi pointed to Sora's outfit. "I like your shoes."
"Thanks. I like your new gloves."
Kairi stretched her arms, cracking her knuckles. The gloves were black, leather, and fingerless. They went all the way up to her upper arms.
"As much as I'm going to miss the metal gauntlets Mary got me, these are a little less bulky. Edna said she used some kind of special fiber to make the gloves more powerful than most metals, to reduce chaffing." Kairi paced. "This is so easy to move around in." She made some quick jabs and kicks. "I can't wait to fight."
Sora stretched his legs and twisted at the waist, testing out his range of motion. He felt as though he were wearing a second skin.
He put his hands in his pockets. "Check it out. No more bulgy pouches."
Kairi stuck her hands into the black pockets on the hips of her dress. "Same here! They're a lot roomier than they look."
The sound of a door opening caught their attention. Edna came back into the room with a rather proud look on her face. Riku sauntered out behind her. He looked a little uncomfortable in his new outfit. It wasn't that the outfit wasn't stylish. Once again, Edna had outdone herself. Riku wore a black leather jacket, with grey, plaid trim along the hems. Under the jacket was a white undershirt. He wore navy blue, capris jeans, and black, leather boots. He too had fingerless leather gloves, except his only reached his forearm. The outfit suited his tall, athletic build.
Stopping in front of his friends, Riku ran a hand through his now short hair. Edna hadn't just given Riku new duds. His hair had been cut and layered. He fidgeted, as if waiting for his friends to laugh. Instead, he had to take a step back as Sora and Kairi swarmed him.
"You look so cool!"
"Really?" Riku tugged at his bangs. "I can't see what I look like, so I'll have to take your word for it."
Edna made a "tsk" sound. "Of course you look fabulous, darling. This is my vork, after all."
She pushed Riku to stand near his friends. Once the trio stood side by side, Edna moved around them, nodding at her own work.
"The fabric is breathable and sturdy, darlings, able to absorb powerful blows, all vile allowing you to maintain flexibility and movement. I've voven in some reinforced titanium fibers to protect you from fire and lightning damage. The outfits are virtually indestructible, and can vard off both darkness and light." Edna snapped her fingers. "You are prepared for battle. Go. Fight. Win! Now get out!"
Edna escorted Sora, Riku, and Kairi to the foyer of her mansion. Once outside, the trio made their way down the long winding road to the gates that separated Edna's property from the rest of the world.
The city loomed in the distance, but the gummi ship was parked on a nearby lawn. Riku lagged behind Sora and Kairi. The two of them were excitedly talking about how their friends would react to their new looks. Since going blind, Riku hadn't really cared what he looked like, and short hair seemed easier to take care of. But he wondered, would people see that he had changed more than just his hair? That he had learned how to control his light as well as his darkness? Or was it all superficial? Could he be trying to pretend that he had changed? Especially when something inside him was still aching?
Riku shook his head. He remembered Eiko and Luna's assurances that he was wrong, but he still felt the ache pounding in his heart. He moved toward his friends.
"Guys, I need to ask you something."
"Oh my gosh! Sora! Look at this."
Kairi pulled her hood over her head. She tugged on the cat ears sown into the hood. Kairi lifted her hands, curling her fingers by her cheeks. She let out a little, feline roar.
"Wow. Cute."
Sora slapped his hands on his mouth and turned away from Kairi. Riku didn't smile when he felt Sora and Kairi's auras light up. He didn't stop to think about why his heart ached when the two of them shared an awkward laugh. He didn't even make a snarky comment to tease or distract them. Instead, he dashed forward, as quick as his legs could carry him, and shoved both Sora and Kairi as hard as he could.
His two friends stumbled forward, away from the hot points of fire that had been building up beneath their feet. Sora and Kairi crashed to the lawn grass. Now that his friends were out of the blast radius, Riku hit the ground and rolled, barely avoiding the explosion as several mines exploded under the lawn grass. Hot earth and fire burst up into the air, and though Sora and Kairi couldn't see into the dust cloud, Riku knew she was there, waiting to make her entrance.
"I've finally figured it out."
Sora, Riku, and Kairi flashed to their feet, readying their weapons. The dust cloud faded, and Aqua was now visible to all three friends. She stood in the middle of their triangle, her gaze moving from one angry stance to another.
"You are all such good friends, aren't you?" Aqua paced in a small circle.
Ice slithered up Riku's legs.
Aqua had multiplied.
An army of the same woman surrounded the three friends.
"I wonder. What would happen if I removed the one that connects you all?"
Ice and darkness exploded from each copy's hands. The magic flew out in every direction, a deadly hail storm of glass and dark acid. Sora and Kairi reached out to each other. They did not notice all the ice and darkness curve in the air, moving away from them. Not once did they look up to see that, while Riku had been rushing toward them, desperate to shield his two friends, all the Aqua clones had turned their yellow eyes on him.
By the time Sora and Kairi realized their mistake, Riku was trapped inside a massive dome of ice and darkness. Sora and Kairi smashed weapons and magic into the dome, but found that their spells bounced off. In the dome, Riku could barely hear his friends cries for him as he fought against dozens of Aqua clones, all moving about him, speaking, one over the other.
"I've been watching you."
Riku charged forward and sliced through Aqua. She vanished like morning mist being hit by the rays of the sun. Another Aqua appeared behind him.
"You no longer fear the darkness."
An invisible force smashed onto the back of Riku's head. His thoughts whirred with static. He tried to focus, tried to pin point which of the copies was the real Aqua, but each clone had the same level of darkness. The same level of light. They moved independently, and no amount of lightning or hard magic seemed to reduce their number. Riku would take down one, only for several more to appear.
"But you have a greater fear, don't you?"
The clones' voices overlapped, an echo that banged around in his skull, mixing in with the static.
"Did you see how easily your so called 'friends' moved to protect each other? Neither of them thought to try to protect you. How interesting."
Riku stilled. Another Aqua crept close to his side. He cut through her. A chorus of laughter reached his ears. The sound sliced into his heart.
"Do you really think the three of you will be together forever?"
Riku grit his teeth. "Stop."
"Do you think that once they're together, things won't change?"
"Stop it!"
"Will they take you with them on a moonlight stroll?"
"Shut up!"
Needles of ice began to rise up on Riku's hips and lower stomach. His body burned as the cold spread, creeping deeper into his muscles, his very being. The bones in his hands felt so brittle, it hurt to hold onto his soul eater, but he charged forward, roaring, trying to tear through Aqua as she circled around him, laughing.
"I know how your heart rends whenever the two of them get closer."
"ENOUGH!"
Riku spun, slicing through the circle of Aqua clones that had been slowly creeping in on him. When he stopped spinning, he nearly fell to his knees. The cold, dark feeling had now reached his chest.
"It won't happen today. It won't happen tomorrow. But it will happen soon."
Darkness coated the air like tear gas. It flew into Riku's nose and mouth. The soul eater dropped from his hands. His lungs burned, his ribs ached with each desperate inhale.
"How much time do you think you have left? With them?"
Riku's senses were closing in on him, his world getting smaller. He could barely sense all the women surrounding him, getting closer and closer, trapping him in a box of cold, lonely darkness.
"How long will you be the third wheel? How long before you are left behind?"
The icy needles had reached Riku's head.
"How long…"
All the Aquas spoke at once.
"...before you are forgotten?"
The ice stabbed into Riku's heart. Everything, his thoughts, his fears, his memories, his hopes, his pain, was lost. Only darkness remained.
"That's not true!"
Sora's palms burned. His arms and legs pounded with fire. But he wouldn't stop. Gathering light, he charged at the dome yet again, smashing the teeth of the keyblade against the icy glass.
"She's lying!" Kairi cried.
Her butterflies pounded the dome, but it did not break, or crack, or shiver. Inside, a dark storm swirled, obscuring Riku, and all the Aqua copies with him. For one painful second, Sora's eyes met Aqua's. She glanced at him, and smiled, putting a finger to her lips.
That was the last Sora saw of her. The ice dome exploded, throwing Sora and Kairi back. Lines of fire cut up the exposed parts of Sora and Kairi's arms and legs. They rolled along the grass. Finally stopping, Sora lifted his aching head to see a smoking figure walking over the lawn grass. A figure with Riku's shape. Slowly, the body stretched and shrunk at the same time. Limbs were elongated, bones were twisted. Eventually, the smoke faded away, but what was inside it was no longer his best friend.
A neoshadow crouched low on the lawn grass, looking around. Its eyes glowed a sky blue cover.
Kairi gasped.
Sora got on his hands and knees, reaching out.
"R-Riku?"
The neoshadow twitched, its blue eyes flashing. It glanced at Sora and Kairi. The heartless lurched backward, clawed hands reaching up to grab its head. The neoshadow thrashed, darkness falling off its midnight body. The darkness pooled around the neoshadow's feet. It began to sink into the ground.
"Wait!"
On weak legs, Sora and Kairi hobbled forward, to try and grab the neoshadow's arms. Their hands closed over nothing. The neoshadow slipped under the dark puddle.
Gone.
Sora couldn't hear.
Gone.
Couldn't think.
He's gone.
He felt the air moving in and out of his burning lungs, felt the ground thump as Kairi collapsed onto her hands and knees next to him.
Riku's gone.
All he could do was stare at the swirling pool of darkness at his feet. Echoes of Aqua's words, of Riku's anguish, swirled in Sora's brain. Even as his legs shook and his body throbbed from Aqua's attacks, nothing felt as horrible as the sorrow and fury that was drilling into his heart.
Kairi slammed her fist into the dirt.
"We didn't protect him."
She sobbed.
"Sora, we should have protected him!"
She peered up at him, and he saw himself reflected in her shining eyes. His expression, guilt ridden and horrified.
"Why didn't we?"
Kairi covered her eyes.
Reaching down, Sora grabbed her hands and pulled her up. He tried to come up with an answer, any answer, to Kairi's question. But no words came. Instead, both he and Kairi wrapped their arms around each other, squeezing one another for comfort.
"We'll get him back," he promised.
Kairi pressed her forehead into his shoulder. "But if we don't get to him in time-"
"We will get him back," Sora repeated, stronger this time. He pulled away from Kairi. "We'll prove Aqua wrong."
Kairi stepped back and rubbed her eyes. "Right. We won't let him go."
Sora squeezed her hand. Together, they turned toward the puddle of darkness on the floor and jumped in.
Jiminy's Journal:
Edna Mode (First Appeared in The Incredibles, 2004): The ultimate creative genius in both fashion design and hero-wear, and long term friend of the Incredible family. Edna has no time for nonsense. No one can deny, or hope to match, her passion, intellect, and desire for a challenge, whether it is making the most powerful and stylish hero outfit for any superpower, or inspiring others with her blunt, but effective pep talks.