Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Riku put both his hands on the handle of his Keyblade, gritting his teeth together at the force being put against him. It was undeniable by the way his blade was already shaking. Smith was strong, very strong.

Roxas stopped, turning around to glance back at Sora. "What is it?" he asked with curious eyes, his eyebrows furrowing. But then he tensed up as he noticed it too. Something was heavier around them, which hadn't been there before.

 

Smith kept one hand on the hilt of his blade while the other came out of it, dark energy forming in the palm of his hand. "Goodbye, Riku," he said, immediately shooting Dark Aura at the teen right in front of him.

"He's here," Sora said aloud. "But...I can't sense where," he said, lifting his eyes to Roxas. After a second or two, he came up with a decision, one that he was sure Roxas would be alright with. "We should go back to the girls." He hoped that Smith wasn't with them, and if he wasn't there, then maybe he could talk to Riku and see if his friend could sense where the darkness was coming from.

 

Riku's eyes widened greatly, but that was all the movement he had time for. He cried out in pain as he felt the three blue Firaga orbs hit him, sending him flying back with a cry of pain. He was airborne for a few seconds, his body then landing on the ground with a thud, a grunt leaving him at the impact.

Kairi gasped. "Riku!" she cried, her eyes having been on the fight. Smith managed to get a hit on her best friend already. That wasn't a good sign at all.

Roxas nodded once. "Good idea," he said, not liking the way the Darkness made him so uneasy. Surely Riku sensed it too, since he was more accustomed to the Darkness than him and Sora. If that was the case, he would be protecting the girls at all costs. That made Roxas feel a little bit better, though the twisting feeling in his gut never made him feel completely at ease. Something was wrong here, and he didn't like it.

 

Smith turned to the girls, seeing that Riku was going to be down for a few seconds at least. It was a shame; Smith had been hoping for more of a fight. Regardless, he opened a dark portal a few steps away from the girls, the man starting over there as well to claim what he had been seeking in the first place.

Namine gasped, jumping to the side a little when she saw the dark portal appear near her and Kairi. Her gaze then shifted to Smith, who was coming towards them. She would have turned to run, but she and Kairi were trapped in a corner, the fence of the backyard keeping them enclosed in the same area as Smith.

Sora turned around and started running in the direction they had come from, a bad feeling in his heart. The darkness that lingered in the air felt strong, and he knew that the only person who could bring about that kind of darkness was Smith.

 

Riku groaned from his spot on the ground, squeezing his eyes shut at the pain in his chest and head, where Smith managed to strike him. He was in a daze, the boy rolling onto his side as he winced. What happened? he thought silently, but then he heard the familiar sound of something... It was when he opened his eyes that he saw the swirling portal and knew that was what he recognized. The portal...near the girls. No!

Kairi's head turned sharply to the side, a gasp leaving her lips at the sight of the portal. She remembered those, immediately thinking back to when Axel had taken her. But Smith, he was much worse than Axel. Kairi turned her head to look at the man approaching her and Namine, the girl instinctively taking a step back, even if there was nowhere for her to go.

Roxas followed behind Sora, only a few steps behind. The fact that they recognized the Darkness so simply was bad, which meant Smith wasn't lingering in the shadows anymore. Something was going on here that was just plain wrong. They needed to reach Riku and the girls, and quickly.

 

Smith summoned his weapon away, figuring that he would have his hands full with two girls. And besides, he didn't need a gunblade to hurt them; he had his fists for that. Surely Namine remembered that. He smirked and reached for the blond girl first, since she was the closest to him.

"No!" Namine cried, Smith gripping her lower arm. She brought up her other hand to try and pry his off of her, though she knew that it was a meaningless effort. She looked up at Smith's eyes and saw him smirking as he also reached to take a grip on Kairi's arm.

 

Kairi shrieked, trying to pull her arm back just as she felt Smith grab it. She had a sense of deja vu, remembering being dragged away by Axel this way. However, she was much more terrified, knowing that wherever Smith was taking them wasn't going to be good. "Riku!" she cried, struggling to get away from Smith's grasp.

Riku's eyes widened at the cry, seeing the girls being grabbed by Smith. No! He wasn't taking them that easily! Riku put a hand on the ground, starting to push himself up from his lying position. He wasn't going to let Smith get his way! Sora and Roxas were counting on him to take care of the girls, who were equally counting on him to protect them. He couldn't fail!

 

Smith switched his gaze to Riku, seeing that he was trying to rise to his feet. However, it didn't concern him; he was a few feet away from the portal. He walked backwards towards it, having no problem dragging the girls a little bit.

Namine looked over at Riku, fear apparent in her eyes as she tried not to let Smith get away with this. However, Smith walked backwards into the portal and pulled the girls with him into the darkness. Her eyes were on Riku, sadness and fright in her gaze as she vanished into the portal.

 

Kairi looked at her older best friend a second before she vanished into the portal with Namine, at the same time her heart calling out to him...and someone else, even though she knew their connection had been broken. Fear was present in both her heart, mind, and eyes, the girl's sight of her best friend vanishing into darkness.

Riku got as far up as his knees before he felt the connection between his and Kairi's hearts strike him. "No!" he cried, reaching out to the girls, but he was too late. They were gone.

 

Sora grunted, a hand coming up to his chest when he felt a sudden aching. It was an unexplainable feeling, but it felt like somebody just punched him in the heart. He gave the darkness credit to that, figuring that they were getting closer to it. Not good...he thought, seeing that they were still two blocks away from Kairi's house. But then, just a second or two later, the sense of Darkness disappeared.

 

Roxas continued running, though he blinked in confusion when he felt the threat from Darkness disappear. The air around them was no longer heavy, but back to normal. That didn't make any sense...

 

Sora kept running forward, his hand eventually coming back down to his side as he kept up his fast pace. He didn't care that the darkness was gone; he needed to get to Kairi's and figure out what that was all about. A few minutes later, he and Roxas approached the home, the brunet seeing it coming up on their right.

 

Riku sat on the ground, his Keyblade stabbed into the grass right in front of him as he held the hilt. What did he just do? He was in a state of shock, which was why he wasn't pacing and letting his calm demeanor go; if he was up and not sitting down, he would be slashing at anything in anger. But he had to control his emotions now, which was why he glared at Way to Dawn. He had to think logically instead of irrationally. Riku knew he couldn't go after Smith on his own; he needed Sora and Roxas's help.

Roxas ran behind Sora, keeping up with his friend's quick pace. He saw Kairi's house and would have felt relief because they were so close, but his gut was twisting. There wasn't something right still, the disappearance of the Darkness certainly triggering that.

 

For some reason, Sora didn't feel compelled to go to the front door. Instead, he ran through the yard to the fence, the brunet pulling the door open without thought. His eyes immediately widened when he saw his friend sitting on the ground, and with his Keyblade in his grasp. "Riku!" he instantly cried, rushing over to his friend.

 

Roxas followed Sora even through his confusion as to why his friend didn't use the door, but when he saw Riku, that vanished away. He saw that the girls were nowhere in sight, which sent off warning bells in his head.

Riku didn't turn around at Sora's call. Instead, his grasp on the hilt of his blade only tightened. He had to tell Sora... He had to tell Sora and Roxas that Smith slipped past him and took the girls. How could he have been so stupid to let such a thing happen?! He was smarter than that! He was more powerful than that! Smith shouldn't have gotten through him so easily!

 

Sora skidded to a halt, kneeling down in front of his best friend. Riku looked...furious. The brunet had only seen him like that a few times, the last being Castle Oblivion when they fought against each other. He pushed the thoughts away, concern in his bright blue eyes. "What happened?" he immediately asked, worried over his friend's state and the fact that the girls were not in sight.

 

Roxas stopped on the other side of Riku, looking down at him as he remained standing, unlike Sora. He stayed silent, wondering the same thing as his best friend.

Riku's brows were furrowed over his angry eyes, still glaring at his blade. "He showed up and I couldn't hold him off," he said lowly, his fury coming through in his voice. He was ashamed of himself. "He planned it this way. I know he did."

 

Sora blinked, surprised to hear Riku say that he couldn't hold him off. Riku was very strong, but then again, so was Smith. "He overpowered you in just a few minutes?" he asked. "That's how long we sensed his darkness here." He and Roxas had sensed Smith's presence maybe ten minutes ago, if that; did he really take down Riku in such a short amount of time?

 

Riku didn't say anything, his eyes staying on his Keyblade. It was less than a few minutes; a majority of Smith's time here had been full of taunts and insults. The longest he and Smith had fought was less than a minute. He managed to catch Riku off guard with something. Dark Aura...?

 

Sora furrowed his brows, bringing a hand to his forehead as he took Riku's silence as confirmation. Smith...was here. He had hurt his best friend, and he had taken away his girlfriend and one of his best friends. And that wasn't alright with him. He could feel anger at Smith boiling inside of him, though he didn't allow it to surface.