Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return V2

Riku stared at Sora from where he stood beside him, examining his expression. It was changing, and the older boy slowly started to loosen his grasp on his friend's arm. However, he didn't completely let go, not until he was positive Sora saw the flaw in the illusion.

 

Sora shut his eyes for a moment, taking in a breath to try and subdue the anger that had begun to fog his vision earlier. If Riku said this thing was a Heartless, then he had to believe him. Riku was wiser than he was when it came to battle, and he wouldn't have just started accusing Kairi of being a Heartless if he wasn't sure of it. The brunet opened his eyes for a moment, trying to see this thing through Riku's eyes. The moment he saw it, his bright blue eyes widened. That wasn't Kairi at all! He nearly dropped his Keyblade at the sight of it, shock appearing in his eyes as the spell was broken.

 

At Sora's movement, Riku let go, his grip instead tightening on his Keyblade. He didn't say anything, already aware that Sora recognized that Kairi wasn't really there, and in her place was a Heartless.

 

Sora saw the image flicker from Kairi to the Heartless, making him grunt. He took a step away from Riku and gripped his head with his left hand, the spell having a lingering affect on him. When he was distracted, he felt a sharp pain in his back. He fell forward, a cry of pain leaving his lips. He rolled out of the way as a Neoshadow tried to leap on top of him, instinct taking over.

 

Riku ducked just as a Heartless jumped at him from the side, the boy slashing at it and killing it in a few hits. His eyes darted around in alarm, taking in the sight of Heartless surrounding his and Sora's positions. How could he have not noticed it before? His senses should have recognized this!

 

Sora grunted and pushed himself up off the ground, his eyes darting to the Heartless and then to Riku. "Get back!" he ordered roughly, giving his friend a light push on his arm. He was furious now, and he was determined to take out all these Heartless in an effort to dispose of that anger. He felt the tip of his Keyblade begin to glow with light, the brunet remembering a limit break he had learned in Castle Oblivion.

 

At Sora's shove and holler, Riku did as he was advised. He took slow, cautious steps back, sight lingering on his best friend. He noticed his Keyblade begin to glow, and Riku's eyes narrowed. However, he knew it was going to be a powerful attack, so he readied himself.

 

Sora pointed the tip of his blade at the ground, a wide circle of light appearing on the snow surrounding him and all the Heartless in the area. He grunted and stabbed the Keyblade into the ground in front of him, using the hilt as support as he used it so he could spin 360 degrees on it before he landed in his former position, crouched slightly. He shut his eyes and light engulfed the entire area, turning everything white for a few moments.

 

Riku brought up an arm to shield his eyes from the white light, a ringing entering his ears as the power of the attack erupted.

 

After a few moments, the light vanished, the area returning to the state it was in before. The only difference now, though was that no Heartless were in sight. They had all been decimated by the strength of the light Sora unleashed. The brunet tightened his grip on the Keyblade and pulled it out of the ground, taking a few steps forward without thinking about it. That hadn't helped him unleash his anger. He could feel it boiling so much inside of him that he wasn't surprised that his body held a faint tremble.

 

Riku peeked behind his arm, noticed the light was gone, and brought his arm down back to his side. His eyes darted around, the sense of darkness gone, along with the Heartless. He then saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked over to see Sora a few feet away. Riku tilted his head to the side, arching an eyebrow. Just by his friend's posture he could tell something was up.

 

Sora's back was turned to Riku, not that he really cared. Yes, Riku was there watching him, but it didn't matter. He had greater things to worry about. The frustration of being tricked was growing, along with the anger of not being able to hold Kairi in his arms. He looked up to the sky and finally did what he had been longing to do for a long time, letting out a scream of rage, frustration, and heartbreak.

 

Riku furrowed his eyebrows and closed his eyes at the cry, the sound ringing in his ears. It was an awful noise coming from his best friend, but he knew how it felt. And that was what bothered him.

 

After a few seconds, Sora fell silent. Screaming wasn't good enough. He was still enraged over it all. He looked down at his Keyblade, his lips forming a silent snarl. He brought it up slightly and then threw it on the ground in frustration. Stupid Keyblade! You're the reason I was called away from home. You're the reason I can't be with Kairi!

 

Riku had opened his eyes in time to see Sora release his Keyblade and his lips turned into a frown. "Sora," he tried, but somehow he didn't think he was going to be able to get through to his friend. Sora seemed very, very upset; Riku hadn't witnessed this kind of behavior for a few years.

 

Sora ground his teeth together, lowering his head slightly to look at the ground when he heard Riku call to him. The voice sounded distant, but he knew that Riku was only a few feet away. He furrowed his brows and shut his eyes, trying to contain the anger that was boiling inside him.

 

Riku summoned Way to Dawn away in the silence that followed, simply staring at his best friend. He wasn't sure there was anything he could say that would calm Sora down.

 

Sora shook his head slightly, realizing that he couldn't contain his anger. But he wasn't going to take it out on Riku, his best friend. That would have been very foolish. He bent down and picked up his Keyblade, holding it lightly in his grasp. Then he looked toward an open area to the side of the workshop, aware that Heartless sometimes gathered there. He wordlessly started over there, actually hoping there would be some enemies so that he could take out his frustrations.

 

Riku's brows furrowed even more as he watched Sora take off in the other direction, but something told him he could stay close by, but shouldn't interfere. It was obvious there was something going on inside Sora that he needed to take care of. Being his best friend and having struggled with a similar problem, Riku would back off.

 

Sora walked over into the circular area, not bothering to check if Riku was behind him. It didn't matter. But, he did turn around when he heard a faint shimmering noise. He spun around just in time to see a magical barrier formed at the entrance to the area, entrapping him and not allowing anybody else to enter. Terrific, he thought sarcastically, seeing two Behemoths appear in front of him. This could get ugly.