Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Sora followed after his friend, his pace a fast walk so that he could not only keep up with him but also catch up to him. "That's not gonna happen," Sora insisted, his hands clenched in fists. What's Riku's deal? He's even more stubborn than I remembered...

 

Roxas ran forward to catch up with the two, having been the closest to the palace gates. He could sense that Riku was getting more mad as the conversation went on, and Roxas wasn't sure what to think about it. He didn't know much about the silver-haired guy.

Riku didn't look at Sora as he walked out of the shadows of the archway, into the next section of the city. "Yes it is, Sora," he said strictly. "There's a reason I made it so I had to leave and you got to stay on Earth. You're not going to convince me that my decision was the wrong one to make." His eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes narrowed in slight anger as he walked, not happy with the situation.

 

"Maybe it was right at the time, but not now," Sora inserted, moving past Riku and stopping in front of him. He blocked the path and looked up at his taller friend, blue eyes staring down the ones of his friend. "There's a time for peace and a time for fighting. Right now, Roxas and I have a battle to fight. With you."

 

Roxas came up beside Sora and nodded, his eyebrows furrowing. He hadn't really said anything since they saw Riku, and he couldn't really determine why. He guessed it was because of the situation. But right now he was telling Riku what he thought was right, standing beside Sora on this one. Literally.

Riku stared down at Sora and then turned his head slightly to look at the blond beside him. "It's still the right choice, if you would actually think about what you're doing," he said lowly, his eyebrows furrowed over his aqua-colored eyes.

 

Sora clenched his hands into fists, his eyebrows furrowing as he glared up at Riku. "What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, his tone of voice matching Riku's. He wasn't going to be pushed around, even if Riku was older and taller than he himself was.

 

"What do you think it means, Sora?" Riku said roughly, staring down at the younger boy before him with aggravation. "You had a perfectly good life in the city and you just walked out on it to help me, somebody who doesn't even need your help. You both did." He looked at Roxas too when he spoke, speaking to both of them.

"We were just following orders," Roxas finally said, speaking for the first time since they had spotted Riku. "King Mickey asked us to come and help you because he thought it was best, especially when the Heartless are doubling in size, which means that the danger of the worlds is as well." Roxas couldn't quite understand why Riku wasn't just accepting their assistance, and it was ticking him off, to be honest.

 

Sora nodded in agreement to Roxas' words. "You may be able to protect a few worlds just fine, Riku," he confessed, hoping the flattery would help his friend accept some help. "But can you handle all of them?" He didn't wait for an answer to the rhetorical question, the teen continuing without missing a beat. "As the danger in these worlds increase, so does the chance that the Heartless will spread to new worlds that they previously didn't have access to. We won't let that happen. I won't let it happen," he said, adding emphasis on himself. Maybe connecting with Riku personally instead of connecting himself to Roxas would help. He didn't know why, but his old friend seemed to have issues with his newer one.

 

Riku sighed, his eyes lifting and staring above Sora and Roxas at the archway that led to the entrance of the city. "I know how you are, Sora, and I know that you won't let anything get that far," he agreed without hesitance. "But have you noticed that you hadn't come running until now? Didn't you stop to think that all this trouble never ceased?" Riku tried to put his thoughts into the best words possible. "I never needed you, Sora. I never needed help from you or Roxas," he continued, glancing at the blond briefly before looking back down at his best friend. "I've been just fine on my own."

"Clearly not," Roxas interjected, "if you were having that much trouble a few minutes ago." His eyebrows were furrowed over his bright eyes as he stared up at Riku, not necessarily taking a liking to his attitude. However, Roxas sensed his was coming through--he had spoken those words with a tone, a tone without hesitance.

"I've handled more than that, but it doesn't matter," Riku said dismissively, waving that concern away. "You say that the Heartless could invade a world that they haven't reached yet. But what if that world is Earth?" He lifted his eyebrows at his best friend and his Nobody expectantly, hoping they would understand exactly what he was saying. But he didn't think they understood just yet.

 

Sora clenched his right hand tighter, glaring at Riku. "That's why we're here," he stated. "To diminish the power and number of the Heartless before that happens. To get rid of the problem before it starts." That had been his line of logic, and he was sure that he was right about his theories of the Heartless' spread.

 

"You need to expect the unexpected, Sora," Riku stated sternly. "What if Heartless invade Earth while you're gone? You risked Kairi and Namine's lives to come with me, somebody who doesn't even need the help." His hands were in light fists at his sides, which were tensing as the conversation continued. "Don't you two get it?" Riku said, glaring at both Keyblade wielders. "You weren't only sent to Earth to get away from this mess. You were also there to protect it if something like this occurred." Riku jabbed a finger in Sora's direction. "And you just deserted it. Deserted Kairi...and Namine." His eyes had traveled to Roxas at the blonde girl's name, knowing that she meant a lot to the Nobody.

Roxas lowered his gaze slightly at the name. He already had bad feelings about leaving Namine anyway; Riku's words only angered him, making him feel even worse.

 

Sora couldn't help but snarl softly at Riku's accusations. "Shut up, Riku," he growled, tempted to punch the person who was being so brutal in this conversation. It wasn't fair to him or Roxas, and he was wondering why his friend was verbally attacking him. "It's not going to get to that point." The Earth would be safe, just as long as the Heartless out here were taken care of.

 

Riku arched an eyebrow. "How would you know? You're not even there anymore." He stared at Sora for a moment before pushing his way through him and his Nobody, moving on. There was something he wasn't telling Sora, and that was that he and Roxas would hold him back if things got rough.

Roxas stepped back slightly from the shove Riku had caused, the blond turning to glare at the silver-haired teenager. Just who did this guy think he was? Roxas wasn't liking his attitude one bit, and it took a lot for someone to prove that to Roxas in such a short amount of time.

 

Sora recovered quickly and turned around, following his friend at a quick pace. "Because we're coming with you, and we're going to defeat the Heartless before they can move onto new worlds," he called from behind, his voice showing his determination. He and Roxas weren't going to be left behind that easily. In fact, there was no chance they would be left behind.

 

"No, you're not," Riku insisted lowly, only glancing over his shoulder at his friend before moving onward. "I told you before--I did this so you wouldn't have to put up with this mess. Now leave it alone." It was true he was being stubborn, but Sora was being equally difficult.

Roxas stared down at the ground, his hands forming tight fists. Something...some kind of anger was stirring within him, and he figured it was because their help wasn't being accepted when it needed to be. They were just trying to do the right thing here. But somehow, he felt there was something more... Something he couldn't quite figure out about this Riku guy that was making him so mad.

 

"And I'm telling you that's not going to happen," Sora insisted. "Stop being so prideful and accept our help already!!" he hollered, his voice showing frustration and anger. He really did think that Riku was being stubborn because he had been forced to have two more people go with him against his wishes, when he supposedly was strong enough on his own. Today was proof that Riku's way of thinking was flawed.

 

Riku stopped, turning around and giving Sora a look of utter disbelief. "You think that's what this is about? Pride?" He stared with narrow eyes at Sora, seeing that his Nobody was a few yards away. "Fine. You want to hear pride? Then I'll let you have it--you two would be holding me back. I wouldn't only have to worry about myself, but I'd also have to worry about how you two were doing. Don't you think that adds to the stress of this job, which has enough of it already?"

We'd be holding him back? Roxas thought, turning his head slightly and glaring at Riku. He didn't know what it was, but something told Roxas that being tag-alongs wasn't the real issue here. Then again, what did he know? He barely knew Sora's friend, and yet he was already mad at him.

 

Sora froze at the words, the harsher treatment being the last thing he expected. "W-what?" he stumbled, his fists coming undone. "Riku, that's ridiculous! Babysitting us is the last thing you'd have to worry about." Had Riku already forgotten who it was that had saved the Realm of Light? Or just how many battles he had fought in the past? He wasn't weak like Riku supposed he was, and it frustrated him that his friend looked down on him like that.

 

"One of the reasons I accepted this was so you wouldn't have to deal with it," Riku said, noticing the hurt on his best friend's face. "You went through enough, Sora. And Kairi needed you. Don't you think I wanted my two best friends to be together in peace?" He shook his head. "It wasn't so much about you tagging along, Sora. It was about your safety--all of you."

Roxas kept his eyes on Riku, but stayed where he was. "You shouldn't worry about us," he said. "We can obviously take care of ourselves." He detected that there was a harshness to his tone, but he didn't really care at the moment. He just wanted to settle things so they could get down to business.

 

"But you still think we'll hold you back," Sora stated, glaring at his friend in disbelief. He knew that Riku only spoke the truth these days--ever since their fights in the past, he had always been honest. Sometimes brutally honest, like he was now, but honest all the same. "You think we won't be able to carry our own weight."

 

"Just like you guys said," Riku began, turning more toward them, "the Heartless are getting stronger. And what fighting have you had to do on Earth? I'm more worried about the shape you're in, and if you can handle the strength of the Heartless. It's not all that easy, I would know." He'd been doing this for months, and it got harder every week.

Roxas glared at Riku. "You have no idea what we've been through," he simply said, his jaw flexing somewhat. Memories of what all had happened to Namine flooded his mind, other unfortunate instances clouding his mind.