Chapter Four:

Fire and the Broken Ones

"Guys, move!"

The beast's head snapped forward and a blast of fire came shooting out. Just in time, the five leapt away, and Sora skidded back from where the flames blackened the earth. He scanned the area just long enough to make sure everyone was all right, then turned to Donald.

"Donald!"

"Roger!" the Duck replied instantly, raising his staff. "Blizzara!"

Shards of ice shot out, striking the Heartless in the chest. It roared and staggered back, and Sora leapt in to strike at its massive fists, the most readily accessible part of it. He saw Goofy's shield whip past, striking it squarely in the head.

Enraged, the beast's fists swung back, suddenly bursting into flames. Sora pulled back just in time to avoid the shockwave that followed the punch it drove into the earth. Flames burst around the spot, and Sora hefted up his Keyblade to block the heat. Another fist came down nearly on top of Donald, but he was out of the way in time.

Suddenly, a familiar light flashed behind Sora's eyes. He charged forward, running up the creature's arm before it could pull it back and leapt over its shoulder. It snarled in rage, and he brought his Keyblade crashing down on its head. Before it could lash back, he jumped down and hit the ground running. Its fist smashed to the ground behind him, and he heard Riku laying into it with his own Keyblade.

"Not bad, Sora!" Riku yelled, leaping back from another burst of fire.

"Ha, you haven't seen anything yet!" Sora shot back, shooting a Blizzard of his own at the monster's head. "I'm still rusty!"

"Come on, I've beat you good before!" laughed the older boy, rolling out from under its fist to slash it a few more times.

"Before I had the Keyblade, you mean!" Sora scoffed, not noticing when Goofy's shield crashed into the Heartless's head. Or how the Heartless was rearing back, face pointed at Goofy and Kairi, until…

"Kairi!" Riku yelled.

Sora's head whipped around instantly, just in time to see fire explode around the place where Kairi and Goofy had been standing. He charged towards the spot, yelling loudly.

"Kairi! Goofy!"

"Thunder!"

Thunder cracked and a bolt of electrical energy shot down over the beast's head, stopping the flow of the flames. Sora watched in horror as they faded away, wondering if Cura would be enough, if he could fix them, if...

Then he saw the circle of scorched earth around Kairi and Goofy, the smoke rising from Goofy's shield, and both of Kairi's Keyblades whirling rapidly. She looked over and grinned, Keyblades instantly snapping into her grip once more.

"C'mon, give me some more credit, Sora!" she chided.

Sora was about to reply before he saw the creature throwing its head back from the corner of his eye, flash of light appearing in his mind again. He slid around and swung the Keyblade behind his back. As fire flashed within its jaws, he put all his strength, all his energy into his arm, hurling his Keyblade with all the power he could muster.

It spun through the air like a boomerang, and as the creature swung its head down to face them, lodged between its jaws. The force of the blow threw its head back again, and fire burst out around the Keyblade. With a flare of light, the Kingdom Key appeared in his hand once more.

"Goofy, hit it again! Donald, give us some cover-fire! Er…cover-ice!"

The two reacted in a flash to Sora's words. Goofy hurled his shield again, sending the Heartless reeling, while Donald blasted it with another Blizarra. It staggered back in the canyon, throwing its head back again.

A flash struck Riku's mind the moment it did, and he was off running. Without slowing at all, he leapt onto the wall of the canyon, feet slamming against the stone with such speed that he never fell. As flames licked at the creature's jaws, he arced across the wall over its head. The moment he felt in range, he pushed off, shooting past its massive skull with Keyblade at the ready.

It let out a roar of pain as he cut through it, whipping its fists into the air to slam them against the ground again. Sora and Kairi moved in tandem to strike at its arms as Riku hit the ground, rolling elegantly back onto his feet.

"Nice one, Riku!" Sora cheered.

Riku beamed at the compliment, but it quickly turned to surprise. "Sora, Kairi, move!"

They hadn't noticed as the Ifrit SIN charged its next fire assault, but suddenly small spheres of fire were shooting down around them. Riku leapt away, explosives raining down around him. The others darted around as well, the torrent of fireballs seemingly endless.

"Quit it already!" Donald squawked, blasting it with Blizzard again and again.

The creature bellowed in protest even as a thin coating of frost spread over its furry arms. Sora joined the attack with his own magic, while Goofy struck it in the face again with his shield. It let out a loud roar and started slamming its fists into the ground again and again, ground shaking violently. Sora staggered left and right from the vibrations.

"Cut it out!" Sora yelled. He twisted back his Keyblade, hurling it again in the Strike Raid style.

Struck in the face once more, the creature roared and lifted its hands to hold its wounded head, pausing its attack once again. Sora grinned as his Keyblade returned.

"Take that!" he yelled.

But there was no time for reverie. There was still a battle to fight; the beast wasn't down yet. Sora charged again, Keyblade at the ready, and he saw Riku following.

"Riku, follow me!" he yelled back at his friend, then turned his head to the other side. "Goofy, gimme a boost!"

"Comin' at ya, Sora!" Goofy called back, slinging his shield out again.

Sora pushed off the ground hard, a bolt of lighting crackling past him through the air to keep the Ifrit SIN off balance. As Goofy's shield slid under him, he pushed off it and jumped even higher into the air. He could feel the air whistling around him, see the creature's face ahead of him, the stink of its brimstone breath heavy in the air…

He passed just in time to swing down hard, bashing it in the skull with his Keyblade. Without even looking, he swung his hand back, and Riku took hold. With the momentum of his swing, he rolled around, hurling Riku up with all his might. The older boy cut through the creature again, a cloud of Darkness spraying up from the wound in his shoulder.

"Not enough! Hit it again, Donald!"

But before the last word had even left Sora's mouth, he saw a Keyblade come whirling past his head, on the end of what appeared to be a red rope. It looped around the Heartless's neck once, twice, three times and locked in place. Another bone shaking roar tore loose from its throat, and it threw its head back, fire building again.

When Kairi shot past him on the other end of the rope, strung together with her other Keyblade, he could only stare.

The rope shrank quickly as she looped over its head, and she landed gracefully on its shoulders. Sora stared after her even as he rolled across the ground, getting to his feet. The beast swung a fist and Sora opened his mouth to yell, but she was already jumping over it. She pushed off the limb to go even higher, saving herself from its next punch.

She hovered in the air for a moment, her own hair glowing like fire in the bright sunlight, and then she was shooting down again. The chain linking her to its neck contracted again, and she rocked past its head, cutting a path down its body until she struck the ground. The rope unraveled from her Keyblade's keychain, and the one around its neck vanished, reappearing in her hand.

Ifrit SIN let out a last strangled roar, and fell back with an almost eerie slowness. A pillar of fire erupted around it, and its Heart shot into the air. When the fires died, so faded its body.

Kairi let out a long sigh and fell to her knees.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled, running over to her.

He heard Riku do the same, and they both grabbed her shoulders, tugging her to her feet. She tried to push them away, Keyblades winking out of existence, as did theirs. The smile she gave them was tired, but still full of life.

"How…" Riku began.

"What did you do?" Sora gasped. "You…with the rope…and you were flying…!"

Kairi laughed softly, like the tinkling of small bells, and shook her head.

"I have no idea!" she said, smiling more firmly. "I just got this…light in my head, and I did what I knew I should do."

"Light?" Riku asked, eyes widening slowly.

"I got the same thing! When I threw my Keyblade at its mouth…"

"Uh, Sora?" Goofy asked from afar.

"…And I ran up it, too! That was the light!"

"Riku?"

"Oh, it happened when I used my Keyblades like a shield, too!"

"Kairi?"

"And when I ran up the wall, too. I didn't even know I could do that…"

"HEY, you guys!" Donald yelled.

"What?" they all asked at once, turning to face the two.

"They're getting away!"

The Trio shared a glance, and then bolted immediately down the canyon, Donald and Goofy running alongside. The roar of motorcycles could be heard overhead, and Sora was starting wonder just how they'd catch up with that.

Suddenly, the canyon walls dropped sharply in height. Seeing that as his cue, Sora jumped up at the edge, just high enough to grip the top of the canyon wall. Grunting in effort, he tugged himself up, stepping onto the dusty stone floor. Riku jumped up behind him, and they both had to grab Kairi, who didn't have quite their height. Donald scrabbled up propelled by Goofy's shield, and the knight followed quickly.

The road seemed to stretch on forever ahead of them, but Sora charged on heedless, ignoring all shouts of protest behind him. Slowly, the clouds of dust kicked up by the winds whipping around him seemed to break. And sitting off in the distance were three shapes, visible as the figures sitting atop their inert vehicles.

He slowed as he approached, gradually getting a better picture of the warriors in front of him. And as he did, he felt his blood begin to chill.

A single black wing.

Long silver hair.

Coat tails flapping in the wind.

Heart pounding in his throat, he charged forward, stopping just close enough to see the faces of the other two. Both had silver hair, one short and gelled back, the other hanging in his face, and all three had the same leather bodysuits and black wings. But it was the one in front of him that called his attention perfectly.

"S...Sephiroth?" he stammered.

The man turned his head slowly, and Sora saw something terrible in his impossibly bright blue eyes. The face was not Sephiroth's, and yet...he could see Sephiroth there, too.

"Not quite," murmured the man, reaching into the confines of his cloak.

Sora raised his Keyblade immediately, and the man pulled out a gleaming gun, the long barrel edged with a deadly looking blade.

Bang.

"Sora!"

The four ran up just in time to see the smoke curling from the gun's barrel and Sora's shoulders quake with the recoil. The Keyblade slowly swung down, and Sora's head bobbed. Riku's eyes slowly opened in shock, and Kairi instinctively brought her hands up to her mouth as she gasped.

"Sora," Donald said softly, hand clenching tightly around his staff.

"Sora? You...You okay?" Goofy called out, reaching out his hand limply.

The wind howled mournfully and the seconds ticked solemnly in their heads until Sora's head snapped up again, and his Keyblade returned to attention.

"It'll take more than that to take me down!" he yelled.

Slowly, the man in front of him began to chuckle, dropping his gun lazily as he started to laugh. The men behind him joined in, the smaller laughing darkly while the other let out a raucous roar of mirth. He was the first to stand, lifting a well-muscled arm and slapping his hand against the strange, two-pronged device attached.

"Well, aren't you just somethin' special," he scoffed, swiping his thumb across his upper lip.

Sora just glared in response.

"Who are you?" Riku asked coldly, Way to the Dawn appearing in his hand instantly. He saw Kairi do the same.

"Remnants," the longhaired man said smoothly, smiling icily.

"You called us Sephiroth, but that's a bit off," the third man said, and Sora recognized his voice as the one taking charge before. "We're parts. Broken. But when we kill you, Maleficent will bring him back for us!"

"Nothing against you," the large man growled, stepping around his longhaired companion's bike to face Sora head on. "But if we want Big Brother back, you've gotta die!"

A strange flash of light surrounded the man, and suddenly he was at Sora's side, fist hovering over his stomach. Sora only had enough time to look down at this before those two spokes shot out. Electricity jolted through him and he let out a cry before being thrown back into the dirt.

"Sora!" Kairi cried.

"You...!" Riku began.

The man let out another loud roar of laughter, throwing his head back as he let loose. "Come on, Keyblade Master! Is that the best you've got?"

"Loz!" barked the apparent leader. "Stop messing around and finish him already!"

"Alright, alright!" Loz grumbled. "Geez, such a buzz kill, Brother."

He turned back to face Sora, and jerked back in shock as the Keyblade Master rose to his feet, glaring daggers at the man who'd thrown him to the ground. He lifted his Keyblade slowly, pointing it steadily at Loz.

"Who're you gonna finish?" Sora growled.

Loz chuckled darkly as he regained his composure. "You're better than I thought, kid. This is gonna be fun!"

Riku started forward, but Sora cut him off quickly.

"Stop! I'll take these bozos down myself!"

"Sora..." Kairi began.

"Bozos?" Riku said, quirking an eyebrow and forcing himself not to laugh.

"Now come on!" Sora shouted, swinging his Keyblade into a ready position. "Let's do this!"

"That's what I like to hear!" Loz cheered in response.

He charged forward quickly, and Sora ducked under the heavy punch he threw. Sora stabbed forward with the Keyblade quickly, and Loz threw up his knee at the same time. Both grunted in pain and backed up quickly, Loz holding his gut and Sora rubbing his chin.

It didn't last long, though, and Loz jumped in quickly, punching the ground hard. The earth exploded under his fist, but Sora leapt deftly aside. As soon as he hit the ground, the boy burst forward, laying into Loz with a string of slashes from the Keyblade. Loz staggered back, lifting his arms to guard against the onslaught.

"I thought...you were gonna...finish me!"

"If you say so!"

With unnatural speed, Loz reached in, grabbing Sora's Keyblade and stopping it in its tracks. He swung his arm up hard, lifting Sora into the air by the weapon, and starting whirling him over his head. Sora let out a loud cry of shock and held on tightly, and Loz laughed as he let go, sending the boy crashing to the ground once again.

Sora rolled across the dirt, quickly flipping back onto his feet just in time to have Loz dash in front of him. He lifted his Keyblade to guard, but Loz's foot slipped past, the toe of his heavy boot catching Sora's chest and knocking him into the air. The power of Loz's fist sent him flying back yet again as he punched the airborne hero, and Sora hit the ground hard, coughing from the combination of the bone shaking hit and dust filling his lungs.

"Stop playing around Loz," the longhaired man said, sounding completely bored.

"Shut up, Yazoo!"

"Aw, gonna cry?" Yazoo jibed, smirking.

"I'm not crying, you jerk! Now shut up and let me - !"

Loz's head snapped back, Sora's Keyblade whistling through the air with the slightest bit of blood trailing from the edge of its blade, torn away from Loz's chin where the weapon struck. Loz growled and staggered back, rubbing the wound and glaring daggers at his opponent. Sora just grinning smugly at him.

"You should leave the bickering for home," Sora sneered. "Gonna cry now?"

"I'm not crying!" Loz roared, shooting forward with the spokes of his weapon sliding to the ready.

His fist pistoned forward, and Sora watching in awe as the weapon seemed to slow. Light flashed inside his head once again, and just in time he swung his Keyblade up so it was in front of him like a shield. It just fit between the spokes, which shot forward and flashed lighting in open air. Sora smirked again at the slack expression of shock on Loz's face and swung up his Keyblade again, forcing Loz's arm back. He shifted his hands quickly, and brought it crashing down again on top of Loz's head.

Loz growled and stumbled back again, eyes furrowed dangerously. "You little...! I'm gonna kill you so hard!"

"Try me, Loz-er!"

Off to the side, Riku smacked his palm against his face. "Please tell me he did not just say that."

"He did not just say that!" Goofy said proudly.

Like an enraged beast, Loz charged in, arms swinging wildly as he attacked. Sora stepped back quickly, blocking the punches he could and ducking around others, avoiding the blind assault with relative ease. A punch went shooting forward with incredible force but Sora just jumped up over it. Seeing an opening, he pushed off of Loz's arm and spun over him, brining his Keyblade through the air in a circle and smacking it into the back of Loz's head. Pushing off of Loz's back as he fell forward, he spun around through the dirt to face his staggering opponent.

But this time, he had no room to gloat, as Loz shot forward with his after image once again. Sora hefted his Keyblade up again to block the taser, and the spokes fit neatly around the Keyblade's shaft – but didn't extend. Sora's eyes shot open in surprise, and Loz smirked as he swung his other fist out, plowing it directly into Sora's stomach. The boy was lifted off the ground by the force, and Loz brought up his weapon hand to slam it down on Sora's back, sending him crashing into the dirt.

Loz was on him in a flash, not giving him a chance to stand up this time around. The pistols shot back, and then Loz drove his fist forwards, spokes shooting into Sora's back and charging him with electricity. The ground broke under his body and he let out a scream of pain.

"Sora, no!" Donald yelled, swinging his staff down.

He was about to unleash a Thundaga on Loz when a voice rang out, loud and foreign in the environment. All heads turned to face a blur of purple and black as it launched at Loz's head.

"Let 'im go!"

A little girl, with a wild mop of purple hair, was clinging to Loz's shoulders, one arm wrapped around his neck while the other pounded against his head. He growled and reached back to grab her by her too-large black jacket, and flung her to the dirty by Yazoo's feet.

"Little brat! What the hell are you doing?" he roared, keeping a hand fisted in Sora's shirt to keep him from getting far.

"You let him go, you big jerk!" the girl yelled.

Suddenly, arms snaked around her, and the shorthaired leader hefted her up. His sword was drawn before she could react at all, the odd dual blades resting against her throat.

"You're a very stupid little girl," he said cruelly, grinning over her shoulder. "And if you don't get smart quickly, I'm going to kill you. Understand?"

"Lemme go!" she yelled, but didn't struggle.

"I'm afraid not. You see, you're going to be a hostage! Know what that means? No? Well, if the Keyblade Master's little friends do anything, you'll be the one to die first! So they'd better not move if they want your head to stay attached to your shoulders."

"Monster!" Kairi yelled, glaring at the man.

"You let her go right this minute!" Donald said, waving his staff threateningly.

But he just laughed. "Better lower your weapon, duck!"

The little girl let out a gasp as the cold metal pressed closer against her skin. Thin trickles of blood started down her neck from the shallow wounds, and Donald froze immediately. Slowly, he lowered his staff, and with fierce glares on their faces, Kairi and Riku dispelled their Keyblades.

"There's a good band of stupid heroes!" the man cheered. He turned to Yazoo and, same ugly smile on his face, said plainly, "Kill them!"

"You miserable..." Riku began, but was silenced as Yazoo's gun swung up. The click of the safety was deathly loud, and Riku swallowed hard he stared at the barrel of the gun. It glared back, the blank eye of Death itself.

"Goodbye, heroes," Yazoo said calmly.

A gunshot rang out, and the little girl let out a bloodcurdling scream.