Ace slid his right foot backwards, and evaded Gavin as he flew towards him. His eyes still on Salforge and Ryoko, he reached out and grabbed Gavin by the collar, stopping his momentum. He let him go, and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. "Gavin." He said, looking ahead. "I don't care about how much darkness you have inside of you right now, I'll deal with it later. At the moment, I need you to work with us. If you don't, then I have little reason to keep putting the others at risk on your behalf. Got it?" Ace drew an inch of his katana from it's sheath and took a step forward, but stopped as the Empire mercenary summoned Heartless. Shizuka and Osa quickly ran to his side. 

"Ace, we need to do something these Heartless, as long as that man has that heart he will never run out of soldiers." Osa said. Ace knew this, and been glaring at the heart in the man's hand.

"Maybe we could get it out of his hands?" Shizuka said. "He shouldn't be able to use it then, right?" Ryoko let out a laugh.

"Good luck with that, it will be damn near impossible as long as his immovable blocks surround it. You're only hope is to deal with the both of us fair. And. Square." She said. A Heartless lunged for Shizuka, she hardened her arm into steel and bashed it into the alley wall. Their numbers were growing exponentially, and they were quickly running out of space. 

"Osa, Shizuka, handle these Heartless, Gavin, distract that guy with the heart, but don't do anything too risky. I'll try to take care of the woman. Leaving Shizuka and Osa to pummel Shadows, Ace dashed forward to engage Ryoko. Blades of blood formed from the wounds in her palms, each in the shape of a machete. Ace swung his sword at her side, but the blow was blocked by one of her black blades. "Huh?" He tried to pull his blade back, but it was stuck inside of her machete. She yanked on the katana, pulling Ace towards her. Her knee slammed into his gut, and as he tried to free his katana she swung at his free arm; she barley missed cutting his arm off, only leaving him with a shallow gash.

Ace let go of his blade and jumped back, he stumbled as a wave of pain shoot through his arm. "Feeling it already huh? My own brand of venom, homemade just for you." Ryoko said with pleasure. Her blood seeped back into her palms, and she took hold of Ace's katana. "Funny looking thing, never seen a katana with a chain attached to it. Oh well, I think I'll keep it anyway. I'm going to need that sheath, though, aren't I?"