Grotesquery

I would be the greatest ninja ever.

I sadly couldn't enjoy as much as all the people who apparently call it the best game ever. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic game, but I don't see the "very best" qualifications in it.

Android 17 and 18 confirmed as the next playable characters for the 7th generation of Pokemon, Lapis and Lazuli versions.

The first time I played through, I had no idea how to save Cid, so I let him die. I knew that you could save him, but in my eyes, I just wanted to get through the game. Even though I knew what would happen when I did, it didn't lessen the impact that the scene had and will always have on me. Later, I loaded an earlier save file in order to fight the Ultima weapon again, as I realized that with my choices made after the fight I would no longer be able to play as shadow. Being a slight completionist, I resolved to make it through the game by seeing all the content. I found out how to save Cid, and managed to do so (after like 45 minutes, yeah, it's really that grating), and as much as I love the old guy, I have to say that that decision was a mistake. It almost feels like I made the wrong choice; even if Cid survives it accomplishes nothing, it doesn't even add to the ending. Not only that, but it makes Cid's life feel cheap in some way. Before, he had a purpose, his death lead to a generally captivating scene that served to hammer home the feeling of desolation that the game was trying to sell. With him alive, I just feel like he matters less, as weird as that sounds. This pretty much confirms for me that canonically, Cid dies no matter what. Which I honestly feel is for the best.

Makes me realize there may be one thing worse then my predicament.

Hate to be the grouch, because I really am a Nintendo fan, but I have summer school. Not even the smile on Kirby's face can cure that fact.

Well, Mewtwo may not have won a spot in the next Smash, but at least the Mcdonalds deal came through.

The machine implodes, yet another, much more interesting looking machine pops out right before it does. I insert a coin into the very attractive machine.

Completely misleading title.

I've always believed that Braig would be a character to transcend the Xehanort Saga. He's just been too level-headed and calm throughout the series for me to take him as an "ordinary villain". Since Nomura pretty much confirmed that Kingdom Hearts 3 will wrap up the series where Xehanort is concerned, I've been thinking that Braig or someone like him will end up taking his spot as main antagonist after he's inevitably defeated.

Your mind submits, your heart succumbs... So why is your body READY!?

Note: The following guide is for the standard mode difficulty boss. Preparation: This is a four phase fight, with each phase ramping up exceedingly in difficulty as the fight wears on. There are many elements I suggest/command you to make sure you possess before even attempting this fight. First off, you must raise every party member to level 100(yes, the level cap was raised back up to 100. That’s how hard this fight is.) Considering that you have 10 party members to level, and you can only have 2 out at a time whilst leveling, this process should take you about 3 weeks. (5 depending on how long you hopelessly try the boss before realizing that you’re out of your league.) Secondly, you need to acquire every character’s ultimate weapon. This involves countless hours of winding side-quests that span every world and contain immeasurable amounts of character development. Except for Sora and Riku because they’ve literally had 3 games dedicated to them. For Sora, I recommend the weapon obtained from defeating the secret boss in the optional world “Death Star”, Darth Vader. Doing so will take a lot of effort, but not as much as the final boss, ironically. Defeating the secret boss rewards you with the “Gorge of Lucas”, some lightsaber looking doo dad that’s the strongest weapon in the entire game. It gives +32 strength, and +50 The Force magic. While both Sora and Riku can equip the weapon, I recommend giving it to Sora, as Riku’s AI in this fight will be especially useless(He’ll pretty much just be a cliché heal spammer. Yeah, THAT kind of useless.) You’ll also want to equip Terra with the Crown of Ner Rgae, which can be found in the bottomless kidney zone of the Continent Elephant found in the pride lands: second visit. Don’t question why you’re having him wear this, just trust me. It will be imperative later on. Once the proper preparations have been made, and you have every party member loaded up on max-elixirs, you are ready to start the fight. Travel to the final world, End of Destiny(Nomura’s fanciful take on a destroyed Destiny Islands. Well played, Nomura. Well played.), and enter the final door. Yes, we are doing the whole door thing again. PHASE 1: CLASSIC BALD MAN NEVER SOURS This phase is actually ridiculously easy. So easy you might have even been able to do it at level 99. Xehanort will DO things, but they won’t actually DO anything to you. It’s very reminiscent of Terra’s final battle in birth by sleep, as Xehanort, again, is a total pansy. It’s actually really satisfying, seeing 10 youngsters beat the stuffing out of an aging old man. To make things even better Xehanort has oodles of health, so you and your friends can pretty much wack him for just long enough before your attention span runs out. Unfortunately, this will be your only respite throughout the entire battle. Everything from this point on is serious business, piled on stinky business, piled on just plain dog dumps. PHASE 2: GOTHIC NEC-NORT Xehanort will say something along the lines of “darkness cannot be destroyed”, and transform into his second form. This is where things get straight up nasty, where dreams are crushed and children are traumatized. For a well prepared player, this phase will only be a few leaps harder than the last one. This is primarily a magic based fight, as Xehanort will never actually touch the ground nor use his Keyblade. Xehanort’s attacks are as follows(yes, you do actually need to know them now ): <- Very appropriate frowny face. Purge of Darkness: An ice attack that causes large spheres of ice to appear. If a party member is hit by this attack, the sphere will detonate, freezing the member and any other nearby characters. Avoid as much as possible. Dirge of Darkness: Will summon large pools of fire that will hurt whoever stands in them. So, basically…Don’t stand in the fire. Purge of Periwinkle: A large white laser that is aimed at a specific party member. This attack will hurt anyone who gets caught in it, and if the person that’s being attack isn’t healed, they’ll die in seconds. Dirge of Cerberus: Xehanort vomits into the ground and large geysers of darkness erupt from all around. Have you experienced this kind of thing before? If you have, I recommend calling a doctor. Lower the Roof: Xehanort, instead of causing the ground beneath you to rise up like before, instead causes the ground ABOVE you to rise down. This doesn’t make much sense, but you need to get used to that in this fight. And this is a good warm-up. Xehanort’s health will double in comparison to the last fight, so expect this one to last long, but not too long. His health bar will break the usual record set by the Lingering sentiment, so it will now loop around and form two rows of health segments. If you take extra care to evade Xehanort’s magic attacks, then you should be alright for a majority of the fight. Fortunately, Xehanort’s tactics don’t differ at all throughout this phase. The only thing you need to be careful about is making sure that no one is dead before Xehanort’s health reaches Zero, because of they are, Xehanort will absorb them and become much stronger, and they’ll also become unusable for the remainder of the battle. You DO NOT want that, so again, be cautious. Once Xehanort’s health disappears, he will enter phase three. PHASE 3: X-MAS This is where things take a turn for the worst. The environment you fight Xehanort in will change for the first time, and you’ll now battle him on top of a huge European Skyscraper made of stained glass floating in the middle of endless oblivion. Xehanort’s HP will triple in comparison to before, giving him enough health to cover almost a quarter of the screen. His attacks will now do so much damage you could die instantly if you’re not careful. So be on the lookout, as this will undeniably be one of the hardest fights of your life. Xehanort will start the fight, again, by saying something along the lines of “Darkness cannot be destroyed”. I don’t know why, but it’s definitely something to be curious about. Xehanort will have all of the abilities he had last time, in addition to new abilities if anyone was dead before starting this phase. I won’t list any of them, as you should probably just let yourself die before even attempting him in the case that he absorbed anyone. Xehanort will now use the Keyblade, and deal massive physical damage. One of his attacks is so powerful that it actually ignores the buffer-zone of Second Chance and Once More. The only one who even has a chance of surviving a single hit from him is Terra, equipped with the crown of Ner Rgae, which reduces all damage he takes from Xehanort by 1%. Oddly specific. I’ll also talk a bit about your other party members, as it actually matters who you keep alive now. Kairi and Aqua MUST stay alive throughout the fight. This is because they both have the highest magic in the game AND infinite MP when equipped with their ultimate weapons. If they die, you’ll have to go at least a minute without their insane healing, which could prove disastrous. For their action patterns, I recommend the pre-made setting: “don’t take damage”. Terra will be your main damage sponge, and you should have everyone who can heal the best healing him. Everyone else, Sora, Xion, Roxas, Ventus, Lea, and everyone I didn’t specifically mention by name will be doing damage to Xehanort. Xehanort, oddly, only has 2 new moves not counting his ability to hit you. They are): By Darkness be Purged: Launches a powerful dark sphere at the party member farthest away from Xehanort, damaging the character for like 99% of their health. Also summons a large Darkside heartless, in the shape of whoever was hit by the attack. This thing must go down IMMEADIATELY. If you allow it to live too long, it will become more powerful and start hitting even harder than Xehanort. Once this thing is killed, whoever had the original attack cast on them will do twice as much damage to Xehanort. For this reason, it’s important to make sure that neither Kairi nor Aqua get hit by the attack, as you want them available healing as much as possible. (Although I must admit, their darksides are rather cute.) Where is your Sunset now?: Yes, he actually says this when he uses it. I’m dead serious. … Anyways, this attack is a super one hit kill. It will always kill whoever gets hit by it, no exceptions. Although the amount of damage done by this attack strangely lessens the further it travels from Xehanort after being used, it’s all superficial. Not even Terra is Safe. The only one who can even possibly survive this attack is Lea, if he stands as far away as possible from Xehanort and takes the hit from there. Realistically, though, you won’t have enough time to set this situation up, so you’ll just have to bite the bullet and hope that no one important dies. Once Xehanort’s health reaches 1, he’ll finish the phase by using one last attack, The Soundless Song. I’m not sure if the name is supposed to mean anything yet, I’ll keep researching and let you know. Basically, this is one last one hit kill, aimed at Sora. You might be thinking that’s unfair, because if Sora dies, won’t the game be over? Well, here’s the catch. Whoever is closest to Sora at the time this attack is used, will push Sora out of the way and take the attack for him. This will instantly kill the party member, and they will be unavailable for the next and final phase. For reasons previously elaborated on, Aqua and Kairi should never make the sacrifice. No, I don’t care what you ship. It is for the greater good. The only person who should ever die to this attack, is Terra. Why, you may ask? Because later, a scripted event will occur in the final fight where Terra gains super powers. If he’s dead, he’ll also resurrect at that very moment. For that reason, you should make sure you let him die, as it will bypass the usual rule that prevents the person hit by this attack from coming back to life. Now that that’s all out of the way, let us move on to the final phase. But, first, let me take a moment to say something. If you have not started this fight, then take a good, long look at your life and ask yourself if you really want to go through with this. Remember, if you die here, you’ll have to do the entire fight all over again. Yes, I am dead serious. You good? Said your goodbyes? Well, then, let’s wrap this up. PHASE 4: THE FINAL VISAGE OF COUNTLESS VICES This phase is literally insane. You have no idea how many people have been rendered mad by this encounter, and how many more have been driven to a life of destruction through its very taunting existence. All under the banner of the little mouse. Before you even begin this phase, I recommend pausing on Xehanort's third phase and taking a few days to rest up. There are reports of this battle literally lasting more than 12 hours, with some people passing out on the final stretch. Compounded with the fact that during the actual battle, you are also unable to pause the game due to built-in game design, I don’t suggest making any immediate plans, either. Xehanort will absorb the true Kingdom Hearts, then shout, “Darkness cannot be destroyed” one last time, which honestly made me laugh a little. I think I’m finally starting to get it. But the next sight will take away any color your face may have had left. Xehanort’s final form, and the most difficult boss ever designed. Congratulations, you have officially peeved the Devil and all you have to defend yourself are some teenagers and a few metal poles. And Mickey Mouse. Xehanort’s health will go through the roof and out the door at the same time. He now has so much health that his health bars literally take up the entire right-hand half of the screen. This is a part of the fight, as Xehanort will constantly stick to the right side of the screen and try to blind-shot you with one hit-kill attacks. Yes, that’s right, he’s using the game itself to his advantage. From this point out, you will be playing by his rules. Terra will be dead for most of the fight, so you don’t have anyone to soak up damage. Fortunately, Xehanort won’t attack normally, instead, all he’ll do is throw one hit kills at you. These cannot even be dodge rolled, as they simply cover too wide a range. The only way to avoid them is to stay as far away from Xehanort as possible. Xehanort will only be attacking Sora throughout the fight, so your party members will be slightly safer. Although since every one of Xehanort’s attack is an insta-kill it really doesn’t even matter anymore. The only hope you have is to spam dodge roll with all your heart and soul as Xehanort relentlessly chases you down, and hope that your friends have enough A.I. to actually attack him. The second problem with this fight is that Xehanort’s defenses are other-worldly, a single combo will only lower his health by 1 micro-meter(Yes, I measured.) Factoring in all of the damage outputted by your teammates, I’ve calculated that the first half of this fight should last about 8 hours, at the least. This is all there is, too. Xehanort doesn’t gain any abilities, all he has are various different kinds of attacks that can instantly kill you. The only hope you have is that you somehow manage to stay alive long enough for Terra to come back to life. After Xehanort reaches half health, the scripted event mentioned earlier will finally take place, and Terra will resurrect. After this happens, he will easily become your strongest party member. He’s so powerful, a single one of his attacks will hit Xehanort for *10* micrometers of damage! Wow! Factoring in this massive damage increase, making it to the final leg of this fight should only take you about 5 more hours. If you manage to live that long, then you’ll be faced with the most challenging part of the fight, Xehanort’s last stand, if you will. HOWEVER, it is IMPERATIVE that you make sure every member of your party is alive before this last stretch begins. Once Xehanort reaches 13% health, he will enter his last phase, and if even a single member of your party is dead, all hope will be lost. It can be difficult to determine where Xehanort’s 13% mark is when given the fact that he has so much health, but I’ve calculated that it should be somewhere around the 25 ¾ bars of health mark. Once Xehanort reaches that point, he will go completely crazy on the party. He will stop following Sora, and will now throw one hit kills at everyone else in the vicinity. The first to die will be Xion because apparently she has the fewest fans. Then Kairi, then Terra, then Ventus, then Roxas, then Aqua, then Riku, then Lea, then Mickey. Sora will be the last one standing. However, the catch here is that for each party member that falls, Sora’s power will actually increase. This is why you need to make sure that each member of the party is alive before entering this phase, as you will need all the power you can get from them as possible. Truly, this is what Sora meant when he said his friends are his power. With every party member dead, Sora will now be the strongest character ever. Xehanort’s attacks will only take away about a quarter of Sora’s Health, and Sora’s attacks will take away inconceivable chunks of Xehanort’s(if you thought 10 micrometers was insane then OHHH boy). However, you cannot waste time or magic healing yourself, as this phase is timed. You only have 30 seconds to get Xehanort down to his last bar of health before he casts black hole and destroys you. From here on out, there’s nothing else I can do to make sure you succeed. This fight is between you and God now. If you somehow manage to make it to Xehanort’s last bar of health, don’t pass out just yet. There’s one final quick-time event you must complete, where Xehanort winds up all the power of Kingdom Hearts and throws a black-hole ball at Sora. After which, Sora hits it out of the park in a home-run, shattering his Keyblade and creating a black hole that sucks Xehanort in, thus gifting him the endless darkness he so sought after for all his life (This is Nomura’s version of poetic justice.) After that, the battle will finally be over. Cosmos will show up and bring everyone back to life, saying that they need to work for her from now on but everyone is so happy to be rid of Xehanort’s balding scalp that they don’t even care. Then, the ending rolls. And by ending, I mean a montage of Sora kissing Kairi, Roxas kissing Namine, Riku kissing Xion, Terra kissing Aqua, Ventus kissing some random girl who’s less important, Lea saying he’s too hot for love, and Yen Sid playing them out on the keyboard while singing a duet with Utada Hikaru alongside Voltron playing the drums whilst Chaos rocks the bass in the background. All in front of a sunset. A.K.A, the greatest ending ever. Edit: A recent purchasable DLC patch nerfed the boss considerably. Namely, Xehanort’s attacks no longer cause siege damage.

Do they, like, have youtube channels named after themselves or something? If so, I assumed those would have been taken by now.

For once not doing anything has worked out in my favor.

~Chapter 7: The Setting Sun~ Kairi’s eyes dotted across the vast expanse of the night sky, as she lay upon the soft field of grass that set out before Yen Sid’s tower. She turned her attention from star to star, an inquisitive look upon her face as she hummed in a pondering tone. Suddenly, she closed her eyes, and taking her hand, pointed up towards a random spot of the sky. “Okay.” She said, “And that one?” Sora spoke up from beside her. “Umm, Agrabah, maybe?” He said, with a clear lack of surety to his words. Kairi giggled slightly at his response, yet continued on regardless. Incessantly, she once again moved her hand to point at another region of the sky. “Okay, how about that one? Have you been there before?” Sora shook his head in exasperation. “Kairi, what makes you think I’ve been to every single world there is? And even if I have, how would I know them all so well that I could point them out just by looking at some random stars in the sky?” Kairi opened her eyes, sat up and turned towards Sora. “Well, how many worlds have you been to?” She asked. Sora shrugged, still lying soundly upon the ground. “Uh, I don’t really know. Two dozen, maybe? Not sure if I can count some of those, though, considering I was technically dreaming when I visited them. I guess I would have to go out and see them for myself again now that they’ve awakened.” Kairi nodded, remembering the explanation Sora gave her about the sleeping worlds he and Riku traveled through for their exam. Sora looked over at her, averting his gaze from the night sky. “Why are you so interested in the outer worlds, anyway?” Kairi turned away, and got a mischievous look on her face. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve been stuck on one while you two got to go out and see dozens more. I guess in your case, that child’s dream of yours to go see other worlds will kind of die out once you actually see them.” Sora, in response, sat up himself, and added playfully, “Hey, don’t try to blame us! After we got Mickey’s letter, we both said we would have taken you if we could. You’re the one who told us you wanted to stay on the Islands.” At his words, Kairi felt a brief sting of sadness in her heart upon recollecting her reasons for staying. Yet she tried her hardest not to show it, and soon enough, the feeling passed. Kairi smiled lightly at him. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe I am being a little unfair, I mean, I did get to see a lot of different worlds while you two were fighting the organization.” Sora nodded slightly in response. “Yeah, it’s just too bad that a lot of the time, some terrible things wound up happening whenever you went to another world.” Kairi giggled slightly at Sora’s words. “Oh, thanks! Now I really feel like I’m ready to start my career as an inter-galactic world saver.” Sora chuckled nervously at Kairi’s words, on one hand a little bit embarrassed at his statement, but on the other visibly amused by Kairi’s innocent sentiments. Slowly, Sora stopped, and looked away. A nostalgic smile crept onto his face, as he muttered slightly: “I still can’t believe you’re actually here with us.” At his words, Kairi arched an eyebrow, and with a sarcastic tone to her voice, replied, “Hey now, what exactly is THAT supposed to mean?” Sora turned his gaze towards her, a look of panic on his face as he raised his hands in a defensive sign. “Nothing, nothing!” He said swiftly. “It’s just… Well, I never really saw you as the kind of person who would willingly sign up for something like this. I mean… Something that can be pretty violent.” Kairi’s expression softened at her friend’s words. A look of understanding came upon her expression, and she quietly responded, “Sora, I’m doing this for more reasons than you think. I’m not just here because I want to fight. Remember, I chose this for myself. That alone should speak volumes about why I really did.” Sora looked over at Kairi, and nodded in response. To be honest, he was a little surprised she was opening up to him like this. As her friend, he always felt like they could share anything with each-other. But lately, they had been a little distant. It was good to see that she still felt confident enough to confide in him, even with something like this. “Yeah, I understand, Kairi.” He said to her in response. “I’m just worried about you, that’s all.” Kairi smiled at Sora’s words. “Thank you, but I just hope you understand that you might have to see me in a new way sometimes. When we’re fighting the heartless, and ultimately, Xehanort, there won’t be time for you to see me as powerless anymore.” Kairi giggled slightly at her own statement, and continued, “Wow, I just sounded unbearably over-confident, didn’t I?” In turn, Sora laughed at Kairi’s behavior, and shook his head. “No, no, I get it. And you’re right. Just remember, no matter what happens, I’ll always be looking out for you. Because you’re my friend, and nothing’s ever going to change that.” Kairi nodded. “Yeah, I know. Thanks, Sora.” Sora smiled one last time at her, before finally standing up and taking the chance to look around. “Man, where’s Riku…? He said he would be back soon.” Kairi nodded in agreement, and rose to her feet as well. “You’re right. He said he was going into Twilight Town to get something, but I figured he would be back by now…” Suddenly, the doors to Yen Sid’s tower were forced open with great vigor. Caught completely off-guard, Sora and Kairi turned towards the commotion with Panic-stricken faces. “Woah, woah!” Sora exclaimed, as Kairi stood, stunned before him. Slowly, Yen Sid emerged from his tower, his usual stoic and calm guise regained after exhausting himself in the mirror chamber. “The preparations are complete, young ones.” He said. “Your field of battle awaits you!” __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sora stood opposite of Kairi, stalwart and motionless upon what would soon become their battlefield. It was makeshift, nothing more than a large floating island near the one with Yen Sid’s tower, covered in grass, with sparse trees dotting the landscape. And even though its layout was simplistic, Yen Sid believed it was still more than adequate enough to serve as the backdrop for Kairi’s test. The master stood between Sora and Kairi, while Mickey waited a little ways a way, settling as an observer. Zangan stood, leaning within the shade of a nearby tree, somewhat closer to the action then Mickey. Merlin and The fairies had declined the invitation to watch the fight, saying that they had enough faith in their charge to already know the outcome. Sora glanced around at the rest of the field, wondering when the battle was set to start. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a brief flash of light, as Riku appeared upon the Island. He glanced around inquisitively, before saying, “Hey, what’d I miss?” In response, Sora yelled out, “Riku! Where have you been!?” Almost out of nowhere, Riku pulled a large pretzel up to his mouth, and began to eat it. “I decided to add some substance to this fight.” Kairi looked at him, a little stunned. “With… A pretzel…?” Riku nodded in response. “I wasn’t going to get a watermelon, if that’s what you’re implying. Those things are way too pricey.” Sora shook his head in disbelief, as Kairi stood distant, still a little dumbfounded. After everyone went silent, Yen Sid began to speak. “Today, you two have come together to meet in honorable combat. I will now explain the rules of your battle, and the limitations that will follow.” Sora and Kairi perked up at his commanding voice, backs straighter than usual. “First, you must understand. This is not a battle to claim victory, yet merely to understand your strengths. As such, you are forbidden from willingly inflicting any serious harm upon one-other.” Sora and Kairi nodded, both a little surprised that Yen Sid felt it necessary to tell them not to hurt each-other, as each knew that the other would never do so purposefully. Yet Kairi understood a little better, after all, she was still learning how to use the Keyblade, and this was the first actual fight she would ever participate in. She knew that she would have to take extra care to not take things too far. “Secondly!” Yen Sid continued. “I have no interest in making this a test of endurance. The battle will end only when one of you successfully knocks the Keyblade away from your opponent’s hands! In addition, the use of healing or recovery spells is strictly prohibited, as it runs the risk of letting this drag on far longer than need be. You may also not take in energy from your surroundings during the battle, for the same reason as before. You may store some of the energy around you now for future use, but that is all. What you have when you begin is what you must work with, if you must cast a spell, you must do so using the energy contained within yourselves, nothing more.” “And finally, you must both hold nothing back! This fight must test your limits, and I am challenging you to reach them. Live every moment as if it was the last, and never surrender until the moment of truth is at hand! That is all.” Sora and Kairi nodded, with Yen Sid giving the motion to prepare. Sora and Kairi readied their battle stances, and drew their Keyblades. Yen Sid slowly backed away, leaving their vicinity, and taking a moment to forge for himself a makeshift seat of wood and forestation. “You may begin when you are ready.” He said, as he went to rest. Sora stood immobile, still a little hesitant to attack his friend. In his eyes, he still couldn’t help seeing her as the little girl he grew up with, and it would take something pretty big to break that- Sora’s thought were suddenly interrupted by a flash of movement, right before his eyes. Kairi had shot forward from her position, and had come up from underneath Sora. She aimed a strike at Sora’s hand, hoping to be done with the battle as quickly as possible. And while Sora responded fast enough to block the first strike, it was already too late. Kairi followed up with a quick, brutal succession of blows that pushed Sora back, forcing him on the defensive. Sora had been too slow in keeping up with her; she had turned the tempo of the battle in her favor. Now, all he could do to last was try and block her strikes as best he could. “She’s faster than I would have guessed…” Sora thought to himself. “I can’t afford to hold anything back… not now. It would be an insult to her… And everything she’s worked for!” Kairi drew a wide swing up at Sora, yelling her heart out in an energetic burst. Sora aimed the brunt of his Keyblade down, just barely managing to block the strike. The force of the hit threw the Keyblade, still in his hands, upward. Kairi, still caught in the arc of her swing, gave Sora the opportunity he needed to rebound. Sora turned the Keyblade in his hand and, with a great yell, brought the shaft crashing into the ground before him, head first. Before Kairi could even react, Sora chanted the words: “Fira!” , bringing forth a wave of heat that set the surrounding grassland ablaze. Startled, Kairi backed away, while Sora withdrew his Keyblade from the earthy soil. The fire around him slowly started to recede, as the magic of Yen Sid’s world repaired the burnt ground at his feet. Sora’s face took on a serious tone. “Don’t think it’s going to be that easy. Even If you’re going to win, you’re gonna have to work for it.” Resolving to hold nothing back any longer, Sora charged forward with a fierce yell, knowing he would have to go on the offensive. But Kairi wasn’t prepared to go at it again. She had gambled a lot of energy on her first charge, and while she knew that Sora likely wasted quite a bit of his strength defending against it, she still understood that it was best for her to use her power in as cautious and deliberate of a manner as possible from then on out. Kairi placed her Keyblade on the ground before her, and kneeling down, exclaimed, “Blizzaga!” Suddenly, Sora stopped in his tracks, as a massive sphere of Ice appeared before him. Knowing somehow that he had faced this kind of threat before, he instinctively backed off. However, Kairi would give him no release. “Blizzaga!” She chanted once more, as another large ball of ice appeared behind Sora. Once again, Sora swiftly retreated from the large ice structure that appeared, but Kairi wouldn’t let up. She continuously chanted “Blizzaga, Blizzaga!” as more and more spheres of Ice began to materialize. Sora realized that soon, he would be in danger of being over-run. He faintly began to remember that striking these spheres would cause them to detonate, and with their vicinity right now, would be in danger of setting each-other off in a chain reaction. Sora was surrounded; he had no way of safely detonating the ice without being damaged himself. If they all went off at once, he would be in serious trouble. As such, Sora resolved that now, there was only one way to safely get out of his predicament. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but I did say I wouldn’t hold anything back.” Sora looked around, and found himself a safe position, far away enough from the numerous mines that floated near him. Meanwhile, Kairi looked on in curiosity, having long since stopped her casting. “What’s he…?” She mumbled to herself. Sora drew his Keyblade back, and slowly gathered a large ball of twisting light energy at the tip. With great force, he leapt up, and shouted: “Ragnarok!” The ball of light burst, as countless streams of light poured out, and struck the numerous blizzaga mines that littered the field. Each one burst into cold, frigid energy, yet they did so with Sora being a safe-distance away. Kairi watched on, stunned. She had put almost all of the energy she had left into the attack, she was at a loss. Her attention wavered, and she failed to notice that a few streams of light had broken off from Sora’s Ragnarok, and were headed towards her. Riku tensed at the sight, and shouted out, “Kairi, snap out of it!” Riku’s words were enough to get her attention, as Kairi perked up, and noticed the fast moving lines of light heading towards her. She moved to try and block them, but it was too late. The energy detonated in front of Kairi, kicking up dust and blinding her momentarily. She struggled to see clearly, and opened her eyes just in time to see Sora charging towards her. He rationed what little power he had left after Ragnarok, and rallied it for a last series of strikes on Kairi. The roles had been completely reversed, Kairi was using the last of her strength to protect against Sora’s onslaught, and Sora was the one who had her on the defensive. Both were growing weaker by the moment, but Kairi’s strength was the first to let out. Sora brought one great swing down upon her with a vigorous yell, and while Kairi moved quickly enough to guard it, she lacked the power to back it up any longer. The force of the strike hurled Kairi back, and forced her to the ground. And while she still held strong to her Keyblade, Sora was soon to relive her of it. He positioned himself above her, and brought his Keyblade high into the air for one last attack. Riku and Zangan’s eyes narrowed at the sight, and Mickey looked on in suspense. Kairi’s eyes darted back in forth. She was at the end of her line, she couldn’t keep up. She searched her mind desperately for something, anything she could do, and found nothing. The last burst of energy she had within herself took surface, and she surrendered her control to instinct. Her hand found its way to the ground, as a great pulse of energy radiated out into it, containing nothing more than Kairi’s desire to prove herself. At the sight that followed, Yen Sid stood up from his chair in shock. Suddenly, Sora faltered. “What the…?” He muttered. He had been thrown off balance, but by what, he couldn’t be sure. He turned his attention back, and noticed a large root clinging to his ankle, pulling him back. And that was all Kairi needed. With one final surge of strength, she shot forward, and in a victorious yell, struck the Keyblade from Sora’s hands. Sora turned his attention back, just in time to realize what had happened. He looked into his empty hands, with Kairi kneeling before him, exhausted. Everyone stood, dumbfounded. Slowly, Yen Sid regained his composure, and yelled out, “The battle is decided! The winner, without any doubt, is Kairi!” Sora was still a little surprised, even after Yen Sid announced his defeat. However, he quickly managed to pull himself together, and in response to Kairi’s victory, chuckled slightly. “That was crazy!” He exclaimed, before finally calling his misplaced Keyblade back into his hands. He knelt down before the still exhausted Kairi, and offered to help her up. “You did great, Kairi. Way better than I would have ever imagined.” Kairi looked back at him, still out of breath, and slightly surprised for a moment. Quickly enough, though, her surprise faded, and she smiled back at him, and muttered, “Thanks, Sora.” She accepted his helping hand, as he finally pulled her up to her feet. As Kairi looked up, she was struck with a familiar face, standing not too far away. Zangan stood prostrate before Kairi, as Sora watched on, a little confused. Slowly, Zangan bowed before her, pausing for a few moments to let the significance of the gesture sink in. Kairi looked at him, stunned, and muttering, “Master Zangan…” Slowly, Zangan stood tall once more. Then turned, and walked away. As if from nowhere he came, so as he also began to fade, the image of his back the only thing Kairi saw of him as a small rift opened ahead and he vanished into it. Suddenly, off to the side, Sora and Kairi heard the sharp sound of solitary applause coming from a nearby source. They both turned their attention towards the noise, and saw Riku walking towards them, having just finished off his pretzel. “Well then, I see that I’m not the only one who’s been working, for once.” Kairi giggled slightly at his words, while Sora just huffed in disbelief. Riku stopped before Kairi, and offered her another light smile of approval. “In all seriousness though, congratulations, Kairi.” Kairi nodded at his words, and replied, “Thanks, Riku. Hearing that from both of you means a lot more than you’d think.” Suddenly, A look of realization dawned upon Riku’s expression, as he said, “Hold on a second, I’ve got something for you guys. I’ll be right back!” Almost as quickly as he came, Riku turned and sprinted back towards the tree where Zangan once stood leaning against. A small thought hit Kairi, as she turned her attention back towards Sora, and playfully added, “Who do you think would win one of your little races, now?” Sora chuckled, and in response, said, “Well, you were never really meant to be a contender for those things. If we were going to seriously go at it, though, we’d definitely need a bigger Island, if only just to pick up any speed.” Kairi laughed at his reply, as her attention started to wander. Kairi slowly started to wonder why Riku and Zangan had been the only ones to come and greet them. She looked around for Mickey, and noticed that he was no longer where he stood a moment ago. She noticed him out of the corner of her eye, over near Master Yen Sid. Kairi couldn’t be sure from this far away, but it looked to her like the two were discussing something. Again, from this distance, Kairi couldn’t make out what it was, but it certainly left her curious, nonetheless. Suddenly, Riku appeared before Sora and Kairi, holding a small white box. Sora looked at it in fascination. “You got us something?” Kairi walked closer to them both, and added, “You didn’t have to, Riku.” In response, Riku shook his head at them. “What do you mean? Of course I had to; this is a celebration, after all. To Kairi, for making it so far, and to Sora, for managing to get knocked off his high-horse once again.” Sora rolled his eyes at Riku’s words, and replied, “Yeah, I get it. Can we move on?” Riku, in turn, chuckled awkwardly. “Well, here’s the thing. You see, I wasn’t actually expecting you guys to take so long. So they might have… Melted, a little.” Riku opened the box, revealing three bars of wrapped ice cream. Sora eagerly grabbed one from the box, and held it close. “Woah! Thanks, Riku! I never thought I’d actually get to have one of these again, especially not one that Donald hadn’t hoarded for himself!” Kairi walked up to the box, and pulled out a bar for herself. “You got these from Twilight Town?” She asked. Riku nodded. “Yeah, they’re called…” Riku began, before Kairi interrupted him with, “Sea-Salt Ice-Cream, right?” Riku nodded at her again, a little surprised. “Yeah, how did you know?” He asked. Kairi shrugged, and said, “The last time I was in Twilight Town, the group of kids I met up with mentioned it. The name reminded me of home, so I guess it just stuck.” Riku nodded at her in acknowledgment, and then proceeded to take the last bar for himself. “I’m just surprised this stuff really hasn’t melted yet.” __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mickey looked up at Yen Sid, surprised, and yet confused at the same time. “Master…” He began, “Are you sure about this? Can’t ya say it was another kind of magic?” Yen Sid shook his head. “No, Mickey. I am certain, that girl, even if she was unaware of it, performed plant magic.” Mickey’s eyes wandered, his expression troubled as he tried to work out the details. “Plant magic is infamous for requiring a whole lotta time and effort in order to master, which is why its use is so uncommon. Some could take 5 years at the least to learn the basics…” Yen Sid nodded at Mickey. “Indeed, only those whose hearts possess a natural affinity for the element can do so using base instinct… If Kairi was an ordinary student, then this situation would be far more simplistic.” “But Kairi isn’t normal.” Mickey looked up at Yen Sid, and continued, “She’s a Princess of Heart. And that means, naturally, her heart must have an affinity for light.” Yen Sid looked off into the distance at his students. “No heart can have more than one elemental affinity, at least, none that I’ve seen…” “Yen Sid?” Mickey piped up. The Master looked lost in thought, a strange expression finding its way onto his face, one that contained both unease, and slight relief. “She couldn’t have done it…” He muttered to himself. Mickey looked up at Yen Sid once more, and said, “Master, do you have some guess as to why this happened?” Yen Sid shook his head once more. “I have nothing more than a theory, one that I would rather not burden anyone else with at the moment.” Yen Sid looked down at Mickey, and said, “Mickey, I will have to ask that you keep what was said here between us, and us alone.” Mickey nodded at him, and replied, “Of course, Master.” __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Sora, Riku, and Kairi sat at the edge of their floating Island, dangling their legs over the vast expanse of twisting color below them. In their hands, they each held a bar of Sea-Salt Ice-Cream. As Sora and Riku looked out over the seemingly endless void that they sat before, Kairi couldn’t help looking down. “Uhm…” She began, garnering the attention of her friends. “Are you sure this is safe?” Riku shook his head. “Don’t worry, even if you fall, Yen Sid could probably teleport you back up here. This IS his world, after all.” Kairi nodded slightly, but still couldn’t shake a small feeling of unease. Instead of focusing on that minor stint of fear, however, she decided to distract herself by making small-talk with her friends. “So… Riku.” She said. “Back there, you said you didn’t expect me and Sora to finish so quickly. What did you mean?” Riku looked over at her, and replied, “I meant that, at first, I thought it was going to be a completely one-sided battle. I assumed that either Sora would have gone too easy on you, or you would have held back against him. That’s why I figured I might as well go get something to help whoever lost swallow down their pride.” Sora spoke up from besides Kairi. “Hey!” He exclaimed. Kairi turned back towards Sora, a look of surprise on her face. “Sora, are you saying that you weren’t holding back?” Sora looked her in the eyes, and took note of the sincerity in her voice. “N-no, I wasn’t. I mean, maybe a little bit in the beginning, but after that, I was definitely taking everything seriously.” Kairi looked away briefly, her expression showing that she was lost in thought. They stayed like that for what seemed like ages. They sat in silence, merely gazing out in the abyss, left alone with nothing but their own thoughts. Finally, Sora broke the quiet. “How long has it been since we were all together like this? I mean, really?” He asked, looking at no one in particular. Kairi turned her head to look at him. “What do you mean?” She returned. Sora shook his head. “I don’t know, it just feels like forever since we’ve had the chance to talk like this. I know we got together once right before Riku and I left the Islands for the second time… But remember? When we were kids, we used to see every sunset as some kind of celebration. We would meet up at the Paupu tree, and watch it set. Sometimes we didn’t even say anything. It was just the fact that we were all there together that made us do it all the time.” Sora looked over to his left, at both of his friends. Kairi had a slightly worried expression on her face that belied her surprise at Sora’s words. Riku, on the other hand, was still staring out into distance, his mind occupied with what, no one could be sure of. Kairi looked away, took a bite from her now melting ice-cream, and then answered Sora with, “Where’s this coming from, all of a sudden? You never brought it up while we were on the Islands.” Sora chuckled nervously, and scratched his head. “I don’t really know, the thought just popped into my head all of a sudden. I guess being here… Eating Ice-Cream with my two best friends, sort of got me thinking about the past.” Kairi smiled lightly, as Riku finally turned his attention back towards Sora. “Don’t worry.” Kairi turned and said to him. “We’ll be together every-day, right? Even if we can’t see each-other, we’ll never forget who matter most.” Kairi looked down, a new, nostalgic smile coming to her face. “Even if things change, we’ll always have each-other in our hearts. We have the memories of the people who we loved before, the people who were our friends. And so long as we hold on to those memories, what we really mean to each-other will never truly be forgotten.” Riku looked over at Kairi, a little stunned. “… You’ve been thinking a lot about this, haven’t you?” She looked back up at him, a sweet smile still etched upon her face. “It’s thanks to you two. Remember back when you sealed Kingdom Hearts for the first time, and I returned to the Islands? Well, having you both gone for so long… I had a lot of time to think about what really mattered to me.” Sora smiled at her. “Yeah, you’re right.” He said. “No matter what Xehanort throws at us, he’ll never be able to break away what we are right now. And right now, all that matters to me is that I’m here… Sharing this moment with my best friends.” Sora looked back towards the colorful expanse that stretched before him, and quietly finished with, “Thanks, Kairi.” Kairi smiled one last time at him, before looking back at Riku. He smiled at her in sort, and nodded his head in acknowledgment and agreement of what both she and Sora had said. Slowly, they all returned to where they were before, silently gazing out into the world, trying to finish their ice-cream before it hit the melting point. Kairi retreated one again into her own thoughts, haphazardly working away at the ice-cream in her hands. Things went on like this for a while. Minutes passed in what seemed like seconds, and before any of them knew, they had all finished their ice-cream, and were now bound to the moment through nothing but one-another. Suddenly, Riku finally decided to break the deafening silence. He brought to light a question that had been bothering him for a while, yet only just now managed to enter his mind once more. “Hey, Sora.” He spoke up, “I forgot to ask you, where did you run off to before Kairi showed up?” Suddenly, Sora’s expression took on a look of sheer horror. He shot up from his place at the edge of the Island, and with his hands on his temples in a look of shock, he exclaimed, “ACK!” Kairi was jolted from her thoughts at the rude awakening, and jumped slightly in surprise. With a panicked look on her face, she struggled to maintain her hold on the ledge of the Island, as Riku looked on at them both, dumbfounded. “Was it something I said?” He asked, stunned. Once more, Sora cried out, “I can’t believe I forgot about him!” __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ROLIN AROND AT DA SPED A SOND GOT PLACES 2 GO GOTA FOLOW MA RAINBOWS Wow. WOW. What even is this? Could Arcmin truly have updated in a timely manner for once? The disputable answer for now is yes. I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed those of you hardcore fans out there who were looking forward to the suspenseful 4 month wait, but I regrettably cannot control the hazardous ebb and flow of the creative river. I can, however, swim in it. I invite you to do the same.

TF2 red's clues vs blu's clues New class the riddler confirmed

I've always wondered whether or not he's genuinely trying to dodge these people, or really just that oblivious.

People do sad things in sad times.

Jontron gif incoming? Let us wait and see.

Ah, the best had to be the PC. Who could forget such classic launch titles like "Nimrod" and "Tennis for Two"?

They are all clearly wrong, Coded adds just as much confusion to the series as any of the other games and it deserves to be recognized.

You have at least one part of that right. The entire sentence.

Same here, The exact same situation happened with Crisis Core; I just can't get over this stuff, sometimes.