Fan Dub Software...? Anyone know what software I should use to take the voices out of a video, yet keep all of the other audio, (sound effects, music, etc.)? I would appreciate it! Later for now. - Ol'Sephy
Anyone...? Anyone want to help out? I just want some opinions. :>/ PM me, like it says up there. :) Later for now. - Ol'Sephy
Quick Problem... I can't seem to get any codes to work with my CodeBreaker, (v.8.01, I think). The only one that works is the Max/Infinite Munny one, but that only works half way. It only gives me the maximum amount! That is about as far as I can get with the codes in this thread. I'm not sure if it's because the version of the game that I have is not NTSC, (doubtful), or what. Is there a PAL version of this game, anyway? I don't think that there is... Well, if anyone has any insight on this, I would appreciate the help! Later for now! - Ol'Sephy EDIT: I guess some specifics on what codes that I want would be good, right? I wanted to use the following: 1.) Infinite HP/MP 2.) Warp to Terra Battle. 3.) Terra replaces Donald/Goofy. 4.) Final Xemnas, (Limit Cut) replaces Donald/Goofy. 5.) Terra attacks me but does damage to enemies. 6.) Have all spells be highest level. 7.) Have Sora/DW Roxas/Antiform Allies. 8.) Infinite/Max Munny. I know that most of these are already in the thread, but none of them work! I have gotten the Sora Ally, Terra replaces Donald/Goofy, play as Roxas/Drive to DW Roxas, and Max Munny codes to work a little bit, but not all the way. When I had the Terra replaces Ally code on, it froze when I tried to leave the map. Same with the Sora Ally and play as Roxas/DW Roxas codes. The Max Munny works, but only when used along with an Infinite Munny code... I have no idea what I'm doing wrong! Sorry about the long post!
Thanks!!!!!! Well, that's not the same video, but it actually is better than the one that I saw! :P Also, I know that playing as bosses only works on emulators, (I remember someone saying something about it a few pages back). I actually dug through my hard drive to find my emulators to play with codes like that! You didn't save it, though? T_T Oh, well. I'm guessing that it only works on that map, anyway, right? If so, then don't stress! I wouldn't want a code that only works on one map... If I could play as Terra, I'd want to do it EVERYWHERE! :D Well, don't stress, regardless... O_o And thanks for the reference to that Emuhaste, thingie. I think I'll go check it out right now... Later! -Ol'Sephy EDIT: I can't for the life of me figure out how to use Emuhaste! All the error messages are in stupid symbols and there are no helpful .txt files to point me in the right direction! If you could help me or point me in the direction of someone/thing that could, I would appreciate it!
Any good roles that need to be filled...? O_o Hey! I was just wondering if any roles are still available for some male characters? I was also wondering if someone could listen to some voice acting by me in different characters? I need to get some Kingdom Hearts fans' opinions on who I sound like the most. None of my friends are very big Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy fans, so I can't get an very good set of opinions! T_T Oh well... I guess that's what KH-Vids is for! :P I could do DiZ, Cloud, or maybe, (stress on "maybe"), Riku. I really don't have any accurate ideas on who I would be good doing. That is why I want some of you to hear my voice and give me your opinions! Well, this looks to be my first, "non-Code Vault" post, and I didn't disappoint myself with some sort of short post! :P PM me with requests on what you want to hear me do with voice acting. I will try to do it and send you the results! Thanks! Later for now! - Ol'Sephy
Dude! You're making a playable Cloud?!?! (*Dies in anticipation!*) Speaking of which, (*resurrects himself to make a request*), has anyone seen a YouTube video that had a link in this thread, (don't ask where, I can't find it right now), that featured someone "playing" as Terra? (I put quotes there because this person was just standing there, taking a royal beating from another Terra. :P) My connection here sucks, so I didn't get to see the whole video, (all 40-some-odd seconds of it), but I still now have the desire to dust off my emulators and try it out, myself! I have been here for a long, long, LOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG time trying to get some codes to work. (See below.) If anyone can tell me where to find a "play-as-a-boss" code, I would die of ecstasy! (From above): I can't seem to get my emulator to work with codes. I looked up a tutorial for making codebreaker codes into RAW format, then putting them into the game's .pnach file, but I can't get the emulator to start with the codes put in! I think that the codes are not the right "version" to work. I got them from this thread, and they work fine on my PS2, but not on the PCSX2 emulator... Maybe they have to be from Codebreaker or wherever the PCSX2 people got the information for the original .pnach file...? I really don't know and making a lot of guesses here! I'm stumped, so any help would be appreciated! :D Well, see ya later! - Ol'Sephy
Kingdom Hearts: Final Master [Part Two] Okay! I think that the time has come to continue my story! Well, it's only been, like, twenty-four hours, but what the heck, huh? So, before I start to ramble, here is... Part Two Chapter One: The Dungeon - The World that Never Was... Time until the Revival of Worlds: 3 years Adrian's mind was wandering. Many would think that impossible while in a state of suspended animation, and, normally, it is. But Adrian was special. He had the spirit of a SOLDIER in his head. He was about to break out of his suspended animation chamber. He had no heart. It was strange to think that he should be feeling his heart hammering against his chest, feel the blood pounding around in his ears. It sure was... Different. He hated being a Nobody. If Cloud hadn't come back... Well, I did! Cloud pointed out to him. Adrian would have sighed, but he couldn't move. He technically was still in suspended animation. The only difference was that he was conscious. He could hear some sounds from outside his "sleeping chamber." This place sure was nifty! Accommodations for all! Adrian! Focus! Well, I'm finding that hard right about now! They'll be around soon. Then you can kick the crap out of them and free Sora. We don't even know how able I'll be to walk! And you're still thinking of making me fight?! Do you want to leave your prison of the last six years or not?!?! Adrian didn't reply. He hated the fact that his mental blocks would have to be put back up now that he was a Nobody. Nobodies. The antithesis to Heartless. The "empty shell" left behind by a heart being taken from someone's body. Some Heartless out there just got really lucky. Good job, Cloud. Hey, it's not my fault! How was I supposed to know that the Darkness would cling to me?! I just thought that we'd be better off staying together after I fought with the Darkness... Do you know how hard it -- Yes. I know how hard it is to fight the Darkness. By yourself. With no weapon. You've told me. Now I have two words for you. "Shut." And "up." Hmph! Have it your way, then! Cloud had apparently fallen into the Darkness when Adrian had blown up the house on Destiny Islands. He had been blasted into it, more likely. He had fought through the Darkness and with it for most of the six years that they had been apart. He had realized that the Darkness in his heart was so potent because he let it be that way. If he hadn't listened to that side of himself so much, then maybe he could have let it go sooner. He had had to learn to fight it the hard way. By facing its true form. It had been hard, Adrian got that. But he didn't need to keep reminding him. Get ready! Hear one of them come! Adrian snapped out of his thoughts and got ready to break out. He listened closely. By the sound of it, there was only one of them this time. Big. Probably Lexeaus. Great. He remembered fighting him during his "testing." Big guy with a giant tomahawk. This was going to be fun... Focus... I am! Now shut up! The footsteps got closer and closer as they echoed across the chamber. They stopped to the left of him. He was checking Sora first. One... Lexeaus would take two and half steps from Sora to him. He would need to summon some power to break the hold on him from the suspended animation and break the glass in front of him to get out of the chamber... Two... That's one step. Two steps. And... THREE!!! Adrian's eyes snapped open and his arms thrust outward and into a thick pane of glass. He could feel it give, but only a little bit! He swore through the liquid that he was in, throwing another punch at the glass. This time, he put a little bit of magically enhanced "oomph" into it. The glass shattered and showered all over Lexeaus, some of it going into his arm. Adrian fell out and recovered enough to do a little tumble through the shards on the ground before standing, minimally hurt from the fall and the glass. Lexeaus had been standing just to the left of the tank's window, resulting in Adrian clipping him on the way out. He had been surprised to see the eyes open and was about to hit the alarm when the glass had shattered, making him throw up his arms. He grunted as he pulled a large piece of it out of the back of his forearm. He smiled at the wavering boy before him. "I'll deal with you myself, then!" "Bring it." Adrian tried to say, but he spit some of the liquid out, instead. Lexaeus drew his tomahawk from the air in front of him, smashing it down into the ground afterward. Adrian read him like a book and jumped left as the tomahawk suddenly blew right past him and smashed into the wall. He had seen this before. He was big, but he was fast. He also had a weapon, a category of which Adrian was sorely lacking! He sidestepped a smashing swing from Lexaeus and stepped onto the tomahawk. He jumped over the big Nobody and looped his arm around his neck. He pulled back on his throat while Lexaeus tried everything in his power to throw him off. At one point, Adrian could feel his strength slipping. He had just woken up from a six year nap. He was too weak! He would have to find another way of incapacitating this guy... Lexaeus suddenly got the idea of smashing Adrian into the wall. He backed up and pressed into the chamber's wall. Adrian had the wind knocked out of him and his left hand, (which was holding his right arm in place around Lexaeus's neck), slipped a little bit. He looked to the right and saw a metal pipe sticking out of the white wall. He wrapped his legs around Lexaeus's waist, (no easy task there!), and let go of his neck! He grabbed the pipe, wrenched it from the wall, and brought it down onto Lexaeus's head with enough force to break several teeth. He went limp instantly and fell forward, his tomahawk falling beside him. Adrian stayed laying halfway on his foe's back, exhausted. Wow... Adrian directed at Cloud, That's one experience that I never want to do again! Let's just go. We gotta move faster now! If we don't then they might -- I get it! I just gotta catch my breath! Adrian stood and took three deep breaths. Then, when he he had recovered a little bit, he tucked the pipe under his arm and walked unevenly over to Sora's suspended animation tank. He pressed three buttons on the control console after carefully looking at it. The liquid drained from it and the glass slid open to the right. Sora stood there for a moment, looking peaceful, then his brow furrowed and his eyes opened slowly. He took one staggering step forward and then another and another. He looked around the white-walled room. Then he saw Adrian, looking sweaty and a little winded, standing at the console. Adrian put a finger to his lips and beckoned. Sora, who was still a little woozy, nodded and fell backward onto his rear. He crawled over to the exit of the tank and put his feet out in front of him. He dropped down to the ground. Adrian tried to say something, but his voice gargled. He stopped, grimaced and, cleared his throat. Then, he tried again. "We gotta go. We're getting out of here. But we gotta be fast. The big guy is over there." He pointed over to Lexaeus's unconscious form. "Can you walk?" Sora looked at him and took a few exploratory steps. He staggered a few times, then took a few more. He was looking better, already. "Here." Adrian put a hand on Sora's chest and called up some low-leveled curative magic. They both felt a little bit of cool spread through their lungs and, for Sora, heart. Sora looked at Adrian funny when he felt the magic go through him. It felt different. He was about to ask when Adrian cut him off. "I'll explain things later. For now, let's grab our stuff and get out of here!" And he went over to the lockers on one of the walls and opened on of them to find their old packs. He picked his up, tossed Sora's to him and headed out the door, Sora hot on his heels. He stopped suddenly as he thought of something. Lexaeus had had a set of keys, hadn't he? They could be the only set of dungeon keys here! Do it. Cloud encouraged. Adrian smiled evilly as he went back into the cell, grabbed the dungeon keys from the large Nobody's belt, and locked him into the cell. Then, he put the keys into his pocket. They might need them later! Sora held back some laughter. He gave his older brother the thumbs up. They got to another door that required a key. Adrian pulled out the keys and grabbed the one that looked like it went into the lock. It worked. He peeked out through the door and saw another hallway that went to the left and right. The walls were white here, as well. The difference between these walls and the ones inside the dungeon was that these had large patterns on them that you could only see from certain angles. The two boys went out into this new area of the castle and went left down the hallway. They went down a flight of stairs and saw their first window on the first landing that they came to. They peeked out and saw a vast city that stretched to the horizon. There were skyscrapers and large, neoclassical-like buildings. The one thing that they all had in common was that they were all black. They tore their gaze from the massive city that lay far below them and went down the stairs some more. They needed to get to ground level to get out. The only problem was that ground level would be the most crowded area of the entire castle. They would need to be careful... They got to the staircase between second and third floors when they heard voices coming from below. They retreated up the stairs and sprinted down the hallway, back the way they came. Sora stopped in front of a door and beckoned Adrian in. They went in to find living quarters of some sort. It didn't look like any of the Organization members lived here, but they stayed away from the door, just in case. The voices went by the door and they heard snatches of conversation between a young man and a boy of about Sora's age. "So, Roxas, you got a special power?" The young man's voice said. "Hm. I don't really know." This Roxas sounded a lot like Sora, too. "I just figured that I'd find out more about this 'Organization XIII' for my self." "Hm." The voices got further down the hall, but the last bit of conversation that Sora and Adrian heard was about Lexaeus. "I wonder what's taking Lexaeus so long?" The young man wondered aloud. "I don't know. Maybe the prisoners broke out? You ever consider that, Axel?" They both laughed as their voices faded out of earshot. Adrian and Sora came out of the room and stared down the hallway after Roxas and Axel. "Roxas? He sounded like me, didn't he, Adrian?" Sora looked at Adrian and froze. "That was him." Adrian said, looking furious. "He was the one who lied to me about our parents. He's the reason I'm here." "Adrian, calm down and let's get out of here. We need to get some bearings on how long we were in those things. It couldn't have been more than six months, huh?" "Sora, look at me." Adrian faced Sora and Sora gasped. "Do I look only six months older?" "What about me? How much older do I look?" Sora looked at Adrian sideways. "About five. Give or take a few months." Adrian said. "Yeah, right! Be serious! How old?" "I am being serious. It's been six years since we woke up here and they started 'testing' us. I asked Cloud." "Huh? I thought Cloud got ripped outta you when you blew up the house! Did he come back? Is that how you got out?" "I'll explain later! We gotta get out of here right now... But yeah, Cloud's back and he's the reason we're able to escape." No need to thank me. Shut up. You're just a voice in my head right now. You can be all cocky when you have your body back... I'll hold you to that. I know you will. "Uh, Adrian?" Adrian snapped back to reality. He blushed. "Right. Let's go." And they took off toward the stairs again. Meanwhile, in the Dungeon... "So, do you remember your true name, Axel?" Roxas asked as he followed Axel up some more stairs. "Nah," Axel replied, "And not many of us do. Our human memories died with our human selves. Not much to us. I guess that if I could feel emotions, I'd be sad. It sucks being disconnected to anything real..." "'Real' as in emotionally real, or 'real' as in existence real?" Axel laughed a little, but didn't reply. They entered the cell block where Adrian and Sora were being held and they saw Lexaeus laying on the ground amid broken glass inside the now locked cell. The prisoners had escaped! "Aw, man! You big idiot! Wake up, Lexaeus! WAKE UP!!!" Axel yelled at him. He sighed and summoned his chakrams and threw them both between the bars. He teleported through them and ended up right beside Lexaeus. "WAKE UP!!!!!!!!" He bellowed and blasted Lexaeus's glass-injured arm with fire. Lexaeus jumped up and waved his hand around like an idiot for a moment and then relaxed after Axel snapped his fingers, making the fire go out. They looked at each other for a moment, then Axel got up close to Lexaeus's face. He then proceeded to yell at him. "THE PRISONERS HAVE ESCAPED!!! YOU NEED TO FIND THEM!!! YOU!!! NOT ME!!! YOU!!! GET GOING!!! YOU'VE REALLY SCREWED UP BIG THIS TIME, LEXAEUS!!!!!!" Lexaeus jumped when Axel had started yelling at him. He tried to run out of the cell, only to find it locked. He found this out by running into the bars and getting knocked out again. This made Axel stop yelling and look at the pathetic, once-again-crumpled form of the big Nobody. He looked up at Roxas, the picture of calm, and said, "Go inform the Superior that Adrian and Sora have escaped. I'll deal with ol' Lexy here..." Roxas nodded and ran back the way he had come. Chapter Two: Memory Skyscraper - The World that Never Was... Time until the Revival of Worlds: 3 years Adrian and Sora had run for a while and were starting to feel it. They had been dodging and running from the Heartless that seemed to live in this gigantic city for nearly an hour. Getting out of the castle had been surprisingly easy. A lapse in the judgment of a guard had let them slip through the security fairly quick. Now, however, they were continually running from the Dusks that had been sent out after them by the Organization and the NeoShadows that had been springing up all over the place within the city. Adrian was just waiting for a fight to break out between the Heartless and the Nobodies, but that had yet to happen. The Heartless were too intent on claiming their hearts, (well, in the case of Sora, anyway), and the Nobodies were too blinded by the orders of their Superior! If they didn't get out soon... There was a crash somewhere up ahead. A flickering light appeared in the sky above the city, signaling that something was aflame. Sora and Adrian stopped and looked at each other. Then, they looked around to see that the Heartless and the Nobodies were all gone! "What the --" Look out! Adrian jumped to the left as a ball of flame hit the ground right where he had been standing. Sora looked across the flames at him and tried to get around to him. "Take another step and I'll incinerate you." Sora froze and looked up to see the silhouette of a man standing on top of one of the smaller, two story buildings, pointing a sword at him. The tip of the sword was smoking. "Who are you?" Adrian yelled. "I could ask you the same thing." The man said calmly and jumped down. He had brown hair and a scar that ran from his hairline, between his eyes and across his right cheek. "Well, I'm Adrian. I am trying to escape this world, and if you wanna get in my way..." He went into an offensive stance to finish his point. The man laughed. "So you're Adrian, huh? The magical prodigy. The would-be Keyblade master..." "Wait." Adrian relaxed. "What did you say?" "Hm. So you understand. My name's Leon. Pleasure to meet you." He looked around. "But it's not safe here. Come with me." And he took off down the street, not waiting to see if they were following him. "Should we trust him?" Sora asked as Adrian started to follow Leon. Adrian looked back and nodded. "Cloud used to know him. Before he died. Leon'll be happy to know that Cloud still has a hold on this world, even if Tifa doesn't." "You guys coming?" Leon called back. "Yeah!" Adrian called back. "Let's go, Sora." And they took off after Leon. Meanwhile, in the abandoned castle at Hollow Bastion... The castle at Hollow Bastion had been silent and empty for almost six years. Nobody in. Nobody out. It had become an empty shell of its original splendor. It would never be the same again. The Library's contents were slowly, but surely, eroding into nothingness. The documents in Ansem's study were already gone, looted by the brigands and thieves who had appeared since the Organization had connected all the worlds. The town of Hollow Bastion was even more empty than before, as everyone had either been turned into Heartless, "recruited" by the 13th Army, or been killed by the wild, crazed people who had been exposed to too much Dark energy. However, after all this time, a machine stirred, deep within the castle's hidden passages and rooms. A machine that monitored magical energy in all the worlds. A machine that was directly linked to another machine, which held a certain scientist in suspended animation...... Later that day, in the Healen Lodge at Gaia... "Sir! A message from the Organization!" "Thank you, Rawlings." Rufus Shin-Ra, president of the now obsolete Shin-Ra Electrical Company, was sitting in his office at the Healen Lodge, about to read the message from Organization XIII's Superior, Xemnas. He had been keeping close contact with Rufus, trying to get him to supply him with troops enhanced with mako. He sighed as he opened this new message. Probably another request. He read the first line and stopped dead. He read the whole thing intently. Dear Mr. Shin-Ra; As you have not complied with my previous requests to either supply me with the technology to enhance my Nobodies or send me a good number of your own SOLDIER operatives, I have been forced to take action against you. You will find, attached to this letter, a plan of action that my colleagues within the Organization have come up with to crush any resistance that you may build against me. Approximately five hours after the time on this letter, you will be effectively wiped from the face of all the worlds. An army of Nobodies of every size, shape, and strength will be unleashed upon your general world. If you do not comply with my terms within four and a half hours after the time on this letter, you will find yourself responsible for the destruction of your world. I hope to be hearing from you within the next four and a half hours. With my deepest regrets, Number I of the Organization Xemnas Time and Date: March 27th 1:20 p.m. Rufus looked at his watch. He slowly looked up again. It was just past 6:30 p.m. He heard an explosion from the direction of Midgar. It was too late! "That rotten --!" He had sent the message at such a time that it would get here after the allotted time! He cheated an entire world of its life! The explosions got closer and closer. Rufus readied his shotgun and got ready to fight. The Nobodies that Xemnas would send couldn't be too difficult to kill, right? Wrong. At dawn of the next day, in Leon's Hideout in the World that Never Was... "So, Leon," Adrian said, looking across the messy apartment at his new ally, "Cloud wants to know what happened to you six years ago. He says that a dark spirit from the space between worlds told him that you went Heartless for a while. What's up with that?" Leon grimaced. "Leave it to Cloud to bring up something like that." He smiled though. "But you can hear about that later. What's your story? How did you end up here? You went missing when you were five years old. Then I heard recently that you'd been killed in an explosion in Destiny Islands." Now Adrian grimaced. "Oh. That. I here's what happened..." And he went on to tell Leon what had happened to him from when Cloud had first entered his mind to when he had awoken in the Organization's Castle. Sora looked over at him and asked, "And why did you wake up? You were gonna tell me about that." "Yeah." Adrian ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the ceiling. "Cloud had been ripped from my mind when I lost it, just before the explosion. Axel had been there, and he had told me that my parents "weren't there." At my old house, that is. I took that to mean that they were dead. I let out all of my anger and sorrow in that few moments, and Cloud got thrown into the Dark Realm. After he had been there for a while, he started to realize that the darkness in his heart, which was personified as Sephiroth, was only as strong as it was because he let it be that strong. Since he had always believed that the Darkness was stronger, made it so that it was. He fought it and fought it after that, forcing his way back into the Realm of Light. When he got back here, he found me and got back into my mind. When he did, though, he didn't count on there being residual Darkness gathered around him. That Darkness is the reason that I... I am a Nobody." Sora gasped and Leon nodded, not surprised. "I saw it the moment I looked at you." Leon got up and walked over to Adrian. He waved his hand over his head, saying something under his breath. An aura of dark silver appeared around Adrian. Leon nodded again. "I can see this aura around you whenever I look at you. The Dusks have it too. So does Axel, Xemnas and that fool Demyx, too. The Heartless, however..." He put a hand over his eyes and said something again under his breath. A blackish purple aura surrounded him. "Look like this. And normal humans..." He went over to Sora and did the same thing to him as he had done to Adrian. A white aura appeared around Sora. "Look like that." "So, you're still a Heartless?" Sora asked. "Yeah. As inconvenient as it is. But," he added, smiling a little bit, "It makes it easy to ambush them!" He turned back to Adrian. "So you're a Nobody. I'm a Heartless. And Sora's a human with a strong knack for magic. We make quite the team, huh?" Adrian laughed. "Yeah. We should be fine." "Wait!" Sora jumped up, looking excited. "I have an idea!" "Well, don't just stand there looking hyped!" Adrian smiled at Sora's eagerness. "Tell us!" "If you're a Nobody..." He ran over to a pile of clothes on the ground and sifted through it. Leon frowned. "That's kinda rude..." "Hold on!" Sora held up a finger behind him. "There! You have one!" He ran across the room and tossed a black cloak to Adrian. "Put that on!" Adrian put it on and Sora and Leon nodded. "Put on the hood!" Sora said. Adrian did, still not getting it. "Now go look in the mirror." Leon said, smiling. Adrian went to a stand up mirror that was hanging on the wall and finally understood. He'd become a spy. A kind of double agent within Organization XIII. "Ah." "You see?! It's perfect! You could sabotage them from the inside! Get trusted, make friends, then crush them! It's so perfect!" "I see how it could work... If I wasn't already known as an escaped prisoner from there!" "Hm." Leon studied Adrian for a moment. "Good point. We gotta figure out a way to make you look different." Sora snapped his fingers. "What?" "I have another idea..." He went over to his pack and began sifting through it. He pulled out a small orb. It shone with some inner light. "Is that...?" "The materia that I found when they were 'testing' us after we got captured! It makes sense now!" He held the materia in his hand and pointed it at a pencil on the ground at his feet. He said, "Sword!" and it turned into a small sword! It didn't get any bigger or smaller, it just turned into a tiny, letter-opening sword. "If we use this on Adrian..." Leon nodded. "But who?" They pondered it for a moment. Me. Cloud directed at Adrian. He got it. "Cloud just suggested that I turn into him." Leon and Sora looked at each other, then back at Adrian. "Let's do it." "But you still owe us a story, Leon! Don't you forget it!" "I won't. Now hold still..." Sora pointed the materia at his older brother and said, "Cloud Strife!" There was a flash of light and Adrian felt himself start to change..... Chapter Three: The Dungeon - The World that Never Was... Time until the Revival of Worlds: 3 years There was a crash and a loud grunt from the other side of the wall that Roxas was leaning on in the Dungeon in Organization XIII's castle. Lexaeus was getting thrashed by the troop of wyvern Heartless that Xemnas had brought in to punish him. Roxas winced as Lexaeus screamed, (not a common occurance). He probably got hurt pretty bad, seeing that there was a collective screech from the wyverns as they all died in puffs of smoke. Roxas stood up when the door to the cell opened and Lexaeus tumbled out. Xemnas followed, looking less irate than earlier. He smirked at the torn up Nobody in front of him. "Remember that you pay the price for your weakness if your enemies can exploit them. Now get out of my sight." Lexaeus scrambled up and stumbled/ran out of the Dungeon. Xemnas turned to Roxas. "I wouldn't normally do this. In fact, I try to keep up the charade of 'kindness' and 'nice' for everyone, even my subordinates. But a failure is a failure. Keep that in mind when you are supposed to be doing something... Roxas." "Got it. Now, about what I asked you earlier..." "Ah. You want to know why you still have emotions." Xemnas beckoned to him as he began walking back toward the castle proper. Roxas followed. "It may be that you and your original self share some sort of connection. He is nearby, after all." "He should be, anyway." Roxas nodded. "Right. So, if he were to, say, see his companion get hurt, then..." "I would feel it." "Correct. You must keep in mind, though, that Sora is an expressionate boy. His emotions run unchecked, mostly. He would not be able to hold back if Adrian were to get hurt." "And we'd find them. If we focused on harming Adrian, we could bring both of them back, because Sora would do something stupid and blow their cover!" "That's it!" Xemnas smiled, (not a comforting sight). "We will send all the Nobodies after Adrian, alone. If they ignore Sora, then we have a higher chance of getting them both. Sora would have to hold off the onslaught, as Adrian would be incapacitated. Then, when the boy cannot take any more, we step in and take them back!" "Got it. Should I go tell Axel and the others?" "Do it." And Roxas ran off down the hallway and out of sight. Xemnas frowned. "It really is a shame that he is expendable..." And he disappeared in a swirl of shadows... Meanwhile, in the Ruins of Hollow Bastion... "What has happened?!" Ansem the Wise stood on the edge of what used to be the Castle Gates of the Radiant Gardens. He had been asleep for... Well, he wasn't sure how long he had slept, but he did know that his world had run into chaos while there had been nobody to lead the people in it. The town below was nothing but a pile of rubble. The castle was in an even worse state than before. And, to make matters worse, it seemed that the Heartless were no longer alone. There seemed to be another group moving far below. During his time as leader of Radiant Gardens, he had developed a device that could read the level of darkness in a single heart. The user would direct it at a person or creature and the levels would be logged into a great computer in Ansem's office, deep inside the castle. He had had a number of these devices made and installed around the town that surrounded the castle. When he had awoken, the first thing that he did was awaken the security systems in the town. When he had done so, he looked at the monitors that projected images of the common places in that town. Most of the cameras seemed to be broken, but a couple of them still worked. He saw strange, silvery creatures wandering about in the town. There were no people. He directed one of the aforementioned devices at this new "thing" and saw that it didn't even register to it. It was as if it didn't even exist! He went to a balcony and looked to the town below to find that nothing remained of the great Radiant Gardens. Maybe the name that he thought to be a misnomer was more accurate than he had first believed. "Hollow Bastion." Isn't that what people called it after the attack? That fateful day when Cloud and Tifa had died... He was about to go back inside when he felt a rumbling come from below. He ran back to the edge of the balcony to see a huge Heartless running up the side of the castle... Right at him! He was going to dive out of the way when he heard a cry akin to that of a large bird of prey come from above. A flying creature like the ones he had seen in the security monitors! He was stuck! Just before the two colossi were going to collide... "Look out!" A female voice called out to him and he suddenly found himself flying through the air over the shoulder of a tall, cloaked woman. She had apparently seen his plight and jumped to him, picking him up and throwing him over her shoulder. He could only think of one woman strong enough to do that... "Tifa!?" "Shh!" She landed and roughly dropped him on the ground. He looked around. They were in the Villain's Vale. He looked up at Tifa and cocked his head to one side. "The Vale is empty. Nobody had lived here for years. Nobody, that is, but myself and a good friend of mine. She saved me from the Darkness and gave me a new life." She said all of this without looking away from the door in front of them. "Master Ansem. I want you to meet my friend and savior... Maleficent." "What?!" Ansem's eyes went wide as he remembered this name. "We meet again, Ansem the Wise..." The door opened and a tall woman dressed in a black and purple cloak came out. She held a staff in her hand and walked slow, as if expecting an imaginary crowd to part and let her pass. "You! I thought we --" "Me?" The woman's voice was so commanding that Ansem suddenly found himself unable to speak. "I seem to remember you banishing me to this pit, where I built this castle to rival your own. And what did I do to deserve this? Nothing. And now, you will get what you deserve..." And she raised her staff at him. Tifa looked away as she didn't want to see the man she had once looked up to as a father figure destroyed for reasons that she didn't fully understand..... Meanwhile, in Mideel, on Gaia... "What in the heck was that?!" "Cool it, Gramps. You're hearing things again." "No! I know that I heard something! A roar... Off in the distance... Like that of a huge beast..." "Gramps! Shut. Up." "Now there's something outside!" "No, there is not something outside! Look! I'm going to open the door..." And the top half of the house was ripped off. "OH MY GOD! THERE'S SOMETHING OUTSIDE!!!" "I told ya!" Mideel was in a panic. Reeve Tuesti was trying in vain to keep everyone calm and get them away from the town's main area. He had to get SOLDIER a clear shot at that... Thing. It wasn't like Weapon. Hell no. It was made of pure shadow, with a hole right through it in the shape of a heart... "Go go go go go go!!!" Reeve yelled, ushering more people into the forest, "Get a move on!" He waved at a Shin-Ra helicopter that had come into sight a little ways away. It landed on the shore on the outskirts of town. Rufus Shin-Ra was lowered out of it and into his wheelchair. He guided the motorized chair over to Reeve and looked around frantically. That's when Reeve realized that something was up. "What's going on, Rufus?" "This is my fault, Reeve! I didn't accept the offer of that Xemnas!" "Wait. Who the hell is 'Xemnas?' I've never heard of him." "You know of the other worlds, correct?" "Yeah... Is he a leader from one of them?" "You could say that! He rules most of them!" "A dictator? Of multiple worlds?!" "Yes! He demanded that I give him the means to enhance his minions in the same way as our SOLDIER operatives, or give him some SOLDIERs, right out. I declined. He sent a letter the other day that said that if I didn't comply within five hours, he would send a huge army of Nobodies to destroy our planet! But, being the lowly scumbag he is, he didn't give me the opportunity to reply or do anything... He sent the Nobodies, anyway! Healen and the surrounding area are completely destroyed, Edge is gone, Kalm... What can we do?!?!" "Rufus! If you are responsible for this, shouldn't you be hiding? If someone found out..." "What's the use?! I'll die anyway, whether from assassination, the Nobodies, or the Geostigma... I don't care anymore! In fact..." Rufus pulled a small gun from the folds of his white robes and put it to his head. Reeve pulled it violently from him and slapped Rufus across the face. Rufus looked shocked for a moment. "Pull it together! You can commit suicide later! For now, make your men useful! Help evacuate!" "Uh... Right..." And Rufus wheeled away, mumbling to himself. Reeve was stunned. Had this whole ordeal made Rufus Shin-Ra go insane...? Later that day, in the World that Never Was... Adrian was beyond being nervous. He couldn't decide how he should walk, how he should stand... He felt awkward, being in Cloud's body. He was taller, more muscular. Plus, to the surprise of Leon and Sora, Cloud's Buster Sword had appeared when he had finished transforming. It didn't make sense, but they weren't complaining! Presently, he strode up to a black-cloaked woman who was standing in the middle of a street that ended on a cliff that faced the castle. She turned and, suddenly, there were claws on her hands, sparking with electricity. "Who are you?" She sneered. "I'm Ador. I am here looking for the leader of Organization XIII..." Adrian couldn't get past how strange it sounded to have his voice in his head be different than the voice that came out of his mouth! "Why's that? You got some kinda business with him?" "Yes, as a matter of fact. I wish to be part of your group. I am a Nobody, I guess. I didn't know at first, but I know now. I thought that I was just insensitive. But it went further than that..." "Okay, okay. I don't need to hear your sob story. I'm waiting for someone here, but I'll open a way to the castle... Here." And she held out her hand and a dark pathway opened. Adrian nodded. "Thanks, I guess..." "No problem... Oh, and by the way, you didn't see me here." "Got it." Adrian said, nodding as he walked into the darkness. He immediately felt himself fall forward into the dark. He flailed a little bit, then realized that he wasn't actually falling. It was as if he had the sensation of falling, but had remained on his feet. He straightened out and looked around. There was a light in the middle distance. He began walking toward it. It got closer faster than it should have and he soon found himself in a grand entrance hall of white stone: the same entrance hall that he had seen before, when he had been trying to escape this same castle. "You must be the new-comer Xemn-- I mean, the Superior was talking about." Adrian turned to see Roxas leaning against the wall by the huge gate. Adrian nodded, looking a little surprised. "I guess I am... But how did he know?" "His Nobodies are everywhere. They see and know a lot of things. Plus," Roxas continued, standing up and coming over to him, "he can sense when another Nobody like us is near. He sensed you the second you got close enough." "Right." Before or after the transformation, I wonder? Adrian added to Cloud. Maybe before, but he didn't know where you were. Hm. Maybe... "So... You wanna come meet my friend, Axel? We're about to go look for a couple guys who escaped. They were supposed to be prisoners here, but somebody couldn't keep an eye on them. I mean, they were in suspended animation, weren't they? How hard can it be?" Adrian forced a laugh. "Yeah. Real hard..." "Hey!" And here came Axel, red hair and all. Adrian still couldn't place where he had seen those markings under his eyes before though... "Hey, Axel. This is..." Roxas smacked his head. "I'm stupid. I never introduced myself! I'm Roxas." He held out his hand to shake. "Ador." Adrian took his hand and shook it. "The name's Axel." Axel put a finger to his temple and tapped it twice. "Got it memorized?" "What?" Adrian, who was sick of Axel already, acted confused. "Nevermind." Roxas said, laughing. "Hey! Want to come with us to try and find those two guys? We'll explain some stuff on the way. Plus, you might be able to help us find them. Y'know, if you saw anything on the way here." "Sure. But shouldn't I check in with this Xemnas guy, first?" "Nah, we'll be right back." Axel crossed his arms over his chest and grinned toothily. "Unless you're scared...?" "No heart, remember? Can't be scared." Adrian pointed out. "Oh, you just had to bring that up, huh?" Roxas said, moaning playfully. "Let's just go. Lexaeus looks angry." Axel nodded his head to Adrian's left, down the large corridor at Lexaeus, who was trudging down it, looking murderous. "Yeah, let's get outta here!" And they all took off out the gates. They ran out into the city for a little bit, then Axel stopped. He looked around, frowning. "What is it, Axel?" Roxas whispered. "Someone's here," Axel replied in a low voice, "and they're watching us. I've never felt someone so powerful..." "Who could it be?" Adrian asked, whispering. "I don't... Oh, god no..." "What?" "I would think that you wouldn't have forgotten me... Cloud." A dark figure with a single, pitch black wing floated down from a window in one of the buildings. He had long, flowing, silver hair and the longest katana Adrian had ever seen. Could this be... Sephiroth! Adrian, we gotta go! If he's seen you looking like me, then he'll try to kill us! Plus, we would be discovered! I kinda realized that, Cloud! "So," Sephiroth started, but Axel cut him off. "We don't want trouble, Sephiroth. Just get out of here." "Hm. I don't see that happening." Sephiroth said, smirking and never taking his gaze from Adrian's face. "Why did you pick such a weak body to possess, Cloud? You could've taken, say, Xemnas, for example. But no. You had to take this boy... No matter. I will destroy you, regardless! Who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth...?" And Sephiroth charged at Adrian, who spun around, letting his foe's sword deflect off the Buster Sword on his back before drawing it. He was trying his hardest to block the flurry of blows that Sephiroth was sending at him, and he was barely doing it. He couldn't keep it up for long... "Why don't you speak, Cloud? Why stay silent?" Sephiroth backed off then, letting Adrian fall to one knee. Adrian gasped for air and tried to keep his sword raised as he replied. "I don't... Know... What you... Are talking about! I don't know... A 'Cloud...' My name... Is Ador!" "Hm. You think you can fool me? Nice try, but you have failed at one more thing. And it will be your last failure!" Sephiroth charged Adrian again, ready to end the fight, but Axel threw his chakrams at Sephiroth, distracting him. Sephiroth turned. "Do not interfere! Unless, that is, you wish to be wiped from existence, as well?" "I said," Axel yelled, summoning his chakrams back to him, "we don't want trouble! Got it memorized?! Now get your one-winged ass outta here! I will not hesitate to inform the Superior of your infringement if you continue..." "Then it is settled." Sephiroth sheathed his sword, the Masamune, and began floating upward into the eternal night. "Your destruction will be your own fault... Ale..." And he disappeared. Axel stood in silence for a little bit, staring at the spot where Sephiroth had disappeared from. Roxas came up and asked, "What did he mean by that? Did he call you 'Ale?' Or was he just randomly saying that he wanted ale?" Axel snapped out of it and looked first at Roxas, then at Adrian. "I don't know... But he pronounced it 'ai-lee...'" He got more intense as he turned to Adrian, who flinched. "But I also don't know who it is we're dealing with here! 'Ador...' That doesn't seem like a Nobody's name, now does it? What is your name, 'Ador...?' Is it 'Cloud' perchance?" "Okay, okay, so I lied!" Adrian said, thinking fast. "My true name is Ador... I told you that because..." He trailed off. "Because...?" Roxas leaned in, looking suspicious. "Because I didn't want to let it go!" Adrian called up some tears and let them flow. It was surprisingly easy. "I have a little bit of my old self left in me! I don't know why, so don't ask! That's why I have a little bit of emotion... That's why I wanted to make you think my name was Ador!" "So, what is your Nobody name?" Axel snapped at him. "And who is Cloud?" "My Nobody name is... Ro... Rodax." "And this Cloud?" "My true self's twin brother..." "Alright, Rodax." Axel looked at Roxas, who nodded. "We believe you. But try to be honest, okay? We don't want secrets here, got it?" Adrian nodded, the picture of sadness. "Buck up!" Roxas said, looking encouraging, "We're on a mission now. Gotta stay focused!" Adrian nodded again, looking more stable this time. Then Axel took the lead. "Alright! We gotta start tracking the escapees. Roxas, you take the east half." "Got it!" And Roxas took off into the night. Axel turned to Adrian. "Watch this!" And he raised his chakrams into the air, lighting them aflame. They spun around and circled him. Then he caught them and brought them down to his sides. A number of Nobodies had appeared around them, all of type that Adrian had never seen before. They were like a mixture of Dusks, Snipers, and Red Nocturne Heartless. They were basically red, fire elemental Dusks with flamethrowers. "These guys were made for me by Xemnas, himself! I can summon them and make them do whatever I want! Well, they are incredibly stupid, but one thing's for sure... They work! Now, my minions... Take the west half!" There was a general sound of affirmative from the mob, then they dispersed to the west. Axel turned to Adrian. "You and I will cover the Memory Skyscraper..." And they set out for the tallest building, (beside the Castle, that is), in the World that Never Was....... Chapter Four: The Resistance Hideout - Disney Castle's World... Time until the Revival of Worlds: 3 years "Your Majesty!" Goofy ran into the dimly lit war room, looking flustered. "They're here!" "Okay. Thank you Goofy!" King Mickey turned back to the SOLDIER operatives who were gathered around. Rufus Shin-Ra had never found out about these "rogue" operatives who had fled Gaia when Xemnas had began his campaign there. They didn't want anything to do with it. So, three years ago, they traveled to the world where it was said a resistance group was gathering. They joined and lent their strength to the cause, throwing the balance of the Hidden War, (as it had come to be called, seeing as many people didn't even know about it), in the King's favor. The Organization had met their every attack with all their strength and power, but had failed every time. It seemed that the War was going to go full-blown and become known when the tide began to turn against the Resistance. King Mickey had been in every battle, seen some of his dear friends turned into Heartless and their bodies become Nobodies. He had had enough. The life of every world depended upon his success! He had to win! Presently, he addressed the SOLDIERs in front of him. "We are at a turning point in this struggle. We need to fight them off! The Settlement is on the other side of the Steamridge Mountains. If we do not stop them here... I hate to think of what would happen to all of the residents of our city if they broke our defenses! So, this is it. If we can keep them at bay long enough, we might be able to turn this war back into our favor. Our secret weapon should arrive in about three hours. We need to hold them off until then! So... Shall we?" And the King grabbed his sword and shield and got ready to depart. As he left the room, he felt a presence pass through him. He looked back and saw, to his shock, a young man of about sixteen years old. He had silver hair and wore a blue and yellow outfit. He stood there for a little bit and then nodded. He spoke after a moment. "You need more help. This fight is hopeless. I think I can give you the help you need..." "Who are you?" "I am the spirit of a young man who has a destiny tied to that of the Keyblade." "The Keyblade?!" Mickey was shocked. Could this be a bearer? "I am not a Keyblade bearer." The young man said. Mickey looked a little downtrodden. "But I know who will be. I grew up with him. His name is Sora." "Sora?" "Yes. But, as things are in this world, he never will become the Keyblade Master..." "I don't think you mean 'world' as in Hollow Bastion or Atlantica..." The guy nodded. "That's right. I mean 'world' as in a parallel universe that would have come into being if things had been different..." "So, how do we get the Keyblade into the right hands?" "We can't... Unless we find the door to the past." "The door to the... Past?" "Yeah. If we can find that..." "Is this like the Door to Darkness that Ansem the Wise spoke about?" "Perhaps. It is said that the Door to the Past lies within Kingdom Hearts, the Heart of all Worlds. Deep within its darkest depths, where the Heartless swarm and the shadows lurk. If this is true, then there is only one way to get there." "Through the Villain's Vale in Hollow Bastion." "Right. So, I will wait for you in the Computer Terminal Room in Ansem's castle." "Wasn't that --" "Your Majesty!" Mickey whipped around to find the Head Mage, Donald, standing there, looking worried. Mickey turned back to the silver-haired guy, but he wasn't there anymore. He turned back to Donald and nodded. "Let's go." He left the war room after glancing back again. What had that silver-haired boy meant by giving him the "help that he needed?" Did he intend to give them more fighters? Or was it something else? He was headed to the surface. The base, being underground, was built in a system of caves and caverns that twisted and turned around and around the world. The King had not even known about them six years ago, but found them when he had fled Larxene and Lexaeus when his own castle had been taken over. He had headed to the Gummi Hangar and fallen into the take-off tunnel. He had barely survived the fall by catching himself on a broken pipe and climbing up into a hole in the wall of the tunnel. It had led to these caves. Apparently, the Heartless had invaded the castle through that hole, making their way up into the castle proper through the Courtyard. He had been afraid that he would run into more of them as he went through the caves, but met no enemies, Heartless, Nobodies, or otherwise. He had made it out of the same hole that he was about to go out of now and made his way to the Settlement that he had heard about, on the other side of the mountains. Presently, he started hearing the sounds of battle, though they were still far off. He came to the entrance cavern and looked around. There were already many injured and many who were too far lost to be cared for. He felt his heart drop at the sight. Donald and Goofy came up behind him and Donald spoke. "We can't hold them for long. The Weapon won't get here in time! What can we do?!" "I..." Mickey started, but he felt the presence approaching again. He looked around to see that there was a shimmering in front of the passage that led outside. What was that...? "Don't give up yet, Your Majesty!" The boy said as he appeared. He was wearing a very light suit of gold and silver armor with no helm and a shield on his left arm. The sword that he held looked strangely familiar... "What is that sword...?" The King wondered aloud. "This old thing?" The new-comer laughed. "This is just a sword a... Friend of mine found in some ruins on this world. I don't know who it used to belong to, but whatever. It's mine now!" "Gawrsh!" Goofy cried, remembering what it was. "Is that...?!" "It is!" Donald ran toward the boy to get a closer look at the sword. "What is your name?" Mickey asked the boy. "Me?" The boy laughed as Donald gawked at the sword. "I'm a replica of Riku. He just spoke to you in that planning room..." "A... Replica?" Donald asked. "Yeah, kinda lame, I know. But I can fight! And I got all the stuff that the original has, to boot! Well, we all do, but hey. He made us, y'know." "How?" The King said, wonderingly, "You look to be about sixteen! So he must be, too! Is he really that smart already?!" "Ha! Me? Smart?" The Riku replica laughed. "Nah, just powerful. I'll explain later. For now, we gotta go handle all those Heartless and Nobodies! If we sit here chatting, we're bound to fail! There are more Riku Replicas outside, already fighting. Let's go lend 'em a hand, huh?" The King nodded and motioned for Donald and Goofy to follow him. They got outside to see a huge battle off in the distance. There were easily twice as many Heartless and Nobodies as last time. Plus, with half of the Resistance's forces gone, that made for a battle that was four times as difficult! This was going to be fun... As if he had read Mickey's mind, the Riku Replica looked at him as they got into a transport/cart thing and said, "There are over three-hundred Riku Replicas out there, all with a replica of this sword and armor. You're good for now. Although, it'd be easier if the actual Riku was here..." Mickey nodded and tried to smile. He didn't want to lose any more friends... But he'd do what he must. He couldn't get distracted. Not now. Meanwhile, in Ansem's Computer Terminal Room... Riku looked around. It had to be somewhere... It was small, but Ansem would have wanted to keep it somewhere that was easily thought of when he wanted to use it. Like a secret drawer that there was only one of. Something like that. He poked around in the terminal room, then took the elevator down to the Manufactory Ruins. He got there and saw a small disc laying on the ground, face up. He picked it up and looked at the label side. It was blank, but it had the Organization XIII symbol on it. He smirked and went back up to the terminal. He booted up the computer. He swore when a password entry screen popped up. He tried all of the obvious ones, ("ansem," "Heartless," "Keyblade,"), but quickly gave up. Then, suddenly, he thought of something. He typed in "dtd" and got an "Access Denied" message. Then, he put in the full meaning of that term. "Door to Darkness." There was a click, the right side of the terminal opened, and a box with a disc drive rose out it. Riku put the disc into the drive and waited as it loaded up. A voice recognition password popped up. He swore again and got an "Access Denied" message. Then, it said that he had four more tries to get it right, or the system would lock up. He left the room, back into Ansem's old, messy office. He cleared his throat and tried to talk like Xemnas. When he thought that he had it, he went back into the terminal room and tried again. "Access denied. Three more attempts left." The computer taunted. He tried again. "Access denied. Two more attempts left." He almost swore but stopped himself. He couldn't waste another attempt. That's when it hit him. There was probably a word that he had to say, in Xemnas's voice, to gain access. Great. He tried again. "Organization XIII." He said in Xemnas's voice. "Access denied. One more attempt left." He sat down in the chair and was about to say something like, "I give up," and use up his last try, but he got an idea. He rolled the chair back to the terminal and spoke in Xemnas's voice. "Kingdom Hearts." "Access..." Riku held his breath. "Granted!" He smiled and let out his breath. The screen came alive with colors and small squares. He looked at the squares and saw that each did a different thing. One was like a folder that held papers, but it was all digital. Another controlled the security cameras. There was one in particular that caught his eye, though. It said, "Room of Sleep," at the top and had two buttons inside it. One said, "Open." The other said, "Close." He shrugged and clicked on "Open." There was an echoed click from the Manufactory ruins. He ran over to the elevator and took it down. When he got there, there was a red, glowing circle on the ground in front of the main processing area. He stepped into it and he heard a rumble. He looked down and saw the the ground had disappeared in a rectangle that stretched from right in front of his feet to about the center of the processing area. A ramp rose up out of the darkness and the walls and floor of this new, hidden area lit up with red streams of lights that ran all the way down. He could see a spiraling ramp that started on the bottom of the one in front of him. He walked down the first ramp to the first "landing" thing and looked over the edge into the hole. It was a large, circular hole that had a ramp that ran along the wall all the way down. He could see, far, far below and on the opposite side from him, a door of white stone or metal. He started to go all the way down the ramp. After the long walk down, he came to the door he had seen from above. The ramp ended here, too. He stood in front of the door and it slid open automatically. He stepped through and saw a long, white-walled, marble-floored corridor that was lined with doors with chains on them. He was in some kind of cell block. There was a larger door on the far end. He walked all the way down and stood in front of the door, waiting for it to open. It didn't. That's when he noticed that there was a pulsating, white light coming from the other side. He could see it under the crack between the door and the ground. There was some kind of low humming coming from the other side, as well. Then, both suddenly stopped. Riku hid himself with magic as the door opened and Xemnas and a woman in armor walked out. The woman had her helmet off and Riku could see her face. She had vacant, blue eyes, deep, blue hair, and a friendly face. Although, she looked like she was in a trance. She was kinda staggering behind Xemnas. Riku waited until they got farther away, then started following them. They got to the end of the hallway, where Xemnas stopped. Without turning, he spoke. "Whoever you are, if you do not stop following me, I will be forced to annihilate you. I will open this door, and go through. I hope that I feel a presence go past me or otherwise go away from this place by the time I get to the top of the ramp. If not, then I will seal you within one of the Rooms of Sleep for a very, very long time." He chuckled. "I would absolutely hate to have to do that..." And he kept walking. Riku jumped past him and ran up the ramp. When he got to the top, he took the elevator to the terminal room and went back into the office. He left the office and went out into the corridors. He sprinted through the maze of hallways and out into the Postern. He jumped down into the Restoration Site and into the Bailey, where he waited for Xemnas to pass by. After a considerable time had passed, he took down his magic cloak and looked back up at the castle. Nobody seemed to be coming. "Damn! He must have teleported..." He jumped back toward the castle to continue his search for what he had been looking for before he had been distracted. He had been looking for a small, glass key. It was in the same shape as the Keyblade, but it actually was just a key. He knew that Ansem had had it at one point or another, but he never knew where it had been kept. When he made it back to the castle, he saw it crawling with Nobodies of the nastiest kind. "Ugh..." He muttered, "Sorcerers..." They were everywhere. The Postern was so crowded with them that Riku couldn't hope to even get near the castle, let alone get inside. He looked up and saw a balcony that led into one of the upper levels. He jumped up and grabbed a hold of the edge and flipped onto the ledge. He had to get back to Ansem's office. He may only have one chance left to find that key...... Meanwhile, at the Memory Skyscraper in the World that Never Was... "So, this is the Memory Skyscraper, uh, Rodax." Axel said, nodding up at the slightly warped tower. "You might have a flashback here, if you stay long enough..." "Have you had one, Axel?" Adrian asked, trying to stay calm. What if he had a flashback that gave him away? What if he lost control? "A few. But I can't shake that feeling you get when you see someone that you've seen before, but the memory's not strong enough to actually trigger the whole thing... Every time I have a flashback here, I get that feeling. And I got it when I saw one of the escapees, too. Like, I've seen him before, but not as he is now... Ha!" He brightened up again. "Don't tell anyone that I said that, though. They don't need to know about every single thing that happens in my head, now do they?" "What about the whole 'no secrets' thing, Axel?" Adrian added slyly. "Hm. Good point. I should stay consistent with my little 'rules,' huh? So... From now on... Secrets are allowed! There! Now, I'm not in the wrong!" Adrian laughed. He couldn't help it. Maybe Axel wasn't the mean, disgustingly evil person that he had first thought. Well, he didn't leave a great first impression, though. But now Adrian had another thing to think about. Adrian had this feeling like he'd seen someone with the markings under their eyes before, but hadn't really known that person. And now he learns that Axel vaguely recognized him, too! What did it mean...? "Hey, Rodax! We gotta go check this place out." Axel said, looking over his shoulder at him. Adrian nodded. We gotta get this guy figured out soon. Cloud noted to Adrian as he followed Axel toward the Skyscraper. Yeah. He's not a bad guy, but he seems to not care about what other people think of him. I think that he's more focused on finding out more stuff about his true self. He's not all bad... True, true. But keep your eye on him. We don't want him to blind-side us. Noted. As they approached the tower, Adrian suddenly felt as if the ground was slipping from beneath his feet. He looked around and saw that the world seemed to be shimmering with light. He vaguely saw Axel just outside the shimmer and called out weakly to him. Then, everything went black. Slowly, an image appeared in Adrian's head. It was of the Lot in Twilight Town, during the Struggle Battles. He laughed a little bit. He remembered that day! The day that he bet 1000 munny that Setzer would win. And he had won... Hadn't he? Wait. He didn't remember that! What had happened after he had seen that boy...? The boy! It was Axel! He was sure of it! The black markings, the spiky, red hair... It was all there! How could he have forgotten? Then, he saw himself from behind. Cheering for Setzer. He saw Setzer deal the one and only blow to his opponent that ended the match. Then, his five-year-old self looking over at the younger Axel and glowering. Fauna was there, too! “You don't need that kind of nonsense now, Adrian,†Fauna said comfortingly, smiling at him, “He's just a poor sport.†Little Adrian nodded and looked back to the fight. Then Fauna said, "Adrian, you okay?" "Hm?" "You look..." Fauna cocked her head to one side as she looked at the five-year-old. "Well, I just can't place how you look right now!" The little boy looked at her and Adrian saw that there was something in those eyes that shouldn't be there. A dark fire that should be eating the little boy's heart, but didn't. The raw, wild power that he held. Fauna gasped, then fell over. She was in a coma! "This world's time has come. And so has yours." Adrian's gaze whipped to the little boy, but he was gone. Instead, the crowd around where he and Fauna had been standing all gasped and a couple good-natured people picked her up and carried her to a bench, where they tried to give her some water. Adrian, on the other hand, from his higher up perspective, looked around for the little boy. He saw a lone, small figure floating away from the scene and out of the Lot. He followed, wondering why this little boy was now floating rather than walking. He came to an ally way and saw the younger version of Axel standing there, staring at the little boy version of Adrian. They stared at each other for a moment, then the little boy smiled menacingly. Little Axel freaked and looked down. There were little tendrils of darkness creeping up his leg, wrapping him in darkness. They reached his chest and his face went all vacant and empty. There was no emotion behind it. His heart had just been consumed by the Darkness that this five-year-old had summoned from the ground! Axel's heart had been stolen by a five year old boy?! Worse yet, that boy was Adrian! "Hey!" Axel called, his voice seeming to come from a distance. "Wake up, you liar!" Adrian slowly came to, Axel standing over him. He was pissed. "What happened, Axel?" Adrian said, wondering what Axel had meant by calling him a liar. "What hap --" He broke off and turned away from Adrian, more pissed than before. "What happened is that you are one of the escapees! Adrian! You are also the one who stole my heart!!!" Axel screamed these last two words and summoned his chakrams out of fire. "I know! That's what I just had a vision about! A flash --" "I don't care! I want you dead! It doesn't matter to me what he Superior wants you for! All that matters is that you are eliminated!!!" Axel charged Adrian, who reached for his Buster Sword, only to realize that it was gone. He'd changed back to himself! He rolled out of the way, looking around for a weapon. He grabbed a pipe that was sticking out of the side of the Memory Skyscraper and wrenched it out of the wall. He went into a battle stance and got ready for Axel. Axel roared, charging again, then froze when he looked at Adrian's weapon. Adrian frowned, then looked at his weapon, himself. It was a Keyblade. "You little --!" Axel charged again, even angrier, only to be blocked by a thrown sword that stabbed into the wall to his right, blocking his path. He skid to a stop, looking up and to the left. "Leon?!" Adrian cried, following Axel's gaze. Leon jumped off the top of the building that he was on, landing next to Axel, and grabbed his gun-blade from the wall. He smiled back at Adrian. "I didn't think that that outfit suited you, anyway." "Is Sora...?" "Safe. I took him to a friend of mine. He's in the Ruins of Hollow Bastion, safe and sound." "The Ruins of Hollow --" "No time to talk. We gotta go!" Leon fired a few blasts at Axel as he backed up toward Adrian. He grabbed Adrian and opened a portal of Darkness that led to Hollow Bastion. Axel dodged the blasts and tried to follow them, but couldn't get to the portal in time. He sighed. If only he had controlled his anger long enough to ask some questions. Man, he was impulsive! In the Ruins of Hollow Bastion... "Oof!" Adrian landed hard on his side and rolled away from the portal as Leon strode through it. Leon laughed. "Still not used to the portals, huh?" "Ha ha, very funny." Adrian got up and dusted himself off. Then he turned to see Sora sitting next to a short figure wearing a cloak akin to that of the Organization members'. He smiled at Sora and held out his hand to the person, who shied away. Sora laughed, saying, "It's okay! This is my older brother, Adrian." "Nice to meet you!" Adrian said, then remembered what had just happened. "Oh, yeah! Leon did you see...?!" "Yeah, I saw." Leon said, turned away, bent over a broken computer terminal that had papers spread over it. "And I wish it wasn't true." "Huh? What happened?" Sora asked, looking at Adrian. "Well, it'd be better if I showed you, rather than try to explain..." Adrian looked down on the ground where he had fallen to see the piece of pipe that he had tried to use as a weapon. He picked it up and it disappeared into a bright light. When the light died away, the gold and silver Keyblade was in his hand. Sora gasped, as did the person sitting next to him. "Is that...?" "Yeah. The Kingdom Keyblade." Leon said without turning away from the papers. "One of two Keyblades that have enormous power. This one is the Keyblade of the Realm of Light. You will not be able to hide from the Organization as long as you hold that power in your heart!" "What's the other Keyblade? And where is it?" Sora asked. His question was answered by the person in the cloak, which made Leon freeze. "The Darkside Keyblade." The person said. It was a young-sounding woman. "It is held within the Door to Darkness that Ansem the Wise studied. That Door is also known as Kingdom Hearts." Leon whipped around. He took a hesitant step toward the young woman and spoke. "Is... Is that really you...?" "Leon, you should know more than anyone that it'd take more than a Heartless infestation to take out..." The woman took off her hood. Her long, black hair was tied with a yellow ribbon. She smiled cockily. "The Great Ninja Yuffie!" "It is you!" Leon ran over to her, looking amazed. he took her face in his hands and looked her over, as if to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He backed up as she took off her cloak to reveal that her outfit hadn't really changed much. She threw the cloak aside. "That thing was getting stuffy, anyway!" "Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Leon cried, calming down a little bit. "I didn't want to. Just in case you still had a small, residual amount of Darkness in your heart and mind. But I just found something out that may be of use to our search for the Darkside Keyblade..." "You're right," Leon said, clearing his throat, "We need to focus, now more than ever. What did you find out?" "Ansem the Wise was sleeping in the castle, in suspended animation. Well, until recently, that is..." "What do you mean, 'until recently?'" Adrian asked, still confused about a few things, but not showing it. It could wait. "He woke up. Then, the Heartless and the Nobodies, who, as you know, Leon, are constantly warring over territories here, brought the fight to the castle and almost killed him. Somebody showed up to bail him out. The only problem, though, is that he's now being held in the Villain's Vale." "Who bailed him out?" Sora questioned. "You'll be surprised to know that it was our old friend, Leon. Tifa." WHAT?! Cloud's voice bellowed inside Adrian's head so loud that he grunted and put a hand to his temple. "What's up with him?" Yuffie asked, looking worried. "It's Cloud..." Adrian said. "What do you mean? You know him?" "Well," Sora turned to her and explained, "When Cloud died here in Hollow Bastion, his spirit apparently got thrust into Adrian's head. That happened when he was five years old. They were together until he was twelve, then Axel, an Organization member, came to Destiny Islands, where I used to live and where he was born, and set him off. Cloud got thrown into the Darkness. But, six years later, (more accurately, two days ago), Cloud came back to him and helped break us out of the World that Never Was. We'll catch you up completely later. For now, we'll just tell you that Cloud is living in Adrian's head." "Wow. Sound's fun. So, uh, Cloud... How are ya?" Tell her that I want to know how Tifa got her body back! Okay! Geez... You already gave me a headache. No need to keep yelling... "Well, being the insensitive jerk that he is, he just wants to know how Tifa got her body back." "She probably found it in this world while she was in her spirit form. Easy. I actually have Cloud's body hidden in the Castle..." WHAT?! Adrian! We've found a new goal-location! Tell her to take us there! STOP. YELLING. Geez... "Well, still being a jerk, he demanded that you take us to his body." Well, you would be insensitive, too! You don't have to live in some guy's head! Plus, you don't have a heart! How dull is that?! Cloud? I can hear all those deriding comments that you're making. Shut the hell up. Sor-ry! "Oh, I was going to take Leon down there, anyway, to show him that I need to find their spirits. One down!" "Who else do you have down there?" Leon asked. "Aerith, Cid, and some guy who was good at flying the Gummi Ship out of there when things got sticky. He got us out after Aerith and Cid got incapacitated. It was us two after that. The soldiers and such disappeared, seeing that their hearts weren't strong enough... I wonder what's so special about this guy...?" "Okay. Let's go." Adrian said. "Why the rush?" Yuffie asked, looking sideways at him. "I kinda want to get rid of Cloud, if at all possible. A-S-A-P, if you know where I'm coming from!" I heard that. I didn't figure that you wouldn't. Nice. Just nice. "Alright! Let's get over to the castle, then!" And they set out into the ruined town of Hollow Bastion....... TO BE CONTINUED!!!
Out of the Loop, big time! :>/ A MONTH AGO?! O_o That's really strange... I thought that it was coming out later this year. I looked on the Square Enix official North American site and it said that there were too many bugs that needed fixing for it to be released on-time. And it just came out? I wonder what happened...? And, yeah. I figured that it was only the Japanese one, seeing as I DEFINITELY would have heard about it if it was out here! X>D Well, thanks!
O_o Wait. When the heck did Dissidia come out? O_o I thought that it was scheduled for late 2009? Or was that for North America? O_o If you tell me that it has come out already... Insanity. That's the only word that would describe my reaction. :D Anyway, if it did come out, then when? I have been keeping track of this game for some time now and I have yet to hear or see anything new on it. Did it just get released? Or is that like a "beta" version? Y'see, I apparently am WAAAAAY out of the loop on this one... Must've been that I was looking in all the wrong places, huh? :>/ Well, later!
:P Wow... I need to get on here more! :P Well, well, well. What have we here? A code that should, (emphasis on "should"), make Roxas and Sora fight? AWESOME!!!!!!!!! X>D If it gets "perfected," I am going to try it FOR SURE! Keep up the good work, guys! (And gals... O_o) Well, I think that I only have one thing left to say... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! See ya later, you diligent coders, you! :P Later!
