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037​

Yozora quietly spent the last challenge collecting flags off undefended crates. The elation that came with victory was stained by an itching guilt - it was really his moves across the island that led to the yellow giraffes’ defeat. Yet one team had to lose. Nothing about it could be pinned on him truly. He was only one cog, and the game still had many players.
Now, it had one extra. Blaine’s arrival had opened up all sorts of questions about the game. They huddled around Calxiyn’s bed to hear his stories.
“The volcano has a whole system underneath it,” he explained, hand on one knee while he stared at the ground. “But that’s not the only place people are hiding. How do you think they have the stream going the way it is? Or how this whole thing’s running in the first place? There’s almost a hundred people scattered beneath the island, making sure this is the best damned show anyone’s ever seen. And it’s working.”
“You were higher up, weren’t you?” asked Mish. “A MiR.”
“A MiR?” asked Blaine, looking up. Cin stepped forward.
“It’s a nickname,” Cin said. “A Man in Red. I first saw you - well, one of you, when I used the restroom. It’s like you were giving orders.”
“Could have been me, yeah,” Blaine said. “There are three of us in total. The other two are the investors in the game Roxas mentioned earlier.”
“Three men in red,” Mish whispered, listing back and forth while she racked her brain. “Well, two now, I guess.”
“Other than us and Roxas, everyone else is the same rank; one of them.” Blaine pointed toward a regular Organization member who watched them now, machine gun in hand. “They’re the pawns, I guess.”
“There’s something we’re all wondering, Blaine,” Cia said. She stood up. “And you must know. Where are we? Where’s this island?”
“I…” Blaine began. “I don’t know.”
Yozora sighed. Should have known.
“I was gassed, too. We all were. Only Roxas knows where this really is.”
“Heh - even you don’t know. In a sense, we’re all part of the game,” Cin mused. A few laughs rippled around the circle. “We’ve been after Roxas, Blaine. What do you know about him?”
Blaine sat quietly, organizing his thoughts. He let out a slow breath. “He reached out to me around a year ago. That’s when this thing was really being put to plan. He wanted money, and yeah, I have that. But Roxas also reached out to specific people, you know? People from Kingdom Hearts websites. So, when we all first met up with him, I thought it was some fun get together type of thing. But, it turned. He began the presentation. And by the end, I was in.”
“But why, Blaine?” Misty asked bluntly. “Why do something so terrible?”
“I did it for the same thing that’s keeping you alive and hungry,” Blaine said, pointing up at the giant pot of money that hung from the ceiling. “All of us really want one thing. And it’s not our fault, not completely. It’s just the way this world is.”
“Damn, dude,” Cin said. “I wish you had a bit more information for us. Though… I apologize. This is more than enough confirmation of my theory.”
“What theory?” asked Blaine.
“Something weird’s happening. I was able to track Roxas on a GPS and I saw him move across the island. But when I went to his location, he was gone. It hit me then that the island may have some sort of underground network. But I never thought it would be at the scale you’re telling me now.”
“It’s massive,” Blaine said. “But I know my way around it. And I know a few secrets, too.”
“Secrets?” C asked. “Go on.”
“A lifeboat,” Blaine said. “Multiple. They have them beneath the city ruins. If I can reach them, I can bring one back here and pick you all up.”
Yozora stood. “Really!?”
“Yes,” Blaine nodded. “It’s a crazy plan, and it’s not guaranteed to work. But it's all I have.”
“Why should we trust you?” asked Misty. “You could just escape.”
“Then someone come with me,” Blaine said. “I can’t go alone. I need backup, right?”
“Even if he doesn’t come back, who cares?” Mish shrugged. “Let him go.”
“Fair enough,” Misty said.
Blaine peeled a bandaid off his neck. “Looks like they chipped me,” he said. “They’ll know we’re coming. But if we can take out that guy up there, we’ll have one weapon. And as more fall, we can gather their guns.”
“Jesus,” C said. “How many of us are going with you?”
“Hmm,” Blaine rubbed his forehead. “It should probably only be two more people. We need to move somewhat swiftly, and too many of us will only be a hindrance. Calxiyn…” He stood, and held his hand out to her. “Please, I saved you for… a reason. Come with me, in case something happens.”
“Something… happens?” Her lip quivered. “Okay,” she said, and grabbed his hand.
“I need one more,” Blaine looked around. “Cin? C?”
“Hell nah,” C said.
“I should stay back,” Cin said. “I have business of my own, and your plan might be the perfect time to get it taken care of.”
Blaine grinned. “No problem. What about you, Mish? Misty?”
Both girls shook their heads. “I’m good.”
“I’ll go!”
Everyone turned to look at Yozora, his hand raised. I do feel guilty, he admitted to himself. For making sure another team lost that game. I couldn’t save them, but now, with Blaine, I can at least try to save the last of us.
“Yozora?” Blaine asked. “Yeah, okay. That makes three of us. Are we all okay with that?”
Yozora and Calxiyn nodded.
“Guys, I’m not Blaine, but I know a bit about the island,” Cin offered. “You should all use the restroom. That’ll be your chance to steal the machine gun.”
Blaine nodded. “Thanks, Cin. I was thinking that was the best way out of here.”
“Good luck, all of you,” Mish smiled. She hugged Calxiyn.
“Now,” Blaine said. “Follow me.”

12 players remaining

The secret bosses with Terra ended up being awkward compared to Ven and Aqua. He has a bigger window on his i-frames and that led to the MF and Remnant fights being a wild toss up. Ultimately I felled both, with Vanitas Remnant giving me the most trouble as he’s the least spammable with Surge of the 4 secret bosses and requires a large amount of dodging (Terra’s weakness) to beat. I won’t beat a dead horse because these bosses have been discussed to death but I can see why people dunk on Terra Crit so hard even if I thought it was a good but not insurmountable challenge.

I saved the Break Dance trophy for last, and popped the dance with Terra to trigger the plat. It was honestly an amazing moment - both as an accomplishment, and as relief from the nightmare that is the BbS trophy grind.

Even then, the Trinity Archives in the game’s menu were only at 97%, so I spent an extra 2 hours finishing that off to “perfect” my file so to speak.

So what do I think about BbS? There’s so much good and so much bad, it’s hard to begin. It delivers an incredible experience on tons of fronts - the combat, world selection and music all hit the spot. The maps unfolding from 3 points of view was clever and makes for fun exploration. But there’s also some magic missing in the exploration with the lack of NPCs or lore woven into the world itself. Nothing can be clicked on or interacted with beyond the Moogles, Save Points and Chests. It makes for a stale experience, especially when it comes to playing as three different characters, as you end up running through maps just grabbing chests on later runs - you’re not really exploring anymore, because you know there’s no reward beyond what you can simply see.

There’s also a feeling of the earlier parts of the game not really mattering because you can’t be surprised by anything. You know all 3 characters will end up at the Graveyard. That’s not really the story’s fault though, because it is a good one, but more the awkward situation Square put us/themselves in by having a video in KH2 be the climax to a game that came out like 4 years later. So the whole game feels like you’re just spinning your wheels while cruising to the Keyblade Graveyard - a problem I thought KH3 also had.

I could honestly write an essay about this game. I have no idea why it wasn’t a AAA PS3 title but here we are. I don’t think it aged well after going from KH2 into it and then into DDD after. That said it still probably has the best storyline of all the side games so I really don’t know. I’ll wait until I finish the full series run before I give my final verdict on this one.

I had to scale back the romance in this last chapter due to a conflict with my editors.

Thing is, they're trying to launch a "KH-Kids Royale" spinoff on Nickelodeon and the level of gore, language and now sexually explicit content is obviously a concern for them. So, chapter 036 was rewritten forty-four times, dumbing down a beautiful love scene in a dusty, cramped air duct to a preteen fantasy that would only happen on a TV show. Thankfully, I'm fighting hard to have the show rebranded and moved to Adult Swim so we can get back to the content the people really want.

The epic chapter 036 has arrived!

036​

A few hours had passed since Roxas left the dormitory. Cin had no idea what time it was - the challenge had ended at sunrise, but how long ago was that? How much time had passed between then and now? He looked around the room - most of the remaining players were in groups, talking and resting. A thought struck him and he walked over to C, who was consoling Mish.
“Hey, C,” Cin said. “You don’t happen to have the hacked tracker, do you?” If he could see where Roxas was now, he’d have an idea where the man might be staying.
“Nah. Nothing,” C replied. “They stripped us on the way back in. But if it’s anything like last time, it should be in my bag again when the game begins.”
****, Cin cussed. That would have helped. Whatever, I’ll fix this on the fly.
“You two have to go to the bathroom, right?”
C and Mish shared a confused look.
“Well, no…”
“Are you sure?” Cin asked, winking at C. His face lit up as he realized what Cin was getting at.
“Well I think I have to take a **** now. Shall we go?”

---​

Blindfold on again, Cin hoped the Organization member was taking him to the same toilet they had the last time he’d used the restroom.
“Stop.”
There was beeping, just like before. So there must be a secret tunnel that heads off from the main tunnel… and who knows what other tunnels this secret one might lead to?
Gas hissed as something heavy opened. Cin felt a set of hands turn him left.
“Your way is free. Continue.”
They walked another five minutes. Last time, Cin had been taken to a break room. Was it also their destination now?
The blindfold was pulled off, and the answer was revealed. They were in the break room, but it was a dirtier than last time. Someone had set up a PS5. There were no Organization guys lingering about working on anything. It was the perfect setup for Cin’s plan.
“Go ahead,” the Organization member said, pointing Cin and C to the mens' room. Mish went into the womens'.
Once they were inside, C closed the door. “We have no time to waste,” he said. “Show me where you’re going.”
“There,” Cin said, pointing at the grate on the ceiling of the stall. They both grimaced - a large poo had been left unflushed in the toilet. The place was a disaster.
“Don’t slip,” C gulped.
Cin stepped on the toilet seat and began to unscrew the grate. He'd left several screws loose to make this easier.
“If he’s coming, I’m going to shout that I need fresh toilet paper, got it?”
“Got it,” Cin nodded. He handed C the screws and grate. “And if he does come back, then lock me up there. I don’t care. Just don’t leave the grate open."
“But won’t he see that you’re gone?”
“Tell him I fell in all this,” Cin said, pointing at the toilet he stood on. Yellow, murky water almost spilled from the bowl. He hoisted himself up into the air duct and stood. Forgot how big this thing was.
"I won't be long, C," he called down.
Faint footsteps echoed through the giant metal walls of the air duct. Mish came around the corner.
“Was it difficult getting up here?” Cin asked.
“The grate was a pain, but here I am,” Mish smiled.
“We don’t have much time, so follow me.”
Cin led her to the first vent he’d looked through on his original adventure in the air duct. Their bags from the game were sitting on tables, already packed. Last time, he’d watched them place their weapons and items back in.
“This is where they keep our stuff,” he told Mish. “I saw this last time.”
“Why did you wait to tell us now?” she asked.
“I was scared,” Cin explained. “Scared that if too many people knew, this would all fall apart. But I trust you and C. We want the same thing.”
“Let’s keep going,” Mish said.
They reached the next vent. “Last time there were tons of guys down here typing away,” Cin told her. “But it’s empty now.”
There were no bodies at the computers, no man in red watching.
“It must be late,” Mish deduced. “Probably not much work to do when the camera is pointing at the dormitory.”
“At least we know they have some sort of base of operations,” Cin said. “I mean, that’s what that looks like this is.”
“What’s next?”
“I didn’t get farther than this last time. Come on.”
The air duct was getting tighter and lower. They both got down and crawled next to each other. The next vent appeared a few meters ahead. There was no light coming from it.
“What is it?” Mish said, squeezing next to Cin. He doubted they’d be able to go any further unless they went single file.
“Look,” Cin whispered. “Who are they?”
Down below, two men in red were speaking in a dark room.
“...Final twist, unless you want our viewers to fall…?”
“What are they saying?” asked Mish. “I can’t hear!”
“...Thinks he’s everything, but… that’ll be a laugh.”
“...After the next challenge… the true game…”
“...That money… for everything…”
“I can’t hear!” Mish said, pushing forward. But the two men in red were heading for the exit of the room.
“...Beneath the dunes…"
The door closed.
“Did you hear anything?”
“Just scraps,” Cin said. “Something about the next challenge?”
“And what were they saying about Roxas? I’m sure they were talking about him.”
“I don't know,” Cin frowned. “Shall we press on?”
“Sure,” Mish said. “I can see another vent up ahead.”
They inched forward at the same time, getting a little stuck as the vent began to shape down into a duct the size of a child.
“Crap,” Cin said. “I can’t move.” He turned to Mish. She was stuck, too - right next to him. Their faces were nearly touching - so close Cin could make out the freckles in her eyes.
“I never noticed you had green eyes,” Cin said. Why am I saying this?
“I never noticed yours were blue,” Mish replied.
“Um,” Cin said. “We’re kind of stuck.”
“I guess we are.”
He felt his face moving closer to hers, their eyes locked. What am I doing? Is this…?
Mish closed her eyes. Is this when I close mine?
Their lips closed in, millimeters from brushing.
“Hey! I need fresh toilet paper, man! This roll’s out!”
Cin and Mish jumped, the moment cut short.
“That’s my cue!” Cin said. “Let’s head back!” They both tried moving unsuccessfully.
“Go!” Mish urged. “Quick!” Her face was red, and she couldn't look him in the eye.
Cin pushed out of the tight air duct and back into the larger one. He didn’t stand, afraid to make too much noise, so he ran like a gorilla toward the grate instead.
“See you back at the dorm,” he said to Mish. With that, he dropped into the mens' room.

---​

Fifteen minutes later, they sat at Mish’s bed. C looked around, making sure no one was nearby.
“So, what did you find out?” he asked. Cin and Mish seemed unable to answer. “You two okay?” No answer. “Did something happen up there?”
“Cin! Mish!”
It was Misty, running over from where Calxiyn and Blaine were.
“Guys!” she was huffing and puffing. “You need to hear this!”
“Hear what?” C asked.
“From Blaine - and Calxiyn! There’s a whole network of tunnels under the island!”
Cin stood immediately. All his research, all his intuition - it was correct.
“Say no more,” he told Misty. “I need to speak with them myself.”

12 players remaining

• Got Vanitas Remnant on my 2nd try with Aqua.
• For some reason No Heart gave me the most trouble of the first three superposes this time around. I think he was so easy with Ven that I wasn’t sharp going in. Still, they’re all done and now all that’s left to 100% Aqua’s journal is MF.
• I beat this guy on my first try with Ven, so let’s see how I do with Aqua.
• Took three tries, but I took his ass down. The thing about these fights is as broken as these bosses are, Thunder Surge is more broken. My deck of Surge x5 Cura x3 has eventually worked every time.
• I do think the additional boost in Defense is worth it on Critical if you want to spend the 3ish hours it takes to grind to 99. There are certain moves that don’t force a heal if you do. It’s still totally unnecessary though.
• It’s finally time for Terra. He’s level 43 so I might start with some leveling now.
• Damn, his battle levels are low, too. Ven was the only one with level 10 in Neverland. Ah well, it’s 8 here like Aqua, so I imagine the grind will also take around 5ish hours.
• I need to remember to do Vanitas Remnant before No Heart this time. It’s the only way to make Void Gear useful, seeing as how Crown Radiance eclipses everything else.
• WAIT, Terra has Chaos Ripper. Surely nothing beats this, right?
• Funny I just said that, because I had to unequip Chaos Ripper. I was level grinding and my Thundagas were terrible. Then it hit me - Ripper gives Magic -2. So I equipped Pixie Petal and now I’m all good lol.
• His Victory Pose is long, too. Ven is the easy 99, whereas Terra and Aqua take another couple hours of dedicated grinding.

The fun continues in 035

035​

“All the stupid Kingdom Hearts kids, let’s log on to KH-Vids.”
No, Calxiyn’s terrified inner voice trembled. No more of this stupid song. No more dying. No more of this.
“You’re finally up,” said Blaine. She opened her eyes. He was sitting on the side of her bed, looking down at her.
“Woah!” she exclaimed, sitting up. The last moments she remembered before waking up replayed, but they were fuzzy. She was rescued at the end of the challenge by someone unknown - then his identity had been revealed in that strange place under the volcano to be Blaine. And now he sat next to her, in the dormitory where the players gathered between challenges.
“I’m so confused,” she said, holding her head. Where exactly was she when Roxas pulled off Blaine’s mask? And why was he helping run this twisted game in the first place?
“Have some water,” Blaine said. “They gave out dinner a couple hours ago. I saved you one.”
Calxiyn finally took a moment to catch her bearings. She was back in the same bed she’d woken up in every time she’d been gassed. Everyone who’d survived was up and mingling. On the platform, Roxas was playing an acoustic version of The KH-Vids Song. It wasn’t the recording he loved to torture them with that was playing this time - it was the artist live himself. What a shame, she thought, the song now tainted. This would have been so cool otherwise.
She felt the urge to vomit, overwhelmed by everything that had happened. Her team, the yellow giraffes, had lost, and as she looked from face to face of the remaining players she saw that none of them were there. It felt wrong to still be alive. Almost unfair.
“Why’d you save me?” Calxiyn asked. “You called me your princess. I… I really don’t know what to say to that.”
“Hear, eat this,” Blaine said, passing her a plate with a corn cob, a muffin, two stalks of broccoli and a slice of wet ham. “This might be all we get for a while.”
The intense desire to blow chunks returned, but Calxiyn forced the food down with the help of the water Blaine had offered her as well. As her senses materialized, she realized everyone must have been up for the last few hours while she slept. It seemed like she hadn’t missed much - well, other than the first few minutes of The KH-Vids Song.
Piece by piece, she nibbled the food down until it was all gone. It wasn’t good, but she did feel better - at least a little bit. It felt like she hadn’t eaten in days. The time was passing funny, in a way that was hard to comprehend. For all she knew, weeks had passed down here in the dormitory. Or hours. Probably best not to think about it.
“God, I’ve always wanted to perform that live for you,” Roxas sniffled, a tear in his eye as he struck the final chord. “Shame there weren’t more of you left to see it.”
Whether he was expecting to hear a round of applause or not, no one acknowledged the song as it came to a close.
“Right, well… we’re finally all up, and I think it’s time we talk about the game.”
Talk about a mood change, Calxiyn thought as everyone perked up. She’d take the song again over the prospect of the game starting back up. Please give us a rest, Roxas. I can’t do another challenge yet.
“First up - congratulations to all who survived capture the flag,” Roxas began. “You’re pretty lucky to be here. There’s less than half of you remaining, and that means we’re closing in on the end of the game. I hope that gives you all some relief. Even if it’s only momentary. Next, there’s been a little twist in the game. I’m sure you’ve all noticed our new friend who’s decided to join you all out there.”
The hair on Calxiyn’s arms rose as all heads turned to her and Blaine.
“That’s right. There were eleven of you left after the challenge, but now twelve players remain thanks to our good friend Blaine. I don’t want there to be any animosity, so I suppose I’ll have to explain how he got here in the first place.”
Roxas paused. For dramatic effect or because he really didn’t know what to say next, Calxiyn did not know.
“This game is possible because I allied with senior ranking members of the Kingdom Hearts online community to pool financial resources. There’s no way I could have put this all together myself. Do you know how many of these guys we had to hire?” He waved at the Organization members who stood back, threatening their machine guns. “And yeah, Blaine was wearing one of those masks all along, helping from the background. The mask thing's part of the rules, okay? I’m the only one who can show his face. I am the Composer, after all.”
Bad vibes were a bit of an understatement. The members of KH-Vids were taken aback, horrified at the news.
“Other senior ranking members of the Kingdom Hearts community?” Misty asked incredulously. “What do you mean? Like who!?”
“The owner of KHInsider, and KH-13,” Roxas answered straightforwardly. “If you must know.”
“You’re all sick!” Lauriam screamed, fuming. “We are the community - we made you! And you turn around and do this to us!?”
“You should all just forget about it,” Roxas said. “Who cares who’s throwing the game, anyway? And trust me - there’s more than a handful of Kingdom Hearts website freaks involved in this thing. This is the greatest televised event in human history.”
“So we’re cannon fodder for your financial gain?” Misty spat. “You’re a real dick, Roxas.”
“Just wait until the members of KHInsider go up against each other next,” Roxas laughed. “They’re talking about having fifty players in that one, on a smaller island! Oh, it’ll be good.”
“You can’t be serious!” Blaine shouted, standing from Calxiyn’s bed. “Everything he’s saying is false, everyone! He’s a sad troll who can’t mess with his favorite forum anymore, so he’s taking it out on us in real life!”
Roxas simply cracked up. “Ever the valiant hero, aren’t you, Blaine? Will you just shut the **** up? It’s all true, guys. I wouldn’t lie.”
“Don’t listen! He’s just trying to freak us out!”
The Composer half grinned, half sighed, and ended up shaking his head in his own hands while he tried to suppress a smile. “Look,” he said. “Let’s just move on. You don’t need a lore dump on the history of the game after everything you've just been through.”
“We want answers,” Misty demanded. “We want to know why we just had to watch our friends die like that.”
“But I thought it was obvious why,” Roxas said. Misty looked around, unconvinced anyone else thought it was actually that obvious. “I suppose I should mention after the last round; the prize pool has gone up by quite a bit.”
The great pot of money that hung from the ceiling lit up and the funnel dropped down again. Calxiyn watched stacks of bills rain down, filling it more and more, and more, and more… and it still kept going. After five minutes had passed, it stopped.
“Eighty million dollars,” Roxas pointed. “That’s why.”
She was scared because he was right. Something seemed to snap in everyone as they noticed the money again.
“This won’t be a team game anymore,” Roxas said. “The whole cutesy colorful animals thing was a one time off. We’re back to the original rules. That’s all I have to say for now.”
“And the next challenge?” asked Misty. “When is it?”
Roxas thought for a moment. “Not too soon,” he said. “I’ll let you rest. For now, look forward to the next meal.”
Relief swept the room. Thank all that is holy, Calxiyn thought, exhaling. I just want to lay down again for one moment.
“With that, I bid you adieu,” he said, and left the room. The doors clanged shut behind him and the Organization members who followed.

12 players remaining

Chapter 034 is here and sure to get the theorists buzzing

034​

Roxas reveled in the viewers he’d amassed on the island live stream, laughing like a megalomaniac as Boris’s head turned to pulp. He stood and clapped, his own standing ovation for a perfect performance by his game’s players. Donations and subscriptions seemed to be landing at an exponential rate, the on-screen drama better than any reality TV show that had come before. His Organization pawns typed away at their computers, setting up ads and analyzing metrics to corner markets who’d yet to be exposed to the game. Even though things had been underway for a few days, there were entire pockets of society who’d yet to discover the entertainment. The North American, Western European and Asian markets had been cornered, but their viewers were still low in Slavic and Southern American countries. Ideas had been thrown around the boardroom - like adding sombreros to the player’s bags before the next challenge. But Roxas had shot them down, not interested in pandering to demographics in a pathetic, slightly racist attempt to get their attention. He knew that the game itself was the only draw they needed, and once word of mouth got out, viewers would flock from all regions to watch a bunch of Kingdom Hearts fans murder each other over a pile of cash.
So far, it was incredible. He was rich - filthy so! And that was even before factoring in the split between the other investors in the game; other owners of famous Kingdom Hearts fansites.
The door to the control room banged open, and two Organization members came running in, machine guns drawn.
“Roxas!” one called. “An anomaly has been sighted. See cameras 16 and 17!”
“Hmm?”
He turned, and waved to an Organization member operating a computer. Two cameras were brought up on the great screens that surrounded the room. There, the yellow giraffes huddled together before their inevitable deaths.
“What is it? What happened?”
“Fast forward!” The one at the computer spun something on his screen and the video moved ahead. Roxas gasped when he saw what the anomaly was.
“Stop!” he shouted. “Rewind that!”
The video was rewound, and they all watched again. “It can’t be,” Roxas whispered.
A red-cloaked Organization member emerged from the ground, cut the chip from Calxiyn’s neck, and took her back into the tunnel with him.
“What in god’s sake!?” Roxas screamed. “Who was that!? Was it - no!”
“We have him in custody,” one of the members with a machine gun said. “For security purposes, we can’t announce his name here.”
A twist in the game that even I couldn’t foresee, Roxas mused, stroking his chin. No, this is perfect. This is exactly what I need. All this drama can’t be planned in advance. There needs to be something to keep me on my toes, too.
“Take me to them,” Roxas said. “Quickly.”

---​

Roxas was led north through a series of underground tunnels. At one point it stretched on for so long that a flat, moving platform similar to an escalator had been installed for ease of travel. The Organization members and Roxas stood in silence as they passed beneath the island, past the same black, metal walls and LED lights. Eventually they reached a crossroad and turned east for the volcano.
“You almost here? Over.”
One of the Organization members had a walkie-talkie, and replied. “Yeah, almost. We’ve turned east. Where are you? Over.”
“The break room. Over.”
“See you soon. Over.”
Roxas checked his phone. None of the player’s avatars were moving now - they were most likely passed out. The helicopters were probably doing their second or third pass already, and when they’d completed ten, Organization members would go up to the surface to retrieve their bodies before the next challenge would begin.
What should I do for the next challenge? he wondered. He’d have to cross a lot of the ones he’d come up with off his list now that so many players had been eliminated at once.
The moving platform came to an end and Roxas followed the men down a long, dimly lit hall of similarly repetitive structure. Other Organization members began to appear as they entered a more densely populated area. Beneath the volcano was an expansive network of computers and offices where footage was gathered in real time and turned into clips to show in highlight reels and as replays. There had to be ample content to fill the downtime, so the crews here worked tirelessly to ensure that the stream never had a boring moment. On Roxas’s left, one of his members was doing a Zoom interview with Catch the Rain’s father, who was crying while he mourned the pointless death of his daughter.
Brilliant, Roxas snickered. Now that’ll be a big dono or two.
“Welcome, Composer. The prisoners are in here.”
Chairs and tables had been cleared from the break room and filled the office. Roxas’s workers stared as he walked to the door, wondering what would happen when he confronted the person inside.
Roxas opened the door. The man in red sat in a chair, his hands tied behind his back. Calxiyn, with her gas mask still on, lay on the floor while two Organization members did first aid on her neck. They disinfected and wrapped the wound while her sudden, shocked breaths were amplified by the mask's mouthpiece.
“Take that thing off her,” Roxas said. “There’s no need for that.”
They pulled off the mask and she coughed as she came to.
“Let it out, Calxiyn,” Roxas laughed. “And no, this isn’t heaven. You’re still alive.”
She took a minute to catch her breath. Roxas turned to the one in red. There were only three people that could be hiding behind that mask. It was time to find out who it was.
“Wait,” Calxiyn sputtered. “What’s going to happen to me now?”
Roxas stopped. “A fair question,” he answered. “I suppose you’ll have to keep playing the game.”
“No,” Calxiyn sighed, about to cry. “Just kill me here.”
“I can’t do that,” Roxas said. “It wouldn’t be right. It wouldn’t be what the game wants.”
“How do you know what it wants?”
“Because it’s my game,” Roxas said flatly. “With my rules. You know - you just made me think of something great. Why should only you go back into the game?”
He turned to the man in red and walked forward.
“We did lose a lot of players, just now. So how about we add one more?” A cackle escaped his lips. “Player number thirty-one has a good ring to it, no? Seems like a fair punishment - for treason!”
With those last words, Roxas grabbed the person in red’s mask and tore it off their face. The red hood fell back. Calxiyn gasped.
“My princess,” Blaine whispered, his pale face revealed. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

12 players remaining

• I’m sort of in the endgame with Aqua already. I’m going to do some random stuff like finish off D-Links and mini-game Arena missions. Then probably do some leveling before taking on the secret bosses.
• Aqua’s movement is so awkward compared to Ven. Especially the way she comes out of Air Slide, it leaves you totally open.
• Ground out the medals. More Command Board games are next. I’m pretty good at them now, but they still annoy the **** out of me.
• It took 5 hours to get Aqua from level 60 to 99. It took Ven 3 hours to get from level 49 to 99. Crazy how much the battle levels not increasing for Aqua hurt her here. Also, her animation for Victory Pose is way too long.

Xenforo, which was made by the same devs as v3.

033 is here. That is all I'll say

033​

Aelin wanted to scream at Trigger. Are you ****ing late!? Yeah, a bit!
Yet, he’d saved all their lives when he fired that gun. She held it in. There was no time for anger amidst all this sadness. The sun had risen beyond the edge of the water and a new day had begun. Dead bodies from the showdown were strewn about the street and grass. She and the others waited as the announcement of the dead came through and a laundry list of players were read off. Finally, after Libre’s name, it stopped. Waves lapped against the cliff at the bottom of the island as the tide ebbed and pleasant birdsong came from the jungle to the south. It would have been so cheery, so beautiful; if not for the shadow and stench of death that permeated everything around them.
“We have all the teams here,” Misty said. “We need to swear a truce until this is sorted out. We don’t need any more dead friends.”
“I agree,” Cin called. “We need to be diplomatic.”
Nods and murmurs confirmed that the group agreed. Aelin clasped her gun, the potential violence too dire a threat to forget about. She wanted to be back at her team’s crate. She hoped to god all the flags were still there.
“Each team should choose a representative,” Cin continued. “Any takers?”
“I can represent the blue team,” Misty said.
“And I’ll represent the green team,” Aelin called. Cin nodded, so she stepped forward.
“I’m here for the brown dogs,” Risk said sheepishly. “Sorry about the attack…”
No one acknowledged his apology, content to move on from the situation altogether.
“I’ll speak for the red team,” Cin said. “That leaves the yellow team. I guess we need Boris for that.”
Boris? It suddenly hit Aelin. She’d been the one watching Boris. She turned to the building with the decrepit vending machine and wooden bench, but he was gone. Rope lay torn on the ground. Oh no, her inner voice murmured. Oh no, oh no, oh no.
“Where’s Boris?”
“He was tied up,” Aelin said quickly. “On the bench.”
“****,” Mish gasped, realizing what was going on. “Boris!? Boris!”
“Calm down, everyone,” Boris laughed. Everyone turned toward the ruins. Boris stood behind Tamale and Lauriam, his old rifle in his hands once more. It was pointed directly at Trigger.
“Boris,” Cin said. “Come on, man. We don’t want to do this again.”
“You had me tied up for a good 18 hours and now you want me to play nice? Come on man yourself, Cin.” Sweat was dripping down Boris’s head. Aelin reckoned a well-placed shot to either knee would drop him to the ground. If he was disabled for even a moment and Tamale or Lauriam made a move for the rifle… But she shook the thought off when she noticed Boris’s strained, crazed eyes. He was a lit firecracker ready to explode at any moment.
“Didn’t you hear the announcement just now? Six of us died, Boris. You want to make that seven?”
“I don't care, Cin. Now tell me who attacked us!” Boris shouted. “We all heard the explosions up on the volcano. Who was it, huh? Who went for the yellow team’s flag?”
It was silent.
“Who was it!?”
“Boris, we need a representative from the brown team,” Cin said softly, like an adult speaking to a child. “You’re the only one here who ca-”
Bang!
Boris really didn’t care what Cin had to say. Aelin saw him brace as the gun’s recoil pushed back. The bullet struck Trigger in the heart and his magnum spun on his left index finger before it dropped into the grass. Words tried to leave his throat but she only heard gargling as he fell to his knees, his hands patting at his pecs. The last thing he must have seen was his palms covered in blood before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed face forward into the ground.
Aelin fired her pistol. The bullet struck Boris’s kneecap and he screamed, falling backward. The rifle flew from his hands and Lauriam dashed in to swipe it up. Boris cursed as he realized what was happening, but Tamale and Lauriam had weapons pointed at him before he could make a stand. Blood oozed from the tracksuit down his leg, and Aelin knew he wouldn’t be walking anytime soon.
Mish and Misty ran to Trigger. His body was lifeless. Mish closed his eyelids and Misty picked up his weapon. The announcement of his death came through - “Player number twelve - Trigger - has left the game.” Aelin was so sick of hearing it, so tired of seeing people die. And this one came with guilt. She shouldn’t have taken her eyes off her prisoner. When the ceasefire was called, she had no reason to abandon him on the bench. Why’d she made such a foolish mistake? She wanted Boris to pay, but she didn’t want to continue the cycle. If anything, a bullet to the knee was more torture than a quick death would have been. At least that was some vengeance for Trigger.
It’s just part of the game. She thought about it, but she didn’t want to admit it. She didn’t want to know how numb she’d truly become. People die and people live. But you keep playing.
“God dammit!” Boris screamed. “**** this game! **** you, Roxas!” He broke down in tears. Aelin thought he looked pathetic. “Sara,” he continued, crying. “Sara…”
She had to turn away. Her emotions were too mixed to comprehend.
“Another player lost,” C sighed. “And our main target still lives.” He and Cin had the tracker that EvilMan_89 had hacked. Roxas's avatar hadn't moved. “He’s still there,” C added. “What do we do now?”
“We head south,” Cin replied. “It’s time we put ourselves where Roxas’s avatar is.”
“But what if he moves north?”
“We’ll keep an eye on the tracker. If there is a network of tunnels underground, that can at least help us confirm it. As for how we access those - well, I have no damned clue.”
“And the challenge?” Misty asked. “The flags? Do we ignore it all?”
“Yes,” Cin said. “Let’s visit our crates and get anyone who’s still alive rounded up. Then we can explain this to everyone.”
People nodded. Aelin thought it was a good plan, too. If he’s really on that tracker and we find him, we can end this.
DOO-DOO-DAAAAAAHH!!!
The trumpet melody that played every time there was a death announcement came in again, this time more distorted and louder than ever before.
“Players!” There was cackling. Aelin sighed - she’d learned to recognize Roxas’s manic laugh by now. “Did we all enjoy that stroll down memory lane? Don’t you love a good game of capture the flag? But it’s dawn, so this challenge is over! And that means it’s time to find out our winners - and our losers.”
Everyone who’d gathered at the cliff looked around uncomfortably. They all seemed to realize it at the same time; this was it.
“Let’s just say before we announce the results that that was pure entertainment. You guys really are putting on a show for our viewers at home. It’s incredible, really!”
Shut up, you sick *******.
“And I’ll tell you what, the number of viewers has gone up so much in the last 18 hours. When you all see the ad revenue we’re pulling in now - ha - just wait until we increase the prize pool!”
That’s right - the money. That’s why we’re here, remembered Aelin. If this challenge was over, that meant there wouldn’t be teams anymore, right? Would she be going solo again?
“But only some of you will be returning to the dormitory, so it’s time to find out our winners. Are you ready?” An obnoxious drum roll played. “In first place… it’s a shocker! The brown dogs win with seven flags!”
“Seven flags!?” Misty said. “How?”
“Well, we left Yozora behind to hit the other crates and steal a flag each,” Risk shrugged. “The attack here was a distraction when we saw Libre head north after stealing our flag earlier in the game.”
Damn it, Aelin though. That means one of our team's flags, I’m sure. I'll have to hope for second or third.
“In second place, we have… a tie! It’s the red birds and the blue whales with six flags each!” The happiness that flooded over Misty and Mish’s faces looked like ecstasy to Aelin. “He might have gone crazy, but praise Libre,” Mish said. “He got us the sixth flag.”
“And what about us?” asked Misty. “We never stole a flag.”
“We got given one,” Lauriam said. “Tamale stole one from the yellow giraffes, so we took it to our crate before we came here instead of taking one of the green team's flags.”
Wait, Aelin thought. If Tamale’s giving away other team's flags, then surely -
“Now the next announcement decides the losers of our game. Will it be the green monkeys?” Aelin, Tamale and C all looked at each other.
“Or the yellow giraffes?”
Everyone looked at Boris.
“Fourth place goes to… the green monkeys!”
Aelin breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to run and huge Tamale, but he was so close to Boris, who she already felt was ready to blow. The man began to sob even harder when he heard the announcement. The yellow giraffes had officially lost the game. But what exactly did that mean?
“Well played by all,” Roxas chuckled with glee. “But it’s time we say goodbye to our losing team. For all of you at home who spent all your channel points betting on the yellow giraffes, I’m sorry that it didn’t work out! Ha! Anyway, guys - it looks like your time is up!”
How can he be so casual about this?
“And as for the rest of you - well, the challenge is complete. So it looks like we’re going to have to bring you in. I’ll see you back at the dorm.”
There was a click, and that was it.
Beep, beep, beep.
Something red lit up inside Boris’s neck. They’d all seen it happen to Catch the Rain. Lauriam stepped back.
“I’m sorry,” she said, turning and taking Boris's old rifle with her. No one wanted to see what happened next.
“Please,” Boris sobbed. “Save me. Somebody.”
Aelin closed her eyes and listened to the waves instead. But she heard another sound - propellers, the same sound she’d heard when helicopters had dropped their crates.
“Choppers!” called Cia, pointing to the sky. When Aelin looked up, she saw ten helicopters spewing gas as they flew over the island.
Got it, she realized. They’re gassing us from the sky this time.
There was always a way to knock them out before they took them back to the dormitory. But why go through all the trouble instead of asking them to return? What was it they were hiding?
“Save me… please…” Boris wept one last time.
B-b-b-b-beeeeeeeeeeeeep!
She heard the explosion as his head blew off his shoulders. There was no need to look his way.

---​

On the volcano, Jinx and Calxiyn held each other behind a boulder as the team placings were announced. When they found out the yellow giraffes had lost, Calxiyn finally cried.
“It’s okay,” Jinx said. “It’ll be over, now. It’ll finally all be over.”
The microchips in their necks began to beep.
“Let’s back up from each other,” Jinx said, standing. They gave each other some space. Calxiyn could see a small red light flashing beneath Jinx’s skin.
“You’re right,” she said, smiling for the first time since the game had begun. “It’ll finally be over.”
A hand wrapped around her mouth.
“Who are you!?” Jinx screamed. “Where did you come from?”
Calxiyn felt a small blade dig into her neck. She screamed in pain, ready for her throat to be slit. It wasn’t the way she’d expected to go, but any way was okay with her at this point.
Instead, she felt the microchip fall from her neck. The person who’d cut her open caught it with one hand and threw it over the boulder.
“Wait,” Jinx said. “Can you do that for-”
He never finished his sentence as the microchip inside his neck exploded. Blood splattered the boulder where Calxiyn and the mysterious figure ducked. She felt the stone rumble as her chip - which had been thrown on the other side - exploded itself. Calxiyn turned to see who her savior was.
The man wore a mask like those in the dormitory, but his clothes were all red.
“Who are you?” she asked, but there was no response. They pulled out a gas mask and placed it on her face.
“Sleep,” they said, the voice garbled and robotic. “Sleep, my princess.”

11 players remaining

• Need medals? Fight Monstro. Holy ****, I just finished the 9999 medals requirement and bought everything unique in the store in like fifteen minutes.
• Ok, that’s Eraqus unlocked. I’m going to go finish up some loose ends in the journal before I fight him.
• I found an insane leveling strat in Neverland buried on YouTube and it took a few hours to go from level 49 to 99. That wasn’t anywhere as tedious as I thought It would be.
• Secret boss time… I know these guys are considered some of the hardest bosses in the franchise on Critical, but I’m ready. I took down Lingering Will pretty confidently so I’m not shaken, yet. Here we go.
• Killed Eraqus in one go. He was a really cool fight but I’m ultimately too powerful. The i-frames in Thunder Surge are straight nonsense. I’m sure there’s a cooler way to do this fight but I’m not here to **** around.
• No Heart took 2 attempts and was a great fight. I love the two phases. Also, wtf is this Keyblade called Crown Radiance? I’ve never gotten this deep into Final Mix so I’ve never had it but wow, I’ll take it.
• Vanitas Remnant is insanely annoying. I’m on my fifth try here. I have the Surges still and the Curas because I heard if you go behind a rock he won’t heal.
• He’s healing, this isn’t working lol.
• Wow, I switched the Curas out for Hi-Potions and won on my 3rd try. This was an insanely hard fight though. I’m trembling thinking about MF.
• This isn’t the place to moan about KH3 but it always pissed me off that you never got Void Gear in that game. There were a lot of interesting Keyblades they missed out on because they went too hard on transformations which limited them on weapon design.
• I just killed MF on my first try. I must subconsciously really want to move on to DDD.
• I had to get a three star on one more Unversed Mission, but now Ven is done. I’m going to do Aqua next because she’s more interesting than Terra imo.

The chaos continues in Chapter 032

032​

“Leave Boris and run!”
Mish heard Misty scream, but it was too late. Darkandroid came rushing from the tall grass, the flamethrower’s hose pointed directly at her. She screamed as his finger pulled the trigger. Her hair billowed and she felt the first puff of hot air coming from the hose. But her scream was cut short as she was winded by someone slamming their body into hers. She sprawled to the ground, gasping for air, and looked up to see Kitty with her arms extended before the flames engulfed her. When Darkandroid was done pulling the trigger, not even a bone was left. Mish reached into the waistline of her pants and pulled out the Glock, aiming it at Darkandroid.
“****er,” she spat, and pulled the trigger. But the chamber locked, and nothing came out. She smacked the gun on her palm and shot again, but it was the same result. Darkandroid realized what was happening and turned her way, ready to have a second try at burning her alive.
“I’m sorry, Mish. No one so precious deserves to go this way.”
Mish turned away, ready for the inevitable.
Pop. P-pop. Pop!
The scorching hellfire never came. Mish kept one eye closed, squinting open the other. The sun was rising, and the first purple rays of light spilled over the ruins, revealing three gun wounds in Darkandroid’s chest. They bubbled with blood as he choked, grasping his heart and stomach. The weight of the flamethrower pulled his body forward and he collapsed with a crash.
Mish turned around. Aelin was underneath the bench where Boris was tied up with smoke drifting from the end of her gun. She sighed, moving a piece of hair that had fallen into her face out of the way.
“T-thank you,” Mish stuttered. She was alive. But Kitty…
Bang! B-bang bang!
More bullets whizzed by and she heard Misty scream again.
“Risk, Mish! He’s still out there!”
Aelin fired off shots for cover as Mish dived into the tall grass a few meters away. Laying down, she was invisible. Things were still around her as the gunfire ceased. Through the grass, she watched Aelin peek from behind the vending machine. Boris was mouthing something at her - probably still begging to be untied. There was a black patch of scorched earth where her friend had been, and Darkandroid’s corpse lay not far from it.
Thanks, Kitty, Mish smiled. A tear ran down her cheek. She knew she’d lose friends during the game, but she still couldn't have prepared herself for it to be someone she truly loved.
How lucky to die first, she realized. You won’t be around to see the rest of us go.
“I call a ceasefire!” screamed Risk, and Mish turned toward the ruins. She crawled through the grass a bit, it being too dense from her previous position to see down the road where Risk was hiding.
No one spoke for a moment, then she heard Cin’s voice. “A ceasefire?”
"I didn't want to attack,” Risk explained. “I just wanted to stay at the crate! They made me come along!”
There was a pause while Cin, C, and Misty talked behind the crate. Mish couldn’t tell them what she was thinking, but a ceasefire was fine with her. Too many people had died since the brown dogs attacked. She didn’t want to see anyone else go, too.
“Fine,” Cin said. “We all rise on three. One!”
Mish got ready to stand. She had no idea who else might be around.
“...Two!”
She cocked the Glock. Please work, she thought. The damn thing had misfired only a minute before. If it wasn’t ready when she needed it…
“One!”
Bodies popped up left and right, and Mish looked around to see everyone with their weapons pointed at Risk. He stood alone behind a giant piece of concrete that had fallen from a building, pointing his single-chambered pistol wildly back and forth at everyone.
“Just give up, man,” C called. “You look like an idiot.”
Risk reluctantly raised the gun into the air and the others followed.
“Okay, let’s drop our weapons - very slowly, now.”
They crouched in unison and put their weapons down, then stood back up again. Eyes were darting in all directions.
“Good,” Cin said. “It’s time for negotiations.”
“What about him?” Risk asked, pointing behind the crate. “Put your gun down, too, Libre!”
Mish gasped. Libre? Where’d he go!?
She followed Risk’s eyes. Libre was standing beyond her team’s crate at the edge of the cliff. Behind him, the sun was showing beyond the earth’s lip. The sky was a dark blue now, and in his hands, she saw both the PKM and Cin's tracker. Mish watched the others run toward him, so she followed suit. They were almost to the edge of the cliff when Libre screamed at them.
“What do you think you’re doing!? Stay back! All of you!”
Libre scattered shots into the air with his PKM. Aelin was nearby and she jumped toward Mish.
“Be careful, Mish,” she said. “I’ve been watching his eyes throughout the night. I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but it’s bad.”
“Stop this, Libre,” Cia begged. “We want to know what you’re doing!? What happened to our team?”
“Oh, **** the red birds!” Libre laughed. “**** all of you!”
He let the PKM fall to his chest and pulled two grenades out of his tracksuit pocket. W-what!? Mish thought, stunned. Aren’t those Inasuma’s-? Oh no...
No one had picked them up when he'd died, and now Libre juggled them.
“I’ll pull the pins if you don’t stay the **** back,” he shouted. “I’ll blow us up - us and this damn tracker, too!”
“All this over a tracker?” Cia cried. “I hate you, Libre! I hate you!”
But the man only laughed like a maniac. “What, you thought I’d finally tell you I loved you because we were going to die? Because we were lucky enough to be on the same team?”
“N-no,” Cia stammered. Her lip quivered. “And I never felt that way! It was all in your head!”
“Shut up, Cia. Just shut up! You’re all so cute with your little plan to kill Roxas. I love it - love it! But you didn’t invite ol’ Libre over to the crate with you now, did you? I feel like that’s a lot to keep from someone you call a teammate.”
“We were going to go over the plan this morning,” Cin argued. “We just wanted to iron it out with a few friends, first."
“A few friends,” Libre chuckled. He looked at one of the grenades and tossed it in the air, catching it with a wry smile across his face. “That’s what this is about? Friendship? We’re all going to ****ing die, ****wads! Didn’t you figure that out yet! We’re ****ed! So forget your ****ing friends - forget everything!”
Libre lifted a grenade and wrapped his finger around the pin. Mish went to grab her Glock but realized she’d left it on the ground during the ceasefire. She glanced at Aelin, but her Springfield had run out of bullets and she was in the middle of reloading.
“No!” screamed Cin. “Don’t!”
Libre went to pull the pin, and Mish closed her eyes, ready to be engulfed in fire and death once more.
BANG!
The crack of the Colt Python .357 was so loud that Mish and Aelin fell to the grass in each other’s arms. It was as if the air itself had moved out of the bullet's course on the way to its target - the center of Libre’s forehead. His finger still wrapped around the grenade’s pin, his body listed back and forth like a bowling pin ready to fall. Mish looked into his crazed eyes as he plummeted over the edge of the cliff, tracker and grenades in hand.
It felt like an eternity before she finally heard the splash.
“Is that… Trigger?” Aelin whispered. She clutched Mish’s arm.
Mish turned. There, by the red crate, stood Trigger. Behind him were Lauriam and Tamale. He put the gun in his pocket and walked up to them.
“Damn,” he said, eyeing the carnage. “We late?”

14 players remaining

• It took 10 hours but I’m about to do the end of Aqua’s story. I managed to get all her abilities during the normal play through so that’s nice. I’ll probably go right into the extra episodes after this to unlock everything in the post game for all three characters.
• Final Episode done. That was a lot shorter than I remembered.
• Ok, it’s Post Game time! I’m gonna start with Ven because he’s so fun to play. First things first, I’ll do what I can in the Arena while grinding out the commands I’ve yet to collect.
• Well damn, I thought I’d have all commands but some of these can’t be melded. Let the grind continue.
• Omg, Pete in Fruitball is a NIGHTMARE.
• The Ice Cream Beat bit took about 30 minutes. That’s a huge relief LOL.
• Those mini games weren’t too bad, actually. After the stories I’ve heard regarding Ice Cream Beat, this was fine. I am a rhythm master, of course.
• Getting the unique commands off the Command Board would have been a lot easier if I’d known they don’t appear in the Mirage Arena…
• It literally took 10 minutes to get those unique commands now that I know what I’m doing.
• Well, Ven is getting done with a lot of the optional stuff. But I still need to win a few games in the Arena and grind out those 9999 medals. That should provide 3-4 levels though which will be nice for the secret bosses.

That hit the spot.