"Waste?"
by Al Kristopher
Twilight Town. Evening, appropriately. A decorative Keyblade grasped with sweaty hands, grit and dust in Sora's eyes. There are twenty-four powerful Heartless at the rear. Goofy stares with his usual apprehension towards the swarm of Nobodies recently formed from the air in front of him. Weariness has claimed much of their strength. The battle has gone on much longer than anyone anticipated…or wanted. And yet they keep coming. Sora's pulse is in his throat, his body feels wobbly, and he knows that, if victory is to be achieved, cunning and guile must win this day. No more plowing headlong into fights, wailing at anything in range. He and his two comrades, one growling (or quacking?) menacingly, needed absolute mental superiority, or else all was lost. Sora took a step forward, ready to swing his Keyblade at just the right angle…
"QWAH!!" And in an instant, his plans were ruined.
"NO, Donald! Not on the weak ones!!" But it was too late: the deed was finished and the damage—or rather, the absence of damage—had been done. The last of his MP had been used in vain, against the little tiny Heartless that usually accompanied this crew in droves. Sora screamed "You IDIOT!!" before then suggesting an alternate strategy: "RUN!!!"
Just another ordinary day in Twilight Town.
Sigh.
With that humiliation behind them, Sora started his usual tirade, which even Goofy had now learned by heart. They had both heard it many times—perhaps a hundred, perhaps a thousand, perhaps a bazillion—and one would think that, after the dozenth or the hundredth, Donald would've learned his lesson! But no. He had to go and waste his magic!
"What do I keep telling you!" Sora screamed. "Whenever we get into a fight, do not—and I repeat, do NOT waste your magic!"
"So I…do waste my magic?"
"No! You don't!"
"But you do waste your magic," noted Goofy. He was trying, bless him, but there was just so much that was wrong with his efforts.
"So I really do waste it?" Donald said again.
"NO!" Sora screamed. "Look, it's very simple. I've gone over it ever since
Traverse Town. Whenever there's a fight…"
"Yeeees."
"I go in and thrash around mindlessly…"
"A-huh."
"Goofy gets into life-threatening danger…"
"A-huh."
"And you very sparingly use your spells, but ONLY on the most powerful enemies, and ONLY when there's an emergency."
"So…" Donald paused; he wanted to get this right. "We go into battle…"
"Yeeees."
"You and Goofy fight."
"A-huh."
"And I…"
"Yeees?"
"I use…my magic…"
"Right…"
"…Constantly?"
KA-THUNK!!
"NO!" Sora screamed. Sigh. This was going to take all day.
……
Sora finally got through to Donald about seven hours later, or at least he believed he did. Missing out on dinner and sleep made his head go foggy, and he wasn't really sure if Donald understood or if his mind was just in another loop. He hoped things would get better soon, because there were harder enemies still out there, and they were a part of every moment of the trio's lives. Everyone needed to be in top form—they didn't want a repeat of last time! Just to be on the safe side, Sora invested some hard-earned Munny into the Ether market, and bought several dozen bottles so there would be no need to worry about their Magic Points.
Of course, that left their wallet a little empty (save for the standard escaping moth). And Sora was just eyeing that brand new accessory that protected against everything and then some! The Moogles were also demanding more Munny for their Synthesizing, thus fulfilling the old adage. If Sora wanted to make Munny, he first needed to spend it! But first they needed to get into a few battles and whack some Nobodies—and what better time to test out their new level of understanding?
Heartless and Nobodies quickly came to them while they were wandering around Twilight Town (usually right before they opened treasure chests, naturally!). Sora's hands clung tight to his Keyblade, no longer soaked with perspiration. He jumped into the fray and performed his usual impossible gymnastics routine, while Goofy was getting beaten to a reliable pulp. Sora had about 71 nanoseconds to take a break during the battle, so he glanced over at Donald to see if their heart-to-heart did any good.
"QWAH!!!"
Thundaga. That was a Thundaga spell.
But that wasn't the end of it. Donald used Aero, and Blizzaga, and Graviga, and Curaga. Curaga, for crying out loud! They had just started the battle! Their Health Points were at maximum! What was that crazy bird doing?!
"Donald!" Sora yelled. He barely avoided a Firaga to the head. This duck was on a rampage.
"QWAH!!"
"Donald, no! Stop wasting magic!"
"What'd you say?" the duck screamed. "Waste magic? All right!"
"No, DON'T WASTE MAGIC!!!"
"Waste?" Before Sora's horrified eyes, Donald's MP drained at an alarming rate. All that time and Munny, down the drain!
"NO! Don't waste!!"
"Waste?"
"NOOOOOOO!!!!!" But by then, it was too late. Donald had used all his most powerful spells on the weak enemies, leaving the big tough ones for Sora and Goofy—well, okay, just Sora then—to fight. He couldn't resist screaming for one last time before tossing an Ether bottle Donald's way. Yet as soon as he got it, the maniacal bird waved his wand around and depleted his mana in record time.
"No Donald, stop! You're wasting magic!"
"Waste your magic? Okay!!" Boom! Every spell at once, not one of them doing a bit of good.
"NOOOO!!!!!! I SAID DON'T WASTE!!!"
"Waste?" And just like that, the poor duck lost his MP. He was knocked unconscious exactly four seconds later (Goofy had been forced out of the fight ages ago, naturally). Grumbling in agony, Sora finished the battle himself. As always, things were much easier without these two clowns.
The End