Well, I've beaten the 013 story, and, yes, even the secret story, and in turn, I've unlocked Feral Chaos.
Secret story was a pain, if only because it's never entirely clear where you're supposed to be going. Oh, and you have to fight Feral Chaos twice in the story, first time he has around 56,000 health, and the second time it's 126,000 health. Ow. At least it was party battles. In those two fights, I discovered that Garland is an exceptional anti-Feral Chaos character.
I'm quite glad that they came up with brand new quotes for all the characters to speak, weather they be introductory quotes, victory quotes, or defeat quotes. I'm also pleasently surprised that the characters have two different quotes for Chaos and Feral Chaos.
You know, I'm actually surprised by the whole 'warriors have no memories of their worlds' plot point, I never got the idea that the Warriors had lost their memories in the first Dissidia. I had figured that WoL was the only one who got hit by that.
As of right now, my sole focus is grinding PP for all the costumes. Feral Chaos' alt will likely wait for a while, that 3000 PP can be better spent somewhere else.
Speaking of costumes, it's amazing how much more patience I have for Vaan once you put a shirt on him.
Hm. It somewhat bugs me that there are player icons from XIV in the game, but no XIV characters. They could have used Zulvan or Travanchet. (Though Travanchet has done almost nothing in the plot, just stealing the 'key' from Y'shtola) There weren't enough new Chaos Warriors in the game anyway, even if they weren't from the same game, a XIV villain could have opposed Lightning
Yes, there were XIII icons in the last game, but those were accessed with a code, the XIV icons are recieved simply by buying them in the PP Catalog.
Speaking of new Chaos Warriors, they had considered Eald'Narche or Kam'lanut to be in from XI, but went with Prishe. Leaves me with mixed feelings for her inclusion. Her personality can be a bit... grating. ('Welcome to pain-ville!')
Anyway, on to my story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
"What's your take on them?" Firion asked of Cloud. Motioning his head toward Celes and Yuna, Kain being elsewhere at the moment.
"The new Warriors?" Cloud shrugged. "They're valiant warriors, even if their hearts don't seem to trust Cosmos just yet. I'm not sure if I did at first."
"Then… we give them some time? The last thing we need is for them to run off thinking their way is better."
Cloud nodded his agreement. In the last war, everyone had struck off on their own, intentionally or not, at one point or another, but with the number of participating warriors now increased, it was hard to consider that a good idea. "If the other warrior from their worlds could have a talk with them about that subject, maybe they'd be more willing to respect Cosmos' will." His eyes closed as he turned away, "I doubt they would openly rebel against Cosmos, but…"
"What are you two doing?" Cloud opened his eyes to see Yuna and Celes having walked up to him. Cloud noted the speaker to be Yuna, and not for the first time was he mildly surprised that someone who knew Tidus to the extent that she obviously did had such a different personality.
"Just discussing some tactics." Firion answered. A half-lie, but… it would be prudent to not let Yuna or Celes know that they had been talking about them specifically. Sowing a seed of suspicion and doubt in these two would do little good. "We should get moving, where's Kain?"
Oh, probably conspiring with the enemy, of course.
Firion paused, even after making only two steps. A quick glance around to the faces of the others confirmed that they had also heard a voice.
With a flash, a graceful silver-haired man appeared behind them, the Warriors twisted to the origin of the voice.
"My, such defiant expressions, and to think that I came here to help you."
"You, you're Kuja." Firion spoke, more so to offer identification for Yuna and Celes. "Why would you help us?"
"Maybe I'm just in the mood." Kuja had turned, tilting his head to keep his eyes on the Warriors of Cosmos, just in case one of them got impulsive regarding the presence of a Warrior of Shinryu. For the time being, he focused his eyes on the two… fresh ones. "I came to warn you that you're dear friend, Kain, is plotting to betray you."
"Kain?" Firion raised an eyebrow. "I've seen enough of him to know he won't do that."
"Oh, you know him so well in your short time with him?" Kuja laughed weakly. "Even the closest comrades don't understand each other's heart, and I suspect that I understand him better then you."
A presence. Kain scanned the area around him, seeing nothing of particular note, but he could feel, there was something here. A presence he had not felt since…
Golbez? No, what I'm feeling is…
"How long has it been, dear earthling?"
"Zemus." Kain spoke, his emotionless voice broke to allow a hint of anger through a crack. "What do you want?"
The Lunarian phased into view, a smirk on his face. "Do I sense anger, why, you owe everything to me. Was it not thanks to me that you could act on your impulses, your desires?"
"Be silent." Kain responded, refusing to even allow himself to think about the subconscious desires that Zemus had brought to the surface in the past. "I'll have nothing with you, I-" he suddenly paused. The back of his head seemed to began to rapidly throb, "Wait, what-"
"Why are you resisting?" Zemus again smirked as Kain began to clutch his head. "Blind loyalty is far from a difficult lord and master. You chose it once, you'll do so again."
Kain sank to one knee from the pain assaulting his head. "I… refuse to have anything… to do with… you. "
"Your attempts at resistance are admirable. Pointless, but admirable. Perhaps you need to be reminded of the strength of my psychic powers." With one solid wave of energy, Zemus crushed Kain's defiance all at once with a simple, almost childish ease.
The pain ebbed to nothing, Kain slowly got back to a standing position, no trace of strain, reluctance, or any form of emotion touched the Dragoon's faith.
"Return to the Warriors of Cosmos, I shall call upon you when the time is right."
"Yes… master… Ze…mus." A weak and feeble resistance still lingered somewhere, deep down, so deep as to be non-existent. Certainly nothing that Zemus would ever consider a threat.
"Ah, tragedy, one of my favorite type of productions." Kuja smirked at the Warriors of Cosmos before him. "I trust that, the next time we meet, you'll regret having forsaken my… concern for your well-being." With a final laugh, already picturing Kain's lance coated with their blood, Kuja lifted into the air and darted away before any possible attack could reach him.
"That was… Kuja, you said?" Celes kept her eyes trained about, prepping for a possible sneak attack. "What should I expect from him in a fight?"
"Kuja is a schemer." Cloud noted, "He'd go to lengths to prevent himself from actually fighting, and when he does, he'll be evasive, tactical, wearing you down."
"We shall handle him simply enough, when the time comes." A another, thankfully familiar, voice spoke up. The Warriors turned to see Kain walk up to them.
"Kain, one of our enemies just showed up, but… he didn't even try to fight us." Yuna summarized, "He said that you were… planning to betray us."
Kain tilted his head at Yuna, his face betraying nothing of his inner reaction to the statement. "Let us not dwell on the enemy's words, unless we can prove that they speak the truth in some other way."
"I see that you would choose to fight me." Eald'Narche smirked at the Warrior of Light, even as he felt the Ancient Magic beginning to focus in his palms. Elsewhere, Cecil had engaged Leo, and Vincent focused his attentions on Gilgamesh.
"Before we begin, I want to ask you something."
Eald'Narche raised the eyebrow of his right eye, "What would you inquire of me?"
"Though I doubt your tongue would loosen so quickly… who has restarted this cycle?"
A brief twinge of amusement rippled through Eald'Narche at the thought of revealing such information. Yet he had little choice but to restrain himself, invoking a Divine Dragon's wrath would have been… he shook his head of the thought.
"I'm afraid it is to my… benefit, to not reveal that. When he wants you to know, he will make his presence known."
"He?"
"The one who shall lead me to the Gate of The Gods, and I'll leave it at that." Slowly, Eald'Narche began to float a few inches off the ground, "I have given you the best answer I will give, now, I will free Cosmos of such… pitiful and useless Warriors." Eald'Narche's hands began to glow with magic. The Warrior of Light pointed his sword straight at the Zilart Prince.
Eald'Narche made the first move, quickly and smoothly a casting of Quake was completed. The ground beneath the Warrior's feet began to crack and rip open, but he simply took to the air, continuing his approach.
The Prince responded with Flare, sending a flurry of super-heated globes of flame in his enemy's direction. The Warrior of Light's shield took the brunt of the flame, absorbing the force of the attack as the flames failed to reach their intended target.
The attack did succeed in forcing distance between the two, the impact on the shield forcing the Warrior of Light back through the air. Landing upon the ground, he immediately began to charge again. Taking to the air again, he was beset by a Tornado spell from the prince, but he managed to dive back down to the ground before the wind could suck him away, and charged at Eald'Narche once more.
The distance closed to a concerning level and, in a moment of mixed reflex and perhaps a slight moment of panic, Eald'Narche responded by casting Burst. The electrical attacked surged from above, but the Warrior of Light simply out paced the attack, and with one movement, bluntly slammed his shield into Eald'Narche's cheek.
The prince's body responded by moving back from the force of the attack, but only skidded a few inches back. Not injured to any particular extent, he immediately cast Quake again. This time, as the earth snapped, it created a chasm between himself and his opponent.
"I must admit, your approach is harder to stop then I anticipated. Yet your Light cannot save you from what is to come." Summoning the Ancient Magic once again, he prepared to cast Freeze.
In the guise of a Dark Knight, Cecil swiftly approached General Leo, his sword, Deathbringer, clashed with Leo's weapon. Yet, to Cecil's surprise, Leo simply forced Cecil's sword back, and then he simply came at him again. Given only a moment to make a note of Leo's seemingly superhuman speed, after their blades clashed only a few times, it seemed clear that Leo was the faster.
I need… Hallowed Light. At once the grip of Darkness left Cecil, and a Paladin took the place of the Dark Knight. Leo took a step back as the transformation took place, only to be surprised as a Paladin, whose movements far out-paced the Dark Knight, suddenly lunged at him.
Having thought that victory would be obtained relatively easily, Leo was caught off-guard by the speed that his enemy now laid claim to. A moment ago Leo had been pressuring, yet not he was forced on the defensive, and he was giving up ground.
With a grunt, Leo managed to make their swords solidly connect and force Cecil away. Breathing heavily from the high-reflex encounter, Leo allowed himself to move to a more defensive stance. To his relief, the assault seemed to have weathered his opponent down as well, but not quite so much.
Requiring to end the fight immediately, Leo readied Shock. As Cecil lunged again, Leo released a mass of magic energy, catching Cecil in the blast, wracking his body with pain. A… feeling of regret poked at Leo at the sight of the Paladin, a devout holy warrior, being harmed at his hand, but that feeling went away when suddenly his attack ended itself. In the Paladin's place was, again, the Dark Knight.
Cecil fell to the ground and charged once more, though slower as the Dark Knight, Leo's surprise at having his attack negated opened a glaring hole in his defense. Cecil took advantage, with his sword brimming with Dark Power, he wielded the power of Soul Eater as he struck Leo, leaving a gashing blow across the general's chest as the Darkness was summoned into his other hand, and then thrust forward. Leo was sent away on the wave of Dark Energy from Cecil's other hand, crashing painfully against the rail, it was a wonder the rail held him.
As the wave ended, Leo fell down on his back. After a moment he began to stand up, his legs wobbled from the stress and pain that was coursing through his body, at first only able to hunch as he rose, he stumbled as he began to straight up. He had been struck only twice, but it would seem that it had been enough.
Gripping his sword, he eyed Cecil… only for his opponent's movement to suggest… restraint? Reluctance? Regardless, his opponent wasn't approaching. If Leo had been in better condition, he might have been able to turn the battle around, but as it stands now…
"What's with all the red? Trying to copy me, are you?" Gilgamesh taunted, eliciting no response to Vincent. "I mean, I can understand completely, guys like me, you just want to copy-WHOA!" A bullet from Vincent's gun zinged past Gilgamesh's head, startling him enough to make him fall backwards. "Hey, you should always respect someone when they're giving expository banter."
"Just… fight." Vincent fired another bullet, which was dodged. Gilgamesh summoned a large spear to his hands and tried to rush forward, but the gunfire proved to make advance difficult. Rolling, dodging, Gilgamesh began to close the distance.
"Ha! Looks like your attempt to stop the greatest of swordsman… fell… um… short…" Gilgamesh's bravado faded away as Vincent's body began to transform, taking the shape of the Galian Beast.
The very first motion was to charge forward, possibly hoping to gore Gilgamesh on its horns, Gilgamesh ran away, his back to Vincent, as he scrambled up the building at the end of the bridge.
"I've got the higher ground. What're you gonna do now, huh? Huh?" Gilgamesh taunted, only for the Beast to jump up, its appearance molding back to Vincent, and before what occurred had even completely registered, Gilgamesh was looking into the barrel of a gun. In a reflexive action, Gilgamesh moved to the left, and traded being shot in the head for being shot in the shoulder.
"Ow-ow-ow…" Gilgamesh clutched at the injured shoulder. "Oh man, this is much more painful then I'm making it look."
Vincent landed with balance upon the roof, he spun to the left and pointed his gun at Gilgamesh again.
"Um…" Gilgamesh was, again, looking down the barrel of a gun. "Wanna call it a draw? I mean, I'm such an incredible enemy, don't you want a chance to fight me again?"
Without speaking, Vincent shot again, forcing Gilgamesh to jump back.
"Okay, if it's gonna be like that." Gilgamesh tensed up, then suddenly turned tail and ran away. "Hasta la bye-bye!"
The Warrior of Light easily bounded over the crack in the bridge, Eald'Narche attempted to respond with a Blitz spell from above, the lightning descended, but again, missed its intended target. The Warrior of Light came forward and, taking his sword in hand, swung firmly at Eald'Narche.
The prince felt the blade touch the skin of his face, but no more then that. He immediately jumped back. He smirked at the ineffectiveness of the attack. "Was that supposed to be a crippling blow? Perhaps you should ask the Gods to-"
He suddenly paused as he felt some kind of liquid begin to flow down his face. Another second passed and all of his attention was focused on a stinging from his face that began to besiege him. Slowly, hesitantly, he brought his hand up to his face and pressed down on the skin before pulling back.
"Blood?" He beheld the contents of his hands. "This is… my… blood?" He gritted his teeth as he turned his attention back to his enemy. You will… pay, for this."
That will have to wait, I'm afraid.
"Gah…" Eald'Narche fell to a knee from the pain he was suddenly going through, but even through the pain he could recognize the voice. "Kuja, you're supposed to be-"
"I already relayed that message." The Genome mage answered the not completely spoken question. "I was just on my way back, until I saw your idea of fighting, perhaps you need my help."
"I…" Eald'Narche briefly choked. "I don't need your help to win."
"Win?" Kuja smirked, "I'm going to help you escape."
"I don't need your hel-" Eald'Narche's words were caught off mid-sentence as Kuja's hand fell on his shoulder. Without delay, Kuja released a Thunder spell through Eald'Narche's body. A small cry from the prince was followed by his head slumping forward, along with half of his body, Kuja's grip on Eald'Narche's shoulder being the only thing that prevented him from collapsing onto the ground.
"I trust there will be no more complaints, then?" Kuja laughed with a low pitch, then focused his gaze forward. "Leo, Gilgamesh, return to our… land."
"No argument from me!" Gilgamesh ran by Kuja, only a few inches from ramming into the mage. Leo limped by Kuja, injured from his own fight.
Kuja turned his attention to the Warriors of Cosmos, the three of them having bunched together when he and Eald'Narche were talking. "I suppose you feel good about your 'victory' today. Celebrate while you are able, things shall soon become far less comfortable for you." With one final laugh, Kuja dissipated, taking Eald'Narche with him.
Golbez paced through Shinryu's stronghold, Divinity's Core. His midnight armor creating the intimidating aura that resulted in many of the others giving him his space. Though the Emperor and Exdeath were plainly aware of his true intentions, they were making no attempt to punish or kill him. Perhaps they thought that he still maintained some use to him, or maybe their tolerance of him was a result of Shinryu.
Whatever the case, he continued on his way, trying to determine Shinryu's precise desires. A 'true' war, it was an odd desire, one Golbez could not claim to fully understand. Shinryu… wanted to see something, but whatever it was, Golbex could not claim to understand. Perhaps it was that that made him mortal, and not a divine being such as Shinryu.
Golbez paused as his ears began to pick up a sound. Small talking, he turned in the direction of the sound, the speakers being in clear eyesight. The three imperial… henchmen, Gabranth, Zulvan, and the Dark Knight, seemed to be discussing something. His curiosity piqued, he attempted to focus his attention on the three, but he could only make out small bits of individual words, and the discussion was wrapping itself up, seemingly not because they had reached some agreement or deal, but because another Warrior of Shinryu approached.
The Dark Knight immediately knelt down at the sight of Emperor Mateus, whereas the other two merely turned to the man at his approach. His curiosity piqued even further, Golbez began making a clear and obvious approach to the scene.
"Zulvan, Gabranth, and even my own Dark Knight." Mateus acknowledged all three of them. "I have an assignment for you, I wish to see the individual capabilities of all three of you."
Of course, he already knew what Leon, the Dark Knight, was capable of. It was just his way of including a more… reliable pawn, in his latest scheme. "I wish to test the resolve of one of the wandering groups of pawns of Harmony."
"You wish us to simply find and strike?" Gabranth asked.
"Yes and no." Mateus answered. "Among this group you are to target specific members, you will split them up, and fight with all your strength against those I order you to fight. Attack one I do not assign as your target, and you will regret it for your little remaining life."
Not one of the three flinched from the threat, to the satisfaction of Mateus. "Now, let me detail your targets. We shall have to move quickly, Xande and Kadaj are already targeting this group."
As I play 012, I do believe that I can incorporate the 'world map' in this story. Which will be much preferable to having the characters always be in specific areas.
Please review.