Draco: Type-0 brought my run of Time and Eternity to a grinding halt. In the middle of the final boss sequence, what's more. Honestly. I can't get back in there. They have very similar control schemes at the core, but I can't get back to Time and Eternity. I swear, when I get Keys and Crosses going again - properly this time, not Balance and Ruin - Class Zero is getting in. I don't care how minor the roles are, Keys and Crosses Season II is going to include Type-0-ers.
Nope, that still looks weird. I think I am just going to call them Type-ers. Thanks, Herald.
Anyways, fair warning, I think I've mapped my way to the basin. I swear this will reach conclusion in the near future - before we hit sixty chapters, if not before we hit fifty. To all of you who have enjoyed it so far: thanks for clinging this long, I hope this last stretch will be satisfactory!
Dissidia Final Fantasy and all related properties © Square Enix.
Sealed Battlegrounds: Insanity With A Strategy
"This is bullshit!"
Kefka had been in the Edge of Madness for long enough to realize that he was stuck - and that the plains of discord were not that much less expansive than they had been in hell, though he could not venture much farther than the throne's battlefield. Granted, the throne had his magic a lot more powerful than it had been before - which as a concept was impressive, never mind the value of the enhancement - but he was still stuck here without a way to do anything.
A presence from nearby prompted him to turn away from the throne and look towards the stairs. A moment's pause; then a ring of magic appeared at the top of the steps, at which Exdeath appeared with his sword braced as a staff. He had hardly time to grip it as a blade again before Kefka cheered, stepping forward. "Exxy!" he cooed. "I was wondering where you'd been! What're you doing here?"
Exdeath only huffed. "I heard tell that you were imprisoned here, and thought to pay you a visit, knowing you would have tried everything in your power to act beyond these borders.
The jester only rolled his eyes. "Nooo," he gasped, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm not trying to get out. I'm just bored! There's nothing to do here, and Gillionare didn't pick up any cards before I got out of there." He was halfway across the battlefield on his way back to the throne, with intention to recline and taunt the tree, before a thought caught him; he stopped with one foot in the air, turning without moving any part of his body except his mouth as he demanded; "Waaaaait a minute." Short steps took him up to Exdeath's face a lot faster than they should have as he demanded, "Why the hell are you trying to help me?"
"Destruction will edge any world toward the true Void," Exdeath replied. "And there are none who specialize in destruction with greater potency than you."
"Honoured!" Kefka mused, setting a hand on Exdeath's back and pushing him towards the throne. "In that case, sit down and we can talk plans. I personally like to do a lot of burning, but-"
He was silenced when Exdeath vanished, reappearing at the tip of the stairs, and Kefka turned, keeping his hand where the tree's back had been. "I have no intention of taking your place in this prison," the Void warlock warned. "I have simply come to provide you with a tool to aid your intentions."
Kefka sighed, spinning round and reclining on the throne (it hadn't shocked him since he had first taken it). "This oughta be good," he mused. "What kinda tool have you got? Storm cloud and the little soccer ball wrecked all my mechs, the new manikin got busted up in a way that put those oh-twelve-ers to shame, and the little kid is hiding the slave crown in his spellcaster stuff."
"All, you say?"
Exdeath's words caused Kefka to sit upright. "Where are you going with this, Exxy?"
The tree raised one hand, causing a sphere of Void energy reminiscent of his Neo Amalgest to appear in the center of discord's battlefield. Kefka shot to his feet, letting the suction drag him forward ever-so-slowly; the sphere crystallized before he was anywhere near threatening distance, and he closed his eyes as it shone bright and shattered.
When he opened his eyes, there was a massive cube of Magitek sitting where it had been.
The harlequin squealed like a whole village of Espers had just tried to gang up on him. It took six tries and four pitches before he was satisfied with his own cheer; then he rushed forward, spinning laps around the thing. "Oh OH OH! When the hell did you get this?! I haven't been this excited in worlds! I don't have to start from scratch any more! This is so awesome!"
"Your reaction is astonishingly human," Exdeath observed, "and disturbingly childish."
"You have no idea," Kefka cooed. "That little brat can kiss my ass! I'm gonna use this!" He flicked his fingers at Exdeath. "Now, shoo!"
Exdeath chuckled deep, turning away and bracing his sword as a staff.
"Wait, don't go!" Kefka took back. "This thing isn't gonna work on the throne, that thing is only gonna work on people."
There was a small sequence of the clown fiddling with the box; then he set his hand onto a panel, prompting a slot to slide open. He held out one hand, causing flames to gather in it; this was not part of the sequence Exdeath recognized, and he turned to see the fire become a small circular disc.
"What is that?" the tree inquired.
"The thing about a lot of power is that you can run a dozen tests at once in the blink of an eye and you know it's gonna work the same on the real thing," Kefka summed up, sliding the disc into the slot. There was a small whirring; then the slot popped open again, and Kefka skidded back.
"Alright, hot stuff. Mode X-I-I-I-dash-H-dash-twelve version zero, shifter state, go!"
There was a surge of Magitek steam from all over the box that took up most of discord's battlefield; Kefka started coughing before the sound of ice caused it to part.
Exdeath was understandably impressed when the resulting metal-wires-and-glass figure was Lightning Farron of Cocoon, with crystal eyes of rose pink.
"This is gonna be good," Kefka taunted, whirling the manikin-mech around. "Okay, baby, you find base for I-I-I-dash-H and engage with mode X-I-dash-H-2-dash-two version two. Apprehend him and bring him here. If he shifts to base for dash-thirteen-S, engage with mode I-X-dash-H-dash-thirteen version zero, get the slave crown, ditch him, and come back. Base for V-dash-D is non-hostile and should be approached only to get out of here and come back here. If base for X-I-I-I-dash-H engages, counter with mode V-I-dash-H-dash-twelve version two and kick her ass. If base for V-I-dash-H engages, counter with mode I-X-dash-D-dash-thirteen version twenty and send her away, but stay focused on base for I-I-I-dash-H. I need that slave crown. If you get it, bypass all possible encounters and get back here."
"I have absolutely no idea what any of that means," Exdeath admitted.
"Don't worry your little head about it," Kefka insisted. "You take her out of here, she'll find her way to the brat, when she comes back, bring her back here. I don't care what she looks like, I don't care if the brat's with her or not."
The mech turned to Exdeath, who - after a moment - realized that he was what Kefka had referred to as 'base for V-dash-D'. "Need I walk back to the throne?" he asked of Kefka.
"Absolutely not," Kefka retched. "She knows you can warp."
+x+x+x+
"Mind keeping watch for me? I want to go warn her about the World of Darkness."
Onion's request was met only with a nod from Terra. "Sure."
Swift as he could, he pushed himself off the roof, running down the side of the Crystal Tower. When he arrived at the base of the tower, he was surprised to find Lightning had closed the door behind her; with a shrug, he formed his crimson katana in hand, swiping it against the seam just lightly. The door popped open, and he slid inside; reasoning that she probably closed it for a reason, he pushed it to meet with the other once again.
Then a gunshot sounded.
Onion threw himself aside as the shot embedded itself in the door behind him, landing with a roll and looking up. For a brief moment, he was horrified when he saw what was there - it was one of Kefka's Magitek manikins, wires and metal and glass linked with hinges to form the garments. Then that moment ended, and he lashed his empty hand upward in irritation.
"Seriously?!" he demanded as the mech lowered its weapon. "Why do all of you look like Lightning? Why can't you fight me with, like, Prishe's face or something?"
The mech's eyes shifted, rose pink crystal becoming dull brown.
Then the whole mech shifted, its body contorting in ways that would have made Onion cringe if he wasn't both aware that this thing was non-living and confused as to what it was doing. Its shape remained the same, but its specifics shifted - the sleeves extended, the hair lengthened, the footwear shortened.
Before he realized it, Onion was looking at a Magitek manikin of Prishe as it raised its hands, energy forming a pair of fighting knuckles on its fists.
"Oh, screw me."
The mech-Prishe rushed forward, and Onion propelled himself against the wall as it lashed three punches through the air where he had just been. His empty hand was on the crystal surface for a brief moment; then he propelled himself towards the machine like a bolt fired from a crossbow, and his Onion Sword appeared in his grip as he lashed his blades forward. The false manikin leapt over Onion, landing behind him, and the ninja hardly had time to turn before it slammed a sequence of five punches into him.
He hardly had time to recover, much less retaliate, before it whirled around and slammed the back of one hand into his face. Onion was still whirling from the blow when an explosion threw him into the floor of the Crystal Tower, singing his garb and throwing him back. As he tried to get up, a fast shot of magic he did not recognize hit him in the stomach, throwing him into a roll that he managed to end on his feet; then the false manikin was up in his face, sweeping one leg forward to throw him into the air.
Somehow, he managed to recover before the mech could follow up, dodging around a spinning rise and landing on three points while it was still in the air. He quickly leapt away, drawing a shuriken and pressing it between his palms before throwing it and a thousand more towards his opponent. His heart sank when the sharpened steel stars clattered ineffectively off of his opponent (when they didn't miss outright), and it quickly leapt forward, throwing a punch that formed an energy sphere to strike Onion rapidly. The moment the sphere faded, the mech rushed forward with a charging punch that threw him into the wall.
His experiences with Terra meant that being thrown into a wall was of no great concern - his trouble came from his opponent's dexterity and durability. With a groan, he shifted himself on the wall and raced towards the roof, trying to think.
If a weapon doesn't work, maybe I can wreck it with Thunder...
He leapt from the roof, his swords vanishing as his Ninja garb became Sage robes, and a his staff appeared in his hand as he fell towards the mech; once he was close enough, he lashed five spheres of Thunder around him, hurling them towards his opponent. The false manikin only leapt to the side, letting the voltage peter out ineffectively against the floor.
Then the door flew open, and both Onion and the mech turned to see Terra standing there, Lightbringer vanishing from her hand.
One look at the mech told her everything she needed to know; she quickly kicked the earth, launching a burst of Fire across the ground. The mech leapt aside, whereupon Terra promptly hurled spheres of Holy after it. It managed to roll past them and leap upward, but that left a perfect midair target for a shot of Blizzara; this one hit true, throwing the mech across the battlefield and into the link to the Lunar Subterrane.
The sound of metal shifting; Onion muttered something foul under his breath, bracing his staff before him.
Then the mech shot out again - this time it was the form of Kuja, with his tail out and everything, eyes of bright indigo as it hurled spellballs towards Terra like a slingshot. She managed to evade the attack, retaliating with a rain of Meteors, and while the mech was weaving between them Onion managed to hit it with a shot of Blizzard. The spell was beaten back with the spellballs, and Onion, unprepared, was sent tumbling back as the false manikin rushed towards him. Terra managed to stop it with a whirl of Tornado magic; the lack of friction that came with being Kuja meant that it was sucked into the vortices and battered by the gales until the Esperkin threw it skyward.
Onion was back on his feet at this point, leaping up while the mech was still stunned and lashing his Thunder magic towards it again. This time it hit true, the spheres of voltage striking the manikin and trapping it in the air, but it was clear from its reaction that Magitek was not so easily disrupted; rather than follow through with a rain of Thundaga, he surged beams of Flare to torrent against it, raising it higher and higher until the explosion threw the mech onto the second floor.
"Give me a boost!" he called to Terra.
"Hope you can take a flood!" she called back.
The Esperkin dropped her hands to the floor as Onion ran in the direction the manikin had fallen. The sorrowful waters of Leviathan gathered beneath him, and as they surged skyward he leapt, leaping as high as he could with staff in hands, ready to blast the mech with the strongest magic he could muster.
"Sky-!"
Not until too late did he see the figure rushing him from the side, dual blade spinning in hand, and as he turned mid-cast the whirling cut slashed through cloth and flesh, leaving his torso bare as he was thrown to the side.
He hit the edge of the second floor, falling back down to the first.
Something clattered in the opposite direction.
The mech with Zidane's face kicked off the edge and shot towards the first floor. Terra was preoccupied with making sure Onion didn't land fatally that she didn't realize until too late that the false manikin wasn't fighting them anymore. "What the-?"
"It's... no!" Onion reached for his bare chest. "It's got the slave crown!"
Terra turned, horrified, to see the thief snatching up a familiar circlet. "What-!?"
Onion forced himself out of her arms. "Leave me!" he insisted. "Stop that thing!"
The Magitek manikin rushed towards the still-open doors, and Terra shot after it, fragments of crystal trailing her briefly from the force of her flight.
+x+x+x+
"And you're certain he is unable to escape?"
Lightning and Garland had found Gabranth on M.S. Prima Vista - having apparently taken a wrong turn on Bahamut. The three of them were currently on the Sky Fortress, talking about what had happened with Kefka.
"Even without a proper explanation," Garland insisted at the judge's question, "no warrior who has ever served Chaos would accept the throne at Kefka's offering. And if he attempts to force someone to take the seat, he will doubtless become so enthralled by the power of discord's throne that returning to his normal strength will weaken him purely for his expectations of his own abilities."
Gabranth turned away. "I still feel that condemnation to the throne leaves him too much reign. We ought find a way to return him to hell."
Lightning rolled her eyes. "He'd probably just find a way out again. Even if he doesn't get that Rift-access, you got out without it. He'd probably figure it out sooner or later. We'll just have given him access to the manikins again."
"Your time in hell has convinced you there is no greater prison," Garland observed. "I cannot blame you, but I advise you to be rid of this notion. So long as we steer clear of the Edge of Madness, he is incapable of bringing us harm."
The door that led to Dream's End opened, and the three of them turned to see a figure that all three of them recognized bodily, but only Lightning recognized in form. Nonetheless, the fact that it steamed with crimson Magitek mist caused Gabranth and Lightning to both turn and glare at the stalwart.
"...Himself," Garland corrected.
"Guard the blackcrystal throne," Lightning demanded. "If it gets to Kefka, I'm holding you responsible." She and Gabranth turned towards the false manikin as Garland stormed towards the link to Orphan's Cradle. Garland made to separate the blades of his sword, but Lightning stayed his hand as the mech marched on them.
"Do me a favour. Try and find a power that isn't yours. I'll keep it distracted."
Then she snapped her fingers at her side. "Give me an Axis Blade."
The weapon in her holster flashed briefly before Lightning drew it - its form had not changed, but now it build was deep black, with a gold edge and joins. She raised it in firearm mode, blasting shots at the false Zidane that stood there, causing it to leapt aside and race up the pillar. By now her Grav-Con Unit had her in the air, and she quickly arced into a flip, prompting Gabranth to raise his dual blade to provide something from which she could propel herself.
Lightning could have sworn Kefka's mech rolled its eyes before its form began to contort - though its transformation didn't stop it from leaping aside when Lightning tried to blast it mid-flight. Her aim was slightly off, causing her to land atop the opposite pillar (whereupon she chose to submit to gravity's control); when the metal was done shifting, she was pissed to realize it was in Terra's form.
"Honestly, now?"
The figure lashed out with a closing quartet of bolts, but Lightning only leapt between them at the last moment, firing at the false manikin as she dropped to the lower zone. Terra's steel imitation only hopped away, calling a rain of Meteors, but Lightning managed to avoid most of them before the mech landed all of two steps from her. The burst of Fire was unavoidable, but to her relief the mech didn't follow through with a Firaga blast; instead, a shot of Blizzara slammed into her, throwing her into the wall above the door.
The door flew open.
The real Terra appeared ten paces ahead of the door.
An uncharged Meltdown slammed into the manikin.
Lightning was surprised to see it actually endured the hit - though not unscathed. With a roll of her eyes, she braced herself against the wall and shot forward, her weapon in blade mode as she tried to slash. The manikin sidestepped her sword blow, only to take a volley of Holy pearls to the face; while Terra was blasting it with Flare blazes, Lightning shifted her weapon back to firearm and tried to land a good shot on its eyes. Her failure came not from Terra's magic, but from the manikin appearing to realize she was aiming for its eyes; it kept twisting away.
Again was Lightning surprised when Terra didn't follow through with her wave of Ultima; instead she dropped low, water gathering below her - and below the manikin. It landed only to be sent flying with a burst of Flood, and at this point Lightning turned to her. "What are you trying to do?"
"It's got the slave crown!" Terra shouted quickly. "I can't risk breaking it! Onion needs that if my Trance goes wrong!"
"Seconded," Lightning agreed.
She drove her gunblade into its holster, calling Zantetsuken to her empty hand, and as the mech landed she whirled the blades around her. No sooner had it tried to act than Thunderfall volted down on it, leaving it open for Terra to rush forward. An icy chunk of Blizzard magic appeared near her hand as she lashed it into the mech, trying to find where on its person(?) the slave crown was held - yet in five blows she realized that the crown wasn't actually there.
No sooner had this realization caught her than the mech grabbed her around the throat and threw her back.
Lightning rushed forward, bringing Odin's blades forward with intent to crush the manikin's helm between them - she had come to the same conclusion Terra had, and a crown that could fit on Terra's head could not be contained within Terra's head. To her horror, however, the mech only raised its hands between it and the swords, and shards of ice appeared in them; the moment Zantetsuken connected with them, frost raced across the swords, forcing Lightning to drop the blades before she was imprisoned in ice.
The mech promptly turned away, flying towards the link to Orphan's Cradle - and finding Gabranth in its way.
There was the sound of a sword crushing something.
The edges of Gabranth's joined swords began to glow, and he lashed out with the long blade still linked to the short, trailing energy as the manikin propelled itself away. He brought the short edge upward, prompting the mech to fly over him, then he whirled around, lashing his swords forward with a furious combination that Lightning had not seen him use before - any single strike could have wrecked the manikin if it hit the right place.
One blow actually tore off one of the mech's legs, and it tumbled through the join to Orphan's Cradle in a most unsightly manner.
Gabranth paused for a brief moment before turning to Lightning and Terra, who were approaching him.
"What was that?" Terra asked.
"What was that?" Gabranth demanded. "That power was-"
"Not yours," Lightning finished. "That is what I was looking for."
Terra shook her head, turning to the flash. "Lightning, that thing still has the slave crown!"
Lightning turned to her. "Garland is guarding the throne to the Edge," she explained. "Kefka's stuck there. I hope he'll be able to stop that thing from getting back to him..."
She smirked, turning to the judge. "But we don't have to leave things to hope or chance anymore."
Garland joined his blades, releasing it with his left hand to grasp his right arm. "Does this have something to do with the burning beneath my armour?" he demanded.
"That it does," Lightning confirmed. "Go to the Cradle, count to fifteen, then check the Chaos Shrine. If Garland is still fighting that thing, cut its head off, do not wreck the center mass. We still need that crown. If it's not there, you two come meet me at the Phantom Train. I wouldn't risk going to the Edge." Then she turned to the Esperkin. "Terra, go check on the kid, and get the Cloud of Darkness into the Crystal Tower. I'll come pick you guys up later." At that point, the flash turned away, starting towards the join to Dream's End.
Terra tried to stop her. "Lightning-!"
"Light."
The interruption confused Terra. "What?"
The flash turned to her, a small smile on her face. "Call me Light."
Draco: I'll admit that when I've determined the endgame, I don't do it by halves. I can confirm that Condemned to Dissidia will finish at fourty chapters minimum, so don't think I'm going to play Clevinger on this last bit.
Yes, Kefka's comment about "a dozen tests at once in the blink of an eye" is meant to indicate that, with the power of discord's throne, he did all the necessary experimentation and coding in the time it took him to flick this switch here, press a few buttons up there, turn the dials this way that way this way, and...