On Today's Episode: An argument over whether or not Maylin and Haruka's missing emperor might be hiding in a new world causes the entire trinity to crash land in said new world, a post-apocalyptic wasteland that seems to be, of all things, part of a video game. While searching for his missing friends, Nick encounters Gun Gale Online's best sniper in hopes of finding any trace of who he's looking for. But is someone watching Sinon, or worse, stalking her?
For Today's World: I'm gonna try to use as few worlds from the original verse as possible, but in this case, it's gonna be different. Today's world is based on Sword Art Online by Reki Kawahara, but here, we're gonna be exploring the world of Gun Gale Online, the VR FPS introduced in season two. This chapter takes place sometime after season two of the anime and Ordinal Scale, but before the Alicization arc.
Act 4: The Ballad of Bullets
As the Gummi Ship flew through the neon lights of the Lanes Between, a large structure could be seen approaching, no doubt representing a new world. This structure was shaped like a large mountaintop with a ruined, but futuristic-looking city at its base.
"Oof, very apocalyptic," Maylin quipped.
"So, you think Emperor Clow is down there?" Haruka asked.
"Nah, he wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that," Maylin stated matter-of-factly. "Let's keep looking somewhere else."
"Hey, hold on," Nick responded. "I've got friends I'm looking for, too. They could be down there for all we know."
"Um, we're kind of on an important mission here?" Maylin retorted.
"Why don't we just check?" Nick shot back.
"I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be down there, either!" Maylin proclaimed.
Haruka simply shook her head. Maylin always got like this whenever she started arguing with anybody. She simply ignored the sounds of them fighting while she contemplated on whether or not to land in this new world...
...until the two fighting keyblade wielders crashed into the control console and caused the Gummi Ship to shake.
A few seconds passed before the Gummi Ship began rapidly descending towards the nearby world, with Haruka unable to control it.
When Nick finally regained consciousness, he found himself in the middle of what could only be described as a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with many futuristic buildings and cities visible in the distance.
"Ooookay, where the heck is this?" Nick wondered before realizing that Maylin and Haruka were nowhere to be seen. Before Nick could dwell on the argument he'd just had with Maylin, he noticed something, well, strange about his vision at the moment.
It appeared to be a set of video game-like set-pieces, like a health bar at the upper left of his vision, along with some other digital readouts to his right.
"W-wait, does that mean I'm in a video game or something?" Nick wondered.
"It seems to be that way," Sophia answered as Nick pulled out his Gummiphone. "...Nick, is everything okay? You have that look on your face that really makes me wish I could hug you."
Nick didn't seem to want to answer that, and from his expression, Sophia could tell he was concerned about what had happened back on the Gummi Ship, so she decided not to push the issue and let Nick answer when he was ready.
Before Nick could start investigating, though, he heard footsteps approaching him. Turning around to face his assailants, Nick saw that the footsteps belonged to a pair of unruly-looking guys dressed in what could only be military combat gear. One of them was even aiming a gun towards him.
Unsure if his magic or his keyblade could protect him from that, Nick prepared to summon his keyblade if he felt like he needed to.
"Well, well," the first player laughed in a cocky manner that put Nick on edge. "Looks like we've got a newbie who doesn't know how much shit he's gotten himself into."
"And that's supposed to mean what?" Nick shot back.
"It means that we get to make an example out of you," the second player cackled, aiming his own gun towards Nick, firing on him and pushing him backwards with the shot.
Nick was surprised to see that the gunshot hadn't flat-out killed him, but he attributed that to both the video game-like nature of this world and the magic granted to him by his keyblade.
"Aww, look at him, he's scared," the first player proclaimed.
"You might wanna rethink that," Nick shot back as he summoned the Kingdom Key to his right hand and rushed forward to attack, slashing the keyblade across the first player's right side.
When the wound started bleeding red, glowing polygons instead of actual blood, thus confirming Nick's suspicions that this world was part of a video game, and thus he didn't need to hold back.
While the other player was standing there from the surprise of Nick actually having fought back, Nick leaped through the air and slashed the second player with an overhead swing from Kingdom Key, and this did enough damage to the second player to cause his body to explode into a cloud of glowing polygons.
"Oh, now you're dead, you little punk!" the first player growled, running forward to teach Nick a lesson, only for a loud gunshot to ring out and the player's head to jerk back at an unnatural angle. A few seconds later, the first player's body also exploded into glowing polygons, leaving Nick to wonder who or what had attacked him.
Nick looked around for any sign of the person who had headshotted his opponents, only to catch a glimpse of blue hair hiding behind a nearby outcropping.
"Okay, this could be a problem," Nick quipped. "Because I don't know if my mysterious savior has me in their crosshairs now..."
That was answered rather quickly when another shot rang out, and this one Nick was able to dodge by leaping to the side, once again thanking his magically-enhanced reflexes, since he knew he'd probably be dead as dirt without his keyblade.
Nick began charging towards the outcropping even as more shots rang out that he quickly dodged, even using Kingdom Key to cut one such bullet down in mid-shot. This actually surprised the sniper, as she thought only one person she knew could do something like that.
Before she could question that, Nick was on the attack, jumping into the air and casting Thunder, causing a small barrage of lightning bolts to rain down on the sniper, sending her to the ground so Nick could aim the Kingdom Key towards her.
"All right, I don't know how you want to do this," Nick proclaimed. "So how about we settle that before I have to start fighting again?"
Even during the intense stand-off, Nick took a second to study the girl in front of him. She had thin, pale blue swaying hair that was casually short, with a tuft of hair tied up on both sides of her forehead, and indigo eyes. Her combat attire consisted of a desert-colored military jacket, bulletproof armor of the same color, and combat boots, as well as a white muffler around her neck.
"Well, considering you don't seem like you really want to hurt me," the sniper answered.
"I'm just... well, I'm looking for someone," Nick replied. He was about to mention Maylin and Haruka, only for their fight to pop up in his head and make him change his mind. "I'm looking for my girlfriend Ellen and my sister Marie. I've got reason to believe they may be here somewhere, so..."
"That's an... interesting weapon you're carrying," the sniper quipped as she glanced at the keyblade in Nick's hands. "I've never seen anything like it in GGO before."
"Well, that's a long story, and quite frankly, I'm not sure you'd believe me if I told you," Nick admitted.
"Try me," the sniper laughed. "Well, maybe we should get you back to SBC Glocken. Maybe we'll find more information there. Oh, and the name's Sinon."
"Nice to meet ya, Sinon," Nick responded.
"What is this place?" Haruka asked as she and Maylin looked around the city they'd found themselves in. "And on top of that, I really hope Nick's okay..."
"Ah, who needs him?" Maylin growled. "We can find Emperor Clow ourselves."
"But we have to stick with him, Maylin!" Haruka shot back. "Don't you remember what Emperor Clow said in his letter?! Without Nick and his keyblade, we're all in grave danger!"
"In case you missed it, Haruka, we have keyblades, too!" Maylin proclaimed, summoning Spellbinder into her hands to prove her point.
As Maylin continued to rant, she moved around the town square until she bumped into someone with loose, swept back blonde hair and blue eyes. Though he didn't seem to care either way, Haruka did notice that he'd dropped what appeared to be a gummi block on his way.
As Nick and Sinon made their way through the desert wasteland back to SBC Glocken, the "capital" of the game he was currently in, Nick had learned that this place was part of Gun Gale Online, a sci-fi virtual reality MMO game. The wasteland around them was actually a post-apocalyptic Earth that had been ravaged by a centuries-long war. The people of this future Earth had eventually fled the planet in giant spaceships, leaving the Earth behind until it could sustain life again. Every player in GGO, according to the lore, was part of the first generation born on Earth again since humanity's return.
And, as he'd promised, Nick explained the basics of what he was doing here in this world, and he was relieved to find that Sinon didn't seem too surprised. Considering the wacky things she'd been through in recent years, that seemed fair.
At that, Nick started wondering if he'd actually encounter any Heartless in this world, since everything here was part of a game and the people here were all in virtual bodies instead of their actual bodies.
Nick would appear to get his answer when a small pack of Heartless appeared right in front of them.
One Heartless was almost entirely black and is covered in red computer circuitry. Its head was long, sleek, and oval-shaped, and sported a jagged, red antenna on its top, its lower body was nothing but a single, large wheel, each of its short arms led into grey, cylindrical hands tipped with conical, red spikes, its glowing, yellow eyes were just barely visible in the front of its head, and its Heartless emblem was on its chest.
The other type of Heartless was a thin, mechanical, humanoid made of black material covered in thin, yellow circuitry. Its head resembled that of a Shadow, being a black sphere with glowing, yellow eyes, it wore a diamond-shaped helmet with an angular, curled antenna connected to its top, its upper arms were quite thin, while its forearms were wide and flat, its legs were much shorter than its arms, and the Heartless emblem was emblazoned on its chest.
"Welp, that answers that question," Nick groaned as he raised Kingdom Key to cast Thunder and take out a few of the Magnum Loaders, though the Strafers didn't seem affected by the lightning magic.
Sinon took care of this by aiming her rifle, the Hecate II, towards the Strafer as it tried to approach her, and fired off a shot that struck true and easily destroyed the Strafer.
Now knowing that Thunder wouldn't do anything to the Strafers, Nick instead blasted them with a Blizzard spell that destroyed a few of them, the peripheral snowflakes going on to destroy a Magnum Loader as well.
"Enemy data registered!" Sophia proclaimed.
"I know I can always count on you, huh, Sophia?" Nick quipped.
"Praise accepted," Sophia giggled.
Once the Heartless had been vanquished, Sinon naturally turned to Nick for an explanation.
"Long story short, Sinon, those things are another reason I'm here," Nick explained. "Those were Heartless, creatures born of the darkness in people's hearts. They tend to follow me around, since my keyblade is really the only thing that can truly vanquish them. That's another story in itself."
'You seem like you've been through a lot, honestly," Sinon admitted.
"Yeah, and this is only the third place we've been to on our travels," Nick quipped, only to gasp out loud when he realized what he'd just let slip.
"You have other friends here?" Sinon asked.
"...I'm not sure anymore," Nick sighed. "I had an argument with one of them before we crashed in this world, and... I'm not sure if she's in the mood to forgive me..."
"Just give her some time, okay?" Sinon answered. "If you're truly friends, she'll come around sooner or later."
"...thanks, Sinon, I needed that," Nick quipped.
"No problem," Sinon stated, reaching out to fist-bump Nick.
Just before Nick and Sinon could make it to SBC Glocken, however, another Heartless appeared, this one resembling the little mage family of Heartless, only this one was completely black with a red cap.
The Black Ballade spun around before splitting into five identical copies of itself.
"It seems like we've got to guess which one's real," Sinon stated.
Nick studied the Black Ballades, looking for any possible tell, until they started spinning. After a couple seconds, they all changed positions, but Nick quickly caught the one that bobbed up and down while moving.
"Got you!" Nick shouted, attacking with a vertical strike. The Black Ballade stumbled, the copies vanishing before splitting itself up again.
"I think we have to hit the right one a few more times," Nick quipped, studying the Black Ballade's movements until they began to shift positions, making sure to hit the right one when it moved.
After four successful hits, the Black Ballade backed away before vanishing, leaving a strange, golden-yellow crystal behind after Sophia registered its enemy data in the Gummiphone.
Thankfully, no more Heartless attacked, allowing Nick and Sinon to finally enter SBC Glocken. They headed to the town square first, which was chock full of players and would maybe hold some hints as to the location of Nick's missing friends.
"Say, those two are dressed kinda like you," Sinon noted. "You think they're the friends you mentioned?"
Nick turned around and spotted Maylin and Haruka at the center of the plaza, but before Nick could act like he was happy to see them, the fight they'd had on the Gummi Ship rushed back into his mind, and when he saw Maylin turn away from him with a huffy expression, he suddenly felt very sad.
"I've tried to get through to her, Nick, but she just refuses to listen to me," Haruka sighed. "This happens every time she gets in an argument with someone, I swear. But, before we go any further, I think you might want to see this."
Haruka reached into her pocket to pull out the red Gummi Block that strange man had dropped after bumping into Maylin.
"Hey, that's..." Nick gasped.
"Yup, it's a gummi block," Haruka answered. "The same kind that we use to build our ship. Which means..."
"Which means Emperor Clow might be here after all," Maylin realized before looking at Nick. "I guess I can let you tag along for now, then."
Sinon shuddered slightly, and Nick noticed that the reason was the same man that had apparently bumped into Maylin earlier, staring at the group with a rather eerie expression on his face.
"Something wrong with this guy, Sinon?" Nick asked.
"Ugh, he's a creep," Sinon groaned. "His name's Subtilizer, and... let's just say I encountered him during the last BoB tournament and he really freaked me out."
"Yeah, he's got that 'I don't give a crap about anything' kinda look on his face," Nick noted.
"Okay, so, where do we go from here?" Haruka wondered, promising herself that she'd act as a mediator so that Nick and Maylin wouldn't claw each other's eyes out, since she had no idea how long their feud was going to last.
"Well, the whole reason I was out there today was because I'm looking for my squad," Sinon answered. "They were supposed to meet me here in Glocken for a raid today, and they never showed up. They're usually quite punctual about it, too..."
"I just hope they didn't get taken out by the Heartless," Haruka quipped. "That wouldn't be good for anyone."
"I wouldn't be surprised if that Subtilizer character put them in a trap or something," Maylin replied. "He seems like the type who would do something like that."
"In that case, we'd better get back out into the wasteland and see what we can find," Nick stated.
After making a quick stop at the shops in Glocken so Sinon could restock on her items and equipment, the trinity followed Sinon back into the wastelands in order to find her missing squadmates.
After about twenty minutes of seemingly fruitless searching, Maylin noticed something in the distance. It appeared to be a flare of darkness from far off.
"That looks suspicious," Nick quipped.
So, providence being what it was, the group found it when they went to investigate the canyon where Maylin had felt that flare of dark energy. A gigantic tree had appeared in the area, which Sinon noted was not here the last time she'd been through this area, and her squadmates Dyne and Ginrou were imprisoned in a cage made of dark purple vines at the top of the tree. Surrounding the tree was a small platoon of Magnum Loaders and Strafers, and three large, shriveled-looking dark fruits were sprouting from the tree's trunk.
"Dyne, Ginrou, how the hell did you two get trapped here?!" Sinon exclaimed.
"Ask us that question again later, because we have no clue," Ginrou responded. "Some guy with slick blonde hair just waltzed right past us, and waved his hands and created this thing to imprison us!"
"And he looked like that creep you mentioned hitting on you in the last BoB, too, now that I think about it," Dyne proclaimed.
"So it was Subtilizer," Haruka stated.
"Ooh, I'm gonna shoot that jackass in the head myself the next time I see him," Sinon growled as she aimed her Hecate for the cage and shot it twice, only for the shots to have absolutely no effect.
"I'm sensing a lot of dark energy coming from that cage," Haruka replied, summoning Divine Rose. "So I don't think your gun's gonna do too much good, Sinon."
"I bet those large fruit have something to do with the cage," Nick quipped, summoning Paper Master. "I can see them feeding some kind of dark magic into the tree."
"So, split the fruit and we split the tree," Maylin proclaimed, summoning Spellbinder. "Sounds like a plan to me!"
With that, the trinity split up to attack the three dark fruits while Sinon hung back to a nearby rock formation so she could use her Hecate to snipe down any Heartless that got close to the trinity's efforts.
With this four-way teamwork, it didn't take long to destroy all three of the dark fruits and free Dyne and Ginrou from their prison. Once the last fruit had been destroyed, the Heartless vanished as well.
"That was... an experience," Dyne sighed. "Thanks for coming out to save our asses, Sinon."
"Someone's gotta look after you, ya big lug," Sinon laughed.
Nick glanced over at Maylin, only for her to instantly turn away the moment their eyes met. Nick just sighed in response.
"Give her some time, Nick," Haruka answered.
"So... what do we do next?" Ginrou asked. "Are we still going on that raid, or...?"
As Sinon and her squad made small talk, Nick walked a few steps away to give Maylin some space, until he noticed something from far off.
Using his "camera zoom" (it was apparently something players could do in this game), Nick focused his vision until he saw Subtilizer hanging off of a far-away cliff...
...and aiming a sniper rifle straight for Maylin's head.
Even if they were technically inside a video game in this world, Nick was pretty damn sure that a headshot like that would usually mean instant death, and he still wasn't sure if the magic granted by a keyblade could protect them from that.
So, with that in mind, Nick charged forward.
"So, Maylin, do you still think Emperor Clow could be here?" Haruka wondered.
"Honestly, not sure," Maylin admitted. "With the way he likes to travel and all, it could be that he's just..."
"MAYLIN, GET DOWN!" Nick screamed as he threw himself forward, pushing Maylin to the ground just in the nick of time, as Subtilizer's shot flew through the air where Maylin had just been.
"W-what the hell?!" Maylin growled as she caught sight of Subtilizer on the far-away cliff. "Ooh, now you're gonna get it, you son of a bitch!"
"Come on, you guys, we can still catch him if we hoof it!" Haruka exclaimed. "Dyne, Ginrou, you two may wanna head back to SBC Glocken. This looks like it's gonna get ugly."
Dyne and Ginrou didn't need to be told twice, as they turned around and ran back towards SBC Glocken while Sinon and the trinity raced off to catch up with Subtilizer before he got a chance to escape.
It took a while of searching, but the group eventually cornered Subtilizer in front of a futuristic skyscraper.
Sinon was the first to raise her weapon towards Subtilizer. "You wanna explain yourself, buddy? Because I've been itching to get some payback for the shit you pulled on me in the last BoB!" Sinon growled.
Subtilizer simply turned around and grinned wickedly at the group, his body covered in a shroud of darkness as he started walking towards them.
"W-wait a minute, that's not the Subtilizer I remember," Sinon gasped. "Last time I fought him, he wouldn't shut up about how much he 'wanted my soul'. What's going on?!"
"I'm pretty sure the Heartless got to him," Maylin quipped, twirling Spellbinder in her hands before aiming it for Subtilizer.
Subtilizer aimed his rifle for Maylin, only for Nick to charge him and slash him across the chest with the Kingdom Key, sending him stumbling backwards.
"Not this time, freak show!" Nick shouted.
Maylin took charge as she hit Subtilizer directly in the face with a powerful Fire spell while Haruka backflipped over him and struck him in the back with an overhead slash from Divine Rose.
While all of this was happening, Sinon continued to line up her Hecate until one of Nick's attacks pushed Subtilizer towards her, and she took her shot, the rifle bullet flying true and striking Subtilizer directly in the head, scoring a well-earned critical hit and dropping his HP to zero.
However, when Subtilizer's avatar didn't explode into a cloud of glowing polygons, Sinon began to worry.
("Ignite" by Eir Aoi plays)
And she was right to be worried, as multi-colored blocks began to surround Subtilizer, eventually forming into a large Heartless that he was piloting. The Heartless in question was a large golem that appeared to be formed from, of all things, Gummi Blocks, specifically an amalgam of purple, orange and light blue Gummi blocks in a spherical shape, its hands equipped with circular saws, and had a thruster at its base to maintain its airtime.
"Okay, what the hell am I looking at?!" Maylin shouted. "Did he make his own Gummi Ship monster?!"
"Saying that would be an insult to Gummi Ships everywhere, so let's just waste this thing and move on with our lives, 'kay?" Haruka quipped.
"Now you're talkin' my lingo," Nick proclaimed as the trinity readied for battle.
The Gummi Golem slowly flew forward, spinning its arms around itself in a manner much like the Guard Armor had, preventing the group from getting too close until it stopped.
This time around, though, Nick had a wicked idea, and ran towards the Gummi Golem, then swung his keyblade to basically parry the spinning arms, causing them to stop spinning and leave the Gummi Golem wide open.
Sinon took the first attack, leveling her Hecate so she could shoot Subtilizer multiple times in the face. While she was shooting, the Gummi Golem fired one of its buzzsaws towards her, but Nick was over there in a flash, swinging Kingdom Key in a Slapshot to deflect the saw just in time.
"Thanks, Nick," Sinon quipped.
"Always happy to be of service," Nick replied, fist-bumping Sinon before moving back to attack the Gummi Golem.
Maylin kept hanging back, unleashing rapid Fire spells to keep the Gummi Golem locked in its place until it flew into the air, coming back down hard enough to unleash an electric shockwave that forced Haruka to abandon her own attack and jump backwards. The Gummi Golem did this four more times, though Nick was able to jump over the fourth shockwave and start whacking the Gummi Golem with aerial combos.
After a few hits, the teeth of Kingdom Key started sparkling, indicating that Nick had learned a new ability.
Wasting no time, Nick unleashed this new ability, performing three moonsaults with his keyblade extended and finishing with a massive uppercut slash that left a trail of light that launched the Gummi Golem upwards, leaving it wide open for Maylin to start pelting it with Thunder spells.
As the Gummi Golem fell back to the ground, Sinon switched her rifle's ammunition to explosive rounds (she'd have to thank Kirito for the suggestion later) and took aim, firing off a shot that struck Subtilizer in the face and exploded with much pageantry, sending him flying out of the Gummi Golem and right to the ground.
Haruka slipped in while the Gummi Golem was stumbling to deliver two powerful strikes to its main body, while Maylin blasted it in the chest with a point-blank Blizzard spell, and Nick charged in to lay the final blow courtesy of a Ripple Drive.
The Gummi Golem started vibrating violently as its body began to break apart, floating towards the recovering Subtilizer, who still hadn't vanished despite his health bar having been empty for the entire fight. But that was swiftly resolved when the Gummi Golem crashed down right on top of Subtilizer, only giving him time to let out a pained scream as the Gummi Golem exploded, a glowing heart bursting from its remains and floating into the sky. When the blocks that comprised the Gummi Golem disintegrated, Subtilizer was nowhere to be found, only leaving behind a green crystal.
Nick scooped up the crystal, only to see an impossibly bright light in the sky.
Sparkles of light began to converge on a point high up into the sky of the wastelands, eventually coalescing into the shape of a keyhole.
Now knowing what needed to be done, Nick raised the Kingdom Key towards the keyhole, light energy surrounding its teeth before firing off a beam of light that streaked into the sky and into the keyhole, sealing it off with a loud "CLICK" before the keyhole dissolved into sparkles of light that rained down across the wastelands.
A small clunk sound drew Nick's attention to a Gummi block that had seemingly fallen from the keyhole.
"Hey, that's a gummi block," Haruka quipped.
"It doesn't look like one of Emperor Clow's, though," Maylin sighed.
"But I think this means we're on the right track," Nick stated.
Back in SBC Glocken, the group had reconvened to discuss what had just happened.
"So... now he disappeared?" Sinon wondered.
"Yeah, it seems like the Heartless took his heart in the end," Maylin sighed. "From what I could gather, he'd already lost his heart to them, so they were just playing his empty shell like a puppet. Which would explain why he was completely silent even though you said he wouldn't shut up during that moment in the BoB..."
"Speaking of which," Haruka proclaimed. "Nick, Maylin, is there something you two would like to say to each other?"
Nick and Maylin both glanced at each other, wondering who was going to make the first move.
It turns out that Maylin was the one to do so, leaping over so she could hug Nick.
"Nick, I'm so sorry for how I acted," Maylin stated. "I didn't realize until after you saved me from Subtilizer that I was being a stubborn dipwad about something that... was really just petty in the end..."
"I was worried that you hated me, Maylin," Nick responded. "I hate making my friends get mad at me, even if it was my fault..."
"So... can you ever forgive me for acting so stupid, Nick?" Maylin asked hopefully.
"I'm the one who should be asking for forgiveness, Maylin," Nick admitted.
In response to that, Maylin leaned over and kissed Nick on the cheek, causing him to blush brightly.
"It's really good to see that you two are friends again, Nick," Sophia giggled.
"Same here, Sophia," Nick chuckled.
"Hold up, you have a girl in your phone, too?!" Sinon gasped.
"Sounds like something you've dealt with before, Sinon," Haruka quipped.
"Oh, trust me, while Yui might not be the same as Sophia, it definitely gives me similar vibes," Sinon laughed, which got everyone else laughing.
While all of this was transpiring, the council of villains that Ichinose was leading watched the battle transpire from the chapel room of their castle.
"Wait, what exactly drew the Heartless to that world?" one figure asked in confusion.
"It was that Subtilizer person," Ichinose responded. "His lack of empathy and desire for 'souls' lured the Heartless right to him. But, it would seem that the bait was far too tasty for his own good after all."
"Yeah, he's the one who got eaten up instead!" Zagi cackled madly.
The man with the curved bird mask walked up to observe the viewing pool.
"A weak-hearted bag of filth like him stood no chance against the Heartless," the bird-masked man proclaimed. "But it does seem like the boy's going to be a real problem. After all, he found one of the keyholes, and he may find more."
"It's no problem, really," Ichinose chuckled. "It'll take him forever to find the rest of them. And while he's doing that, he remains completely unaware of our plan B."
"Oh, right, the princesses," Zagi quipped.
"Yes, they're falling into our hands one by one," Ichinose laughed. "Oh, and speak of the devil..."
Ichinose's eyes turned to someone that another shadowed figure had dropped off, namely a girl with long platinum white hair, tourmaline eyes, fair shimmering pale skin and wearing a princess-like dress.
"And for all that nonsense, it doesn't even seem like Emperor Clow's here," Haruka replied.
"I guess that means you all have to get going now?" Sinon wondered.
"As keyblade wielders, our work's never really done," Haruka sighed.
Sinon reached into her pocket to pull out a small trinket that resembled Gun Gale Online's official log. "Then take this with you," Sinon replied. "It could prove useful on your travels."
Nick claimed the token for himself, attaching it to the keychain of his keyblade and swinging, the weapon transforming mid-swing into a new keyblade. This new keyblade had a blade that resembled Sinon's weapon, the Hecate II, the hilt had a small red crystal embedded in it, the handleguard resembled GGO's "Bullet Circle", the teeth resembled the AmuSphere (the VR gaming device that GGO was played on), and the token was connected by a keychain made of sniper rounds. The words Sniper Queen came to Nick's mind when he studied the weapon.
"Hey, maybe stick around a little longer next time you're around," Sinon quipped. "I'd love to see you guys try out for the BoB or even the Squad Jam."
"We'll take it under advisement," Maylin giggled. "But for now, other worlds are calling!"
Haruka activated her wristwatch so they could teleport back to the Gummi Ship, waving goodbye to Sinon as they did so.
"Say, that Gummi block we got from sealing the keyhole doesn't really look like any of the others I've seen," Nick quipped. "I wonder what it could be used for..."
"Maybe Ziggy and the others would know?" Maylin asked. "What do you say, you two? You wanna head back to Traverse Town and see?"
"Sounds like a plan," Haruka proclaimed, steering the Gummi Ship back the way they'd come from. "Back to Traverse Town we go!"
To be continued...
New keyblade acquired!
Sniper Queen
Strength: 9
MP: +0
Recoil: 30
Critical Rate: x1
Critical Bonus: 0
Ability: Lucky Strike
Description: A keyblade representing the greatest sniper in the world of Gun Gale Online. Has a very long reach and short recoil. Raises luck so that enemies drop rare items more often (equip to entire party to boost effect).
On the next episode...
Nick: Well, it looks like we've got a bit of a beefy adventure next time.
Maylin: Yeah, a strange gemstone, a world inside a storybook, of all things, and even the return of an old foe!
Haruka: Why do they always come back for more, even when we've already trashed them?
Nick: It seems like it's a common villain thing, especially when it comes to the Heartless.
Ellen: Well, well, I figured I'd find you here.
Nick: W-wait, wait, Ellen?!
Ellen: It's nice to see you're happy to see me, Nick. But I guess this emotional reunion will have to wait until the next episode of Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse, "The Keyhole"!
Sophia: May your hearts be your guiding key!