Logan enjoyed a nice, refreshing treat with his beloved Destiny just outside Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies in Tomorrowland. The young man got himself one of his favorite drinks in the entire Magical World: a strawberry smoothie, whereas Destiny went for a chocolate milkshake. This was the first time in forever that the two lovebirds got to spend time together, having been separated by Logan's duties as a Keyblade Wielder and pro wrestling coach alongside Destiny's time visiting her friends at the Great Barrier Reef and her water training with Percy Jackson. But now, they were together once again and intended to catch up on the lost time.
"How is everybody doing at the reef?" Logan asked.
"To be honest, it has become a lot more busy since the last time you visited," Destiny explained. She was currently in her anthropomorphic whale form with her one-piece swimsuit that matched her whale shark skin. "All those fishes we saved at the Marine Life Institute needed a new home, so moved in with the others and I. They are pretty friendly guys, but it's sometimes difficult to move around, especially for a whale like me. Nemo's still going to school with Mr. Ray and his friends, learning new stuff about the ocean every day."
"And Marlin's okay with it now?"
"Yup! Naturally, he gets worried about Nemo whenever Mr. Ray takes the class on expeditions, making sure he's well-prepared, but it's far from the paranoia he had in the first movie, y'know?" Destiny explained. She took a sip of her chocolate milkshake before continuing. "Except that, not much has changed. It's truly one of the most peaceful and relaxing places in the Magical World."
"I couldn't agree more," Logan said with a nod. "Is your training with Percy going well? Did you learn new tricks?"
"To be honest, his training is tougher than what I had expected," Destiny admitted with rubbing the back of her head. "He's always making me practice the same things over and over again until I completely master them. No moving on until I can perfectly pull them off. It's long and repetitive... But I'm not giving up for more! Soon, I'll be so good with my Water Magic that you'll be the one needing my help and not the other way around," she declared with confidence.
This statement made Logan chuckle and kiss his girlfriend on the cheek. "It's already the case, Destiny."
"What about you? Did you have a fun Halloween?"
Logan widened his eyes at this question, remembering the whole ordeal with the Sanderson Sisters, how they pulled a spell on the entire party, and how he had to dance with one of them so that Gabriel and his friends could neutralize the whole trio. "Huh... Yeah, totally!" he nervously replied. "I got to dress up in a nice costume, had lots of fun with my friends, played all sorts of games, and I also danced... A lot..." He told the truth, just not in its entirety. The last thing he wanted was to upset his girlfriend by telling her he had danced with another girl... Twice... Of course, this scenario was still a possibility. "I'll remember that one, Lena," he mumbled.
"What?" Destiny asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Nothing!" Logan quickly dismissed with a less-than-convincing smile. Before Destiny could express her doubts, Logan noticed two of their friends passing by. "Hey! It's Rachel and Poe! Guys, over here!"
The duo heard Logan's calling and went to see them at their table. Rachel was a slender, tall girl with brown hair tied in a braid, cream skin, and hazel eyes. Her dress consisted of a sleeveless blue shirt, black jeans, a pair of black shoes and a beaded choker around her neck. A sword was strapped to her hip. She was accompanied by a green-feathered duck who had yellow eyes and black hair with purple streaks. He was dressed in a black jacket that seemed more fit for a villain, a dark button-up vest that left a glimpse of his stomach exposed, black fingerless gloves, and what looked like black protections for a duck's feet. A glowing purple pendant was tied around his neck.
"Hey, Logan, Destiny," Rachel greeted her friends, exchanging a bump-fist with Logan. "How are you guys doing?"
"We're fine. What about you guys?" Destiny asked.
"We are going very well. Thank you for asking, Lady Destiny," Poe said like a gentleman. "You two were having some couple time?"
"Yeah; Destiny and I haven't seen each other for quite a while now, so we're trying to catch up on the lost time," Logan explained. "We were having some ice cream before going to the PhilarMagic Show. After that, we're going on the Jungle Cruise, then on Under the Sea, and then, we're going to relax by one of the pools at the Pop Century Resort before going home. Do you guys wanna join us? It could be like a double date."
Rachel giggled a bit, amused by her friend's enthusiasm. "Sorry, Logan, but it's gonna have to wait for another time. Poe and I just dealt with a group of Bashura on Big Thunder Mountain, and now, we're heading to Weapon Wonderland to do some shopping."
Logan tilted his head and crossed his arms. "Weapon Wonderland? What's that?"
"It's a weapon shop in Radiant Garden," Poe explained. "It has opened recently, and from what Lady Rachel and I have heard, it is now the best place to buy weapons of all sorts in the whole Magical World. My beloved wishes to update her arsenal a little bit." He kissed his girlfriend on the cheek after this explanation, making her blush a bit.
"Why do you wanna get new weapons, Rachel? Is something wrong with Maleficent's Bane?" Logan questioned his friend.
"Not at all!" The Sword Mage reached for the weapon in question strapped to her hip and pulled it out of its scabbard a bit to show the blade made of obsidian that had streaks of blue, green and pink running down as well. "Maleficent's Bane is still as useful as ever - it's the best sword I ever possessed, you know that. It's just that... I feel like I've gotten a bit too comfortable with it. For a long time, I have only used this sword. While it's true that I haven't reached its full potential yet, I think it's time for me to expend my horizons and start using new weapons - swords and otherwise. You said that Gabriel learned a new trick beyond Fantasia and that he would also get to be a Keyblade Wielder soon, right?"
"Yes, that's true. Can't say I know when he'll get his Keyblade nor which one it will be, though," Logan admitted.
"Think about it: Gabriel was already the best of us all with just Fantasia, and now, he's gonna learn even more stuff. There's also your case, with your Drawing Magic, Keyblade Wielding and pro wrestling training; you've been expending your skills and knowledge, haven't you? I gotta start doing the same, or I will end up losing my position as one of the top three strongest members of our group. That would be sad, wouldn't it be?"
Logan blinked his eyes multiples times. "... Y-You consider me to be amongst the three strongest Dream Defenders, with you and Gabriel, Rachel? Really?"
"Of course, I do. Gabriel and Almyra filled me in with everything you did during your summer vacation, including your rescue of Sora, and how you defeated Roxas to do so." Rachel smiled and patted Logan on the shoulder. "Good job, Logan. You've come a long way, and I'm really proud of you."
This compliment made the young man blush. "Thanks, Rachel. Coming from the girl who kicked my butt almost a hundred times in a row, it means a lot." He then rubbed his chin. "Though I think it may be a bit too soon to pull me on such a high position: Gabriel taught new stuff to Aline and Toren during their time in the Mirrorverse. Plus, I didn't get to see Beth and Double D in action much, so it's hard to make an accurate calculation. Not only that, but there's also Almyra who joined us recently and has a power similar to Gabriel's."
"You make valid points here," Poe agreed with a thoughtful look. "Maybe we should make a full analysis on every Dream Defender and Dream Keeper so that we can create an official ranking based on strength and skills."
"A good idea, Poe," Rachel said, giving a kiss to her boyfriend. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way to Radiant Garden."
"Wait, can we come, too? I'd like to see this Weapon Wonderland and also what new stuff you're gonna buy. If you don't mind a little change in our plans, Destiny?" Logan asked, to which the whale shark shook her head with a smile.
"Sure, we don't mind some extra company," Rachel accepted.
The four friends arrived in the beautiful world of Radiant Garden, a while later. Whilst Rachel, Destiny and Poe stopped to admire the place upon arrival, Logan just stared at them in amusement, remembering how he did the same, not so long ago, when he came to this place with Gabriel, Jasiri and Lena to meet Merlin The Wizard. Whilst heading towards their target shop, the young man was having a little talking with the sorcerer duck.
"So you've met Jameson?" Logan asked.
"Indeed. A villainous entity known as 'Nightmare' was attacking people in their dreams, so Gabriel, Lady Sisu and myself had to interfere," Poe explained. "The young owl was present to help us as well. He even delivered the fatal blow to our enemy." He rubbed his chin whilst remembering the event. "I must admit that this young one left quite the impression on me; he has such power and skill at such an early age. Makes me wonder who taught him everything he knows..."
Rachel overheard their conversation and approached the men. "Who's this Jameson you're talking about?"
"He's a young owl and a friend that my daughter made during a sleepover with the McDuck Family," Poe explained. "Logan met him as well. He helped in rescuing Sora from the Virtual World."
"Is it true?" Rachel asked Logan with an interested expression.
"Huh... Yes, he's a very special kid. He can travel across the Dream World and... he's a good boy. That's pretty much it, we've become good friends after the sleepover," Logan explained whilst fighting the urge to laugh nervously. He looked away and rubbed his eyes. "Cheese and crackers, it's so hard having to hide the existence of a relative to my friends..."
The group arrived at the marketplace where they passed before a Moogle Shop, the accessory shop of Huey, Dewey and Louie (the classic version of the characters), and Scrooge McDuck's ice cream depot. Logan couldn't help but feel a bit of nostalgia from the days he visited this place in Kingdom Hearts 2. Then, they arrived at their destination: Weapon Wonderland. The shop's name was displayed above the double entrance door with multicolored letters. Some storefront windows displayed swords, maces and guns of good quality with discount price panels.
"Welcome to the best place in the entire Magical World to buy fighting equipment: Weapon Wonderland!" Rachel announced with a smile.
Destiny stared at the shop's logo with a curious expression before turning to her boyfriend. "Say, Logan, that place wasn't there, when you played your PS2 game, was it? I don't recall it."
"No, it wasn't," Logan confirmed with a nod. "Rachel did say that this place was very recent. Let's just hope that it will live up to its reputation." He looked at Rachel and Poe with a smile. "Shall we?"
"We shall," Rachel confirmed and entered the shop.
In contrast to what one may assume from the outside, Weapon Wonderland was actually a big shop - almost twice the size of the Main Street Confectionery in Magic Kingdom. It also had the similarities of being clean and colorful rather than old, dusty, and intimidating, like what most would assume from a weapon shop. However, instead of containing every candy and sweet one could imagine, it had every weapon and survival equipment one could imagine. To Logan, this place almost looked like the toy stores where he used to buy his toys as a kid, but with weapons instead of toys.
"Whoa, have you seen the size of this place?" Destiny exclaimed. She stopped to look at a sword, seeing her reflection in the blade, which made her giggle a bit. "The owner must be doing a good job taking care of his shop."
"Thanks for the compliment." Everybody turned to see someone approaching them from inside the store. A young-looking man with tanned skin and long brown hair tied in a ponytail. He had quite the outfit to catch the eye, with his black cowboy hat, a purple vest, a long khaki-colored jacket, black fingerless gloves and brown chaps over black trousers with black boots. In terms of jewelry, he had gray earrings and a red and yellow beaded necklace.
A loud gasp escaped Logan's mouth as he quickly recognized this man. "Oh my cheese! Irvine Kinneas?!"
The three others looked at him with confused expressions. "You know this guy, Logan?" Rachel asked.
"I do. Irvine Kinneas, from Final Fantasy VIII, an expert marksman who holds the title of best shooter in Garden, the main location of the game he's from," Logan explained.
"Wow, glad to see my reputation precedes me," Irvine remarked with a chuckle.
"But what are you doing here? You've never been in any Kingdom Hearts game, have you?" Logan asked.
"True, fella, but things have been quite boring in Garden as of late. I always wanted to have my own weapon store since we finished the whole conflict with Ultimecia. Turns out that, even for a hero, it's no easy opening a store in Garden. Thankfully, Squall was kind enough to invite me here and lend me this little house that I got to turn into my personal wonderland," the cowboy explained with enthusiasm.
Destiny gave a curious look. "Who's Squall?"
"He's talking about Leon, from the Restoration Committee," Logan told his girlfriend. "Squall's his real name, but he prefers being called 'Leon'."
Irvine placed a hand on Logan's shoulder. "Y'know a lot about my world and Kingdom Hearts', don't ya? I like that. So, what did you come to buy, pal?"
"Oh, I'm not buying anything; it's my friend, Rachel, who wants to buy something," Logan corrected, pointing at the girl in question.
At this, she stepped forward to properly introduce himself. "Hi, Irvine, I'm Rachel Goodfey."
"Nice to meet ya, mam," Irvine politely said, bowing down and swinging his cowboy hat like a gentleman. "It is always a pleasure for me to met ladies, especially charming ones like you."
This compliment caused the Sword Mage to blush a bit. However, things were different for her boyfriend. "Hum, pardon me, my good sir, but I would appreciate if you could avoid flirting with my girlfriend, please."
Irvine widened his eyes. "... Oh, you are together? My apologies, I didn't know!"
"It's alright," Rachel assured with an amused expression. "I came to get myself some new swords and also possibly a few daggers. Got anything like that?"
"You're in luck; the sword is the most common item in Weapon Wonderland. If you'll follow me." Irvine led the group to a part of the shop where hundreds and hundreds of swords were lined or displayed in different ways. He looked through all of them before picking a random sword and removing it from its scabbard. "Here's an item that's pretty popular amongst knights of the Magical World: the Sword of Courage. This peculiar sword has been hand-forged from tempered 5160 spring steel with a wide single fuller for strength. The fuller also makes this sword lighter for the knight and allows it to be effective with one hand during combat if horse mounted. The cruciform hilt is completed with hand wrapped brown vegetable tanned leather and a disc pommel. As for the scabbard, it is finished with vegetable tanned brown leather over a hardwood core and protective metal chape. Finally, the integral belt is partnered with a steel buckle to allow you to wear your Sword of Courage proudly."
Rachel took the sword in her hands, getting a nice feeling from it and also performing a few moves for good measure. "Hmm... Interesting, but it feels a bit too basic, even for a knight. I don't sense much potential in it." She gave it back to Irvine. "What else do you have?"
Irvine pulled the Sword of Courage away and took out another sword. "How about this: the Type XV Sword. These kinds of swords arose in Europe at around the same time that mail armor was being supplemented with rigid plates. They are weapons of war carefully designed to be effective against the best personal defenses of the time. However, in contrast to popular belief, they did not make it possible to stab through plate armor."
Taking the sword in her hands, Rachel shoved it forward whilst making sure not to injure anybody. "Yes, this sword definitely has piercing power. Would be useful if I wanted to stab something used of cutting through. I'll think about it."
The next sword retrieved by Irvine was small, with a globe-shaped pommel. "Here's the one weapon that was carried by every foot soldier of the Roman Empire: the gladius. Not the heaviest sword around, but very useful if you wanna cut through a swarm of enemies without losing momentum."
After another test, Rachel discovered that the gladius was, indeed, pretty swift and easy to move around. The only downsides were that it lacked weight and was one-handed, which felt weird for someone like her, who was used to a two-handed heavy sword. "I'll pull it in the 'maybe' for now." She gave the sword back to Irvine. "Tell me, do you have any sword with magical or special properties?"
"I sure do, lots of them in fact. Wait." The marksman led the quartet into a part of the shop where swords were everything but normal. He grabbed a red sword handle with a mechanism at the top that lacked a blade. "Here, press the button on the side," he instructed as he gave it to Rachel. The Sword Mage hesitated a moment, but did as she was told. The handle's mechanism opened itself and released a jet of fire that took the form of a blade.
"Is that...?" she asked.
"Yup, a fire sword," Irvine confirmed. "Keeping the fire blade like this requires the use of magic, but it's very useful if you wanna roast your enemies, defeat ice monsters, or just make yourself a warm meal within seconds."
Rachel seemed rather impressed. "That's cool! Do you have other elemental weapons like this?"
Irvine brought her a golden-yellow handle that could produce a blade of lightning and a cobalt blue one that produced an ice blade. "Wow, they're pretty cool!" Logan beamed. "They almost look like weapons taken straight out of Avatar: The Last Airbender!"
Once the young Dream Defender was done playing around with the elemental swords, Irvine brought her another peculiar sword. This one had a blade with dinosaur fangs protruding from the front side and a green t-rex head serving as the handle. "I present to you the Raptor Slasher, my dear client. It's a sword that is inhabited by the spirit of a t-rex that you can summon for help."
"Really? How?" Rachel asked with interest.
"Like this." Irvine made the sword's blade disappear, making the t-rex's head suddenly come to life. It roared and was then shot forward like a grappling hook, biting into a piece of wood that laid into a corner. Once the wood snapped in half, Irvine retracted the t-rex back to the handle and the blade re-appeared. "Pretty neat, huh? Excellent if you wanna take a piece of your opponent or catch a cliff edge when you're falling."
Picking up the weapon, Rachel analyzed the wild-looking blade and t-rex head. "Do you have more animal-themed swords, Irvine?" Over the next minutes, the Sword Mage was allowed to admire Irvine's Jungle Arsenal collection. Starting off was the Lion's Fang, a sword with a red and golden handle designed to look like the head of a lion. Not only did it have a solid strike power, but it also granted her access to the following fire spells: Fire Shield, Flame Spin, and Double Blaze Slash.
Next was the Golden Eagle Sword, the handle of which was golden and designed to look like an eagle's wings. It came with pretty useful air spells: Air Cocoon, Air Spout, and Wind Globe. The Shark's Bite was dark blue and had a cross guard that looked like a shark with the blade coming out of its mouth. With it, the user could send water slashes, attract distant water toward the blade, and swim for longer than usual. The Warthog Bane was entirely metallic-gray, with two horns serving as the cross guard. This sword had the nature of cutting through iron and metal like paper, being able to turn the blade into a chain with a spikeball at the end, and allow the user to sense the presence of metal around. Last but not least of the collection, Jaguar's Roar was pure-white and had the cross guard looking like a jaguar leaping at its prey. It came with a little control over the element of earth, giving its user the possibility to create small-scale earthquakes, summon sand pillars, and creating little stone daggers.
"I have not seen her so happy and excited since the time we hunted for Hex's remaining bots across the Magical World," Poe remarked with amusement as he watched his girlfriend trying every sword shown to her. "Have you decided on what to buy yet, my dear Rachel?"
"Not yet; I wanna take my time and make sure to try everything before coming to a decision," the young swordswoman replied as she pulled Jaguar's Roar back with the rest of the collection. She turned to Irvine. "What else do you have?"
"Hmm... If you're looking for something with magic potential, I think I have just what you need." Irvine turned around, looked through his stuff, and came back with a sword. At least, what looked like one. It looked like a broadsword with a blade that got broken in half. "I present to you the Broken Sword."
To say that Rachel and her friends were confused would be an understanding, for the young woman picked the item and looked at it from every angle, trying to find anything special. "I can see that it's a broken sword indeed. How am I supposed to fight with this sword if it doesn't even have a full blade?"
Hearing this, Irvine chuckled in amusement and rolled his eyes. "Aww, poor Broken Sword, so much potential, yet so underrated. To answer your question, it's true that in its natural form, this sword isn't worth much. However, its real greatness lies in its ability to be equipped with many Materia."
"Materia? What is this?" Poe asked with a curious expression.
"Oh, I know! I know!" Logan exclaimed with his hand raised. "Materia are special items from Final Fantasy VII that can be equipped on weapons or pieces of armor to allow their owner to cast spells that he or she can usually not use, summon creatures, access new transformations, or boost his or her current skills and abilities. Not only that, but using them makes them win experience and get more useful with time. They are one of the most important systems in the entire game! But they never appeared in any game outside of Final Fantasy VII, I don't know why," he admitted with rubbing his chin.
"Great explanation, pal," Irvine said with a smile. "Materia are, indeed, very useful when facing dangerous enemies. Normally, one weapon can only be equipped with three to four Materia at once. But do you know how many can be implemented inside this little wonder?" he asked, pointing at the Broken Sword. "Nine!"
"Nine?!" Logan, Rachel and Destiny exclaimed all at once.
"You heard me right; this Broken Sword contains nine Materia slots," Irvine confirmed, amused by everybody's expression. "Three times the amount of a normal weapon and the most I have ever seen in any weapon so far."
"Cheese... and... crackers...," Logan mumbled. He gave a serious look to his friend. "Rachel, you can't let this weapon pass you! Just three Materia are enough to beef you up, so nine of them would give you a serious boost in every aspect! This is a golden opportunity!"
The Sword Mage stared at her friend and down at the Broken Sword with interest. "It sounds pretty promising, I'll give you that. I just won't buy right now, in case I find other stuff more to my taste. But right now, it's really on my good side," she admitted with giving the item back to its owner.
Deciding to step outside of her comfort zone, Rachel went to check and try weapons that she had never held before. This included: tantos, katanas, wakazashis, daos, claymores, bastard swords, cutlasses, ninjatoes, khopeshes, and zweihänders. After running through the foreign swords for a while, she asked Irvine to bring her back to the special swords section, where he showed her the Spider Sword that had the ability to produce incredibly tough webs that almost nobody could break out of. Not only that, but it also contained a non-lethal poison to knock out her opponents. The Saber Tiger Sword that, when clashing with another sword, could summon the head of a saber tiger to bite at the opponent's arms and force him/her to let go of their weapon. The Brachi Sword, whose blade could be turned into the tail of a brachiosaurus to deliver a powerful tail whip. The Pteradon Sword that allowed the user to move at an elevated speed whilst also shooting fireballs at the speed of a machine gun. The Fox Sword that allowed the user to temporarily assume the form of a touched opponent. And, finally, the Snake Sword, whose blade could be turned into a snake that could be extended to great length and bite an opponent to inject a non-lethal poison that temporarily paralyzed.
After running through all these swords, Rachel decided to turn her attention to daggers instead. Irvine led her through the common daggers of his shop: push daggers, Scottish dirks, bollock daggers, stiletto daggers, cinquedeas, seaxes, jambiyas, trench knives, and kalises. Then, there were the special daggers: the Scorpion Sting that looked like it was made from a scorpion's body and contained actual scorpion venom. One hit from that dagger would make one feel the symptoms of a scorpion's sting, including nausea and fatigue - it could even potentially be fatal. On the other hand, the Hot Rod, a red dagger, contained Capsaicin, an active component from chili peppers. One strike of its blade could cause an intense burning pain, or with gentle strokes, temporary relief minor aches and muscle pain or enhance the body temperature.
The BZD had a blade containing BZ, an incapacitating agent that, in Irvine's own words, could turn one "mad as a hatter, red as a beet, dry as a bone and blind as a bat". The DMHP contained the toxin of the same name that would weaken one's muscles so much he/she would struggle to pick up anything, let alone stand up. The Silence Hit could make one fall asleep in one hit thanks to its blade coated in kolokol. Finally, the Light Void could temporarily turn one blind with a special drug made from Capsaicin.
"Why are you so interested in daggers, Rachel?" Logan asked. "I've never seen you using one before."
In response, the Sword Mage reached beneath her shirt and pulled out a little dagger whose blade and handle seemed to be made of dark rock. "While it's true that my domain of expertise lies within swords, I sometimes use daggers in case of emergencies. This one is the only that I possess; it is made from dark rocks from the Dark Kingdom."
"The Dark Kingdom?" Destiny asked.
"A location from the world of Tangled," Poe explained. "Its origins and ways of working are quite complex, so I suggest you watch Tangled: The Series to understand."
Pulling her dagger back to its place, Rachel looked at Irvine. "Okay, Irvine, I know that every shop have unique and pricey articles that are either extremely rare or even unique. Do you have any sword that would fit in that category?"
"Okay! We're getting to the serious stuff here!" the marksman exclaimed. "I do have quite expensive, rare swords and other sorts of weapons that I keep in a closed part of the shop - a part that is reserved for my best clients. Glad to see ya decided to join the club. Follow me." He led the group to a door at the back of the shop, opened it with a key, and then allowed everybody to enter. They all found themselves in a closed room filled with weapons that, indeed, looked exceptional and unlike anything the friends had seen before.
"Would you look at that!" Logan exclaimed, picking up a multicolored pistol that Irvine immediately snatched from his hands and pulled back in its place.
"Don't touch the merchandise, pal. So, the lady wants the most unique weapons I have to offer. Let's see..." Irvine looked at his stuff for a while before going to retrieve a sword from a preciously conserving box. This sword had the look of a ninjato with a crimson-red handle and orange-ish blade. Its most remarkable feature, however, was its guard that took the form of a dial displaying eight different Japanese kanjis, each within a different color: red, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, pink and brown. A mechanism was attached to this dial, serving to point at one of the kanjis by being pulled at the owner's will. By default, it was pointing at the neutral zone just below the blade. A set of chains was dangling from the tip of the handle.
"Whoa, that's quite the sword!" Logan exclaimed in awe.
"I present to you all the Eight Honors Sabre," Irvine said. "While I don't know its full story, legend has it that it's a powerful magical sword that was forged a long time ago by one of the Magical World's best blacksmiths for a talented samurai. This sword has eight different forms, each with different and unique powers and techniques. You can do so by moving this little pointer on the guard to the form you wish the sword to assume."
"E-Eight different swords in one?!" Rachel asked in awe. "What are these forms? What can they do?"
"I prefer keeping this part a secret until it is bought," Irvine said with a grin. "Wouldn't want to spoil the buyer's surprise, now, would we?" He pulled the Eight Honors Sabre away. "Now, for the next unique sword, I have-"
"AAAAAAH! WHAT IS ZANGETSU DOING HERE?!" Logan suddenly exclaimed at the top of his lungs, causing everybody to jump and making Irvine stumble into a pile of unique swords that collapsed on top of him.
"For the sake of shadows, Logan, don't yell like this!" Poe scolded the young man with a hand on his chest.
"You're alright, Irvine?" Rachel asked as she helped the marksman back up.
"Yeah, could've been worse. What the heck was that, pal?"
"Sorry. But where did you get that?" Logan asked, pointing at a sword that closely resembled an oversized Khyber knife with no hilt, a white cloth wrapped on the handle, and a black blade that had a silver edge. "I'd recognize that sword between a thousand: it's clearly the second form of Ichigo's Zangetsu from Bleach! Where'd you get it?!"
"Oh, you recognized its origins, too," Irvine said with a little chuckle. He placed his hand on the handle of the sword in question. "You're right; it's indeed based on the huge sabre carried by that orange-haired guy from that anime Disney recently acquired. After the acquisition happened, a young blacksmith decided to make a sword inspired by it in design, and the job was so well-done that I couldn't resist the desire to buy it and add it to my store. That being said, I must warn you that it's not the sword itself; this one only hits hard and allows the user to use powerful darkness spells. Also, its name is not Zangetsu, but Soul Slayer."
Logan wasted no time in grabbing Soul Slayer and handed it to Rachel. "You've gotta try it, Rachel; it's one of the coolest swords that exists!"
"Hum, okay." The Sword Mage picked up the giant knife, performed a few swings with it, and charged it to send a darkness slash at an empty barrel that happened to be in the room. "Yes, it's pretty strong and easy to manipulate. However, I'm not sure I feel at ease using the element of darkness..."
"Why? I've always used darkness; it never bothered you, did it?" Poe asked, giving his girlfriend a kiss.
"True. Fine, I'll put it in the 'seriously considering' box. What else do you have, Irvine?"
"This one isn't exactly a sword per saying, but it has a similar shape and serves the same purpose, so maybe it'll interest you." Irvine went to pick up a jitte staff with a smooth shaft serving as the blade, from which five hooks were protruding from the sides - three from the left and two from the right. The handle was wrapped in pink clothes, while the shaft had pink flower patterns on it. "I present to you the Sakura Shaft. I don't know if you've ever used a jitte staff before, young woman, but this little wonder possesses control over an element that very few people can use: cherry blossom petals. More precisely, it has an attack called Cherry Bomb. Try it."
Taking the staff in her hands, Rachel took a few swings, trying to get adjusted to the sensation of having a sword weapon that could not cut. She then pointed it forward and focused her magic energy to gather cherry blossom petals into a ball that she then shot at another barrel that also conveniently happened to be in the room, blowing it up to pieces. "That Cherry Bomb technique is strong, alright."
The next sword that Irvine presented to Rachel was definitely the oddest one so far. It looked like a carrot, with a leaf-green hilt, handle and counterweight, and a completely orange blade that had a delicious aspect. "Admire the Carrot Sword!"
Rachel held the sword and silently stared at it alongside her friends. "... Irvine, what am I looking at?"
"The Carrot Sword!"
"We can see that, but... What is this?" Logan asked.
"It's like a carrot, but shaped like a sword!"
"And how is it supposed to be useful?" Poe asked.
Irvine leaned and took a bite out of the 'blade'. After munching and swallowing the bite, the lost part of the blade instantly grew back. "It's useful in the fact that it can be consumed as much as you want; the sword will always grow back. This can save you if you get lost and need to eat, or if you're in dire need of potassium and vitamin C. Excellent for your eyes' health. Not only that, but this sword allows you to use the element of carrot juice - it's the only sword with that ability in the Magical World that I know of. It's even better if you add a little cream or seasoning over the blade before each bite."
The quartet exchanged silent looks. "... Oookay, I'll put it in the 'maybe' box." Rachel gave the Carrot Sword back to Irvine... but not without taking a bite out of it first.
Irvine showed all of his unique swords to Rachel, each one being more special and original than the other (he even had replicas of Cloud's Buster Sword and Leon's Gunblade!). They eventually reached the final unique sword of the shop. "And now, the piece de résistance!" Irvine announced with joy. He led his clients to a huge sword that was proudly displayed on a vertical sword stand. It had a blade that was longer than Rachel herself with a metal rectangular cuboid guard and a cubic pommel. "The Anti-Hydra Greatsword!"
Giving a good look at the sword, Logan blinked his eyes. "Strange, I could swear that this sword is exactly like-"
Destiny nudged her boyfriend. "Enough with the pop culture comparisons, Logan."
Rachel grabbed the handle of the sword and picked it up... only to almost immediately drop the blade on the floor. "My gosh! It's heavy! Must weight at least a hundred pound!"
Irvine chuckled in amusement. "It's supposed to be heavy. This sword was crafted by none other than Hephaestus, the Greek God of blacksmiths, metalworking, carpenters, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors and metallurgy, inside the best forge of Mount Olympus. As the name implies, it was designed to be able to kill beasts like the Hydra... But then, Hephaestus kinda realized that cutting off the head of the Hydra would only make two more grow, so it was of no use. That's why he accepted to lend it to me," the marksman explained. "Very few have what it takes to wield this incredibly heavy, damage-dealing monster. It truly tests the limits of human strength."
"I can see that," Rachel agreed, groaning as she lifted the Anti-Hydra Greatsword and pulled it back on its stand.
"Well, that was pretty much everything my shop have to offer in terms of swords and daggers," Irvine concluded. "Have you seen anything that would interest you, mam Rachel?"
The young woman rubbed her chin with a thoughtful look. "There are so many swords and daggers I can pick... I think I need some time to figure it out."
"It's alright; take all the time you need. We can go wait in the main room of the shop while you make your choices." Irvin led his clients outside the back room and into the common part of his shop. At the same time, the front door's bell rang. "Oh, another client. I better go check it out."
A few hours later, Rachel picked all the swords she wanted to buy with Poe paying all of them, being the gentleman that he was. By that point, the sky turned dark, so the four friends went to Magic Kingdom to buy themselves a quick snack for dinner and then sat down on top of a building to watch the Beacons of Magic glowing from Disney Castle and everywhere above the Magical World.
"... Wow, what a wonderful show," Rachel stated whilst resting on her back with her two hands behind her head. Logan was seated right next to her. Destiny and Poe had actually fallen asleep after a while due to the serene atmosphere and the fatigue of such an exciting day.
"Yeah, it is," Logan agreed, admiring the wonderful colors dancing together in the sky. "No matter how many times I see it, I never grow tired of all those Beacons of Magic..."
"That's the best part about living in the Magical World: that sense of wonder never leaves, no matter how much time passes." For a while, the two friends said nothing and admired the Beacons of Magic in complete silence. Then, Rachel turned her head and noticed a piece of paper peeking out of Logan's shorts pocket. "Hey, didn't you toss your burrito's wrapping in the trash can?"
"Huh, I did, why?"
"Then what's that thing in your pocket?"
Logan curiously reached for the object in question and pulled it out of his pocket, revealing a golden ticket. The mere sight of it caused the serene, happy expression on Logan's face to almost instantly melt away, being replaced by a frown. "... My ticket."
"Ticket? You're going home by train tonight?" Rachel curiously asked, sitting up.
"No... That's my entrance ticket... for the Hero's Rumble," Logan explained. He frowned even more whilst looking at it. "I had completely forgotten that it's gonna take place next week..."
"You should keep it in a safer place. If you lose it before the competition, it'll be over," Rachel advised.
Nodding his head, the young man simply pulled the ticket back in his pocket and continued looking up at the Beacons, his expression of awe and happiness never returning. Silence retuned, but this time, it was heavy and uncomfortable, Rachel could feel it. Eventually, Logan decided to speak again: "Say, Rachel, did you really mean what you said this morning?"
She looked at him with a confused expression. "What do you mean?"
"This morning, at Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies... You said that I was amongst the top three of our group in terms of strength and talent, alongside you and Gabriel. Did you really mean that? Because... that's not how I feel at all," Logan admitted, looking down at the streets of Magic Kingdom. "I never really do great in whatever competitions we take part in."
"What are you talking about? You won the Sorcerer's Apprentice Show and became Master Yen Sid's student on your first day. Not only that, but you also defeated The Inventor with your group of new friends and also ended up third in the Magical World Grand Prix. That counts for something," Rachel assured her friend.
"Yeah, a spot I had to share with Toren," Logan pessimistically remarked. "I wasn't even good enough to win third place on my own merit." He rested his cheek against his fist and looked away. "Sorry if I'm ruining the moment with my bad thoughts, Rachel, but... it really feels like I'm a step behind on everyone. I don't need to sing the praises of Gabriel: he's the Dream Keeper and saved us more times than I can count. There's you, who've become so skilled with a sword that you're amongst the top 10 best swordsmen in the Magical World and also one of its fiercest warriors. Adam has joined the S.E.A. and become one of the best explorers in the entire world. Silver's talents and tastes for fashion allowed him to practically become a Disney Princess himself. Almyra is considered to be one of the best dancers in the entire Magical World - I even heard that she could potentially take part in Gazelle's next show. Toren and Aline, whom I'm supposed to form a trio with, have become co-Dream Keepers alongside Beth and Double D. Do you realize? Beth and Double D have very recently joined our gang, and they already have more to show than I do! Then, there's the case of my older brother being a Disney Castle agent."
This last part caught Rachel's attention the most. "Y-Your brother's an agent at Disney Castle?!"
"Yeah. Became one before I even came to the Magical World," Logan confirmed. "Finally, there's, of course, my former friends who all work for Disney Studios now, with me being the only one who didn't graduate. Everything I accomplished so far feels small in comparison. Don't get me wrong: I don't regret all the times I supported you, Gabriel and all of our friends in saving the day, I'm proud of what I did this summer, and I'm really honored to be Yen Sid, Riku, Sora and Anubis' student... Yet, despite all of this, it always felt like I was just filling in a glorified support role. I know that I'm a jack of all trades with multiple talents - I know how to draw, have a great physical strength that allows me to lift giant swords, have an advanced knowledge of pro wrestling, I'm a Keyblade Wielder, etc... But despite all those attributes, I still have accomplished the less out of everybody in our group. I know it sounds selfish... But I'd like to win something for myself, something I can be proud of and show for my life."
Logan stared down at his ticket once again. "I was hoping that, maybe, the Hero's Rumble would be that chance... But I just had to get the first entry. This means that, to win, I'd have to outlast 39 of the best, strongest and bravest guys and girls in the entire Magical World." Sighing, he pulled the ticket away and rested his head on his hand again. "Unless there's a miracle around the corner, my big moment will have to wait another day."
For a moment, Rachel said nothing, just staring at Logan with a blank expression. Then, her facial features twisted into an annoyed frown, and she got up. "Wake up, Poe! We're out of here!" she exclaimed and woke up her boyfriend with a kick.
"Huh?! What?!" the wizard duck said, quickly finding himself pulled to his two feet and dragged away by the arm.
"Rachel? Where are you going?" Logan asked, confused by his friend's sudden behavior.
"I'm going home. I came to watch the Beacons of Magic with my good friend, Logan Jindrak, but he's not here tonight, so there's no point in staying," Rachel explained. "I don't even know who the heck that guy standing on this rooftop with me is." For many seconds, Logan and Poe remained silent, unsure of their friend's point. Rachel turned to look at Logan with the most serious look he ever saw on her face.
"I wanted to spend this evening with the Logan Jindrak who is one of my best sparing partners in this entire world. The Logan Jindrak who assembled his very own team and pushed himself beyond his limits to defeat one of the best known Keyblade Wielders to ever exist, all of this to save his friend. The Logan Jindrak who almost broke his arms and back to protect his own student. The Logan Jindrak with so much spirit and determination that he got handpicked by Anubis himself to be his student!" Rachel pointed at Logan. "I don't know who that guy is - I don't know where my friend went. Maybe he took a vacation after his loss to Gabriel and me in the Magical World Grand Prix, maybe even earlier than that, maybe it was because of his loss to Drake. That, I understand; even I did suffer losses in the past, and every time, I changed a little more. Look at Luke Skywalker: after losing his arm, it took him an entire year before being ready to face Darth Vader again."
She stepped a bit closer to Logan. "Listen to me very well. I have no problem with your good spirit of competition and the way you take your losses with grace... But to me, there's nothing more ridiculous and pitiful than someone going into a competition without the intention of winning." Feeling uneasy, Logan was about to rub the back of his head, only for Rachel to interrupt the gesture by grabbing his arm. "No! Don't rub your neck: you listen to me!" By that point, Destiny was also awakened by Rachel's firm voice. She and Poe uneasily watched the scene unfold, Rachel addressing Logan like a kid who had done something terrible, and she was scolding him for it.
"You see, Logan, we may not have the same upbringings, domains of expertise or ratio of success... But the one thing we do have in common is this: we both love the fun of the competition. Win or lose, we always give our 100%, no matter what! We're never afraid to test ourselves and go beyond our limits for even the smallest chance of success. Look at those competitions we took part in before: you think guys like Ditto or Herbert cared about success at all? No! They only participated for themselves and would go as far as cheating to get what they wanted! But with you and I, it's different! We only win by surpassing our rivals, no matter how hard it is!"
"You need to wake up now, Logan. If you take on any ambitious task, whether it's a mission or a competition, and go into it with any less than 100% of yourself, it's disrespectful to Toren, it's disrespectful to Aline, it's disrespectful to Silver, it's disrespectful to Adam, it's disrespectful to Gabriel, and it's disrespectful to ME!" She got so close to Logan's face that they could practically exchange a kiss. "I need you to ask yourself a question, Logan: do you have what it takes to succeed? Do you have it in you to go the distance and win something for yourself? If the answer is no, then forget any form of dream or ambition you may have. Don't even bother showing up at the Hero's Rumble, give your ticket to someone else, stand back, and watch. But should the answer be yes, then adopt the all or nothing mentality. If you show up to the Hero's Rumble, you win, or you lose; there's no third outcome."
Having nothing left to say, Rachel stepped away from Logan, took Poe by the hand, and walked off the rooftop. Once they were gone, Destiny looked at her boyfriend. He remained still with a blank look on his face, taking in everything his friend just told him. Only after a full minute did he finally act by taking out his golden ticket once again and staring thoughtfully at it.
"Hum... Logan?" Destiny shyly said.
After a long time of silence, Logan curled his free hand into a fist and tightened it so hard it trembled a bit. He then slowly raised his head so that Destiny could see the most ferociously determined expression he ever displayed. At this very moment, the young man took possibly one of the most important decisions in his entire life.
"I'm gonna win the Hero's Rumble, no matter what!"
Author's note: A nice little shopping chapter that left my poor brain aching. Seriously, I had so many sword and dagger ideas that I didn't know which one to put in the chapter and which one to leave out. Having too much imagination isn't always a good thing. You'll notice that I left the swords bought by Rachel ambiguous; that's because I wanna leave the decision to Princess Gakoshi, creator of Rachel. It's her OC, so I think she should get a say in the matter of Rachel's new swords and daggers.
We got to see Logan and Destiny together again after so many chapters of them being separated. Unlike what TheDragonSaver does with Gabriel and Jasiri, I don't always keep them together because I wanna give Logan the chance to bond with as many guest OCs and Magical World characters as possible. Fun fact: this is the first time Rachel and Poe have appeared in this story, despite being main characters of the Magical World Saga. Finally, this chapter introduced the character of Irvine Kinneas from Final Fantasy VIII, whom I think is one of the most underrated characters in the entire franchise. Seriously, I know that Squall and Cipher are amazing characters, but give the poor cowboy some merit! I decided to install his weapon shop in Radiant Garden because I think it's the unofficial home of Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts.
Rachel also gave Logan a good motivation speech ahead of the Hero's Rumble. While he did recover from his defeat against Drake and gained a boost in confidence after saving Sora, our beloved Owl is still unsatisfied with his personal achievements. With Gabriel being the Dream Keeper, Rachel one of the 10 best swordsmen in the Magical World, Silver a fashion expert and close friend to the Disney Princesses, Adam a S.E.A. member, and Toren, Aline, Double D and Beth co-Dream Keepers, he starts feeling behind everybody. The Hero's Rumble may be his ultimate chance to prove he deserves to stand at their side. Of course, I knew he needed a little motivation to get into it with the mindset of a winner. So I told myself: "Who better to motivate him than his sparing partner and the firmest member of the Dream Defenders?"
Next time: The Hero's Rumble finally begins...