Hello, fellow readers! Back with Harmonic Hearts! With that said, what do we have:
Raximus: I don't blame him, any chance to mess with his enemy helps in winning. Oh yeah, kinda does.
Guest: Thank you!
johannvanguard: We shall see.
Nisha: I'm glad my efforts are paying off. I do have a couple of ideas, as this is becoming more fun to write.
Thanks for the feedback! With that said, let's get going!
Visit 2-3: Battle of the Bands
"Hey, hey, listen. We got a message for you."
The next day, the group spend the morning practicing the counter spell song. Sora and Sunset act as the audience, the latter making sure the feedback wasn't ear-piercing. What's weird though is that they were out of sync, entirely.
They notice that they weren't playing, lacking interest, or even glaring at each other. The lyrics of the song weren't that good either, which even Twilight knows if her singing off-key was an indication. The song then just ends, with no evidence to their transformations coming out.
"Well... that was a song." Sunset comments.
"I'd rather listen to Donald singing..." Sora mutters before addressing them, "What's going on?"
"It's pretty obvious, dude. It's-" Rainbow starts to speak, only for Applejack to cut in:
"You turning the chorus into a five minute guitar solo!?"
"I had to pick up the slack somehow! Are you guys even trying!?"
"I'm trying..." Fluttershy chimes in.
Sora is getting concerned over this as Twilight shrugs it off, "It's fine, totally fine. Once more from the top!"
"Best that we break for a bit, Twilight." He suggests, "You've been going at this all morning."
"Sora's right." Rarity agrees, "Plus, this'll be a good time to show some of the wardrobe choices I've made. Let's see... I really like this one."
In an instant, she put on a sparkling marching band jacket. "Of course, we can do something more modern."
"We're trying to save our school here, enough with the costumes!" AJ reminds her.
Rarity was now in some sort of spacesuit as she gasp at this, "You can never have enough costumes."
"She just wants to have fun. Isn't that what being in a band supposed to be?" Pinkie retorts before playing a rimshot.
Sunset then widen her eyes upon noticing the time, "Shoot! We're running late!"
The others realize this as Twilight starts to panic, "B-But the counter spell, it's not ready yet! If we try playing it now, it won't work!"
"It's all right. We just have to hold out until it is ready." Sora assures her.
"Good idea! We'll just compete in the Battle of the Bands for real!" Rainbow agrees, "I'll take over lead vocals again, and we stay alive until the finals. You'll figure it out by then, right Twilight?"
"Y-Yeah, that should be enough time." Twilight said, mainly to assure herself.
"All right, let's do this thing!"
As the Rainbooms went to load their stuff on the truck, Sora notices Twilight hanging back with uncertainty:
"You all right?"
"Honestly... no. I thought the lyrics were good enough to give us that spark we need, but nothing happened."
"Hmm... Well, I don't know much about music, but I do know a song needs the rhythm to support it. Otherwise, it'll just fall apart."
Twilight thought about that before the two heard Sunset come in, "Hey, you coming?"
"Yeah." Sora answers before turning to Twilight, "Let's go."
She just nods before they go to catch up with the others.
Back at CHS, the students have gathered in the gym as the principals began their announcement:
"Welcome to our first ever 'Battle of the Bands'! I think I speak for everyone that this is the biggest event we've had here at this school!"
The students confirm this with a massive cheer as Celestia continues:
"And we'd like to thank our three newest students for encouraging us to do something this exciting!"
The Dazzlings sat at the top of the bleachers, with Vanitas casually laying back next to them, as Luna takes the microphone:
"But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner. Who is it going to be?"
Upon proposing that question, the students soon shift to aggressive arguing. This emits the green mist once more, which the Dazzlings absorb:
"You feel that, girls? That's our true power being restored."
"And yet it's not enough, correct?" Vanitas points out, "It's clear what you're missing."
Right after he said that, the Rainbooms enter with Sora in tow. He smirks under his helmet at the timing as Aria recalls something:
"But those girls aren't affected by our magic."
"Yes, but it doesn't mean they can't fall apart like everyone else." Adagio proposes, "Besides, I have a feeling that everyone else will gladly do that for us."
"What about Sora?" Vanitas reminds them, "He's going to be a nuisance. How do you propose we deal with him?"
Adagio looks back at the band as a devious smirk appears on her face, "Don't worry, he won't be."
The competition soon began, starting with an exhibition match between the competing bands. The principals were the judges, going down the list up until reaching a duo named 'MC Snips and DJ Snazzy Snails'.
Sora and the others were forced to listen to a horrible rap, that strangely has Pinkie and even Sonata grooving a bit. Adagio and Aria held back a laugh as Vanitas just shakes his head. Once they finished, they drop the mics, hurting everyone's ears:
"Please don't drop the microphones." Celestia simply said.
The duo walk off the stage, Snips calling them out as they walk by. "Beat that, Rainbooms!"
"Now I prefer the counter spell over... that." Sora mutters, regretting his earlier claim.
"At least we know one 'band' won't be any trouble." AJ adds.
"We're up next. Let's rock this place!" Rainbow declares before Pinkie stops her:
"Wait! Where's Rarity?"
"Here, I'm here!"
The group look to see her walking over, now wearing a fancy outfit that includes chimes on her sleeves and anklets.
"Nice outfit." Sora compliments, but the others weren't as impressed.
"Thank you, Sora. I gotta look good since we're performing in front of a crowd this time."
AJ just facepalms with a sigh, "Let's just get up on stage."
Sora and Sunset stayed on the sidelines as they did just that. The two notice the crowd glaring at the Rainbooms, likely an effect that the Dazzlings have with their spell. Once the band was ready, Twilight just realizes something as she puts her hand over the mic:
"OK, girls. We have to be good to pass, but not too good to show off our magic. We can't let the Sirens know what we're capable of."
"Cool enough, but not way past cool." Rainbow summarizes while tuning her guitar, "So... about twenty percent less cool."
With that said, the group began their song:
We just got the day, to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do
Starting with a catchy song, the two were tapping their foot to the rhythm before Sora notices something up above. He recognizes the symbols on the creatures' bodies, the Unversed! They were of the smaller ones, two species in particular named 'Archravens' and 'Axe Flappers' respectively.
Sora quickly summons his keyblade to fight, but realizes they were going after the Rainbooms! Thinking fast, he gets on stage to fight while the girls continue their song:
We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to igniiite the liiights!
Without breaking the flow, they saw Sora come on stage before swatting away hostile creatures. Sunset quickly looks to where the Dazzlings sat, seeing Vanitas gesture with his hand towards the crowd. A dark aura emitted from them, which matches one coming from his hand as the source.
At the apex of the buildup, Sora leaps into the air between the flyers to use Firaga, lighting them ablaze as the song continues:
Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight!
Shake your tail, shake your tail!
Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight!
Shake your tail, shake your tail!
The girls weren't defenseless though. AJ quickly kicks one that got too close, Rainbow jabs one with the neck of her guitar, and Rarity jumps over one that dived at her. Sora takes those out as more came down from above:
[Twilight]
So what you didn't get it right the first time
[Pinkie]
Laugh it off, no one said it is a crime
[Rarity]
Do your thing, you know you're an original
[Applejack]
Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal
[All]
Ohhh-ahh!
Pinkie notices the flock flying down and gets an idea. During the last part, she flips one of her drums around to fire a hidden confetti cannon at them. The blast was actually well-timed, taking out some while dispersing them.
"Nice!" Sora compliments before getting back to the fight:
We've got the day, to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do
Taking out the strays, more show up to swarm the band. They actually got more numerous this time, making Sora struggle to keep up. The girls made sure to stay on rhythm, but they were starting to slow a bit:
We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to igniiite the liiights!
Sora was quick to think though. Leaping up into the air, he performs Magnet Burst to draw the enemies in. During the build-up, he starts to spin faster and faster to provide chip damage while drawing in the leftover confetti. At the apex, he does a strong burst, taking them out and made it rain confetti upon the crowd.
To the Dazzlings' surprise, and Vanitas' intrigue, the trio felt their spell actually falter a bit. It didn't break, but it was very concerning. Seeing the Unversed gone for now, Sora decides to join in on the performance, using his keyblade as a 'guitar' to play on:
Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail!
Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail!
Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail!
Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail!
Shake your tail cause we're here to have a party tonight!
Upon finishing the song, the crowd was quiet as the judges gave them applause. They exit the stage as Sora clarifies on what had happened:
"Sorry about that. Looks like Vanitas decided to make his move."
"And I figured out how he did it." Sunset mentions, "He used the negative energy from the crowd to create those Unversed."
"So it's not just him as the source, he can create them from the Dazzlings' spell." Twilight adds, "If we don't break it soon, who knows what else he can conjure up!"
"We need to figure out that counter spell!" Rainbow insists.
"How? We can't just do it on the spot!" Rarity retorts.
"We'll just have to go practice it elsewhere." AJ suggests, "Somewhere that the Dazzlings can't hear us."
"Good idea." Sunset agrees, "You guys go do that, I'll keep an eye on things here."
The Rainbooms go to do just that. Sora was about to follow, but stops for a moment to talk to Sunset:
"You sure you're fine by yourself?"
"Don't worry, it's the others they're focused on." She assures him, "Best to go with them, just in case."
He simply nods before taking his leave. As he does though, a sudden yelp gets his full attention. Turning around, he sees Sunset fall into a dark portal:
"Sunset!" Using Quick Run, he reaches said portal and dives in before it faded away.
The two reemerge from another portal, leading to the soccer field outside. Sora sees Sunset nearby and goes to check on her:
"You all right?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine." She answers, getting up to her feet.
Looking around, he sees Vanitas and summons his keyblade for a fight. The masked boy just chuckles:
"Calm down, key boy. The girls just wanted to talk."
Upon saying that last part, he gestures towards their direction, making them turn and see the Dazzlings. Sora made sure to focus on Vanitas, leaving Sunset to speak towards them:
"You won't get away with what you've done!"
"Why? Cause you didn't?" Adagio retorts, catching Sunset off guard as she clarifies:
"Oh yes, we know all about you. You have quite the reputation here at Canterlot High."
"I-I've changed! I'm in a much better place now!" Sunset defends herself, which Aria shoots down:
"You mean waiting in the wings while your 'friends' have all the fun?"
"Oh yes, you girls must be so tight. But wait, why aren't you apart of their band again?"
Adagio didn't get an answer as Sunset didn't have one. Aria chuckles at this:
"Probably cause they knew if she was, no one would see them play."
Sonata suddenly pops up next to Sunset, "Too bad! So sad!"
She soon returns to her original position as Sunset tries to say something:
"No- I-" Sora notices her struggle before Vanitas calls it out:
"Just admit it! Those so-called 'friends' don't actually care about you! Isn't it obvious?"
"What are you talking about!?" Sora questions.
He can somehow tell Vanitas rolled his eyes behind the helmet before answering:
"Come on, I know you saw it. Yesterday, while you and those girls were discussing the Dazzlings' magic. Sunset here suggested you do a counter spell, yet who gets the credit? Definitely not her."
The two realize that he eavesdropped on their conversation, which means they knew their plan from the start. Vanitas saw the look on their faces:
"I got nothing better to do with my time, so why not spy on the competition? Still Sunset, it's clear that they have you around just to make sure you don't act up again."
Sunset had nothing to say to that, making Sora recall the time they were at the principal's office. What Luna said, what Vanitas mentioned, it was adding up.
"If it's any consolation Sunset, no one will remember you at all when we're done." Adagio said before casually adding, "That is, if you last that long. Vanitas!"
With a snap of his fingers, Vanitas conjures a dark dome to surround the soccer field:
"Nice knowing you." He said before he and the Dazzlings disappear into portals.
"Wait!" Sora calls out, to no avail.
Seeing the dome complete itself at the top, it soon darkens around them as their vision was veiled in black.
"Sunset, stay close to me!" He orders.
No answer.
"Sunset!? Where are you!?" He calls out again.
No answer, but soon hears... crying? He conjures Firaga at the tip of his keyblade, lighting it like a torch to look around. She was actually where she was before, but now on her knees crying.
He then notices a dark aura flickering from her and quickly crouches to her level:
"Sunset, speak to me."
"...They're right." She eventually admits, "No one cares."
"What do you mean?"
"You and the others forgave me for what I've done, but it doesn't mean everyone else had. No matter what I did or said, they just believed it was all an act. To be honest, I'm starting to think the girls... don't really trust me."
The dark aura was growing stronger, making Sora grab her shoulder:
"That's enough! Remember what I said back at the Fall Formal? Even if the whole world hates you, you'll always be a friend in my heart!"
The dark aura starts to fade as she blinks, "Y-You.. really did mean that?"
"Of course!" He answers, cementing that with his signature smile. His charm manages to work as Sunset wipes her tears away:
"Thanks, Sora."
With a simple nod, he then helps her to her feet as she points out their situation:
"Now, how do we get out of here?"
"Don't worry, I got the key." Sora quips.
Before he points it towards somewhere, the darkness around them fades to a single point to the top of the dome. The two look to see a giant dark sphere, soon to break apart to release what's inside.
What emerges from the sphere was a massive wolf. It has 'fur' made of crimson flames, which forms the body for claws and tail as well. The Unversed emblem appears on its head as it falls towards the earth.
Once it lands, it soon lets out a howl that echoes before looking at them with glowing cyan eyes. Sora quickly gets in front of Sunset:
"Sunset, get back!" She does just that, running to the farthest place she could go.
Unbeknownst to them, Vanitas was watching from the outside. He casually sits on the school roof as he observes:
"Good, let's see what you're made of."
Objective: Defeat Hati! (BGM: Black Powder)
Sora plans to lure the wolf away first, firing a Blizzaga to get its attention. It works, making it charge at him in retaliation. Dodge rolling out of the way, he fires another to keep it on him. Another charge towards him, he casts Reflega to bounce it back.
The wolf quickly switches its approach, attacking with its own magic. With a cold howl, it conjures a powerful snowstorm to surround him in. Sora finds himself barely seeing five feet in front of him, but he does sees glowing eyes.
The wolf leaps at him, performing a corkscrew dive surrounded in lightning sparks. He quickly leaps away, only to find himself barely balancing on ice. Caught off guard by this, he gets hit by two more dives before getting swatted by one of the claws.
Quickly recovering to his feet, or tries to, he knows he's at a disadvantage here. Thankfully, there's one option to mitigate that:
"Give me strength!"
He activates his Drive, transforming into Wisdom Form successfully this time. Its mobility and natural 'ice-skating' ability will certainly help, not to mention the magic boost. He then sees the wolf was nowhere to be seen, not even the eyes, before realizing something:
"Sunset!"
She was on the other side of the dome, holding her arms due to the cold. She tries looking through the blizzard to find Sora, only to see glowing eyes staring back:
"Whoa!"
By instinct, she leaps away from a claw slamming the ground and another hitting the dome wall. Feeling sudden ice underneath making her lose balance, she resorts to sliding across it to keep moving. Despite her efforts though, the wolf just manages to grab her ankle under its claw.
The wolf's form finally shows itself, opening its maw to crunch down upon her-
"Back off!"
In the nick of time, Sora puts his keyblade in said maw to stop it. Using the momentum from Quick Run to twist its head away, he swings with the wedged keyblade to launch himself into the air. Summoning his keyblade back to his hand, he channels energy and launches back down with a powerful swing.
His attack slams the wolf's head into the ice, shattering it and dispersing the snowstorm in one go. Landing smoothly on the ground, he quickly charges up a magic shot and fires, blowing the beast away.
Sunset was astonished at the surprising brutality before Sora helps her up to her feet:
"You all right!?"
"Yeah-" She feels herself briefly falter, "My ankle..."
Before casting Curaga on her, Sora notices the wolf already recovered and charges an attack:
"Quick, hop on my back!"
She does that without question before Sora uses Quick Run, barely dodging the wolf's pounce. A shockwave of fire erupted from the impact before it leaps again, chasing down its prey. Sora manages to stay out of reach, backsliding to fire magic shots at it.
The fires cease as the wolf stops, charging up dark energy this time. Sora takes this chance for potshot damage, rapidly firing Blizzaga before finishing with a shotgun blast of ice. The beast then sprints towards them, which Sora narrowly avoids with Quick Run:
"Sunset, be my eyes!"
"Got it!"
Looking back, she sees the beast charging right for them, the ice cracking under its claw with each step. When it reached a certain distance, she calls back:
"Dodge!"
Sora fires a charge shot he had, quickly changing directions to avoid its attack. Sniping in a few shots, he then repeats this method a second time. This time, they managed to make the wolf run into the dome wall.
While it was stunned, he performs multiple casts of Thundaga before passing by it with the finisher. When it regained its composure, it casts a snowstorm again to try gaining the upper paw. This time though, Sora was prepared as Sunset shivers a bit:
"W-Why does this fire wolf know ice magic?" The latter wonders.
"There's always more than meets the eye." The former answers, knowing from experience.
The two then see a pair of glowing eyes, followed by another, and another. Soon enough, they were surrounded before one pounces. Sora remained vigilant, dodging each leap and swipe that came his way before going on the offense.
He casts Firaga, surrounding themselves in a ring of fire as he dashes forward. This manages to take out two of the ghosts, that tried attacking at the same time, and quickly recasts it to take out another two.
The remaining wolves then try to pounce at once, but a well-timed Reflega bounces that back in their faces. A flash of cyan suddenly appears at the corner of his eye, quickly using the reflective finisher to protect themselves.
The reflected damage pushes the wolf back before it recovers, letting out a wild howl before leaping high into the air. Reaching the top of the dome, it flips forward in place before conjuring a massive dark ball. This darkens the place a great deal, but thankfully not as much as before.
"What is that!?" Sunset asks him, who just answers back:
"Not good!"
The sphere grows as it starts to spurt out dark fireballs upon the arena. Said fireballs then morph into a wolf's head, each one with cyan eyes, as they hone in on the two. Thinking quick, he switches Drive forms, replacing Wisdom with Master as his clothes change from blue to yellow.
"Hang on tight!" He warns her before leaping into the air.
The nearby wolf heads lunge at him, which he quickly slashes them away. Sunset soon finds herself watching him 'dance' in the air, taking out the heads with graceful slashes and seamless magic casting. Before long though, the large sphere then starts to descend upon them.
"Look out!" She warns him, but wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Using his second keyblade, he holds it up as he starts his Disaster finisher. The sphere made contact with said keyblade, but he tries his best to stay afloat while building up a powerful attack. Despite this though, the sphere was still pushing him back:
"Come on, Sora! You got this!" Sunset cheers him on, which had an unexpected effect:
Unbeknownst to both, her hand glows in an aura that flows into him. This sudden magic boost was just what he needed, successfully pulling off the reflect that shatters the dark sphere to pieces. The wolf, who was inside the sphere, falls down to the ground as the arena lights back to normal.
Landing back on the ground, Sora stands firm as the beast tries one last time to take them out. Channeling its remaining energy, it charges right for him and leaps with claws ready to shred them. Sora had a different idea:
Grabbing both keyblades, he performs a well-timed upper slash to knocks its head upward. Using the momentum, he bombards the wolf with a full aerial combo before ending it with his Master Strike finisher.
The wolf falls back down to the earth, the ice melting away as it lays there defeated. Sora lands safely on his feet, his guard remaining up just in case. Sunset though, she was feeling... sorrow?
She looks at the wolf's face, whose eyes lost their glow to reveal some sort of crying face. Sora starts walking towards it as they heard it whimper:
"Sora, I know this will sound strange." He hears Sunset say, "But... may I comfort it?"
That is a strange request, but he grants it. Crouching down next to the wolf's head, Sunset then places her hand upon it. That sorrowful feeling grew stronger, but why was it there?
"Didn't Vanitas create this?" She wonders.
Sora remembers what happened before it emerged, which was him comforting her. The aura that came from her, which disappeared when she felt better, the Unversed symbol on the wolf's head, and knowing those come from negative emotions...
"I think you created it." He eventually answers, which surprised her:
"T-Then, why did it attack us?"
"Vanitas is capable of creating them from others, remember?" He reminds her before realizing something, "But since we defeat it, where does it go back to?"
Sunset get what it means as she gets off his back, now sitting down next to the wolf. It whimpers again, which she eases by comforting it more:
"It's OK. You only came to be, cause I allowed myself to be vulnerable and someone else took advantage of that. You can rest now."
The wolf seemed to be content after her little talk, the fire dying from its makeshift fur as it fades away. Though instead of reducing to nothing, its essence goes into Sunset. Despite it being from negative energy, she didn't feel any different.
Sora's Drive form soon ends as he sees the dome surrounding them disappear. Remembering the Rainbooms, he turns to her:
"Come on, let's go find the others."
"Right." The two get up to go, but she quickly falters a bit. "Ah! My ankle..."
"Heal!" Sora casts Curaga, healing her injury. "Better?"
"Yeah. Let's go!" The two run off to the school.
Unbeknownst to them though, Vanitas saw the entire thing unfold. He got up to his feet with a chuckle:
"What a fascinating development." He mutters before disappearing into a portal.
Sora and Sunset ran through the halls, trying to figure out what room the others went to practice at, before stopping in the foyer. As to why, a dark portal appears in front of them, fading to reveal Vanitas now in their way.
"I'm impressed. I was expecting your own sorrow to be your downfall." He reveals.
"Enough of your dirty tricks!" Sunset exclaims.
"Yeah, no. The Dazzlings are about to go on and they wanted me to make sure you don't interfere, no matter what."
Sora readies himself for a fight as Vanitas snaps his fingers, summoning a special Unversed that looks like some sort of school graduate. It held a special book in its hands as Vanitas introduces it:
"Meet the Mimic Master. He has a lot of tricks up his sleeve, so he should keep you entertained. Have fun!"
Vanitas disappears once again, leaving the two to fight this Unversed. Sora made sure to stay close to Sunset, who was honestly getting furious:
"Fine, you want to play!?" She swings her arm out, surprising Sora as she summons a rapier in her hand:
"I'm game!"
"When can you do that?" He questions, which is understandable.
She just noticed she did that, as her face shifted from anger to surprise. The rapier even resembles the one she used back at the Fall Formal.
"Don't know!" She admits, "Either way, let's focus on this guy first!"
"Right!"
The two got ready to fight as the Mimic Master opens his book.
Back at the gym, the Dazzlings stood behind the curtain as Trixie's band finish their set. As they did, Adagio takes a moment to remind her sisters:
"Remember, we're saving the good stuff for when we reach our full power."
Right after saying that, Vanitas shows up from a portal, surprising Sonata who clings to Aria:
"You saw me do this before." He casually points out.
Aria shakes Sonata off as Adagio addresses him, "How are those two pests doing?"
"They managed to defeat Sunset's Unversed, which actually returned to her instead of me. That's the first time I've seen that happen."
"Wait... this doesn't mean she has powers now, does she?"
"Probably, probably not. Doesn't really matter, I just left them with another Unversed. They won't be here anytime soon."
Adagio still wonders on that new development, but puts it aside for now:
"I see. I'm surprised you've yet to deal with them yourself."
"Oh, I will soon enough. Just biding my time like you three are."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Aria questions, "You know they're trying to stop us with that counter spell."
"Can't use it if they're separated." He casually answers, "Like your leader said, they'll soon fall apart like the rest of the school. Go do your thing, I'll watch the pests for ya."
"You're making this a breeze. Keep up the good work." The two were surprised to hear Adagio give a compliment, which he casually shrugs off:
"Yeah, yeah. More fun for me either way." With that said, he takes his leave by going out the way he showed up.
"Why say that?" Sonata wonders, "Were you being sarcastic?"
"Word of advice, girls. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Come on, we got a set to play."
The three went on stage as their pendants shimmer for a moment.
Objective: Defeat the Mimic Master! (BGM: Under Our Spell/ The Tumbling)
A barrier surrounds the foyer as the two want to end this quickly, rushing at the Unversed from different sides. It quickly transport itself into its own book, flying away when they got close. Reappearing soon after, it grows the book to a massive size and swings down.
The two had to avoid not only the book, but the shockwaves on each impact. Once it stopped, Sora rushes in to land a combo, using Vicinity Break followed by Finishing Leap. Knocked into the air, Sunset adds onto that with a combo of her own.
Slashing it away, the Unversed quickly retaliates. Its book lights ablaze, grabbing it as it flew book first towards them. Sunset sidesteps the glide with Sora rolling under it, casting Thundaga to damage it.
Sunset takes this opportunity to see if she had magic spells again, confirming it by firing icicles at the Unversed. Some of them hit their mark, but it's the attempt that counts. The two then cast Thundaga simultaneously, inflicting more damage before it stops its glide.
Floating back down to the first floor, it pulls pages out from its book that float around itself. Soon after, the torn pages fire beams of light and darkness respectively, even moving around the arena to try hitting its targets. Sora was rather flexible to avoid them, but Sunset wasn't as lucky.
One of the dark beams grazes her, inflicting the Blind status that made her start to freak out:
"Sora, Sora! I can't see!"
Quickly going to her side, he casts Reflega for a barrier to guard her:
"Don't worry, it'll wear off soon!" He assures her.
"I hope so..." She instinctively rub her eyes to get it off, to little effect.
The beams soon stop, the loose pages returning to the Unversed as it prepares its next attack. The status effect eventually wears off, allowing her sight once more when the two witness its technique.
Channeling magic into itself, it transport into its book again before it vanishes. What happens next is something Sora recognizes:
"Cards?" He recalls the Gambler Nobodies using them, especially in their mini-games.
What unnerved him though was on each page, it was either a portrait of him or Sunset. Before they questioned it, some puff into smoke to reveal actual clones of themselves! They close in and swung at the barrier, surrounding it to try breaking it down!
"When it bursts, hit them hard!" Sora exclaims, Sunset quickly nodding in agreement.
He activates the reflect spell, splashing the damage right back to take out a good amount of the clones. Sora goes to land a quick combo on one of his own, quickly leaping back to dodge a Sunset clone, before finishing with Explosion to take out four more.
Sunset was swift with her slashes and parries, landing strikes on Sora clones and Sunset clones alike. Landing a combo to take out one, she then channels the elements into one powerful spinning slash, taking out three more.
Thirteen clones now remain, seven Soras and six Sunsets respectively, before the real Sora suggests something:
"Sunset, follow my lead!"
"Got it!"
The two activate a limit between themselves, starting with a strong combo of elemental spells. The two then leap back to perform two types of attacks:
One was the two zipping past the clones with a rushing stab, akin to Sonic Blade, one after the other.
Two was throwing their respective weapons, having them clash and grind on the target before reappearing back to them. Each throw was either vertically or horizontally.
They were taking out the clones one by one before activating their finisher. The two held their weapons close, channeling the elements into a powerful charge shot:
"See ya!" The two fire a plethora of elemental orbs upon the remaining clones, destroying them.
The Mimic Master reappears soon after, stunned for the moment as the two rush him for the kill. The two land a full combo, Sunset finishing with Piercing Lights before Sora ends it with a Guard Break.
The Unversed fades away, leaving the two to relax a bit as Sora lets out a cheer:
"We did it! High five!"
Holding his hand up, she gladly returns it before the two hear a familiar voice:
"Over already? What a weakling."
The two turn to see Vanitas, looking down at them from the second floor. They prepared for another fight before he gestures with his hand:
"Your friends are about to go on. Better hurry, who knows what happened while you were gone."
They were taken aback by the help before he disappears again. Just shrugging their shoulders, the two headed back to the gym as fast as they could.
Upon arrival though, there wasn't anything strange going on yet. Heading backstage, the two find their friends as Rainbow was bragging to Trixie:
"Ha! Please, I can win this as a solo act and everyone knows it!"
Sora and Sunset wonders the context of that, especially with the others' reactions to that claim. Trixie just held a smirk with her retort:
"Sure ya could."
With that said, she throws a smoke bomb on the ground, making the others cough as she disappeared.
"She's gone!" Pinkie exclaims before Sora sees her behind the drum stand:
"Nope, she's right there."
Upon being spotted, Trixie actually left before the Rainbooms notice the pair had returned:
"There you are! Where did you go?" Twilight asks them, "When we came back here, you were gone!"
"Long story, but-" Sora starts before an announcement came on:
"Next up, the Rainbooms."
"Tell ya after. Go get 'em!" He assures with a cheer.
They go on stage soon after, but Sunset notices something off. Vanitas' words started to echo, specifically the last part before the music came on:
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
[Rainbow]
Awesome as I want to be!
[All]
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
[Rainbow]
Awesome as I want to be!
First you see me, riding on a sonic boom
Got my guitar shreddin' up my latest tune
There is nothing you can do, to beat me
I'm so good that you can't defeat me
Unlike their earlier performance, which was unified, Rainbow was now out there showboating. Running around the stage, annoying her friends, and hogging the spotlight. Whatever happened, Sunset has a feeling of what lead to it. Sora was just confused as the song continues:
[Rainbow]
Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution
Watch for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution
Watch for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!
Rainbow then leaps up to the front, all spotlights on her now as she does a guitar solo. Needless to say, that has the others frustrated as Sunset connects the dots:
"He lured us away to allow this to happen! Sora, she'll reveal her transformation if we don't stop her now!"
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
"I'll handle it!" He assures her before running onto the stage.
Summoning his keyblade, he holds it like a guitar as he touches backs with Rainbow.
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
Swiftly moving away, he now has her attention as he starts showboating on the stage. Unlike her though, his antics were endearing as he made silly faces and exaggerating gestures. The song continues on with Rainbow leading, now while trying to take her spotlight back:
Step aside now, you're just gettin' in my way
I got sick chops you could never hope to play
When it comes to making music, I'm the ruler
You wish you could be twenty percent cooler
During the verse, Sora was in a makeshift guitar battle with her. Somehow he was able to produce sound from it, replicating her technique to match the notes. She then goes to sing the last verse as he unexpectedly joins in:
[Rainbow and Sora]
Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
(Yeah!) I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!
The song ends before they heard unexpected cheering from the crowd. Though, what the cheers were raised concern:
"Yeah Sora, knock her down a peg!"
"You're the awesome one!"
"Better than her performance, am I right!?"
Sora and Sunset wonders what's up, the former quickly going off-stage with the Rainbooms following suit. While most were content they made it through, Rainbow was livid:
"What was THAT!?"
"Stopping you from exposing our method of using magic." Sora states, "We're trying to stop the Dazzlings, remember?"
"Y-Yeah, but-"
"But nothing! He wouldn't have stepped in if you didn't start showing off!" AJ retorts, even getting in her face about it.
Before he could break it up, Trixie came back to 'congratulate' them:
"Well, would you look at that? Of course you would win, the judges are playing favorites after all."
"Favorites?" Sunset repeats.
"Yes, didn't you hear? Someone overheard that Sora being in your band automatically puts them in the finals. The fact that I put in all this effort, only to compete in a rigged game! This isn't over."
With that said, she takes her leave as the principals got on stage to announce the winners:
"The bands that are going to the finals are, the Dazzlings and the Rainbooms!"
The bands went onto the stage for the crowd to see. Strangely enough, Vanitas wasn't with the Dazzlings this time.
"Congrats, Rainbooms. We'll be seeing you at the finals." Adagio declares, "We're really looking forward to it."
"Not as much as we are!" Rainbow retorts, which started booing from the crowd.
The Dazzlings just smirk as they exit stage left. The Rainbooms exit the gym by walking through said crowd, which may not have been the best choice, but they just wanted to leave. Once they did, Trixie wasn't happy at all:
"This is a travesty! A TRAVESTY!"
"It really is." She turns to see Vanitas standing nearby, "If they didn't have Sora, you would have won by showmanship alone, oh 'Great and Powerful'. But hey, it can't change now... unless."
"Unless what?"
"Oh you know. If they don't show up for some reason, it'd make sense for the runner-up to take their place. Simple as that."
Vanitas then takes his leave, hearing Trixie chuckle to herself as she soon grew a devious smirk.
And done! Wow, this was quite the expansion. No joke, I didn't expect a lot of this, so let's unpack them one by one:
A) I don't really see Sora as a musician. Like, he knows the basics of music, but doesn't excel in it. Hence why he's not officially apart of the band.
B) Doesn't mean he won't be apart of the performance. I was originally gonna have the other bands sabotage, but it's been awhile since we fought the Unversed. So why not have those do it instead?
C) Considering most of the competition flies by during 'Under Our Spell', I decide to use that time gap for original stuff. But first, I had the exchange between Sunset and the Dazzlings, which I expand with Vanitas. No joke, since the Dazzlings shatter what little confidence Sunset had, Vanitas easily grinds his boot on that into the dirt.
D) Hati was spur of the moment, as I wanted a big fight using Wisdom Form. Hati was inspired by the other half of the Ragnarok Wolves, the other being Skoll. But since the latter was taken in KH3, I used the former.
E) The finale of that fight uses an old idea I had. In my KH canon, it would be possible to switch Drive Forms during battle, in exchange of one Drive bar. So, I killed two birds with one stone to show off Master Form too!
F) The next fight was originally a gauntlet of Unversed in a makeshift labyrinth, which you have to find the exit to escape. Sadly that idea wasn't clicking with me, so I decided to have another boss. Mimic Master was an unexpected choice, but it worked out.
G) Then we got the second Rainbooms performance. No lie, just the image of Sora performing 'Show Stealer' on Rainbow to distract her was enough for this happen, excluding him attacking her. Also highlights his goofy side too.
H) And perhaps the biggest one, Sunset becomes the party member of this world. Fitting, going from boss to ally in the story of her redemption. I left clues for how it came to be, but I can clarify if need be.
With ALL of that said, thanks for reading and I'll see you for the second visit finale!