Fipp: I liked working on this chapter.
Also, I'm going to issue a challenge to anyone to create a story based on the last character introductions.
VI
Setzer Gabbiani
"I have to admit, I was impressed with you today."
"Huh?" Sora, who was getting out of his Struggle gear, turned around to see the last man he fought. "Oh, thank you, um,"
"Setzer," the man said, flipping his hair.
"Yeah, Setzer, you played well too."
"Though, it would appear that I still need to improve in that area of skill, especially since the number of times I've played this game can be counted on one hand," he sighed.
Sora raised an eyebrow. "If you haven't really played, then why-?"
"I saw a challenge, and I took it. Simple as that." He crossed his arms and gave a smug grin. "When a challenge presents itself, I put all my chips into the pile, and gamble on whether or not the cards I hold is a winning hand.
"Is that so?" Sora was now feeling a little uneasy around him; He was talking just like that Nobody who high jacked the Black Pearl.
"Yes," Setzer turned around, his coat swishing around him. "What is life, if we don't take a chance every one and a while?"
He then left.
Locke Cole
The three of them walked through the populated streets of Radiant Garden.
They heard a yell of frustration. "Not again!" The three of them turned around to see Yuffie frantically looking around the streets.
"Yuffie?" Sora asked as he, Donald and Goofy, approached the ninja.
"Hey guys can't not right now," she said quickly. "I'm looking for someone."
"Really? Who?"
"This guy who keeps stealing from me whenever I go shopping!"
". . ." The three were silent for a moment, before they burst out laughing.
"It's not funny!"
"Sorry Yuffie," Sora struggled to say, wiping a tear from his eye. "But, but-"
"Don't you think it's kinda ironic?" Goofy said. "Aren't you a thief? And some other thief stole from you!"
"I'm not a thief!" yelled a voice from the crowds. The four of them turned around to see a man wearing a bandana. "I'm a treasure hunter!"
"You!" Yuffie pointed. "You stole from me!"
"You stole from me first," the man simply said. "You stole the magicite I was holding."
"But you stole my materia!"
"So they stole from each other?" Donald asked.
"Like they say; Two wrongs don't make a right."
"But three lefts do," Sora said. "Hey, guys!" he called, getting the attention of the two. "Since you each stole magic stones from each other, how about you call it even."
The two of them gave Sora a sour look, before utterly dismissing him, and turning back to each other and continue their argument.
The three of them shook their heads and walked away, leaving them to them to their futile and petty squabble.
Cyan Garamonde
"What can we do?" Donald asked himself, looking over the bulletin board. They were low on cash, and needed something that would give them a boost in their savings.
Clean dumpsters?
Move large and heavy objects up a steeps hill?
Exterminate dangerous roaches and rats out of a smelly and dark basement.
None of these jobs looked too appealing.
There was then a frustrated growl behind them. They looked around to see an older man dressed in regal blue clothes. He appeared to be staring intensely at a vending machine.
"Hmm," he said to himself, before poking the at the glass that stood between him and the salty and/or sugary treats several times. "Grr, such a confound device!"
"Hey!" Sora called out. "You okay?"
The man turned to Sora. "Sadly for myself, this contraption has utterly baffled thy. Please, do thou knows how to work such a thing?"
Sora raised an eyebrow. Thou? Who talked like that anymore?
"Yeah, first you put the munny in the slot, and pressed the buttons for what you want," Sora explained. How could someone not know how to work a simple vending machine.
The man nodded, before hesitantly turning back to the machine. He bit his lip as he slid the coins into the coin slot, and pressing the correct buttons that corresponded to the snack he wanted.
He smiled in satisfaction as the chips dropped. "I thank you youth, for without thy guidance, I would certainly be lost." He bowed to them, before walking away, happily munching on his chips.
Mog and Umaro
The three of them walked through the Garden's streets.
There was then a loud roar, startling the them.
"What was that?" Donald said, looking around.
Another roar. They looked up just in time to see a large, white and hairy figure drop from one of the higher walls, land directly in front of them.
"Is that a yeti?" Sora asked.
The yeti roared, before it charged forward.
000
The four of them fought for some time, and while the yeti proved to be unmatched physically, it had a large weakness against fire-based magic.
It lowered itself to the ground, ready to launch itself at them, when two words rang though the air.
"Stop, kupo!"
The yeti did and looked to the left. Sora, Donald and Goofy did this as well.
Walking up to them, hands placed on his hips, was a moogle.
"There you are Umaro!" the moogle said. "I've been looking everywhere for you, kupo!"
The yeti lowered itself. "Sorry boss," it said apologetically.
The moogle walked up to the yeti and shook his head. "You're lucky that the king allowed me to bring you with me on my vacation, otherwise you couldn't function without me, kupo!" (1) The moogle shook his head. "C'mon! Let's go!" He then walked away.
"Right boss!" the yeti said, following the moogle.
The two of them walked away, the moogle shaking his head. "Such a bad day this had been, from you running off, to that kid kicking that moogle around, kupo."
The three of them stood there, dumbfounded, by how something so large could be bossed around by something so small.
Edgar Roni Figaro and Sabin Rene Figaro
"Wow, a lot of people have come out for the struggle match, huh?" Sora asked, looking at all the people that had gathered for the game.
"I wonder how many people are here?" Goofy asked, looking around.
"I would say at least the whole town."
"Really?" Donald said, before realizing that the voice belonged to neither Sora nor Goofy. They looked behind them to see muscular man with short, spiked hair.
"Yup," the man said, folding his arms over his chest. "I think its because of the special guest host."
"There's a special guest host?" Sora asked.
"Oh yeah! I heard about that!" Donald said. "I think one of the richest landowners in town." He thought for a moment. "What was his name?"
"Man," Sora pouted to himself. "I wish I was able to register in time."
"And now ladies and gentleman!" the mayor called out to the cheering audience. "Now, for out special guest host; Edgar Roni Figaro!"
Just then, a man with a long blue coat, and long blonde braid walked into the area.
"My fellow citizens of Twilight Town," Edgar said. "It is an honor to be here today, I certainly hope that the matches we see today are something for the book. Now, let the matches begin!" He winked, causing several of the younger women in the crowd to blush and giggle.
The man behind them shook his head. "He's always been a showboat."
"You know him," Sora asked them man gave a knowing grin.
"Yeah, I kind of know him,"
Strago Magus and Relm Arrowny
Leon (or Squall, since Sora really didn't know what to call him since that blue-dressed woman showed up), looked through the papers.
"These are some really good ideas," he said.
"What?" Sora said, trying to look over his shoulders. "More reconstruction plans? I thought you guys had that all covered."
"True, he have the city mostly dealt with, but the community itself is still shaky." He flipped the papers, read them over, before looking at the old man across from him. "You certainly have a lot of experience, Mr. Magus."
"Please kid," the man smiled. "Just call me Strago."
"Okay Strago," Squall said. "Seems like you were once a member of one of the Garden's original committees,"
"That I was."
"Really?" Sora asked. "Wow, then you must know what this place was like all those years ago?"
Strago nodded. "That's right."
"Then why try to get on the new committee? If you've already been on one?"
"Well, I want to make this city on how it was, so my granddaughter, who was merely an infant when she was last here, can experience this city as it truly was."
Squall raised an eyebrow. "You have an granddaughter?"
"Yes, I do. She's a wonderful little girl named-"
The door then slammed open, and a small blonde girl wearing a floppy beret walked in.
"There you are Grandpa!" the girl called, addressing Strago.
"Relm?" Strago asked. "What are you doing here?"
Relm huffed and put her hands on her hips. "I've been looking for you all day! You said were going to show me around the city."
Strago blinked. "I did?"
"You forgot, didn't you?" Relm said flatly.
"Well, um," Strago tried to think up of a good excuse.
"That's it," Relm said, turning around and walking out the door. "I'm going to have to make you a portrait."
Strago paled. "What!? No!" He jumped up from his seat and chased after the girl.
A moment later, he poked his head back in. "So, I'll see you guys later." He left again.
"Why's he scared of a picture?" Sora asked.
Squall didn't answer; only looked down at the papers.
Gau
"Is it here?!" Sora called out, pushing the bush aside. His face fell when he didn't see what he was looking for. "Did you guys find it yet?" Sora asked Donald and Goofy, who were looking under a rock, and inside a woodpecker nest respectively.
"Sorry," Goofy said.
"Sor-WAK!" The woodpecker attack Donald.
Sora cast his head down in disappointment.
The three of them had been on their way from the Twilight Town Mansion, when they had been attacked by an ambush of Nobodies. While they were quickly done away with, Sora noticed that the crown necklace that he had always worn was gone, having been lost in the fight.
He was about to give up, having lost all hope on finding his precious jewelry, when a small shine caught his eye. He turned around to see the necklace hanging off a low hanging tree branch.
Sora broke out in a grin as he ran after it. He was just about to grab it when a hand reached down from the braches above, and snatched it away just as he was about to close his grasp on it.
The Keyblade wielder was stunned for several seconds before he reacted.
"HEY!" he yelled up the tree. "GIVE ME THAT BACK! THAT'S MINE!" Hearing this uncharacteristic outburst, Donald and Goofy looked up from their searches.
"No!" a voice answered back from above. "My shiny now!" it called.
"Why you," Sora said through grit teeth. He then jumped up, and climbed up the trunk, and vanishing into the foliage above, which shook with the conflict that was happening within.
"You think he's okay?" Goofy asked.
"I really don't know," Donald said.
. . .
"Ten munny Sora wins," Goofy said.
"You're on!"
So as the two settled their bets, their was a large 'thunk' noise, and Sora fell down and hit the ground hard. There was a large bump on his head.
"You okay Sora?" Goofy asked, while Donald cried in the background about his loss.
"Never been better," Sora dazedly said, holding his thumb up, only for it to fall back down.
"HAHA!" laughed the voice from above. From the trees then dropped a young boy with a green mullet, dressed in animal skins. "Shiny mine! Shiny mine!" the boy cried, waving the pendent around in victory. He then blew a raspberry at the three of them before fleeing into the forest.
"Get back here!" Sora yelled, jumping back up and chasing after the wild child. Donald and Goofy were worried that he had not recovered fully from the first round.
Their fears were confirmed when Sora ran into a tree.
Shadow
The bar was open. They couldn't eat at the RGRC HQ because Aerith though that soda with milk added to it was a good idea. (2)
"Not it!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy called out, poking their noses.
"DAMMIT!" Cid cursed. Now he had to buy.
The four of them sat picked a table to sit at, but sadly, it only had three chairs at it.
"I'll get myself one," Donald grumbled, having not sat down fast enough to claim a chair for himself. He looked around the tavern, and saw an extra chair at the bar. Whistling, he walked up to the chair and pulled it away, only to stop when he heard a growl.
He froze in his tracks, shaking, and slowly turned around to see a large, black, wolf-like dog.
"Uh, hi doggy," Donald said sweating nervously. He reached out to pet the dog, in an attempt for it to act nicely towards him, but-
"I'd be careful," Donald halted his hand. He looked up to see the black-dressed man sitting on the closest stool say. "The dog eats strangers."
"Eats?" Donald squeaked. He looked down at the dog, and pulled his hand away, just as it snapped its jaws at him. Donald screamed and fell back, then looked at his hand.
It wasn't. His heart was about to explode out of his chest if it didn't pop back out from its hiding place within his sleeve.
Donald grabbed his stool and ran back to the table.
"You okay Donald?" Goofy asked, seeing the nervous wreck his friend was.
"Who is that guy?" Sora looked over Donald's shoulder to see the ninja-like man drop a piece of jerky on the floor, which the dog swallowed whole.
"I think you better avoid that guy," Cid said, chewing on the toothpick. "That's Shadow, and the dog's called Interceptor."
"Why would we avoid them."
Cid gestured for them to lean over, which they did. "I heard he'd slit his own ma's throat for a nickel. Heard he'd done it too."
This made the three of them grow very pale. Expect Donald, who from his previous encounter with Shadow, just fainted.
Gogo
The three yelled as they landed in the water.
Donald was the first to surface. "STUPID WHALE!" he cursed to Monstro, for swallowing them for the umpteenth time, as Sora and Goofy surfaced.
"We'd better get out of here again," Sora said as he swan to where the ship once was. Once they climbed onto the innards and began to walk to where the blowhole was located.
They entered the chamber, and observed the many platforms sticking out of the walls. They were about to begin their climb up, when something landed in front of them.
"Hello there," the figure said. It was covered from head to toe in many mismatched clothes, giving no hint to whether or not it was a man or woman.
The sudden appearance caused them to stumble back.
"Who are you?" Sora asked, once he calmed down. "And how did you get in here?"
"Gogo," it said. This must have been its name. "As for why I'm here," Gogo looked around. "I was playing a game with some guys, before I threw myself into a portal. Next thing I know, I ended up in the middle of space, and was swallowed up by a whale!" Sora was a little put off by Gogo's gender neutral voice. (3)
"So you're stuck then?" Sora crossed his arms over his chest.
"Correct." Gogo crossed his arms over his chest.
"Do ya need any help getting out?" Goofy scratched his head.
"I'd like that very much." Gogo scratched her head.
"No way!" Donald thrust his arm out and pointed his finger at Gogo. "We're not taking some stranger with us!"`
"Why you!" Gogo thrust his arm out and pointed her finger at Donald. "That is very rude! I just want to get out!"
"Stop copying us!"
"I'm a Mimic! It's my job!"
"Mimic?" Sora asked, confused.
"Correct. If you help me out, I will gladly help you out."
The three looked at each other, and agreed.
Though, the Mimic magic he taught Sora really didn't kick in for about a year. (4)
Celes Chere
The world was horrid looking. The massive pipes poured much black smoke into the hazy atmosphere that hung over the industrial city that spanned for miles.
In the center of the city, there stood a large palace, and in one of the halls, and woman walked, with two guards standing on either side of her. They were each dressed in military-like uniforms, but if a person looked onward, they could tell that something was off.
The two men lead her to a large door, and opened it up, before shoving her in. She stumbled for a foot, before managing to gracefully regain her composure and standing up straight.
"We've brought Ex-General Chere, sir," one of the armed men barked.
This was heard by the man standing at the other end of the room, looking out a window to the city. He waved his hand. "Very well, Biggs, Wedge, you can go now."
Biggs and Wedge nodded, before turning around, and slamming the door behind them.
It was silent between the man and woman for a moment.
"You've royally screwed up, huh?" the man asked, turning around, hoping to get a reaction out of the woman.
He got nothing.
He began to walk forward towards the woman. "I mean, with that big of a mistake can take you right to the gallows, where," he chuckled, "you know." He slid his finger over his throat, making a cutting noise. "You die."
The woman said nothing.
"Such a shame," the man said, now sulking. "You were such a fun general. Remember when you burned down that town?" He draped his arm over her shoulder. "Now was great! It really hurts me to see someone who is as good at your job as you die." He pulled away and began to walk away. "Too bad there's nothing you can to get a pardon for your crimes-wait!" He snapped his fingers. "There is!"
The woman looked up.
"You want to know don't you?" the man sang.
"Yes sir," she said, speaking up for the first time. "I would like a chance to atone my treason."
"Good, 'cause the only chance you're getting," the man said harshly, before putting a smile back on. "You see, I've recently lost my favorite toy."
Her eyes widened. "You mean-"
"BINGO!" He pointed both fingers at her. "You get her back, and we can put this whole nasty business behind us and be good old chums again!" He bounced back to his window. "We have a deal?"
"Yes sir," she said.
"Good, now go speak to the old man, he knows where she went."
The woman nodded, and left the room.
Despite the fact he was alone, the man still spoke.
"I really hope you bring her back soon, otherwise, I can't carry out my plans.
"What are my plans you say?
"Why it's simple:
"DESTROY EVERYTHING!"
The man, who was dressed like a mad clown, laughed loud enough for the whole city to hear him.
Terra Branford
It was nighttime in the Garden. Sora, Donald and Goofy sat on the roof of Merlin's house, admiring the stars.
"Sure are a lot of them," Sora nostalgically said.
"Sure are," Donald replied.
"Hey look!" Goofy pointed into the air. "It's a shooting star!" They could see the white streaking across the sky. "Let's make a wish!"
Sora and Donald nodded, and the three of them began to wish. When their wishes were made, the looked up to still see the star in the sky, and that it was flying downwards very fast. It vanished behind the castle walls, and was replaced with a loud bang, and a shake of the earth.
The startled the three of them.
"It crashed!" Sora said, not believing what happened. Did this mean their wishes were voided?
"I think we better go check it out!" Donald said. The other two nodded and they left to find the star.
000
The crash site wasn't too far from the city, located in the Great Maw, but it wasn't a star.
"What is it?" Goofy asked, poking at it with his shield.
"I don't know," Donald said. "It looked like some sort of robot maybe?"
The 'star' they had seen was in fact a large twisted heap of metal.
"I think we should go get Squall and the others," Sora said. The other two nodded. They were about to turn around and leave when they heard a scrapping noise.
A large panel fell from the object, and a young woman tumbled out.
They ran over to her, and pulled her away from the object, and rolled her onto her back.
"Hey! Are you okay!" Sora said, trying to wake her up.
"Who is she?" Donald asked.
"An alien?" Goofy said.
"Lady?" Sora said, pushing some of the blonde hair out of her face. Her eyes then opened, and Sora gave a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're alright, we were-"
Sora did not get a chance to finish this sentence, as he, then Donald and Goofy, were blasted with Thunder spells, sending them back and crashing to the ground.
"What gives?" Donald squawked, just as the woman was standing up.
"What did you do that for?" Sora said, getting to his feet.
She did not respond to his question; she only looked at him with a blank expression.
"Destroy. Burn," she said these in a monotone voice. A powerful magical energy grew around her as she grew the sword that was at her waist. "Kill."
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Goofy said, waving his hands in front of his face.
She did not listen to them, she only rushed forward.
000
They fought. It was a difficult fight. The woman was not only highly skilled with magic, giving even Donald a run for his munny, but her prowess with the sword almost totally overwhelmed Sora and Goofy.
"What's with her?" Sora panted the question out. "It's like she can't be hurt."
She was hurt, but the numerous injuries they had inflicted upon her didn't seem to bother her in the slightness.
"We have to think of something," Goofy said.
The woman then pointed her palm at them, and a large glowing ball of light appeared in it. It fired forward with so much speed they couldn't have countered fast enough.
A lot happened than;
There was the loud roar of an engine, which stopped as fast as it came.
Someone then landed between them and the blast of light, and slammed something down, causing a beam of light to shoot forward, and cancel out the girl's attack.
Sora opened his eyes, having closed them to prepare for his doom, and looked up.
"Cloud!"
The blonde man said nothing as he picked his sword back up, and held it into a defensive position. He stared intently at the woman before saying anything.
"Cover me." He was off.
With only a second to spar, Sora, Donald and Goofy ran after Cloud as he charged her.
She fired a fire spell at him, but Goofy jumped in front of him and blocked it. She cast a blizzard spell, but Donald cast an aero around Cloud, dispersing it. She was about to cast a much more powerful spell, one that wouldn't be so easily blocked, when Sora appeared in front of her and sliced forward.
The girl stumbled backwards, giving Cloud, who had jumped up, to fall from the sky, and with his hand, strike her in the head.
She fell to the ground, and didn't get back up.
"We did it," Sora said, now being able to relax. "Thanks for the help, Cloud!"
Cloud either didn't hear him, or ignored him, as he kneeled down next to her. "We need to get her to Merlin's."
"Why?" Donald said. "She just tried to kill us!"
"Because of this." Cloud held up his hand. They saw he was holding the circlet the girl had been wearing.
000
Merlin looked at the circle intently.
"My, oh my," he said grimly.
"What is it?" Sora asked. He, Donald, Goofy and Cloud and returned with the girl, who was resting on the bed.
"Do you have any clue as to what this is?" He turned to Cloud.
"I saw something like that once," he said, "in a book of yours Tifa showed me once. When I saw it on her, I wanted to help, but," he turned his head to the side. "I couldn't think of anything else to do but fight."
Merlin rubbed his eyes. "What you did does not matter, just that this horrid thing is off of her."
"But, what is it?" Donald asked.
"This my boy," he held it up for all to see. "Is called a 'Slave Crown'."
"Slave Crown?" Sora repeated.
"Yes, they are also called 'Hypnocrowns', and 'Puppeteer Wheels'."
"What's it do?" Goofy asked.
"It is a horrible device, that when place on someone, drains them of their freewill, leaving them under the control of whoever place it on them in the first place." Merlin turned back to where the girl slept. "Poor child.
"But she almost killed us!" Donald said.
"Yes, but I doubt it was of her own choice. This device-"
"Make whoever wears it into a puppet," Cloud finished.
"Exactly."
"A puppet?" Sora asked. He walked over to the girl. Memories of Riku came into his head. "Will she be alright?"
The old wizard sighed. "I don't know. The most common side effect to wearing a Slave Crown is memory loss. So if she does wake up, we'll be lucky if she even knows her own name."
Sora looked down at the girl, sadly. He wished that he had wished for her to get better when he saw the 'star'.
Then, just like magic, she groaned in her sleep, before slowly opening her eyes. This caught everyone's attention.
"You're awake?!" Sora said loudly. This startled her, and she dove back beneath her covers.
"Sora!" Merlin snapped. "You must tread carefully; we don't know her mental state."
"Right," Sora nodded, before kneeling next to the bed. "Hey, are you okay?" he said in a softer voice.
The girl peak out slightly from under the covers, before wincing. Sora guessed that the Slave Crown also caused headaches.
"I'm-I'm fine," she said. It was almost a whisper. She looked around. "Where, am I?"
"You're at Merlin's house. That's Merlin right there." He pointed to the wizard. "And that's Donald, and Goofy, and Cloud." He pointed to himself. "And I'm Sora. What's your name?"
For a moment, it appeared that she didn't even know that, but after some hesitation, she spoke.
"My name," she said, positive this was the only sure thing she knew. "My name is Terra." (5)
(1) The name of the moogle at Disney Castle is named 'Mog'.
(2) She does this in the KH manga.
(3) This implies that s/he's Famed Mimic Gogo from FFV.
(4) If you think about it, don't Sora's Drives seem similar to the Mimic skill?
(5) This sections has two allusion; one for Dead Fantasy, and another for Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Try and find them.
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Mrfipp