The pixel portal opened, everybody jumping out of it. Naturally, Destiny had to come out last and land on the entire group. "Why does this always happen to me?!" Logan annoyingly groaned as he found himself at the bottom of the pile... again!
"Sorry, everyone!" Destiny quickly apologized and got off her friends. "I'm still not used to these portals. Maybe I should've entered in my human form..."
"It's alright, Destiny, no harm done," Tomada assured while getting back up and dusting himself off. He then analyzed his surroundings - the group seemed to be in a back alley of some sort. "Where are we?"
Jameson, who had walked up to the turning section of the alley, looked ahead with an impressed expression. "Huh, guys? I think you should come and see this," he called.
Logan and the rest of the group joined him and discovered what he looked at. They were in a sort of modern city, with the sky as dark as ink and a heart-shaped moon shining behind a castle in the distance. "What is this place?" Roman asked.
"The World That Never Was...," Ferroth mumbled. "A virtual replica, at least."
This statement caused Violet to give a confused gaze at the anthropomorphic snake. "'The World That Never Was'? What kind of name is that? How can we be in a world that never existed? That doesn't make any sense."
Darkmare placed a hand on the young hummingbird's shoulder. "Believe me, young one, the less you try to understand the logic behind Kingdom Hearts, the better it will be."
"So? Where do you think they have taken your friend, Logan?" Shenzi asked.
The young man stared at the castle in the distance. "You see that castle over there? It served as the headquarters of Organization XIII in the games; I'm ready to bet this is where The Inventor is holding Sora as we speak."
"Then there's no time to lose! Let's go!" Blu said.
The team started traversing the beautiful but abandoned city. It didn't take long for them to come across their first enemies in the form of Dusk Nobodies. "What are those things?!" Vitani exclaimed.
"They're Nobodies; be careful around them, they're hostile!" Logan instructed as he summoned his Fenrir Keyblade.
Jameson blinked his eyes curiously and pointed a wing at the creatures. "You mean our enemies are a bunch of dancing jacket monsters?"
A chuckle escaped Logan's mouth. "That's exactly what I've always thought about them!"
The fight didn't last long, as the Dusks were defeated within seconds. Many more Nobodies were met along the way, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with by a few swings of Logan's Keyblade. Before long, the team arrived at the Memory Skyscraper, located in the very center of the city. Logan stopped walking and stared at the tall building, seemingly lost in his memories. He mumbled something: "You make a good other..."
"Logan? Is something wrong?" Destiny asked, having noticed her boyfriend's strange behavior.
"No, nothing. I was just... thinking about something that happened in the KH video games... But it's not important," he assured. "Come on, let's continue."
Thankfully, the group didn't run into any other Nobody for the rest of the walk, which went by pretty smoothly. As they walked, Liquorice turned her attention to RDJ. "Say, what's your name supposed to mean?"
"Huh?" the bounty hunter asked as he turned to look at her.
"Your name, RDJ, what is it for?"
"Oh. You're probably gonna laugh, but it stands for 'Rio De Janeiro'."
"Seriously? Your parents named you after one of the most famous cities in the world?" Blu asked in surprise.
"Yup! My father loved that city so much he insisted on his son carrying its name," RDJ explained with an expression mixing annoyance and amusement. "But I didn't want people to always call me by the name of a city; that would've been way too confusing. That's why I prefer being called by a shortened version of my official name: RDJ."
"You said you are from the Real World, right?" Sunny asked. "How did you learn to shoot with firearms? Were you in the army or something?"
"Not exactly. It's actually because my friends and I used to play with Nerf Guns, when I was a kid. We would hold competitions in the street where I lived all the times. That's where most of my skills come from," RDJ explained. "When I took the decision to come to the Magical World, it wasn't hard to decide what career I wanted to follow. What better work could require the use of my best skill and allow me to decide my price without hurting my freedom for more?" he mused.
"Bounty hunter, of course. Someone who worked in the army wouldn't have made such a career choice," Roman remarked.
"What about you, wolfie? Were you in the army? You're not dressed like this and carrying those weapons for fun, are you?" RDJ asked.
"Nah; this is the attire I got, back when I was a hunter in the Real World," Roman explained. "Lucky for me, it's also pretty fit for the security agent work, meaning the higher ups of Hollywood Studios didn't force me to change it when I postulated for the job."
That last statement caught Judy's attention. "You're a security agent? Interesting! Have you ever considered getting a job at the ZPD in Zootopia? We always need animals to catch criminals and bad guys!"
"Depends; is your city constantly getting assaulted by those annoying Stormtroopers of the First Order?" The wolf and bunny exchanged a laughter at this question. "Y'know, my co-agents talk a lot about you and what you did in Zootopia, Agent Hopps. Taking down an entire criminal plot with limited resources is a pretty impressive feat - you're kind of like a legend in the middle."
Judy blushed a bit at the praise. "Bah, I only did my duty as a police officer. Plus, I wouldn't have succeeded without my partner, Nick."
"I'd like to meet him, too. Honestly, I don't think I would've been able to accomplish the things you did; I'm a little too what people consider 'lazy'."
Whilst the others were having their little conversation, Sunny decided to approach Jameson. "Say, Jameson, no offense, but how can a kid become a Dream Walker like you at such a young age?"
"I'm curious, too," Violet admitted. "Everything you did the night of our sleepover was pretty impressive; even I haven't reached such advanced magic. And you never told us where you're from or how you learned all that. So, what is it?"
At this question, Jameson widened his eyes a bit and exchanged a gaze with Logan. "Huh... Well..." The young owl attempted to find a good answer. "You're gonna find this funny... but I actually can't remember anything from my first years. As far as my memory goes, I've always lived on my own in the Dream Realm with my Dream Eater friends. Maybe I was too young to remember anything from before."
"Oh? Too bad," Sunny said with compassion. Violet, however, didn't seem 100% convinced.
Meanwhile, Blu was asking a few questions to Dory. "... And how frequently do you forget things?" he asked.
"Well, I'm not sure, because I can't correctly remember, but my parents told me I struggle to remember the recent past, things that happened recently," Dory tried her best to explain everything. "It's a bit better with my long-term memory, as I can remember things that happened a long time ago. For example, I can recall the adventure Marlin and I went on to rescue Nemo. I was also able to remember where my parents lived - that's how we were able to find them."
"I see," Blu mumbled with a thinking look. "I think you have a case of anterograde amnesia, the inability to create new memories. I wish I could tell you more, but anterograde amnesia unfortunately remains a mysterious ailment because the precise mechanism of storing memories is not yet well understood, although it is known that the regions of the brain involved are certain sites in the temporal cortex, especially in the hippocampus and nearby subcortical regions."
Dory blinked her magenta eyes multiple times, like the Spix's macaw had just asked her to solve a math problem. "... Temporal... what?"
"Sorry, I sometimes forget that animals of the wild aren't familiar with human terms," Blu apologized with a sheepish smile. "There's no cure for your case, but some specialists have found a few useful tricks. If we could find a way to create a notebook that can resist water, maybe you could take note in it and keep it with you at all times."
"Actually, I already have one!" Dory suddenly exclaimed, doing a gesture with her fin to make a dark blue notebook that fitted with her own colors appear. "The boy who helped me with my Bubble Magic - I still can't remember his name - made it for me as a reference to use in case I forget the tricks I learned. It's very useful!" She showed a few pages that contained notes and even some drawings.
Liquorice couldn't help but notice Almyra was staring at her as she walked. "Why you staring? D'you have something to ask?"
"Are you one of those famous rebel teenagers I heard so much about?" the Indian peafowl asked with interest. "You sure fit the description I've been told; dressed in black, a gloomy aura, and an uncaring expression. By the way, your shirt is pretty short; I can see your tummy and shoulders. Did you accidentally shrink it in the drier?"
"Nah; it was like this when I bought it," Liquorice explained. "It's to fit with my style. Actually, it's not that different from your own attire, y'know. Just a little less colored."
"Yeah; this outfit is made to help me endure the heat. The temperatures are pretty intense in the Middle East," Almyra said with a giggle.
The wolfess turned her head to look at her avian friend with a little interested smile. "You're from the Middle East? How's it like, there?"
"Well, it's hot - I already told you that - we have vast deserts - so big that I wouldn't recommend it to someone who dislikes sand - and also beautiful cities. If you have seen Aladdin or Prince of Persia, then you can have a little idea," Almyra tried to explain. "We don't have any rebel teenagers over there; everybody is expected to be well-behaved. Especially young princesses like me. We're also expected to do everything to bring honor and fortune to our family - kinda like Mulan. That's why my parents pushed me to excel both in cloth-designing and in the art of belly dance; they wanted me to find a good prince and marry into a rich family. I remember that one day, my mother refused to let me go play with my friends until I mastered my hip thrusts. Good thing I never stopped liking any of these disciplines, even after coming to the Magical World."
"Good for you," Liquorice replied with a smile.
Ferroth had taken a sketchbook out of his backpack and started drawing a sketch of the heart-shaped moon in the skies. This didn't go unnoticed by Tomada, who gave an admiring look at his work. "Wow! Your drawing is amazing!"
"Huh... Thanks...," the anthropomorphic snake uneasily said. "I like to draw when I'm nervous; it helps to calm me down. Wanna see my drawings?" He started flipping through the pages of his sketchbook, showing well-detailed drawings and sketches of Mickey Mouse wearing costumes and doing various things.
"That's pretty good! Did you make them yourself?" the falcon asked.
"No; actually, they are drawings of the Fantasmic! nighttime show from Hollywood Studios," Ferroth explained. "It's my favorite attractions in all the Magical World - I would always convince my parents to see it, whenever we visited Disney World during my childhood. Believe! There's Magic in the Stars! was my favorite performance, with the fireworks, lights, and everything. What wouldn't I give to be a kid again..."
"Oh, I see. You were impressed by the magic of Disney as a kid, and you're an expert drawer. You want to work at Disney's studios, don't you?" Tomada guessed, giving a thumb's up. "That's a nice dream, pal!"
At this, Ferroth's smile disappeared. "... That's not exactly it. It's true that I like drawing, writing stories, and doing animation of all sorts... But..." He closed his eyes and shivered a bit, possibly because of a bad memory. "I-I just can't work for Disney Studios... My goal at the moment is to open my own studio in the Magical World and create my own stories with it... That's it..."
As much as he wanted to interrogate him more on the subject, Tomada could tell Ferroth wasn't up to discuss things any further. Therefore, he decided to end the conversation by saying: "Okay, good luck with that, man..."
Then, the group finally arrived at the very end of the city. It was at the end of an alley where the city just ceased to stretch; they had a good view on a huge castle with the Nobodies' symbol that was floating above eternal emptiness.
"Whoa, have you seen the size of that thing?!" Jameson exclaimed in awe.
"It's definitely bigger than Pride Rock," Vitani said with a nod.
Blu stepped forward and rubbed his chin. "Ventus told me about this place once. I think it's called Castle That Never Was. Yes, that's it."
"Once again, a name that doesn't make any sense," Violet remarked.
"The question, now, is how are we supposed to get there?" Kaa said. "Do you think you can carry all of us to this castle, Destiny?"
"That won't be necessary," interjected Darkmare. He turned to look at Logan. "You have played Kingdom Hearts 2, correct? Then you should know what to do to reach this castle."
Logan nodded a yes, then took a step forward. He summoned his Fenrir Keyblade, which he pointed forward, and shot a beam of light that made a bridge connecting the city to Castle That Never Was appear. Once it was done, he stared at the Nobodies' fortress in silence for a while before turning towards his 19 partners, all of them letting him know they were ready for action. After giving them a nod, he looked back at Castle That Never Was with a glare, clutching his Keyblade hard.
"Hold on, Sora. We're coming..."
[Song: "Sanctuary" by Hikaru Utada - AKA, Kingdom Hearts 2's opening song]
As the song begins, we see Logan lying on the curved tree of Destiny Islands, taking a little nap. However, he then wakes up and, as the beat kicks in, jumps away, the logo of the story appearing.
In you and I, there's a new land
Angels in flight (Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
My Sanctuary, my Sanctuary, ah
Where fears and lies melt away
Music will tie (Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
What's left of me, what's left of me now
Logan is walking alongside Destiny Islands' beach, enjoying the warm atmosphere. He then turns around to see Sora standing on the other side, giving him a friendly grin. The two summon their Keyblades, engaging in a brief sparing duel that ends with the two of them collapsing on the sand and laughing.
I watch you fast asleep
All I fear means nothing
In you and I, there's a new land
Angels in flight (Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
Tomada is flying over Animal Kingdom, enjoying the wind in his feathers. Ferroth is at his home, making a beautiful drawing in his sketchbook that he is pretty satisfied with. Almyra is in her boutique, crafting a beautiful dress. Liquorice is sitting in an empty alley of Galaxy's Edge, not doing anything particular. Jameson is sitting on top of a building in Magic Kingdom at night, enjoying a sweet whilst looking out for crimes. Roman sits down in a chair at Hollywood Studios, doing tricks with his survival knives to entertain the crowd. Sunny is sitting against her greatsword while trying to sleep near a bonfire. Darkmare rests in a big chair in his manor, enjoying a cup of red wine whilst reading a book. RDJ lays in a corner of Epcot, taking a nap with his cowboy hat resting over his face.
My Sanctuary, my Sanctuary, ah
Where fears and lies melt away
Music will tie (Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
What's left of me, what's left of me
We see Logan arriving at the back of Destiny Islands just in time to see The Inventor and members of Organization XIII taking an unconscious Sora away. He tries to save him, but ends up getting taken down by the strong Nobodies. The Dream Defender can only look helplessly as his friend is taken away, The Inventor giving him a smirk as he disappears behind the portal.
My heart's a battleground
(Snoitome eurt deen I)
(Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
(Snoitome eurt deen I)
As the beat changes, Logan is seen running across Castle That Never Was, slaying many Nobodies in his way with his Owl Buster. At one point, a Twilight Thorn arrives and blocks his way, only for Jameson to jump up and shoot a Red Phoenix Blast in its face, taking it down instantly. A Creeper Nobody then dashes towards the young owl, only to be hit in the abdomen by a violent elbow push from Roman, the wolf taking out his survival knives to fight off the Nobodies. Almyra then arrives and dances to the beat of the song to activate her Dance of the Mystical Veils and take out the Nobodies in her way.
You show me how to see
That nothing is whole and
Nothing is broken
The group arrives at the final room of Castle That Never Was, where the replicas of Organization XIII are waiting. With a glare, Logan attempts to slash Marluxia, who fades away into petals and tries to cut the young boy from behind, only to be blocked by the Owl Buster. Xaldin sends two of his spears at Jameson, the owlet getting saved by Sunny, who blocks the projectiles with her greatsword before Vitani comes to blow him away with her Roar of the Elders. Larxene shoots her electric throwing knives at Almyra, who dodges them by performing dance moves before replying with throwing knives of her own.
In you and I, there's a new land
Angels in flight (Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
My Sanctuary, my Sanctuary, ah
Xigbar and RDJ engage in a shooting duel, both sharpshooters either dodging or colliding their blasts, making them exchange a glare. Roman is having an intense duel with Saix, the Nobody clearly winning, until Liquorice comes along to back him up with her lightsaber skills. Demyx tries to attack Destiny by playing his guitar and launching water blasts, but the whale takes control of this water thanks to her Water Magic, allowing her to send it back at him. Dory then traps him in a bubble to make him protest in anger.
Where fears and lies melt away
Music will tie (Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
What's left of me, what's left of me now
Tomada quickly dashes across the room to avoid Axel's wheels of fire, eventually coming to a stop to clash his double-bladed sword with the Nobody's burning weapons. The two exchange a grin. Lexaeus charges at Darkmare by swinging his Axe Sword, only for the vampire-werewolf hybrid to easily block it with his dagger, making him understand that strength isn't everything. Vincent Valentine then blows him away with one of his pistols. Ferroth and Kaa slither around Vexen, dodging his ice attacks until they trap him in their coils.
Ooh
My fears, my lies
Melt away
Logan is knocked back by Xemnas, who shoots a huge barrage of beams of Nothingness at him. The young man is struggling to keep his stance while using his Owl Buster to protect himself. It's then that he sees a mirage of Gabriel besides him, giving a smile and encouraging him to keep the fight. Feeling more determined than before, Logan pushes a scream and manages to pull back the beams with a swing of his sword.
Ah
(Wonk uoy naht noitceffa erom deen I)
In the last scene, Logan is standing across Xemnas and The Inventor, glaring at them as the rest of his team comes to take place at his sides, all of them ready to fight.
The twenty companions carefully walked across the wide interior of Castle That Never Was, the sound of their steps echoing across the whole place. Blu couldn't help but look all around with a nervous expression. "It's too calm; I don't like this, guys."
"Yeah. Usually, bad guys are supposed to have plenty of goons keeping their hideout, when the heroes come to get them," Liquorice remarked.
"Don't worry; Logan has been here before, so it's certain that he has a plan to catch The Inventor," Tomada reassured his friends. He then leaned toward Logan and mumbled: "You do have a plan, right?"
Logan frowned a bit whilst walking. "I don't know, Tomada. Even though I have only been here twice, it's clear that the layout is different from what I've seen in the video game. We should've been attacked by Nobodies by now and traversed rooms with different designs. But this... It's just one endless corridor."
Roman, who had been walking close enough to hear everything, crossed his arms. "That would make sense: The Inventor probably modified his version of this place to make sure people like you and Ferroth, who are familiar with the Kingdom Hearts worlds, can't simply know where to go and what to do. For all I know, we're probably walking into a trap as we speak."
This study caused Tomada to gulp nervously. "W-What should we do then?"
The hunter wolf gave him a little grin. "Why, we set off the trap, of course."
Suddenly, a huge screen appeared before the group, and guess who was on it. "Welcome, welcome, new players!" beamed The Inventor. "I am most delighted to see you have decided to come!"
"Capturing my friend and mentor, what were you expecting, pixel brain?" Logan asked with a less-than-pleased expression.
"In all sincerity, I was expecting you, Logan Jindrak... But not these other individuals," the virtual master remarked whilst giving a curious glance at everybody standing behind the young man. "Where are Gabriel, Rachel, and the other Dream Defenders?"
"They were all busy with important stuff, so you're gonna have to deal with us," Tomada declared with a smirk.
"Is that so? Too bad; I had planned so many exciting matches between them and my Organization XIII replicas," The Inventor said with a disappointed tone. "Good thing my program allows me to adapt, when the game changes. Now that you have picked my curiosity, I hope you don't mind taking part in a little warm up so that I can see what all of you are capable of."
The screen disappeared just as tens of Nobodies teleported in the long corridor, blocking the way and preventing the team from going back. Logan pushed a sigh. "Of course; we must always face the goons before the main villain... Defend yourself, everyone!"
Pushing a battle cry, Logan charged forward and cut through the Nobodies with his Owl Buster. When he started getting overwhelmed, he jumped back and allowed his girlfriend to take the lead. "Watch out for the tidal wave!" Destiny shouted as she flipped forward and slapped her tail on the ground to summon a wave of water that wiped away most of the Nobodies in the way.
Tomada dashed at tremendous speed, slaying many Nobodies with his double-bladed sword. At one point, many enemies surrounded him. The young falcon decided to pull his weapon away and took position. His eyes started glowing lime-green as he connected himself to the Astral Plane and summoned many coyote spirits that jumped on the Nobodies, taking them out.
Dory trapped a Dusk Nobody in a bubble before tail whipping that bubble away, sending it to crash into a wall. She repeated the same trick with some of the weaker Nobodies until she got confronted by a Berserker. "Oh, I'm not pulling you in a bubble for sure," the blue tang nervously remarked. She quickly looked through her notebook for a technique that could help, and found one. Rising her yellow fins, she shot a jet of bubbles towards the Berserker's head that, upon popping up, stunned it. This allowed Tomada to take it out by throwing his tomahawk at its head.
Ferroth and Kaa were surrounded by Reapers that swung their scythes at them. Thankfully, their reptilian bodies made it hard to touch them, allowing the snakes to slither around and easily avoid the attacks. Using his ability to slow down vibrations in the air, Ferroth touched the Reapers with his hands and covered them in ice before shattering them with a whip of his tail. Kaa, meanwhile, wrapped her body around a Reaper, trapping it in her coils. Her scales then started glowing a lime-green with the Reaper struggling to break free, only to move less and less until it completely faded away.
"What did you just do, Kaa?" Logan asked, having witnessed the scene.
"That's my magic power I discovered thanks to the Owl Lady," Kaa explained. "When trapped in my coils, I can absorb my prey's energy through my scales until it has nothing left or is tired enough to stop moving and just talk. Pretty useful when you wanna catch someone," she mused.
A group of Sniper Nobodies entered the game and started shooting at the group. Thankfully, Liquorice was able to expertly deflect the blasts with her lightsaber, also cutting them down and pushing them away with Force Pushes. Blu backed her up with his Wing of Love Keyblade, charging with a nervous expression. "Come on, Blu; just remember your training!" The Spix's macaw swiftly moved across the enemies and struck them down with his weapon. Just like Ventus, he held Wing of Love in a backhanded way, delivering quick, swift strikes, all of them mixed with spells like Fire, Blizzard and Thunder.
With many Nobodies attacking her, Almyra was forced to duck and dodge with dance moves and flips. "Aren't you ashamed to gang up on a lady like his?" she scolded... before laughing. "Just kiddin'! Throw everything you got at me!" She turned the headphones Logan gave her on and took advantage of the music to belly dance a bit and activate her Dance of the Mystical Veils. Her magic took the form of a retractable bladed whip that she used like a dancing ribbon to take down many Nobodies.
"Here I come!" Judy beamed, hopping around and taking out Nobodies with a special pistol that shot electric projectiles meant to stun her targets.
"Where'd you get that weapon? You didn't have it in your movie, did you?" Roman asked.
"No; it comes from the Superhero Headquarters!" the bunny answered. "I wanted to have a weapon to fight criminals, but couldn't simply use a gun because my movie is aimed at a young audience. So I went to ask for help, and Peter Parker made this little wonder for me! Apparently, he got the idea from a video game where a fox officer uses a weapon like this."
Seeing many Nobodies approaching him, Roman displayed an almost sadistic grin. "Alright, after so many boring shifts, it's good to spice things up a bit!" He swiftly grabbed his survival knives and started cutting down every Nobody he came across. A Berserker attempted to bash his head in, but the wolf ducked and started using the handles of his knives like brass knuckled to repeatedly strike the Nobody in the face - almost like a kickboxer. The tall monster had no time to react and quickly got destroyed by the strikes.
A Samurai Nobody attacked Roman with a flurry of blade swipes that he managed to parry with his survival knives. The monster then jumped back and glared at the wolf, both opponents doing the classic samurai thing of waiting before delivering a fatal blow. Before that could happen, however, a blade suddenly burst through the Nobody's chest from behind, making it fade away.
"Thanks for the help, Lucky," Roman thanked the Predator with a chuckle as he clicked his mandibles behind his mask.
RDJ made the lollipop twirl around in his mouth as he adjusted his cowboy hat and grinned. "I live for those moments. Primary Weapon: Mega Hellraiser!" A sigil of green magic appeared, and out of it came a machine gun that RDJ grabbed in his hands. It was red and orange with 'MEGA' written on the side, and quite honestly looked more like a toy than a real gun. Nonetheless, he pulled the trigger and unleashed a storm of magic blasts that took down every Nobody in his way. An Assassin attempted to sneak on him from behind, but the bounty hunter shot him down at the last second, cowboy style.
Shenzi hopped onto a Berserker's back, trapped its head between her legs, and planted her two daggers on top of its head, destroying it. "That's what I'm sayin'! In this form, I can take down even an elephant!" she laughed and kept cutting down the Nobodies, having clearly too much fun doing so.
"I love when she goes crazy like that," RDJ mumbled to himself with a smile as he kept shooting his enemies.
Jameson smacked many Dusks with combo strikes of his baseball bat. These combos were pretty basic, but useful nonetheless. Whenever he and Violet were about to be overrun, he would use Balloonra to attack multiple enemies and stun them at once. "Jameson, I got an idea! Get your bat ready!" Violet suddenly said. The hummingbird used her crystal ball to summon dark purple fireballs that she rapidly threw at her black owl friend. This last one smacked them as fast as they came, sending them to hit the nearby enemies, resulting in a quick washing of the zone. They even managed to take down a Samurai with this!
A group of Ninja ganged on Darkmare, who didn't have any problem dealing with them. The gentleman simply sidestepped to avoid their attacks, using two of his three daggers to swiftly cut them down when he had the chance. He would also take out one of his Aston 1842 pistols at the occasion to shoot down his enemies, before immediately taking out his dagger again. "Even at twelve against one, you still cannot lay a wound upon me. You must not be proud," he remarked.
Vincent retained his imposing pose as many Nobodies surrounded him. "When the world becomes shrouded in darkness, my gun holds a dreadful dirge..." He swiftly took out his three-barreled pistol known as Cerberus and began shooting at the enemies whilst running around, sometimes hitting them with close combat combos whenever he had no time to shoot.
As a Berserker approached her, Sunny did not flinch and simply assumed her battle stance. The Nobody swung its T-shaped claymore at her, and the wolfess simply deflected the attack with her greatsword before piercing it through its chest. "No offense, but that was one of the easiest attacks I ever had to parry," she mumbled as the Berserker faded away.
Vitani cut down a few Nobodies with her claws before glaring at the last remaining ones. "Time to end that little game! Everyone, get behind me!" Taking a deep breath, the leader of the Lion Guard used the Roar of the Elders to blast away the final Nobodies into oblivion.
"... Wow, that was quite a roar," Violet said with an impressed air.
The heroes pulled their weapons away and cheered at their victory. "We're number one! We're number one!" Tomada beamed and exchanged a high-five with Jameson.
"How you managed to deflect a weapon that size was pretty impressive," Darkmare complimented Sunny.
"Indeed, but it's not the size of the sword that matters; everything depends on the user," the Sun Knight replied with a smile as she shoved her greatsword back into her hip's scabbard.
Darkmare chuckled. "Truer words could not have been spoken."
"Good job out there, Blu," Logan told the Spix's macaw after catching his breath. "I think you've made even more progress with your Keyblade than I did. Your stance and fighting style are very similar to that of your teacher, am I wrong?"
"No, you're right," Blu confirmed. "You probably know it, but I don't have a lot of physical strength outside my acrobatics and ability to fly. That's why Ventus taught me to compensate with my speed and swift strikes. I'm also planning to use my Sphere Grid to develop my magical abilities."
Logan nodded before looking ahead. "It's good and all, but let's not let that victory get to our head; I have a feeling the hardest part lays ahead..."
Author's note: Our heroes have arrived in The World That Never Was (the virtual version) and shown The Inventor what they're capable of! A nice little brawl to showcase everyone's abilities, wouldn't you say?
We're now arriving at the part of this arc I was looking forward to writing the most, so get ready for lots of flips and flops! As much as I enjoyed writing the fight and showcase what every character can do, I had the most fun writing the team traversing the world and talking with each other. It's a joy to have OCs and Magical World characters getting to know each other while also having fun as a group, don't you think?
Next time: The real challenge begins!
