On Today's Episode: The trinity arrives at the Idofront, a mysterious research facility dedicated to figuring out the mysteries of the Abyss, especially how to counter its effects on divers. They arrive there just as another group of divers do, and the trinity is especially happy to see their hide-and-seek friend Prushka again, but what sinister shadows lurk beneath the facility and the people behind these experiments?
For Today's World: We're heading deep down into the depths of Akihito Tsukushi's Made in Abyss, specifically the events of the third movie Dawn of the Deep Soul. And if you know that movie, then you know things could get rough in this one, not just for the divers, but for our trinity as well. Trust me, you'll see when we get to that point...
Episode 8: Abyss Walkers
"Hey, look, that city's rotating," Riko gasped as the herself and her partners finished their crossing and eventually found themselves beholding a large, circular city underneath one of the pillars that appeared to be rotating. "How's it doing that?"
When they didn't immediately get an answer, though, Reg looked back at Nanachi, who seemed to be observing the city.
"Is everything okay, Nanachi?" Reg asked.
"Yeah, I was just observing the force field," Nanachi answered as they pointed towards the city. "See, look. There's one part that isn't moving, and unless you use a boat, that's the only way in, so we'll have to stay alert."
Riko, Reg and Nanachi all began walking along the crystal cliffs towards the city. "This place was built on what used to be a ritual site thousands of years ago," Nanachi explained. "That tower in the center is where a Cave Raider will take their Last Dive, the only way to the Sixth Layer."
Nanachi couldn't help but chuckle at Riko's enthusiasm, but then all three of them noticed somebody walking along the port area around the city.
"Wow, this place is pretty dope, isn't it?" Maylin chuckled as they observed the area they'd disembarked in.
"It looks like a whole city," Haruka quipped.
"Hey, is it me, or does anybody feel something trying to push down on us?" Sophia wondered.
Nick stopped when he realized that he felt the same feeling as well. Deciding to try something out, he jumped into the air, and though his jump was still normal, he did feel that strange sensation when he landed, though nothing else.
"Yeah, there's something in the air here," Nick stated. "I'm not sure entirely what it is, but it doesn't seem to be affecting us for some reason."
"Probably because of our keyblades or our magical clothes," Haruka answered. "We've been in other situations where something should have affected us, but it didn't."
"Yeah, like when Overhaul tried to use his quirk on you, but it didn't work because he grabbed your keyblade and not you," Maylin giggled.
"Served that bastard right, honestly," Nick quipped.
Before the trinity could move forward, however, pools of darkness opened up on the ground just ahead of them, and Heartless jumped out of them. These Heartless had a thin, nimble body with dark brown skin and yellow glowing eyes, wearing a white balaclava over its head, orange bracelets, a flat yellow hat, and a yellow-orange cape, along with yellow-orange baggy pants with white lower legs, a red, sash-like belt, and black boots with toes that curled upward. In its hands, it carried two crescent-shaped scimitars with silver guards and handles, red inner edges, and black outer ones, and the hilts were screwed on, allowing them to be shifted around and to have the scimitars attached to each other akin to a chakram. Its Heartless emblem was on its chest.
"Doesn't it just figure, huh?" Nick sighed as everyone summoned their keyblades.
"These guys are Luna Bandits," Haruka explained. "They're quick little buggers who really like to use those scimitars a lot, so you've gotta play defensive when they're around."
One of the Luna Bandits jumped forward to do a spinning slash towards Nick, bur he raised Starlight to parry the blow before knocking it into the air with an Upper Slash, followed by jumping into the air after it and ravaging it with an Aerial Finish, the move he'd learned to defeat Mary.
Maylin let a bunch of Luna Bandits come closer to her, letting one of them strike before casting Reflect on herself so that the Luna Bandit only struck the barrier. This caused it to explode outwards in a flash of silver lights, damaging all of the nearby Luna Bandits.
Haruka did a backflip to avoid a thrusting slash from another Luna Bandit before splitting it in half on her way down with a downward slash from Divewing, and Sophia finished them off by blasting the remaining Luna Bandits with a Kougaon spell.
"That... was amazing."
The trinity all looked behind them to see Riko, Reg and Nanachi all staring at them like they'd done something otherworldly. To be fair, they might have.
"How did you all not get affected by the Curse of the Abyss?" Nanachi wondered. "I saw you doing all those fancy flips and such, so I thought..."
Inwardly, Nick wondered where he'd heard that name before.
As the group all walked towards the entrance to this large city (it was called "The Idofront" if what Nanachi said was true), they were met at the entry door by a girl who was about their age, with short, white and green curly hair and glowing red eyes, and was wearing a green coat and gloves on top of a white shirt, as well as a big hat on her head.
"Do you know who that is?" Reg asked.
"No clue," Nanachi admitted.
Nick had to suppress a gasp of shock when he realized that he knew who this new arrival was.
"Are you the guests that are here to see papa?" Prushka asked. "You're a little bit smaller than I thought, so..."
Prushka had been trying to sound professional, even putting her hands on her hips like she was trying to judge them, but when she noticed Nick in the group, all of that 'professionalism' faded away and she broke into a wide, happy smile.
"Is that you, Nick?!" Prushka laughed as she ran over to jump and hug Nick.
"Of course it's me, Prushka," Nick chuckled. Prushka was an 'off worlder' that Nick had met in Traverse Town on his first adventure, which meant that Prushka's world had been one of the ones taken by the Heartless, restored after Yaldabaoth's defeat. She would occasionally challenge Nick and his friends to games of hide and seek across Traverse Town, rewarding them with rare synthesis materials with each game they won. "I just look a bit older because it's been a while."
"You kept your promise after all," Prushka giggled.
"I always do," Nick quipped.
"Hey, do you still have that trinket I gave you?" Prushka wondered.
Suddenly unsure of what to say to Prushka, considering he'd lost all of his old keyblades except his default in... whatever had happened to him six months prior, Nick tried to save face, but Sophia came to his rescue.
"I'm sorry, Prushka, but some bad guy stole all of Nick's keyblades a while back," Sophia stated. "We've been trying to find them ever since."
"I kinda figured someone would be that mean," Prushka chuckled as she reached into her hat and handed Nick a small trinket that resembled a whistle-like device sculpted into the shape of two hands clasped together in prayer. "So I made another one! My papa says I'm really good at arts and crafts."
Nick smiled at Prushka before attaching the trinket to his keyblade and swinging it upwards, the keyblade transforming mid-swing. Just like Nick remembered, this keyblade had a handleguard shaped like a ring-shaped secret base resembling the Idofront, a hilt shaped like another White Whistle, a long blade decorated with ancient runes, and teeth shaped like Prushka's cap.
"Ah, it's good to see that worked, huh?" Nick quipped.
"Come on in, already, it's gotta be cold out there," Prushka stated as she led everybody inside of the Idofront. "How exactly did you all get over here, anyway?"
"We just crossed over the crystallized water supports," Reg answered.
"Whoa, you did? But that's crazy! Those things are dangerous!" Prushka gasped.
As they continued to walk through the Idofront, Nick couldn't help but chuckle at all of the questions Prushka was asking poor Reg, even asking if she wanted to touch his hat. No doubt she was curious about everyone, considering that Prushka had never been outside of the Idofront in her life.
"Oh, and who are you?" Prushka asked when she noticed Sophia. "Did Nick make a new friend while he was gone?"
"You could say that," Sophia giggled. "I am Sophia, humanity's companion. For lack of a better phrase, I was trapped in Nick's Gummiphone for a while, but during a scuffle with the bad guys, I was able to break out and assist Nick in his adventures."
Before Prushka could continue to ask questions, she heard footsteps coming from nearby and turned around to greet the source.
"Oh, hi, papa!" Prushka laughed.
Walking slowly towards them was a tall man sporting mostly black clothing, with a long coat and a suit, his face covered with a black helmet that included a gap in the middle where violet light shined through. His White Whistle was sculpted into the shape of two hands clasped together, much like the version Prushka had sculpted for his keyblade.
"Hello there, everybody," the man proclaimed. "It is very nice to see all of you, especially you, Nanachi. You've grown so much since the last I saw you. And it seems that Mitty's flesh lamp has flickered out. Congratulations. She has finally been set free."
Despite noticing that Nanachi was shaking like a leaf upon running into this man, Nick decided to stay shut, especially considering that he was getting bad vibes from this man. And since he had already figured out that this was most likely Bondrewd, Prushka's father, he wisely decided to keep his mouth shut.
"Bondrewd, despite everything, we're not here to get into it," Nanachi proclaimed. "Right now, we're just trying to head down to the next layer. Will you let us do that?"
"Oh, but of course," Bondrewd answered. "But... there is one problem. The altar for the Last Dive can only be activated by a White Whistle. And, as I'm sure you know, a White Whistle can only be used by its original owner."
That seemed to shock Riko, who reached into her pocket and pulled out her mother's White Whistle, the one she'd taken along on her journeys.
"...so... I may not be able to use this?" Riko gasped. "After everything we've been through..."
"Say, papa, isn't she the daughter of a White Whistle?" Prushka asked.
"Why, yes, Prushka," Bondrewd responded. "Do you think you can get along with them?"
"Of course!" Prushka laughed even as Bondrewd placed his hand on her head in an affectionate manner.
Just then, one of Bondrewd's assistants, the Umbra Hands, started backing away from something in the hallway. When they backed up enough, they could see that it was a trio of Nightwalkers.
"Oh, not you freaks again!" Maylin exclaimed.
"Let's take care of 'em, then, before anyone here gets hurt," Nick stated as the trinity all summoned their keyblades and charged in to attack.
Haruka struck first, leaping off of Nick's shoulders so she could counter a Nightwalker's attempt to slash one of the Umbra Hands, then clobbered it in the head with Divewing to finish it off.
One of the Nightwalkers attempted to sweep out Nick's legs, but he jumped over it, noticing that his jump was a little bit higher now (no doubt from using Valor Form recently), then swung Reverberating Abyss to knock the Nightwalker over to Sophia, who stabbed it in the chest with Super Yo-Yo.
Maylin ducked under another Nightwalker's claw and cast Gravity on it, flattening it into the ground so she could finish it off with a Magic Hour.
Everyone else in the hallway was quite shocked to see that display.
"...what? Something on my face?" Maylin wondered.
"...oh, my goodness, how did you do that?" Prushka gasped.
"Oh, come on, silly, you've seen us bash Heartless before, right?" Haruka chuckled.
"No, you survived the Curse of the Abyss!" Prushka proclaimed. "As far as we know, nobody's ever been able to even get close to that without using some of papa's devices!"
"Oh, yeah, Prushka did tell us that you research ways to counter the effects of the Abyss, right?" Nick asked.
"Precisely," Bondrewd answered. "Which means you must be the friends that Prushka has told me so much about."
"As to why the Curse of the Abyss doesn't affect us, the only logical explanation I can think of is that the power of our keyblades defends us from the curse," Nick responded.
"Fascinating," Bondrewd stated. "In the meantime, why don't you all make yourselves comfortable? Take some time to think about things. Prushka, will you show them all to their rooms?"
"Of course!" Prushka answered. "Come on, everybody! I cleaned them up all by myself!"
As everybody followed Prushka, they just missed the ominous feeling coming from Bondrewd.
The trinity offered to explore the facility while Riko, Reg and Nanachi rested, just to make sure there weren't any Heartless trying to be sneaky.
"Okay, so now that it's just us, can I ask you guys something about this Bondrewd character?" Maylin wondered.
"You mean how... out-of-place he seems?" Haruka answered.
"Yeah, that," Maylin replied. "Prushka always speaks so highly of him, and she even told Nick that he researches ways to counter the Curse of the Abyss."
"So, then, why does he give off the vibe that he's got some kind of dark secret?" Nick stated.
"I didn't detect any darkness in his heart, either, which is very strange," Sophia admitted.
"I guess all we can do is..." Nick started, only to trail off when he noticed Prushka kneeling over a mostly unconscious Riko, who had blood dripping from her mouth. "...oh, jeez, Riko!"
The trinity all raced over to check on Riko and make sure she was okay.
Thankfully, that was when Riko opened up her eyes.
"Oh, thank goodness you're okay!" Prushka gasped as she hugged Riko. "Hey, let me see your face."
"It felt like... there was a bunch of sharp things stabbing into me," Riko answered.
"Well, you did kind of fall on your face," Prushka admitted, looking up the nearby stairway that Riko had clearly tried to climb. "The fifth layer's curse and temporarily take away your sense of touch and your sense of balance."
Prushka continued to check up on Riko, even putting a band-aid over a scar on her cheek she'd gotten in the fall.
"Say, where were you, Prushka?" Nick wondered.
"Oh, I was just in my room, but I came when I heard Riko screaming," Prushka answered. "But I know every single door was locked. At least I know mine was. I am at that age, Riko, so..."
I have several questions, Prushka, Nick thought.
However, Riko and Prushka both decided to check things out, and sure enough, all the doors around this area were indeed locked, which Prushka confirmed had never happened before.
"And that means the only way up is through that staircase," Nick stated. "That shouldn't be a problem for us, but it might be for you two..."
"Say, Prushka, I was wondering," Riko asked. "In your eyes, what kind of person is your father?"
"He's just the best," Prushka giggled. "He always looks out for me, no matter what he's doing."
"Hey, not to cut into this, but I think I might have an idea on how we can get you two up the stairs," Nick quipped as Reverberating Abyss flashed into his hands. "Our keyblades protect us from the Curse of the Abyss, so we thought that maybe if you two stay close to us, we can help you up the stairs?"
"You think it'll work?" Riko asked.
"You're not worried about losing them?" Prushka wondered. "I mean, you did lose your other ones, right?"
"Well, keyblades are picky about their owners, and they won't let anyone who's not capable take one," Nick answered. "The jerk who stole mine is... a special case, let's put it like that."
Nick and Sophia both stood close to Riko and Prushka, their keyblades held out. Prushka decided to place her hand on the handle of Reverberating Abyss just to be safe, and Riko did the same with Super Yo-Yo.
As the two pairs began to slowly ascend the stairway, Maylin and Haruka wondered if Nick had any idea what they were reminding them of.
"You don't think he knows what an inheritance ceremony is, do you?" Haruka asked.
"No, we never told him about that," Maylin answered. "But I think he's not powerful enough to do that yet. After all, you gotta be a Keyblade Master or close enough to have that kind of power, and considering whatever happened to Nick essentially 'reset' him..."
Maylin and Haruka quickly followed the others up the stairs, only to be met with a rather disturbing sight when they reached the top.
Both Riko and Prushka were staring in confusion at whatever was ahead of them, which appeared to be a mostly naked Reg with one of his arms severed at the joint, being carried on Nanachi's back. A bunch of Umbra Hands were slowly maneuvering towards them, and a small, squeaking creature was perched on one of the Umbra Hands' heads.
"What do you all think you're doing?!" Prushka shouted. "Didn't I tell you that all of these people are my papa's guests?!"
Nanachi took that opportunity to bolt, carrying Reg on their back and skidding to a stop in front of Riko.
"Riko, we need to get out of here!" Nanachi shouted, but Riko could only stare in shock at the stump that remained of Reg's right arm.
"All right, all of you, what's the meaning of this?!" Nick growled, aiming Reverberating Abyss towards the Umbra Hands.
"It was a dangerous relic," one Umbra Hand proclaimed. "If we did not induce it into dropping its guard, we could not have captured it."
Realization dawned on Prushka's face, and she took a few steps back.
"...you're saying... this was done on papa's orders?" Prushka gasped. "But... but he would never do such a thing..."
"This way, please," an Umbra Hand stated, moving towards Prushka, only to be swatted away by Nick, who swung Reverberating Abyss to make the others back off as well.
"Not another step," Nick growled. "You don't want me to get angry."
Still, the Umbra Hands continued to shuffle forward as if attempting to strap Prushka to the same chair that Reg had been strapped to.
"Hey, Nick said 'step off', so step the hell off!" Maylin exclaimed, swerving around Nick and casting Thundara to knock down all of the Umbra Hands with a much stronger rain of lightning bolts.
Suddenly, Riko and Prushka were both yanked away from the door as Nanachi pulled the lever to close it, thanks to Reg's remaining arm.
"Come on, let's go!" Haruka exclaimed as everyone beat feet for the nearest exit.
"I'd say they were probably planning to do this from the very start," Nanachi admitted.
"B-But... we can't just leave Reg's arm in there!" Riko gasped.
"We'll come back for it, promise," Sophia responded. "Right now, we need to retreat and regroup."
And so they did just that, heading downstairs and back towards the dock area just outside the Idofront.
"I know my papa understands me, so I'll tell him about what happened," Prushka apologized. "Maybe he'll be able to figure out something. By the way, I know I really have no right to say this, but... when Reg gets his arm back, I was wondering... could I... join you on your adventures?"
Despite the shock of everything that had just happened, Riko couldn't help but manage a smile at Prushka's request.
Riko simply nodded as the boat carrying everyone else moved away from the port. Prushka smiled herself, even as Bondrewd approached.
When the group had felt like they'd gotten as far away as possible, Riko and Nanachi sat down to watch over the still-unconscious Reg, while the trinity stood guard in case of any Heartless attacks.
"That conniving little monster..." Nanachi growled. "He's not going to get away with this."
"I'm pretty sure he's going to be coming after us regardless," Haruka noted. "So we might need to formulate a plan."
"I'm more worried about what he might be planning with Prushka..." Nick admitted.
"Oh, I'm sure that even someone as strange as Bondrewd wouldn't dare hurt his own family, right?" Riko wondered.
"...Riko, you have absolutely no idea what happens when someone lets themselves be consumed by their obsessions or gives in to the darkness," Maylin countered. "Even concepts considered irreplaceable become nothing more than obstacles to those consumed by the darkness. Once your inhibitions drop, there's nothing you won't sacrifice."
Before Riko could start appropriately freaking out, Reg suddenly stirred.
"...Riko? Nanachi?" Reg asked. "Why do I smell Netherworld stew?"
"Wait, if this is the sandstone region of the fifth layer, then..." Riko gasped.
"You've got a plan, Riko?" Nick wondered.
Once everyone was in position, they waited as Bondrewd approached them, having followed the trail of their footprints to see Nanachi cradling an unconscious Reg.
"There is no need to sulk, Nanachi, I heard from Prushka about what happened," Bondrewd proclaimed. "You friend there is very important, yes? Though I cannot return him to his original stale, I can still repair him. So why don't you come back?"
"...no, I don't think so," Nanachi shot back. "You're not going back."
A click resounded, and Bondrewd looked up to just in time to see Riko swinging her mother's weapon, the Blaze Reap, to create an explosion at the upper level of the cave.
"Maybe you should start looking at your feet more," Nanachi taunted as Reg fired his remaining hand up to the ceiling so he could pull them to safety.
All of a sudden, a bunch of scorpion-like creatures started swarming Bondrewd and the Umbra Hands he'd brought with him.
"You two look like you had fun with that," Maylin chuckled as Reg and Nanachi both ran out of the cave to rejoin them and Riko.
"I don't know if it will keep Bondrewd down for long, however," Nanachi admitted. "That man is a demon."
Nanachi looked back towards the cave that had just exploded. "But I think we might have an advantage, since he doesn't appear to have any cartridges with him," Nanachi quipped.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'cartridges'?" Riko asked.
"Equipment he's created to ward off the Curse of the Abyss," Nanachi answered. "We have to plan this very carefully if we're gonna take him down. This might be the only chance we get."
"Then how about my friends and I keep him busy while you execute your plan?" Nick offered, Reverberating Abyss flashing into his hands. "We're a lot tougher than we look."
"All right, but just be careful, got it?" Nanachi answered.
A few seconds later, one of those large scorpion mutants came flying out of the cave, bloodied and in pieces, and Bondrewd stepped out as well, seemingly unharmed.
"Now, now, there is no need for such strife, you know," Bondrewd chuckled.
"Yeah, well, after what we saw you and your goons do to Reg, we're kinda not in a talking mood," Maylin retorted as she ran over to Nick and took his hand so the two of them could merge into Wisdom Form, already aiming Counterpoint towards Bondrewd.
"So, how about you bring it on already?!" Wisdom Form Nick shouted as he began to glide around the arena, firing flurries of magic bullets at Bondrewd to keep him in his place and hopefully give Reg and Nanachi time to execute their own plan.
"Ooh, this promises to be fun," Bondrewd proclaimed as he hopped away and activated the relic on his elbows, Sparagmos, and fired a bright blue laser beam from it that swept across the nearby landscape, pretty much obliterating anything it touched.
Wisdom Form Nick did a Quick Run to move out of the way in time, now extremely glad for the added mobility options that Wisdom Form gave him.
As Bondrewd fired Sparagmos again, this time in front of him, Wisdom Form Nick cast Reflect on himself as he glided by, the barrier holding on, before doing a Quick Run right into Bondrewd's face and shattering the shield, blowing him back with the recoil burst.
"Quite interesting," Bondrewd stated as he picked himself back up. "Such incredible power you possess."
"Well, I don't wanna brag," Wisdom Form Nick chuckled as he cast Thundaga on Bondrewd and drove him to the ground, unaware of Prushka watching from afar, confused as to what exactly was happening.
"Then let us try something different," Bondrewd stated, activating another relic on his helmet and unleashing Gangway, firing a laser beam from the light on the visor that bounced all over the place before flying straight towards Wisdom Form Nick, who countered it with a Firaga spell.
After a while of this, Wisdom Form Nick dashed towards Bondrewd and cast a point-blank Blizzaga into Bondrewd's chest that sent him flying backwards.
"Reg, now's your best chance!" Wisdom Form Nick shouted.
Reg didn't need to be told twice, rocketing forward and using his remaining arm to grab Bondrewd by the wrist before pulling himself in and kicking Bondrewd into the nearby lake.
"Just below the sea here is the sixth layer," Nanachi's instructions rang in Reg's mind. "This way, we can give him a taste of his own medicine."
"I can't forgive what you did to both Mitty and Nanachi!" Reg growled.
"Ah, did you think this up yourself?" Bondrewd laughed. "Marvelous indeed."
Reg then fired his arm all the way back up to one of the sandstone bridges to pull both himself and Bondrewd back to the surface. Once Bondrewd landed, it was clear to everyone that his body was in really bad shape, as it had been mutated and warped almost beyond recognition due to the sixth layer's curse. Due to being an artificial human, Reg was already immune to the curse, and thus Nanachi had exploited that in order to defeat Bondrewd.
As Bondrewd (or what was left of him) attempted to make some kind of noise, Reg decided to put the man out of his misery by picking up a large boulder and harshly smashing it on top of Bondrewd, crushing what remained of his body.
"...holy crapbaskets," Wisdom Form Nick quipped as he split back into Nick and Maylin.
"There," Reg stated, now looking like he was about to cry. "I'll let you take your last breath, and then we're leaving this place."
That was all Reg could get out before he started crying, Riko hugging him from behind.
"I'm sorry, Reg," Nanachi apologized. "I didn't mean to put that horrible burden on you..."
Reg just shook his head, but that was when everybody saw Prushka walking up to what little was left of Bondrewd.
"...papa?" Prushka gasped.
"...oh, no," Haruka gasped, having not even thought of what Prushka would think of them, essentially, butchering her father.
"Papa... please wake up..." Prushka asked, kneeling down to try and grasp Bondrewd's helmet before bursting into tears.
Oh, crapbaskets, I didn't even think of that, Nick thought. We pretty much just outright murdered her father. And considering how much Prushka liked me before this... we screwed something up, didn't we?
While everyone was thinking of what exactly to do, the Umbra Hand that had accompanied Prushka walked up to her and put its hand on Prushka's head much like Bondrewd would do before walking up to Bondrewd's head and removing his helmet...
...before doing the same to its own and even taking Bondrewd's White Whistle. Just then, the Umbra Hand's body ripped itself in half to reveal Bondrewd's own body.
"P-Papa?" Prushka gasped.
"How in the hell?!" Maylin shouted.
"Yes, Prushka, it's me," Bondrewd answered. "Believe me, I'm not going anywhere. As long as I have your love, I am immortal."
Bondrewd lightly poked Prushka in a spot on the back of her neck, and she fell asleep on the spot.
"You're supposed to be dead!" Reg shouted.
"Yeah, what he said!" Nick exclaimed. "You got mutated by the curse, turned into a blob, and got crushed under a boulder! How the hell are you still alive?!"
"You have all done a marvelous job," Bondrewd proclaimed as if choosing to ignore that question. "You brought about a trial that we hadn't seen, and you've even guided Prushka towards completion. After all, doesn't trial only make love stronger?"
"And that's supposed to mean what?!" Maylin shot back.
Reg didn't want to hear it, lunging forward to attack Bondrewd again only to get smacked down by a tail protruding from his back. Bondrewd then fired three spikes into Riko's chest that caused her to fall to her knees.
"Those are Shakers that are meant to simulate the effects of the third layer," Bondrewd explained. "But I wouldn't worry. Your viscera should only churn a bit, nothing too worrisome."
"All right, start talking, bastard," Nick growled, aiming Reverberating Abyss towards Bondrewd. "What the hell is going on, and why are there two of you?!"
"The Umbra Hands are all my own selves," Bondrewd answered, and Nanachi gasped in surprise as though they knew what Bondrewd was talking about. "Now let us go back together, Nanachi."
"...why do you want me?" Nanachi asked.
"The Abyss does much more than just grant curses," Bondrewd responded. "There was an effect I was unable to see due to the strain of the ascent. I call it 'the blessing', and it has to do with your deep spiritual connection to Mitty. Because of your love and admiration, you only received the blessing. Truly wonderful, is it not? Love is indeed the answer."
"And just what would you know of love?!" Sophia shouted as she re-summoned Super Yo-Yo. Sophia had rarely gotten angry before, so the others were quite surprised to see this.
"Don't be so loud," Bondrewd commented. "After all, you don't wish to wake Prushka, do you? Regardless, I have things to do, so I must be going. You may come back at any time you wish, Nanachi. You are always welcome here."
And with that, Bondrewd walked away, taking Prushka with him. Nanachi could only fall to their knees and scream.
The trinity could only look on, dumbfounded at the horrors they'd just witnessed, and blissfully unaware of just how much worse those horrors would soon become.
"You're amazing, you know that, Riko? I think it's not so much that you want to find your mom, but that you want to be just like your mom and go on all sorts of amazing adventures, just like Nick and his friends. It's almost like you're figuring out the purpose of your journey on the way there. So please... don't ever give up, Riko. Stay calm and keep moving forward, no matter how dark the darkness of the Netherworld gets. ...I've always wanted to have amazing friends like you and Nick, you know."
"DON'T LEAVE, PRUSHKA!" Riko screamed as she forced herself to her feet, only to be quickly stopped by Maylin.
"Whoa, calm down, Riko, you're not supposed to be moving yet," Maylin stated. "I don't know if you're still feeling the effects, but..."
"There's gotta be something in the catalog of relics about this," Riko responded.
"What does that mean?" Nanachi wondered.
"Riko has the entire catalog of relics memorized by heart," Reg answered. "If we can figure out what kind of relic Bondrewd is using..."
"...we'll actually be able to defeat him for real," Nick gasped.
"I hope so, because this body-swapping nonsense got old ages ago," Maylin proclaimed.
"Hey, look at Bondrewd's head," Sophia noted. "It appears to be completely intact, which meant it couldn't have been his head that Umbra Hand took with him..."
"...that's it! It's gotta be the Zoaholic!" Riko exclaimed. "The Soul Slave Machine! It's a relic that allows you to transfer your consciousness into another body, but if you start mixing your consciousness with others, you might go insane. I thought it had been lost to the Abyss fifteen years ago, because White Whistles are only supposed to have up to grade one relics, but I remember something Prushka told me."
As Nanachi remembered something that the Umbra Hand they'd met before reaching the Idofront had said, they looked back towards where Bondrewd had left.
"That sounds exactly like the kind of thing that sicko would love," Nanachi chuckled.
With that in mind, everyone discussed a plan to destroy the Zoaholic or at least weaken it enough to make Bondrewd unable to use it.
But as they headed back to the Idofront, a rumbling caught their attention, and from out of the nearby snow and sandstone burst a large Heartless. This creature was a massive, seemingly mechanical Heartless with a round, egg-shaped body comprised of several rotating rings, each of which were white with black and yellow highlights and lined by multiple rectangular pillars, most of them being steel blue, though two on the first ring were a patchwork coloration of gold and copper. The creature's rear sported a grey turbine that it used for locomotion, its neck was black and gold, its comparatively small head was roughly spherical and white and sported glowing yellow eyes with its Heartless emblem between them, a large, jagged mouth, and two short horns, with two large steel blue and gold mandibles on the sides of its head.
"W-What the heck is that?!" Reg exclaimed. "That doesn't look like anything I've seen on this floor..."
"That's because it's a Heartless, and a pretty damn big one at that," Maylin responded, summoning Counterpoint to her hands.
"You all just head back to the Idofront and execute your plan!" Sophia proclaimed as she summoned Super Yo-Yo.
"Destroy that soul-transfer machine and save Prushka!" Nick exclaimed as he switched over to Starlight. "We'll join you just as soon as we can. Remember, the curse doesn't affect us because of our keyblades, so we'll be fine."
Riko, Reg and Nanachi all nodded and headed off to return to the Idofront while the trinity prepared to face down the Antlion.
"All right, big guy, what's your gimmick?" Maylin wondered as they waited for the Antlion to make its first move.
The Antlion seemingly didn't care to attack them at first, simply "swimming" through the snow and sand.
Nick got closer and cast a Blizzard spell into the Antlion's head, and this seemed to make it angry, as it violently turned towards them.
"I think we found its weakness," Maylin chuckled.
The Antlion reared back before charging full-tilt towards the trinity.
"Hit the deck!" Haruka exclaimed as they all jumped in different directions to avoid the Antlion's charges.
After a few dodges, Nick found himself backed up against a nearby cliff with the Antlion aiming for him. Nick steadied himself until it got close, the Dodge Rolled away at the last second so that the Antlion only collided with the cliff, dazing itself and falling to the ground.
This left the Antlion's vulnerable head exposed, and Sophia rushed in to attack, striking at the Antlion's face before finishing with her new Round Light finisher, where she charged Super Yo-Yo with Pandora's light energy and performed a spinning slash that created a circular slash of light around her.
Before Nick could move in to continue the combo, the Antlion picked itself back up and dropped a bunch of bombs onto the ground to obscure its escape as it dove back into the snow and started swimming around again.
"Okay, we need to get this thing out of the snow, otherwise we're gonna be doing this all day," Nick groaned.
"I think I've got an idea," Maylin quipped as she raised Counterpoint and cast a Magnet spell in front of where the Antlion's head could be seen, the magnetic pull eventually forcing it out.
At this point, the Antlion started flying around, surrounding itself with a rotating barrier of wind.
"H-Hey, don't you dare copy my shtick!" Maylin shouted as she cast a Fire spell, only for the fireball to fizzle out against the shield.
The Antlion began flying over the trinity, dropping more cubic bombs from its underside that stuck into the ground and prepared to explode.
Nick suddenly had a rather wicked idea and ran towards one of the bombs, swinging Starlight to knock the bomb into the air and then whacking it again to send it careening back into the Antlion. Though the bomb hit the wind shield, the explosion was large enough to damage the Antlion.
"Ladies, let's play ball," Nick chuckled.
"Music to my ears!" Maylin laughed as she waited for the Antlion to start dropping bombs again so she could swing Counterpoint to bat more of the bombs back into the Antlion.
After four or five more deflected bombs, the last one broke through the wind barrier and dispelled it, causing the Antlion to once again crash into the ground and leave itself vulnerable.
While Maylin hung back and pelted it with Blizzard spells, Nick rushed in close and jumped into the air, striking the Antlion's face a few times before ravaging it with an Aerial Finish.
The Antlion picked itself back up, then flew further away, light gathering around its horns.
"...oh, I don't like this," Haruka admitted.
"Everyone, get close to me!" Maylin shouted as Nick, Haruka and Sophia all huddled close to her so she could cast a Reflect spell large enough to cover them all.
And it turned out that Maylin had acted just in time, as the Antlion had fired a massive purple ray of energy from its horns that swept across the landscape, slicing through the ground in places and striking the Reflect shield, though thankfully it held.
The Antlion continued to sweep the laser around, hitting the Reflect shield multiple times before deciding to just barrel forward.
"That's right, take the bait, you dumb stupid Heartless," Maylin chuckled.
Just as the Antlion was about to crash into them, Maylin snapped Counterpoint down, shattering the Reflect shield and unleashing a flash of silver lights around them, sending all of the shield's absorbed damage right back into the Antlion. This proved to be the finishing blow, the Antlion going spiraling backwards before its body seized up and it collapsed into the far-off lake before evaporating, a large heart flying off into the sky.
"Whew, that was fun," Maylin quipped.
"It's been a while since we've had to fight a big Heartless, huh?" Haruka noted. "After all, the big ones are usually pretty strong, aren't they?"
"Probably because of everything that's been happening at the Idofront," Nick stated.
Almost as if something had been waiting for Nick to say that, a gigantic explosion resounded from far off. Sophia jumped up to a nearby rock face to get a better view of what had just happened, and she now noticed that an absolutely massive hole had been blown in the Idofront, no doubt from that explosion, and a bunch of water and ice from the cliffs above the Idofront was falling down into that hole.
"What the hell's going on over there now?!" Maylin gasped.
"No clue, but I think we'd better get moving," Nick proclaimed.
And so the trinity raced down the path as fast as they could in order to reach the Idofront before everything came crashing down.
Thankfully, when they finally got there, Reg and Nanachi both seemed to be intact, and Riko was supposed to be on her way to the scene.
However, Bondrewd was also still up and about, though most of his limbs had transformed in a way similar to Nanachi's, only much more vicious-looking.
"How many times do we have to stomp on you before you stay down, science boy?!" Nick shouted as he aimed Starlight for Bondrewd.
"Ah, this great power," Bondrewd laughed. "This must be the Blessing."
The cylindrical pack on Bondrewd's back ejected multiple cartridges from it that all fell to the floor in front of him.
And Nick didn't like the vibe he got from those.
"...dare I ask what those are?" Nick wondered.
"Bondrewd's cartridges," Nanachi explained, since Nick hadn't been here when she'd told this to Riko. Nanachi was conflicted, but they knew Nick needed to hear this. "It's what he uses to stave off the curse. ...he takes orphans and children with nowhere to call their own, and surgically removes all the 'unnecessary' limbs and organs. Then... he packs what's left into those cartridges and pumps them full of his drugs to manipulate their feelings."
"...that sick little monster," Maylin growled. "Those children looked up to you! They saw you as someone to look up to, and this is how you repay them?!"
"They still help me out, no matter what," Bondrewd quipped as he ejected one last cartridge from his backpack.
When it hit the ground, Prushka's pet Meinya walked up to it, having smelled something familiar. It chirped in a knowing way.
If the looks of shock on Reg and Nanachi's faces were palpable, it was nothing compared to the horrified and disgusted expressions of the trinity.
"...don't... don't tell me..." Nick gasped, his hands literally shaking with uncontrollable rage that begged to be let out. "You... you even did that to Prushka?! You mutilated your own daughter?!"
"She idolized you!" Maylin screamed. "And this is how you treat her?!"
"All necessary preparations to ensure the next two thousand years are in sight for us Cave Raiders," Bondrewd answered as if he didn't even care. "Come now, everybody. Let us embrace the new dawn together."
Nick's free hand clenched into a fist so hard he almost thought he would draw blood from it.
"...I'm going to kill you," Nick snarled. "Haruka?"
"Right," Haruka responded, knowing exactly what Nick wanted. She jogged forward to take Nick's hand so they could merge...
...but when they tried to do so, something very strange happened.
Maylin found herself being dragged towards Nick as well, which confused her, as he was trying to merge with Haruka at the moment.
"N-Nick, what's happening?!" Maylin gasped.
When Maylin was close enough to Nick, all she could see in his eyes was sorrow and rage, no doubt due to learning what Bondrewd had done to Prushka. But even she had never seen Nick this murderous before.
However, she couldn't vocalize those thoughts before both she and Haruka vanished from sight. Sophia quickly jumped back into Nick's Gummiphone in order to prevent herself from suffering the same fate as Nick's clothes unleashed a burst of light.
When Sophia felt it was safe to return, she jumped back out onto the battlefield...
...only to gasp in utter shock at what Nick had become.
Nick's clothes became mostly black with dark blue accents, his skin and hair turned ink-black, misty black and violet wisps of darkness were constantly emitting from his hands, which had turned to sharp claws, and the most terrifying of all, Nick's eyes were now glowing a sharp yellow like a Heartless' would. His keyblade was also nowhere to be found.
"...Nick?" Sophia gasped. "Wh-What happened to you?"
"Well, now, this is unprecedented," Bondrewd admitted. "The robot boy underwent a similar transformation during our first fight earlier. This proves to be quite promising after all."
In response to that, Antiform Nick simply got down on all fours and roared, a howl of unyielding rage that sounded like the call of a primal beast, before galloping forward, actually running on all fours to get to Bondrewd as fast as he could.
Bondrewd lashed out with his new claws and actually attempted to eviscerate him right on the spot, but Antiform Nick raised his hands to actually block the strike before retaliating by executing a double scratch, a rolling attack while holding his feet, and a hammer-like attack with both hands, all in one fluid combo.
After recovering, Bondrewd leaped into the air, his new legs giving him incredible jumping ability, but Antiform Nick swiftly followed him into the air, scratching at Bondrewd repeatedly while moving around him, eventually finishing in a downward dive with both claws.
His only instinct telling him to rip Bondrewd apart with his bare hands, Antiform Nick continued his wild assault, bending back before rushing forward and making a mighty slash with both of his claws that pierced through Bondrewd and sent him to his knees.
Antiform Nick quickly spun around and thrust his right claw forward, piercing straight through Bondrewd's chest. Not content with just that, Antiform Nick raised that claw to lift Bondrewd into the air, slam him into the ground, and then jump onto his chest, slashing wildly with his claws. Bondrewd couldn't fight back due to not being able to reach for his relics under Antiform Nick's relentless barrage of attacks.
Sophia stood there helpless, frightened by the unadulterated savagery that Nick was displaying in Antiform. What had caused him to turn so murderous? Had he succumbed to the darkness in his rage over Prushka's fate?
...but he would have turned into a Heartless if he had. It had happened before, after all.
And this looked disturbingly like a Drive Form of its own.
Regardless, Sophia knew she had to overcome her own shock and get through to Nick before he did something he'd regret.
Summoning all the courage she possibly could, Sophia summoned Super Yo-Yo and charged into the fray.
Antiform Nick continued to brutalize Bondrewd over and over again, the only though running through his mind being Kill him over and over again. But just as he was about to raise his claws and hopefully cut Bondrewd's head clean off, Sophia rushed in and swung Super Yo-Yo, clashing with Antiform Nick's claws and pushing him back.
"Nick, stop," Sophia proclaimed. "Don't do something you'll regret."
Antiform Nick simply roared back, almost as if he was trying to speak but a distortion was mangling his actual words, before gliding forward on his arms and slashing at Sophia. The sheer unexpectedness of the attack caught Sophia off guard and she took the slash, stumbling backwards.
While Sophia was unbalanced, Antiform Nick lunged forward for a killing strike, only to stop just shy of Sophia.
After all, to his eyes, a transparent image of Prushka had appeared in front of him.
"Because of all of you... I learned so many new things. People I'd never seen. Faces I'd never made before. Places I'd never even dreamed of. I'm so glad I got to experience it all. But please don't be sad, okay, Nick? You know I'd do anything for papa, so... I want you to do something for me. Please don't be mad at him, okay? I'm proud to be his daughter. And I'm proud to be your friend as well. And... can you tell Riko that... I'm sorry? I so wanted to go on adventures with her... but it looks like that may not be happening now. No matter what happens... please don't be angry. I like you so much more when you're happy."
With those words, the darkness of Antiform faded away, leaving Nick as his normal self with a very disoriented and confused Maylin and Haruka right beside him.
"...um... what the hell just happened?" Maylin gasped.
"I was just about to ask the same question," Nick quipped. "Sophia? ...are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"Nothing a little healing spell can't fix up," Sophia chuckled, casting Dia on herself to heal the wound Nick had given her in Antiform.
"I think the question here is, are you okay, Nick?" Haruka wondered. "I still have no idea what just happened..."
"All I wanted was to beat Bondrewd's skull in for what he did to poor Prushka," Nick stated. "But when you and I tried to transform into Valor Form, though... something happened, and I just snapped."
"Whatever the heck that was, it kinda felt a lot like a Drive Form," Maylin admitted. "Maybe it's a sign that we shouldn't abuse Drive Forms so much?"
Nick took a look back at Bondrewd, who was surprisingly still standing despite the absolute beating he'd taken.
"Bondrewd... I have never, ever, ever been angrier in my entire life than I am right now after what you did to Prushka and those other kids," Nick growled. "But... Prushka somehow snapped me out of my mindless rampage. And in those words, she pleaded with me not to hate you, even despite everything. So, I'm going to honor that last wish."
Nick raised his right hand and summoned Reverberating Abyss, clenching its handle tightly.
("Deep In Abyss" by Miyu Tomita and Mariya Ise plays)
"...but that doesn't mean I'm gonna show you any mercy," Nick proclaimed. "One way or another, your monstrous ambitions end right here and now. Ladies, let's do this."
"Duly noted," Maylin chuckled as the trinity all summoned their own keyblades and charged into battle by Nick's side.
From far away, Nanachi motioned to Riko to hold off on using their secret weapon until they had a good shot.
Bondrewd snapped his right foot down, sending an upheaval towards Nick, but he jumped right over it, firing a Thunder spell into the ground right in front of Bondrewd to push him back and leave him directly in Maylin's sight.
"You're running out of cartridges, buddy," Maylin quipped. "So let's see how you like another dose of the curse!"
Bondrewd attempted to blast Maylin with Sparagmos, but she cast Aero underneath Bondrewd, sending him into the air. As Bondrewd's body began to convulse due to the curse, Sophia conjured Pandora before leapfrogging off of Nick's shoulders and blasting Bondrewd with a Kougaon spell, sending him crashing back to the ground.
Haruka jumped in and nailed Bondrewd with a Windcutter, wherein she stepped back before twirling around in a spinning slash hard enough to create a cutting circle of wind around her.
While Bondrewd was stumbling, this body clearly having taken more than its fair share of damage from both the Abyss' Cruse and Antiform Nick's beatdown, Nick rushed in and started laying into him with fierce strikes from Reverberating Abyss.
Before he could deal the last blow, though, everything seemed to slow down around him, and the teeth of Reverberating Abyss sparkled.
Nick reared back before doing a short hop, then piercing Reverberating Abyss into the ground below him. This motion unleashed a shockwave around the point of impact that knocked Bondrewd right back into the air.
"Riko, Reg, now!" Nanachi exclaimed.
Bondrewd was suddenly engulfed by two massive bursts of searing light that tore most of his current body apart. The cause was quickly revealed to be Reg using his Incinerator from his remaining arm, as well as Riko using another Incinerator with the severed arm from earlier.
What little remained of Bondrewd's body collapsed to the ground.
"Most people would think that's overkill," Maylin quipped. "But we probably needed overkill to pull that one off."
"I wouldn't get up if I were you, because it doesn't look like anybody's coming to save you this time," Nanachi proclaimed as they walked up to Bondrewd. "Which must mean you don't have any Umbra Hands left to fight us, and that leaves us free to destroy the rest of this facility, including the Zoaholic. I'm sure there's so many of you now that we couldn't kill you even if we tried. But regardless, your disgusting ambitions are through. It's over."
"Oh, heavens no," Bondrewd gasped. "Your ardent desire to forge your own path and push forward... I dare say it surpassed even my own. Though it is regrettable that this body has been destroyed, being able to clash with all of you has been an unparalleled joy. In fact... I believe my new aspiration is to see you all continue your journey."
"...is this guy seriously for real?" Haruka sighed.
"You know, I often dreamed of the day we'd end up killing each other, but..." Nanachi admitted.
"Oh, dear Nanachi, I am proud that did not come to pass," Bondrewd admitted. "I truly wish that your journey be filled with both curses... and blessings."
Bondrewd reached down into what remained of his coat, then tossed something over to Nick.
"Here, take this with you," Bondrewd proclaimed. "A new power... to continue your own journey."
With that, Bondrewd's body finally failed him, his helmet light fading and his body going limp.
Nick took a look at what Bondrewd had given him, and it appeared to be another Summon Charm, only the jewel on this one was imprinted with the image of a heart surrounded by a whip-like sword.
"Jeez, am I glad that's over," Maylin admitted. "That was rough."
The sounds of Riko crying caught their attention, and they all turned around to see Riko sobbing while clutching the cartridge that held Prushka's remains.
"I... I'm sorry, Riko," Nick sighed. "I wish we could have saved her..."
"I-It's not your fault," Riko cried. "You did everything you could... it's just not fair..."
Suddenly, a little bubble at the top port of the cartridge popped, and fluid started leaking out from it. Though Riko tried her best to contain it, not wanting what was left of Prushka to suffer any longer, she also saw something else fall out of the cartridge.
Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be an oval-shaped stone with three trumpet mouthpiece-like protrusions, almost resembling a heart.
"...wait, seriously?" Nanachi gasped when they realized what that was. "Is that what I think it is?!"
"...it's gotta be," Riko gasped despite her sorrow. "W-What else would it be?"
"Um, pardon me for asking, but what exactly is that?" Nick wondered.
"It's a Life-Reverberating Stone," Nanachi responded. "It's the material that Bondrewd mentioned is required to cake a White Whistle. But... unless it was desired by that person who'd been packed... to think she could care so much even while suffering from the curse... and in such a short time, too..."
Suddenly, Nanachi saw a flash of Mitty, and realized what she had to do.
'Riko, can I see that, please?" Nanachi asked. Riko nodded and gingerly handed the stone over to them so they could wrap it in a handmade harness before placing it around Riko's neck. "It's probably not a good idea to leave it exposed. I know you're probably feeling a bit conflicted, but I'm pretty sure it was Prushka's will that this be given to you. And that means you're the only one who can use it. This... is your White Whistle."
Despite everything, Riko couldn't believe that she finally had a White Whistle. That meant that their journey could continue.
Before they could regroup, though, the White Whistle suddenly started glowing and floating in the air slightly.
Nick held Reverberating Abyss aloft as light energy began to swirl around the keyblade's teeth before projecting the image of a crown symbol, same as his pendant, underneath him.
Wind began to swirl around Nick until he found himself in the middle of a rusty-orange starry sky. The White Whistle shined brightly before firing a burst of light into the sky that eventually formed into a large keyhole.
Nick jumped back and twirled Reverberating Abyss around a couple times before firing a beam of light from the keyblade into the keyhole. Reality seemed to shatter around the keyhole for a brief moment before light began to shine from it, and after a loud "CLICK" resounded, Nick found himself back in the ruins of the Idofront.
"Guess that means we've gotta get going ourselves," Haruka quipped. "Other places are still waiting for us as well."
"Thank you for everything you did to help us," Reg proclaimed.
"It was no problem, Reg," Maylin chuckled. "That's just what we do."
"You all should get going, too," Nick stated. "After all, you've got a journey of your own to finish, right?"
"Yeah, we do," Riko proclaimed, having regained a lot of her step. "Come on, you guys, we've got a dive to make!"
With that, both groups split apart to continue their individual journeys.
Along the path out of the Idofront, the trinity was suddenly surrounded by a large group of both Large Bodies and Neoshadows.
"Oh, flake off already, we've been through enough here!" Maylin shouted.
Nick simply looked down as his new Summon Charm and grinned cheekily. "Then how about we let our new friend take care of this nonsense?" Nick quipped.
"Ooh, sounds like fun," Haruka answered.
Nick held the Heartbeat Charm into the air, and Maylin and Haruka both vanished from sight.
"Give me strength!" Nick exclaimed.
("Kizuna no Kiseki" by MAN WITH A MISSION x milet plays)
An explosion of hearts burst from the Heartbeat Charm and congregated right in front of Nick until they took the form of his newest ally.
She was a curvaceous young woman of deceptively muscular build and slightly pale skin complexion with large pale green eyes with long eyelashes and a small beauty mark beneath each of them, and long sakura-pink hair that faded into a lime green color at the halfway point, worn in three thick braids. She was wearing a dark plum Demon Slayer Corps uniform with a plain white haori and a short pleated mini skirt, a pair of lime green thigh-high stockings layered with vertically striped lime-green stockings a pair of white zōri with pink straps tied and fastened with a bow on the front.
Mitsuri Kanroji glanced around before noticing Nick right behind her and giving off a bright and sunny smile before drawing her whip-like Nichirin Sword to confront the Heartless.
One of the Neoshadows attempted to bum-rush them, but Nick swung his keyblade to counter the attack, and Mitsuri struck alongside him, her whip sword adding to the range of Nick's own strikes.
One of the Large Bodies tried to slide on its belly towards Nick, but Mitsuri coiled her Nichirin Sword around Nick to deflect the Large Body, then retaliating with Love Breathing Second Form: Love Fangs, a long-winding swing that hit the Large Body multiple times to destroy it.
Nick continued to attack the rampaging Neoshadows with Mitsuri's assistance, and at one point, Mitsuri threw her whip out to hook a Large Body and pull it towards her, following up with Love Breathing First Form: Shivers of First Love, a dashing single slash that also ended up hitting multiple times.
After a while of this, Nick and Mitsuri both nodded to each other, knowing it was time to end this fracas.
Nick spun Reverberating Abyss in his hands and Mitsuri cracked out her whip sword as they both jumped into the air, leaving the Large Bodies to cluster right below them.
"Love Breathing Fifth Form: Swaying Love, Wildclaw!" Nick and Mitsuri both shouted, slashing downwards to unleash a tornado of slashes that trapped the Large Bodies inside of it.
Mitsuri then blew a goodbye kiss, and this caused a storm of hearts to explode outwards from the tornado of slashes, instantly vaporizing the remaining Large Bodies who had survived the initial tornado.
Nick and Mitsuri both landed on the ground, and Mitsuri ran up top hug Nick tightly before winking to him and dissolving into a shower of hearts that reformed into the Heartbeat Charm in his hands.
"Woo, that was wild!" Maylin laughed.
"That outfit kind of looked familiar," Haruka admitted. "It looked kinda similar to what Nezuko was wearing."
"You think Mitsuri's from Nezuko's world?" Nick wondered.
"I guess the only way we'll find out is if we get to see that world on our adventures," Sophia noted as Haruka activated her wrist device to teleport them all back to the Gummi Ship.
She continued to walk through the desolate city, wondering how the heck she'd ended up here in the first place.
Ellen slowly made her way around the nearest corner, keeping Starlight ready just in case that thing showed up. After all, she'd been chasing it through so many different worlds in hopes of taking it out for what it had done.
"Where are you, you little punk?" Ellen growled.
Just then, she felt a rush of wind from close by, quickly bringing up Starlight to deflect the attack she knew had been coming her way.
But when she turned to strike back at it, it had disappeared again.
"Oh, stop playing this corny game of chicken, you stupid Heartless!" Ellen shouted. "Show your face so I can pound it into mashed potatoes for what you did to Nick!"
A laugh drew her attention to the edge of a gorge near where that ominous floating castle was. There it was, opening a corridor of darkness and practically inviting her to follow it.
"Oh-ho, if that's the way we're going to play," Ellen taunted, brandishing Starlight and chasing it into the corridor.
Back in Mistralton, Marie couldn't help but stare towards the sky, almost wishing that Ellen had taken her with on her journey. After all, she wanted to beat that stupid Heartless' face in for hurting Nick as much as Ellen did.
"Maybe I shouldn't be here waiting," Marie admitted.
"Exactly! If you have a dream, don't wait. You gotta act on it. It's just one of life's little rules."
Marie turned around just in time to see a cloaked figure walk out of a corridor of darkness towards her.
"And who are you?" Marie asked, flicking her hand out to summon Star Cluster.
"My name's Pyra, and let's just say that, in a way, I happen to be an acquaintance of your brother," Pyra responded. "You wanna go see him?"
"W-Wait, you know where he is?" Marie asked, ready to fight if she had to.
"Marie, over here!"
Another corridor of darkness opened up right behind Marie, and she felt oddly beckoned to enter it.
"Aw, there's no need to freak out, Marie," Pyra chuckled even as a group of Dusks appeared to try and surround Marie. "You and I both miss somebody that we care about, after all. Hey, I feel like we're friends already."
"Well, you're not acting very friendly, so why don't you buzz off?!" Marie shot back, turning on her heel and dashing into the corridor before Pyra could stop her.
When Marie could see again, she found herself inside a strange, multi-colored tunnel with strange symbols floating through it.
"...okay, where am I now?" Marie wondered. "Did I eat too many of those spicy nachos before I got up today?"
Marie slowly walked through the tunnel until she was able to see a light at the end of the pathway. Figuring she really had nothing to lose, she jogged into the light, though she tripped and fell through the rest of it while traveling between the destination points.
"H-Hey, you okay?"
"Um... I think so," Marie groaned as she picked herself up, only to see Lana, Mallow and Selene all staring in wide-eyed surprise at her.
"You just came flying out of a weird hole in the wall, you know," Mallow admitted. "Almost gave us a heart attack there. Are you... sure you're okay?"
To be continued...
Keyblade acquired!
Reverberating Abyss
Strength: 9
Magic: 2
Length: 155
Ability: Reaction Boost (Increases damage dealt using Reaction Commands by 50%. Equip more to increase the effect.)
Description: A keyblade representing a traveler from an abyss that stretches further than the world.
New summon acquired!
Mitsuri Kanroji, the Hashira of Love
Drive Gauge Points Required: 3
Anime of Origin: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc (2023)
Theme Song: "Kizuna no Kiseki" by MAN WITH A MISSION x milet
What They Do: Mitsuri excels at crowd control, her wide and sweeping attacks enabling her to keep enemies away from Nick and enabling them both to hit multiple enemies at once. Every Heartless killed while Mitsuri is active fills the Limit Gauge by 1/6th.
Summon Actions
Whip Katana Strike: Whenever Nick attacks with X, Mitsuri will strike as well, adding extra horizontal range to Nick's strikes.
Lovely Guard/Love Breathing Second Form: Love Fangs: Press [] to have Mitsuri wind her katana around Nick to defend against attacks from all angles. After deflecting an attack, press X to counter with Second Form: Love Pangs, hitting multiple times with a long-winding swing.
Heartbeat Pull/ Love Breathing First Form: Shivers of First Love: Lock onto an enemy with R1 and press /\ to have Mitsuri hook that enemy with her katana and pull it towards Nick. Press /\ again with good timing to have Mitsuri follow up with First Form: Shivers of First Love, dashing forward to attack with a single slash that winds through the target, hitting multiple areas with one slice.
Love Breathing Fifth Form: Swaying Love, Wildclaw: [FINISHER] When the Limit Gauge is completely full, select Wildclaw on the Command Menu to have both Nick and Mitsuri leap into the air before performing a somersault and releasing dozens of rapid, winding slashes from afar to trap nearby enemies in a tornado of slashes. Press /\ again before the Limit Gauge runs out to end the attack with a storm of hearts from Mitsuri that blows enemies in different directions.
On the next episode...
Nick: Okay, so now we're back in the mountains again, and I'm kinda already sick of winter.
Haruka: I'm more concerned with how... off this place feels.
Sophia: Yeah, I'm getting that strange feeling as well. What could it be?
Maylin: ...oh, my goodness, is that who I think it is?
Haruka: Hey, yeah, that's Kratos! ...but he looks different.
Maylin: How the heck long has it been?
Nick: You know that guy?
Maylin: Yeah, he's somebody we helped out on our own journeys before we met you. But... his own quest didn't end too well.
Haruka: But he's still here, right? I'm curious as to what he's been up to since the last time we saw him.
Nick: Then let's go and talk to him, next time on Kingdom Hearts: Key to Her Heart re:Verse II, "Stranger in a Strange Land"!
Nick, Maylin, Haruka and Sophia: May your hearts be your guiding key!