Video Game: Kingdom Hearts SOS: The Road To Light

The Christmastown and Halloweentown groups reunited before heading back to the gummi ship.

Elsewhere the Horseman and Blotimer found the small bug hivemind slithering away. "Where the heck have you been! I had to deal with clean up duty!" Oogie's voice echoed like a high pitched wine. "Now hurry up and help me fashion a new sac body! If we hurry we can-"
"Sorry bug boy, but I don't think we'll be doing much of anything..." Mortimer chuckled.
"WHAT?!" Ooogie's voice echoed.
"Your tactic was... not pragmatic. You let our prey get away," The horseman replied in new dark, raspy voice. "Your resources are now... obsolete."
"We're saying your small potatoes!" Blotimer gloated. "Playing checkers when yah should be playing chess."
"The Rat is correct..." the Horseman replied. "Your services are no longer required. Consider this your indefinate release." A dark portal opened behind them as he and blotimer stepped through,
\"You can't do this to me!" Oogie's voice echoed. "RRRRAAAAHHHHHH!" His cries echoed as the two left him behind. Lock, shock, and Barrel came into view, giggling as they collected his spare bugs crawling about.

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ELSEWHERE ABOARD THE SANCTUARY​

Alexander Xares punched the wall as he collected the things from his office aboard the sanctuary.
He lowered his buster sword from his mantle as he stabbed into the ground as he let out a fierce grunt.

From his doorway, Queen Sorenia was leaning against the wall, folding her arms as she raised an eyebrow. "I take it you're not takin your dismissal with grace?" she asked.
"My military resume never exactly boasted my etiquette when it comes to failure."
"I wouldn't exactly call your recent act of treason a failure," Sorenia shrugged.
"I wasn't talking about me!" he responded offensively. "It's that good-for-nothing daughter of mine. Her annoyances have continued disappoint me time and time again. Is it just every daugter's whim to defy her fauther's authority?" he groaned.
"I did," Sorenia scoffed.
"What do you want exactly? That McCracken woman is replacing me and I need to clear out within the hour"
Sorenia offered him a tablet she held. "It seems we have a comman ally. Someone hoping to put our full potential to good use."

Xares grabbed the tablet away from her and saw Sho's insignia on the e-mail.
"You want us to align ourselves with the same menace that helped remove me from office?
You wanted an army right? Mindless soldiers you can command without mutiny?"
Xares examined the e-mail further.
"Not to mention would give you ample opportunity to set your daughter straight," she smirked.
"Whatever family matter I have with that girl isn't reason enough to align myself with these... vigilantes of darkness. What about you? Are you considering their offer for an army as well?
"Let's just say there's a score that needs to be settled..."
Xares continued to skim over the e-mail. He was intrigued but still dismissive on the concept.
"A battle of light and darkness... Too black and white for my taste. I don't believe in morality... Only Strength. And the willingness to take what is rightfully mine."
Sorenia walked away from the doorway. "I'll meet you at the ship hangar in an hour."
"I never said accepted the offer," Xares scolded.
"Ye you did... besides, not like you're needed here anymore..
She walked away to leave him with his thoughts.
He looked back to the e-mail and read more carefully. "What the hell are nobodies?" he question, reading the document fully.

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CENTRAL HAVEN​

With everyone regrouped at the gummi ship, the SOS crew returned back to Central Haven with their gifts and rewards from the world.
All 9 of them returned safetly into the docking bay of the Central Haven ship hanger. DJ and Shiro approaching them as they returned.
"How'd everything go" DJ asked.

 

Karina crossed her arms trying to figure out what to say. "There was a lot of nonsense and some fat guy named Santa that wasn't that helpful. But he gave us stuff. I can't imagine what these gifts might be, but apparently there is one for all the good little girls and boys." Karina said sarcastically with a bitter tone in her voice. "Oh and that ink faced rat was there working with the bug guy." Karina tacked on at the end as well. She seemed impatient, ready to do something else rather than just stand around. The last world she had not found much interest in and now was looking for something else to do.​

 

"When at least that's one more of the bad guy roster," DJ sighed. "While you lot were away, Shiro and I paid a visit to Enchanted Dominion.... We found Princess Aurora, but no sign of Maleficent. We managed to contact the Disney Station and they took care of things from there. The villains may be moving faster than expected, so we've got a new training plan to help move your aura training along."
The rest of the SOS had finished leaving the shuttle and found Shiro with DJ waiting to great them.

"Time to increase your arsenal!" Shiro exclaimed as he strolled with a jaunted over towards the group. He activated a small switch which unveiled a wall full of melee and long range weapons. Bladed weapons, guns, bows galore. "Once you rest for the night, we'll be able to split you off into groups of two, training with weapons outside your keyblade! Here's just a taste of what you can expect!"

 

"Your keyblades may be the byproduct of the aura, but they aren't the source. When you left the wasteland, you were all left without keyblades for a short time."

Aux eyes darted to the floor as he tried not to think about it.

"If that happens again, we just wanna make sure you guys can handle yourself. I guess it's not particularly mandatory... but there's a higher chance of success when you learn to use various extensions of yourself."

"Young DJ is correct!" Shiro chimed in. HE walked over and began to wield one f the heavier buster swords, twirling it around a bit to showcase the fluidity of this training. "A weapon by definition is a means of gaining a tactical advantage in combat. The keyblade is a very powerful tool, but it never improves to improve your arsenal." He walked up to Kaida and AJ, towering over them. "Not every aura is powered by a blade. While the blade is mighty, i found strength in heavier weapons like the mighty hammer and axes. They helped me take my wind and earth auras to new heights!"
"Lea showed me how to use chakrams and it really helped boost my sound aura... Easier to keep rhythm than a sword."

Aux looked up to the wall of weapons. He looked at the heavier melee ones, but overall seemed disinterested. "And what if we don't need a weapon... what if I can just free hand it?"
"Then you could train with gauntlets for hand to hand prowess!" Shiro instructed.
"Cool, I'll do that.." He slumped passed everyone towards the main hall. "I'm going to bed..." Training didn't start until tomorrow anyways, so it didn't seem useful to stay behind. He just felt overall tired from everything.

DJ looked to the rest of them. "Look, if you wanna pass up on it, no one's forcing you. But if you want a bit of an extra edge, it couldn't hurt." He opened a small tablet from his pocket and went over the training regiment.

"Shiro will be training the warrior and mystic classes in the holo chamber. That mean Karina, Kel, Faust and AJ."
"No keyblade use! So if you have proficiency with another weapon, I suggest you use it," he nodded to AJ.
"I'll be taking the guardians and hunters off world. That means Kaida, Quill, Aux and Luna are with me. Space, time, light and darkness require a certain amount of exposure to the elements themselves." He turned his head over to Beuce. "Orion insisted you go with him for some kinda selected training tomorrow. Guess you're getting a new path," he shrugged. He turned his attention back to the rest. "We start early tomorrow, so spend the night as you like it."

 

Great new weapons and more training in that stupid arena she had been in before. Karina couldn't say that this was doing much to improve her mood as she stared at the weapons on the wall while Kaida questioned the point of it. In theory Karina knew that she should take up the same weapon that she had been using with the Black Coats, but that didn't sit well with her. Something about taking back anything from there felt wrong. She had failed in so many ways, but also found her way back to this group. In the end it was probably better to keep moving forward rather than looking back and trying to be that again, which she had never been good at.

"What is going to do damage fast?" Kasina mostly wondered to herself. When she spotted the scythe, Karina stared and decided that it looked fittingly savage. "I will take this one." Karina stated matter-of-factly. "Anyone care if I go practice?" Because she couldn't say she had ever used a scythe, but she wouldn't be caught dead fumbling around like a novice. She would rather get a good idea of how to use it on her own before she let anyone se her trying. ​

 

​

As Aux began to wander the dorm halls, he slowed down a bit, recalling vague memories of this place. He usually kept to himself most of the time, and kept his helmet on. Rigorous training regiments he gave himself. How did all that change? What happened that gave him more purpose then just getting stronger all the time.

While he was staring at the various canvases plastering the halls, Kaida showed up with a giant boomerang in hand. "What's that supposed to be?" he asked.
"Boomerang. You throw it and its supposed to return to you. The big one is for bludgeoning or something." Kaida explained almost instantly. She looked at the boomerang before shaking her head and asked, "How're you holding up?" Acknowledging the size of the boomerang, he nodded solemnly.
"Well I get why it's called teamwork now," Aux sighed. "Being part of a team is work... I got stuff done quicker when I was working alone. I was given an order and I carried it out. But now everything gets... messier because people need your help." He turned back to her. "Not that it's a bad thing I guess. How're you holding up?"

"Well you're supposed to delegate in teamwork. Have many people do smaller jobs to get the big job done faster." Kaida giggled before thinking about the other question and said, "I'm alright. Better than I have been, I suppose. I'm still not completely over what happened on that big ship."

'But what if I can do the job better?' he thought to himself. HE shook his head trying to focus back one what he wanted to ask her.
"Yeah a lot happened over the past year... " He thought back to his encounter in the underworld and everything that happened with Seiza. He didn't want to talk about it, but he didn't want to keep putting it off. "Hey, you haven't seen Sieza have you?"

Kaida looked confused at the question and said, "I think I would have said something by now had I seen him... but no." she crossed her arms and took a deep breath and said, "I admit I didn't give a thorough look. That's on me... hm..." her thoughts seemed distracted and she placed the boomerang against a wall and looked away and said, "Now that you say it, I'm not doing anything right now. I should give a proper look around." Aux didn't want her to search if it wasn't necessary. The underworld might have been playing tricks on him, but he only saw the deceased, as did the others. "Kaida, wait-" he grabbed her forearm trying to stop her from leaving. Kaida looked over at him when he stopped her and she turned to him and waited simply asking confused, "What?"

"I uhh..." he looked down and realized he was still holding her arm. He let go as he took a step back. "After No Heart took over, a lot of stuff might have happened and we'll..." he looked back up at her face. Made things much harder. "Umm... anyways... when I was in the underworld at Olympus, I saw the ghosts of dead enemies I faced in the past. And along with them I saw..." he took a deep breath as he tried not to break contact with her silver eyes. "Seiza..."

Kaida stared for a long moment before she let out a light chuckle, with a smile that wasn't quite a real smile and said, "Come on, Aux. You literally just asked me if I've seen him. Why would you ask that if you already knew he was dead?" That made things harder. "Because I thought maybe it was just an illusion but the longer I think about the more I keep thinking the worst. And every time I wanted to talk to you something came up like the jail in sanctuary, the aura training, halloweentown and now that I have a chance to breath I just-" he exhaled and inhaled slowly. "Needed to tell you..."

This whole conversation was torture. Kaida was quiet for a long time before saying, "Thank you... I appreciate you telling me..." she placed a hand to her chest and admitted, "I... had a feeling he was gone. Something in my heart told me that, but... I didn't actually know. I'm..." she took a deep breath and covered her eyes with her hand a minute and rubbed her eyes saying, "Sorry. I... I know you probably think I'm lame and you can make fun of me for it... ah..." she moved her hand and tears were pouring out her eyes and she said, "I don't really know what a dad is. But... but if I had to imagine what one was like, Seiza was a lot like one to me... um..." she tried to force a smile and said, "It's alright... we'll just try and move forward like we have been... I mean... if I dwell on all the what-ifs, I won't be able to do anything a-a-about it."

12:01 AM
Aux hesitated as he stepped forward a bit trying to comfort her. He had never seen her this sad and didn't want to say anything to make it worse. Instinctively, he put a hand on her shoulder. "You can slow down for the moments that matter," he said, trying to get a glimpse of her eyes through the tears. He wasn't really sure how to consol her without messing up so he wrapped his arm around her and buried her face to his chest. He only recently got to reconnect with his family and felt awful that kaida couldn't do the same with hers.

"He did an amazing job raising you... I've never met anyone so... y'know... brave." He said, patting the back of her hair. Kaida didn't know why, but the weird hugging only made her tears come out more. She didn't even say anything in response, she just instead found herself full on crying. Aux waited with her until she was all cried out.

 

Shiro looked to DJ for a brief moment before turning back to Luna. "Very well... But take Master Auxillius with you... If you miss out on training at least you'll be able to work off each other. And in these times of uncertainty, you should always have a partner to watch the rear!"
DJ sighed. "We really gotta work on how you word things.. She can take the Cruiser ship we left on in Sanctuary." He turned to Luna. "Make sure you can contact somebody here if things get too dicey out there."

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ELSEWHERE​

Maleficent walks down a long hall, dimly lit to an indigo hue. The hall lined with broken, ancient statues as Nequa lounged in her commanding seat.
"Did you bring it?"
Maleficent smirked. "But of course..." She held her staff tightly and summoned a sword from a green puff of smoke. The sword levitated in front of Nequa as she gripped it. "The sword of Truth..."
"It all went as you said.. Once Prince Phillip was captured, the three fairies set him free and he was given that sword. I faked my death allowing them to escape with aurora... But it cost us a princess of heart," she scowled. "Are you sure that blade worth it all?"
"Very much so. And as I said before... There are than enough candidates for princesses. You already have five in the chamber. Only two more. As for me?" She held the sword and stared at it momentarily to admire it. "I'm just one sword away before the final step."
Maeficent glared at Nequa impatiently. "And now for your end of the bargain... Which princesses of Heart remain for capture?"
She put the sword down and stood in front of the witch. "Way to ruin a moment, lady... We've kept an eye on the ones still within reach of your club. Eilonwy, Jasmine, Tiana and Luna are the last ones you have a hope of capturing still."
"Good... At least they'll be found within the worlds we will hav dominion over. Jafar can track down Jasmine. Facilier after Tiana, and the Horseman and I will retrieve Eilonwy..."
"And the princess in the SOS? The Princess-o-s?"
"I have no need for keyblade wirlders do deter what we've already come so far for.."
"Best o' luck to you long horns," Nequa chuckled, saluting her off.

Maleficent groaned. "What senseless humor you have from your time in that void. Turned you into quite a fool!" She walked through a dark corridor to leave Nequa sitting back down with the sword in hand. She looked into the reflection of the sword. "Takes a lotta sacrifice to gain a personality..." She stared into the sword as if she didn't recognize herself.

"Hey uhh, boss?!" Gilgamesh belted out.
"Can't you see I'm reflecting here?" she complained.
"No yeah I see that, big character development going on here. But here's the thing, I was talking to the cowboy, the french gal and teacher's pet back there and uhh... we're kinda bored... Like... really bored."

"And?"
"Can we go bother the SOS kids?"
"Why?"
"Because I need a Rival! Something to drive my character! Kilo wants to kill Kaida, Whiskey wants to kill Luna, and even Hotel has it out for that Kel kid! I need someone I want to kill!"
She sighed loudly before waving her hand to dismiss him. "Fine... go have fun I guess... good luck getting pass that security system..."
"Oh don't worry about that... I have plenty of plot bending ideas..."
The scene fades to black.










































"And Sho. I need Sho. Sho will be doing most of the plan."

 

"*Kupo*" Karina cursed as she wiped sweat from her brow. At this point it was the early hours of the morning and Karina still had refused to return to sleep. After leaving the group to train, she had waited a while, focusing on basic keyblade training until she was sure that everyone had gone to bed and no one was looking for her. Now she held the top heavy weapon in her hand, the blade resting against the ground as she struggled to catch her breath. For the most part her attempts at using a scythe were sloppy when they even hit. Having no experience with such a weapon left Karina having to figure it out on her own. At first she had tried to chop down with the blade, kind of like you would with an axe, but it would throw her off balance. Having the scythe so long and the weight distribution, she had caught her chest on the handle several times stumbling forward. It took well over an hour before Karina decided that it was not the way to use such a weapon.

Slowly standing up properly and looking at where the tip of the blade was embedded in the floor beside the striking dummy, Karina knew there had to be another method. Even though her arms were sore and she was tired, she still managed to heave the weapon back up so it rested on her shoulder for a moment. It was becoming clear what it meant when it was said, strength meant nothing if you didn't know how to use it. She had heard that phrase many times back home, but using a keyblade had always come easy. This however didn't. This was strange and even with her vast strength trying to pick up and swing the scythe again was getting hard. She needed a different plan, a different approach. Something more accurate. Adjusting her grip once again, Karina tried a different approach. She wasn't going to stop until she figured it out, no matter how long that would take. ​