PHASE I [ 6 00 ] You wake up, and you're in a camp ground. The graphics aren't bad here, not really, but they're definitely last gen -- not the type of quality expected out of ViViD. On top of that, every once in awhile, the scenery sort of... glitches before going right back to normal as if nothing ever happened. If you're particularly unlucky, your own body parts might glitch out for a moment too, appearing as nothing more than broken code and then back to normal. Pretty weird, right? Oh well, don't worry about it. Totally harmless.
Glitches or not, you're still in a camp ground along with everyone else. There's a fire, there's some tents, some trees. Maybe some s'mores? You got it all. You're also not wearing what you were before. No, now you're wearing some sexy shorts, or maybe you've got a whip at your side, or maybe you've got a really classy fedora. And if you're one of those lucky few who have all three at once? Good for you! Try not to blind everyone with all that sexy.
Or, you know, the game will glitch out again and you'll be stuck wearing something else. That's definitely not as sexy.
PHASE II [ 730 ] If you decide to finally go exploring that crazy jungle, you'll find that you have a wide range of exploring options. Seems ViViD's taking a crack at their very own open world game -- this one modeled after your run of the mill adventure game. There are rivers to swim through (complete with alligators)! There are cliffs to scale (complete with angry birds ready to peck at your face)! There are even ravines to swing across on vines (just like Tarzan)!
Actually, the game is made to allow you to do just that -- those vines are all conveniently lined up for everyone to use them to swing across. Go on, it'll be fun. If you miss, you'll just lose a life, right?
Of course, if you overshoot your goal, you might run into one of the other glitches; the white space that you'll stumble into implies that you flew right off the world map and are now in unprogrammed space. Don't worry, you'll dissolve eventually, slowly but surely, and will reappear on the cliff so you can try again. There's no other way around that ravine either. Still, it's only a little frightening watching your body disappear piece by piece, right?
PHASE III [ 900 ] If you manage to scale one of those cliffs or swing across that ravine or cross that river, you may find yourself a chest. It's a treasure chest, and you don't even need a key to open it! Open it right up, a cute little jingle will play, and… nothing will be there.
Or the item will be there, hovering in the air, something amazing, fantastic, incredible that you've always dreamed of having and wanting, and -- you can't touch it. No matter what you try, it hovers right out of reach, and you can't interact with it at all.
Oh, and the cute little jingle is going to follow you around now, on constant loop.
PHASE IV [ xxxx ] So you died.
No big deal. Perhaps you got eaten by a crocodile. Perhaps you fell off a cliff. Perhaps another player stabbed you (that's rude). Either way, you've only lost one life and you have two more so it's nothing. After all, this is just a video game, right? It's fine.
Except it's really not fine.
You'll find yourself in a graveyard, tombstones all around you (maybe one of them has your name on it -- hope the epitaph doesn't suck). It's nighttime, it's foggy, and you're with the other players who have also lost a life. For a while, nothing will happen. The cold and quiet of the night will start to seep into your bones -- and then a figure appears. It can't be killed, it is silent and grim, and it does not speak.
Instead, it approaches each person there, reaches out and touches them on the forehead. Even you. All you can see for a long moment is corpses around you, the dead faces of everyone who had been with you in the ViViD level, flesh rotting away and faces caught in expressions of horror --
And then you're all dropped back into the camp ground together again. It's sunny and cheery and everything is fine, and you're down to two lives. Just, you know... don't lose the rest, okay?
BONUS [ xxxx ] You have a butler now, congratulations! He's following you around everywhere. He's an NPC, and not a very well-made one; sometimes his face glitches out, and he doesn't so much walk behind you as just… appears right next to you. He's handy though because if you ask him to, he'll pull up the start menu. You can sort out your inventory there and exit the game if you wish (except no matter how many times you press the "quit" button, you... can't).
Sometimes, though, that doesn't work out so well. Not the start menu but the butler himself. He might appear next to you on a narrow cliff face, knocking you right off the edge, or appear right on top of a hornet's nest, making them angry enough to go after, well, you. Maybe he accidentally summons a bear when all you were trying to do was ask him where the next dungeon is. That's unfortunate.
You can't seem to get rid of him either, no matter what you do. How annoying. Hopefully he doesn't cause you too much trouble because that bear... well, that bear's pretty angry.
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[it's the last thing roxas wants to hear right now—being compared so directly with sora again, and by riku at that.
but it's quick to see something has changed; before, riku used oblivion. this time, he has a keyblade of his own. just what is going on? it's plain to see from appearances alone that riku is different, but this—roxas doesn't know exactly what to make of it. though really, it matters very little. that snort, the smirk... all if it just serves to agitate roxas in a way that leaves him unable to control his anger.
whatever promises he made to terra have long since left his mind, because he can't hold back now. even though this has been a concern of his from the moment he realized he and riku could somehow meet again here, it's proving to be true. he has to fight riku again, and he can't hold back anything. attacks and movesets that have been on his mind and practiced since that day are ready to be tested. things he'll one day use against sora, but if it's what it takes now to win, he'll do it.
and that's why he wastes no time using a whirlwind swing to start the fight. there's little doubt though that while a lot of his power and technique was born from sora, his style of fighting is certainly his own. it's fast and aggressive, almost to the point of reckless and unforgiving.]
no subject
a joke that turned out to be the truth. so many things made that encounter bad, but denial of the truth for so long was one of the worst. add in denial of his own darkness and no surprise who the initial victor of their fight was. had it not been for said darkness, roxas would've probably gone off to try to free kingdom hearts. award for dumbest idea ever, truly. his stomach twists a little at the realization that had that come to pass, roxas might still be number 13 in the organization, number 13 in xehanort's organization. giving in to the darkness that time might've saved more than just sora.
dwelling on those details will have to wait. he can't distracted, not during this sort of battle. the counter to the attack is a quick dodge off to the side before unleashing a strike raid. he's holding back, making sure attacks hit hard, but not hard enough to really do much in the way of damage.]
no subject
roxas is fast and relentless, and he doesn't waste a lot of time with things like magic and cures. not when it's a fight that's desperate, like this one, at least. so even as the strike raid hits him and forces him to stagger a bit, losing his balance. he doesn't fall, though, but slams the ends of both keyblades into the ground to steady himself—and once he's able to do that, roxas will press forward again. he's quick to glide towards riku, a trail of light following him before his thrusts himself into the air to launch and aerial spin swing directly at his opponent.
he doesn't care what riku's reasons are, and it'll probably be a long time before he can see that ultimately, both in the last encounter and now, that riku is trying to do what's best for him—and that what's best for him is what's best for sora and everyone else that needs sora, too. right now though, roxas can't and won't see it that way.]
no subject
the keyblade returns within moments, right when that aerial spin begins. if it were anyone slower, that attack would've connected directly. riku, however, isn't anyone. riku also has the darkness at his disposal, darkness he no longer fears and can be used to speed up the exhaustion process. rather than dodge one way or another, he stands his ground and waits. the timing needs to be precise.
right at the moment the attack is about to collide is when he vanishes. shadow sliding results in reappearing directly behind the nobody and no time gets wasted in following up the movement with a dark break. three attacks in rapid succession get unleashed at roxas. even if one, two or three get blocked, the shockwave after has a high chance of landing and causing some damage.]
no subject
he can tell, both in the way riku manages to evade him and how quickly and hard he retaliates that this is not going to go the way their first fight did. he doesn't know what happened or how—but riku's a lot stronger now; he was fast then, but this is totally different. and as fast as roxas is, he can't block the entirety of that combo. dark break is a tough attack, after all.
this time, roxas is definitely staggered by it, letting out a groan that is equal parts pained and frustrated. its not enough to keep him down, but he does slam the ends of his keyblades into the ground again for support while he regains his bearings. and it doesn't last long, either. even if he still feels a bit winded by that attack, roxas can't and won't let up. it's not enough to push him into some stated of a forced attack or a move of desperation, but there's no time at all to idle. roxas knows that much.
so as soon as he can, he's on the move. he dashes towards riku, keyblades swinging continuously. the motions are quick and purposeful, and there's a lot of relentless strength that goes into them. he will wear down eventually, if he keeps moving with this sort of fervor, that's for sure.]
no subject
riku's definitely pleased by the fact the attack hits. a teeny bit of pride flares up at the fact that maybe that attack landed easier now than it would've during their last encounter. that's how it should be. to not have grown at all between now and then would've been really disappointing. maybe he'd have to go train alongside lea.
thankfully, no dealing with memorization guy will have to happen thanks to it landing. one successful strike doesn't mean victory, however. letting up at all with an opponent like roxas means possible defeat. losing won't happen, not today. with that in mind, riku readies himself to counter the incoming attack. the keyblades get blocked then parried off to one side. as soon as the contact ends, a thundaga gets fired off at close range.]
no subject
there was no way that riku was this adept before, not when he'd gone down so much easier the last time they fought. this is bad, and roxas knows it, because if riku's hits keep connecting like this, he's going to run out of energy. he hasn't made any attempt to heal himself yet—he briefly considers it, but decides he'd rather keep the pressure on riku. he doesn't want to lose.
he can't lose.
so once the stagger wears, and roxas is starting to slow down, he starts to pull new moves out of his arsenal. this time, it's a set of arranged beams—he calls the beams of light down quickly, sending the pillars in riku's direction before immediately sending a spot beam his way.]
no subject
the course of action isn't hard to figure out. first, dodge as many of the pillars as possible and then guard the spot beam. that's exactly what he does, managing to avoid the onslaught of pillars. one thing he failed to factor in, however, was the ground itself. when he lands after the dodge, the ground gives a teeny fraction. it's only a small hole, but enough to throw riku's game off and make the spot beam land full force.
ouch. roxas definitely hits harder than sora, that's for sure. better than sora doesn't mean better than riku, however, and riku plans on proving just that. the only other option is losing and that won't be happening today. if one of them's bringing out the big guns then the other's gonna return that favor. what's the attack of choice? dark splicer. fast, powerful and relentless, riku wastes no time in unleashing that attack.]