Kingdom Hearts: Destati

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Kurix

I can't find what you meant by that quote you PM'ed me, I doubt it's the music one, and the only one I can find on Wikipedia is one in 1966. Is that the one?

And If you Could Read My Mind? The thirty second sample in the iTunes Store (in terms of the music, not neccesarily the lyrics) doesn't sound.....suited (putting it politely) to the characters of Aloz the Dark and Phantasm. Not questioning your taste in music Merlin, but seriously, a FOLK SONG for both Aloz and Phantasm?

on that quote you are inquiring about, see my current 'location' on the panel next to this post. as for the timeline you found, its just two years off (it was 5 seasons long).

as for the song, its possible there is misinterpretation here. as far as im aware, If you could read my mind was not a folk song. it was written by a Canadian artist, Gordon Lightfoot. i picked up a liking for it after listening it in my dads car when we were driving.

it could simply be a matter of interpretation on the song itself. i interperate it as a sort of melancholy song, in which case it fits both perfectly (Aloz will be explained in more detail in near future). the lyrics probably help (a video can be found here that gives the full song). more the first half that inspires me with those two.

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Zero Inferno]

oh, okay the Twilight Zone, Iv'e heard of it a fair bit but have never read or looked into it. Iv'e aqlso got a PM and an email waiting for you.

Gues What: I'm getting very good at pressing the send button too quickly. Like, Reeeeaally good!

And BTW Merlin, I don't check my email very often. But, considering this change of events, i might actually read it on more than a once-a-fortnite basis!

What kind of sword is Xando's Excalibur? Is it just a longsword like in the Arthurian Mythos?

And One more thing Merlin, do you mind if I add you to my Buddy List?

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Kurix

What kind of sword is Xando's Excalibur? Is it just a longsword like in the Arthurian Mythos?

And One more thing Merlin, do you mind if I add you to my Buddy List?

ah yes, Xcalibur. good ol Xando's magic sword. i would say its about as long as a longsword but slightly wider than the norm.

and yes, go right ahead and add me.

and for the enjoyment of all, the closing chapter of the Get Smart world...
****************

Chapter 4
Meeting Mr. Big

At the moment, KAOS headquarters was empty, save for two people. One was the insidious Conrad Siegfried the Malevolent, known simply as Siegfried; one was KAOS’s top employee, and his assistant, Shtaker. Siegfried was a German man who had crossed paths with Maxwell Smart on several occasions. Shtaker was dimwitted, but loyal

At the moment, Siegfried and Shtaker were discussing plans for capturing Smart and the Keyblade Wielding kids, who were threatening to discover their location.

“I just got a call from ze leader,” Siegfried said in his exaggerated German accent, “He vont’s us to make zure that Shmart and those brats don’t interfere with ze plan. Shmart must be eradicated!”

“How will we do it, Siegfried?” Shtaker asked, “Can we shoot them with machine guns? I could do it, Siegfried!”

Shtaker, childish as he was, proceeded to make several machine gun type sounds, “du- du- du- du- du- du- du- du- du- du- du- du…”

“SHTAKER!” Siegfried yelled, immediately silencing the aide, “Zis is KAOS! Ve don’t ‘du-du’ here!”

Siegfried grinned evilly, a plan forming in his mind. “Now, zis is vat ve are going to do…”
-----------------
“Isn’t there anyway we can lose them?” Sora yelled. The day after the incident at Satan Place, Max was about to drive them to CONTROL Headquarters to brief the Chief on their latest developments when a mysterious black car pulled around the corner and began shooting at them. The four of them had dived into Smart’s car and Max began attempting to evade the car while trying to contact CONTROL on the phone in his steering wheel. This was not very easy to do while driving, as he kept dialing the operator when turning.

“Kairi!” Smart shouted, “Pull out the plug on my cigarette lighter and throw it at them!”

Kairi obliged, and Smart proceeded to explain how the cigarette lighter cap was actually a hand grenade. Moments later, a loud bang could be heard, and Sora looked over the rear of the car.

“Missed it by that much,” Sora commented, holding two fingers about an inch apart. Suddenly, Smart turned a sharp corner, driving off the main road and into a construction area. As soon as the black car turned the corner, Maxwell punched the horn with all his might.

Two things happened at that point. First, the horn sounded, as per a normal car. Secondly, the machine gun concealed in the exhaust pipes activated, sending a number of bullets into the car behind it, blasting the wheels apart and sending the car out of control.

“I can get this thing hunk of metal to shoot machine guns out the back,” Smart commented, “but I can’t get it to play the darn radio.”

Now that they had lost the car, likely a welcoming committee from KAOS, Smart pulled over and pulled out his shoephone.

“Hello, this is Smart,” Max said, “No, SMART.” Max then rolled his eyes and said, “S as in stupendous, M as in marvelous, A as in… yes, Smart. Who is this? I didn’t get that, maybe you could spell it?”

Max then repeated what the other end said, “C as in Charlie, H as in Harry, I as in Chief… oh Chief, is that you? Anyway, Chief, you’ll never guess what happed to us today…”

“Wait a minute, 86,” the Chief said on the other end, “We think KAOS may have tapped our communications, don’t divulge anything over the phone.”

“Well where can we talk?” Smart asked.

“Well the safest place would be in a jet at 30,000 feet…”
----------
VROOOOOOOM!

“Chief,” the pilot said, “We are now hovering at 30,000 feet.”

“Alright, Max,” the Chief said, “I want to hear your report.”

“Well, we tailed the KAOS agent and…”

VROOOOOOOM!

“You found Harvey Satan?” the Chief exclaimed.

“Not only him,” Sora said, “but the Craw…”

VROOOOOOOM!

“So another informant was killed?” the Chief asked.

“Yes,” Kairi replied, “and today we were…”

VROOOOOOOM!

“KAOS is on to us already?” the Chief realized.

“It seems so,” Riku said.

“That would explain why…”

VROOOOOOOM!

“Siegfried’s asking to meet?” Smart shouted, “About what? Where?”

“He wanted to talk about how to exchange the money, but it’s probably just a trap. Under the
circumstances I can’t…”

VROOOOOOOM!

“What are you talking about, Chief?” Smart replied, “We have to meet with him. I don’t have any more leads on this case.”

“Alright, Max,” the Chief gave in, “but if we get killed, you’re fired.”
--------------
Sora, Riku, Kairi and Max stood outside of Municipal Park, where they were supposed to meet with Siegfried. It was a quarter to midnight, the designated time, when suddenly a little old lady walked by. Smart immediately stopped her and proceeded to pull of the wig. Sure enough, the little old lady was actually a mustached German man, Siegfried.

“Good-even-ing, Shmart,” Siegfried said, clicking his heels in a German salute. Out of mutual respect, Smart mimicked the salute, and a horrible ringing sound filled the air.

“Vat vas zat?” Siegfried asked.

“I think I just broke my shoephone,” Max explained.

“Vell zen,” Siegfried began, “shall we get started, Shmart?”

“Wait a minute, Siegfried,” Sora said, “are you armed?”

“Of course not,” Siegfried said. At that precise moment, a gun fell out of his trench coat and clattered on the ground.

“How could you, Siegfried?” Smart said, “bringing a gun to a peaceful meeting.” At that moment, a gun fell out of Smart’s coat. “of all the inconsiderate things,” and another gun fell, “you could do.” Two more fell out.

“I suggest we check all weapons,” Siegfried said. The four of them sat on a nearby bench and proceeded to take out all weapons.

“My revolver,” Smart said, taking his gun out of a pocket.

“My revolver,” Siegfried replied.

“My machine-pistol.”

“My machine-pistol.”

“My brass knuckles.”

“My brass knuckles.”

“My MK21000,” Smart said, pulling out a strange device with a square chamber inside.

“I have never seen something like zis,” Siegfried said, then gestured with his hands, “May I?”

“Be my guest,” Smart said, handing the device to Siegfried, “it fires Dum-Dum bullets. One bullet can blow a man’s head off.”

“Nasty,” Siegfried, “CONTROL issue?”

“No, CONTROL would never issue anything so vile,” Smart said, “I got it from a children’s toy manufacturing company. I had to have it imported… from Pittsburg.”

“Now then, to business,” Siegfried replied, putting the MK21000 down, “Our leader is not happy vith you being assigned to stop us. So, we have decreased the deadline to vun hour from now.”

Smart looked at the mess at their feet, and then said, “Better make it two. It’s going to take an hour for us to pick up all this junk.”

“Oh, you vont be needing it, Shmart,” Siegfried said. At that precise moment, Shtaker jumped out of the nearby bushes, gun in hand. “Hand’s Up!” Siegfried yelled.
--------
Hours later, Sora, Riku, Kairi, and Max found themselves inside an abandoned building, which was actually KAOS headquarters.

“So, Siegfried,” Smart said, “when do we get to meet your mysterious leader?”

“Right now, Mr. Smart,” said a new voice, and the leader of KAOS, Mr. Big, walked down the stairs into the basement.

“So you’re Mr. Big,” Max said, observing their host.

“So you’re Maxwell Smart, Agent 86,” the 3-foot dwarf replied.

“I’ve heard much about you, Mr. Smart.” Mr. Big commented, “You have quite the reputation for foiling KAOS’s plans. But ends here. You’ve lost.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Mr. Big,” Max replied, “For at this very moment, this building is being surrounded by 100 cops with Doberman Pinchers. Would you believe it? 100 cops.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Mr. Big replied calmly.

Silence ensued, then Smart finally said, “Would you believe… 10 security guards and a bloodhound?”

“I don’t think so.”

“…How about a boy scout with rabies?”

Mr. Big smiled, “How amusing, Mr. Smart, but pointless. CONTROL has no idea where you are. You have no hope. Now, if you please, put your hands up.”

Max put his hands up, and Shtaker handcuffed him to the wall. Mr. Big, Shtaker, and Siegfried left the room, leaving the four chained heroes to await their fate. Or so they thought.
Max pulled his hands from under his coat and undid the buttons, leaving the coat and the fake hands attached to it hanging on the wall as he freed the others.

“Well, I’m glad I brought the Inflato Coat,” Smart commented, “But how are we going to get out of here and get help?”

“We’ll have to wing it,” Sora said, “There’s no way out from here.”

The four of them proceeded to through the building undetected. As they passed Mr. Big’s office, Sora caught a few sentences of the conversation inside.

“So, Aloz,” Mr. Big’s voice said, “tell me exactly how these Heartless choose who to serve?”
So Aloz was how KAOS knew about the Heartless! they proceeded to sneak farther along, but suddenly a cloaked figure appeared in their way, one Sora knew all too well.

“What do you want,” Riku whispered through clenched teeth.

14 smiled, “Revenge.”
---------------
“So as long as your heart is strong,” Aloz explained, “the Heartless will obey you. But if your heart should grow weak, at any moment, the Heartless will turn against you and devour it.”

“I see,” Mr. Big replied, “But then…”

Suddenly, the door to Mr. Big’s office vanished, and 14, her black daggers held ready, walked in. Aloz narrowed his eyes and spoke with disdain, “You…”

“It’s been too long, Aloz,” the 14th member mocked, “It’s been, what? 60 years or so? How’ve you been?”

Aloz didn’t reply with words, instead choosing to allow his blade to do the talking. When Sora and the others entered the room, the two were well into combat, dancing around each other with expertise. Watching the fight, trying to get around it, was Mr. Big. Upon seeing them, Big ran back towards the window, opening it up wide.

“don’t be an idiot, Big,” Smart shouted, “We’re close to five stories up.”

“Directly below this window is a KAOS truck,” Mr. Big shouted, “Filled with bed mattresses to cushion the fall. The driver is at the ready, and will leave as soon as I get in.” His speech given, Mr. Big jumped out the window to the car below.

Meanwhile, 14 was losing the battle. Though she possessed the power to destroy matter at will, Aloz continued to use his shapshifting abilities to change his state of matter, and the blasts kept going right through him. 14 gritted her teeth and conjured up a Dark Corridor, intending to continue the battle another day. Aloz turned to Sora and smiled, before turning into vapor and dissipating. His smile was the last thing to go.

Smart ran over to the window to check on Mr. Big. It wasn’t a pretty sight; he barely missed the truck. However, KAOS was stopped for now, so Max returned to CONTROL to give his final report. Sora, Riku and Kairi, however, returned to the Gummi ship, having already said their goodbyes to the secret agent.

Little did they know that a terrible secret awaited them back at Radiant Garden. That secret would change everything they knew about the war they were in. and it would be a change for the worse.
*******88
not exactly my best chapter, but i could not think of how to end the Get Smart world (good series, but im just not a comedy writer). next chapter, we will see the fruit of the Trenchcoat Brigade's searching...

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Zero Inferno]

Rrrrrrr! Merlin, sneaky, still concealing parts of the conversation.

There's a PM and an Email waiting for you from me, read the PM first, then the Email. Good chapter as always, and the gadgets and guns! I've always loved that: someone tells him to drop all his weapons, and he's there pulling out like 20 guns!

An interesting finish to the Get Smart world. 60 Years? Wow the timeline goes bak further than the simple decade covered with TAV in BBS

[Xuan]

This is actually a chapter I enjoyed and LOLed all the way, nice one!

100 cops?

10 security guards and a blood hound?

1 boy scout with rabies?

Dam nice!

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Xuan

This is actually a chapter I enjoyed and LOLed all the way, nice one!

100 cops?

10 security guards and a blood hound?

1 boy scout with rabies?

Dam nice!

ah yes, teh old would you beleieve (insert rediculous thing here) trick (that itself was a gag, "the old____ trick). it was one of the recuring things in Get Smart and one of my favorite gags. they had several variations of that.
"Commander, i jog 100 miles every day, would you beleive it? 100 miles."
"i find that hard to beleive"
"Woud you beleive... 50?"
"I dont think so."
"How about two pushups and a deep breath?"

oh, good times. good times...

EDIT:

Kurix: well im not going to leave you in the dark about Aloz's past...

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Zero Inferno]

I've just been playing MegaMan ZX Advent on my DS Lite, and early on the main character is introduced to two characters who call themselves Pandora and Prometheus. And this made me remember the Pandora and Prometheus from Destati, and now I am wondering where you got them from to put in Destati

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Kurix

I've just been playing MegaMan ZX Advent on my DS Lite, and early on the main character is introduced to two characters who call themselves Pandora and Prometheus. And this made me remember the Pandora and Prometheus from Destati, and now I am wondering where you got them from to put in Destati

i got both of them from that exact game and its prequel, Megaman ZX. basically i took them, rewrote their past and motives, and we have the pair of villains we know and loath as the Prometheus and Pandora of Destati.

on a side note, inspiration from late last night has led me to finish the next chapter of Destati early. are you ready to learn of Aloz's past?

NOTE: part of the inspiration for Aloz's past came from an episode of The Twilight Zone, called "In His Image."
************

Chapter 5
ENDLESS

When Sora, Riku and Kairi left the Gummi ship, they found Spoiler waiting for them.

“Phantasm’s discovered something,” she said, already starting to walk toward the castle, “we’ve been waiting for you.”

“What is it?” Kairi asked, “What did he find?”

“The truth,” Spoiler replied cryptically, and said no more during the walk. When they arrived, Ansem’s study was filled with Mickey, Leon, Yuffie, Merlin, Ansem, Yen Sid, Athos, Phantasm, Terra, and…

“Axel?” Sora gasped as soon as he spotted the crimson haired rouge.

“Later,” Axel said, answering Sora’s unspoken question.

“We are all here,” Phantasm muttered, his echoing voice carrying throughout the room, “Now then, let us begin. We found this data disk in an old, abandoned lab on this world. It contains quite a bit information on Project: ENDLESS… and it was written by Ansem.”

“WHAT?” Ansem roared in outrage, “Are you saying I have something to do with that monster, Aloz?”

“Indirectly,” Phantasm replied, “It is Ansem, but it is not Ansem. Watch and you will see for yourself.”

Phantasm walked over to the computer inserted the disk. After the program loaded, Phantasm started up the first video he saw. Immediately, a picture of an elderly man with blond-gray hair appeared, and Ansem was struck breathless.

“My name is Ansem,” the man said, “and I am leaving this data file as a warning to any who would be foolish enough to explore the darkness in the heart…”

“It’s him…” Ansem muttered aloud, “It’s my grandfather…”

“… is being transported to my castle, where it will be safe in a secret underground room. I am transporting it because it’s no longer safe here.”

“I based my original experiment on a young boy of about 15 years of age…but it was damaged in extraordinary conditions. Me and my partner in science, Xehanort…”

“But my grandfather died almost 13 years ago,” Ansem said, “when did he…”

“13 years ago,” Terra commented, “not long before his death.”

“…the creation and give it a new body, this one made in the image of a 15 year old boy named…”

Terra suddenly scowled and glanced over to Spoiler, who seemed uncomfortable for some strange reason.

“This boy was quite extraordinary… wield a powerful weapon known as the Keyblade. But for reasons I cannot explain, something went horribly wrong in the transfer process. As we transferred the soul and heart … a pulse of energy originated from the heart. This pulse fried all of our computers in the room, and the thing went free … finally settling down and swerving into the body we had created for it. I thought the worst of it was over. My god, I was so wrong.”

“That was Aloz, wasn’t it?” Sora asked.

“Yes,” Phantasm replied.

“After entering the body, the being opened its piercing golden eyes and looked as us with disdain. It released another shockwave… When we awoke, the being was long gone, and so was Xehanort … it wasn’t long before I suspected the worst. Somehow, Xehanort had been corrupted by the darkness we were experimenting with, either due to the incident in the lab or perhaps sometime before.”

“Are you trying to tell me he wasn’t always bad?” Riku said, sarcasm in his voice, “that seems a little hard to believe.”

“There is no good and bad,” Phantasm quoted, “but thinking makes it so.”

“…I named the being Aloz the Dark…In his last act of cruelty, he unleashed one final blast of destructive energy. I had managed to take cover behind a table…I found the lab completely destroyed, and there was no trace of…”

“Who was it?” Sora asked.

“The disk is corrupt,” Spoiler said quickly, “We can’t tell.”

“By now, Aloz is locked away deep beneath my castle…I am not worried about Xehanort releasing Aloz, as he feared that thing almost as much as I do. This report marks the premature conclusion of Project: ENDLESS, where we desired to create the ultimate life form. I am sorry to say, we succeeded.”

“That’s all?” Kairi asked.

“That was merely the prelude,” Phantasm said, opening another file.

“It only gets better from here,” Axel said, his voiced seeping with sarcasm.

Phantasm opened up another document, this one a Word Document, and began to read it aloud.
-------------------

Project: ENDLESS
An attempt to create the ultimate life form, and
study the heart in the process

It all began when I met a young traveler, no older than his teens. This man, despite his young age, had a brilliant mind on his shoulders. We quickly became fast friends during our conversation about the workings of the heart. One day, he mused about how it might be possible to advance our knowledge on the heart with the creation of an artificial being.

I knew of the process of creating Morphs, but was entirely against sacrifice of a life for their creation. My new friend, Xehanort, decided to try to find a way to create such a being without the needed material of a human sacrifice. I agreed that such a method would be acceptable and we began our work. The easiest way to do this would be to make a mechanical body for him. Not a robot; a duplicate.

We had many failures, what experiment doesn’t, but in time, we successfully created a being that was human in every imaginable way (and I am not ashamed to say that more than a little luck helped). He could feel emotions with the same complexity as a normal human, he could retain memories, he had ambitions, and he could fall in love. However, I doubted he had a soul; he was only a machine after all.

In retrospect, I realize I had unconsciously molded his personality after Xehanort, and he quickly developed an inquisitive mind. Against the warnings of Xehanort, I sort of adopted our creation as a second son, my firstborn long gone off to a university. Believing the project to be a success, Xehanort and me parted ways, and he left to explore ‘uncharted lands.’

At first, all was well. But then, something happened. Our young creation, which we named Aloz, fell in love with one of the village girls. A young, beautiful girl with hair the color of lemons and eyes like a pristine lake. However, I am sorry to say, the beauty was only skin-deep. Underneath the deceiving layer of loveliness was a deceptive, sadistic girl with no compassion, no capability for love. I must say, she broke his heart when he learned the truth. That was where everything went wrong.

Something…happened. I can think of no other word for it, but the memory of witnessing it firsthand will forever chill me to the core. Something strange happened to Aloz that day. Put simply, he snapped, he went insane. When he learned of her deception, his eyes changed from their blueish tint to a blood red, and then to an inhuman gold color. Tendrils of… something, darkness maybe, seemed to seep out of him.

He charged at her, intending to kill her, but… I don’t know how to describe it. He plowed into one of my tables, full of various chemicals, including the results of one of Xehanort’s pet projects when he was here: he called it liquid darkness. They broke right through the table, chemicals spilling all over them. When I got to them, Aloz staggered to his feet and pushed me back with more strength than he should have possessed.

He grabbed the girl by the collar of her shirt and pulled her off her feet. With his free hand, he grabbed a shard of broken glass, one from that bottle of liquid darkness, and stabbed her in the heart. He threw her aside, like a broken toy, and observed the mess around him. He looked at me, his now emotionless eyes starring into my fearful ones, and he moved toward me. I have no doubt in my mind he intended to kill me.

Then, somehow, the girl stood up. Somehow, she had survived the wound. But something wasn’t right, I didn’t notice it at the time, but her skin had taken a darker tone. She grabbed the glass, pulled it out of her chest, and snuck up behind Aloz. I could see it, I could see the glass shard somehow transform into a dagger, blacker than night. She walked up behind Aloz, and stabbed him in his broken heart.

“An eye for an eye,” she whispered into his ear as he died, “and a heart for a heart.”
She pulled the dagger out of Aloz and vanished in some sort of portal. I watched the light drain out of Aloz’s eyes, and for a brief moment before that light vanished completely, I saw the sanity return to his eyes.

The next time Xehanort visited me, I told him what had happened. We mutually decided that the project was a failure. He inquired whether I wanted to resume the project and try again, but I declined. In my opinion, there will always be something about the heart we wont know in our heads, and it was that ignorance that caused the our failure.

Aloz didn’t have something that most people do, but what that was I could only guess. It could be that Aloz didn’t have that one thing that keeps a normal person from killing. That one psychological item that makes a normal person unable to kill, no matter what (morals or powerful emotions like love excluded). Coupled with the extraordinary circumstances, this is probably the most likely reason why he snapped.

Despite my lack of assistance, Xehanort continued to study the heart, intending to recreate Aloz. It took him almost 50 years, but he eventually came close enough to success to contact me and take me to his secret underground lab. I was hesitant at first, but he assured me he had removed the source of the problem from last time.

It seems he had even managed to save a copy of the first Aloz’s heart and mind, so our new Aloz would have the memories of the first one. He had even created a new mechanical body, even more lifelike than the original, with the major parts placed in the locations and approximately the same size as human organs.

Something seemed different about Xehanort, but at the time, I simply guessed it was because I hadn’t seen him in 50 years, and thought no more of it. We placed the container that held Aloz’s heart, and proceeded to download it into the new body.

That was when things went wrong. Somehow, the energy in his heart surged, and Aloz’s heart broke free, transformed into a ball of energy, and flew wildly around the room, shooting off more blasts as it did. It finally settled and absorbed itself into the body we created, and it awoke. Then I saw the eyes, those golden eyes exactly like the ones I stared into so many years ago, eyes full of madness. The being unleashed another blast of energy, and we both were sent flying. Before consciousness escaped me, I saw him transform into a black liquid and slither away.

When I awoke, Xehanort was gone. At first, I had thought he was off to search for Aloz, but a few days later, I received a rude awakening. A young man, perhaps in his late teens, asked me about Xehanort. Once I told him my tale, he nodded his head, and gave me the dire news.

Xehanort, or “Master Xehanort” as he called himself, was up to something. He had a plan to capture and take control of something called Kingdom Hearts, the source of all hearts. It seems his experiments were simply so he could learn more about the darkness in the heart, not to reactivate Project: ENDLESS. From what I gathered from the young man, Xehanort had made Aloz’s new body based on a friend of the man, a young Keyblade wielder named Ven. Why exactly he chose Ven, I have no idea.

When he learned of Aloz, he nodded and vanished soon afterward. A few days later, I saw him again, an unconscious Aloz next to him.

“Xehanort was using him,” he said, “calling him an ‘apprentice.’ Do with him what you will, old man.”

The man departed soon afterward, and I never saw him again. I did, however, meet one of his friends: a young woman, about 18 or so, named Aqua. I received even more dire news: Ven was dying, frozen in ice by Xehanort, and the other man was already dead. It seems that Xehanort had also vanished, though I will never know if he died or simply went into hiding.

I did what I could for young Ven, but all too soon, he passed away. For a moment, I thought of placing his heart in the body Aloz was currently using, but I drove that idea out of my mind. There were a million things that could go wrong, and I didn’t want to give the poor girl any false hope; it would have been beyond cruel, beyond heartless.

Upon burying Ven, the girl stayed with me for some time. I told her of Aloz, of Xehanort, and of everything that had gone wrong. I had placed Aloz in suspended animation while I decided what to do with him, and finally I made up my mind. I would seal him away, so he could not cause any more trouble to the world. Combining Aqua’s skill with magic with my technological expertise, we created a spherical contraption that would hold Aloz as a prison.

But things didn’t go exactly as planned. In the middle of the process, Aloz awoke, and struggled against the pull. However, the magic Aqua had placed on it was strong, and Aloz could not break free. In his last act before completely being sealed, he unleashed a blast of energy unlike anything I had ever seen before. I ducked under the table in time, but Aqua was not so lucky. The wave of energy sent her flying, and when it subsided, I found no trace of her save for her broken helmet. I never learned of her fate.

Aloz is hidden now, hidden in a secret room beneath the castle. My grandson, who bears my name, resides there as king of the Radiant Garden; I pray he doesn’t discover that room, and doesn’t learn of my folly. But so many questions remained unanswered. But there is one that haunts me most of all…

I still monitor Aloz’s heart from time to time, monitoring what his heart is currently feeling. Despite all the madness, and the crushed heart he lives with, he still carries a single emotion: depression. Could he still feel emotions, despite his broken fake-heart? Could he still be human after all? But I know he cannot be human. They say the gods created humans, not humans created humans. But if that statement is true, then who, or what, is Aloz? And who or what am I?

I have often spent my nights wondering whether I may have been more successful with Project: ENDLESS than I thought. Physically, he was a machine, just like the computer I type this report on or the watch on my wrist. But Maybe Aloz was human after all. Maybe, just maybe, I was able to give him a heart and soul after all. Could it be? Could it be he had a soul after all? A soul of silicon, but a soul nonetheless.
---------
The words in the report by Ansem’s grandfather haunted Sora. It was nighttime now, long after Phantasm finished going through the data disk. But Sora still could not sleep. The surprisingly tragic past behind the insanity and monstrosity that was Aloz the Dark touched him; it had touched all three of them. Kairi was still downstairs, staring into empty space, and Riku was out on the balcony, lost in thought. For his own part, Sora was wondering the castle courtyard.

“It’s kinda funny, actually.”

Sora turned and Axel was there, walking right beside him.

“What do you mean?” Sora asked.

“You go on thinking the world is so simple: there’s good and there’s evil,” Axel reasoned, “and you never think otherwise. And at some point, you realize that the world isn’t as black and white as that. You realize there’s a whole gray area in between the two extremes, and most ordinary people fall within that shade of grey. You realize that even the most caring person might have to do an atrocious act, or that an ‘evil’ person might actually be doing something he thinks is for the betterment of mankind.”

Axel continued, “And if we start talking about tragic, then things get even more complicated. The villain who destroys a world because of the death of a loved one, the one who turns to darkness in order to save someone, only to fail in the latter. The world’s a tragic place, and isn’t as simple as we would like to believe.”

Sora nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”

“I suppose you want to know, huh?” Axel asked suddenly, “About how I can be here?”

“The last I saw you,” Sora said, “you faded back into nothing.”

“Most Nobodies, when they ‘die,’ simply disappear, as if they never existed. But somehow, Roxas, that is you, was different. He made me feel like I had a heart. I don’t exactly understand it myself, but the next thing I knew after that battle, I woke up in Twilight Town. Phantasm found me there, not long before it was destroyed. He gathered Spoiler and me together, and we formed what I like to call the Trench Coat Brigade. Our job was to help you and your friends, specifically by learning what we could about Aloz the Dark.”

“And what about Spoiler and Phantasm, what are their stories?”

Axel shook his head, “those aren’t my stories to tell, I won’t dishonor them otherwise. But I will say this much about Phantasm. Imagine a place far from here, a kingdom that sleeps. Children make groans that are never diminished, nor can they hope. Now then, a man is divided. He faces a tragedy and is sent away.”

“Phantasm?”

“Phantasm,” Axel nodded, and turned to a nearby cliff, “and to travel at night from destruction is his other burden. To bear every fear is his punishment, which he must endure throughout time and from it ascend.”

“You won’t give me any more than that?” Sora guessed.

“If Phantasm knew I gave you that much, he would kill me.”
---------
Far above, on the cliff Axel glanced at, Phantasm sat cross-legged, his mask shifted slightly so that his mouth was visible. In his mouth was the end of an instrument and in his fingers was the body of it. With it, he played his melody of sadness and nostalgia. He played that same melody he had played years ago, at the funeral. It was a melody of sadness; it was a melody of tragedy. Moreover, it was the melody of his life.
----------
Spoiler strolled through the empty hallways of the castle. She sighed at the thought of her best friend, resurfaced due to the ‘presentation’ that day. She didn’t falter or give any indication when she noticed the person following her.

“It’s you, isn’t it?” the figure said.

Spoiler turned and nodded, then removed the bandana and blindfold on her head. She let them fall to the floor, and removed her hood.

“You’re alive…” the figure gasped, stunned by the shock.

Spoiler gave a sad smile at the figure. “Hello, old friend.”
*****************

many mysteries have been revealed now, but near just as many have popped up. we know the story of Aloz's past, we know the identity of one of the Trench Coat Brigade, and we know the truth behind Project: ENDLESS. But there is still so much to learn, and i am afraid that Sora, Riku and Kairi still understand so little...

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Zero Inferno]

Yes! One of my favourite quotes, that's another one I'll be putting in mine Merlin.
'There is no Good or Evil, thinkin makes it so' - William Shakespeare.

Heh, the girl with lemon hair and lake blue eye's is 14's somebody. No offence, it's that obvious after you said that 14's and Aloz knew each other from 60 years back.

*Gasps for several seconds*! "Old Friend"! Pulls of the blindfold and bandana! Now that the shock has subsided... Hmmm
A) It is the same girl from 60 years ago, and 14 exists at the same time. like how Namine and Kairi existed.
or
B) It is 14, and she is tricking Axel and Phantasm, and somehow Axel doesn't know.

Cliffhangers Again! at least you didn't do the 'missing-parts-of-a-report' thing again. IT keeps us guessing, but boy it can be annoying, espcially when you have to read through a whole report two or three times (Project: ENDLESS Report)

Heh, 'There is so very much to learn, you understand so little. One who knows nothing can understand nothing.' - Xehanort's Heartless.

And I can give you the prologue and first FOUR chapters, not the First three, Merlin

[Xuan]

Not really, I'm guessing that the Spoiler is Aqua...

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Kurix

Yes! One of my favourite quotes, that's another one I'll be putting in mine Merlin.
'There is no Good or Evil, thinkin makes it so' - William Shakespeare.

Heh, the girl with lemon hair and lake blue eye's is 14's somebody. No offence, it's that obvious after you said that 14's and Aloz knew each other from 60 years back.

*Gasps for several seconds*! "Old Friend"! Pulls of the blindfold and bandana! Now that the shock has subsided... Hmmm
A) It is the same girl from 60 years ago, and 14 exists at the same time. like how Namine and Kairi existed.
or
B) It is 14, and she is tricking Axel and Phantasm, and somehow Axel doesn't know.

Cliffhangers Again! at least you didn't do the 'missing-parts-of-a-report' thing again. IT keeps us guessing, but boy it can be annoying, espcially when you have to read through a whole report two or three times (Project: ENDLESS Report)

Heh, 'There is so very much to learn, you understand so little. One who knows nothing can understand nothing.' - Xehanort's Heartless.

And I can give you the prologue and first FOUR chapters, not the First three, Merlin

as far as lemon hair girl, i very well intended it be to somewhat obvious, both with that statement from last chapter and the description of the weapon appearing.

as for the "old friend" and spoiler, all will be made clear in time. but think of this, 14's somebody had blond hair, while Spoiler has been described as having cerulean hair...

Originally Posted by Xuan

Not really, I'm guessing that the Spoiler is Aqua...

same goes for you, Xuan. but one question. if its Aqua, how did she get here? the last we know of her was in that lab with Aloz...

another interesting question to ponder, while we are on the subject of the BBS characters. the report claims Terra to be dead. but he was watching the report...

about the old missing-parts-of-a-report trick, yes, thats why i cut Ansem's introduction video short often, since all one had to do to reread it was go back 2 or 3 chapters or so, and i wanted to include dialoug from Sora and co. at opportune moments.

also, Axel's description of Phantasm may well clue you in to his identity, espessially if you can figure out where i quoted it from, which happens to also use mr. shakespears quote. hint: "a fantasy based on realty" sound familiar.

likewise, Phantasms song might give you some clues to work with. EDIT: coincidently, i just downloaded an mp3 format of a song i was hoping to find, and am now using it as a theme for Phantasm. its Somnus (i think) from Final Fantasy Versus XIII

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Davy Jones]

Very nicely done Merlin. I can't wait for more...

[Zero Inferno]

Hmmm. I'll see if I can find that Somnus thingy.

Anyways, waiting for the next chapter, and I see you've edited the post with a larger and bolder title on the very first post

EDIT: I don't know much about Shakespeare except for Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth, so Phantasm isn't in those. I'm going to take a nearly entirely unsupported guess and say that it is either from A Midsummer Night's Dream, or The Tempest.

[Coldman9]

Can't wait to read more. Hope we get more answers soon.

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Kurix

I don't know much about Shakespeare except for Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth, so Phantasm isn't in those. I'm going to take a nearly entirely unsupported guess and say that it is either from A Midsummer Night's Dream, or The Tempest.

just because its a shakespear quote doesnt mean i got it from shakespear's works...

also, i believe Midsumer... dream was a 'comedy' shakespear wrote (not sure about tempest). at least for Destati, all origional characers have an element of tragedy in them. no happieness or joy is allowed. its the law of Destati.

EDIT: just looked it up. the full title for Somnus is Somnus Nemoris. Its latin and roughtly is translated to sleep shady (Davey Jones, could you verify/correct this when you have a moment?)

EDIT 2: i believe i quoted Macbeth once here. "The multiplying villainies of nature do swarm upon him...Disdaining fortune with his brandished steel, which smoked with bloody execution..."

with all due respect,
Merlin326