Kingdom Hearts: Destati

[Davy Jones]

Not to be a nagging shrew, but last time I checked this thread was most definitely titled "Kingdom Hearts: Destati", and the location was Fan Fiction. Suggesting TWEWY for Herr Merlin's consideration is fine, but discussion of anything related to the game beyond that should go into its respective thread/sub-forum, as All-Star Gamer has suggested previously.

[Merlin326]

well, good game (presumably) from SE aside, here is another chapter for your enjoyment. let's see how the battle between the dragon and knight progresses...

***********

Chapter 3
Clash of titans

Bowen rode after the dragon, which was flying overhead. He pulled a custom made grapple from one of the satchels on his horse, and flung it at the dragon. It caught the dragon’s foot, and Bowen tied it to his saddle. Unfortunately, the saddle broke, and Bowen was now being dragged by the dragon, still clinging to the grapple. The dragon flew over a forest, and Bowen spat out leaves as they forcefully entered his mouth.

“You can’t fly forever!” Bowen shouted.

“Neither can you! Come, visit the woods!”

The dragon then flew over another forest, trying to hit Bowen with trees as they flew by him. After three trees made contact with the knight, the dragon jibed, “How do you like the ride so far? We’re earning our money now, aren’t we? Now, is there somewhere you would like me to drop you off?”

But the quick thinking Bowen managed to get the saddle stuck between two trees, and dropped to the ground. The dragon, caught by the strain on the rope, was pulled to the ground, with Bowen chasing towards it. By now, Gilbert and everyone else had caught up to Bowen, and watched the fight.
--------
“The sword against the fang and claw. The flame against the shield,” Gilbert muttered, trying to come up with lines for his ballad, “blah, blah, blah, which one would win? Blah, blah, field, shield, wield. Whose flesh from bones be peeled. Oh, no. Whose fate would soon be sealed.” He then came across something he liked, “Whose fate would soon be sealed? Whose fate would soon be sealed!”

“Maybe you should wait until the battle’s over,” Sora said.

Riku and Kairi laughed at this, and the monk replied, “Yeah… I guess that would work better.”
----------
“Oh, you’re good,” Bowen said to the dragon, “Haven’t had this sort of challenge in some time.”

“Nor likely to again!” the dragon replied, and then swung his bladed tail at the knight. Bowen moved just in
time as the tail cut right through a tree behind him in one stroke. Bowen rolled on the ground, avoiding the poundings of the dragon’s tail, and then jumped over a log, which the dragon’s tail soon was stuck in.

“A little overconfident, aren’t we?” Bowen said confidently.

“Hardly,” the dragon said, “But if you win, you’ll be out of work.”

“I will not stop until I’ve rid the world of every last one of you.”

“I am the last one!” the dragon yelled back, then breathed a fireball at Bowen. Bowen ran as the fireball incinerated the ground where he had been standing moments before.
-----------
“Do you think we should help him?” Riku asked.

“This is his battle,” Sora replied, “Let him fight it.”
-----------
“You’re just trying to save your scaly hide with tricks,” Bowen said when the dragon stopped to take a breath, and then began to circle the dragon.

“Haven’t you noticed the pickings are rather slim these days?” the dragon asked.

“I got me one just this morning,” Bowen replied, pointing his sword at the dragon.

“So it was you who killed the Scarred One. She and I were the last. Must have been a proud kill, warrior. And when there are no more dragons to slay, how will you make a living, Knight?”

“Shut up!” Bowen yelled, just before the dragon pulled his foot that was still tied to the grapple up, bring the rope up and smacking Bowen right between the legs. The dragon roared and proceeded to swallow the knight, but he rolled and grabbed his sword just as the mouth came down on him, much to Gilbert’s dismay.

However, Bowen had managed to stick his sword into the upper jaw of the dragon, saying, “If your teeth come down, my sword goes up, right into your brain!”

“Clever,” Sora muttered, “very clever of him.”

“Yeah,” Kairi said.

“Oh, this show of brains will really make a worthy poem!” Gilbert exclaimed.
----------
Several hours later, with the sun well past the horizon and the moon well up…

“If your sword goes up,” the dragon breathed, difficult as it was with his mouth open for several hours, “my teeth come down!”

On the hill, Gilbert was still thinking up lines for a poem, “Into the moonlit night the titans dueled, in mortal combat bound. Oh, who’d the fatal false step make? Whose blood would stain the ground?” Gilbert then yawned and nodded off to sleep, with Sora and the others still watching the battle.

“Can you get your buttocks off my tongue?” the dragon asked.

“Why should you be comfortable?” Bowen replied, “My armor is rusting in your drool, and your breath is absolutely foul.”

“It seems we’re in a bit of a stalemate, wouldn’t you say?” the dragon asked.

“But I can go three days without sleep,” Bowen replied defiantly.

“I can go three weeks,” the dragon said.

Bowen groaned, and then said, “I’ll stab you before I nod off.”

“And I’ll chomp you,” the dragon replied, and then added sarcastically, “Marvelous, we’ll kill each other.”

“What do you suggest?”

“A truce. Get out of my mouth and let’s talk face-to-face.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“I give you my word,” the dragon said innocently.

“The word of a dragon. It’s worthless.”

“Stubborn lout!” the dragon said before pushing Bowen out with his tongue. He then placed his claw on top of him, pinning him to the ground.
--------
“Finally,” Sora said, climbing to his feet, “Let’s go join them.”

And the three of them, minus the sleeping Gilbert, started down the hill to meet with the dragon and Bowen.
--------
“I should have known,” Bowen grunted, “Go on. Kill me!"

The dragon took this moment to realign his jaw, after hours of hanging open, and then spoke, “I don’t want to kill you! I never did! And I don’t want you to kill me! How do we gain? If you win, you lose a trade. If I win, I wait around for the next sword slinger thirsting to carve a reputation out of my hide. And I’m tired of lurking in holes and skulking in darkness. I’m gonna let you up now, and if you insist, we can pursue this fracas to its final stupidity, or you can listen to my alternative.”

The dragon then removed his claw, and Bowen rolled over and grabbed his and rose to his feet. The dragon watched, ready to ‘pursue this fracas to its final stupidity’, but Bowen, realizing he was too stiff to continue fighting, said, “What’s the alternative?”
*****************
next time our sworn enemies (plus Sora, Riku and Kairi) will have a little talk on morals and memories.

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Xuan]

They needed the talk badly, lol.

[Zero Inferno]

Yay! Another chapter up! Wow. Seven hours.....
Keep up the good work! And pleaze work faster (but not so fast as to reduce quality)! These chapters seem to be coming in longer and longer intervals.

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Kurix

Yay! Another chapter up! Wow. Seven hours.....
Keep up the good work! And pleaze work faster (but not so fast as to reduce quality)! These chapters seem to be coming in longer and longer intervals.

the schedule i have is vague, but easy to stay with: 2 chapters a week. This chapter was going to be up friday, but my dad had company over and that was therefore delayed until yesturday. its more than most authors, though, who may post once a week or bi-weekly.

truth be told, i have much of Part V already written, but im delaying posting of it for two reasons: one is so i can get the Fragmented Tales and remaining chapters finished (i have completed the Dragonheart world in one sitting rather than watch movie, pause, write chapter, continue 3 days later).

the second and more important (to me) reason is this: something big is coming. something climatic. and i want to make sure it's done right. this way, i have the time i need to write this item and proofread it several times (including using All-Star Gamers Beta reader thread). by the time you get to read this, i hope for it to be the best it can be. trust me, it'll be worth it...

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Davy Jones]

Great Chapter, herr Merlin. The Dragonheart world is shaping up nicely

[Xuan]

And I could see the comedy and humour finally building up here!

[Merlin326]

I believe it is time to learn a little more on Aloz's past. this Fragmented Tale, I hope, will give you the remaining information you need to acurately piece together Aloz's complex personality.

note: this chapter was inspired from the Twilight Zone episode: In His Image
************

Fragmented Tale the 19th
In His Image
63 years ago

You’re perfect, perfect in every way.

It’s funny, Xehanort, he looks somewhat like you.

So it seems, Ansem. Yes, I do see the resemblance, now that you mention it. Quite the coincidence. Still, I wonder if he really is perfect…

Why wouldn’t he be?

You know what he is. We created the body perfectly; it’s an exact duplicate of a real one. But the mind?
And the heart? Can we possibly recreate those two core things, with all their little details; millions of facets multiplied by millions?

We shall see soon enough, my friend. The tests indicate a perfect duplication, but we shall take him on a field test.

You mean give him relevant memories and unleash him upon the world.

That is correct. Then we shall see just how perfect our creation is.

Funny, but I just realized something while making this thing.

What is that?

They say gods created us humans. If that is true, then what is this thing we have made? And what are we?
----------------------
Aloz had a secret; he was in love. The subject of his affections was a local village girl with beautiful blue eyes and hair like lemons. Aloz skipped through town up to the castle where his adoptive father, Ansem, lived. Truthfully, Aloz had never been happier. Most of the townsfolk seemed to avoid him for some reason, and only Ansem had ever shown him any kindness until now.

Suddenly, Aloz slowed and gripped his throbbing head with one head. There it was again, that sound. For the last few days, he had been hearing a strange buzzing sound inside his head, and something in him seemed to change whenever it happened. Usually, he could subdue the urges that raided his thoughts, but when he couldn’t…

You’re perfect… perfect…

And there, again, was the voice. The voice seemed familiar somehow, but the pain in his head kept him from making any connection, and he could never recall what it sounded like after the noise subsided. Then a second voice entered his mind.

Watch out with those scissors, you could hurt someone. No! Wait, look out! No, stop it Aloz! You could kill me! Wait! No! Stop! You’ll kill me! NOOO!

Aloz fell to his knees, clutching his head with both hands now. The voices were getting louder, the urge was getting stronger, and he was losing the will to fight.

Kill me… Kill me… Kill me… Kill me… Kill me… KILL ME… KILL ME… KILL ME!

“Hey, are you okay?”

The new voice, this one not inside his head, brought Aloz back to reality. He looked up to see the village blacksmith, Alan, standing over him.

“You were yelling ‘kill me’ over and over again,” Alan said, true concern on his face. Alan was one of the few people in town that was willing to look past the mysteriousness of the boy and try to befriend him, though Aloz’s suspicion of everyone made that difficult.

“I’m… alright now,” Aloz breathed, rising to his feet, “just a recent nightmare coming to mind.”

“In the middle of the day?”

“I’ve been having the same one for the last few days,” Aloz explained, “ever since Rod died.” Rod had been the local tailor in Radiant Garden, and had been found dead one week ago with a large cut across his chest. Lying next to him was a pair of scissors, the rust color of dried blood on the edges. The murderer had never been found. What disturbed Aloz the most was that he was one of the last people to see Rod alive, and had no recollection of where he was the night he was murdered.

“Would it make you feel better to talk about it?” Alan asked, walking with Aloz to the castle.

“I dreamt that it was me who killed Rod,” Aloz explained, “and then I don’t even know why I did it.”

Alan nodded silently, curious about the young boy’s story. He could tell from the boy’s pained expression that the dreams seemed very real to him.

“But that’s not all,” Aloz continued, “Just before I kill him, I hear this buzzing noise, like laboratory equipment operating, and someone saying ‘you’re perfect.’ The buzzing gets louder, and then…”

Aloz shook his head to clear the image from his mind, and then continued, “Now the buzzing comes even when I’m awake, followed by the voice. And then Rod’s voice follows, saying the exact same thing’s he does in my dreams before it happens.”

“If you want my opinion,” Alan said, “you should see a doctor about this. Those kinds of recurring dreams can go to a person’s head eventually, take them off the deep end. A friend of mine, Mathews, is an expert on this type of thing. A psychiatrist, he calls himself. Come, I’ll go with you now and schedule an appointment.”

“No, I can’t go. No one must know. I shouldn’t have even told you.”

“You need a doctor, Aloz. These kinds of things can drive a person insane with time.”

“I said no!” Aloz screamed, pushing Alan away. Suddenly, the buzzing and voices came back, but Aloz didn’t even notice them. The urge returned to him, and he could no longer resist.

Kill me… Kill me… Kill me… Kill me… Kill me…KILL ME… KILL ME… KILL ME!

Alan took a step back in fear, seeing the madness overtake Aloz’s normally peaceful eyes. He started to run, but was pulled back by Aloz’s inhuman strength. Alan took another look in those horrible eyes, like a pronouncement of doom, and then he was falling, falling at terminal velocity down the side of a cliff. And there was the ground, rushing up to meet him and say hello…

The voices and sounds faded, and sanity returned to Aloz’s eyes. He gasped in horror and shock at the mess far below, realizing that he had done that. It was him, not some other mysterious person, that had committed two murders now. With the futile hope he could escape the madness of the situation, Aloz turned and fled with all speed to the castle.
----------------------
He ran through the courtyard and past Ansem’s study without saying hello, and charged up the stairs into his room. When he was safely inside, he locked the door and moved his bookcase in front of it. Aloz turned and threw himself on his bed, weeping.

“What’s happening to me?” he sobbed, “what’s going on?”

“I should think it’s obvious.”

Aloz turned to see a young man, slightly older than himself, leaning against the wall. His silver hair flowed down to his waist, his eyes gleaming with intelligence.

“Who are you?” Aloz demanded, “And what do you mean?”

“My name is Xehanort,” the man said, “but you already know that, don’t you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“But you must… oh, I see. Ansem never told you the truth. I warned him about this, warned him that if he
became so close to a puppet he might not have the heart to end it all.”

Xehanort strolled around the room, hands behind his back, and suddenly charged toward Aloz and slit his right wrist with a palmed dagger, jumping back before Aloz could comprehend what happened. Aloz gasped when he looked down at his wrist, not from pain, but from the shocking discovery he had made. He felt no pain.

At first he though the nerves had been completely severed, backed by the fact that his entire right hand was now paralyzed. But that didn’t account for the fact that no blood was flowing from the wound. Reached with his right arm and brushed his numb hand against the wall, noting that no feeling of texture came to his brain. Then he saw something, a hint of grey beneath his skin.

Tentatively, he reached down with his left hand and grasped the edge of the wound with two fingers, and looked up to Xehanort. Xehanort gave a silent nod, and Aloz pulled the skin away to reveal mechanical workings underneath.

“Exactly 1 year ago,” Xehanort began, “you were born.”

“What?” Aloz gasped, almost laughing at the ridiculous notion. He had just turned 18 today, and there was nothing in the realm of science, or at least logic, to explain how someone born a year ago could be 18 years old.

“I made the delivery myself, with the help of a friend,” Xehanort continued, not laughing.

Aloz rose to his feet, anger welling up inside him. “I’m not in the mood for jokes, Xehanort.”

“Pity, because this entire thing is a joke.”

“I’m not laughing!”

“You will. Because the jokes on me and Ansem.”

Aloz didn’t miss the reference, “you know my father?”

“I worked with him a year ago, in the greatest experiment ever conducted.”

“Get to the point.”

“Well, you know you’ve been having strange dreams for some time; you know you’ve been hearing this buzzing sound. And now you know about that,” Xehanort pointed to Aloz’s right arm, “so with all this knowledge, what is there for me to tell?”

“Well, if somehow I was born a year ago,” Aloz said, “who am I?”

“You’re nobody, Aloz. Nobody at all.”

“Stop it, Xehanort!”

“Well who is this computer on your desk, ask me that. Who is the refrigerator in the kitchen, who is the stove, who’s the telephone? Don’t you understand? You’re a machine, Aloz, a mechanical device.”

Aloz shook his head in disbelief, “I don’t believe you!”

“I don’t blame you, I wouldn’t believe it either. Fact is, you were born a long time ago inside the head of that senile old man, Ansem. All kids have dreams, and you were his. Most kids, when they grow up, forget their dreams, but he didn’t. That old fool long thought on studying the mentality of a human and creating a perfect artificial man. Not a robot; a duplicate of a human being. And then he met me, and oh, how I played the nice guy. I gave him the idea, planted the thought of actually fulfilling his dream. Together, we would surely unlock every mystery of the heart and create a perfect artificial man!”

“… You’re crazy!” Aloz said after taking in every word, “you’re insane!”

“How would you explain that?” Xehanort asked calmly, again gesturing to Aloz’s arm.

“It’s an artificial arm, I don’t know! You expect me to believe I’m a machine when I know I’m not? I eat, I drink, I sleep…”

“I told you, we wanted a perfect creation,” Xehanort said, “now come with me.”

“Where to?”

“Let’s call it… the delivery room.”
-----------------------------------
Xehanort took Aloz to a laboratory in the castle basement, unused since Aloz’s creation. The room was untouched even by dust in that time, everything looking just as it had 1 year ago. Xehanort took him to the back of the room; on the wall was a large drawer that an average sized person could have fit into. Xehanort opened the hatched and flipped a switch, and a low buzzing filled the room. Aloz gasped, recognizing it as the buzzing that had been filling his ears for the past week.

“No! Turn it off!” Aloz yelled, grabbing his ears. Xehanort complied and flipped the switch again, and closed the lid.

“Over here, now,” Xehanort said, walking to a cloth covered table. Aloz walked over, and Xehanort pulled back the cloth to reveal two figures; both looked exactly like Aloz.

“Your brothers. Aloz the first,” Xehanort said, pointing to the first puppet, “Aloz the second.” Xehanort kicked the table, and covered them again, “factory rejects! Failures! Oh, there were a great many failures, Aloz. Countless times we had to start over ‘from the drawing board’, as the saying goes.”

“And you did this with Father? With Ansem?”

“Correct. That old fool couldn’t have ever gotten this far by himself; the day of the lone inventor has passed. But the guy didn’t take it seriously, despite it being his lifelong dream; to him it was just a bunch of theories. How was it possible to create an entire nervous system that worked like a real one? How could the brain be mimicked? How could the heart be duplicated with all its subtleties? But me, I was after true intelligence!”

Xehanort pointed to the table where the two other Aloz’s rested, “mere reactions weren’t enough, and those mannequins can react. Our creation had to have a memory; he had to have abstract reasoning power, a past, and a personality. Countless things that had to be duplicated to create true intelligence. Now, even I couldn’t create something like this from scratch, even with Ansem’s help, so I used myself.”

“What do you mean?”

“In some of your cells I left impressions of myself. Some of my knowledge went into you, some of my talents, some of my personality. Bits and pieces of myself. I’m sure you’ve noticed the physical resemblance we share, hair color aside.”

Aloz had to admit it, he had noticed a physical similarity to Xehanort, but he still couldn’t accept it. “You’re saying I’m you? That’s impossible! I’m me, this is my flesh…”

“Nonconductive plastic,” Xehanort corrected, “It feels like skin, and that was the idea. We cushioned the mechanical parts with a foam layer, and then,” Xehanort turned to Aloz, “but that’s not what you want to here, is it? The rest you can fill in, up to about a week ago, anyway.”

“What about a week ago?”

“I’m not sure,” Xehanort admitted, though it pained him to do so, “I’ve been watching you in secret for the past year, seeing the things that fool Ansem never would because he’s so close to you now. I saw you kill the tailor. When you killed that blacksmith, I decided to confront you. I’ve been unable to find your sense in either murder.”

“I’m not a murderer!”

“So they were both accidents?” Xehanort said sarcastically, “You ‘accidentally’ stabbed the tailor with scissors and ‘accidentally’ pushed the blacksmith off of a cliff. Don’t make me laugh.”

“What’s wrong with me?” Aloz said softly.

“We’re all potential murderers, but normal people are protected by their inhibitions. Everyone has wanted to kill at some point, but inhibitions hold us in check. Most people couldn’t kill, no matter how they tried.”

“And me?”

“With you, something went wrong. You didn’t receive any inhibitions. Case and point, today at the cliff.
To put it plainly, you’re insane.”

“Can I be treated?”

“Repaired? I doubt it. That fool Ansem was like a blind man with a machine gun; he kept shooting and reloading, shooting and reloading. He’ll never get close again. And me… well, I just don’t care what happens. This project is over, and you, Defective, should be trashed!”

Aloz screamed and charged at Xehanort in a blind rage, but the mysterious man vanished and he never saw him again. The next day, Aloz’s girlfriend came to the castle and cruelly told him her secret: she was hired by Xehanort to keep tabs on you and, if the time should come, kill you. She almost did, but Aloz, blinded by his rage and murderous instincts, killed her and almost killed Ansem as well.

But the girl wasn’t dead, but somehow survived, changed. She stabbed Aloz in the heart with a dagger from behind, and vanished. From that point on, Aloz could never again find his sanity. In his twisted mind, he decided the worlds were better off without humans who would eventually betray each other, and concocted a plan to rid the worlds of every living being once and for all.
************

with this, the mystery of Aloz's past is fully revealed. I gave Aloz this past so he would have some real world relations. villains, as many media forms are now exploiting, arent as black and white as portrayed long ago. they have pasts, reasons for their actions, and in some cases one can feel an amount of sympathy (case in point: Darth Vader, Doc Oc from Spiderman 2, Mr. Freeze, Clayface in Batman the Animated Series, etc.).

though Aloz the Dark may not be a villain you can sympathize with (he has done too many evils for that) but it allows we can at least understand his pain better.

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Xuan]

Actually, I feel so much sympathy for Aloz that... I thought if I'm a character in your story, I woulda tried everything I could to turn him... human again.

One blasted thing about me is being too soft for my own good >_> Sure, might feel blind rage for a while but it fades too fast with time.

Aloz could be forgiven for his deeds, he was, after all, not human. And with outer influence like Xehanort, things has only gone for the worse.

[Ban Mido]

I could never keep that schedule. Too much Crap to deal with in my life.

But seriously dude, you're a frigging machine, updating faster than I can even keep up. I'm soooo far behind, I can never catch up! DX

[Merlin326]

Originally Posted by Xuan

Actually, I feel so much sympathy for Aloz that... I thought if I'm a character in your story, I woulda tried everything I could to turn him... human again.

One blasted thing about me is being too soft for my own good >_> Sure, might feel blind rage for a while but it fades too fast with time.

Aloz could be forgiven for his deeds, he was, after all, not human. And with outer influence like Xehanort, things has only gone for the worse.

yeah, i have that same "problem." it doesnt take much for me to feel sympathy, even for a villain like Aloz the Dark

actually, Aloz was very much human (in a sense). he felt love, rage, etc. the only thing he lacked that most (i empasize most) humans possess are those inhibitions mentioned. whether there will still be some good in him at this point, i havent decided yet. i suppose if his former self could see what he had done, he would simply let himself be beaten, thinking there was no turning back for someone like him now.

but forgiven for his crimes, that would be difficult at best, even for a "there's good in everyone" type of character as Sora (thats how i see him, anyway). even Sora would be hard pressed to completely forgive Aloz.

i have a thing for making 'tragic' (or at least sympathetic) villains like Aloz (or the Riku Replica, which may have had some influence on Aloz). you may see hints of another one in the near future.

Originally Posted by All-Star Gamer

I could never keep that schedule. Too much Crap to deal with in my life.

But seriously dude, you're updating faster than I can even keep up. I'm soooo far behind, I can never catch up! DX

lol, dont worry Allstar. as long as you enjoy the story at a pace you can keep, thats good enough. My life is fairly lienient, so i have a lot of time to work on this story.

with all due respect,
Merlin326

[Ban Mido]

Eh, I guess I'm just partially annoyed that I haven't had the time to write myself.

[Xuan]

It is an unending story of epicness lol... Starts with and 'S'.

God, SE is good. Real good.

[Zero Inferno]

trust me, it'll be worth it...

Noooo! No it won't! That means Destati ends!

[Ban Mido]

Originally Posted by Kurix

Noooo! No it won't! That means Destati ends!

What, you want him to keep writing when he's old and gray, arthritis setting in from the countless hours spent typing?