"We haven't...Joshua has control of his darkness and has a new keyblade. We also had a very pleasent conversation with Joshua's nobody ...he had quote a mouth on him and a lot to say in a very choice manner...he told.is of the increased heartless but also of the little one here..she is unfortunately a nobody..Joshua's nobody has been quite worried about her being around these creepers...ascot,jpsjia...get everyone back the amount.t of people might scare her and cause these creepers to attack"she said staying crouched as she looked other her shoulder "if is nice to meet you in person"she added before turning back to the girl.

"Joshua ...you stay here with amaya...I will take the others with me to kinda shop"said rose "these creepers are scaring elyse."said rose beckoning for the others to follow her

"What the-?!" Jake caught a small flurry of grey fur dash behind him, and as he turned around to see it, he only caught a glimpse of Gurgi about to throw himself into the cauldron.

"Dammit, furball, stay away from that-!!"

It was too late; Gurgi had thrown himself into the cauldron after braving the battle between hero and undead/Heartless. Jake felt little personal sorrow at the death of the dog-being; he had not known Gurgi that well either. Yet the fact that a small, unarmed, defenseless being as Gurgi had chose to sacrifice himself after going into a fight to the death with little more than his bare paws... that just commanded respect.

Jake gave a couple seconds of silence before backhanding a hole through a Heartless that tried to sneak behind him. He then turned around and marched up to the Horned King.

"Damn, all that hot air, and not a single original word in it," he quipped, stopping in preparation to take on a wall of fire sent his way by the Horned King. He performed a strong Perfect Block to stop the first wave, then engaged in a rapid series of Rolling Blocks followed by Quick Runs, Aerial Glides, and High Jumps to get past the attack waves, and closed in with the Horned King.

"All that big talk, and you still hide behind your minions and fireworks like a scared little kid. That little hairball, I know almost nothing about. Yet by choosing to break the power of your little kitchenware even at the cost of his life... THAT takes courage. And that deserves a little monument too; I think you shattered skull will do."

Jake unleashed his fury, hammering at the Horned King with a flurry of slashes, power strikes, and slams, each blow capable of making even a strong Heartless reel with its power. Jake struck rapidly, trying to break and overextend the Horned King's shields and defense before delivering a powerful kick to his midsection that would send him reeling into the nearest wall, before charging forth in a burst of energy and bringing down Kaiser Leo with enough force that the impact - whether the Horned King shielded himself or not - created a crater 8 feet across in the stone ground.

Jake delivered another mighty blow, causing the very ground around him to tremble and crack as it slammed into foe.

"Yo, ugly! I'm going to beat that bag of bones you call a body until candy comes out!"

((Incase everyone forgot, cause it sounds like some have, the Sandlot is where they held the Struggle Tournament in the beginning of KDH2))

No one who tried to leave would get very far as barriers, made of transparent 'planes' of energy that only appeared when touched, blocked there way. Joshua took note of this, summoning Total Eclipse while watching their surroundings. He spotted something quickly enough to grab Amaya by her dress and pull her back just as a lamppost smashed down where she had been seconds before.

"Darn it. And I was hoping this would be easy." a voice said as two girls dropped down from the rooftops. Both of them appeared to be the same age, somewhere around 13 to 14 years old, but after that the similarities ended.

One of the girls was of average height with a slight build, short, blond hair and a pair of aqua blue eyes. She wore a simple, pink, sleeveless shirt, a pair of jean shorts that went down to her knees and a pair of black and white sneakers. The most interesting thing about her was probably the tribal tattoos that covered the back of her hands and went all the way up to her arms to her shoulders and then down her back. She even had a tribal tattoo going around her left eye in the shape of a crescent moon.

The other girl was almost her polar opposite in terms of looks. She still had the slight build but she had long, silky black hair that was a lot like Joshua's and her eyes where a shade of dark purple. Short wore a simple while dress that reached all the way down to her knees and exposed a bit of her back and rather underwhelming cheast and a pair of sandals. Her body was unmarks in anyway and seemed to shine in the twilight due to her skin looking like it had never seen the light of day.

"So... who are you and what do you want with Amelia?" the blond girl asked as the lamppost rose into the air again, ready to fall down on someone.

The young Nobody, who was likely Amelia, reached out and took the glass of milk Ascot had offered her. She gave it a quick sip before she began drinking it, ignoring the others in front of her now.

Amaya was taken by suprise when she felt someone grabbing her dress pulling her back before a lamppost smashed where she was "what the.."said amaya turning around summoning her own keyblade. "We wish to be her friend ...maybe give her a proper home...I bet mom would love a friend for elyse "said amaya

"Sometimes I wonder how I let you talk me into more kids...I would love to give her a home with me and my youngest daughter elyse...she would get all the love and care she deserves"said rose
"Who are you both?"asked amaya

Ascot decided to negotiate first, then fight later. In a split second, he had analyzed the suitability of the sandlot for fighting, but in the next, his face relaxed with genuine calm, and he held up his hands to show that he had no weapon, then, in a burst of daring, deliberately put himself under the lamppost, giving himself the position of hostage as a show of good faith.

"My name's Ascot Carver, and these are my friends, Joshua Tamashii, Amaya Van Isis, Belle, and Oner. We mean no harm to Amelia; in fact, we were directed here by another Nobody, who wanted us to..." Ascot knew that he had to be diplomatic here, "...to take her away from this alley, to give her a better home." There, the words were said, to be faced with obvious skepticsm and perhaps even violence.

"Now, before you say you don't believe me, please, listen to me first. I know that you care a lot about Amelia, and I and my group haven't given you any reason to trust us. But do you really want to her to stay here, in this cold place, forever? For that matter, I don't think you have a place to call your home, either." Ascot's eyes narrowed in a way that was challenging, but not in a way that incited to violence.

"You don't know me yet, but what I'm going to tell you is the truth: I have the power to give you all someplace to stay other than dank alleys and abandoned houses. I have the power to ensure that you have something to eat that isn't stolen, garbage, or cheap junk from vending machines. I can ensure that you guys have something better than what you have right now."

"You still don't believe me?" spoke Ascot, "Then crush me under this lamppost, and I. Wont. Move. A. Bit." Now the challenge in his eyes was as evident as fire, telling them to do it, telling them to try him, to accept his proposed test.

As Oner saw the barriers of energy appear he summoned his own Keyblade, the Blade of the Mirror, to hand as he wondered what was going to happen now. With his improved sense of hearing that his elfin ears gave him he heard the lamp post come down, Amaya luckily being saved by Joshua in time which Oner was thankful for. After all he didn't want anyone getting crushed. He listened to Rose, Amaya, and Ascot all attempt to talk with the two nobodies before them, who appeared to indeed care for the small child before them. Of course, Ascot seemed to take a much riskier approach, essentially just asking them to attack.

"Now now, lets not all get worked up here..." Oner stepped forward now, the white circle on his forehead glowing slightly with light that also seemed to move through the white lines that went down both halves of his face and neck from the circle, the light flowing through them like blood through veins. In his right hand he held his own Keyblade, but his left hand was held out a bit, palm facing upward. In a very brief, small blink of pure darkness appeared Spellbound, the very same Keyblade that Reno used, which now proceeded to float just an inch above Oner's left, upward facing palm. He seemed prepared to grab it should the moment arise, although in truth Oner didn't want to but he knew that any fight between the people here would be completely unnecessary, so if one did arise Oner would make sure that Reno would wake up so that they could use all of the power they had to quickly end any fighting.

"Ascot, you've grown alot since our previous incredibly brief chats, if they could even be called as such due to how fleeting they were. But please don't ask to get crushed by a lamp post...not even Curaja could heal that kind of injury". Oner just let out a very small chuckle at the last part before turning his attention to the Nobodies. The strange looking boy was quite calm as he spoke with much maturity and wisdom in both his voice and the way he carried himself despite his young appearance. "If we truly wanted to have harmed young Amelia here we would have done so when we met her before you two arrived instead of trying to both befriend her and calm her". He then held his left arm outward, palm pointing at the two nobodies with Spellbound floating right in front of it still.

"Neither I, nor Reno, wish to fight you. Nor do any of the others here. However, if thou still intends to fight still then by all means, I shall grab this blade, wake Reno up, and the two of us shall fight thee as one with all of our power until thou art satisfied". The circle of light on the center of his forehead shone just a small bit brighter as Oner continued to just very calmly gaze at the two Nobodies, really hoping that they would just relax so that they could all talk things out. "Or...you could put down the lamp post and we can all talk calmly without any lamp post bludgeoning". His voice, the entire time, was calm, mature, and quiet, but in a confident way.

After his short speech he just gave the two Nobodies a calm, friendly smile as he asked "So, what shall it be?"

"I think it's less of a case of her convincing you and more a case of you just agreeing to her suggestions Rose. but hey if you do take the girl in Elyse would have a playmate." Joshua said

Meanwhile the older Nobodies examined the group and listened to them. The blond one, who was apparently the spokesperson of the two, replied
"Thank you oh so much for assuming we actually want those things without actually asking us. You're off to such a great start." she said to Ascot, her tone dripping with sarcsim" Did it occur to you we might not mind? Did it occur to you that we might be doing fine as is? Did it occur to you to ask before you went ahead and did something like that?"

"Calm down Satoko. He was only trying to help. Your culture never accepted charity did they?" the black-haired girl said

"We found nothing more insulting. You work to get the things you want. Taking short cuts leads to laziness which in turn leads to death." Satoko said" And for insulting me so i think I'll have to wipe the floor with you. Rika, make sure the others don't interfere."

Rika smiled as she raised a hand. individual barriers surrounded everyone but Ascot and they were forcefully moved away from the center of the Sandlot. She then set up a barrier around herself and Amelia.

Satoko smiled as she slammed the lamppost down next to Ascot. she held out her right hand as light blue energy gathered there before solidifying into her weapon. it was a polearm, with a shaft as long as she was tall and covered in a light blue cloth. at the tip of the shaft was a wide, curved blade that extended the reach by about another foot. The weapon was known as a guan-dou.
"Now, lets see how well I can make you dance for me." Satoko said

After the blow of Jake, The Horned King, was near the cauldron already. The Horned King tried to stand up. If anyone would want to attack The Horned King again, they were held back by Taran, who motioned everyone to stay back. This was because The Horned King was standing too close to the Cauldron, within mere seconds after he stood up the bag of bones was sucked inside of the Black Cauldron. "NO! This can't be happening!!! NOOOO!!!" The Horned King shouted as he was consumed by the cauldron... the wind stopped. Taran headed towards the cauldron.

Eilonwy went to Thomas. "You are a mage right? Can you unfreeze Hen Wen? I'll go look if Taran is okay." she said and headed to the cauldron of which Taran just grabbed the lifeless body of Gurgi out of. He sat with the ball of fur in his arms, tears rolling down his cheeks. "Why did he do this? He was our friend." Taran said, not trying to burst into crying. It was silent, until a deep, echoing voice spoke.

"You warriors have been very brave." the cauldron suddenly spoke. "For this, I shall return the heart of your little friend that still dwells within me." it said. A heart rose out of the cauldron and went into Gurgi's chest. After a few moments the fur ball opened its eyes again. "I'm hungry." his first words were. Taran was overjoyed, so were Eilonwy and Fflewddur. Eilonwy headed to Taran and hugged him. Gurgi, who had climbed on Taran's head, pushed the heads of Taran and Eilonwy together for a kiss.

Fflewdurr in the meantime headed towards Thomas, Jake and the now freed Hen Wen. "We couldn't have done it without you two of course." he said, checking the harp to see if it didn't break. It didn't so, it was a truth.

---

Belle was the first one who wanted to leave the scene, when suddenly the two girls arrived. "And here I was, wanting to do some shopping with the girls." Belle joked. "I don't actually like shopping." she added afterwards. After listening to Ascot, Oner and Joshua give their replies to the girls, she thought that Oner might be getting ahead of himself. She touched his shoulder. "They don't seem like people who can take your way of speaking, unlike Ascot's friendly approach which is easy to counter." she turned her head to Ascot. "No offense though." Belle turned her head to Oner again. "Fighting them won't do anything good. Defending the others and ourselves is main priority. I don't think we want any troubles in this town." she said. "And here I was thinking we could have some rest at this place." she said under her breath.

After the two girls had responded to the guys, the black-haired girl summoned a barrier around Ascot and the blonde-haired girl who in turn summoned a guan-dou, a Chinese martial arts weapon. Belle didn't want to interfere. She knew that Ascot always wants to prove himself in fight, he deserves this fight, although it didn't seem like a friendly one. But it also didn't seem like the blonde-haired girl had any intentions to kill Ascot. Belle walked to the black-haired girl. "Your sis, friend or whatever she is, doesn't have the intention to kill him, does she?" she asked for confirmation. If what she thought was true she could relax and watch the fight, on a nearby bench. Otherwise she might had to interfere if a death blow could be placed.

Oner listened to Belle's words and was about to respond, but then they were forced out of the arena by the barriers the black haired Nobody summoned. Oner sighed softly and in a small flash of light his own Keyblade vanished and in a small blink of darkness Reno's Keyblade vanished as he looked at Belle. "I guess you're right. You must forgive me though, as it has been a few years since I have been properly able to interact with any humans at all, the only person I have been able to interact with before being mine and Reno's foster father, Serin. So do forgive me if my...social skills...aren't necessarily the best".

At first Oner turned his attention to the battle taking place in the arena, then to Belle and the raven haired barrier conjurer when he heard Belle's question. He knew that Ascot could take care of himself, but also felt that if the blonde haired Nobody did indeed possess the desire to kill Ascot then there would be no way Oner was going to stand outside of the arena and watch a death match take place before his eyes. If Reno were actually awake then the young Magus wouldn't even watch a regular fight take place as Reno would probably interfere whether or not it was a death match, but fortunately for those in the fight, that wanted it to happen, Reno was fast asleep due to certain reasons Oner had yet to explain.

Thomas mentally sighed again as Jake opted for the other way, jumping over the wall of fire rather than wait for Thomas to do something about it (Not that his method was very effective in any case), and he was able to cease his magic and just watch as Jake beat up the Horned King, who was sucked into the Cauldron to end this...whatever it was. He still wasn't sure what had been going on besides there being Heartless and skeletons that were attacking them, but the fact that they were being attacked and the presence of Heartless was good enough to warrant what happened, all things considered.

"Something like that," he replied with a hint of sarcasm as he was asked if he was a mage, as if the previous use of magic wasn't some indication. He walked over to the frozen Hen Wen and placed a hand on the ice block, brow furrowing as he concentrated to melt the ice without burning the thing inside, who would most likely not appreciate that. if they were still alive in there. with some careful work he was ale to extricate Hen wen before someone was finished getting brought back from the kinda sorta dead. At least, he thought it was something like death.

Not getting the fact that the harp would break if something weren't true, Thomas just folded his arms, armored finger tapping on his elbow as he looked towards the Cauldron. "Yeah, sure," he replied almost distractedly, it fairly clear to him that Jake could have done it on his own. What he was really interested in was his other mission, the fact that Reno and Belle were gone and that not only had he failed to find the other mage, but he had lost his traveling companion as well. The King had known about it so he had to assume they weren't dead, but it did put a damper on his own satisfaction, his decision to split up obviously a wrong one. It planted the seeds of doubt within that hadn't been there before, as his dark wound, hidden beneath his armor, pulsed and grew.

"Sorry to insult you further, but if you won't accept charity, then you'll just have to work for me," spoke Ascot as he jumped up and wreathed himself in magical fire. Then, he rushed at Satoko in zig-zags, trying to avoid either the fierce stabs or the wide sweeps of her polearm, and hoping that he can reach her in time to unleash his low-hitting, but fast attacks.

If he managed to do, he would try and come at her from unexpected angles, trying to get her to look one way and be hit in another. If Satoko tried more counterattacks, he would either use Reflect, roll away, or parry. Not just that, but should the opportunity present itself, he would kick at her shins. However, if Ascot hadn't managed to get close to her, but was in fact pushed back, then he would use ranged attacks instead.

When fighting an enemy using polearms, rely on speed and avoidance. You need to get inside their range to work, and be careful of using strong strikes; if they can counter, they can put the hurt on you.

If Ascot was outside Satoko's range, he would use his Shotlock to unleash a stream of projectiles at her. If he wasn't, he would use Sonic Blade.

When Hen Wen was freed, the gilt snuggled against Thomas' leg. As sign that she was grateful for releasing her from the block of ice. The pig has been through a lot, but luckily wasn't scarred for life. Suddenly Thomas' keyblade appeared, as if it was a command from Hen Wen. The gilt pushed her snout against the tip of the keyblade and a light ascended from the pink body and transformed into a Sign of Zodiac. The Scorpio to be exact. It floated over to Thomas and placed itself in his hand, if he was to hold his hand open to receive the sign.

The others looked amazed of what just had happened. "Well, that must have been one of the reasons why Hen Wen is an oracular pig." Taran commented. "But I guess it is time for me, and the others to leave." he said, as Hen Wen joined his side along with Eilonwy, Fflewddur and Gurgi. "Unless you two want to come along with us and eat something at my cottage." he asked.

Rika didn't reply to Belle and just watched the fight.

Satoko remained oddly still as Ascot advanced on her. Once he was close enough she easy blocked his first attack by twirling her guan-dou in a circle. After his attack was blocked she reached out and grabbed his sword-arm, givinghim a victorious smile before flipping oover him and using her guan-dou to gain even note distance.

Sadly for Ascot his sword arm would be rather hard to move now, as if it was resisting his commands to move and preform what actions he wanted it to.

Is this a status effect? Ascot asked himself, before switching his Keyblade to his left hand, then using a Panacea; it didn't work. Nevertheless, he now knew better than to engage Satoko in melee, at least, not until he figured out the nature of her powers. Telekenisis? If so, why did she have to touch his arm in order to control it? Limited telekenisis over objects that had been touched? That was the most likely possibility. Best not to be touched, then.

Ascot thought this while running around, trying to get Satoko's eyes to follow him. Then, he used his Shotlock, Pulse Bomb, to send out a rain of projectiles at her. After that, he began gliding circles around the young woman, still engulfed in fire, and began bombarding her with lesser fireballs. Should she try to counterattack, he would at least dodge with his amazing speed.

And, no, he hasn't used Haste yet; this was all his natural speed, plus Fire Glide. However, simply bombarding Satoko with ranged attacks, especially when those ranged attacks were so few, wasn't satisfactory in any way. He had to impress her with his skills, otherwise, he would never gain her respect. However, what else was there to do when one was under a handicap?

Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense, thought Ascot, as he went back to the ground, then took a stance not from Coastal Style, but from Mountain Style, a stance that challenged her to attack. He would then wait for said attack, and this time, use his Keyblade's magical properties, namely the fact that it was able to block much larger weapons, to parry (aka use Block), then automatically counter (aka use Counter).

If Satoko tried to touch him again, she would find herself under the mercy of the 'Sparkra' spell, which would hit her with a ring of lights. If an attack came from an unexpected direction, Ascot would use Reflect, which can stand against regular attacks as well. And, finally, once the battle drew long enough, he would use Holy, which would surround him in an explosion of Light.

Oner knew that Ascot could win this. From what he could tell of how he was fighting now compared to how he fought when they first met, the boy had definitely done gotten alot better. Still, the fact that Rika, not that Oner knew her name, only responded to Belle's question with silence was something that bordered heavily on the unsettling side. To Oner, death was not something one took lightly. Either the blonde Nobody was going to try and kill Ascot, or she wasn't. Oner had no intention of interfering on Ascot's fight, but that was only if death wasn't going to be involved. Since the girl didn't answer, Oner had no choice but to only assume the worst since he would rather be safe than sorry in this case.

The white circle on Oner's head began to glow with light once again as the Blade of the Mirror appeared in his right hand in a blink of light and Spellbound, Reno's blade, appearing floating just above his left in a blink of darkness, the hilt of the other blade only a couple of centimeters from his palm. "Nothing in this universe is indestructible. If you don't wish for me to begin attempting to test just how much the barrier around this fight can take, then I ask thee to answer Belle's question. Does your friend plan to take Ascot's life? The prospect of death, on either side, is not something I can idly sit by and ignore". His voice, as he spoke, was its usual. Very calm and mature. Of course, there was alot of seriousness in his tone here as well.

"You're friends life is not in danger, if that's what you mean. There are other ways to kill though. Wether or not Satoko does kill some part of you're friend is up to her." Rika said calmly before looking at Oner" And I doubt you want all of us on your bad side. Interfere and you will. This is their fight and you're friend has readily accepted it. As such he must accept the consequences of his actions and choices. If you interfere he'll learn nothing."

Satoko kept an eye on Ascot while moving as little as possible. Her response to his projectile attacks was a very simple one: he held out her quan-dou, let go if it, leaving it suspended in mid air, and then hit one end really hard, causing it to spin and quickly pick up enough speed until it was a blur. She would move it in front of each projectile like a sheild, effectively blocking it. A few did get past and hit her but over all she didn't seemed bothered by this.

When Ascot finally stopped moving and took up a fighting stance she waited a few seconds before grabbing her weapon and smiling. She didn't move nor did she do anything to suggest she moved but Ascot got a surprise. One of the nearby benches behind him suddenly flew forwards and hit his legs, likely knocking him on top of it. It would then rise into the air before depositing him on the ground. Several other objects around them suddenly flew into the arena and began trying to smash down on Ascot from all angles, keeping him distracted while Satoko slowly but surely put her master plan into fruition.

"That is all I wanted to know". The circle on Oner's forehead stopped glowing as both of the Keyblades vanished. "I did not plan to interfere unless the life of either combatant was in danger". He was looking at the fight as he spoke before looking at Rika. "And if you did plan on taking away his, or the lives of anyone else, here then that would put thee on my...no...our 'bad side', as you put it". For just a single instant as Oner spoke the words 'bad side', both pure light and pure darkness would swirl calmly in the circle on his forehead, but only for just a single instant. Not really meant to intimidate whatsoever.

In fact, Oner had no idea why it appeared, nor did he really seem to mind it much actually. It was probably a sign that as Reno rested he and his other half were becoming more in sync with one another and were restoring the balance of their existence to its natural state now that they were awakened. So in a way, it just had impeccable timing with Oner's words. Again, more things Oner hadn't explained to anyone so no one would know. After his short remarks to Rika, Oner went to one of the benches that hadn't been thrown at Ascot and sat down upon it. The opponent was tough, but so was the paladin fighting up there. Oner was pretty sure that Ascot could win this one, no matter what form of strange powers his opponent had.

Except that the bench did not hit Ascot, as he backflipped, then high jumped, out of the way, landing on the ground as other objects launched themselves at him. However, he was ready with Reflect, no, several Reflect spells, same as Joshua used against him back when they had fought. If Satoko drew close to him, or if he drew close to Satoko, she would recieve the damage she had been planning to inflict upon him.

Not just that, but Guard, thanks to the magical properties of the Keyblade, would also be able to block the furniture and other fixtures that had been thrown at the young Paladin. However, that was not his nastiest suprise; with Counter, he threw the objects back at Satoko, pelting her with a rain of her own projectiles. After deflecting one bench at Satoko's face itself, he decided it was time to come back to melee.

Casting Haste, he made three great leaps towards the Nobody, each taking a split-second; Ascot had gotten much faster since his last duel with another sapient being. Then, he cast Holy, engulfing himself in a column of light that split into a circle of several smaller pillars, which would blow back Satoko. Then, once the light had faded, he would vanish, reappearing behind the fighter.

Satoko sighed as every object shot at her returned to its original location. When Ascot began jumping towards her she almost laughed. Then she was blown back a bit by his spell but managed to stay mostly in place by putting the blunt end of her weapon behind her and pushing against it. When Ascot vanished Satoko didn't have to look to see where he was. With a simple flick of her finger the arm she had touched earlier forced him to the ground. With seconds his other arm and his legs.
"Xahsouj told us that the members of a group called Organization XIII each had a title. When we heard that we decided we would have titles as well. Mine is the Puppeteer." Satoko said while holding up her free hand. Several threads of the same energy she had summoned her weapon from came from were coming from her fingers and they all went to Ascot's limbs. If he looked around he would see threads all around them" My power is Will. I attach my will to something and I can control it. Sadly I need to attach one thread to every limb of an organic being to completely control them. Oh well your my puppet now."

"She played him." Joshua noted

"That's what she does." Rika said

No...No more despair, not over someone who's not the main enemy, not over someone you're trying to help. She's revealed her powers, she's tipped her hand, now, it's your turn. Ascot was now gathering his mental and magical energies, mustering every effort of will, calling upon his reserves of inner strength, all for this confrontation, all to turn his opponent's seeming victory into its inverse.

It's inverse, not bitter defeat or any variant, because Ascot's goal, as always, was to get Satoko's respect, to persuade her that there's nothing wrong with accepting aid. And he was determined to get it, no matter what. So, he forced himself to get up, struggling against the strings that held him. He called upon his Light, trying to burn away the bonds that he had been placed in.

"I'm not...giving up," he forced himself to say. "Do you hear me, Satoko? I'm not giving up!" He glowed with Light, the light of the Bundok Ng Lliwanag, the light of Disney Castle, the light of Narnia, Amaya's Light, and finally, his own. "Your power is Will, yet mine is Light, and, furthermore, Connections, the power to connect the hearts of those willing. And I will show you...that it is all right to accept aid!"

A slew of faces and images then played themselves through Ascot's mind. First were the warrior-scholars of the mountain valley he had been raised in, second was the toons in Disney Town, third were King Mickey and Nagi. More followed, faces of the people he met, faces of the people he helped, faces of the people he made friends with. Kuzco...Pacha, Baloo, Bagheera and Mowgli, he knew them all.

"LIGHT AID ME!" He shouted, and the Light answered. From the stars above came glowing strings, resembling Satoko's but brighter. They attached themselves to Ascot, causing the light within him to enlarge, to intensify, to empower him all the more. The strings symbolized all that Ascot had formed connections to, the bonds of fellowship he had forged, the relationships that had changed him.

Joshua, Oner, Belle, Amaya, Rose and Elyse's hearts would be glowing as well, and attempting to send out strings through Rika's barrier, forcing her to concentrate further on them and neglect the main barrier, just when the strings that embodied Ascot's connections with Orieus and the Centaurs of Narnia arrived from the stars, causing Ascot to become engulfed in a miniature white star.

"Sometimes, one person isn't enough," spoke Ascot with the voice of a multitude, a voice that included Aslan's, Oreius, Captain Amelia (not to be confused with the Nobody Amelia), and Bagheera. And with that, the star that was the boy coalesced into an armor, an armor whose very essence burned Satoko's strings, whose movements carried the force not of one man, but of many.

The strings would break, the strings must break, for Ascot carried not just his own strength, but the strength of the bonds he had made. He was borrowing power from others, but he was giving it as well, doing his part, preventing this collective from becoming an anarchy, providing the might of personality needed to achieve their goal: to smash Satoko to the ground and make her accept aid that was offered!

"I have strings of my own!" Ascot-Multitude cried out as his Avatar Form smashed at Satoko, his own will channeling the power of others', but proving no less iron for that. "The Light shines upon this world, and Darkness too! From one I draw my power, but the other is not my enemy!" And you, I don't want you to be my enemy too. So, let's end this."Let the Great Kings of the Multiverse empower me!"

And with that, the Avatar Form was suddenly decorated with images of Aslan himself. The armor leapt at Satoko, but, those who can observe Ascot have reason to be alarmed: first-degree burns had appeared all over his body, while flames were licking the edges of his clothing and the soles of his shoes. The outer edges of his hair, too, were being burned away. It was clear that while Ascot's will was strong enough to channel such energy...Ascot's body wasn't, and would die if this wasn't soon stopped.