Bacon

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Posted.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Levi stared down the Large Body, righting his footing Two Yellow Operas, and a Large Body. This seems manageable. He glanced behind him, noticing his back was to the fountain once again. Wasn’t paying attention and cornered myself, though. That’s not great.

We’ve been shot up, beat up,
By the fallin’ of the arrows
(Arrows, Arrows, Arrows)

The Large Body smacked it’s stomach, then charged at him. Distinctly lacking anywhere to go, Levi took the only option available to him. He planted his feet, raised True Light’s Flight, and shifted to use the flat as a shield. The Large Body’s armored belly collided with the keyblade, but only pushed Levi against the fountain, while the Large Body fell straight back onto it’s rear as if it had run into a brick wall.

Yeah, I’m full of deep cuts
Right down to the marrow

Levi attempted to strike the Large Body with True Light’s Flight, however it only succeeded in bouncing off it’s front armor plate. So, he strafed around it, and ran at the Yellow Operas. They attempted to cast their lightning at him, but he had recognized the pattern in their attacks. He waited until the last moment, and then stepped to the side, then again, evading both bolts of lightning not by evading the bolts themselves, but by evading where the Yellow Operas were aiming.

But there’s no doubt we’ll get out
From the bottom of the barrel
(Barrel)

He had to admit, if it wasn't for the life-and-death struggle, this would be fun. The constant movement, the slight burn of his muscles, the adrenaline, it was all so similar to what he felt when running or working out in general. He lived for this feeling.

He leapt up, catching one with his keyblade and reducing it to a black cloud, but the other started to fly straight up, far out of his reach. He didn’t think as he raised his hand, uttering a single word that popped into his mind. “Aero.” With that, a gale of harsh wind struck the flying heartless from behind, not killing it, but pushing it back into his reach. From there, it only took one swing.

Oh our flag is tattered
And our bones are shattered
But it doesn’t matter
‘Cause we’re movin’ forward

Finally, he couldn't help himself. He was having too much fun with this to keep it in.

”Round ‘em up,
Round ‘em up, let's go
Round ‘em up, let's go!”

As the Large Body charged again, he planted his feet again and stopped the charge. This time however, instead of attacking head-on, he strafed around the Heartless, and struck it’s unarmored backside in a flurry of bat and blade. The Large Body ignored the onslaught, simply standing back up and attempting to face him, which he met by strafing to keep behind it. Levi was a little surprised when it jumped into the air, and was knocked away by the shockwave that came with it’s landing, but was fine otherwise.

”Oh, my eyes are seein’ red
Double vision from the blood we’ve shed
The only way I’m leavin’ is dead,
‘Cause that’s the state of my,
State of my, state of my head”

As it turned to face him, Levi didn’t give it the chance, circling behind it and keeping at it with his offensive until, at last, the Large Body dispersed into a mass of black smoke and a heart being released, flying up into the sky.

”They don’t know
Where we’ve been
We’ve got that concrete-street skin!”

“The only way I’m leavin’ is dead,
‘Cause that’s the state of my,
State of my, state of my head.”

With a final sigh, he let his shoulders sag as his keyblade disappeared in a flash of silver light. He then started towards the ramp that he had completely ignored on his way in, and made his way back into the first district.

---

Once he got back to the outdoor dining tables, he sat down and let the pup out of his bag. “Hey, bud. How’re you doing?” The small dalmatian barked at him as he lifted it out of his rucksack, and it licked his face. “Glad to see you’re okay. Just don’t go running off into dangerous places like that, okay? That could’ve been a lot worse.” The pup barked, then wriggled from his grip. It started to run off towards another direction, and Levi groaned slightly in annoyance. I’m not going to let this pup win a Darwin award on my watch. He got up, and chased after the puppy, as it led him through the first district and eventually, into a well-furnished home.

As he followed the pup in, he was met by a masculine voice from around the corner, speaking with a tone of reprimand. “Don’t run off like that, Patch! You had your mother and I worried sick!” Levi slowly stepped inside before calling out. “Hello?” He was met with a full-grown male dalmatian who rounded the corner, and surprised Levi a little when he spoke. “Hello there. I take it you’re the soul who saw my Patch home?” Levi took a second, then shrugged. Eh, we’ve got magic, other worlds, and giant keys that kill monsters made of darkness. After all that, talking dogs seem the least surprising. Levi’s smile then returned, he squared his shoulders, and opted to talk to this fully cognizant creature like an equal. “He’s the one who got back here. I just got him out of the third district.” The male dog straightened up a little. “The third- with all these Heartless creatures running about?” The dog shot a brief glare back into the room he came from, then his expression softened.

“Well, it’s good to have my Patch home safe and sound, at least. My name is Pongo, might I ask yours?” Levi nodded, smiling slightly. “Levi. Say, while I have you here, I’m looking for a few friends of mine.” He then went off, listing general descriptions of Alias, Morgan, and Hoshi. Pongo thought for a moment, then shook his head. “Now, I can’t say I have. However, I can promise to keep an eye out for them. And while I have you here, I can’t just have you return one of my pups and leave empty-handed, now can I?” He then rounded the corner, and returned with a pouch of munny hanging from his jaws, which he dropped in front of Levi. He didn’t want to be rude and refuse the gift, so Levi bent down and picked up the pouch. “And if you would be so kind as to bring any other of my pups that you find back here, that would be appreciated as well.” Pongo said, giving a respectful nod to Levi. Levi returned the gesture, and started outside. “I’ll bring them straight back if I find them.” With that, Levi gave a small wave and left the house, heading back towards the shopping area near the front of the first district.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Posted. And with that, Levi has his keyblade.

The song in there is State of My Head by Shinedown. Here's it is, if anyone's curious.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Levi found himself on an elevated platform, overlooking a plaza with a fountain. He looked down into the plaza, and saw the source of the barking; a puppy, primarily with white fur and several small black patches, barking loudly at a group of… what he could only guess to be Heartless. There were a couple of the familiar shadows, however what stood out to him more were several other small assailants, clad in blue and silver armor with sharp-looking red clawed gauntlets. Soldiers. Alongside them, or rather above them, were several small yellow heartless, each having a cone-shape to them and what looked like stereotypical wizard hats to him. Yellow Operas. He leapt down from his elevated position, hitting the ground with a roll before pulling his bat off his hip. He ran for the puppy, swatting one of the soldiers aside.

Clank!

He didn’t question right now why he knew what these things were called, or why he somehow knew it’d take another two-dozen hits with his bat to take it down, as he had slightly more important things to take care of. He positioned himself between the Heartless and the puppy, flourishing the bat as he looked over them. “Don’t worry, pup. I’ve got you.” The dalmatian looked up at him, but barely had time to react before he picked up the young pup by the scruff, and set them in the open space inside his rucksack. “We’re getting out of here. I’ll make sure of it.”

Plink! Clank! Plink! Clank!

He raised his bat, as one of the Soldiers lept at him, a little too slow as it’s sabaton found his chest, pushing him back. At this rate, they’ll just kill both of us. What was I thinking? He turned back to look at the pup again, seeing it’s fear mixed with just a little bit of hope. This pup’s relying on me… I can’t give up. We had to save ourselves, and we barely got out alive. This pup being here tells me it went through something similar. So long as I’m still going, these monsters won’t hurt ‘em. He then turned back to look at the Heartless, as he opted to tune out any distractions in the best way he knew how. He put his headphones on with a free hand, reached down to the cassette player, and hit play. The familiar notes of the song’s intro playing in his ears as he took a deep breath, and relaxed his body.

That’s the state of my,
State of my,
State of my head.

That’s the state of my,
State of my
State of my head.

He ran ahead, swinging his bat as it knocked away a shadow. He then sidestepped a lunge from a soldier, smirking as he smacked as he smacked it away with a satisfying clang! that hit in time with the beat of the song.

It’s been a
Long, bumpy ride
Sitting back in the saddle.

It’s time to
Get down, dirty up my knees
In the battle

With a brief flourish of his bat, he swung his bat at another shadow, then stepped back in time to avoid a bolt of lightning cast by one of the yellow operas.

So come on,
Round up the boys,
Gonna make the walls rattle

He was caught in the side by a soldier he didn’t see, as he felt the small bruise already on his side while he staggered. Only to then get caught by the claws of a shadow’s lunge, leaving red lines running down his arm, followed up by a yellow opera making itself known by hitting him with Thunder. The sudden pain, along with the brief spasing of his muscles, made him fumble his bat, which clattered to the ground.

Oh our flag is tattered
And our bones are shattered
But it doesn’t matter
‘Cause we’re moving forward

He was well and truly done with these things now. He had to stop them, right here and now, or they were going to hurt this pup. These things, darkness incarnate playing at being monsters… he’d truly had enough of their antics. He held his hand out, as a sliver light appeared in his hand. He ran at the first soldier before pulling his arm back, moving on instinct as if to hit it with his bat.

Shing!

The silver light materialized in his hand as an angular, wickedly sharp weapon. It was nearly five feet long and shocking light, with a mostly straight edge and what appeared to be a bit that formed a diamond shape on one end, the opposite with a sharp point, like that of a war pick. At its tip was yet another sharp point, and on the opposite end was what appeared to be the bow of a key, forming a sharp parallelogram that made up the handguard of the weapon. Hanging from the pommel was a small chain, a keychain at the end having a silver diamond shape that matched the key’s bit. It was his tool, his weapon, his extension of himself, his…

Keyblade.

The keyblade swung through, the edge between the tip and the forward-facing spike catching the soldier at it’s open faceguard and not stopping until his keyblade had crossed his body, causing the soldier to disappear in a dark cloud.

Round ‘em up,
Round ‘em up, let’s go
Round ‘em up, let’s go

He stood tall, resting True Light’s Flight over his shoulder, relaxed but still ready as he looked over the remaining heartless for a moment, before leveling the tip of True Light’s Flight at the Heartless, the smirk on his face turning from something to make the pup less nervous, to something much more genuine. He was still outnumbered, but now he had a chance. “Who’s next?”

Oh, my eyes are seein’ red,
Double vision from the blood we’ve shed
The only way I’m leavin’ in dead

His challenge was met by a yellow opera starting to cast another bolt of lightning at him, which he responded to by leaping at it, his keyblade appearing as a silver blur as it struck the heartless again and again, and knocking another two of them back.

‘Cause that’s the state of my
State of my
State of my head

A pair of shadows rushed him as he landed, however were met with Levi using the flat of his keyblade to block their claws, staggering them and giving him the perfect opportunity to turn two shadows into four shadow-shaped pieces, then two clouds of darkness.

They don’t know
Where we’ve been
We’ve got that concrete-street skin

He looked over at the remaining heartless, then his eyes widened a little as a much larger one formed. It had a spherical body shape and a front covered in armor, with two massive arms and a tiny head, topped with a little metal hat. Large Body. He kicked the fallen bat up into his free hand, before leaping to the side in time to dodge a charge from the large body. A soldier tried to capitalize, only for it’s lunge to be blocked by the flat of True Light’s Flight, causing it to stumble and fall back. A quick pair of follow-up strikes kept it from getting up again. “Not ideal, but could be worse. Now then, let’s go.”

The only way I’m leavin’ is dead
That’s the state of my,
State of my,
State of my head.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Standard Purple

#800080 is the code for this color. It's still relatively dark, but a couple shades lighter than what you currently have. To use it or not is up to you.

Finally posted. Let me know if I need to change Maleficent's color. There's a green I can try, but of the purples I tried they were all dark.

@King Kindred

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

<Snipped quote by Bacon>

Want Zac to help him out? Otherwise, all I've got for my next post is him chatting a bit with Cid before going back to the ship to fix it

@Daxam

Your discretion. I only ask that you wait until after my next post with him if you are.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

If anyone wanted to interact with Levi in the first district, don't worry. He'll be right back.

In a few minutes in-universe.

With several new wounds.

Maybe running headlong into an area full of heartless without a keyblade isn't the best plan. Just maybe.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Levi put the finishing touches of the new rucksack, and lifted it to examine his work. The frame was simple, consisting of the metal rods to keep the pack’s shape, with the whole pack held together by 550 cord, which also made up the shoulder straps. Additionally, he made a small loop for the bat to hang from low on the bag, close to his hip, and a couple of smaller loops along the shoulders, where he put the potions for easy access. He slipped it onto his back, feeling out how the improvised straps dug into his shoulders, to determine if they needed to be wider. That should be good enough. At least, for now. He stood up, looking over the people coming and going, being everything from normal people to fantastical creatures, with no one batting an eye at the oddities. He started to walk around, getting a lay of the land and looking for any sign of Hoshi, Alias, or Morgan. “You’re here somewhere,” He paused briefly, something he couldn’t place keeping the doubt at bay. “If you died on me, I’m going to kill you.” He went through the first district, through every street, checking every shop, finding every back alley he could, but found nothing that helped his cause.

They aren’t dead. They couldn’t have just died like that, they wouldn’t. They’re too stubborn, too tough for that… right? He looked up at the sky, uncertainty slowly creeping in. He then dipped into a quiet spot, one that everyone seemed to be giving a wide berth for one reason or another. “I need you to come in clutch for me, Tsu. Please. We both know they can’t be dead. Find ‘em and keep an eye on ‘em. We both know I can take care of myself, just make sure they’re okay until I get to ‘em.” Then, he heard something he didn’t expect. A bark, like that of a dog… no, a puppy, somewhere nearby. It was quiet and somewhat muffled, but he could make out that it wasn’t happy. It was… angry? No, it sounded more scared than angry. He looked around to find the source, and found himself staring down the third district’s gate. By what Zac said, I’m guessing there’s either Heartless or something similar running around in this district. I should let them know… no, it could be too late by then. Just run in, grab the pup, and get out. What could go wrong? With that, he pushed open the gate, and made his way into the third district.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@mattmanganon Everyone's entitled to their own opinions. If you're one of the twenty people (myself and King Kindred included) who apparently played Days, you appreciate him. If you watched the cutscenes, you might or might not like him. Because he and Xion play as Roxas' Donald and Goody, in that they ACTUALLY HELP, on top of being pretty good at being the only two coworkers Roxas has who aren't intolerable as people in one way or another.

I'm not going to argue this point further, so if you want to bicker on with King Kindred, go nuts. I figured I'd just explain why he's mostly well-liked, with a few people who love him as a character.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@Sadu His plan changed from game to game.

KHBBS: I am Xehanort and my plan is to brainwash a bunch of kids to make a X-Blade that will let me restart an ancient war that i have no idea who it was between or what it was over... That failed, my new plan is to kill myself and let the next 2 of me figure things out.
KH1: I am Ansem, i want to use the power of Kingdom Hearts to take over the World
KH358: I am Xemnas and i want... You know what, nobody gave a fuck about this game.
KH2: I am Xemnas, i'm gonna make my own Kingdom Hearts with blackjack and hookers.
KHDDD: I am Xehanort and i'm gonna use time-travel and shit to revive the 13 guys you didn't give a shit about in the last game, because Nomura is literally just flinging shit at the wall to see what sticks.
KHREC: Nothing happens
KH3: I'm Xehanort and turns out every time that you defeated me before WAS ALWAYS PART OF THE GRAND DASTARDLY PLAN TO CLONE MYSELF 13 TIMES in order to restart that war that i still know nothing about, because... I still don't fucking know. Also, apparently i'm a tragic good guy now? Also, apparently the guy with the eye-patch was the REAL bad guy all along.

@mattmanganon

I have a protest, and something that will either shed light, or make everything WAY more confusing.

One: I played Days and liked it. Though, his plan is the same as it is in 2, save the fact that he's trying to make his own keyblade wielders to do it.

Two: The Keyblade War was something in Union Cross. In a nutshell, during an age where Keyblade wielders were about as common as flies in a dumpster in August, this guy called the Master of Masters decided to kill primordial darkness. To do that, it had to possess someone, then you had to kill that someone. There were thirteen of 'em, too. So, he tried to make as many of the keyblade wielders as he could fall to darkness, then pit all of them against each other. He got himself sent to the Shadow realm doing this by breaking laws of reality like Sora did in Re:Mind to help orchestrate this. He had his best student, a guy called Luxu (Later Braig, even later Xigbar) take his Keyblade (No Name) and make sure it ended up in the hands of people who could complete his work if he failed. He only kinda succeeded, the war and it's aftermath either killing or trapping around eight of the thirteen darknesses.

(TL;DR - The war was something orchestrated to kill primordial darkness. Xehanort restarting the war is him trying to get himself and others possessed by primordial darkness, then killed. Xigbar is really a guy called Luxu, who technically is the real owner of No Name.)

TL;DR v2: It's all a really confusing knot that is addressed in games that are prequals to the prequal.