mattmanganon

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Dotty seemed to dance through her slumber, strange faces and places waltzing before her eyes. She seemed to struggle awake and found herself in a strange tent. "Poodlewolf?" She called. She then saw a pet look around at her. A tall woman in a yellow shirt and had long, brown hair. She was... Possibly beautiful, Dogs were a poor judge of human beauty. She yawned and stretched as the woman walked over to her. "Where's Han?" She asked. The woman knelt down next to her bed.

"Well, hello." She smiled. "I'm afraid i don't know a Han. But i'm Jane Porter" She replied. "Was that the name of that rather grumpy individual who dropped you off?" She asked. Dotty was about to confirm this, but then remembered about Han being in disguise at the moment.

"Y-... No, his name is Taivas." She said, not very convincingly.

"Oh, Taivas. Very odd name, but then again, Tarzan tells me that Mr Clayton is a very strange name to him. So, is that a London Accent i hear?"

"Oh yeah, i'm from Camdon." She replied.

"And Mr Taivas is... Your Father?" Jane asked. Dotty smiled, bit her lip, then began snickering, before fell back into the bed laughing maniacally.

"DON'T ME WEEEEEIRD!!!" She laughed maniacally. "Oooh dear... Nah, my dads name is Doug, he's a Fireman."

"Oh, brave man then. My father is..." She looked around and huffed. "Probably out looking for the Gorilla's, i do hope he's ok with all of these shadow monsters around."

"Shadow monsters?" She asked, suddenly stopping laughing, her head shot bolt upright and then looked around. "POODLEWOLF!!!" She yelled. "GET YOUR BIG BROODY BUTT IN HERE! WE GOTS HEARTLESS!!!" Jane looked utterly confused by this.

"Is... Poodlewolf some kind of pet?" She asked.

"Don't be silly, you're the pet." She replied, matter-of-factly. Jane frowned, assuming that to be some kind of insult.

"I will have you know i'm just as capable in this jungle as any man. Why, the other day, i escaped a horde of rampaging baboons." She crossed her arms. Dotty was now the one confused by that comment.

"Well, of course pets are capable." She replied, getting out of bed and running over to the tent entrance. She pulled back the flap and looked out. There didn't seem to be any Heartless around at the moment. "POODLEWOLF!!!" She yelled, angrily. She then rolled her head around letting out a long, annoyed sigh. "Ugggh, he's probably on one of his broody mountaintop grumbles." She growled.

****

Deep in the jungle, elsewhere, Master Phant stood watching Zen-Aku perform his Kata. With every movement of Zen-Aku's body, Phant seemed to either nod or shake his head. He then jumped out in front of him, striking a mighty pose, arms held aloft, before striking forward with both arms, then jumping, backflipping and bringing his foot down with a mighty boom. He then looked Zen-Aku in the face "The Wolf style is about swiftness, about surefooted strikes." He struck his first Kata pose. "From me, you will learn the Elephant style. Power, strength, brute force."

"Everything one thinks of about the elephant." Zen-Aku responded, before striking the pose. Master Phant then quickly grabbed his arms and corrected the posture a little.

"But tempered by wisdom." He replied, striking the second pose. Zen-Aku transitioned into the next movement. "A Rogue Elephant is a terrifying force, but without those around to support him, he's but a single boulder rolling down a hill. Ended by the first wall he runs into. He then struck the next pose and watched as Zen-Aku transitioned again. He shook his head. "No, those are the movements of the wolf. Cautious and ready for anything. The elephant moves with certainty. There is NO creature in this jungle that would dare attack the Elephant." He guided Zen-Aku's arms as he went through the Kata another time. "Better. Again. More certainty. You are a Duke Org, the very top of the food chain. No creature is going to attack you. So show your certainty!" He demanded. Zen-Aku ran through the kata again and again. "You learn quickly." He then extended his hand out and the same ball on chain that the Dream Eater from before had. He began slowly twirling it. He then motioned for Zen-Aku to try again. "Tell me, have you ever heard of the Power Rangers?" He asked. A twinge of pain seemed to resonate through his skull, like a migraine that only lasted a few seconds.

"It's... Almost familiar..." He growled. continuing to kata.

"An ancient order of warriors all across the many worlds. Tapping into powers. The key to the answer, becoming stronger than before, flying higher, when the signal is calling, timeless wonders they performed." He smiled. "I was one of the masters of the Order of the Claw. For generations, we trained these rangers. But now... Scattered, few... Those who use the Keyblade made us somewhat obselete. But you will prove to others that the order is still around. And still willing to take up the fight."

"You mean that this is for sheer damn pettiness?" He asked. "I suppose that there's worse reasons to train an apprentice." Master Phant laughed.

"I don't give a damn about how relevant we are. How many people thank us. The Power Rangers were always thankless warriors. We never asked for recognition and did our best to avoid it at all costs. What matters is that we saved lives whenever they were in trouble." He replied. He then twirled the maul and launched it at Zen-Aku. Zen-Aku ducked under it and twirled around, bringing his claws to Phants throat. "Stop fighting like a Wolf!" He demanded. "Use what i have taught you, face me as the elephant." Zen-Aku growled in response. Phant kicked him hard, he flew back, before clawing into the ground to stop his skid. Phant flourished the flail and then struck a pose. He then motioned to Zen-Aku who was about to charge, but then recognized the motion he had made. That was the same motion Phant made when he was ordering to follow. "MIGHTY SPIRIT OF THE ELEPHANT!!!" Zen-Aku suddenly understood. He struck the same poses as before, powerful, sure movements.

"MIGHTY SPIRIT OF THE ELEPHANT!" He growled, the same flail weapon then appeared in his hands. Phant smiled at him. He smashed the ball on the ground, before jumping, twirling around in the air and using his own bodys motion to send the ball hurtling at Zen-Aku at lightning speed. Zen-Aku threw the ball in the same direction, the ball smashing into the other and sending it off-course. Zen-Aku then followed the same motion, sending his own flail blistering towards Phant. Phant flourished his flail, before dropping it and stopping the ball with his bare hands. A mighty elephant trumpet sounded from him as he smashed his foot on the ground and then threw the flail head back towards Zen-Aku.

"Very good." He laughed, panting a little, before waving his hand that had caught the ball. "But your training has only just began. Next, we will need to work on yo-" At that point, a scared Gorilla seemed to run through the clearing, followed by a number of monkey-like Heartless. "They are here!!!" He roared. He then looked at Zen-Aku and grinned. "Enough training for now. Time for a field test."

"How? Dotty is no-where near here and i cannot interact with the material realm without use of her body." He replied. Master Phant ran up to Zen-Aku, before spinning him around, kicking the back of his knee's and forcing Zen-Aku into a kneeling position. He then grabbed the side of Zen-Aku's head and... It felt to Zen-Aku much the same as when he and Dotty were fusing.

As Terk ran through the jungle and into another clearing, she would see Tarzan and Taivas there to greet her. "TARZAN!!! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU!!! Now, if it's not too much trouble, GET THOSE MONKEYS!!!" She screamed at them. As the monkey Heartless burst through the tree-line, suddenly, the sound of an elephants Trumpet would be heard. "Tantor?" Terk asked. As suddenly, the green and white clad warrior appeared next to Taivas and Tarzan. He looked at his hands and then around his body. He looked at Taivas.

"It's me, Zen-Aku. Don't ask." He then struck his Kata poses again. "MIGHTY SPIRIT OF THE ELEPHANT!!!" The flail appeared in his hands and he prepared for battle.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@IAmTheIsland That's why i said "Maybe"

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@Crimson Flame Eh, 125 experiments appeared on screen, i think that's more than enough for an RP like this.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@King Kindred Honestly, i never bothered with this sidequest in the game, so i'm not too fussed about soloing this sidequest in reality. I was thinking of maybe doing something similar to this later on in the story, only with the 626 Experiments. But that's another matter.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Pretty much to keep things as in-universe explaination friendly as possible, i'm pretty much saying that Zen-Aku in his little phase of reality is pretty much in Dream Realm. Hense why the Elephant Spirit Ranger is refered to as a Dream Eater in that post. Hope that's fine, will edit if this conflicts with GM plans.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Zen-Aku watched Taivas and the mostly naked man enter to prevent Dotty from being eaten. He thanked whatever creator that they had succeeded as the Jaguar jumped out of the window and ran. Dotty tried to stumble to her feet. "I'M COMING ELIZABETH!" She called before falling flat on her face, unconscious. Zen-Aku sighed and walked over to her. He stared down at her unconscious form. He poked her with his foot, before looking at Taivas.

"Can you pick her u... Ugh, you can't even see me..." He thought for a second. He tried picking her up, but after a few seconds, she phased through him and onto the floor. He then bent over and grabbed her hand, before curling her finger into a point and writing "She's out cold. You will need to carry her." In the dust on the floor. Well, while she was out, there wasn't much he could do. Tarzan walked straight through him as he approached Taivas, as if to punctuate his point. "I hate being incorporeal..." He growled. Maybe... Maybe while he was stuck in this state, he might still be able to do something useful... Running over to the window, he sniffed deeply and smelled the smell of spirit energy. He then catapulted out through the window, jumping through the forest.

Continuing to follow the smell of spirit magics through the jungle, he flashed through the tree's and up the large mountain in the middle of the island, getting near to the top of the mountain, the smell became inescapable. He stopped and looked around, before seeing a cabin in the side of the mountain. He approached the cabin, attempting to walk straight through the door, but ended up only bumping into it. He was used to phasing through doors like this... This was weird... He then knocked at the door and waited for a few seconds. Then, he heard a swooshing sound beind him. He turned around to see a man in a green and white outfit. "Who are you? Are you the old man from before?" The man then drew a weapon. It was an ornate handle with a chain leading down to a ball on the end of it. The man then flourished the weapon, not making a sound, swinging it around, as if dancing with it. He then smashed the ball on the ground and stared up at Zen-Aku. Zen-Aku then adopted his own fighting stance. "I am more than able to defend myself if you insist on this." He growled. The man rushed him, swinging the weapon, the chain wrapped around his arm with the metal ball striking him in the shoulder, Zen-Aku then spun, pulling the man into him, before backhanding him with the other hand, the man fell on his back, but quickly flipped back up and used the chain to pull Zen-Aku into a grapple, Zen-Aku flipped him over his head, with the man landing on his feet, a roundhouse kick followed from Zen-Aku next, the man backflipping, landing on his hands before flipping back in front of Zen-Aku with a punch straight towards his snout. Zen-Aku pushed the fist to one side, before the other fist came at his face, sending Zen-Aku spinning backwards, but the chain once again kept him in close quarters, pulling him back in, before wrapping his arm around Zen-Aku's throat and pulling him backwards, so that Zen-Aku was bent over backwards, Zen-Aku then swung his legs over their shoulder and landed on his feet. He rung the chain off before reached his arm out and his Creasant Moon blade appeared, he flourished it as he prepared for the next phase of the fight.

"ENOUGH!" A voice split through the mountain and the man in the suit stopped, before fading to dust before Zen-Aku's eyes. Zen-Aku looked around and saw the man open the door and walk out. It was the man who had saved Dotty. "Why have you come here?" The old man asked. Zen-Aku got down on one knee.

"You... You saved my host. I have come to thank you and to ask you about the power you possess. It is so very familiar to me." The old man shook his head.

"And what kind of power might a Duke Org find familair?" The man asked. Zen-Aku was taken aback.

"A Duke Org... You know about me?" He asked. The man looked him up and down.

"An Elephant never forgets..." He grunted. "But it seems the Wolf does... It's that horn, only Orgs have those. And your stance is fully humanoid, that indicates something higher, but you're not Nazor, Mandilok or Retinax, meaning you're not a General. So you must be a Duke." He answered. So, Duke Orgs were humanoids with a large horn like his. That was... Well, that was at least more than the Wizard gave him.

"Nazor... Who are they?" He asked, his face and voice more confused now than before. The old man looked him up and down before approaching and placing his hand on Zen-Aku's chest, closing his eyes. He suddenly opened them and took a few steps back.

"That's... Not..." He looked very visibly flustered, equally as confused about this as Zen-Aku. He looked down and then up as if contemplating something, he then turned around and walked back inside of his hut, not closing the door behind him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Come on in." He called. Zen-Aku took several brave steps inside, only to see that this house was... Well, exactly as it looked on the outside. Dusty, cold, scrolls laying everywhere, nobody had cleaned in here for some time, except for the dishes which were all immaculate. The old man sat down in a large chair and guestured Zen-Aku to sit in the smaller chair across from him. "So..." He began as Zen-Aku took his seat. "You don't know who you are... Where you are... Where you are going... Where you come from..." He grunted. "But... You have a Heart. Which is... Odd to say the least." He once again looked around as if still mulling over this moral choice.

"I am... Heartless?" He asked, looking at his hands.

"No, no, no. Heartless are not part of the natural order. They are abominations from outside of it. You are very much a part of your natural order... It's just that your kind tends not to have hearts... Although yours is very faint... Very whimsical. Almost-"

"Like a childs heart... No, that's not my heart. I am linked by a curse to the child you saved. You must have heard her heart through me." The old Elephant man simply stared at Zen-Aku.

"Perhaps..." He replied. "You faught my Dream Eater without problem. Most would have been easily destroyed. This makes you a... Interesting case..." He once again looked around. His mouth seemed to quibble quickly as if having a conversation with someone. "Tell me why your really sought me out?" He asked.

"Because i require answers and you may be the only one with them." Zen-Aku replied, matter-of-factly.

"No, that's why you followed me, but why did you come in here?" He asked. "I gave you answers and yet you followed. You assumed i had more, but that's not enough. Why did you REALLY follow me in here?" Zen-Aku cocked his head to the side, now very confused.

"Because... You invited me?" He asked, continuing to try and play through this game that he clearly hadn't been taught the rules of. The man nodded his head, mouthing Zen-Aku's words back to him.

"Yes, i invited you. You could have burst down my door and demanded answers, you could have given me a royal thrashing and demanded them, but you didn't, why not? You know i am not unarmed, so don't give me any of that honour warrior nonsense." He replied.

"Because..." He watched the man wait with bated breath. "Because that would have been rude..." The man mouthed the words along with him as they came out of his mouth.

"Because it would have been rude!" He laughed, repeating him, before laughing out loud. He then got to his feet and walked over to a scroll and opened it. He read it a few times, before rolling it back up again. "Alright. Your training begins now then." He said, looking rather excited. Zen-Aku got up, still very confused.

"I don't need training, i need answers." He protested.

"Just as one does not discuss business on an empty stomach, one does not answer questions on an empty soul. Come, you will need this if you are to continue." He walked out of the hut. Zen-Aku rolled his eyes and got up to follow the old man.

"Old man, i don't even know your name." He growled.

"You may call me Master... Master Phant."

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

Dotty frowned as Taivas handed over the money to Cid for the ship. "Awww, i wanted the munnychews..." She groaned. She got into the cockpit next to him as the ship blasted off through The Space Between. Watching the weird and wonderful things that had fallen through the cracks of the worlds. During the trip, she sat back in her chair and looked at the control panel that Taivas had specifically activated the child lock on. Zen-Aku being rather glad of this. He wasn't sure how much damage she could do with it, but he had the feeling it was a lot. As the spiritual wolf monster looked out of the window, he saw a glowing, spectral, yellow, mechanical eagle fly past the window. He looked at the large eagle and heard it screech.

"Magestic..." He grunted.

"I try my best." Dotty smiled.

"No, that eagle." Dotty looked out of the window the way he was pointing.

"What Eagle?" She asked, staring directly at the eagle Zen-Aku was looking at. He looked confused at her. She clearly saw nothing.

"Nothing, never mind..." He simply continued to stand. Dotty slowly moved over to Taivas in the control seat.

"This thing got an MP3 player?" She asked... Taivas clearly ignored her. She frowned. "Alright, i can solve this one." As music began slowly creeping into the cabin from seemingly no-where again. "IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFT-" Instantly the music was cut off as Zen-Aku's spectral hand grabbed her mouth.

"ANYTHING... But that one..." Zen-Aku growled in a far more sinister tone than she had ever heard out of him before.

"OoOoOoOh" She sarcastically called to him. "Alright, mr Grumpy-bumpy pants." She sat down and huffed. Finally they closed in on the world that they were going to. A strange world that looked entirely made of jungle. As they arrived in the mists. Dotty walked out and into what looked like a giant tree canopy. Walking along a large branch, Taivas told her to ignore her base instincts. "Of course i'm gonna stay close, i'm not a complete idi-IIIIIIIIIIIIII" She screamed as she slipped on the slicked branch, falling out of the tree and straight down, screaming the whole way. Zen-Aku's spirit jumped off with her.

"PUT ON THE MASK!!!" He yelled, she grabbed the mask and pulled it to her face, but she was screaming too much to say the sacred incantations. Zen-Aku managed to grab her and put himself in front of her to cushion the blow as she fell straight through a wooden roof and into a house bellow her. Zen-Aku slowly got up and pushed her off of him. "You alright?"

"I'm good." She chirped. They looked around the house. An old, dilapidated looking house, completely devoid of any sort of life. She found an old photo of a regal looking man, woman and baby. "Think it's their house?" She asked. She then looked over at something in the corner. "Cool, leopard-skin rug." Dotty pointed at the Jaguar with enormous teeth that was staring at her like she was the last donut in the cop shop.

"Dotty... Put on the mask..." Zen-Aku replied as he stared at the angry jaguar. In one swift bound, it jumped straight at Dotty and with a single swipe of its mighty paw, sent her sprawling across the room, landing upside down. "THE MASK!!!" He roared at her, but Dotty had hit her head and seemed a little punch-drunk. Hitting the mask against her face.

"Ummm... I... Poodlewolf... Need to take a little nap now... You take him..." The Jaguar approached her licking his lips. Zen-Aku grabbed Dotty's arms and forced her to bring the mask to her face.

"SAY THE WORDS, SAY THE WORDS OR YOU'RE DEAD!!!" He yelled. As it jumped at her for the killing blow, a gust of wind blew through the house heralded by the sound of a Trumpeting Elephant. Zen-Aku turned around to see the Jaguar having been sent flying across the room and into the boxes and it struggled and writhed around in the boxes. Meanwhile the man who did it simply stood and looked at the Jaguar. It was an old man who stood, flourishing his arms and standing in a pose. He had long white hair and a stern face, he seemed to wear a strange martial artists outfit with a strange symbol on the back.

"MIGHTY SPIRIT OF THE ELEPHANT!!!" He roared, stamping his feet and the Jaguar fell over again. Zen-Aku sat and watched as the old man threw several powerful punches as the Jaguar charged him again, before grabbing it by the scruff and throwing it away again. At that point, Taivas made his entrance. The old man nodded to Taivas, but Taivas would be unable to see him. "I'll leave this to you, young one." He said, before fading away back into the aether.

"OLD MAN, WAIT!!!" Zen-Aku yelled running towards the man as he faded away. He then looked outside and saw a large cloud shaped like an elephant "OLD MAN!!! WHO ARE YOU!?!?!? TELL ME!!!" Zen-Aku bayed at the cloud. He saw flashes in his mind of a mighty, great mechanical elephant that made the same sound... Was it fighting him or was he fighting alongside it. He then turned around and watched Taivas fight the Jaguar.

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@Eviledd1984 Cool. Also, by Cids description, i'm guessing our ship looks like this?

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope

@Eviledd1984 We starting with the Sabor fight or what you wanna do?

Kingdom Hearts: Heroes of Hope