Part 62: Episode 11: Salt in the Wounds

On with the show!

Episode 11: Salt in the Wounds


With his inner darkness... um... beat up? Whatever, Riku discovers he is not alone!



"I'm so happy to see you!"



"Stop hitting me for a minute and gimme a hug!"



Theres a flash of light and Riku is thrown back.



"You're not Riku anymore... You're just a pawn of the darkness.
So be it. It's time for you to face the light!"

The screen pulses white a few times.


Warm...


And he was never heard from again...


Zexion's plans are about to be horrible thwarted right here.


"So don't run from the light-- and don't fear the darkness.
Both will make you stronger."



The darkness in your heart is vast and deep...
...but if you can stare into it unflinching, you'll never know fear again."

Last I checked there were a whole hell of a lot of people with darkness powers, not-Kairi. I'm guessing she means that Riku is the only one with both halves, though.


He says that but the game's mechanics really force it on you a lot. There's no way to play a dark-free Riku.


"Do that, and you'll gain strength unlike any other.
You'll be able to escape the deepest darkness--"


If you thought that was cheesy wait about thirty seconds.






Here it comes... The ultimate in cheesey...






Riku got dressed IN HIS MIND. Time to get back to the real world.

---Riku slices through a wall of light, which refuses to screencap despite my best efforts, and finds himself back on the beach.---


You're not Sora! Sora doesn't know that word!


I knew it!




Starting to look a little evil there Riku, don't get TOO into that whole dark thing.





"Since about 2 minutes ago!"






And with a wimper, no boss fight at all, Zexion warps out. I feel jipped.


An angsty teenager.


Jealousy will get you no where.



Axel and Greg enter to find Zexion still crying in the corner.


Bwahahaha. Spineless worm.


Now remember, this is after Marluxia's dead. Sora has long since wished Greg well as he ran off to live his own life or whatever. Unfortunately, Greg ran into Axel immediately afterwards and he was a very bad influence.


"Good thinking. We can use this Riku to defeat the real one."

*crickets*


This will not end well.


"I bet you'd LIKE to be real."



"Get that, and you can be a new person, your OWN person. Not Riku, not anybody else.
You won't be someone's copy. You'll be you."


This is almost pitiful.





"You're the last person living in the basement and I really want to add a billiard room. Someone has to go."


You know, I do get why the others died, but having a wounded Zexion finished off here seems silly to me. There's no good reason to kill him, he hasn't got anything to do with the whole coup upstairs and he didn't manage to die to either protagonist.


I mean, they let GREG kill him for chrissakes. We all know where Greg rates on the power scale. Not all that high.


Stop squealing you're making the Organization look bad. Oh, its Organization 8 now, by the way. And that's what it will stay until KH2. Axel is the only member shown in this game who didn't die horribly. Heh.



"Of course, that voice!"


"You've let the darkness in.
An all-consuming darkness is what your heart shall become!"

I've heard that before.




He's also floating about 3 feet off the ground as can be seen next shot.


"Controlling your body is an effortless task."

I mean look at this, I've heard of possession but since when can the possesed guy FLOAT?


Not pictured because he's god damned invisible on a white background-- Micky-fairy floats in and light flashes a couple times.



Yes, he's really here, not a fairy or an image.




Poke.




PROMISES are IMPORTANT guys.



"I've been alone so long that having someone else around is a little... overwhelming.
But how did you get here, Your Majesty? I thought you were really far away."


"I was lookin' for the way out of the realm of darkness, and then this card came along.
As soon as I picked it up, it showed me your heart, waaaay our beyong the darkness.
And that's how I tracked you down.
I guess the card thought it belonged with you."

This makes more sense once you know who sent this particular card. Let's just say it's an old friend of Mickey's, one with a rather overused name.

Be sure to tune in next time, when Riku finally meets the 'other' Ansem in person and Greg tracks us down for his final standoff, in-

Episode 12: Greg's Last Stand