I'm attacking the darkness!
This all started with a comment about how Terra's dump stats were Intelligence and Wisdom. It has very much spiraled from there. Enjoy some D&D-style fic, guys - I'm off to bed and will probably write more of this later, if only because I WAS FROZEN TODAY is too good a line to pass up.
~~*~~
“Hey, man,” Colin greeted his friend with a grin, setting his dice bag down on the table. “You got here early.”
“Like I’d want to miss this,” Ottavio, orange dice and character sheet already arranged neatly in front of him, returned the smile. “It’s endgame and we’re finally done with individual stuff. This is going to be epic.”
“No kidding. Hey, you didn’t screw Ottavio over too badly while I was gone, did you?” Colin turned his grin on their DM, who was still setting up his folding board and papers. Conflicting class and job schedules had shaped the nature of this particular D&D game - the DM had more free time than any of the players, so he’d been running individual sessions with them, furthering their character’s stories independent of one another. They’d finally found a free Saturday towards the end of semester and had pounced on the opportunity to finish up what had been a hell of a wild game.
“Define ‘screw over,’” the DM replied lightly. “Miranda’s going to be late and I’m still setting up, so as far as I’m concerned, your two characters got there first. You remember the setting notes from last time - go ahead and catch up with each other.”
Ottavio and Colin exchanged glances and shrugged. Neither of them liked that answer, but trying to get information from their DM was like trying to get into the Playboy mansion - it only happened if you knew someone or were really lucky (or so they’d heard).
It was Colin who broke the ice. “What’ve you been up to during your sessions anyway?”
~~*~~
He stayed silent as she approached. There was little he could do to make this news easier on her - he could hardly bear it himself as it was.
“I was told,” Aqua started, “the Master was struck down.”
There was a short intake of breath - because it hurt to hear it like that - and then Terra sighed, defeated. “Yes. That’s right,” he replied. “I was stupid and helped Xehanort do it.”
It was her turn to gasp, struck dumb as he explained what had happened. She’d never expected to hear it so starkly from him.
~~*~~
“Wait, wait, hang on!” Colin held his hands up in the sign for time out. “You killed Mark’s character?” he demanded, looking from Ottavio to the DM. “You killed Mark’s character?”
“I called Mark,” the DM replied, completely unfazed. Mark had started the session with them but had quickly been overcome by his senior thesis and dropped out. His character was too integral to everyone else’s back stories to disappear, so he’d been kept on as a NPC. “He said he was fine with it.”
“Jesus,” Colin muttered before turning his attention back to Ottavio. “And how many saves did you have to fail to wind up getting led around by the Big Bad, huh? Why the hell did you make wisdom your character’s dump stat?”
“Because I wanted him to be able to take a hit, Miss Negative-Con-Modifier,” Ottavio shot back.
Colin rolled his eyes, then blinked as another thought hit him. “Does Miranda’s character know?”
“…shit,” Ottavio realized slowly, “I don’t think so.”
“Does my character know what?” Miranda demanded, coming down the stairs. “Did you start without me? And Ottavio, where’s the Mountain Dew?” Ottavio always brought sodas. This was an unspoken rule.
“You’ll see, only a few minutes ago, and in the fridge,” the DM answered the questions before either of the others could, gesturing to the mini fridge.
Miranda raised an eyebrow - she didn’t like the vague answers any more than Colin or Ottavio did - and joined them shortly at the table, soda can popped open and dice bag upended, scattering green dice in front of her. “Let me guess: exposition time?”
“Exposition time,” Ottavio nodded.
~~*~~
”I may have to fight Vanitas after all,” Ven said, disregarding Terra’s assurances. He knew the would do their best to live up to their word and take care of him; he also knew how strong Vanitas was and how Xehanort was willing to do anything to get his precious X-blade. His friends could only take him so far. “If I do, guys…I want you-”
“The three of us can never be torn apart, alright?” Terra interrupted, hand strong on Ven’s shoulder, unwilling to hear more. “I’ll always find a way.” Aqua nodded her agreement, bending to Ven’s eye level and putting a gentle hand to his cheek.
He couldn’t take it.
“I’m asking you, as a friend,” he insisted, removing Aqua’s hand, then Terra’s. “Just…put an end to me.”
~~*~~
“Drama llama,” Ottavio muttered under his breath.
“Oh come on,” Miranda shot back, “it was a good line and you know it.”
“Yeah, if you’re going for an Oscar.”
“Or a Razzie,” Colin grinned, exchanging not-so-discreet high fives with Ottavio.
“You bunch of-”
“Alright,” the DM interrupted, dice clattering loudly to the table, “I’m all set up. Ready for the fun part?”
“Define ‘fun,’” Colin quirked an eyebrow.
The DM just smiled.
“Well, we’re fucked,” Miranda said brightly. “Let’s do this.”
~~*~~
“Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one ultimate key,” Xehanort gloated. The cards were all flush on the table now and had been since Eraqus’ demise; there was no reason for him to hide his motivations, especially not when he was so very close to his ultimate goal. “And it will soon belong to me,” he continued, dramatically pointing one finger at his former apprentice - the boy that would form one half of his world-ending weapon. “X-blade!”
There was a collective outraged intake of breath from the three Keybearers he had victimized. They were having none of that, and they were about to let him know it.
~~*~~
“And you think I’m a drama whore,” Miranda smirked.
“He’s the Big Bad,” Ottavio argued. “He gets to say that kind of stuff.”
“I think the guy who milks the giant cow can out-drama us all,” Colin said flatly, “It doesn’t help that he’s got Hayley’s permission to use her character for this.” Miranda and Ottavio immediately shut up. Those had been some tough battles - Miranda’s character would’ve died in an earlier one if the DM hadn’t bent a few rules for the sake of the plot, and Colin’s character had barely pulled ahead in her last one. Having Hayley’s character alongside the Big Bad meant this was going to be a tough fight.
Unfazed - of course - the DM just smiled. “Roll for initiative.”
~~*~~
As one, they struck their shoulder gauntlets, activating their armor. They’d seen what Xehanort and Vanitas were capable of, and they all knew they’d need whatever advantage they could get.
Ven moved first, almost before his armor was entirely in place, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him and Terra surged forward in his place, avenging his fallen Master foremost in his thoughts. He leapt into a high strike, intending to bring his Keyblade crashing down on Xehanort-
And was instead interrupted from below as a swiftly rising rock face, directed by Xehanort, crashed into his midsection, flipping him into the air and onto the still-rising stone and effectively separating him from his companions with a good fifty feet of altitude. A second plateau carrying Vanitas and a cackling Xehanort rose quickly above his view, and Terra knew exactly where he was headed.
~~*~~
“Wait, so I win initiative and my reward is a cliff to the face?” Ottavio demanded. “Really?”
The DM shrugged mildly. “It could be worse.”
“Yeah,” Miranda chimed in. “He could waggle his fingers at you some more!”
Colin just shook his head slowly. “This is not going to end well.”
~~*~~
“Hey, man,” Colin greeted his friend with a grin, setting his dice bag down on the table. “You got here early.”
“Like I’d want to miss this,” Ottavio, orange dice and character sheet already arranged neatly in front of him, returned the smile. “It’s endgame and we’re finally done with individual stuff. This is going to be epic.”
“No kidding. Hey, you didn’t screw Ottavio over too badly while I was gone, did you?” Colin turned his grin on their DM, who was still setting up his folding board and papers. Conflicting class and job schedules had shaped the nature of this particular D&D game - the DM had more free time than any of the players, so he’d been running individual sessions with them, furthering their character’s stories independent of one another. They’d finally found a free Saturday towards the end of semester and had pounced on the opportunity to finish up what had been a hell of a wild game.
“Define ‘screw over,’” the DM replied lightly. “Miranda’s going to be late and I’m still setting up, so as far as I’m concerned, your two characters got there first. You remember the setting notes from last time - go ahead and catch up with each other.”
Ottavio and Colin exchanged glances and shrugged. Neither of them liked that answer, but trying to get information from their DM was like trying to get into the Playboy mansion - it only happened if you knew someone or were really lucky (or so they’d heard).
It was Colin who broke the ice. “What’ve you been up to during your sessions anyway?”
~~*~~
He stayed silent as she approached. There was little he could do to make this news easier on her - he could hardly bear it himself as it was.
“I was told,” Aqua started, “the Master was struck down.”
There was a short intake of breath - because it hurt to hear it like that - and then Terra sighed, defeated. “Yes. That’s right,” he replied. “I was stupid and helped Xehanort do it.”
It was her turn to gasp, struck dumb as he explained what had happened. She’d never expected to hear it so starkly from him.
~~*~~
“Wait, wait, hang on!” Colin held his hands up in the sign for time out. “You killed Mark’s character?” he demanded, looking from Ottavio to the DM. “You killed Mark’s character?”
“I called Mark,” the DM replied, completely unfazed. Mark had started the session with them but had quickly been overcome by his senior thesis and dropped out. His character was too integral to everyone else’s back stories to disappear, so he’d been kept on as a NPC. “He said he was fine with it.”
“Jesus,” Colin muttered before turning his attention back to Ottavio. “And how many saves did you have to fail to wind up getting led around by the Big Bad, huh? Why the hell did you make wisdom your character’s dump stat?”
“Because I wanted him to be able to take a hit, Miss Negative-Con-Modifier,” Ottavio shot back.
Colin rolled his eyes, then blinked as another thought hit him. “Does Miranda’s character know?”
“…shit,” Ottavio realized slowly, “I don’t think so.”
“Does my character know what?” Miranda demanded, coming down the stairs. “Did you start without me? And Ottavio, where’s the Mountain Dew?” Ottavio always brought sodas. This was an unspoken rule.
“You’ll see, only a few minutes ago, and in the fridge,” the DM answered the questions before either of the others could, gesturing to the mini fridge.
Miranda raised an eyebrow - she didn’t like the vague answers any more than Colin or Ottavio did - and joined them shortly at the table, soda can popped open and dice bag upended, scattering green dice in front of her. “Let me guess: exposition time?”
“Exposition time,” Ottavio nodded.
~~*~~
”I may have to fight Vanitas after all,” Ven said, disregarding Terra’s assurances. He knew the would do their best to live up to their word and take care of him; he also knew how strong Vanitas was and how Xehanort was willing to do anything to get his precious X-blade. His friends could only take him so far. “If I do, guys…I want you-”
“The three of us can never be torn apart, alright?” Terra interrupted, hand strong on Ven’s shoulder, unwilling to hear more. “I’ll always find a way.” Aqua nodded her agreement, bending to Ven’s eye level and putting a gentle hand to his cheek.
He couldn’t take it.
“I’m asking you, as a friend,” he insisted, removing Aqua’s hand, then Terra’s. “Just…put an end to me.”
~~*~~
“Drama llama,” Ottavio muttered under his breath.
“Oh come on,” Miranda shot back, “it was a good line and you know it.”
“Yeah, if you’re going for an Oscar.”
“Or a Razzie,” Colin grinned, exchanging not-so-discreet high fives with Ottavio.
“You bunch of-”
“Alright,” the DM interrupted, dice clattering loudly to the table, “I’m all set up. Ready for the fun part?”
“Define ‘fun,’” Colin quirked an eyebrow.
The DM just smiled.
“Well, we’re fucked,” Miranda said brightly. “Let’s do this.”
~~*~~
“Countless Keyblade wielders gave up their lives, all in search of one ultimate key,” Xehanort gloated. The cards were all flush on the table now and had been since Eraqus’ demise; there was no reason for him to hide his motivations, especially not when he was so very close to his ultimate goal. “And it will soon belong to me,” he continued, dramatically pointing one finger at his former apprentice - the boy that would form one half of his world-ending weapon. “X-blade!”
There was a collective outraged intake of breath from the three Keybearers he had victimized. They were having none of that, and they were about to let him know it.
~~*~~
“And you think I’m a drama whore,” Miranda smirked.
“He’s the Big Bad,” Ottavio argued. “He gets to say that kind of stuff.”
“I think the guy who milks the giant cow can out-drama us all,” Colin said flatly, “It doesn’t help that he’s got Hayley’s permission to use her character for this.” Miranda and Ottavio immediately shut up. Those had been some tough battles - Miranda’s character would’ve died in an earlier one if the DM hadn’t bent a few rules for the sake of the plot, and Colin’s character had barely pulled ahead in her last one. Having Hayley’s character alongside the Big Bad meant this was going to be a tough fight.
Unfazed - of course - the DM just smiled. “Roll for initiative.”
~~*~~
As one, they struck their shoulder gauntlets, activating their armor. They’d seen what Xehanort and Vanitas were capable of, and they all knew they’d need whatever advantage they could get.
Ven moved first, almost before his armor was entirely in place, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him and Terra surged forward in his place, avenging his fallen Master foremost in his thoughts. He leapt into a high strike, intending to bring his Keyblade crashing down on Xehanort-
And was instead interrupted from below as a swiftly rising rock face, directed by Xehanort, crashed into his midsection, flipping him into the air and onto the still-rising stone and effectively separating him from his companions with a good fifty feet of altitude. A second plateau carrying Vanitas and a cackling Xehanort rose quickly above his view, and Terra knew exactly where he was headed.
~~*~~
“Wait, so I win initiative and my reward is a cliff to the face?” Ottavio demanded. “Really?”
The DM shrugged mildly. “It could be worse.”
“Yeah,” Miranda chimed in. “He could waggle his fingers at you some more!”
Colin just shook his head slowly. “This is not going to end well.”