[011//Audio & Commentlog] More 4th wall fun :D

[oathbreakers]

K--Kairi!

[Riku sounds surprised, but also excited. What has he found?]

You've got to come see this. Deck 12--around the left side of the luggage.


[Riku's on the luggage deck, off to one side sitting on the floor. Scattered around him is an entire collection of interesting things, including a bunch of Disney movies--but what -Riku's- looking at is a game. Yeah, he's holding Kingdom Hearts I and II, and is staring at them both. There's a PlayStation 2 nearby, and you can bet he's planning on figuring out how to play these things.

What in the -worlds- has he found here?]

Comments

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

If you don't realize you're trapped, you can't find a way out! I know what my mistakes are! I managed to play everything perfectly, I barely made any mistakes, but part of it was plot!

[And it's back to fuming!]

Are you a slave to the constrains of the page or will you break the fourth wall?!

[oathbreakers]

I'm not a slave to anyone!

[Oh how wrong you are you silly boy ♥]

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

Your mundane puppets you even now!

[He saw what you did there.]

[oathbreakers]

[Whoops.]

What? Nobody's doing anything to me!

What about you? Is there someone behind you pulling your strings, then?

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

Of course there is! None of us can exist outside of our games without a puppet master!

[Cranky today, aren't we.]

Shut up. At least I haven't brought in the freaky colored text!

[oathbreakers]

[Well, crap. He'd been hoping that Kefka was going to say that he was the only one who was really free, or something along those lines--something that would have let him poke holes in what he's saying.

But he doesn't. And that's a little bit frightening.]

Who are you talking to?

[Yes, he is still ignoring that sense of being laughed at.

He's also smart enough to keep his question about "what freaky colored text? What are you talking about?" to himself.]

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

My puppet master. She likes mocking me.

[oathbreakers]

[WHAT IS THAT. WHAT IS THAT. Riku can't see the text, but for some reason he can -tell-. He just -senses- something out of the ordinary, something strange, and he actually -jumps-. Kefka's words are forgotten in light of this strange development. Instead...]

What was that?

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

[Kefka blinks, and when his eyes open again, they're glowing pink.]

yyy it is

[reflected]

[Hm... there's a lot he could tell you, and given that you don't have as much Darkness in you as he remembers... man. You are young. Anything he tells you would be a major spoiler, wouldn't it?] How much do you want to find out?

[Best to play this by ear. If he wants to know about Castle Oblivion, he's probably the best source of information you can get since Sora forgets it all, that idiot.]

[lightwithin]

[Sora's excitement is infectious, but as soon as the scene starts rolling, Kairi's face falls.

That... That had not gone well. The impulse to knock their heads together for the whole thing is overridden by a wave of sympathy. Kairi's had more than one conversation recently which has turned into a complete and total misunderstanding.]

So that's why...?

[Kairi falls silent and looks between them. Should she really put the tension that's been hanging about them into words? No. Instead she tries to think of something to bridge the gap, but a moment later she's glaring at Maleficent on screen.]

She's-...

[Kairi doesn't have words appropriate for what Maleficent is. Instead she clenches her fists on her knees and watches.]

[sunnysidesora.livejournal.com]

Yeah yeah, shut up. [He laughs none the less. But.]

[Sora's bottom lip is gone again, stuck between his teeth as he gnaws upon it. He remembers this encounter. He'd been so.. deflated, when Riku left. When he just up and vanished. He hadn't said anything, but he had been more than a little upset at Donald for doing that. There really was no problem with him coming along, but.. Back then, he hadn't been as close with those two as he was now.

But hindsight is a great thing. Kairi's reaction is a little more eye-catching anyway. Maleficent. Even Sora is cringing, brows heaving in the center of his forehead, eyes down.]

She was annoying to defeat, I'll say that much. [But it would be quite a while to do that.]

[oathbreakers]

[She was -right-, was what she was.

When Kairi makes poses her cut-short question, Riku can't help but snort quietly, derisively. He's not even looking at the screen--Kairi, you haven't seen -anything- yet. Just wait.

And then Maleficent's onscreen, and even looking away from the screen as he is he can't miss her reaction. He speaks under his breath, quietly, nudging her almost imperceptibly, though he's -still- not looking back. Sorry, Sora, this is something he doesn't want you hearing.]

It was nothing, Kairi. Don't worry about it.

[And then louder, slightly impatient, as though by pushing forward he can make them forget the scenes they've just seen:]

Are we done here? Let's move on.

[oathbreakers]

[Riku contemplates this for a minute. He knows that knowing what comes in his future is a dangerous prospect, but... hey, he already knows part of it anyways. Right?]

As much as I need to know.

Kairi's here, and she's from my future, too. What all happened?

[At least this way he'll know everything that she knows.]

[oathbreakers]

[Yeah. Uh. Riku's just gonna take a step backward now.

That's more than a little bit freaky, Kefka. And he's still trying to rationalize away the entire "your life is a game" thing!]

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

[lightwithin]

Um... Sure.

[Kairi gently takes the controller from Sora and walks game!Sora up to the bell tower. Another crash-trinity and three tolls of the bell later, and the keyhole's revealed.]

Hey, didn't we already beat this one?

[No, apparently not. Kairi frowns; since when does switching your hands with your feet bring you back to life?

She's actually not doing too badly against the second Guard Armour. She manages to get three of its limbs and is chasing the fourth when suddenly, it turns into a canon and shoots her.]

.....

[reflected]

[He frowns, but nods, resigning himself to it.] I don't know what happens after we parted ways, and most of what I know from before I was created comes from altered copies of your memories.

[He's going to avoid asking who Kairi is--that's the girl he likes. The one that's supposed to be in the memories, instead of Naminé.] But what I do know, is that somehow, you wound up in Castle Oblivion, just a few days after Sora had been lured there by a nasty group called Organization Thirteen.

[He pauses, the look on his face going contemplative.] It might be better to show you what happens, instead of telling you.

[oathbreakers]

You can do that? [Okay, that? Is -cool-.]

Then show me.

[Oh man, he is -so- ready for this.]

[oathbreakers]

No--I won't believe that!

[You can say he's a character in game. You can tell him he's being controlled by outside forces. But you tell him that is -life- is meaningless... and Riku's defiant, hands balling into fists at his side. Yeah, he's close to running, to try and get away from this insane man and his delusions, but that is the one point he -will- stand for. His life is -not- meaningless--not to him.]

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

WHAT NO WAY YOU TOTALLY WOULD'VE LAUGHED

[toysword.livejournal.com]

[That glare only serves to remind Sora that this isn't the Riku that he had gone through the Door to the Light with, who would've smiled a sad smile and looked at him with only the barest hint of that old sense of humor at a joke like that, before possibly ruffling his hair or giving him a noogie. He only barely manages to suppress the wince, but that 'Sorry' look on his face says enough.

And, he responds to Kairi with more than a little of his usual exaggeration:] What?! No way! I learned my lesson about the crabs last time!

[But Riku's half-statement, half-question makes his expression go serious again. A whole year... yeah, that sounds about right, even if he slept through a lot of it. Who knows what Riku was up to while he was asleep? Or how lonely Kairi must've been on the islands without them?] Yeah... we do.

[What should he say? Would Riku even believe him, or listen to him? This Riku wasn't filled with guilt--he was still stubborn, and jealous, and hurting from what he thought was abandonment.

It... would be difficult. Very difficult. But maybe... he and Kairi could help him stop hurting?]

[reflected]

Yeah. [Slight smirk.] Just a little something I picked up.

[Well. All right. He closes his eyes, mostly to help him concentrate on grasping hold of that stolen power and using it. It takes a few seconds, but their surroundings flicker away, replaced by startling white marble hallways.

And the scenes start to unfold--every encounter he had with both Riku and Sora. Why he includes Sora in this, he's not entirely sure, but he feels like it's probably important.

'Look. See how they manipulated your friend. Manipulated me, and you. Messed with our memories.' People Riku has never met are frequent--a tall lanky man with wild red hair, an even taller man with green eyes and a cruel smirk. A man with a scythe, and a blonde woman with throwing knives. A smaller man, with dark hair and a calculating gaze half-hidden by his hair, and finally a large, imposing man with wirey hair and a square jaw. All wear the same coat--a long hooded black thing that seems to soak in the light from around them.

Time passes, and the scenes continue. Every fight, every taunt, every jeer--and the horror and numbness of having the memories chained in his Heart shattered, scattered in his mind. The final scenes mostly involve Riku, and the fights that they both had. When their final fight starts to play, the illusion flickers, the Replica's concentration slipping.]

[oathbreakers]

[His stance is firm--he won't be moved easily.]

Yeah.

And even if it's a game, even if nothing really exists...! I do. And Kairi does. A-and even Sora! [He's getting on a roll here, now, the tiny stumble only coming as he realizes Sora matters.]

So what if it's a game? I matter to my friends--and they matter to me!

[Hmm, this sounds rather familiar, doesn't it? Look at that, Riku, you're having almost the same sort of revelation Sora did. How interesting!]

[sandinmyboots.livejournal.com]

So, those are your reasons for existing...?

[Oh man, he got this speech when he got killed. "My family is important!" "I have someone to catch me when I fall!" "New friends, kupo!" Uuuugh, it's disgusting. Might as well let him get some last words in.]

[And character developing is always good. Maybe it'll help him out in the real game!]