Keep On Whacking: Re: Mix (KH)

[NGSoares]

The Hydra's tail swept across the courtyard, scattering debris as it carved through the air. Leon barely managed to dive out of the way, rolling to his feet just in time to see the massive beast lash out again. Yuffie and Haru weren't as lucky—caught by the tail's brutal force, they were sent flying.

Haru twisted mid-air, performing an Aerial Recovery, whilw below, blue will-o-wisps flared to life around the Hydra. Before he could react, the air around him ignited with pillars of blue flame. Haru instinctively cast Fire, hoping to disrupt the Hydra's magic, but the flames closed in, singing the edge of his clothes.

"Leon, now!" Haru shouted as the Hydra lowered its massive head.

Leon dashed forward, his gunblade gleaming as he slashed at the head.

Yuffie channeled her Ice rudra, sending frigid shurikens towards the Hydra's head. The combined assault was enough to stagger the beast, causing it to rear back in pain.

"Don't let up!" Haru urged, seizing the moment. He sprinted toward the Hydra's neck and Vanquished it, decapitating it in a cloud of black smoke.

No sooner had the head fallen that the Hydra drove its stump into the ground, which trembled beneath them. Three new heads erupted from the courtyard, their vicious roars shaking the very walls of the Coliseum.

The Hydra's middle head lunged at Haru, its massive jaws snapping inches from his face. He could hear Phil's voice echoing from the ruins, but did his best to ignore it, as he, Leon, and Yuffie were each focusing on one of the Hydra's heads each. He managed to land a series of combos on the middle head, sending it reeling back.

As he caught his breath, Haru noticed the head Yuffie was battling, positioned near the Hades Cup scoreboard, suddenly go limp. Sensing an opportunity, he ran over and severed the head in a cloud of dark smoke.

Unfortunately, the head Haru had previously knocked out was already recovering, trying to catch him off guard with a bite attack. He narrowly escaped its bite with an Air Slide, feeling the rush of air as its teeth chomped down on the space where he had just stood. Before he could counter, the head vanished underground, leaving only a rumble in its wake.

He turned his attention to the head Leon had been battling. Leon had managed to stun it, but as Haru moved in for the kill, the previously vanished head erupted from the ground, blocking his path.

Haru did a final combo with Shooting Star, feeling the Keyblade transform in his hands. With a flash of light, it split into a pair of Double Arrowguns. He aimed at the middle head, shooting at it point blank.

At that moment, Phil's voice cut through the chaos, and Haru finally tuned in to what he was yelling. His heart sank as the words hit him.

"GET UP ON THE HYDRA'S BACK!" screamed the satyr.

With a sigh, Haru leapt onto the monster's back. As he landed, he caught sight of Phil hoisting a massive urn above his head, muscles straining as he hurled it with all his might.

Haru sprang into action, swinging Shooting Star just as the urn flew through the air. The impact sent the urn crashing down on the Hydra, shattering on top of body. The force of the blow made the Hydra roar in pain.

The two remaining heads' reactions were instantaneous, as both collapsed onto the ground and fell unconscious, where Haru and Yuffie both attacked from afar before the redhead decapitated the one parallel to the scoreboards for the Phil, Pegasus, and Hercules Cups.

He then turned his attention to the last head, which Leon had managed to stagger. With another combo, he severed it from the Hydra's body, watching as the Double Arrowguns in his hands transformed into a Magic Launcher, glowing with potent energy.

The Hydra, on the other hand, seemed nowhere near done, as it dug its claws into the ground before raising its neck again, where seven heads all sprouted at once. They roared in unison before slamming their heads into the courtyard's floor in rapid succession, managing to throw Haru back.

Before he could even recover, he saw a dark orb materialize in front of the Hydra's body, which shot off shadow bolts into the ground. He tried blasting the closest of the Hydra's heads with Fire strengthed by Magic Launcher, only to be interrupted by wispy spirits rising up and attacking him.

He couldn't breathe for a moment, as the Hydra once again hammered the ground with its heads, hitting all three of them before it followed that up with a tail sweep, one that required another Aerial Recovery followed by Cure.

Pillars of bright blue flame started raining down, and as the Hydra snapped at them all with all seven of its heads, Haru saw Pegasus fly down, who pointed at himself with his wings.

Hopping onto the winged horse's back, he rode up to the Hydra's heads, firing at each one with Magic Launcher before landing back in front of it again.

The monster did its dark wisp attack, but Haru aimed right at its heads with the launcher, firing off a large magic projectile that stunned it…

And he Vanquished the Hydra one last time, slicing off all seven of its heads at once.

The decapitated form of the Hydra collapsed onto the courtyard floor, its heads landing nearby before it faded away into black smoke.

Learned Thunder.​

 

[NGSoares]

A while later, Haru and the others made their way through the remnants of the Coliseum, their steps echoing in the stillness that had settled over the once bustling arena.

They found Hercules sitting silently on the steps leading to what had once been the lobby, his powerful form hunched over.

Megara sat beside him, her hand gently resting on his back, offering what comfort she could.

Hercules' head drooped, his eyes fixed on the ground as if searching for answers in the rubble. "I let everyone down," he muttered. "I'm just… no use."

Meg's expression softened as she leaned closer to him. "It's not your fault," she said gently. "Hey, even a god would be exhausted after all this."

Haru approached, the weight of the battle still pressing on his shoulders. He could see the toll it had taken on Hercules, and kneeling beside him, he placed a hand on the demigod's shoulder, offering a reassuring squeeze. "She's right," agreed the redhead. "Give yourself some time to rest."

Hercules slowly nodded, acknowledging his presence.

"You don't have to worry about Wonderboy here," interjected Meg. "I'll look after him, I promise." She gave Hercules a small, encouraging smile before turning her attention to the three. "Haru, I owe you big time. You all came through when it mattered most. And… sorry for Kairi getting mixed up in this."

Haru forced a smile. "It wasn't your fault, Meg. None of us could have predicted how things would turn out." He hesitated, his gaze dropping to the ground. "If anything, it's my fault for letting her come along when she's not fully trained. I thought… I thought I could protect her."

Leon, standing nearby, crossed his arms and gave Haru a firm nod. "We all make decisions in the heat of the moment. Don't beat yourself up over it."

"Yeah, but still…" Haru trailed off. "I *let* her come, even though she was inexperienced," he admitted. "It's not Pete who hurt her, I did for deciding that." He absently started twirling his hair. "I'm sorry."

Meg watched the exchange, a small smile tugging at her lips. "You've got good friends, Haru. Don't lose sight of that."

With a deep breath, Haru reached into his pocket and pulled out the Olympus Stone, offering it to Hercules, who trudged over. "Here, take this. It might help."

But as soon as he extended his hand, the stone began to glow, casting a warm light around them. Haru blinked in surprise as the glow intensified, revealing the stone's other purpose.

A crown symbol appeared beneath Haru as he summoned the Keyblade with a heavy heart, pointing it at the now floating Olympus Stone. The ruins of the Coliseum gates disappeared around him, transporting him to the realm of light he went to at Hollow Bastion and Beast's Castle.

Light shot up from the stone, revealing a Keyhole—that world's gate—and Haru pointed Shooting Star at it.

He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he needed to be stronger, before a beam shot from the tip of the Keyblade, entering the gate and filling the realm with a blinding glow, which almost felt like a fleeting escape.

When Haru opened his eyes, he was back in the ruins, where Phil's voice returned him to the present. "All right, what <i>was</i> all that, Red?" asked the satyr.

"It means it's time for us to go," answered Haru, his voice steady.

"Okay. Don't be strangers," said Meg, offering him and the others a supportive smile that didn't reach her eyes.

Haru nodded, clutching the stone tightly. "We won't. And Meg… I'll do better next time."

His mind raced with both guilt, and so many other questions.

Other than the Mysterious Figure's presence in the Organization… he recalled those wraiths, their gray, hooded forms haunting his thoughts. They didn't fit in with anything he knew, with the closest thing being the Phantom—and that was a stretch. They just defied his expectations and his meta knowledge, and he bit his lip, wondering about the future and the Mysterious Figure's words.

He gazed back at the crumbling Coliseum, and even with the way to the next world unlocked, things felt more uncertain than ever.

How much did he not know?

Obtained Hero's Origin
​

/Was discussing things with my friend on Discord about the future of this story, and what to do.
//Will elaborate more later once I gather my thoughts.

 

[NGSoares]

I know I talked about this just last page, but after the discussion with my Discord friend last night, my reservations about the state of the story versus my creative vision and challenges were brought to the forefront again.

So, I thought I had things under control about the future of the story, but as I wrote the Olympus Coliseum arc, I realized that no—I don't have things under control. I've been struggling with finding an editor, and that's not going well at all.

I've just been winging it so far, and as I did, I wondered if my vision for the story works as a fanfiction, instead of a quest like how I initially wanted it. My schedule slips say hi.

Basically, without an editor, I've been struggling with characterization, direction, and worrying that the story is falling apart. I feel like reverting this to a quest resolves my problem with direction, addresses my previous concerns with Haru, and lets the supporting cast breathe more.

Can't really demote him to a side character because after just how big of a derail he caused in the prequel, he'd feel like a tumor on things who'd make the story lose cohesion.

In conclusion, yeah, I'm planning to return this to a quest so it can be more like how I initially envisioned it and to address the core issues that have been holding me back.

EDIT: Will be updating the quest thread momentarily.

 

[zxzx24]

If it's what you think is best I would say go for it!

 

[NGSoares]

If it's what you think is best I would say go for it!

Click to shrink...

It was a pretty hard decision, but I realized that returning it to a quest like I had envisioned it would be address my writing struggles a lot better than a fanfiction would. A recap of the story so far, and the first post-revival update, is up.