Flyin' High Again (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories) in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

Riku has been manipulated throughout his journey through Castle Oblivion, thus far. He has been manipulated by the darkness in his own heart into waking up in Castle Oblivion. It has manipulated him into journeying through the worlds of his memories: Hollow Bastion, Traverse Town, Agrabah, and Monstro. It has pulled the darkness out of his heart in an attempt to overtake the goodness and light inside him. He was manipulated into battle by Vexen, the Chilly Academic and number four in the Organization, in an effort to gain battle data on him. Vexen has gone above ground now, where he will encounter Sora and meet his end at the hands of Axel, in due time. This leaves Zexion and Lexaeus to deal with Riku, or vice versa. With a trip through Neverland looming before him, what can Riku expect after? With no more world cards left, how will Riku manage to escape from the castle? Will King Mickey manage to rescue him? Will his darkness overtake him? Will the real Riku ever meet the Replica which Vexen created? Can Riku manage to make it to Sora? Only time will tell. But first, the trip through Neverland…

Now…

Riku made his way into the confines of Captain Hook’s ship, the Jolly Roger, and immediately found the Key of Beginnings card in his pockets. Riku fought the groups of Heartless on board the ship, immediately becoming reacquainted with Pirates, Air Pirates, and Search Ghosts, among others. After defeating those in the world’s first room, Riku went north, using a Martial Waking card to open the path forward. With his all-attack card deck boosted by the power of the map card, Riku fought through multiple tiers of Heartless, defeating them all. While fighting his way through the room, Riku noticed that there were three exits from the room: east, north, and west. Riku opted to take the western exit and created a Sleeping Darkness room from one of the many he had in his possession. In the next room, Riku dispatched the napping nightmares back into the darkness before heading to the room’s only exit in the north. Using a Lasting Daze card, Riku proceeded further into the halls of the Jolly Roger. In the next room, Riku did all that he could to get a jump on the Heartless prior to battle, making short work of all those that he struck with the help of his Soul Eater blade. Fighting his way to the room’s north exit, Riku used one of his many Bottomless Darkness cards to open up the next room. The blinding darkness caused Riku to stumble around into many unexpected fights, but with all the enemies being Shadows, it wasn’t long before Riku found his way to the room’s only other exit in the east. Once again, Riku decided to use a Lasting Daze card to move forward. Riku, almost overcome by the Heartless in the room, ran to the room’s south exit and used a Moment’s Reprieve card to give himself a rest amidships. After checking his deck to become more familiar with it’s contents, Riku returned north to defeat the Heartless he had yet to conquer. After plying out wins against the rest of the Heartless back in the Lasting Daze room, Riku moved east using a Strong Initiative card. Taking the initiative, Riku did major damage going into all of his fights against the Heartless, making the job of defeating them that much easier. In the northern part of the room, Riku found the Key of Beginnings door, but instead, he decided to go south and explore the rest of the ship. In the Martial Waking room that Riku created, he used his powered up deck to dispatch the dark creatures back from whence they came before heading south once more, creating a Teeming Darkness room. The Heartless swarmed Riku, but that had been his plan all along: use the Heartless in this room to give him an extra boost to face down whatever darkness his heart presented in the form of Captain Hook, leader of the Jolly Roger’s crew and former shipmate of Riku. With the Heartless defeated, Riku finally made his way back to the Key of Beginnings door and moved through the doorway to face down Captain Hook. The pirate used explosive gifts and sword attacks to try to trip up Riku, but Riku was far too strong, using a combination of his Jafar-Genie card and his Maleficent card, in addition to a few dark powers, to take down the wily pirate. With his victory, Riku earned the Captain Hook enemy card before being transported back into the previous room. With the ship cleared of enemies, Riku backtracked until he managed to find his way into the Conqueror’s Respite room. Riku, without any more world cards in his possession and assuming there would be a trap waiting for him outside the doors, steeled himself and walked through the door back into Castle Oblivion’s halls.

Returning to the hallways, Riku stopped short in shock and yelled out, asking who the person in front of him was supposed to be. The figure walked forward and asked Riku if he was surprised. He told Riku that he should be. It was the Riku Replica! The Replica told Riku that he had been created by Vexen using the data the scientist had gained from their battle. Riku caught the gist of it and said of course, it was a fake him. The Replica became angry and yelled that he wasn’t a fake. Just because Riku was real, it didn’t mean he was any better. They shared the same body and the same talents, after all. There was one easy way to tell them apart though. Riku stood, waiting for the answer, seemingly bored. The Replica said that unlike Riku, he feared nothing. That got Riku’s attention, and Riku asked if this thing was calling him a coward. The Replica shot back that Riku was afraid of the dark. The darkness inside Riku still frightened him, no matter what Riku said. But the Replica was different. He embraced the darkness and could make it do whatever he wanted. Like wiping the floor with the real Riku! The Replica drew his Soul Eater blade and leaped into battle. The Replica attacked with dark blade strikes and a couple of sleights, but Riku broke them quickly. Using a combination of his Jafar-Genie card and his D-mode sleights, Riku made short work of his copy. Riku yelled at his fake, mocking him and saying he thought the Replica said he would wipe the floor with RIku. The Replica told him not to forget. He was still new and he would get stronger and stronger. The next time they fought, Riku was finished! Riku yelled that they should fight right now and charged, bringing his blade down on the head of the Replica, only to be blocked by a dark force field. The Replica laughed, saying that it was nice having darkness on his side. He told Riku that Riku was missing out and asked how he could be so scared of something that could be so thrilling. Riku said enough. The Replica scoffed at Riku suddenly acting tough. The Replica told him so long and hoped Riku didn’t miss him, taking off up the nearby stairs and out of sight. Riku, an angry look on his face, said that there was no way that he was a coward, gathering himself and making his way up the same stairs to the next floor.

Meanwhile, in the underground headquarters of the Organization’s senior members, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion all stood around when, on one side of the room, the Riku Replica reappeared. Vexen asked his creation what he thought of the real thing. The Replica said that Riku was spineless and, in no time at all, he would be better than the real thing. Vexen asked the Replica if, in the meantime, he would be interested in meeting another who was considered a hero. Riku figured Vexen was talking about Sora and asked if Vexen wanted him to take care of Sora. Vexen said they would see and that he intended to make good use of his creation. The Replica told him not to worry. Riku was nothing and Sora wouldn’t be either. They were both no match for him.

Riku, finally arriving on sublevel 7, yelled out, calling for the fake to show himself. A voice responded back, telling him that fake wasn’t exactly the right word. A dark portal opened up in front of him and Ansem stood before Riku once more. Riku asked what Ansem was saying. Wasn’t the Replica just a copy of him? Ansem said that it was more like a model. He was an example of what Riku should be trying to be. He accepted the darkness, just like Riku once couldn’t help but to accept Ansem. But now, Riku was afraid. Ansem suggested that perhaps it was Riku who was being fake when he pretended to have no fear. Riku asked when he had ever been afraid of the dark. Ansem explained that inside the card world, Riku had grappled with the darkness desperately. Desperation was fear. Ansem said that Riku fought the darkness because it was what frightened him. Riku told Ansem to be quiet and attacked, but Ansem easily deflected the attack, sending Riku backwards to his knees. Ansem called him a stubborn boy before tossing more world cards at him. Ansem told him to continue his fight, if he must. Eventually, Riku would learn that he could not resist the darkness. Riku looked at the cards, seeing he had obtained the world cards for Wonderland, Olympus Coliseum, Halloween Town, and Atlantica. Feeling the darkness in his heart and knowing he must continue to drive it from him, Riku proceeded forward to the sublevel 7 world door and used the Wonderland card to progress, opening the door to a world that he had never been to before…