NemesisSP

Hehe, thanks for the confidence. I don't think I will, but I will still go all out for it at least.

I think I will indeed enter it.

Well, there's two in mind, one is a remake of an older pic and the other is a teaser for Chapter 9.

Thank you. I'll be using the style I used for the Cloud Sketch going forward, so glad you like that one in particular!

Chapter 8: The Man Called the Devil Lulu groaned as she woke after what seemed like hours. Her vision was obscured, and at first she thought it was just her eyes adjusting, however after blinking a few times realized it was, in fact, a thick fog around her. She stood up and tried looking around, but could barely make out anything in front of her. “Zell!” She cried out into the fog. “Zell, where are you!?” Lulu heard a groaning noise to her left and looked in that direction. It was still hard to make out, but she thought she saw a body on the ground. Without hesitation, she rushed over to see if it was Zell and hopefully that he wasn’t injured. It was Zell and thankfully he was fine, just a little dazed looking as he got up. “Lu?” Zell asked as he tried to get up. He stumbled a bit, then fell back, before finally managing to get to his feet. “What happened? Where are we?” “I’m not sure.” Lulu said. “I just remember that we were walking around town and then the next thing I know, we’re here.” “Ugh, if even you can’t remember- ow!” Zell grabbed his left arm. “I’m really sore. You okay, Lu?” “Yes, I’m fine.” Lulu said as she held out her hand then waved it. Green light surrounded Zell, then quickly faded. Zell breathed a sigh of relief and rotated his arm a bit. “Thanks for that.” “You’re welcome.” Lulu replied, then looked around into the fog again. “I have this really strange feeling.” “What is it?” “I’m not sure, but I definitely think we need to find some shelter before night fall, whenever that is.” Lulu said as she looked around. As soon as she did, she spotted a light nearby. A light she was absolutely certain had not been there a second ago. “Zell, look!” Zell did so and his reaction suggested he didn’t catch on like she had. “Oh yeah! That wasn’t too hard.” He said as he ran over to it. Lulu reluctantly followed him to a small shack, the light they saw coming from the window. It looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time, as there was no sign of anybody. “Wow, this is pretty convenient!” Zell said as he walked around. “Yes, perhaps a little too convenient.” Lulu said, gazing over to the fire. “Yes, it’s just too convenient.” “Huh?” Lulu groaned and folded her arms. “Did you hurt your head as well? Think about it.” She said. “We wake up here with no memory of what happened and there just happens to be a little shack just a few feet away?” Zell gritted his teeth and clenched. “I get that… but what other choice do we have?” He said. Lulu said nothing. He had a point, even if she didn’t like it. “I don’t know.” She muttered. “However, we should at least remain alert.” “Of course.” Zell replied. “I’m not a complete idiot, you know?” “I sometimes wonder about that.” Lulu said, though she found herself smiling a little. “Though, I am starting to regret not meeting up with Omega again.” Zell nodded. “Yeah, having him around would certain help.” The fire crackled a bit and they could hear the howling of wolves a good distance away. “Why don’t you get some rest, Lu? I’ll take first shift.” “Hah, nice try hero, but you were in worse shape than I was. You rest up first.” “But-“ Lulu cut him off before he could finish, “No, I insist, Zell.” She said. “Please.” Zell’s fists clenched, his shoulders tensing up. “… alright, you win, Lu.” He said. “Just don’t try and do it all by yourself.” “I’ll try not to.” Lulu said as she gave a small smile. “I’m not that reckless, you know.” Zell loosened up with that and grinned in return. Lindblum Business District, Inn – Several hours later When Stitch woke up, he found himself complete alone and with no sign anyone else had been in the room with him. Lulu and Zell’s beds were completely untouched and the one Omega had picked looked like it too despite Omega having been there last night. Though, Stitch hadn’t really been sure if Omega had been asleep or not at all. As Stitch got out of bed, he saw a note on the nightstand next to him. He grabbed it and read it. The message on it was short and blunt, just like how Stitch usually expected from him. Went out, be back later. Do not leave the room. Omega Stitch snorted disdainfully, crumbled up the note and tossed it onto Omega’s bed. There was no way he was going to stick around this room when he had an entire city to explore! So much to see and do and if a little mischief was on hand, Omega need not know. And even if he did, it’s not like he could prove anything. Feeling wide awake now, Stitch immediately went out the door, down the stairs and out the inn doors into the bustling city streets. He didn’t have any real plan on what he’d do, but that wasn’t going to stop him. Though the first thing he probably should figure out was where Omega was. If he was gonna have fun, it’d be a huge inconvenience if Omega just suddenly showed up in the middle of it. It didn’t take him long to figure it out… “Somehow I knew you weren’t going to stay put.” Stitch’s ears perked up and his body tensed. He slowly turned around and saw Omega leaning against the wall of the inn, his arms folded, apparently having waited there for some time. “Seems a problem we’ll have to talk about if we want to keep working together.” Stitch’s snorted, his eyes narrowing. “You aren’t my boss.” Stitch said. “You can think that, but I do have your only ride.” Omega said and Stitch’s eyes widened at the implication. “So, I think that indeed makes me your boss.” The corner of Stitch’s lip twitched. He didn’t think that Omega actually would just leave him behind, but he kept surprising Stitch often enough that it wasn’t something he was going to take a chance with. “…fine…” He muttered. “Good.” Omega said as he unfolded his arms and walked past Stitch. “I did have stuff I wanted to do, though. If you stick by me and behave yourself, I’ll let you come along.” Stitch grumbled and followed Omega. The more he hung around him, the more Stitch didn’t think he liked Omega. “Have you seen these two?” Omega said as he held up a sketch of Lulu and Zell to the store clerk. She looked it over and shook her head. “I’m sorry to say I have not.” “That’s fine, thank you for your time.” Omega said as he walked off, Stitch following him as he did. They had been at this for several hours now and hadn’t found any sign of Lulu and Zell. Stitch couldn’t care less, particularly with Lulu, but Omega’s insistence on looking for them had won out. Stitch really couldn’t tell why he cared so much, since he seemed apathetic at best to them. Still, Omega had made it clear that he was in charge and that Stitch needed to fall in line with that. At the same time, Stitch was so bored! A city full of interesting things and he was stuck looking for two idiots he didn’t care about. And it was now almost night time and all of the interesting places were deciding to close up! It’s like Omega was punishing him and for no particular reason, because Stitch couldn’t figure out what he could have done to deserve this. It was made even worse by the fact that when he wasn’t asking around, Omega was window shopping. “Hmm, this might be a good place to grab some port.” Omega said as he wrote a note down in his little book. “Might need to make sure my permit is available, but it doesn’t seem like there’s any alcohol regulations here.” “Can we go see the airships?” Stitch begged. “No.” “Come on, please?” “No.” “Pleeeeeaaaaaaaaaase?” “No.” Stitch grumbled and folded his arms. “Omega sucks.” “Whatever.” Omega said as he continued writing down notes. Stitch pulled on his bottom eyelids in frustration. An entire day wasted! This couldn’t get any worse as far as Stitch was concerned. “Help! Someone help!” Omega and Stitch looked to see what looked like a Moogle with a large backpack running away from a large group of Heartless. Stitch tilted his head a little bit in confusion, as while he was sure it was a Moogle, it looked quite different from other Moogles he had seen and interacted with back in Traverse Town. It also seemed a little odd to him that so many Heartless would be chasing one Moogle, especially since there were still other people around town who hadn’t gone in for the night. But he supposed it was just another weird Heartless thing and found he didn’t really care about the why! All he cared about was that this was his chance for some action! Stitch smiled in glee and his blasters were out now. “Akootah!” He jumped at the Heartless and started shooting at them. Their attention turned from the Moogle to him, but they didn’t stand a chance against the Experiment. Stitch hopped over one, blasting it into oblivion as he did, then slid under another when it jumped at him. It too met a flashy end courtesy of Stitch’s plasma pistols. “Heh heh heh heh!” Stitch was much happier now than he had been all day! Sure it might not have involved scaling buildings to sneak into the castle or any number of fun things he could do, but blasting Heartless was always fun! He just kept on blasting them until they either fled or However, it escaped Stitch’s notice that some Heartless were still going after the Moogle. By the time he took notice, though, Omega had already dealt with them. His Keyblade was in hand and several pink hearts were floating away from black mists where the Heartless once stood. Stitch looked around and noticed that all the Heartless he hadn’t been shooting at were also all gone now and he quickly made the connection. Stitch hadn’t even noticed that he had even moved or started attacking the Heartless. It annoyed him very much. Omega had once again taken his fun away from him! Stitch was beginning to lose patience with the teenager! No amount of help with looking for Lilo and his friends could be worth putting up with this. “You done?” Omega said as the Keyblade disappeared. “Because I think you scared the poor guy senseless.” And indeed, the Moogle was curled up on the ground, his bag a few inches away. Stitch scowled and folded his arms. Like he really cared! Omega knelt down in front of the Moogle. “You okay?” The Moogle uncurled and got up. “Y-yeah, thanks for the help. I’m Stiltzkin.” “Name’s Omega, and the trigger happy fellow there is Stitch.” Omega said and Stitch stuck his tongue out at him in response. Naturally, Omega took no notice to the gesture. “No problem. Why did they gang up on you like that?” “I don’t know. I just-“ Stiltzkin began to explain before Stitch decided to go over and yank on his pom-pom to look it over. “Ow ow ow!” “Stitch, what are you doing?” Omega said with at best mild annoyance. “Just checking. Doesn’t look like a Moogle.” “That doesn’t mean you can play with his pom pom.” “Have to be sure it’s not a trick!” “I am a Moogle! Let go of my pom pom!” “Moogles just look different depending on the world. Sometimes they retain the same form, sometimes they have a slightly altered form.” Omega explained. “I’ve seen it plenty of times. Now let the Moogle go.” He said that last bit in a much sterner voice, and Stitch recognized it as an order, not a request. If he didn’t, Omega might just really leave him behind. “Bah!” Stitch let go of Stiltzkin’s pom pom and crossed his arms again in a pouting fashion. Stiltzkin straightened himself out and looked at Stitch with extreme irritation, but Stitch didn’t care. “So anyway,” Omega said, ignoring Stitch, which infuriated Stitch even more. “Why were those Heartless ganging up on you?” “Well, I can safely say that they weren’t really chasing me.” Stiltzkin explained as he went over to his bag. “What do you mean?” Stiltzkin reached into the bag and pulled out an elaborately designed book. “I’m pretty sure they were after this.” Omega looked at it with some interest and even Stitch was now a bit intrigued, but he tried not to show it. Why would the Heartless be after some random book? It didn’t make sense to him. “What’s so special about it?” “Well, this is a special book. I found it on my journey through many different worlds.” Stiltzkin explained. “This is a Grimoire and inside it is another world.” “Am I to assume by “another world”, you don’t mean in the joy of reading kind of thing?” Omega said. “How is that possible?” “I’m not sure myself, but I have been inside it and I can safely say that it is its own world.” Stiltzkin said as he placed it back in his bag. “And the Heartless probably wanted it like they want all other worlds.” “Yeah, I can see that.” Omega put his forefinger and thumb on his chin in thought. “I’ve been to a few worlds over the past few years, but I can’t say I’ve ever come across that before.” “Unsurprising.” A soft-spoken, yet cold voice said. It was a voice that Stitch recognized immediately. A voice that he had hoped he’d never have to hear again, but knew he would. But even that knowledge didn’t help prevent that cold feeling that crept up his spine. “Such tomes are rare and have more than likely already suffered the same fate as countless other worlds have.” The three of them all turned to look at the source of the voice, as the man in black was standing right behind them. Stiltzkin immediately hid behind Omega, while Stitch just stood frozen in place. Omega didn’t hesitate. “Looks like you saved me the trouble of finding you.” He declared as he summoned his Keyblade. “Are you really going to attack me, Omega?” the man in black said. “Last time it didn’t go very well for you, if I recall.” Omega’s lip twitched, but he didn’t back down. “A nameless man who destroyed an entire world. At the least I’m going to make it an option.” The man just chuckled in response. “Oh, still trying to play the hero.” Stitch felt his heart sink into his stomach as he stood face to face with the man in the black right in front of him. That horrible half smile on his face, the glint in his purple eyes. Stitch was frozen with fear as he watched Omega and the man talk, ignored by both as he felt a panic attack start. “I suppose if you must have a name to call me by, I’ll give you the same name I gave Maleficent. Nero Diabolus.” “No wonder she felt quick to ally with you. That name just sounds like a comic book villain name.” Omega retorted. “Names are only important when we want to display a certain image to the onlooker.” ‘Nero’ said as he placed one arm behind his back and gestured at the spot where the Heartless had been moments earlier. “The Heartless, for instance, have no use for such names, being mindless, pathetic and interested in only collecting hearts and growing in numbers. We are the ones who give them names because it is convenient for us. Easy for us to distinguish which is which. Just like this name is convenient for deals with Maleficent and her followers.” “Fascinating stuff, but is there a point to all of this?” Nero smirked. “Not one I wish to impart on you at this time.” He said as he pressed the fore and middle fingers of his left hand against the rail overlooking the city. Stitch flinched as he came closer to them, and he was aware that Stiltzkin was now paying attention to him instead of the man in front of them. “Not when I have other things in mind for you to do.” “And you assume I will just do whatever it is you have in mind?” “Willingly, no. I know you, Omega and following orders and doing what you are told has never been a strong suit for you.” “You don’t know-“ “-anything about me!” Nero finished for him. “Oh my young friend, nothing could be further from the truth. I know you better than anyone else ever will.” Omega grunted, clearly trying to hold back what he wanted to say. Stitch watched the two talk and couldn’t comprehend how Omega could talk to this man like this. Wasn’t he at all scared? Nero didn’t seem to care either way as he continued, “You will enter the Festival of the Hunt tomorrow and you will win it. And you will win it using the Keyblade.” “You have got to be kidding me.” “I assure you I’m not.” Nero replied, his smile never once wavering. “I was disappointed you left Olympus before you went to compete in the Coliseum.” “We had more important things to do!” “Which is the reasoning I’m sure Lulu used in order to get you to leave.” Nero said. “I’m sure it burned you up inside having to take orders from her. Especially since you’ve always wanted to compete in those games.” “That is completely different!” “Is it now?” Nero chuckled a bit at that. “Well, now she and Zell aren’t around to talk you out of it this time and you can indulge in all the fighting you want.” The meaning of his words was clear to everyone present and Stitch’s stomach went dead. He hadn’t really taken into account that the man in black had kidnapped Lulu and Zell and even worse, he hadn’t cared at all. Even if he didn’t like them, he wouldn’t have wished that one anyone! “What did you do with my friends?” Omega said through clenched teeth. “Oh, don’t worry, they’re fine.” The man said. “For now anyway.” “Comforting. How about you bring them back?” Omega said. “If you win, they will be returned to you, unharmed.” Nero said. “Of course, you can also go and rescue them yourself. They are in the valley below Lindblum, in a little cottage twenty miles from the cliff side.” Omega looked momentarily taken aback and Stitch couldn’t blame him. He hadn’t expected Nero to just give away the location of where he’d hidden Lulu and Zell. The fact that he was, though… “What is your game?” Omega said. “You wouldn’t tell me this for no reason.” “You’re catching on fast, my friend.” Nero said. “You see, it is almost impossible to get down to the valley, what with the Mist and all the monsters and such. Not to mention the only way down is sealed off in Lindblum castle. Going down to the port won’t help you either, since they aren’t near it and by the time you got there through the port, the Festival of the Hunt would start.” His smile widened and Stitch grew even colder. Stiltzkin also looked terrified, even though Nero hadn’t acknowledged his presence at all since he got here. “And if you aren’t there, then I might just have to unleash an army of Heartless on the city.” Nero finished and let the words sink in. For once, Omega didn’t have a retort, he didn’t look confidant and more important, he looked genuinely worried. Stitch was seeing more expression from Omega now than he had in all the time he had known him and that worried Stitch even more. He could clearly see Omega’s thoughts now and it was clear he was scrambling for a way out of it. “Well… then I’ll just-“ “- go right now.” Nero said. “I suppose you could do that, but at the same time there’s no guarantee you’d make it back up here before the Heartless attacked, is there? Oh what to do?” His eyes closed and he put his left wrist on his hip. His eyes opened again and immediately turned to look at Stitch himself. They had now changed from purple to a piercing crimson. “I suppose, then, that I shall make it easier for you.” His eyes made contact with Stitch and he immediately froze up, not from fear, but from a feeling he had hoped he’d never feel again. Suddenly his arm spasmed and pain flared up as he grunted. Omega and Stiltzkin both turned to look at him. He clutched his head as it felt like his skull was about to slip open, only to spasm again before he lost his vision momentarily in a flash of bright green light. This was a sensation he had many times over the past two years, but somehow this was different! A buzzing noise also rang in his ears and Stitch tried desperately to shake the feeling off. He head indistinct voices trying to call out to him, shapes blurring in front of him and someone’s hands grabbing his shoulders, trying to steady Stitch. But the damage was done, and the pain was too much for him to take. The last thing Stitch saw before he blacked out was Omega’s face filled with concern and worry… He was trying to say something, but Stitch couldn’t hear him… And in that moment, all Stitch could say was. “Stitch sorry…. Stitch so sorry.” To be continued….

Finally got this uploaded onto my own little art corner of this forum.

Glad to hear. Was something I was quite passionate about finishing up.

Finished this pic. Hope you all like it. https://www.deviantart.com/nemesissp13/art/Cloud-Strife-797898742

Great!

Sounds aggravating, to be honestly. Well, thank you for the nice words, either way. Hope you guys don't mind if I share more in the future.

Cool

Why do I get the sense from this conversation that the Discord server is some kind of evil entity intent on stopping forum art from being seen?

Thank you.

That sucks. I'll guess it's a good thing I uploaded it on DA too.

Well, I suppose that answers my question. Though feel free to have it removed if it wasn't an answer. Edit: Link to DA here https://www.deviantart.com/nemesissp13/art/Cloud-Strife-Sketch-797838276

Stupid question, but do you have to be part of the Discord server to share art over here? Yours or just one you like? I'm just curious.... and a little desperate. ?

Because FFVIIR trailer happened.

Been working on this, not sure if it's looking right. Sora never seems to look right when I draw him, but that always could just be me.

Thanks and glad you enjoyed the chapters. I wanted this arc to be the point where the reader might go "well, this story was fine to begin with, but now it's really good." Though whether or not it will reach that point is yet to be seen. As for FFIX, that's good to hear, because that particular game will have some major presence within the story.

One for Iris. Next character will be Sora.

Thanks. It's definitely a painting style I'll be trying again quite soon. As for the story, I've continued working on it, no worries. In fact, progress on it is getting smoother than ever. Chapter 7 is already up and with any luck, Chapter 8 will be up this week. Actually, I had originally planned to get it up by tomorrow, but I had little time this weekend to work on it and plus Nomura surprised us all with Critical Mode for KH3 tomorrow as well.

Thank you.

This was something I wanted to try out and see if I could do it alright. The base sketch took 15 minutes to do, but the polishing took almost two hours uninterrupted. Either way, this was definitely fun to do and I think I will do more in the future.

Well, I plan to post Chapter 8 of my story this weekend along with some new art, so it actually will be quicker this time. I've had these next three chapters mostly done for the past couple months, though didn't consider them in an uploadable state until a couple days ago.

Thanks. It is still difficult, but I'm gonna try to upload more.