Set before the Keyblade war, Kingdom Hearts χ[chi] has shown us little on it's contribution to the series as a whole. The latest content update shows more enigmatic message left behind by the foretellers has some value into the future outcome of the keyblade war and possible connection to Kingdom Hearts III. Translation credited to Goldpanner and image courtesy of KHInsider.
The most recent Famitsu weekly holds opinions for the Sony console by notable game developers Goichi Suda, Tetsuya Nomura and Yoshinori Ono. Kotaku has translated and posted each developers opinions on developing games for the Playstation 4, and Nomura's portion can be read below.
Wasn't aware they were doing another special, but... there it is. Also Ringo Starr's in it. http://www.watchcartoononline.com/the-powerpuff-girls-2014-special-dance-pantsed
Round 1: Match 4 Beuce vs. Etrius No roleplaying here! Simply select your action and execute it. Beuce Etrius Beuce 38/38 HP 4/4 MP 0% CG Hi-Potion (x1) Mega-Potion (x1) Strike Raid: 2/2 ---------- Barrier Surge: 3/3 ---------- Vorpal Blitz: 3/3 Aqua Splash: 4/4 Perks 0.15 MP Restoration High Jump 30% Combo Etrius 35/35 HP 3/3 MP 0% CG Potion (x1) Sliding Dash: 3/3 ---------- Poison Edge: 5/5 ---------- Aerial Slam: 4/4 Abilities 0.15 MP Restoration High Jump Guard 30% Combo 15% Dodge Rate
"Wow, looks like I got some more business! Welcome to the Arena; a place where you can battle and slash to your heart's content. Name's Laguna Loire, and I run this here simulated coliseum. I would have ended up selling this place to a bunch of moogles, but all of a sudden customers started popping up left and right, like the population everywhere just increased or something. Weird... Anyways, as much as I'd like to see you slash some baddies, the coliseum portion is closed. The system's kind of overloaded for the time being, but no sweat! There's a lot to do amongst yourselves while you wait. In fact... you guys could have some kind of tournament! Yeah... Winner gets to test a little project I'm working on! What do you say? Interested?...." Laguna has opened up a tournament for all players! Your names have been randomized and placed in a bracket. The objective is simple. Beat the player to move up in the brackets until you come out as a winner! Once you find your name, schedule an opportune time with your opponent. If your opponent doesn't want to fight, you win by default. ROUND 1 -------------------------------- Match 1 KARINA vs. KROSS -------------------------------- Match 2 CAT vs EON -------------------------------- Match 3 KAIDA vs STEEL -------------------------------- Match 4 BEUCE vs ETRIUS -------------------------------- Match 5 ANANTA vs STRATOS -------------------------------- Match 6 BASE vs KEL -------------------------------- Match 7 D'DAEAR vs LUNA -------------------------------- Match 8 GLEN vs KROWLEY ROUND 2 -------------------------------- Match 1 2) CAT vs 3) STEEL Match 2 5) STRATOS vs 1) KARINA Match 3 4) BEUCE vs 7) LUNA Match 4 6) KEL vs 8) HIKARU
Not here, sadly. But if you head on over to Reddit, you'll find that Osment will be available to ask many fan questions on Thursday January 16th 2014. (2 pm ET/11 am PT) Thanks to @Misty , some of the comments surrounding Kingdom Hearts can be viewed below. http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1vdrbr/hey_reddit_its_me_haley_joel_osment_here_to/cer804q http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1vdrbr/hey_reddit_its_me_haley_joel_osment_here_to/cer8bz9 http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1vdrbr/hey_reddit_its_me_haley_joel_osment_here_to/cer85yp http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1vdrbr/hey_reddit_its_me_haley_joel_osment_here_to/cer86gq Source News discovery credited to @CloudStrife2k9
In a recent interview with Zap2it, Haley Joel Osment (English voice actor for the main protagonist; Sora) got in a few words regarding involvement in the next Kingdom Hearts game. He spoke with Square Enix following the grand reveal at E3 this year and hopes to keep voicing the optimistic boy in Kingdom Hearts III. Transcript for the brief mention can be read below; Credit to @Roxam for the news discovery.
Act I Finlandia. Some interesting Vodka to start it off. Act II Jäger Shots Act III Amaretto Sour. Something sweet for a change. Act IV Tequilla. I. Hate. This. Liquor. Act V Gin and Tonic. Because why not? Act VI Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum. Queue pose. Act VII Spiced Eggnog. Leftover from Christmas. Tequilla was the combo breaker. You are a refreshing change of pace. Which I find hilarious since I'm tossing back drinks and your username is drugs. Hehe. Act VIII Whisky. Feels nice as I hold it in this arm chair. Act IX Friend took out the blender. Margaritas for all! Drinking this now and oh my god. This Mango drink. Oh my god. Soo good. I'm not even fond of Mango and yet, so nice and cold. Act X Appletons is found and is drunken. Drank? Drank. Edit - I now realize that you said Appletini and I'm sorry I couldn't concoct it. Act XI Rum and coke. Not fond of this, but my alcohol access is only so ranged. Act XII Bacardi 151. Yummm Act XIII Finishing off with a Long Island Iced Tea. See you tomorrow. Probably. Maybe. Probably.
Happy Holidays KHV! We've had some good news regarding next year's II.5 HD Remix and so the news continues! Famitsu's latest issue holds an interview with Tetsuya Nomura on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts titles of; Kingdom Hearts 3, Kingdom Hearts χ[chi], and Kingdom Hearts II.5 HD ReMix. Below you will find his take on progress for the II.5 HD ReMix, x[chi] gameplay additions, and even the possibility of an HD remaster for Dream, Drop, Distance. Below are the bullet points of the interview, translated by Zephyr of KHInsider. News find courtesy of Libregkd.
The DisneyVideoGames Youtube channel has release the English HD version of the Festa trailer released a few days ago! The trailer can be seen below.
So, recently the "Unbound" keyblade has been updated so you need to edit a set amount of pages before the keyblade's power increases. This edit must be a section of the page with sufficient length. (Bio for your character, chapter for a world page, etc) Below, you will find pages that need editing or updating. Editing these sections fully, will contribute to your empowerment so long as the edit contains 300 or more words. CHARACTERS Aux - Story: Deep Jungle (✓ Stratos) - Story: The Great Forest (✓ Stratos) - Story: Dwarf Woodlands (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 7 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 12 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 17 (✓ Stratos) Nequa - Story: Deep Jungle (✓ Stratos) - Story: Nottingham (✓ Stratos) - Story: Dwarf Woodlands (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 7 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 12 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Land of Dragons (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 17 (✓ Stratos) Vanitas - Story: Deep Jungle (✓ Stratos) - Story: Dwarf Woodlands (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 7 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Castle of Dreams (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 12 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 17 (✓ Stratos) No Heart - Story: Chapter 7 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 12 (✓ Stratos) - Story: Chapter 17 (✓ Stratos) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERMISSION CHAPTERS - Prologue (✓ Krowley) - Chapter 1 (✓ Krowley) - Chapter 3 (✓ Krowley) - Chapter 7 (✓ Krowley) - Chapter 12 (✓ Krowley) - Chapter 16 (✓ Kel) - Chapter 17 (✓ Stratos) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLDS Baker Street - Story: Part I (✓) - Story: Part II (✓) - Story: Part III (✓) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓) - Characters (✓) - Character Image Gallery (✓) Castle of Dreams - Story: Part I (✓ Kel) - Story: Part II (✓ Kel) - Story: Part III (✓ Kel) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓) - Characters (✓ Kel) - Character Image Gallery (✓) Deep Jungle - Story: Part I (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part II (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part III (✓ Krowley) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Krowley) - Characters (✓ Krowley) - Character Image Gallery (✓ Base) Dwarf Woodlands - Story: Part 1 (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part II (✓ Krowley) - Story: Chapter Part III (✓ Krowley) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Krowley) - Characters (✓ Krowley) - Character Image Gallery (✓ Base) Kingdom of the Sun - Story: Part I (✓ Steel) - Story: Part II (✓ Steel) - Story: Part III (✓ Steel) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Steel) - Characters (✓ Base) - Character Image Gallery (x) Land of Dragons - Story: Part I (✓ Karina) - Story: Part II (✓ Karina) - Story: Part III (✓ Karina) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Karina) - Characters (✓) - Character Image Gallery (✓) Nottingham - Story: Part I (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part II (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part III (✓ Krowley) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Krowley) - Characters (✓ Krowley) - Character Image Gallery (✓ Base) Pachyderm Parade - Story: Part I (✓) - Story: Part II (✓) - Story: Part III (✓) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓) - Characters (✓) - Character Image Gallery (✓) The Great Forest - Story: Part I (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part II (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part III (✓ Krowley) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Krowley) - Characters (✓ Krowley) - Character Image Gallery (✓ Base) The Outback - Story: Part I (✓ Karina) - Story: Part II (✓ Karina) - Story: Part III (✓ Karina) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Base) - Characters (✓) - Character Image Gallery (✓) Wonderland - Story: Part I (✓ Krowley) - Story: Part II (✓ Beuce) - Story: Part III (x) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Luna) - Characters (✓ Beuce) - Character Image Gallery (✓ Beuce) Beast's Castle - Story: Part I (✓ Karina) - Story: Part II (✓ Karina) - Story: Part III (✓ Karina) - Missions/Bosses/Participating Players (✓ Karina) - Characters (✓ Karina) - Character Image Gallery (✓ Karina)
Haven't had some high quality pictures show up in a few months, so this here is a real treat. This whopping promotional poster stands at 7,200px x 10,979px at a whopping 102mb file size! Many thanks to @churroz for the uploaded scan. Click the image below to view & download the full image, or just use the link right below. View attachment 37093
Hey, I'm looking for a decent capture card that ranges from $50-150. Just anything with good reviews and HDMI/component cables. I've been meaning to get one for a while now, so I thought I should ask here first since many people on KHV do livestreams and have youtube channels and whatnot.
Thanks for all the patience and such. Just tuned in to say that a total of three worlds have been confirmed for the next release, including one veteran world and a two new ones! As is now tradition, the more that is completed in the worlds and wiki, the more information is revealed. Corona Beast's Castle Camelot Corona(Tangled - 2010)Difficulty: ★★★★Color Value = "#FFCC00" or YellowRequirements: NoneDibs: Glen, Cat, KrowleyInterested: Beast's Castle(Beauty and the Beast - 1991)Difficulty: ★★★★Color Value = "#993300" or BrownRequirements: NoneDibs: N/AInterested: Base, Steel, D'daear, Luna Camelot(The Sword in the Stone - 1963)Difficulty: ★★★★Color Value = "#3366FF"Requirements: NoneDibs: N/AInterested: Beuce, Kel, Stratos,
As part of a 5 set questionnaire, Nomura, along with 54 other game creators gave their replies to Degenki's questions regarding future titles and projects. The 5 questions and Nomura's answers have been translated by Sqex.Info and can be read below. Credit to Roxam for the news find
Hello, if you're reading this, you will be able to direct certain questions and queries to some dedicated members of the roleplay. Krowley Ananta Base Kel Karina Cstar Wiki Editing and Page Creation Yes Yes Yes - Yes - Guild Hall Spending Calculations Yes Yes - - - - Arena Battles Yes - - - Yes - Battle Setup Yes - Yes - - - Editing items after usage Yes - - - Yes - Wiki Editing after Level Ups Yes - - - - -
Hey, as you can tell from my last survey, running all this can be quite time consuming, and even decline the overall experience when I can't get things accomplished. As such, I've decided to promote a few players to SOS Moderators. These players won't get any special treatment as they will only be there to assist with community and roleplay related things. Their responsibilities will be as follows; Updating Wiki pages when things are learned Hosting Movie Nights Helping with community events Helping with Arena battles Keeping groups focused on missions Alerting me to any feuds among players Alerting me when I screw up And more... probably... With that said, I'm hoping to promote 3 players to help me out in making the experience great. In this thread, you will see a poll with eligible applicants. Vote for the 3 you think can help run things smoothly. (You are allowed multiple votes, but I ask you only vote 3) Be sure to post the 3 you voted for and why they are good choices!
While Kingdom Hearts x [chi] was noted not to end up being localized, John Pleasants; resigning Disney Digital Co-Executive, has stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, has declared some final declarations on his untimely resignation. One of them being the focus on the Asian business, building up the mobile business in Japan. "We have a studio in Seoul working on “[Kingdom Hearts Online]” Pleasants stated. So it seems something else may be coming to mobiles once again from the Square Enix division. Try to contain your excitement. Will it be anything like the Mobile service that was terminated earlier this year? What are your thoughts on this smidgen of news for November?
The October 24th issue of Famitsu held another interview with series creator; Tetsuya Nomura as he discussed news information of his plans for Kingdom Hearts 3 and Kingdom Hearts 2.5 HD ReMix. The full interview has not yet been put online, but what has been found, was translated by SQEX.info, and can be seen below.
Alright, with the Halloween season upon us, I thought I would do some writing. I haven't done so in a while and my writing skills could use some work, but what better way to motivate me than with twisted ends to fictional people who probably don't deserve it. :) Once a day for thirteen days, I will release a short story based on a fictional variation of a site member. Sadly, since they're short stories, I can't install the level of fear or horror I'd like to as compared to say, a novel, where I can write paragraphs on the sensation of snapping a neck. No, none of that here... Just some family friendly twisted tales with possible death. I don't really know what these stories would be rated, but I doubt it will terrify you to any extreme. I Medicine (Starring "Miss T") Miss T was a teacher at an elementary school. A huge literature and tea fanatic, she would encourage her students to write daily and submit their own life stories in a book to be read by her at the end of each week. It was Friday evening and she had just warmed up the tea she couldn't drink during the busy school day. With tea in hand and books stacked high, she began to flip through her students' work. With every story read, she would take a sip and open another book, correcting the poor grammar she would eventually mold. At half past ten, she was beginning to feel disoriented. On any other day, it would have been passed over, but on the weekend she loved to take it easy. She told herself "One more story, and then bed." With that in mind, she came across Marie's booklet. Marie was an odd but brilliant little girl. Curious about everything and anything Miss T had to teach. With a soft smile and drowsy eyes, she opened the booklet to where she left off the week before. Page 1: Monday. Daddy came home tired today. When mom asked why he was late, daddy hit her. I had never seen daddy get angry like that, but when mommy sent me to my room, she said daddy smelled like beer. The picture showed what looked to be Marie with a sad face, and two tall stick figures with angry eyebrows. A very upsetting sight, she would have to report such abusive behavior to the proper authorities... She read on to gather as much as she could from Marie's point of view. Page 2: Tuesday. "Mom had a black eye today. When I asked why Dad was angry, she said it was because he was sick bass terd and cheated. I know cheating on tests is wrong, but I don't know why he's sick. Or what a bass terd is. Mom seemed upset so I didn't ask. PS - What's a Bass terd?" The picture showed her mother with one of her eyes colored in fully with a pencil. Each word broke Miss T's heart that a child of only six had to witness all this. Choosing to ignore the ba$tard question, she moved on. Page 3: Wednesday. "When I came home from school, mom looked happier. She smiled and then I smiled. She said she was feeling better and soon dad would be too. She pulled out a bottle from the top cabinet and put it into his afternoon coffee. It looked like water, but in a medicine bottle. I hope daddy gets better!" The picture showed a medicine bottle with a label and scribbles for words. She didn't like where this was going... Page 4: Thursday. "Mom was covered in dirt when I got home. She said she was gardening and that dad would be sleeping at aunty's for a while. I'll miss dad while he's away, but mom says he's much better now! She looked tired and asked if I could make her coffee the way she likes it. She says I make good coffee. While making it, I heard her coughing a few times. I didn't want her to catch dad's sick, so I put some of the medicine into her coffee to sleep better. She fell asleep on the table, so I guess it's working!" The picture showed he mom asleep with "Z"s over top her dirt covered head. She felt like she was going to be sick. The words alone were upsetting her stomach clench in disgust of the thought of a her mother killing her spouse, and the child unknowingly killing her mother. With a heavy heart, she turned to the final page. Page 5: Friday. "I made my own lunch today. Mom was still asleep on the table. She didn't snore like she always does and really smells from not cleaning up! Medicine is working, though! I took some to school in case I started to feel sick. At school today, Johnny ate a bug. Miss T saw it and said she was gonna hurl! When she took Johnny to the nurse, I put some of my medicine into her afternoon tea. Hope you didn't throw up Miss T!" In shock, she covered her mouth and looked at her teacup. It was empty. She had consumed everything from her thermos and was beginning to lose her breath. The stomach pains, blurred vision, it was all from the tea. She held her throat in an attempt to speak. She was losing all feeling in her body fast. Her throat closed off and her hands trembled. She couldn't believe what she had just read. She was going to die, and all she could do was wait it out. She waited far too long to call medical assistance and all she could do was wait for death as each part of her body shut down. In her final seconds of life, she glanced at the picture on the fifth page. It showed Marie's self drawn face, giving a thumbs up. A speech bubble was next to her and said "Medicine is good for you!"END II Play it again, Jayn (Starring "Jayn") "Music calls out to me." Jayn fondly believed that every sound in a composed piece of music always sounded stronger to her than it did to most. Each instrument stood out and sounded more lovely with each note. She took it upon herself to learn every instrument and master them. Her voice was talented, and skills in guitar and piano were already beyond her initial expectations. She played them both happily and wanted to expand her musical horizons by learning the violin next. On the eve of her birthday, her father surprised her with a used violin he had purchased in town. Despite being used, it was in pristine condition and couldn't look better. It shimmered as the light hit it and the bow it came with practically gleamed. It's perfect, Jayn thought. For the next week, the girl didn't put the instrument down. She would play from the many booklets it came with day and night. Learning and playing until her arms were tired and parents were annoyed. The following weekend, young Jayn decided to take a break from all her playing. Socializing herself among friends seemed a little more healthy than staying in her room for two days straight. So on that Friday, she put her beautiful instrument away and began her walk to the coffee shop. As she exited her house, the heard that her violin was being played. Very badly. She looked at her bedroom window and saw it was empty. Regardless, she walked into her house and shuffled up the stairs again to her bedroom. Touching the doorknob, the music had stopped. Swinging the door open, she found her violin untouched and everything the way she had left it. Closing the door, she began walking away when she heard it again. Repeating the door opening, the music had stopped and again, nothing untouched. She walked in and opened the case just to be sure. It was still there. "Mom!" she called out. "Who's playing the violin!" "Honey, no one's touched it since you left!" she replied. Jayn was worried. No TVs were on and she had played it enough to know the sound from a mile away. In worried caution, she took the violin case with her and began walking again. But alas, it was playing again. louder this time. She walked across the street to see where the sound was coming from. But there was no decrease or increase in volume no matter where she walked. she looked down at the case in her hand and opened it up. The music stopped. What was this madness?! For the rest of the day, she couldn't take few steps without hearing the mind numbing sounds. This went on for nearly an hour and she had had enough. She smashed the violin and threw out the case in a nearby trashcan. She was grateful, but she couldn't deal with it anymore. She looked at the shattered remains and walked off. She met her friends at the cafè and sat down relieved of the sweet sound of everyday sounds. "So how have you guys been?" A friend smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but instead of word, distorted violin notes came from her mouth. The girl next to her repeated the process and everyone around her was beginning to speak in the language of butchered strings. She reached into her bag and rummaged through it to get her music player. She put on the headphones to block out the noise and play some good old vocaloid. Playing a track, her headphones blasted the same violin music. This wasn't happening. She threw off her headphones and stood back in alarm. Her friends and the shop denizens looked concerned. A friend voiced 'are you okay?' in C#, F, A♭, and C. She grabbed her things and ran out of the store. She ran until she reached the trashcan, but the violin was gone. The rest of the garbage from the hamburger wrapper to the chip bag was still in there, but the case and instrument were gone. If some one took it away, why was the sound still following her? She ran home and up to her room, closing the pillow over her head. She just wanted it all to go away, the notes were hurting her head to numbness. Taking the pillow off she lay on the bed with the her eyes wide open in fear of everything. She went to get the phone from her desk to call some one. Anyone that didn't sound like a violin. She reached to get her cell and was horrified to find the violin case there. It wasn't even there when she walked in, but the noise was getting louder and she was about to go into tears. She opened the case and it all stopped. The sound was gone and she almost fainted from relief. How was she supposed to make it all stop? Play the violin the way she wanted to? She hesitantly reached for the bow and took the proper position to play. Everything was fine so far. She could hear her parents downstairs and all was clear to the ear. She opened one of the books and began to play. The notes were as orchestrated as she played them. She played a few songs with short breath in fear of what would happened if she stopped. Her life would be mind numbing, high pitched music, or playing the songs in this book forever. After a few hours of timidly playing, she looked at her window. It looked so free out there from her twitching eyes. Downstairs, her parents were preparing dinner and hear a glass shattering from their daughter's room. they ran upstairs to find their little girl had jumped out the second story window and saw her glass impaled body on the front lawn. After the police came and investigated, they passed it off as suicide. Nothing was noted on the mint conditioned violin. It was just an instrument that came with a book of songs. What they didn't know was that the book of songs was now filled with nothing but rest notes. END III Whose got the time? (Starring "Plums") The week of Exams had left Plums exhausted and sleep deprived. Plums was a university student, so called due to his collection of purple clothing. The man was doing poorly all semester and pulled all nighter after all nighter to do the absolute best he could on these tests, so for the past 8 days, he secluded himself and hit the books until he had reached the Starting line for his Exams on Monday. He had drank several cans of energy drinks and memorized book after book of text. He was going to rape those quizzes with his knowledge. Upon departure from his dorm room, he quietly ducked past his room mate, who had past out drunk from yesterday's party. Staying up all night, he could hear everything, but some how stayed alert and focused on his studies. It's funny though as last night he had been completely drained but for some reason felt fully refreshed today. He chose not to question it and headed off to the elevator. He briskly walked towards the elevator, watching it begin to close. "Hold it, please!" There was no answer as the elevator door was already half way shut. Using his frail, skinny body, he managed to quickly slide into the elevator without it closing on him. Inside, he saw one of the girls on his floor with headphones in her ears. If not for that, he probably would have just complained about it. He sighed at his quick save and leaned to press the ground floor, but was beaten to the punch by the girl next to him. She hit the button the same button anyways, so it wasn't really any harm done. An awkwardly quiet elevator ride later, he walked past the building lobby, where police rushed past him. Some one get shot? Whatever it was, he didn't want to stay and be questioned. He had exams to ace. The police had the door propped open and had put up police tape just as he left. He ducked his hands into his coat pocket and walked along the narrow sidewalk to his first class. He hadn't gotten far though, as an odd man in a black coat spoke out, stopping him. "Bit early isn't it?" he asked politely in a distinguished british accent. Plums looked confused, but shrugged. "I guess," he replied, as he continued onward. During his walk on campus, he past by his girlfriend's work. She got up early to do her shift and got off around noon. Walking around the corner, he smiled as he arrived just in time to see her leave work. "Hey!" he called out cheerfully. But as he run closer, she could see that she was crying. Her face filled with tears as she appeared to have received a most upsetting text. He began to ran after her, when the man from before stopped him. "Sorry sir, but do know what time it is?" he asked. Plums turned around to see the voice belonged to the man had followed him. "Uhh," he pulled up his sleeve and looked at his watch. "About five after twelve." He pushed the sleeve forward and turned in time to see his girlfriend get in the car and drive off. He was sad for her and wanted to talk about what was wrong. He reached for his cellphone, but grunted realizing he had left it at his dorm. He still had thirty-five minutes before the first exam. He could but the time close by running back and calling her. He couldn't very well focus on school when his woman was woeful. He only hoped that the police wouldn't stop him. Backtracking, he began a brisk jog back to the dorm. The gentlemen he asked spoke once more as Plums rushed past him. "Sir, the time?" "I just told you!" he yelled back. He ran for a few minutes before reaching the final street turn. He was about to cross when a car zoomed right by him. He was almost killed! "Hey, watch it!" he yelled to the distant car. He jogged up across the street, looking both ways for any more psychos and had reached his dorm once more. The police were there, and this time they were accompanied by paramedics. Seems some serious business happened here. He walked closer o see what had happened but froze as he saw his girlfriend talking o one of the episodes. She was still crying. Did one of her friends live there? He looked a sad as a stretched was rolled out with a body under a white sheet towards her. In cases like these it was usually to identify the body. Did her friend not have ID on her or something. He lifted top quarter of the sheet in front of her and paralyzed Plums at the sight. There he lay. An exact image of himself, pale and fragile on the stretcher. Was he dead? Was that even him? Did he fall asleep? Too much to take in. He turned around to find the man who was following him all morning. His hands were folded at the end of his straight arms. Plums was not in the mood. "What?!" He yelled out in anger. The man licked his perched lips and uttered out; "It's time." END IV Of all the luck (Starring "What?") What? was a man who was down on his luck. Homeless for months, he salvaged whatever currency he could to try and pick himself back up onto his feet. Only problem is, that the man had a serious gambling problem. Horse races, Slots, scratch cards, you name it, What? would bet on it. This problem got so out of hand, that he ended up borrowing money from some very dangerous people. He had been avoiding them for some time and feared the looming thought of them finding him and forcing him to pay up. He owed a total of ten grand to a local mafia and was no where near that kind of dough. Many a wager had placed him into his current state of poverty, and he had no one to blame but himself. The man only had a dollar left to his name, and with it bought another scratch card. He hadn't won anything in weeks, but felt a surge of luck today. Today, things will change, he thought to himself. And so, he purchased a ticket from his local convenience store and sat on the curb, ready to scratch that card and rake in the hopeful profit. He searched his coat pocket for a coin, or anything to scratch with. But any coin he had was salvaged on the card he held in his hand. So he looked around his feet for the smallest glimmer of change, and lo and behold, a penny sat at the edge of his feet. Face up! He picked up the lucky coin and examined the promise of hope upon it. He crossed his fingers and looked to the card. Three cherries to win the million dollar jackpot. After a quick fiddle around his fingers, he scratched the first slot. A cherry! Another quick dwindling, he scratched again. Two cherries! His heart skipped a beat as his odds increased, but he didn't want to get his hopes up too high. He would always fail on the third in he past, but this time he had to win. The mobsters were growing impatient and he was out of options. One more duplicate, or he was dead. He shut his eyes and slowly scratched the last card until the penny felt no more friction. He lifted his left eye and there it was. The third cherry. A smile lit up What?'s face as he hollered out in joy. One million dollars! He wanted to cash this baby as soon as he could. Nearly tripping over his weak knees, he rushed back tot he clerk and ask to exchange it for his winnings. But the clerk was confused. "This some kind of joke?" he asked. He handed the card back to him, which showed the card that once showed three cherries, had burn marks on all three slots, making the ticket invalid. "No! I swear I had all three!" This couldn't be happening, he thought. He was only seconds away from escaping debt and it was gone in an instant. What could have burned it? There was no open flames or cigarettes, so how could it have disappeared? He walked back out, broken and beaten at his most recent loss. He was now, officially bankrupt. But this was the least of his worries, for out of the corner of his ear, the sound of a drifting car screeched into his ears. From both sides of the road, two windowless white vans pulled up, corning him. The mafia was here to collect their recompense. As much as he resisted, What? was knocked out and detained. being dragged away and never to be heard from again. Some say he was abducted and killed, while others claim he was used like a slave. But what they didn't know was before being taken off, he dropped the penny he picked up that day. It landed on tails this time, but instead of showing it's intended image, it showed a skull with a quote, traveling along the rim of the coin. "Diligence is the mother of good luck." - Benjiman Franklin.
