Now that he was mostly healed, he could confidently try to use flow motion again.
So he got a little trigger happy.
He had never felt so alive. Jumping from wall to wall, rooftop to rooftop, the town was his oyster. He may not have been "flying" but this was the next best thing. While he could never seem to get the hang of it in the game, here it came naturally, like sports, or running, or jumping. Just make his body go where he wanted, and bam, magical transportation in an instant.
'Man this is so cool! Wish I could do this in the real world.'
Alas, it would not be possible. For now, he'd just enjoy feeling super cool and powerful for a few minutes while he zipped from wall to wall, and took out a few dream eaters while at it, being very careful to only go in once, hit a few, and then run like heck. Was it cool? No. Did it keep him alive and keep him from ruining his arm? Yes.
Because man, there were a lot of dream eaters popping up.
They must be significant-
Nope, nope, no. Ignoring that. It was just a trick to fool him. This was just a dream, he wasn't falling for that.
He doubled back once, peeking from a distance to check on Rhyme, but not going into the clearing so as not to trigger anything. It was empty and clear, and she was standing safely by the entrance to flick rush, so he was finally able to go on ahead with a clear conscience. Going through as many opponents as he did, he did eventually accumulate a couple more dream fragments. He was just holding off on using them because… he was too busy running. These things really did keep popping up every time he landed or stopped. If he could find just one more potion and fix his arm, he'd be able to actually fight off these things without worry, but he didn't want to risk being incapacitated again. Boy, it was sure a good thing young Xehanort healed him!
The thought, though half a joke, was still enough to make him slow to a walk as he got depressed. This was bad- he didn't know how but this was going to somehow bite him later. Right. Okay. New goal in dream: avoid Sora and Riku by any means necessary. He could not, under any circumstances, handle them "hating" him, dream or no.
Yes, he knew it was stupid. No, he didn't want to talk about it.
While he couldn't fight directly at the moment, he watched the dream eaters, and thought back on his previous fight to try to figure out how he could do better. He could actually fight back, which was a plus. And game physics still applied, which meant he could send them airborne, but there seemed to be some realism since he seemed to get hurt, and still struggle against weight and larger opponents. So if he could just use some of his fighting knowledge, he should be able to defend himself. 'Jeez, I haven't practiced in years. Good thing I was already figuring out how a short person could take out a larger opponent,' he thought with amusement. Too bad his knowledge of human body weaknesses didn't transfer over to technicolor cutesy creatures. Oh well, onto the next area.
He finally found a potion in a treasure chest, among other things, and was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief when his arm was better. He clenched his fist a few times to test it, and it seemed to be in good working order. Still, he probably shouldn't try to fight these things bare handed anymore if he could help it. Maybe he could find some kind of weapon to help?
He finally made his way to the mail room and… realized he had no idea how to get out. 'C-.'
He hadn't played this game for over ten years. He remembered all the important lore details, and character building for the over arching plot, but he didn't remember the details of boss fights, or specials or, well, getting out of complicated rooms. This was one of his weaker games in the series. When the game first came out, he was living on his own and in college. Both he and his friend decided to split their money and buy both the game, and the 3DS, since neither of them had either. Did he hate Square for splitting up this stupid franchise to multiple consoles and making his life infinitely harder? Yes. And more than once he considered boycotting their stupid butts. But this darn series had him in a choke hold, as the fact he was still dreaming so vividly about it could attest. Heck, he still hadn't played Days, or the mobile games. Although he did watch the cutscene movies to try to keep up on it.
D- he hated this f-ing series.
Anyway, he and his friend took turns with the game and 3DS. They each kept it for a week, and handed it off to each other to play. That was how they managed to keep up with the series without breaking the bank. It was the best a couple college students could do. There was actually a funny story about when he was trying to beat Young Xehanort before his time ran out, and his friend and his boyfriend took the full brunt of his gamer rage. Not literally, no one was hurt, but they were shocked at the death glare he accidentally sent their way when they came to come pick it up.
Anyway, when he finally completed the game, he ultimately let his friend keep both the game, and the system. He already knew the main points of the story, so why bother? He wasn't planning on buying more games for the 3DS, so it was a waste to keep. So while he remembered the characters and main points, he couldn't remember all of the details. It was one of his weaker games.
Which is why after what felt like at least 15 minutes of practicing flow motion and leaping from rail to rail, and trying out a few moves in hit-and-run tactics on the dream eaters, he started screaming out in frustration that he couldn't figure out where the exit was located. Leaping from wall to wall, triggering reality shift for the crates, and finally trying reality shift on the dream eaters themselves, he bemoaned the tragedy of how much faster and easier his first play through would have been if he'd been able to do it this well. It was frustrating that he couldn't attack them head on, but the memory of his pain from before kept him from being reckless.
When he finally found the exit, and the mail room, he threw his hands up and cheered.
"FINALLY!" He screamed out happily. "Ugh thank god, I was so sick of that room!"
If he could help it, he was never going in there again.
He finally exited the mail room, and popped out of the mail box, only to freeze as his heart stopped.
Sora.
He was fighting the dream eaters in the middle of the plaza, attacking and blocking one by one. He hadn't noticed not-Beat yet, focusing on taking out his enemies, but not-Beat hoped he'd be able to keep it that way.
'No,' He stepped back. 'No, no no no no no no no no, I can't let him see me! I can't meet him like this!'
It was panic that made him act, and he turned and ran only to hit the brick wall with a grunt. He bounced back, and then his body vanished with a mechanical beep, making Sora glance over in confusion at an empty corner.
Not-Beat fell backwards and hit the cobblestone, though it just surprised more than hurt, and he gasped for air as he finally released his breath. He blinked in confusion as he looked behind him around the silent, and completely empty plaza. Sora and the dream eaters were nowhere to be found. Had he somehow "got rid of them" in his desire to remove them from the dream?
Even if that was the case, the sudden, oppressive silence still freaked him out.
"Hey!" Snapped a feminine voice, and not-Beat snapped up in alarm. "Do you mind?"
He gaped in shock at the intruder, brain instantly recognizing the line. Shiki shouted that when she was surrounded by dream eaters and Riku found her.
But she wasn't shouting it at dream eaters this time. She was glaring down at him.