Shadow Fire

Zidane chuckled at Vivi's antics. Well, he is cute... I'll give him that. "His name's Vivi..." he said assertively. "He won the Festival of the Hunt... and a date... with me." His lips unwillingly seemed to curl into his warm smile as he said that.

Giving a chuckle, the blond nodded, his own stomach growling. "Yeah..." he agreed. "The festival can take it out of you. Come with me. I know a great place. The food's cheap, but it's delicious." With that said, Zidane began to slowly walk towards said restaurant, still keeping a hold of Vivi's hand. How could I not have seen the way he feels? I bet Freya somehow knew... and she distracted me... Heh... well, I'd better have a good time. I don't want to upset him.

Zidane could see Vivi's dilemma, so, with a slight smile and shake of his head, he reached down and took Vivi's hand. "Vivi..." he mumbled. "So... where do you want to go? I mean, you won this after all, so the choice is yours."

Zidane felt his own face get warm. Someone actually went so far as to have fallen in love with him, though it wasn't who he expected. Resting his hands on Vivi's shoulders, he gave an uncertain stare into the mage's eyes. "Vivi..." he said softly, averting his glance after a moment. "I'm not someone you should really be wanting to pursue. But... I am a man of my word... so we'll go on... our... date..." Zidane didn't know why he felt so strange saying that.

Just as he was about to speak up again, Vivi's confession came out, and it hit the tailed boy like a ton of bricks. "What?!" he exclaimed. "Me? B-but I..." That's when he realised all the signs were there. Vivi was always wanting to be around him, always holding his hand, always flustered whenever he smiled at him. "I get it..." he said finally, his expression bewildered. "You're in love with me, aren't you Vivi?"

Zidane stopped instantly, and he glanced into the mage's eyes. "Well?" he asked. "If you don't want that, what do you want?"

Still bringing Vivi along, Zidane turned to grin down at him. "Hmmm?" he questioned. "What? Don't you want a date?"

Zidane blinked in surprise and turned to see one last spell slamming into Zaghnol, the beast succumbing to its injuries, and fading into oblivion. "Wha-?" the thief choked out. "What in the hell?" The announcer's voice called out a new message. "Vivi has defeated Zaghnol!" the voice boomed. "Vivi is now in first place with 777 points!" The blond glared at Freya, realising what she'd done, and upon hearing there were only 10 seconds left, he scrambled to find one last enemy to push him into the lead. However, just as he found one and was about to deliver the killing blow, it vanished as a loud siren sounded, signalling time up. "Congratulations!" the announcer boomed. "The winner of this year's Festival of the Hunt is Vivi, with 777 points!" Zidane looked crestfallen, but he was gracious in defeat. Waiting for Vivi to get his Card, he walked over to him and grinned. "Nice one..." he chuckled. "Guess you're the one who gets to date the princess."

Zidane went to launch his own attack on the beast, when he was suddenly interrupted by Freya. "What?!" he screeched. "Must you keep persisting with calling me a fool?"

His eyes narrowing playfully, the blond gave a nod. "Freya..." he said. "Let's beat this thing. But bear this in mind... I'm getting the points here... I've got a date on the line..."

The game continued on, and by the time Zidane had heard the announcement about Zaghnol, Vivi was ahead of him by about 24 points. Arriving at the Business District, he gave a whistle. "Wow..." he murmured. "That is one big beast. Hey, Vivi! Save some for me!"

Zidane didn't end up hearing Vivi, because of the crowd going wild for the competitors. Casting a glance over at Vivi, he gave a thumbs-up. "You'll do fine!" he called over the din. "Believe in yourself, Vivi!" The countdown began. "5! 4! 3! 2! 1! HUNT!" Zidane rushed towards the Theatre District, immediately managing to get into a battle with a creature, defeating it swiftly. "Zidane is in the lead!" the announcer's voice boomed all over Lindblum. "Currently on 42 points!"

"Shhh!" Zidane hissed softly. "Keep it down!" Steiner's eyes narrowed. "What was that!?" he demanded. "You just mentioned the princess. What evil deeds are you plotting now!?" Zidane rolled his eyes. "It's nothing..." he said innocently. "Right, Vivi?"

Zidane looked a little shamed, but suddenly gave a grin. "Oh!" he exclaimed, before whispering to the mage. "How about this? If you win, I'll fix you up for a date with Dagger."

Director: Hiroshi Miyamoto Producers: Takashi Iizuka Music: Jun Senoue Starring: Junichi Kanemaru, Ryo Hirohashi, Nobutoshi Kanna, Koji Yusa, Chikao Otsuka (I'm not too fond of the English voice cast, and since you can switch languages, I chose Japanese.) Rating: Plot Sonic and friends are celebrating the blue hedgehog's birthday, when things are thrown into disarray by a strange creature, known as the Time Eater, who kidnaps Sonic's friends, and sends him into a world that is covered in whiteness, his friends all frozen like statues. He finds himself in a familiar hillside, which he blasts through, and restores Tails to life and heads for the next area. Just as he leaves, another Sonic arrives, though a little shorter, chubbier, and lacking the ability to speak. He too dashes off for the distance. The two Sonics eventually come face to face, and discover that they have been taken through time. The two must work together in order for the world to be restored to its former glory, and so that space-time can be repaired. Review I am not going to lie. I have been looking forward to this game since it was announced. The idea of Classic and Modern working as one to save time is a very unusual concept to me, though not unwelcome. As a Sonic fan, I have found some of the games over the years have not been planned out very well, have elements that are just outright ridiculous, or are extremely bugged to hell. I'm looking at you, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). However, working on what people have been asking, have Sonic Team finally made a winner? In a simple word, yes. The gameplay is awesome. Going through each level twice is what people would usually consider tedious, but considering one is a classic mode, while the other is modern? Yes, please! The levels are well thought out, and adapt on their original counterparts. From the classic Green Hill Zone from Sonic 1, to the beautiful (if not extremely challenging) Planet Wisp from Sonic Colours, each level is filled with different paths you can take. Classic Sonic focuses a little more on platforming than his modern counterpart, but that only makes things a little more interesting. Music is amazing. Every piece of music used in the game has had a remix, regardless of its originating game. And now, for the first time, you can select which music you want each stage to play, after collecting them. There are a few of these collectibles that are not remixed, but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable. I have actually changed the music I have playing in the main levels, because I like the selection. Options are customisable, and for the first time in a Sonic game, you can have diversity in which voice language you select. English and Japanese are of course selectable, but now, you can hear Sonic and friends in French, German, Italian and Castillian Spanish. Finally, Sonic's abilities and physics. Classic Sonic is only equipped with two powers. The Spin Jump and the Spin Dash. Quite simple, but his controls seem to handle them fine. My only gripe is that the controls are sometimes a little too responsive, but I can adapt to it. Modern Sonic has all of his abilities, such as the Homing Attack, Sonic Boost, Stomp, Wall Kick, and more. Let me tell you, blasting through levels at high speed, in environments as beautiful as those... it's breathtaking. Not only that, you can customise which additional abilities Modern Sonic can use. Overall So, while this game may not impress EVERY Sonic fan out there, I tend to find that Sonic Team have finally listened to what their fans want, and have provided us with a wonderful game to celebrate the 20th anniversary of our favourite blue hedgehog. This game is also available on PC and 3DS (the latter which has many differences). If you're wondering if you should get this game, I would say, definitely.

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Zidane glanced nervously at Vivi. "Um..." he mumbled. "I thought you would do pretty well, so I signed you up. Don't worry. With your black magic, it'll be a piece of cake."

Arriving back and apologising for the wait, Zidane listened as the rules were read out. When hearing that Freya would take an Add-on, Zidane chuckled softly. "Simple..." he said. "I'll take Gil all the way!" The Elite Guard nodded, before turning to Vivi. Zidane tensed slightly. "Okay..." he confirmed. "...and you, Mr Vivi?"

With a strange smile, Zidane shrugged. "They'll tell you where to go..." the blond cryptically responded. "It's different every year."

The boy nodded and gave a soft chuckle. "It'll be a good sword to use in the Festival of the Hunt..." he said. "Speaking of which, we better head back. The festival should be starting soon."

Giving a wide smile, Zidane nodded. "Yeah..." he said softly. "It's kinda fun, and hones one's skills." It wasn't too long before Zidane had his new blade, the Butterfly Sword. "Wow..." he murmured, as he held it. "This is nice..."

The blond glanced over at the younger mage, giving a slight grin. "The Festival of the Hunt..." he began. "Monsters are released through the town, through all districts and we have twelve minutes to eliminate as many as possible, getting points from each victory. The winner gets a prize." Passing the weapons to the synthesist, Zidane watched and waited for the sword to be complete, though now and then, he did catch glances of Vivi looking happily at his new staff. I think he'll do great this festival. Well, at least I signed him up for it.

Zidane's smile widened, and he nodded. "No problem, Vivi..." he said softly. "C'mon... let's go get my sword... and we'll head back, okay?"

Zidane was busy whispering to the shopkeeper, who grinned and walked over to the case. "See something you like?" the shopkeeper asked. "Ah... that staff... it is a beaut... and guess what? It's yours." Unlocking the case, he smirked and handed the staff to Vivi. "Already been paid for, kid..." he chuckled. "Your friend bought it for you." The shopkeeper gestured over to Zidane, who gave a smile and winked.

The blond's face seemed to shine when the princess gave in. "Yes!" he cheered. "Okay, it's a date!" Having said that, he raced off, leaving Dagger to go register for the Festival. On his way though, he had a sudden thought. Maybe... yes... I think I should sign Vivi up too. It'd be a great way to boost his confidence!

Some time later, Zidane had flustered himself by asking Dagger about the airship cruise, despite having had asked another girl that. With a sigh, he suddenly grinned. "Okay, how about this?" he offered. "If I get first place in tomorrow's hunting festival, you and me'll go out on a date!"