Ben and Lacus fight Larxene as the sadistic woman loves to tease and hurt Ben's feelings. This make Ben so mad that he's clearly not going to forgive this villainess. Then, Marluxia arrives as both Organization members retreat.

Yeah, this was written way before Larxene and Marluxia have their humanity in their final defeats in Kingdom Hearts 3 (alongside having human names and identities before becoming Nobodies).

There is a breather episode of Ben's interactions with Lacus. And the Platinum Saucer does reminded of the Golden Saucer, such as the roller coaster and stuff.

But wait, Larxene makes an appearance. and she is as cute and sadistic as ever of Ben's first date. This was written way before Larxene is one of Xehanort's vessels.

It's been a week since the defeat of Xehamaru. Or so it was as Xehamaru returns again, but this time, with the help of new villains: Ravxen, Necron, and Darth Damonus (the one who controls Xehamaru, even though we know that Xehamaru act on his own free will). This raises the stakes for Ben and his friends.

And here I am properly reading the prologue of Volume 2. Yeah, this is the recap of the first arc of Ben's adventures with the crossover characters, meeting new friends and enemies (such as Xehamaru), and much more. So I wonder what Volume 2 will bring, let's find out.

Well...Max will go to Heaven unless Zannacross wins, at which point he'll simply destroy him along with Heaven. :/ And Cosmos...so long as you're being completely useless and asking everyone to do things they were doing already...I don't suppose you could use your omniscience to tell Ben where the last shard is? Or if there's any more "wolves in the fold"? Or who killed Max? No?

Sigh. Well, at least you...uh...um...swore you believed in us? That's gotta...er...count for something...right? I mean...a goddess who can pretty much only be a cheerleader is...uh...just what we needed... (You sure Cosmos' real name isn't 'Celestia'?)

"I will always be watching you...even if you're failing and dying, I'll continue to just keep watching you." She's even intimidated by Brad.

Worst. Goddess. EVER. The only problem is since Cosmos is so useless, it kind of gives Zannacross a "Dark Helmet" effect from "Spaceballs"...

"Now you see that evil will always triumph...because good is dumb."

Heh, Myers, I think it was pretty clear Kira was insane long before now. :P

All I can say about kicking Brad out...about bloody time. Now, hopefully they realize he's talking just like Kira so he's probably next to join the ranks of "people to kill". However...I still think Lacus will go running back to him. If for no other reason than real-life experience in similar situations... :(

Cough, cough...I'm choking on "smug". The majority of these bad guys will end up being side quests to be stepped on and probably are making the real villains roll their eyes.

Well, while it's nice to hear Lacus' mother apologize at last...that whole Idious thing is probably a legitimate reason to dislike him. :P

And I'm glad the big bad is finally becoming aware of his chronic failures to kill the protagonist. Although...if he thinks he's getting too powerful...why not just have Damonus pop in on him and kill him now or while he's on the can or something? Or just blow up the planet he's on? I think we've established the bad guys can go wherever, whenever they want at this point.

Uh, Nightmare...better watch your "I always get it done" boast. Yeah...except the two or three times now you were smacked aside... Your success record is far from spotless.

I think this scene was missing from the end of that little round of boasting...

ZANNACROSS: Now remember, everyone...don't any of you even think about just banding together and attacking Hollow Bastion right now. Or attacking Myers or Ben all together. You're only allowed to split up into individuals and move to separate worlds and never come to each others aid. You all are only allowed to fight ONE AT A TIME. The rest of you have to wait your turn. And none of you try to sneak up on anyone and kill them either. Lure them into a trap on a world where there'll be a dozen of them against you. And never kill them outright, either. Even if you say you're going to kill them now, never actually kill them. Drag it out and out and out to make sure they can't pull off any last minute moves.

Clearly, Zannacross never read Spider-Man Annual #1 where the Sinister Six tried the same thing. At the end, Spidey actually mocked them all for not just attacking him together as opposed to one at a time.

Well, things may look a bit on the up-and-up for Lacus, but...the fact that she's only tentatively suspecting Brad of not being who she thought he was as opposed to knowing it without a doubt makes me feel this isn't quite a turning point yet.

Ok...review of chapter over...now for the big 'un...

-
Looking over all of Volume Two...

Negatives:

I've said these so many times that I'm not about to rehash things you already know. Just, in brief, I think the battles would flow better with less bantering and boasting. The list of "people to kill" only ever gets longer. And I'm not too much of a fan of character's personalities seeming to occasionally change to suit whatever is going on right now. It's not so much of an issue with the OCs...but the characters from other games and such is more overt. And I should warn you...I used to do that and was hated for it. I've told you horror stories of what I did with Yuffie back in my original version of what would be "The Aleron Saga". Basically, I changed her both to reflect my bias and suit the situation...and that created OOCs that I was never forgiven for. Hence...I'm kind of grimacing at Kuja in the end of this chapter. This is pretty much what my mind was thinking...

GENESIS: I thought you did a heel-turn-face?

KUJA: Eh, I decided I preferred being evil.

Now that we have that crud out of the way...

Positives:

Lots more original character action in this volume, which I appreciate a great deal. I said it before and I'll say it again...you do your best when you go original. It gives one more "freedom" to do as you like. More character development in this volume as opposed to the last one. Although both Ben and Lacus did things I have a hard time forgiving, enough to push me past my original comment of them being "flawed" to being "dislikeable", they are, in fact, finally showing some maturity that I hoped they would ever since Volume One. They still need to stay the course before I render a positive verdict on them, however.

Overall, the plotline in this one is more "connected" and intriguing as well. The previous volume was a great deal of "bring on the next world". This one had more of an "overarching" story to it. It helped maintain a higher interest level. Your writing style also improved more. I'm seeing better examples of appropriately using brevity in the right situations and I hope it keeps up.

(On a side note, while I think Seymour was obnoxious, he really was one of the best FF villains. Psychotic and originally motivated, extremely hard to kill, and his philosophy is pretty much in tune with Zannacross' already. I would have swapped Kuja for him.)

Overall conclusion: better written, more intriguing, and nicer plotline than Volume One. Hope it keeps improving.

No offense, Squall and Zidane...but shouldn't Myers be one of the people who gets teleported? :P I guess there is something to say about "being the biggest guy in the room".

The end of the fight with Xiza...like I said, glad it wasn't a "Brolly Deal". It did seem a bit quicker compared to others, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

My one point of confusion...with all the energy these guys are throwing around, I'm surprised they couldn't just blow up the Halo themselves. It's only about the size of a planet in terms of diameter, right?

There's just one other thing. As a guy who made up plot items that came back to bite him in the rear before, I think the "anti-Enji" bullets are a good example. Basically, if you've come up with a weapon that can kill any protagonist, no matter how strong, in one shot, and apparently can be mass-produced, then why not just equip every basic trooper with them? Or even advanced troops? Technically, you said this one hit him in the heart, but that shouldn't have mattered because you said it turns magic energy into poison, so even if it hit him in the forearm it should have killed him. I'm also not sure if you're trying to imply that Brad was the guy who killed Max, but if you are...that's another big plot hole because they weren't able to sense anyone else, and it's been made clear up until now Brad doesn't hide his power. Of course, it could have just been a "red herring"...

Ben makes a good point. Out of all of the bad guys thus far who tried to get a hero to "come to the dark side", Xiza's track record would make him the least desirable.

A nod to "Little Shop of Horrors"? Nice.

You told me earlier that people were a bit "disappointed" with this chapter compared to the last? Well...the fight was more "awkward". First, when Ben showed up, it resulted in a whole "Goku"-effect...which isn't a very easy feeling for a reader. Since this is a "KH"-type scenario, when everyone else fails completely only for Ben to show up and reveal in no uncertain terms he could beat them all by himself if he wanted, it might leave people wondering: "So...is everyone else the 'Kuririn' now? With a whole volume to go, is their only purpose now just to get kicked around until Ben shows up from now on?"

Granted, when the fight went into a later phase, they started joining again...but...there's definitely a "disconnect". It doesn't really seem to follow how Cloud couldn't even get Xiza dirty before and now suddenly he's able to cut him, for example. I mean, everyone was going all out before and it didn't seem to matter. That might have been what left people giving this fight a bit of an odd look.

Well...either that or the fact that Ben never really came even close to winning against Max if he's able to fight back now with ease. Max must have barely been trying the entire fight, going far below "easy" on Ben the whole time. It kind of means the entire last chapter was a fake out to the audience... :(

The fighting is still good, don't get me wrong. Plot is moving well even if there wasn't a whole lot of "new developments" this chapter. But how Xiza seems to go from being strong to weak and strong to weak again...that might have been an issue. If you're confused about what I mean, I can always do it in PMs.

Sorry, Max...but you're already "throwing a tantrum like Kira did". Glad to hear Ben say he doesn't "need Max" anymore. I actually enjoyed hearing that.

Hmm, Max...you know all of Ben's "pathetic techniques', eh? How is it that he's hitting you, then? :P

I would have slapped Johnson myself. That dumb AI was about to take you all right to the head honcho! :( Anyway, it's a good thing those weren't the "Borg-model" Sentinels...you know, the ones that adapt the second you hit them with something? That would have been a problem.

I'm pretty sure this'll end up happening eventually anyway, but when Chaos Zannacross Necron wakes up, I hope I get to see a few of his followers get "nommed" on first. Kind of like what happened in Arc the Lad II when the main bad guy killed most of the life in the world to revive the bad guy, and he was boasting about all the power he had as the bad guy came up behind him, and suddenly the Big Bad called out to him, and he turned to him. "Your usefulness is over. Goodbye." Instantly atomized. Didn't even have time to scream...which was a bit of a letdown, but you get the idea.

As for what I said earlier (and you know full well what it was)...I was wrong. The point I was always trying to make, and that I believe in, is that someone has to believe in something greater than themselves. While Ben may have ultimately won due to greater skill and training, the reason he went through all of it wasn't for himself in the end but for other people. He may have started out for purely selfish reasons, just his own glory and wanting people to appreciate him, but now he's doing it so he never lets anyone down again...which is a much more "mature" way to see himself. While it's important to have faith in yourself, it's more important to be someone that other people can have faith in. And in that regard...Ben will always have Max outclassed completely ever since he figured everyone, including friends and family, deserved to be lumped in with his distrust for greedy politicians and businesspeople.

Max never was "above pain". He only ran and hid from it. That's why he went psychotic when he was forced to start feeling it again...because it was too damn "scary".

On a final comment, I note that Xiza sets himself apart from his respective "inspirations" with that bone deal. I think that was a good move. Something that gives him originality. My only point of confusion is why everyone he was fighting isn't dead... When I think "slices and dices", I figured that meant he chopped them all to bits "deli style" or something...

Nearing the end now...although I'm a little puzzled as to what Ben expects to do against the bad guy. I mean, if he was already tearing himself apart using the three-fold move, then the six-fold must have broken every bone in his body and burnt him out completely...

Ok, well, early comments in this chapter clear up the perceived plot hole from last chapter's review.

Max's character seems...undefined. At this point, he seems to spontaneously change personalities to be whatever situation progresses the story at a given point in time...including in the middle of the same chapter. I've seen go him from ally to taunter to villain to...Brad, which is never a good thing. At this point, he kind of annoys me, so I once again hope that's his death at the end of this volume to stop his blathering. Of course, although it would mean nothing to me seeing him die other than shutting up yet another character whose main purpose in life is to taunt Ben (like over half of the cast of this story), I'm sure Ben and company will want to whine and moan and blubber over him...and I'm not looking forward to that either. (Not sure why they would...he's caused more problems than he's solved throughout this story...)

Well, seeing as Kira once boasted about being able to do everything on his own and already ran away with his tail between his legs once, his taunts don't really hurt anyone's feelings.

Hmm...this is kind of a letdown compared to Volume One if we're almost done, ending with a fight that ultimately doesn't make any difference at all but a couple meatheads spouting empty platitudes trying to see which one's tougher... I mean, for the love of...would they drop the stupid "friendship" spiel about whether it makes you strong or weak? Friendship doesn't have to do with any of these fights and whether or not anyone has won or lost so far. It's all had to do with how many powers they've learned and how much they've "worked out". (No Ben...your "friends" don't make you strong...training in hellish conditions, learning techniques from special gurus, and having a magical sword has ALWAYS been what has made you strong this entire story. Your friends are only there to have attacks that fail in order to make you look good and to serve as cheerleaders...and, in Lacus' case, to backstab you because she hasn't got a spine.) Whether or not you have a lot of friends or no friends is irrelevant. Frankly, both Ben and Max have been utter failures at stopping the bad guys this entire volume, so they're BOTH "weaklings" or whatever...

"Xiza's Traditional Recipe Spaghetti Sauce...IS PEOPLE!" ...I couldn't resist. :P

...Did Ridley really ask Samus why won't SHE die? O_o

Hey Samus, don't be knocking digital viruses. That's kind of how Sigma's been rolling for years. :P I doubt destroying that room really helped, though. James has a good point. It's the future, people. Haven't you ever heard of RAIDs?

Well, nothing seen yet...but this chapter implies that Xiza himself is far beneath Max power-wise. Because if he wasn't, he could have just powered the big thing himself.

Yeah, like I said before, I know it's tough coming up with reasons to always split people up. :P Even if you don't intend for them to be "divided and weaker", it makes things easier to write because then you don't have to go "round robin" through all of the fighters. All of the fights in "The Sorceress Cycle" with all eight group members are a pain...

"Brad's in for a rude awakening if he thinks he can act like this all the time". Yeah...he'll wake up and find out he CAN! :P

I always thought the "mutated" Mother Brain from Super Metroid looked like a giant plucked chicken...but ah well. Nice to see that Hiruumon got a bit of an upgrade... Like I noted a while ago, it seemed he had been largely ineffective against anything ever since Volume One.

Finally, this is more of an "observation" than a "criticism", per say... I'm a bit curious as to why you didn't just use Freeza, since most everyone else in the story has been used thus far straight from source material. It's not a complaint, because, if you recall, I said that would have been a good idea all the way back in Volume One. Just wondering why you picked this one particular character to give a different name and color scheme to...

So...this chapter and the past two were "filler". About the only thing I'm getting more tired of hearing besides gloating is "we'll get them next time". No...you won't. You'll trade a few hits and brags and then everyone will run off again like they've been doing since the beginning of Volume One. Sheesh...if the protagonists could just "hop out" half as easily as the antagonists, none of them would ever get a bruise...

Yeah...looking forward to more useless fighting that doesn't advance the plot and more bad guys escaping in yet another ultimately pointless arc... :/ Who knows? Maybe we'll have even more bad guys added in this one who will never get killed just like in every single other arc before this one...

You know...for once I think Rocks-for-Brains is right. These guys DO always have something up their sleeve...usually in the form of an escape route. I'm actually with him on just killing Weil right now. Besides...they really expect to get anything out of him when he's already insane?

"Make sure Weil and Xiza don't escape"? Er...how do you plan on doing that? I think pretty much every bad guy they've run into so far can just open a hole in reality and duck out whenever they feel like it...

Well, Bowser, if everything is going to die and you don't care if you die either...why not just save us all the trouble and just slit your wrists? :P

Hmm...interesting how a lot of stuff in this chapter happened "behind the scenes". Not that I'm complaining, of course. It keeps things moving. Just not used to it.

I can't say anything about "too many antagonists" and "no antagonist ever dies" that I haven't said a dozen times before, so I'll omit it this time.

Yeah right, Myers. Admiral Ackbar didn't think the Death Star II was a trap either... Seriously, when's the last time it HASN'T been a trap in this story?

Hmm...keeping him "under check" is an idea of why Brad hasn't been kicked out long ago. But...if he joined with the enemy, wouldn't that give an excuse to kill him? Ben should be crossing his fingers for THAT...

Meh, don't worry. As dumb as the higher ups in the Enji Order are, I'm sure Brad will get a slap on the wrist, maybe a week of "detention" or whatever, and then go back to what he was doing before. Hey, they let Kira get away with murder...literally...why not Rocks-for-Brains?

Well, in short, back to the war again. Starting to wonder what will be the "stopping point" for Volume II as the ending nears...

Uh, Ravxen, you should know that people who aren't afraid of anything are either in denial or stupid. Which one are you? :P

I just noticed a lot of villains frequently say "bah"...

Hate to break it to you, guys, but Ezan can not want to "go to the dark side" and still hate you all at the same time. :P

"Not that you're going to get off Scot free," Uh...why not? You let Ben off Scot free after he killed a few billion people...

And don't flatter yourself into thinking Sephiroth saw you "couldn't be dismissed so easily", Ben. The villains in this thing continue to dismiss you easily even when you're vaporizing them. "Black Knight" syndrome. :D

Er, Ben...girls will never like you if you call them "clueless fools" behind their backs.

I have to wonder...wouldn't Brad be stronger than Sabin? It kind of makes me wonder why he takes orders from him. Now...there's an easy "practical" answer for that...punch out your commanding officer and it's time to pack your bags and go home. But seeing as Brad is pretty much a half-witted gorilla, I wouldn't put it by him.

"Oh well...if she has been with him this long there has to be a good reason." ...Unless, you know, Lacus is in a controlling relationship or has no self esteem or is codepenent or...(Goes on)

Well, overall, I liked the bulk of this chapter as it's been a while since we've had a "slice of life" chapter that focuses more on the OCs. Of course...the last scene ruined it utterly. This is why I still think Lacus is a brainless, useless twit, and I've never stopped thinking that for even a second. I wish she'd get killed already...she's dragging down the story. As I said before, it was alright for the first volume and even nice to have a character who "wasn't perfect"...but she just keeps getting more and more loathesome. She's makes Bella from "Twilight" look like Jane Eyre...

And also, as has happened in every single chapter until now, the heroes are making absolutely no progress as new villains arise for every one they kill. This is getting problematic. I noticed that Xaldin had to die "abruptly" because the villain docket is so overloaded you can't really devote time to any more "satisfying" fights... If this doesn't change soon, I'm guessing in Volume Three you'll just have ten of them die abruptly in one chapter toward the end or something like they do in badly-paced animes...

I'm personally of the opinion everyone can dance...so long as no one is watching. :P