Background/Lore:

Verran had a strong heart, but it was always shadowed. His hope was powerful, but always afloat atop an ocean of darkness. Anxiety, loneliness, sorrow. This demeanor lent itself to the manifestation of his magic, his affinity for darkness, and is what first drew the heartless to him.

They lingered about him like a pack of hungry wolves, but they kept at bay when he asked them to. Despite their drive to devour his heart, they responded to the intensity of the darkness he commanded and followed as he directed them. Most were distant, aloof, and constantly agitated. He found a preference for a particular Large Body, enjoying its company for its lackadaisical nature. It was often too lax and lethargic to growl at him. When it slept he could rest comfortably beside it, and when it woke it often embraced him.
Of course, he recognized it simply wanted to take his heart, torn between instinct and obedience, and too lazy to express its conflicting nature as vocal and snarly as the rest. But it comforted Verran nonetheless.

And still, Verran's darkness only grew. His hope, once a ship upon that ocean of shadow, had dwindled into a raft, and further into simply driftwood.

For all the company he had, for all the comfort he tried to convince himself that it provided, it was all false. Ingenuine. He tried to keep hope, to pretend, but in his heart he knew the truth of the matter; even surrounded by all his attendants, he was alone.
But, he thought, it did not have to be this way.
His companions were in constant conflict against their nature, but for what? His heart?
What good was a heart then, when all it did was wall him off from his friends.

And so Verran sat by his favorite Large Body, his light flickering like a candle in a storm, but his mind more at peace than ever before. And with a simple gesture, he handed over that little spark.

-

Vern has frequently looked back on that day fondly, and never once regretted his decision. No longer did his friends have to repress their desire to devour him. They now brazenly flocked to him for his companionship, striving to stay under the veil of his powerful magic. He was one of them, afterall.

Vern can be found riding atop the the shoulder of his favored Large Body, now evolved, more lucid, and bearing the name Bomble. He has been empowered by Vern's own emboldened dark magic, as well as the powerful heart now dissolved into his core. Perhaps it was the fact that the heart once belonged to Vern, that the two heartless have such a prominent bond, or perhaps it was due to the lingering memories of their time together when Vern was whole, but neither would have it any other way.

Together, and with the small army behind them, they are a force to be reckoned with.

Keyblade weilders beware,
and hearts of worlds prepare,
for a new tide of darkness comes.


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In-Game Combat Profile:

This encounter is a 3-stage boss battle with low-HP shadows often spawning during the fight.

STAGE 1:
Vern begins combat sitting atop Bomble's shoulder. They share a single HP bar. Bomble will strike with relatively slow, blatantly telegraphed attacks that hit for massive damage. This becomes difficult however, as Vern utilizes crowd control techniques that deal minimal damage on their own but leave the player susceptible to Bomble's sluggish strikes.

Bomble:
- Punch: Basic attack; a hard 1-2 punch
- Belly Bump: Bomble hops forward for a heavy body slam. Causes large knockback. Bomble will perform this on his own randomly, but will always default to this attack if the player becomes caught by Vern's Stasis Veil.
- Tumble Quake: Bomble teeters and falls on his rump, causing an earthquake that damages a player on the ground.

Vern:
- Umbra Darts: Basic attack; fires lightly seeking swarms of low damage orbs of darkness
- Stasis Veil: Vern conjures black bubbles in the direction that the player is moving. Contact with one of these bubbles deals minimal damage, expands it, and traps the player inside.
- Gravity Well: Utilized in tandem with Bomble's Tumble Quake, Vern litters the terrain with a random arrangement of dark circles. Just before Bomble falls, gravity magic surges out of these circles and any player above them takes minimal damage and is jolted to the ground.

Strategy ~
Dodging the basic heartless, Bomble's punches, and Vern's umbra darts is easy enough, but sets the tone of the fight - The player must keep on their toes and stay moving. Spending more than a breath in one place means they'll be getting peppered with chip damage or even risk a swift KO! Players must be ready to halt or change direction on a dime when it comes to avoiding Vern's Stasis Veil. Likewise, players must be able to navigate the narrow gaps between the circles of Vern's Gravity Well, keeping aloft when Bomble's Tumble Quake triggers.
Because of the harsh environmental aspects of this fight, chances at getting in close to Vern and Bomble are limited. For this reason, it is best if the player has a burst-damage technique to fire off at such opportunities, rather than trying to rely on rapid, weaker strikes.


STAGE 2:
Once the player has dished out enough punishment on the duo, a cutscene will play where Vern is knocked off Bomble. Bomble howls in rage while Vern recovers his footing in the background, and this is where the real fight begins.

The low-HP shadows spawn at the same rate, but in twice the number. Frenzy-Bomble's heavy strikes hit just as hard, but lose their comfortable telegraphs. The silver lining, if it can be considered such, is that Vern's low-damage, potent crowd control abilities are now replaced by mid-damage techniques with less potent crowd control effects.

Frenzy-Bomble:
Bomble moves faster while in his frenzy state, and his attacks cover more ground.
Independent of Vern, Bomble is immune to physical damage from the front.
- Thrash: Basic attack; Frenzy-Bomble tromps forward at a moderate pace, wildly throwing 4 punches.
- Titanic Pounce: With a powerful leap, Frenzy-Bomble combines his prior Belly-Bump and Tumble quake. Impact will cause significant knock back in addition to significant damage, and upon landing a tremendous earthquake will damage a player on the ground.
- Vengeance: If Vern suffers a powerful hit, Frenzy-Bomble will respond by rushing the player and unleashing several Thrash attacks back-to-back.

Vern S2:
While independent of Bomble, Vern is floaty and whimsical in his movements. He will occassionally block attacks using a force field, and this triggers mild knockback if it blocks a melee attack.
- Umbra Lances: Basic attack; shoots strongly seeking clusters of mid damage spears of darkness
- Path of Pain: Vern sends out waves of Umbra Lances, but they pause mid-flight creating danger zones in the terrain that damage the player on contact.
- Vengeance: If Frenzy-Bomble suffers a powerful hit, Vern will spread Stasis Veil bubbles around the player. If the player triggers one, Vern will follow up with two Umbra Lances attacks back-to-back.

Strategy ~
Contrary to Stage 1, stage 2 favors multiple weaker strikes over singular heavy attacks, as the the non-struck boss will unleash a Vengeance strike on the attacker when their partner suffers a heavy blow. Timing is even more crucial in stage 2. Vern's Umbra Lances have much tighter seeking than his previous Umbra Darts and dodging too early or too late will land the player with a painful peppering of strikes. Further, it is most beneficial to focus on either one target or the other, as the defeat of either will trigger stage 3.


STAGE 3
Stage 3 begins once either Frenzy-Bomble or Vern has been defeated.
Catastrophe-Bomble:
If Vern is defeated first, a cutscene plays where Vern's form fades away. Bomble goes mad, growing to thrice his size. His form becomes furred and jagged, and stage 3 commences.
Catastophe-Bomble is remarkably faster than his prior forms. He attacks with similar techniques to what he has used previously, with less downtime between strikes.
Upon defeat, Vern's heart floats out of Bomble's shadows and vanishes.

Fractured Vern:
If Frenzy-Bomble is defeated first, a cutscene plays where Vern's heart flutters out of Bomble's vanishing body. The heart is suddenly pounced upon by a shadow. Another pounces in. And another, and more. The massive cluster becomes a Demon Tide. To the side, Vern falls to his knees and weeps. He is untargetable as the Demon Tide boss-fight ensues.
Upon defeating the Demon Tide, Vern's body vanishes in wispy shadow.