Cain Magnus

But my headset's broken. It's just gonna be a voiceless play. D: And sure! I plan on doing an Ouch! run for YouTube after I finish the SFII draft, so you got one. EDIT: Vesperia is now tied with Symphonia, as it was chosen once on one of the other sites. I'll stop taking votes on Friday.

Why no love for Abyss? D: Yeah, Symphonia's reeeally high right now. There were a total of 6 votes on the other sites combined. 4 of them were Symphonia. >_> Bah, yeah I checked YouTube and searched for Symphonia compared to the others. Gosh, there really ARE too many playthroughs. But tell you what, if Symphonia wins (Which I know it will), I'll take the running up game and play that one as well. To make things interesting.I mean, I'm going to record them all eventually. Just wanted to see which one I'll do first. I was stomped. XD

Update: Chapter 3 is up!

Chapter 3: The search for purpose After arriving back at the apartment complex hours ago since the street rumble earlier, Aiden was all cleaned up and relaxed his tired mind. He sat at the edge of his bed, but was facing towards Terra's, which was sitting parallel. They only had one huge bedroom, but that was all they needed. Terra's money went towards more important things, but the place itself wasn't bad at all in quality. Aiden just felt lucky he had a roof over his head, as quality didn't mean crap to him. Though he couldn't help but dwell on what happened out in the streets. He stared at his hands with his head low in depression. The same feeling of overwhelming power he experienced way before the incident was what he felt when he lost control of his actions. His sword was rested on the sheets beside him, enclosed in it's saya as usual. He reached for it and felt the burning heat from it. He took the time to study the feeling more and tried to compare it to the one that actually felt unpleasant. They felt identical in a way, but wasn't spot-on.The bad feeling only happened once, so not much he could gain from that. Sighing out of frustration, he returned the blade in it's current resting place and sunk his head lower. He didn't know what to do at this point now. By that time, Terra had walked in and he didn't even notice her staring out the bedroom window until he heard her clearing her throat. She obviously did it to get his attention, so Aiden kept his gaze on her until she eventually turned around and met him with direct eye contact as she walked closer. "It's about time you snapped out of it." she said with a playful tone. "I haven't seen you think this hard before." He didn't have much to say in response other than, "...Hard isn't the word for it." "Well, I can probably help ease it up for you. You don't have to be weighed down by everything all by yourself, you know." He didn't want to say much on it, but when he thought more on it, Terra seemed to know exactly what to do to keep him under control in both incidents that happened today. She claimed that it was merely her training in knowing how to deal with spiritual and soul energy, which he didn't understand much of. He didn't want to be suspicious of the woman that was both like a mother and sister to him. If she was hiding something from him, it was probably for a good reason. But he wanted to know what was going on with himself as soon as possible before something else happened. "Terra...is there something you know about what happened to me earlier?" he tried to push it a little. "Anything...at all?" She seemed to pause herself, as Aiden assumed she was going to say something else until she immediately closed her mouth after the question. She had that hesitant look on her face that was plain as day to see. Her actions weren't her usual, as she then walked towards his bed and sat right beside him, grabbing his sword and holding it while resting the weapon in her lap. "Your sword isn't an ordinary weapon. It's the cause of what really happened. It has...an unknown power within. Something that can't be controlled easily. I'm sure you've felt it's power by the unusual heat it gives off. That's all I know on what happened back there." she explained, maintaining a straight face. "Since I can feel these kind of things with my practice, I shouldn't be wrong. This sword's abnormal display in power is also proof alone." Aiden stared at his sword as Terra broke it all down. He couldn't believe it at first...but then again, Terra never lied unless she was joking around about something. He sees the sword being passed to him from her. He removed his gaze from the weapon and onto his friend, as she had her other hand on his shoulder and had given him a bright smile. "It's a special sword. I've never known why you had something like this, but I have a feeling that you of all people will benefit from it the most if you come to understand it more. Just let me know when it starts to make you feel funny again." Without hesitation, Aiden took his sword, then simply responded with a smile of his own and a nod. He trusted her words and had faith that he could one day control it without the sword controlling him. The heat it gave off was a more warm and calm feeling. It was almost soothing. He wanted to say something, but he blushed after his stomach suddenly growled like a mad beast. Terra stood and giggled as she walked to the bedroom door. "Heh! You can worry about your sword later. Feed that monster down there first!" "Oh...well, I guess I can eat before getting ready for bed." Aiden admitted, having his hand on the back of his neck out of embarrassment. "No guess. You NEED to. But I need to finish one last thing before dinner's ready. I'll call you when it's all done though." Aiden nodded again, then Terra closed the door slowly behind her. He didn't know what he could do to pass the time. He could watch TV or play a video game, but he still had worries about the sword to concentrate on anything else. He grabbed his sword and walked towards the window, thinking that he saw a strange shadow outside. He pushed the curtains aside and peaked out, but only to see nothing. It must have just been a tree or something. Several minutes passed as he was still thinking about the sword. He eventually walked away from the window and couldn't help but sigh. He knew he was wrecking his brain by thinking too hard, but he couldn't help it. He at least felt slightly better because of Terra. Just then, he heard something hit the window. He didn't turn around, but he tightened the grip on his sword's saya. That wasn't his imagination, as the branches that belonged to the tree weren't that close to the window. Plus, the weather outside was calm. Nothing was pushing the tree's branches. It was either a pebble or someone out there. Despite being on the second floor, they had a back door leading to the small balcony outside. But something didn't feel right. There was definitely something out there, as it's presence even disturbed his sword. It's heat became more active than ever, which worried him. It became silent for a few seconds after. Aiden kept his back turned until he heard the glass of the window shatter and the sound of someone smashing down behind him! He turned around and drawn his sword out of retaliation. It was the same person he noticed in the parking lot in the mall...he was dressed in all black from head to toe with a robe-like hoodie. The darkness under the hood even shadowed the person's face completely. "...Let's get straight to the point, shall we?" the ominous voice of the man said in a low tone. Aiden felt the sweat drop on the side of his face, but wasn't hesitant in asking, "...Who are you?!" The teen paused himself after grasping the sight of the man holding a sheathed sword in his left hand, but began to draw it. To his surprise, it completely resembled his own weapon! Japanese-styled and all. Then a strange phenomenon happened. The blade of the man's katana shined with dark purple energy surrounding it, while his own sword shined with the usual red light. This caused the entire room to illuminate with violet light. He had no idea what was going on, but the man didn't bother answering his question, as he was already in Aiden's face and swung his sword sideways, causing Aiden to block it with his own. They went a full round of clashing, parrying and dodging each others' attacks. Aiden couldn't focus well, as he noticed the person fought almost exactly like he did, using his sheath in his attacks as well. His opponent took advantage of Aiden's distracted mind as he swung his sword with great strength. Aiden blocked it just in time, but the force of the blow made him slide back on the carpet and on his knee. When he looked back up, his opponent's sword was at his neck. "...Seems like you still can't win...Aiden." said the man with over confidence in his tone. Aiden had let out a silent gasp, as he finally recognized the voice, but only barely. In his mind, he pieced everything together. The sword...the fighting style...the voice and bearing... Before they could exchange any more words or blows, Terra rushed in the room and thrown herself at the newcomer with a drop kick without warning. But the man's speed and reaction time was impressively fast, swiftly dodging to his side. "Don't interfere, woman. My fight is with him..." he insisted before he pointed his sword at Terra as she recovered from missing her attack. Before she could move, the sword glowed and released a small blast of energy from it's tip that quickly shot her in the stomach, as she suddenly couldn't budge an inch! She fell to the floor on her chest helplessly. Aiden stood back up and getting ready to attack. "What did you do to her?!" "Paralysis...that's all. But forget about her. Let's fight somewhere else where we won't be interrupted!" the man sprinted so fast that he got behind Aiden in an instant and released a wave of energy when he swung his sword, having a force of wind push him hard to the point where the youth crashed into the window, then flew off the building! He could hear Terra shouting his name weakly before falling completely and screaming out of pain and agony. Aiden luckily landed on his side and into the grass outside. Despite not hitting the concrete, that fall was nothing to fool around with. He couldn't move at all, trying to suck in all the pain. He felt some blood falling down the side of his face, accompanied with a bad headache caused by the fall. As much as he wanted to recover in time, his opponent dropped down in front of him and had his arms crossed. Aiden saw that the man momentarily had his sword on his side. "I see you still haven't gained a proper grasp of your power if you couldn't come out of that fall seriously injured." he said with a disappointed tone. "What have you been doing all this time?" Aiden struggled, but he began to rise his upper body. While he tried to make time to recover, he gritted his teeth in anger as he looked up to his assailant. He knew who this person was, feeling his heart burn with sorrow. "...What are you doing here? And why are you attacking me...Keith?!" "Don't call me by that name ever again! Keith died nine years ago...all that stands before you now is his shadow..." He clenched one of his fist while slightly mumbling the words, "I am now Sin." Aiden didn't know how to respond to that, but he managed to get on his knees and still tried to talk. "Sin...? What's happened to you?!" "You'd never understand even if I told you, little brother. But all you should know is that you, along with Flaming Steel will perish...!" Sin brought his sword down to attempt a final blow. "What?!" Aiden barely managed to block the attack by grabbing his sword in the nick of time. When they clashed, that violet light that was created with the power of their swords combined reappeared in the center. This caused Sin to back off with a several back flips to recover, as the light seemed to damage him. It hurt Aiden too, of course. But the teen was already down on his knees. Taking the opportunity, Aiden struggled back completely on his feet. He was still too weak to stand straight, but he held gripped his sword's handle with both hands, being too low in strength to use his sheath, which was next to his foot. He stared at his weapon...Sin said something about 'Flaming Steel'. He wondered what that was, but when he recalled the name, the sword seemed to shine slightly brighter and gave a warmer heat. He had a hunch it was related to it. That was exactly the clue he needed. But Sin rushed back at him and performed a barrage of quick-paced attacks. He placed his sword in front of him to block them all, but the sheath attacks still managed to hit him in areas like his side and thighs. He took a large back step and charged in to finally attack Sin in his weakened state. They exchanged more blows, until Sin once again gained the upper hand and twisted his body flexibly behind Aiden to smack him in the back of his neck with the sheath, then delivered a powerful sideways slash to his back. This only inflicted more pain to his weakened body, as Sin had multiple openings to finish this in an instant. But he didn't seem to take advantage of them. Instead, he sheathed his sword and turned Aiden around to grab him by the top of his shirt and yanked him closer. "...I'm disappointed. Though you were the weakest out of us both. Father and Mother knew that full well." Sin scoffed. "Face it, Aiden. You'll never get stronger than me. You are the true definition of weak. While our swords are twins and were crafted by the same hand, the power within mine, along with my own power is superior! A weak wielder...a weak sword. That's you and Flaming Steel. If I were to go up there and attack your friend, you would be powerless to prevent her death. I'm sure the paralysis is close to wearing off. In fact, maybe I should consider doing so before she can do anything to me..." Aiden placed his free hand on Sin's arm, clenching it at hard as he could and gritting his teeth out of annoyance. As he tightened his grip, smoke rose from the spot. "...I may be weak, but this sword is not!!" Sin looked down out of surprise, now seeing Aiden's hand lit on fire. He released his sibling and pushed him far away as he patted out the fire on his jacket. After that, he looked back over to Aiden, who had quickly regained his sheath and his sword's blade was one fire like his hands were. Aiden knew for sure thanks to Terra and the obvious talking from his brother that this sword has a spirit within, as it was fueling him with the power to keep fighting, despite his wounds. The power of the fire was painful, so he had no idea how much longer his body could handle going beyond it's limits. In his mind, he knew that the person before him was indeed his brother, but at the same time, he was a completely different person. While he wanted to spare the life of family, his brother had no intention of letting him live. He had to protect both himself and Terra. "...Fine! Do what you want, Keith...no! Sin!" Aiden shouted out of anger. "I don't know what's happened to you...and I really don't care about your sudden hatred towards me and this sword, but when you put the person who's like 'true' family to me in the middle of it, then I won't hesitate to kill you. Prepare yourself, scum!" Sin took his weapon back out, but let out a small laugh out of interest as he held it in front of him. "...Good. Come on!" And with that, they rushed at each other for the final round and locked blades again, then released themselves to hack and slash each other with the intent to kill. Thanks to the power provided for him, Aiden was able to keep up with his brother's speed momentarily. He tried to rush him and swung several times, pushing his opponent on the edge. Sin interrupted by smashing his sword onto Aiden's creating that light again. Both jumped back from each other and stared at one another for seconds. Aiden's sword and his brother's glowed at the same time after they took that step forward and charged at each other. But in a flash, they swung their swords sideways in a final clash. After a few seconds, Aiden saw Sin stand up straight from the attack and sheathed his sword. Aiden felt a pain in his stomach, then looked down to see a huge cut on it with his blood constantly leaking out. It was then that his fire from his the sword and his hands burned out, causing him to fall down flat in the grass. He never felt this much pain before in his life. He saw Sin's shadow cover him, then he barely looked up to see his brother with his sword back out and his other hand holding a wound of his own on his side. "...You inflicted a wound on me. Impressive, little bro. But it wasn't enough. Say hello to our parents for me...in hell!!" Aiden was about to close his eyes until he heard someone land in the grass several feet away. He looked over to see his dear friend charging into the battle. "Don't you dare lay another finger on him!" yelled an enraged Terra, who's fists were lit with blue lightning! Both Aiden and Sin were caught off guard with this display of power. Terra dashed in at a blinding speed, landing a powerful punch to Sin's face, as he fell to his back upon impact and his hood flew back, revealing his similar black hair like his younger sibling, but it was in a more wild style. But his eyes were an abnormal color when he opened them, having one eye red and the other purple. When Sin regained balance, he saw Terra tending to his injured brother. He pulled his hood back over his head and turned his back to try and leave the area. Aiden, who could barely keep his eyes open, couldn't help but shout out to his departing brother. He assumed Sin was leaving out of thinking he couldn't beat Terra with that wound. "Kei--Sin...! Tell me...what are we...fighting for? What are these swords...?" Sin stopped walking for the moment, but not turning around. He let out a sigh before walking again, but saying, "You figure that out on your own. Though I'll give you a hint if you happen to live: Look for an old geezer that looks like he's about ready to kick it in an old building on the far east of town. Then you'll start to realize why.", before walking off into the dark of night. Aiden watched his brother disappear, but dropped his sword to hold his stomach. Terra placed one of her hands on Aiden's as she held him closer to her, as a blue light surrounded their hands. Aiden was trying to figure out what this energy was coming from his friend, as she was full of surprises today. Then honesty struck. "Terra...? What's really happening here? Is any of this stuff...even real?" "Just focus on conserving energy. I'm going to temporarily close that horrible wound until I can get your properly taken care of." This strange light Terra was emitting gave off a soothing feeling to his wound, as it was slightly mending it like she said. As he was being patched up, Aiden looked down to Flaming Steel, pondering about it's origins and the hint Sin gave him. Everything that's happened today did not seem real to him. His sword having a soul...finding his brother, but only to find out that he's now a twisted individual who's out for his blood to be spilt...Terra showing a different side to herself...he began to lose the definition of 'reality'. But as he laid helplessly in pain in Terra's arms, he took his brother's insults earlier with great regard. As much as he tried to deny it, he earnestly believed he was vastly inferior. He looked to Terra, but his vision became blurry. "Hey, Terra...am I...weak?" he was beginning to lose his breath. "...What? Why would you ask such a thing?" she nearly became distracted, but focused on the wound and let on a slight smile. "No, you're not. I don't know what that guy was talking to you about while I wasn't around, but don't let it corrupt your thoughts in anyway. Now, stay quiet so your condition won't worsen." Aiden merely nodded as he closed his eyes. He just took this time to wait until Terra took him to the hospital and ponder to himself about his brother. "Keith. What bewitched you to become such a cold person? Was it the trauma that both you and I experienced nine years ago? I don't want to fight you, but you don't seem to give me any choice. But I can tell that you don't seem to care anymore, as we seem to be a part of a struggling war. If we are forced to fight this war, then I have no choice to conquer you to allow you to see the light again before I'm forced to rob you of life. I'm...not...weak!"

So, now that I have my preferred quality and file size issues solved, one of the first things I will record with my Happauge is a Tales game. I've posted this on two other sites and only received a few votes. So in a few days from now, I'll average it all out and make a decision. But the above games are the ones I have that can be recorded and willing to play. Just know that if you pick Graces, don't expect a perfect play (Or near perfect), as I've only beaten it once. But with it being my second favorite in the series, that doesn't matter too much. XD I bet you're wondering why Dawn of the New World isn't on there. I just...don't want to play that one again for some reason. While I've done about two or three playthroughs of it (A full 2-player run included with a friend) and actually like it, I'll have little motivation to complete it, hence not having it available. Extremely sorry for those who would like to see it. So far on the other sites, Symphonia is way ahead in the lead (Which was expected with the small amount of submitted votes and given it's popularity). But please, vote away!

Seeing as I don't have much of a choice...Luke. He shall prove useful. XD

XD! Lemon for me.

Haha, pretty much this. With an addition to one of the NES Mega Man games (I can never remember which one it was I played first) and Super Mario. And OMG another SoR fan here! The second was my favorite too.

I looked to the side just now and realized that I have been officially registered here for one year. I have to say that this is one of the most enjoyable communities I've had the lucky opportunity to be a part of. I usually don't stick around for too long if I'm not too comfortable anywhere (Though I can adapt to places pretty easily). I've made some pretty amazing friends here and meet cool members. I hope to be able to stay here even longer than a mere year. Thanks for being awesome, SF.

Lol, so much for Taya. Janet it shall be.

I never had this codec, but I did download it and I have a slight problem. When I want to change the template in Vegas, the codec doesn't show up at all. I was wondering if there was more to it than just downloading and installing it like the rest of the codecs? I have the 64-bit version, since that's what I'm supposed to be using.

Hmm...tough choice here. But...Sheela it will be.

Rick.

Hmm...and here I thought it wasn't too possible make Abyss look THAT good. I'll definitely experiment with my settings. Thanks for the references! And yep, I am using the component cables

I'll go with May!

Well, I got my Hauppauge. I also was forced to get a new computer because my old one died on me the moment I was about to set my device up (I didn't even get the chance to plug anything in). What a coincidence... I thank you guys for helping me be sure about the purchase though. I even got a test video up: Since this is PS2, it's not too 'pretty', but it's the best I could muster. Too bad mp4 is way too large (And the fact that this overall is in HD). I'll have to fool around with it and my compression program to get my desired sizes though. I'm just happy I got this wonderful device. :)