Luculent Reveries

The Evil Manta: <Say, where--ah, there you are!>

*The shark returns holding a plate of oysters with its mouth*

The Evil Manta: <My oisters! Gimme them.>

*He grabs the plate and starts opening the oysters one by one, fetching whatever's inside with his tongue, sound effects included*

The Evil Manta: <So, anyone want an oister?>

Clegus: <You're Evil Manta, right!? We're here to finish you!>

The Evil Manta: <It's THE Evil Manta.>

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Allina: <...You have gotta be kidding me! So, Mr.Abs Of Steel, mind staying out of our way? I have a Sketchymoth to finish.>

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*He walks into the bathroom, Keyblade held up*

*Raven remains silent.*

???<Get real, you don't stand a chance against that guy. This is my show!>

"And--umm--who are you...or can we call you 'Mr. Abs'?"

*She blinks a few times.*

???<I'm the Sublimely Magnificent Great Jecht. The Great Jecht, for short. Or just The Greatest.>

[This kid's kinda creepin' me out.]
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"Wait!"

*Nero jumps in after him. Lilith teleports in through a dark corridor. Everyone else is left outside after a barrier erects itself.*

"That's...great."

*A Dreameater Glyph is poised at an opening to another portion of the tower, which is situated near a toilet.*
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"(We need a plan. Maybe if I can break apart the ground, he won't be able to do that little tentacle trick?)"

*Mimiru rests her chin on her fist and lets out a "Hmmm."*

"(Cleegus might be able to keep him distracted long enough for you to do that.)"

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*Taiyo begins heading upstairs*

"Hello! Blacky? Cougar? Anyone there?"

*Raven facepalms.*

Raven: <(Quite the ego...)>

The Evil Manta: <I'm feeling left out.>

*A tentacle emerges next to the group, its tip shaping into what looks like a ear*

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*Razz points his Keyblade at the glyph and it divides into four Keyknives. They're enveloped in fire and rocket towards the glyph*

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*Allina backs away slowly and then proceeds to dart down the ruins towards the dome*

Allina: <Hah!>

*The glyph turns into mist. Almost as soon as it fills most of the room, the mist turns thick & dark. It pulses, bubbles, & wraps itself into a solid structure: A monstrous Dreameater encasing the doorway.*

L"So he made a Demon Door. Well, color me impressed."

N"I don't get it, why can't we just open it with our Keyblades?"

L"The Keyblade can open any lock, but that doesn't make much of a difference if some asshole connected to the door immediately shuts it again."
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*Euryale cuts the tentacle.*

"(Clee, go, Mimiru, sneak around behind him to deliver the finishing blow!)"

*She raises her Keyblade & slams it into the ground, breaking apart the room's foundations.*
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Jecht<Kid...what are you doing? ...Wait...LOOK OUT!>

*As she's running, a skyscraper's top suddenly explodes into giant fragments of stone. First, Allina is hit by a wave of water that was emerging from the top of the building. Then, the pieces of the building tumble down towards her. Jecht is running towards her.*
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Celes<In here!>

*The sound is coming from the downstairs area, near the living room.*

"(Got it.)"

*Mimiru begins swimming to get behind Evil Manta.*

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*Taiyo groans.*

"Just as I go upstairs, they call from downstairs."

*Taiyo goes back downstairs and into the living room.*

*The Evil Manta groans when the tentacle is cut and dissipates in a flash of black light rather than crystal rain. When Euryale breaks the ground apart, he widens his eyes, staring at her*

The Evil Manta: <...You destroyed my whale graveyard...! Dammit.>

*Clee nods and swims towards the throne. Another tentacle emerges from the rubble and darts upward in a blink of their eyes, bitchslapping Euryale even harder than the other one had hit Mimiru. Clee holds his Keyblade out and a cloud of smoke bursts around the throne. The Evil Manta is heard coughing a bit*

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*Razz dashes forward and the four Keyknives materialize around him, darting towards the target. He leaps forward and dropkicks at the Demon Door*

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*Allina shrieks and the water knocks her over. She covers her head with her arms*

*Raven covers his face with one of his hands.*

*Celes knocks on what appears to be empty air, but her hand is repelled. Inside, Taiyo can see the battle with the Demon Door.*

Celes<It's a barrier.>

Cyan<Kefka may be an honorless dog, but he's also shrewd.>
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*When everyone opens their eyes & stops wetting themselves, they see that Jecht has gathered the debris & leapt high into the air.*

Jecht<OH YEAH!>

*He then hurls the ball of crushed debris, which begins flaming like a meteor, towards Sephiroth, who took up residence on the street behind it. As the meteoric Jecht Shot plows through the highway & causes it to collapse, he reappears in front of Raven, slashing at him. Thiera casts Aero on everyone in the battle.*
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*Euryale pushes against the floor, trying to get back up. She thrusts the Keyblade, sending a spike up underneath the manta.*
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*The Demon Wall recoils a bit from the knives, but then grabs Razz's foot & smashes him against the wall. As it's swinging again, Razz disappears in a cloud of darkness, reappearing in front of Nero's Keyblade.*

N"What are you trying to do, go out looking like a cheerleader?"

*Darkness & flower petals gather at Lilith's Keyblade before being blasted at high velocity at the Demon Wall's head. The blast dazes it.*

*Mimiru charge Evil Manta from behind attempting to run it through.*

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"It works for almost everything else."

*Taiyo points her Keyblade at the barrier.*

*Raven quickly dodges the attack.*

*The spike just ends up being drilled through by Mimiru's Keyblade. As the ashes clear, The Evil Manta is nowhere to be found. His laughter echoes around the area. Another dark tentacle comes darting from within the canyon they've just crossed and towards Euryale and Clegus. A second tentacle emerges from underneath the throne and whips Mimiru.*

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Allina: <Sketchymoth!>

*She dashes across the ruins towards Sephiroth and points at Sephiroth, causing streams of a smelly green liquid to start spinning around him.*

Allina: <Bio!>

*The liquid gathers in on him, imploding*

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*Six more Keyknives appear and Razz holds his hands out, all ten flying towards the wall in flames*

*Euryale slashes at the tentacle headed towards her.*
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*The Keyblade does not respond.*

Celes<I guess it's up to them now. But if they lose, we can probably go in to rescue them.>
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*One of its arms cracks & falls off, turning to dust. The remaining claws begin to glow, as well as its eyes, as it wakes up. It opens its mouth, breathing out a stream of fire at Razz. Nero charges up an aura of darkness around his Keyblade as Lilith causes a group of flower petals to surround the beast, slashing it repeatedly.*
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*Sephiroth begins to look a bit green, but it doesn't slow him down much. Jecht leaps over him, kicking him in the face. As he flies through the air, he points at Jecht, who is then consumed in an explosion of darkness.*

T"I feel kind of useless, here."

*Mimiru slashes at the tentacle.*

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*Taiyo lets go of the Keyblade and it disappears then squats down all leap frog like staring straight ahead.*

"So what do we do now?"

*The tentacles disappear*

The Evil Manta: <How rude of you pilchards to attack me when I was just trying to be nice and cool.>

*The Evil Manta is looking down towards them with his arms crossed all genie-like about a dozen yards above*

Clegus: <How does he do that?>

The Evil Manta: <You interrupted The Evil Manta. He does not like when meddling dolphins do that.>

*Several groups of tentacles break out of the rubble*

The Evil Manta: <Here's the thing, I want the old man's giant fork. And if you octopussies would be nice enough to hand over your giant keys, I could trade them for the fork. I think it's win-win.>

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*The Keyknives disappear in small flashes of light and he holds his hands out, grabbing the appearing Keyblade and spinning it in a wheel of flames*

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Allina: <C'mon, Thiera! I'll do the attacking, you try and keep him from making fillet out of me. Okay?>

*Stopping in front of Thiera, she holds her Keyblade out and fires a Holy arrow at Sketchymoth*

*Sephiroth dodges the arrow.*

S<Why are you keeping trying to keep your distance? After all...>

*In the blink of an eye, he had appeared in front of her, blade at her throat, other hand holding her Keyblade down.*

S<It just leaves you wide open.>

*Thiera runs towards him, slashing at his head from behind. The dust still hasn't cleared around Jecht, so it's unclear what happened to him.*
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E"...Alright. If that's the only way...."

*She tosses her Keyblade to the ground & swims away from it.*
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Celes<We wait. And have faith in them.>

N"Why do I get the feeling it's getting all sappy out there?"

*The Demon Door's stuff stops glowing as Nero jams the Keyblade in its lockhole, twisting violently. Lilith stabs the ground, causing thorny tendrils to ensnare its arms. The beast roars in pain & fury, dousing the whole room with fire.*

"Take it!"

*Mimiru hurls her Keyblade at Evil Manta.*

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*Taiyo stares eyes wide as the room is filled with flames.*

"O...kay..."

Clegus: <What are you guys do--Oh.. Yeah, okay.>

*He hurls his at the ground as well. The Evil Manta grabs Mimiru's Keyblade and stares at Clegus and Euryale's for a second*

The Evil Manta: <Wait, just like this? Why, I never expected it'd be so easy! Unfortunately, I'm not big on keeping promises. Sorry, squids.>

*A tentacle lifts Clegus and Euryale's Keyblades up to him as a shitload of thicker black tentacles rise from the ground in a circle, surrounding the Keybladers and closing up in a dome-like structure. There's barely any light inside*

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Allina: <I think you're much too energetic, Moth!>

*Her Keyblade glows purple as she sucks energy out of his body in the shape of purple beams*

Allina: <Drain!>

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*Razz's Keyknives start swirling around his hands forming a sphere of blades and fire he hurls at the wall*

*The Dreameater finally dissolves into Crystal Rain. The barrier shatters & the doorway is left open.*
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*Once the Manta leaves, she tries to break the dome with her fists.*
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*When the dust clears, Jecht is cracking his neck.*

Jecht<Ha! This is gonna be a good fight. Come on, let's show everybody else how it's done!>

Sephiroth<You're annoying. But I admit, you're very skilled.>

*He points at Jecht, & a Halo forms over his head.*

Sephiroth<Descend...Heartless Angel.>

*Jecht is inexplicably covered in deep lacerations & falls to his knees.*

Jecht<Damn...once in a while's alright...I guess....>

"This better be apart of some great plan!"

*Mimiru dashes forward shoulder checking the dome.*

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*Taiyo stands up wiping her hands on her pants with an "Eeewww."*

*The tentacles don't even budge. Two smaller tentacles branch out of the one Euryale punched, wrapping themselves around her arms. Another one emerges in front of Mimiru, going for her neck. Razz attempts to use Aero to push the opposite side's tentacles away*

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*Razz proceeds through the doorway*

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Allina: <Damn you! You killed all those people... you killed the Fayth... and you dare face us like we're some kind of joke? I'm going to defeat you, right here, right now!>

*She leaps forward and hurls her Keyblade at him. It will explode on contact*

"Gah!"

*Euryale pulls backwards with all of her considerable strength.*
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*Sephiroth grunts slightly as the explosion singes his hair. He glances at it briefly, then looks back at Allina.*

Sephiroth<You ignorant traitor. You think your lives mean anything? You are nothing but a puppet.>

*He teleports to Allina, but before he can attack, Jecht leaps up & grabs his wing.*

Jecht<Wouldn't wanna be a fairy, would ya?>

*He yanks the wing off as Sephiroth turns & slashes. Jecht dissolves into Pyreflies as the wing degrades into black liquid.*

Jecht<Now that...was a good fight....>

*Thiera walks up to Allina while Sephiroth is distracted.*

"(His wounds are starting to heal. He's really something else. But he's been weakened considerably, even if he won't admit it. I think, if we can overwhelm his defenses, we can destroy him with 1 good attack.)"
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*They end up in a room full of acid with sparse platforms to stand on. Acid is pouring out of the walls, which look to be organic & beating. A Dreameater revolves above the acid in the center of the room.*

N"Again? When is this going to end?"

Cyan<Kefka's abominations have been fashioned after the Warring Triad thus far. We are on the cusp of victory, Sir Nero.>

Celes<And I feel an awful magical power above us. There can be no mistaking it.>

*The glyph dissolves into mist, pouring through the "room."*

*Mimiru attempts to grab the tentacle*

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"The what?"