Shadows of the Past

<Then what?>
---
*Safian walks over to Mortal*

<He disappeared into a dark corridor.>

*Monu casts a healing spell on Taiyo*

The two dodge the laser and board the flying machine.

===================================

Taiyo: "Owie...thanks."

N"I don't know. Whatever we want. Didn't you want to look for that one guy?"
===========================
*Lilith also helps to heal Taiyo, while Thiera puts her healing ring around herself & Mortal.*

T"He may still be in the palace, but if he did, he's probably raised the alarm by now."
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*Roatha keeps hurling lightning bolts at Sark to keep some distance between them.*

R"Any TIME now!"

Tron<It's not easy to hijack another program's attachment. Count yourself fortunate, if I weren't such a sophisticated security program, it wouldn't even be possible.>

*Eventually, the lines on the Recognizer turn blue, & it goes back to looking like an arch. At this point, flames emerge from its "feet," & the weird Space Invaders ship takes off over the chasm.*

Tron<I still don't understand why you didn't simply reprogram it in an instant. You Users wrote the Recognizer program, after all. You wrote all of us programs, and our attachments. You must be essentially omnipotent and omniscient.>

Azuma: "This is the first we've heard of this place."

===================================

Taiyo: "Thanks."

As Taiyo is apparently incapable of healing herself.

<Yeah, but we have no idea where is right now, since he escaped from the Order.>
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Monu:<We best be on our way.>

"That is unfortunate," Mortal said, "We should chase him before he gets away. Oh, thank you, by the way." The last part was aimed at Thiera.

--

"He escaped?" Noct asked, "I thought they were fighting now, and we had to go help them. I'm... I'm starting to get confused here, I'm not gonna lie."

L"It's not a problem."

T"It's not a problem...jinx."

*Lilith rolls her eyes.*

L"I don't know if we should. He may be evil, but he's still an official, & we're still invaders. Part of our mission is not unbalancing this world."

*She shuts the door & taps the lock with her Keyblade, at which point it clicks shut.*

L"I think we should just destroy this lab, & check back on him later."
==============================
N"We could always track him down by his dark scent."
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Tron<Really? How very strange.>

*As they fly over the city, a sea of skyscrapers & red lights, the music speeds up again. Looking back, they can see a trio of [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] coming towards them.*

R"Of course they wouldn't let us go...& our Gliders are probably still jammed."

Tron<I can open a door to the deck. Once we've shaken them, we should be safe to land, & go into hiding. If any of you don't have long range attacks, you should take my place, & drive the Recognizer.>

<Yes.>

*Artexi grins evilly*

<Then I will tear him apart piece-by-fucking piece.>
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Monu:<I don't like the look of this lab, we definitely should destroy it.>

"Won't he just rebuild?" Mortal asked.

--

Noctis, still confused, just nods, and waves her hand dismissively, "Sure, sure. Whatever we do, can we do it posthaste."

Azuma: "Can do. Maybe."

Azuma steps up to the controls while Hitomi shoots the attackers.

===================================

Taiyo: "That could take awhile."

L"It looks like it will take a while, even if he can. Meanwhile, even if we killed him, evil sorcerers have been known to use the powers of darkness to bring themselves back."
===========================
N"YOU want to HURRY? Shit, this IS serious. Well, we better get moving, we all know how much Noctis really HATES to procrastinate."

*He holds up his hand & opens a Dark Corridor. Aladdin just goes "huh" while his monkey starts chattering agitatedly, pointing at it & shaking his head.*

Aladdin<Oh, come on, Abu, it's a way out. Nothing to be scared of.>
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*One would hope that Hitomi waited until a bunch of pixels moved aside, forming a sort of doorway, & climbed onto the top of the ship. Roatha follows, his 2nd Keyblade vanishing as he goes, & the lines on his body returning to blue. Once outside, he crouches to better resist the wind, & swings his Keyblade, sending lightning at the ship that Hitomi is shooting at. Together, they break off a wing, & it goes spiraling into oblivion. The ships then start shooting laser bolts at the Recognizer.*

*Artexi grabs Aladdin's hand, pulling him though the dark corridor to wherever Nero opened it to*
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Monu:<We can't allow him to go free.>

Mortal looks genuinely affronted by that, "Cheaters..."

--

"I'm all for changing this to a 'lay-down-on-a-sofa' day, but standing around in some creepy tiger cave isn't my idea of a good time," Noctis said, taking the corridor.

Apparently piloting the thing, Azuma tries to dodge the lasers while Hitomi fires at an attacking ship.

===================================

Taiyo: "Can we do that? Come back from the dead."

L"I don't recommend trying. Anyway...."

*Lilith starts shooting seeds at the beakers & such on the table.*
=========================
*The ships swerve away from each other, so that they are positioned diagonally to either side of the Recognizer, & begin firing. Roatha tries sending a blast of lightning at the one on the right, but it swerves out of the way, & he's forced to knock aside a laser blast that nearly knocks him off of his feet.*
==========================
*And so they emerge outside of the city of Agrabah, mid-afternoon. Nero sniffs the air.*

N"Oh yeah. There was a big darkness over there."

*He points to the palace. Aladdin turns to look, then whirls back around. Abu clutches to his vest to avoid being thrown off.*

Aladdin<The palace?! Did the monsters attack the Sultan, or Princess Jasmine?!>

N"Nah. This isn't the kind of darkness that comes from a bunch of carnage. Besides, I said, 'was.' It's gone now. Somewhere up there."

*Nero points to the sky.*

Aladdin<I'm not sure I really get it....>

N"What's not to get? Jafar worked him some evil magics, then fled this world for the stars."

Aladdin<The vizier is evil!?>

N"Dude, all viziers are evil. It's in the job description, or something."

Hitomi shoots at the one Roatha isn't hurling lightning at while Azuma continues trying to pilot the damn thing.

===================================

Taiyo begins hitting mechanical things.

*Artexi summons her keyblade, and stikes the ground*

<JAFAR!>
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*Safian breathes some darkness at some other beakers*

"Oh the melodrama," Noct said with a small chuckle.

--

Mortal would have helped, but fire has a way of spreading to things you don't want burning down, like the rest of the palace, or drapes, so she just let everyone else ruin the lab.

*Moments later, the lab lays in ruins.*

L"We should go rendezvous with the others."
=======================
*That ship also swerves away from the shots. Roatha deflects his next target's shot back at it, causing it to be electrocuted & blow to pieces. The Black Guard engages his wings & lands on the Recognizer.*
=======================
*Nero just watches them.*

<Well, we have to go find him.>
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Monu:<I suppose so. I'm not sure we found out what happened to Tirea though.>

Hitomi turns to engage the Black Guard, blasting it with Blizzard.

===================================

Taiyo: "They went to Radiant Garden, right?"

L"Yeah. As for Tirea, do we really need to know anything more than that she's a traitor?"
===========================
*Roatha is forced to roll behind it to avoid being hit by ice, but he does stab it while he's back there, & the 2 attacks cause it to explode into crystal cubes. Meanwhile, the Light Jet shoots at Hitomi's back. Tron throws a disc at it, because I just remembered that he's up there.*
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*And so, at Artexi's assistance, one would assume that they eventually bid good-bye to Aladdin, Glider up, & enter the Sea of Stars. Once there, they drift, Nero looking around.*

N"He definitely went deeper in. He must have a world to hide out somewhere. That's a bit unusual, I didn't think this guy's magic was that powerful, if he relies on Unversed & Heartless to do his bidding."

Monu:<I suppose so. If just doesn't seem like her...>
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Artexi:<I'm pretty sure someone's helping him.>

Hitomi directs her Keyblades to shield herself before turning and firing at the Light Jet.

Mortal shrugged, "I didn't know her to begin with."

--

"Glad he got away then, fighting him probably would have been incredibly taxing," Noct said.