Shadows Swarm

*Eve walks in a bit behind Senthose*

Artexi:<Nope. Why does he look zombie you?>

Azuma: "So once she's back, we head out?"

L"That would probably be wise."

T"Alright, I'm back!"

*Thiera returns with a pair of books secured in the sash of her dress. Lilith activates her armor, tossing her Keyblade to the ground whereupon it becomes her glider, & the others follow suit.*
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Blond woman<Because he's not REAL, you idiot!>

Senthose<There is no need to be rude, Larxene. He is not made of the same materials that we are, but there is a reason why I have chosen to induct him into the Organization, but not Braig. Show them, Avici.>

*The duplicate holds out his hand &, with a ticking & a swirling of shadows, summons the Darkest Hour Keyblade.*

Luxord<Oh ho ho. Looks like he won the jackpot. And so have I.>

*As he lays his hand of cards down on the table, Larxene smacks them aside & flips him off.*

Artexi:<I'm not an idiot!>

*Eve looks annoyed*

<Please settle down.>
===
*As do Safian and Monu. Monu then opens a portal, and Safian leads the way through it*

They all armor and presumably follow through the portal Monu can open.

*Luxord stoops down & starts picking up his cards that are all over the floor.*

Luxord<There's no need to be a sore loser.>

Larxene<Shut up!>

Luxord<Care for double-or-nothing?>

Larxene<This game is stupid, anyway. Zex, you spineless coward, I thought you were going to tell him?>

Zexion<I was getting there. Senthose, we feel that we should make the first strike against the Order. Although...SOME of us do not agree.>

*He glares at Artexi & everyone follows suit. Nero shrugs.*

N"Don't look at me, I'm with the rest of you."
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OOC: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

*And so the Halloween Town group lands on a cobblestone road behind a fence leading to some kind of town square. On the other side, a massive, pale, monster with a duck bill like face & scraggly black hair lurks past. As it raises its hand to brush the bars, its fingers wriggle their heads through & hiss at them. Euryale steps back, her Glider returning to her hand as her Keyblade.*

E"I already don't like it here."

R"Just relax, I'm sure it's not as bad as it looks. But I'm guessing that our armor isn't good enough for us to fit in around here."
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OOC: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

*As they fly in for a landing behind Pride Rock, suddenly everyone's Glider but Safian's spontaneously disappear. Thiera & Lilith fall to the ground, where they are apparently dismembered from the impact. However, a few seconds later, the scattered pieces of armor flash & disappear. A white cockatoo with yellow head feathers & oddly piercing blue eyes slowly rises to its feet & shakes its wings, getting its feathers back into place. When it looks over, it spies a black cobra unfolding, revealing a pattern of thorny vines on its back, culminating in a pair of lotus flowers at the hood. The bird squawks & jumps back, but though it flaps frantically, it just falls on the ground. The snake flits its tongue & darts forward.*

Taiyo unarmors, presumably in costume.

Taiyo: "It's The One Hiding Under the Stairs. He's fine."

Azuma: "What an inaccurate name."

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

A glasses wearing leopard up and an directs a Keyblade with the flick of her tail to shoot the snake.

*Safian lands near the others, dearmors and steps in break up the fight*

<Guys, it's all right. You just need to calm down.>

*A Golden Eagle gets up and shakes itself before falling over*
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*Artexi raises her hands*

<I'm just against violence against them.>

*The snake goes flying. When it lands, it coils up & hisses at this lion that's now in its face. The cockatoo shakily tries to balance, flapping its wings, before speaking in Thiera's voice.*

T"Wha' 'appened?! I can't 'eel 'y 'ingers or 'outh, whot's wrong with 'e!?"
=============================
E"Fine?! His FINGERS just HISSED at us!"

R"So I think we should go incognito. But as what?"

E"Oh, I've got that covered."

*Euryale de-armors & covers her legs in water. In a flash, they turn back into her tail. She catches herself with her hands as she falls back to the ground, & begins dragging herself around Roatha, flapping her fin.*

E"It feels good to be back in my natural form!"

R"Well, watching you crawl around like that IS pretty creepy, but in spite of that, or perhaps because of it, I have a few small changes to suggest. Unless you want to drag yourself through the dirt, I guess."

*And so soon Euryale is standing there--more-or-less--supported by a black snake tail with dull red "stomach" scales.*

R"Hm...the clamshell bra doesn't really fit with the whole aesthetic, does it?"

*Euryale looks up as something flies overhead.*

E"Oh, I know!"

*Her chest becomes covered in water much like her previous transformations, resulting in the strap on her back disappearing & the clams to fuse together into a single top, which resembles flared bat wings on either side.*

E"How does it look?"

R"Great as always."

E"Oh, wait, one last thing."

*She blinks, & when she opens her eyes, she has the pupils of a snake.*
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Zexion<You'd have us just stand back while they attack us!>

Senthose<Yes, if they're tracking us, it's certainly not to deliver us cookies. As far as they're concerned, our whole Organization shouldn't even exist. And since you can't unmake or imprison a Keyblade Master, there is only 1 thing that they can do about it.>

Larxene<Well, there you go, it's settled: We go to their base & attack them while they're not expecting it.>

Senthose<Uh, no, Binah Psyche is one of the most powerful Keyblade Masters alive, with mastery over all forms of magic. You couldn't just waltz right in & expect to defeat her.>

Larxene<We outnumber her.>

Senthose<Which means little in a battle of magic.>

Artexi:<So what would we do about it?>

Eve:<Are we starting to convince you?>

*Artexi just glares at her*
===
*Safian sits down on the grass, looking at the snake*

<Lilith, it's me Safian.>

Monu:<You're a bird! I think I am as well...>

*He tries to stand up again, only to fall over again*

Taiyo: "He has fingers like snakes and spiders in his hair."

Azuma: "In that case, let's not go say 'Hi.'"

Taiyo: "Why not? And how'd you do that? Not that I'm complaining. It's just last time something like that came up I had to do it."

She doesn't do a very good job at hiding the fact she's gawking at Euryale.

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

Hitomi notices everything seems closer to the ground than usual and she didn't use her hands to direct the Keyblade because she doesn't have any.

Hitomi: "We're animals?"

L"...Safian? Oh...right, how could I forget?"

*She waves her head around, looking at each of them in turn.*

L"What are the rest of you complaining about? I have no arms OR legs. And I think I just tried to eat a parrot."

T"That parrot was ME!"

L"Oh...oh Gods...."
===========================
E"It was one of the first things that Master Psyche taught me. She wanted me to be able to change back if I needed to."

R"I'm with those 2, I thought it was just a costume, but that's really freaky."

E"If that's what you think, then why did you tell me to use a snake's tail?"

*She waves the tip of her tail in the air.*

R"That's different, that's not the end that bites."
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Senthose<For now, I can make distractions, & turn them away from our worlds. They will eventually catch on, but in this time, we will build our strength. They will be in our territory long before they arrive at the Castle or the Keyblade Graveyard. And we will be ready for them.>

Larxene<Ready how?>

*Nero points at the window & starts shaking his finger.*

N"Oh, we met some guy named Cid in Radiant Garden. Turns out he can make ships with those Gummi Blocks that fall from the sky. Can also supe up Keyblade Gliders with 'em. Maybe he can help."

Senthose<Perhaps. Someone should go see him. We should also establish mines for the materials.>

*Nero squints & slowly lowers his arm.*

N"But...they fall from the sky...."

Senthose<Yes, they fall whenever a world is in peril. Worlds are often in peril. They never return to the sky, but are instead replaced. The old ones are simply buried. You can also obtain them by destroying Gummi Ships--though preferably not those belonging to our Nobodies, of course. Destroying Heartless in general will aid in our research on fighting Keyblade Masters.>

Azuma: "I wouldn't be opposed to meeting it if it wore a hairnet or something."

Taiyo: "There's still plenty of others to meet that aren't um....spidery."

Azuma: "That is reassuring."

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

Hitomi: "How did we become like this?"

*Safian does something that might be a shrug*

<I don't know, but you all were going to have to turn into animals to fit it.>
===
*Artexi groans*

<Not him.>

*Eve rolls her eyes*

N"You're just mad because you don't have a woman's touch."

Senthose<The pair of you should take Eve to question him.>

Avici<I can order mining to be resumed in Radiant Garden.>
=============================
E"So what about you?"

*Roatha pulls out a sheet from under his cloak & whips it over himself, donning a cheap ghost costume long enough to cover his feet.*

R"Ta-da!"

E"Oh, come on!"

R"FINE."

*So, in a flash of light, he produces a Jack-O-Lantern mask in his hand & puts it on. He also uses Lightning Strike to burn the front of the sheet in a manner resembling autopsy stitches.*

R"Better?"

E"I guess."

*Roatha begins fiddling with his costume, trying to use pins to create sleeves so that the sheet doesn't fly off whenever he attacks.*
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T"Maybe the rules of this world are such that only nonhuman animals may live within it."

*She looks around, noticing the barren land, sparse, leafless trees, & lack of light, due to the overcast sky.*

T"Although, perhaps the relevant question is, live where?"

*Safian looks around, taking in the dying land, then dashes off around to the front of Pride Rock*

Monu:<She seems to know where she's going.>

*So he hops after her, still trying to fly, but not doing a very good job of it*
===
*Eve looks at Senthose, then shrugs*

<Of course.>

Taiyo tilts her head looking at Roatha like a cat would look at something wondering "What the hell is that?"

Taiyo: "You're a....pumpkin ghost?"

Azuma: "Maybe he's a scarecrow."

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

I guess Hitomi follows Saifan.

R"Who cares what I am? It makes more thematic sense than 'The One Hiding Under the Stairs.' What about him? He doesn't even have a costume!"

*He points the Ultima Weapon accusingly at Azuma.*
=================================
*Thiera plops herself on Lilith's head & they move forward in stony silence. As they pass around Pride Rock, a lioness walking by spots them & comes over. Safian will recognize her as Zirabi, Mufasa's wife.*

Zirabi<...Safian? You've gotten so big, I could barely recognize you! Where have you been? Why wouldn't Mufasa tell us anything? No, we can talk over dinner. The important thing is that you brought us food!>

*And so, without warning, the lioness jumps at the others.*
===============================
*And so Nero opens a Dark Corridor & heads through it.*

Taiyo: "With fingers like snakes and spiders in his hair."

Azuma: "Can we stop talking about that, please?"

Taiyo: "Some people here are monsters."

Azuma: "And I have plenty costume."

He dearmours and costumes up because fuck that guy and his baseless accusations.

Taiyo: "You were eaten by a dog?"

Azuma: "I'm a wolf...."

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

Using het newfound cat-like reflexes, Hitomi jumps the hell on out of her path.

<Zirabi, it's so good to see you!>

*Realizing what's going on, Safian gets in front of the others*

<I know how weird this is going to sound, but they're our friends and we can't eat them. But since when have we started eating snakes and leopards?!>
===
*Eve wordlessly follows him into the corridor, and Artexi takes up the rear*

*Thiera falls off of Lilith's head & starts squawking. Lilith gestures with her tail.*

Zirabi<Since there's nothing else to eat. I thought you came here to help us.>

L"You mean it wasn't always like this?"

Zirabi<Of course not. And you don't see that every day.>

*She refers to Lilith picking Thiera up with her tail & setting her back on her head.*
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E"Since she lives here, maybe we should change our costumes if she doesn't think they're believable."

R"Pshaw. If we don't fit in, then we can always tweak them later. They may be monsters, but it's not like any of them are evil, right?"
=================================
*They walk out right into Cid's kitchen. He walks out of a back room in a fuzzy blue robe with matching slippers, bags under his eyes & cigarette already in his mouth.*

Cid<...Fuck're you doin' in my house?! Don't you pricks knock?!>

Taiyo: "Most aren't. The only one that could be called evil is Oogie Boogie."

Azuma: "Oogie Boogie?"

Taiyo: "A big bag of bugs, two spiders, and a snake."

Azuma: "I hope we never meet him."

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

A glasses wearing leopard is apparently normal.

Safian:<I am here to help, and I will. Could you explain what happened here?>
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*Eve looks him up and down*

<So this is Cid?>

Artexi:<Yup.>

Zirabi<...You really don't know, do you? Scar became King, shortly after you left. He let the hyenas take over the Pride Lands. Between them & the drought, all of the prey was chased off. Most of us have given up on hunting.>
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"We came to ask you about Gummi Blocks. Shouldn't take long."

Cid<I don't like where this is going. Well, if you're tryin' to rob me, I won't go down without a fight!>

*He picks up a mop & brandishes it at the Organization, like a spear.*
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*Roatha looks around.*

R"Hey, anyone know where Mortal went?"

*Safian goes and rubs up against the older lioness*

<Scar? What...happened to Mufasa and Simba?>
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*Eve laughs*

<We are not trying to rob you of anything other than information, which I would prefer to get without a fight.>