Shadows Swarm

Monu:<So, one is alive, and the other lives in him?>

Safian:<Could you point us in their general direction?>
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Artexi:<Like gladiator fights?>
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*Eve walks over to him*

<Are you going to pay them a visit?>

Taiyo: "Thanks for the offer, but they won't find her around town."

Jack<What do you mean?>

R"They would have taken her somewhere far away! Far, far away."

*He grits his teeth.*

R"And that's all that we need to say about that."

Jack<Uh...alright. Well, this way to the doctor's lab.>

*He points across the square & starts heading over.*

R"That is a large crypt."

Jack<Yes, his home IS nice & spacious!>
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Senthose<I don't need to. I could use more Heartless, however.>
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*Phil shrugs.*

Phil<More or less.>
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*Rafiki turns around & points up.*

Rafiki<Just follow the stars.>

L"You mean like the north star? But wait, you were heading east."

Rafiki<That's where the stars told me to go!>

*Safian looks up at the sky*

<Uh hello, stars?>

*Monu stares at her blankly*
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Artexi:<That's...pretty awesome.>
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Eve:<Speaking of that, I suppose I should be heading back to my lab.>

Taiyo: "That's not the scary part."

Rafiki<Bye now!>

*Rafiki sets off at a loping run.*
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Phil<Yeah, it should be a real treat. Just wait 'til you see Herc in action. I trained him myself. He's a real champ, unbeatable, &-->

N"Bet I could kick his ass."

*Phil stares at him for a few seconds, then falls on his back. Grabbing his stomach, he rolls around & starts kicking out with his hooves.*

Phil<BWAHAHAHAHA!>

N"I hope you're competing, too. I'd love to smack you in the face with a huge key."
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R"Great. Lead the way."

*Roatha summons his Keyblade.*

R"Just in case."
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Senthose<If that's what you want to do.>

They follow along, Taiyo taking Euryale's hand like when she led her to the gate.

*Safian looks back to the others as soon as he's out of earshot*

<He's always like that. Sorry guys.>

Monu:<Who exactly is he?>

<He is, well was, one of Mufasa's advisers.>
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Artexi:<I'd like to see that. Hell, I wouldn't mind giving it a go.>
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Eve:<if you do not mind me asking, what are you going to do?>

L"Are you sure he can be trusted? If he was the old King's adviser, then perhaps he kept his job when the regime changed."
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Senthose<I need to begin assembling Kingdom Hearts, just in case the Order does manage to successfully invade the castle.>
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*After being lead to a landing, ignoring the stairs & heading to a door at the back of the room, they enter into a mostly featureless room, save for a large metal table for experiments, & a table with some books & chemistry supplies. Roatha dismisses his Keyblade when he sees the wheelchair-bound Dr. turn to face them. Jack spreads his arms & walks up.*

R"What, that's it?"

Jack<Doctor! How's the experiment going?>

Dr.<Splendid. I have Sally & those rotten kids planting the seeds as we speak.>

R"Plants?"

E"Kids?"
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*Phil wipes a tear & rolls into a sitting position.*

Phil<Sorry, Kid, but it's for heroes only.>

N"What's your point?"

Phil<Three words: You ain't a hero!>

Safian:<I can't see Scar keeping someone like him around, especially since Rafiki was so close to Mufasa.>
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Eve:<Please let me know if I can assist you in anyway.>
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Artexi:<True, but we're pretty good fighters.>

Taiyo: "Lock, Shock, and Barrel?"

This won't be good.

*Phil waves them off.*

Phil<I don't buy it!>
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R"Who?"

E"And who's Sally?"

Jack<Locke, Shock, & Barrel are a trio of trouble making kids. Sally is the doctor's assistant, and more importantly, my fiance.>

R"How...does that work? You know what, I don't even want to know. How are plants gonna help you against the Heartless?"

Dr.<By eating them, of course!>

R"...What? That's...that's THE most disgusting thing I've ever heard."

Dr.<Fah! Ungrateful simpleton!>

*The doctor turns back to his books. He also pops open his head & scratches his brain. Euryale looks back at Roatha with wide eyes, pointing at the doctor, but Roatha just shrugs.*
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Senthose<I need more hearts.>
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L"Well, in that case, I don't know much about this world, but from everything I've heard, it sounds very likely that this 'Scar' killed the old King."

Taiyo is about to say something, but the doctor scratching his brain horrifies her and she shrinks back.

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Hitomi: "Then we find Simba."

Safian:<Oh, of course he did. I have no idea why everyone let him hang around, he was obviously up to something.>

Monu:<Safian, where do you think Simba would have gone?>

Safian:<I guess he would have to go outside the Pride Lands. Maybe we should go to the east.>

*Lilith peers across the Savannah.*

L"There are caves to the east. Rafiki was headed that way, but he said to follow the stars. Could it be that there is a pass somewhere over there, which leads to where--no, what am I saying? He was just a crazy monkey."

T"A crazy monkey that was right where we needed him to be, & taught me how to fly?"

L"You can't technically fly yet."

T"My point remains valid."
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R"So, if we're not needed here, I guess we should go look at other parts of the world."

*He turns to leave.*
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*Nero holds his Keyblade into the air & fires an orb of darkness. Phil stares at it for a coupld of seconds, before looking back at Nero.*

Phil<What was that supposed to-->

*Phil's words are drowned out by the thunderous boom, the sky momentarily going dark. They can feel the heat of the dark explosion from where they are sitting & the gust of wind knocks Phil over again.*

Taiyo: "That sounds good."

Presumably still holding Euryale's hand, she gets ready to leave.

Monu:<Can you show me?>

Safian:<Mufasa trusted his guidence. We don't have any other leads to go on.>
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*Artexi giggles*

<Believe us now?>
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*Eve stares off into the distance*

<If any change in my schedule will help, please let me know.>

*Eve nods to him then heads off towards her lab*

*Phil gets up & dusts himself off.*

Phil<Alright, so you've got some fancy tricks. That still doesn't qualify you to be in the Games.>
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<I am The One Hiding Under the Stairs.>

*The monster in question rolls out from under the staircase, sweeping his hair back to reveal a spider with 1 hand & holding the other out for a shake.*

<With fingers like snakes & spiders in my hair.>

*Roatha looks down at the wriggling fingers & their flicking tongues. Euryale kind of shrinks away.*

R"...Yeah, that's not gonna happen."
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T"Kind of--like--this!"

*Thiera jumps in the air, flapping madly. She holds her pose for a few seconds & manages to get about 10 feet before she needs to start flapping again. Soon after, she lands, having flown maybe 15-20 feet.*

L"See? What did I tell you?"

*She follows after Thiera nonetheless.*

Azuma shrinks back.

Azuma: :Yes, we met earlier."

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Hitomi follows.

*Monu tries to copy Thiera's motion, while Safian takes the lead*
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Artexi:<What do we have to do?>

R"Not formally. We saw you. Are you following us?"

TOHUTS<Heard Jack was taking some new people to see the Doctor. Wanted to introduce myself.>

E"That's kinda nice."

R"Yeah, but now we should go meet some other people. Like Sally. And those kids."

TOHUTS<Sally is in the graveyard, playing with Zero.>

Jack<Zero is my dog.>

E"You have a dog?"

R"Is he a werewolf, or something?"

*Slowly, awkwardly, The One Hiding Under The Stairs lowers his hand.*
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Phil<I don't think you got what it takes.>

N"Isn't there a test or something for this?"

Phil<Hm...well...if you can bring me back some monsters for the Games, I'll agree to train ya, & then MAYBE you'll be good enough in time for the Games. But I wouldn't get my hopes up. Even passing the first step could take days. These things are very elusive, you know.>

*Nero snaps his fingers & a trio of Shadows rise up out of the ground in front of him.*

Phil<What the-->

N"So, you were saying?"

*Phil jumps & points at him.*

Phil<Don't get so cocky, kid! These are just small fry. I'll teach you kids, but if this is the best you can handle, then you'll NEVER be ready in time for the Games!>
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*After traveling some distance, Thiera & Monu finally master the power of flight. They come to the cliff faces & wouldn't you know it, there is a path winding through them. Though they can't see what's beyond, because it is officially nightfall, they do hear running water. Sure enough, their path becomes barred as in front of them spawn a pair of each; Fire Plants, Power Wilds, & Silver Rocks, & a group of 8 Shadows begin emerging from the rocks around them. Thiera immediately summons the Keyblade. Holding it awkwardly in her claws, she casts Aero, transitioning into Aerora & Aeroga, but the Heartless maintain their distance, the Silver Rocks flying to the left & the Power Wilds crawling to the right.*

Azuma: "It's nice to meet you."

Azuma still keeps his distance.

Taiyo: "Zero's a ghost. Just like my cat."

Azuma: "Your cat's a ghost?"

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Hitomi calls up her Keyblades, casting a series of Blizzaga on the Fire Plants.

*Safian summon her armor and sends a stream of fire at the shadows, while Monu summon shis keyblade and sends diamond shards at the Power Wilds*
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Artexi:<So where do we find these monsters?>

*The Shadows elect to sink back into the ground to avoid the fire. Some of the ones that aren't being aimed at make a leap at the group, only to be obliterated by a blast of lightning. So the others sink into the ground & try to move closer. The Fire Plants are destroyed early on, & Lilith adds her branch attack to add to the assault on the downed Power Wilds, one of which explodes, releasing a heart.*

L"We'll need to find somewhere to stay the night."

T"I'm also pretty hungry. But I don't want to eat anything that talks."
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N"Ignore her. What's this training?"

Phil<You can clean the Coliseum, pass out flyers, take bets, move the granite blocks, or test the training dummies.>

N"...This sounds suspiciously like running your errands."

Phil<Hey! Hero Rule # 4: Your trainer is always right!>

*He holds up 4 fingers.*

Phil<Each of these tests has been carefully designed to build your strength, endurance, & speed.>
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*Roatha points to each of them in turn.*

R"Euryale. Azuma. Roatha. Pleasure is ours. So, ghost pets, not much for the warm & fuzzy, huh?"

Jack<True. But he's loyal, & he'll be with me to the end.>

E"You're already dead, right? So how could there be an end?"

Jack<Everything ends. One time, I was nearly blown to dust.>

R"Also, if his Heart is taken, then he will cease to exist as he is now."

E"I thought the Heartless stole actual hearts. He's a skeleton."

R"Okay, so it works like this--"

*He points to Euryale's chest.*

R"You are composed of a heart, body, & soul. Your body includes all of your organs, including the heart that pumps your blood. The soul is what keeps you alive. Or undead, I suppose."

*He nods towards Jack.*

R"But you have a 2nd Heart. This one can only be touched by magic, like the Keyblades & the Heartless. It is the core of your being, the seat of your emotions, & somehow related to your memories, your soul, & your sense of self. Every heart contains light & darkness, & the goal of the Heartless is to corrupt your heart with darkness, collapsing it, & turning it into another Heartless. Your body, because it still has a soul, will eventually start acting on its own, becoming a Nobody. There is a lot that we don't know yet, but these are the basics."

Jack<Wow! You really know a lot. Have you been reading the Doctor's books?>

*He puts his hands on his hips & leans over, smiling slyly at Roatha.*

R"Something like that."

*Safian does something which resembles a laugh*

<You look like you could get by on fruit and stuff. I can hunt for us carnivores.>
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*Artexi crosses her arms and glares at Nero*

<Is that REALLY any better?>