Shadows Swarm

Senthose<Yes. You have to pick 1.>
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*A boar with the centaur's facial hair frantically runs past them as a woman in blue armor with a great big ponytail mohawk thing resembling a Spartan headpiece that is probably impossible in real life jumps over a bush. She notices them & points her spear at them, at which point they see that she has 1 of the coins, as well.*

???<Something tells me you're not here to hunt. But don't you DARE interfere with Amazonian affairs!>>

*Euryale knows good conflict resolution strategy, as she immediately summons her Keyblade & charges right in.*
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*Her Keyblade simply bounces right off. Thiera places her hand over her mouth.*

Giant<Told ya it wouldn't work. Stupid mortals.>

T"Hm...if there was a lock somewhere, we could open it. If we had the magic to, we could make a lock, or simply pull the tree out of the ground & take it with us. Or perhaps a spacetime rift could isolate the fruit from the branch."
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*As he rounds the next curve, he finds Hercules's vehicle buried under a bunch of pillars that fell on him. He tosses them off & starts setting his vehicle up again. Cloud is trying to recover from a similar wipeout. The ducks have turned their attention from Monu as Lilith has taken to hanging right behind them, shooting lasers at the blue & seeds at the red. Eventually, they have to backtrack to get away from her, & the pink haired chick & her horse canter up, leaping over the rubble. Up ahead, a series of catapults rise out of the ground, armed variously with rocks or water balloons. At the starting point/finish line, Phil holds a trip wire running towards the catapults.*

Azuma: "What a very diverse group these poachers have."

Taiyo conjures up a shield around Euryale while Hitomi casts Stop on the poacher.

Azuma follows alongside Euryale, Keyblade in hand.

Artexi:<Take the staff then.>
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*Monu continues on, doing his best to dodge projectiles*
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Safian:<There has to be a way to do this. Unless...>

*Safian's tail is now between her legs*

<Gaia doesn't want me on her team...>

*Phil pulls the cord, sending rocks & water balloons everywhere, particularly a pair of giant water balloons & a trio of boulders in Monu's general direction. The pink haired chick slices through those aimed her way with electrically charged blades. Meanwhile, Lilith catches back up along with Hercules & the dude on the motorcycle.*
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*Thiera hops off of her Glider, which vanishes, & puts a hand on Safian's shoulder.*

"I'm sure there's a way. It's a test, we just have to figure out how to do it."
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<Ganging up on an opponent. What cowards.>

*The warrior prepares a stab, but Euryale grabs Azuma's arm.*

E"Wait, she's right, we can't all just attack her at once."

*This allows the warrior to leap out of the AOE of Stop.*

*Monu tries to dive out of the way, but if he can't, he tries to smash the boulders with the ramming attack his glider had according to the wiki*
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*She purrs*

Safian:<You think we could ask Athena really nicely?>
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OOC: Artexi

Azuma: "Well, it is your's and Taiyo's test."

So Taiyo casts Stop on the Amazon.

T"No."

*Thiera points her Keyblade at a branch & opens up a door to the Lanes Between. Turning the Oathkeeper, she closes it, but the tree remains in-tact.*

T"Most interesting."
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*Euryale begrudgingly steps back, pouting a little & holding her arms limply at her sides.*

E"I guess this is Taiyo's fight, then."

*Said Amazon charges forward to avoid the spell, stabbing. Meanwhile, a gunshot is heard, so Euryale looks in that direction.*
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*He offsets most & Lilith shoots the rest.*

L"We're approaching the finish line! And no ducks in sight!"

*As a final obstacle, Phil opens a bag that spits out a fucking tornado. A full-sized tornado. Approaching it, the flames grow from the wind feeding them.*
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Senthose<You'll need that for what lurks on the other side of your Heart.>

*He opens the palace doors, beyond which is the Station she was just at, now with a set of stairs leading up from it. Stepping through, instead of appearing on the other side, he vanishes.*

Azuma: "That's not what I said at all. She's here for you, now why are you here?"

With the gunshot, Azuma looks off in that direction while Hitomi conjures up a shield around Taiyo.

Safian:<Maybe the giant has to do it.>
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*Monu uses the Rotation of the tornado to fling himself across the finish line*
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*Artexi takes the sword then heads up the stairs*

T"Or...a part of his body."

???<...What?>

T"I suggest that we cut off his hair & use it to lasso an apple."

???<Oh, thank us. But, ah, that shall never work.>
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*The step becomes the Keyblade before she passes through. She doesn't see the door behind her once she is back in her Station. When she gets to the top, she arrives at a new Station. It's basically the same, except that it depicts Agrabah at night & she holds the 3 Wishes Keyblade instead of the Astral Blast.*

Senthose<The closer you get to the light, the greater the shadows will become.>

*[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbeHo6c_a8o]Out of her shadow rises the massive Twilight Thorn Nobody. It curls its massive fist & aims a punch at her.*
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*Sure, why not. Lilith is almost struck by lightning, but the pink haired chick channels it into 1 of her blades. The motorcycle dude's sword starts glowing & he slashes the tornado, somehow causing it to disappear. Aside from the ducks, the last person to cross is Hercules, now riding Pegasus & just holding on to the ties that secure his great ball of fire. As soon as they pass, water emerges from the finish line to douse their balls, allowing them to safely slow to a stop.*

Phil<Alright, time's up! Okay, Herc's already on Team Zeus, so that means that the remaining 4 of you will be on Team Apollo. Here, kid. Since you were 1st, you win this.>

*He hands Monu a Gummi Block that looks like an orb with a little galaxy swirling inside. Then he walks up to the guy on the motorcycle & hands him a laser Gummi.*

Phil<2nd place prize goes to straw hair over here.>
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E"To prove my strength & courage for the Games, of course."

*Because the moon isn't even out, the barrier is weak. Because Taiyo didn't do anything to defend herself, the spear breaks through & stabs her.*

E"Taiyo! Alright, you beat her, now fight me instead!"

???<If you insist. But I will be fighting you, or you & your friends?>

E"They'll stay out of it. If they don't, I'll let you have a free shot. Agreed?"

???<Your courage is admirable. Yet you're not an Amazon. Where do you hail from?>

*Another gunshot.*

OOC: When not No Selling spells they're just not at all acknowledged.

Azuma: "Then fight."

Taiyo: "I can still fight."

Hitomi casts Cure on Taiyo.

Safian:<Maybe we relly have to hold up the world.>
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*Monu looks at the gummi, then walks over to Lilith*

<What kind of gummi is this?>
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*Artexi grips her new keyblade, then uses Vampire Hold on the Nobody while jumping backwards*

T"I just proposed a method which isn't frankly impossible."
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*Lilith dismisses her Glider, standing there staring at it.*

L"How should I know?"
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*Being bloody massive, the Twilight Thorn doesn't give a shit. When its fist hits the Station, it shakes & the vines fall apart. It then dashes across the ground towards her, flailing its massive arms.*
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OOC: What?

E"You can't keep taking wounds like that. Besides, it's not even 1 on 1."

*Another gunshot.*

E"Will someone go check that out!?"

Amazon<Looks like you're too busy fighting yourselves.>

Monu:<I was posing the question to the group as a whole. I'm not an expert in gummies.>

*He rubs his neck, looking slightly red*
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Safian:<He said it wouldn't work though.>

*Safian looks from the giant to Thiera*

<(You think he would lie?)>
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*Light covers Artexi's keyblade as she jumps and slashes at the thing's head*

Azuma & Hitomi go to do just that.

Taiyo: "I'll be fine. I came to help you because I want you to succeed."

T"(Of course he would lie, he wants to trick us into holding up the world. However, Keyblades contain some of the strongest magic in the known universe. In skilled hands, they could easily rival the Olympian pantheon.)"
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Phil<It shoots portals. Go in 1, come out the other.>
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*That puts a nice little tear in it, but it still bludgeons her back with its sufficient mass as it headbutts the ground. It balances there for a couple seconds, in the vague shape of a Nobody symbol, as thorns of nothingness begin emerging from a portal beneath its head. Then its limbs abruptly shoot out, puncturing spaces around the circumference of the Station.*
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E"I can't succeed if I don't do anything, & it's not fair for me to have help when she doesn't."

???<The name is Tempest. Warrior-Princess of the Amazons.>
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*They eventually come across [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in a tree, aiming at the centaur-boar, who is cornered against a cliff. He, too, has a medallion.*

Asshole<And so the fox corners the hare. But fine footwork to evade the Leading Man for this long, all things considered.>

OOC: Fairness in battle. That's adorable.

Taiyo: "Why do you think you can't do anything?"

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Azuma: "There no honor amongst your group or something? They get turned into a boar, they're fair game?"

OOC: Ironically, guns in FFXII never missed.

Monu:<Very useful. Thank you!>
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Safian:<Ok-k, you better do the cutting since I don't have hands.>
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*Artexi uses Venom Raid on the plant asshole, while trying to not get hit*

*Said asshole points his gun to the sky, at which point the boar runs away. He watches it run briefly before looking over to them.*

<Look at that. Now you've gone and lost me my quarry. Now, what is this babbling about?>
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E"I appreciate the help, but this is something I need to do myself."

*She glances over to Tempest.*

E"If you don't mind my asking, why would such an honorable opponent want to poach an endangered species?"

Tempest<Not that it's any of your business, but my father wants to serve wild boar for the banquet commemorating my entry into the tournament. But my mother wants me to enter under the mantle of Artemis. The only way was to retrieve this amulet from Hades, so that I could slay the boar without the goddess being any the wiser.>

*She touches the coin on her chest.*

Tempest<Though I do not enjoy having to resort to such cowardly deception.>
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Phil<No need to thank me, Kid. It's just the prize for 1st place.>
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*It's not a plant, but it is hit in the head all the same. A pulse runs from the Nobody's torso to each of its limbs, as if it's pumping something into the ground. Portals trailing Thorns of Nothingness emerge from where each of its limbs are stabbed into the ground. Furthermore, the thorns from its head snake across the ground towards Artexi.*
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Giant<As if I would allow that!>

*He kicks a nearby mountain, sending a rock slide towards them.*

*Safian summons her gliders and flies up over the rock slide, expecting Thiera to follow*
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*Monu turns to Lilith*

<Shall we...go?>
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*Artexi throws her keyblade at one of the limps, using Light Raid. She does her best to stay out of reach of the vines*

Taiyo: "If you don't want me here, just say so."

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Azuma: "That boar was once a part of your group. You'd think the unboar-like features would give it away."

E"That's not what I said at all!"

Tempest<Hmph. As I said, too busy fighting yourselves.>

*She folds her arms, & Euryale points at her.*

E"Yeah, well, at least we're not trying to kill an endangered species!"

Tempest<I can't return home with inferior ingredients! Father & mother deserve nothing but the best!>
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Asshole<The lot of you have surely taken leave of your senses. Or mayhap this is a clever ruse. Though stranger things have happened. Have you any proof that the boar is an errant hunter, once as hume as you or I?>
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*She of course does, & the giant of course starts kicking rocks up towards them, to try to stop them.*
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L"Go where?"

*She strikes its leg, but the flesh more-or-less wobbles, & isn't even cut as the Keyblade passes by it. She presumably runs to the edge of the ring, where the vines can't reach her. However, a new problem becomes apparent, in the form of Creeper Nobodies slinking through the thorns towards her.*

*Monu rubs the back of his neck again, looking around*

<We could go catch up the others...or get something to eat/?
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*Safian dodges as many of the rocks as she can, then fires on the remaining*
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*Artexi tries to summon her other keyblade in the form of her glider. if this works, she jumps on and starts blasting nobodies. If this does not work, she uses Sol's Might on the approaching nobodies, then hurls her keyblade and uses light raid on the central one*

Taiyo just stands there, alone and unwanted.

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Azuma: "I don't know what that means, but it was a half horse thing. Charon or something it was called."

Hitomi: "Chirion."

E"Even when it's a matter of honor? Is it better to defeat 100 soldiers with sneak attacks, or 99 face-to-face? I'm sure your parents would understand."

*Tempest stabs her spear into the ground & looks at her feet.*

Tempest<...Even if what you say is true, I would not be permitted to enter the tournament. Artemis surely would not want me now.>

E"You won't know until you try. And even if that IS the case, you can always prove your worth under some other deity."

*Tempest looks up.*

Tempest<Simply unacceptable! Artemis is the patron goddess of the Amazons! To fight under any other would be an act of treason!>
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Asshole<So this isn't a jape. You could not have known of the centaur in our midsts without encountering him. This would explain why he has been refusing the hunting call.>

*He plucks the coin from his chest & flicks it over to Azuma.*

Asshole<Your pay earned: A single piece for your troubles. Now, if you'll excuse me, I do not plan to meet with an angry goddess this day. Bring her around, Fran!>

*The trees bend & a tornado of leaves form, but it isn't because of Artemis, but rather the exhaust from a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] flying overhead. It deploys a grappling hook, which the Asshole grabs a hold of. The ship begins to fly away as he holsters his gun & climbs up.*

Asshole<Should our paths not cross again, tell your friends that trinket was given to you by Balthier the Sky Pirate.>
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L"I'm not hungry."
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*Thiera deploys her shield, but they barely slow the rocks down, so after taking a few glancing hits, she flies higher. The giant shakes the sky, causing the clouds to group together & darken. Lightning flashes inside.*

T"Hurry! Get to his hair!"

*As she shouts, she activates her armor.*
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*It...sort of works. The Creepers stumble back when hit by the light, then stop to cover their faces with their feet-hand-things, but not much else happens. The increased size of the ship causes it to be scratched by the tendrils a few times, but the Nobody eventually stops firing on them, retracting & twisting around until it stands in the center of the arena, on its feet again.*