Looming Shadows

Azuma: "Sounds easier said than done."

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

Xyukuse: "We're not very organized."

"For what it's worth I'd never betray you. The reason you can have my word is, well, if it weren't for you guys I'd still be out there running around like a confused asshole. Mind if I ask one more question?"

Having paused for a few moments as though what he was going to say carried with it an incredible weight. Well, for him and members of his race it actually did.

"I might sound stupid for saying this if its obvious, and it's taken me a long time to come to terms with it...but is this world the world of, well, the Users? Are all of you...Users?"

If their answer were yes he'd have no -choice- but to serve them, even if he was rebellious even by the standards set in his computerized microcosm of a world.

Monu:<Users?>

Safian:<Wait, are there other talking lions here?!>
===
Eve:<I can understand why he feels that way.>

L"We don't know, exactly. Roatha, Azuma, & Hitomi entered The Grid in Radiant Garden. We don't know whether or not it can be accessed from other worlds."

Hudson<You're not one of Oberon's Children?>

T"Whose children?"

Lexington<You know, the 3 races: Humans, Gargoyles, & Oberon's Children.>

T"...Is Oberon a talking lion?"

Hudson<Nay, Lass. The Scottish called them the Fair Folk, the Irish the Sidhe, & the Vikings the Dark Elves. They are immortal changelings who wield powerful magics, with Oberon, their King, being the mightiest of them all.>

*Lilith whistles.*
==================================
*Owen grabs a remote on his desk & points it at a wall. When he presses the correct button, part of the wall slides away, revealing a large television monitor. The monitor flickers to life, showing Marluxia & Larxene entering Xanatos's lab with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. In a flourish of darkness & rose petals, the Pixie Petal grows in Marluxia's hand, at which point he taps the computer with it & several files begin opening. The mage waves his staff around while reading from a spellbook & a kind of electrical vortex begins literally pulling the files out of the computer, somehow transferring them to blank pages in the book.*

Azuma: "I don't think Safian can transform into anything."

Having heard Monu's question he paused for a few moments and thought to himself. He wasn't sure quite how to explain it, but thought to do his best - especially after being told that Roatha, Azuma and Hitomi entered the Grid through Radiant Garden.

Sighing, he decided to give it his best shot. "Where I'm from people are individual examples of computer code. I'm a computer program that serves a specific user request. A user programmed me and I key into the Grid, light up and live off of microprocessor circuit power. Users exist outside of software."

He paused, trying to think of how to put it; "My user stopped personally using me, which is why I kinda ran around with my own crowd. Since I looked like you guys do here when I came out of my world I originally thought, like, um, I had been deleted."

*Monu smiles and shakes his head*

<You were definitely not deleted. I suppose you could say you're in the world of the users' now.>

Safian:<No, I'm just a lion. My parents were lions and stuff.>
===
*Watching*

L"Right then. Thiera?"

T"What? Oh, yes, of course."

*Thiera approaches Hinode, digging a few pieces of armor out of her pocket.*

T"Simply attach these & press this button whenever you want the armor, & it will materialize around you. Pressing the button again reverses the process."
==============================
*Larxene flicks a bolt of lightning at the screen & it cuts to static, going out soon afterwards.*

Owen<Thanks to the hard working men & women of Xanatos Security, the camera was only down for a few minutes. However, as you may have guessed, the intruders were already gone without a trace by the time security personnel arrived on the scene.>

N"Do you know where they went?"

Owen<We are under the impression that you have ways of tracking them.>

N"I guess that's true. Now--"

*Roatha drops a vase that he was juggling to point at Owen.*

R"Ahhhh, I see what's really goin' on here. You can't find them, so you want to use us to do it. Thought you could get that past us, didn't ya, Slick?"

*Owen nods stiffly.*

Owen<Be that as it may, it is not profitable for our organizations to fight one another. Mr. Xanatos is no ordinary CEO. He has billions of dollars worth of resources, manpower all over the globe, one of the largest weapons manufacturers on the planet, & he is even well versed in lost magical theories.>

R"And what about YOU, Mr. Bitches? You don't look so tough."

*Owen smiles for the first time. It's the kind of smile that says that Roatha is an insect to him, & the only reason he's still alive is because it's presently more interesting watching him than it is crushing him.*

Owen<What about me indeed? Why would I agree to a private audience with all of you, knowing that you have powerful dark magic at your disposal? How much do you really know about Owen Burnet?>

Xyukuse: "That you have remarkable patiance."

Eve:<Indeed, we are sincerely grateful you are willing to assist us even after some of our group have treated you so horribly.>

*She bows*

Artexi:<Can you kick his ass please?>

With a bit of a cocky grin, Hinode laughed at the fact that Monu told him that he hadn't been deleted, "Well I guess I should have known that I couldn't be gotten rid of all that easily!"

After having said that he took note of what he was being given by Thiera. Having stepped back a bit he tried to activate the armor. What happened next seemed to surprise him to no end.

As bolts of light burst out from each angle he found his body soon being covered in gold and white plates that he was sure was stronger even then the armor used by those competing in the Game Grid. He was suddenly enthralled with the force eliciting around him as he quickly transformed from himself into the otherworldly warrior that the power of such a device permitted him.

Soon, though, he had once more deactivated the transformation and returned to his old self, naturally grinning once again in turn however.

"Damn, that rocks! When do I get to kick some ass?"

It seemed that while he may have been utterly confused before, he was just entirely too eager at this point. How much difference a single day could make...

Owen<Miss, I am a professional, not a hired thug.>

R"Whatever, let's just go."

N"There's just 1 problem: I haven't been able to smell their darkness since we got here."

R"Of course you can't, dumbass, if it were that simple, Xanatos would have created some kind of dark detector to find them by now."
==============================
E"I like your enthusiasm!"

L"Yeah, well, we're not here to fight for the sake of it. Let's not have a repeat of when you joined the Order & started hitting everything that looked at you funny."

E"There was a talking tree running at me & telling me to scream! How else was I supposed to interpret that?!"

L"The point is, nobody should enter into a fight unless they're absolutely sure they have to."

T"So what SHOULD we be doing? We've lost the Organization & I don't really feel like looking for them anymore."

Azuma: "Pay a trip to Xanatos and see what floats?"

Though Hinode has a history of fighting for the sake of fighting after his user had decided to archive him and he didn't have much of a place to go, he realized that the points being brought up in this conversation were actually right.

As a result he smirked at the question and sighed, "You know, ever hear the old thing about defense? I'm gonna say I don't know enough to make judgments, that's for sure, but is it wrong to suggest we dig ourselves in there? I mean, we used to have rumbles back on the Grid and my boys would dig in and wait for the other gang to, you know, come screw around and they'd fall in our trap."

He punctuated this line of reasoning with a proud smirk, as though it were some stroke of genius.

Safian:<Yeah, he might be working with the Organization or something.>
===
Artexi:<Aw, he really deserves it though.>

T"Some of us should probably see if we can find Goliath, Elisa, & Bronx. They might need some help."

Brooklyn<That would be appreciated.>

Broadway<Sorry we can't come with you, but it's almost dawn.>

L"What happens at dawn?"

T"They turn to stone."

L"...Whaaaaat?"

Hudson<That's how the vikings massacred our clan--they demolished us as we slept. Hence why it's so important for us to remain hidden.>
==============================
*A Shadow emerges from the ground at Roatha's feet.*

R"Show us where the Heartless are gathering."

*And so the Shadow sinks back into the ground. The Dark Corridor it sank into grows large enough for the Organization to enter.*

*They head through I guess*
===
Monu:<Where were they headed?>

Thinking about what Monu had asked, Hinode looked up with a blink. "Hey, maybe you guys do things a little bit differently around here and I just haven't got the memo or something, but don't you have some way we can track people?"

He blinked a second time, "You know what I mean, right? Some kind of tracer we can put in 'em next time so this doesn't happen?"

Azuma: "No?"

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

Although probably not the best idea, Xyukuse goes through the Dark Corridor.

T"I could try researching to see if I could come up with a spell like that, though."

L"They disappeared into a Dark Corridor, so it's next than impossible to say where they went, unless we detect the presence of darkness somewhere."

Hudson<But, ah, isn't the darkness anywhere there isn't light, lass?>

L"Yes, but darkness that spreads on its own is not normal."
========================================
*They emerge in a forested clearing that's just full of Shadows, Soldiers, Darkballs, Air Soldiers, & Large Bodies. All of the Heartless are clustered around a gazebo & a reflecting pool. By the reflecting pool are Marluxia, Larxene, & [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Roatha shuts the Dark Corridor behind them.*

???<Impudent fools! Who are you that you would DARE disturb the Archmage?!>

*He raises a hand, but Larxene grabs his arm & forces it down.*

Larxene<Cut it out, you idiot, the fools are with us! Can't you tell by their coats? Senthose probably sent these babies to check up on us.>

R"That would make us the babysitters, you brain-dead blond bitch."

Having sighed at the response given to him by Azuma, Hinode turned around and listened to what the other individual was saying.

"I take it I'll never get a chance to learn all this magic stuff?"

Being from the Game Grid, he tended to be rather rationalistic. To him, though, everyone around here was supernatural in a way as it were since they were essentially users.

"If we had a tracer we could see where they went even if they disappeared into that level of darkness."

Artexi:<Ignore Roatha, he got hit in the head too many times.>

Eve:<Avici suggested we join you as the Orders knows we're here.>
===
Monu:<I'm sure you'll find time to learn.>

Xyukuse: "If his head's the problem, why not fix it by removing it?"

*Larxene balls her hands into fists, sparking with electricity.*

Larxene<I'll show YOU braindead!>

N"(Didn't she just insult herself?)"

R"It's just adorable that you think you'd win if Senthose wasn't protecting you."

*Larxene stamps her feet.*

Larxene<Don't you ignore me, you little brat!>

*Marluxia smiles, but it doesn't look so sincere by the way he's narrowing his eyes.*

Marluxia<There is no need to fight. Now, how does the Order know we're here?>
===============================
L"We don't need magic, we just need some good old-fashioned detective work."

Broadway<Aww, now I REALLY wish I could come with you! I make a GREAT detective! I don't even shoot my partner anymore!>

L"What?"

*Before he can answer, the sun spills in & all of the gargoyles harden into stone in the exact positions they were standing in.*

L"...Wow, you weren't kidding."

*She knocks on Brooklyn's nose.*

T"Please don't touch them. We don't know how fragile the stone is, & if they break, they'll die."

Eve:<We arrived at about the same time and place.>
===
Safian:<Do we leave them here?>