Looming Shadows

Thiera: "No, Xanatos is right, we can't afford to waste time fighting."

Xanatos<I'm glad you can all see reason. Anyway, I can spread a flammable chemical into the upper atmosphere, then ignite it all at once in a timed detonation. I'll have to sacrifice some of my robots, but I can afford it.>

Thiera: "Then I guess we should find Demona & stop her from destroying any of the petrified people. We'll also be discussing what to do with you when we get back."

Xanatos<I'm looking forward to it. Shall we shake on our armistice?>

*He walks up & holds out a hand, still smiling.*
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*They look at each other, clearly surprised. Even the Gargoyle Beasts stop growling.*

Female<But...how did YOU know that Goliath & Elisa are here?>
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Elisa<Goliath, come ON, we have to GO!>

Goliath<...I am sorry. I cannot endanger my clan by bringing you with us.>

*He turns around. Sure enough, Roatha moves in to attack, but Nero materializes his Keyblade, lashing out with a rope of darkness & snatching Roatha from behind. He then turns, flinging Roatha into the Dark Corridor. By this point, the clearing is surrounded by fire & the tornado has started sucking up branches.*

*Artexi summons her keyblade as well*

<Are you ready to go now?>
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Safian :<I've been following her scent!>

The two wait for someone to step up.

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Azuma: "And a bit of dumb luck."

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Xyukuse goes through his own Dark Corridor.

With a giant exhalation, Kyohaku shrugged up his shoulders in a signification of his defeat by Thiera's words. "Alright, well, I guess you're the boss."

Despite his words, though, he kept a close watch on the other individual who was now extending a hand, ready to defend in case this were actually some sort of a trick.

*Xanatos eventually retracts his hand & replaces it in his jacket pocket with a slight shrug.*

Xanatos<Well, if you want to be such poor sports about it, I suppose that's up to you. Oh, but one other thing. Catch.>

*He pulls several ear pieces with attached microphones & tosses them to Thiera, who catches them in her arms.*

Thiera: "What are these?"

Xanatos<They're communication devices. You see, it's critical that you're out of the sky by the time my robots explode. Unless you want to be deep fried, of course.>
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Female<They came just the other day to help with the Archmage. If you're friends of theirs, then you're friends of ours. I'm Ophelia & this is Gabriel.>

*She gestures to the male gargoyle.*

L"Lilith. Pleasure to meet you."

*Lilith shakes hands with the gargoyles, with even the gargoyle beasts shaking hands much like a dog would.*
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*Nero numbly totters into the Dark Corridor, & they find themselves back at the Archmage's grotto. Roatha is pacing around waving his arms in the air emphatically & shouting at whomever happens to be in his line of sight at the moment--the Archmage lounging by the reflecting pool, the Weird Sisters among the trees, or Marluxia & Larxene approaching Xshittyname.*

R"What the Hell was that?! I'll tell you what it was, it was PATHETIC! I thought you said we were gonna CONQUER this island!"

Marluxia<Be patient. We have enough fire power that there's no sense in over exerting ourselves.>

*Roatha whirls around & points at Marluxia.*

R"Bullshit! They tore right through your so-called 'army' of Heartless!"

Marluxia<Fortunately, the Heartless are not our most significant discovery. Not even close.>

*He flicks some rose petals on Xshittyname's wound, causing it to close up. Larxene crosses her arms & stares at Xshittyname like a bug she'd very much like to step on.*

Larxene<I don't see why you even bothered saving this LOSER. It's his own stupid fault he got shot.>

Azuma introduces himself and presumably shakes hands.

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Xyukuse winces at Larxene's words.

Xyukuse: "You're prettier when you're silent."

Looking over at the other objects that had be thrown Thiera's way, Hinode realized that he did indeed recognize them as microphones in spite of the fact that so many things in this world were rather alien to him.

Soon enough he walked over, half-expecting to be given one as he still considered himself part of her team.

"Anything you want me to do, Thiera?"

*Monu bows low*

<Monu. A pleasure to meet you all.>

Safian:<And I'm Safian!>
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*Eve stands with her back up against a tree, glaring pointedly at Roatha*

Artexi:<She's so out of your league.>

*Thiera does in fact give him one of the com devices as she passes them out.*

T"We should probably shut down the broadcast, & then find Demona."

E"Should we split into groups?"

T"I don't think so. Demona is dangerous enough that she'll be difficult to handle with only 2 or 3 people. Especially if she has Unversed, Heartless, or other accomplices at her disposal."

Xanatos<I can get you a map to Pack Media Studios. As long as you don't see AND hear her spell, it won't be able to touch you.>
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Ophelia<We'll be regrouping at the palace. Follow us.>

*So as to avoid anyone posting "following," when they enter the palace square, Elisa, Goliath, & Bronx are indeed central among a throng of gargoyles, along with a female gargoyle that has Goliath's coloring.*

Goliath<Azuma? It's good to see you again, old friend. Who have you brought with you?>

Elisa<We heard about what happened to Roatha. Did you come for him? We might be able to help after we fix things here on Avalon.>
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Larxene<OBVIOUSLY. I would never be caught dead with a LOSER like him.>

R"Please go on. X-shittyname's pain is funny."

Larxene<What makes you think YOU'RE any better, Loser?>

R"Who are you calling 'loser,' Bimbo?"

Larxene<Idiot!>

R"Weakling!"

*In a flurry of petals, Marluxia appears behind Roatha. He puts his hands on his shoulders & whispers in his ear.*

Marluxia<Now, now, there is no need to argue. Please calm down. I wouldn't want anyone to be hurt.>

*He materializes the Keyblade in his hand so that it's in a prime position to decapitate Roatha.*

Azuma: "We weren't aware he was here until recently. We'll try if we can."

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Xyukuse: "I can kill you afterwards, if it'll make you feel better. Or during. But that tounge will have to come out first. Your voice sounds like squealing brakes."

After he took the communications device that Thiera handed over to him, Kyohaku tried to put it in his ear or do whatever else was necessary to get it to work the way that it was supposed to.

"Hey Thiera, if she's so dangerous can't we just bring along some allies to make things a little more easy on us?"

Monu:<As you've likely noticed, he's been changed by some kind of strong magic.>
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Eve:<Can everyone please calm down?>

Thiera: "The gargoyles are really our only allies here. And we can't expose anyone who isn't a Keyblade Wielder to knowledge of other worlds."

*Meanwhile, Xanatos is at his desk, rooting through files.*

Xanatos<Not that it seems to stop anyone from finding out.>
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OOC: So much for his attraction to Larxene.

Larxene<Go ahead & try it. I'll rip off your ugly head before you can even lay a hand on me!>

*Larxene points to Eve.*

Larxene<Shut up, nerd, you stay out of this!>

*Roatha snickers. Marluxia dismisses his Keyblade & lets him go.*

Marluxia<Nonetheless, Eve does have a point. This senseless bickering won't get us any closer to our goal.>
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L"No, don't introduce us or anything. I'm Lilith, by the way. Thiera's sister."

E"Euryale. I'm new."

Goliath<Yes. Nero informed us that he made a wish that Roatha would join the Organization.>

L"Wait--he did WHAT?"

Elisa<I'd like to ask the same question. What is going on? What is this Nero kid involved in that he has access to such powerful magic? Is he with the Archmage?>

*Goliath scratches his chin.*

Goliath<Hmm...his minions do have similar black coats.>

Azuma: "Archmage?"

He begins counting on his fingers trying to recall how many bad guys are present in this world."

Azuma: "Which one was he again?"

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OOC: You confuse lust for attraction. He said many times he would do things to her. As well as kill or mutilate her which he has said to other allies as well.

Xyukuse summons the Chaos Ripper.

Xyukuse: "Is that an invitation?"

*Eve crosses her arms*

<At this rate we will destroy ourselves before the Order finds us.>
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Monu:<Sounds as if the Organization is working with this Archmage.>

"Hmm, I guess we kind of are stuck then, though I'll do my best since I'm a Keyblade Wielder now."

Kyohaku looked back over toward Xanatos at the desk, figuring that was quite the indictment if it really weren't that hard to find out about all of this kind of stuff.

OOC: Still not getting laid at that rate. Also it's weird to want to mutilate your lover. Also what happened to "not a sociopath"?

Larxene<Go ahead & do it. You won't last 5 seconds.>

Marluxia<Especially considering that, should you attack Larxene, I will most certainly come to her aid.>

N"Me too."

R"And I'll jump in just because it will be funny to gangstab you."

Archmage<And seeing that you're an obvious liability to my plans, I will transfigure you into a toad.>

Blond hair<We do not condone violence.>

White hair<But we will resort to it when necessary.>

Black hair<And see that the one who started it is brought to a swift & bloody end.>
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Goliath<The Archmage is an ancient enemy of my clan. We thought he fell to his death, but apparently he survived with the aid of the Phoenix Gate.>

Elisa<The Phoenix Gate enables travel through time. We're not sure when or how he got a hold of it, but when he did, he came here. These other gargoyles that you see are the children of Goliath's clan. He seems to want to kill them to get revenge on Goliath.>

Female gargoyle<The island is also the home of powerful magic, so he probably wants that as well.>

L"If it involves powerful magic, the Organization will surely want their hands all over it."
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*Xanatos closes the drawer & hands Thiera a manilla folder.*

Xanatos<Here you are. This contains everything you need to know about Pack Media Studios.>

T"And you're not worried that we might destroy it."

Xanatos<While it's filled to the brim with petrified employees?>

T"Assuming Demona hasn't already gotten to them."

Xanatos<True. But I can always afford to replace it.>

E"Come on, we can't just let him get away with this! Let me beat him up!"

T"We'll talk about it on the way, just go."

*She starts shoving Euryale for the door, but doesn't make much headway until Euryale starts walking, since she's a few inches taller & a lot more muscular than Thiera.*

Artexi:<I like where this conversation is going.>
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Monu:<Do you have a plan to stop the Archmage?>

Taiyo and Hitomi proceed to exit the office, Taiyo looking concerned for Euryale.

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OOC: Psychopath =/= sociopath.

He ignores Marluxia as before he can do anything, someone else will probably have to check up on him as he's not exactly the most capable member of the Orginization and directs his attention to Nero.

Xyukuse: "And you'll fail in coming to her aid like you failed coming to Roatha's. Save the tough guy act for those who aren't aware of how pathetic you are."

He turns around towards the Archmage.

Xyukuse: "Just like your magic was of any use against those winged lizards? It's easy to boast about being an all powerful sorcerer, but how about backing your words up? Or are you just some hack hanging off the coattails of much more successful magic users?"

Then he turns to Artexi.

Xyukuse: "You can't even comfort that failure Nero and you think you can take a swing at me? You might be as pathetic as he is."

Once Euryale and Theira had left for the time being, Hinode Kyohaku took one last look behind him at the individual that they had been speaking with. Once he had done so he again started to follow the other two.

"Talk about it on the way? What's there to talk about?" He sighed again, seeming exasperated at the vast amount of information he had to absorb. Naturally he'd never even heard of Pack Media Studios previously.

It sounded to him like a software developer.

OOC: As I explained to Harley, who refused to believe me because, God damn it, he had some doctor's blog, those are literally the same thing. Also, I don't know what Taiyo is so worried about.

*On the balcony, Thiera & Euryale prepare their Gliders.*

T"I don't know that we can really do anything about Xanatos. They already put him in jail once, & technically he was used by Demona."

E"Right, if not for her, he would have ONLY stolen some life from everyone in the city. Great improvement."
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Elisa<There's a gem on his head called the Eye of Odin. According to the Magus, if we take it from him, he won't be able to control his other artifacts.>

Female gargoyle<But that's easier said than done. The Archmage can control the island itself.>
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R"Now let's see who casts the first stone."

Archmage<Insolent fool!>

R"Is anyone really surprised?"

*The Archmage generates a green glow in his hands & blasts it at Xshittyname. Roatha sidesteps so that he won't be hit in the probable event that the toad spell misses. With 1 Keyblade, he swings a blast of lightning at Xshittyname, & he holds the other ready to send another blast for wherever he attempts to dodge to.*

Taiyo and Hitomi calls their Gliders.

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Azuma: "Controls how? Like can he make it disappear or something?"

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OOC: Word of someone with experience in the field > some asshole with little of any. That's quite the ego you have there.

Xyukuse Dodge Deflects because he was right and the Archmage is indeed a hack. Roatha ain't much better.

OOC: I was under the impression sociopath is a more modern term for the diagnosis historically called psychopath:

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Soon enough Kyohaku readied his glider again, and that one-man solar sailing vessel came forth from the object that Thiera had taught him to use.

"What happens if you -don't- do anything? I mean, if you can't do anything and you just leave him then what happens exactly?"

*Artexi sits down next to Nero, while Eve just stays back to avoid any spells*

Artexi:<Beating up Xshittyname won't make you feel better?>
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Monu:<I'm guessing he can control the great magic of the island.>

OOC: The diagnosis is antisocial personality disorder. Psychopath & sociopath are words that have been variously used to describe it. Neither is really "official," generally "psychopath" is preferred by the legal system & biologists, while "sociopath" is preferred by social psychologists. Harley found a blog from a doctor citing exactly 1 outside paper asserting a difference, which means very little until when & if the APA or the WHO adopt that model, which I rather doubt is going to happen, because what they describe is more like an impulse control disorder, a milder form of APD, or a mixture of both.

Goliath<We don't know exactly how powerful he is, but you've seen what he can do for yourselves.>

L"The tornado?"

Female gargoyle<And the vines that ensnared our clan.>

Goliath<When we arrived, he commanded the sands of the beach to attack us.>

Elisa<The fire was started by some idiot, though.>
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T"It's difficult to say, but I don't think that Xanatos himself is especially dangerous to the worlds. The problem is when he gets a hold of magic artifacts."

E"Well, he has to have some kind of supplier. You think it's Demona?"

T"That is very probable."
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*The first strike may have missed him, but the second burst of lightning hits its mark. Larxene comes in with an electrified dropkick.*

N"I don't care what happens to him. I'll only jump in if I have to."