Looming Shadows

Having certainly recognized that voice (as Avici's anyway), Hinode immediately turned in the direction of it but found that with the echoes it was hard to trace.

Still, like Euryale he had his Keyblade up the entirely time. Finally making the connection with the heart-like emblem, he furrowed his brow and stood next to Euryale.

"Let's waste him; I never did believe in a no win situation anyway."

Thiera: "Hold on, let's think about this. First of all, why are you using that armor and why are you projecting your voice magically? Do you have something to hide?"

<Does it matter?>

Thiera: "I think it does. I think that armor is just a shell, & that there's actually little or nothing underneath it. According to this theory, if you lose your armor, you will be forced to rely almost exclusively on magic, & will be highly susceptible to damage."

<Perhaps, but it doesn't matter if you can't remove it.>
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*Mortal literally rockets forward, swinging the other Keyblade & collapsing the rocks around her right Keyblade so that they don't slow her down.*
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*Nero manifests a claw of darkness & holds it out, detonating it to hurl Angela in Monu's general direction. Goliath is struck by several lightning bolts & Roatha pushes the unconscious gargoyle off of him. Angela flares her wings, trying to slow herself.*

Angela<Father!>

L"I'll get him!"

*Lilith rushes in, manifesting roots on her Keyblade. She double jumps over Roatha's swing & stabs downward, but he evades with a firewheel.*

Azuma fires the Dark Flare, sweeping it across the field towards Artexi. Whatever wounds he me sustain can be mended easily enough.

*Artexi gliders up and moves out of the way, then uses Spark Raid on Azuma. Monu destroys his shield then dives away from the falling Angela, then casts a healing spell over her. Eve fires on Lilith*
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*Safian sinks into the shadows to appear behind Mortal, then jumps on her back to knock her over*

Figuring that Thiera was trying to catch him in a lie or some kind of logical quandary, Kyohaku stood at the ready. While he was sure to pounce if the opportunity arose, he didn't look entirely concerned.

After all, he figured that anything that remotely looked like fear would weaken their position and he'd gotten good at feigning different disinterested expressions anyway. You had to when you were supposed to screwing around with other people's heads back home.

*A small vortex appears behind the Heartless, prompting its helmet to fly off. Sure enough, there is no head underneath, which may be frightening or comical depending on whom you ask. However, all in one motion, it grabs its helmet & replaces it back on itself with its left hand, kicks the vortex with its left leg, somehow dispelling it, & lashes out with its right hand, firing a huge torrent of darkness at Thiera, who stares on like she's about to be run over by a car & can't do anything about it. Fortunately, Euryale steps out in front of her, & when the smoke clears, both girls are unharmed, & the Heartless has resumed its casual posture.*

T"Th--thank you."

E"No problem."

<That isn't an attack that most could have blocked. You have surprisingly strong legs, given that they're only a few weeks old.>

*Euryale gives him that smug little half-grin.*

E"They're made from my tail, which can knock the teeth out of a shark's mouth. There's a lot you don't know about me. Bet you're regretting giving me the Keyblade now, aren't you?"

<Not really.>
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*Artexi is sort of able to evade Azuma's attack, but her Glider's engine is damaged & it shall surely crash into a tree soon. Lilith is knocked out of the sky & suffers laser burns, & Roatha promptly hurls Explosion Raids at Lilith & Azuma. Angela digs her claws into the ground & screeches. Her eyes glowing red, she charges Roatha's ass, only for Nero to catch her in Collision Magnet again & slam her into a tree, stunning her.*
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*Safian's hair stands on end from a strong electric charge coming towards her back.*

Azuma dodge deflects, casting Drain on Artexi when he rights himself.

*Artexi lands out of range of Azuma's attack then uses Venom Raid on him. Eve lands and sends void beams at Lilith. Meanwhile, Monu charges forward, summoning a diamond shield around Lilith before healing her*

Monu:<Don't touch her!>
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*Safian roars but continues trying to knock Mortal over*

Raising his brow at the display of force from Euryale, Hinode eventually started to turn around and blinked for a moment but he soon returned his gaze in the direction of the voice of the individual who was taunting them.

Though he was still getting used to his newfound abilities, he did his best to stand there with his own Keyblade in hand ready to strike if he were assaulted with anything close to what it was that the enemy had attempted to use again Thiera.

He was originally going to make one of his usual 'too much talk not enough action' comments, but decided this wasn't the time for that just yet.

E"(Hey! Why isn't it attacking?)"

T"He's trying to stall us."

<Now what would I do that for?>
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*The problem with this is that Safian has been struck by lightning & knocked off Mortal. She lays on the ground, her limbs twitching violently, but she can see that Mortal has also been hit & is also seizing up. Amidst the crackle of electricity, she can faintly hear Larxene running towards her.*
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*The shield protects Lilith, but shatters, due to diamonds being quite brittle. When Roatha's Keyblades reappear in his hand, he lobs a couple of lightning bolts at Monu & Lilith.*

R"And what if we do?"

*Meanwhile, Lilith weakly traces a ring of flowers on the ground before she can no longer control her upper body. She coughs & gasps for air as the pollen seeps into her wounds & begins closing them up. Nero starts casting a spell, but Angela stirs & tackles him, undoubtedly scaring the shit out of him by screeching in his face with her fangs & glowing red eyes.*

Angela<Why are you doing this!? What have WE ever done to YOU!?>

Azuma rolls, casting Drain on Roatha while he's occupied.

"Maybe lower us into a false sense of security, or..."

Hinode turned around as though he were still looking for something, "...or he's bringing in some kind of reinforcement or stalling us while his boys do somethin', you know?"

It was how they handled things back on the Grid when they were acting...unofficially after all.

*Monu grabs Lilith and pulls her to safety, then uses Tornado on Roatha*

<You'll never get a chance to hurt any of us again!>

*Eve takes the opportunity to blast Azuma with void beams, while vines sprout out if Artexi's keyblade and cover Angela, who she then attempts to fling away from Nero*

*Well, Lilith is struck by lightning, regardless, & starts seizing up. Roatha says, "Ow" when a Drain Orb passes through him. He generates a tornado of flames around himself, but abruptly appears behind Monu instead of trying to charge through his tornado. Angela is flung away &, after a moment of hesitation, shoots a bunch of dark blasts at Azuma.*
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T"A Heartless of his level could easily summon allies to itself any time it wanted. That must mean he's trying to keep us away from something."

E"Okay, but what?"

T"I don't know! It could be anything, & it depends on whether or not Xanatos was in on this plan!"

E"Well, either way, we'll find out if we go see what he's up to, right?"
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*Larxene generates her Keyblades, surrounds herself with electricity, & jumps at Safian as she & Mortal stop seizing up.*

*Safian looks at the charging enemies, then roars, sinking back into the shadows and racing back to the others*

Mortal, I'll free you. I promise...
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*Monu stands between Lilith and Roatha, sending a storm of diamonds at Roatha. Artexi uses Venom Raid on Angela, while Eve uses Slow on Azuma*

I'm gonna assume the monsters are dead by now, so Hitomi makes her way to the studio or wherever those ungrateful bastards are.

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Glowing green is usually a good indicator to haul ass which Azuma does in Eve's direction as keeping his distance ain't working out.

"Maybe one of us should stick around here just in case something happens while the other two go to have a look and trace down just what the hell he's trying to keep us from; that way if something ends up happening here we'll be ready."

Hinode turned around, still trying to figure out if there was something that he was supposed to be seeing that he wasn't quite.

*Hitomi is in the middle of the stair well when it collapses on top of her without warning.*
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T"He's not going to let us go without a fight, & we're already having difficulty handling him. Also, I hear someone coming."

*Euryale looks around.*

E"I think it's Hitomi."

T"What?! Why isn't she with us?!"

*The Heartless uses this opportunity to trace a circle on the ground with its foot, which apparently causes an earth quake, collapsing the stair well behind them. Thiera looks from the debris to the Heartless & back, before reluctantly running to Hitomi's aid.*

T"Watch that thing, don't let it past you! Euryale, help me clear the rubble!"

E"Can do."

*Unfortunately, they are quick to fail at their first goal as the Heartless sinks into the shadows & emerges in front of Thiera. It slashes down at her, but she manages to hook its arm in her Oathkeeper & twist to pull its gauntlet off, at which point creepy black tentacle things reach out, covering her Keyblade & reaching for her face, chest, & arms. Euryale is, of course, running to her aid.*
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*Azuma is prevented from moving very far as he's blasted with several orbs of darkness, severely burning him, knocking him to the ground, & also rendering the Slow spell a success. Angela glides over the Keyblade & attacks Artexi with outstretched claws while Nero is still trying to get to his feet. Roatha dashes through Monu's attack with Thunderwheel. In addition to the widened range, he's also trailing some modest-looking blue-white fire. Goliath groggily rubs his head.*
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*Safian arrives near the battlefield, seeing that Elisa has also shown up [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]*
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*The Archmage is now glaring angrily into his reflective pool.*

Archmage<Who is that? Where are the Weird Sisters?!>

*Stomping angrily in the water, he shifts the scene to show that the girls have been bound ankle to neck in iron chains.*

Archmage<Useless, the lot of them!>

Marluxia<We still have Mortal. In fact, it appears as though we have yet another guinea pig.>

*He looks to Xshittyname, still stuck in the ground, whom Larxene advances upon, smiling sadistically.*

*Safian sneaks behind Eve, then roars and sends a fireball at her, which Eve takes to the air to dodge. Artexi parries then slashes with Sol's blade, and Monu sends diamond shards at Roatha*

The Oblivion disappears, the Diamond Dust taking its place. Azuma sets to using Curaja on himself.

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The underside of rocks being dark and having the Oblivion being in her temporary possession, Hitomi can make use of Dark Shell to protect herself.

Taiyo attempts to use Stop on the Heartless.

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Xyukuse: "Come to take me up on that offer, have you?"

Once the apparent earthquake starts, Hinode looked around and braced himself. It seemed that he was entirely too used to clearing rubble and such, considering how he had lived his life up until the point in which he arrived here.

Regardless of any of that, he was soon looking back again as Euryale ran off. He figured that the best opportunity he had to be of any assistance to, well, anyone was to chase after that aforementioned individual and provide what little help that he could.

*Euryale glows magenta & imitates the Heartless's feat, emerging from the ground behind it & swinging at its head. She & Thiera are blown away as the Heartless uses Reflect. The girls quickly summon their armor to avoid being ripped to shreds by the exploding barrier. When the barrier falls, the Heartless thrusts out its other hand, blasting orbs of darkness at Hinode & Taiyo. It is still holding the Oathkeeper in its tentacles.*

E"Hey, I thought you told me Heartless can't use Keyblades!"

T"No, but the armor responds to Senthose's will!"
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*The diamonds didn't work the first time, they're not going to work now--luckily, Lilith ensnares Roatha around the shoulders with ivy before he can reach Monu. Once his arms are drawn back & bound, she grips the Keyblade with both hands & just barely manages to toss him against a tree, which he is then tied to. Angela is thrown off of Artexi, her claws burned. Elisa fires a shot at Artexi's right foot while the knight looking guy tackles Nero, forces his arms behind his back, & begins tying his wrists with twine.*
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*Meanwhile, Larxene generates her knives & slashes down Xshittyname's face.*

Marluxia<Please be careful not to break him before we can use him.>

*She looks over her shoulder to see Marluxia nod to Mortal, who generates her dragon glider thing & sets off.*

Larxene<Play with the toy, but don't break it, of course I know that! I'm not dumb!>

Azuma points the Diamond Dust at Eve and fires a volley of fireballs at her.

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Taiyo rolls and scrambles towards the debris Hitomi is under.

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Xyukuse: "You're not a very good liar."

*Seeing the Roatha has been taken care of, Monu uses Wind Raid  on Artexi, who jumps back from it and the bullet. She than uses her vines to grab Nero and pull him out if reach, running towards Nero. Finally, Eve flies out if range and covers her with her glider's aura only to engage in an aerial battle with Safian*

Hinode was initially in awe of the beast and opened his eyes wide, "That thing must have...0x64 tentacles!" Of course he was exaggerating, and to make matters worse being from Space Paranoids he had developed a habit of counting in hexadecimal.

Soon though he jumped back into action and threw the dark orb away from himself with a thrust that was becoming more skilled as he was getting more used to the form of his armor, though he was then rushing to help Taiyo should she need it.