Looming Shadows

Hitomi gliders up and takes off through the hole.

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

Xyukuse dodge deflects towards her, springing up with both Keyblades in hand, wreathed in fire he throws them at her.

"Yeah, I remember!" Hinode smirked; of all the things that he had been introduced to thus far, this was the on that he actually didn't hate. Soon enough he had generated that aforementioned flying machine and was ready to go with the others.

*Eve parries with her own keyblade, then jumps back and disappears into her own dark corridor, heading back to home base*
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Safian:<So...we won, right?>
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Monu:<My companions are hopefully taking care of the Archmage problem.>
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*Artexi follows*

R"Yup. Ya knocked his fancy hat off with a lucky shot. Great work, Team!"

*He gives them the double thumbs-up, then leans over to Nero.*

R"(Hey, Captain Emo, pick that thing up, would ya?)"
==========================
Elisa<We...should make sure that they're alright.>

Goliath<Are you sure you're ready to stand?>

Elisa<I'll be FINE, Goliath. Thank you, Angela.>

*Angela stands & helps Elisa, who rubs her head with her free hand.*
==========================
*Euryale rams a tentacle. Once they're out in the sky, a trio of Wyverns appear.*

T"Don't let yourself be distracted!"

*She ducks under the wyverns & keeps heading into the city. The Armored Heartless shoots out of the building, speeding towards Hinode.*

E"Man, that thing is persistent."

*She turns to the side, ramming the wyverns out of the way. Taiyo is probably flopping around awkwardly. Possibly accidentally groped on the behind.*
====================================
*She cartwheels out of the way, pulling the knives & lightning inward towards Xyukuse's back, attempting to surround him.*
====================================
*Eve finds Senthose standing on the edge of the Altar of Naught, looking down on the Dark City.*

"I should have seen this before. Helen of Troy launched a thousand ships. Nothing inspires hatred & betrayal quite like love. The battle lines have been drawn & soon the Heartless will proliferate. The Keyblade War has finally started, but to make sure we're the ones who finish it, we'll need to eliminate the last of those fossils leading the Order."

Azuma points the Diamond Dust towards Roatha because what kind of helmet is going to fall for that ruse?

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

This is not Taiyo's idea of a good time.

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

Xyukuse high jumps over that shit. Recalling the Keyblades, he throws the Flame Flair at Larxene's feet.

Turning about on his glider, Hinode jumped up with it in an ollie as though he were on a hoverboard before he was able to return fire with beams of light. Still, he was driven onward by that instruction of not to get distracted at all.

Eve:<If our own ranks can stop betraying each other long enough. Marluxia sends his regards by the way.>
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*Safian sends some fireballs at Roatha as well*

<I know. I had suspected it, so I monitored the situation. Evidently, Marluxia & Larxene figured out how to distribute copies of their own hearts. But don't you see that he's playing right into our hands? He causes more bloodshed, but 2 traitors & 1 slave from the Order aren't enough to pose an actual threat. Soon, we'll put out an advisory to ensure that the others aren't ambushed & captured by the duo, & after the rabid animals have caused enough trouble, we'll put them down.>
==================================
*Presumably, Goliath, Monu, Elisa, & Angela arrive at where Roatha was, Goliath in the lead.*

Goliath<Hmm--Roatha is missing.>

Angela<What do you plan to do about him, Father?>

Goliath<Gargoyles do not have pare-->

*He turns, but when he sees Angela's pleading expression, turns back.*

Goliath<...When he hurt you, all I could think of was revenge. But that is not the way. He is our friend, cursed by a magic spell, & he needs our help.>
==================================
*Roatha blocks, shoulder-bumping Nero.*

R"Hey, retard, what are you waiting for?!"

N"Why do you want it?"

R"What does it matter? It's important to the Organization!"

N"The Organization, or just you? Or maybe someone else. What's REALLY going on here?"
=============================
*The Heartless is blasted. Floundering, it crashes into the side of a building. Euryale pulls up beside Hinode, but of course the wyverns dive towards them.*

E"Try to blast them without losing momentum!"

*Up above, they can see that some large mage heartless have spawned around Thiera, who weaves in & out of a field of large fireballs & narrowly avoids a tornado.*
==================================
*Larxene takes several paces back & flicks her keyblade wrist. The knives each send a beam of lightning at Xyukuse, precisely tracking his descent & other movements.*

Monu:<A magic wish done by a member of the Organization, Nero.>
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*Safian goes ahead and picks it up in her mouth, then heads over to give it to Lilith*

Artexi:<Yeah, since when have you given a shit about anything but yourself?>
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*Eve nods, staring down at the city*

<I should have expected you would have already known and come up with a plan.>

Taiyo: "I can use my magic."

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

Azuma didn't attack, but okay.

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

The Ill Wind occurs although without effect. Xyukuse recalls Frolic Flame and hurls it at Larxene's feet again, throwing the Chaos Ripper after aiming, behind her.

"Yeah, I'll do what I can!" Hinode yelled back to Euryale and continued to speed forward, releasing bolts of light all the while. Fortunately his speed continued to carry him the way that she had so asked.

E"Excellent!"

*As predicted, the Wyverns are knocked off-balance, & then are destroyed when Euryale rams into them. Up ahead, Thiera gives them  the "go around" signal, so Euryale veers right to go around a skyscraper.*

E"I hope she can handle those Heartless chasing her by herself. I see the Eyrie Building up ahead, but you know what I don't see? Xanatos said he was going to use his robots to set the sky on fire & undo the spell. So where are they?"
==============================
R"Now is not the time for this argument. It's 3 on 3, this is the perfect chance to kill 'em."

N"I don't wanna. You're always having me attack random people without knowing why."

R"You miss the part where we're at war with them, dipshit? And they're gonna escape with the Eye of Odin if your dumb ass doesn't help stop 'em."
===============================
Goliath<Hm...I remember Nero. He nearly smashed me just before I'd awoken, claiming he thought I was just a statue.>

Angela<Do you think that's true, Father?>

Goliath<It is difficult to say. This--Organization may have always been after us. The only way to get answers is to confront them directly.>
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Senthose<Binah's & Yen Sid's greatest strengths are magic. Beyond that, they have barely any capabilities. I have an experiment that should help. But we'll need more. We'll need a way to remove her magic from the equation completely. We should also attack Yen Sid at the same time, so that he cannot come to her aid. Maybe we can even eliminate them both at once.>
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*Xshittyname is now being electrocuted from all angles. Larxene chooses to eat the Ill Wind.*

Artexi:<I sure as hell aren't killing people for no reason ether. Looks like it's one on three now.>
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Monu:<From what I know of Nero, destroying statues for the hell of it seems like something he would do.>
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Eve:<What would you like me to do?>

Taiyo: "What if something happened to him?"

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

Xyukuse rolls on landing, recalling the Keyblades and charges at Larxene.

Once Euryale had destroyed the Wyverns, Hinode noticed that Thiera was giving him the go around signal and so he started to follow through.

"Yeah, I thought that he said that too...did we get duped or something?" Even then he still kept up the velocity that he had promised before and continued next to her for the time being.

E"I guess we'll find out when we get there."

*So they meet up with Thiera at the Eyrie Building. When they swoop in to land, panels in the castle slide away, revealing anti-aircraft guns. However, they only target the Heartles pursuin them, destroying them in a few seconds. Euryale & Thiera dismiss their gliders. Thiera runs towards the tower entrance, Euryale following.*

T"Senthose's Heartless is probably still following us, so we'll have to move fast!"

*Upon entering the office, they see Xanatos knocked out cold. Thiera casts a cure spell & Euryale heads over to the timer.*

E"There's less than an hour left on this thing, is that really enough time?"

*Xanatos pushes himself to a sitting position, rubbing his head.*

Xanatos<No...Demona attacked...must have changed the timer....>
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*Larxene moves to block.*
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R"You're both useless!"

L"So how's this going to go, Roatha?"

R"There's no point in beating around the bush anymore: Call me Ira."

*Nero turns.*

N"I hear someone coming. If we're not going to fight, then we should probably go."

R"Then leave, you stupid cowards! Your whining is annoying!"
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Goliath<Then we should make haste.>

Elisa<Agreed.>

*So the 3 of them run off in the direction of the grotto.*
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<I need you to set to work on producing something that can nullify magic.>

Taiyo: "Can't you change it back?"

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

Xyukuse calls the Frolic Flame and jumps over Larxene, slashing her in the back with it and following through with a swing from the Chaos Ripper.

Naturally Hinode joined her as they rendevoused with Thiera over at the Eyrie building. When he swept in and dismissed his glider this time, it seemed like it was with a far more practiced action then he had in the past. For the time being he moved to follow along with Euryale.

Looking down at Xanatos, he swallowed, "Then, uh, what have we even got left?"

Quickly he leaned over to Thiera in deference to her cure spell, "The old man's not gonna croak, is he?"

*Monu follows on his glider*
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*Artexi gliders up*

<Are you Roatha's evil twin then?>
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*Eve nods*

<I will beginning at once. Please excuse me.>

*So she goes off to her lab to do that shit*

*Xanatos shoots to his feet & rushes to the computer, bumping into Thiera, who turns to glare at him.*

Th"...Apparently not."

*Xanatos hammers at the keys for a while but the computer just buzzes & flashes a red "ACCESS DENIED!"*

Xanatos<It's no good, she's changed the password!>

E"So what do we do now?"

Xanatos<We'll have to find her & get the new password. I'll send out my robots. There won't be enough time to set the sky on fire, but at least they won't explode in the middle of my lab.>

Th"Senthose's Heartless is on its way."

Xanatos<I wouldn't know anything about that.>

Th"Of course you wouldn't. It still may have more plans to sabotage us.."

Xanatos<2 teams: One of you stays with me to help defend the castle, the rest of you track Demona. Sound like a plan?>
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R"Something like that."

*Nero generates a Dark Corridor back to a pathway at The World That Never Was & drags Roatha into it. They have enough time to hear Roatha shout, "Let go!" before the Corridor vanishes.*

L"We still have 2 left, capture them!"

*Lilith generates a ring of ivy around Artexi, which starts closing in. Goliath & Angela also each grab a hold of a side of her glider, doing that glowy-eyed roar thing.*
================================
*Larxene is a second too slow & now tendrils of darkness, nothingness, & electric sparks are pouring out of her wound. She lets out a strained gasp as she falls to the ground, but then she flips over, smiling.*

<You haven't won anything. The real Larxene is still out there, & even if you COULD get away from the Order & take her out, you'd still be a pawn. You'll ALWAYS be a pawn.>

*The arcs of electricity continue to build, now lashing at Xyukuse as Larxene laughs at him.*
==================================
*On her way, Eve encounters Roatha struggling in Nero's grasp.*

N"Will you settle down!?"

R"I'll kill you is what I'll do! You'd BETTER not let go, 'cause the second you do, you're DEAD! If not before!"

Azuma plain ol' casts Stop on Artexi.

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

Xyukuse firewheels to the side, swinging with the Chaos Ripper when he's standing.

Xyukuse: "Tragic. I really do like you, in my own special way."

*Eve summons her keyblade and casts stop on Roatha*

<He is a lost cause, Nero. Even if Roatha returns to his original mindset he will still be a member of the Order.>
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*Artexi desummons her glider, opening a dark corridor directly beneath her so that she falls into it*

"Wait a sec, maybe I could hack out the password? If any of us knows about computers, well..." Generally, Hinode figured, living inside of one usually made you quite knowledgeable about them.

"The encryption system here probably isn't too complex, mind if I take a look at it?" He smirked a moment, but of course he realized that Thiera's warning about the aforementioned Heartless on behalf of Senthose was all too real.

*Xanatos strides over to another slide-away panel, which contains red armor that appears to be modeled after Goliath. He starts by putting on a gauntlet.*

Xanatos<I assure you, Xanatos Industries has the tightest security in the world.>

Th"Be that as it may, it's already been beaten a few times. I say, if there's a chance he can crack the code, he should go for it. That doesn't preclude the rest of us tracking down Demona."

E"I should probably stay here, to make sure that Xanatos doesn't try anything funny."

Xanatos<By all means, be my guest.>

E"You & Taiyo be careful."

Th"It would probably help if you put her down first."

E"What?"

*Euryale looks to the side to see that Taiyo is still slung over her shoulder, & sets her back on her feet, as asked.*

E"Oh. Sorry about that."

*Meanwhile, Xanatos continues putting on armor.*
==================================
*Presumably, Artexi winds up in much the same place. Nero turns to Eve as Roatha is frozen in mid-tirade.*

N"Of course there's a way! With enough dark power, I could use the Keyblade to unlock his heart! Senthose probably already has that kind of power! And why would he go back to the Order if WE'RE the ones who return him to normal & THEY just want to attack him!?"
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*I don't know what that's supposed to accomplish, so I'm going to say that the Larxene Replica exploding hurls him out of the Dive & back into his conscious body, which is of course still stuck in a bunch of rock with his limbs sticking out at odd angles. The advantage is that his mobility & powers have returned. The disadvantage is that Lilith is tossing a Resin Raid at him. He is also being charged on 3 sides by Goliath, Angela, & Arthur, while Elisa has her gun trained on his legs.*

Elisa<Don't move, or I'll shoot!>

"It might be the tightest security to your people, but my mind processes this kind of information the way a machine would for you." With that Hinode looked over and frowned.

Well, it certainly wasn't every day that he used something as primitive as a keyboard to interface with a computer, but it would have to do.

"Yeah, stick around here while I do this Euryale - I can't trust that guy." Hinode spoke of Xanatos as though he wasn't able to hear him even though he clearly was.

"Huh, this code isn't that complex at all. Why did you call a 64-bit password matrix the 'tightest' security around anyway?"