Looming Shadows

"Euryale is probably right, but for what its worth..." Between his words, Kyohaku paused for a few moments, as he seemed to hammer out something on the keyword in the manner of putting in Xanatos' requested time index. "...for what its worth we now have an extra 3 1/2 hours before anything actually happens."

*Arthur, Goliath, & Angela grab him while he's guarding. This, combined with Safian gripping his massacred leg, keep him from doing any kind of spinning attack. He is also presumably shot full of diamonds. Lilith leaps over the wall, re-summoning her Keyblade, & closes in.*
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R"You know, you shouldn't use same-sex attraction as an insult, as it's demeaning to the gay--haha, of course I don't care about that! No, dipshit, he's dead. He attacked Senthose & Lexeus knocked him off of the roof."
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*Thiera lets go of Demona & flies back so as not to be blasted by Hitomi. Demona is struck full of lasers & falls, smoking, to the city below.*

Th"What are you doing?! We need her! And you almost hit me!"

*The man, presumably Macbeth, of course dives down, firing at Demona.*
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E"Well, let's go then."

*She heads outside, where she tosses her Keyblade on the ground, turning it into her chariot.*
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*The computer notes that magic-users require speech to cast spells, & that magical creatures are often resistant or immune to certain forms of magic. Notably, the Nobody type Sorcerer & the Heartless types Wizard & Bookmaster are immune to all magic.*

*Eve summons several Soceror nobodies into a sort of containment unit*
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*Safian is still grabbing and pulling. Monu approaches him from the side opposing Lilith*
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<That's not what I...what?!>

*Artexi hurriedly opens the door*

<Why the hell did he do that?>

Xyukuse opens a Dark Corridor beneath himself, intent on dragging everyone else in. The Order chumps may have their armor, but those other chumps sure as Hell got nothing.

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They pursue Macbeth.

Just as she got the chariot, Kyohaku was soon tossing his own keyblade onto the ground so that he could produce his Solar Sailer vehicle and soar off with her. "You said we were going to meet up with the others and help them out with Demona then?"

R"You mean Nero or Lexeaus?"
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E"Yeah."

*As they're flying, they see the others diving after some bearded guy on a hovercraft. Thiera cuts him off. He fires a couple of times, but is forced to swerve away when his lasers deflect off of her shields. Euryale comes onto the scene from behind, ramming him & destroying his craft. She grabs onto his arm only to be forced to duck out of the way as he shoots at her.*

E"Are you crazy?! I'm the only thing keeping you from falling to your death!"

???<Only the demon can kill me! Our fates are tied, and tonight, I end this centuries-long feud by destroying us both!"

Th"If you have this under control, I'm going after Demona!"

E"We don't need her anymore, Kyohaku figured out the password."

Th"I still want to arrest her!"

*So she heads down to the city streets.*
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*They just kind of float there, undulating oddly, almost like bags caught in the wind.*
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*Lilith lashes out, stretching branches to grab on to Xyukuse & help the others drag him away from the Dark Corridor. In addition, the branches flush as his blood flows through them, trading it for poison & sapping his strength.*

<Nero!>
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*Eve goes about harvesting their essence with her keyblade and putts that in another containment unit*
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*Safian summons her glider so she has something to stand on while she continues attempting to take Xyukuse's leg off. Summons his glider and prepares to grab the armor less if they are in danger of falling in*

Azuma backs the hell on out of there while Xyukuse stabs at Safian's face because she is not very bright while cutting at the vines with the Chaos Ripper.

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That endevor is as pointless as this adventure, so Hitomi & Taiyo hang back to support Euryale.

"What the hell are you doing?! You're going to get yourself killed, Thiera!" With wide eyes, he looked back toward Euryale, "What, are we gonna go and follow her then?"

Despite his tone, Kyohaku actually had a slight smirk - maybe he liked the idea of the adventure anyway.

*Eve retrieves sort of spheres of nothingness, empty spaces where hearts should be. The Nobodies themselves collapse & vanish.*
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R"Blamed Senthose for his problems, like he does to everyone. Honestly, we all knew he'd amount to nothin' but gettin' himself killed. Only shame is that I wasn't the one to do 'im in."
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*Lilith shifts her blade to parry his attack on Safian. She also sends ivy to wrap around his upper arms.*

L"We've got him now, we just have to knock him out!"
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E"I don't think she's in any danger--I don't think she's going to find anything."

*She nods in Thiera's direction. She keeps circling the streets like she can't find Demona.*

<You'll not cost me my chance at ending this!>

*The man tries to fire at her again, but she twists his wrist so that he drops the laser blaster.*

E"Who are you, how do you know Demona, & why do you want to die so badly!?"

<The name's Macbeth, & I don't just KNOW her, I NAMED her! We were allies long ago--I traded my youth so that we could take down the man who killed my father & her clan, but then she betrayed us to the English! After the death of my son, I tired of immortality, & have hunted her ever since!>

*Artexi pushes passed Roatha and runs outside*
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*Eve combines the spheres together then puts those aside and begins making an amplification device*
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*Monu flies up and clunks him on the back of his head*

Xyukuse plain ol' ducks. Engulfing himself in fire, he thrashes about kicking and slashing.

OOC: Sorry for the delay over the weekend!

"Well..." Naturally Kyohaku continued to follow along for now with an exhalation, "Immortality is it? Is that what you want? Believe me, it’s a curse, not a gift - take it from someone who doesn't die the way a user would die, alright?" With that he joined Euryale at her side again. "Need any help? Looks like you've got everything under control."

Macbeth<You have it backwards, boy--the witches made us immortal, Demona & I. We can only die once we've killed each other. I know well the curse of immortality.>

E"That's stupid, you screwed up your own story!"

Macbeth<What?>

E"Did killing your father's murderer save you from the English? Did hunting Demona save your son? Did betraying you save the gargoyles?"

Macbeth<Well...no....>

E"And what would killing Demona tonight have done but make you a coward who sacrificed hundreds of people for his own selfish reasons?"

*At this point, Thiera has flown up & rejoined them.*

T"I hope you learned something tonight, Macbeth: Death is never the answer. Life is."

Macbeth<...If that is true, then what are you going to do when you face Senthose Rasheverek?>

T"Wait, what? You know about him?!"

Macbeth<Indeed. Your friend's influence extends farther than even you know.>

E"He's not our friend."

Macbeth<It's a jape. Land, & I would be glad to tell you what I know, as recompense.>
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*Just before Angela, Goliath, & Arthur are forced to let go, Lilith fires a seed full of sleeping gas at his chest.*
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R"They're all at the Altar of Naught! Naught that you can do anything about it now! Haha!"

*Artexi runs to the Alter of Naught*
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*Safian lets go and lands near Lilith, Monu preparing to attack again it the seeds don't work*

"I didn't have it backwards - I just figured you were lying and really did want to be immortal." Of course, Kyohaku was just covering up for his mistake, but that was the way he was going to say it.

"As...Recompense? Something tells me that you're not feeling guilty about this; why do you really want to tell us, huh?"

How someone that can barely lift their weapon is keeping someone that is on fire from falling into the gaping void that is below them with vines that are apparently indestructible is an absolute mystery, but anywho, he blocks that shit with the Frolic Flame that had previously been stabbing Safian's face to no effect.

*That scenario is inaccurate for many reasons, most important of which is that you can't parry gas with a sword. Xshittyname thus begins slipping into unconsciousness.*
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Macbeth<Guilt is probably too loaded of a word, but I always repay my debts.>

T"There's a roof top just over there we could use."
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*When Ira said, "They," he apparently meant that most of the Organization was assembled here. Most of them are looking at a certain part of the railing, with Senthose, Saix, & Lexeaus standing closest to the edge, peering over.*

"Alright, I'll come along with." Turning his head about, Hinode eyed the rooftop and started to zero in on where they might end up landing.

Xyukuse attempts the impossible which is while on fire, destroy the indestructible vines and fall into the Dark Corridor beneath him although it's wasted effort because "plot".

OOC: Should have left earlier.

*Monu and Safian watch as he falls unconscious*
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*Artexi pushes her way to the edge and stares over*

OOC: As Leafy noted. I actually planned for all of the Organization to escape. This makes my job harder. Plus, the plot complaint is ironic.

*Why the vines should have broken is a mystery, but it doesn't matter, because he was already screwed once he was knocked out. As noted earlier, he was dragged away from the Dark Corridor, & also he's been affected by sleeping gas, so none of this works. Once he's asleep, Lilith sets to strengthening the vines around his arms & adding more, intent on completely wrapping him from shoulders to toes.*

Elisa<So what now?>

L"We'll take this jerk back to the Land of Departure, to interrogate for information on the Organization. You can't come with us, but we'll let you know if we see the Organization come after you again."

Goliath<That's just as well. Elisa, Bronx, & I need to get back to the rest of the Clan.>

Angela<And I'd like to go with my Father.>

Arthur<Avalon doesn't take you where you want to go. It sends you where you need to be. Hopefully, it will take me where I need to go to find Merlin and the rest of my knights.>
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*It's impossible to see anything this high up. In fact, she can barely see the cityscape peeking out from behind the clouds. The assembled turn towards a Dark Corridor that opens up, Xigbar stepping out.*

Xigbar<Didn't see him down there. Guess the Heartless must've gotten him. Guess that'd mean his Nobody's on the loose, right?>

Lexeaus<Unless he's dead.>

Senthose<That is not possible. The Heartless will not take a subject without a heart, & the heart leaves the body along with the soul upon death.>

Saix<He could have been taken just before his bodily death. What effect would this have on the Nobody?>

Senthose<Most likely, it would either not be viable, or be healed by the reformation process.>
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*On a roof.*

E"Alright, spill it."

Macbeth<Patience, lass. As you may have realized, the armored Heartless belongs to Senthose. It, Demona, & Xanatos were once in an alliance, but betrayed Xanatos to cooperate with Demona on this city of stone plot.>

*Thiera & Euryale cross their arms, tap their feet, & stare hard at him.*

T"I thought you said that you know something we don't?"

Macbeth<I also stressed the importance of patience! The Heartless also told me where to find Demona. Doubtless it hoped to prevent you from discovering her pass code. But there is more. Demona has met with others, powerful sorcerers whom I suspect to be not of this world. The Heartless has a team. In my research, I have also discovered the Organization, but they do not appear to be working with Demona and her companions.>

E"Senthose is enemies with his own Heartless?"

T"No, that's impossible. The Heartless is the one who corrupted Roatha's heart. If it was enemies with Senthose, he would not have joined the Organization."

E"He could just be spying on them."

T"He couldn't infiltrate the Order, why would he be any more successful with the Organization? Senthose, his heartless, & Dark Roatha all come from a common thread. They are all linked by the same heart. They just don't want their minions to know that they're all on the same side. And they wanted us to think that the Heartless was acting alone."

Had Euryale not already demanded that he spill the beans, Hinode would surely have done so in good time. He grumbled a bit, but stayed on the roof with them for the time being as it were anyway.

"Demona's sorcerers...where do they come from if they're not of this world?"

He assumed, at this point, that they very well could have come from nearly anywhere. After all he wasn't really from this world so he figured there must be plenty of jumping around at this particular juncture.

*Artexi looks over at Senthose, trying to hold back tears*

<So...he could be alive as a nobody?>
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*Safian starts licking all of the blood off herself. Monu grimaces, looking between her and Xyukuse*

<Should I heal his leg?>

OOC: I'm just going to assume Harley isn't going to post.

*Lilith stops spreading the ivy once it reaches his waist.*

L"Probably a good idea. We don't want him bleeding out before we can get information out of him. Plus we wouldn't want to wake him up."
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Macbeth<That I cannot say.>
 
Th"Can you provide us with descriptions?"
 
Macbeth<To a degree. One was a very tall, very pale woman, with flowing black robes, and a great horned hat. Another was simply a pirate, perhaps not magical at all. Still another was a man of African descent with a gap between his front teeth. Do they have the same continents on other worlds?>
 
Th"Stay on topic, please. I haven't even said anything about other worlds."
 
Macbeth<Your secret-keeping is wasted on me. Demona has used the Phoenix Gate to leave this world before. I myself have followed her with one of my ships.>

Th"So we weren't able to shut down Xanatos's Gummi Block program?"

Macbeth<Not in the slightest. Plus, the technology is being traded on other worlds as we speak.>

*Thiera rubs her eyes, sighing.*

E"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure the gargoyles will help gather up these Gummi Block things while we're away."
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Senthose<I don't know. Very little of this makes sense.>

Lexeaus<You're telling me. Why didn't he block my attack? I only wanted to subdue him.>

Xigbar<Hah! Kid was clearly cuckoo!>

*Xigbar spins his finger, pointing at his head.*

Xigbar<Comes up here, yellin' 'bout how the boss is in cahoots with the Order, or somethin'.>

*Behind him, Axel crosses his arms.*

Axel<He seemed to think you tried to turn Roatha into a Heartless. But I was there, I saw what happened with the wish. Plus, we've all taken down a ton of Heartless. None of his story adds up.>