Looming Shadows

Taiyo: "Something more than friends."

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Azuma dodge rolls all that nonsense and attacks the Wyvern coming for him with Darkra.

"Yeah, I'd be game if you could find the right spell."

Soon enough he gave her a blank stare and scoffed, looking in the other direction, "Jeez, you need to learn how to take a couple of jokes. If you're gonna act this way then...well...see if I care!"

E"But what does that mean?"
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Th"Your 'jokes' sound a lot like insults, you're just as bad as Roatha!"

*Upon finishing her sentence, her mouth hangs open & she stares in shocked disbelief down at the table as though the chart just bit her or something.*
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*The Wyverns are fast enough to fly past Azuma before the spell can take effect, at which point they double back for another pass. He also has a Yellow Opera diving right at him, pulsing with electricity. The Air Soldiers stumble back, now on fire, as a pair of Yellow Operas zig-zag towards her, pulsing with electricity. The remaining Yellow Operas dart back, charging lightning. Lilith spins, releasing a torrent of petals that rip apart the Shadows after her ass.*

L"There must be Heartless all over this town!"

*Spotting the Large Body lumbering over towards her, she takes a defensive stance.*
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*I'm going to be polite & assume he uses Air Gyre on the Grapplers before they can grab him, effectively slicing them each in half. The Shield Gummis bash him again. This time, as he's recovering, the fleet fires more lasers at him & a trio of Bombers zip out to throw their payloads at him.*
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*Senthose slows to a stop when he sees Avici standing on a cloud that's not moving with the others.*

Avici<The wizard escaped. Of course, he's covered every trace of Nero & his student."

Senthose<They've taken him to another world. The most likely candidates are either Disney Castle or Twilight Town. But we'll have to wait until the scouts return to us with more information.>

*Artexi slows to a stop as well, a confused and sad look on her face*

Artexi:<Wait, why not the Land of Departure?>
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*Safian jumps back and sends some glowing clones at the Yellow Operas*
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*Monu tries to fly around the shield gummis to keep moving, using Air Gyre on them if this is impossible. Anything that gets within range gets the same treatment*

Taiyo: "Like um...."

Because actions speak louder than words she slowly leans in towards Euryale's face still mostly stammering. Maybe Euryale will get where this is going and it might be less not the cute kind of awkward.

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Azuma rolls out the Heartless' path and Darkga's the Yellow Opera's.

"...Roatha? Who is Roatha again?" It was ironic for him to be asking about a name when he was originally making fun of her for not remembering his.

Soon, though, he rushed to her side and looked a whole lot more genuine as her mouth was hanging open, "Uhh, Thiera, are you okay?"

Well, that certainly changed him from a snarky smart alec into someone who apparently cared.

*They destroy their targets, Azuma being lucky enough to catch 1 of the Wyverns in his attack. The other approaches his side, bicycle-kicking at him. The Guard Armor abruptly hurls itself at Lilith, who is just barely able to block & shift to the side, causing it to fall flat on its face. She is then blasted by lightning from 1 of the Yellow Operas. The others attack Hitomi & Safian, respectively. The Air Soldiers manage to put themselves out &, heavily damaged, launch towards Safian with flailing punches & kicks.*
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*At first, Euryale lets this happen, but because Taiyo is being really awkward about this, it's uncomfortable & she starts to pull away.*
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*He catches a glimpse of Thiera starting to tear up before she pushes past him on her way to her room, her voice cracking.*

Th"I--I have to go!"
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Senthose<Yen Sid does not work closely with Binah Psyche. I am not sure if his student is even aware of the rest of the Keyblade Wielders yet.>
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*They move to box him in & start battering the shit out of him. Air Gyre had once again bounced off of their shields.*

Azuma moves to block with his Keyblade and punches the Wyvern with Frigid Blast.

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Taiyo backs away seeing how nothing is going right. She looks hurt.

Taiyo: "Sorry...."

"Hey wait a second, I didn't mean to...gah..." Hinode raised his hand as if to try and beckon Thiera back, but it was too late. Maybe he had gone a little too far this time, but he didn't mean to get her that upset.

*Monu attempts to get out of being boxed in by flying in whatever direction is most likely to accomplish this*
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*Safian sends a blast of darkness at the Yellow Opera then jumps on the imaged Air Soldiers and begins to maul them with flaming claws*
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Artexi:<Oh, I guess that's helpful for us then. Now we just go back...and wait?>

*There is a gap back & slightly to the left (right after he turns). Of course, the nearby Shield Gummis try to prevent him from escaping by lashing out with their shields. Also the Gummis behind them fire lasers.*
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*Safian is successful in destroying her foes, but they did manage to beat the Hell out of her for a little while first. The Wyvern is knocked away. Being tough old birds, both Wyverns are still alive, & after Darkga wears off, Wyvern II dives at Azuma. Lilith double jumps & does a little spin, hacking at the downed Large Body & stabbing it in the ass when she lands behind it. As it dissolves, she turns to yell words.*

L"It could take a while to clear the Heartless from the area!"

*Of course, the remaining Yellow Operas are charging more lightning.*
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Senthose<Welcome to my job description.>

*Avici opens a Dark Corridor back to the Altar of Naught.*
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*Binah enters from behind, arms folded at her waist.*

Binah<Roatha used to be one of us. But he was infected by a Heartless on a mission. We tried to stop the spread of darkness, but eventually, we lost. He's now in the Organization, & harbors great resentment for those he used to call friends. We hope to get him back, but I couldn't say whether or not such a thing is possible.>
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E"I just--maybe we should just go back for now?"

*She tries to stand up, forgetting that she has a tail now, & winds up falling flat on her face.*

E"Ah, DAMMIT!"

OOC: Because she was with the group that went back to Order HQ. Exhaustian is a pretty bad thing, ain't it?

Azuma rolls to get behind it and slash it.

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Taiyo: "Yea-are you okay?"

Well, that had certainly earned Binah a relatively strange facial expression from Hinode. "Ah, I see, I guess I shouldn't have said those things to her. I honestly didn't mean to bring back any bad memories that she might have. I'm used to joking around, you know? And sometimes I joke hard."

He exhaled a bit and looked back to her, "Do you think I should go talk to her or somethin'? Sorry I'm not real good with people..."

*I guess Artexi heads back with Senthose and Avici*
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*Monu attempts to take the open route, diving under and around the shields*
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*Safian roars and shadow travels close to the yellow operas, then breathes fire on them. She remains in the shadows for a quick exit if they get on their attacks*

*Monu is successful in this endeavor, however a trio of UFOs & a duo of Phoenixes move in front of him, keeping pace with him & firing his lasers. The Phoenix shoots lasers which emerge in a circular pattern & home in on him, unlike the UFOs. Additionally, Speeders come after him from behind, also shooting lasers. Their aim seems to be to give the Shield Gummis time to move back into position.*
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*She pushes her upper body up with her hands.*

E"Yeah, I'm fine, just covered in sand."
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L"Here's the plan:"

*The Yellow Operas are not the problem--they are now dead--the problem is that another group of 3 Soldiers, 2 Large Bodies, & Green Requiems appear. Of course, they punch/slash at her, with the exception of the Green Requiems, which just sort of fly around. Azuma kills a Wyvern & Lilith kills the 2nd by shooting it in the back with a Bramble Bomb. She then turns her attention to the new Heartless, shooting seeds at them, careful to aim over Safian.*

L"We heal, then move in an inverted V formation, surround any Heartless that appear, & destroy them quickly, using magic if any Large Bodies show up!"
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Binah<She will be out soon enough. You can talk to her then. In the meantime, if you could fetch Euryale & Taiyo from down by the lake shore, I would really appreciate it.>

OOC: 'Cause she doesn't want to see whatever they're doin', amirite?
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*Unseen by Artexi, Heartless begin emerging from the ground as they leave. Due to most of the Organization scouting the other worlds, the Altar of Naught is basically empty. Senthose shuts the Dark Corridor behind them. Avici approaches Artexi.*

Avici<If you wish to question the Order as to Nero's whereabouts, they should be moving on Radiant Garden soon. Keter informs us that they've gained a recruit from The Grid, & now believe they have enough inside information to successfully delete me.>

So Azuma uses Drain on a Large Body as the alternative is to hit things.

"Alright, I'll make sure to make amends later in that case. For now, yeah, I'll go have a look for them." Having sighed for a moment he turned around, going to look for Taiyo and Euryale as he was asked. At this point, Kyohaku figured that they were still down by the lakeshore.

*Safian shadow travels over to Lilith, then breathes darkness on the Large Bodies*
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*Monu uses Air Gyre on the Phoenixes and UFOs in his way while flying as fast as he can away from this shit*
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Artexi:<I can't go it alone, they'll kick my ass no problem.>

*She leans against the wall awkwardly*

<Do you think they can actually delete you?>

*Because the Heartless are relatively far away & Drain isn't that strong, this does very little.*

L"Just a second!"

*Lilith dashes a couple paces & shifts her stance, petals falling around her. Assuming everyone waits like she asks, she darts forwards, slashing the Heartless & obliterating them with Zantetsuken. Once finished, she straightens herself out & turns to them.*

L"We need to decide on a goal. I propose that we find a building to camp in, then when everyone has rested, we move on that structure."

*She points with her Keyblade to a castle that appears to be made of twisted thorns growing atop the bell tower.*

L"If there is any kind of authority in this city, we'll probably find them there. We'll also be able to survey the rest of the town from up there."
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*This isn't really an effective defense against the lasers & he's blasted off of his Glider again. As the Shield Gummis start to move around him, a pair of Grapplers come for the Glider. Xyukuse awakens to find himself weakened, half-conscious, stiff, in pain, tied up, & covered in some thick resin.*
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*It's a fairly long walk, but he can see that they're still down there. Euryale appears to be turning around to crawl into the lake. From this distance, he can also see that she has some kind of red fishy tail instead of legs.*
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*As mentioned previously, Euryale is turning to crawl into the water.*

"You know, you might want to clean up as well. You've got a little sand clinging to you--a lot of it, actually."
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Avici<Not likely. I control the Radiant Garden. But there are things there we don't want them to discover. The Gummi Mine, your friend Cid & his shop, & a certain troublemaker who's been squatting in the dungeon.>

I guess Taiyo goes to splash around as apparently there aren't bathing facilities in this world.

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Azuma: "No one's arguing with what you're saying."

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Xyukuse: "You're trying this again? Why don't you find a comet to crash into a save everyone the headache?"

"Hey Taiyo? Euryale? I'm supposed to come get you guys if you were done, but I don't want to interrupt if you were getting clean."

Kyohaku then stops what he was saying as he got closer and noticed that, well, it seemed almost as though he were actually seeing...was...that a tail?!

Well, she wasn't lying after all! She really was a mermaid!

Artexi:<Oh good, you don't seem half bad. Or insane. So, how will we keep the Order from finding out that stuff?>
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*Safian waits around, looking very tired*
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*Monu resummons his glider underneath him, then moves in whatever direction is the clearest, attempting to avoid the Shields at any cost. He ether doesn't hear Xyukuse or does and could care less*

*Avici stares at her blankly.*

Avici<...Maybe I will politely request that they stay away.>
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*Because of this, Xyukuse is now floating in space, no longer tied down to anything. He is, however, still encased in a hard resin, which the Grapplers grab & speed away with. By this point, the fleet has Monu surrounded again, & of course he is still being blasted with lasers.*
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L"Uh, okay? Judging from some of the rubble, I think the buildings that Organization member partially collapsed were hotels."

*She heads back the direction they came.*
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*Having slithered into the water, Euryale bobs back up & turns around.*

E"Huh? Oh, is it time to go already?"

*So she swims forward with a combination of breast stroke & dolphin kick--because her lower half can't really do much else--until she nears land, at which point her tail glows & becomes legs, which she uses to climb out of the water.*

"Yeah, sorry, it's time to get going...I'm not interrupting a bath or anything am I? I think I overheard something about that, but I'm not sure."

Kyohaku smirked a bit and shut his head, still stunned by all of the slithering and the fact that she was legitimately a mermaid. It was incredible, but he was learning that the entire universe was, indeed, filled with wonder.

Taiyo steps up on to the shore and shakes off. A change of clothes and a towel will be needed.