Looming Shadows

They summon their gliders and follow.

*The gargoyles see Brooklyn climbing another building, so they head that way instead, because that speeds up introductions. As for Hinode, he sees the aircrafts from before, as well as a few new ones, touch down on the roof. The pink one disappears in a flash of light, revealing a woman with red hair in a long braid. The other red-headed woman lands nearby. Her chariot & armor also disappear in a flash of light, making her easily the most oddly dressed person there, with a red clamshell bra & an armored skirt thing. The blond woman from the fight lands behind them in a craft that appears to be made of large fake wings. It, too, disappears in a flash of light, leaving her standing on the roof. The small gargoyle crawls over to Brooklyn after landing.*

Lexington<Who's the new guy?>

*Meanwhile, the blond lady looks down & crosses her arms over her stomach.*

"So--Broadway, right?"

Broadway<Uh, yeah. What is it?>

"I'm--sorry I snapped at you. I've been doing that a lot lately."

Broadway<Aw, don't mention it.>

*Seeing this, the woman with the braid scratches the back of her head, & turns to Hitomi whenever she lands.*

"I guess I should say the same to you. It was a cramped fight. Things happen. And you probably wouldn't have hit Thiera anyway."
====================================
R"Convenient you 2 have an excuse to avoid the fight."

N"Hey, I backed you up, didn't I?"

R"You hesitated, like a damn fool. If you'd struck right away instead of asking me stupid questions, the fat lizard thing would be dead & there'd be 1 less person against us."

*Nero points the Keyblade at him.*

N"I'd watch it if I were you! You never won any of our fights back in Traverse Town."

*Roatha narrows his eyes, then quickly deflects the Darker Than Dark with his Omega Weapon & puts the tip of the Ultima Weapon at Nero's throat, the latter looking quite shocked.*

R"Things change."

*After a moment of tension, they both look over at Xshittyname, who coughs & sputters his way back into consciousness.*

Hitomi: "Apology accepted."

Azuma: "Friendly fire happens. I ended up getting hit with one of her lightning bolts in Olympia."

An expression of embarrassment and shame appears on Hitomi's face.

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

Xyukuse: "What's this, a lover's quarrel?"

*Artexi steps between them, holding out a keyblade in each hand*

<Seriously guys, knock it off.>

*Eve watches, arm crossed
===
*Hinode also sees an orange triangular glider surrounded by leaves, carrying the four legged creature from before. The glider disappears as she jumps off and lands on the roof. She is followed by a brown haired man, who admittedly is dressed like Robin Hood, on an almost keyblade-shaped glider. He lands as well, while Safian goes over to sniff Jinode*

<He's not one of your friends? I've sure never seen him before.>

*Monu claps his hands*

<Glad that's settled!>

One good thing was the fact that Hinode Kyohaku had been used to his fair share of danger, which meant that though this was all incredibly off the wall as far as he was concerned he could still respond with only a modicum of fear. While the aircraft around him were impressive, they were still somewhat reminiscent of the vehicles used back on the Grid.

That was, of course, in spite of the fact that this place had actually kind of looked primitive to him. Considering that no one else was glowing he had gotten over the idea that he had been deleted. Maybe people just didn't glow here, as strange as that idea must have been.

"Hinode Kyohaku; I'm a dude who's far from home and had some sick sword before, that's all." Apparently he was speaking in response to the question that had been posed before by Lexington.

Brooklyn<He says he had one of those keyswords, but he can't find it. Come to think of it, where are yours?>

*Thiera, Lilith, & Euryale slowly look to each other, then back to Brooklyn & Hinode. They extend their hands &, in flashes of light, their respective Keyblades appear in their grasps. Brooklyn nods.*

Brooklyn<Sorcery. That makes sense.>

T"I'm afraid that doesn't explain where he got it from."

Broadway<Uh, aren't you gonna tell him your names?>

T"Oh, right! I was so surprised that I forgot all about that. Please excuse my lapse in manners."

*She gives a little nod, then gestures at herself, the woman with the braid, & the dark skinned redhead in the clamshell bra in turn, who wave when their respective names are announced.*

T"I'm Thiera, this is my sister, Lilith, and this is Euryale. It is very nice to meet you, but I'll let the others introduce themselves."
===============================
R"I don't take orders from you. Mind your own business."

*He dismisses his Keyblades & wanders over to Xshittyname with a shit-eating grin & hands on his hips.*

R"And how 'bout you? You enjoy your nap? Least y'smell better now."

Azuma: "Azuma."

Hitomi: "Hitomi."

Taiyo: "Taiyo."

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

Xyukuse: "Doesn't cover up the stench of failure coming from you. What was it you said at the Castle, there's going to be some changes? Do those changes involve fleeing from any confrontation with the Order and tearing at each other's throats like they do?"

He stands up, brushing himself off.

Xyukuse: "If it weren't for that wish, you'd still be a failure in the Order instead of a failure in the Organization."

"Where I got it? Let's just say I'm not from around here, alright?" He soon raised a brow and looked back toward them. When he saw the girl in the clamshell bra he grabbed his nose, fearful that he might start bleeding from it immediately.

"Um, I'd like to know more about where it went then how I got it. I coulda actually done somethin', you know...I don't wanna be a dork just standin' there. I want to do somethin'!"

Having nodded at the others he was meeting, Kyohaku smirked and threw back his head, "It's nice to meet you; you all seem pretty chill but you'll soon learn I'm not exactly the most formal guy around."

He then paused and, instinctively, extended his hand in the hope that his "Keysword" gadget might appear there. He wasn't a sorcerer, but after everything he saw today he wouldn't have doubted that might work.

At this rate, with some women around he might very well have ended up with one of those dreaded nosebleeds!

Safian:<Safian. Guess you're not from around here then, huh?>

Monu:<Monu. When was the last time you had your keyblade?>
===
Artexi:<Well, so much for getting anything done.>

OOC: So if you have some comment or concern that isn't something that any character is saying or doing, you can say it like this. We just can't respond to it in real time, that's the only thing. There can technically be posts that are entirely OOC comments, but I try to minimize those.

*The Photon Debugger does indeed appear in his hand. Lilith & Thiera look a bit shocked, but Euryale just kind of claps.*

Brooklyn<What, isn't that normal?>

L"Stay here, Euryale. The rest of us have to talk about something."

*So she & her sister head to a spot a few feet away, motioning for the other Keyblade Wielders to follow. Euryale frowns.*

E"Other than you, I'm the newest member of the group, so I guess they're leaving me out of whatever they're talking about."

*She jabs her Keyblade into the rooftop, resting her upper body on it.*

E"Soooo--what do you wanna talk about?"
----------------------------------------------
*Thiera & Lilith start a huddle.*

L"(He could be a spy from the Organization.)"

T"(Safian would have smelled it.)"

L"(Senthose would have thought of that.)"

T"(Okay, but then wouldn't he have a better story for how he got his Keyblade than that it just came to him one day?)"

L"(Senthose could be handing them out in secret. Or this could be one of his experiments to transplant his heart. Like a Manchurian Candidate.)"
====================================
*Roatha does not even bother to argue, he simply snarls & lashes out with the Ultima Weapon, generating a pillar of fire under Xshittyname.*

N"Hey, hold on--"

*Nero tries to step forward, but is treated to a slash from Roatha's other Keyblade that throws him into the opposite wall. Before he even hits the ground, he's been struck by lightning.*

R"Let's get one thing straight, we are not "friends"! Anyone who gets in my way will be burned like the garbage they are!"

*Artexi summons her keyblade and runs over to help Nero up. Eve summons her keyblade as well*

This man is a danger to everything...why did Senthose send him out like this?
===
Safian:<Yeah, he smells normal enough.>

Monu:<Did anyone not receive a keyblade from someone?>

Azuma: "Why not BS something to find out of he's legit or not?"

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

Xyukuse Firewheel's to the left and summons the Chaos Ripper.

Xyukuse: "There are easier ways of getting yourself killed!"

Admittedly, at this point, very little could have possibly surprised Kyohaku and he just smirked at the fact that he was able to bring that object back into his hand.

Turning around once again, he looked back at Brooklyn and shrugged at the question that was been posed by her. "I figured it would be. I had the thing before and I'm glad to have it again."

Soon enough he smirked again and threw his head back, "Already, I'm ready to kick some ass, so when do we get going again?" Basically, he just wanted to show that he could actually do something, as he felt pretty altogether useless in that last fight and wanted to make up for it.

That being said, he was a little curious as to what the others were doing, as he didn't have the slightest idea as to what they were talking about exactly.

He didn't know anyone suspected him of being a spy!

T"(What type of interrogation could we use? What if he doesn't even know that he's being used?)"

L"(Either way, we should notice darkness coming from him if we train him. Unless Senthose has found some way to mask that, as well.)"

T"(You're going to take him in, just like that?)"

L"(Spy or not, he's more dangerous if he's out of our sight.)"
------------------------------------------------
E"When I was invited to the group, there were a bunch of things I needed to be taught. I had to be outfitted with armor, taught how to turn my Keyblade into a Glider, told about keeping the secrets of the Order...oh, but it looks like you already have legs & know how to use them, so at least you have a head start."
=====================================
R"If you think you can kill me, you're a bigger idiot than I thought!"

*He lunges at Xshittyname, only to faceplant in a wall of pink cubes. A Sorcerer Nobody unfolds out of the aether behind Xshittyname like it's a tissue, & another in the alley behind Roatha.*

R"Oh, I see how it is."

*He points to Xshittyname with the Omega Weapon.*

R"You got lucky, X-shittyname! Senthose won't always be around to protect you!"

*Nero just kind of groans, half-conscious.*

Artexi:<Damn it, speak to me!>

*She lays him flat on the ground, almost giving him a hug in process. Meanwhile Eve crosses her arms and stares at Roatha*

Senthose, thank you, thank you.
===
Safian:<Yeah, but we better not tell him anything important.>

Naturally he wasn't able to hear what was going on between the others, so he merely speculating inside of his head as to what they were saying. Eventually he just sighed and started to look back, wondering before he felt that he was being more directly addressed.

"I've, uh, always used my legs since I was a little kid I guess." Soon he was rubbing the back of his head with a smirk as he listened to what the other individual was saying.

"So, um, I have to be outfitted with armor? Kickass!" Suddenly Kyohaku looked a lot more enthused to have joined this sort of unique order now that he had been told he got cool stuff.

Maybe having been transplanted between dimensions wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"Mind if I ask how I got here?"

Azuma: "Interrogate? No! If we encounter the Organization and he doesn't start swinging at us, that's a good sign."

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

Xyukuse: "If this piece of meat was enough to stop you cold, then you greatly exaggerate your abilities. Not surprising you're all talk."

OOC: For the record, Euryale is the one with the clamshell bra. Because she used to be a mermaid.

L"(So we're agreed. All we can do for now is observe him.)
----------------------------------------
*Euryale shrugs.*

E"I--don't know. I don't even know where you came from."
===============================
*Roatha smirks at him.*

R"If you think so highly of your own powers, go ahead & continue this. I will neither need nor get to raise my blades before Senthose cuts you down."

*Nero coughs & Roatha looks over his shoulder at him & rolls his eyes.*

R"That loser's still breathing? Well, he WAS always tougher than Roatha, gotta give him that. Not that THAT'S impressive."

Xyukuse jumps and brings his blade down on the ground when landing, sending a wave of rocks at Roatha because fuck that guy.

<Nero, do you hear me?>

*Eve runs over to them*

<This has gotten out of hand.>

Artexi:<No shit.>
===
Monu:<Seems so.>

"I'm from a place where I rule the streets. It's a lot cooler than this lame-o dive..." Kyohaku took a moment to clear his throat, "No offense of course. Mind cluing me in a little more as to how you get around in here? What's this place called for that matter?" He paused again, wondering why'd he been left alone and whether it would have been possible to avoid a nosebleed on his own.

*Before anyone knows what the Hell just happened, Xshittyname's attack had somehow been diverted away from Roatha, so that there is now a pile of rocks against the now-dented dumpster, Nero is now sitting up, with his wounds gone, looking around in confusion, & Xshittyname is on the ground, bound head-to-toe in glowing purple chains, with Avici standing over him.*

Avici<I believe you were told to stop.>

R"What'd I tell ya?"

Avici<That also goes for you. In fact, you were the one who caused this whole debacle.>

*Roatha shrugs, dismissing his Keyblades.*
========================================
E"City of Secrets."

Brooklyn<New York City.>

E"Uh, its name is New York, but we call it the City of Secrets. It's like a code name.>

*Lilith & Thiera break away from the huddle & head over.*

L"You see, Kyohaku, the gargoyles protect this city, but we protect a much larger area. The gargoyles keep themselves hidden from the public, & there are certain secrets that we keep even from the gargoyles."

*She looks over to the trio of gargoyles.*

L"It's nothing personal, it's just the rules."

Broadway<Eh, no biggie.>

T"We have a lot to catch up on. We need to know what's been going on in this city since we left, & now it looks like we need to explain to Kyohaku who we are & train him in our techniques.>

Azuma: "Do we have to get him signed up for a sports team or whatever we did awhile ago?"

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

Xyukuse: "What the hell is this?"

Having paused for a few moments, Kyohaku thought to himself and blinked, "You mean this is a city where users live? I was right then; I haven't been deleted I've simply gone analog."

Sighing once again, he looked to them and blinked, "Sorry, lemme explain. The world I lived in consisted of digitized data - inside your computer devices."

If they were going to tell him anything about the world that he lived in or how to use his power or whatever they would have found that he had planned to be surprisingly cooperative in this respect, in spite of his usual personality.

*Eve stands up, dusting herself off, while Artexi scoots away from Nero awkwardly*

Eve:<Avici, we cannot thank you enough.>
===
*Safian and Monu head over as well*

Monu:<We should probably discuss that later.>