Looming Shadows

*Safian states at Lilith confusedly. When Lilith opens the door, Monu steps in, grinning at her*

<Ah, good morning ladies. Sleep well?>
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*Artexi looks kinda put down*

<So we just wait around for them to show up?>
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*Eve grabs the hammer and takes the mushroom over to a table with several empty black casings on it. When she gets there, Eve gives the hammer back to it*

<These are some cases for my invention. They have to be able to take a good amount of damage without breaking. Think you can try and break them?>

Azuma: "What an inappropoate question."

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Hitomi: "That would be Hinode's role."

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Xyukuse: "Ha, friends. That's cute."

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And Vega resumes his patrols.

"Alright, I'll stop throwing out ideas." Hinode sighed as he started to lace his fingers behind his head for the time being. His promise wasn't kept very long though since he was soon talking again; "Think I could hack them the way I did it with the password at that terminal before?"

Binah<I don't know, but you could try that when you get there.>

Th"Very well, we will be on the way, then."

Binah<You'll be looking for a panel near the base of the castle, to access the grid powering the defense system. Good luck.>

Th"Alright, thank you."

*And so Thiera opens a path into the Lanes Between.*
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*Lilith frowns & stares at him through bagged eyes, rearranging her disheveled hair & trying to ignore the heat of the red marks from where her face was pressed up against the wall.*

L"No. Something is wrong here. I can't explain it, but I don't think we're alone in this city."
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Pete<So, you won't mind if you have to tussle with them then.>

*Once Xyukuse is firmly affixed to the hook, Pete heads over to the wheel & turns this boat around.*
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*And so the mushroom resumes beating the shit out of stuff.*
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*It's not long before a dart comes flying out of the hallway & affixes itself to Vega's temple via suction cup. Xigbar walks out of the darkness, a toy gun slung over his shoulder.*

Xigbar<Aaaaand you're dead. Headshot points go to Xigbar. You've gotta be more careful, man, you know the "ghost" has been using my old arrowguns. Safety in numbers, & all.>
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Avici<Affirmative. In the meantime, you should meet with the other Organization members inside of the castle.>

Azuma: "The Heartless not give that away?"

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Xyukuse: "What I do mind is that I'm still covered in this shit and you're making it worse."

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Vega pulls the dart off and drops it.

Vega: "Should learn to put your toys away."

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So they all pile into the Lanes.

At this point Hinode genuinely had nothing left to say, so he actually kept that little promise for the time being. Approaching the opening to the Lanes Between he hoped to soon start to travel along the next leg of their journey.

*And so Eve goes back to work, designing a new version of the boxes on a desk near the mushroom*
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Artexi:<As long as none of them are as bad as Xyukuse.>
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*Monu glances at Azuma for a second, then looks at Lilith, very concerned*

Safian:<She had a dream about something being taken from us in our sleep.>

Pete<Quit yer yappin', we'll get you out once we get back to the castle in Traverse Town.>
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*Xigbar shrugs.*

Xigbar<How was I supposed to know there was someone living in the dungeon? 'Specially someone who aims as good as me.>

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Xigbar<Whoops. Looks like it's time for the big fight.>
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Avici<I promise nothing.>

"Well, let's get this over with, then."

*He heads for the stairwell. Avici looks up to some lights flashing in the sky.*

Avici<It seems that the Order has already encountered the welcoming committee.>
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*Speaking of, as the Order travels through space, approaching a world dominated by a large, castled city, they encounter a heavily fortified field of asteroids with various [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] guarding it. Tanks are stationed on the rocks, with Speeders & Knight Heads patrolling between them & Shields forming the lookout. Where there are no rocks, bombs are stationed.*

Th"They're even more prepared than we expected!"

E"We can still take 'em!"

Th"These won't be all of the ships, more will be on their way soon!"

*Once they get close enough, the tanks swivel towards them & start to fire. This also alerts the nearby Speeders & Knight Heads to fly by, firing their own lasers as the Shields move in front of the tanks to protect them. Thiera, of course, deploys her shield to absorb some of the laser fire. Euryale swerves as a cannon blast easily punches through it.*
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L"I expected the Heartless to be after the world's heart, but you're right, it's as though the Gummi Heartless were guarding something. Someone is controlling the Heartless here, & I don't think it's anyone from the Organization, or else there would be more Nobodies. Whoever is doing this is probably in the castle...it could be Senthose's Heartless."

Azuma: "Or it could be the one in your dreams."

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Hitomi fires on the encroaching Gummi's while Taiyo moves about to avoid being blasted and ramming the Gummi's.

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Xyukuse: "I could be there and back three times before this wreck gets there once."

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Vega: "You should know there are things being kept from the rest of us."

As he noticed that the bolts of energy were streaming toward him, Hinode did what he could in his power to deflect them, fearing that such attacks would soon overpower the trio if they weren't able to take care of business. He started to get back, readying the Photon Debugger for the inevitable combat with the Gummis they were about to engage in.

*Artexi groans and summons her armor and keyblade*

<Time to go say hello again?>
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*Safian gets up, jumps onto the floor, then starts stretching, likely leaving big claw furrows on the floor*

<We might as well check out the castle anyway...Can we find some food first?>

*Taiyo destroys the Knight Heads, Hitomi the Speeders, but a Shield Gummi comes & takes a swipe at Taiyo. Euryale starts forward.*

Th"Wait! You can only destroy those by attacking their so-called "faces," & it's unlikely that you have the agility for that!"

E"What do you expect me to do, just stand back & do nothing?!"

Th"No, try forcing a path for the rest of us to follow!"
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Pete<This here quality sea-faring vessel's been servin' me just fine for years!>
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*Ira is already gone.*
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Xigbar<As if! This guy is no grand conspiracy, just a corpse we all forgot about a long time ago. Can't help that nobody figured he'd rise from the dead. Hardly the time for a history lecture, though.>
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L"What makes you think we're going to find anything in this deserted city? Have you seen any staff, even after all that racket we made fighting the Heartless?"

Azuma: "Has to be someone here if the world hasn't gone dark."

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Taiyo brakes, pulling up to evade and mozy behind the Gummi and swings.

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Xyukuse: "It's obsolete."

As Thiera gave the order to Euryale, Hinode started to position himself a little better to take a better shot at their so-called faces. Maybe, he figured, he'd be able to help them out with their need to clear a path for everyone else to follow along with.

*Artexi groans again and follows*
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Safian:<We can't wait around for more dreams! We gotta do something!>

L"All I'm saying is that it's unlikely that there's any food here. I suppose we could send 1 or 2 people out to retrieve food from the nearest inhabited world while the rest of us proceed with the mission."
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*Euryale ignores the Gummi Ships attacking her & rams the whole fucking asteroid, causing it to hurtle into another fortified asteroid, destroying the Gummi Ships in the collision. Thiera follows her lead, shielding her from Speeders & Knight Heads while she finds the next target to ram. Seeing the danger, a trio of Time Bombs move into position around her. Taiyo destroys the Shield & Cannon Gummies that were attacking her. Of course, as advertised, stronger reinforcements are gathering closer to the world, mostly Hex Rings & Spiders.*
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Pete<YOU'RE obsolete!>

*The Heartless Gummis make way for them to enter the upper atmosphere of Traverse Town.*
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*They now find themselves at the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]*

"Great, NOW where to?"

*He kicks a sort of spiked ball on a pedestal & it begins sparking, at which point a caged platform suspended on a laser track comes by & they find themselves transported into it. An intercom also clicks on.*

Avici<Please do not abuse the machinery.>
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*Having not received a response, Xigbar opens a Dark Corridor.*

Xigbar<I'll be guarding the computer room. You should go join the others around the castle perimeter.>

Having had been sufficiently more skilled with his glider this time around, and having figured that the solar vessel could have really opened up once they were in space because the vehicle it was based on was originally supposed to operate in a vacuum, Hinode took potshots at the other threats. He had been hoping to aid his two compatriots by using some form of magical ability.

Safian:<I hate to hold us up, but you guys are starting to smell kinda taste.>

*Monu stares for a while at Safian*

<I think that came out wrong! I just meant I was really hungry...>

*Safian hangs her head and her tail droops*
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*Artexi sniggers at Ira being told off again*

Hitomi takes shots at the Time Bombs while Taiyo follows Euryale's lead.

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Xyukuse: "I've already leveled a portion of this world."

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Vega heads to the entrance.

*Euryale veers a hard left trying to avoid being blasted to shit by Hitomi, but the Time Bombs are destroyed nonetheless. As she finds herself held up by a pair of Spiders slapping the shit out of her Glider, a Ring Cannon takes a cheap shot at her side. In addition to the Spiders are a duo of Hex Rings, which fire lasers at anyone who comes to her aid.*
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*While that's going on, in the world below, the Lift Stop elevator takes them to a lower portion of the Lift Stop, a doorway leading to the Entrance Hall.*

Avici<You will find the castle guards preparing for battle outside.>

*Incidentally, they also spot Vega on his way out of the door.*
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L"...I'm leaving."

*[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], only to see a huge [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] prowling the streets. Alerted to her motion, it jumps on the roof, visibly cracking the ceiling inside of the building. Lilith runs out of the to the edge of the balcony & turns to look at it, squinting.*

L"...Is that thing even a Heartless?"

*Hockomonkey then jumped down, & would have crushed her had she not rolled out of the way. As it stands, it collapsed yet another portion of the balcony & raises its fist. Lying face-up on the ground, Lilith stares up at it in terror & casts her Lotus shield on herself. In all of the chaos, they can also see the light of something entering the atmosphere & heading in the direction of the castle's highest tower.*
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Pete<You messed up a couple o' hotel rooms. Calm down, Kiddo.>

*If it cheers Xshittyname up, he is now treated to the sight of Hockomonkey threatening to turn Lilith into a pancake.*

When one thought about his history it might have been obvious why things like lasers didn't frighten Hinode. He stood up again on his glider, unleashing a bolt of electricity or two in the hopes that it would have leant some aid to Euryale. He figured he would have been able to dodge anything that they slung at him afterward.

*Artexi kinda waves at Vega as they get out of the lift*
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*Monu summons his keyblade and dashes towards Lilith, raising a diamond shield over her and hollering at the monkey. Meanwhile, Safian sets her body on fire and jumps on the thing's back, clawing at it*

Monu:<OVER HERE!>

Hitomi fires at the spoder things while Taiyo moves in to attack the Gummi assaulting Euryale.

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He pays her no attention and armors up before walking out the door.

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Azuma blasts the Hockomonkey with Darkga.

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Xyukuse: "Baby steps."

*It punches the diamond shield, jumping up & down & waving its pained hand as it roars. Lilith rolls away from its feet & shoots a vine up to its neck, pulling on her Keyblade with both hands to try to pull it down. With its other hand, it reaches to its back, trying to pull Safian off of itself. Adding to the chaos, numerous other Dream Eaters appear. 4 Eagliders in the sky & 8 Staggerceps spread across the nearby rooftops fire bombs down on them as a group of 6 Thunderaffes circle them in a blur, charged with lightning.*
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*[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] They find themselves in a dark, circular chamber made of stone with thorny bowers on the surrounding walls. As they land, Maleficent emerges from the darkness.*

Maleficent<Welcome, Child. I am Maleficent. The darkness tells me that you seek the strength to overcome your enemies.>

*She holds out her staff. Something swirls inside of the gem, & it displays all of the times Xyukuse was beaten down & captured, including recently, when Roatha pushed him into space & Pete had to tow him back to this town.*
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*Thiera rides alongside Hitomi so she can get near enough to the Spiders to fire, but of course the Hex Rings try to circle around them. The combined attacks are able to destroy all of the arms of a Spider, at which point it tries fleeing because it can't get past Thiera's shield. Euryale rams the other Spider, sending it tumbling through space before it can attack the others. Since the Shield Gummis were stationed mostly along the perimeter, Taiyo manages to destroy the cannon.*

E"Hey, thanks for the support, everyone!"

Th"No time for appreciation yet, the battle will only intensify as we descend into the world's atmosphere!"
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*Lexeaus is already outside, having met up with Xaldin. Another hologram of Avici materializes.*

Avici<Xaldin & Lexeaus should be more than sufficient to protect the gate, along with the support of my Claymores. The rest of you should guard the perimeter. The greatest threat to the Castle will be if the Order manages to sabotage my electricity grid.>

Considering that Thiera had mentioned the fact that things were going to get more intense as they continued to go along, Hinode looked up a bit and started to concentrate.

"Star Formation!"

As he called out his command, blinding streaks of light flew out from palms, hopefully stopping any enemies who might have come out to assault them as they descended. He quickly regained his footing on his glider after issuing the attack.