Looming Shadows

Safian:<Uh, come someone with thumbs give me a hand here? Please?>
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Monu:<Lilith, are you going to get some food as well?>
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<If you think you're going to run off without me again, you're dead wrong.>

*She enters the dark corridor Nero made*
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*Eve goes and orders some pasta or something*

Having been there to get food, Azuma has no other choice but to help as it beats starving.

You'd think they'd have a bag of Purina or a dead antelope for Safian, but I guess she eats people food despite the ill effects human food has on animals.

*The fridge contains leftovers from whatever they usually eat which, for Safian, I assume means raw meat.*
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E"Well, that answers that question, we fly down."

Th"But it won't be too far down, they'll want to keep it away from the dungeon. It is also possible that it's only accessible through a specific passageway."

*They hear the roar of the Galian Beast echoing throughout the tunnel behind them. Down below, they can see Heartless gather. Species from the Grid emerge from the tunnels to join pureblood species like Shadows & Darkballs, & other species presumably native to this world, wizards & armored Heartless with large shields.*

E"Let's not float here arguing about it. Let's just pick a tunnel & go with it."

Th"Agreed, but hold on for just a second."

*Her Glider dematerializes, the Oathkeeper reappearing in her hand as she hops on Euryale's Glider. Euryale looks back.*

E"What're you doing?"

Th"If we encounter more access panels, I can use the Oathkeeper to open them. The computer should be located where most of the wires converge upon."
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L"I guess I should...."

*She heads off.*
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*They reappear in a seemingly random tunnel in the castle, lit red due to the emergency lights.*

N"The Order must have shut off the power...that's convenient, it means we won't have to speak to Avici until it's time for the battle. But they'll have to come this way to get to the computer."

"I'll follow the two of you on my own Glider, and once we find the computer I'll go to work. You're right Euryale; it would probably be down." He started to get behind the other two, figuring that Thiera would have had to go on ahead considering that she was on Euryale's glider and grasping the Oathkeeper for the time being.

With that he then offered them a smirk, "Don't think I'm just behind you because I'm scared, though, since I'm not!"

Artexi:<Are you sure you're Nero? You've changed a lot recently.>

*She leans against a wall, a smile crossing her face*

<...Joking.>
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*Safian carries her raw meat to whatever is the best place to make a bloody mess then eats it*
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*Monu follows*

These must be some wide-ass tunnels to fit a mess of gliders of varying sizes, but they fly off with the crowd, none the less.

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He finds something and prepares is as a human would. Or at least a human that isn't me would unless the Land of Departure has a 7-11.

Th"It is perfectly rational to be frightened. No need to make excuses."

E"Well, I believe you."

*She looks back at Thiera.*

E"Wait, are you saying you're afraid?"

Th"Did you not notice that part where Avici had you frozen in time, walled off from the rest of the group, & completely at his mercy?"

*Euryale looked to the ground, scratching the back of her head.*

E"Yeah, well, it's like Hinode said: We protect each other. Besides, if he ran, he must've known he couldn't win. If he were unbeatable, he wouldn't have to hide behind all of these minions."
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*Not wanting to watch Safian rip apart a dead animal, Binah heads inside.*

Binah<If you'll excuse me, I need to monitor the situation at Radiant Garden.>
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*Lilith starts fixing a hoagie or something, I don't know.*
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*Eventually, the Moogle floats back with a plate of whatever Eve ordered.*
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*Nero does not laugh & remains stone faced.*

Artexi:<Seriously, you're kinda freaking me out here.>
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*Eve thanks it and starts eating*
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*Monu makes himself a sandwich or something. Safian rips apart her dead animal*

Longest flight through a hallway ever.

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Most awkward meal ever.

"Without fear you'd never know courage. Being truly courageous isn't living without fear; it's being able to act in spite of all the fear in the world." Hinode's words were surprisingly genuine and wise, so it rare that was for sure! "Are we ready to go then?

Standing on his glider for the time being, he soon added something else to what it was that Euryale had been saying, "C'mon, let's go. You can know at least that we'll protect each other to the bitter end."

Th"But that contradicts what you said before."

*At that moment, a fireball streaks past them, before exploding in the open air & engulfing much of the hallway. Euryale pulls her reigns to try to swerve away, but of course ends up running into a wall. As they fall to the ground, she summons her Keyblade back to her hand so the glider doesn't fall on them. Of course, the Galian Best is running up the hall on all fours, spitting out fireballs. Xigbar appears at the other end of the hall, shooting laser arrows at them.*
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*Just then, the hall shakes as they hear the boom from the explosion & see a flash of light in the distance.*

N"Hold that thought, the Order is that way!"

*So he takes off running.*
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*The image of Xigbar appears once more.*

Xigbar<I've got 'em cornered. Just take the 1st hall to the right, ya can't miss us.>

*Roatha runs off in that direction.*
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*Lilith slowly chews small bites off of her sandwich.*

L"...We can't go back to Traverse Town blind. We need more leads."

Monu:<Where you recommend looking for said leads?>
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*Artexi growls and follows him, summoning her keyblades*

The two land and disembark. Hitomi casts Stop Flow on the Galian Beast while Taiyo blasts Xigbar with bubbles.

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Azuma: "Lot of faces from different worlds were there. How about any of those places?"

While Hinode was about to open his mouth and let the other know that what he was saying was hardly contradictory, he didn't get a chance and soon enough found himself closing his mouth again. Doing his best to maintain balance on his own glider in spite of the others falling, he reached out his hand and tried to fire Pulsar energy bolts at the beast that was running towards them.

*Having learned from last time, the Galian Beast sees the shit coming after him & darts to the side to evade it, without losing any speed. He starts running across the wall & leaps at them, flames bursting from all over his body like a comet. Thiera had just used Reflect, so she darts out of the way, yelling for them to run. Xigbar, having been pelted by bubbles & his own arrows, disappears into thin air. Nero runs up in his place & starts firing at Thiera, only for Euryale to run up, holding her Keyblade in a blocking position.*
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L"Maybe, but I don't really want to run around blind. We don't even know if they'll be there. It might be better to seek some place where we know those who've discovered how to travel the worlds are gathering."

Seeing that Thiera had used reflect in that way, and naturally preceded to order them to run, Kyohaku raised his own Keyblade up so that he could do his best to weather the flames as he himself had indeed given chase. He continued to follow for the time being, stopping once Xigbar disappeared and Nero came along so that he could join Euryale in deflecting the other's attacks.

Monu:<What about Olympus Collissum?>
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*Artexi groans quietly and runs up beside Nero*

I hoped last time would be the last time...

*Artexi sends some life draining seeds at Euryale, then uses Venom Raid on Thiera with the other*

Azuma: "That place seem like a great meeting place for every bad guy ever? Even if they're not in the world of origin, someone may have something to say about when they stopped coming about and maybe even how they left."

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They move from the Galian Beasts path, Hitomi casting Maelstrom on it.

Taiyo's Fenrir disappears, the Oblivion taking its place and she blasts Nero & Artexi with Dark Flare.

L"We know much of the Organization has been to the Coliseum. And all of the other world travelers are bound to have seen something. The Coliseum even has stories of visitors from before we received Keyblades. It makes much more sense than stumbling around blindly, trying to find the select few who may or may not know how those villains left their worlds."
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*Nero runs back behind the wall, but points his Keyblade around the corner, charging Ragnarok. As Thiera is game to use Reflect again, she does so to protect herself & Euryale, the latter of which uses Torrent to further wear down the Galian Beast.*
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*Upon seeing Nero focused on the battle, Roatha takes a swing at him, only for Avici to appear, grabbing his wrist. Beside him is the newly-healed Xigbar.*

R"What are you doing? You know he's a traitor."

Avici<Yet here he is, battling the Order. All hands will be crucial, especially until the rest of the Organization can arrive.>

Azuma: "They are two different groups. For all we know, the Legion of Doom is on a comet somewhere doing bad guy stuff."

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Taiyo fires Blizzara from the Stormfall after Nero while Hitomi casts Gravity Well on the Galian Beast.

Vega sends a Demon Fist towards Hinode.

Assuming that Thiera's Reflect is sufficient to take care of herself and Euryale, Kyohaku kept his own Keyblade raised just in case anything that Nero were to shoot came around the corner. Using his free hand, Kyohaku started to aid Euryale with a few Pulsar blasts, considering that he was unable to offensively use his Keyblade at the moment.

Monu:<These travelers are from all sorts of worlds, so they might have more recent information on their respective villains. I agree that it is definitely worth a look, once we all rest and recover. Our gliders must be fixed, among other things.>
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*Artexi follows Nero behind the wall, using Spark Raid on Thiera the second Reflect wears off. She resummons her other keyblade into her hand and sends vines to grab Taiyo*

L"Not so different if they're led by Senthose's Heartless. I'll be checking out Olympus Coliseum as soon as I get a chance. If you want to go poking around other worlds, I guess that's your prerogative."
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*As Spark Raid moves at the speed of throw, it's not that fast. Thiera blasts it a few times to knock the Keyblade back as Euryale thrusts her Keyblade into the ground to block the Demon Fist, leading into a series of stone spikes to cut the vines. When the Galian Beast hits the ground, it becomes shrouded in darkness once more. Nero then fires a spiral of 24 dark lasers at them & retreats behind the wall so that the ice ball shatters uselessly against it. No sooner does he do that than Xigbar appears behind them, firing more arrows.*

E"There's no end to these attacks, we need to do something different!"

Th"Hinode, block the lasers coming from behind us! Everyone stand back-to-back in a ring formation! Taiyo, use Azuma's Dark Shield!"

*After she gets done barking orders, a bolt of yellow lightning shoots up through the darkness around Vincent. More lightning burns the darkness away, until some hulking Frankenstein's Monster thing stands before them. It immediately releases a massive cone of lightning at the Order.*
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R"Fine, whatever, but I can still cut the Order, right?"

*With a nod, Avici lets go. Using the cover of Nero's Ragnarok, Roatha charges the Order, watching for an opening.*

Noticing that the Galian Beast was always hiding around in the shadows, Kyohaku nodded a bit and called out without looking over, "Just keep in mind that if worse comes to worst I still have Star Formation and we could blind 'im or something!"

That being said, he listened to what Thiera had told him and spun about with his Keyblade, ensuring that he could block out the laser beams that were assaulting him as he stood with them in a ring formation like Thiera had suggested.

He felt just like a samurai in a 3D fighting game they might have run in a program back on the Grid.

Taiyo does that while Hitomi attacks the Hell Gigas with Aqualung figuring water > Hell Gigas.

Vega waits for the shield to go down before making his move.