First Blood Shed

"I am a mermaid! We are aquatic mammals with both gills & lungs! We do not lay eggs!"

*Using her tail to fight against the current, she leaps out of the water, dragging Hinode along with her by his arm, spinning around to deflect the bombs with waterspout. Thiera does her best to block, but is thrown by the explosion into the water, sputtering & screaming as she's swept backwards. Not missing a beat, the Black Guard swerves to try to whack Euryale & Hinode with his staff.*
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*So Flynn, Taiyo, & eventually Safian find themselves up on street level. The programs marching along the sidewalks turn to gawk at them & Recognizers are patrolling the skies, but there are plenty of side alleys to attempt to disappear down, leading variously to an IO Tower, deeper into the city, & some kind of base flanked with guard towers & gun turrets. On their left, but farther away, is somewhere that looks like a city hall, & some kind of ship hangar. All routes are roughly along the way to a coliseum-like building with huge viewscreens, presumably the Game Grid.*
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Daisy<I suspect you won't have to wait for much longer.>

*Marluxia hurls his scythe in an arc, deflecting the attacks as Xyukuse is blasted with lightning.*

Phil<I can't believe this...pretty pink flowers wins again?! Oh well...next up, teams Hera vs. Bacchus.>
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N"What the Hell are you talking about? Have you been writing slash fiction about me, or something?"

*Zexion stands on cue.*

Zexion<It appears as though it is time for me to meet my new team members.>
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L"As he said."

Firion<Who are these people?>

L"We don't know much more than you do. They are dark sorcerers that want to take control of the worlds. You'll know Maleficent when you see her. There's also a squid-woman named Ursula, a pirate called Barbossa, a horned skeleton with a black cauldron, & apparently others we don't even know about."

Firion<And you've been fighting them? Are you part of the resistance?>

L"We're sort of our own resistance. Just be sure to get a message to the Moogles here if you find anything else out."

Firion<I would be glad to.>

With an exhalation, Hinode rolled his eyes at the fact that he had offended her by using the 'f-word' - being fish of course - but soon enough was at least grateful that she got him out of the water by dragging his arm along.

Not yet sure if he was actually supposed to fight the Black Guard or not, he turned around and at least did his best to withdraw his Keyblade and therefore deflect the staff attack that was being swung at him.

He assumed he still wasn't supposed to kill the aforementioned guard.

Azuma: "Well, thanks."

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Vega: "Interesting to see what else he is capable of."

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Taiyo: "Where's Euryale and the others?"

Artexi:<What? You don't normally gawk at every girl we happen to come across.>
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*Monu nods his head*

<Your help is very appreciated.>
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*Safian heads down at alley*

<I don't know! They went another way. What do you think we should do, Flinn?>

Flynn<We'll just have to keep going, & hope they meet us at the Game Grid!>

*Not in a hurry to get caught, Flynn turns to head deeper into the city.*
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*While spinning, Euryale tosses Hinode fairly roughly back onto the path.*

"Sorry! Just try to incapacitate that guy!"

*And so she dives back into the water, tucking her arms back & swimming toward Thiera as might a dolphin, swerving around the bombs that the airborne black guard keeps dropping in the water. Once she grabs Thiera, she again stabs her Keyblade into the ground, stopping them just as they find theirselves hanging over the edge. Thiera stares down at the derezzer, looking petrified.*
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Daisy<Which one?>
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OOC: I had Lightning listed twice, so I swapped her out for a Disney character. Also fixed some other typos on the tournament list.

*As the losing team is being carted off, a high pitched [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] rings through the stands, before [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] appears in a puff of smoke.*

Kefka<Such a marvelous melee of massacre & mayhem!>

*He lands & skips over to Celes, stroking her hair.*

Kefka<And here lies my favorite traitor to the Empire! May she rest in pieces!>

*The nymph points out that the tournament is not to the death, at which point he blows a raspberry in her face. Her nose crinkles as she is unable to wipe the spit off of her.*

Kefka<Destruction without death? BORING!>

*Zexion lines up [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] his [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] & raises an eyebrow.*

Zexion<Who is this clown?>

Kefka<Yeesh, don't you look depressing. Smile! Don't you know that life is pointless & you could die at any moment?>

*He narrows his eyes & suddenly his voice becomes much lower & more gravely. After a beat, he cracks a wide grin & goes back to laughing.*

Kefka<That's why it's hilarious!>

Luxord<Viewing life as just a game...yes, I can get behind that.>

*Luxord & Saix walk in behind him, the former shuffling a deck of cards. Kefka looks back, picking at his ear.*

Kefka<Finally, I thought you stiffs were NEVER gonna get here.>
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Firion<Of course. I wish you luck on your quest.>

*He does a kind of bow on one knee.*

L"Uh, yeah, you too. Later."

*She waves & heads out.*
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N"Only the hot ones."

*Artexi rolls her eyes and looks away*

<Oh, whatever. Maybe they'll kick your ass too.>
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*Monu follows Lilith out*

<So...about that talk...?>
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*Safian follows*

Well, Euryale might have been a little rough throwing him back onto the path, but Kyohaku was more than capable of taking it. On top of that, he finally had a directive.

Mocking a salute to her once he received some advice, Kyohaku withdrew his Keyblade and started to upright himself and he went after him, figuring that he might have been able to incapacitate him without killing him.

At least, that was what he had hoped to do for now anyway.

Vega: "Zexion. Perhaps he does more than flutter around in a book."

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Taiyo follows after them.

*This is going to be difficult, as he's flying & there's an energy channel in front of Hinode. As the guard isn't made of bombs, he shoots lasers out of his baton at Hinode.*

Th"How are you going to disable the bombs?! I can't defend against all of theeeeem!"

*Euryale had leaped out of the water using waterspout again.*
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Flynn<There's a tunnel up ahead that we can disappear in!>

*So he swerves onto 1 of the turbo strips, which takes him into a tunnel. As they've been following him so far, I assume they continue to do so, & cross into it without incident. Should they look behind them, they'll see a few programs pointing Black Guards on light cycles down the wrong alley.*

Flynn<Okay...there'll be a door up ahead that we'll need to hack. That should get us into the backdoor access to the Game Grid. Then we just need to steal code from some Black Guards so we can disguise ourselves.>

*Sure enough, a steel door with an electronic lock is coming up on their right.*
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N"What? Who?"
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L"What talk?"
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*When Phil calls for the fight to begin, the first thing Zexion does is disappear into a book & flutter around. Luxord does something similar, but with a giant card. Tifa charges forward & Meredith notches an arrow. With a hearty, "Ha-HA!" Kefka thrusts a hand forward, launching a large chunk of ice that stops just short of hitting anyone. As Tifa twirls around it, he suddenly leans back & spreads his arms.*

Kefka<C'monc'monc'monC'MON!>

*The ice chunk breaks into a bunch of smaller chunks, pelting Tifa in the back. Ever the no-nonsense fighter, Saix moves to her side, deflecting the arrow & forcing Meredith to roll, then delivering a nasty 3-slash combo to Tifa's midsection.*
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Daisy<I'm told he casts illusions, but thus far, I just smell paper coming from his direction.>

*Monu looks very embarrassed*

<The talk...I mentioned earlier...since we don't have a new lead I thought this might be a good time...>
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*Artexi snarls something unintelligible and looks away*
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Safian:<We can handle the hacking...I think.>

"You say that like there's some way that I could do it! I don't have the answer to everything you know!"

Gritting his teeth as he went, Kyohaku simply focused on using his Keyblade to at least deflect the explosives for the time being. He was considering even that to be a win at this point.

"Do you think that he might just have a limited amount before he has to run out of energy or whatever?"

Azuma: "You two need some alone time?"

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Vega: "The book is a big part of his illusions."

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Taiyo shoots a fireball at the gate, trying to hit the lock as it beats crashing into it.

L"I don't see why we would."
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Daisy<So it's a book of optical illusions? That doesn't seem very useful in a fight.>
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*Saix jumps back, & after taking Kefka's purple blast to the face, Tifa slumps over. Meredith notches what looks like a healing herb, firing as she flees from Saix. Tifa stumbles back to her feet, shaking her head, & in a flash of electricity reappears behind Kefka & starts pummeling the shit out of him, sliding into a somersault kick, watery sweeping kick, & uppercut. Zexion reappears at the far end of the arena, raising his hands & summoning dark corridors all around them, from which more books emerge.*
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*She doesn't crash into it, because it's on the wall, but she is blowing right past it. On the positive side, the lock explodes in a shower of sparks & the door slides open, Flynn slowing to a stop in front of it.*

Flynn<Well, not what I had planned, but--oh, speak of the devil.>

*As the tunnel is heavily patrolled by Black Guards, a large number are coming to see what is going on, rolling bombs towards them & firing lasers while forming a phalanx at the doorway.*
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E"How should I know?! Thiera, glide us to safety!"

*So they begin floating over towards Hinode, Euryale pointing the Keyblade at the Black Guard. The large amount of water swirling around her coalesces into enormous balls of ice that lazily drift in the guard's general direction, forcing him to duck & swerve around him.*

Vega: "Book of spells."

OOC: As like Marluxia, apparently Zexion doesn't use a Keyblade.

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I guess she spins around to regroup.

Figuring that the ice would be enough to stop him, in spite of the fact that most individuals on the Grid would have preferred coolness to heat, Hinode did his best to move over toward them considering that Euryale had asked Thiera to glide them out to safety. At this point he had gotten used to working on a team enough that this sort of thing didn't bother him at all.

*Monu looks even more embarrassed*

<If we can spare a few moments, I would really like to talk to you privately...>
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*Safian slows to a stop behind Flynn, then turns and fires some fireballs into the crowd of oncoming guards*

*Flynn's light cycle resumes its baton form as he scrambles away from the bombs. The Black Guards take cover from the fireballs by spinning their weapons, producing force-fields that deflect them back at the Order.*
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*Thiera snatches Hinode with Collision Magnet, since they need to get across a chasm & she's not sure he's much of a jumper. Once they land on the other side, Euryale aims her Keyblade at the fireball, shooting a beam of light that dispels it. Thiera promptly float-runs up the staircase while Euryale discourages the guards from following them with Meteor Shots.*
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*Lilith stares at him, raising an eyebrow. Then she looks back at Azuma.*

L"...Well--you heard him, I guess...."
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*Tifa grabs Kefka, flipping over to slam him face-first onto the ground.*

Kefka<GRRR--I'll remember this!>

*And so he falls flat on his face, as if asleep. Meredith puts her bow away, producing a sword & proving surprisingly adept at parrying Saix's strikes. As Tifa rushes him from behind, Luxord's card pops up in front of Zexion. With a snap of his fingers, each of Zexion's books are consumed by cards, which flit around the arena.*

Luxord<You can't fool chance, so let's have some fun--I've always wanted to try my luck against you.>

*So he begins shuffling his smaller deck again, him & Zexion surrounded by thorn beams. Zexion picks a card, at which point Luxord & his cards are frozen by a stop spell. Zexion takes the opportunity to produce his Keyblade, copying himself thrice. The quartet of emos then cuts the shit out of Luxord, knocking him out of the fight.*

Phil<The buxom babe takes down the crazy clown & the little redheaded squirt's got a surprising amount of fight in her! Can't say I know what on Mount Olympus is going on with those 2 in the corner, though.>
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Daisy<From what I gather, he's tougher than he looks, & Luxord's not so lucky after all.>
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N"Hey, should we follow Marluxia & Larxene, or something?"

Vexen<There is little point in trying to catch a reflection.>

N"What do you mean?"

Vexen<Marluxia was not present in person today. What we saw fighting was merely a small sample of the power he has gained. I wonder what he's been up to. I suspect it would make for fascinating research.>

While he didn't mind accepting the help from Thiera by way of Collision Magnet, Hinode didn't want to feel completely useless. As a result once he had gotten himself situated again, he turned around with Euryale and helped to discourage the guards by using a technique of his own in the form of releasing a few Pulsar spheres.

Azuma: "We'ver. Might want to be quick about it. There could be a chance of Roatha still being in this world."

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Vega: "Using a luck-based style tends to be more problematic than beneficial."

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Taiyo moves to avoid the fireballs.

*Safian dismounts her light cycle as well, bounding away from the fireballs*
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Artexi:<So that whole talk about jumping them was a waste? Lovely.>
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*So Monu presumably leads Lilith off somewhere private*

*As if on cue, Roatha wanders out of the infirmary, heading for the stands.*

L"Well, it doesn't look like we'll be able to seize him now. We'll have to try retrieving him in another round."

*So she stuffs her hands in her pockets & follows Monu.*
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*Finally, Zexion's clones point their Keyblades at Saix, sending pages tearing through his back. Meredith also takes this opportunity to stab him in the chest.*

Phil<Team Hera wins! As the other teams are missing members, we'll skip ahead to Teams Hades vs. Zeus.>
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N"We're on again? That other team could be a problem. Even if Hades follows through on his end of the bargain, I'm not sure we can beat that light guy."
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Daisy<We fight again...is that not the team with the knight who controls light? I don't like the sound of this....>

*She actually shivers.*
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*Flynn raises his hands, the floor in front of him rising up to form a shield. Then he brings them back down & the ceiling collapses, widening the entrance & scattering the Black Guards, who promptly begin trying to surround them & bash their brains in with staves.*
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*Running up the stairs, they find themselves up on street level. Unfortunately for them, the streets are full of marching guards & the skies with Recognizers, patrolling the city & shining red spotlights into the street. However, there are plenty of side alleys to attempt to disappear down, leading variously to an IO Tower, deeper into the city, & some kind of base flanked with guard towers & gun turrets. On their left, a lot closer to them, is somewhere that looks like a city hall, & some kind of ship hangar. All routes are roughly along the way to a coliseum-like building with huge viewscreens, presumably the Game Grid. Thinking it the sensible thing, Euryale & Thiera run immediately to their left.*

E"It's only a matter of time before all of these guards notice us, how are we going to hide?!"

Th"I wonder--"

E"Why are you stopping?!"

*But it becomes apparent after Euryale turns around. As Thiera stabs her Keyblade into the ground, data from it courses up her, coating her skin & outfit so she matches the street, & changing the color of her grid lines to red. She's not invisible, but she's effectively camouflaged.*

E"How did you do that?"

Th"I just followed DiZ's instructions about using the Keyblade to absorb surrounding information. You try it."

*She does, & though the process is a little slower, soon she's disguised as well.*

Ironically Hinode had to do the same thing in order to be camouflaged in what was, originally, his own world. Soon enough he stabbed his own Keyblade downward and allowed his lines to change colors. As a result, he would have quickly looked like someone who belonged here, and unlike the other two he would have actually known exactly what to do in order to act like someone who had.

Blinking for a moment, he looked toward the others and smirked.

"Alright now, just act like me and I think that we'll all be fine."

As it would be best not to pursue and because some other asshole is probably bound to leave the infirmary, the two head back to the tournament grounds.

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Vega: "Good thing you have team mates. Of course whether or not they're able to determine who their best opponent is is another story."

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Taiyo moves to not be surrounded, blasting the Black Guards with lightning.

*Safian lights herself on fire and starts jumping on and clawing at any guards that are unfornate enough to come into range*
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*Artexi stands up and starts walking over to the entrance of the arena*

<Well, Hades wants to kick Zeus's ass, right? If he doesn't keep this end of the bargain, we might lose and shit.>
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*Monu looks around for a quiet corner, then turns around to face Lilith*

<I'm not sure how to go about this, but since we encounter life and death decisions just about every day, I...would hate for something to happen before I got the chance to say this...>

*He rubs the back of his neck, fave slightly pink*

<Lilith...you are one of the most intelligent, kindest, beautiful women I have ever met.>

*Monu laugh awkwardly*

<I'm sorry, this is the first time I've done something like this.>

Daisy<But which of us could stand against the knight?>

*Nero follows them. Opposite them, Team Zeus files into the arena. Zack flashes them the double thumbs-up, Hercules holds out his hand, & the Warrior of Light salutes. Nero holds up his fist, turning an imaginary crank handle, & slowly raising his middle finger. They look affronted, but just under the cheers & boos of the crowd, Hades can be heard snickering.*

N"Where's Creepy McCorpseChick?"

*He looks around, spotting her standing in the doorway with Vega, & motions her over.*
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*Presumably, Xyukuse & the assassins awaken.*
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*Lilith looks confused, her face growing pink as well.*

L"I--well--thank you. I seldom receive compliments, so it's nice to know that someone appreciates me. But what did you have to say that you couldn't in front of Azuma or Hitomi?"
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Th"What we need is a quick place to hide."

*Euryale points at an alley, which they slowly shuffle into.*

Th"So am I correct in assuming that our strategy is to simply slink through back roads until we find better disguises and new vehicles to steal?"

*Euryale shrugs.*

E"Pretty much. Hey, don't get mad at me, I'm not the one who doesn't want to destroy the guards."

Th"Well, you should be!"

E"Whatever."
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*Sucks to be them, but those she didn't jump on start smacking her in the back with their staves. As it's not really clear which spell Taiyo is using, survivors are backing away, hurling bombs at them. Flynn is using his own bombs to confront the mass of Black Guards behind the archway.*