First Blood Shed

While at first he didn't particularly care for it, it was soon clear that Kyohaku was finally getting into this particular piece of music on the grid. It was pounding enough to at least let him show a little respect at least.

Even if that wasn't exactly what was important, it was to him.

Smirking as he turned toward Thiera, Kyohaku finally shrugged and reached to plunge the altitude control of the Recognizer.

"Well, we can't just wait around here being sitting ducks, now can we? We have to do something!" Apparently that meant that he was only too willing to be the first one to make the jump in turn.

*They stare at him blankly for several seconds as the ship shakes from the laser shots & the lights flicker.*

E"You're the only one who knows how to open the ship."
------------------------------------------------
*The viewscreen zooms in on Safian, standing on 4 legs, as some guy commentates.*

<It appears we have a defective program! Hopefully it & the filthy outsider will derez one another!>

Kevin<Sam, it's me! No, don't show any recognition! We don't have much time, we'll have to play our parts until we're ready to escape!>

*So he spins, chucking a disc at Sam, who ducks & reluctantly retaliates. A pulse of electricity runs through Kevin Flynn's feet, enabling him to jump with the grace of a gymnast half his age, clearing his son's attack & catching his own disc.*

Sam<Quorra is being held below--they say she's the last ISO, that the other prisoners are just thrown into the canyon! And Rinzler is watching us in the top box! ...Who did you find to help you rescue us?>
===============================
*Nero turns to face Artexi.*

N"Listen to me! I know it's hard to see what you should be doing in the darkness, but as long as you--"

*As he speaks, the nymphs cart off the injured. Seeing his chance slip away, Hades nods to a pair of imps behind him, who transform into lizards, slithering up Nero's arm & jerking at his elbow, causing him to haphazardly throw the Keyblade, which only avoids decapitating Hercules because the nymphs holding him snapped out of staring at him dreamily in time to duck. The next second, Hades appears out of a cloud of smoke, taking a swipe at Nero. He jumps away, but not before Hades can seize Pain & Panic, the audience being none the wiser.*

Hades<How dare you attack my darling little nephew!>

N"You rotten--"

Hades<For defying a god, you're gonna pay for the rest of your afterlives!>

*Hades spreads his arms, flexing his fingers. His flaming hair suddenly turns bright orange-red & grows larger as flames begin to surround the arena.*

L"Come on, if he kills them, we'll lose our best lead!"

*So Lilith runs up to the arena & jumps over the flames before they become too high. A second later, Roatha steps out of a Dark Corridor.*

R"I want in on this god-killing action!"
----------------------------------------------
*Hearing the exchange, Daisy turns to Vega, utterly bewildered.*

"What is happening? Why has Hades turned against us?"

*Monu ignores Roatha and runs after Lilith, jumping over the flames*
===
*Artexi blinks at Nero, backing slowly away from Hades*

<I...I think I want to...>

*She shakes her head and glares at Hades*

<You could have just let us win and taken the glory, but no, you had to go all...>

*Artexi stops talking abuptly, looking confused*
---
*Safian growls*

<Hey asshole, come say that to my face!>

*She watches Sam and Flynn fight, not sure if she should interfere or not*

"Can't you guys do anything for yourselves?" Kyohaku soon slammed a button, sliding open part of the vessel. That being said, he was half joking when he made his complaint, and hadn't completely actually trusted them to do anything in this department anyway. Soon enough, though, the wind rushing about them could be felt, and if there wasn't anything to hold him back then Kyohaku would very genuinely have taken the plunge that it seemed he was so excited about the whole time.

The two enter the arena or whatever, the lot of good it's gonna do.

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

Vega: "It would seem they had some dealings with Hades that went south."

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

Taiyo isn't interfering which is probably going to draw attention to them.

Th"Disregard how, just a few minutes ago, I deduced the firing mechanism of the weapon of a craft that I've only ridden once before, and how we could remodel it to confuse the enemy."

E"Yeah, what was up with that?"

Th"I am a genius."

E"And so modest."

Th"I wasn't boasting, it is an objective fa--"

*Euryale had jumped off of the ship in mid-explanation, activating her Glider upon reaching terminal velocity & using the thrust to speed towards the ground even faster. By this point, the Heartless have realized that the cockpit is open, lining up in front of & behind the remaining passengers to take shots at them directly.*
----------------------------------------------------
*No one cares what they are doing, as everyone is now focused on the bronze star of Euryale's glider, magnified on the viewscreen in case anyone couldn't see her rapidly closing in before. The programs initially tried to shoot her down with cannons, but she would swerve out of the way of the incoming shots, until eventually she was too close to the crowd to take the risk, at which point she abruptly leveled off, coming to a stop next to Taiyo.*

E"Hey, babe, you & your friends need a lift?"

Flynn<How did you recognize--ah, yes, that would make sense.>

*Euryale had pointed her thumb back over her shoulder, towards Safian. Of course, by this point, gates around the arena had been opened, allowing Heartless to come swarming in.*
=================================
*Lilith stands next to Nero, both in a defensive stance. Hades sticks a pair of fingers in his mouth & whistles, at which point a large Dark Corridor opens up behind him, closing as an enormous, coal-black, 3-headed dog jumps out of it, snarling at them.*

Hades<Here, boy.>

L"You think that will be enough to defeat us?"

Hades<Depends. Do you burn?>

*He points at Lilith, firing a bullet of flame, which she deflects into the ground. As she does so, Cerberus wheels around, swiping at Hitomi & Azuma with a claw.*

N"What are you doing here? We don't need your help."

L"Yeah, you clearly do. And don't get me wrong, I'm only protecting you because if you die, we won't be able to interrogate you."

N"Well, if you die--eh, I don't really care."

*True to form, while they were talking, Roatha had summoned his Keyblades & rushed forward. He is now clashing blades with Pain & Panic, who have shapeshifted into a pair of Spartan warriors. Each wields a shield, while Pain is armed with a gladius, & Panic a spear..*

Stab the creepy kid in the back while he's talking to Red.
----------------------------------------------------
Daisy<I had no idea...but there's nothing I can do, I wouldn't last a second with all of that fire.>

Hitomi falls back and casts Blizzaga on Cerberus while Azuma calls his Keyblade to block.

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

Vega: "It would be best to avoid drawing any further attention from the Order."

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

Taiyo doesn't hesitate to board the glider. Calling her Keyblades, she shoots bubbles at the Heartless.

*Safian runs over and gets on as well, sending some fire balls at the incoming heartless*
---
*Monu waves his keyblade and sends diamond shards at Cerberus's eyes*

Monu:<Let's talk about this later!>

*Artexi takes a step towards Nero, pointing one of her keyblades at him*

Artexi:<I...NERO!>

*She stumbles, arms jerking wildly*

While at first Hinode felt like saying something, he couldn't hear any of what Thiera and Euryale were saying a moment later, and as a result he remained relatively silent even if he did, if nothing else, want to scream at how awesome it was to reach terminal velocity with no real jumping protective gear to speak of.

Regardless, a few moments later he had deployed his own glider, finally reaching the ground as he did his best to dodge the guards that were now assaulting them from behind. He swallowed deeply, trusting in his abilities to get him out of trouble once again.

*As things are looking a bit cramped on the Glider front & the programs are deploying an electric field a few feet over the Game Grid's floor anyway--Thiera swoops through just in time--the Flynn family simply runs forward & jumps, deploying their Light Cycles & speeding off.*

Sam<Quorra is underground, but how will we get through the gates?>

Kevin<I don't know how, but these guys can open any blockade on The Grid, so just worry about your suroundings!>

*Indeed, a pair of the Black Guards have procured cycles & are pulling up alongside them, deploying their Light Ribbons, while Strafers race ahead, firing at them. Euryale mows down a few who couldn't get out of the way fast enough, releasing hearts.*

E"Why do they even use these things if they're so weak?"

Th<To slow us down, so we're easier prey for the guards.>

*She gestures to how the lasers slow her a bit each time they strike her Glider.*

E"Ah, that would make sense."
=============================
*Azuma is tossed back, but unharmed. Cerberus recoils in pain & responds by spitting up a bunch of darkness over Monu & Hitomi. Meanwhile, Nero whirls around & stabs Artexi in the chest.*

N"I didn't want to do this so soon...."

L"What are you doing, do you people not have ANY loyalty at all?!"

N"Focus on the fight, you idiot!"

*Hades hurled a few beachball-sized fireballs at them, but Lilith stabbed the ground & used Forest of Oblvion to intercept with barely a glance.*

L"Don't tell me how to do my job!"

*Despite Lilith's earlier concern, there is no wound, instead the darkness travels away from Artexi & up into Nero's Keyblade. As it does so, she can feel her head clearing. But Hades's skin is suddenly growing orange, as he swipes his clawed hands through the air & the flames on his head grow to cover his shoulders & upper arms as well. Pain & Panic try to scrabble away, but Roatha is having none of that, & assaults them with lightning-charged strikes while their backs are turned.*

Hades<Feel the HEAT!>

Taiyo casts Thundara on the Strafers.

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

Azuma picks himself up and switches the Oblivion for the Diamond Dust, Hitomi casting Dark Shell on herself and Monu while Azuma casts Gravity Well on Cerberus.

*Once the attacks ends and the shields vanishes, Monu stabs his keyblade into the ground in an attempt to sink Cerburus in quicksand. Meanwhile, Artexi shakes her head several times*

Artexi:<Nero! I...I'm so sorry!>

*Presumably he eventually removes his keyblade from Artexi's chest. When that happens, she throws one of her keyblades at Hades, using Venom Raid to see if gods can get poisoned, then uses Spark on Cerburus with the other*
===
*Safian puts her paws up on the side of Euryale's glider so she can see over better, then starts sending fireballs at the Strafers*

<Taiyo and I got these guys!>

"Lean in and get whatever speed you can then, Thiera." Kyohaku swallowed deeply and figured that it might be best to take Euryale's lead at this point.

He started to fire off some Pulsar blasts whenever there was an obstacle in his way, but leaned as far forward into his glider as he possibly could have to pick up as much extra speed as this thing could have.

Indeed, he figured he could have outrun any bike as it were, and he thought that Thiera and Euryale could have as well.

"Hey Taiyo! Safian! Long time no see! Glad we're still all in this together!"

*As it turns out, the Light Cycles are pretty fast. Thiera uses Blizzard to repel the one on their right side as Euryale & the left Light Cycle try to run each other off of the road. She ducks a punch, grabbing the guard's arm & twisting it until he runs into the wall, exploding behind them. Unfortunately, they still have quite a ways to go until the gate when a wall forms in front of them, creating a T-intersection.*

Kevin<Ironically, looks like we'll have to split up again. We can't all fit down a single path.>

Th"We'll reunite soon, so long as we can move faster than the walls form."

*So, at the wall, Thiera goes right with Kevin & Euryale heads left with Sam. Each path turns again, & turrets rise out of the ground to shoot at them. Of course, more Black Guards pursue them from behind, activating their bike-mounted guns to fire at them.*
================================
*Cerberus's heads are pressed down & it fights to pull them & its legs out of the quicksand. They're reasonably protected by the darkness in the shell, & Nero falls back, raising his Keyblade to siphon off the darkness that appears under himself, Lilith, Artexi, & Roatha.*

N"It's no problem, just keep me covered, both of you!"

L"I told you to stop telling me how to do my job!"

*All of a sudden, the attacks bounce off of Hades, pinging as though he were made of steel. Lilith turns around, dragging Nero to the edge of the ring.*

L"Oh shit, run!"

*She is just in time, as Hades holds out his arms, each spewing an enormous torrent of fire as he begins to spin. Spotting it, Roatha, Pain, & Panic duck. The imps try to climb on him & stab him while he's down, but of course he just lightning strikes himself to get to them.*

Azuma casts Aqualung on Cerberus while Hitomi dispels the shield around her and blasts Cerberus with Dark Flare.

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

Taiyo casts Firaga on the pursuing Black Guards, as presumably Safian will take out the turrets.

*Safian sends orbs of darkness at the turrets when they come into range*
---
*Artexi is presumably pulled as well, and in any case she accompanies Lilith and Nero to the edge of the ring. She casts sparkga on Cerberus because why not?*

Artexi:<Holy shit, anyone have any water attacks? Is Poseidon around?>

*Monu casts a glance at Lilith, and relaxes once he sees she's out of immediate danger. He then uses Wind Raid on Cerberus*

Having become rather trusting when it came to Safian's abilities anyway, it came as no shock to Kyohaku that the lion in question was able to knock out those turrets. Regardless, it was soon looking like he had to split up as well.

Taking the same path as Euryale, he genuinely hoped that there was going to be enough room. The one benefit was, though, that he could still use Pulsar to take out anything that might have been haunting around on this particular path.

They were really starting to work together fairly well as a team, it would have seemed.

*The turrets prove more durable, & Euryale doesn't have enough room to evade, so the Glider takes fairly heavy damage as it mows through the remaining blasts & turrets. Behind them, Taiyo has left only a pile of smoking cubes. Euryale turns right before they can be directed further away from their goal, & once they reunite with Thiera & the Flynns, they find their exit blocked by a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], to which Euryale reacts by speeding up & ramming right into it. She knocks it through the gate & they find themselves in a transparent cell, soon being lifted up a kind of tower formed by a crane structure, with several rings of transparent cells like theirs down its length. Outside of their, a cable of light arcs off towards another, similar tower, with other cables arching off in different directions every 2 or 3 stories.*

Kevin<Remember the mission. We need to find Quorra & get out of here.>

*Suddenly, the VIP Box explodes & the viewscreen shows a helmeted white-&-black program on a Light Jet flying towards them, the Black Guard jets in pursuit.*

E"Is that her?"

Sam<She'll be surrounded in no time!>

*Nonetheless, she drops a series of bombs onto the roof of their cell to shatter the glass, before veering off to avoid fire from her pursuers. Sure enough, other Light Jets are flying an intercept course, deploying their Light Ribbons & trying to cut her off.*

Th"Let's not forget, we're not any safer than she is!"

*After shaking itself off, & ignoring the crack from where Euryale rammed it, the Hostile Program flies up to block the exit, firing lasers out of its arms down at them. Outside, Recognizers begin to surround the cell.*
===============================
*The Sparkga bounces off of Cerberus's hide--evidently only its faces are vulnerable. To wit, by the time it pulls itself free, its leftmost head lolls, unconscious. However, that doesn't stop it from leaping at Azuma's group with outstretched claws. Meanwhile, Hades stops spinning & slicks back his hair, which returns to its original size & color.*

Hades<That all ya got?>

*Roatha rolls & fires a beam of lightning through the imps & into Hades, who convulses & grunts. As the dark spots have stopped appearing below them, Nero charges Ragnarok, & the orb seems to be much larger than usual.*

Phil<I--I don't know what to say, folks...it looks like several opposing teams have come together to fight the God of the Underworld & his lackeys. This doesn't seem to have anything to do with the tournament....>

They move to avoid Cerberus, both of them cast a lot of Blizzaga.

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

Taiyo casts Thundara on the Hostile Program.

Soon enough Kyohaku met up with the others, following Euryale around the corner as his own Glider took some fairly heavy damage. Even though it was cut up in parts, though, his Glider was at least made for this sort of terrain and he was thus capable of making some pretty good evading moves with it.

After all, the Solar Sailer was designed for traveling on the Grid, one might say.

Knowing very well that Quorra and their party were basically on equal terms when it came to safety, and grateful for the fact that the Hostile Program at least took some damage, Kyohaku started to bob and weave as he was on his Glider still.

"I could take care of the program if you guys handle everything else! Sound good?"

*Safian uses Fire Raid on the Hostile Program, aiming at the crack Euryale already created*
---
*Monu gets away from Cerberus as while, then uses Tornado on him. Artexi uses Spark Raid on Hades with one keyblade, and Spark with the other*

Artexi:<We're fighting Hades because he tried to make us kill Hercules!>

*The cracks start to spread, & while she's doing that, the others swerve out of the way. They also notice that data clusters fall out of it each time it gets hit.*

Th"Very well, but remember: We don't need to destroy it, we just need to keep it away!"

E"We'll probably end up destroying it."

Th"The point is, they're still trying to slow us down long enough to capture us!"

Kevin<Right, then. If we can collect the data clusters, we should be able to upgrade the cycles into Light Jets. You might be able to repair your crafts as well.>

*Meanwhile, the Hostile Program repositions 1 of its arms so the laser sweeps across the floor, forcing the Light Cycles to jump over it. Another aims directly at Euryale, who swerves out of the way as she speeds towards the program.*

E"In that case, let's just go straight to the source!"

*Thiera follows alongside her, also casting Magnet above the Flynns so the data clusters fly towards them. Meanwhile, Quorra begins to fly downwards, to avoid being boxed in, & opens fire on some of the Recognizers attempting to surround them.*
===============================
*Monu is unable to get the attack off before being knocked on his ass by the shockwave from Cerberus's landing, with the feeling that his legs have been fractured. Hitomi & Azuma face a similar fate, but the faster cast time of Blizzaga allows them to get additional strikes in on Cerberus, knocking another head out as he whirls & bounds after them, slightly unsteady on his paws. Meanwhile, Roatha knocks Pain & Panic out of the ring with a final pair of Explosion Raids.*

Zeus<My baby brother? Preposterous!>

Hades<AAAAAAAAAARGH!>

*Zeus having the worst timing, Hade Flames Up right before Ragnarok can land, & the shots are deflected uselessly into the ground. The god floats rapidly towards them, though they can see that he's limping slightly & smoke is flowing from holes in his toga. When he gets close enough, he swipes at them with flaming arms, forcing Lilith to block. Nero spots 1 of the barrels & uses Collision Magnet to pull it over.*

Considering that he took to heart what Thiera had said about getting slowed down, Kyohaku gave a mock salute and kept going with his plan from before now that he had been given approval, but he only planned to distract this sort of monster.

If there were some way they were going to get Quorra and get out of here fast, then he would have to just acquiesce and abandon the fight. Sure that was relatively difficult considering the kind of person that he could be at times, but Kyohaku could actually be practical when the situation called for it.

Apparently, though, it would have just all depended.

For now, those Pulsar blasts kept coming for as long as he could release them.

*Monu casts Fairy Aura on himself, Azuma, and Hitomi, then scrambles out of the way of Cerberus. Artexi notices what Nero is doing, so she uses Spark and Sparkga on Hades after dodging his flaming arms while yelling at him*

Artexi:<Hey Hades, why are you so upset? You really seemed like a family man to me!>
===
*Safian sends several clones to crash into the Hostile Program, still aiming near the damage done before*

The two cast some Thunder spells to finish off Cerberus.

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

Taiyo casts Thundaga on the Hostile Program.