First Blood Shed

OOC: But not explicitly stated. They're perverts.

Taiyo leaps out of the water, returning to her usual much more desirable self.

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Vega takes in the sight of his macabre appearance, not sharing Daisy's totally not necrophiliac sentiment.

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Xyukuse: "Like I care about your heart snatching plans."

*Nero frowns at the town gate, noticing that the plant is strategically positioned so that anyone passing through would have to pass within its reach. He takes a few tentative steps forward when, naturally, it tries to gobble him up. Quickly summoning the Keyblade, he jams it in the plant's jaws, holding it at bay.*

N"See! I knew it was going to do this!"

Daisy<It probably smelled all of the darkness coming towards it and mistook you for a Heartless.>

N"Screw you, you're more likely to be mistaken for a Heartless than I am!"

*Nevertheless, he slips through the gate. The plant seems to watch them as they pass, snapping its jaws. The town square, they will notice, is similarly deserted, save for all of these plants tracking their movements & snapping vaguely in their general direction. As Daisy looks around, Nero points in the direction of a cast iron fence with some tombstones behind it.*

N"He headed off to the grave yard."

Daisy<That's not surprising, that's how you get to a lot of places in Halloween Town. I wonder if everyone's in the town hall? Or maybe planning a surprise scare?>
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*Soon a shitton of birds swoop down from the sky, the guests trying to frantically shoo them away from the food and decorations.*

Th"We should sneak below deck before anyone notices us. Safian, you must have noticed Ariel's scent in her grotto. Do you think you could find her for us?"

E"Good idea...wait, Safian can track people by smell? Well, that would've been nice to know, a little earlier."

*She rolls her eyes.*
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Pan<Second star to the right, then straight on 'til morning.>

*He flies off, complaining about how much the pirates weigh.*

L"You do remember that we have powers he doesn't know about, right?"
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*Xyukuse called out...but nobody came.*

*Monu shrugs and tries to summon his glider again*
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Artexi:<Or Ira did something to them. I wouldn't pick it past him.>
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Safian:<Sorry! I wasn't myself before...>

*She sniffs around for Ariel's sent. If she finds a trail, she follows it*

These birds were a real stroke of luck, considering the fact that they needed to create some sort of diversion anyway. Admittedly Kyohaku wished that he had been told that Safian could track people by their smells as well, but that didn't really matter at this point. He was just glad to know that it was a possibility. Looking to Euryale, it seemed like he was non-verbally asking if there was anything else that he could have done to help out as well.

Following after Safian.

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Vega: "Does it matter what they're doing?"

*The trail leads below deck, but far away from the Prince's & disguised Ursula's rooms, to a small cabin near the front of the ship. Once Safian signals they've reached the end of the trail, Euryale cautiously opens the door, finding Ariel pacing around on what seems to be a new set of legs. When she spots her, her eyes & mouth open in surprise, but no sound comes out. She points to Euryale, then makes a walking gesture with her fingers, then a questioning face.*

E"Never mind that, right now. Did you trade your voice to Ursula for legs so you could try to elope with Prince Eric?"

*She shakes her head emphatically as Euryale shuts the door behind them. It becomes very cramped, very fast.*
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N"No, there's still no signs of a struggle. Besides, even if he COULD dispose of everyone & hide the evidence that fast, why would he?"

Daisy<Well, if there's a festival, it would be nice to join in on it.>

N"Let's focus on doing damage control on Ira first."
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*The Glider sort of half-forms before changing back into the Keyblade.*

L"Right, those are still broken. Well, might as well follow his directions, then."

*She starts to take off, but a shooting star falling near an island with an enormous Skull Rock catches her eye.*

As if Taiyo needed an excuse to get close to Euryale.

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Azuma: "Could that be important?"

*Safian hides in the shadows in the back to avoid scaring Ariel*
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Artexi:<I agree with Nero. We'll go see what's going on as soon as we find Ira's stupid ass.>

*Presumably they set off towards the graveyard*
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Monu:<Well, we might as well find out.>

*He dives down towards the fallen star*

Taking a neutral but still defensive pose, Kyohaku made it clear that he was guarding the door in case anyone had tried to come in here. He figured that would have made his intentions clear enough to Ariel as well, who he knew Safian feared would not appreciate them all being there. Nevertheless, it again looked to him like Taiyo was going to devour Euryale. He had to watch over this situation too in case they ended up killing each other in the process.

*Sensing Taiyo's presence, Euryale puts an arm around her shoulders, rubbing her arm absent-mindedly. Ariel makes a motion like she's holding something up & shakes her head, with a stern look on her face.*

E"King Triton told you it was a bad idea? You only met this guy a couple months ago, & he was unconscious the whole time. You ever figure that maybe your dad had a point?"

*Ariel points at her & stomps her foot, looking angry. Euryale raises her hands in a defensive gesture.*

E"Okay, okay! We're here now anyway, we should make the best of it. Do you know what Ursula is up to?"

*Ariel puts on a spacey-looking face, mimes putting something on her finger, then kind of waves her arms wildly before Euryale holds up her hand to stop her.*

E"Why don't you just write it down? I've seen you do that, literally with your eyes closed."

*Ariel looks sheepish, like she hadn't thought of that, then rushes to her dresser drawer to pull out some papers & a quill/ink well.*

Th"Whilst she is writing, we should form a plan. Safian, would you be able to locate Ursula and keep watch over her?"

E"Really? 'Cause I was just going to tell her what I've been up to. I have a mate now. You remember Taiyo, right?"

*Euryale pulls the Taiy slightly closer. Ariel nods, looks up, smiles at them, & goes back to scribbling notes down.*
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L"Wait, if we want to seal the Keyhole before the Heartless grow stronger, this could be pretty far out of our way. Maybe we should split into 2 groups."
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*As they climb the steps to the graveyard, another Tentaclaw attacks Nero. Having been jumpy this entire time, Nero blocks it again.*

N"Goddamnit! Call off your freaky plant monsters!"

Daisy<It's not their fault. We'll just have to tell Dr. Finklestein about the design flaw after we've stopped Ira.>

*Grumbling, Nero leads them on, keeping a wide berth around the Tentaclaw at the end of the graveyard, only for it to attack Daisy when she approaches. She looks shocked, but unhurt, as every drop of blood the plant spills as it chews on her only results in fingers that start to strangle it.*
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*Meanwhile, Nero exits the Pumpkin Patch, approaching a house.*

"Kiiiitteeeers! Here, kitty, kitty, kitty! Remember me? I'm a friend of Taiyo's, we had a sleepover here before!"

Taiyo waves.

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Azuma: "If it's important."

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Kitters being a cat doesn't listen because cats don't listen. Also fuck that guy.

Safian:<On it!>

*Safian disappears into the shadows, then leaves the room, presumably following Ursula's sent*
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Monu:<If you and Hitomi want to go ahead to London, Lilith and I can check out the light.>
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*Artexi points one of her keyblades at the plant*

Artexi:<Uh...need any help there?>

Daisy<No, I should be fine. Like I said, we'll just have to tell Dr. Finklestein later. Let's focus on 1 problem at a time.>

*She enters a secret tunnel in a coffin as the fingers grow large enough to force the plant to the ground & rip it to shreds, Nero staring on in open-mouthed horror before following after her.*

N"I am not having fun."

*The tunnel, as it turns out, exits from a crypt in the Pumpkin Patch. They skirt around the Tentaclaws all over the place, Daisy stretching her fingers to tickle the Curly Hill, which uncurls to reveal a path to a residential area.*

Daisy<Roatha must've destroyed the Tentaclaws leading to the top of Curly Hill. Well, at least they attacked someone they were supposed to.>

N"Doesn't seem like they stopped him, though."

*As they crest over the wall, they spot Roatha disappearing into a house.*
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*Ira uses the Keyblade to unlock the door & heads inside, checking from room to room. Upon entering Taiyo's bedroom, he opens a drawer, probably to find a bunch of cat costumes, at which point he backs away slowly.*
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L"Sounds like a plan to me. We should hurry, though."
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*Once finished, Ariel passes the note to Euryale.*

"...It says she thinks that Ursula is storing her voice in that shell around her neck. She's using it to hypnotize the prince. If she can't get him to kiss her before sunrise, she'll turn back into a mermaid & become Ursula's slave for the rest of her life. Why would you agree to this?! This is a terrible deal!"

*Euryale throws her arms up. Ariel crosses her arms & looks away, turning up her nose.*

Th"You do realize that capturing Ariel is merely a means to an end, do you not? Ursula's true goal is obviously to ransom her against King Triton."
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*Safian finds herself slinking through the halls to what is presumably the Prince's room, complete with a pair of saber-armed soldiers standing outside the door.*

*Presuming the door is closed, Safian pads up as close to the door as she can, trying to hear if anything is going on inside*
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*Monu nods and starts heading down towards the star*
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*Artexi points at Roatha's disappearing form with her keyblade*

Artexi:<Come on, let's go kick his ass!>

*She charges after him*

Honestly, Kyohaku had still wanted to intervene, considering how dangerous this all looked. It looked like something very bad was going to happen indeed. After all, it wasn't every day that one of his friends tried to eat another, but it was starting to become more and more common. Euryale even looked to be attempting to tenderize Taiyo's flesh. Wasn't that how organics made meat more acceptable to their mouths?

For now, though, it seemed like things pulled off a bit, and it looked like Euryale was giving out some relationship advice. Kyohaku figured that if he wanted to know whether someone was trustworthy he could just examine their checksum against a database to ensure that they weren't a pirate ROM copy of an existing legitimate file. This world was strange.

To make matters worse, Ariel seemed to indicate that what Euryale was doing with Taiyo wasn't abnormal. Was cannibalism that common? They...sucked faces before, and that looked like a case where someone would get eaten.

Snapping out of it, he was finally able to make a proper reply.

"In that case, if we get a hold of the shell, then how would we use it to restore her voice anyway?"

OOC Comments: I'm really sorry everyone, I didn't mean to let you down at all, but the new tablet I was using to post here had suffered from humidity screen damage and I had to spend some time getting them to honor the warranty and all. I sincerely hope that this makes up for it, and I hope that there are not hard feelings.

Taiyo: "Maybe her voice is inside it, so we just have to open it up?"

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They fly off in the direction of things falling from the sky.

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Not being a spazz, Vega does not run towards a random house and the pervert breaking it.

Th"Taiyo is correct, typically with enchantments such as these, breaking the object that the magics are sealed within will release them. If we can get close enough, then my magnet spell should be able to pull the necklace off of her."

E"Or I can just throw the Ends of Earth at her as hard as I can. I'm bettin' I'll break a lot more than her necklace."

Th"Either way, we should update Safian."

*She summons the Oathkeeper, drawing letters of light in the air, which soon vanish to reappear elsewhere.*
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We are coming to fight Ursula. Stay on her, tell us anything you find out.

*Since the spell is tied to Safian's Keyblade, it is also hidden, & therefore the guards do not see it.*

Ariel's Voice<...right on the way...then we can destroy all our....>
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*Lilith stops.*

L"Ooooor Monu & I can go to London. That works too."
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*As Hitomi & Azuma are flying towards Skull Island, wouldn't you know it, a Tailbunker, Wavecrest, & Windstorm spawn around them. The Tailbunker darts back, spitting fireballs at them, as the Wavecrest seeks altitude over them, & the Windstorm circles them, generating whirlwinds.*
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N"Maybe 2 of us should go in through the front door, & the others should circle around to see if there's a back."

Daisy<Good idea. Vega & I can take the front.>
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R"Well, if there's nothin' good in here, let's just skip to the main event."

*He points the Keyblade at her bed, flame tongues appearing at the tip.*

Nodding, Kyohaku figured that if worse comes to worst that they would have been able to possibly use some of his spells in the process as well. He had a tendency to use a bit of overkill at times as well, so he was able to identify with Euryale in that respect. Pausing again, he then thought about what it was that they had been saying about breaking the curse. "Was there anything else that I could do to prepare for this and help us out at all?"

Quietly, he just waited for their vote of confidence in this respect. He wasn't entirely sure how they were going to reply to that, but he figured that if there were even some remote way for him to be of aid that he would certainly have elected to do so.

Once in a while he felt like he still had a lot to learn, and naturally he never wanted to hold up the team or anything like that.

*Monu stops, watching Azuma and Hitomi fly off*

Monu:<...Well, I guess we better head off to London then.>

*He turns around to fly off towards London*
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*Safian stares at the message, then back at the wall. She attempts to shadow travel around to the interior of the room*
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Artexi:<Works for me!>

*She runs around to the back of the house*

Hitomi flies down, closer to the water multi-casting Blizzaga on the Tailbunker while Azuma pursues the Wavecrest, firing at it with Wolf Storm.

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Vega heads to the door, Keyblade in hand. Assuming Daisy isn't dragging her femur as I doubt she has an ass, he heads inside when she gets to the door. Following the likely trail of disarray to the bedroom where he uses Kraken to grab hold of Roatha and keep his lameass in place.

OOC: Coccyx, the coccyx is the bone that you sit on.

*It only takes 2 or 3 casts for the Tailbunker to be destroyed. The Wavecrest gets hit by a few ice bullets, but they just break against it while doing no damage. For Azuma's part, he's buffeted by 1 of the whirlwinds, lacerated & blown off-course. The Wavecrest then spins & charges at him, trailing wave crests, which might be how it gets its name.*
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*They eventually fly through a thick layer of clouds, it growing progressively darker, until they emerge on London.*

L"Does it seem a little too quiet to you? I don't hear anything but the clock tower ticking."

*If he looks over, he'll see a dark, hooded specter that she seems unaware of, despite how uncomfortably close it is flying to her. The insignia on its back confirms that it is a Heartless.*
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*As they approach the bedroom, they are greeted with the sounds & smells of a fire, & can see the light emanating from a room when they get close. By the time they enter the bedroom, Roatha has finished his thing, & therefore sees them coming. He rolls out of the way of Vega's attack, hurling an Explosion Raid. Daisy casts an ice wall as protection, but the explosion shatters it & still blows them back. Also, there's a bed burning nearby.*
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*Whether or not they find a back door I do not know, since Harley won't answer, but surely they see the orange tint in the window & hear the crackling sounds.*

N"Let's go!"

*And so Nero points the Darker Than Dark at the window, firing a beam to unlock it before transforming the Keyblade into his Glider & flying up there.*
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Th"If it comes down to a battle, it would be best if you stunned Ursula. Also, aim a lightning bolt at her necklace if you have a clear shot."

E"Don't worry, Ariel, we'll have this sorted out in no time. You just stay here."

*With a nod & a wave, she heads out, leaving Ariel looking concerned. Thiera follows Euryale & presumably Taiyo, as Euryale never let go of her.*
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*Shadow powers do allow Safian to fit under the door, but though she can hide from vision, the Heartless can still sense her & Shadows rise up around her, scurrying about the room & looking around for the invader. Ursula splashes a potion against a dresser mirror, while Prince Eric just kind of stands around like a zombie.*

Listening closely to what it was that Thiera was saying, Kyohaku figured that he would have been an invaluable part of all of this as well. Shrugging gently afterward, he looked around carefully and then started to leave as well, trusting that Ariel would be all right alone even if she did indeed look rather confused for the time being. Actually, she had almost looked scared really.

Monu:<Look out, there's a heartless near you!>

*Assuming he has a clear shot without hitting Lilith, Monu uses Wind Raid on the Heartless*
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*Artexi summons her glider, then follows Nero through the window*
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*Safian shadow travels back under the door to prevent the shadows from finding her. Once she gets far enough away, Safian sends a message to Thiera in firey letters that might be a little hard to read*

Found U. Prince is with her, so are H guards.

And so Taiyo is being dragged down the hall.

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Azuma rights himself and casts Darkga on the Wavecrest while Hitomi multi-casts Thundaga.

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Vega picks himself up and ditches the Keyblade for Darkest Fear and rushes Roatha striking with Gauntlet Blitz, following through with Deadly Force. Should it fail to stop him, he continues with Cerberus Strike following through with Force then Beast.

*By the time he's taking aim, the Wavecrest has plowed into him, sending him skipping along the water's surface. It instinctively leaps back just before a lightning bolt would hit it, spitting a water globule at Hitomi. The Windstorm weaves between the bolts, trying to make some distance.*
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*He does not, but when Lilith turns & summons her Keyblade, it speeds off in front of the clock tower.*

L"Wha--why didn't it attack? It's casting some kind of spell!"

*Sure enough, the Heartless is waving its hands through the air, trailing dark fire. Similar fire envelops each numeral on the massive clock behind it as a kind of ghostly wail sounds. Lilith notices a ring of will-o-the-wisps surrounding her & tries to escape them by flying up, but to no avail.*
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*Euryale & Thiera just stare at the message in confusion.*

Th"Do you have any idea what this says?"

E"Why would I know that?"
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*Eventually, Safian spies the Heartless slinking through the shadows towards her, or perhaps smells their peculiar stench. They seem to have followed her, but have only a vague idea where she is.*
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*Roatha firewheels out of the way of Vega's first strike, burning him slightly.*

R"Hm, you're pretty--ngh, fast!"

*He raises his Keyblades just in time to block the 2nd strike, but when the lion head smashes through his guard, he topples backwards against the wall. Snickering, he hurls an Explosion Raid into the ceiling, & after a second, the roof starts to cave in.*

R"You're too late."

N"Not quite."

*After catching him with a Collision Magnet, Nero throws Roatha out of the window & follows, shooting purple lasers at him.*

Daisy<Come back, Mr. Vega, you need to get to safety before you can follow him! I'll take care of the fire!>