First Blood Shed

Taiyo: "Price? We were just gonna take it."

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

Vega rights himself and jumps back using Pyre, so the Leechgrave just strikes a mine. Once away from the monster, he uses Center on himself to heal.

*Monu crosses his arms, shooting a glance at Lilith before turning back to Luxord*

Monu:<How do we know you won't stab us in the back immediately after the battle?>
---
*Safian grins even wider*

Safian:<Why don't you take us to Ursula so we can talk in person?>
---
*Artexi lets the poison hit her, because it doesn't affect her anyway. She begins turns back to the main body, firing on it with her lasers and hurling her keyblade at it*

Flotsam<Such ill-mannered bottom-feeders think they're worthy of seeing Ursula.>

Jetsam<Yes, not worth her help...not worth it at all....>

*Abruptly, Flotsam & Jetsam contract around the Keyblade Wielders they were circling, wrapping around Taiyo & Euryale, & binding their arms as a result. Euryale thrashes, powering towards the nearest wall in an attempt to ram Jetsam into it, only to be electrocuted into submission. Meanwhile, a beam of sickly brown energy streaks towards Safian as Ursula's tentacles pull her out of the shell's opening.*

Ursula<Great work, my precious babies! Now we have them right where we want them!>
----------------------------------------------------------
Luxord<Who said anything about a fight? I just want to parley.>

Jack<You know this conspicuous fellow?>

L"He's part of a group called the Organization."

Luxord<Yes, & I'm here on a mission: To study the effects of the cursed gold on the Heartless.>

Jack<And how did you find out about that?>

Luxord<Dunno. Didn't ask.>
=====================================
*The poison may not affect her, but the physical impact of the pollen causes her to swerve off-course. Also, the explosion from the mine does nothing. With Artexi out of the way, Nero quickly uses Faith to blow some of the pollen away from himself & heal. He then shoots a fireball at the last Tentaclaw, rolling to avoid the poison pollen shots, & keeps firing until it is destroyed. Eventually, the main plant rotates as if woozy & sinks to the ground, twitching vaguely, apparently passed out.*

*Safian uses Dark Splice to teleport around Ursula, snapping at any exposed body part before diving into the shadows. Once in the shadows, she starts swimming around the edge of the cavern, waiting for another opportunity to strike*
---
*Seeing the plant go down, Artexi rights her glider, then uses her lasers and Venom Raid on it*
---
Monu:<Why don't you explain the terms of this parley?>

I guess Taiyo is also electrocuted.

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

Azuma: "When did we become pirates?"

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

Vega closes in with Gauntlet Blitz and goes all out on the defenseless thing with Reapers Toll, following through with a wide swipe from the Dragon Claw, Brutal Earth, Force, and Water Dragon Flurry.

*The coffin is heavily cracked & marred by all of these attacks, & some of the chains break off, revealing giant, pale hands that feel their way out. The creature stirs, rising as another quartet of Tentaclaws break out, 1 near each of the Organization members. Daisy promptly extends her fingers, wrapping them aroun the Tentaclaw nearest her so it can't move & stabbing them into it. Something pulses under her skin as the Heartless deflates & her wounds close up.*

N"I bet it won't survive another attack like that!"

*As he shouts, he edges away from the Tentaclaw, using Firaga to dispatch it. The Heartless of course belches out a new cloud of poison & swings to attack anyone who hasn't gotten clear of it, its creepy hands flailing for extra reach.*
==========================
Luxord<Simple. I explain the rules of the game, & then we play.>

*He snaps his fingers, prompting 4 Gamblers to appear. They each show a coin before flitting off down the cavern tunnels.*

Luxord<The rules are simple: Find the coins before the Reaper finds you.>

*A kind of ghoulish laughter rings through the cave as Luxord opens a Dark Corridor.*
------------------------------------------------
*Logically, Safian couldn't use Dark Splicer to warp to Ursula until she saw her, meaning it would be too slow to evade the energy beam. Once struck, she glows before shrinking down, her tail fin anchoring to the floor as she becomes a miserable little polyp with a sharklike face. Ursula begins laughing until Euryale summons the Keyblade in a reverse grip, slicing Jetsam in half before grabbing Flotsam by the neck, pulling him just far enough away from Taiyo to bash his head in with her guard. Ursula pulls her hands to her face, aghast.*

Ursula<My babies! You'll pay for that!>

*She quickly darts over to her bottles of potions & starts chucking them in the cauldron, which starts to bubble & glow violent red before spitting fireballs out at them.*

Taiyo moves to avoid the fireballs, casting Force Arrow in Ursula's direction.

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

Azuma fires a Wolf Storm after Luxord as really they should've just wrecked him upon sight.

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

Vega moves to avoid the Leechgrave and likely a Tentaclaw's attack and clear on out of striking distance.

*P!Safian makes a miserable squeak, moving around as much as she can to get Euryale's or Taiyo's attention*
---
*Seeing as Luxord is going to get away no matter what, Monu casts Hawk's Dive on himself*

Monu:<Let's split up and find those gamblers before this 'Reaper' gets us. Since there's five of us Order members, we can have Jack, Will, and Ariel each accompany one of us. Why don't I take Will, Thiera and Lilith take Ariel, and Azuma take Jack?>
---
*Artexi lands near the heartless the spawned near her, dismissing her glider and resummoning her second keyblade. Darting away from the incoming attacks, she launches at the Tentaclaw before slashing at it with Sol's Might*

*Not that Monu would know, but Luxord DOES summon some giant cards to block the attack long enough to get away.*

Jack<No deal. I have an important reunion to attend.>

Will<And I must be there as well, to save Elizabeth!>

L"With 5 of us & only 4 Nobodies, there will be someone left over anyway. Maybe Hitomi should take them to fight the pirates, since they'll be weak against magic."
--------------------------------------------
*Euryale was already rushing to scoop up Safian, quickly swapping for the Divine Rose so she could spread a salve over the polyp that would cause her to grow back into a shark. At this point, Euryale lets go bacause this is awkward. Ursula gets struck by a bunch of arrows & begins spinning, moving towards Taiyo in an attempt to lash her with tentacles.*
============================
*Nero shoots the Tentaclaw Artexi is attacking with a fireball at the same time, & they successfully destroy it. Vega successfully evades, before collapsing due to the poison again. After destroying the Tentaclaw, Daisy gets back up. She tries to rush the Leechgrave because physical damage means nothing to her, but it reminds her that it can still just punt her away, before firing more pollen bursts that Nero rolls away from while backing away from the encroaching poison cloud. A solitary Tentaclaw remains, located dangerously close to the monster, so Daisy opts to attack it instead.*

Monu:<If Hitomi is willing, that should work.>

*He looks over at her*
---
Safian:<Thanks Euryale!>

*Safian uses Dark Splice to disappear and reappear behind Ursula, then she chomps down on her shoulder*
---
*Artexi starts to edge around the Leechgrave so she can get into a good position to use Venom Raid on the remaining Tentaclaw*

Taiyo casts Bubble Ward and freezes it, so Ursula has a chunk of ice to hit instead.

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

She has no reason to not go along with it, so she doesn't protest. Not like she can't end the battle upon setting foot on the battlefield anyways.

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

Vega again uses Center to at least put himself together somewhat. He really needs something for purging status ailments.

As the poison is damn irritating, Vega uses Soaring Raptor Blast to bring it all in.

*It's tough to get a good bite on her & she sort of glances off of Taiyo's shield, throwing more potions in, this time generating a whirlpool. Euryale skims the edge of the room to avoid it & fires a huge boulder of ice at the cauldron, cracking it.*
----------------------------------------------------
L"Then I guess have Jack lead you to the rest of the pirates while the rest of us split up & follow the Nobodies."

Jack<Right this way then, Little Lass.>

*He gestures for Hitomi to follow him to the source of the light. Will comes to stand beside her, deciding to comment as Jack passes into a beam of moon light.*

Will<Remember, that's what he is on the inside. Just like all of the others. We can't trust him, but I'll be sure to keep an eye on him for you.>

*Meanwhile, Thiera wishes the others luck, before leading Ariel into a tunnel. Lilith turns to Monu, gesturing with her head to Thiera's retreating back.*

L"What she said. Who knows what other tricks the Organization, or for that matter these pirates, might have planned."
=================================
*Vega has successfully cleared a roughly 10 foot circle around himself. When the last Tentaclaw goes down again, of course Nero swaps out for his own Keyblade to use Dark Splicer on it as Daisy also turns to attack.*

Taiyo dispels the shield and swims to avoid the whirlpool.

Taiyo: "The cauldron cracked when you hit it with magic!"

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

Hitomi doesn't respond as she follows Jack as Will's being totally prejudice, but really she's just not sociable.

I assume Azuma is going down a path with someone or perhaps by his lonesome, I don't know.

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

Vega keeps the tornado up as otherwise, they'll be back in the predicament they were in before. Really need a way to be able to launch the gathered shit in a more precise manner.

*Monu nods at Lilith*

Monu:<Stay safe.>

*He casts Hawk's Dive on himself to increase his speed, then disappears after one of the nobodies*
---
*Safian shadow travels near the edge of the room to avoid the whirlpool. After hearing Taiyo, she aims a sphere of darkness at the cauldron*
---
*Artexi hurls one keyblade at the Leechgrave and uses Venom Raid with the other*

*The cauldron is full of cracks & leaking. Seeing that 1 more attack should do it, Euryale shoots another ice boulder, destroying it in an explosion that stuns Ursula, though she begins to stir as Euryale swims up to her & reaches for the nautilus necklace.*
------------------------------------------------
*Jack leads them to an outcropping where they can see a cheering crowd of pirates around a pedestal upon which the chest of Aztec Gold is, gold which they can see has been tinged with a few red spots. Next to it is Barbossa & Elizabeth. The light, it turns out, is from torches set in the walls. There is a hole in the ceiling, but at the moment, the clouds are covering the moon. Will starts forward, but Jack grabs him by the shoulder to hold him back.*

Jack<We need to be careful about this. I can't die & the lass seems to be a danger to everything around her, so once we have their attention, you can sneak around & grab the girl.>

Barbossa<And so tonight, with the generous offering of this young lady, the blood of the Turners, we will finally be free of this curse!>

*He roughly grabs Elizabeth's arm & holds her hand over the coins, using a knife to slice into her hand as she squints & looks away. A few drops of blood fall into the chest & the pirates look up at the hole in the ceiling, deathly silent, anxious to see if their plan has succeeded. They are so transfixed that they don't even notice Will's growl of impotent rage.*
------------------------------------------------
*As Azuma heads through the tunnel, he sees a giant die rolling towards him, taking up basically the whole space. Beyond it, the Nobody hops from foot to foot before exiting into a kind of graveyard of half-sunken ships.*
------------------------------------------------
*Meanwhile, Monu finally catches up to the Nobody outside of the cave, in a kind of forest. The Nobody bounds into the air & generates a giant card to fly on, weaving through the branches.*
===============================
*Vega is doing precisely nothing. Nero switches to Roatha's Keyblade & lets loose with Ars Arcanum, & before they know it, the grave crumbles as the monster within weakly flails its hands before dying. The tentacles in the ground wither & crumble as the bulb deflates, emitting a few weak purple puffs of smoke as a heart floats out of the top & disappears into the night sky. Beams of light pierce the Heartless's corpse as it finally collapses into darkness. If they look outside the gates, they can see the Tentaclaws withering & falling apart, presumably doing so throughout the town.*

Taiyo uses Aqua Whip to restrain Ursula, so that Euryale can get the necklace.

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

Azuma uses Dodge Deflect to repel the die, so he can pursue the Nobody.

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

Vega slams his fist down adding the accumulated poison to the already present cloud since it was never stated to disappear with the Heartless, so instead of having somewhere they could be without choking, they are without.

*Safian uses Cat's Eye on Ursula in an attempt to paralyze her*
---
*Monu summons his glider, jumps on, then teleports in front of the nobody. He then uses his glider's spinning attack on it*
---
*Artexi runs over to the others*

Artexi:<We better get you lot out into the clean air.>

*She offers a hand to help Nero*

*With Ursula's arms bound, she uses her tentacles to swat off Euryale & Safian, emitting ink from them. Euryale does what they should have done, grips her Keyblade in both hands, & stabs her, breaking the shell in the process. Ursula's groans as she falls limp & sinks are drowned out by the sound of Ariel singing, though it ends as soon as it begins.*
----------------------------------------------------
*Both are knocked from the air, the Nobody by the attack, Monu by hitting a tree. As they are falling to the ground with alarming speed, the Nobody grabs a branch with its feet & shuffles a deck of cards before flinging them at Monu with alarming speed.*
----------------------------------------------------
*Azuma finds himself on the edge of a lagoon filled with half-sunken ships, the Nobody jumping from ship to ship. In the sky, he catches a glimpse of Lilith's & Thiera's Gliders pursuing a pair of Nobodies, Lilith of course firing lasers.*
----------------------------------------------------
*Barbossa continues to grow more impatient as the clouds refuse to fade, finally pulling out his gun & firing into the chest of one of the pirates. He stumbles back & looks at the wound as it closes up.*

<Hey--I'm still alive! Hey--you shot me.>

Barbossa<I guess the Curse demands more blood!>

*He pulls Elizabeth towards her, raising the knife again.*

Jack<What's this? Not enjoying the cut of the treasure you worked so hard to steal from me?>

*With that, Jack jumps over the short rock wall, & Barbossa is so dumbfounded that he doesn't notice Elizabeth getting away.*

Barbossa<JacK? How did you get here?>

Jack<Sea turtles. Tied a whole school of 'em together to make a raft. Dead useful little critters. Anyway, en garde!>

*He raises his sword as the pirates look to each other in confusion.*
=================================
Daisy<I don't really breathe, but alright.>

*Nero takes her hand & Daisy starts to follow, offering her own hand to Vega. Her creepy, malformed, decrepit hand.*

Taiyo: "Does that mean it worked?"

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

As it wasn't said that Will has gotten Elizabeth the hell on out of there, Hitomi doesn't rain fire on the pirates.

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

Azuma hurls a Darkness Raid towards the Gambler to close the distance between it and himself.

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

Vega dispels his weapon and takes her up on that offer.

Vega: "I apologizing for injuring you all. I was careless."

Safian:<I guess so. What should we do her Ursula?>
---
*Monu casts Skyclimber on himself, then ducks away from the cards being thrown at him. He is careful to avoid any trees this time*
---
*Artexi helps Nero get to clean air*

Artexi:<Don't sweat it. Everyone makes mistakes.>

E"I think Thiera said all we have to do is break it."

*She looks down at Ursula.*

E"Pretty sure she's dead. We should hurry & get back to the others. Better swim up to the surface & use the Gliders, it'll be a lot faster."
-------------------------------------
*Monu's Gambler begins to flit through the trees, back the way it came.*
-------------------------------------
*Azuma is now perched on the bow of a ship that is almost vertical in the air. When the Gambler spots him, it tries to push him off. Also, Azuma can hear the howl from before, much closer now. Lilith shoots down the Nobody she is pursuing & dives towards the water, continuing to fire while Thiera uses her Glider's shield to deflect a dice back at her target, only for it to evade & start shuffling cards.*
-------------------------------------
*Barbossa notices Elizabeth trying to slink away & takes off after her.*

Barbossa<Take care of this fool while I stop our little lamb from getting away!>

*The pirates charge forward. The good news is that the moon is out again. The bad news is that Barbossa & the front half of the pirate hoard have already entered shadow. Jack gets into a combat stance...& then promptly runs away, trying to get around the hoard of attackers.*
========================
Daisy<Yes, but...do be more careful next time. I was very nearly reduced to ash.>

*Nero is limping, because poison.*

I guess they're getting the hell on out of that spooky cave.

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

Azuma shifts to not get pushed off while still keeping himself on the wreckage and punches that fucker in the face with Frigid Blast.

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

Hitomi multi-casts Fira on the pirates in the moonlight.

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

That does nothing to alleviate his guilt. Probably should've exorcised her.

Artexi:<Holy shit, I didn't know you got that badly hurt. Glad you're ok.>

*Still helping*
---
*Monu pursues, using Wind Raid on the Gambler*
---
*Safian follows Euryale and Taiyo out of the cave*

*The pirates start running around, smoke trailing from them, trying to pat themselves out. The others are so invested in chasing Jack that they don't realize someone just started casting spells at them. Jack makes a running leap to the pedestal in the center of the room, brandishing his sword--naturally, the pirates follow him into the moonlight.*

Will<Hold it right there!>

*Barbossa & Elizabeth stop to look at a chasm overlooking the sea, standing upon which is Will.*

Will<She can't help you because I'M the blood of the Turners that you have searched high & low for! And if you harm even a single hair on her head, I'll cast that blood into the sea--every last drop of it--so that you will never be free of your acursed forms!>

Elizabeth<Will, no!>
----------------------------------------------------
*The Nobody that Monu is chasing is struck & falls towards the ground.*
----------------------------------------------------
*The Gambler comically flails its arms before falling backwards, toppling down the deck of the ship & splashing into the water. Floating above the water, Azuma finally comes face to face with the infamous [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. The monster swings its blade, hurling a stream of blue fireballs at Azuma. Meanwhile, he can see Lilith reaching out of her ship to grab the coin from the Gambler she obliterated as Thiera continues to fly rings aound her target, gradually penning it in.*
----------------------------------------------------
*It's STILL a whale carcass. In any case, as they leave, they can see a number of merpeople rapidly fleeing the scene, while all of the polyps seem to be gone.*
=================================
Daisy<Yes, unfortunately I'm afraid that though there's little that can damage me, what can I have no defense against.>

As whales are spooks that only nerds believe in, Taiyo continues following them out of the cave probably alarmed by the amount of merpeople getting on out of there.

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

Azuma follows the Gamble, stabbing his Keyblade into the wreckage to slow his descent.

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

Hitomi continues assaulting the pirates not engaged with Jack with Fira.