TRACES OF CHAOS [a kingdom hearts roleplay]

[Mason Stark]

You want her to be safe? Really? Please, ENLIGHTEN me on how you want her to be safe when this entire time all you've been doing was being a pain in the ass!

"Whoawhoawhoa, damn dude, calm the eff down!" Aoi threw his hands up, boots sliding a step back as he pulled away from the boy. He snarled in returned, back straightening, "What, I can't grow a conscience and make amends for my mistakes?! Sheesh, everyone's gotta judge you for every effin' thing that you do, I swear...

"And that, by the way... is a spoiler, punk. 'nother story for another time. Trust me, I've got good intentions, just this once."

Running a hand through his messy, spiked bangs while the other hand rested in his jacket pocket, the teen gave a sigh, regaining his composure.

Anyway, I'll give you a chance. And as for our little deal here, how about this - at the end of it all, I'll give up whatever you choose. It can be anything and I will abide to it. Now does that sound better?

His emerald orbs lit up. A sneering grin formed on his gaunt, stark features. He cracked his knuckles, shaking his right hand.

"Anything, huh? Oh ho, this'll be totes interesting then... Let's see, let's see..." He drummed his index finger on his chin, his eyes gazing up at the metallic ceiling high, high above. That once malicious grin twisted into a pensive frown.

"Well, without a Keyblade, you can't defeat the Heartless, so that would be stupid. And I really don't want your stupid goggles, especially since they were that bastard, Wrath's," he paced back and forth, arms folded behind his back, "How 'bout somethin' a little more... interesting? How about... your Heartless form? That damn thing's caused too much trouble, no matter if you've got it under control or not, so you give it up and you can go get your friend back. Savvy? And, hey, you offered me the chance to choose."

The likelihood of Derrick going along with that was probably slim to none. That was his main power and, without it (even if he did have a keyblade now), well... maybe the kid could figure out how to fight without that damn form.

Shoving his right hand forward, he adds, "We got a deal, punk? Your Heartless form for the kid. Going once..." His eye twitched, "Twice..."

-------------------------

HER NAME'S RENA!

Like spiders shaken by fear, the vines crawled away from the light and released their prisoner. Rena collapsed to the dark floor onto her back, the girl left to stare at the endless ceiling with half-opened eyes. She winced at the light of the keyblade, but it wasn't enough to stir her from her comatose, barely awakened state.

As Azure fought the darkness, it relentlessly fought back, fighting to get back to its prisoner.

Remember your trial, Rena... what you said.... If you can't fight for yourself.... fight for him.... FIGHT FOR DERRICK!

"Shut up!" screamed the girl, "Derrick's dead!"

Azure's words were enough to wake Rena up, but something was wrong with her... Perhaps the darkness had affected her too much already, perhaps she had already forgotten so much. Whatever it was, something was deeply wrong with Rena... After all, her eyes, flashing back and forth between gold and blue, said it all.

"What's the point?" she questioned, pulling her knees to her chest. She didn't look up at Azure, "Aoi wanted me dead and he got it... I'm dead, one way or another. Maybe I deserve it. I'm the reason why Derrick is gone, anyways. I deserve to be a Heartless, I deserve to die a slow and painful death... I'm never going to escape this, Azure. I might as well accept it."

The girl, with her blank eyes and blank expression, paused for a moment. Suddenly, her shoulders turned rigid and her body started to shake. She buried her head against her knees, slamming her palms against the sides of her head.

"Nonono," she muttered in a shaken voice, "that's wrong... I-I remember... I gotta remember..."

click, click, click...

A hand placed itself onto the girl's shoulder. She jolted with a gasp, turning around and staring up at the newcomer. It was a tall man, someone who seemed very familiar... but she couldn't quite put her finger on who he was...

You are quite the unique individual. First a Keyblader, now a Heartless. Of course that is all going to change unless you deal with that annoying Totema.

The man knelt down next to her, fixated on the battle that was happening outside. Rena turned back towards the screen, staring at its bright light and becoming fixated, consumed by it.

Come along now. Deal with the Totema and come join the rest of your kind. We’re waiting for you.

Was the man addressing her? She wasn't the one fighting... so why was he talking to her like that? His words bugged her, bugging that missing feeling that was overwhelming her in place of all of those fleeting memories.

For a moment, the girl hung her head, turning her attention away.

She could end this -- join the rest of her 'kind,' as the man said. They were waiting for her, after all, and it was rude to keep them waiting...

Then, she jumped to her feet. She half-heartedly glanced over at Azure, watching as he fought the darkness away.

"Bye-bye..." the girl gave a grin, curling her fingers as a wave goodbye.

SHISH!

The darkness no longer cared for Azure. It shot past him and charged for its new target: a heart. Rena had been reduced to a transparent image, the only thing 'real' being her heart.

SLAM!

The dark vines shot at the heart, piling one on top of the next and greedily fighting over the heart. A dark aura flickered and surrounded the heart, until a shockwave of dark energy burst out of nothing, only to disappear.

The darkness twisted around the girl, imprisioning the keyblader once more. Should Azure decide to fight it, it would've surely fought back, fighting to keep the girl fallen into the darkness. Her heart now blackened, she simply floated over nothing as a dark aura begun to surround her see-through figure...

Was Rena really gone?

-------------------------

The other warriors tried to push themselves into the battle, but the Totema was far too consumed in its battle with the Heartless to give a damn about the others. This proved to be a good thing to the Heartless -- if Mist focused on her battle with Rena, then the Heartless could've killed off the Totema much more quickly...

Let us continue where we left off, Heartless.

The Dark Firaga that Rena launched was shot back at the Heartless, leaving only a split second for the creature to react. The armor disintegrated and dropped into a shadow form, leaving behind a doppleganger form that took the brute of the attack. As Rena fled to the opposite side of the battle, the shadow doppleganger took Mist's attacks, ultimately being destroyed. The Heartless grinned behind that helmet of her's and readied for the next attack, letting her armored knuckles click on the concrete.

"Gahh!" A distorted voice shot into the air, muffled behind a thick layer of metal. The Heartless stumbled back, a clawed gauntlet slamming against her chest. A hiss sounded, the figure's armor clicking as she shook.

But something odd was beginning to happen... Suddenly, the Heartless seemed more human. The pain in her chest subsided, giving away to a strange, dark aura that seemed to drip upwards, like thin paint running down a wall. The girl stared out into the world beyond the visor, staring with a pair of glowing, golden orbs. Twin dark shapes formed, with dark flashes, in Rena's empty hands. She tightened her fists and gripped the dark swords that appeared within her grip, resembling a twisted form of the girl's own keyblade.

A distorted, twisted chuckle sounded from within the armor, and the Heartless seemed to smirk. Whatever happened, it certainly wasn't good news for Mist...

SLAM!

The attacks began again! With a slam of the swords, a fast shockwave dove for Mist, creating dark spikes that shot out of the concrete and created a crack in the earth. If it went to plan, Mist would've become engulfed by the crack, leaving darkness to swallow her up and pin her in a trap. Spinning the weapons, Rena leapt into the air and kicked off several Dark Firaga attacks that flew for the Totema. Once they were gone, Rena leapt into the ground and appeared before Mist once more, slamming the dark swords down on the creature and then stabbing them forward, aimed straight for Mist's chest.

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Conflicting Desires -~

"Hm we have complete control of Arcay milord.... the people Monte has captured from Olympus, and Radiant garden should suffice enough as a power source until the ship is finished with its prepares."

Cecilia frowned at Astral's suggestion for the captives, clenching her fists, she turned her back on the hybrid and glared out the window, completely infuriated. Listening in silence to the exchange between the two guys, she pushed back at the anger boiling up inside her even as she took in more of Sleif's anger. Although, I can't blame Astral for hating Castesx, something about that guy just gets under my skin. She hissed mentally, wrestling with her desire to sucker punch both of them.

"Heh it seems they’re aware their original master has fallen.... sir would it not be wise to have a playing card against Castex.... while we can still gain one."

That comment nearly had Cecilia lunging at Astral to pin him to the ground, she hated the fact he wanted to use Aqua like that. Growling softly, she slowly turned to face the hybrid with an unreadable mask firmly in place; luckily enough for both of them Sleif chose then to speak up and answer her question about the Heartless. “Nearly twelve years ago. A type some refer to as a Shadow Vixen. I’m quite familiar with this one in fact. If you know of her, I will bring her to you.”

Looking at him, she smiled and answered, "Thanks, provided she won't fight too much in the process of being brought here." She didn't think with it being Sleif the Shadow Vixen would fight, but considering who it was, there was always the risk of the Heartless rebelling in order to stay close to her friends. Looking at the computer screen, she saw the way the Shadow Vixen seemed frightened for Sora, constantly shifting her weight from one foot to another whenever she wasn't being crazy hyper from the fact Sleif was nearby.

“And Astral? If she’s useful, bring her along.”

Glancing at Sleif from the corner of her eye, the whitenette frowned as he said this. Clenching her fists, Cecilia turned her back on the Heartless as he appeared on the screen showing the one with Sora and his friends. Raising her hand to the glass, she absentmindedly started to trace the panes of glass; drawing random images on it. A soft smile spreading across her face despite the anger she felt, Cecilia tried to figure out the easiest ways to deal with the upcoming dilemma she expected to unfold between her and Sleif when he learned of what she was truly after.

~- Any Words to Fill the Blanks -~

Rosaline ran after Hazoc, keeping her distance just enough that it'd be hard for him to spot her. Sensing Sleif's descent onto the world, she forced the thought to the back of her mind. She couldn't let it bother her for the time being no matter how much she wanted to run, just like the totema were doing. Reaching the scene of a fight, she ducked back into the shadows and watched as Hazoc interrupted one of the fights by grabbing the blue armored woman's hand and pulling her out of it.

Tilting her head to the side in confusion, she brushed it off and focused her eyes on the blue haired woman in front of her. Raising a finger to her lips, Rosaline felt a smile spread across it as she sensed the familiar pulse of twilit energy. Oooh, this is going to be fun! she giggled mentally, unusually cheerful at the prospect of finding someone like Aqua here. Shrugging her shoulders, Rosaline waited until the other blue haired woman passed before following close behind her; not even paying attention that they were heading straight back toward Sleif.

~- If You Ever Feel Like You're Nothing -~

Ven slapped himself upside the head, calling to his wind magic; he slowly picked the tornado spells apart. Waiting until it was clear, Ven ran over to check on Kaijen; looking him over for any serious injuries even as he tried to judge which curative magic would be best for the job. Finding the proper one, he said quietly, "Heal." Standing back to give Kaijen some room, he turned his back for a moment to look up at the castle; admiring and relieved that the castle was for the most part unchanged. You know the spell work was Aqua's expertise, kiddo. After all, remember that one time you tried using a spell that was too strong for you?

Fighting the urge to shout, Ven shook his head to dislodge the thought, but it didn't do much as a female voice laughed in his head. Give up, Ven, you're not strong enough, you lack the stamina, and you lack the skills to win against either of us!

Shaking his head, his hands shot up to clutch his head. One of them was bad enough, but both of them double teaming him? It was even worse. Closing his eyes as the words continued, Ven turned to his usual counter for when this happened. After he was sure that it was safe, Ven opened his eyes and lowered his hands; not at all thrilled when Vanitas piped up mentally, Hey, little light, you doing okay? Or are you seriously on the verge of losing your mind?

Shut up!

Ven knew that there was more force in that response then necessary, but he didn't particularly care at that point. Running back toward the castle, Ven wasn't sure if Kaijen would try to reach out and talk to him; but at the moment he had one thing to focus on: Kairi. That and getting the voices under control, but that wasn't really important at the moment. Pushing open the door, he hesitated for a brief moment to try to pinpoint where Kairi was in the castle. When was the last time I'd gotten lost in here? I can't remember...oh wait, actually yes I can. He thought, a half-smile coming to Ven's face at the memory of the last time he'd gotten lost within the castle's walls.

"You know, that's pretty good coming from someone that I asked to leave just a little while ago in the same vein of in vain hope. So, Nobody, how about you cut through the bull shit already? Even without the threat of hurting my friends, it'll be a cold day in hell before I come willingly with you guys, so take your best shot at subduing me or get out of here. Your choice."

Ven felt his muscles tense as several Floods spawned before disappearing in different directions; one heading off to visit Kairi and the others heading off to who knows where. "Great, this is seriously the last thing I need!" Ven shouted angrily, kicking the ground in frustration as he tried to figure out what he should do now until he could figure out where Kairi was exactly.

 

[Eternal Dream]

~- Leave the Lost and Dead Behind -~

"Yoooouuuuu ssseeeemmmm to be hard of hearinggggg."

"I've been told that before; seems stubbornness is a born quality of mine," Vesper sneered, maintaining his balance on the air. Watching with some satisfaction as the fire demon became stone, the wolf continued, "Although, looks like it's paid off..."

Rock burst into the air, hitting Vesper in the face and stinging his eyes. Snarling, the wolf ducked his head; rubbing a paw over his eyes, he tried to clear his vision, but he kept his ears perked toward his opponent's position. A soft sound reminded him of armor sliding into place, sending a thrill of horror up his spine in the process. Releasing his hold on the spell, Vesper dropped to the ground as a familiar voice slid around him, though without the sibilant hiss.

"You just made this fight much worse for you, my canine friend."

"Who says?" His eyes stinging, Vesper nevertheless threw a filthy glare at Liquid Flame, doing his best to ignore the monster's new form. Settling himself back into a battle ready stance as the totema reached for the claymore on its back, Vesper felt the newly formed rock start stuttering under his paws as he gathered magic. "Who says this isn't what I...."

A tremor of power arced through the air, gaining both the wolf and the totema's attention. Vesper recognized the power as one from a obscenely powerful Heartless; more than that, it felt like the demon just might have a human form and sentience to match. Vesper had only ever encountered one Heartless like that.

Xehanort's.

"We will continue this another time Lost."

Whipping his head around to face Liquid Flame again, Vesper lept, trying to pin the beast to the ground; but before he could, his opponent disappeared into a portal, forcing the wolf into a bad landing on the other side. Vesper landed hard, yelping as his weight came down on his left front leg. Lifting his paw off the ground to take the weight off the injured limb, he ground his teeth as frustration came close to boiling over.

He was useless. Aqua was on the brink, Ven was still nowhere to be found; Riku had demons because of what Terra had done; Terra himself was MIA; Lea had been sent for a loop and Tora was a Nobody. And Vesper was stuck in a body that wasn't made to fight against humans or creatures bearing a humanoid form and sentience; he had his mind, yes, but intelligence and a decent magic pool wasn't enough to compensate for his lack of human limbs.

"We will continue this another time Lost."

"..... prepppaaarrreee yourselllffff loosssttt."

Lost. Liquid Flame had called Vesper that twice, and it didn't seem to be referring to Vesper stumbling around without direction. Although, that was certainly the way the wolf felt; he felt like he'd been wandering the last twelve years, doing his best to keep his head above water, but with no clue as to how the hell to even start on his mission. And now that his goal had started coming into sight, he still didn't know if the way he was going was right.

But still, Vesper knew the true meaning behind Liquid Flame's words.

Shaking his head, Vesper stored the totema's disturbingly accurate taunts away for later and started hiking. He wasn't moving as fast as he would have liked; the leg refused to take any of his weight, so he had to limp along on three legs as fast as he could.

Despite what he thought was a slow pace, Vesper soon came to a ledge that showed him where Riku and Sora were; a brief measure of surprise crossed his face when Vesper realized that Lea and Tora were there as well. Out of the corner of his eye, Vesper could just make out Aqua weaving her way toward them, but his attention was centered on the being before him, the human Heartless that had a murderous glare fixed on Riku, his hand on the head of what Vesper knew to be a Shadow Vixen.

“Very good to see you too, Aura. I see you are keeping yourself well.”

Snarling, Vesper felt his mind slip into a place it hadn't been in for years. Crouching low, he lept down from his perch, being careful not to land on his injured leg this time. Landing right in the middle, he immediately placed his back to his friends and Sora, keeping them squarely behind him as he set his sights on the Heartless standing before him.

His mind registered distant surprise as the Shadow Vixen, bristling, placed herself in front of the human Heartless, matching his glare with a defiant glare of her own. Growling, she stared him down, and though some part of Vesper recognized that he should yield to her, that other part of him told him to shut the hell up; she might have been Alpha before, but that quality wasn't her's anymore.

What are you doing? You're one of us!

The words in his mind startled Vesper, but his other side had already stiffened his body, snarling softly as he hurled back, No! I'm not like any of you!

The two wolves watched each other, each keeping themself in front of who they were guarding. To some in the group, they'd possibly think it was some sort of dominance ritual, but to others, the ones who had lived in Radiant Garden before its downfall, they'd recognize that Vesper wasn't acting like Vesper anymore. He was acting like the unseen protector from Radiant Garden, the one that had watched over the kids and made sure they were kept out of harm's way.

He was acting like the Guardian.

~- We're all a Little Insane -~

"Just like the old days wouldn't you say Illyx?"

"Oh, a secret admirer. I never would have expected you having one, number two. The way you treat men, I was starting to wonder if you swung the other way." A sadistic smile curled Rae's lip as she lovingly fingered the flute in her lap. Sighing, she allowed the instrument to return to its charm form before returning it to its place on her bracelet; as much as she enjoyed calling forth the Dark Hearts of her opponents and making them tear themselves apart, she knew that this was a battle where she'd have to wear her opponent down first. Neither Illyx nor Castex were the weak, insecure children that she'd faced in Hallow Bastion; they knew how to guard their doubts from Rae's searching taunts, in any case.

"Heh might as well be nostalgic about it while we are at it.... you wanted Xart right well you may have him!"

The shedding of Castex's cloak seemed to act as a starting pistol. Xart struck out with his chains at the same moment Castex grabbed Illyx's extended hand. Spinning her in an arc, the two Nobodies made short work of Xart's chains as Illyx kicked out, knocking each of the flails to the ground. Spinning her once more, Castex released Illyx, sending the woman flying at Xart. Rae watched Illyx reach for her back, her hand disappearing into the quiver on her back; only to reappear with an arrow in her grip. Knocking the arrow, the woman charged the shot with magic before shooting it toward Xart. Landing briefly, Illyx launched herself over Xart's head, this time forming a blade out of spiritual energy; landing behind him, she swung around, the intent to cleave him in two clear on her face.

"I don't think we have ever met... regardless if your after Illyx I must say you better be willing to handle me first."

Rae laughed, a low, dark thing that hinted at a cruel, twisted mind. "And what makes you think I have any interest in 'handling' you? Oh, I've heard about you; ectoplasm, right? The remaining spiritual force of an entity when it departs this mortal coil. You're far from who I want to deal with, but I suppose your words do have a small amount of merit: I need Illyx, and you're in the way. So, I guess it's time for you to die, isn't it?"

Sliding down from her perch, Rae landed with a soft click of heels. Straightening up, Rae tightened her right hand into a fist as a swirling mass of darkness formed into a pistol in her grip. Raising the firearm, she centered her sites on Castex, a small smile playing around her lips. "So, are you ready to dance?"

~- Always Losing Me -~

Terra knew he was dreaming, a fact which both surprised him and soothed him. His dreams were one of the few refuges he had left anymore, and though they weren't completely safe from the invasion of nightmares, dreams were the only place where he could let his guard down anymore.

He was running, racing against Ven, both boys giving in to their competitive side. Even though the race outcome should have been obvious from the start, it wasn't. Ven was like a cheetah, lean muscle and a top speed Terra could never hope to match when Ven decided to go all out. But despite this, Ven was going at a pace Terra could keep up with; they both knew that, while Ven was faster, the kid burned out faster too. Where Terra had what seemed to be an almost inexhaustible stamina; he could find his stride and keep up a steady pace all day, and never tire.

So here they were, working on building up Ven's endurance. Or at least, that's what they were suppose to be doing. Instead, they were careening around corners, splashing through the stream and just barely giving themselves enough time to jump over obstacles before taking a face plant and eating dirt. It kept going like this, Ven and Terra trading places until they reached the Summit...

Terra smiled, his pace measured and sure as he walked into the clearing. Things had been hard for a long time, and he still regretted some of his decisions; but he also knew that some of those worse experiences were the ones that helped him the most in his teaching. It had all lead to this moment, and he wasn't about to let it go to waste, despite the butterflies causing havoc in his stomach.

Aqua looked up, a smile playing on her features. He'd caught her in a quiet moment, her feminine side in control as she sat among the wildflowers, braiding some of them into a flower crown. Reaching down, he offered his hand to help her up. Reaching out, she laced her fingers through his...

"Terra, please!"

A voice echoed through his thoughts, seeming to take forever to reach him. Slowly, the blackness lifted from his vision, and what he saw then should have horrified him, but it didn't, not the way it should have. He saw his arm extended in front of him, holding Aqua up, her feet dangling inches above the ground; he could feel her pulse as he tightened his grip on her throat ever so slightly, causing her to suck in another gasp of air. How easy would it be? All he'd have to do would be squeeze a little tighter, and the light would fade from her eyes...

"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!"

He studied the boy, a slight amount of amusement floating across his thoughts. The child sounded so desperate; did he really think that he would give up his vessel? He had only just regained the use of a body; no, the boy could give up on his friend, or give up his life in the process...

How had the girl survived? Ah yes, the boy. He had to admit, the child held more power and heart than he'd expected. He almost reminded him of someone, but who? As if it mattered, really; the boy had unlocked his heart, destroying himself in order to release the girl. But the child's sacrifice was for nothing; all he had to do was reach out...

"No. You won't use me for this! You've gotta run; the Heartless are coming!"

Sleep. A soft, soothing voice broke in, stopping the deluge of nightmarish memories. Sleep now, and regain your strength, your reason for fighting.

He felt something shift, changing in the dreamscape. Stretching, Terra felt some of the tension ease off as the nightmares were shed, sloughed off like an old skin. Curling up, he sighed softly before slipping into a deeper state of dreamless sleep.

Rest now, warrior.

 

[Story Keeper]

~- When You Think You Know It -~

Tora ran to keep up with Lea, even though she would sometimes fall behind him so it was more like she was just trying to keep sight of him. She tried not to think of her twin spells hitting Xarce or of the pain it must of put the other Nobody in. Picking up the pace, she noticed that Lea was getting farther and farther ahead of her; pushing herself harder to stay within sight of the red head. Tora sensed the Heartless that lurked near Riku and Sora, making her run faster than she had that one time she'd been trying to avoid Isa.

Speaking of Isa...

Tora sat at the edge of the window seat, staring out at the outside world as she heard Isa bickering with Lea in the background. She briefly spared the two a glance as they walked in, not quite caring that they were at it again. "For the last time Lea, no!" That, surprisingly enough, earned an eye roll from Lea as he started to protest to it. "Lea, don't bother, I'm not going through with your harebrained scheme. You should know that I've got way too much to worry about to do that plan."

"Isa, in all honesty, when was the last time you had fun? You've been so focused on taking over your ----."

"Don't go there Lea," she whispered, turning her head back to stare out the window. She didn't feel like dealing with Isa and him going dark, for the fourth time that month, mind you. She heard the startled noise both boys made, but the child didn't care. She knew that they weren't use to that kind of reprimand, but she didn't want to deal with their attitudes. Getting to her feet, Tora looked at the two teenagers, grabbed her backpack from the floor and headed for the door without saying a word.

She hesitated only briefly when her grandmother called, "Tora, where are you going?"

Giving a mental eye roll, Tora answered calmly, "I'm heading out for a walk, probably going to talk to the Guardian if he'll let me get close enough." Without waiting for a response, she opened the door and shut it behind her as she walked out the door, leaving both teens standing in stunned silence.

Returning to reality, Tora noticed that she'd fallen behind Lea just enough that he was a distant pinprick. Using one of his favorite oaths, Tora broke into a full run to catch up to her friend. Catching up to him after a few minutes, she placed her hands on her knees, using the time he was spaced out to catch her breath and analyze the situation. Glaring up at him as he returned to reality, she glanced at Sora to see the inner turmoil rolling in his blue eyes. Keeping her voice low, Tora asked quietly, "How are you holdin' up, Sora?"

Remaining quiet during some of the exchange, she finally decided to make a move when Vesper was glaring down a Shadow Vixen. Recognizing the heartless, Tora shook her head and started to walk over as she said sarcastically, "I'm sorry, Vesper is currently unavailable; please leave a message and maybe the Guardian will be kind enough to relay it. Have a nice day!"

~- I Know What You Do to Yourself -~

“You guys okay?”

Hawkeye looked up at Lea as he approached, his eyes trying to figure out when the pyromaniac had gotten there. Remaining quiet as Sora and Lea exchanged words, he glanced over at Riku to see that the boy hadn't said anything, seemingly lost in his own thoughts. Tilting his head to the right, he almost thought about saying something but withheld the impulse to do so. Turning his head back to Lea, he listened as the red head said, “You’ll get used to it. Anyway, if you two are done sitting around, we’ve still got some angry totema around the corner to deal with.”

“You coming, Riku?”

That seemed to have snapped Riku out of wherever he was, and startled him judging from the way Riku started and looked around despite the uselessness of the action. "S--Sure, if it's not an issue with anyone." Hawkeye heard the nervousness in Riku's voice as he moved toward his friend, only to stumble to a stop as he sensed what Hawkeye saw, Sleif. Watching as Riku recoiled away from the Heartless and seemed torn between bolting to where Sora, Lea and Tora were or stay there and face Sleif's wrath. Whining softly, Riku took a step back and looked around frantically for a way out of his situation; making Hawkeye cringe at that. Sure, he didn't like some of Riku's antics, but he hated seeing Riku like this.

Deciding to draw his attention away from the silverette, Aura padded over and started pawing at Sleif's coat, successfully drawing his attention away from Riku for the time being. “Very good to see you too, Aura. I see you are keeping yourself well.” Sleif said cheerfully as he petted her head, before turning his gaze back on Riku and snarling at him.

Rolling his eyes, Hawkeye started to say something before he felt someone scoop him up into their arms. Turning his head, he saw that Tora was holding him, gently stroking his injured wing as she said, "It's nice to meet you, finally. I've gathered a lot about you from Aura, not that we've really talked for the past...what, twelve years now?" Tora glanced at the Heartless by her feet for confirmation, earning a nod from Aura; only for a sad laugh to escape the Nobody as she said, "Teh, never has it been so far out of reach as when the body and the heart are in the same area."

That seemed to have definitely snapped Riku out of his daze, 'cause Hawkeye saw the way his hand clenched as he shouted, "So what!"

Frowning a bit, Hawkeye warned mentally, I wouldn't do that if I were you.

Here's an idea, back off and let me do what I want! Hawkeye cringed at the mental snap, he didn't like the way that both of the friends were acting, it was a little too obvious for Hawkeye that they were both reacting to each others negativity and stress levels. Sensing Aura's own distress at the idea and Tora's exasperation, Hawkeye closed his eyes and started drawing on the negativity that hung in the air, bringing with it a rush of thoughts.

Gaien. How am I supposed to explain something that even I don't understand? But don’t forget that within every lie is an ounce of truth. Sasha. I wonder if Sasha's okay wherever she's been since that rainstorm. Within every doubt is an iota of realism. Riku. What's going on to cause so much darkness in Sora's heart? Him and Kairi have always been the light while I'd always been the dark. "It's your fault!" Friendship is not all that it seems, nor is enmity. I hadn't meant to run that night, but would Sora even care? I don't think so, he's giving me the cold shoulder it seems. "So like you Sora—you’re always trying to worm your way into my heart!”

"Stop it!" Hawkeye screeched, obviously distressed by something that no one could see. Eyes flying open, he looked between all of the ones gathered, totally frightened and empty, like he didn't know what to do. "Someone just make it stop," he whispered, sounding far more broken than one could ever expect a bird to feel. Refusing to meet any of their gazes, he heard Aura's soft question of if he was okay. Shaking his head in response, Hawkeye kept his eyes focused on the ground. "I'm not fine, I'm not fine, I'm not fine." Totally missing the standoff between two wolves, but meh, it wasn't anything he wasn't use to.

 

[Aphex]

"Whoawhoawhoa, damn dude, calm the eff down! What, I can't grow a conscience and make amends for my mistakes?! Sheesh, everyone's gotta judge you for every effin' thing that you do, I swear..."

"Oh gee, I wonder why." Derrick couldn't help but snicker. "You really can't be that dumb now, huh? Seriously, Aoi, I really thought you were smarter than that."

"Anything, huh? Oh ho, this'll be totes interesting then... Let's see, let's see... Well, without a Keyblade, you can't defeat the Heartless, so that would be stupid. And I really don't want your stupid goggles, especially since they were that bastard, Wrath's. How 'bout somethin' a little more... interesting? How about... your Heartless form? That damn thing's caused too much trouble, no matter if you've got it under control or not, so you give it up and you can go get your friend back. Savvy? And, hey, you offered me the chance to choose."

A yawn as a response and a the boy was scratching the back of his head as though he were unimpressed by the offer. "Man you really need to be a little bit more unpredictable, y'know?" was all he could really say. As Aoi extended his hand out, the goggle-head merely shook his head but that didn't mean he was rejecting the offer.
"We got a deal, punk? Your Heartless form for the kid. Going once... Twice..."

SLAP!

Derrick struck Aoi's to the side and just laughed.

"Come on now, Aoi. I would said yes but it's something that won't be given up so easily. Now how can I explain this. . ." he said as he then placed his hand under his chin, almost as though he was actually thinking about how to word out his next explanation. "You see. . . I can't just tell my 'other half' to go away like that. It's apart of me and well, the only way you can get it is if you actually do something about it." But he then extended his hand out for Aoi to take in order to seal the deal.

"Tell you what - how 'bout getting it after we get Rena back, hm? I don't think trying to get my Heartless form now would be the time to do so."

 

[Mason Stark]

Oh gee, I wonder why. You really can't be that dumb now, huh? Seriously, Aoi, I really thought you were smarter than that.

The man simply scoffed, "Yeah, well, it would be freakin' nice if someone was just open-minded..." Whatever. This kid wasn't going to take him seriously anyway, even if he really did mean what he said. He wanted to make amends, to fix his past actions. Everyone deserved a second chance, right? But, looks like he was guilty until proven innocent, at least in the eyes of Derrick (and probably everyone else).

As Aoi offered his deal to Derrick, the boy only seemed to yawn and grow bored of the Parasite's antics. Not the kind of reaction he was looking for, but if Derrick agreed to it, then it didn't matter.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like it was going to go his way.

SLAP!

"Ow!" The Parasite reeled back, shaking his hand behind him. He seethed, emerald orbs narrowing.

Come on now, Aoi. I would said yes but it's something that won't be given up so easily. Now how can I explain this. . . You see. . . I can't just tell my 'other half' to go away like that. It's apart of me and well, the only way you can get it is if you actually do something about it.

Of course... He should've seen this coming. Derrick wasn't going to give up his form so easily. Aoi snarled, beginning to scan his thoughts in hope of another bright idea for this whole deal. But the kid surprised him: he extended his hand out to Aoi, to seal the deal.

Tell you what - how 'bout getting it after we get Rena back, hm? I don't think trying to get my Heartless form now would be the time to do so.

Aoi's eyes lit up. A small chuckle escaped from his agog mouth and out into the air, a smile cracking on his pale features. Oh, this was great! But he didn't trust this kid; sure enough, he was probably going to take off after Rena was safe and sound, leaving the stupid goggle-head with that damn Heartless form and Aoi with nothing. He could not let that happen.

Baring a wicked, ecstatic grin, the Parasite took the boy's extended hand.

"Alright then, we got ourselves a deal!"

SHING!

Aoi's hand tensed and tightened, as if it had turned into raw iron locked around Derrick's grip. A dark pulse burst from the Parasite's hand and shrunk down, aiming to sink into the goggle-head's skin like the parasite that it was. Soon, the pulse was gone, the darkness was gone, and Aoi released his heavy grip, turning on one foot and keeping his back to the boy.

It was as if it had never happened; as if Aoi had shook on it and turned away.

But it hadn't. Back turned, the blonde looked down at his left hand, tugging up on the glove that covered his palm and fingers. The skin on his hand felt burnt, turning black, slick yet leathery. It had started to crawl up into his forearm. Out of impulse, he tugged on the cuff of the glove and hid it in his pocket, a futile attempt to hide the damage.

"Now then, let's head off, shall we?"

snap!

Right on cue, a dark portal appeared before Aoi and Derrick. Aoi gave the goggle-head no choice in the matter: he was going, as the Parasite slammed his hand on the back of the kid's skull and shoved him through the dark archway. The dirty blonde followed suit, his combat boots leaving behind metallic clicks until they disappeared into the darkness...

------------------

shish!

The monochromatic city grew darker as a dark portal swirled out of the nothingness, ultimately to disappear like all others had. The dirty blonde, cloaked figure stepped from the swirls of darkness and let his emerald orbs survey the new surroundings. Aoi had no clue where they were, going off only the instinct that he had and following the Parasite that he had implanted so long ago. Wherever it was, it looked absolutely boring, save for a fight ensuing off to the side.

Several combatants surrounded the enormous battle, but, ultimately, it was left down to two: one of Monte's damn Totemas and another, more cryptic figure -- a blackened suit of armor, unleashing dark attacks on its opponent.

"Oh. Well... umm..." the man narrowed his eyes, looking twice at the figure. He chuckled, "that's new..."

Aoi knew that Rena was in trouble, falling deeper and deeper into the darkness, but he didn't know the extent of what was going on. Now, he realized what had happened to the kid... and was just glad that he didn't have to deal with it.

"See that?" he said, pointing to the armored figure, "That's what happened to the damn kid."

So, what did Aoi do next? Did he throw himself into the fray, ready to fight and save his puppet from the darkness? Not at all, actually. Whipping his knife from his cloak's pocket, he made his way over to a wall and leaned up against it, one hand in one pocket while the other was flicking the knife back and forth, drawing the blade out and unsheathing it with sheer boredom.

"Aw well, ain't my problem..." he piqued up with a shrug, "You have fun with that, punk. Try not to die! I still want that damn Heartless form."

Aoi wanted to make it clear that this wasn't his fight. Derrick was the one who made the deal, he was the one with the keyblade: this was his fight.

 

[Endless Warrior Sora]

"Heh you talk a big game Kaijen. Yet when push comes to shove just like always you fail..... oh and don't worry we actually don't have any interest in you, I was just saying that to rile you up.... I am only here for the princess of heart. Heh I should kill you know.... but if I leave you alive you'll grow stronger, and give me a better fight later on in our entwined fates..... I would suggest taking the life I give you back, and doing such as that... especially if you wanna see that girl resting in your heart again."

"W-wait..I'm not...I'm not done with you..." Kaijen said, shakily.

"Piece of advice your friends..... they are all still alive.... live long enough and you may run into them."

And Roxnu was gone. Kaijen laid there, sprawled on the Training Grounds.

Pathetic.

So pathetic. He did always fail. Every time. He always came up short. How pathetic he has been. This whole time. The past two journeys he's been on...and he's made no progress. But this time he wasn't fighting for himself. He had someone he needed to get home. He couldn't think like that anymore. His bandaged hand clenched into a fist. A wave of comfort rushed over him as Kaijen felt the Cure spell course through his body.

Shooting up, no one was there. Strange. Picking himself up, he exhaled a sigh of disappointment.

"When am I going to win one of these battles..." He muttered to himself. Where would he go now? His attention shot to a large castle in the distance. "Well, guess there's no where else to go."He said, scratching his head. He entered into the building and something...clicked. Was this Lillia? He could see....manifestations. They were like orbs...or balls...faint....but there. One was pure light, it was here, in the building somewhere. Another was...confused. An amalgam of differing entities. Fighting for control.

"Great, this is seriously the last thing I need!"

The shout snapped him out of the sense. Or...whatever that was. There was a boy, probably no older than he was.

"Well, you sound upset." Kaijen stated. "How can I help?" He asked, walking toward him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am making sure you don't die kid be thankful... I should have just ended you as per orders..... but I have a conscious so stow it and take the kindness,"

"Per orders? What are you talk-oof!"The Reaper shoved Neku in between a building and clutched him very tightly in between her chest area.

Neku wasn't much of a people person, and this was about the most contact anyone could make. Much to the orange hair's chagrin, he struggled as he tried to escape his captor.

This may take longer then originally planned how skilled a fighter are you really,"

Neku pushed Pacifia(?) as he broke the vice-grip.

"What is you DEAL, lady?!" The teenager scoffed, taking big breaths of air into his lungs. "I can handle myself. You should know that."

 

[Key Wielder]

Eyes narrowed, the figure kneeling atop the metal structure straightened, folding his arms over his chest as he surveyed the scene below him. Just when he thought the World couldn’t get any more screwed up, this happened. Sometimes he wasn’t even sure he could keep it straight anymore. Monte and his totema, the Keyblade wielders and their band of misfits, a strange armored Heartless, Sleif and a Shadow Vixen, and a couple of wolves with bad attitudes. One battle, a battle in the making, and an entire audience for the affair. Yes, it certainly made for quite the mess.

He pulled the hood back, dark purple hair falling into his pale yellow eyes. His eyebrows contracted as he watched the ensuing chaos without acting. It wasn’t his place. Not yet.

Almost everyone was here now, but he didn’t dare to move or show himself. There was too much at stake to move too quickly and thoughtlessly. He had to bide his time. He had to try to convince the hero of the Keyblade to help him, that they were on the same side in this battle. After all, weren’t they? Parasites were destroying hearts, Sleif was up to who knew what kind of mischief, and Monte’s totema were running wild doing whatever it was he was after. It was hardly a mystery that all of them needed to be stopped, not to mention the others. The brunette wouldn’t like it at first, but he had to make him see reason. It was the only road to survival, his own not least of all.

A strange yet not unfamiliar sensation swept through him as he watched the two scenes, and his head turned the merest fraction of an inch to where a dark portal opened near the center of the action. A figure he thought he would never see stepped out: Aoi. He could hardly believe his eyes, could hardly move when he saw him. That creature, that Parasite…

That bastard.

Glaring down at the rest of the world at large, Gaien’s left hand pulled the hood of his jacket back over his head while the fingers of his right hand curled…

~*~

…into a fist.

Sora’s vision blurred as an anger he didn’t understand pulsed through his veins like poison, making his heart beat faster until it was all he could hear. The newcomer didn’t matter, nor did the two wolves facing each other as though ready for yet another fight that none of them needed today. None of it mattered, and all of it mattered.

As suddenly as it came, the anger seeped out of him, leaving him feeling deflated and exhausted. Sora tried to focus on the scene unfolding in front of him, but all he could think was that he wasn’t sure just how much of this he could take in one day. The last time he’d had a chance to sit down and just breathe—if it could be called that—was in the Twilight Orb. Ever since Castex had released him, he’d been running.

As soon as he thought it, a rush of realization seemed to smack him in the face. The stranger that Aura had approached wasn’t such a stranger after all. Sora hadn’t asked Castex who the man was before, his mind too set on getting back to the real world and finding his friends, but now he recognized the man from before.

Sleif.

The name sent another pang of hatred through his heart, although he knew he had no reason to feel that way. Aside from the snide remark he sent Riku’s way, he hadn’t done anything yet to warrant hostility.

”The operative word being ‘yet.’ Don’t be too trusting, hero.”

Duh.

“Stop it!”

Blinking, Sora was brought back to himself as Hawkeye promptly began to freak out. He had to smirk as he thought that maybe this bird wasn’t so different from Donald at all.

”If only in intelligence…”

Donald wasn’t that bad!

It was definitely getting disconcerting how easily he could just slip into conversing with Gaien, especially since he still had no idea who or what he was. The last thing he was doing was trusting him, but he couldn’t quite ignore him either. If he was going to stick around, he may as well make use of him.

Yet he was left feeling a little empty, empty in a way he hadn’t felt before. Glancing over at Riku, he felt a pang of disappointment in himself. What had made him so cold toward his best friend? And now he was busy dwelling in his own unease rather than trying to do what they had always done: work together to kick some serious bad-guy butt! As the thought hit him, a small smile flashed across his visage and his heart felt lighter. He stepped closer to the obviously aggravated Riku, frowning at Tora and Sleif.

“Why do I get the feeling I missed something?” he asked softly so that only Riku could hear him. He would simply have apologized, but the words wouldn’t come. He had no idea what exactly he would be apologizing for.

~*~

The sight that met Aqua as she rounded the corner didn’t help her mood. Admittedly she doubted it could get any worse, but she had been through far too much to believe that that was true. She had fallen much too far before.

Then again, she thought, eyes widening as she spotted a figure down the alley that she never thought she’d see again. Sometimes things have a funny way of working out.

The dark portal emitted the same misery she’d felt for so many years, but it also released something—or someone—else as well. Was it too much of a coincidence that the Heartless and Derrick both appeared in this world? Aqua had no idea why they seemed to keep popping up around her, but it seemed like a sign if she ever saw one.

Or it really is just a coincidence. After all, Vesper had arrived on the scene shortly after her release, but she was no closer to finding out what connection he shared with Terra or how he could help her find the latter. Derrick had unintentionally helped her find what she needed to escape, but there was little else she thought he could do for her. She could barely help herself; she hardly expected anyone else to do it for her.

And speaking of Vesper, it looked like he was in trouble yet again…

~*~

"I'm sorry, Vesper is currently unavailable; please leave a message and maybe the Guardian will be kind enough to relay it. Have a nice day!"

“Try not to patronize him, huh?”

Damn, I am absolutely no fun these days…

Taking Tora’s arm, Lea gently pulled her back away from their newest arrival. It wasn’t his words, his appearance, or his demeanor that set Lea off. There was something else that he just couldn’t put his finger on. It wasn’t the same as what he had felt when the totema first made their appearance; that was a simple matter of, “Oh crap, they’re attacking.” This was different. It felt almost like meeting a member of the Organization again: a sleepless yet buried malice, veiled but not quite hidden beneath the surface.

It set him on edge immediately, and he took a step in front of Tora for no good reason. Well, it was a pretty good reason, but he just had no clue what it was. Just like how looking at Vesper facing off with the Shadow Vixen made him feel kinda woozy…

Isa was hopeless. What the hell was his problem these days? Sure, Lea understood that things had changed, that his best friend would never be the same, but still, he couldn’t live his life like this. He had completely changed; things used to be way more fun. It was like the world rested on his friend’s shoulders. He didn’t seem to realize that there were people who wanted to help him. Half of his “harebrained” schemes were meant to cheer him up.

Maybe some things just weren’t meant to be.

Shaking his head in disgust, Lea waved Isa off and stormed out of the house. He really didn’t feel in the mood to fight about this right now. If Isa changed his mind, he knew where to find him. He couldn’t sit around forever waiting for his friend to come to terms with the fact that his family was broken, much as he hated to admit it. Admitting anything that made him feel bad about himself just wasn’t on the agenda. He had a life to live, after all.

As he walked into the square, dodging Scrooge McDuck and his sea-salt ice cream in the process, Lea’s mind couldn’t help turning back to what she had said. Or, that is, what she had told him not to say. Some days he just couldn’t figure her out either, but at least she was acting more normal than her insane brother. Lea briefly considered trying to find her and apologize (for what, he had no idea), but he decided against it at the last moment. If she was going to try to find the Guardian, he doubted he would be very welcome. No one ever was with that thing since the day of the storm when it had arrived.

Which reminded him of another arrival, one who hadn’t stuck around that day or any day since.

“I’ll see ya when I see ya. After all, we’re friends now. Get it memorized.”

Ven…

…Or Roxas?

Jeez, his head hurt…

 

[saphexteni]

Saphexteni kept her crossbow unloaded, seeing as Kairi had not yet shown any sign of defiance. Though Saph knew it would just be a matter of time before she processed everything and would certainly fight. All of them were like that- never giving up until the end. What feelings flowed through their heart at times like that? Were they as fearless as they often seemed, or is it all a show to hide their fear? Before she lost her heart, would she herself have been overwhelmed by fear in such situations?

And then the strangest reaction came from Kairi as she was enveloped by her own thoughts. The girl started laughing. Almost hysterically, even. Saphexteni frowned in confusion, though her expression was hidden in her dark hood. I honestly don't see what is so funny...

"You know, that's pretty good coming from someone that I asked to leave just a little while ago in the same vein of in vain hope. So, Nobody, how about you cut through the bull shit already? Even without the threat of hurting my friends, it'll be a cold day in hell before I come willingly with you guys, so take your best shot at subduing me or get out of here. Your choice."

Saph sighed deeply at Kairi's response but kept her empty crossbow raised and aimed with one arm, looking almost ready to fire. What a show of emotion.

"Such unnecessary emotion... and yet, so essential to life, it seems. Ah well, I suppose I have no choice here. I dislike unnecessary fighting, but..."

Before she completed her sentence, a flaming arrow appeared on her crossbow, which she wasted no time in shooting at the girl who stood opposite of her. Saph didn't even bother checking if the arrow hit its target. Expecting an oncoming attack from the keyblade wielder, Saphexteni dove to the side, keeping her distance from the girl and trying to move closer to the shadows of the hallway.

 

[Aphex]

A strong firm grip and the deal was sealed. There was no turning back no on his part so whenever this was all over, Derrick had to give up his 'other half' to the Parasite. That is if Aoi could even weaken the form enough for him to actually separate it from his body. Guess Derrick would have to wait and see once they found Rena.

"Now then, let's head off, shall we?"

With that said, Aoi had summoned a void and wherever it led to, hopefully it was one step closer to finding out where Rena was. As soon as the goggle-head took one step closer to the void, he was then suddenly struck right on the back of his head(obviously from Aoi) which made him stumble right into the portal. It went black for a few seconds but afterwards, Derrick rolled out the other end and scoffed after a brief moment of silence.

"What an ass. . ." A silent grumble but eventually he rose to his feet as Aoi soon came out after.

"Oh. Well... umm... that's new..."

With an eyebrow now cocked, the boy glanced over to where the Parasite was now pointing at.

"See that? That's what happened to the damn kid."

An armored figure stood off in the distance in which Derrick didn't know how to respond. That armored figure turned out to be none other than Rena herself and how did he know this for sure? It was mostly due to the fact that he already had an encounter with this form of hers considering the battle was the cause of his 'death'.

"Aw well, ain't my problem... You have fun with that, punk. Try not to die! I still want that damn Heartless form."

Of course, typical of Aoi to play the 'I'm too much of a coward to fight' bit. That didn't matter seeing how Derrick didn't even want him to help anyway. The only thing he was right about was the fact that it wasn't the Parasite's problem. If anyone was going to get Rena back then it had to be Derrick himself. Though, he was a bit unsure on how he would even approach the girl.

"Rena!"

That honestly wasn't the brightest idea. . .

"Been a while hasn't it?" he continued to shout out over to the armored figure, his right hand behind his back as his keyblade summoned itself within his grasp.

-----------------------------------------------------

Rustling her beanie within her hands, Vitani continued to stare straight down at the floor of the train. Gigimon on the other hand had been sitting next to her, napping the entire travel so far. A lot had been on her mind ever since the last encounter with Aoi and the others, especially that newcomer who seemed to be after her for some reason. Rena was gone and she felt as though they could have protected her.

"So... when do you think this will all be over?" She lifted her gaze up, looking over at Axern. "I mean. . . do you really think we can pull this off without Rena and the others?"

The train rumbled, signifying that it was coming to a stop as the brakes screeched. It continued to slow down, the girl now looking out the window as she was a bit surprised by what she was seeing. It was all black but there were various lights shooting passed them, and then eventually it all stopped once the train came to a halt. The doors slid open on their own and various chatters could be heard coming from outside. Then, on what sounded like an intercom, a voice rang.

"Welcome to Game Central Station!"

 

[Mason Stark]

Head against the back of the seat, the boy's blue eyes drew to a close. His thoughts ran rampant, re-envisioning memories that came back vivid and bright: he could see the damn Heartless, Aoi taking Renas' heart, the weird jester-like man and his strange creatures, and Rena coming "back to life" and attacking them... It felt like all of that had happened so long ago, but he remembered it so clearly. Because of what happened, they were now on their own, heading off to whatever worlds were out there.

So... when do you think this will all be over?

"Hmm?" The black-haired boy snapped from his trance and shot up with a startle, shaking his head and scratching the back of his neck. There were bags under his eyes, ones that he fought to rub away. However, he turned to Vitani, who was sitting across the train car with Gigimon fast asleep beside her.

I mean. . . do you really think we can pull this off without Rena and the others?

Frown twisted, Aexrn placed his hand beneath his chin, hunched over the seat.

"It'll only be over when Aoi is gone," he nodded, knitting his brows, "Once we defeat him, then everything'll be okay, right? I mean... we still gotta fight that weird guy and Derrick's Heartless, but it can't be too hard! We've got Rena's keyblade, so that'll probably help us out a lot."

A smile flickered onto Aexrn's features, but the same negative thought came into his mind. Would they really be able to defeat Aoi and everyone else without the others? He was worried that they wouldn't be able to. Still, he just smiled and kept his chin up.

The bright colors streaking across the train's windows suddenly disappeared, replaced with black before turning into a dark grey. The train's brakes started to squeak as it begun to slow. Then it halted, the doors sliding open.

Welcome to Game Central Station!

Quirking a brow, Aex jumped to his feet. He mumbled, "Game Central Station...?" and trotted off of the train, curious to see what was outside. Poking his head out of the cabin, he spotted the outside world: a tunnel of some sort, the walls covered in graffiti and reading things like "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US" and "AERITH LIVES." Hoping out of the train, he edged closer towards a staircase. His gaze was brought to a bright opening in the tunnel, revealing a sunny world outside the concrete walls. Beyond the station, characters and creatures were walking through the outside room, like none that he had ever seen before! The boy's eyes lit up.

"Vitani! You gotta come check this out!"

-----------------------

Rena!

Metal clicked and a low, animalistic hiss sounded. The figure twitched at the distant sound of a voice, growing rigid at the mere sound... Who was that?

Been a while hasn't it?

The Heartless' helmet clicked as the Heartless' gaze shifted. The girl's golden eyes focused beyond the dark visor and locked onto the source of the voice. The helmet twisted side to side, staring at the newcomer.

A distorted, twisted and sickeningly sweet giggle resonated from within the armor. Out of everyone to show up, it ended up being this damn goggle-head. The girl said nothing, growing silent as she raised her clawed gauntlet as if to wave 'hello.' She flicked her fingers and a burst of darkness ignited in her palm, the flames twisting and reaching for the grey sky above. Rena was no longer concerned with Mist: despite Sleif's promise of joining the rest of her kind, the only person there that she intended to fight was Derrick; she could care less about what happened to the Totema.

But, a sound lit up in her ears and the figure froze. Her armored boot slid back. Her eyes fixated on what was hiding behind Derrick's back and she knew too well what it was... Unfortunately, this time, it terrified her: the thought of becoming nothing, losing everything at the hand of that damn key. Twisting the flames more and more, Rena reeled her arms back as another Dark Firaga burst over her opposite palm. She launched the fiery bursts at Derrick and sunk into the ground once more. The Heartless reappeared away from the crowd, leaping onto a rooftop and fighting to keep as far away from the boy as possible.

 

[Aphex]

"Vitani! You gotta come check this out!"

Gigimon flailed his tiny little nibblets that he called his arms, rolling off of his seat and face-planted onto the floor. Vitani on the other hand ended up picking up the little Digimon from the floor before heading over to the door. At first she was a bit unsure of leaving, in which she decided to peek her head out before actually stepping off of the train. But what she saw made her eyes light up with amazement.

"Whoa!" Various characters walked about, some of them even looking as though they were pixelated. Ironically enough, after a closer look, that turned out to be the case here. This place was far more larger than the station back over in Twilight Town and much more alive too!

"This place is awesome!" the girl couldn't help but add, spotting a hologram of what appeared to be a blue hedgehog giving advice about "Going Turbo" and something about not being able to come back to life if a character were to die outside of their 'game'. As morbid as that sounded, Vitani didn't really pay much attention to it. "Think we should ask around for help?"

-----------------------------------------------------

Keyblade spinning within his grasp and clenching it tightly, Derrick reeled the blade back and lunged forward. Both Dark Firagas were dispersed with two swift slashes, watching as the Heartless scurried off as though she were afraid to confront him.

"Awww. . . what's the matter, Rena?" the boy began to taunt as he simply paced himself with each step he took. "Is someone afraid of a wittle ol' Keyblade?" All though this was something the goggle-head would do in a fight, that didn't mean he kept his eyes off of his opponent. He watched as Rena slithered away from the crowd and made her way onto a rooftop soon afterwards. "Oh no you don't. . ." A silent mutter and Derrick leaped forward, a void similar to that of Aoi's now opened in front of him and swallowed him whole before closing in on itself. Then out the other end Derrick now appeared by the Heartless once again.

"C'mon, Rena. Don't make me chase now." As you can tell by now, Derrick loved to toy with his opponents no matter who it was. But right now there was no more room for talking as he quickly swung his Keyblade at the Heartless. If he was going to get her back then he was going to do it without the help of his other form even if it meant he may lose this fight.

 

[Mason Stark]

Dashing down the steps, Aex darted into the station, staring up at the white ceiling and glancing at the passing characters. There was a yellow, circle-shaped creature that had a triangle-shaped mouth and a few people who looked like really tough fighters wandering towards one of the tunnels that lined the walls. He had never seen a world quite like this...

Think we should ask around for help?

Shaking his head, Aex snapped out of it and glanced over at Vitani, who had followed behind him with Gigimon in her arms. Asking for help? Hmm, he hadn't thought of that...

"Well, umm..." he scratched the back of his head, grinning sheepishly, "If we act like we don't know anything, then... umm... it could be meddling or somethin' and they might figure out that we're not from here. But, maybe we could just go into one of those tunnels!" he stabbed his finger at two of the tunnels, reading "Sugar Rush" and "Hero's Duty", "They gotta lead somewhere..."

-----------------

Being terrified by a dumbass Keyblade was not on her list of intentions (Because, really, who would be scared of a giant key?! Well, maybe a Heartless...), but she prayed that Derrick would leave her alone and not follow at her. The Heartless just came into existence and didn't want to die at the hands of that stupid key now! However, as she charged across the rooftop, a dark portal swirled into existence, with Derrick, Keyblade at hand, stepping out of it. The creature growled, flexing its clawed gauntlets after pulling to a halt. Great, now she was stuck there.

C'mon, Rena. Don't make me chase now.

Great, he was toying with her... But not for long, as he started the battle with a swing of his Keyblade. Like he was going to get the first attack! Unfazed, Rena slammed her armored boot against the key and latched onto the blade itself. Her opposite hand was raised and a Dark Firaga blasted at Derrick, aimed at his face. If it all worked, then Rena would have ended the attack by releasing the weapon and kicking off of the boy's chest.

[.....oops i forgot that rena was wielding swords before 8D;; those might come in handy...]

 

[sephiroth2]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watching through the eyes of the hologram below on the surface, Sleif remained sitting on the large throne like seat of Arcay’s command room, the screens before him showing everything through Arcay’s own gaze of the events below. While the monitors hanging from the ceiling showed this, and Cecilia turned to the glass window to peer out to the city, the small screens situated around Sleif’s throne were busy swapping through various panels of information, mostly on the ship’s own state of repair. All except one.

The blank monitor had just one empty blinking square, as if it was waiting for some sort of command or recognition from some source. It wasn’t until a small, barely noticeable clicking was heard coming from the screen, that Sleif eventually turned his attention towards it. Clicking out the same computer like tick, the letters appearing across the monitor was something Sleif had been waiting for since taking control of the massive ship.


~Data Analyst and Network User-Interface connection established. Stand-by for system wide inventory check between facility Arcay and facility Mimameith……Inventory check completed and updated. Switching all primary and logical parameters of Arcay to Data Analyst and Network User-Interface.~


After the sudden appearance of this message, words began to stream down across the monitor, filling what could be considered pages of information on everything onboard Arcay, and whatever this Mimameith was. Whatever had happened, it seemed only Sleif himself knew of any importance behind the declaration on the screen.

Turning his sight back to the monitors, the Heartless’ smile slowly dropped as he watched Rena disappear from her fight with the mechanical Totema, and choosing instead to first flee then fight against the newest arrival, Derrick.
Growling in annoyance and a slowly building anger, Sleif slammed his clenched hands, now fists, against the arms of the throne, standing up quickly as he summoned his large broadsword once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the flickering image of Sleif continued to stand before Aura, Riku and the others, the sudden massive spike of energy seemed to cause a noticeable change, the hologram wildly twisting out of shape before it completely disappeared from sight. This was soon replaced with a much stronger pulse of darkness close by within the city, just as it was when Sleif and the currently massive floating ship of Arcay first showed up close to the world.

Almost instantaneously, it appeared as if every Heartless throughout the city became affected, mixing with rather sudden bouts of excitement and eagerness as well as violent outbursts of rage. The number of dark creatures that had once been present seemed to change too, growing very quickly throughout any large swaths of darkness and shadows, their large yellow eyes staring at Riku and any other person within the city itself.

Crawling and pulling themselves out from their dark depths, groups of Shadows and Neo Shadows came into view, barring their claws and ready to attack anyone that made any sort of movement. It seemed even a simple turn of a head would set them off like springs. In place of the computer image of Sleif though, tar like Heartless rose from their own unique pools of darkness, the panther like creatures snarling as they stared blankly with their large yellow eyes at Riku, Sora and the others.

While resembling the two Panthera Heartless that were currently onboard Arcay, these seemed to be slightly different. Larger, longer, and clearly much more aggressive and single minded than the other two, these Panthera’s were much more in the same group of the Shadows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Rena disappeared over the rooftops, leading Derrick along after her, Mist’s sensors would have picked up the strongest source of darkness besides that of Rena’s immediately. Though this wouldn’t have been difficult unless the machine was damaged in some way, seeing as the source was coming from directly behind her.

Sleif stood firmly to his spot, the large black and red broadsword resting just barely against the ground as he looked towards Mist with his red eyes. This was what the Heartless wanted. He knew Mist was unlike the other Totema that were present recently, otherwise she would have fled along with the rest the moment he arrived.

It was almost as if the machine like Totema was compelled to always go after the most important target assigned to her, and if the Heartless was right, being there in person would give the Totema a very tempting target. Especially after the large sickle of darkness was unleashed from his sword, carving the ground up easily as it homed straight in onto Mist.

 

[Kingdomkeylight]

§Chaos or Control§

Azure went wide eyed at the sight of Rena's heart being consumed before becoming the center piece of the new reformed heartless. The keyblade conscious watched the entity glare back at him as Azure returned a deadly glare. With a swish of his free hand Axern's blade appeared in Azure's hand as he wielded Platinum heart, and Axern's sword. Yet letting it go the blade levitated behind Azure as he held the keyblade with both hands. With a growl the keyblade took a fighting stance.

"Sorry but as long as I exist you wont have complete control," With a collection of mana around his body he took the form of Rena's battle armor as he charged at the new heartless. All he had to do was inject Rena's heart with the keyblade and it would break the heartless'es control yet such a thing was easier said then done.
.
"Comet," Azure yelled as he summoned a dozen of miniature blazing rocks launching them at the heartless for cover as he closed the gap between the two slashing at the heartless in a x cross with both blades.
................................................................................................

¶Illogical Choice & Light Interruptions¶
Mist bolted away from Heartless Rena's unending assault of dark firaga's even going so far as to shot a few of them with volleys of lightning rounds causing a cloud of cover to screw with the heartless'es aim. The mechanical Totema was however quickly met with a new problem as a shockwave that sent her flying along with a few damaging near impalements from some spiraling dark spike the Totema unleashed a seismic wave from her gauntlets allowing her to set herself up right and able to dodge anymore damage. It was then Rena went for a back attack which for response Mist crossed her hands above her head block the strike while creating a crater under her feet from the power and force behind it. Unfortunately something else would catch Rena's attention giving Mist enough time to recover from the shaking in her body. With a angered growl she was about to chase after until a very powerful source of darkness started to form around the area catching the totema's attention to be directed at Sleif and the powerful swing he was about to unleash on her. Though it couldn't be seen pass her visor her eyes went wide in fear of the attack. Yet right as the attack would hit a fusion of both light made swords, and a furious flame thrower collided with it causing a massive explosion mid path saving Mist any trouble of the attack. Right behind Mist was both the now materialized armored Liquid Flame, and Hazoc.

"Ya sorry buddy I don't plan on losing any of my own today," Hazoc spoke at Sleif as he patted Mist's shoulder checking to see if she was all right Liquid Flame followed in suit as the two got between Sleif and Mist.

"I can handle this," Mist spoke out a bit annoyed how her fellow totema had interrupted the fight.

"Your at your last recharges limit Mist don't try to fool anyone.... Liquid the sames for you as well both of you return back to base.... everyone else has already returned," Hazoc spoke eyeing Liquid until the being nodded, and returned to Mist before the two were swallowed up by a portal of darkness. Once they were gone a collection of twelve normal swords of light were summoned as they danced around Hazoc. "Your alright with a switch of players right.... I mean I am just as totema as the next," Hazoc lazily joked as four of the blades of light fused into a more complicated symbol based sword in the styling's of a short sword.

"Besides I may but up a better fight then a lightning foe would for you," Hazoc chuckled as two of the blades shot at the Heartless before exploding into a dozen of mini light shards meant to tear away at the heartless as the totema dashed forward with them for cover.
.....................................................................................................

«A Crashing Reality«

"Who are you trying to kid hun your outmatch in your own element. Yet within illusions hides the truth dwelled into even a darker and more mist consumed illusion, with illusion's lies more illusions..... and unfortunately you have lost yourself down deep into the rabbit whole" Ienzo would suddenly feel something harsh hit him in the head.... the ground? He had been flying upward but now he was forced to crash into the ground as he would feel the loss of gravity force him harshly back into the ground as two Harm's appeared around him.

"It's very rare for two illusionists to fight each other.... it completely becomes a whole new fight when it happens.... for when original the game was to defeat the opponent is now to make sure not to fall into the others illusions..... that poison kiss this is only the beginning of the abilities true effect," the two harm's spoke at once laughing lightly as one pulled out the katana Heavens Moon, and the other the tanto Icy Earth they both looked down at him while the dark orbs he had summoned were still in place.

"Loss your self in the illusion and your lose are sense of reality," the katana holder Harm said kneeling down at him in a cutesy manner letting her suit cling to her body as if to entice him.

"Lose sense of reality and you cannot create your own illusions," the tanto holder said performing a cartwheel.

"In the best way to say pick your poison if you don't want the true one to kill you slowly and painfully," the enticing Harm chuckled lightly as she suggested to fight one of them.
...........................................................................................................

†A Waltzing Nightmare†

"Hm dancing with a gun you must know Savannah," Castex chuckled remembering another female gunner with a familiar look to fighting. It seemed this girl knew a bit about him and even less about his ability. He raised a eyebrow at the girl as she grinned his way with her pistol ready to blow his brain out. Castex would have to ask Illyx the connect between the two after this issue. For now it seemed he was dealing with this new insane femme fatale. With a few pops of the knuckles he lazily left his hands at his sides.

"Dead is a interesting threat to throw out their when as you already know I am already exactly that. It sounds like your the true admirer here though missy... a bit jealous she has a stable relation with someone how isn't you," Castex chuckled lightly checking how unbalanced this girl was with Illyx. With a soft whistle though his hands started to get converge in green ectoplasm that condensed to the point it seemed to fuse with his hands into a clawish form with deadly looking points.

"Though please don't get yourself wrong I am very familiar with ectoplasm yet its simple one of a few secondary traits next to me true alignment, but as you said," Castex suddenly disappeared appearing up close and personal to Rae with a light yet gloomy grin as a swirl of twilight energy was soon around Rae halting any sudden reacts she may have had.

"Dance tell your dead right," Castex performed a open palm strike to the center of Rae's stomach unleashing a seismic burst of ectoplasm that would send Rae flying away.
...........................................................................................

~The Never Ending~

Xart's chains shattered at the contact of forming into a shield to block her arrow shot the force pushed Xart back as the girl went for his back planning to cleave him into two. Xart had enough time to turn his hidden face to her as the broken chains pieces suddenly came to life launching at Illyx causing her to either disengage, and block or suffer a very fatal wound. Just incase though the nobody side step to his left getting him out of the way of her attack as he silently waited to see her next move.

 

[Story Keeper]

~- Always Act in A Passive Way? -~

"Well, you sound upset. How can I help?"

Ven spun around at the question, instantly finding the kid from outside. His eyes scanned the boy up and down, searching for any sign that Kaijen meant some type of harm. Picking up no indication of ill intent, he relaxed only slightly, smiling and shrugged his shoulders in indifference. "Yeah, I've only just started traveling the worlds, and I'm looking for my friends. All three are taller than me," Ven paused long enough to give a rough idea on their heights. "The girl is fair skinned, has blue hair and blue eyes. The last two are guys."

Tilting his head to the side, Ven tried to think of how to sum up Terra and Lea. Shrugging again, Ven continued, "One's a brunette, blue-eyed bruiser. He looks like he could use you for a personal punching bag, but is a giant teddy bear when you get to know him. Oh, and he's got a keyblade too, like me and my female friend." Ven felt Vanitas slap him upside the head mentally, and that time around he could understand it as Van snapped mentally, What if that fight with Ronxu was just an act and they're, oh I don't know, ALLIES!

Shaking his head to dismiss the complaint, Ven eyed Kaijen warily and finished, "Then there's the crazy one that also happens to be a "bit" of a pyromaniac. He's got red hair and green eyes, he's kinda thin too. He's got a habit of saying "Got it memorized" or some variation of it." Stopping to let all the information sink in, Ven looked around the foyer again, feeling some of the tension drain away at the home field advantage, Ven looked back at Kaijen and asked, "What's been happening in the worlds recently?"

~- No Apology for Your Hypocrisy -~

Glaxsudo caught a faint glimpse of a predatory smile on Isa's face before the snow blocked his view. Centering himself, he searched the blizzard that threatened to turn into a whiteout. He knew that now his vision was impaired that Isa wouldn't be holding back, but it didn't matter to Glaxusdo one way or the other; after all it was his element they were fighting in. Taking a step backward, he listened to the soft growling that sounded from behind him before he spun around and swung his blade.

A scowl spreading across his face, number nine tried to ignore the anger that slowly slipped through his veins like poison. Hearing another noise behind him, he spun around and blocked the strike that was meant to hit him in the back. Shoving Isa backward, he watched as the other warrior backpedaled into the snow, scoffing at Isa's tricks, Glaxsudo dismissed his scythe and slowly walked through the snowstorm, making sure to keep his guard up even as he kept moving.

"You are weak, you can't hold a candle to us. You are a traitor to your allies, you care for no one. You are worse than a Nobody, you have no right to exist in any form."

Snarling at that, Glaxsudo shouted, "You're a hypocrite!"

The cold, cruel laughter bounced around him, distorting where the origin of the answer came from. "I'm a hypocrite? That's an interesting word choice, coming from a bully like yourself."

Snarling again, Glaxsudo called the snow and ice closer to him in an attempt to push the words back. Only to hear another faint whisper in his ear, "I know what you've done to the girls, how you enjoy torturing them, freaking them out. Tell me something, how does it feel to be on the receiving end of it?" Glaxsudo clenched his fists and threw several sheets and daggers of ice in all directions. He felt the anger raging through him, earning a choked laugh at that because of the suggestion of him feeling emotion.

"Stop with the mind games, you dog. Why don't you just fight me face to face!? Or are you too much of a coward!" Glaxsudo shouted, whipping around at the sound of snow crunching behind him. Glaxsudo suddenly got a sinking feeling as a shadow started taking shape in front of him.

There was definitely no way he was getting out of this fight without injury.

~- Sarcastic Answer Time! -~

“Try not to patronize him, huh?”

Riku heard the reprimand and chuckled lightly at the thought that raced across his mind. Whoa, Lea's not as he was as Axel. I hope he's not always going to be like this, if so it's not going to be much fun. Shaking his head to derail his train of thought, Riku listened in silence as several people started moving around him; the sound of wolves growling setting him further on edge. Feeling someone stop right next to him, recoiling away from them briefly in fear, Riku sniffed the air in an attempt to figure out who it was.

“Why do I get the feeling I missed something?”

The question brought with it a weary relief, mixing with the exhausting emptiness that he'd been fighting off. Flexing his fingers, Riku didn't know how to answer that question. Turning his head toward Sora, he answered softly, "I don't know, I have no idea who this guy is or what his deal is; but I know he was at Radiant Garden, I felt him there. As for the rest of it? Nope, not unless I missed something too."

Flinching slightly at a stab of pain, Riku hoped that no one was paying close enough attention to notice the moment of weakness. Well, Sora would probably notice, but... Shaking his head quickly in dismissal, he shift his weight from one foot to the other; hating the way things were turning out with this adventure. A thought coming to his mind as he caught a bit of Aqua's scent, he whispered to Sora, "Do you know anything about the one guy that's emitting so much darkness?"

While waiting for Sora's answer, Riku felt the familiar tug of a memory pulling at his mind. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself as he let the memory play out in his mind's eye.

Wandering around the library, Riku felt himself start rearranging the books. The castle had become abandoned since Maleficent had used it as her base of operations. Hearing a noise coming from the upper level, he turned his head toward it and slowly started making his way toward it; Soul Eater appearing in his hand as blood pounded in his ears. Looking around to see the library was abandoned, Riku frowned slightly as a book fell from one of the shelves.

Walking over to the hardcover, he bent down to pick it up. Head snapping up, Riku barely registered that the shelf was too close to the edge before it tumbled over the side. Rolling out of the way, he grunted as a wood chip went sailing past and grazed his cheek, making it sting for a few seconds. Eyes searching the upper level, he watched a Heartless duck around the corner, too fast for Riku to make out which one it was. Dropping the book on the table next to him, Riku ran toward the stairs only to slide to a stop as Neo Shadows sprang up in a circle around him.

Scowling at the half dozen, he turned in a slow circle to see if there was some sort of break in their ranks; some place he could slip through so Aerith didn't kill him or Sora for the books getting damaged. Finding a break to the right, Riku quickly faked heading toward the left before he back-flipped and landed near the wall. Running his hand along the wall, Riku let a sigh of relief escape him as his fingers glided over a button. Pressing it, he slipped through the passage after there was just enough room for him to get slip into the passage way. Pressing another button just inside of it, Riku turned back to look into the library and had to jump back at the sight of a Neo Shadow trying to claw his chest, with the door sliding close, taking with it the light.

Well, at least he was use to fighting in the dark.

Returning to reality, Riku felt the ice and sarcasm start to drift through him as realization dawned on him. Keeping his voice low so only Sora could hear him, but barring his natural defense, Riku said softly, "Sure, while he wasn't there himself, I'm willing to bet one of his lackeys tried to crush me with a bookshelf when I was in the castle's library, and then you take into account the Neo Shadows that showed up?" Then, before Riku could stop himself, he raised his voice to a normal speaking volume and asked Sleif sarcastically, "What? Come back for another assassination attempt? If so, I think you can safely forget it and leave us alone."

Yeah, probably not the brightest idea Riku's ever had.

Riku sensed when Sleif retreated, sighing in relief, he almost turned his attention back to answer any of Sora's questions when more Heartless materialized, tense and ready to attack at the smallest provocation. Scowling slightly, Riku hissed softly to Sora, "Note to self: Do not joke with that guy ever again." Yet even as he said this, Riku's attention was briefly drawn away at the influx of light; feeling his stomach tighten, Riku brushed it off for the time being and focused back on the matter at hand.

~- If You Play, You Play for Keeps -~

Tora felt Lea grab her arm and pull her away from the dark being, quickly moving to stand between her and the newcomer. Her mouth became a tight line, remaining neutral even as her eyes hardened into chips of ice. Looking around her, Tora noticed that everyone was waiting for a battle to start that none of them needed, especially not right that second. She glanced over at Sora, just in time to see the brunette whispering something to Riku, and after a moment, the silver-haired keyblader muttered something in response.

A frown briefly crossed her face, before she dismissed both friends from her mind; returning her attention to the Shadow Vixen standing in front of Sleif. Understanding why Aura was acting the way she was, her desire to protect competing with her desire to ignore everyone clearly warring in the wolf's blue-gold eyes. Tora didn't say anything as Sleif vanished from sight, tensing her muscles when a pulse of darkness shot through the ground, Tora felt the anger that washed through Aura's body. Tora didn't have to look to know more Heartless were there, judging them, she could tell from the agitation that lurked in Aura's eyes.

It's that, or we somehow really ticked her off, Tora laughed mentally, watching as a thin, ragged looking fox took a step forward, she paled slightly at the hungry look in the creature's eyes. Flinching mentally as Aura's eyes narrowed, snapping her teeth at the other Heartless's front left leg, causing it to glare at her before it backed off.

Glancing around, being careful only to move her eyes, Tora confirmed what she already knew, they were in trouble. Biting her lower lip, Tora tried to figure out a way to get them out of this mess. "Lea, I'm counting on you, okay?" she breathed, scanning their surroundings once more. Maybe it was her being a Nobody, or maybe it was something else; but Tora couldn't stop herself from performing an eye roll as she slowly started drawing on her magic reserves.

Be careful Nobody, or you may get burned.

The whisper drew Tora's attention to Aura again, leveling her with a blank stare, the girl nodded her head and answered mentally, So? Surely you grow tired of this half existence as well. Hearing a quiet laugh drift through her mind, Tora felt her mouth turn up in the slightest smile as she waited to see what would happen next.

~- Feel Like I'm Losing My Mind -~

Ienzo felt something hit the back of his head, biting back a cry of surprise, he felt the air flee from his lungs as he hit the ground. Laying there, the illusionist tried to catch his breath so he wouldn't get hit again while he was down. Lifting his head as Harm started talking, Ienzo laid it back down as his vision swam, making it seem like there was two of the Nobody. Closing his eyes to fight back the nausea that washed over him, he heard her lecture about what happens when two illusionists entered combat against each other. And this is why I tried to avoid the dirty work, fragile speedster anyone? He groaned mentally, listening as a version of Harm crouched down in front of him, opening his eyes, he looked at her to see the way her armor clung to her, in an attempt to tempt him.

Shaking his head slightly, he grumbled, "Forget it, you're not her so stop with the act."

"Lose sense of reality and you cannot create your own illusions," the second Harm laughed, cartwheeling away from him.

He didn't say anything in response, nor did he try to turn his head so he could track the other illusionist. Keeping his eyes trained on the enticing Harm, Ienzo scowled lightly as she laughed, "In the best way to say pick your poison if you don't want the true one to kill you slowly and painfully."

Feeling his head pulse in time to her words, Ienzo closed his eyes, trying to keep his head from exploding with pain and forcing some of the effects of the poison back. I'm going to have to apologize the next time I see Riku, this confusion really is annoying. he mused silently, cringing mentally at the anger that started to claw its way to the surface. Opening his eyes again, Ienzo carefully pushed himself up into a standing position, looking between the two Nobodies, trying to figure out which way he would stand the better chance.

Glancing up briefly at his limit break, he felt his lips briefly turn up in a smile even as his head continued spinning. Quickly making his face go blank, he asked quietly, "What do you stand to gain from this fight? Besides satisfaction for a brief time frame." Even as the words left his mouth, Ienzo felt the dull, throbbing ache of a headache and of muscles screaming in protest at movement. He really needed to get out of this fight and fast, the poison was slowly driving him insane.

 

[sephiroth2]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


~Stirring the Slumbering Giant~

Watching as Mist and Liquid left through the corridor of darkness, Sleif continued to glare at Hazoc and his radiating light, the Totema chuckling as he explained the reasoning behind him stepping into the fight and to be more of a challenge for the human Heartless.

Slowly dragging the tip of the broadsword along the ground, cutting an arc as Sleif positioned the blade behind him, the Heartless remained perfectly still, even as Hazoc started the fight with two of his swords which soon became a dozen light shards as soon as they were launched. Streaming through the air towards Sleif, the creature’s red eyes continued to stare at Hazoc directly, even as they began to glow a much darker colour, more similar to purple than any other.

As the darkness around Sleif grew denser the longer he remained still, it wasn’t until the light shards were more than a few feet away that he acted. Exploding from behind him, the massive tendrils of darkness quickly grew and stretched to meet the shards head-on. With even tendril that got torn through by the light, five more seemed to sprout almost instantaneously from the damaged stalk. Suddenly shooting forward like a wild animal, most of the tendrils flapped behind Sleif at the immense speed he unleashed while the large broadsword morphed into a pair of oversized metal gloves for the Heartless.

With help from the tendrils to dodge the other shards unleashed by Hazoc, Sleif moved from building to building like that of a fleeting shadow, that was, until he was upon the Totema. Leaping from one such darkness cast by the buildings, the Heartless brought the black and red metal fist down against a newly materialized sword of Hazoc’s. From the sudden colliding forces, both figures were flung away from one another, with Sleif flipping in midair before slamming his oversized glove against the ground, digging deep into it as he slowly came to a halt.

As Sleif still glared daggers at Hazoc, he remained on all fours like a much more feral or perhaps primal creature. What was once a faint glimmer of purple had now all but replaced his entire eye, just as from the largest of the shadows cast throughout the area many tendrils like those sprouted from the Heartless’ back, erupted. Coiling around each other to increase their strength and size they swung down like some appendages of a massive unseen creature, the tendrils cracking the ground where they wildly tried to strike Hazoc.


~Command Alpha~

In the deepest part of the colossal structure some knew as the Metal Tree, repairs continued on still as slow as possible. The once many collapsed floors had nearly been refitted, though much of the facility still remained in complete darkness. One such chamber was illuminated by just the faintest of glows that came from a number of objects within the room.

While the monitors that hung from the walls constantly flickered through countless files of information and gave the room their white glow, it was the strange indents that ran along the floor to the center of the chamber that was the most intriguing. Red, blue, purple, yellow, the veins pulsed seemingly randomly through the range of colours as they all focused on the large central point in the room. The four pillars they reached soon showed to run up along and around them, bringing their strange illuminating glow with them.

With a sudden beep from one of the screens, two bright eyes slid open from the center of the four pillars, the much larger structure raising itself from its once sleeping position in order to look directly at the monitor itself. Though the thing merely watched the screen without any other further movement, the computer screen was already busy working instead, the writing that was currently typed up the only sort of command issued before the large eyes again closed.

#Detection of faint incena organism. Preparing nearest Facility ~Arcay~ for immediate action dictated under command Alpha#

 

[Endless Warrior Sora]

The teen listed the identities of people Kaijen's never even heard of before. Interestingly enough, two of them wielded Keyblades. The last time he checked, only Rena, Derrick, and himself were the only people to have Keyblades, with the Keyblade of Darkness leaving latter and appointing Derrick as it's master. So there had been more Keyblades of the universe? And this blue haired girl and bruiser guy were two of the wielders?

Ugh, it was all so confusing. Kaijen took a deep breath, and with it, relieved some of the stress of his confusion. Running a bandaged hand through his spiked hair he made a mental note to remember these friends of his.

"What's been happening in the worlds recently?"

Kaijen gave a small chuckle. "I wish I could tell you. As far as I remember, Rena, Derrick, Alt, Lillia, and I, along with a whole bunch of other people fought off these guys called the Embodiment a while back. While closing a door, we all got separated and tried to find each other. We ended up running into more Embodiment guys, and I...I lost my way. I gave into darkness and it swallowed my heart. I had been asleep under the Blanket of Darkness. And a friend of mine, sacrificed her heart to save my own. I woke up only recently, actually not too long ago...But because I had given into darkness, the Keyblade left me, and picked someone else. I thought we had got rid of Castex, er, Roxnu. But I guess he's still showin his face around here. It's funny that you're looking for your friends, I happen to be looking for mine too. I wanna apologize. And...I promised someone I'd find a home for her heart."

The teen grinned, as his voice cracked near the end. Did he...want to cry? Why? He had felt horrible for abandoning his friends, and being so useless up until recently. And that he'd have to rely on someone, Lillia of all people, to save him. He smirked and looked over to his fellow teenager with crimson eyes before tilting his head and flashing a smile.

"Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you. If we find Rena, I'm sure she can tell you everything. Then again you probably don't know who I'm talking about huh?" He grinned again before extending a hand.

"Kaijen. And you are?"

 

[Kingdomkeylight]

§Feed The Rich§

"Oh come now you appeared in our territory its not our fault we gotta kill you alone on that fact," the seductive Harm whined with a pouty lip for added effect of a puppy dog look. Her dark skin only adding to her enticing new roll as she leaned closer to the fellow illusionist. The more energetic cartwheeling one distanced herself further and further as she stated to hum a bit of a tune before speaking up a response to his question.
.
"We actually have much to gain from your death Ienzo your death would enrage quiet a few people, and well lets admit it earn our current "employer" a new test subject. I mean I myself don't necessarily need to kill you to have fun fun fun... I could bring you back barley alive to," the Harm chuckled as she halted her movement before waging her finger at the plotting Ienzo and pointed upward revealing his limit break to slowly be disappeared and consumed by heartless.
.
"Nope a don't get no tickets out," the lusty Harm chuckled. "Besides the clock is up who do you fight?"
.......................................................................................
♣White & Black♣

 

[Story Keeper]

~- I'm Not Always Fighting -~

Picking her way over debris, Rosaline didn't bother paying attention to the twilight energy that hung in the air. She stopped in her tracks when Aqua paused to stare at the fights raging below, until she spotted one of her friends and got moving again. Rosaline kept her face blank as she watched her put more distance between them, the unbalance in the girl's heart, oh so painfully obvious to those that knew who the other girl was. Staring after her for a few minutes, the woman shrugged her shoulders before returning to watch the fights below her, easily spotting Sleif facing off with the totema that had been fighting against Riku earlier.

A sneer curling her lips, she glared down at the two combatants. Oh, who to cheer for? The creature of the dark? Or the broken pawn of the light? She mocked silently, tilting her head to the side at the sight of tendrils of darkness attacking Sleif's opponent. Tearing her gaze away from them, not wishing for her emotions to control her this time, she watched Castex attack his opponent with little warning. What? Have the gloves come off for this child? she asked silently, watching the fight for a little while, until something drew her attention away from it.

Cocking her head to the side, Rosaline's eyes searched for what had drawn her attention from the fight this time. It was an Unversed, a Flood to be exact. Staring at it, she silently noted the lighter coloring and the white ribbon that was tied around its neck, suggesting it was a pet. It slowly blinked at her before it scuttled away, heading off in the general direction Aqua had gone in. Curiosity getting the better of her, Rosaline quickly followed after the Unversed, knowing what kind of problem they were; and what type of problem they could become, if they weren't kept in check.

~- Point Me Back to Home -~

Ven felt a rush of disappointment when Kaijen said he didn't know where his friends were. A crushed look flashing in his eyes, Ven listened in silence as the other teen explained to him about what he knew of the worlds; only to recoil away mentally at the mention of darkness. Tilting his head to the side in curiosity, Ven shook his head when he was asked if he knew someone by the name of "Rena". Racking his brain for any possible encounter with the keyblader, Ven frowned when he came up empty handed, looking back at the boy again, he didn't say anything as the boy introduced himself.

"Kaijen. And you are?"

Eying him cautiously, Ven weighed the benefits and downfalls of giving up such precious information. On one hand, Kaijen didn't look dangerous, but on the other Sora didn't look dangerous either! Ven closed his eyes, trying to figure out what he should do; laughing mentally as a thought went through his mind. He must think I'm paranoid, and who knows, maybe he's right. He rambled silently, before opening his eyes and eying Kaijen for a few more moments before he answered hesitantly, "Ventus."

He didn't want to leave his back exposed, but he also didn't want to leave Kairi alone anymore than he had to either. Looking at Kaijen, he took a step back and said, "So, who's Rena and Derrick? What do you plan to do after this world?" Looking around the foyer again, Ven took another step back, in the direction that Kairi had gone as an Unversed came running up to him. Looking down at it, he crouched down and stroked its head, listening to its report of wherever it'd run off to explore. Nodding in quiet acknowledgement, Ven reabsorbed the Flood before focusing back on Kaijen and waited in silence for his answer.

~- Can't Find What Keeps Me Here -~

Hearing the sound of battles raging, Cecilia turned to look at the monitors. She registered the tense standoff between Riku's group and the Heartless, but her eyes were drawn to the screen with Sleif facing off against one of the totema. Tilting her head to the side, she watched the fight for a little, focusing intently on the light wielding totema. Feeling the familiar itch spreading across her skin, she whistled softly to Eternity before heading toward the door.

"If it's alright with you, I'm going to explore the ship and check on our allies." She commented, even as she was walking out of the room, so she wouldn't have heard the answer. Reaching out with her mind, Cecilia noticed that all of the Lost seemed alright; looking at them as she passed by, she felt a wave of relief to see that they were okay and easily mingling with the Heartless. Sighing in relief, she slipped through the crowded hallways, not even looking at anyone.

Ducking down a nearly empty hallway, she looked around, she didn't recognize it from when they'd been infiltrating it; then again, she'd been a little too focused on disabling the security cameras to pay attention to the different corridors. Curiosity getting the better of her, she drifted from door to door, trying to open them but having no luck. Frowning at the doors, she ducked down another hallway and continued the process for about another fifteen minutes. Stopping at another one, she rested her hand on her hip and exhaled, causing a strand of hair to flutter from out of her eyes.

Brushing it behind her ear, Cecilia looked up and cocked her head to the side. Pursing her lips, she quickly looked around her before looking up again, shifting her necklace into a set of throwing knives, she felt the blades slip into position between her fingers as she curled her fists. Eyes scanning for what had distracted her, Cecilia called, "Who's there?"

~- No Time to Think -~

Ienzo didn't bother turning his head to try to catch a glimpse of the one that had spoken, instead he carefully turned his gaze to the ground; scrambling for a plan, any kind of plan. Come on, you're better than this, just focus and push the pain back. he scolded himself mentally, before his attention was dragged back to his opponent as they gave a chilling answer to his question. Frowning slightly, Ienzo tried to ignore how fast his heart started racing at the idea of being used for some kind of experiment. Then again, maybe it'd be a fitting retribution for what I've done... he thought, shaking his head quickly, Ienzo closed his eyes to try to stop the spinning sensation he'd gotten.

"Nope, don't get no tickets out," one of the Harms chuckled.

Opening his eyes, Ienzo looked up to see that his limit had been dispelled, a flash of annoyance crossing his face at the Heartless devouring it. He didn't have too long to worry about it though, as the lusty Harm continued with, "Besides, the clock is up. Who do you fight?"

"How about neither of you? Or, at least that's what I'd love to say; but I know it won't go over well with you. You're the kind of person that enjoys fighting, you get some sort of sadistic pleasure out of it, don't you?" He asked, focusing his attention back on the Nobody, he sniffed the air; trying to identify who was the real one and who was the weaker of the two. Shaking his head, Ienzo gave an exasperated sigh before he focused on the one in front of him and added, "You, so go ahead and dismiss your cartwheeling friend."

Glancing over his shoulder at the sound that drifted (granted it was muffled) through the ice wall separating him from Isa and Cuore. Ienzo focused back on the Nobody in front of him, slipping into a battle ready stance, he eyed his opponent for a little while. Ice was out, and as much as he hated to admit it, so was his illusions. So, in that case what could he do for an offensive maneuver? An idea coming to his mind, Ienzo started to collect the shadows to him and mix it with some thunder magic.

Snapping his wrist out, he sent a bolt of dark thunder toward the other illusionist before quickly backpedaling, keeping a steady stream of the magic going even as he summoned more shadows to him in a protective cloak. Eyes snapping around him, trying to pick up the faintest indication that something was amiss so Harm wouldn't get the jump on him...again.