A chance for Excitement (Closed)

[Jason Arilani]

Luxord - No. X

[/b]
"The Gambler of Fate"[/i][/size][/right]

The city of Olympus. A proud city that loved their hero, Hercules. Sure, crime occurred here frequently, and Hades let loose a monster or two every once and awhile. But the people of Olympus knew that Hercules would come to their rescue when times truly got tough. They looked forward to the Olympic Games that occurred in Phil's Coliseum and enjoyed watching the fights that happened there. But perhaps excitement, good or bad, could be stirred up not by crime, not by a giant monster, and not by Fights in the Coliseum.... But by a simple man, garbed in a black cloak, and stepping through a portal of darkness.

As Luxord arrived in the town of Olympus, he looked around to the town that so loved Hercules. Three dice rolled around in his hand as he walked the streets, his face hidden by his hood so as to keep his identity secret. Every once in awhile, a dice would be thrown into the air before being caught once more. Eventually, a citizen of the town decided to approach the Gambler as he was walking and said "Hey Mister... Aren't you hot under that cloak?"

Luxord turned to face him and looked over the common man. He wasn't wearing too much. A tattered shirt and shorts that looked like they would fall apart if barely hit. A soft chuckle came from the Gambler as he said "Heat poses no threat in a world where crime and monstrosities run amok. Perhaps you should worry more about your own possessions rather then fret over the feelings of a man you do not know. Tell me... Are you feeling lucky, today?"[/color]

The man slowly started to back away as Luxord showed him a die that rested in his hand. "Perhaps we should test your luck on the roll of a die. Odd number... You walk free with no problems whatsoever. Even number... Everything you possess becomes mine. Care to test your luck on a game of chance?"[/color] Little did Luxord know, this man never backed down from a challenge. "Lets do it! I'm not afraid of you." Yet another chuckle escaped Luxord as the dice escaped his hand and landed on the floor with a tumble.

The dice landed on a four. A gulp escaped the man that was before him as he turned to run. The dice quickly leapt from the ground and landed in the small pocket of the man. A very simple smile, one of no emotion, appeared on the cloaked man as he turned around. That dice would track him all the way to his home. And his home was not far from where they currently were. Luxord continued on his way as the man ran into his house and shut the door.

Meanwhile, in the man's house, he panicked as he started grabbing all of his possessions and worked out plans on how to leave. Suddenly, Luxord was surrounded in a portal of darkness and appeared in the man's house. "Ah, what a lovely home that you have here. It is truly a shame that you lost our little wager. But do not fret... I have no concern for your material possessions."[/color] Suddenly, a dark portal surrounded both Luxord and the man as they arrived in the Realm of Darkness.

"Enjoy your stay in eternal darkness..."[/color] Said Luxord as he disappeared. The heartless started to surround the man that did not belong, and after a short period of time, the man was nothing more then a pile of clothes that soon reappeared back in his home next to Luxord. Luxord shook his head. "Never test the power of luck."[/color] He said as he returned to where he was in the city and continued his walk.

[herby]

The shadow of a building rippled, once then twice before tendrils began leaking out wards and slowly a boy pulled himself out of the rippling pool before it sealed shut behind him. Traveling through the shadows was convenient, it allowed him to travel efficiently and effectively.

He walked a few steps, taking into account all of the shadows around him, it was a slight annoyance, when he first came to an area his mind went racing focusing on every shadow. After his mind had settled down, he took a few steps out into the sun, his azure blue eyes flickered open.

After walking down the street a bit he had a strange feeling. Darkness, pure darkness, a shadow entered it, and then it was gone, then it re-appeared inside a house to the left. His head cocked in that direction, a different shadow disappeared with that same darkness, he waited for several moments, waiting for the shadow to re-appear... it didn't.

He stepped toward the house, pressed the door slightly, it was locked. Looking in both directions he ensured that no one was watching, he phased through the door and stood on the other side, solidifying on the other side. Then he stood there staring, a man wearing a large black cloak. "Darkness" was the only word that escaped from Darkuns mouth, he stood there a few more moments, staring. It had been a long time since he felt that.

He looked around the room quickly, plenty of shadows to use In case of an emergency. He could happily defend himself in this area. "What happened... there was someone Else's shadow a minute ago." He wanted to know what had happened, now that he had been back in the real world for a while he had slowly been getting his curiosity back, he remembered once that someone told him the story of curiosity killing the cat.

Thats when he felt it... nothingness. " Your... nothing, your nothing, just like me." What a strange sensation, he couldn't remember ever meeting a human nobody like him. He ground his teeth slightly, confused, it didn't make sense. His voice changed tone, from one of curiosity to one that was slightly frail, almost scared, "Can you, explain, I don't understand, I thought... I thought I was the only one" His hand still kept ready just in case that this guy did attempt to attack him.

[Jason Arilani]

"Darkness"

That was what Luxord heard from someone off to his side as he looked toward the door. Seemed this one had a method of entering through a locked door other then simply unlocking and walking through. He knew the door was still locked, so this was probably not someone who lived here with the man. No... It was someone who most likely came from another world. But as he asked what had happened to the man that Darkness had just swallowed, Luxord wondered who he was and how he knew someone else was here.

Then he spoke of nothingness and how it was just like him. And it was then that Luxord knew that he had another Nobody in front of him. And it also seemed that this Nobody might be new to the worlds if he thought he was the only nobody in existence. However, he kept his identity a secret for the time being. "The man that was here regrettably owed me a great deal and had for some length of time. And unfortunately, his final day had come."[/color] He said, explaining a lie about what he had just said. Lying was natural to the nobody for no emotions could make them feel guilt for it.

"As for the nothing that you speak of..."[/color] He started, slowly walking around the room, "You are far from the only one. We are called Nobodies, and there are more then you and I. Perhaps you would wish to divulge how long you have been amongst the worlds as a nobody? Because, from my point of view.... You have not been a nobody for long."[/color] He finished, wondering if maybe, he could allow the Organization another Nobody for it's ranks. But this game of chance was all left up to how well he could spin his web for the nobody before him. And if this nobody knew more then Luxord anticipated, it would make it that much more difficult. So he would have to wait and see how things progressed.

[herby]

Darkun stared at the man, counting mentally. "I would say around... three years, though I wasn't around for the last year.I'll admit, I've never seen another Human nobody before... like me. " His eyes drifted down towards the mans shadow before back up,trying to size the man up.

He knew ideally he shouldn't of allowed this conversation, this man obviously cared little for life if he so easily took that other mans, that also meant he was reasonably powerfull, maybe even more powerful than Darkun. He defiantly had to be careful, he couldn't afford to allow his guard to slip.

The thought quickly occurred that this man might of been a heartless for a very long time. "Do you have answers? What are we? How did we end up being like we are? Are there more of us?" The questions flew out like verbal vomit, impossible for Darkun to stop, it was then though after the question came flying out in a frail and confused voice that the real question came to his mind.

"Is there a way for us to feel... can we obtain the ability I need to know, I would do anything to be able to feel." In his own mind he had decided that maybe if he could feel then he could love, and if he could love perhaps Sam would come back to him, they could truly be happy together, something impossible before.

He observed the man, a strange black cloak, the kind of cloak that means you want to hide who you are, Darkun had never had a problem with hiding, if he wanted to disappear he could do so, for as long as he wanted.

"Darkun" he declared, his voice almost braking half way through, " my name, its Darkun... can I ask yours?" he wondered if the man was Even interested in helping him, this man might not even care. He probably came here for a purpose and that purpose may of now been fulfilled.

He ensured that there was enough shadows around, plenty, he could easily defend himself, one hand opened, ready to flick a wall up if the man lunged, he still had to be cautious, he hadn't met this man before, he didn't know his intentions, yet he thought he wouldn't attack, there was a great similarity between them, at least he hoped there was.

Maybe Darkun had finally found something.

[Jason Arilani]

Luxord listened as the man spoke of how long he had been in existence. It occurred to the Gambler that this man was confused yet knew how to control himself, and that maybe some trauma after having become a nobody has kept him from seeing the nobodies around him. But then the questions came one after another. And Luxord had to wrap his mind around the other nobody's onslaught of questions before hearing the other give him his name and asked for his own in return. A soft nod came from Luxord as his hands went to his hood and pulled it off, revealing his face to the man.

"My name is Luxord. And yes, I do have some answers for you. We are Nobodies, creatures who have lost our hearts to the darkness in one way or another. Our bodies and our minds remain in tact, but our hearts have become a different being altogether, known as the heartless. There are more of us, yes. Some who have the form of a human... Others..."[/color] He said as he snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, a dusk, a creeper, and a gambler nobody appeared in the room. "have appearances that are not like that of a human. But do not fear them. They will not attack unless commanded. And I do not plan on commanding them to attack you. As for a way for us to feel... That is simple. We must regain our hearts from the darkness. And there is one thing in this world that me along with an Organization of other human form nobodies have been working toward that will allow us to do just that."[/color] He snapped his fingers, sending the other nobodies away once more.

"It is called Organization XIII. An organization of Thirteen nobodies who all work toward the same goal. And we are always willing to seek out new members who would join us in our cause. The humans do not understand us. They fear us sometimes because of our lack of hearts. There is even a world in which we are barred from entering because they have set up a security measure to stop us. But if you would like our help in regaining your heart, all you would need to do is let me know."[/color] He said, this time thinking that the truth would be what helped them in the long run. If he remained honest with the other nobody, then when the time came, Luxord could play the trust card in saying that he had not lied to him. The die had been cast, and it was time to see if luck was in The Gambler's favor once more.

[herby]

Darkun listened to the information that Luxord gave him, paying special attention when the hood was slowly pulled down, he took a mental note of what this man looked like, blond short hair and looked after facial hair.

Alot of the information he already knew, and others of it seemed... familiar. Why was his memory so hazy, was this what happened from him spending so much time within the shadows? Maybe it had adverse effects upon him.

The nobodies, he knew the dusks, and the creeper, but what was that other one. He stared at it a few moments, examining it, he wasn't sure what it was exactly. He then realised that this man had summoned them, and could control them, he could order them to attack?

"So, there's a way to control the nobodies that aren't human? I knew I could talk to them... but that was it, is there a way to learn this?" He could save so many people if he could control them. He could stop attacks on people, do some real good, he wasn't too sure whether he should mention this to Luxord, he didn't seem like he had much fondness of humans.

A group... of nobodies like him. There was an entire organization, all hunting for the same thing as him, he felt... drawn, almost instantly. " So there's a group of people like us... all hunting for the exact same thing?" He thought this over for a second. "If you'll have me, ill help, ill do whatever I can to aid the cause."

Thinking quickly he thought what it was that he could actually help with, the only thing he could do... was kill. " I can fight."

Could it be true, humans were allways just scared, did they all truly hate us. Then a memory triggered... Sam, he hated him after he found out that Darkun was a nobody. It was true, after all this time of trying to help humans and the blatant truth was that humans hated him. So the only way to be with Sam was to become human... It had to be done.

"I'm yours" was Darkuns final words, completely suckered into the idea of this.

[Jason Arilani]

Luxord listened to the questions that came from the other Nobody and wondered what kind of thought processes were going on through Darkun's head. He wasn't sure where his loyalties truly were and if he truly would aid the Organization in their cause. But for now, he would have to continue to talk with him and see just what this man could do. Luxord could not be the final say on whether or not Darkun could join the Organization, but by having information, he certainly could find the other nobody after speaking with the Superior.

"Amongst the members of Organization XIII, each nobody has a specific... Lesser nobody, as it were, that we can control. You saw the Dusks and the Creepers as the most basic form of nobody. But my distinct nobody is the Gambler. Should you be allowed to join, you might have one of your own to command."[/color] He said in response to the first question regarding the controlling of nobodies. He wasn't about to tell him how to do it just yet, but if Xemnas allowed him in, Luxord would probably be training him quite a bit, like he did Roxas.

Then Darkun said that he would do whatever he could to help the Organization, later stating that he could fight, and giving into the will that Luxord had given. With a Card appearing in his hand, he flipped it over to show that Darkun's appearance now laid upon the card. Quickly spinning it once more, the symbol of the nobody appeared on the face of the card as he said "Allow me to test your abilities of fighting. If I deem you worthy, I shall give you this card. If my leader decides that you should be allowed to aid us, that card will become a portal to our world. I am number ten in the Organization of Thirteen. Therefore, I must bring this up to our number one. You understand, yes? So if we shall fight, I shall allow you to cast the die."[/color] He said as he stepped back, the card in his hand being replaced by three, while three dice appeared in his other. This should be an interesting fight, if Darkun gave in.

[herby]

"Yes, I understand, a chain of command must be followed." So he was to be tested, he began wondering how he would be tested or deemed worthy, but it appeared that he wouldn't have to wait long for his answer.

" A fight... I understand. I will try not to inflict a fatal injury. Prepare yourself, number ten, Luxord"

With that his shadow dragged him down in a flash, quickly, he appeared in the shadow of the desk to the left, a quick flick of his hand had a spike solid shadow spike fly through the air towards luxords left knee, obviously an attempt to disable him.

Following through Darkun ran behind the spike, summoning his own shadow to his hand, he jumped over the area where Luxord was, firing down a spray of small thin yet sharp spikes, the ones that missed merely sizzled into ash like shadow before dispersing. Landing in a shadow of a chair he yet again disappeared into the shadow realm. This time he appeared directly behind Luxord, with a quick hand gesture a solid shadow sword appeared in his hand which was immediately flung at the arm of the man.

Standing on the shadow that he had just appeared from he asses ed the damage if any that he had caused, he knew that if this nobody was anything like him, he would have to be careful, and assess everything step by step.

" No snake eyes here " he said with a light chuckle.

[Jason Arilani]

Luxord stood there as Darkun disappeared within his own shadow and reappear in the shadow of the desk. It seemed more like a heartless move then that of a nobody, but then again... All nobodies were different. Luxord had a method of his own. The element of time served him well as he gazed upon where his opponent was now as time seemed to slow down for the nobody. While it didn't actually, he was able to slow it down to a point where he could see everything that was happening, almost as if he was in an alternate timeline.

As the spike shot toward his leg, Luxord saw an easy opportunity to simply step to the side. He did not need to reveal his powers just yet as he moved his leg just before it would hit, causing it to disappear after passing his leg. He also noticed Darkun run forward and start to jump. Luxord's hand quickly shot forward as one of the cards in his hand grew to be taller then Luxord was. He lifted his hand and the card raised with the spikes and the card was hit instead of Luxord.

As Darkun started to fall, he shot his other hands forward, and a spray of cards seemed to shoot out from nowhere. And just after the passed the path that Darkun would take, they seemed to disappear just as mysteriously. There was little that Darkun would probably be able to do as he was falling toward the ground. But Luxord never set himself up for failure, always having a plan. The cards could easily provide a protective barrier by growing to immense heights and blocking attacks.

The spray of cards would not stop Darkun from falling, so if he got hit or if he didn't, Luxord retracted the cards. He knew from experience that nine times out of ten a person would appear behind their opponent to strike. Two more cards moved to the sides of the card that was created earlier to block strikes from behind. The sword would puncture through the card that it hit though, but could not continue on. It stopped just before it would hit Luxord, most likely disappearing.

Quickly spinning around, he grabbed the three large cards which instantly shrunk to normal sized cards. "I would not assume so. You are a nobody, not a heartless. Heartless positions are easy to give away."[/color] He said as he stood there, the cards flipping in his hand. Suddenly, a mass of cards appeared in his now extended hand before one shot forward, the face of the card directly toward Darkun as it glowed a dark red. Suddenly, a massive fireball shot toward Darkun as Luxord cast his Firaga spell. The cards in front of his hand disappeared as he waited to see the reaction toward such an attack.

[herby]

Darkun had taken a hit to the stomach from the cards, how did cards hurt so much, and more importantly how was he using them as a shield. Also this guy was fast, REALLY fast, he was managing to dodge and predict all of Darkens moves. " Your quick... though that was just to see your reaction time." A shadow flipped up to his chest, forming into the skin that had been cut from the attack he had taken.

It was then that he saw a card flip infront of him, a large fireball flick out to wards him. His instant reactions kicked in and he became intangible, the fireball going straight through him and dispersing on the wall behind him.

Flicking a hand either side he had a spike flick out of each side of the room, one was aimed at his knee the other slightly behind. Disappearing back into his own shadow this time he summoned one of his three pronged blades to his hand and fell out of the roof aiming down wards slight in front of where the initial spike was, hopefully this would catch him.

Afterwords he quickly slipped away into Luxords own shadow, disappearing once again and appearing to the left back at the table.

[Jason Arilani]

Luxord stood there in his usual pose, his hand slightly grabbing his chin while holding his cards. The cards slightly covered his face as he heard the words come from Darkun. It was clear to Luxord that this man could manipulate shadows in ways that he had not foreseen. In a place will many shadows, he would be near invincible. But what if he was presented with a scenario which limited the shadows that he could use? He watched Darkun's attacks coming from the sides of the house, one to his knee and the other behind him. Two large cards rose from the ground to block the attack as he waved his hand up.

Suddenly, a shadow was cast upon Luxord as he looked up and noticed Darkun falling from the roof. A laugh came from Luxord as he quickly leapt to the side, the two large cards collapsing to a point which would prevent Darkun from slipping into a shadow as he would most likely hit the cards and have to slide down, one way or another. But that was not all that Luxord had planned.

4 Large cards appeared going directly out of his side, one north, one south, one west, and one east. They all started to spin quickly, easily destroying the furniture that adorned the house before he launched the cards to the corners of the house and sent them to destroy the ceiling. The cards extended along the entirety of the ceiling and suddenly lifted up, keep the ceiling in mostly one piece, and letting the sunlight come in as the cards quickly flung the ceiling into the middle of the town, only to disappear. A wicked smile appeared on the face of Luxord as he looked toward Darkun to see how he would react toward this.

[herby]

Those cards where strong, they could block all of Darkuns spikes without much effort, it was when he saw the cards below him that he had to think fast, he couldn't allow himself to fall down the cards, he would be wide open to attack. Thinking fast he flicked his hand to the desk making a spike of shadow fly to wards his hand, grabbing it he dissipated into the spike and re-appeared at the table just in time to see cards flying at him.

Initially being smacked by a card but then phasing into intangibility he watched as the cards destroyed the furniture and then removed the roof from the building. This man had strength beyond what he had originally thought, this was going to require alot more than he normally had to use.

He felt the golden rays of sunlight filter down onto his face as he looked up to the beating sun. " I miss the sun... I've spent so long in shadows I almost forgot what it felt like... it's... relaxing isn't it?" he spoke as his body changed stance, it went quite limp his hands fell to his sides. It was time to show Luxord what he was really made of.

" From now on I'm not going to hold back. Its obvious your like me, you have strength beyond any of the normal opponents I face. I will have to engage complete control. Oh... and if you thought the sun would stop me, your wrong."

His hands limp to the sides, not even twitching he began focusing, the shadows of this world, he felt them all, no longer able to move his body he began pulling them, forcing them to condense.

Shadows where present wherever light was absent, it's the first law that Darkun learned when he tended for the tree of life. Shadow existed on a separate plain, it wasn't in physical thing. Anywhere that wasn't light was shadow.

He had his shadow slowly creep up, then the shadow underneath the buildings roof joined him, along with the shadow of several more buildings, all floating in a liquid like form in front of him.

Darkun closed his azure blue eyes, his long matching azure hair wafted around his waste with the sun, his hat long lost. The shadows flung out-wards in microscopic balls, when they got close they turned into spiked balls.

Then another one of the shadows flicked up into the air raining from a different direction, joined by Luxords own shadow which sent several very thin sharp spikes flying up wards. Hopefully he wouldn't expect his own shadow turning against him.

All he had to do was distract this guy for a few more seconds and he could unleash the shadow of everything on this planet.

[Jason Arilani]

The words that came from Darkun's mouth... They spoke in such a manner that intrigued Luxord. He could already see that he would be a valuable asset to the Organization, if Xemnas would have him. And this was even before the attack had come... As Darkun seemed to grow in power, the shadows of the world had started to gather around him. Luxord's eyes danced across the scene, taking in the sight. But from knowledge of before, even Luxord's own shadow could be manipulated by this nobody. His hand raised as a large card rose from the ground behind him, leaving no space between him and the air behind. Two more cards of equal height formed after, directly behind the first. Sure this created a larger shadow to manipulate, but with the added defense, Luxord was well protected.

But that wasn't all he did. A snap of his fingers, and Luxord disappeared. Where? Into the card that was currently in between the two others. While Darkun would be faced with a blank card, Luxord was behind it, followed by another blank. The cards then exploded as many smaller cards littered the floor. Luxord was hidden in one of them, but which one? Where could he be hiding now? Right behind Darkun...

Suddenly, Luxord raised from his card and spun around, a card in his hand, placed at Darkun's neck, almost touching it. But he stopped. Laughing slightly, Luxord stood back as the large cards that had revealed the sun upon the building, lowered the roof back down and then disappeared. "You show a wonderful display of power and a willingness to fight. This will surely prove invaluable to the Organization."[/color] He held out the card that was in his hand and continued to speak.

"Each member of Organization XIII has an element of their own to control. Something that defines who they are. The card that I showed you before..."[/color] He said as he flipped the card over, revealing the symbol of the nobody on it's face "... shall be given to you if you realized my own element during this fight."[/color] He said, his smirk returning to his face as he awaited an answer. This was the final portion of Luxord's test. But what would Darkun have realized?

[NOTE: If you don't believe that Darkun could have realized the element of Time from this fight, say that. Don't worry about it. Or say whatever Darkun would think it is. I have all sorts of scenarios planned based off of what is said.]

[herby]

It was almost ready the shadows had been collected he could finally... Darkuns eyes flickered open as he sensed the reality of what had transpired, Luxord was behind him. That’s impossible, how could he get there, I didn’t feel any portals, all he did was turn into smaller cards.

Obviously the point of this wasn’t to be killed, if that was the case he could be dead, or at least have a severe neck injury. He turned slowly, his blue eyes gazing into Luxords own. There was something defiantly wrong, he wasn’t just impossibly fast... he was impossibly fast. It wasn’t possible, was he distorting his space?

It was then that Luxord asked the question that gave Darkun the opportunity to gain his place, he had to discover how it worked, what element was Luxords, it obviously was more than just the cards, they were just the icing what element was he... he wasn’t a basic element, it was something else... Space? Was he a spacial manipulator, it would explain how he quickly moved from one space to another seemingly to dodge every attack. But his dodging was so fast, it made no sense.

“You move impossibly fast, faster than my eyes can trace... and the strange thing is, faster than I can trace your shadow, which means it is outside of time... I can ALLWAYS trace a shadow. he glanced up at the card and then back to Luxord before continuing. I believe you are a spacial manipulator, allowing you to move from one position to the next instantaneously. If you was to make small movements it would appear as a dodge when actually you have changed location all together.

He waited, he was reasonably confident with his answer but who knows he could be wrong...

The reason Darkun had assumed that it had been spacial manipulation was that once he had met someone else that could manipulate the space around them. Whereas Darkun had never met a time manipulator, he did not even know that someone could manipulate time, it was something that Darkun didn’t know and there wasn’t exactly a handbook that you got when you became a nobody telling you all this kind of information.

“So am I right? Close? he spoke as his eyes focused on the small symbol of the nobody on the card, it was a strange symbol, yet graceful, far more pleasant than the heartless symbol that appeared on the majority of heartless.

[ Darkun doesnt evne know Time Manipulation is possible, it'd be impossible for him to work it out but it looks very similar to spacial manipulation so that would probably be his guess.]