In a cataclysm known as the Nightfall, the worlds were almost completely destroyed by a harrowing surge of darkness.
In the shadows of the ensuing chaos a new group has taken shape. Led by an Aegyl named Kalos, the 11th Hour touts an esoteric knowledge of how to combat the darkness and restore the worlds. They might be the worlds’ best chance at survival; but nobody really knows enough about them to confirm or deny their claims.
On the brink of collapse, the universe holds its breath in anticipation. Of restoration? Of destruction? It is up to individuals like yourself to decide.
A special thank you to ChasingArtwork of Deviantart, who allowed us to use this stellar banner image.
There aren't enough praises in the world I'd like to give to wonderful coders for the Proboards community. The following have contributed to World Destiny in some way: W3 Schools for countless how-tos and countless of other souls who have helped get WD up to where it is.
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Deflecting a direct Keyblade attack with your arm is a bad idea. But maybe he would do it again.
Had the weapon been a sword or a spear or even a blunt lance, the impact alone would have drawn blood and probably would have broken some bones. When the red-headed fiend rolled and dodged away like it was nothing, Sora began to suspect that either he was a lot stronger than he let on, he was very good at hiding pain, or his arm was made out of a high-grade steel. Maybe all three.
But Sora was persistent, and if he had to beat Axel by wearing him down, then he would. Enough hits to the arm, and Sora knew that a fighter would eventually lower that arm from fatigue and pain and then he could go in for the final blow…if only the Nobody-in-disguise would hold still and quit retreating! He had wanted a head-on fight to send the bad guys packing, but instead what he was getting was the most unsatisfactory game of tag. Fine, time to take advantage of his own speed.
Using his Dash ability, Sora zipped to one side, a blur of primary colors, and planted himself between Axel and the Secret Place, swinging his Keyblade for a clean uppercut, “Quit running away and fight me, you coward!”
Even as he did this, he felt his air shield bending and warping and he knew then he couldn’t depend on it to block the fire attacks. He would simply have to prevent the red-head from using any. In such close fighting quarters though, he wasn’t as worried. He would force Axel into hand-to-hand combat…wait, what was that?
The sound of explosion and earth crumbling in chunks—the handiwork of Rook’s Guard Light and the subsequent attacks that followed reached his ears. Something was happening and it wasn’t good.
Bending backwards and spinning low and to his left, Rook barely evaded the first swing of the blades, though he wasn't sure all of his hairs atop his head had made the trip with him. With a grunt and a snarl, he swung left leg and his right fist into the movement, helping to propel him back around towards the "Heartless", the fist clenched and aimed at her knee as he reared back around on her.
He swung out to catch her joint, then bounded on his right leg, pushing himself with the momentum to get a few feet of distance from her. The blades she carried were short, so melee would prove a problem: It was his strength, but it also put him in range of her. He also couldn't lob his fists at her if he strayed too far. Close-to-mid range it would be.
The redhead tilted his head again, crouched on the rocky ground, waiting for her to decide his next movement with her own, "Was he too scared? Is that why he ran?" It sounded quizzical. A touch naive and perhaps even serious. "You would have had a better chance if he stayed..."
(Probably so full of errors. I has not written creatively for so long. @.@)
She had underestimated the older boy: he moved far more swiftly than she thought he would, and deftly dodged under her knives, spinning around towards her, fist balled and slamming into her knee that she foolishly left open before leaping out of range of her blades. Larxene hissed through her clenched teeth, knee buckling under her slightly as she stepped back to better protect it. The boy struck hard. Harder than she had expected. And she knew the joint would be hurting her much more, later when the adrenaline of the assault died away.
Fixing her eyes hard on the boy’s own, she glowered, staring him down a short while before the tinglings of familiarity wormed their way forefront. That stock of red hair… The brawler fighting style… That attack, those familiar words: “Guard Light.” She’s heard that all somewhere before. A description of a boy, mentioned during secret meetings beyond the eyes and ears of those who thought themselves “superior.”
This, Larxene found herself concluding, must be Rook.
The boy Marluxia wanted to make his puppet. She heard about him.
Larxene’s glower intensified. She raised her hand, knives dissipating. Making way for electricity to curl around her fingers, building and building in power. He crippled her speed with that punch; she’d fry him for that. But she hesitated in attacking. She stopped watching Xigbar, her attention focused on the boy. She heard his voice over the wind.
”We’re getting out of here.”
So he couldn’t open it. Before she could say anything to him, she heard another familiar voice carried over the wild air, specifically directed to her.
Hey, Larx. How's it lookin' in there? I get the sense you could use my help. . .
A sneer curled upon her lips.
Shut it Eight,” came her venomous reply. She was in no mood for his games, her temper only souring more when Xigbar made it clear that there was no opening that door and her was getting out of there. Begrudgingly she passed the news along. It’s over anyway, Axel. Xigbar can’t open the door and the cave is coming down around us. …We’re pulling out.
But not before she got in one last strike.
She turned her attentions back to Rook, snarling as he spoke to he.
“The Dark XII failed today,” she said to him with all the malice she could muster, biting back the pain in her leg. “But… Since I have you here, I suppose I can let myself claim one. Small. Victory.” A cruel smile graced her lips as she regarded Rook, like a predator regarding its prey.
“I can walk away from this, smiling… Knowing Marluxia will never have you again.”
And with that she let loose the lightning that was building in her hand, the Thundara spell sparking off in all directions, not aimed for Rook, but the stone all around them, intending to finish what the boy started.
Her spell released, Larxene stumbled back, a corridor of darkness swallowing her whole as she retreated.
Shock was a rare thing to the Whirlwind Lancer, but shock overcame him when he heard the voice of Xigbar in the wind's sweet carress.
We're getting out of here-
He didn't even allow Xigbar the time to finish this response, because he had already began to rocket into the air, his spears disappearing from his grasp. His eyes steeled over, and his rage grew. Instead of using his wind to obliterate the island and all on it, he made a different decision.
If the island couldn't be theirs, then it could belong to nobody.
A purple haze surrounded Xaldin's right hand, which seemed to be clutching a small crystal. The haze then seemed to expand, forming a magical circle around the lancer. As he rose just above it, a seemingly powerful force shot through the cloud layer that had formed above the islands, and as it hit the circle, it took a corperal form. As the circle faded, Xaldin allowed himself to dive alongside the latest addition to the battle, and landed on the ground as Hades did.
The Bahamut looked to him, with a hint of disdain, then extended its hands and let out a powerful roar. Xaldin, with a smirk on his face, gave a single mental order to the dragon.
Destroy it all.
And, with that order, Bahamut once again took to the air, first using its physical power to destroy a section of the bridge and the roof of the wooden structure that Riku, Kairi, and Sora had often played in as kids. Then, with a cry that would strike fear even in a Heartless, he summoned two balls of energy and flung them at the beach and the Keyblade wielders, under Xaldin's orders.
Then, another whisper on the wind, to the allies that hefought alone side.
Hope is not lost, not yet. Forget not that there is always a backup plan. And this so happens to be that.
Then, with a twinge of annoyance, Xaldin remembered one factor that hadn't come into play yet. He relayed another message, this time to a specific person.
Demyx, you are to join Axel and I in this fight. And not from afar, either.
It was true enough that it wasn't the best move to block a weapon with one's forearm, but it had gotten the job done, and he'd gladly take the developing bruise and a sore bone over a stab to the ribcage.
And in a moment, the Somebody he was taunting was right in front of him, tossing that keyblade around as though the thing were as weightless as a paper plate in a wind storm. The uppercut gave a hard knock to his jaw, sending Axel staggering a few feet backward and causing him to bite his tongue. The injury to his lower jaw would leave an unsightly bruise -- how unthoughtful; it wasn't like he had to show his face to his cohorts every day or anything. And not to mention, he'd have pain in his mouth for a few days at least, and an angry Keyblade Wielder to thank for it. I'm beginning to regret dying for you, his mind mused as his fingers held his injury.
A frustrated snarl was given before the Flurry took advantage of the close-quarters, using the thin edge of his frisbee to aim for the boy's sternum. If all had worked, it would give him the distance he wanted.
He'd successfully gained the attention he wanted from the Keyblade Wielder., and was fully ready to lure him right to the --
-- the tremor of the ground, and the sound of rocks toppling over each other caught his ear, and the ginger turned his attention toward the Secret Place.
"Shut it Eight,” he smirked at the reply only the Organization could hear.
Dust rolled out of the cave from the blast of Light one of the fighters had released. "Oh hey! Looks like the Heartless party's getting started!" He knew there was a scuffle going on in the little cave, but perhaps his careful words could coax Sora in after them, the Secret Place being a monument to his childhood and all, but the cosplaying Nobody's plan was swiftly derailed by an added note from Larxene:
"It’s over anyway, Axel. Xigbar can’t open the door and the cave is coming down around us. …We’re pulling out."
Buh--mer! His mind responded. They had all been looking forward to a big victory today; looks like they were, once again, going to leave empty handed. His thoughts were made clear in the wind, the communication lines more like an open-air chatroom than anything else. "Y'know, for all our efforts, this group really hasn't been too victorious; what with our redundant losing streak and all."
"Demyx, you are to join Axel and I in this fight. And not from afar, either."
"What, we're stickin' around?" Another message passed to the wind.
Well, that meant that the naturally lazy Nobody couldn't just slink on out of here. He supposed it made sense, though, to further soil their Heartless Counterparts' reputations.
Taking advantage of Sora's temporary distraction, the redhead disapprovingly sent an orb of Fire to light up the Paupu Tree that overlooked the Ocean; if he was going to twist his Heartless's reputation, he would make sure to shred important things; not just big constructs, but things with sentimental value. Those things would be more sorely missed than all the sand and rocks this Island had to offer... For they were of value to the Heart.
Yeah, he was sore. And not too pleased about his failure in the cave. But as was his nature, when Xaldin’s commanding voice rose on the wind again, and his great aeon sprang into the battle, Xigbar’s spirits bounced right back into place. He tilted his head back and whooped. “Oh, we’re still going at ‘em? All riiiiight!”
Even better – her Highness had already taken it upon herself to scram. Xigbar found himself looking forward to chewing her out about that later, if Xaldin or the Superior didn’t beat him to it. He supposed it wouldn’t do to mention that he was moments away from heading out himself, before the Lancer let his pet loose. Or that he had been the first to flee the cave with Rook. As a matter of fact, perhaps he would rather let the subject be.
His breath had returned somewhat, but his lungs still itched, and various points of his body still ached from diving into rock, being hit on the head by rock, having rock collapse try to collapse all about him. . . all kudos to the redhead. However, Xigbar’s energy was not yet spent. And neither were his bullets.
He took a few moments to reload the stupid crossbow-like weapons of his counterpart. Locked and loaded with thirty-five more shards of energy, Xigbar ripped open a portal and zipped through the other dimension until he was fairly near the girl and silver keyboy, but not quite in close combat range.
With his feral smile cracking in exhilaration, he let loose rapid fire.
At first his unusually wild, playful shots exploded at the feet of his targets, or ding'd loudly off of stone, as if to get them dancing. Xigbar would hit his mark eventually. He pretty much always did.
The girl was moving. Fluid as her shadow, Riku immediately followed, quickly spotting her plan. Thinking on his feet, he veered right before he would have passed the wind Heartless, and instead shot a series of Dark orbs from the tip of his keyblade dead towards the offender’s chest. Right before he could take advantage of the distraction and bolt after his new comrade, however, the creature shot into the air, orbs trailing behind. His weapons vanished and he began glowing strangely. Riku paused for a split second, on guard for attack – when none came immediately, he sprinted on. In his focused rush he failed see the beast rise behind him.
Something whistled past his ear. Riku didn’t flinch at the flare of energy, too intent on his dash, but he felt a pang of shock in his gut. He was being shot at. Sand exploded alongside the tufts rising from his feet’s impact. His mind going blank with adrenaline, he conjured shield after shield behind him, as many as he could afford to guard his back while he ran.
He reached the red-haired Heartless the girl had been targeting. Having lost track of her movements, Riku shot a flurry of Dark firaga at Sora’s assailant in a hope that it coordinated somewhat with the other Light’s attacks. Right then, Riku cursed at himself for making the shadows his ally. His strongest of magic will be much less affective against creatures of darkness. Abandoning the attempt, Riku whipped the Way to Dawn before him, and attempted a strike at the creature’s back when the girl had his front occupied.
Even before he could feel whether or not the attack hit, a sudden excruciating pain in his leg turned his vision white. Riku yelled and staggered. He couldn’t have held up the shield alongside the firaga and melee via keyblade – the shooter hit his mark once Riku’s barriers fell.
Riku limped to the side, falling against a wood beam, teeth clenched. With a muttered cure spell, Riku tried roughly patching the wound, a fast solution to just subdue the pain – so he could fight now, and worry about it later. The vivid brightness receded just enough for him to squint through the driving rain, and he saw a massive beast ravaging his island.
Riku’s gaze shifted again. The paopu tree was ablaze.
No way, no how was that blow reaching his sternum. Sora was strongest at hand-to-hand combat and blocked it easily. However, what happened next was not so easily brushed aside.
Everywhere there was chaos, sand flying, energy shards whizzing, rain piercing like stinging nettles, and then without preface or warning, the paopu tree was on fire.
The tree had been there for as long as Sora could remember. It was a part of the island, a part of his home and a part of his heart. Countless sunsets had been watched from its curved trunk, dozens of wooden sword fights had been fought under its wide fronds, and hours had been spent lazing about, leaning against its rough bark, gazing out onto sparkling waters. It represented a part of their lives and their history together. It symbolized home and all of the people who lived there.
An attack on his island, was an attack not just on Sora, but on Kairi, Riku, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, his parents, every past event and every event that was yet to occur there. Destiny Islands had always been the home he could depend on coming back to—attacking it was the most insulting challenge Axel could have made.
Sadness and dismay wrenched at his heart, sinking to the bottom of his stomach, where it caught on fire of anger and began to rage.
He turned his focus back to Axel. And though the Nobody was under the guise a Heartless, with a false name and face, Sora knew him only as the enemy. A clever mask was hardly protection against the wrath of the Keyblade’s Chosen One now.
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Jul 31, 2012 18:58:38 GMT -4
Last Edit: Jul 31, 2012 19:53:15 GMT -4 by Aryn007
Post by Ellie who has 0% on Aug 19, 2012 15:01:24 GMT -4
//...I'm voting for a written up prompt to conclude this for I know this is completely DONE and not left open-ended, because let's face it...it's not going to conclude anytime too soon. It's been 'almost' done for months, and I rather be able to say -3- that this thread didn't take a year to finish.
With the door being locked, the only damage that can happen is to the play island itself and the people in the thread.\\
(( I was feeling the Organization was gonna retreat once they realized the effort was futile, but then Xaldin announced they were gonna be roughing up the Islands a little, just to drive their second goal home.
The numbers are a little bit more even now that Larxene's out, but the Light is pretty darn weakened (Tidus hit in the head, Riku the leg, Rook already used very powerful ability and stood through a cave-in, everyone rather tired). Here is how I imagine things would play out: lots of battling, but eventually Riku grabs Sora (and maybe the unconscious Tidus?) and uses his dark portals to get out of there. Cue mucho sad aftermath thread. I can't speak for Era and Rook.
As for the Org. . . and for the Islands. . . I'm not sure. ))
Aug 19, 2012 16:47:39 GMT -4
Last Edit: Aug 19, 2012 16:48:37 GMT -4 by Zephiris
The ginger turned his sights from the entrance of the cave to what was in front of him, eyes sharpening on two targets, one right after the other. Both were advancing toward him, the first a zealous female with an unmistakably orange head of hair. The other, a more intimidating threat; an enraged Keyblade Bearer.
The finger of one ungloved hand reached up to loosen the restricting golden scarf around his neck, its confinement unwelcome. At this moment, the impostor looked like a little boy who had just stirred up a beehive, and he didn't want to stick around for the results of the failed thievery.
The 'Heartless' analyzed his situation for a fraction of a second. It was all to easy to understand that this wasn't looking good. Their numbers were already down by at least two or three, and the strength of these kids' troublesome opposition only reaffirmed what he'd already made up in his mind.
The sand under his red and white sneakers shifted loosely as he shuffled backward a few steps. One final message was woven into breeze only their little group could hear: "Sorry Xaldin. As strange as it might seem, I think I'm with Larxene this time . . ."
He retreated a few more steps, allowing the Dark Portal he'd formed behind himself to swallow his reaching hand, his chest, and the rest of him.
All too easily, the ever-slippery Lea, and his portal, were gone.
((Apologies for my lack of participation, real life issues and such have been cleared up now so I'm back. If the baddies are taking off, this thread could still be used, post-plot, to show the good guys picking up the pieces in the aftermath. The Play Island is a big part of the DI lore, and an attack on it on such scale shouldn't just fade into the past without some degree of time spent on the fallout, I think.))
The rocks crashed down from overhead. The damned blonde beat him at his own game. Rook looked up above as the ceiling of the cave began to shatter and collapse. His shoulders hung and he shook his head. Times like these, he should have just stayed home.
His hands braced hard, he was already tired. Another Dark Guard shield erected around him with a loud grunt of effort that reverberated off the crumbling rock. Boulders and stones pelted it, piling up nearby. It held as it was covered in debris, but he could not keep it up indefinitely. Rook's teeth gritted as his tiny bubble grew darker and darker, ambient light in the cave drowning out.
The Dark Guard glittered and cracked, dispersing into a shimmer as the rocks came down. And there he lay, pinned to the floor. The shield had kept the impacts from crushing him entirely, but there was no way to stop the mass from weighing down on him. The cave still stood, the mass of the mountain still maintained. But there was enough on top of him to keep him there. A voice wouldn't carry outside, so the young redhead could only hope someone thought to look for him before he was crushed to death by the weight. Or worse, he was there for days and eventually starved to death.
The small spaces between the stones were as far as he could see. Visibility was nil. But in front of him, one of the stones was adorned with white chalk, he squinted a bit to discern the art scrawled onto it... a hand extended, Paopu held in it.
((I concur. We should have a bit of a lingering for the good guys here; if a catastrophe just happened in the planet I called home, devastating my favorite place to hang out, I'd be furious... and of course, try to spend some time cleaning it up again.))
The ground rumbled, echoes of whatever was going on inside the Secret Place drawing attention to the scene of the crime, even at this distance. Whatever was happening in there, it was big. The orange-haired female made a mental note to beckon Rook over whenever he got out of there -- as their numbers stood, they could use all the help he could offer out here... But a mental note was all Era had time to make.
Everything was happening so quickly now, and her senses had kicked into hyper-drive to try and compensate: it was only a mediocre attempt to take it all in. She was in the middle of focusing her battle plan on the Fire-wielder while trying to avoid stray lances, dark fire, regular fire, a barrage of energy bullets spraying around her legs...
The girl grunted with a new sting of pain, halting mid-lunge as her feet put on the brakes. She took a step or two backward to avoid the large plumes of Fire peppering the sand.
One of the energy shards had ricocheted off of a nearby rock, lodging in her arm, just below the shoulder. Letting go of one shadowforged-blade, Era let it drop onto the sand. The blade bounced once, gently, and faded into non-existence in a series of inverse sparkles, giving her time to grab the offending bright pink crystal and jerk it free. It only took a moment to re-summon her right Reaper and continue her assault on the Arsonist.
Her weapons followed the posture of her arms as she slid into a proper fighting stance, and within a few yards, she would slash the redheaded trouble-child across the knees and sternum. With trails of darkness leaking off of their shadow-forged bodies, both weapons remained as still as trained Tigers, longing to pounce at the command of their master.
Steady, steady....
Slice.
But like a coward, a fraction of a second before her strokes fell, the Heartless had made his retreat. Her blades cut through nothing but the swirling shadows as the tail end of the Dark Portal closed, its existence hardly hindered, except to add a few visual ripples to the atmosphere as it faded away.
And as the dark pool faded, Era's frost-colored gaze focussed on what was just beyond; the wooden shack she'd entered this cataclysmic battle from was being dessimated by the large beast that the Airhead had called in to do his bidding. She had enough time to ignite a new wave of anger deep within, and then duck out of the way of a chunk of flying debris, arms tossed up to protect her head.
With the softening rain, she could make out the scuffling sound of a large chunk of wood landing in the sand off her flank. A strand of high-speed wood had lodged in her boot, but it was nothing serious. Another second and she deemed it safe to down her guard and get back into the game.
Her gaze shifted from one player on the field to the next: the Airhead reeking havoc from above, the colossal flying monster that was undoubtedly his pet, the brown-haired Keyblade Weilder that had teamed up for this last attack, the bozo with those energy weapons who'd come out of the cave and her silver-haired ally, who seemed to be nursing a wound of his own, and...
From her tally, the Light was down by one. And not just anyone:
Where was Rook?
A desperate gaze lingered a moment on the entrance of the cave where she'd seen his Guard Light earlier this evening. The last of the dust had long-since cleared, and there was no sound. No more flashes of light. No signs of life...
Her heart sank like a stone in water, head spinning as her mind warred between feeding itself hope, and assuming the worst: just what was she supposed to do? In her mounting disarray, some subconscious part of her mind, deep within, took over.
"Please, follow me!" her voice was commanding as it shot a message to her silver-haired accomplice, but her eyes easily betrayed her worry.
Sweat trickled down her palms, leaking through her cloth half-gloves. Her fingers wrapped even tighter around the hilts of her Soul Reapers, and she returned her sights on the mouth of the old cave near the waterfall. All too quickly, her subconscious had realigned her priorities.
She was headed straight for that cavern, and she was prepared to make a short-lived enemy out of anyone who would dare to get in her way.
Demyx was not liking this situation. Ohhh no, not one bit. Caves crashing into itsy bitsy pieces around them, the attempt to get at the Heart basically a massive fail and not one, but TWO hopping mad Wielders who thought that he was a Heartless and wanted his shadowy butt squirming on their Keyblade edge. Not only was he totally NOT into that kind of play (sounded right up Larxene's street though) but the rapidly falling chances of survival in this situation was definitely not encouraging.
"Demyx, you are to join Axel and I in this fight. And not from afar, either."
Blatantly ignoring mission protocol and turning about to Xaldin, he screamed, 'What?!'
You kidding? Look at the situation here! We've done what we've needed to do, and we're about to get our asses handed to us - HOW is now a good time to go picking fights?!
His panicked thoughts were interrupted by Axel playing along - and setting the nearby tree on fire. Demyx yelped in shock as he watched the paopu tree burn (and that was one of his favourites too, it was an awesome place to bunk off work - er, well, and was a great reconnaissance vantage point too), not expecting Axel to be as heartless as to set one of the island's precious treasures aflame. He guessed that he WAS supposed to be Heartless and all, but he didn't think Axel needed to go that far. And predictably, the reaction amongst the Keyblade wielders wasn't favourable - if they were hopping mad before, then they looked 120% ready for some Heartless genocide now.
'Sorry, Xaldy, but this is definitely the wrong place for me to be. Er... have fun though! Yikes, I'm outta here!'
With that final parting yelp, Demyx summoned a dark portal beneath him and fell into the safety of the swirling darkness.
The collapsed Secret Place was getting heavier, the rocks that piled up around him were making everything more dense; the air, the space, his own breathing. Once again he found himself buried beneath the darkness, chances of survival wearing thinner by the second. He shifted slightly, foolishly thinking he might be able to free himself from the rubble, but the rocks began to fill in the spaces, giving him even less room to negotiate with.
He hadn't tried in some while, but perhaps opening a Dark Door out to someplace, anyplace, else would--...
No. He didn't give it more than a moment's thoughts, he'd spent far too much time corrupted and broken by that element, and for Era's sake, Jason's sake, he couldn't risk that again. Another Guard Light? Hell of a risk, that... he could tear a hole to freedom. Or just as easily bring the rest of the mountain down all over the island, and that could do more harm to more people.
