Relaxing in the tunnels (Open)

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik walked around before finding his desired location, one of the entrances to the underground tunnels, the place he always seemed to find himself going to when he just needed a break from hanging out with his regular friends. They were fine but he still needed to meet some of the other people in the town, he could practically consider himself a stranger to the town if he were to think of the people he knew compared to the people that were in the town.

Walking through the tunnels was one of the more relaxing things that could be done in this town, although there were other activities for someone who was looking for some action, there was barely anything for someone just looking to unwind. The tunnels were the perfect place to just lose yourself in your thoughts while you walk around looking for someone new to meet. If you were lucky they might even share some of the same interests as you. Of course even if this happened it was a rare thing to find someone that would be willing to have a struggle match with you, it seemed that not many people were willing to struggle with someone that they had just met.

Erik reached to his back and touched his struggle bats, thinking of how long it had been since he had been able to use them. The friend he would usually struggle with couldn’t be found, perhaps he was just relaxing at home for some reason, Erik could be a bit tiresome to deal with sometimes and if he was allowed to take breaks from his friends then they were allowed to take breaks away from him.

Erik snapped out of his thoughts when he nearly walked straight into a wall. Looking up he noticed the water around him, this was the place he normally liked to sit, but he had no idea he had walked so far, after all, this place was all the way near sunset terrace, and he had started out near station heights. Oh well, that was part of the magic of the tunnels, the best place for relaxing and losing yourself in you thoughts.

Erik walked up to the wall and sat down, once again letting himself fall into a comfortable position, he let his hands support his head while he listened to the sound of the water flowing around, the intoxicating sound could have him trapped here all day if he didn’t have a time when he had to get home, but that was far away and all he had to worry about now was relaxing and meeting anyone who decided to wonder in.

Erik reached to his back one more time and withdrew his struggle bats from their normal positions. He decided to get up and throw a few practice swings while he had the chance. He got into a battle ready position and imagined an enemy in front of him; since it was no substitute for the real thing all he could do was swing his bats around wildly, since there was no opposition he didn’t have to worry about actual strategy or defense. He let out battle cries as he landed each hit on his imaginary opponent. Soon, after his imaginary opponent was clearly defeated he got back down and relaxed against the wall, his struggle bats were laying down next to him where he had clumsily thrown them down after deciding to just relax.

If anyone were to come in, Erik hoped that they would be up for a practice match; they could surprise him and be up some practice after all. Erik let himself be lost in his thoughts once more; anyone could walk in without him noticing for a short while. Hopefully someone would find him here and start up some friendly conversation.

[Ellie who has 0%]

The aroma in the Underground was cool with the draft and water flow that wormed through the tunnels from one side of the world to the other. The humble Twilight Town was in an uncanny position, in a wedge between the realm of the dark and illumination. With the scales of balance, where all the worlds lied, tipped, it was hard to call anywhere safe.

Take the small civilian of Twilight for example; there he was alone in a place of solitude where anything unjust can occur. Then again when it came to survival and strive to power, it was a literal dog eat dog world. The weak who couldn't fit lost its heart for being so foolish. The world they harbored unfortunately pay the same price; it's a current story written across the night sky as a star fade one by one. With the multitude of darkness, the heartless were becoming bolder and relentless.

A heartless wasn't a typical being to display fear. Very few things in existence threatened its very livelihood. With the struggle bats he carried, he was easy pickings. Even they face the key, fear doesn't deter them; if anything it ignites them more to devour that strong blazing heart that had the very will to wield it. Unfortunately there wasn't a key here; yet at the end of the day, a heart is a heart.

While the bat swung with a swish, the darkness curled behind a pillar. It spread on the floor like a puddle, while antennas rippled the surface in anxiety. It was there typical scheme, wait and attack; as usual their eyes blank yet luminous yellow eyes gleamed with a promise, kill or be killed. A trio of shadows wiggled along the floor like flat insects. His battle cry enticed them to pounce sooner, but none moved to uproot themselves until he was seemingly unaware and cascaded his meek defenses away.

The time was now, and a heart was the prize.

You understand so little how dangerous the worlds became.

One skirted around before rising and wiggling up to the surface in front him. To a stranger, it would see...old...wierd...alien and probably even curious with the light twitches of its antennas and cock of its large round head. What didn't looks so cuddly adorable was its clawed hands. They were built for tearing and snatching. Only for a moment did it displayed a sense of peace before leaping up with a frenzy of swiping claws!

x 3
1 - Claw Attack
2 - Crawling

[Erik Stoneking]

The day of relaxation and solitude that Erik had been seeking was cut desperately short. He had let his guard down; he thought that this town was safe enough, but that had been a horrible mistake for him. Minutes after finishing what little practice he had for the day some weird creature had decided to attack him. He wasn’t ready for this type of thing, and he had to pay the price. The claws had sunken into him and immediately Erik snapped back into coherence, feeling the pain he screamed out and looked at the new enemy. Fearing whatever it might be he took what small chance he had to pick up his struggle bats and snap to his feet.

These things in front of him were clearly not human, in fact, they seemed like that were beings created by the darkness itself. They didn’t look like they could be dangerous with nothing suggesting so except for their claws, but Erik had just learned that they clearly were. The pain in his chest was still throbbing from where he had been attacked. Obviously, they were not friendly, and it seemed that they were looking for a fight. While Erik had been looking for someone to have a struggle with, this seemed like it could be a substitute, sure it may be with a bit higher risks, but these things didn’t look like they would be able to put up much of a fight. They had gotten an attack in on him granted, but that was because he had been oblivious to the world.

Thinking about how he should go about attacking them Erik paused for a slight moment, these things seemed like they might be similar to his imaginary opponent in the fact that defense would be almost unnecessary, perhaps he could just go in attacking blindly, even trying out his tornado move. He might be a bit dizzy afterward, but these things might even be defeated after those small amounts of attacks, they truly did not seem like something that he would have to worry too hard about.

Even if the attack didn’t defeat them, he would only suffer from his dizziness for a short while before he could continue attacking them at will. Perhaps they would even be unable to counter for a short while and he could wail on them without any worry. Soon Erik’s planning portion for his attack was over, he would now attack.

Ready with his battle plan Erik got into his starting position; he extended his bats a bit so that they were parallel to the ground. Erik shouted out, “Take this you freaks!” as he started twirling his bats around in a smooth motion. He continued as he got closer to the creatures and hoped that this would be enough to defeat them.

[Ellie who has 0%]

Shadow 1 stretched it limbs as it fell to the floor fluidly like a bouncing ball. One of its comrade, Shadow 2 struggle for a second to pull itself off the flat surface in its shadowed form. Once up its antenna twitched as well before the pair wobbled lamely towards him. For ones that can deal some scratches, they surely maneuvered in an nonrhythmic unorthodox manner, such were the ways of instinctual hunters. Nothing else made sense except the hunt.

Darkness and light charged at each other, Shadow 1 leaped again being an opportunist for more digging claws to tatter his chest, while Shadow 2 lunged with its left claw. The blunt end of the struggle bats collided with their large heads sending them reeling back and landing ungracefully. Shadow 1 laid stunned for receiving the most; Shadow 2 rolled over until its stumbling feet, then shook and bobbled its head.

It's eyes stared at Erik projecting no thoughts or emotions. Wiggling back up Shadow 2 wobbled towards its dizzy prey, while the Shadow 3 finally rose up from behind the Struggle player to gives his legs a nice slice.

Will you rise or will you fall?

Would darkness snuff out another glimmer of light.

If the light still shine, this will only be the first of many challenges...

for darkness preys on all in its path...even the doors.

x 3
1 - Unleashed a Claw attack, but was later rebuttal by Tornado and lie stunned
[HP=6/12]

2 - Was knocked back by the blow, but remains standing to deal a Claw Attack
[HP=8/12]

3 - Finally surfaced.
[HP=12/12]

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik was immediately feeling the after effects of his tornado attack. He was dizzy and he had a slight double vision that was a common side effect of dizziness. He saw 6 of the strange creatures in front of him, if he had double vision then this would have meant that there was 3 of them, but Daveak did not remember a third one of these things appearing before he made his attack. Did that mean that he was even dizzier than normal and he was having slight triple vision? Perhaps, but since Daveak had no idea of what these creatures even were he still considered the possibility that one had just showed up after the rest of them. Perhaps he was hiding in the shadows, they were dark enough for him to not have noticed it if this were the case.

Since Erik had thought that there would be not type of opposition after this attack he was not ready to defend, he was going to take the full brunt of whatever attacks they delivered if he did not do anything. So, he prepared to dodge whatever attack they gave him. He watched as one of the things readied itself to give him another claw attack and tried to dodge.

To say that Erik dodged this expertly would be an understatement, he dodge it so well that… forget it. Erik was so dizzy that when he tried to dodge the attack he fell back into the water flowing around them. He had dodged most of the attack but had taken a small scratch before he fell backward and he also felt the blunt force that was on his back. He felt sore and his chest was once again throbbing from the pain of the previous scratch and the small scratch that was added on to it.

Erik pushed himself up so that he was ready to attack once again; he still had both of his bats and was not going to throw one of them at the enemy quite yet. Thinking, he decided that he should just run in and attack a single one of them, this way he would be ready for defense, after the attack he would surely be cured of his dizziness as well, so it wouldn’t be the best attack, but at least he would be able to defend himself afterwards.


His thinking was almost done, but he still had to decide which one of them he should attack. Perhaps one of the ones that was still standing up, but that would mean that the one he had knocked over with his attack earlier would have another chance to attack and he would still be there to plague him as the battle went on. Clearly the best thing to do would be to attack the one that was the most damaged so that he could eliminate one of the enemies and wouldn’t have to deal with as many attacks as this fight went on.

Erik was ready and once again his planning stage was over. He looked to the one that he had knocked over with tornado and rushed over to him in his drunken state that was dizziness, hopefully he would be able to deal a few blows, but who knew if he would be successful. As he got close he started swinging his bats in smooth motions hoping that his attack would be successful.

[Ellie who has 0%]

SPLASH!

Three heads perked up seeing their target hit the water, but being animals of their nature, there was no such thing of reprieve. Venture alone and one should pay the price of it, even if the price is his own life.

Shadow 1 was fully standing, but wasn't as swift as before. Still it wobbled over towards the fallen. With its vitality low, its desperation increased a tenfold as it jumped to be closer to him; the sooner it can rests its claws on him the sooner it could eat his heart.

Shadow 2 had landed on the floor with a soft pads of its feet. Alongside Shadow 3, they both flattened against the floors like a typical shadow and crawled towards their prey. Once meeting him they would wait until his back was towards them.

Shadow 1 refused to be shy and attacked Erik head on with a leap; It's claws collided with one of the bats, deflecting its attack, but was whacked down with the revolving twin towards the ground. It hit the floor with a thud and rolled back to its feet. As Erick tornado-ed through its cohort, Shadow 2 swiped its claws against his back.

x 3
1 - Recovered from its stun, counterattacked against Tornado, but was knocked down
[HP=2/12]

2 - Crawls flatly on the floor and attack Erik from behind.
[HP=8/12]

3 - Shadow crawls along the floor...waiting
[HP=12/12]

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik felt a bit successful that in his current state he was able to land some more attacks on the defenseless enemy. He felt good, he would be able to win this clearly he knew that they wouldn… wham! One of the creatures managed to land an attack on Erik’s back and he wasn’t able to defend. The attack put him on the ground and the impact knocked the breath out of him. He had been attacked again by these things, he should have been more careful, he knew that there were at least two of these things and he completely disregarded that part when going in for his attack.

Erik crawled away before he once again pushed himself up to his feet, wincing as he did so. He had the pain in both his back and his chest now and even though he was too afraid to check, Erik was sure that he was bleeding. These attacks had shredded spots on his clothing and had caused him to bleed. These things would pay.

Launching back into his planning stage, Erik immediately noticed that he could only see two enemies again. So he was dizzy enough earlier that he had been seeing triple. Oh well, if there was just two of them then he could risk attacking one with just one bat while he threw the other at his other enemy. Yes, perhaps when he threw the bat it would finally finish off that other thing. He had been wailing on it the entire time and Erik was sure that it would soon be defeated.

When Erik was about to start his attack he was once more assaulted by the throbbing pain that was caused by the cuts. He winced once more, but was soon ready, it had only been a few seconds and the enemies had moved around a bit, but they were generally in the same area. Erik thought over how much force he would have to use to get his bat over to the enemy and deal some damage without going over it. He could risk using about 75% of his power on the throw if he wanted to get an adequate attack in on the injured creature.

Erik was ready, without wasting any more time he threw his bat with his pre-allotted amount of power towards the creature he had been wailing on, sending up a silent prayer that it would hit, before he held his other bat in both of his hands and rushing towards the other creature ready to give it some more attacks.

As he approached the other shadow he started swinging at it with the increased amount of power that he could use with just one bat, his attack did not come out as quickly, but if it landed then it surely would have given off some more damage.

[Ellie who has 0%]

HE WAS DOWN with the tinge of blood in the air; it wasn't a lot to bathe in but enough to send a shudder through the heartless. Playing cat and mouse a little while longer as a pack should give them everything they NEEDED...wanted, craved, desired.

The most injured out of the three laid still and hadn't gathered enough strength to sit itself up; even the silent calling of the other heartless or the pained hiss from its prey didn't rise it from its heap.With the strike of the struggle bat thrown at it, Shadow 1 erupted into darkness with its tainted heart flee into the dark realm it opened. The only audible sound of its exist was a soft rippling warp.


Feeling electrified for successfully striking the prey down. The prey, this Erik, rose up again. It merely jumped away like a small primate at the swings. It was nearly mocking for the boy to swing with all his might with so much at stake. With a leap back, its foot stuck to the floor preparing to sink back into the ground for it can be untouchable. But the transfer was too slow as the bat had at it.

Fortunately it's vulnerability wouldn't be in vain; it's remaining assistant emerged from behind Erik again; jumping up silent, it slashed its claws vigorously into the same cut given to him earlier. When would the boy ever learn to watch his back? Never trust a heartless like one would never trust a hunting tiger. Keeping your eyes off of one could very well be the end of you.

If the Shadow 2 was given a spare time of reprieve from Shadow's 3 attack rather than being victimized by the wrath of the struggle bat, it would seep and merge with the floor; even the lad's foot won't be able to reach him.

x 2

2 - [HP=4/12]
Got strike

3 [HP=12/12]
Claw Attack from behind

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik felt his bat connect with the creatures head as he turned slightly to watch as the original one evaporated into darkness. “What the hell?!” Erik managed to get out before being sliced into the back by another one of the creatures. He let out a scream of agony as he felt the blood trickle down his back, he was clearly bleeding now, and it was obvious that those cuts were pretty deep, he could feel the pain almost as if it was going through him completely.

He was on the ground, still screaming in agony before he was able to pull himself together and get himself up once more. He had the adrenaline running through him from the thrill of this fight, but even this would get him so far. If he was lucky he might last long enough to beat both of them, but it was starting to seem like he might fall over and not be able to get up before that happened. Erik was still puzzled by how the creature was able to attack his back again, hadn’t he just watch it vanish before his eyes? Was there actually three to begin with or was this vanishing some form of teleportation? This was no time for questions however, if he spent too much time thinking his adrenaline rush might start to wear off.

Wait a moment; after his attack did Erik see the creature melt into the ground? Was this how they were able to keep him confused about their numbers? Erik thought about this and then realized that the answer must be yes, this means that he indeed destroyed the one enemy and he might be able to destroy the others if he was lucky enough.

Looking to the creature that had slashed into his back Erik had a happy realization. He was close enough to his struggle bat that if he chose to attack it then he could pick it up and use it in his next attack. Since the other, more wounded, enemy had melded into the ground, this was not only the best choice, but also the only choice. Erik got ready and knew that this would increase his chances of winning.

Erik once again got into a battle-ready stance and shouted, “Watch out!” in hopes that the creature would back up close to his other bat. Erik rushed forward to the enemy and tried to give it several strong blows that would hopefully stun it. This time however he was ready for any attack he might receive from behind because his plan was to attack then dive for his weapon and spin around so that he could have some defense.

If his plan went accordingly then he would be able get through this round of battle without taking much damage, after all, he was already bleeding profusely and needed to get this battle over with soon.

[Ellie who has 0%]

The second Shadow wiggled within its new found sanctuary on the ground. It couldn't be touched from here, and it frequently used it to its advantage. With this maneuver it turn little pesky demons into annoying little sneaky bastards. Once the boy hit the floor, it was eager to wiggle back from the ground, but he rose again; the door of opportunity was gone.

While the lad readjusted, the third shadow wobbled over to him despite his yellow; it claws raised up. Claws and bat collided against each other deflecting and blocking each others attack until it landed back on the floor. Once it landed, its eyes blinked as the boy dived for his stranded bat. The pair of shadows took the chance present to itself. Wobbling a head start and erupting from the ground, the both jumped at him like hoping spiders. Their claws gleamed with the neon lights in the underground; they clawed and slashed furiously.

Thump thump

They were forced back with the defending bats. Only the last swing of the following bat made contact to them. Before one could hit the ground, a black cloud popped, and a tainted heart retreated away. Now there was one, and it was do or die? He lacked a key, so it wouldn't be gone forever; regardless of knowing that or not, heartless were equal opportunists. It would keep on moving until it couldn't move anymore.

x1
[HP=8/12]

[Erik Stoneking]

Erik was surprised; he actually managed to take out one of the creatures with his counterattack. This left only one for him to worry about. Things were looking up, and perhaps he could actually win now. He was on the ground and his wounds were still giving him hell, but he now had both of his struggle bats and the only creature left he had to face was right in front of him.

Erik pushed himself up feeling the weight of his body as he did so; he knew that he could only do this one or two more times. Still, he might be able to finish the battle before he had to succumb to fatigue. He was thinking to himself that he may not have to put much more effort into this, he was already starting to feel cocky, but then his wounds started throbbing once more and he knew that he couldn’t underestimate even just this one.

He started thinking about how he should attack when he realized there was only one option, he should go in and just slam both of his bats straight down with as much force as he could. Ok, it wasn’t the only option, but with the fatigue that Erik was beginning to feel, this was perhaps the best option to get the battle to end soon. Looking forward he saw the thing standing there and he felt rage about the wounds that he had inflicted.

Erik was ready, he overcame his fatigue for a bit longer and put himself into a position so that he could rush forward and start attacking. Erik thought that there weren’t any more enemies, or at least he hoped that there weren’t, so he put all of his power into this attack. He rushed forward and tried to deal his powerful blow.

[wanderingknight]

Huh, it seems that these tunnels connect to different places throughout the town. Aidan speculated as he walked down the corridor. He'd never been here before, but it seemed like a good idea to explore the area, should he need to go here in the future. Plus, these tunnels could make a great shortcut to other places in town, if he ever figured out which entrance went where. He'd have to memorize the numbers above each entrance.

Something caused his large ears to perk up. It sounded a bit like fighting. He couldn't completely discern the source, but it seemed to be coming from deeper in the tunnels. He made his way uncertainly forward, hoping that there weren't any dead ends in this place.

Turning a corner, he noticed a teenager fighting... a Shadow! The boy appeared to be injured. Aidan wondered if he should help; it was only one of them, so perhaps he wouldn't need any. However, those wounds didn't look good from his viewpoint. He considered what he should do for a moment before the boy attacked ferociously. Aidan held back for a moment to watch.

[Ellie who has 0%]

The Heartless merely craned its head up and stared at him curiously as his prey intensely look back at him. He charged forward, and the heartless squatted down; with an opening window, the time it took to raise his bat, the heartless jumped to the side. The slam for his head, the energy and vigor, and hope was wasted as all of that stress spread loudly. The Shadow would've then and there slashed the boy down, but its senses was telling him another thing. There was a distraction afoot, a heart. Knowing, feeling, and tasting the other presence, it's head turned back in its direction for a moment, a slight moment where all it guards was down.

Still the heart it was going to siege was so nearby. It would grasp the other if it had the time. Turning its head back to its prey, one would wonder if it would be too late.

x 1

[HP=8/12]

[Erik Stoneking]

After Erik had failed at his initial attempt at an attack he awaited for the imminent attack that was sure to come. Bracing for the impact he was surprised when nothing happened, it seemed that the creature had been distracted by something else. This was a golden chance and Erik would have been a fool not to take it, it was time to finish off the thing in front of him, while it was distracted, while it had let its defenses down.

He couldn’t waste the time checking out what it was that had distracted his enemy, if it was another enemy it did not matter, if he did not finish off the enemy in front of him soon and using the golden opportunity that he had been presented, he would not only be a fool, but would be finished off before he could face the thing.

The given chance would not last long, and if Erik didn’t snap it up soon them it could perhaps be lost and gone as well as his life. Erik was injured and bleeding, but the slight throb of pain did nothing more than present a nanosecond of distraction before Erik quickly snapped back to the battle.

Feeling sweet victory so close at hand Erik quickly repositioned himself so that he could slash his bats coming from both sides. He had used most of his strength when he had brought his bats down with such force, but luckily he was able to use the momentum from this so that he could give a close to similar amount of power.

Finally Erik delivered the blow that he had been building up to the entire fight, the final hit that would hopefully vanquish his foe and make it so that he was victorious. The bats already positioned in an ‘X’ pattern quickly slashed in from both sides desperate to sink into the enemy.

[wanderingknight]

The kid had some skill, Aidan noted. It wasn't often that he saw someone in the town who could actually fight. It seemed that the Shadow was slightly confused by his presence. Then again, he could never tell what those things were thinking, aside from kill! Heartless often seemed like simple-minded things. Even though the way they fought was usually complex, they were always driven by one thing, hearts.

No wonder the Heartless attacked, this kid was all by himself. Aidan didn't realize the Heartless actually came here. This place had seemed deceptively peaceful, but perhaps the danger of Heartless spreads even here. He'd have to keep a closer eye out around here, from now on. His right hand reached up to grab the handle of his large sword. It seemed the fight could go either way at the moment, and the red fox wanted to be ready.