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.
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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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Through effort, dilligence, and a hint of teamwork, the ice surrounding the girl finally gave way. With the first audible breath in what felt like hours, Jin removed his hand from the crumbling sphere and opened his eyes. Still, his cells sang with what felt like one last swan song from the girl. She wanted to be protected?
Jin was shaken. Why would this girl trust people she hadn't met? Why would she trust him? Surely she'd seen all the images flashing in his mind - his failure to stop his brother. His failure to stop Caelum. His failure to stop the Heartless. He hadn't been able to protect a single thing, and the girl in the ice had to know that from what he'd shown her. Yet still, she was willing to call out to him for aid? What was that?
As the black, watery substance that made up the body of every Heartless coated the girl, Jin knew that a fight was about to begin. Maybe waking her up hadn't been such a good idea after all. He glanced back to the two who had been providing their winds, and for the briefest moment he thought of home. If he hadn't been so focused on what was happening around them, he'd have shaken his head to jar the thoughts loose.
The man he had no idea of, but he looked to be at least somewhat experienced in combat. He carried himself like a veteran, at least. The young girl was a different story entirely. If she was going to stay behind, Jin wouldn't stop her. The getaway would take too much time and leave too large an opening. Besides, this probably wasn't the kind of fight that one person could handle alone while the other forced the girl to saefety.
The beast's claw came down, and Jin whirled around it. The sound of blade-like claws shearing the air resounded in his ears, and the first rush of adrenaline hit his veins like fire. This was going to be a real fight, then.
His hands shot to the hilts of both blades, drawing them out and taking up his standard fighting stance. Glimmering Lightning was held in his right hand, which had taken its place at the level of his stomach. The point of the blade rose diagonally into the air and was aimed for the throat of the shadowy creature. At the same time, Unbreaking Stone was hidden from view. He held the weapon so that it was as far from his target as possible - the guard resting at his pinky rather than in the thumb and index finger. His right foot set forward, Jin's blades danced with navy blue electric energy.
There was no room for mistakes here.
He didn't bother responding to the call of the monster. Banter didn't help him fight, and it didn't win the battle. Instead, he settled for the one thing his instincts cried out for him to do. With a flick of his wrist, Glimmering Lightning carved a backwards C in the air and shot out a wave of energy aimed directly at the head of the new opponent.
"There's no sense in reasoning with this thing," Jin began, his comments directed towards Cora and Dilan though his gaze never broke from the beast. "We wear it down, we knock it out, we save the girl."
He rolled his neck, a sharp popping sound emitting from it as small sparks began arcing and weaving around his body. Whatever this thing was, it was about to learn not to pick a fight when it didn't know what it was up against.
Jin didn't care if he had to claw into this monster's chest with his bare hand and rip the girl out. He wasn't going to allow any more blood on his hands than there already was.
Post by Cora Williams on Sept 21, 2016 13:18:13 GMT -4
The ice is cracking? The ice is cracking!!! THE ICE IS CRACKING!!!!! Cora couldn't help but feel excited over this. They were finally going to get to meet the person inside.
Oh right, they were finally going to meet the person inside.
As soon as I'm sure everything is cool, we're out! Cora announced inwardly.
So, no meeting new person then, huh? Figures. Mana thought inwardly.
There is danger here... the wind would whisper.
"Wait, what?" was all Cora could say out-loud before she understood what the wind tried to say. The ice broke, and what came out wasn't a person. It was some kind of creature, very reminiscent of the Heartless, wolf like in nature.
Cora looked at this in disbelief, and gave out a very appropriate, "Are you serious?!" The man of lightning reacted even before she could, already making his first stand known. It seemed he had already also made up his mind on how to approach this problem.
"W-wait, we just attack it out right? We can't even talk to it?!"
There is danger here... the wind would whisper.
"Ooooooh, I'm really beginning to hate fighting all of a sudden..." she announced as she held up her rebar. She could make a sound escape if she wanted to. Escape was what she was good at, after all. But something deep inside held her here and told her to fight. Even if she couldn't do any real damage to it, she was still good at escape. She could provide an extra target while the other two worked to bring it down.
"Fine, but when this is over, I want an apology!" she said rather unreasonably. Then again, anxiety had a way of making people unreasonable.
Already she was analyzing her routes. This was an alleyway, right? The walls should be close enough. With a full sprint she ran towards one of the walls. Assisted by the wind, she jumped onto the wall and used it as leverage to try and jump onto the creatures back. She figured that she could be a real distraction from there while the other two worked on wearing it out.
Post by Maxwell Tendas on Oct 3, 2016 6:55:34 GMT -4
Max's brow furrowed as he made his way along the rooftops of Twilight Town towards the source of the bright glow he'd seen earlier. Something like that didn't happen often, and when it did it usually meant there was trouble of one sort or another. Besides, his search for Twilight Town's keyhole wasn't going so well. He thought a distraction was in order, so he kept himself moving along on his platform of water, well above the rooftops of the town, searching for the source of the light.
Shortly before he found it, he heard what sounded like something shattering. Sounds like those were never a good sign, and so he drew his spear in case of a confrontation. As he came upon an alleyway below, he saw what looked like a girl being swallowed by shadows, which in turn took the form of what appeared to be a large, wolf-like Heartless. It formed and wasted no time striking out at the three others that had been there with the girl. One of them, a man with two swords, dodged out of the way and sent some sort of energy wave at the thing's head, while the small girl leapt off of the alleyway walls armed with.....a bar of metal?
Max couldn't let them fight this thing by themselves. It looked too strong. Leaving them here would be as good as condemning them to death.
He watched for a few more moments, deciding on his next course of action, and then took a deep breath to ready himself. Then, he leapt off of his water platform and plummeted down towards the darkwolf, spear held at the ready. He landed on its shoulders, burying his spear in the back of the base of its skull, the tip protruding out from the other side. Before he could lose his balance and fall off, Max released his grip on his spear and leapt down towards the ground, rolling to soften his landing somewhat.
"Looked like you guys could use some help," he said as he came back to his feet and drew Quicksilver, the black and silver blade gleaming in the pale light of the shattered moon. He looked around and saw large chunks of ice laying in the alleyway. He was curious where that had come from, but decided to figure it out later. He merely changed the ice to water and called it to him, forming it into a large water sphere and launched it at the wolf like a large, aquatic cannonball....
She had finally been freed from her prison, but at great consequence. A dark beast formed around the girl, malicious intent reeking from it, and it was all Dilan could do at that point to clutch his lance in anticipation. He was torn between fighting and getting the others to safety, but had the decision made for him when the beast took a swing at the party. The sound of the shadowy claws against metal rang out as he twirled Wyvern up, catching it in hand to block, and began to focus his magic about him. Air swirled about his feet, and he took a step back before retaliation, a stab at the face of the beast, to test its reaction. The others took their attacks in kind, and it was only then that Dilan realized that one of them was a child.
But already, the young one used her magic, running along the walls, leaving not much he could do. Instead, he would press an assault with Wyvern, stone-faced as the blade twirled. A thrust and a pull back, followed by an under-arm twirl and a downward cut, then rolling it around his shoulder and into the other hand, to another thrust. These three strikes came consecutively, before he drew back, magic focusing towards his blade. In this turn of attacks, he would only have one chance to do this. A sudden pivot brought the blade down from above, at an angle, and when it struck, wind followed, wind so solid that it felt like another blade cutting. He took his chance to retreat at that, on;y to watch a newcomer to the fight leap from the rooftops and bury their spear in the beast's neck, then land and retaliate, a sword present as well.
"I wouldn't exactly say the help is unwelcome, stranger. But be wary, there's more to this enemy then is to be expected."
He caught himself gripping his lance tighter, and took a breath to calm himself.
((I tried to get all of your posts in the proper and workable succession. Sorry if I messed anything up. Please let me know if it's not workable! I'd be happy to make edits any time.))
In the purplish atmosphere of the ever-dusk, the way the Chaos was looming was absolutely spine-chilling. Her jagged black teeth would bare at the one who dared test her. Immediately after that the enormous werewolf would snarl at the flashy redhead who dared strike her head. The banshee-like howl that wailed through the dark streets would send a chill into the air.
The shadows that constantly danced from the beast leapt like flame from hot coals off the back of her head to consolidate on the weak point where her forehead had been stricken, filling in the damaged area with a quick sweep of teeming blackish darkness. Sword-sized scythes for claws wildly thrashed at the ginger who was leading the pack. The monster’s moves were quick and spontaneous, a lot like the turbulent concept she embodied. While she was occupied with Jin, another humanoid scrambled onto Chaos’s back. The beast slanted forward, thrashing its head side to side to see if she could make the girl lose footing. Chaos gave no warning before thrusting back into one of the buildings. Perhaps she could lose the small one who clung to her back if she thrashed enough.
Chaos drew a deep breath and emitted a quiet, guttural growl. “Well if he will not show, then I shall have to simply abolish all of you instead!” It wasn’t just a statement, it was the tempestuous beast’s vow.
Something right then landed on the nape of her neck, and a sharp spear impaled her head, penetrating the location that would house an organic creature’s brain. A chilling, ethereal roar resounded through Twilight Town’s darkened streets. The beast was losing patience, a plume of anger bursting from her lungs. Chaos grabbed for the end of the spear that stuck from her forehead, pulling it out from the blade. She tossed the weapon to the side, her throat scratching with a rolling snarl as she slashed at her back, trying to shake free those clingy creatures of Light who still clung to her.
There were others still lining the buildings and the street… In a quick change of pace she got onto all fours, her body hovering low to the ground and she sent one arm forward to sweep across everything across the alleyway below, making a mess of anything and anyone who would have gotten in the way.
She would hastily get back to her hunched position on two feet. The shadows that rolled off of her coiled and danced in quick succession. While in a moment of thought the creature groaned like an old ship, its head snapping to the side as those golden eyes locked onto a nearby building. It was taller up there.
Using all fours she scaled the nearby architecture with the ease of a fearless spider, destroying windows and doors which she used as grips for those sword-sized claws. Once at the top of the tallest building she would assess the targets. There was the orange-haired one… the girl and the other biped that landed on her back were still nowhere to be seen. Yellow slits searched below for that last target -- the dreadlocked one. Where is he?
Just then something would stab next to her face, disappearing before she thrashed the air where Dilan once was. Several other strikes, along with a cutting wind-edged finish would slice at the beast, rending the black shadows that made up her left shoulder. The consistent inky black of the monster’s shoulder had separated, leaving a gap where the were-beast’s shoulder connected to her body. At the same time she’d been hit with a sphere of condensed water. It was a blunt impact into her chest. For a moment the shadows smeared and dissipated, only to quickly coil back into themselves.
Curling inward, her head tucked into her chest, her good arm covering her face before she would open up and let out an angry, unearthly and wolf-like howl. These tiny creatures were wearing her down, and the turbulent darkness that made up the beast was on a rampage, planning to take as many of these flies down with her as she could.
Her good claw swung wildly through the air, its quick movement releasing a wave of sharp, blackened shadow energy that would cut anything in its path. It was aimed roughly in the vicinity of some of the small ones, but there was no real precision in it. Like the formidable wolf-beast she resembled, the rage within was rising.
After his lightning had connected, Jin let out whatever breath he'd been holding in. That strike had been more of a gauge than anything else. He'd wanted to test the effective durability of this creature's body. He didn't want to dig too deeply into it. There was still the possibility that it simply existed around the girl - that it was encasing her in itself and using her soul as a power source. It obviously had some sort of connection to her, given how it kept babbling about things he didn't understand or care about.
The beast roared, chilling the air and thickening the atmosphere around the battle. Jin was fine with that much - he'd lived on the battlefield for more than two thirds of his life. Oppressive atmospheres and monstrous battle cries might as well be lullabies at this point.
Cora had leaped onto the creature, holding onto it for dear life as it thrashed around in a desperate attempt to get her off of it. Jin hoped that she knew what she was doing and when to let go, but that was about all he could hope for. This was a fight. Their opponent wasn't going to pull any punches, and that put them at a severe disadvantage. Fighting someone who was more than willing to kill you when you were going to do everything in your power to keep them alive was about as much of an uneven playing field as you could have.
This newcomer, though, was dangerously out of the loop on that front.
Electricity sparked around Jin with high volatility for an instant. What was this guy thinking? Fights weren't some good Samaritan practice that you could just hop into without thinking things through. The warrior had half a mind to run a blade through their new friend's gut and see how well he reacted to it. Honestly.
'Of course. More help from the local grandstander's guild,' Jin mentally scoffed. Backup wasn't necessarily unwelcome, but it was the ability to synergize that could be called into question. If they couldn't work with one another, they'd only work against themselves. He supposed that's why he was there, though. Despite his lack of enthusiasm about it, he was continually finding himself in the position of projecting the orders in these situations. It was a pain in the neck, but if it meant everyone would live he'd hold his tongue and do it. No, that wasn't what had him angry. They still had no idea where the girl was. This thing could be her body, or it could be like some sort of exoskeleton. Either way, blasting spear after spear through it wasn't the way to go in this situation. They might as well be cutting the girl's head off.
"Hey, idiot!" Jin yelled as their opponent began scaling the side of a nearby skyscraper. What was left of one, anyways. "Shallow cuts! This isn't your run of the mill Heartless - for all we know, there's still a girl trapped inside it. Killing her might kill it, but I doubt you want her blood on your hands."
Shadowy wind with a razor's edge flew forth from its claws once it had let out yet another earth-shaking roar. It had been cold before, but now it was frigid. Well, it would have been if the shout hadn't rattled Jin's soul and set his electric blood aflame. This was a fight now. He could finally come to life.
The girl. Not the one trapped in the beast; the little one. She was the primary target.
Jin moved, his speed reaching its peak as he appeared to flicker out of existence and reappear less than a moment later in front of Cora with weapons drawn. He slashed forwards with both, a crossed wave of electricity flying forward to meet the shadowy projectiles head-on. If he could even deaden the force of the impact, it would be enough to make sure the girl survived. Simultaneously, he flickered out of existence only to enter it once more above the creature's head. His momentum from the burst of unnatural speed carried him higher and higher into the air. With his fist cocked back, Jin began channelling increasingly potent electricity that darkened from blue to navy. His pupils were slit, his vision tunnelling in on his target.
"Let me tell you a little secret," Jin hissed, not caring if he was heard or not. "I don't know who the hell you're talking about, so save your breath, stop talking, and fight!."
Energy came down like a bolt of lighting from the sky, though more focused and powerful than any naturally occuring variant could hope to be. If Jin had judged Chaos' durability well from the previous attacks, there was no risk of causing serious injury. No, this assault was just meant to rattle and disorient - consume the beast whole and burn the first layer of its flesh away, exposing nerves and increasing pain reception. It was a cruel move against a normal opponent, but he'd long since come to terms with the fact that this world had no opponents. He was finally in his element.
Landing, he crouched, power welling up around him as he drew his blades. Cut after cut swallowed up and burst through the air between him and Chaos. Alongside each, a wave of electricity erupted from the blade intent on digging into the exposed and tenderized skin of the creature. Well, that would be making the assumption that it felt pain like a human would. Jin wasn't a strong study of Heartless anatomy - he was barely a study of human anatomy, and even then only the weakest parts of it. Still, he was certain that at the very least this attack would be dealing damage.
"Come on," Jin seethed. "Tell me that climbing a building and making a few cuts through the air isn't all you have in you. Either do something or give up!"
Post by Cora Williams on Oct 23, 2016 12:54:06 GMT -4
A successful landing! She clutched tightly with one hand and tried to make as much of a nuisance of herself with the other. It... probably didn't do much... or anything at all, compared to the weapons the others were using, such as swords and spears. That didn't matter, her own personal plan worked. The beast was distracted with her, trying its best to shake her off. Who knew that all of those years of clinging to some random object when she was high up and trying to clean cobwebs using rather unsafe methods would come in handy for not loosing ones grip on a beast?
"Wha- oh fudge buc-" She didn't have time to finish that statement. She was forced to jump off the beast then off the wall itself to avoid getting slammed into it. Her landing was... not as top notch. True, she rolled when she landed, but it was not voluntary rolling. Ironically, she ended up rolling into the wall opposite of the one the beast tried to slam her into.
"Ow pain, ow agony, ow... that was very much ow..." she groaned as she got back to her feet. She needed to try again. She couldn't afford to let it focus on them.
That was when she saw someone jam a spear right through it's head.
"Wha-no no nonononononononono- 'oly butts that thing is still alive?!"
I guess that means our captive inside wasn't hit? I have no clue, really... No, forget it, just get back on it's back- it's climbing the flipping wall now...
"Uuuuuggggggggh!" came her complaint as she started trying to find a way to scale the wall, "Can this day get any worse?!"
Darkness comes...
Her eyes widened at that warning. The last time she was given that warning was when overwhelming darkness completely swallowed her home. She looked up just in time to see a dark blast heading her way. It was coming in too fast, and she did not have the magic to evade it.
Lo and behold, a hero appears briefly to strike at the blast before vanishing again. That gave her some running time, but not barely enough. That thing was going to hit her head on.
Unless...
"Please work, please work, please work!" she cried out as she lodged her rebar into the ground. In that instant, a very small barrier of wind enveloped her. Yes! she celebrated inwardly. Then she was hit, and was sent flying again. No no no no, not the wall! she inwardly cried out as she slammed into said wall. At least her wind barrier kept her protected? Somewhat? Maybe?
Okay, quick check... pain... searing... but I can still stand... I still know that my name is Cora, my sister is Stella, I have ten fingers, Mogen adopted me when I was in traverse town, Okay, I think my memory is all set, no concussions. Any broken bones? Ow, okay, no broken bones, but a lot of bruising, oooooh... At least I'm alive... so this is what Darkness feels like when it's used as a weapon against you. I've also learned how it feels to be slammed into a wall. If it wasn't for my barrier AND that guy attacking the projectile like that, I'd probably be dead by now... Oh, my left arm is bleeding like crazy, that's bad, right?
Mental note, learn how to fight as soon as you can when this is over!!! Mana screamed in her head.
"Noted..." Cora said weakly as she got back to her feet. She started to scan the area again. It was a mess, a beautiful and wonderful mess!
"Stepping stones!" She said excitedly as she rushed again, using the over turned objects scattered by the beast from it's earlier swipe as leverage. Was it a dumpster that she jumped off of? In all honestly, she didn't really care. Propelled by the wind, she jumped off the object to a wall, then to another wall, then another, then another, until she managed to get to the roof tops with a rolling landing. Sadly, no way of climbing back onto it's back from here, not as easily as she had managed before.
There were still it's feet.
"Danger sense, don't fail me now!" she said as she rushed, trusting in her danger sense to warn her when to dodge and weave in the event that there was harm heading her way. The ankle. She aimed to strike hard and fast at it's left ankle, with the hope that it would either lose it's footing, or a the very least distract it. She was very intent on trying to keep it focused on her. That was how much she trusted in her abilities to survive.
Oct 23, 2016 12:54:06 GMT -4
Last Edit: Oct 23, 2016 12:55:47 GMT -4 by Cora Williams
Post by Maxwell Tendas on Oct 26, 2016 13:06:19 GMT -4
The man with the long hair and spear greeted Max with appreciation, which the soldier replied to with a quick “any time.” The younger guy, however, was a different story. He yelled at Max about some girl trapped inside of the large dark-wolf creature, which was certainly surprising news. For Max, however, it barely changed anything.
He wanted to do what he could to keep that girl alive, but despite how it looked, Twilight Town was far from deserted. There were even people on the street just outside of the alleyway, thinking the area was relatively safe from the Heartless. If the girl could be spared, Max would not harm her. If there was no other way to stop this dark-wolf, though, he would do what he must and do what he could for the girl trapped inside after. He was going to focus beating this thing and saving those it put in danger first, starting with the small girl on its back.
“All right,” was Max’s only response to the younger one’s admonishment of his tactics, his eyes trained on the wolf as it pulled his spear from its head and flung it aside as if plucking a splinter from its finger.
His grip on Quicksilver tightened as the wolf roared at them and attempted to get the short girl off its back by slamming into a building. Luckily, she managed to avoid being crushed, but still hit the wall hard as the wolf began scaling a nearby building.
Max began pulling water to himself, the liquid swirling around him in thin rivulets as the beast sent a blast of energy at the small girl. The soldier was surprised to see the boy practically disappear and then reappear with the small girl to hack and slash at the energy blast. He then did his disappearing act again, reappearing on the wolf’s back. He screamed at it before delivering some sort of electrical attack to dark creature, a great flash of lightning piercing the sky and leaving Max seeing spots. He blinked them away as he formed three discs with the water he’d gathered, stepping onto one and forming the other two into blades.
This kid’s brute force and blind aggression was even more likely than Max’s to get this girl he was so worried about killed. An enemy this large needed to have its movements limited and controlled before it made an unexpected move that couldn’t just be stopped, which wouldn’t be difficult given its size.
Max shook his head as he brandished Quicksilver and sent the two bladed water discs at the wolf, one aimed for the arm anchoring it to the building and the other for the leg on the same side. Right behind them, he sent himself rocketing forward with Quicksilver ready to slice through the wolf’s other foot. If he took both feet and the hand, that was great. Losing even one of those, though, would accomplish all Max wanted: slowing it down and keeping it in the alley and away from any nearby innocents….
((Dilan is having computer trouble. We have been asked to move around his post. Inspiration image by ibroid of DeviantArt))
She had made it to stand flatly on top of one of the horizontal roofs of the town.
Sword-like claws reminiscent of Era’s harvesters twitched. Occasionally one of the blade-like talons would complete a reverse spin before locking into its shoddy forward position. Occasionally a claw or two would shiver. Chaos’s tail swished from one side to the other, her gaze sharpening on the electric-based ginger below. He was reckless, but it was clear that he was also an altruist. He was putting himself in front of her attacks to help the youngest one. Something to exploit.
Everything was happening rather quickly. Another fraction of a second and the creature had decided she would test Jin’s good side. The next attack would be aimed directly at the water-wielder. She intended to launch her claws directly at Max in a quick and direct force. Crush him! the beast’s mind wailed.
A tremble rolled through the nightmare creature's body, its gaze fixing on the young man with dark brown hair. Her paw began its ascent but her body halted mid-way, momentarily stilled. Before she could fire her claws at Max her muscles had seized. Those yellow eyes angrily sharpened, the exoskeleton confused about why her body had stopped moving. I am no puppet! I will not be controlled by these faulty strings!
As Chaos battled for control of her own body she was naught more than a sitting duck. Had the cessation been intentional? Was the girl inside trying to help these people win out against the beast enveloping her?
Perhaps Jin was right - perhaps there was someone beneath this monster left to save.
The brief hesitation was all the time Jin needed to call his pinpointed beam of lightning to come crashing down from the sky. At the same time the discs of razor water were sent directly into the fray. Contact with the electricity had caused the razor-like liquid to dull a bit. Most of the hit still managed to slice right into the wolf, leaving her bleeding shadows from the locations he had been aiming for. Max had landed both hits. For a moment the shadows coated Jin’s electricity, leaving the Chaos electrically charged. Small arms of inverted electricity bounced down her legs and spidered around her body like a myriad of charged, purplish-black slinkies.
The blast of celestial lightning certainly had caused several layers of shadow to shed, dispersing onto the rooftop where Chaos stood before evaporating into thin air. The molted shadows revealed no tissue or tendon, only more inky black underneath. The attack had certainly done its job in disorienting the monster, however. Her ears rang. Her vision was blurry, lost to a wash of white for several long seconds. The creature’s entire body had gone numb for a long streak.
Jin's quick series of sword attacks during this time had done a number on her numbed, shadowy body. Each attack would only send a long wisp of tendril-like shadows to coil and stream into the air, bursting from her body like a clump of writhing ascaris.
If Quicksilver was still aiming at her foot, it would have still met its mark, though for the next few seconds it would have caused an electrical surge to roil down the blade and back into Max if it were made with any sort of metal.
As her senses began to return she had noticed the prodding at her feet from Cora with her crowbar. The same thing would apply with her metal. The child had probably just found the exact right time to hit the wolf without serious repercussion.
The little one beating her paws with a rebar was proving quite annoying. Cora’s wind powers were something the beast would bear in mind. After the temporary paralysis had worn away, those feral eyes were sharp on the others, quickly picking up what each of these fighters were capable of. This one, with the wind as her companion, well, she was proving naught much more than a nuisance. The enormous hunched werewolf would confidently take a step backward, her good arm flying with a quick and powerful undercut intended to bat Cora and send her sailing in whichever direction the force would let her soar. If she hit the small one hard enough she could probably distract the ginger long enough to attack the others while Jin was occupied elsewhere.
Her lips curled upward, revealing dagger-like teeth and her jaw cinched a bit tighter, revealing a jagged simper. Whatever the outcome of this would be it was simply fun to wreak havoc unchecked for as long as she could. There was a long, intelligent sort of snarl that rolled quietly through her clenched jaw while the beast's mind tinkered with thought after thought.
Meanwhile she turned her attention to the water-based one. With her good arm she intended to scoop him up, and pin him onto the ground, pressing the weight of her colossal form down onto the paw she tried to pin him beneath. It wouldn’t take long to snuff out the lights from this one.
She would bear Max no kindness. The pressure of Chaos's weight increased as she leaned forward and her head inclined closer to the one she intended to crush. That spiky grin quickly curled further into a twisted sort of smile and those haunting golden eyes focused cruelly on Max, deriving some sort of satisfaction in causing him suffering. Perhaps he was right. Maybe putting a halt to the beast, no matter the cost, should have been their first priority.
Whichever side of the fence the fighters were on at least they had been wearing Chaos down. She was bleeding from multiple locations and had lost the use of one of her arms. Despite the amount of damage these kids had managed to inflict upon her, Chaos didn’t seem to be trying very hard to win. It would have been easy to do, considering her raw power and her size. So why did she toy with them in a game of cat and mouse? Her true intentions remained unclear. What was clear was that whatever direction this route would take her she was simply enjoying the collateral damage.
Whichever fighter would come next, well, she would enjoy causing the lights to flicker out on them too.
Dilan's slip-up was forgetting the limitations his magic faced in this strange dark world. Any attacks he had thrown in his last strike fell flat, and he found himself having to back off due to an electric attack. He would prefer not getting shocked. As he retreated, watching the others deal and receive attacks, he began to plan out his next action.
What am I doing wrong? Offense is working, but something seems off.
When the creature went limp, stunned, he took a brief moment to go in for a strike, slamming the flat of his lance's head against the beast. The wind came to him to aid the strike, but it hit much softer than he wanted. Cursing to himself, he backed off, standing on an adjacent rooftop, looking about.
The wind won't let me hit much harder directly. Think, fool, think...
An idea came to him suddenly. He was thinking too much on a 2-dimension plane. He had little time to act, though, as the beast struck out at the child, then pinned the newcomer down, leaning in to snuff his light out. With a yell, Dilan took a running start, leaping towards the other rooftop. However, wind carried him upwards, above and behind the beast, before it began to curl around Wyvern. Wisps of air turned to roaring gusts, and he threw his weapon at the rooftop behind the beast. It was too risky to strike directly, but he could do what he could with that. At the point of impact, whether that being a deflection by the beast or his aim being true, his element erupted forth, a concentration of gales suddenly freed from its limited space. As he landed, he braced himself, sliding back. At the point of impact, however, there would certainly be winds of a hurricane force, however briefly. Footing would be hard, at best.
As he stood, he ran forward to his spear, wrenching it from the ground. The wind came to him again, but it was weak, expended. It wouldn't be much use for a while. The others would have to pull their own weight.
The problem Jin had with fighting in groups was that there were far too many unchecked elements for him to keep track of. Yes, he could feel the presence of each of his temporary compatriot's minds if he focused in on them, but that would detract from his focus on the hulking, snarling beast before him. Fighting with other people on his side had been a luxury Jin was forced to forego during his time in the Colosseum. Now that he was fighting, the leadership - if the process of shouting orders and hoping people responded to them constituted leadership - he'd had forced upon him in the past was all the harder to maintain.
'Gotta keep focused,' Jin mentally berated, 'I've already talked big about having blood on your hands. Not backing it up would be stupid.'
Harsh, slitted pupils dilated as Jin scanned the area around the battlefield. The newcomer had managed to pin their animalistic opponent back into the alleyway. That was probably an attempt at keeping collateral damage in a contained area. The town was already in ruins as it was, so destroying even more potential shelters would be in...bad taste, to say the least. Though maybe he was concerned about civilians, which struck Jin as overly cautious. Typically when fighting broke out against creatures of this size, people ran. Fast. He'd be surprised if there was anyone left within a few dozen yards given the amount of time that had passed since a hulking creature and bolts of lightning had started flying through the air. Besides, a cursory prodding of the surrounding area with his senses didn't bring any other presences to his attention.
But the two seconds or so that it had taken to do that much had also come with a hefty price when it came to reaction time.
Already, what had previously been the girl in the ice was swinging for the youngest of their ranks. He could hardly recall her name, though he may have never asked for it. He remembered that she'd been at the site of the building collapse, however. Somehow, he got the feeling she'd never seen a real fight in her life before what the townsfolk were calling the Nightfall. That was a bad thing given her current surroundings. He had to assume the worst; she had no way to block, and she couldn't manage much in the way of dodging given her injuries from that last attack. Apparently, he hadn't done a good enough job of deflecting that slash the wolf had sent her way in the past few seconds.
His body practically moved on its own, forming some plan - any plan - as it did. The creature was smart enough to target the weakest of them as a distraction, meaning its mental capabilities passed beyond speech. He'd been unsure before, but now he was certain. It wasn't just some other mindless beast like they'd made him slaughter for their entertainment in the Colosseum when they realized he wouldn't kill anything alive. Any doubts he had about holding back vanished with that; cutting loose just wasn't an option anymore.
Jin appeared in front of Cora for the second time since the beginning of the fight, quickly scooping up her injured form and pulling her back from the incoming claw strike in the same motion. However, in his attempt at defending her he'd neglected his own wellbeing just a bit too much. The blade-like claws dug into his flesh as bright red liquid splattered through the air. It wasn't the deepest cut he'd ever experienced, but it wasn't shallow by any means. Still, the orange haired fighter grit his teeth and bit back a scream of pain; a suppressed grunt was the only sign that he'd even felt the blow.
It wasn't long before deep blue electricity poured forth from the torn area of his shirt, fusing the wounds shut and leaving deep, angry red scars in their place. Proper healing would have to wait until the end of the battle, and a new shirt would be in order as well. Torn up and slightly bloodstained weren't exactly the most appealing qualities in clothing.
Jin's eyes shot back to the girl as he set her down, noticing the somewhat concerning amount of blood coming from the gash across her arm. Though he tried to appear calm, the battle-frenzied look in his eyes refused to fade and his voice had become naught more than a growl as he spoke to her.
"Stay here and stay low. If you can find time to run, then do it. If not, then at least try to stay out of that thing's reach."
He crouched, removing the grey fabric of his belt from his waist as he tied it firmly around the girl's arm to cut off most of the bleeding. It wasn't tied around a pressure point; at least she'd be keeping the arm until he could treat her later. Maybe she had a potion or something that she'd just forgotten to use. He doubted that searing the wound shut with electricity like he had with his own would help much in regards to her composure.
With both swords in hand and their sheaths discarded on the rooftop, Jin gave the one in his right hand a quick twirl before disappearing in a blink of speed once again and landing firmly on the ground of the alleyway.
In the time he'd been on the roof, Dilan had already acted in response to the beast's attack on their newcomer.
Between his injuries, constantly having to flicker up and down from the rooftop and to the ground again, and the distaste Jin had for fights to the death and battles against arrogant and craven opponents, he'd had just about enough of this facade of a battle.
Another burst of speed brought Jin to the side of the creature where its limp arm resided as he plunged Glimmering Lightning into its palm. The blade, more than happy to cut through any non-living object, protested at the assault on shadowy flesh at first. However, once Jin mentally coaxed it with the idea that it would only be used to restrain the creature, the blade complied and pierced flesh to sink comfortably into the stone ground below. There it would find its hopefully unbudging home for the time being.
Another burst of speed, and Jin had moved to pierce the claw aimed for Maxwell at an angle and again drove the blade into the ground - hopefully carrying the arm with it. With both blades out of his grasp, Jin was free to follow his gut instinct. He gripped the beast by the neck with an electrically empowered hand and clamped around its throat with a strength that intended not to snap bone, but to make his target a bit more compliant.
He lifted his hand in an attempt to move Chaos' head, trying to meet the monster's eyes with a sharp glare. This usually wasn't how he did things, but if he could subdue the creature mentally he'd cut the potential destruction down to a fraction of what it would be if they were to keep fighting.
Jin's eyes flashed blue, and his attempt at worming his way into the creature's consciousness would slam against whatever mental defenses hit had put up like a battering ram against a castle gate. However, getting in wasn't the hard part; the difficulty would be reserved for dragging the creature into its own subconscious with him.
With any luck, Era would be in wherever he was heading as well.
Post by Cora Williams on Dec 3, 2016 13:59:13 GMT -4
Incoming... came the ever reliable whisper of her wind.
Cora saw the swing coming. She was ready to act. She was ready to use the wind to push herself back as far away from the beast's claw as she could.
If there was one thing about this scenario that was impressively frustrating, it was how much her lack of combat experience was showing. Her reaction time was too slow. Even if she could have avoided the hit, it would have been calling it much too close. More than that, the wind could have been knocked out of her.
Those were factors that she didn't have to worry about this time, but the consequence of her lack of real experience still hit harder than a out of control truck filled with cement.
Thanks to her lack of experience and her reaction time being far too slow, someone ended up rescuing her before she could even rescue herself, and suffered a harsh slash for it.
Before she knew it, she was now a safe distance away from the creature, with a man screaming as electricity surged through his back. He also had a very terrifying look to his face and a very unpleasant growl. Poor Cora was more focused on this current and very present terrifying experience then she was the actual real danger. She hadn't even noticed his attempt at very quick first aid, wrapping something around her left arm to stop the bleeding.
It took her a literal minute before she could register what was said, and it took another literal minute for her to realize that she was just standing still for two minutes doing nothing. Was she really that much in the way? Was she really just being more trouble than her worth? She clutched her rebar... wait... what happened to the rebar?
Apparently, in the time it took to be rescued, she ended up dropping the weapon. The medium of which she could control what little magic she had was now gone. She really was nothing more than a paper weight now.
But was she really okay just staying still and doing nothing?
"Sorry... I can't just sit still and hide or run... I need to do something... Stay out of it's reach, huh? I... really don't have a lot of skill in that department... what I'd give for some actual skill in my magic... Okay, letting doubt get to me, can't do that, have to act- how much time has actually passed?"
I think by now, three minutes? You sure like to take your time...
"Oh fudge buckets..."
For now, she stuck to surveying the situation, watching things as it unfolded. If there was actually something she could do, she'd do it, but since so much time had passed it would be reckless to not see what was going on first before acting. Wouldn't want to end up getting in the way again.
Post by Maxwell Tendas on Dec 22, 2016 19:46:48 GMT -4
Max felt a strong jolt travel up his arm as his sword cut into the shadow-wolf, and he instantly realized his mistake in going for a melee attack in tandem with the red-headed boy’s electric attacks. It definitely hurt, and left a lingering ache in his muscles and joints, but he had experienced worse back on his homeworld.
As he pulled back from the shadow wolf, he was surprised as it came after him instead of Electric Boy perched on its back. He got lucky, however, as it abruptly stopped. It almost seemed as if there was something holding it. However, the warrior from Dryden didn’t wait to contemplate why, opting to take the opportunity to go on the offensive. He recalled the water discs, reforming them into spheres as he did, then sent them spiraling into the wolf’s legs in a volley not unlike a shotgun blast.
Shortly afterward, the wolf seemed to recover from whatever had it immobilized and batted the small girl away from it. It then turned its gaze on him with a look he recognized all too well. It was the look of a predator eyeing its prey, the same look he’d seen in too many enemies over his many years of fighting. The soldier reflexively recalled his water again, wrapping it around himself defensively as the wolf bulled-rushed him and pinned him to the ground.
With Max firmly pinned beneath one clawed hand, the wolf began pressing down with its strength and weight. He let out a growl of anger as he felt the crushing pressure push down on him. He would have surely been crushed instantly if it hadn’t been for his quick defensive action. The wolf seemed to relish causing him pain, leaning down and putting its large maw directly in his face. Despite the pain, Max stared defiantly back, screaming at the shadowy creature in anger as he struggled for a way free of its grasp.
He found it as the black haired man sent his spear into the ground nearby, kicking up extremely powerful winds as it impacted. It gave him the opportunity he needed to struggle free, some of his water to pry the wolf’s claws off of his while using the rest to pull himself off.
As he used the water to set himself back on his feet some distance away, pain wracking his body, he looked back at the wolf just in time to see the red head use his swords to pin it down and grab it by the forehead. For his part, Max could do little more than watch and wonder just what he was doing….
There was one opponent out of the game. The one under the weight of her massive, ink-black paw would be crushed in a matter of seconds. Her chilling snarl hadn’t been able to make the snap for his head like she wanted - and would have - had a sailing harpoon not landed with the force of a tornado into the cement behind the beast. Before she could react, the spiral winds tore across the beast’s back, causing massive damage. Shadows that had once been more solid began to bleed in crashing waves off the back of the fearsome beast.
The creature spent a moderate amount of mental power, stilling herself for a moment in order to patch up the damage quickly. And while she was stilled, large canon-ball bullets of water would tear through her legs. This would take more energy from the beast just to stitch up the wounds. Her shadowy prowess was not limitless, although perhaps it looked it to an outsider.
All of the injuries, while they’d been patched, continued to leak with shadows that spilt onto the ground like wispy black clouds. The sword sewn of raw electrical energy that pierced her left paw had caused the beast to howl with an angry suffering. The blade paused, only to dive eagerly, ripping at the energies that were holding the werewolf’s paw together. This, of course, was connected to the bad shoulder.
The orange-haired one was really grinding her gears, sending a spike into the beast’s anger and breaking down the creature’s more logical functions. Irrationality and berserk at great risk was the way forward, as any cornered bloodthirsty beast might conclude.
She only had two paws, and one was spent trying to snuff the life out of Max. The second blade hadn’t even made it into its landing, being smacked away by the impaled hand she’d spent a great willful effort to move. The second of Jin’s electric blades would spiral through the air in a spinning sweep that sent it far away. The ginger would have to fetch it if he wanted his weapon any time soon.
Her other paw, the blade still stuck from it, would first sweep for Jin to try and get him out of the way, either by force of impact or free will.
Removing Glimmering Lightning from where it had lodged in her palm would come at the cost of letting go of Max. It was a reluctant move, but by now she had assumed that she had at least taken enough of his breath away to temporarily still him. It will be two down. Two to go.
Wagering on that, she slammed the injured paw down on the cement in front of her large, wiry body. Her good paw focussed on removing that darned electrical toothpick. Grabbing at a hilt that size was difficult and required a bit of focus.
Focus she didn’t have time to spend. The ginger was in front of Chaos’s vision in no time. His hand alone would have been too small to move the beast’s vision. However, the guiding electrical force Jin may or may not have been aware was snapping from his hands, had numbed the beast’s own nerves, making her a little more compliant.
Still, she snarled, snapping her jaws as her neck jostled and her head writhed in defiance of Jin’s force, her throat emitting another sharp growl. She would not so easily give into this annoying redhead’s demands!
The slam of electrical force through her skull had quieted, and then stilled the snarling. The beast was beginning to feel dizzy. Angry eyes continued to pin the boy in front of Chaos, and the beast was trying to will itself to move, but the electrical jolt through her jolt and down into levels of her consciousness had brought the monster’s body to a stop. It was frustrating!
She defied him again, trying to violently shove him out of her conscience. If he would push right back, another slam against her conscience would be all it took for the monstrous werewolf, weakened already by the constant blows from the entire team, to be rendered still.
Era, on the other hand, was inside the beast, clawing her way out. While they fought Chaos from the outside, she had been pushing out from the inside. It was difficult to fight with such torrential emotions that had brought this beast to fruition, but if you didn’t fight, you couldn’t win. Era knew that to be fact.
Was this the same person she’d briefly communicated with earlier? His presence seemed energetic - it reminded her of electricity. She couldn’t quite pinpoint her thoughts, as they were in heavy disarray from here. But feelings she knew she could pass to him. Or at least, she hoped she could. The feeling of encouragement would push beyond the mental shadow boundaries that stood between herself and these outsiders. She hoped it would travel along the lines that connected her to the telepathic one. Maybe empathy was connected to his skills. After all, this guy was back to communicate again. The longer she tried to focus on him, the harder the swirling shadows would try to isolate her from him.
The girl, completely frozen still inside the form of the wolf, fought back harder. Her mind was becoming a blur, but it understood the importance of communication all the same. There was an extension of hope and courage, and after that, nothing.
The beast was getting up, stirring slowly as it shook off the irritating temporary stillness that had overcome it. Its nostrils flared with irritation while it came to again. Chaos was gaining a new wave of power as she tucked the one trapped inside further out of reach.
Glimmering Lightning had struck true, piercing through its target with only a small pause of protest. However, Unbreaking Stone had been swatted away by Chaos. It wasn't entirely unexpected, and Jin was far from defenseless even without the blades that were being tossed aside, but it was still an inconvenience.
When his hand clasped and locked around the throat of his target, the electricity coursing through his hand sent it spasming as it gnashed its teeth and snapped its jaws at him. It was nothing new. Chaos wasn't the first monster that Jin had faced. Ornicco's Colosseum was rife with things just as large and as lethal - if not more so - than their current opponent. He'd survived those. He could survive this.
Jin was unrelenting. His battering ram-like assaults on Chaos' mental barriers. If there was anything left to find in that head, he was going to get to it. Grim determination swelled up in his chest and behind his eyes as he pressed against her psyche again. He felt he desire of something just below the surface; the desire to encourage, to bring hope, resonated from the core of the beast.
That was all the information Jin needed. The girl in the ice was still inside the beast somewhere, and she wanted out just as badly as they were trying to get her out. Her prison was no longer ice, though. Now it was the Darkness that she needed to hammer back into the core of her soul.
He had just the kind of thing that would help with that.
Glimmering Lightning was as much a part of him as he was part of it. The sword had its own strange sort of consciousness, but it also housed a large amount of the electrical energy that Jin had control over. That energy was housed within the blade even when Jin wasn't in direct contact with it.
With a flick of his wrist, the blade in question disappeared in much the same way that Jin did when he activated his speed. A rush of wind, thick rope scrunching against itself, and the tightening of skin all sounded in near unison to signify the return of Jin's sword to his hand.
In the past few days, Jin had found himself in the possession of a few of the strange, mystical objects that the people around town liked to call materia. While the first one - supposedly one that could harness the power of Light and deal heavy damage against the Darkness - was totally unresponsive to any of the energy he funnelled into it, the one that the Moogle had called Thunder was more than happy to feed off his own source of electricity and pump out the magical equivalent.
However, when he'd gone to get them fused...synthesized...whatever...the effects had been incredibly strange. So much so that he'd avoided using it in actual fights simply because of the apparent drawbacks that using it brought on. Still, this was exactly the situation that called for drastic measures.
"Hope you've got your guard up, because this is gonna hurt you a lot more than it hurts me," Jin said with a low chuckle as he focused his energy into the hilt of Glimmering Lightning and the Sparkling Thunder materia that he'd affixed to it as a way of keeping track of the darn thing.
The effects were almost instantaneous. As quickly as the blue jolts of electricity arced from his hand and into the star-shaped crystal, bright white bolts of lightning shot forward from it and began wrapping themselves like ribbons around Jin's hand and the blade of Glimmering Lightning.
"Now wake up!"
Jin thrust the blade to the creature's chest, throwing caution to the wind and trusting whatever magic that fueled the blow to keep the girl trapped inside Chaos safe from the strike. Just before the blow made visible contact, a flash of white light burst forth from the blade to blot out all vision of the surrounding area.