[Raid!] You Can Run, But You Can't Hide

[Bayde]

It was a scant three days before the whole thing happened.

Gabranth. The echo of Ivalice. The bastardized amalgamation between the Dark Hide and Chaos. All those memories would still be sitting fresh in the front of the mind for all who had ventured through the dark portal. It was true what Gabranth had told them - there hadn't been much time that he was able to hold off the empowered Dark Hide. Out of the ether, enshrouded in Darkness tinged blood red, a massive set of claws carved a hole in the sky. It was a pulsating, black and purple thing that hung in space and seemed to suck in all light around it.

And from it, a roar that broke past the border of unsettling and delved directly into the realm of blood-curdling bombasted outwards and pervaded all of Twilight Town's ruins.

Following the guttural cry, an all too familiar head burst forth and bathed in the ever-dwindling light of the dying world.

The maw of the beast was different than it had once been. Now, alongside the six tendrils that snaked out from the head, a single horn protruded forth from right between the eyes. The formerly exposed flesh woven together from the Darkness that formed the creature's core had taken shelter beneath green and copper-colored plates of armor.

Heavy breaths echoed through the Sandlot, and with each exhalation a billow of black smoke wafted out from the Dark Hide's nose. It was almost as if it was trying to pick up a scent; trying to find something...or someone.

Again, from the ether, two massive purple claws broke through the air like glass and pressed forth, bending and cracking the fabric of space itself. Spiderweb fractures danced from around the place the pressure was coming from, and as their numbers and severity increased the groaning of the boundary that separating worlds giving way grew louder and louder.

Pushing past the limits of whatever it was that held it back and beyond, the Dark Hide came down on the Sandlot, sending a plume of dust out like a tidal wave and setting four craters in the ground where the legs of the quardoped had touched down.

A burst of energy signaled the beginning of the end, shattering whatever windows may have been left in the town and toppling some of the weaker structures that were left behind.

Whatever this Heartless had become, it wasn't just looking for food anymore. It was ready to bring whatever stood in its path to its knees.

[Riku]

A Corridor of Darkness appeared in an alleyway somewhere nearby, its shadowy presence swirling and swelling, until someone stepped through from the other side. Riku’s eyes widened as the landscape unfolded before him, and he was met with a twisted version of a town he once knew well. Night had fallen on the town, casting dark shades of purple across the broken and crumbling city scape. And high above a shattered moon overlooked the scene. Things were worse than Riku thought, and that was saying something.

As if that wasn’t enough, a bellowing roar signaled that the worst was yet to come. Riku glanced up as a burst of energy spouted forth from the direction of the sandlot. With the threat made clear, Riku broke into a sprint towards the sandlot and the portal behind him closed.

As he reached the sandlot, the beast of a heartless came into full view. It had a striking resemblance to a dark hide, but was somehow changed and made even more powerful. Tendrils sprouted out of its head near the horn, and craters rested below its hooves from where it landed. Above, a massive hole rested, as if the sky itself was beginning to crack and break.

Riku glanced around to see some of Twilight Town’s residents had also arrived, preparing to defend their city. A few of them looked capable, and under these circumstances, it was either fight or lose their homes. Way to Dawn appeared in his hand as he drew it up over his head. Before the battle began, he called out to the others, “If you’re not willing to fight with all you have, then run!”

[Jin]

The time that had passed since Jin broke off from the others hadn't been wasted. He'd spent his time gathering the supplies he'd need for the upcoming fight.

There wasn't any telling what sort of people that water-slinging guy would bring into the battle, and Jin was also acutely aware that his methods of healing and protecting himself weren't quite in line with what the people that inhabited these worlds were used to.

In that regard, he'd gone about stocking up on the small gemstones that they called Materia. He'd been hard pressed to see anyone without at least one of the darned things; it was how they used powers beyond their own limitations, and yet at the same time their bodies seemed to possess the energy to power them.

That wasn't the case for him.

The only materia that Jin could even stir a reaction from were the ones that fired off bursts of electricity. Even after experimenting with one for a bit, he couldn't see the use of it. The resulting attacks were weaker than they would be if he'd just used his raw energy to do the same thing. No, it looked like standard Materia were totally useless to him.

But that's when he discovered synthesis.

It was a theory - a hypothesis at best - but Jin knew that if there was a chance that it could help fight against the Heartless, it was a chance worth following.

So, he'd had the Moogle at the stall slap together a Light and Thunder Materia for him.

The results had been interesting, to say the least.

He hadn't really put it into practice until his scuffle with that Era girl. All he knew was that Darkness and Light were contrasting energies in this world, and that if he was going to do something to shake the girl out of her monstrous form without hurting her then Light was his best bet.

But the blowback to his own body after channeling enough energy into the small crystal had taken its toll. The Materia changed the very nature of the lightning that composed a majority of his blood, and it started to break down the rest of his body to feed the conversion. Keeping that contained was no small feat. To say he nearly lost the use of his arm wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Still, Jin had tried his best over the past three days to learn and then push his limits when it came to using the synthesized Materia. He'd also taken to stocking up on a few more. He kept them tied to the hilts of his swords; a place where they were easily accessible but also safe from the hands of thieves.

But there was a time and a place for further reverie, and this wasn't it.

The impetus of the encroaching conflict weighed heavily on the boy for hours now. Something was coming, and it was coming soon. He couldn't hope to know where or when, but Jin knew that it would be today.

So, when the great beast tore through the sky and descended upon the Sandlot, Jin was ready.

He'd heard the roar from a good distance away; he hadn't needed to sense the energy the thing was letting off. Whatever it was now, it was different from the creature they'd met before. Stronger. More enduring.

A challenge.

The only thing that kept the grin from rising on Jin's lips was the sense of urgency. If this had been the ruins where he'd first come across the creature, if the others hadn't been there, then maybe he could have his fun with an opponent like this. As much as he hated it sometimes, the thrill of the fight was something he'd been born and bred to take pleasure in. However, innnocents being in the way was enough to make him clear his mind of whatever fervor the promise of a fight brought.

Sometimes fighting was an act of catharsis, and others it was an act of abnegation. This battle would be very much the latter.

He took off running at full speed, landing a scant few seconds later. Surprisingly, he wasn't the first to arrive on the scene. A silver haired boy was issuing evacuation orders to the fleeing masses, looking ready to fight the thing head on.

Good. The hard part was already being taken care of. That left the easy - and admittedly more fun - role up to him for now.

"I'll keep it distracted," he said, not taking his eyes away from the Dark Hide as he addressed the boy. "You just make sure you follow your own advice."

One hand reached for the hilt of a sword, and when calloused flesh gripped around the well-worn wrapping it withdrew the blade in a rapid, powerful draw that sparked with neon blue electricity. The arcs were not content to stick to their host for long, and a powerful wave of lightning erupted forward like a wave and flew directly towards the beast's head.

"I'm not going to have time to babysit you on top of the others."

Jin vanished again in a burst of speed, flickering back into sight in close quarters to the massive Heartless before unloading the other blade with a ferocious upwards slice that sent another wave of electric energy trailing up along one of the creature's front legs.

[Maxwell Tendas]

I am a soldier of Dryden
Protector of my people
A sword and shield for the weak

I will always fight for my people
I will conquer the impregnable
I will defend the indefensible

I will march into the face of death

And emerge in victory.

He recited the Soldier's Vow of his home as he began his morning routine, as he had ever since returning through the corridor of darkness days before. It was an old battle ritual of his which helped him calm his nerves and sharpen his focus so he could perform at his best. He had done it dozens of times throughout his life, always just before battle. It had always helped him when he stood facing an enemy, whether they had been an army, and individual, or a beast of some sort.

Now that he was just sitting around, waiting for an enemy he knew was coming, he found that very little helped his pre-battle nerves except for keeping busy. That was exactly what he had been doing the past few days: helping set plans for Twilight Town's residents for when the attack came, searching unsuccessfully for the Keyhole with Avari's help, and loading barrels full of water then setting groups of them up in strategic areas around town. He thought the town was about as ready for this attack as it could be.

Twilight Town might still fall, but it wouldn't fall easily.

The soldier donned his armor and sword, then grabbed his spear and headed toward the sandlot to a gathering of able fighters that Bayde had called. It had become a regular occurrence over the past several days. So far, the meetings had amounted to nothing more than small discussions of what they would do once the massive heartless finally showed itself. There was no reason to think that wouldn't be the case today...

...Until a roar sounded throughout Twilight Town.

Max stopped for several long moments, trying to discern exactly where it had come from. It proved too difficult with the echoing effect inside the town, and so he took off at a sprint for the Sandlot. Before he got too far, however, a burst of energy washed over the town. It shattered windows as it went, and as it washed over Max it knocked him to the ground. He hit the ground hard, but quickly regained his feet and continued toward the Sandlot.

As he rounded the last corner to the Sandlot, the monstrous form of the Heartless came into view. It was massive, easily towering over the small group which had assembled to defend Twilight Town even while on all fours. Tendrils of shadowy substance snaked off from the sides of its head while two large, red horns protruded from the top. Max could see a pair of immense wings folded up against its back, the beast as yet to unfurl them.

He had also come around the corner just in time to see Jin launch himself at the Heartless, lightning crackling from his weapons like something alive. There was also a newcomer, young with silver hair, in the Sandlot as well. The newcomer seemed to steel himself to fight the Heartless, brandishing what Max could only assume was a weapon of some sort made in the shape of wings. The soldier paused for a moment at the sight as lightning arced up the Heartless' arm.

After a brief moment of pause, Max reached out with his power toward the barrels of water he'd left on the roof of s nearby building. He used the water to shatter its containers and formed it into a single, massive spike of ice which he sent hurtling towards one of the beast's shoulders, saving just enough for a platform. He stepped onto it and sent himself hurtling at the beast's face as fast as he could, letting loose his country's battle cry of "Into Death!" as he brought his spear to bear. He came right towards the Heartless' face, aiming a strike towards its eye, hoping to blind it and gain them whatever advantage he could.

[Oswald]

After the defeat of the monster at the edge of town Oswald had spent the days trying to get more out of his remote, the stream just didn't do enough damage. He did tweak it enough so he could send out a shock wave, but it wasn't really something great, he'd need someone good with electronics to do something really special with it. It was a slow day and Oswald was sitting above the center shop and relaxing when a roar ripped through the air originating from the Sandlot. Jumping up and almost falling off of the roof Oswald looked around, not noticing anything he climbed down and ran towards the sounds origin.

Arriving in the Sandlot, Oswald got a look of what made the roar, and it was not pleasant. A monstrous version of the monster at the mansion, it was quite terrifying to say the least. Looking around for anyone that could help it seemed like the regulars were already on the scene, with Jin and Maxwell here it would be quite the battle, although the new person was odd. Especially his weapon, some combination of wing. Looking back at the creature Jin and Maxwell were already battling it and they seemed to be doing good so far. It wouldn't be enough to take it down if Oswald knew anything about the original beast, but it should slow it.

Dashing over to a pile of crates and hopped on top, aiming towards the heartless he fired off the shot. It would help aiming if the two attacking the creature would allow the rabbit for a clear shot, but they are doing their own thing currently and it seemed to be working. The boy appeared to be doing nothing at all so far, besides warning everyone. What an accomplishment, Oswald thought as he continued to try and not hit the others attacking.

[Kali]

A crack in the sky, no this isn't a dream

There is Unease deep in the Lifestream

The first signs of disturbance to Kali were the whispers of the Lifestream turning to yells. Her time in the synthesis shop was cut short as the cries came to her all at once, and she let out a pained cry, falling to her knees. Pawed hands clutched at her ears, and her face was contorted in pain, as the souls of the dead grew worried about something in the sky. It took time, but pulling up her hood muffled the voices enough to where she was able to open her eyes, and finally stand, staggering a bit. The door was thrown open as she looked to the sky. Eyes grew wide, and she turned back, grabbing her newest upgrades from the Moogle. "Get to cover!" Wisps of fire circled her as she ran, and before long, Ember was called to her. She jumped upon the chocobo, and the two raced not away from the beast, but towards it. She was a guardian of the world, and she had a duty. Already, she heard whispers of other warriors gathering to defeat the beast, and when she turned a corner, she came across them. Ember came to a hard stop, and she dismounted the summon, dismissing him for the time being. Another glance before her brought into view their adversary, as well - and others already charging in. A curse left her tongue as she ran forward, materia hanging from her staff. She stopped next to the silver-haired youth and her eyes fell upon his weapon. Never had she seen a Keyblade before, but she knew of their existence. When traveling the worlds, one picked up information. But she would let awe overtake her later. "I'm here to help! I may not be the best offensively, but count on me to have your back!" Red light bloomed from her necklace, and from it burst a shimmer of light, which exploded into a small, fox-like being. The Carbuncle landed before her, and she pointed at the advancing figures of Jin, Oswald, and Max. Unfortunately, Jin was out of range of the creature's spells, but the others would feel a warmth grow through them, and a small barrier would appear around them before disappearing. With Protect up, Carbuncle took refuge atop her shoulder, and she yelled out. "Come close to me if things get to be too much, I can help you heal!" She would fight in the greatest way she knew how. By protecting. Nobody would be lost again.

@the doomed protecters

notes: H E A L B O T   O N L I N E

mood: fricked

template by BEAR♔

[Bayde]

The Dark Hide looked over the city, its height peaking above some of the taller buildings despite standing on four legs. Its eyes were feral, yellow things that seemed to hold nothing but malice and bloodlust, and with each step another tremor rocked the earth around it in a way that seemed to be less its impact on the terrain and more the World itself crying out its last swan song before finally fading into the Darkness.

There was so much in this world that needed to be destroyed, and the Dark Hide simply didn't know where to start.

And then, from nowhere, a flash of light and a slight tickle against its muzzle signalled just where its rampage would begin. The nuisance with the orange hair had even done it the favor of getting nice and close for the sake of the attack. It seemed the little thing wished to tickle it to death. How adorable. And yet, at the same time, how pathetic.

With one massive paw raised, the creature brought the same limb that Jin had targeted down on top of the pest's head.

Or, at least, it thought it had. There was so squelch of cracking bone and crushed organs; no scream of pain. Instead, just the mildly uncomfortable twinge of a foot slamming too hard into the ground and the bursting forth of rubble. Where had the pest gone? What had it done to avoid the attack? Questions for later, the creature supposed. Especially when a sliver of ice was well on its way towards its face.

With nothing but a slow turn of its head, the creature was able to shift the point of impact from a marginally sturdy shoulder to a much sturdier forehead, where the shard of ice would crack, separate, and scatter upon the ground like pebbles of hail in a light summer storm. So many distractions, and yet so little time with which to handle them all.

The beast opened its mouth to an unnatural width as a ball of dark energy began to form, pulling shadows from every corner, crack, and cranny and condensing it into a volitile mass of corruption and rage. A beam as wide and tall as a truck burst forth, tearing pavement and asphalt asunder as it charged forward towards the three still on the ground - really it had only been aiming for the one who had thrown the ice, but with such puny opponents it was hard to aim precisely.

Whether it had been the amount of time the Hide had taken to charge the blast or the distance between them - maybe just that the group was particularly nimble - it seemed that they'd all been able to handle the attack. If these gnats were really going to be so annoying, perhaps it would have to resort to more drastic measures to ensure the destruction of this World would continue unfettered.

And then, of all things, the cracking of wood sounded and a small plank of jagged wood hung loosely and painlessly from the dermis of Darkness that formed the creature. Was something really so foolish as to attack it with a crate? The Hide would have chuckled had it had the capability, but as a creature of nothing but rage, instinct, and lust for wanton distruction it instead turned its gaze on the rooftop where the rabbit stood.

A sharp red gleam flashed through its eye, and spontaneously the boxes next to it burst into a pillar of flames. Wood rendered to nothing but charcoal and ash floated through the air, and the burst seemed to entirely coat the rabbit. Good. At least he'd been able to hurt one of them.

Now it was just a matter of handling the other four.

HEALTH

Chaos Hide
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Jin
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Kali
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Max
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Oswald
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Riku
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[Riku]

While most denizens of Twilight Town fled at the sight of the great beast, there were some who chose to stand against it. The first being a guy with orange hair, wielding two swords. With a smirk, the man suggested that Riku follow his own advice, before plunging headlong into battle, lightning seemed to course through his weapons. Riku smirked in response, glad to have someone who seemed confident in what he was doing; hopefully the guy had the power to back up the trash talk. And of course, under the surface, Riku wanted the chance to show the dual swordsman a thing or two.

The next one to arrive was an older warrior who appeared to have an affinity for water, having summoned it from some barrels on a nearby rooftop. With what seemed like no effort at all, the man shifted the water into a large spear of ice, and sent it hurtling towards the Chaos Hide. Riku had never seen magic used in the way this warrior and the swordsman did, but they both seemed powerful and certain of themselves in this battle.

Out of the corner of Riku's eye, he caught some more movement, and he glanced over to see a small, dark, rabbit-like creature who wielded some sort of contraption that shot electricity. His appearance reminded him of Mickey, though there was no time to ponder it now. With the state the worlds seemed to be in, it was no wonder that such a variety of different people had wound up here in Twilight Town.

Finally, one more individual entered the fray, a young girl with feline features, who approached from behind Riku. She called out to them all, informing them that she was here to help, though not quite as direct as the others. As she cast barrier on a few of the combatants, Riku included, he glanced back at her with a curt nod and said, "Thanks."

The Chaos Hide raised one of its appendages to strike back at the dual swordsman, but the orange haired lightning user was too quick for the heartless. This Chaos Hide might have been powerful, but speed was one thing it clearly lacked. It did seem intelligent though, as it took on the large icicle with its inherently thick skull. It then immediately opened its mouth, and a powerful form of dark energy came forth and a beam shot out from it, though everyone had plenty of time to get out of the way. Then in response to the crates being hurled at it, the Chaos Hide set the remaining crates around the rabbit aflame, covering the rabbit with charcoal and ash.

Now that the Chaos Hide's head had turned to the side, Riku made his move. Suddenly Riku was high in the air and as Way to Dawn became shrouded in darkness, he swung down towards the beast's neck in hopes of finding a weak point. Once Riku landed on the ground he was on the move again, never staying in one place for too long to provide a more difficult target for the Chaos hide. He also kept an eye on the other combatants, preparing to shield anyone if needed before he tried another attack.

[Jin]

The space between Jin's brow twitched when he realized that his attacks weren't taking hold through the natural armor of this colossal opponent. He'd have to kick it up a notch if he wanted to make a dent - either that, or hope that this thing wore itself out as quickly as possible.

And here was just the opportunity. Apparently he'd actually managed to annoy the creature given the way one of its four paws lifted and came down on top of him. Still, it was slow and he was faster than most. There was more than enough time to leap to the side, jump atop the descending appendage and put the force in his legs that would send him sailing into the air. He caught hold of the beast's hide with his feet every time he needed to restore his upward momentum, and in just a handful of steps he was propelled high in the air, above the head of his target.

Yeah. All he needed to do was ride this out and whittle away at its stamina until the thing was too tired to not get hurt by his bigger attacks, Jin thought.

However, given the size of the attack it launched at Max, the boy with the weird-looking sword (Honestly, he could have dealt with fewer plastic toys being swung around like they were made to be actual weapons. Avari had been bad enough before he'd made her something presentable.) and the newcomer - some sort of cat mixed with a human, which wasn't something you saw a lot of back on Tamnia - outlasting this monster would be a lot easier said than done.

"Shit." Jin spat as he quickly brought his other sword and his electricity to bare. The neon lights swirled, pulsating and compressing in on themselves until their color resembled more of a navy than their previous sky blue. Bringing both hands up over his head and gathering as much of the potent energy as he could while in mid-air and in the given amount of time, Jin launched the attack with enough force to send him skyward once more and delay his descent.

"Sorya!"

The burst of energy crackled and spiked through the air and down dramatically towards the head of the creature. There was no room for error here; if they wanted to save the town, they'd need to hit it with everything they had in rounds. Preservation of stamina was key here, and while the apparent barriers that one of their new allies provided were going to prove useful, they wouldn't help in the case where no one was near her. If you had to bring your most vulnerable close to the battle or make a full retreat every time someone was wounded, there was too high a chance someone was going to get caught in some crossfire and die.

Or, alternatively, getting literally caught in a fire.

The burst of flame from a corner of town signaled the arrival and perhaps incapacitation of a new fighter, and Jin had only ever seen one person so far that fought by throwing things at the enemy.

"...the hell is the rabbit doing here? Does he want to die?" Jin groaned as he found purchase on the head of the beast before flickering out of sight and reappearing at the site of the explosion, checking to see if there was anything alive back there or if Oswald had somehow managed to get out of the way.

However, he wasn't so focused on the rubble as to see the silver haired boy make an impressive jump into the air and swing his supposed weapon at the neck of the creature. Apparently he wasn't entirely unskilled after all.

[Maxwell Tendas]

Max watched the gigantic heartless block his spike of ice with its forehead, the ice shattering seemingly harmlessly against it. The soldier kept his focus on his target though: the Chaos Hide's eye. He was over halfway to it when the beast opened its mouth and let loose a large sort of beam attack that rent the ground where it hit. Max narrowly managed to avoid it, swinging out to one side on his platform and breaking off his advance on the creature. He set himself down on the ground as the silver-haired boy leapt into action, brandishing his wing weapon. As he did, Max got a good look at it for the first time and recognition flooded through him.

He's got a Keyblade, the soldier thought quietly to himself. While he knew they needed the help of key-wielders, the fact that they were only showing up now, when Twilight Town was on the brink of destruction, made him angry. He was already resentful towards the Keyblade wielders, after all the worlds he'd seen fall to the darkness with no sign of them in sight, but the stress of recent events had left him feeling even more resentful and angry at this wielder's late arrival.

After a moment or two he recognized these thoughts for the distraction they were and refocused himself on the fight at hand. He gathered the water from the ice spike and formed it into multiple small, spiked spheres of ice. After a moment, he sent the entire group of ice spheres at the Chaos Hide. It was a deadly attack he'd used before to great effect, the powerful fusillade typically shredding enemies to pieces in moment. With a target like the Chaos Hide, however, it was likely to do little more than scratch the thing.

He then reformed his water platform and maneuvered his way behind the Chaos Hide. He then launched himself at it's back, aiming to bury the head of his spear in the base of its neck.

[Oswald]

The beast started moving, hooray for that, in any case it seemed to go for Jin first with a slap to it's leg. Turning it's head to avoid the icicle that Maxwell launched at the creature, however immediately after it charged a gigantic beam and fired across the small area that is the sandlot. Firing the crate towards the beast was apparently not the brightest idea Oswald had had since he got to Twilight Town.

The flames only seemed to be there for a short time but they were hot enough to turn everything around Oswald to charcoal and ash. If anything the fire sent Oswald into the side of the building with the sudden blast of their appearance, and soon after he fell back down onto the pile of hot coal. Jin cam quickly over to search the rubble for signs of the rabbit.

Getting up, rather painfully, he looked over and saw the grew haired guy practically fly towards the head of the monster. Walking out of the burning rubble and patting out some smoke coming from his shoulder, Oswald turned to Jin, "I'm fine, focus on the giant monster wreaking havoc on the town." Catching his breath he looked up and ran over to the new girl, she seemed like a competent person to be around while you're recovering from a flash fire. "Hi, I'm Oswald, who're you?"

[Kali]

A crack in the sky, no this isn't a dream

There is Unease deep in the Lifestream

Kali was inherently focused on keeping an eye on the others, intending to be their shields in the battle. Everyone managed fairly well, not really getting hurt, and she decided to move to take a better position in the battle. What she didn't anticapate, however, was the beam of bure destruction being fired from the beast, tearing through its surroundings as it headed for its target. It was then she realized that they had not had nearly enough time. There was life inside the buildings, and when the shockwave from the beam knocked her hood down, it all came rushing to her. Screams of souls extinguished, all in a heartbeat.  A guttural cry emerged from her as she struggled to stay standing, teeth grit. Her staff acted as a second anchor point, but the pain had the hand holding it shaking, and it threatened to give out. But she would not be bested so easily. For now, the others could wait. Carbuncle landed next to her as she looked at the giant beast, approaching them, and took off running. It was time she saw what her new materia could do. Almost as if activated at the thought of it, the purple one hanging from her staff began to glow. Something akin to water dripped from it, but where it landed, the ground would ripple, and a copy of Kali would appear. Soon, four others appeared before her, and they all darted off into the rubble of houses that had been destroyed, darting behind cover, around corners, and by each other. Carbuncle chose to stay behind, lingering around Max. Confusion was the tactic at hand. Soon, the real Kali was to the right of the beast, and she acted on her plan. One of the illusions approached the beast from behind, and she dispelled the other illusions to use the materia in a different way. Illusory balls of fire would explode in the sky, hopefully catching the beast's attention. She wanted to distract it, but she needed a second plan, and fast. This heals, this heals, and this one... Wait. Creatures of pure darkness. That's it. The purple materia lost its glow as another gained one, a soft glow with hints of green. She felt the warmth of light magic envelop her, warming her from head to toe. A quick scan of her surroundings showed a ruined rooftop she could stand upon, and she ran over to it, legs flexing before she grabbed onto it, pulling herself up. With her new vantage point, she let her magic flow through the materia, but it wasn't enough. I need as much as I can get. I need more. The more she put into it, the more it glowed, until it surely was enough to catch the beast's attention. The magic was flowing through her, as well, outlining her with an almost divine look. However, the materia was cracking from the pure magic she was putting into it. She had to let it go. With a sharp gesture, a bolt of light magic burst forward from her palm, aimed at the Dark Hide's head. Whether it hit or not, at the snap of her paw, it exploded, pure light magic erupting from its focal point. Blinding, yet beautiful, the burst was made of the purest concentration of light magic the materia could muster. At the very least, she hoped to blind it, but she knew creatures of Darkness more often than not succumbed to light.  As the light magic burst forth, the materia shattered. She ignored the shards falling at her feet, and let out another cry at the beast. Carbuncle began to fade as she readied another spell. She had a contingency plan. ((Irridescence Materia is shattered, and Carbuncle will be dismissed next post.))

@the doomed protecters

notes:

mood: fricked

template by BEAR♔

[Mikhail Rutherford]

Deciding he had seen enough, Mikhail switched to a more aggressive position. The man hadn’t been as quick to make his way to the Sandlot as the others, opting to help evacuate those in the surrounding areas first. It would only delay the inevitable in the worst case scenario, but at least those unable to defend themselves wouldn’t be caught in the initial crossfire. Still, after a few minutes the former knight felt the urge to make his way to the scene.

He had found the perfect vantage point at the top of one of the surrounding buildings, but he decided against instinctively jumping into battle. Despite having encountered and fought a wide variety of Heartless in the past, it was the first time Mikhail faced this kind. The beast was massive, standing before its opponents like a giant from the skies. The armored plating covering its form rendered most direct assaults useless, and identifying corporal weak points from such a distance seemed to be a fruitless endeavor. Even so, ranged attacks could serve to distract and perhaps even neutralize the creature for a short while.

Mikhail gripped a silver hilt, unsheathing Flame’s End before aiming the blade’s tip at the Heartless’s frontal right paw. A small sphere of gravity magic emerged and hastily flew out toward its intended target. It would expand upon contact, intending to slowly sap the monster’s vitality if susceptible to its effects.

Not willing to stand and wait for his initial attack’s results, Mikhail proceeded to land on the ground below with a small thud. He immediately caught sight of the pillar of raging fire to his left, gesturing his hand to gather some of the existing flames before bringing them toward him. The vigilante would also take note of the young man and what he took for a rabbit in the zone. The latter seemed to have fallen victim to the assault the pyromancer now sought to take advantage of.

"Save the introductions for later," he quipped, eyes now fixated on the foe before them. Part of the fire at his disposal danced over his sword and coated the blade with its warmth, setting it ablaze. Most of it, however, would be manipulated further to form three spheres of elemental energy. The man proceeded to abandon his position, not wanting to give the Dark Hide an opening to exploit. Once he had identified a chance of his own and none of the others stood in the way, he would send the ammunition flying at the creature’s horn.

Mikhail remained on the move, attempting to avoid any retaliatory action from the enemy. Meanwhile, his eyes attempted to scan his surroundings, simultaneously looking for other exploitable resources as well as any comrades in need of assistance.

[Bayde]

The pest that had dodged the swipe of the Chaos Hide's paw saw it fit to use the body of the beast as a foothold to run upward and let forth another of its irritating blasts. This one, though, this one was less of a tickle and more of a pinch.

Irritated, the beast flung its head upwards to capture the perpetrator in its gaze and light its world ablaze with hellfire, but there was no one there. Instead, nothing but empty air was above the creature. Annoying.

More annoying, though, was the feeling of its weight pushing down more intensely upon it. More magic, no doubt, but nothing that the Chaos Hide couldn't shrug off. Mobility was not its strength to begin with, and therefor losing it was not a primary concern. It would level this world where it stood should movement be entirely robbed from it.

It was at that time that three balls of flame shot in succession at it, pelting its hide and sputtering to cinders on contact. It hardly felt a thing, given that fire was one of its primary elements. If anything, the warmth was a welcome relief from the coolness of the land that had caught its ire.

And then, foolishly, one of the mites thought they could injure it with a physical attack. The feeling of the darkness against its skin would have sent the Chaos Hide into a fit of laughter if it had harbored the personality with which to do so. Darkness? Against Darkness? A foolish attempt.

This one. This one could be countered.

Getting close to the Chaos Hide was a bad idea, and when the beast split into four different parts at the neck - each but the original of a different color than the last - that was made clear.

Two of the four heads - the green and red discolorations - made ferocious biting attacks against the silver haired keyblade wielder, and its jaws found purchase against something both times. Good. Good.

Of course, the next matter to deal with was the barrage of sharpened ice crystals waylaying the other two bites from even having a chance to launch. It seemed that one of the other insignificant bugs thought that throwing things at it was going to do anything.

It was Chaos. It had absorbed the Darkness and made it its own. Such petty attacks would do nothing against it.

The source of the ice was on the move again after the first attempt at an assault failed, and as it took to the air on platforms made of water the beast knew exaclty what to do.

The ground all around the battlefield began to crack, smoulder, and steam as fire and darkness took hold of the earth, spreading slowly and turning the ground into more than just a dangerous place to be. For all that could not resist the heat and the Darkness, their deaths would be as slow and painful as possible as the world on which they stood turned against and destroyed them from their feet.

The pests would all have to touch down eventually, and when they did it would be their downfall.

And at that time, the clones of the girl who had remained towards the rear began dashing about. Which one was real? What were the fakes? Did it matter? Of course not.

Four identical sets of fangs began to gnash and gnaw at the shadows in the form of the girl, and when they found no purchase they would simply move onto the next that entered their field of view.

And then, an explosion of fire in the air and a burst of radiance from a building nearby caught the attention of different heads at he same time.

The girl fired off a burst of powerful light that made the Darkness in its skin crawl and retreat so as to not be overwhelmed by the potency, and the blast of energy could not be dodged even without the pesky added weight from the magic that had been cast upon it earilier.

The light burned; conjured deep instincts within the beast that it had taken along with the Hide it had consumed on Ivalice. Its flesh melted away and left a nasty looking gash across one eye. Not only had it been injured, but the girl had gone so far as to partially blind it.

These trespasses would not be forgiven

At once, all four heads let out a cry that rattled the buildings and the very souls of the combatants as the same Darkness that had torn the earth asunder gathered in all four of its mouths.

The girl, the foolish rabbit who had run right in front of it and had already be injured, the orange one with the lightning, and the silver one who thought he knew the Darkness were all it its sights when the beams fired. The newcomer and the water user were either moving or out of sight - the latter poking it in the back with something of little importance.

Flighty as always, the orange one moved. The girl as well had managed to scamper out of the way somehow, but the silver one and the rabbit - both already injured somewhat from before - would face the full wrath of the beams if something was not done.

HEALTH

Chaos Hide
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Jin
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Kali
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Max
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Mikhail
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Oswald
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Riku
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[Maxwell Tendas]

Max's attack on the Chaos Hide's neck succeeded, the head of his spear burying deep into its skin. As he did so, he saw fiery attacks splashing over the immense Heartless and looked over and grinned as he saw Mikhail joining the fray. However, it seemed completely unfazed by his own attack, ignoring it altogether in favor of splitting three new heads out of its current one, each a different color from the original. The change was sudden and alarming, and Max quickly withdrew his spear and retreated a safe distance behind the Chaos Hide in case it attacked him in retaliation. It had turned its attention on the others though, completely ignoring himself and Mikhail for the time being.

As he retreated to a safe distance, Max realized that left him with an opening. He turned the ice from his spiked spheres back to water and called it to his position, forming it into another large spear of ice. Unlike the first one he'd formed, however, this one had a jutting spiral along its sides like a drill. The soldier used his power to make it spin and then hurled it towards the Chaos Hide's back. He was hoping the rotation would give it the additional penetration needed to pierce through the thing's shadowy hide and do some real damage, as it seemed like they had barely managed to do anything more scratch it so far...