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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Looking at the creature Maxwell seemed to have found purchase with his spear, but not a second ticked by when the thing grew three more heads. It can do that? Oswald thought as it watched the thing thrash about, simultaneously someone new joined the battle, telling Os to not introduce himself now then jumping and throwing flames at the monster. And then Maxwell went behind the monster, Maybe for a surprise attack?
Standing in front of the beast was not the brightest idea, Oswald soon realized this when the entire ground began cracking and steaming with heat. It seemed to be originating from the beast, and not stopping, given the moment Oswald flipped around and started running. He wasn't being a coward, no, it was all part of his plan. Running back to the now less on fire boxes, he blasted them with blizzard to hopefully put out the fire. It didn't but it was a try, with the cracks now closing in to the edge of the sandlot. Turning back to see where they was a brilliant flash of light and suddenly the beast had a gash in it's eye.
The cracks now getting closer, Os jumped into the air and started spinning his ears, letting him hover, it wouldn't last forever so he'd have to think of something. About the only thing he could think of landing on was the burning cinders and that wouldn't work. However another thought came to his mind, Dark Whispers was a spell that created a large orb. He may be able to stand on it if he succeeded, stopping his hovering he cast the spell downwards towards the cinders catching a few leading to the orb's creation. Landing on the orb Oswald had trouble getting his footing but when he did he started walking backwards making the orb go forward over the cracks and heat. It was a good way of getting around on the new terrain, but the new discovery was lessened when a large beam of darkness was shot straight at Oswald, with nothing else to block the incoming beam Oswald focused on his blizzard materia, pushing outwards towards the laser shot a diamond shaped piece of ice about the size of a soccer ball, It should be enough to stop the laser for now. Gaining speed he zoomed by the side of the creature and fired some electricity at the Heartless while zooming by.
As Riku finished the arc of his swing, the heartless’s head split into four, two of which lunged at him with their teeth. He managed to summon a protective barrier directly in front of him to lessen the blow of the first, but the second set of teeth tore into him without mercy. But the water wielder launched a flurry of icicles at the back of the beast's head, allowing Riku a chance to escape before the other two heads could inflict more damage. He yanked himself away at the cost of drawing more of his blood, his left arm marked by long deep cuts from the vicious onslaught.
Riku had only touched ground for a brief moment before the Chaos Hide had summoned a great force to crack and bend the earth at their feet to be replaced by fire and darkness. He quickly used the remaining platforms of stone to reach a higher position, near their resident healer and took a moment to survey the situation.
The swordsman wielding lightning as his weapon seemed to have launched a massive attack from above and was on the move again, avoiding the Chaos Hides attacks completely through speed alone. The water wielder had opted to move behind the creature and continue dividing its attention, while the girl with the hood had unleashed a powerful light that shot out at the creature. Below, Riku could now see the newcomer shooting out fire and gravity magic who then continued dancing around the enemy, never staying in the same place for too long. The rabbit had created a dark orb to maneuver around on to negate the dangerous terrain, and shot out ice magic towards an incoming beam of darkness.
Riku took one last glance towards the young girl to make sure she was alright, before descending back down into the fight. Knowing now that his darkness was less than effective, Riku opted to distract the beast, so that his allies would stand a better chance at attacking or avoiding attacks. Unleashing his dark aura, Riku suddenly vanished. A few seconds later, he appeared flying through a portal below the creature and landing another swing of his keyblade against its underbelly. Through another portal and Riku was attacking at its left leg. Then one of its faces, then another, down its back, its chest, each swing Riku took he made a mental note of its effectiveness, hoping to find its weak points during his attack.
And finally, Riku appeared above and came slamming his kryblade down across its upper shoulder blades, dark energy radiating from him and across the creature’s form. Clearly darkness would do little to this heartless, but all Riku was trying to do was keep its attention off the others.
Not six seconds ago, Jin was asking if the rabbit had a death wish. When the newcomer appeared and Oswald proceeded to charge headfirst back into the CHaos Hide's line of sight, he started to think it was true.
Maybe he was trying to impress this new character. Maybe he was just trying to impress Jin himself. Maybe the recklessness was out of some sense of overconfidence or an issue with needing to prove himself. Whatever it was, it was going to get him killed one of these days.
If he wasn't careful, it might be today.
The same could be said of their new silver haired brother in arms. Those attacks didn't look like they were a walk in the park to tough out, and even if Kali had cast her barrier on him it was a long shot to assume that it would hold up against something so massive.
After Mikhail released his volley of fireballs, Jin was quick to take note of the Hide's reaction.
"Get to higher ground!" he shouted, ducking down just enough to further empower a jump that sent him up to the rooftops. He could only hope his voice carried.
Unfortunately - or fortunately, given how things turned out - his cry seemed to have garnered at least the partial attention of his target.
Jin whipped to the side, feeling the whisps of Darkness rush past his face as he barely dodged out of the way of the blast that had been directed at him. It wasn't because there had been no time, though; Jin was capitalizing on his opportunity for a counter.
He wasn't dumb - he'd seen the way that Kali had used Light magic to injure the creature. It seemed everything came back down to that eventually, didn't it? If magic wasn't his weak point, he'd be fine with it.
Still, what he wouldn't give for his swords to do the same things as those keyblade things right now.
The Shimmering Thunder materia hanging loosely from the end of one of his swords began to shine with a dim glow, and the skin around Jin's fingertips cracked to reveal shining, bluish-white light under the surface. His blades crackled with electricity of the same color, and with a step firm enough to crack the cement of the roof Jin accelerated.
The sides of the buildings made perfect rebound points, and as Jin shot through the air at high speed he left bright streaks of light in his wake that sliced through the air and followed the path of his cuts into the beast.
One jump, then another, then dozens. Jin's speed was on full display, and the light-imbued electricity in his swords would hopefully do the trick when it came to leaving a mark on the Hide.
Either that or distract the heads from making a meal of the others.
Post by Mikhail Rutherford on May 19, 2017 20:23:03 GMT -4
Mikhail cursed under his breath, not oblivious to the Chaos Hide’s reaction –or lack of- to his previous assault. While gravity magic seemed to be having an effect on the beast, his fire attacks were doing absolutely nothing. Not a soft burn, not even a shudder… just nothing. He proceeded to extinguish the flames surrounding Flame’s End with a flick of his hand; while useful in most scenarios, the elemental damage would probably only hinder his attempts to take down their foe.
Everyone else seemed to be playing their part as they attempted to make a dent on the Heartless by any means available. However, their current efforts were hardly more than a mere annoyance to it. They’d all need to step up their game if they were to take this thing down.
It was then that the beast, practically fed up their futile attempts to harm it, decided to grow three new heads at its disposal. Just like that, no questions asked.
This definitely wasn’t part of the description Max had given him.
Mikhail’s eyes quickly became fixed on the most vulnerable target: a silver maned male who had been attempting to deal some damage at the Chaos Hide’s neck. The pyromancer turned on his heel, changing direction to assist the man in any way he could. That’s when he caught sight of it.
A keyblade.
He found the irony of the discovery mildly amusing. Mere hours before they’d been placing all bets on waking up Xion to save Twilight Town, and now another keyblade wielder randomly showed up. Again, just like that.
Some questions would need to be answered… of course, once the more pressing matter was taken care of.
As the keybearer freed himself from the Chaos Hide’s jaws, Mikhail aimed the tip of his blade at his general direction. A bright orb with hues of green would find itself launched at the man. Upon contact, the cure magic would do its best to mitigate some of the damage he’d just received.
Then the ground started to shake, trembling and changing at the Heartless’s will. Recognizing the appearance of heated ground, Mikhail opted to take advantage of it. He raised his free hand and with it a portion of the melted concrete; it was small enough to keep himself from using an unnecessary amount of energy, but still spacious enough for the man to stand on it. Though it took some concentration, he managed to move the hardened lava platform around the beast and hopefully out of its immediate field of view.
The Chaos Hide suddenly released a sharp cry, attempting to retaliate against… light.
Light, of course! That was the key. Positioning himself behind the Heartless’s left back leg, Mikhail felt the light materia in his pocket glow. He grimaced, the darkness within him attempting to resist its flow of energy before eventually giving in. It hurt like hell, but it seemed to be the only way for them to take it down. He’d worry about the possible side effects then.
Mikhail’s body acted like a magical conductor as energy began to flow into his weapon. The longsword’s blade glowed with an intensity that had previously been foreign to it, and so he moved. Ignoring the burning pain he felt within, the former knight delivered a swift flurry of five slashes.
The man immediately deactivated the light materia’s energy flow. His body thanked him with a rush of physical relief as he then proceeded to move his platform away from the Chaos Hide.
She had done it. She had actually injured it. Her cocky smile was short lived, however, as the ground began to smolder under her, turning molten. In addition, the Chaos Hide had a head look at her, and darkness formed in its mouth. She had to find a reaction, fast. Dodging wasn't favorable in these conditions, but she had to move so as to not be hurt by magma. Her feet already were burning. She eyed some obstacles, and took off without thought.
Cat-like agility brought her a few feet, but the next jump was too far for her to make. Instead, near the others, Carbuncle faded into a cloud of wisps, and another burst from Kali, Ember forming before her. The Chocobo fluttered its wings, gliding by, as its feet pressed against the burning ground, briefly. As a fire-aligned summon, it was uninjured in the brief moment, but it had to continue, running as fast as it could away from the beam.
Kali had to be sure, though, and with a flick of her hand, she triggered her Bolt Shield materia, the barrier that formed around her and her summon sparking ever so slightly. Ember kept to the outskirts of the molten zone as close as possible, and Kali focused her magic, ready to pour more in, in case of a confirmed hit.
The Chaos Hide took a brief moment to observe the state of its prey after it had fired its beams. The rabbit had somehow managed to get a block of ice in the way - one large enough and cold enough that the heat from the air around it didn't immediately destroy its integrity. The blast had been mostly deflected, much to the chagrin of the creature.
The silver haired one seemed to have been caught off-guard. That had been fortunate, certainly. The barrier he had summoned earlier, while short in duration, seemed incredibly potent when it came to mitigating damage from its Darkness-aligned attacks. And between that and the bites from earlier, this pest was looking more than a little worse for wear.
The barrier that had protected him had fallen with the second bite, and the damage that had followed through with it combined with what the beam had done had him looking like he was a quarter way to his grave.
But the pesky newcomer had to go and ruin that with a blasted Cure spell, now didn't he? Lacerations mended, injuries alleviated, and stamina seemingly restored, the pest had once again vanished into the Darkness.
At that point, something cool and wet once again impacted the rear of its main head. However, the heat in the air combined with the time it had taken the water user to craft the object had left it with very little integrity. The drill had shattered on impact, the remaining shards falling directly to the ground and being enveloped by the black heat until nothing but vapor in the air remained.
It would likely take the water user some time to gather another large quantity of liquid again, and his weapons were proving completely useless against the thick skin of the beast. In the end, it seemed this one was inconsequential.
And, serendipitously, that was the perfect adjective to describe the Darkness-slinging keyblade wielder. It was funny, in a way. The Heartless instincts of the Hide told it to fear the weapon in the hands of the silver haired one, but with each impact it seemed that something...different...was negating the damage of the attacks.
If that impudent girl hadn't wounded it before, the Hide might have wondered if it was even able to be killed at all. Though, all things considered, that wound wasn't something which couldn't be licked, and it didn't seem that the source of the attack had been able to contain the energy either.
But then, the one with the orange hair just had to interrupt that happy recollection. At least the Hide thought it was that one. His speed had been a nuisance before, but with dozens of shallow but stinging cuts imbued with the power of light, it was only a matter of time until
White hot pain rushed up from the Chaos Hide's hind leg where the newcomer was. The Hide had been so focused on one potential threat that he'd forgotten the others for a moment.
Through the combined efforts of the two, the orange haired one seemed to have weakened the outer shell just enough to allow the one that had thrown fire to switch his element from flame to light and cut painfully into the body of the beast.
In a fit of rage, the creature lifted its injured leg and smashed it down into the ground on top of its attack. The movement was swift. There would be no time to dodge - only defend. These pests kept thinking that getting close was a good idea, and while the sheer speed of the orange haired one might make that possible for the briefest of moments those without the particular blessing would be remiss to make that mistake.
The threat of toppling the platform of cooled rock that the fire user seemed to have accommodated was also present. Should he fall to the ground, the flame and Darkness would take him.
Then, in retaliation against the silver haired one, another two vicious bites. The first was slow to start, and the keyblade wielder had more than enough time to dodge out of the way, but the second attack followed him and landed cleanly.
If the beast could just focus on one or two of them, their numbers would fall swiftly.
Yes...Focus. That was an idea.
The remaining two heads both pooled the shadows up from the ground and all around as another set of beams gathered in their mouths. The orange one would just dodge, and the silver one had that barrier...
The new one it was, then.
Two beams shot forth at once, but the creature's aim was off - its power was poorly managed. The collided and dissipated just a moment too soon, saving Mikhail from a gruesome attack.
Enraged, the beast swung its heads to and fro, looking for a simpler target and waiting for the next attack to come its way.
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Post by Maxwell Tendas on May 24, 2017 8:19:35 GMT -4
Spells and blades flew all around the Sandlot as Max watched his ice drill, weakened from the heat of the ground below, break harmlessly against the Chaos Hide. The heat from the ground below turned much of it to steam before he could recall it to himself, leaving him with a paltry amount of water to work with for the time being. It seemed nothing but light-based attacks could do any meaningful harm to this Heartless, which meant Max may as well be tickling the damned thing. He watched as Jin and Mikhail both used light materia to empower their attacks to deal some damage to the Chaos Hide. Unfortunately for Max, such tactics weren't even a possibility. He'd tried using the dark materia he'd found after they had brought down the Darkside and hadn't even gotten the faintest of magical stirrings from it. It may as well have been just a pretty, star-shaped rock in his hands.
The soldier took himself higher above the battlefield as the Chaos Hide began to retaliate against everyone else below. He would not sit back and let everyone else fight just because he couldn't cause any harm. If he couldn't hurt it directly, he would find ways to just disrupt it in what it was attempting to do. As he rose above everyone else's heads, a hundred feet in the air, he studied the Chaos Hide's movements as he circled the periphery of the Sandlot. As he did so, he formed what little water he had left to use immediately available into a series of small spheres, rotating in a ring around him. He just stood there, watching and waiting...
...Until he saw an opportunity arise.
Perhaps the Chaos Hide paused, perhaps it looked up for the briefest of moments, or maybe it became preoccupied with its retaliation against his comrades. Regardless, there was an opening and Max exploited it. He rocketed himself on his platform towards the Chaos Hide, sending his water spheres out in front of him, aiming them carefully for its eyes. As they impacted, he followed closely behind with his spear held in front of him, looking to bury it as deep as he could into one of its heads' eyes. The damage he might cause from this attack may not be permanent, and it may not disable the Chaos Hide completely, but he didn't intend it to anyway. He was merely trying to take some of its attention away from the others who could damage it.
Jin touched down on top of one of the buildings on the opposite sides of the Sandlot as Kali and Riku had occupied not seconds ago. His breath was a little ragged, and the cracks around his fingertips had crawled their way to his wrist. The twinge of pain in his hand was just barely more than he could ignore without a constant flow of adrenaline in his system. He had to be careful with how much of this Materia's power he used. Moreso than his lightning, this Light ate away at his stamina and even damaged the integrity of his body.
Still, if Light was the only way to injure this creature it was what he was going to have to deal with. This was the one option he had when it came to using something that came close to what the people of this World called magic. The energy ran contrast to what Tamnia had filled his body with, and converting from one to the other was dangerous to say the least.
Mikhail had managed to abuse one of the several openings he'd created to do some actual damage to the Hide. That was good - now Jin could only hope the others would pick up on that and try to synergize with him.
There was still far too much disorganization among the group, and with Max there Jin was perfectly aware that nothing resembling real teamwork was going to happen. He was going to march to the beat of his own drum even if it killed him - and that was exactly what he seemed to be doing now as he dove at the Hide's heads just as the silver haired boy with the sword that looked like a toy had done twice before. Just like how the same boy had gotten himself caught in one of the beast's mouths twice before.
"Friggin' idiot," Jin mumbled as he spun Unbreaking Stone once in his fingers before sheathing the weapon. If he was going to do any real damage, he'd need to focus this Light into one point - one sword - and do what he could with that. These little flickering attacks weren't going to penetrate its defenses unless he had more than a little help from the others, and Mikhail hadn't looked any more comfortable using Light than he had. If that was the case, Jin would much prefer that he be the one to throw around the larger-scale bursts of energy from here on out.
Jin closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and letting his focus trail to his center and his right hand where Glimmering Lightning rested. His left hand found its way to his right wrist, and the Sparkling Thunder Materia began to glimmer more harshly than it had before. Jin pushed the oxygen from his lungs as his grip on his blade tightened along with every other muscle in his body. He had to push as much of his energy into the Materia as he thought safe before letting loose with his next attack. Lightning took time to charge up if he didn't want to hurt himself. The conversion to Light with Materia added another layer of complication on top of that. But Jin didn't have time right now. He was already in a rush, and the pain wasn't helping his focus any.
The cracks in his arm illuminated once again, broadening and lengthening as they traversed the path of his upper arm before resting dangerously at the crook of his elbow. Glimmering Lightning's blade was encased in a thick layer of powerful white light - rivalling but ultimately coming just shy of the irridescence that Kali had produced earlier when her own Materia had shattered. The light from Jin's arm pulsated the longer he waited, and with each throb the pain would echo into his very bones and cause him to clench his teeth a little tighter.
He'd only have one shot at this. Any more, and he knew that his body might not be able to recover from the damage that he'd cause to himself.
Max had taken a shot at distracting one of the Chaos Hide's heads, but there were still three to go before he could successfully aim a strike at a vital point. The neck where all four heads protruded from seemed a good guess, but with the ground all but entirely melted Jin couldn't position himself out of the Hide's line of sight. He'd need to wait for the right time and dodge what he could while focusing.
Post by Mikhail Rutherford on May 27, 2017 14:40:34 GMT -4
As Mikhail attempted to retreat from the close ranged battle zone, he became fully aware of his attack´s success. The Chaos Hide´s figure, specifically its leg, seemed to have reacted to the cuts of Light inflicted by his blade. It appeared that his previous assumption had been correct: Light-enhanced attacks were the only think capable of dealing some damage. If so, the man would have no choice but to keep exploiting the Light materia despite the possible recoil damage. Rushing in, however, wouldn’t be the smartest way to go about it. The following strikes would need to be carefully set as they chased down any possible opening. He could only hope the others would notice and either arm themselves with Light of their own or serve as distractions for those who were able to.
Unfortunately, the Chaos Hide’s retailing move was swifter than he had anticipated. Its injured leg was suddenly raised and quickly set down in a stomp. It was an obvious attempt to deal with the pyromancer’s meddling, but one that couldn’t possibly be evaded now.
Mikhail had barely managed to move his platform enough to avoid the full force of the attack’s epicenter. Still, some serious damage was bound to be dealt, or worse, if something wasn’t done to mitigate the response. Acting on instinct, he immediately activated his Barrier Materia. A sphere charged with protective energy surrounded the former knight and his platform just in time to receive the Chaos Hide’s smash. He trusted the shield to do its work as he focused on keeping his platform airborne and stable. Instead of bringing him down and crushing him with its leg, Mikhail hoped the platform’s slight movement and Barrier would be enough to have the Heartless’s leg instead push him to the side, leading him to scarcely graze the melted concrete. He would quickly elevate his position once again, intending to hover away to take a better look at the battlefield’s conditions.
They keyblade wielder seemed to be struggling as the Chaos Hide’s heads tried to bite at him. Alas, Mikhail was too far from him to assist with a distraction or another healing spell. He hoped another member of their barely functional party would take note and help him in his stead.
It was then that his eyes caught a glimmer of light coming from the top of one of the buildings. The pyromancer raised his platform, watching as the orange haired swordsman appeared to be charging his blade with pure Light, albeit with some difficulty. He brought himself close enough to see and hopefully understand the intended target area. Mikhail sighed. The boy either had a death wish or an inhuman amount of confidence to believe he could pull off such a strike.
Unless…
As Max prepared to strike at one of the Chaos Hide’s heads, Mikhail brought his platform rushing toward the immediate area. His sword arm was extended, generating another sphere of Gravity energy to be shot at their foe. The intended target, however, would be the adjacent head’s submandibular area. That would hopefully hinder its attempts to strike at either Max or the orange haired male, as well as keep it distracted for the time being. The pyromancer remained alert, awaiting the enemy’s response. He could only hope the remaining two heads would be taken care of as he was nonetheless wide open for another retaliation attack.
Maybe electricity won't do it, that was the first thought after grazing by and absolutely nothing happening to it. The others all seemed to be doing their own thing at the moment, with the new guy that had jumped in a couple seconds ago slashing up the Heartless' leg with his sword, which seemed to be doing actual damage. Right afterwards the leg stomped down upon him, but with the protective dome, it seemed that he would be fine. A few seconds after that Maxwell had decided to attack the beast with what looked like all his might.
Thinking over it Oswald came to a conclusion, he could not damage the creature in the slightest, it seemed only that light could damage it and he didn't have that materia, yet. So it seemed like the only thing he could do was distract the beast, and that would put him in the line of fire, and Oswald didn't think that he could conjure another ice ball. But looking around he noticed that Jin was apparently glowing, or at least his arm was. Oswald guessed that this was going to be a powerful attack, and if it was to succeed, it would need a distraction. With no other way of distracting the beast Oswald looked around for a place to land. There was an awning by Oswald and it seemed like it would be the perfect place to land. Jumping up and grabbing the orb Oswald launched it at a somewhat blue version of it's head. The burst may be enough to at least make it look this way. Hovering over and landing on the awning Oswald turned back towards the battle. Hopefully it would end soon.
Turns until MP recharges for Ice Magic: 1 Turns until MP recharges completely: 3
In the midst of Riku's ploy to distract the beast, two of the five heads turned to take a bite at him again. Riku was prepared for it this time, and nimbly dodged backwards to avoid the first head, but it didn't seem he had enough time to dodge the second. He quickly summoned another barrier in front of him, but with the strength of such a massive heartless, the barrier soon cracked and shattered under the tremendous weight, succeeding in only lessening the blow. Still, no matter what pain Riku suffered, he was hell bent on keeping this thing's attention away from the others, who seemed to be more effective than he was so far.
After having teeth rake through his flesh once again, Riku leaped towards the heads once more, attacking at the base of the necks with his bare keyblade, rather than infusing darkness into his swings again, as that tactic seemed to do so little. Still, the keyblade itself may be enough to irritate the heartless enough for the others to get in their attacks.
Mikhail's barrier had been a good idea - between that and his natural hardiness most all of the damage he might have taken had been mitigated. He was able to right himself, and the cloud of smoke created from the two beams generated by the Chaos Hide gave him the cover he needed to reposition.
And whether it was some cosmic twist of fate or just dumb luck, everything seemed to fall into place after that.
Oswald's sphere of Dark Whispers impacted the blue head of the creature, and that was enough to grab its attention to prompt the distraction that Max needed to launch his attack. This two spheres of water impacted the remaining illusory heads, and Max's spear found purchase in the last head.
The three heads recoiled back, and as Mikhail's round of Gravity magic hit dead center in the point where all four heads connected. Up until this point, the beast had been ignoring the first round of this - it was a nuisance at best and hardly worth wasting effort on. Now, however, the second round proved to increase the effects exponentially.
For a split second, all four heads were locked in place long enough for Riku to take advantage of the opening and slam his keyblade home.
If this had been any ordinary foe, the combination may have left the Chaos Hide dazed for the forseeable future, but the Chaos Hide had more than one trick up its sleeve.
The heat that surrounded the battleground began to rapidly diminish. Lava cooled and Darkness retreated to leave nothing but cracked asphalt in its place. Flame and Darkness coated the skin of the creature, covering up injuries and exuding a pressure that put the menacing aura it once put out to shame.
The air had gone cold save for the immediate vicinity around the Hide, and the four headed beast let out another primal roar before shifting its gaze towards the only source of Light in the area - the one coming from Jin's sword.
As one, the four heads let loose a volley of black energy towards the orange haired boy. However, instead of clashing against one another and exploding as they had with Mikhail, the beams were spread apart enough to avoid that.
With Jin's focus on his attack stealing away from his speed, he wouldn't be able to dodge this one as he had so easily with all the others.
Everything seemed to be going swell, or at least as swell as could be for a giant Heartless in town. With the blue head distracted, Max got his attack in that got the other heads out of the way. With the final assault of the beast with the newcomer's gravity spell and the grey haired guy's weapon slamming down. In any other case this would've been a time for celebration, but then the lava and darkness dissapeared only to coat the Heartless, leaving no area safe to touch. Then it fired at Jin, four beams sailed from the mouths at the glowing figure.
Seeing this Oswald knew just what to do, "Everyone protect Jin!" Lokking for some way to block at least one beam an idea struck. Conjuring up more ice he soon fashioned himself up three strips of ice that were merely only as thick as a door and as tall as a chair. Whisking them towards the closest of the beams he managed to move them so that they came at the beam in a sharp diagonal each overlapping each other at the middle.
Post by Maxwell Tendas on Aug 28, 2017 21:12:24 GMT -4
A grin of satisfaction crossed Max’s face as his spear slammed home into the Chaos Hide’s face and the water spheres came made contact with its eyes. It quickly disappeared, however, when it seemed to all but ignore their attacks. Not that they had done anything to ignore, as the creature’s shadowy hide seemed totally unmarred by their efforts, even where it had taken attacks empowered by light. Max stayed where he was, clinging onto his spear which was stuck fast in the creature’s head as it retaliated against their assault. As the Chaos Hide stomped and snarled, striking back against his comrades, Max found himself wondering just what the point of fighting it was. They had thrown enough at it already that he doubted even a darkside or a behemoth could withstand their onslaught, but this Chaos Hide seemed completely unfazed by their efforts.
In fact, they seemed to have galvanized it and made it even more determined to wipe Twilight Town from existence.
As the effects on the ground below were removed, and the Hide’s few, minor “wounds” began healing themselves completely, Max braced his feet against the side of the Chaos Hide’s face and attempted to extricate his spear to no avail. He hung there, braced against the side of the immense Heartless, which seemed to notice the light coming from Jin at the same moment he did. It turned all its attention to him as it swiveled each of its heads toward the red head. After a brief moment, they each opened their great maws and fired off a beam of energy at the glowing boy, an attack whose power was evident merely from the sight of it. Thinking as quickly as he could, Max gathered what water he had left to use, wrapped it around his spear, and then gave as great a pull as he could with his body and the water in an attempt to bring the Chaos Hide’s aim off of Jin. Unfortunately, the soldier’s position didn’t allow him to see if his efforts were effective, so all he could do was hope…..
Sorry about that...Anyway, this is the wrap-up of the fight proper. From here, you're all more than free to break off into a casual After The Battle thread (in fact, I hope you do), and I know of at least one major thing that needs to happen after this point that I'd like to leave up to the person responsible for it.
Thank you all for your patience, and happy playing!
Darkness. Incredible Darkness.
It had been clinging to the air of Twilight Town since the moment the Dark Hide had torn down the wall between its realm and this one, saturating the air and choking what little Light remained with its oceanic pressure. And the longer the fight against the beast went on, the more intense it grew.
Those lacking sensitivity to the Darkness would have no chance of noticed no change in the air, and it clung so closely to the air that those who would have felt it could have easily missed how far the power had truly spread as their senses grew overwhelmed at the potency of what was nearby.
And the deeper the Darkness dug into this world, the more damage it took. Twilight Town was already on the verge of being taken before the appearance of the Dark Hide, and now the simple presence of the creature threatened to tip it over the edge into oblivion. So close to the Darkness, in fact, that – as if sensing their presence was needed – the hordes of Heartless residing beyond the veil began to spill forth into the world.
The group at large was shaken by their sudden appearance, frozen in place as the Heartless swelled into being all around them. Shards of Darkness as cold as ice took root in all those that still remained, strength of Heart being the only thing keeping them from being torn asunder by the overflowing might of the Realm of Darkness consuming the World.
And yet, some still moved.
Oswald’s ice, try as it might, was completely consumed and overrun by the Dark Hide’s beams. No, the only one who seemed to be working in Jin’s favor was Max, who had latched onto the beast’s heads and was desperately throwing his weight and might into redirecting the attack away from Jin. It would be that same plan, unfortunately, that undid the soldier.
The beast was far from immobile even while it channeled its energies into the beams coming from its mouths. No, in fact it had just enough presence of mind to realize that an excellent opportunity had presented itself.
One of the heads stopped firing of its own accord, thrashing about free from its counterparts and shaking Max and his spear loose from where the two were embedded on its hide. Whatever may have resembled a wound from the blow was quickly overcome and restored with dark energy, but what was more important was that Max had been sent airborne by the move.
Giving the soldier no time to right himself or even think of deploying a countermeasure, the beast once again let loose with a powerful beam of black energy that blotted Max’s flying figure from the sky, dragging him further upwards along with it.
As the beam flew further into the heavens, a gradual shift in the energy took place. Web-like cracks of yellow and orange rippled throughout the attack, and it slowed to a stop in the air as the Darkness gave way to hellfire, igniting the sky with a wave of red and black.
And then, less than a hundred yards from the Sandlot proper, nothing but the head of a spear, a sword, and the rest of what little Max had brought to the battle impacted with the ground, coated in soot and ash.
And, in perhaps the moment after this, the four shocks of dark energy that had been travelling to Jin impacted and crashed upon the roof.
The battlefield fell calm. In just two attacks, two of the most experienced warriors on the battlefield had been wiped out. The weight of that realization surely would have pressed down on the remaining fighters. They hadn’t managed to do any lasting damage, and already their ranks were beginning to thin in the most dangerous places.
But as the smoke cleared from the roof, the glint of a barrier shone through.
At Jin’s side stood a blue haired woman brandishing a silver and red Keyblade, clothed in sashes, spandex, and steel. The glow of magic still radiated off her weapon, indicating that she had been the one to shield Jin from the attacks that would have surely broken him away from his attack – if not worse.
Had it not been for the fact Jin’s senses had violently alerted him to Max’s life being ripped from the area, he may have been more grateful.
His gaze shot harshly to the woman at his side, taking in the frown on her face and the serious knit in her brow. She was as focused on the Dark Hide as he’d been, though he had no idea if she was aware of what had happened to Max.
“That was close,” she murmured. “If the fourth shot had been a direct hit, the barrier might have given way.”
And just like that, the fire growing in the pit of Jin’s stomach redoubled its intensity. Max and him had hardly been close; the opposite was probably true. And now the man was just another grave left in the wake of Jin’s own ineptitude.
“Do you know what this thing is?” the woman asked, meeting Jin’s eyes. “Or how to stop it?”
Senses reaching out, Jin clawed the air with his energy in search of Xion. If she really was the only person who could stop this, she would need to be up and moving by now. Otherwise, their only hope was whether or not he could make a deep enough cut with the light flowing into his sword to fend the Dark Hide off.
“No idea what it is,” Jin replied honestly. “As for how to stop it…There’s a girl named Xion. Keyblade wielder, like you. She’s supposedly got a materia that can finish this thing off, but as far as I can tell she’s still unconscious.”
“And what about…that?” Aqua motioned towards Jin’s arm, formless save for the crackling of white lightning up to the elbow now. Somehow, it didn’t look at all pleasant.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jin dismissed. “Right now, the best thing you can do is keep everyone shielded like you did me.”
“Everyone?” Aqua asked, looking around and taking notice of the scattered fighters on the battlefield. What looked like a rabbit, a young man, a girl who looked to have the features of a cat, and…
Riku?
Aqua shook her head. Now wasn’t the time for that. No, she had to keep her mind on the battle.
“Just the five of you? Is that really everyone?” she asked, somewhat surprised at how few their numbers were.
“No,” Jin seethed. “We used to be six.”
Against what should have been possible, the energy pouring in and around Jin’s arm intensified, crawling up further until his shoulder was taken over as well. With grit teeth, Jin narrowed his eyes and turned his head back towards the Hide.
“And even if my body turns to dust, I’ll see this thing dead for it.”
Aqua frowned. This boy’s body was rejecting the Light, and yet he still pressed further. He was no doubt in pain – immense pain, if the contortion of his face was anything to judge by. And yet, at the same time, she sensed no Darkness in him. In fact, it was almost like there was nothing at all there.
But that couldn’t be right, could it?
“You shouldn’t talk like that. If your friend died protecting you and you went and got yourself killed anyway, what would he say?”
“He wasn’t my friend,” Jin growled through grit teeth. “And I’m tired of people dying for me!”
And then, the materia that had been floating by the cord at the end of Jin’s blade shattered.
The energy broke free of Jin’s arm, coursing and pulsating in, around, and through him. He screamed, though through barred fangs it was more of a roar. The cracks in his skin jutted upwards yet again, bypassing his neck and slicing straight through his right eye, shattering the grey orb and leaving only a deep blue glow in its wake.
Aqua leapt backwards, putting enough distance between herself and the orange haired man to feel more comfortable. He really was serious, she thought. He was going to blow apart his whole body if they didn’t stop this monster soon. She had to save him.
Even if she thought it was an incredibly stupid decision on his end; even if she had no idea how anyone could force themselves to do such a thing, she had to save him. Because, in the scariest of ways, this man reminded her of Ven and Terra both.
Aqua took action, bounding from the roof and onto the ground below.
“Riku!” she yelled. “With me!”
Though he was surprised that this newcomer knew his name, Riku was quick to recognize the Keyblade in her hand and the barrier magic swirling around it. He nodded, springing into action behind her to gather Mikhail, Oswald, and Kali between them and lifting their keys skyward.
The barrier forming around the group, layered threefold over from the combined efforts of the group, acted as all the signal Jin needed to erupt from the roof in a bout of blinding speed, digging the blade of his sword into the neck of the Hide and letting loose as much of the gathered Light energy as he could.
With another roar, the Sandlot was engulfed in white light.
Xion had to move faster.
Enough time had already been wasted on her, and now the ones that had followed her into Gabranth’s dream realm were fighting for their lives against an enemy they couldn’t possibly hope to defeat. If that explosion off in the distance was anything to judge by, they were already on their last legs.
If they’d managed to generate that kind of power, they must have shattered at least a few materia. If they’d felt the need to go that far…
Xion didn’t have time to think about it.
‘Move!’ she thought, legs carrying her from rooftop to rooftop. ‘I have to move!’
Jin stood in front of the barrier that Aqua, Riku, and Kali had erected on weak, trembling legs. Before him, the Dark Hide stood with a large gash across its neck and several smaller cuts garnishing the rest of its body, all glowing white.
And yet, in spite of the damage Jin had managed to do, the wounds were still closing.
“Come on,” Jin grunted, ragged breath adding a hint of bite to the words. “Don’t tell me you’re..tired already?”
Aqua’s lips were pressed into a firm line. The light glowing around Jin’s arm had all but faded, leaving nothing behind but what looked like a mangled, bludgeoned heap of flesh coated in large, glowing lacerations. If that light had been how he was damaging this creature up until now, she doubted he had it in him to keep up the fight any longer.
He’d sacrificed enough for power already.
With a wave of her hand, segments from the barrier faded in just the right places for her to bring a heavy blow with the Master’s Keeper across the join of his neck and right shoulder. And just like that, the orange haired man fell to his knees and hit the ground. He was out cold.
“All of you, get out of here!” Aqua barked, exiting the safety of the protective magic and placing herself between the Dark Hide and Jin. “Take him to safety. I’ll hold this thing off!”
The Dark Hide took notice of the vulnerability presented to it, sending one head out in an attempt to gnaw deeply into Jin, Aqua, or whatever its teeth managed to snag.
And what they found was another barrier, this one bursting on contact and shocking the creature back. Aqua’s glare homed in on the creature, Jin’s words coming to mind.
He wasn’t my friend, and I’m tired of people dying for me!
Well then, she’d just have to do her best not to die until…Xion, was it? She’d have to do her best not to die until Xion got here.
Aqua’s free hand instinctively reached for her Wayfinder, clutching the familiar metal edges and allowing herself to close her eyes for a single moment.
‘Ven. Terra. Lend me your strength to protect these people.’
And as if a prayer had been answered, a cloaked figure descended from the rooftop behind them, brandishing a keyblade with a single, ancient-looking bauble hanging from the pommel next to the keychain.
The figure spared a glance to the group behind them, eyes resting on Jin’s arm for a second longer than the rest before finally speaking up.
“There was one more that was supposed to be here,” Xion said, remembering that Avari and Marmadue had told her about Max going along with the group to fight. “Did he…?”
“Yes,” Aqua sighed, sparing a glance in the direction of Max’s possessions. “Are you Xion?”
“I am,” the figure nodded, a faint glimmer of soft, yellow-orange light emanating from the bauble she carried.
“And you can stop this thing?” Aqua asked, taking a second to put the girl’s appearance to memory. It was strange. She looked so…familiar. Almost like the little girl back in Radiant Garden, but the hair color was wrong. Besides, the enchantment she put on the girl’s necklace should have kept her far away from a situation like this, not plunged her in to the middle of it.
Wordlessly, Xion moved. Her legs kicked up dust from the ground, carrying her straight to the beast’s underside and dodging around bursts of flame, black energy, claws and fangs. From there, the light from her bauble kicked into full gear, coating her Keyblade with a holy aura as pillars of the same energy erupted from the ground, pushing the Dark Hide into the air.
From there, Xion flicked her wrist and fired a volley of energy orbs into the air after the beast, each striking true and piercing deep into its black flesh.
The Chaos Hide was taken by surprise. This energy – this light – was more potent than anything it had felt in this realm. It was almost like…No…
Xion jumped into the air, her target the bright white glow of Jin’s slash against the beast’s neck. Once more, she struck true, the energy guiding her blade through the beast’s neck, severing its four heads from the body.
The remnants of the Chaos Hide hit the ground seconds before Xion did, fizzling away and vanishing into the ether with the fading light of the Goddess materia around her Keyblade. The dark haired girl looked at the battlefield, shaking her head. This world had nearly been engulfed by the Darkness, and it was all because she had been too slow; because she couldn’t make a hard choice when it was important.
The Darkness had passed now. That would have to be consolation enough. Now, they – most of them, at least – could focus on rebuilding. On moving to the next step towards saving the worlds.
