Kingdom Hearts : Heartfelt Adventure {Day 8 ; Invite Only}

[Kaegoe]

[Dawn : The Caribbean Sea : Brig of the Dutchman]

Dawn looked up at the conversation between Kyle and Ajora. When the subject of James was brought up her eyes looked fearfully at her friend. When Kuro Oni came down the fear only grew. Her expression soon changed when she saw the man that accompanied the replica.

"Alex..." Dawn whispered as she started to move away from Joe, as she recognized him from the few times she had been over at James's place. She flinched as she watched James get punched by his own brother.

She remained silent words escaping her as her mind was taking in what was going on. Her brain fearing what was going to happen to James at the hands of his replica and his own brother. But it wasn't Kuro who did anything to James, it was Ajora.

"James!" Dawn yelled out as she ran over to the bars of the cell the scene continued to play out before her, "Leave him alone!"

She felt a couple of tears start to go down her cheeks as Ajora turned back to the group. Dawn's eyes remained fixed on James and where he was bound to the wall. Her hands were trembling as she tried to hold onto the bars of the cell.

"James..." she said in a shaky voice, "James... Are you okay...?"

As she asked the question a part of her knew he couldn't be. Not after having someone's hand in your chest. But she was scared and worried, and felt completely helpless, as she was unable to help him or do anything else.  

[AldrickZearse]

[Joe: Caribbean Sea: BoD(gettin' lazy lol)

The male let Dawn go, leaning against the decaying wall as he focused on what was happening. Or try to, at least. It was hard to focus with the poison in his system.

Some new man showed, James and Dawn knew him, Ajora f***ing with James' chest so close and yet so far.... The male shook his head, trying to focus his undamaged eye.

Standing and stumbling his way over, the male reached the bars, watching James, mouth silently moving, constantly repeating 'Purifying Winds, please help him. Purifying Winds, please help him." He willed his magic into the words, but there was no magic to call on. But if that damned machine managed to just barely get out of range, he'd be helpful, and might be quick enough to pull some wind magic to get them out.

That little hope of being useful led Joe to sit on the floor at the bars, watching James struggle and silently saying his prayer. Did what was happening to James hurt him? A little. But he didn't know James that well. He could distance himself. But he still knew the male, and wanted to help as best he could...and so, he kept his prayer up. That was all he could do, at this point.  

[Jeimuzu Kuro]

{James : Caribbean Sea : Brig of the Dutchman}

{{Cue: Black Water}}

James pulled against the chains as Kuro Oni walked out of the cell, and Ajora entered in his place, he needed to get away, every fiber of his being was saying to run, do whatever it took to escape. Though of course the shackles holding him in the cell prevented him from escaping. A feeling of dread entered, and a shiver ran down his spine as Ajora cracked his knuckles and the replicas eyes flashed purple, much as Kyle's had done in the training car during their practice. His eyes narrowed warily on his hand as it began to charge with the all too familiar black crimson energy. He tried to drown out the lines and Ajora's voice as it melded with Ultima's as he began to recite some kind of poetry. Though all hope of tuning it out was lost as Ajora's index finger was placed at a point above his heart.

"Aaaaaahhhh!!!" The corsair yelled out in pain, it burned, like a brand or needle that was piercing into his flesh.

His breaths came out in gasps of pain as Ajora continued to recite the poetry.

"Gaaaahhh!" He yelled out again as yet another finger came to a point on his chest, giving off the same intense burning pain.

His body began shaking due to the intensity of the pain, his eyes locked on Ajora's as the irises began to fade to black. He now seemed completely unaware of anyone or anything around him even as the aura of darkness began to envelop the two of them.

"AAAAHHH!!!" Another yell of pain as there was yet again another point pressed, his mind lost now to all but the pain and the darkness.

He stopped shaking, his body just held rigid by the events happening as Ajora continued his recital.

"ENOUGH PLEASE AAAAAHHH!!!" James begged to the replica as the fourth point was placed and the and the aura of darkness formed crimson wings that surrounded the two of them.

As the final point was placed and Ajora's fingers were all placed on his chest, as if they were going to surround his heart and as the wings vanished, entering into Ajora's hand the final sign of pain from James was just a pained hiss and gasping as the Fallen Saint's hand slowly phased into James' chest. Whatever the replica was doing was preventing James from passing out, as much as he would have wanted to by now due to the pain. His eyes closed tight in a pained wince as the Dark Seraph's grip tightened and then finally he pulled his hand out with a final line which the corsair was all but oblivious to now. As his eyes opened again, one would note that his irises had changed and were shining a bright golden yellow.

Kuro had been silent the entire time, watching and listening to the Moonlit Gunner's yells of pain pleading for mercy. He rolled his eyes as Ajora recited the poetry, it had become all too obvious that the Dark Seraph had a thing for poetry as well as being dramatic. The Nightmare Dreadnought moved into the cell and undid the shackles before turning away and beginning to walk out of the brig, his creation in tow.

As the shackles were released James eyes gazed blindly at those across from him, though the irises were bright, in his mind and in his sight was nothing but darkness as he slowly fell to his knees. His eyes then closed and his body collapsed onto the wooden floor of their cells as he fell into unconsciousness.  

[Je suis a toi]

[Carribean Sea ~ Brig of the Dutchman]

When Kuro Oni made his re-entrance, Noelle got to her feet and walked towards the cell bars, wrapping her hands around them and staring him down with malice. Anger was the easiest form of expression for her defeated self, so even this covered her tremendous fear for James. She didn't know what was happening--all she could do was stand and grip the bars until her hands ached. Her knees seemed to grow weak and wanted to buckle with every scream that James let out. With nothing else to do, the agromancer began kicking the cell door, jarring it with each jab and making its hinges rattle.

"James!" She cried, almost sounding near tears but looking far from it, "JAMES. Hang on James!"

The bonde continued to kick tirelessly, so fueled by rage that she hardly had her wits about her. As much as she could jar that door, she'd never get it open. But so long as it clanged and complained she would keep going until she had some sense back. Her actions were doing them no good, but she could only be pushed so far and maintain a level head, and that edge was clearly surpassed. Even after James had finally been left alone and collapsed on the floor Noelle kicked and shouted. She wanted her friend.  

[Raziel Hotokashi]

Jacob ll Brig

Jacob had shook his head and brought a hand now caked with died blood up to wipe their hair from his face. People were creaming around him and yet he still seemed shell shocked. He wasn't thinking. He saw his pirate ally, one of the few people that talked to him, screaming in pain as Ajora and Kuro and a new...enemy...walked out of James's cell. He was ready to do his next stupid... retaliatory action. Jacob ran his hand across the deck and collected a handful of grime and dirt and sand. He took a step, and threw it at Kuro just as he turned to face the rest of them in the cell. Whether or not it would blind the wretched pirate was a story all it's own, but the pirate needed to know just how filthy Jacob thought he was. "Yar har fiddle dee dee. Being a pirate is alright to be. Do what you want, 'cause a pirate is free. You are a pirate." Even delusional, Jacob couldn't help but spout memes that can get him killed. Oh well. With the narrow hallway and cells, there wasn't much room to dodge.  

[VoLt189]

[Anthony ~.~ Caribbean Sea ~.~ Brig of the Dutchman]

Anthony watched as the newcomer, Alex (if he heard correctly), shackled James to his cell, leaving him vulnerable to Ajora's torture. At James' first scream of pain, Anthony turned his head away and stared at the floor. His eyes would wince shut and his muscles would tense with each yelp, his anger building up once again. James was the first person to say more than a simple introduction when Anthony first arrived on the ship. All the warrior-knight wanted to do is go and save him companion, but he knew there wasn't anything he could do.

A sigh of relief escaped Anthony's lips when the screaming stopped. At least James wasn't being tortured anymore... The thud that followed only meant the gunner had fallen to the wooden floor, unconscious. He was surprised the corsair hadn't passed out during the maltreatment.

Things weren't looking too good for the heroes. The Replicas got what they needed, making the group expendable. They needed to get out of here and they needed to get out fast. Or maybe they'll get lucky and the Replicas will let them go now since they got everything they needed... one can only hope.  

[LavenderSakura]

[Jenny ; Alice :: Caribbean Sea :: Brig of the Dutchman]

Jenny's face was still wet with tears when she heard James' scream of pain. They were no longer held in the air against their will, but the mage still couldn't find the strength in her to watch. She clenched her teeth and turned her head so that she wouldn't have to see what horrible things they were doing to him. Stop- stop it! Joe... James...

She didn't need eyes to fathom what atrocities that James' replica talked about; Kyle was right. Out of all the replicas, Kuro Oni was the one that harbored the most vengeance... although, with the appearance of Alice; Jenny wasn't too sure. Within minutes of her introduction, she had managed to poison Joe to the point that his vision could be altered forever. They needed magic; they needed to heal his eye... they couldn't just leave Joe like that. Between gritting her teeth and wincing at every scream, Jenny spared a look at her 'replica' who stood rather taciturn against the wall.

Alice still felt unsatisfied, even after taking Joe's eye. What was it that she was searching for? The one feeling she couldn't quite pinpoint. Cúchulainn had made a snide remark in her mind, that went mostly unnoticed by the animator. She caught Jenny's gaze from the corner of her vision and turned her head to smile ever so slyly. "Enjoying the sweet, sweet music?"

"You're despicable, you all are," Jenny retorted under her breath, her fingers dug into the gnarled wood to keep herself from saying something stupid. Sadly, Jacob's brain hardly made the effort to silence his tongue or his actions. Jenny turned her head sharply, a look of shock and horror on her face. No! Idiot! Jenny's heart raced; panic built up in her chest again as she scrambled to cover Jacob's mouth. He was still new and out of everyone, he didn't deserve the replicas' wrath.  

[Raziel Hotokashi]

Jacob ll Brig

Jacob felt rather playful but he had do what he knew was right. He licked Lavi's hand so that she'd retract it so he could speak again. He took a step forward to confront Kuro, Ajora, Alice...All of the tyrants. "No. This is what you do to bullies and Tyrants. You stand up. Even when your legs shake and your heart falters and your voice cracks. You stand up." He cracked his neck and felt his mood lighted. "No." He flicked his arms out in one deft motion, feeling the pressure relieved from his joints. "No. Oni, you are the worst kind of scum. You are the man that kicks caged puppies. You spit on homeless. You are weak. And you're afraid that someone is better." He stood up tall and felt his spine realign. "You stand up. Kuro Oni, I don't know what kind of a man you...James are, but would you be up for a fun game?"  

[Kaegoe]

[Dawn : Caribbean Sea : The Brig of the Dutchman]

Dawn remained unresponsive as she stared across the way at where James was across the way. A part of her mind tuning out everything going on around her. She didn't care about anything of what was going on around her. Not of Kuro Oni. Or of Jacob's idiotic attack on the replica.

All that was on her mind was the condition of James. She felt cool tears rolling down her cheeks as she held onto the bars of the cell that were used to separate them. She soon started to shake her head as her body started to shake. Dawn was hated the feeling of helplessness that weighed upon her. She wasn't able to protect her friend. She told herself she would protect him so that one day him and Michelle could be together again when they returned to Earth once more.

"Why...?" Dawn pleaded as she laid her head against the bars, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold back from breaking down crying and failing, "What more do you want from us? Just let us go, please!"  

[fractalJester]

[ Ajora ; Kyle ; Sora ; Kuja : Caribbean Sea : Brig of the Dutchman ]

"You know, you guys aren't exactly helping anything," Kyle muttered, now leaning against the wall next to the bars, one arm across his chest and the other massaging the bridge of his nose. He noticed, shortly after Jacob had thrown the grime and dirt at Kuro, Ajora had placed a hand on the Replica's shoulder, as if to keep him in check. "They want us alive, but it's obvious they don't care what condition we're in. You plead with them, they get their rocks off; you try to stand up, they destroy your eye. They're trying to leave, and you guys just won't let them."

"So, what, we sit back and take all this crap?!" Sora shouted, turning to Kyle with a look of outrage, made worse by Kyle's apathetic facade. "We just bend over for them? Is that what you'd have us do?"

"It'd be a lot less painful, physically speaking," Ajora commented, causing Sora to almost double-take, as his voice was just like Kyle's. "But honestly? Nah, think we're done here. After all, I want you alive to see the complete ruins of Atlantis and Atlantica tomorrow morning, which if you'll excuse me, I need to get started on. Ah, but first- Elleon, you needed to speak with me?"

Ajora turned to face Noelle's Replica with a look of curiosity before motioning for her to follow him and Kuro Oni out of the brig. "Come, Kuro, don't bother with him- he's all bark and no bite after Celia's blow to the head, me thinks."

With that, the Replica began to make his way out of the brig, figuring the others would follow. If anyone was paying close attention (unlikely in this scenario), they would have noticed that he hadn't locked the cell door back.

Kyle's eyebrows had furrowed immediately after Ajora's words about Atlantica and Atlantis- so this is what the paper had meant. Their Wise One's hadn't been in danger, but they were going to be soon...

... and they had failed to prevent it.

"Dammit," he muttered under his breath, massaging the bridge of his nose yet again.  

[fractalJester]

[ Seymour : Angel Grove : City Streets ]

Seymour had, for the most part, remained silent, charging his staff with magical energy as everyone seemed to question what to do with the possessed trio. After a moment, he released the energies- casting Renew on the group, essentially bringing them all to full health (but not mana).

"Kyla, if I may make a suggestion..." Seymour said, walking up to the Driven women- they seemed to be doing this more and more often. "Give the shell just enough energy to allow us to travel a safe distance. Riku is correct- with a magic this strong, the only method that can free the puppets is to eliminate the puppeteer. I believe that blue Ranger said where that 'Ooze's base is."

Seymour made this suggestion, of course, without the knowledge of the message sent to the Earthlings and Riku by Alpha 5.  

[Sable Argent]

[Alan :: Angel Grove :: City Streets]

Alan glanced at Kyla, his expression contorted and unreadable. It utterly failed to convey what he was thinking - something along the lines of 'yeah, sorry, I wish I could comfort you better but I gotta argue about stuff for a bit'. He let go of her hand and turned to face the others.

Clenching and unclenching his left fist as he spoke, perhaps in an attempt to keep his voice level despite his growing agitation (why hadn't Riku left? Oh well . . .), he said, "I . . . you . . . no. Look. Riku, Seymour, I mean, you've been doing this for longer than us and you obviously have a proven track record so I should defer to you, but . . . well, a couple of things. First off," here he stopped fiddling with his left hand and began counting off on his fingers, "tactically, we aren't in a position to strike Ivan. We should wait until the Power Rangers are back. I don't want to go into a his lair with anything less than full power. Second, there are a couple things we need to do that take precedence right now. We need to check out the other side of the volcano, like Alpha said," (Alan wasn't aware that Seymour hadn't received this message), "and we should probably find Terra." Alan gestured to Demyx as he said this . . . sort of an 'as this gentlemen said' gesture. "If I'm right, there's a good chance she's out of control somewhere in the city."

"Thirdly!" Alan's voice raised a little, as if to emphasize this point, "Maester, I have to respectfully disagree with you. I mean, yes. The simplest way to end this spell would be to attack the spellcaster, but, well, our attempts to dispel it so far haven't just not worked, they've actively hurt them. My hypothesis is that Ivan's tied their lifeforce to the enchantment itself. This just because . . . well, it's how I'd do it. If I wanted to. Which I wouldn't. Um, the point is . . . if we do that, they might die. It's a possibility we can't overlook. It's . . . it's obvious that we can't defeat the spell by overpowering it - or rather, that we shouldn't - but, all spells, like all things, have 'properties', and looked at the right way, a 'property' is the same as a 'weakness'. If we seriously study it, I'm sure we can find a way to cleanly end the enchantment. Besides, wouldn't it be a major advantage to have a way to defeat this magic going in to Ivan's lair?" Alan looked impassively around as he spoke. He had never said this many words in front of the whole group before, and he wasn't sure if he was getting cold feet or not. He had that odd feeling where incredible trepidation comes at odds with the gathering momentum of an already started speech.

"Here's what I propose. Looking for Terra. Checking into Ivan's apparent move. Neither of these things will take our full group. Let's split into three teams. Or two. One looks for Terra. One checks into the volcano. And I, and anyone else who cares to, will stay here and try to crack the enchantment. Please. Just give me as long as it takes to do those two things. I just want to at least try." He paused for a second, and then grinned impishly: "I mean, how else would I face Axel's legion of fangirls, y'know?"  

[fractalJester]

[ Seymour : Angel Grove : City Streets ]

Seymour chuckled. That amused, almost degrading chuckle he was so easily capable of.

"Well, Alan, if we assume that these three are, in fact, under the control of Ivan, then it is also easy to assume that the woman- Terra, you called her?- is working with Ivan, as these three were working with her," he began, only half-glancing at Alan and instead taking to looking at the group as a whole- as if he were ministering to them, providing them with priest-like insight. "From that, then, we can just as easily assume that in her state of panic, she fled back to Ivan. And if Alpha did, in fact, say that Ivan had moved to the other side of the volcano, which you tell me he- Alpha, whoever that is- has said, then it is just as easy to assume Terra would have fled there."

"That consolidates two of your propositions immediately, though of course by assumption alone. As for your insight into the workings of magic," at this, Seymour once again released his condescending chuckle. "I must say I am impressed with the nerve you must have to entirely dismiss the opinions of both a powerful magus such as myself, as well as a Keyblade Master who has traversed the Darkness and come back stronger than ever, both of whom have been at this quite a bit longer than you children of Earth."

"If you would, instead, propose wasting time and splitting our forces when it was clear our group as a whole could only barely take on an ambush like this," he mused, lightly shrugging and glancing across the group before returning his gaze to Alan entirely now. "Despite the known presence of Replicas and pirates in flying machina, well... far be it for me to oppose. Clearly, you have a more thorough understanding of the occurrences of this world. After all, I am merely here to provide counsel."

With that, Seymour fell silent, though his light, knowing smile seemed to speak volumes. Alan was making, in Seymour's opinion, a certainly fatal error. Seymour could only give advice- he did not plan to lead them, after all.  

[Quiet Daydreamer]

[Fine, fine, I shall post. Hard to think all of this has occurred in only 5 or 6 pages.]

Sayrike::Brig of the Dutchman

Sayrike put on a bitter smile. All this Ajora seemed to do was avoid her questions. She was about to dip into a mock curtsy to compliment his bow, but then Joe threw himself in a frenzy against the bars. Seeing his self-mutilation was actually more horrendous than watching Ajora play with the heart---Rachel's heart. The girl's heart was quite beautiful, rendered more ethereal when not constrained by pixels. Sayrike wondered briefly who she was. Where did she come from? What had she done with her time on Earth, and here in this fantasy realm? An entire being summed up in one floating object. Sayrike was sure that, if she had been around longer, she would have been more emotionally invested. But it was like seeing a dead body---the object was there, but the person wasn't.

The brig filled up with the cries, yells, and condemnations of the group as they argued and rebelled against their captors. Sayrike remained at the back of the cell, casually leaning against the wall and watching the event unfold before her. Once again she thought to herself, How did I get caught up in this fight that's not mine? She had hardly any background information on this, but it appeared that her presence alone was crime enough. Ah, well, it was the perfect opportunity to learn---about her captors, as well as their originals. For instance, Joe really had some balls, spitting in Ajora's face like that. Not Sayrike's personal choice of a defiant act, but...

Apparently, it was the wrong choice.

Jenny's Replica seemed to have some controversy about her, though Sayrike didn't know what that was about. She used to be a little girl or something? Sayrike felt a little in the dark about all these events, and when they got out---there was no if, that much was clear, and she was too optimistic to believe otherwise, she couldn't imagine being kept in this dungeon for eternity---she was going to quietly demand an explanation, that much was certain. No more hints, no ambiguities, no more getting lifted by the telekinetic Replica and rendered immobile (though she fought anyway), no more watching a companion scream in agony as their eye got burned by some kind of corrosive poison. "Jesus!" Sayrike muttered in horror (and she tried not to let religious epithets escape like that out of respect for other's beliefs, but this one kind of slipped out in her surprise). However, the single word was Sayrike's only reaction, and she felt a part of her brain distance itself from the situation. It was almost like a safety mechanism, one that kicked into gear whenever she started to get stressed, most often employed the night before an essay deadline as she stared at a blank document. It served quite useful in this case, leaving Sayrike's mental facilities intact.

These guys were serious about doing some damage. Despite all this, she fully expected that there was never any intention for them to be released, and this was proven only too true. (Chhh.) There were more theatrics to be performed, of course, only this time on James. This time, Sayrike could move, and she managed to keep her voice silent by holding up a hand to her mouth as she watched Ajora insert his hand into James' chest. Okay, it didn't matter what she thought before; this was too surreal, too fantasy-like. She half-expected some kind of tense music to cue up and soften the blow of James' screams as they echoed below, but no non-diagetic tune came, no sorrowful harmony. It was as raw as Joe's cries not a few minutes before, but prolonged much longer. Almost in slow motion, James fell to the ground, and Sayrike exhaled her pent-up breath in a quiet, "Oh my goodness..." She felt relieved that at least now he was unconscious and unable to feel the pain.

The others raged, pleaded, or sat in silent fury. The tension and hatred and frustration in the room was so thick, Sayrike felt like she was physically breathing it in. If she could have, at this point she'd have walked out of the room, afraid she was going to catch their anger like it was an airborne disease. If the Replicas fed off of negative emotion (which she sincerely hoped they didn't), this would have been a buffet to last a week. Did Sayrike approve of the Replicas' actions? Heavens no. But did she approve of the rage-filled response of the others? No. True, they were only human, and they were perfectly justified in their anger at the moment. But to have this anger burn and smolder over time like it had so far...it could make a man's heart turn black. If Sayrike had learned anything in this life, it was that violence only begets more violence. She wasn't going to say anything now (and the others would be too emotional to think about things properly), but if this hatred continued, who wouldn't say that these people wouldn't become like their Replicas or other agents of misery? At the very least, things would calm down once the Replicas left the brig.  

[phoenixianCrystallist]

{Bobbi, Demyx .:. Angel Grove .:. City}

"So that wasn't a hallucination I saw when I got here!" Bobbi exclaimed, smacking her fist into an open palm. "Makes a ton more sense now. Not that I have any idea what's going on here. Wait, space pirates?"

"Where've you been, girly?" Demyx asked, staring at the diminutive archer. "They've been causing problems all over the place!"

"Hey, I'm fresh from Disney Castle, stuff it bard boy!" Bobbi retorted. "Kinda distracted by like three different armies showing up. D'you have any idea how hard it is to feed an army, let alone three? Anyway."

Bobbi turned to look at Alan and Seymour, letting her mind race and put things together. She personally kinda liked Alan's plan, send people to investigate the volcano, send others to track down Terra, and have someone here studying the mind control link. On the other hand, Seymour had a good point in assuming that Terra was being controlled by Ivan Ooze (she assumed that was the Ivan they were talking about, and she was really not looking forward to the purple snot), and that she would have fled back to Ivan's lair when the power slipped. But something didn't add up...

"Didn't Terra go berserk after being hit by one of those water jets?" she asked, pitching her voice so everyone could hear. "Why didn't anyone else when they were hit almost as hard? Something's off..."

"Maybe she just didn't want her tightey-whiteys to get wet."

"Shut up."