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

[AldrickZearse]

[Joseph: HT: Plaza]

"Phew!" Joe let out a whoosh of breath after lifting a giant piece of rubble, finding nothing of noteworthyness underneath it. Really, looking for a trace of a bag of bugs was harder than it seemed...plus annoying. His tail bristled at the thought of the work and time it could take...of course, then he saw Kyle in the distance swinging Jenny around. "Well, guess something good came out of it."

And then Jack came into the plaza, and everything seemed to brighten for the fighter. Well, brighten in the sense of he didn't really have to search anymore. "Okay, I'm ready to go...I think I have dust on my fur." He added with a frown, dusting himself off.

[Azrael: Air around Davy's Ship]

Azrael had taken to the air once the ship had been taken over. Not to keep a lookout, though. He just wanted the air.

So, there he was, lounging on the back of a Wyvern heartless, slightly irritated. Squidface kept playing those sad, pathetic tunes. Was it too much to play something upbeat? Something to move to? Something to have a little fun to?

Of course not. Ajora liked this little 'diddy' too much.

With a groan, he rolled onto his stomach, looking down at the ship's deck, spotting Ajora with his little heartless. Without the clown makeup, he wasn't bad to look at. So Azrael watched him, not caring if Ajora saw him staring or not. Cause that didn't matter. Ajora's antics would amuse him for a time.  

[fractalJester]

[Kyle ; Sora ; 'Rae' : HT : Guillotine Plaza]

"WOOOOO!" Sora said, twisting his form so he could flip off of the bar over the well, landing in the middle of the group with his Keyblade held high, a triumphant smile on his Vampire lips. "Let's get this party started!"

As Noelle returned with the Pumpkin King, Kyle faced her with a wide, assuring grin. Bingo! Jack had found Oogie, no doubt about it, and now they could finish what they'd started yesterday. Helping the Enchantress and sending her to meet with the other Wise Ones in order to discuss how the hell things could be repaired. Cracking his knuckles, he grinned (rather creepily, considering he looked like the Joker), looking at Jack.

"Alright, Jacky. Lead the way!"  

[Je suis a toi]

[ HT ~ Guillotine Square]

Noelle jumped off the wall as Jack passed her and summoned her spear. She was ready. After giving it a flip she noticed Kyle's smile and returned the gesture, though in a more goofy way that included two thumbs up (something that was made all the more silly-looking by the fact that she had her spear tucked under her armpit to have her hands free). In the games Oogie wasn't that bad of a boss, she only hoped that applied to the real-life scenario. Oogie was a fairly simple villain anyways--not too hard to figure out. An underlying anxiety did exist for her, though. Oogie was the one that really introduced darkness to her, that helped her summon a heartless . . . she could only hope that he wouldn't remember her.

"His lair is underground," Jack explained, "In the sewers. It's not very far from where his castle used to be. I should have known he would't move far!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" The agromancer cheered, "Let's Boogie! Oogie Boogie! Har, I made a funny."

"Follow me, everyone, we'll get there and defeat that no good Oogie Boogie in no time!"

Jack turned and began striding away. Everyone would have to jog to just keep up to his fast-paced walking. Being an increadibly tall skeleton had its advantages.  

[Riorin]

ɀ·ვ·ს·მ ჱ

ღ Halloween Town | Plaza :.

"NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT" Zeba whooped, cheering at everyone's enthusiasm. With her cookie finished and her weapon back in hammerspace, she jogged after the skeletal man.

"And yes, my dear, sweet, awesome Nelly. You did make a funny," she assured, chuckling as she passed the girl and swung an arm around her to pull her in for a tight hug. It was so nice to find someone the same height as her, and Zeba was planning on exploiting every minute of it.  

[Mizz_FUJIN]

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{Yuffie: Imperial Square > Palace Gates}
{Maggie & Beatrix: Imperial Square}

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Yuffie was once again, a big bundle of energy, bounding up the stairs like Tigger on acid, she weaved threw the mob of children, past Leon until she reached the top of the stairs lunging for the door as if it were a personal Trophy.
However.
The closer she got too the palace gates, the slower her steps became. Her sprint became a slow walk untill it formed an immediate stop. "You know guys, talkin too decrepid ol figure heads dosn't do it for me, so i'll stay out here, yup yup." she rubbed her nose playfully, trying to suck in the dreaded thoughts that were to probably happen if she were to step foot in that place.

"Besides, you don't need alll of us launchin in there, the geezer might have a stroke. " She bellowed, hands cupped around her lips like a town crier.

Maggie was far behind, always the slowest one to catch up, always the one left behind, but she didn't mind, Beatrix seemed to be walking at a similar pace, not because she wasn't physically fit, The General was on patrol, always on duty, making sure things were safe, it's as if she couldn't relax, or rather, didn't know how.  

[phoenixianCrystallist]

{Riku Demyx .:. Land of Dragons .:. Imperial Palace}

Riku stayed up the front near Leon and Shang, the Road to Dawn out and his eyes scanning the area for any sign of trouble. From what Leon had said back at the Train, things were looking grim here in China, complete with a powerful figurehead behaving oddly. He wasn't sure quite what to expect, and wanted to be prepared for anything.

He glanced back several times to check on the kids, make sure they were doing okay, and caught Amy's cartwheel out of the corner of his eye. He chuckled a bit as she landed face-first into Axel, but his attention was caught by someone much closer. Kyla was keeping pace right behind Leon, furiously scribbling away in her sketchbook like she wanted to copy every little thing as it happened. Maybe she did.

Riku dropped back just far enough that he was next to Kyla, and glanced over her shoulder. She had just captured Amy mid-cartwheel perfectly, her peculiar magical quill capturing the movement and the life of the image beautifully.

"You're improving," he said, softly enough to not startle her. "That was really quick pen-work there."

Demyx kept himself somewhere in the middle of the group, figuring it was safer for his health to stay away from Those In Charge if something got botched. If he wasn't anywhere near where the trouble started, they couldn't blame him for it. Unless the trouble involved water.

If he were capable of the emotion, he would have been amused at the antics of the kids around him. The fidgeting, the chatting, all of it was making them sound like a bunch of high-school kids on a field trip to some old, dusty museum after a stop at an ice-cream shop, without the stickiness. If one of the kids happened to look his way, he'd grin and nod his head to one of the other kids, like saying "at least you're not acting like that!" just to keep them occupied. Thank goodness none of them had tried to talk to him, or any of the other things most of 'em tried to do the first time they were here. But some of the kids he didn't know, they seemed much more collected and, well, disciplined. Like they knew what was going on...

Interesting.

((I'll post for the HT group as soon as I figure out what all of 'em were doing and where I want to start at.))  

[Kichi Kuronagi]

[Kichi :: Land of Dragons :: Imperial Square -> Palace Gates]

Kichi giggled in amusement at Amy's frustration at being called a little girl. He looked at her again, and this time, truly took in her size. 'Wow...she is kinda tiny...' When they got to the stairs, he had a sudden, incredible urge to give her a piggyback up. He heavily debated offering it, but was afraid at this point of her decapitating him or something if he asked. In the end he decided he wasn't gonna try that, but still wanted to start conversation. "So...Amy was your name right? Sorry, it takes me a while." With a chuckle, he continued. "I didn't really get to see you fight much before, but I'm fairly sure I saw you wielding guns. ...Uh..." He then realized he hadn't thought through how to follow that statement up. 'Woops...smooth...'  

[Pie Thrower]

[John.: Land of Dragons :. Imperial Square => Palace Gates]

John smiled softly as they were poking fun at the height of Amy. True, he had noticed her small stature, but he found the smaller ones to be cuter... especially when frustration set in. He noticed the few that straggled behind briefly, and took quick note for no apparent reason.

"Amy's a little gun-wieldin' firecracker... well, actually dear, are you technically a midget? That's always fun to be proud of." he chuckled.

John looked up at the palace gates and licked his lips with a wide-eyed expression. He always found that building obnoxiously large doors was stupid. If an attacking army has broken into your city, you're just done. No big last stand in the capitol... stupid...  

[Je suis a toi]

[Noelle ~ HT ~ Guillotine Square --> The Waterway]

Noelle was a little surprised to be hugged, but enjoyed it. She smiled and moved to put her arms around Zeba as well but something made her pause. Her smile faded slightly as she was reminded of her little sister. Angel was so similar . . . exactly her height, fifteen-years-old, tan skin tone that never lightened and dark brown hair due to her italian background. The agromancer was lost for a moment, returning Zeba's warm hug with a loving squeeze of her own. Then she came back to realize who she was really hugging and what was going on. Chuckling slightly to cover up her short mental lapse and the sadness she felt, the blonde messed with Zeba's hair.

"Let's see how much of a funny I can make with your hair!" Noelle smiled, trying to forget her previous train of thought.

Jack's large strides put him a little ahead of the group. "Come on, everyone! It's not much farther now."

Noelle looked around a little before going back to attacking Zeba's hair with her fingers. It was starting to look familiar from a game standpoint. Over the hill there was a waterway where at one end the entrance would take you through the fountain in Guillotine Square and the other entrance you were unable to go through. Then just after that you were brought to Oogie's castle . . . or the hole where it used to be.

Jack took them over that next hill and stopped at the edge of the small ravine where through which the water ran. The waterway was dry though, which was unusual; he'd never seen the water stop running.

"There's no water here anymore and I thought it was strange," Jack told them, looking down into the empty tunnels. "So I went down to investigate and found Oogie's lair. He's set it up just like he used to have it, that no good bag of bugs."  

[AldrickZearse]

[Joseph: HT: The Waterway]

The male, after leaping from the tip of the hill and over the wall(just for kicks and giggles, really), and looked down into where the green, acid-looking water used to run. Not even a drop of the noxious looking stuff. It made the male frown.

Not like I wanted to play in the stuff, really...but...it's kinda disappointing, seeing where water doesn't flow anymore...and since when am I a poet like that?!

Shaking his head, Joe looked at both ends of the waterway. He didn't remember which way the water was supposed to flow...then again, it did a full circle, didn't it? And where did all the water go, anyways?

"Did he dam it up some where? And where would all of it go if not it's track? Hm...urk! Nevermind, banish the thoughts."

He just got an image of the dam breaking and the lot of them getting flushed out of where ever Oogie was hiding. Great.  

[Jeimuzu Kuro]

{James : HT : Guillotine Square -> The Waterway}

James had kind of expected an answer from Kyle, but it was no big deal really. He was back to his normal self and that was what mattered. Now his attention turned back to the task at hand, chasing down Oogie Boogie. Which kind of entailed chasing down Jack Skellington. The tall skeleton's stride and steps so long that unless the corsair jogged he would not be able to keep up. He remembered well the familiar scenery from the game. Halloween Town had been one of his favorite worlds. Sure enough things were as they had been after Oogie Boogie was defeated in Kingdom Hearts II. The only remainders of the caste a large crater in the ground.

The Shade Corsair continued to follow the Pumpkin King and to a ravine, the waterway, usually flowing with the strange green water was now completely dry. Definitely out of place, strange just as Jack had said.

"So he has some kind of funhouse down there does he? Great... Not looking forward to what is in store but to get back the Enchantress we have no real choice."

He shivered at the thought of what Oogie Boogie might have done to the underground sewers. Traps, and puzzles were his typical forte and he had a feeling it probably wouldn't be any different this time. While James was not afraid of the water, if it involved swimming or fast currents he knew he probably wouldn't last too long.

{General Li Shang and Leon : Land of Dragons : Imperial Square -> Palace Gates}

General Li Shang stopped at the massive doors that led into the palace and turned his attention to face all of the members there.

"From here on in you will be judged by not only the Emperor and his consult, but the guards as well. Do not speak to the Emperor unless spoken to and be sure to show him the appropriate respect."

He looked at the group, each one of them individually before he turned back around and pushed open the large doors that led into the palace. Quickly approaching the Throne Room.

Leon remained silent, he had noticed that the kids behind him had been conversing and having a good time. It was time to focus now and be serious now. Even if the Emperor was not acting like his normal self he still held the power over the entire Imperial Army. He was sure that Shang was reiterating basically what he had said before to drive the point home.

The Gunblade rested on Leon's shoulder as he walked into the palace following right after Shang. Keeping good pace with the general.  

[Sousei Tatsu]

[Cory .:. Hook's Ship .:. Deck]

Cory suddenly burst back down to the deck, struck wit a fit of brilliance. "Scratch the resting time, we act now! You!" Cory pointed at Alice, a smirk on his face as he said, "We need to find a weakness for those damn Replicas. The only defense we have against them right now if if I perform a Drive with you, and even that won't stop all of them. We need to find out who was connected to the Replicas and shake them down for possible weaknesses!"

He then looked over to Timmy, putting his hands in his pockets. "As for you... Well, there's not much I can do with you, is there? You're with me. Alice," he looked back over to the girl before adding, "From what I can recall, the losers fought someone named Mateus before the Replicas emerged from an explosion in Halloween Town. Mateus is both the name of a summon and an emperor, and since that alpha loser, Kyle, has Ultima... I'm betting it's the summon."

The renegade ronin stopped for a moment, confused by his memories. W-wait... I was dead when the Replicas were born. How did I... Ah, forget it. He shook the thought from his head before saying, "Aside from Hook, I'm on good terms with two other big guys. Hades, in the Underworld, and Seymour. I have no idea where Seymour is, but Hades should be easy enough to find. One of them should know who has Mateus as their summon. That person is our key to a Replica weakness, because bad a** summons don't appear out of nowhere. This kid is the precursor to the Replicas."

Cory opened up a dark portal and beckoned Timmy to follow before saying, "The pip-squeak and I are going to do some recon on the losers. We need to find out where they're going... and one of them has something of mine." The ronin looked up to the wheel at Hook before shouting, "And keep the ship on a course for the train. Be sure to stay in the clouds and out of sight." He looked back to Timmy and shouted, "Move it!... Unless you're scared to face them again after leaving them? Chicken?"  

[Enji_Chou]

[Kyla: LoD: Imperial Square > Palace]
Kyla had just finished the team’s ascension of the stairs, to the front gates, when she felt eyes watching her. A shadow cast across the side of the further side of the page, so it didn’t obscure her light. His soft voice made her look up momentarily without flinching- obviously he had approached someone in the past who got engrossed into their work before.
He knew how to do it without startling her, and ruining the page.

Looking up from the picture, her brown eyes met green for a few moments, staring, as if contemplating their color; Kyla would always take time to memorize details of anything- and everything, forgoing how it may look. He’d see the wheels turning behind her spheres which diffused the nature of the stare, before they returned to looking at the page.

‘The greenish hue in his eyes is stronger now than his previous renditions. Age perhaps brought more of it in- drowning the aqua.’

“You’re right, and thank you. To be honest, it’s actually surprising me; it’s coming much easier and much faster.” She replied as her quill finishing the inking of the name of the location.
“It’s happening so fast, sometimes I capture something into the image so quickly, I don’t remember capturing it in the first place until it’s finished.” She continued, tapping the tip of the feather to the finished part with Amy on it.
“It will come in handy- in case I miss something at first glance. My hands just might be getting quicker than my eyes.”
When Shang announced the rules at the gate Kyla was prepared already. She watched as the gates opened and the General escorted them inside to be judged by the Emperor. From what she remembered, the Emperor was a good man. He looked beyond Mulan’s gender and saw the hero inside her and honored her for her bravery. But something was amiss…
She glanced at Riku while she resumed her detailing and cataloging of their visit. Her quill started making large strokes as she sketched the pillars lining the hall, and the towering ceiling above their heads.
“… it’s you he wants to see. Are you ready?” she asked.

Her mind was also making a mental check of the people she captured in the group image thus far. She could see she had Maggie, but she was trailing in the back... Dawn, Amy, John...
Kichi. Surounding thier group was the tightly knit team of canons, 2 nobodies and 6 FF characters.


[Axel: LoD: Imperial Square>Palace Gates]

The nobody smirked, “Oh- a Lady Obviously, pardon me.” He said sarcastically. Amy was short enough he dubbed her ‘kid’ mentally in his mind from now on. Same way he had chosen label names for almost everyone their original team. There was- the Ferret (Yuffie), who apparently decided she’d stay outside. Old men must make her feel scrutinized, perhaps. A stroke is right! If he takes one look at her, after years and years of all these covered up Chinese girls, the man will have several!

The Amazon; Beatrix was marching near the back, keeping the group completely in her sights. A brunet with a twist wild look to her ebony hair, walked beside her. She seemed to do it by habit by her expression. Meaning she didn’t look sad or dejected, so she wasn’t dragging her feet, she just seemed to do it naturally.

Demyx- or ‘Porcupine’, and he sometimes thought when he looked at him. It was the hair. He seemed to be running his own routine of synthetic emotional mannerisms just like he was. While Axel preferred Sarcasm and teasing as his mantra, Demyx was friendly, slightly teasing and a shameless flirt in some spectrums. He watched as he smiled at any of the kids who met his gaze- but could see the guy was watching them just as intently.

Blondy was still lost in his own thoughts, and he could have sworn he caught him staring at him every now and then. Was something on his face? What? Cloud always seemed to have a stick permanently rammed up his @$$, and it was more obvious when he sunk into his silent thinking mode. Anyone capable of feelings would be pretty annoyed by now, but Axel was curious. What was it that Cloud kept thinking when he stared at him?

Have they met before?

Fearless Leader – Leon lead the way, after Shang (aka: Shifty General- yes he wasn’t sure it was good to trust him yet) gave the speech of conduct and Axel rolled his eyes. Yah he heard it, but he figured since they had some new recruits might as well repeat this instructions. He looked back at the rest of them, wondering if the boys would shut their traps before they entered.

For emphasis; he put his finger to his lips in a mocking ‘use- your- inside-voice- kiddies’ gesture.

Axel then looked across to Cloud, catching the next time he the Soldier was looking and dropping his façade expression all together, he nodded seriously to him. He didn’t need words, Cloud had been around enough to know a ‘Let’s keep an eye out’ stare when he received one. The flame user didn’t need to ‘Care’, to know it wasn’t smart to say what they were thinking out loud in front of the children.
Any moron would know…

which was why he hoped Demyx kept his trap shut.  

[fractalJester]

[The Emperor ; ??? : LoD : Throne Room]

As the entire group (minus those who purposefully stayed behind) entered the Throne room, the Emperor immediately began to speak. While the room was pretty large, it seemed somewhat cramped due to the fifteen guards, heavily armed, waiting on the sidelines to protect the Emperor in case anything happened.

"So you have returned," the sagacious Emperor spoke, his tone sounding a bit wearier than before, but still holding a commanding presence. He sat upright, eyes watching the group like an eagle. "With many more than I had asked. What is the meaning of this gathering?"