Welcome to Gaia! ::

[ Seymour : Angel Grove : Building Roof ]

"And so his colors show."

Seymour knew that, inevitably, Cory would turn on the group again- and he was, internally, all too pleased to find it had happened sooner rather than later. The Rogue Ronin had been forewarned; Alan, Kyle, and Axel had been there to witness it. He would pay the price, and Seymour would gladly do the honors.

However, there were more important things to attend to at the moment- the main such thing being the massive Titan that had formed a short distance away. Slowly, the dark earth eidolon was sinking the city- that just wouldn't do, no would it?

"Come, Anima."

At that point, the sky blackened considerably, leaving no trace of light; below them, the ground itself turned dark, as if overcome by a black veil. From the sky, a heavy chained anchor short forth and into the ground below, tightened, and began to ascend once more. From the depths, the anchor pulled out a twisted, demonic entity as tall as a four story building. It could be seen from the waist up, and around its abdomen were tight chains, constricting its body and cemented in the ground nearby, prohibiting movement. After its ascension, the skies and ground returned to their original colors.

The giant summon was facing the dark Titan, and its darkened eyes began to glow as it pulled its head back slightly; without warning, there was a loud chime, Anima's head recoiled, and one of Titan's elbows exploded with a powerful force.

Seymour, now able to turn his full attention to the rest of the battle, cast a single Thundaja spell, the powerful arc of lightning falling from the sky instantaneously and striking Cory with all its might. John, who was both an ally and resistant to Lightning damage, would barely feel a tickle through the connection with Cory.

[[For a good idea of the summoning and the attack: click!

Also, the bolded description is a picture link.]]

[Cory .:. Angel Grove .:. City]

The summoning of Anima was enough to draw Cory's attention upward. He should have burst, but he didn't. He had plans that required Burst movement, and there was more than one way to continue combat after a Thundaja bolt.

The flash of lightning was all John would have seen as Cory pushed him away before the ronin was engulfed in electricity. The attack had gone as soon as it came, leave Cory smoldering in pain. He fell to one knee before looking up at Seymour, grinning from ear to ear. A psychotic expression briefly came over his face- one that said many things and nothing at the same time.

The expression vanished as Cory turned his attention back to John. "I hope you've been paying attention, hammer-man. I know you're from Earth yourself, and I have an inkling feeling in the back of my head that you've played Final Fantasy X before. This scene is rather familiar, isn't it? Conveniently placed enemies being snuffed out but an all-powerful and seemingly virtuous mage and his ridiculously overpowered summon, using the opportunity to improve his self-image. Top that with his lack of hesitation to attack me despite knowing full-well it would draw you into the blast. Even with an affinity to Thunder, an attack that would pretty much defeat me in one blast would be more than enough to threaten you in your wounded state." The ronin shakily got up to his feet, dismissing the Revblade to forgo the strain of carrying it.

"I know I'm not the only one who's seen it. He's not a good guy. He may be aiding you all right now, but his story and personality both dictate that he's probably even more of a threat to all living things than even the Replicas. At least my goals still involving everyone but the Replicas keeping their lives." Cory Resolved his legs, increasing their strength to keep him standing rather than falling back down as he said, "I'm not asking you to join me. But the longer you are the others trust that thing, the more you endanger both my goals and that of your group."

{James : Caribbean Sea : The Challenger}

James had a strong feeling that the great majority of what he had said went over Anthony's head... not that he could blame him, it was a lot to absorb. He chuckled lightly at his question.

"Oh right, our clothes come from dress spheres. I used to have the bag that holds them, I think Sora does now though. So go talk to him and he'll get you one." He replied with a smile, "As for a place to lay down... you'd have to look below deck, unless you want to just lay down on the deck itself."

{Black Waltz : Angel Grove : City}

The Black Waltz hung in the air, it's wings flapping slowly as it looked around the chaotic battlefield. That was until the glyph appeared on the field and the chill filled the air. If the Waltz could shiver it would have as suddenly a column of ice erupted from the glyph catching the Waltz right in the blast. Since his element was fire, this was a devastating attack. When the ice shattered the Waltz nearly fell out of the sky...

"No... I refuse... to be defeated..." It said in it's whispery voice.

A portal opened behind it and he glided back into it right as Stitch came in for his attack as well as barely escaping Kichi's barrage and roar.

{Leon : Angel Grove : City}

Leon nodded his head in thanks as Amy said she was alright and then healed herself, him, and Kyle. The removal of his pain, a good thing. However, the battlefield had gotten more chaotic as now the summons were out, The large earth giant and the undead giant mummy. He almost lost his footing yet again as a massive quake shook the ground.

"Summons... they're huge..." He commented, his attention shifting just in time to see Azrael above them. "Watch out!"

He said as he yet again put himself in the path of the white mage. His gunblade raised to block as many of Azrael's strikes as he could. While trying to counter with a few of his own. All the while getting sliced up by the tiny blades of wind that the Sylph was sending at him as it flew around too fast to strike at.

[John.:Angel Grove:.City]

John looked to Cory sorrowfully. Earlier, John had been talking to Amy about Seymour's character and knew just as well as everyone else that the man was both a curse and a blessing. Sure, the ice attack was ridiculously powerful and helpful, but Cory had been a key component in getting rid of Noelle... and now Cory was in a state of massive pain all at the hands of the Maester...

"Aww hell no... what the f***!" John spurted as he looked to Seymour many yards away.

John knew it would get him flak for later, but in the mean time he would stand by Cory to guard him from any more potential attack. He knew not of any kind of deal Cory made and it seemed that Seymour had overreacted more than just a little bit to Cory holding John up by the throat.

"Joining you seems viable if we don't take action against him..." John said not even worried about Seymour's ability to hear him. "There is a point in time where being a goodie goodie can leave you dead..."

[Anthony ~.~ Caribbean Sea ~.~ The Challenger]

"Speak to Sora," the young warrior-knight thought to himself. "Speak to Sora? One doesn't merely walk up to Sora and say 'Hi!' I mean, he's Sora: The Keyblader!" Anthony gulped, leaning to the left a bit to look over James' shoulder and at Sora, who was looking over the railing of the ship at the waves below. Suddenly, a feeling of withdrawal came over Anthony as he began to feel shy. He never liked confronting others, especially people he didn't know. Thus far he's been lucky people have approached him instead or he'd never make the effort to introduce himself.

"Yeah... about that," Anthony began. "Maybe... Maybe I'll ask him after I get some rest. I wouldn't wanna throw up all over the Keyblader or anything, you know?" he said, nervously chuckling afterward. "I'll be below deck if anyone needs me." With that, he turned around and headed below deck in search of a room to rest in.

Anthony became desperate to lay down somewhere as he felt himself becoming more and more nauseous by the second. In one of the rooms he found a shirtless man resting and the boy he met earlier, Jacob, who was resting on a hammock. Not wanting to disturb them, he decided to keep searching for another room. During his search, he heard the sound of wood cracking under pressure then a woman calling out for help. Instinctively, Anthony ran in the direction of the cry. "Did someone call--," he said as he turned into the room, stopping mid-sentence as he saw the two girls from earlier, Jenny and Noelle, and another woman, Dawn, laying on top of a broken crate with her legs in the air. "...for... help... ...oh...," he said, shifting his eyes as he immediately felt awkward in the presence of the tiny blonde girl. "Hello again... erm...," he said, slightly waving his hand at the group.

[Cory .:. Angel Grove .:. City]

Cory reached out and grabbed John's hand, a bright cyan light exploding from the union and engulfing the two of them...

[Personal Hell]

The ronin opened his eyes and sighed, immediately understanding that he was not in charge of the Drive. He was, again, in the familiar hell hole that was his mind. "Man... One of these days I really want to be in control of the Drive... You'd better do some good, John." The rogue stuck his hands in his pockets and began wandering through the hell, ignoring the freakish landscapes around him as though they weren't even there.

[Alan :: Angel Grove :: Streets]

Alan couldn't see the terrible look in Kai's eyes. Alan couldn't see the nightmare that issued froth from her pen. Alan couldn't even hear screams. As such, much of the terror of the situation was lost on him. Still, thanks to Clarity, he could see the shapes of the wires even before they formed - the lines that they were to follow were magical, and therefore visible to him. He had only a split second to react - enough time to cast one spell or to try to get out of the area. Acting on instinct, he opted for the former.

There was no particular reason he chose to protect Dani over the other two - as mentioned, he was acting on instinct here. Without turning his head, Alan pointed at the newcomer. "Flow, o water!"

Alan cast a low level Water spell, the only level of magic he could get off before Kai's spell came into being. A bolt of water pushed Dani back, out of the range of the replica's maze of wires. Since it wasn't cast offensively, and since Dani is, after all, water elemental, it would have done only minimal damage.

Unfortunately, focusing on saving Dani left Alan with no time to dodge himself. Truth be told, he wasn't sure he'd have been able to. Exquisite pain filled his senses (okay, his sense) as he was hoisted aloft. Did he scream? Hard to say. In this state, Alan couldn't even hear himself.