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[Cory .:. HT .:. "The Gorge"]

"Tch... As if."

Cory burst from sight, reappearing behind the Dualblade with both feet firmly planted on the ground. "The day some Heartless like you catches me off guard is a long way off!" The Indomitable Will all gathered into the ronin's right hand, intensifying as he threw the powerful punch at the Heartless' blind spot.

[Cory .:. HT .:. "The Gorge"]

"Surprise" was was the expression Cory showed as the Heartless easily blocked his punch. While he was incapable of following the Dualblade's movement as it vanished, he knew staying in one spot was not a wise idea. He kicked back again as the Will spread to his legs again, bolting away from his location and towards the blade. The ronin gripped the sword and brought it up in a ready stance as his Indomitable Will vanished. I'll need to conserve my Will. This thing is stronger than expected.

Darkness spread over his body in place of the fire, the vile aura much more manageable than the wild fire that personified his willpower. As this happened, the darkness and Will both enveloped the blade- something that would spell doom for most enemies in only a few moments. Cory only grinned before charging at the Heartless, firing off a Dark Firaga as a distraction before following up with a swing from the blade.

[Alice :: Hook's Ship]

"Standby?" Alice scoffed, watching Timmy with only mild interest though a smirk now graced her pale lips. "You truly are a weakling," she eyed the shield wielder with slight disdain before shrugging it all off.

"Well, you can continue being an emo and taking the floorboards apart or you can come with me to search for your retard of a mentor," the animator offered as she began to turn away from Timmy. He could stay if he liked, but she sure as the seven hells would not be found lazing about a ship. it was a blatant waste of time that could easily be avoided, she just figured that she'd extend the invitation to Timmy.

[John.:Land of Dragons:.Throne Room]

The electrical barrage shot out by Kurt Zisa left John in a more of an awkward situation. His war hammer was raised for another attack, and the only option he had was to take the electricity like a man. The attack hit him square in the chest and John was knocked back, but fortunately was not too shaken as lightning was his element. He attempted to shake off the stiffness from being stunned by the lightning, but did so to little success.

He attempted to raise his war hammer, but that to his was unable to do. Instead, he formed a ball of electricity in his left hand, and with all of his might, spun around and whacked it with the broad side of the head of his war hammer. The force of spinning was able to hold the hammer up without him using any work, but soon, the hammer was resting at John's side as he attempted to shake the attack off.

~Valefor had been right. She was of great service.

Her wide wings spread, she soared through the skies above the fray below. Her glowing gaze flickered all over the battleground, watching as her summoner's allies lunged for Oogie, only to be intercepted by heartless and other contraptions.~

Swinging the weight of her weapon, the golden tips plunged deep into the chest of a Gargoyle Knight. Once, twice, down for the count.
A proud grin flashed across Zeba's face before she could subdue her feeling of accomplishment. Quickly subduing her achievement with words of wisdom, she wished there was a way she could co-ordinate everyone's attacks to get past Oogie's almost infallible defense. That old moldy sack of no-good really made her blood boil; both in the games AND in real life, now that she'd experienced it first hand. He was always so close, yet so far; it'd only take one hit to rid the game of him for good, yet he'd always manage to pull a fast one and before you knew it, Sora was floating midair with a heart circling his che-OCRAP.

She'd fallen back down to reality just in time to haul an energy sphere at an oncoming Gargoyle Knight, sending it to a misty oblivion - but not before it nicked a gouge in her left shoulder. Cussing loudly, she clutched her other hand to he cut, the weight dropping from her right hand and dangling down below her summon. Shortening the chain with a silent command, she dug her knees into Valefor's sides and clutched at her red hair as her summon warned her of her latest aerial maneuver; a complete, 360 degree spin as she knocked another Gargoyle out of their way and blew it to smithereens with a laser.

Zeba had to admit; Valefor knew how to move. She sliced through the air like a hot knife through butter; she was deadly and fast, her attacks co-ordinated so fluidly with her movements that she honestly looked like she was dancing.

~"You're great too, ya know," she buzzed, feeling the drop in her summoner's confidence.~

Deciding against responding to her summon's assurances, Zeba focused herself, taking deep breaths as she zoned out her fears and worries.
Or at least tried.
For the greater part of the battle so far, Valefor had been encouraging her to stream her energy from a point on her body in the form of a laser, similar to one of Val's own means of attack. Though she'd initially been frustrated that her summon was trying to teach her something at the worst possible time, the teen knew that her companion was still young herself.
Her attempts hadn't been fruitless; she'd managed to fire a couple of beams, though they'd died too quickly and wavered too much. Zeba was just too worried with all the goings-on around her that she couldn't concentrate on focusing her mana into a single ray. Godbless Valefor; the young dancer of the winds had gone out of her way to keep all distractions at bay, though even then, it was a hard task to accomplish when her summoner was such an anxious worry-wort.

"Don't judge me!" she snapped at, huffing loudly. "Do you know how annoying it is to see all these openings but not be able to utilize them?"

. . .

"Christ. I really did sound like a brat just then, didn't I?"

[ Kyle ; Sora ; Oogie : HT : Oogie's Pit ]

The Insidious Insect King shouted loudly as the Thundaga spell struck him in the midst of repairing his own sack. Instead of sewing the seam together, he ended up making yet another tear, from which many zapped bugs fell limply. They were surrounding him. They had the upper hand... what? In his game?!

Using on of his arms, he attempted to reach for something on the wall behind him- only to be Bound by Jenny's spell, forcing him to stay in place. He growled, forcing against the bindings as much as he could. They were too close, and he refused to be squished again!

Kyle had planned on shaping his Starlight sphere into something more unique, but upon Sora's Magnera spell, realized it would be better used to destroy the large bunch of heartless revolving in mid-air. So, with a swift toss, the ball of Holy light crashed into the amalgam, exploding and destroying all of the magnetized Heartless. He was considering forming another...

However, the ground began to shake beneath them; the cards that were blocking Oogie suddenly rose far higher than normal, reaching up into the endless darkness and blocking any oncoming attacks. With all the Heartless now destroyed, all that was left was Oogie, who seemed to have pulled one more trick.

The three massive sheets of metal suddenly began to teeter... before falling away from Oogie, threatening to crush any who were underneath. There, where Oogie had been, was a massive, teetering balance scale, the two side weights hovering just a few meters above massive cauldrons. Nobody could see what was inside the cauldrons, but from the eerie green steam that rose from either, their imaginations probably weren't far off. The most trouble thing, however, was not what was beneath the scales, but what was on them.

Either side had a cage. Within the left cage was the Enchantress, the woman they'd come to save. Within the right cage... was Rachel, their White Mage, garbed in her gargoyle outfit and looking near unconsciousness.

In between either scales was a third, middle weighing scale, tied to the other two. Upon it stood Oogie, who continued to stitch himself up. It was his weight that kept the two scales from being dipped in the strange cauldrons. For every movement he made, with every inch he leaned in either direction, the opposite cage fell perilously closer to the cauldron.

"Wha- I thought Rae stayed back!" Sora shouted, looking absolutely bewildered. He attempted to make another step forward, but Oogie's cackle stopped him in his place.

"Ah ah ah! Careful! Don't want me to lose my balance!" Oogie shouted, the mouth of his bag growing into a massive sneer- he wouldn't lose at his own game again. Oogie continued to stitch himself up, planning to address the bratlings when he was done.

[Kyla: LoD: Throne Room]

　

The Thunder Storm spell rained down upon them without much warning or mercy and struck many of them harshly. Kyla fervently tried to shield herself, looking for an image of a lotus shield- but she wasn't fast enough!

~ Aibou!~

"Cue: Battle Imagery"
There was a strange sound ringing in her ears, and then bolt that was aimed for her was met with an impenetrable iridescent wall that surrounded her.

Kyla opened her eyes to see a small blue creature floating above her head, from between it's antennae, a bright red spark was emitting this glowing barrier.

The Lightening bombarded the barrier and bounced off the swirling ruby sheen, and was reflected right back at the attacking heartless!

"Tyue! You- you're out!" And not just out, she was solid! Kyla couldn't see through her anymore. Tyue's form was so tangible, she wasn't a spirit or some kind of apparition, she was real! Real and shielding her like some kind of-

"!!!-wait a minute, you're a summon?!" That ability, Kyla recognized it immediately, it could only mean-

"-Carbuncle." the little creature replied proudly, completing her partners thought.

[ Kyla - has unlocked Tyue's identity = :::Carbuncle::: ]

Using Ruby Light, the Reflect spell threw the lightening attack right back at the heartless with vengeance. It was so powerful, and Kyla felt as if a great weight had been lifted. Tyue(Carbuncle) unleashed all her pent up power, all those feelings of frustration, having to watch as her partner struggled and fought for her life- unable to do anything for her! That was all over now! She was free- FREE! And this heartless enemy was going to KNOW it!

The lightning hit it's mark with a satisfying crackling rumbling impact.

The blue furry creature landed at her feet, ears perked up and eyes smiling at her handiwork. It would be a long while till they were strong enough to do anything like that again, but for now, in this moment... it was a sweet way to make an entrance.

' I don't understand.' Kyla's thoughts transmitted the same as always had.

The summon answered her questioning; ~ It was closed. You've had your heart closed for so long Kyla, it prevented me from helping you, from showing my true power. you've come so far now. You've finally stopped hiding. Now, just as you are being true to yourself at long last- so can I.~

"...Tyue...you're Carbuncle." Kyla felt so.. so happy. Amongst the chaos and confusion, for those few precious seconds, Kyla felt like she'd really accomplished something. It meant her heart was truly open once again.. after so long. Now that she thought about it, it seemed to make sense. They looked so similar, not to mention, Kyla's abilities seemed to mirror or at least pay homage to the creatures powers if one inspected them closely. It was meant to be, there would never be any other summon this close to her in both nature and spirit.

It HAD to be Carbuncle.