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[ Ajora ; Will Turner ; Lord Beckett : Caribbean : HMS Endeavour ]

"And here I was, not expecting to see you until tomorrow morning."

"Sorry to disappoint, Lord Beckett, but I don't have long- merely sparing a moment to speak with William."

"Oh, truly a pity," he responded, though his sarcasm was clear. The two were currently walking comfortably through the ship's lower decks; behind them, however, was a small platoon, all marching in sync, their eyes hovering over Ajora's form.

"Well, he's right through here-"

"I wish to speak with him alone, Lord Beckett," Ajora said, looking down at the smaller man with an appreciative smile.

"Oh? And why should I trust you alone with him?"

"You say that as though you've got a choice in the matter," Ajora replied, his hand on the doorknob, covering Beckett's hand; he continued to smile. Beckett immediately pulled his hand away, and though he made no sound of pain, the seething look he held upon grasping the mark on the back of his hand spoke volumes. "Don't worry, my good man, I want him alive just as much as you do. I'll only be a few minutes."

Without another word, Ajora turned the knob and walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. He could feel Will's eyes on his back as he shut the door, and gave a brief chuckle.

"And what do you want?" Will growled, looking at the young man that barely concealed his distaste for him; this boy was, after all, one of the main reasons he'd been separated from everyone else.

"Let's just say I've come to offer... protection," the Replica said, walking through the room and over to the charts Will had been scanning over; Beckett had been using Will to guide them to the Cove.

"I can protect myself just fine, thank you."

"Oh, I won't be protecting you, of course," Ajora replied, grinning. "What if I told you that, for a price... I could guarantee Elizabeth and your father would come to no permanent harm tomorrow during the inevitable battle? That she would not only live, but help the pirates succeed in their goals, and that your father would be freed from Jones' command? For the right price, of course."

Will narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He looked like he wanted to speak, but was uncertain of what he could say.

"Ah, so I've got your attention, then, good, good," Ajora said, continuing to smile. "You won't trust me, of course, so I don't expect a payment until after all is said and done."

"You're telling me... that you can guarantee Elizabeth's safety and my father's freedom," Will began, raising a brow. His tone implied the obvious- he did not, in fact, trust the boy in front of him. "And I don't have to pay you until afterward? I'm sorry, but I've dealt with too many pirates to believe such a fairy tale."

"True, but you- you're a man of your word, no?" Ajora asked, swiftly turning to face will, his eyes gleaming in the lantern light. "And I'm the same. What do you have to lose? You make the deal, and I somehow fail, you don't have to pay up at all; you make the deal, and I succeed, well, aren't they worth whatever I'd be asking for anyway? Of course... it's a, ah, complete possibility that if you don't make the deal, they die regardless... but that sounds so much like black mail..."

Will glared at Ajora, and almost went for his sword before Ajora raised a finger, waving it back and forth as if to tell him not to. That's when he remembered what happened on the Pearl. "What are your terms?"

"Just a few favors- nothing degrading, I assure you. You could almost say that by that point in time, it'll be nothing more to you than..." his voice trailed off, as if looking for the word. "... business."

He held out his hand, offering it to shake. "Do we have a deal, then? One man of his word to another?"

Will looked down at the hand. He seemed to be weighing his options, but even he knew that there was no choice, with the threat of Elizabeth's death hanging over him. "You're guaranteeing her survival and his freedom?"

"By the end of the day, your father will be freed of Jones' leash, Elizabeth and yourself will be wed, and Lord Beckett will be dead. You have my word," he promised, making sure not to laugh at his own rhyme.

There was another pause, but within moments, Will took the hand, shaking it firmly. Ajora only grinned; within seconds, Will could feel a painful burning on the back of his palm as a Dark aura encased their grips. It felt as though someone was engraving something into his flesh with a hot iron. The sensation only lasted a couple of moments, luckily enough, and Ajora's hand soon let go.

"I'll be seeing you later, William Turner," Ajora chimed before leaving the room, only to enter a Corridor the moment he was out.

[[Louis : Hawaii : Clearing -> Village]]

Louis stood in the center of the group, as air kicked up around him like a violent rampage as giants spawned around him, leaving him cringing and covering face and back of his head. Sora had vanished and run off without him, leaving the boy sanding motionless in the center of the clearing, unsure who was left there with him. His heart beat once with heavy beat, surging the blood through his neck as paranoia kicked in and his through clenched up.

Like a knife looming over his back, his fear called to his mind, tantalizing him with an expected blow of death. He could feel the eyes of the enemy on him, quite literally, They're there... I can feel them... watching me with those yellow eyes... waiting for a chance to pounce on my weakness. I MUST find a way out of this. Come on... darkness got me into this... I should be able to get myself out the same way.

The boy took a few steps back as several explosions erupted a bit away. There was no telling how far ahead they were by the sound alone but it seemed close enough. I can use darkness to send out feelers per-say, but then I'd be giving myself away just the same and making myself a major target...

Several airships passed overhead letting out a loud screech that went along with most powerful engines, interrupting his train of thought for a moment and reintroducing his panic attack, I... Louis spun his torso around swiftly as the presence he was sensing grew closer. Yellow eyes visible even though his blindfold, which struck a nerve. Am I seeing things? Is Ajora playing more of his games? Why can I see them? Why are they all looking at me? Wh-

Louis thought for a moment, then something clicked into his head, "Ajora," he stated mentally to the replica, "never mind... just don't touch anything." As he projected that thought, the Arcanist's defenses dropped as darkness moved elsewhere. Louis opened two portals at each side and reached his hands in. He stood there for a moment, in his mind, the images of hundreds maybe thousands of perspectives flashed through his head. It stopped on one in which he could see himself.

From out of the woods nearby a neoshadow ran across the clearing and leaped into the air, landing on Louis' back, wrapping one arm over his shoulder and another underneath his arm pit, gripping his left breast with its sharp claws and letting out a soft mix of a hiss and a purr. Louis clenched for a moment, then got used to the irritation, Can't expect them to completely resist their instincts... but... Louis raised his gaze as did the heartless on his back, setting it's head right above his left shoulder.

With one prize claimed, Louis removed his hand from the darkness and dropped the rifle from his shoulder, holding it out to his side as he ran forward, the other portal staying locked on his arm, I just need a little time... just give me that much.

The battle had begun. Following the others toward the village Sayrike summoned her mirrors and was once again encased in that ridiculous suit. She looked on in admiration at the Zords as they leaped forward into the fray, Sora and Riku tiny figures beneath them. There were only a few of them left who did not have Final Fantasy summons, Sayrike included, but that was fine with her. She was more inclined to fight the battles down here anyway, wanting to help out wherever there was less support. The girl had her doubts about even having a summon. But did she really need one? Sayrike had taken care of herself thus far, why did she need a crutch to rely on?

She felt Louis' presence next to her, Jacob having taken off seconds before. Well, in any case, it was time to earn her keep among this group. (Although, frankly, so far it has been a high price for some magic clothes and a place to store my broken surfer parts she thought with amusement, internally chuckling to herself. But a burst of magic from the side caught her attention, heading toward Riku. Sayrike leaped to intercept it, throwing up her mirrors and shouting, "Reflect!", directing it back to its owner. Peering through the semi-darkness, she could make out a woman standing there. "Hey, there's someone over there!" she began, turning to whoever was left on the ground. But, in that instant, a Neoshadow vaulted attached itself to Louis, who had his hands in portals of darkness. "Louis!" Sayrike shouted, running over while keeping an eye on the woman and any other incoming attacks. "Just hold still, let me get that off of you!" It took her a second to register that A)she had stupidly hurried to rush off to follow the others, caught up in watching the summoning of the Zords forgetting to grab Louis' hand as the battle started, and B) Louis had made it without her help...Sayrike cursed at herself. She didn't usually make stupid mistakes like this, especially when it came to aiding others. If she didn't watch herself and focus, she was going to get hurt, or worse--like getting someone else hurt. And now, she had allowed a Heartless by to attach itself to Louis. She readied a side mirror to attack it.

Her mirror already up, the Neoshadow's claw simply glanced off of it harmlessly, though its synchronization with Louis surprised her. A small smile crept across Sayrike's face. "Sorry, I didn't realize. Heh, I guess you don't need me after all. Looks like you figured out a way to see by yourself." Her hand felt a little relieved...but also cold, empty. The masked girl just kind of hoped that she was able to help Louis somehow after causing him to be in this blind mess in the first place, even if she hadn't been able to think of a way to restore his eyesight. "Well, time to do this, eh?" she said. Turning back around and away from Louis and his new Heartless appendage, she scanned the shadows, having lost sight of the source of the energy beam from before. "I think there's at least one more enemy around here--a woman. Can you see her?" Sayrike was more of a defensive type; it might be best to leave the offensive sharpshooting to the former military strategist. Still, her body was tensed, ready to move her mirrors and block an attack at a moment's notice.

[Kichi :: Hawaii :: Clearing -> Dogfight]

Kichi didn't even grace Cory's retort with a response, as Mathy asked about Joe. "Oh....Joe? I dunno where he-"

He was cut off by that very person's voice coming over the wind. "Yeah, looks like it'c combat time. We'll talk more later, but I'll get you two in the same place afterwards, if you wanna talk with him." Kichi nodded, then ran, and dragon leaped into the air, a shell of gold forming around him, before mechanical pieces started forming and fitting themselves together, a large mechanical, golden dragon forming around him within moments, that the others would immediately recognize as Bahamut Fury, should they know the summon in the first place, especially as it let out a roar, tan-ish white magic flames leaking their way out of the mouth.

Inside the cockpit, Kichi grabbed ahold of the handles, sitting in the pilots seat, as a 360 degree view came up around him. "Hah, figures I'd get a Gurren-Lagann Diebuster mix cockpit. Well, let's ROCK!" He said, and had his new Dragon-King Zord Roar again, firing the spikes off off of the rocket wings, and had them take formation around him. Then he rocketed headfirst towards Kyle's similarly colored and themed Zord, stopping next to him. Of course, he didn't forget to send a quick "Nice Zord there!" over the comm to the pilot.

[ Ooze : Hawaii : Tramplin' Dat Village ]

Ooze seemed more than pleased with himself, which was evidence by the grinning visage where the Babil's head should be. Indeed, with his control over the ooze that powered the machine, he had fused himself to it, which gave the monstrosity his exact face. He trampled the much-smaller buildings, slowly making his way to the Mothership's landing zone. Those pathetic humans thought they could hide?

However, in a flurry, almost a dozen zords flashed into view, more than astounding him. He knew that there were some wannabe-rangers on the island to take the originals' places, but they actually had Zords?! Even though Zordon was dead?! He snarled in fury before kicking aside the charging Unicorn-Zord (John) with scary ease. The charged-horn still made contact, but it struck his upper-leg and apparently did no damage.

"You kids think you've got what it takes?!" he shouted, twisting his entire upper-torso around like a top to knock away the Cheetah-Zord (Cory) with its elbow- the blade made contact with his arm, and as it grazed his elbow, it seemed to flash red for a split second. Otherwise, no mark was made as the Zord was pushed back. Jacob's missiles made contact with Ooze's back as he did his swivel-- also leaving no mark. "I'm the Emperor of Evil! It'll take more than you rookies to handle me!"

As the Snake-Zord struck out with its tail, it only managed to strike his lower leg, just barely missing his knee. Ooze, still snarling, went to step on the snake's midsection. "How like the worms you are!"

{Kyle : Hawaii : Village

As Ooze's foot connected, Kyle's Zord started to flail, trying to get out from the foot. It struck out with its tail multiple times, acting almost like a scorpion would. He couldn't tell if the hits were connecting though, as he seemed to just shrug them all off. With the realization that it could go quite badly for him if it kept up, Kyle was trying to find a way to get him off.

"The blades. Blades all over the body. Let's wrap around his leg and cut the damn thing off." Midgardsormrs voice came from all around him in the cockpit, which was quite different from only coming from inside his head. It was a strange feeling for Kyle, but Midgardsormr didn't seem to care at the moment. It was starting to hurt quite bad.

Manipulating the controls, Kyle's Zord started to move, trying to twist up Ooze's leg and rip into it with the blades. He may have been stepping on it, but the Zord still had plenty of length to move.

[Joe: Hawaii: Village Sky]

The male smirked at Dawn. So, she wanted to show off, eh? Fine, he'd show off, too.

Joe worked the controls, as Sylph quickly rose into the sky, higher and higher to be above it all, before letting out just the softest twitter, barely heard, before diving down, tails spread. He passed by enemies, and before hitting the ground, pulled up and flew straight, his tail slicing into the smaller ships with ease with the speed from his Sonic Dive.

"Tweet tweet." The fighter said over the intercom to Dawn, humor in his voice. Till something pegged his Zord in the side. "****." The male focused on the battle once more, a small hole now in Sylph's side from a cannon blast. Figures that someone would hit him when he gloated.