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[Matthew :-: Atlantica :-: Battlegrounds]

Matt couldn't help but let out a little "whoop" after he and Joe obliterated the Aquatank. The ensuing black cloud was a little unsettling, but Matt was more concerned when he heard Joe scream out loud. The cloud dissipated so suddenly that he barely recognized that Joe had blown it away with his own barrier. As he looked on in concern, he barely recognized a voice in the back of his head. 'Dave, that you?'

'Dave's not here man.'

Matt didn't have long to ponder what that voice was before Joe started swimming away from him. As he reached out to stop Joe, he felt a pinch on the back of his hand where Kyle had placed a seal. Being a somewhat admitted paranoid, he couldn't help but take these two simultaneous events as a foreboding omen.

"Hey Jojo, wait!" as he swam after the brawler. "I just heard a voice; I think it was calling for help, did you hear it too?"

{Bobbi .:. Atlantica .:. Above Battlefield}

"Aah!"

The sudden surge of power accompanied by stabbing pain in her back caused Bobbi to convulse, but she didn't lose contact with Kyle. Her free hand pressed against her heart, and she somehow felt sick and invigorated at the same time. It was... unsettling, to say the least.

Her jaw clenched, her entire body tensed, and she fought a losing internal battle against an unthinking wildness she'd never felt before. Shiva gasped, but Bobbi was too distracted to tell what the gasp was about. The flood of energies and emotions was almost overwhelming, and the Archer felt her hold on her self-control slipping. She'd felt darkness before, what seemed like so long ago; she recognized it instantly, and was powerless to stop it.

My balance-- she thought. The balance and control she'd fought so hard to regain was crumbling, wearing away to almost nothing under the onslaught of tainted power. Simply thinking was like walking into a headwind in the middle of the most powerful blizzard she'd ever encountered; it almost wasn't worth the effort. What--

Something snapped. Her instinctive battle to hold on to her self was ridiculously one-sided, and she lost in a heartbeat. Her heart raced, but she felt eerily calm all of a sudden. The energy, the Darkness wanted out. It wanted to be used, to rage and blow unfettered like the wind and snow of a deadly blizzard. And at the same time, she was suffused with a deadly, calculating calm; the eye of the storm. Unbridled power held carefully in check...

So familiar...

Focus. Purpose. Kyle was taking the energies and using them, and she opened herself and her magic to him as much as she was able. It didn't seem like enough, though her mana was draining from her like blood from a fatal wound. He was taking the magic, but the darkness stayed.

{Kyle; Valmar : Battlefield}

Damn. I was afraid she was gonna say that. Okay. Midgardsormr, let's do our best not to get killed dead. She seems like she's got a bit going on with her. He kept swimming forward, trying to put as much distance between him and the vanished Replica as possible. That was when he started to feel a bit strange. Like, more powerful. That was nice. Feeling powerful was nice. And with another flip of his tail he flew forward, covering more ground than before. Remind me to thank Jenny after this is over. At least, I'd assume it was her. How about we just thank everyone. Good plan.

"WHERE DID YOU GO!?"

Ohgodohgod that sounded like me. Why is he screaming. Do not like. Do. Not. Like.

There are a myriad of spells on you. One of them may have caused invisibility. You aren't on equal footing yet, but you're closer than you have been. If you can get him near others you could stand a chance.

Awesome. He was invisible too. "SUCK ON THAT!" He shouted before swimming as fast as he could. And for good reason. The area where he'd just been was now a cage, rapidly shrinking to catch...nothing. A frustrated scream started then stopped as abruptly as it had began. Swimming up into the army, he started taking out enemies around him, then swimming off to strike at new areas before they could try to find him. Invisibility was awesome and he wanted to learn to do it. He figured he'd just kill some things and head back into the zone of friends who would help him with a probably murderous Replica.

When he started seeing Dani's situation over the charms, he felt bad, but he was nowhere near her. He was still somewhere in the middle of this army and he had to make his way out before he could do anything. And he'd prefer to make as much use of the invisibility as possible. He didn't know when it would wear off, but he didn't want to be stuck in the absolute middle of the enemy when it did. Thankfully, he wasn't going to get lost.

Gone. Gone. GONE. Valmar was furious. He'd wanted to play with his original. He'd had him. Then he disappeared. HOW DARE YOU He raged, sending up waves and waves of sand, trying to find him. But it was no use. He was gone. "Fine. You want to run from me? I'll kill all your friends then. And when they're screaming and dying, you'll be to blame. Because you ran you coward." With those thoughts, he started swimming towards the front line.

[Dawn : Caribbean Sea : Black Pearl's deck]

When her weapon had been thrown at her by who she could judge to be Anthony's replica, she dismissed the fan to keep the weapon and electricity from getting her. The fight was breaking out heavily between Kuro Oni and James, he mind was still rushing who to trust or what to do. Meanwhile, there was Anthony who had been injured on the ground.

~'Sunlight, it is not safe here. If you want to do anything it is best for you to get below deck. It is safer for you to do something.'~

"But..." Dawn was about to argue, but knew Garuda was right. She just needed to make an escape. She soon spotted the cargo shaft, for reasons unknown to her, was open. She just had to jump over everything to get there. With a release of wind, Dawn used her High Jump to lift herself into the air, as she was in the air she sent a gust of her Whispering Wind in the direction of Anthony. While she flew over the fighting between James and Kuro, and landed into the shaft then retreated farther in.

'Just hope no one follows,' the dancer thought as she soon started dancing all over again using her Slow Dance over the battlefield that would effect all, including the replicas if they were unable to resist.

((Dawn's Magic Strength is 8 ))

[Noelle ~ Atlantica ~ Battlefield]

Noelle looked on at Kyle in disbelief, shivering in the cold water. There would be no talking sense into him. Where did that cry for help come from? Was it Bobbi? She was in this too, meaning Kyle wasn't only endangering himself, but her.

"Kyle, listen to me, you can't do it this way, it's too dangerous.' She pressed earnestly through the charms, 'You're not only putting yourself in danger, but Bobbi. These darkness levels are unusual for her, this is bad for her. It's bad for you."

The Vanish spell was wearing off now and she was slowly coming back into the vision of her comrades and enemies. She looked rigid, strained with concern. Her eyes flashed between the growing ice and Kyle, mind searching for some sort of course of helpful action.

'Maybe if I just . . . Titan--'
'Yes?
'I need you to try and get in contact with Ultima when I make contact with Kyle, just like you did in Agrabah with Sylph. I need to know what things look like from her eyes. Got it?'
'Understood.'

Without further hesitation she gently rested her left hand on his shoulder, focusing on the wild tide of darkness raging in his being. It was more turbulent than the battle below them, leaving Noelle wondering if she could even help. Until he'd calmed she wouldn't even be able to tell if his stain had neared the size of hers. If his was greater, could she still help him? Her concern grew at that moment as she tried to find some way to calm the flow of darkness. She pressed forward, trying to fall in rhythm with the flow before pulling against it to quell the tide. Meanwhile, Titan attempted to make contact with Ultima.

'Ultima, my name is Titan. I am Noelle's . . . superior. Kyle is endangering himself and another Earthling, we need your assistance to keep them both safe."

'. . . You would say you're my superior.'

[ Kyle : Atlantica : Battlegrounds ]

"Bobbi? Don't be an idiot. Not only can she pull back whenever she pleases, but a portion of this came from her," he seethed, getting mildly frustrated at Noelle's constant interruptions. Didn't she understand? Why was she in his way, why was she trying to prevent his victory?

"Ajora killed Rachel, he used Elleon to take you away from us, he destroyed Joe's eye, he made more abominations, and now--" he began, his mental voice growing in rage, swelling with fury as he listed his Replica's sins. With each word, his crimson mana circuits seemed to flare, pulsing with his anger; even the black veins hovering over his arms seemed to grow restless, wanting more. However, before he could finish, he felt Noelle's connection, her attempt to dam the flow of the Darkness, his Darkness--

"AND NOW YOU HELP HIM STALL FOR TIME?!"

The hovering black veins surged with rage (a surge that could be felt through the seals, back to Joe and Matthew as well) and lashed out at her nearby back and side in self-defense, the pure Dark magic attempting to sear her bare flesh and, if she didn't move away quickly enough, latch on to her as well.

"My Avatar speaks true, aeon," Ultima's response came through whilst Kyle was originally speaking to Noelle. Her tone was cold--apathetic. It would slowly become threatening as Noelle attempted to intervene. "The archer aids of her own will. However, you speak some truth as well. He will freeze the entire battlefield, and with so many individuals in the area, it is impossible to pick and choose his targets. Wish your allies farewell while you can."

"WHAT IS SO HARD TO COMPREHEND?!" his mind raged over the charms to everyone under the sea in response to Joe. "I CAN END THIS BATTLE NOW. I CAN SAVE ATLANTICA AND ATLANTIS. WOULD YOU IDIOTS HAVE THEM SLAUGHTERED?!"

[Matthew :-: Atlantica :-: Battlegrounds]

Matt watched Joe with growing worry; he was far too troubled for Matt's liking and he wanted to try and ease Joe's concerns. His urge to fuss was broken by the sudden appearance of... Dani, was it? He didn't remember her quite as well as some of the others, as she wasn't present for the Blue Magic Session. He'd have to remember to get a skill from her later. IN the meantime she was clearly wounded, and that was something Matt was more readily able to fix.

He swam over to the girl and tried to get a closer look at her injuries. "Oh dear, I hope this works," he said. He held both his hands close together, palms-facing eachother. A green orb of light formed between them as he cast Cura; when it grew enough to encompass both his hands, the orb dispersed and the light settled on Dani, healing her injuries if not repairing the broken arm. "Joe and I...felt something and we're trying to figure out what it is. Isn't that right... Joe?" he asked. He looked for his friend to see he was already swimming away again.

He shook his head, assuming Joe would be better off on his own for now. He turned back to Dani and sighed. "Anyway, are you feeling any better nGODDAMNSONUVA-" He immediately clutched his hand; the surging feeling much more painful than that pinch from earlier. 'KYLE I LOVE YOU BUT YOU'RE BEING A BIT OF A b***h RIGHT NOW' he replied via the charms.

'Oh yeeeeah, taunt the currently omni-magical being pumped with liquid evil.

[ Kyle : Atlantica : Battlegrounds ]

"I CAN WIN THIS, I CAN DESTROY AJORA, I CAN--"

SMACK.

Kyle's head twisted away violently as Noelle slapped him.

Thank you.

Much happened in the next second. First, all four remaining seals vanished from their hosts (Noelle, Joe, Matthew, and Seymour), taking the seed of Kyle's energy that had been left in their hands and severing whatever connection they'd had.

Next, the massive glyph surrounding the battlefield flickered, the rising walls stopped their growth, and in a burst of magic energy, a destructive blizzard erupted, causing mass turbulence and sending thick, glacial shards of the broken walls through various geists and enemies--no allies would have even felt a tiny chill--before dying down mere moments later.

Finally, while Kyle may have had his already-intense focus elevated to extremes, it didn't mean much compared to his mind being physically jumbled so hard that he became Addled. All light faded from his body as the magical circuits vanished; the black veins that once hovered above his arm slid back into it, mostly shrinking away; however some vessels remained visible, spreading out a few inches from the cloth wrapping on his left arm both up the forearm and down slightly onto the hand.

His eyes were wide, and he inhaled sharply, shakily, as if he was afraid he would fall apart. He turned back to glance at his arms--and looked horrified. He glanced toward the battlefield, uncaring for those surrounding him, and saw all of his built-up energy vanish into a chilly current that swept away the remains of what enemies it happened to take with it.

"No," he whispered, his voice trembling as he swam forward, still reaching out. Nothing came. "No, no, no." He threw both of his arms out, desperation seeping into his voice. It was gone. It was all gone.

"... failed...," he whispered, his eyes hazily observing the battle that continued below. His shoulders sagged, his body shook. "So close... he..."

[[ By the way, the 'Thank you' was mentally-audible to you three (Matt/Joe/Noe). ]]