Welcome to Gaia! ::

{Tseng : Atlantis : Approaching the Tunnel}

Tseng remained silent, listening to the sounds of battle that continued to erupt from behind them. Despite the beating that they had so obviously incurred they were still going at it, seemingly non-stop. Their resolve or perhaps it was their foolish determination surprised the Turk. They were fighting with an intensity that seemed to indicate they had nothing to lose. The leader was now very interested to hear what all had transpired in the the Throne Room as Daniel conversed with Ajora, yet his prodige as of yet had told him nothing. He turned to look back toward the entrance to the throne room where the battle still raged. From where they were now, standing, waiting for Daniel to catch up, he couldn't really see anything anymore.

His focus then shifted to his fellow Turk who had caught up to them and then walked right between them and kept on going. Tseng narrowed his eyes, concerned. Daniel was all focus during a mission sure. However, this level of silence and more than less a lack of attention was uncommon. Clearly there was a lot on his mind, more than likely regarding what the trident-wielder had told him. His prodige was also more than likely deep in a mental conversation with the summon that he had spoken of a few times. Such a lack of attention though was not a good thing, if the young Turk were walking right into danger he wouldn't know it.

{{cue : Only a Plank Between One and Perdition

As they reached the spiraling shaft that Ajora had created to get down here he barely registered the words of his prodige, his eyes immediately darting to the shaft and the countless orbs that now lit it. As well as the black veins that were rapdily running down the sides and into the tunnel darkening it as it ran towards the city.

"DANIEL RUN!" The Turk shouted as he pulled a Fira Grenade off of his belt and pulled the pin, tossing it into the shaft. As soon as the grenade was out of hand he immediately drew a pistol and began firing at the Heartless which would soon be upon them. He grabbed Daniel by the shoulder and gave him a hard shove away from the opening and backed up to a safe distance himself as the explosion went off, enveloping the bottom of the shaft in an inferno.

"That won't stop them, keep moving!" he ordered as more Heartless emerged from the opening as the explosion abated.

{Bobbi .:. Atlantis .:. Outside Throne Room}

Oh goodie, Ultima was talking. Yay, villainous monologuing, just what the doctor ordered! Somehow, Bobbi managed to stay on her feet when the world started shaking, but it was almost impossible to keep her arrow trained on Ultima during her transformation.

When she heard the dark voice in her head again, her only visible response was a twitch; more of a minor spasm, really. Hardly noticeable in the quaking going on as an army of Heartless began advancing. She didn't understand the weird vision that came with the voice, but figured she'd ask about it when they weren't facing down a horde of Heartless and whatever Ultima/Ajora just became.

No, I thought I'd just go take a vacation in Tahiti and let Kida take care of herself! Bobbi snapped to the voice in her head as she paced backwards towards the Heart of Atlantis. She stationed herself to one side of Kida, arrow drawn and ready to shoot, hopefully blocking most attacks coming from that direction. While she had a second, Bobbi took stock of her dwindling mana reserves. She had enough left that she could either shield Kida for a couple of minutes before running out, or she could cause at least some damage to something.

~:I can't guarantee the Mirror Wall will be adequate defense for the Heart of Atlantis, Bobbi,:~ Shiva pointed out. ~:Besides, I know how much you enjoy shooting things.:~

Bobbi needed no further prompting than that; she aimed between the Singularity's eyes and shot, following immediately with another arrow; she should have been able to get three in the air before the first reached its target.

[Kyla: Atlantis:: Throne Room]

“ -a drive?”

Now that sounded like a good idea. Having remembered what happened between her and Amy, Kyla’s brow furrowed. Seven days felt like years, she hadn’t had time to really observe most bonds between members of their quest party yet. So how well DID Kyle know everyone? She could have easily suggested various people. Still the most beneficial she could think of would be- “ Joe...or Matt?” They seemed to be happy when they met earlier, were they friends?

It didn’t take a genius to see how Kyle’s plight played on their emotions, so perhaps there was something to base this suggestion on. Kyla looked at Kyle till he met her gaze and sent this one message only to him.
As Kyle suggested they protect the princess Kyla’s plan of action was sealed. She left him with this final word to him alone-

<- I can only suggest this, where you are in your own heart and mind is between you and your friends, you know who I’m talking about-we’re all determined to end this battle, some of us you even knew before all this happened- I’ll leave you to that.>

Kyla couldn't tell anyone to just shut up and drive already- she couldn't vouch for where those boys stood but it was obvious to her that both were not happy with Kyle’s near death event- still, was it enough to put a barrier between them to withhold a better fighting chance. That was up for them to decide.

She stood up and left to join the first assault, standing strategically behind Joe, but before Riku and Bobbi who were directly in front of Kida.
She summoned a Flight of Blades in defensive mode which encircled the three with their spectral forms passing through and around them as if they were completely harmless. That is until provoked.

Meanwhile she repsonsed to Ava Mat with a tone of appreciation.

~' Sounds good- Let's unleash Holy Hell on this b**ch-'~

With their minor Holy Elemental imbuement it should be good against Ultima if she/he went right for the jugular- but Kyla would never let her get that close and she prepared.
Hoping to keep her off balance and give Joe a better opening Kyla launched a stream of regular Burn Strikes, they whizzed past Joe aiming for their directed target.

[Anthony ~.~ Black Pearl ~.~ Galley]

Anthony was momentarily shocked when James told him he was right. Right? The young man was just rambling. He didn't expect the other to make a connection between his random thoughts.

To an extent, Anthony knew what his friend was feeling. Granted he wasn't married or had a significant other, but he could imagine the responsibility the corsair felt. To the brawler, marriage isn't a legal contract or union. Marriage is sacred. The coming together of two different people and becoming one. In the young man's traditional and conservative mindset, the man is viewed as the provider and the protector. Right now, James is outside of his role.

"James...," was all Anthony was able to mutter for a moment. The corsair's story reminded the knight of his own relationship with his summon and the last words he said to Odin. His eyes drifted away for a moment.

"I'm so sorry, buddy. I was angry. I didn't mean any of it. We're partners. Equals."
"There is no need for an apology. I will always be at your side, friend."

Anthony smiled.

"I wish I could do more for you, James," the brawler said, turning his attention back to his friend. "But we still have those communication-charm-things. You could speak with her and find out if she's safe. And, if you think about it, Shipwreck Cove is a out-of-the-way safe haven for pirates. It's probably one of the safest places to be while being surrounded by the most dangerous people around. I mean, they have guns, swords, cannons, and plenty of boats to make a quick getaway if things got too hairy." The young man cleared his throat. "You know... if that sorta makes you feel a bit better. If it didn't, then let's just pretend I just said, 'there, there,' and gave you a pat on the shoulder."

There was a moment of silence. Anthony reached over to James and patted him on the shoulder. "There, there..."

[ Kyle ; Riku ; ??? : Atlantis : Outside Throne Room ]

As the others all began their defense and said their word (Dawn's being peculiarly anti-Drive, despite Drives completely refreshing the participants), Kyle looked between Joe and Noelle, the last (and only) two he'd Driven with. His eyes looked down in pause after looking to Noelle, thinking about it.

"You need to stay," he started, looking back to the blonde girl at his side. "You healed me, right? You're probably our best healer. We'll need you around."

As the various assaults made their way towards him, the fiend did nothing, smirking until the first arrow neared. He threw his free arm up and took the arrow into it, letting it lodge into him without so much as a grunt or flinch of pain. The second struck right next to it, having moved his arm just a bit, around the same time as the first Birn Strike struck his chest--which erupted, but once more caused no recoil. The third arrow and second birn, however, seemed to fly straight through him, as if he weren't there at all. Joe's kick would have done the same if he wasn't fast enough to notice the difference.

But even that split-second wouldn't have stopped what happened next. Without warning, he burst from the ground in the center of the group in an eruption of powerful Dark magic, having launched from a random shadow. The explosion of magic was strong enough to hit everyone on the field, though it was slightly diminished to those on the outer edges (Joe, Riku, Bobbi).

"That leaves Joe and--" Kyle began, only to shout as he was sent rolling on the ground a few meters by the powerful explosion.

By the time any of them had recomposed, Ajora's spear struck the earth, stuck vertically in the center of the field, but he was nowhere to be seen. A cackle was heard from above.

"Black Hole."

Time slowed world-round, leaving everyone unable to retaliate. The sky blackened as the fiend hovered in the air, arms facing the ground. A vast, intricate indigo glyph appeared from his hands, blanketing the battlefield and some distance beyond as its various layers spun. There was a low hum in the air, and when the glyph finally locked into place with a resounding clash, the humming stopped--and the glyph shattered open, unleashing massive, vein-like streams of Darkness downward, causing mass destruction. The namesake black hole they spawned from quickly grew until the Darkness consumed the battlefield and the surrounding city block, blinding everyone momentarily.

When the attack ended, "Ajora" was already on his spear. Acting fast, he flipped down, pushed off the ground, and dashed for the struck Joe in an attempt to grab him by the arm or leg, spin him, and throw him back toward Kyla.

[[ Example. Approximate strength: MS 12. And when I say you're unable to retaliate, I mean no counters or abilities. You can still, say, reflexively toss your arms up, but no time for magic/full-guards. ]]

[[ REMEMBER: Dawn has cast Bravery and Faith on all allies! Your PS, PR, MS, and MR are 1.5x higher (rounded up for decimals)! ]]

[[ BOSS STATS, by the way:

PS - 16
PR - 22
MS - 18
MR - 22
AS - 14
ER - 14
OS - 13
HP - 6 ]]

[Joe: Atlantis: Outside Throne Room]

Joe was already in the process of his attack when he realized it wouldn't connect, and cancelling it was going to leave him unbalanced and wide open, so he continued with his kick, landed his foot then leaped back. Not that he needed to, apparently, considering the attacker wasn't in front of him anymore.

The fighter whirled around, raising his arms against the wave of darkness streams that flowed down. Oh, the attack hurt, that was for sure. And with Ajora coming at Joe, stumbling backwards was all he could do to try to avoid him. It was useless, though, Ajora grabbing his leg and flinging him towards Kyla. Not a good thing.

Joe fired off some of his magic, his wind pushing him up and over the girl so he wouldn't fly into her, but left him flying up and away still. It took a moment, but Joe was able to reorient himself with his wind and force a landing on a platform of air. He needed something, and that something was Kyle. And after finding him, Joe kicked off the platform, up, then kicked off of another to dive towards Kyle.

Kyle! Joe shot the name at the male, technically everyone, through the charms, diving and reaching. Did they have time to find another person? Could they do another three person drive? He didn't know. He just knew he needed to reach Kyle.

[Kyla: Atlantis: Outside Throne Room]


It was as brutal as she expected, and while she could prepare for the worst, something could only be handled as they came at you. While the first initial attack flung her off her feet Kyla was able to gather herself up again and prepare her next attack-
That’s when Ajora/Ultima unleashed unholy hell on them- the darkness rained down upon them like the gates of the void had opened, and the sheer ferocity, of the attack tore up the landscape around them. Merciless, pitiless-
-and she was left untouched.

Kyla stood there completely shocked for a moment that the onslaught was absorbed but she quickly caught on from the pull inside her chest. Ava Mat had defended her as promised. Her AND Bobbi. Her gratefulness was relayed through her mind to her silent guardian.

~ - thank you, are you alright? ~

She couldn’t’ be sure exactly how his power worked, but there it had its limits and what just happened was awful- surely it could cause some sort of back lash to defend them both wouldn’t it? No time to wonder, “Ajora” was still on the move and throwing a projectile at her in the shape of- JOE?

Kyla barely began to dodge when Joe flew up and over and into the air. To her relief she saw him make a beeline for Kyle-
Good.

Turning her attention back to Ajora she cast Warding Lotus on Dawn to support her from interruption and cast am offensive set of Flight of Blades imbued with minor holy element. It sucked she couldn’t do something stronger- if someone could cast enholy or something of the like on her the effects could stack and they would deal a strong effect of the element, but the only one who could possibly do that was-

Right. BACK to attacking!

Kyla launched the swords at the enemy and they surrounded the possessed replica, swarming and slashing in unified formation. Kyla took this chase to strife to the side and circle her target, not wanting to stay in just one place this time. She began to prepare her next offensive tactic for Kida.

[[??? : Atlantis : Inside Kyla]]

"I'm fine, keep up the assault-" the phantom replied, his voice showing no hint of exhaustion. His attention shifted to the attacks. One after another the blades entered the monstrous replica, and reappeared distorted and perverted by the darkness flying at new targets, those flying at Bobbi vanishing inches from impact. The presence did nothing to defend the others. In fact, it did nothing but lie in wait, prepared for any onslaught the enemy would throw at them.

Ajora split into countless copies, dashing about, making any average person go cross eyed. Focused on his immediate surroundings, the shadow in her mind flinching with each movement. It could feel their eyes on him, breaking into a mental sweat, fear trickling down into adrenaline. Damn it...

"Try to get spread out from the others. Grouping up only give him more targets to hammer with less eff- Agh!" Just as he was sure they were in the clear a copy flew in and struck the girl in the chest, their voice immediately entering both his and Kyla's unified minds.

"Were gifts of power not enough for you? Why must you cast yourself with shattered Light? Do not you know our grand infinity?"

[[Cue: Fate of The Unknown]]

"You..." his voice was seething. The air beside the girl's face went up in a flurry and like smoke parting, the scenery in the corner of the girl's vision forward faded and revealed a sinister black arm. There wasn't a moment to react as its clawed grip latched to the distorted replica's face from the eyes down. Another rush of wind after the first arm made contact, another clawed hand gripped the replica's throat and all hell broke lose.

In the blink of an eye, the space around the girl grew violent and unrelenting. An invisible sphere formed around the two, pushing out everything within several yards. The floor, once flat hollowed out like a bowl, not slowly, but as though one second there was earth, the next a crater. Despite gravity, the two did not fall, merely floated in place, neither budging from their grasp on the other.

"Your goals... are not mine. I don't take orders from you."

Behind Kyla, attached to the floating arms quickly revealed a demon protruding from the small of her back. From the frightening beast's arms to the tips of its horns angled backwards from its temples, from its snarling fangs to the bright yellow eyes slit like a snake's, it exuded darkness that collided with the powers of the other, futile as it may have been. Two spheres of darkness appeared behind each person, one obviously larger than the other, they began to spin around them with rapidly increasing speed before becoming no more than blurs. More spheres just the same formed and continued the same process.

"You can't have me... You can't have her. Neither of us are your pawns to be controlled!"

The power struggle released bolts of pure, black energy, contained inside the sphere, though seldom escaping and striking things outside. One shot out, launching skyward and striking an atlantian flyer, turning it into pieces of flying rubble and a cloud of blue energy.

"And you won't keep Ajora. Ultima will never have him. I won't let you win." its grip tightened but to little effect. An image of their conversation, high above the planet coursed through the girl's mind, "He warned me about you. About your coming. What it would mean. But I didn't understand. I thought it merely paranoia, reading too much into the workings of the darkness. Now I realize what he meant. What you want, your desires. Ajora was right to oppose you and I'm not going to stand by and let YOU and that b***h use his body like a play thing!" he was screaming now, rage encompassing his entire being, "I'll release him from your control even if it means tearing out his throat with my teeth! YOU WONT HAVE YOUR WAY!"



On a mental plane, the phantom stood midst the torrent of darkness, bracing himself as he shouted into the abyss, "AJORA! WAKE UP! Don't you dare lose to them!"



[[Meanwhile...Inside Bobbi]]

In the middle of the Archer's actions, whatever they may have been, there was a sudden pause, pressure could be felt in the young woman's shoulders before suddenly her posture shifted up. Bow pointed to the sky, she drew the next arrow, shadow inking itself into the ice, and let it lose into the air before she, just as quickly as she'd lost it, regained mobility of her body.

High above the battlefield, the lone arrow careened until colliding with the underside of a flying fish artifact, however, rather than exploding into ice or bouncing off the stone surface, it embedded itself to the surface like a glob of puddy, veins spreading out swiftly.