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

Anthony was taken back by James' glare. He even leaned back slightly and tensed, readying his arms to raise in defense just in case the corsair took a swing for whatever reason. When James gave the young man a smirk, he sighed in relief.

"I haven't the slightest idea," said the knight in response. "Whatever it is, it must be one heck of a fight. It would be nice if we could go down there and help."

The brawler began to tap his fingers on the table's surface. "What should we do until they get back?"

[Joe: ??????????]

He might have been knocked away, but that didn't do too much. The explosions near him, however, that did more to him than anything. But thankfully, he wasn't down for the count just yet. Instead, he broke off from fighting the one hand, instead choosing to get between both of them. Staring at the eldritch abomination, he simply said "Su Grah Dun!"

Wind wrapped around Joe, and his started spinning, the eyes on his armor glowing brighter before firing off lasers, aimed at the hands, arcing around if they went wide to blast into the wretched flesh of the creature, trying it's damnedest to avoid hitting the crystals in their palms. And because of the wind, he was able to blast a lot of those beams out of himself, spinning rapidly.

{Bobbi .:. ???????}

Bobbi caught the three elixirs and downed one as fast as she could, though she kept an eye on her assigned hand to make sure it didn't try anything fishy. She tucked the others into a pocket, and was back on her bow in seconds. She frowned when she saw that her Bolts were absorbed by the crystal imbedded in the creature's palm. When it turned her magic against her, she was surprised for a moment, but managed to dive aside, avoiding a direct hit but getting clipped just the same. She hissed, thankful that whatever ice element was in the attack wouldn't affect her. Still, the physical impact and the Darkness element in there: ouch!

Bobbi got to her feet with a wince, and began to take aim when a small explosion went off practically in her face. The Archer yelped and jumped back a pace, trying to summon a small Mirror Wall reflexively, but she couldn't access her mana to cast the spell.

"s**t!"

The explosion and her discovery of Silence distracted her enough that she temporarily lost the pace of the battle. She had to take a moment to check the field, see where everyone was and what they were doing. The various attacks by her friends were impressive, but she dismissed them systematically until she found her target again. She couldn't do anything fancy until Silence wore off, but by God she could shoot the damn thing! She had noticed the others avoiding hitting the crystals in the hands, and with the way they had absorbed her magic and shot it back at her, Bobbi was perfectly happy to go along with this implied plan. The Kyle-orb and the guy Bobbi didn't know were both attacking the same hand, so Bobbi tried her best to place her arrows so as not to get in their way at all.

{Dani : Atlantis : ????????}

"Thanks," Dani said to Noelle as she drank the elixir. Finally, Dani felt her magic returning to her and the strain was not as bad as before. "I will put it to good use."

All while this was going on, the black stars started to fall around the battle area. Luckily, Dani was able to avoid the stars. "Alright, None of them hit me so-" Dani thought before there was an explosion near her. "Well that was close." Dani thought before realizing that Noelle was not in the crater anymore.

Dani immediately jumped out of it before realizing that Noelle was on the ground and that her shoulder was damaged. "Noelle!" Dani shouted running as fast as she could over to her. "Change of plans guys," Dani said through the charms, "Noelle got hit by one of those black star things. I am going to heal her and make sure she is okay. I am sorry." Dani gently flipped Noelle onto her back before summoning water into her hands.

"Noelle I know I am not the most ideal person at the moment but I will try my best." Dani spoke to Noelle as if she could hear her. Dani as quick as she could, started to apply the heal to her shoulder as well as her head. As she was doing this, Dani would take quick glances over at the monster as well as the fight going. "Please Noelle get up," Dani whispered as she continued her long process of healing Noelle as much as she could.

[ ??? : Darkness ]

[[ As a reminder, Enlight and Wall are no longer in effect as of the beginning of this post. Which means no one has any more enchantments or boosts on them. ]]

{ CUE FINAL PHASE BOSS THEME : FORZE DELL'OSCURITA --DUAL MIX-- }

The attacks began to strike en masse now. The massive hands tried to absorb the lasers from the two flying orbs (Kyle on one, Matthew on the other), but every time a hand moved, so did the laser targeting, searing a different spot of flesh. They'd gotten so preoccupied that the other attackers got through. Riku used a Light-embued Strike Raid combo, rapidly resummoning and throwing the blade at one hand, constantly searing and burning it; Joe dashed into the middle to unleash a barrage of multiple moving lasers; Bobbi shot a volley of Light-embued arrows into the side of a hand; and Daniel leapt onto the same palm, lodging his Light-empowered blades into the palm, trying desperately to pry the crystal from its home.

The unnatural chanting increased dramatically in volume, and two thirds of the bladed tendrils around the glowing sphere housing Ajora seemed to spread out, growing loose; as well, the Shadowfall explosions stopped, and without warning, the right hand pulled back into oblivion, unseen in the darkness.

Meanwhile, as Daniel tried to work away the crystal, he would find that the crystal, no matter how hard he pried, seemed rooted far, far deeper than flesh--but he only had a split second to realize that. Without warning, the flesh he had gashed, the flesh he was working against, surged, forming the all-too-familiar black veins. They acted like constricting tendrils, immediately wrapping around Daniel arms, legs, and body, covering every inch in Darkness before pulling him tightly against the palm, unable to move a muscle. They felt like searing irons, burning his skin, even through his clothing--it was particularly painful around the back of his head. The fingers then clasped tightly around him, squeezing him in a powerful vicegrip before pulling back--with him--into the abyss.

For a moment, there was nothing but the head, which remained shielded. But only a single moment.

In that time, Daniel would feel not simply his mana being drained away--but his life force, siphoned off into the monster.

Then, appearing at the last moment above them, the left hand slammed down, palm open, against the center of the platform, crushing a few of the shields and platforms--as well as Daniel himself, leaving him on the ground with his two blades at his side. As he struck, a shockwave erupted, spreading throughout the battlefield and knocking everyone off their feet--or platform.

In that brief moment, both hands soared off to the sides of the cross, one on either end of a pathway, palms and crystals facing the center. Behind them, if they had even looked, Ajora's Spear hovered in the air at the edge of the platform, tip facing the center.

As the heroes would begin to stand, all four paths began to crackle with malevolent, crimson energy. The crystals began glowing blood-red, the spear formed a red sphere of energy at its tip, and the bright crystal that formed the monster's mouth began to glow blood red as well. Something flickered in front of the head.

The shield fell--and hell was unleashed. With another eldritch shout, all four simultaneously unleashed a massive, unavoidable beam of energy toward the center. The energy blasts covered every inch of the platform, and once converged in the center, swirled for a second before exploding outward in a concussive blast of energy.

As the eruption cleared, the combatants likely reeling from the potent magic blast, they'd see the Darkness had taken a new position of sorts. The face was still present, though its eyes were burning brighter, a deeper crimson than before, with black swirling magics emanating from them. The hands remained at either end of the side pathways, fingers moving wildly, ready, hostile. The spear behind them was now spinning vertically, a constant hovering threat. More important, massive, bladed tendrils of Darkness had erupted from the sides of the platform at random locations, towering over them, fluxing, ever-ready to strike.

"So Fall! Sealed Fates, Damned Hearts, We Shall Consume!"

The hands once more began to charge spells.

The spear began instead to swirl horizontally before flying forward through the group, slashing at anyone down the middle.

The tendrils all began to swipe, slashing downward. They were visible, so one could dodge, but they were also fast--very fast--and the same tendril never struck twice.

The seven eyes then borrowed a trick from Joe--each eye unleashed a black-and-crimson sweeping laser, each going at a random direction, never focusing on a target, just sweeping along.



[[ If you're unsure, read this!

Attack Summary:

Vicegrip (Daniel) = 10 PS, Non-Fatal

Drain (Daniel) = Eh, 5-ish MS? Not serious, but noticeable.

Slam (Daniel) = 14 PS, Non-Fatal

Slam Shockwave (Everyone) = 12 MS

Unholy Cross (Everyone and Everything on the Field) = 20 MS, Non-Fatal! No matter how low, this attack will not knock you out. It might leave you with 1 HP, though. This attack hits everything, not just people.

Ajora's Swirling Spear (Anyone in the exact center line) = 4 PS, but only if you're directly in the middle of the lane--if you're off to the side, it will just fly by. It will fly toward the face and disappear before hitting it.

Tendril Slashes = 6 PS. Everyone: Roll 1-5
-----1 = Direct, Unprepared Hit from above
-----2-3 = You saw it coming! If your reflexes are 8 or higher, you can dodge. If they're 5-7, you can block (physically or with magic). If they're 1-4, you're hit.
-----4-5 = You're not targeted at all!

Eye Laser = 9 MS. You can see these coming and dodge--but there are seven of them! I won't make you roll again to make things simpler, but even if you dodge one, there's a chance you'll just jump into another. Considering everything that's going on, though, I won't mind if you all dodge them, honestly. Just some added boss flavor! ]]

[Joe: ?????]

Joe gritted his teeth. Too much was happening at once, it was starting to fray his mind a little. Mainly because, while spinning, he was watching, also trying to watch everything through Kyle and Mathy orbs. So...he saw most of what was coming. There was just nothing he could do to stop it.

The tendrils? Oh yeah, that he could dodge. But everything else seemed made to destroy him, and he took the hits hard. Harder than normal, he caused, as the darkness seemed intent on smothering his light as if he were an ember in a firepit.

But he was still standing. Not very straight, kind leaning forward and slumped a bit, but he was standing. That was a plus. He just had to pull back. Get to a slightly safer area.

Retreating a bit, Joe shouted out "Big support time, ladies. We need to recover fast from that, and everyone else? Strike hard! Strike fast!" He didn't want to add that he was so weak. Or that if the darkness kept it up, they'd be wiped out. "We can do this!"

Joe slammed his weapon into the ground in front of him, and started glowing. He was charging up his magic, planning on finishing what little time left he had in the drive to do as much damage as possible. "Someone cover me!" He just needed to charge up a bit more.

((Current Buffs: Wall, Enlightga, Blink, Faith, Haste(SOS-Haste passive), Charging(+2 MS, +1 for haste charging, +2 for faith, totaling +5 on next magic attack)))

[ Daniel ~ Atlantis ~ ????????]

Pulling with all of his might, Daniel grunted at the exertion. He threw his weight awkwardly, attempting to yank from a different angle. The crystal wouldn't budge. It was about this time that his ink was seeping into crevices in the torn flesh, seeking the underside—

There was no underside. Daniel’s eyes widened in horror; His gamble had failed.

Cue: << Hurt - 2Cellos >>

In an attempt to recover some sort of equal footing with the monster Daniel stood and tried to jump. The claw was having none of that, summoning black veins and tendrils similar to his own ink, but oh so much quicker. Daniel’s heart and mind raced. He turned, facing the paladin, mouth agape eyes wide to scream for help—the tendrils covered his face and muffled his cries, yanking him backward flat onto the palm.

Darkness.

Daniel, NO!!

He grasped mentally for his ink—consumed. The crystal made short work of his back-up. The giant fingers closed around him, squeezing and suffocating.

DAAN—Dan, c’mon bro DO SOMETHING

He couldn’t even squirm, his breath stifled. The Turk panicked, claustrophobia emerging with vengeance that removed any training he had ever received.

Daniel’s heart trembled, Zodiark—HELP ME, PLEASE!!

Then burning, searing pain—his body was on fire. Daniel wasn't sure if he had already made it to hell or this was yet another merciless assault from the Demon, the lines between the two blurring. He screamed, once again falling on deaf ears. If he could move the Turk’s whole body was arching, contorting, shaking.

I don’t—I CAN’T—DAN, HOLD ON – PLEASE!!! Zodiark desperately shouted, looking for something he could do. Everything happened so fast, and Daniel’s mind trembled so violently that the scion was simply doing everything he could to hold the Turk together. When the claw pulled Daniel into the abyss Zodiark started losing ground, and to the Scion’s horror several razor thin cracks snaked through inner recesses of Daniel’s heart and mind. His mana and life force slowly drained, his cries echoed.

When the Claw reappeared above the battlefield Daniel was barely conscious, holding on by a shred. Palm downward, Daniel struck each of Kyla’s barriers and platforms face first and wide open. Each one was obliterated with ease, though the light and holy elemental barriers served to weaken the black veins that held him and covered his face. Unfortunately he was in no position to escape. Instead he could now clearly see the ground rushing up at him. Daniel briefly wonder if this was what jumpers saw before they hit the ground—

Disconnect. Static. The sheer force knocked the wind out of him, the collision rattling his brain. Reality only reached him in waves;
----uck’s sake, Dan c’mo-------ET UP! MOOVE!------

Daniel rolled onto his stomach. He couldn’t feel his body.

UP UP UP, please!! DAN, ON YOUR FE----

The Turk tried and failed to lift his head. Between the blurring patches in his vision he managed to find his hands, placing them flat on the ground. Flex. The crimson soil seemed to back away, but vertigo insisted otherwise. Suddenly the contents of his body stirred and he vomited, ejecting blood and what little was in his stomach. Daniel closed his eyes, trying to focus on breathing. The oxygen reaching his blood helped to bring back his consciousness, but unfortunately the more aware he was the more he understood pain.

And then the chanting seemed to tear into his awareness, growing so loud it nearly blotted out Zodiark’s insisting cries to stand, to flee. When he finally managed the strength to look up he saw the orbs of chaotic red energy gathering behind the group.

…I’m sorry. Zodiark… I’m sorry…

Before the attack even hit him the Turk slumped over and fell into unconsciousness, his mind retreating into his own heart.

[[ KO]]