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[[??? : Darkness: Inside Bobbi]]

[[Cue: Manten by Kalafina]]

As the girl's magic returned, so did the shadow in her head. The voice said nothing at first, simply witnessing the reappearance of Ajora... and his words.

"Kill..."
Is that him? Did he regain control?
"...me."
the darkness in the girl snapped to a frozen stillness. It's usually lively movement stopped, almost making it feel as though it no longer remained. The sound of subtle cracking of glass could be heard from some far off chasm followed by a metallic screech like nails across a chalkboard finishing at last with a loud shattering.


"It's mercy,"

"It's mercy,"

Both the shadow's voice and Bobbi's echoed in unison. Movement returned as the girl charged her arrow and she justified her actions. The black abyss in the back of her mind grew restless. As her magic grew, his presence became torrential, impatient, nervous, a maelstrom of emotions all calling out one thing-
"Do it!"

The arrow launched and the world shifted, ever, so, slightly for the girl. She no longer seemed to be standing on the platform, rather in the center of a large, pitch black tunnel, in front, Ajora, disconnected from the monster if only by fading shades off his limbs, leaving little more than a torso floating on an empty backdrop.

Behind her, there was the abyss, deep within she could feel the presence similar to the one in her mind along with a pair of glowing yellow eyes, glaring through Bobbi at Ajora. It was unclear if the replica could hear him, but his voice crossed the distance, the flickering image of a small black charm bouncing off the walls of the tunnel, "I tried... Ajora. This was all I could do. I only hope... you did not suffer. Please... rest in peace..."

The image of a soft smile was all she was left with as the world returned to normal for the girl as though nothing had ever separated her from reality, left with little more than a sense of dejavu, the arrow careening towards its target as both she and her passenger shouted in harmony, "Hit! Hit, damn you!"

As though answering their call, small rifts appeared surrounding the girl, invisible against the backdrop of the abyss but present enough to be felt by the girl and her summon. From them, a whistle could be heard, a familiar whistle to an archer of a flying arrow. Together the rifts spun around behind the girl like ten spheres that swiftly converged into one, expanding their size into a massive hole. From it, the whistle grew into a howl, and from a howl, to a bass similar to a jet. From the surface of the rift a tiny glimmer could be spotted puncturing the veil, a bright blue glass tip, sharp as a knife.

Then, with a boom like canon fire, the tip grew and was joined by a massive arrow as large as Bobbi was tall. As the hole ripped to shreds accompanied by a fresh coat of frost on the surroundings, the arrow careened across the gap, catching up and passing the previous arrow, pulling it along in its wake.

The great arrow would explode and lay waste to defenses, if all went accordingly, Bobbi's would find its target and end this tragedy once and for all.

“My heart yearns for rest… but it is not yet my turn. You first must go ahead of me…”

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

Joe finally managed to get himself completely upright, but he still had to shake his head occasionally to get himself back into focus. He wasn't physically drained, no. In fact he was pretty sure he wasn't even wounded. But the mental drain of the drive, of all that mana usage...damn, that was a kicker.

Kill him? Fine, Joe wouldn't mind. After all, hadn't he already done so, technically? Killed people? He had been in two 'war battles' already. And he could cope with it, too. He'd go numb...then just freeze it over with an ice so cold it burned. And then he'd move on.

He couldn't do much, not right now, but the least he could do was throw his staff like a javelin, aiming for Ajora just like everyone else. And then stumble as his mind was slow to rebalance his body after the throw.

[Axel: Kyla]


“…Ajora…” Kyla was speechless. For more than just one reason.
Kill me he asked. Kyla had no more mana she couldn't give him what he asked, and Axel shifted almost uncomfortably. “ I’m not the only one who thinks it sucks the hype out of killing a bad guy if they want it- am I?” he asked, flicking his Chakram on a finger as he geared up for one final strike.

Kyla shook her head, he wasn't wrong. It was easier to fight an enemy if they wanted to kill you and were all powerfully evil, containing every intent to survive as well. It was another thing to kill someone who seemed in an indirect way … unwilling to kill you, hoping for your success, who wants to die.

Since when did Ajora deserve any pity? She could vouch for all the times he personally tortured her physically, mentally, and emotionally. They were about to off one of her most violent abusers- so then why the strange pit in her stomach?

A very bad thought crossed her mind and she quickly dashed it away, it had to be this space that was effecting her, letting her darker thoughts to manifest- too much, too much of everything. Yes. She blamed her feelings on that for the time being.

“Alright then- time to say goodnight.”

Time seemed to pause like some real-life cut scene of slow motion and during this moment everyone took their shots at Ajora. Bobbi unleashed hell in the shape of a giant arrow which hit the mark, and soon Noelle was tossing rocks, Joe tossed his staff like some long lanced weapon, and Riku went in for the kill with his own Light Raid.

Axel followed that up with his own En-flamed Chakrams. They spun through the air like seeker missiles and hit their mark, followed by a large Firaga spell. It exploded on impact in the same place where Riku’s strike hit. When his weapons returned to his hands he braced for the reaction as at any moment the place was going to all fall down around them.

[ Ajora ; Kyle : Darkness ]



Standing there, cloaked in green and gold, his head covered by a hood, Kyle watched with narrow eyes. Watched as Ajora struggled to free himself, demanding--it was no plea, Kyle knew that tone as his own--death. All the while, he continued charging, continued accumulating magical energy, just in case they needed one final coup de grace, his body glowing a brilliant shade of white-gold.

Finally, it was coming to an end. Finally, everything would be for something. Days of fighting. They'd been taunted, screwed with, ambushed... finally, they'd be able to fix his errors. Still...

Kyle looked over to Kyla, watching as she and Axel conversed, their eyes on the monstrosity his Replica had become. There she was. Alive. Kyle looked back to Ajora, watching the scene.

First, Louis' massive glacial arrow. Without guard, without hindrance, it struck the center of his forehead, knocking his head back powerfully as ice flash-froze across his face, down his neck, over his body, and throughout the Darkness that held him in place--he was frozen over, just as Bobbi's arrow hit its mark as well. As her Light-Imbued arrow struck his forehead, every inch of ice suddenly erupted in brilliant Light before shattering loudly.

When the Light faded, they could see the arrow still lodged in his forehead--though it didn't seem to break skin, it was still stuck within his form. The black veins had receded, revealing his bear neck as tiny black tendrils tried to wrap themselves back around his skin.

Noelle's large boulder, charged with Light, struck him square in the chest, detonating like a massive grenade of white energy and stone. When the rubble cleared, the tendrils on his neck were gone, and the black suit itself had begun to vanish, revealing a bare chest, surrounded by darkness, furiously trying to re-ensnare him.

When Joe's bo-staff pierced his chest like a spear, the sudden surge of Light pushed the Darkness farther, his shoulders and stomach bare. The bo remained in his chest.

Riku's Keyblade followed suit, gouging deep into his rib cage and forcing more Light throughout his body. The Darkness was practically burning away now, black flames eating at his hands and waist.

Axel's chakrams struck next, gashing deep into both shoulders--and getting lodged in, not returning immediately, even after the sudden Light-Firaga detonated after them. Ajora's entire upper body was cleansed of the Darkness' entrapments, and they could see the top half of an Atlantean robe around his waist. Still, the outer tendrils began to lash at him, pushing him back in rage--

--and then Dani's chakrams struck, pushing more Light into his body, lodging into the sides of his chest. He looked like some terrible combination of weapon rack and pin cushion, pushing himself upright out of the casing, shoulders sagging, golden eyes locked on to Kyle.

"Well?" he asked, his angry voice weary, but not nearly as strained as before. "Didn't you accept the burden? Where is that wyvern-hearted vigilance?"

All eyes might have turned to Kyle, the white-gold aura blazing around him like a focused flame. Having the Replica's death on his hands wasn't an issue. Kyle was rational. He was logical. Ajora was an obstacle that needed to be defeated for them to survive right now--and if the only way to do that was his death, so be it. No, it was something else.

"A spear... to both desolate--,"

"--and preserve."

Kyle's gaze shot back toward Ajora, the Dragoon's eyes glowing almost as fiercely as the Light around him. The Replica smiled--a cocky, knowing smile, but not a smirk--before nodding. Kyle nodded back.

Everything after that happened quickly. Kyle threw his hand to the side; simultaneously, the blazing aura around him vanished and a massive golden glyph appeared hovering in the air in the void behind the group. It vibrated with immense energy for a single second before shattering and disintegrating, revealing a large hole in space, beyond which was pure white, contrasting with the black abyss surrounding it. From within that pocket dimension appeared his summon:

Ultima, the High Seraph. She still wore her white dress with golden emblems, she was still without her throne, revealing her bare legs, her skin was still that tanned blue, her eyes still piercing violet, and her hair still long, silvery-white. At last, however, she was in her adult form, 7 feet tall, with six large, golden wings spread out around behind her. Her gaze, like Kyle's, was tense, frustrated determination as she hovered in the air.

Ultima thrust her hands forward, centered in front of her, and Kyle's spear vanished, reappearing in front of her hands, floating in mid-air. Her wings fully extended, and the spear began to rotate vertically, slow at first, as a white sphere of crackling energy appeared in front of it. The spear sped up, going faster and faster, with the sphere growing larger and larger, until finally the spinning spear was naught but white blur--

--and the massive sphere shrank to the size of a single pinpoint in space.

Kyle thrust his hand forward, toward Ajora, and both he and his summon shouted out in unison.



The sphere erupted into a massive beam of Light, much wider than Ultima was tall, and it rushed forward like a cannon blast, striking and washing over Ajora--and, in fact, the entire bottom-half of the monster's head. The released energy could even be felt by the others, like the air itself was charged with energy, the hair on their skin rising.

The blast lasted only a few seconds, and when the light faded away, so did Ultima and her entrance, vanishing into golden dust which evaporated into nothing.

When they could see Ajora again, his head was low, shoulders sagged, entire body barely being kept up. The Darkness around him, trying to strangle him, was absolutely gone now, destroyed in the many blasts. His shoulders heaved, as if he was trying to breath--

--when his head quickly pulled up, revealing his eyes to be pure white, and at the same time, the weapons burst from his chest, which began to spread all-too-familiar white circuits of magic. The circuits spread not just throughout his body, but into the casing, throughout the monster's face, and even completely covering the monster's massive hands. Simultaneously, the massive black-and-red vortex changed colors, becoming white-and-gold instead--

--and time began again, the vortex beginning to pull them up and into its grasp, the wind roaring, the entire dimension quaking as if it were falling apart.

"THE CLOSER YOU GET TO THE LIGHT," Ajora's voice echoed, pervading every fabric of this dimension, felt down to their bones. Though it was his voice, it sounded torn, ethereal, fragmented. "THE GREATER WE SHADOWS BECOME."

Slowly but surely, one by one, each of them would be separated as their platform split apart, and though they remained safely standing upon their pieces, they began spinning round and round one another, ascending moment by moment.

"THEY WANT YOU DEAD, SO THEY'LL KEEP COMING. BUT DON'T BE AFRAID--NEVER FORGET--"

As they rose, they could see the hands slowly turn on Ajora and the Head of Darkness, their fingers and palms still surging with Light, only to unleash devastating dual-blasts of white energy at the monster--and the host within.

"YOU SURVIVED THE FALL OF EARTH! YOU WERE CHOSEN TO BEAR THE BURDEN! AND WHY?!"

In their final moments, they could see the head writhing and burning under the pressures of the blasts. Finally, as they were consumed by blinding Light, ripped away from this terrible oblivion, the Darkness began to roar and scream, furious, while Ajora's voice grew determined, unbreakable--joyous--

"BECAUSE YOUR HEARTS CAN DESTROY THEM!"

[Kyla/Axel: Darkness]

There were no words.
Kyla watched in awe, silence, amazement, and torment. Things that were said resounded inside her mind and heart – down deep where she ached in trepidation of the ramifications of what they mean.
She wondered; was this just all one giant fortuitous situation orchestrated from the beginning to stir their hearts to be victorious?
Was this Ajora real gambit, nature against nurture, his ultimate F**k you to fate and conditioning of his own creation?

In his own twisted sinister way was he always on their side? At least- as far as it meant in the physical meaning: that being he was simply the gambling sort of man in the end or-?
Our hearts can destroy them.

He knew. Or hoped so he tested it to find out?

As Kyle finally “dispatched” him causing the void around them to shatter and implode into a brilliant light Kyla shut her eyes though they were of no use as everything went white.

[Kyla/Axel: Outside Throne Room]

They were back then and Kyla stood there in place at the atlantean landscape around them before turning towards the voice in surprise as well.
The replica fell to his knees and smiled as his body crumbed beneath the weight of his own demise, slow, into wisps of dust. He called out to her with a name that she hated- hated above all else and he knew she did.
Still she walked towards him.
Axel who had just recovered and blinking the blindness from his vision had seen the girl moving towards what appeared to be Ajora, dying Ajora. DAMN that guy was tough. Just when you’d think that was the finale he was there to linger like a bitter after thought.
She wasn’t going to actually TALK to the guy was she?
That look on her face looked calm for the most part, but how could she be so sure he’d not attack??
He was an a**, plain and simple and she was too smart to risk something like that was she? And for what? His gloating-?
“…that you did. Despite everything you said before you leave me wondering- is this what you wanted?”
Huh…oooook. Just in case Axel trotted up behind the girl a few steps behind. Looking over her small shoulder he could see the broken visage that was the replica that had tormented them all this time. Sucha sad looking , painful sight.
Teamwork? So they did talk?? When?
Kyla’s head tilted to one side, “Are you really as happy as you look?”
The way the bookworm talked to him it was like old bitter friends chatting at the end of some dramatic scene in a movie. One would think the person Ajora would be chatting up in his final moments would be his original- not this girl.

[Axel/Kyla: Outside Throne room]
So much for final words or figuring out what Ajora had to say. Joe-mother-hen wasn’t having none of it.
“WOAH WOAH Let go of me-!” The nobody shirked out of Joe’s grip.
“-and don’t call me stupid, or I’ll start calling you Mother Hen instead of of fearless leader.”
When Joe yanked Kyla from behind it caused a jolt of pain to shoot through her form where the bruise was still visible-( yeah- female garments had parts that pulled things there and right now those places were VERY tender).
While she grimaced, nearly falling over- she steadied herself and looked at Joe.

“- it’s ok.” She breathed straightening up. “He wasn't going to kill me.” Kyla said looking calmly into Joe’s enraged face. She looked back towards Ajora, “that’s not like him.”

“Eh? How you figure?” Axel scratched the back of his head, puzzled but curious as to how she was ok walking up to him like that.
“ I…it’s complicated. Let’s just say it would be- beneath him. Almost rude.”
She stepped once more towards him but for Joe’s sense of security. No more then that.

Yeah, a cheap shot was beneath Ajora, and contradictory to everything he supposedly represented for himself. However- now that Joe had brought the act up, the act of doing it just to make Joe right, and stick it to the man (her being the man) thus belittling her intelligence int he eyes of her peers- WOULD be something he could do, because of the randomness it would be, and he was- after all- the angel of chance. And he did seem to take a particular enjoyment in hurting her. Again he wouldn't kill her, but perhaps deliver a near-fatal blow just to make it close enough to dramatic effect and make it seem real to everyone else.
Yes- maybe not before, but now- maybe.

Thanks Joe. she thought, mentally shaking her head.

[ Noelle ~ Atlantis ~???? --> Outside Throne Room]

Noelle watched as Kyle summoned Ultima, eyes wide at the grandeur of her appearance and final attack. Was this it? Was it finally over? Her knees wobbled as the space she was standing on started to move, making her kneel so her weary body could keep balanced. She wasn't sure what was happening, only able to focus on what Ajora was saying as each of their platforms moved toward the changed vortex. The agromancer's eyes stayed wide as the world changed to white and her movement seemed to stop, seeking something, anything, to tell her things were okay. But then she heard Ajora's voice again. Noelle stumbled to her feet, trying to turn in the direction of the sound as her eyes cleared. She tried to digest what he was saying as Kyla spoke to him. Teamwork? Was this . . . ?

"Is that . . ." she began, her voice trembling slightly, "Is that all you wanted? Teamwork? Even when you . . . you sent Elleon to take Rae's heart? Just to get us to work together?"

[[??? : Atlantis : Inside Bobbi]]

[[Cue: Grandma - NieR Gestalt & Replicant]]

As all hits took their toll and the fabric of this dark reality collapsed upon itself into a brilliant supernova of light, the figure remained silent, not a word to be spoken, no emotion of joy or sadness, just a cool, empty calm taking in every second, recording everything to memory and storing it deep within the darkness resting in Bobbi's mind.

Finally as the world returned to normal, it was as though the darkness in Bobbi had vanished. Previously masked by the darkness of the world surrounding them, it now existed as a speck on the farthest reaches of her mind, watching the events from that tiny, distant black star in her heart.

As Ajora made his reappearance and slow disappearance as shadow trickled off his body, Bobbi could feel a chill rush up her spine. Likely the most frightening emotion she'd felt from this symbiotic being yet, it exuded a true pleasure in his death... but then...

~:Let him suffer, for all he did to you,:~ Shiva suggested, Bobbi making no objections.

"Suffer?" it hissed, venom spilling from the word, dripping from bared fangs upon the summon, "You're... disgusting. Can't you tell... every moment he exists is suffering. Every second, every breath, every memory he has is suffering!" Shiva could feel the tips of claws upon her neck, hovering threateningly as it snapped, "Yet, here he is, helping you and still you desire his prolonged pain! Once you had what you wanted and you think you're safe, you become savages hovering over him like vultures circling a wounded animal. Who do you people think you are?! WHAT KIND OF MONSTERS DOES THAT MAKE YOU?! WHAT KIND OF FILTH DESIRES OTHERS SUFFER?! DEATH IS HIS ONLY SOLACE AND YOU'D DENY HIM EVEN THAT AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! IS THAT JUSTICE?! IS THAT RIGHT?!" his voice shook as his words echoed through her mind, "You fight with this light that you call righteous and kind, just a moment ago you spoke of mercy, yet now there is not a speck of mercy to be found in you. This darkness, this... blind justice in your hearts frightens even me."

Her words, directed elsewhere, he took for himself and spun them around, and with them carried a new chill, threat, and promise, "Indeed you are a self-righteous a**. Do what is right, end his torment... or I will." at last, the presence vanished, becoming invisible even to the girl who harbored him. As far as they could tell, he was gone and Bobbi and Shiva were alone, left with a choice.