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 Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2013 8:25 pm
{Tseng : Darkness >> Outside Throne Room}
Tseng watched silently after he threw his last grenades and everyone else unleashed their powerful final attacks. He had seen many displays of power in his time, but never had he experienced something on this level before. It had been made perfectly clear to the Turk that these kids, as well as their enemies were not to be trifled with. With the final incredible beam of light from Kyle and his summon Tseng could feel the holy energy that coursed through the arena. When the light vanished, Ajora stood before them eyes pure white as circuits of light coursed over his body and into the monster's face and hands. The vortex that had been swallowing everything had changed and time finally seemed to begin again.
The leader of turks remained focused on Ajora's echoing words, not fully aware of their meaning and then their world was filled with light. When he could finally see again he looked down upon the group as they approached their fallen enemy, the bo-wielder's initial reaction to that was not positive. However, the others seemed to talk him down and then began to ask their questions of the falling replica. Ajora's motives and intentions seemed to be the primary focus of their questions. While the Turk himself was curious as well, Ajora was not really enemy. If the replica actually answered their questions he would get the answers he wanted anyway.
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Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 5:21 pm
[Dawn : Atlantis > Outside Throne Room]
Dawn sat firmly on the ground after the limit was done. She watched as everyone did the massive blows to finish off Ajora. Her eyes narrowed on the replica. Both with anger and relief. Her eyes only narrowed more as he spoke to the group about his reasons for what he did.
'Finally he is meeting his end...' Dawn thought remembering all that he had done to them af, 'You were not helping. You were only causing us pain and suffering.'
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Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 9:30 pm
[ Daniel ~ Atlantis ~ ????????]
Every second counted. Piece by piece the battlefield crumbled and floated away, and Daniel's ink had no where left to spread. He changed tactics -- pulling the ink back onto his dual blades and compressing the liquid mana onto their surface's.
The Turk sighed. Was this going to be his final stand? Are they--
The ground halted it's advance, crimson boulders floating in midair. The Demon stopped moving. Daniel wondered for a moment if time had stopped altogether, but movement in the creature's 'sphere' said otherwise.
"...Ajora?"
Daniel braced himself, though he was not prepared:"Kill..."
"... me."The Spellblade froze, eyes wide. The Replica was demanding death? After decimating so much and overpowering them with such ease? Daniel was now confident that Ajora was not controlling this monstrosity, but that was a small detail in the bigger puzzle in the Turk's eyes. What happened to the man in the suit, the one that permeated the field with his indomitable presence? The Demon with the eyes of a predator?
Ultimately, where was the opponent that challenged Daniel to overcome? All of that risk, all of the pain and suffering at the hands of this 'Darkness', and here the Replica was giving himself up, just like that. Daniel's eyes were filled with questions as he lowered his stance.
His peers did not bear such uncertainty, however. Each Survivor unleashed deathblows upon Ajora's failing body. Skewering and blasting. There seemed to be little hesitation.
..I think they might have had enough of his s**t...
As the dust cleared the Turk did not hold back his surprise at Ajora still being in one piece. Slumped over and broken as he was, Daniel expected 'ground zero' to be a bloody pulp.
Suddenly movement-- Ajora shot up, his body and that of the Darkness seemed violently consumed by what looked like white shining circuitry. The Turk gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Great... it just never ends."
As if on queue the Vortex above shifted in hue and began its terrifying work again, consuming everything with greater haste."THE CLOSER YOU GET TO THE LIGHT,THE GREATER WE SHADOWS BECOME." The ground beneath him finally shattered. Instead of falling, he floated up."THEY WANT YOU DEAD, SO THEY'LL KEEP COMING. BUT DON'T BE AFRAID--NEVER FORGET--YOU SURVIVED THE FALL OF EARTH! YOU WERE CHOSEN TO BEAR THE BURDEN! AND WHY?! BECAUSE YOUR HEARTS CAN DESTROY THEM!" Blinding light.-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [ Daniel ~ Atlantis ~ Outside Throne Room]
The Turk blinked. Once again he was standing before the throne room of the Atlantean King. His fellow survivor's stood around him, that word taking on new meaning after they had 'outlived' Darkness's monstrous form. His eye's darted around, wary of any more surprises. On the ground, not far away, was Ajora on the verge of death. He looked so broken that Daniel felt compelled to avert his gaze. The Turk instead surveyed the area.
The princess was safe, and still in the process of completing her warding spell.
Explosions in the distance sent a clear message that they were not in the clear yet. The heartless were still a threat.
Daniel turned back to the scene with their assailant.It seemed that everyone was now questioning the Demon's motives and reasoning, cursing him. The Spellblade instead listened from a distance-- He was NOT going to play chicken with a train again.[[Daniel's blades are still out, still covered in thick ink.]]
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Posted: Sun Apr 21, 2013 11:44 pm
[ Kyle ; Riku ; Ajora : Atlantis : Outside Throne Room ]The Bloodied Replica couldn't help but chuckle under a smirk as Kyla and the others began their approach, his golden eyes never leaving the pictomancer--though his body was slowly wilting, his eyes showed the vibrant energy of his mind, of the gears that never stopped, the schemer that couldn't turn his brain off even if he wanted.
"Rude, indeed," he began, tilting his head back (more like letting it fall backward in exhaustion) but keeping his eyes on the group. "No, I'm afraid I'm quite through, you see. Beings of pure Darkness don't exactly handle the Light well."
He turned his head to spit and spit out another bit of blood. "The game has always been about you. Always," he said, chuckling. "The good guys always win, sans horror flicks. Even with nothing but dark memories, I could remember that annoying detail. So what hope did I have? From the moment I understood my birth, I also understood that I could never hope to oppose you. None of us could--do you see us assaulting you? No. We want life."
He shook his head, allowing it to droop forward. "So imagine my surprise when I meet the higher ups. Make Maleficent look like a princess," he said. "So much power--and their goal? Unraveling existence itself. No way I could oppose them, either. What's a man to do, when either road promises destruction? I just wanted a world to live in."
"How cruel is fate, that the only hope of my survival lay in the hands of you incompetent idiots." he spat again, and as if faster than a blink, his smile was a snarl, his pleased gaze venomous. "Running around like chickens with your heads cut off, splitting up here and there, running off on your own--" on that particular note, he made a point to glare at Kyla. "--against those of us already more powerful than you."
"Look them in the eyes," he seethed at her, teeth bared; though his body was still smoking, it seemed as if his very rage was keeping the wisps delayed, slowing the inevitable. "Look each of them in the eyes and ask them if your imbecilic stunt helped or hindered. I'll give you a ******** hint: you not only almost cost the group your own power, but your only god-damned Light mage," he continued, his voice a growl. Kyle tensed, hoping to avoid everyone else's gaze. "You are useless alone--and don't bother with a ******** pity party, you all are--and if I didn't know you idiots were creation's only hope, I would have given you the death you deserved."
"So yes, that's exactly right--I wanted you to be the team you're supposed to be. You needed to be prepared to face the Darkness that even we fear," he said, looking over to Noelle, to Joe, to everyone now, his voice losing its fury, the wisps beginning to speed up. "Don't get me wrong, everything I've done was to ensure my own survival, but that meant making sure you could survive, too."
"When we were created, you had no idea what you were up against. I wanted to give you warning--so I arranged for the lot of us to assault you at Beast's Castle after making sure they wouldn't kill you. And believe me, we could have," he chuckled, his voice having now slipped into nonchalant exposition. By now, his extremities were pure black, not from blood, but from his decaying Darkness. "Next, I had to address your aimlessness--jumping from world to world, no ideas, no thoughts, just going for the ride. You needed something to unite you. Something to give you perspective, focus. So I had your white mage's heart ripped out and made sure Elleon warned you it was by my demand. Oh, how you hated me then."
"Then you lot split up--the exact opposite of what was necessary. So I orchestrated multiple wars in this region, knowing you'd have to group together to handle everything. You had newcomers--so I made a show for them, the same as Beast's Castle, both on Hawaii and the Pearl. Taking Zexion was the Nobodies' gig, and taking James was a favor Kuro Oni asked--so to keep an ally, I helped, and you hated me all the more," he continued, grinning into the distance. His lower arms were now black as a Heartless, and his legs were the same up to his knees. "But I'll have you know he was released during the battle, and I'd fueled him with enough Darkness to defeat his Replica. You're welcome. Back to the Dutchman--you lot still didn't seem to grasp to seriousness of the situation, going so far as to taunt and insult the man who had you powerless--namely, me--so what was I to do? The others would have ended you, so I made you feel the gravitas of the situation by destroying Joe's eye and branding Dawn's hand."
"Still--" he began, lifting his blackened arms just a bit, enough to look at them with a wistful smile. The wisps were crawling up his biceps and thighs now. "--you needed to finish the job. So I led the others out and had Celia free you--and really, if you thought she was anyone else's but mine, you're quite silly, she's an Ultima Demon for crying out loud, bound to my heart and mind--giving you a long enough headstart to move the story along. After all, there were wars I needed you to fight. You needed to see just how strong you were in numbers--indomitable, really. After all--" he lifted his arms to show them off, grinning a bloodied grin. "Look at me!"
"Up above, I had taken Davy's Heart, and Jack was still locked in the Dutchman's brig. Knowing the presence of the other Replicas would speed up the battle, I had Celia free him and give him the heart to make sure things would end as they should," he said, spitting more blood out and letting his arms drop lazily to his side, his biceps purely black now, even his waistline looking charred. "Meanwhile, I'd known Kyle was being torn left and right by Darkness. So I trapped him in that cocoon and forced him to face it, allowing him to heal his heart in the process. And during it all, I'd still only brought Alice and Chaos along. You know how many allies I have, yet I only brought two--because I needed you to succeed. Everything, everything has been about guiding you to optimization."
"And when little hero artist idiot comes marching in, alone," he sneered, laughing disdainfully as he narrowed his eyes and smirked. "I left her alive. If you doubt anything I've said so far, look at your genius artist. She yet lives, despite the massive power I held. I am a being of pure Darkness. I have no conscience. I feel no guilt. I have single-handedly taken the hearts of dozens of meaningless extras, which Sir Turk Daniel there can attest to. So if I didn't want her, or any of you alive--"
He looked them all in the eyes, his torso pure charred black up to his chest, his bloodied lips smirking with knowing.
"Why does she yet live?"Riku looked between Ajora and Kyle, as if gauging Kyle's reaction, but Kyle appeared almost indifferent, with a tinge of... guilt?"You'll believe what you want," he shrugged, sighing as he tilted his head back again, feeling his body continue to decompose into its basest darkness. "If I'm gonna go, might as well give you some heads ups. Lesseeeee, um... oh, okay, Zexion didn't betray you, he's been brainwashed... right, you can still save Rachel, probably won't be too hard--oh, and there are seven Fiends of Heart--"{ Cue : Face It! } Ajora's face suddenly contorted into pure agony, locking into a wide-mouthed, wide-eyed expression of voiceless pain, as his entire body arched forward. In the center of his chest had suddenly appeared a black-and-purple dome of energy--almost as if it were just part of a sphere that had shot through his chest from behind. "That's quite enough out of you, mockingbird."The tell-tale voice of Kuja echoed from the shadows of an alley just down the street as the genome walked out, slowly coming toward Ajora, four more black-and-purple spheres revolving around him. There was a blur of motion, and Kuja caught Joe's thrown staff in one pale, frail-appearing hand before tossing it aside. "Really? Did you learn nothing from the dancer on the Dutchman?" he sneered, and Ajora was lifted into the air by the sphere in his chest."They rarely learn, I find," Seymour called out, stepping from an alley on the opposite side of the street and walking up beside Kuja, the two of them a few meters behind Ajora, and thus even farther away from the worn and weary group. "Still, I told you my experiment would prove to be successful, Kuja.""By chance--alone, he was not enough, and even then--" Kuja mocked, and as he did, the other four spheres flew forward, encasing Ajora's hands and feet, spreading them slightly and holding them taut. "--he was only capable of pulling forth a fraction of the Darkness.""Then we make more, now that we know what to do," Seymour said, his haughty voice slightly jovial, particularly odd for a dead man. He held out a long-fingered hand and opened a Corridor of Darkness behind them. "Come, let's leave them to their victory.""Hah, true~" Kuja sang, sending the paralyzed-Ajora into the Corridor after Seymour. "Great show, boys and girls! I can't wait to watch Act Two~!"And with that, they were gone, leaving the group alone in the middle of a warzone. [[ Holy Dido's Lament that turned out to be a lot more long winded than I thought but ANYWAY any attacks would just phase through him, as his body is disintegrating, so any attempts at mercy or, honestly, just shutting him up are pointless. EDIT: For the record-- if you feel like your character would attack them while they talk, go for it. However, assume they are blocked or disintegrated as they approach without doing anything. These are the big bads, after all. ]]
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 12:52 am
[Kyla: Atlantis: Outside Throne Room]
[ Warning Strong lagnuage]
Two voices were shouting at each other in a continuous torrent of circular logic as her flaws, her failures were put on display or all to see. The other may have been claimed by Ajora to be useless but he made sure to illustrate she was the worst of the lot.
She couldn’t say a word, or hang her head in shame or storm off; she just went numb and listened.
When it was over, all of it, when Seymour and Kuja appeared and took Ajora way, she neither surprised or shocked, she didn't move a muscle. Not like she could do anything. Even with the heartless approaching, she had no mana.
There was not a single word in her vocabulary, filled from all the books she read in her life to describe the level of self-loathing she felt at that moment. Faces flashed in her mind’s eye.
"Look each of them in the eyes and ask them if your imbecilic stunt helped or hindered. I'll give you a ******** hint: you not only almost cost the group your own power, but your only god-damned Light mage,"
"You are useless alone--and don't bother with a ******** pity party,
little hero artist idiot
Stupid girl.
Are you going to cry again?
F***king B**tch!
You can’t protect anyone!
You’re helpless alone!
You can’t do anything by yourself so incompetent-
Go have you little pity party.
Go cry now.
Go have your little pity party now.
******** b***h, -
such an idiot.
-You failed again,
and again
and again
and again.
Don’t cry!
Don’t think!Just hate yourself more and move on! It's no use trying to hide from this feeling any longer. but for you crime you don't deserve to even kill yourself. Stop the pity party. You dont' deserve to feel sad- stop it! STOP IT!
JUST
FEEL
NOTHING!
Kyla couldn't look anyone in the eye-
This couldn't be, all along it was all for nothing. All that work, all those times. She didn't know a thing about being an ally.
When she looked to Kyle his face said everything. Did he know this too? Did he agree with Ajora too?
Yes. That was it wasn't it. Why he wouldn't talk to her, or tell her everything, why he came after her-
- she hoped someday he'd smile at her again with that look of comradeship, of friendship- but no-
- it was what they all thought of her now.
- and with that her last hope was snuffed out like a candle and her heart sank into a pit that made her chest heavier than if it was filled with solid lead.
She felt the ache on her back grow bigger; it felt like a large wound moving slowly down her spine. Her chest felt so tight, tighter, and tighter.
If she tried to breath any faster surely she’d be out of breath. So she tried to slow down instead. In doing so her adrenaline cooled as well, and she was aware of the pain of her body once more.
Pain felt good.
It distracted her a little bit.
She was good at ignoring physical pain- she was good at stuff like that.
An idea occurred to her then which made her able to move once more.
She would be able to look them in the eye knowing now little by little she was going to atone for ever trying to think she could be something more then who she was when she got here. She'd have to think about it a bit more. But right now wasn't the time. They had a few things to wrap up.
The artist turned around and looked ahead to the heartless still swarming and gestured to them with a nudge of her chin, as if to say- victory isn’t here yet- still have to kill them off, Daniel obviously saw them.
But it wasn’t like she had any mana left. She used it all in the last fight. Typical.
All she could do was stand there right? Like the stupid little princess she was, incapable of even finishing a battle on her own or help clean up with the others. Uselessness, her worst fear realized.
She simply opened her book and jotted down more notes, scribbling under the names of Kuja and Seymour-
- Confirmed traitors.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:53 am
{Bobbi .:. Atlantis .:. Outside Throne Room}
Bobbi stilled as she listened to the dark voice in her head. She couldn't refute anything said, just like she couldn't argue that Ajora deserved to suffer. But the voice had a point, as well. Bobbi knew damn good and well she'd never be able to live like the Replicas, without a shred of light or love in her heart. Even in her darkest days, she'd always had something positive to keep her going. They didn't even have that.
You're right, she thought, and she felt Shiva's incredulity at the words. This isn't justice. This is cruel, leaving him like this. At the same time, we're getting answers from him that we desperately need. I don't know how you think, in fact I know jack s**t about you. But the information we're getting from him now is a lot more valuable than any act of justice or mercy could be, even if you don't see it. Yes, I want him to suffer, but what I want doesn't mean a damn if the greater good can be served. If I thought ending it now would do us any good, trust me, I wouldn't hesitate.
~:I don't understand you,:~ Shiva admitted, and Bobbi was wondering for a second if the Esper was speaking to her or the entity. ~:You've been so angry, Bobbi. All you've wanted was vengeance. I don't understand why you won't take it.:~
What good would it do? I have to think about the others; maybe they're getting something out of this monologue that I'm not. Honestly, I'd prefer to just finish him off and get it over with, but what I want is irrelevant.
As Ajora continued to speak, Bobbi kept her eyes trained on him, though she desperately wanted to look at the others, to gauge their reactions. She was a little surprised at the altruistic nature of Ajora's actions. Well, maybe not altruistic, per se, as they were pretty self-serving despite trying to help, but definitely not what she had expected of him. She felt her respect for the replica growing, though she still loathed him with a passion. Still, knowing what happened to Zex, and that they could get Rae's heart back was a huge load off. Though when Ajora mentioned the Fiends, things took yet another turn.
When the sphere popped out of Ajora's chest, Bobbi didn't know what she was expecting. When Kuja and Seymour arrived, she spun and trained her arrow on them. She would have shot, but the way Kuja so nonchalantly swatted Joe's staff aside told her it would be pointless to even try. All she could do was watch.
It wasn't a pleasant feeling.
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phoenixianCrystallist Crew
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 10:59 am
[Dani :: Darkness >>>Atlantis :: Outside Throne Room]
Dani at this point could only watch as Kyle dealt the final blow to Ajora, and she started to shake as she felt the ground below her break into a platform. Before she could even question it though, a blinding light piereced her eyes as she struggled to keep upright. She could not tell which way she was facing or where she was anymore.
When she finally gained vision back outside of the throne room, Dani just listened to the almost dead replica as well as some of the things that the Earthlings said. She knew that she was one of the newer ones to the group so she was not as connected to Ajora as the others.
'To go through all that for teamwork,' Dani thought to herself 'It is quite amazing what beings will do to try and make something happen.'
'True,' Leviathan said to the human 'But you can see what can be accomplished when you aren't alone right? Think of the power you just did with Kyla.'
Dani looked down at her chakrams as well as her right hand for a little as Ajora kept talking. 'It was a lot of power I admit,' Dani spoke to the summon, ' I just feel at times that I am not doing enough yet. There is still improvement to be done to my skills as well as to be more part of the group.'
After Dani finished that thought she noticed that two beings appeared and had already taken Ajora. She was on high alert but from what she could tell at the moment they did not mean harm and there was nothing that she could do to stop them anyway.
Dani at this point decided to assess the situation and looked at each of the earthlings. From what she could tell, some were not in pleasant moods after defeating darkness so she decided to look at Kyla. Although Dani wanted to comfort Kyla she knew better of it. She did notice the nudge to the heartless that Kyla did and spun her chakrams around a little pondering the situation.
"Listen, " Dani spoke carefully to the other Earthlings "We still have some heartless on our hands, but from what I can see some of us are worse for wear at the moment. I still have a little bit left in me to take on some heartless. Even if Ajora was the 'enemy' I am saying this now in case anyone wants to follow. We are a team afterall."
Dani then started to very slowly walk in the direction of the heartless incase anyone wanted to join her.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 2:05 pm
[ Daniel ~ Atlantis ~ Outside Throne Room]
Ajora's monologue was far too interesting to ignore for the Turk, filling in many details and answering many questions he had about the other Survivors. They had dealt with adversity that was for sure. And all because of this man. This.. copy of one of their own. And apparently there were more. Daniel briefly pondered if there were a replica of him running around somewhere, but the dying Demon snatched his attention back at every word.
Daniel couldn't help but cringe for the girl getting chewed out. Everyone had made mistakes today, and the Turk was certainly no exception. However, this Kyla had much more experience with Ajora than he - particularly how STRONG he was - and yet she ran in alone to do what again? He hoped it wasn't to stop him and instead provide some sort of intel or rig the battlefield in their favor. No. As his memory was still fresh the battle between Ajora and her... darker form proved her intent. She was playing hero.
An ability based around her art-- Daniel was envious. A talent drenched in creative freedom! There was so much that she was capable of, if only she had the wit and intelligence to wield it. There were no bounds -- except herself. Daniel took note; If there was ever on opportunity he would find out what Kyla could do.
Ajora's final words struck Daniel as odd, due to his almost candid nonchalant attitude towards such important things. Betrayal? Saving 'Rachel'? Fiends of Heart?--
"Woah.."
Seymour? ..Some other guy? The surprises never end, but the situation made Daniel's skin crawl. He would not be able to follow the conversation like the other Survivors would, but he understood something was amiss. Ajora was spouting cheat codes and the game developers just came to patch them up. This was a very bad thing. There was no time to save what was left of the Demon.
"--he was only capable of pulling forth a fraction of the Darkness."
"Then we make more, now that we know what to do,"
And in the course of a few breaths they were gone.
Daniel was nothing if not stunned. He looked around into everyone's eyes hoping to see if someone had an answer. Noelle, the earth mover? One eyed bo staff dude? Holy crap that was a terrible pun.. The Original Ajora- Kyle? The incredulous look on Daniel's face was comical, but telling.
Could this situation make any less sense?
His expression soured as his fustration rose-- These guys were going to make him blow a gasket! Then, just as he thought he could take no more the ninja chick says shes going to go off on her own now.
Oooohhh no. Oh HELL no.
"HALT."
Daniel spun with bluring speed, whipping the blade in his right hand towards Dani, throwing every bit of compressed ink on it straight for her legs. The ink acted as a grappling net, rooting her to the ground. His next words were thick with controlled anger-
"One man single handedly took on all of us. THAT man was just taken away from us as if were weren't even standing here. This situation is not over and we are not safe. We can't afford to galavante around solo until then." Daniel closed his eyes, kneeding the bridge of nose. He was supposed to work together with these people? The Turk was surprised Ajora had the patience to leave them alive. No, he would not do that. He would not trust his life to the rest of them.
No, instead they would be mutually beneficial to one another until he and Tseng could go thier seperate ways. Shinra and his comrades.. Those were warriors. Even without the magic, he could trust them to get the job done.
Daniel gestured towards the princess and then towards the barrier spreading down from the dome. "The heartless advance ends when she is done. Look--" Daniel pointed out at the edge of the plateau, " The Atlanteans are winning. There is no need to lose track of one another in this city." Sure enough, as the war waged on in the distance the Atlanteans defeated Darksides, then regrouped and took on the next Darkside with a quicker pace. It wouldn't be long now.
"Not all of us are ready for battle. How many of you are completely drained after unleashing all of those attacks at the end?" In particular, he was looking at Kyle and Dawn, the dancer.
"We stay here, defend the princess, and recuperate our energy and health."
Daniel sighed; He wasn't one for giving orders and he certainly didn't want to belittle anyone, but he had little patience for half-baked ideas. Hoping they were all on the same page with that he continued, " So... could someone tell me what the hell is going on here? I think I'm about 7 days out of the loop..."
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phoenixianCrystallist Crew
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:01 pm
{Bobbi .:. Atlantica .:. Outside Throne Room}
Bobbi was too far from Dani to stop her, but luckily the new guy beat her to it. The Archer sighed and stood with her arms crossed sternly, in full-blown Big Sister mode.
"He's right, Dani," she said. "Wandering off on your own is a stupid idea, especially considering everything Ajora just said. He's right; we need to stick together. He went about the whole thing in probably the worst way possible, but I have to agree with him. Teamwork is a huge asset, and it's something we're going to need if we're going to survive. We have to stop running off on our own, for whatever reason, and learn to work together." As she spoke, the brunette moved her gaze from one person to another, trying to lock eyes with anyone who wasn't looking away. She meant this message for everyone, not just Dani. When she was sure her message had gotten across, she turned to Daniel.
"I'll try to make this brief. I don't know what all you know, and I apologize for any holes, but there is a battle going on out there and we can take the time for details later. About a month ago all the worlds merged in to one. A week ago, we arrived after Earth was destroyed. Several of us wound up at Disney Castle, where King Mickey gave us a mission to track down people from each world and request their aid. So far we've managed to help out a few people, and while we were asking for aid, Mickey was also out recruiting armies. So far three have gathered at Disney Castle. A couple of days ago, an experiment by Dr. Finkelstein in Halloween Town went wrong, and most of us were copied, creating the Replicas. Ajora was one of them, and seemed to be the leader, although apparently they weren't supposed to have squat for free will. He marshaled most of the others into attacking us whenever possible, and managed to kill our then-only Healer in the process. The rest, you heard straight from him. Those are the important parts, at least."
When she was done, Bobbi reached up to rub the back of her neck, looking around at the others. Everyone looked beat, and certainly not up to much more fighting. She wondered if they'd be much good for the rest of the battle, now.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:06 pm
[Joe: Atlantis: Outside Throne Room]
Joe was rolling his eyes at Ajora. Blah blah blah. He was still listening, but damn, for a dying guy, he had a lot of air in his lungs. Of course, when he reached the end, Joe went suddenly from annoyed to angry to...nothing. A blank slate with no emotion. Mention of Rae froze him, only to unfreeze with Kuja and Seymour. And his futile attack as Ajora was whisked off.
Damn, that didn't seem to mean anything good. Of course, not like he could really focus on that, considering what was going on now with the group.
"Yeah, what all three said. Numbers are our strength. So we should utilize that. As difficult as it might be for some of us...like me...." He admitted it to himself at least. "Which is why I think...we're going to need an actual leader. Not just having us follow the first person that gets an idea. Which is usually Kyle cause he thinks the fastest. ********, rambling."
He sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. "Basically I volunteer for trying to be leader of our group. Also, you, um...Earthling Turk that I don't know the name of sorry. Think you could take care of getting rid of your...uh...what is that gunk, anyway? And don't worry, more details will come out eventually. We need to regroup and figure out all that's happened, anyway, so...yeah." He sighed again, scratching his scalp. He was...tired. Anger and adrenaline leaving his body slowly as exhaustion was setting in.
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AldrickZearse Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 4:25 pm
[Dani :: Atlantis :: Outside Throne Room]
Dani's eyes instantly turned dark as soon as she felt herself get rooted by the gunk on her. She looked for the source and realized that it was the new guy who had locked her in place. She started to twirl her chakrams until she locked eyes with the Turk. She was about ready to fire her water magic his way but suddenly felt the pressure from the mark on her hand that had taken away part of her magic. She listened carefully to both of them and they had both said something that she had already known.
"First, do not lock me down like that," Dani spoke, trying to keep as calm as she could. "Second, I heard Ajora just like you did. I must have not explained what I meant clearly enough for you to understand. My whole thing is that when I see heartless I want to go over and try to help them. I didn't realize that the princess could take care of it. My bad. " Dani cut herself off before she dug her hole deeper. She then looked down to the ink before speaking again.
"Joe, I think you would be a great leader," Dani looked to the wind user, "You lead us fine before and well I am mostly a solo person myself. Sorry, only child syndome. I do have to bring something up though." Dani then took out her right hand and showed the group the marking on her right index finger and part of her hand. "I was marked by my replica when I was taken away in that giant war fight earlier. I can't and couldn't cast my magic as well as you guys can. That is why as much as I want to splash water on the new guy right now I don't have mana at the moment. I wanted to let you guys know now because before I was afraid to."
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 6:59 pm
[ Noelle ~ Atlantis ~ Outside Throne Room]
Noelle felt numb. She didn't want to believe him, but she knew in her mind it was all true. The revelation was dizzying--they had been playing along to his game from the very beginning. It was all a part of his well calculated plan. And for their benefit. Her eyes teared as she felt her insides flip. The agromancer's heart was a torrent of hate and grief and confusion. She clutched her head and trembled. Their greatest enemy had just revealed himself as their greatest ally. It wasn't right. After all they'd been through, after all he'd done to them, he was their biggest benefactor. Nothing could have prepared her for that slap in the face. It was like she couldn't move, couldn't breathe . . . until he mentioned Rae. It was an offhand comment, like it was of no consequence. Cruel till the end. Noelle's eyes widened as she hung on Ajora's words, waiting for details, waiting for more information. Then he stopped.
Before Noelle knew what was happening she had started to move. Kuja and Seymore were taking Ajora. They couldn't! She needed him! He knew how to get Rae back!
"NO!" The agromancer bolted, dashing past the others and jumping for Ajora. She never made it.
Noelle bounced back and skid along the ground, unaware that the fiends had cast a barrier between them. When she looked up again they were gone. Just like that. No trace. She stared at the space where they had been, the toll of surprises and emotional turmoil slowing her comprehension. Noelle sat with her knees up, putting her head down between them and staring at the ground.
'BREATHE, Noelle!'
She hadn't even realized she was holding her breath. Her chest ached as she heaved out the stale air in her lungs and tried to regulate her breathing. It was all getting to be too much--she could hardly even follow what the others were talking about. Yes, Heartless. Joe leader, great. All that was fine. But she'd never find out how to save Rae. She failed once, and now failed again.
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Je suis a toi Vice Captain
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 9:00 pm
[ Kyle ; Riku : Atlantis : Outside Throne Room ]Kyle remained wordless, like he was watching some movie he was only half-interested in. Though, that wasn't exactly true. He was looking away, but he still had his peripherals on Ajora throughout--when he was suddenly cut off, Kyle turned his full gaze toward him, but his expression didn't change. It was still empty. Distant. Watched as Seymour and Kuja took him away, giving even more information. The cocoon made to help him. Zexion. Rachel. "Fiends" of Heart--which he could only assume were created to oppose the Princesses. So much information.
Joe attacked. Noelle jumped. Riku walked over to help her up. Kyle remained motionless. What point was there? He'd seen Kuja decimate battlefields, watched Seymour simultaneously power two different Earth mages enough to move an entire castle. These two were, at present, unbeatable.
They were the threat, hiding in plain sight."I told you my experiment would prove successful--"
"--we make more, now that we know what to do." "Vexen," Kyle announced dully, after everyone was through talking, after Joe had claimed leadership. He didn't immediately elaborate. His voice was as hollow as his expression as he looked out at the Atlantean horizon. One by one, the Darksides began to fall, faster and faster, and the swarm of Atlantean ships grew. He assumed it was the same on the other side--inevitably, they would meet at the center, where there were three different Darksides slowly pushing into the city.
"Doctor Finkelstein was kicked out of his lab so Vexen could use it to replicate us. Mateus and his host guarded the lab and prevented us from destroying them before they were awakened. Had the doctor not warned us, we wouldn't have even been there in time to watch. And now, we know that Seymour was backing Vexen to begin with.""Running off on your own--" "For now, the Avatar of Zodiark is right. The battle will soon be over. We played our parts," he said, still watching, though he lazily threw out a Banish spell, a small flash-wave of Light that struck the goo at Dani's feet, burning it away. He made a point to specify precisely what role Daniel played in the scheme of things--they'd had enough issues with Scions. Now they had greater things to worry about. He nonchalantly brought his right hand into holding his left arm by the elbow, both arms still bound in white cloth wrappings from glove to pauldron. "We protected the Heart. The people protected us. And soon, the Heart will protect the city. Teamwork.""Not just having us follow the first person that gets an idea. Which is usually Kyle cause he thinks the fastest." "Anyway," he started, gripping his arm tighter before turning around finally to look at Daniel, his expression unchanging, a wall of stone to match his lifeless tone. In the background, all but the final few Darkside were gone--and dozens and dozens of Atlantean war ships focused in. They would die within moments. "Thanks for the help. Before we bother with any more, will you be joining us or not? Because if not, it's not quite fair that we've shared information and you have given none."Kyle watched the strange, ghost-like person appear at the entrance to the crypt--they locked eyes, and almost immediately, it flew below. The swarm of Heartless wasn't ending, and something about the specter drew him in. So, looking back at the others for a moment as if to signal them, he ran down into the crypt, not realizing the trap of Geists that had been laid for them. Way to go, hero. You've done a real bang-up job.Oh, shut up, imp.Riku had taken a step back, watching as the group handled everything. To his dismay, it was all very... chaotic. The exact opposite of what the Replica had claimed to want, but inevitable. He silently walked over to Noelle, standing near her, lightly tapping her head before offering his hand to help her up, his gaze understanding.
Was any of it true, though?
When he could, Riku stole a glance at Kyle, who seemed to have completely shut down after the events--hell, even during the events. Riku had been replicated before--he knew how fully the replication went. Ajora wasn't just any person--he was truly Kyle, stripped of his Light. Something Kyle knew all too well, Riku had observed from his days spent with the dragoon. And from what he knew of Kyle...
Riku was pleased to see Joe take the helm--or attempt to, anyway. Order from chaos was definitely a necessity at the moment. Of everyone else, Joe seemed to be one of the most "here" at the moment, and had a good repertoire with everyone. His oration could use a little work, though--which Kyle seemed to cover, anyway, as he spoke afterward.The final Darkside collapsed into black dust behind him, to the distant cheers of hundreds. Smaller Heartless continued to try their push forward, so they army split up to cover more ground, blasting what they could. It would be moments now before the Heart finished the protection spell.
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Posted: Mon Apr 22, 2013 11:59 pm
[Atlantis: Outside Throne Room]
So Pretty-Thong-man, and Pincer Head were in on this together?
Weird, they seemed to suit each other.
They never did feel like real allies, only popping up when convenient but not enough to be relied upon. It’s not like they ever settled down in the lunch room with everyone else.
Not like- those were grounds for building trust but they really didn’t seem like part of the tam either. Mostly they were only extras.
SO what did that make him actually?
To make matters worse that stuff Ajora spouted maybe making a flimsy attempt at justifying his intension of “pulling” this rag –tag team of heroes together but he sure had a weird way of doing it. Despite that claim it seemed her planted seeds that were driving tensions between specific people-
Noelle looked like she just about cracked, and the book worm seemed to have left the building already. Not that he could blame her she got seriously debased in front of everyone, and it didn’t seem like anyone disagreed with Ajora’s statement either. That or they just didn’t feel like saying anything- so the silence just made the girl silent as death itself.
After Joe opted up to be team leader after all Kyle ended up filling in the final pieces left out of the mystery. The nobody shrugged- “Makes no difference to me if it’s one of you guys-“ he turned back to observe the swarm of heartless being beat off by the flying fish reinforcements. Was the battle really over now? So now what? Dani wanted to go off and help but the others chained and rebuked her- yeah something more insidious had settled into the group with the departure of the schemer.
“Well it’s your call- Looks to me like the survivors are making short work of the heartless. How is the princess actually- “from what Axel could tell the princess was still all glowy and see through- using her spell to uphold the barrier. “I got the impression that her being the Heart and all isn't so great a thing- soooo think she’ll be done fast enough ?”
Another thought occurred to him- “ If this is almost over, should we give HQ a call? Anyone with a charm can give home base a heads up right?”
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Posted: Tue Apr 23, 2013 7:20 am
[ Daniel ~ Atlantis ~ Outside Throne Room]
As expected, 'assaulting' one of their group was met with animosity. Some eyes were on him, others were fairly distracted. The earth mover and the artist in particular seemed.. unhinged.
Luckily the Archer was incredibly quick to respond, laying out a summary of a weeks worth of events. And what a list! Some of the things he was aware of, like the combination of worlds a month prior and obviously the destruction of Earth. What Daniel didn't know was that King Mickey had amassed such a force at his castle. Shinra was not that well equipped yet. This was important news.
The creation of the replicas peaked his interest as well. Most interesting of all was that they apparently were 'supposed to not have free will'.
Well now. Copies of Earthlings without free will. That would make.. quite the army. The possibilities nearly distracted him from the rest of the banter.
The Paladin 'Joe' called for leadership. This was a good thing of course but Daniel realized immediately that it was day 7 and they were just now thinking of leadership. That, above all else, was damning. It took everything Ajora had to knock sense into them, and it only finally clicked now that he was gone. Daniel was far from impressed.
Not to mention how weakly he nominated himself..
The Assassin was not happy with him, for good reason. But there was no misunderstanding in Daniel's eyes-- His idea was just better. The Turk listened to her rant, noting the mark on her hand, but did not respond.
Kyle spoke next, which Daniel admittedly was waiting for the most. "Doctor Finkelstein was kicked out of his lab so Vexen could use it to replicate us. Mateus and his host guarded the lab and prevented us from destroying them before they were awakened. Had the doctor not warned us, we wouldn't have even been there in time to watch. And now, we know that Seymour was backing Vexen to begin with."
It seemed 'Vexen' was the key, and Seymour was the keymaster. This concerned Daniel greatly because he knew very little about Seymour, and even less about the other 'players' in his entourage. Despite the events that took place the Turk could not determine whether Seymour worked for the Darkness or for his own purposes.
The Dragoon blasted Daniel's ink away, freeing the Assassin.
"Anyway, thanks for the help. Before we bother with any more, will you be joining us or not? Because if not, it's not quite fair that we've shared information and you have given none."
There it was. Apples don't fall far from the tree.
However, the tables were turned this time. Daniel looked Kyle straight in the eyes for a few moments, composing his thoughts in no apparent rush.
First, why would he join them? Aside from their direct experiences with Darkness and the forces that be, they were incredibly disorganized. The only thing he sought to gain from them was their information. Shinra would put today's intel to use with incredible haste. Their plans held far more potential.
The thing that concerned him at this point was the three armies at the Survivors' disposal. That was certainly something Shinra did not have.
Not to mention the talents they each wielded... that could be 'replicated'.
Daniel rolled his jaw slowly, never straying from Kyle's eyes. An idea formed.
"I am undecided. For now, we", Daniel gestured towards Tseng, "Will do what's necessary"
The Spellblade spun the blades in his hands and placed both at his hips, as if he was sheathing them. Rather than needing scabbards, the ink on each blade moved and latched onto his belt loops. Hands free, Daniel crossed his arms.
“ If this is almost over, should we give HQ a call? Anyone with a charm can give home base a heads up right?”
The Turks ear's perked, but he made no other indication that he was listening to Axel. Instead, he focused on those who were paying attention.
"What would you like to know?"
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