It took a moment, but when Joe finally responded, the Blue Mage narrowed her eyes in contemplation. It could happen without people realizing it? Without permission being given? That was concerning--and definitely needed to be discussed.
Especially considering they'd just purified four more.
When the physical shard once again began to unleash the torrent of questions, Sayrike cringed slightly before walking up and taking the shard by the hand, hopefully leading him toward the door as she walked. "Easier if he only has to explain it once to everyone, hmm? Let's go."
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 4:24 pm
[ Narration ]
Everyone eventually congregated to the center of the platform once again, where Nemesis sat quietly waiting. This may have been their last opportunity to discuss what had happened, or what might happen next, before they descended into what had been called 'the box'--where they would hopefully be able to unravel everything once and for all.
As the others walked back to the center, joined by their respective shards of Louis rescued from the towers, and spoke to each other about various developments. Nemesis took in a deep breath upon looking up from his book that he'd since re-summoned from nothing to continue to read with an otherwise bored expression rivaling resting-b***h-face and looked back at Melisandre as though continuing a conversation they'd just left off on when the others had arrived, "You know, you thought I was lying, but I promise you I do not lie, I simply keep certain details close to my chest. One such detail might interest you now that these four might be able to fill you in on," Nemesis grinned, "So tell me, what did you all learn? When you entered the tower and faced off with these shards of self, did you notice anything? Who are they really? What kind of person was the Louis you met?"
"Was he the demented monster you were expecting? In the end, was he a demon worth destroying? Did you find your blood-lust sated or spurred to further destruction?"
"If not, as I gather from your present company, I ask you this, what then makes Louis who he is if these shards exist," Nemesis waves a hand around as though to motion to their surroundings, "Deep within him this light still held true despite every effort by the darkness to crush it. In this deceptive state of tranquility providing purpose and stability, these things remained as pillars to drive him in everything he did."
"You all have questions, but it seems like most of you are hesitant to ask an all important question that since you've been neglectful to provide it I'll answer for you anyway and that is the WHY- or more, they will."
As Nemesis motioned to the shards they rescued, they spoke in unison, "Corruption. Corrupted to a point of nigh nonrecognition, Louis was turned from a force of would-be good to a vanguard of the devil and a herald of the apocalypse. Aspects of virtue turned to violent swords with the subtlest twists."
They all stated their true names with a small hint of sadness, "We, corrupted to the core were twisted. A compassion turned to a numbed desire to please. Hope and dreams both of imagination and of the future... lost to inescapable nightmares in the resting and waking world. Curiosity squelched beneath an iron heel, blinding the desire to seek answers to questions banished from the mind by fear. Lastly, morals made delusions bathed in blood soaked sermons of common good and salvation."
"Our goal... to destroy all life. Every living soul. Including our own. To purge the world of pain, save the innocent from lives of torment. We would exact a merciless judgement on all who would oppose this divine and righteous crusade, including the forces of light and darkness alike."
“Which brings us to me..." Nemesis stated with a light chuckle as he placed his hand lightly over his collarbone, "We've seen what all the others are, but of the one who sits upon the throne, I will tell you- 'Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known',” Nemesis stated in a reciting tone, airy and with a bit of flair, "My name is Nemesis because that is what I am on the surface, but, I am much, much more. The vessel before you may be some fragile perception of Louis you've grown to hate, but, beneath that is perception incarnate and that is a very powerful thing."
"Take this story for instance: a girl, lost in her own downward spiral of insecurities and depressions takes out her frustrations with herself on those closest to her, devastating her friendships and destroying everything she's worked so long to create. To some, this girl might be pitiable, an object of lamentable existence that those of softer heart and mind may perceive as a victim. May-hap others saw that woman as a nightmare of a companion to those that cared for her. Perhaps the philosophical sort might take another approach, naming she a prisoner of her not-so-unique circumstance. Or, perhaps most common, a worthless traitor to herself and everyone around her. These are all so enticing but yet, in reality there's only one thing that's true of this girl... in the end, she... is no one. Completely void of consequence. A lonely, meaningless woman who deigns not even a name in this tale."
With a snap the world shifted into a Colosseum, none of the fantastical transitions previously sported by the shard who'd led them to the towers previously, merely a flash and they stood in a circle of frosted stone with black about and above with ascending rows of coffins etched in glowing purple runes hanging from chains extended to the abyss. Each opened to reveal a dark-ice solider, thousands in number. Their mouths, first frozen shut, cracked and snapped till finally splintering into jagged maws with thin crystal strings laced within like frozen saliva. Somewhere amidst this and his rambling tale, Nemesis had drawn something from the darkness to his hand, a small withered heart, glowing scarlet and tainted with darkness.
Despite the darkness seeming endless, dark-purple lights zipped past vertically drawing circuits across a cylindrical wall that seemed to encircle them completely above and below the platform they stood on but definitely seemed to be traveling in a certain direction.
"You see, there are many perceptions that can severely alter someone's existence in the world... but that's within the world- within oneself however perception of others is the fabric of what makes us who we are. Now I, an embodiment of perception, stand before you and sing with unified voices in chaotic haromy- I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known. I am Louis. I am all he's ever wished he was and prayed he wasn't. I. am. you."
Then like an orchestra tuning their instruments before a performance, a growing hum flowed out from the army of deceased, the strings within thier monstrous mouths, lined with fangs of ice, vibrating as one.
"You've provided the keys, now all that remains is to open the box and obtain the truth," still gripping the heart tight in his left palm he made a black spear appear from nothing in his right, its tip rested upon the floor next to the throne. A goat's skull weaved itself in shades of off-white over his brow and down his nose like a macabre mask, stopping just above his grin while the sockets still clearly revealed the man's eyes despite being surrounded by pitch black under the shaded mask.
"Kyle," his shard said trembling and drawing his own spear of guided silver, "I think I figured out what Nemesis plans to do."
"The hour cometh," the fragment of Louis called Nemesis lost his smile, eyes losing their semblance of shine, instead bleeding and dipping themselves in a shade of scarlet, "True power lies in the depth of loss, and the desire to keep from losing again."
"He wants to survive- Kyle we need to stop him," Justice continued, Kyle now clearly feeling a seething rage coursing through his shard.
The red of Nemesis' irises spread, and accompanied with it four red slits ran on opposite ends of his eyes: above by the mask's bone-white temples and below along the muzzle of the skeletal mask totaling four, "Give to me your all, and I shall thoroughly crush it... lest you hang on to worthless hope and torture thyself in vain."
"He doesn't just plan to survive. He plans to REVIVE. Himself and his closest friend," a bit of crimson mixed in with the gold in Justice's burning irises, "That monster can NOT be allowed to revive. Nemesis dies- NOW."
Nemesis' eyes locked on Kyle's. A flicker. A shadow of a scene played out before skipping over the same scene again and again and again. A hum, screaching to a halt and tripping over itself in a violent, unhealthy tone crackled to a halt, droning out at last before snaping.
A pair of bony appendages sprouted from the boy's back and settled over his shoulders as he smiled, black webbing trickling down between each white bone.
With a blast like thunder, Justice vanished leaving behind a crater that spread in a short cone behind him. He reappeared just before a cloud of rubble exploded where the throne stood, a pair of shimmering silver and black wings spread from Justice's back. A hollow strike. Justice whipped his eyes skyward to see Nemesis glaring down at him, suspended by the skeletal wings that instead acted as tetrapodal limbs, each twice as long as he was tall. In his right hand he spun the black spear with the ease of a gymnast's baton.
Nemesis stabbed down, missed as Justice beat his wings to leap back. The dark shard cleaved up with the speed that made the spear arc in a crescent with an after image... only it didn't go away. As Justice beat his wings a second time and took off like a bullet backwards into the air, Nemesis and his skeletal limbs crouched down. There was a moment of tension in them before the limbs pulled with their colossal might and rocketed the devil skyward after the angel leaving an explosion of debris and stone shrapnel in his wake.
Nemesis caught up to Justice near instantly and slowed his ascent only slightly just before, opening the skeletal wings out to each side in a horrific display as he raised a pitch black scythe with his free hand and brought it down in a cleave utilizing his entire body. Though he was blocked by Justice, the force of the strike sent him careening with the speed of a cannonball right out of the barrel directly into a cluster of coffins.
There was a flash from within, wiping out the icy mist that had spread from the obliterated section of abyssal orchestra. Golden feathers shot out as blades arcing across the darkness in a gleaming display like streaming fireworks at Nemesis who blocked the projectiles with a nearby coffin gripped by one of his wings- with the other he grabbed hold of a third coffin after landing on a second tossing it over the gap at Justice fully expecting him to destroy or dodge it as Nemesis took flight again with a shock wave of force.
------------
Meanwhilethe rest of the group did not go on simply watching, the moment Nemesis sung his words marking the start of their battle, portals opened up all around them releasing a shower of icicles. The shards greater in size, averaging about the same as a human's arms, stuck into the floor. The portals closed immediately after. Their attention likely on those, a portal opened behind them and a figure shot across making a B-line for Bobbi. In that split second, she was assaulted- her aggressor, a fellow archer of sorts now wielding two kusarigama, Atir.
From the front, two beasts of ice rushed forward. One, a familiar face for those present in Holloweentown, the great sword wielding giant of ice Nashir, the other, a true beast with clawed forearms larger than a gorillas only recognizable by Nick as Louis bodyguard at a certain meeting that never happened: Rera.
In perfect tandem, these two hulking opponents struck at the front-liners with all of their might, taking on whoever made them their target. A great sword cleaved horizontally over the front line as Nashir advanced ahead of Rera, creating enough force that the air ripped and clapped in its wake.
Their sides however, weren't safe either. The flank was suddenly struck as a small, almost dog like creature running on all fours blurred through their ranks clawing at the sides of Jenny, Dawn, and Amy- their primary supports. Any who got a good look at it, would see not a dog, but rather a small ice demon covered in a mane of spikes, humanoid but still running on all fours at impossible speeds. This was one of Louis' six generals that they had seen before Nemesis had arrived... in fact they all were.
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 6:51 pm
[Joseph: Louis' Heart: Four Towers]
The male was trying to get a status report from other members of the group. Except he was somewhat distracted by what he perceived to be the annoy prattling on of one of those 'doomsday' people you see in media. The ones that shout about the end of days and quote scriptures on the street.
The 'blowhard' made the male roll his eyes constantly. It felt like the guy was trying to force a lesson on them. A lesson that made no sense to the male.
Apparently it shifted into an aggressive stance, 'Justice' warning them.
It was the exploding scenery that had Joe's hand whip out, reaching and grabbing at air as his staff formed in his hand. Apparently there was going to be more fighting, and he wanted to be ready. Not that he had much time to think as suddenly portals and icicles appeared. Things were attacking.
He didn't truly have time to open his mouth and spit out a plan, not when he was jumping into the air to avoid a giant sword. He did, however, twist and turn, sailing over the great sword user with his staff wreathed in flames, the pole swinging at the general's head in rapid succession in the moment Joe was above the thing, the final blow being a powerful thrust down into the top of the head, while without the flames, it was a purely focused attempt and addling the enemy, and hopefully make it easier on Joe and his allies for dealing with everything
As Dani was looking around the area, she was only a little bit paying attention to what Nemsis and the other shards were saying. The only thing she was paying attention to was her surroundings. She watched as the area changed into a Colosseum cracking her fingers but not drawing her weapons yet. She was being patient.
What caught her attention though was the portals that were opening all around them as the shards were coming to pierce. With just enough speed mist started to collect around her form before she smiled at the group. With that she saw one of the giant ice shards come to her. As the shard was about to pierce her flesh, Dani’s body exploded into water before falling into the ground into a giant puddle.
Dani, not being used to this form yet, started off by creating a single water clone from the puddle that started to look around the arena for targets. This one in particular only has one eye in order to be able to see the battlefield. Spotting many, the clone transformed into a flying scythe and flew to the icicle demon spinning rapidly to hit the target.
Dani herself, for now, remained in the puddle for a small amount of time waiting for the right moment to strike.
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2016 11:12 pm
Joe : Louis' Heart : Frozen Coliseum
[[ATE Notes: At this point, Joe has explained to the group that he has the shard that was once Liar inside him. He is very much irritated by this knowledge and confused as to why he of all people is a host]
As if this whole night hadn't already drained him enough, Nemesis had to start talking again right as Joe was in the middle of something.
Joe might have hated Liar more, but good god was the shard one of the most unbearably pretentious twits he had encountered in his life. Fifteen seconds into his rant on morality, philosophy, and Louis' psyche and the space knight wanted to cave in his own skull with a tire iron.
All this speech was was the petty, selfish rationalizations of a broken man desperately trying to cling to a sense of self importance. Joe did not give a damn about any of it. He wasn't Louis' therapist and it wasn't his job to work out why the man became who he was. All he cared about was the man's actions and his actions painted him in a distinctly negative light.
However, any rebuttal he could have thought up became irrelevant as the room flashed and the group found themselves in an ornate coliseum, with Nemesis now clutching a heart in his hand.
Immediately sensing what was to come, Joe drew his sword and sunk into a defensive stance, happy to finally get a shot at the preening twit as he continued to ramble. "'Worthless hope?' 'Power of loss?' Oh for god's sake, really!?"Joe sardonically sent out over the charms "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm set to give this myopic little embodiment of bad philosophy the a**-kicking he so richly deserves."
Unfortunately, none of them would get the chance, with Kyle's shard warping off and engaging Nemesis. To make matters even better, those ice generals from before were back and they were charging them from all sides. Seeing that Fearless Leader was moving to intercept the swordsman at the front and that two of the generals had already broken through their lines, Joe was conflicted. He wanted to clash blades with the ice giant, but with most of their back line under attack, the group was bound to go down quickly unless the attackers were dealt with. 'Ah well.' he thought 'Business before pleasure.'
Steadying himself, Joe put his pent up frustrations into a blast of pure kinetic force aimed at the sickle fighter attacking Bobbi, hoping to throw the aggressor across the room. In another instant, he threw his blade, sending it whirling like a gravity-imbued buzz saw at the dog-thing attacking the mages.
Since no one else was bothering, he began to bark out orders.
"We need some people covering the dog and the sickle-fighter, our back-row needs to breath! Get them cornered whatever way you can!"
Kyle had a lot to chew on to begin with. A new shard-host, whose shard was for some reason not appearing like the others, and that somehow his voice had carried to the other towers without his intent. As for the former, what was with the inconsistency? Was he just too young? And as for the latter... well, he had an idea about that, but he had no evidence except for Liar's great deception. And most would just expect the worst, so why put them on edge without evidence?
Then Nemesis began talking. This time, Kyle did his best to maintain the calm. Breathe in, breathe out. His tendency for grandiose language made the monologue that much harder to swallow; Kyle talked a lot—a lot—but did was he this unbearable? He'd have to ask...
... well, not Joe. Maybe Noelle.
Part of him wondered why Nemesis was going through the effort to address the questions. They already had a pretty clear idea about the corruption and the shards—they'd been dealing with them all day.
"Which brings us to me..."
Kyle resisted the urge to make a gagging sound.
"... but, I am much, much more."
Resisting was getting significantly harder.
Ultima chided him, warning him to pay the shard more attention—especially if he felt so comfortable acting this way in front of an entire militia of people capable of cleansing him. It was about then that Kyle's gears actually started turning—he carefully began to split his attention, listening to the story while also trying to figure out the play. He was confident; he was no fool, he knew that to totally cleanse Louis, he'd be next on the agenda. And not only was he confident...
... he was free.
The world shifted around them, but Kyle was already tense. A corrupted shard unbound by any of the towers, free from the pressures of Liar, talking less about Louis as an "I" and more about Louis like a "he". When Nemesis took out a sickly heart, trying to shine through its own corruption, Kyle's tension increased exponentially.
Louis' heart was broken, and what was left was within "the box".
A chill ran up his spine.
"Someone scan that heart!"
"On it!"
Magic began churning within him. Coliseums had but one purpose. Was he seriously planning to take them on alone? That would be the epitome of stupidity, so of course not—but were the surrounding soldier-heartless his ploy? He was still talking, still trying to enlighten them (or stall for time), and Kyle tried to absorb as much of the surroundings as he could—were those circuits along the abyssal distance—
"—sing with unified voices in chaotic harmony—"
Hrrrg paradoxes don't make you ominous—IS THAT A GOAT'S SKULL?!
Justice spoke up, and Kyle inwardly groaned. The magic spiraled, but he didn't speak, his mind racing—trying to race, that is. Every new annoyance was like a recliner in the middle of an 80 MPH freeway, causing his thoughts to swerve wildly before finding the lane again. But more importantly—and more groanworthy—he was right.
Well, until that second bit.
Survive and revive... no way.
The scarlet. The spear. The eyes—Closest friend.—And there on the altar he stood.
Hold it together hold it together we are both we are both we are both breathe in breathe out—
"ATTACKS FROM ABOVE WATCH OUT!"
Sora and Riku had their blades ready at the front as soon as the imagery shifted. Perhaps unlike many of the others, they paid close attention to Nemesis, hanging on each word, keeping their eyes alert and focused. This wasn't their first monologuing villain and it would certainly not be their last.
Mentally, they went back and forth, trying to decide on a plan. In the end, it came down to a more adaptive approach—one on offense, one on defense, and trade in and out as needed.
Then Matthew shouted his warning.
Sora easily rolled off to the side, dodging the majority of the icicles, and looked up in time to see the portals closing. Nemesis was busy with Justice—
Sora's eyes widened, and he turned just in time to see Nashir and Rera rushing their way. He brought his Keyblade up with an enhanced thrust entending to Block the tail-end of the sweeping attack. With any luck, the sudden interuption of momentum would throw Nashir off his game enough for Joe's attacks to land.
As she tried to decipher her Scan results, Matthew's warning alerted her enough to bring one of her mirrors above her and absorbing the attack with a Subsumption, replenishing her mana. Then Chaos erupted, with two giants rushing the front, Bobbi's being flanked from the back, and Jenny, Dawn, and Amy being the targets of a hit-and-run.
There didn't seem to be much of a plan besides Joe's shout, so she decided to help the best way she could. "Protecting those three!" With a wave, Jenny, Dawn, and Amy were each cloaked in a Protera spell, moderately boosting their defenses. This way Kyla could work on buffing some others first.
Jenny groaned as she recuperated from the side-swipe. She'd managed to dodge the icicles in time, but the sudden beast came from nowhere, it seemed. Fortunately, she could feel an aura envelope her in invisible armor, and—after thanking Sayrike with a smile and nod—she brought the flute to her lips, undeterred, and began her song: Haste enveloped the party, and Slow attempted to eat away at their attacker's timeframe. She wasn't sure if these were stronger than they were before, but she knew she was—so if this didn't work, she'd just try with more force next.
If the sorceress had anything to add, she kept quiet, her gaze on Nemesis a stony, distant gleam among the crowd. When things shifted, she seemed unfazed. One might have wondered if she'd fallen asleep with her eyes open, standing up.
However, when she dodged the icicles at the precise moment Matthew shouted his warning, it was clear—by her sudden glare, by the daggers in her hands, by the fire literally radiating from her—that she was here, aware, and ready. She watched the attacks come in, but her eyes were busy scanning elsewhere, looking, searching. Kneeling down, she began to emit a deep growl before shouting, leaping twenty-something feet into the air, leaving a spiraling trail of fire behind her. At the peak of her jump, she spun herself around, eyes glowing brilliantly white, trying to find the witch, the source of the falling icicles. Her eyes pierced the veil, looking through both reality and the magical realm for any trace of her.
Kyle had dodged, and while everyone began the battle in earnest, the only thing he wished for was... more time. And everything seemed to grow still, including himself.
Atir. Rera. The child-beastling. The berserker. Where is Fiona? Where is the knight who looked over the child? Justice and Nemesis are flying fighters, far out of reach for most, but it would be suicide to join alone. Are the other soldiers a threat? Not as much as the child and Fiona. Jenny is playing the Slow melody, so that might help the former. The latter... Melisandre is looking around. Hopefully she's got the same idea. We need to turn the tide. I think I chose... wisely.
Time started once again.
"Everyone keep an eye out for more spells—the witch is still unaccounted for. And we don't know where the boy's knight-caretaker is, either. Target priority is: Take shots at Nemesis if you can, but the sooner we wreck these guys, the better. Witch is priority one, beast-boy and Atir tie for two, the hulk and cleaver at the front are tied for last. The last one is still an unknown. "
"As for specific suggestions: Kyla, if Sayrike's got those three, then Wall yourself and the front line and work from there. James, Leon, Joe's right, help Bobbi, keep Atir off of her and blast what you can from there. John, you stick with the support, they'll need your tankiness. Auron, to the front, you're our best even match against the berserker. Axel, Yuffie, and Dani if you're up for it, you're our hit squad—try to take out that beastling, but if you find the witch, eliminate A-SAP."
"More than anything, keep in contact. Announce anything unknown or in danger. And Mathy, on my signal, I need you to hit me with Vanish as soon as possible. Then your best bet is probably supporting the front lines," he called out, publicly so that they knew he would disappear.
"Got it!"
As the blue mage acknowledged him, Kyle locked down his charge, cast Dragon Force, then buffed Joseph with Bravery, and—with a heavy sigh—let go of the charge.
"Now, Math."
Beneath him, golden light began to glow as a massive spinning spell-circle appeared, easily wide enough in diameter to shine underneath a few other allies, covered in glyphic runes. It was beginning to slow...
Nicholas was caught off-guard when Matthew shouted, so while he dodged a majority of the hailstorm, he was still grazed by some of the assault. Which did little to help his mood.
The winds around him began to churn precariously in multiple ways. First, an Aero Shield to protect against another assault. Second, as he watched his target, Speed of the Sparrow, to give his plan surprising speed, even with the musician's Haste. Third, he channeled his own life force into the blade, preparing Bloodstrike for his next move, and fourth, he padded it with Lifebane, giving it sickly vampiric power. Garland's Sword was giving off a threatening mixture of crimson and jade now, as he pulled it behind him—
—and swung it forward with immense might and even more terrifying speed, the giant blade launching from the handle in an arc toward Rera. The chains clinked behind the hulking projectile, guiding it, completely taut and ready to wrap around the beast. The goal was simple.
He was going to wrangle that gorilla-armed b*****d.
[[ I only reacted in this post with the higher Reflexes people, sans the talkers. The others—including some of these characters finishing up their actions—will happen in another post after a few more people.
Also, long story short:
Scan on the Heart. Block on Nashir's sword (the KH version of block knocks back an attacker's momentum if it works). Protera on Amy, Dawn, and Jenny. Haste on the party, Slow attempt on generals. Bravery on leader!Joe
And then all of Nich's stuff trying to wrangle Rera. ]]
Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 3:37 pm
[Dawn : Louis' Heart : Frozen Coliseum]
Dawn listened to Nemesis with an unease feeling weighing on her heart as he spoke. She shuffled several times where she stood. Then the battle started. She should of been ready. The portals opened all at once. She watched as Bobbi was suddenly assaulted by one of Nemesis's followers.
Just as Dawn was about to go aid her friend, she was clawed on her side as something rushed at her from behind. She barely caught herself from falling to the ground. Her eyes barely got a glance at the beast as it was. She felt the protection barrier of protecra over her by Sayrike. She glanced over at Amy and Jenny who also appeared to be attacked by the same beast.
Dawn got back up with her Tessen in hand, "Thanks Sayrike," with a wave of her fans she summoned Aero to shield Jenny, Amy, Sayrike, and herself as an extra insurance if the beast came back for more. It would get hurt a little bit himself.
'Gotta do something about that thing...' she thought as she started to move her feet into a new dance. She closed her eyes with the image of the Dog-like creature in her mind.
"Turn to stone..." she whispered as she used a new skill Stone Cold on the beast.
[[OoC: Recap!
Aero on Sayrike, Jenny, Amy and herself Attempt Gradual-Petrify on Dog-like beast]]
It was almost too many words to take in on top of everything else they had already been through. One thing for certain, when they were done with this, she was going to teach Louis how to summarize, because she seriously needed a "too long; didn’t read" option for his pontificating. She wanted desperately to just tune him out and rest, but she forced herself to listen anyway. The jump from the towers to the Coliseum was disorienting, and she brought Taulmaril to hand the second she noticed the change in scenery. She set an arrow and cloaked it with her Hailstorm spell when she saw the ice soldiers, and loosed it high above the field as Justice attacked as she rolled to the side just in time to avoid one of the falling icicles.
That being said, she wasn’t totally prepared to be directly targeted by any of the soldiers—but when she saw who was attacking her directly, she wasn’t completely surprised either.
She brought Taulmaril up to block the kusarigama, legs spread to brace against the impact, and she grinned. She grinned that devilish, blood-thirsty grin she only wore when she was pissed and out for blood. Very few had seen that grin on her face. Those who had were terrified of it.
"Hello, Atir," she said pleasantly, shoving the ice soldier back with a kick to the chest just as Joe2’s attack hit. Kyle’s orders came through the charms clearly, and Bobbi couldn’t argue with any of them, much as she really wanted to take Atir on herself. But no, that was just her greed talking, or maybe her pride, and she wasn’t prepared for a full-on fight against Atir with distractions.
.:Spires,:. she sent through the charms as a warning, complete with a mental image of where she was going to be raising her Crystal Spires on the field—specifically, directly under each of their opponents. With luck, she’d knock them off balance, or even directly into the air if she aimed right. Once she was certain everyone had gotten the message, she set the spell off.
Yuffie yawned her way through Nemesis’s speech, not even bothering to pay attention. But she kept alert for any weirdness happening, and was ready to go the second the fight erupted. Taking her queue from Kyle, she rushed the beast-thing, sliding through and dealing a critical blow with her Greased Lightning attack.
Zell listened half-heartedly to Nemesis. He did his best to pay attention, but the guys flowery speech was hard for the conductor-monk to understand, and eventually he tuned Nemesis out in favor of paying attention to their surroundings. He dropped into a fighting stance the second he registered seeing the ice soldiers surrounding the team, and got Matthew’s warning in time to punch the icicles away before any could hit him. Kyle didn’t seem to have any suggestions for him, so Zell took it upon himself to join in the take-down of Nashir, though he announced it over the charms in case anyone needed him more desperately elsewhere. He rushed in from the side, striking hard and fast with his Rapid Punch.
The second the scenery changed from towers to Coliseum, Demyx had made his way to the center of the group where—so he thought—he would be more protected. He wasn’t counting on the icicles hailing down from above, and was struck by no less than three despite the advanced warning. He cried out, and his first reaction was to summon six Water Clones. He sent two after Rera, two after Nashir, and split the other two between Atir and the dog-like thing. He, meanwhile, cast around to find an area where he could hide and stay out of danger for the rest of the fight.
Why were Coliseums so open? It made it hard to find a nice, out-of-the-way corner.
Nanaki listened to Nemesis’s monologue intently, focusing on every word to find whatever hidden meanings he could. He felt, however, that most of the speech was nothing more than a stall tactic, as the words felt empty and meaningless, existing only to fill the time. He felt his hackles raising at Justice’s reaction, and bared his teeth at the prattling shard. He wasn’t the least bit surprised when Justice launched into an attack, and with Matt’s warning was able to avoid the pre-emptive icicle strike. With a Howl to bolster his comrades, Nanaki bull-rushed the dog-like ice soldier, slamming into the creature hard with his shoulder in tandem with Yuffie’s blow.
[[Critical hit on beast-boy Bravery on Axel, Yuffie, and Dani, chance of fear on the beast guy, Atir, and Nashir unless they’re immune]]
Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2016 8:19 pm
[ Amy : Narnia / Louis's Heart ]
There's way too much going on right now. Amy couldn't keep track of it all. She felt herself wrapped in Protera, Aero, and Haste. A dog beast was attacking them, and instinct kicked in. She shot it rapidly with her Trigger Happy, causing the pent-up charge she had to go into the attack as well. She staggered back, confused by all the commotion, and took a brief moment to comprehend what all was happening, and where she was needed. She began charging her power again.
"Shout 'cure' if you need one!" she said via the charms. That would be her role now, unless an obvious opening to attack came along.
((However many moves or actions I have left, please consider them used up by me charging. However many charges I can get outta it.))
Dani suddenly felt a sudden surge of energy from within the puddle and felt the urge to keep moving faster. She moves her puddle as quick as she could, sliding across the coliseum floor. The puddle moved to behind the dog creature before reforming back into as she readied her chakrams.
Hopefully unnoticed, Dani puts a small amount of Jeopardize on her chakrams and in the same motion slashed at the dog creature.
Dani quickly after slashing ran away from the dog and back towards the mid part of the group in order to try and conceal herself again to strike. [[Authors note: Jeopardize = Imperial at the dog creature Current Buffs on Dani: Bravery/ Haste]]
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2016 4:36 pm
{James : Louis’ Heart : Frozen Coliseum}
James had remained silent after being dragged out of the tower by Mizu, He tried to focus on everything that Nemesis was saying fighting very hard not to lose patience and tune him out, hoping that there was truly a point to the things he was saying and he wasn’t just monologuing for the sake of it. The corsair tensed as shouts of caution and commands for scanning rang out over the charms and Justice and Nemesis began fighting. When the call of actual attacks from above rang out the corsair was ready and dodged them, his hexagun summoned and at the ready. He scanned the battlefield trying to ascertain how many targets had arrived to fight. It was at that point that Kyle called out to the group with focus targets, asking the corsair to focus on the one that went after Mizu. The corsair focused and aimed a Fire Shot and unleashed it so it would hit after Zeiq’s blast collided with the Dark Ice Soldier. The gunner then continued to scan the battlefield trying to keep an eye out for anything else worth reporting focusing his energy as he did so.
{Auron : Louis’ Heart : Frozen Coliseum}
At Kyle’s call Auron made his way to the front, dodging the Ice spires that Mizu raised from the ground as he did so. He imbued his katana with energy and brought it down for a Power Break against Nashir as he hopefully focused upon Joe and Zell. The samurai's intent to weaken the Ice Soldiers attack strength.
{Leon : Louis’ Heart : Frozen Coliseum}
Leon remained silent as well as he listened to Nemesis’ words after they had had the opportunity to bring everyone up to speed. He was watchful, wary, and prepared as the situation devolved into what was unfortunately expected. He blocked a few of the shards as they rained down from above. He turned his focus to Atir when Kyle called for it. He watched as Bobbi, Joe, and James all focused their attacks on him. He charged forward, shooting a Fira spell at one of the ice hounds as he ran past. He focused his energy and charged towards the archer ice soldier and unleashed a Fated Circle with the intention of adding the fiery explosion from the attack to the combined damage against the Ice Soldier. {{James remaining actions will be spent charging}}
The orchestra of frozen soldiers at last began their performance as Sayrike's scan took a moment to decipher, and due to the sudden attack, perhaps took longer than she initially anticipated, but at last the image became clear for her. The heart, it had no statistics, no spell or magical property, no special effect or trap associated with it, simply a name:
-Rachel-
The battle meanwhile raged on, spells flew about this way and that. Explosions of energy erupted from the fighters of both sides, mana saturating the air, stirring a translucent rainbow mist.
As Joseph leaped to the air to strike, the gorilla-like general leaped from his position, avoiding blows aimed for him to place a powerful strike with the backside of his arm. The aim not only direct to Joseph away, but into Auron as well, keeping them both at bay.
Sora, meanwhile performed splendidly, the giant sword somehow stopping upon impact and bouncing back with enough force to knock him off balance setting him up perfectly for Bobbi's spire to tilt him over to a stumbling step to the side.
Meanwhile, Atir flew backwards from Bobbi's kick, dropping her kusarigama in the process, the chained scythes continuing their flight with the previous forward momentum just past Bobbi, clattering for a second behind her. Then with a hiss, the general gripped the chains of ice that trailed from her back, snapping them taught, pulling them past Bobbi's legs with the intent to cripple and her opponent as the enchanted blades passed through spreading frost to all they touched.
The spire struck the archer mid-flight, rocketing her skyward, but she corrected her ascent, retracted her blades then combined them into a crossbow that instantly let another blot fly... off into clear air high above.
Seconds later, the child-sized general rocketed skyward, hit from countless angles before taking the brunt force of Bobbi's spire that sent him skyward. The bolt loosed from Atir collided with him... skewering him, or so it seemed, before he vanished into a portal summoned at that precise moment.
Another portal opened just behind Dawn, and out came Bael, who clinging to the massive ice-bolt, hit the ground sprinting into her side, pouncing upon her with bestial claws and fangs bared gnashing away with rabid fervor.
Meanwhile, Melisandre searched for the remaining generals, and at the moment she found two figures cloaked in oily waves of illusion and vanishing magics, a new magic entered the field.
To those who could see beyond the clearing cloud of dust where the throne once stood, there was a flicker in space before 3 arcing spheres of ice shot overhead. They spread out and fell at the feet of 3 individuals... primarily, Sayrike, Jenny, and Amy.
Nothing happened initially, but after a split second, the sphere split into a ring, shot up and around, and formed a shell of sorts. In the moment, they were protected from harm, but inside the what from the outside could be viewed as a rose but slowly blooming, the inside was filled with jagged edges parallel to each other like waves... making the interior of the rose completely silent.
-------------
[[Nemesis vs. Justice]]
Elsewhere in the catacomb stands of orchestral corpses, the two shards continued to go at each other with unrelenting violence. Justice flew about, curving in and out of view behind rows and columns striking at Nemesis who in tandem made strikes of his own. The two moved with blinding speed, making instead an image of two blurring lines of red and silver intertwining across the black and purple canvass.
At last the two stopped short when Justice struck Nemesis in the side, sending him careening to a center-point over the Colosseum before Justice caught up with him but was instantly redirected into a dive that ended abruptly on the edge of the platform where Justice still landed upright with his head craned upward, scarlet boiling in his eyes and down the silver in his wings.
With a beat of his wings he dashed across the platform as a thin beam released from Nemesis' open palm cut into the floor where he was, following his zigzagged path over the battlefield as Justice ducked and weaved appearing only in simply flickers before taking off skyward once more followed by a squadron of autonomous feathers that arced wide then snapped together to form a make-shift shield that redirected the tiny beam from Nemesis' palm out into 6 other dulled beams that rained down and exploded upon the already chaotic battlefield.
"Rachel!" Sayrike announced, audibly shouting when she realized what the name meant. "That's Rachael's heart!"
As the veil of Vanish washed over Kyle's form, the last expression visible was stony and tense.
Justice, can you summon my spear?
Meanwhile, the spinning glyph of golden light continued to slow down...
As Nashir's blade recoiled, Sora laughed triumphantly, pulling the keyblade back and preparing his next move. He saw Joe get knocked back and away, but he knew the fighter would be able to right himself in time--instead he had to focus on keeping the beast and the berserker separated and unable to help each other.
It was pretty clear Nicholas was aiming to help out--Sora had only barely managed to twist out of the blade's way as it missed it's spinning mark and retracted. Auron was supposed to be on Nashir, but he might have been out of the count--and Nashir was disadvantaged now.
I can't worry about the heart now...
Suddenly cloaked in a haze of flames, Sora rushed in a blur of red and black toward Nashir's side with a Fire Dash, hoping to strike and keep the general stumbling over itself.
Riku grimaced as he rolled to his feet after the attack, scanning the battlefield. Joe took to the front and Sora assisted, Kyle sent out tactical suggestions, and Riku simply synthesized them with his own ideas. He was on defense--and Dawn was suddenly under assault.
He pulled his keyblade back, and suddenly Bael would have felt an odd pull, the world itself growing heavy--
--and in a blur too fast for any eye to see, Riku flew through him in a Zantetsuken slash, hoping at the very least to have knocked the creature off Dawn with the immense momentum behind the attack.
As the battle commenced, Matthew quickly turned off Clarity, needing to get his bearings--Sayrike couldn't keep relaying him sensory information due to the stress of the fight. There was a lot to do--he'd cast Vanish on Kyle as requested, but with their supports seemingly under siege--
Dammit there's more.
The sudden encasing that burst around Sayrike, Jenny, and Amy had him running in their direction; John, he saw, was already rolling his shoulders, so he knew what to do. The Blue Mage ran through his list, rapidly scrolling up and down his mental computer folder for something that would work.
Keep it simple I guess.
With a grunt, Matthew clapped his hands, and one of Axel's Fire Pillars erupted underneath Amy's prison, hopefully melting the ice away with its intense heat.
John, meanwhile, finally reared back his maul, grinned, and unleashed his Combo Plus. The first swing smashed into Jenny's prison, and using the momentum of the rebound, he turned back to swing the second one at Sayrike's nearby pod, as the two had been keeping close to begin with.
Meanwhile, Melisandre's eyes seemed to glow all the more brilliantly as she noticed the two wavering entities off to the side. Sneering, the flames around her body seemed to settle around her feet as she landed facing away from her targets--
--except suddenly she was rocketing backward toward, a trail of fire in her wake, and with a twist, a fiery greatsword appeared in her hands.
And simultaneously another one fell from the sky like a meteor, crashing between where the two invisible foes were; on contact with the ground, a wave of searing fire burst outward--potentially Igniting them--and, if they attempted to touch it, they would take additional fire damage.
As she neared, the sorceress swung wide with a roaring shout, sending a fiery whirl in their direction.
... and then, with a final booming click, the magic circle stopped in place, revealing its intricate details.
A deep, echoing crack pierced through the cacophony of battle--rather like mosaic glass instead of glacial ice--and the massive seal exploded outward and upward like panes of physical golden light. Beneath the seal, the coliseum floor became like volcanic stone, which began cracking and rumbling with terrible tremors; red and golden light began to shine through, as if magma were ready to erupt at any moment.
But what came next was infinitely worse.
Just like the seal before, stone exploded skyward as a giant red blur spiraled high, bursting from the ground. Though it was hard to see from the sky above, no one would have to wait very long, as the subject landed just as quickly, sending a tremor rocking through the foundations of the coliseum.
Scales of crimson. Wing spines the color of midday sky. A tail as long as its body and almost as wide. A neck large enough to be ridden by not one, nor two, but three people with ease.
And a jaw powerful enough to crush... well, anything.
Kyle had summoned a brute wyvern with explosive power. A handful of people might have recognized it.
A Molten Tigrex.
With a gulp of air so powerful those nearby would have felt it vacuumed inside, the wyvern unleashed an ear-shattering concussive roar that could be felt by everyone within twenty feet and heard throughout the entire battlefield.
Dawn let out a startled gasp as she was charged from the side and tackled to the ground by Bael. She reflexively put her tessen between herself and the general to shield herself from his savage attack. Though she was protected by Aero, it did little to turn her attacker away.
As she was trying to formulate a plan to get out of the mess, there was a brief change of lighting and then the weight on top of her was gone. She quickly got up off the ground and looked around spotting Riku she moved over with her back to his, never minding that there were several scratches on her arms and face, a few bleeding slightly. Dawn was already planning her next moves.
Within moments, she was already combining her dances. One enhancing her allies with Bubble. The second was her Polka aimed at the Generals on the battlefield, attempting to weaken their Strength.
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