Raid #39 [Plot]

Jecht[Leader]

Suddenly above the burly, hairy man came a loud crack as a bolt of lightning erupted into a bungalow just above him. The area was lit with a temporary light, as the sound of exploding rock filled the air, then it quickly returned to the twisted color it had been moments before. Dust was sent hurling into the air as stone and clay alike flew high, only to come down to where the man with the large sword would be standing. He would most likely be crushed by this amount of weight. Left in the wake of the bolt was a vicious scar, carved into the side of the building that ran down in a jagged fashion to the sand on which the building stood. The scar hissed angrily as smoke began to seethe out of it's deep crevice in the side of the wall.

Suddenly behind Jecht, cam a violent crash through the stone wall halfway down the street. More sand and debris were kicked up in the sudden collapse of stone out into the street. The sand which held the man's footprints became distressed and covered, and were soon imprinted with new tracks of the beast that emerged from the hole in the wall. A vicious roar erupted from behind the sand cloud that took it's time to settle behind the former Guardian of Braska, and from it stepped a Minotaur wielding a giant morning star. At first it stood there watching Jecht: with snot dripping out of a nostril like a green shoe string, light dancing faintly on the shiny spikes that adorned the weapon it carried, and the hair that lined it's back gave way to the violent winds that were sweeping through the many blood filled streets in the city.

It let out a vicious, blood thirsty scream as it charged forward baring it's long fangs in it's wet, drooling mouth. From it's left it swung, to it's right in an attempt to crush Jecht's much smaller body into the hard walls next to him. Sand was thrown backwards at the Minotaur's charge with each step, so that hoof prints were clearly witness-able within the faded gold of the street. High above within the clouds that circled over the city, came rain that fell with a great haste. The moisture filled the air, and now would make the lightning frays so much more dangerous.

Exdeath watched as the storm progressed from the dry comforts of the throne room. The city became eclipsed in the rain in what appeared as a dark curtain had suddenly been pulled over the entire city. Things were going to his will, and were indeed running smoothly. Soon the sand would turn into a filthy, grainy mud for everyone outside to fight in. Traction would greatly diminish, and soon anyone would be able to easily slip from their steps into the clutches of the ever waiting reaper. He was in control here, and would remain within that cusp of power until someone strong enough could take him from it. The list of those whom could do such a thing was thin, and he could not sense the presence of any who were on it within the area.

"The tides of this storm, shall wash in a new era of this world." he spoke to the cowering mortals before him. They screamed in fright as several winged Heartless brandishing swords appeared out of seemingly nowhere around the warlock. They soon cut down the innocents, and began to take their hearts as Exdeath merely ignored the frenzy that occurred behind him. Who was he to care for the lives of these men and women? They were nothing more than a wretched annoyance, and could do nothing to stop him. It was apparent at the moment, that no one could.

With blood red eyes glaring down upon Jecht, the Minotaur cried out once more as it greatly heaved its chest in the process. The great muscles flexed as the mythic beast brought the weapon up high into the rain, and then slammed the spiked ball of the weapon to the ground. The impact created an instant hole in the sand, and as the earth compressed beneath the morning star's weight, a fissure erupted forward, splitting the earth. It moved quickly towards Jecht's feet like a snake, pushing rain with the force applied by the beast so that it became a man sized crescent arc.

The Minotaur, with rain splashing off its colossal form, charged forward after this splitting of earth to catch the man off guard. The left arm dragged the huge weapon behind the beast in the sand as it ran. As it brought over the right, a firm grip was place next to the other hand and with a very violent display of power, the Minotaur swiped the giant weapon out and to its right. Whether Jecht was hit by either attacks remained to be seen, but the two were then joined by several of the Invisible Heartless that had left the warlock in the throne room. They appeared suddenly as they faded into view with their swords. As they floated there momentarily, with the rain eerily evaporating before it even touched them, the Heartless gazed upon their prey with those lifeless golden eyes.

The Minotaur had been caught entirely off guard, as its swing had greatly opened it up for counter attack. The Heartless threw their swords at the beast, which was soon followed by the faint sound of something being stuck within the rain. It was a blunt and barely audible sound, but it was soon drowned out by that same hostile scream from the Minotaur. Dust began to fly and mix with the rain as the Heartless charged in to scuffle and take down the larger, more desired heart. An opening had been coincidentally provided, and as a bolt of lightning flared out into the sky above, the storm began to intensify as the wind's speed increased.

Meanwhile, Exdeath now sat upon the throne of Agrabah and slowly his aura was beginning to alter and twist the room around him. Like a slowly progressing plague, it spread from where he sat, turning the elegant ivory marble into a solid ebony and the tasteful gold into a deep metallic orange. The change could be seen as it began to move down the steps, like a tortoise racing a hare. There was no need to rush, after all Exdeath too had sensed the more sentient consciousness within the city. As much as it annoyed him, he expected it to be rather typical that someone had come to put a stop to this endeavor. So, who then, was foolish enough to think that they could stand against the evil lord Exdeath?

Across the courtyard a ring of energy appeared upon the grainy surface of the sand, and within its limits was a bright flash. There stood Exdeath as faint shimmers of light played off his armor, and his cape billowed in the fierce wind that the storm continued to throw upon the combatants. The rain had not bothered to let up either, and had begun to pelt the warlock's armor. The sound that rang out was hollow, yet had the rapid repetitiveness of machine gun fire. There beneath what could easily be described metaphorically as the Mouth to Hell above the Palace, Exdeath looked on into the rain upon a somewhat familiar face. It was the traitorous filth of a swordsman, named Jecht who was once a supposed ally of himself under Chaos's command. In truth, he was a warrior of Cosmos, and nothing more than a narcissistic bag of hot air. "Still bound to the Light as before I see." spoked Exdeath through the rain, as the howling from the storm seemed to grow more quiet.

"Yet too ignorant to give into the Darkness within your heart." continued Exdeath as he let out a slight, hollowed chuckle. This human was brave indeed, but coming here to test his power was nothing but a fool's errand. "Pitiful human, what do you hope to achieve here? To fight for a Light in which you cannot peacefully exist, while your very soul is tainted by the Dark." This 'star' player was in need of a beating, merely for the sole sake of attempting to disrupt Exdeath's plans. The rain continued to pour, though as heavy as it was, the water fell with an unusual softness. Droplets streaked down and off Exdeath's bright and colorful armor as he stood there staring down Jecht, who was no doubt getting soaked as well.

Too much time in this rain would undoubtedly lead to sickness for the human, however the warlock was unmatched in both stamina and power. He would be able to keep going where others would fall, and that is what separated the weak from the powerful. His white claws remained firmly still on the butt of his weapon, as it stood there point down being used like a cane. High above the warlock, a bolt of lightning struck the top of the palace's largest dome, which then frayed into several smaller jets that fired upwards. It appeared like a glowing tree before it faded into the darkness of the storm. The city was literally being torn apart by bolts as they had not ceased to stop once since the first one occurred. Things were still looking grim for the Light's only fighter.

Exdeath watched as the events unfolded before him. As Jecht let out a very childish insult of such elementary level intelligence, Exdeath merely let out a barely audible "Hmph" before more came from the excessively hairy mammal. The horrendous dab of humor added after threats so empty that they could rival Nobodies, only thoroughly convinced Exdeath how truly ignorant and blindly egotistical this particular man was. So Jecht cared not to know why he was here or why he was reconstructing the world more to his liking, for at that moment he charged in to strike at his mid section. What a foolish pawn of the Light, to blindly fight for a cause with no questions asked about the true matter of things.

Such was the typical obedience Exdeath expected to see in every human and creature beneath him, and Jecht was no exception. Exdeath's arms extended out to each of his sides, his sword remained standing vertically without support as he held it with his mind, and at that very second a large golden sphere erupted around the armored warlock. Omni Block prevented Jecht's strike from touching him, and would no doubt give off recoil from the fierceness in which he threw that punch. Exdeath then brought down his arms so it appeared as though he were flexing, his claws curled intensely as he held his palms upward. "Forward into the abyss." he spoke as his white claws were suddenly flicked outward into a stretched position; a fierce whirlwind of razor ice erupted to life around him in the form of his Blizzaga spell, accelerating to a very high speed.

As the spell began to slow and subside, Exdeath formed another ring beneath his feet and teleported to from where Jecht had charged with Reverse Polarity, leaving his sword behind as it floated in mid air. As he reappeared, he strechted out his great armored arm and began to wave his hand about. As the ice spell ceased Exdeath's sword began to hurl and slash through the air at Jecht in several sweeps to firstly his legs, then to his upper mid section as it weaved around him. "Contending the truth is futile pitiful worm, you cannot defeat me!" he boomed, before pulling his hand up into a clenched fist, which brought the sword zooming back to his firm grasp.

As his sharp white claws closed around the hilt, Exdeath began to chuckle. The sound of him doing this gave off a deep echo within the walls of the Courtyard. As he looked above Jecht where the Blizzaga spell had once been, lightning struck a side of the palace beyond the walls in which they now fought. Once more fire erupted within stone as great chunks were sent flying off into parts of the city, leaving a burning testament in it's wake upon the palace. He looked back then to Jecht and raised his sword to deflect what opportunity he might have taken from the sudden distraction.

Was it common to compliment and thank one's opponent? Not when it came to Exdeath but it seemed so far Jecht only had mocking praise for his opponent. To the blasphemous evil entity, the former Guardian was not but a nuisance thrown into his path by Harmony's meddling. His plans would not be stopped here and now. No, there was still much to do and dozens upon dozens of other worlds that had yet to experience the terror of his power. With a sharp reaction Exdeath jumped back to avoid the combo initiating strike while levitating his sword to come up into a guard to keep the human's blade from touching him. He let out a merciless laugh in triumph, "Mwa-hahahaha!"

However the warlock had overlooked the large rock that had been thrown in his direction. He attempted to step out of the way but was caught violently in his left shoulder, his armor letting out a hollow, metallic clank in the impact. He yelled a bit in fury as he brought up his hands towards Jecht in the flying rubble of the rock, and fired out a Vacuum Wave at his face. While the ball of light flew for the opposition and the sword attempted to slash, the atmosphere began to suddenly change near Jecht's feet. A slight hum could be heard before a violent eruption of power came from the ground in the form of Level 3 Flare, and sand within the radius became glass within seconds.

Exdeath then rushed forward through the clearing smoke of the spell and firmly grasped his sword to make cuts at the human before him. "Your dream will end here" he spoke before jumping up into the air and rose with haste above the man. He would be hard to see with all of the rain and wind sweeping around the two, and Exdeath looked down upon the mortal as his cape billowed fiercely in the chaotic torrent. With his right hand he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and with his left he extended to reveal his palm to Jecht's location. Six black orbs erupted from his hand and sped through the rain to where the opponent was, and quickly circled about over him. As Exdeath closed his hand tightly, the Grand Cross technique moved in to converge on the man in black and orange.