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Post by Vincent Valentine on Apr 15, 2010 8:45:55 GMT -5
(OOC: This sidequest is set for Mikoto in the Black Mage Village, Outer Continent of Gaia IX. One other person may join her fighting the Heartless, first come first served.)
The planet Gaia IX had been one of the few worlds that had come very close to having it's heart return to darkness, but now thanks to the original Angel of Death, darkness blanketed the world like the thick fog that had proceeded it. In the Outer Continent north of the world's capital of Alexandria, the Black Mage village was one of the many villages under attack by the world's Heartless, and the many fiends wandering the landscape nearby to take advantage of the chaos nearby. It was this town Zidane and his party had found after traveling on foot from the Mist Continent via Fossil Roo, in order to find the information needed to get to Kuja's Desert Palace, on the same continent after the destruction at Lindblum. The village was now one of the few that had survived the encroaching forces of Darkness, but the battle was far from over.
Buildings burned in the village, inanimate black mage bodies everywhere, and Heartless roamed freely among the battle-torn houses.
Smoke filled the air above the village, and the place was deafeningly silent, save for the noises the few Heartless made. Many Heartless frequented here, thanks to the Darkness that had been brought here, budding from the Darkness like flowers in bloom. Some Heartless were ones invading from other worlds; Shadows, Power Wilds and Bouncy Wilds were drawn to the individuals in this world, running along the shelters looking for Hearts to harvest. Other Heartless were the Hearts of Black Mages that had been stolen; Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhaspodies, Yellow Operas and Green Requiems floated in the shadow of the haze of the chaos, looking out for living hearts while they adjusted to their new dark bodies. Among all the flaming havoc and loss of life caused by the Heartless, a lone Heartless stood in the shadow of a building watching over them all, only it's amber eyes seen in the dark before it vanished into the shadows.
If there was any villagers here, one would have to track them down, if one wasn't already a victim of the sudden invasion of the looming shadow over the small village it was about to engulf...
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Post by mikoto on Apr 15, 2010 16:55:51 GMT -5
Hidden within one of the battle-torn huts, near the very edge of the village, was a small band of Black Mages and Genomes. They were what were left from the destruction of their village. Of them, only one knew that this was a futile effort. That one Genome knew that if they were to survive this, they would have to leave. Saving this village would be more trouble than it’s worth, not to mention hopeless. Within this building they were cornered, simply biding their time until they had all changed into creatures like them. She had warned them, the moment that these attacks had first started that they should have left. Unfortunately these strange beings chose to stand their ground and fight, and like she expected, many of them had fallen from the first series of strikes. Battling regular monsters was a completely different than that of these strange often colorful creatures.
It was that same Genome whom was working on a way to eliminate some of the creatures around her with material they collected from their home world. They were pieces that had fallen off Terra and into the Invincible and later into her hands. Once she was done, if she was right about her predictions, she would be able to make a new exit and escape. If any of the Black Mages or other Genomes were smart enough and quick enough to follow her then, they might survive as well. Either way, there was going to have to be a few of them left there to, hopefully, distract the strange beings.
Taking another look at her surroundings that safe window of time was already beginning to narrow in on her. This should suffice for now. She thought, breaking through the formation of allies around her, so she would have enough of space to swing her weapon. The strange looking scythe bore down on the wall, creating a crack, and she tackled at it, knocking that part of the wall down as well as making it to the outside. The hole that was made was just enough for one of the Black Mages to crawl through somewhat comfortably, or at least as comfortably one could crawl.
But, just because she was able to make it out of that hut did not mean that her troubles had ended there. The Genome got up and dusted herself off before picking up her weapon. She gripped on to the weapon tightly, as she noticed just how many of her fallen comrades had turned into these strange creatures. A few of them were even transforming before her eyes. What she felt . . . What it felt . . . was strange. Could it be pity over their futile lives? Surely, they knew that they would simply stop functioning after a short period of time. So then, why did they fight? Was it simply because they were supposed to take care of their kind until they can adjust to life, here, on Gaia? Weren’t they simply a test to see whether humans and Black Mages could live together in harmony? If so, then their job should have ended and there would have been nothing to tie them in helping her and others of her kind.
Knowing that she should be focusing on staying alive, she fixed her gripped on her weapon awkwardly, before slipping into a stance similar to what she had seen Zidane once fall into when he fought long ago. The Genome was not used to the weight or the feel of holding a weapon. She had spent most of her life making sure that there were no other Genomes like her or her brothers. It wasn’t as if she could simply press a button and they would deactivate. No, this time, she would actually have to fight. Perhaps now she would be able to live up to her title: “the third angel of death.” |
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Apr 16, 2010 7:27:40 GMT -5
As soon as Mikoto had made an opening, the Heartless started to appear from the very air around her outside the hut at the edge of the village, coming out of their Corridors of Darkness. A Blue Rhasphody and a Yellow Opera dropped out from of the hazy smoke above the village and started attacking the black mage that had escaped, to try and reduce him down to a heart they could steal. The Blue Rhasphody shot out a ice spell that scattered outwards towards it's target, while the Yellow Opera Heartless dived down from the air and tried to tackle into the straw-hat wearer with a spinning volt tackle. These were the only two attacks these Heartless could do, and while they weren't very strong Heartless they were the few of many that Mikoto would have to protect the black mages from until they got out of the village, and each one was capable of causing damage and stealing a heart.
The ice chilled the air as it traveled through it, making it frosty as ice particles reduced the air's temperature, the crack of lightning from the other Heartless's form almost making the weather feel like a thunderstorm.
The black mage that had gotten out first blinked in surprise as the Heartless had appeared, and at the sight of the slow casting of the ice spell had cast a Fire spell in defense, which countered most of the ice spell and made it miss the black mage. However, he was still running at the time and as a result of the recoil of the spell, was sent flying backward slightly and tripped over. The thunder element Heartless was coming for him next, and he put his gloved hands on the rims of his straw hat and pulled it down tightly over his head, protecting himself as best he could before the Heartless struck him down. At the sight of combat and spreading out in the area they had traveled, more Heartless were soon to appear, but luckily it would not take one far from here to exit the village, being that it was on the edge. The Heartless weren't very strong ones and could easily be destroyed, and if Mikoto could protect her friends from all the waves and survive herself, they may have stood a good chance to get out of that village as it's only survivors.
The darkness grew thicker around them, and from the shadows, amber eyes began to appear and watched as the battle began.
(OOC: Sorry if the post isn't that big to begin with and that the Heartless are weak ones to start out with; eventually both are going to get bigger as the thread goes on until you're faced with a single boss, and because the Heartless don't think much or feel anything there's little to go on my end without completely overwhelming you. But have fun!)
Battle theme: Tension Rising
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Post by mikoto on Apr 18, 2010 21:22:39 GMT -5
It didn't surprise her at all, to be surrounded by quite a few of those pesky creatures. She was curious, though, just where these dark portals came from and whether or not she would be able to go through one safely assuming, that the other side was safe, or at least safer than where she was now. Taking a look behind her, she saw the Black Mage that was about to get attacked and her body moved towards him. She pushed him aside before directing an uppercut towards the yellow monster, she assumed was charged with electricity.
Perhaps it was because the scythe was made of material that she was more used to, but it felt somewhat lighter than she expected. Not quite enough to say she was a natural at this, oh no, she wouldn't dare say anything like that. Spinning around, she swung the scythe again, this time at the ice that was forming, hoping that she'd break through or at the very least stop it from falling (now) her direction. She noted how her body was moving as if on reflex and decided to go with it, against her better judgment. The only explanation she had for it was that the Black Mages may prove themselves useful later. It wasn't as if she developed some sort of askew bond with them as fellow comrades, or the fact that deep down inside, she was thoroughly enjoying this.
When that was over, the Genome turned to the frosty blue looking creature and charged at it. Before it was going to complete another Blizzard, she was going to do her best to stop it. She jumped into the air, hovering not even for a second above the Blue Rhasphody, directing a downward slash towards it. She gritted her teeth, bracing for the impact, before using the creature as a springboard and landing on the ground again. She was lucky not to have cut of her tail off in all the action. Another thing she noted was how sore her wrists were; her handling over the scythe was completely wrong.
Still, it felt somewhat nostalgic to do so, to fight. It was as if it unlocked something within her and a small smirk made itself present. Oh, she wondered if this is what it felt like when her brothers fought. The adrenaline running through them, filling them with excitement or fear that this was the end. The Black Mages around her would have been surprised had they seen her expression, one of the very few she gave, and surely the most surprising they had ever seen her give.
She shifted the scythe in her hands into a more comfortable position, noticing just how much easier it was to handle that way, and adjusted her position. "If you wish to live . . . follow my example." She said to the Black Mages nearby that were still alive. Her eyes hardened as the darkness thickened around them. Things were going to get difficult if they stayed here too long.
So, she did what her rational mind had been telling her all along, she ran.
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Apr 20, 2010 5:12:40 GMT -5
In the uppercut, the Yellow Opera Heartless was destroyed easily, a single heart floating up into the air before disappearing. The small Blue Rhaspody tried to reposition itself as Mikoto came after it, but with the downwards slash it was also easily dispatched, another heart returning to the great beyond. The black mage Mikoto had been defending had looked up after it realized it hadn't been attacked after a while, and looked to Mikoto with the same looking amber on black shadowed face, but unlike the impulsive Heartless nodded at Mikoto's words, and picked itself up. Silent, it jumped in surprise when another Heartless appeared, a Red Nocturne. The Black Mage fired off a Blizzard spell, which immediately destroyed the Heartless before it could charge up it's fireball in time, sending another Heart floating into the sky.
The Black Mage nodded again to Mikoto, then ran off to the edge of the village and out of sight.
Another black mage came from the hut at the edge of the village Mikoto had torn a hole in the wall through; this one ran after Mikoto as she ran, but soon stopped and pointed ahead when two more Heartless appeared to block their path. A Power Wild and a Bouncy Wild Heartless bounded up and down antagonisticly before them before moving into attack, the monkey heartless appearing as if they were fallen Genomes that had their hearts stolen, moving in co-ordination with one another. The more powerful Powerwild dived head-first into the battle by doing a baseball-like slide towards Mikoto, making a kick with it's legs. The more ranged and feminine Bouncy Wild hung back and fired pot shots with it's slingshot at the black mage with Mikoto, who fired a Thunder to block the shots aimed at it, but was sent flailing backwards in reaction to the dazzling sparks that were caused by the impacts. The small monkey Heartless shot one more slingshot towards the black mage, which would cause damage upon hitting it, the small pellet seeming to travel at slow motion in the intensified battle.
The darkened path they were walking on was becoming hopeless with each step they took...
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Post by zid on Apr 22, 2010 1:06:23 GMT -5
[OOC: Yoink.]
No.
Somewhere along the line he must've gotten cocky. He must've thought it was going to be all right for a while, everything was going to heal and move on. There wasn't any reason to fight anymore when they had to pull together and fix the world Garland tried to break. Something as hollow as vengeance served no purpose, what reason would Kuja have to take it out on the mages, the village was hidden anyway just in case, why...
No...!
The blow to Alexandria, Lindblum's near destruction, and the total eradication of Cleyra were all images burned into Zidane's memories, and the sight of just a few defenseless huts ablaze was no less devastating. But there was never enough time to mourn. Anguish was motion in a loping run, sorrow was anger clenched around the hilts of his daggers, and every place on Gaia was forgotten except this one.
"Dammit--!" He wasn't too late. He could not be too late, the mages had magic on their side and Vivi might be here and there wasn't anything he couldn't handle and maybe if he'd just gotten here earlier...
Hope died away at the sight of the collapsed bodies, amber eyes extinguished as suddenly and completely as candles--ruined houses being eaten away with no time to staunch the flames, would he even be able to hear it if someone were trapped?--Zidane couldn't stop to find out, only tearing through the village in a mad search and fighting against the flames' roar with his voice: "Hey--is anyone here? Can anyone hear me?! Vivi! Mikoto?! Someone answer me!" Movement made him whirl--no, that was one of the houses collapsing, fragile as a house of cards and taking with it the room where he and Dagger once talked long into the night. Zidane didn't linger on it, not that he had time to anyway because a miniature black mage all in yellow zipped up to him and for a heartbeat Zidane didn't know what to think.
"Wh--what happened to you?"
Its cap glowed and sparked.
"Hah?"
BZZZZZAT
Zidane felt that one all the way to his tail like the most painful epiphany ever. He stumbled back, dazed and smoking for just a second, before realizing as he should have from the very beginning that this was a Heartless assault. He still didn't completely understand everything about the things aside from the fact that they were bad news, but that didn't make it any easier at first to wipe out enemies that looked like black mages again. Those days were supposed to be over.
He avoided them anyway unless they attacked him, not keen on wasting energy when he didn't know what state the survivors might be in--if there were any--and it paid off when he saw a streak of bluish and tan moving just past a far hut. With an almost exuberant shout, the Genome gave chase and discovered the mage was in fact chasing a familiar pink-clad Genome who'd gotten her sensible hands on a scythe. "Miko--!" He didn't stop to think about what a distraction might do--maybe he just wanted it to be her--but it was her, and that fact alone almost stopped him dead in his tracks.
This was not the same Genome he'd met at the cold blue laboratory in Bran Bal.
This girl wanted to live.
And so did the black mage backpedaling away from the monkey-things. Zidane knew those weren't Genomes, if anything they looked like a cross between one and a mage, so he didn't have any qualms about getting between them and the lone mage in time to block off the shot from the monkey Heartless in bows. If he'd gotten there a second sooner it wouldn't have hurt as much, but he hurried enough that his technique was sloppy and the shot cleared the thin shield of his mage mashers to graze his left shoulder in a bullet of pain. Muffling that with the cage of his teeth, he started to glance back to check on the mage and caught the other monkey diving at Mikoto out of the corner of his eye. "Mikoto, look out!"
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Post by mikoto on Apr 24, 2010 8:01:19 GMT -5
While one of the Black Mages ran for safety, she turned around to see if there was anyone else out there that was trying to follow her. It was a good thing too or she would have missed that one mage entirely. She waited a bit, to see if it was competent enough try to save itself, for she wasn’t going to have Black Mages who didn’t know how to react properly, before running back to meet it. That’s when they met more enemies.
She stared at the monkey mage like creatures with disgust. These were what she had seen come from the ill Genomes that had passed away. It was sickening how even more mindless these creatures were, not to mention how violent. Now, she could understand how Kuja hated the Black Mages, not that she hated them, of course. These things, these two monsters that were facing them, were just that obnoxious. It was if they’re sole purpose was to mock the Genome race with their idiocy and exaggerated features. She wondered if the other Black Mages felt the same why when they saw those other monsters come out from their brethren. She gripped her weapon tightly ready to attack. Normally, she wouldn't hold a weapon towards her fellow Genomes, but these were not them any longer. They've changed into some other strange creature, and she knew it would be either her turning into one of those -she inwardly grimaced at the thought- or to eliminate them. She chose the latter.
Behind her, Mikoto heard one of her "older brothers" call. She didn't face him just yet. It wasn't safe to get distracted with meaningless things like small talk, especially when you were currently fighting for your own survival. A small part of her was . . . relieved? Yes, relieved that there was someone more "competent" than these Black Mages around to assist her escape. Oh, how just that thought alone felt strange to her. Just a little while ago she would have just accepted the fact that it was hopeless and gave up. Now, here she was doing the opposite.
She must really despise these diseased Genome copycats.
"I -" know. She told herself that she wasn't going to get distracted. Oh, but she did! Despite Even with Zidane’s warning, or perhaps it was because of his warning, she was caught off guard. Then, down she went, as one of the strange monsters got to her, causing her to trip and fall onto her knees. But, she wasn't done yet. She quickly got up, using the scythe as a support bar, and then quickly chased after the chimp. He wasn’t going to play her for a fool twice.
Gripping the scythe tightly, she held it over her head when she charged at it and waited for the right moment before slashing at it with all she had. “Disgusting little beasts.” She muttered, as if that had explained the whole reason as to why she had acted just as barbaric as the creature she hated.
She looked around to see where the other Black Mage had went, hoping that she hadn't wasted any effort on saving it. Not that it truly was a waste. She did find a better way of holding the scythe, rather than breaking her wrist every time she held it. But, still, any firepower that was available would be helpful at this point. “Have you seen Number 52 on your way here?”
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Apr 26, 2010 8:31:17 GMT -5
With a cleave of her scythe, the Power Wild was cut clean through, darkness flaring up around it's body as it's heart was returned to the sky. The Bouncywild was still alive, however, and changed it's target from the new monkey that had shown up to defend the black mage to the first monkey carrying her scythe. The little critter that once used to be a Genome threw a banana skin down in front of Mikoto's feet, which would cause her to trip up the moment she stepped on it and make herself vulnerable. At the absence of the last Heartless gone, the black mage got up and fled to the outskirts of the village, and this time a black mage and a Genome came running in, making a break for it while the coast was clear. In the presence of more easy Hearts to reap, a lone Shadow Heartless appeared on the ground before them, taking a quick swipe with it's sharp claws.
The more powerful Genome had not been forgotten however, as a large swirl of darkness from thin air appeared, and out of it came a large combination of two Heartless. The first Heartless, a Shaman, was another monkey-looking heartless that could have possibly been a Genome. The larger Heartless it was riding on top of, a Living Bone, looked like it could have been the Heartless of one of the monstrous Zagnol that Zidane would have fought once before in the Festival of the Grand Hunt in Lindblum. Whatever they once were, they did not give Zidane the chance to even begin thinking about it, spinning around rigourously and creating sharp slashes of wind around itself with it's tail in which it spun towards the second angel of death avenously. In the path it was travelling, it would also hit the third angel of death and the black mage, the mist-powered entity already beginning to cast Blizzard out of fright to ward off the large shadowy creature.
(OOC: Sorry if it's a short post you two, Mikoto was warned earlier that Heartless don't have much to go on, and muse is shot.)
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Post by zid on Apr 29, 2010 9:27:20 GMT -5
[OOC: WHAT BUT THE HEARTLESS ARE SO INSIGHTFUL! No sweat, you.  (I'm the one flagging here, combat gets me laconic.)] Dammit--Mikoto went down anyway and Zidane moved for her, but didn't get there before she charged swinging at the grayish monkey. Her technique was awkward, but that was to be expected and they didn't have time for a lesson when Zidane didn't even know how to handle a scythe to begin with. She must've gotten it from a granary of some sort. These guys sure came up with all kinds of things. "Nice!" he called when the Heartless went kaput under Mikoto's powerful strike, and darted at the bouncier one to get in several vicious swipes and duck out of the way of a possible counterattack. “Have you seen Number 52 on your way here?”"Number 52?" A dim memory of a mage by the chocobo shack--no, that was 54, or maybe 55--more clearly he remembered the mage who stood at the cemetery and wondered about a "Mr. 36" but that had been 56, maybe 52 had been at the weapons shop--no, that was 152, maybe--GAH, it was tough to remember them all. They better be alright, he thought out of habit, knowing they weren't. "You're the first ones I've seen--" And then the mage behind him went tearing off, which was about to be a problem. "Hey, we gotta stick together!" Zidane called after him, not at all trusting the idea of Heartless not lurking at the outskirts, but it was a little late for that. Whatever happened, he'd stay with Mikoto. So he turned his attention back to the Heartless that had gone and changed targets only to be interrupted by the arrival of the skeleton-riding stick-waving crazy-eyed monkey number three. Zidane got between it and Mikoto, focusing on the biggest threat, but it cut his first attack short with that wall of wind that sliced into Zidane's left arm--not deep enough to slow him down, but enough to warn him off. That's when he spotted the newest arrivals and cursed--he couldn't juggle both, plus Mikoto had that other enemy to deal with, but he wasn't about to let this one have free range. He braced one leg back to hold his ground, intending to keep the bony Heartless right where it was, and his mage mashers came up to block off the rest of the windy swipes. If he was lucky, he might catch its tail and stun it. |
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Post by mikoto on May 2, 2010 19:55:34 GMT -5
When her scythe sliced through the creature that had tripped her, but tripped once again because of the banana peel. She hadn't seen it, but it made her notice that a heart floated away from where the strange false Genome had been. It wasn't the first one, she remembered. The others had a heart float out of them too. And, it was not the heart that she expected, but the kind that usually represented a person's 'love' or something of the sort, she'd remembered from the past that either Garnet or Zidane had explained to her. Does that mean these hearts are their . . . love? She thought, before turning her attention to that other monkey like thing and braced herself for an attack, holding out her scythe in front of her somewhat menacingly. She knew that she wouldn't have enough time to counter attack right away, so maybe a bluff would work. If the monster came close enough to her, she might be able to. It wasn't like she was going to just throw the scythe at the monkey. She might as well throw it away if that was the case. Luckily for her, Zidane came to her rescue, and she got up while he attacked the horrid Genome copy cat.
We're the first ones you've seen . . . ? Her eyes darkened at that. She knew that it was highly unlikely that he would find anyone else here that hadn't been attacked by these . . . creatures and still alive. If there was he would have brought them there, she knew. "I see." was all she could say to that.
Noticing the arrival of more monster, she got up as quickly as she could. "Another one?" No. This one was different than the others. It looked nothing like a monkey, but a shadow - like creature. She stood in its way when it tried to attack the Black Mage and the other Genome, holding her scythe in a way trying to fend off the claws with a few swings of her scythe, before going on the offense.
A cold shiver went down her spine as she felt something strange. It was as if she sensed something else coming. Her attention, then, went to the new set of creatures that came. She hadn't seen them before and couldn't help but think if they had caused this by killing the other creatures. But how else would we get rid of them? She thought, although she should have been focusing on the fight before her.
(( ooc: Vince, you're fine ~ Really! Oh, man, I can't believe how late this post is. Sorry! ><;;; )) |
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Post by Vincent Valentine on May 4, 2010 7:26:52 GMT -5
(OOC: Thanks, guys, I haven't had the best week. And it's no big deal Mikoto, the site's been down in activity anyway, but it'll pick up again.)
The flurry of dagger blows that came from Zidane quickly dispatched the Bouncy Wild Heartless, another transparent heart floating off into the sky, another Heartless down for the count. This only left the Shaman Heartless, the Living Bone Heartless, and the lone Shadow Heartless, but the former two weren't done with their attack as they stopped spinning suddenly. Throwing the Shaman completely off the back of the Living Bone, Zidane's attack catching the Heartless's tail between his weapons had caught a lucky break, but the giant animal Heartless quickly spun around violently while at the same time trying to snap at Zidane with his teeth. The Shaman Heartless however, being thrown clear from that fight, quickly righted itself and looking around for the next heart to harvest. Spotting a fellow monkey-shaped humanoid, the Genome, it used the short magical staff in it's tail to shoot off a Blaze spell, cursed fire that shot at the Genome's feet.
And there was more to come.
In the wake of the Bouncy Wild being destroyed, the strong swipes from Mikoto's scythe destroyed the small feeble Heartless, but where one Shadow appeared there was more to come. Another Shadow Heartless appeared, followed by a Solider Heartless, facing off against Mikoto and the people she was trying to protect. The Solider came at her in a spinning attack, twirling on the toes of one leg as it kicked out with the other. At the same time, the other Shadow Heartless went for the Black Mage, who quickly shot out a Fira spell to destroy it, but it was soon replaced by yet another Shadow Heartless rising in the splatter of the darkness of the first.
From far off in the distance underneath the shadow of a building, Mikoto's hunch had been right that something was coming, as a commanding pair of eyes watched the fight from the darkness. |
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Post by zid on May 21, 2010 9:50:42 GMT -5
[OOC: I FAIL SO HARD AND THERE IS NO EXCUSE. I'm so sorry for taking so freaking long on this, I am officially in a funk.]
Vicious snapping teeth and quick moves weren’t news, and since the thing acted a bit like a Zagnol anyway Zidane treated it like one, darting away from swift movement and keeping his eyes on the sharp parts. Of course, when Mikoto got involved it meant he wanted to draw attention anyway, and he got it. Dodging the spin and bite in tandem meant a less than graceful pinwheel of his arms, but grace was for prudes. Mangled prudes.
At any rate, the ancient-looking monkey thingy made things far more dangerous by leaping off its bony partner. It was bad enough that the two of them were even on the battlefield, but Zidane didn’t need attacks coming from another direction—or to learn that the Genome-wannabe was also a black mage in a bluer sense when it struck out with cerulean flames. There was no way he could’ve gotten in between them in time; he could only shout a warning, and by that time it was probably too late to run. Dammit! They were outnumbered, but not outmatched. So Zidane focused on the monkey rider, knowing that high magic power tended to mean lower defenses. Its bony companion was going to be a problem either way, but if he could cut down on the magic on the battlefield quickly it’d take out one facet of the problem, even if it was quickly getting crowded. Trusting Mikoto to handle the Soldier, he made for the shaman.
He ran at it with a shout to get its attention and halted, daggers angled behind him and tail lashing, as he prepared to attack—but just before he did his eyes widened at something just beyond the shaman’s shoulder. “What the heck is that?!” he called, indicating it with his left dagger. This trick didn’t always work on things that weren’t people, but he was counting on the shaman to be monkey enough to pick up on it and swivel and miss it when Zidane dove in with a fierce upward swing meant to knock it off its feet so he could keep whaling on it in the air for a minute.
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Post by mikoto on Jun 2, 2010 3:01:27 GMT -5
Mikoto watched as the strange, mage-genome degenerate flew off the other monster landing somewhere closer to where she and the other Genome and Black Mage were. She would have gone after shaman as well, but she knew she would have to protect the other Genome and the Black Mage. ”Move!” She ordered as she swung the scythe in the direction of the flame in an effort to buffer it.
With that strange, shadow – like monster gone, she noticed how more took its place. This was looking more and more hopeless by the second. Even with the cover of the trees this village was doomed. It seemed to trap them now, the forest itself becoming their enemy. Seeing Zidane go after the mage-genome thing, she went after the armored, shadow creature first, finding it more menacing to deal with than the other shadow – like creature. As it came after her with that spinning attack, she decided to launch one of her own. She swung her scythe once more. This time, instead of using her hands, she used her tail to hold the scythe and spun around, aiming for its unarmored feet. She knew that her grip on the scythe wouldn’t last long, so as soon as she finished with the spin, she quickly transferred the scythe back to her hands and aimed one more slash at the monster’s torso using the force of the spin to help her attack.
In the corner of her eye, she noted how the Black Mage was going to go after the shadow – like one, which she could only thing that she was . . . glad? that he was making use of himself . . . rather than the other one she was saving. The other Genome looked unsure of what to do. She was tempted to yell and order the blank Genome to do something beneficial rather than just standing there watching them do all the work. If she had another weapon, she would have handed it to them. Even if it was something as simple as tossing a rock at them, Mikoto wouldn’t have minded saving – something she still finds strange to think – them as much as she did now.
[ . . . And I need to stop making commitments that I’m not entirely sure I can keep. @.@;;;; ]
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Post by Vincent Valentine on Jun 4, 2010 8:57:17 GMT -5
(OOC: And I need to find better ways of getting muse for this when I come home than chatting and playing video games. I'm just as guilty as the both of you, so since this is getting dragged out, let's end it soon so it doesn't got completely inactive. Here comes the boss fight.)
With a shard of Blizzara, the mage was getting more confident now as it swiveled around with it's magic and shot the Living Bone, the Monster having missed Zidane and charged with it's maw the moment the Mist-powered being shot a fatal strike down the gullet of it's skull. The giant Heartless was frozen inside out and destroyed completely as it shattered, but at the cost of the teeth piercing the mage's arms and torso, leaving him down for the count as he nursed his wounds in pain. The other Genome, paralyzed with fear at the moment, wasn't sure of what to do until the Black Mage got hurt, and suddenly she sparked up the courage to join the fray. Despite having no weapon, she leaped forward towards the Shadow Heartless, and stomped on it with her feet as it rose up from the ground, squishing and reducing it to liquid in the process.
Heartless were based on instinct, the lesser ones anyway, and nowhere near possessed the same intelligence as the hearts they held captive of the shadow of their former spells. The Shaman Heartless spun around to look at what Zidane pointed at with his left dagger as he used his What's That!? technique, and quickly fell victim to the thief's sharp and powerful blades, releasing a heart as they made contact. Mikoto's new technique with using her prehensile tail with the scythe worked wonders as it cut down the spinning Solider Heartless quickly as it collapsed on the ground, the final blow completely obliterating the Heartless before it could regain balance on it's feet, another heart shooting up into the sky like fireworks. The Genome from before put the arm of the Black Mage over her shoulder and lifted it up to help it walk on it's feet, panic still apparent in her eyes and pain in his, as they both fled quickly from the gathering shadow that was emerging out of the nearby house.
It had been watching them for some time, and now most of the forces of the town's Heartless had been wiped out, it was time to put an end to this menace. A pair of yellow beady eyes emerged from the blackness the unnatural shadow of the house provided, more color and shape forming it's being, it's wide rounded body covered with fiery orange and golden clothing wrapped around it. But as it emerged more into the vision of the horrid light it abhorred, despite it's existence, more of it's bloated belly could be seen-through as transparent, revealing a charred black and vein-vermilion skin underneath. It twirled a staff in it's right had of a morning star on the top of the scepter's headpiece, also coated in a cracked design of molten hot magma. The heat of it's body pulsed through it's skin, the house being set ablaze to reveal the arsonist of the town, as Volcanic Lord floated it's tiny pointed feet over the ground towards the two Genomes.
But wait, it was not alone. For wherever it appeared, it always appeared with it's counterpart and polar opposite, which complimented and hindered it at the same time. Heartless were not the most ingenious of creatures, but they were immensely powerful, and it's twin was no different. A chill was felt in between the heat waves as another shadow appeared on the ground, but this time it suddenly came from the air it had been floating high above the town of, overseeing things and keeping away from it's 'brother' of sorts. It too had a rotund body, see-through where it's thinner frostbitten-black body was frozen over with tendrils of ice blue. Draped in black and ice-blue mage clothing as well, the Heartless also sported a rod, encrusted with a icicle gem surrounded by a snowflake-like crest. Blizzard Lord made it's presence known as ice froze over the ground it floated upon, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Heartless that balanced it's element, both Heartless aiming their staffs at the Genomes as they cast Combo Fireball and Combo Ice respectively to initciate the battle.[LT:Takeharu Ishimoto - Battle 2 - FFIX]
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Post by zid on Jun 12, 2010 19:38:17 GMT -5
[OOC: |D; Agreed.]
The stick-waving fire-casting monkey-Heartless was good and gone—as expected it dissolved when he turned things physical there—but dammit he knew he shouldn’t’ve left the toothy one to its own devices. At least the Blizzard spell (must’ve been the mage’s, he didn’t see it) took it out in a show of magic that made Vivi flicker across his mind, but the poor guy paid for it. With the battlefield clearing out, at least they had a minute. “How bad is—?” he started to call with half a mind to run over to help, but there wasn’t a whole lot he could do without Dagger or Eiko around and the Genome was making off with the wounded one anyway. At first that twisted Zidane’s face into puzzlement, but then he spotted the source of their panic and ran at it, calling “Go—go—go!” to them over his shoulder.
Only to skid to a stop at the sight of the Volcanic Lord. For one deeply rueful second the combination of colors and the amount of space it took the thing translated to Brahne?! in his head, but he couldn’t concentrate on that because there were two of them—and even if there could ever be a Heartless of her he was pretty sure it wouldn’t pull a Zorn and Thorn deal like this one. Instead he had to deal with the fact that he’d just lost himself the advantage and get the hell in front of Mikoto when the fire and ice started, Mage Mashers up to ward off both—except he didn’t catch on to the fact that the ice was tricky, too focused on the fire, until hunks of it were slamming into him. It was chilly and harsh, sure, but he was just lucky those things didn’t turn shards on him or he really would’ve been in trouble. As it was he took them mostly from behind and stumbled forward with a pained grunt to catch himself one—two—three times on the same foot (his tail felt stiff, he was about to have a problem if he couldn’t balance with it) and hesitated. There it was, it was right there he could feel it—gnawing at him ever since he first set foot here, but then he’d been distracted because he was afraid for Mikoto and the others. Now he could focus on the injustice of it all, how every time the mages tried to find somewhere to fit in there was something to get in their way and all the while stopping one by one…
It wasn’t only anger that gripped him when the light turned his hair darker and his body aglow—well alright it was mostly anger, but the Heartless weren’t to blame for this, they couldn’t even care. Garland was, at the root, but in a sense even he was trying to save someone. No, this happened for a variety of reasons and so much had turned out so wrong, so when Zidane turned that fury on the Lords it was only to try to make it right for a change. “Let’s take ‘em out!” he shouted to Mikoto, aiming for the Volcanic one and intending to slice at that fiery body till it burst. He figured the worst attacks came from that one, so hopefully they’d be directed at him instead.
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[M:200]
(I'm the one flagging here, combat gets me laconic.)]