Raid #33

[Mariano]

And indeed, his opponent's attempts were pointless.

After Zero Graviga had dissipated from the room, hearing the wall crack at the sound of the shift in gravity but still leaving it intact, dust spilled from the coned ceiling as Mariano had watched Ansem without being able to call his guardian in the nick of time get heaved backwards into the wall. As the once leader of the Heartless evaporated into the shadows to flee and antagonize another day, neutral's first knight caught the princess as she fell out of the shade's arms, the knight looking to where Ansem once was. Some people could take the heat of battle; others were relatively stressed by it, and Ansem had counted too much on his guardian which had been his own downfall. "Didn't I tell you... you would be the one to fade to darkness?" He shook his head in disappointment at the fake Ansem, and turned to face the one who had still left to completely fall to the darkness, leaving him and the former fake SOLDIER.

He expected to find him on the floor; however, he remained there in that moment as if he was in shock, as if he had never been hit by the attack he had purposely delayed until Cloud had come up the stairs. There was no way he could have recovered so quickly; had he somehow ducked back behind the stairs of an attack he would not see coming, or did it have something to do with that fiery aura of his? No matter that he did not like how his opponent had managed to cheat his way out of the situation, as the enraged mercenary came for him, Mariano only had time to roll Aurora over to the window before Cloud's first blade strike struck. He had managed to catch a glimpse of something red on or in Cloud's arm, which had also distracted him from being able to dodge in time in this small environment, wondering if it was Cloud's way of powering up or if it was some sort of other spell he had working with unknown special properties. The blades cut into him four more times, the last blow crashing him down onto the floor, roughly landing on his back painfully before flipping heels over head backwards, his ninja reflexes reaching and hand out as he caught himself on his feet and heard the nearby roaring of... a dragon?

It was too close and large to ignore as the keyblader heard it's roar, as well as it's large maw blocking out what little was left of the light outside from the overcast weather, Mariano's eyes growing a bit wider as the mythical summoned creature began charging an energy blast. Cloud was not only stupid, but had gone practically insane; Mariano didn't care if Cloud managed to get a combo in, but now he was putting not only his own life but the princess as well. The lizard creature was going to blast the entire tower to kingdom come at the rate it was charging the blue fireball, but he did not have enough time to react or reply to Cloud's taunt as he continued the Omnislash combo seconds after the first one, fourteen sword strikes raking across his body. As the fifteen hit came and exploded him into the wall, he didn't even wait this time to let what Cloud had made with his final tormenting remark sink in, as he pushed himself off from the wall and made a dive for the princess, rolling with her out the window as he activated Energy Block one last time. Even if he had been too late to evade the dragon's breath, he attempted to roll out the window in order to and to shield the princess, and the azure flames washed over his magic shell before he and the princess fell from the tower.

The tower behind them exploded as the keybarer landed on the balcony of Aurora's room below, and pushing off, he let gravity guide him down below as he landed on his feet back onto the bridge covered in thorns just as Cloud burst out of the rubble into the air. Slinging Aurora over his shoulder, he stood to full height, looking up to Cloud now that his dragon had been dismissed and disappeared into some green energy. Before Cloud could say anything further to retaliate, he leaped up in the air with Aurora still on his shoulder, and started his own combo back at Cloud by attempting to connect with Combination Rush."Those words only tell me that you are no more than Sephiroth's puppet." he sneered breathlessly, his body also covered in battle damage of cuts and sliced wounds, now stinging even more as soft rain began to pour down from the overbearing clouds that had rolled in he had spotted before. The enigmatic man could still fight one-handed with his keyblade, his other hand clutching Aurora straddled over his shoulder, but now he would have to compensate with her weight as he attacked the thick-headed, thick-bladed warrior from below.

His and the Masked Man's plan needed the Princesses intact, not risking putting her down so Cloud could pick her empty shell of a body up so he had a princess to protect.

Battle Theme: Power to Strive.

---

Energy Block: Finished, used immediately after cooldown finished, two rounds to go.

Combination Rush: Finished, used immediately after cooldown finished, three rounds to go.

Chain Blade: One round to go.

Slash Disks: Finished cooldown.

Zero Gravija: Three turns to go.

[mrstrife]

[atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; btable][atrb=style, width: 500; background-image: url(http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a221/GullwingVegeta/lifestream.jpg); border: 1px dotted #ffffff, btable] [atrb=vAlign,top] He survived after all..! [It doesn't matter, this changed nothing. You will fail, Mariano, and I will stop you from succeeding. When I said I'd stop you no matter the cost... I meant it.] Tagged: [Mariano;] OOC: [Battle Theme: Power To Strive]

Backfiring Gambit ...What am I fighting for now..? The Imaginary SOLDIER limped out of the rubble atop the tower, stepping over several smoking stones as he made his way towards the edge of the tower’s new top to look over and see if he could find any sign of his opponent. Cloud assumed that if he was still conscious he couldn’t be underneath the rubble, he’d have already risen like he had. The only other way that his opponent could be awake, possibly even alive is if he’d somehow escaped from the attack. Still, was that even possible? Cloud looked back over his shoulder at the ruined staircase, maybe his opponent was finally defeated. Cloud’s eyes widened at the sudden realization that Aurora had been in the room when the Darkness had consumed him, and his jaw dropped while his heart felt like it froze in his heart. There was no way she could’ve survived, unless... He tried to think, remember what happened just a moment ago. What had he done,in his blind rage he’d totally forgotten about her. It was then that a memory returned to him, and he realized that Mariano had swept her over his shoulder, and then he- Just as Cloud realized Mariano might’ve actually escaped out the window and turned to leap after his opponent he was struck with Combination Rush, bringing Cloud back down to a knee at the tower’s edge as the keyhole’s symbol flashed behind him. Coughing, Cloud dragged the blade’s point across the rubble as he brought it before him, swinging it upwards just to stab it into the ground and used it to push himself to his feet. Flinching a little, his immediate thought was to retort about how he wasn’t a puppet of Sephiroth, but that would be a waste of his breath. Instead, he looked over his shoulder once more as he set his eyes upon Mariano once more he said “Says the pot to the kettle,” referring to the irony of the Masked Man’s puppet calling someone else such a thing. A green materia glowed in his armlet, its light expanding to encompass the blond’s hand before he opened it and cast Cura on himself. As the glow faded from his body, Cloud took notice of Aurora on Mariano’s shoulder while he yanked Ultima Weapon out of the ground and then held it firmly before him. The warm rain began washing the blood that marked where his wounds had been, and he took a deep breath as he relaxed. He wanted a reason to fight, and he had found it again. Yes, the princess had been his goal, he had wanted to protect her and keep her away from the fate that the Masked Man wanted for her. He also failed at that, but there was more to this battle than just playing bodyguard. If Mariano was carrying Aurora’s body, then it meant that they needed her intact. Of course it could just be a bluff, but that alone gave Cloud a new objective. He was still protecting the worlds as a whole, if he was allowed to corrupt this world it gave them yet another planet to use against the innocents they threatened with their disease. More importantly, it was better that Aurora be dead than her heart be able to be used for whatever plan they had for her. “It’s over, this ends now!” Cloud shouted and leaped towards Mariano, a blue aura radiating around his blade as he drove it towards the ninja: more specifically at Aurora. Whether the blade met flesh or stone from Mariano dodging, Cloud flipped forward and adjusted his swing to cut at Mariano again to try and send him reeling from the broken tower with Braver. He was showing to Mariano that he wasn’t going to let up, and the Buster Basher felt that he had a definite advantage. His opponent had taken both his Omnislashes, at nearly full power so he assumed that if he continued to push himself just a little longer that he could outlast the Neutral Knight and break his opponent. Whether this feeling was false or not didn’t matter though, so long as he drew breath he was going to fight with everything he had in order to keep Mariano and the Masked Man from succeeding. Forgive me, Aurora, but it’s the best. A single life weighs nothing when compared to the safety of all the worlds. -------------------- Abilities Used: EX Mode: Three Post Cool Down Climhazzard: One Post Cool Down Bahamut Zero: Three Post Cool Down Omnislash Version Five: Four Post Cool Down Braver: Two Post Cool Down

made by Rosalyn of BTN

[Mariano]

The nerve.

Mariano let his Combination Rush hit hard, his keyhole glyph appearing behind Cloud even though he clearly used to have it appear either above or beneath his opponent, dropping back down to the bridge and protectively clutching the Princess over his shoulder. Cloud used the old phrase which meant he was being contradicting, and all he could do was laugh. As he watched Cloud pointlessly heal himself with a curative spell and the wash of green went over his body, he let out a incredulous deep laugh, one that would make Vanitas even squirm in envy. "You didn't even hear me before, did you Cloud? By the way, I don't want 'despair'. I want the Princess." he reminded him in the time he had available, waiting for Cloud to come to him. Now on the bridge, he had formulated a plan... now he had time to analyze Cloud's obvious weakness.

And no, it wasn't the inability to let anything sink into that thick blond head of his.

As Cloud came for him with the tell-tale warning sign of the straight-forward Braver, Mariano turned his shoulder in what looked like a measure to protect Aurora, before he hopped backwards out of reach of the blue aura around the buster-blade weapon. He hopped over a thick bramble that was covering the bridge, Cloud obviously forgetting the obstacles on the bridge itself, the apprentice of the Masked Man watching his footing in the slick and cold downpour of rain coating the now damp bridge. Within a matter of moments, he had hopped over four rows of brambles obstructing the path of the thin pathway over the chasm acting as a moat around the castle, several spiny walls acting as a temporary barricade between him and the disgraced AVALANCHE member. As he landed behind the fourth thorny vine, Slash Disks erupted forth from his keyblade after he had thrown it, several copies of the keyblade slicing through the brambles and sweeping them up in the assault wave before they barraged and slammed into Cloud.

But the neutral ninja was far from done. As copies of keyblades and husks of spiny vegetation flew at the failure of both SOLIDER and the Reunion Theory, whether the warrior allowed the jagged storm to hit him or he cut through it all with that massive blade of his, Mariano appeared the moment after the tempest of projectiles washed over his opponent and the final keyblade had attempted to strike by grabbing it in mid-air, running it through with a cutting keyblade slash across the demonic-winged angel with impossible ninja speed. He had cleverly run in behind the barrage of pointed ammunition, and hidden behind a large chunk of brambles he had ridden on, not without the cost of cutting himself down the arm with a nasty gash but it had served it's purpose as adequate cover. He landed in a kneeling position behind Cloud with his arm holding his Nebula Path keyblade stretched out behind him, rising back to his feet as he turned to the warrior who he had gambled slashing through in one traditional samurai-like drawing of his blade from his side. He held out an arm as the princess fell from the heavens as he caught her, having thrown her into the air to juggle her, so he would be light enough to hitch his ride and not risk impaling the princess in the process.

In slow motion and with the way the world physics were, it might have even looked pretty... epic.

"It's very stupid of you to call me contradicting, Cloud. The one you call 'Masked Man' told me everything." he insulted and dangled another piece of information over his head, whether he believed it or not was truth. He positioned himself again, doing the same pose to turn the princess away from the disgraceful legacy as his other shoulder of the arm holding his keyblade pointed towards his foe as if in accusing accusation. "Masked Man is taking this world for his own selfish needs, and I'm assisting him in doing so, of my own free will... that's more than I can say of the Darkness that's gripping you now you're struggling to control in your own heart. And by the way? It will be over when we say it's over. This battle, the conflict gripping these worlds... everything." He knew the Masked Man was corrupting these worlds. He knew what his ultimate goal would be, that everyone in the Sea of Stars would want to stop.

But, he did not have to explain or justify his reasons to this blockhead he was soon about to drain of his life energy, all that mattered was protecting the princess... not only for their plans, but also so she could live her happily ever after in the new world he and his master would create for everyone.

One life was not worth killing to spare the fate of others... he would defy that fate having found another way.

And so, without warning as he sidestepped onto the railing - Mariano mockingly saluted as he jumped off the bridge into the seemingly dark and bottomless canyon below.

Battle Theme: Power to Strive.

---

Energy Block: One round to go.

Combination Rush: Two rounds to go.

Chain Blade: Finished cooldown.

Slash Disks: One post to go.

Zero Gravija: Two turns to go.

[Deleted]

The Staff is Reviewing this Raid!

The battle is over!

[Deleted]

After some voting, we have decided that Neutral has won this battle.


The Neutral has won Enchanted Dominion!


Since Mariano has won, he is awarded 150 munny that will be automatically added to his account for use in the Ability/Equipment Upgrade Shop. Congrats!