Raid #95

[Deleted]

Twlight Town has been attacked by Darkness.

Dark Being | Attacking:

Hadria [Leader]

-----

The Light has ten days to get a team together to counter this attack or the Dark will have a claim on the world! Dark, feel free to post here. Another post will be added when the Light gets a Raid Group, or if the Dark has won the world! Keep an eye out!

[Deleted]

A Light Group of Five has Countered the Attack!

Light Group | Defending:

Xigbar [Leader]
Demyx
Marluxia
Zexion
Black Waltz No. 1

----

Posting Order: Hadria, Xigbar, Black Waltz No. 1, Marluxia, Zexion then Demyx

----
If no winner has been decided by March 27, then a staff member will review and decide the winner!

Remember the Rules!! - [RULES HERE]

Let the Battle Begin!!

[Hadria]

OOC: Really you guys, I'm flattered that you would attack me 5v1, you must really think highly of my fighting prowess ! On the other hand Hadria is fairly scary so perhaps you fear me instead of respect? Either way let's make this fun and while I won't say I'll win this, I'm not going into it thinking that I'll lose... so please don't be gentle ^_^!

IC: This is where it all began... where the abomination known as Hadria had her first taste of human flesh. She wasn't a cannibal, no rather this is where she had first been able to hear that tender outer layer pink skins possessed, tear and rip open when her blade cut through it. So rather than taste perhaps it was sound but it didn't make a difference. It was here that she had been enchanted by those screams of agony, something the Heartless she had killed indiscriminately never gave her the pleasure of hearing. After all, when they were cut down they merely disappeared, swept up by the winds and never to be seen again. Humans on the other hand didn't just vanish, no they struggled to survive more often than not, cursing their executioner as she played with them,

And oh how she toyed with them, twisting her blade in their wounds, slowly stretching the lacerations with her bare hands as she poked and prodded with her fingers, trying to find the place where any individual hurt the most. After all, every victim of hers was given special attention, guaranteed the most excruciatingly painful experience before their untimely demise. By doing so her victims could die knowing that they were more than just a notch on Hadria's wall of victims, no they were special and had a lovely "date" with Hadria, painting the town red with the crimson liquid that always stained the surroundings after a "pleasant" encounter... it was so... decadent,

"I wonder when they'll be coming? Surely someone's heard this pathetic creature by now right?" she asked herself as her heel dug into another of her victim's back, the woman shrieking in pain as she clawed at the ground as if trying to pull herself away. At the sight Hadria had lifted her foot of the poor woman's back, a flicker of hope gracing her features as she tried to crawl forward and pick herself up. And as she had nearly risen to her feet, Hadria had found that wound on the woman's back and sank her foot into it again, another scream brought about by torment gracing the air with it's heavenly sound. She blushed lightly at the sound, shivering lightly as she panted lightly, the feeling of crushing that hope too much for her to control.

"Please... let me hear it again... just one more time!" she pleaded as she dug her heel deeper into her victim's back, another shriek let out as she convulsed further, and her panting began to quicken. Not before long though, the woman had went unconscious due to the dreadful pain that racked her body, Hadria turning her over as she shook her, her cheeks still tinted crimson,

"Oh don't faint on me yet, I was just starting to feel good! Not only that, but how else am I going to get the attention of those more... "durable" than you? You really are a selfish vixen you know that? Making me so hot and bothered and than fainting right before we're finished!" she exclaimed as she stopped shaking the woman for a moment noting her lack of breath... she was gone, "And now you go and die on me?! What a classless hussy you are!... but no matter, in fact I'm over it now," she paused as she stood back up, a twisted smile curving against her lips as she brushed her hair back letting out sickening laugh followed by a sigh of relief,

"I have a feeling that on the other end of this alley... someone even more satisfying then you will come," she finished, holding her arms to her shoulders, shivering violently and biting down on her lower lip to stave her heavy panting,

"And I do hope they come soon,"[LT:Akira Yamaoka - Sillent Hill 3 OST: Memory Of The Waters]

[xigbar]

Lead? Him? Xigbar was never really the administrative type, despite his relative status in Xemnas’s eyes. It was so much…..work. All of a sudden he had to organize things, and make judgment calls, and do all of those other leadery thing people expected of a leader. It was pretty annoying stuff. The fact that he had been picked over Zexion was even more mind-boggling; less so with Marluxia, all things considered. Thankfully this wasn’t a particularly complex mission. There was some Heartless causing trouble a little too close to home that desperately needed an ass kicking. It was just like the good ol’ days, before Roxas ran off and they all died horribly. It would have been a whole lot better of a Keybearer was present to free up the little brat’s heart, but you can’t have it all.

The sniper flipped back his hood as soon as he stepped out into the perpetually dim light. He cast his monocular gaze about, but it seemed that the streets were conveniently empty for this bout of violence. It was cool how that always worked out. With a snort he considered just where he would find the local abomination of the week when, conveniences ever-mounting, the telltale screams of a damsel in dire distress reached him. Despite the suddenness of the piercing cry his motions were somewhat dull – annoyed, even – when he half-turned to the alleyway from which the offending sound originated. Back-alley murder, huh? Better than some giant jerk barging in on your coliseum fight. It didn’t seem quite as narrow as was typical, but as long as he could keep some distance this enclosed space would be a shooting gallery. Couldn’t have picked a better spot if he’d shopped for it.

Figuring he had to confront whatever was in there sooner or later, Xigbar crept over to the far wall and edged in toward the entryway. With his back still hugging the building he slid over at a moderate pace before, finally, he was close enough to glance around the corner. He leaned his head out to find…..a human. Well, he knew better than that. Clearly he had found his Heartless, unless there was a coincidental serial murderer running around in the same general area. Also there was simply no way anyone could look that evil and be like a baker or some crap. He’d just shown up and already it was time to get to business.

Since the frighteningly masculine woman was already looking his way the Freeshooter simplified things by just stepping out into the open. His signature shark’s smile was already fixed in place as he eyed the full scene, arms spread in welcome. “Hey there! Looks like somebody’s been busyyyy~!” He pointed a gloved digit to the twisted body laying at the redhead’s feet. “Now, see that? Right there? That’s kinda new. Shouldn’t you be like, I dunno, chowing on her little heart or something?” He was legitimately surprised. Most Heartless hungered for hearts and converted others into their kind like some kind of zombie deal, so it was strange to see one going all Belle Gunness in the streets like this. Not that he particularly cared. At least her effective range seemed low, if the proximity of the corpse was any indication. He shrugged. “I’m not here to tell you how to eat your grub though. Leave that to the parental unit.”

Both arms rose overhead, producing a faint glow from either hand, as Xigbar’s gaze dropped to his feet. One after the other they shot down, the dual-set of Sharpshooter materializing with flashes of light. Now suitably armed he brought his grinning visage climbing back up to face this would-be foe. “All the same, let’s see what I pump into ya first. Manners....” The Nobody brought the Arrowguns to ready, leveled side-by-side down the enclosure. “....or bullets?”

[one]

Twilight Town really was a depressing place. Maybe it was the lack of daylight sunshine, or maybe it was because he'd been trekking around it for hours. Regardless, it sucked.

Black Waltz no. 1 was, once again, missing a brother. It had been happening more and more since they woke up in this dull city. A change had overcome the third Waltz: he was losing coherence; twitching; hunching over. And he'd been skulking off a lot more. Not that it was One's job to chase after him as if he was a dog. Not like one of the loyal ones or anything; like a really small, annoying Jack Russel or something. No, One was looking for someone else.

Ever since the pair of them reached this strange multiverse, there had been three consistent themes; all of which seemed connected. First were the creatures of shadow - not unlike himself - that cropped up nearly everywhere. They looked like black mages. But they were brainless. Soulless. And possibly more dangerous. The second theme was the way people reacted to the Waltzes. One always liked to think he inspired fear, but not like this. People ran from them. Calling them heartless. It was hurtful.

Finally, the reason he was here. Since his arrival, he had noticed a great deal of people wearing long, black cloaks. They tended to show up where the shadows did and One was convinced they were connected. Maybe they could tell him what the creatures were and why he was getting all their bad press. Maybe they could explain why his brother was losing his mind.

So here he was. Trudging around a dry, underpopulated city that smelled of train-soot in the hope of running into certain people that he didn't even know. As of yet, no luck. Yet there was a sinister atmosphere; as though something had happened. Or was secretly planning to. Like the world was hiding around the corner, stifling a laugh at some sick joke. Probably at his expense.

Resisting the urge to scream obscenities at personified heavenly bodies, he crossed yet another street, trying to pretend that his feet didn't hurt. Which was hard. Because they did. It was however made easier by a piercing shriek that battered against the nearby buildings, slamming itself into his ears. Unsure of which direction to move in or how fast to do so, he stood still, crouched slightly in a defensive stance.

The screaming continued.

After what seemed like eternity, the screaming stopped to be replaced by muffled voices. He crept closer to the alley that seemed to be the source of debate and the voices gained volume and clarity. Something about ... parenting? And bullets? Whatever they were (a musical production perhaps?) With the true, unparalleled stealth of a winged hunchback in heavy clothing with sore feet, he stumbled out into the alley to see the back of a Black-Coat pointing some device at what appeared to be a psychopath and her pet corpse.

Failing (by a small margin of completely) to suppress a gasp, he stepped back in horror.
"Oh my ..." he choked, stumbling slightly. "What did you do to her?!"

Later he would recall this moment and regret speaking at all.

Rather like what he was doing now.

[marluxiaplz]

A few stray petals tumbled down Marluxia’s shoulders and scattered with his step, falling onto the roof below his feet. He stopped at the ledge of the building and pressed his foot against it, peering down at the woman below.

"What behavior," Marluxia said, his voice soft and still. "This is behavior most unfitting of a proper ingénue and more in character for a crass villain from a penny dreadful."

Once again, he felt himself compelled to investigate along with the rest of the Organization under more official business. The rumors of a particularly strong Heartless running amok in Twilight Town warranted his attention, especially if it was a particularly sentient individual who was a potential ally or associate for his own purposes. However, upon the sound of crescendo of screams that eventually fell into a silence, his desire to add this individual to his ranks soon evaporated. While he wore the assignment and title of "assassin" with pride, the thought of senseless and wanton violence made him turn his nose up in repulsion at the brazen woman who was driving her heel down on her victim below.

A thin smile slipped onto his mouth before his eyes caught sight of a far more interesting figure down below. There was a figure who looked distantly similar to one of the Blue Rhapsodies or Red Nocturne Heartless in dress, however it seemed to possess the flickering eyes of a Heartless to match. But there was something innately off from the winged figure. His reaction, his stance--they were all traits that no creature like a Heartless would perform. Also judging by the pointed capped individual, he was not an ally of the woman below, thus making their task easier. For now, Marluxia decided that figure was best left to his own devices.

He glanced toward Xigbar for a moment, before flicking his hood back and sweeping his arm out. A brief flurry of rosy petals began to fall slowly down, soon bursting with tendrils of darkness to curve into his scythe. He spun it once before resting it on his shoulder, his gloved fingers curling around the green of his weapon.

"And a lesson in manners seems like the place to start," Marluxia said, ultramarine eyes darting to Xigbar for a brief moment before going back to tracking the movement of the woman bellow.

This would surely be interesting.

[zexion]

It was curious that the Superior had asked Xigbar to lead this mission rather than himself. However it was probably just a reward to keep him in line, a gift to sate that desire for power that seemed engrained in all of them. The task seemed simple enough - weed out a heartless who was far from their control and causing havoc and discord.

He disliked these kinds of missions - ones with no intellectual stimulus. He was not one for bloodshed and fighting - though he would jump to it should the whistle be blown. As the corridor of darkness dissipated behind him, he turned his sharp eyes towards Xigbar - waiting for such a whistle.

First, he observed the battlefield and what pieces had already come into play. He folded an arm across his chest, raising the other hand to his chin in thought. The beast down there - the heartless they had come to sunder - was so very boring. She, rather, it, had an incredibly distinctive and sharp scent. It spoke of unspeakable evil, of a monster whose hands could only be used to break apart rather than to piece together.

Its appearance reflected this - red and black. Garish. Cliché. It looked like it had come from a book written for adolescents not yet ready to grasp the concept of depth. It was a mindless killing machine, a pawn to be thrown away when its use would run down to an end. Oh, what hopes did it concoct within that uneducated, petty head? Dreams of power, of seeing the world engorged in flame, of all life but mottled piles of ash upon the ground? It was little better, no doubt no better, than the squirming Shadow whose mind was vexed only with thoughts of consumption and self satisfaction. It was an animal - one of instinct and of tooth and claw. How many times had that been repeated in literature, both infantile and grand? He wanted to yawn. It was decisively uninteresting.

His pupils dilated as he scoured the other creature, though. He too reeked of evil - but it seemed substantially toned down compared to the other. He raised an eyebrow, somewhat perplexed by the creature's appearance. He was grotesque and humped with nothing but rags for clothes - but that was not what fascinated Zexion. It was his eyes. He looked like a heartless, but smelt nothing like one - no, this was a creature of a different origin. Those clumps of feathers on his back - were those wings?

He had a silent wish that it was that new creature they had been sent to destroy so that he could examine it more closely - no doubt Vexen would be delighted to tear apart its mystical origin - but at the same time he was quite pleased in that he would be able to observe the creature while it was still living, providing, of course, their target did not turn its wrath upon him.

Marluxia's voice floated across the field, sweet and perfumed enough to turn roses to dust. He could not help but to feel a smirk cross his face at his comments however - as he had reflected his thoughts exactly.

It seemed that he was taking arms - and as was Xigbar. He sighed, considering his options. He could Mimic it - but he had no interest in disguising as a creature as puerile and vulgar as that. He flipped open his spell book, flicking through the pages until he came to spell he desired.

He glanced at Xigbar, commenting, "Let's finish this quickly, we have no need to waste time educating anything with a mind as dull as that."

[/b]

Lifting his hand, he wasted no time in unleashing his favourite spell - Absent Silhouette.[/b] Everyone within close proximity - including the strange hunched creature - would be induced in the same dream. A vortex would form, thick in blacks and purples that oozed out from all corners of the void as each of them would be consumed by multiple copies of his lexicon and spat out on that plane. He himself had transformed into the woven pages of his lexicon, swirling around alongside the other tomes in the void.

He hoped that with the confusion of the other organization XIII members attacking - plus the appearance of the new creature - that his copy would not be found out amongst the multiple. A few pages snapped open, hurling out streams of black balls containing pure energy towards the heartless.

--

Cooldowns

Absent Silhouette - Ensnares the opponent in his Lexicon - transporting them to another dimension for three turns unless the opponent defeats all the floating lexicons. Zexion himself guises as a Lexicon, and if he is defeated the illusion fades too. Meanwhile, the lexicons bombard the opponent with life-stealing abilities and explosions, causing moderate to high damage. This has a cool down of five turns. [/size][/blockquote]

[pipedownandlisten]

Why did it have to be a combat mission? He hated combat missions. It wasn't even as if he was totally necessary here! With Xiggy and the big-nosed kid and the sleazy guy with the scythe that always kinda gave him the creeps on the job, they didn't really need him to tag along, right? Right?

But they made him anyway.

And that was so totally unfair. He had to wonder what he did to deserve getting saddled with this kind of crap--had Saix finally caught wind of all the missions he pawned off on Roxas and a feeeewwww other unnoteworthy individuals? ...Nah. Couldn't be. He just had to go along with it with a big fake smile and look for ways to better shirk his duties once they actually got there. Surely they wouldn't miss him if he took a little longer to scout the area than usual.

Except that kinda wasn't going to happen when it came to Heartless that required parties of greater than two to take down. Unless directly ordered, sniffing out bad news all by his lonesome was generally an activity to be avoided at all costs, so Demyx had no choice but to stick close to the others--namely, not letting Xigbar out of his sight. Following the leader was kinda hard, though, when the leader was a guy who could just wink in and out of existence at will.

He was a good leader, though--led them right to the Heartless in question. That actually wasn't much of a task since the Heartless and/or its victims were making enough noise to wake the dead two towns away; if there were any qualities this thing held in vast amounts, subtlety wasn't one of them. Demyx had it in spades, though, and when Xigbar crept carefully towards the scene the Nocturne had no problems bringing up the rear like the secret agent man he was.

He kinda wasn't expecting to see what he saw, though.

"Ew."

Big hulking behemoths were one thing, but crossdressing Heartless? He hadn't gotten the memo. And maybe it was that he was so stunned to find the monster was so humanoid that he felt perfectly at ease letting Xigbar handle th--wait, was that a chick? He squinted. Ew. It wasn't really his style to strike a lady, all things considered, but this was no lady--and Xigbar's guns seemed to agree.

So did this random black thing that just kind of stumbled into his peripheral vision a moment later. At its sudden proximity, the Nocturne summoned Arpeggio to his hands with a yelp, effectively revoking any license he had to sneak around ever again, forever.

"...Uh."

The bird-winged thing (Heartless?) seemed just as freaked out as he was. Funny, that. It wasn't like he was in a position to question its apparent sentience since they were just preparing to whoop the stuffing out of a very human-looking Heartless on his other side, but Heartless generally didn't speak, let alone express anything remotely resembling pity, fear, or horror. Apparently freakishly androgynous Heartless just kind of had that effect on everything. Still, the resulting confusion took Demyx off-guard, and he was, to a very minuscule extent, tempted to go up to Xigbar, tug on his sleeve, and point emphatically at the approaching evidently-benevolent abomination with a meaningful ummmmm.

Then suddenly, books.

"OH GOD--"

HE HATES ILLUSIONS HE HATES ILLUSIONS HE HATES ILLUSIONS HE HATES ILLUSIONS--

--And when he arrived on the other side of Zexion's hellish imagination somewhere inbetween "at Marluxia's feet" and "about to vomit from the ride," he was just disoriented enough to realize he didn't really feel like playing anymore. He managed to keep his sickness down, channeling his queasiness into a particularly sour chord whose notes changed as he reached to turn the pegs, and when he rose to his feet a dozen other bodies rose with him.

Two dozen.

Four.

With two melodies weaving together in a quasi-experimental flow, Demyx had no less than one hundred Demyxian clones on the battlefield in record time, and then proceeded to lose himself amongst them. They stretched and quivered with every pluck of the strings, splashing together until they were covalent enough to form something like an attack, surrounding the enemy Heartless and preparing to rip it to shreds.

--

Cooldowns:

Water Clones: Demyx can summon up to a hundred waterforms shaped either like musical notes or in the image of the Nocturne himself. They are easily destroyed, and individually have very weak attacks, but in vast numbers these forms can easily swamp an opponent. Since Demyx tends to use them as a diversion, one would have to get through all of the clones before they can face the man behind them. (Two post cooldown.)[/size]

[Hadria]

OOC: I do enjoy how all of you just knew I was a chick from one look even though you say I look masculine ! That aside just wanted to say I hate you Zexion for screwing up my original plan with your stupid other dimension poop XD! At any rate, I assume the positions of everyone involved will be nearly the same aside from Marluxia who I would believe be at ground level. Basing this off the KH2 FM video I saw but if you have any problems just give me a shout out.

IC: No sooner had Hadria made her declaration, a man had stepped out from behind a wall, the scar on his face the first thing she noticed about the man. How had he gotten that scar? Did someone take a knife and slowly dig the blade across his face or was it quick and less painful? How would he look with a matching one? In fact, how would he look with several matching ones before his body lay limp and lifeless? Many questions were forming in Hadria’s head as she bit down harder on her lip, her breathing becoming harder and harder to control. The man started speaking, Hadria listening intently to his voice but no so much his words. Indeed, his words meant very little to the despicable creature, only wanting to know how he sounded when he screamed in agony with that arrogant sounding voice. Would he plea for forgiveness? Would he beg for mercy? Would he curse her and threaten her? More and more the questions flooded her mind, her cheeks staining crimson again as she lifted her katana and let it rest along her shoulders. Her free left hand then went to her tongue as she licked off the crimson liquid that stained it, swallowing it as a twisted grin curved against her lips.

“I’d much rather chow on you big boy,” she replied in a sultry tone in response to the earlier comment. Honestly what did he think she was? Did he believe her to be some lowly Shadow Heartless with no etiquette? After all, when Hadria killed it was a work of art after all, not letting a single drop of that red liquid going to waste and using it to paint the canvas of wherever the victim had been struck. Her method of killing was always different too, sometimes blood loss, sometimes head trauma, sometimes malnourishment, sometimes strangulation, and many other methods far too numerous to list. It was so disrespectful, surely something a man insisting he’d teach her manners would never be caught saying. She was about to quip back at that but before long another presence had made itself known, an odd creature the likes of which the demon had never seen before. His eyes glowed a dark yellow much like the Shadow Heartless she had just thought about moments ago but was far different. Was he a special Heartless much like Hadria or was he something else? Many worlds did exist, so many that not even the psychotic redhead had managed to massacre all inhabitants visit them despite her nearly limitless form of travel. Whatever it was it interested her and caused her to blush a bit brighter as her left hand slid down to her heart as she looked away shyly.

“Well if you wish to know maybe we can discuss it whilst I do the very same to you? I promise it won’t hurt too bad so long as you enjoy the feeling of your lungs being pierced as your blood slowly fills them up.” she responded to his question as more figures began to appear. Her eyes darted around what would soon be a battlefield no doubt, taking a close look at each of her opponents. While it was mainly to fantasize about how they might look when they’re blood stained the walls and were subjugated to various forms of torture, she also wanted to gauge her opponents. This inhumane creature wasn’t stupid after all; in fact it was her intelligence that had kept her alive for the past three years she had terrorized any world she had come across. There was always someone stronger than you and if she had no reasonable chance at victory she would flee and kill another day. And as she checked them all out, the area around her changed rapidly, books’ beginning to fill the air as the enemies around her stood in roughly the same spots, the last thing on her mind was losing. Her breathing increased in pace as she was unable to hold it back, her panting filling the air with a creepy and perverse sound.

“Cupio tur curor!” (I want your blood) she shouted as she charged forward toward Xigbar suddenly as the water clones were created. By taking the initiative she would blow past most of the clones before they could swarm on her (which was more than likely their purpose) and also dodged the first barrage of black energy balls that had come toward her. Not only that, but since so many clones were randomly popping about, the likelihood of their numbers dwindling due to friendly-fire was quite high. Another advantage Hadria would soon take as she swiftly dashed toward Xigbar and the other strange creature, was the clones’ mere presence. Her rather long katana would rest along her right side as she lowered her upper body, parallel to the floor. By doing so, she would reduce the line of sight the surrounding opponents had on her even if the clones were, for the most part, transparent. Regardless, once within range of her target, with both her hands gripping the hilt tightly, Hadria would slide forward as she slashed at about 75 degree angle, starting from Xigbar’s head and what would hopefully end through his right hip. While her main target was the man with the eye patch, with the extended reach of her katana it was quite possible that she would also hit the other creature had it remained behind Xigbar with a rather limited view of Hadria’s actions. This slash would be followed through regardless of hit though, Hadria spinning with the blade for about 270 degree turn to kill any clones that may have started getting close to her during that time and ending her little combo.

‘More… more…’ she thought as her eyes flared disturbing pleasure that she got from fighting and immediately taking off into a cluster of clones using them as cover once more. Indeed, these clones were proving far more helpful than bad for the red-headed Heartless, inflicting small blows upon her that were easily negligible… but none the less filling up her blade’s orb for her ultimate move.

“Hurt me more!” she screamed as if to taunt the clones as she continued being parallel to the floor to maintain the advantage she had earlier. Indeed, it would only be a matter of time before that orb was filled and she could choose her first target to kill.

Cruentus Adficio: Damage taken – 1 Light Blow (Running through the clones)
Damage done – Will be noted after Xigbar/No.1 post for how much of my orb is filled up
Currently 25% full

[xigbar]

One by one they appeared, looking to all the world like a pack of cultists piling off of the weirdest bus ever. Xigbar could hear shuffling at his back, and based on the fact that he wasn’t getting his spine torn out assumed it was Demyx. He figured his tagalong would at least be verbal enough to warn him of impending doom anyways, given his disposition towards direct action. His eye didn’t leave the squirmy redhead for a second. Just as she stood there she fidgeted and blushed and gasped like he was making sweet love to her. This was one of those few fleeting moments where he did not lament his lack of heart, as the idea that he was somehow secretly stealth-copulating with this thing would have made him empty his stomach in no time flat. What kind of freak did he get set up against? He kinda missed Guard Armor.

Then, much to his confusion, a voice at his back. Demyx was a major chatterbox compared to some other members, so that wouldn’t have been terribly surprising. Except, y’know, it wasn’t Demyx’s voice. The Freeshooter jerked his vision around in alarm and set his sight on what appeared to be the dumbest Heartless he had ever seen. Only the fact that it acted in a very un-Heartlesslike manner (that is, not jumping on him and eating his face) spared it a deluxe bullet salad. It clearly was NOT allied with the target and in fact seemed at least mildly frightened of her. Interesting. Still, its resemblance to the fairly common Red Nocturne was beyond uncanny and Xigbar would be damned if it was going to find his back twice. If it wasn’t gone by the time they were finished with Gasping Molly over there he might just drop it anyway.

Suddenly, action.

By the time he had returned to the task at hand he was getting a face-full of hungry book, which promptly deposited him in Zexion’s crazy acid trip world. As an artist of teleportspam he wasn’t particularly fond of changing the setting against his own will, but he’d just have to deal. No point in complaining when someone decides they want to see results anyways. Any composure lost in the transition was regained just as the Heartless decided she was done waiting. After screaming something about a cup she came tearing at him, dodging the first salvo of what Xigbar recognized as a normally painful attack from Zexion’s end. She was quite fast. Probably fairly scary with that weapon, and perhaps a decent matchup for Marluxia. Thank god his powers were suited for this kind of crap, or he might actually have been in trouble.

Flashing a crescent of teeth to the charging gal Xigbar said adios to linear motion and got the hell out of there. He was close enough to see the crow’s feet on her eyes when his body was claimed by the ripple characteristic of distorted space, allowing him to effectively vanish before he could get the wedding cake treatment. Because old tricks ain’t getting any older he appeared a good distance at her back - rather near her starting point, really - held aloft and inverted by his middle finger to Sir Isaac Newton. Demyx had already gotten on the cloning train, and by the time he reappeared an aquatic lynch mob had been formed in a spectacular display of overkill. It was a little surprising when yonder screaming Heartless charged right into the legion, but nevertheless it was time for a counterattack!

For whatever reason the target of the week seemed to....enjoy getting stomped on. He chose not to think about it too much. He was glad that the musician had made so many of the things though. Xigbar considered it perfectly acceptable to shred through the clones to hit the sword-toting banshee either way, but now it was less damaging to the overall strategy since there was so much sheer cannon fodder to go around. Taking aim at the blurred figure visible through the array of liquid he fired off a fan of no less than six shots, making certain to spread them out with a sweep of his Arrowguns. As long as his opponent stayed low she would probably have trouble seeing his barrage, crowded as she was, and with his guidance the bending shots would surely hit something. He’d fire more, but then the local melee monkey Marluxia might have trouble getting in there and taking some heat.

Gun ‘n’ Run - two post cooldown

[one]

The next minute or so passed faster than One would've liked. Okay, there was a brief pause while his outburst attracted the attention of the other combatants. But this was quickly juxtaposed by a whirl of paper and shadow. A tarry swamp spread from the corner of his eyes, engulfing everything and everyone around him in darkness. Deep purple tendrils wrapped their way around his new known world, the only indication of any kind of up.

He heaved a little, getting to his feet, before he realised that he didn't have a stomach. When he managed to stabilise himself he was dimly aware of the robot pirate and the vampire transvestite relocating in front of him. Not only that, but another three of the black-coats had entered stage followed by a metric f**kton of them, all ghostly in appearance, obscuring his vision of the battlefield. A short way in the distance, he could hear the pyschopathic girl shouting something meaningless in any language, but threatening nonetheless. Shaking slightly, (entirely from disorientation of course) he numbly pushed watery images out of his face, attempting to find a reference point. Upon doing so however, it vanished leaving behind a crazed, pointy force of evil. One that promptly hit him in the face.

Reflexively rolling backwards, the blade made contact with his shoulder carving a deep, yet clean, gash across his chest, ruining his highly fashionable, sack-cloth jacket in the process. Stuffing crimson energy burst from the wound and he let out a terrified, confused kind of yelp. It wasn't often that he had to deal with melee attackers. This was why he had a pet in the first place. Who decided that cave-dwelling aquatic mammals deserved holidays anyway?

Like the snivelling tortoise he was, he scrabbled haplessly to his feet. Embarrassed, angry and in agony he whirled around, blind, voicing his rage.

“Do you have any idea how much this fabric costs to repair?!” he yelled, as unsure as anyone might be about whether he meant the jacket or his own torn 'flesh'.

Sparking the air around his hand he formed – how would one describe it? A ball, but made of fire. He aimed the projectile towards where he assumed his attacker must be, he let if fly with a trajectory of somewhere vaguely in the region of exactly 1.309 radians. Directed by her disturbingly masochistic screams, he realised to late that the girl was far too close to the ground. Cursing his aim and praying that the spell hit, he stomped begrudgingly closer for a cleaner shot. It was roughly then that he nearly had his hat taken off by passing arrows.

Cooldowns:
Fire or some shit: one post or whatever ...

[marluxiaplz]

Before Marluxia even had the chance to engage in the execution of his first attack from the top of the building, the threads of reality seemed to melt into a nauseating blend of colors and darkness. Coupled with this was the sudden drop in height he experienced, and he was soon going from two stories to ground level. Regardless, he decided that if he was in Zexion's illusion, he would make the most of their duration inside of it. Fortunately, it seemed he retained his initial position on the battlefield, even if it was at a lower point.

Just as he had hit the ground, water clones seemed to erupt from the new void, signifying the arrival of Demyx into the battle. It came as a surprise to him that the other had decided to actively participate, until he saw that it was merely a diversion to gain distance between he and the red haired Heartless by going to the center of the clone explosion. Marluxia wondered why, for a moment, he had expected anything other than this from the Nocturne.

Being off to the side and significantly out of the main brawl for the moment gave him a favorable vantage point to view the actions of the others. Taking the time to judge his current position's weakness was of utmost priority. The water clones provided the needed cover for himself as well as the person who had summoned them. Of course, it made his target's writhing, repulsive movements difficult to track in the sea of one hundred aquatic bodies. Movement began again, and he witnessed the culling of a handful of water clones as she crossed toward Xigbar and their Heartless-like companion. The winged individual would have to be on guard, as Xigbar had the benefit of teleportation to give a clear shot. And, predictably, Xigbar took advantage of his capabilities as soon as possible.

In a blur of movement, Xigbar was up and all over the place. A series of shots were being fired by the Freeshooter, the volley of fires going through water clones left and right. The misty haze created by obliteration of water clones gave them a temporary cover of their own for a few seconds. By this time, Marluxia chose to disappear in a flurry of petals and tendrils of darkness, deciding to throw himself in at the battle for a proper entry into the conflict.

Optimizing their continued tactical advantage was his new mission, and keeping the curtain of illusion in place relied on assuring none of the books were felled by the Heartless's onslaught.

However, a bit of light use was not going to injure them.

Marluxia soon reappeared on one of the books, launching himself from it and throwing himself from one to another, approaching the bestial Heartless. Zexion, if he happened to be one of the unfortunate books he launched himself from or onto, would simply have to take this up as one of the requirements for the task. No petals were left in his wake now; he was not going to leave a trail when he was going to actually going to make use of his title. Xigbar's volley of shots had yet to cease, and diving face first into them would be foolish. The individual with the wings was soon joining with what seemed to be a fire-based attack with an almost quarter circle radius, but he was sure it would end upon his arrival.

At the final book, the rose-haired man curved his scythe back and propelled himself upward. With a twist of his body, he launched himself into Drop Shot, intending to strike the woman from above during her rampage. In a blur of electric pink and green, Marluxia flipped downward, spinning his scythe before gripping it in both hands and striking. The ground under his feet quivered before he heaved his scythe up, releasing an earth-splitting blast of golden-coral colored energy. The blast itself slid him several paces backward, and he had to steady himself from being flung into one of the musician's drones around him, but it was a fitting entry into the battle.


--

Drop Shot - Marluxia swings his scythe down, not only on who he is attacking, but into the ground. The ground ruptures under his enemy and releases a torrent of energy. (Cooldown Time: Four Posts) | Remaining Posts: 4

[zexion]

It was an odd sensation being a book. He felt much smaller and so the figures of the men (and it) flashed past seemed far larger and more intimidating. He felt his 'stomach' clench as anyone came close to him - a kind of thrilled excitement and fear that he would be found out amongst the cloister of revolving tomes.

He relaxed a little, going with the flow as he was randomly lifted and twisted in line with other lexicons. He realized rather suddenly that Demyx had also decided to show his face - and seemed to actually want to contribute this time. Interesting... Except what he provided apparently seemed to be doing more harm that good. He loathed water, particularly in this state, and so he and the other lexicons lifted higher from the ground for fear of being ruined by the multitude of Demyx clones.

It was such a regret that it was Demyx of all people who could clone himself. He was not entirely sure who he would prefer to have such a power, but he supposed he was lucky in that it wasn't Marluxia who was given such a blessing. Still, each of the music playing clones did provide a good distraction for himself as the heartless seemed far more pre occupied with them than himself (though he did feel some amount of annoyance at its lightning reflexes as it easily avoided his attacks.)

He observed some of the battle in silent reverie, his lips desperate to form words of spite but he knew that doing such a thing would only reveal himself. Instead, he spurted out yet more dark energy towards the Heartless - lucky enough to have a clear vantage point amongst the writhing stream of watery clones. He noticed the heartless as it pummelled through the Demyx clones, before doing a surprise move on their current leader, Xigbar.

Zexion found it quite absurd that it would have attacked Xigbar over the likes of himself or Marluxia - but he supposed that he had been the one to insult it the most - and perhaps he looked far more threatening than a few books or a man with pink hair whose words tasted sweeter than perfumed droppings.

It seemed perfectly mad. It spoke in what seemed like butchered latin - he could not quite tell with all the emotion in its wretched voice. What he thought he had heard though made his book snap open and shut in abject horror. Goodness - he had no idea that the heartless could feel so attached to blood and gore. He knew of many a being with strange desires (Vexen was one he would not even begin to detail), but he was surprised to hear such a random declaration in the middle of a battle field. Perhaps it had thought it had wonderfully encrypted it - unaware that there was a scholar amongst them. Or maybe it was meant to be threatening? He was not even sure - regardless, it was most disgusting and it deserved to be purged because of it.

Xigbar had successfully avoided its attack - as was predictable for him. However that fascinating creature had been struck instead and had taken the full bout. Zexion did not exactly care as such - but it would have been a great shame to see the hunched thing be killed before he got the chance to fully understand what it was. Still, the creature managed to live. Fascinating - it could sustain more than one attack, perhaps it could be of some use? Even more fascinating was what followed - magic. It knew magic.

Zexion did not know how to conjure flame - that was more Axel's speciality, though he could if he desired create an illusion of fire - but that would have been useless other than to induce fear. So to see a rather pathetic looking creature being able to conjure real flame and lob it at the enemy - that, that piqued Zexion's interest. He supposed it must also have some level of intelligence - being able to count up that there were far more on one side than the other, though it could have just been reacting out of self-defence from that rather brutal attack by the heartless.

He did not want to say it aloud, but he was too consumed with curiosity. He allowed his book to hover low momentarily as he brushed past the hunchback's shoulders, whispering incredibly quietly so that he and he alone would hear it, "What are you?"

[/b][/i]

Then he and the other lexicons shot higher into the air, where he roosted and tried to contemplate what to do next. He ran out of time to think as Marluxia's elegant boot was so graciously slammed into his face. The book fluttered and faltered, and in his annoyance he sent out a stream of black energy which coincided perfectly with the pink haired man's Drop Shot. The blast from the ground caused even his books to be flung higher into the air, before descending low again to examine the left over mess.


--

Cooldowns

Absent Silhouette ends in one turn and has four turns remaining before it can be cast again. [/size][/blockquote]

[pipedownandlisten]

Woah.

Eheh. Things got pretty action-packed pretty fast. All things considered, Demyx was pretty happy with his decision to hide amongst the clones, since in the next minute he had absolutely no idea what was going on and needed time to figure things out. All he knew was that either this was the worst April Fool's joke Xigbar had ever played on him (a direct consequence of using the Organization's computers for illicit purposes, to be sure), or this Heartless was really, really uncomfortably creepy. Didn't really matter, he was going to have to fight either way, but he suddenly found himself missing giant three-headed dogs. And that just should never, ever happen.

The...Heartless...thing...was enjoying this. Way, way too much. Similar to how it talked way, way too much. But when it finally decided to act, it turned out to be way faster than he expected--in a blink a whole mess of clones were destroyed, spraying up water everywhere in the Heartless' wake. Demyx took this opportunity to back the hell up, and took a few of his clones with him; it became immediately apparent that having them cluster so closely, while providing him ample protection, kind of made them way easier to hit. The Heartless figured that out too, as it charged back into the crowd while bending in twisting in absurd ways until it was kind of parallel-to-the-ground what the hell was it doing? Being creepy is what.

"Oh, crap, no no no--"

What he hadn't seen: it had attacked Xigbar, missed, and hit the thing behind it. What he hadn't noticed: the ball of fire that had just been catapulted Hadria's way, along with a bunch of fiery violet arrows. It all just kind of merged into a kaleidoscope of colors reflected off and through the bodies of his clones, making it difficult to tell where the attacks were coming from or what they were meant to hit.

What he did notice: he was way too close to Hadria.

It was a good thing he decided to book it when he did, because all of those attacks plus some fiery dark vomit and an unexpected dose of Marluxia all coalesced upon the masochistic enemy and a couple dozen clones that hadn't gotten the memo to get the hell out of the way. Demyx winced, nearly knocked off his feet by the Drop Shot that sent the overcast of tomes fluttering high into the air; his remaining clones trembled and wavered and splashed just as high, like someone just dropped a bowling ball into a puddle, and in that moment the whole battlefield became a lot more slippery.

This sucked.

Marluxia fell back into the clones and was immediately picked up and passed around as if he were a rock star at a concert leaping into an impassioned crowd. Evidently they were confused. Or Demyx was. Whatever, he fixed it--with a half-heartedly apologetic "woops" and a tangling of strings--and unceremoniously had them dump Marluxia outside of the clone circle, where he would, uh, presumably be safe?

And then it was time TO JAM.

The water that flooded the ground in the wake of a bunch of clones bursting suddenly formed together again as Demyx slammed on the powerchords, and the clones that remained parted away from Hadria like the walls of the Red Sea; with a clear shot, he struck a sick solo up the scales, both hands hammering on and off the frets to invoke the feeling of an eruption--and it came, magnificently violent pillars of water jetting up from the earth in a straight line towards the parallel-lying-down?? Heartless.

Hopefully those books got the memo to get the hell out of the way.

--
Cooldowns:[/u]

Water Clones: 47/100 clones remaining! (One post left)
Wave Gigs: Epic powerchords cause multiple enormous pillars of water to erupt from the ground, damaging any enemies unfortunate enough to get hit by them and sometimes tossing them high into the air. These geysers usually occur either in straight lines, forming entire walls of water, or more defensively, they can surround Demyx on all sides; they can also trail after Demyx when he leaps around, or surge straight towards an opponent like a homing tsunami. (One post cooldown.)[/size]

[Hadria]

OOC: Cruentus Adficio
Damage Dealt: 1 Heavy blow against No.1 = 50% + 33% = 88% full blood orb.

IC: And so the fun had begun, Hadria’s blade having sliced through No.1’s cotton flesh and a fine display of stuffing crimson painting the battlefield. The feeling that had come across her blade was foreign though, a slash like that typically not so clean or easy. No, more often than not, her blade would get stuck upon bone, cutting through one’s skeletal frame never a job without difficulty. Any victim would typically scream as their wounds bled profusely and Hadria would then take it upon herself to crush their bones into as many pieces as she could but it seemed as if this creature was not nearly as loud… how boring. Her interest in the mage quickly dwindling, she had gone ahead and ran into the water clones of Demyx adopting her earlier strategy of keeping her upper body parallel to the floor. As was the case earlier, the clones were doing more harm than good as they had weakened the retaliation of both Xigbar and No.1 (light blows) who had decided to shoot through clones of water that would obviously reduce the damage of their blows

‘Not the smartest bunch are they?’ she asked herself as the orb on her blade glowed a bright red, a twisted smile curving against her lips… now someone would die… but who? She could go for the gun toting smart-ass again but considering his ability to teleport, landing a blow wasn’t going to be easy. There was the mage that had shot a fireball at her earlier but that creature probably wouldn’t even prove much of a threat considering his stunning lack of intelligence. She could try to find the other two as well that had hidden amongst the clones and books respectively, but the amount of damage she’d end up taking to find them was a deterrent even for the masochistic Heartless. That left only one target, the man with pink hair and a giant scythe; a melee battle being something Hadria wanted right now… she wanted more blood. With the thought in mind, her eyes traveled over to where the man had last been spotted, noticing his absence a bunch of petals left behind in his wake. It seemed the next victim had already began moving and seeing as he wasn’t anywhere in Hadria’s line of sight, it meant the man was either above her or flanking her. Seeing as she was running in a straight line with clones still surrounding her, getting a clear shot with that giant scythe from the flank seemed rather improbable and lead her to the conclusion that he was up above. Her eyes had then glanced upward, spotting the man jumping on the Lexicons as he made his way to her. An interesting way to try and take her by surprise and she’d play along with it as the man came down upon her with his scythe, surely trying to decapitate the Heartless before she would suddenly stop, her body flinging up as she swung her blade with both hands in the middle of the pink-haired fools scythe… and he was in for a world of hurt. Not only had she parried the blow by doing so (perhaps even scraping him with tip of her blade), she was mere feet away from the man and with a full blood orb… and he would realize why attacking her was foolish.

“Cruentus Orbis,” she whispered softly as her blade sent a crescent shaped blade that would immediately begin wrapping around Marluxia since she had released it so close. Surely it would rend his flesh, blood staining the ground beneath them as he screamed in agony. The razor sharp edges would shred his arms apart if successful, certainly limiting the effectiveness of his blows with that scythe of his when swinging it about normally. Despite this rather effective counter though, Hadria could not have expected the shock wave that came soon after, blowing her to the side and out of harm’s way of the black orb that had wanted to smack her from behind and perhaps any other ranged attacks that had been shot toward her. She grinned madly as the agony racked her body, enjoying every minute of the beating she was receiving from these five amateurs, her orb already beginning to fill back up. Slowly her body convulsed as she stood back up, her cheeks burning crimson as she licked the tip of her left index finger,

“Dolor et dat mihi mage!” (Pain and suffering… give me more!) she screamed as she laughed heartily, that creepy atmosphere around only becoming more eerie. She didn’t have much time to laugh though as the rather inactive fighter had finally decided to attack, sending pillars of water that were erupting from the ground as they made their way to her. She smiled as she took off once again, heading toward her previous prey, the mage to check up on it. After all, the mage seemed like the runt of the litter, surely something she could handle easily if necessary, fill her orb back up, and if the pillars of water followed her then she could easily use that to her advantage. If they didn’t, well that was just one less worry and she would end the mage’s life before moving onto the guitarist that was hiding among what remained of his clones. His clones would were running short so it’d be much easier to kill him after the several left were killed by friendly fire whenever they began to swarm around Hadria again (or when her blade sliced through them)

“It looks like I’ll be able to demonstrate what I did to that human earlier for you munchkin…” Hadria stated as her feet splashed against the water beneath her, probably only audible to the mage she was fast approaching. Her body was once again bent parallel to the ground as her blade rested atop her rest shoulder and past her waist, “I hope you’re not too squeamish.”

Cruentus Orbis – 3 post cooldown
Cruentus Adficio
Damage Taken – Marluxia’s shockwave = Medium damage/33% fill
Damage Dealt – Will be updated upon my turn to post once again.