A Shifting World (PLOT Thread)

PlotAccount · Naughts and Hollows Everywhere!

A Shifting World (PLOT Thread)

LionHeart · Leon!Lion

(Here is last nights occurrence in Radiant Garden, and the beginning of the morning, it is morning for all that are coming to Radiant Garden from another world.)

Night Before the Attack:

Being woken from sleep at 3am in the morning was not something Leon appreciated, but he was becoming unhealthily used to occurring. He only in leather pants and with Griever against his chest opened the door, five o’clock shadow, tussled brunet locks and a disgruntled frown. Four children standing on his doorstep varying ages from three to twelve sobered him up and his brows furrowed. Three of them were crying heavily, and the last was trying to comfort the former.
“What happened?”

He was explained to about their mother going out earlier that evening into the market to get milk and not returning. Though Radiant Garden was far safer then it had been before the defence system and Sora’s help in cleaning out the canyon of heartless Radiant Garden was not near problem free. He nodded and though he expected the worst would not say such allowing them in to wait for him to change. This taking nearly no time in his rush and practise before bringing the children home and telling them to stay their.

Leon then began to search. Approached by an older woman who was also in tears Leon patiently though inwardly impatiently listened to her tell him her teenage boy had gone missing while going into the market to run a few errands in the evening. Both of these two people had gone missing in the marketplace? How was that possible? It was the safest area in the town monitored, heartless free and the defence system centered in that area. Frowning deeply he nodded and responded he would search for the teen as well moving back toward the Market Place their had to be clues. Something…

Morning Of the Attack:

By morning the missing peoples had grown to nine, nine people had gone missing the evening before in the Market Place and no one had seen them sense. If it were not for the location of the last seen missing people he would have given it up to heartless but no heartless were able to get into the Market Area because of the defence system and their always being at least someone their to hear a cry for help and to aid. It was deeply bothering Leon and he had not slept sense 3 am last night, it finally being sun up.

6 Am and he had not found anyone that had gone missing, although he had found the children’s missing mothers purse, and where he had deep gouges in the brick wall behind her. Gouges? What could this mean? His leather gloved hand touched the gouge marks, they were deep, someone or something powerful had to make these marks. Still looking about he crouched and could see smaller gouge marks in the stone of the ground, nails that had gripped into the stone fruitlessly as the person was…dragged off? That was not heartless behaviour at all. The tiny nail tracks ended just inches away and their were no more clues. The rest of this side alley off the marketplace quiet, eerily peaceful for what had occurred here last night.

He remained crouched before the tracks his leather gloved fingers on the tracks, his brow furrowed very deeply and his eyes cold. Hard. Nine people…

(If you have questions before joining DON'T post them here!! Post them in the thread in Chat!)

--Strife · Puppies and Wolves In Your SOLDIER!

After Sora had yet again saved the worlds- or at least that was what the people of Radiant Garden believed when Sora had not returned to them after his last journey out and it was hard not to notice the significant drop in nobodies as well- Cloud had remained on world. In the end it had been mostly at the girls’ begging, as they had put it there were some cause for celebration and for that he should be there. The blond knew better, and a couple of weeks later he was proven right when excuses continued to pop up to why he couldn’t leave. One of Tifa’s bartender’s birthday, and then Cid was actually upgrading his gummi and it would not be flyable for weeks to come. Cloud knew the motive was to keep him here permanently.

But as the swordsman was constantly reminded: this was not his home. His friends, or what was left of them were here, therefore so should he or at least that was what Aerith had said. But it was more than that. It missed that feeling of being a home for him that little bit extra which the girls and Cid all had and he was missing. Maybe it was a reason a purpose to settle down. Maybe the blond’s instinct to wander, travel was too strong.

Or maybe it was because he still had not found what he was searching for and without that he couldn't just settle, he needed that conclusion. Freedom from Sephiroth, the darkness to be able to have peace.

Light was the only title he had been given for it and in the end it was the only one he would receive. He didn’t know what it was in essence, which in so many ways made his search pointless. But sometimes it felt like he was so close, so close to the light, being able to claw his way out of the darkness- but yet he never had made it yet. Keeping him here was not working at any rate.

For the meanwhile the blond had found himself roaming the world, exploring with little purpose other than finding alternate places on world he could hide if need be.
He heard the whispers of the townspeople that morning, of missing people in the night. And there was some sick feeling of remembrance back to when Gaia had fallen, the last time he had heard of people disappearing at least, though it had happened en masse during Deepground...

But Radiant Garden had been so well protected, they had patrols, a security system which had decreased the amount of heartless in town by so much- was it not enough? It was no surprise that today the streets were deserted, not a soul daring to venture outside their houses in fear, or for some grief.

The swordsman had found himself heading towards the marketplace, one of the safest areas in town to find the brunet Gunblader, the practical leader of this world examining deep gouges in one of the walls. The place was silent too, even though usually it would have been bustling with people and shops buying and selling even at this hour of the morning.

“No clues?” the swordsman said announcing his presence, “You’d have to be stronger than a heartless or nobody to leave gouges in stone.”

Riku · Way To Dawn

Radiant Garden opened itself invitingly before him and Riku was helpless not to explore. Having only visited the city when it was but a hollow representation cobbled together of cards and memory, he held no internal sense of where this or that might be located, but lack of direction hardly mattered when he seemed to have no plan nor destination in mind. If he were to be entirely honest with himself, Riku would have to admit that he couldn't easily speak of why he had come to this particular world at this particular time. Now that Xenmas had been lain to rest and all had been set right, he had been content enough to wile away the hours on the beaches of the Islands and he had relished the time spent with his dearly missed friends -- yet, was that true? Had there not also been a patina of guilt and shame over each interaction with Sora and with Kairi? Had there not been a nameless restlessness gnawing away at him, making any attempt at rest meaningless? How long since he had rested, since he had slept?

'That doesn't matter,' Riku scolded himself silently. Turning a corner, he paused beneath the bright awning of a small goods store and, crossing his arms over his chest, he surveyed the empty street. A jumpy sort of nervousness pulled heavily at him, making him feel too much as if he were staring into the eye of an approaching storm despite the fact that there was no obvious threat. Beyond his control, he barely noticed as his empty hands convulsively opened and closed and he had to fight himself not to summon his keyblade to hand. 'No, it really feels like I need to be here -- but I don't know why.'

The empty street offered him no answer; if anything, it only offered more questions.

Though he had never been on the world before, Riku could easily guess that it was completely wrong for any market district on any peopled world to be this empty on what appeared to be a normal business day; where were the women gathering the day's necessities? Where were the children, bustling off to school or to play? Even a world still being rebuilt was not this naturally devoid of life and the few people who were about all seemed to walk a bit too quickly, their bodies huddled in on themselves and their eyes darting restlessly. A whispered conversation between two pale-haired grannies drifted over to him, giving Riku the impression of an unforeseen attack in the night and a town leader named Leon searching out any clues. It wasn't much, he supposed, but it was a starting point; besides, Riku felt that he had heard the name 'Leon' before, even if it must have been secondhand -- from Sora, as likely as not.

Thinking it would serve him better, Riku chose a higher ground for his search and survey of the town; with an easy leap, he took to the rooftops and, only a short while later, he spotted two men making a close study of what appeared to be, from this distance, a fairly normal brick wall. It didn't take a leap of logic for Riku to guess that the wall was not as normal as it appeared and, further, that one of the two men might be the town leader of whom the grannies had spoken; thus, sticking to the rooftops, he chose to pick his way over to the two.

Riku paused on the roof of a building just behind the two men, but any thought of announcing himself vanished as soon as his eyes came to rest on the deep gouge marks in the brick of the wall. Even from the narrow distance, he could see that the marks were too deep and too severe for any known heartless to make, but Riku couldn't even begin to imagine what else would be capable of such easy destruction.

'Something new, then?' Riku wondered silently and his ominous sense of dread only settled more deeply.

Sora · Will Give You The Puppy Dog Eyes!

Sora was furious. Even though he and Riku had talked about visiting Radiant Garden after his friend had gotten a really strong feeling that they should go there, even agreeing to wait and go together, he had awoken in the morning to find that the silver haired teen had obviously left in the middle of the night. He knew that he should have expected it, knew that Riku would worry that he "might get hurt" or something equally guilt-inducing.

That still didn't make the Keyblade Master any less livid with his friend. They were supposed to be a team. They were supposed to watch each other's backs and Riku had just left him behind. Again.

The entire gummi flight, Sora had fumed and grumbled under his breath. In a remote part of his mind, he was vaguely glad there was no one around to see him like this. After all, the worlds all thought he was all sunshine, kittens and candy. It would do to have that reputation tarnished by losing his temper.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sora finally landed in Radiant Garden at Cid's landing pad. Closing up his gummi, he wondered where he should head first. Leon was usually either out patrolling or working with Tron at this time of the morning, but there was also the prospect of visiting Aerith in the marketplace or Merlin at his house. "Hmm," he wondered outloud, hands slipping into his pockets as he walked. Two years spent listening to his instincts had trained Sora to listen to what his heart was telling him, and right now, it was telling him to head down to the marketplace. Shrugging, he mosied his way there, outwardly calm with a small smile on his face. Inwardly, he was still completely ready to yell at his best friend for leaving him behind yet again.

Eventually, the silence and utter lack of people on the streets struck him as very strange. Even when under near-constant heartless attacks, there had generally been a least a few brave souls scurrying to gather the necessities every day. But this... this smacked of something strange and most likely bad going on. As he neared the marketplace, he could feel the hairs on the back of his arms and neck rising, his fingers itching to summon his keyblade.

Something wasn't right here.

Now on the alert for any sign of danger, he zeroed in on the sound of male voices at one end of the marketplace. Making his way in that direction, Sora eventually identified them as Leon and surprisingly enough, Cloud. "Huh, didn't expect him to stick around..." he murmured, a little confused. The blond swordsman had always seemed to be something of a wanderer; not unlike Riku, if he thought about it.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" Sora called out once he was within speaking distance. His eyes were almost immediately drawn to the gouges marring the bricks, widening when he saw the extent of the damage. "...I don't think heartless did that..." he trailed off, confusion writ all over his face. All thoughts of finding and scolding Riku flew out of his mind, replaced by this very strange and disconcerting mystery.

LionHeart · Leon!Lion

(Koszmar is still trying to break the password. Zexion and Vexen are waiting the opportune moment for their impending arrival (Meaning, they are not going to post yet so we can continue.)

"Nothing beyond the tally of the missing, early evening, the marketplace and these gouges."
Leon shook his head masking his concern but he was deeply so. This world was his second chance, he had failed to protect it once. He would not do so again.
"But these grooves here..see..." His leather gloved fingers ran slowly over the small gouges in the ground before him which was why he was crouched.
His lips opened to explain what he believed had caused them when Sora's voice could be heard from behind them both and standing he turned to the Keyblader.

His brow moved up, "I had thought you were able to return home?" Leon asked, that was what many had believed and truly had hoped for, for the younger brunet.
It had been hard enough for Leon to live the life he had at 17 leading his fellow SeeD into combat to save his own world. Yet a 14 year old Sora had without any prior experience in achual combat saved countless.

It was with deep admiration that though he covered at times still shone through that he shook his head explaining, "No, their is no way a heartless or even a nobody could have done this. At least, not one that we all know of. If you have not seen anything like this before then it must be something new."

And New was not good, not good at all. They knew how to fight what they faced now, but new required them to adapt and if nine people had already gone missing in one night how many more over how long? For in the time it would take for them to adapt and figure out what was doing this more would go missing. More would die, and more childern would be left without parents, husbands without wives, and parents without their sons and daughters. It was an impossible task but he had wanted to put some sort of stop to all of that in Radiant Garden. At least the dissapearances that could not be explained where no one would return.

Gesturing with his gloved hand pointing to the same grooves.
"She struggled, clawing at the ground even as she was dragged away. Theirs no other explaination for both of these sets of gouges. She had tried to fight whatever it was that attacked her, and the 'thing' retiliated leaving the markings in the wall and proceeded to drag her off."

To a fate that they did not know for certain, but probibly at least for himself, he knew already. Death.

-- Edited by LionHeart on Tuesday 17th of March 2009 07:25:55 PM

--Strife · Puppies and Wolves In Your SOLDIER!

The blond nodded to Leon’s reply, so like the heartless these creatures obviously did not leave tracks, but heartless had the ability to travel as almost as part of the ground, flat as paper without disturbing anything in their travel. Another threat? Would the threats ever end? First heartless, then nobodies and now this. Except they had not even see what the new enemy was, only who they had taken and where, though there was only the smallest indication that this had been the place.

And new meant they had no idea how to fight them. They knew heartless’ habits and could counter for the way a nobody moved because they knew how, they had that experience. It would be a whole new realm of difficulty to fight against a foe you did not know.

As the brunet spoke the blond glanced to the nearby roofs of the shops and houses that surrounded the marketplace, sure he had heard footsteps on tile, though he was not surprised the Gunblader had not heard the same. Mako enhancements were a curse and a blessing- enhanced hearing often picked up things others did not and for the moment the swordsman was on a high alert with an unknown killer around. Something that powerful might prove difficult to even Leon or himself.

But this observation was soon interrupted by the spiky haired teen which neither man had seen for a long while. Sora.

He seemed as bright as ever, in heart and demeanour, and while the blond knew that even he had low spots, like with Zack he still wondered how the teen managed to maintain that bounce even in the face of adversity. No matter what, always had a smile in them. Cloud could not understand it. He nodded in a sort of greeting to the boy.

“So we are looking for something strong, but takes drags victims away, for some unknown reason before killing. Do we know if anyone heard or saw anything?” Surely she would have been screaming for help during that time. And people were likely to respond or even try to figure out what was going on. Unless the... thing had had a way to silence her. There was no question in the blond’s mind that the woman was dead. No reason in hoping for her life, it was pointless. “I’ve not seen anything like this either.”

The blond paused that feeling of burning eyes getting the better of him as he drew his sword, “There is someone or something else here.”

Riku · Way To Dawn

"If you mean me, then you aren't going to need that." It seemed past time for Riku to introduce himself, especially now that weapons had been drawn, and he chose to do so by first standing to his full height from his previously crouched position on the rooftop. The idea of leaping down to the group did occur, but he could easily see how that could go wrong, given the thick tension in the air. To help release some of that tension, Riku held up both of his hands so that the blond swordsman could see that he was unarmed. "If you don't trust me, then ask Sora; he knows who I am."

His own attention flicked briefly to Sora and Riku felt the expected weight of guilt settle upon him -- guilt that Sora had followed him into what seemed like impending danger, sure, but guilt that he had tried to leave the younger brunette behind, as well. Riku had thought that he had come to accept the fact that he and Sora worked best when they worked as a team, but some mental block -- or maybe some lingering emotion from before, some need to try to protect what he had once spurned -- kept him from fully understanding that he didn't have to face things entirely on his own; this was, likely as not, also why Riku had chosen to linger on the rooftop so long when he could have easily just fallen into the conversation -- because he thought he could harvest the information the two men had and then use it to act as he thought best.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Riku addressed Sora lightly, as if he weren't just waiting for either a scolding or, even worse, a treatment of the dreaded puppy-eyed pout. Knowing that there was no good reason for him to linger on the rooftop, Riku leaped easily to the ground and came to low crouch only a few feet away from his fellow keyblade wielder. The idea of trying to keep a lighter mood occurred to him, but it seemed impossible as soon as his attention turned back to the somewhat shallower gouges in the ground -- those made by the victim as she was doubtlessly dragged off to her death.

"I heard someone talking about an attack and she mentioned a man named Leon; I wanted to see what I could find without being seen, so I watched from the rooftops once I saw the two of you." Riku raised his glance, first to the blond swordsman, then to the crouching brunette. He wasn't entirely surprised to note that both had the demeanor of experienced soldiers and the lack of the scent of darkness was also to be expected; these were both doubtlessly men who had witnessed events like this far too often. "I thought I might be able to help, though it doesn't sound like anyone really knows what happened."

Sora · Will Give You The Puppy Dog Eyes!

"I went home, but it was kinda boring there," Sora answered with a sheepish grin and an easy shrug of his shoulders. While it wasn't the complete truth, it was close enough. They didn't need to hear about the argument he and Riku'd had about coming here in the first place.

Following where first Cloud and then Leon were looking, he spied his friend on the roof, doing what he seemed to do best. Lurking and waiting for the opportune moment to reveal himself. Eyes narrowing in what constituted his version of a glare, Sora's expressive face soon morphed into something that was filled with more saddened disappointment than anger. It hurt that Riku had left him behind. "Yeah, I know Riku," he sighed. "He may be a jerk, but he's still my best friend. You guys don't have to worry about him." Blue eyes remained fixed on the silver haired keyblade wielder. "Of course I followed you. What part of 'we're partners' don't you understand?" A slightly plaintive tone shaded his words, along with a promise to talk about this later, when not in the company of others.

He looked back at the gouges and then at both of the older, more experienced fighters. The lessons both had taught him had stood him in good stead in his many fights and he was more than willing to listen to their advice. "How could she have been taken without someone seeing or hearing something? You don't think whatever did this can use portals like the nobodies, do you?" He asked, the only possible solution he could think of at the moment. While a bit naive, the Keyblade Master was far from the idiot some may think him.

"Do... do you think we'll be able to find her or any of the others?" Sora asked hopefully, even though he knew in his heart that the chances of doing so were rather slim. That didn't, however, mean he had to be all grim and full of doom and gloom like the three other males tended.

PlotAccount · Naughts and Hollows Everywhere!

Typing neatly away at the keys had not worked, pressing random number and letter combinations had not worked. Nothing was working!
Smashing her fist down on the keys a squealing sound could be heard and she stopped still slowly retracting her fist.

Mid-motion of doing so she turned in a hurry hearing the sound of something start up behind her and was frozen in time. The laser like light hitting her and dissecting her, turning her into computer animation, the laser took her apart bit by bit.

Starring down at her hands as she finally could move them again, she was ashen, even more so then she usually was and her clothing was vibrant. Vibrant neon blues and whites. Her eyes stinging as they adjusted she looked around herself in dismay. Their was open endless space to her right that she dared not look down, she knew it would be endless as well. To her left a sort of wall of dark matte with grey symbols stretching up beyond sight. Before her was a walkway in the same lifeless matte as the wall.
"Where am I.."

Her hands found the wall still disorientated as she moved to the opening she found looking inside still heavily confused the figure who stood before her in the room was a man. She could tell that from his outfit and facial features. His helmet and clothes were greys, aquas and neon blues.
Her lips twisted into the smile, "You wouldn't happen to know what the password is now would you?"
Tron was taken aback, the smile on his features disappearing, "Your not Sora."
"No, I'm not anyone you know. You will give me that password by the time I'm done with you."

Her hands raised the once silver now brilliant white and blue hand mirror appeared back in her hand.
"Look into my mirror.."
Trons eyes widened unable to hold back his scream.

LionHeart · Leon!Lion

Raising a brow at Sora's nonchalant answer of why he had left home agian Leon shook his head. Though could he say any different? He did not truly know if he would even contemplate returning to Archipelago if the time arose that he found out he could. He had a new life now, he had changed. Perhaps that was how Sora felt, for even normally, fourteen to sixteen was quite a change. Add on all that had happened with the heartless and Sora would have changed quite a bit. Though visibly to Leon this was not noticable, of course, other then physically growing up.

Answering Cloud's question,"No one heard anything from what those around the area last night have to say, and whatever it was choose the alley and the victims of the alley to remain unseen. That would make the most sense in the circumstances."
Though how the thing had stopped a woman who was fighting for her life from crying out he did not know the answer to.

Leon had tensed completely a hand moving to his own gunblade at his side when Cloud had spoken up that their was someone or something their watching them. The last thing they needed was whatever it was that had done this to get the drop on them.

The figure dropping did nothing to lighten nerves that were round tight and his hand had clenched at the handle of his gunblade though he had not drawn LionHeart yet. Of course Sora knew who this was, Sora knew everyone. At least, at times, that was what it appeared. Sora knew far to many and had saved/helped/befriended many as well.
Riku? So this was the friend Sora had been searching so adamently for this entire time while off fighting heartless and nobodies. Leons first call on Riku; he seemed quite opposite to Sora. That was all.

Leon ignored Sora's near reprimend of the apparent older silver haired teenager looking off down the alley as if he was not paying attention to them. Which he wasn't achually, he was looking for more clues.
Finally Leon looked back to Riku and Sora, "At the moment we do not know more then this no. Though this is only one spot where the missing were taken. Their are others I have just yet to find them. Though they would be in these alleys, less noise, less to be seen."
Leon went silent his steel greys on Sora and he answered truthfully, for it was best, "I don't know."
He did not wish to quash Sora's hope but neither did he want to help it grow, for he knew they could be and most likely were already dead. That was how things liked this worked after all. But Leon knew he himself was scarred, he had seen to much. This could be different, one of those few times the victims got away. But he wasn't counting on it. No better to not get Sora's hopes up.
"I don't think so Sora."

-- Edited by LionHeart on Saturday 21st of March 2009 03:11:28 PM

--Strife · Puppies and Wolves In Your SOLDIER!

Cloud it seemed had not been wrong about them being watched as a voice seemed to reply to the man’s comment, and at first glance he had to admit the silver hair made his mind jump to Sephiroth, though the voice had clearly not been his and the boy who had appeared was far too young to be the crazed General of ShinRa. Though with no idea who the boy was the blond did not lower his sword, until he mentioned that Sora knew who he was and Sora confirmed that fact did Cloud put the weapon away.

But from the way they were talking Cloud was fairly sure he had an idea of how the still anonymous silver haired teen was- the Riku that Sora had been searching for not so long ago. He’d asked everyone where he was, he and King Mickey, and the blond had certainly not been exempt from that. Sure he had had a sort of picture in his mind of what this ‘friend’ was supposed to look like, but it certainly was not anything close to the reality. Part of him had expected that a person as bouncy would have friends who simply bounced like he did- he’d been wrong it seemed. Riku was the sort of friend who looked like he would be the one who would calm rather than join in Sora’s antics.

If Zack had been Sora, Riku would have passed for a mix between the younger Cloud and Angeal the man’s mentor.

Though it seemed like the two of them had their own issues to work out even now the whole fight against the Organization was over. He didn’t blame Leon for ignoring that part- it did not concern them so much at all.

An experienced soldier was a description which in a very limited way covered Leon and Cloud. Both had been in a military style training program, both had fought as the ‘hero’ of their respective worlds and in many ways had seen far too much. Though the blond more than Leon, while he appeared to be hero-like had far more darkness than would qualify him as such. Darkness he struggled with, the key to escape hidden from him and the man who had brought this upon him ever present.

“So we can presume it has some way of silencing its victims,” the man paused, “I’m sorry Sora; I don’t think you’ll find her alive. Things like this have happened to often, and I don’t know of one case where the people are found alive.” Like Deepground, like the first heartless attacks... hoping had been too much.

“The more clues we can find the better,” Cloud said, “So I think we need to find where the others were taken from to help anything.” And to figure out where they ended up- What had taken them and why?

He took a few steps into the alley which lead off from where the woman had been taken glancing around with mako blues.

Riku · Way To Dawn

"Sora, listen, I--" Riku began to attempt to try to explain himself to the brunette keyblade bearer, but he cut himself short with a slight shake of his head. Though he did want the chance to explain, he could understand that this was neither the time nor the place and he wasn't entirely eager to drag out all of his complicated emotional baggage regarding Sora, anyway - especially not in front of two practical strangers and especially not when there appeared to be much weightier problems at hand. Riku had gotten so used to placing emotional matters aside that it was almost natural for him to dismiss the problem of his indiscretion so that he could focus on the issue of whatever had staged this attack.

This also meant setting aside the vague sense of shame for the way in which his sudden appearance had apparently jangled the already frayed nerves of the two elder warriors, but Riku was glad enough to do so; not that he wouldn't be glad to apologize for it later, but his own worn nerves made it hard to concentrate long on anything but the remnants of the attack and the fact that it felt as if the worst were yet to come.

Turning his head, Riku watched the blond advance a few steps toward the alley to which the victim had been apparently dragged, but his attention soon drifted again; he was disappointed that he could neither feel nor sense anything in the air around them but, then again, he didn't have the first clue as to what he was looking for. "Maybe it'd be best if we looked individually for the rest of the missing ones - or clues as to what had happened, failing that? Or, if that'd be too dangerous, break up into two groups? We might be able to cover more ground, if they weren't just taken into that same alley."

The thought did occur to Riku, just then, that separating the small group of fighters might not be the wisest idea in case another attack did happen - but, then again, it could allow for a wider coverage just in case whatever started the trouble decided to come back and finish it; not that Riku didn't believe that there were others capable of fighting within Radiant Garden, but he put the most faith in the four currently gathered.

Sora · Will Give You The Puppy Dog Eyes!

"Ri-" Sora began, his expression sad before he shook his head, summoning a determined half-smile. Glancing between Cloud and Leon, he gave a deep sigh. "I didn't really think there was much of a chance... but we'll never succeed if we lose all hope."

Moving to stand next to Riku as they watched the more experienced warriors investigate the crime scene, he bumped his friend's shoulder with his own. It was a simple gesture that said he forgave his friend, even if he was still kind of mad at him. It didn't, however, change the fact that they would be talking about this later. Just not right now; there were other things that were far more important than their petty problems.

Trying to apply what he had experienced the last few years fighting heartless and nobodies, Sora considered the patterns he had seen. The heartless seemed to generally target anyone with a heart, although those with more darkness fell more quickly. On the other hand, the Organization-led nobodies seemed to have targeted those with strong hearts, hoping to either create new dusks or to further power their creation of Kingdom Hearts. So far, neither Leon nor Cloud had mentioned anything about this woman aside from her gender and the fact that she had disappeared in the night. Not a lot of information to work on, really.

"Hey! Um... was there anything she had in common with the other people who disappeared?" He asked, idly rubbing the back of his head as he tried to tie the clues together. The brunet never had been very good at solving complicated puzzles.

LionHeart · Leon!Lion

Leon had been looking up the alley wondering himself if they should search further into the alleys. They, those who had dissapeared had been taken when they had come to the marketplace so consquently this network of alleys would be the easiest place to be taken from.

Leon looked back to Sora when he spoke up and nodded his head slightly in agreement, "Even if they are not alive Sora. We have to find what took them, if only to stop the dissapearance of more people."
That was Leon's type of hope, he did not believe the current victims lived but never the less, the culprits, whatever they were, that took them were. And they were still out their, so what they had to do now was stop them for hurting anymore people.

"Yes otherwise with the struggling involved she would have screamed and screamed enough that those in the marketplace so nearby would have heard her." Leon just wondered how she was silenced so effectively and how then, all the others were as well. Nine people and no noise at 'all'?

"Anything in common..she was a mother of three, around thirty. Another was a twelve year old boy. Two others were single women in their twenties. From who was taken the most relatively helpless I would imagine. Their was no men except for three younger boys under the age of 14. Otherwise their were only women. I don't know beyond that how they had anything else in common." They appeared normal average people of Radiant Garden.

"Searching the rest of this network of alleys would be best, but not seperate. Sora, Riku the both of you go east, Cloud and I west."
Sora and Riku knew each other and could work togther, same 'semi' went for the two warriors. They had fought back to back and if anything sprang up they could handle it between the two of them. Which Leon was certain went for the two younger boys as well.

Done speaking now Leon gestured to Cloud and moved out toward the west, down the last of this alley they had been standing into the next alley which went off to the left, to the west. The next alley that went right to the east was up further in this alley the woman had been taken from.
_________________

Down the west alley their was clawed cloth pieces from a blouse of another woman far down the alley away from the other attack, and a small basket. This basket ripped to shreds by those same giant claws that had ripped the blouse into many pieces on the stone floor. Their were small puddles of blood around the ripped blouse pieces. Large claw marks surrounding the basket on the ground. The basket had some fruit and vegetables in it, the young woman had been picking up groceries.

Down the east alley further down as well was more blood and even forcefully pulled out clumps of hair by the long claws. Gauges in the ground this time by those long claws, and a garbage strewn over the ground by a kick. A boot left behind near the garbage can, about the size to fit a twelve year old boy. The boy had kicked the can over by the looks of it to help attract attention from the noise. Their are markings on the ground as well from the boy being dragged off.

-- Edited by LionHeart on Friday 27th of March 2009 09:46:49 PM

--Strife · Puppies and Wolves In Your SOLDIER!

The two seemed to be having a relationship crisis more than anything and the blond knew only one thing for sure, he was not involved in any way. So he stopped even listening about what was going on back and forth between the two teenagers. Their business. The faster they sorted it out the more helpful they would be. Though it seemed in all truth that Sora, bright and cheerful as always had forgiven his friend all too easily.

The surprise of Riku’s appearance had fast worn off in all truth the swordsman’s mind focussed on other things a hand rather than dwelling on that. He still listened out however, even then knowing that whatever it was that had taken the people could still be watching them. They might not be as weak as the victims but from the strength whatever was out there could still give an able bodied man a run for his money though maybe not in the same silence.

“Individually might be a bad idea, whatever these are must be powerful and as much as I am sure we are all able. I agree with Leon, pairs would be best.” The choice of pairings had been strategic in a way, both older warriors knew the other’s fighting style from fighting side-by-side before and Sora and Riku knew each other for as long as either could remember the blond remembered from Sora’s rambling. They would therefore work together near perfectly. And it was a good time for them to work out their remaining issues because they were certainly not anything either older warrior was versed in helping with.

Leon however seemed to be thinking along the same lines that he was, in wonder of what had taken these people without so much as one witness. Even humans or the Organization members would have had trouble with as much as when a woman especially decided to scream she would make sure everyone heard. He knew it from ear deafening experience. The one thing enhanced hearing was a hindrance for.

----------------
And with Leon’s simple gesture he followed the older man off to the west.

The alleys like in most worlds were long complicated and far too easily able to get lost in. It was the fact this network was so easy to get lost in that made it so much easier for it to be used to getaway. The harder it also was for the fighters who wished to find the way in which whatever it was had gone. Too many options.

But it seemed that the west path held many clues for blond and brunet to find, all indicating that while the kidnappings had been silent, none of the victims had gone without a fight. “We need to put the city on alert, if the rumours have not done that already. So people have a chance to defend themselves and know better than to be out alone.” He picked up the shoe, and his mind thought back that it could have fit Denzel.

Riku · Way To Dawn

The small bump to his shoulder caused Riku to crack a small grin. He didn't speak or really react to the action aside from this small expression, but there was a brief sense of relief that came with the knowledge that one stupid mistake hadn't destroyed the hard work both of the boys had put into getting back onto solid ground. Unfortunately, the sense of relief proved to be brief; it was difficult, after all, to relax or to take real pleasure in much of anything with the knowledge that a new, ostensibly quite powerful, enemy was preying upon the innocent of the worlds. The weight of this knowledge robbed the grin from his lips and Riku nodded to the orders given to him by Leon.

It was a struggle for him not to summon keyblade to hand as he walked to the east and, though the only reason he had to do so was a lingering sense of paranoia, Riku made it a point to match his step to that of Sora, so that he would be consistently by the shorter keyblader's side. Not that he didn't know that Sora could fight well and protect himself, but Riku wasn't about to take even the slightest chance of something happening to the other - not when so much relied upon him.

The first sight of a crimson splash of blood brought Riku to an abrupt halt and he crouched down amongst the ribbons of town fabric and shreds of what had once likely been a grocery basket. His own fingers bent in the mimic of claws, he traced the marks scratched deeply into the stone of the alley, but there was really nothing more to make of this, nothing that hadn't been seen in the last attack scene.

"I don't get it," Riku murmured quietly, his voice harsh with frustration. "Whatever it is that's doing this hits on women and kids, at least that's what they said, but with claws like this, it should be able to take out just about anyone; is it just chance because that's what it came across first or is it picking out the easy targets so it can kill quickly and quietly - or is it because it has to take out the weaker ones before it tries anything more difficult?"

Leaving that mystery for the moment, Riku sat back on his heels and glanced to Sora. "What do you think?"

Sora · Will Give You The Puppy Dog Eyes!

It made sense for Leon to pair the group up as he had, Sora supposed; he knew the two older warriors had fought heartless together before, and of course he and Riku had trained and fought together since either could hold a wooden sword. Giving Leon and Cloud a nod and a determined smile, he followed Riku in their assigned direction. Despite their differences, he and his best friend worked well together and were a force to be reckoned with.

As they walked and searched for clues, it was hard for the brunet not to glance over at his friend and he didn't always succeed in not doing so. One such glance showed calloused hands twitching into fists for lack of a familiar sword to grip. He could relate, wanting to summon his own keyblade, wanting the familiar weight that would reassure him that he could tackle any enemy that approached them. He was damned if he would let something take either of them down after all they'd been through the last few years.

Another glance just before the silver haired keyblade warrior stopped and crouched down revealed that their steps were match, each walking in unison with the other. A small smile spread across his face, only to disappear moments later when he looked down to see what had caught his friend's attention. Frowning, he knelt next to him and despite his curiousity, did not reach out. Something about this entire situation was creeping him out and making him a little bit nervous.

"I dunno Riku... I mean, at the Hades' Cup, you fight the weaker enemies first and work your way up... but this isn't a competition. Wouldn't it make more sense to take out the people who would be in the way an' stop you?" He shrugged. In most worlds he had been to, it seemed that invaders would take out the figure-head before moving to assume control. "Maybe whatever did this is testing to see what kind of power the people have here?"

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

After agreeing to return to where everything had started, to the world they had once called home, Zexion still found it more than a little disconcerting to be standing on the Bailey just outside of the castle. A good night's rest had refreshed and replenished his energy, leaving the Schemer relatively ready for anything that might come his way. Giving his much taller companion a short nod of his head, he led the way down on silent feet.

It seemed old memories and habits didn't fade as much over time as one would have thought, and Zexion moved with practiced movements into the castle and down the labyrinthine passages until they reached the lab that served as a repository of all their cumulative research. He was grateful, in a distracted way, that the old passcodes hadn't been altered at all in the years since the tragic accident that had snowballed to cause waves of destruction far beyond any of their calculations. "Well, at least some things never change," he said dryly as the door slid open. He muffled a sneeze as years' old dust tickled his nose, the air stagnant with disuse.

Making his way over to the monitor that all of Ansem's apprentices had made use of whenever they needed to access the extensive archive of information, he turned it on and waited for the system to start up. After a few minutes of staring at the loading screen, he growled under his breath, "It shouldn't be taking this long to load. Unless something happened to the master computer..."

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

Adjusting the strap of the carry-all on his shoulder, Vexen took a short moment to look out over the wall at the town below the castle before following his younger companion into the castle itself. It was quiet, but looked much better than the last time he'd seen it. His last memories of his home were the of the Darkness ripping it to shreds. He wondered what had happened, and when, to begin the healing. It really looks more like Radiant Garden again, rather than Hollow Bastion.

The moment they entered the computer lab, the Ice Elemental went to the somewhat dusty file cabinets. He no longer had the keys, but freezing the lock until the metal went brittle worked just as well. Setting his carry-all on the floor, he began with the bottom drawers, ignoring the heavy journals for now in favor of loading the compact disks into the bag. Some slight paranoia made him want to move the digital copies of their work to a more secure location. It wasn't like they were planning to move back in, after all. And they were lucky Maleficent or anything else never got to them. But the journals would always stay here, simply too numerous and heavy to travel easily.

"Yes, but how long has it been since anyone's used the system? It's bound to be a little slow, isn't it?" Vexen glanced back over his shoulder at Zexion. "Try brining up the MCP. It should be able to reconfigure the mainframe for better efficiency." Finished with the bottom drawer, the blond moved to the one above it.

"We should have considered something like a fire safe for these. We're rather lucky they're still intact, after... well, everything." The older Nobody paused a moment, tilting his head sideways as he looked at the cover of one of the journals. "...My handwriting has gotten worse over the years. I never noticed. Huh."

-- Edited by Frozen Scholar on Thursday 2nd of April 2009 06:33:33 PM

PlotAccount · Naughts and Hollows Everywhere!

Koszmar may have been from a world that had no such technology such as this but that did not stop her. The pain and nightmares she was causing Tron was incentive enough for him to help her. Though he still fought against the illusions she placed in his mind and the pain she gave his form through yet more illusions. He was strong willed, she commended him for it, though he was a fool.

He would still give in.
And he did.

His fingers typing in the commands she watched him over his shoulder, the mirror held out to the side, "Keep typing, or I will show you more. More and more until you lose your precious little mind."
It seemed like a long and dull process as she stood their waiting, but finally Tron hit the enter bottom one last time and stepped back.
"It's done."

She grinned, "So the cities defences are down?"
Tron nodded brokenly before she grabbed his hand, "One last thing. Scramble the password, I want their to be no chance of them interfering and restoring the defence system. That is one nuisance out of my way."
Tron's finger hesitated and she brought the mirror closer, "Need some incentive?"
A shake of his head and a deep shudder before he scrambled the master password.
"Good. Now send me out of here. I have mass mayhem to create."

Koszmar slowly re-appeared in the computer room where Zexion and Vexen stood. The computer putting her back together from the computer world she had been in moments before. Shaking herself once her eyes laid on Vexen and Zexion.
"No luck, I'm afraid your locked out."

Raising her mirror again so once they turned if they dared try to attack her she could hit them with her Nightmare ability.

LionHeart · Leon!Lion

Leon knelt down on one knee his fingers again running along the gauges in the stone ground, even his masculine adult fingers seemed dwarfed by the deep and long gauges. For a moment he was not their in the sense of paying attention to the blonde, thinking to himself. He had made himself protector of this world and restorer, he had not wanted the responsibility at first. No, he had not, just like Commander. But he knew this was his way of repentance, of forgiving himself for not seeing what was coming on his own world. Of Rinoa's descent into madness and the worlds impending destruction. To himself he knew he had failed his world and their was no way he was failing this one. Blinking a moment at the stone as Clouds words filtered through.

"Yes, though most have heard the news already and are staying inside. We should make certain all know of what has happened."
Standing straight again he regarded the blonde in silence once more.

The defence system in noise and appearance had become something that once it was working was taken for granted and was nearly un-noticed by most of the populace. The background noise of the morning had only been the sounds of the wind, some birds and the popping of the defence system when it came down and then disappeared.

Now suddenly the popping noise was gone, and even in the back alleys of Radiant Garden usually the defence system could be occasionally seen filtering onto the ground before disappearing. It was no longer doing so.

Leon's eyes looked about the alley a moment narrowing and he moved past Cloud in silence. That he had something he was doing was apparent as he moved past the alley with Riku and Sora back to the main entrance to the alleys.

Scanning the marketplace, and as far as he could see to the bailey their was, no, popping. No appearing defence system. His eyes widened and his fist clenched at his side. Something was dreadfully wrong. Deeply, deeply wrong. It was far to quiet and he knew the defence system was down. How? The only noise was the slight wind, even the birds having deserted.

It made the swishing noise that was discernable of a portal of darkness that much easier to hear, followed again by three more, though these portals were different not darkness as Leon had seen before from the Organization's arrival to goaded Sora when Sora had arrived in Radiant Garden after his sleeping so long. These were light portals. But the creatures that exited these four portals were all alike.

Leon first noticed that the creatures had no eyes, that their was a black strip of nostril down their face, and grinning sharp teeth. The stretching white skin over their forms and how two of them suddenly grew from one arm, another with the same long sharp claws. Claws that could have easily gauged the stone as had been done in the areas in the alleyway. It was only the fact that Leon had been fighting so long and had seen so much that allowed him the fluid motion of pulling his Gunblade from his waist into his hands. They were horrific, far worse then any Heartless or Nobody that Leon had come across, nearly any monster he had come across also on Archipelago.

Two of the Faceless now had four arms, the other two gave a keening moan, solidifying at their side another exactly like them. So now their was six Faceless facing the alley in the middle of marketplace square. They were sniffing the air and though they had no visible eyes knew at the very least that Leon was their. Close by.

(Please re-read the combat abilities of the Faceless, and their defenses before engaging them thank you! You are in control of the faceless you are fighting! (One on one for now, or in the circumstances of the ones that fight the Faceless who is using the illusion, two.) As combat will go very slow if I must control all of the Faceless through combat. Remember they are not one hit kills, if you make the combat really easy for yourself I'm going to be a little angry.)

-- Edited by LionHeart on Tuesday 14th of April 2009 03:41:52 PM

--Strife · Puppies and Wolves In Your SOLDIER!

Somehow before even that silence that had stretched between them, Cloud had known that Leon was not paying attention. The way his attention was drawn as he dragged his fingers against that second set of gouges in the stone, a feat which no man could have possibly achieved. It was as Aerith had put it so many times, easier to read one who was similar to you. And in so many ways the two men were similar, both had dark painful pasts- or at least that’s what Leon appeared to have and the blond knew his own all too well. Both were hardened fighters and both, well both had their own silence. Yuffie would have said they were both antisocial emo, but that was not it.

It was more than that.

Compared to Leon this world did not hold stead to him in the same way Gaia once had. It was a place where his friends resided, yes but it was not his home. He may fight to protect it, but it was less for the world’s sake and more because it was so ingrained in him to fight the darkness protect the people he knew here. So no he would not leave to see it burn.

The streets had been strangely empty of heartless as well, in a way it was almost eerie, either that or the swordsman had had a great deal in luck in making it to the main square of the city without running into a single one. They would still be around surely but he would have expected to see at least one by now. Maybe that was why even the swordsman had not noticed the fall of the Defence system that aided his fight (not that it could not also be a nuisance at times) as soon as Leon had. He hadn’t been listening for it.

The brunet rose and the confused fighter followed him back through the maze that they had come, back to the square, and only was it then that the blond realized what he was listening for. The defence system was what made the city so safe to live in and without it…

Still how could have anyone shut it down? The only people he knew who knew how to work it were Cid and the man beside him. Neither of whom would have willingly turned it off. Which could only mean that there had to be intelligence behind whatever creatures these were, like Organization XIII, a ruling body. And that boded even worse for them.

So did the complete silence, not even an animal dared come out of hiding it seemed, as if they all knew what was happening and like the humans that they lived among had decided to hide away for safety’s sake.

Then there was that same sinking feeling at the sound that was all too familiar to the blond, a sound of a portal opening. He had drawn his sword before even thinking about it, an automatic move. But it was swirling light rather than swirling darkness that greeted him. He had almost felt relieved that it could not be Sephiroth until he saw the creatures that were revealed.

These had to be the creatures who had taken the women and children from the square, long strong fingers enough to make marks in stone and far from anything ever seen here before on any world let alone Radiant Garden.

“What are you?” Cloud growled out testing to see intelligence before realizing that it was fight, or maybe they would be the next ones to be dragged off or killed, especially with the way they seemed to be multiplying. Indeed he recieved no answer.

It was a probably rash decision but made with all the information of what happened in his mind as the blond lunged swinging his sword for the foremost creature.

And the creature did not hesitate to dodge the move with almost the ability and flexility of a nobody, white and powerful claws missing the blond's arm by inches as he reeled back. Only to have powerful hands of its fellow twist around his neck.

He managed to hit the one strangling him across the stomach twice (or that general area) before the lack of oxygen started to drain his strength but strong fingers would not let go.

(Changed!)

-- Edited by --Strife on Sunday 19th of April 2009 12:28:58 PM

Riku · Way To Dawn

"That could be it," Riku nodded, but there was doubt both in his tone and in his movement. The logic was as good as any that could be found in a situation like this - it was pretty likely that the beasts, whatever they might be, were testing this world and attempting to see if there were any warriors which might stand a chance against their claws; the only problem with that was figuring out why they didn't stay to face the warriors, the fighters outraged and drawn by this meaningless violence. If they were just looking for a fight, then why not stay once it was begun? "If they're anything like the heartless, then maybe they're trying to draw out the keyblade - though I don't know why they'd choose this world, if that was what they wanted."

Of course, if they did want the keyblade and its bearer, then they'd have to go through Riku, first. The only problem with that internal show of bravado was that Riku couldn't be sure that it was possible to protect entirely against something which could score stone and destroy lives with such silent efficiency - not without some greater understanding of the how and the why. Then again, Riku had once been the sort to choose action before careful thought - and he could be that again, should it mean being able to protect Sora, and the innocent bystanders of this world, from whatever it was that threatened them.

"I don't think we're going to be able to tell anything from this," he sighed and shook his head. Doubt was quickly replaced with a sense of frustration and Riku moved to pull himself to his feet. "Maybe we should head back and--"

Riku came to a sudden and abrupt halt, both in words and in movement. His head ****ed to one side and he swore that he could feel the hackles at the back of his neck begin to rise. That earlier feeling that something was very, very wrong asserted itself again, but its earlier mildness was now lost - where it initially had been but a faint whisper, that impending feeling was all but a slap to the face. His brow furrowed and, frowning his concern, Riku finally allowed himself to summon Way to Dawn to his hand.

Only reinforcing his sense that something was wrong, Riku turned in time to see Leon stride past the mouth of the alley and he wasted no time in following the brunette warrior's lead. Sure that Sora would be only a step behind, Riku moved quickly to follow, but he drew up short upon coming to the clearing where both the older warriors had paused. The sickeningly familiar sound of dark portals being opened robbed Riku of any questions which he might have been spoken, and the arrival of strange new creatures struck him entirely still.

This paralysis lasted only a bare moment which was rather a stroke of luck, since one of the creatures had turned what would logically be its head toward Riku's position. The silver-haired keyblader quickly flowed into a fighting stance and he moved to engage this one before its attention could move along to anything else.

Sora · Will Give You The Puppy Dog Eyes!

"But... if they're just after the keyblades, why didn't they attack Destiny Islands?" Sora asked, moving a little bit closer to his friend. He really didn't think that whomever, whatever was behind these attacks was after the keyblade or those who wielded them. If that had been so, he was certain they would have heard of attacks before this, would have received some sort of contact from King Mickey.

But they hadn't received any letters or messages from the King. The only thing that had drawn them to Radiant Garden was instinct and the feeling Riku had spoken off, some inner voice that had prodded at his friend's unconscious, telling him that their presence was needed here. It wasn't a lot, but here they were, trying to figure out what had happened to the missing citizens as well as just what kind of monster would leave marks behind like this.

Shrugging and nodding, he started to add his own thoughts when first Leon ran past them and then Riku suddenly froze before taking off back down the way the older brunet had just gone. "Leon? What's going... Riku? Riku! Wait!" He called, running after the silver haired keyblade warrior. Swearing inside his head at being left behind again, he ran even faster, adding a little bit of a magical boost to ensure that he would be fighting by his friend's side. He'd be damned if he let Riku fight on his own again, especially when Sora was only haf a dozen steps behind him.

He wasn't expecting Riku to suddenly stop right in front of him, and skidded to a halt, thankfully only just barely bumping into his friend. "Sorry Riku," he mumbled, straightening and moving to stand beside the other teen. His skin tingled a little as Way to Dawn materialized next to him, and without a second's hesitation, he likewise summoned Ultima to his hand. Looking up, he saw what had caught the attention of the three other men and he felt his eyes widen in surprise.

What in the name of all that was good were those things? They were unlike any enemy the Keyblade Master had encountered in all of his long journeys, a fact that did not sit easily with the brunet. He did not like not knowing what to expect from these... these things. No, not one bit.

A quick glance to his side showed that Riku was already moving towards the creatures in preparation for a confrontation. Watching the sinuous, almost boneless movement of the unnamed foes, his eyes narrowed just before he darted in, keyblade raised to counter any attack leveled against him. After all, Sora never had been the sort to sit around and wait when there was a possible fight waiting to be fought.

He was shocked when his keyblade was not only met but almost immediately repelled by the strange creature. In between the sounds of his companions fighting, he heard a gasp and turned to see Cloud's face turning a rather unhealthy shade of grey. "Cloud!" He called out, taking a step towards the blond warrior, the hand not grasping Ultima outstretched. His momentary distraction proved to be a painful mistake as one of the creatures' blade-like claws stabbed its way through his shoulder from behind. Giving a wordless cry of pain, Sora spun around only to find two of the creatures now facing him.

"Oh, you're on," he growled, pausing to murmur a quick healing spell before ducking away from a sinuous arm that had been reaching for him. Relying on his speed and agility, he danced with his two foes, exchanging ringing clashes of keyblade against claws. He was so focused on simply keeping out of reach that the fact very few of his blows carried the hit power went unnoticed by the Keyblade Master.

-- Edited by Zexion on Wednesday 29th of April 2009 02:50:23 PM

Zexion · Cloaked Scheming KeyBlade Master

"Even after not being used for years, it shouldn't be lagging this badly," Zexion grumbled, typing in the command to bring up the MCP. While he waited for that to initialize, he leaned back to look over at where Vexen was going through the old journals. "Your handwriting was never that great to begin with. I never could figure out how you managed to read it," he snorted.

Turning back to the screen, his eyes narrowed as he glared at the message that had popped up. "Vexen, come look at this. How likely do you think it is for someone to have completely overriden the MCP and let Tron completely run the system?" He typed in a few more commands, trying to reroute the boot menu or at the very least, override the system. A growl of frustration bubbled up out of the Schemer's throat, his fingers fairly flying now, fueled as they were by his annoyance at the system refusing to grant him entry. "Dammit!"

The sudden appearance of a strange woman who was most definitely not human provided more than enough distraction from the uncooperative computer. Zexion's skin twitched with unease as he turned his chair around to look at the intruder. Milky white pupil-less eyes and almost colourless skin were a sure sign that she was not on the side of the heroes, while her laced bodice and fishnet undershirt were a bit out of place in Radiant Garden, which further encouraged his suspicion that she was not from this world. In fact, he was also certain that she was neither heartless nor nobody; she did not have the aura of darkness so often found among both creatures, but she certainly did leave one with the feeling that she did not mean well.

"What do you mean, we're locked out? We created this system!" His voice was a low hiss of displeasure, his visible eye glaring at the woman while his eyebrow arched ever so slightly at her mirror. Honestly, a mirror? What sort of weapon was that? Not that he had much room to talk; his weapon was an oversized book, and woe to any who underestimated its power.

Frozen Scholar · Ice Ice baby!

Approaching as bid, the Chilly Academic frowned at the flashing screen, ears filled with the clack-tap of the younger Nobody's hands on the keyboard. Computer systems weren't his forte, but the blond scientist was familiar enough with their old Master's to know the error messages that kept popping up weren't anything normal. How could it be possible for the MCP to have been completely wiped? And Tron running the system? Wasn't he just the program monitoring communications between the users and the MCP? This is wrong. This is all wrong. Vexen set his bag down by his feet, leaning closer to the monitor as another "Access Denied" window popped up. I've got a bad feeling about this...

Whipping his head around at the stranger's voice, Vexen unconsciously drew himself up taller. His shoulders tensed, jaw tightening, vision sharpening to take in the little details of this invader in their home. Lacking emotions though he was, anything that could even remotely be called 'living' had survival instincts.

And Vexen knew deep as his bones that he was looking at a predator.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” the older Nobody said, stepping out and a little in front of his companion. It was habit, really, left over from their days as apprentices. Everyone had been protective of Ienzo. It didn’t really seem to matter that once he lost his Heart and became Zexion he could easily hand their backsides to many of them.

“My name is Vexen, and this is Zexion,” the Ice Elemental gestured with his left hand, his right staying by his side and getting colder, a fine layer of frost sneaking along the seams of his gloves. Her body language was confident and she held herself in a strange readiness that drew his eyes to the ornate hand-mirror she held. Looks are deceiving I’m not going to be taken by surprise again.

He would be able to summon his shield in a blink, the leather of his glove now stiff with a cold he couldn’t feel since the loss of his Heart. If supposed allies could turn and attack, he wasn’t about to give this stranger an inch.

“And you would be?”

-- Edited by LionHeart on Thursday 18th of June 2009 11:09:15 PM

PlotAccount · Naughts and Hollows Everywhere!

(I guess were leaving Riku behind...)

A soft roll of her eyes, Koszmar, then raised a brow at Zexion. Whining child?
"Oh well then I apologise for making your life more difficult, by locking you out of a system you created. Really I do."
The sarcasm just seemed to roll off her tongue, and her brow raised as Vexen moved to stand in a subtle fashion before his companion. Protective are we...
"Oh no, we haven't. You see I'm not one to tell people names, names have power. Though of course, not many know the language my name is, so you both would not know the meaning. None the less-," she took a moment to think, her mirror still held in hand ready to use it at any point.

Though her brows furrowed the raised one lowering as she could sense conflict elsewhere. She had not commanded them to attack yet! Damn it! The Defense system was down but who knew if they had anything else up their sleeves on this world. She had wanted to study it a little longer, find out it's warriors, the strong points and the weak. But now she was under prepared and their was little she could do. Her teeth grit from behind her lips but she remained the lazy easy going smile that was a lie.
"You gentleman can call me Kos. But I really must be going, I have other things to deal with."
Her brows deeply furrowed, "Like pesky little warriors," she muttered and the mirror raised a little higher, grey light illuminating the glass and swirling within like a whirlpool. Images flashing suddenly within the mirrors depths.

(As stated with the power, the nightmare is your discretion as your character would have different nightmares to another character.)

LionHeart · Leon!Lion

The momentary lapse aside, Leon with gunblade in hands moved forward the protective instinct he had for this world he was pouring himself into spurring him forth. Getting a clear shot the bullets from gunblade ploughed toward the advancing creature. Showing Leon it's agility that was as fast a nobody, it seemed to nearly dance, swaying, curving it's form around the bullets. Only one out of the four he had quickly shot hitting the creature. Jarring it for only a moment, the bullet lodged in one of it's four arms. The monster kept advancing though seconds later, barely lapsing after taking the hit.

The cry of one his comrades names from Sora's lips did not go un-noticed and his eyes looked to Cloud as he appeared to be suffocating. A curse left his lips eyes managing to come back in time to meet sharp long gauging claws with his gunblade. Pushing into the claws he side stepped trying to move toward Cloud. But a grunt left him as a set of claws wracked his back through leather. Four arms, twice as many claws. Twice as many hands. Pulling away his eyes slid shut as he hissed through his teeth, claws once again ripping down his back. Damn it. Blood was beginning to drip down through black leather and his white t-shirt as he ran for Cloud.

He knew he was being followed, and quickly. But he managed to give a good upward slice through one of the two nearest Cloud, the one that was trying to suffocate him. Slicing through he spun to the left, the claws wracking his right ribcage instead of his back. Damn it!

Unable to help his comrade any longer for the sustained injuries he met the claws again with his gunblade, grip tightening on it in his dominate hand. His other pulling away from the blade to cast Blizzaga on the monster right in front of him. The ice grew up from the ground encasing the creature completely within itself, the spikes of ice in all directions of dark purple. The ice cracking the creature seemed to shudder deeply, a moment reeling from the damage. Taking that moment Leon threw up a Cura over himself, light blue sparkling light surrounding him healing the wounds on his back and sides.

(Ugg crappy post is crappy and of course first time doing battle wheeee.)

-- Edited by LionHeart on Friday 22nd of May 2009 12:01:46 PM