((Collab Post between Letter Bee and ShadowVentus))

Taka, having just made his way back unto the ship, decides that he needs to pass some time. What better way to do that than to spar? With this in mind, the hooded Nobody makes his way to the simulation room, eager to gain more strength. He enters the room, starting up the simulation by calling forth his keyblade. The room alters itself to how he sees fit, the room fading into black until only a circular white platform is left beneath his feet. As this happens, a digital copy of Taka is formed, acting as his makeshift opponent for this match. Now, all that can be heard is the swift clash of blades, a trained eye being the only thing that can fully monitor the fight that ensues.

Suddenly, the simulation room would blink red, as the speakers shouted:

"Intruder, Intruder!" going on lockdown. The Hologram of Taka would then change, transforming into a hologram of a man wearing a long set of robes, a turban, and curved shoes. His skin was brown and his beard and hair were white as snow, with the former going down in a wispy white trail. He was somewhat fat, but not obese. He would look at Taka, skepticism mixed with scorn in his eyes.

"Tocsax has earned the right to be, but you have not worked towards it at all. Even worse, I know where you came from, I know who you served, and unlike Tocsax, I see no reason to believe that you've rebelled against them and become your own person."

Constructs of light then began forming all around Taka, triangular and square panes of light forming into giant guns and spinning blades.

"So now, I must test you. Do you, or do you not want to be?"

"If you truly know all of that about me...why don't you explain to me just who I am, then?" Taka inquires before opening up a Corridor of Darkness on top of himself, allowing him to move out of range of the surrounding attack. However, instead of appearing to the side or simply right next to the new hologram, he appears above it, keyblade pointed at the platform. "Then again...what could you possibly know about a Nobody like me?" Taka releases a wave of Ragnarok shotlocks at the area below him, shattering the platform with the power pakced behind the shots.

Hakim's hologram would just float, the platform's destruction sparking no reaction from him. Nor would it cause his constructs to fall. Instead, the man would just say:

"You are a Nobody of one of Mai's old friends, the original Taka. Leo took you to his lair and fed you a bunch of bullshit about giving you back your Heart, not realizing that you can develop it by yourself. He then sent you to infiltrate this group and give Mai and Tocsax to him." Simple and curt. Hakim would then point at Taka, then say:

"Dimensional Anchor!" and a wiggling beam of green light would strike Taka at the speed of well, Light, which was hopefully instant. Taka would then find himself unable to teleport or form a Corridor of Darkness. Hakim then leaned in close to him.

"So now, young Nobody, what will you choose? Evolution, or Death?"

Upon hearing this information, Taka just...stops. He had made no attempt to move out of the way or somehow repel it, for this sudden leak of information about his identity stirred something within him, a dark aura forming about him. "Evolution...Death....what difference does it make...this world deserves nothing more than to be drowned in darkness...and I'll begin by destroying YOU!" the possessed Nobody exclaims, speeding towards Hakim, switching into his Command Style: Twilight Blade formation. However, the dark aura emanating from him corrupts the swords of Light, turning them pitch black along with the rest.

Hakim's constructs respond, four spinning blades of light made from triangular panes clash with Taka's swords of darkness, while the same number of giant holographic guns began firing balls of pure light at the possessed Nobody.

"So at last comes the time for revenge, False Hakim, Leo's Nobody! For impersonating me and casting me into the Realm of Darkness twice, you deserve nothing, nothing but death!" But for now, he would allow his constructs to do his fighting for him...

"Hahaha...please. You seem to forget that as long light exists, darkness shall always remain. This boy is nothing more than a vessel. If anyone is to fall during this battle, it shall be Taka!" As the constructs clash with Taka's blades, cracks begin forming within them, False Hakim's darkness spreading its corruptive properties. As for the incoming light projectiles, he takes them head on, inclined to prove to Hakim that he won't be the one taking damage. These full on blasts of light send him hurtling downward slightly, his hood slowly falling back as he rights himself, revealing the trademarked white hair, eerie yellow eyes, and malicious grin.

Hakim the Wise grit his teeth.

"If Taka doesn't have the strength to break your grip, then he clearly lacks the will as well as the right to live. So..." he raised his voice, "TAKA! WAKE UP! Drive out the person possessing you if you want to stay alive!"

"Heh, you really think that will work? Not only is he shrouded in darkness, but you also have no connection with him, no sort of bond. No matter how loud you believe yourself to be, this dog of the light is now under MY command. Begone!" Keyblade pointed straight at Hakim, a volley darkness-corrupted Ragnarok blasts are fired at him.

In response to this, Hakim the Wise merely created a solid, oval barrier of pure light that deflected the Ragnarok shots, before he would say:

"Do not forget who taught you before you split yourself, False Hakim! Foolish as I was, I didn't teach you all my tricks!" Creating his own Corridor of Darkness, he would pull out a broken Katana..a Katana False Hakim would recognize from Taka's memories.

"This belonged to the original Taka," Hakim the Wise then caused the sword to glow, the cracks on the blade reknitting themselves together as said blade itself grew back to its original size and shape, while the hilt was as good as new again. As the blade floated up, lifted by telekinesis, Hakim the Wise's hologram would say:

"If Taka doesn't wake up when cut by his Somebody's blade, I will have to doubt his willpower more than I do already." He would then send the katana slicing at False Hakim/Taka!

"No..I won't allow this! He shall forever remain within this nightmarish abyss!" A look of surprise quickly turns into anger. Utilizing blades of darkness, he forms a shield against the incoming blade. However, as if willed by Taka himself, the katana slams into the makeshift shield, quickly forming cracks throughout the entire surface. Soon enough, the newly formed blade pierces through False Hakim's defenses. It lands right where the Nobody's heart should be, False Hakim letting out an angry yell as he staggers backward. "How...how did you break through...? You're supposed to be...within a deep slumber...never to have awoken....and yet...ugggh..." Letting out a groan, Taka's body slumps over as the aura of darkness begins to evaporate around him, False Hakim being forcefully separated from Taka's body! His face reverts back to normal, his eyes now void of light, for his heart and mind have now undergone immense damage. He begins to plummet, down towards another platform further below. "No...my vessel...I won't let it escape...!" False Hakim races towards the falling Taka, hoping to recover his freshly discarded body.

But it was too late; Hakim the Wise - not his hologram, but the actual body of the Vizier, would emerge from a Corridor of Darkness to intercept False Hakim, glowing brightly with gold-white light as his portal dissolved.

"Taka has a provisional right to live now, so just as I once sought to destroy him, now I seek to protect him!" Hakim would then jab his middle and index fingers at False Hakim, then say:

"BEGONE!" and a wave of bright light would come forth from his hand, catching False Hakim in full...

"NOOOOOO! I...will...RETURN!" Uttering his seemingly final words, False Hakim disappears, evaporating upon being bathed in the light. In the meanwhile, Taka, still impaled by his own katana, safely lands unto the platform, a gust of wind softening his landing.

Hakim would cradle him, before setting him down on the floor, (Edit: pulling out the sword before) casting a 'Curaja' at Taka, and then disappearing...

GM Post

Tocsax was coming through the corridors (of the ship, not ones of darkness), approaching the holding cells. Looking at Sayaka, Madoka, and Kyosuke, he would say:

"I'm here, and I'm ready for a brief lecture. My name is Tocsax, by the way, and I'm a Keyblade Wielder, like Judah bin Issac here. You've been brought here because, well," he then conjured up a hologram showing magical girls, witches, and incubators, "Kyubey has lied to you, Madoka Kaname and Sayaka Miki." He would then give a further explanation about the Magical System and Witches, and how Magical Girls were fated to turn to Witches given time and despair.

"What?!" Sayaka said. "That can't be! You - you must be lying!" But Sayaka knew Tocsax was telling the truth; she knew it somehow.

"So..." Madoka said meekly, "you were saving us - me - from becoming a witch?"

"Yes," Tocsax continued, "because you are so much more important than even a Magical Girl, much more important to trillions of people." He would then explain all about the Multiverse and the Princesses of Heart, as well as the Heartless. Then he would add:

"In five days, the final threat to your world, Walpurgisnacht, will attack your city, Mitakihara. Walpurgisnacht is the most powerful Witch of all, made up of several former Magical Girls, is resistant to mortal weapons, and also very powerful eldritch entity. Such a task will take up a lot of our powers, so you three might need to learn how to protect yourselves, or at least, you two," Tocsax looked at Madoka, then Sayaka. He would then turn to Drake.

"Now, you wish to talk to us about the Surge Guardians?"

The Training Room

Taka would be found by several Moogles, and taken to the infirmary, where he would continue to receive medical attention; Curaja was not enough. The nobody would find himself being injected with a mixture of dextrose and healing nanomachines through an IV drip, and several painkiller patches attached to his arms. He would also feel...free, free of False Hakim's influence.

It would be up to him if that was going to be a permanent development...

@Double@Arty Fox@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus@supertinyking@SMS

"Hey V2. You alright?" After getting separated at the hospital, Mai hasn't actually seen V2 since then. She wondered what had happened to him and was glad to see him in good shape.

Following that, Judah suddenly walked inside and healed Kamijou's hand. As this was all unfolding, she was keeping an eye on the kids inside the cell. Madoka seemed to be taking this well, or at least she wasn't letting her emotions show as much as Sayaka. Something about the girl just doesn't sit with her right, but she might just be overthinking things.

"Alright," was her only answer towards Drake's comments about having to get ready and fight the Surge Guardians again. A part of her really didn't want to have to fight humans again, but if they won't back down, she'll at least give them a beating that'll stop them from antagonizing her group.

Shortly after, Tocsax arrived to explain what was going on to the girls and Kamijou. Although she has heard the general story before at the briefing, she realized that she hasn't actually seen any Magical Girls or Witches yet.

"Do we really have to involve these kids in fighting?" A thought she kept to herself for now.

The Fairy walked the halls of the Ruler of the Sea with her head held high and violet eyes shining. It showed in the way she walked that something had changed and she wore a confident smile. Her fingers twitched though and every other step seemed to be ever so slightly out of place like she had a stone in her shoe.

The Fairy was still surprised to find how much the curse and all those rules the human had imposed had limited her magic; now she could tug at and play with the delicate magic around her. The Fairy took hold of the magic and pulled together a small bouquet of flowers that felt waxy and somewhat out of shape in her hands. The Fairy also felt other locks on her magic had been lifted but decided to test out her magic later.

Stepping into the meeting room The Fairy was unsurprised to find The Human was already there. She watched him stand up slowly from where he was investigating on of the plate like objects on the ground and gave her a suspicious glare with those blue eyes of his. A metal bar in one ear, a nose ring and shockingly blue hair, The Human looked exactly like the sort of person whose appearance would grab your attention in the street.

“James.” She tossed the bouquet at him. “You may call me Natasha.”

“Fair enough.” James held the bouquet and frowned at how it felt in his grip.

In the awkward silence that followed the pair stayed far away from each other with their own quiet discomforts and twitches caused by little spikes of magic plucking at their bones. Shattering the curse had been neither smooth nor painless for either of them but miraculously it had worked which left them both with just one burning question.

“So” James began with a deep breath. “What do we do now?”

Natasha leant against the opposite wall and shrugged with her arms crossed. “We fight and do what we’re ordered to.” She let the bouquet collapse much to James surprise. “I make spells and charms, you get better at fighting, we go home. Simple as.”

“Well yeah, but what do we do when we get home Chee- Natasha.” He tried to avoid Natasha’s deadly glare without much luck. “I don’t want you in my life anymore.”

“Feeling’s mutual.” Natasha sniffed and concentrated on looking at the nearest dinner plate object as she toyed with her braid. “But right now, let’s focus on our mission; defeating the heartless and saving the multiverse.”

James simply grunted and then went back to lifting the disc to get a better look at it. The two waited for the others to arrive in very tense silence.

“The spell isn’t Fae Magic, James.” Natasha didn’t meet his gaze. “It’s the Thunder Spell. I got a Moogle to make it for me as I couldn’t at the time.” She ignored James’s protests and simply spoke over him. “I can sense you have it on you James so you know I’m right. Just clench the orb in your palm in your hand, and hey presto! You know a spell, but you still have to use it to master it.”

@Letter Bee

Drake nodded and said, “The Surge Guardians will likely be waiting for us in the next world I have two plans to deal with them. Honestly, I don’t like one of them. However, I can’t with good conscience ask you all to fight this battle. They’re Chrono’s problem and in turn my problem, but I also know one of the plans involves me losing myself to the very thing I just been freed from.” Drake sighed s he rubbed his eyes.

“In any case, I’ll tell everyone the two plans and we’ll let the group decide the course of the attack,” Drake continued before he pointed to the three kids and added, “after the meeting, I want these three in the training room. They won’t be at the front lines, but they need to learn how to fight. We won’t be there to protect them when Shit starts hitting the fan. At their current state: they’ll all die. At this point Sayaka’s temper will get the group killed. So will Madoka kind heart. She might be too kind for her own good. As for Kyosuke.” Drake tuned to Kyosuke and sighed before he added, “He’s a liability”

@Double@Arty Fox@Ryteb Pymeroce@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus@SMS@Letter Bee
Meeting room:
Should the group gather in the Meeting Room. Here would be ten Dinner plate sized Disks lying on the ground. The hollow gram on his watch appeared again and Drake pressed a few images on the hologram. The disks began to glow and a small light appeared in the middle of each disk. A hologram of each Surge Guardian appeared above each disk. Except the tenth Disk as It seemed to not activate like it was defective. Drake looked at the images of the Surge Guardians before he turned towards the Group he considered allies.

“To beat your enemy, you must understand your enemy,” Drake began before he looked at each member of the group before he walked towards the first hologram that showed Maze before he began to explain, “Just like myself. We each have a title. Maze is called The Walker. He can teleport through makeshift doors as some of you have seen. He also can use equipment teleportation by using his Battle Shovel. Where ever his shovel should land, he can teleport to its location. However Maze is one of the unique members of the Surge Guardians. You see: Chrono has these dolls that are made of burlap and filled with sand. It’s kind of a safety issue if the doll has plastic or metal parts. Maze is a life size doll. No one knows how he became like this, but he has no skin, no organs, not bones. Breaking him will be a feat on its own.” Drake walked past the hologram of Maze towards the Hologram of Viper.

“Viper, also known as The Skin Walker. She used to be a famous idol in Chrono. She raised in the music charts for her voice and her provocative dancing. However, another Idol came up the ranks and you’d think she would welcome the compassion. Viper didn’t like this new idol and hated how fast she caught up to Viper. In the end Viper killed this new idol and fled. She now works for the Surge guardians. Her Shape shifting ability makes her essential for undercover operations. No one would suspect a rat to be a spy. Right?” Drake said before he walked towards the next hologram. The Viper hologram seemed to scan the room with a snake like grin on her face. When she spotted Seth, her smile grew. The next Disk heeled the Hologram of Alice.

“Alice The Beast Master. Was a run away from an abusive mother. Her mother seemed to drink all the time and smack her every chance she got. Alice would always see a different guy at her house, but she seemed to not care since she coped with it all thanks to her Imaginary Friends,” Drake said as he looked towards Mai and continued, “I’m sure by now you’ve seen how imaginary her friends are. Her ability is to create horrible amalgamations from her mind. I’m sure Mai you’ve seen these things first hand. Since Alice likes to attack women that look like her mother.” Drake walked to the next disk in the line. Alice seemed to draw her gaze towards Mai and smile warmly as she waved towards her. However, that warm smile seemed to have malice and dark intent behind it.

Drake stood between two disks that hade the hologram of Pain and Panic. Drake’s gaze looked around the room and fell on Mac and Chees (James and Natasha). He chuckled a little before he turned towards the Hologram and explained, “Pain and Panic. Also called the Frenzy Twins. Pain is an android since the real pain died several years ago. Panic couldn’t coop with the death of his brother so he created an android and somehow placed Pains memories into the androids A.I. Pain’s power isn’t actually a power. He releases trillions of Nanobots to reshape and reform objects into weapons. The two have a trick where Pain uses a teleporter that looks like a sword to make his opponent’s believe he can reshape humans in weapons. However, he can’t. His nabobs can’t reshape and reform human cells. Panic on the other hand, can morph into a half human half shark hybrid. The plates on his skin allow him to swim through the air at high speeds. I’m pretty sure Mac and Cheese have seen this first hand.” Drake chuckled at his joke before he moved on. The next Disk had a hologram of Damien.

“Damien The Vampire. Not much is really known about him. He’s the oldest member of the Surge Guardians. Anyone who fights him says he has unholy powers, but it’s all smoke and mirrors. Damien’s power is the manipulation of sound. He uses a high pitched sound that can’t be heard by normal methods that sends wave lengths into the subject’s ear and causes them to see illusions. That what whoever fought him saw nothing but illusions, but even knowing this. It’s hard to not get caught in the illusion,” Drake explained before he walked off to the next disk. The hologram showed Mark standing there with his arms folded in front of him. Glaring right at V2.

“Mark the Immortal. He can heal at a molecular level. Rumor is he lost an arm and grew it back after several days. Hell I’ve seen him lose his head and somehow re attaches it. My theory is: if there is a small hint of molecules of Mark lets. He can regenerate. However, for some old reason he hates all types of android. Which is weird since he helped create a massive amount of the androids that work in Chrono’s large cities, but then he just vanished until he was later discovered to be working for the Surge guardians,” Drake explained. He then walked towards the next hologram which had the hologram of Zack yawning.

“Zack The Gunman. Well renounced Weapon specialist. Created many of the best weapons in Chrono that is used in the military. Even created my T-watch. His ability is to create Liquid Metal from his body. It hardens and can morph into weapons and armor. I think that his weapons are nothing more than his Liquid Metal creations,” Drake said before he stood in front of the Ninth disk that had Nails standing there looking at Drake right in the eyes. Drake seemed to tense up as he clinched his fist at the sight of Nails.

“Nails the Reaper. Creates creatures of hell. Mostly they’re skeletons made engulfed in flames,” Drake quickly said before he moved away from Nails. He seemed to hate standing so close to even a hologram of Nails and didn’t give much of a description of Nails either. Drake walked over to the table in the meeting room and placed his hands on the table as he sighed.

“For all of this to work, I must be completely honest with you all. No more secrets, no more lies,” Drake said before he looked at each one of them and added, “There is another member of the Surge Guardians.” After he said that: The tenth disk seemed to activate and turn on as a hologram of himself appeared in the lineup with the Surge Guardians.

“The Surge Guardians took me in and trained me to become a Bounty Hunter. They were like family back then, but I was so naive to what they had planned for me. They didn’t see me as a family member. They saw me as nothing more as a weapon,” rake said before he slammed his fist on the table and added, “Those bastards changed me into nothing more than a weapon for their sick twisted pleasure. I did such terrible things under their guide. In that time, My Shadow Nexus took over and I became even more of a monster.” Drake looked up towards the group before he sighed again.

"Only select few people know what I’m about to show you, but for you all to trust me. I need you all to know who you’re fight alongside with,” Dre said. The holograms of the Surge Guardians disappeared and so did the meeting room. The group would find themselves in front of a burning building. The flames engulfed it as they crackled in the night. However in the mist of the crackling flames. The sound of screams could be herd inside the building.

Drake seemed to tense up at the sight and sound of the burning building and he screams coming from inside. Then, the hologram of Drake appeared again. This time next to Viper as he two watched he building burn down. A sadistic crooked smile formed on Drakes face. The hologram and the group found themselves the meeting room again.

“While I was in the Surge Guardians, myself and Viper where contracted by a woman who owned an Orphanage. Ems a sleaze ball business owner wanted to make the orphanage into a TNA bar. Said the kids could work there since he felt many of his clients liked that sort of thing. I had no issue killing the Business owner. Hell, made sure it was nice and slow. However, she didn’t have the money to pay us. Viper was cool with it and said we could extend the payment to a week. Three weeks later we hadn’t been paid. Nails ordered me to take care of it,” Drake said as a shiver when down his back as he continued, “I barricaded them inside the orphanage and burned it to the ground while they were inside. They’re screams still haunt me to this day. I left the Surge Guardians a week later after the weight of everything hit me.” Drake looked at them all again.

“I tell you all this because I want you all to trust me and to do so I need to let everything go on the table,” Drake said before he continued, “I have two plans: you all have a right to choose whether you want to fight this war with me or not.” He stood up and began.

“Each Surge guardian will likely attack whoever he or she chooses, but we can’t allow that to happen. So I’ll give you all three objects,” Drake said before he began to push images on his hologram. From his watch came three things: an I-Fly, a spider looking robot, and a Fiddler crab looking robot. He then continued, “The tela-spider will latch onto your enemy. All you have to do is say a name and it will teleport them to at person. For this to work you all wined to fight a certain Surge guardian. Seth you’ll t Maze. You sand manipulation should give you an edge. Mac and cheese will fight Pain and Panic. You two should be able to take them down. Take out Pain and Panic will go into a fit of rage. That’s your chance to kill them Mai, you’ll take Viper. She’ll not attack since she likes to befriend women. Just don’t try to one up her. She’s very, very competitive. Ryteb, with your mastery in magic, Zack will be your opponent. His Liquid Metal might be strong, but I bet if you super heat, then super cool it. It should break. Taka should take Mark. I’ll give you something to help fight him, but don’t use it unless it’s a last resort. It’s very experimental. V2 will take Damien. His should work if V2 can turn off his hearing. Once you take his powers away from him. Damien is just a feeble old man. I’ll take Alice since I can’t in good conscience ask anyone one of you to kill a child. That leaves Nails and I’m sorry Tocsax, but I can’t fight him. I was never able to beat him.”

“The second plan is simple: use the Tela-crabs to teleport the Surge Guardians to a single object. That would be my watch. Once there, I’ll use this,” Drake explained as he held out his arm with the watch on it. A hologram of a vile with black liquid in it appeared from his watch as Drake Explained, “Shadow Nexus Primal. A more aggressive strand of Shadow Nexus. I’ll inject this into myself and end the Surge Guardians. This strand will change me into what the shadow Nexus true form it and I should be able to take out the Surge guardians before the Shadow Nexus Primal begins to deteriorate my Cells.”

Once in the Operations/Meeting Room, Tocsax would look at Drake, taking the tela-spider and other items proferred to him. He would then say:

"Your battles are my battles now, ever since we shared your pain - I will help you." He would then frown. "But Taka is out of commission; the circumstances are unclear, but it appears that an incident occured during his own training; Moogles found him just outside the holodeck in a state of catatonia; recordings show a certain old 'friend' of ours intruding into the training room and giving him one of his 'tests' of the right to exist." Tocsax didn't have the full details of Hakim the Wise's battle with False Hakim, but was furious that the group's erthswhile ally would interfere at such a tense time.

However, we have five days before fighting Walpurgisnacht, and the trip to the next world will take three days more, meaning that your plan could still work...if Ryteb gets up at the same time - he decided to fall into his own coma after the last fight with the Surge Guardians," Tocsax sighed, noting v2 was still there but slightly more listless than usual. Drake's strategy, it seemed, might fall apart even before it was given a try. Tocsax then sighed.

"But this does not change anything. I will fight beside you, and if need be, I'll pull in as many allies as I could; I'll even call that Vizier," he meant Hakim the Wise, "and that Old Man from the Mysterious Tower," he meant Alexios Apokaukos. "I'll even ask the Emperor and Empress themselves if I have to." Because you're my friend, and you have proven yourself to be loyal.

He would then look at everyone else, and then say:

"Now, to discuss the fight against Walpurgisnacht in five days," he would then activate a hologram. "Our intelligence network has already provided information on Homura's traps for the Uber-witch..."

Five Days Later

Mmitakihara Town was grey with gloom as the storm warning sounded through the news, with the entire populace of the area being called to take refuge in the sturdy storm shelters to weather the 'hurricane' heading towards them. However, the gloom and harsh weather was not the result of any natural phenomenon, but the greatest of all Witches, Walpurgisnacht, which was approaching the docks of Mitakihara.

Normally, Madoka, Sayaka, and Kyosuke's family and friends would be concerned with the disappearance of the three kids, but Damianos Sardis, the Wizard who always accompanied the Emperor, had used a spell to make them think everything was all right and the three kids were only going for a field trip. Damianos had also told Tocsax this, that he should let Taka and Ryteb rest some more, and let them out only when they woke up.

Instead, Tocsax, Seth, Mai, Drake, v2, James, Natasha, Akemi Homura, and another Magical Girl, Kyoko Sakura (a grade-a jerk whose sympatethic backstory was unknown to all but Tocsax) would be the ones to face Walpurgisnacht, forcing modifications in the original plan.

As a swirling mist billowed out, an eerie laughter can be heard echoing across the length and breadth of the sky, and Walpurgisnacht, a gigantic Witch who looked like an upside down woman in a blue, lace-trimmed ballgown, topped by a set of gears that rotated as the Witch floated closer and closer, causing pieces of buildings to float upward, torn from their foundations, while 'familiars' who looked like moving dark outlines of young girls began appearing out of thin air.

The winds began to increase to gale-force levels, and Tocsax would then say to Seth, assuming he was there:

"Seth, you, I, and Homura will begin the first attack. I'm going to summon a legion of Samurai Nobodies as a distraction, as well as to soak up Walpurgisnacht's own familiars. They will also provide cover for whatever Snipers you may need." As he said these, the aforementioned 'Lesser Nobodies' were already appearing all across the docks, rushing the enemy. Homura, meanwhile, vanished for a split-second - before explosions began to ring out; a shower of RPG rounds had appeared out of nowhere, exploding in a wide spread all across the exterior.

Tocsax, meanwhile, not content with the Samurai Nobodies' attack, conjured up an Ultima Cannon, launching a sparking ball of pure magical energy at the enemy's head, the resulting explosion was a glow of energy that would engulf said head...but ultimately do nothing.

Homura had reappeared, setting off a line of mortars at such speed that Kyoko, who was with Mac and Cheese, would say:

"Walpurgisnacht can take even that?!" the answer was, of course, yes.

@Double@Arty Fox@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus@supertinyking@SMS

Prior to the battle both James and Natasha had taken a moment to explain their names to the others; James having stolen his back and Natasha deciding to take on a new one, neither really felt like explaining how at the time.

Natasha had to brace herself against the winds trying to rip her off from the ground and the powerful eddies of magic that crashed around the group. However, as she watched a skyscraper being pulled skyward Natasha wondered if they were only feeling a small portion of the Walpurgisnacht’s power. She watched Homuras attack intently, even with the blinding flashes of light from the explosions blocking her view, and felt the magic around the Walpurgisnacht churn like waves around the explosions and smothering them.

“You need to tear down its magic first!” Natasha explained to Homura, having to shout just to hear herself. “Get me in close; I can strip away its charms.”

James on the other hand hardly felt the winds whipping at him in earnest, with an invigorating warmth was permeating every atom of his being emanating from his Keyblade. Despite his efforts, after hearing about his past, James couldn’t help but flash a few wary glances at Drake wondering just how much he could trust the other man not to stab him in the back. He stared forwards towards the grotesque parade that was literally tearing up the streets towards them. James held a finger to his ear, and the little communication device now buried under his skin Drake had provided, trying to hear the information he was being fed.

“It’s like the Goblin King.” James mumbled with eyes slightly out of focus.

“All civilians have been evacuated.” He snapped back to attention, relaying the information from the ships above. “So, just leaves that thing and its cronie- RIGHT!”

A trio of shadow witches had managed to sneak around their defences, twirling and giggling like children.

“Thunder!” James shouted and bolt of lightning shredded one of the witches.

The other two however continued forward

---

Teuna watched the band of heroes worked on a plan to defeat Walpurgisnacht from the shadows of the meeting room. She had gum in her mouth and there plan seemed to interest her. She hardly moved from the shadows through the whole of the five days, besides the occasional food break.

The five days passed and they seemed prepared for the uber-witch. But how awfully wrong they were, as the uber-witch and three shadow witches made their way towards the group of so called heroes. Teuna had followed the party, but was still sticking to the shadows. It would seem she wasn’t interested in fighting, but at that very moment the uber-witch would appear to explode. Teuna was actually surprised for a moment before Walpurgisnacht emerged unharmed by the explosion. The sudden firing of the ultima-cannon and the mortars startled her. She would fall from the shadows groaning.

"Oww! Why did you all fire at the same time?!" Suddenly some talk about a goblin king was bought up and then BOOM! A thunder was casted at one of the shadow witches destroying it.

@Double@Arty Fox@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@Gentlemanvaultboy@ShadowVentus@supertinyking@SMS

On a cloud far above the battle unfolding below, a man concealed by a grey cloak watched the battle unfold. Upon the back of the cloak was the symbol of the Dream Eaters, but he seemed to have no ill intent towards the side of the light.

He winced as the ultima cannon went off, his ears ringing from even up in the clouds. He wanted to help them oh so much, but it was not time yet. Upon another, darker, cloud a more familiar person was sat. Retsam was watching this scene unfold with a degree of glee. In his hands he held a green summon gem, which was absorbing excess magic from the fight on the ground.

"Your plan won't work." The cloaked man sighed, exasperated at this foolish plan, "If the heralds of light do not stop you, then your 'master' certainly will."

Retsam laughed at the robed man. "Neither of them have any real ambition." He sneered, a twisted snarl marring his otherwise handsome features, "They do not see the power that surpasses the light and dark. I will be Master of all creation!"

Above the battlefield of the witches, the sky itself seemed to be at war as two powerful magicians duelled each other using the medium of air. Clouds clashed, and lightning shook across the sky, though to the participants below it seemed to be a normal thunderstorm.

The walk to the meeting room was uneventful, it was stepping inside the meeting room that someone caught her attention and stopped her in her tracks. "Who the-?" Mai blinked a few times, wondering who the heck this new person was. Somehow she could tell that this person wasn't an enemy, if anything she felt that he was familiar. But she was sure that she'd remember somebody who had hair like his and the jewelry protruding from his face. It looked painful, but he didn't seem to mind. As the girl walked to an open chair on the sides, she couldn't help but keep glancing at the guy every so often. "I feel like I should know this guy." She wanted to keep scrounging her brain for people, but there was a more pressing matter at hand.

She listened intently on Drake's exposition regarding the Surge Guardians, as well as his own involvement with the group. It was a lot to take in, but she was able to follow what each of them went through and what they can do. Although she had no objections with the partnering of Surge Guardians with them, she felt like she had to raise her hand and opinion. "I can see how you paired each of us up, but is it too much to ask that I take care of Alice as well? Let me finish what I got myself into." The little girl certainly left an impression on her. Even though Drake was saying that killing them was the only option, if he'd accept her proposal, she'd at least try and persuade the child to their side. She didn't even want to think about the worst case scenario. Her hand was shaking a bit, but she tried to not let it show.

Whatever Drake's answer was, her attention was brought over to Tocsax mentioning that Taka was out of commission. She made a mental note to drop by the infirmary after the meeting was over.

Timeskip

The next few days, she couldn't help but feel that they were being watched somehow. She had little magic experience, but she had enough battle experience to be able to tell when somebody is there or not when they're not actively trying to hide their presence. The girl didn't bring it up with anybody, thinking that she was probably just paranoid about meeting Alice again.

The wind was blowing hard from where they were standing, and she was barely keeping herself from being blown off her feet by stabbing her Keyblade onto the floor that they were standing on. She suddenly wished that she had left her kimono and hakama behind since the extra weight is making it difficult to keep her balance.

After a round of attacks from Tocsax and Homura, she noticed that somebody had suddenly dropped in and was shouting at them. "Who are you?" The new girl looked a few years younger than her, wearing a school uniform that doesn't look out of place for the modern day Japan that she read about in the library some time before. Mai wanted to point her blade at the newcomer, but the strong winds were telling her that that was a bad idea.

Everyone who was in the meeting seemed to go for the first plan Drake came up with. He might have not shown it, but he was relieved in their decision. The Shadow Nexus Primal was something he didn’t want inside his body. He’s seen the recording of what happens when a subject was injected with the Shadow Nexus Primal and it was a fate worse than death to him.

“Since you’re going with the first plan, then you should also know that the Surge Guardians will use Fracture Orbs in their fight. These orbs are basically pocket dimensions they use to fight in when they want no witnesses and easy clean up. Each orb is unique and isn’t connected to one another. The only way to escape the Fracture Orbs is to kill the Surge guardian or the Surge Guardian allows you to leave,” Drake explained.

Drake figured there might be some issues with how he paired them with the Surge Guardians; but Mai surprised him when she wanted to be paired with Alice. He looked directly at her and said, “Are you honestly prepared to have a child’s blood on your hands for the rest of your life?” Drake then narrowed his eyes as he continued, “you do know what you’re about to head into right? Alice is a ruthless killer and her monsters won’t go easy on you. So are you sure you can kill her?” Drake pushed several images on his watches hologram before two cylinders appeared in his hands. One was a lime green cylinder and the other was a cranberry red cylinder. He placed them on the table and pushed then towards Mai.

“If you’re truly want to fight Alice then take these, but only take these if you’re truly ready to kill her,” Drake said.

Time skip

Drake looked up at the massive witch and whistled as he joked, “Damn that’s a big lady. Someone should have stopped after the twelfth hundred doughnut.” Drake listened to Tocsax plan just before the attack commenced. He witch was durable and Drake had to give it credit for taking the attack. He took a long and deep breath.

“Alright, let’s see how much lead this bitch can take,” Drake said before he removed his two revolvers from their holders. Lightning began to swirl around his body. A smile formed on his face before he disappeared. A crackle of thunder boomed and Drake appeared in the sky in front of Walpurgisnacht and began unloading his to revolvers. He fired all twelve shot, but the bullets didn’t seem to affect Walpurgisnacht. He quickly disappeared as one of Walpurgisnacht’s arms swung at him.

He reappeared next to the group as another crackle of thunder boomed. He placed his revolvers back in their holders before he took his sniper rifle from his pack and looked through the scope. He aimed carefully at Walpurgisnacht head before he said, “Alright you damn witch. Eat this” he pulled the trigger and the bullet exploded from the barrel of the gun like a rock. There was an explosion as the bullet his Walpurgisnacht. However, that too didn’t affect it.

“The fuck is this thing made of? It took a bomb bullet like it was nothing. Those bullets are designed to punch a hole through Scorpion bee hide,” Drake said in shock.

Pre-Timeskip

Surge Guardians, Witches, Orbs, so much information to process. Seth's expression remained unchanged throughout the entire affair. His grin, wide and ever-so-slightly unsettling never left his face for a moment. It seemed he was to paired with a Portal-user called Maze. Someone who could vanish and reappear elsewhere at will was certainly not an opponent to take lightly. It made sense that Seth, someone who for all intents and purposes could achieve the same power, would have to be the one to deal with them. It was the logical choice. Apparently his sand would also prove a useful asset in the hypothetical battle between them as well. He'd have to keep that mind.

Not much was offered in the way of dealing with the Uber-Witch everyone was afraid of. Their plan seemed to amount mostly to just hitting it with everything they had. Whelp, here's hoping that idea didn't backfire somehow when the time came.

Timeskip

Seth was courteous and let Tocsax make the first move. His fellow Nobody opened up with his Ultima Cannon, not the kind of blast to sneeze at. In the end, though, it appeared to be a wasted effort, the witch largely remaining unaffected, "Well... that's probably not a very good sign." he quipped silently, under his breath. He then just shrugged and let his entire legion of Snipers pop into existence all around. If the Ultima Cannon didn't work, then more than likely the Chaos Buster would be similarly ineffective as well. Even so, if the witch was largely unaffected by a single large shot, that didn't mean she was immune to all attacks.

"I'm thinking this is a case of less being more..." Seth commented, signaling for his hand for the Snipers to open fire. Volleys upon volleys of shots rained in from countless positions. A single Sniper shot alone was not strong enough damage the witch, but what about a thousand of them coming from all directions and coming nonstop? Surely she'd have to wear down sooner or later, "...oh right, I should probably do something as well, huh?" he said with a shrug and chuckle. Suddenly and without warning, Seth made a small hop and stomped both feet on the ground with a surprising amount of force. This allowed him to kick a small standstorm that he directed at the witch. A frontal assault was pointless, not to mention foolish. Maybe though, just maybe, he could conjure up enough sand to hold her down so that she couldn't escape the sniper fire, not to mention whatever other surprises the rest of the gang had in store.

Seth's sand would work to bind Walpurgisnacht, but his Snipers would have the same effects as the others' attacks; nothing. Nevertheless, Natasha would have enough time to fly close to the Uber-Witch, with Kyoko Sakura and Akemi Homura covering for her. Kyoko would draw a simple-looking spear which can split into linked segments, allowing it to be swung as a whip-like weapon, while Homura would keep using her AK-47 to shoot down familiars. Between them, Natasha would have a clear path to reach Walpurgisnacht and strip her of her magical shielding.

The Fairy's efforts, after thier success, would cause Seth's Snipers' attacks to work, with Walupurgisnacht letting off a loud screech as she suffered real pain for the first time. Natasha would then find herself hurled with telekentic force at the nearest skyscraper, her unwilling flight was followed up by three gigantic pieces of debris, each large enough to crush her like a bug -

"Not gonna happen!" v2 shouted, finally making his move. Curving to intercept the pieces of masonry, he used his Keyblade's sheer power to pulverize two of the blocks, allowing Homura to use time stop to allow Kyoko a moment to bat the third block at Wapurgisnacht, distracting her further and allowing Tocsax to blast the Uber-Witch with another Ultima Cannon. Damage was immediate.

Then, the Nobody would look at Teuna, breathing hard.

"You...who are you?" he would say as he allowed the others time to make further counterattacks...

@Double@Arty Fox@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@ShadowVentus@supertinyking@SMS@Lady Athena

Seeing that the others needed help, the cloaked figure whistled. From a strange otherworldly portal a Wargoyle appeared wings unfurled. Bombing towards the Uber-Witch, the Dream Eater unleashed a burst of flames at her. Above, Retsam cursed, not seeing that kind of creature before. He sent Wyverns to attack the Wargoyle, but the cloaked man summoned Eagliders to prevent him intercepting.

"You, what are you?" Retsam stuttered, taken aback by these new creatures, "Where are these creatures coming from?"

The cloaked man laughed. "These are the embodiments of Dream Eaters, the devourers of nightmares. They helped me walk the path of dreams, and prevented me ending up like you."

The clash continued, now with Dream Eaters and Heartless dog fighting in the sky. The protectors of dreams against the bringers of dark reality.

James was a little way away from the rest of the group, and watched from behind as the remaining shadow children faltered in their attack, flimsy bodies being buffeted by the winds and shockwaves of the battle. James frowned at them as they giggled and danced just out of his reach. Maybe they were intimidated?

The wind around him rose to almost deafening levels around them. A building grumbled when it was plucked into the sky to reveal a set of blue curtains, that didn’t look quite real, in its place. The curtains juddered apart with a blast of music. The parade had arrived and with it came elephants, giraffes, lions and mice of all different sizes and colours pulling cages decorated with colourful streamers.

James fell into a defensive stance but the parade paid no attention to him and simply continued its way. James placed a finger on his temple to activate the communicator. He looked back to see where the children had been above him but worriedly couldn’t see them anymore.

“The parade’s here.” James looked up at the sky to see a strange creature attack the Walpurgis. Just another Tuesday. “What do we do now?”

A shadow child twirled and giggled nearby hiding behind the animals on parade.


Natasha willed herself to move, to get mind back to the battle at hand and her eyes to focus on the buildings flying towards her. Swearing loudly, Natasha reverted to her Fae form and scampered across the cracked window of the building she’d been hurled at. Kicking herself into the air Natasha wings pounded feverishly, trying to push her forward out of the shadow of death and architecture looming closer towards her. Enveloped in darkness Natasha realized she wouldn’t quite make it.

With a thundering crack the shadow above her was ripped apart and Natasha stopped to watch its pieces behind hurled towards the Walpurgis. Natasha took a moment to think and then let an evil grin spread across her face.

Pulling out her box of trick Natasha set it down upon the window, the building she was on remained surprisingly stable, and foraged about inside. She withdrew a red bag, about the size of a human head, and one of the small orbs she used to help craft spells. Her grandmother had always warned her against accidentally damaging them in case. She jammed the orb into the sack filled to the brim with fire shaped crystals of varying size.

Even when the size of a thumb Natasha lifted the sack up with ease but didn’t dare to lift off too far from the buildings surface in case she was torn away by the raging winds. She stuck out her tongue as she eyed her throw, she assumed the giant fire breathing beast and people fighting high above were on their team Natasha made some efforts to avoid hitting them.

“If I curve it that way it should hit her right in the gob.” Natasha grinned again.

She began to spin. Slowly at first but then faster and faster as she gained momentum until she was just a blur of red and green like a spinning top.

“Bombs away!”

Natasha released and then shielded her eyes to watch the sack go rocketing skyward, rising higher and higher up to the battle on the clouds above where it hung for just a moment. It then slowly began to fall, down and down toward the Walpurgis.

“Can we skip the introductions till later,” Drake yelled as the new girl seemed to appear from thin air. He emptied his clip of rocket bullets into the massive creature, but they did nothing but aggravate it. He ejected the clip as a second appeared above his watch. He took it and jammed it into his sniper rifle and yelled, “Anyone what to let me in on how to take this fucking thing down?!” Drake aimed and fired more of his rocket bullets into Walpurgisnacht. He hoped enough of the bullets would weaken it, but it seemed none of his bullets seemed to even affect it. Damn it, if my bullets won’t work. Then let’s try something else Drake thought.

Drake placed his sniper back on his back and lifted his open palm towards Walpurgisnacht. Lightning began to swirl around him as it began to crackle and small sparks scattered around him. He winced and used his free hand to grab his arm to keep it steady as more and more lighting began to swirl around his body. The lightning began to gather in front of his open palm as it crackled and burnt the air around it. a smile formed on his face as he screamed, “ Eat this: Railgun Storm!” a massive lightning bolt shot from his hand and soared towards Walpurgisnacht. The massive crackle of thunder that followed shattered the buildings windows. The lightning bolt then shattered into millions of smaller lightning bolts that continued their path towards Walpurgisnacht. Drakes arm fell to his side limp as small sparks of lightning swirled around it.

Mai brought back her attention towards Walpurgisnacht and away from the newcomer as her allies tried their hand at bringing the massive Witch down. The first few attempts didn't work, but eventually Natasha's attempt gave everyone else a chance to damage the massive being. "Sucks being a swordswoman sometimes." Although she was now capable of magic, she wasn't confident enough in her ability to do any noticeable damage towards their opponent and had decided to preserve her strength for when Walpurgisnacht gets close enough for her to swing at if she gets the chance.

"What can I even do against this thing?" The girl can move fast, but in this weather she'd only be risking getting hit by stray debris from being slowed down. Even up close, the Witch can be unpredictable due to its size.

For now, she watched her companions try and take it down one by one, while trying to not be blown away herself from the heavy winds.

The Wargoyle would blast Walpurgisnacht further, burning her dress and eliciting a shrill scream, followed by a dozen familiars, each shaped like a shillouete of a Magical Girl, which would hack, stab, and slash at the Dream Eater, causing it to drop green orbs; orbs that healed the Snipers and Samurai as they dropped among the allied troops. Then, the Uber-Witch would turn its full gaze at its assailant, and the Wargoyle would be ripped limb from limb, causing more green orbs to rain on the group.

A few seconds later, the sack of fire gems struck the Uber-Witch, causing a loud explosion, damaging her further as Drake's lightning attacks inflicted further pain and hurt, causing her to finally begin fragmenting.

"Woo-hoo!" Kyoko Sakura said, only to be interrupted by the storm around Walpurgisnacht intensifying, such that Natasha and the Wargoyle would find it harder to fly. Walpurgisnacht would then lift up clumps of Sniper and Samurai lesser Nobodies, and began throwing them at the group en masse, forcing Tocsax to roll away and avoid the crude projectiles.

@Double@Arty Fox@Rex@Ryteb Pymeroce@ShadowVentus@supertinyking@SMS@Lady Athena

"Healing," Seth said suddenly. He just happened to be standing near Mai when she questioned herself, "If you can't attack or have no magic, use whatever items we have. Toss 'em to whoever looks injured or exhausted. As long as you think outside the box then you're never truly useless. Now if you'll excuse me."

His grin widened, going from unsettling to being almost somewhat sinister-looking. He'd noticed the damage his Snipers were finally doing and that meant one thing. Walpurgisnacht, the big bad witch everyone thought was invincible... it turned out she could bleed. She was mortal after all. It was time to take advantage of her defenses being down. He was fortunate to have held off earlier, now he could hit her and make sure it hurt like hell.

The Nobody had been holding out his hands to control his sandstorm. With a twitch of his fingers, the sand changed. No longer was it simply functioning like endless hands grabbing at an opponent to restrain them. Instead they became like barrier around the witch, but with a catch. The inner wall of the sand barrier suddenly protruded with spikes of compacted sand that, for all intents and purposes, may as well have been hardened sandstone. Seth then clapped his hands together, and suddenly the spiky trap was snapped shut, like the jaws of a medieval iron maiden. Unfortunately for the witch, Seth was only just getting started.

Without warning, the Nobody rushed forward in a near-invisible flash step. His Snipers in the air had halted their fire by now, wanting to ensure their commander had a clean line of sight. But a large number of them moved their position, and converged in a single location. Tocsax would recognize this, it was a Chaos Buster in mid-preparation. While that went on, Seth launched himself skyward in a powerful leap in the air at his target. From there, the speed he built up and gravity would takeover and he found himself coming down on the witch from on high.

"Fist of Destruction," he said, though no one would hear this. At least, no one except those who could hear through the communication bug anyway, "Dynamic Impact!" it certainly was dynamic alright. His fist slammed into the witch, his body like some kind of powerful meteor impact. By now, he'd fully relinquished the sand and it had fallen to the ground once again inert. Immediately upon impact, Seth propped his feet against the witch's body and pushed himself off. Once he was a safe distance away, his remaining Snipers who did not form a Chaos Buster once again opened fire.

As for the Nobody himself. He corrected himself with a backflip and landed safely next to where the Chaos Buster had been formed. He held out his hand, pointing his fingers in the shape of his gun at the witch dead-center. The Chaos Buster followed his finger's aim and pointed there as well, "...Bang." Seth said with a chuckle, and the shot was fired. As usual, it looked very similar to one of Tocsax's Ultima Cannons and easily matched it in raw firepower.

Through this entire action, Seth's grin remained wide and unchanged. His left eye shone a bright blue. This had happened before, but it was usually in brief moments or flashes. It was persistent this time, remaining blue from the moment he first created the iron maiden trap until now when the Chaos Buster had finished firing its blast.