[IC] Kingdom Hearts: Signs of Zodiac

[Flamelord]

Thomas huffed to himself, biting his lip as people corrected him in this, though at least Jake seemed as confused as he was when he returned. Creativity was difficult when your head was a muddled mess of emotions, and he had never been into video games, only knowing they existed when he had gone to train with Donald, and even then not spending much time with them. Some things had been more important back then, such as his magical skill and training, which didn't leave him much time for that. But even just thinking on that, it felt like an eternity ago, a simpler time he had departed from to this current trial.

As their guests introduced themselves, Thomas fell silent, emotions festering as he let everyone else talk, since it seemed he couldn't speak without someone else correcting him or further clarifying what he had said. He meant what he said, and he was the team leader, so why did people feel the need to contradict him or add to what he said. If they wanted things further clarified, they could ask. That was the point of a conversation.

At least some Heartless showed up, providing some relief. Weird types he hadn't seen before and some Junkroids. But even the relief here was shortlived as Oner took the center stage, when Thomas had prepared to show off some of what he learned, to show that even though he hadn't had the benefit of a year passing in relation to everyone else he hadn't stayed still either, and to move as he usually did to keep anyone from suspecting that something was wrong with him. That was hard to do though when he cast a trio of spells, surrounding himself in some sort of blue light, his blade glowing in turn, and then an immense blast of magical energy engulfed the heartless there as he used Ultiga. Actually, it was a surprise that any had survived that blast, but some had been out of range, and others were magically resistant enough to tank the blast.

Though he thought he would get the chance to go in now, Thomas didn't, hanging back and clearing away any Heartless that came after him as he watched the rest of the team and the newcomers wipe out the remaining Heartless, a slight pang shooting through his heart that hurt his arm as well as he watched. More and more he was slipping into irrelevance, and even when he tried he couldn't catch up. But he had to keep up the happy front as the Heartless were destroyed. "Well, that wasn't too hard," he commented casually.

[Amaya Tamashii]

Amaya stayed out of the way of the fight and kept her distance from onerous/Reno for the fact she wasn't use to the two people in one body thing, it made her kinda uncomfortable.

She watched joshuas when the fight was over she gently wrapped her arms around his left resting herheaf against his souldr "you will get the chance to fight Joshua...just be patient for a bit longer...atleast do it for me"she commented gently as she sometimes felt she could kinda keep him calmand in control..she just didn't want to see him like he was in Narnia that was a nightmare she didn't want to relive

[BioHazard]

When the Heartless appeared Belle immediately rushed towards two of the ground enemies and disposed of them with her dagger. However it was Reno or Oner, she couldn't see which one, who took out the Heartless. She was kinda annoyed by the fact that she wasn't able to really fight. As the other members of the team took out the rest of the Heartless. It didn't make her dislike Reno, or Oner, but she wanted to fight some more. But if it was Oner who executed the attack she would know that his mana would be low at this point and would take a good time to restore. She also saw that Ralph was only able to slam one away.

"Okay that was that." Belle said. She then looked around if she could spot if the 'Cy-Bug' that had stolen the medallion of Ralph. Or if the enemy was caught up in the attack of Oner, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. "Should we go after the medallion? Maybe it will take us to the place where the Sign also is located." Belle suggested to the rest of the group.

"Well, Ralph and I are going after it!" Vanellope said crossing her arms while saying it. "Ralph and I already build a kart, and all that, and the medallion is our only way of entering the race." she said.

"We'll get it back. After all it will show that I truly am a hero, and not a villain." Ralph added. "But we can't force them to help us, that's up to them." he looked at the group and waited for their response to the matter.

[Joshua Tamashii]

Joshua smiled as he looked over at Amaya.
"I'm sure I will. IT's just frustrating when I had a chance and it was taken from under my nose by a guy I don't understand a thing about." He said in a light, joking tone" So don't worry, I'll get my chance. Until then it's best I just wait for that moment to come."

The current crisis, if one could call it that, being averted he cast his gaze around their surroundings again, looking for any sign of something to investigate. He briefly wondered if he should go off with just Amaya as back up but he was willing to bet that the others would object. Of course if he gave them good reason they might let him go to investigate while they helped out the natives of this world. He wouldn't mind helping them but he also wanted to get a move on. So he closed his eye and tried to sense any darkness close to their vicinity, in particular any big concentrations of darkness that needed to be rid of fast.

[Letter Bee]

Ascot listened carefully to Ralph and Vanellope's words, ascertaining from them that those two were in the midst of their own adventure, and that he and the party were interlopers in it. Well, guess it was time to speak his piece; he already knew what to say to Thomas.

"Thomas, perhaps we can help them?" he said in a supplicating voice; he knew that the other boy was feeling that his abilities had been questioned by the group's actions. Now to add cold, hard reason:

"If these Cy-bugs have a kleptomaniacal nature like many insects, it's possible that they might have the Sign in their possession. Not merely that, but if they're not Heartless, but merely natives of this world, then they might be related to the Main Villain who might either 1.) come after us anyway, or 2.) have the Sign in their possession.

[shadowsaint007]

Jake pulled his axe from the still-twitching corpse of a Cy-Bug. Apparently, these things were not quite Heartless - they seemed to lack the strong vulnerability to keyblades that normal Heartless had. Fortunately, Jake always packed a regular axe with him on his travels; a good arm and a good swing could always be counted on to inflict pain, even with an unenchanted weapon. There were the usual considerations, of course; a mundane weapon's weight and balance, and the fact that unlike Keyblades, they didn't automatically respond to your will, nor are they unbreakable or extra-strong. Then again, that was part of the fun in honing your skill; you could pick up a boat oar and still inflict some serious hurt on an unsuspecting opponent.

Of course, the Junkdroids, while magic-resistant, still were nicely susceptible to a well-aimed Keyblade stroke. Either way, it was an odd assortment of such

"I dunno, Ascot..." Jake muttered. "These... Sy-Bugs don't exactly seem to fit the whole, er, 'motif' of this world. I don't see giant killer bugs as being a natural part of... this."

He gestured to the world around them as to emphasize his point.

"Well, I suppose we can split up," he says. He counts how many people there are. "Or maybe not. Probably a bad idea to split up the party. So yeah, I agree with Ascot; we try and track down these things."

He noticed Thomas, who appeared to be under some sort of cloud.

"Uh, you okay there, buddy?" he asked.

[Flamelord]

Thomas sent away his keyblade as the last of the enemies were dispatched by their group. He walked over to join them, noting in turn that the medallion thing was now gone, presumably taken by the enemy while they were busy dealing with it's companions. Joshua was doing something, while the others were discussing what to do next. He listened to Ascot's request, having to hold back a roll of his eyes at it. Well, it was either do that or go to this race track thing as he saw it.

He put on a smile, a grin like that which had been characteristic at the beginning of their adventure. "Of course," he replied, attempting to recapture that old, cocky tone. "We'd hardly be heroes if we didn't." He struck something of a pose, a dramatic one that he was sure no one would take seriously for a couple seconds, before turning to Jake. "I think we can split up," he said. "Some of us can go after the Bug thing with Ralph and Vanellope, and the rest can go investigate the race track. It's rare we meet something that takes all of us to beat, so it should be fine."

He smoothly shifted into the lie as Jake asked about him. "Got a bit of a headache, but otherwise I'm fine." And for the lie, the best had some kernel of truth in them, and this was that he did in fact have a headache, some remnant of the dark wound that was a minor annoyance most of the time, though it had recently flared and grown with his own crisis of personality and the recent events with Reno. He could keep it under control though, and it wasn't bad enough that it would seriously impede him. Yet. and the less they knew the better.

[Renose]

Reno was innocent and naive, Oner was not. Of course while his limited reactions with people in the past made it hard for him to understand people he could read a mood just as well as anyone. He could tell that some of the members of their group may not be as accepting at the sudden revelation that their existence was different from the others. Of course he was not a mind reader, but he was more perceptive of these types of things.

His keen hearing (as his longer, pointed, elfin-like ears were not just for show) picking up on bits and pieces of Joshua's conversation with Amaya about how he was angry that the fight was taken from him, the words 'by a guy I don't understand a thing about' sticking out to Oner made it sound like he was talking about the Denizen, not really helping in this situation. Why would one want to have a pro-longed battle anyway? There was nothing great about fighting. It hardly seemed like something to get mad about when one lost it. Maybe the year in the Mirror Realm and his limited reactions with others made him a bit too disconnected from how members of the Mortal Realm (as that was what his people called this realm) thought.

To be honest it all made him a little irritated. Sure he and Reno were different, but they hadn't changed at all. Yes their existences may be different, but they were still as human as any of the others here, yet now a few of the others were wary of him and Reno because of their origins? Still, Oner wasn't going to let it get to him as it shouldn't get to him. It just bothered him a little, not enough to start a scene over, but just enough to irritate him a small bit. He kept a calm head, light swirling softly for a few moments on the circle on his forehead and through the markings on his body as he closed his eyes, took a breath in through his nose, then gently let it out, the markings ceasing their glow after that.

"Yes of course. Splitting up for now may be for the best so that we cover more ground. Reno and I shall head towards the track then to investigate". While Oner was more for keeping the group together perhaps splitting up would help kill the tensions of the group. Maybe they just needed time to process the change and come to understand it. Well whatever the case may be with the others, as again he wasn't a psychic as he was just doing guesswork here, he figured something like this would happen. It was just a little more disheartening upon seeing it happen.

After that Reno manifested. Oner's jet black hair turning pale white, the white markings swirling with serene darkness for a few moments before turning pristine black, and his eyes switching colors being the tell-tale signs of Reno's manifestation. With a bit of excitement he materialized his glider, it appearing in a small blip of darkness rather than light like Keyblades normally did. The young magus eagerly hopped upon it. "See you all soon. I wonder if we could get our own go-karts to race on the track?" That thought alone was quite exciting.

With a friendly, bright grin and an excited wave Reno's glider sped off like a bullet, heading straight for the track. After all this was a video-game world and it was made of candy nonetheless. That was enough to get Reno worked up and it made him incredibly eager to explore this delicious looking and wonderful world, which was why he headed to the track on his Glider as if he had not a single second to lose.

[BioHazard]

Apparently Thomas had decided that is would be wise for them to split up again. Well wise, he just said that the problems they would face probably wouldn't be that big, considering how easily they got off in other worlds. Excluding the fight in Twilight Town, but no one of that group or the Six Senses would ever come to this sweet and jolly place. The Six Senses probably wouldn't even know that one of their signs is here. And if that was the case, then the group would get their hands on it anyway. Which was kinda weird. Why do the Six Senses make it so easy for them to collect all the Signs. Is there a bigger intention behind it, or are we really that good? Belle walked towards Ralph and Vanellope. "If you guys don't mind then I'm going along with Ralph and Vanellope. The Cy-Bug probably didn't go that far." she said.

"Thanks you guys. This way we can fulfill all our dreams. Well at least our dreams and your objective." Ralph said with a smile.

---

Somewhere outside the Candy Cane Forest, at the border of the Frost Mountains were two other people who didn't really fit into the environment of the game. One was a tiny man wearing a blue overall, a blue hat, a large brown belt with a golden hammer attached to it. The other was a tall woman with blonde hair reaching just over her ears and a strong metal armor, and a big gun attached to her belt. The Frost Mountain on the background was large and filled with snow, which also could be ice cream or sugar, as the whole world was made out of candy. Ice creams and molten chocolate could be seen on the mountain too.

"No sign of the Cy-Bugs yet." the female said.

"...or Ralph." the male added.

From a distance they heard a noise of something approaching. When they looked closely they saw someone riding a book, that someone being Reno. The soldier jumped in front of the incoming 'vehicle' and would stop it with her hands, or gun if the driver didn't stop himself. "Where are you from? It doesn't look like you're from this game either. Neither of his or my game." she said looking at the boy when she mentioned his game.

[Renose]

Luckily before any sumo wrestling with flying books was necessary Reno saw the woman jumping in the path of his glider, so he quickly stopped, it able to stop quickly on a dime since it was controlled by his mind. The book then disappeared, Reno now floating about an inch and a half off the ground, something that Oner didn't actually do as the other half of the Denizen preferred walking. He looked at the soldier and then at the man as the soldier asked what game he was from. This made him tilt his head a little. "Game? Im not from a game, I play alot of games though." He grinned, not a hint of lying in his voice.

"Im from the 3D world. Me and my friends came here looking for some..." He began to think for a few moments, trying to remember. Luckily Oner was able to remind him from within. "Sign of Zodiac thing." He looked around, his stomach growling as he was looking hungrily at all of the candy around him, seeming like he was showing the utmost restraint using all of his willpower to try and not begin a eating spree. He looked like he was straining himself a little and was incredibly distracted by all of the candy around them. "Still a world and game made out of candy... its all really cool and... tasty sounding..." His stomach growled again, the young Magus not having eaten in a while.

Luckily before Reno could speak anymore nonsense, although his nonsense sounded incredibly sincere like he was telling the complete and absolute truth, he seemed to change as he closed his different colored eyes. The markings and circle on his face turned from black to white, his skin had a little more color to it, his pale white hair turned to jet black. This new boy, who seemed like a completely different person because he was, sighed softly as he opened his eyes, the colors of them having switched. "Thou must forgive mine other half. He is quite easily excited by this wonderful place and I'm afraid he would eat all of it if I left him out." Oner chuckled a little jokingly and softly at the thought, having stopped floating now, looking up at the tall soldier woman.

"My name is Oner and the name of my... other half... is Reno. May I ask your names and if you have indeed seen any... strange objects that look like they are not from this game?"

[Letter Bee]

The boy, having learned to speak complete sentences at 18 months, was just as good at reading a mood as Oner was, and saw that the other boy was hurt, though only slightly. He would have sighed, but he didn't want to betray any frustration at his adoptive brother. Besides, said adoptive brother was a kind person beneath that gruff exterior, so give him some time to get used to Oner, and, well, perhaps he would warm up?

"I'm going after the medal with you, Belle," spoke Ascot next. "I want to help Ralph and Vanellope." And with that, he would cast Haste on him, the thief, Ralph, and Vanellope, so that they can speed off faster. This meant that when it was time to go off, they would pursue the Cy-bug at faster speeds than usual. Ascot pondered Jake's words that the bugs might not be native to this world; might they be native to another game, then?

[Flamelord]

Thomas watched Reno and Oner switch again, wonder when, if ever, he would get used to seeing that. He supposed it had more to do with how the change happened than the change itself, the gradual shift between the two rather than a swift flip making his skin crawl. Well, at least he thought it was that, it might be something else and he just didn't know it, like anticipation of the likely high amount of sugar he would be imbibing during the course of being on this world. He didn't even know if it were possible for that transformation to work in a rapid manner, and he most likely would not inquire about it. Priorities and all, and he really didn't want to make his headache worse with the explanation he would probably get.

Thomas nodded to Belle as she walked over to join the two guests they had met. "Knock yourself out," he replied, summoning his own Keyblade glider. "I'll go after Reno, or Oner, make sure they don't get too horribly sidetracked." He mentally grimaced at his own speech, that dual identity thing being a pain in the neck. He was still working out what name he was to use when referring to the both of them, and wondered how the people in that place he came from handled it. Did they just use the name of the dominant personality at the time? Now that, that was something he would have to ask Reno when he caught up to him.

Barring any objections, he hopped onto his glider and took off, moving at a significantly slower pace that Reno had zoomed off at towards the racetrack. He didn't want to crash, having become more cautious in that since the last time he crashed into a world, and he wanted to get a good look at the scenery from an aerial perspective as well. It was in this observation that he found Reno, or Oner, conversing with some people down on the ground. He flew in as well, coming in for a smooth landing and sending away his Glider as he joined the conversation. "Hey there. I'm Thomas. I'm traveling with..." He paused to check the hair color and other distinguishing traits before continuing. "Oner. Pleasure to meet you." He held out his non armored hand in an offered handshake, noting the differences between the two, the heavily armored warrior and the guy who looked like one of those Gummi ship mechanics. An unlikely traveling pair, but then again he wasn't really in a position to talk.

[Amaya Tamashii]

"Joshua...it seems we will go look for the sign as it seems ascot and belle are going for the sign Reno, oner. And Thomas are grouping together and i am not sure about Jack or whatever the adult's name is" amaya replied looking at Joshua before watching everyone disperse like mist. It was a great worry how their choosen leader Thomas agreed to seperating groups but don't assign tasks it was more of whoever wanted to pair up and more or less explore

[Joshua Tamashii]

"Yeah so It seems." Joshua said, his eyes still closed. He had sensed a slight darkness nearby and had pinpointed it coming from Thomas but it didn't seem to be anything to worry about... yet that is. Still it made him worry and he didn't want Amaya around Thomas if something went wrong" How 'bout you and I split up this time? You Go with Ascot, Belle, and Jake to look for the sign while I go with Thomas and... those other two who confuse the shit outa me.

If something goes wrong or you think the others are mistreating you, let me know. Take your keyblade and shoot a beam of light into the sky. The moment I see it I'll be there in seconds to help. Sound like a plan?"

[shadowsaint007]

Jake sighs. Many years ago, he would have been the one to suggest splitting up. However, time and bitter experience told him that sometimes, it's nice to have the group watching your back rather than diluting its power.

Still, he supposed that these kids were capable enough to handle themselves if they ever ran into trouble. Might as well, he guess.

"Alright, alright, you twisted my arm," he shrugs. "I'll go bug-hunting. You guys be careful out there."

He began walking in the direction he last saw the Cy-Bugs, his keen tracker eyes following the environs and noticing any details that may help them follow their targets.

[BioHazard]

The female soldier lowered her gun, while her companion was just standing behind her. "Okay. Nice to meet you all. My name is Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun. But most people call me by my title, Sergeant Calhoun." she said. She looked down at her companion. "This is Fix-It Felix, Jr."

"Yeah, but you can just call me Felix." he said.

"You probably wondering what we are doing in this game. I got a notification that Cy-Bugs have been invading this world. This means danger as they will lay eggs, and it's in the Cy-Bug's nature to destroy everything alive that they see. And at the same time we are also looking for Wreck-It Ralph, but the Cy-Bugs are our main problem now." she told.

---

It seemed that eventually this group would consist out of herself, Ascot, Jake, Amaya and their two temporary companions Ralph and Vanellope. The other group would be Reno, Oner, Thomas and Joshua. She was a little bit worried about that group seeing as each of them tend to bump into each other. She already saw Jake going ahead to find tracks of the Cy-Bug. She hoped that following the Cy-Bug would bring them to the Sign immediately.

She went towards Amaya. "So how are you doing now? A lot had happened in Twilight Town, which may have shocked you. Do you want to talk about it?" Belle asked. In the meantime Ralph and Vanellope were waking together at the front, probably talking about the upcoming race they attend when they get the medal. If Jake would go search higher up again he probably would spot the Cy-Bug flying through the air towards the giant white castle, probably made out of sugar and glaze.

[shadowsaint007]

Jake raised a hand to everyone behind him to stay quiet - he had spotted something up ahead. Rather, he spotted something buzzing above them. He scanned the skies carefully, before he caught sight of the giant insect flying to the castle.

"Hmm," he mused, before making his way back down. He turned to Ralph and Vanellope.

"So, quick question; there's a castle up ahead, and the bug's flying in its direction. To whom does the castle belong, and how likely are they to listen to a bunch of stragglers and tourists? 'Cause if we doubletime it over there, we're going to have to figure a way to make sure if the castle is clear or not."

[Amaya Tamashii]

Amaya nodded i will due be careful Joshua i worry about you and please make sure Reno oner doesn't go overboard "said amaya hugging him "i should be fine with my brother and belle"she said

[Joshua Tamashii]

"Take care then, be try to catch up." Joshua said, giving her a quick kiss before running after Thomas and Reno/Oner. It took him a while but he eventually caught up to the two of them just as a woman lowered a gun and introduced herself and a nearby man, who looked like some sort of construction worker. Once he finally reached the group he gave Thomas and Oner/Reno a slight nod.
"Thomas.... Uh... screw it don't know which one of you it is so let's go with Mirror Man for now." Joshua said, not really sure how to tell which one was in control of the body since he hadn't really paid attention to the signs before. He then turned to the other two" Nice to meet you. I'm Joshua, a companion of these two here. We're a bit new to the area. Can you tell us a bit more about these Cy-bugs and this Wreck-It Ralph person you're looking for? Did he do something bad or particularly evil?"

[Flamelord]

Thomas listened to the introductions carefully, wondering what had prompted such a pair to come together, bu if he missed his guess that would be explained in time. There was one thing that caught his attention though. "Wreck-it...Ralph?" He face brightened a bit. "Oh yeah! We just met him five...ten minutes ago? Something like that.Helped him fight some of those 'Cy-bug' things and now he and the rest of my group are chasing down the remainder." He'd say this was yet another large coincidence, but that would be too easy, wouldn't it.

At that point Joshua arrived, showing a surprising lack of tact considering they had just met Cy-bugs and Ralph, and it wasn't like the things that fought with Heartless were usually good guys. And while Ralph may not be a hero, his intentions seemed in the right place. But then again, Thomas would know, essentially wanting the same thing himself. If only his mission were easy enough as reclaiming a simple medallion, if that indeed was the whole gist of what he had to do beyond the parasitic bug things. There was some sense of superiority as he waited for Joshua to recieve a quick, short, smack down,given that he probably didn't need to do it himself.