Double

World of Light

The Under ~ Lightroot

Shrine of Light

Starring: Ganondorf (@Double) and Rubick (@Scarifar)
Word Count: 4,031
Exp +5

So here the Seekers stood, staring up at what could only be the lightroot. It was like a circle of massive tree roots that snaked their way upward in a vaguely dome-like shape. They also appeared to glow and give off their own natural light, especially in the center of the roots where the light was at its brightest. It also looked like there was some kind of lift at the center of it. Where it led to, Ganondorf couldn’t say. But if that direction was upward, then maybe this was a way to get closer to reaching the surface? Only one way to find out. Without waiting for any input from Rubick or Jesse, the Gerudo marched right into the brightness of the lightroot and boarded the lift. Rubick outstretched a hand as he hurriedly ran after Ganondorf. “Hold on, now, friend! Wait for me!” he said, barely making it into the lift with the Gerudo. The moment they did, the lift began to rise and take them into a blinding light.

When they could see properly again, the Seekers found themselves transported into… somewhere. It didn’t look at all familiar to Ganondorf. Whatever the place was, the stone tiles that made up the floors and walls were cut smoothly. Very smoothly. In fact it almost looked as smooth as granite or marble. They were also covered in seemingly unfamiliar markings. Ganondorf had to admit the markings sort of reminded him of Hyrule, but he couldn’t be sure. Perhaps this was some form of Hylian architecture from ancient times? Or maybe it wasn’t and the similarities were just a coincidence? Either way, Ganondorf supposed that it didn’t really matter. Up above them the ceiling appeared to glow with a soft, bluish white light. It also appeared to bear the unfamiliar markings on the floor.

Directly in front was a small set of steps leading into a larger room. At the bottom of the steps on either side were ornate pedestals containing glowing blue gemstones that floated directly above them. Similar pedestals could be seen in the corners of the larger room as well. For a place located in the darkness of the Under, this… shrine or whatever it was certainly seemed to be surprisingly steeped in light. Ganondorf could practically sense as much coming from deeper inside. This fact did not please the King of Evil, but it looked like he had no choice but to proceed for the time being.

As the Seekers made their way down the entrance steps, Ganondorf caught sight of an object sitting almost directly in the center of the first room of the shrine. It was a chest, one shaped almost perfectly cubical in shape. And right next to the chest there was a wooden sign that someone had apparently left behind a message on. It read: The pearls will take you where they fly. It was now that Ganondorf noticed that there did not appear to be any other exits from the room, except for where they had walked in from and a second one dead ahead that looked to be barred shut.

Rubick vaguely recognized the shape of the chests from his time in Limsa Lomiscuttle Town. They were often used to store the potions he brewed. Flicking his staff upward, Rubick opened the chest with his magic, revealing a cluster of green pearls, as advertised on the sign. He gingerly picked one up and examined it, wondering what secrets it held within its shiny, blocky exterior.

At first, Ganondorf tried to use his blades and sheer strength to break through the barred exit by force. But he quickly realized that wouldn’t be possible. The barred gate was protected by powerful Light magic, and even with the Triforce his own power was simply too steeped in Darkness to overcome it. Rubick felt a similar revulsion at the Light energy, the Silitha instincts in him urging him away from the gate as fast as possible. Clearly, they were going to have to play by the rules. And as much as that annoyed him, Ganondorf was just going to have to swallow his pride and accept it.

Ganondorf returned his attention to the chest and the sign next to it. What those words meant and how that was supposed to be of any help, he had no idea. But he did at least open the chest to see what was inside it. He found a handful of greenish pearls, five of them to be exact. Ganondorf assumed these were the pearls the sign referred to, but he had no idea how they were supposed to help. He read the sign again and noted the wording: where they fly. Well these certainly weren’t flying, unless… he was supposed to make them fly? Just as a test, Ganon palmed one of the pearls and threw it to the floor in front of him next to the barred exit. And Ganondorf was taken aback when he instantly teleported to the spot the pearl landed on. There was no sign of the pearl, so it must have vanished or shattered when it hit the ground. Still, the fact that these things apparently just teleported the thrower to wherever they were aimed at was quite the surprise.

And that was when the solution to this room became clear. Ganondorf took the remaining 4 pearls from the chest and approached the barred exit. Earlier he hadn’t noticed the gap between the top of the gate and the ceiling - primarily because the gap was too narrow for a person to squeeze through. But it was certainly large enough for one of these pearls to fit through. Ganondorf took aim and carefully threw a pearl through the narrow gap where it would be able to land on the opposite side. Instantly the Gerudo was teleported to the other side of the barred gate. And then the gate itself opened as if in reaction to the puzzle being solved.

Rubick had been too distracted by his own musings to notice, and by the time he looked up, Ganondorf had already thrown the second pearl. Only after seeing the Gerudo King teleport to the other side did Rubick finally fit the pieces of the puzzle in his mind. “Oh, goodness no!” Rubick cried out in frustration, throwing the Ender Pearl after Ganondorf. Reappearing on the other side of the gate next to him, his arms crossed, Rubick said, “To think I would act so slowly in a test of intelligence… my mind must be getting dull.”

”We just came from a hard fought battle in the Hive.” Ganondorf offered in response, ”Could just be fatigue.” As he spoke, Ganondorf began making his way into what he assumed would be another room with a puzzle to solve. And that was exactly what it was, but not at all like anything the Gerudo King expected.

Unlike the first room which had been simple and modest in size and layout, this next room was much larger. There was also almost no floor to speak of, seemingly replaced instead by what could only be described as a bottomless pit. Instead there were platforms of various sizes and elevations that dotted the room. Some of these platforms were stationary, while others moved forward and backward, or left and right, and still others moved up and down vertically. On the far end was an opening that the Seekers could probably presume was the exit they needed to reach. But there was also a more ornate looking treasure chest situated on a small platform that looked difficult to reach and would almost certainly require the Seekers to go out of their way to claim. A similar ornate chest could be spotted just beyond the room’s exit. Nearby almost directly next to the room’s entrance was another chest, this one twice as large as the previous and containing yet more Ender Pearls. Must have been around a couple dozen more, in fact. The objective here was ostensibly the same as in the previous room.

”Great,” Ganondorf grunted with slight annoyance, ”more platforming.” He could never understand how people like the Mario Brothers could stand to do this sort of thing all the time. Personally, Ganondorf just found it to be tiresome. But if this room was anything like the previous, then it was a safe bet that any attempts to bypass the puzzle would probably be met with resistance thanks to the Shrine’s magic. And so with an irritated sigh, Ganondorf scooped up a handful of 10 Ender Pearls from the chest to add to the 3 he still carried from the previous room for a total of 13. Hopefully that would be enough.

Rubick took a couple full sets of 16 Ender Pearls, intent on securing the ornate chest that was away from the intended path. “I like to think of it as a challenge to my intellect. And I have no doubt we will be rewarded for our troubles,” Rubick said, casually tossing a pearl up into the air and catching it as it fell. It was a simple matter of calculating the correct timing of the moving platforms, the arc of the throw, and the margin of error for his hand-eye coordination. Sure, he could always just use his Blink Dagger or Weaver’s Warp to access the chest, but that would be boring. So he would proceed to throw the pearls, landing on platform after platform.

The platforming challenge, though dangerous due to the precarious nature of the floating platform, proved in the end to not be quite as daunting as it first appeared. With a bit of patience and observation, Ganondorf was able to realize that some of the moving platforms came within reasonable distances of one another, provided he was patient enough for the movement pattern to go just right. And so, while it was somewhat slow, the Gerudo King’s patience ultimately allowed him to reach the other side of the room with little incident. He did end up using the majority of his 13 Ender Pearls, but perhaps the next room wouldn’t be so reliant on them? He hoped so, by this time he had begun to notice a few aches and sores in his joints that appeared to be the result of using the Ender Pearls. If they were actually causing harm each time they were used, then he and Rubick would need to take care not to overdo it with them. He took a glance behind him to see how Rubick was faring.

Rubick teleported from platform to platform, casually tossing an Ender Pearl every time he did so. By now he had gotten the hang of using them, even to the point of throwing a Pearl as soon as he landed. It wasn’t long before he finally made it to the chest. “At last…” Rubick said, lifting the lid and claiming his prize.

For Rubick

Totem of Casting All who are near this totem feel an invigorating aura around their artifacts. Boosts the effects of magical items (but not weapons) within an area

Rubick held it up and examined it for a brief period of time, noting its effects. Then he stored it away in his robes. Its effects may prove to be useful. He then checked his supply of Ender Pearls, noting that he had used more than half of them to reach this treasure. Fortunately, he didn’t have to travel too far to reach the end, so Rubick wasn’t worried and knew he would make it back.

Seeing that the magus was clearly trying for the chest nestled out of the way, Ganondorf figured he was handling himself well enough and instead turned his attention to the ornate chest next to the barred door that had now opened as soon as Ganondorf reached this side of the room. He knelt down and opened the chest, then pocketed its contents.

For Ganondorf

The Last Laugh
Silver like moonlight. Gold like greed. Strange, distorted laughter seems to whisper from these menacing looking sickles. Their light weight and sharp edges suit fast, short-ranged attacks. Mobs killed by them may drop emeralds as a bonus

”I think those pearls might be causing a side effect.” Ganondorf noted to Rubick once the pair of Seekers were making their way into what they hoped would be the final room, ”Did you start having any aches and pains as you made your way across the platforms too?”

“Ah, so you too experienced it. But not to worry, for I’m already prepared to handle that sort of minor discomfort,” Rubick replied, lifting a foot to reveal his Tranquil Boots, glowing green with restorative energy. “As long as I have these, I will be fine,” Rubick reassured Ganondorf, putting his foot back down.

When the two Seekers finally entered the third room, they found this one to be quite different. Rather than a large bottomless pit, it instead was like a wide corridor featuring water rushing down it and into a chasm at the starting end of the room. This canal had platforms floating atop its surface at various distances from the canal’s walls that all eventually went careening into the seemingly bottomless chasm. And yet, the platforms never stopped floating down the canal, as if some invisible force was simply conjuring new ones to replace the previous ones. The corridor itself appeared to stretch for at least a couple hundred meters or so, at which point a barred wall blocked all passage save for the canal and the platforms floating atop. The wall left a narrow gap above the water’s surface, just large enough for the platforms to float beneath it, but that was it. And so even if the Seekers reached it they would have to use an Ender Pearl throw to get themselves to the other side. Beyond the barred wall, the canal continued for another couple hundred meters until there was finally the opposite side of the room along with the room’s exit and an ornate chest on the ground next to it.

Near the room’s entrance was yet another double chest containing several stacks of Ender Pearls. Ganondorf couldn’t help but groan a bit, ”So not only are we still doing platforms, but now we’ll have to race against the flow of a river that leads into a bottomless waterfall?” he asked somewhat incredulously as he peered down into the chasm that the waterfall fell into. But with a sigh he opened the double chest and pocketed two stacks of 16 Ender Pearls. Then he walked to the edge of the chasm, took aim, and threw a pearl at the surface of an approaching platform.

The challenge here was quite apparent. No longer could they just sit and wait for the platforms to move how you wanted them to like in the previous room. Now it was a race against the clock to either teleport their way down the canal to the room’s exit, or go tumbling down the waterfall to their doom. But when Ganondorf threw a Pearl and teleported to the next platform he was aiming for, another layer of the room’s challenge made its presence known. Ganondorf saw a humanoid shape seemingly appear out of nowhere within the water, and then watched as a green-skinned zombie with ragged clothes and covered in seaweed or algae grabbed onto the platform’s edge and pulled itself up. And it wasn’t alone. A second watery zombie climbed up onto the platform from the opposite side, except this one was wielding a green trident.

But if they expected the Gerudo King to panic, what they actually got was quite the opposite. Instead he just grinned a wicked smile, as if relieved that all he had to worry about was defeating enemies rather than something more complicated or puzzling. Ganondorf decided to put his newest treasure to use and brandished the silver and gold sickles he had acquired in the previous room. Dispatching these creatures was simple enough. They seemed rather straightforward and dull in their attack pattern. But their purpose in this room was clear: to make getting from platform to platform a slower process than it otherwise would be. Not that Ganondorf was worried, he’d gladly just cut down whatever foes tried to attack him as he progressed and pocketed whatever they dropped as result of being killed.

“Well, it wouldn’t be a challenge if it were easy,” Rubick said, also replenishing his supply of Ender Pearls from the double chest. Rather than shirking away from the challenge, he relished it. He was about to join Ganondorf on a nearby platform when the Drowned emerged from the water’s surface and attacked. Rubick was surprised for a moment; clearly there was more to the challenge than it first appeared. Rubick quickly regained his composure and continued to progress through it. He would throw Pearl after Pearl onto the platforms, blasting away at the Drowned and looting what they dropped. Rubick laughed in delight; he felt it had been a while since he last received some entertaining mental stimulation, and he would be determined to spend every second of it wonderfully.

Ganondorf, on the other hand, was more eager to just get to the end of the room. So he tried to focus on throwing Pearls from platform to platform rather than let himself get distracted by the Drowned. This proved impossible at times, and he would occasionally be forced to fight off the abominations that managed to attack him before he could get away from a platform. As this happened every now and then, one of the Drowned dropped a green gemstone that he almost thought was a Rupee at first, but turned out to be emeralds upon closer inspection. Obviously he’d pocket those whenever they dropped along with anything else. He thought about taking their Spirits too, but decided against it because it seemed likely they’d just fade away before he could do anything useful with them. And then there was that barred wall at the halfway point. The Gerudo King knew he had to be quick there if he wanted to reach the other side without incident. He did, for the most part.

About five platforms and nearly ten more Drowned later, Ganondorf was finally - FINALLY - at the end of the canal. When he teleported off his last platform he breathed an exasperated sigh of relief. And he also muttered to himself that this had better be the final challenge. But still, the ornate chest awaited and so without any further ado, the Gerudo knelt and opened it.

For Ganondorf

Phantom Familiar
For reasons unknown, this Phantom is friendly and can even fly around during the day! It's invincible, though attacks will pass right through it so it's not usable as a meat shield, and it can teleport to its owner if separated. While passive in nature and not very intelligent, it has a hunter's instincts and can provide basic tracking and guidance functions. In a pinch, it can even be grabbed in order to serve as a glider. What a great, if somewhat creepy, pet!

He was not expecting a living creature to be in the chest. But then, was this flying creature even living at all? With its bony exo-skeleton and what appeared to be exposed muscle tissue it almost looked like it could be some form of undead. But more importantly, the creature didn’t appear to be hostile at all. The Phantom instead just slowly soared around Ganondorf in a gliding motion. Like some kind of pet falcon or the like.

Rubick popped into existence next to Ganondorf, the purple particles from the Ender Pearl coming off him. “Ah, I didn’t expect a companion to appear from the chest! How wonderful! Perhaps it can act as a Courier," Rubick said.

”Perhaps.” replied Ganondorf. But he could study this creature another time. For now he just wanted to get out of this blasted temple. And so the two Seekers exited the canal room and entered the next. And this room was yet again quite different. It wasn’t large, nor was it long or wide. Instead it was closer to medium-sized. And at its center, a pair of unfamiliar statues appeared to stand atop a circular pedestal on an elevated platform, flanked on both sides by stone pillars.

Rubick stared at the two statues, pondering their purpose. The history of the room didn’t concern him so much as the secrets it held, though. And where there’s secrets, there’s knowledge to gain. He chuckled, anticipating more challenges to test their mettle. After all, knowledge is power, and Rubick was keen to wrest it out of here and into his hands.

Ganondorf stared at the two statues for what felt like a very long time. They weren’t familiar to him at all, and yet… somehow they were familiar at the same time. The woman depicted was clearly a Hylian, confirming the Gerudo King’s suspicion that this Shrine was of Hylian origin. But the goat-like man? He didn’t look like any race or species Ganondorf had ever heard of. After that long moment of staring, Ganondorf finally spoke. ”Odd. I’m sure I’ve never seen these people before.” he said in reference to the statues, ”So why, then, do I get such a strong sense of deja vu from looking at them? There is no mistaking that this shrine originated from my world. The markings looked vaguely familiar to me and the woman is of a race of people that inhabit my world. But that alone doesn’t explain the striking sense of deja vu these statues give me.”

“Hmm… this is likely the result of the nature of this world,” Rubick theorized. “Galeem has pulled people and resources from many worlds, each with varying degrees of development in many different fields. As a result, time and space aren’t as linear in this world as in ours. Perhaps these statues come from your world’s future, and you’ve simply yet to experience it.”

Ganondorf offered no verbal response. But he did make a mental note to himself. When all of this was said and done, he was going to make a point of investigating these Shrines further. Whatever secret they held could prove to be of use to him once he was able to return to his own agenda.

Without warning. The ancient Hylian markings began to glow a soft green and even became projected in the air all around. As if the magic of the Shrine was gathering and coalescing into this room. Then suddenly, the glowing symbols quickly converged into an orb of golden light that was slowly drawn and absorbed into Ganondorf’s right hand - the one bearing the Triforce. The pillars then sank down a short way, as if activating some kind of pressure switch. Walls slotted down from above around the statues, obscuring them from view. And then the spot the two Seekers stood glowed with a greenish ring that circled them and then lifted them up in a way nearly identical to how they first entered the Shrine. They were lifted up into a bright light only to find themselves transported away.

The sudden increase in activity brought Rubick into high alert, and he readied his staff in anticipation. As it turned out, however, there was no need for alarm just yet. A platform simply lifted him and Ganondorf into the air, presumably to tackle whatever this place had in store for them. However, the Seekers would find themselves not in another room of the Shrine. Instead they discovered that this was in fact the end of the Shrine and that they had now successfully cleared it. As a result: Ganondorf, Rubick, and even Jesse - who did not enter the Shrine with them - were transported elsewhere by the Shrine's power.

The sight that now greeted the Seekers was the warm, orange glow of a setting sun… for they were now finding themselves on the surface once more.

World of Light

Suoh - The Madness Inside

Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Roxas’ @Double, Sakura’s @Zoey Boey, Pit’s @Yankee, Luka, Yuito, Hanabi
Word Count: 4,419
Exp +5

While the Sectopod made its last stand, Sasha made a beeline for his partner. Given wings by his fear, he closed the distance in mere moments. One of the enemies that Milla had engaged, Roxas, was down for the count, but the other stood over her with something bright and pink in her hand. Milla herself was in dire straights, covered in electric burns and losing blood from horrendous claw marks on one shoulder. Sasha wasn’t one to give into his emotions, but in this instant all his panic and anger boiled straight to the surface. “You!” As Midna dumped something on her, the striped pattern in his hood blazed orange, alight with his ice-cold fury. “What have you done!?”

He unleashed a barrage of tracking psiblasts, but not to try and kill Midna just yet. Instead, these were meant to ward her off while he sprinted the final stretch. He could see that something had just happened to Milla, and her life was his number one priority. As he slid up to her on his knees and reached out to take hold of her, his anger turned to confusion. “What the…Milla! Are you okay?”

In his arms he held his partner just as she used to be. Milla’s skin, her hair, her clothes, and even her emerald green eyes were just as they were when they first found one another in this psychic dystopia. That included her health; somehow, she seemed to be in perfect physical condition. Next to her lay the spirits of Earthspirit and Bellina. “...Sasha?” she murmured, blinking blearily up at him as if she’d awoken from a bad dream. “What happened?”

“I wish I knew. You’ve been defused somehow.” He helped her into a sitting position, then gave Midna a guarded look. She’d gone from almost killing Milla to restoring her somehow, and she had yet to attack, so he hadn’t a clue what might happen next.

The princess for her part also looked guarded, but she had stepped back to give them space when Sasha had come running over, and she wasn’t priming to attack them either. She had also taken the liberty of poking the spirits that had popped out of the psychic with her stick in order to portal them away before doing so, thus ‘disarming’ her.

She’d also slid her mask down so they could see her face, and more specifically one of her eyes, so that Milla would be able to see the difference between her’s and Sasha’s ”I removed the glare Galeem put in your eyes, the one that prevented you from seeing that what it has created isn’t how things should be” she explained loosely, adding ”you’ll find you can remember what used to be now, where you really come from” and relying on the woman’s own memories to bring more context to her statements.

Nearby, Roxas had once again managed to push himself back up into a kneeling position, ”She’s telling the truth.” he said, to add to Midna’s explanation. He struggled his way back onto his feet and slowly moved to stand beside the Twilight Princess. His steps looked a bit uneven and forced. He hadn’t been healed from all the damage and he was still exhausted. So naturally he would be looking a bit haggard right now.

”I know it sounds unbelievable. But we swear it’s the truth. It’s the whole reason we came to this city in the first place.” Roxas then took a few more uneven steps forward, so that Midna and the two Psychonauts were the same distance from him. Then he weakly held his arm straight up and summoned one of his Keyblades, ”Heal!” his MP had come back and he used it to cast Curaga, which undid the remainder of the injuries he had sustained. But it didn’t affect just him. It also affected Midna… as well as Milla and Sasha. So whatever damage Sasha had taken would be mostly healed now. This was as good of a show of faith as Roxas could think of doing.

Sasha stayed quiet while the two spoke. He didn’t grasp every last thing they said, and he couldn’t, but he considered their words. How things should be…where you really come from. Was there something that had been kept secret from him? He remembered where he came from, from his childhood in Germany as a shoemaker’s son through countless adventures up to the recent crisis of Maligula’s revival. Then…Midgar and the Ever Crisis. A new psychic organization to face a new threat. Serving, protecting, growing more powerful to combat ever more dangerous enemies. And growing still closer to Milla. Was there something even now that he wasn’t remembering? He knew how things should be, too. As well as how far short Midgar fell. Things were bad everywhere in this city, even on the plates. In order to keep moving forward toward a brighter future, one small step at a time, hard choices had to be made. Now, though, Sasha felt less certain.

Before he sorted out his thoughts, Roxas cast a healing spell. Milla was in perfect condition, but the damage Pit and the others worked so hard to inflict on Sasha vanished. He scarcely realized how much he’d been aching until it all disappeared. After a moment he stood, helping Milla to her feet. They’d been through so much already. Fighting together. Changing together. But now, she really was just as perfect as he remembered, while he remained rather different. Still, however they might find themselves, they still had one another. After having come so close losing her, Sasha realized there was nothing more important to him. He turned to face the Seekers.

“I don’t know what to make of all this. Or what to believe. But Milla is alive, and we have you to thank. If you were really our enemies you could have struck her down, and my heart along with it, but you did not. Whatever the truth of your case may be, we owe you. If not our lives, then at least…an apology.” Sasha looked down at the ground. “Go. Don’t make us regret it.”

Milla flashed an apologetic smile at Midna. “I’m sorry, dear. I did see you take my spirits, though. It may not mean much to you, but I don’t have the power to fight Others on my own. I hate to ask more kindness of someone I fought in bad faith, but I’d appreciate them back…”

She was, Midna thought, well within her right to demand them as payment for damages caused to her minions, but ultimately she decided against that selfishness. She dropped her weapon into a portal, before crouching down and retrieving the spirits from another, before stepping forwards and offering them back to the women in an outstretched hand.

”Here, use them well”

The Septentrion took them with a grateful nod. It wasn’t clear whether or not she actually expected Midna to oblige her. “Thanks.”

Midna nodded as well in reply, before stepped back, and then actually had a moment to check the status of the others, asking ”We good to keep moving?” before portaling in some bottles of water. Fighting was, after all thirsty work.

By now, the rest of the team had arrived from the other side of the street, where the burning wreckage of the Sectopod lay in the fresh crater of asphalt caused by its climactic self-destruction. All were banged up, with Luka, Yuito, and Hanabi faring the worst thanks to their multiple downs at Sasha’s hands. Pit and Sakura seemed a little better, but not by much. Everyone was beat, but alive. Luka accepted water from Midna, which thankfully didn’t bear any traces of matter from the Twilight Realm, and the others did likewise. “We should hurry,” the diminutive captain told the others, despite the team’s collective condition. “Raz still hasn’t responded to me. Anything could have happened at the Otherlobe.”

“The Otherlobe?” Sasha’s brows furrowed. “It was under heavy attack, but the Others were pushed back. By now all the noncombat personnel should be fully evacuated.”

Luka nodded wearily. “Then it’s up to us to make sure. Let’s go.”

While the Septentrions went to regroup with their squads, the Seekers went the opposite way, headed for the towering crimson citadel at the far end of Main Street. Scarcely had they parted ways, however, than two more Psych-OSF soldiers appeared. Roxas and Yuito both recognized Lily and Norma immediately, the former having met them a couple days ago and the latter being part of their squad. “You’re safe!” he exclaimed as they ran up, a relieved look on his face. Of course, the presence of just the two of them left him with a pressing concern. “But where’s Raz? Kyoka said you all went together.”

“We got split up by a pack of Others!” Lili vented, her intense frustration writ plain on her face. Though she and Hanabi both specialized in Pyrokinesis, Lili was the actual fiery one in contrast to Hanabi’s energetic sweetness. “He turned invisible and ran off toward HQ to find Zanotto. We finished dealing with them a minute ago. Then we saw you fighting Milla and Sasha.”

Norma seemed to be in disbelief. “How the heck did you guys do it? I mean, you look terrible, but you took on two Septentrions and actually won! You guys are monsters!”

”What gave it away?” the even more heavily fused than their opponents had been princess asked rhetorically, though her tone made it clear she was making light of the situation.

So they stood back and watched rather than try and lend a hand? Luka couldn’t exactly blame them. This had been a battle even he didn’t want to fight, and he hadn’t been confident in winning, either. “There’s no time to waste. Let’s hurry and find them, then.”

The group of nine hurried the rest of the way as fast as their heavy fatigue would let them. Along the way they did little preparations for what may come. Pit swapped back to the trust Palutena Bow, Roxas used Curaga to patch up anyone still injured from the previous fight once his MP had recharged, and those that could stomach it ate and drank while on the move. It was a moment Midna finally used to check in with Hanabi about their shared armament, starting with a question as to why it was only fiery in her hands and then, after a brief compare and contrast, swapping the weapons over so the specialist had the upgraded variant and Midna had the one that worked better as a big heavy metal stick.

In short order, they reached the gate in the stone wall that encapsulated the Otherlobe’s courtyard, but even before they entered they could see something amiss. Only when they got closer did the gruesome details become clearer. They could see Raz, his back facing them, looking down at something in his hand. At his feet lay the body of a middle-aged man with yellow skin and a bushy brown beard, clad in a dark suit with red accents, stained even more red by blood from a vicious wound. Though partially dissolved, the body was instantly recognizable as that of Truman Zanotto. Hanabi covered her mouth in shock, and Luka came to a stop, his eyes wide. “Raz?”

When Raz turned around, a horrified look on his face, everyone could see the bloodstained dagger in his hand.

The scene in front of them put Pit on alert, despite the seeming lack of enemies around. That wasn't the expression of someone victorious, or even one of someone who'd had to defend themselves. Something was wrong here.

Shocked by the sight, Sakura put her hand over her mouth. The sight of such a brutal death of an innocent made her hesitate, but she stepped forward to close the gap between her and her friend, Raz. ”Raz-kun, are you…c’mere, it’s okay.” She said, gently as she could with a tremor in her voice.

As she walked forward she extended her hand to make her intent apparent that she was going to take the knife. What was Raz doing with a knife? It didn’t fit in his hands. ”We’re here, now.”

Midna meanwhile was stuck between a bout of paranoia that someone or thing like Braindrain had gotten to Raz, and not wanting to do something drastic to break Sakura’s approach. So rather than speak up and shatter the moment, she clamped her lips shut with her teeth, and moved to circle round slightly to the side of Raz, trusting Sakura go first, but ensuring she had an angle to intervene should things go south.

“H-hey, wait, it’s not what it looks like!” Raz yelped, throwing the knife on the ground like it burned his hands. “I didn’t- it’s not even my- that blonde guy, he-”

His voice faltered as his gaze landed on one of the new arrivals in particular. Lili stood stock-still, her eyes wide and her mouth ajar as she stared at the dissolving body of her father. While the others fretted about Raz, she slowly turned her focus his way. She put her hands on her head, her teeth clenching as her lips twisted. “...Dad?” Lili began to tremble, the orange cords across her outfit glowing more brightly. “How could you!” She shot forward, conjuring a giant psychic fist wreathed in flame.

“Waitwaitwait!” Raz conjured two of his own to catch the fist before it could smash him down, trying to hold her off. “If you’ll just gimme a sec, I-!”

Lili was having none of it. “You killed my dad!” Two more hands appeared to either side of her to perform a massive clap and crush Raz in the middle. “Get out of my way!”

“Just…hold on!” Mustering all his strength, Raz heaved Lili’s fist (as well as the rest of her) over his head, tossing her above and behind him. She flipped in the air and landed in about the middle of the courtyard, skidding for a couple feet in a trail of flame. In her rage, she grabbed the cord on her jacket and yanked it

But not to activate Brain Drive.

Instead she doubled over, groaning in pain. Three sets of triple-layered holographic ports appeared over her upper back and head, and behind her, Visions began to take shape. Red cables flickering like TV static appeared, over a foot in diameter, tipped with points the size of rapier blades. They lunged like vipers and stabbed into Lili, not just her ports but her brain and nervous system. Lili arched her back and screamed, her world turned white and her mind pushed to the point of snapping.

Then her face disappeared into shadow, and the cables pulsed, turning a brilliant scarlet. BWAOM! A dark digital landscape swallowed the area, encompassing everyone and everything. When Lili drifted down to the ground, the pattern on her mask blazed. With lingering cables activated and protruding from her back, the girl faced the boy who’d betrayed her, ready to take revenge.

Pit twisted around, watching the area around them be enveloped right before their eyes. He knew the psychics had all kinds of tricks, including the hooded power-up, but this one was intense. Was it even normal? "What is she doing?!"

“It’s Lili’s Brain Field!” Yuito yelled, readying himself. “In her mindscape, she’s all-powerful! Brace yourselves, everyone!”

Then the dark dimension blazed with flame, a hellish inferno poised to swallow all enemies whole.

Sakura had no idea the man on the ground was Lili’s father. This was a worst case scenario, and Lili’s rage had driven her beyond reason and reasonable power. Enveloped in her psychic power, Sakura had no idea what to do. But she knew Raz would never murder the father of his friend! Interposing herself between them, arm in front of Raz, she spoke. ”Lili-kun I- I’m so sorry! Please don’t do this!” She begged.

At this point, though, Lili was obviously gone. “Aahaahahahaha!” she cackled, lifting her hand above her head. A palm of flame the size of a truck appeared above her head, and it began to descend onto her enemies. “Raz, Raz, RAAZ!”

”No no no!” Sakura ran and dove out of the way. Kneeling, she put her hands on her head, distressed. ”This is terrible!”

In the meantime a second massive hand went sweeping towards Raz, this one belonging to Midna who grabbed and pulled the shell shocked boy out of the way of what may or may not have been justified vengeance. She didn’t know him well enough to make a judgment like Sakura, but she knew enough that there were plenty of ways this situation could be not what it seemed.

Roxas had to dive out of the way of the fire. After that he slowly pushed himself to his feet. After all the running and fighting that seemed to be nonstop that day, his arms and legs were starting to feel like jelly. At this point his body wanted to crawl into a bed somewhere and pass out. But this wasn’t over just yet. He remembered Lili being a pyrokinetic and just had to hope that meant she could be stopped with ice.

The Nobody weakly held out a Keyblade and leveled it in Lili’s direction, ”Freeze!” he weakly chanted, and began shooting Blizzaga spells at the berserk Lili. He didn’t really wanna hurt her, but maybe the ice could immobilize her or slow her down a bit. Try as he might, though, his ice was of no use. In her Brain Field, Lili’s pyrokinesis was exponentially stronger than before, and it overpowered his ice effortlessly.

Pit's wings were tucked as tightly against his back as he could make them as he did his best to avoid the blasts of flame. The appendages were feeling a lot better now thanks to Roxas' healing magic, but he couldn't risk his feathers catching in the blaze. Seeing Roxas' sluggishness due to fatigue, Pit leapt to protect him from another huge blast of fire. He intercepted the flames, spinning the bow and making a vortex that dispersed them in a small area around the two boys. The fire and heat was definitely burning his hands, but right now it was all he could do short of focusing just on himself and dodging the plumes. The orbitars were too small, or didn't last long enough while projecting the larger shield, to do anything against this inferno.

”We just have to wait her out like the other power up, right?” Minda called out as she set down and then pushed Raz away from her.

In between teleports to avoid the massive spurts of flame, Luka shouted out a reply. “Brain Field places a huge stress on the user’s brain!” He interrupted himself with another teleport to not get squashed like a fly beneath a giant fiery hand. “If she doesn’t end it, it’ll kill her in less than a minute!”

That information, delivered so suddenly, shocked Pit enough that he jerked his head around to look at Luka and failed to stop a blast of flame. He backed up quickly and coughed, beating away any licks of fire that clung to him. Then he looked to the girl in the middle of the courtyard who was already on her way to dying according to Luka. Though Lili was a stranger to Pit, and he to her, she was the friend of a friend - which made her Pit's friend, too.

"What- so we have to stop her! Calm her down or-!" Would it even be possible to convince her to stop? Apparently the stabbed man was her dad, and seeing him caused her to snap. Maybe they could knock her out?

”Alright then” Midna replied, before summoning Roadblock and getting him to beat on his shield while she called out ”Over here. I stopped your revenge, so come and fight me!” and pulled out her sun on a stick from a portal, not to do harm with, but to use its fire eating ability to defend herself.

Lili didn’t really need to give her any special attention, though. Waves of flame rolled across the floor of the Brain Field, and burning meteors descended from its ‘sky’. At the ten second mark, however, Lili staggered on her own, stumbling as she held her own head. Her flames raged on and she went back to normal after two seconds, but that was all the evidence the Seekers needed to see that Luka’s warning was very real.

“This is dangerous!” Yuito yelled at Lili. “You have to shut it off!”

“Lili, please! Don’t do this to yourself!” Hanabi added.

Whether or not Lili even heard them was anyone’s guess, though. “Aahahahaaa! This feels amazing!” Holding out her hands, she sent forth a gigantic flamethrower as long as a bus. “Die already!”

Sakura’s eyes were wide as she avoided the flamethrower only to get struck by a meteor. Grunting, she got to her feet. Lili was about to kill herself! She couldn’t just stand there and watch! ”W-we have to stop her!” Sakura sprinted forward, jumped, and teleported into the air above Lili, to try and bring her hammer fist down hard on Lili.

”Ok guess this is the plan” Midna, who had weathered the aoe fairly well thanks to her summon’s shield and 50% fire resistance, agreed as she moved to follow up the street fighter. Not able to run in as fast as Sakura however, she instead launched skywave ahead to hit both woman with a blinding/healing flash, before she tried to shove the fire starter with the palm of her shadow hand.

Despite the danger, Sakura landed her hammerfist on Lili’s large head, doubling her over somewhat. She seemed to be drunk on power, so much so that her defenses weren’t on point. At the same time, she didn’t have to be, and that one blow wasn’t anywhere near enough to down her. Lili clenched her fist and struck the ground beneath her, giving rise to a huge plume of flame that consumed her and her attacker. Skywave’s Optics Jammer rolled in the next moment to take the edge off for Sakura, but while it did blind Lili, it hardly mattered. With a terrific yell, Lili unleashed a clusterbomb of fiery explosions around her, blowing up everything in her vicinity that didn’t get away–including Midna’s shadow hand, tearing the magic apart.

With firepower like that, Luka couldn’t get in on her. There were no constructs in this Brain Field for Yuito to throw, and Hanabi’s flames didn’t hold a candle to Lili’s now. Of course, their main concern wasn’t beating Lili in the first place; it was that any second now, she could experience sudden brain death.

Lili wasn’t completely lost, though. At the five second mark, she became stricken with pain once more. This time her vision was completely blurred, and she couldn’t even see let alone fight. In that instant she realized that she was about to die. There was only one thing she could really do, and with all the strength she had left, she switched her Brain Field off.

The dark mindscape receded, replaced by the Otherlobe’s courtyard. Lili fell to her knees, groaning and clutching her head as tears ran down her face. Raz, who hadn’t even been trying to fight her, ran over tentatively and knelt down beside her. “Lili…”

“I don’t understand,” she murmured. “Even if you…even if you didn’t, why…dad…”

When she looked over at what little remained of Truman Zanotto’s corpse, however, she found something odd. A spirit lay in the ashes, but it wasn’t her fathers. Instead it belonged to a portly, balding man with violet skin, with a green button-up and orange tie. His was the face of a stranger, contained within a body it did not match.

Sakura propped her upper body up on her elbows, laying a short distance away. She saw Raz and Lili reunited, and followed Lili’s eyes to the ashes of her father. Or perhaps, someone else? That would be lucky. But that was a problem for future Sakura to ponder. Letting out a sigh of relief and exhaustion, the soot-speckled street fighter dropped flat onto her back.

Minda entirely agreed with the general sentiment expressed by that sigh, and promptly took a seat on the ground next to the street fighter, though simply doing that was not a way to rest befitting royalty, and so she promptly summoned her wolfos to act as a fluffy backrest.

At some point Pit had squeezed his eyes shut, as they'd been hurting from the heat, fire, smoke, and explosions inside the Brain Field. Even the inside of his throat hurt. But he could feel the inferno disappear and opened them back up again, blinking the spots in his vision away.

"Is it over?" He asked, though when he spotted Lili he changed his question to "Is she okay?", taking a few tentative steps closer to her and Raz.

”I hope so.” said Roxas wearily, ”I don’t know how much more of this I can take in one day.”

Lili’s misery had given way to a mixture of confusion and anger the moment she beheld the spirit laying in the ashes of her father’s body. “Wait…” She jumped up and ran over, snatching it up. “This isn’t dad’s!” She stared down on the ashes as if the answer might also be found among the soot. “But then, how…?”

“I think she’s okay,” Raz ventured. “But it looks like we have yet another mystery on our hands.”

”Mind control, full body disguises and conspiracies all the way down. Is anything not a mystery in this town?” Midna asked with a mix of humor and resignation, before adding thoughtful ”Although didn’t the consul do something like that? Wear a different face for the debate? Maybe that wasn’t something he could do, but something he stole from the regime?”

”I dunno, it’s all just flying right over my head at this point.” Roxas said with a shrug. His shoulders sagged with fatigue and exhaustion, but he hadn’t passed out. Yet. ”And that’s not even mentioning our own troubles on top of all that: Galeem, the Guardians, all of that. How does anyone manage to keep track of it all?”

World of Light

Psychonauts’ Two - Milla

Midna’s @DracoLunaris, Roxas’ @Double
Word Count: 4779 (+5)

Milla hummed thoughtfully. Out of every enemy entrapped by her Quicksand Conversion, only Roxas still remained within its reach. Not a great use of her talents. Of course, she didn’t plan to stay here; she was just wondering which direction to go. As much as she wanted to help Sasha, he probably didn’t need it, and that mechanical monstrosity looked pretty horrible. “I’ll lend you a hand, darling,” she announced to the Sectopod, and she was off. Rolling atop her hoverball, she sped up the street with incredible speed, her dark power pulsing around her until she got close enough to capture Midna’s bearmech in its area of effect. “Open season!” she sang back, mindful of her Originum Art’s remaining duration.

”...Firing main cannon.” With an ear-splitting VOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM the Sectopod’s Wrath Cannon lit up the dark day, bathing all of Main Street in the radiance of a fifteen-foot-wide beam of unadulterated crimson power.

Everything had basically gone straight to hell right from the word go. After he was seemingly trapped in place by the Quicksand Conversion, Roxas immediately suffered a severe case of lasers-to-the-face which downed him pretty much immediately. He should probably have counted himself lucky that Milla didn’t decide to finish him off right then and there. And yet, the fact that she chose not to somehow felt like even more of an insult.

But after that catastrophically bad start, he finally managed to push himself back to his tired feet and patch himself up with a Curaga. Great, a grueling battle against absurdly powerful psychics and here he was stuck without any MP to work with. At that point he realized where Milla had gone off to. While he had no desire to deal with her Quicksand thing, maybe his speed wouldn’t matter if he was attacking from behind? And that’s when he had an idea.

The Nobody began to run in Milla’s direction. But before he could get slowed down by getting too close, he summoned his striker, attempting to have it appear as close to within striking range as possible. But even as Burn Rooster attempted a heavily slowed down fire breath attack, the kid who summoned him was already going for a surprise attack at Milla’s back. Yes, both he and the Striker spirit would be slowed down by the Quicksand Conversion, but Roxas was counting on his attack being enough of a surprise to get through in spite of the slow effect.

Midna, meanwhile discovered her mech was capable of evasive maneuvers just too late to actually avoid the incoming blast, as her frantic wrestling with the controls upon being slowed down resulted in a hop and a sideways dash that did absolutely nothing to avoid the giant beam of death that blazed over everything it its path. Warning lights and claxon blazed and blared inside the machine trying to tell her about the front of it had been wrecked. Unfortunately for it, and her, being blasted by a weapon with the luminosity of the midday sun had done quite the number on the princess’s eyes, and she was seeing none of it.

The bear engaged in a full, and blind, retreat while the princess threw every minion she had at the issue to try and buy her time, risk of feedback be damned. 7 spear wielders of ice and psychic energy appeared across the back of the bear, all of them grabbing hold of exposed fur to avoid falling off, before lobbing their respective javelins at the nearby hoverball rider. Skywave was also summoned, the exosuit firing a gravity cluster to try and pin down the flier, while roadblock taunted and shielded to draw fire away from the other strikers.

Portals also opened, launching Midna’s wolfos and flygon into the fray, both of which rather got in the way of the ranged strikers when they tried to melee attack Milla. The flygon naturally attempted this via swooping towards her, claws bared, while the best the wolfos could manage was a single leap up into the air to try and snap her between its jaws.

In the aftermath of the Wrath Cannon, Milla couldn’t help but be impressed. How could that tawdry-looking bearmech possibly withstand that immense laser? Well, it had sustained suitably immense and probably irreparable damage at least, but it hadn’t been destroyed. And the occupant (or occupants) hadn’t been either, judging by the varied creatures pouring from the charred hulk’s body. Milla chanced a look over her shoulder back toward Sasha to see how he was getting on, and instead found Roxas back on his feet and charging toward her with no sign of the injuries inflicted by the Sectopod’s blaster. Some sort of powerful healing, no doubt. And to think she’d thought him soundly defeated. Now she was being attacked on all sides, her enemies spurred on by the dispersal of her Quicksand Conversion. It had been over twenty-five seconds, after all.

“Dear oh dear,” she pouted. “You naughty children are eating through my SP like candy.” With her off hand she slid the gilded black dagger from her belt. Then she reactivated Quicksand Conversion. Fast as her attackers were, nobody could mount an effective close quarters assault when slowed by 80% just under 60% of the time. Roxas, Burn Rooster, and Midna’s melee minions all slowed to a crawl, their brief bursts of movement unable to keep up with Milla as she rolled around on her hoverball. In that kind of situation, evading Burn Roosters flamethrower was child’s play. That heavy robot was annoying, but did it really think she was going to prioritize it just because it was noisy? “Quite slow,” she taunted the others. “You should-” Then Skywave’s gravity cluster touched down next to her, yanking Milla off her hoverball. A deluge of projectiles landed on her, drawing blood in several places. Projectiles seemed to be exempt from Quicksand Conversion’s effect.

When the gravity well ended, Milla lay on her side, propped up on her arms. Her head was hanging, but a slight dark mist seemed to be rising from her body, and when she raised her head she looked disappointed. “Tsk-tsk-tsk,” she clicked her tongue. “Harder. You’ll have to hit me harder than that. Much harder.” Her shadow goat rose up from the ground behind her and gave a horrific shriek as she activated ATK Up β, boosting her basic attack by 80%. Then the ghoulish beast raised its claws. “Like this!”

It jammed its claws into her back, sinking them in deep to activate Renegade Gambit. Milla groaned in intense pain, her HP dropped from about 90% to 30% in an instant. In exchange, her attack went up a further 20%, her attack speed went up 10%, and her Dragondrive Gauge went up by over half. Dark power, pitch black and blood red, welled up around her as she floated back to her feet. With her dagger in one hand and her inverted staff held like a sword in the other, she smiled through the pain. “Give me your best shot!”

As soon as he was able to move, Roxas let out a groan of frustration. This whole Quicksand Conversion thing just didn’t seem fair at all. He knew what he needed right now, but unfortunately he still lacked any MP to make that happen. So for now he was stuck continuing to rely purely on his Keyblades. But at the very least he finally realized that projectiles went right through Milla’s Quicksand power. But here again, Roxas lacked any MP to actually capitalize on that.

It didn’t look like Midna’s mech was going to be in any state to do this, as it slumped to the ground. Yet a moment later the giant cannon on the back of the crippled mech, now low enough to the ground to shoot at it, turned towards the self wounding woman, as a mostly recovered Minda found that control. Then, with a flick of a button the cannon roared, and fired out of itself a not inconsiderable amount of sand she’d portaled into it in a shotgun like blast.

That was a pretty good shot. Only the mechanical groaning of the bearmech as it reoriented its cannon clued Milla in to what was about to happen, and even that gave her barely any notice at all. The realization might have frozen a lesser soldier in her place, paralyzed by fear, but Milla was a seasoned veteran. Even before joining Psych-OSF, and gaining powers that strengthened her the closer to defeat she got, she’d stared death in the face many a time. She had no means to block or withstand this, and no time for second guesses. As the bearmech’s cannon fired, she leaped into the air, her dress streaming behind her. The conical sand blast caught her, but it didn’t cut her short. She burst from it a split second later, her upward momentum boosted by her signature Levitation. Her flips came to a stop as she reached the apex of her jump, dark power welling around her.

“...Shadowfall!”

She cannoned downward, creating a dark shockwave in the air. Her Renegade Descent hit the ground with a tremendous geyser of purple-wreathed black energy, dealing 1260% of her attack in an area only a bit smaller than the range of her Quicksand Conversion. It might not be boosted by ATK Up β, which only applied to her normal attacks, but that staggering multiplier plus the bonuses from Renegade Gambit meant just one thing for everyone caught in its radius: annihilation.

Roxas could easily tell what was coming when Milla just jumped up into the sky. Things like that had a habit of being followed up by big stomping attacks. And so the Keybearer made sure he backed off for several paces, trying to make sure he wasn’t caught up in the incoming drop attack. He let out a sigh of relief when he managed to avoid harm. This was getting hairy, and his MP still wasn’t recharged just yet.

It was a good thing, then, that Midna had taken one look at that charging of power and proceeded to smack every untouched button with all four hands till she found the ejection button. She was launched up into the air, while below her the bear mech was unceremoniously dumped into a portal. It was very fortunate that it had been crouching down before being dropped, because it meant only the cannon got blown to smithereens rather than its skull.

As the dark eruption subsided, Milla huffed at the disappearing bearmech, tracing Midna’s upward path with her gaze. All that expenditure, and not even an elimination to show for it. This four-armed trickster’s ability to manifest and unmanifest both herself and her allies at will was one hell of an ability. By taking to the sky, however, Midna had consigned herself to the sparse afternoon daylight that filtered through the angry clouds. No escaping now, Milla reasoned. Time for some target practice. Through the SAS she activated Sasha’s Marksmanship, and pink psychic lasers began to hurtle upward, rapid-fire.

The princess’s response was to expend the rest of her cargo crate collection, portals opening up and dumping the boxes in the way of the shots, but that ablative armor collection was only going to last so long.

Roxas could see what Milla was trying, but he was too far away to try and intercept the shots. And so he had to settle for the next best thing. Continuing to keep his distance, he winded up his arms and hurled both his Keyblades in opposite arcing paths that took them right toward where Milla was. He couldn’t stop the initial shots but he could at least try to draw her attention away from Midna.

”Hey! Forgetting something?” It really was irksome to be consistently ignored like this. But on the bright side it at least gave him ample opportunity to try and take the Psychonaut by surprise.

The element of surprise did not necessarily mesh with a yell for attention, but nevertheless Roxas succeeded in taking Milla’s focus off Midna. When she turned her foe’s way and saw his double keyblade throw, the Septentrion pursed her lips, thinking. Contrary to what the boy might believe, she hadn’t been ignoring him. No fighter worth his or her salt, no matter how confident, should ever just ignore an opponent. She knew, though, that her Quicksand Conversion was keeping him out. So far, he’d given her the impression that he couldn’t attack from range and wasn’t a good enough swordsman to fight her toe-to-toe without his mobility. She could hardly blame him, but that meant Roxas was her secondary priority. Until now.

Rather than sit still and get sandwiched, the dashed toward the keyblade on her right and sent it flying with a heavy stroke. Then she pivoted and parried the other as it hit her, carrying her momentum forward into a revolving knife strike to the keyblade’s guard that sent it skittering along the ground. Then Milla activated her Levitation and surged straight toward Roxas, bringing her Quicksand Conversion to him. “Careful what you wish for…” The tip of her cane extended like a rapier, she thrust it toward his chest. “Darling!”

Like Milla, Roxas wasn’t just going to stand there. He recalled his Keyblades back to his hands from the moment she batted them away. And then when she lunged, he moved to parry the thrust of her cane with his Keyblades. He was a little surprised to find that these movements were apparently unaffected by her quicksand. So it basically only affected his ability to run and jump?

Suddenly this seemingly unfair advantage of hers looked a little less unfair now. And it seemed Roxas’ luck finally turned because now his MP was back. And this allowed him to instantly offer a reprisal to her attack in the form of a Dual Counter. Sure, he wasn’t moving forward much at all but the actual circular slash itself still went as normal.

With a lot of momentum behind it and its power boosted by 100%, the end of Milla’s staff struck the boy’s guard with a whole lot of force. No amount of jarred nerves or strained muscles would stop his counterattack, though. He swung around in a circle, his keyblades carving radiant streaks of light through the air, but he wasn’t the only fast one. What Milla lacked in strength (without all her buffs from Earthspirit and Bellina, at least) she made up for in speed, and her trademark Levitation brought the contrast with Roxas into sharp relief. She dodged backward from his counter slash, hobbled as it was by Quicksand Conversion, and turned a certain hit into a glancing blow. Undeterred, she threw herself forward, vaulting up and over to try and bonk her opponent’s noggin as she passed overhead before landing behind him.

She wasn’t the only one who arrived behind him however, as Midna emerged from Roxas’ shadow at almost the same moment, having surrounded herself in an enshadowing sandstorm while he took their foes attention.

”Payback time!” the splinter peppered princess declared, a cry meant for both friend and foe as she came to pay them back for the aid and the harm respectively. Then she crescent-moon slashed her tree spear into existence to ward the speedster away from performing a backstab on Roxas, before launching her Boltok Pistol out of a portal and into a freehand and then using it to take potshots at Milla, again more to keep her away from her head ally than to do direct damage.

Upon hearing the yell, Milla transitioned smoothly from her wind-up into a guard. Polearms built like the Treespear were made for thrusting, not slashing, and its weight made her attack even more awkward, but the clumsy strike also kept her in blockstun longer than a clean hit. Milla used her Levitation to let the hit move her rather than crush her guard, but at this range it didn’t make much of a difference against the princess’s pistol. The shots she took prompted a sharp intake of breath, and Milla began to pick up speed. Now both her foes were stuck in Quicksand Conversion, and before its second usage timed out, the Septentrion planned to use it. Rolling atop a new hoverball, Milla sped around her opponents in a full circle, trying to outpace their attacks and cause one to bodyblock the other. There was just one question on her mind: how could she defeat an opponent who could just choose to not be attackable? She needed to figure out that disappearing act. Still, she couldn’t waste this chance while both were right here. Once more Milla hurled herself into the air, then rocketed downward in a desolate dive to try and wipe the Seekers out with Renegade Descent.

And it was at that moment that it became Roxas’ turn to pull a vanishing act. Well, not quite a “vanish” so much as his body turning into a streak of light that arced and zagged upward at the descending Milla. Miraculously this streaking light seemed to bypass the Quicksand Conversion, either due to the sheer speed of light or the light itself counting as a projectile. But either way Roxas was able to put himself in a position to try and intercept her descent with a powerful Cross Slash.

”Not so fast!” was the first thing Roxas shouted at her the moment he emerged from the streak of light to unleash his attack. Even if he couldn’t interrupt her attack entirely he was confident he could at least slow it down or blunt it somehow.

Midna could only hope that he gave her enough time to pull another disappearing act, the princess tossing her spear into the air and then using its shadow to hop away, unfortunately having to abandon the armament in the process.

She was right to get out of the way. Roxas burst upward, a ray of light against the crushing tide of darkness, pitting his keyblades against the dagger that was the driving edge of Milla’s withering Renegade Descent. Even with her damage buffs amping it up, her technique was telegraphed enough to be dodgeable, but -as demonstrated earlier against the bearmech’s sand blast- too armored to be stoppable. Though the Cross Slash cut into her already-low health, Milla won out, her meteoric shadowfall devouring Roxas’ light. Together the two careened into the ground and Roxas disappeared into the darkness, dealt a whopping 1260% of the Septentrion’s attack damage.

In spite of the pain, and in spite of all the damage, Roxas’ light refused to be snuffed out. In fact if anything, it was starting to burn brighter. His blades became encased in searing light even as he was pinned into the ground by the Renegade Descent, ”Not yet!” he screamed out with sheer determination and began to hack and slash his light-encased blades at Milla with wild speed and strength.

Milla’s brows went up, surprised that Roxas was still breathing, let alone fighting. As the ripples of molten shadow around the two began to subside, she backed off to avoid his keyblades, allowing Roxas to regain his feet.

He spent all remaining MP to exert as much strength and power as he possibly could into this rush of attacks, ”You’re finished!” And at the end of it he brought both blades crashing downward and unleashing a quartet of light pillars that raced across the ground in four opposite directions from him, which would deal heavy light damage to any enemy they collided with along the way.

What a bad time for Quicksand Conversion to run out; Milla was forced to deal with the Limit Break for real. The area became a furious dance of light and dark as Roxas attacked with unrelenting ferocity, his airtime as floaty as his target’s. At first Milla held her own, dodging in unpredictable directions and blocking with both her staff and her knife, which she held like a parrying dagger. But Roxas was putting everything he had into this, and on defense the Septentrion was no star player. She got clipped, then a second later struck twice, then soon after caught with a blow to the head that scrambled any chance of holding on any longer. The last part of Event Horizon chewed her up and then spat her out. Though she resisted light damage, that punishment on top of her already-low health left her on the ground, her hat torn off and her silvery hair splayed out in every direction. A long wound covered her left cheek from chin to ear, half bruise and half gash.

The next moment Roxas sank to the ground too, the last of his energy exhausted along with his magic.

Midna, having stayed clear of the blistering battle, stepped back in at this point, flicking a pack of orange gel and a granola bar at Roxas with one hand, while her other ones held a charged up Prometheus Torch.

”I liked that spear” she informed the other wounded woman calmly as she close in, before lunging forwards and attempting to drive the lightning-infused bo staff into her chest

Her dash stopped short, slowed by eighty percent.

Milla let out a deep breath, hovering off the ground. One hand went instinctively to the wound on her cheek, prompting a pained wince. When she turned to look at Midna, her shadow goat manifested around her, its stygian skull overlaid across her face like a mask and her eye blazing in its empty socket. Immediately a flurry of psi-blasts borrowed from Sasha’s Marksmanship shot at Midna to keep her from closing the distance, and as the barrage ended Milla tugged the cord in her collar. Because of her horns, a hat appeared instead of a hood, a dark synthetic veil hanging in front of her face with a pattern that resembled a single left eye, glowing orange. Brain Drive was engaged, giving Milla the legs to stand on that she needed to face the Twilight Princess.

”This again? You all really need to find a new trick” Midna declared confidently despite the pain of the psiblast inflicted wounds, and even she was stuck actually having to face the Brain Drive to protect the injured Roxas

Roxas slowly reached for the items that Midna threw his way. He ate them both and thankfully his injuries and damage was mitigated a bit. But he lacked the energy to actually get back on his feet. He could push himself to a kneeling position but that was it. With a trembling hand he summoned Oblivion, then shifted it into a backhanded grip. He used the last of his stamina to throw himself forward and to try and throw the Keyblade itself in Milla’s direction. But that was all he could muster. Even the act of throwing the weapon put him off of his kneeling position and back to laying on the ground.

Unfortunately it was up to Midna to find a way to finish this fight.

The princess meanwhile raised up her hand, curling the fingers and started to spread out her own field, one that washed over both her and Roxas harmlessly as it cloaked an area within an orange ring of power with supernatural darkness.

”Come on then, try me” she dared, as two portals opened up, one summoning her flygon, which began blasting Milla with dragon breath, and the other tossing up the princess’ Charr Pirate Musket into her free hands, which she promptly fired at Milla as well.

After dashing back from the dark field, Milla took a deep breath. Anger, indignation, and so forth might be warranted, but instead she focused. Enhanced by Brain Drive, her battle sense and her dexterity were finely tuned. Despite knowing that she now faced her foe at peak performance, Midna hadn’t fled from Milla’s Quicksand Conversion. Instead she extended a smaller field that overlapped with Milla’s own, but didn’t quite reach her. The Septentrion stood her ground, almost effortlessly blocking the thrown keyblade from Roxas, as the flygon appeared and Midna started shooting. Well, that creature would never get close enough to bathe her in those nasty blue flames. Levitating atop a new hoverball, Milla circled around her opponent, staying out of the dark zone while keeping her foes within her own pulse. Midna was a bad shot, and her weapon looked like an antique. Paired with her taunt, this seemed like bait. Neither terribly hurried nor anxious despite Brain Drive’s limited duration, Milla accessed PSI from Lucas through SAS, and an image of that nervous, pitiable boy flashed through her mind. His vulnerability made him her favorite, almost like her very own child throughout his training, and their bond was strong. “PK Thunder.” An electric orb flew in to hunt Midna down. “PK Freeze.” A self-generating snowflake arced through the air, growing larger as it went.

In response Midna dug back into her bag of strikers and started throwing them out there again. Roadblock to shield them from the ice, icy and psychic spear throwers trickled in one by one to toss their javelins, and finally Skywave to shoot its healing projectiles at both her and Roxas.

As for the electric orb, well, her flygon, aware of how much said style of power unnerved its trainer, and also seeing how it could not hit the out of range opponents, instead (slowly) turned and wrapped its wings around Midna, preparing to simply take the attack that would do the ground type pokemon no harm.

Those phantoms again. Milla kept moving too as Midna used her summons to counter both her projectiles, and Roadblock shuffled around to try and keep its shield between her and its master. PSI casts and javelins flew back and forth, but neither amounted to much. Milla took another deep breath. Last time she used Renegade Descent, she didn’t have any Dragondrive stocked up from Renegade Gambit that could be spent to ready the skill again, so she couldn’t just crash down on these happy campers like she did before. Dragondrive was the answer, though. Her last hope, once Brain Drive drained away. Calling upon her shadow goat, Milla used Renegade Gambit again. She didn’t have any extra health to sacrifice, but it still boosted her gauge up to 60%. Just one more time, she thought. Problem was, she’d need to attack to use that skill again, too. It all came down to that dark field; with Brain Drive and Quicksand Conversion still on her side, she’d need to risk it if she wanted to keep moving forward. When Roadblock finally timed out, she had less than ten seconds left on both her abilities. It was now or never.

“HYA!” Milla boosted forward with Levitation, charging with her staff gripped in both hands for as many mighty strikes as it would take.

”Gottcha” the princess declared, as she snapped her shadow hand’s fingers, causing power to pulse through the field once, causing orange electricity to lash out, briefly encasing Milla in a stunning web. It also marked her for a swift strike from her Flygon, who lunged forward to try and deliver what would have been a devastating finishing blow, had the slow field not dragged it to a crawl.

What was not slowed was the lighting the princess blasted fourth from her bo staff, a continuous beam of it blazing forwards at the restricted target till the weapon ran dry of charge.

No way–crowd control!? Milla gritted her teeth, her assault stopped in its tracks. The flygon might be slowed on the whole, but it would burst her way at full speed .6 seconds at a time. Until then, she suffered Midna’s electrocution. “Gaaaah…aaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!” Milla cried, unable to fight back. Her only blessing was that lightning fell under ‘light’ in Bellina’s world, making it disadvantaged to and resisted by her own inherent ‘dark’, but she really didn’t have enough health to make that fact matter. The Septentrion withstood it only long enough for the Flygon to finish her off.

Its deathblow snapped her staff in two and knocked her down hard, her dagger sliding along the pavement. This time, Milla didn’t rise. No Brain Drive. No dragondrive. No life. It took everything she had to crack open one eye and stare up the street, her vision weakening. “...Sasha…”

Wicked Wings: An Interest Check

@AtomicEmperor
Yep, I've got Discord. My name there is the same as it is here.

Wicked Wings: An Interest Check

@Lyla
I'm not sure why you need my permission. But go for it if our benevolent GM allows it.

Wicked Wings: An Interest Check

I'm already starting to formulate a picture in my head of a character and mecha inspired by the legend of Saint George and the Dragon.

Wicked Wings: An Interest Check

Do we get to have a gloriously cheesy transformation sequence for when we summon the mechs? Because I'm okay with that.

Wicked Wings: An Interest Check

@AtomicEmperor
One thing that's been appealing to me lately is classical chivalry. So in the context of this setting I find myself imagining a mashup of sorts between Arthurian Legend and the Knights of the Inner Sphere from Battletech. Sort of a Space-Paladin, I guess?

Disparate Ideas for Expansion

I too have been playing Armored Core and Wicked Wings looks very intriguing. I am curious about the mecha aspect of it, though. Are the mechs themselves magic or are they simply fueled by magic? I'm not particularly clear on that detail.

World of Light

Suoh

Roxas vs Ninten & Lucas

Word Count: 3,601
Level 7 Roxas: 11/70
Exp: 4
NEW EXP Balance--- 15/70

Roxas was already exasperated by the time he managed to regroup with the others. The Others that he had fought his way through managed to drain him of much of his MP, and now he only had enough for one or two spells before it would have to recharge. But it wasn’t long before the group’s troubles took another bad turn. Suddenly they were confronted by more members of Psych-OSF, and unfortunately the Seekers were outnumbered. They were calling Luka’s entire platoon traitors, and Hanabi and Yuito too since they were there as well. This was not a battle Roxas wanted to fight, but it became increasingly clear that he wasn’t going to get a choice.

”I may not be a Scarlet Guardian, or even a psionic at all.” Roxas said, summoning both of his Keyblades, ”But these are my friends, and that’s all I need to know!” The two psionics who happened to be nearest to him looked like kids - no older than Raz, Lili, or even Roxas himself. Still, with that SAS link of theirs, Roxas knew he couldn’t take them lightly. He took a deep breath, and then Roxas went on the attack. He tested the waters first by throwing his Keyblades, one at each of the boys.

From the beginning Lucas looked nervous, standing behind his friend Ninten despite being taller. He clearly didn’t want to follow through on the challenge posed by the other OSF soldiers, and when Roxas stepped up to take them on, he reflexively took a step back. Unfortunately, he’d have to run a lot farther to escape from the Seeker’s double keyblade toss. As one hurtled toward him he hunkered down behind a psychic bubble shield, his eyes squeezed shut, but as ever his companion took the initiative. “Hyah!” With practiced timing Ninten whacked the first keyblade with his baseball bat, returning it to sender with interest. The other bounced off Lucas’s shield, depleting it by about a third though it’d recharge fast once he lowered his guard.

“You’ve gotta be brave, Lucas!” Ninten called out with determination, his bat at the ready for more projectiles. With an enemy in their midst, it went without saying why Ninten needed a partner in this fight. “We can’t let these baddies win. Just think what Commander Camilla would say!”

Lucas took a deep breath and lowered his guard. Both his friend and his platoon leader were right, and he couldn’t afford to let either of them down. Instead he clenched his teeth and balled his fists, the sight of which made Ninten smile. “Alright, let’s do this!”

His PSI energy surged around Lucas as he used OffenseUp, granting him an attack boost just before Lucas let loose some power of his own. “PK Thunder!” An orb of intense lightning appeared and flew through the air, guided by Lucas to home in on the location of his opponent. While it traced a serpentine path toward Roxas, a trail of electricity in its wake, Ninten prepared to use QuickUp to grant his ally a speed boost as well.

When his own Keyblade was suddenly flying back at him, Roxas wasn’t too worried. He reached out and recalled the flying blade to his hand with a flash of light. The other weapon also vanished shortly after colliding with Lucas’ bubble shield. From there Roxas made a split decision on who to focus on first. The blonde boy used his powers to summon a bolt of lightning that he could apparently control in its trajectory, while the boy with a red hat used his powers to apparently buff himself and his partner. Roxas chose to focus on Lucas first, seeing the PK Thunder as a more immediate threat to deal with.

Roxas tried dodging away from the lighting at first, but this was how he figured out that Lucas was actively controlling its trajectory. So instead of trying to run he whipped around and threw his Keyblade a second time, hoping this was sudden enough for the weapon to collide with the lightning before Lucas had a chance to maneuver it around. Immediately after this, Roxas summoned his other Keyblade and pointed it in Lucas’s direction, ”Fire!” he cried and shot a Firaga from the tip of the Keyblade that hurled toward the blonde psionic. These two weren’t the only ones capable of wielding elemental attacks.

His efforts were rewarded with a solid bonk to his target’s oversized head, eliciting an “Owie!” as Lucas recoiled. When a roiling blast of fire followed it up, Lucas panicked, his fight-or-flight reflex activated. He managed to put up his PSI Magnet just in time, meaning that the Firaga got absorbed by the rippling nexus of energy and partially converted into health. Rather than drop the Magnet, however, Lucas continued to hide behind it.

”Why are you doing this?”” Roxas suddenly demanded, ”We haven’t done anything!”

But Roxas wasn’t about to leave himself open from trying to talk. While he asked his questions, Roxas snapped his fingers on his free hand and summoned Burn Rooster. The robotic Reploid leaped into action and proceeded to launch into a fiery flying kick at Ninten. Roxas meanwhile ran forward intending to keep focusing on Lucas while his Striker hopefully kept Ninten distracted.

Ninten’s buffs only actually affected his target, so when Burn Rooster threw himself at the boy, Ninten wasn’t quite ready. The Reploid’s kick sent him into a tumble with a yelp, his clothes asmoulder with flaming embers. Though Lucas had squeezed his eyes shut while defending himself with PSI Magnet at first, he’d opened them in time to see his friend hit the ground. “Ninten!” he cried, his means of defending himself momentarily forgotten.

“Kid!” Rope Snake yelled urgently as Roxas approached. “Get your head in the game!”

Roxas raised his weapon, but found himself unable to actually bring it down for a strike. This just didn’t feel right. None of it did. Roxas shook with anger and confusion, ”I’m not your enemy. I don’t want to fight.” he said after he stayed his Keyblade, ”And I have a feeling you don’t either.” That last part was for Lucas in particular. Roxas could see that the kid didn’t seem to want to actually be here right now. There had to be some way to end this without fighting. And while Roxas knew he could be making a big mistake right now… he dispelled his Keyblade.

If he or the others were really the traitors that these Psych-OSF agents were told they were, then why would at least one of them be so reluctant to fight right now? He hoped maybe this would make Lucas and Ninten think and maybe even question their orders. Of course, they might not. It was a giant risk Roxas was taking, but he preferred it over the alternative of wielding his Keyblade against two kids who didn’t know any better.

Somewhat paradoxically, the Nobody’s heart was in the right place, but the die had already been cast. Diplomacy would never win in the World of Light while Galeem reigned. After Rope Snake’s urging, and his attacker’s hesitation, Lucas quickly mustered up the willpower to do just as he was told. He lashed out with Rope Snake himself, snatching Roxas and reeling him on. Taken by surprise, he received a couple PSI sparks from the psionic’s oversized cranium before Lucas used his power to fling his disoriented opponent over his head and behind him. As he took a tumble, Lucas clasped his hands together and lifted his head up. “PK Freeze!” From the ether he formed a miniaturized ice storm and flung it in an arc after Roxas, the wintry singularity growing bigger and stronger the farther it went.

By that time Ninten had risen, and he used this opportunity to cast DefenseUp on himself.

Roxas was acrobatic enough to right himself in midair after the psychic throw. Deep down he knew it was pointless to try and talk them down, but he couldn’t help himself. He saw something icy arcing its way toward him and had to act fast. Before he even started falling back down, Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and pointed it straight forward, ”Freeze!” he called out. Once again he was using an elemental spell of his own. This time it would be ice vs ice as Roxas’ Blizzaga clashed with Lucas’ PK Freeze.

Unfortunately that was the last of Roxas’ MP. His feet touched the ground and he simply readied his Keyblades, knowing that now he’d have to outlast these two long enough for his MP to recharge itself. The enormous mass of ice crashed to the ground between the two sides and shattered noisily, filling the air with cool diamond dust. Once Ninten finished up his pre-fight buffs with OffenseUp on himself, he hefted his bat and ran forward through the mist to challenge the keyblade wielder head-on, prompting Lucas to run after him. While he gauged his opponent’s strength in melee combat, Lucas circled around shooting PK Fires to try and keep his friend covered.

This was not a particularly great situation for the Nobody to find himself in. He was obviously no slouch in melee combat so fending off even the buffed Ninten’s strikes was something he would ordinarily not have much difficulty with. It was Lucas who was making this harder than it otherwise would be. He fired off a series of little yellow lightning bolts that suddenly burst with fire as soon as they touched anything. And without any MP, there wasn’t much Roxas could do about them. Not while Ninten was staying in his face and keeping him from disengaging.

Roxas did manage to avoid most of the PK Fires, but at least one of them nailed him in the back while he had his Keyblades locked with Ninten’s baseball bat. The only idea he could think of after recovering from that was to jump a step back from Ninten and then throw both his Keyblades in a circular arc around himself. That would at least give him a moment’s reprieve to reposition himself so that at least his two opponents weren’t flanking him. Then he recalled his keyblades to his hands and immediately threw one in Lucas’ direction. Then he readied his other Keyblade to try and block what he anticipated would be another direct melee strike from Ninten.

Unlike Roxas, unfortunately, Ninten wasn’t a trained fighter. He generally fought with the finesse (and strength) of the little boy he was, refined by his experience in the OSF but still no great shakes. His stat boosts helped even the odds somewhat, but he’d generally given worse than he’d gotten. When Roxas launched a keyblade revolution the unexpected trajectory of his weapons resulted in a clock to Ninten’s head that left him a little dizzy, but when Roxas hurled one at Lucas he knew he couldn’t relent. He dashed in and performed a big bat swing that Roxas blocked, leaving himself overextended and vulnerable. Lucas managed to roll out of the way of the other keyblade, and when he saw his friend in trouble, he knew it was his turn to save Ninten. “PK Thunder!” The thunderhead snaked its way toward Roxas, cast because Lucas was now too far for PK Fire, but his projectile’s travel time left a little to be desired.

Roxas was about to follow up against Ninten only to spot the PK Thunder arcing his way. This was starting to become repetitive, but until his MP recharged all Roxas could do was keep holding out. He shoved the overextended Ninten aside and took off in a sprint, with the PK Thunder seeming to give chase. Roxas wasn’t sure he could outrun it for long, or even how long Lucas could sustain the attack. And so the only solution Roxas could think of was to charge straight in Lucas’ direction. He’d have to snake around to try and dodge the PK Thunder but if Roxas could get in striking range he could probably hit Lucas and hopefully break the psionic’s concentration to dispel the thunder attack.

When Roxas broke into a run to evade the seeking thunderhead, Lucas knew that his PK Thunder didn’t have the longevity -or speed- to give chase. Instead he sent it into the ground to cut it off early, and as Roxas sped his way he cast off a second one. Rather than try to tag his agile opponent with it, however, he sent it in an loop above and behind him. If Roxas thought that this was a misfire, though, he’d be sorely mistaken. The moment Lucas guided the PK Thunder into his own back, an explosive reaction launched him forward in a headfirst corkscrew, armored against interruption. His aim wasn’t perfect, but if Roxas wasn’t ready, he’d find himself on the receiving end of a surprise headbutt. With the pressure off him for a moment, meanwhile, Ninten went to heal himself with the PSI skill LifeUp.

Roxas was utterly confused when Lucas fired a PK Thunder that he turned around onto himself. The Keybearer had no idea what the kid was actually trying to do, and so when Lucas suddenly came flying forward at him head-first, Roxas could only put his Keyblades up in a defensive stance. But the sudden attack left him no time to properly brace himself. And so when the charged up headbutt collided with him, it resulted in Roxas getting knocked down the ground. His Keyblades being up prevented him from taking serious damage, but that didn’t stop him from having the wind knocked out of him. Roxas lay there a moment, realizing that Lucas had to recover from launching himself and that Ninten was nearby appearing to heal himself. Roxas pulled out his last Potion, put it up to his mouth, and drank it.

That at least dealt with the damage Roxas had taken so far, or at least a portion of it anyway. But he was still catching his breath from being winded even as he pushed himself to his feet. But just then, his MP was finished charging. So far Roxas had been fighting with the equivalent of an arm tied around his back thanks to having no MP. But not anymore. He dashed forward toward Lucas and aimed the tip of one of his Keyblades at him, ”Fire!” The firaga spell shot forth and rolled through the air at Lucas. Afterward Roxas suddenly lunged to his side and attempted to rush Lucas with his Keyblades from an angle that was different from the firaga’s trajectory.

A fireball Lucas could handle, and he put up his PSI Magnet to do just that, absorbing it just like the spell he’d soaked before. Thanks to his speed, however, Roxas turned his simple cast into a two-pronged attack, and when it came to physical strikes, PSI Magnet did nothing at all. And Lucas soon found himself being knocked a few feet upward by Roxas bringing his Keyblades around into an upper slash. And that was all the opening Roxas needed to leap up and strike at Lucas a few successive times, four to be exact. On the fifth attack, Roxas hooked his Keyblades onto Lucas and brought him back down in a sort of suplex slam.

At this point Roxas chose to cast yet another spell, ”Thunder!” he cried with both weapons pointed straight up. This called down a short-lived rain of thunderbolts around himself. Lucas would naturally be within the area of effect, but if Ninten had tried to approach with any baseball bat attacks, then he’d be inadvertently putting himself within the area of effect as well.

Ninten had watched the combo Roxas performed on Lucas with dismay, unable to intercede with his bat while the keyblade wielder kept his friend in the air. In a panic he used the SAS to activate Umbrakinesis, Audiokinesis, Telekinesis, and Precognition all at the same time, desperately trying to find something he could use as an attack. With everything at his disposal though, Ninten got overwhelmed, and he ended up doing nothing. Only when Roxas brought Lucas back down to earth could he do what he did best, and run in to whack his foe with his baseball bat. Instead he took a thunderbolt to the head, but as much as it hurt, he could see -and hear- Lucas getting worse. “Stop!” he yelled, his voice boosted by Audiokinesis to a shockingly loud level. Finally getting an idea, he used Telekinesis to hurl his baseball bat like a boomerang, then tapped into his own PSI. When he cast Hypnosis, Roxas fell asleep where he stood, slumping over limply.

Lucas hit the ground at his opponent’s feet as the lightning storm abated, and Ninten ran toward the both of them, his bat returning to his hand on the way. “Coming your way!” he yelled, empowering himself with OffenseUp. As Lucas rolled away onto his feet, Ninten struck Roxas with a home run swing, sending him flying toward the kid he’d electrocuted. Lucas snatched him with Rope Snake, whirled him around, and buried him in the ground headfirst. Somehow that didn’t hurt very much, but what came next very much did. Lucas performed a dash, slid to a stop right next to Roxas in a cloud of dust, and delivered PK Love “HYA!”

First was the shout, big and loud enough that Roxas was momentarily disoriented. And that, apparently, was all Ninten needed. The baseball bat came crashing into him, and then Roxas felt drowsy all of a sudden. He fought to keep his eyes open but the Hypnosis was too strong and the Nobody fell asleep. He was awoken by a bit swing from Ninten that sent Roxas flying. Then he got snared by Lucas’ rope snake and then hurled upward by his powerful crackling PSI attack.

Roxas was in trouble. He was taking serious damage at this point and would go down unless he healed himself. But if he did that, he’d lose all his MP and would once again have to survive long enough for it to recharge. He wasn’t sure he could do that a second time against these two. Especially not with Ninten being able to heal himself and presumably Lucas too with his LifeUp. So the choice was either risk having the two outlast him, or try to go all out now and hope it’s enough to end this now. Either way he was taking a gamble.

Roxas managed to right himself while he was in midair. And then he came shooting straight back down at the unsuspecting Lucas in the form of a streak of light that exploded into a Cross Slash as soon as he hit the boy. Ninten came charging in for a swing of his bat, but it just met Roxas’ Keyblades. And Ninten wasn’t expecting an instant response that came in the form of Roxas sweeping his blades around himself in a circular slash that was Dual Counter. And then, with only a sliver of MP left, Roxas thrust both his Keyblades skyward.

”You can’t stop me!” And upon that command, columns of bluish light shot straight up from his Keyblades and into the sky only to come crashing down onto the ground around Roxas. The columns of light were fast, difficult to avoid and could hit hard when they struck. Ninten avoided the first couple of columns but his own mental and physical fatigue started getting the better of him and he started taking hits. Lucas instinctively tried to put up his PSI Magnet, after all it was able to absorb the Nobody’s spells earlier so why would this be any different. But PSI Magnet could only absorb so much before even it was overpowered by the strength of Roxas’ light columns. And then Roxas floated up a few feet, ”Give me strength!” he cried bringing both his back down and bent at the elbows as if to fully exert himself. At this, the columns of light increased in size, strength, and speed. If this Magic Hour attack was hard for the boys to avoid before, well now it was bordering on impossible.

In moments, Roxas’ Magic Hour petered out and ended. It left him drained and exhausted. But luckily for him, it looked like the gambit paid off. Ninten and Lucas were both sprawled on the ground, neither were able to overcome the barrage of light columns. But they were only unconscious, which was a relief to Roxas. He never had any desire to fight these two boys in the first place, so if they had become spirits he would have felt terrible.

”I’m sorry it came to this.” Roxas said softly to the unconscious Ninten and Lucas. He staggered toward them, with Oathkeeper still in his hand. ”May my Heart be my Guiding Key.” He performed a Keyblade Purge, first on Ninten and then on Lucas. With them being unconscious, the technique went off without a hitch and so they were both freed. But it was after this that Roxas finally dispelled his Keyblades and plopped down with a thud. He was so tired he couldn’t even stay standing. This was now the third and fourth people he had used the Keyblade Purge on within a relatively short period of time. And that fact was definitely beginning to take its toll on the Nobody.

”I hope we can be friends after all this is over.”