Lurking in the Shadows [Maleficent]

[Fate]

Lurking
Music

Kadaj was not too sure that he was fond of this world. Radiant Garden just seemed to be so full of light and there was almost no darkness to be found whatsoever. The Radiant Garden Restoration Committee also wasn't that helpful, seeing as they didn't particularly like him that much; just because he didn't like the light and he liked to pick fights was not a good reason to dislike him! Either way, he was safe from them, for now.

The castle in this world was sort of interesting, at least that. It was large and overlooked the entire town part of the world, though a lot of people seemed to avoid it for some reason. Kadaj wanted to know why that was. Was something hiding in the castle that shouldn't be? If there was, it was probably dark and the silver-haired teen did not have a problem with that. No, he kind of liked the idea of meeting someone else that wasn't so foolish like these people were.

He made his way to the castle through the alleyways, avoiding the sight of most of the citizens. They were wary around him and he did not need them seeing him just yet. When he arrived at the building, it of course seemed much bigger than it was from a distance. Without even a second thought, he went inside, a blank look on his face.

"Come on out, don't be shy now," he said playfully. The castle seemed bare on the inside aside from the decorations and dust. There had to be someone, or something, else here.

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[Maleficent]

Maleficent was starting to get sick of this world. In her absence that wretched Restoration Committee had turned her beautiful world that had been filled with darkness, into one that now was sickeningly filled with light. It disgusted her and she had wanted to do something about it. However, she had still been weakened from her time in The World That Never Was. She was also down a lackey as well. So she had been waiting all this time, waiting and regaining her strength so that she could start ruling over the worlds again.

She wanted to take back this world, Hollow Bastion. She refused to acknowledge its current name, Radiant Garden. That name died when she took over and she would take this world back for her own again. She smiled at the thought of this world under her control once more. Soon she hoped to make that a reality.

However, her thoughts were soon interrupted by another presence in her castle. She found it slightly odd. Not many so willingly entered this place, since it just emanated with her touch of darkness. And then she heard a voice calling out to anyone that might linger here. This intrigued her, who was this person seeking out the darkness?

Curious, she decided to see who had entered her castle. She appeared before the person within her green colored flames. "How interesting," she said to her 'guest'. "Not many are so willing to seek out those who live in darkness," However, now that she was closer to the her 'guest' she could tell that he had his own touch of darkness as well. "Although, you seem to be quite familiar with the darkness yourself..."

[Fate]

Hiding in the Light

As he expected, something can out of the shadows. A tall and rather ominous looking woman stepped out of green colored flames, though he remained unmoved. She seemed to be wondering why someone would even come into the castle, signaling that she was probably where all this darkness was coming from. That was why the people of this world left this castle well enough alone and why he wandered straight into it. He grinned at her words, taking a step closer.

"Oh I'm very familiar with the darkness," he told her, "Name's Kadaj. And who might you be? You're the only one in this pathetic world who's not afraid of a little darkness." His tone was cheerful, as it almost always seemed to be in discussions about anything related to darkness. He couldn't help that he enjoyed every second of being in the darkness unlike this entire world. It was beginning to bother him.

"Though, I have to wonder..." he started to say, his tone changed now to something a bit more serious, "Why is someone like yourself in this world of all places?" Why would someone who is so plainly not of the light be staying in a world that was almost completely in the light? It didn't make much sense to him. Though, that question could be asked to him as well. Why was he even here if he hated the light so much? Though, it was an easy question to answer, or at least in his opinion.

He wanted to destroy the light, plain and simple.

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[Maleficent]

Maleficent gave a small laugh, this man..... Kadaj interested her. Maybe she could put him to some use. It was most obvious he enjoyed the darkness, having sought out the one place on this world tainted with the greatest darkness. It seemed he was sick of what this world had become as well. He was unsure of how loyal he could possibly be, but first to learn more about this young man.

"I could ask the same of you," she responded to Kadaj's question as to why she was on this world. "This world used to be filled with darkness. Darkness I had created. I have returned to change this world back into what it once was," She still studied Kadaj, curious as to why he was already so familiar with darkness. She was still unsure if he could further her goals, he seemed like he could be a bit of a loose cannon.

However.....he seemed more useful than that oaf Pete had ever been. "As for me, I am Maleficent....The Mistress of All Evil," she announced to Kadaj. "I wish to bring the worlds back into the darkness. Now....why are you here? Do you seek the same? Or is there another reason that drives you?"

[Fate]

The World Will End in Darkness, Not Light

So this world wasn't always this full of light; that changed things for Kadaj. He sort of wondered what this world used to look like when it was overrun by darkness. He bet it looked wonderful. Though, he also got an interesting tidbit out of Maleficent's explanation. The darkness that this world had was generated from her before, which meant she was, at least before, capable of bringing a world to its knees by herself. Her name, 'The Mistress of All Evil', alluded to that. He respected that sort of power; of course he made it his goal to surpass anything that seemed more powerful than him, but he respected it.

He grinned more as he heard her wish; she wanted the same exact thing he did, which was to bring the worlds back into the darkness they deserved to be in. Oh now that sounded truly pleasant. "It seems that our goals are rather... similar." His words were said in a rather eerie tone as he paced around slowly, his eyes staying focused on her. "The light has been suffocating these worlds for too long already and the people are getting too confident. Well, I don't want that. I want to bring their world barriers crashing down and destroy their worlds one... by... one." His voice grew more menacing during the end, though most of it was cheerful.

"Though, it seems that my darkness alone is not enough for this little endeavor. I wonder..." He gave her a curious stare now, his pacing stopped for now. "There has to be something else that brought this world crashing down; a person's darkness isn't enough to work. What else did you have?"

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[Maleficent]

Maleficent smirked when Kadaj said their goals were similar. This man also wished to bring the worlds back to the darkness. Yes....she could tell it would be easier to convince this man to help her, than she had previously thought. However, there was still something about him that made her....the tiniest bit uneasy. She would need to keep an eye on him, that was for sure. However, she could already tell how much it would payoff to get this man to do her bidding.

Her smile widened when Kadaj questioned what else she had to bring this world into darkness. He was much more intelligent than other lackeys she had before and it was a nice change. However, that further confirmed she would need to be wary of him. She then held up her scepter and then said, "Come to me, heartless!" After she spoke two Neoshadow heartless appeared beside her. She then put her scepter back down.

She motioned towards the two heartless. "These are the heartless. Those that have no hearts of their own and consume those who have them, as well as the hearts of worlds." She explained. She then smiled again realizing what bargaining chip she now had to get this man to start doing what she wanted. "You could also have the power to summon these creatures...." she mentioned casually. "If you are willing to help me get rid of the worlds that stay bathed, in the light...And those who would get in our way..."

[Fate]

Weapon For Hire
Remnant of Sephiroth, at your service

After he asked his question, she had held up her scepter and called something, undoubtedly creatures of some sort. Two Neoshadows appeared, creatures that he had never seen before. They were called Heartless, creatures that had no hearts and consumed the hearts of other people and of worlds. Well... now that certainly made things much more interesting for Kadaj. He could use these creatures to take down worlds with ease. If anyone tried to stop him... well, they would not be able to.

Though, of course there was a catch, as usual. He grimaced slightly as she told him that he could summon these creatures if he worked with her, though he didn't doubt that he would be working for her. She did not seem like one who would go visit many other worlds and would rather have someone else do the work for her. Kadaj was the opposite way. He loved going into worlds and seeing the terrified faces of the inhabitants. He liked to be mobile. That was what she needed and could very well use.

However, there was something else to consider: his brothers. Yazoo and Loz, even though brothers, were essentially his followers and his crew. He did not doubt that they would continue to follow him, even if he was aligned with Maleficent. There was one thing that was better about this than staying on their own; this got them farther away from the man known as Sephiroth, the man that the three brothers came from. It could even possibly make him stronger than Sephiroth, something that Kadaj had been trying to do for almost his entire existence.

He put on his smirk again as he turned to her and answered. "I think we could arrange that," he said slyly, his tone then turning casually cheerful once more. "After all, not many can stay in my way for long." He slowly took the Souba out of its sheathe on his back and held it in his hand to face the ground, showing off the full length of the sword. It had seen countless battles, most of which Kadaj was proud to say he had won. By showing Maleficent this sword, he was showing her exactly who she was getting to work with her: a loose cannon swordsman who knew what he was doing a little too well.

"So I get to go around and take down worlds with these Heartless creatures," he asked her, pacing a bit more now. The subject had been changed again, as per usual. "But what are you going to be doing? Surely you want to see the worlds get taken down just as much as I do in person."

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[Maleficent]

"Good...." Maleficent responded when Kadaj said it could be arranged. He had taken the deal for now. Later on she might have problems with this one....however that was something she could prepare for while the young man went about causing chaos. Besides, with as many risks she was taking with this one she needed to gather up her army again from scratch. One so willing to join with the darkness made it easier for her to get started.

Soon after, Kadaj brought out a sword. It was a curious looking weapon, having two blades on the same hilt. "What an interesting blade...." she commented when it was brought out. Yes...this one certainly was a fighter and was well suited for traveling from world to world, make them slip further into the darkness. Apparently he was quite inquisitive as well, since he then asked what she would be doing.

She smirked. She wasn't used to so many questions from an underling. However, if it helped to get him to follow her she would answer. "I will go to other worlds myself and find others we can use to bring the worlds back to darkness. When we get enough we shall take back this one for sure." She explained to him. She made sure to use the word "we" instead of "I" for now. It was better to make him think they were in this together for the moment. "And if you wish...you may summon me when the world is about to fall." She doubted he would do that often, but it did not matter. There were only certain worlds she was interested in seeing them be taken over.

"Now, are you ready to receive the power? The power to summon the heartless!" she asked and then raised her arms up high. A green aura started to appear around Kadaj as she finished off giving him the power and then raised her arms back down. Her army was now beginning to grow.

[Fate]

A Taste of Power

He put away his sword after he thought she had studied it enough; he didn't think he would need it for now. The deal had been made now and all that there was really left to do was get control over these Heartless things. After that, he could do some real damage to worlds and not just the people in them. Kadaj had never worked for anyone before, used to the process of people just working for him like his brothers, so this experience was going to be interesting.

The answer she gave in reply to his question satisfied him. He didn't need to ask anymore questions of Maleficent, at least not for now. He was going to get what he wanted and she was going to get what she wanted; that was all that mattered at this point. He didn't think he was going to summon her that much when he had managed to bring a world to its knees, though perhaps he would the first time. It would certainly show that he knew exactly what he was doing and that she could trust him to get the job done... just not much else.

"Oh I'm ready," he answered, standing completely still with an evil childish grin plastered on his face. He then had this green aura around him and he felt that surge of power, that ability to summon these creatures of darkness. It felt wonderful and he almost couldn't wait to start using it. Though, he'd have to. This world was going to be left for another day. He had to go find another world to start off with.

"You're so generous Maleficent," he said, though part of his tone was slightly sarcastic. "I think it's time we start this show. The worlds need to know that the darkness is back... and it's not playing games." He reached his right hand up into the air, not able to wait, and summoned a couple of Shadow Heartless; he was like a child with a new toy. They weren't powerful, no, but they were a start. Everything started out on a small scale before switching to a larger one.

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[Maleficent]

It amused Maleficent that Kadaj was so willing to accept her gift. He seemed so eager, like a child receiving a gift that he'd always wanted. He already summoned some heartless, which didn't really surprise her at all. She would have been more surprised if he hadn't gone ahead and tested it right away. Though she was surprised by how many shadow heartless appeared when he called already.

"Impressive..." she commented. She was actually surprised and quite pleased Kadaj was already getting so accustomed to summoning the heartless. It meant she had surely picked someone powerful to help her. She couldn't help but smirk. Kadaj was ready to go out now and cause havoc.

"Yes.....go out and seek a world. Any world, and bring it back into the glorious darkness it deserves." she told him, laughing evilly.

[Fate]

Enjoyment

This was sort of fun. Kadaj now had these Heartless creatures under his control and he could get them to do whatever he needed them to do. They could take down worlds with the Heartless, a process that would end up being rather quick. The silver-haired man was not one for waiting around; as soon as a world became available to him, he would jump to it immediately and set out for its destruction. He didn't need a thought-out plan to do that either; his power alongside the Heartless' numbers were enough.

"Gladly," he told her, his voice now jovial. He got to go to any world he felt like and destroy it completely, something he didn't get to everyday. The only thing he had to do now was to pick a world to travel to, use his ship to get there, and embark on a mission of complete and utter destruction. He would then have to worry about the citizens of the world and if they were actually going to fight back. Though, that was only a minor issue; most people had difficulty getting hits on Kadaj, much less meeting his skill level or defeating him.

He left the castle quickly, his stride quick and determined as he started making his way back to his ship. This was going to be fun.

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[Maleficent]

Maleficent turned and laughed as Kadaj went away to carry out his mission. She soon disappeared within a flash of green flames and then reappeared at the top of the castle, where she could overlook all of Hollow Bastion. She watched as Kadaj left. She wasn't sure what the future held for this....partnership. She could call it that for now. There were still many things she did not know about this Kadaj. Things she would need to find out about and see if she could use them to her advantage.

"Enjoy the taste of power for now, Kadaj...." she said aloud to herself as she chuckled. She knew he was a loose cannon and she could use that for now. However, she needed to make sure she had insurance.....in case the loose cannon decided to turn against her. She wasn't too worried though, she was sure it would be awhile before that would happen. For now though, she would find others to join her, others to exploit. She smirked to herself again as she turned away. Soon the worlds would fear her once again.