Not Quite a Radiant Garden Anymore [Open]

[Angelus]

Yazoo scowled as this interloper froze eight of the twelve bullets aimed at Leon. With the extra weight from the ice, the eight bullets dropped harmlessly toward the ground. The other four bullets however, having been fired only seconds before the others managed to just barely miss being frozen, and were still on target. So whether or not those would hit their mark was simply a matter of what Leon was able to do.

Facing his new opponent known as Faas (a name currently unknown to this silver haired youth) he smirked and replied to Kadaj's comment.

"How nice indeed."[/color] And with that Yazoo took off to his right, putting a good 25 feet between them, coming up to a grand total of 40 feet. As he ran he fired each gun a total of four times, sending eight shots Faas' way. And if that wasn't enough, Yazoo's path of choice was circular in nature, making the bullets come at him from various directions.[/size]

[Nothingness]

Nothing's More Dangerous Than a Wounded Animal

Leon didn't even realize that there was a shooter behind him, or any attack for that matter, until he saw Faas leap towards him and spray a Blizzard spell behind him. Leon instinctively dove to the left and out of the way of the attack, but only managed to avoid two of the non-frozen bullets--one of which was aimed at his head, and another at his neck. The other two shot cleanly through his left forearm and shoulder. He let out a small grunt of pain, but made sure to not let go of his weapon, and tried his best to ignore the pain. Seeing Yazoo land and give Leon a smug look, he returned with an equally smug reply, despite having blood flowing freely down his left arm. "Getting this scar hurt worse than those little pellets."

He said over his shoulder to Faas, "Think you can handle the shooter?" He had confidence in the kid's abilities--someone as proficient as Faas in magic shouldn't have any problems dealing with someone with a gun. That being said, Leon turned back to face Loz. He felt something deep in his heart start pulsing as he stared at the smug brat's face...was it hate? Leon tried to block out that emotion; something like that would only help the darkness spread. He had to end this quickly, or else he risked letting such negative emotions overcome him.

Gripping the pipe tightly in his right hand, Leon began to focus magical energy into it, until a sudden prominence of light flashed out of his hand and overwhelmed the steel pipe. Where there once was a steel pipe, there now was a long, seven-and-a-half foot blade of energy. Leon didn't bother wasting words on Loz, he simply rushed at him, slashing his blade just within range of Loz, before immediately following that up with another step forward and a spinning slash.

[Fate]

Quite a Handful

Oh, the mouse was going to play games with him now? He sidestepped Kadaj's initial attack, getting him to go slightly off-balance for a second there. Not for long of course, since the remnant had the quickness to see that Mickey was not there after his first attack hit nothing. He turned and he slammed his sword against the mouse's key that he was holding in a defensive position, just doing it for the moment as he said something about his brothers. He grinned at the questions; he did indeed have one hell of a family.

"Just two," he replied, pushing down hard with the Souba. "Why, can't handle all of us?" A fight with the three brothers all together was indeed a formidable one and should be avoided at all costs. The only good thing about this fight was that there were enough fighters to fend them off, making them equal. Though, Kadaj looked over and saw Yazoo's handiwork. It may have been blocked with a blizzard spell, but he still got the brown-haired swordsman pretty good. He was turning on that boy that had done the blizzard spell, which he supposed would be fun for Yazoo. That wasn't really his concern now though wasn't it?

Without anything further to say, Kadaj made a couple quick blows before performing a backflip into the building behind him, rebounding off of it and coming at Mickey from a different angle. If he could just get Mickey into an offensive position again, he could work some magic with this fight. He wasn't sure how much Mickey would be able to do without the keyblade, but he was going to find out if he could.

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[Loz]

Heh

Loz cocked his his head to side in confusion. "Huh?" Pride comes before the fall? What the heck was that supposed to be? This guy was obviously just trying to confuse him with all his strange statements, since he clearly was no match for him. That was it... Like it was going to work though. He blinked, realizing he had stopped paying attention. Apparently the swordsman had decided to use a metal pipe in replacement of his sword that he had just lost. Yeah, because if some fancy sword hadn't been enough to help him beat the remnant a piece of pluming definitely would. Talk about stupid. He couldn't help but smile as he taunted Loz to attack. If he wanted an attack he would show him an attack.

He had raised his left arm, and was about to attack when he saw a familiar face leaping into the air and firing a series of gunshots at his target. "Well, well, look who finally decided to show up." Some kid that he was pretty sure had been standing there for a while suddenly jumped in and sent a blast of ice to stop the majority of the oncoming bullets. A few still made it through though, and a two even seemed to get him in one of his arms. Even though he was acting like it hadn't hurt, it obviously had to have hurt at least a little. Loz glanced over to Yazoo, who had just landed next to him. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't need any help handling this loser." He looked back at the said loser, before adding with a laugh. "I'm sure there are plenty of other losers around here for you to shoot at though."

Yazoo apparently didn't have to told twice, because immediately started to attack the boy that had interfered earlier. Turning his attention back to-- what did the mouse call him again... Leon, he saw that the metal pipe and begun to get all glowy and grow longer. Without another word, he leaped at Loz, swinging his colorful new weapon at him. The first swing was done so that he managed to jump back and dodge it completely. That attack was then followed up with another slash that he was forced to block with his Dual Hound. However the impact of the glowing energy sent the arm and it's metal weapon backwards, leaving the remnant momentarily open for attack.

[Matt]

I Can Try

Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, Faas still hadn't managed to completely stop the new enemy, Yazoo,'s attack. Two bullets had still ended up going straight through Leon's arm. He couldn't help but cringe as he saw it happen; it looks pretty painful. But of course, Leon being the big tough-guy that he was didn't let onto being in any pain. Maybe it was a little silly, but his resilience was also very admirable. And as he heard the swordsman ask him if he could handle the shooter, he immediately answered without hesitation. "Of course I can." It might have sounded a little more arrogant that he had intended, but how could he say no considering how brave Leon was being. He wouldn't want to sound like a wimp. Besides, at this point there really wasn't much of a choice.

He saw the silver-haired gunman suddenly take off running, increasing the distance between them. That was a smart move. Faas was more of a mid-ranged fighter, while this Yazoo was clearly most effective at a distance. He would definitely need to try to get a little bit closer... His thinking was interrupted when a series of bullets came flying at him in an a arch pattern. Well, looked like it was time to take the defensive. Winning would be good, but not getting killed seemed good enough for him. Raising his hand, it began to glow white with light, and a barrier of light hexagonal shields appeared around him. Having timed it carefully, he managed to block all of the bullets. So far he at least appeared to be in one piece. Hopefully that would last.

[Faas used Reflect; 4 posts until next use]

[King Mickey]

The Best Offense is a Good Defense (In This Case)

The optimist in Mickey immediately saw the positive in Kadaj's affirmation that these were the only brothers he had. So, if other Restoration Committee members decided to show, the advantage would be on the side of the light. Despite the king's recent wavering about the nature of the light and the darkness, he would probably never be able to abide Kadaj and his brothers. Being associated with the darkness was one thing. Being obnoxiously arrogant was quite another. He suspected that, on a personal level, he would not easily abide someone associated with the light who was obnoxiously arrogant, either.

Kadaj was now performing elaborate acrobatics in an attempt to catch Mickey off-guard. While the mouse king was himself quite the acrobat in his fighting style, that was purely out of necessity. There was only so much a mouse of his stature could do against opponents who all seemed to be at least twice as tall as he was. Staying in his defensive position, Mickey took the brunt of the attack on his keyblade and simply held Kadaj at bay for several minutes. In the back of his mind, he was still concerned about causing further damage to the marketplace, and he decided to remain defensive in this fight for the time being. Perhaps Kadaj would soon grow bored and leave. And take his brothers with him.

The king spared a glance at his other comrades in this battle. Leon seemed to be faring well enough, despite the loss of his sword, and Faas was for the moment free of bullet holes. Though, unless he had many more spells in his arsenal, Faas probably wouldn't be staying that way for much longer. For now, all Mickey could do was make sure Kadaj stayed preoccupied, which wasn't going to be all that hard to do. Kadaj could strike all he wanted, but Mickey wasn't going to bother switching back to offensive tactics for the duration of this encounter.

[Nothingness]

This Ends Now

Leon finally had the upper hand. He could feel the energy start to diminish in the sword, and knew that it was now or never to end the fight with Loz. Seeing that his last two slashes managed to penetrate Loz's defenses, Leon felt it best to try and finish this quickly. Using the momentum of his spinning slash, he went in for another slash from the left, aiming for Loz's ribs. The impact of the blow wouldn't cut him, but it might break a rib or two if it landed completely. Then again, Loz wasn't exactly, "normal," either, so it may as well just stun the man.

Regardless of whether the blow landed or not, Leon knew he had to get his gunblade back. He knew where it was, and figured that with a good sprint to it, he'd have it back in his hand within a few seconds. So, as a last ditch effort, Leon pulled his energy blade back, raised it above his head, and slammed it into the ground a few feet away from Loz, making the energy disperse outwards from the blade. A massive cloud of dust was thrown into the air as the blade struck the ground, and before the energy had even completely dissipated, Leon tossed the pipe away and broke towards he gunblade.

He managed to reach his gunblade as the dust began to settle. It was only then that he noticed just how much blood he had lost from the wounds on his left arm, even though they had already begun to clot slightly. His arm was coated with tributaries and deltas of blood--some of which were still flowing freely. "I hate to admit it, but I don't think I can last much longer. Not to mention, using the trigger on this is going to be hard with one arm." He shook his head. He couldn't let pain or injury stop him from protecting his world.

[Fate]

A Continuous Struggle

This was beginning to grow tiresome. Mickey was an excellent fighter and he was able to block Kadaj's attacks, sticking to a defensive position. It was annoying the hell out of the silver haired remnant, making him wonder if it was even worth it to continue fighting anymore. He had made his point to the mouse king already that he didn't like what he was doing and that he thought it was wrong. The light was blind and the darkness was needed in the worlds whether they liked it or not. Kadaj kept this up for a little while longer, thinking as he did; Mickey wasn't about to change because he knew Kadaj and that he could disarm him if he wanted to. He also knew that he was determined and wouldn't give up until Mickey broke.

That was why Kadaj jumped back, his Souba still gripped in his hand; to continue attacking Mickey without doing anything else was pointless. What was this accomplishing anyway? This wasn't going to help bring this world to its knees unless they managed to kill all of the fighters here; he was overconfident, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that he and his brothers could kill everyone here. Though... his eyes flicked over to the brown haired fighter. He didn't look like he was fairing well from this fight. Kadaj could use that to his advantage if he wanted to, but he was already dealing with Loz, who could do more than enough damage.

"I still don't understand you," he said, a bit of confusion coming onto his face as he looked at Mickey. "Why do you still fight for the light? It's not like you're helping things much. You're just making it worse." His tone dropped in pitch, resembling a bit of that cold anger that was coursing through him. It was a serious question, or at least as serious as Kadaj could get at the moment. He wasn't going to raise his sword again for a moment, knowing that Mickey would just follow the same routine as he did before. The brown-haired fighter also had Loz to deal with, not to mention the kid fighting off Yazoo; he didn't need to interfere in their fights. They'd sooner or later fall anyway; it would only be a matter of time and that would be when Kadaj would strike again.

[/size]

[King Mickey]

Philosophical Conversation Amid Violence

Kadaj continued to rain blows down on Mickey, but the mouse king refused to slacken his guard. He could do this all day if he needed to. Of course, he hoped wouldn't need to. Kadaj was beginning to show signs of frustration, and eventually the swordsman leaped back, ceasing his attacks. Mickey watched him glance in the direction of the other two fights raging on around them, and worry squeezed his heart a little. If Kadaj chose to go after the wounded Leon or the overmatched Faas, Mickey would have no choice but to directly engage him again.

However, it seemed as though the silver-haired swordsman was not interested in joining either of the other two battles. That was good and allowed Mickey to relax ever so slightly. Though, he was still ready to bolster his defenses once more should Kadaj decide to resume attacking. The question that he asked Mickey, though, gave the mouse pause.

Was that genuine confusion in Kadaj's voice? It caught Mickey by surprise. But he already had an answer ready. "The darkness destroys everything it touches if it gets out of control. The beautiful worlds, my friends, my family." Minnie... "I don't wanna destroy the darkness, just hold it back so it doesn't take everything I love." He stopped, still keeping his eyes on Kadaj, wary of the possibility of this being a mere distraction tactic. "Light and dark must be in balance. You don't have to tell me twice. But I want to figure out a way to get that balance without killing every world in sight. Unlike you, apparently."

[Angelus]

Yazoo scowled as the bullets he fired at Faas simply bounced off a magical barrier.

"How boring." Yazoo hated not injuring his opponents, but he supposed this made the fight slightly more interesting. The young man seemed to be only using magic as a means of not only defending, but for attacking as well. A more thorough test was needed of course, but Yazoo was positive he was correct with this assumption. And there was of course the fact that if he'd injured Faas too soon into the fight, it'd only make the fight easier for Yazoo, and much shorter. That was something this silver haired soldier couldnt' have. If he was going to waste his energy on a pest, he was going to make the fight last. He waited until the shield was gone, and then proceeded to fire five more shots at Faas. They followed the same pattern as before, coming at him from various directions.

It was just after the last shot fired from one of his guns that his feet finally stopped moving. And by that time, he'd run a full circle.

[Loz]

This is Far From Over

Without time to react, Loz was unable to stop the incoming blow. It crashed right into the left side of his chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Then, that attack was followed up by the swordsman slamming his makeshift weapon into the ground, sending out a wave of energy. The little bit of the remnant's remaining balance was broken, causing him to fall flat on his backside. He erupted into a fit of coughing, as he accidentally inhaled heavily from the cloud of dust that had surrounded him. Once the cloud finally began to settle, he saw through his blurred vision that-- "Leon", had gone running off right after delivering the powerful blow, like a coward. Well he wasn't about to get away that easily.

Using the back of his right arm, he attempted to wipe the dirt out of his eyes. With one hand on the ground and the other clutching his ribs where he had just been hit, Loz managed to stand back up. Sure, they might have hurt, but it wasn't like it was more pain than he could take. The only thing that had really been damaged was his pride, and now he was angry. "You call that an attack?" he growled, through clenched teeth. Without another word, he went charging at his stuck-up opponent. Bringing his Dual Hound, pulsing with electricity, heading straight for him. And-- if blocking that weren't already enough of a challenge for this guy-- the moment he was making contact with the gunblade, he reached down to his left thigh, quickly pulling his Velvet Nightmare out of it's holster. He pointed it at the middle of the enemy's chest, and pulled the trigger. It didn't take skills like Yazoo to hit a target that was two feet away.

[Matt]

Take the Offensive

After the silver-haired man's bullet's bounced harmlessly off of the shield Faas had created, he could have sworn he heard the man say something along the lines of "How boring." Was he serious? So what, he was trying to kill a random boy that didn't even have a weapon? Man, this guy clearly had issues. His brothers did too... What did they really hope to accomplish by attacking the Marketplace and hurting innocent people? The question seemed very familiar. Different opponents, but same senseless violence and destruction. Some people's logic just wasn't worth trying to understand, he supposed.

However Faas was soon interrupted from his thoughts again, as Yazoo repeated his previous actions by shooting another curved line of shots at him. Having just used his Reflect spell, that wouldn't be an option for him this time. Maybe this time, he would dodge and take then take the offensive. Hopefully this idea would just work as well when he tried it as it was in his head. Taking one quick step forward for momentum, he leaped into a roll, going under the bullets, while also helping to partially close the gap in between two of them. Though having been made slightly dizzy, he ended up back on his feet, and proceeded to send a ball of fire from his hand flying towards the shooter. They weren't too much more than twenty feet apart, so the homing should be reasonably effective.

[Nothingness]

One Final Offer

After having seen Loz's resilience, he was ready for an immediate attack, which came at him in the form of a head-on rush. A part of Leon was ready to finish the fight right there and now, but he was afraid of causing too much harm to the man. Up until now, Leon had been avoiding using excessive force. He was hoping that just injuring Loz would deter him, however that just didn't seem to be working out too well. He was ready to raise his gunblade, the edge set to meet with Loz's hand. Just one pull of the trigger, and the blade would rip through the gauntlet and run itself into Loz's arm. The moment the gauntlet and the gunblade connected...

"No, I won't do it...not unless..."He couldn't finish that thought, because at that exact moment, he turned to his side and raised his gunblade parallel to his arm, blocking the brunt of the attack with the flat end. However, that was both for better and for worse. On one hand, blocking the blow like that sent a massive wave of electricity through the blade, stunning Leon for a fraction of a second. On the other, the unexpected shots from the Velvet Nightmare harmlessly pierced through the air behind his back.

Pulling the trigger of his blade, he used the force of the vibration to shove back Loz's fist and quickly jumped back a good two or three yards. His shoulder felt much tighter after that one pull--he didn't know how many more of those he could do. Leon figured that now would be the best time to give the man one last chance to leave. "This is your last chance. Leave now, or else I won't hold myself responsible for your safety."

[Fate]

The Most Dangerous Foe is One Who Truly Believes What They Are Doing is Right

The fighting still continued as Kadaj and Mickey stood and talked. The silver haired remnant wasn't sure he was going to bother with a fight at this particular moment. This wasn't helping anything and it was just feeding his love for violence. If they really wanted to cause some damage to this world, and maybe others, they needed to get with Maleficent and sit down to plan it out. Kadaj could fight all day if he wanted to, but Radiant Garden wasn't going to change even if he killed someone. They needed to take a different course of action.

Mickey wasn't too keen on that course of action obviously. "The darkness can't destroy my family," he said, gesturing with both of his hands in different directions to both Yazoo and Loz. The fact that they all were made of darkness didn't really matter and was irrelevant in Kadaj's mind. "It's been held back enough already. It's been held back for all of this time and no one's done anything about it. I'm doing something about it instead of waiting."

Sure, Kadaj was impatient and he wanted to get things done instead of waiting around for someone else to fix it. However, he truly believed what he was doing was right. In order for things to be brought into some balance, the darkness needed to take the offensive again and do what it did best; destroy. Of course, Kadaj had no problem with the darkness overpowering the light either. He just used balance as part of his drive.

"Besides, what else can we really do?" he asked Mickey, the Souba going back into its sheathe. It was his way of saying that he wasn't going to fight anymore, though anyone who knew Kadaj knew that he could easily just jump into the fight again if someone tried to attack him. "What else is there for the darkness to do? Wait around and let you guys take care of it?" He laughed at the end of his words, now waiting to see if Mickey had a suggestion. He couldn't take it of course, but it'd be interesting.

[/size]

[King Mickey]

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Mickey couldn't help but find amusement in the fact that he and Kadaj were merely having a conversation while everyone else present was busy trying to kill each other. However, he kept any outward signs of amusement tucked away from view. He listened as Kadaj expressed his thoughts, noting that the concerns for family did not apply to the silver-haired swordsman. He wondered if Kadaj would feel concern for an innocent family even if he had one. But he was pretty sure Kadaj wasn't a Nobody, and though he was aligned with the darkness, he wasn't a Heartless, either. Was he? Exactly what Kadaj and his brothers were would have to be pondered later.

When Kadaj returned his sword to its sheath, Mickey blinked in surprise, then scratched one of his ears. Apparently, Kadaj wasn't planning on fighting anymore. Mickey decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and made his keyblade vanish in a flash of light. Now, Kadaj was asking him what the darkness was supposed to do. Too many people mistakenly thought that the mouse king must have all the answers, which was certainly not the case. He could understand Kadaj's obsession with destruction, seeing as he was so close to the darkness. But Riku had embraced his darkness, and as far as the king knew, he was not hopping from world to world visiting death and destruction upon them. Surely there was some way for the darkness to be beneficial rather than strictly destructive.

Mickey shook his head a bit. Kadaj was waiting for an answer from him. But honestly, he had nothing truly insightful to offer. Not right now. Not with all the questions plaguing him. "Well...I'm not sure, exactly, what the darkness should do. But no, I don't think it should fall squarely on the light's shoulders to do something about the balance. We gotta do something together. Don't we?"