The Corruption Of Light (Open)

[Administrator]

Whazzat, X-face? Whazzat about Zexy?

Ava tilted his head to the side quizzically. A lot of hearts? From this world? His? Hmm, he thought. It sounds good, but I dunno. He wasn't quite sure he wanted all of those hearts. To a Heartless, it was tantamount to heresy, but he didn't really feel like taking all of their hearts. Tearing them apart with his swords, yes. Taking their hearts in the process...not so much.

"Okay, I'm going to call you Jericho, 'cause I don't like the sound of Alan." Suddenly, he heard the name Zexion uttered by X-face. Turning around quickly, he listened to everything that the Nobody was saying about his hated enemy. It seemed the other Nobody was a candidate for taking the second in command position that X-face had once held. That was rather...interesting to know about the Nobody.

"So Zex might be a higher-up in your organization?" He didn't like the Nobody at all, as he once attacked Ava's former mistress, and didn't like him. Of course, he could bear it. And if Axel knew Zexion, then maybe Ava could find him and then find out what that riddle that the Champion had said meant! It was a hugely convoluted plan, but it might just work.

"Hey, X-face, have you met the Champion yet?" Ava wanted to know to see if maybe the Nobody knew anything about him. The one who was and wasn't a tool, slave, servant, and champion. "He's very powerful, and I want him to be my friend~" Ava left the note of a tilde in his voice, letting the Nobody hear exactly how excited he was to have met this being. "If you want to know how powerful...well, he beat the whole Restoration Committee by himself without breaking a sweat."

[Axel]

Serious Curiosity

Vexen being such a coward wasn't lost on Axel. And, admittedly, he had his disadvantages as a scapegoat. But he was the better choice over the other Nobody he had planned to throw onto the sacrificial pyre: Marluxia. As much fun as it would be to see Saïx and Flower Boy fight it out, Vexen was known for his loyalty to the Organization--perhaps he was a little too loyal sometimes--and Marluxia's betrayal at Castle Oblivion would not have been easy to explain away. Xemnas wasn't the forgiving or the forgetting type.

He shrugged, unconcerned. "Yeah, I know he's weak. But maybe he's got some big project in the works that he'll get to do his fighting for him. He failed at that in Castle Oblivion with that Riku replica, but the snags he hit there could all be worked out by now. Zexion didn't bother to give many details. Of course, being the traitor that I am, I didn't expect to get much out of the Schemer." It was a little odd protecting Zexion like this. He told himself it was only because of the plans for Sora they were both laying.

Ava then interrupted with a mention of this Champion. Had everyone heard about this before he had? Feigning surprise, he crossed his arms and tilted his head curiously. "The rumors are true, then? I haven't actually been to Radiant Garden myself to see the damage." He might have felt a tinge of sadness for the destruction of his former home had he not been a Nobody.

He looked at Saïx again, studying his ever-blank expression. "So, what are you gonna do now? Go back to the Organization?"

[Slash]

Saix looked flatly at the Heartless-thing. He didn't have the time or the inclination to inform it on anything, but if he didn't say a thing he would be attacked. "Yes and no," he said, and turned to Axel.

Frankly, he didn't believe him about Zexion not opening up to him. He knew more than he was saying. Saix was going to get the information he needed, one way or the other.

"If Vexen believes he can use a Replica or something of the sort to fight for him, than it is beneficial for the rest of us. Perhaps he shall fail so badly that he destroys himself in the process." This was the closest Saix had come to a joke in years. He wasn't even aware that he was doing anything.

"Perhaps I will go back. But, of course, if I have been declared a traitor, it would be a good idea to prove my loyalty."

By destroying Axel, of course. Although perhaps he could save his miserable life by ratting out the others. Saix doubted he would do it, though- he wasn't a coward like Vexen.

[Administrator]

DING. I'm sorry, but it appears your time is up.

And now, Ava was a bit miffed. All he got was 'yes and no' as an answer, which isn't a real answer, before X-face moved back to talking with the other Nobody. It wasn't even a proper answer! Growling under his breath, Ava glared at the Nobody. He's gonna get it, now. I'm gonna kill him, and grind his Nobody ass into dust! Ava flourished the two katanas, spinning them in circles, ever-faster.

"If you won't talk to me, X-face, why don't you draw that weapon of yours and fight me?" Ava's blades stopped suddenly, both pointed at the Nobody, his body tightened into a fighting stance; the swords held with a strong grip, yet one that was not too tight, leaving room for maneuverability, and the ability to retain his momentum from one swing to the next, redirecting attacks in a large pattern.

"I'm waiting." Ava drew out the last word, a large grin stretching his features. This would be a fun game, one that would last him longer than usual. X-face looked strong--Ava granted him that--but there was no way in hell he was going to beat him. Ava was faster, not to mention completely unpredictable. The Nobody wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance.

Let the games begin.

((So, it's begun getting tiresome referring to multiple objects in the singular, so I'm gonna use the plural now, even should it be incorrect.))

[Axel]

Echoes of Regret

Was that an attempt at humor from Saïx? Axel cracked a grin and chuckled. "Picking on Vexen is always amusing. The old man needs to learn to keep his mouth shut." Vexen's arrogance was not a trait many of the Organization members were fond of. That was no secret. Emotionless or not, one could take rants about rank or the glories of science for only so long before something snapped.

For just a moment, the two Nobodies might have been friends again, exchanging pointless slander against a commonly disliked subject. But the Flame couldn't let himself fall back into thinking he had a friend in Saïx. Hell, when the Diviner said he needed to prove his loyalty before going back to the Organization, he probably meant he would not hesitate to kill him to do so. Well, the non-feeling was mutual. Except Axel wasn't looking to prove his loyalty to anything, especially not to Xemnas. If Saïx wanted to crawl back, then he was an enemy, not a friend.

He might have said something to this effect, but Ava was suddenly very intent on starting a fight with Saïx. And this time, Axel wasn't too sure he would try to stop it. He didn't know anything about how well Ava fought, but Saïx was no pushover in battle. If anything, a fight between them would end in a draw. Or, more likely, Saïx would simply leave. Axel was planning on doing the same. Zexion might want to know that the Diviner was planning on returning.

A Corridor of Darkness blossomed behind him, and he turned his head first to Ava. "It's been fun. Maybe we'll see each other sometime." He smirked a little and added, "Don't break him too badly."

He then turned to leave through the Corridor, but he glanced at Saïx over his shoulder one final time. All traces of pretense, acts, and facades were dropped in that brief moment, replaced with something akin to regret. "You're too good for them, Saïx. You're too good to take orders from someone like Xemnas. Or at least... you used to be." Knowing Saïx, he wouldn't really appreciate the odd sentimental gesture. But it needed to be said, at least for Axel's own benefit.

He didn't wait for a reply and vanished through the Corridor. The next time he saw his former friend, he could very well end up killing him.

[Slash]

I would have said something...

Saix looked for a second at the spot where Axel had stood. What an...interesting thing he had said. Saix could detect the lingering shadow of regret in Axel's statement, and for a second he stopped.

But then he remembered something. It was fake. Axel's regret was fake. Anything Saix felt in return was fake. All of it was a ruse, a lie. Nothing Axel could say would affect him, simply because he couldn't be affected. And if another Organization member reacted in an emotional way, it was because they were fooling themselves into thinking that they were affected. It was a pointless existence- it wasn't even truly existence.

He would do anything to actually feel again. And if it meant working under Xemnas, he would do it. To regain his heart was more important than anything.

Axel had left, and Saix almost wished he hadn't. He wanted to say something to him.

I will do what I must to regain my heart, Axel. You should do the same.

But there was no one there, and he was staring at empty space.

Then he remembered that there was an annoyed Heartless who wanted to kill him. It was technically incorrect to say he wasn't in the mood, but it was close enough to his reasons for it to count. He didn't want to deal with a fight at the moment.

He gave Ava one last blank look before disappearing into a Corridor of Darkness.

---

"Well, that was boring," Jericho said. He hadn't followed a word of whatever they were talking about, but he stored away the information for further use. Whoever they were, they seemed rather powerful and important. It would be a good idea to keep a tab on black-cloaked individuals. "I was hoping for a fight. Do you have any way of following them?"

[Administrator]

HOLY CRAP, I'M A WALKING MACGUFFIN!
SAVE ME!

Ava watched Axel and X-face leave. Then, Jericho asked him if he had any way of following them. 'Of course not' was the answer he was going to give, because that would just be silly. But he could feel, in the back of his mind, exactly where Axel was. It was really, really weird. It was...Axel-dar.

That was now the official name. Turning to Jericho, Ava had a grin plastered across his face. "I can tell where Axel is right now, but X-face I dunno. I dun care, either~" Ava could almost spin. But wait, there was something else. Something unpredicted. Suddenly, three Dusks and six Creepers appeared! Ava almost sighed with pleasure. He had been wanted to tear something apart for some time now, and this gave him the perfect opportunity.

"Here's a fight for you~" Ava sang, the katanas spinning in his hands. He was more than prepared for a fight. Staring down the Dusk, Ava had an enormous grin, which hid the battle-hardness just beneath the skin. The Dusk slowly floated around, but suddenly, attacked in a rapid set of blows. Upside down, no less. Dodging with a duck and a weave, the creation of Chaos slashed the Nobody with one of his blades.

It had been far too long since he had killed. Spinning both around again, Ava dove forward, slashing in a seemingly crazy manner, but truly, more than half were decoys for the true strikes, which, one after another, slashed pieces of the Dusk's non-being into nonexistence. After approximately ten seconds of this, the Nobody was eviscerated, and Ava was on to his next target. This was delightful, playing with Nobodies. They were so flimsy...so easy to break.

He liked that.

((Yes, I did just summon up a group of Nobodies to kill for my amusement. I'm channeling Ava, so sue me))

[Slash]

Urgh. Nobodies. What a waste of time. Nobodies= no emotions= really boring. These ones weren't even good practice. Too weak. Ava was already taking care of them, anyway.

Oh well. He was bored. He might as well help. Moving in with deadly precision, he sliced open a Creeper. Those things were too easy- he might as well just go slice up some inanimate objects. He moved onto the Dusks, a somewhat harder kill.

The Dusk slithered on the ground and attempted to hit him with an upward slash. Jericho dodged and responded with a series of powerful attacks from Corruption. The Dusk was history.

That Heartless was pretty powerful. He'd be incredibly useful for the makeshift, incredibly unstable band of people Jericho was slowly gathering up.

"I bet I can kill more than you, Ava." A challenge would help further alleviate the boredom. Jericho took down another Creeper with a quick series of stabs, now focusing more on just hitting as many as he could in as little time as possible.

[Administrator]

This is the fun part.

The grin widened. Of course he was willing to accept that sort of bet. He was more than capable of destroying every last one of these Nobodies in the next few seconds. For one, he was an expert with the use of his weapons. For two, he was a maniac, and a serial killer. That should speak waves all by itself. I mean, Jericho challenged a serial killer to a killing contest. Let that sink it a moment.

Now, for our third bullet point, the following should be brought to our reader's attention. Ava can move thrice the normal rate of speed of anyone else. That's three times the strikes as anyone else. Add that to mastery of the blade, and psychopathy, and you get a lean, mean, killing machine. Of course, Ava was oblivious to all of this, as if he wasn't, that would break the fourth wall, and no one wants that.

Spinning the katanas, Ava charged at the remaining Dusk. He slashed it, knocking it slightly into the air. Raising his right katana, Ava turned his head and looked at Jericho, the grin disappeared for the moment, a look of serious battle-readiness taking its place. "Watch this," the being of Chaos said as he slashed down, the katana slicing into the Nobody but carrying it with it. He spun in a circle, going faster and faster, before letting loose, flinging it into a Creeper, but Ava was not far behind.

Running as fast as he could, a dead sprint for him, Ava leapt onto the Nobody. Stabbing into it with both katanas, Ava stabbed through both the Creeper and the Dusk. The Dusk faded into nothingness, but the Creeper teleported into the air, attempting to use its transformation ability to stab downward onto Ava. He tossed his right katana upward and backward(if slightly), the katana flipping end over end into the air and soon becoming unseen to the naked eye.

Then, the Creeper dropped down, stabbing down towards Ava. At the last moment, just as the tip of the Nobody-spear was about to pierce him, Avarice Entropy dodged slightly, catching the spear in his hand, and spinning himself around to face the side opposite him, and thrusting the object as hard as he could. As the spear flew through the air, the Nobody had no time to react, and, helpless, flew in the trajectory which had been given it.

The trajectory heading straight into another of the Creepers, destroying it instantly. If it felt remorse as annihilating its own kind, it showed no sign of it. But, it had little time to, as Ava was already on the move. With his left hand blade, he charged the third of the Creepers stabbing it, and, with a spin, he threw it, blade and all. it went flying, striking another, the fourth and final Creeper. The two were destroyed upon impact, and the katana clattered to the ground, making hollow ringing sounds, rather flat notes.

The final Creeper thought itself forgotten. It began to glide towards Ava, prepared to teleport and strike swiftly. Of course, Ava had not, after all, forgotten it. A blur from the sky--seemingly a spear of darkness--fell at extreme speeds, piercing the Nobody and pinning it to the ground. Ava collected his other katana, moving over to where the Creeper lay helpless. Stabbing his other katana into it, the creature snickered softly as he gripped each of his swords and, with one might pull, sundered the weak Nobody in twain.

Turning back to Jericho, Ava regained his grin. "I win~!" he sang, but only just before four Samurai Nobodies appeared, rending his statement null. Of course, they were not alone, accompanied instead by two Berserkers. Ava pulled his swords out of the ground and prepared to continue. This was fun, after all~

[Slash]

Jericho laughed. The Heartless was quite skilled. Far more skilled than he was, in fact. "Well done." He liked the Heartless more and more. There were a very obvious reason for that- they were both killers, and both enjoyed doing what they did. However, as Carter was an English teacher, Jericho automatically found symbolism. He delighted in human madness and the causes of it. Madness and chaos went hand in hand, did they not?

He focused on a Samurai Nobody. Those bastards were fast. Jericho delivered a blow, but could only barely dodge the Nobody's attack. They backed off from each other, and stood in an almost ritual stance facing each other. They were very, very still...and then, in an instant, Jericho attacked and destroyed the Nobody.

He then focused in on a Berserker, waiting for it to make a stupid move and drop its hammer thing. Perhaps Ava could get away with charging the stronger ones- Jericho did not want to take that chance.

What was with all these Nobodies, anyway? It didn't make much sense that stronger ones would show up here and attack them. Were they bored?

[Administrator]

I can copy NPCs, too~!

Ava sized up the new competition. It appeared Jericho was able to take down one of the Samurai, and he could hold his own with a Berserker too. Of course, Ava was able to much better than he was. Studying one of the Berserkers, Ava watched it send shockwaves through the ground with its hammer. Ava spun his swords and slammed them into the ground in a quick series, creating a line of shockwaves that changed colors rapidly before dissipating. This destroyed the Berserker he had been studying, coincidentally.

Turning on a Samurai, he noticed there were two facing him. Spinning the swords, Ava pantomimed sheathing them for a moment and gave them a bow. They nodded their heads, possibly in response, and the two stared at Ava while he returned the stare. Time dragged on, eternities seeming to pass by, and then...impossibly fast, Ava slashed through both of the Samurai, turning and stabbing them both in their backs before they dissipated.

Looking over at Jericho, he noticed the man was having a little more difficulty than he first thought with the Berserker. He was doing well enough, but Ava still thought he should help out. Charging the Berserker, Ava slashed it across the back, drawing its attention for a moment so that Jericho could kill it. After all, he could be helpful. Meanwhile, the fourth Samurai waited patiently for a foe.

[Slash]

Jericho took the opportunity graciously and attacked. Moving in close, he grabbed the shoulder of the Berserker quickly to steady his aim, planted his knee into its torso, and stabbed straight through its head. It fell to the ground and dissipated.

He moved to the Samurai, wanting the last kill of the fight. They exchanged a few blows, each one effectively parrying the attacks of the other. It ended up, though, as it usually did- they took the usual stance, staring at each other and waiting for the right time. There was a slight change, a shift in the air, and Jericho charged and struck as quick as the wind.

That was all. The fight was over. He smiled and looked at Ava. "You beat me by a lot," he said, shrugging."But it was still kind of fun. It was nice to meet you, Ava. Maybe we'll see each other again sometime."

It had been fun, but some commotion had been caused. People would certainly be here soon. Jericho obscured himself and slipped away, easily fading into the background. He moved quietly and slowly, taking in the sights of his old home.

Such a lovely place. How he couldn't wait to see it burn.

It was time to execute his plans for this world, a sort of testing ground. He'd get better and better with time at this sort of thing, and soon enough a good deal of the universe would be enshrouded in darkness.

How fun.