To Dance with Dragons [Open]

[Aerith]

Large Body Ice Hockey

When ice appeared over a good-sized chunk of the floor, Lanying had an idea. Catching the Large Body's attention with an arrow that was easily deflected off the bulging stomach of the Heartless, she moved a little closer to the edge of the icy area, careful to keep an eye out for the whereabouts of the silver-haired man. The Large Body lumbered toward her, and Lanying further provoked it with an arrow that clanged off its helmet.

When a faint glow surrounded the Heartless, she knew she had to move quickly if this plan was going to work. The Large Body lunged forward, stomach-first, showing greater speed than its huge size suggested. But Lanying dove out of the way, rolled to her feet, and turned to watch the Heartless hit the ice and slide uncontrollably forward into the mist. She hoped it might cause some damage to the silver-haired man in addition to possibly destroying itself along the way.

Now, she thought, returning to the emperor's side. I need to take care of the leftovers.

[Fate]

Cold Vengeance

The sound of swords clashing was almost melodious to his ears. Kadaj was enjoying himself now, smirking throughout the entire fight he was having with this other man. He managed to get some hits in as well, though that didn't surprise the silver-haired man too much. Kadaj also made quick work of disarming the man, the sword flung elsewhere after it found itself caught between the Souba's two blades. He watched the sword fall away elsewhere, this being the only pause in battle, before looking back at the other with an insidious grin.

Before he could attack again, the floor under him turned to ice and a thin fog was now around him and his opponent. He grimaced to this, deciding quickly whether or not to chance slipping on the ice and running to attack this man, though that decision was made for him. The man took him by surprise by punching him with a blast of cold air. It sent Kadaj flying a bit, though he landed on his feet as he almost always did. Souba was still firmly gripped in his hand, the silver-haired man now looking at the other fighter. He could barely see her through the fog.

Though, she had obviously sent something at him, for a large shape came through the fog. he quickly did another high flip to get out of its way, the object a Heartless. After it crashed into the wall, Kadaj landing on his feet again in a defensive position, it disappeared. He was breathing slightly harder now, the cold starting to get to him. No, he couldn't let it. He kept his grin as he started running toward his previous opponent, this time simply running at him and jumping in the air with his sword ready to strike.

"Got you now," he said, "If you just gave up, this would be so much easier. I might even let the two of you live." That was a lie, but they already knew that. He was just playing around at this point. The two of them couldn't last forever.

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[Nothingness]

Can't Give Up Now

As soon as Raen had blasted Kadaj back, he dashed over to get his Rapier, sliding the last few feet. Luckily for him, he managed to get his rapier and look back just in time to see Kadaj charging at him. Quickly rolling out of the way, he managed to avoid most of Kadaj's attack, though he got a somewhat deep cut on his left arm. Getting to his feet, he stared at Kadaj, breathing slightly hard. However, Raen managed to get out a smile--he saw Kadaj was getting a little irritated for a second there. "What's the matter? You don't like the cold?"

For Raen, the cold was like a shot of Novocaine and Adrenaline. The pain was numbed, his body was filled with energy, and his mind was very active. What made this better for Raen was the sealed nature of the room--the frigid air that had spread out wasn't going anywhere, even though the ice had just evaporated. Of course, that didn't stop Raen from knowing that he was outmatched, as well as much weaker and more tired than his opponent. He'd need Lanying if they were going to stand a chance against this man.

[Ice from Frost's Baptism has vanished.]

[Aerith]

Musical Healing

Deciding to save her remaining arrows for the faster target, Lanying shouldered her bow and drew Allegretto from its sheath at her side. Ranged attacks might prove to be the tipping point against that mysterious man, and she was not about to waste any possible advantage on the Heartless underlings. She lunged at the remaining Shadows and Soldiers, slashing into them like a knife through butter. The Shadows fell with one quick strike, but the Soldiers took a few more blows before they succumbed to the kiss of Lanying's blade.

When the area was clear of Heartless, she turned to find Raen and the silver-haired man staring each other down. Their adversary looked to be unscathed, but Raen was cut in several places. Neither of them could afford to be at anything less than full strength. Seeing that the emperor had wisely moved well out of the way, Lanying went to Raen's side.

Even though the ice had vanished, the traces of its moisture still burdened the air. She opened her mouth and began to sing. Her abilities never required a particular song to be sung, so the melody she produced this time was haunting, in a minor key and in her native language. She was pouring her soul into her song, singing as though she were alone, lamenting that night ten years ago when her life had been stolen from her by the Heartless. She reached out a hand and passed it over Raen's wounds, the healing power of the water element enabling her to seal them. She was not skilled enough yet to ensure there would be no visible scarring, but the bleeding would be stopped for now. That would have to do.

She finished her song and emerged from her almost trance-like state, remembering where she was. The throne room, ten years after she first saw the Heartless. A man with silver hair, dressed in black, who wanted total destruction. And Raen, who was on her side for the time being. She held her sword in front of her and fixed the enemy with a cool stare. Anger now would only blind her to potential threats. She needed cold, rational cunning if she and Raen were going to defeat him.

[Summary:
Lanying used "Water Healing"
Posts until next use: 2
Uses remaining: 4]

[Fate]

Second Wind
(Anything in quotes and italics is inner dialogue)

"No, I do not like the cold," Kadaj thought to himself, staring at the other man with a blank look on his face. The other fighter seemed to have finished off the Heartless that he had placed in the room, now going to heal the man's wounds through song. Kadaj didn't like it one bit, though let her heal the other. She had a sword too, which meant that he could fight her as well. It was two against one, though Kadaj felt that it was fair.

Though, something else had to be taken care of before he started fighting. "That was fun," he told them, grinning as he did, "Ready for the next act?" He raised his right arm again and pointed it to outside the throne room walls. Heartless, at least four times more than what he had summoned in this room before, appeared outside the throne room; some were just outside the doors while others were in the streets. In Kadaj's mind, there was no way the two could fight off all of those Heartless, save this world, and protect the Emperor at the same time. He had them now.

"I think it's your turn," he said cheerfully, gripping Souba in his hand strongly as he rushed toward the female fighter, ready to deliver at least two to three blows when he managed to reach her. She may have taken down all of the Heartless before by herself, but taking him down was just a completely different story. Maleficent would relish in this; Kadaj was sure.

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[Aerith]

Clout vs. Cunning

She only had a split second to decide what to do, and it did not involve letting the man close the distance between them. He was too fast for her to dodge all on her own, so she knew she needed something to make him pause just long enough for her to get behind him. Taking this man head-on was not a viable option. She knew her own strength and abilities well enough to come to that conclusion.

The one thing in which she seemed to have an advantage over their opponent was cunning. So far, it didn't appear that he was using a lot of imagination in his assault on her world. His strategy was straightforward--summon hordes of Heartless, kill anyone who got in his way, all very much brute force tactics. But just because someone displayed great strength, that did not mean he was also very intelligent. Or at least, more intelligent than Lanying was, with her years of coordinating attacks to beat the Heartless back. If nothing else, she had to try using her intelligence to gain the upper hand.

She tightened her grip on Allegretto and did something that many might perceive to be suicidal. She threw her sword at the man with such force that it spun rapidly. If the man did not want to lose his head, he would have to take the time to either dodge the weapon or knock it out of the way with his own. With that knowledge, Lanying dashed quickly to her left, took her bow in her hands, nocked an arrow to its string in one smooth motion, and brought it around to bear on the silver-haired man. She hoped she had caught him by surprise.

[Fate]

Better Class of Criminal

Unlike the other fighter, she had another weapon besides her sword. Kadaj could gather that much right away as soon as she threw her sword at him; if she didn't have a back-up, then she wouldn't have done that and probably would have just stood her ground like the other did. The sword was spinning rapidly toward him, leaving him with two options he had to decide quickly. He could either dodge it or send it flying with the Souba. If he did the former, his position would be harder to predict for his opponent. The other would leave him in the same position he was in, making her able to shoot at him with the arrows he saw earlier.

Dodge the spinning sword it was then. Kadaj made a quick move to get out of the way, letting the sword travel away. He now needed to make sure that arrow didn't hit him. Souba was up in an instant to block it, the arrow rebounding off of one of the blades. He was breathing slightly hard, though he knew he had to keep going. Now that she was without her sword, her arrows seemed like her only option. For range, that was fine. He didn't doubt she was going to try and keep him as far away from herself as possible.

"Having fun yet?" he asked her, a smile still on his face. He had more options to choose from now. He could either continue fighting either one of these two, or both at once if they so choose, or he could make a break for it and get away from them while he let the Heartless do as they pleased. He could also summon Maleficent, leaving the fighters to fight off both of them. Besides, this fight was beginning to grow boring to him.

"I'm getting tired of this little charade," he told both of his opponents. He raised his hand into the air again, though this time he was not summoning Heartless. His hand glowed green for a second, green flames starting to emit from it.

It was time things took a turn for the worse.

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[Nothingness]

No Time to Think

Raen wanted desperately to go and kill the Heartless that this man had summoned outside the castle gate and in the city, but he knew that it would all mean nothing if they didn't save this world from its destruction. However, his mind was still screaming at him about this choice, and by the time he finally managed to block it out, he saw that Lanying was already locked in combat. Raen rushed to help, but jumped back slightly when she threw her sword. Seeing Kadaj casually dodge it, and the following arrow, Raen saw his chance as now to attack.

But Raen stopped short. "What the heck?" Unlike before when he had summoned Heartless, the man's hand glowed green with green flames around it. He didn't know why, but his heart suddenly grew heavy. He looked at Lanying, his eyes telling her that they couldn't stay if they wanted to live. However, that gave him another worry--how would they get out? "Another blast of ice could work--we just need to get to the secret tunnel in time."

[Maleficent]

The green flames from Kadaj's hand moved outwards, growing and growing, until suddenly a figure stepped out from them and soon, landed next to Kadaj. Maleficent looked at her current surroundings. It seemed Kadaj had summoned her in the middle of a battle, having seen two people arming their weapons over in their direction. She did not recognize the world, however that did not matter. It seemed like a fine world to be destroyed.

"Interesting first choice, Kadaj..." she commented as she continued looking around. She wondered why he had summoned her in the middle of a battle, but she could assume that he felt her help was needed. That was fine with her, it seemed like he had been doing a fine enough job already and with her hear victory would be assured. She then raised her scepter up and summoned 3 Nightwalker heartless, as well as 2 Assault Rider heartless.

She brought her scepter back down and looked over at the two with a smirk. "Now...who is foolish enough to stand in our way?"

[Aerith]

The Only Real Option Left is...

There was too much to contend with, too much for Lanying, even with Raen's help, to handle. Hordes of Heartless were now swarming the streets of the Imperial City, tearing her world apart. The silver-haired man--Kadaj, she knew, now that it had been spoken aloud--had been a challenge before, but now that this imposing witch had appeared, the situation was hopeless. Her eyes met Raen's and recognized the look he gave her. The promise she had made surfaced in her mind, and she knew. If they were going to get out alive, they needed to leave now.

The emperor!

Shame washed over her. She had nearly forgotten about him. Yet, even through everything that was happening, he remained standing silently in the corner to which he had retreated earlier. Lanying looked in his direction, her face riddled with torment and guilt. She wasn't sure how she and Raen were going to escape, much less with the emperor in tow. He stared back at her, his face saying everything she needed to hear. He would stay with his people until the end, but she needed to live to make sure this did not happen to other worlds.

Still unable to shake the guilt that plagued her, Lanying looked at Raen again, shifted her eyes ever so slightly to the secret passageway, and then dashed for it. She ignored the new Heartless in the throne room. Judging by the way they moved, they were not as fast as she was. And the witch didn't look like she had ever run a day in her life. The only person who could stop her and Raen, she thought, was Kadaj, if he so chose. But perhaps she and Raen would already be well into the tunnel before he decided to pursue them.

[Nothingness]

Regret

The moment that witch appeared and summoned Heartless more powerful than any of the ones Kadaj had, Raen knew that their fight was over. He could tell that this was one of the last things Lanying had ever wanted to do, or even thought would happen to her world, but there was no way of avoiding it now. It was also the last thing he wanted to do.

Seeing Lanying make a break for the secret tunnel, Raen had an idea--anything to slow down possible pursuers. Quickly following Lanying, he began to once again focus cold air within his fist. As soon as they had entered the secret tunnel, he unleashed the ability, sending chunks of razor sharp ice into the walls, as well as causing a few chunks of the ceiling to collapse, hopefully deterring any pursuers. Once they had managed to go a little ways into it, Raen said, "As soon as we get out, I'll take the lead. I've got a Gummi Ship waiting that'll take us out of here."

[Raen used Winter's Howl, final use]

[Fate]

Objective Complete... Maybe
Seymour's Ambition

Maleficent had arrived; hope for this world was now nonexistent.

Kadaj knew full well that once Maleficent appeared, the two fighters would only have a couple of options. Maleficent had more control over the Heartless and Kadaj was able to fight both of them at the same time. Their only option, or what the silver-haired man figured at least, would be to get out of the palace to avoid the most damage and save themselves. The world was lost to them now, even the Emperor who had been an idle spectator the entire fight. He would fade with this world if he was unlucky.

"I knew this would be too easy," he commented, his tone bored. The fighters were just running away now and they didn't even introduce themselves. Well, that was rather rude of them, but Kadaj didn't doubt he would see them again. They would escape this world just fine if they kept running. He wasn't about to waste his time and pursue them. The objective he came here for was being fulfilled and they weren't going to hinder it anymore.

"Glad you could make it," he said to Maleficent, the Souba now going to its sheathe. He wasn't about to use it anytime soon. The only thing they needed to do was let the Heartless run their course. Kadaj had taken out a fair amount of the guards already and the world's slim chance of survival, or chances rather, were running away. Now that Maleficent was here, victory was guaranteed. This world was going down. A wicked grin had formed on Kadaj's face already, though it disappeared as it grew slightly colder in here again. Next time he met that fighter, he wasn't going to let him get away with that. He would kill him before he got the chance.

"Care to do the honors?" he asked, "This world doesn't have that much longer. We might as well end their suffering." He then turned to the Emperor, that haughty grin back. "It looks like your world couldn't be saved after all. Too bad for you."

He laughed at this and started pacing around, growing impatient. Weren't the Heartless supposed to be doing something by now? One would think that it didn't take that long to find the world's heart and corrupt it. Heartless were good at finding hearts to corrupt for people; why should worlds be any different? Though, Kadaj didn't like the feeling he was getting. He was getting antsy from this and decided to go outside of the throne room and outside of the palace to see if the Heartless were doing anything useful.

The problem was... they weren't. They seemed to be stationary, some disappearing back into the darkness from whence they came. Shouldn't they be moving toward the keyhole or whatever the thing was called? Shouldn't they be able to find it? He gave them the command to destroy this world and they were doing nothing. Kadaj visibly seethed at this; not only did this mean that his mission was practically a failure, but that meant Maleficent would see it. Sure, he doubted she could take him in a fight, though this did not look good for his record. The other fighters would soon figure this out as well. This didn't bode well at all.

Kadaj did the only thing he knew he could do: he screamed out in annoyance, getting his Souba back and rampaging in rage back to the throne room and straight back to the Emperor. The look in his eyes was fierce as he stared at the Emperor, breathing hard out of the anger that was coursing through his veins.

"Where is it?" he demanded, "Where is the heart of this world? Don't you hide it from me. Give me the truth!" He was through playing games; he was furious now, a side of Kadaj that made him even more resemble the swordsman he came from. If he didn't get what he wanted, well... well he didn't know what he would do. He couldn't think much past that.

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[King Mickey]

The Cavalry Arrives

The trip to see Yen Sid had not been productive as far as obtaining answers went, though Mickey always enjoyed speaking with his old master. The wizard had simply confirmed the thoughts the king already had floating around in his head. There needed to be a balance between light and dark, and right now, the only way that balance was getting restored was through devastation. He couldn't believe that was the only way to tip the scales. If that were true, the entire universe had to be in a constant state of war as both the light and the darkness struggled for equal footing.

Something on one of his Gummi Ship's displays caught his attention. There was a massive amount of Heartless activity on the world called Land of Dragons, which he happened not to be very far from. Immediately, he steered the ship in the direction of the world, and upon arriving, landed near the Imperial City. Wearing his black cloak, he quickly exited the ship, his Keyblade already in hand.

Upon entering the city proper, Mickey's eyes widened at the huge amount of Heartless present. Though, for the moment, they seemed to be inert for the most part. Some were even vanishing back to the void from which they had come. Mickey fixed his eyes on the doors leading to the throne room. Something or someone had to have summoned these Heartless. They wouldn't have appeared in such droves like this on their own. Heartless didn't work in coordinated ways without a puppet-master behind them.

A quick sprint to the large throne room doors was followed by a kick to open them. The first thing Mickey saw was Maleficent, and his eyes narrowed in anger. Why was she here, of all places? Then, he saw a man standing in front of the emperor and yelling demands. He looked like he was about to snap any second. Considering that the man was the greater direct threat to the emperor, Mickey chose to ignore the witch for the time being. His gloved hand glowed, and a sphere of golden light shot toward the silver-haired man. Mickey was right on the attack's tail, Keyblade poised to strike a blow should the light alone not be enough to convince the man to leave this world.

[Summary:
Mickey used Pearl.
Posts until next use: 3
Uses remaining: 4]

[Maleficent]

Maleficent laughed as the two decided to run. "Smart choice," she told them as they ran. She didn't bother chasing after them or sending any heartless after them, it did not matter if they ran. What mattered was that this world was going to be destroyed. She then looked over towards Kadaj as he spoke. "Indeed," she replied to him, as she looked around.

It was glorious to see this world in ruin, inches from being destroyed. She nodded her head as Kadaj asked if she would do the honors. Yes....it did seem like it was time to end this world's suffering. However, the heartless seemed to have other things in mind, as they remained stationary or started disappearing from whence they came.

"Interesting..." she commented calmly. She would normally be angry with this, however it was a world whose fate she did not care about. She was more interested in why the heartless hadn't found this world's heart yet. Perhaps her powers weren't as recovered as she had thought. Kadaj seemed infuriated by this development as he started demanding the only other person in the room that she had now just notice where the heart was. She did not stop him, instead waiting to see if this person would say anything.

However, she soon heard the throne room doors open and turned to see who had opened them. She was suddenly filled with hate. It was that wretched king. Somehow he had arrived. However, it did not matter, this world was in ruin the king did not have a enough power by himself to reverse the damage that had been done. However, he did go for attacking Kadaj. Maleficent motioned for one of the Nightwalkers to take the blow for him, disappearing when the ball of light connected. However, she did not do anything to block the king, confident Kadaj would block that blow for himself

[Fate]

Someone Always Gets in the Way
Savior

The emperor was refusing to answer him, the man standing strong in front of him and not saying a word. This was just making his blood boil. He was about ready to do something drastic if this man continued to refuse to answer him; it's not like it would matter in the end, right? He would fall with this world sooner or later anyway, no matter how strong he thought he was. It would just be all a matter of when that fall would happen, and Kadaj felt like now may be a good time to make that fall happen.

Though, obviously he couldn't go doing that could he? He always tended to get interrupted in the middle of important business. That King Mickey showed up in the middle of all that was happening and aimed an attack right at him. A Heartless managed to block the first blow from reaching him, the creature getting destroyed shortly afterward. The second blow was coming straight for him, the keyblade ready to hit him. With his fast reflexes, he only managed to block the blow and hold the mouse there, not able to do much more; for a tiny mouse, he was rather strong.

He didn't bother dignifying the mouse with any verbal response, instead just pushing him away with the force of the Souba and then rounding on him to attack again. This was not looking good for his whole 'destroy the world' plan. Oh well, at least he got another good fight out of the deal. The mouse had to be good at fighting if he had the title as king. Maleficent seemed to recognize him, so that had to mean something as well. Maybe if he finished off the mouse, he would get an extra bonus from Maleficent. He wasn't sure what that would be, but it couldn't be bad could it?

Well, they would just have to see. With a grin on his face, he kept attacking the mouse, knowing that he would put up a decent fight and that hitting him would be hard. He was only two feet tall, meaning Kadaj would have a slightly harder time.

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