Brink of Disaster [Raen, Zack, Zexion]

[Nothingness]

Alternate Take

Raen laughed, seeing Zexion attempt to defend himself with that cyclone. "I'll have you begging for it." He replied, not attempting to hide the excitement in his voice. Zexion's problem was that he was a one-trick pony. If he couldn't use his book, then he couldn't use all his abilities.

Well, he'd already dove in to the storm before--not like his defenses helped him the last time. Walking towards the storm, Raen braced himself as best as he could, but found his body being pulled in by the cyclone, anyway. Once he was close enough to the center, he raised a hand and released a pulse of cold directly in the center. As long as Zexion was inside, then he'd have no way to escape the upcoming blast.

[Raen used Winter's Lament, three posts until next use]

[Fate]

-No, I think I'll be avoiding the cold.-

Naturally, Raen was the one to come get him first. Though, what he did when he was being pulled into the cyclone was an interesting strategy. Without giving the Schemer much of a choice, he blasted him with extremely cold air. Zexion had to think of his options and think of them quickly. He could either stay here and get blasted by cold air, thus rendering him vulnerable. Yet, that choice would still let the Lexicon absorb Raen and blast him. Unfortunately, there was also Lanying and Zack to consider. Even if the attack for the cyclone worked, he would be vulnerable to their attacks.

And he really didn't want to have to feel what it was like to be hit by a Keyblade again. Or a sword. He dropped the Lexicon in the middle of the cyclone, already starting to feel the affects of Raen's blast. He was forced to the ground, clutching himself for warmth. Raen was a decent battle strategist-- he had to give him that. Though, the Tactician still had his own little tricks. He forced himself to sink into the ground, becoming a shadow. He swam quickly out of the cyclone that still was going and put a little distance between himself and Raen. Now he had a choice of attacking Lanying or Zack with darkness. He had chosen Lanying last time, though that was when the attack had been weaker.

With strategy in mind, he jumped out of the ground a little bit away from Lanying and aimed a beam of darkness straight toward her. This fight was not going to be easy, not one bit. He was determined to win it, though. Just because he often chose not to fight did not mean he didn't have the ability to.

[Battle Report:
Zexion used Shadow Silhouette
Six posts until next use
Two uses remaining]

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[Aerith]

How much reality can you take?
--------
[Music by Banco De Gaia]

Zexion summoned that cyclone again. That dreaded cyclone. But this time, she knew what to expect and leaped backward before she could feel herself getting sucked in.

Raen moved first and purposefully went closer to Zexion. The air temperature dropped drastically, sending a shiver down Lanying's spine. She thought perhaps this would be enough. Zexion stood no chance against what was coming from Raen, much less all three of them at once.

But no. The Nobody vanished into the ground. Seconds later, he popped back out and sent darkness her way. Ah. That attack. She remembered that well. And from the looks of things, it seemed stronger than the last time.

No matter. So was she.

Brandishing Maelstrom's Dragon, eight orbs of light flashed into existence around her. Quickly, she struck two of them, sending them to intercept Zexion's beam of darkness. The resulting collision negated that attack, but it was quickly followed by three more light orbs that barreled down upon the Nobody.

For now, three remained circling around her.

[Summary:
Lanying used Eastern Radiance.
Cooldown will begin once all orbs have vanished.
Uses remaining: 2]

[Nothingness]

How Boring

Raen wasn't sure whether his attack hit or not, for as soon as it had taken effect, Zexion's shadow raced by on the ground below him. Turning around, he knew that there wasn't much he could do about that, and instead turned his mind to the cyclone. He was far too close to get away from it, and he wasn't particularly fond of getting tossed into anything. "Well, damn. Whatever--may as well make some use of it." Bracing himself while he thought this, a large, smooth floe of black ice appeared beneath him, and his body was covered in a white fog.

Getting sucked in to the cyclone was just as fun as he remembered, and getting shot out of it was the same, though when he struck the castle's gate, he didn't feel as painful of a spasm throughout his back as last time. He even got to his feet without any problems.

"Let's see how he deals with this." Raen drew his blade and ran towards Zexion. His aim wasn't to run the Nobody through, though that thought did come to mind, but instead to restrain him. After all, how long could a shrimp like him last the cold? He was only a few feet behind Zexion when he jumped forward, attempting to grab him under the arms, holding both ends of the sword and pushing it against the Nobody's neck.

[Raen used Frost's Damnation, three posts until next use]

[Fate]

-When in doubt, use exploding meteors.-

What in the world? Lanying had the ability to completely nullify the darkness he had sent at her. It had obviously been a mistake to send it at her since now she was sending attacks his way. There were also three more of those balls circling her, which would nullify any dark attack he sent her way. Fortunately, that wasn't the only thing he could do. He knew how to balance between light and dark. He would have to temporarily avoid Lanying, however.

The cyclone disappeared and his Lexicon appeared in his arms again, meaning that attack was over. Now he needed to make sure to dodge those spheres. He couldn't dodge every one of them, at least one of them hitting him and making him falter back to the ground. It didn't help that the air was still freezing. Lanying and Raen had both grown much stronger since he had seen them last, which he would normally applaud them for. Perhaps if he managed to get through this fight with his head still attached, he would compliment them.

He needed to deal with the cold somehow. The Lexicon glowed briefly as he activated his bracing ability, subsequently causing him to glow for a second or two. The cold was still tough to deal with, but if Lanying wanted to attack him, it wouldn't hurt quite as much; he could still see his breath in this sub-zero temperature area and it was still frigid. He could still move though if needed.

Or not. While he had been activating his bracer ability, Raen had already proceeded to get up and run right behind him. In no time at all, he had a sword to his neck and he was restrained. Very interesting strategy, not the one many would go for. Yet, if the Schemer had been Raen, he would have done exactly this: restrain his opponent since they could not last anywhere near as long in the cold. Zexion grinned back at Raen, even though he was breathing faster. "You've all improved," he told him. His eyes narrowed. "But not enough."

The Lexicon glowed once more, this time letting down a rain of meteors upon the area. He might as well give the trio an attack they hadn't seen from him before. They had seen his moves before, knew what they were up against. They had improved greatly since he fought them last, which meant the results of this fight would most likely be different than the last one. Zexion could only hope that they wouldn't differ tremendously.

[Battle Report:
Zexion used Magic Bracer
Three posts until next use, one use remaining.

Zexion used Meteor Mirage
Five posts until next use, three uses remaining.]

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[Aerith]

This is cozy, isn't it?
--------

Even though Raen had restrained Zexion, that did not stop the Nobody from activating yet another ability. This one, however, she had never seen before. Quickly, she realized what was coming. Knowing what she needed to do, she struck the remaining three light orbs to send them flying at Zexion.

With little time to waste, she caused water to flow from her Keyblade. "Raen! Over here! Now!" That was all she said before she began singing. She saw Raen smack his forehead into the back of Zexion's head and dash in her direction. The second he was close enough, she encased them both in a sphere of water.

Meteors smashed into the shield with violent fury but did not breach it. They were as safe as they could be while they waited out this storm. She hoped Zack was well out of range. If she had tried to fit him inside the shield as well, things would have been very cramped. And very uncomfortable on multiple levels.

She looked at Raen. "Once these rocks stop falling on our heads, we are hitting him back and hitting him hard."

[Summary:
Lanying used Shield Raid Cadenza.
Cooldown will begin once the shield has dissipated.
Uses remaining: 3

Eastern Radiance has dissipated.
Posts until next use: 6]

[Nothingness]

Cold Shoulder

"Nobody wins in a headbutt," Raen thought, rubbing his forehead. Definitely not the smartest move he made, but it was something he'd always wanted to try for whatever reason. Like space-jumping. It's stupid, has a chance of death, but it's awesome if you don't mess up.

For the moment, however, the two of them were nestled somewhat comfortably underneath Lanying's shield, which was keeping the meteors at bay. Upon Lanying telling him their next plan, Raen grinned viciously, replying, "No doubt about it. We'll give him a nice team attack." When the meteors had stopped, Raen fired off his Dark Blizzaga spells, sealing them inside a shell of ice. He waited a moment, placing the tip of his blade on the ground.

"Now!" Swinging his blade upwards, Lanying shattered the shield, sending hunks of ice towards Zexion. While her attack was going on, Raen began sending blades of ice--four on the ground, and four in the air--towards Zexion. After the eighth blade was flying towards him, Raen slammed his hand onto the ground, creating a dark portal beneath Zexion. Two yellow eyes glowed for a moment in the portal before the darkness took the shape of a wolf's head, snapping its jaws shut. He didn't see if Zexion managed to dodge it, but he'd soon find out; the darkness just exploded, sending shards of ice everywhere.

[Raen used Dark Blizzaga and Ice Beast, two posts and three posts until next use]

[Fate]

-Not exactly what I was expecting.-

... Oww. Even with the bracer, headbutts hurt. Zexion rubbed the back of his head as he stood up, backing away. The two had gotten under a shield created by Lanying, a smart move. He didn't look around to see what happened to the third fighter but instead watched. After those meteors stopped falling, they were going to attack again. He needed to be prepared to come up with a counter strike, some way to end this fight relatively soon. This combat wasn't necessary and he truly did not want to kill a Keyblade Master. If the Organization found out he did that, he might as well just fade into oblivion now.

Their team attack started, Lanying shattering her shield into ice and Raen sending that spell at him again. Knowing better this time around, he dodged the Dark Blizzaga attack, ignoring the damage from the ice shards he was getting. Though, the other attack needed to be countered quickly; blades of ice weren't quite as easy to dodge. The same amount of ice blades formed and sent themselves straight for the ones aimed at him. This proved to counter them nicely, though he didn't count on what Raen was going to do next.

No, he most definitely did not count on a portal appearing under him, a wolf's head looking straight at him. Before he got a chance to run, the wolf's head bit him. Hard. And then exploded. The bracer helped make this damage less, but it still hurt and he wasn't fond of it. He was sent flying after the explosion of darkness, going into the castle himself this time. His back hit the castle first, then the back of his head, before he fell straight to the ground. He was on his hands and knees now, gasping for breath.

If he had a heart, he might have been furious right now. How could he have let himself stand there and get attacked? And how could they attack him when he had done nothing? He didn't try to manipulate them. He didn't even antagonize them this time. They just weren't pleased with hearing the news that Mickey had been killed and wanted to 'settle their score'. He wore a harsh glare and he directed it straight at Raen, not saying a single word as he pushed himself off the ground and held his Lexicon tightly. Should he even bother continuing? Was it worth it?

Well, seeing as they didn't look like they were going to stop, he continued. Four clones appeared in the area. All four of them started creating a sphere of light, an attack that the three had seen before. He prepared himself to attack said sphere when it was done. They knew the drill though. They knew they had to kill his clones first. He made sure this time to stand next to one, preparing his Lexicon for close range fighting. It wasn't his specialty, but he could do it just fine.

[Battle Report:
Zexion used Mimic
Five posts until next use, four uses remaining

Zexion used Catastrophe
Sphere will activate upon next post]

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[Aerith]

Enter the Dragon
--------
[Twin Devils by Rei Kondoh from Okami]

Ah, another familiar attack. This one, however, looked about the same as last time. And what had they done then? Why, kill the clones, of course. The faster, the better. The echoes in her spirit stirred.

You have need of me, Small One.

Yes. I do.

Then, call me.

Lanying relaxed her Keyblade to her side and put a hand to her chest. Her head bent in a gesture resembling reverence, and she closed her eyes. Light danced around her as her spirit and the newest addition to it cemented together. A flash of light burst in the sky overhead as Qinglong answered her summons.

The dragon's sinewy form shot immediately toward the nearest clone, igniting it in flames with its breath. A second clone went down beneath a surge of claws and teeth, though the resulting explosion tossed the dragon back a few feet. It hissed, scrambled back onto all fours, and circled Lanying protectively with its six-foot body.

[Summary:
Lanying has summoned Qinglong, the Azure Dragon of the East.
He remains by her side for another full post.]

[Nothingness]

Uh...He's With Her

Well, Zexion had certainly run out of ideas if this is what he resorted to: the exact same attack as last time. Just as Raen was about to run forward to cut down a clone, a blur of green flew by before incinerating a clone. He couldn't help but pause and marvel at the dragon. It definitely had an unreal beauty to it, and he most certainly didn't want to get on its bad side.

Watching the dragon return to defend Lanying, Raen continued his charge, slicing into one of the clones. One, two, three slashes. On the fourth, he held his rapier up, defending himself against the blast, though it was still enough to force him to hop back a little. "Still got one clone left," he thought, watching two Zexion's circling around the sphere of light. Which was the clone, and which was Zexion was the real question.

[Raen used Defensive Blow, four posts until next use]

[Fate]

-Well, I might just be screwed here.-

When he had said that the two had improved, he hadn't known that this would be included. He could only watch as a quite ethereal dragon landed near Lanying, destroying two of the clones. Zexion couldn't help but ogle at it for a second, mesmerized by its sheer looks. Lanying had the ability to summon that? This was beginning to look quite grim for him. He couldn't let this go much further and let this continue. He had to find a way to stop this fight before he was killed.

"I overestimated myself and underestimated their abilities," he thought to himself, looking away from the dragon as Raen destroyed one of the other clones. If this had been a fight just between him and one of them, he would have been able to handle it. But with both of them at the same time and with their great improvements, he was finding that he couldn't. Still, he had to go through with this and not flee like the coward many thought he was. He could come out of this with his head still intact if he worked this right-- the only problem was to figure out how to do that.

Right now, he had to get to the sphere before the last clone was destroyed. He bolted toward the sphere, his Lexicon in hand, as he leaped into the air and attacked the sphere. Light blasted the area as Zexion landed back on his feet, the clone also disappearing. Hopefully, hopefully, that would at least give him time to figure out his next move.

[Battle Report:
Catastrophe initiated
Three posts until next use, three uses remaining]

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[Aerith]

Have a face-full of fire. My treat.
--------

When Zexion dashed toward the light, Lanying braced herself. Three of the clones had been destroyed, so the attack was not as potent as it could have been, which meant she was not tossed violently aside. Qinglong embraced her firmly with his body to keep her steady, as well.

I have you, Small One.

Lanying sent a feeling of gratitude through their spiritual bond and waited for the attack to pass. Once over, the dragon uncurled itself from her legs, fixed Zexion with a fierce glare, and bared its teeth. Like lightning, it shot forward, spewing flames from its jaws one last time before ascending into the sky and vanishing in a flash.

[Summary:
Qinglong has been dismissed.
Posts until next use: 4
Uses remaining: 1]

[Nothingness]

Feeling Tired?

With three of Zexion's clones down, the blast itself didn't do much more than knock Raen down, which did hurt, but not as much as a full blown blast would have. Getting to his feet, he looked at Zexion just in time to see Lanying's dragon rush him with a massive breath of fire. Taking advantage of that, Raen ran up to him, and released another blast of cold air and freezing fire.

Figuring that Zexion would be busy defending or whatever futile attempt he called it, Raen would make sure the Nobody wasn't getting too tired. "You look like you're breathing a little hard there. You know, the cold, it causes a lot of your body's tissues to contract, making you feel pain easier. Starts in the extremities and works its way inward, right? Not only that, it also can reduce a person's thinking capabilities. I mean, for such a smart person as yourself, you MUST be feeling that one, right?" Yes, it was childish taunting fueled mostly by his want to win, but he didn't want this fight getting too serious.

[Raen used Winter's Lament, three posts until next use]

[Fate]

-Hey. Taunting is my thing.

The blast worked for knocking Raen back a bit, but the dragon protected Lanying. Unfortunately, that dragon also decided to go straight for him. With fire. He didn't have time to dodge this dragon, nor the energy. However, he could brace himself just one last time. He activated it once again and used his arms and Lexicon to shield himself. He was able to ignore the fire and the dragon vanished, but what was happening at the same time was even more important.

The cold blast hit him quickly. Immediately, he could feel his fingers growing numb and chills going down his spine. His breathing accelerated again, his breath now visible in the air once more. He looked next to him and found Raen. And he was taunting him. Oh he knew all of these things already. He knew exactly what the cold did to one's body and to one's mind. Raen was trying to get to him, trying to make him lose focus.

Yet, for some reason, he found this amusing. He let out a chuckle, grinning at Raen. "Taking a leaf out of my book?" he asked rhetorically, still shivering and clutching himself to keep himself warm. It was a futile endeavor, of course. "And here I was thinking you were above that." He couldn't take much more of this cold, unfortunately. And he needed to do something and get Raen away from him and make sure Lanying didn't hit him with her Keyblade.

Doing the only thing he could think of doing at the moment, he summoned another cyclone around him. After he did, and after he let go of his Lexicon, he went to his knees. He couldn't keep going like this, not much longer. But he had to for his own sake.

[Battle Report:
Zexion used Magic Bracer
Will last through next post
No uses remaining

Zexion used Cyclone
Five posts until next use, one use remaining]

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[Aerith]

Let us play. I will hit and you will catch.
--------

Perfect. Another cyclone. She was out of ranged attacks for the time being, but considering that pieces of the ground were getting ripped up and tossed around, that wasn't much of a problem. Staying mindful of the cyclone's tug, she waited until the earth pieces came to her. Several good smacks with her Keyblade sent them flying straight back toward Zexion. If nothing else, they would serve as a good distraction.