War Amongst The Dead[Plot]

[Nothingness]

Call That An Attack?

Under Heaven Destruction

Leon couldn't help but be a little disappointed that the man wasn't burnt to a crisp, but he'd get by. Now they had a much more even field to fight on.

He watched as Loz raised an arm, and barely realized what was going on in time to dodge the attack. Hopping backwards, the man's attack managed to graze his shoulder, but the jolt of electricity still managed stunned him for a moment. "Forgot about that." Mad at himself more than Loz for getting hit, Leon swung his gunblade in retaliation, slicing first at Loz's shoulder, and then again at his ribcage. This time, he made sure to pull the trigger with each slash. No more holding back.

[Loz]

Still Warming Up

Darnit. Somehow the man had managed to move in time to dodge the attack, for the most part. Loz had only managed to slightly graze the man's shoulder, almost falling into the snow that still remained behind him.

By the time he turned around, the swordsman was already slashing at him with his weapon. He rose his Dual Hound in plenty of time to block the blow, though it seemed unusually jarring. For the second slash, he chose to just dodge it, leaping backwards. This time he did land in the snow, unfortunately.

With slight disbelief, the remnant realized that the guy had somehow managed to put a noticeable dent in his weapon. "What?!" How was that even possible? He shot the browned-haired man an angry glare. It must have been that strange sword of his... That was it.

Jumping out of the snow, Loz came at his opponent again, bringing his left hand, pulsing with electricity, headed for his ribcage. At the exact same time, however, he snatched his Velvet Knightmare from its holster on his thigh, firing a spray of bullets at the man's chest from the other side.

"Good luck blocking both." He thought to himself, grinning.

[Nothingness]

A Rival's Tactic

Leon couldn't help but be surprised when he found his first attack being deflected. "Damn, thought that would've cut right through. Still, if he tries to block again, I'll probably break his gauntlet." Luckily, when the man dodged the second swing, he had inadvertently landed in the snow, giving him plenty of breathing room.

Clearly, his opponent hadn't learned much since their last fight. Another straight-forward approach--still, he needed to be careful. Dodging to the right rather than blocking the attack, he saw Loz raise his gun to fire, but Leon had a plan of his own. Swinging his blade upwards with his right arm, he managed to raise the gun just high enough so that two bullets managed to graze his left shoulder and a third pierced through, just missing the bone. Wincing in slight pain, Leon whipped up his left hand and shot off a Fire spell at point-blank range, aimed at Loz's face. Immediately after, he disengaged, not wanting to get hit by any sort of counter.

[Leon used Fire, two posts until next use]

[Loz]

That's It

A couple of bullets grazed the man's arm, a third sinking into it. "Heh." Loz grinned, happy that he had succeeded in injuring him. That was until he noticed the his enemy's left hand, which he hadn't been paying much attention to due to it's lack of weapon. From it the man was shooting a ball of fire, heading right for his face.

Without time to dodge the attack or raise his arms in defense, Loz could only turn his head to the side slightly, to avoid getting hit dead on by it. The fire collided with the left side of his face just under his eye. Crying out in pain, he stumbled backwards, letting out a string of swearing. His cheek was bright red, clearly burned. He grabbed a handful of snow and pressed it to the wound, trying to numb the searing pain.

In pain and simply upset, the remnant had to hold back the tears he felt welling up inside of him. He wasn't going to give this jerk the satisfaction of making him cry, and his brothers would probably end up making fun of him if he did. "Is that the best you've got?" He asked, trying to appear at least somewhat amused, but only sounding angry.

Letting go of his face, he charged at the man again, this time even more vicious than before. He swung at him several times with both his gun and gauntlet, a few kicks thrown in there as well.

[Nothingness]

Waste of Time

Leon watched, amused, as the man ran for some snow to cool the burns. If it wasn't for the fact that this man was so pathetic, he may very well have ended his misery right then and there. Still, it was too late--he'd gotten back up.

Really? He lost it that easily? Wow. "Why don't you just leave before you get hurt." No, he's going to keep fighting. This guy was going to get himself killed if he kept that up.

While Leon had to give the guy points for trying a slightly different tactic, telegraphing the moves was still pretty easy. He blocked the gunblade swings ("Oh, an actual gunblade."), and dodged the punches with only a few scrapes, but he took a pretty heavy kick to the chest that made him stumble backwards, as well as knock the wind out of him.

Coughing, he looked up at Loz and glared. Placing one hand of the flat of his blade, he swept it forward, extending the sword over twice its length, glowing with magical energy. He didn't even need to get close to Loz now. He began to slash anywhere he could at his target, completely relentless in his assault.

[Leon used Blasting Zone, four posts until next use]

[Administrator]

Fighting but kinda not.

If he was ready...then Ava was, too. His swords now at his sides, the Chaosling grinned. "Here I go~" he cried in a sing-song tone as he rushed towards the man of Light. His blades were cold and black; not even the brightest light would reflect off of the edge. Slashing the left blade in a rising left to right diagonal, Ava followed it with another from his other blade, this one cutting right to left across his chest.

If either made it through, they would only scratch the man; neither were designed to kill or even maim. Following the two slashes was a stab from the left, aimed at his right leg, but drawing back before even cutting cloth, one with his right sword at Cloud's left shoulder, also drawing back before getting near him, and ended with a double stab at the center of his chest.

Drawing himself back, Ava waited for the man's advance, sensing something was amiss all the while. "See, Aerith? It's like sparring!" the child-like creature said, happy as could be, his eyes not watching his opponent, and his swords now relaxed in his hands. "I couldn't hurt him, seeing as how he's very important to you. But I have to make it look like I'm fighting for the Dark. See?"

He needed to work with them and didn't want to lose his Dark friends, but he didn't want to hurt those important to his Light-aligned friends either. So he chose the middle ground; or, at least, what he thought was the middle ground.

[Prythian]

The Champion's rapier was replaced by a silver katana, and he stood there waiting for the meteors to cease falling. One even passed right through him as if he was a mirage, exploding underneath and scattering the snow. "Snow, hm?" He muttered to himself, looking up. "Interesting. That's the first time that's happened for me. The last weather effect was a long time ago, as well." Then he stiffened. Knowledge coursed through him, the shock of it written on his face. "...They... They FAILED." He hissed, his face contorting with anger. "I was counting on them to protect her, and they fail so rapidly."

He shook his head, teeth bared in a grimace. "Fine. He did not properly extend his protection over her. Thus, with her death, her protection of him is ended. Creatures of darkness, this fight is not one I will support today! My objective is unreachable at this time. Withdraw or fight on, the choice is yours. I will fight against those of light another day!" He called out these last few lines across the snow-shrouded battlefield.

And as the meteors ceased, so too did his intangibility as another sword replaced the katana. This was a large greatsword, the blade colored dull gray. There was a quality about it that some would find hard to put words to.

The Champion knew what it was, though. This sword seemed more real than anything else. He held the sword in front of him, and an image quickly formed... a familiar one, complete with large ears and thin tail.

The spitting image of Mickey, only with yellow eyes and darkness streaming off of him, stood before the Champion. Instead of a Keyblade, he wielded a thin longsword. "Sora!" The Champion called out. "There's someone here that just about died to meet you!" And right before the flash of the golden sword carried the Champion away, he whispered his instructions to the Dark Mickey. "Kill him or die trying."

The Dark Mickey growled in response and rushed off into the snowstorm in the general direction of where the Champion had last seen Sora.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lexaeus couldn't see a thing in the snow, so he simply waited, his power still increasing. The aura seemed almost like a living thing, the way it moved about him, almost clawing at the sky. He listened silently to the Champion's pronouncement. "If he leaves..." He aimed the statement at Zexion. "...then our presence here is meaningless. We should still protect the Keybearers, however."

[Oathkeeper Emi]

The snow stopped falling, and the wind stopped howling. Visibility cleared, but there was still a lot of snow on the ground.

[Fate]

I hate the snow.

"This doesn't even make sense. How can it snow in the middle of a freaking desert?!"

[/color] This was all Lillian was really thinking as she was making her way through the snow. She couldn't see anything in front of her, but she heard voices and attempts at fighting. If she could see where she was, she'd shoot and help out in the fight, but the risk of misfiring was too great. She didn't even recognize most of the voices that she heard. Great. What the freaking hell was she supposed to do now? This didn't even make any sense.

And then, out of nowhere, it stopped snowing. The wind stopped blowing and she could see. Her eyes widened as she saw enemies and allies alike scattered around what now resembled a battlefield. She saw Ava duking it out with Cloud, or attempting to, and others she didn't recognize. High on the cliff, Axel was there. What the hell... why were all of these people gathered here? People of dark and light? Why?

There could only be one reason, the one she didn't really like and was dreading. The Champion. That was the only possible explanation as to why so many people had gathered. But why? Why did they all of a sudden need to launch a large attack? And here of all places? All this place was, aside from now a battlefield, was a place of barren and ancient Keyblades. She was missing something here, something big, but she almost didn't want to know at this point. She would rather stay in ignorant bliss than know why everyone had gathered here today.

Now, to shoot or not to shoot. She could see her enemies now, but was fighting really necessary? Yeah, she wanted to fight against those of the darkness, but fighting in this area right now was just... pointless. Where would it get them? Nowhere. Honestly though, she didn't want to fight and lose again to the darkness. She didn't want to risk that. With that in mind, not even bothering to start shooting unlike she normally would, she turned around and started walking the same path she did before, her head bowed.

--

Loz did as he said, which made Kadaj happy. He jumped into his new path and started running after his brother, his sword in hand ready to fight. But, before he could even make his way to the opponent, everything changed. The Champion said something about "them failing to protect her". He wasn't sure what he was talking about. Then, he said that they had a choice to keep fighting or not. He was leaving. He would take on those of light another day. Then, he created some form of Mickey, which immediately caused the silver-haired remnant to glare, to fight Sora. And kill him. But that was what he wanted to do!

Fine. If he was going to leave, he would just keep on fighting. There was still a lot of snow on the ground, but he could manage. Leon was fighting with Loz at the moment while Ava with Cloud. Cloud. And then there was Raen and his friends. Oh there were just so many options! Cloud was probably the best one though. If he teamed up with Ava, then they'd be able to kill him. Raen liked ice if he remembered correctly. This was too much of his natural element concentrated in one area.

Wait, what?! When he got to Ava, he had mentioned that he wasn't really going to hurt Cloud. Why the bloody hell not?! If he wasn't going to, then Kadaj sure was. He jumped as high as he could out of the snow and came down on Cloud with a vertical blow ready.

--

Well, the swordsman had left. The snow was gone, but he had declared that he would not partake any longer. Katherine hadn't gotten the impression that he would do this, though perhaps he had another idea in mind of how this fight was supposed to go out. Now, the question was whether or not to continue fighting after he left. There was still plenty of snow and moving around would be difficult, but she could see clearly now. It would almost be a pointless venture. It would just be simpler to leave and find others to kill elsewhere. The snow made things far more difficult than they need to be. Sure, it made her enemies unable to move well also, but what were they fighting for really? She didn't know.

"I'll be taking my leave now then as well," she said, "Farewell." Her ship wasn't too far off, fortunately. She could get to it and then leave, not having to rely on the other woman to get her out of here. It was probably better that way for the both of them anyhow.

--

To be quite honest, Zexion didn't factor this into his plans whatsoever. He never expected snow, nor did he expect the next events to happen. Something had changed on the battlefield while it snowed, but he wasn't sure what. He couldn't detect it the way he normally could, but he could feel something off. The meteors did not do much, which was almost expected, but the words following were certainly not what he thought he would be hearing from the Champion.

Then, before the snow cleared, the scent of the Champion vanished. The oppressive scent left Zexion's senses quite abruptly. He was gone from this world. But why? And where to? He couldn't answer those questions adequately, not now. It stopped snowing and the wind dissipated, and the Champion was no longer there. The rest were, and some were fighting, but the one they came to fight against was gone. Lexaeus's first words were correct. There presence here was now meaningless.

Except, of course, they had to protect the Keyblade Masters. Did the Schemer really want to do that? No, not incredibly. But, he realized he was going to have to as he watched what looked like King Mickey run toward Sora. His eyes widened to twice their size at this sight. How was that even possible?! Mickey was dead. He had been the one to say this and deliver the message to practically every person here. This didn't even... Of course, this Mickey's scent was different. It was twisted, dark, and ready to kill Sora. The Keyblade Master could, theoretically, fight against him alone. And Riku was at his side.

But Kairi wasn't. How could that be possible? Where could she have disappeared to so quickly? He wished he could detect her sense, but that was utterly impossible. She was too full of light, too pure. He couldn't understand how she disappeared though, not at all. Someone would need to find her. It wasn't his place to though. He needed to "protect" these Keyblade Masters.

He nodded to Lexaeus's words, not saying anything himself. He wasn't about to move from his spot; he wasn't the type to defend another person, even if it was someone important. Sora could handle this fine. Though, he needed to at least stay at the Graveyard-- someone had to document everything that occurred. [/blockquote][/size]

[Loz]

I'm Not Going Anywhere

Loz didn't like the way this guy was trying to tell him to leave before he got hurt. This was just like what he did the last occasion they had fought in Radiant Garden, warning the remnant that he better leave for his OWN safety. And that attitude he found incredibly annoying. It made it sound like he thought he was just soo much stronger than Loz, which he definitely wasn't. Besides, he didn't actually care if he died. "Maybe you should be worrying less about me and more about yourself."

His string of attacks was largely blocked and avoided, but he was at least able to get in some damage, namely one particularly good kick. The man wasn't down for long though, soon back on the offensive. His sword began to glow different colors and seemed to grow longer.

Moving his Velvet Knightmare in time to stop the first blow wasn't difficult, but he had misjudged the new length of the glowing blade and got slashed across his shoulder. The cut was fairly shallow, though deep enough to draw blood and hurt. The rest of the assault he managed to defend against, slowly being driven backwards while doing so.

It was then that the vicious weather began to die down, the falling of the snow and the blowing of the wind ceasing. "About time." he thought to himself. The Champion was announcing that he was leaving, telling the rest of his allies that they could do whatever they wanted. Was he serious? He was just going to leave already? That was just pathetic. So much for him being so insanely powerful.

Loz spotted Kadaj, who seemed to be heading off the face some blond guy with Ava. Well if they were staying, then so would he. Granted he wouldn't have minded some help, but whatever. He didn't need his brother's help handling this loser.

"You know, I think I'm going to have to choose the second one..." he announced, giving his opponent a grin. He for one wasn't going anywhere.

[Nothingness]

Recession

Raen had been having a bit of trouble maneuvering through the snow as more continued to fall, but he still wasn't feeling much of the cold. He could hear the sounds of battle in the distance, but was able to sense that none of them were close enough to affect them. His senses were also useful for making sure he didn't lose Lanying and Zack--god forbid they got split up.

And then the winds died down, and he could see everything. The craters from the meteors, some fights going on behind them, but a few things caught his attention. The first, was that the Champion had left, which, frankly disappointed him. With him gone, there was little point in staying, although the Mickey shade he made half-tempted him to stay just to kill it.

The second thing, however, was what really got his attention. "Hey, pretty boy!" Time for them to settle the score from the Land of Dragons.
---
Unlike the rest of he fighters, Luxord had a different, and classier way of moving through the snow. He simply laid out his cards in front of himself and walked on them. "I should sell these", he mused aloud, "Card-styled snow shoes. I've no doubt they'd sell well in certain circles. Yes, a capital idea..." He muttered to himself some more when he noticed that the wind had stopped.

"That's not very sportsman like--ending the game before all the players have made their moves. Quite the sore loser." Luxord was about to leave, but decided against it for the moment. He was already here, why not have some fun before returning to the drink. Of course, as a gentleman, he preferred to wait for an opponent to challenge him. That was proper.
---
Wait, the Champion was retreating? Well, that made things easier for them. They actually stood a good chance of taking care of all of the others now. And that was one thing Leon was planning on doing.

Loz was refusing to leave, and Leon never had any plans to let him go. "It's your funeral, then." He continued his assault, pushing Loz back as far as he could until he swung his sword upwards, filling it with even more energy than there already was. Whether it hit or not didn't matter. If it didn't hit, anything Loz tried to block it with was broken. And if it did, then he didn't have to worry about Loz.

[Leon used Rough Divide, two posts until next use]

[Lagunamov]

Dealing with the Scraps.

[/center][/i]

It was only after a few minutes of waiting in the blinding snow that the storm ended properly, but the ground still remained covered with some feet of the annoying with thing. No matter, that was still going to affect everyone. However, with the storm gone, Elrick could no longer see the Champion anywhere. Did those things that had fallen on him killed him? No, that was too easy for someone who simply shot down missiles.

“Wait, what the..?” Elrick’s eyed widened at the sight of The King rushing through the storm towards a teenager. Something was very off with that, from his look to the weapon he wielded. Mickey was a Keyblade Master after all, why would he simply go back to a sword. Taking a second to notice the darkness oozing out of him, Elrick started running forward, sword and sheath in each hand. As he ran forward he began spinning each on his hands to his side above the snow.

Then, when he had managed to get them spinning the fastest he could, he jumped forward into the air, bringing together the hilt of the sword to the sheath, and slashed as hard as he could with the joined items. Promptly after he fell again in the snow, close to a short girl with… a Keyblade. Were they selling those at garage sales or something lately? Either way, it took only a couple of seconds for the tornado he summoned to appear in the middle of the path between whatever had disguised itself as the King and the kid. Or so he hoped it was something disguised as him.

“The hell is wrong with the King?” he commented aloud, not to anyone in particular.

--------------------------------

By the time vision came back to Xigbar, or better said, the storm finished raging on, the Champion had vanished from sight. All that was left was some mockery of King Mickey, which Zexion promptly went to deal with. Or rather, help Sora, the target of the mockery. With how outnumbered the pawns of The Champion were, it was clear the battle was going to be one sided at best, and as such, the Sharpshooter lacked any real reason to stick around. The main target he was going to be working against was gone either way, so his presence felt unrequired anymore.

With that, a Corridor of Darkness opened beneath the Freeshooter’s feet, transporting him back to The Castle That Never Was.


[Garudyne Cast. Will be at work until Elrick's next post.]

[Cloud]

You Look Familiar...

Cloud blocked Ava's first two slashes fairly easily. The Chaosling was fast, but it sort of helped that he had announced his attack in advance. In an silly, sing-song voice no less. The stab at his shoulder he also blocked, though he was unable to do anything about the one at his leg. Oddly enough though, the black sword didn't even scratch him. Was he not even trying to land a blow at all? Apparently not.

Despite not being one to particularly enjoy fighting, Cloud was dismayed by this for whatever reason. Having Ava refrain from trying too hard to kill him would be nice, but he didn't have to hold back this much. The blond swordsman found this somewhat insulting, honestly. He was sure he could handle himself just fine, especially against someone so child-like. "I thought you weren't going to go easy on me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Sure didn't seem that way.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a someone coming down on him. Turning and raising his sword just in time, he deflected the unusual blade. The assailant was not someone that Cloud had ever seen before, or at least he didn't think so, but there was something eerily familiar about him. What it was, he realized, was a resemblance to Sephiroth. The hair color, the eyes... In was unmistakable. Though whether or not it meant anything, he wasn't sure.

Keeping his buster sword in a defensive position in front of himself, Cloud stared at the man, slightly bothered by his familiar looks. Some other guy yelled something-- "Pretty boy"-- presumably at the silver-haired man. "I think he's talking to you." he informed him flatly, not taking his eyes away from him.

[Aerith]

There is still violence to be had whether it is necessary or not.
--------

The snow had stopped before she and Raen could take full advantage of it, but to Lanying's surprise, the Champion was leaving. So much for presenting himself as a threat. As far as she could tell, nothing was out of the ordinary, but she caught something about someone failing right before the Champion conjured up a presence that made her skin crawl.

King Mickey. No. Not the King. Some dreadful abomination trying to pass itself off as the King.

It was making a beeline for some boy who also possessed a Keyblade. Meanwhile, a stranger landed near her and commented aloud on the twisted thing now running across the battlefield. He had summoned a large vortex of wind to block the creature's path to the boy. She couldn't help but notice the way the column was absorbing the snow around it, turning it into cyclone of something more than just wind.

Interesting.

"That is not His Majesty," she said with a trace of venom in her voice. "Unless it is indeed him come back from the dead to torment those he once sought to protect."

Raen was zeroing in on Kadaj, and Lanying was all too eager to exact revenge against him for what he had done to her home. The first order of business, however, was to make sure the abomination failed to reach the boy. The water she called forth from her Keyblade did not even need her voice to guide it. The wind's pull was strong and greedily absorbed the element, turning the barrier into a watery cyclone. Bits of snow swirled up into the column, freezing chunks of ice dancing in the water.

That done, she turned her attention back to Kadaj, who was attacking some blonde swordsman she did not recognize. However, near him stood Aerith. At least that was one familiar face. She didn't look like much of a fighter, so Lanying had to wonder why the woman was even here.

"Kadaj!"

Moments after issuing her thinly veiled challenge, Lanying created eight spheres of light around herself. Maelstrom's Dragon immediately struck two of them toward Kadaj. She chose to combine three others into a much larger one while keeping the remaining three as they were.

Aerith, meanwhile, deliberated on whether to speak or not. She did not want to distract Cloud, but she could not help herself.

"Please, stop this! Please don't fight! The Champion is gone, don't you see? You don't have to do this anymore."

[Summary:
Lanying used Abundant Wellspring.
Posts until next use: 1
Uses remaining: Unlimited

Lanying used Eastern Radiance.
Remains in effect for two more posts.
Uses remaining: 2]
_______________________

Alanix had not moved from the cliff throughout the blizzard. Now that it had relented, she could see again. What she saw confirmed the thoughts she had been having for quite a while now.

The Champion was gone. The fight was essentially over before it had truly begun. There was no longer a reason for her to be here.

Xigbar had already taken his leave. Only Zexion was intent on continuing to protect the Keybladers. There were other Light warriors already moving to do that, however. The Organization's presence was not needed anymore. Those of the Dark who remained were far outmatched. It would be over soon.

Summoning a Corridor, she wasted no time in stepping through. Lethe and Kyza, she knew, would not be far behind.

[Axel]

I'm bored again.
--------

Axel had also not left the cliff during the snowfall. Visibility was back to normal now, though the snow remained on the ground. And already, the Champion was leaving. Well. Not before leaving them with a parting gift in the form of a shadow shaped into Mickey's form. It was moving toward Sora, but several others were there to see to his safety. Why bother going down there at all?

No, what Axel did instead was find Saïx. Luckily, the Diviner hadn't gotten too far in the blizzard.

"He's gone. Now there's really no point in us being here."

A Corridor blossomed behind him. "I sure as hell don't plan on sticking around. I'll be back at the Castle for a while if you plan to play a little in the snow."

He stepped backward and vanished.