A Gathering of Sorts [Viola, Castle, Open]

[Administrator]

Your mouth says no, but your lifeless eyes say yes.
August 11th

Something unseen seemed to tear at reality for a moment. Reality sort of bent for a moment, shifting back after a second. After a moment, it happened again, and then the bending split open to reveal colors of all sorts and varieties, swirling around together, none of them truly forming together, but subtly shifting. There was no blending; the colors were each separate, as if a thousand snakes of all colors and sizes had been thrown into a pit of the darkest black, illuminated by a colorless light.

Out of this madness stepped a creature arguably harder to predict and understand; Avarice Entropy, Chaos Incarnate. Looking around, Ava had a serious expression on his face. That was odd for him, considering he was not used to being serious about anything. His bonds had gone blank, though, and he was unable to tell where Aerith or Axel were, or even if they were alive. Looking around, Ava almost thought to leave before he noticed people giving him strange looks.

The Chaosling grinned. They thought he was a Heartless. His seriousness forgotten, Ava summoned his blades in two flashes of multicolored light, the being of Chaos twirled them. Chosen by the chaotic forces as he was, he couldn't give up the opportunity to cause mayhem here. People ran and screamed as he began running around, swinging his swords. For the most part he missed people, but could he really be blamed if he cut a few who were too slow to dodge?

Looking around, he noticed that there were several individuals who seemed to be willing to stay and fight him. All the better. If people were willing to actually fight him, even as a group, then he might have fun here. All of his worries were forgotten; even the idea that Aerith might not approve was lost in the rush. Ava blocked an axe haft, allowing the blade to push down towards the ground and spiraling his sword around it, confusing the man who swung it. He was surprised to see such a weapon here, but nonetheless, he enjoyed the challenge, as slight as it was.

The Chaosling drew his left sword across the man's midsection, his other blade going for the throat. But the man was already falling, clutching a red line at his stomach. Arrows flew at him; a woman with a bow? Was someone really using ranged attacks against him? An arrow flew past his neck, and a faint line appeared where it passed by. It was rather close, too much so for comfort.

Grinning, Ava charged in, armed foes attacking him. Who knew, maybe they were organized in some way, and someone would actually present a challenge eventually. If not, he could easily leave and find somewhere else to cause chaos.

[Nothingness]

"What is this shit!?"

Viola exclaimed, watching some strange Heartless-like creature attacking members off the Shield. They were holding up well enough, but they were pretty clearly outmatched in skill. Raising her voice, it reverberated against the walls, ringing clearly in the ears of everyone who heard it. "Pull out, dammit! Get Craig the hell out of here before he bleeds all over the pavement. God..." Within moments a Corridor blossomed behind the wounded soldier, and he was pulled into by two disembodied arms, the Corridor closing in a plume of darkness soon afterward. The archer literally rocketed into the air, landing softly on the roof of another building before leaving. The other soldiers in the area followed suit.

Only Viola and the Heartless were left--all the civilians had run away. She rested her sword over her shoulders, both hands dangling limply behind it. "Ya know, I figured if we decided to help out the darkness' cause a little, that assholes like you would lay off." She spit onto the pool of blood on the pavement. "Guess I was wrong, huh?"

Without another word, she swung one arm off the blade, and with the other swung it until it struck the ground, creating veins of cracks that ran along it for a yard. Would she attack first? Nah--may as well let this guy get the first hit in. Or at least attempt it. It had been a while since she felt this cocky, but then again, she hadn't had a good fight in quite a while.

[Castle]

After three days of being by himself, not sleeping well, and struggling to figure out what to do with the situation he had found himself in, Castle finally ended up coming home. He was sick of feeling like he was completely alone in the universe, and out of the only two people who mattered to him anymore, there was only one whom he knew he could visit without anxiety. Well, without outside anxiety. Even as he walked the familiar roads, he was already thinking up ways to lie to her, to cover up how much danger he was potentially putting himself in. It would be complicated, but he just wanted to see her, if only for a day.

However, it wasn't long before a crowd of screaming people ran right by him.

"Ah, crap," he muttered, scanning the area for any sign of danger, probably Heartless. However, whatever everyone was running from was further up the road.

Without hesitation, he ran that way. Worrying had only been a small part of his past three days. He'd spent the majority of the time training, killing whatever Heartless he found. At this point, he felt ready to fight just about anything (well, besides the people he really needed to defeat) and running right into battle was practically a knee-jerk reaction.

The center of attention wasn't hard to spot. It was some sort of... person? Either that, or it was the most humanoid-looking Heartless he'd ever seen. Regardless, it appeared to be in the process of wrecking his hometown, and Castle wasn't about to let that happen.

There was a woman there, too. She had a sword, and she looked battle-ready. She was probably with the Shield. As a former troublemaker, he was quite familiar with that group, though he did not recognize her.

He approached the Heartless-person-thing at a different angle, but stopped a few yards away. He'd learned by now not to jump straight into these things.

"Hey!" he shouted as he got into a stance, "If you're some kind of Heartless, you might as well just drop dead!"

Maybe that wasn't the smartest thing in the world to shout at an unknown enemy, but he was running on anger and four hours of sleep.

[Administrator]

She is beautiful. I wonder if I'll be allowed to see her die?

Ava was still grinning, even as the men and women ran away. Their leader had showed up, it appeared. The woman, such as she was, looked frail and thin, but he could smell a readiness to fight and die that was just absolutely wonderful. She was all the more beautiful for it. Her determination at opposing his killing...it was grand. More than he could have hoped for.

But another voice called out. He turned his head almost languidly, tilting it to view the other. A boy, it seemed, and he looked as out of place as Ava did himself. Purple hair and uncommonly colored eyes marked him as different. "More than I expected," he murmured to himself, the grin fading to a small smile for a moment. It came back with quite the resurgence, and he looked back at the woman.

"Don't think that me killing your people has any meaning for the goals of the darkness. I just have fun doing it. I kill Heartless, too, sometimes." It was all the same to him; it was just that people screamed more, and when they put up a fight, that made it so much better. "I'm no Heartless, as you and that boy over there think. My name is Avarice Entropy, and I'm the one and only Chaosling you'll ever see. You can call me Ava, if you live long enough~"

At that, he charged at the woman, his twin blades dragging across the ground and sparking, little multicolored sparks flaring and disappearing. Reaching her, the Chaosling faked a dual stab, pulling the right sword back at the last moment, quickly swiping at her midsection, while he other sword went to slash her blade to the side. Ava kept his eyes open, expecting the boy to attack him soon.

[Fate]

Oh hi Ava. Lovely evening we're having here.
--

Screams. That meant someone was causing chaos in this here world.

Kadaj hadn't been to this world before and didn't really intend to stay long before, but now he might just have to. As soon as he stepped into the First District, there were loads of screaming people and panic running amok. That was what he liked to see and hear. Now to find the cause. Green eyes scanned the area, his pupils like slits. It didn't take long at all before he found someone he hadn't seen in quite some time.

"Well hello Ava," he said, casually walking over to the fight happening right before his eyes, "So nice of you to invite me!" He looked over to the woman fighting him. Yeah, good luck with winning that fight lady. He wouldn't interfere with that. Instead, he would take his sword out and just wait for either the young man to fight him or someone else. He wouldn't instigate... this time.

[/font]

[Nothingness]

Getting me all excited...

Some shrimpy kid showed up, spouting just as cheesy a one-liner as her own. Great--some twerp she had to babysit against this freak. Whatever. Some help was better than none. "Don't go getting your ass hurt, shrimp. Already got enough of a mess to clean up."

Viola couldn't say that she was surprised to hear the freak speak, though it was interesting to hear that it wasn't a Heartless. A 'Chaosling', whatever the hell that was, named Ava. The next thing he said made her explode with laughter. "If I live long enough, Ava? Oops, guess I did live long enough to call you that." She continued to laugh, even as some pretty-boy bitch showed up. "Ahaha, ahh, shit, freak. I'll die of laughing before you kill me."

As Ava charged, she rose her blade and quickly side-stepped the stabs, quickly catching his first blade between her own and its hook. For the second blade, she swiveled her body away and brought her sword towards it, 'hooking' the second blade, so to speak, and pushing herself towards him. With their faces inches apart, she gently laughed and whispered softly to him, almost in a sensual manner, "Been a while since I've had a good fight, freak. Let's have fun while it lasts, huh?"

[Castle]

Castle sneered at the woman's comment. All this time and hard work, and he was still being underestimated the moment someone laid an eye on him. Figures.

Though once the word "shrimp" left her mouth, he could have sworn he saw Emi standing there for a split second.

The weirdo, Ava, jumped right in to attack her. By the looks of how she retaliated, she could handle herself. Not one to stand by and do nothing, especially since he was in fight mode now, Castle started forward to assist her anyway. However, he paused when he saw the new arrival, some guy with silver hair who had said something to Ava. Castle could by no means sense people's auras, but just looking at the guy screamed "darkness."

"You with that guy?" he asked curtly, with a quick nod to indicate Ava.

Despite the question, Castle was already sweeping his gaze over the man, analyzing him for an attack.

[Administrator]

Perfection. Nothing more, nothing less.

The grin widened further. This was excellent. She was not only able to hold her own, she could block his moves and remain as confident as she was in the beginning of the fight. Beautiful, he thought, staring into her eyes for a moment, wondering what they would look like with the defiance gone, fleeing and leaving only acceptance of death, or perhaps fear, in its place. The Chaosling giggled under his breath.

Whispering back, Ava's face never lost its grin. "I'll have fun. I wonder if you'll look more beautiful defiant, or with your body shuddering in its final death throes, your confidence fading away with your life itself." With that, he spun sinuously backward, flourishing his blades. The swords spun in several full circles; he seemed to be waiting for some signal only he could see. Then, just as suddenly, he attacked again.

The right sword slashed at her left thigh, but pulled up short, darting backward to make a snake-like stab at her lower stomach. That, too, fell short, pulling back and slashing from left to right downward in a diagonal across her chest; that was if it wasn't blocked. The left blade, meanwhile, slashed in a frenzy. Right to left, straight across the midsection, moving straight into an upward slash. From there, the sword cut down, harshly, and furiously, spiraling around, moving into a stab.

For once, Ava truly hoped she would block. He didn't want this to end. She was delightful; it was as if she was perfection, and he was trying desperately to keep her around, while at the same time attempting her destruction. The fighting itself was its own perfection to him; all else was forgotten in the rush of the fight. He had no worries, and all he thought of was the perfection of he and she, and their elegant dance.

The fight itself, the more intense it became, became a more and more intricate dance, the steps known to both of them, and both Ava and the woman were enjoying it. Again, the Chaosling wondered if she would look more beautiful now, with her defiance and confidence in full force, or as the defiance slowly drained out of her.

If he was lucky...then he would see.

[Nothingness]

Tremble, freak

Well, it was nice to see someone else knew what a good time was! A life or death fight was always the best, especially against someone as twisted as this. And even better was what the freak thought he'd be able to do to her. She'd make sure to crush his hopes, just as he attempted to crush her own.

As Ava jumped back, she drew her sword up defensively. Viola knew that he had her trumped in speed, but she most certainly had the edge in defense. And, as her father had repeatedly told her: "The best offense is a great defense." Time to put the idiom to the test yet again.

Viola rapidly took a few steps backward as Ava began his feints, easily avoiding those while at the same time twisting and bending her body to avoid the direct slashes from his left sword. When he slashed the right blade down across her chest, and sent the left blade towards her head, she grabbed the blade between the hilt and the hook--a section specifically dulled for two-handed use--and raised it up to chest-level and thrust it directly to the right, catching both blades.

With a swift flick, she began to push her own blade up against him, trying to force it against his neck. All the while she was whispering to him, although her voice had lost the playful tone of before and gained instead its resonant quality of before. It was dripping with malice, with restrained laughs of cruelty punctuated her speech. "Would you like to know what I'm going to do when I'm done with you, freak? I'll slit your fucking throat, let you watch as whatever shit your made of cover the pavement. Then, with your last breaths, I'm going to personally tear you limb from goddamn limb until the pain becomes so unbearable it kills you. I'll take your head, hang it in my office as a testament to what happens to those assholes that fight against me. So come, keep trying in vain as death hovers over your shoulder. Come, and welcome it with open arms."

Did she seriously mean what she said? Not in the slightest. But, along with her fighting skills and intuition, it was her father that taught her the importance of words, and what effect they have on people. And her tone had meant every single word of what she said. And with luck, it would break his will just enough to give her a chance to end this now.

[Viola used ORDER: Threaten, six posts until next use. Next Order can be used in two posts.]

[Fate]

Can't Touch This
--

No, he said hello to Ava without knowing who he was. And he looked like he was going to fight for the light, yes. Kadaj grinned and nodded. Ava was already fighting hard and the woman he was fighting was giving him a decent run for his money. Wonder if this kid would be a worthy fight for him. He was even smaller than the remnant, so he didn't look like much at all. This would be easy then. After he was done here, he could help Ava take down the girl if that wasn't already done.

Start with a slow attack then. Fool the enemy into thinking you actually moved slower than you really did. Then when the enemy tried to attack, show them the speed and show that they had no chance. Kadaj took the Souba out and ran at the shorter man, or boy he supposed, at a slower pace than usual and went for a horizontal attack.

[/font]

[Administrator]

Beauty in action.

A momentary distraction; it seemed like that was all she needed, though. Ava had slipped, and whatever it was, he was moving slower now. Not much, but enough to count. Jumping back and letting the woman's blade nick him, his grin slipped for a moment. Then, all of a sudden, it came back in full force. "You look so beautiful when you talk murder~" the Chaosling nearly sang as his blades spun around, slightly slower, but still faster than most could follow.

"I like you. You don't fear me, like those weaklings do," Ava grinned even through that word, where most would have spat. He only spoke it as a matter of fact. "I've decided not to kill you. It'd be too much of a waste." The blades spun again as Ava slowly circled his prey. "I want you alive. This is much too fun to just let it end."

He flew in, slower than before, but still fast enough. Stabbing straight forward as he charged, with both blades this time, Ava pulled back the instant before the woman would move to block, dropping into a sweep kick with his right foot, designed to knock the woman off balance. Even as he did that, he moved, as if he were a stream, flowing into the next movement, directly into an uppercut with his left sword, aiming to slice up her side, maiming her, but it would not kill, even left unattended.

Twisting sinuously, Ava moved to spin around the woman, not caring if his prior attack had struck, slashing across her back. From there, if blocked, he would roll backwards and prepare a defense for the time being. He was slightly frustrated that he couldn't move nearly fast enough, but how he could would have to do for now. After all, it might keep this battle going on much longer than otherwise!

[STATS LOWERED BY 20% FOR 1 MORE POST]

[Nothingness]

Well, that's a downer

Viola smirked as Ava jumped away, letting the tip of her blade leave a little mark on his neck. She even gave Ava a genuine laugh when he complimented her in his strange way. "Well, shit, freak. Glad to know that you've got some good taste in women. You're making me blush." She placed a hand on her cheek in feign embarrassment, batting her eyelashes for better effect. She couldn't help but think, though, "God, I feel like an idiot."

She followed his movements closely as he circled her, never once letting her eyes fall on the shrimp and the pretty-boy. Unfortunately, quite a bit of her interest in Ava was lost when he said that he wasn't going to be trying to kill her anymore. It's not that she had a death-wish or anything, but just that it had been so much fun before, and now the freak was going to be holding back. It didn't matter to her how much, but the fact that he would be was disappointing all the same.

When Ava finally attacked she made to bat away the stabs, but failed to notice the leg sweep until the last moment, and stumbled backwards as she tried to dodge it. Before she could regain her balance, she only barely managed to block the rising slash which further knocked her off balance. The end result was the follow-up slash getting a clean hit along her forearm and leaving a shallow gash running along it.

"Dammit. That was a nice move," she muttered under her breath, wincing at the pain. It only took a moment to regain her composure and soon had drawn her blade up again, taking the offensive. Running up to Ava, Viola swung her zweihander upwards, left to right, quickly spinning around into a horizontal slash across the Chaosling's abdomen. With each slash she made sure to give her sword a quick twist, so that way if the hooks of her sword caught his blades, she might be able to disarm him.

[Administrator]

Fight! Fight! Fight! Until the break of dawn!

It seemed she was flattered by his flattery. Surprisingly, she played along with it. Ava's face was still twisted into its grin, but, somehow, it became more cocky. He saw his blade cut into her, and he wanted it to happen more. Reluctantly, he kept himself from cutting her to little tiny pieces. Instead, he braced himself as she came at him.

Not surprisingly, she started with a singular strike, a diagonal attack moving upwards. Ava's blade moved to meet it, and almost was snagged in a hook. The Chaosling retreated backwards, his shirt getting caught by the woman's blade. The cloth tore as if it were paper, and the white mark on his chest showed through for a moment before the torn cloth resettled.

"You're good at this. I don't even have to go easy on you~!" Ava nearly sang the words as he spun his swords in lazy circles. His swords stopped and the Chaosling dropped into a fighting stance. He took a single step with his right foot, and, as it lowered to the ground, he moved as fast as his inhibited speed would allow him, his blades moving in a frenzy.

Left blade cut down now, slicing at her right ankle from the right side. Right blade stabbed now, jabbing at the woman's left wrist, but pulling back at the last moment to flick at her sword, aiming to knock the weapon high, if only barely. As she moved to get it back into position, Ava flicked at the sword--aiming to knock it downward--with his left blade. Simultaneously, he cut at her lower abdomen, aiming to deal damage, but not enough to seriously harm her.

As he did all of this, Ava talked. "I can hear your blood rushing through you. I can smell the coppery scent of it, I can see it dripping slowly from your arm. Drip, drop. Drip, drop. Your scent, it intoxicates me. I wonder what your heartblood will smell like? Will the lifeblood that pours from your veins be as sweet-smelling as this?" The Chaosling giggled. This was fun. "I wonder what you look like underneath it all." Even as he did this, a multicolored ichor trickled slowly from the wound in his neck, though it didn't seem to bother him. It was the only thing that gave away his mortality.

[STATS LOWERED BY 20% (ENDS THIS POST)

Used Dissonant Mirror, mimicking ORDER: Threaten.
Target: Viola
Lasts: 2 posts
Effect: 20% stat decrease

Dissonant Mirror (2 posts until next use)
Dissonant Mirror//ORDER: Threaten (5 posts until next use; cannot use until another ability used between)]

[Nothingness]

That kinda hurts

It was good to see just how much of an effect her words had on Ava, feeling that those were the only reason she managed to get those hits in on him. Viola believed herself to be one hell of a swordsman, but the freak's speed certainly outmatched her own.

Once Ava renewed his assault, Viola felt his words affecting her--making her heart pound, blood rush to her head and making her ears ring. Is that what her words did to people? "Well, it's pretty damn different being on the receiving end of it." She thought, quickly pulling her right foot back from the sword slash. The sudden weakness in her body surprised her, but she managed to do her best to jump away from the second sword slash.

His third attack, however, managed to cut clean through her tank top, and feel the blade tear through her skin, though it missed her internal organs. She staggered back a few steps and dropped onto a knee, stabbing her sword into the ground and supporting her weight with it. She gripped her abdomen with her free hand, doubling over and feeling the blood run between her fingers, her breathing labored and shaky. However, despite the pain she was feeling, she couldn't help but laugh for a few moments, getting louder and more hysterical.

When she finally managed to speak, her voice was weak, but not an ounce of her arrogance was lost. "Fucking shit, freak!" She extended her bloodstained hand to him, "You know how to show a girl a good time! Ah well, I guess this is it for this body." Pushing herself up, she stumbled backwards, almost falling down again, but making sure to plant her sword firmly in the ground.

[Viola's stats reduced by 20% for the next post]

[Administrator]

I think that you might have to take another taste, a little bit of hell this time.

His attacks, as he had predicted, allowed for an opening that gave her a cut in the stomach. Breathing in, he smelled the scent of her blood, steaming and churning in her gut, but slowly dripping out of the one exit wound in her belly. Ava grinned at her words. Swords dripping with her blood, the Chaosling breathed in deeply. "I don't know which I enjoy more, the arrogance in your tone or the extent to which you can hold your own against me."

Looking her over, Ava noticed that the blood streaking her clothing and the defiance in the face of death only accentuated her beauty to him. Truly, he had found perfection here. She was perfect for him; refusing to give up, fighting well enough to block nearly everything he threw at her, and she looked, smelled, and sounded wonderful. Like life, walking around, in defiance of all of the death she must have seen in her life.

Wonderful, Ava thought simply. His swords hung at his sides, and he was seemingly off-balance, but he was actually just waiting for her next move. As to what it was, he would not be able to tell until it happened. The Chaosling shook himself out, making sure he was prepared for whatever was going to happen next.

[STATS RETURNED TO NORMAL

Dissonant Mirror (1 post until next use)
Dissonant Mirror//ORDER: Threaten (4 posts until next use; cannot use until another ability used between)]