Kingdom Hearts: The 13th Requiem [PG-13/Not Accepting]

[Phantom Roxas]

Balthazar took a moment before smiling. At last, the Keyblade had chosen a wielder. "Use the Keyblade well, Trevor. I believe in you." Balthazar continued to pursue the Emerald Serenade, firing wave after wave of flames at the Heartless. The Heartless continue to brush off the attacks, but the flames caught onto it after a while. It moved onward, ignoring its burns, as it came up to a chain link fence. It covered over the fence before descending to its usual level, undeterred. Balthazar stopped as he came up to the fence, then turned to the wall next to him. Running up the length of the way, he leapt over the fence and cushioned his fall by creating a gust of wind below him. He charged energy in his hands before firing it at the Emerald Serenade. The Heartless stopped for the briefest of moments as electricity run over its body. It continued regardless, and Balthazar kept chasing it, until they both were back where Trevor and the others were. "Trevor, you have to be the one who destroys these Heartless. They Keyblade is how we release the hearts they have taken."

The Wight Knight swung its arm, slicing at Trevor with his claws. They tore threw his shirt, and a thin cut opened across his chest. The Gargoyle dove at Ryan, baring its claws as it swooped down upon the boy. The Wizard turned to face Balthazar and the approaching Emerald Serenade. It shot a Blizzard spell at Balthazar, but the sorcerer shot more flames at it. The Wizard raised its staff up into the air, and Thunder struck down from the sky. Balthazar jumped back as the ground where he last stood was struck, leaving sparks of flames in its tracks.

[hr]
White tendrils flash through the air as Lexyk and the Silver Knight found themselves standing in grass. The two Nobodies stared at each other. "Did the Superior send you to speak with my Master?" "Indeed. Your name is Raxscor, correct?" "Yes. Master Xelo should be around here somewhere." Lexyk and Raxscor looked in front of them and saw a mighty tower overlooking the land they stepped in. They saw Xelo, who was speaking with a young woman. She was dressed in red, and her hair went down to her shoulders. As the two Nobodies approached, the woman jumped back, screaming before she covered her mouth.

"What are those things?" the woman said.

"Friends of mine," Xelo said, although he looked up and down as Lexyk drew closer. "Does Kreix want me?"

A voice echoed from the tower. "Mother? Is that you?" The woman looked up, horrified, before returning to look at the Nobodies.

"Correct. You haven't been at the Castle in quite some time, and I believe the Superior would like a report."

"I see." He turned to the woman. "I'm sorry, Gothel, but I guess I'll have to organize another meeting."

"You will not return to this place again!" Gothel drew a dagger out and swung it at Xelo, but Raxscor blocked her with a glaive.

"Do not dare to lay a finger on my Master." He pushed forward, knocking Gothel to the ground, the dagger falling out of her hand.

"Mother, where are you?" the voice from the tower called.

Xelo looked at the tower, then back at Gothel. "Mother… That's your daughter in the tower?"

"And what if it is?"

"It means I was wrong to come here, but I have a question. If that's your daughter, why do you keep her in an isolated tower?"

"To protect her from people like you."

"Is that so? Alright, you two, let's go back to the castle." A Corridor of Darkness opened up, taking the three Nobodies.

Gothel tried to catch her breath before looking back to the castle. "I'm coming, Rapunzel!"

[hr]
Xelo, Lexyk, and Raxscor appeared at The Castle That Never Was.

"So where is Kreix?"

"He's dealing with a guest at the moment."

"A guest?"

"A descendant of Xehanort. He wishes for the Superior to help him complete a diary."

"And Kreix is willing to help him?"

"Only if this aligns with the goals of the Organization. If not, then our lord will no doubt strike him down."

"The Organization… Sounds about right."

"You spared that woman. Why? For that matter, what brought you to that world?"

"I thought if I went to enough worlds, I could enlist some people that would be able to help the Organization. Aside from here, I think I was successful."

"I'm sure the Superior will be proud when you tell him everything."

"So is that it?"

The Nobodies had arrived in the library, where they found Nerhyx and his Gentlemen. "I believe the company of Nerhyx will be fine for you. I believe Raxscor has his fair share of information for you, so I shall wait for the Superior to conclude his business." And with that, Lexyk left the library. Raxscor bowed to Xelo as he began to give his own report.

"So what happened with those kids?"

"I took them to the Phantom. The Phantom turned one of them into a Heartless, and the Heartless spider they summoned eliminated the other two."

"Did they spawn Nobodies as well?"

"The first child left behind a Creeper. I didn't say to see the other two, but it's likely that resulted in Creepers as well. Doxfer is 'playing' with the first Creeper, so he would know what would happen with the other two."

"What of the other Silver Knights?"

"They followed me to the Mansion, and are currently there."

"And what of Oogie Boogie?"

"The Phantom has the suit Oogie wore to maintain his form. Beyond that, nothing."

"You're useless…"

Raxscor kneeled. "My most sincerest of apologies, Master. What must I do?"

Xelo shook his head. "I don't care. Do whatever you want, I guess." Raxscor nodded before fading away. Xelo walked up to Nerhyx, scooting his way past the Gentlemen as he looked over the monitor. "Sorry you had to hear all of that. What's been going on with you?"

[Nexev]

"I'd suggest not to go after my prize, my distracting went top dolla Balthz, I must apologize Sean but see." The facade of Tellah melts away, revealing a regal figure in gold. "I have no need to answer your questions, I have aqcuired the object I required and keyblade wielders will just be irritants in the long run. I will have to swat you now." trusting his staff on the ground Mateus assumed control of all heartless in the area, with the runemaster and bandit dissapearing with their illgotten goods. Another tap of the staff summoned a barrier master and with a cursed incantation Mateus was wreathed in protective but unholy light. Grinning smugly at the apprentices, he signaled for the heartless to begin their assualt. With a wave of it's staff the wizard called a hail of thunder upon the apprentices while the gargoyle lunged for Balthazar. From the safety of his barrier Mateus plotted, planning the demise of each of the apprentices and which way would be best way to go about it.

[Merci]

As soon as she found out that the Heartless were unaffected by magic, Viola shied away from the battle in a cowardly manner and watched as her friends and master continued the fight. Tellah approached her and said something about wishes. Her eyes widened. How did he know?

 

"Y...you can?" Viola whispered, her hand extending out unconsciously towards him, but Balthazar interrupted them. "You... why didn't you tell me that in the first place...?!" Though she was evidently angered at her master witholding information, she kept herself under control. He had a good reason to do it. Besides, if he came back as a zombie...

 

But then the old man corrected her master about 'white magic' (if she had to guess, it was the power of revival). Before she could ask him anything more about it, Balthazar yelled something about a Grimhold, and---- Then, she watched in amazement as Trevor obtained his very own Keyblade, right out of the blue. No doubt the other three would follow suit. Meanwhile, she had taken to standing by the old man Tellah, who was apparently a sorcerer as well, and told her and the others something about an emperor- until his image melted away into the real thing, and Viola stepped back in warning.

 

"I- I see. You're the Emperor, aren't you...?" She muttered, remembering what he had told them.

 

He probably hadn't been planning to reveal his true form, but the newfound Keyblade made him show himself...did he want to steal it?! No, even worse, did he want to conquer their world and force it to join his dark army?! Not only that, but he had been trying to tempt them by giving into darkness...

 

Even so, his power was unmistakenable. The regal man of gold emitted an arrogant wisdom, and he obviously came from 'another world'. She knew that this man held the answers her own master didn't. So that left only one option. Capture him.

 

As Mateus unleashed his lightning attacks, Viola managed to avoid the first few by luck, and reached around her for something metal. Then, with the Force power of levitation, she brought back a steel engine ripped out of a nearby car, and began levitating it all over the place. Acting as a conductor, it withstood each and every one of the Emperor's thunders while getting more and more damaged with each one. When it had taken enough damage, she accelerated the particles all around it until it exploded into flames, and she launched the burning and wrecked car engine onto his barrier. Needless to say, it bounced off.

 

It was unlikely that his barrier was as magic-proof as the Heartless, so the next logical thing to do was to create a ring of fire around his barrier on the ground, which would trap him from moving about if nothing else. Another strike of thunder almost hit her, and she narrowly managed to avoid it - giving her an idea. Thrusting her ring at him, a lightning strike of her own came forth, colliding with his barrier of unholy light. Hopefully, the others would keep the Heartless occupied while she kept trying to break through that barrier of his, going about it oddly violently.

 

You WILL tell me what I want to know, she thought to herself, and would've directed it telepathically at the man if she knew how.

[Love of Ghibli]

Nerhyx was kindly sipping tea and watching the show with his gentlemen when he saw that the boy get bestowed the magic of the keyblade. He had to admit that his eyes light up after actually seeing one so...real. It was a quite the thing to see one in the recordings but this is real life and it is happening. He watched as Haxz then sent wave after wave of little heartless to put the young keyblade  wielder to work. Nerhyx quietly nodded in approval of this action seeing as it was quite the efficient move. Nerhyx continued to watch as this new Keyblade wielder decided to defend himself. This tall lead sorcerer person was also quite impressive for while he did not have a keyblade he did wield incredible magics. He understood that this person was dealing with an army of Heartless all by himself.

 

Then Nerhyx and the gentlemen had company. It looked like Xelo had returned and he had some issues that needed to resolve. Nerhyx watched as it looked like one of the worlds that he had visited did not act according to plan. Nerhyx felt pity for a second then he realized that he did not truly care. These nobodies never did get along that well. It was interesting to say the least to realize that this Xelo person and Nerhyx were pretty much doing the same thing during their travels. They do say that great minds think alike and Nerhyx was definitely a great mind. What was more mind-blowing was that Xelo apologized. That was surely unexpected and then Xelo proceeded to show concern in Nerhyx's activities. Nerhyx was genuinely confused. Nevertheless he had to be a courteous person and reply in kind. "Well nothing much, I have simply been travelling the worlds and recruiting villains for our cause. It seems to have gone well in my eyes. Have you had success?"

 While waiting for a reply he glanced back at the screen and he noticed that there was a new player in this game. His golden visage was quite impressive and it seemed that he had impressive control over the Heartless. Nerhyx only raised an eyebrow. He thought about informing the Superior of this event but with two high ranking Nobodies there they shouldn't be much of a problem. And it wouldn't be the most unfortunate event if this new gold menace somehow took out Haxz and Omacrxs. "Well this was surely an interesting turn of events. A third party has shown up to play in story." He took another sip of tea in unison with all of the other Gentlemen. He smirked as he was enjoying all of  these sudden changes and the possibilities they presented. 

[The Warden]

Haxz frowned, this was an annoyance from an obviously egotistical and completely clueless man. Ugh, and one of the children was pulling off some strong magic, but she was also clueless. It was obvious that a Barrier Master was behind that barrier, it's in their freaking name. It was even more god damn obvious since he clearly controls Heartless as well. Haxz scanned the area, and caught sight of the Barrier Master in question. He was hiding away, very poorly, but no doubt that gold prick was a good distraction. "No, we aren't going to have that."

 

Haxz snapped his fingers and from bins near the Barrier Master, the Deadbeats arose. Their thin frames were excellent for stalking, as they silently approached their prey, pipes, 2x4 and a beaver in hand. As their shadows formed on the Barrier Master's back, they struck. A lead pipe to the skull knocked it out cold, its book dropped to the ground like a wet fish. They struck at it viciously, whilst one Deadbeat stole the book for himself. With the menace gone, the Deadbeats departedm with a new book to barter with, which was always a plus.

 

Haxz smirked, just to see how the golden dildo was going to get out of this.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Trevor looked at the shirt that now had slash marks on it and he sighed. "Aw man...and this was my favorite shirt too!" he said, as he twirled the Keyblade in his hand. Then he thought about something. His free hand touched the headphones around his neck as he quickly put them onto his ears. I've been able to train back at the shop with music...maybe that can help me fight this mummified werido! he thought, as he pressed the new IPhone, and began to play music from it to his headphones.

 

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_cJrbCYk9c]KH 3D OST - Twister[/url]

 

He smirked and then rushed toward the Wight Knight again, watching him do the somersault once again, but this time Trevor planned for it. He simply spun on the heel of his left leg, dodging the attack. "Oops...missed!!" he smirked, as he turned completely around as he hit the Heartless' back. Direct Hit!! Now, time for some magic! Trevor lifted the hand with his ring, and he snapped his fingers as he casted Thunder on the Wight Knight. He wasn't sure if he was out of the battle...or just getting started. Hopefully that did it...then I can focus on the ones attacking Balthazar and Ryan.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Ryan was in shock. Tellah had changed into someone else, as if this was a setup, which definitely looks like it. But one thing ticked him off slightly. He called him Sean. Why? Maybe because he was old enough to be able to forget his name so easily. He then sighed. "First off, my name is Ryan." He said as he unsheathed his katana. "Secondly..." He dashed towards the barrier that Mateus had summoned up over him, jumped into the air at an unnatural height, give or take a few inches higher than humanly possible, concentrated a highly condensed fireball and unleashed it at the barrier, a medium-sized explosion resulting in direct contact, not even worrying if any damage would happen. Through the smoke, Ryan proceeded to thrust his blade towards the barrier. "...you are a fool for challenging us and expecting to be victorious!" The tip of his blade then struck the barrier directly, Ryan hoping to see some sort of damage would come about once the smoke cleared.

[Mugendramon]

Omcraxs looked in all directions, turning his back to Haxz. The Wraith opened the portal this way, so this is evidently the place... But there really isn't so much as a soul here that looks like they could run, let alone fight...
 
The sound of a corridor opening made him turn around. He did so, only to find Haxz gone. What he did notice were the many people staring at Starscream and him. "Shit!"
 
He quickly opened a corridor and pushed Starscream from it before disappearing. The corridor emerged atop one of the many tall structures surrounding him. He looked around, worried. No humans in sight.
 
With a huge sigh of relief, he took off his cloak and rested it on his shoulder. Man, I forgot we're supposed to be incognito... Starscream can't go around like this. "Starscream, cloak."
 
Nod. Whoosh.
 
"Now... I can't hear a thing from up here! But I can't go back down, I'm sure there are those who saw me make the Corridor. So... Wait, is that him?"
 
Omcraxs shaded his eyes from the sun with his hand. Sure enough, Haxz was standing atop another of the structures, a considerable distance away from him. What a douche.
 
Number III opened a new Corridor, which spat him beside Haxz. Another corridor opened after his was done, presumably due to him not waiting for his Wraiths.
 
"What the fuck was that Haxz. You know you shouldn't leave me alone, if I saw a Heartless I could kill hundreds. What are you even looking at so smugl-"
 
Omcraxs looked down as he spoke. Big fucking mistake. He got a few glimpses. Golden figure. Keyblade...?
 
But that was all he got before seeing them. Omcraxs did not recognize what they were at first. To him, only Pureblood Heartless were a source of boiling anger. These creatures dancing around, they didn't look like what had killed his loved one.
 
But once he saw the symbol on their figures, he recognized the Darkness. He dropped the cloak on his shoulder and his eyes widened before closing again. Only metaphorically though, he could clearly see where he was going as he viciously jumped down and started ravaging the Green Requiems.

[The Warden]

Haxz was certain everything will go alright and, oh look, Omcraxs finally caught up and was spouting off as usual. It really was his fault for being so slow, especially when- oh god, there he goes again. Haxz swore to the gods that he needed Omcraxs to go get therapy or something, because he simply can't keep going on like this.

 

Deeply inhaling, but giving a sharp exhale, Haxz gripped at his Coat and threw it off, revealing his dusty business suit underneath. "And to think I was hoping to forget what I looked like. Omcraxs is going to pay out the nose for this."

 

Haxz took a few steps back before taking a running start, leaping off the building, albeit at a slower rate. His deck appeared around him in a swirling ring, and he immediately grabbed one of them. It was the 9th, not bad. He hurled the card ahead of himself and it exploded, unleashing the glowing orbs of death. It was a pity to lose the Requiems, but with the gold dildo around, they're useless to him anyways. The glowing spheres shot through the air and began striking through the swarm of Requiems, hearts exploding everywhere as the small pots were pummeled into oblivion.

 

Haxz landed softly on the ground, and decided it was best to not stand near Omcraxs while in his berzerker state.

[Nexev]

There was a sickening sound as the sword pierced easily though Matues's midsection as flames engulfed him, the green requiums kept him regenerating at a rate fast enough to counter the flames the char leaving his skin as quickly as it engulfs him. Mateus coughed, blood spattering Ryan's face. "Okay I will admit, that was a good strike." Then the men in cloaks finally made their move, causing Mateus to grimance, fighting Balthazar was a difficult enough battle, this was simple cheatery. Luckily for Mateus the Barrier Master regained consciousness and with a few incantations the book once again teleported to his hand, vanishing from the grasp of the theiving deadbeat. The barrier once again engulfed Mateus and with a flash of light invisible borders appeared, separating Mateus and the apprentices from the Nobodies. "You... will have to play with your own toys I suppose." Mateus turned to the apprentices, badly injured but still very much determined. "I won't fall so easily a Emperor owes his subjects that much."

 

The song that tears the world apart

Stomping his staff into the ground once more, a swarm of Solider heartless surronded the apprentices, all wreathed in the same light. An additonal tap of the staff summoned small orange orbs that littered the ground, these orbs had an explosive shock for anyone who got near him. But this was icing on the cake, blood still poured forth from Ryan's wound, he would die soon if he couldn't end this battle. A purpleish ruin started to appear on the floor, it would be a pity for a ruler to die so unfittingly, this was a difficult ritual to cast but if he pulled it off he would walk out of hear with quite the victory. "Watch well Violia, this is how power is wieled by those who don't fear there own shadow." 

[Phantom Roxas]

The Thunder enveloped the Wight Knight until the Heartless blew up. Unlike the other Heartless before it, a Heart where the Wight Knight once stood appeared before floating up into the sky. Balthazar looked on with uncertainty. The heart was free, yes, but that's what the Organization wanted. However, as much as Balthazar hated to admit it, that would have to wait. Tellah proved Balthazar's suspicions right, and now Mateus was giving them more trouble, sending Heartless after Heartless. The Grimhold was no doubt long gone, but maybe Mateus had the answer. "You're lucky I don't like killing humans," Balthazar said to the Emperor. "But you're in league with the Heartless, so we'll do everything in our power to stop you." Balthazar fired a plasma bolt at Mateus, all the while making his way closer to the rune.

Shuren watched on, but wanted to help. Suddenly, he caught the attention of someone furiously attacking the Green Requiems. "Guys, we got company!" Drawing out his saber, he attacked the Green Requiems, but made an attempt to converse with the mysterious stranger. The man was clearly out of his mind, but he was fighting against the Heartless, so maybe Shuren could try and make him an ally. "Hey, you're on our side, right?" He didn't wait for an answer as he kept attacking the Green Requiems. He heard Balthazar tell Trevor to finish off the Heartless, so Shuren was trying as hard as he could to beat these Heartless without necessarily destroying them. "One of my friends has a Keyblade, so try to leave them as alive as you possible so he can finish them off!" He turned to Trevor, who had just finished off the Wight Knight. "Come on, Trevor, help us out!"

[hr]

Dawn and The dwarf made their way across the narrow path, it was slippery and dripping muggy water. Upon approaching the front entrance to the brown and white tower, Dawn hopped off the hovering cycle followed by the dwarf. They made their way to the door and Dawn knocked.
 
"So what's this wizard li-" Dawn was caught off guard by a large explosion sound from inside the tower. The two made haste, not waiting for a response they barged the door down to see a long white bearded wizard with a blackened blue coat standing with a long brown wand in his hand in shock over the mess of his home. Dawn and the dwarf looked at each other then in the state of the room, a complete mess.
 
"Oh ." The Wizard began breaking the lack of sound in the room. "Well no harm done!" with a few swings of his wand the room began cleaning itself up, the tables, chairs, lamps, books and everything miscellanious in the room began moving and cleaning themselves up until the room was in a clean and tidy state, "That's better." The wizard known as Merlin stated forgetting the condition of his attire. With a quick sway of his wand he replaced his dirtied robe with a clean one.
 
Dawn stood in shock of what he saw whilst the dwarf moved forward towards Merlin waving. "Merlin, I see ye' haven't changed!" Merlin shook his head.
 
"No I'm still far too old." Merlin made his attention towards Dawn. "And who might this battered up fellow be Scruffy?"
 
"Scruffy?" Dawn began without even realising he hadn't asked for the name of the dwarf who looked at him with disdain causing Dawn to apolagetically smile. "I'm Dawn by the way please-" Dawn was interrupted by Merlin waving his wand. Dawn's cloathes were in  an instant repaired and his bruises and scars almost completly healed. his clothes were a little different in appearance, they had alot more shades of white then before. "Whoa-"
 
"That's better. Now what brings you here Dawn?" Merlin asked.

Before Dawn could answer Merlin, their attention was drawn to the great Heartless that stood above the whole town. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Merlin scowled at the giant creature. "The Heartless have taken Hollow Bastion."

"What should we do?" Scruffy asked.

"Don't worry, Scruffy, I shall take care of this!" Merlin stepped forward, holding a wand out.

"What good is that going to do?" Dawn asked.

"A lot more than you'd think," Merlin replied. Merlin swung the wand, sending a white light at Nightmare Palace. The light struck the Heartless, creating a hole through the right side of the building. Gargoyle Knights and Gargoyle Warriors were blasted away from the attack, while others flew down, descending upon the city. "Where is that blasted Claymore system?" Screams echoed through the city, and the three could see hearts rising into the sky.

"Look out!" Dawn turned around and saw Scruffy jump in front of him just as a Gargoyle Knight run its blade through Scruffy. Darkness consumed Scruffy until his heart also sank into the sky.

"Scruffy!" Dawn cried out. He tightened his grip on his Yin Blade before swinging it down on the Gargoyle Knight, evaporating the Heartless into darkness. He saw a shadow surrounding him and looked up to find one of the legs of Nightmare Palace descending. He ran as fast as could, barely avoiding the leg as it crashed down on where he once stood. A figure leapt down. The twin blades of the Zip Slasher scraped the ground as the armor Heartless charged after Dawn. The blonde youth guarded with his sword, but the Zip Slasher only swung one blade down. It spun around, bringing the other bladed arm towards Dawn, but the boy rolled on the ground to avoid it. The Zip Slasher jumped, holding its arms in the vertical motion to slice up Dawn, but he again rolled to the side. Dawn got to his feet, holding his blade up.

"Merlin, help me out here!" Dawn looked around, finding the wizard blasting at other Heartless. "Merlin, what about Scruffy?!"

"He's a Heartless now, my boy. There's nothing we can do but fight."

Dawn turned back to see the Zip Slasher speeding towards him with its arms crossed. Dawn swung his blade to block at the attack. The Zip Slasher kept pushing Dawn back, but Dawn kept trying to resist. Eventually the blades of the Zip Slasher's arms broke the Yin blade, and the Zip Slasher slice its arms across Dawn's chest. Dawn fell to the ground, looking at the Zip Slasher. The monster looked down at Dawn before it leapt away, and Dawn couldn't stop his vision from fading. He held his arm up to the sky, but the air around him suddenly started to feel cold. "I'm… sorry," was the last thing Dawn said before the darkness finally took him.

[Dad]

Memory Count:  12,142.

Day:  Unknown

Location:  Hollow Bastion

 

"Tell Cloud to come here.  Tell him ---- to sett--."  

 

---

 

"Sorry to keep you!  ---"  

 

"Cloud.  You'll nev--  --et go of  ---ness."

 

"Shut up."

 

"You'll never let go of your past."

 

"Shut  --!"

 

---

 

"If I can isolate her genetic code from the disea-- use it to -- without harm!"

 

A crash just above the basement floor.  Many feet move quickly.  Sudden fear.

 

"Who are you!?"

 

"Seize him.  Return him to -- alive."

 

--

 

"No matter how many times I fall, your darkness keeps calling me back."

 

A blinding light.

 

--

 

[Present Day]

 

Location:  Hollow Bastion, Crystal Fissure

 

A looming shadow clouded most of Hollow Bastion, it's source the giant heartless towering above.  It's eerie and sudden appearance would concern most.  Most normal men at least.  Jenova I awoke suddenly where Sephiroth's latest memory placed him, the place called Hollow Bastion.  As he stared blankly into the sky at the mighty heartless, he sighed silently.  It had become almost imminent that Sephiroth's memories would take over him completely.  But what would his soul do?  He slid his slender fingers down the length of Masamune's blade patiently awaiting his mind to come to a decision.  What was his goal here?  Even he did not know for sure.

 

What little he noticed besides the giant heartless, were the feint screams and cries of innocents far off.  Though they were not a concern, they were a nuisance.  Slowly he floated into the air for a better perspective on the current situation.

[Kōsuke Ueki]

"I told you, underestimating your opponent is a fool's errand." said Ryan with a half smile. Suddenly, the barrier that was broken previously had appeared once more, knocking back Ryan a fair distance. After recovering from the sudden event, he attempted at making the fatal blow. But before he could even dash towards Mateus, he along with Shuren, and possibly Viola, were surrounded by Soldier Heartless. This was beginning to annoy him. These Heartless have been interfering for too long. Now was time for a plan. Time then came to a halt as Ryan thought over the conditions of his situation. Okay, if I'm going to end this, I'll need to see what my options are. he thought as he looked for possibilities on going about this. He looks at one Soldier Heartless that is about to strike and possibly found his opening. So, if I attack the first one to strike, I can break out of the circle. But then comes the problem with the barrier. Hm.

Then it came to him. But he would need somebody's help with this one. Returning to normal time, a Soldier Heartless jumped towards the Apprentices, Ryan shashing at its body, stunning it. He then ran towards the opening the Heartless left, narrowly dodging an attack from his left. He then put some distance between him and the Heartless, but close enough for the others to hear his plan. "Okay, if any of you got a moment to spare, try to take out the Barrier Master when I give the signal. Stun Mateus as well if yoy can I'm gonna end this." He then proceeded to dash towards Mateus. Suddenly, a Soldier Heartless tried to lunge at Ryan, but was knocked back when Ryan summoned a barrier of fire just in time. "NOW!" Ryan then began to dash towards Mateus, determination in his eyes.

[Love of Ghibli]

Nerhyx was chuckling at this variety show he was viewing. The kids were just doing so much damage to the golden stranger and just to be hilarious Haxz had joined a fight. What a lovely spectacle that Haxz had put on. Using deadbeats to assault a heartless. Loosing control of the heartless in the first place. This was splendid. To top things off Nerhyx was comfortable watching all of this unfold from the safety of another world, with tea no less. Nerhyx was still conflicted on whether or not he should tell Master Kriex about this intrusion, but that would mean interrupting him, and why do that? So he decided to sip more tea with the Gentlemen. Which was always fun for third parties to view as the Gentlemen were merely had floating apples for heads so watching them drink is just puzzling. 

Then there was Omacrxs, the nobody with such disdain for heartless that he looses control when is in their presence. Nerhyx took another sip to ponder how that entity even fit in Master Kreix's plans. He verbally protest the Nobody cause, he has a disdain for heartless even though this occupation requires their services, and his blatant condescension and sarcasm have to be annoying to listen to on a daily basis. Though it didn't matter at this point. It was most likely that the savage nobody would join in the fray and play around in the heartless pit with the other children. The actions of Numbers II and III will do nothing but act as entertainment for Nerhyx.

"And to think I almost entertained the notion that our numbers showed some semblance of superiority." He lifted his tea cup to the side and a Gentlemen instinctively refilled it. There was no need for communication, the Gentlemen are a refined bunch. "That sorcerer though. He may pose a bit of a problem, he doesn't seem to have any limit to the amount of high level spells he can cast." Nerhyx snapped the fingers on his left hand and one of the Gentlemen stood up and walked around the library until it pulled out a book it deemed appropriate for the situation. Nerhyx took his eyes off of the comedy combat for one second to see that it was a book about infamous sorcerers throughout time. "Well I may know a lot about magic but I may be able to find someone who does."

[Dad]

 Now several miles above Hollow Bastion, Jenova could accurately depict the origin of the cries of terror.  There were several young men and a wizard being overrun by what he assumed to be Heartless.  A gargoyle knight attempted to slay an unaware young man, but his ally jumped in front of the Knight's blade, sacrificing himself to the darkness.  His heart floated quickly into the sky, as his comrades watched in anguish.  However, only seconds later would his sacrifice be in vein.  Defending himself to another Heartless, one with heavy blades, he struggled.  Unfortunately the Heartless shattered the young man's only defense, and he too fell to the darkness.

 

Their wizard could only help but watch the terrible spectacle unfold as his young comrades lost their hearts; all the while, surely the Heartless rejoiced.

 

[hr]

 

The Giant Heartless above Hollow Bastion had an inconvenient shadow, but one the showed it's every movement.  Jenova I stepped two feet to his right to avoid being crushed by it's enormous legs.

 

"Heartless. . ." he thought.

 

Jenova I moved further into the center of Hollow Bastion's sky to determine his place and future decision.

[Phantom Roxas]

"Yeah, I've had some success. I paid a visit to a certain lord of the dead, and he summoned someone named G. One of my Silver Knights also added more to our ranks, only their just Creepers." Xelo stepped closer to what Nerhyx was watching on his screen. He could see Omcraxs tearing through Heartless while Haxz watched on. As the viewer kept switching between the various battles, one in particular caught his attention. One of the boys was fighting against the man garbed in gold. "All these kids acting like big hotshots, and that one's going after the man in gold? He's got guts." Xelo opened a Corridor, turning his back to Nerhyx. "Omcraxs and Haxz are already there. I can join them, unless you think my company is worth it." Xelo rolled his eyes at that last part. They were comrades, yes, but it's not like that extended to something like friendship.

[hr]
The Zip Slasher look down at the place where it struck down Dawn. In its place appeared an Armored Knight Heartless. The Zip Slasher had defeated its enemy, and it charged after Merlin. The wizard cast a spell on it, but the Zip Slasher kept running, unphased by the attack. Realizing that it was futile to attack the Zip Slasher, Merlin changed his target to the Armored Knight. "I'm sorry, my boy, but I cannot let you harm the people!" Merlin struck the Armored Knight with a Blizzard attack, knocking the Heartless to its side. The Armored Knight got back up and turned to face the wizard. The Zip Slasher was closing in on Merlin, so Merlin had no choice.

Using his magic, he took the form of a great blue dragon, raining fire upon the two Heartless. With his wings, he took to the air, coming face to face with the Nightmare Palace. The monstrosity embedded its legs into buildings as Possessors bled out, possessing the houses. Merlin swooped down and burn the possessed houses to the ground. Turning his eye, he caught the image of a silver-haired man floating above the Nightmare Palace. "Is that… Sephiroth?" Merlin asked in bewilderment. The Armored Knight was burning, but it had the strength to hold up its sword. Alas, the flames soon consumed it, but the Zip Slasher wasn't even hurt by the fire. Merlin was prepared to crush it, but he felt a hammer hit himself in the head. The hammer bounced off him and transformed to reveal a Hammer Flame. Merlin, unamused, flicked the Hammer Frame with a claw.

[Super Chaos Sonic]

Trevor watched the Wight Knight disappear and seeing the heart released. He turned around and looked at the Gargoyle and the Wizard next. First one up was the Gargoyle. "Hey! You with the wings!! Your next!" he yelled as he ran toward the Gargoyle, the music swiftly changing as he ran towards the Heartless.

 

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXsXOt4swk8]KH 2 ~ Sanctuary Rock Remix[/url]

 

He jumped into the air and hit him with the Keyblade, slamming him on the ground, as he himself landed on the ground with a roll. Quickly getting back up, Trevor spun to his left and struck the Gargoyle three times with Keyblade. Then he snapped his fingers with the hand that wore the ring, sending a fireball straight at him and watching him burst into flames. Not wanting to wait around, he turned and saw the Wizard, rushing as he casted Thunder on it, getting its attention. "Over here you costume freak!" he yelled, as he jumped and smacked the wizard with the Keyblade. Then he saw it coming toward him...either this Heartless was stupid...or not thinking straight. Taking this opportunity, Trevor rushed toward the Wizard, slashing as the Keyblade met with the Heartless' body (or lack of). Those two Heartless...should be done with now...

[Dad]

Below Jenova, the now Heartless boys turned their attention to an elder wizard.

 

"I'm sorry, my boy, but I cannot let you harm the people!" he said, casting ice magic to toss one of the Heartless aside.  In the meantime, the blade-armed Heartless closed in on the wizard; in response, he would use a different magic and take the fight to the skies.

 

In haste, the wizard caught Jenova's eye.  "Is that. . .  Sephiroth?"  Because Jenova did not recognize that he is but a clone, he responded almost immediately as Sephiroth, watching the wizard flick a Hammer like Heartless away.  With a flick of his wrist, the end of the Heartless' head caught Masamune, and Jenova did not flinch.  He continued to stare at the wizard tilting his head slightly.  Jenova was unsure of Merlin's intentions, though he did not perceive malice right away.  Slowly Jenova turned his gaze to the large Heartless below him.

 

"Heartless. . . ."

 

[hr]

 

Memory Count:  12,143

Day:  Unknown

Location:  Hollow Bastion

 

. . .

. . .

 

". . . Heartless. .  .Angel."

 

A burning sensation.  Great flames.

 

[hr]

 

Sephiroth's memories consumption of Clay was reaching it's maximum.  Slowly, he was forgetting everything about his human past, and was completely becoming Sephiroth's embodiment.  

 

"These creatures.  What is their goal?" he wondered aloud, as he floated down and stood atop the Nightmare Palace.

[Nexev]

"Now that is ENOUGH!" A vast crash was heard as an elderly lady burst into the scene, assuming a battle stance the Zip Slasher turned towards her, seeing a clear threat, albiet a strange one. Lunging for her, eager to rend the flesh from her he instead experienced the rending of his own face as her cane rushed to meet his head, the force of the blow sending the zip slasher flying towards a nearby building. With a crash the wall collapsed, the force of gravity finishing the job that the heartless could not do alone. The Zip Slasher rose back up, filled with sadistic glee, this one would be a worthy foe.

 

The Song of Old Grannies

 

Suga Momma looked at Merlin, seeing a old blue dragon was not that common a sight, it DID happen before but that was a Tuesdays, Tuesdays simply don't count in terms of odd things. She motioned for him to take down the Palace, she got the short one. "Well sonny lets see if you guys still got the moves you did in the golden days."

[hr]

Mateus couldn't help but laugh as the plasma bolt completely vanished upon hitting the barrier, its strength absolute. "Not kill humans? I believe your apprentice here disproves your apparent nobility. Though it matters not, one death can never stop a dynasty and a gaggle of fools will never topple a empire. The fact your friend holds a ancient weapon of destruction means even less, the fool can barely wield it." Mateus grinned as a second arcana circle formed under him, the power of his spell nearing completion even as his blood started to fizzle, the heat of the arcana energy boiling away the blood before it can even sully the ground. "Apparently you're apprentices are not as suited for slaughter as you wish to raise them to be. I suppose it matters little, this world will be consumed by darkness and my empire will march on irregrardless of it's throne. Though there will always be someone to fill it." Upon saying this Mateus glanced at Viola, he had many plans, plans within plans, no matter how this fight ended it shall be with his ultimate victory.

[The Warden]

That shimmer? Ugh, the golden prick was being a real pain, no doubt it was one of those "can't run away barriers". Haxz most likely couldn't break through it either. However, that fool made the mistake of assuming the wall was absolute. He couldn't teleport in or he'll give away that he's a user or darkness, but, another could. Leaving Omcraxs to being... berserk, Haxz concentrated on where that damn Barrier Master could be. The barrier was at least incorporeal, which aided a bit... ah, there it was. It was still in the same spot as before, and with it's damn book again; but still, nothing the Deadbeats couldn't handle.

 

Instead of presenting direct control, Haxz merely nodded at the Barrier Master. No response: Seems the barrier can even keep out the Corridors of Darkness, which begs the question as to how Mateus kept summoning Heartless. Guess it was up to them to deal with it. Haxz cupped his hands around his mouth. "You! KID!"

 

He was looking in Ryan's direction. "THE THING OVER THERE WITH THE BOOK! IT'S A BARRIER MASTER! IT'S WHAT IS PROTECTING THAT GUY! BEAT IT WITH MAGIC, THEY HATE IT!"

[Merci]

Suddenly, Heartless and people began popping out of nowhere, but Viola ignored them. So much was happening that maybe it was better to just ignore them. That is, until a guy called out to Ryan, saying something about a Barrier Master. But Viola was faster. Pointing her ring at a Heartless with a book, an icicle materialized in front of her and shot forth; piercing right through the poor Heartless. Since she hadn't used a Keyblade, it would return, but it was enough to temporarily cut the Emperor's barrier again.

 

However, before Ryan could charge through, her ring glowed and a torrent of heavy wind kept him and everyone else away. It was like a barrier, only spread out and consumed the least amount of mana due to its gaseous state, merely pushing what was already there instead of building new matter. Apparently, she wanted to say something and didn't want anybody interfering or hearing what she wanted to say.

 

"What are you suggesting, Emperor?!" asked Viola, pointing her ring at the golden-armored man. Ice materialized in front of her in the form of an icicle, slowly growing and extending out towards Mateus. Her left hand moved up to steady her glasses, which had almost fallen off. "Tell me, now. Do you or do you not have the power to revive the dead, just like they used to be?! I'll never join you - who'd ever fall for something so cliche? - but I have to know!"

 

She paused to allow him to give a reply while her icicle-sword-thing continued to grow, and then, having taken too much time, the Barrier Master returned back along with Mateus's barrier. The torrent of wind separating them from the outside world died out.

 

Then she sighed, took a few steps back to avoid any sudden attack from the Emperor, and redirected her icicle at the Barrier Master, penetrating through it and destroying it once more, giving Ryan the opportunity he needed. If one looked closer, she appeared to be tired, from a combination of both all that running from earlier and all the times she had to use magic.

[Love of Ghibli]

Nerhyx took a sip of his tea and listened to the Xelo. 

 

"No I believe you should join the fray. Though it doesn't look like you will be needed to defeat the gold one. On the other hand you may be needed to restrain Number III." Nerhyx quietly hoped that there was enough enemies to wipe all of them out or through some twist of fate this would just end badly for those Nobodies. He watched as Xelo left through the Corridor. It was then that he noticed that attacks were being centered on the Barrier Master. "Hmmm am I experiencing disappointment? This is most interesting. It doesn't matter though, these issues tend to resolve themselves." Nerhyx went back to his sorcerer book and he researched on other sorcerers throughout history. He learned that one of the most popular sorcerers of all time was a character named  Merlin. While reading the story of Merlin and the tale of King Arthur. It was a fanciful tale Nerhyx had decided that when this entertainment was over he would go and find this person and enlist his services. 

 

"I must admit this is quite beautiful. Dance for master Kriex insolence dance." Nerhyx took another sip and he snickered and he leaked a smile of malicious hopes for the future of his fellow nobodies.

[Mugendramon]

The last of the Green Requiems hit the sack quickly enough. They posed no direct threat to Omcraxs, as their offensive prowess was literally nonexistent. Soon after delivering the killing hit, he spun his head around violently, seeking more Heartless. Finding none, his instinctive behavior receded.
 
The Nobody stood up straight once more, noticing his cloak was missing. "What... what just happened? Man, I have the worst hangovers."
 
He noticed he was holding his grip on the left. He turned to see he was holding his katana. Oh shit. I did it again, didn't I. Always the same crap. Now just where did the Heartless come from...?
 
Oh yeah. Surprise surprise.
 
There was Number II again. Haxz was only ever trouble for him. Whenever they were together, he ended up creating a Heartless in front of him. He probably did it again, didn't he.
 
Then suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a Corridor opening. He was certain it was a Heartless, so he hastily turned his back to it. Number III opened a Corridor and emerged next to Haxz, his back turned to the source of the previous Corridors.
 
"What's going on here, exactly?"

[Kōsuke Ueki]

Oh, how dandy. Now Ryan was hearing things, or was he? The voice wasn't echoing like it would be if it was actually in his mind. It sounded like someone was calling to him. But for what? For what he already knows. "Take out the Barrier Master and end this battle, I get it." But when he was told that it hates magic, an idea sparked in his mind. If that book keeps the barrier up, then maybe, just maybe… Because Viola was the Prime Merlinean, he had hoped she heard him give the signal. And by what seems to be a lucky streak, Viola had destroyed the Heartless with little to no difficulty at all.

But before he could end this fight, Viola had summoned up a wind-like barrier that separated all except her and Mateus. They then proceeded to chat about...Necromancy? Isn't the point of death of loved ones to make an individual stronger and prevent more casualties? "Viola, what are you thinking!?" yelled Ryan, but he wasn't sure he could even be heard. But at least he tried. Once the conversation between the two had ended and Ryan was freed up again, he noticed the Barrier Master was destroyed again. This was his chance. He dashed towards Mateus, but stopped when he came up next to Viola. He gave her a glance that says, "I want to speak to you when this is over." He then continued dashing towards Mateus.

"You will never corrupt another heart and mind ever again!" Ryan yelled as he transitioned from a dash to a lunge towards Mateus. "This ends now!" With one final push to do another lunge, Ryan proceeded to thrust his katana through Mateus' chest, hoping that the attack will be fatal, and that this battle, has come to a close.

[Nexev]

Mateus laughed. "Sorry girl but you lost a lot of bargaining chips. But don't say I am not a better teacher then that aging one over there." Mateus indicated to Balthazar. "There are many ways to bring someone back, ways to discover a reincarnation cycle and force the past memories to resurface, ways to bound a soul into a vessel, ways to make the vessel assume the form of the bound soul's choice. Ways to bring back the recently slain like it was a mere inconvenience. It's very complicated stuff I will tell you later." Their was a sharp glaring unrealness in his abdomen as Ryan's blade once again pierced his gut. "Whoops gonna have to cut this short hold on let me figure out my lines of right CURSE YOU MORTALS, HOW COULD I BE DEFEATED BY MERE CHILDREN, NOOOOOOOOO MARK MY WORDS I SHALL HAVE MY REVENGE!" The arcana seals glowed as the energy traveled into Mateus's hand, which then unleashed the energy as the dreaded Entice spell, lighting laced with forbidden knowledge arcing its way towards the mind of Violia. The act of this dark magic drove Mateus finally over the edge to darkness and his body faded into nothingness as his heart flew to the sky, before vanishing into the dark realms.

 

In the dark realms this heart twisted as all dark hearts will, into a heartless, but not any mrere heartless, this one remenbered it's past, it remenbered it's mind. And the Emperor rose again.

 

In twilight town a purple hair figure rose, it frowned slightly at his past actions which in his completly emotionless hindsight, were a tad extreme. "Oh well" the man supposed, his eyes forever closed lest he judge the world and find it wanting, "It was a pretty cool plan."