Black Friday Warzone

Black Friday Warzone
Date of Scene:	23 November 2012
Location:	Goug
Synopsis:	Black Friday is a War Zone. It is the time where prices are so cheap and the items are limited that many risk their lives to get the items that they don't need. Who better to exploit such a 'holiday' than Negaduck? Chaos ensues within the mall madness as the store clerks are tied up and unable to manage the area, leaving Negaduck with total control of the chaos. Will you stop it?!
Cast of Characters:	Deidra, Tifa Lockhart, Ward Zabac, Negaduck, Aerith, Leida

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Negaduck has posed:
It is the Friday after such holidays. In Manhattan, one would affectionately call that particular holiday Thanksgiving or Turkey Day. Out in the ther places, who knows?

It is the Friday where all retailers open their shops early. It is th dreaded day known as Black Friday. It is the day where the businesses turn the most profit, or going to the black. Some say that the day's name stem from the many black eyes gotten from the dealings.

Welcome to Black Friday.

The store has not opened yet. Many of the people gather in line, crowded together. Everyone lurks. Many have camped out for days. Others have just arrived. Everyone is cold. Many are antsy and irritated. All of them have a checklist and what not. Others are sizing up the other shoppers, as if they are opponents of a battlefield.

In fact, many of them are sizing up their competition.

MEANWHILE!

"Oooh... Black Friday, my favorite time of day."

Within the store, it is oddly empty of all of the store personnel. Many of them are in the storage room, all tied up with two turret Heartless pointing their barrels at the tied clerks. The manager is tied, stripped, and gagged. He was a mouthy one, even as he was beaten.

"The violence, the rage, the chaos..." A bill gets a big whiff of the air. "...I love it." That bill belongs to a masked duck, who is now wearing the manager's uniform. No pants.

"You know the drill." Negaduck shoots an eye out.

Not all of the clerks were tied. In fact, the one who is not tied is shaking in fear. He has been assigned to opened the door. He is looking at Negaduck in fear. Why? Negaduck has a pistol in his hand, pointing right at his head.

"Remember, botch up your simple goal in life, and it'll be the last life you will EVER know."

Leida has posed:
Greed. Greed was the basis of all human trade. Someone else had something, whether they made it or had aquired it through some other means. Someone else wanted it. In the days before civilizations mighty enough to enforce strict rules and regulations came to power many of these 'exchanges' were paid with blood as the strong took what they liked and the weak were left with nothing.

Fortunately, over time, society attempted to overcome this barbarism and established order and law so that the weak need not fear the strong. Just the rich. However, that spark of human nature did not die out simply because it was commanded. No, it lies there still, buried and hidden behind walls of pretty lies that call it other things. But greed... greed never changes.

On this day in particular tensions rode high as humanity's greed came to the fore in the threat of limited supplies. It was not unheard of for violence to erupt at these sales. Mothers and children, old and young, scrambling to collect the treasures that they desire all for low bargain prices. Many failed. Hatred would be harbored, grudges born anew, insults hurdles like spears. It was a gathering storm of darkness hovering over the hearts of all.

Black Friday, indeed.

For one drawn to the darkness in the hearts of men, this gathering was like a beacon in the night. A cauldron ready to spill over. Even the very threat of its inevitable erruption was enough to draw the attention of one being in particular.

Slowly, moving with delicate grace that spoke of incredible fraility or perhaps a slowness of the mind, a young girl makes her way through the crowd with blank unfocused eyes.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't like the name of "Black Friday" either. She's heard about it recently, since it seems to originate from Manhattan mostly. But thanks to Xanatos Multiverse influence, it started to spread. It wasn't like other shops wanted to be stumped by a single world after all, so everyone pretty much into gear for it at the same time.

Well, about the name, especially with the events recently, she can't say it puts her entirely at ease, but hey, good prices. She's not a penny pincher but she has been making efforts to pile up money and make more when she can, for later operations. She hasn't told anyone about that though, so she might just look greedy to most people.

So here she is, moving along the shops. She takes her time, she doesn't want to enter just any shop when there's so many people, so she's doing window shopping to see if there's anything of interest in those shops. She lives in Midgar, she knows most of the places really.

And yet somethings going on out of her sight right now, even if she's in the area... Maybe when she peeks into that shop, but that's still to see.

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward wanted to buy a few things today. Where he was from there was shopping days such as these. Though this was Insane by all standards. Ward was going to get the detectives a gift and something special for Deidra and a few others, they managed to take him in pretty quickly and easily

Ward was big enough that people stood out of his way managing the throng of people and if he was shoved Ward simply stopped them and set them on their way. He looked around wondering what would be best to shop at. Would jewerly fit on Deidra? Would she like it? Ward wondered if that was an okay thing to get. He Bumped into a few small children and smiled down at them, This was a odd day indeed.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith however, does not feel such notions. No, she's fine with peeking into the windows, observing what's on display, moving through the shops and among the people. The flower girl had more than enough, and all she wanted was to help Tifa out. Sure, she'd been bumped into now and then, but she kept herself composed throughout.

"Tell me why we're here again?" She asked Tifa with a teasing grin. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind going somewhere less crowded."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra knows of this aspect of Human culture, it was a horrofic look into the darker parts of their souls on this day. She's keeping up with Tifa. This is a world where she might be able to go out in the open and honestly? Having somewhere to go out with a friend is a ncie thing she doesn't get to do that much. "We should be able to get some good deals just, stand back if we umm see the worst aspects of humanity in action." She keeps her wings about herself and follows after Tifa, her own bad vibes are written off as her just tuning into the masses of shoppers...

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart smiles over to Deidra. She understands that the girl doesn't get out often among humans, but Goug/Midgar is a weird city too. People have seen lots of odd things, and they don't seem to care.

Even if it wasn't Goug though, they would be all hypnotized by the sales anyway.

She nods as she looks to Aerith "Of course, we're going back to the bar after this, but since Black Friday spread to here, might as well take a look at what's on sale too. Never know, could find something interesting for the bar, or should I say the bars now." She still has lots of work to go about those.

She smiles to Deidra "We found you a few pieces of clothing you could use, but we'll have to check with Shiki when I can find her, about reinforcing them over. We could do it ourselves, but she's the fashion expert." she grins at that.

Negaduck has posed:
It's a bad day to be the store opener.

This one had seen war in his time. He was a ShinRa soldier who seen it all. He seen people die before him. He seen the thick of war. But he is an old, retired man. He is a simple employee of this great market where the sales bring forth chaos.

He gets flashbacks. He doesn't want to do this. However, his co-workers are in danger and he has a gun to his head.

So he moves. He shamefully moves towards the door. It is a slow walk. It is a walk of a man who is on Death Row.

As he gets his hands towards the keys, his hand shakes. The rattling key make its way towards the door.

Through the window, he has a pleading look as the door creaks open.

Calm dies...

... and the storm rises...

Roaring feet trample through the doors as the bodies of people shove, elbow, rush, and tackle through in order to get into the shop. Cheers, screams, and other noises roar as the people move to their section.

MEANWHILE

"Well, chaos awaits." Negaduck grins towards the tied employees, idly walking out. "Oh yes, Number Fifty-Nine." Negaduck grins, "Take those parts to that digitized dork so he can get that network started."

Negaduck is not stupid. He looted the parts that he needed. However, he is here to incite and stoke the flames of carnage.

This is his play time.

Leida has posed:
The dam breaks and the tides surge forward, unleashed upon the unsuspecting tranquility of the market. A human wave blasts into the doors carried forward by an utterly deafening surge of voices all vying for their place in the throng. The tenuous thread of decorum snaps instantly and chaos stretches its hoary claw over the crowd.

Having weaved her way through dozens of fidgetting and arguing bystanders, the odd young girl with the raven hair is caught in the middle of the explosion of motion and noise. People clamber to their feet and push together in an amorphous milling mass that sweeps up everything and everyone in its path with no hope of resisting.

She allows herself to be pulled along, arms and legs flailing all around, the torrent of voices so powerful that it blends together into a droning buzz in her head which consumes her thoughts and leaves her dazed. And in the abscence of her madness, something else rises to take its place...

A scintillating aura of faint purple light surrounds the small girl; a nimbus so thin that it is barely visible against her silhouette but the dark energy that it gives off is unmistakable. With so many pressed close and distracted no one notices the change. A small invisible ripple goes out through the crowd with the girl at its epicenter.

Suddenly, things begin to get violent. Hatred boils up from out of nowhere. Insults are thrown. Growls of anger and screams of pain echo out over the din. People fall, blood is spilled.

And in the chaos, dark haunting laughter rumbles in background.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra is in a good enough of a mood just to be out like this. "This is good news, and yes we'll have to find Shiki. I'm willing to cough up the money." She seen some fo her own kind wearing whatever they could scourge up. Prehaps it's more she's got some odd sensiablies being isolated from other Gargyoles. She nods to the flower lady for a moment grining a little bit. "Just if fights break out seriously step back. Seeing greed like this can be disturbing."

Shen she gets a terrible feeling, something bad is coing and she says "Tifa? Aerith...I think shopping time is over, no it's very much over."

The horror has truely started now it seems.

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward watched as insanity began to insue, it was ridicoulous on what these people were doing. Then he heard the screams and shouts of people. Things were getting ugly fast and he thought that this wasn't exactly normal behavior for people. Ward heard the laugh in the background and wondered what sinister person was behind this.

Ward tried to stop the flow of people by blocking the door, he braced his harpoon against it and held himself there.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart blinks at what Deidra says "What do you mean?" She's far from done shopping as far as she's concerned. There's still plenty of shops to go along the way.

But then, even if her senses are not as sharp as some other people when it comes to this kind of thing, it starts to creep over her like a weird shiver. "Wh-what's going on?" She wonders, as she stops in front of that shop, where people are starting to fight each other like that "... What the...?"

This is definietly weird, even for a sale like that.

Aerith has posed:
Once the ripple of chaos begins, Aerith's hairs stand up on end. She glances toward the direction of the disturbance, eyes wide. "I think Deidra has a point. Shopping time is definitely over. We need to either get out of here, or get stuck in that..." Aerith turns toward the others. "...And that is not natural. Not by a long shot."

Negaduck has posed:
The manifesting aura stokes the flames of greed and wrath. The hatred boiling out of nowhere.

Insults break out.

"HEY! Watch where you are going, lameass!"
"What are you, a cripple? Watch where you are moving!"
"Shut that brat up you idiot!"

Growls of anger rises..

Soon, the music of the store changes.

HARD ROCK VIOLENCE INCITING MUSIC PLAY!

The beat of the harsh drum smashing and the guitar wailings, plus the aura emanating from the girl. People are shoving, kicking, and punching each other.

Meanwhile, a voice on the intercom speaks.

INTERCOM: Attention all shoppers, the first person to uppercut the person next to them in 5 seconds will get an additional 60% off any DVD player they buy.

Immediately, the old woman turns around to uppercut eighteen-year-old man across the counter.

*WILHELM SCREAM!*

INTERCOM: Winner, the old lady with the mean left hook.

All the way at the counter is Negaduck, who is leaning across it with a hand on his head. "Ahhh, doncha just love violence?" He muses over more ideas. However, the sense of another presence of Darkness draws a smile to his face. The grin is growing wider, "...Yes, push them all to the brink of destruction."
Meanwhile, Aerith and the others are facing getting bumped into by some of the shoppers.
"HEY ****! GET OUT OF MY WAY!" The woman takes off her earrings and she moves to slap the woman across the face.

*WILHELM SCREAM*

Deidra, Ward, and Tifa will find folks flung their way. Various men and women that had been thrown and uppercutted are dispersing about.

Chaos has take over.

Leida has posed:
Sometimes all it takes is a little push...

The surge of negative energy, while slight, is enough to ignite the powder keg. As the weakest ones succumb first and lash out there is retaliation. Pain, fear, and hatred are added to the evil brew of emotions swirling about in the store and through those outside while Negaduck happily stirs the cauldron and adds more fuel to the fire.

In the presence of such roiling darkness the girl cannot contain her evil any longer. A pillar of black and purple light erupts from the ground below her, streaking waves of dark energy weaving through and engulfing the crowd. Pits of utter darkness tear into reality, some from the ground, other hanging impossibly in the air. Slender bony arms made of shadow reach out, massive in size with dark wicked claws that drip hate and suffering.

The arms immediately lash out and snatch people from the milling stunned throng, lifting them screaming into the air. They struggle and flail for a few moments but the color swiftly drains out of them and soon the bodies crumble and flake into ash and then nothingness.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart's eyes widen when she sees the crowd suddenly trampling out like that. Nimble as she is, she manages to get out of hte way, kicking off the wall and unto a small overhead roof, barely evading the mass of people that roll, fly and punch each other out "Has everyone gone insane suddenly!?" She offered a hand up to Aerith should she need to get out of the way as well. She has to wonder about what's going on though. She's strong, so she's not affected by it yet it seems, but obviously lots of people are falling prey, and its only increasing. Those that weren't affected are getting punched into it, so its nothing to help.

"I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is... maybe we should try to stop it, this is going to get ugly fast at this rate." From her point of view, she sees the little girl in the store, picking up people and... leeching them. "Over there!" She points toward Leida, so Aerith can look in that direction as well.

Ward Zabac has posed:
In a attempt to stop people from hurting him Ward was suddenly swallowed by the crowd of people. Being at the bottom Ward was having problems pushing himself up. Being unable to scream was a pain in the ass. Ward eventually took to trying to claw his way from the pile but as he as just about to get out someone shoved it back onto him. Ward lost it, he was frustrated and couldnt stand the craziness he was dealing with. He pushed with all his might to get the pile off lifting people off of their feet. He shoved people around and eventually found his harpoon picking it up as some grandmother trying to grab it form him.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's eyes widen. "Oh no..." It only took her a split second to realize what was about to happen.

Then, it got worse.

Her pupils shrank to pin pricks and she shivered with absolute fear. They... they couldn't fight this, could they? Someone was manipulating this, and the powder keg was already there to be lit. Now another was capitalizing on it.

Aerith doesn't have to look to where Tifa is pointing, she already knows who. The aura is enough to make her a beacon. "Okay... let's try to finish this quickly before more people get hurt." Or in many cases already, killed. She stifled her fear and revulsion and strode toward the sounds of chaos, the staff in her hands vibrating as her hand trembled.

Someone made an attempt to swing at her, and she ducked, the back side of her staff pushing into his ribs and away. The gasp of pain shocked him out of whatever madness he was in before she moved forward, another trying to deck her. Aerith pushed her staff into her midsection, taking the breath out of her with the strike to the solar plexus. A third came in fron her right side and she turned, using the momentum to send her weapon into the side of his head, with just enough force to stun.

She pushed him out of the way and proceeded through the crowd, her features no longer fearful, but placid, calm amidst the raging storm.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra can only watch in horror as the crowd is going mad at this point. Then comes Leida, her blood runs cold, there's this dark terror, a terror she felt when she met that member of the thrid race which seems like a life time ago now. Still she can't do anything at least not yet people are drying and Darkwing Duck is the one who likely has started all of this. She's not fast enough to get away away from the swarm that's coming at her and she vanishes under a pile of people trying to protect herself and full well knowing too much force and she'll kill them.

Negaduck has posed:
It just gets worse.

The crowd are tackling other people without regard to their own health. Ward has been a victim and Deidra has become a victim. However, many of the people are pushed off of Ward pretty harshly.

People are losing their color and crumbling into nothingness.

Negaduck watches as life itself fades away. Negaduck cannot help but feel pretty annoyed. Why? It is a slow death that... doesn't look all of that painful.

This is his fun!

Then, Negaduck gets an idea.

He makes his way towards the intercom to change the song. "I need a better song..." He rummages into his jacket to pull out a DVD-case that has a 'WMD' symbol. Insert CD.

The music changes....

~ Its Friday, Friday / Gotta get down on Friday ~

And the violence gets worse. People are pretty much slamming each other by this point.

Finally, the 'employee' duck is emerging to see the violence.

"Oh, my~"

With the commotion that is going and lives being lost? Many of them would normally turn smart and leave. However, consumed by their rage, they continue to fight. Tifa and Aerith are perfectly capable of handling themselves, it seems. However, there is a crying boy in the midst of all of this. He is curled up into a ball, wailing. Who shall save the boy in the midst of the violence?!

Leida has posed:
With each person the inky grasping claws pull from the crowd the darkness about Leida seems to grow in intensity. Somehow, darkness gets even darker as if the light were being sucked into it. Half a dozen skeletal arms scoop and squeeze random people to lifeless ash wantonly with nothing to stop them.

In the middle of the expanding pit of grim shadows, the pillar of purple light dims and dies out, leaving Leida bathed in a sickly glow that clings to her body like morning mist. She slumps over as if the expenditure of energy had drained her completely, falling limp like a ragdoll.

Another massive claw rises up from the black morass at her feet, gently catching the girl mid-tumble like a cradle and she allows herself to be scooped up in its palm. Long snaking tendrils extrude themselves from the demon-arm and curl like snakes about her limbs, holding her comfortably upright before the fleeing crowd as if mounted on an unholy cross.

Leida's head slumps forward and her eyes fall half-closed, the same evil light filling her irises as they drift slowly back and forth in the demon's embrace. As if filled with some unknown urge the girl suddeny starts to hum a faint tune, her wispy voice carried on some invisible wind and easily audible over the terrible savagry.

"Slumber deeply, safe from harm, cradled in the Devil's arms...
The white of flesh, the white of bone, the worms will leave your soul alone...
Her fear in hand, her fear in heart, her fear did tear her soul apart..."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra is just under seige she's scred sure she could break free easily but it means she'd likely rend this people to bits in the process of and that's not something she wants on heead. She's just be playing into the whole thing of people calling her a monster. She's getting pretty pounded though.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's face maintained its dispassionate nature as the training Tifa had drilled into her took effect. She began to put her momentum into each swing, her steps quick and precise. A throng came at her, and she took a wide swing in a forward arc, knocking a few of them to the side. Three more met the same fate as she turned again, but they seemed to lose all of their intelligence to rage, greed... and something else.

One example of that something else was a boy, crying out for his mother, and basically shedding tears from the overwhelming presence of Darkness. Aerith carved a swath through the crowd, her very-much-metal rod doing little more than incapacitating those she struck. Any more or less momentum or they would either be severely hurt, or still coming. She made her way to the child, scooped him up, and ducked as someone tried to run up on her from behind with a haymaker.

He fell over her and into two others in front. Preternatural senses helped in this kind of thing.

She wove through the crowd again, making her way out in short order.

Aerith set the child down and placed a hand on his forehead. "Look at me, okay? Look this way."

The child opened his eyes, only to meet Aerith's smile. "I'm going to get you somewhere safe. Then I'm gonna get your momma, okay?" He sniffled, nodded, then Aerith picked him up again and led him well away from the fighting...

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart nods to Aerith, jumping down from the awning to the ground, and them jumps over a few people in the mob, going after Aerith "Let's do this!"

She barely has time to spot the kid admist the chaos, before a hand manages to grip her ankle as she's in midair.

"Wh-" is the only thing that comes out of her before she's pulled into the mass of people suddenly. She gets piled upon, so many people! And all angry. No reason to grab her really, except for that old lady that thinks she'd look better than Tifa in that tanktop.

A mighty GRAAAH as that barmaid tosses everyone off her, as soon as her feet finally finds catch at least. She's stronger than the average people, but there's so many of them right now, its hard for anyone. "Let me go already!"

Ward Zabac has posed:
Ward Finally got the people off of him and calmed down, he saw Deidra fall and began Making his way towards her to try and help bail her out. As he was walking he tripped over a person and fell hard, suddenly the people we on him again knocking the wind out of him. He had to sit for a minute trying to get out or even catch his breath as some punk kid kicked him in the jaw. Ward growled at the Teen, he may be old but he wasn't going to be treated like a old man

Negaduck has posed:
Unfortunately for poor Deidra, she is getting tackled down once more. God, the peopl are behaving like animals, given that they are fighting amongst each other. As they tackle her down, the cries of monster are heard.

Ward is just getting the fate just as bad. With a bunch of punk teenagers just kicking the older man down, everyone is just like pack animals.

Meanwhile...

Aerith is leading the kid away. The little boy is holding onto Aerith's arm, leaning against it. It's nice. He is innocently holding onto her arm, feeling safe and protected.

"Now, momma! While the competition is down!"

Wait, what?

A big, fat woman has her purse winded up.

Swing batter batta SWING!

If many of the shoppers would look about, they could see that the frenzied shoppers are practically raiding the place.

As for Tifa, the old woman says, "YOU COW! THAT TANK TOP WOULD LOOK BETTER ON ME!" She keeps tugging for the tanktop. If she cant have it, no one can!!!

'Darkwing Duck' holds the intercom microphone.

"Isn't the violence great?" He grins. He looks at Leida, who has drained a great amount of people. Then, he eyes Ward. A very familiar figure.

Then, his eyes shift towards Tifa. Of course, the last one is dealing with the trap. "Oh right."

"The kid and the mother get ninety percent discount on a new game system."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's eyes widened as the boy's words register, and is too late for the swing from behind her. Fortunately for her, it's a purse. She staggers forward a bit before turning to face the woman who'd just assaulted her, staff in hand. "No..." Her eyes narrowed. "Sick, selfish, twisted..." She grimaced. "Forgive me... I'll have to move you out of my way. There's something I need to correct."

Leida has posed:
The demonic entity at the eye of this storm continues to go about its grisly and merciless work. By now the ash of dozens of bystanders litters the entire parking lot before the large store, coating it like some foul snow that smells of sulfur and brimstone.

Several people lie unconcious and bleeding on the pavement, their wounds inflicted by the raving crowd of looters and panicking masses attempting to break free from the insanity and the crimson vitae mixes with the swirling dark shadowy mass.

Held aloft on her horrifying perch, Leida continues to sing and watch passively, her head rolling about on her shoulders as the possessive demonic tendrils caress her childish face.

"On and on the path does go, down to where the shadows grow...
Off you fly on blackened wings, you wish to hear the Devil sing...
On your knees you beg to know, what twisted fate the Devil sows...
Ask you will and ask you may... The fate of love on this fair day..."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra lets out an utterly inhuman snarl and her eyes are glowing red like some sort of demons as she finally manages to scare off the swarm of people upon her. She now can start to take means to keep this riot under control as she's best able to do so. She pulls an old looking book from inside her jacket. Those who can sense magic would know this thing is some sort of magical relic of some sort or another. She's flipping to a book parked parge now as she starts, to chant in Latin, it's a simple spell one that would be able to hold and disable many of the mad shoppers about her from being able to act out while her gaze turns on Darkwing Duck. "Not only you have made a mess of my home, stolen my friend's bike. You now do this? I had enough of a monster like you!" Yup eyes are still red, she's not happy.

For all hejr anger the presence of Leida is here she can feel it and she's scared if not for Darkwing to focus on she might kinda of go nuts. She may end up still trying to face the horror rather than the super villain when it comes down to it.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart has been slowed down in the process of getting away from the angry crowd. Mostly by that old lady tugging at her tanktop. Well, she can have it >_<# Maybe its the energies starting to get to her, but at least she doesn't punch people out. Instead, she has a quick ducking motion, sliding completly out of the tanktop suddenly, and rolling off the ground through an opening, hoping to get out of range of anyone wanting her skirt. Well, noone's looking at her at least. An arm over her bust, she sneaks between the people toward the back, trying to get to the source of all this negative energy, her hand catching on the first piece of clothing she can find.

Negaduck has posed:
Aerith has the fun time of dealing with the mother, who, after is whacked with the purse, she is already grabbing her son. "Let's move!" Aerith doesn't seem to be a threat, the woman is grabbing her son underneath her arm.

"To the video game department!" And they flee, leaving Aerith be.

Tifa may had lost her tanktop, but she quickly grabbed a more useful shirt to wear. No matter how greedy people are for prices, there is a limit of what people would get. The choice of shirt that Tifa decided to choose is a perfect deterrent.

Everyone that were raging at her look at her for one moment.

DO NOT WANT!

They walk away from Tifa, moving away to fight. However, the simple spell from Deidra disables many of the shoppers.

Meanwhile, Negaduck eyes the demonic entity of the girl. His eyebrows furrow for a few moments, then he listens to her and he smirks. "Yeah yeah, just don't get in my way, kiddo."

He places a hand over his face, "Oh, my, I am touched." He looks at Deidra, "So, you know of the FAMOUS Darkwing Duck." He sighs, "I can finally get rid of the disguise." He tosses the disguise off, throwing a bomb to create a smoke screen.

"I am the terror that flaps in the night!"

The smoke reappears on the counter.

"I am the shirt that the cow of a mammal is wearing that repels even the most fashion inept hipster." He jabs a thumb at Tifa.

Back to posing dramatically, his cape held up. "I AM DARKWING DUCK!"

Leida has posed:
Something causes the girl held helplessly in the demonic hands to snap back into focus for a moment and she lifts her head, pointedly glancing around. She watches as people continue to batter each other aside, vying for dominance over paltry possessions and imagined sleights as her mere presence continues to feed the general mood of negativity.

Great deals of dark energy have been harvested from this grand feast of souls but it's not enough. It's never enough. The souless gaze sweeps towards the reaping of the dark claws and she reaches out with one dainty hand to catch some of the ashen dust, rubbing it between two fingers and staining them charcoal black.

"Everyone is dying..." She states, her voice filled with a mixture of confusion and resignation. After a moment Leida slumps back into the loving grasp of the shadowy hands as more tendrils appear to stroke her disheveled hair like an affectionate parent.

"Oh well..." She whispers.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith scratched the back of her head, gave it a shake, and made her way back toward the fray. She could easily pick up the stifling aura, and thus had no problem putting herself on track. She spends half the time breaking up fights, and the other half making her way toward the source of the madness. Its oppressive energies make her shudder, but she presses on, and soon reaches one of the skeletal hands... only to smash her staff into and through the massive forearm in an attempt to at least halt some of the madness.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart has managed to slip into the ugly shirt. Hey its working. Well, that's good enough for her ~_~ Its not like she's going to buy the damn thing, but no way she was fighting barechested either. This isn't female wrestling.

She manages to slip through the crowd all the way up to the counter... which she promptly kicks over, hoping to topple the duck down with it "So you're the cause of all of this madness!?" Doesn't really matter what he says about the shirt, but 'cow of mammal', now that stings :(

Deidra has posed:
Deidra could go after the mortal Darkwing Duck, who is quite the noisy menace but there's many after him already and there's something far worse. She's felt it all this time she knows it's out there and it seems to have no end for it's hunger. She turns to the duck once, gives him a look before she's now heading out to the parking lot. She's out of her league but she's prehaps one of the few people here who can do anything to stop it. Her wings fan out as she heads towards Leida and she sees the horror before he she stares and realsies Darkwing Duck was likely a distraction for a this thing that's out here. She says nothing her spell book is out and she starts to cast turning her magics mostly ice for the moment upon the terrible horrible arms.

"You fed enough creature."

Negaduck has posed:
When Tifa leaps over to kick Negaduck off of the counter, the older duck springs back and flips to his feet. He takes a martial arts stance, "Oho.... I too am a master of martial arts, you mammal."

And then, Ward comes. Negaduck offers a grin, slowly remembering him. Yes. Negaduck remembers him well. Manhattan. It involved harpooning him. However, Negaduck is not going to tolerate this.

"Suck on bullets." Negaduck whips out a tommy gun.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" The old man who opened the store earlier tackles Negaduck, enough to grapple with him. However, Negaduck is stomping him in the face with is webbed feet. "OUT OF MY WAY!"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's staff bounced off the oversized arm and gritted her teeth. Maybe it was time for something a bit more... potent. Of course, she was then beset from behind by someone who believed she'd stolen something from them, and had to fend herself from the unfortunate soul. Since he was so close to the chaotic energies, she had to struggle to incapacitate him. Soon, two others followed, and she was forced to deal with a far more potent threat.

Leida has posed:
Whack!

The staff impacts with the bone-thin inkstroke of an arm and hits something solid despite the nebulous appearance. A little number floats up above it in red.

10

Well, that clearly wasn't going to work. Infact, it did so little that the arm completely ignores the Ancient, holding a squirming young man easily in its claws until his flailing slows, then ceases completely as his entire body takes on a pallid grey color and then crumbles like so many others.

Now, Aerith has the full attention of the disembodied shadowy appendage and it rotates in the void portal that acts as its shoulder to face her, long curved talons reaching out. Considering what's been going on so far it's a safe bet it's not going for a high-five.

Cold suddenly washes over another pair of the arms protruding from the pavement and they involuntarily shudder at the sensation. They know this feeling, this chill. It is the absence of heat, the lack of life, or love, or remorse. The frigid touch of the grave.

Shimmering crystals begin to form about the dark hands, weighing them down and locking them in place as the struggle against the magics.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart likes this situation! With the duck getting tackled down, she can go on the offensive. Shoot a gun at her will you?

First she grabs the arm holding the gun, and twitsts it back, fingers pressing into the joints to force him to drop the gun down. That will be one less danger.

Then she moves an arm around the duck's neck... and pulling him out of the grip of the shop clerk, a mighty supplex (which that she calls Meteodrive), the body of the barmaid bending backward as she slams the duck backward into the ground. That should cool his head off for a bit, hopefully!

"I've had enough of those meddling ducks, after that witch duck, now a wannabe gangster!?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith brandished her weapon, meeting success with fending off her attackers... and then she turned back to the hand, which she stared at with a focused, intense gaze. She lifted her left hand and opened fire, a sharp burst of flame ramming into the palm of the giant skeletal hand. She would at least try to fend it off until she could get a better shot.

Negaduck has posed:
Tifa takes the initiative while Negaduck is distracted by the old man. "I knew I should had put you into a wheel chair! It is time to permanently retire you!" He is about to pump the old man with led, until Tifa grabs a hold of the firing arm

"Wha---?" It is twisted and Tifa's fingers lock onto the joints to release the weapon. "HEY!" Negaduck sneers, but he is caught by the neck. When he is pulled out of the grip of the clerk...

He is suplexed pretty hard.

HOOOF!

Negaduck can see the stars. Wait, did it suddenly grow dark?

Oh, that mountain of a man is looming before him.

"How dandy, the lunar eclipse is here...

And the foot shoots down.

Wanna see an impression of a turtle? That boot makes an imprint to the ground, but Negaduck's head pulls back up. He then twists about to wigggle out of Tifa's grasp. Crawling away, Negaduck says, "Oh no..I won't go out without a fight."

"ATTENTION SHOPPERS! NINETY PERCENT OFF ON THE FRIDGE NEAR THE ENTRANCE!"

The earth rumbles as the stampede of people seek to bowl both Tifa and Ward over.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra thinks back to a report from Mercade warning of a being like this. She's never seen Mercade not try for the talk option, his orders were shoot them or run the hell away. There's innocents here so she's not going to run. She's going to have to in Mercade's words? Shoot, for the love of all that's holy shoot her. She's going to have to do so she loosk to the human girl for a moment and attempt to help her with soem magic of her own more ice. She dares not use lighting for fear of it going wild and causing more harm than good. She's tryin to slow them down as best she can.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart grits her teeth as she gets up... and hears the announcement. Okay, what do you do in this case?

She stands there, her hands gripping the bottom of her ugly shirt and stretching it down, as if trying to expose as much of it as possible to the eyes of the people running to her.

Please work, please work.

Apparently even the mismatch of colors cannot stop a train of greedy customers under the influence of magic.

The wave swallows Tifa up, and then shoves the barmaid outside through the door. Literally ejected, she lands into a group of hippies that had just finished their shopping, making for a nice little bowling impression, where the barmaid knocks out the people out of the way and ends up hanging over a low fence separating the road x_X

Leida has posed:
The fireball scores a direct hit, streaking like a comet into the outstretched demonic entity. A loud explosion rocks the lot and the hand recoils, bony fingers clenching and unclenching wildly in pain as the fire consumes it. The hand withdraws like snake, swiftly sinking back into the dark rift in space which seals over a few moments behind it.

A loud hissing shriek echos in its wake and the main mass of hands clutching the girl aloft turns her to face Aerith swiftly. The gaping void from which the shadows protrude slides across the ground, carrying the lot of them over towards the Ancient.

Instead of attacking her, the arms gently set the small girl down infront of the mage and she stumbles forward a few steps once the tendrils release her completely as if not used to using her own legs.

Leida slumps forward and just stands there, arms danglingly loosely at her side but her head lifts up and she looks at Aerith with her half-open glowing eyes. And then more ice. Her gaze drifts back down to her legs as crystals begin to form about her slender body, freezing her to the pavement.

"No, no, no, no... I don't like this..." Her gaze goes back up to Aerith and the raging crowds and she tilts her head to the side, bangs shifting to partially obscure her face. "Everyone is so angry... what happened...?"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith kneels down and places a hand on her forehead. "Now I understand..." She ran her fingers through the girl's hair. "Tell me your name, please." Perhaps Deidra did not have to kill anyone after all. It was going to be decided with words now... and she'd understood the underpinnings of this whole thing.

Underneath all that greed, agression, hatred... was fear. And she could sense quite the fear from this one.

Negaduck has posed:
That was the distraction that Negaduck needed.

Given that both Ward and Tifa were taken care of by te swarm, Negaduck turns around to direct his gaze out to the two. Holding the megaphone, Negaduck grins, "It was nice dealing with you both. However, I shall deal with you hairless lame brains later!"

The old man is trying to crawl towards Negaduck, but Negaduck already smokebombs his way out.

Meanwhile, the shop owners finally manage to get freed as the Heartless left the storage room. They are working on clearing out on handling the direction of the shoppers.
This has been one hell of a Friday.

Leida has posed:
As the older girl's hands run through her hair, Leida closes her eyes and enjoys the sensation of being touched as only one who is utterly terrified of rejection can. Her small hands come up to clasp over Aerith's and she holds it against her cheek with an almost creepy level of affection for someone she's never even met before.

"Hmm... you are so... warm..." The ice continues to creep up her body, reaching the level of her waist now but she hardly seems to notice. "Leida wishes to be your friend..."

The demonic claws close in from all directions, looming overhead and beside menacingly. Leida looks up and smiles faintly, the expression twisted and ominious in the dark energy that surrounds her body. "Please... don't leave me alone..."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded and smiled. "I won't."

Without looking, Aerith lifts her right hand to the sky and sends forth a series of blazing, ice-blue bolts from above, striking through the skeletal, deathly fingers. Each of them was lanced dead on, with uncanny accuracy.

Aerith put her arms around Leida and smiled. "I'm sorry... you'll have to sleep now. When you wake up, I'll be right here."

She smacked her right hand into the back of Leida's neck, the heel of her palm aiming dead-on for a knock-out point...

Deidra has posed:
Deidra realises a moment too late she might not be able to warn Aerith in time. She's not about to let her be added to the body count of people slain by this thing posing as a little girl. Given Mercade's drive to save people, given what he said to do to Leida there's no doubt in her mind. Shoot is the only option in this stituation, she's got power she can sap her foes power. If Aerith wants to try something crazy she'll give her a chance. She now weaves her spell trying to sap Leida's reserves magical power along with her strength. She's just got his feeling if anyone in creation might be able to do something for what migth have been a little girl? It's this strange flower girl.

Leida has posed:
The magic rips down from the overcast skies and tears through the shadow claws like wet paper, causing them to explode into puffs of black hazy mist. The gentle words cause the small girl to close her eyes again and she leans into the embrace as best she can, her body sealed to the ground by the magical ice.

"I would like to sleep now," she whispers with her head on Aerith's shoulder. "It's so peaceful..."

Unfortunately, the demonic entity has no intentions of letting its prize go so easily. With the power of so much darkness swirling through the girl's body the demon pushes past the obscuring haze of madness that taints their shared vision and asserts its control with a dark hiss that emanates from the shadows all around.

The pool of black ooze erupts under her feet again and shatters the ice with a mighty surge, sweeping Leida up into a massive fist of darkness. The force blasts everything away from her for several feet, flattening a few nearby civilians who squabble over some petty trinket or another.

Before it can strike, however, the magical draining spell digs into its very essence, sapping the accumulated power which it had feasted on so happily this day. Unwilling to risk losing such a precious prize against so many foes it choose to retreat.

The giant arm sinks into the pavement with a wet sucking sound and Leida is pulled down into the pit of black ooze. Her feet sink in first and the hand drags the rest of her after, the girl's body going limp like a marionette with no strings. Her hand reaches up as she disappears and the last thing those assembled see is her slender fingers disappearing into the void.

The girl's soft voice whispers from the darkness as it collapses in on itself, leaving no trace that she was ever there except for the ashes of the fallen and a lingering sense of irrational fear. "The eternal night... shall come..."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith is forced to back away, the sudden surge of darkness anathema to her very being. But even she can sense that this is NOT Leida. No, this is something else, something that has her by the strings. It becomes plainly obvious in the last few words, which make Aerith's anger spike again. Her eyes narrow to dangerous slits as the girl vanishes...

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith turned toward Deidra, her face clear of righteous fury. "So then, care to explain to me who that is, and why she's suspended by the strings of something so hugely powerful?"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra says "Mercade had an encounter with her, he barely escaped with his life. His report can be sumed up as she's playing you. Shoot her or run. Given how Mercade tends to go out on a limb for people. Or even accepts something like me in? That's all I know other than she was feeding on incents. For all we know she's the host to something terrible but ... I'm not sure if anything can be done or if the cost in lives would be too high or not but I dunno. You seemed to have something in mind. Mercade might know more if you can talk to him and get him willing to do so."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head. "No. I'm not willing to talk to anyone who would kill someone that young who didn't do anything wrong." She looked back to where Leida had vanished. "You're correct about one thing... She is the host to something terrible. It's got a hold of her, and for some reason she can't, or isn't, fighting it." The flower girl said this with utmost certainty. "I expect the next time we meet, I'll get some answers, either from her or whatever's pulling her strings. When I do... I'll let you know."