Mark: Judge of Nocturne

Mark: Judge of Nocturne
Date of Scene:	06 January 2013
Location:	Darkness - The Crossroad
Synopsis:	Several souls are drawn to the Crossroad where they are met with the Judge of Nocturne. A dark knight with only one purpose. To test his might against the strong. How will our heroes fare? Also includes a cameo appearance from the dynamic duo of Riku and Angantyr.
Cast of Characters:	Reize Seatlan, Riku, Tifa Lockhart, Deelel, Yurita, Cirra Constantine, Angantyr Vespar, Palom, Luso Clemens

---

Luso Clemens has posed:
The crossroad...

A place where many a lost soul winds up at some point in their journey through life.

And it is on this day...or is it night? It is hard to tell. Regardless the air is still...the grass on the hills are not swaying today. As if nature itself knows that something is wrong. That something is going to happen.

"...What is this place?" Came the voice of a boy, the sound of his feet plodding through the dirt road at a slow pace. It was Luso Clemens. And he was alone this day. As usual, there were several swords strapped behind his waist, alog with a sizeable supplies bag strapped to his side, and a strangely design grimoire on his other side. "...Did I get lost?" He mused to himself, coming to a stop in the middle and crossing his arms in confusion. "I could have sworn and I was going...wait, where WAS I going? Huh..."

Yep, he totally got lost.

Or maybe...

...Maybe he was brought here for some purpose? Who knew...

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"Ivo said that the city of Atlantis was this way."

Enter the true master of Getting Lost.

The Crossroad is a simple area, but there are great consequences.

Reize had been wandering thrugh, trying to figur eout where he was supposed to go. He could had sworn that he marked on the map where he was suposed to be. Of course, he s not alone on this travel. With his map held upside down, the leader of the Shard Seekers journeys ahead to arrive at the very crossroad.

And then he sees Luso.

"Oooooiii! Luso!"

He brightens, "Everyone, we have made it to the City of Atlantis!" He holds the map up in victory.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart tugs at Reize's ahoge "No, we're not following you anywhere this time. This is the right path." She shakes her head at Reize. She's not about to let him play guide, after previous experiences.

No need too at least, since they come across the target "Hey Luso. Heard you needed a hand with some tough monster?" She smirks, a hand on her hip as she walks over.

She sighs a bit at Reize "How does this look like Atlantis to you exactly?" She takes Reize's map, and puts it back in his hands, right side up.

Yurita has posed:
Yurita mms quietly, walking behind and to the side of, and following, Reize. she followed him a lot, it would seem. as he declares they've found the city of Atlantis, she says "I thought Atlantis was under water, Reize..." she looked around quietly "plus, this doesn't look like a city to me..." upon spotting Luso she waves quietly, before looking at Tifa a moment as she fixes Reize's map, only to look back at Reize.

Palom has posed:
Palom has decided to go exploring! This huge new world has so much to see!

What? Dangers? Dangers can be blown up!

Palom sees some people that might not be dangers though, and waves to the part of travelers. "Hi there!"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel has let Reize lead he's incharge right he's still compling but Reize is learning and honestly he knows this land better than she does right? Atlantis had sounded interesting to her so here she goes she's following along after Reize and pauses as he sees someone ahead. "Are you sure?" She pauses looking at the map. "This isn't like maps I am used to. It doesn't even respond to input." She looks over to Tifa and gives a bit opf a shrug then she turns to Luso to greet the young man.

"Greetings program."

She inwardly facepalms hard, force of habit and all that. Which meay lead to odd questions asd for Tifa? Well prehaps she's right.

Cirra Constantine has posed:
Judge Cirra Constantine stands atop one of the golden hills of the crossroads. Helmet placed firmly on her head to hide her face, but most people know the look of the Judge armor by now. Dark metal over black leather, with demon horns curling backwards from the temples of the helmet.

Why be here? Too many things have been happening lately, too many things /will/ happen. Some how she has an ill feeling about her future. When she feels that way, it's easier tot hink about away from Rabanstre, and the rolling hills of the Crossroads remind her of...

Her thoughts are interupted as others start approaching and the helmeted Judge looks down. Tch, it's Reize. Best stay away or she'll end up in some other hairebrained adventure.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Huh?" Luso mumbled, glancing back to see Reize and the others approaching. "Oh, hey Reize, Tifa...and you others gys who I haven't been introduced to yet!" He smiled sheepishly then at Reize's proclamation. "Uh, were not at Atlantis. Actually, I've got no idea where this is! Huh...I dunno how, but...I just ended up here."

Luso turned around them, crossing his arms and furrowing his brows in thought. "...Man, I don't know where to start on this actually, I just-"

Whoosh!

And then all at once, a black wind blew through the crossroads with a fair amount of force. "Whoa! What the heck was that!?" Luso exclaimed, stepping back to regain his footing. A quick look around soon placed the cause of this ominous gust.

Over there, down the Path of Defeat.

In the distance, a figure in pure black armor could be seen slowly, methodically walking, his armor clanking with each step he took, a massive blade of dark phantasm held against his shoulder with one arm, and black cape billowing in the wind. He was nowhere near, but...his presence could still be felt even from this distance.

He has come.

The Judge of Nocturne.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"ACK!" The antenna hair is tugged on by Tifa, and he steps back with comical tears flooding. He frowns when Tifa tells him about the right path. And as for how they are at Atlantis? "According to this map, we should be here at..." He looks at Yurita. "The map says so!" He gives an indignant glare.

And then it's right-side up.

Reize drops to his knees.

His eyes widen. "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!! We went the wrong way!" He lowers his head, the comical tears flooding.

However, in the midst of it all...

WOOSH!

That is when the presence manifests. Reize turns his head towards the Path of Defeat.
"Wh--what...?" Then, the boy looks over to see the figure in the black armor. His eyes fall shut, the young man withdrawing both of his boomerangs. "...Wh--who is that?"

Yurita has posed:
Yurita giggles, and says "I'm Yurita." as he seems to have /still/ not picked up on her name, then the presence, even without looking it scares her, her lights flicker a moment from that fear "bad.... very bad feeling..." she looks over at the 'Judge of Nocturne' before hiding behind Reize.

she takes out her data disc as Reize takes out his weapons, still hiding behind him though.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head at Reize's reactions. But she doesn't get to dwell on it for long, the main bad guy approaches. The light flickering is a bit omnious though...

"Okay, so is this what we're here for? Either way, its here for us now, it seems." SHe tightens her gloves on her hands, getting ready for a brawl in its own right.

Brawls and Bars, things that go well together, no?

Palom has posed:
Palom waves to the gathered party, but they don't seem to have noticed him. Huh. He starts to approach on his little legs, when the mysterious dark presense appears and he turns to consider it. Who could that be?

Deelel has posed:
Deelel gives a look to the Judge for a moment, and poor Deelel she's not figured out Reie is a hairbrained adventure magnet and it's already too late. It's time for Adventure and there's no stopping it now. So Deelel looks for a moment, and there's someone ahead who may be more scary than Cirra. Okay that's a lie it's hard to be more scary than an unhappy Cirra but still this isn't a good thing ahead. "I dio not like the looks of this."

Cirra Constantine has posed:
Cirra is about to turn and leave when the wind blows through the crossroads. She stops, head tilting to the side as she slowly turns to look at...

Another Judge? No, this one is purest black, not just darkly coloured. The aura it exudes sets Cirra's nerves on edge, as if an oily feeling where sliding up her spine. She takes a step forward, towards the Judge of Nocturne as she walks down the hill and tilts her head up as she speaks.

"Hold! Who goes there, and what is your purpose in these lands?"

Luso Clemens has posed:
"....That doesn't look at all good..." Luso mumbled, reaching back to grasp one of his swords in preparation. "Honestly? I have no idea who that is. I was just passing through and..." He trailed off at that, having nothing more to say as the dark judge drew ever closer to the group gathered.

Eventually, he came within a respectable proximity and halted, as per Cirra's demands. "......." Not a single solitary word from entity. As if Cirra's requests for information were completely inconsequential. From within the helmet of the dark enforcer, two orbs of red began to glow strongly, and he slowly gazed among those present, as if scrutinizing them all.

'......Will you survive my ordeal?'

There was no voice, but a string of words slowly appeared within the minds of all present. And then all at once, the knight lowered the masive blade from his shoulder...

And then charged!

The ordeal has begun.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
"Everyone! Get ready!" It's time to get serious now.

When the Judge greets everyone with a strange message, it is not a voice in his mind, but a string of letters in his head. He places his hand along his eyes, slowly recalling that feeling. It is a familiar one. In fact, it is like the Mysterious Voice that has been helping him.

When the knight charges towards Reize, the young man kicks a foot back to spring away, and then he lunges forward. His body quickly blinks out of existence before it reappears behind the Judge. He springs off of the ground and he dives down with the kick his way to counteract the blow.

Then, Reize reaches along the bag of tricks to pull out a drape. The drape dances along his hands, then he swings it over towards his eyes, "Hey! Hold this!" Something else falls off of his bag, some sort of item that slips up.

Like a hacky-sack, Reize kicks it up with his toe, then he swings around to let his back heel whip out towards the Judge's chest. The item comes smacking against his foot and flies to smash at the Judge's dark armor.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart gets knocked back by the sudden attack, which came without much of a warning really. Just... so much darkness! She brings her arms over her face to shield herself, which doesn't do much either mind you.

But her boots dig into the ground, fighting against it, and then jumps forward toward the judge "What kind of monster is this?"

As she lands in front of it, she brings a combination of punch, elbow, and kick, aiming to distabilize it "And what kind of ordeal is this supposed to be?"

Cirra Constantine has posed:
The words form in Cirra's head, her brows knit together. "You..." THe knight charged, the blade swung down. Cirra reachign behind her back to grasp her scythe and hold it foreward in both hands, she can't defend, but she des manage to slice at the knight just before it slams her backwards, the heavy blow having swung right through her guard.

Cirra comes to s kidding stop on both feet as she looks up and grimeces beneath her helmet. "Your ordeal?" she swings hte scyth around to tuck in behind her shoulder with one arm, then other arm held up as she starts chanting. Concentric rings flowing around her until they solidify into solid shields that fade out of sight. "Your ordeal will be me."

Yurita has posed:
Yurita blinks, her lights flickering at how the words just appear in her head, shaking, preparing to say something, before he charges, unable to move before he hits her, groaning in pain, she backs away slightly, after which she got into a loose fighting stance, wincing in pain at even the slightest movement she makes "o-ow...."

Palom has posed:
"Hey!" Palom shouts as the mysterious figure just tries to charge right through everyone, leaving the little mage trampled underfoot. "Ow! That hurt! I didn't do anything to you, what's your problem?!" He pulls himself to his feet and turns. "YOU are going in time out, mister, to think about what you've done!" he raises his staff. 'Chilling spirits, put him on ice! Suffer in stony silence! And feel the sickness of your actions!'

Palom's staff flashes different colors of light, and then giant icicles rise up out of the ground, trying to root the Judge's feet to the ground, while Palom's magic attacks the Judge's body directly, trying to turn flesh numb and hard to move and make him feel sick!

Deelel has posed:
Deelel doesn't wnat to know what this thing is she really doesnt' there's just a feeling of utter alieness to her. She's a creature of order, this is a creature of chaos. This is not going to end very well for one or both of them. She leaps as quickly as she can just being missed by the blade and is now in the air she doesn't have much time to prepare any sort of comamnd so she just launches he disk and attemps to catch i on the wya back as Palom makes for a wonderful distraction juast getting all the magic in the chaos knight's face.

"...So that's a trial huh let's see how much game you got!"

Luso Clemens has posed:
"HOLY--"

WHOMP!

Luso then went flying as the Dark Judge's blade crashes into his own. The defense was worthless in the end and the boy hits the ground hard. Eventually, he skid to a stop and then groaned. "...ugggh...What the heck?" He sat up then and rubbed his chest slowly. "Ordeal? What's he talking about?" There was no time to wonder however.

Now was the time for battle!

"Alright! You want a fight? I'll give you one! Here I come!" Drawing the Ogun Blade in addition to the Kwigon Blade, Luso than ran forward, his swords becoming a flurry of slashes. "Fire! Ice! Thunder! Haaaaaaaaaaah!"

Meanwhile, the Judge's gaze was centered on the others, watching them approach with their attacks. First was Reize. The drape covered the knight, yet he did not seem distressed at all. The phantom blade was raised against the oncoming kick, defending and reducing the damage.

Then came Tifa. All of her strikes connect against the entity's armor. And he did absolutely nothng to stop her, as if he knew that she was striking against a steel wall. Which she very well was.

Palom's spells strike the judge from behind, yet he doesn't move an inch. Did he take damage? Whether or not he did, there was no indication of such.

And then Deelel came in from above, striking the Judge's helmet and causing him to incline downwards just a tad.

'...This is only the beginning of the ordeal.'

The phantom sword was hefted backwards. His eyes flashed with a trail of red as he moved.

And then he swung. What followed was a vertiable wave of darkness, surging outwards in all directions. Like a whirlwind of death.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Reize used that drape to wrap it over the knight's head. Not just to keep him from striking his friends, but to help his friends strike him down. However, the Judge is proving to be pretty stalwart inspite of his tactics. In fact, he doesn't seem to be reactive to the maneuvers at all.

It is then that the Judge declares that the trial is at its beginning stage. When the sword swings out like a whirlwind, Reize attempts to slip back by backflipping away. But as soon as he gets into the air, the blade hacks against his chest, releasing the blood through ripping a wound. "Ngghhh!"

He looks over towards Yurita, "Oooi! Yurita!" He grits his teeth, "Are you going to face this trial?! If so, fight!" Then, Reize moves back to the close range with the knight. Whipping out his boomerang to his head, he flicks it out and hurls the weapon at an arc his way. The boomerang begins smacking to the ground, then smacking along another surface and starts ricocheting all around.

Using the chance, Reize finally steps into the battle, springing off of his feet with his feet striking towards his head and another heel to his face. "Sparrondo!"

Yurita has posed:
Yurita is hit again, knocked down, before she gets up again, holding herself where it hurt most "this... isn't fair." she then took a deep breath, throwing her data disc at the 'judge of Nocturne', only to look around at Reize as he spoke to her, she noticed the bleeding, and got a tighter grip of her data disc once it returned "of course I am!" why did she just answer like that, not even she knew, but she resisted her urge to just turn and run, as she throw her disc again, harder, catching it upon its return.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart's eyes widen a bit whens he sees the waves of darkness coming her way. Well, there isn't much space to evade it... but up. She jumps u p, kicking herself up by using the judge as her vault. That should teach him to stand close to the barmaid!

From this position, with her hands on the bad judge, there are few options left to her. One of them being her trademark piledriver of course, once she can grapple her opponent, it usually inflicts the pain easily at least.

Cirra Constantine has posed:
This time, Cirra focuses on her owndefense, her scyth spinning around to deflect two of the enemy Judge's attacks, but the third strikes through her guard, the darkness rocking her back on her heels, but she's not exactly a stranger to darkness.

The Dark Knight Judge pushes forward again, the scyth swinging around so she can slam the blunt end fo the shaft into the side of the Judge's head. THe weapon swings around once more to hook around Nocturne's knee and she lifts up one leg to deliver a kick while pulling on the scythe, trying to force the other Judge off balance, or just take his leg off at the knee. Cirra then runs forward jumping a short distance while pointing the spear point of the weapon down, trying to pin Nocturne down.

Palom has posed:
Palom frowns. Did his magic work? But now he has to worry about a wave of darkness! He jabs his staff into the ground, darkness of his own shooting along the ground, forming a small safe area in the Judge's attack and trying to pull the judge down with magical gravity! "Hey! Do you realize who you're fighting? I'm Palom, Genius of Mysidia!" the boy puffs up his chest and holds his staff high, "and I don't like people who just go attacking people randomly like thyis! You're gonna learn that there's good, strong people out there, and we're gonna pound jerks like you into the ground!"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel watche as the Dark juge does hert thing she's a pretty heavy fighter to be sure. She heard a little of the judges they seem to fill a job much like TRONs when she thinks about it but for now questioning the Judge will have to wait. There's a unspeaking horror of chaos. "Yurita hang back if you need to. This isn't worth you getting Derezzed over!" She calls out to her fellow Basics. She looks at the thing as it challenges them she sees Reize charge on in. The young man was very quick to leap for others aid she had to admit. Still the pitched battle from her fomrades and friends has given her some openings the mage ahs done well and Luso who is a new variable here that's to be sure but he seems to know what he's doing. She amnaged to hit him in the head, and she knows he doesn't want to get hit by him, she'd fold like a house of cards if he likely did. She sees what she thinks is an opening and launches into several quick disk strikes to get him hopefully unprepaered for her suddenly getting in his face with a powerful strike to the chest.

Riku has posed:
Incoming Portal in 2.. 1..

A black stain opens up in the sky about ten feet or so off the ground. A silver haired teenager launches out of it at speed, THUMPING hard from the shadow portal into the branches of a nearby tree. He spits leaves and little branches, digging into the trunk and wrapping his arms around a branch to keep himself from falling all the way down to the ground.

"God. Why is it always trees." he mutters in a stunned fashion, he peers around at the golden horizon and the shimmering hills but he has very little time because almost as soon as he hits the tree with a shuddering WHACK he uncurls from around it and starts to make his way down.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
The portal isn't done yet...

Another figure flies out of the closing portal, falling straight down.

"OH GOD TREES!" he shouts, as he falls like a rock. Angantyr, clad in heavy armor, falls straight down.

The tree doesn't hold his weight, branches shattering like glass as he hits them with full force, and litterally soars down...

Catching up with Riku...

And if he isn't fast enough, get caught underneath the form of the dark Knight.

He rolls back onto his hands and knees, as the mace rests near him as he pulls himself up. "Ow..." he mutters, dazed.

Riku has posed:
Riku Dislike Trees

Actually, not so much dislike as 'god, freaking Faram or whoever, get this nutcase off me'

Because heavy armor has it's own gravitas and etc. Riku takes a shattered tree limb, trying to make the armored knight's head ring like a gong as he attempts to get out from under the knight and roll painfully back onto his feet.

The teenager is surrounded by the shattered detritus of trees and he starts to laugh. "It's always trees. /ALWAYS/ --What is with the trees? I open a portal. /Trees/ -- Even when it's a desert. If I look away for a second. Trees." he throws his arms up in painful exasperation, tree branch included, and then-- mid rant, just charges forwards, planting the branch in the earth like a staff as he attempts to knock the heavily armored man over with a well placed kick.

Luso Clemens has posed:
At first, Luso was there.

And then, he wasn't. "Not this time!" Sailing through the air, he avoided the vortex of darkness threatening to engulf him, and landed to the ground. "There's only one way this story's gonna end! With our victory! Come on everyone! Get it together! We can take this guy no problem!" As he spoke, Luso began to glow with an orange aura, his powers growing in anticipation for the next attack.

Meanwhile. The Judge was met with Reize's attacks, boomerang striking at various points before he dove in for the kick. The blows rock the entity's armor, causing him to merely take a step back. He regarded Reize for a moment, as if scrutinizing him for something.

Tifa's attempt to slam the judge is met with absolute resistance. She cannot move him. He does not budge whatsoever. He batted her away with the flat of his sword, not doing much damage, but just to move her.

And then came Yurita's discs. They strike the armor, bouncing off after with little consequence afterward. The dark enforcer regarded the program with a brief look, eyes trailing red as he did so. Silence was all he offered.

Following that, he swung his sword outwards, deflecting Deelel's strikes without looking back at her. However, this brief lapse in attention gave Cirra all the time she needed to strike the judge down, pinning him with her weapon. However, he did not seem panicked at all and just stared upwards at her. His eyes glowing intently.

'.........Can you withstand the darkness that lies within your heart?'

These words, utterly voiceless appear within the minds of everyone, including the newly arrived Riku and Angantyr who just so wonderfully dropped in.

FLASH!

Darkness surged forth in massive volume, blowing Cirra off as the knight rose to his feet in an almost eerie fashion. The phantom sword was gripped tightly as the darkness begin to whirl about him, creating a strong wind that pushed against everyone's footing.

'To face me, is to face yourself. Let the darkness carry you away.'

And then the sword was spun, gripped in reverse, and then stabbed down into the ground...

What followed was an eruption of darkness, breaking the ground apart in various places, engulfing several in it's reach. But he was not done yet. The dark entity dashed forward in the midst, lashing out with a flurry of strikes to all present.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
There are a lot of people within the close range. Tifa and Cirra are one of them. As they move in towards the Judge of Nocturne to get their licks in, Reize decides to kick his foot back and spring away from the group, allowing them the distance so that they don't cross each other.

Then, his eyes drift towards the arrogant little brat, Palom.

"...At least we're not in a town," Reize concludes, rubbing his forehead. Though, Deelel does tell Yurita to pull back. A frown is given, the boy tries to give a bit more forethought about the other girl. He... doesn't get her, honestly.

And then, a portal.

First comes Riku, and then the other guy approaching him. Reize never did get the guy's name. ...Or, just can't remember his name. Nevertheless, the boy looks over towards the silver haired boy and he brings his hand out to wave at them.

"Ooooooooooiiiii! Riku! Ooooooiiiiiii! Other guy in dark armor whose name I never gotten!"

Pay. Attention. Reize. God. Pay the hell attention! OH MY GOD PAY ATTENTION!

It is too late. Reize turns his attention towards the knight too late to see that the manifestation of the darkness that occurs. That eruption of darkness has the boy's eys widen and he yelps in surprise, "Whoa!"
That Heartless dashed towards the group, and especially towards Reize with the flurry of strikes, "Acccckkk!!" The young man sprang over to the air and over to the shoulders to distance himself from the knight's blade. And then, Reize springs himself forward to meet with the knight. This time, Reize pulls out the hookshot from his backpack. The hookshot strikes towards the armor.

And then, Reize dives down and makes his way behind the knight, tossing another content from the bag at the back of its head. And then, Reize rolls along the ground to distance himself from the knight. Sucking in a breath, Reize is starting to draw upon his magical power.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Riku and Ang clash through the trees. Their attacks breaking off of each other, both from clashing weapons, but from striking each other. Riku grabs a tree branch, swinging it towards Angantyr as he manages to nail the Dark Knight right across the temple and staggers him... Angantyr flips back to his feet and aims to swing upwards...

Before the Knight tears through the area, causing darkness and pain to errupt in his wake and causes Angantyr to fall to the ground, rolling to his feet as he lands with a painful groan. Slowly, he spins the mace into his hand as he twists towards the Fallen Knight.

"HEY! <GOOSEHONK>! THIS IS OUR FIGHT! DON'T INTERUPT!" he screams, turning around and aims to grab the Dark Knight, dark energy gathering through his hands as he transforms his hand into a dark claw...

Before the blood spilled...turns into a barrage of crimson claws, aiming to try and tear into the knight...and throws him towards Riki.

"NOW STAY OUT!"

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart notices that some new people dropped out... with a portal like the shadow lords. She knwos because she saw Kaydin using them too. That doesn't really make her confident if they are going to attack while they are busy. Hasn't she seen that boy before too?

Anyway, lets take care of what's in front. She's been spared the strong looking attack at least, she she can concentrate on what she's doing... pummeling it. Of course, would be better if they stopped dodging her pile driver. She hasn't had much luck with that recently...

Yurita has posed:
Yurita grips her data disk tightly, the lights on her suit no longer flickering as she hits her Target, and it does nothing "you, have /got/ to be kidding me..." she then she dodged the enemies attack as fast as possible, being all but a ninja with the movement, rolling sideways before standing up, pulling her arm back she throws her disk, hard, only to catch it to throw it two more times, before running a little closer to Reize so she can focus on the fight, and still yell at him "PAY ATTENTION REIZE! I'll make sure to hit you after the fight if your attention lapses again!" she gives only a single glance to the silver haired kid, and the familiar dark mored man, before looking back at the 'judge of Nocturne'.

Riku has posed:
Riku is too focused on Ang to really notice much. "Hello Reize." is something he throws over his shoulder, a bag of amused annoyance that he drops into the lap of the younger boy. "Getting in more trouble again, I see." he chuckles. "I can't really throw stones this time."

Then the trouble in question gets right up in his face before he can even breath. A flare of darkness spears up from the earth so close to his feet that it roars past his nose. It might as well have struck because the abrupt pain of that much concentrated darkness so close is like a knife through the heart. He hadn't been shielding himself and his head snaps back.

Riku smirks, although a moment of fear flashes across his eyes as the barrage of crimson claws appear-- but they weren't aiming at him this time. "Not another one. I have had enough of /DARKNESS/ and crazy today. " he lets out an exasperated groan.

" GET SOME NEW LINES, MOOK!" he disappears, flashing back and forth in arcs of red light. a black wind thunders across the crossroads, plowing into the knight as Riku appears behind them and then to the side, slashing and slashing in great crackling arcs of darkness.

Cirra Constantine has posed:
Cirra stares down at the Judge of Nocturne as she has him pinned. Her own read (not glowing) eyes narrow at the...creature.

"It's not the darkness in my heart I need to be worried about-" she prepares another strike, raising the scythe up in both hands!

FWOMP

The blast wave of darkness sends Cirra flying backwards off the Nocturne Judge and slaming itno a bunch of trees. A bunch of trees that Ang and Riku slamed into moments ago. "Nhg..." the Judge lifts her helmet off her head, since it now has a nice big dent in it. She looks up in time to see Ang throw the Judge through the air, "YOU!" she shouts and then sees the arc the judge was thrown, Riku "...you..."

The Judge pulls herself out of the trees and pulls a crystal out of her pouch and crushes it in her hand, the blue glowing effect is pretty telling: a potion.

With some wounds healed, Cirra rushes forward again leaping upwards to bring her scythe down at Nocturne's neck like a guuillotine to try and lop off his head. She knows better though, and continues her assualt, spinning around as she lands to drive the pike point of her scythe into the small of the other Judge's back.

Witha elap backwards Cirra opens up just enough distance that she can lunge in agian, but this time she leave the scythe wide, instead pressing the fingers of her hands together to slam up at the Judge's ribs through his armor.

"Darkness is just another thing; the stuff between the stars." she grits her teeth. "And I can push it out of my heart, just like I can tear it out of you!"

Then she does that energy draining thing. Huh seems she /doesn't/ need to kiss someone for that.

Palom has posed:
People falling out of portals! "Hey!" Palom calls. "Watch out, this guy's hitting people and throwing around darkness!" he gestures at the mysterious Judge.

And turns to face him. "The darkness?" his eyes widen, then he frowns. He opens his mouth to speak, cut short with a cry of "Agh!" as he feels darkness grabbing him, sucking his life force away, and then he's struck and sent flying, tumbling across the ground until he rolls into a tree.

The boy stands up, robes torn, bruised all over, and sniffles, shooting a glare of death at the dark judge. "The darkness within my heart is what I'll use to defeat you! You picked on the wrong mage!" He holds the staff out before him in both hands.

'Let the reaper show you your final fate! DEATH!'

Palom's magic seems to form a faint, dark shape, of a giant figure with a scythe, which swings at the Judge. Magic trying to drain life and make him frail. But the boy isn't done yet!

Unleash the dark power of the rotting world! The greatest Black Magic spell of Mysidia! FLARE!'

And then the boy's magic attacks the air and earth around the Judge. Tearing the very matter itself apart, unleashing the energy stored therein and directing it inward at the Judge! Even with most of the power directed inward, there's a pretty flashy and bright explosion around him, and a shockwave washes out over the ground.

Palom has braced himself against the tree, and when the light dies down he uncovers his eyes, trying to see... Did that do it...?

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is shocked as two people come bounding out of nowhere, into the trees and keep fighting. It seems two other people are engaged in combat of the most strange sort but there's little that can be done here. She's actually very worn out she's not got much energy left she's going to fade back and hope she doesn't get notice but seriously who the heck are thsoe guys that just popped in?

Luso Clemens has posed:
Oh crap.

That was the only thought Luso uttered before the darkness came for him. He managed to weave his way through dark eruptions bursting up from all around, but what he wasn't prepared for, was the Dark Judge appearing right before him. The massive blade was slammed right into his chest, cutting against the armor and then tossing the boy away. He went sailing through the air, and then crashed to the ground, rolling a bit before he finally came to a stop.

"...Sheesh..!" Struggling, Luso got back up to his feet, sheathing the Ogun Blade and then going for Flametongue, drawing it out quickly. "Face myself? Face the darkness? I already said that this story's gonna end with our victory! I mean it!" And then he ran forward, going right back into the fray, lashing out with a flurry of slashes radiating light and shadow. "Here it comes! Twilight Blades to tear everything asunder!"

Meanwhile Reize's gambit did little to distract the knight. the random items bouncing off of it's helmet with an audible clang. But he was given no attention as he did not attack directly.

Angantyr's attack however does catch the dark knight, the various crimson claws grasping into the champion of darkness and tossing him airborne.

Riku's follow up however is seen through. The knight perfectly angles his sword at every exact direction that Riku struck from parrying the blows effortlessly. But this gave the others all the time they needed to strike.

The Judge is bombarded with attacks from all angles, but he does not falter. Cirra's strikes, aiming to behead and internally injure him made their mark, but there was no blood. No fluids at all. And his melmet remained firmly attached to his body. Palom's magic blows into the knight, causing him to take a take back to defend, and then Yurita causes him to take another step back...and then another...and another...

'...Impressive. Your hearts are strong.'

Those words, voiceless, pass through everyone's minds.

'...But what is the true extent of your strength?'

The knight gripped his sword once more, eyes flashing red as a dark aura surged forth yet again. He raised his blade to the sky and the aura extended forth, going up and up ...and up...and up still. Till there was a blade of darkness nearly triple the champion's one rather lofty height. The blade was then lower in front of the Judge, who did not attack yet. Another string of words appear.

'Now begins the second third movement.'

The titantic blade is raised backwards...and then he swings, aiming to cleave into any foolish enough to be in range. But it is not done there. In the aftermath of the swing, black wind bursts forth, creating an array of evil cutting blades to slice through the air and tear all to shreads.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr turns away from the knight.

"<GOOSEHONK>in A man. Seriously. Bloody evi..." he pauses and then.

"Crap." he realizes the dark thing was charging another attack, he turns, opening a corridor of darkness. "RIKU! Quickly through here!" he calls out, and dives into the corridor of darkness. There might be a grin on his face, hoping that Riku was too focused on getting out of the thing's attack to realize that was the worst idea in the world.

On the other side, Angantyr is holding the mace ready, ready to paste Riku when he exits.

Riku has posed:
Okay. This was the time for NOT being here anymore. Riku had enough darkness already on his plate. The cutting blades fill the air causing him to dive underneath one that almost takes his head off at the neck.

He practically curls around himself as he loosely rolls across the ground from a prone position, grasping at his chest as he tries to keep his internal darkness from lashing.

Even though he's got it mostly under control, he /REALLY/ didn't want to stay here long enough to see if his control won out.

Riku throws himself onto his feet and through the portal. Good idea? Get out of Range. Bad idea: Get INTO RANGE.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Riku is greeting him! Yay! Great day! Great day! Nevertheless, Reize does see that him and the other knight are having a bit of a bout. Reize doesn't quite know what is going on exactly, but the important matter is that Reize needs to deal with this situation pronto.

And then Yurita yells at him. Wincing, the boy rubs his head, "Mada mada..."

And then... Flare. Crap. Crap Crap. Reize is quickly turning away. "EVERYONE GET BACK!" When Palom casts a spell, especially like Flare, things are about to get nasty. That is why Reize is turning tail and he run to a good distance to get to cover. He dives along the ground a to sink away. While the explosion is cleared, Reize emerges out to see if all is well.

...Unfortunately not.

As the Judge of Nocturne rises once more, he reveals the accursed sword's manifestation of energy that gathers. Then, when the titanic blade forms from the darkness, the eyes widen at the ominous power that is swung down towards the group. The boy himself, unfortunately, is caught within the mighty swing. That gigantic blade hacks through him, tearing out the light and blood from the young leader.

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!"

He drops onto one knee, his eyes widen with shock as his body begins to bleed profusely. And then, the black wind tears against the young man, biting and ripping at him.

He drops to a knee, preparing to fall...

Until he starts to will himself back up. His pendant starts to glow as he fights against the cutting blades seeking to rend his soul.

"Knight's Vow...." He staggers to his feet, half-way up. He sucks in a breath, "#14: Even a small star shines in darkness....!"

He brings his hand over to the side, "This is my will!"

And then, Reize is quickly fades out...

And appears right by the Judge.

"Think I'm done?!"

A strike appears from the right side with a kick. The boy fades out and fades back to another side from the Judge to swing his boomerang out towards his head. Reize, in his blinding speed, fades out and fades back in with a flying kick to the back of his head to knock him off balance. He shifts around and he starts moving around in a blinding speed. Reize is moving so fast in all different directions that he is forming a whirlwind in his trail. That whirlwind seeks to consume the Judge of Nocturne. The strikes happen from each different side, aiming to smack against the knight repeatedly.

And then, Reize emerges from the whirlwind in mid-air. "STORM'S EYE!" He spins around to release a spinning kick across the Judge's helmet.

Yet, Reize does not leave the air. Floating along the air, the essence of magic bleeds from him as he channels the power. The flow of time and space ebbs along the boy's body while he rises his hand up to his side. The manifestation of magic appears as a glowing tarot forms. With the natural wave of mana flowing, his pendant's light becomes brilliant. That radiant glow shines as the tarot gathers power.

That emerald stone around Reize's neck brightens, the boy's position near the Judge bleeds off a blinding light.
It is the star that shines the brightest. And Reize is that star.

"EXTENDED!"

That explosion of light forms when the boy lifts the tarot into the air. As the tarot shatters...

Three balls of fire manifest from thin air around the boy. The three blazing orbs start to converge together and drop down like a beachball into the whirlwind that the knight is contained in. ...And as the ball makes contact within the trapping funnel, the blaze becomes engulfed within the tornado to give off a violent explosion of magic.

"This is our strength! Don't forget it!"

Yurita has posed:
Yurita is hit by the attack, groaning in pain "you... are starting... to annoy me...." is all she says towards the judge of Nocturne, she ducks back none the less though, trying not to get noticed, badly damaged as she was, she was in no condition to attack immediately, so she just tried not to get hit again, as she notices Reize getting hit, badly, her face adopts an expression of shock and horror, before worry as he gets back up, he wasn't dead yet, at least, she then blinks, watching his barrage on the enemy "go Reize...." is mumbled under her breath.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart has found her groove for this fight it seems. She manages to hit accurately (except for the sad sad pile driver) and evade most attacks, even if they get uncomfortably close at time. Being on the uphill, its normal that she would want to take her chances with her strongest attack as well.

Sliding back slightly into a prone position, she launches herself at the Judge, opening with a strong bodyslam to knock the wind out of him. Yeah, she doesn't care for the armors right now, she's already dented him enough.

And as the judge is reeling, Tifa does what could be called a 'phase shift', using her speed to disapear from sight for barely a moment, and appearing behind the judge, slamming into him with a fist charged with explosive energy, sending him flying forward instead. Like a game of ping pong

Cirra Constantine has posed:
Cirra drains power out of the Judge of Nocturne, just enoguh to heal a few wounds, but the enemy quickly sets apon the entire group again with whipping blades of magical dark wind. Tears cut through Cirra's armor and she ducks aside, a few strands of silver hair floating away on the wind as they're cut from her head. "You're not that good, creature."

The Judge of Archadia steps in, swinging the scyth out wide to slice at the Nocturne's side as she practically dances round him. With a twist on her heel she leaps forward again to plunge the weapon downwards in a single stroke and steps back, "You are no Judge, but for your transgressions, I sentance you!"

Cirra slams the pike point at the top of her scythe forward, aiming to simply pierce right through the enemy.

Palom has posed:
That portaling is a neat trick. Palom doesn't have time to think about that though -- shock shows on his face when the Judge is _still there_, after everything that's been thrown at him! And then... cutting blades! He throws up a wall of ice but they simply smash through, cutting him -- his torn robes begin to redden around several new cuts. He stumbles, and draws a vial of potion from a pocket, drinking it and some of his wounds closing up. "You... won't... win..." he stammers breathily. "I won't... let you..." He takes a deep breath, raises his staff over his head, and jabs it into the ground again! 'Let's get ready to rumble!' A crack travels along the ground and the earth under the judge shakes before splitting apart, trying to bury him inside a chasm!

Palom, meanwhile takes a step back, holding one arm in front of him and one behind, tracing designs in the air.

'Smouldering flames far below that punish the wicked...' Palom stops moving. 'Let it end in hellfire! FIRAJA!'

The boy abruptly steps forward, thrusting his back hand out in front of him -- there's a brief red glow, and then a pillar of flame rises up out of the crack in the earth, swirling around the judge, before the air itself in that area just starts _exploding_. This is pure magical energy, though -- it's just a hot breeze instead of a shockwave that washes over those besides Palom's target.

The Genius of Mysidia grasps his staff again and leans against it, panting.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel can't really argue with Cirra's sentance at this point she doesn't enjoy derezzing beings but this one is just a wandering menace he's got to be stopped. She's going to step her game up here as Cirra drains him? She's left the program an opening. She's going to make all the use of it she can as she now charges towards the crazed user.

"I had enough of this User! You lash out at anyone just like a virus!"

The Program throws her blade once then flips into the air catches it on the return, if it misses or not and fires again before charging to teh left and then diving in for a close in strike trying to sue the weapon almost like a melee blde to strike up close.

Luso Clemens has posed:
The combination of blows and magic rocked the dark entity, at last throwing it back to the ground for good. ...It IS down for good, right?

...Right?

A few moments of utter silence....and then the unthinkable happens.

The Judge rose back to his feet. The red glow of his eyes fading away. Perhaps a sign of a loss of aggression.

'...You have shown me the strength of your hearts.'

The knight lifted his sword, darkness surging forth from it. Washing away as it then began to grow smaller and smaller to reveal a much more manageable sword. The judge then turn the sword downwards and stabbed it into the ground. There was no attack. No horrible burst of dark energy to gnaw away at their souls. The sword was just left there. It was golden and white in hue. And it was straight bladed.

'My purpose has been fulfilled. The tides of darkness will vanish.'

And with those last words echoing through everyone's minds, the dark champion turned and and began to walk off. He headed back down the path of defeat, his form fading from ther sight in wisps of dark energy.

In the end, all that remained behind was the sword embedded into the ground.

"...Phew! We actually did it!" Luso cheered, throwing a fist to the air then. "Alright! Another mark down! Another job well done! Nice going guys, you were awesome! Ahahahaha!" Laughing in relief, the boy glanced off towards the sword, staring for a while. "....But look at that sword..."

His collector's senses were tingling and he began to take steps forward, approaching the sword. Once he got there, he gripped the handle and lifted it out of the ground. "...Huh, seems pretty safe! It's a nice sword too!"

Palom has posed:
Palom stares as the Judge STILL RISES. Oh NO. That took the last of his magic energy, he's going to need a moment to gether more to do anything powerful...

But the judge has, apparently acceeded defeat and leaves. Palom's not sure what to say, so he doesn't. He does wander over to Luso, though, for a closer look at the sword. "What do you think that was all about?"

Cirra Constantine has posed:
Cirra watches the Judge of Nocturne stand up agian, she readies herself in a defensive stance ready for it to...leave? Huh. Then she watches Luso pick up the sword.

"I would be weary of that. Some dark Knight weapons drive their weilders mad."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart phews as the Judge vanishes after giving the last bit of his speech "... The strength of our hearts? The darkness will vanish?" She sighs "What was that all about? And what did that have to do with having to fight us." She scratches her head at that, wondering.

Hey, where's Riku gone to? <.< >.>

Reize Seatlan has posed:
It is the like that that the Judge shows defeat. He relents, showing his grace in his defeat. Reize cannot help but be amazed by the man's honor. And when he departs, Reize only sees the sword that was left behind.

A smile is given, then he brightens into a smile, "Yeah! We did it!" He starts springing off from the ground to thrust his hand up high.

The boy rub the back of his head, "...Maybe he wanted to test us." He glances over towards Tifa, "Some people seem to have unfinished business."

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso glanced down at Palom, lowering the sword for him to have a look at. "I dunno really. I just heard rumors about a dark knight attacking people so I figured I'd go and have a look in the last place it attacked." A shrug is given then as Luso casually shoulders the judge's sword. "Instead, I wound up here. Almost as if something was telling me to come...weird." He mumbled, rubbing his chin with his free hand.

A glance is then given towards Cirra. "Drive them mad?" He quirks a brow then and turns his gaze to the sword currently held at his shoulder. "...Really? I feel fine though! And this sword isn't leaking any darkness! Not like the last sword we found in that heartless, right Reize?" Luso called over to his friend, recalled the Soul Devourer in the Petrified Forest.

"...Still, I wonder just who he was..A dark knight who tests strong fighters...was he looking for someone to finally beat him?"

Yurita has posed:
Yurita blinks, putting her data disk back in its socket, before falling backwards "thank... the users... that's over..." is panted out, before realizing something, she forces herself back up to look over at Reize, to check on him, make sure he wasn't dead from blood loss, seeing he's completely fine she smiles, before flopping back down, holding one of her wounds lightly.

Cirra Constantine has posed:
"It's a specialty of Baron's Dark Knights." Cirra continues as she turns to look around, where /did/ Riku and Ang go to? Hmmn. "Weapons to drive the weilders to greater heights of aggression and savagry inf ighting."

Palom has posed:
"Baron?!" Palom is surprised. "That guy was from BARON?!" He turns and glares in the direction the mysterioud Judge went.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Tapping a finger towards his forehead, Reize looks back towards Luso, "Yeah! You're right!" The boy brightens at Luso. "It looks like this sword isn't cursed like the last one was!" His pendant isn't reacting violently as it did before with the other sword.

Reize rubs the back of his head. However, Reize looks towards the group. His eyes fal towards Yurita, and then Deelel. "Ooii, are you two alright?" He grimaces, trying to rag himself over.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "Was he looking for someone to stop him in the end?" the program has no idea and she nods to Cirra. "The blade might do the same to whomever touches it nest. Is there a way to contain or dispose of the blade?" She tilts her head curious looking at the Judge she also wonders. Where the heck did Riku come form and who was he fighting. She has no idea who the otehr guy is she looks over to Reize and nods "I'm all right, Yurita are you all right? Also thank you for checking Reize." She looks art Palom "Not suprised the viral infection seems strong there, Palom."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart phews a bit, and moves over to check on the others as well, just making sure everyone is alright. It doesn't seem like anyone is overly hurt at least. Nothing a potion or a rest at the inn can't fix ~_~ "I'm still not sure what he wanted of us though..." She shakes her head "Anyway, mission accomplished, right?"

Yurita has posed:
Yurita looks at Reize, smiling slightly "I just... need rest I'm sure... as long as yo- everyone else is alright, I'm fine..." she then looks at Deelel, and mouths 'it hurts... it hurts a lot' before saying "fine." then she relaxes again.

Luso Clemens has posed:
Luso shook his head then, and set his free hand on his hip. "I don't know...his armor looked like it came from Ivalice to me. Did you see those horns on the helmet?" Casually refuting Cirra's claim, Luso turned to face the others smiling cheerfully. "Well either way, we won! No one got TOO hurt. And I got an awesome sword to add to the collection...I think today was a good day!"

Grinning at that, the boy raised his hand, rubbing the underside of his nose with a finger. "Alright gang, let's get out of here!" Luso glanced towards Reize then, chuckling at the earlier mishap with the map. "You were headed for Atlantis, right? Well that's in the OTHER direction!"

Cirra Constantine has posed:
Cirra sighs, "I'm not saying it's from Baron. I'm /telling/ you that you should alays be weary when picking a weapon up off a Dark Knight. The armor /was/ styled as an Ivalice or Archadian Judge, but that means nothing aobut the origins of the weapon. Check it, be cautious until your sure."

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Huh...Well you're not wrong about that one." Luso replied to Cirra, hefting the sword off of his shoulder and angling in front of him to have another look at it. "It looks pretty okay from here, but...I'll definitely keep an eye on it and make sure that nothing happens!" He grinned then and jerked a thumb in Reize's direction. "Reize here would be able to tell off the bat if it was cursed though, so I'm not too worried!" With that said, the boy hefted the sowrd back onto his shoulder.

Cirra Constantine has posed:
Cirra deadpans, "I sincerly hope his abilities in Spellcraft are better then his navigational capacity." she goes and finds her helmet, picking it up to examine the dent in it with a frown.

Reize Seatlan has posed:
Blink blink.

"It is?!" This is fascinating information. Luso is telling him where Atlantis is at. The boy starts to march along the other path, "Shard Seekers, let's move on! We shall find Atlantis!!!"

Yurita has posed:
Yurita groans, standing up, wincing in pain, she begins following Reize... still, even through the pain she smiles softly "nothing stops you, does it Reize?"

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "The heartless they are viri as I understand them, infest replication infect crasy the system and then move on to spread the infection elsewhere." She nods to Cirra "You would know this better than I do. I'll trust your judgment then."

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart shakes her head at Reize "Hold your map right side up this time, will you?" She lets Reize to his exploration. It would probably be faster if she found it on her own, if she ever had a reason to go there at least.

Luso Clemens has posed:
"Alright everyone, let's get out of here and get some rest! Lord knows we need it!" Luso announced to the others, following after Reize for now. At least until they got to Traverse Town.

...Provided that following behind him without the intention of accompanying him wouldn't magically get him hopelessly lost.

It wouldn't, right?

Right?