Difference between revisions of "Seven: The World Changes"

Latest revision as of 11:50, 9 February 2014

Shinryu has posed:
A dark shadow moves over the World of Ruin's Northern Continent. The dark shadow of the massive dragon - Shinryu. As things are right now - as unprepared people are - there is no chance for them to defeat this massive foe.

But what can be defeaten is the large group of heartless that seem to appear beneath the shadow of its wings. Fighting has broken out all across the Northern Continent. This time, it's not just one or two cities working together. This time, it's far more.

However, with the Crusaders so busy at Zanarkand keeping the Heartless and Fiend population from flooding over outside of the holy city with their Machina, people are far too spread out!

In an attempt to stop the rise of heartless all over the continent, a small group of Airships have taken off, traveling the skies in an attempt to find the source of the massive Shadow. Our heroes have, in one way or another, been coaxed onto these airships.

At the center, Lindblum's Hilda Garde II flies proudly. Deployed right next to it is the Fahrenheit - a known Al Bhed airship from Spira. The far more common airships present is an army of Archades Remoras and Shivas.

People are spread out across all the airships present, trying to hunt down the shadow amongst the clouds. Beneath them, they can see the fires spreading as small groups and armies face off against heartless. Flares are being used to communicate amongst the ships flying in formation. Various signal colors have been assigned simple meanings.

Suddenly, from the left wing, one of the Shiva airships lights a black flare that blasts off into the sky. The signal that something has been spotted! The cloudcover is thick, so the airships begin to rise up to the next layer. All that becomes visible as they break through the cloud cover, and rise above, is a single massive black fin that sticks out through the clouds. And then, as the entity rises...

A massive Dragon's head climbs out along it. Maira and Avira and the like may remember its size. But even then, it's still surprising. Even the largest Airship here makes up barely the size of its head. Cannons immediately are being deployed to the bow of the ships, and the Remoras rush towards the dragon...

But at the same time, a swarm of Wyvern Heartless climb up from the clouds and approach the airships - carrying Large Bodies, Dark Balls, Shadows and Soldier Heartless! They are attempting to drop them onto the airships.

<< PREPARE, AND DEFEND THE AIRSHIP CANNONS >>

Avira has posed:
'Coaxed'. Hah. Avira didn't need much coaxing to get on an airship. She's only said she can't really pilot one-nevermind that these large ones take crews of people to fly, not just some cocky pirate at a wheel. Nevertheless, VALKYRI and the TDA (which form Team Twilight Valkyrie in Avira's mind) have been called forth for some much needed muscle. Why they are needed on the airship and not down below where there is clearly mass fighting going on only becomes clear when she hears word about the 'Dark shadow' flying over the World of Ruin.

"So that giant dragon /escaped/. Wonderful."

Avira can be found topside on the Hilda Garde, her weapon already drawn. She's not entirely sure what a person aboard an airship is going to do against the giant Shinryuu. That is until wyverns break through the cloud cover, swarming and baring additional Heartless on their backs.

"Don't let 'em overrun us!" Avira calls out, "And don't listen to that <GOOSEHONK> of a dragon!!"

Faruja Senra has posed:
Only fools try to kill a dragon without bringing a Dragon Knight along. Atop Arista, Faruja flies alongside the Hilda Garde, glaring out at the wyverns and dark dragon ahead. Hmph!

"TREEEMBLE, OH HERETIC DRAGON! FOR TONIGHT IS THE DAY OF THINE UNDOING! BE PURGED IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!" With any luck, the rat's voice carries. Hopefully avira and company brought earplugs.

Arista just looks hungry. For dragon meat.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart isn't sure that dragons have an actual religion, thus can't be heretics. Atheist maybe? Well, she knows better than to argue with Faruja anyway. Church people can be rather wordly about these.

She moves up on the bridge when the battle starts, tightening her gloves on "I guess this is where we get in, right?" She stops near the cannons, and takes a second to observe... and sweatdrops "... How am I supposed to defend cannons without a ranged attack? ... I can use those cannons, right?" She has to ask, because she doesn't really want to go flying to attack wyverns before they hit the ships.

Aerith has posed:
The dragon is massive as it pokes its head out of the cloud cover to say hello. It's really not fair to them, for this creature to come out to play when they weren't ready, but such was life. Aerith, aboard the Hilde Garde, whirls her staff and readies it, pointing at a group of shadow wyverns. "Well fortunately for me, I have some."

With that, she opens fire with a quite impressive sphere of flames in an attempt to roast a few wings off.

Maira has posed:
Maira was in a rather good mood, even with the impending battle ahead. Just a little reprieve does so much to reinvigorate the spirit.

Maira's going out there with the intention of being brave; of showing that love and hope can prevail against despair and darkness. Of course, she's standing beside Avira, looking off at the clouds as the spine of the dragon cuts through the sky like a knife, its form awful and terrifying. There is a sort of horrible beauty in it, she had to admit, even as fear strikes her at the very thought of the beast.

Maira takes a deep breath, putting her hand on Avira's shoulder and squeezing lightly, channeling her protective magics into her best friend. "We survived the fall of our worlds...we can do this. Don't listen to whatever he says, okay? You're not tainted. You saved all of Manhattan from the Heartless. You're /awesome/," she says to Avira, then steps back to give her room to fight.

Warden Thache has posed:
The airships come from a dozen different areas and countries. From sleek little numbers to clunky things with too many gears and fans for good taste. Strange geometric mashups and things using crystals and gyros as their only power sources. There is no ryhme or reason to this sort of thing.

Just that everyone is here.

To stop...whatever the heck this is.

Among the gaggle of ships is one however that is perfect. At least in its not-so-humble Captain's opinion. The sleek lines of a age-of-sail brig o' war. Its sails however are a brillint sheen of gold, and glimmering silver engines mounted on the aft section propel the ship forwards. On the front the gleaming knife-edge of a ram cuts smoothly though the air.

"RUN OUT THE CHASE GUNS!" Warden's voice booms out as he stands behind the wheel of his ship, spinning it to keep it in line with everything else.

Half the captains there wonder where the pirate ship came from, its lines not matching any of the other of the fotilla. The other half might wonder just /why/ the pirate is here.

The answer is simple.

Loose a world to a dragon? Then you loose all the shinies of that world!! WHAT DECENT PIRATE WOULD LET THAT HAPPEN!?

"...gods. None of these idiots know how to run a fleet action." he mutters as he looks at the line to the left and right. They can't bring the broadsides to bear without ruining their own lines.

Ah well.

Its what happens when you deal with heroes and amatuers.

"Fire when you have a target Mister Tarrot!"

The Master Gunner thows a distracted wave towards the captain before turning his attention to the oncoming fiends. They may only have four chase guns, but they will get a workout.

"Get yourself to the rigging you mongrels!" he roars to his other crew as they jump to obey. "I don't one on of those Heartless bastards to stain my deck! The first man to miss a shot is docked a weeks rum ration! AND THE FIRST MAN THAT BRINGS DOWN A WYVERN GETS IT!"

There are bloodthirsty cheers from the ragged, piratical crew. Cheers that bring odd looks from flanking ships, but Warden doesn't care.

This is his ship, this is where he lives and loves.

This...is going to be fun.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Among the fleet, a somewhat more archaic airship is doing... something. The thing is, the Blackjack is (mostly) unarmed, slong with a certain card-throwing, gamblering captain and any warrior that might board the ship to serve as point-defense.

For now, the rudder is being manned by someone from the casino crew, levaing Setzer free to do some damage upon the incoming Heartless forces. "My, what a full table tonight," he says, his eyes drifting for moments upon the assemblage of airships before turning once again to the bigger threat, "shame that big ugly Darkness is the reason whay they're all here."

"Helmsman, raise speed and turn twenty starboard! Yes, right at them. Trust me, I have no intention of jousting with those guys. Just do as I say!"

And the helmsman did it, muttering about how crazy his boss was, and how he was so getting off the ship if they ever survived this.

On the meanwhile, the impromptu gunners aboard the decks prepare the latest details for the hastily installed cannons to get cracking. Of course, Setzer has some weird ideas, that's why...

"Boss, is it really okay to shoot... /chips and cards/ at them?" the closest gunner asks the gambler, scratching the back of his head. He learned to fight with iron balls, not... casino implements.

"I prepared those myself. Don't worry, they'll do fine against those flying eyesores," he nodded reassuringly, before turning towards the helmsman, "by the way, once you see the yellow of their eyes, turn port until we can give them a broadside."

Yup, he is nuts. A very happy nutter.

Garland has posed:
NEARLY A WORLD AWAY

In the World Of Ruin is a sacred tower. It is called sacred only because none who still live recall its true purpose, nor the reason their souls quail merely setting foot in its shadow. The beasts of the Sandsea avoid it instinctively, an understanding made in their hearts long ago, when the tower's master first set up shop at its peak. That Tower is a place of power, a nexus of evil - and yet in truth it is merely a gateway. A doorway to a source of power unlike any other - the sanctum of a mad godling who rules over shadows with brute force. In his right hand he grips terror, in his left hand he wields despair. Pain is his art and his instrument, his pleasure and his science. War is his every breath, and conflict is his lifeblood.

He has a million names, across ten thousand generations. The children of the Urutan-Yensa call him in hushed tones 'The Wind-That-Flays-The-Shadows', he who walks the Wheel of Life without pause to bring ruin to all who breathe in his foul air. The Dwarves know him as the Eater In Darkness, and propitiate him with offerings at the edge of the Holy Tree, leaving blood and small animals when they dare to approach. The elf-kin call him The Farwalker, who strides the plains of nightmare and carries with him bad dreams. The Men of the Church call him the Ironclad Nightmare, and claim him a devil as their leaders shake his hand in the blackest depths of the perverse cathedrals of sorrow.

He calls himself Garland, the name of a once-holy knight whose tragedy is without end.

His true name, however, is lost to time - only those who are of his kind know it now, the title which he claims his own. Only those who are equal to him in darkness dare speak the words that are his aspect of all shadows.

CONQUERING CHAOS

In that Tower of Mirage, the Nightmare King's head stirs from what mortal folk would call slumber, though he had long since abandoned the need for sleep. He had been dreaming again, if one could call what a godling did dreaming; the sweet dream of immortality, and the poisonous nightmare of his defeat and his lost love that sustained him still. But he was roused.

There are few things that could rouse the Midnight Tyrant from his reverie, but he knows instinctively what it is. He knows, in the pit of what is charitably still called his soul, and it draws from him a fury that he has not felt since the day the Light first burst across his iron skin and burned him from the world like a foul and sickly cancer. Garland stands, his cape sweeping behind him, and makes his way to the top of the Tower.

The Guardians give him no scrutiny. No one would dare impersonate Garland. No one could, not so perfectly that THEY could not tell the difference. There are only a few Darknesses greater, and they do not cloak themselves in the face of their allies. He passes through the Tower's portal, and vanishes to one of his truest seats of power, settled high above the clouds of the Mirage Tower.

Garland emerges in the Sky Fortress. It sits in judgement above the world, once the home of the Lufein people whom Garland exterminated with his own two hands, and now Garland has claimed and perverted it to his own twisted ends. He steps through the doors.

It is time to prepare for the Conquering Chaos to go to war once again.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr Vespar is not known to use a bow and arrow, or a ranged weapon of any kind.

However, today, a massive longbow is in the hands of the Dark Knight, because the airships refuse to move closer so he can hit them with his sword. Defending the airships is more important than effectively killing the heartless, and he can abandon it if any heartless land. The Dark Knight pulls back a single longbow arrow...

And releases it, aiming to try and shoot down the Wyvern's, as opposed to their cargo. Partly because it's hilarious to see them fall to their deaths, partly because it's more effective.

Longbows are noted for being able to pierce heavy armor...

"So, the old man's lessons DO come in handy for time to time." Angantyr muses to himself...

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Of course it escaped. If it was half as big as you described, everyone there wouldn't hold it back." Mercade sighs, adjusting his hat as he looks over at Avira... And then at the ship itself. "I'm going up." Mercade says, as he begins clambering out to get up onto the upper portion of the ship.

An incoming Wyvern suddenly gets lashed with a whip of brilliant light, curling around it and yanking it forward. The HEartless fall off of its back to plummet towards the ground as Mercade spins, lunging to cleave through the off-balance Wyvern with the Twilight Seeker Keyblade. As he watches the heart float off into the sky, he spins the Keyblade and sets himself. "Okay, Heartless! LOOK AT THE DELICIOUS KEYBLADE WIELDER MUNCHIES! NICE BIG DELICIOUS HEART HERE! COME AND GET IT AND PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE OTHER SHIPS!"

Yeah, Mercade is hitting the taunt button. A lot.

Kamon Lionward has posed:
The cloud cover breaks again. Another airship ascends, though not one in the initial formation. Someone is late to the party.

The vessel is impressive, close to a hundred meters long, a narrow wedge from below that cuts through the cloudscape. The armor-plated olive hull looks more at home on a main battleship, though the airship moves with an agility that its appearance belies. It rises at an angle, pointed upwards at the colossal dragon like the tip of a spear hurled by a furious diety far below.

Maybe it was.

The ship begins to level out as it closes. The guns across the hull, multiple small emplacements backed by two larger cannon batteries of somewhat unusual design, turn towards the massive monster dominating the sky. It finally rises fully above the clouds, and the words stenciled on the hull become plainly visible, cleanly and proudly emblazoned upon it.

WINGS OF GALIANDA

"There it is," says the man at the wheel. Kamon Lionward, unwilling to miss out on a chance to fly a sweet-as-hell airship into a battle like this, is that man. He taps the comm, wired through the ship. He spies black dots descending all over, swarms of them appearing and coming down. "We've got a /ton/ of Heartless coming down. Can you guys take them out before they get here?"

He pauses a moment, thoughtfully.

Kamon looks out the window and can't help but grin, the expression totally out of place with the severity of this situation. "Hey, Soan," he adds a moment later. "Do you think we'll get extra credit on the final for this?"

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
When Myla came to them saying, 'IT'S FINISHED', it honestly took Soan a few second to fully remember what the heck she was talking about. Things has been a blurr for the thief in the last few months, traveling the world's various undergrounds, carving his own little path in the various gang of theives, ruffians and misunderstoods of the various societies out there, trying to forge them into something that approach organisation -- and demolishing truly vile elements.

Success has been limited. Soan still manages success despite complications. He's already accumulated several acolytes, as if it were, that are now populating the Wings of Galianda's maiden flight.

Soan Sagittarius is on the upper decks of the massive airship, grabbing on tight to the ship's hull as it flies, tapping into his come. "We better be. If we get less than Shannon's stupid 'Volcano Lair' chemistry demonstration, I'd be mad. /Admittedly/, that was a BIG volcano." He adds, after a moments, before yelling off mic. "ALL OF YOU! OPEN FIRE!"

There's not many of them, to be fair. Three or two theives, one moogle, one viera and several little half-ling like things howlers in response as Soan drops into the gunner seat of a rapid fire Stormbringer Cannon, unloading into the masses.

"AND IT IS FORBIDDEN TO STEAL THE SHINY BUTTONS WHEN WE'RE DONE."

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason has been working on a project for some time, since the summer with some help from Helena she's salvaged a ship hull to work on which she's worked to. It taken quite some time but it has been a long process she'd not been alone she'd had help from Kyra and others she'd hired on. It has been quite the work the ship was much in the style of her people's wet navy ships. She's learned a lot from her mother and the fact her cargo hauler had been a retired warship had helped. It was time. She had hoped she'd surprised Kamon, Soan and the others with the ship she's created.

"I think Mister Green will give it to you! Just make sure to bring the battle recorders!"

Myla's down in one of the gunnery control and she's busy, bringing the primary Stormbringer battery online.

She was smirking so long as she was sailing in some form her people were very happy.

"Time to show them what this can do."

the main battery turns and opens fire into the masses with the other weapons on the ship. So far everything seems to be going pretty well all things considered. Her thoughts on the project? Totally worth, it was totally worth it.

Shinryu has posed:
Cannons begin to fire the moment no airships are in one-another's line of fire anymore. They have adjusted for windspeeds and travel-speed. These are no newbie captains! But no matter how experienced these captains are... there's still fear to speak off on those airships.

It can be felt, almost tasted, in the air. The nervousness of those manning the cannons. That dragon is enormous, and their ships are nowhere anywhere that dragon's size! Let alone the cannons.

"Tuh'd mad dras kad uh uin creb!" Brother shouts through the speakers of the Fahrenheit. What follows is the presence of a summoning circle, and then Bahamut on the field, which swoops straight out into the open and fires an enormous beam through the air, cutting through some of the Wyvern Heartless.

Cannons unleash their payload, but the sky is simply too filled with Wyverns! They blast some out of the air, but very few shots manage to touch Shinryu. The enormous gusts being spread by its even more massive wings push some of the cannonfire aside.

Aerith aims her flames for some of the nearby Wyverns, but one of Shinryu's gusts puts the flames out, and pushes the Wyverns forwards straight at her, which immediately drop Shadows around her. At least the cloudcover is breaking a little...

Only to reveal far more Heartless. Some might realize that this may only be a 'small' portion of those they encountered in Zanarkand. But it is still an enormous group! The Wyvern looks aside at the Airships, and then turns its head away again. They are but insects before Shinryu. Or so it would seem from the outside. It has noticed a certain... presence though.

It appears to be looking for something. Its enormous yellow eyes seeking, while its massive tail squirms behind its body. It's like a snake moving through the sand, pushing itself forwards at high speeds. The Airships are even having a hard time keeping up with the blasted dragon!

A foolish Remora crashes into a set of Wyverns and explodes right on impact, taking a series of them with it in a huge explosion. A second Remora is crushed beneath a wave of Shinryu's wing - and the beast doesn't even flinch.

A group of the Wyverns suddenly notice the presence of a big presence. Light. Not just Mercade, but that of Maira. Angantyr's quick arrow action cuts down a few of them. But they'll need to act fast if they want to ensure that the Hilda Garde II's wings are not cut off!

<< MERCADE'S TAUNT SUCCEEDS >>

From amidst the darkness of the teeming mass of heartless that swarm beneath Shinryu's wings, an enormous group loosens itself, large enough that when they rise up into the skies high up, they momentarily blot out the sun to those on that ship! And then, they all start coming down!

Cannons can't aim upwards!!!

<< OTHER AIRSHIPS MUST OPEN FIRE ON THE CLOUD OF HEARTLESS DESCENDING UPON THE HILDA GARDE II, OR ABANDON IT >>

The Dragon grumbles though. It seems to have... noticed something. It gazes behind itself for a mere moment. But it appears it is not staring at the airships. No... it has noticed something far different. Something far Beyond. Something that arouses great interest. It bares its teeth for a moment, before turning its gaze down once more.

The flotilla is getting closer, and is trying its best to move faster so that they can avoid the Dragon's wings. But Wyverns are starting to land left and right on decks. There's cries as some of the cannoneers are downed.

"Man the cannons! Keep up the barrage!" Is being shouted left and right. One of the captains even ups the ante; "INCREASE THE BARRAGE!"

The dragon responds with a loud roar that sends trembling shockwaves through the air. Wyverns upon wyverns continue to land their loads. Decks left and right become populated with Heartless that get to their own forms of combat.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Well, man the cannons it is. The airship get shaken with the swarm of wyverns, before she can get to the cannons, rocking her off her feet. Fortunately, the airship manages to stay afloat at least. "Agh, well, better get to it!"

She flips back to her feet and quickly moves to the nearest cannon, turning it toward the cloud of heartless "Alright, I don't think to aim precisely if I can just shoot at a pack of them, right?" She looks around for an answer. Well, everyone's busy. She'll assume she's right.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gritted her teeth as the shockwave of sound and pressure rattled her bones and scattered her thoughts. Somehow, she stayed on her feet long enough to fire off a bolt of lightning, aimed toward one of the descending wyverns. "Y-yeah, that's a good idea!"

Kim Possible has posed:
Meanwhile, Kim Possible has somehow managed to arrive out of seemingly nowhere. "Sorry I'm late guys, but I'm here to help!" She cracks her knuckles and looks around. "So wants some?"

Garland has posed:
The Conquering Chaos marches to war.

It has been more than an age since the Conquering Chaos needed to show even a portion of his hand. Schemes within schemes, wheels within wheels, he has worn the guise of the Midnight Tyrant since time immemorial, playing puppeteer and mastermind behind the scenes as he watches the world suffer. As the closest thing Hades and Maleficent have to a friend and equal besides each other, Garland has rarely needed to lift even a finger for all-out war - the three of them, the Shadow Triumverate, have needed no such action. They are, together, the equal of any army that could challenge them. With their pawns...they could rule unchallenged, were it not for the Light.

But now comes something more personal, more important, than the friendship of the Triumverate. Now comes that which is most important to them all - personal ambition.

Garland's is to become a god once again, and once again be unchallenged as the King of All.

This moment will be crucial in attaining that. It is a pivotal point - a point at which another piece of the puzzle has shown itself. Now is not the time to hold himself back. Now...

Now is the time to cut loose.

ABOVE THE BATTLEFIELD
RIGHT THIS MOMENT

The clouds shatter. They do not part - they are obliterated in an instant by the almighty engines that roar their presence, demanding both obeisance and terror. They shatter to reveal a monstrous crimson Eye, shining with ominous light above the massive dragon. The ship cares nothing for that which lies below it - innocence and guilt are equal in the Eye. Those who look upon it know instinctively what it must be, as its terrible light begins to build. Those who look into the Eye understand, in the pit of their soul, that this is a weapon of terrible, terrible power.

The summoners in the audience, and those with a deep connection to Light, the Afterlife, and similar such concepts would know even more intimately that the Eye is a blasphemy of the highest order. It is something constructed by a people whose names no longer exist in the world, usurpedby the Conquering Chaos to serve his own ends, and powered...powered by a most heinous sacrifice.

The Eye builds its power. In the control room, Garland watches, waiting for the moment with a warlord's instinct and a weaponmaster's skill. A thousand trapped souls scream, their pain building into a shriek that rips through even the roar of the battle. Even that, Garland knows, will not be enough to kill his 'brother'. Even that will not be enough to slay that which holds a piece of his rightful throne. But...

But it will be *ever* so satisfying.

The Invincible prepares to fire.

Faruja Senra has posed:
Oh Faram wyvern swarm! Faruja's own mount does quite the array of acrobatics to avoid being brought down by the blast of sound and pressure. The nezumi looks upwards. Cannons might not be able to fire upwards, but he sure can. Thrust!

A blast of holy light descends upon the mass of Heartless. "Holy Explosion!"

Faruja Senra has posed:
Inwardly, Faruja seethes. That massive eye gets all of the rat's attention. Something about it makes him want to obliterate the thing. Even Shinryu pales in comparison to his righteous vitriol aimed towards the thing.

Maira has posed:
Cannon may not be able to aim directly upwards.

Luckily, some cannons come in the form of fiery young women.

Maira looks above them, eyes widening as the wyverns converge and prepare to dive toward them. Her feet lead her away from her friends at least temporarily, because really, she's pretty sure they want to keep their eyebrows and what not. Taking in a breath, Maira releases the hold on her fire magic like raising a flood gate, channeling it all into a fireball the size of her hand. Small, so small, but she continues to feed it energy, calculating her trajectory...

Then she releases, the ball flying upward as if it had been shot from a longbow much like Angan's, exploding once it reaches the oncoming hoard the of the wyverns in a wall of blazing flame.



A hammer strikes her heart and her spirit wails. Eyes round and wide as coins she looks toward Garland's ship and the blasphemous eye. "Oh, no...." she breathes.

Avira has posed:
Avira looks troubled for a few moments and reaches up to touch the hand on her shoulder. "Thanks...I..." there's a hint of doubt there. Always that lurking feeling of having served her purpose and no longer really being...needed like that. Granted, it was a bit liberating to think of being relieved of that responsibility.

Mercade's words shake her out of these thoughts. "Yes well-hold up!" she chases after Mercade, intercepting him before he climbs. Grasping him by the collar, she pulls him down just slightly to her level and kisses him.

"For luck."

She lets go and turns her gaze skyward as the Heartless start to swarm overhead in such numbers that it seems to blot out the sun. The worst part was this wasn't even all the Heartless that were in those ruins.

Mercade spams taunt. The Heartless respond accordingly-at least TOO accordingly. Avira doesn't climb but she follows Angantyr's lead, not attacking with a real bow but an imagined one that is actually a fancy ice spell. She fires upwards, shooting Heartless out of the sky, though given their volume she hardly makes much of a dent. Just barely she manages to roll out of the way as a frozen Wyvern crashes to the deck and shatters. Looking around frantically, she notices several things.

The Bloody Pearl. That's actually kind of unsurprising. Warden did have a significant presence in the World of Ruin. It's probably bad for business if it got destroyed.

The second is that abomination peeking out of the sky. The eye. That incomprehensible airship horror. Given prior experience, every fiber of Avira's being knows who that is. But to see him here in this form...so unexpected. "...why?" she murmurs, shooting another arrow of ice into the sky, "Why that...why the dragon?"

Aerith has posed:
She can sense it from above, even as it enters suddenly and without warning. A scream tore through her, one that only she could hear, and for all intents and purposes marked the end of life. Only this scream did not suddenly silence itself, as it had when she'd first arrived.

It perpetuated itself. Over and over again, as if the Heartless tore through her world again and again even as it healed itself immediately after each attack. The sonic assault from the massive dragon might not have done anything to faze her... but this did.

Aerith buckled to her knees and screamed along with all the souls in torment. Without even firing a shot, whatever this thing was disabled her.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
To his credit, Setzer does not flinch too much as the shockwave passes through him, although the Blackjack groaned under the sudden change of pressure. "Steady!" he orders, once again nagging the helmsman, "you see the uglies over there?" he says, pointing to the swarming Heartless over the Hilda. "Good, full speed ahead, and I want an attack vector /yesterday/! Men, prepare to fire once we rush past those guys!

The arrival of Sau- errm /THE EYE/ leaves Setzer a bit on the edge. There's something inherently /wrong/ there. Must be a design thingie, but the thing is, it unsettles him just by looking at it.

It is during this contemplation, however, that the airship finally reaches the Wyverns range. Snapping out of his thoughts, Setzer waves to the port gunners, ordering them to send a barrage before the captain itself fires his own cannon. Casino implements fill the air, doing.... things to the heartless.

Kim Possible has posed:
Kim watches as Aerith gets hit by the Heartless, and she scowls fiercely as she gets a better glimpse at all the Heartless. With one of her best buddies being incapacitated by them, Kim's really mad now. She glares at them as a whole and says, "You are so totally uncool. But you're so not the drama either. I've taken your countless clones on before, and I'm gonna take you again!"

With that, Kim demonstrates her acrobatic abilities to the fullest as she cartwheels towards one of the Heartless, attempting to use her acrobatic skill as a form of attacking, and then attempts to spin around and deliver a standard kicking technique.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade doesn't look like he's going to argue about Avira wishing him luck.

He's going to need all he can get. "Oh look, the taunt worked." Mercade says, pleased at the success of his amazing tactic.

And then he realizes how huge the chunk of HEartless is that's coming in for him. "Uhh... WORKED TOO MUCH! WORKED TOO MUCH!" Panic crosses his features as the Heartless blot out the sun around him.

Then he'll have to Keyblade in the shade. Mercade focuses the Keyblade, pouring what he has into it as the creatues descend upon him. Intense pain rolls through his body as the vanguard close in, and Mercade launches upwards, leaping on top of a Wyvern and rebounding off of it to throw himself into the mass of Heartless descending upon the Hilda Garde.

There is a pinpoint flash of light, moments before the energy expands, a dull thud exploding outwards in a brilliant wash of light that consumes all it can touch amongst the cloud.

This doesn't preven him from being wounded. Far from it, as gashes begin to open up across his body.

His current situation is kind of preventing him from noticing the horrific sights around him. He needs to focus on the problem immediately in front of him.

Myla Mason has posed:
The ship has moved we,ll so far but they are coming under fire from the heartless and the dragon itself. She has to wonder, if they manage to down the dragon? They would be able to outfit a small army, at least that's what she's thinking the attack come in the ship is hit, ye the armour holds for the most part. The are a lot of heartless to deal with too, thankfully Swimmer is prowling the decks and several emitters over the ship seem to be magic tech related and Myla is challenging her own magic tech devices that should help keep the crew up and in ship shape!

Her weapons are silent as they are recharging for the moment but soon they shall speak once more!

Warden Thache has posed:
The Bloody Pearl is a nimble little ship, and Warden Thache is a masterful captain. The pirates thereon? They are inspired by the threat of rum. Not one Heartless lands on the deck of the Pearl. Not one Wyvern survies the fullsaide of fire thrown up by the rough and tumble crew of the pirate ship.

Warden grins, the look a mad rictus of enjoyment. He spins the wheel as blasts streak by the edge of the airship. With a Captain's eye he looks over the fleet, eyes tracking combats and threats as he watches the fotilla break into less of a cohesive form and more of a swarm of lesser ships fighting for their lives against a dragon.

Garland's entrence however is something that can't be ignored.

"Well," The pirate drawls as The Eye blasts away cloudcover and Heartless like so much chaff. "The man knows how to make an entrence." The grin doesn't fade either as he grasps the wheel.

"Tie yerselves down mateys! We're going over!" He calls as he spins the wheel. "Mister Tarrot! On the upswing if you please!"

The Bloody Pearl tilts over almost compleatly on its side, the ship clearing those to its left and right just by bare inches. Pirate laugh as they hang suspended by rope and a bit of anti-gravity over a assuredly deadly drop.

Who says you can't broadside something coming down from above? You just have to be creative about it.

The Pearl's cannons roar as the assuradedly mad pirate captain fires into the swarm decending on the Hilda Garde, the cannon themselves fire massive almost shotgun-like bursts of energy shrapnel into the crowd of Heartless.

"THATS ANOTHER ONE YOU OWE ME LADY WOLF!" The captain calls cheerfully, speakers booming his sharply accented voice across the battlefield as he rights his ship, using the ram to slice though yet more Shadows.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr jumps back, as the Heartless comes in, Angantyr fires a Arrow RIGHT between it's eyes. His eyes narrow.. as something happens.

The Invicible appears, his eyes widen as he looks up at it...

"What in the nine hells i-...Garland?!" he looks stunned, and then the shift goes to shock. Slowly, he considers his options...part of him wants to break off, and run right towards Garland to head him off, the intelligent side of him isn't sure what is going on /here/. Running head first into this...

He opens a radio channel to both the Hildre and the ship with the Alexander kids on it, "Guys, we're in trouble. I don't know what that eye DOES...but Garland is up there. Both that Dragon AND Garland here...that is not good for us, or this world." he says, and pulls the arrow back.

Angantyr releases another barrage, aiming to try and shoot down the storm trying to fly down. They need a plan...

"We gota do more than wait here."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"GET BACK TO YOU WHEN I'M DONE FIGHTING THIS HUGE ARMY OF HEARTLESS!" Mercade yells from in the middle of a ton of clawing and painful and just plain mean things who are trying to eat his delicious heart.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"Stop being a baby. Besides, these aren't important. The TWO GIANT MASTERS OF EVIL, however, ARE." Angantyr shouts to the complaining Mercade.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade can be heard muttering loudly amidst the chaos and pain. He doesn't yell anything back, though.

Maira has posed:
As soon as it is confirmed just who that airship belongs to (as if there were any doubt) Maira looks to Angan, shaking her head, eyes wide. She knew the urge would be there, and maybe her plain fear for him would be added insentive not to follow that instinct.

Maira glances over to see Mercade and Avira kiss, and smiled, even now. She glances back toward Angan again, blushing slightly. She'd wished him good luck already, quite thoroughly.

Maira looks back toward Mercade and Avira, shouting. "Be careful you two! Don't get out of range of my healing okay!?"

Kamon Lionward has posed:
"It was a pretty big volcano," Kamon agrees. "This is a pretty big dragon, though -- more of them! Hold on!" He takes the wheel -- and the clouds below disappear, vanishing like they never were.

The Invincible arrives, with a force of terrible darkness at the helm. Several people among the motley crew take it pretty hard, developing spontaneous headaches and cases of nausea as soon as they can see it. Kamon feels a ping like he had a marble thrown at his head, but he shakes it off. He's not as attuned as the rest are, or at least not in the same way. He steps back from the helm, brow creasing as he watches the Wyverns blot out the sky.

"Take the helm!" he calls. Kamon turns, running off the bridge. He hurries onto the outer deck, looking ubright red</span>.

EQUIP: Genji Glove
EQUIP: Light Disk

Kamon thrusts the Light Disk into the air. "SKIES OF THE RAMUHA!" he calls. "SKYFURY--" He slashes his hand down, the Disk trailing red. "/STRIKE/!" Lightning slashes across the air, a brilliant FLASH as it descends from nowhere. It hammers into the backs of the Wyverns coming for the Wings of Galianda, driving them down onto the deck. Kamon jumps in immediately, driving the Disk into one's back as it swipes its claws at him and slashing into the wings of a second.

He's no finesse fighter straight from the Grid, but he knows what to do with something with an edge like that.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
It's not a well known-fact, but Soan is more than he seems. Firing, unloading on the creatures around, he keeps calm.

Until the Invicible arrives, then things changes. The Thief openly gags, letting out a sudden muffled cry, holding his head and covering his nose in surprise. It dazes him, dazes him enough to not brace properly for the counter attack of the heartless.

"You OK, Boss?" A Moogle perks up as Soan regains his composure, a grim scowl on his features. He silently nod at the moogle as he stands up, glaring outside.

"EVERYONE KEEP FIRING, I'M GOING ON THE DECK! You all stay safe! Prevent the best you can from enemies into dropping on us, help the other ships!" He intones his orders as he leaps out. The Wings' inward healing system kicks in. It helps him clear his thoughts, get rid of the nausea the spiritual miasma, the screams of Chaos, inflicted on him. It clears his mind.

The gigantic Chaos ship is there. Firing on the Dragon. He don't know why, but this is fortitious, even if it does not reassure him. They'll have to do something about it -- even if they must take care of the FIRST problem to begin with. Grabbing his sword and his bucklet, the Thief dashes out, making his way up to the deck, thundering through the corridors with maddened purpose. If this much Darkness is here... who the hell know what's going to happen.

Soan is a Thief. He, neither, is much of a Finesse fighter, actually. He's more of a mastermind -- the first thing the winged Heartless that assaults the Wings get, is a set of nets that explodes out of the corridor, with Soan following in to cut them down, skewering it with his shortsword.

Gilgamesh has posed:
A LONG, LONG WAYS AWAY

Gilgamesh sneezes. He looks down at his hand forlornly. "Enkidu...I really miss my glove. It kept my hand so nice and toasty! And now...now, I think I might be getting a cold!"

Enkidu nods slowly. It was...it was just easier that way.

"WAIT TILL I CATCH UP WITH THAT KID!" Gilgamesh roars, drawing attention from several shoppers in the mall. "I'LL...I'LL..."

"HEY, GIL!" Mr. MacGillicuddy screams, "SHUT YER YAPPIN' AN' GET BACK TO WORK!"

Gilgamesh lowers his head and resumes his ever-vigilant search for Manhattan Mall Theft. "No crime will pass the King of Swords unjudged," he mutters.

Shinryu has posed:
Tifa's covering fire lifts some of the weight off of the incoming storm that is impending upon the Hilda Garde II. But she's soon attacked from the back by a lone soldier heartless.

With about ten more right behind him, all staring at Tifa with lust for her heart. Faruja is led deeper into the Wyvern swarm. These are not just mindless Heartless swarming. Something is controlling these creatures! Faruja, perhaps foolishly thinking things will be the same as always, is allowed to slay a few of them before he finds himself in the middle of an oncoming swoop from all directions of clawing and biting heartless that converge on him.

On the Fahrenheit, Yuna falls to her knees, resting on her staff, gazing up into the skies with a look of both anguish and steeled determination. Auron stands at her side as a guardian should, and literally carves through a nearby Wyvern as it dares to get too close to his summoner. "Are you alright?" The alcoholic Unsent asks her in his raspy voice, glancing over his glasses.

"Tell Brother to warn the fleet! We have to move away from the dragon!" She immediately recalls Bahamut away from Shinryu, which has also noticed the pressence of the enormous crimson eye. As gigantic as it is, Shinryu still manages to look similarly imposing beneath it. Some might believe these to be allies. But they are nothing of the sorts.

Garland and Shinryu are the greatest of enemies. And with the breaking of the Barriers of Light, that rivalry has only stepped up more levels. Far, far more levels. It recognizes not just /HIM/, but also the power of the weapon he brings. Shinryu, for the first time in the war against it, begins to move to the side in an attempt to break away from what might come next.

On the Hilda Garde II, there is another girl present. Avira and the rest can hear her scream in fear and anguish as that massive eye reveals itself to the world. "Nooooo! NOOOOOO! Not here! Not again!" A blue haired girl falls to her knees - wearing yellow slacks and and orange poofy shirt. A Moogle appears at her side and takes her hand, trying to drag her inside.

Maira's flaming fireworks creates an enormous shield of fire above the Hilda Garde II, momentary giving the impressing of the sun returning. The heartless swarm that falls down upon the wall of flame explode one after another, releasing a rain of Munny and green health orbs onto the ship. Avira's ice arrows slice into anything that manages to get through. But it's not enough! They're getting closer... and closer!

But the fleet will not leave its allies to die! Left and right, cannons fire and blast further heartless out of the air. Kim provides assistance to Aerith, together getting rid of a small group of heartless. But they are met with equal resistance in the form of Large Bodies descending upon them.

Mercade blasts through the flaming wall brought up by Maira, and is momentarily left inside of the swarm of Wyverns. Within it... it's almost as if he can hear a whispering voice. Something controlling the Wyverns. A voice that speaks in such a way that it can rend the heart.

Still, his light protects him, blasting through the Wyverns and getting him down just in time before further airship fire blasts down on that position. The Bloody Pearl leaves another gap in the flow of heartless sinking down on the Hilda Garde II.

Both Angantyr and Yuna's warnings are not met with deaf ears. Blue flares burst up into the air, and various airships begin to move away from Shinryu. But there is only so much speed in which they can travel! Especially amidst this large of a swarm of Wyverns. Despair amongst the crewmembers is rapidly climbing.

The dark knight Angantyr leaves a large tract of Wyverns empty, protecting the wings of the Hilda Garde II. And with the help of the remaining Airships - such as the Blackjack, the Fahrenheit. And at the last moment, two Shiva ships unleashing a storm of explosions on their position.

Soan protects the Wings of Galianda's deck, while Kamon pulls out a rediculous maneuver with a Light Disk.

<< THE HILDE GARDE II IS SAFE FOR NOW >>

<< THE AIRSHIPS ARE TAKING EVASIVE ACTIONS! HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!!! >>

Of course, there are still more heartless climbing the decks and popping out of the shadows. The population of Wyverns has dramatically decreased, but it's still enormous!

Garland has posed:
There is frantic chatter on the VALKYRI radio. Garland ignores it. Ordinarily, he would exult in it, delight in it. He would take dark and grim amusement in the fear and terror that has spread across the faces of the would-be heroes below. He would drink in their sorrow like a fine wine, as events unfolded before them.

That he takes no time to feed upon their suffering and powerlessness is pehaps the surest mark of how serious the situation is to Garland. Even if only Garland himself can know.

The presence of Lightbearers and Heroes among the motley crowd who unwittingly aid the Midnight Tyrant does not go unnoticed. He is curious - but he cannot send out a probing thought now. Not just yet.

The moment strikes. The metaphorical clock strikes midnight. The Conquering Chaos savors it, his long, iron claw pressing down on the button very, very slowly.

The Invincible screams, and a thousand souls scream with it.

Its scream is a cacophany of suffering. Its scream pierces the Heavens and the Earth, incarnate suffering in the form of a world-rending weapon. Terrible red light pours forth from the Eye as ShinRyu, the airships, and the other dragons begin to move aside.

As the all-consuming light pours out of the sky towards ShinRyu, Garland reaches out, his shadows stretching across the battlefield. Several of the Wyverns are subverted in an instant, breaking off their attacks on the various airships as Garland begins a mental war with the great enemy god for control. He grasps at their minds in order to give the heroes a chance - slim though it may be. Garland knows better than any the power of those who wield the Light, and he uses that to his own ends as he does all other things. Even a moment of hesitation is enough.

He reaches out through the shadows to touch Aerith, to touch Soan, to touch Mercade, Angantyr, Maira, Faruja - those who are touched by the light. He examines them carefully, observing them...and then, he blesses them. Dark power pours through the heroes as the destructive force of a thousand sceaming souls tears through the village below.

The shadows settle across the heroes, and Garland marks them as his allies in the eyes of his Enemy. It settles across their shoulders, a mantle of power for each of them to wield as they will. And yet...

And yet, it is nothing but a distraction. Nothing but a moment of hesitation to add to a moment of hesitation, to force Shinryu to pause a critical portion of a second, the critical, decisive moment for the Invincible to land its blow. All of that power, gathered across millenia, expended for merely a fraction of a second...

Such is a war between gods.

Shinryu has posed:
The massive dragon gazes up into the skies at the eye that looms and follows its every move. It can feel the dark power surging from it, descending upon those who fly at its wings. Its golden right eye sets on their presence. In his sight, he can see them. The rags that try to wreathe themselves upon the heroes' shoulders, capable of far more than merely being cloth.

It lets out a vile scream, wyverns quickly spreading around. It latches onto the heartless, delving for their control. Garland tries to take the heartless from it, and he meets what can only be described as a fellow cosmic horror. Gods challenge eachother, and the powerstruggle between the two can be felt.

It is so horrid, that smaller heartless literally explode where they are, incapable of taking the strain of the invisible battle between these two. Garland feels it pushing back though. And it pushes back /HARD/. While he has been repeating his cycle on one world, this beast and flown through the World Between! This beast has met heartless for countless cycles more. An exhausting battle for the both of them.

But Garland has brought a weapon that finally undoes its control, even if it's just for a moment. The crimson power of suffering souls shoots down from the skies, flaying the dragon and blasting into its hide. It roars in pain as its body is seared by the blast, and then carries further downwards onto the land... right onto a village below. An airship can be seen fleeing the village just in time, as the enormous beam makes contact the ground...

And then, for a moment, sound disappears. Light pulls in towards the explosion. The world literally begins to warp. The continent groans. The land cracks, and a feeling of incredible 'WRONG' grows further and further... as a sphere of red light spreads outwards...

And then...

One sound.

The breaking of glass.

And a feeling many of those present will recognize as a weak light floods into the air from below. A thrumming...

... Beating light.

The ancient dragon is forced to land, its wing charred, Enormous, it covers part of the enormous hole in the ground and gazes up at the dragon. "BROTHER! YOU WILL NOT HALT MY COMING!" It roars loudly. And what follows is a second intake of purple light, and then an enormous laser that cuts up straight towards the center of the crimson eye! Enormous enough that its mere size could easily devour a city!

Faruja Senra has posed:
Wyverns everywhere, and they're hungry! Faruja and his mount wisely double back, dropping down and plummetting to avoid the claw-ridden death that is the swarm of wyverns.

Spying some rather hurt allies the Burmecian starts to get ready to patch them up. /That/ is when Garland touches his mind. White fury grasps at the darkness that claws at him, only to meet the shell of what was left behind by the zodiac demon that tried to steal his very soul. Touched, but unwavering, the true form of the Holy Prophet's mistress wracks the Burmecian's body. With a loud cry, Arista departs from her master, as a boiling sphere of blood engulfs the rat. It slowly falls away, darkened, red wings holding him aloft; the picture of the Bloody Angel's own, held upon dark crimson plate mail. A single glowing red eye, crying crimson, peers out towards the horde.

"IN HEERRRRR NAME!"

Faruja's spear thrusts, and a ray of red light seeks out towards the wounded, landed dragon.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason isn't feeling right when she looks at that ship, she's so not feeling right about Garland's ship at all. There's much to worry about right now but Garland isn't trying to kill them yet, or do worse. She'll have to focus on the swarms of heartless that are assailing them. There's mummy a whole of it may be ending up on the deck thanks to close up defence guns.

Myla's still doing all right all thigs conidered as the ship continues to fight and she's got to trust in Kamon at the helm.

the fighting i intense then something happens with she doesn't realize the full nature of what's going on with Garland and the dragon. She feels different her clothing changes she's actually wearing something more formal now, her hair is long only loosely tied but her clothing it totally altered. She's wearing light form fitting armour is all dark like the deepest depths. Myla is a Dark Tide Caller not that she fully understands what's happened a she continues to fight and the ship's Stormrbinger guns opens up again on the horde this time trying to keep them under control.

"Keep firing id I have to go on deck and act as living artillery I will!"

Myla goggles are still there and are now pulled down!

Aerith has posed:
Yet another attack falls on the Hilde Garde II, and Aerith is hit full force with it, unable to react thanks to the massive eye in the heavens. Her body slides across the deck, dangerously close to one of the rails... and then the ship executes an evasive maneuver.

Aerith's eyes snapped open as another jolt of pain comes from behind her, and glanced over her right shoulder... to find herself staring out into the darkness.

Aerith grabbed onto the rail, her heart racing as she tried her best to hang on for dear life. She couldn't help but turn her face toward the eye again, the pain of a thousand souls resonating with her own.

Whatever preparations that thing made were almost complete...

And it screamed again.

Aerith almost fell over the rail as her knees buckled. Her thoughts were a blur as the weapon unleashed its might... and then the dizziness, the pain, the screaming, stopped. It simply stopped, all at once.

The silence in her mind was disturbing, the absolute calm after all the madness unsettling. She had to double check to make sure she wasn't imagining it.

That was when she looked at her clothing. Whatever denim she wore was no longer blue, but white, the buttons and accessories turning golden instead of silver. The white materia in her ribbon shone fiercely, as if in opposition to the teeming darkness around her.

Had that eye... no, it wasn't that. That still felt wrong, she could sense it, but it no longer disoriented her. This was something else...

Aerith shut the flow of questions off, then pushed off the railing. It was time to do something.

"Okay, enough of that." Aerith whirled her staff over her head and prepared to execute one of her spells... only this one was far greater than the others she'd tried to launch. She pointed it at the nearest group of enemies and opened fire, a bolt of holy light lancing toward the Heartless!

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart manages to give enough cover to save the airship from being downed at least... but, gasp, danger behind her! How will she get out of his predicament!? Tune in next week!?

Nah.

She has a pretty good 6th sense when it comes to battles, and good spatial awareness. A bit of movement behind her, and she rolls away from the cannon immediately, the heartless slashing at the air instead, where her heart stood a second before. As she rolls back, she reaches out, grabbing the heartless by the foot, to lift and slam it on the floor of the airship HARD a few time. She's done this before, when she's pissed you wouldn't beleive how much strength are in those frail looking arms.

Garland's class change might be to blame for this too.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade lunges through the air, bouncing back and forth and smashing into anything he can get his Keyblade near. This is not without cost, as the Heartless excel with mass assault tactics. Mercade drops out of the cloud, hitting the surface of the Hilda Garde, beaten and bloodied. "Well..." Mercade sighs. "I have to say... This is what I asked for." Mercade grimaces as he looks up the horde of Wyverns and other Heartless, watching many of them explode to airship fire... And the ship suddenly banks. Mercade gasps, reaching out to grab one of the anchoring ropes quickly before it turns, forcing him to hang off of his grip. "D... Damn!" He can feel his hand slipping as the HEartless swarm around him. He looks down, closing his eyes. All he can do, is believe.

There is a spark of light in the darkness, and blackness evaporates from him even as raw Power, a gift from Garland, But unlike how many others might believe, Mercade remembers something:

The Darkness is a part of him too. It doesn't leave just because you pick up a Keyblade. And what's more, what Garland offers is not Darkness, but Power.

Power doesn't care about light or darkness, it just is. It demands only one thing: To be used, whether for good or for evil.

A flash of light grows upon the surface of the Hilda Garde...

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
The Blackjack suffers as the Wyvern horde strikes, damaging some of the propellers and throwing one or two crewmen off the deck, Setzer included. Luckily for them, ropes and harnesses kept them attached to the Blackjack long enough for them to enter through one of the lower decks or until someone could bring them up.

Setzer heaves himself onto place again, eyeing warily the horde of darkness and the eye, who seemed to have done... something.

The Blackjack feels darker to him, like... a shadow over it, and a sense of power. The gambler doesn't really know what to think of it, but he will not look at a gift horse in the mouth, disregarding the fact that there seems to be a taint lingering in the air.

And then both dark forces do harm to each other, and things happen. Even distrurbed by Garland's power up, Setzer feels that something very important changed, and things would be even messier from now on, but for now...

"Pylon turn around the Hilde, now! Gunners, fire at will!"

Kim Possible has posed:
Between the heartless and Garland's strange technique (which Kim silently finds herself regretting now for some reason,) the secret agent uses her athleticism to her advantage. She lands in a crouched position and glares at the various Heartless, which is starting to get quite redundant for her since it seems like you've seen one Heartless, you've seen them all. And Kim's seen more than enough.

"OK, I think it's time we ended this, what do you think?" She says as she rolls her arms backwards a few times to limber them up, before attempting to rush at the Heartless and attempt to take several of them down with a rapid flurry of punches!

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
There was no way to stop what happened...

Garland appeared, for some reason aiding them...but probably more like aiding himself. The two titans of darkness clashed, and Angantyr wishes he couldn't feel the immense power coming from the two...but he can. Things go straight to hell, a World Heart appears...but not just any World Heart.

Angantyr just knows what this is, he can't explain it, he reacts only on instinct...

CLASS CHANGE...

Dark Dragoon!

Angantyr still fires an Arrow at Garland.

It felt satsifying.

The keyblade is more or less unchanged, but the Dragoon looks down at the Dragon.

Screw it. They need to stop the heartless...

"Mercade! Lock the heart! I'm going to try and stop the heartless swarm!" How?!

Angantyr JUMPS into the air.

And then seconds later, he falls, right towards the Dragon. "I SAID YOU WERE JUST A GODDAMN BEAST! NOW DIE LIKE ONE!" Angantyr shouts, aiming to land, Keyblade first, onto the Shard of Chaos, but he doesn't stop there...

He lands, bringing the Keyblade back...

"TYRANT.." the ground crackles, light draws upon the desperation...the power from Garland...

And then SWINGS the massive blade of light, aiming to try and swing the blade in a massive arch, trying to clear the area around the world heart with a massive blast of everything Angantyr had left. The heartless, Shinyru...everything he can.

This world /WILL NOT FALL/!

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Soan can feel the overwhelming Chaos around them. It's not something he likes, nothing that he can do about it beyond keeping up what he is doing now. He is a mortal compared to the Gods of Chaos fighting it out around them... unlike most of them, however, he is aware of what is going down. It is two overwhelming stenches vying for power, survival and dominance over one another -- with mortals stuck in the middle. Used as pawns.

There is a brief moment where whatever spark of light attached to Soan's Soul struggles against the 'gift' Garland gives. At the best, it insulates him against whatever corruptive influence it might have. Struggling against the various Heartless, Soan stops his fighting, yelling out a snarl of pain, more bestial than human, grasping his head.

Garland's Gift empowers Soan. It triggers a latent power that already exist -- or rather, this latent power activates as a defense mechanism. Grasping for his amulet, a simple effigy of a dragon, the thief clasp it as light surrounds him.

Spectral armor forms around his body, starting from his legs, feets, working their way up. They begin with being formless, bright flames condensing into solid form with a life of their own. A full plate coats the young man's form, adorned in the end with a completely isolated helmet. A spear melds out of the armor as Soan staggers back to his feets, holding his head.

Gone is unassuming Soan Sagittarius.

DRAGOON MAN IS HERE.

Giving a glance toward Kamon, not thinking much further with only the thought of killing the Dragon God down there in his mind, DRAGOON MAN runs accross the deck, skewering whatever Heartless that dares to stand in his way. Then, with an primal, elemental scream more akind to a dragon than a man, he leaps off.

This may be insane. But the Dragoon does what a Dragoon does best, plowing through the swarm of heartless in the skies like a bright, mighty comet toward the massive, unholy dragoon.

His Spear shall strike True on the beast's eyes.

Warden Thache has posed:
More Heartless. More Wyverns. Not even the Bloody Pearl can dodge /everyone/ in this mess. Wyverns crash though its golden sails. Heartless clatter against its deck. Armor splinters under repeated impacts as the crew scrambles to keep the deck clear. Warden himself delivers a pair of rounds into Heartless as they scrabble across the deck towards the Captain.

"I'll take the repairs out of your hide!!" Its unclear if Warden is yelling at his crew or the heartless. Again his eye scans the battle. The Hilde Garde is safe, but the rest of the fleet is breaking up, and the Dragon itself is trying to dodge in the face of The Eye above them. Now the smart thing to do would be to stand off and bombard the thing.

Smart however is no fun in the least.

He draws in breath to give orders when Garland strikes. The soul-searing burst of sound and energy eclipses his ship as it does the rest of the fleet and the world seems to dissipear in a thick red silence.

Broken by a shattering sound.

Sound, light, sensation comes rushing back in like a sledgehammer to the mind itself. When he comes back to himself he is still clutching to the helm. His men hang limply from the rigging trying to regain themselves. A glance below them reveals the ruined countryside and the form of the grounded dragon.

However.

He can /feel/ power thruming though him. The captain's eyes are alive with that power. It hums though his blood and his bones as he draws in breath.

"UP YOU BASTARDS! UP! THERE WILL BE TIME TO SLEEP WHEN YOU'RE DEAD! IF ONE MAN JACK AMONG YOU IS STILL ASLEEP BY THE TIME WE GET TO THE FIREING LINE I WILL FEED HIM TO THE DRAGON MYSELF!"

The shouting of their captain brings them out of the stunned aftermath of Garland's attack. Men sluggishly move to their lines, cannon are once again run out. Weapons brought to bear against Heartless and the Dragon itself.

"Aim for the wing joint! Load armor piercers and fire as you will, Mister Tarrot!"

Twenty nine guns of the broadside roar, the weapons rippling out to scorch bright tracks towards both the Dragon and the remaining Heartless.

Maira has posed:
The Heartless descend, and soon her person is in peril. At least she'd managed to stop the wyvern swarm for a few precious moments, letting others move in to devistate the forces as best they can. It is fighting against the incoming tide however, and Maira fears it will take all they have just to not be swept away in the current.

Garland has come for the dragon, and the collateral damage will be catastrophic. They have to do something.

The eye of the...whatever it is screams like thousands of tortured souls and Maira fills with sadness. For once, she is glad Uist is not here for this. He is safe, in the world beyond, away from all this.

Maira looks outward for her friends, spotting Angantyr hurt, quickly shooting her reinvigorating magic toward him.

Then Garland sets them in his sight, and the gaze of a dark god sits heavily on Maira, her light welling up to try to fight off whatever was happening...but the weave of the magic feels familiar...twisted, but the warp remains the same...protection?

It washes over her, startling her as it worms its way into her body. Oh, Light, what is happening?!

Class change. A strange something blooms in her, but she has no time to think on it. She's been lifted into the air, spinning, her clothing changing to what appears to be something akin to a ballgown in all shades of reds and golds. There are ruffles. There may be a tiara and a scepter involved.

Maira blinks, looks down at herself, and squee's briefly.

The cosmos shift, a world's Heart revealed, volunerable.... "No! The World Heart!" she screams, but Mercade and Angantyr are already on it. "Oh please oh please..." she prays.

Avira has posed:
It's a strange, strange day when Avira sounds like the pragmatic one on VALKYRI radio. It's a valid question, really-WHY engage both of the eldrich nightmare abominations? She's a bit more sympathetic to Mercade's plight and that of, you know, mere mortals like her that are rightfully fearful of the Invincible showing up.

"I DON'T OWE YOU ANYTHING!!" Avira denies, screaming at Warden over the absolute chaos (hah) around them. "IF ANYTHING YOU STILL OWE ME SEVERAL MISSING ARTIFACTS AND TREASURE TAKEN FROM THE CHARMING KINGDOM!"

A wyvern slams into her, knocking her into the air, clawing and biting at Avira's chest. Snarling, Avira beats on it with the butt of the Spine until it is forced to drop her roughly back onto the deck. Huffing out in exertion, she quickly picks herself back up onto her feet, only to be stuck with...

Power. Garland's power. Avira lets out a yelp of panic as she feels it burn through her-and yet, something about it was different this time. This is the only time it's felt remotely beneficial to her and yet it still feels sickening. White light obscures her and when it recedes, she stands in long robes that cover her to her feet. Upon her head is a band with a bone horn protruding from her forehead. Her Spine has even changed shape into a long staff, still looking vaguely like a spinal column but not sharp all over so she can actually hold it. The pelvis is reflected much more artfully into the end.

CLASS CHANGE!
SUMMONER

There isn't much time for Avira to reflect on this. A beat vibrates through her and instinctively, she runs to the edge of the ship and peers downward, seeing the cracked ground and the white light eminating from below. "...oh no...oh no no no no THAT'S A WORLD HEART!" She nearly just jumps from the airship to go meet it but regains her wits and steps backwards.

She lifts her staff to the air, "Get it, Mercade! We'll hold them back for you!" Avira closes her eyes.

"On Sleipner, he rides
Surveys the bloodshed
Command the valkyries to fly...
Sit and serve by his throne. COME! ODIN!!!!!!!"

Purple light crackles and the air splits as a massive man upon a multi-legged horse rides through upon the air as if it were the ground. In his hands he wields a blade and a spear. The spear is hurled downward upon Shinryuu with a gesture of Avira's free hand.

Warden Thache has posed:
"FINE THEN! NEXT TIME I'LL JUST LET THE HEARTLESS EAT ALL OF YOU INSTEAD OF DRAGGING YOU OUT OF A DARK HOLE!" Warden shouts right back. "AND I DON'T OWE FOR THAT! THAT WAS STOLEN FAIR AND SQUARE IN A RIGHT AND PROPER PILLIAGE!" A longer pause. "DID YOU SHOW LORD PUPPY THE DRESS I GOT YOU YET?"

Avira has posed:
Avira grows extremely flustered for some reason, "YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD DO EVERYTHING TO GET BACK ALL THE STUFF! YOU CAN'T JUST ROPE ME INTO GETTING THAT JEWELED SABER WITH YOU AND CALL IT A DAY!!!"

Maira has posed:
"WAIT, HE BOUGHT YOU A DRESS!?!" she shouts to Avira.

Priorities.

Warden Thache has posed:
"DON'T WORRY, LADY WOLF! IF WE SURIVE THIS I PROMISE YOU ROPE YOU INTO QUITE A FEW MORE THINGS!" Warden sounds increadibily amused for someone thats fighting for his life. "AND YES! SHE LOOKS DELICIOUS IN IT!"

Avira has posed:
Avira suddenly runs to the edge of the airship again. She still doesn't jump off but she does start screaming down at Shinryuu below.

"YOU STAY THE <GOOSEHONK> OUT OF THIS, CHAOS-SPAWN!! ODIN! FEED THAT SPEAR INTO IT'S LIGHT-SHUNNED FACE!!"

Kamon Lionward has posed:
The Heartless descend en masse. Kamon can fight them, but he can't fight so /many/ of them. The Light Disk swipes and cuts, piercing the soft underbelly of one Wyvern and launching it into another. A third hits him from behind, the dive-bombing creature driving him to a knee. He grunts, pulling himself partway up, hacking a leg off a fourth that comes too close.

They pile on top of him. The Wyverns are too many for single son of Odin. They batter and bite, and Kamon fights ferociously, the Light Disk and the Genji Glove flashing red with each successive strike. He disappears under a mass of Heartless.

A brilliant light cuts the air. Kamon feels his heart pound in his head as it does. The Wyverns take pause, if only for a second. He feels the Power, the thing that Garland offers. He holds no Keyblade; he is no Chosen of one of the Divines as his friend and companion is. There is darkness in his heart, as there is in the hearts of all men, and though Garland's offered Power is not purely that of Darkness... well, it is difficult for a gift from Chaos to lack its taint.

There's a pulse of blood red from beneath the pile of seething Heartless. The Wyverns turn back in time to be cast off, a blast of black and crimson erupting from below. A figure rises, armor-clad, smoldering with scattered embers. He plants the butt of his weapon on the deck, a polearm with a jagged and curved blade and a ring of red and grey built into the haft. An articulated gauntlet on his right arm, red, gold and black, covers his arm up to the elbow in overlapping plates. The red and gold trace up past his shoulder, with colors like cracks in the otherwise midnight-black plate that covers him from head to toe.

He raises his weapon, and slams it into the deck. It rings like a gong. He lifts his voice to the heavens, and to the spear-wielding rider crossing the sky.

"HAIL, FATHER ODIN!" Kamon calls. "HAIL, FIRST BLADE! A SON OF DESOLATE IRON GIVES YOU GREETING! HAIL!!"

CLASS CHANGE!
Parivir --> Dark Knight

Kamon takes the weapon in both hands and runs straight forward. He leaps off the bow of the airship, falling from the sky like an armored stone. He passes through the mass of Wyverns -- almost, /almost/ passes through them, landing feet-first on one more than two hundred feet down. He stabs the wicked blade into the creature's back and plummets, the spasming Heartless slowing his descent until it dissipates. He kicks off as it vanishes, a black-armored bullet aimed at the monster below. He reaches out --

Another Wyvern. He takes hold, catching it by the neck and dragging it with him. It struggles to gain altitude, and Kamon bares his teeth, barely visible beyond the shadow within the T-shaped gap in his helm. He swings himself on top of it, gripping it with a gauntleted fist behind the head and taking the pole-weapon he carries in one hand. He keeps closing.

"Good enough," he utters, moments later, the words lost to the wind. He plants his feet again and jumps again, flipping forward and decapitating the Wyvern with the backswing. He ends up right above the felled Dragon, blade in both hands, a black and red corona flaring up around him.

"THE FIRST BLADE'S SONS YET LIVE!" he roars, plummeting blade-first to what might be certain doom. "HAIL TO THE SHADOW-PRINCE DIABOLOS! HAIL TO ODIN!"

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
"The lass is angry." the crew comments. Setzer just nods. "Angry indeed."

Maira has posed:
Through the cacophony of this dire battle everything seems to go quiet in her mind, the rush of thoughts hush as Shinryu's voice speaks. Maira inhales sharply, looking toward the ground as she clings to the side of the airship, red-gold hair flying behind her like a banner in the wind. "What do you mean...?" she whispers, knowing it would hear her regardless. "If you think my heart is a burden, you are wrong...and if you think I could give it to you, you are even more wrong! It's already been given!"

Garland has posed:
Garland cares not for the shattering of the glass. Garland cares not for the power of light that he has unleashed. Garland cares not for the World Heart that lies exposed by his own hand. Garland cares not for the suffering of the Comodeen who failed to escape the Invincible's primary cannon, and were trapped in the destructive force. Garland cares not for even the retributive strike from his erstwhile son, the arrow that punches through the hull of the Invincible.

The Midnight Tyrant has no attentions to spare. He cannot spare even a passing thought to his own parodical husk of mortality, the mask he has worn for so many millenia crumbling away as he does battle - on planes psychic, physical, and spiritual. The battle across this ruined and violent warzone is one of divinities, one on a higher existence than most of the mortals below can comprehend. Its repercussions are spread across the worlds. Once, such a battle would never have taken place. Once, such a batle would have been stopped by the power of the Barriers of Light. But now? Now, no such walls exist. Now, nothing protects the worlds from such a conflagration...or its fallout.

Worlds away, the last of a hidden sect of monks drop dead from terror. In Manhattan, a homeless man goes mad, screaming through the streets of dragons and invariably attracting the attention of Manhattan's protectors. In Rabanastre, a child is born with a blood-red birthmark over his forehead, a cursed and ominous omen.

But here, in the eye of the storm, the heroes are safe....relativly speaking. At the very least, they are safe from its fallout.

That comfort may be very small indeed.

Shinryu's beam punches through the Invincible's Eye. It splits the monstrous gaze in twain, the beam of energy punching out the other side of the stellar blasphemy and off into the sky. Warnings scream along with trapped and tortured souls, lights flaring across the bridge as alarms burst to life. Garland stands.

The Invincible....to lose the Invincible in such a battle...it would set him back a thousand years. Five thousand. Ten thousand. He would never be able to rebuild it, not with the speed things are advancing. But...

But to consume ShinRyu's soul...to devour the Dragon and walk ever closer to the center of Shadow...the unlimited power that awaited him! The invincible might...the time-shattering strength of the Dragon and the Conquering Chaos manifest in him...

...it was a gamble. A monstrous gamble, an unthinkable gamble. Despite his avarice, his desire, his raw and burning fury, his monomaniacal obsession with the form he once held and the immortality and omnipotence he would possss again....

Garland was nothing if not patient.

He cannot win the greater day without the Invincible.

Garland stands from his command chair, the tattered remnants of his cloak falling at his feet as he abandons ship. The Invincible begins to pull away, clouds wrapping around it to cover its path as Garland makes his way to the bow, a trail of crumbling rust and rotten cloth in his wake. He cannot spare even a thought to maintain his appearance, not here and now, not with so much at stake, as the Invincible pulls away.

Garland steps off the bow of the Invincible. He falls through the clouds, a plummetting speck but for the absolute twisting of the light around him, the perverse mockery of Divine Glory that pours forth from him a palpable presence to meet his draconic peer's.

He says nothing. He does not need to say nothing. Shinryu's fury is a roar, violent and powerful as all dragons are. It is massive, all-encompassing, and directionless. Even pointed at Garland, it threatens all things in its path, all things in its radius. It is a purposeless abyss, the Convulsing Chaos. Its thrashings shatter the world without concern for friend or foe, and its strength is

Garland is the Conquering Chaos. Garland's wrath is a blade, a finely-honed point. It can be directed as he pleases. It is as much scalpel as it is sickle, as much scissors as scimitar. That is his strength - that has always been his strength. Other Chaos fragments may have more power...but Garland's greatest power is his microscopically-precise skill.

Not that one would know it now. As the crumbling armor breaks apart, none can see inside - there is only a field of shadow, a terrible pair of red eyes that no man dares look within, and a clash of divine wills as unleashed shadow meets wounded dragon claw. Perhaps, with the wounds, they are equal.

The heroes will be the tipping point. As they always are.

Experience, too, is Garland's strength. Experience...and savvy.

Maira has posed:
Maira is yelling out from where she stands on the ship, down toward Shinryu. "You cannot have that either! That's mine to hold until it can be used! I will not let it be swallowed by darkness!"

Shinryu has posed:
Faruja recalls the legend of dragoon, and chases after the Wyverns, carving a new path. One by one, the heartless fall beneath his newly attained power. The heartless are in disarray and confusion, with Shinryu momentarily no longer in control, and Garland sending them into this very state. Myla heads up on deck and lays down similar covering fire. The Stormbringer guns are more than enough to blast Wyvern upon Wyvern out of the skies.

Aerith's assault spears the Heartless that stand in her way, causing them to explode into puffs of black smoke one after another. Pride and ease is starting to rise on board the airships. "We have them on the run, attack!" Various commanders call out. And although ships like the Fahrenheit and the Hilda Garde II are not amongst them, various smaller ships move straight in upon Shinryu.

Tifa supports Aerith in her attempts, releasing any heartless that gets too close to the girl. Kim further assists in this action.

On board the Hilda Garde, Mercade brings his light to bear, the flash of light attracting the heartless once again - but in far lesser concentrations. The cannons of the ship fire off the broad-side and blast them from the air! The Blackjack supports the ship, maneuvering around the larger but slower ship and destroying Wyverns that get through the main ship's volley.

Angantyr jumps down towards the ground from up high, in what can only be seen as a rather foolish move. The enormous wounded dragon moves its wings slightly, and gazes up at the incoming force of darkness. It can feel the taint of Garland on the 'young boy'. And it angers him.

Still, it can't stop Angantyr from reaching the midst of the Heartless Swarm just at the edge of his wing, landing right into the middle of an overgrown cave filled with Shadows. An /enormous/ wave of hearts rise up into the air after his attack...

And then things begin to rise. Not mere shadows. He can feel the beast looming over him. One golden eye gazing into the hole as creatures come from the shadows of its wing.

Neo-Shadows. Electicity arcs between their paws as they all rise from the shadows, staring at Angantyr, while another group moves straight onto the World Heart. The heart beats fast with much light. Several Heartless don't even make it. But amongst the clouds of destroyed heartless, more and more rush towards the throbbing white orb amidst a jungle of green and ancient vines. It is _these_ heartless that Shinryu's mind protects the most from Garland.

The enormous eye stops staring at Angantyr when Soan and Kamon both come down. And he's met with the beast suddenly moving its enormous head to the side, allowing both to pierce one of the scales each on its nose. The creature budges beneath their combined might - before it moves again and attempts to crush the both between blasted rock and its scaled nose. Warden's crew sends guns firing at the beast's wingjoint, causing a cry of frustration from Shinryu.

Odin rides down towards the ground with blade and spear - its spear hurtled towards the massive dragon, stabbing into the same wing-joint. Another cry, yet it refuses to move further from the hole. Instead, it moves its wings almost protectively over it. And then finally, a pressure leaves the beast. The battle of wills continues between it and Garland. Heartless continue to writhe. And indeed...

The Convulsing Chaos will thrash.

"Now... this world..."

The beast finally lifts its head, and stares up into the skies. "Will fall to darkness. Its true home." More and more Neo-Shadows surround Angantyr, all striking for him. And the massive dragon's maw gapes open once again.

"Goodbye... pests..."

Darkness begins to envelop the World of Ruin's world heart. Shadows begin to devour it. Ships are starting to plummet from the skies as Wyverns come to life once again - though they are still not coming in their best form, with Shinryu and Garland still having at it on the mental plane.

<< BATTLE MASTERY: EVERYONE SURVIVES THIS ROUND >>

And then finally, an enormous purple blast casts its light up into the air - its main aim to blast Garland out of the skies. The same blast that routed the Invincible. The same one that could easily shatter ships like the Hildegarde and the Fahrenheit!

There is but little power in this world that could stop this very blast.

Yet our heroes have something.

Hope...

Light...

Friendship...

And all that combined...

And a Chaos that happens to just be striking at this mighty beast.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith staggers from the newly resumed assault. Even with her newfound abilities, she can feel herself slipping away. And then she hears a wail, a noise that makes her turn her head toward its source...

The World Heart was being eaten.

It was the first time she'd seen something like that in direct fashion, and it was horrifying to behold. Horrifying, and infuriating.

But it wasn't time, not yet. She would have to help her friends before anything else could be resolved. A burst of healing energies shot out from Aerith's hands, a similar golden aura winding around her to recover the injuries she'd taken.

"Just a bit more," she murmured, "and it'll be done."

Faruja Senra has posed:
Darkness tries to devour the World Heart. Even through the haze of Power offered by Garland, the Templar's soul quails, writhes, and rages against such corruption. Though blood, pure, divine light shines. Righteous indignation fills him. As the heartless, Soryuu's precious powerful beasts, pour out towards himself and his fellow Heroes, his bloody wings flap and the Templar's eye narrows.

"...Think ye to take this place, this world? Nay. NEVER! UPON THE SOULS OF MY PARENTS, YE SHALT NOT HAVE THIS WORLD!"

Dropping down into a break-neck dive, Faruja's shining spear pierces darkness wherever it strikes as he descends, a swooping angel of destruction.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr is surrounded by the Neo Heartless...

He doesn't back down, taking a defensive pose and trying to survive...

He is close to the World Heart...well closER...

The armor is shreded, blood runs down his body, he grunts, and roars in pain an anguish..bue he is still not beaten. He growls, and he takes a step forward. Aiming to drive the blade right into the hide of the dragon, before LEEPING off, aiming to drive ahead of he heartless...

He has to get closer, and if he can...

Angantyr points the keyblade forward.

The Dark Dragoon is running on pure will at this point.

Tifa Lockhart has posed:
Tifa Lockhart doesn't need to have a feel</span> what's going on with this world. This is like Manhattan all over, but on a completly different scale. She braces on the side of the airship, after banging the heartless down and off the airship her friends are on "Tis doesn't look good, if anyone has good idea I'm all open ears." She doesn't think the cannons will cut it this time around.

Aerith's healing is quite welcome after that last thrashing the airship was submitted to, making her rattle around the port pretty hard "All that darkness... They keep saying that we all have lights within our hearts, if only we had a way to combine it into something more powerful than all that darkness." Fists only go so far, this is on a different level that she couldn't scratch on her own.

But she's not going to let herself be overrun by the shadows looming around them, distributing more kicks to drive them off. Nothing will be accomplished if they get overtaken, at any rate.

Avira has posed:
Again she can't help but think that maybe the dragon was right. Maybe she was tainted. Unworthy now?

Relentless, Odin plunges the Gungnir through the wing of Shinryuu-a location that was most certainly not its head. It comes out to wound, which is bizzare to see since Odin was rumored to be able to level cities with the throw of his lance. The Allfather lifts his horned helm and seems to look directly at Kamon. Indeed, Kamon will feel his eyes upon him, piercing, judging this warrior that was born from his unforgiving, dead body. He says nothing. There is no need for words. He gestures at Shinryuu with his spear, the message abundantly clear to the young Odinyar.

Finish the fight.

Amusing banter aside, Avira grips the railing of the Hildegarde, her eyes wide, "No! Not the heart!" she cries out, having witnessed this sight firsthand before. Should it be consumed, she knows this place will be flooded with darkness. Though she didn't have the light she did before, even Avira's weakened light could survive that. She believes. More importantly, she believes in the keyblade wielders to stop the consumption from happening.

In the meantime, Odin will carry out Avira's orders and chuck the Gungnir into Shinryuu's head.

Maira has posed:
Maira's hands tighten on the rail of the ship, staring intently down below, her heart (metaphorically) in her throat. Should she follow? What if she can't see him, and her healing misses?

But what if Shinryu's words are right? He could just be trying to get her to run away...but her world...

No, they will not lose. This world will not fall, and neither would she!

As the terrible purple light rushes up into the sky, tearing into the airship and all in its path Maira brings up her scepter, light exploding from her in a globe of protection, burning the darkness away as it comes into contact with her shield, protecting her from what would have been a completely devistating blow. Without it, she'd have fallen, unconscious plumetting to the ground.

She is falling, all the same, but once she realizes she is, an act of will slows her, magic surging around her so that she floats downward safely...of course, she's moving toward Shinryu, which is very much not a safe place to be. She comes to a stop hovering above the group on the ground. "YOU ARE WRONG! WE WILL NOT FALL!" she cries to the great god-beast. "THIS IS OUR STORY!"

Maira spreads her arms, the light extending, glittering particles of brightness targeting the two keyblade wielders who could lock this world heart and save it.

Kim Possible has posed:
The more darkness seems to pervade, the more Kim becomes agile. Even when the darkness seems to come at her even more, she simply evades it using her swiftness and her agility, all while maintaining a positive outlook on things. Namely because Aerith is healing her and Tifa after Kim is done doing her gymnastics routine. "Hey, this is no big, we can do anything!" Kim says to her BFFs with a grin and a thumbs up. "And we're gonna teach this thing why you don't mess with us!"

She stares at the shadows briefly, before showing off some more martial arts tactics once again. This time, she's going like there's no tomorrow... because there won't be one if they don't succeed now!

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason built this ship from a hulk from another world but the soul of this ship is form her's it's been made in the design style and ways of her people she even did the proper dedication ceremonies paying tribute to Leviathan himself and Myla leaves the crew to keep firing even as the ship is rocked by another forceful attack. The ship holds together as Myla clad in the dark Tide Caller outfit the armour is more for show than anything and to assist with swimming she's also got a long spear with he now which is very ornate as the ship rocks she's out on deck now as she calls out.

"Keep it steady!"

Swimmer meanwhile is engaging Neo Shadows and anything else that gets on the deck even as Odin is summoned upon the battle site she pauses to see the head of the fallen gods of her world or some counterpart either way she knows what she has to do.

There are less creatures now and she's got breathing space to focus upon the nightmare of a dragon.

"I am one of the last of the Levitani....and I shall help to end you."

She begins chanting in the old tongue of her people it sounds like a summoning chant if any of her classmates, for the moment she is a Tide Caller what she's always had the potential to become magic is strong with her her eyes have always had the tell tale glow of those who use powerful magics often like black mages. She slams the spear into the deck and a magic circle forms.

"Lord of the depths I call upon ... you he who died to allow the seas to be born, Leviathan come this child of the first flood calls for aid against the ilk of those that consumed our world."

Something's happening something hears here and respond with the magic that she's outpitting here. Her hair band flies off and now her hair is flying in the wind as what seems to be a portal appear an a huge sea serpent which should be known to many appear the lord of the tides has answered is it some aspect of the god of her world or an esper that has seen fit to answer her? Not even Myla knows but it is enough as the creature hisses and looking at Shinryuu water seems to be flowing of the creature as it hisses.

The waters come for the portion of chaos intending to wash away the thing oddly with the nature of summoning magic those deemed allies by the summoner may be spared it's wrath the heartless whom are caught in the tides path are not so lucky. Myla continues the chant in the hauntingly strange tongue her people used in ages past, as the summoning finishes while she has the potential to be a Tide Caller this power placed on her is fleeting and just a hint of what she might be able to do on her own some day the hulking lord of the tides start to recedes his task done for now.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
The attack is merciless. Chips of wood and pieces of metal fly off as the Blackjack is hit, but to their credit, the crew does not move... well apart from being thrown around.

Setzer himself now wipes blood form a wound on his head, but he still has something up his sleeve. "Gentlemen... prepare the main battery. Helmsman, point us down."

There are no words in reply, as the crew does their job in silence, maybe realizing how critical the situation is getting. Doors open on the Blackjack's bow, revealing a large-caliber barrel, pointing straight at Shinryu. Inside, the crewmembers responsible for firing it lock the wheels into place before giving the signal.

"All right gents, this is our last blow. Fire the main gun!"

Warden Thache has posed:
"CAP'N!"

"I see it Spooks," Warden's bantering manner falls off in the face of the dragon itself turning its attention to both the World Heart and the airship fleet. Fingers flex over the smooth wood of the helm as he lets a smirk work its way across his face. He lets his eyes close for a moment before they snap open.

"Boys!" He calls to get his crews attention. "Strap in!"

The is no way to dodge a beam of that scope and power. So the next best thing is resorted too. Green eyes flicker towards the Hilde Garde for a moment before the captain gives the other ship a lazy salute.

The Bloody Pearl drops as Warden takes the helm and throws the nimble ship /towards/ the ground. The dragons beam scythes though the air over the Pearl. Other ships fall out of the sky below it as Warden holds it steady, just skimming the edge of that deadly beam. Armor buckles under the strain. A spar snaps clean off of the ship but he holds its corse, the ship is stronger than it looks.

He knows it'll hold together.

And he knows where he is aiming.

To slice across the top of one massive eye with the ram and dorsal fin of his own ship. "You'll find us a bit harder to kill than you thought in the first place, you overgrown geko. I don't mind Darkness, but too far one way or the other is just no fun in the least." The Captain taunts as he speeds by the huge creature, hopefully helping blind it a bit.

Garland has posed:
Shinryuu Convulses, as is its duty. As is its right. As is its purpose. As is its *identity*. At the end of all things, Shinryuu's existence is that of the Convulsing Chaos, and it can no more deny this than Garland can deny the Conquering, than Earl Tyrant can deny the Consuming, than the world can stop spinning. Shinryuu is predictable, as all the Chaoses must be. The stronger they are, the more predictable they are. Thus the great irony - the strongest of all Chaos shards are, like all god-things, ruled by their identities.

Garland is 'weaker' than Shinryuu, for all that that means. He cannot truly stand against the Convulsing Chaos in a straight fight - very little could, save perhaps Chernabog. Garland, for all his divinity, for all his power, is still constrained by the mortal life he once led. He still carries that echo with him, until he once again purges the memories of mortality and immerses himself in the Truth of Chaos.

But to do that, he must win.

And to do that, he mut rely on the heroes to save the day, as they always do. As they always must.

What a bitter irony. Were he on the other side, he would no doubt enjoy it.

Garland's monstrous shadows strike at Shinryuu as his terrible mind does the same. Around them, Shadow Wyverns and Purebred Heartless spawn into existence and die from the mere force of their clash, the mere proximity of a war of dark gods. To those on the ground, it is an ever-whirling maelstrom of sorrow and despair given tenebrous form. His guise as the Farwalker is there, the drow who walks the dreamworld to curse the innocent to nightmares, bringing with him his Nightmare Parade to battle the horrors of the Convulsing Chaos. His guise as the Wind-That-Flays-The-Shadows is there, a howling nothingness that strikes away one of Shinryuu's claws. His guise as the Eater-In-Darkness is there, a maw that clamps down upon one of the Wyverns that gets too close and destroys it in an instant. His guise as the Cloudsea Djin is there, and it brings forth the curling clouds to choke the life from Shinryuu and draw off all that it holds dear.

The Conquering Chaos is unchained. Above it all is his form - his body, his knight, the body that had become his own, ensnared with its dreams of love and honor and nobility. Those dreams, now perverted into dreams of lust, of rage, and of power, they are the chains that bind the mass of shadows together.

Never before has he unmasked himself before so many. Never before has he revealed so much.

Never before has there been so great a need.

The sky goes black. The sun dies in the offing. The lights of the skyships go dim, and the fires of the dying Fruit Village blacken as the Conquering Chaos unchains its full fury, its full might, to join with the heroes.

It might even seem benevolent, were it not so terrifying. It might seem as though Garland sought to defend the World Heart at all costs. Some might even believe this.

They would be wrong. Garland's sole desire - and the desire of the rotten, twisted thing he calls his soul - is Shinryuu's demise. And to that end, he will roll the dice.

He will roll the dice, and by the end of it, he will know if his gamble succeeded...or if he has bet everything and lost it all.

Such is the whimsy of fate.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Roaring out in pain and anger, DRAGOON MAN is slammed into the hard rock by the gigantic dragon. By normal conventions, this should have resulted in many fractured bones, several organ failures as well as a crushed skull. All of this is true. On the other hand, the Dragoon, overwhelemed by almost elemental fury, cares very little about the welfare of his body at the moment, driving him to fight to the very end as most warriors of his Order are trained to in face of such evil.

"YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED THIS DAY!" Dragoon Man's voice, disorted by pain as well as the influx of energy, intones as he leaps away. Then... then things changes. A change that'll affect everyone.

Then, certain annhiliation. Dragoon Man's burning eyes widens in surprise. His first thought was not to get away. Or strike back at this impossible foe.

His first thought was to modify his leap's flight and tackle Kamon, now a Dark Knight, clean out of the way, swinging him into a different trajectory, as he takes on himself the brunt of the onslaught destined at them both.

Dragoon Man vanishes through the obliterating light, only with his scream reminding whoever might be close enough to hear him in the chaos of the battlefield. It is a mighty scream, but one among the many currently cried by the world over. It is an ordeal he'll remember for a long time, his life over.

Battered, maimed, true Heroes does not fall on the first salvo. Or the second. They go down when they wish, when they want, on their own terms.

"BY THE SKIES ABOVE THE SKY, FOR THE FIRST BORN OF THE GODS!"

Dragoon Man drops down on the Convulsing Chaos. Half os his armor has returned into a melting light slag, bloodied. His left arm bends in an unnatural way, worsened by the way he wields his spear as he dive down for one final charge. Vanishing parts of his armor, dissapearing in spectral mist behind him, slowly reveals a battered, scorched body beneath. What remains to hold, holds and will hold as long his strength remains. DRAGOON MAN's gaze, concentrated with the fury of being the last of an Order he knew, launches at this deadly strike.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade doesn't have a choice in what is to come. Even as the Heartless attack, the World Heart is exposed. There isn't anything left he can do for the Hilda Garde, not here. Not like this. He looks down, slowly, through the smoke and ash and chaos that spreads through this land, this innocent village whose only sin was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when two gods clashed.

Mercade exhales, slowly, taking his time. His clothes haven't changed. But perhaps something else has.

There's only one thing he can do now. He lets go.

Mercade falls away from the ship, plummeting past Avira. He turns, looking at her and locking gazes for an eternal second as he flashes past, descending towards the dragon, the chaotic battle below. He spreads his arms outwards, falling faster and faster as the world rushes past him. Heartless tear past him, claws catching him as he descends and opening more wounds. The Heartless shriek unintelligably, their voices full of rage and jealousy, but he does not stop. He twists, rolling through a barrage of Dark Orbs and Large Bodies that fall past him...

And he draws the Keyblade, energy gathering at the gleaming eye inlaid into the Key as a tiny star descends. There is nothing more to say. The hearts of all of the heroes here... They have already made the choice, whether this world lives or dies.

All he can do is try to help in his own way. There is a silent roar as he plummets, diving down past Shinryu as he rears from the incomprehensible amount of damage the god is receiving, and the tiny star vanishes below, past the wing as it moves ponderously to smash into another tiny fragment of matter to obliterate it.

And then there is silence, as a light drops behind Angantyr in the middle of those Neo-Shadows.

And then there will be light.

Kamon Lionward has posed:
Odin acknowledges him. Fight on.

He does.

They land. Kamon survives the fall through guts, determination, gratuitous bodily harm to the Heartless and sheer luck. He stabs his blade into the thing's nose next to DRAGOON MAN, and briefly exchanges glances with him. He twists, then pulls, holding onto the thrashing thing for just a moment --

Dragoon Man hits him. He flies off the nose of the thing and out of the path of pure devastation. He holds on to his friend's forearm for just a second and then flings himself off of him, catapulting in a different direction. He drops towards the ground, spinning like a corkscrew.

He hits the only remaining wall of a building. His legs coil underneath him like a spring. The wall cracks when he hits it, and shatters when he pushes off of it, a burst of dark power rendering it unto dust. He flies back into the fray alongside the battered, burned Dragoon Man, his long-bladed lance held close. "Together, then!" he yells, voice carrying over the rushing winds.

The Dark Knight rises, and falls. He comes down at the Convulsing Chaos alongside his friend, spinning the wicked-looking guan dao in his hands like it was meant with it. The Genji Glove flashes red, and the blade does with it, trailing a sudden luminescence. A flash of gold follows, lightning striking the haft from the heavens and cascading down to the blade.

"FOR THE FIRST BORN!" Kamon cries, echoing Soan's battle-yell with one of his own. "FOR GALIANDA!"

Shinryu has posed:
Shinryu denies Faruja the chance to defeat it by suddenly moving one wing over its head, allowing him merely to cut the shining spear through its wing. A mere pinprick before such an /enormous beast/.

Beneath its body, Angantyr faces Neo Heartless upon HEartless, continueing to jump at him with lightning speed and lightning-claws. They refuse to let him go. They /refuse him/ the chance to save this world! Angantyr gets to watch it as the light of the World Heart begins to show blots of darkness.

The entire world quakes. Vents open in the ground nearby, darkness beginning to rise. Ground begins to raise around the desolated Fruit Village. Rocks come to defy gravity itself. The skies darken. Light within the World Heart shrinks, turning quickly to be nothing but a pinprick of light!

Yet he continues to move forward like a hero! No matter what the Neo Shadows do, he manages to move forwards! And then... just as it looks like he'll be able to save this world. Just as his blade seems like it might reach where it must...

Blue hair is the first thing he sees, before a heavy weight attempts to catch his blade. There she stands once again. There she stands in his way - just like she had two days ago, staring at him with piercing blue eyes from beneath that hood. He can still not make her out, as she aims her blue lance towards Angantyr's neck. Silently standing off against the student of Chaos.

Light continues to drain from the continent. All over the World of Ruin, people gaze towards the Northern Continent. Animals gaze up into the skies and grow fearful.

Maira's light provides a shield that, strangely enough, doesn't just protect her, but expands across the bow of the Hildegarde! It is enough to stop it from vaporizing it right where it flies. But its wings are still wrought!

"We're going down!" The captain of the Hilda Garde II calls out, as the airship begins to slowly descend safely towards the waters to the north.

A summoned Leviathan reveals itself to Myla, and comes down upon the back of Shinryu, forcing its legs down. Its tail rolls and slams into the ground, writhing and cutting over some of Macalania's trees at the edge! The Blackjack's main cannon follows up by blasting against its spine, leaving a red mark that looks like it may be a wound!

The Fahrenheit just /barely/ manages to escape the enormous purple beam, but most of the Shivas are not as lucky! Warden's assault with his ship ends up slicing into the enormous beast's eyelid, slicing a second wound! It roars in pain!

And then comes Garland. The beast opens both eyes and watches the descent of the Conquering Chaos. Yet, the Convulsing Chaos REFUSES to be conquered! It releases a fell swoop of its wings in an attempt to slow the coming strike, and then opens its maw.

"I WILL DEVOUR YOU!" It cries out at Garland. It is truly an awe-inspiring thing, to see its maw slowly open before even one such as Garland. Such enormity. Its dark tongue lashing out, its sharp teeth. The powerful energy that exists within Shinryu that is already rearing up at the opening of its throat! More and more heartless explode between the two as the figures approach one-another!

Black forces meet eachother, an explosion of power so great, that when another blast of purple meets Garland's weapon, the land around is ROCKED with an enormous explosion. Shinryu is forced to his knees, its tail thrashing, its wings raising to reveal the darkening World Heart beneath the ground.

And then the jaws close around Garland!

Soan's strike rings true onto Shinryu's skull, rending scales off of its head and leaving a mighty gasp across its hide! And with Kamon joining him, they both strike new newly rended wound, searing the beast. The creature throws its head back.

And a terrible voice RINGS into peoples' minds.

ITS TOO LATE

Beneath the opening of his wings, Mercade finally arrives, plunging his Keyblade into the ground, and letting a slam of light be released into the vicinity. Neo Shadows explode all around, even going so far as possibly hurting Angantyr thanks to the darkness in his heart. But what's most, the girl that stands in Angantyr's way is knocked back a little.

And then...

For everyone to see.

That last pinprick of light truly disappears. And Shinryu's laughter grows, just before a new beam CARVES up through its mouth as it opens it, propelling Garland out.

"Now watch! Watch, as your world joins Darkness!"

It spreads its enormous wings, and begins to rear up into the air. It won't show it, but the heroes have done some serious damage. Not just to its body, but its ability to properly control the heartless. Garland's strike earlier has also done quite a number on its ability to /call them/ right then and there.

But still, it begins to float into the air as darkness begins to fall...

...

...

"WHAT!?"

But the world isn't falling. The ground is trembling. Darkness is appearing. But the land. The world.

IT REFUSES TO FALL!

Shinryu stares in confusion and anger. The beast is powerful. It has seen so many things in his near eternal life. Yet this is something he can not comprehend!

And somewhere in this world, in a village far away from all of it, a child looks up at his father in bed. "Will you read me another story?" The child, no more than two years old, asks. A light shines in his heart beneath the blanket. "Of course son. I'd love to."

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Setzer frowns, then does something very, very unlike him.

"Crrr... Crrrr..." *spit*

"There you go, wyrm. Now get off the table, you're out of the game!"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith grimaced as she observed the world's heart fading... fading... and then falling to nothing. The whole thing was entirely cut off from the light now. She almost acknowledged the voice, the recognition of failure, the countless souls she'd betrayed in that fragment of her own world...

And then something new happened.

Aerith's eyes widened as the world... persisted.

It fought, resisted, remained whole, at least for now.

It was more than enough time, and as the ship went down, she refused to abandon it.

Holding on to one of the rails, she closed her eyes. "Your cry for help will be answered. I will give all I have to the cause."

Her eyes opened, shining with an inner light, and the white materia in her ribbon flared even brighter. "Okay, big ugly... feel the revenge of a thousand souls." She stretched her right hand forward, her eyes narrowed as she focused.

"Goodbye... pest."

A wide, solid beam of light shot forward, aimed to cut through the heartless in the way and directly at the dragon. Now was the moment, and she would throw everything into it.

Garland has posed:
The thing that vanishes into Shinryuu's mouth is darkness. It is shadows, the unchained Conquering Chaos that exists solely for destruction. What is spat out, trapped in the beam, is the mortal form that Garland takes - the Ironclad Nightmare. It is a small mercy to those below, as the Midnight Tyrant is flung away from the battlefield.

But he has won, this day. He knows it. Shinryuu has taken something of his...but he, and more importantly the heroes, have wounded the Convulsing Chaos. A wound that deep will take time to heal.

Garland's cold, chilling laughter echoes as he disappears through a hole in space. He has won. It is not a total victory...but conquest begins with the smallest village.

Heroes are so...useful.

Maira has posed:
The world is falling. For a moment, Maira relives the death of the world where she was raised, and again, when Manhattan fell. The feeling of helplessness, the complete despair in the face of such insurmountable evil.

There, again, the blue haired woman! Standing in Angan's way. She rushes toward them, a bolt of light through the air. If the world is falling...they have to get out...

Then Shinryu roars his rage. The world does /not/ fall. It will not. Of course...of course! Maira begins to laugh with relief and joy. Sure, it is not over, but when she thought all was lost, the heart persisted.

Instead of firing off a shot at Shinryu, Maira turns her attention to the blue haired woman, aiming a blast of aim magic in her direction, just in case she decided to come after Angan again. "Who are you! Why are you doing this!?" she asks.

Avira has posed:
For a few seconds, Avira locks eyes with Mercade as he plummets past. For a few seconds, she looks pretty vulnerable. Worried-scared even, not only for this land, but for all of her brave friends that were protecting it. But where this fear was there was also faith. Faith in everyone's efforts to save this place today.

But that hope starts to dim as the shadows converge and the ground itself begins to dissolve. Yes, this was the end of a world. Shinryuu crows that they're too late. Odin himself couldn't deliver a fatal blow to the beast.

But the land it...doesn't fall?

Avira grips the railing of the airship as it makes a slow descent to a landing. She is confused, but overjoyed that somehow the world was being held together despite the world heart obviously being consumed. Odin starts to fade along with the power bestowed by Garland. This seems to happen just as he unleashes his laughter-and Avira inadventantly shivers. Of course-he gave them that power because in fighting Shinryuu, they were helping Garland. Perhaps the pieces of Chaos wanted to consume one another? Shinryuu screamed as much.

From her spot, she squints as Angantyr faces against the blue-haired woman again.

Warden Thache has posed:
The Bloody Pearl is battered, but not beaten. It will require some extensive drydocking to repair the hull damage. However the pirate ship seems to be, amazingly enough, decent enough shape. She can still fly at least.

The dragon-skull and crossbones still snaps smartly in the wind.

Warden himself arcs the ship around in a graceful turn, putting her on a corse with the remainder of the fotilla and the decending Hilde Garde. The man leans almost casually over the wheel, and he /should/ be much more worried about the end of the world than he seems to be.

If it /is/ the end of the world. If Darkness has won. Well. He has no regrets. He's enjoyed himself, and he's tried to stop it. If it happens now...

...but it doesn't.

He quirks one eyebrow up, a mocking tone creeping into his voice. "I say old Geko. I'm waiting? How long should this take? I mean I have other things to do tonight than /this/ dance."

Being unimpressed to vex his enemies is an artform. Warden is just practicing.

Inside he's gibbering something about happy to be alive, but his crew can't see him doing that at least.

Faruja Senra has posed:
Faruja's bloody wings dissipate. The ratling lands hard upon the back of his mount. Exhaustion overtakes him, single eye peering to the land below, his strike utterly useless against the might of Shinryu. Arista flies up towards the Hilda Garde, landing lightly upon the deck.

The world refuses to die. Faruja grins.

"...Ye art lesser than a wyrm, beast of darkness. Take thine strength and flee, knowing ye hath lost before the will of the Lord." With that, he faints, Garland's power leaving him.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr moves trhough the heartless with heroic determination...

Angantyr swings the blade, even as heartless try to latch onto him, darkness surrounds him, shredding them like paper. Angantyr swings, again and again... trying to get to the heart...

And then his Keyblade is deflected, the woman standing before him again. Angantyr howls in rage...NO! It was all for nothin...

But the world shudders, like a support removed. Angantyr isn't sure what is happening...but it seems that it isn't going to fall immediately...

"You...I don't care who you are anymore, woman!" he starts. "YOU WILL NOT ENDANGER ANYONE ELSE! THIS ENDS HERE.." Angantyr roars, releaseing a massive amount of darkness as he steps forward, aiming to grab onto the front of the woman's jacket. His hand a dark claw, as the blood sheded during the battle rips out as thousands of claws, aiming to tear through the woman and her defenses...

"TYRANT..." he starts, aiming to throw her down, aiming to draw the blade once more...light comes down in a massive wash of power, aiming to litterally drag the wave of energy right across her. Causing an immediately explosion.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade stands, holding his weapon at his side in the aftermath of the detonation. Mercade looks up at the sound of the voice. Too late?

He looks back down at the vanishing of the World Heart. He lurches to one side as something metaphysical shakes through the area... But the expected does not happen. He pauses for a moment, and he thinks for a moment...

And then he mouths quietly, "Too late for what?"

He looks back up as Angantyr goes into full bore murder mode upon the stranger, and Mercade arches an eyebrow. "Who... Who is that?" He asks, blinking for a moment, trying to nudge his brain. Something is off here.

Kamon Lionward has posed:
It just. Won't. /Die/.

Kamon keeps at it. He strikes the thing with all the might he can bring to bear, and it doesn't give in. The fact that he and Soan have managed to actually force it to move is a wonder in an of itself. Unfortunately, 'make the giant dragon thing flinch' is not really what they were going for, here.

So he goes for it /again/. Kamon draws himself up, ready to do battle... sort of. He staggers, starting to feel his injuries. Beneath his helm, he grimaces, forcing himself at the ready. He's dealt with worse pain. The Odynar looks to Dragoon Man. "Once more," he says, as if that's all they need.

He levels his weapon, holding it tight, and starts for the head for the finishing blow. It moves, chomping down on... something. He takes the opportunity, springing forward and swinging for it's neck. Shinryu twists slightly, and the thing in it's mouth bursts out. Kamon's expression is one of total surprise.

When the beam is gone, so is Kamon. There's no sign of him; no boots full of ashes, no dropped weapon. Odds are good he's going to find himself Somewhere Else, and not really like where that is.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
"All right, that felt good." he said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Whatever Shinryu wanted to happen, it didn't happen right away so they should be good? Either way, the Blackjack was heavily damaged. Still flight-capable, but only to the nearest place where he can dry-dock the thing.

"Helmsman, we should be good for one last trip. Take us home, and be gentle."

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Dragoon Man is in a terrible shape. His body is aching all over, his strength sapped to the last limits that is beyond a human should be able to suffer. What keeps him whole is his determination and out of sheer spite. It's what keeps him stabbing at the gigantic Dragon Chaos God. An affront to what he knows and believes into.

Unfortunately, like him, it just /wont go down/.

Growling, roaring out in righteous rage, Dragoon Man keeps stabbing on Kamon's prompt after giving him a brief acquising with his head. His spectral spear is raised, the armoured man springing in synchro with the Dark Knight.

He leaps, charging for the other side of Shinryu's head, the other eye. The two have trained together quite often, their friendship helping them in their attack. However, they can't predict everything.

Dragoon Man's expression is one of steel -- the only one he can express with his mask on. Soan, beneath the mask, half delirious from the pain yet laser focused out of pure grit, is similarly surprised. The energy bursts out.

All that is left of Dragoon Man's presence here is a quickly disintegrating pieces of spectral armor, vanishing into tiny pieces of light that scatters into the wind.

Shinryu has posed:
Kamon and Soan continue their stabbing, and manage to get away from it all with a scale of the Chaos Dragon! It probably helps protect them from the massive beam of doom!

Setzer is but a speck to the dragon. It cares little about what he does. It stares out in confusion at the now fallen World Heart. The world continues to quake around them, lines of darkness slowly spreading. But it is still halted. By something.

"What... is this power!?" It looks up at Garland, just as he disappears. Somehow, it seems like Shinryu is blaming him. But it is wounded. It can not continue this. It must leave. And as such, it wings its tail over towards its maw and curls in on itself... and then suddenly...

CHOMP!

The beast devours the tip of its tail. And then begins to bite itself further. A feeling of utter dispair begins to spread from the beast, as around it a great darkness begins to gather. A portal into darkness, growing further and further and the beast eats its own tail. Writhing. Shaking. Wrenching and CONVULSING as it eats its own body and the snake-serpent winds in on itself.

Light descends on its wings as they wrap in around its body, trying to conceil itself into a cocoon of sorts. Darkness continues to grow. A Corridor to Darkness begins to form around it. ENORMOUS! ALL DEVOURING!

A Portal that begins to suck the air away from the world.

Beneath, the girl brings her lance down against Angantyr's dark clawed hand, and forces it back. As it then splits, she retreats, twirling the lance around for a moment, before she's forced back by him. And then, as if by nature, a massive barrier suddenly forms around her. White and clear-blue, it halts the claws. And when the light of his Tyrant Breaker is about to come, she suddenly cries out;

"DARK BLOOM!"

She twirls her lance on the spot, and then points it out at Angantyr. Orbs of darkness blast forwards, aiming to catch Angantyr right in the chest and force him back. She continues to twirl, the darkness spreading out towards Mercade as well, trying to force them both out of the crater!

When it ends, she remains standing there again.

But that voice. Angantyr gets to shout but one thing, before she disappears through a Portal of Darkness. And above, the massive dragon too disappears into an enormous vacuum-sucking portal of darkness. The Convulsing Chaos has departed. And with that...

His minion?

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's breathing comes harsh and fast, her reserves drained. As the Hilde Garde II goes down toward the ocean for an emergency landing, she slumps against the rail.

The World was still intact... but its Heart certainly seemed in bad shape, very bad. Something had to be done, or else it might never recover. Or at least, that was what she figured might happen. It was one of several possibilities.

Aerith closed her eyes, and as the world around her faded, felt the need to reach further beyond herself. What she'd done here was not enough... and maybe it would never be.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr tries to force his way...but the barrier catches his light at the last moment..

The two forces collide, a perfect canceling of power, but Angantyr is weakened by the hundreds of Heartless, the Dragon's wrath, and exersion. Slowly, he starts forward, trying to block the orbs, but on the second barrage Angantyr is thrown out of the crater, hitting the ground and falling to a knee. The two disappear...and Angantyr groans. He used everything he could...and worse, that voice.../that voice/ was the same.

But why...? Why is she...

Angantyr frowns...did it errode her?

Angantyr has nothing left. Using the keyblade to keep himself proped up.

Warden Thache has posed:
"Cap'n," Spooks is starting to sound nervous. "...tha' looks a lot like a black hole."

"Noted," Warden calls as he snaps into motion again. "Lord Idiot! Lord Puppy! I'd recommend getting away from that thing!" He calls out as he throws the Bloody Pearl into gear. "Men break out the tow lines and floats! Get them to whatever other airships you can reach! I don't know what that will do but anything that looks like a vortex is never pleasent."

He pulls his ship around, aiming towards the Hilde Garde and other downed airships, pulling what crewmen he can out as the dragon pulls his disipearing act.

After all heroes were no use to him dead!

...he's not a necromancer and all.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason is still a bot shocked at what she was able to fo but there's not much more she can do at this point the ship's bad off she's got to set down for repairs now. Kamaon and Soan are out there ans she'l have to go looking for them as soon as possible but for nwo the ship's proven itself