A Researcher's Inquiry VI

A Researcher's Inquiry VI
Date of Scene:	13 February 2014
Location:	Narsche - Outskirts
Synopsis:	The Black Beast is unleashed upon Narshe in another field test by Rhiannon Zellen, scientist of Shinra. Luckily some saviors happen to be here to put a stop to it's rampage. But is it really the end...?
Cast of Characters:	Deidra, Mercade Alexander, Maira, Aerith, Angantyr Vespar, Rhiannon Zellen, Chita
Tinyplot:	A Researcher's Inquiry

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Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Narshe.

A mining town currently located at the upper west end of the Northern Continent. The town mostly consists of laborors working the maze-like mines and unearthing the valuable jewels contained within. However the town did see visitation from merchants and travelers occasionally.

On this one particular snowy day, several merchants could be seen riding out of town with their carts. Ranging from Seeq to Humans to Moogles and anything inbetween. Lucky for them that they were unknowingly leaving what would soon become ground zero...

MEANWHILE

"Mhmhmhm~" A lone voice chuckles from up on high. Donning a white lab coat over a short, blue oriental dress with a pink floral patterns, and her hair done up into twin buns, it was Shinra's own Rhiannon Estellise Zellen. Not seeming to be bothered by the cold, she stood upon a rooftop, unknown to the populace below at the moment. In her arm was a laptop that she was typing into with her other hand at a fast pace, going through some preliminary calculations. Calculations for what, right might ask?

Well, the disfigured black sword levitating in lazy circles around her form might be a clue. It was disturbing to see. Almost seeming to have a mind of it's own, it shed waves of darkness all around it, subtly covering the town below in shadow. Anyone sensitive to darkness or magic in general might have been able to pick up on it.

"Preliminary tests are complete." The scientist mumbled to herself, nodding in satisfaction at the readings on her laptop screen.

"Time to begin Phase Three."

Having said that, she reached out and grabbed the sword from the air, raising it to the sky. "Awaken my lovely, it is time to feast." In response to the woman, red lines of energy began to trace paths all over the weapon, and then those lines of energy began to form cracks in the surface. The misshapen sword began to change, grow, it's shape rapidly going through some form of metamorphosis. Like a high speed evolution. Various massive tube-like tendrils of blackness grew upwards. Rhia in the meantime casually let go of the growing entity and made her way out of the soon to be warzone, taking her place at another rooftop a safe distance away to monitor the happenings and energy flucuations with her laptop.

Soon the transformation was complete. Towering above even the tallest buildings and overlooking nearly the entire town, was a monstrous entity of darkness. With six snake-like heads and red eyes unblinking, the creature stared down at all below. There was a universal moment of silence as the townspeople, remaining merchants, and miners all looked up to meet the gaze of the fearsome beast.

And then there was panic.

"What in the world is that thing!?"

"Where did it come from!? You think we would have seen something this huge coming a mile away!"

"Everyone! Stop panicking! To the mines! Go to the mines! Anyone not capable of fighting, hide there!"

"They said this place was safe! Damn it!"

The varying reactions of the people below were like music to Rhiannon's ears. A smile that would make the Cheshire Cat jealous spread across her face. "Oh yes. Struggle and fight. Panic and fright. It makes your hearts all the more ripe for the picking."

The monstrous entity, with all six of it's heads, let out a collective earth shaking roar.

...And then they lunged, hungering for hearts.

The Black Beast has returned.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Sometimes, what people say is right. If you want adventure, you go to a tavern.

Mercade Alexander didn't want adventure. He was just there for... Business. Gemstone business.

Stop looking at him like that, Maira.

Regardless, relaxing in Narshe with a refreshing cola gives him a front seat view of the situation, as the panic spreads and Mercade suddenly falls flat on his back. "What the crap is going on out there!?" He yells.

He swivels his head to look out of a window at a massive eye.

"Oh... Oh my."

Mercade is outside a moment later, leaping out of the window as the bar explodes into shards and splinters. He tucks and rolls, coming to a stop as he skids along the snowy road. He stands, looking up at the Black Beast.

"Well then." He says, and tips his hat forward slightly, the brim hiding his eyes as the chill wind blows, whipping his trenchcoat around him as he holds out his hand.

His Heart opens, and Light responds, flowing around his hand and resolving into the Twilight Seeker Keyblade. "I'm sorry. I can't allow you to take those hearts." Mercade states quietly. He knows the Black Beast cannot hear him through its anger and its rage.

And so it is that while others flee, Mercade charges forward. "Let's do this!"

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Somewhere else...

Angantyr is getting out of bed, finally healed enough to actually do something for a change. His first thoughts are to head to Cinderella's castle..

But something tugs at his darkness...something he doesn't remember. He felt this tug before, but was too hurt to do anything about it at the time, but...this time..

It was too far to run, but there was a link to it, he opens a corridor, chancing the darkness, and steps through.

Only to look up at the beast. He frowns, oh he knows what might be at the bottom of this. He has a guess. And the guess makes him angry. Anger threatens to take control, but he manages to harness it. The beast, towering over them all, was nothing more than a monster tugging at the darkness that it itself knew nothing for. Where is the creater? She had to be somewhere...and when she revealed herself, no power in this world would stop what happened next. With the Dragon on the loose...there was no time to deal with this.

He draws the Keyblade, through his own heart, the Tyrant Breaker, and levels it. He reaches into himself, channeling the darkness as a bulwark. His right hand glows as it explodes from it, slowly starting to cover his body, sealing his body in the Abyssal armor, his head snapping up, crimson orbs staring up at the beast.

"Time to die."

Maira has posed:
Maira yawns, rolling over and rubbing her eyes? What's going on? What's that horrible feeling?

Maira blinks the sleep from her eyes to find Angantyr going through a portal. "H-HEY! You are suppose to be resting!" she calls, then scrambles out of bed dragging a sheet with her as she latches onto Angan's back like a barnicle.

Portals are terrible, but so be it!

Once through, Maira grumbles something fierce as she detaches and lights up, her form igniting in magical flame, some of which she channels toward Angantyr, sighing heavily.

Deidra has posed:
Mercade would not be alone, Deidra is here, while she's been busy on a side job for the TDA? She has not left hersel unaware of what's going on in the world at large. So here she is she's not got power like Mercade does but she's stull useful in a fitght and can support him. She'd heard of the black beast before but does know of the thing that attacked Goug.

Mercade would look to the human for a moment and grin.

"Right shall we get to it."

he starts to prepare herself for the fight that's going to break out. Her wings flare out as she's very likely about to start flying here.

Chita has posed:
Chita himself wasn't even here at the moment, and was on an entirely unrelated mission. Riding his Chocobo and bundled up in a large fluffy cloak the Viera was moving through Gagazet towards Zanarkand to try and find some people who were around to figure out what the hell was going on with it. He couldn't see, but the Chocobo was trained well enough for things and being pointed in the occasional right direction by someone else along the way helped.

Yet, even from a good distance away, the beast became visible to the Chocobo and the sound of it also caught his ears. "...oh no, please tell me she did not..." he mumbled softly before letting out a rather explicit phrase and kicking the Chocobo towards the sound, "Go, get me there as fast as you can! Find Rhiannon!" And with that, Senra, the not-quite-aptly-named Chocobo, lets out a hearty wark of some sort and begins to go as fast as it could towards Narshe and the beast. Of course, what could Chita even do right now? He hadn't been able to learn anything about the Darkness, or how to control it, or even navigate it. He hadn't had time... or opportunity. And now he was blind as well.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Hrm. Even out here, in the middle of nowhere, you find the virtuous and heroic." Rhia mused to herself, arching a brow as she spied a trenchcoat wearing figure with peculiar looking weapon in hand. One that her general breadth of knowledge led her to believe to be a keyblade. "Well, no matter. This is what makes things interesting." Indeed. New variables introduced to an experimental environment always proved to be...intriguing. At the very least. "Now. Let us see how they fare. It hungers for hearts...Hungers for light..." Hand resting against her cheek, the scientist giggled a bit, violet eyes scanning the streets below as more and more showed up to form the resistance force against the terrible monstrosity.

Down at street level however, the six heads of the entity known as the Black Beast were given pause. ".........." Something drew it's attention more than the weak, struggling hearts of the townspeople. Something...much more valuable. One of the massive heads locked onto Mercade and Deidra. Another was fixtated on Angantyr and Maira. Taking in the forms of those willing to stand between it and it's mission, it's desire; to devour hearts.

It was not pleased.

It would start with their hearts first.

All at once, the six heads of the beast, coiling about each other and rising up, let out a blood curdling roar. And then they dove downwards, red lines of energy cracking along under their eyes, and then opening to reveal mouths filled with nothing but bright red on the inside.

The creature bore down upon all who would oppose it, aiming bite into the very earth itself, to swallow up those unfortunate enough to be in harm's way. And if not, the stone and wood debris being kicked up all around certainly would prove to be another point of contention. Especially for those without armor.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr comes in, the beasts bites, the force of the blow is enough to send him flying, but, he manages to recover in a roll, before running back at full force, but the head is too far away before he can swing. Damn.

He looks back towards Maira, "Watch yourself. Just focus on killing it as quickly as possible...we can talk later!" He says, before he swings, aiming to slash up at the beast, getting within it's inside reach, before the darkness on the blade flares, aiming to try and tear through the Black Beast, each strike aiming to cut through it, before he slams his foot down, aiming to try and use brute force to draw it's attention. There was another Keyblade here...and other heros of light.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, RABBIT! AIDING YOUR MISTRESS?! WHEN I AM THROUGH WITH IT, YOUR NEXT!"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade looks to one side. Maira and Angantyr. To his other, Deidra. He smiles. He can't ask for much better help in this kind of situation.

"Attack from multiple sides!" He calls to Ang and Maira. "Force it to split its attacks!"

Mercade launches to one side, circling the huge beast as the massive beast slams down upon him. As the huge mouth bites down, Mercade looks up, grimacing as he is engulfed, the creature biting down upon him.

The head comes up, rock and soil breaking away in the massive jaws... But they cannot close. Ther rock flakes away, revealing Mercade struggling to keep the mouth pried open with his Keyblade, the contact sizzling against the powerful Heartless. "UGH! This is so gross!" Mercade proclaims, as he struggles with the fiendish tongue and dark fangs.

He focuses then, holding the Keyblade up. "I'll give you something to eat..." He says, as there is a rushing noise... And then there is a flash of light as a tiny explosion of light radiates out from the beast's mouth, hurling Mercade out with one hand on the Blade and the other on his hat. "WHOOOOA!" He says, before he turns and whips the Keyblade at the Black Beast. A lash of light whips around, curling around one of the huge necks as Mercade swings, trying to sail up and around to GET UP ON THE BLACK BEAST'S BACK. IT worked for hydras, why not cerebri?

He then raises the Keyblade, and drives it down into one of the heads, trying to disable it quickly.

Maira has posed:
Maira dives out of the way of a particularly large piece of debris, eyes widening at the Black Beast. "Ooh it just figures! There sure are a lot of giant darkness wielding baddies around lately, aren't there!?" she quips, nodding to Angan. They pretty much spent most of their time injured in some way, but at least if she came with she knew she'd be there to heal the people who would undoubtedly be there to protect the world from these types of things.

She'd be there, too, with holy flame and stubborn determination.

Talk later? Uh oh, is she in trouble?

Oh hey Mercade is here! She waves brightly to him. "Hi Mercade! Will do! Let me know if you need healing okay!?"

Turning then, she follows Angan's gaze to....Chita? Oh dear. This is bad. She absolutely cannot focus on him however. If he has any sense he'll get out of here.

Not that she's one to judge for doing crazy things.

Kill the beast quickly. That's the order of business. Maira takes a deep breath and weaves her magic, a lash of flame snapping out from her to strike at the huge beast, cracking like a whip.

Chita has posed:
Even as fast as his Chocobo was, it wasn't an immediate thing getting from where he was towards the commotion going on at Narshe. Somehow, though, by the time he got there various people who seemed to know him were already there, at least one of which screaming death threats already and making wild assumptions despite nothing going on and no indication of such either. Ignoring everything else except the sound of the beast as best he could tell, Chita tried to listen, to figure out what was going on. If this thing was here, either someone else took it from Rhiannon, likely by killing her, and released it...

Or she was nearby, and she's the one who did such.

"Damnit, why, after everything I tried..." another half mumble before shouting out, "Stop this madness, you fool! You don't have to do this! Don't kill anyone else for this damned research of yours!" An attempt, he knew was well in vain if it /was/ her, but he couldn't not try. Chita's Chocobo quickly ran around and hopped up and onto the top of a small house before making his way onto a larger one, the Judge pulling out a large halberd of a lance and throwing it as hard as he could towards the sound of one of the beasts heads roaring and making a big fuss - coincidentally the one that Mercade was dealing with. Hand clenching on the rein of the chocobo afterwards to keep a hold, he idly fidgets with the ring on his right hand, uncertain what was going to happen, or if this was even real. "If you can hear me, you bastard, and care at all about control and order, help me stop this thing from killing all these innocent people! There's no reason for them to die... no reason for them to suffer the darkness inside that creature!"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"Mhmhmhm~" Rhia giggled again, eyes fixated upon the chaos taking place in the town. "Truly, people are at their best when they struggle against herculean forces." Making that idle comment, the woman tore her gaze away from the melee below and to her laptop screen. "Hmm...I am getting quite interesting readings." She mused to herself, studying the numbers and graphics streaming by on screen. An open app on the side of the screen came to life with an audio wave, playing a live voice from the battlefield. 'Stop this madness, you fool! You don't have to do this! Don't kill anyone else for this damned research of yours!'. Rhia simply kept her smile, shaking her head. "What nonsense." Saying that, Rhiannon's eyes moved away from the screen, taking in the current battle once again.

Angantyr's flurry of slashes leaves the targeted head reeling back, letting out an angry roar, more out of annoyance than pain. Surely Rhia wasn't dumb enough to engineer this thing to feel pain. Of course not. And so, the slashed up head comes back around without much pause, with jaws wide open, and bloody red energy billowing from it's mouth. Once it is upon the dark knight, it bites down, with all the strength it can muster.

Another head of the beast locks eyes upon Maira after barely avoiding a stream of flame. "........" Something about this girl. Something about her...

Light.

Heart.

Light.

Heart.

Light.

HEART.

LIGHT.

And immediately, the head of the beast bursts forward, aiming to hungrily take a bite out of the fire mage. Such a heart could not be ignored. It needed to be devoured. This was paramount to the Black Beast, even as it's other heads came under fire.

Mercade's assault seemed to do the trick for the head that he was working on. Blown back a bit from the surprise burst of light, followed by the weapons of Chita's making contact, the monstrous entity had no time to ascertain the light whipping around it. Mercade made it up to the top of the beasts head, successfully stabbing into it. However, the strike was not enough to bring the heartless down. Not nearly enough. With an angry bellow, the monster swung itself aside, aiming to slam the back of it's head against the side of a building, Mercade and all. Chita meanwhile was offered a pleasant tail whip for his greeting of steel.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
The Beast's jaws close around Angantyr, for a brief moment it looks like he was swallowed, until the beast's jaw is torn open by multiple swipes of the keyblade, causing a moment where the Beast is vulnerable, as he flies out aiming to flip onto his head. Landing on it's head...he stabs the blade in and starts swinging down, slowly aiming to try and ride the weapon down like a zip line.

As he tears into the beast, he aims to pump darkness like a burning wild fire into the beast, causing horrible pain whereever he strikes...darkness is indeed effective against darkness.

Landing, he looks at another place to strike...somewhere devistationg. This thing has to be stopped...perminately.

But where..?

Aerith has posed:
Late.

Why did she always have to be late to these things? But then again, wasn't that always the case?

Aerith took her own chocobo, rented from the farms just outside Goug, and pushed him as hard as she could to reach this place. Once the darkness flowed forth, Aerith could sense it even from Seventh Heaven... and it was all too familiar.

"Not again..." She stood just on a nearby rooftop as she watched the battle. "He's somewhere in there, I can feel it." She scanned for others, and found Mercade and Maira there as well. Good, at least they had a shot at stopping this from getting any worse.

Aerith took in a breath, lifted her right hand, and closed it around a mote of pale green light. A split second later, the six foot long Spirit Staff appeared where the sphere of energy used to be, and she whirled it over her head before pointing it... toward the defenders.

Pale blue light surrounded two of them, as well as herself, before she watched from her vantage point, waiting for a good time to make her next move.

Maira has posed:
Maira watches from a sort of detached place in her mind as the beast becomes aware of her, catching her scent in the way that Heartless do. Alarm registers, but she won't be struck frozen by fear. This thing wanted to eat her heart, and would do the same to everyone here if it wasn't stopped.

It would be stopped though, she's completely confident that those with her are capable of taking care of this. She just needs to maybe give thema little help.

Angantyr disappears into the maw of the beast and Maira gasps, only to watch him tear his way out with keyblade flashing a moment later.

Maira then dives aside as the beast zeros in on her, trying to swallow her next. Teeth pierce her arm, but the beast is likely to get some very nasty burns for its effort as Maira wears the fire like a shroud, enveloping her completely as a sort armor. Armor of burny pain.

She blasts herself backward, clutching her arm as she tears herself free. Taking Mercade's suggestion, Maira uses that same air magic to launch herself away, flaring her light to try to make the beast want to follow, turning its back on the others and hopefully leaving itself open to attack.

Maira, now human rocket. Follow the tasty tasty heart, you big beast.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
MErcade is holding on for dear life to the head as it thrashes about. "Huh?" He says, turning his head as he hears someone yelling. "Chita, is that you?" He blinks for a moment, and then yells as the distraction proves painful. Mercade is slammed into the wall, and the Detective grunts in pain as he is put straight through, sending him sprawling upon quite painful objects. MErcade lies there for a moment, groaning, before he sits up. "Damn, that thing packs a punch. Why did I sign up for this again?"

He peeks his head out of the building, and he thinks for a moment. What can he do about this?

Well, with a lack of knowledge about what it is besides 'a giant HEartless', he's got to resort to doing what he can: Hitting it with a Keyblade repeatedly. However, if he just rushes in...

Aerith shows up, and provides a magical barrier. Awesome. Mercade waves down to her. "Thanks!" He then looks back and thinks. "Hmm..." He nods to himself, and he holds out his Keyblade, power gathering around him in an aura. A glittering film draws around him, a faint aura like moonlight and starlight as he draws upon his power... And with a flick of a Keyblade, imparts that power to the person he knows can use it best.

"Maira! Give them what for!"

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Angantyr's efforts are absolutely devastating the beast. Is it really this weak? ...No. It soon becomes apparent that this isn't a problem that will be solved by aimless attacking, as the torn up head begins to regenerate, it's wounds sealing up at an alarming pace. What needed to happen was not for these heads to be slain, but...for a weak point to be found. This creature surely had to have one. No one thing is perfect.

For the two keyblade wielders, who had taken rides on top of their respective targeted heads, they may have noticed a peculiar spot where all six heads converged. Crimson energy gathered there, before being dispersed to each head. Maybe. ...Just maybe.

The head targeting Maira is dumb enough to do just what she expects it to; follow big, tasty looking heart! With jaws wide open, it chases the girl about, snapping at her every time it got close enough to almost get a taste, but never quite catching her.

The Black Beast is getting angrier and angrier, fed up with the flies buzzing around below. As a collective decision, all six heads come together, eyes glowing and leading trails of red as the creature took on a similar aura of energy, gathering and building up...

Rhiannon meanwhile couldn't help but smile, casually leaning her head aside to avoid a flying chuck of stone. "My, I do believe this will soon be reaching the decisive moment..." She mused, tapping her chin with a finger. Seeing protective magic cast from afar, the scientist's eyes were drawn to Aerith's distant form. "Ah, and we have more visitors. Excellent." No particular feelings on the girl. She was more interested in the turn out of this particular experiment.

Chita has posed:
Throughout all the chaos going on, Chita wasn't picking up on too many specifics. Giant monster, no more screams in his direction and nothing is directly said that he catches. Instead, just as he pulls out his Judge Sword to throw it towards the Heartless, before Senra could react, the large tail hits Chita square across the head and knocks him flying backwards off the Chocobo onto the ground. Landing with a hearty thud on the roof top nearby, he skids a bit and looks like he may have been knocked out.

There was a faint glow from the Viera, though, so perhaps he wasn't. He didn't directly do anything to get back up at the moment or attack the beast though, even as his Chocobo quickly turned and jumped towards him to lean down and try to nudge him to get him up.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Well...that red light seemed to be it. At the very least, he'd give it something to think about before regenerating again. Angantyr looks to Mercade, "Hey, get ready. This is going to be your shot." He says, and decides to try and clear the way for the other Keyblade user. He knows Maira knows what to do, but...

He explodes in darkness, his right hand tearing through the beast, aiming to try and claw it's way to that light...trying to tear through any defenses it might have. He roars in rage, controling himself, focusing it onto a specific point...

Before he grabs the Keyblade again, Jumping back and holding the thing above his head. Light generates, a LOT of light...he weirds it like a massive wave, aiming to tear down through it at first... "TYRANT..."

He shouts, before swinging the blade in a massive arc towards the Black beast's core...

"BREAKER!"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's eyes narrowed. It wasn't about to get any better if that buildup of negative energies was any indication. She aimed toward one of the heads... and then she saw it.

Weak point. Just at the base of all six necks.

She was quickly proven right when Angantyr's assault proved fruitless, and Aerith made a quick decision. She would draw attention to the weakness.

With a flick of her wrist, she changed her target to the glowing mark. Pale green floes of energy drew upward from the tiles she stood on and into her body... and then she snarled as a sphere of flames shot outward from the front end of her weapon

Yet this wasn't her usual magic. It was twice as big and twice as fast. And it was timed, coincidentally, just as the Tyrant Breaker hit.

Fireball go boom. Big time.

Maira has posed:
Maira is so very glad she's been training. Fire comes as naturally as breathing, but air (ironically) takes work. With that gigantic maw snapping at her as she rockets backward, well, that's a lot of incentive to be speedy!

She comes to rest in a snow drift as planned, though the snow immediately begins to melt around her. Another energy flows over her, a protective spell from Aerith, then another, more invigorating energy floods her, and Maira grins. She knows this one! Mercade calls toward her to confirm, and she gives him the thumbs up before going nova.

Which she then does. The fire the envelopes her becomes blinding, a star exploding in the sky--the snow around her for twenty feet simply melts in a flash. From within the raging center of the inferno Maira watches Angantyr tear into the beast, waiting for him to fall back far enough for her to nuke the thing from afar and not catch him in the blast!

The inferno is unleashed, a glowing beam of brilliant energy.

Kapow.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade looks from the hole on the second floor building down to Angantyr, and nods, tipping his hat. "Thanks." He says.

The gathered heroes go to work, striking at the beast to expose its apparent weak point and smash it with extreme justice. Mercade watches everything proceed, and he looks down, apparently meditating once more.

There is a surge of Power from the Keyblade as the Detective begins to pour everything he can through the weapon... And then he looks up, hurling it into the dark, chill air over the Black Beast.

There is a low hum... And then six columns of light slams down around the beast, surrounding it, locking it down and slowly rotating as they force the Black Beast in... And then there is a blast, as a drop of Light falls from the Keyblade, descending upon the Beast and detonating with a soundless white explosion.

Mercade holds his hand out, and then he nods, clenching his hand and drawing it down. In response, the Twilight Seeker falls down into the center of the white detonation, cleaving in a single strike as it attempts to home in on that weak point and deliver a critical wound.

"Be at peace." Mercade says. "You'll be going home soon."

Chita has posed:
Groaning in pain and slowly trying to stand up with the Chocobo's aid, something passes Chita's mind. "Purpose? What the hell are you... talking about..." the entire purpose of this was to have the beast grow, consume more hearts... to complete it. It would continue to happen until the weapon was destroyed, at which point Rhiannon would likely make another... or she was killed, or...

It was completed. But... if they destroy the beast here, it could explode like it did in Goug, fill the streets with a deadly lightning. Did they have a chance? From the screams of the beast they were doing SOMETHING.

"Stop... stop!" Chita yelled as loud as he can, "If you destroy the beast here, in the city, it might explode and kill a lot of people! Please, for the sake of those hiding, drag it out of the city first somehow!" But, of course, what are the chances they'd listen to him? Angantyr would probably just assume he's lying and try to kill them both even harder, and he wasn't even sure who else was there. Wait... was that Mercade he heard faintly? "Mercade, please! If that's you, stop that idiot Dark Knight from destroying this thing here or it could kill everyone!"

Climbing onto Senra he says in a soft voice, "Get me onto the back... hopefully it's weak enough that I can try to do what I intended to all along. Once I'm there, run, and take others to safety with you if you can." Wavering a bit on such, Senra finally shot forward and began to run towards the Black Beast before leaping into the air and jumping onto it's back, towards the neck, and stopping. "YOU WANT HEARTS?! FINE, HAVE MINE!" It was his plan, after all, to try and control the Beast from within if necessary, if he couldn't try to do it with the dormant Sword version. Pulling out a spear, he spun it down as he heard the Chocobo jump away and stabbed it straight down, trying to link himself somehow with the beast in the hopes that all of his planning over the last many months, and efforts, did not end in vain.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
The furious assault, starting with Angantyr's incredible Tyrant Breaker lead for way for the others to get their attacks in. With several of the heads torn up and in the process of regenerating, Aerith's fireballs set them alfame and kept stalled the regeneration process a bit. Just in time for Mercade to launch his gambit. But the Black Beast would not take it sitting down. The remaining three heads all lifted at the same time, mouths opening as beams of crimson energy were fired upwards to contend with the Detective's assault.

It would seem as if the creature was successfully pushing the keyblade back. ...Until a blast of flame and light from Maira threw the monstrous entity off course. Distracted, the heads wind up losing their trajectory and the terrible beams of searing energy begin to fire off in random other directions, razing parts of the town and tearing through distant buildings.

With the way opened, Mercade's gabit finally pushes through, piercing the beast and pinning it down. With the gathering point pierced however, Chita's foolish decision to jump in on top of the creature, offering his heart...was only made even more foolish.

"Oh dear. That fool." Rhiannon rolled her eyes, palm against her cheek and head shaking. "Did he really think...?" Oh well. It was took late to stop it now. If the rabbit wanted to be hero, then she would have to let him. This certainly wasn't a part of the plan. ...But the smile on her face regardless, suggested that this was all the more interesting for it.

The body of the Black Beast, begins to draw Chita in. No, not taking his heart. But actually /dragging/ him into the darkness itself. He sunk beneath the body of the beast, entering the Realm of Darkness. He would find no solace there. Only cold, empty darkness, and limitless heartless. He would find himself thrown onto a darkened beach, with no one to converse with. Nothing to look at, but the sea and the night sky...

Back in Narshe, the Black Beast began to shrink, it's shape gradually growing smaller and smaller, until it returned to the form of a blackened, melted down sword...

"...Well now." Rhiannon mused, closing her laptop. "Experiment complete." She then utilized Wind Magic, leaping off the roof and then landing smack dab in the middle of the proceedings. "Hello, everyone~" She greeted, pleasant smile on her face despite the chaos she'd just caused. "You have my thanks for participating in this field test."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith grimaced as she glanced toward the instigator of this whole mess. "Chita, do you see now," she muttered as she leapt down from the roof. "This is who she is. This is what she does." She stopped five feet away. No need to come any closer to the one that started this madness. "Field test, you say?" Aerith made herself as civil as possible. "Interesting... does that field test involve the loss of all these lives, or was it just collateral?"

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr watches as the rabit disappears inside of it...

Well...uh...

However, their plan worked, the beast was driven back...but instead of dying, instead of being driven into heartless...it...

Shrunk? A blade?

Angantyr doesn't waste time, he jumps, leaping towards the weapon, ignoring Rhiannon, and driving his keyblade down right at the new weapon forged.

He tries to break the sword with his own keyblade, trying to destroy the beast once and for all.

Maira has posed:
Maira gasps, hand coming up to cover her mouth for a moment as she watches Chita be swallowed by the beast then disappear into darkness.

She runs over, then, eyes on Rhiannon as Angantyr goes to try to destroy the blade.

"Where has he gone? What happened?" she asks Rhiannon, still very much on fire and ready to take on Rhiannon.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra had been mostly support at this point yet she's been very stunned this has been bad even for how things have been. She can only stare in shock and a good deal of horror. Why? It's due to Chita's action and she's left at a loss for words as he feels himself to the beast. She takes a step abck and stares, what might be birthed from this? The Gargyole has no idea.

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Angantyr wastes no time and diving forward, bearing down onto the black sword. The impact created a shower of sparks. Small chains of red lightning scattered in various directions, just missing those present as it ran up walls and along the ground, leaving a smoking trail.

But in the end...after the smoke cleared, the curious looking implement remained...not destroyed. "Oh my, so eager." Rhiannon drawled out, palm remaining against her cheek as she glanced back at the results. "You won't be destroying that with a simple swing of your key now. You will have to try a bit harder." An amused chuckle escaped from the scientist then as she glanced Aerith's way.

"Loss of lives? Please. They were not collateral." She explained casually, reaching out and picking the sword that Chita was just drawn into a moment ago, studying it. "Rather, their lives were...intrumental to the process. They are serving the greater good. The pursuit of knowledge."

Maira is given a look after and Rhia just smiled. "Him? Oh, that fool should currently be wandering the Realm of Darkness. A fitting price for blind heroism, wouldn't you say? Mhmhmhmhm~" And another giggle to top it off. She wasn't sorry in the least. This was all data and knowledge to her.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr levels a stare at Rhiannon.

He doesn't respond...he can do this, but he needs...

More strength, he draws upon his vast wells of power, trying to draw upon more strength.

And then he swings again, aiming to drive his keyblade again down, aiming to try and shatter the weapon, aiming to break the thing here and now.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith's fists tightened around the staff, but otherwise she remained indifferent, her tone even and level. "I think I'm starting to see what this is now..." Her eyes narrowed. "You're just like everyone else you work for. You just don't care what happens, as long as you get what you want." She looked around at the devastation. "No knowledge... is worth this."

Maira has posed:
Maira steps forward, leaving Angan to do his work on the sword. Hopefully, that will succeeed.

But Maira? She isn't going to talk to Rhiannon anymore. She simply walks up and smacks Rhiannon across the face. "You are a monster! A monster worse than the one you created!"

Deidra has posed:
Deidra eyes turn red as she hears Thiannons' wrds she stares at them and moves to press the record fucntion on her tablet tombe as she just has enough presence of mind to record this for later use. She does not seem happy she does not seem happy at all about this. She's not ranting at her but it's clear she's sickened bty the whole affair she trust Angan to do hsi work on the blade.

"She doesn't care what you think Maira. There's only one way to effect her..."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
"And that, my dear, is where you are wrong." Rhiannon countered Aerith, waving the sword at her casually as if it were a teacher's pointer or something before setting it aside. "Throughout history, mortal beings have only ever accomplished great things, reached new heights, advanced their civilizations, through the effort of those who will go where no one else has. Who will do the things that others refuse to do."

"People are growing stagnant. They need to evolve. They must evolve. Or else, they will be left behind in a world that no longer needs them."

Angantyr gathered his energy and took another swing at the black blade, to try and shatter it. There is another clash, another shower of sparks, but it seems like there was actually an effect this time. Cracks began to appear along the surface, bleeding red and dripping to the ground. Then something new happens. The blade began to distort, morphing into a grotesque set of jaws with a handle. The creepy weapon let out angry howl as it began to melt down into a black puddle on the ground, and then slowly sizzle up into nothing.

What followed what a flash of light, and a veritable cloud of 'hearts' drifting upwards and away...

And then Maira happens. Rhia made no move to dodge and the girl smacked her across the face. Her head turned with the force, but after a moment, she just looked back and smiled still. "How cute. Do you feel better now?" She asked, eying the display of hearts drifting up and away. "Well, I suppose that marks the end of this experiment. A shame, I wanted to do so much more."

And then there was the matter of Chita.

"Hrm, you should probably worry about getting your rabbit friend out of the dark depths he so foolosihly threw himself into, hm?" The scientist glanced at the time on a cellular device of some sort, nodding to herself. "Alas, it's time for me to go. Ta ta~" And she turned and walked off, as if she had the right to just leave this destruction behind.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith watched as Maira sauntered up and gave Rhiannon a good piece of her mind. And her hand, at that. But for all she knew, that wouldn't work. Monsters... did not listen to reason. Monsters didn't think, they didn't feel, they only hungered. Rhiannon wanted her data and to 'know', but what horrible knowledge did she seek? What would it take before she was satisfied?

A far corner of her mind knew the answer. She wouldn't ever be satisfied.

And those words proved it.

"And you would be the one that does this... by doing /this/?" She finally started to lose her temper. "This is how you would have us evolve... how everyone has to grow and change?"

But no, she was gone. Leaving.

She glanced toward Maira. "She's right about one thing... we have to find Chita and get him out of where he's been sent. I can't sense his energy anymore... but that doesn't mean much in a place where so many worlds are mashed together."

She glanced toward Rhiannon as she made her exit. "One thing is for sure... we have to do what no one else will. she's acting like she can just do this again, and she might be right. We have to finish her next time."

Maira has posed:
Maira glares hotly (which is pretty much the only temperature she has) at Rhiannon.

"We will stop you. I don't like to see people die. Not even people like you. But if you keep going like this? You'll be killed--because /we will come for you/. You are not better, you are not a daring leader of humanity pushing us to new horizons. You are /insane/. You are sick in your soul...and when you are destroyed it will be no one's fault but your own."

Maira looks to Aerith then, frowning. "You'll go after him then? I...can't," she says, beginning to let her flames die out, gesturing off toward where she's tossed that sheet she'd brought with her, wrapping it around herself once she's no longer concealed with fire.

She's been asleep like, twenty minutes ago! Sheesh.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "I will. But I won't go alone." She glanced around. "I'm sure there's someone here that's resistant to the effects of that place... mostly tall, dark, and heavily armored here." She smiled toward Angantyr. "But..." She turned toward Maira. "...I'm not even sure Chita will want to come back. This is probably part of some plan of his."

What plan, she wouldn't share. Besides, that was over... the Black Beast was done, gone now. She hoped.

Then again, Rhiannon could always start another... just like Chita suspected she might.

If she could just make another one and destroy everything like this...

Aerith shook her head. "I don't like having to choose between two dangers, knowing either one could be bad for everyone."

Maira has posed:
Aerith thinks Angantyr would go with her to get Chita?

Maira almost laughs out loud.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith glanced toward Maira, an eyebrow raised. "Lemme guess... those two are not the best of friends." She didn't even have to put that to a question. "Give me the short version, then. I'd at least like to know why I'm picking someone who the Heartless find more edible."

Deidra has posed:
Deidra put a hand on Maira's shoulder she knows her friend isnt' so well off the thought Ang would go after chita? Deidra can't see that happening to be honest. She has a good idea of what Angantyr things of them. She's honestly got no skill and going after them may just feed more people to the darkness at this point. If something is to be done someone else will have to be talked to.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr shatters the blade, hearts fly out of it...a blade...made out of hearts? His eyes narrow, but not before the mad scientist made her way out.

However, Aerith asked something hilarious. Angantyr laughs, loudly, "To the nine hells with that fool. Nothing he did helped today, and has done NOTHING but aid the forces of darkness. If anything, this is probably a boon to us. If you want to save him, do so on your own. I, however, have to deal with a giant world sundering dragon." he moves to place his cloak around Maira.

Maira has posed:
Maira sighs heavily. "I'm sorry Aerith. I can't go myself, and I wouldn't ask my friends to risk themselves...like Angan said, Chita has worked against us time and time again. The first time, even the second I understood...but..but I can't ask anyone to do this. I'm sorry. I know you will find others to go with you, and I do hope you find him--and I hope when you do, that you can talk some sense into his head. But like Angan says, we have to deal with Shinryu--and I have other things I /need/ to do so...good luck Aerith," she says.

Maira pulls the cloak around her and looks up to Angan, flashing him a brief but undeniably warm smile in thanks for the gesture.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith shook her head as she turned toward the remains of the blade. They were right... with his trying to help Rhiannon and redeem everyone he met, it wasn't a difficult leap to assume he was on the wrong side, no matter how much she really knew about him. They made sense.

It was better that she leave him alone for a bit.

"Need to do you say?" Aerith turned toward her and smiled. "You know what? Maybe I can help with that." Yes, it was better this way. Let him work whatever plans he had. After all, it was what he wanted.

"Tell me what's going on?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Chita! No!" Mercade yells as the Viera offers themselves. And then they are gone. It is too late. "Damn..." Mercade grimaces as the Keyblade reappears in his hand in the aftermath of the Beast's destruction, and then... The blade.

Mercade looks down at the strange, malformed weapon lying on the ground, and then he sees Angantyr raise his weapon. "ANGANTYR! DON'T-"

But it's too late. Mercade watches the Black Blade shatter, the Hearts floating up into the sky...

"Huh. Just like that, huh?" He says, and then leaps down from the building, stepping towards Rhiannon. "So. You did this?" He asks, and then sets his shoulders, as if preparing to deal with an unpleasant task. "Where is Chita?" Mercade yells after the scientist woman, who is already leaving. "Don't you have any sense of responsibility whatsoever? Do you think you can just walk away from all of this?"

Maira has posed:
Maira blinks. "W-what? You aren't going to go after him? But isn't he your friend?" she asks Aerith. "Sure it was his plan but its a completely suicidal plan!"

Maira looks to Mercade, hoping for assistance here.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade looks back to Maira, and shrugs. "If Chita's going to get any help at all, we need to know where he went. I don't know what happened to him. For all I know, he might be..." He gestures after the cloud of floating Hearts.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"The Relm of Darkness...Mercade." Angantyr shakes his head. "He is as good as lost, and that place is not one for us. Even if you could get there, getting out is impossible. Save for someone who can traverse such places...like Garland, or a shadow lord of no small power. You might as well beg them for a pony."

Rhiannon Zellen has posed:
Not only does she think she can walk away from it all, she's actually doing it. She'd already told the others where Chita foolishly let himself get sucked into. She had nothing more to say. And before long, she turned a corner and waltzed out of sight.

"...Today's experiment was a success." The scientist mumbled to herself, opening her laptop and perusing the data she'd gathered from the fight. "...The next experiment will be all the more intriguing with this data. No doubt about it. Mhmhmhm~"

Her giggles was all that was left, carried by the wind as the people of Narshe began to leave the mines, to check and see if everything was safe.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"... That woman..." Mercade shakes his head, and then sighs. "Evil science is immortal." He shakes his head, and then looks to Angantyr. "The Realm of Darkness, huh. And you say that the Shadow Lords can go there?" He thinks for a moment. "It might not be a pony, but I wonder..."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
"Sufficiently powerful ones, I think." Angantyr says, "It's how I met Garland. I accidently threw myself into that place...long long ago."

Maira has posed:
Maira nods, having suspected as much, swallowing hard. Angan confirms what she'd feared. "There is a way out of there...but will he find it? And if he does, will he even be the same?" she asks, thinking of Aqua.

Maira pulls the cloak closer around herself, extremely ill at ease with anyone being lost in the darkness, nevermind someone she knows and cared about.

She looks to Mercade questioningly before channeling a bit of healing out to anyone who got hurt. Maira is surprisingly fine for once! Nice change of pace there.

Maira has posed:
Maira blinks, looking back toward Angan. "You did? You've got to tell me that story..."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "It is his plan. And it is suicidal. And maybe that's what he wants... to pay for what he's done." Aerith shrugged. "You know what? I'm tired of him pushing me away. If this is what he wants... I won't stop him. Besides, he's too stubborn to die." She looked toward Maira. "I'm more concerned about you right now. You said you had something to do... and I can at least help you."

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade squints at Aerith. "Is there something between you and Chita?" He asks. But he leans back and thinks for a moment, and then shakes his head. "I've got an idea, but it's not exactly optimal."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith decided not to answer that. Perhaps it was best left for another day. "I suppose I should hear this out. It might be an option for later." That was, if she ever decided to go looking for him.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
"Well, the idea is to basically find a Shadow Lord who isn't a complete douchebag and trade them something to help." Mercade explains. "The problem is I don't think there /are/ any."

Maira has posed:
Maira purses her lips. "Well...that /might/ be possible...if there is enough munny involved...."

"There is Warden."

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr laughs. He laughs and laughs and laughs...

And then Maira mentions Warden.

And then Angantyr laughs louder.

Maira has posed:
Maira looks up and Angantyr, then reaches to tug his hair gently while making this face :|

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr stops laughing. He pauses...he takes a long drawn out breath.. And then he starts laughing again.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade tilts his head as he watches Maira and Ang. With a frown, he folds his arms. "Poor Maira." He comments to no one in particular.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr pauses, looks at Mercade...

"Yeah, basicly." he says. To make the scene sys pick this up.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith frowned for a moment. So that was his plan? It wasn't exactly optimal, just like he said. A Shadow Lord at that! She could see why Angantyr laughed so hard, she almost wanted to do it herself. "While I can see the merits, there are more flaws in that plan than I'd like to risk." She'd have to trust Chita on this one. "Okay so... what do we do from here besides worry about a world-eating dragon?" She glanced toward Maira. "If there's anything I can do..."

Maira has posed:
Maira looks to Mercade, blinks. "Huh? Why poor me?" she asks.

Then she looks to Angantyr, confused!

To Aerith, she nods. "Hmm maybe. I'll tell you about it another time, k? Don't want to talk about it here," people could be listening! Or something.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "Okay, you let me know." She glanced toward Angantyr. Interesting fellow... she'd have to speak to him sometime, get to know him a bit. Maybe if he could explain what happened between him and Chita, things would make a bit more sense. But that was a conversation for later. "Is there any way we could contact each other, Maira?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade is asked why poor Maira. He just looks over to Ang. And then back to Maira. "Yeah." Is all he says on that.

And then he looks back to Aerith. "Well, the first thing you'll need to do is go to Fruit Village. Or where it used to be, and look into ways to fix what's happening there. Because for all I can tell, it seems like the World of Ruin is starting to slowly come apart at the seams."

Maira has posed:
Maira purses her lips, but eventually gives up on figuring this out.

She'll leans back against Angantyr. Good thing she doesn't get cold. She's not wearing any shoes!

Maira looks to Mercade, frowning deeply as she nods. "Its bad. Really bad."

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded. "Duly noted... though I doubt we're going to solve that one immediately. I'll see what's going on, though." She fished in her pockets for something... ah, there it was. She handed Maira a small phone. "See this? My number is on it. Call me if you want to talk... or /need/ to talk."