Baron Reminded

Baron Reminded
Date of Scene:	17 October 2013
Location:	Baron - Castle
Synopsis:	After her initial 'date' into Baron, Maleficent returns - intend on finishing the job.
Cast of Characters:	Nagetta, Avira, Deelel, Pumpkinhead, Aerith, Angantyr Vespar, Maleficent, Seith, Chita, Soan Sagittarius, Serah Farron, Malicia
Tinyplot:	Seven

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Maleficent has posed:
The city of Baron was home to the Water Crystal. The mystical artifact was a union of light and dark, of many magics made into one. Its tie to the waters of the world was now only incidental, though surely some fine water magic could be worked with it as a catalyst. This is not why the Shadow Lords want it.

Baron has plants from the Shadow Lords deep in its underbelly, something heroes had suspected before - and she could probably have gotten them to just HAND her the damn crystal if she asked, no one would miss it. After all, how many people see it?

Or indeed, the Sorceress could have, with some effort, wormed her way in and stolen it with no one the wiser.

Instead she had taken Garland on - well, there was no other word for it - a date. And they had faced heavy resistance together. Now she wafts down from the sky, inside an orb of green fire. Her staff, and her raven perched on her outstretched hand - are pretty clear signals as to who is arriving.

Then again, how many green skinned babes cloaked in stygian darkness are floating into your city on any given day?

A lot? You tramp.

The sky roils with a maelstrom of destructive force. This isn't some magic the Dark Fairy is working. This is the world objecting to her being here. The Crystal half welcomes and half rebukes her presence. Her mere arrival made it a few shades closer to dark purple.

She begins floating through the streets of Baron, toward the castle.

Citizens here are familiar with martial law - they get into their houses and shut the doors. Most things that get in her way would simply dissolve, including doors and soldiers.

She is smiling a small and constant smile. When she was here last, she planted a seed in the defenses around the water crystal. They shudder at her approach, having been changed by dark magic and imbued with a new purpose.

Even the reflective, magically protective crystal chamber would not stop her today.

"I have come for the power you are allowing to lie fallow. You have no need of it any longer."

Her cloak moves dramatically in the breeze, because it is that kind of day.

Pumpkinhead has posed:
"Welcome to Baro--OOF!"

"MAKE WAY FOR THE GREAT DARK QUEEN MALEFICIENT, JERKS!" Pete yells, shoving Civilian #4 out of the way.

He sees another civilian who is not moving out of Maleficient's way fast enough so he runs forward and shoves them in the mud too. He seems content with the result. Then, because Maleficient is a lady, he undoes his cloak and places it over the mud even though Maleficient is floating anyway.

He looks around in case anybody else needs to be shoved into the mud.

Aerith has posed:
She was fortunate that she'd asked Chita about the last time she came here. Now she knew what she was up against.

It was still horrifying to see in person, like in Burmecia. But now she was ready for it. Aerith had a plan, and while she would love to see Baron humbled for their constant aggression to others, this woman being here, making this kind of show, was not a good thing.

She stood atop the roof of one of the city's houses, observing the sorceress as she makes her descent. Her intent is made clear. She wants what Baron has, and would tear the city apart, brick by brick, to get at it.

Who knows what other traps she has already? Surely she had a few, otherwise she wouldn't have kicked in the front door like this.

Then another arrived, and his voice grated on her nerves. She ignored it and watched from her position. "I can't let what happened in Burmecia happen again," She muttered. "We have to stay calm this time, however justified attacking her is now."

Seith has posed:
Maleficent is not alone. A certain someone had heard of the presence of a particular female heroine amongst Baron's defenders during the last trip - and he certainly will not let this chance go by. A man who is certain that there will be a chance to attain more knowledge. But what's more - to test the heroes of the future.

As Maleficent floats down from the skies, not to far from her is another presence. Rather than green flames, this one is simply covered in miasmic blacks and the darkests of purples. His path is slightly different from Maleficent's - failing to have an immediate aim for the crystal's chamber. Instead, his seems to sway around like a bee trying to signal for honey, swirving around and then ducking along the main road.

Finally, the man lands. And with a mere wave of his hand, two massive heartless appear next to him. Black panther heartless, carrying the standard Heartless symbol on their foreheads. What follows is a group of heartless that then proceed to swarm beneath him, and lift him up in order the carry him further into the town. He doesn't need to float, or even to walk. The Heartless do his job.

On occassion, he swings his hand to the side, sending one of the Heartless Panthers at any soldiers or civilians he spots. He's /clearly/ making himself a target.

Nagetta has posed:
Well, Nagetta had managed to make to Baron. She wonders if she'll finally run into her father here. Of course he would likely be too busy to say much. It gives her another reason to try and defend the city though. Hopefully, no one would mistake her for one of the attackers, with the chaos going on now's exactly the the best time to be a lamia. Still it was her duty to protect those who needed it.

Serah Farron has posed:
On top of the battlements of the castle, a small figure, a girl, sitting there. Small because she's not very bulky, she's actually quite frail looking. At least, that's until trouble peeks up, but regardless. Pink haired, somewhat wavy in a pony-tail over her left shoulder, kicking her legs as she watches over the horizon...

And... well... a foating glowing green orb like that, its rather hard to miss when it arrives.

The figure stands up atop the stone slabs that form the castle walls, and then jumps down the side of it. Yes, its very high. No, she wouldn't have done this before. But being a l'Cie does offer a few boons, even if it doesn't show physically. A rather soft landing, with her light body weight, despite the height she just fell from... and barely touched the ground that she's sprinting toward where the orb landed at. She's sure it will be trouble, she heard about the 'invitation' that the sorceress gave herself.

She comes to a stop, with a bit of a skidding, her boots leaving a mark on the ground, as she almost tips over with her own momentum, accompagnied by a light-sounding 'oopsie' as she waves her arms to get her balance back, almost comically.

She pokes Aerith with her elbow "So uhm... who is she?" She's half-serious in her question, but she also does that because Pete just said it, and he looks lik the kind of person that would react to that kind of comment too.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith nodded toward the woman. "Maleficent... is the leader of the Shadow Lords. Their general, so to speak." She glanced behind her. "Good to see you, Serah. I figured no one else would be here, after what Baron had done to everyone." She turned to see the Heartless flooding the streets. "Cover me. I'm going in."

She lifted her staff and rammed it down onto the roof with a sharp crack. Serah would feel her spirits rise and her courage surge forward, just before Aerith leapt into the fray.

Avira has posed:
Avira was pretty certain that Baron was in bed with the Shadow Lords. She /clearly/ remembered them helping that Jafar guy try to get at Jasmine in Belamb Gardens about a year or so ago. Though maybe over the course of that year, something had gone awry. Maybe Baron turned out to not be as useful as they expected?

Nevertheless...they SHOULD be more prepared right now, shouldn't they? After that pre-attack/date a few weeks ago, right? High alert? Could Baron's army really stop them? Well, after Avira's experience in Manhattan, she's figuring 'no'. Which is why instead of standing in the streets, lending her defense against a city that didn't exactly welcome her anyway, Avira's gone to take a different approach.

Almost a year ago, Avira was an unwilling guest of Baron castle. At roughly the same time, Mercade and Mickey had infiltrated the place via passages through the sewers beneath the castle. Avira had made her way through these sewers and inside the palace. Her progress had been slow because getting caught right now would be bad-though soon Maleficent would come and the guards would be very distracted. Which made for the perfect opportunity for Avira to execute a stupid, stupid plan.

The plan where she sneaks in and steals the water crystal away before the Shadow Lords can get to it.

Chita has posed:
Chita had, of course, come back here to get something he had left. The spears that were lost in the panic. It had taken quite a while to walk around Baron, slowly, find people who knew about such things. Where lost items were kept, whom had them and so forth. Prove they were his. A good part of the day. And yet, it'd worked. Here he was with all three of the spears he had purchased before.

He'd left Aerith to her own accord... and as luck would have it, that dark storm came over again. Even though he couldn't see, even though he had a blindfold over his eyes, he could feel her presence. He'd been around her a couple of times before. That shiver that ran through him from the tip of his ears to his toes. "Damn... why again."

Then Pete starts shouting.

Huh. Sounded familiar. The Dark Queen Maleficent? So that was her name. Chita hadn't actually heard it yet that he recalled. He had to try and stop her. Somehow. But what Aerith said before was nagging at him. What could he possibly do alone? What could he do against her to begin with? The blinded Viera hesitates on doing anything before another shiver ran through him and he took a deep breath. He had to do something. Had to... but blind as he was, with the panic going o-whoah, someone knocked into him and he wound up wobbling back and to the side, back pressing against a building as people ran past him to get away.

Malicia has posed:
Evidently, Pete's chivalrous gesture did not go to waste when a large clawed foot stomped over his jacket, spraying mud in all directions.

"Why thank you." She smirked. "Malificent, hmm?" Her eyes follow the floating figure curiously.

So far, Malicia has only heard of the dark sorceress by name and through Negaduck's snide comments. But talk is cheap. What was this woman truly capable of?

For now, she would watch, and wait.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr looks up right next to Avira. He can feel it.

"Plans changed. Go on, I'm going to stay here. If you get into trouble call me." Angantyr immediately turns from Avira, inside the castle, and uses a portal to go from where he is...

To directly infront of Maleficent and Pete.

"Hey Pete." Angantyr says casually to the head minion. "What are you doing here? Failing at kidnapping princesses? Bumbling around?" he ays, with a slight grin, and looks more seriously towards Maleficent. Without words, the keyblade, The Tyrant Breaker, comes to his hands. Dark and light metals weave around a jagged and deadly looking thing. This is a Keyblade made to destroy the heartless, as he was trained to destroy.

"You're not crossing this line." He says, and makes a line in the sand...or rather, floor, stepping foward to try and block her advance. "Whatever you're here for, you can't have it."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel had known that Maleficent would be returning to Baron once more. She'd kept an eye on it though the fact the nation had been in league with them once? Hinted to a falling out between the evil that controlled the nation and Maleficent. How it happened? Deelel does not know but what she does know is they have to somehow stop them. The Dark Fairy is powerful, more so than even LEXUS as she's coming to understand, she truly is a user space virus.

She's thankfully not alone today as she's making with Avira at this point making her way with her friend. She was on board with the idea to get the crystal and get the hell out while other bravely distracted assaulting shadow lords. She's clad again in her cloak and with her masked helmet up, her circuit lines are dimmed as much as possible and she continues on trusting in Avira's knowing the way through this place.

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent looks down toward Pete, as fondly as her magnificent personage is capable of. Which means we are talking nigh-Diablo levels of affection here. The cloak gesture is noted, and if she did not hide her hand with cold evil ladylike grace, one might imagine the edge of a smile creeping out. But there is business...

Her awareness spreads through the city. Eyes close, and the dark fae feels for tendrils of influence. Just magic - she sees Seith's darkness, but does not focus on it too long. That warrior does not need her hectoring to do his job well. It will be handled, and he has his own missions. One does not manage the Shadow Lords without a healthy respect for the side projects of peers.

Though she thought of herself as first among equals, Maleficent was not one to order people into battle alongide her. Those, like Pete, who tagged along, would be noted for their usefulness, or punished for their failures. It was really a very passive system outside moments of explosive rage. Then that girl steps on the jacket, well, at least Pete is being appreciated. Maybe those two will settle down. Maleficent considers playing matchmaker - wait, is Pete married already?

The awareness spreads. The protective magic on the crystal chamber, arguably older than the city itself, following their target. With her little corruption, temporary as it is, allowing her power to flourish even when she makes an assault on that place.

Aerith is familiar - she marked that woman's power undoing Maleficent's deathcurses not long ago, and the boy had lived. On some level, Maleficent knows when someone survives a curse of that magnitude. When the magic goes up, the sorceress turns her eye Aerith-ward with a tight-lipped smile.

And somewhere, that Dusk Princess, still marked by the magnitude of her magic. Oh well, it was not for Maleficent to pursue her. Others had that capability and intent - Maleficent heads straight for the crystal room.

Angantyr, keyblade in hand, stands before her. She begins to glow with hot black flame - every inch of her is green and pulsing on the edges, black to the core. Her cloak becomes a thing of stars and night. Her bird vanishes to the safety of a portal, though he can take care of himself. She begins to float slowly forward, intending to go past Angantyr, touch the wall of the castle, and dissolve it by her touch.

Under the city, Avira and Deelel have a head start, but she is going by the direct approach. Her eyes glow purest green as she locks them on Angantyr. She deigns to touch the ground, actually, but she is still walking forward. Maleficent lays one hand on Pete's shoulder, pointing in the general direction of Chita, and then pointing in the direction of Aerith and Serah. "Take your choice, and some Heartless." Her smile is not kind, but her order is swift, dismissing the man at arms to handle others. The Tyrant Breaker is face to face with a Tyrant.

"Boy." She addresses Ang curtly. "Behind you is my destination. No line you draw can halt me. You are an annoyance - annoying enough that I now dismiss you: go. But lay your blade upon /me/." She draws up to her considerable height, the green orb on her staff pulsing purple for an instant. "And I will swat you, pest." The smile returns, and she begins walking forward on foot, the power beading off her is palpable, she is one hell of a target to anyone who can see her, and her movement calls the wielder's bluff.

Seith has posed:
The armored elf continues along the streets of Baron, carried by the Heartless, and soon comes to move upon the heroes that are inevitably coming out of the woodwork. "Excellent..." The man mumbles to himself - but ignores them. There's this strange moment where the heartless that carry him climb against a wall, and the man just remains perpendicular to their bodies. Which means he ends up horizontal for a moment as they climb across some walls. He keeps his arms crossed. Those fools might stand in the way of Maleficent, but they will not for long.

He doubts they will succeed at fending her off.

It matters not. Much like Maleficent will respect Seith's actions, he will respect hers. He will not get in her way. Instead, he seeks. "Former Dusk Princess!" He calls out as he is carried up the walls further.

"I know you are here. Come out! We need to 'talk'." He really hopes that her fool boyfriend doesn't decide to chase him before he can get to his target.

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron crosses her arms, wondering about that sorceress. She hasn't had the displeasure of meeting her, but Aerith says she's bad news, so she'll believe that much. Well, more than what she can see and hear at least. She doesn't have a weapon to use, but she has plenty of magic at her disposal at least. And when Aerith gives her some of her own, she nods, and leaps off toward the others, those getting ready to fight against Maleficient at least. She doesn't know all of them, but its pretty obvious where people stand.

And ennemies of my ennemies are my friends, or something. Anyway.

As she practically zoom past the others, she taps their shoulders, casting defensive spells for them. Barries of blue and green shimmer around Avira, Angantyr and Chita.

Pumpkinhead has posed:
"That's right! You better watch your tongue, Grimdark Knight!" Pete waggles his fist at him. "Honestly who let you have a keyblade anyway? I remember when the requirements to get one of those doohickeys were actually stringent! Now it's like everybody and their favorite pretty boy's gotten one! Well it don't scare me!"

He crosses the line and starts slapping his butt at Angantyr, hardyharring all the way.

Avira has posed:
"Will do, Angantyr." Avira says quietly to her dark knight. A sick feeling gathers deep in her chest since, much like him, Avira can feel the dark fairy. For the first time she notices, since her encounter in Manhattan, that her presence seems to bring a dull pain inside her. Swallowing this discomfort, she presses on.

She does know her way through this place. While captive, she had taken great care to memorize as much of the castle as possible, originally planning to escape on her own. A confluence of fate intervened that day and things went a little differently.

Ahead, Avira hears the clank of moving guards and quickly ducks into an alcove, pulling Deelel with her. There is frantic shouting and the voices grow further and further away.

Seith, perhaps fortunately, goes unheard for now. Good thing too because there is no room for freaking out on a tactical sneaking and thievery mission.

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta notes the lack of attention she receives from Maleficent. Did she not know who she was, or did she believe that she was on her side? Maybe she could use this to her advantage. She would only get one shot at this, but if she could take out their leader it was certainly leave them at a disadvantage.

She slips behind a house not want to ruin the element of surprise. Suddenly out of seemingly nowhere she bounces upwards over the building with her spear pointed downwards at Maleficent. Hopefully she could manage to land somewhere safe after making impact.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr stands before Maleficent, even if she tries going around, Angantyr will stand to block her.

Pete slaps his ass at him, which is really disgusting, highly unsanitary, and /<GOOSEHONK>s/ him off. Angatyr turns, a dark streak, light is absorbed as he punches Pete right across the face, aiming to try and make him spin comically into something hard behind him. He turns back towards Maleficent, "I stood against Garland, if you think your words fighten me, Witch, then you had better rethink your opinion of Garland. The weak do not survive his service, even less suceed in surviving betraying him."

And then, Angantyr dives at her, his fist leading the way as he aims to physically strike her...but the darkness doesn't just hurt her, it litterally devours the magical effects she set on herself, aiming to shatter them, before he swings upwards, aiming to smash the keyblade right into her chest and throw her backwards. The Weapon comes down after the assault finishes, darkness starting to pour out around him. His armor changes, the darkness infusing itself with him, sealing himself inside, and the helmet's visor only shows crimson red.

"Besides, I see you are outnumbered."

Soan Sagittarius has posed:

"BY THE SKIES ABOVE THE SKY!"

There is little other things that mimics the thunderous roar of theses words, echoing far from above. The clouds above Baron parts, as an object plows through it, puncturing a clear hole. The cloud buldges from the 'impact', before separating into two distinct sides. The object, with remains of humidity and some ice, plows through the rest of the air with incredible speed, whatever little bit of water evaporating from descent.

Spectral Spear brandished, clad in the brilliant armor of the Servants of the First Children, the Dragons, Dragoon Man is headed straight for what he smelled to be the biggest stink of Chaos he's ever had in the entire world, second to another residual stench that he's felt a long while ago: Malificient.

Dragoon man is here, feet and spear aimed downward, entering in the best way he knows how.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith had no ideas that she would be able to combat Maleficent. Instead, she did the prudent thing and began to clear the streets of Heartless. Her staff glowed a pale green as she landed just in the midst of them and executed a full-circle swing, spiritual energies lancing outward on all sides.

Chita has posed:
As Chita listened and tried to figure out exactly what was going on, he slowly pulled one of the new spears he had purchased free and held it point down towards the ground. Naturally he couldn't see people pointing at him, or anything of the sort - but what he could tell was where things were by hearing them. Generally. Like distinctive sounds were one way or another. As soon as the last of the nearby folks had gotten out of the way Chita stepped forward and began walking carefully towards where Maleficent and Pete(and others) seemed to be going. In his right hand was the spear, the left the staff of sorts he was using to push along the ground in front of him to make sure he didn't trip. "Stop this madness, Dark Queen." He had no reason not to be polite, and that was how Pete had addressed her if he recalled correctly. "I have no delusions that I can best you one on one, but there are many here today... and whatever it is you are unleashing the heartless again for on this place you will not get. Not if we can help it. Save us both the effort." It was an attempt at peace, even though he had the spear raised, listening, waiting, prepared to move at a moment if he had any vague idea something was coming his way.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is not a creature of flesh, but there's a feeling of easy about knowing the dark fairy is around she presses on with her friend ready for trouble. She has no idea what might be waiting for them, she's come prepared having raided the resistance armoury in Purgos for several additional weapons she normally does not carry are attached they will give her and Avira options if they are needed.

She however is pulled aside thankfully by Avira and she keeps to over with her she says nothing keeping quiet as she hears the commotion and keeps her head down so to speak. She pauses for a moment using her audio pickup to see if there's anything else, she's also got the good sense to be mapping things on her HUD as they go. If they live? They will have a physical map of this part of the city which may be of use someday.

Seith has posed:
It would appear that a fool decided it be a good idea to assault Seith. The strike's spiritual energies crash down upon Seith's armor, and then carries through and explodes the Shadows that were carrying him. The two shadow panthers ducked away - leaving their master to suffer the impact, as well as the follow-through of crashing through the brick walls.

The man turns around and sets his gaze upon Aerith, and with one sweet of a hand, he draws upon the powers of gravity. Pebbles begin to lift around Aerith, before the power of antigravity attempts to lift her into the air. "You DARE attack me, you foolish little girl!?" The man demands to know - standing high up in that exposed piece of wall.

"You dare DEFY me!?" There's a crackle of purple energy around his hand, before gravity begins to twist at large around Aerith. The street itself begins to twist beneath her. Rocks lifting into the air, the ground warping. The very earth creaks and cries foul as space twists further. Space gets denser, as a dark hole opens up in the air and begins to /suck/ away the air around Aerith and tries to draw her into this destructive - yet temporary - zone of crushing forces!

At least she distracted him from his search.

Maleficent has posed:
Pete is busy being Pete. She does not begrudge him this, he makes a great distraction and his fine service has actually netted out to a positive. Sometimes she has to remind herself of this while pummelling a pillow.

Maleficent closes her eyes before the blows strike home. She allows every one to hit her. First, Nagetta slides in behind Maleficent, and her spear goes through the Sorceress' gut! The spear comes out covered in golden Ichor, not blood - but a substance that sings as it touches the air. Maleficent is not truly mortal, she doesn't pretend to be. Some frailties have been shucked off as she dove more dangerously unto the dark. Her smile is a perverse mockery of a grin. Her teeth are a bit too white, the whole thing is offputting. But as Nagetta lands somewhere safe, she can't see Maleficent running her hand over her "wound" which is not in fact even open. Her eyes are wide, and she chants as she steps forward right into Ang's blade.

Chita, even blind as he is, lands an attack home. If Ang stands perfectly still, Maleficent would walk into him - and the magic on her flesh would dive down his skin. It is a hungry magic, a thing culled not only from darkness but from an understanding of the limits of pain and grief. Though she was never human, she understands emotion - and she understands how much poison is in the human body, both magical and physical.

His blow may eat away at her magics, but they can be brought back in an instant, and nothing could ever reduce the true power lurking under her surface. "Garland is - different. I, am different. Where he is slow and ponderous, I ... am not. Boy, I will relish laying you low, now that you have shown your foolish pride it is a duty, as one wiser and more powerful."

She says this, grunting with effort and pain on the last word. Tyrant Breaker rends her flesh. She doesn't toss it off like she did before, instead seeming to welcome the unpleasant sensation. He punched her magic, and it /melts/, it vanishes. And it attaches to his fist.

If he wasn't very careful and very quick, the power would climb inside the warrior and remind him how much poison is in the human body, and how much can be added by someone who knows how. The same magic stuck to the spear when it was driven through her.

Soan's weapon jabs through her then, he surprisingly managed to land it. The moment this pierces her, white hot lightning zooms out toward him, her dragoon friend, and Ang, though it is somewhat haphazard. It leaves purple aftereffects.

She cries out the last word of her curse, which comes out completely silent, but that same magic tries to creep inside Dragoon Man.

It casts flare inside the human spleen. A fire to burn from within. Sure, as "hero" level individuals they'd survive the process but this is going to mystify the white mages. Even if they manage to protect themselves or push it out, this is a bending of primal physical laws -and it happened because they touched her when she didn't want them to. She hopes to drive that home with the look she gives. Maleficent attempts to take another step forward - if Ang does not move to one side or the other, she will walk into him again, and brush her NEW magical field, made of the same stuff, against the bold warrior of justice and the twin dragoons.

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron has already been on the move, but she can't protect everyone either. Yet her spells can help lessen the blows. That's what she's working at. But when someone gets hit badly, she's right there to support them too.

Like Aerith right now. It doesn't take long for Serah to realize what happened too. Her 'healing' senses. She can almost see the HP bars over everyone's head. So almost as soon as Aerith gets it, she receives a small rain of green sparkles, healing magic that she probably knows very well too. Spreading it over the wounds, she helps minimize their impact while Aerith is still fighting.

Serah as a healer doesn't do much more than this really.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith gritted her teeth as she felt the hand squeeze against her. She didn't figure that wouldn't go unnoticed, and she was right on the money. Fortunately, part of her plan paid off... Serah covered her, and she felt her injuries recover. "Says the one... who just unleashed a flood of Heartless... on people who didn't deserve it!" She grips her staff and unleashes a burst of light from her weapon. The goal? To get the hand to drop her. All she has to do then is... well, blow some more Heartless up.

Pumpkinhead has posed:
PONCH

Angantyr smacks Pete upside the head. He spins comically, as anticipated, and then shouts. "Why you!! Just for that..." A small crew of knight heartless appear at his feet. "Get that pretty boy!"

The heartless turn on Aerith and Serah.

"Boy, I said! Pretty BOY!" This doesn't work as well as one might hope as the heartless converge on the ladies. Oh well, Pete thinks, putting damsels in distress is part of his job description!

Chita has posed:
She didn't attack him! ... in fact, Maleficent didn't even RESPOND to him, as if she knew he posed no threat to her. As if she was mocking him with her back, with her silence. He wasn't worth responding to. She'd already kicked him around twice without even really trying. A sinking feeling came from the pit of his stomach, remembering the pain that came with the last time he tried. Chita took a deep breath and listened, waited, tried to figure out just where the other things there were. Not being able to see made it kind of a pain in the ass. He had to listen for her to speak before assuming the best option would simply be pounce on her from above. Avoid others. And, with any luck... silence her. He leapt high into the air before twirling the spear and bringing it down towards where her voice sounded like it was. She sounded taller somehow, so he imagined she was floating, or flying. Which is why he used the spear in combination with the other staff he had for walking to try and bring the shafts of the weapons down on either side of her neck, trying to catch her off guard. Catch her off guard enough that as he used the weapons to swing around his boot could connect with her throat, trying to silence her from being able to cast any more magics. He knew how mages in /his/ world operated and a good kick in the throat tended to keep them from fighting all too well.

Malicia has posed:
Between the stabby-stabbing that did not result in bloody death for the dark fairy, and the amount of pain being dished out, Malicia knew which side she was going to pick.

Sidling up next to Pete, she juggled a flame in one hand and called out, "If you need a hand with these rejected superheroes, just say the word~ it's been awhile since I've had some fun."

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta doesn't have a chance to see what her attack does to Maleficent but at least she doesn't get struck by the lightning. Just when she thinks she's safe she feels a burning pain inside of her she can't do anything about it. She cringes and loses her grip on her spear as she wraps her arms around herself. It's much worse than that time she ate a bunch of chili peppers. She's not even sure what a spleen does, only that it hurts a ton right now.

Someone had to do something about that magical barrier around Maleficent or else they would feel even more pain. The lamia's magic isn't the greatest, but it's still better touching her again. She gazes into Maleficent's eyes feeling darkness just by looking at her, still if she can her to bend to her will for a second it would help.

Avira has posed:
Avira is silent, still waiting as the last of the clanking of the armored guards disappears down the long hallways. Ever so slowly, she edges out and looks both ways. Deelel is motioned to come after her.

"I think we're getting closer." She whispers, reaching to her opposite hand to remove one of her fingerless gloves. She casts her hand out around her, letting her own ice magic start to gather upon it. When she swings her hand down the end of the hallway the guards just came from, the glow on her hand brightens.

"That way." she lowers her hand and takes off, slipping her glove back on as she runs.

Seith has posed:
Aerith's retort has Seith... silent for a moment. "Well... yes? I indeed do." There's a pause, and then a shrug. The girl is making very little sense. And when Pete decides to interfere, the Sorcerer drops his magical 'grip' on her. But only for a moment, before propelling the gravimetric sorcery in her area and attempting to literally launch her into the air.

"You bore me." The dark clad elf declares, before shifting gravity around and trying to literally force Aerith /into/ the ground, and wanders into the castle - trying to find Avira.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Specific magical attacks, called shots as a sort, are not precisely new. What is new, however, is someone attacking Dragoon man's spleen. From inside. In a less deadly situation, Dragoon Man would probably comment that reminded him that one time that Chaos Cultist, Rah-Zir Kanaki used his Chi powers to turn his internal organs into a slurry of internal civil wars of such, but being flared from inside-out rather put most of his attempts to say anything out of the window.

Snarling out with a scream that is partly human and partly inhuman, much like a roar, DRAGOON MAN is blown half-way from his incredible leap to land away, holding the massive hole that the Flare blew from inside in his armor. Fizzles of destroyed spiritual energies, crackles and primal forces is briefly visible as he stands back up, tall and proud, as his armor reforms itself. The glowing lights that serves for his eyes narrows, glaring at Malificient, while making the count of what's going on here. Once again, he leaped into a situation after smelling Chaos without thinking too much. It's what he does, sure, but the Mastermind Thief in him is chiding his rash actions.
"It is my understanding, Chaos Spawn," Dragoon Man intones, giving a smack to his reformed armor with his palm, brandishing his spear. He counts at least... two dragoons, here. Unfamiliar to him. It'll be time to meet them later if they get through this. "That theses differences are superficial. I could smell your stink of Chaos from half-way accross the continent. Do you ever wash?"

Dragoon Man leaps upward, his weapon glowing with a bright sheen of light. He rebounces off another off the upper end of a tower, breathing out a long stream of clear bubbling water. Water is not too much of a problem by itself: what is, is the cold that resides it, the will it have. As for the glowing sheen of light on his spear as he lay it down with a roar, it is a Chaos' Bane.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr curses as the power of the darkness and flames tries to eat him from the inside out...it hurts, it /screams/ to him in angony...if he had not survived Garland's training, he would be screaming and laid low...but he is not so easily cowed...but it does hurt, almost mortally, so, but he does not move....well, out of the way. It takes him a moment to stand again, his eyes blazing as he calls forth the darkness again, but the Keyblade seems to grow with stronger and brighter light.

And then...and then he /laughs at her. "Slow and Ponderous? You think he is slow and Ponderous?! YOU THINK HE IS SLOW AND PONDEROUS!? That is the /funniest thing/ I have ever heard! He is neither! YOU haven't fought him hand to hand, witch. /I/ know better..."

He cuts the laughter, as he narrows his eyes at her. "You've shown your hand, now it's my turn."

The Keyblade points into the ground, purifying where she touches to spread out all around. Slowly, he pulls the weapon out...slowly he points it up as he starts drawling the power of light, tempered by his own power of darkness. The two sing as one as his eyes blaze.

BGM Change: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfN8n4lH6pY

"TYRANT..." He starts, and swings the blade once...twice...

His body screams for him to stop, agony rocks him...but he still continues...

Three times...four times. He rains a flury of blows on her before...

"BREAKER!" he shouts, and thrusts the sword forward. A brilliant flash of light pours out from him, aiming to cut through her in a brilliant prismatic spray of light and darkness, aiming to try and consume her in a single powerful wave of energy.

Enough so that the wall behind her might need to be rebuilt.

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron isn't fond of heartless, but she's gotten used to some of their attack patterns... except that its not perfect of course. They are still dangerous attacks after all, as they jump around over walls and bounce over toward her, trampling her over and sending her on her butt on the stone ground. She oofs painfully too, but quickly rolls out of the way, her reflex still intact. "Don't give up everyone, let's drive them back!" She shouts out to the rest, sending more curing magic to cover those that seem to be hurting the most. Plenty of targets in a fight of this magnitude. Makes her happy she has this power, she's helpful.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is also still silent a she make to follow after avira as she makes the motion to move. She whispers back to her friend.

"I think your right."

With that she goes silent again moving to run, the wind trick is something a bit new to her she'll have to keep that min mind but she also notices the glow, Deelel removes a baton from her dide but does not yet activate it as she moves after Avira.

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent holds up one hand, a field of inky blackness surrounds her, linking itself to Pete nearby. "Be My Shield." she announces each word carefully. Pete would find himself suspended, infused with black power - and the subject of every harmful blow aimed at the Sorceress. Of course he might get a temporary high. And Maleficent would have the unpleasant sensation for a week of needing to wash her brain.
The two had fought side by side a surprising, nay disturbing number of times since this thing began. Had it been a decade now? Probably. Since she first set out from the Enchanted Kingdom and found him exiled in the dark. They were close. He probably wouldn't even flinch at this responsibility. The shield is gone by the time Angantyr gets to it - Chita lances and kicks, the blows transfer through the air like lightning aimed for the Man at Arms. Nagetta sends spells flying, and they meander over as well. Soan's strikes hit a wall that is unpleasantly fleshy and yielding. Angantyr DOES break the wall, leaving him face to face with the sorceress. "Oh, he is, he thinks in longer timeframes even than I, and deigns not to move. Not a critique, a commentary." Her comment is off hand. She takes the time to buff her fingers on her robe, even as presumably smoke is rising from Pete nearby. "That was bracing. Well, time to begin."

She bangs her staff on the ground. Fire leaps from the Sorceress and tries to eat the dragoons with their spears lancing into her and harming her cohort, and the keyblade wielder in front raining blow after blow against a contemptuous magical barrier that falls. She can't do that twice, and with that done, the staff slams the ground again.

The purple fire leaps and the orb on the staff turns purely black. It even answers Chita. "You are persistent." is her response. She knows he's there, even knows he answered her respectfully - as the moth respects the flame. And that is what answers his charge.

Pete gets double rations this week.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Maleficent casts a spell infront of Ang.

Angantyr doesn't even flinch, he punches her repeatedly.

And then fire spears rain down, he tries to deflect, but there are too many, and a few impale him. Thankfully, his allies are raining magical healing down on him, keeping him up as his own dark magic also infuses his body with Pete's soul.

Shudder...he'll need to stand infront of a shower for weeks.

"I wonder /how/ many times you can do that...but /I/ can keep doing this!" he says, and starts channeling darkness again, infusing his armor that has sense been shattered by Maleficent's repeated assaults, the abyssal armor taking form once again as he continues to infuse darkness into his form.

"Just because his plans are long lived, does not mean he is slow and ponderous. It just means he's playing a different game...instead of being an impulsive witch."

Aerith has posed:
"Is that so?" Aerith smiled as she stood there, his trick stifled by sheer force of will. It wasn't long before a Heartless charged toward her. She borrowed its services for a brief moment to send the dark elf climbing the walls a message. "Then we'll have to make this more interesting!"

She stepped forward and knocked the shadow into the air with an uppercut from the back quarter of her staff, judged her timing just right... then sent it flying into the back of his head with another wide swing.

Chita has posed:
Chita's attack was deflected by something large, large enough that he bounced away when he came in contact with it. Yet afterwards he flipped and pulled out his Judge Sword, throwing the large crystalline sword straight towards Maleficent, planning to try and use it to cleave through any magical defenses she has against physical attacks. The sword wouldn't cut flesh or bone, but would strip away a layer of defenses before vanishing in and of itself.

Meanwhile the Viera spin and loosely held both weapons in his hands as he fell back. Feeling the way they hung, he righted his body until it was the same as his spears being pulled by gravity and landed with a skid. Seems he had been thinking about ways to combat or defend himself while he was visually impaired.

Then he felt it. Heat, something screaming towards him. He'd experienced it enough before to instinctively flinch when he thought it coming, arm raised in front of him and catching it fully. Chita cried out in pain from the searing burning pain before he growled and returned the remark, "Yes, I am. and I will continue to persist until I can defeat you on my own! Until then, I will continue to be a single candle in a dark room!"

Who knew what that remark was about. Aerith would. If she could hear. Having been wearing a shirt and vest today, long-sleeved shirt, Chita winced and grabbed the burning sleeve, ripping it off his arm and throwing it away, one arm sleeved and quite duly burned. Still, he had enough presence of mind to once again launch himself towards Maleficent. "I will learn your darkness somehow, and in turn conquer it! Yield to us and leave now!" Aspirations, perhaps, as the Judge leapt back towards her once again with his spear out, fully planning to follow up with another sweeping blow towards where the sound came from. In truth he'd probably just be swinging at the air if the sound was carried by the orb.

Avira has posed:
As the battle rages on above, the race continues below. By the volume of guards and twists of the hallway, the Water Crystal is no doubt close at hand. Baron had clearly put a good deal of thought into securing it amongst the labyrinth-like halls. Eventually, their flight takes them right up to a massive iron door. It's obviously very heavy.

It's also obviously not unguarded. A pair of armored knights wait on the outside and those who had excellent hearing could hear even more awaiting in the crystal chamber behind the door. Their approach is met with pointed weapons. Avira quickly slows, lifting her hands in a disarming fashion. "Whoah, hey-! We'reheretohelp!"

"Don't come any closer, knave!"

"Look, hold up, hear us out! There's a big nasty Shadow Lord coming to steal this crystal and your defenses aren't going to hold against this one. /Trust me/. You haave to move the crystal right now!"

Pumpkinhead has posed:
"Er...you want me...to be your... Well certainly? Ah... just ... give me a second--"

But unbeknownst to Pete, Maleficient doesn't NEED him to actually stand in the way. Instead he finds himself lifted up into the air as DARK AGONY rips into his body. He screams, predictably as black energy rips out of his body--representing each strike and blow made upon Maleficient's person rips through his body, each one marking him where it had marked Maleficient. The black energy leaves no marks upon his body--

--but the pain is as such, he just curls up in on himself and starts sobbing. Generally speaking, getting whalloped by all that at once--the pain, doublefold--could fell far greater men than Pete.

Seith has posed:
A Shadow is punted towards Seith just as he's about to round the corner into the tower. And his only response is to glare at the thing for a moment... before it's caught in a tiny little gravimetric bubble that crackles and pops around it.

The little Shadow looks rather confused about its current state of people. Little yellow blinking eyes, its little hands up in the air... followed by a comedical flaling when the gravity-bubble pops.

"Do not taunt the master of gravity, child." Seith grumps at Aerith, and carries on inside, throwing about Guards as they try to halt him. Avira soon hears him coming her way. It appears that he will make the point she is trying to make to the guards - for her.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
That wasn't part of the plan, Dragoon Man thinks. Stunned for a moment, he pulls away his weapons with a wide look. Or, at least, as much expression an unmoving metal mask is able to convey. It's mostly the eyes, see. That ... poor thing? He's not sure what to call Pete, to be honest. He looked like a jerk, sure, but--

A conflagration of fire blows into Dragoon Man's face, sending him tumbling and rolling. His spear slams into the ground, forcing his body to stop it's momentum -- and using to vault himself right back up.

"Of course they are presistent. They have to be," He says, taking a deep breath as a screen of lights, formed like scales covers his entire body, as well as his draconic regeneration kicking in. He's going to need some strength before he can go full bore on this thing.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is thankful for those who are delaying the assault above, she manages to keep up with Avira and has her baton ready she doesn't move to make an attack upon the night as Avira speaks up.

"Yes we cam to help to keep them from capturing the crystal. We can keep it safe from her. If she has it she will be using ti to ends that will mean ruin to your nation, and it's people."

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron finds herself with much to heal during this fight! But with that many heartless, not to mention the bigger, badder bad guys there (mostly bigger with Pete though)... The pink haired girl keeps rushing along, trying to keep out of sight and harm's way as well. It never helps when the healer falls down first after all. Even if they are squishier.

This time its DragoonMan himself that gets on the receiving end, he seems to be fighting fiercely too, so it won't hurt to get some extra layer of help!

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta's able to see the flame coming at her this time and is able to coil out of the way in time. She certainly doesn't want to get burned again, her insides stil hurt. She takes the chance to recover her spear seeing how she's going to need in it order to fight. Her attention turns towards the sky and briefly it turns dark. A single star can be seen glowing. The lamia takes to the air once again, rapidly ascending upward over the town and to the top of Baron Castle. She lands on the roof before seeminly bouncing off it and heading towards downwards. She's travelling downwards with a great deal of momentum as she plunges downwards at Maleficent, spear first.

Maleficent has posed:
"Mmm-hmm." Maleficent answers Angantyr's commentary with just that. Oh, she's angry. She's incredibly angry. If his commentary was supposed to get under her skin he was extremely successful - to the point she is squeezing her palms and bringing forth that strange oozing bloodlike substance. She is going to be tetchy at people for weeks. The counter-blows hit her robe and uncharacteristically seem to MOVE her. Her initial bravado is fading, and he is making an impact. He answers her inquiry: "Just the once. This spell, too, can be worked only once before it weakens. I tell you this because the knowledge will not avail you. Even reduced temporarily, the merest touch can kill."

A snap of fingers, and black magic writhes along the ground. "I will teach you darkness, oh yes..." is her singsong reply to Chita's brave comment. The boy certainly was getting a masterclass in every flavor of darkness.

Something like a whiteout happens - pure blackness, as if night existed for several feet around Maleficent, with shockwaves going further still.

An echo of pure power, the Dark Flare...

Under the city, Avira is very close to the crystal. Maleficent could get there in instants, but with this harsh opposition it would not be easy. She looks toward pete, and waves a hand.

A huge mob of Heartless pours from every conceivable shadow, and hangs out on top of Pete. They gambol and frolic but also form a very tough to penetrate shield. If he didn't get up, they would take him home where shadow magic and coffee could revive the poor man. He served his purpose.

Chita IS paid special attention - so much that the woman had forgotten to watch for the Dusk Princess. He is the best cover possible. Angantyr is a physical barrier, Chita is an aggro sink. Since Maleficent is not stirring or trying to escape, Chita manages to jab into her very deeply, but Flare zooms out of her into his face, the spell powerful enough to give him a double dose for daring to interrupt it. Nagetta comes down hard, piercing THROUGH the Ultimate Flare, and into the Dark Fairy. This hurts a bit, and she lurches forward, carrying the ball of hot dark power closer to Angantyr and his keyblade. She looks uncomfortable, but draws herself up resolutely. At least he is spared the visual effect!

When the smoke clears, Maleficent looks somewhat more whole and hale than she did before. Enough power flows into her to mend her a tad and leave the road from here to the crystal room wall open.

That's her intention anyway... she just needs to touch the wall. This thought looms larger than the other thoughts, but all is a fulminating cauldron of white hot rage now.

Avira has posed:
"That's ridiculous!" One of the guards blurts out, poking his spear forward at the scarred huntress and the program. "Why should we listen to either of you-!"

Avira holds up a hand, commanding silence, and looks behind her. The faint voice of Seith is heard, echoing throughout the halls from what feels too close for Avira's comfort. "Yeah, you know what, we don't have time for this. Sorry." With deft flicks of the wrists, Avira unleashes twin ice spells upon the guards. They aren't meant to kill, of course, and unstead knock them backwards and stick them to the walls beneath coats of thick ice. "Sorry! This is for your own good! You guys have no way to stop her!"

She rushes to the door and seizes the large bank-vault-like hand crank meant to open the chamber. Struggling, she motions Deelel over to help, ignoring the guards as they yell and scream at her.

In retrospect, maybe she should have iced their faces too. Then again, they might have suffocated. Hmm.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr feels the white hot power of the darkness flare, burning darkness and fire scorches him to his very soul...the darkness threatens to consume...but darkness can not consume itself. Maleficent can feel this, it isn't that Angantyr has darkness in his heart, it is that his very being exhudes the power, a natural affinity...no wonder Garland apprentanced the boy. With it, comes some sort of natural immunity to some of it's corrosive effects...

Like dying right now.

For his bravado, he knows that if this fight continues much longer, he won't be standing...he needs to stop her now, and Pete seems out of the fight, nor does she have another use of that spell she saved her <GOOSEHONK> with. He only has this one shot...they only have one more chance, before Maleficent bypasses them all, and he steps forward..

And he slashes. "TYRANT..." Oh god, he can do that again... He strikes at her, trying to drive her back, putting everything he has left into his blows. Once...twice...

He puts everything he has left into his strikes. He doens't know why she's here, he doens't have to know...he believes in the power of his allies...his friend to get the Crystal. All he needs to know right now is the power of his strike, and the weaknesses of his enemy.

Three...four...a renewed vigor enters his body, trying to draw the lifeforce of the evil witch.

Then the blade comes back, and trusts ONCE more, aiming to blow a hole through her with the power of light, mixing in with the power of darkness.

"BREAKER!" once more the ground shakes as he puts his entire being into the blow...

Chita has posed:
The attacks connected with Maleficent, with something, and for a brief moment Chita felt heartened. She wasn't invulnerable. She wasn't incapable of being hit... she COULD be hit, and he hit her. He HIT her. He hit HER!

Hope!

And then he felt a magic flood up his spears into his body and he was blown backwards into the ground, skidding and rolling like a bowling ball until he hit a pile of rubble, stopping right there.

"I'm so screwed this time." he laughed softly to himself as his bit of hope just sort of vanished. Then something happened. He remembered something.

Oathkeeper (talk)

Aerith and him sitting in a little hut on Bodhum beach. Not that he could see it, but he remembered the sound, the smell, the words she said as she reached over to pat his hand. "Here's what I'll do, then. If you ever need someone to remind you why you're still doing this..." She squeezed it again. "I'll be the one to do that."

Oathkeeper (talk)

"Right... thanks Aerith. I cannot give up." Chita slowly pushed himself to a stand and began to glow faintly, gathering all of his light in hopes that it would be enough. He began to glow, or rather, the area around him begin to darken a little as he drew the light towards himself. The light slowly channeled into the weapon he was holding in his right hand and he walked slowly and carefully towards the sound of combat. Yet he stops, no matter how badly he is hurt, and declares quite simply, "Dark Queen, as your minion has proclaimed - you claim me persistant, if I heard right." The glowing became more apparent as more light was drawing itself into him, "I am finally standing after you have attacked me. I have finally been able to stand up to your magic long enough to actually come for you. Come for you properly." His speaking was slow, measured. Especially since he was walking calmly towards her. "I am grateful. You have shown me just how weak I truly am... and how powerful you are. So it is my respect for you, and fear, that I strike knowing it would kill anyone else." All of the light in him sucks straight into the weapon he had in his right hand, the weapon looking like it suddenly grew twice as large, blindingly bright. Leaping high into the air, Chita descended straight down to where Maleficent was with the weapon and shouted, "THIS IS MY EVERYTHING!" and he silently prayed no one else was stupid enough to stand in his way, having tried to give others plenty of time to watch what he was doing before he did it. Which meant his attack was telegraphed fully to Maleficent.

A challenge to her. If she is so powerful and he is so weak... she has no reason to avoid his attack. He was counting on this as he attempted to throw the spear once, a projection of it flying out to try and pin her to the ground, followed by another for the other shoulder. The third and final strike would come courtesy of the actual weapon as he pounced down with it to try and hit her center mass, a giant explosion would follow, an explosion of all the energy of the three spears exploding outwards.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
This is clearly not a darknes that Dragoon Man will forget any time soon. Seething, his body pushed to the limit from the wrath of the Dark Flare, the Dragoon holds steadfast in the face of the magical onslaught. He remains standing through the conflagration, grateful for the magical aid provided to him by the pink haired woman, as well as his blessings granted by the First Borns. At the end of it all, the Spectral Armour is singed, darkened, blasted in multiple parts, certainly.

Dragoon Man still stands straight, spear at the ready, never using it as a crutch. Of course, this is only the outward apperance, practiced by a decade of training, since very young. Soan find his body aching, burning, pleading for a rest. His spirit mends whatever wounds they can, it's never enough, not in the fury of battle.

As Angantyr charges foward, as well as others, so does Dragoon Man. It was this man he smelled chaos from before -- while he didn't noticed immediatedly, he did not feel any on him at this current moment, so overwhelming was the Witch's.

Dragoon Man jumps up, somersaulting in the air, adjusting his trajectory in mid-air to home himself against Maleficient. A cacophony of metal follows his wake, his spectral armor giving their strength for the upcoming blow, shining their light the brightest.

"BY THE SKIES ABOVE THE SKY. BY THE JUDGEMENT OF THE FIRST BORNS, BEGONE FOR HERE!"

Using the pain of the last fight, his resolve, his elemental fury, the Dragoon crashes with all his might into the Witch.

Nagetta has posed:
Nagetta's caught by the flames but she manages to avoid the worst of it. Still, she's fairly badly burned at this point, her scales are peeling off due to the burns. Still, there's not much room to move around due to being close to Maleficent. She's doing her best to hang in there. Seeing how Pete's protecting her, she lashes out at him instead, wrapping herself around and biting.

Serah Farron has posed:
Serah Farron sees alot of hurting people now! And for a healer that's not a good thing to see at all! She's somehow managed to avoid getting under fire as well, so that makes it easier at least. Chita and Ang both get a hand on their shoulder, soothing them with healing powers. But when they look, Serah's already gone. She's gotten pretty fast it seems, getting more used to her L'Cie abilities, although she's not doing this unnerve anyone, it could happen when she does this.

She's mostly gotten this fast running away from heartless ._.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is about to say something else to the guard but she has no need as Avira brings u her hand asking for silence. She can ear Seith as he's coming in as well. He's getting too close. She frowns for a moment and nods to Avira her baton extends into a full out staff and she'll move in thankfully Avira disables the guards and she's on her way.

Seith, the Dark Fairy and who knows who else is coming.

She comes over to help banishing her weapon as she moves to help Avira opening it.

"Hush! You will have your crystal back later!"

She strains helping Avira to get the vault open, they can't wait for long and it's too thick for her to cut through with her light disc.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith found no resistance as she entered the castle, the guards strewn about like so many leaves in the wind. Oh this one was good. He'd even managed to knock them out, not kill them. Then again, maybe that was because he didn't care whether they lived or died. Didn't matter, he was too far in. More than likely going for whatever Baron had locked up.

She heard voices up ahead, familiar ones. One of them was Avira. Why she was here, Aerith had no idea, but if this one was headed for her, it would not end well.

She rammed the back end of her staff against the ground yet again as she moved forward, the strength of the Lifestream pounding through her as she approached the eventual end of the path of destruction. It would be a shame to just let him do what he wanted.

Then, outside, the oppressive aura from Maleficent... ceased. She'd felt it fading for a while now, but she wasn't comfortable quite yet. But now, it had silenced, for the moment.

Aerith glanced behind her right shoulder for a moment as she detected Chita, heavily injured but alive, at the center of what was once a sea of darkness, and smiled.

"I asked you why you needed to go so far... because I knew you didn't have to. Don't just sit there and let darkness be everything." She faced forward again. "Now then... let's deal with one last obstacle."

Seith has posed:
By the time Seith reaches the frozen guards, he feels he already knows what is going to happen. "No need to be so coy. You know there is nowhere for you to flee." He declares, before pushing his both hands out. Behind her, Avira can hear the sound of things crashing through walls. Those poor guards. The man continues to carry himself towards the two. That heavy armor is not just for show. It's actually quite heavy. And he's not floating himself around for once.

Arriving in front of the gate, with Avira and Deelel trying to open the door, the man pauses for just a moment. He looks at the program... and then Avira. And then suddenly he throws his hand forwards, trying to catch Avira and Deelel in the path of a massive wave of distorting space - one that is more than capable of also opening the very doors they are trying to open -- with brute gravimetric FORCE.

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent sighs, articulating her fingers on her staff. Another barrier forms - and this one bears the brunt of the attacks without faltering. Angantyr's blade shatters it, though. No barrier she has erected has lasted through more than one blow. But the smile is still there. Even when twin dragoons move to drive spears through her body. "That's enough." She begins to smoke. Signs of the Dragon Within rise to the surface, but do not emerge.

Except the fire. She is visibly harmed, weakened, and she falls through the ground into the sewer tunnels below in a gout of steam. A black portal opens.

The area around Angantyr is a bloodbath. Her golden ichor burns away into the air, a sign of the damage done, and where the blackness vanishes, tiny Heartless begin to run off - born from the dark magic married to her form.

"We will just have to try again next week, unless someone takes the crystal out of here... Oh!"

Faintly, she feels it being picked up, the dark power in the Crystal Room alerting its mistress. "Well, there is no use attacking Baron again, "heroes"..." she falls out of sight slowly. "Next, the wind crystal. HAHAHAHA...AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Pumpkinhead has posed:
"WHY DOES THIS HURT SO MUCH." Pete screams as he's engulfed by a dark portal. "URGGGHHHH I THINK I'M GOING TO BARFFFFFF."

He leaves a quarter behind.

Avira has posed:
Thankfully, with the two of them working together, the vault door to the water crystal chamber begins to turn and creak. There are voices heard again on the other side, a clear sign that Baron stationed guards INSIDE the chamber as well. It was a crisis after all.

The hair on the back of her neck stands as she hears Seith again, closer, and clearly messing with other guards in the castle. She glances over her shoulder just as he arrives. Before she can shout out a warning, the distorting wave of space hits and she's flung inward as the very thick steel door suddenly simply caves and bursts open like a punctured soda can.

Avira finds herself disgorged into the water crystal chamber as a result.

Within, of course, are half a dozen guards, now in disarray since they had been laying in wait at the door. In the very center is the water crystal. Avira inelligantly smashes into it.

Angantyr Vespar has posed:
Angantyr breaths heavily as the witch is driven back...he nearly crumples infront of everyone, but the witches words drive him to retain his composure..healing magic keeps him going better, but his wounds are pretty great. Even his own dark magic isn't able to recover them quickly.

Then he hears something from the Crystal room...and that Seith was there.

"There is another Shadow Lord...in the Crystal room. This we're going to have to get to by foot, I can not open a portal to a place I haven't been before..." He says, And turns...

...where...is the room at?

Deelel has posed:
Deelel knows Seith is on their heels now and she's trying to work faster, what is surprising to her however what he does is not expected. He orders what he is doing. She's grabbed with gravity. This is not an enjoyable experience for the basic, this is not at all an enjoyable experience. She struggles with it but sees that the door is being opened by force.

Deelel is lucky she's unharmed, but n ow Avira and her are going flying into the crystal chamber along with Avira, she's now looking at all the guards as she tries to get up. She does see Avira landed closer and she tries to get up.

"Avira, get the crystal and run..."

She powers up the disc as she knows there's very likely a fight, and she wonders how is Ang fairing right now? How are the others fairing as a whole?

Seith has posed:
The guards luckily seem to figure things out fast, and step out in front of Avira and Deelel. When someone in thick black armor and with horns on their head comes in - it's kind of obvious who the 'bad guy' is. Even by Baron standards. "Fools. You dare stand in my way!?" Seith demands to know. And a wave of black flashes forwards, ripping the floor of the room apart, racing at one series of the guards while he continues to approach Avira and Deelel.

"Give me the Crystal, /dog/." The elf demands, before glancing at Deelel in preperation for her inevitable throw of that particular disk.

Aerith has posed:
The answer to Deelel's question is soon discovered.

Three bolts of pale green force make their way toward Seith like a set of baseballs, aimed for his lower back. Behind him, seven feet away, stood Aerith, her features solemn and dispassionate. Her staff shone with the same energy, as if glaring fiercely at the dark elf. "Sorry about having too much fun earlier. I'll have to be serious now."

Avira has posed:
Avira sliiiiides down the side of the crystal, making a squeaking noise as she does. Angantyr is warned, though his response is less than hopeful. She's quick to stand and put her back to Seith as she wraps her arms around the water crystal and pulls. Much to her surprise, the crystal yields easily.

With the crystal in her arms, she turns to face Seith, "Hell no! You aren't getting this!" Avira charges Seith, her burden shifting to one arm, the other held forward like a quarterback trying to run down the field. Magic comes to her outstretched hand and the air within the chamber suddenly drops significantly. In short order that light around her hand becomes blinding and the cold nearly unbarable. Even Avira seems surprised by this, though she really shouldn't be. It was the water crystal in arm.

Seith has posed:
Suddenly, there's a meddling little priest girl once more. Her spirit-attack strikes the back of the Shadow Lord's armor, and clearly has him rather pissed off. He turns with this annoyed look on his face, scorchmarks on his armor where she'd managed to hit. "Why you little..." He begins, just when Avira begins her run towards him. He senses the intensity of the magic a little too late. He didn't underestimate the power of Avira - but he certainly underestimated the powerboost that the crystal gives her!

Her hand stretches out towards him, and there's a sudden loud CRACK as ice sets around the man - it's too fast for him to even properly react. His armor turns partially white as the frost sets on in, and the elf is frozen in place. He gets to stand there for a good moment, frozen, cursing Avira under his breath. He should have been more careful! "I will get you for this." He chatter-teeths while a small sum of heartless appear beneath him, pick up the ice-statue, drop it horizontally, and then suddenly run off comedically into the distance - carrying the Shadow Lord off.

Aerith has posed:
Aerith sighed and released her staff. It vanishes into pale green motes of light, with the occassional pale white in between. It was then that she gave a brief shiver at the colder air. "So that's what they were after... a crystal." She tilted her head to the right. "And that's one very strong aura around it. If it were in their hands, it wouldn't have been good." She looked toward Avira. "So... let me guess. You came in here hoping to get it before they did. Looks like you were successful."

Avira has posed:
Avira used Ice Beam!
It's super effective!
Seith was frozen solid!

"Consider this payback for Cosmo Canyon, /Seith/!" She shoots back, finally using the elf's name, calling into question where she could have possibly learned it. Once the frozen Shadow Lord has been removed, she takes off through the ruined door of the vault, motioning for Deelel to follow, "We'll meet up with Angantyr and he can take us out of here fast! Oh-hi-!"

She doesn't even pause as she runs past Aerith. "Yup that's exactly it and now we're going bye!"

Aerith has posed:
Aerith glanced toward her as she made her exit. Her eyes softened just a bit. They'd talk later. For the moment, Baron would be very, very angry with someone. But who was more in trouble, the Shadow Lords, or the ones that tried to stop them?

Aerith glanced at where the Water Crystal used to be. "I hope you know what you're doing." With that, she turned and made her way out of the vault. She had a reckless fool of a Dragoon to heal up.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel see that Avira is able to make some headway with the crystal and she ot her powered disc now but? Seith is indeed powerful and a thrweat in combat as he's able to control gravity of all things. She smirks as he seems a bit frustated as Avira freezes him for the moment. She can't help but lafe, and she may very well put that up online somewhere.

"Well now that was a good play, Avria. Let's get the heck out of here."

Deelel's movning to get out and hopong Avira will follow her up with the crystal and lead the way.

"Right, let's go then, later Aerith we're getting the heck out of this sector!"

With that she's fhauling bitmap right after Avira.