Manhattan Revisited

Manhattan Revisited
Date of Scene:	08 October 2013
Location:	Central Park
Synopsis:	Maleficent said she'd return to the city and she does in force. Two of the new keybladers rise with their companions to defend the city. However? Garland is waiting in the wings and their target is not the city but the defenders...
Cast of Characters:	Deidra, Will Sherman, Mercade Alexander, Avira, Maira, Maleficent, Garland, Shadow, Ulharisk, Alma Hyral

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Maleficent has posed:
It began when the city experienced a strange shaking, a kind of low-key tremble- a few items fell off shelves, and nothing came of it.

That was the force it took for Maleficent to push her way onto a world that was trying to reject the Dark Fairy. Maybe this place remembered her, maybe it hated her. But worlds were slow, ponderous things. They needed instruments - people willing to defend them.

Then the city's water all chilled and crackled - no amount of heating would make it warm to the touch, though it would not freeze for all the specks of ice in it.

That was when she erected the Shadow Barrier. A zone of protective energy fed by the Heartless themselves. It had a smaller purple sphere inside it. Elegant and robed, Maleficent hovers inside of this. Until the Heartless were decimated, the barrier would not fall. It would buy her enough time for what needed to be done - when They came. She had warned the girl directly, surely there was a close watch over the city. The black void would let people know.

Then, the clocks in the city stopped - all at once, when she slammed her staff on the edge of the barrier.

The Heartless rose. Wolf-like - specially forged Heartless. Not the purebreeds this time, but something Disarray had no doubt had a hand in. They shine with teeth like knives and bright red eyes. They move as one. They are different from the norm, but every bit as dangerous as any other Heartless. Darkness and fire chases them, and some of the trees are scorched around the base. Not on fire, though - these flames are for burning people, not foliage.

The voice is magically magnified, it rings out of anything made of metal, even coming from people's armor and blades - though a Keyblade would be immune to magic this weak - the voice comes from everywhere, in this city of steel and stone. "I gave you warning, days worth. That not all have evacuated speaks to your courage or your folly. Still yet, there is another choice - a girl was instrumental in undoing some of my work here, once, a year ago. If she will go with me, this can be ended right now, and I will forget this insignificant place and test my art upon it, no longer."

And with a smile, she waited with her hand on the staff and her eyes turned toward the roads into the park. The darkness is only an outside appearance, inside an eerie twilight light touches every tree and blade of grass with purple afterimages.

Avira has posed:
Warning had gone out days ago that a Shadow Lord was coming to assault Manhattan, delivered through Avira and Deelel. In the span of a day or so, Avira had been quite busy spreading that warning. Although almost a year had passed, the destruction of Manhattan was not something soon forgotten.

Avira is ready. She's already here.

She's already armed.

Avira waits and finds that she doesn't have to wait for long. Even before the shaking starts, she finds herself overcome with a strange urgent sensation she's never exDanger</span>' is what the sensation conveys. The ground shakes and darkness covers the city. The sudden shift in shadow immediately brings to light that strange silvery glow occasionally seen coming from Avira in the heat of battle. This time, there is no build-up. This time, it's just THERE.

A step is taken foward, ready to meet the heartless until that voice rings through the air, eminating from what feels like everything, including the Spine itself. Avira scowls. "NEVER! The TDA will NEVER let Manhattan fall again!" She screams at the sky. "MERCADE! WILL! DEIDRA! Let's do this!"

Ulharisk has posed:

Ulharisk normally would not come to New York, however something has brought him here. Mostly-- it was its library. He was hiding out amongst the books. Thankfully no one thought much about the guy with slight scales of his dark tan skin, wearing such odd cloths and having slight elf like ears. If anything many figured he was just a cosplayer.

Yet something caught his attention out the window of the library as he looked up from the book he was reading. Those violet, draconic eyes peered out toward the central park where darkness was starting to gather. Those orbs..

His eyes narrowed sharply as growled echoed deep inside of him. The Heartless were coming /here/. More heartless. More evil. More of Whe'ir's minions.

It was not shortly did Ulharisk actually volt himself over the railing and land down with simple ease on the lower floor, causing a stir of concern from those there at the library. "Stay inside and lock the doors." He states to the librarian in charge.

"What for.. and you can't just.."

Ulharisk quickly takes her by the arm and then points out the window. "You see that. That is why. Keep these people safe or you will have graver things to worry about." He then releases her and runs straight out the door, not even looking back to see if his words are taken with seriousness.

The young draconian leader quickly raced across the concrete ground. His hand coming out to his side as he drew magical runes in the air as he ran that danced with fiery blue light. Soon from those runes, he braced his hand inside the circle formed by the magic to have it encircle around his hand and then between his grasp a staff being made from the same enchanted fires. Creating the blue rod and shortly the very Glaive with red runes that glowed brightly.

He jumped up and ran across the side of a wall to avoid a walker, before flipping off and then landing up on top of one of the street lamps staring out into central park. He could feel the cold wind and sneered his teeth in anger at this.

Yet the Heartless, he could see them and that cause him to cease his snarl. These were different then the ones he had faced before. Their eyes were red, instead of the gold. The gold he knew so well against that void black of the bodies. Were these-- a different breed?

For now Ulharisk stays where he stands, waiting to see what was going to be played out here before moving in further. Unsure by the chillness in the air if he could truly even progress further. Though he does speak over the device he was given as his cape gently moves in the wind.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
From darkness, light.

A searing lash of light strikes out, whiplike, snagging onto one of the strange wolf Heartless and whipping it through the air. With a howl, there is an explosion of light and a brilliant arc as a Keyblade cleaves through the Heartless, detonating it in silent light and sending a glowing Heart floating away into the sky.

Mercade Alexander is revealed by the at light, a frown on his face as he spins the Twilight Seeker Keyblade in his hand. "You have more problems than just Avira, Maleficent." He levels the weapon at the horde of Heartless. He has no god damn idea what's up with the barrier, but he can feel the connections... And he has to deal with the Heartless regardless.

"Let's go!" He calles to his friends and allies. He drives forward, sweeping out with his Keyblade with multiple crescent waves of flickering reds and golds, lashing out at the horde that remains even as Avira bolsters them with her presence.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra had not been much on anyone's radar lately, the gargyole had been content to really? Just help with things that were not of earth shaking imporantce. At least till now when she sensed something powerful coming. When Mercade's warning had gone out? She was alrady starting to move, but then that voice, she remebers that voice, tht laugh from when Manhattan feel. It gets a growl out of the gargyole, let's be honest her eyes ar glowing red right now as she flying in.

"Never again."

Is all Deidra has to say as she drops in and alreadh has her pad out preparing spells her focus for the coming fight, she's going to do and she starts chanting in latin as she attemts to bring down a number of curses upon the heartless.

Shadow has posed:
There may have been warning, but not everyone was so willing to come and stand against the oncoming danger. Shadow wasn't. No gain. Coin motivates him easily enough-- and the going rate for this job covers his wanderings for a few more weeks.

The ninja is wearing a large trench coat with a high collar. The rest of him is still black, but it keeps the kids from asking him to do cool ninja cosplay stunts like backflips or summon real ultimate power. Whatever that is. The man sits on a park bench with his dog. Interceptor pants there like an easily amused mutt-- barking when the decree goes out. He looks generally disinterested as the chaos starts up-- heros and heartless. Villains and darkness.

Just another job.

Shadow stands up from his bench as a few heartless run by. He shoulders off his coat-- the flimsy fabric going onto one of the dark creatures as he goes to stab through it. Another pair of slashes come out as the creatures do their thing. Thinning the herd-- and keeping count for the payday.

Will Sherman has posed:
Malelificent can feel it.

Something... /Something/ shifts. It is a familar feeling, she felt this when Manhattan fell the first time, when Riku shoved every bit of darkness into a small child, and out popped a god who completely devistated everything. However, the form of the...high magical output is...the same small child Riku once betrayed. That her pet remembers when a magical reaction happened when Diablo bit him. His eyes, however...those eyes glare right through the heartless, right towards the source of them. He can see the lines of darkness, dark was her fate, evil was all that contained in her semi-mortal form.

And the Hatted King of the Hobos reveals one more thing about himself.

Loki and he have made peace with the other, they work together, using the same body, technique, and magical force to become some sort of...well we're not sure what, but it seems that his own being isn't strictly...human. Or maybe he was never human to begin with.

He walks forward, Heartless exploding (litterally exploding) Into Money as he dives through their ranks.

"You don't have what it takes, witch. Time to repay the favor!" he doesn't say anything else...not about his friend, right now the last thin he wants is Riku being on her radar again.

He falls right beside Mercade, dragin his hands through the lines of twisted fate of the heartless.

Maira has posed:
Ulharisk probably had the right idea. She should stay away. But how can she, when her friend are in trouble? When Manhattan is being attacking /again/!? If it were her world, her friends would be there. Danger be damned, right!? It is always something!

Maira had been in a music store, headphones on while she listening to a new CD, dancing in the hallway of the store--until she heard her phone. The headphones came off, words were exchanged, and Maira begins to run. Library, yes. The library is nearby! "Ulharisk!" she calls, running toward him like fireball, already alight in preparation to defend Manhattan. The clothes she was wearing have already burned away, though she controls the flames in such a way that they seem to clothe her, keeping her decent for the time being anyway.

It seems like a dozen Heartless turns their glowing yellow eyes toward her, hungry, moving in for the attack. Maira blasts them as she goes, casting her protective spells on herself and Ulharisk as she approaches.

Alma Hyral has posed:
Ice Cream.

It was one of those wonderful little things about Manhatten that at almost any hour, you can get find some streetside vendor willing to sell some delicious frosted treat. It was just another stop on her trip across the World of Ruin, one of those little journeys of self-discovery that a lot of people take when life's race throws them just one hurdle too many.

And hey, introspection might as well be delicious.

One lick, then another... a wistful smile touched her expression, it reminded her of a certain someone. And then.. shaking. Being the klutz she was, she lost her ice cream in the midst of it. Then a low chill, which caused her breath to become visible on the wind. "Oh come on. Really? Right now?" There was a groan, and a rolling of her eyes, like it was yet another 'villain of the week' attack.

And then came the magically magnified voice delivering her ultimatum through a nearby street light, which put a frown on her lips, "Oh that's, just, perfect." She knew Maleficent by reputation, and more besides.

Just as slowly and ponderously she came to the park. Hands in denim pockets, a windbreaker made of crimson, with a scarf around her neck and a mostly relaxed posture. The wolf-like heartless give her some pause, enough that she leaves the ground, and takes to the skies, as a yellow aura lims her body, hanging suspended in the air with her hands still casually inside of her pockets, as she analyzes the situation, breath after breath showing within the preternaturally chilled air.

Blowing onto one of her hands to ward off the chill, she turned towards the group gathering to fight the Heartless. "Alright, first thing's first..." She concentrates on several spells. A ring of tiny blots of radiant light appear around her in a circle. And then one of them breaks off from the formation, lazily listing off from the formation before landing in the Heartless' ranks. It becomes brighter, before going into critical mass and exploding into a brilliant mass of light before winking out entirely.

Taking off her glasses, and hooking them on her windbreaker, she then removes what looks like a shepherd's crook from her back, with a gem suspended in the midst of it by threads. Tapping the butt of it into the air as a sigil forms, the other stars suddenly move from around her into formation before becoming a translucent, animated creature of blue light whose legs clack along the ground. It looks not unlike some sort of celestial crab, a moment later it snaps one of its talons at the Heartless, attempting to crush its defenses.

In a mundane, entirely unmagnified voice she calls out to the imperious figure in the distance, beyond the throng of Heartless, speaking with an acidic tone. "So you're the dark fairy right? Riku told me /so/ much about you."

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent sees the Keyblade Wielder coming. She's not like Garland - the mere presence of light is not a problem for her, it is something to be scorned and it would surely burn her but she meets Mercade's eyes full on. She watches with seeming glee as the keyblade's lashes dissolve several of the beasts. They don't return, their screams dopplering off into nothingness along with unpleasantly organic sounds. But "friends" replace them quickly, slightly larger ones from out of the dark. The hovering sorceress does not respond with words, she simply stands within her shield - and cups her hands.

There is ONE light here that is uncomfortable to her, correction. Avira has a faint silvery power, connected to this place -the same power that tried and failed to keep the Sorceress out when her dark corridor opened. It was a little more active here. There was a reason for that. She'd suspected it all along, now it was time to put it into practice.

Deidra's curses don't take hold - maybe Maleficent and Disarray have hardened them a bit against magic this time. The dark energy pools by their feet and deflects the first spells, but there are openings - the entering warrior would find it easier to aim her spells next time, if she's paying attention.

At about this moment, Avira truly reaches the park area, and Maleficent speaks - she can see a silvery thread connecting the slightly-less-than-princess to the Heart of the world, wherever it is. "You did revive this place - you married its fate to yours, in a way." The voice is intended for Avira, Maleficent knows she is listening as all others must - but then the Fairy's attention stops. She ceases intervening to defend her Heartless, she takes her cupped hands and holds them up by her face. A matrix of violent purple light appears there. It is glowing silver at the edges, as if the same power which is overdriving Avira is trying to dismantle Maleficent's spellwork.

A rare sign of discomfort appears on her - the Sorceress has sweat on her brow as she stares at the orb of darkness like it was a puzzle box. She smiles, she's getting closer, but it will take a long time... Good thing she's so fo- "WITCH" comes Will's cry.

Maleficent's hands fly angrily apart, and the web of magic is disrupted. "DAMN YOU." she shouts, and the word is an actual dark curse - it reveals how much she remembers Will, how she curses him for what Diablo learned, for appearing there with power in his hands, for not dying, for many things.

When Maleficent damns someone, it tends to become reality -and the Heartless are supercharged as a bolt of darkness flies from her mouth and into them. They do explode, but their bodies reassemble in a way the ones Mercade struck did not, and then they grow larger and their dark power, wreathed in flame, drives for the Hobo King.

She breathes deeply, anger dissipating, and closes her eyes. When her hands cup, the spell begins restoring itself to where it was before the interruption.

When Avira moves, Maleficent turns in place, floating slowly to face her, wherever she goes, weaving the spell.

Then Alma makes the scene and mentions Riku. Maleficent holds on, the sweat intensifies, her eyes burn bright purple, but she speaks in a calm and happy tone: "Oh really? That darling boy. He is SUCH a good ally to us. Such a skilled operative."

A bit of her tongue is actually sticking out as she bites it slightly, getting the art in her hands just right. She would normally prepare this kind of spell in advance, but it had to be here. It had to be now.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
The problem is never beating one Heartless. The problem is beating all of that Heartless' friends. In the most classic sense, the Heartless use horde tactics, and their numbers are functionally limitless.

The Heartless strike back, driving into Mercade and slamming him down into the ground, painful wounds opening up along his body despite his attempts to defend himself. With a yell, he pulls his hand from his trencoat, revealing a shotgun which blasts with holy power straight into the wolf Heartless' face.

He frowns at the shape of these creatures. He knows well Avira's affinity with wolves. What is going on here? Is she trying to...

He grimaces, looking between what Maleficent is doing and where Avira is, and he shifts to try to stay next to her. He's got a bad feeling about this and Maleficent seems to be telegraphing something pretty heavily.

In the meantime, he continues pulling in other Heartless, trying to break up the horde by cleaving through them one by one, picking them off as much as he can.

Shadow has posed:
Well that didn't go as planned. The slashes don't do much to a supercharged heartless. This may be a shorter fight than he anticipated. Shadow distances himself from the main group. He is unable to avoid a majority of the attacks that go his way while making his own ineffectual.

The ninja slashes out to cut a line towards a place he can evacuate to while the heros do the heroics. With enough of a gap he tosses two bombs into the group-- mixing smoke into the air.

Ulharisk has posed:

Ulharisk looks over to Maira and notes her-- lack of clothing but covered with fire in the right places. "We really need to get you some fire-retardant clothing." He says with a half smile before his eyes weigh in the situation in the distance, including as Maira makes quick of some heartless that move in.

He closes his eyes and inhales deeply, before he opens his eyes once more caring a far more fierce look in them. "Lets do this Maira.. Together! FOR THIS WORLD SHALL NOT FALL!!" He points his glaive tips outward, before pushing right off the light pole with simple ease, flipping in the air and then bolting with sheer speed into Central Park.

Keep up Maira. Ulharisk is fast on foot.

As the Draconian enters into the Park he spins his Glaive into ready position, before twirling himself and slashing at several of the heartless that appear before him. Then coming down with an quick strike and then coming down low, before flipping around to bring the Glaive down hard in a cleaving motion. The red runes glowing brightly.

"Leave here now! YOU are not welcomed here nor your dark minions! By the name of my ancestor, I will see you and all those of your creed destroyed!" Ulharisk barks out at Malefiecent. Apparently not being very aware of who he deals with or the fact that his dear 'dark god' probably-- and most likely-- made the deal with the Shadow Lords and he himself becoming one. Oh well. Isk will figure this all out one day.

Alma Hyral has posed:
The fact that her attacks were so easily shaken off do give her pause. She is certainly afraid. In fact, sweat rolls off her brow as she considers her next move. But then Maleficent speaks. The calm and happy tone appears to stun her, as do the words. For a time she looks a little abstracted.. But then, she actually laughs, and laughs harder. "Really? You're going to go for /that/ gambit?"

The heartless attack, there's a hum in the air a blur of yellow, and she's suddenly elsewhere. In her place, is left one of the stars that once encircled her. But the heartless are just as fast, and they dodge the shooting star which fires their way. She's a few yards off to the side herself.

"I mean come on. I might have believed you if you told me you held him prisoner. Enthralled his mind.. Okay, that one's a long shot too but I could possibly believe it, based on your reputation." She lifts up a finger. "...but if you expect me to believe you're still cutting his checks in secret then you've gone mental, lady."

A soft white glow spreads over her, which she then moves out onto the crowd over Will as well. "To be honest I kind of pity you, mistress of all evil."

Avira has posed:
Throughout Manhattan, there are those who have not left the city. New Yorkers are a stubborn breed. Though they cannot see it from on the ground, all throughout the buildings lining Central Park, people gather at the windows, peering out and watching anxiously. Something in their hearts seems to compell them. Mercade and Will too will feel this strange feeling also.

They may remember that when the World Heart was being restored, the growing light asked for something of them.

Avira explodes into action alongside Mercade, the air shimmering in her wake. The Spine cleaves upwards, sending out a similar wave of the silvery-hued energy into a Heartless before her. A second is cast this way until...well...

...until Maleficent speaks again. Avira whirls to face her, her weapon lifting, but no blow comes. "/What are you doing/?" she demands, her voice low. If Maleficent was fishing for her attention, she certainly just got it.

Will Sherman has posed:
"Okay First off. I got this." he says towards Mercade.

Alma's magic works over him, and he grins... "Thanks!" he says towards the White mage. What is Maleficent doing? Taunting the happy fun Hobo. "Yeah, you are going to...you know what, lets not do this." he says with a sudden souring frown.

Do not play this game with us, Witch. You're dealing with both of us. We know Riku's heart, and we know you're gasping to try and throw us off. Try harder.

Will coughs. "That was unpleasant." he says, and looks around...

He kicks a heartless getting to close to him and tried to /interupt/ his words with the witch! Rude! Will dodge rolls forward, under more heartless and attempts to Parkour over a few more...until he lands next to Maleficient's carefully laid spell.

"So what happens if my innate nature...TOUCHES it...and it's still not done. It seems like it'll be bad for both of us. But worse for me...or you?" He grins like a madman.

Maira has posed:
Maira is not quick on foot, or at all really, unless you count quickly getting herself into trouble. She follows after Ulharisk as quickly as she can, fueled by magic and adrenaline. Avira is hear, and Maleficent will be targeting her. Of course, Mercade with be there with her, and Mercade has a /keyblade/ but does he have healing magic? She doesn't think so! Thus, she runs into central park, following Ulharisk who has already left her in the dust. When she arrives she does so panting, but she is far to high on the fire of her magic pulsing through her veins to let her body stop her now. She'll pay for it later, but for now, she will fight. "Avira!" she cries out, just to let her best friend know that she is hear and has her back. Unavoidably, her eyes are drawn to Maleficent. Suddenly, she has an urge to hide behind a tree, though she knows it wouldn't do her any good. At least she hadn't brought Pete with her? "..grumble, firehose..." she mumbles, then brings up her magic again to cast a protective spell on Avira. "I'm here Avira, we won't let Manhattan fall again," she says, though more to herself than Avira. Avira would know.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra has known for some what Mercade has and understand why he's not shown it too much, still Maleficent is one of the most terrifying things in the known worlds and she's come to assault this world once more. Thankfully this time they have something that can counter the Heartless. It's now a matter of surviving the dark fairly. Her magic is not having much of an effect and she notices this, but it's a bit too late. She's caught in the attack and it's not too pretty. She's hurt but she's also not fallen. Gargoyles tend to be pretty durable all things considered.

So she changes tactics to direct combat and starts chanting in Latin again but this time it's jagged lances of ice that are coming for the heartless rather than some sort of curse.

Maleficent has posed:
Mercade decimates several more Heartless, they fall to the ground as shreds of shadow. He has pulled in so many that his immediate area is now safe and clear. He has breathing room and can choose his targets. A gout of flame shoots from a nearby Heartless, indicating he is at least watched even if he is not surrounded. Shadow manages to evade into his smoke, leaving him safe for the moment, or maybe they think he's been knocked down enough for the moment. Ulharisk rends several, one creature dissolving on the end of his weapon and others falling, shredded to ribbons by a few quick lashes, to the ground. He is countered by biting teeth at "knee" level approximately, from a number of pack creatures. Alma's restorative power makes some of the Heartless shy away, yipping, but they quickly rally and dive for her, eating the healer is tried and true - or the buffer.

Avira's energy can't manage to get into the creatures - somehow they are rejecting it, and they bite at her in response, not shying away from her ties to this place. Maleficent responds, "I am preparing something just for you, girl. I have your nature in mind - and so too do they. For you and you alone." This voice is whispered into the orb, but audible to all present. The orb itself is taking on a more regimented shape - it is all rigid geometric shapes. It is swirling with runic symbols and that silvery energy is still trying to discorporate it.

She files away the fact that two sources have confirmed Riku is not hers and is indeed working against the Shadow Lords. This is jotted down for later confirmation. She doesn't have long to address her inner note though. Oh to hell with it. He just touched the spell. She parses his mental transmission. But she has other things to cope with.

The spell is not meant for Will, it is meant for Avira. So when the chaotic boy's dark power touches it, the somewhat silvery light of dusk burns his hand, likely throwing him backward - and it disrupts some of the Fairy's control. A dozen Heartless /explode/ into bits of silvery light and fade. At this point, a barrier springs up around Maleficent AND her spell. Why didn't she think of that at first?

A rivulet of golden ichor comes from the corner of her mouth, only to be licked up with an elegant tongue. "A foolish gambit."

Forced to start over, the Sorceress floats away from Will Sherman, and begins to float toward Avira - slowly, inside a protective bubble fueled by the Heartless. The light might grow brighter. She is concentrating on forming the spell once more. It was almost done! With each practice she gets a bit quicker, but her reserves are falling fast. If she has to enter the fray, she'll need to do this the difficult way. She does not stagger, but Will, as close to her as he got, would know she is making a conscious effort not to stagger. But the smile continues...

Deidra's ice impales several Heartless, leaving them at prime height to be killed off and yowling with pain. A full 2/3 of the Heartless in the park have been taken down.

But Maleficent is engaging her dangerous idea, floating down toward Avira. If one were looking up at Maleficent from below, they would see the fairy floating inside a glowing shield, still reeling from Will's gambit (he's still exploding Heartless wherever he goes, so powerful is the aftershock of touching the dark magic, though it is probably not good even for the Hobo King himself!).

The Fairy, floating above Avira, visible over the Huntress' shoulder. "Girl, Listen!" Maleficent declares, eyes looking daggers downward. "You and you alone can pass through this barrier."

She's had intimate contact with Will - err, up close and personal contact anyway - she can now stave HIM off, but this place is rejecting her magic, and the nature of the spell she is now desperately trying to re-form is such that the shield can't keep the Dusk Princess out.

Then every Heartless in the park howls at once, and from the sky above comes a ball of darkness - the shield around the park just VANISHES. It balls itself up into a ball and splits into five pieces, trying to eat some hearts.

There is no other word for it - these are trying to EAT the people they hit.

Alma Hyral has posed:
A large number of heartless leap at her, driving her out of the sky, and for a while she disappears into the throng, beneath a mass of writhing, feasting wolf bodies. When she bursts out of their number again, as a yellow shooting star moving towards the heavens, she stops again, her entire form slick and matted with blood. Her chest heaving with breath. Still she looks defiant, as she gives Maleficent a grim look, "I.. have had /enough/ of you."

Waving the Shepherd's crook in a circle. She taps the air in various places, as sigils filled with arcane arrays form.

And then suddenly the sky above is filled with countless little motes of light. Hundreds, perhaps up to a thousand. Then with uncanny accuracy they descend into the heartless ranks, striking each in turn as she blankets the area with holy light and fire. "You don't even know. You don't even /know/ that you're being manipulated from the darkness, Sorceress. That you too are just a pawn in its game, dancing to its tune, as it /laughs/ at you."

Will Sherman has posed:
Will Sherman goes flying...heartless explode as he goes flying from the spell because he interacts with magic like oil and petrol.

Will Sherman FINALLY hits the duck pond, ducks go flying and he looks up at the sky. "...NOBODY MAKES ME TAKE A BATH!" he booms at the witch. /NOW/ it's on! He leaps from the pool...oh /god/ it hurts...he still feels the pain of the reaction, but Avira needs him...she needs him, and therei s no Isaac to counter her...so all they have is...

A atomic bomb.

Will runs through the heartless avoiding combat, and attepts to get near Avira, grabbing her hand...

Ulharisk has posed:

The Draconian gets no reply. He should guess not after all. Little worm compared to the bigger fish on the battlefield. Though he swipes his Glaive at the wolves who are trying to snap at him. Seeming to show no fear in the corner of his world.

tThen with the Howl though, Ulharisk's eyes go wide as he suddenly sees what comes down for them, "Maira!" he yells out, however it is to late. He just isn't quick enough--

-- he is never quick enough-- now is he? The Impact then slams into him, the very darkness trying to devour him once more. He slams into the ground and skids across the grass. One would scream in pain, but not Ulharisk. He only grits his teeth and shuts his eyes closed tightly. Before he roars out in anger and slashes away the darkness trying to tear him apart.

The roar sounding something human-- and dragon combined.

Ulharisk slowly picks himself up. His body staggering a bit before he inhales deeply and glares at the heartless here. Glaring at the darkness. "Maira! Are you alright?" He calls over to her. His violet eyes look at her, as he spits out some blood to the side, before he then readies himself.

"Tend to your wounds and the others Maira, your the only one who can." The Draconian leader then races forward once more. His glaive glowing brightly as he flourishes his glaive at the very heartless and darkness alike. It was like a dance of movements, before he brings down the blade once more down in a hard slam to the very ground. Before roaring at one of the wolves, snarly his teeth almost primal like. Human he may look, but those features told parts of the story, including those far sharper canines then a human would ever have. He is also moving himself between Maira and any further heartless.

Avira has posed:
It's official. Avira is completely and utterly creeped out-not to mention frustrated that it seems her own abilities have failed to make even a dent in the Heartless. She remains confident, though. Her friends are here. Manhattan is with her. Manhattan would not let her fall!

She backs away to fend off the Heartless snapping at her. "Down!" she hisses, perhaps instinctively due to prior animal experience. But these being Heartless, they will not listen. Again she hears the fairy whispering to her...and pauses.

The pause is just long enough for the piece of the dark barrier to slam into her. A scream of panic escapes her before she squirms herself free of the clawing, snapping, darkness. Pure force of will powers her to stand up, just in time as Will reaches out his hand. She leaps forward at Maleficent...

...dragging Will with her. Once her hand starts to breach the barrier, Avira flings him forward.

Will Sherman has posed:
And then Will Sherman is dragged through...

Who is flying right at Maleficient! "SURPRISE!" he shouts, aiming to headbutt her right in the face...

Then there was no crackling... "Where is the Kaboom? There was supposed to be a earth shattering /Kaboom!" he says, and then turns towards Maleficent! No...she already released it? Crap crap...

When in doubt...

Maleficent could feel power drawling, his hands glow red...and he dives forward, aiming to punch her only ONCE... Aiming to rend her fate strings assunder. This hurts, it hurts on a level that she shouldn't /feel/ this hurting. It is like her existance itself is fighting to stay in place, as Will shatters the bonds to everything.

"AND NEVER COME BACK!" he booms, aiming to ignite the magical flows of energy...

This might be bad.

Maira has posed:
Maira watches with wide eyes as Maleficent floats around in a bubble of darkness, Heartless raging and fueling her power it would seem. The darkness is thick, sticky, difficult to shake...but in the presence of such darkness the Light will fight back. Just as it had been with the Dark Knight, Maira's light reacts, burning from golden to brilliant white, the flames lashing out like tendrils toward the dark, slashing through Heartless at a thought.

The power Maleficent wields is perhaps the most fell power she's encountered, right up there in nightmare territory to sit along side her memories of Garland. The darkness comes for her--it comes for her heart. She screams and guards herself, her Light flaring in defiance as she is thrown back from the pure raw energy that flies around this battlefield. She hits a tree, hard, and sets it aflame in an instant. The darkness took something, but her heart is still there, thrumming with a song of hope and perserverance.

Maira stands, pretty sure she's broken some ribs, but there are others worse off. Maira looks up to Ulharisk, trying to give him a reassuring smile. "I'm alright..." she says. Alright enough, anyway. "Avira...we have to protect Avira..." she says, then takes a deep, painful breath and extends her light toward Avira, the familiar healing energy washing over her.

Maira sees also that Alma is nearby, and that is comforting. She wasn't the only one who could heal. She was certain everyone was going to need it.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra has trusted will, she's trusted Will a lot, she gave him a chance after what happened at the world heart, much like he did when he first ran into her so long ago in Central Park with Mercade. She has faith in Avira and Will that they know what they are doing, what she can do? Is make sure the heartless stays off the back.

Deidra chants quickly forming a barrier before the spell from the heartless hits, and even then? The force of the spell is enough to shatter the barrier in an instance sending Deidra sprawling. Had she not had that barrier up? It would have been pretty terrible for her, she's however thankfully still in the fight and starts chanting again soon comes the ice, and the wind followed by a bolt of pure arcade energy which all is focused in upon the heartless. Someone has to keep them off Will and Avira's back.

Shadow has posed:
The evasive maneuvers put Shadow away from the main fight-- dodging through the smoke screen he created as the others take care of the majority of the heartless in the park. Then there is the main baddie-- and things that are literally eatting people. Interesting as that is, the assassin has little to collect on now. He skirts along the edges as the dramatic tension rises with the group further in. Is he leaving-- or is he looking for a window of fortune to strike from? With all the chaos around, he finds no trouble skulking about.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Nope! Mercade has no healing magic. "Don't taunt the happy fun evil doom fairy, Alma!" Mercade says warningly. "I don't think we've seen half of what she's capable of yet."

He clears the path, standing free for a moment even though he sees the Heartless stalking about him warily. They want him bad, he can tell.

Maleficent starts revealing her hand, and just one look at the magic she is putting together chills Mercade to the bone. If she's successful... What could that do to..." He blinks, and he looks up as the deadly magic shatters and crushes for most of the defenders... And avoids him.

He squints. What's her game here? Emotions play across Mercade's face, an edge of uncertainty as he tries to think ahead and guess at her plan so she can counter it. He lunges, striking at the consuming Darkness with the Keyblade to try to break it away from Avira, and he looks over towards Maira. "Oh God! Maira! Am I ever glad to see you!" He yells. They need all the help they can get.

But the barrier won't go down until the Heartless go down. Avira went through before he could help. He grits his teeth. There's no time. Maleficent /had/ to have planned for this...

All he can do is speed things up. Drawing upon his reserves, he pours everything he has into his Keyblade, focusing his mind, power, and belief. A multicolored wave of light drives outwards, exploding in a ring. Six pillars of light strike downwards with cracking noises, sweeping around the ring and pulling Heartless in throughout the area towards him, forcing them together so they cannot escape. "For the sake of Manhattan, Avira, and my friends..." Mercade says, raising the Twilight Seeker pointing it at the sky. He screams at the top of at he voice. "BEGONE!" There is a gathering of power, and then a thin beam of light fires into the sky, disappearing into the night and vanishing.

Nothing seems to happen.

Mercade then smiles and says quietly, "Pew pew."

The clouds suddenly explodes outwards as a solid shaft of overwhelming light explodes downwards, striking at the central mass of Heartless, the pencil thin beam radiating outwards in a consuming blast of pure whiteness.

Maleficent has posed:
Alma works her magic. It is a decimating power - Maleficent does grimace unpleasantly at the mocking tone. The harshest thing for the Fairy is knowing she has other things to accomplish, she can't stop and go trounce Alma. The sanctimony rankles, but is followed by a hellish explosion of starfire. The swift-footed heartless run away from it. They cross the park in almost no time - they have to. Being exposed under the naked sky is dangerous, and when that barrier goes, the wolves seem to be turning tail and running away from Alma. This carries them in the Draconian's face, and they are torn apart fairly universally.

Back at the Will and Avira Olympics. Yes, she already released it. When Maleficent released the barrier, she let the spell fly out of her hands. It turns out that when you try to make the same spell four times you learn a few shortcuts. The spell had struck Avira back then, and it hadn't hurt her quite as much as some of the others. Because the spell wasn't supposed to hurt her. In fact, it was meant to make her more powerful, more ready. Avira might find her wounds /knitting/ now. But we'll get to that in a moment.

Maira washes healing light that seems to make the canine creatures uncomfortable - they flee her too. They're suddenly a lot more cowardly without the shadow field overhead. Deidra blows the Heartless beasts to pieces with her attacks - they explode into pieces and fall to the ground, there are a few left, forming a cowardly circle. Shadow would find them easy targets of opportunity if he decides to take the glory and cut their throats for a nickel (or however much munny he is getting).

Will Sherman passes into Maleficent's barrier. Avira throws him mightily. Too mightily. Will Sherman passes into the barrier and rams Maleficent in the head with a mighty clang that is not all physical. There is some kind of magical exchange of energies and it is pretty scary - Maleficent is even unsettled. But the Dark Fairy is self possessed enough. She grabs a flow of magic and seeks to THROW Will Sherman out of the bubble so hard the shield surrounds the boy instead. Inside the shield ball, thorns form, flames - darkness - throwing him into the horde of huddled Heartless, hoping they will tear the Hobo apart. There are going to be consequences from this headbutt. Being so close to Loki's Thinkpan (a magical artifact in its own right) is not good. For anyone! ...And she is left face to face with Avira.

Everything seems in slow motion. Maleficent floats downward.

"You know, there was a connection." Her voice comes out slowly, relishing every word. "Between you, and this world. I could not see it, girl. I could not see it until I saw you here - you revived it. Part of you lives in the heart of this world. All it took was to reverse the flow."

Maleficent's smile is truly huge now. Catlike. "Now this world is flowing back into your heart... every second you stand upon it, you kill it a little bit more. You have moments, you know."

Avira might feel the strength flowing into her, but even cursory examination would reveal the ground beneath her feet, the plants, were dying... trees, grass, water was dissolving into its component bits nearby. Darkness was reclaiming the world in some increasingly concentric circles, or so it appeared.

At this moment, Maleficent waves a hand. "Only this corridor back to my castle -" A well of darkness appears. "Will get you off this world fast enough to break the connection, and let you save it. We'll return you here, unharmed, within the week." A gentle smile on the Fairy's features, and a dirty trick to go with it. The ground swirls up around Avira in a bitchin' halo of matter being decomposed into its primal forms. It is pretty high on the creepy scale. Somewhere, Will Sherman is soaring over the p-

The sky explodes. Light goes through it in a way that feels, to Maleficent, like someone froze her world, smashed it into pins, then hammered those pins through every part of her body. She's stalwart, she overcomes it, but for a moment she - a creature not usually susceptible to the slightest willy - had a full blown case of them.

The creature pauses, as she once did at a birthday party when being told she wasn't wanted, composes herself, and with a beatific smile, says "After you, dear..." Her barrier recomposing itself to reveal a tableau of Avira, the Shadow Gate, and the sorceress herself.

As this is taking place, the sky is /eating the Heartless wolves/. Their ilk won't be seen in the world again for a while, it was a shame to lose such fine hounds. But it would be worth it if this played out the right way.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
The Heartless are consumed. Mercade sags with the effort that took out of him, and he grunts. "Okay, Avira, here I-"

He pauses as he begins to hear the words of the Dark Fairy. "You..."

Mercade's hand tightens on they Keyblade. "You... YOU... YOU!" He yells, unable to even speak as he hears and sees what is happening. All thought explodes from Mercade's mind, everything turned towards one desperate need.

And he raises the Keyblade, beginning his charge towards Maleficent as anger gives him the second wind he sorely needs. She better hope that barrier is Built Ford Tough, because he's coming.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will Sherman finds himself trapped in a barrier and overshot.

"Oh...crap." he says, before he /screams/ in horrible thorny agony as the points dig into his flesh, the fire burns at him...it hurts, his world is pain and agony...and he hits the side of the barrier with his hand.

He can see it now...the magical string connected to Avira...he just has to grab it...

His fists slams against the barrier again, and again...come on...he has to get out! He has to stop this...

He hurts himself, the thorns hurt everytime he pounds the barrier...

No no no no!

Ulharisk has posed:

Ulharisk watches as Mercade lights up the world and then hears what mad woman tells Avira, "Don't listen to her Avira! It isn't true!" The draconian barks as he then gathers himself and starts to make his way to where she is. Where the true threat is.

However as he runs, he actually tumbles over. Not for any real reason, other then a deep gash his body at last makes him aware of as thing have calmed down enough for his body to realize the damage he has taken from the massive heartless attack earlier.

Ulharisk growls and then goes to stand up. Force himself to rise. He pushes himself back up and tries to run once more, to ignore the pain in his leg. "Don't listen to her!" He yells out to Avira. There was a small part of him telling himself to transform. Transform and take flight. Take flight and burn that black-hearted fae. Yet another part of him knows...

..it could be to late.

To late again.

Avira has posed:
Ever since Manhattan was revived, Avira always felt more at peace while here. The reason for this was pretty clear to her though she never voiced these thoughts to anyone, half afraid it would be used against her.

Her wounds begin to heal, though as this comes at the exact time that Maira has bestowed her healing magic upon her, she assumes the effects come from that. Besides, she's in the middle of an /awesome combo attack/ with Will Sherman. Except her fastball special could use a little work and she ends up beaning Maleficent in the face with Will's face. Then her friend is immediately ejected from their vicinity, trapped in a sphere of magical pain. "WILL!"

Avira lands and only looks up to Maleficent as she starts speaking again. "...." Then her face goes pale. "..reverse the flow?"

"But how did..." she /was/ feeling stronger. Was her light returning to her..? What would that mean for Manhattan-"Wait, no, I can't...it can't be like that-" Reality seems to be unravelling around her and she starts to panic, a sick feeling invading her stomach.

"...I have to.." she says quietly, "I don't want this world to die again." Avira's shoulders slump and she lifts the Spine. With a mighty toss, she throws the weapon out of the circle of destruction around her. It sails through the air, still sheathed in a glowing shimmer of silver, and sticks neatly point-first into the ground.

"...someone hold that for me."

Maira has posed:
What is Maleficent doing!? She has to be trying to trick Avira somehow. She's too far away and there is just too much noise to hear what Maleficent is saying to her! By Holy, she misses Uist! If he were here, he would be able to get there, overhear. He would have an idea, a plan. He would know what to do.

He's not here though. She is alone inside herself. She has to fight. Her magic is raging, the tree behind her completely in flame now as she begins to move toward Maleficent and Avira, seeming to float herself as the green grass burns beneath her feet. Avira is in trouble, but she isn't the only one. Will looks to be in some serious danger himself, facing the vengence of Maleficent and all her thorny scorn. Could she break the forcefield? She doesn't know how...but maybe, if they can make Maleficent leave...

Maira reaches up toward her neck to grasp her necklace, the only thing she'd been wearing that didn't burn. Of course, a gift from Phoenix would be fire-proof. She reaches to remember the feeling of being in that presence, the passion of fire...

"MALEFICENT!" she calls, her form consumed in white-hot flame, the iris and pupils of her eyes gone, simply imitting the light within like open windows. "LEAVE MY BEST FRIEND ALONE!" she yells, then lets the energy explode from her, expanding toward Maleficent like a crashing wave of brilliant white flame, the power of Holy seeking to obliterate the darkness.

Will Sherman has posed:
"NO!" Will booms.

"STOP BEING A <GOOSEHONK>ING VICTIM AND FIGHT! NOW IS THE TIME! SO WHAT! SHE DID SOMETHING SHE BARELY UNDERSTANDS...SURE SHE COULD FIX IT...AT WHAT COST AVIRA!" Will booms...again and again, pounding at the shield keeping him in tact. His pure rage at the thing keeping him from the people he loves is becoming overwhelming...

Malificent can feel it.

He is /angry/ very /very angry/ and that is also making /it/ angry.

AGAIN he batters himself against the thorns and the barrier...

Alma Hyral has posed:
Everything hurt.

She knew better than most that mocking the happy fun doom fairy was not a good idea. She'd been given very vivid tales from Riku about the results of her wrath. But she was just too angry, especially now, seeing the struggle against the barrier in the battle to keep Avira amongst them

That attack had taken a lot out of her, and yet deep within she still tried to call upon a spark within her to reignite into yet another attack. Throwing back the staff. She fills the sky full of stars again. And while it isn't quite as effective as before. "I want you out of the lives of everyone I care about, Sorceress! We are not taking any of your <GOOSEHONK> anymore!" They still all descend as one against her barrier, trying to combine her efforts with the others in a follow up display of holy fire.

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent smiles. "I'll see you at the castle, dear." she says, waving gently over her shoulder, buh-bye now. The Corridor stays open, but the field narrows down. Yes, the forcefield gets out of the way. Nothing is in Mercade's way now. The forcefield just stops anyone other than Avira from going through - and no hand holding this time.

Maleficent eyes the onrushing boy, the keyblade wielder so full of valor. Then she raises the staff. The Keyblade Wielder is coming.

Sickly green light dances over Maleficent's body, a fell magic drawing from Will Sherman's life force as he is rended, and fueling her own. She places her staff in front of her, and braces hers-

HOLY HOLY HOLY.

Maira's brilliance catches some of the Silver on the Spine. Usually Maleficent is only deigning to sport with the heroes - she has power, backup plans. Getting down and dirty like this is only worth it for the prize, like the differential data on Avira. Maira's spell blows part of her apart. Alma's follows, hitting her in the chest full on. She is thrown off her feet - but just sort of hovers there, cackling.

This is a bridge too far.

Part of her face has flaked off - revealing scales below.

Scales?

Maleficent begins to laugh. A high, girlish sound, then a deeper belly laugh.

Ah-ha-hahahahaha-HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!

Her body contorts sickeningly. The ground begins dissolving faster under Avira's feet, as if whatever magic Maleficent worked had taken hold MORE strongly. Maleficent's spine bursts wide, a firey pillar forming around her. Something burnished and steely emerges.

What comes out is still laughing, but more deeply now - demonically. Dark power courses from this thing. Plants wither where it walks. All the Heartless are gone, but if they were here they would be crying.

The creature is truly massive, some buildings are smaller. And its steely claws scorch the turf. Its eyes burn what they regard.

The Dragon stares down at the keyblade wielder with a challenging eye. "COME, BOY."

ANGER dapples on her. Her usually effected air of mirth is gone, this is what is really there, a Fairy Dragon in all its dark regard, usually unseen, emerged from its shell for the first time in a year.

A fitting form, to kidnap a princess.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra is lucky to have not gone alone to this, she know she'd not fair well on her own, nay it would go quite poorly for her if she had. Alma, Avira, Mercade, Will, Shadow and Ulharisk. They form a team that gives them a chance to stop this, Deidra is drained from her expenditure of magic thankfully she's manage to set the thing up for Mercade to deal with. But Maleficent words are they true? She does not know, it's just a set up to provoke them at the very least.

"WILL!"

She calls out and she's trying to muster what else she can. The heartless are no longer an issue.

She'll take what else she has left with her own power and try to lend it to her.

"She's already been consumed by the darkness, she seeks to make other fall as she has."

The Gargoyle moves however Alma just unloads everything she has as she watches her go.

"I had...dragon?!"

She's trying to recover but for the moment there's not much she can do till she gains some of her strength back. Still they forced her to reveal this form, right they have to have pushed her somewhat.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will Sherman finally breaks through it...and stares up as Maleficent releases all of the powers of hell. Oh dear.

He starts to get ready, focusing on himself...the rage, that anger...the indigation he feels...

He brings it into himself, accepts it as part of /himself/.

The magical energy changes. It is not just one malignant power and Will Sherman.

It is one entity.

"We're not amused." He says, in an oddly osculating voice, you can hear both Will and IT.

And then he recklessly charges the Dragon, he rolls forward, aiming to challenge it's strength with his own, magical and phsyical power flows through him, and he punches once, aiming to try and break through the armor that the magical scales provide, and a second shot aiming for the claws. His strange energy aiming to warp her fate lines...

"We're not going to lose, witch! Nobody...NOBODY is going to destroy our home, threaten /OUR/ friends...again! You picked the Wrong God/Hobo (you swear you hear him say both when you try and remember this.)!"

Ulharisk has posed:

Ulharisk falls down to his knee and then looks up. Damn his leg and that is when he sees it happen. The evil sorcerers transforms into a massive dragon. His eyes go wide and his jaw drops slightly. It is like the stories of old of their history. How Ixen fought Whe'ir, who was far larger then he. For the gods were always far larger then any of them. Yet Ixen stood tall and then Xur'shio took the final blow to protect Ixen.

Now before his own eyes was a black dragon and his mind could only see Whe'ir. For Whe'ir promised he would return and wipe them off the face of their world. Whe'ir had done so-- and now here was perhaps one of his very spawn. "..by the great Xur'shio.." Ulharisk whispered as he could only stare.

Then with a low growl, he forces himself up, the Glaive vanishing from his hand before he roared out and he leaped into the air. Blue flames surged around him along with a flicker of electricity and light. Soon what emerged from it was that of a blue dragon with red stripes along his form. Those draconic violet eyes narrowing sharply.

Though perhaps far smaller then the black evil dragon. Ulharisk was willing. Even with his body screaming in pain, his wings were carrying him for the field. With a loud draconic roar that echoed through the air he went to slam his form into the barrier, bouncing off and then looping right back around to try again and again. Slashing his claws and burning hot dragon fire upon it.

Relentless he was being and even with him knowing that even if he /could/ get in. He would never stand the chance. He may have the blood of Ixen flowing through his veins. But he was the youngest and his brother was always the strongest; but the situation made him who he now was and like hell he was going to watch those he love parish again to the darkness.

Garland has posed:
A whole world away, on a tower that stretches to kiss the sky, the Ironclad Nightmare feels the Darkness shudder. It is an intense feeling; it rolls through what passes for Garland's soul, forcing his attention to zero in on that place so far away. He looks up from his black throne, slowly considering his options as he speaks to Maleficent over the radio to confirm what he already knew.

Blast.

Garland rises from his massive throne, his hands disappearing behind his cape. Maleficent was that sort of woman, after all, and a fae besides; she was flighty, emotional, and prone to acts of vengeance far beyond what was rational or useful to the Shadow Lords. She was also powerful enough to be unused to failure; nothing in her own world had ever truly challenged her, nothing ever could truly tell her *no*. It was part of why Garland found her so useful - even to the point of considering her something like a friend.

But she was also insane.

And that meant that cooler heads were needed.

Garland brushes his hand forward. Shadows rip and tear, the world splitting itself as he walks forward.

In Central Park, the world rips and distorts. Shadows gather before the portal, prostrating themselves to their dread master as he emerges from the Corridor of Darkness; the Tyrant Chaos slowly looks over the assembled heroes, his terrible yellow eyes flashing across Central Park.

"This is what you considered worth transforming for, Maleficent?" Garland demands, tilting his armored head up to look at her. "...they must have angered you greatly."

Chaos Incarnate turns back to the assembled heroes, thoughtful as he gazes across them. No, Garland decides - he could not allow Maleficent to fall here.

"If they have angered you so greatly," Garland intones, his voice quiet, yet commanding, his mere presence carrying it across the park and scattering shadows in its echoing wake, "They must be...inconvenient."

Garland holds up his hand, darkness gathering around it. It's a simple trick, but one he picked up long ago - a simple spell he learned in his days as a hero, one that has only grown stronger with him. "Allow me to assist you in ridding us of this inconvenience."

C L A S S C H A N G E

Avira has posed:
Will brings up a darn good point. Why accept this?

"Or you could un-reverse it..." she says with quiet steel, "...before my friends /blow you away/-" OOPS TOO LATE. It doesn't leave Avira in any better a place with that strange link spell destroying the world around her. However it quickly becomes clear that Maleficent is not leaving.

Avira scoots away as the fairy enlarges to the immense dragon. It doesn't go unnoticed that its presence seems to be having a similar effect on the environment that she currently is right now.

At this point, she really regrets hurling the Spine away from her. Hopefully someone will grab that and save it for later. But for now, she'll just have to do it the old fashioned way. WITH FISTS.

Ice crusts over her hands, forming into spikes along the length of her knuckles, which mixes strangely with the silver aura that still manages to cling to her. She will not be deterred. NOT EVEN BY GARLAND SHOWING UP TO HELP HER.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade is Avira's prince, and now he faces Maleficent.

And all the powers of Hell.

Anger freezes solid when the environment heaves around him in order to handle Maleficent's transformation from Fae Sorceress to Dark Dragon. He's normaly all about charging into things but one does not simply charge at something like this.

For critical seconds, Mercade blinks uncomprehending at the enormity, the aura of evil around the creature striking him almost like a physical blow, and he staggers. He looks back over his shoulder. Surely Ulharisk, Alma, Deidra, and Maira will be able to help...

And then he notices the sheets of terrible green flame separating them.

Crap.

Mercade looks back to the dragon, and he shakes his head... And then Garland arrives, lending Maleficent even greater power.

Goosehonk.

His spirit wavers for a moment. He's no hobo god. He's no clever sorceror like Isaac or Deidra.

He's just a guy with a strong heart. He looks down at the Keyblade in his hand.

Avira is depending on him.

Maybe that heart will be enough.

Mercade looks up, his eyes hardening, and he reaches out to grab the Spine, pulling it out of the ground. "You're not going to take Avira." Mercade states simply, and he whips the blades apart, creating a cascade of silver and gold light. "FOR HER SAKE, I WILL NOT FAIL!" He yells, setting himself to charge forward. "AVIRA! WILL! LET'S GO!"

He leaps into the air, spinning as he begins rampaging with swift and powerful strikes on the dragon, slashing and striking in an endless cascade of light and power.

Alma Hyral has posed:
DRAGON.

And then GARLAND.

A grunt of pain, a muttering to herself as she looks at them. "And now scary armor the greater takes the field." Alma Hyral's breath was ragged now, her wounds truly troubling her. The heartless throng was blocking their way to assisting in the battle. And so she takes the time to just heal herself and rest. There was a time when the mere presence of Garland might have set her to flight almost immediately, or rendered her so frightened she'd be unable to act. Now she just felt really, /annoyed/. "Chaos magic in a can? Worst idea since spam."

She calls out with a hand cupping her mouth, "Mercade, Will, Avira, just hold on! We're going to try to break through!"

Maleficent has posed:
"I HAVE WAITED A YEAR." This is the only thing she says. Without context or explanation. When Will Sherman strikes, the punch hits her hide and rebounds with an audible clang. Still, if she were any mortal beast she would have a hellish physical and psychic bruise. The Dire Dragon rears, roaring a single word: "Burn". The universe takes this word as an /instruction/.

There are two safe non-transforms at the molecular level into elemental fire</span>. This includes the ice around Avira's sword, which washes over the scales as a warm bath of scalding water. The dragon might have just sighed in enjoyment. Several birds briefly become phoenixes before they become dinner. There is nothing but fire on the ground for 40 feet around her from nose to tail. This is exactly as bad as it sounds.

When the smoke has cleared, and ash remains - Maleficent deigns to speak one more word, "Garrrrland..." and perhaps she says it wistfully. She considers Garland as much like a friend as a fickle fae can. He is useful, consistent, and in her coolest moments she knows he is a good counterbalance to her emotionality, however much those emotions give her strength. In saying his name, or title, her voice is less unkind- if a dragon could whisper a lover's name, it would come out like that. Rumbly like a purr, but it falls away to a more businesslike sound. "THEY DID INTERFERE, YES. FOOLS - INSOLENT ONES. HOW NICE TO SEE YOU THIS EVENING."

The voice is distorted, being spoken by a creature who is neither entirely one thing or the other, but with undercurrents of rage returning. The rage which always bubbles just under the surface, rage at a world that CAN sometimes defy her. Garland's power washes over her.

A gigantic, truly humongous pointy straw hat appears on her head.

C L A S S C H A N G E: BLKMG

Alma beats on the barrier at about the time Maleficent begins levitating off the ground. Mercade hits the Dragon in this state - and he manages to etch its flesh a little. Certainly a large scoremark appears on the iron plate. But the Dragon simply laughs and continues turning more of the park to flame. A flame that burns not just the body, but the heart. She still roars when the Keyblade touches her, but the roar fades. And she begins to chant. Anyone with any magical talent would recognize a high level fire spell being chanted by a reptile the size of a large building, with the potency of 3 MegaCarries.

Maira has posed:
Maira doesn't smile as her attack slams in Maleficent, by all appearances hitting her fatally. Only for a moment does Maira even hope their combined efforts have torn her asunder, for soon that laughter echoes, striking to the marrow and chilling her even through the flames that seem to be her very blood. No...no this can't be...Maira watches as Maleficent grows, and grows, and GROWS. She towers, a gargantuan black beast of darkness and wicked flame--the antithesis of her own fire and light. Those are the fires of Hell--and she knows how those feel. Terror strikes straight to the heart and grips tight.

Maira stumbles backward as the barrier closes between herself, Avira, Will and Mercade. They are seperated from the rest of them. She means to make them fight without their assistance! "NO! NO! AVIRA!" she cries, throwing herself against the barrier with magic and ineffective fists. The barrier rejects her, the energy throwing her backward. She sails through the air like a bright ember, hitting the ground again painfully, not quick enough to use air magic to soften her fall. She lands with her left leg twisted beneath her, an audible SNAP reverberates through her. She screams, just barely managing to remain conscious, the flames that shroud her guttering.

Tears that would fall turn to steam before they can even form, her head turning toward the new feeling of darkness--more than darkness--Chaos. Maira inhales, the pain unbelievable. Oh, god...Garland. Garland too. No...no..!

Maira grits her teeth, trying to banish the pain in the terror into the back of her mind. She doesn't know how they will prevail here...but they have to. Failure is not an option. And if she goes down? She'll go down fighting. "Garland," she growls, the broken girl rising to a seated position as the flames flare once more, her heart shouting its righteous rage.

Maira feels the magic Maleficent is wielding, and the scale of it is terrifying. Fire does not scare her. Fire has never scared her. Not normal fire...this, she is pretty darn sure, is different. "Avira...Mercade...Will...you can do this," she says quietly, a pure heart of light echoing that belief and sending that belief out toward her friends with all the hope she can muster.

Will Sherman has posed:
The lights just went out...

Garland's arrival just made things worse, by leagues. Will Can't see, the pure darkness he exhudes is something awful, his eyes precieve strings, and so many dark strings come off of Garland that he is momantarily blind. Will Sherman knew this would happen, when he first looked upon a Princess of light, and had to ware shades. He asked his wizard friend for help.

Slowly, he slips on sunshades. These were like sunglasses, except that they GLOW with the power of the /sun/. He still can't /see/ Garland, but he can see again.

"...So dark.." he mutters, that was...that was a scary thought, he considers.

Will then feels the burning of his spirit...someone trying to change his fate, and this simply...doesn't work. The spell hits, he can not evade this, but...Will's desire to fight does not change one bit. He takes a step forward, and once more POUNDS the Dragon, both physically and meta-physically, with his fists, trying to tear out her fate strings. "Don't give up now! FIGHT!"

Avira has posed:
The usual sinking feeling of impending darkness spawns in the back of her mind moments before Garland appears. Seeing him here like this fills her with dread, knowing that he's likely meant to help Maleficent much like two days ago. It seeks to increase the urgency of her fighting, if only so she didn't have to hear what qualified as flirting between the two ridiculously powerful masters of darkness.

The ice meant to protect her fists from the hard dragonscale merely melts off as fire washes around her. It leaves her unharmed, the strange fairy magic singling her out for preservation-which, frankly, makes Avira feel even more ill. Maleficent really was gunning for her and clearly that could /not/ happen.

Avira starts to step backwards at this point, putting as much distance as the barrier would allow between her and Maleficent. All the while, she's charging her own magic, taking advantage of the power that's supposedly flowing into her now. "C'mon guys, I know you can do it!" she calls out, her hands suddenly glowing red, "HASTE!"

They needed ever advantage they could get here. And Avira would give it to them.

Ulharisk has posed:

Ulharisk roars once more as he tries to claw once more at the barrier. Trying to tear away with it with his teeth at one point his claws do snare through and he tries to snatch his teeth around it to rip it apart. This doesn't work forever however and he has to pull back only to come again.

"Leave her alone!" he bellows out. His voice echoing with a rumble. "You have no right to do this!" He attacks the barrier again, trying once more to weaken it. Refusing to give up. Refusing to not /try/ and get to her.

Garland has also shown up, but Ulharisk is a one tracked minded dragon. He remember the armored figure back when he attacked the HQ. He remembers being there when he came. He knows his power, but for a knight-- for a guardian-- they will risk their life if that is what it takes.

"I WILL KILL YOU SPAWN OF WHE'IR!!" Ulharisk roars out as he comes right back around, body slamming the barrier fruitlessly, before crashing down to the ground. Panting a bit and then snarling at the offending barrier. His tail trashing side to side.

Alma Hyral has posed:
Even more drained than before, but now at least it felt easier to breathe. Her wounds had closed somewhat.

She takes the time to make a movement with her staff again, beginning anew the spells of protection and warding that she had started this dance with. Preparing.. for something that was to come. Even during her preparations though, her eyes were on those locked in battle with the dragon inside the barrier. But it was not yet the time to act. And so she waited patiently, gathering her strength.

Garland has posed:
Garland spares Maira a brief glance. If Maira is wise, her gaze doesn't linger upon his; men have gone mad looking into the abyss locked in that iron form. But it's little more than a glance; it passes over her, like a man gazing at an ant and finding it not worth his time. She is a curiousity, as far as Garland has been able to tell, and little else; an interesting curiousity, granted, but one that was unlikely to affect the battle in any meaningful manner.

"Children, Maleficent. They are children striking at a giant," Garland chides lightly, his voice calm and cold. "The problem with children, however, is that they do not need to understand something to make a mess of it. These children outside your barrier are slowly building up their power, ready to strike the moment it drops; do not lose sight of the battlefield in your anger at the soldiers."

That's all Garland says, his dark voice going silent again as he keeps his eyes on those outside the barrier. If they stepped in to intervene, Garland would probably have to actually do something beyond just chiding Maleficent over her wastefulness.

What a horrible thought, having to expend effort on these poor, desperate creatures to protect Maleficent. He had already had to weather the blow of a Keyblade from his erstwhile apprentice; did he have to repeat that experience again?

"The Samsara Of Battle," Garland sighs aloud, looking up at the sky. He wondered if That Man was watching, even now...

Maira has posed:
Maira can't lie to herself. Garland terrifies her. He is not the inspiration for nightmares, no, the nightmares draw their inspiration from him. He has terrorized two of the people she loves most in the world for as long as she has known them. When he turns to look to her briefly, she doesn't look away. A shiver rocks her, her mind trying to scramble away in retreat from what exists inside that armor. His gaze does not remain on her long. She means nothing to him. Only ever a tool to be used--but that would be everyone to Garland, wouldn't it? He was working with Maleficent, like the king and queen of terror.

Her eyes have turned away to the battle behind the barrier. She will be ready when it does fall, her healing spells ready to rush over Avira, Mercade and Will the instant she can reach them.

Without looking away from the battle, she asks Garland a question. "What does that mean? Samsara of Battle?"

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade cuts at the dragon, and it laughs. There's only so much that can be done against something so titanic. Even when you fight your hardest, there is only so much that pure belief will bring to the table. He's not had the Keyblade for long. He is no master. He is still new at this, untrained, unrefined.

And then everything is fire. Mercade yells, feeling the fire burn him but not burn him as the flames roar out and consume the world around them. His body droops, his will faltering as he tries to block out the horror and the pain being visited upon him. He can barely move. Will calls out for them to fight, but what can he do against something so titanically evil?

Mercade, nevertheless, raises the Spine and the Twilight Seeker, cleaving out repeatedly at the dragon with hands that grow more numb with every blow, attempting to shatter the protections around the dragon with explosions of light.

Maleficent has posed:
Avira is mending the other participants. Healers, man. HEALERS. "YOU STILL HAVE FAR TOO MUCH SPIRIT, GIRL." The Dragon breaks its rule of not harming the Dusk Princess. Right now, something needs doing. Green circles of light form under Will, Mercade, and Avira. Each booms upward in a green fire that tries to suck their spirit to feed to the dragon itself. The power of these is immense, a blast furnace which would try to swallow the heart.

Outside the ring of power and heartless, the others are left with much cleanup to do, and could help keep bystanders safely out of the park.

Because the park is rapidly becoming less safe. The presence of the Dire Dragon is like a weight on the world, weighing it down with mere presence to make ripples in the environment. The place is changing, becoming dark, becoming other. The dragon bunches down - and then lays on its haunches. Ulharisk yells over the flame and fight. The dragon is quite stationary. It lets out a flame-belching yawn and begins picking its teeth with its massive claws. "RIGHTS? FACED WITH ME, YOU FOOLS THINK OF RIGHTS? OH, BUT I CAN, AND SO I SHALL." The laughter is unpleasant, with an insane edge. Despite the beatings she has been taking, the dragon's form stays resplendent and terrible.

The green flame rages on, a force of nature, funnelling its power back into her darkness - an amorphous dragon that can grow as it absorbs power from those around it. The dragon of the Fae's true nature, sitting in Central Park. "THIS WOULD BE SO MUCH SIMPLER IF YOU DID NOT FORCE MY HAND-" And Garland cuts in. Maleficent makes a deep rumbling noise, and turns her head toward Avira. "VERY WELL. WE WILL TARRY NO LONGER." A massive claw reaches for the girl, likely reeling in the wake of what just occurred, it poises to shortly try and swat the girl to the ground.

Mercade cuts her flank at this moment, but the light doesn't cut through this creature. Unlike Garland, the dragon is a flesh and blood thing. Vulnerable to iron and light and magic, but not something that cowers from them rather than oppose them. The dragon nonetheless roars, swishing its tail to try and swat away the fly even as fire plumes up from under Mercade.

Maleficent has posed:
"THINK BACK ON EVERY TAUNT, EVERY SLIGHT, EVERY INSULt. AND BURN."

Alma Hyral has posed:
Alright, happy fun dark fairy had some claws when taunted. Alma's expression takes on a bland quality to it as she watches. And moves closer in a zig zag fashion to try and avoid the throng of leaping, thrashing heartless below. For one last all out assault..

And possibly healing. A lot of healing.

Avira has posed:
"...well I did have the spirit shard inside me.." Avira sucks in a breath, fearlessly facing down the enormous dragon, knowing full well that healing draws aggro like crazy from people/dragons/fairies such as Maleficent.

But despite nearly a year of experience, fraught with fighting Heartless, fending off Garland, and facing down endless hordes of undead, Avira was /not/ prepared for this. Though she sees the magic flicker beneath her, she doesn't get out of the way quickly enough and the fire engulfs her. Maleficent can taste that pure energy, drawn, perhaps, from the world heart itself as Avira screams.

With a herculean effort, her own heart seems to shut off the parasitic connection. The combined pain of that and the fire completely overwhelms her and she crumples to the ground.

Maleficent won't get anything to swat at this point. It seems she's already down and not moving, save for the ground dissolving and wilting around her.

Garland has posed:
Garland looks back a Maira, briefly, considering her with...renewed interest. His yellow eyes flash, as though he was about to do something terrible, but nothing comes of it. He simply looks back at the battle.

Then...

"All of life is battle," Garland declares slowly, his voice as dispassionate as the iron of his armor, as cold as a voice can get; it chills the very bone, and the flames seem to die against his words, even the unnatural green fire appearing to quail beneath his apathy. "It is a cycle that all creatures must participate in, no matter what. To live is to kill; to live is to destroy. All living things struggle against the world to survive, from the smallest of germs to the strongest of creatures. To live is to be alone, for all eternity; to stand amidst the fields of blood and know that you survive by standing, unbetrayed, unbroken, against all odds. To live is to test yourself to the fullest."

"When one has achieved the Samsara of Battle - when one has become able to fight without a thought, to live without a thought, to react without a thought - they are enlightened. They glimpse the true nature of this world - the endless cycle of combat that weaves its way through all living things."

"That is the Samsara of Battle. The Truth of Life. The Cycle Of Destrucion. The ultimate purpose for all creatures - war. Violence. Death. Destruction. It is the only thing in all the worlds that still gives me pleasure."

Ulharisk has posed:

Ulharisk snarls at snaps his teeth at the larger dragon as she mocks him. With all right too. "By the power of Xur'shio and Mit'ir, I will see you DEAD!" He then breaths fire right at the barrier, which-- actually starts to break down. However he can't hold it long sadly, the young drake doesn't have that in him.

He staggers back only to see the darkness growing around him and his eyes narrow sharply. When a few heartless get to close, he blasts flames into their direction lighting them up and and burning whatever grass may remain into simple ash, before he turns his attention back to the battle. The young blue drake pacing. Snarling in agitation.

The memories of that day echoing in his mind. The Heartless pouring out. Yanking out the hearts of his people, making more heartless. Darkness consuming their world. His father being killed before his eyes by the magic armored foe by a spear of ice. His mother killed by the heartless. His best friend--

Then Maleficent comes to end the battle with a mighty dragon swipe and hell fire. "AVIRA!!!" He roars out as he then tries to race forward only to find heartless leaping right at him, which he slides right into. The very heartless jumping onto him like a dog pile of black. To only be knocked aside as he spreads out his wings and throws him off. Biting down on one of the heartless clawing onto his side drawing out blood, before he throws it aside into the dragon fire created by Maleficent within the barrier. His tail swings around to knock others aside.

His violet eyes stare directly at the larger dragon moving to meet her gaze. Anger deep in his eyes. Anger, pain, a growing dire hatred. No words are spoken now, only his gaze, before he turns away and then leaps into the air and then goes to ram the barrier once more. His body though was bleeding. Some of his scales broken. He was in horrible shape, but he just kept trying.

Will Sherman has posed:
The power of The Fires of hell was more than they were ready for. Will's body explodes in fire and pain...he can feel the power of the dragon overwhelm them...this isn't a fight they can win, and it's destroying their city. They need more power...they need their friends which they are seperated from. Will know this, Mercade isn't ready for this fight...Avira is not either.

Will looks down, and then slowly picks himself up from the ground. His body screams at him, his wounds burn at him, his eyes flare with pain. It is looking like the end, but he...he can not allow Mercade and Avira to go here...they were their hope, the hope of not just Manhattan, but maybe all of the worlds left.

His eyes close, "Get her out. You guys go. I can hold them back for a few moments, enough time for you to escape and for them to leave." Then he turns towards...them.

"That is a lie." he speaks to Garland. "There is more to life than fighting and conflict. I speak not from stupid hero syndrome. I have seen it, experienced it...hundreds of years I have lived, and I have seen great depravity and great heroism."

"I will not allow you to extinguish that hope." And then...well...

Will throws everything he has left...every ounce of power and strength into trying to shield his friends, and /seal/ the two horrors beyond human comprehension with the power of his will, his strength of heart...and Loki too. It is the one thing his power can do absolutely...he just hopes he can buy the time needed.

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent exhales expansively - the dragon lowers its claw, and becomes once more the Dark Fairy in her outfit. The circle of flames Alma and Ulharisk were breaking against, standing near, vanishes.

She looks down at the broken spirit, and senses the spell break - Avira's heart had rejected it. "You are no longer worth the time, girl."

Maleficent holds up a small blue crystal, a few drops of blood hang suspended in it, captured during the flame.

A smile of genuine scholarly curiosity washes over the Fairy's features. She begins to laugh, gently, and to herself.

Dragon no more, though her clothes burn, Maleficent extends her arm toward Garland.

The Shadow Corridor moves over a few feet, giving them a chance to leave by walking in a straight line, no need to walk diagonally. She turns, looking almost coquettishly over her should at the supercharged Alma, the crouching Ulharisk, the downed Avira, the raging Mercade, the scheming Will, Maira's flame-soaked form and Deidra's waiting helpfulness... and she winks.

"Rest easily, you have defeated the evil witch."

Maleficent has posed:
And then a white force shield appears over Maleficent and Garland, created by the force of Will Sherman's ... will. "How thoughtful!"

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent is definitely still inclined to leave Avira behind. Sorry Avira :(

Maira has posed:
Maira glances back toward Garland, telling herself to hold her gaze, to be brave. What horrors has she already faced? There is always something worse. Maybe there is something out there even worse than Garland. Why, oh why is that thought even remotely comforting? She listens though, taking in his response and thinking it through. She is quiet for a while, thinking it through. "I...can see why you would think that, but..." she replies, but leaves it at that.

All else is forgotten when she hears Avira scream and sees her fall. Maira can't walk with a broken leg, but she can throw herself at the barrier by using air magic to launch herself like a flaming boulder from a catapult. "AVIRA!!!" she screams, trying with all her magical might and skill to make herself a blade of supernatural sharpness, focusing her light into a razor edge to try to puncture the barrier and let her through to get to Avira's side.

To her surprise, she meets with no resistance as she blasts through, trying to soften her fall this time as she lands by Avira, though every small movement is agony. "..vira..." she breaths, reaching out toward her unconscious form, throwing forth the healing spells she'd had waiting and hoping, praying, that Avira lives.

Once done, Maira's flames extinguish as she falls unconscious, no longer able to deal with the pain of her injuries. She lays naked in the ashes, wearing nothing but the amber necklace, her left leg a swollen, purple, bloody mess.

Avira has posed:
Good news. Avira is not dead and is not kidnapped! Clearly the world will rejoice.

The bad news is in spite of Maira's healing, Avira's not getting back up. She still seems unconscious.

Ulharisk has posed:

Ulharisk watches as the barrier falls at last and the flames die down he is about to go rushing right at Maleficent or breath fire in Garland's face when--

-- a flying Maira passes by. He shakes his draconic head a few times as his ear fins expand out in surprise which matches his slightly open maw. He-- is speechless in this moment of what he considers a really bad move on Maira's part. Like they really needed to lose /two/ ladies tonight.

Ulharisk can only carry one out of here, so he goes after the one that isn't near the psycho-dragon-lady-woman. Which means the young dragon leaps into the air, lands down next to Maira and gently with his clawed hands and goes to pick her up, his wings flapping a bit for balance as he hops backwards on his good leg. He would use his teeth, but uh-- skin and teeth would be bad.

Also it is very likely by camera angle, those wing flaps and arms of the dragon being doing some massive censor moves to keep things from being seen. Can we have some clam-shells here?

Garland has posed:
Suddenly, Garland's monologue is interrupted. The Loki boy - the one with the fae sealed inside him - speaks of hope, and kindness, and heroism. Loki and the boy reach out to ensnare Garland and Maleficent with their strange powers - strange and alien powers from a strange and alien world. He reaches out to seal Garland and Maleficent, and Garland's body does exactly what Garland had trained it to do over ten thousand years of time - it reacts on pure instinct. Samsara of Battle. He Lives Without Thought.

Garland reacts. The incarnation of battle drops into the unarmed stance automatically, reflexively; the massive Ironclad Nightmare reaches forth to meet the incoming threads with a roar of battle unlike any other. Though he cannot perceive the threads - though he cannot perceive the nature of the attack - though he cannot *conceive* of the nature of the attack - Garland trusts his instincts beyond anything else. And that trust is repaid a hundred fold, as the threads of the seal fall into his hands. Iron claws fold around the threads of fate, and with Loki and Will as a bridge, Garland does the impossible.

Garland tugs.

Chaos. The explosion is illogical on every conceivable level, as the Immovable Force meets an Untouchable Object, and paradox takes hold. Garland is a creature outside fate - he is a creature beyond the bounds of the cycle of gods and masters, a creature that should not ever interact with the fundamental underpinnings of the world reaching its fingers into just those very underpinnings.

Physics cease to exist. Light changes colors illogically, a flashing, strobing rave. Leaves fall upwards; fire burns cold; sound goes silent, reversing itself. Gravity stumbles, and for a moment, things fall sideways, or upwards, or whichever way they choose. The rules of sanity, the laws of man, evaporate as the Incarnation of Chaos grasps the strings in a manner that cannot be, should not be, and never will be again.

Unfortunately...that reaction is two-way.

Time ceases to have meaning; for a brief moment, the threads of fate reach back, back, back, as far as they possibly can, to the closest point in history in which Garland was still subject to the whims of fate. Time corrupts; the park flashes as Garland rips his claws into the strands, and four great figures emerge from the chaos. Four names echo through the ages - the ties of mortality, the pieces of his fury emboldened with his very soul.

LICH
MARILITH
KRAKEN
TIAMAT

And then comes the light. Four great lights, in the shape of human beings; they raise their weapons, cast their spells, and the four shadows of the monsters explode.

And Garland screams. He screams in a way that he has never screamed before, as the world glimpses a tiny, tiny fragment of the history he has hidden so greatly; he screams in what is unmistakably fear and outrage and hatred and pain, true pain, echoing and fearful pain.

At the same time, Will is given a glimpse of the true depths of the abyss.

It is beyond comprehension. It is beyond sanity. It is anathema to all living things, a Darkness deeper than anything, a blinding, suffocating, crushing and brutal darkness that consumes all that falls into it.

Garland hurls the strings aside, and sanity - and physics, and logic - forcefully reassert themselves. The light dies; the shadows disappear; Garland stumbles backwards and vanishes into the Corridor of Darkness, trusting that Maleficent will follow, blinded by ancient pain and memories that should never have come to surface.

His hatred, as he disappears, is /palpable/. It is a physical force, a crushing gravity that disappears only once he is through the portal - a glimpse of the true strength, a tiny fraction of the power that Garland keeps so carefully in reserve.

For a brief moment, Garland lost control.

And he is angry beyond all belief.

Maleficent has posed:
Maleficent leaves in his wake, a thoughtful expression on her face. She had remained unruffled throughout the display. Her departure is quipless, laughless, without sound or visible change in expression.

"See you at midnight." is all she announces. And the portal closes after.

Alma Hyral has posed:
"No."

The staff is moved around in concentric circles. Everywhere she touches, radiant yellow sigils form. And then in front of Maleficent, what looks like a tiny speck, a mote of light touches, and then expands rapidly. Into what looks like a white hot star. "Maleficent..." It continues to expand, little flares of energy playing off its surface, coruscating around it. "...Leave them alone. Stay out of our lives. Stay away from Riku..." It seems about to reach critical mass, "...as there's no..." The stars are about to reach critical mass, when Chaos occurs.

All at once, words lose have no meaning to her anymore. Spells have no function, and so hers just ends, abruptly, before it can go off. Reality itself has no meaning. It was enough to drive a person insane. She screams, only to learn she has no voice.

It was Chaos. True Chaos. Not something you can learn about in any textbooks. Not something that any bedtime stories her father taught her could prepare her for.. she falls to the ground with a thud, senseless once it's over. Her mind shut off, from being unable to cope with the sensory overload.. or lack of sensory overload, as the case might be, given the absolute paradox of the unreality that is Chaos.

Will Sherman has posed:
Will did it...the mirracle he was aiming for happened...somehow.

At a terrible cost...his head pounds...beating against his very head. Physics become <NORP>ed up beyond belief...luckily the censors stay intact. Though they were replaced by Imortamet until the goose could go to theropy.

Will doesn't even scream, it's more of a gibbering mad hobo tongue...he stares, his eyes going blank as he gets this...tries to understand this...it's beyond him. Loki immediately shuts down, returning to what is the seal...he's less effected by this, he's seem the worlds created. He's witnessed this before...he isn't a mortal.

Will isn't, but he is still much too young...

Will finally collapses, first to his knees, and then onto his face. Everything goes dark, he can't even percieve light for the moment, everything just...stops.

Mercade Alexander has posed:
Mercade fights. It's all he can do at this point. He flails at the back end of the dragon for several moments, and something becomes apparent that you don't really understand when you see it in a movie or a game:

Dual wielding is /hard/.

Mercade flails gracelessly at the dragon, who then promptly smashes him with her tail. There is a crunching noise as Mercade is sent flying backwards towards the flaming barrier. He impacts it, smacking against the burning hellfire as if it was solid before sliding down uselessly and crumples to the ground, only to be bathed in flames. Mercade screams, his voice cutting out as he hits the ground, insensate from pain...

And then Chaos erupts. Mercade watches for a momentary eternity of horror and madness, unable to do anything.

Eventually, the madness ends, and Mercade lies there, the Keyblade vanished and the Spine plunged into the ground next to him.

He's slive. He might not wish he was when he comes to, but he's alive.

Deidra has posed:
Deidra has been trying to deal with what heartless might remain but it's too hard to get in. She says nothing there's no need to howl at them, her anger is more of the cold sort. She's had no love for the fair folk of /any/ sort. Okay that's a lie, it's mostly the one that did it to her but one like Maleficent proves the stories about humanity's and even gargoyle?s old fears of the third race.

She can only watch in horror at what happens to Avira, the horrifying world view of Garland doesn't help matters either and she's clearly preparing something to at least trying to just recover from the strain when all is said and done.

Then Garland snaps what did Will do? Will moves trying to get to Will and trying to protect her friend or otherwise help him.