The Search Is On

The Search Is On
Date of Scene:	22 March 2013
Location:	Luca - Central Square
Synopsis:	The Dark Knight starts his quest to find those of Light and test them.
Cast of Characters:	Deelel, Kyra Hyral, Soan Sagittarius, Shadow, Leon

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Leon has posed:

Luca was a rather beautiful city. Right off the ocean waters. People traveled here in roves from all over the land, or at least that is what is said. From those of Yevon, to adventures, all types of people come here. Yet on this day, another type of adventurer comes here. Another type finds himself among these people, alone, by how it may appear.

Normally, such things as Dark Knights are a common thing within the World of Ruin. Common enough that, they are like Paladins. Yet this Dark Knight causes people to scatter away from him. Scatter away from his six foot four height and not even trail to closely behind.

Darkness, great darkness follows his very foot steps. With each calm, methodical step, is a stream of dark mist that wisps across the ground. The black cape held up by the pauldrons barely moving as he walks. Those red eyes, those glowing red eyes stare out from a void of darkness behind the helm.

Nothing seemed right about this 'man'. Even the animals growled, snarled, and pulled back in fear.

Soon he made his way to the center of the square before he stepped up on a high location. Then as he turned to face the people his voice rose. The helm causing a echo, only amplifying his deep voice. That voice that lacked nearly any emotion of nearly pure logic. "Citizens of this city!" he starts out. "I call out to you, for I seek your bravest and your strongest. I seek out those who dare stand for the light, or believe themselves a hero. I seek those who would challenge the darkness or believe they can better it!"

The man pauses in his words before he continues. "Come before me if you believe you are the ones I seek, for I challenge you in battle." Then his hand extends out as a dark stream of mist starts to form in mid air. It swirls around, before becoming solid, then in dark blue flames extends out a blade of a long sword, until the Soul Blade is materialized. "..If you do not step before me and accept my challenge. I will seek out every person before me and slay them where they stand."

The sword tip points down to the ground. "The choice is yours!"

Kyra Hyral has posed:
A lovely city that is indeed quite attractive to to all sorts of adventurers.

To the white mage known as Kyra, the foreign religion here was of passing interest to her-not as one who sought to join it, though. All she had seen of it so far seemed to suggest that not only did it show signs of being similar to the one that she had abandoned years ago, but it seemed to have a strong dislike of "machina," which in her limited knowledge she equated to anything of technological significance. That was no good! Fortunately, all of her important gadgets are either concealed or left behind at her room in Corneria.

The redhead had come in search of an expert in local plants, seeing as this island was in the same vicinity of those she and Soan were exploring for treasure not too long ago. Unfortunately, so far she's had little luck in tracking one down. "Why is it so difficult to find a proper botanist or herbalist these days?" Kyra grouses to her travelling companion.

A scream of alarm catches her attention and she perks, looking to see a growing crowd around Leon. Curious, she pushes her way forward, fighting through a handful of people choosing to outright flee the Dark Knight. "What's going on here?!"

'I call you out, for I seek your bravest and your strongest!'

Kyra nudges her way in, popping through the rapidly receding line of people. 'I seek those who dare stand for the light, or who believe themselves a hero. I seek those who would challenge the darkness or believe they can better it!'

Challenge the darkness? Challenge Chaos? Even in her rebellion, that was at least one thing she held onto: Chaos was a force that must not prevail. "Soan!" she looks over the crowd, trying to find her thief friend. "Where-" she doesn't spot him-maybe he ran off? If that was the case, then...

Leon threatens to slay everyone who stands before him. Swallowing, Kyra reaches for the zipper of her hoodie and draws it down, brushing it back to reveal the bandoliers filled with test tubes beneath. She doesn't /appear/ to be armed otherwise-wait, no, seems she has a small gun on her and got herself a /proper/ gunbelt at some point.

"Hold it, dark knight! This stops now."

Deelel has posed:
Deelel had come to catch Blitzball game of all things to day, she was curious even with the people's here hate of what made her? It's not like they could easily tell and she felt safe enouht to come. Those plans had however gone out the window as a stranger had appeared sekeing combat and callinfg them out. She doesn't like the idea of letting this person just butcher everyone here.

"So threats of murder against those who can not fight unless you get a fight? You really a null unit ain't you?"

Sass from the start his could be bad the strange white mage however suprises her, just who is that she'd not seen her arond before.

Deelel reaches for the disk on her back and adds.

"She put it well this ends now."

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Indeed, poor Kyra. Soan is nowhere to be seen. It's quite mysterious, after all, that a thief would be able to /hide away/ in a massive crowd like this. Soan, after all, is a great trap rogue, but not a terrifingly effective stealthy thief. That's just how he is.

The other thing that he have, however, is an alternate, hidden identity, an identity who's call is to deal with maniacs like this that just like to throw their strength around and see what sticks.

"My, my, my," Echoes out a voice, quite a few metres above the Dark Knight grandstanding his threat to the majority of the population. Standing in perfect equilibrium is a tall, fully armored figure, leaning on the top of a machina fountain in the center of the town, a foot leaning on the shins of the other one, balancing on it. He has a spear, glowing with a faint whisp of flames, leaned comfortably over his armoured shoulder.

DRAGOON MAN.

"Either Dark Knights are desperate for attention in this world, or extremly foolhardy." The Dragoon continues, looklng downward, his eyes darting around as he do witnesses people standing up, including Kyra. He smiles behind his helmet. She's always been a courageous lass. He lift his spear, pointing it downward at Leon. "I will not accept a belligerent Pawn of Chaos threatening a city in this manner. Begone, or I will force you out."

Shadow has posed:
Not to be confused with 'shadows' that follow the Dark Knight, the ninja known as Shadow is nearby when the declaration is declared. Ironically, Shadow is positioned behind him. Darkness. Shadow. Interceptor. Woof.

It was not the traveling man's intent to stay long in this city. The road was calling Shadow and Interceptor away to find more work among the people. Paying people, that is. This was a stop that he planned on resupplying and inquiring about a blacksmith that may have fashioned Interceptor's fancy new dog helmet. A dogmet. It is quite fetching in a Kujo sort of way.

More people. More problems. Shadow even recognizes some people in the crowd, but he keeps himself at a a distance. Interceptor is the one with much more spirit. Ever since he arrived, he has been significantly friendlier than the assassin remembers him being. Trouble is brewing. The dark-clad man hears the decree-- but does not do as much as turn to look in his direction. Hero? No. An assassin that works for money (munny!) is no hero, right?

However, Interceptor barks at the Dark Knight and rushes off. Yes, Interceptor is the true hero. Give the dog a cape with a big 'S' on it. As an amusing addition of the heroes that assemble-- a... dog... rushes to join them. "Bark bark!" he snarls at the Knight-- clearly declaring him as a champion of Light and Justice. "Woof!" clearly means 'You shall not prevail, monster!'

Leon has posed:

The Dark Knight watches all those who step forward. Some with strange weapons, others perching high above, then-- a dog. Curious place this world had become since the fall. Curious place indeed.

The dark armored knight gave a nod as his stance shifted. The pauldrons morphed then, becoming closer to his shoulders as the cap also moved slightly the the pauldrons. Armor of magic it would seem. "Your calls are heard and once we are done, no shall be harmed, as agreement to my challenge."

"Prepare yourselves," He then starts to move to the side a bit. "..and show me your strength." About then the mist swirls upward and wraps around his armor, which causes it to almost shift phase within the reality itself for a moment, yet still a trail of mist remained under his feet. Though now, it seemed even the armor was casting a fine layer of dark mist that moved with him. Those red eyes staring each of them down in turn.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
Soan always seemed to disappear at the worst times! Kyra has indeed experienced this before which used to make her quite leery of traveling alone with him. Indeed, she usually has Kamon escort her when she needs to really go somewhere. The schoolgirl does a good job of putting up a brave front but inwardly, she is pretty distressed. While she might be able to dispell the magic of the Dark Knight temporarily, if that sword catches up to her, she will be in quite a bad place.

Thankfully, she is not alone! There is another woman here with her, one with a chakram-like weapon. Ranged fighter, Kyra immediately assesses-which, while useful, is not someone she could reliably retreat behind to evade being carved up with a dangerous weapon. Also to her surprise, a dog rises to the challenge. Not one of those dog-people that she's encountered and have long since accepted as a normal thing, but a wholesale dog.

Useful, though Kyra's unsure that it can protect her sufficiently.

Fortunately a familiar (masked) face shows up. "Dragoon Man!" she gasps, whirling to look up at him. Her hands clasp together. "Good! Come down and stop this follower of Chaos!" At least Leon sounded like he would hold to his word and not harm the bystanders...as long as they fought him.

But Kyra doesn't move to attack him. She doesn't even move to grasp his weapon. Instead her hands remain clasped and she bows her head in reverance. White light swirls around her, stirring her hair and sending the unzipped sides of her jacket flapping. The white light, similarily, surrounds Soan as well.

"To victory, Dragoon Man!" she calls out.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel suprised by the Dark Knight's words he almost seems to mean what he's said but she'll have to see how this fairs. There's a humm as the disc comes to life. She now launches her disc even s Dragoon Man appears. So the guy really does get around it seems. She doesn't get to into her attack she seem to be merely preparing and trying to feel out Leon with a quick toss of the weapon befoe she starts to mvoe and catch it on the return.

"So...you just were looking for a fight you could have hit the arena in Tranverse town!"

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
As such, Soan has earned a sort of reputation of being kind of... well, evasive when on expeditions. Fortunately, it's to watch over his friends in an even more efficient way!

Dragoon Man's arms crosses, looking over the assembled, then down at the Dark Knight. "Good. Then we'll see if you are good to your word, Dark Knight. You shall have your challenge, then." He says, standing up straight on top of the fountain. He can feel the white energy coursing through him from Kyra's spells, taking in a deep breath, feeling life flowing through his veins, reinvigorating him! Thanks, Kyra, he thinks to himself, always so helpfull.

DRAGOON MAN thrusts his spectral spear up in the sky, the point aimed at the skies. A ghostly roar, not unlike a dragon's echoes through the immediate area.

"BY THE SKIES ABOVE THE SKY!

A burst of light surrounds the Dragoon, condensing into an armor around him with faint sectioned parts looking a lot like massive scales around his body. Then, effortlessly, he lifts himself up in the sky.

Shadow has posed:
Dang Dumb Dog.

Shadow makes his way through the crowds to see what his impulsive 'must save little Timmy from a burning building' dog went off to. He has a good idea. When he spots the full majesty of the skirmish that is going on, the assassin approaches it with calculation. He is getting his dog back, but he is going to take advantage of the element of surprise.

As the ninja moves through the crowd, he pulls out a small strip of paper from one of his pouches. With a motion the Shadow Edge (no relation to the owner) crumbles into the wind and forms a physical haze around him that causes his body to look as it is shifting and phasing. Meanwhile he circles around the battle while amongst the chaos of the crowd-- stilling his mind and soul. Then... he waits.

Interceptor isnt waiting. Ain't nobody got time for that. He barks ferociously at the Dark Knight as the mist wraps around him. His coarse fur is sticking straight up as he is poised to attack-- lunging forward, but stopping from actually trying to connect with anything. All bark. No bite.

Leon has posed:

The Dark Knight watches as the White Mage casts holy magic. Noted. She will be trouble. She calls the one up high 'Dragoon Man'. That is mentally noted down as well. However as the chakram comes, he steps forward. It strikes his armor, where the very material seems to dematerialize under the strike, before it starts to heal back up.

He was standing there, then in a poof of dark mist where he was, is not where he is. Instead with another form of dark mist, his form appears right in front of deelel where he suddenly strikes out at her close and personal. Just with enough range of the tip of his sword blade which strikes out quickly. The edge of the blade seems to almost become ethereal as it goes through her, before it reforms again.

He watches as Dragoon Man suddenly leaps into the air, before those red eyes narrow slightly. That would not do at all. "Very good." he says to really no one now it would seem.

Suddenly with a step back his form 'shadow blinks' again to another position, the sudden mist of darkness expands out on command, before suddenly the mists bursts out in dark tendrils, moving out to snag the white mage, the chakram thrower and then one stretch high into the heavens to get even the great Dragoon.

Soon, if the darkness gets anyone, it pulls them right toward the Dark knight who has his sword ready. He would soon etch into them his blade once more, doing the same trick that he performed on Deelel, where the tip almost seems to vanish as it passes through, before he suddenly blinks again in dark fog only a few feet away from the 'heroes'.

The Dark Knight currently is unaware of the Ninja.%

Kyra Hyral has posed:
Kyra beams happily as she looks up to Dragoon Man, one hand breaking away to wave at him. The magic around her doesn't seem to fade very quickly either, the motes of light circling around her with little control from the teenager. She doesn't seem too terribly concerned about this. "Get 'im, Dragoon Man!" she cheers, turning back to face the Dark Knight. Surely with this hero here, she would be safe from her own reprisa-

Apparently not.

Just as she turns back to face him, the darkness seeps around her, entangling her arms and waist. A startled shriek escapes her and she tries to pull back before they suddenly tighten around her. digs her heels into the ground, her boots jangling as she fights against the pull.

The Dark Knight drags her in and /stabs/ her and she seems shocked that this is even happening. Struggling, she squirms away from him, holding her wound with one hand, a startled look on her face.

Frantically, she starts grabbing slotted test tubes out one of the bandoliers crossing her chest. Contained within each seems to be a reddish liquid. Kyra hurls multiple vials of this at the Dark Knight with frantic abandon. "K-keep your awful magic off of me!"

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
The stretch of shadows is rather surprising. Then again, Dragoon Man should have expected the /Dark/ Knight to be able to manifest offensive ways to channel the corrupt arts of Darkness. It disrupts some of his strange glowing scale armor, but the light remains true despite the assaults headed it's way. His momentum also continues to be strong, remaining in the air despite the attempts of forcing the opposite on the flying Superhero.

"What's wrong with this picture, Dark Knight?!" Dragoon Man shouts as he plummets back toward the ground, with Leon as the clear epicenter of his massive leap, dropping like a stone with his spear. "What is your goal with this?!"

It's not the only thing he does, the Dragoon taking in a deep breath and breathing out a concentrated spread of flames, mingled with little bubbles that could be very well describled as a stream of high pressured water. Or, by close proximity to the breathed flames, steam in this case.

Shadow has posed:
Piercing through the sky is the sound of a sharp whistle. Where? From that balcony over there!

The shadowy form of Shadow is already mid air by the time the sound is emitted-- both giving him a clean 'in' over the chaotic crowd below and drawing attention to the impending attack. Metal whistles through the air as poison tipped shurikens rip from the assassin's hands and rocket towards the Dark Knight. If you are going to make an entrance, you might as well make it a good one.

One might wonder 'Hey, why would a ninja announce his presense?'. Good question. The whistle is also the signal for Interceptor to attack with a (potential) blind spot created by his ninja companion. The dog leaps forward-- aiming to bite and thrash wildly with those fangs of his. Bark bark growl snarl thrash.

Shadow is close at this point-- barely making an impact on the air around him as his body itself becomes the projectile. Like a ninja would, he propels forward-- blade coming out of it's sheath in a thin silvery trail of light-- as he goes completely past the Dark Knight to enter the fray by setting down near the group with his blade out and ready. An obligatory, "..." is given.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel is still getting into gear she has experiance with Dark Knights from her past dealings with Baron. She's not sure how to gauge this man really so she's taking a bit of a cautious approach. She keeps her strieks quick focused trtying to see how he reacts to her but even then his counter attacks rip into her pretty hard and she's forced back from the force of the blows.

Leon has posed:

Deelel was able to strike him back in a quick counter, that happen to be in time with the White Mages frantic efforts. The explosion force of the vials, sends him up, but he uses the mist to drag him right back down as counter measures toward the White Mage, moving to knock her down to the ground.

His attention quickly spin up at Dragoon Man who coming right down for him. There was no response however for the hero of the hour, only the moving himself in a defensive posture as the lance came down and then attempting to move himself away from the flaming steam; which he was not so fortunate to do.

The flames lick around his armor, but the strange armor starts to remind itself once more, the mists moving in where the cuts are formed and armor melted slightly. His red gaze staring for a moment as he readies his blade for the next strike to come. Yet some of the haziness of the armor has started fade, but bits of dark mist still float off gently.

Then sudden there was a whistle from an unexpected angle. The Dark Knight quickly looks in that direction, but the knives were already upon him. They slam into the magical armor, seeking in past the magical layer protection before impact the armor itself.

Then canine companion of the Ninja comes in, which finds his teeth seeking more into magic then the actual armor, Yet some teeth marks are being made. The assault from the Ninja, gets him a look. Its a long stare for a moment, before he suddenly rips his arm from from the canine and seems to shadow blink back a few in order to make himself room again.%r The Dark Knight goes to try and get in on Deelel again as she attacks, however this time it seems she has learned and he can't get a beat on her, while her disc does.

His red eyes peer at all those around him before his eyes narrow. "Impressive." He says softly, with no malice or even sarcasm. However he then shadow blinks once more, moving back where he can see all. Then his sword starts to glow with a dark blue in color before four (maybe five) runes appear under each person. It was the only warning they got. While a rune formed under his own feet.

Soon the Dark Knight then slammed his blade into the ground, and from those very runes under everyone blasted up a crystal sword that attempted to form around them like an ethereal blade, trying to trap them within. During that process the Dark Knight was already on the move, with his blade blazing with flames. The very blade slashes at each of them, and if it strikes the would feel there very life energy being pulled from them, before the Dark Knight then 'blinks' away and slightly into the air.

His sword then looses the fire, but the glow remains, as he then slashes it at the very air, creating five waves of dark energy that rush at each of them. If they were trapped in the crystalline swords of darkness. The very blade waves would shatter the crystal and find there mark into them.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
When it comes to suspicious magical symbols, Kyra tends to take heed. She's quick to notice the glowing rune beneath her and tries to backstep out of the way. Normally, she's pretty good at evading her way out of magic like this. But today...well, perhaps it was the dark nature of the energies themselves. The white mage is promptly trapped within the crystal of darkness.

Frantic again, she beats on her confines ineffectively, afraid of trying to use her firearm against it due to possible richocheting. "Dragon Man!" she calls out, unsure if she can take much more of this as the following strike from the Dark Knight seems to drain her lifeforce.

Fortunately, she doesn't remain trapped! Unfortunately, it is waves of darkness that shatter the crystal to free the teenager. Nervously, she steps backwards, grasping for a pair of vials from her belts. Contained within them are things truely meant to be nasty-that is, genetically engineered bacteria. Not accidentally foul food. Without reservation, she hurls both vials at the Dark Knight's head.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Dragoon Man is not precisely in a pickle -- however, the others that are fighting seems to be. He need to step up his game before things are getting a little too much out of hand. The Dragoon get scorched by the dark corrupted flames, trailing after him as he sails through the air. He slams into the side of a building. While this freed him, it didn't save the fellow warriors fighting against the darkness.

Scowling, grunting loudly under his mask, Dragoon Man leaps back immediatedly toward Leon, his spectral spear soaring through the air with a bright light condenses at the tip of it. A rather pretty light, it quickly becomes eye searing individuals corrupted by the forces of Chaos and Darkness, a piercing beacon that strikes through the very rotten core of their Chaos.

"IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT, DARK KNIGHT!?" Dragoon Man shouts at the top of his lungs, as if answering to Kyra's call as he slams down his weapon, a shockwave throwing around him from whatever he impacts. The bright eyes that serves for his vision glows with the same intensity, focused on Leon.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel makes an error a terrible error really as she's dealing with the knight he's faster than she expected most Dark Knight she's known to be pretty darn sloaw and that costs her even as she counter attacks the dark Knight just slames into her with his blade and it leaves glowing lines bleeding light from he rbody where she's been strucj she makes a sound of pain that's quite inhuman almost digital sounding as she tries to get back up and attacks she russhs in letting out a cry as she does so trying to strike the Dark Knight with a single powerful disk shot aimef for the center of his mass before she ties to flip away, still she's not in good shape what the heck is this guy?

Shadow has posed:
The ninja does what any ninja would do when impending doomstrikes come their way: they dodge. They attempt to dodge, at least. Shadow tries to jump out of the way of the dark attack, but ends up getting caught in it mid-leap and struck back. He tumbles in the air, the light armored figure taking some heavy damage before he lands carefully onto his feet. A quick flick later and he downs a potion-- keeping survival of himself and his loudly barking dog in the mix.

While kneeled down, Shadow produces two small balls. One is gray and one is red. The gray one is thrown and Interceptor goes after it-- notably the Dark Knight being the target of a hazy smoke bomb directed towards his eyes. Meanwhile the ninja continues his indirect approach to combat, taking the ball-and-dog distraction to circle around-- tossing a third object at the Knight which contains a red hazy vapor that inhibits concentration.

All of this is a setup for the last strike, wherein the ninja crosses over the threshold between himself and the combatant with blade in hand. Instead of a deft ninja-strike, he aims to get the blade stuck against his throat. No easy task against a Knight-- but at least enough of a slide and drag would garrote the man into muffled silence.

Leon has posed:

As the disc comes in from Deelel again as a counter measure before probably trapped, the Dark Knight uses his sword this time to knock it right back at the program in time for her to catch it if she was quick enough after the crystal shatters.

Then Kyra goes all vial crazy again. It was something the Dark Knight was noting with some interest, so this time instead of standing by. He blinks right in toward her as she starts. He snatches one, but gets the other in the face. There was a low, deep rumble as the Dark Knight slowly turns to look at her once more. Those inhuman red eyes looking directly from the dark void.

He then at this close proximity goes to jam his blade right into her, while he still lowly rumbles. The blade seems to take on a ghostly shape however, but it may hurt all the same. His eyes stare at her, before he then looks away and yanks out the blade as he does, it ripping at her magical strength as he goes to walk away and the blade takes on a corporeal form once more. As for the vial it is tucked away in a safe place for now.

The Dragoon comes down with there holy lance. The light pieces through the darkness and strikes across the armor, leaving a gash in the heavy metal work and nailing the magical protection around the more exposed leather pieces. The Dark Knight though did shield most of the attack and stares at Dragoon Man. It wasn't an answer, but it was stare down from those red eyes right into the very helm of the Dragoon. Looking to meet him for a moment eye to eye. Then he calmly, with precise words says a very simple response. "No. It is not."

Then the disc launches. The Dark knight quickly raises up his free arm. Along with his blade to block then incoming blow. The disc hit with enough force that it clashes hard into the magical dark magic that black mist explodes outward before it slams right into the very gauntlet around his lower arm, cutting in a deep gash. He lowers down his arms and stares at her for moment, before his attention quickly spins over to the Tag team duo.

It was enough time to see the smoke bomb incoming which blinds him from seeing what was about to happen. Tripped up for a moment by the dog, it gave Shadow enough time to come in wight Ninja like speed. The only warning the Dark Knight had was the movement in the smoke. Enough time to raise up his blade to try and make a countering blow. However where the Dark Knight came short with the blade's moving into ethereal status, the Ninja was able to slash him across the shoulder; slightly off from the attended target, but leaching a nick in the armor as it by passes the magical protection.

The Dark Knight blinks out of the smoke, actually he blinks and seems to 'vanish'. However the dark mist does not and suddenly starts to expand out ward, attempting to place the whole area in a dark cloud of fog that almost blocks out the very sun.

There was then a blue glowing haze in the darkness, before two red eyes peer out from it, no form, or figure. Sudden the very ground starts to also glow red, before the Dark Knight sudden appears in the air and slams his blade hard into the ground. The Ground under the sword seems to shatter and red glows appear in the sky as the rune vanishes.

Suddenly crystalline blades come crashing down from the sky, all of them attempting to entrap them in there crimson glow. If successful, a dark purple electricity will crackle around the sword before pulling the very life force from them and sending it right into the very blue glowing blade that the Dark Kight rises to the air. The electricity moving around the blue blade, moving over his arm and across his form, slowly starting to pull back together the metal, yet if unsuccessful he will remain until the dark mist passes by the swords they shatter in massive shards. All of it returning back to the Dark Knight once more with him slowly lowering his blade once more at ready.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
When the Dark Knight looks at her with those inhuman eyes, Kyra can't help but shudder. She doesn't look the least bit sorry that she's throwing flesh-eating bacteria in his face, though, especially since he managed to catch one of the vials before it broke.

He stabs her again and it does hurt-though this time she feels the unpleasant sensation of her magical energies being drained. The Dark Knight will notice right away that the magical reserves of this woman are vast. Drinking from it as he does is like trying to drink from a lake. There is just so much there.

Taking on an almost bestial form, the Dark Knight summons an even more terrifying form of his unholy magic. She hops backwards, avoiding one, then avoids another crystaline blade. A third descends, sure to hit her, when the Dragoon intercepts it above her, becoming entrapped in her stead. She backs away so she isn't crushed beneath the dragon, gasping in horror. "Dragoon man!" she yelps, worried, "He's so powerful, oh no...!" Once her heroic compaion is free, she rushes forward and lays her hands upon him.

Normally she would resort to other means-her potions and specially engineered creatures, to heal. But in this case, the overwhelming dark magic present demanded that she tap upon her neglected magic and counter with its opposite number.

Soan will feel wild holy magic pouring into him, almost aggressively mending his wounds. The light is clearly visible around Kyra, sparking and weaving uncontrollably.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Dragoon Man's bright white glowing eyes are glaring back into the dark red eyes of Leon, undaunted, unafraid. In fact, there is not a small amount of ferocity in the Dragoon's stare, something primal, much like how a dragon would stare at something it dislikes very, very, very much. While he is a man, the armoured hero is seemingly possessed by the very spirit of a Dragon. An angry, irritated one. At his words, however, the Dragoon's eyes narrows slightly.

He leaps backward, making a back flip effortlessly before landing, squinting to find where the Dark Knight has went. In doubts where his eyes has failed him, Dragoon Man falls back to his smell. Over there, he feels. This kind of Darkness is hard to hide away this easily. But then... things get complicated. He can feel the build up, the power that's coming. He looks up.

A rune. Dragoon Man takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and slamming the butt of his spear into the ground. A faint glow begins to cover him as he reopen his eyes, staring undaunted at the crystalline blades comes raining down. With a bloody battle cry, he leaps back... to get in the way of the ones headed toward Kyra. Still screaming out, almost roaring, his spear deflects blades at the detriment of his own saftey. He's trapped inside the power, electricity flowing, coursing through him. At the end of it, Dragoon Man remains standing: smoking, armor battered, but still standing.

"Are you well?" He asks, carefully, not looking back at Kyra, before nodding. He can feel the reinvigorating energy flow through him from Kyra's magic, to which he gratefully give her a nod in thanks. "Yes. Yes he is. Thanks you."

The Dragoon suddenly vanishes, leaping into the air, soaring sky high to pierce through the clouds, darkened by the use of the Dark Knight's magics, sending ripples through the fluffy things. Through the hole he made is a small pillar of light, followed by the Dragoon's own scream as he plummets downward, his spear glowing again like before, homing himself around Leon's general vincinity. Kyra knows what's coming.

Like a sonic boom, Dragoon Man's voice powers through the general vincinity as he impacts against the earth.

"BY THE SKIES ABOVE THE SKYYYYYYYYY!"

Shadow has posed:
Neither Shadow nor Interceptor expects the Dark Knight to vanish upwards. The two carefully edge back while waiting for the impending attack-- knowing 'soon' but not 'where'. And then it comes like a dark omen. The darkness enshrouding the area makes Shadow appear to dip into the blackness-- becoming little more than a shift in the chaos.
As the crystal blades begin to drop, Shadow begins to dodge away. Like many adventure movies where the ceiling is falling on them, the ninja darts forward and around the debris. Only this time the debris are swords that would kindly like to skewer the man and his dog. None of them manage to land on the duo-- though there is more than one close call.

Two eyes are all that is 'human' behind Shadow's mask. Sure, there is probably a /human/ behind all the dark shroud, but those eyes are all that the world has left to see that isnt hidden. He levels them on the Dark Knight-- evaluating him and somehow evoking the sort of anxiety that causes lesser men to freeze in a cold sweat. It causes the dark atmosphere in the area to feel colder-- though its hard to tell if that is from the Knight's malice or Shadow's Mark of Death.

"Bark!" yelps Interceptor. That is dogese for 'Go get em!'.

Shadow does no trickery this time around-- no double and triple feints. He merely merges in with the dark atmosphere and leaps out, blade forward. He is hard to track with the naked eye-- leaping, slashing, slashing, leaping-- using stone walls as if they were veritcle trampolines and apexing out every deft blade stroke.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel scores a larger hit than she expect but the Dark Knight has not fallen to her assault combined with that of the otehrs. This man is clearly powerful, very powerful to be sure. She's still in the fight however she's weakened ther's not much left in her with how much she's hurt. There's glowing lines over her body bleeding light.

"I am not out of it yet..."

She throws the diska gain trying to catch the Knight off his guard.

Leon has posed:

The Dark Knight's eyes were directly on Dragoon Man, even as the White Mage heals him. He was staring right at the holy Dragoon knight. Perhaps a little bit of rivalry was starting to play out here, like two forced into a light and dark tango of yin and yang.

He felt the eyes on the beast upon him when they looked at one another. It was something he mentally took in and would contemplate over later. He stood there at ready, his mystic blade pointed at the ground, even as the Dragoon Man leaps in the air...

However with a bark, his attention is quickly turned away to Shadow who suddenly rushes in like the assassin he is. His attention completely off the others it would seem in that moment. A mistake really. The Dark Knight raises up his blade in a defensive posture, but there was no time.

The Ninja's blades seek in, the slash past the magic and dive deep into the armor, deep into the leather, and through his very cape. The strikes slash back everything his dark magic was able to take from the Dragoon Man. Each strike almost, almost cutting deep enough to draw blood yet what was exposed was quickly protected by the dark mist, making one wonder the deeper they dove into the armor, would they ever find blood. The answer was yes.

As a trickle of a single drip of blood on his arm at last hit the ground. The Dark Knight was indeed someone of living within all that darkness. Yet as the blood hit the ground the dark mist soon moved over it and it seem to evaporate away, taken in by the darkness around him.

Deelel then sends her discs for an attack, but as she does. The Dark Knight is hit by one, he tries to parry the next, fails. It cuts into his weakened armor, and then he suddenly shadow blinks at the last throw, moving like what seems right through it before he dives the blazing sword of blue fire in a cleaving slash downwards to draw life essence right out of her.

'BY THE SKIES ABOVE THE SKYYYYYYYYY!'

Suddenly echos from on high above. The Dark Knight way waiting for him and as he comes crashing down from the sky, the Dark Knight suddenly 'shadow blinks' right up there to meet him. Those red eyes burning bright as the armor suddenly flares with powerful darkness around it, almost becoming impossible to make out. However as the lance of holy light comes down the sword of unholy darkness comes to meet in equality. The two weapons slam into one another.

The polar energies wrap around one another with great force, causing a burst of magic in the air, before the Dark Knight is sent back to the tera-ferma below. He lands down on the ground with his boots skidding across the surface that has been runed with now holes, kicked up stone, and benches torn apart.

The Dark Knight readies his blade again. The darkness flaring this way and that around him as his red eyes continue to glow brightly. His focus turns slowly to the White Mage who he stares at for a long time. A long stare that stays on her as if trying to look past her. As if he was debating something in that moment.

"Hmm.." Was all he started out. Whatever he was thinking could not be good, before his eyes scanned over all them standing around him. His hand flexing around the sword before, his gaze sweeps once more over them all.

Then the sword starts to glow blue once more, yet he doesn't move right away. He could retreat now. He could flee from battle. Just as he could have followed with his thought process on the White Mage, yet he does not.

Instead the Dark Knight suddenly from where he stands lashes out his blade in quick motions through the air in all directions. Sending out Netherblast's in all directions, attempting to catch someone in the slash wave strikes of darkness.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
"I-I'm okay!" Kyra says quickly to the hero, who directs his words at her without looking. "Thanks to you." With each passing second, she starts to realize that the magic is too wild. As if the gate had grown rusty and now that it was opened, she couldn't close it again. Dragoon Man is strong enough to tear himself away and continue on to attack the Dark Knight, but the magic still persists around her, threatening to grow out of control completely.

Cringing, she shuts her eyes and forces herself to concentrate. Standing there, she is an easy target to strike, unfortunately. There is nothing to prevent the mysterious Dark Knight from striking her from afar with another one of his powerful blasts of darkness. Each strike merges dangerously with the wild magics around her until one combines in such a way that the resultant explosion knocks Kyra to her feet.

In a way, it helps her a little. Pulling herself up to her knees, shaking, her eyes suddenly stare forward. With sudden clarity, she can see the 'path' before her and, reach out with her skills to seize the holy magics. Slowly, she looks over at the Dark Knight.

"Enough." she whispers, gathering up the magic. One arm lifts, one finger pointed almost accusingly at him.

A blinding blast of holy light suddenly descends from the sky. When it strikes the ground, a dome-shaped blast centered upon their attacker follows.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel still hs some fight left in her, but not much she's hurt she's emiting light from her wounds it's a strange blue matching her tattoos. She seems able to keep fightuing though. She does not appear to be beleeding however she is clearly huert the attack comes gaint her and she blocks the strike using her disc deflecting it away from herself but some poor blitzball ad board is explodeded due to that. She might ahem hve to do something about that later.

"You come here looking for a fdight threaten mass murder to get one. I thought the Baron Dark Knights were, low. What's your angle?"

This man hasn't talked trash nad that's got Deelel a bit more talkative in then he might be otherwise. She comes in again this time she'll try to flip oer the knight and catch him from behind.

Shadow has posed:
Shadow lands at the end of his assault and turns a gaze towards the Knight. It bleeds. This is good. There are limits to how much punishment that the ninja can pour out and the last burst of juice left him needing a moment to pause. This becomes even more clear as the Knight's attacks ring out-- causing him to leap and flip over the attacks accurately. He notices his own fatigue-- even if it doesnt seem obvious in his movements.

A small paper strip is produced and the shady haze wraps over him once more. Even Interceptor remains quiet at the two pace around the Knight-- looking for an opening from which to strike from soon. Or, perhaps, an opening from which to escape into the chaos like the brave man he is. He gives a thoughtful, "...", to the situation.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
The clash is tremendous, Dragoon Man gritting his teeth, his bright eyes glaring into the dark eyes of the Dark Knight. The explosion of opposing energies sends Dragoon Man flying back, erratically at first, but soon enough he regains control, landing a few feet away from the explosion. His spear shattered during the impact, somewhere, leaving the armoured Dragoon weaponless for a few moments. Benches, stone and dust are kicked up in his wake, the fragmented spectral spear's remains falling like a rain of vanishing dust. The Dark Knight's counter attack is similarly fierce, sending Dragoon man straight into the fountain he was sitting on a few minutes ago, letting out a brief cry of pain from the darkness tearing into him. Still, smoking, his armor dented, he stands back up, looking for his weapon, then scowls.

Dragoon Man lend out a hand foward, palm open dramatically, with light condensing into his palm. It quickly extend both sides, solidifing into the shape of the very same spear he had a few moments ago.

"Impressive, Dark Pawn. But the day is ours." Dragoon Man intones, looking back at Kyra as she invokes the very high pillars of White Magic, down on the Dark Knight. Dragoon Man soaks in the light, reinforcing his 'scales'.

Leon has posed:

The Dark Knight already knew he was in trouble, that was just the nature of the beast, yet he did get the data he wanted. That is what this battle was about. He wanted to test those and so he did. Yet more interesting data was found from this. The White Mage had trouble with her magic and yet, an odd calmness to her when she at last casted it out.

Such an attack triggered what the Dark Knight already knew would happen. The end of this little dance.

The Deelel comes in as he watches the light slowly build up from the White Mage. Her strike impacts true, he doesn't even seem to be /trying/ to avoid things now, Her disc slashes through his backside, scratching deep across the metal surface, as he staggers forward form the impact.

Yet there he continues to stand as if waiting for something. Calculating something perhaps?

About then the White mage unleashes her spell which blasts over him. Searing away all the darkness of his armor, blasting through all the dark energy and even causing the very sword he held to be sheered away. That, that is what he was waiting for.

Once the light faded, the darkness only comes back stronger, it only flows around his feet even more in a much wider area. He places out his hand while he falls down to one knee in his weakened state. The sword forms once more glowing bright blue in his hands.

Suddenly he slams the sword once more into the ground attacking those who attacked him. The massive stasis blade activating once more on its own to hold those for a moment. The others who show no edge on aggression toward him, are sparred from the counter.

"I am Darkness." He says calmly. "..and I am looking for the Light." He then forces himself to stand up. His red eyes look at Kyra once more, before they drift to the Dragoon Man. It was easy to tell there was not much left in the Dark Knight here. "..and I am no Pawn of no one." He replies to the Dark Knight, Then soon a dark portal opens behind him as he steps back into it. "For this agenda is my own. Until next time, Heroes of Light." As soon has he steps into the Dark Portal it closes behind him.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Dragon Man stares into the darkness, slamming the rear of his spear into the ground and holding it upright, himself standing tall and high before it. His bright eyes are fixated on the darkness that surrounds the Dark Knight. Behind his mask, Soan is scowling, frowning. Typical, he was just testing them, prodding their capabilities. He should've guessed.

"All who uses Chaos as their weapons are their Pawns, Dark Knight. None are it's master, only it's Pawns. So says the Dragons." Dragoon Man intones, watching Leon vanishing away into the portal. Theses things are becoming honestly annoying, Soan thinks to himself. Still standing tall and proud, doing his best to not look too wounded, he turns around at the other 'Heroes of Light'.

"Is everyone alright?"

Kyra Hyral has posed:
Only after that blast does the magic finally seem to calm around Kyra. The wild motes that had swarmed around her like a cloud of lies fade, leaving her kneeling there, breathing hard. When she thinks she has a reprieve, she picks herself back up on her feet and starts to reach for one of the vials strapped to her chest. The observant would note that she grasps for a glass from the bandolier crossing over her left shoulder, rather than her right. All of the previous vials, which she has thrown at the dark knight, came from the right.

Though her magic had certainly hit the Dark Knight, dread wells up inside of her when she sees him stand and summon back the darkness even stronger than before. His dark magic locks her in place for those few seconds, allowing him those moments to speak, then escape. True to his word, with this battle, he leaves without slaying anyone present.

Once he's gone, she breathes out a sigh of relief and seizes a vial filled with potion from her collection. Quickly, she starts drinking it-then another, then another. "Is everyone-" she says between gulps, only to be beaten to the question by Dragoon Man.

"I'll be fine." she insists, hard at work on healing herself.

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
"It was an impressive bit of magic, White Mage." Dragoon Man says, leaning out a hand to reach her on the shoulder. If he could show his smiling, he would right now. "You likely saved us in the end with that conflagration. Thanks you."

There's a brief glow of light, even if she begins to heal herself, flowing on Kyra as Dragoon Man temporairly bestows the regenerative blessings of the Dragons on her. Any little bit helps.

Shadow has posed:
That works. Shadow stands at a distance and watches the fireworks display of holy wrath with his dog. If there was popcorn, now would be the time to start eatting it.

The words that the Dark Knight speaks has an effect on the ninja. He had traveled a lot since first coming here and there has been a pattern emerging in his head. The desire to look for the Light-- that however, that is a spark that emerges in his heart. Such a concept.

A Hero of Light... Interceptor barks. If Shadow isn't claiming the title, the dog is. All hail Interceptor, Hero of Light.

Shadow just shakes his head-- kneeling to his traveling companion and petting him. Dumb dog. The ninja says nothing to the state of 'being okay'-- though he lives and breathes so that must be good by ninja standards.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
"Oh...n..no, I wouldn't say thaaaat..." Kyra looks sheepish as Dragoon Man assigns so much praise to her. "If it weren't for you being here...you and that lady and that ninja and his dog-" Kyra recognized him! He too was on that island in search of treasure with them. "I couldn't have stood up to him alone.

Dragoon Man's regenerative healing spell is appreciated-and exactly what she needed to counteract the darkness still eating away at her. Only now with the Dark Knight gone did she notice it lingering and continuing to burn. Very unpleasant.

Very cautiously, Kyra tries to pet Interceptor too. All hail the dog Hero of Light.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel hs had enough she's hurt badly she looks at Leon for a moment, She looks at wht he says and she blinks. He's looking for light? That confuses Deelel for a moment users are strange and chaotic often but this just takes it to a strange new level as he leaves. "I'll live, but .... help would be appicated." Healing magic works to restore her to spec from her experiance but she own't force it.

"So Dragoon Man? The ID's Deelel, and thank you to the rest of you or the help."

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
Dragoon Man nods his head understandingly, taking his hand off to turn looking at Deelel and the Ninja. He recognises the Ninja, of course, but he can't show this in this current identity. He bows his head at both of them. "A pleasure, Lady Deelel. Your aid was also quite impressive, same for you, Shinobi." He says, looking down at the dog.

That looks like a nasty dog. Kyra's a nice girl. Maybe the nasty dog have a soft spot for nice girls? Hm. Wouldn't be the first.

"I only did what was right, have no fear. You have stood strong today, and that is all worthy of praise."

Shadow has posed:
Interceptor even has the dog helmet on. A lot of good it did him this battle. It seems that the big beastly haxdog is okay with some petting after a rough battle. He just wags his tail and barks at Kyra with the sort of big dog grin only big dogs do.

Shadow just stands over his dog and watches it all. When he is referenced, he fails to respond. It is as if he is mentally far far away. Or maybe that is just how Shadow is all the time: disconnected.

"I just wanted my dog back," the ninja explains after considerable pause. Interceptor whines-- barking at his shady friend while being petted. Its not 'my' dog-- though even a ninja slips sometimes.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
"T-thanks, Dragoon Man." Kyra says, sounding a great deal chipper now. As if she's finally decided to accept the praise from this ideal hero of hers. Being able to pet the dog might also have something to do with it.

She'll pet Interceptor for a few moments more, especially since he responds in a friendly manner, before backing off. Far be it from her to deny the ninja his dog!

Soan Sagittarius has posed:
"You are welcome! Away!"

And with that, Dragoon Man crouches down, then leaps into the skies, vanishing soon from sight. It'll take a little bit for Kyra to see Soan again!

Shadow has posed:
Shadow gets Interceptor back. There is a light nod as the people begin to disperse-- and it is high time he did as well. He turns and heads off-- the dog following him at his side. Once or twice the dog looks back, curious as to what happens to them all now.

Deelel has posed:
Deelel says "Not really I wasn't created for this." She notes "There's others of my kind who are far superior at it." She notes she looks voer to the Ninja nd nods. "I can understsnd that." She looks at the doggie he's kinda cute for a user space grid bug. "I need to go ... recover I'm afraid and my nature may ... get me into trouble here." She pulls a rod off her leg it forms into a motor cycle? About he and she takes off like a flash