Shadow's smile turns a bit bashful, and he turns his head.
"Ah, thanks."
He then snaps back into action, quickly blocking the stabs and weaving in a few of his own between blows, backpedaling to the point that, if he's forced off of the roof, he just keeps walking backwards in midair.
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerShe too dodges the returning stabs with great agility, forcing the offensive and following as Shadow's driven backwards, into the air. She continues to attack even then, flying as she attacks.
Due to the lack of ground to stand on, her attacks are a bit less powerful, but they do become a bit faster.
"Have I got you trapped, or are you trying to lure me into one?" , she asks, amused.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow smirks, continuing the same strategy.
"Well, my friend..."
He suddenly stops his retreat, and instead doubles the speed of his strikes, attempting to advance instead.
"...that's for me to know..."
He then raises his free hand.
"...and you..."
He clicks his fingers, causing a wide geyser of dark energy to fly up from the ground under Sonia's feet.
"...to find out!"
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerWhile caught off guard by the reversal of movement, she's still able to parry the faster strikes. What she isn't able to defend against though is the geyser, which hits her and sends her hurling up in the air.
She actually passes by her brothers, the younger one still counting with a slightly amused smirk on his face, and the older silently watching with the same smile he always shows.
When she falls back down though, she holds out her spear in front of her, and once the tip is planted into the roof she pulls an extremely acrobatic manoeuvre by grabbing the hilt with her second hand and then, in a single swing, force herself up to the top without hitting the ground.
A feat that would require impressive physical strength, to both take the impact of the spear hitting the roof and to then also immediately hoist herself up like that.
She lands with her feet on the tip of the spear, then stops holding it to stand up right, and on it.
"As long as I'm touching it, I haven't let go yet." , she says, gesturing to her feet. She then raises her hands, which start to glow with a pure black aura.
"Now let's turn up the difficulty."
A bunch of vines erupt out of the ground behind her, all having beautiful, budding flowers on top of them. Those flowers open up and seemingly turn towards Shadow...
After which they start launching a wave of explosive seeds towards him.
"You can't hide, or you'll lose the challenge!"
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow watches as the geyser carries Sonia up, and gives a nonchalant smile and wave to the two brothers. When Sonia lands, Shadow raises an eyebrow, impressed by both her acrobatic feat and her way of bending the rules.
"...huh, if you say so."
He grins in the face of danger, making a broad gesture with his free hand.
"Oh, who's hiding?"
He then weaves a pipe-shaped construct out of dark energy, with one end vacuuming air through the pipe, and, past a u-shaped bend, the other end pointed right at Sonia, aiming to suck up the seeds and blast them right back at her before they detonate.
"You know, I can respect that attack, and all the ones involving vines. I routinely spar with someone who fights like that."
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker"Well, these vines don't exactly belong to me." , she smirks when her blasts are redirected.
She then proceeds to put on an insanely impressive display of flexibility, being able to dodge every redirected seed blast without moving her feet.
The houses behind her aren't so lucky though, as the blasts reduce them to rubble.
"They belong to my divine aid. Do you want to meet-"
"No.", Thaddeus suddenly says from in the air, using a tone with authority in it, despite the fact that Sonia, as the Queen, stands above him in rank.
Despite that, and despite how quickly she usually gets offended when someone disrespects that rank, this time she just seems to smirk teasingly and shrug.
"Alright, alright, don't get angry." , she says, slightly mocking.
"I'm not angry.", he says, pointing at his ever-persisting smile. "But you can't tempt fate like that. Summoning your divine aid is meant purely for emergencies."
"You're no fun." , Sonia says before turning back to Shadow.
"Alright, can you reflect these?"
She then stands on one toe for each feet, after which the spear starts to spin around, drilling into the roof and sending pieces of debris flying Shadow's way.
The wave of debris is actually a cover up though, as Sonia uses them as camouflage to make a scythe-like blade appear out of her staff, which she then throws at him too.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Data Mangle is well out of reach. It remains hidden away in the corner.
Data Marionette merges back into one for now.
Data Toy Chica is BTFO.
Data Toy Bonnie simply rises up above the stab attempt and lets the wave crash into Bloody Bunny, jumping off and striking a pose before landing.
Data Happy Frog is duly rekt, but kicks out before the throw, bouncing away like - well, a frog.
The Trash Gang whisper to Sophie, trying to get her attention. If she is successfully distracted, they will then do to her what was previously done to Addison - blare a disorientingly loud noise in her face.
Bloody Bunny gets smashed down.
Addison tries to stab Data Marionette.
Neo Metal regains his special abilities and promptly fires a volley of plasma spheres at Happy Frog.
The seal starts building up power...
Toy Freddy: 1/3
Ice Armor: 1/2
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Sophie's disoriented by the whispers and get herself some nice ear scream, causing her to wince in pain and put her hands on her ears. She attempts to lash out with a smaller horizontal long kick at the Trash Gang, but it's weaker than the version used beforehand.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterHe blinks in response to Sonia's invitation to summon her Guardian, and shakes his head.
"Nah, no thanks...not if it's going to cost you. My curiosity isn't worth that much."
He then shrugs in response to her challenge, smirking.
"Just watch!"
He creates a sphere of energy around himself, which, should the debris (and the scythe) connect with it, will bounce them away in the direction they came from. Shadow then kicks off, flinging himself inside the energy ball toward Sonia, with the same effect, should he come into contact with her.
Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Mar 30th 2020 at 7:45:40 AM
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-Stalker"Cost me? Heh, I could take it. But, well, a no's a no."
She's then surprised by the stunt Shadow pulls, and, reacting quickly, has the spear blast the roof so that it, and she, are launched upwards to avoid it.
When Shadow's energy sphere with him inside passes right under her though, she suddenly grabs the spear again, does a flip in the air and tries to bat the sphere away with her spear as if she's playing golf.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.When Sonia dodges the sphere, it bounces up next to her, and when she tries to strike it like a golf ball, the spear just ends up breaking the surface tension and likely pulling her into the sphere, with Shadow phasing out of it, possibly trading places.
"Yo."
If this works, and Sonia is trapped, Shadow then manifests an energy-construct shaped like a large baseball bat from the scabbard of the Black Blade, and attempts to hit a vertical home-run with the energy ball, aiming straight upward.
Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Mar 30th 2020 at 8:06:37 AM
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerShe ends up trapped in the sphere, not having expected this outcome at all. Thaddeus actually looks impressed that Sonia genuinely got outsmarted. Leander, meanwhile, actually starts laughing a bit. With how upset he still is with Sonia, seeing this is pretty funny to him.
When the sphere is batted up, a burst of dark energy proceeds to break her out of the sphere. When she starts falling, Leander suddenly calls out.
"60!"
Realizing that the minute is up and the challenge is over, Sonia smirks and dives straight through the roof of one of the houses, leaving Shadow to try to locate her in there.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow gives a mirthful grin to Leander, and once the challenge is up, and Sonia has fled, he takes on an exaggeratedly-thoughtful pose for a moment, letting out a comically-drawn-out "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." ...before, without even looking or breaking his pose, offhandedly flooding the house and those immediately surrounding it with a large burst of violet light, which doesn't budge anything in the houses at all, but, should it make contact with Sonia, will not offer her the same restraint, instead attempting to knock her out of her cover.
Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Mar 31st 2020 at 2:16:31 PM
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerDark Hour
" Not the talkative sort, are you...? But where do you come from? "
She decided not to wait for an answer, instead deciding to step back... before being struck with an absolutely soul-piercing headache.
WEAK. You are still WEAK. CRUSH THEM.
Vahasia reeled forward, lessening the pain, but hesitated for a moment too long.
N O W .
Her arms trembled as she switched to a more aggressive two-handed stance, abandoning all pretense of defense in exchange for a wild flurry of frenzied, cleaving swings!
"The Stick has sentimental value. It's like an enormous, hideous teddy bear we can kill things with." -rikalousThe wave does hit something. Shadow will likely be able to sense it. However, she doesn't appear. Leander and Thaddeus exchange an odd, but notable glance at this, as if something's up and they know it.
That's when a ton of vines suddenly burst out of the house, not aiming directly at Shadow this time, but swirling around him like a huge dome.
Before Shadow will really have a mind to try to break out, Sonia appears within the dome as well, brandishing her spear before throwing it at Shadow.
If it misses, it'll bounce off of the vines and try from a different angle.
And again...
And again...
And faster each time, potentially making it an actual challenge for Shadow to evade. He'll have to try to evade too, because, while he'd have the power to block it, it'll phase through him every time he does, only able to harm him if it hits him while he's not blocking.
It phases through Sonia too, meaning that she runs no risk of her attack backfiring.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow opens an eye once the wave impacts what's soon revealed to be the vine cocoon. He notices the brothers' reaction, then stares in blank surprise as the dome triggers.
"...huh. That's a lotta' vines. Kinda' too much to channel Kusanagi at again without taking too long to cut it..."
Cue the rebounding spear, causing Shadow to blink from place to place in order to avoid it.
"...especially with that distracting me!"
He continues to evade the spear, formulating a plan. After a while, he smirks to himself, and suddenly vanishes altogether for a moment...
...before appearing behind Sonia and attempting to smack her with the flat of his blade.
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerDark Hour
The Large Heartless/Shadow Reels in what seems to be pain as the dark slash occurs, attempting to attack once more, before being brought reeling in pain again by Dong and Jae as they release their attacks, with other, weaker, heartless dying in droves.
The heartless attacking Vahasia are cut down by the combined assault of the unversed and Vahasia's blade, and a few seem to start fleeing, in full distress, making them, oddly, easier to hit. This is exploited during Dahlilah's gunfire barrages, as more of them fall. And then, the grenanna comes into play, blowing up another horde.
The young man approaching the large shadow puts the gunlike object to his head once more, Pulling the trigger. His keyblade fades away, as his outfit begins to change. Slick metal forms around his legs and most of his body, with what appears to be a large speaker forming on his chest. He takes a lyre off his back, seemingly ready to strike, as an entity Similar to that outfit
appears beside him... before he suddenly freezes up, grabbing his head, as a shell of sorts begins to form around him...
Hub Centralis, Not dark hour
A kyubey roams the streets, Looking for potential contracts.
Edited by ReynTheLord on Mar 31st 2020 at 12:31:58 PM
She quickly glances behind herself before summoning her spear to her side and turning around so that she can parry the strike just in time.
With the constant assault stopped, she then proceeds to hold her spear to the side, a second, curved blade appearing near the top to make it resemble an actual scythe.
Sonia then starts to spin around rapidly, basically turning herself into an extremely big and sharp top.
The good news is that the dome's vines drop though, so Shadow isn't stuck with her in it anymore.
She then, while still spinning, starts to zap around the area, almost like lightning, trying to strike Shadow multiple times, each time from a different direction.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The Unversed, again, don't answer. However, they move as one towards Vanitas, effectively making a trail to him for Vahasia and Dahlila.
Vanitas himself shrugs off what little harm comes his way, then rushes for a Single-Stroke Battle-esque flying stab on the big one!
Edited by KiriK on Mar 31st 2020 at 2:54:27 PM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Dahlila simply follow the little ones, perhaps plotting to use the distraction to find herself a unguarded neck to bite into. Being opportunist is part of the Kindred lifestyle is it not? However, for now, she continues to be on the side of the "good guy", and whatever being dares to stand in her way is shot at with her trusty assault rifle!
The appearance of Minato does seems to be noticed though, and she ever so slightly turn to point the tip of the gun at him...
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterShadow shrugs when Sonia stops his strike, tilting his head.
"Eh, simplest solution."
When Sonia transforms her spear into a scythe and starts ricocheting across the battlefield, Shadow takes wing, flying overhead. He then raises the Black Blade, gathering vast black stormclouds over the village, which begin to pour rain.
"Fast as lightning, huh? Well, I figure that scythe of yours..."
He then points down at Sonia with a chopping motion, causing the stormclouds to launch a coordinated volley of violet lightning at the spinning top, likely helped by the conductive property of the rainwater as well as the size of the target.
"...would make an excellent lightning rod!"
Edited by SacredSpirit123 on Mar 31st 2020 at 3:10:27 AM
"Life isn't a fairytale. There isn't always a 'Happily Ever After' waiting for you at the end of the road." ~ Isengrim Heath-StalkerAs the lightning nears, a vine just sprouts over her, acting as a second, closer lightning rod that takes the whole attack before being lit aflame by said lightning.
"Lightning's pretty much useless against Sonia.", Leander says, giving Shadow that tip since Sonia can't hear him right now anyway. Considering he was still a bit angry with her, he figures that helping Shadow out this once would make them even.
Sonia now stops spinning, retracts the blade and splits her spear back into numerous smaller scythe blades. She then has them float through the fire first before sending them hurling towards Shadow like burning projectiles.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Shadow raises an eyebrow at the blocked lightning, and shrugs.
"Think I'll keep the rain."
He gives a quick wink to Leander, and then gathers some of the deluge into a mid-sized wave, which he proceeds to send at the oncoming sickle blades in order to extinguish them, letting it pick up some debris on the way to soak up the damage from the blades themselves. He tops this off by using some more of the storm to whip up a waterspout
, which he flings in Sonia's direction.

"Out of... paper?" , she asks. "That is impressive."
Cue a grin.
"Very well. Leander, you count, so that we know when the time's up!"
Leander glances at Thaddeus, who nods to him. Leander then sighs and starts counting.
The moment he does, Sonia leaps forward, going for a multi-stab attack with her spear.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.