Stratos used Inspire. Stratos used Guard. MAUI KEEP HAWKING IT UP
Taking a deep breath, Stratos got ready for the next round that he would have to deal with. It was a bit surreal to think that he had made it all the way to the finals. One, because being in the finals of a fighting competition, especially one against his fellow SOS members was something he could've quite imagined. Two, because he couldn't help but feel that he hadn't really done much in this tournament. All the same, he was here now, and his opponent was right before him. He didn't look all that worse for wear, and while Stratos could imagine that he had also lucked out quite like him, he was pretty sure this guy was some kind of crazy strong. And so, bringing his keyblade up, he said, "alright Jecht, I'm not really sure who you are but as a fellow finalist, I'm not going to lose. So, let's go!" With that, Stratos fired off a howling gust of wind that was boosted by his sound aura towards the man.
Stratos used Inspire x2 Maui used HAWK ATTACK CAW
Stratos cast Aeroga on Aux. Stratos used Inspire. Maui used GIANT HAWK ATTACK CAWWWW
Stratos uses Libra Stratos summons Maui Maui uses FORM OF A GIANT HAWK CAWWWW
Stratos couldn't help but smile as he saw Karina take the Excalibur and still end up standing on her two feet. She truly was a monster of a girl when it came to fighting, and while Stratos had fought foes stronger than himself many times before they had always been some kind of life or death fight that he had to win no matter what. He honestly didn't know what he was doing in this tournament. He didn't really care about the prize nor was there anything he for sure had to stop here yet. But still, fighting a fellow keyblade wielder like this was a first for him. Fighting someone he had admired as a fighter was something he had never thought to do before. And going toe to toe with them and seeing their power on full display, seeing that they were still every bit as amazing as he thought they were. He couldn't help but be thrilled by it all. As such, for the first time against one of his teammates he couldn't help but feel like he wasn't just competing with them. He felt like he wanted to win. And so, even if she were hurt, even if she had come at him with the strongest moves she could and even if he had retaliated just as strongly, Stratos wasn't about to drop his guard against Karina. As she was far away from him, Stratos knew that her options were limited as he currently held all of the cards in the long range game. And if she were looking to end this in one strike, there were hardly any that she could use in this situation. As the familiar cherry blossoms began to dance around, he knew exactly what kind of attack was coming - a technique he had used so many times before. And so, he knew just how unstoppable of an attack it was. He knew that taking it full on wasn't an option, but he knew that there was barely any time to react to the attack at all. He knew that if he were even a half second off tempo he would be struck by the attack in full. And so, he needed more time. As Karina completed her attack, she would notice that there was a second set of cherry blossoms blowing in the opposite direction of hers. Stratos, however, had seemed to stay in place despite this. As the cut from Karina's Zantetsuken formed, there seemed to be one going perpendicular to it right on top of it. Though the cross slash seemed to take some of the force of the hit, Stratos was still entirely overwhelmed by the stronger girl's attack and was sent hurtling backward from the attack. Launching backward, the boy bounced off the ground, skidding across as his feat landed back. Planting them both into the ground, the boy turned around, flaring his aura from darkness to the second stage of Sound. Turning to face the girl, still ready to keep fighting he looked to her and paused. As it looked like she had no more energy to fight, the boy was still wary. He had thought it entirely possible for her to stand up and keep barreling towards him like a juggernaut even if she seemed defeated, but after a few moments had passed the boy let out a sigh of relief. Looking at the girl with a smile he said, "you know, for someone who looked like they were running on fumes getting in here, you put up a hell of a fight Karina." Giving her a thumbs up he said, "good fight."
Stratos grinned as Karina made her comment. Of course he knew her better than that. There was hardly a person he knew more about their fighting then her. And so her strength, her recovery speed and determination to win here were something to incite awe for sure. But they weren’t surprising. Even as she had backed away and faded into darkness this wasn’t something surprising to him. He knew she wanted to end this quickly. He knew exactly what power the job she was using had behind it. And so, he has planned exactly for this moment. As the first blur of darkness zipped at him, the brought up his keyblade to guard against it. Pushed back by the strength of the attack, he didn’t have much time to right himself to get in position to guard the next one. Sure he had know exactly what the attack was, but using it and having it used on you was two completely different sensations. All the same, as the girl continued to strike at him, each hit didn’t seem to carry the kind of impact she’d expect. It wasn’t as though she were any weaker in her strikes, but more Stratos seemed far more durable than she would likely remember. But beyond that, his shift in aura had seemed to be putting up resistance against her attack too, the dark aura absorbing a great deal of the force from the dark attack. As she appeared behind him, the boy who had simply been getting beaten aside by the attacks suddenly vanished as the dark column made its way towards him. Using the power of hyper jump to teleport away, Karina would simply here an, “ex” coming from behind her. Were she to turn and look, she’d see Stratos charging us his own attack, a golden sword overlaying his keyblade as he did so. Taking a single step forward the sword erupted in light, “calibur!” Growing exponentially bigger as he swung it at his opponent.
Stratos hadn't seen Karina fight for quite some time, and so he had forgotten just how much of a juggernaut she was. Momentarily surprised by her running through the thunder bell, he was slow to react in putting up his guard against her next attack. Barely able to block the first attack, the boy was then pressured to guard against the next three slashes feeling the weight of each of her attacks in each hit even through his guard. As she landed next to him, he couldn't bring his blade to guard in time and simply hit in the side by the remainder of her splatter combo, skidding across the ground. Gritting his teeth, Stratos said, "man, it never amazes me how strong you are. But, if that's what you're going to fight with," the boy's aura then shifted from its usual fuschia color to instead of one of darkness, "I'm going to have to really be on my guard here." Looking ready to back away, the boy started to take a few steps backward before instead shifting himself forward, creating a globe of light around him as he pushed forward straight at her. Once the barrier was gone, the boy looked poised to slash, but instead feinted with his blade and went in for a round house kick towards her side, the kick coated in magical water.
As Stratos saw the dark armor form around the girl, he knew that she meant to go all out against him right away - either in spite of or because of her current status. Knowing just what kind of a powerhouse she was, Stratos didn't feel comfortable engaging her right from the get go, and so instead kept his distance as he pointed his keyblade at her. Magical energy started to flow through it to the tip as the boy launched a series of four water bubbles that all seemed to home in on the girl. Then, to the continue this onslaught, the boy's sound second stage sound aura flared up around him as he fired off a thunder bell straight towards her.
So i haven't done this in thread yet but redeeming the achievement point AP bonus to gain 3 AP. Gonna spend some mula to get Stroke of Midnight and Twitterpated Spending Crowns to increase Defense and Res by 8 and 2 respectively. So, end stats looking like Crowns: 105 -> 5 Munny: 3940 -> 1565 Defense: 42 -> 50 Resistance: 25 -> 27
As his opponent was whisked away by the black smoke, Stratos couldn't help but feel both bad and concerned for Faust. He was hoping that wherever he was being transported to would be some place good enough to keep him from dying from self electrocution. Regardless, he saw his next opponent as the walls had come down and made the arena bigger for them. "Well, isn't this a surprise for both of us." Stratos joked as he looked towards his opponent. That it was Karina was not entirely a surprise to the boy. He had known she was strong since the moment they had met, with the only thing being in the way of her skill being her temper. And, since she had taken steps to reform it since the last time he had met her, that she was a semi-finalist in this tournament only made sense to him. That being said, whoever it was that she had just fought certainly seemed to have done a number on her, and Stratos couldn't help but feel bad having barely broken a sweat to get to this point by sheer luck alone. "I can see that you're not in the best shape, but well," the boy pointed his keyblade at her. "I know that if I let my guard down for a second against you, you'll just pummel my face into the ground. So, as a show of respect, I won't hold anything back against you Karina." A white light enveloped the boy, causing his jacket to turn a similarly white color and his blade to become wider and more angular - akin to a longsword with a wider blade as if to give more surface area to guard with. As it was clear that he was now in his Paladin form, the boy grinned at Karina saying, "looking forward to this."
Stratos was left more confused than anything else as his match came to an end with the hooded creature. He wasn't quite sure what to make sure of, well, anything that had just happened. The being seemed to have some sort of knowledge on all of them and their adventures, and also seemed to be under the command of someone else, but he also didn't seem to be malicious or trying to put a stop to them. So, as the audience boo'd him, he just stood there unsure of what to do until his next match had started. Once that had begun, the boy looked to see who his next opponent was. He was sure he had seen the boy he was squaring off before against, just as his opponent had been sure he had seen Stratos. Once he had made reference to their fight against Hook, Stratos clapped his hands together in realization of the fact as well. "Oh, you're right. Man, that was a weird place to be. Glad we're not, you know, eight years old anymore." As the boy then went on to talk about his day, of which Stratos couldn't help but feel like he'd had one strange day himself, the young keyblade master put on his serious face as it seemed his opponent was getting ready to come at him. Taking a deep breath and forming his own aura around him, the boy also summoned his keyblade. As the other keyblade wielder seemed to start rambling on about a game of chance, his own aura flairing up, Stratos got his keyblade at the ready to defend at the first of lightning he'd seen. Naturally, Stratos was dumbfounded at the result. Seeing the lightning strike one after another onto the keyblade wielder's head, Stratos quickly went from confused to worried. "Are...are you alright?" It was very clear that he was not, but Stratos wasn't exactly sure what to do until the match was called. And so he just stood there thinking that it was one of those kinds of days.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh Titan falsehood sure i'm around
Stratos initiated a level 1 Friendship Limit with Kel. Stratos used Dolphin Kick. Stratos used Combo. After comboing he Braced.
Stratos used Hummingbird. Stratos used Combo. Stratos used Brace.
Stratos used Entrust on Beuce Good bye CG Stratos used Combo on the main body. Stratos used Brace.
Stratos, in his infinite Xialoin Prowess, used Martial Arts. And then combo. And then brace. Monk.
Stratos grew both more concerned and confused as the fight between him and his opponent continued on. For starters, it wasn't really much of a fight to begin with, and more just the hooded boy fumbling over basically everything he attempted. Though the mention of a "him" only made Stratos more wary of the creature, and that he was indeed working for No Heart, his actions were more or less disarming. Standing more relaxed with his keyblade now at his side, Stratos could only sigh as the boy tripped out of his own cloak and seemed far more anxious as a result. Waving it off Stratos said, “uh...listen, I’m pretty curious about you overall, and well if you want to talk to me I should be free after this tournament. Provided, you know, the usual doesn’t happen.”
As Stratos's attack didn't seem to really do much of anything, the boy looked at the hooded figure and tilted his head in confusion for a moment. The questions he was asking and the strangely cheery demeanor he was displaying was not all what he had been expecting. As the boy went to speak, saying, "uh well....wait..." He cut himself off before suddenly seeming much more defensive. Raising an eyebrow at the man, he said, "a question for a question. My favorite so far has been the kingdom of Camelot. It's where this journey of mine got started and so I can't really say I'd have any other adventures without it. My turn. How do you know so much about me, and where I've been?" Stratos did not, at all, know who this strange tailed hooded creature was. And that he knew where they had been, every where he had been, the likely candidates for who he could possibly be were not at all in the young keyblade master's favor.
Stratos couldn't help but feel as though some things never changed, as Karina had seemed to have yet another thing that had managed to set her off. Granted, when they had last met he had figured that she had taken steps to improve her temper, so he didn't just want to dismiss at as yet another bout of anger from her. However, the boy still just said, "uh, alright." As she then made her comment about them cursing the worlds, Stratos said, "well, I like to think trouble's going to happen regardless of if we're here or not. And that we're just really lucky to always be here to stop it." Still, as the strange impish creatures had allowed them to go in, free of charge, the boy couldn't help but nod at Beuce's comment. Even still, it wasn't as though they had much else of a lead to go on, and with this being clearly the most suspicious Stratos figured any harm that could come they would probably be able to handle. With the group heading over to the tournament proper, they were each split up into their own matches. Stratos couldn't help but look at the hooded person in front of him with some degree of curiosity while also being somewhat unnerved. The giggling was more unsettling than anything and the creature didn't really look any bit imposing. Then again, Stratos knew he shouldn't judge a book by their cover and that he was in this tournament probably meant he was some kind of strong. "Well uh, looking forward to a good match." Summoning his keyblade, Stratos pointed his keyblade at the hooded figure and fired a blizzaga at the hooded figure.
