Steel attacked with his freaking toothpick hit because he's a little *****.
Steel Used Barrier Surge! Steel Used Splatter Combo!
Steel used Vorpal Blitz!
Avra was right. In Chrys's panic over her resource management, she had failed to notice just how much they had been damaging the tree. Newly determined, Chrys rushed forward to attack their opponent. She swung her keyblade with a surprising amount of force, creating quite the sound effect as it met the bark. Chrys used Shield Break! AP: 0/54
"Yeah, I guess I could buy you an outfit or two." Steel's statement came in complete contrast to Luna's. "I'm hoping for a mystic chain, but I don't need much in the way of munny beyond that. I mean, I don't use my items too much." With that, Steel attacked. Steel Attacked!
"I'm sorry. I had no idea it would go that far." Steel briefly expressed his regret to Ignis before he turned back to the target. He then continued his assault on their opponent. Steel attacked!
"Avra!" Chrys delivered a few quick strikes to the enemy before retreating to her companion's side. Casting cure once more, Chrys silently lamented that her magic had already been depleted. "This isn't working: We need to try playing the long game. Keep your guard up. AP: 40/54 MP: 0/40
"That would certainly be inconvenient." Steel teased Ignis as he followed up with another attack. Steel Attacked With a Combo!
"No need to worry about me." Steel answered Stratos's inquiry with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Transmogrification agents don't have much of an effect on my person... though I might grow a few extra feathers." Leaving them with that thought, Steel gathered light energy around him as he jumped towards the storm rider, unleashing it in a downward slash upon arriving at his destination. As he retreated, he took the initiative to restore some of Beuce's power. Steel Used Vorpal Blitz! Steel UedMP Gift On Buece!
"...Yeah, you guys go on ahead." Steel muttered sarcastically as he pointed his blade at the monstrosity before them. "We 'rookies' will just take out the giant monster." Seriously, did anyone around here think about their actions? Strike that, he didn't need an answer. He was already pretty sure he knew it; He could still feel it coursing through his veins. That actually might have worked on anyone else. He would probably do something about it later. Maybe isolate the serum to make a cure? Whatever he'd do, it didn't matter at the moment. They had a heartless to destroy. So he got them all started off with some pretty average attacks. Sure, there was lots of fancy flipping and stuff, but the attacks themselves were pretty much normal. Steel attacked with a combo!
"Maybe not..." Chrys began. "...But if we don't even try, how can we ever hope to accomplish anything?" She burst forward with a jump attack. OC: Chrys Used Blitz AP: 14/54 MP: 10/40
Spoiler: Conqueror's Respite 4/? "It came to our attention that the essence's of our fellow Artisians had come to rest..." Leonidas trailed off and shifted his gaze out to sea. "...On that Island..." Steel and his siblings followed his gaze to see the island he spoke of. It looked relatively normal, but he felt as if something was... off. That in itself was strange since this was all memory based projection, but perhaps it was the memory himself that told him that the island was different. "The Edge." Leonidas stated briefly. "The Edge... of this reality: Where the world we remember bleeds into the world of hearts... I've often wondered since I discovered it; are all worlds born that way? Is this reality truly so malleable? Or is it just in between that many others?" Leo shook his head in dismissal. "...But whatever the matter, after careful research into that island and several related factors, we determined it would be safe to... experiment." Steel froze, his mind instantly catching on to what his friend meant with little effort. "Leo... our bodies, did you... make them?" The subsequent silence was all the answer he needed. His current self was no different than the former: a monstrous geist haunting a shambling lab experiment, the very substance of which was barely corporeal dark matter. His hand reached unconsciously to his eye. Was he still just a monster, after all this? The revelation rang fresh in Steel's mind as he bore silent witness to the events transpiring. While Luna was making a likely fruitless attempt to sympathize with Russel, his hand had once again reached for his eye. He brushed aside the strands of fur that had hidden it from the eyes of others before he pulled his hand away to look at it. Black, Ink like matter had manifested on it, no doubt leaking from his eyes slowly even now. It was something that in this realm represent his ties to the "Blot Form" that his curiosity had facilitated the use of. However, for him, it also symbolized ties to something much darker... As well as serving as a constant reminder of something that had been forever been beyond his reach. Or perhaps someone. Aura... "You really shouldn't assume... that you know everyone by sight." The sound of Steel's own voice admittedly surprised him; the low growl underneath his words sounded... injured... and all the more savage for it. "After all, isn't that what you're accusing others of? Dismissing the value of others based on how they appear? Hypocrisy is not a mantle a revolutionist should wear." Steel had taken several steps forward by now, and though what he usually kept hidden was on full display, he seemed not to give it a second thought. "Everyone is dismissed as lesser at some point in their lives. It's a simple fact... though if you're looking for a kindred spirit..." Steel held up a feather to his gaze, on plucked from his gauntlet, around which several more could be seen. They were easily mistaken for decoration. "Then look no further than me. I can say it: I was born into the world unseen by others, an imbalance that no other could fix. I was forced to hear harmful words from those I cared about; I was forced to accept that I was some kind of monster with no future... and I decided that if I was something less than a person... well, the rules just shouldn't apply to me then." Steel glared as he summoned his keyblade. "I acted on spite... and it didn't make me happy." He motioned to Luna. "I would take her hand if I were you: It's not the easier way out, but it sure is the better one."
Chrys definitely wasn't a fan of having her water magic blocked off. Doing her best to react quickly, Chrys cast Cura on herself as well as on Avra. That done, Chrys leaped towards the tree with another combo. First she brought her keyblade around backhand as per usual, but then she flipped it her hand and delivered a horizontal slash before finishing with a thrust. Recognizing that heavy damage control would need to be done, Chrys then cast Reflera, hoping to mitigate the potential harm that she and her partner would come to. AP: 10/54 MP: 15/40
Shaking her head at Avra's antics, Chrys considered her combat options. Both she and Avra had taken a lot of damage, but she figured they could still stand another attack. She could possibly boost their odds with supportive spells, either to make them last longer or do more damage to Grandmother Willow. After some careful thought, Chrys decided to reserve her MP for now, and instead continued to press the attack. AP: 14/54
Cadoc watched silently as events unfolded before him, all the while wondering... was Noire just an imbecile? Resorting to constant violence as she was, he couldn't imagine that doing so in response to the question of whether or not she could be trusted was competent. The answer that had basically amounted to "Because I'll kill you if you don't" couldn't exactly have garnered a lot of trust amongst the others. It hadn't really won any points with him either. He stayed silent though, just smiling his usual smile; after all, letting people know he was observing them only made it harder. He sat back as Noire went off on Arian for making one of his jokes, and he was pretty sure she was going to literally explode if anyone decided to push her much further. Dubhan wanted to know what kind of supplies they'd need, and Lloyd was rightfully ticked with her hair-trigger fuse. Yes, he would certainly be watching this one closely... the way things were going, she was either a base barbarian or evil. Oh, and he was on a team now. That was important too, he supposed.
Chrys winced from the cuts that Grandmother Willow had dealt. Their tattered clothing visibly displayed just how sharp the leaves had been. "A tree joke? Really?" Chrys commented to Avra, though not scathingly. Trying to maintain her composure in their circumstances, she summoned Forgotten Flower before flipping it into a backward position. In a mirror of a pose she knew very well, Chrys loosened her body into a relaxed stance. She even went so far as to let her keyblade to touch the ground. Dashing towards her opponent, she swung her weapon up behind her in an overhead blow. OOC: Chrys attacked AP: 14/54
Because of course things just couldn't be easy. Everyone seemed to be of the opinion that they were out to do wrong. What was wrong with wanting to help people? The willow tree said that there was something false about them. That she had been warned such a day would come. Why couldn't they catch a break? Why couldn't someone just understand? "What's so false about wanting to do something for someone else? With having someone you care about and want to help?" Her voice had a sad sort of desperation to it, but she was all too prepared to draw her keyblade. Things were going way too badly to avoid a fight. She doubted anything she said could convince the tree of their intent. In fact, if she were to go by past experience, she'd probably only make things worse.
Steel bashed yet another of the penguins on the head; one of many. They had all been making good progress so far, as the army's numbers had dwindled to just about nothing. With a quick kick to the stomach, he picked up his latest opponent and slammed it into another penguin that had tried to sneak in on the side while he had been distracted with his compatriot. Needless to say, that had been a failure. With a quick burst of fire from his keyblade, the first of the two was incapacitated. The other tried very hard to pry himself from underneath his fallen comrade, only to find himself in the unfortunate situation of being lifted off the ground and being hurled to another of the dangerous keyblade wielders. "Luna! He's yours!" Steel shouted to his fellow teamate, all the while observing that... he really seemed fond of throwing things. He hadn't done as well as he would of liked in this fight so far, but he supposed he was at least not slipping into memories at key moments as he had done with Weaselton previously. The fight had pretty fast, really. He supposed he would have plenty of time to slip into thought later then. OOC: Words: 206 EXP: 20 Penguins Left: 2/30 Penguin as 7/15 BP remaining. I can't seem to get rid of this "Cancel color" bit of code at the end. Oh well.[/COLOR]
As the others were all leaving, Chrys gave a respectful nod to their individual farewells before he turned and made to follow after Kara. If he was being honest, there was more to his leaving than just Kara's safety. A huge and unfortunately big part of him just didn't want to hang around to be that one guy they all thought was good in a fight, but all ignored because he was some kind of a kook. He wasn't sticking around for that; grudge match be damned. He had bigger concerns at the moment, and Kara was one of them: a person who had been an actual friend at some point... apparently. It was petty of him, but he'd rather protect someone like that than be the guy in the background for those other hoodlums. Not that they were all bad, but... well. If nothing else, they could fight rather well, so he wasn't being decietful about counting on them. He did trust them. He didn't necessarily like them... but he trusted them to do this. He also knew he was being a bit too hard on them, as a collective group. None of them disliked him, and Cerdic was the only one that actively ticked him off. He was just ignorant though. Alder had lost the prince, Daeni meant well, and Chrono certainly hadn't had it easy. Gliding into the lanes between, Chrys considered the fact that he didn't really want to leave them alone to fight Ria either, and he wouldn't even be against seeing them all someday. It might be... it might be that he was angrier at himself than them. That made sense really. As much as Ria had tried to poke at his stony facade, his real problem in life had always been that he hadn't ever felt like he could do much. He was never much use, and this chain of events had only emphasized that. He couldn't stop Ria, and he didn't think he was much help fighting him either. Of the two things: Going with them to finish Ria off, or helping Kara stay safe and recover... The latter was just something he felt like he could actually help with... he supposed. He shook his head, his helmet gleaming as it reflected the strange ethereal light of the interspace tunnel. In the end, he knew he was just a petty and solitary individual... maybe that was why... He immediately put an end to that train of thought. Of course, leaving also offered him and Kara an new opportunity: one to explore what had become of the worlds outside. He had never even remembered what it was like to explore worlds other than his own, or the one they had just departed from. He could find a safe place for Kara among them; perhaps even one of their own homes. Would they still be there? Would they be able... to go back? He saw Kara just ahead of him and thought to himself about his other reason. He smiled as he imagined how the two girls might get along, perhaps even helping each other to come out of their own shells. "Sister..." He whispered to someone who wasn't there. "I... know I'm not really your brother, but at least I can bring you a friend. Maybe even some others... would you like that? Flower girl?" His whispers took on a teasing tone as he bowed his head and gave an unseen, gentle smile. "I'll keep her safe, and find you again too..." "Chrysanthemum."
Chrys stood in his usual silence as the IV, VI, VII, and X all confirmed their willingness to proceed. He, on the other hand... He looked over to I, whom had been rather silent for quite awhile now. It was understandable of course since she was still clearly very weak. There was no way she could fight as she was. The others wouldn't force her, he was sure, and yet... should she even be close by? If this was her chance to leave, she should probably take it. Probably would take it. On the other hand, to go off alone as she was might be even worse. It wasn't a hard decision for him to make, not really. "It's good that you're all so determined." He finally spoke aloud as he began pacing towards I. "I guess we'll count on you then." He halted as he reached her side, his back still towards the others. "I'm going to take I-" He cut off his sentence abruptly and gave a small sigh. "Kara, I mean." He ammended as he turned to face them. "I'm going to take Kara somewhere safe. She's in no condition to fight, and out of all of you, she's the one I'm least comfortable leaving in such a state." He smirked briefly at that. "If this is her only chance to go... well, then I'm going with her."
