Yeah, I popped in and KHV wasn't there. I mean, if there had been a news thread or something that might have been more effective? I actually checked that first thing, and went to Amaury cause there wasn't one. I was worried I had bumped into something with my phone and left the server without noticing or something.
As Steel began his brief assault on the Leo, Glen had begun to wildly shoot at the Karina, mostly aiming for her body. Giving his own opponent no chance to retaliate, he quickly grabbed it's face and, with more strength then one would think he had, picked it up and threw it towards the other. The Leo barrelled into the Karina full force, and Steel joined his partners side as their opponents collapsed on the ground. "So this is interesting so far." He commented off hand while sending shots to the collapsed facsimiles.
Well, it seemed that his cover had worked about as well as he had thought it would. No matter. He readied himself for what he felt was an inevitable attack, but... it never came. Instead he heard a brief muttering that seemed to indicate that Ria had no more power to harm this place or anything in it than the heartless did. In retrospect that seemed like it should be obvious. Not definite, true, but a strong possibility he had failed to consider. Unfortunately, that didn't make his overall prediction any less accurate: it had taken relatively no time for Ria to detect his presence, and once he had, all possibilities of learning information had vanished... that was of course... other than what Ria wanted him to know. Which of course is why the memory that he had been given had left a bitter taste in his mouth: It wasn't that the man who had did this to them had Chrono's face, heck no. It was that the only reason he even knew was because Ria had apparently decided he should. There was also the matter of their possibly being only three other remaining members of the group besides himself and Chrono. However, that was far less important at the moment. If Ria could give him a memory just by sticking a sword to his chest, then he could do the same thing for any of the others. Which meant... They were all completely at his mercy. If he could pick and choose whatever information he wanted them to receive, then he could easily revive grudges long past, lead them on pointless side excursions, and... make them turn on one another. So Aevum had Chrono's face. Who freaking cared? So did Ria after all. Who was to say there wasn't a third? Not to mention that it seemed despite knowing them all so well, Ria seemed to have forgotten a very important fact about him. "So tell me Ria, if you know us all so well... then why the heck do you think I'm dumb enough to just up and trust anyone that I've met since waking up in this sorry situation?" Chrys summoned Light Seeker and began swinging it around a bit as he continued. "Oh that's right I'm sorry; The Chrys you knew actually was dumb enough to take whatever information was spoon fed to him... How tragic for you. "Let me inform you about a very crucial difference between me and the Chrystopher Light you knew: I don't know any of you. I have no reason or real desire to be anyone's friend here. Until further notice I know absolutely nothing about them. So IV may have been the one to betray us... based on what little you've given me. That still doesn't change that as far as I know, you're the only one actively trying to kill me." "As far as I know." "You see, whether the others like it or not, we're all pretty much just sacrificial pawns in this little game. A game in which you seem to be the King. I'll be honest: that terrifies me. We can't do anything about that though. You can't win a game if you can't even move the pieces. So no matter who is playing what, I will wait and I will watch. If you truly know anything about me, then you know that is what I do best." He snorted. "After all, I hardly stopped anyone from dying by lazing about in here." Chrys stared vacantly at his keyblade. For someone filled with only light, he felt that perhaps he was dismissing his comrades far too easily. His own revelation that they might have walked into a trap had only caused him to run and hide, even if his goal had been to come up with a plan, he had ultimately failed them in the end, and he felt that was something he would dearly pay for later. He honestly didn't believe for a second that any of them harbored any ill intent. He wasn't a liar either though; whether or not they meant him harm, he still couldn't really trust them. What little faith he had given them was quickly shattered under the weight of their own ineptitude, and any one of them could still be used by Ria. To think these thoughts about others... and people who might have once been his friends? Not to mention his own failings, having pulled this stunt would likely cause them to lose faith in him as well. He had to wonder if Ria had really taken all of his darkness after all. "If I am fated to fall, then I shall not do so floundering about with no proper fight. If any of them were ever my friends... then you can't begrudge me that."
Unfortunately for Chrys, his attempts to remember before the extractor were not being very successful. Fortunately though, it seemed Ria was all set to make an appearance. The man was not all that far from where he had stationed himself, and he was looking a little beat up... and also a lot like IV. That was noteworthy, as were the various heartless being sucked into him. Come to think of it, pretty much everything that was coming out of his mouth was noteworthy. What to do now though? He couldn't risk sneaking around to attack the other; he would surely be noticed. Heck, it was a matter of time before he noticed anyway. Even if his opponent was weak, he was absorbing the heartless to regain his lost strength, and there was no shortage of those around. Getting information was definitely the better approach. How long did he have until he was sensed though? He should probably stay put and get as much information as he could, considering how cryptic Ria could be when confronted directly. Still, he didn't really want to be any more of a coward today than he already was... though as he had said, his presence was likely to be discovered at any time. Ready to summon his weapon at a moment's notice, Chrys remained where he was. He would not run from a fight, but he would do his best to learn all he could before that fight came.
Steel was quick to join Glen in donning a set of the armor and jumping into line alongside Ralph. Though, he wasn't quite as quick... he had to make some adjustments for his tail and... Wait... how was his muzzle fitting into this helmet? A mystery he chose to save for later. The analysis of new information that had been received from the commander would also have to wait; for now he had to dodge gun fire. Being thrown into a war zone hadn't been too much of a surprise: a lot of games involved combat. That was simply how it was. Having to face two entities that had previously been documented as allies was quite a bit more shocking. Still; he doubted they were the real ones. In the end, it just meant he would be justified in punching the lights out of Karina. Dodging the shots as best as he could, Steel sent a few of his own towards Karina as he made his way towards Leo. Hopefully he could prevent her from finishing her reload. Once he made it closer to Leo, he ducked towards the other's torso and made a sharp jab to the stomach. With "Leo" doubled over in pain, he delivered a quick kick to the face. He briefly wondered what kind of strength these beings had though, and how long it would take for them to go down.
As the others were all clearing out, Steel stared off in the direction that Ralph had gone. He was curious about the man, and it seemed that they had nowhere else to go anyway. "Well then, it was nice seeing the others again, but it's time to get back to business... or was this all just a game?" Shaking his head, Steel turned back to his newest partner. "It seems everyone else is already set on their destination, so I guess you and I will be checking out that "Hero's Duty" game. Though I admit I would have wanted to head in after Ralph anyway." He spent the briefest of moment giving his head a scratch before turning back towards their destination. "'Not a foe shall stand before us' yes? We have limited time, so let's get this done as only we can. Sound good to you 'partner'?" As the two made their way to "Hero's Duty" Steel once again felt that he would enjoy this new partner ship. ((Several Friendship levels rose! (To be adjusted later))) ----------------------------------------------- It seemed that the two had walked in on Ralph joining with a battalion of soldiers. It was probably best if they tried to blend in for now. Though, where would they get a set of that armor? Should they try a different approach?
Having taken shelter in an old house, Chrys nearly collapsed on the floor. He had briefly wondered why the heartless stayed away, but he was currently far too tired to really think straight. He leaned against the wall to catch his breath. It seemed he had been running ever since the events at the graveyard. Even then, the others still seemed fine though. At least, last time he saw them... What exactly was he supposed to do now then? It seemed ill advised to simply walk into a possible trap, but he didn't want to just leave them either. In the heat of the moment, surrounded by heartless, it was impossible to think. So he had run. ...And left them all behind. He couldn't seem to do much more than wait for now. Wait... and hope that they were all okay. Or maybe... Pulling out the page that Marley had given him, Chrys focused on the contents of the page. He pulled the few memories he had recalled to the front of his mind, and focused as hard as he could, hoping he could remember more.
Chrys gave a slight jump as the hatch slammed closed behind him. He turned only briefly to see that indeed that was the case before turning back to fight the heartless. Did they really leave him behind? Just like that, were they really so- No, wait... that girl could she have been the one to shut the hatch? Why though? He questioned himself as he sliced a shadow in two. Was she merely a coward unwilling to try getting everyone to safety so long as she herself was endangered? Or... was this all some... elaborate trap? What should he do? On one hand, if they were ambushed, his presence could be the deciding factor, but... what if it was a far more elaborate ruse, and merely getting them down the hatch was enough to ensnare them. His presence would mean nothing at all. But then, they pretty much already acted like he wasn't there about eighty percent of the time. He was seriously considering just investigating on his own at this point... but he couldn't just leave them to the mercy of a possible trap. A heartless lunged for his face, only to be bashed aside: Whatever he did, he would have to do it soon, or he would be overrun by heartless. Perhaps merely observing for now would be the best course of action? With this in mind, Chrys cast a gravity spell to clear a path before running a bit further from the hatch. His first goal would be to find nearby cover from the heartless.
As the group celebrated their victory in the City of Bells, Steel had merely been silently glad that his form had gone unnoticed by the locals upon entering the RG. He was sending a sorrowful look towards the towering Cathedral. "I never really said I was sorry, did I?" He whispered. "I... really screwed things up this time." He smiled softly to himself, as if his thoughts were an amusing joke rather than a self deprecating statement. Unbidden, his thoughts shifted back to the events that took place after he reclaimed his keyblade at the Castle of Illusion. Spoiler: Conqueror's Respite (1/?) As the light around him faded, Steel found himself back at Fort St. Carn. He was now on the beach, and the gate he had once tried so hard to force open now stood behind him. However, it now looked like a still image on a monitor. It cracked and sparked dangerously in such a manner that Steel supposed that there was likely no turning back that way. Closer to the shore, three figures stood. Two of them he easily recognized as Winter and Gale, standing over a third figure who was in... a lab coat? Curious, Steel began to approach. His thoughts were interrupted by the loud voice of a certain math fetishist. Wonderful. He would have to be on guard: He may not know the exact nature of this timeline's variant, but if the way he acted so far was any indication... Whatever the case, he should keep silent about their new GM for now: He wasn't really supposed to know, and... how much he knew was up for debate anyway. It did make him wonder about who else they might run into though. Before long, everyone had been partnered up, and it was discovered that Base was back. Seeing as how the man was completely crowded, he decided not to jump in: As glad as he was, he was partial to giving his friend space... and not shoving his own terrifying muzzle into others' personal boundaries. He was less than enthusiastic about Sebastian seeing him like this, he could admit that. Far more important at the moment, however, was his newest partner. "Alright Steel, lets kick some ass and become masters. This'll be easy as hell" Steel gave a small smile. He wasn't too familiar with Glen, but he liked his spirit. "Your confidence is reassuring. Let's do our best together." He allowed his smile to become a tiny smirk, permitting the showing of just the points of his teeth. "Not a single foe shall stand before us, and all shall know our names." Upon noticing that his tail swayed lightly from side to side, Steel wondered to himself if he was interested in getting to know his new partner... or if he still just liked violence too much. Before too much longer, they were given their new mission, a new power, and... Met with a completely new face. Interesting. What should he say to this "Ralph"? What should any of them say? Supposedly the best course of action would be to say that they were from one of the games that they needed to explore, but what of Ralph's game? With Ralph's appearance, he was curious about what kind of place his game was. What Ralph was like too, to a lesser extent, but that could come later. The game was an option though, so how should they go about getting there? Simply familiarize themselves with how to get from place to place and then check later, or perhaps...? Not trusting in his own ability to fast talk his way through this, Steel nudged Glen and indicated Ralph with a nod of his head. Hopefully his partner would understand, and they could figure something out together.
View attachment 47393 So that's how it was, huh? To be so easily be dragged into this mess simply because of the majority vote? Nothing was different between then and now it seemed: His voice was little more than just background noise to these people. Was it too late for him to find some other ragtag group of adventurers? Well it was, but... was it really? Slicing through a heartless as Cerdic ran off he wondered... Was it?
View attachment 47391 It seemed that Chrys barely had time to question the girl or their new objective, everything had happened rather fast. It seemed though that they were ultimately set to fight the heartless anyway. Although, hadn't the others gone this way? Had the girl seen them? Were they alright? All Chrys could really think to do was mutter to Marley: "Do you think I could hang on to that page for awhile?" With everyone shouting about it, he had decided he should give it a read himself.
I Pledge Allegiance, To the Contract, Of the United Players of Recollect, And to the rules for which they stand, One Roleplay Under Cstar With light and darkness for all. Signed: O.KnightofTwilight
"Yeah..." Steel commented silently to Ananta as he stared up at the large glowing shape in the sky. Raising his keyblade, Steel watched as a beam of light burst forth from the magic sword, shooting towards the keyhole and sealing it with an audible click.
Chrys rolled his eyes as Daeni commented and laughed to herself as if everything was going according to plan. Not that he thought that she was speaking romantically when she said she had loved X, but the way she spoke and reacted was as if she had planned to frighten him into action in the first place. He doubted the girl had planned that far ahead. "I can run on my own, thanks." He responded to her question. As they ran off, Chrys couldn't help but feel leaving all these heartless simply to roam free would be a mistake. Unfortunately there was little he could do about it, since it was quite obvious by now that he had no influence here whatsoever. Whatever this choice brought about, it was his hope that they could finally reach the others... and hopefully save Cerdic from himself as well. The latter was highly unlikely though... he'd probably either argue with everything they would say, or take something they say and turn it into a self-motivating speech that will totally have been his idea. ...Things were looking pretty grim.
Steel extended his keyblade as he stood next to Ananta. Feeling a sudden, familiar rush of energy, he smirked as he instead offered the blade up to his teammate as opposed to a common attack. "Can I have a light?" Steel used a Fusion Limit with Ananta!
Chrys sighed as he watched X and VI run off through the crowd of heartless, not even bothering to fight them. X was only cementing his reputation as a complete waste of everyone's time with almost every new sentence that came out of his mouth. Almost. Chrys had to admit, Cerdic had made some pretty good points to Ria, and shown that he had a sort of noble disposition hidden... somewhere deep, deep... deep inside him. Even if he himself was slightly at a loss as to what exactly had transpired. He had hoped at the time that his moving on without them would have caused them to reevaluate their choices and spur them into action. However, little had changed, and they only seemed to be fighting more. Perhaps he should have expected this from the start with this group; they were a bit too focused on what was in front of them, so his words meant virtually nothing when he chose to turn and walk away. While they had taken it as a signal to leave, they had in no way taken it as sign that they needed to resolve their issues before things got out of hand. Though he was being slightly unfair to IX, who was the only other one to not fly quite so far off of the handle as soon as Ria had appeared. Everyone was a bit too bent on revenge though to realize something very important: If Ria was just some puny little shadow that they could beat down as simply as because they wanted "revenge"... well, they would have done it already wouldn't they? VI was just being dramatic though. "All of this infighting and shouting is pointless." He hissed as he sliced through the heartless that were tormenting the female L.I.G.H.T. member. He grabbed her bicep and lifted her to her feet without much thought. "Well then, come on. Let's get this over with... before I come to my senses and realize there are better and more efficient ways of investigating than... this." He turned back towards where the other two were, and shouted to them. "Let's try and focus on keeping up with X while we take out heartless when we can or need to on the way: We don't want be at too much of a disadvantage, but whatever he says, he'll still be in a bad position if he's on his own!" He only could hope it was the right choice: If too many Heartless were left crawling about like this, they could all wind up cornered, and that wasn't the optimal scenario. On the other hand, if Ria really had absorbed III and V, then leaving Cerdic alone could make him the next target. They were caught between something of a rock and a hard place, and the way to go was not very clear.
Steel used a combo! All of the Flavor is Gone!
Steel used Fire Strike on the Blizzard Lord!
Having once again taken far more damage than he would have liked too, Steel took the time to ensure he would not be injured for awhile yet. Hoping to allow the other to attack more rather than waste time healing him, he crossed his blades together and seemingly vanished. Steel Used Ninja Vanish!
Somewhat exasperated at the large amounts of MP the rest of the group was consuming, Steel quietly resolved to himself that he would make another move for the offensive as soon as got a chance. Steel Used MP Gift on Luna!
