(no subject)

[deathbyjumprope.livejournal.com]

Who: Anyone and everyone, including some unexpected guests
What: Halloween party, oh yeah!
When: Saturday night
Where: Destiny Islands

Selphie adjusted the hat of her witch costume and surveyed her work. Well, okay, maybe Tidus and Wakka had helped out a little, but this was her idea to begin with! Mentally, she went down the list.

Decorations - check! There were ghosts and bats hanging from the trees, along with the occasional hung skeleton and a vampire or two lurking in the shadows - all fake, of course, but who cared? This was for fun! There was also a cutout of a werewolf up on one of the decks, made to look like it was howling at the moon. She took a peek at it; it would look great in silhouette!

Background noise - check! The boys had set up some soundtracks of scary noises for the background, and set them to play on repeat for the night. She counted it off on her fingers: there were supposed to be ghoulish wails, bat noises, the occasional werewolf howl... She shuddered violently as a shriek rang out, and gave a devilish grin. They'd done better than she'd expected. This party was going to blow everyone away!

Music - check! There was a stereo set up to play some Halloween music, just for today. A pile of CDs sat on the table next to it, waiting for someone to pick one and put it in to play. She trotted over and picked up the first one, but didn't play it yet. That could wait until more people were here.

Food - check! There were two tables set up that were almost completely covered in food. There was a bowl of gum ball eyes - Selphie plucked out a green one and chewed on it happily - and bowls of chocolate, one with a hand sticking out of it that was supposed to grab you when you went for a piece. She couldn't wait to see their reactions when it did! There were cookies with all kinds of festive Halloween shapes, from black cats to witch hats to pumpkins, and... deviled eggs decorated like little devils? Whose idea was that? Well, she decided, if they were the same person that had done those spider cupcakes, they weren't too bad.

Drinks - check! There were coolers decorated like treasure chests spread out around the party area, filled with all kinds of drinks. She would have liked if they creaked when they opened or something fun like that, but that was something they hadn't gotten to do, unfortunately. Maybe next year.

Bonfire - here, she hesitated. It wasn't quite dark yet, so they only had the firewood so far. She was really looking forward to lighting it, but... she didn't have a way to light it. Tidus or Wakka were supposed to bring matches, but they'd left to get into costume or something. She just hoped they came through.

Still, everything else was perfect! And with everyone coming back, they'd have a blast tonight, she decided cheerfully. She just hoped they all had great costumes... Hey, that was an idea! Maybe they could have a costume contest later on! Grinning, she made a mental note and went to sit down as she waited for someone else to show up.

Comments

[not-asoldier.livejournal.com]

Cloud had been lurking around the party for a while, wearing an outfit that consisted of blue pants, a white shirt, a matching blue jacket and bandana, somehow miraculously concealing his spiky hair. He was supposed to be Locke Cole.

Hen the girl announced the costume contest, he had no desire to join. He was just gonna watch...

Then he saw who the girl dragged up.

"No, stay away from him!" He yelled as he ran up to her and pulled her away from Sephiroth. He knew Sephiroth had been close, because he had been recently plagued by a familiar and unwelcome pain in his heart, but here?

"What are you doing here?"

[thirteenth_brat]

Roxas had been thinking to just sit back and watch the contest, especially when Selphie somehow managed to drag Sephiroth up for it. Somehow, he realized, he probably should have known he wouldn't be getting off that easy. It became quite clear when Kairi grabbed his hood and more or less dragged him over for the contest.

When exactly had they gotten to the point in their relationship where she could do this to him and the most response it would get was summed up with the emote 'o.O'?

[deathbyjumprope.livejournal.com]

Selphie was ecstatic to have Kairi and Roxas involved, but that feeling didn't last long. Before she could really start to get into it, some guy ran up to her and yanked her away.

"Why?" she asked in confusion. "What's wrong? He looks alright..."

[hocketypockety.livejournal.com]

At the suggestion of a costume contest, Merlin had decided to make his presence known... by entering the contest. He thought his costume was rather clever, though it might have been nice if he could have convinced Archimedes to accompany him in costume. Not that Dumbledore took Fawkes everywhere with him, but it would've completed the ensemble nicely. He'd settled for a magically animated phoenix plush that was a little limited in its behaviors due the hasty casting of the spells that animated it.

However, there seemed to be a bit of a commotion.

"Good heavens, what's going on here?"

[wr-heartless.livejournal.com]

No one would be getting any answers to their questions soon. The shadows cast by the fire seemed to grow, or at the very least, darken, and then

Then, a multitude of dark portals appeared, with Heartless skulking through them onto the island. Shadows blended into the ground to bite and claw at people's feet and legs; Soldiers had gauntlets ready to steal away any weak hearts they came across, all the while bearing wicked grins. Search ghosts accompanied them in the air, ready and more than willing to attack or disappear as necessary.

All of them had an excited air about them, as if they'd been invited to a feast of hearts after starving for so long. And while not all of them were really all that weak or dark, there were plenty of them around. They'd make do.

After all, beggars couldn't be choosers.

[creepy-son-of-a.livejournal.com]

Sephiroth certainly hadn't expected that when he decided to come here. The party was obviously over now so he decided to take his leave.

He just needed to locate the gummi ship pilot he had convinced to bring him here.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

Song loved costume contents. She loved any excuse to wear a costume. Heck, most of the time she didn't need an excuse to dress up oddly. So when she saw the others starting to gather and caught on to what was happening, she quickly snatched up her staff - the final piece of her stylized Angel of Dreams costume - and began making her way over.

Then there were Heartless.

Song did not curse often, and when she did, it was mild. 'Damn' was a word she seemed to enjoy, but that was usually as expressive as it got.

The worst expletives were reserved for truly special occasions.
This was one of them.

"Shit! What the fuck are they doing here?!"

[hocketypockety.livejournal.com]

'Oh dear' was the worst anyone would hear from Merlin. And yes, he did take a moment to scold Song for the expletive.

"Heavens, child. That's completely unnecessary," the wizard said as he surveyed the situation. This wasn't good. He'd known it would be a matter of time before the Heartless returned, but he had really thought it would be much later than this.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

"It is quite necessary," she growled, already taking a sing at one of the nearest Heartless with her staff. The glaive she'd found at this year's Star Market was more deadly against the monsters that had been plaguing them lately, but against the semi-insubstantial Heartless, a blunt weapon worked just as well.

That was all the time she had for Merlin. He could handle himself. As quickly as she could fight her way through, she began moving to seek out those who had little or no experience fighting Heartless. This wasn't just a party for the Refugees, after all. Song was not terribly compassionate towards strangers, but she'd protect anyone to keep them from becoming new Heartless.

Heartless meant Nobodies, and there were not supposed to be anymore Nobodies. That was something she felt very strongly about.

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Ash was there. She'd used liberal amounts of corpse paint and matted her hair and smeared her with fake blood until her small form was unrecognizable. That was how she'd wanted it. The long flowing white wedding dress was unrecognizable but the style of the two guns produced by this individual were a dead giveaway.

[treeofjustice.livejournal.com]

So was Will. He ran up, brandishing the aura knife that he had bought at the Star Market. He had no idea whther it would actually work on Heartless, but he didn't have enough time to ponder the problem.

He swiped at a nearby Search Ghost, which floated out of his reach. "Damn! Why are they here? I thought they were supposed to be gone for good," Will said, a twinge of annoyance and anger present within his voice.

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

Sora had watched in dawning horror as Heartless - Heartless - emerged from the shadows of the fire, a sinking feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. No. Impossible. Not after everything they had gone through with Xehanort's Heartless and Xemnas and the Organization and the First Darkness...this just couldn't be right. Would this fight never end?

He closed his eyes and put his hand over his heart. It didn't matter. His friends needed him. The people on the Islands needed him. He would not let his home fall to the darkness again. He opened his eyes and narrowed them, his hand clenching around empty air until, with a chiming sound and bright flash of swirling gold and white light, the Ultimate Keyblade appeared in his hands.

And then he was off, cutting through the scores of Heartless with the effortless grace of a warrior with years of experience.

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Ash moved to cover Sora with a haze of gunfire. "I'm not going back down that road." she growled.

[papoupromise.livejournal.com]

Kairi knew there was something wrong seconds before they showed up. Her hand reached for her sword only to have it come to her. That made her pause, her grip tightening on it while she watched with dawning horror at the sudden appearance of the heartless. They should've been gone. The worlds themselves had told them so.

It was only then she realized that her short sword wasn't the one in her hand but the keyblade she had forgotten not been able to summon since the final battle the year previous. She forced herself out of her wandering thoughts instantly, forcing herself to refocus on the growing problem. Without another word she dashed forth, putting her newly learned skills to use.

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Ash was rather glad to see Kairi. Even though their interaction had been negligable to this point, there was something comforting in having a Princess of Heart around.

"Yell if you need a bit of cover." Ash called, clubbing a Heartless away from her own ankle. She hated the fact that during a battle like this she could not help wishing she had her control over metal back. Her aim had improved, but when you controlled the very element your ammo was made from, you couldn't miss.

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

Sora came to a halt, sending a spray of sand up over a small cluster of Shadows and Soldiers. He was glad the others were there to help, but he wondered just how many Heartless they were going to have to fight. He shot a grin at Ash and gave her a thumbs-up. "Don't worry - we're not letting history repeat itself!"

At least he hoped not.

He swung the Ultimate Keyblade in a wide arc, cutting through the Shadows as if they were nothing more than rainclouds. In his mind, he was quickly estimating what the reappearance of the Heartless actually meant - an unsealed Keyhole, Nobodies... and the door to light. How many worlds... how many people... he gritted his teeth as a trio of Soldiers and Search Ghosts turned towards him and dove, knocking him back into one of the tables of food Selphie had set up, sending plates crashing to the sand. The sleeve of his Jedi cloak caught on the edge of the table, and immediately pulled him back as he surged towards one of the Heartless.

Surprised, he yanked his arm free... but not before one of the Shadows jumped up on him, raising its claws to strike true, yellow eyes glittering with a demonic hunger. Sora began to shout out the beginnings of a blizzard spell even as he struggled to twist away, but even a spoken spell would not come quickly enough.

The Shadow's claws sliced downwards.

[wr-heartless.livejournal.com]

There, there was one, one with lots of light but plenty of darkness, too. The Shadow dove for him, quickly following up its attack with more well-aimed claws to the chest.

Elsewhere, a Soldier was taking a lunge at Ash, with an obvious disregard for her weapons. There was more darkness in this one than most of the hearts here, it knew, and it wanted it. It was like a drug, that darkness, and the Heartless could never get enough of it. It needed to collect more of it.

Still more Soldiers and Search Ghosts were swarming over to Robin for much the same reason. While the other had a lot of darkness, it was not unintentional. This one, however, they felt was nearly engulfed in it. It drew them closer like a magnet, and they weren't about to hesitate to go after what they wanted. One of the Search Ghosts dove at her in an effort to break the stalemate that had unwittingly occurred as they'd circled her, trying to claim what they all wanted as its own.

Will had a certain allure, as well, though it was nothing quite as strong as with the rest of them. Not to mention there was something... off about him, though the Shadows surrounding him didn't know what. It didn't matter, however; he, too, had a prize they wanted to win. And they'd all do whatever it took to claim it.

[thirteenth_brat]

"Son of a bitch!" Roxas hissed, adding some more colorful terminology when a close call added a rip to his coat.

He heard the crash as the snack table went over and glanced over, only to turn his attention fully when he saw Sora's situation. There was no time to even think about it. Roxas took aim at the leaping Shadow and threw one of his Keyblades. He wouldn't have an opportunity to see if his aim was true, though, as a Soldier Heartless slammed into his side with a spinning kick and sent him tumbling. Cursing, he swung at it as it bore down on him, Keyblade just missing but giving the Heartless pause. He took advantage of the pause to get to back his feet and cut the Heartless down.

Then he turned to see about Sora...

[papoupromise.livejournal.com]

Kairi had turned just in time to watch the Shadow jump on Sora and her eyes widened, panic gripping her heart. She began racing towards him, knowing that she wasn't fast enough, there were just too many heartless in her way between her and him.

Much to her surprise, a keyblade came sailing by, nicking the heartless and nearly sending it tumbling back. Which gave her just enough time to desperately cast multiple Blizzards at it, in some hope that at least one of them would aim true and destroy it. Much to her pleasure, her aim held true and she rushed over before any others could get near. "Are you alright?" She asked, worriedly checking him over.

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

A gunshot had rang only a split second after Roxas' keyblade had gone sailing by. The bullet lanced harmlessly off into nowhere.

Underneath her corpse paint, Ash had gone whiter still while Kairi went to check on Sora. She had enough presence of mind NOT to lower her guns and let them pull themselves together.

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

Song didn't even notice their hero in peril, or anything else. She was too busy fending off the Heartless which came at her from every side. She could feel her chest tighten in panic, imagine all too vividly the feel of those grasping claws reaching into her, through her, and dragging out the Darkness that laced her very essence. She would not, she could not become that again...

All of her practice in combat, everything she had learned, often without even realizing she was learning it, came to her unbidden now. She moved as quickly as she was able, dancing around reaching claws and pouncing shapes, turning to smack them out of the air with her staff, turning again as she felt sharpness tear along her back, not even registering the pain of the wound until she'd beaten her attacker down. And still they came. A Search Ghost caught her by the hair, yanking her off balance. A Shadow leaped, finding purchase in the fabric of her robe, tearing her costume wings, reaching for the beacon of her heart and scoring a slice across her collarbone before she shook it off. Then there were three more, dragging her, struggling and flailing, down.
Her screams were wordless, but her thoughts ran in a crystal clear circle.

'Not again! Not again! Orpheus!'

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

It had not been the Heartless who created Ash's Nobody, so she didn't feel the terror of what the creatures could do as keenly as Song.

Nonetheless, the terror of what could happen if they did touch her kept her going. Aim, fire, reload. Keep them AWAY.

The fleeting thought: Too many! Came to her, but she pushed it down. DON'T give up.

[treeofjustice.livejournal.com]

They were everywhere, swarming, gazing with those hungry little yellow eyes of theirs. He turned to each of them, threatening them with his knife, only making them back away a bit before they closed in even further.

A scream penetrated his tension. He whirled his head, terror piercing whatever was left of his nerves. That woman wouldn't last long if the Heartless continued attacking.

"I-I'm coming! Hang on!" He shouted, hoping she could hear him and take at least a bit of hope. He quickly looked around, finally finding a small opening in the swarm around him.

He took a deep breath, and pushed through the Heartless, trying with all his might to reach her. But the Heartless were pulling him back, and he could already feel the blood flowing from the cuts they made on his leg.

I need...to get her out of there...I can't... He closed his eyes, grimacing. He was going to fail if he continued like this. Not only would she die, but he would be just the same as well.

A sudden thought occured to him, and with all his remaining strength, he tossed the knife at the Heartless surrounding her. It reached its target, and Will heaved a sigh of relief as one of the Heartless on top of her disappeared in a burst of black smoke. Hopefully, that would be enough to help her get out of the mob.

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Ash backed towards him. "Come on, Will. Let's do this together! I'll get the ranged and you get the ones up close!"

[a-total-sap.livejournal.com]

Sora pulled back as the another Keyblade destroyed the Heartless that was preparing to bury its claws in his chest, stumbling backwards with a grunt of surprise. He didn't quite have time to gather his bearings as multiple Blizzard spells destroyed a handful of the cluster of Heartless still circling him. He looked up as Kairi ran into the fray, her flowery keyblade still clenched in her hand.

"I'm fine," he said with a small grin. "You're really good at that!" He glanced over her shoulder at Roxas, and offered him a smile too to show that he was fine. He then looked back at the dozens and dozens of Heartless still crawling over the remains of the Halloween party, and his face set into a determined expression. He gave Kairi a quick look. "Ready to go?" He hated the idea of putting her in danger, but he also trusted her to protect herself - Roxas had been training her, and Kairi was certainly no pushover princess. Plus, if she was right beside him, he could keep an eye on her if she needed help too.

Then, he took a deep breath and swung his Keyblade back in front of him, as if he were unlocking a door, the teeth of the Keyblade pointed upwards. White and silver light shot out of the tip of the weapon, and circled around him, tendrils of pure light shocking the Heartless back and wrapping around him, lightening his costume to whites and silvers and grays - the keybearer's final form. The Ultimate Keyblade vanished, turning into Oblivion and Oathkeeper, floating alongside him.

He looked quickly across the site of the ruined party, and then nodded at Kairi before grabbing her hand and making their way to Song, tiny little orbs of flame already appearing around him before he could even get the spell off his lips.

"Firaga!"