(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

[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!"

[songbird9.livejournal.com]

The Shadow destroyed by Will's knife gave Song only enough of an opening to get back on her feet, but the mass of Heartless pressed in again almost before she was steady, and it would only be a matter of seconds before they reclaimed what little ground she'd gained.

Then several of them burst into flame and evaporated. She looked up, breathlessly, to see Sora in Final Form. A grateful nod was all she could spare for him, though, as the remainder of what seemed to be her own personal Heartless horde pressed in again. There were notably fewer now, though, and she desperately flowed back into her rhythm of strikes and spins. If only for the moment, she was winning.

[papoupromise.livejournal.com]

Kairi smiled at him, the releif obvious in her expression as the tension leaving her shoulders. "I've had practice." She replied, before nodding at his next question. It was always a wonder to watch Sora wield his powers and she watched almost close to dazzled as he shifted into Final Form.

Her hand tightened in his, and much to her surprise started floating right along with him causing her to squeak ever so slightly. There really wasn't any time to figure out the workings of his magic and they were off. Not wanting to be left behind, Kairi gathered her magic once again and started sending out a hailstorm of Blizzrd spells to the more crowded areas of heartless.

((the handwaving. you don't see it >>))

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Ash gave Song a nod. It was brief but full of understanding.

Her ammo was running low - it was the danger of being a melee fighter but at least they were making dents. Her other gun, the less powerful one she'd gotten at the Star Market was her backup...she hoped its weak elements would be enough.

Not for the first time she lamented not learning any magic.

[treeofjustice.livejournal.com]

"Okay," replied Will, lamenting internally that he had no weapon to protect him any more. He could run over and grab the knife he had just thrown, but the Heartless horde most likely wouldn't let him.

Then Sora came into the fray, and Will had to pause and gaze, awed, as he started wiping out Heartless. He shook his head, as if in disbelief, then focused on the Heartless at hand.

He gazed at a Soldier, noting that it did indeed have a slight aura around it, most likely from the heart that was hidden inside it. Gritting his teeth, he concentrated on a spot just below it's armor.

The Soldier leaped toward him, but was unexpectedly halted when it's body burst into a multidtude of dark pieces. Will slumped, his mind burning with sudden exhaustion. Attacking auras was not an easy task.

[lostscore.livejournal.com]

Ash tossed him a spare knife but let it fall at his feet "I've got you covered awhile. Magic is rough."