As the group continued to walk, Lea talked about just who it was they were fighting. At the mention of someone being possessed, though, Aeira merely clenched her fists and gritted her teeth further. As Lea finished his explanation of what they were to expect against Nequa, the girl bluntly stated, "got it." Her attitude seemed to have shift from annoyed to actually angered, as she continued her pace forward, now more determined to defeat this group than she was before. As the boy near her asked Lea another question, she said, "does it matter?" Her eyes shifted over to Vallus, glaring at him as she said, "she's our enemy. And all we have to do is defeat our enemy. That's all." With that, she turned back to face forward, walking alongside the rest of the group.
Stratos was surprised at how confidently Tron had declared his devotion to the users. The boy could understand where Sark was coming from, and almost felt for him, however the methods by which he wanted to achieve this goal and the general temperament of the man certainly weren't pitiable. The arcade was certainly a far different world then any that he had been to thus far, and he was wondering just who this user was and how they were able to make a large community of worlds such as this. However, the boy simply smiled at Tron and said, "well, I'm glad to have met you as well, and been a part of your individuality Tron. And you to mine. I'm sure that the User would be glad that you're fighting hard for them as well." Looking over to Kel and Aislinn, Stratos nodded saying, "yeah, there isn't much that could stop that crew. I mean, you've seen Beuce and Luna already in action, and Kaida and Ignis aren't slouches themselves either."
Kaida used Scouting Disc. And it was earth!
As the plethora of attacks struck Sark, the giant man fell to the ground, kneeling while insisting that he was superior then them. Breathing heavily, the exhaustion from just rapid firing off his spells starting to set in. "Your 'guidance' isn't what this world needs Sark!" As Stratos said this, he then heard Tron's voice from behind, and with it a beam of bright light being fired towards the giant data man. As the being was felled and returned to raw data, everything seemed to be resolved. Stratos had forgotten they had even made a deal with Tron in the first place. However, with the fight being over Stratos felt relief, joy and a familiar that was unfamiliar to him. He wasn't quite sure what it was but if he had to put a word to it it'd be...pride? Regardless, he was simply happy that peace had been restored to this world. However, as Tron mentioned something about some troubles going on in "The Grid," a name he was reminded of from before this mission started, the boy figured that the other group was in some kind of trouble. However, given who was there, he thought they all had it handled. However, it did bring to mind something. Looking at Tron he asked, "so uh, just what is the arcade anyway?" Kaida used Reprogram to change the Scouting Disc to Earth Attribute.
With all of the attacks having gone through, Stratos decided to put everything he had into this damage. Race. Of course, this meant using the same attack he had been using all this time, as it was the strongest one he had. Expending the rest of his energy into his rifle, the earthen magic fired out one last time, creating a large collection of mines to fire out at the boss once more. Stratos used Seeker Mine. Again.
Kaida used reluctancy. Everyone was now very reluctant.
When he saw Kel use the same attack that Aislinn just did, he was in awe at just how much more raw force the two had in the technique then he did. However, he also noticed that Sark seemed to be particularly wounded from the mines he was casting. Starting to feel a small surge of pride, this was then interuptted as Sark unleashed a barrage of attacks against them all. Feeling the shock run through him, the boy realized that everyone else was doing poorly. However, though he would normally heal everyone in this situation, he felt an urge to keep pumping out the damage, figuring that he and the others would be able to topple the man. Charging the earth magic through his rifle once again, the boy cast his spell into the ground. Stratos used Seeker Mine. Kaida used Combo on cannon two.
As he watched Aislinn use a technique that he was all too familiar with, he noticed that she had winked at him beforehand, as if trying to challenge him. With a smirk on his face, the boy was ready to take on the girl in this damage race, seeing that the last technique he used was fairly effective against Sark. With the earthen magic flowing through his rifle again, the boy fired the spell into the ground. Stratos cast Seeker Mine once again.
Kaida used Powerline. The first hit goes to Cannon 1 the second hit goes to Cannon 2.
Kaida used April Showers. Posting for Cstar as she is currently unable to post herself for undetermined amount of time.
As the group sped along, they eventually managed to catch up with the rampant program, cutting him off from his retreat. As he and Tron got into an argument, it seemed that Sark was not willing to just let things end like so easily. Hopping off the cycle, the boy landed on his feet ready to take on the man who had been a thorn in their side thus far. As he was ready to get the fight started, he felt strange. Everything about him seemed to be moving at a faster rate, and his body started to feel less...real. While the boy wasn't quite sure was causing this phenomena, he was about to unveil a power that he had yet to use. Hitting his chest with his fist, the boy was engulfed in a blue, red and yellow light. His hooded sweat-shirt became more of a cloak that flowed off of him, while the blue lines that flowed across him started to fluctuate between the three different colors. His keyblade had changed its shape, becoming more like a rifle with a blade under the barrel. Twirling the new thing around, Stratos was a bit confused by this newfound power, however having seen Beuce use it before, he already understood the way it worked. However, as everyone else disembarked, Sark was already on the offensive. The boy wasn't prepared for the disc weapon, and is curved towards him, he could only brace himself as the attack struck against him. Feeling the pain surge through him, the boy wasn't about to let this stop him though. Getting back to his feet, he channeled earthen magic through his rifle, firing it at the ground. As it struck, circular white disks appeared on the ground, ready to hunt after the opponent before them. Stratos used Seeker Mine.
Aeira's mood only soured as the man had claimed that he was chosen by the keyblade due to simply being that amazing of a person. As he continued to rant on and on about his skills, proclaiming to be one without peer, Aeira felt her fists tighten as she merely said, "is that so?" As she was starting to reach a breaking point in her patience for the man, it was merely put to the test once more as a new person arrived at the scene. A young female who seemed to have far more energy than she knew what to do with. While Aeira was about to start challenging Tango to a fight, she was left dumbfounded at the sheer absurdity of Lima's outgoing nature. As such, before she could really do much of anything, the duo had eventually left, leaving the group of coat wearers by themselves. As Lea had laid out the situation before them, the girl couldn't help but grit her teeth. "I hope you know where we're going next," she grunted towards Lea. "Because I'm more than ready to do this job now." With a feeling of only frustration left within her, the girl followed alongside the rest of the group as they went to regroup.
Just posting here for posterity sake. Equipment: Unbound +9 is equipped for this fight Moogle Badge is also equipped Items: Ether Phoenix Down (x2) Hi-Potion Hi-Ether Abilities: Basically everything but Explosion and Air Combo Plus Ranger is equipped Pink Elephants, Hunter's Mist, and Trip Around the Sun are equipped Skill Commands and Magic: Seeker Mine Cura FIra Stopga Judgment Aqua Splash Final Stats: HP: 50 (+6) MP: 5 (+3) Strength: 20 (+5) Speed: 20 (+5) Defense: 10 Magic: 30 (+5) Resistance: 11 AP: 50 (+8)
As the conversation went on, Aeira started to grow slightly more irritated. The girl was starting to wonder why everyone continued their talk with Tango. He was an enemy to them, this much was clear. Who Nequa was didn't matter, since she was also clearly an enemy. One that Lea already knew about anyway. They didn't need to know much about the pod, since it wasn't even part of their mission to begin with. In all honesty, Aeira really just wanted to punch the guy's lights out and be done with it all. However, her instincts were telling her that being the one to send out the first punch would be unwise, and she herself wasn't one to simply charge at an opponent. Nevertheless, she clenched her fists tight as she then decided to ask a simple question. "Hey," her voice did nothing to hide her current mood, "why do you have a keyblade?"
With the victory having been assured, Stratos pulled over to his test partner, Hikaru celebrating about the victory. Chuckling a bit as the other keyblade wielder started to stammer on about fist bumping, Stratos reciprocated the fist bump. "Yeah, you know it. Good job." Looking over to the other two, he waved, saying, "same to you guys." After congratulating everyone, Tron appeared to tell them about their victory, yet it seemed that there was still something left to do. Looking over to the solar sailor that Tron pointed towards. While Stratos wasn't entirely sure it was that Tron said, he nodded saying, "that sounds bad. Come on guys, let's go!" Revving up the engine, Stratos took off as fast as he could on his light cycle.
Aeira followed close behind the rest of her group, not saying anything as the journey went on. The task was simple and the walk without any incident. They were only stopped when their leader had apparently stumbled upon something interesting. Hanging behind the pillar, the girl listened in on what the man they came across was saying, wondering just what it was he found so interesting. However, before he had said anymore, it appeared he was able to sense that they were there to begin with. Aeira's stern expression had a bit of a scowl on top of it, only to then walk out from behind the pillar as both Koa and Lea started to talk to this, "Tango." Aeira wasn't sure who this Nequa person was, outside of most likely an enemy. Aeira wasn't sure why Koa was talking about dance or trying to learn this man's hobbies. It was weird. What she did know though, was that the man before her was wielding a keyblade, and he was almost definitely not a friend. So instead, she just kept a sharp glare trained on him as the others conversed with him, merely preparing herself for what was likely to come.
Having just recently defeated his opponent, Stratos let out a deep sigh of relief as he continued to move along the area. Looking back he could see the remaining particles of red light from his opponent, only for those to slow fade away. The idea that hitting a wall of the opponent would do that to him was not exactly as comforting one to the boy, which made him refocus on the road ahead and start to look for the next battle to go towards. As it was, he had already defeated one of the four opponents that they had, which meant that his team members were likely being preoccupied by the others. Taking a look around, he saw that Kel was being attacked not by one of the members of Team SARK, but two. He had seemed to be preoccupied in dealing with the first only for the second to come out and try and stop him. While the boy started to turn his light cycle around, going to assist his blue haired companion, it seemed that Aislinn had already beaten him to it. As she approached Kel, it seemed that she had some kind of plan in store and so Stratos merely trailed away from the battle, not wanting to get in the way and potentially mess it up. When all seemed clear, the two had turned in seperate directions, managing to cut off the data copy of the female member of the team. Having nowhere to go, Stratos watched as they were soundly defeated, being destroyed in quite the same way that D'daear had been. While one more of the enemy team members seemed to be hot on Kel's pursuit, the latter seemed to have another plan of his own in order to defeat the data copy. Trying to circle around the area, simply trailing behind to try and catch the enemy were they to break away from Kel, he watched in a bit of awe and confusion as the man had merely ended up running into the wall, destroying himself. He didn't really know how Kel had managed to do it, but Stratos was all the same impressed that he had gotten his opponent to basically cause themselves to lose. With that out of the way, there were three members down, which meant only one more was remaining. Looking around, Stratos saw the fourth member of the Team SARK gunning to cut off Hikaru. Rushing to his aid, Stratos turned the light cycle around and started revving the engine up at full throttle. As he approached the final opponent, he yelled out, "hey, come at me uh...data....man...person." Much to Stratos's surprise, the digital copy seemed to fall for his ace taunting and rushed at Stratos. The boy soon realized something strange about the man's trajectory, seeing that he was instead heading for a collision course for Stratos. As the two nearly collided, they both turned at the same time, beginning to race parallel to each other. Looking over to his opponent, Stratos knew that he would have to find some way to outmaneuver them. And with a thought, the boy figured out a plan to do just that. Turning sharply away from the man, he seemed to turn in the opposite direction. As Stratos turned back, the man turned back as well, with both of them being a fair distance away yet still driving parallel to each other. Turning sharply, the man mimicked his turn so that they were now on a collision course for each other once more. However, rather than continue the same song and dance, Stratos merely sped forward at his opponent, gunning his engine. The man being taken by surprise didn't react fast enough for the turn, as Stratos turned away from him, leaving a light wall directly in his path. With the final opponent crashing into it, Stratos saw the sparks rain, as their victory had been secured. 10/10 Words: 657 EXP Writer: 60 Total EXP: 180 Blessed Thief Total: 90 ---Kel---- Total EXP: 131 Blessed Thief Total: 90 ---Aislinn---- Total EXP: 62 ----Hikaru---- Total EXP: 26
As the light cycle match continued Stratos had the four of Team SARK continued to chase after the boy. However, it would soon become apparent that this wouldn't be quite fruitful to them in any way, to the point that trying to converge on one target would likely hinder their progress. This was only made more apparent as a sudden light cyclist appeared to cut them off. Looking over to see her as she called out to him, Stratos looked up and saw that the girl had attempted to cut them off. As she appeared, two of the members of Team SARK looked somewhat surprised by this sudden appearance, and as such, sharply turned away from her. The perfect synergy and synchronization that they had seemed to have was suddenly broken up as the two who parted seemed to be a bit messier at the moment, looking for other members of the friendly team to hunt after. Giving a thumbs up to the girl, Stratos said, "thanks Aislinn." Letting out a sigh of relief now that he didn't have as much pressure behind him, the boy then looked over to his side to see that there was someone else trailing after him. On the enemy team, their red light cycle starting to gain and close the distance between him and Stratos, was a man that was the only one that Stratos was partially familiar with. The a supposed digital replica of D'daear, a person that was more a passing acquaintence to Stratos then most of the other members in the SOS group, was the one that was current chasing after him. Mumbling, "well I did say I'd handle him," the boy got ready to start his one on one confrontation against the rider. To this effect, rather than speeding up, he merely slowed down and kept even pace with D'daear. Calling out to him he said, "so, I don't suppose you'd just want to talk this out right? We're all friends right?" In response, the D'daear lookalike turned his gaze away from the rode and instead to Stratos. With no real emotion showing behind his eyes, bar some kind of focused anger, the boy pointed his index finger at Stratos. Following this, he retracted the finger, instead extending out his thumb and dragging it across his own neck. Sighing, Stratos said, "yeah, that's about what I thought." With the pleasantries out of the way, Stratos looked up to focus on the road trying to figure out how to win this fight. His opponent slowly, but steadily, started to accelerate, trying to leave Stratos in the dust, to which the boy attempted to match pace. With a wall fast approaching, Stratos knew he was going to try and make a play soon and thus mentally prepared himself. With relatively little distance between the cyclists and the walls, D'daear then accelerated forward, creating a light trail behind himself, only to then turn at a ninety degree angle to form a wall. Rather than try to match his pace, as D'daear turn, Stratos turned and then turned again, having gone effectively one hundred eighty degrees, only to then speed forward. D'daear then attempted to try and match pace with Stratos by turning, only for Stratos to then turn in response. With one last turn, Stratos finished his maneuver, turning away from the wall and driving away, D'daear had been effectively trapped in a wall of hard light. With nowhere to go, the light cycle slammed into the wall, exploding on contact and forcing the rider to crash against the ground, disentigrating as he skidded. "Sorry about that," Stratos said, as he looked for his next opponent. 6/10 Words: 613 EXP Writer: 60 Total EXP: 120 Blessed Thief Total: 60
Stratos didn't have the same kind of reservations that both Kel and Hikaru more than likely had when dealing with the people before him. After all, the only two of the four he had met before was Xara and D'daear, and even those were more of a passing greeting then anything else. The other two he didn't even recognize, let alone know. Yet still, they had the faces of real people, and people that had apparently aided both Hikaru and Kel in missions that were, more than likely, long before Stratos's time. To say that he was completely detached from the situation would be a bit of an overstatement, and as such, he felt his knuckles tense up around the device to summon his light cycle as the quartet got ready to start their mission. With the arena being set and the groups both being present, the announcer introduced both of the teams. As Hikaru stated that he would be able to take care of Shapur, Stratos then said, "then I'll handle D'daear. I uh, don't really know much about him, but I'll figure something out." With that, the coutdown had begun and everyone seemed to try to psyche themselves up. As the count reached the end, the four enemies, with mechanical precision and harmony, summoned their light cycles and began to speed towards the group. Going along with everyone else, Stratos summoned his light cycle to his side and boarded it as he got ready to drive off. The group of keybladers had much less synchronization then their antagonistic counterparts in more than just their start. Where they moved in the same direction as almost one unit, it was fairly evident that the keyblade wielders weren't nearly as reherssed. With Hikaru getting off to a late start and with Aislinn speeding ahead of everyone else, it left Stratos somewhat in the middle of the pack of their group, going along at an average pace. It then dawned on him the position he was in. Aislinn wasn't comfotable riding a light cycle due to trauma related to a similar device she had had in the past. Hikaru and Kel were likely hindered by past memories of those they were fighting against. While he knew both of these things, putting them together suddenly gave Stratos the realization that there was quite a lot of pressure on him. He didn't want to make things harder on his allies then it already was, and so it was up to him to get them through the match. Or at least a good portion of it. Revving up his engine further, he noticed Aislinn speeding away from the rest of the group, meaning that it would give him an easier time of harrying the other enemies away from the rest of his friends. So, deciding to go straight at the problem, the boy instead drove straight ahead at the four light cyclists, charging head on to get their attention. Once he was close enough, he then sharply turned, only to then immediately turn again to have gone a full one hundred eighty degree rotation. With that out of the way, he was now keeping ahead of the four enemy riders of Team SARK and would be able to cut them off with more ease if they started to split off. If they didn't, things were likely to get far hairier for the boy and it wasn't exactly a situation he wanted to think of. Continuing to speed forward though, he turned on the light trail of the light cycle, leaving a wall behind his path to obstruct the enemies. Words: 604 EXP Writer: 60 Total EXP: 60 Blessed Thief Total: 30
After Stratos gave a suggestion, it became apparent that there was a much bigger issue that they'd have to deal with then just Team SARK in order to win. Stratos hadn't realized that Ailsinn had had some kind of emotional troubles in actually riding the light cycle in the last match, and he couldn't really blame her. Now knowing about her past, he couldn't really say he was comfortable with letting her in the next round and nodded as Kel affirmed that she wasn't being insolent or anything in that regards. As it turned out, though, they weren't able to swap in Tron for her, forcing her into this situation. While she was still uncomfortable with the mission, Stratos nodded with Kel saying, "yeah, don't force yourself to hard. After all, you have three other team members here to help you through this." 10/10
