Double

Kingdom Hearts: The Keyblade War.

That Stop spell would have taken anyone else by surprise. Unfortunately for the elven master, the Grimm Reaper was far from just anyone. As soon as he heard the command for the spell, a new Keyblade materialized in Cyrus' left hand. This one was more golden, and possessed a brighter appearance than that of his main Keyblade. He thrust it out mid-dive, the Stop spell catching him for only a millisecond before the energy of the spell just flat out vanished, specifically into Cyrus's second Keyblade. With the Stop spell almost completely canceled out, there didn't appear to be anything more stopping Cyrus's attack from connecting. Perhaps he could avoid taking the full brunt, but there was no escaping being grazed at the very least thanks to Cyrus's counter measure.

"Sorry, Keyblade Master, but your magic is all but useless against the Reaper." Cyrus made to attack again, still using the leftover speed from his earlier Haste spell to move with near instantaneous speed around the elf's position so that he could strike at his flank. Even if his movements could be anticipated, without Haste magic of his own, the elf was likely to find it difficult to properly react to Cyrus's attack. But as he made his move, Cyrus spoke one more word at the last possible moment before his attack came, "Reflect!" this was a cautionary measure, as this time Cyrus fully expected the elf to try slowing him down with Stop, but if he dared cast the spell this time it would be sent right back at him, leaving him completely helpless against the Reaper's strike.

Kingdom Hearts: The Keyblade War.

For a 100+ year old elf he certainly seems to have no idea just who it is he's dealing with. Oh well, maybe he doesn't care, but he certainly will before this is over.

Kingdom Hearts: The Keyblade War.

@Akayaofthemoon

You should definitely play Birth By Sleep when you get the chance. I'm not just saying that because I love gushing about it (OK maybe I do just a tiny bit) but it's my favorite game in the series for a reason. It's story is admittedly kind of meh at times, but oh my god the gameplay mechanics are friggin' awesome! Best battle system I've ever played with, really badass attack animations (Shot Locks and Command Styles are just amazing to look at and you feel like such a bad ass when you kill bosses with them).

But yes, you hit the nail on the head with your observation.

Kingdom Hearts: The Keyblade War.

Part of my own philosophy for Cyrus was taken from something Eraqus said at the start of Birth By Sleep:

"Remember, there are no winners―only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed."

So there you have it, the source I used as the inspiration for Cyrus' speech about "revealing the true self through battle."

Kingdom Hearts: The Keyblade War.

In that case then my intention was a success. Cyrus is basically supposed to be a semi-deconstruction of how Keyblade Wielders work, with a bit of "War Is Hell" and "Child Soldier" thrown into the mix.

Kingdom Hearts: The Keyblade War.

Maybe, but I'm pretty sure Cyrus/Ren is the only case where the character in question was the one who did the killing of said friend before obtaining said friend's Keyblade so I should at least have that going for me. ^_^

Kingdom Hearts: The Keyblade War.

Or better yet you could have him die and be a dual wielder.

@floodtalon

In other words exactly what I've already done with Cyrus. <_< xD

Titans of Gotham [Spots Available!]

Archer flinched a bit at the "responses" he got. First was Chester, who offered an obligatory snide remark that Archer elected to simply ignore. Seriously, most of the people here were still mourning Robin and he chooses to act like a snarky jackass? Archer just sighed with exasperation and awaited a real answer from either Batman or Wildcat. Unfortunately, the answers Wildcat offered weren't much better than Chester's, in fact they were arguably worse.

He answered Archer's school question by going off on a tirade about the general state of Gotham City. This made the ice-man frown, and feel guilty, as if Wildcat's rant was somehow placing blame for Gotham's state solely on Archer himself for some reason. Great, because Archer totally didn't feel like crap already, the older hero's snappy responses were really only making him feel worse. And of course, there was the snap response Wildcat gave about Archer's suit. Wonderful, now Archer felt like he was being ungrateful on top of everything else. Archer didn't answer, but he did sort of shrink and turn his back in shame.

Excuse me for living. Was the only thing Archer could even think right then. He still didn't say anything, for fear of pissing off Wildcat any more than he apparently already had.

---

The next several days were slow and arduous for Archer. Between not fully recovering from what happened to Robin, and his new-found fear of getting yelled at or beaten by Wildcat, Archer began to think that no one would blame him if he just up and quit. But he didn't. The honor of Robin's memory was riding on all of this and Archer had already let the Boy Wonder down once before. He made up his mind that he simply refused to quit, no matter how harsh or rough it was.

Outside of training, Archer elected to be alone. Memories of the fateful night still haunted him, and he honestly couldn't understand how everyone else could go back to being so cheerful and happy-go-lucky. Archer still honestly felt like crap, and knew that he probably still would for a while yet. That was how mourning usually worked, though the processes also tended to differ from person to person as well.

"Another day... and then another night with Drill Sergeant Wildcat. I can hardly wait." he said as he walked from school to the Gym. When he entered he found others had already gotten there. He didn't really say anything though, instead going straight for his locker so he could suit up. At least today he could already be suited up by the time Wildcat started barking orders. Maybe that would make him act less angry at everyone? Not likely, but Archer sure as hell wasn't going to start getting on the older man's bad side, especially when said older man could pretty easily take on the whole team by himself at this point.

Titans of Gotham [Spots Available!]

Archer went through that whole week feeling like crap. A nasty mix between guilt and self-doubt. Not only had he let Robin down, but the Boy Wonder was dead on top of that. During the days leading up to that night, Archer had gained so much confidence. He'd met the hero he considered his role model, and not only that, but said hero asked Archer to join his team. That was honestly the kind of dream-come-true that only happened in the movies. And what did Archer do? He blew it, big time. Got Robin killed, and it was all his fault. It wasn't actually his fault, of course, but good luck telling that to Archer, since through that whole week he was utterly convinced that he was indeed to blame.

And then... the letter. What was he supposed to do? If the letter was from one of his would-have-been teammates, he couldn't just ignore it. So here he was, among everyone Robin had recruited at a Gym, with Wildcat and The Dark Knight himself staring them down. Archer honestly expected some kind of lecture, but then they were shown an underground bunker area of the gym. Why would Batman and Wildcat be showing them this? It didn't exactly dawn on Archer what was happening at first, but when it did the realization hit like a ton of bricks. They were getting a second chance? Batman actually saw fit to give him a second chance?

He heard Batman mention the name of his school for some reason, but Archer was still stunned with surprise and as such didn't exactly respond. In fact the only thing that got him to snap out of it, finally, was Wildcat barking at everyone to suit up. Archer then found a locker with his name on it and retrieved a suit from it. Now, Robin had originally helped Archer make a suit before, but this was clearly not quite the same. For one thing, it was mostly black with light blue highlights, whereas the one Robin had gave him was mostly white instead to match his ice powers. Batman clearly preferred a stealth-oriented suit, and Archer wasn't argue with the Caped Crusader over the matter either. He obediently put the suit on and looked himself over in a mirror. Was he imagining things or did his suit somehow remind him of Firestorm of all people? It was definitely the mask, since the thing looked like a literal recolor of Firestorm's mask. Was this intentional somehow?

Well, since Wildcat warned them all not to keep him waiting, Archer decided to adhere to the warning and get back out to where he waited. Before he left the mirror, he noted the presence of a "z" on his belt and the stylized z etched on his shoulder and chest. It must have stood for "Zero", which was a name Archer admittedly didn't come up with on his own. In fact he took the name on Robin's suggestion, and he supposed that Batman must have also liked the suggestion based on the design of the suit. In any case, Zero now found himself standing in front Batman and Wildcat once again, this time suited up. Two of the girls sounded like they were about to argue, and he wisely decided to stay far away from that one, having learned long ago to never ever get in the middle of a catfight.

"So um..." Archer started to say, "...why is everyone getting transferred to my school of all places?" it wasn't exactly a pressing question, but he was curious. He also decided to satisfy one other curiosity of his, "Oh and... why does my mask make me look like Firestorm of all people? I mean... I'm an ice guy so... looking like a fire guy seems a bit strange."

Titans of Gotham [Spots Available!]

Isn't Rat King a Ninja Turtles villain? Like, literally same name and powers and everything? <_<