Double

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

~Traverse Town, Third District~
@Savo@RyuShura

"Yes, of course!" Aerith didn't have a plan of her own, so she was content to follow with whatever Ambrose was cooking up. As he requested, she used the last of her reserves to put up a barrier on him, hopefully whatever he did would work since the flower girl would be too drained to provide any further aid after that last barrier.

"I'll draw his fire, just you watch!" Yuffie proclaimed, probably not the smartest thing in the world to announce one's battle plan aloud like that, but Yuffie followed through. The ninja cartwheeled away from the group and off to the side on her own. From the moment she was away, she started flinging out whatever was left of her shuriken supply in Vexen's direction. Whatever it took to destroy airborne projectiles and simultaneously keep Vexen focusing his attack in her direction. As a ninja, this was a strategy Yuffie was not used to, normally she would be launching a surprise attack while someone else drew enemy fire. It sort of gave her a newfound appreciation for Leon, since he was usually the one fulfilling that role for her.

As for Vexen, he was preparing for his coup de grâce when some noise from a device he had on his person got his attention. It was his communicator speaker, producing an unfamiliar voice. Well, unfamiliar to everyone except for Vexen, "Pull out... Emperor... council!" those were the only words that the defenders could hear, thanks to Vexen's ice storm drowning out the rest of the message. Vexen himself seemed to hear and understand the message in its entirety, however.

"...I see." even as Ambrose's strike was coming his way, Vexen responded by surrounding himself with ice walls. They were put up hastily, so they weren't entirely strong and shattered easily enough. But by the time they did, Vexen was no longer present. The walls were a cover for his retreat, the Imperator seeming to have transported himself out of Traverse Town while hidden behind the ice barrier. In moments, all the ice shapes left behind in Vexen's wake shattered into particles of magic that dissipated in the air. The battle was over and Third District was quiet again.

"Y'all hear me down there? Empire's ships are turnin' tail up here. Looks like we won!" the voice could be clearly heard coming from communicators that both Aerith and Yuffie carried. It was Cid Highwind, who was in charge of the Gummi Ships defending Traverse Town from the Imperial Fleet. No doubt his ships had been busy keeping the Imperial Fleet from a full-on landing.

~Traverse Town, First District~
@NobodiesHero

"Like you, huh?" said Leon, his expression serious before revealing a brief smirk, "Then this should be pretty interesting." Ashe was on the move before Leon could say anything more. That was entirely like her, Ashe was always all too eager to get back in the fight. Where most fighters got weaker as a battle dragged on, Ashe only ever seemed to get stronger. That made her alright in Leon's book. It looked like she was only drawing the Masked Man's attention, though. Maybe this fight was draining her more than she was letting on? Either way, Leon had a decent idea what to do with this opportunity.

While Ashe made her move and the Masked Man was distracted, Leon held his Gunblade up close to his face and tightened his focus. Then he held the weapon out horizontally and it ignited with a hot blue energy that appeared to dramatically increase the size and length of the blade by several times. It was his signature skill, transforming his Revolver Gunblade into the much more powerful Lionheart. The weapon now ready, Leon made his move.

The Masked Man dodged the aerial attack easily enough by taking a small jump backwards. Between her injured left side and the usual telegraphed nature of such jump strikes, the attack hit only the pavement. Still oozing with Darkness, the Masked Man made no visible or audible response to Ashe's words. Instead he silently moved to make another lunge. But like the last, Leon once again got in the way. This time, Leon's weapon made a much more powerful strike that sent the Masked Man tumbling back to the ground before them.

When the Masked Man stood, this time his movements seemed... off. His staggers were rather... jerky in nature. Almost like some kind of machine with chinks in the cogs. The visor of his helmet was cracked, but not enough to reveal who it was behind that mask. Before the Masked Man could launch another assault, however, his visor seemed to light up somehow. It was a new set of orders from those who commanded him, and without any words or farewells he vanished into a portal known as a Corridor of Darkness. First District was safe once more.

"Y'all hear me down there?" Cid's voice, coming from Leon's communicator, "Empire's ships are turnin' tail up here. Looks like we won!"

The Lionheart's blue light died down, and the weapon looked like the Revolver once again, "Well, that's a relief." said Leon with an exasperated sigh, "Let's get the others," he said to Ashe, "we need to report what happened to the Queen." he was referring to Queen Minnie of Disney Castle, but this was the first time he would take Ashe with him to see her.

~Marchen~
@DangDude

When the fireball came, the Imperator held up his massive book, using as a shield to block the Fira spell for him. Between these two, and the two attacking from a distance in their vehicle, this was looking to be an annoyingly drawn out battle. Thankfully for him, though, a voice on his communication speaker interrupted his thoughts, "Zexion, the surrender is final. Report back, the Emperor demands us for another war council." it was an unfamiliar voice to his foes, but Zexion nodded his head as a dark portal opened up just behind him.

"My job here is finished. This battle is over now." and with that, he stepped through the portal without another word and it closed behind him.

"We... won?" asked PJ, the heavyset canine driving the vehicle as it came to a stop next to where Max and Mira stood.

"I dunno, man. He said his job was finished. Doesn't sound like a win to me." Max said between heavy breaths.

"There you guys are!" it was a new voice. Sounding like it was some kind of loudspeaker, mainly because it was. A ship descended down toward the village. It wasn't a large ship, but decently sized. Enough to transport the ground vehicle and a number of passengers at the very least. A hatch opened up, one large enough to the drive the vehicle through, "The Empire'll be blockading this world, we got maybe a few minutes tops to make ourselves scarce or we'll be caught!"

"What about the world?" asked Max.

"Sorry, Max, we're just one crew. There's nothing we can do..." the voice on the speaker sounded apologetic, but he wasn't wrong.

"This village! What about this village, then? It doesn't look very big, I'm sure we can fit everyone on board!"

After a hesitant silence the voice responded, "Alright, but you gotta be quick about it or there'll be a blockade in our way. I may be good but I'm not that good." that confirmed that whoever the voice belonged to, they were the ship's pilot.

"Look, I know this probably all sounds strange," said Max to Mira, "but if you want yourself and this village to escape you've gotta help us get everyone on board so we can escape. I'll explain as much as I can on the way, I promise!" he didn't wait for a response and went about looking for as many villagers as he could gather. Soon enough the ship would be leaving the planet altogether and making its way to a place Max called Disney Castle.

FF7: SOLDIER [Big Game - Always Accepting!]

Name: Alain Stratos
Role: SOLDIER 1
Location: Junon
Tags: @Renny@Tenma Tendo

It was the rockets that gave Metal Cricket away. For such a heavy machine to make that kind of jump, it needed high-powered thrusters which of course meant a noisier entrance. But even though the rockets announced the weapon's attack in advance, that advance was very small. Alain only had moments to decide how to react, and in a split decision he chose his spell.

"Slow!" the machine had already grabbed him by the time the spell was cast, but the Slow spell managed to produce the desired effect. As intended, the Metal Cricket's jump practically slowed to a crawl. And while this was only going to last a few precious moments, that was enough to dampen the impact and allow Alain a slim window to reposition himself. While he didn't normally get the luxury of controlling his momentum in midair, the close proximity of the Metal Cricket allowed him to stop his descent by clinging to the Metal Cricket's mandible-like apparatus. From that moment it was a matter of pulling himself up onto the machine's back, just in time for the Slow spell to wear off.

"Kill switch... where's the damn kill switch?" Alain asked himself as his eyes darted back and forth in a search for what he hoped would be a mechanism to force an emergency shut down. Shinra wouldn't develop a weapon like this without including an on-board kill switch for just these types of emergencies. The only problem was that Alain didn't know where it could be found, and he wasn't exactly in a position to call Heidegger and ask, either. He had to act fast, taking too long would just end with him getting thrown off the Cricket's back and he'd just be back at square one again.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@NobodiesHero@Renny@DangDude@RyuShura@Savo

Okay so if anyone needs me for collabing (so far I think Savo has mentioned it) then my usual free time slots are Wednesdays and Sundays around 6pm ~ 9pm CST. I'm actually available right now if anyone needs me but tonight is an exception, Wednesday and Sunday are my normal nights where I can chat.

FF7: SOLDIER [Big Game - Always Accepting!]

Name: Alain Stratos
Role: SOLDIER 1
Location: Junon
Tag: @Renny

---

Above the chaos in Junon, a transport helicopter hovered from a safe distance away. Only two people could be found on board, and even then only one of them was planning to disembark. Alain Stratos, his heavy spear leaning against the neighboring seat, peered out of the window down onto the violent scene below. In the mission briefing, Alain was told that a slew of mechanized weapons had gone out of control and began an onslaught against the city, supposedly due to hackers from AVALANCHE. Intel also indicated that the super weapon Metal Cricket had also been affected, thus the need for even the 1st Class SOLDIERs to step in and get involved.

"Are... you sure about this?" Sven Taggard, the pilot, spoke with uneasiness in his voice. Despite his current demeanor, Taggard was was one of the more noteworthy pilots, due mostly to him being one of the few remaining survivors of Dragoon Team other than Alain himself. But even a former Dragoon Team member had to question the sanity of Alain's decision to enter Junon from this point of all places. The chopper was currently hovering a few dozen feet above the barrel of the massive cannon that made up Junon's primary landmark. The platforms were already overrun and too dangerous for a landing, plus the mission intel suggested that the cannon could possibly be AVALANCHE's target.

"You just got done telling me that the landing platforms are a no-go, so how else do you expect me to get down there in close enough proximity to the cannon to protect it?" Alain's response was quick, to-the-point, and a tiny bit snappy as well. Even in the company of a former teammate from the war, Alain was still not exactly the sociable sort. As a result his words tended to sound harsh, often times more so than intended.

"I don't know, it just seems... suicidal." responded Taggard with a defeated shrug, "But fine, just don't blame me if you die down there."

The side door of the chopper opened, Alain Stratos leaning outside with spear in hand. In one last moment he looked at his pilot, almost smirking for a change, "Wouldn't dream of it, I'll probably just haunt you in your nightmares instead." and Alain jumped. For any non-SOLDIER, hell, for any other member of SOLDIER, this would have surely been a suicidal drop. Thankfully, Alain Stratos, SOLDIER 1st Class was a unique case. His summon genome and unique training and fighting style gave the SOLDIER a unique ability to not only survive this kind of jump, but do it rather easily and even stick the landing on the cannon barrel's tip with pinpoint accuracy. Alain landed on his target and was immediately sprinting forward along the barrel. Once far enough along it his plan was use it as a platform to once again jump down, this time into the fray and hopefully close enough to draw the Metal Cricket's fire. He was told that his fellow 1st Class Astral was already in Junon, but Alain was not given any specific location. Still, if Astral was anything like Alain, he'd naturally gravitate toward the Metal Cricket and the two 1st Class SOLDIERs could perhaps formulate some manner of strategy then.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@NobodiesHero@Renny@DangDude@RyuShura@Savo

I took the liberty of reclaiming one of my old MeetingWords pages. You can use it if you ever need to chat about something or write a collab post of some kind.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@Double I have an idea of who the Masked Man is. If it's a certain character from Ashe's past, then your a genius. If not, you're still a genius.

@NobodiesHero

It's funny because technically both of those suggestions are true, and that's all I'm going to reveal in order to avoid spoiling everything. Let's just say I was very glad you included a significant friend in your backstory that went missing, because that was what made this plot point even possible in the first place. I'd always planned for there to be a Masked Man regardless of what everyone's backstory was, but yours allowed me to really boost the significance of the Masked Man without it being forced. So thanks for that.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

I believe we're waiting for @Savo, @DangDude, and @RyuShura.

Also, just for a bit of teasing, whoever you think the Emperor and Masked Man are... you're probably wrong.

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

@NobodiesHero@Savo@RyuShura@DangDude@Renny

*poke*

Anyone here?

Kingdom Hearts ~ Seekers of Light

~Traverse Town, First District~
@NobodiesHero

The Masked Man was nothing if not committed. His initial attack failed, but unlike most grunts and peons he was well versed in turning a blunder into a blessing in disguise. The woman fought with an identical stance, so it should have been no surprise that even a counterattack could be turned on its head. And that was exactly what the man did when he stepped forward and into the woman's thrust, effectively allowing her blade to stab him through the shoulder! The Masked Man acted fast, raising an empty hand that suddenly ignited a black fireball that he quickly hurled forward at point blank range. The size of the blast, comparable to the advance level Firaga spell, coupled with the close range meant that the blast was nigh impossible to avoid and both combatants were flung back away from each other.

The Masked Man stood to his feet, blood dripping from one shoulder while the other appeared to have been dislocated by his landing on the pavement. He had to have been in pain, but if he was he sure as hell didn't show it. His masked face remained cloaked in mystery, whatever expression was worn under it remaining unknown. The man reached a bloody hand over to his located shoulder and forced it back into place. The bones made a sickening pop as the joint was put back into place, but again the Masked Man showed no visible reaction or even fatigue from all of this. Was he even human? After he re-summoned his sword, Darkness itself seemed to wash over his body and empowering him even further. With no words still, he lunged to attack again with much greater strength and agility. But before his blade came too close to its mark, a silvery blade appeared to deflect the attack. Someone else had entered the fray.

"Sorry I'm late, Ashe." said Leon, who now stood at Ashe's side and pointed his Revolver Gunblade in the Masked Man's direction. He wore his usual attire, a white shirt underneath a black jacket and black jeans on his legs. He used a free hand to push some of his long brown hair out of his face, revealing the long scar that made it's way down his forehead and across the bridge of his nose, "Had some cleaning up to take care of. Second District is safe now, and the others should be taking care of Third District. That just leaves this guy." he knew Ashe could be somewhat prideful and not likely to be receptive to being helped, but it looked like the Masked Man was becoming too much for anyone to take on alone.

~Traverse Town, Third District~
@Savo@RyuShura

"How quaint, the gang's all here now, I presume?" asked Vexen, acknowledging the four opponents he now had to deal with instead of just two, "Good, saves me the trouble of hunting you vermin down. Now I can kill you all in one fell swoop!" unlike before, this wasn't just empty gloating. As he spoke, the Imperator began to levitate upward. Multiple copies of his shields began to appear around him, moving with a mind of their own to block and deflect incoming attacks, one of which was a oversized wrench thrown by the the boy. The tool's size and weight would have packed a fairly decent punch against a non-physical combatant like Vexen, but fortunately for the Imperator one of his many floating shields took the hit for him in his stead. The shield in question shattered into ice shards from the impact but at least there was no harm done to Vexen, at least not this time anyway.

Vexen's other shields began floating in rhythmic circles, as if preparing for something. In the meantime, one of the girls cast a spell of her on at Vexen, one that did minimal harm to him but the Imperator did feel other effects from the spells. Perhaps the girl was trying to weaken him? But soon enough he would prove the futility of the effort. Yuffie had been throwing smaller shurikens at Vexen in rapid succession, but his floating shields had been able to move quickly enough to deflect them harmlessly away. And by now, the rhythmic floating of the shields was beginning to pay off. They began acting as makeshift launchers that fired off sharp, jagged icicle projectiles all around the arena in Third District. Now everyone would have divide their attention between attacking Vexen and avoiding being skewered by ice projectiles. Fortunately, Aerith was able to protect people from most of the attacks by shielding her comrades with temporary magical barriers. But even those wouldn't last for too long before they were overpowered and broken through.

"Approach me at your own peril!" announced Vexen as he suddenly let himself drop back to the ground. He touched his gloved hands to the pavement and suddenly ice began covering it in a sizable area around the Imperator. As if an icy floor weren't enough, it also began to protrude with icy spikes that jutted outward at random intervals. Though the attack was fixed in one location, it would make getting close to Vexen dangerous, if not impossible.

~Marchen, Mira's Village~
@DangDude

"A professional will get the job done in the quickest and most efficient means possible. I have already calculated an efficient victory through these means, I see no reason to change them now." the Imperator's response was cold, blunt, and matter-of-factly. There was no arrogance or even malice in his voice, just cold calculation. Within the illusion, the grey creatures began intensifying their attacks on the mage, appearing swifter and in increasingly greater number as they were defeated. His opponent's fate was always sealed once they were caught in his trap, the Imperator knew this. None had ever managed to escape his illusions, and he had no intention of allowing that to start now.

"I'm not interested in your village. I was sent only to keep you and anyone else who resists contained until the surrender is finalized. That is all. You're leaders should be discussing their terms of surrender even as we speak. Fighting me is a useless gesture, so I say again: you may as well surrend- Ugh!" suddenly, the spell was broken. Mira would no longer find herself within the dark illusion, but instead back in the village as if she'd never left. She would soon spot the source of the Imperator's newfound surprise. Someone new had shown up and attacked him while he was commanding his illusions, breaking his focus and ending the spell he had on Mira.

"Gotcha!" exclaimed Mira's savior, a... teenage canine in a red hooded shirt who looked to only be equipped with a round shield as his weapon, "Now let's see just how tough you Imperators are." the dog boy said as he lunged forward, performing a leaping attack with his shield against the Imperator. The shield was only met with the boy's large tome, it acting as a makeshift shield to block the blow. The Imperator tried casting his illusion against this newcomer, but before he could something struck him in the back. It was some kind of blaster fire coming from a small vehicle in the distance. The vehicle was driven by another canine boy and had a third sitting on some kind of turret weapon that he fired off rapidly, howling in excitement in the meanwhile.

"Eat laseeeeeeer!" he shouted, howling an excited battlecry, "Aaaooooooooh! Take 'em down, Max! You got this, bro!"

"C'mon," the shield-wielding dog named Max said, now standing next to Mira, "let's take this guy down!"

~Dawn Island~
@Renny

Unfortunately, the beefy officer wouldn't live long enough to be of much help. Before the fight even started again, the Imperator struck like lightning. In the blink of an eye, the officer was practically sliced in two by the guy's scythe, "Death has found you." said the pink-haired Imperator to the dying officer before focusing his attention more on Yon-Ging. That provided Yon-Ging enough of an opportunity to hurl his sword at the Imperator, who instinctively swiped his scythe to deflect the blade. But even he wasn't fast enough to deflect three gunshots in rapid succession. The bullets, one of them anyway, struck his shoulder. The Imperator grunted a reaction and then leaped back a short distance... only to explode into a shower of cherry blossoms.

The pink petals blew in the wind, only to circle around Yon-Ging. There had to have been hundreds of them, if not over a thousand flying about in the air. Without much warning, they suddenly increased their velocity, the petals becoming like tiny blades in a windy storm of razor sharp pain. This must have been why the beefy officer from before appeared to have been so torn up. He must have also been hit by this cherry blossom storm. With the sheer number of petals, deflecting or avoiding them would only work for so long before the sheer number made that impossible. Fortunately for Yon-Ging, he wouldn't have to endure attack for very long. A woman with long dark hair came dashing into the fight, giving a strong leap and delivering a powerful kick to the now-revealed-to-be-invisible Imperator. This dispelled his cherry blossom, and thus Yon-Ging would be spared the fate of the previous officer, "Oh no you don't! Not again, Marluxia!" the woman exclaimed, apparently knowing the Imperator's name.

The Imperator seemed mildly amused, then made to swipe at the martial artist with his scythe. The weapon was stopped by a massive sword, its wielder standing between Marluxia and the woman, his spiky blonde hair would make him stand out in any crowd, "Sorry Imperator, it looks you've run out of luck. Tifa!" without any other communication needed, the woman named Tifa made another flying kick aimed right at Marluxia's back while he was too occupied with defecting a sweeping blow from the massive sword. Their combination attack finished, the pair positioned themselves near Yon-Ging, ready to help him fight.

"You okay?" asked Tifa, "We're from the Consular Ship. If you can still fight, Cloud and I would appreciate the help."

Dragon Ball Z: Blood Lines

@Double
Well, yes and no. Depends on how much you wish to read into it, and I don't want to spoil anything here in the open for anyone.

Even though this particular Frost Demon appears fairly early into Super after the Revenge of F Arc, I still would prefer not to spoil anything.

To hint, however, I feel this particular interaction (and the one that's about to happen if you're all caught up) helped cement the belief that all Frost Demons are, at the core, evil creatures.

EDIT:
That's not to say they can't break the mold, or struggle with it and still be a good being. And in an AU, anything is possible.

@Old Amsterdam

That's odd, the race doesn't seem to have any issues in the Xenoverse games. Granted, that takes place in Future Trunks' timeline so I guess things could have happened slightly different there. Mostly I'm just interested in slightly remaking my Freeza Race character from Xenoverse 2.