Nightmare in the Underdrome [QUEST!]

[Rolt |The Immortal|]

I... Hunger! Hearts... Mine!

A lone shield lay in the center of the Underdrome Arena floor. Wrapped in chains, the shield seemed to give off an aura of darkness. The shield had a lock crudely yet permanently attached to the front, and as you looked at it it seemed to pull your very soul into it. Yet, it was not the shield that was the menace. Clouds of darkness began swirling around the shield, writhing into a familar shape... Goofy?! No... This was something much more feral. Much more dangerous. The creature looked at the shield on the ground, slowly bending to pick it up. As it stood up again, it looked around. This arena was the perfect sanctum for heart-gathering...

AntiGoofy raised his free arm and summoned to his side two defender Heartless from the shadows. As he and his group slowly backed from the center to the side of the arena opposite the Challengers' Entrance, he waited for them to enter. He would get his hearts.[/center]

~*~*~*~*~Health~*~*~*~*~

***ENEMY***
AntiGoofy
***ALLIES***
Lysander
Xaldin
Roxas
---BENCH---
Axel
Iatros

[Beaver Dude]

He entered through a portal of darkness.

It opened like a maw from the depths of the Underworld: part chaos, part unintelligible prophecy, part disaster. It was said that those who stared too long felt like they could just make out the shapes writhing inside before their minds snapped and off they went to a straitjacket and padded room speaking about world-ending nonsense that always turned out to be true.

Irony, that.

The man (_{NO, NOT A MAN, MERELY A NOBODY}) appeared to be some strange mix of eclectic and unrelated features. His hair was wild but forced into some semblance of dread order; his expression betrayed boredom, and yet his fingers twitched with barely repressed battle lust; he looked more warrior than mage and yet was dedicated to, of all things, the element of air.

He was Nobody and had taken the name 'Xaldin'.

The corridor of Darkness stayed open until this man (who had lost his heart and not in fact his body) made a motion with his arm that made it spiral outwards and open until it was nearly three time as large as it usually was. Points tore and then rippled at the calm surface of insanity as things exited from the darkness: lances, six in all, of unparalleled craftsman.

It was... needlessly theatrical.

But unlike him, the Heartless (names were bits and pieces of irony, really) could feel. And today, they would make it feel FEAR.

ooc: If this is not in fact intro post but battle post I will edit.

[angelous]

A similar corridor of darkness opened, and Roxas stepped out from its depths. He took his battle stance, and summoned forth his Keyblades. He stood only feet away from Xaldin, his fellow Nobody and Organization member, as he eyeballed the surrounding area. He saw naught but Xaldin and their opponent.

These two were part of a so called alliance to bring down three unknown opponents. Just how they planned on doing so, well, he'd find out soon enough. At first examination he thought his opponent only to be a Heartless, no different than any other, but further inspection soon proved otherwise.

"Goofy?" was the only word to escape the Key's mouth as a look of confusion quickly formed on his face. Sure he was a Nobody, but he was more human than the rest of them. And that was one of the things that made Roxas special.

Just how long this peace and quiet would last, well the answer was clear. It would end when the last one arrived.

[lysander]

The Third Contender Arrives.

A black circle in the sky above, in the exact center of the arena. Long ribbons of darkness extended outward in a cat's cradle that held the limp body of a black long-haired human. He was dead. His body looked cold and untouched by that necessary human element, the soul. He wore a black t-shirt with a blue cross over his chest, edged by white lines. A loose pair of navy blue pants adorned his lower half, an upside down white cross decorated his left leg. Comfortable, flexible shoes. It was as if he'd died on a morning jog, his hair even tied back in a pony-tail to keep it out of his face. Yes, he looked as if he'd just been having a perfectly normal morning just moments ago. Except for the two guns in crossing belts at his waist.

The ribbons of darkness hung him there, laying in their midnight folds a few feet above the ground. And then, wrapped in yet more ribbons, shimmering silver lowered down from the pool of black above the field. Four cleavers so perfectly crafted they could only be described as art. Their perfect form only marred by the ancient, faded stains of blood.

One blade whipped and cut through the darkness, spinning to stab into the ground. Then another, a third, and forth, forming a square around Lysander, as the Darkness withdrew it's tendrils out of apprehension.

Red eyes shot open, and the dark withdrew in a rapid whipping blur. A thud, and the limp body of a cowboy collided with the ground. Tiredly, he managed to his feet, not seeming to completely realize the situation he was in. Confronted by the most intimidating of monsters, with no chance of escape. The walls of the arena rising far too high for them to be scaled. Nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. He didn't realize the severity of his situation. Or else he wouldn't have appeared so relaxed.

A jagged moment marked it, all four cleavers tearing from the ground to swirl around him. His crimson eyes fixated on Goofy. No, Lysander had seen it all; the enemy, the confined cage they were in, everything about it. But unlike anyone else who had been propped up in this situation, Lysander saw one little thing differently. This monster was trapped here with him. Pulling out a cigarette and taking a long drag off it, he looked to the sky and back to Goofy.

"Get over here so I can tear you apart." He uttered in a simple tone beneath his breath, his red eyes staring forward with dull enthusiasm.

[/blockquote]

[Rolt |The Immortal|]

[OOC: TWO DAY POST LIMIT STARTS NOW! Also, Brez- You might want to have somebody edit in your new abilities if they're done? Another also- Health will be gauged at the start of a round. Hopefully that doesn't confuse you!]

AntiGoofy and his Defenders were somewhat intrigued by the new arrivals. Nevertheless, AntiGoofy stood his ground, calling 4 clones to his side, and ordering the Defenders to attack the red-eyed Heart-being. Once the Defenders were on their way, the two AntiGoofy clones farthest from AntiGoofy threw their shields as if they were frisbees at the boy with the Keys. The clones nearest AntiGoofy charged at the Spear-magician and the Red-eye. As the four clones and two defenders mounted their attacks, AntiGoofy slammed his shield upon the ground, knocking the three competitors to the ground.

Recap:
-Used Clone equip to summon 4 clones
-Defenders are headed to attack Lysander
-Two AntiGoofy clones used Death by Frisbee on Roxas
-Two AntiGoofy clones used Surge on Xaldin and Lysander (One clone per person)
-AntiGoofy used Calamity

(As I see it, Picture AntiGoofy on the center line between sections 1 and 2, with his clones spread out beside him and defenders in front of him. I pictured Xaldin in section 3, Roxas in section 4, and Lysander on the same line I am, but between the two and slightly in front of them, like a Triangle. Correct me if I'm wrong, and I'll edit my post accordingly)

~*~*~*~*~Health~*~*~*~*~

***ENEMY***
AntiGoofy
***ALLIES***
Lysander
Xaldin
Roxas
---BENCH---
Axel
Iatros

[Beaver Dude]

Xaldin’s brain had been affected by an accident in Space Paranoids, his mentor’s old virtual reality simulator. It hadn’t precisely sped up his reaction time, but it had made him think much faster. He’d honed and trained that speed – given up strength, brute tenacity and maybe even some of his pride as a warrior.

And still, he’d been nonplussed enough by the shield bash to actually stop to stare at the seemingly ridiculous display of emotion from the dog-thing. He’d seen the ripple in the ground, stared at it assuming that the dog-thing had just about killed all his conjured minions…

And then it hadn’t killed all its minions and Xaldin had to re-think this particular strain of logic and had nearly come to a resolution of what he should do-

When all of a sudden, during all that thinking, staring, procrastinating he’d accidentally let the wave of force reach him and send him toppling over.

Unbelievable.

He’d been knocked to the ground. By an earthquake.

A practitioner of air magics. Affected by dirt.

Xigbar would laugh his ass off.

Xaldin… well, Xaldin would have to avenge this indignity.

----------------------------------

Anyone watching him might have assumed that Xaldin had some sort of innate resistance to earth magic. This wasn’t precisely true.

He’d fallen. But even as the ground trembled, he’d hardened the air below him, turning the fall onto a quivering, unstable, magically enchanted floor into a fall onto something ironically more stable and yet infinitely less dense. And from there, well – Xaldin was nine times faster than the average human being in all respects.

He was up in a flash. The goofy clone hadn’t even covered half the distance betwixt them before Xaldin was striding upon currents in the air, hovering a foott above the ground, watching the scene carefully with his particular sensitivities.

If his calculations were right, less than half a second before the clone reached him.

Plenty of time.

His thoughts raced as he took in the situation. Lysander still had his heart. The lesser heartless had made a beeline straight towards him. Interesting. No perceptible concentration upon Roxas despite the keyblades. No wonder the Superior had been forced to send him on so many missions – he didn’t seem to attract Heartless the way normal keybearers did.

Perhaps the presence of that singular heart could be exploited in some way.

Recap: seven enemy combatants. Three heading for the cowboy, two attacking to Roxas, one headed to him. One stationary, either in reserve or watching how the proceedings would go.

…

Ignoring him, were they? Xaldin bared his teeth in a vicious, if fleeting, smile. That was not a mistake that would be worth repeating.

His aura flared. The wind picked up before gusting to hurricane levels – every enemy within a thirty-six foot range would suddenly find their speed decreased by a third no matter which way they chose to move. It’d give his allies some breathing room – not that they’d need or request for it, of course. And besides, the enemies were –

Fudge, quickly approaching.

Five of his spears zipped off to harass the approaching heartless. The anti-goofy was out of range, but the defenders were certainly not. There was something about them that was supposedly special but Xaldin could only vaguely recall what it was…

Anyway, these were merely probing strikes for now. He’d no doubt remember when he was in the thick of things.

It was against his own opponent that Xaldin waited. He’d have to get the timing exactly right to pull this off.

…
…
… now.

Whatever the merits of their creators, the clones seemed to be rather cheaply made knock-offs. Not surprising: even Vexen, brilliant as he occasionally was, had never really managed to create a truly perfect copy. These hastily created afterimages could barely be called clones at all.

Xaldin was counting on that for his next move.

Xaldin jumped straight up. Just a hop, really – a mere twenty feet. But he came right down immediately after – hopefully timing it just right so he’d land behind the goofy clone.

One lance in his hand, he attempted to strike from behind – nine times total. With his impossible speed, his enchanted strength (an unexpected bonus) and the newly crafted magics that now enchanted his weapon it would be a formidable attack – more than enough to destroy even the most seasoned of warriors.

-----------------------------

Recap:
-Perfect World (passive) allowed Xaldin to create solid air. Now floating a foot above the ground. If attacked, damage goes down by a third.
-Three of Staves (passive): Xaldin is quick (9x) but consuming stamina quick (9x)
-Three of Cups (passive): Stamina damage incurred by 3ofS is warded off.
-Eurus (passive): Xaldin thinks quickly, aware of entire battlefield
-Endless Illusion (passive): enemies that get close to (36 feet) Xaldin slow down by a third
-Boreas (passive): five (5) of his lances went off to attack the defenders. As they go straight, they’ve likely attacked the heartless from the front, no damage incurred, but the force of the blow may have slowed them.
-Short jump – super fast speed justified by Notus (passive)
-9 attacks at back of goofy (Three of Staves) – attacks are enchanted by Ultima (passive strength enhanced attack) and Supreme Weapon Enhancement (passive damage enhancement – aerial magic type, enhanced 50% by wind boost equip.) = 22.5 passive strong-level attacks if they all land, boosted by weak weapon ability that allows Xaldin to follow-up on his attacks.

[/blockquote]

[angelous]

Not even thirty seconds into the fight and already Roxas was knocked down. He let out a slight growl, and quickly propelled himself up. This action barely gave him enough time to react to what came next, but it was enough time to do what needed to be done. When the two shields came flying at him he swung his Keyblades while turning, sending one toward the ground, and the other back at its original wielder. After doing this he charged forward, while spinning his Keyblades. The enemies nearest him were going down first. Sure Xaldin could hold his own, but as for their so called partner Lysander, Roxas wasn't so sure. And he wasn't about to take the chance. His ability to react to all of this was mostly due to Xaldin's winds, they were at the moment perhaps the most valuable asset on the field.

He was closing in on one of the clones, and thus began to renew his spinning flurry of attacks. But instead of using them on shields this time, he was using it on an opponent. And clone or no, a Heartless was not an opponent that would want to take a Keyblade head on if it had any sort of brain to it. And most did not.

[Rolt |The Immortal|]

The spear-man had knocked one Defender back to AntiGoofy's distance, while severely damaging and knocking down one of the Clones. The Chosen Keybearer had completely destroyed the other Defender in a flash of light that should have been impossible for anyone to do, while defending against the incoming shields. It seemed that with the speed of the competitors, something was amiss... They were moving much faster than normal people should be, yet the red-eyed man hadn't moved at all and had let the AntiGoofy Clone bash into him... Perhaps there was a spell in effect?

No matter. AntiGoofy would just use both a Shell and Protect Curtain to defend against those pesky attacks. AntiGoofy quickly surveyed the arena. This would normally be a fairly daunting task for a being without intelligence past 'HeartsheartsHEArtsheArTs', but with hearts on the line, AntiGoofy was a quickly calculating machine. With one clone behind the trio, one clone in the middle, two to his side, a defender and himself, AntiGoofy's team still outnumbered the other. Of course, with the clones in their current positions, this would help further...

AntiGoofy ran to the Clone nearest the trio and began spinning rapidly while the Clone that was to his left slammed his shield on the ground, knocking the trio to their feet again. As the shield was slammed, the Clone behind the trio jumped into the air and slammed into the ground, knocking the Spear-man and Keybearer towards the vortex. The Clone nearest AntiGoofy ran to the Red-eyed heart-being and brought back his fist in preparation for a massive strike, utilizing the momentum from running to make the punch a bit stronger. As he released and let the punch fly, the Clone that was to the right of AntiGoofy charged at the red-eyed man, further spreading the group out. As the Defender headed towards it's master, it stayed out of the range of the vortex, ready to attack any being that came out of it.


Recap
-AntiGoofy uses SHELL CURTAIN
-AntiGoofy uses PROTECT CURTAIN
-AntiGoofy Clone that was to the left of AG uses CALAMITY
-AntiGoofy gets near Roxas and Xaldin and uses DARK VORTEX
-AntiGoofy Clone behind the duo uses SHIELD DROP, making sure the duo is in range of the vortex
-AntiGoofy Clone nearest Lysander uses HEARTLESS CHAMPION
-AntiGoofy Clone that was to the right of AG uses SURGE on Lysander

[OOC: Good luck avoiding being hit this time You're all on the ground, and Roxas and Xaldin are already in range of the vortex, which means they're being pulled to the shield. The Knockback from Sheild Drop makes it harder for you to escape, seeing as it knocks you towards the shield. Not impossible, but I don't see you two avoiding damage this round o.O

Also! If you need some clarification before you post, I can edit that picture of the arena Rocket made so that it has our current positions on it.

~*~*~*~*~Health~*~*~*~*~

***ENEMY***
AntiGoofy
AntiGoofy Clone
AntiGoofy Clone
AntiGoofy Clone
AntiGoofy Clone
Defender
Defender
***ALLIES***
Lysander
Xaldin
Roxas
---BENCH---
Axel
Iatros

[Beaver Dude]

The clone hadn't died.

Hrm.

Xaldin hadn't been expecting that. It certainly did not bode well.

At least Roxas had collected another heart. That was at least one thing done right.

Another earthquake. Please.

The clone that should have been dead took to the sky. Xaldin, having already been hit by the first earthquake had already formulated an instinctive response to the second, and fell into a chair of wind. His lances, far faster than anything else on the battlefield returned to him far in advance of the main goofy.

As the clone goofy hit the ground, unleashing its energy wave, Xaldin jumped upwards - but not fast enough - the energy clipped him, sending him spinning nearly ten feet at an angle - right towards a vortex. Hm.

Anyone else would have been unable to act at all while thusly spinning through the air. Xaldin, however, was not just anybody. At each rotation he shot the stationary (in all the important respects: a spinning top is still one that spins in a single defined area) with another and another and another of his energy attacks.

The Nine Lives was powerful because it allowed Xaldin to shape the battlefield. Those who could not dodge it were forced to move. Forced because unless they had access to some ability that allowed them to shrug off force based attacks, they'd be blown back two meters. If Xaldin the Antigoofy did not have access to some powerful wards it would be blown back six meters - nearly twenty feet as well as sustaining powerful wind-based damage.

Not enough though. He would still be too close when he finally stopped rolling.

This would probably hurt.

With all his now considerable force, he controlled his lances to slam into him like a baseball bat - sending him spinning away in a completely different direction.

[ooc: your still alive clone implies your goofy can now take 450 passive strong level attacks without dying. Possibly 900 if you factor in the fact your clone should only have a weak-defensive level ability. Definitely 900 if you factor in summon healing. Thus, he might be able to take 1800 strong passive attacks.

Recap: all passives still in effect
-Was hit by calamity, fell down into chair, then hit by shield drop and sent spinning.
-Attacked while spinning:
Used Nine lives 3x. As none of the lances were used as attacking weapons, each attack was empowered by both Moderate Weapon Ability + equip to deal 2.4x normal damage (150% of 160% = 240%). Altogether, that'd be 7.2 x active strong level damage. Used 3 times, cool-down two posts. Goofy should have moved 6 meters down-
-Then used lances to redirect his trajectory in opposite direction using Ultima Equip for strength bonus, self-damage equivalent to whatever is deemed fair. Note that according to his weapon flight ability description (Boreas), they can already support the weight of a single person.][/size]

[angelous]

Roxas had been knocked to the ground. Again. And after that he had been forced into a vortex by a dark shock-wave. He scowled as he was flung closer to the center. Knowing that the Anti-Goofy was in the center of the vortex as he had begun to get pulled in he had readied one of his Keyblades to block any attack. And by the time he was coming at the shield, he did what anyone with combat experience would do. He blocked the attack, and with the block he expelled the force, sending both himself and the Anti-Goofy back three feet. This bought him enough time to do what came next. His other Keyblade swung as Anti-Goofy came into striking range, and if it hit it would deal devastating amounts of damage to it. For this attack was known to him as Invincible. But to ensure it would hit he leaned in toward the Anti-Goofy, thus buying him the few extra moments to strike before the shield made its way to him. At which point his Keyblade would promptly take the blow.

Recap:

Used Counter-Guard, which takes the force of a blocked attack and expels it out three feet in all directions.
The used Invincible, which is an cannot be blocked, parried, or reflected, meaning it can only be dodged. And by using the power of the vortex, and by leaning toward Anti-Goofy, it is highly unlikely that he won't be hit.

[lysander]

[Dei's math seems gently accurate, although I didn't know that 45 Strong level attacks had been successfully made on AG. If that's the case, then by extension AG can take 450 Strong Level attacks, and then adjusted for his weak ability AG would be able to take somewhere around double that amount. And then the healing ability of his Summon would probably double that amount. Which should leave it somewhere just around 1800 Strong Level Attacks to kill AG as is.]

Since the beginning of the battle, with the very first tremor, Lysander had lain on the ground, biding his time. So far, he was completely unimpressed.

He had held the center of the arena since the very first moments of the game, and it wasn't about to change. The cowboy took another drag off his cigarette, and his swords quivered in the air, buzzing with the anticipation of slitting open the incarnate darkness before him. And yet since the beginning of the battle they'd hung back. Why? Good question.

It was all part of his philosophy. If something is stupid, you don't have to kill it. You just have to help it kill itself. And the AG Clone was definitely stupid.

Let's look back: Anti-goofy used Calamity simultaneously as his other underlings attacked. This knocked Lysander to the ground instantly, when the Clone charged at him. As it's initial surge propelled it right over Lysander, he only suffered some minor footsteps to his rib-cage, and received none of the brunt of the attack. He was, after all, lying on the ground. A charge, would not work against him. However, it did afford him an excellent opportunity to make Four Strong Level swipes (one with each cleaver) at the clone's exposed back as it passed, each precise, quick, and deadly. Of course, thanks to the debuffs they received to their speed thanks to Xaldin's passive ability, it wasn't that hard to successfully accomplish.

And Lysander still held the center, still lying on the ground, still smoking his cigarette, his cleavers still stationary in a square around him.

Another Calamity came within range, but considering Lysander was already on the ground, it was utterly ineffectual.

Lysander stayed upon the ground, and with a combination of his awareness and his quick reaction time, immediately rolled one foot to his left. One foot was all it took, and he had cleverly outwitted two of the anti-goofy clones at once.

How?

They were both attacking the same person, at the same time. One with a fast charge, and one with a delayed, stationary-powerful attack. Lysander was aware of this. And so when pincered between a rock and a hard place, he knew exactly what to do. By rolling to the left, AG Clone would have to alter it's course from going in a straight unhindered line to Lysander, to crossing in front of the AG Clone that was about to Heartless Champion. This would result in one of two things happening. Heartless Champion clone would either be knocked back, or Surge Clone would be punched in the head with strong level damage. Again, Xaldin's passive abilities came in handy.

Whichever result, Lysander would deliver a total of eight more strong level cleaver slashes to Clone near him while all of this was happening, since he could not defend himself at all while rearing back for that punch.

Info:
-Lysander is knocked to the ground from the first calamity of the fight.
-Lysander drags off his cigarette, while cleverly evading the first surge that went at him.
-Lysander delivers four strong level fast, precise attacks at the first clone to attack him.
-Lysander is still on the ground.
-Lysander is unaffected by the next calamity, because he's still on the ground.
-Lysander cleverly evades trouble by rolling one foot to his left.
-Lysander deals eight more strong level, fast, precise attacks to that clone who first surged at him.

[/blockquote]
-Lysander is still on the ground.

[Beaver Dude]

[ooc: if anyone's confused, I doubled Goofy Prime's resistance cuz' he consumed the marvelous magical potions so his health has effectively doubled.

Further edit: I just saw the Cbox stuff. Um. Regardless of Clone Goofy's resistance this is[/b] Goofy Prime's effective health since none of us (except the keyblader) has access to supra-magicks that go through the peach fuzz of super strong abilities. I'm just saying that Goofy Prime can take that many hits if you include his various damage reduction abilities SOOOOOO assuming that we get in 30 (passive, strong) hits a round (round number, I'm pretty sure even a third of that's kinda dubious) we're looking at at least 30, possibly 60 rounds. Factor in that that estimate is extremely generous given Goofy Prime's various abilities, we could very easily quintuple that number making it 150 or 300 rounds which means, given our current post rate of one round per two days we're looking at the first round of a five round program dragging on for over a year[/b].]

[Rolt |The Immortal|]

Hm. I suppose you guys do bring up good points; Dei- I get where you got the massive numbers now. Forgot about the potions... o.O shh. Ahem. Anyway- I propose we go back a round (read: AntiGoofy clone goes poof, and start from there?) if that sounds fair to everyone. Since I'm not great with abilities and health, I also propose we delay this match so that we can all figure out a fair health approximation for everyone (Or at least the QM's should.) and so that we can figure out a fair Clone Ability sheet, since I have no idea how to weaken 'Any physical ability used on the wielder (regardless of position) is reduced by one strength level (2 AP), while any normal physical attack is reduced to half strength. '

Anyway. Sound fair to everyone? I can assume you guys are slightly frustrated (as am I), and I think it would be great if we could work this out.

[lysander]

*patpat* It's cool. Let's figure something out on these fronts.

Also, going back to the map placements, I think it would be good if this was done.

[Rolt |The Immortal|]

Agreed. I'll start making revised maps at the beginning of a round, is that cool with everyone? I figured we could get along with just an idea in our heads of the arena size, buuut.... haha. Whoops.

We're thinking of putting in health bars, but don't have ideas of how to fairly judge the size of them. Input of ideas to do that would be nice?