Radiant Garden Raid: Darksides

[Lore Moogle]

~♥ Welcome to the raid, kupo! Here is some information you need to know before you start posting. There is a limit to the number of times a character can post. This is so a fight won't go on and on, kupo. For these particular raids the limit is 10. On the last post, characters will need to prepare themselves for the end of the battle whether that be by retreating, setting up final defenses, sacrifices, etc. A warning will be given on the last post to remind you. That's all and have fun, kupo! ♥~

Swarms of shadows have sought to overtake the peaceful land of Radiant Garden. Small areas strewn throughout the maw, ones that were filled with the town’s militia, have slowly lost contact with one another one by one as the darkness grows in influence. The occasional scream would ring above the craggy earthen lands but would swiftly be silenced. Those stationed within the walls of Radiant Garden were naturally worried about the outcome that was being presented. The protection in place did hold some manner of offense for the otherwise doomed group, but it wasn’t enough to stave this number of heartless off.

The citizens within the walls were huddled together inside their homes, fearful for what was to come should they dare to step beyond their doors. Many militiamen patrol the streets, being forced to engage with the occasional group that sprung up from their own shadows. However, unlike their brothers and sisters in the Maw, the ones here didn’t present the daunting challenge, most falling to the typical weapons allotted to the would-be troops.

Some found the time to celebrate their small victories, even less had the confidence that they would make it through the day. Hopelessness and optimism were in a deadly game of tug of war, with the town’s citizens being used as the rope. Those who couldn’t find their composure instead let their panic get the better of them, managing to sew further chaos in the streets. Unfortunately for them, their strong emotions were like a strong drug for the darkness, and with forces spread thin, even those within the city found themselves slain by the heartless horde.

And, when it seems as though things have reached their crescendo, another wave of despair would manage to sweep through Radiant Garden like an unforgiving tsunami. Dozens scream out terror as a culmination of black ooze rises from a pool of black, red, and purple. A brazen heartless to be sure, for good reason. Unlike the rest of its ilk, this monstrosity towers over the typical rank and file, it’s pale eyes seemingly as large as a shadow themselves. Thick muscle ripples throughout its body when it curls its elongated digits together into fists.

A Darkside felt it necessary to grace this world with its presence, introducing itself in the only way a guest like it could: by swiping at the closest construct.

Broken stone and splintered wood erupt from the blow as though an explosion rung out throughout the building. More cries of horror as a mob attempts to flee from their impending demise, only to be met with soldier and shadow class heartless which swiftly cut them down, adding them to their hungry, swelling ranks.

Within moments, the Darkside’s fist glows with a malicious aura of purple and blues, a special ability, one borne of necessity and brutal fantasies of conquest. By merely placing its fist into the ground with a mighty punch, four other Darksides would hear its call, rising to join its brother in absolute mayhem.

A total of five colossal beasts take to the streets. Do any have the means to save this world?

[Luke Z.]

This had been the first war Luke had ever participated in and how fitting it was... The Heartless were his enemy ever since that fateful day, now here they were, causing more trouble in a place he called home. Not again.

His steps rang through the hallways of the evacuated inn that he rested at, thankfully that old man who helped him out wasn't there to come to harm. While he walked, he steadied his nerves, prepared himself for anything even if it were to be his last battle. Luke straightened out the cuffs on his suit, rolled out his neck and shoulders, then pressed the face of his watch. Little by little, his armor started to form onto his body. Stepping out onto the streets, he placed a hand over the hilt of his sword. Several deep breaths were taken and just like that, where his physical form had been fortified, both his mental and emotional state were bolstered with solidarity. Time for him to go to work.

Almost immediately, he was ambushed by shadows, those of which he simply swatted aside with his free hand. The man wasn't going all-out from the beginning, lest he wear himself out. Controlled usage of powers along with strength, optimized one's body for such a task before him. Ever so slowly he started to build up speed. Luke went from walking, to speed walking, to going at a brisk pace, before he was in a full-on sprint.

His blade danced in the darkness that Heartless poured into the streets. It's shining metal had been the light in that darkness, where he'd be the one to liberate the area of this menace completely. The tallest order involved having to fight those five menacing Darksides, but he could do it. Probably couldn't kill them all, yet, he could stall them out, force them to retreat. After he tapped into the comms of the Radiant Garden forces, he had heard there was some other person with strength, who came to the aid of the world. That was good, because Luke wasn't all too confident that he could clean up the entire place all by himself.

The beasts were easy to read because they attacked just like beasts, with no clear concept or tact other than to kill and feast. They weren't cornered either, so there wasn't anything they'd pull out of their sleeves if they could. Rather, they'd attack in confidence with the numbers they had. Luke would exploit that to his fullest. Running through a large group of assorted creatures, he cut them all down like a hot knife through butter. His reflexes had been honed for moments like these, where he needed them at their tip-top condition. Even should a few attacks go through, they'd only be small ones that he could afford to take, his armor softening the blows.

"Really? Is this all you got? The small fries are never really worth their salt..." The samurai said to himself and had teleported up onto the roof of a building. After bringing down some stragglers that followed him, Luke had scoped out the lay of the land. He identified the positions of each and every Darkside, before he set his sights on one that was closest to him, but farthest from his group of shadow brothers. From there, hopped off the roof, flipped and then planted his feet onto the side of the building, before he launched himself off the thing. He utilized his manipulation over space to double his speed and momentum, thus turning him into a literal, human-sized bullet.

Luke aimed to smack right into the head of the Darkside, sword drawn and poised to stab right into it's forehead. Should he have landed the attack, which would have been plausible considering his speed and precision, he'd then cut the thing right down the middle and aim to bring it down in one fell swoop.

[Lore Moogle]

The head of the five Darksides appears primed to unleash further chaos upon the streets of Radiant Garden, having used its presence alone to fill the field with more dark monsters, but it freezes in its mayhem, its fist raised and prime to strike at a few support structures for a rather large building. The incredible aura its senses managed to pick up was more than enough to cause it to pause. That, and it could feel the influence of its brethren being viciously removed from the face of this world. The rest of the large heartless mimicked their leader in stature, each coming to a short stop. Silence fell upon the area, the only noise coming from those desperately fleeing or from the buildings themselves crumbling on broken stone and planks.

The five scan the area quietly, each hoping to pinpoint exactly where this particular light is coming from. It is to no avail as more of the lesser rank and file fall to this warrior’s blade. Realizing that numbers are quickly turning in favor of Radiant Garden’s Denizens, all five lift their fists into the air, each glowing with their own peculiar red and black auras. All five would have simultaneously hit the ground, but the interruption from a certain samurai would prevent the synchronized movement from completely their dreaded ritual.

One Darkside, unfortunately, was a bit further from the rest, making it a rather easy target. Before its hand could touch stone a projectile slams into the side of its head at blinding speed. The sheer force behind the movement set the boss class heartless off balance. The colossal creature would have toppled over had a nearby home not been there to break its fall. Struggling to keep itself standing, the heartless glances to the side, finding none other than Luke in its peripheral. With the sword lodged firmly within the darkness, the Darkside reaches out to grasp hold.

Though it’s action was stopped, the rest were more than free to summon more of their shadows and soldiers. All of which proceed to rush to the injured heartless’ aid, their claws primed to strike at the foolish samurai who dared to interrupt their mission on this world. Meanwhile, with the shadows having been brought into existence, the leader of the five uses its sheer strength to launch itself into the air, and over the duo currently locked in combat. Upon impact it will release a shock wave strong enough to turn the city block into a parking lot. Should the Darkside and Luke be unfortunate enough to be around, both would naturally be launched a huge, set distance away.

Darkside Skills Used:

[Luke Z.]

Luke's attack had hit home with a strength to nearly topple the lumbering giant. That was good, it meant that he could solo the rest of those bastards with moderate difficulty. All he had to do was stay several steps ahead and make sure to not hold out on these creatures, because they most certainly wouldn't do the same for him. That said, the samurai hadn't stopped his onslaught from there.

When the Darkside he attacked tried to reach out and grasp hold of him, Luke shifted his position and sped off, bringing his blade down so that he could cut the entirety of the creature down, as he ran along it's body. A mechanical battle cry echoed from the helmet he wore, as he continued to slice the beast and with expert precision use the gun/sheath combo weapon, to shoot down whatever additional Heartless got in his way. Should he have gotten through without anymore resistance, the samurai would have cleaved the large shadow creature in two and landed on the ground with finesse.

More of those shadows and soldiers came to attack him, which only prompted the young man to fight further. He never let his guard down and remembered that his biggest threats were the four still remaining. While he cut through the small-fry, his eyes picked up on the largest of the five, who thrust himself into the air. Luke followed the creature with his eyes up until it had landed on the ground and thanks to his Hypersensitivity, he picked up on the origin point of the shockwave and was able to discern its destructive force, rate of travel, and so much more just from sensing it.

His answer to it would be a jump of his own. The samurai had manipulated the gravity around him, applied his own strength to his jump two-fold and launched himself high into the air. Quite literally, he would have broken the sound barrier then and there, flying high. This would put him in a position to avoid that disastrous shocwave easily and to follow-up with retaliation. Quickly, he controlled and willed his momentum to allow him to perform a flip. This gave him a bird's-eye view of everything below, including the position of each and every Darkside on the field.

The reddish Darkside had to have been the leader with how gigantic it was, coupled with its unique color and strength. Glaring down at it from beneath his helmet, the samurai created a solid, spacial platform beneath his feet. Repeating the same technique from earlier, Luke launched off towards the towering red ogre. Breaking the sound barrier once more, he sped off towards his target but had added a bit of a twist to this course of action. When it seemed like he was in a mad charge towards the Red Darkside, fully committed to a frontal assault, Luke would instantly teleport to be behind the creature, still moving forward. From there, he created another spacial platform to launch off of, effectively quadrupling his overall speed and force. With that in mind and his sword drawn forward, he'd aim to stab right into the back of the Red Darkside's head and shred right through it, before it even had time to react.

[Lore Moogle]

This will be the final boss post, kupo. The Heartless have attained victory. You will be allowed one post to respond. Remember, do not continue to fight a hopeless battle. To do so will result in death, but that is up to you. Your fate is in your hands. Sometimes the best tactic is to retreat, Kupo.

The battle between the Heartless came to a sudden halt. The Stealth Sneaks stopped, and witnessed the towering Darksides gather together, their unblinking eyes staring up into the heavens. All the Heartless knew what that meant. They could feel it in their very being. They were being summoned. The huge monstrosities each created an orb, raising them into the air to create one giant ball of darkness that pulled them back into their respective world. From there, they would follow the orders of their overlord and invade the worlds of Wonderland and the Land of Dragons. Those Heartless that did not teleport, were pulled into the giant portal along with their leaders. When all was done, and not a Heartless remained, the orb of darkness closed, creating a pulse of energy that ripped through Radiant Garden. Soldiers and civilians alike were thrown back from the force. Buildings that had already suffered damaged collapsed while others partially crumbled away, leaving the world in a veil of dust that took days to pass. The darkness had attained victory... and two worlds have suffered the most dire of consequences. Radiant Garden would survive another day, but for how lon

[Luke Z.]

Luke fought for a very long time, in a grueling battle against those Darksides. His suit had taken quite a bit of damage, along with his physical body. The samurai was tired, beaten, bloody, but thankfully not broken (mentally, at least). Blade pierced into the ground, the young man had used it to pull himself from the ground. He stood up stright and lamented at his own weakness concerning his inability, to stop those hellish creatures, as they all gathered. What were they up to...?

Suddenly, his eyes flared with fear, as Luke gazed toward the open portals and realized, much to his horror, where those despicable creatures wished to go. The scenery alone was one most familiar with him, one that washed away all the pain and weakness from his body, only to fuel it with strength and anger. A distorted growl followed by a scream left the confines of his helmet, and without much hesitation, got up. But it was all futile.

A massive shockwave ripped through Radiant Garden, tossing everything away like a child would its toys. Structures already weakened had collapsed and already added to the already staggering destruction, more than likely adding to the death tolls as well. The samurai had been flung far and crashed through a building, only to end up slammed into the side of another. Chatter over the RG Military line Luke tapped into, had many voices clamoring over one another, attempting to give situation reports. However, one had boomed through them all. The King.

He had made an announcement that all soldiers were to round up as many civilians possible, and bring them all back to the castle ground. Not a single soul was to be left behind, if it could be helped. Now, Luke would have done that, if he hadn't been so slammed into the building. Watching those things crawl into their corridors of Darkness, invade his home, and lay waste to everything...? The thought drove him insane and yet, there wasn't anything the young prince could do about it.

Consciousness was fickle as well. Eventually, he had pulled himself out of the building he was in, only for it to come crashing down upon him (A large piece of the wall, at least). Thankfully, his suit could withstand some more punishment. The samurai on the other hand? Luke had been defeated through and through. At the very least, he could take some solace in knowing that he prevented Radiant Garden from being swallowed in the darkness. Rather lose one home, than both...

His eyes had closed, once some of the more unnecessary functions of his suit had shut down. Left in darkness, the oxygen unit and other core settings of his technology stayed active, if not to prolong his life for rescue. There was an emergency beacon that was sent out, hopefully it'd snag onto the open air channels and alert someone, anyone, to his unconscious body.

[Lore Moogle]

[End Raid]

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