SOS

[Cloud]

One challenge had been overcome, but still more remained. Cloud's escape from the dungeons was... more of a tradeoff than anything else with Bea's turn to the dark side. Still, the events that had transpired, whatever they were, lead to his freedom... or rather, the illusion of it.

Yes, he got away from Beatrix and Shego... but that didn't mean he was home free. He still needed to find a way out of here, and that would be an even bigger challenge. He did eventually find the hangar, though with the help of his... "unseen friend". He growled every time he had to take its advice, constantly reminding himself that it's all in his head, that he can just let it slip back into the farthest reaches of his memories. But that voice kept haunting him...

"I will never be a memory..."

Finally, Cloud found the hangar, sliding to a stop and dispatching a couple of hapless NeoShadows who were on guard duty before running to his bike, Fenrir. He sighed, setting his sword down and hitting the transform button...

But nothing happened. The Transform-G piece had been removed when the bike was brought here. "Tsk!" he grunted, looking around to the other ships. Nothing here he could pilot, even if he knew how. Looked like he only had one option left, and it was a huge risk.

Sliding a panel on Fenrir aside, he found the emergancy distress beacon. "Well... here goes..." he muttered, then pressed it. Immediately it sent an emergancy signal up into Hyperspace, alerting every ship within several lightyears where he was... Where this WORLD was.

And predictably, that included the heartless. Immediately, they began to emerge, ready to take this punk out... Cloud merely lifted his sword and readied for the attack. "Let's go..." he whispered, ready for an endurance trial from hell.

[The Heartless Army]

The instant that beacon went up, they began crawling out of the woodwork. Air Soldiers, Soldiers, Shadows, NeoShadows, even Large Bodies began to converge on Cloud. They tried to rush him, but several would meet their fates pretty quickly. Others would stay behind and try for a better strategy.

And yet others would see a need for backup. One particularly panicky soldier would run over to an alarm trigger and smack it. Instantly, the whole castle would begin flashing bright red light and sound out...

There was a prisoner attempting to escape!

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]
**From One of the Many Prison Rooms**

BAM! The door to the hangar bursted open, a light of bright green would blind those within the room, until it would dim out. The thief stood there, with hands a flame, looking VERY upset. She had been hearing the voices of slain Heartless ever since she made her way over to get the BOTHERSOME SOLDIER. She would flexed her fingers until they resembled claws and acquired a fighting stance. She was blocking the only way out. She had ordered several Large Bodies to stand guard outside, their massive kinds adding further, unwanted block. Nothing could get in or out at this point, unless via corridor or shadow hop.

"You know... I was TRYING to be nice." The thief hissed, examining the pros and cons of the situation. He had a big sword, so he had to be slow, right? I mean it was only logical. She would have a good speed advantage anyway. She remembered also the burn marks on Beatrix when she appeared at the ballroom, so it also meant he knew magic.

Tch, damn magic users everywhere....

The emerald-eyed woman would await for him to strike, trying to see if her assumptions were true....

[/glow]

[Cloud]

"Tch!" Cloud gritted his teeth slightly. The Heartless were EVERYWHERE. He was able to hold his own against the bigger waves, but this many would be... a challenge. He couldn't help but remember fighting beside Leon against the invasion at-

Focus...

Cloud growled, angered by that voice. However, it did its work. He sliced down heartless after heartless until suddenly the woman in green appeared. He looked to her, gripping his sword tightly and pointing it at her. She growled at him, looking like a crazed checkered junglecat with her clawed hands and crouched pose. And then she roared at him.

"You know... I was TRYING to be nice."

"I thought you weren't interested in me..." he returned, bringing his sword to the ready as Heartless stepped aside to get out of her way. "Why the change of heart?" he asked. However, it was clear that she was ready for a fight. There was only one way out, so guess he was going through her.

He didn't give her a lot of time to answer. He rushed forward lightning-fast, slashing his sword at her in a diagonal arch, intending mostly to just injure her. He didn't want to kill her, not his style, but he would if he had to. If he hit though... she might bleed out if she didn't get assistance FAST.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]Shego was... surprised by the man's speed, but not enough as to freeze, the moment he swung the sword, she moved to the side slightly, and as the blade went near her, she jumped the rest of the way, and hopped over the oncoming blade. If she hadn't, she would of lost her legs!

Her emerald eyes shot open, and she gritted her teeth, trying to hold her momentary panic, 'Jeebus-on-toast-fast!' she thought, her hands bursting into green flames as she tried to claw forward, if it landed, she would probably be able to reach and claw/burn his exposed shoulder. If it didn't, she would fall past him, and somersault backwards until a distance away, a hand resting on the ground while she held the other up above, readying for another attack, 'This guy... shouldn't BE this fast!'[/glow]

[Cloud]

Cloud grunted a bit, feeling the slice across his open shoulder before jumping back. Luckily, the heat had cauterized the wound and kept it from bleeding. He sighed, then focused on the woman.

You're getting slow, Cloud...

"Shut up..." he growled to himself, then jumped forward and upward a bit, choosing to try and catch her off guard and attack by rebounding off the wall. He brought his sword down vertically, attempting to slice her more seriously this time. Something about his tactic... was getting darker. Something was taking hold of his muscle memory... making him more deadly with each passing second...

JENOVA was taking hold.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]Shego, turned in place, trying to avoid the massive blade with some flexibility skills! Her eyes would widen, when he rebounded from the wall, She was able to move back, but the long blade was able to cut a little at her chest, ripping a little at the cloth there, and revealing a bit of skin with a thin, red line appearing on it. She held at her chest a little with one hand and continued to dodge, hopping around the sword at times,

This is getting ridiculous!

She would have the heartless prepare for some sort of attack while she distracted him, for some reason, his enemy had gotten faster-- she needed to think of something quick. She noticed the diagonal strikes, and she decided to charge up a plasma throw-- though still needed more time. [/glow]

[Cloud]

The heartless had run forward and began to dogpile Cloud while he was preparing for another attack. He grunted as slowly he was buried under the weight of at least 30 different creatures. All around him was dark... he couldn't breathe... he could barely think...

This is ridiculous... that voice uttered... lighting a fire in Cloud's eyes as his determination suddenly grew sevenfold. With a massive, roaring heft, Cloud swung the sword and threw heartless in every direction, some shattering into whisps of shadow against the walls while others simply collapsed against the ground. Cloud stood at the origin point of their flight pattern, breathing hard with whisps of darkness swirling around him.

"RRRAAAAAGHHHH!!!!" he screamed, the darkness blasting more violently before he rushed forward in a mad rush of power. Bringing his sword up, he defied logic and moved at a speed that even Shego wouldn't expect.

Cloud had unleashed Octaslash.

His swipes were a blur, faster than the eye could follow. He was darkness-fast, and angry. Eight slashes in the span of a second all aimed at vital points on Shego's body, a killshot each. He'd land behind her, holding his sword in both hands and growling as the darkness slowly swirled away... and he blinked. He shook his head, coming to his senses slowly as he realized what happened. Turning around... he did not expect to find what he saw...

Good work, Cloud...

"No..."

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]At first, the emerald woman sighed in relief, thinking that the heartless had managed the brute, until they were sent flying, and the man was heading towards her.... unleashing Eight critical blows in her direction.

"SH--" Shego couldn't even finish that, as she tried to dodge them, but out of those eight, three hits would land on her. At her shoulder, at her leg, and her side. She stumbled a little, opening her mouth to spit out a good amount of blood. She couldn't control her body which fumbled forward, resting on all fours on the ground, her eyes shot open at the sudden pain coursing her body, "Aa-...a.h...ah..." she shivered, gasping for air, her clothes covered by a thick layer of blood trickling from each wound. The green of her clothes turning into a brown color.

She looked back at the man, and while he was surprised, BLASTED the man with the plasma ball she was charging- if it hit, he would be sent flying and scorching against a solid wall, where hopefully he would be tamed!

She fell there, coughing, the blood pool growing in radius around her body, and she would whimper a little. Her body, doing its best to regenerate, but failing to hurry at such critical wounds. She would shout in pain, trying to stand up as several heartless piled on Cloud, and others went to check on her, seeming panicked-- their antennas going wild with motion.

"J-..just... get him away.." She was able to say, holding at her side and her shoulder, she would spit out a bit more blood before attemtpting to stand, to fall once, and twice, luckily third was a charm. "...away from..-here.. ugh. Now!" [/glow]

[Cloud]

Cloud gasped when he'd seen what he had done. It wasn't like him to outright kill another person. Monsters? Sure. Sephiroth? In a heartbeat. But a woman? Much less a woman he barely knew? He didn't even kill turks, so why did he attack her like that??

That's what a SOLDIER does... gets the job done...

Just then, a blast of green light. He tried to block it, but he was too distracted to do so effectively. While he did manage to keep the blast from hitting him by using his sword as a shield, it still sent him flying backward into the wall, smacking his head harshly against the metal there. He fell to his hands and knees, dazed and seeing double.

Cloud shook his head and looked up. He saw Shego bleeding and tried to run to her, to see if he can help her, but the instant he did, he felt his foot sink into the ground up to his knee. Looking down, he noticed the corridor opening below him, sucking him in like quicksand as the Heartless began to jump on his head and shoulders trying to push him in. Shego told them to get him away from her, and they were.

"No! Stop!" He yelled, struggling even as he now sunk to his waist, trying to pull himself free by slamming his sword into solid ground and using it as a pulling point. However, as soon as he got some headway, the edge of the portal opened up further. The force of his own pulling threw him backward into the portal, now causing him to be looking up at the ceiling and gripping at the air.

The Darkness suits you, Cloud. Why fight it any longer? the voice whispered.

"No!" Cloud growled... as darkness overtook his face and pulled him through space to a place unknown...

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]Shego stood there, her legs quivering under her weight, she coughed up a little more blood, her regenerating abilities having little to no effect. "Tch.. p-prick.." she tried to insult, but this was no time to waste...it felt like there was no time to waste. She turned, heartless looking to her with much worry, their antenna's blaring around as they tried to help her out and into the hallway, leaving a bloodtrail with every step.

The alarm was beginning to give HER a headache. Her eyes had dimmed, and she had beads of sweat trailing from her forehead all the way down to her neck, and clothes, mixing a little with the blood.

She would of fallen several times, if it wasn't for the large bodies holding her up as she traveled again to Beatrix's location.[/glow]

[General Beatrix]

***From One of the Many Prison Rooms***

[glow=red,2,300]Beatrix hurried as fast as she could, and when finally she managed to reach the hangars, she turned to find that the Large Body had called in the assistance of many more Shadows and Soldiers to come to its aid.

She ran out to the Fenrir, and looked over the beacon a moment, coming to a better idea of Shego's actual plan.

Brilliant, Miss Shego! she thought, whipping out her blade and directing it at the Heartless. She blinked three times, which was the cycloptic woman's way of winking, and waited for them to strike.

"Come and get me," she seethed, still injured and feeling the pain slowly go away as she was growing used to it.[/glow]

[The Heartless Army]

The heartless would gather first. They seemed... confused at first. But, the Large Body that had been following her slowly lifted a hand and pointed at her, alerting them. In that strange, dark language of theirs, he explained it all... let them knew that they were to make it appear she was fighting for her life... to make it good. Many of them would smile if they had lips.

NeoShadows would leap forward, fast and deadly. Behind them, Air Soldiers swooped in, looking to cause a distraction. They knew they were only here to make it appear the woman was escaping... but what looks more like fighting than FIGHTING?

[General Beatrix]

[glow=Red,2,300]Beatrix launched into an attack, putting absolutely no power into her blade, so as not to injure the Heartless too badly. She went for the Large Body first, jumping up right before its eyes, kicking off its shoulder and leaping behind it.

She turned quick and ran it through, twisting as she stabbed.

"I shall see you again soon, my ally," she whispered, as the creature faded to nothing.

She threw down the blade upon a flying soldier's neck as it swooped by for an attack, and kicked it into Fenrir.

Then all of a sudden, the Rose appeared in the skies above, and she knew the show was just about to begin.

"Climhazzard!" she cried, slaughtering three Shadows coming up on her back.

After this, she bolted past the next wave, and into the castle once more. Soldiers were coming for her, and that meant so was Agrias.[/glow]

***Off to The Skies Above Nowhere***