My Legacy lives on...

[Sai]

Sai paused at the door, looking at the man who now haphazardly tossed the heartstelle up and down in his hand. Sai knew he could technically take it by force, but with the amount of technology at this man's disposal, it would only cause more harm than benefit. Patting his pocket, he found that he had no munny to speak of. He had spent all of it paying for the gummi ship, which now rested in pieces in that very same pocket due to Sai's infinate storage space.

Looking around, however, something struck Sai as odd as he put two and two together. "A man of your means..." he said quietly, taking in the priceless metals used just to build this place, including the impressive, if self-indulgant, golden throne, "...has no need for Munny, I'd imagine..."

Sai slipped a hand into his pocket to produce the navi gummi of his ship. "What I have, however, are goods. Perhaps a trade in exchange for the flight data I have loaded?" he suggested, head tilting.

[Atticus the Fallen]

High above the plains of the sarenghetti, light would begin to fade... The sun itself would become eclipsed by darkness, the last remnants of the dying light outlining a black circle in the sky...

Darkness falls... The World is doomed.

[The Heartless Army]

As the sun above began to blot itself out, all around the heroes, several different types of heartless would begin to pop up. There were heartless that appeared like strange primates wearing masks called Shamans. There were heartless that looked like some kind of collections of Living Bone that joined them, some even acting as mounts to the Shamans. Accompanying this rag-tag group of crazed heartless monsters was a small battalion of NeoShadows, and every member seemed stronger than their bretherin who had attacked in other worlds.

The dark sun gave them power... They would not go down easily.

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Meanwhile, inside the giant construct, the sounds of breaking glass would erupt from where the two men had just been. The Heartless that were kept as 'prizes' were breaking free, empowered by the sudden lack of light in the World. They mutated somewhat, into more powerful forms of themselves (Shadows to NeoShadows, Soldiers to Armored Knights, and so on), before turning their attention to their captor. Brass.

They began to move forward, dark intent glinting in their eyes as others joined them, popping out of the dark areas of the machine's clockworks like gremlins seeping from the engines. They would gather, at least 50 strong, ready to take Brass down for his hand in their disgrace...

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail took the bottle of water happily, glad to see one of them came prepared. As Culaki knealt down to sip he stream, she slipped off his shoulder for his comfort. She opened her bottle and took a few sips of water, enjoying how cool it was in this hot environment. She was so hot already that she couldn't help but pour some of the water onto her head to cool down, shaking her hair afterwards to send sparkling droplets of H2O flying around herself. She was like something out of a swimwear ad!

She looked over to see the two women talking, and smiled a little when she saw Ellin looking. She waved a bit, then blinked. Something was wrong. The world... was getting much shadier than it was a moment ago! She looked up just in time to see it... t sun was disappearing!! She gasped, pointing upward. "Look!" she called, just as the last lingering light started to go out...

Then, suddenly, the heartless came. Thinking quickly, Abby grabbed her staff from her pouch and proceeded to cast some defensive spells on her group (things like manawall, barrier, you know). It took her only a few seconds at most.

"Beatrix!" she called, looking over to the General, "We're surrounded!!"

[Secondary Characters]

Wall-E was quite pleased with himself when he handed off everyone's water. It was always a good feeling for him to be so usefull! He beeped and whistled happily, then blinked as the sun went out.

Unable to really see, Wall-E fumbled around in his boxlike compartment before pulling out a lighter! He flicked it on, and looked around. He found a ton of heartless around him! "WHOAH!" he shouted, then quickly put out the light! This didn't do much good for him, though as the heartless' eyes were still around. He let out a loud yell and drove as swift as possible back to the others, hiding behind Oeilvert for protection!

As for taking the offensive, Wall-E would have to rely on his laser... and pray it was enough to defend against the dark ones!

[Culaki]

Culaki looked around him as the light began to fade from the plains. He quickly scanned the horizon, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, but his instincts began to quiver. He looked over to Abigail as she slid down to sip from the bottle, and was grateful that the White Mage took action so quickly, leaving him to defend the group.

He quickly took up a defensive stance, standing at the forefront of the group and unslinging the Lion's Pride from his shoulder. The sharp metal end of the halberd gleamed wickedly in the last dregs of fading light, and Culaki's muscles tightened, his body falling into the familiar lust for battle.

As Abigail remarked that they were surrounded, he cast a glance behind him. They were! It took only moments for the Heartless beasts to rise from the shadows, and Culaki had no doubt that the darkened state of things made them even more powerful. He prepared to shout out a few things to help, but the darkness made it difficult to see.

As Wall-E clicked on a lighter, the land became even darker. Culaki, being used to such things as night time, could see well, but even this made his eyes strain slightly. This was a perpetual darkness, not the soft royal blue of night time, accompanied by stars. There were no starts, just the inky blackness all around.

The eyes of the Heartless began to glow, and Culaki suddenly remembered his bretheren in a panic. He roared loudly, his jaws rattling, undoubtedly startling everyone in the group as his war cry echoed across the Pride Lands. A short time later, the cry was answered, and the sounds of far away battle were heard as the other Ronso clashed with the Heartless.

Culaki shook his head, his teeth gritting in anger, and charged forward with a yell, slamming the mace end of his weapon into a Living Bone. The creature crumbled abruptly, the sickening snap of bones heard by the group. He roared with each strike, bringing down Heartless after Heartless, but they either got back up and kept striking at him, or two stepped in for each he took down.

He could fight them all day to ensure the safety of his new comrades. His sense of justice abruptly kicked in, driving him into a frenzy. He smashed, slashed, sliced and diced, even using his teeth to rip the throat of a NeoShadow who came too near. He hopped lightly back after a moment, calling to the group.

"Culaki's people are in danger! He must help them! He will defend you as long as you need it, but he knows that his other Ronso cannot defend themselves forever!"

His voice broke slightly, the deep rumbling accompanied by a pang of sorrow and worry. His love for his people ran deeper than skin, and he would risk life and limb to save them. He tore back into the enemy with a frenzy, his muscles knotted and bunched as he took on a massive group, disappearing inside the mass of flailing shadows as he attempted to buy his allies some time...

[General Beatrix]

"Miss Destroix, we are not in a fairyta--"

She paused, stopping in place as the Heartless appeared by the dozen, and high above the sun changed black; eyes wide in horror she reflexively grabbed for her sword the moment Abby called out for help.

"By Alexander, they've done it!" cried out the general, paralyzed with a special fear in her heart. That darkness that was taken on back at the Beast's Castle now shook deep inside, and she felt sick.

"Master Culaki! Miss Destroix! Defensive position around the mages! Automaton, whatever assistance would be useful!"

She took a defensive stance and charged forward, brushing a curl behind her ear before doing so, a signature of hers.

"Thunder Sword!" she cried, going directly after one of the NeoShadow groups heading traight for her.

"These beasts...are definitely going to be stronger due to the eclipse...be prepared!"

Oeilvert looked up from his reading as Wall-E roved around behind him; closing the book he looked around, but saw very little due to the sudden blackening of the sky. Soon the space around them all began to glow with piercing yellow eyes and the sorcerer snapped his fingers.

"Wall-E, my wand, if you will!"

[Ellin Destroix]

Ellin would watch Abigail happily, seeing the droplets of water twirl and sparkle away from her hair. She would sigh a little, watching her with the corner of her eye as she held Beatrix in place. When she was looked at, she waved shyly at the white mage. Then, her attention was brought up at the fading sun.

She watched as the last rays penetrated the day sky, and it was suddenly night. Ellin could feel strength from the sudden darkness, and... she began to feel a bit... braver. She looked down toward Abby, to see them all surrounded by Living Bone and Neo Shadows, "Oh no...!" she growled, rushing forward and reaching for her sword and shield. "Arondight Blood Weapon!" she called out her first attack-- a Dark Sword Skill that would cause her blade to drain enemy Health. It glowed a menacing purple, and she sliced it down toward her fellow Heartless-- but only draining them to a point of exhaustion... not killing them.

"Stop everyone!" She tried to tell the heartless, "Don't attack my friends-- what are you doing??" she drained another one that was about to bring Culaki damage from behind, "Stop your attack!" she persisted. Ellin turned to look to Abigail shaking her head, telling her that she could not reach them in this dark frenzy. She growled a little, the Dark Blood in her boiling over.

"Graah! We have... to protect Culaki's...trrriiiiiiibe!!" She growled a bit, holding her sword up and shouting, "BLACK SKY!" -- from above, small meteors would rain down, and fall near the heartless, causing a smoke cloud to appear-- a good time to escape or regroup for the Heroes... she couldn't hurt them. She reached down near the small construct, and gave him her shield so he would protect himself, "H-here Mr. Wall-E--move quick now...!"

The dark knight made her way near Abigail, acting as her close range shield-- taking care of her blind spots, while the white mage took care of the knight's blind spots.

[The Brass Duke]

The duke heard a sudden roar of fury outside and, when he turned, the Heartless encased in his containment jars wriggled within, glowing now with an inkier darkness.

"What in the..." he stammered, turning back to the Nobody and pointing his cane in his general direction. "Threatening me with your dark power will not lead you to the HeartSteele any quicker, you know," said the Duke, before he noticed that, behind the Nobody the sky outside the open door shifted almost instantaneously from light to dark.

"My god...what is going on here!? Take the damn thing, I've got plenty!" He tossed the raw chunk over, where it rolled onto the floor before Sai.

[Sai]

Sai lifted an eyebrow at Brass' odd behavior. Suddenly, the world was darker, and the heartless were going insane. In response, the Brass Duke did what most people in a position of power did when suddenly they were faced with something bigger than themselves... he broke down. The heartsteele skitted across the ground to Sai, who knealt down and claimed it, slipping it into his pocket swiftly.

"Many thanks... but this is not my doing..." Sai commented, looking around before seeing the Heartless were mutating and coming for them. Well... the Duke, mostly. Sad to say, Sai had gotten what he needed from here, and frankly it was Karma in a sense that the self-proclaimed monarch was getting his... but there was a side of Sai that people often did not predict, and it tended to show at the oddest of times.

Sai stepped up and waved his wand, causing the air to thicken around them with heavy fog. Because the light inside the monolith was artificial, it follows that the Heartless would not be able to simply "See through shadow" to find them while the Nobody concealed their location in the mist. Grabbing Brass's arm roughly, he began to walk briskly toward the exit.

"This way. Obviously I cannot fulfill my end of the bargain should you cease to exist. Naturally, I wouldn't care if you did die, but when I have my heart back I know that it would weigh on my conscience and I will have enough on my plate to worry about without the addition of your demise..." he muttered, then shoved Brass in front of him toward the door.

Turning, Sai pointed his wand into the mist, ready to blast down any Heartless that poked through. "Judging on the decibal level of the oncoming attack, I would estimate you have approximately 4 seconds to open that door and secure a means of escape. Otherwise, I will have to risk a corridor..."

Three seconds. Better hurry, Brass.

[The Brass Duke]

At the sudden revelation the Brass Duke was quite relieved to see that Sai's compression of the air around them created a fog, of sorts, because that way it would conceal his look of utter surprise, as well as hide the both of them from the Heartless bursting forth from the containment jars that now seemed three times smaller than they should be.

"Where did you--oohf!" A sudden jerk of the arm and Brass was dragged across the chamber towards the door leading to the broken balcony where they would exit. The golems with Coolers were nowhere in sight and the ramp had retracted already; Brass now had to decide.

"Erm, we jump!" he yelled suddenly, leaning out of the re-opened door. "COOLERS!" He leapt, pulling the Nobody with him; it wasn't the best idea, as when the golems would collect them it would be a hard slam into cold iron, but at least they'd be safe from the large, angry Heartless what now scurried throughout Colossus.

Touching ground Brass peeled himself free of the golems and drew out his revolver, aiming it at creatures nearby standing at bay, holding out his cane/sceptre towards some others.

"This is no picnic..." admitted the duke beneath his breath. "But it sure will be some good practice!"

[Culaki]

Culaki felt the weight of the creatures pressing against him, felt weapons and claws stabbing into his body, causing him pain. The pain he felt at that was minute compared to the pang that shot through his body as he heard the anguished cry of another Ronso, not too far away from him.

"No! Culaki will NOT lose one of his people today! He will fight! HE WILL FIGHT!"

Culaki's body began to quiver, and his eyes grew wide as his jaws dripped saliva. He began to twitch slightly, his muscles growing larger (if that were even POSSIBLE) as his fur began to rustle slightly. The Heartless near him would feel his body giving off tremendous amounts of heat as his eyes began to spin crazily.

His mouth open and his breathing heavy with bloodlust, he began to cleave massive swathes through Living Bone, Shaman, and Neoshadow alike, even stopping several times to pummel them into nothingness to ensure they didn't come back. Wounds and gashes on his body he paid no heed, his blue fur quickly becoming saturated with his blood.

He roared time and time again, smashing into the foes like a freight train, driving a path several feet straight through to his Ronso. They were engaged in combat themselves, relying on tooth, claw, and primitive spears to stab, slice, and tear their foes. They moved out of the way quickly as their leader charged through their midst, seemingly unaware of their presence as he continued to massacre the Heartless Army.

***Culaki has entered Bloodlust, activating his "Booster" ability. His strength, speed, stamina, endurance, and magical capabilities will be nearly tripled, but once it fades, his body will be much more vulnerable to attacks*

[General Beatrix]

"Ngh!" In a struggle with one of the Shaman Riders what jumped off a fallen mass of Living Bone General Beatrix knocked back her head into the Heartless' tall mask, loosening its grip. This was her chance to break free and, once she did she brought her heavy sword backward, slashing it across the face with the finesse of a fencer, lobbing the mask clean across the battlefield, revealing the contorted face of the beast.

"Aye, your powers--the power of all Heartless--may be amplified now, but they are still Heartless!"

The Shaman lunged forward and the general, ready for it, threw out her hand and cried "Holy!" The monkey-creature flew back and faded in an explosion of divine light, sent back to the shores of the Dark Margin. Beatrix smirked, and turned to set her sights on the next available target.

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"Give me strength, to Focus!" chanted the sorcerer of Oz, throwing up his hands; a black, misty aura poured from his outstretched open palms above and flowed down his arms and creating a thick, gel-like stream of veins that slithered up into his head, right below his hair-line.

With increased spell-power now he turned on three Living Bones and their Shaman Riders and though back to the spells he did have time to study. He threw his hands together and closed his eyes; a small breeze encased him as he prepared his next incantation.

"Punishing a single unit simply is not enough; by the vengeful gaze of the gorgon, make them see your pain! Expand: Break!" His eyes suddenly began glowing a golden yellow, and as he gazed upon the Heartless coming his way a sudden glint would be all the warning they had that, because their eyes were locked on him, they were doomed to a fate far worse than death.

Beginning at their feet the thick shadowed bodies were soon encased in stone, their whole being transformed into a legacy on the black Sarenghetti. But more Heartless were coming.

A bull-rush attempt proved useless as Brass just continuously fired off his gun at the beast; it crumbled before the duke's feet only inches away and even Brass had to admit that was a close one.

The Shaman, like Beatrix', attempted to do its signature "leap from wreckage and take the victim in a hold" but when it was in range the Brass Duke crashed his sceptre down hard on its spine, side-stepping quick and slamming his metal-tipped boot hard into the Heartless' head.

Turning, another was coming; quickly withdrawing his revolver he drew his hand forward and grabbed the creature's face. Electricity began crackling over the mask, as well as Brass' gloved hand, but soon it all gathered as one and moved in for the kill, knocking back a twitching, dying Heartless.

"Heh..."

[Sai]

Their landing was... less than ideal... and Sai had a sneaking suspicion that if he could care he'd be getting very sick of falling from heights by now. He forced himself to stand, wand at the ready, as the Heartless gave chase. Looking up, he saw what he most dreaded. The Sun was gone... Atticus had conducted an attack on Kingdom Hearts itself... He was out of time.

Cursing lightly, Sai whirled on the spot and pointed his wand at nearby heartless, taking them out with well-placed blasts of lightning, or possibly levitating a golem or two at others. Thankfully, Sai could spin his projectiles around him to create something of a makeshift shield for himself and Brass. Meanwhile, he continued to use chunks of Earth or even bits of machinery to take down the ones getting too close for comfort. Every once in a while, he'd take some damage, but he'd have to focus.

"There's too many for us alone..." he observed, his voice never fluctuating even in the heat of battle. He could have just as easily been reading from the tone of his voice. "We have to regroup, become a mroe effective force..." Looking off, he spotted Culaki charging through the rabble and making a clear path.

"Follow that Ronso..." Sai said, then began moving. He would look over his shoulder to Brass as he ran. "If you can, contact your compatriot inside the Colossus and inform him to provide us with some kind of cover. Even if he simply runs over the Heartless, it's still an advantage we cannot afford to ignore."

[Abigail Crescentlight]

Abigail blinked a bit as the area around her became smokey. She wasn't as effective a fighter when unable to see exactly where the attack was coming from, but when Ellin came alongside her, she smiled and nodded, the two of them acting as each other's eyes and ears. Funny, the way the two of them moved was almost like poetry in motion, a dance if you will. They complimented each other well, like they'd done this for centuries together...

Of course that would be interrupted by a charging Culaki who came right through the middle of them to make a beeline for his people. Abby fell over, letting out a little "Oomph!" when she hit the dusty ground. She looked up and smiled a bit, getting to her feet in time to help Ellin up and point after Culaki, who's mass and speed had caused a tunnel of sorts in the dustcloud.

"C'mon! Let's go that way!" she said to everyone, thankful the Heartless weren't able to really see as well through debris as they did through darkness. She ran alongside Ellin, her staff ready if they needed to fight...