Where Darkness and Light Collide

[Hercules]

Hercules could only lightly chuckle as the transmission came, and reply with a lighthearted "Hey, what are friends for?" before cutting off communications and looking again to Gabranth. The man seemed not too interested in what was going on, and frankly Herc wasn't all that surprised. War must be a common thing for the armored man, so a battle like this was probably no big deal in the long run.

Except for a huge fact that the both of them had overlooked during the heat of the battle. The demigod's eyes were drawn to it in this eerie calm after the fighting's end. He frowned deeply, his eyes wide with mixed pain and shock. He didn't know anyone personally there, but all the ignorance in the world couldn't take away the hurt one feels when they saw the ruin of Sherwood Forest...

Pieces of it were floating through space lazily. Broken little bits of what was someone's home hovered in place like a mockery of some toddler that had knocked over the building blocks in a nursury. How many lives were taken in that blast? How many families were gone forever? How many children's laughs had been silenced just because good and evil could not get along?

Hercules sat back, stricken silent by the sight of the glowing wreckage, the hot magma still cooling even this long after a world's death. He stared at his instruments, wondering if they had been there even a moment SOONER, might this have been prevented. He inwardly cursed the name of anyone he believed to be responsible, though he didn't know who. In reality, only one name came to mind when he thought of the cruel things that had been happening here lately...

"Atticus..." he whispered, then looked up, the fury of a god in his eyes as he thought about it. "It's his fault..." he reasoned, knowing that the heartless that belonged to Sai had to be behind this all, having seen him in person a few times, and even hearing of the terrible things he had done. He even knew that the ship they were fighting belonged to him, though all evidence pointed that he was NOT on it. If only he were. If only this was the end. Hercules wasn't yet so naive as to believe it was.

"It could have been Greece..." he said, now looking over to Gabranth, the childish man seeming to age instantly to a mature warrior. "It could have been your home..." he added, then looked forward. "Gabranth. If you want out, that's fine. I want to see this through to the end. You can drop me off on their ship if you want to leave this all behind. No one would think any less of you."

Hercules stood here, turning to the back area of the ship. "Excuse me... I need a minute or two alone..." he said, then walked behind the door, using all his powers all his WILL to restrain himself from slamming it so hard the ship would snap in two...

[Ellin Destroix]

Ellin's eyes were focused now the one assuming an offensive position, and they narrowed, almost like a snake's. Nexus has become a primary target and she would charge at him with claws extended-- Feral. At least she had some control to whether use her sword or not.

"BOY!" She growled with almost the intensity Agrias once did as Aeur Graus the Heartless Dark Knight, "GRAAAH!!"

She swung her left arm violently at him, then her right-- all packing power against the dragon hunter if any were to hit. There was so much energy overflowing from the poor girl that it was obvious. She resonated a black aura that needed to be tamed quick. Why did this curse befall someone who hated fighting? she asked herself inwardly in third person, feeling her actions controlled by this madness.

[Secondary Characters]

On their arrival on the Rose, Kim Possible had gone straight to the bridge, following Sai and the others. She didn't know what to do now that the battle was over, and like many was probably about to be debriefed on a much bigger battle ahead. Whatever. She could take it. She could do anything!

Standing on the bridge of the Rose, Kim kept mostly to herself, leaning against a console and waiting for that military looking woman with the curled hair to come back. Apparently there was some craziness going on down in the engine room that she was taking care of, so they'd have to politely keep quiet while she handled it.

At one point, she spotted Sai going off, but didn't think much of it. So, when he returned, she simply asked, "Have a nice trip?" to be polite. She could see out the main windows, and could tell that Herc and Gabby on the BinShip hadn't gone anywhere since she contacted them. Too bad, she kinda hoped to see those two lunkheads again.

Thinking on them made her miss Ron... and Rufus... and Wade. She had no idea how things were going back in Middleton, and frankly running into Shego while she was breaking out of that castle place didn't make things any easier on her mind. If Shego was here, how far away was Dr. Drakken or any number of her rouge's gallery of villains? Kim didn't like it...

Hopefully, they'd have the good decency to not get involved. What was going down was bigger than any of them and right now Kim needed to stay focused on how they were gonna save the worlds and stuff. She'd worry about getting home afterwards...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wall-E on the other hand, was being carried the whole way. Apparently, Oeilvert had REALLY become connected to the little box robot. That was okay, he was pretty tired from flying around hyperspace in the battle and could use a little break, but once they were at the bridge, the little automaton would ask in his cute sort of one-syllable language to be let down.

On the ground, he'd rove around a little, eyeing the consoles and curiously peeking out the great view window. He'd met most of the soldiers still working on the deck while on Sherwood Forest... which was gone now. He looked out the window to stare at it for a while, the red glow of cooling magma giving the entire deck a deep crimson coloration.

A sigh of sadness came from Wall-E, and appropriately enough, he reached up to tap his little music player, and played a slow, kind of sadly ironic song for those lost on that planet...

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, dark sacred night
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, sayin', "How do you do?"
They're really sayin', "I love you"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself
What a wonderful world
Oh yeah...

[Oeilvert]

Masheck Octavian hadn't originally been given the chance to roam about the Red Rose on his first run through, so this brief--was it, though?--respite from battling the darkness gave him just the opportunity. And lo! His two closest friends were within arms' reach.

Locke ruffled his feathers several times on their brisk walk, while Wall-E fidgeted slightly in the mage's arms. At the bridge, the last point on their stop, the automaton asked in his own way to be put down, to which the prince was obliged to do.

Oeilvert watched with a grieving expression at the chaos Wall-E could somehow understand in the distance. How many had died just then? It must be thousands--no, millions!

A stray tear fell down his cheek, but he was quick to brush it off and move closer to his friend. He knelt as Wall-E turned on his radio and for the first time truly listened to the words being sung, as well as the melody. It became obvious that this artificially intelligent being could understand PERFECTLY the situation they were in.

Without warning the Prince of Oz scooped up the robot into his arms and gave it a tight, warming love-filled hug.

"Little one, I know your sadness..."

And the atrocities those foul beasts have committed...they made you sad. I never want to see an automaton even attempt to replicate sadness again...so, for you, Wall-E...I shall give it my all to ensure the safety of the realm of light. You are my dear friend.

"Everything will be alright."

Once more Masheck released Wall-E and stood up, taking out the Grimorum he'd received earlier. And so if I wish to contribute, I must study harder until this is memorized.

[Sai]

"Have a nice trip?"

Sai looked over to Kim Possible as he stepped from the corridor, realizing he wasn't quite as stealthy as he had thought he was. No matter. He couldn't qualify the trip as either "nice" nor "bad" but he could call it "productive". He needed to get some of this information to their tactician, Agrias.

That's when he started to hear key words like "radiation" and "poison fog" being spoken through intercoms to those on the bridge. Walking over, Sai interrupted one of them, leaning over the console to listen in. Apparently, Agrias and Beatrix were both in dire peril down below. Typical.

"Leave this console on..." he said calmly to the one he had interrupted, then turned and began to run the halls of the Rose. He could have corridored to them, but in such close quarters and with parts of the ship missing, Sai felt it was just as likely he might step out of one somewhere in Hyperspace as it was that he would show up in place. "Direct me to the engine room," he instructed the one on the bridge as he ran, using her direction for the swiftest, safest route.

Luckily, he would bypass the battle with Ellin on his way down. Once inside the engine rooms, Sai saw the gathered soldiers attempting to free the two. "Clear the room..." he told them, gesturing for them to leave. Some were reluctant. It was typical, while under stress, for people to not listen. Sadly, Sai would have to make an example of one of them.

A quick snap of his arm to the back of one soldier's neck was enough to effectively knock her out. He didn't particularly want to, but it got the others' attention. The woman fell onto his arm, and he used the attention and silence to speak. "Ladies. Please inform your medical bay that you are about to receive extremely erradiated victims of poisoning. You will require hazardous material suits to protect yourself from radiation poisoning. They will need to quarantine a section to protect other patients which includes two beds. Go."

They would have no option to leave while Sai considered his options. There were three variables to consider. One, his own safety. Two, the transport of hazardously radioactive victims. And three, the safety of the immediate area. With the glass doors in place, the radiation was cut off and stable. Safely, he could only expose uncontaminated areas for perhaps three seconds to that level of danger. After that, the entire room would need to be purged.

But first thing's first. If he was to be effective, he'd have to protect himself while this occured. He only had one idea that might conceivably work. With a flick of his wrist, Sai commanded the air around him to swirl about his form in tight formation, effectively creating a semi-solid barrier between him and the surrounding environment. In essence, Sai had produced for himself a minature, self-contained atmosphere.

***SAI HAS LEARNED THE SPELL ATMOSPHERE***

Looking up, Sai addressed the intercom above. "I require a torpedo casing..." he said to the one on the bridge, who must have heard and had someone handy for the heavy device was brought within a minute. With a nod, Sai dismissed the soldiers that had brought the item before knealing down to open the empty vessel. These things were made of a material that kept highly reactive chemical compounds with radioactive isotopes invovled contained and safe for transport... Perfect for what he needed. If he hadn't been there for the creation of the gummi ships, he might have not known about their defenses. If a Nobody could be thankful...

Next, Sai pointed the weatherwand down at the ground. "Blizzard..." he muttered, creating a thin sheet of ice in a straight line leading directly to the glass. Placing his wand away for the moment, he moved on to his next task. With a shove, he got the casing onto the ice, which allowed easier transport. At this point, a song would be heard over the intercom as Sai prepared.

I see fields of green, red roses too.
I see 'em bloom, for me an' you...

"Three seconds..." Sai reminded himself. He began to push again, getting the casing in motion before he waved a hand to summon one corridor directly in front of him, and another just inside the contained area. The result was effectively an instantaneous portal of sorts, through which he pushed the container and himself. He closed it behind him to get some more time. He had spent maybe a second. Plenty of time left.

And I think to myself
What a wonderful world...

"My apologies for the close quarters ladies..." he muttered as he began to pick Agrias, the most poisoned of the two, up and placed her into the container. "...but I already know you'll find your way to forgive me." Beatrix was next, placed in the container so intimately close to Agrias that the two were practically smooshed together. Not the most comfortable of fits, but they weren't exactly awake to complain. Closing the container, Sia made sure it was securely locked to keep anything from leaking.

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night...

The human body can survive without air for upwards of seven minutes. Counting for the time it would take to unlock this container once it was in the quarantined area of the medical wing, the Nobody figured he had four minutes tops to get them there. Opening the corridors again, Sai forcefully shoved the now heavier container as hard as he could through, dropping it onto the ice on the other side. Once he was through, he made sure they were closed for good. They'd been open for 2.9 seconds. The area was safe.

And I think to myself
What a wonderful world...

Sai pushed again, sliding the torpedo casing along the ice sheet as swiftly as he could. When it was ran out, he pulled out his wand and shot another ice spell to give himself more track. This took time, but it was the best he could do on his own, having to order Alexandrians to stay away in case the outer casing of the metal container had become in any way contaminated within the time he had taken to get Agrias and Beatrix inside. It probably wasn't dangerous, but there was no logic in taking unnecessary risks.

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by...

"MOVE!" Sai would have to yell over the noise of confusion as he pushed the torpedo onward. Running out of time...

I see friends shaking hands, sayin' How do you do?
They're really sayin' I love you...

Ice, ice, ice! Sai kept on shoving that torpedo along. Too much time... Only within the last second or so of the time he had allotted himself did he get the device into the medical bay. The quarantine was up, thankfully, and he was able to push it directly inside, soldiers wearing swiftly improvised hazmat suits zipping it up behind. Three minutes.

I hear babies cryin', I watch 'em grow.
They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know.
And I think to myself
What a wonderful world..."

Sai punched the code in quickly, having to take a full minute just to do that. The hatch opened and the two women were exposed to the air. The immediate danger was out of the way now. They could breathe. Overestimation. That's the best way to avoid extending one's luck too far. Sai himself scooped Beatrix (who was on top) into his arms and up onto one of the hospital beds before he'd kneal down to collect Agrias.

Yeah, I think to myself
What a wonderful world...
Oh yeah...

[Cloud]

Cloud had been taking some time to catch his breath. Surveying the battlefield, he could see the aftermath of the destruction they had caused, and even took a moment or two of silence for the passing of Sherwood Forest. It seemed like no matter what they did, they were constantly losing ground, sometimes literally. It saddened him to think of the people who had been lost.

Over the intercom he had with the Rose for mission orders, he could hear a song playing, and decided to listen... The tragic irony of the slow, almost sad melody wasn't lost on Cloud as he watched debris float by, and observed the crashed wreckage of the Harbinger on a nearby chunk of what could have been half a continent at some point or another.

When the music came to an end, Cloud lifted a hand to tap the side of his helmet, sending a transmission to the flagship. "Rose. This is Cloud. I'm going ahead to scout out the location. See ya..." was all he said before severing the connection to the ship and turning Fenrir in the direction of the World that Never Was.

With a burst of speed, Cloud was gone...

[Onward to the Final Run]

[Gabranth]

Now floating around space, they now had to find a new direction. With Gabranth free, there wasn’t much of a path for him to take unless…

The remnants of the once vivid world were nothing more than small fragments among the stars. War and death were all too common for Gabranth, he himself was a king slayer. Though, this was something he thought to keep to himself. However even with the technology of his world, seeing something of such massive size destroyed, he was simply beside himself.

With Gabranth focused on the destruction, he only heard what could be whispers and mutters from Hercules who sat beside him. Then, Hercules said something to jar his focus.

“It could have been your home…”

Gabranth turned quickly to the young Olympian God, “My home is one I can not return too, I was felled.” Though considering his demise from his previous life, Hades’ Underworld was technically his home. So having the place destroyed would have been a delightful thought; however Hercules was not finished…

“Gabranth, if you want out, that’s fine. I want to see this through to the end. You can drop me off on their ship if you want to leave this all behind. No one would think any less of you.”

After he spoke he turned to storm off in the other area of the ship, Gabranth was a little on the bitter side of things after he heard Hercules. So in a rather displeased mood, Gabranth turned the ship, now headed for the Rose.

*Off too Hyperspace > The Show Must Go On*

[Sai]

[responding to events which took place in "The Show Must Go On"]

Sai was leaning up against the wall of the medical bay with his arms crossed. He had deactivated his personal atmosphere to conserve MP once it was clear that his services were no longer required, and now stood outside the quarantine area. He watched as Daphne went inside and set to work, quietly observing through plastic as she hurriedly set to work.

He could make himself useful, at least. They were getting nowhere so long as the commander-and-cheif of the Rose was comatose. When she called for a geiger meter, the Nobody set to seek it out. He returned shortly with one in hand and alerted an assistant to carry it in. He didn't exactly have a tremendous amount of MP to spare at this point, so he'd have to conserve and rest as much as possible. Otherwise he'd be in there himself getting matters taken care of.

Whichever woke first, he had important details to cover with them. Namely, the potential for ambush when they arrive. Also, he just received word over the intercoms that Cloud was going ahead to scout, so they would have to be brought up to speed on that as well. He would purposely leave out where he received this intel unless asked directly, and would also fail to mention the motivations of the one which granted him this.

After all, right now he held the advantage over MeadowSong as she called herself. If he offered up that too soon, then chances were very likely that the information would be used too swiftly, and from a place that was not likely to offer them as much advantage as possible. Agrias was a brilliant tactician, yes, but she was also of a day and age when one could meet with the heads of an army and discuss terms of surrender like civilized people.

Those days were over. And these were not civilized people. They were Heartless. As such, they were vicious, uncontrollable, impulse-driven monsters that seek only to devour the hearts of as many as possible and create more Heartless. He was mostly safe, possessing no heart to give. That meant that he could think more clearly. Maybe that made him a threat? Maybe it didn't.

Only time can tell.

[The Alexandrian Army]

"Thank you," said Daphne with a voice echoing that of a Nobody's in tone, and began setting up the almost antique geiger counter. "Oh my. We'll need a White Mage in here for the healing of radiation...as I highly doubt our equipment will be enough to completely banish most of it."

She began massaging her upper lip with the back of her thumb and moved over to the wall where she could see observers standing patiently outside.

"Sai, could you please find Lady Abigail and ask her to come here straight away?"

[Sai]

When he was addressed, Sai nodded silently. He had noticed that Daphne's tone was growing more and more distant, empty. Not unlike his own. That was not acceptible. Apathy was often the first step toward darkness and he did not want his tragedy to befall anyone else. He'd have to have some words with her once her task was completed.

Walking the long, winding halls, Sai noticed a lot of soldiers running about making repairs... but not Abigail. He saw Gabranth walking the halls and Hercules looking utterly lost, but not Abigail. He even took a breif moment to spy on the battle between Ellin and Nexus, but no Abigail in sight.

Something was not right. Even asking the Soldiers, they reported that they hadn't seen her in a while, at least not since the heartless were cleared out and Ellin went berzerk. While not worried in the slightest, Sai did have the sense that something was wrong.

Going to the cargo area, Sai located the Chocobo that was kept there. Some might question the knowledge of letting a wild animal loose during a crisis, but he found that their keen senses tended to find people best. Once he untied Boco from his restraints, the Nobody nodded to him. "Find Abigail..." was all he'd say.

He'd follow the bird, but there would be no luck here either. When Boco failed, Sai would nod and lead the bird back to the bunker, but left him untied. No reason for it right now. Besides, maybe a soldier could make use of its skills?

Making his way to the nearest intercom, Sai pressed the button and made an all-call that could create a sense of dread despite its unemotional delivery, but was necessary nonetheless.

"Attention all crew members. Abigail Crescentlight is not onboard the Red Rose. Repeat. White Mage Abigail Crescentlight is not onboard the Red Rose..."

[The Alexandrian Army]

"Gone?" replied many of the soldiers in unison as the speakers announced Abby's disappearance.

Daphne in particular was troubled by this mostly because she was the only one capable to use white magic other than possibly Agrias or Beatrix...

"This will be a problem," she muttered to herself.

Up on the bridge Ellis--captain-in-standing--was now stuck dealing with soldiers on the verge of a massive panic attack. Strike that. Over near the control boards closest to Sylvia Linda sat curled into a ball on the floor rolling around, crying out "Pandora's Box," over and over again.

Things were going to hell pretty quickly. Again.

"Hm..."

It was just then a familiar sight toddled into the room to hand one of the soldiers outside quarantine a ration.

"MASTER VIVI!" Daphne cried. "That book you have there! Is there anything in it which can expel--er--radiation?!" She doubted that it would, but thought she would give it a try. "The book you said you received from a teddy bear! Please!"

"W-woah, me?" asked the mage, who looked rather tired from battle.

"I'm not sure if I do...I'll have to look it over."

He drew out a rather large tome and set it on the floor and opened it, began reading and waited for an answer to come to him. Perhaps some help would be provided.

[Oeilvert]

When the buzz of hysteria came rushing in the prince began to wander off throughout the ship, hopefully with Wall-E in tow; Locke stood tall on the prince's shoulder, crowing at random passersby.

At one point he was accosted by a soldier running errands for the people over in sick bay and was informed that Vivi could use some assistance with a particular spell.

He nodded to the soldier, thanked her and followed as she led him over.

When he arrived he saw the squat Black Mage pouring over a large book, a confused--was it?--look beaming from those amber orbs.

"Is there anything I can do to assist you?" asked Oeilvert, removing the Grimorum ex Magus from his satchel and sitting beside Vivi.

"Healing radiation, you say? An unfamiliar compound...or, is that what it is? I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with it."

[Sai]

"Daphne," Sai's voice came over the Medical Bay intercom, "I'm on my way back. In the meantime, if push comes to shove, you can try filtering the patients' blood, removing the cellular components from the water and replacing the water with unradiated liquid. I don't know that it will work, as I am not medically trained, but I know something about cooling radioactive systems. It's a long shot, but it may buy us some time."

It seemed a wild suggestion, but something was better than nothing. "Sai out..." he added, making sure she knew he wasn't on the comm to the medical bay any more.

Instead, he got on a line to the bridge. "Ellis..." Sai called, capturing the attention of the captain-in-standing. "Have someone go through the security footage. Maybe we can find a clue as to what happened to our estranged white mage..." he suggested. "I'm sure the two remaining Sisters will be curious of this when they awaken. Sai out."

Without further adeu, Sai made for the Medical Bay. When he got there, he found Vivi and Oeilvert studying two black magic tomes. With a quirked eyebrow, he asked what was going on, and was informed that they were seeking a means of removing radiation safely. That wasn't a terrible idea...

He went over to the small study group and knealt down, loking over their shoulders.

"I was once a student of the Black Mage Academy. Perhaps I could be of some help?" he suggested, but didn't wait for an answer before scrutinizing yet further...

[The Alexandrian Army]

"Already on that, Sir!" called Ellis into the intercom, which was true. The moment they heard she ordered half the navigation team to go over all security footage immediately.

"Nothing yet...a lot of Heartless, some darkness...this is when Lady Abigail left with Lady Ellin..."

A pause.

"They came back, everything was fine...but--!! What on Gaia!?"

Several gasps would be heard coinciding with Ellis' own.

"The Fallen was here? And Lady Lilith, too! I can't see much, but...too much darkness. What is going on down there, anyway? Sai, I'm gonna have some of the soldiers clean up the footage and we'll send it down soon."

"I believe that your knowledge would be most beneficial to us right now," he said to Sai offhandedly while reading off some spell ingredients.

"I truly wish Lady Agrias would have come to me before running off into such a dangerous field...I had the perfect spell for defending this kind of damage...it was an Endure Elements incantation, and believe it could have saved us a great deal of stress..."

"It doesn't seem like I've got many beneficial spells that could help..." said the distraught Vivi, who slumped.

[Sai]

Sai had to split his attention three ways. He was concerned for Daphne, the way she'd been behaving rather like himself. Maybe it was imitation, even if flattery was lost on him, but in this setting, things like this always tended more sinister. Also, he had to focus on the spellbooks, trying to find an answer to their dilemna. Lastly, there was the intercom. Conversation from the bridge was sporatic, but necessary to figure out what they needed to know.

Then there was that other concern.

Nevermind. It wasn't important right now. Now was time to deal with one matter at a time, starting with the immediates. "Ellis, when you go to analyze those images, try an ultraviolet filter. The spectrum beyond our usual range of sight may as of yet shed some light on the matter. Also, that is not Lilith..."

He paused a moment, picking up Vivi's book to take a closer look after the smaller mage seemed to give up.

"Vampires cast no reflection, yes? This is because duplicated imagery relies on the reflection of light off a secondary source. Our eyes can see her because they are reacting to a primary source. If that is the case, then a camera should not be able to see her any more than a mirror can," he explained. "Try analyzing each frame individually. Illusion spells often fail for fractions-of-a-second at a time when combined with other spells for motion."

A thought suddenly struck Sai. "Keep me informed," he finished, his tone never wavering from conversational, sounding very much like someone who was a million miles from the event. As he dismissed one concern, he now addressed another.

"Vivi, you said you have no spells that can reverse status, but that is individually..." Sai said, handing the book back before looking to Oeilvert. "What if the spells were combined? I know this is traditionally viewed as a very dangerous thing, but I have seen spells combined from a single caster successfully back on my home world. Perhaps two casters could synchronize their efforts? What effect might be produced then?" Sai asked.

If what he was hypothesizing was correct, they might be able to create a sort of dualcast effect if they chose the right combination of spells to use. Sai quickly produced a piece of apper and a pen, which he used to quickly write down his spells as well. "These are what I can offer..."