((yes bitch, I'm attacking you now.))

The eerie storm grew from the north, and the people in Twilight Town knew tonight would be a dark, dark night. Little did they know that they were about to be under fire by a most sinister and brutalic force, unfeeling to their silly lives and unsympathetic to their pleas of mercy while they slaughtered every loved one, every hope, and every dream they ever had.
Twilight Town was under attack by the forces of the World that Never Was...and there was little they could do about it. Even now, the Old Mansion was under attack by the best of the Nobodies which could be gathered. The leader, was Xemnas.
And while the wind slowly gathered up speed, while the thunder howled and the lightning flashed, the hoary bodies of the assailants could be seen, slithering, crawling, sliding towards their unsuspecting victims. The cold rain stung like insects across the icy ground, as the twilight sun slowly sank behind the emerald, purple, black hills. The last puff of smoke came from the final train of the day, the people left their stations, their work, their long days of arduousness, to head for a suspected peaceful night of slumber, undisturbed...supposedbly.

But they knew nothing of the bloodthirsty, hollow, empty wretches of the universe which decended like hellish angels of Satan across their lands. Down the cobblestone, down the cold rock, in every ally and nook and cranny, into the sewers they went, waiting, watching, looking without eyes for the sign for the slaughter, cruel and brutal and horrid, to finally begin.

The Superior, his raven cloak fluttering like a haunt taking into the wing, stalked the grassy forest, his ego looming far above the pines and the towering clouds which rumbled with the drumlike sounds of warrish nightmares. His silvery locks flowed like strange water across his tanned visage, his amber pupils scanning the soon to be lifeless area for any hostiles. But it was late. There would be none; and Xemnas knew as much. He'd been watching the people of Twilight Town for many months now, plotting and planning this attack when he heard Arianne Rose had become mayor of this world.
His thick lips smiled at the pain and sorrow he would cause her already faint and weak heart. She would break under his slow and agonizing torture, until she begged for him to finally end her suffering with a blow from his crimson Aerial Blades.
Tonight, he was going to kill that blasted Guardian. There would be little opposition keeping him from running this place over much like the Heartless in Hollow Bastion. There would be a new kind of sinisterness to his name when it was uttered in the streets of any world. Already, they were afraid yes....but utter petrification was what he aimed for....the sheer chilling shock of his entering into the battle, much like Morpheus.

And he would succeed. The Sorcerer Nobodies, the Beserkers and the Gamblers and the Dancers and the Dragoons, the Dusks and Creepers....all were silently reading his beaming face. They knew.

It was time.



And at an instant, they struck. Every home. Every shop. Every single being in the world. Simletaniously. In perfect, almost frightening unison. The sinking feeling of death creeped over several homes, all at that moment. In that very second, lives were errupted and destroyed, warped and corrupted. Babies screamed, women cried out, children cried, and men gasped in horror as the emotionless beasts slaughtered, brutally, without so much as a second thought, loved ones. Mothers. Daughters. Sons. Fathers. Uncles. Aunts. Grandparents. Dear Friends. Hated Enemies. Heros, and thieves, and teachers and students and loners and friendly people. Gone.

Xehanort approached the Old Mansion. The alarms weren't going off yet. The computer had been disabled.
"Do it now," said he, with the most sinister and vicious of smiles a Nobody could ever muster. (There have been doozies, but this blew them all behind.)

And so they did. All the Nobodies left, who had come with Xemnas, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, stormed into the Old Mansion. Through windows. Through doors. Through the nooks and cracks of the wood, the plaster, the tiles. Into bedrooms, into dining rooms, into training rooms, weaponary, libraries, old pod chambers, rooms long forgotten. Rooms once holding the greatest mind in the worlds.
Now it was home to the most powerful water controller in the worlds....and she was under attack without so much as knowing so.

((>:3 bwa ha ha ha.))

((>.> I didn't think you had the GUTS. You do realize I'm going to kick your ass, right?))

The night was slowly gathering in dark clouds, the wind gusting, billowing, roaring like some great beast. The thunder boomed, the lightning flashed, but still the people of Twilight town slept in the subtle peaceful sleep which they'd been more than entitled to. They worked hard....and they deserved such rest. The world was blanketed in a cover of raven black night, and shimmering bleached stars under the cover of stormy clouds. All was quiet, other than the weather, which in the deep sleep which all were bundled in, mattered nothing at all.
But someone was, indeed, awake. That someone was Arianne Rose.

Since the night her fiance had been murdered, Rose had been a changed person. She did not sleep. She hardly ate. Never more did she practice the sword, no more did she fence, did she read for leisure, and it was rare a moment where she laughed with true sincerity. Her life had been a momentous swirl of pain, suffering, and torture since Jeremi and Analie had been taken away. No more did she even feel the love she once did. The friendships she had were hollow to her emotions, and words she said with feeling had no such thing behind them.
In short, she was empty, and it killed her, eating away at her slowly. She knew she had to become the person she was before that day....but how, when so much tragedy had happened? Pinky knew she was not the same person who had been sent here before, to balance the worlds.

Then, suddenly, there was a scream in the night which was like no other. It was unlike anything a mortal could ever truly hear in their ears, and so horrifying it was, that a chill, a shock, flew down the spines of every man, woman, and child, down every spirit, down the waves and waves of souls who heard it. It was so much like the scream of a human, but it was far worse.
Arianne had heard many screams in her lifetime, but none so eerie as this. She was a brave young woman, and hardly afraid of much, but this sent so many horrors running down her very soul that it made her panic a little. The sound grew in anguish, and it filled the night sky and spread across the town, into the empty fields, and even further, where Yen Sid woke with a start to the sound of a shriek so terrible that the whole world trembled with the utterence. A hundred small children answered the cry with shouts of their own, and some hid under their covers, while their parents, dizzy with fear, ran down to check their younglings.

But Rose knew that sound. She'd heard it many times. But this one....was worse. Much worse. Someone was suffering.
No....not someone. People.
Lots of people.

"I've heard that scream before," the Guardian said softly, "That is the sound my heart made when my loved ones were taken from me. It is the sound it makes every single night of my miserable night...and it has grown in volume. The suffering of many can only mean...an act of war."

And surely enough, there were Nobodies in her room. Drawing her Admiral Keyblade with the speed of lightning, she furrowed her brow with rage, and her teeth gnashed against the opposite row in such anger that it made a horrid snapping sound.
"XEMNAS."

There were more screams now, filling the air with their horrible, terrible, sickening tunes, all out of such and clashing against one another with such fury and anguish that it made her sick listening. Tears lept at her eyes. The girl felt her heart breaking in so many millions of ways. The daughter. The son. The mother. The father. The dear friend. All gone. In an instant.
The night was filled with such pain. The cold, wet, icy drops fell to the ground, a mourning sky for the mourning, crying people of Twilight Town.

In a maniacal rage, Arianne rose, and with the speed of Jet Enduro, cut through each and every single Nobody without so much as a second thought.
She flew down the stairs, putting every ounce of her energy into getting to the Main Control Terminal before they all died. The girl threw her weapon wildly, slaughtering, maiming everything and anything in her path that was an enemy. Nothing was going to live this time if it was an attacker.
Finally, throwing a Berserker out of her path with titan-like power, she kicked down the doors and slammed her palm on the red button on the computer panel.
The sirens flared. People, Guardians, Mages, Swords, Shields, woke with a start.

NOW things would get interesting. But Pinky wasn't done. She was going to destroy Xemnas....and he would haunt her no more.
"XEMNAS!" She shrieked, with such fury that it made anybody who truly knew her very afraid, for they hardly saw her in such a way, "I WILL NOT REST UNTIL YOUR CORPSE IS LYING MOTIONLESS ON THIS FORESAKEN GROUND!"

((<,< run away now, and I won't chase you.))

((No, you'll WISH you could, after this. We're ending this little character feud.))

Xehanort grinned, almost genuinely, when the roar of the Guardian mingled with the sirens of the Old Mansion's alarm, signalling the Guardians of Restoration and the Twilight Town malitia to their already under siege home, to awake to the terror and bloodshed which slowly consumed their world. This would be one of the most epic battles to ever occur, and he knew it to be true. This was their destiny; to dance to the melody of death, fighting in a dance of battle, and destroying one another with all they had to give.

The wind picked up more, the Nobodies on full throttle, maiming anything they saw that wasn't one of their own. Windows crashed open, crimson pools and rivers flowed down the cobblestone, down the streets, down into the very heart of the city. The clocktower struck the dismal tune of midnight, as if mourning itself for the loss of its fair people. The Guardians of Restoration and the Twilight Militia would soon herald to the cries of the people, Xemnas was sure of this, for he knew Rose's way of organization and knew her patterns well. But he, he had come prepared. All of his forces, every available creature in the realm of twilight had been summoned here, to destroy what was left of this girl's precious little world.

The Superior laughed, his deep voice echoing into the wind, mocking the young woman, beckoning her to him, leading her to her inevitable defeat with his throat. With a hum that was most vicious, twin Aerial Blades flashed to light with the showering of blood red sparks, into the gloved hands of the Nobody Commander, and soon, they would cross and sear across the Water Guardian's perfect, pale flesh.

And there was nobody to save her.

"Come to me, Arianne....meet your fate, strike me down, come and mark your revenge for which you have lost! Give me your hate, and destroy me with your rage..."

Even defeated in battle, I shall still be victorious....She will not escape....even if I do not live.

((>.> You really shouldn't announce your plans in OOC.....it's not very evil. .-.))

Arianne was going to come to him alright....come right at him with a fist in his face! She was done with this pain, done with the sickening realization every night that she slept alone, without the loves of her life beside her to help and guide her. The Guardian Code was a cloud, her memories of her past seeming like that of a girl she knew so long ago now....she was nothing like what she'd used to be.
Now it would end.

Terah Gothic and Prince came down the main stairwell, both injured, one, Prince, bleeding heavily on his arm. Terah limped along the stairs, panting her her knuckles flowed with crimson blood.
"Pinky....there's....they're everywhere, even in the town. They're attacking homes, shops....I don't know what to do....
Prince held her gently, calming the exasperated Guardian of Fire down.
"Rose, we have to do something fast....we can't defend both places at once....we have act quickly to counter this."

Rose thought hard, furrowing her brow, flogging the very back of her brain with all of her might. There were attacks on all sides, from all fronts, and no backup to turn to. They could transport them the the False Twilight Town, but what good would it do if all the enemies who appeared were Nobodies? None, since every single one of them alligned under Morpheus and Xemnas.

But, activating the False Twilight Town would allow them to activate also the Tower Glyph, where Yen Sid would help them. Alas, that'd do no good against thousands of Nobodies under Xemnas. There was only so much room in the tower, and Yen Sid could only handle so many. There were the people to protect, and they could do no such thing when they were in Yen Sid's Tower.

There was absolutely no calling for backup, since the Militia and the Guardians had both been attacked as the town itself had. They too were scattered and confused. Xemnas had been wise to plan such an assault. He knew her patterns of planning. He also knew she'd have no alternative but to attack with what little forces she had remaining. There was no backup. There was nobody to turn to but herself.

The Guardian pounded the wall with her fist in rage.
"DAMN! He's blocked every counter I had....we can't defend the people alone..."
"But we have to. They're what's most important, Rose," Prince said firmly, looking at her with an eye of revenge. "You have to defeat Xemnas, Pinky, that's the only way. As they say in my homeland, 'a ship is lost at sea without its captain.'"

The Watery warrior nodded, slowly, not sure what to do with the remaining forces.
"I'll take care of the Guardians and the Militia....we'll fight those bastards off....you take care of Xemnas. Once he's run away, we can finish the rest of them. They won't be able to think clear for too long when their big man's gone."

With that said, he hoisted the bleeding Terah into his arms, cradling her, and marching triumphantly towards the Master Control Room, leaving Arianne very alone.

"Right.....Xemnas. If he wants a fight....he's going to get it," Rose muttered, picking herself into a run, flying down the trees with incredible speed considering her lack of sleep and deeply wounded morale.

I have this feeling like he was planning for me to come to him, though....

((You realized that you're trapped.....nice. I made sure I struck all at once so you couldn't call up Yen Sid.))

Finally, the girl arrived, in the clearing where he had met Roxas for the first time. His smile couldn't have been brighter, but was dim and dull in comparison to his weapons.
"So...." said the Superior, taking a stance, "Shall we fight to the death?"

He was prepared, taking the defensive, for she would attack, and he knew she would.

The girl looked at the Superior, the person she once called her friend, her ally, and chuckled. The rain was pounding harder, and the thunderclouds rolled in faster, darker, than ever before.

"No, Xemnas," said she, with a solemn smile, "We won't fight to the death....we will fight to the pain."
Slowly, she raised her hand, and pulled from the air, in a shower of glowing pyreflies, her Admiral Keyblade, and put up her shield. She was not yet to go on the offensive, which the Nobody seemed ready for. Rose was not about to fall into a trap. She'd have to change her style of fighting.

========Meanwhile=======

Prince and Terah Gothic stood in the Master Control room, the monitors buzzing and flashing with numbers and pictures and live film from the battles. Their numbers were down severely, but they'd managed to clear out the Train Station and most of the Sandlot, driving them out into the farther reaches of the town. The Militia base was finally empty, but the Old Mansion, still, was surrounded due to Xemnas being only just outside. The two expected as much from the mastermind.
"We can only hope the outside folk can push them out."

The words she said confused the Nobody, and he paused, not putting down his guard, peering at her cautiously.
"'To the pain?' I'm not quite sure I'm familiar with such a phrase, Miss Rose....you'll have to explain this to me a little further."

((We're replaying "The Princess Bride" a bit huh?))

((.....you know how much I love that book.)) x3

Arianne laughed, almost as if she wasn't quite yet facing her doom, but not entirely. She seemed unusually calm, despite the fact she felt her life was over, and that her home was being attacked, and that there was little to nothing she could do about it. There was so much pain and suffering in her....and yet she felt this surge of emptiness only a Nobody would really understand.

"To the pain....that's a phrase used by traitors, such as yourself. 'To the pain' means exactly what it says. First, I will cut off your legs, your left, and you right. You will have stubbles instead, and it won't look good, even under all that coat. Then, I will remove your hands, almost at the wrist, but you won't bleed to death....then, I will remove your eyes, and your nose, and leave nice scars all over that almost perfect, tan little face of yours."
She was getting worked up now, swinging her Keyblade like a bat, showing her foe just how serious she was at truly showing him her own suffering. Her eyes shown with malice, and the grip on her weapon was frightening, almost to the point of first blood.

"But," she continued, as if talking about how nice the day was outside rather than a form of unholy revenge, "I will leave your ears. Do you know why Xehanort? Because whenever you walk into any place with human beings on it...any place in any of the worlds, even your own, all those who see your hideous visage will scream out in terror. Children will run inside, babies will cry out in horror, women will sob; 'Dear God, what IS that thing?' And men will chase you away, and you will know TRUE lonesomeness. THAT, Xemnas....is what to the pain means. I will make you pay for every ounce of suffering you've done me....even if you draw back now, I will hunt you down with whatever people I can gather and finalize your judgement before the eyes of the Gods themselves!"

((......so......that's lovely.))

.-. Accounts got deleted....what a bummer. .....Let's keep going, shall we? ....unless you wanna run away now. >:3