TITAL 2: Why did It Take Me So Long To Do This?

The Russian turned abruptly and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Well, yes, that would be a good idea."

"Definitely!" Athez replies as his chains extend out, wrap themselves around the remaining wood and lift them into the air. He then turns and starts running back towards the swings, calling over his shoulder, "Race you!"

"Whoa!" Sora found himself being bitten by the creature, and while Aero repelled the attack, it also sent Sora flying backwards as its power was drained. Sora stood back up. "Alright. If that's how you want to play, I think I'll change the game a little bit." There was a flash, and Sora suddenly stood in Valor Form.

<Really, Nebula? C'mon... Wasn't that a bit much? I mean, having Rex show up to help either one of 'em sure... But, changing the battle entirely? Wasn't exactly what I had in plan...>

Minato continued to struggle against the darkness, "I won't submit!" He gave the hooded girl a friendly smile, "There are people here that I have to protect!"

You protect that orphan, that child? Foolish hero. She is mine, body and soul. She has already submitted to madness.

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The creature roared in anger, the ethereal flames of its being diverging and running out to attack Sora and Rexial as seperate wolve-like entities.

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Junior took off after the electric manipulator, "Not so fast!" He growled trying to catch up with the young man.

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Fia nodded and drew her broadsword, she slashed it upwards through the air cutting a swath of fire that turned into a doorway, "Don't worry, the flames won't burn you." She explained as she stepped into the pathway.

The Russian lowered his hand and shrugged, what did he have to lose? He followed after her, right into the fire.

<Rexial appeared beside Minato, so unless you're just forcing a location change, that's kinda weird.>

Sora ran straight at the other wolf, beginning a torrent of slashes, ending with a spin like a helicopter and slamming his Keyblades into the ground to create a line of eruptions at it. With that, he reverted and began casting Firaga spells, shooting fireballs at it. "Well, that was fun. Would you like to try again?"

<I was, I sort of wanted Minato to deal with the Big Bad Wolf on the inside alone while they fought the outer portion.>

The wolf howled ferociously and a wall of fire erupted from the earth tearing through the ground at them at high speed.

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Minato groaned, "You have no right to posess her demon. She is her own person. Did she wish for the doubtless pain you have brought her?"

A child asked for a father, a protector. I granted her wish. Though she never thought that her protector would have his uses for her. The demon laughed heartily, its inky aura pouring up Minato's form, further attempting to swallow him.

Sora sidestepped. "Okay, if that's how you want to do it, I'll go for it." He entered his Wisdom Form and glided <Assuming that's a word> away, beginning to fire energy shots from the tip of his Keyblade at the beast.

"Be less slow!" Athez retorted as he neared where Mimi and Jeff were waiting.

<*Sigh* Okay, maybe it WAS a bit much. Easy fix, though. Now, how to fix it without making it look like a cop-out... This is what happens when I try to be clever. Never quite works out...>


Rexial glanced at where he sensed Minato, realizing that he was staring at some kind of beast. "Uhhh... the hell? What am I doing on top of this- Woah!" He abandoned his throne and leapt off, landing behind and several yards to the left of Sora. "Dammit, so much for tha-AH!" He dived out of the way of his own throne as th beast shifted, causing it to slide off and nearly crush the boy.

"Motherfffff-! I try to make an entrance, and this is what I get! Gah, I should just stick to hacking and slashing... Or, rather, I would, but the point of that was to make it so that I could, and it failed. Long story short, I'm not solid enough to hurt this thing. Sora, you're on your own. I'm going back out to take care of the rest of the soldiers."

A screen materialized next to him, Sukiru's besmused visage appearing on it. "As it happens, attacking an army with columns is not the most effective strategy. I could do something different, but if I don't have to, I'm not going to bother."

"Lazy ass."

"You didn't have anything better to do, anyway. When you see Samuel, ask him what the demon Minato is fighting has to do with anything."

And with that brief exchange, the screen flickered out, leaving Rexial to groan in annoyance.

"Uuuuuuugh! Sora, I hate to do this to you, but you can handle this guy by yourself, right? I mean, I CAN fight it, but only with Infinity. Which is the gun I gave, and can't aim for crap. Y-you understand, right?" He nervously backed away.

Sora continued firing at the wolf-like beast, but replied, "Yeah, I getcha. Gotta know your limits, I guess. No worries, I got it covered!" With that, he began distributing his fire between the two.

The demon howled again releasing more of the smaller wolf demons trying to overwhelm Sora.

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Junior grimaced as he pushed his demon to pick up speed, keeping up with Athez as they reached the swingset. Mimi had returned to her human self, bandaged hands had replaced her calls and her skin was a human tone now.

Throwing his wood down in a pile, Athez grinned at Junior and told him, "Beat you. Now then, we have the wood here, but we probably need something to light it."

Rexial stopped his retreat, pulling out his gun. "...I figure, if there's so many of them, I'm bound to hit one of 'em." He began to take shots the the enemies, hoping to lure a few of them out to where he was solid enough to hit them with the weapon he was actually good at using.

Mimi would have laughed if she wasn't mute. She waited for Junior to make a small teepee with some of the wood then produced a lit match from nowhere dropping it on the small pile set aside to be the actual fire. Instantly, the stack lit as she smiled happily before moving back to her swing.

Junior set about stacking the rest of the firewood into neat pile as the group was enveloped in an awkward silence as the fire cracked with heat and warmth.

Sora continued his pattern of fire, sliding all over the place, never in more than one position for more than half of a second. The best way to fight a large group from a short distance with long-range fire was to keep moving.

"Come on, you little b****es, take the bait... come over here so I can rip out your lungs..." Rexial muttered as he continued to shoot at them, praying that he didn't hit Sora. Not that it would seriously damage the guy, but he'd probably get a good whack on the head for it. The shots probably stung like hell.

"So," Athez asked as he sat down a foot above the ground, "How long do you think it will take for Jack to wake up?"

Instead of luring some of the wolves away, more of them were spawned from the demon's inky blackness rushing at Rexial.

Meanwhile, the creatures attacking Sora didn't give up their pursuit as the core demon <Get it now?> launched a blast of fiery breath at the keyblader.

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Minato glared at the encroaching darkness," I will not submit to the darkness. Just like her, I had no parents. True, I yearned for figures in my lie to depend on, to think of as leaders. Instead they betrayed me." Minato seemed to glow with power.

"So, I forged my own path." Messiah tore free from Minato opressing the deep darkness around him and the younger girl, "I'll lend my hand." He reached out to the girl with the chainsaw, "If you want to fight. Forge your own path. Don't let the demons of hate and hurt lead you." He smiled invitingly as Messiah pushed the wolf away from the girl.

What?! Impossible!!!

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Jeff was the one to speak up this time, "Mimi just checked on him while you were gone. He should be awake by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? You mean we'll have to spend the night out here in the limbo?" Junior asked a little nervous about the proposition.

"It wouldn't be the first time Mimi and I have. You'll be fine. All three of you can fend off anything that attacks anyways." Jeff said optimistically.

"But what could we do to entertain ourselves while we wait?" Athez asks as he slowly tips and floats upside down.

<Ah, right. It was just a little more... subtle... than Sammy. "Core Demon this, Core Demon that, CoreDemon everywhere, and I don't care about how stupid it sounds mashed together!" And I was worried that it was unrelated, and would derail the storyline. You never know, it could happen.>

Rexial immediately pounced on them, slashing at their necks with Drakus. "Ugh, so much for that plan. At least I'm not bored..."

Sora Quickstepped to the side. "Whoa," he said, "I'll admit that was kinda surprising, but...really, it's just fire." The entire time, he hadn't stopped shooting at the smaller wolves, even taking a few shots at the Core Demon itself.

<Nope, it's just the distraction you called for.>

A voice behind Rexial laughed, "Tch, what a moron." The voice seemed disturbingly familiar as Rexial suddenly felt... lighter.

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The girl stood up, addressing the inky darkness around them as the sword in her hand dissappeared, "Leave..."

The darkness around them backed away as the wolf demon howled.

"Me!"

The young girl glared at the darkness daring it to approach her again.

"ALONE!" Her small voice rang out and the darkness was swept away, leaving them standing on a glass platform. On it was depicted a picture of Little Red Riding Hood. The girl herself seemed to reflect the image in the portrait.

"Thank you." She whispered timidly to Minato.

Then, she collapsed.

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The darkness of the demon began to slowly dissipate as Rexial and Sora fought off the last of their foes.

As the darkness cleared, Minato appeared in the center holding the girl from collapsing to the ground.

He laughed, "Looks like you don't have to actually KILL the one possessed by a core demon. Thanks for that, Sammy." He said lividly.

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Junior shrugged for a moment when a small noise was heard. He looked up and Mimi was sitting at a poker table, looking at him from underneath a dealer's visor as she patiently shuffled cards.

"I have no idea how she does that... But, it's wicked cool." The young reaper laughed as he sat at the table.

The duo appeared in the streets of TWTNW, "Wow, I didn't know this place still had people." Fia admitted as she closed the portal behind them.

The demon suppressed, Sora reverted. "So, do you know this girl? Or is she just someone we had to save?"