Winds Blown Differently

Zero walked into the room a second later, taking in each face in a glance then just walked up until he stood next to Ventus. He raised his tattooed left hand to scratch his jaw. "Seeing as I can hear you guys in the kitchen, I'm Zero Shinkō"

Gavin put his hand forward to Ven, a slight grin on his face. Though his hair was thick over his eyes, Gavin looked straight at Ven. "Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Patriarch. The name's Gavin. The other two, behind me, are Puck and Pell."

Skife extended his hand to Ven. "I am Skife, a scholar of the Keyblade, along with having my own 2 and a rather long and powerful list of magic. My studies have led me here to study the reverse-grip fighting style."

A quiet voice could be heard in Skife's ear from somewhere far away. "Nerrrrrrrrd!"

Skife turned to the direction of the voice, one of his hands crackling with lightning. "Would you like to say that again?"

"I don't think he's going to repeat it." Aleri innocently noted. He wasn't trying to be a smartass, he was just being honest.

Rexial snickered again. "What, one of the random disembodied voices calls you a nerd, and you lose it? Aheh."

"To be honest, I'd have to say that I fall into the 'nerd' category as well." The Keyblader said, shifting slightly. "My studies with magic are fairly in-depth, to the point that most mages wouldn't understand what I'm talking about unless I'm using standard-fare. I just don't call myself a scholar, as I'm more of a walking engine of magical destruction. Potentially, anyway. I tend not to cause houses to explode by proximity."

Rexial just shrugged off Aleri's explanation, as it was more directed at Skife. "Yo, so Ventus! Don't try to deny it, I can see that you're built for speed. Are we going to fight you to prove ourselves in order to stay? From what I hear, that's the norm around here."

He pounded his fist into the opposite hand, cracking his knuckles enthusiastically. "I'm gettin' pumped up! I can tell that a fight with you would be fun!"

Henry looked up. "Question: Is lethal force permitted?"

Skife turned back to Rexial, the lightning in his hand dispersing. "No, I just have problems with disembodied voices, unless it's telepathy or some other magical means." He turned back to Ventus. "I agree with Rexial, that would be fun, or amusing, at the very least." He let a smirk cross his face.

"Problems with disembodied voices?" Aleri shrugged. "I'm afraid the best thing to do is ignore them. Take it gracefully, or you'll look like even more of a fool. It is a form of attack on your social situation that hurts more when you resist. In short, take it like a man."

Rexial's expression revealed a shade of nastiness, some of the mirth disappearing. "Don't underestimate people. I think this'll be a challenge, if he doesn't outright murder us in terms of power and skill. And I dunno about you, but I LOVE a good challenge. If you think facing this guy down would be easy, you'd better get those feet back on the ground, since you're obviously more full of it than I am, and that's a bit of a hefty statement to make."

Flipping his hair in the most narcisstic fashion he could manage, Rexial's eyes widened. "Aw, man, now I'm not sure how long I can hold in my excitement! C'mon, c'mon, show me to the battlefield, I wanna get this started!"

<If this keeps up, Rex's gonna explode or something... I wouldn't put it past TITAL to allow him to explode. Then survive. Then explode AGAIN. Can you do that? Can you explode twice? Well, you sure as hell can do it on TITAL!>

<Is "Don't underestimate people" directed at Henry or Skife?>

<Mostly Skife, in response to the idea that he would find it amusing. Rexial... actually took offense to that. He does take fighting pretty seriously, and hearing somebody imply that the fight he's so excited about is going to be trivial for them is... well, easily pissing him off. The normal Rexial would've actually hit Skife and turned on him, being more on the violent side. This Rexial keeps himself more in check.>

Skife just shook his head. "Who said I was underestimating him? I just said that I will find it amusing. That I actually have a challenge. It's been a while. I mean, all the fighters that helped me perfect my fighting style were nothing. He-" He gestured towards Ventus. "-has a lot of power. It's not apparent, but it's there. This will be fun." One of his Keyblades appeared in his hand, and began getting himself ready.

Rexial's animosity did not waver. "'Amusement' isn't the right word. Say what you mean, so we don't waste time on semantics next time! Fighting an opponent who's leagues beyond you isn't something to be met with a nonchalant attitude, it's either excitement or fear! That lack of urgency is what gets a lot of idiots killed in battle, because they don't consider the fact that they'll lose."

Trying to ignore the conversation, Aleri looked around the room. Turning around quickly, his cape accidentally whipped Rexial in the back of the head, shaking him out of his aggravated state. "It's a nice place, isn't it, Rex?"

"...Yeah." He responded, his expression lightening again. "Come to think of it, we're not fighting in here, are we? I'd hate to see the place messed up by our fighting. It's also not quite as open as I'd like an arena to be. Where are we fighting, and who goes first? I mean, no offense, Ventus, but if all of us ganged up on you, it wouldn't be a fair match, even with your strength."

Ven smiled for the first time in weeks, "I like the enthusiasm. And you'd be right, I'd be a death seeker to try and test you all at the same time. That's why I'm enlisting Minato's help. It will be the two of us against the rest of you."

Minato groaned, "Usually, I'd only agree to this if it meant cash and prizes. But, I'll play along to see how the new guys perform." He summoned the Corpse Rod and hefted it to his shoulder, "Alright, Ven, lead the way."

"Of course." The man resumed his stoic facial expression and led the group towards the training room.

Zero watched them for a moment then followed them both. Did he really want to fight, even though he was probably outmatched? No, but it was better than the street, better than getting found by his old guardians.

Henry and Nowi followed first, Nowi pulling out a small green stone, and Henry a purple book. His demeanor had turned serious as he contemplated what tome to use. "Let's see," he grumbled inaudibly to himself, "Ruin has a good chance to end it quick if I need to, but I don't know about the enemy strength, so they might be able to stand up to it, and I'd like to keep some of the pages in case I need them later. Then again, Nosferatu..." He continued grumbling.

"...Henry, quit it! Your grumbling's making me nervous!"

"Sorry! Just strategizing."

Skife followed next, silently strategising on how to beat his soon to be opponents. He muttered a few enchantments to himself, buffing himself up a littile bit.


[Skife: Protect, Shell]

Aleri and Rexial followed, stretching their limbs as they went.

"Now, Rex, let's try to coordinate our attacks as a team with everybody. Mr. Belmont may have excellent agility, and Mr. Arisato may have unbelievable power, but if we all worked together, I'm sure we could-"

"Ha! You think we can all act as a team? We only just met these other guys, how do you expect that to work out? Let's just do what we do, and smash 'em!" Rexial laughed, dismissing Aleri's suggestion.

He seemed a bit put out, shaking his head. "If you won't work with me on this one, then I guess we'll have to do things the normal way... But when the wind blows the other way, you'll regret ignoring the power of teamwork."

If we all worked together, things would work out just fine. Afterall, when two fighters achieve a 300% rate of synchronization, they can pull off combination attacks that boggle the mind. With all of us acting independantly, I won't be surprised if we all got in each other's way... but if we all perfectly cooperated, I can't even imagine the kind of destructive force we would unleash.

Skife stopped, drifting through the line until he got to Aleri. "I heard what you said, and you're right. Sure, you or I may be able to take one of them on our own, but for survivability's sake, working together is a better idea." He pulled out a vial, filled with a yellowish liquid, and passed it to Aleri. "Take this. If you're the magic user you say you are, then you should know what it is." Skife walked forward, back to his position behind Henry and Nowi.

"I don't think that using any items is a good idea." Aleri responded,even though he knew Skife was unlikely to hear him. "If we use items, then that gives them liscense to use items, as well... and I believe that it will be rather pointless to be able to recharge our health and magic if they can do it, too. All they would do is drag the battle out."

Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling. "Maybe you're right, Rexial. We don't understand one another well enough to pull anything off. But we can't just ignore each other and try to do things on our own..."

Rexial cracked his neck, then shook his arms to loosen up. "If you really think so, then I guess we can try to work together. You're my friend, and I don't want to screw us both over because I didn't listen to you."

[Aleri - Rexial Sync Rate went up!]
[Sync: 50%]

[Info: Sync Rates]
[When the Sync Rate of two fighters reaches 100%, they begin to think the exact same way. However, this makes them use only the parts of their minds that are the same, which limits their destructive potential. Increasing from there, they begin to use more of their own potential, until they reach 200%, at which they have access to all of their own power while synchronized with the other. But it continues to increase from there, as they begin to use the resources of the OTHER person's mind. At 300%, both fighters are in such perfect harmony that they can use all of their own potential, as well as the other person's. It is undeniably useful, but tends to b rare.]

[For example, if Aleri and Rexial reach 100%, they can pull off combo attacks that build off of their skill in swordplay. At 200%, they can perform combination attacks that involve Rexial boxing in the enemy while Aleri bombards them with magic. At 300%, they use attacks that combine their power fully, with Aleri firing off powerful spells, Rexial deflecting them at the enemy an multiplying the damage output, or the two of them just mercilessly tearing through enemies without leaving gaps in their offense or defense. All in all, an impressive display.]

[Aleri and Rexial, both being effectively one person, and using Light, they harmonize easily. To reach 100% is fairly common for them.]

[In short, they can really show their enemies the real superpower of teamwork!]

*The Info Bar is promptly shot for the reference.*

<*keeps shooting the Info Bar*>

Skife, oblivious to the goingson behind him, kept working on his strategy.

Gavin lets his hand drop to his side, and calmly walks along with the others, Puck and Pell following just behind. "The three of us can sync up pretty well on our own... but I'm sure we can make do for the rest of you, so long as no one is playing the glory hog," Puck comments.

<Zelda, don't be alarmed, but one of your characters you inadvertedly named after me...>

Skife finished strategising, and re-cast Protect and Shell on himself.

Henry cackled. "Don't worry, I won't get in the way. I'm a Dark Mage, if I get in the way, it'd cause a major CAWtastrophe."

<O.o.O.o.O.o Wha-? How?!>

Gavin clenched his cane tightly in his hand. "You know, I love listening to puns. I really do. But I'm going to ask you to stop from making simple one word puns. Nothing personal, they just annoy me."