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Post by ultralilly on Apr 22, 2024 0:14:25 GMT
Both Greg but moreso Laguna looked to be quite impressed with Steven's display of independence. Greg was beside himself as he was coming to grips with how Steven was growing up little by little. It almost frightened him. But this was his choice to make. If he said he had this then...well...he had this. There was nothing more to be said except... "Okay, Steven. Just be careful." he looked to Laguna who was still surprised that Steven even knew what a Heartless was let alone how to do what he just did. Did someone tell him? Wait. Greg knows...that one person who was a Guardian as well. Laguna's seen her around. And this was Greg's son. All the pieces were lining up for Laguna whose face looked both regretful and self-chastising. Of course! "Laguna?" He came back to reality to meet eyes with Greg. "Make sure he stays safe, yeah?"A single laugh came from Laguna who pulled out what looked to be a blaster of some kind whose butt-end pressed against his right shoulder. "You heard him, Greg; he's got this." He rotated his neck and his shoulders then stretched his legs. He had to limber up before sprinting into action. No cramping up now! "But sure thing!" He gave a thumbs up to Greg then he looked onward to Yui who danced about doing cartwheels to deal with the Shadows and the Soldiers who appeared. She was also making sure every Beach City resident was protected. Especially Onion who stood by and watched with deadpan eyes.  Yui smiled to the civilian, only momentarily off-put by his expression as he casually munched on some of the fries he got from the boardwalk. Yui wasn't sure if he was interested in watching or was completely oblivious to the threats. Or both. Meanwhile, the Gem had been literally handling herself well for one who had only one arm. They alternated between using their arm and their two legs. By this time, the Heartless seemed to be less interested in attacking her or Yui and were simply making for the defenseless townsfolk...until Steven's shield found its mark and gave him attention alongside Laguna. What then arose amongst the rabble was a different set of Heartless that gave the Gem and Yui a slight pause.  "Well, that's a new one!" Laguna nervously remarked. As he readied his own weapon, the new arrivals started their own attack which Yui and the Gem guarded against with a bit of trouble. Moreso Yui who yelped in surprise. "Mr. Laguna!""Agh! Yui! Could ya lay off the Mister stuff for just a sec? Makes me sound old! Moderation!" As he fired off his shot in little shots of beams, more Heartless emerged in the skies that changed his trajectory. He couldn't give Yui the covering fire she needed while these annoying things were in his lines of sight. "Steven! Just...get down there and keep folk safe!" |
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Post by DornKoon on Apr 22, 2024 8:22:03 GMT
Steven looked at his father and gave a confident nod. It was the sort of nod that showed he would be okay! There was no time like the present. He began to run towards the biggest concentration of Heartless, bashing a few Shadows along the way and sending one of the small armoured ones into a wall.
"We're going to have pizza after this!" Steven called out to Greg over his shoulder.
Even if Steven knew what a Heartless was, he did not know anything about the differences between them. Then again, they were just as different as the corrupted gems, so he decided to think of them as similar. It seemed the majority of the citizens tried to get to safety... apart from:
"Hello!" Steven greeted cheerfully, appearing just in time to block an incoming attack by one of the newer foes aimed at Yui. Clenching his fist, the shield grew slightly bigger as Steven turned to catch another attack. "You must be the friend Mr Laguna talked about. I'm Steven". Steven did his best to intercept incoming attacks, creating openings for Yui to focus less on defending and more on attacking. In a way, it was similar to how he was fighting when together with Connie.
Steven did not know how to address the mysterious Gem; maybe it was best to do that after the fight!
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Post by ultralilly on Apr 28, 2024 22:29:02 GMT
With the arrival of Steven, things seemed way much brighter. Yui alone brought a shine to the area but with STeven around, there was an incomparable shine about them. Yui beamed at Steven and grinned, returning his introduction with an equally chipper if not more so energy. "Hello, Steven! You can call me Yui!" With a flourish of her keyblade, she gracefully took a step in between the shield to cleave through a few extra Shadows. She looked very proud of herself then she looked to the mystery Gem whose attention went to Steven, mouth agape. "Realgar! This is STeven! Steven, this is Realgar! We just met 5 minutes ago! They're so awesome!" she declared with no short amount of pride welling up in her voice.
The Gem in question looked thunderstruck. Their eyes were focused on the shield. Like they had trouble believing what it was they were seeing. They snapped out of it as more Soldiers got close to them and swiped at them with her leg to easily dispatch them, sending them flying into the air and vanishing in a puff of smoke. When they acknowledged Steven, it was through a simple nod. They'd think about what they saw later.
Greg had found cover alongside Laguna who was taking pot shots at the fliers of the groups. "Your boy's doing alright there, Greg! Going in there and-" he scanned the horizon and spotted Onion amidst the chaos. "What's that civilian doing there?!"
Greg peered over his cover. "Oh geez...that's...I dunno about him. Steven knows him better."
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Post by DornKoon on Apr 29, 2024 8:35:56 GMT
"I like your name," said Steven, blocking an incoming strike and creating an opening for one of the other two to attack. " And that is Onion, he's... just Onion, he's always like that. Hey Onion! You can't just stand there; you need to take cover!" He intercepted a Soldier, bashing it into the ground, before spinning around and ramming a group of Shadows, turning them into more smoke. He was unsure if it was impressive or weird that Onion was standing around... unbothered by the monsters.
Steven did take note of the way the mysterious Gem, Realgar, was looking at him; he got the impression she had not been expecting to see him, or rather... the shield that told Steven that she must have known his Mom. But none of the Crystal Gems had ever talked about another Gem being around, much less one named Realgar.
Something else pulled Steven's attention: the weird key Yui was fighting with. He got a closer look as she danced past him to take out more of the Heartless. It felt very similar to the weapons used by the Gems, such as Pearl's spear, Amethyst's whip, and shield. But... this girl was human, right? Steven wanted to ask so many questions! "No! Not now, Steven!" He thought to himself.
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Post by ultralilly on Apr 30, 2024 19:15:03 GMT
All Onion did was turn his head slowly to where Steven was. He then looked around at the Heartless flailing about, blinked, then paused. Finally, he nodded, gave Steven a thumbs up and was fixing to take off but not before one of the newest Heartless blocked his path to which caught him off-guard. He stumbled backward as the creature took notice of his readiness to flee and capitalized on what it believed to be a weakness. Unfortunately, the lad was a bit too swift for the clad being of darkness and simply rolled under its attacks and took off running...but not before pulling off an antennae from a Shadow and running straight away from the danger.
Yui whistled. "He sure is a spray lil guy though! Eep!" The Heartless were suddenly becoming less disorganized and seemed to be unifying their efforts. More of the new Heartless decided to band together which in turn caused the aerial ones to mobilize right in front of Laguna's shot. They were purposefully blocking line of sight and creating a blockade.
"Argh! I hate these things!" Laguna bellyached as he continued to pop off shots.
"What ARE they? I know they aren't Gems and you seem to know them! Wait...are these....those things ya mentioned?"
"Eugh was hoping to avoid having to drag you all into this mess but...yeah these buggers are Heartless and they don't play nice! Dang it...we need back up!"
Yui's keyblade simply bounced off of the armor of the new arrivals and the magic she flung from its tip simply forced them back, remaining mostly unfazed. The remaining Shadows and Soldiers seemed to surround the three. "Talk about heavy metal! They're pretty tough!" Yui chipperly remarked in high spirits despite her attacks showing little signs of dealing with the threat. Realgar, however, seemed to be doing just fine with them, swing their one arm and legs which displayed her strength as a Gem. Every once in awhile, Realgar would glance to where their other arm would be . In its place was the signature gemstone all Gems used for various things. This was where Realgar's was...and seemed super on edge the more opposition their foes showed.
Steven would hear Realgar remark gruffly. "I don't...want to use it. Don't make me use it..." These words were more for herself than anyone else. In her moment of weakness, one of the bladed Heartless lashed out, striking Realgar on their arm to which they groaned in pain before backing off, now in close proximity to Yui and Steven. Darkness just seemed to swell around them with only the combined "light" of Yui and Steven keeping said darkness from encroaching any further.
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Post by Bixir on May 20, 2024 16:34:18 GMT
Just as the encroaching darkness threatened to engulf Steven and the others, an unmistakable spear of light pierced the large, armored Heartless from behind. It shrugged, stunned by the strike, then groaned as this spear lifted its impaled form up into the air. Then, with a sharp twist that was more like a slashing motion, its body was flung like an airborne bowling ball into a crowd of Soldiers and Shadows, obliterating them all, including the flung creature. Several Shadows crept forth to replace their ranks. Each of them received several kicks to the face, attacks that were almost too fast to track with the naked eye. Pearl spun her spear twice before taking a defensive stance at the head of their pack. Though she did not look back, the determination on her face was palpable. "Behind me! Stay in formation!" |
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Post by DornKoon on May 21, 2024 8:49:48 GMT
"Haha, that was pretty funny." Said Steven with a slight grin, using his shield to send a group of enemies flying. Despite how things looked, Steven kept himself in "the zone", focusing on making sure as few nasty stuff as possible reached his new friends. Still, as the darkness encroached upon their position, it became more difficult to do this reliably... he had no problem pushing enemies back, but they were quickly replaced by a new heartless.
"Come on-" Steven muttered, "where are you guys?"
He had hardly finished the thought when a very familiar weapon pierced the armoured heartless in front of them and quickly dispatched together with an impressive amount of smaller heartless. Steven had never been so happy to see Pearl, or he was always happy to see her... but this was a little special.
"Pearl!" Steven's voice mixed happiness and awe. His confidence shifted instantly upon seeing her. This was not going to be a problem at all! These things were toast! "Right!" Back to focus, Steven raised his arm to summon another shield and stayed in the formation, focusing on defending as he had been doing until that point. The boy was physically stronger than a regular teenager, effortlessly sending the heartless flying as he deflected their attacks with the shield of light. He seemed to have grown stronger when Pearl arrived, and someone observant could notice that his feet ever so slightly left the ground as if happiness was lifting him.
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Post by ultralilly on May 21, 2024 12:19:35 GMT
It was at this time that Realgar, who had been fixated on Steven's shield previously, became utterly entranced by the arrival of Pearl. That was a Pearl, alright. No doubts about it. That poise. That elegance. Yet, something was missing. A stern, almost concerned look surfaced on Realgar's features. But there would be time to worry after this threat was dealt with. They faced the oncoming darkness, not feeling the need or pressure to use...that.
Greg looked ecstatic upon Pearl's arrival whereas Laguna flinched sheepishly. Pearl. Another Guardian like himself but with thousands of years more experience than he. He too suddenly felt empowered. Though for him, it was a pavlovian response as he didn't want to look bad as a Guardian. Or get a small lecture. The momentary opening Pearl caused gave him enough room to prep an attack of his own. He casually tossed a colorful canister in the shape of a white and bulbous mascot with a pompom right into the now repaired gap Pearl had created.
He then took a shot at it and from it came an explosive force of shimmering light. This cleared out a good number of them again. Enough for Laguna to wave his arms wildly enough for Yui to see.
"Mr. Laguna! Thanks!"
"Ugh what did I just...nevermind that! Yui! Remember the fun exercises!"
Yui's eyes lit up and she beamed. She gave a thumbs up. "Friends you can rely on! Understand what you can do! No room for doubt!" she recited. This new person here looked very reliable! And strong! Yui spun her own weapon and looked to Pearl. "I trust you so I'll do as you say!"
As Yui stood at the ready, the Heartless seemed to realize who the stronger targets were and amassed the stronger versions of themselves before Pearl. As they did, Realgar boldly stepped up to stand beside Pearl. They were a much taller and broader Gem by comparison. "Never expected to see a Pearl here...let alone another Gem." they stated without tearing their gaze away from the growing threat. "I can take a heavier beating than you...anything that gets by is yours."
Without explaining further, the Gem lunged forward with a stomp and a commanding shout. As if on cue, the swath of Heartless began to bear down. Realgar held out their arm and braced herself as she faced down a few of the armored ones and a dozen of so Soldiers with Shadows in tow. With grunts of effort, she battered them down and any that got by, she would have full confidence in a Pearl's talents to take care of them. AFter all, they were sworn to protect...them.
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Post by Bixir on Oct 1, 2024 16:48:18 GMT
Amid the heat of battle, Pearl's demeanor remained severe. Though she was overjoyed to see that Steven was safe, and mildly surprised to see Laguna here, she remained focused on the battle at hand. It had been quite some time since Heartless had showed up in Beach City, and so many at that. It would explain why Laguna was here... but it did not explain the Gem. Pearl kept her feelings in check, for the time being. Once this was over, there was going to be a conversation about all of this.
Until then, the Crystal Gem steeled herself for the second round of the Heartless. This Realgar was strong, in ways that Pearl was not sure what to make of. She was ready for the Heartless that continued past her new ally and towards the rest of the group. She made several lunges with her spear, probing the defenses of the more vulnerable Heartless, if not dispatching some before they got too close. The rest of them were met with quick, broad strokes, her weapon coursing through the Shadows like a hot knife through butter.
This many Heartless here, in such variety - where was their leader?
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Post by DornKoon on Oct 3, 2024 12:24:54 GMT
Yes, Pearl was there, which meant the others could not be far away. Steven thought this as he sent another group of the tiny shadows flying. He could not say why, but summoning the shields became easier with Pearl present; it felt lighter and more durable, not to mention stronger.
He was feeling stronger.
This showed outwardly when Steven saw an opening to attack with his shield. He bashed one of the armoured foes into the pavement with such force that both the armour and pavement cracked in several places. At that moment, he felt something stirring inside him, like the flicker of a small star, and the memory of his dream flashed past his mind.
"They just keep coming," he said, shaking the vision away for the time being. "They're obsessed, like that group of ninjas from Lonely Blade III." He blocked an enemy before it could reach Yui. "If only we knew what they want, then we could lure them into a trap, like Lonely Blade did."
Were they after something here? Donuts? Or maybe ice cream? No, they did not seem the types to enjoy the finer things in life.
It sure was a mystery.
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Post by ultralilly on Oct 4, 2024 21:59:06 GMT
Just as the forces were being put into a checkmate by the combined efforts of all who fought the Heartless, a sudden drop of pressure rippled throughout the area. It was enough to elicit chills to the more human beings present. For the two Gems, however, it was a familiar old feeling. A foe of great power had made its presence known. The ocean's currents churned and opened up a whirlpool. From its depths sprang a shadowy bulk that landed right before Steven and then the mystery Steven had been curious about was nearly solved. Pearl's worries would manifest in the form of this new Heartless that stood before Steven as the other Heartless made way for it. The salt water would cascade off its form as it raised itself up. The armaments on its body adjusted up and down whilst smaller figures scuttled about upon it and joined by the smaller Heartless that jumped atop it.  Everyone from Laguna down to Realgar bore a look of astonishment just from the sheer size of it compared to the lot. Yui swung her keyblade left and right, looking ready to fight. But the large Heartless' beady yellow eyes focused on a single target alone. The cannons realigned as the Heartless loaded them....with their own selves. They then followed the eyes to match them with their target. Plain as day. Steven Greg realized and couldn't even call out due to the anxiousness that flooded his head. "Bad bad bad....!" Laguna managed to utter through grit teeth as the Heartless lifted its claws that then dug into the ground as if bracing itself. Laguna noticed this and fired off a shot at one of the embedded claws. This caused it to tilt to the side ever so slightly as the cannon launched out its Heartless-shaped projectiles that would miss Steven and lodge themselves into the ground with their outstretched sword arms. Yui took advantage of this to whack the stuck Heartless away with her keyblade and fired off a set of three small fire blasts from the tip of the keyblade that collided with the large armored Heartless. "Yeah! Take that!" she zealously declared. When the smoke cleared, it was obvious that no damage had been done to it overall as its face seemed to then armor up as the Heartless passengers scrambled once more to reload. Yui looked surprised. "Eh? That didn't work?" The large Heartless then leaned forward and charged right at Steven with rather tremendous speed. Realgar dove into the way of the charge and put her shoulder into a tackle to cause the overgrown crab to veer off course into a nearby building, causing minimal but still a bit of damage. Swarms of flying Heartless then descended upon Laguna and Greg, now occupied with the aerial threat. As the crab Heartless was recovering, the cannons were already realigning again for another volley. Yui and Realgar stood at the ready. Much like the games he had come to love would often present, Steven would realize this was....a boss fight. |
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