Reaper by the Dozen [Neku; Invite]

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Slowly, this was turning into a contest of showing off who could dispatch the creatures quicker and more stylish. While the situation was dire, they were both evidently skilled enough for the task. Staring into the darkness with a smirk, Neku anxiously waited for what the evil aura would spit out next for them to defeat in an instant. Neku wasn't sure why but he could almost feel the irritation of the enemy. Out came a Large Body heartless and two Soldier heartless from the shaded mist. Neku had never seen such a creature before, looking as though it could eat him in one bite. Once again, his weird need to show off to Lightning propelled him forward. "I'm sick of going easy on these vermin."

With but a few feet between him and the Large Body heartless, Neku lifted off in the ground in a well elevated jump to land a kick against the creature. The second his foot landed, he was propelled back in a most embarrassing blunder. The kick had no effect on the heartless except to make his plump belly vibrate as if mocking Neku's ineffective attack. The cold hard ground was all that greeted him, having not expected an actual strength from the oversized enemy. In Neku's moment of embarrassment and reflection, the Soldier heartless strolled right past him, both making their way up to Lightning. Neku's fist balled up. Not only did I just fail in front of her but now she has to deal with two heartless because of my incompetence?

Rising from his previous fall, Neku began to focus for his next attack. The move he was preparing for, Lightning Anger, took a moment to charge but the foe that mocked Neku so didn't seem to move as if to see what Neku was preparing next. This had changed from a fight to a personal vendetta in an instant. Redeeming himself was the top priority now. Looking back, Neku wondered if leaving Lightning with two out of three of the enemies was rude. He brushed away the notion and continued to prepare his attack. While preparing, a thought struck him. He was doing nothing to further his search for his friends. It seemed as though they were getting further and further away. If Rhyme and Beat were together, it would put him more at ease but the chances of him being the only one to be separated were slim.

Neku glanced up at the monster with a grin, relishing what would be an amazing spectacle of strength. Though this attack was more suited for situations when you were surrounded, this was the only option besides his trump card, and that wouldn't be going to into effect just yet. The few seconds of charging felt that like that of an eternity.

468 | Neku Sakuraba, @lightning | notes: Pride is a foolish ally. (Cooldowns: Shiro, 2. Fresh Line, 3) (Booting: Lightning Anger, 1)

❖ nox ❖

[Deleted]

DATA TAGS. @darts23~! WORDS. 551 NOTES. *Used Tornado; Midst the storm, there was a place of peace.

to the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim. THIS IS WAR Lightning’s patience with the Heartless was short, and it seemed to grow ever shorter with each time they made contact. There was one factor, though, that kept Lightning fighting with a level head. As she stood from her Blitz maneuver and held out the Overture she stood to Neku’s defence. Unlike most who fought their lives through this world Lightning was the sort of person who was willing to stand by you to the end. though she held no familiarity with you as an individual, she had grown up caring for others around her. Sometimes she was a bit cool and hard to understand, but in all her time alive, in all these centuries that had come to pass: the former Valkyrie has never saw reason or good in abandoning another person for her own self worth. Even when it had been for the betterment of that individual, she was taught a harsh lesson. To abandon them is like sacrificing them to death. She may have been a Reaper of Souls, but she was not a reaper of life. She would not be responsible for the end of another person if it was not the direct cause of self-defense. As soon as two of the spawn were eliminated, three more appeared in their place. The warrior’s annoyance was mounting. What was the point of having the power of a Reaper if such beasts could not learn their place? They were as persistent as Imps, and almost twice as annoying as those chittering daemon. Lightning resettled her grip over her blade’s hilt, blue eyes narrowing at the largest of the three. Neku had taken it upon himself to fight the heaviest beast, but that came with a surprising result. Bounding off its belly like a spring Light felt it to be a ridiculous entity. She supposed that fat had to have its own use, if a shadow could even have fat! It seemed the boy’s pride was caught as he was thrown off his opponent unexpectedly. While Neku occupied himself with the Large Bodied Heartless, Light was left to face the Soldiers. How ironic is was that a former soldier would have to face the grunts of the Heartless world. Whatever masters these beings served it was irrelevant in the eyes of the reaper. None would stand in her way. The warrior charged as the dancing soldiers leapt toward their opponent. Overture rang as it was cut across the air. One of the soldiers were caught in the blade’s arch, but the second just narrowly avoided it before releasing a spinning kick into the former Valkyrie’s side. Lightning grunted and stumbled forward, but quickly spun around to face it, the Overture being pulled in a heavy overcutting slice. Both soldiers left defeated, which put the soldier of god in the forefront of victory. But they would not meet peace until the last was slain. It looked as if Neku was charging up his spell, preparing to strike. The goddess held out her hands, her shield and weapon vanishing from her hold. She held out, the winds around the pair picking up suddenly. “Back to the Chaos!” The warrior called out as her Tornado spell surrounded the Heartless, stumbling it as he made move to charge the boy who was preparing his spell.

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Neku smirked as his attack became ready. The cold hard facts were that this monsters stomach would most likely eat this attack but any defense can be broken with enough offense, right? Taking a glance back, it was of no surprise to Neku that only Lightning stood there. Not even a trace remained of the opposing foes. If he hadn't known Lightning's strength, it would have been a bit more difficult to take in the image before him. "I hate to admit it but I think I found a new role model."

It wasn't like Neku to shout the names of his attacks aloud but the little boy in him just couldn't resist. With a huge breath, Neku shouted the words, "Lightning Ang...." ,but alas, his words were cut short with the timely departure of the Heartless into the air being swept away by Lightning's Tornado. Halting the attack, Neku gained his balance, fighting the persuasive winds of the Tornado. When all calmed, there was not a Heartless in sight. He looked back at Lightning and gave a smile. The Darkness had no choice but to give up at this point. Every attempt towards them was thwarted in an instant, except for this most recent blunder.

The sound of scraping metal rustled about in the Darkness. The curve on Neku's face receded as he turned around, realizing that he was but a few feet from the wall of Darkness. A scythe with a golden ring slowly escaped from the wall of black, with a hand attached to it's handle. The creature that had been birthed by the Darkness peered down at Neku. For but a split second, time stood still. Neku didn't recall how to breath. The ominous feeling of the power of such an enemy was enough to paralyze him. He had faced Reaper's before but not in this context. The very stars he marveled at before seemed dim in this situation. In his mind, he was screaming at his legs to move but on the outside he was but a statue, doomed for whatever fate awaited him.

The scythe began it's motion forward, inevitably swinging towards Neku. The only thing he could manage was to close his eyes in preparation for when the weapon made contact. A sharp pain etched it's way into Neku's soul as he felt his feet leaving the ground. Opening his eyes once more, he saw the creature getting farther away as he sailed back from where he came. Neku knew without looking that he was bleeding but laying eyes on the wound would only increase the shock. In his final moments in the air, Neku turned just enough to see that Lightning was in the direction he was flying. How many times must I look weak? Avoiding her would have been preferred but in his current condition, that wasn't an option. Closing his eyes once more, he prepared for impact. 

487 | Neku Sakuraba, @lightning | notes: Warriors know not of shock. (Cooldowns: Shiro, 1. Fresh Line, 2)

❖ nox ❖

[Deleted]

DATA TAGS. @darts23~! WORDS. 743 NOTES. *Used Overclock, Launch, Smite; At the expense of my time, I will make sure theirs goes on.

to the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim. THIS IS WAR With her wind spell dying down the Valkyrie would look to see that the Heartless had been obliterated. Much of her magic was as old as time itself. Even one casting would easily mark a fiend for oblivion. But she was not without her limit to repeated castings. These ancient spells held a great power and with it would drain the user considerably. Though Lightning’s own manapools were nigh inexhaustible, she was still bound by the time of the world, and a spell like that could not be conjured in rapid succession. When her spell ended the Heartless would have too been blown away by the swirling winds as they dissipated. The world fell into a spiral of silence that was only pierced by her own, soft panting. Lightning felt a chill crawl down her spine as the Darkness that already choked the world with an inescapable presence began to thicken, as if in retaliation to their successive victories. Lightning tried to focus on any and all movement. She did not move from her position, sticking close to the boy. “Something’s coming.” But what exactly she could not be sure. This was the same exact sensation she felt when the Chaos was closing in. The air became thick and difficult to breathe. The chill of the shadows running across any bare flesh would cause bumps to rise along the skin, but not from cold: instead from the terror wrought by the pure destruction that the worlds were created from. Spinning faster and faster, like warps of time, before the chaos would collapse in on itself and summon your doom. Even now Lightning could hear it as the energies clashed and ground against each other. Forcefully pounding, these cogs of fate. Nothing would stop the inevitable. The only question is: whose inevitability did it belong to? Had god reached his hand through time and space to retrieve the errant Reaper, or was it Neku’s time and was it beyond her control? Time. That was what she held control over, above all else. She focused her body, fingers spreading out as she dipped her digits into time. She reached her hand inside of the nothingness of the Crux and used her power to speed up her time. She Overclocked. There she could see it, hovering over Neku. The beast was enormous. His bone-white face and patchwork body was a walking nightmare, though floating in this case. The pendulum-like blade it carried was the length, and a bit more, of its own body. The woman moved to grab the boy. Though all around her time seemed to slow to a near halt, she had merely sped up her own time, pushing her existence to the brink. She would attempt to pull the boy from the path of the blade before summoning her own sword and shield. She kicked off the ground and charged the Reaper as he swung its blade out toward her. With her time warped her speed had all but exceeded theories of barriers. She threw herself toward the Reaper and used the Overture to Launch it into the air before spinning around and sending it to the ground to Smite it. She landed as her time began to restore itself. To those outside the Overclock it would only appear as if Lightning had stepped back, but when everything caught up, the Reaper took a hefty break of damage, but this only worked to enrage it. Spinning its scythe about it would summon three, smaller willow o’wisps and start to cast a strange spell on itself which alters its appearance. It had cursed itself to become an Undead classed monsters, which would increase the difficulty of defeating it. After all you could not kill what was already dead… Lightning had to cease her forward charge though. After an Overclock her body was forced to catch up with the time she had spent in the matter of seconds. It would push her body to its limit, thus slicing her stamina to nearly zero. It would take a large majority of the Eradia she kept excess for use in her own Time Magic. Now that it was nearly all spent her body had to recover and switch to using its own power, but it would take her a moment regardless. She held up her shield, standing in front of Neku. She was more than willing to protect the boy, even if he was a perfect stranger.

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Neku wondered what the impact would do to him but there was no use in stressing what he couldn't change. He would have his answer soon. Contact with the ground was taking longer than expected. Opening one eye, Neku took in what seemed to be the past? The wound was gone and he was standing upright. In front of him, stood Lightning with her shield upfront. The sudden change of events made Neku nearly lose his balance. Grabbing Lightning's shoulder, he regained his footing. "Am I..going crazy?" The monster seemed to have taken some damage but when? It felt as is he had missed half the battle. If this is her doing, I have to thank her for saving my life.


"Well, no use in squandering this moment." With Lightning Anger still booted up, Neku ran around Lightning and up to the Reaper. It was time to redeem himself. Propelling himself off the ground with all his might, Neku released his Lightning Anger in an extravagant spin-slash with at least four rotations. The pin glowed a warm yellow as he used it. The monster seemed to be knocked back a bit but Neku wasn't finished. Taking advantage of his position in the air, Neku used Shiro to slash downward onto the beast. With a thud, Neku hit the ground. In retaliation to his efforts, the Undead Reaper swung it's scythe down at Neku but it wouldn't work twice. With a roll to the right, Neku made his opportunity of escape and made it back to safety. Running back beside Lightning, he stood firmly, ready for whatever would come next. Looking over at Lightning, he realized she hadn't attacked that time. Call it common courtesy if you will but Neku wanted to protect this woman. Stepping in front of Lightning's shield while facing the Undead Reaper, Neku glanced back. "Maybe it's time I protect you." Running out of options, Neku began to boot up his next and last ability, Blue Blood Burns Blue. Finishing this was top priority, and if this Undead bag of bones really did wound him, it wouldn't hesitate to do the same to Lightning. "You might just be the first person I can trust in a long time."

372 | Neku Sakuraba, @lightning | notes: Everybody wants to be a hero. (Cooldowns: Shiro, 3. Lightning Anger, 3) (Booting: Blue Blood Burns Blue, 1)

❖ nox ❖

[Deleted]

DATA TAGS. @darts23~! WORDS. 853 NOTES. Used Guard; In the face of adversity, I will spend my all!

to the soldier, the civilian, the martyr, the victim. THIS IS WAR Lightning held a solid stance behind her shield, guarded from any attack the Reaper Heartless may pull. She did not want to admit the weakness crawling through her flesh and bones at this moment. The warrior was not willing to submit to the vices that clamped over her powers, the restrictions that had been placed there by either Bhunivelze, or her own stubbornness. Who wanted to face the truth that they were no longer human, bound by the fate they had created through their own weakness? Though she held her position with steely confidence: the warrior was at a crossroads. Having sped up her time she was struck with the unavoidable exhaustion that came with time catching up with a mortal body, at least mortal in the sense she still bled and still became tired. She needed to rest on occasion, but it was all based around time. The longer she was out of her time, the harder it became to restore the lost fragments that kept her pieced together. The reaper herself was a temporary presence that, if kept too long, would be forced back into the timestream to correct her placement, and she knew that -- slowly: the time she currently had was running out for her. She had come looking for new sources of Eradia to try and increase Yggdrasil’s cycle, but it ended up with her spending most of it facing this Heartless. Lightning could only watch as Neku stepped forward in trying to protect her. She could hardly believe that such a young boy would be willing to jump so confidently into the throes of battle. It reminded her of Snow’s confidence, but without the loud, bellowing roars of premature triumph. In all honesty she found the boy much like herself: reserved, cautious, but she seems to have even lost that part of herself. As of late, Lightning could not understand why she felt as if the world was slipping away. Every attempt she made to anchor herself and Nova only seemed to be sabotaged. Every drop of Eradia captured for its continued survival was frivolously wasted away the more her self-doubt grew. Maybe it was the words, the sharp and callous words, of a playful imp who thought the world was better when when all hope was twisted into a charred, burning remnant for her play. The warrior was fit for long, strenuous combat. But in cases like these, where the opponents out powered those present it only did to exhaust the combatants and forced her to waste Eradia she could not spare. All of the hardship and sacrifice of the past seemed to mean nothing with the choices she was forced to make for the future. She may have been courageous, and willing to risk her life, but did that give the fallen the peace they deserved? Was this withering world what they feared most; were they the Nightmares that ate away at their hearts? She could feel her muscles stitching together as Neku fought vigorously against the Heartless, the fiends preserved by Chaos. Her knees had locked, keeping her in place, so even if she wanted to stop Neku she was physically incapable of doing so for a time. She felt troubled by his admission, unused to being someone protected, only knowing how to protect. The grand heartless would not relent with its desire to collect the fresh hearts below. The assault rendered it a rattling mess of metal and bones, its flames dimming as its body hunt low. It would only take one more strike to send it on its way, but even the Heartless had a trick or two up his sleeves. Raising its pendulum scythe high into the air the Reaper swung, intent on taking the pair out in a single swing. Light’s eyes snapped up. She could see the blade coming out for them, but the way it was swung there was no way it could be evaded as it cut horizontally across the field of battle. They were much too close. Lightning exhaled, a soft murmur escaping her lips and brushing over the boy’s ear. The wind seemed to stop as the warrior bolted across the field, dashing forward with blinding speed. Her left arm was thrown up to meet the incoming weapon. Sparks erupted when metal met metal, the round targe shield locking around the curved blade of the Pendulum Scythe. Lightning locked the Reaper Heartless in place. It had struck so hard against the shield it had felt the ringing pants down the length of his weapon’s shaft and down to its bones! The warrior raised her right hand and pressed it to her left wrist, to hold herself in place. The metal boots of her armor scraped against the pier and had pulled up shavings of wood with the amount of force the Reaper put into hsi strike. Lightning smirked. “Part of trusting, is returning it.” She trusted that Neku could take it out while she guarded, but she wouldn’t be able to last long with the amount of pressure time was currently placing on her body.

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