Tricky Trio: The Tentacles, The Bugs and The Thorns
"You DARE you lay a finger on me?" Ursula screeched, the fist marks on her face being camouflaged as her face turned red with rage as she got back on her tentacles. "By the time I'm done with you, your heads will be mounted on my wall!"
"That's just gross and creepy." Kairi snapped, heading straight in for a vertical slash, only to gasp and jump away into a roll as Ursula spat ink her way. "And seriously, spitting ink? Are you sure you're not a man with a pudgy body?"
"YOU INSUFERABLE BRAT!" Ursula roared, raising her hands over her head as pink, swirling magic came to life around them. "YOU DIE FIRST!"
Thrusting her hands down harshly, Ursula let loose a pink vortex right for the Keybearer, and screamed in blind fury as a light ball came out of nowhere and collided into it halfway, cancelling out the attack with a bang.
"Don't forget we're here." Namine hissed. Scowling, Ursula barely had time to twist her body aside as Namine moved in with a slash, only to have to lean back as the blond spun on her foot and lashed out with the other. However, her scowl turned into a sneer as one of her tentacles whipped up and latched itself around Namine's wrist.
"Wanna go for a ride blondie?" Chuckling, Ursula swung the shocked blond right off of her feet and right into a charging Kairi's side.
"ARGH!" Their sides ploughing together, the two crashed to the ground three feet away in a bundle of limbs, though luckily, their sharp, pointy instruments had fallen haphazardly around them, sparing them from harm.
"And here I thought you actually might be a challenge." Ursula sneered, gathering her magic again as the girls struggled to get up.
"Oh, we are." Ursula's eyes widened in horror as she realised her mistake. The magic around her hands disappeared as she keeled over, gasping and gagging, all due to a white clad foot planted right below her breasts.
Not stopping there, Kim grabbed one of her flailing tentacles and, with a might heave, swung her right around her before tossing the fish lady with all of her enhanced strength.
"ARGH-OOF!" Crashing into the ground, Ursula kept on rolling along until her back slammed into the wall. Snarling with rage and spitting up blood, she forced herself to an upright position as her eyes focused on Kim.
"So, you're different from the other two." She commented, glaring venomously at the fierce looking red head. "Stronger and more experienced. I'll keep that in mind."
"It's not just me that you'll have to watch out for." Kim snapped back, dropping into her favourite offensive stance. "I assure you, the three of us are more than you can handle."
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Ursula scowled, her magic swirling around her hands again. "I admit that you're good, but you're still no match for ME!" With that, two pink, magical spirals were flung right at Kim at a speed most humans couldn't hope to avoid.
Kim however, was no ordinary human, as was proven when her reflexes kicked in and jumped into the air. The enhanced jumping capabilities the suit gave her made it easy to reach even the ceiling of this place and pushing off of it as hard as she could with her hands; she shot right back down with a flying kick.
Ursula proved to be faster than expected too, for she quickly swerved out of the way of the kick and retaliated, swinging two of her tentacles to ensnare the teen. Glaring at the change, Kim twisted her body on the way down and grabbed hold of the tentacles before using them to swing herself out of harm's way, landing safely on her feet a good two meters away from Ursula before rolling aside as to avoid Ursula's inky response to her actions.
She is much more talented than I expected. This could be a problem. Ursula frowned, biting her lip as she tossed pink ball after pink ball at Kim only for the teen hero to create a force bubble and block them all. If I don't finish this quick, she might defeat me.
"I'm ending this now my dear." She spat, raising her arms up above her head, her hands poised to use her magic again. Smirking, Kim prepared for what she considered would be another easy dodge, however, her expression quickly changed to one of fear as a huge torrent of water came out of nowhere and surged right for her. Doubting that her force bubble could withstand the constant strain of such speed and pressure, she leaped to the side, only to gasp as a sneering Ursula change the water's direction after her. Getting desperate, she kicked off the wall and into the air with so much force that it gained a whole web of deep cracks as she soared towards the far end of the room, but with a quick twist of Ursula's hands, the water was turning cleanly after her again. Biting her lip, Kim spun her body around and crossed her arms over her head and chest as her force bubble appeared. With nothing else to rebound from, all she could do was prepare for what promised to be a devastating blow.
"KIM!" Namine cried, scooping her daggers up as she and Kairi leapt to their feet and ran into the fray.
Ignoring Ursula completely, Kairi ran straight towards the rushing water, pointing her Keyblade straight into the air. "I really hope this works. BLIZZA!" Aiming right in between the torrent and Kim, she fired a large blue, frosty ball into the air, gnawing nervously on her lip as it rose.
When a small chiming sound was the only thing that hit her, Kim opened confused green eyes and smiled at the sight before her. More than half the water was frozen and stationary before her, the rest freezing over long before it could reach her.
"That little bi-ARGH!" Ursula's furious rant was quickly cut short as a nice chunk of skin was cut off of her hip. Jerking away from the source of her pain, Ursula had just enough time to see a flash of blond hair and simply vicious blue eyes before a bright light blinded her.
"Light Palm!" The magic coated palm smashed right into the side of her head send her crashing hard and dazed to the floor, stars decorating her vision.
"Watch your language, you overweight, old hag." Namine snapped, unnerving Kim and Kairi as they reached her side. It was still very nerve wracking to see such a dark, fierce look on Namine's calm, sweet and gentle face.
"S-so the little light witch can fight after all." Ursula gasped, glaring with venomous rage. "YOU WILL PAY FOR RUINING MY BEAUTY!" She roared, crashing her fists together and releasing the biggest magical blast yet.
"WHAT BEAUTY, YOU HDEOUS CRONE!" Namine screamed right back, throwing her glowing palms out before her as the others panicked and jumped out of the line of fire. Namine however, was completely unperturbed as the magical stream crashed into her hands, only skidding a few inches back before locking her arms in place and stabilising her footing.
"Impossible!" Ursula cried, looking on in disbelief as Namine stood firm, not giving another inch despite the constant intensity of the attack. She barely noticed as the redheads rushed her on either side of her beam, but still managed to shoot ink at Kim while a couple of tentacles lashed out at Kairi.
Not missing a beat Kim jumped and flipped right over the beam, easily avoiding the ink spray, and land on one knee right before Kairi, placing her hands down just as the Keybearer reached her. Jumping straight onto Kim's hands, she leaped again, this time using Kim's strength to rise a good ten feet, and flew right over Ursula, easily avoiding her tentacles. Upon landing behind her, Kairi wasted just enough time to stabilise herself before spinning around and lashing out with a horizontal slash at Ursula's back.
Ursula's blast ended abruptly as an agonised scream left her throat, her upper body jerking back in a futile attempt to get away from the source of her pain. With her guard down and her blast ended, Kim had no problem rushing right in, unleashing a flurry of punches all over Ursula's body.
"arg-oof-aah-argh!" Ursula could barely get a sound out before the next punch fell as everywhere from her head to halfway down her tentacles screamed in pain. It wasn't until a solid twenty punches had made contact that the octopus lady was able to gather enough concentration to retaliate. Waiting just until Kim was about to throw another punch, she spat up another ink spray, only this time it managed to hit its target. More specifically, Kim's eyes.
"AAHH!" Crying out at the stinging sensation, Kim couldn't help losing her concentration, breaking off her attack as she rubbed at the ink with her sleeve. Taking advantage of her distress, Ursula grabbed her with both of her arms and squeezed, piercing her flesh with her razor like nails. "AARRGGHHH!" Kim couldn't stop jerking and writhing as the nails dug deeper into her flesh, blood pouring down her arms and chest from the wounds.
"Kim, hang on!" Kairi called, rushing in, only to be forced to duck and roll as two tentacles whipped out her way. fed up with the damn things and intent on helping Kim, Kairi pulled out of her roll onto all fours before lurching forward, slashing right through both of the still raised tentacles as she passed them and cutting them right off.
"AAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!" The resulting scream almost shook the whole fortress down as Ursula fell to the ground on top of Kim, writhing in agony so much that she almost suffocated the Guardians', arguably, greatest martial artist, her detached tentacles landing right beside her as the others moved protectively around the stumps.
"Enough of this." Kim's words were barely recognisable, being muffled by Ursula's overly large chest, as she thrust her arms up to Ursula's shoulders. With a mighty push, she sent the still wailing fish lady up into the air just far enough so that she could curl her legs up by her chest, she sprung both of her feet right into Ursula's gut as she came back down, the suit releasing a very clear flash of blue at the point of contact. Ursula would have screamed even louder than before as she flew through the air, but the blow that had left very deep, feet shaped indents in her stomach had left her winded, only allowing a choking sound to leave her throat.
Namine had already set herself in the perfect position before Ursula even began her descent. Her training alongside Kim had made predicting her actions second nature to Namine, even without telepathy, leaving her with a very confident idea as to where Ursula was going to land. Narrowing her eyes coldly, she tightened her hands around her daggers for what would be the final shot.
She knew that Kairi and Kim were still very hesitant to kill. If it was left to them, Ursula would most likely get away. Namine however...she may not like it, and would try to find other ways of dealing with these guys when she could, but when there was no other option, there was no hesitation.
As Ursula made it to three feet above the ground, Namine made her move. Jumping just above the octopus, lining up with her front side, she spun her body as fast as she could and lashed out with two deadly horizontal slashes, both of which hit home, slashing deeply through her chest.
Her job done, Namine couldn't hold the cold look anymore and turned away. Though she could end someone's life if need be, she still hated it and couldn't watch as the light left Ursula's shocked eyes as she let out her final gasp.
The body crashed into the ground with a loud thump and skidded along before finally stopping. Blood quickly pooled from the wound around the motionless form as Kim and Kairi stared, slack jawed as shock took over. They couldn't believe what they saw. Of all of them, sweet, gentle Namine was the last one either of them thought would be taking Ursula's life.
"Let's go." Namine said quietly, her quivering voice breaking the others from their stupor. Both redheads' faces turned worried at that. They'd been so shocked by what she'd done and how cold she'd looked while doing it that they hadn't noticed how shaken she really was. "There's nothing else to do here." With that, she ran off after the others as fast as she could, tears falling from her clenched eyes.
"Oh Namine." Kairi sighed, watching the blond sadly as she followed her. Kim could only nod as she followed, worry and guilt eating her. They knew that Namine was hurting over what she'd done, but they didn't have the time to console and comfort her. It just didn't sit well with either redhead. Frowning at the ground, both Kim and Kairi doubled their pace. The sooner this was all over, the sooner they could sooth Namine.
...
The battle with Oogie was proving to be a lot more difficult than either Rai or Dojo had expected. True to their warning, Oogie set off trap after trap, mostly giant, fast moving fists, bombs and floor to ceiling iron bars, all of them appearing from out of the seemingly untouched walls, floor and ceiling.
"And here I thought those walls were solid and immobile." Raimundo grunted, back flipping just in time to avoid a flying fist only to slam his back into a set of bars. Growling, he flew straight up into the air before a cage could form around him only to cry out as he got caught in the tail end of an exploding bomb and blown to the ground.
"YIKES!" Of all three, Dojo was doing the most damage, but he was also having the most difficulty. His large body proved useful, giving him all the strength he needed to leave more than one fist lying brokenly on the ground with simple bites or whips of his tail, but it also made him a huge target. Weaving left, dipping down only to make an abrupt turn up to the right, he was barely dodging the falling bombs. He was so preoccupied with them, he never noticed as a stone wall shot up before him and smashed right into it.
"Ouch!" His face flattened against the stone, his voice came out as a squeak as he plummeted right towards the ground.
Goofy however, wasn't having too much of a problem. He couldn't get in close enough to attack, but he'd managed to cut off Oogie's attempts to retreat and hide plenty of times with a toss of his shield. On top of that, it was almost like he was predicting exactly when each booby trap would launch at him and dodged it cleanly while still easily avoiding the one after. Although, a lot of it did seem to be dumb luck. More than once, he'd trip over his own feet or a piece of debris while dodging one trap and ended up stumbling, rolling or flying clear from the second.
"This is getting messy." Goofy commented, frowning at the piles of metal and burnt stone as he pulled himself back up from another tumble roll. Spotting his shield laying at his feet, he bent down to pick it up just in time to avoid a barrage of arrows that were aimed for his head. "Ok, what's next?"
"Would you three hold still!" Oogie cried, stomping away like a two year old in a temper tantrum. "How am I supposed to kill you if you keep bouncing around?"
"That's the point. You're not." Raimundo snapped, cartwheeling in midair as he avoided a fist and a giant palm right after the other. Grinning as he finally found an opening, he went to clap his hands together. "Typhoo- AAHH!" Before he could even get halfway through the move, chains burst forth from walls with the speed of bullets and wrapped tightly around his arms before jerking them harshly out to his sides.
"Got one!" Oogie cheered, dancing gleefully as he held up a remote. "Now say bye bye you little pest." With that and a cackle, he hit a red button and pointed it to the ceiling. Hearing what sounded like a trap door opening above him, Rai whipped his head up and dropped his jaw in mortal terror as a good ten bombs the size of his head dropped right down towards him.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH! Someone, HELP, HELP, HELP!" Screaming his head off with blind panic, he almost dislocated his arms as he yanked and twisted wildly, trying desperately to get free. However, no matter what he tried, the chains just wouldn't budge. It was like they were made of diamond.
"Hang on Rai! I'm a comin!" Spinning as fast as he could on the balls of his feet, Goofy chucked his shield as hard as he could before watching with baited breath as both it and the bombs drew closer to their targets. However, he didn't get the chance to see how successful he was, for at that moment an open hand flew down and slapped him into the ground.
Fortunately, the shield's trip was successful, leaving Rai letting out a huge, relieved smile as it cut straight through the chain holding his right wrist. Not having the time to gather much energy, he thrust his free hand to the side and released a jet of wind, giving him the propulsion he needed to swing into the clear and sending the lowest bombs flying in the opposite direction.
"Man that was close." He sighed, wiping the sweat off his forehead as the heat of the explosions rushed past his body. Pulling out the Blade of the Nebula, he slashed through the other chain before using it to deflect a group of razor sharp boomerangs and a pumpkin riddled with daggers.
"DAMNIT! Why don't I ever get a break?" Chucking his tantrum again, Oogie went nuts with the remote, slamming what passed for his hand on every button at once again and again.
Shaking the stars from their eyes, Dojo and Goofy had just enough time to drop their jaws and scream before falling into an almost dancing motion. Fists, bombs, sharp projectiles, even what seemed like solid square blocks of the walls were flying in all directions. Unable to get his shield, Goofy had his hands over his head the whole time, taking more than one blow to the shoulder or leg as he stumbled blindly around.
"WHOA!" Stumbling over an old bomb shell, he fell onto his hands and knees just as a giant palm swung from behind, right into his backside "YEEEAAAOOOWW!" His hands moved to his smarting butt as he flew right across the room through the air.
With all the attacks, Dojo deemed the air to dangerous and stayed low to the ground, weaving like a snake through the pounds and explosions, screaming all the way.
"AAHH!" His eyes went huge with fear as a fist flew his way, not noticing it until it was too late to dodge. Acting simply on instinct, he took a deep breath and created a ball of fire between his teeth before releasing a flamethrower. The flames crashed right into it and blew it apart with ease, leaving a very relieved Dojo wiping sweat from his eyes...and flying head first right into a barred cage.
"OW!" He cried, rubbing the quickly swelling bump growing on his head as the last cage wall shot up behind him, sealing him inside. "Oh please!" He drawled, looking around completely unimpressed. "Do you really think such a lousy trap could hold me?" He called cockily, sticking his tongue out at the animated potato sack.
"Long enough for me to do this yeah!" Oogie screamed, hitting his remote again before a giant slingshot appeared out of nowhere and shot a very large bomb right for the suddenly chalk white dragon.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Raimundo, Goofy and even Oogie flinched violently and had to cover their ears as Dojo's scream put all others, even Jack Spicer's to shame. Shrinking to his normal size, the green reptile slinked right through the bars and threw himself as far from them as possible, screaming just as loudly again as the bomb exploded behind him, resulting in a push from its shockwave.
Aiming straight for Oogie, Raimundo bobbed, weaved and deflected every assault sent his way. Growling irritably as he dodged a battering ram only for it to knick his blade and rip it from his hand, he jumped and spun around a trio of lances flying up from the ground and landed right in an untouched area.
"Hey, who said you could get that close?" Oogie cried, shaking a little before running away again, heading straight up the stairs. Not willing to let him get away again, Rai flew up towards the balcony.
"Wudai, St- Gaah!" Once again, his concentration was completely cut off as an enormous pendulum swung his way, forcing him to spiral upward. Hissing at a very painful stinging sensation as it managed to slice off a chunk of skin from his leg on the way past, he forced the water from his eyes away and dropped onto the balcony, putting as much weight as possible on his right, uninjured leg.
"Hey! Who said you could cut me off?" Oogie shouted, coming to a halt halfway up, his hands on his hips as he stared scoldingly at Raimundo.
"Aren't you even smart enough to come up with a new line?" Rai retorted, flinging his arms up for a clap. "Typhoo-"
Once again Oogie cut him off, only this time it was by jumping right at him, forcing Rai to cartwheel to his right to avoid it. Flinching as his injured leg took on too much weight, he leaned to his right to avoid a punch before knocking Oogie's arm right out to his side with his own. Taking advantage of the huge opening the simple move gave him, Rai lashed out with a kick only for Oogie to wobbly twirl out of the way and throw another punch for Rai to block with his forearm.
Wow, he's actually got a little, actual fighting talent. Rai frowned, blocking another punch and the deflecting the next before dropping down and launching a sweep kick only for Oogie to jump over it and into a body slam, forcing Rai to roll away before lashing out with his foot to block another punch. He's keeping up his assault on me because he knows I have too much power for him to handle and that I need a few seconds to focus it. So how can I finish this?
Flipping over Oogie's shoulders as the sack tried throwing two punches at once, he twisted his body so as to propel off of Oogie's back far enough to unleash a whirlwind when something in the rest of the battle caught his eye.
Goofy was already back on his feet, rubbing his backside as he almost casually stepped around, or goofily rolled under, every projectile coming his way, only showing excessive force and exertion when walls and iron bars appeared before him to smash them apart and out of his way.
Dojo was acting very similarly, rapidly changing his size to better suit the situation. He was only getting violent and complex with his movements when he was surrounded.
You always have to make every move as affective as you can with as little exertion as you can. Goofy's voice echoed in his head as he pushed off Oogie, making sure that the bag of bugs would stumble from the force. I should have thought of that before. He grinned, lightly smacking his head. Oogie Boogie is a weakling. I don't need a cyclone to stop him. Heck, with his toys around, I can end this with one little move.
Noticing a soft clattering coming from the ground beside him, Rai looked at his feet and smirked as the remote came to a stop not an inch from his toes.
"Perfect. Hey sock head, what do you say to a bug barbeque?" He called as Oogie pulled himself to his feet, his smirk growing victorious.
"A WHAT? How dare you ask me something like that! do you know who I AM?" Oogie shouted, glaring furiously at the ninja garbed monk.
"Yeah." Rai replied cockily, kicking the remote into one hand while the other was pointed right at a suddenly horrified Oogie Boogie. "A pathetic bag of bugs. Wind!"
The gale wasn't very strong comparatively, just enough that it could have carried a couple of teenagers along with it. But that was more than enough. Screaming, Oogie crossed his arms over his face and tried to stand his ground only to be swept up and away like a candy wrapper in an updraft. Watching him rise, Rai only waited until he was close to the ceiling before pointing the remote above his foe and pressing the red button.
"OH NOOO!" Oogie could only scream in terror as he watched the ceiling open up again and drop four bombs. Right on him.
BBBBOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM! "AAARRRGGGHHH!" His screams were the only indication that he was there as the bombs blew, consuming him in flames and even they were quickly snuffed out. As the flames receded and died a few seconds later, it was to find nothing more than ash and burnt bugs raining down on the ground.
"Well, there goes a very...pathetic, but extremely annoying enemy." Rai sighed, watching as the last of Oogie's remains fell to the ground. His heart hurt a little as he stared at what passed for Oogie's corpse, but not nearly as much as he thought it would. Lulling it over as his friends pulled themselves out of the now immobile traps and weapons, he figured that it was most likely because of what Oogie was. He wasn't human or anything even close to an animal. He was just an animated potato sack with bug stuffing. He wasn't even sure that the thing was really alive to begin with.
"It seems Oogie's still using his usual tricks. And still being defeated by them too." Goofy chuckled as he climbed the stairs, snapping Rai out of his thoughts. "He never did think these plans of his through very well."
"Yeah, they were tougher than he was." Dojo agreed, ignoring the stairs in favour of flying up and handing Rai his Wudai weapon before shrinking and landing on the monk's shoulder. "I could have beat him with one flamethrower if I could have gotten a clear shot."
"Yeah, he wasn't much. But he knew how to level the field." Rai responded, before turning a thankful smile to Goofy. "Fortunately, a very wise person taught me that I don't always need my full power for my attacks to be at their most effective level. Thanks Goofy."
"Aww, ya makin me blush." Goofy chuckled, rubbing his nose modestly. "But ya very welcome. Now what do ya say we go catch up to the others?"
"Yeah, let's go." Rai nodded, turning his back on the wreckage and ash that he was leaving behind. Floating into the air so as to give his leg a reprieve, he wasted just enough time to let Dojo place a gauze and bandage on it before taking off above Goofy. With Oogie now gone, and Ursula at least down for the count with the girls taking care of her, Rai could feel his confidents growing. There were only three villains left and if Maleficent, Jafar and Hades were working equally with people that weak, maybe this would turn out easier than he thought.
...
Back flipping from a swipe of the Dark Thorn's long, red claws, Ryo gasped as the grey, pointed metal at the end of its broken shackles struck his helmet, knocking him off balance and stumbling away as he landed on his feet. Noticing his vulnerability, the Dark Thorn pressed its attack, swinging the full length of his arm at the dizzy hero.
However, Mickey leapt right in before he could even get halfway, leaping in with an aerial somersault before crashing his Keyblade into its claws and knocking the hand out wildly to its side. Unperturbed, the Dark Thorn jabbed with his other arm only for Mickey to jump onto it before jumping over the creature's head as it tried to pierce him with its horns. Using it's spikes of a mane as monkey bars, he swung himself safely down behind the beast and leaped straight in again, slashing at the back of its knee. Growling, the Heartless collapsed onto one knee, unable to stabilise itself with all its weight already having been thrust forward.
"How about some payback, you Halloween reject!" Ryo shouted, jumping high into the air before bringing down his enlarging, glowing palm. "Thunderclap!"
Still shifting itself back onto its feet, the Dark Thorn completely failed to dodge the attack. Ryo's hand slammed right into the back of its neck as the powerful shockwave was released and blew the dark beast crashing into the ground, smashing the stone floor and burying it in the rubble. Not done yet, Ryo jumped over it and to its feet, grabbed the chain connecting them before it could stand and started spinning as fast as he could, giving Mickey just enough time beforehand to duck low to the ground. Building up speed, he kept going around and around until the entire room was a blur to him, quickly growing dizzy again.
The Heartless however, definitely was not. It took a bit of time, but its senses and violent nature reappeared pretty soon. Growling furiously, unable to lash out with its arms or horns, it resorted to kicking wildly, its red claws twisting inward.
"Grr." Growling and hissing under his breath, Ryo leaned back and thrust his head back as the kicks got close. It was only the sudden movement that had stopped them from slitting his throat. "Time to fly ugly!" Spinning around one more time, he swung his arms as hard as he could and gave the beast a toss, sending it sailing right across the room and crashing into the wall, half its body going through it.
"Gosh. That sure was impressive." Mickey said, staring in awe as the Heartless tried to get up only to slip on the rubble around it. "I've never seen someone wield so much strength. Other than Hercules, but he's a half God."
"Yeah, it was good, but no that impressive. Gohan and Ben are much stronger than me." Ryo shrugged, shaking his head clear of the vertigo before dropping back into an offensive position. "And you should see what they can do when they transform into a giant ape and what Ben called Way Big. Either one would crush this guy like a bug. Along with everything else." He added lightly, seconds before the Dark Thorn got fed up and threw his claws through the walls, breaking them like glass with a huge BOOM and sending debris hurtling right for the duo.
Mickey had no problem with it, easily jumping on large block after large block as he zigged and zagged his way towards the Heartless while Ryo tailed behind. Not as small or agile as the royal mouse, he had a little more difficulty, but wasn't really phased, he just smashed his fist through whatever he couldn't avoid as he headed on his way.
Seeing this, and already raging, the Dark Thorn released an ear piercing bellow as Mickey got right in his face and leaped right back at him.
Startled by the move, Mickey's flight instinct kicked in and he quickly spun himself away from the swiping claws and through the heart shaped hole in its chest, landing on his feet behind it.
"This thing sure is quick for something so big." Ryo commented, lashing out with a spinning kick only to propel away from the Heartless as it swung its head like a bull, cancelling the kick out with his horn. "And man, if those horns were any harder, I'd swear they were made of diamonds. That actually hurt my foot."
"It's getting fiercer the longer this fight goes on." Mickey said, gnawing at his lip as he watched the Dark Thorn claw at Ryo again, wincing at his cry as he brushed against the beast's prickly thorns in his escape. "We have to end this before it gets any worse."
"No arguments here." Ryo nodded, taking in a few deep breaths as he landed next to the humanoid rodent, dropping onto his knees as he rubbed his thorn pierced side. "Man, I think today's made it clear that I don't have a green thumb."
"Then let's...uh-oh!" Mickey cried, sucking in a deep breath as he turned to the disappearing Dark Thorn. His brow managed to be completely drenched as the second it took the Heartless to lose its visibility passed in slow motion. In a stone room with no dust or any other ways of tracking it, the Dark Thorn's invisibility would make it almost impossible for him to touch it. Straining his ears didn't do him any better. The sounds the Heartless made were bouncy around the empty room and walls, causing an echo. The mouse king had no way of finding his enemy.
"Mickey, don't worry." Ryo said softly, placing a reassuring hand on Mickey's head and grinning down, trying to get the panicked and stiffening mouse to relax. "My helmet's already picked him up. Just listen to me and this won't cause a...hold that thought."
Grunting, Ryo flung his metal arm up the second the dark shape in his scanner's screen flew forward, just barely managing to block the claws coming down on his head.
Unphased by Justiman's move, the Dark Thorn was off again as quickly as it came, jumping and skidding around them at high speed before thrusting his claws straight at them from behind. Unprepared for the increased level in speed, Ryo barely had time to grab Mickey and dive belly first into the ground before they'd both have had three long claws piercing their spines.
"Where's all this speed coming from?" He cried as it crossed it's arms and swung at them again, just missing as the two rolled off in opposite directions before springing to their feet, Keyblade and metal arm out defensively before them.
"Can you keep up with it?" Mickey asked, narrowing his eyes as he whipped his head from left to right, looking for any sign on his target.
"Yeah, but you'll have to move the second I tell you to." Ryo responded, back flipping as his scanner revealed a dark flash. This time, Ryo was more prepared for the speed and smirked as his heel struck it just below the elbow, throwing it a little off balance. "Strike!"
Mickey didn't need to be told twice. He was up in the air within the blink of an eye, a ball of light the size of a cannonball shining in his free palm.
"Pearl!" Throwing it as hard as he could at where Ryo had been standing only seconds before, he grinned as it exploded seemingly in midair, eliciting a roar from the beast before it regained visibility, crashing into the ground. Not stopping there, he swung his Keyblade around and around over his head, gathering more and more light into it as the Dark Thorn pulled itself back to its feet.
"Justiman move! Meteor Streak!" The cry was all Ryo got, as with one more spin, Mickey spun the Keyblade out to his side and whipped its point right in line with the Dark Thorn. The gathered light flew straight from it streaked through the air like a shooting star, crashing into the Dark Thorn's head and throwing it a good distance through the air, its foot only missing Ryo by a hair as it flew over his ground pressed form and ploughed into a pillar.
"Whoa! Now that's power." Ryo exclaimed, ditching his helmet to rub his eyes, blinded by white spots. "Not even Roxas has done anything that intense on his own before."
"Roxas holds far more light magic than I do and is a prodigy at wielding it, but he doesn't have the experience that comes with being a Keyblade Master yet. Even he will need a little more time to learn how manipulate light into such intense forms." Mickey replied before turning a glare back to the rising Heartless, tightening his hold on his blade. "Now, what do you say we end this eyesore?"
"Oh, I'm in." Ryo grinned, raising his right palm, his fingers pressed against each other. Not giving the Dark Thorn enough time to stabilise itself again, the two took off into a sprint and jumped together, simultaneously pulling themselves into aerial somersaults.
"Hi-ya!"
"Voltage Blade!" Pulling out of their spins as they reached the Dark Thorn, all the Heartless could see was a pair of gold and purple flashes. Before it could even register what had happened, both Mickey and Ryo were crouching on one knee before it, their blades held straight up before them as, with a mighty roar, the Heartless exploded, scattering black wisps all around them.
"Now that's how we roll." Ryo cheered victoriously, throwing a fist into the air as he stood back up. However, he quickly pulled it down as his wounds finally demanded his attention, hissing as his side stretched. "Hmm, I might need a little help from Namine. Stupid, lucky shot. Who's bright idea was it to cover that thing in thorns anyway?"
"Hey, where did you think its name came from?" Mickey responded lightly, chuckling at Ryo's tirade as he released his Keyblade back to its usual resting place. Shaking his head as Ryo flinched again; the mouse king grabbed his hand and tugged him to the ground. "Just relax Justiman. The others should catch up soon, provided that they don't get too lost. We'll wait for them here. Now lie down and I'll see about that side of yours."
Ryo's eyes turned hesitant for a moment as he stared down at the mouse, conflicted. On one side he knew that they should wait till the others caught up and he did need some treatment to be at the top f his game, but at the same time, he couldn't remove the urge to ignore it all and run after the group ahead of them. No matter how much he convinced himself that they'd be fine, the simple fact was that he couldn't stop worrying about their safety, especially Gohan and the others that had fought alongside him against Garlic Jr.
However, with the understanding, but firm look Mickey was giving him on its side, logic won out. Sighing, he nodded his head and did as he was told, just hoping the others would come soon as the Keyblade Master lifted his shirt off of his hip, inspecting and healing the wound.