a clash of ideals [akuma]

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Cause darling I'm a

nightmare

dressed like a

daydream

It seemed like the Heartless were a lot more active in the areas outside of the castle.

Almost immediately after leaving, heading out the old dusty road leading to nowhere, he'd found himself under attack. A Large Body, a bunch of Shadows, and a few Knights had decided to make their presences known.

Ginji, a little more used now to the strange black creatures, took a step back, his body already beginning to crackle with energy. It was kind of annoying having to fight these guys all the time, but they didn't seem to be in the mood for talking... if they were even capable of talking?

The shadows charged, the knight following up behind them. Grinning slightly, feeling his adrenaline starting to kick in, Ginji met them face on, punching straight through to the Knight in the back, the arcs of electricity, incinerating the shadows. With a crackle, the Knight fell backwards, and a swift kick then dispatched it back to the darkness.

More of the things were starting to show up now, the shadows of the trees that arced over the path seeming to light up with their yellow eyes. As the large body waddled towards him, Ginji took in a quick breath and readied himself, before meeting it's attack.

Dodging the punch it threw, he aimed one of his own at it's belly-- only to let out a yelp of  surprise when it merely jiggled and sent him staggering backwards! Apparently the thing's stomach was so thick that frontal attacks weren't going to do anything. The large body attempted to ram the off balanced Ginji, who barely avoided by jumping out of the way.

Too bad these things didn't want to play nice... Rolling back to his feet, Ginji watched as it turned around to face him again, trying to think up a strategy to fight it. Meanwhile, shadows continued to converge, a few of the braver ones stepping onto the road in order to join the fray...

Akuma ● ● ● x

MADE BY VEL OF GS

After plunging headlong into the strange mass of darkness that he had encountered, Akuma had been thrust into a world of darkness and evil, and fought his way through with sheer determination to claw his way out into a world much different than the one he had left behind. It looked familiar enough at its base, but it....felt different. The sensitivity and attunement to ki imparted by the training he had undertaken to perfect his art let him sense the inherent strangeness and darkness festering in the world. There was indeed power here...of a sort he could not guess at or even comprehend, but it was there.

His stay in the world was soon interrupted with the arrival of strange creatures, rising out of the shadows, materializing from darkness, and leaping out of blind spots to assault him. Relishing a fight against the darkness he could sense against them, he had rushed into battle with the creatures, but quickly grew disgusted with them. Bestial instinct and no skill, no real power for all their ominous presence. Weaklings -- mere pests born of the darkness. They were strange and difficult to contend with using his own fists, but eventually the fell all the same, the last of them ground to nothingness under his fist.

And he moved on, his eternal wandering driving him toward a new feeling in the distance...

Just as the sight of a castle reached his eyes, Akuma caught wind of the confrontation ahead, and his warrior's instinct reared its head at the sense of another soul fighting more the strange creatures he had just vanquished himself. With a tinge of curiosity, he made his way forward, arms folded over his chest, to observe the scene.

In the darkness, his red eyes glowed ominously, silhouetting his form against the trees, and showing his expression, creased into a neutral frown of intense observation. He was intrigued and pleased by the others use of his bare fists to fight, but his distaste for the electricity that supplemented the blows equally evident.

Despite his relatively close distance to the fray, he made no move to assist. Merely watched and waited. If the youth could overcome the strange creatures then he may be worth something after all. If not....well, that result would be obvious.

●●●

Cause darling I'm a

nightmare

dressed like a

daydream

He'd actually been so focused on fighting the Heartless that he hadn't even noticed Akuma.

At least until he took a moment to quickly scan the area for auras. When Akuma's hit him, his eyes widened in surprise and he stumbled back a little. That clear cut intent, full of a bestial aura that spoke of demonic, murderous feelings, kept in check by strength of will... something that reminded him of Akabane, but refined in a different manner than the "good doctor's" coldness. For a second, he almost had mistaken it for his, until the deeper sensations had slipped through. Scary, either way.

His brief lapse of focus was enough for a knight to spring forward, claws outstretched. Quickly snapping back to the matter at hand, he allowed himself to fall backwards, before raising his feet up and using them to kick the Heartless into the air, and getting back up to his feet. As it flailed helplessly, he took out three shadows with a whirling kick, then jumped back and punched the airborn heartless back to the ground, where it was promptly disintegrated.

The Large Body charged, shaking the ground with each step. Ginji, landing back on the ground, jumped back into the air, avoiding a lunging Heartless which was instead then promptly  smashed by the Large Body. With a small grin, as it barreled out of control, he used an arc of electricity to daze a few soldiers that had been behind it, before running back and jumping onto the much larger Heartless' back. Winding up an arm, he punched down with enough force to make it slam into the ground, creating cracks and a new one inch hole. It promptly vanished in a puff of black smoke.

"Who's next?" He asked with a rather  cheerful smile, standing back up to look at the horde of Heartless that had gathered. Not one stepped forward, instead choosing to stare at him from the shadows.

Akuma ● ● ● x

MADE BY VEL OF GS

It certainly seemed that the youth was capable of holding his own. And indeed, was quite a respectable combatant in his own right. Perhaps over-reliant on his strange utilization of lightning, as opposed to his own skills...but he was not the first that Akuma had seen to resort to other methods of power.

When the youth called out in challenge, asking who was next, that was when Akuma finally made his move. Unfolding his arms from over his chest, he tugged at the ropes coiled about his fists, tightening them into their proper place as he paced forward out of the shadows of the forest, striding right through the gathered horde of Heartless without fear. His intense, burning-red stare remained fixed on Ginji as he came to a halt just as he cleared the shadow of the trees and stepped into full visibility. He remained silent for several seconds, slowly lowering his arms to his sides, before finally speaking up.

"You are confident, and your power is respectable," he said simply. "But how much of that power resides in your own fists, and how much in your strange powers?" For all intents and purposes it seemed like he was ignoring the Heartless entirely. But there was a dull sense of foreboding in the air -- like the calm before a storm, a faint, barely perceptible uneasiness, a rumble in the air -- that said very clearly it was confidence, and not ignorance or arrogance, that let him be so assured of his safety in not directly acknowledging the Heartless. He could strike them down easily if they were to strike at him.

●●●

Cause darling I'm a

nightmare

dressed like a

daydream

He was a little surprised when the strange man with the glowing red eyes stepped up in response to his call.

Curious, a little wary, he studied the other. It looked like this man was a weathered warrior, someone who had gone through countless battles to achieve an amazing kind of power. He could tell just from the aura emanating off of him. Even the Heartless seemed to be just waiting for something-- the tension in the air was growing, palpable and thick.

"Hi." He replied, somewhat shyly and uncertainly, taking a small step back. If he wasn't on a job or with Ban, he tended to be a somewhat shy person around those with such overwhelming strength. Like Akabane, this man sent all of his senses screaming at him, "danger." He knew that this man wasn't some one to mess with by pure instinct.

It felt weird to be just standing here and to talk to someone while hordes of Heartless were all around them. But, looking down at his fists, he shrugged slightly. "I don't know..." He responded truthfully, clenching one fist lightly. "I've always had these powers." He'd never thought about how strong he would have been without his abilities-- in his days as the Lightning Emperor, his power had been what mattered and gaining more of it was all that counted, no matter what he used to do it.

"Who are you?" He asked, relaxing his hands and letting them rest back at his side.

Akuma ● ● ● x

MADE BY VEL OF GS