Homesickness

Xicode had leapt through a portal to escape from a hopeless fight. He skidded to a halt and set down the person who he had tried to save. He was a bit upset. "Sorry about that, I don't usually help out so suddenly," he said. He sighed and said, "You need more battle practice if you need to survive them ever again. As do I... we need some fight practice soon," he said.

"Yes we do need more practice. Since I'm a keyblader, heartless and nobodies are attracted to me. They will come naturally, so prepare yourself. I rarely get boss-level heartless and nobodies but a lot of regular ones."

The portal from Neverland began to shut, but not before a tiny figure shot through it. "WHEEEEEEE!!!!" it cried as it flew the air. It soared several more yards before hitting the ground with a small plop. Ant got up and shook his head, then glanced around. His antenna quivered towards the two others nearby and he turned his head in their direction. "Hello!" Ant said enthusiastically. He crawled over to the two, bauble in tow, and looked up at them, bright eyes glowing. "Whatchya doin?" he said, cocking his head to one side quizzically.

Jack looked at the tiny heartless and said "Training. Why?" He turned to Xicode, "See they always come her." He turned back to the little creature, "Aren't you that guy that helped 100 pound armor back there?" He said this squatting, eye level with the frantic creature.

Xicode could help but wonder the same thing about this small creature. However, a nobody bird flew through the air, dropping a small scroll of paper into his hand, before flying off again. He looked up as he went away and then opened the message to read it. "Sorry, I have a meeting to attend to don't follow, the people there are less than friendly," he said as he warped into darkness portal. "Hey Jack, if he wants to, try "sparring" with him," he called with a chuckle. The portal faded away and scattered.

"Okay, bye." Jack kept his gaze with the small heartless. He looked at the glowing yellow eyes with no pupil and said "So, did you help him or not? What do you want? A fight or what." He held both keyblades in hand, tapping on the creature's head. He stopped then asked the same question one more time with a grin on his face.

Xaurneme walked to the scene where the tiny heartess she had previously encountered stood, with a boy weilding a keyblade.
"Ant, i thought I sensed you here." She smirked at the kid. "I see you've found someone new to play with."
I can't wait to see how this kid will die, she thought.

Ant was about to answer when Xaurneme stepped through a portal and into the room. "Hey . . . . person!" he exclaimed, jumping onto her shoulder. He realized he still didn't know her name, but that wasn't of any concern right now. "That wanted to play tag!" he said pointing a claw at Jack. "You play too?" Ant then remembered spike wanted to play too and spoke up again before she could answer. "And we can go find spiky and play with him to! And then we'll have lots people!"

"My name's Xaurneme," she stated. "And I think just the two of you should be fun, Ant. Why don't you try? I'm sure he's good at tag."
She picked Ant up off her shoulder gently, smiling at him.
I hope you make this worth my time, Ant, she thought.

The Nobody set the little Heartless on the ground in front of her, then stepped back a few feet. Xaurneme sat on the ground, her back against a lamp post, prepared for entertainment of the highest quality. She'd be willing to jump in at any given moment, of course, but she wanted to give Ant his opportunity.

Maybe whoever this "Spike" is, I hope he shows, She thought, smiling a bit, bemusedly. Time for some fun.

Ant looked back at Xaurneme and then to the second Nobody. He juggled his bauble between claws, as it thinking to himself, before his head shot up to look at Jack, laughter in his eyes.

"Lets play!"

As the words left his 'mouth' Ant rushed forward, his speed blinding as he crossed the distance in an instant and clawed at the nobody, lightly raking his arm. The next instant Ant was halfway across the room already melding into the floor, bauble and all, giggling to himself. "Faster, faster! It no fun if I tag the heart too quickly!" he exclaimed, moving between reality, scurrying around the 'floor.' But he was only in-between for a short time, and he began to emerge from a wall, several yards up, after only a second.

"Please do not address me under false pretenses," Xaurneme said, acid in her voice. "You mock me with your 'accent.' I don't take kindly to mocking."
Xaurneme glared at Jack. If looks could kill, he'd be five feet under.
Come on, Ant, she thought. Have some fun with him.

Ant quickly scurried up the wall and onto the ceiling, positioning himself right above the keyblade wielder. As the keyblader began to speak in his french accent Ant dropped down, dropping on his shoulder. "Poor little person. You shoulda waited till you were older before playing with me!" Ant giggled.

With one smooth motion Ant swung the bauble around and wrapped the thin cord attached to it around the child's neck, and pulled. "This is a slow way to get at your heart. But maybe you'll get out of it! Then the game can go on!"

Xaurneme giggled a bit, a slightly maniacal ring to the sound.
"Poor leetel chahld," She said, putting on a fake, mocking heavy French accent. "'Ee should 'ave vaited until he vas an adult to take on zees Heartless."
Xaurneme's laughter continued, faintly in the background as Ant toyed with the child.
This little creature has such innocence, but such cruelty, she thought, happily. He really is worth my time.

((lol I'm 5 ft 5 in in real life and so is this guy))

Then I guess I have to skip growth. Transform. Jack turned 21 and is muscular. The little string that was around his neck snapped and broke. Sorry for breaking your toy. Don't think I'm puny and weak when I'm a child. If you want to then do. It gives me an advantage. He had a small smile with some teeth showing. With immense strength, he tried to kick the creature so that it landed on one of the other roofs, making sure that the heartless broke through the ceiling. He had put all force into his feet and started running towards the creature. He then stopped and tried to kick it like he had to make a goal in soccer but the only resort was to kick it to the sun.


Jack took his tracker and contacted Zio. [b]Hey Zio, you bored or what? Come here, I need reinforcements to make this battle even ok?

Soon afterward, a shadow shot through the sky, blotting out the moonlight a bit. Suddenly, a figure dropped down from the sky and landed nearby. The moon lit the sillouette for a perfect shadow to be made out. A wing outspread, soon folded in. The sillouette was re-lit to show the face and figure of Zio Arma. He stepped forward with a bored stare, "What? You need help against these whelps?" He sighed. He knew it couldn't be helped if Jack hadn't the strength to take on a girl and a shadow heartless. He almost chuckled under his breath. He looked at the enemies, evaluating their strength and level of power. His eyes lit up a bit as a green aura surrounded Zio and he looked almost mystical when he was doing this. Zio was using scan on them both.

He frowned, "A couple of strong enemies to take care of..." He groaned a bit, unammused. He summoned his two keyblades and looked at the french girl who didn't look like she would fight Jack. A petty insulter to say the most. "So madam, May I have this dance?" he said in a taunting tone.

"It does take two to tango, does it not?" Xaurneme said, grinning sadistically. She liked being underestimated. It made things slightly more entertaining.
The Nobody stood elegantly, stepping towards the winged-man. She swung her ropedart around, boredly. Her eyes scanned the man before her.
I'll let him make the first move, she thought. It would be unladylike to do so myself.

Xaurneme pulled her hair back quickly, and tied it up with a bow, so it wouldn't be in her way while she was engaged in battle. She licked her lips, looking forward to someone's bloodshed. Either hers or her opponents, she didn't care. This is what she'd been training for, and she was finally getting to practice more.

She held out her hand to the man, as if preparing to dance, as she'd been asked. "After you, monsieur," Xaurneme said, a taunting, but subtle tone to her voice.

Zio smirked almost to a smile, his eyes looked cold. "I suppose that was your way of saying throw away manners? In which case..." he stopped. He stretched out his hands, palms outward. Suddenly a spiralling aura flashed in front a bit. He clenched his fists and suddenly, his keyblades appeared in his hands, making an X shape in front of him. Zio then smiled a very slight bit, almost like a form of torment it was with him barely smiling ever, his smile was frigid. Frigid like the north pole in winter. Zio scanned his opponent again, getting a general reading of the person's ability. Much better, Zio was afraid he was going to beat up an innocent person.

He took a stance, like a Sephiroth stance with two swords, on directed away, one towards the lady. He took in a breath and said, "En garde!" He burst forth with amazing speed. Appearing behind the lady he was invisible for a time. He dramatically let his blade down to the side, a bit of blood running down the edge of Ancient Memories. He turned his head a bit, hair shading out his eyes, and he a small smile, showing a little bit of his teeth. Zio was in full kill mode right now.

Ant saw the kick approaching as easily as one watched a slow moving train. "Silly child," Ant giggled lunging forward, "You may be big and strong now, but there's one thing you don't have that matters most!" The kick landed, and stopped cold in Ant's claws. "Experience."
With one motion Ant twisted the foot with incredible force. As the child fell he scurried back, the stopped. Ant looked around frantically for a moment, eyes searching. After a moment, his gaze focused on his bauble, laying on the ground, string snapped but otherwise unharmed laying next to the child keyblade wielder.
He dived for the object, reaching for it with no reguard to his own safety, calling his brethren shadow around the tiny bauble to protect it.

Xaurneme reacted, cat-like, leaping away from her opponent. The Nobody landed gracefully, now yards away. She fought better from a distance, anyway. The girl began moving, fluidly, ropedart in hand, swinging it as she moved, gaining momentum for her attack. And with a quick jolt of her right shoulder and arm, she snapped the ropedart out, precisely aimed, towards the winged-man's corresponding shoulder.

Before launching her attack, Xaurneme had sized up her opponent. Powerful, swift, and possibly a threat.But she also was powerful and swift. So as her utensil of destruction sped towards the foe, she murmured, "Touche`" Her mind racing, she thought once, let the games begin. At this thought, she was fueled with such a ferosity, she began laughing, wild, hacking, maniacal, insane laughter. Let the games begin, indeed.

Zio looked a bit boredly as he missed, or maybe he nicked her a bit. Suddenly a whiplash was sent at him. Zio grinned as he saw an opening. He quickly charged a thundara spell and entangled the Ropedart with the heartless heart. He powered the eletricity of the spell through the rope to shock the French woman. He tightened his grip on his key and twisted it, to lock the key's hold on the ropedart in place. He wasn't going to give in at a range, especially since it wasn't ethical at a time like this. Zio smiled happily as he glared at the woman. "I don't underestimate an opponent, I used a scan spell on you, I know your weaknesses and your strengths, battle style, and how much you can take in a fight," he called. "Give up and I may allow you to live!" he added threateningly.

Zio's eyes glared in the moonlight like that of a raven, piercing one's very soul to the core. His eyes focusing directly on the french looking woman. With his spell he also learned her name... it sounded like that of a nobody. "I said give up Xaurneme!" he shouted once more, implying that he had her name in his mind already.

((Zio vs Xaurmene, generally. Jack vs Ant, generally.))

Jack was suprised at the tiny heartless. He had stopped a kick that could've shattered his bones and kill him. He saw the tiny pond of shadows guarding the bauble. He threw his keyblade straight down to the pond and aimed for the bauble. He said Poison cloud and a beam shot out from the tip. It killed the group and then unsheated his sword Kagime.
You can't hurt me with Kagime protecting me. I could also easily copy your weapon also. You'll find it a good opponent.

Ant didn't even hear the keyblader. His entire concentration was on the bauble. The keyblade struck point first on the bauble. Spiderweb cracks appeared all over the silver sphere, before it shattered. Ant landed next to the remains, and simply stared at the silver pieces. "You broke my bauble," he said quietly, a child whispering in disbelief. The ground under him pooled into the darkness, and Ant began to slowly sink, his head hung, not moving. When nothing remained of Ant, the pool shrunk and vanished.

All was quiet for only a moment before the pool suddenly appeared, several times larger, and churning with madness. "You broke it." Ants voice echoed throughout the entire room, but it was not his voice. The once cheerful sound of a child was distorted, and filled with rage and hatred. The building shuttered as though some terrible blow had fallen upon it. Again, and again. The darkness grew from the floor, the churning now recognizable as hundreds of heartless, clawing at the open air, screaming with horror and rage. They climbed atop one another, all desperate to escape the Heck that was their home.

Amide the mass of claws and howling heartless, a figure burst forth, killing dozens of heartless as it cut through. It was Ant. But Ant was no longer the pitiful and tiny shadow. He now stood well above six feet, huge claws that could rend through the thickest armor. His body itself absorbed the light around it like some sort of black hole.

Ant turned his cold gaze to the child keyblade wielder. "Wrong move."

In an instant he was behind the keyblader, his movements faster then the eye could track. His claws struck again and again, bolstered by inhuman strength and speed. When the attacks stopped Ant was already gone, a dozen yards away and charging again, from a new angle.

All the while, the rift Ant formed when he tore back into the world was still wide open. Countless heartless clawed their way out of their Heck, and set upon any in their way. The building shuttered, as outside the building was struck again and again by enormous heartless each half the size of the citadel. They had been called by their master, and they were heeding that call.

Miran knew little about Ant. He knew that it was an ancient being of extreme power. He knew it was so powerful it carried around some sort of handicap, limiting it’s capabilities. Miran had seen first hand the destruction Ant could cause without this handicap. Ant had killed in ways that had made Miran take cover in case it decided he was next. Yes, Miran knew this, and he knew these things, and knew that there was only one thing to do.

Miran exited the portal and saw the dragon trying futilely to reason with Ant in this form. You fool! cried Miran as it brought it’s claw up. Miran charged, darkness flowing through him with every step. His power began to consolidate inside him. He focused it all on his attack, hoping he could buy some time. Miran jumped into the air, his punching dagger sprang open, trident blades complimenting it. He stabbed forward before the dragon slashed it’s claw, right towards Ant’s middle, and hoped he could hold out.