who do you think you are

[theprobator]

Who: theprobator and you!
When: Late June 13 through early afternoon June 14
Where: Starting in Sector 7, ending on the line between Sectors 2 and 4.
Summary: With their original purpose fulfilled, Ventus and Vanitas move forward on fulfilling their second, and last: opening the way to Kingdom Hearts and perpetuating a war.
Warnings: Violence. Feathers get

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mid-morning

[theprobator]

Sector 4, mid-morning

He can't catch his breath.

A Darkness Corridor serves as his escape, his saving grace, as he slinks behind a tidily kept suburban home, one hand planted firmly against the paneling to brace himself, χ-blade gripped tightly in the other.

The gasps come short, and frequent. Whether it was a tactical error to go through Sector 4 or not is irrelevant; he has only one shot to fulfill his destiny. Him-- Ventus. For he is no longer Vanitas; he is once again the scummy darkness that once sat dormant within Ventus.

And he has to get out of there.

Re: mid-morning

[madeinoblivion]

"There you are." A hard voice calls from the other side of the yard.

In the presence of so much darkness, the neighbor's dog has slunk under the porch, growling.

Vanitas isn't the only one stubborn as anything, when it comes to coming back for seconds, for thirds.

This isn't the first time in days that he's tracked the kid down, tested every measure of his strength. The last time their blades crossed, Soul had been at his side. But by now it was just that other replica, showing a remarkable stamina

[theprobator]

For as many pegs he has been knocked down over the course of several hours, he still has it in him to smirk widely, to stagger to an upright position and throw a taunt.

"I'm impressed you're still alive," he shoots back, lifting the χ-blade again. Call it stupid pride, his self-preservation is screaming at him to tear open a Corridor and get out of there, but Vanitas has confidence that he'll be able to rip Joe in half and move on as planned.

He puts up a fairly good front, but his breathing is still fairly heavy with fatigue.

[madeinoblivion]

Joe's hurting, but more for what he's lost than any wounds- the burn in his limbs from fighting has settled down to a numb pain, and something he's too tired to really acknowledge.

He readies his own blade, calling up that taut-strained anger once again. His pulse pounds in his ears, and he squints into the morning light.

"I. Won't. Quit." He spits out, pulling his arm back in sweeping momentum and springing forward, gathering an inky flame to release at Xehanort's apprentice. For a flash, on the backyard grass, it's like fighting Riku again, in front that iron gate in a strange down. "Not until you don't exist anymore, Vanitas!"

[theprobator]

"You're not even worth the effort, weakling."

Although Vanitas has to give Joe credit for his tenacity-- and for picking a fight in a poor random's yard. He sweeps the χ-blade in an upward motion, his free hand gripping the handles to steady the weapon diagonally in front of him. The flat side of the χ-blade faces the direction of Joe and the darkness, as if Vanitas is attempting to shield himself.

[madeinoblivion]

The word makes him want to cringe. Weakling. He considered Riku so much weaker, once, and he was defeated. Sora too- thought back in Castle Oblivion that the Hero of Light would be a cakewalk.

He'd been wrong. Even the strength of Zexion's darkness hadn't been enough to best Riku. And Sora- Sora put up such a good fight, because...because...

Was it really because he was only a replica, and a weakling? His Soul Eater locks against the χ-blade's jagged edges, and he huffs with frustration, with determination, wrenching it back again.

Am I still too weak? Power is not all that it takes to keep going! I learned that from Sora. From Riku.

What is it that gives them strength?

An easy answer.

[theprobator]

Vanitas is relentless in his attacks, swinging the χ-blade and clashing against the smaller weapon in short, yet powerful, clangs. It's almost as if he intends to intimidate, not cause harm.

And perhaps he is-- after all, if one puffs up his chest enough, if one ruffles his feathers outward enough, the other should logically back down eventually. Vanitas is looking to escape with his body intact.

[madeinoblivion]

[The force of the broader χ-blade is enough to force him backward, blow by blow, but he keeps meeting them, muscles taut with taking the brunt power behind it. His teeth are grit, his eyes blazing.

It isn't going to work like this. He'll have to be more clever than that. Lunging into a lower duck when the blade sweeps across, he takes a sharper swipe for the boy's knees.]

[theprobator]

It's when the blade connects with his kneecaps and he's sent stumbling back a few steps does Vanitas concede that maybe Joe is worth taking seriously for at least a moment, after all.

Body and blade crackling with darkness, he lunges forward again, χ-blade held horizontally to stab. If he misses, he'll jerk the weapon back and lift it to swing at Joe's head.

[madeinoblivion]

Now he's moving into a position that Joe is a little more familiar with- because it's his own stance, and because he's faced off with a mirror image, with Riku, several times before.

He meets that darkness with his own, the two crossing blades scorching the backyard grass with a thick, oppresive ozone of Dark Aura.

And the sword does connect with his head, glancing, leaving a bloody gash over his right eye and a certain bump for later- It should be, in fact, more than a boy is meant to recover from-

But there's a different sort of flare, a shift in magical energy, something that isn't quite darkness and isn't quite a cure spell, but it invigorates him regardless, tattered skirt billowing a bit, as if stirred by an unseen wind.

Whirling, the replica strikes in a uppercut slash.

[theprobator]

The blade connects with his chest and shoulder, though with the adrenaline pumping thick like the heartbeat in his ears coupled with his reflexes and mind distracted with survival Vanitas doesn't make a noise in reaction. He barely even flinches; he just backpedals, his entire body and weapon encompassed in swirling darkness.

Fight fire with fire goes the old adage, but quite frankly, Vanitas doesn't really have any other option to begin with. Perhaps he remembered how to use the light when he was Ventus, when he wasn't a consciousness of his own, but the knowledge and the ability is long gone-- not even reachable now that the light is once again at his disposal. With the black energy seeping from his being forming around the χ-blade, amassing it into a monstrous, almost living torrent of power, he immediately dives forward again in an attempt to stab Joe. Knock him out of the way. Whichever happens first.

[madeinoblivion]

The sheer force of darkness does blast him off his feet before the blade even has the chance to connect, and he skids hard onto his back in the grass, wincing- he manages to pull his legs up and kicks with the heel of his boot at the flat of the keyblade as it passes over head in a thrust, trying to roll back over onto his feet.

His shoulders ache, and his hand feels numbed from keeping such tight relentless hold on Soul Eater's hilt, but his head and his heart feel a miraculous focus, sharp and clear.

[theprobator]

There's a lingering sliver of irritation with the fact that he can't seem to end this battle quickly, that Joe is keeping up with him-- it says something about how much he's weakened since early this morning, he thinks-- regardless, Vanitas swings again, attempting to bring the blade down as strongly as he's able. It's less of an attack to make a point and edging toward the brink of desperation. The longer he has to fend Joe off, the weaker he'll become.

[madeinoblivion]

[This blow, wide and obvious, is an easier one to dodge with another roll- and he's glad for it, by the force that X-blade strikes the ground with, tearing into the grass. Joe dashes sideways, up the plastic yellow slide of a children's backyard playset, and leers down at Vanitas, preparing to spring.]