And so it is at the twilight of Cypher Nihilis, an ominous figure approaches the Exiled Castle, nothingness surrounding his aura. Behind the cloaked figure walks a beast, slouched over and breathing heavy. He makes no sounds as he walks, only his breathing and the eerie clanking of his chains pierce the silence of night air. As the figure approaches the castle, he smiles faintly, awaiting someone at the entrance of the Castle. The door opens. "Who's there?" A voice rang out across the hallways. A figure stood defiantly in the doorway, his dark hair matted against his forehead. Ten other clocked figures appear from doors to darkness behind Xemnas. Xemnas lowers his hood, showing a solemn expression with his lifeless yellow eyes. "We are Organization XIII. And you have something that belongs to us." "I think nothing we have belongs to you." Xowlin replied cooly, keeping his eyes locked with Xemnas'. "And I believe you have no right to be here." "We don't have anything that belongs to you! You have no right to-" As caxboj ran out of the doorway, Xemnas motioned with two fingers, and Xigbar pulled out his rifle. Shouting for him to stop, Xowlin watched in horror as Xigbar's bullet went straight through Caxboj's head. "You bastard." The Exiled Members had begun to gather now, staring in horror at Caxboj's fading body. Xemnas stared blankly at Xowlin, seemingly genuinely confused. "Was it not you that turned against us, and returned only to raid our research lab? No. It's you who don't belong here." The rest of Org. XIII stepped back into their doors to darkness, leaving Xemnas alone with the chained beast beside him. Ojex has arrived by this point, drawing his swordlike wing and pointing it at Xemnas. "You come here, attacking us, and you expect us to just give up? Unacceptable." "I don't expect you to give up," Xemnas retorted, "I expect you to die." He inserted a key into the locks that held the shackles together. The lock fell to the floor with a loud "KLANG", and the chains unraveled to the ground. Xemnas stepped back as the beast slowly looked up at the Exiled members. Xemnas stepped into a door to darkness, his gaze never breaking from the Exiled. As the remains of Caxboj's body faded away, Xowlin's horror was replaced by fear as he watched the chains to the beast fall to the floor. Xowlin could feel the darkness radiating from this beast, and felt what could only be described as fear gripping his throat. Watching Xemnas flee, Xowlin's worry increased. If this man could not trust himself around a beast he controlled, how could the Exiled hope to subdue it? Clicking her tongue, Kaarix slowly took out her Chakram. "You think it'll bite?" she asked, half joking. "I'm sure it will." Ojex replies solemnly, getting into a ready stance as he prepares for battle. "I somehow don't think it wants to merely play fetch... whatever it is." Kilopteros slowly scans the area, taking note of the 4 nobodies that stand in front of him. He begins to hiss, as his glowing yellow eyes pass over the nobodies, his hissing grows louder and more violent. "Yup, looks like a fight." Kaarix shook her shimmering head. "How tough do you think it is?"
Summoning his staff, Xowlin stood ready for whatever this beast had in store. "I would guess tough Kaarix. This thing feels as if it could swallow light if it wanted to." Killopteros screeches loud enough to pop an eardrum, and charges into the room. His mouth hardening into a line, Xowlin painted a wall in front of him, keeping the beast from getting inside. Hearing a loud thud, Xowlin winced as the beast threw itself recklessly against his temporary shield. "I hope you guys are ready, because it looks like we're about to be in a fight for our lives." Kaarix bit her lip, but readied herself nontheless. "Ready." There are several loud bangs against the wall created by Xowlin, followed by Killopteros' frustrated screams. Suddenly, silence. Ojex flinched at the loud screams and the creature slamming against the wall, then stubbornly stands at ready again. "Think it got bored and left?" Sweat beaded on Xowlin's forehead. "I have no idea how you're being sarcastic at a time like this, Ojex. And you too, Kaarix." Looking around, anxiety gripped Xowlin like an icy claw. "I was being hopeful." she replied curtly, getting on her chakram. "I'll go check, back me up okay?" Killopteros bursts from the ground beside Ojex in a great ray of darkness! His fall back down to the ground seems to be almost in slow motion, as he basks in his own wake. Killopteros' fall may seem in slow motion, but Ojex is anything but. Reacting quickly to the sudden attack, he leaps into the air, wingblade flashing as he attempts to shear the beast's head from its body.
Killopteros does a backflip just before the blade came inches from his neck. Spinning at lightning speed, Killopteros hits Ojex in the chest with both claws, open palmed, and sends Ojex flying. Looking up just in time to see Ojex fly backwards, Xowlin leapt from his position near the spears and rushed to draw something that could cushion Ojex's fall. Reacting more than thinking, Xowlin drew the first thing that came to mind: A giant pillow. Seeing the action taken by Xowlin, Killopteros landed and jetted over to Xowlin, getting directly in his face. Taking his large clawed hand, Killopteros upercutted Xowlin and knocked him into the air, letting out another screach. Taking the last stroke, Xowlin almost laughed at his work. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a black blur dash straight in front of him. Not even having time to change the expression on his face, Xowlin felt his chin being smashed, and felt himself lifted in the air. Hoping to slow his descent enough to get back under control, Xowlin drew a crude parachute. Hopelessness filled his body as he realized how helpless he had been to stop the beast's attack. Ojex lands on the pillow, hurriedly scrambling to his feet. He charges towards the beast again, stabbing at it. "This thing is fast! Anyone got anything to slow it down, at least?" Killopteros grabs the blade that pierce it, and proceeded to pummel Ojex in the face. Kaarix leapt forward, using her gravity control to make herself glide, "We can't slow it down, but we can try to meet its pace!" she yelled as she threw her chakram at Killopteros.
"I could try to draw something on him, but I really don't think that's an option right now!" As Xowlin shouted a reply to Ojex, he watched the beast start to pummel his comrade. Seeing this sight, something began to rise up inside of him. He wasn't helpless. He had been granted these powers, and Xowlin hardly had any intention of letting a being incapable of speech stop him. Slashing the strings to his parachute, Xowlin kicked off of a nearby wall and launched himself straight at the monster. Flying past Kaarix, he smiled. Maybe they could defeat this thing after all. Ojex couldn't evade the beast as it attacked him, nor could he manage to get away. The most he could do is try and block the blows with his wingblade. Killopteros looked over at Kaarix and Xowlin, his eyes widening with a sadistic glee. His screach came out resembling a strange laugh, and he threw Ojex at the two speeding nobodies. Kaarix stops her chakram, and both her and her weapon speed upward, evading Ojex. Watching the nobody fly towards him, Xowlin twisted sideways, narrowly grazing his comrade. "YOU'RE ALL HEART!" Ojex hollers to the two as he is thrown past them and they dodge. He rights himself in midair with the use of his sheared off wing, regaining his balance before swooping down on Killopteros, aiming to decapitate it again. With all three nobodies in front of him, Killopteros extended both arms. Bright red lights began to form all across Killopteros' body, as a screech came out of him that went from almost to quiet to hear to painfully loud. As he reached his highest pitch, a barrage of violently bright red lights spewed forth at the Exiled members. “Damn.” Xowlin thought as he flew through the air. Drawing a shield on his right arm, he hoped it would stand up to the blasts flying towards it. Kaarix floated to the side, the lights barely nicking her coat. Ojex caught the full brunt of the blasts and was ripped to slivers of shadow, disintegrating before the eyes of everyone present before he could say a word. Not being able to see where he was going, Xowlin plowed through the red lights, and ran straight into the attacking monster. Killopteros' arm was knocked out of wack, and his attack interupted. The lights faded, and Killopteros grabbed the painted shield, and ripped it away from Xowlin. He lifted his foot up on Xowlin's head, and slammed Xowlin into the ground head first. Kaarix shifted into a ram, and slammed into Killopteros, knocking it off its feet. She transformed back to normal, as Killopteros flailed about on the ground, screaming.
“There’s no way we can do this alone...”, Kaarix muttered as she helped Xowlin to his feet. “Where are the others?” questioned Xowlin. Kaarix looked around. The entire area was empty, yet the echoes of battles taking place could be heard all around. She looked back down at Killopteros as the heartless stumbled to its feet, giving out an evil hiss. Suddenly a a shield span past Kaarix and Xowlin, and barely missing Killopteros’ head. The three watched the shield as it span back around and was caught by the recently arrived Xatsuin. He shifted into a firm defensive stance, and looked down at the shadow left by Ojex’s death. “Did I miss anything?”, he asked. Xowlin smiled. “Just our sloppy start. But you’re just in time to help us take this beast down.” Killopteros then created a ball of darkness in his palms, slightly larger than a human head, and hurled it Xatsuin. The nobody, with shield and sword in hand, coated his shield in diamond and the ball bounced off his shield, though the force at which the ball hit managed to knock Xatsuin off his feet. The darkness crashed into the ceiling above Killopteros, causing debris to crumble down on the heartless. As the dust subsided, there was a pause of silence. “Is that it?”, Xatsuin asked, genuinely confused.
“I don’t kn-”, Xowlin attempted to say, but just then Killopteros bursted forward, his arm reached out to grab him. Xowlin barely managed to lean back, and sweep upward with his brush, into Killopteros’ stomach, throwing it into the air. Kaarix and Xatsuin seemed almost psychically in synced, as she threw her chakram at the heartless the same moment Xatsuin threw his shield. Killopteros is hit by both in the stomach, and is cut entirely in half. The two pieces crash to the ground, as the two nobodies catch their weapons. All three nobodies step closer to Killopteros, observing as his expression becomes more distant, and the pieces of his body twitch about. Killopteros’ glance frantically jolt around the room, desperately looking for aid, and finding none. He reaches out his hand, slowly, and grabs onto the ankles of Xowlin. Xowlin jumps back, and attempts to shake it off, but can’t. “Hey...!” He begins to kick harder, but the heartless’ grip can’t be broken. Black tendrils begin to grow from the corpse of the beast, wiggling about. “What’s it doing?!” Xatsuin yells. Kaarix slowly steps back, and looks at Xowlin. Xowlin, a look of determination on his face, turns to Kaarix. “Don’t let it win.” he whispered.
Before Kaarix could even think of a reply, the tendrils bolted at Xowlin, and he was completely smothered in darkness. Xatsuin and Kaarix both jumped away, as the dark blob began to twitch and shake around.