Kingdom Hearts - Blades of Three Realms

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro of course had been doing his jogging motions that day when he was pretty much ran into by said purple haired amazon on a bicycle, bowling him over and sending him crashing to the ground, with a bit of web-cracks on the pavement and seeing stars in his eyes as he laid there "... what just happened and why am i seeing the sky?" he'd rhetorically ask himself before the pain of the weights and his harsh landing started taking effect, 'slightly' jarring his memory back into booting again "oh.. right. got run over by a bike... ow." he said too calmly, while looking to the purple haired amazon curiously "you okay there miss?" he'd ask without missing a beat and seeming to completely ignore the throbbing pain he was in at the moment.

Axel of course didn't make himself scarce, so he was quite handily available for going with the others for food, so on mainly because he didn't want to get lost in this place, though he didn't say anything more about Shiro to Xion, since it seemed she saw through him, though he was more trying to at least get Shiro more open, maybe a bit more simplified, but it seemed to not work so he was kind-of running out of possible ideas aside from subtle nudges that Xion wouldn't notice, but he'd have to wait until the suspicion is off him about things for now. he did enjoy seeing Roxas train hard, even with Kenshin when he was around after Shiro was out like a light.


Roveth narrowed his eyes at Sora, as if pondering his next move, before turning around and utilizing a move Shiro tends to use when he wanted to speed slash things to death: Starburst Stream, to take out a few more enemies as he frowned a bit lightly "you don't have just Kairi and Riku anymore Sora.. it's okay to ask us for aid." he said in a bit of a more melancholy/solemn tone of voice, but the praise for helping Roxas just made Roveth shake his head and smiled "mmh, truthfully in the case of Roxas.. as much as Shiro -did- help Crystal... Roxas did so much more so they both in essence helped each other. but i will say this, even though i do want to find my own worth in the world, as long as i still have my mind intact...i -will- protect everyone i can until my last breath, take it as you will, but i will not let anyone be unhappy, or in danger on my watch." he said, giving an example by flinging his Keyblades in a Twin Strike Raid moment to rend through two heartless about to attack Sora and Aqua both, , and once he got the blades back he'd backflip over a Large Body's punch, and do a downwards vertical slash to bisect the huge heartless and releasing the heart within before continuing to fight "however this won't stop me from at least making sure those.. two... actually work to be better teammates at least until you can work with other people in the future, like Riku and Kairi." he said finally, closing his eyes and feeling that larger ominous darkness down below them "we should be careful... the darkness congregated deep below us is... quite powerful. not on par with a Heartless General, but definitely far higher than a decent sized group of Heartless." he warned the two, proceeding to ready two cards in being 'set' so he can use them later if need be.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

"Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo really hadn't been paying attention to where she was going with that bicycle and simply assumed she must have landed on Ranma because she pretty much always landed on Ranma. She was therefore very surprised to see Shiro crushed beneath her bike as she reflexively jumped off of him and lifted the bike effortlessly with one hand raising it over her head while continuing to hold the delivery box with her other hand. "What, you not Ranma?" And still there came no apology for her landing on top of Shiro with her bicycle to accidentally crush him like that. A little ways overheard and behind where they were situated could be heard the frantic honking and flapping of a rather agitated duck who upon landing would flap its way into the delivery box for the ever-present hot water kettle to regain his human form.

Mousse's glasses were slightly askew by the time he was back in his human form so when he glanced down at the culprit who was troubling his beloved Shampoo he simply assumed that it was Ranma. "So, you dare to trouble my beloved again, huh Saotome? Prepare to die!" And then the various bladed weapons on chains would shoot out from his sleeves as he attempted to impale 'Ranma' who was actually Shiro with them without waiting for an explanation and clearly without any hint of mercy.


Roxas actually really enjoyed the opportunities he had to train with Kenshin, much like he had enjoyed training with Yoh and Amidamaru while attempting to learn how to utilize some of the feudal samurai's special techniques which Roxas was of course still practicing as much as he could with those new bokutos he was also carrying around now. It was interesting to see that even though ghosts weren't exactly a mainstay of the Nerima crowd, no one so much as batted an eye when Shiro's guardian ghosts would randomly reveal themselves to assist with training mainly for Shiro, of course, but also when Kenshin was taking the time to work with Roxas as well. Roxas also liked the training because when he was practicing it helped him to take his mind off of other things like Master Xehanort and the mounting threat of the Heartless Generals, at least for a little while. The training was also one of the rare times when Roxas wasn't necessarily with Crystal so there wasn't usually any awkward gossip involved either which was nice. This wasn't because Crystal didn't want to watch and help him train with Kenshin, but more because Akane was grabbing Crystal at any opportunity to get her to spar because Crystal was one of the only people who could seriously fight her at the same level and it wasn't often enough that Akane had a real opponent to fight against given Ranma absolutely refused to be her sparring partner. Xion was also benefiting from learning more hand-to-hand combat techniques considering up until now she only really knew how to fight with the Keyblade or by using magic.

At one point when Akane decided to take a break and volunteered to go grab water bottles for everyone Crystal did finally have a brief moment to confront Xion directly given there was a certain topic they needed to discuss.

"You know, I know better than anyone that Shiro's personality can be a little bit difficult to understand at times, but if you want to talk to him more he's not going to bite," Crystal mentioned rather offhandedly. "The way he is now he might even answer some of your questions whereas I kind of just had to guess and ad lib what he was thinking back when we first met since he didn't feel like speaking most of the time. Of course, even when he doesn't want to say anything, he'll still listen."

"Did Axel put you up to this?" was Xion's first question, naturally.

"Look, I know Axel is up to something, but that's got nothing to do with me," Crystal shrugged. "I want for us all to be able to get along when it counts and Shiro isn't exactly the best at making friends so I know he can seem a little bit prickly and standoffish without meaning to. But maybe if you two try to talk things out you can find some better common ground so it won't be so difficult spending time together. Like I said, he won't bite, but odds are he's still pretty unsure of himself even if he has gotten a lot better since spending that time training with Auron. Anyway, I plan on having a word with him too if I can ever get him alone because he probably doesn't even realize that he's confusing the issue."

"It really is amazing how well you two seem to know each other," Xion admitted after hearing out Crystal's explanation.

"Yeah, well, for a long time it was just the two of us," Crystal reminded Xion. "I had to understand Shiro if I was going to keep him alive. It's a tough job being friends with him, but once you get past the surface it's totally worth the effort. He really is a good person at heart. He might try to push us all away, but that's when he really needs us the most."

"I can certainly see why it is that both him and Roveth are so willing to follow you," Xion mentioned with a thoughtful smile. "And Roxas too. I'm sure he must have had a difficult time trusting anyone after what he went through, but it doesn't surprise me at all that he warmed up to you so quickly."

"And yet, when we're Power Rangers, Shiro is supposed to be the one in charge," Crystal snorted a bit mildly. Xion couldn't help laughing at being reminded of that fact either, especially recalling how much Shiro had flailed and protested at being assigned the position of leader at the time.

Not long after that Akane would have returned with the water bottles and then the girls would get back to training with Xion appearing to be in somewhat better spirits after Crystal's unsolicited little pep talk.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro had looked to the girl who had just mistaken him for Ranma with a sweatdrop as he shook his head "nope, not Ranma. i am a friend of his though, Shiro Musouka." he said calmly enough, though when the angry duck appeared Shiro would deadpan at the strangeness, and didn't even question the duck transforming into a male via water, as he figured that he was pretty much a cursed victim like Ranma in that case, but the weapons being flung at him just made Shiro's eyes glow a slight bit, before he pushed and slid on the pavement away from said weapons narrowly and eventually flip onto his feet despite all the weight he was carrying strapped to him in various places on his body "really now, of all times it has to act up..?" he muttered under his breath before letting his eyes go half-lidded as he hyper-focused on the one attacking him, switching stances from his normal fighting stance with weapons to his hand to hand combat stance, before settling down into one of his full technique stances "you are within my field of divination..." he would intone as he focused, before blurring into action and probably dodging more implements of sharp and pointyness being flung at him with his fingers out, striking on various pressure points "Two Strikes! Four Strikes! Eight Strikes! Sixteen Strikes!" he would intone, going faster and faster despite his muscles starting to burn in protest at using his normal full speed while being weight down, but he didn't care at his own pain, he was more wanting to put this idiot down before he got someone hurt "Thirty Two Strikes! Gentle Fist style... Sixty four Palm strikes!" he finally finished the move, having hit so many various pressure points with this that Mousse, or wheover the guy was, would definitely in a heap of flesh on the ground in pain and unable to move for a good while while Shiro backed off his fighting stance once the guy was down, and looked towards the girl once more, before bowing a bit in apology "sorry about that miss, but his style had an opening that screamed 'attack', so i did." he said with a soft smile, though when he got a better look at the amazon woman Shiro blinked a bit before tilting his head "yare yare daze... aren't you Shampoo, one of Ranma's girlfriends?" he'd ask, now realizing who he was talking to, granted, he still had no idea on the boy he just incapacitated so it was clear he hadn't met him at all until now, but he did recognize Shampoo through some of the photos he had seen from Kasumi and all about Ranma's adventures one time.

Axel of course was nowhere near the conversation Xion and Crystal were having about Shiro, so there was no reason that she should be questioning if Axel had any involvement in asking Crystal, in fact, he was probably on the other side of town working on his Chakram practicing in enclosed spaces in an abandoned building of sorts and humming in thought looking to his Chakram blades "nothing against using these... but while they're the best for my fire control... they're just not cutting it as weapons... maybe i should go look into finding some new chakrams." he hummed in thought, before dismissing them and heading out to go find someplace that he could either order a custom made set or buy a new set of Chakrams and all.

Roveth meanwhile had watched as Riku spoke to Sora, and once he was deflected away from attacking Roveth would further protect the two by flicking his hand out to the side "Trap Card, Open! Mirror Wall!" he called out, a card appearing and flipping upwards to reveal the picture of a large wall made out of mirror-like crystals, as it sprouted up much like in the picture from the ground, seperating himself and the Dark Riku from Sora and Aqua "Aqua, can you take care of Sora and long range support? i'll handle fighting him up close." he'd call out, the wall at least revealing to Sora and Aqua's side of things, Roveth and the Dark Riku, but the Replica would not see the other two, just himself and Roveth within those prismatic crystalline structures "you must be a Replica of Riku made by the Organization's Vexen... also known as Even." he'd state, while dismissing Tenebrex and sticking to utilizing lockdown in one hand, card in the other if need be for magic spells "if that's the case, then i -really- cannot let you anywhere near Sora in your current state. your opponent.. is me." he said, dashing in for multiple slashes with his keyblade aiming towards various parts of Dark Riku's body, most notably the body area.  

[[XIII] Roxas]

Once Shiro finished with incapacitating Mousse he would find that he hadn't only impressed Shampoo, but had also gotten the attention of the old crone, Cologne, who would then offer to provide him with some more specialized Amazon training better suited to his apparent skill level while also reminding Shampoo to get back to her deliveries. As such Shampoo would re-mount her bicycle and somehow propel herself back onto the nearby fences and telephone lines to resume riding through town. Meanwhile, Mousse would remain abandoned where he had fallen until such time that he regained his own mobility well enough to find his own way home.


Roxas would continue working hard at his own training, although he was notably much more relaxed than he had been during his training regimen at Olympus Coliseum as had also been the case while the group had been training at Funbari Onsen as well, although he was much more at ease now because he knew Crystal was safely nearby and not someplace dangerous or dangerously involved in Sora's training for the time being. As such, Roxas wouldn't be pushing himself to the breaking point or anything too reckless like that with his current practice sessions. As a result he could focus more on honing and strengthening his battle stances to try to improve his reaction time among other things.

Xion would have been watching while Crystal and Akane were working on a more advanced kata. When she tried to imitate the stances they were using Crystal would naturally come back over to show it to her at a slower pace so Xion could get a better look at what she was doing before walking Xion through it a few times afterward. It then occurred to Xion that this was more the aspect of the martial arts that Crystal was actually fond of rather than the actual ability to fight. Which kind of explained why Crystal was so proficient at teaching it too.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Shiro of course would actually be surprised at the offer of training from the old crone Cologne, who he also recognized, however he did accept it and would take on the training with gusto on top of the normal training he already had, granted, this also meant that when he did crash and burn each night, it was like trying to wake the dead in this case, but this time Shiro wasn't irritable or anything about said training, as he was the one piling it on himself in a sense, but it helped to learn from the amazonian matriarch, as well as his three guardian Ghosts, at least while Kenshin wasn't teaching Roxas, which he approved of wholeheartedly as well right now as he had a lot on his plate training wise now with Cologne in play.

Roveth meanwhile had taken the attacks without showing too much in pain or frustration over Riku's Tactics, in fact, given he had already at least sparred against and fought alongside the real Riku, seeing these tactics was nothing but child's play to him now, as eventually he'd start narrowly sidestepping physical slashes, counter the Dark Firaga's with random bursts of Shadow Energy, and when it came to the shielding, well, one time he'd just switch to using his fist and coated it in raw shadow energy like he did during the clash with Ganondorf, and proceed to unleash a picture perfect Warlock Punch (Though Roveth would probably call it something along the lines Shadow Nova Punch..) to shatter the shield and hit Riku when he could, backing up a few paces every time Aqua was using her ranged magical support so he didn't get caught in the crossfire, showing that even when not firing on all cylinders that he was able to change gears on a whim and fully capable of matching with just about anyone synergistic-ally speaking in fighting capabilities. "Tell me, Riku... no.. Ansem now..." he said, correcting himself for the moment given that he could tell that stench of darkness anywhere being from Xehanort, and he knew of Riku's holding Ansem Seeker of Darkness for a good while before Xemnas went more active at the time "while i recognize which form you are in as Riku... i don't think i've ever fought him like this...." he would glance back to Sora a moment, or at least in Sora's Direction, before resuming his fighting back with unpredictable timings and utilizing his attacking styles, even sometimes temporarily moving to swap out with one of his warrior Monsters like Gearfried the Iron Knight or Celtic Guardian and slipping into the shadow temporarily to go invisible so he could attack Dark Riku from a new direction while he had the essence of surprise.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth would stare at Ansem with no emotions showing on his face, just being pure stoicism as he brought his hand up, starting to glow dark purple as he started gathering darknes energy into it, his eyes narrowing more and more as he zeroed in on Ansem "i see... then that means there's little recourse in what happens, as the Replica Riku is probably slowly dying within, constantly suffering and in pain..." he spoke up as he brought his hand out forward, towards Ansem, clenching the fingers as if starting to grip something with the arm continuing to glow purple and black in color "holding a dying boy hostage.. how low can you really go.. XEHANORT!!!!" he roared out, before -moving- with such speeds it looked like he himself teleported, and was right in front of Dark Riku grabbing him by the face with that glowing arm, and starting to draw out and drain the darkness from Ansem as more and more glow began shooting up and through the arm "for guys like you.. no matter what form you take... ALL YOU DESERVE IS BEING CONSIGNED TO THE DEPTHS OF OBLIVION!!!!" he roared out, black-like fire starting to coat and envelop the arm in purple and black energies, Roveth's power and presence, despite being suppressed by the castle, was rising through the roof now in response to his anger and actions.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth of course would slam the last ditch effort of attacking him aside as he hid his eyes from sight of everyone, though he did look to the collapsed Riku replica with a small frown on his face, not of disdain or anger, but of sadness, knowing what was to happen, it made him angrier and angrier seeing the replica in that kind of state that Roveth's eyes went into their full demonic red form and growling out softly as he turned his attention to the phantom Ansem, having no words for himself to explain things as he showed his glowing inverted blood red eyes before bringing his arm up and clenching his fist one finger at a time, before the arm would start changing, evolving, revealing what looked to be a powerful black and purple armored arm (Think of Shell Bullet's initial form but purple where orange and red, and black where gold.) as he reared the fist back,, glowing a bright purple shine and the first 'wing' of three on his back began breaking apart and unleashing thrusting power to whirl Roveth around, adding in friction and centrifucal force behind the incoming punch as he deathly coldly stated "Die. Vanishing... First... Bullet." he said, before slamming his fist right into the center of Phantom Ansem, ripping a hole right into that shadow completely, and then gripping onto the remains, and once more starting to fully absorb and integrate Shadow Ansem into his body, to annhilate him utterly and make sure no one will ever be harmed by him again.  

[Kuukyo_Fushichou]

Roveth just stared down at his arm, looking at it as he narrowed his eyes, the red gleam in the irises glowing ominously, before hearing the voice, making him snap his head upwards as if knowing who it was while the red and inversion in his eyes creeped away, returning to normal while the arm also shattered, returning back to it's normal flesh and blood look underneath before smiling fainly, a true smile "tell him we'll be waiting... Lady Cosmos." he said, a few tears dropping from his eyes before he closed them as he gently and almost caressingly called back his dark aura, and once more it was completely held within him as he looked towards Sora and aqua, with a somewhat relieved smile "that voice... is the goddess of Light, Lady Cosmos.. i won't ever forget hearing it when she appeared after pulling herself out of Crystal's heart and the crystal surrounding it." he explained while readjusting his stance to a more relaxed one, looking upwards as he felt no more darkness in the castle "the darkness... outside of mine... is cleared up, i think we have a much more reasonable chance for bringing Ventus back now safely." he commented, dismissing Lockdown at the moment to show he was pretty much done fighting it seemed.