Rikku stepped out of the hotel; this had been a very interesting evening, to say the least. Tackling a “heartless”, a man (and what a man) flying through the roof, seeing her new semi-metallic friend in bed with another man. She had had more excitement in a single evening in Traverse Town than she had had in her entire life on the Destiny Islands.
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His first instinct was to open his eyes wide, pupils dilating so that they may better adjust to the lack of light. His head hurt -- a hangover, he surmised with a resignated sigh -- and his body felt sore in rather odd places. He shifted in his chair, and once he was able to distiguish shapes in the darkness, he rose to his feet, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm while the other groped for the back of the chair to orient himself.
Zell was still fast asleep. He could tell from the sound of the blond's breathing, rhythmic and deep, coming from the bed. The lion's lip curled in contempt at this, though it wasn't exactly directed at Zell. He only wished he could sleep that soundly.
He needed air. And maybe some coffee. That bourbon had left a bad taste in his mouth, and he knew he wasn't going to be getting any sleep for the rest of the night -- or whatever constituted as night in Traverse Town.
Is it still snowing? he wondered, his steps quiet as he moved about the room to pick up his gunblade. He doubted Zell would wake up even if he stomped about -- the alcohol had knocked him out rather effectively -- but Leon didn't want to take that risk. He had no wish to endure the former SeeD's loud company just yet. Or ever, if that could be arranged.
With his Revolver at his hip, Leon finally slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him. The bright lights in the hallway only intensified his headache, which obviously worsened his mood. Jaw clenched slightly in discomfort, Leon made his way down the hall at a brisk pace, not pausing to even acknowledge anyone else who might have been there.
There was a moment of relief as he stepped out into the cold air, but it was brief. Something felt off. He looked up, hand going to his gunblade, and was greeted by the sight of a girl he'd never seen before. From her strange attire, he deduced that she was not from around here. How odd. So many new faces in Traverse...
Peering over her, he thought he saw the shadows shift, and he could have sworn he caught a glint of yellow. His hand tightened. Heartless?
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As soon as the half-devil set foot outside, he noticed the same man and that girl, Rikku, from before standing out on the snowy, slightly mangled streets. It wasn't long before his senses also picked up another presence, several actually. It seemed as though some of those little, shadow bastards were coming back out to play. In a flourish of movement, he drew Ebony and Ivory, twirling them around expertly before calling out to one of the apparent, resident screwballs from the hotel.
"Up for a little fun, Sunshine?" he called to the other man. He assumed he could handle himself fairly well in a fight due to the weird-ass sword at his side. "Might want to sit this one out, sweetheart," Dante piped up again, this time talking to Rikku as he finally reached 'Sunshine's' side.
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Rikku's gaze rose to Dante and the strange man at his side. A smirk ran across her face and she her arms crossed in front of her chest. She really was flattered that they had come to her rescue, she wasn't stupid enough to think she could take these things on her own. Something told her she would usually be terrified in a situation like this but the sight of the two men actually gave her comfort. There was still a bit of fear in her but for the most part she felt safe.
"Save me and I'll reward you somehow," Rikku called to Dante with a wink. She wasn't really sure what she meant by it but she couldn't help herself. Now wasn't the time to be flirting she thought to herself, but goodness it was a nice change from where she came from. She held her breath slightly, and waited. She knew that Yuna knew what was going on, she would kill her, and that made her grin.
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Ringlets of black formed midair. More yellow-eyed creatures leapt out, covered in blue and silver armor; Their silver suits of armor clang wildly. Without hesitation, they charge at the group.
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He drew his Revolver, one hand gripping the hilt at the bottom while the other wrapped around the top, finger slipping into the trigger with an ease that betrayed nearly two decades' worth of familiarity. No fancy maneuvers. Just a simple step forward and the dangerous intent of battle in his stance.
Leon cut through their flirtatious banter, almost sounding impatient, with an edge of a growl. Typical lion. "They're coming."
That was the only warning he gave, and then he was charging forward to meet their attack.
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But, as the grump guy with the sword implied with his low growl, there were more pressing matters to deal with currently. Oh, these bastards were armored, were they? That just meant the fun would last a little longer. A feral grin spread across Dante's lips as the creatures sprung forward, and he darted forward, firing several rounds into a few Heartless until he got into melee range, at which point Ebony and Ivory were placed back in their holster and Rebellion drawn in one, fluid motion as he kept pace with his partner.
"Hope you can keep up, Sunshine."
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Other blank inky creatures stood off, suspended from the side of the building above their heads to look down on them. The yellow eyes didn't observe for long before, they too, leaped down from above. One ant-like creature leapt from the wall and came to roost upon a head of full of stringy white hair; it perked it's antenna curiously.
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When he heard the sounds of fighting, he instantly became more alert. Had the Heartless attacked someone without him even realizing? It wasn't as if the Second District was so big he couldn't hear or see the other side, even if the fountain was kind of tucked away. Sora didn't have time to ponder the reasons why he hadn't noticed the battle, instead he summoned the Keyblade and rushed to where the sounds where coming from.
Right in front of the hotel the Heartless were charging three people. Sora barely had time to register Leon, some girl that looked a little familiar, and a guy with a funny hat (?) before the Keyblade slashed through the Heartless closest to him.
He was wary not to get in way of the fighters, though, he remembered all too well what it felt like to get blasted by Leon's Gunblade and he didn't feel like feeling it again any time soon.
Sora's movements were graceful and precise. Maybe he could distract the Heartless enough that they would turn to him and then it would easier for the others to destroy them.
After all, it had been Leon who had first explained their attraction to the Keyblade to him.
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It was almost a relief to fight these little bastards, he realized with an inward smirk. The pounding headache was all but gone now that he had a proper outlet for the frustration that he'd built up since his return. His mind felt clearer, too.
So he didn't fail to notice that some of the Heartless were turning away, as if drawn to something else. Momentarily perplexed, Leon glanced up, and his immediately caught sight of the Keyblade. His eyes widened in shock when he followed the blade to its bearer. Sora? An older Sora. It was more than a shock to see the boy after four years, the sight he beheld now clashing rather jarringly with the memory of the fourteen year od he had once been.
All this crossed his mind in a matter of seconds, however, and he was quick to realize what the boy meant to do. More Heartless were still coming their way, but the numbers weren't so great now.
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He quickly grew tired of that, and, in a flash, holstered the guns behind him, drawing Rebellion as he lept into the air. His demonic blood carrying him farther than a normal jump would. He landed on a patch of the shadowy creatures, blade first as he started to cut and cleave through the, occasionally showing off by leaping up and sheathing his sword to make use of Ebony and Ivory again. The weapons were switched on and off, but, honestly, he probably wouldn't shown off just as much had Rikku not been present. Over the top was just Dante's style, though it was probably earning him a lot of points right now.
Blue eyes zeroed in on the weird kid with the giant, fucking key as soon as he came onto the scene. Being that he was Dante, he took a moment to observe the kid as he was emptying another round into a group of Heartless nearby. Not bad. Could use some work, but he was fairly impressed. Fairly.
"Not bad, Junior," he called to the kid before addressing Rikku again. "You okay back there, sweetheart?"
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She noticed spikey hair out of the corner of her eye and attempted to see who it belonged to as she smacked another bug with the journal. Who said books were useless. Yuna would probably kill her if she knew what Rikku was doing for some reason that made it even better. After another jump Rikku spun on her heel to see who it was and was amazed to see who she assumed was Sora. It looked like Sora..but he was different...older. But as she stared at him she could see the same quirky boy that she had known so long ago. His presence made her do something she had never really done before and that was stop dead in her tracks, "Sora?" she said softly. She left the rest of the heartless to the men, for some reason she didn't even really notice them anymore. She was staring at Sora. She knew she was. The first person to leave destiny Islands. One of the few (very few) males that she respected. She stood there watching him destory heartless and she remembered what Aydin had written in his journal about Sora being the keyblade master. It was very clear to her at that moment why he was. At that moment she had never respected anyone more.
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The sound of his name pulled his attention away from being arrogant after only a second. "Huh?" he asked and looked at the girl. His expression turned into one of confusion. Who...? She was familiar, but it was from a long time ago.
It was her eyes that probably gave her away.
"Rikku?"
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He nearly approached the boy, but he quickly realized that Sora's attention was focused on the girl. Another friend from his homeworld, perhaps? So he stood his ground, eyeing the boy long and hard, torn between staying to demand information from his and heading to the cafe as he had originally intended.
Four years, he thought, looking Sora up and down. Kid's grown. Damn, I really am getting old. He was good at concealing his dismay, though.
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"Sure you are, Junior," he replied with an exaggerated eyeroll. Ebony and Ivory with flipped back into their holster, but unlike Sunshine, Dante wasn't going to step back and allow Junior and Rikku to have their little reunion.
"The fuck is that thing?" he asked openly, gesturing to the giant, fucking key that rested against the kid's shoulder.
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