paixaorpg | What Goes Down in Halloween Town [Closed, Active]

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What Goes Down in Halloween Town [Closed, Active]

Character(s): Kefka and Knuckles
Content: Knuckles and Kefka meet in the worst possible place to do so (so far).
Setting: Halloween Town
Time: Dark o'clock
Warnings: Violence, most likely.

It was about time, Knuckles decided, to finally pay a visit to Halloween Town to see what all the fuss was about. He'd been avoiding it for as long as he could, especially after hearing about the ghosts there (and he wasn't terribly fond of those). Nevertheless, if there was even the slightest chance of finding his way back home from there, he'd give it a look at least once.

He set out early in the morning, gliding when he could and running when he couldn't. He hadn't needed much in the way of rest - only a few minutes here and there - as he'd kept up his strength, having mostly spent his time training. When he got there, he paused in slight apprehension, gritting his teeth. He was Knuckles, Guardian of Angel Island and the Master Emerald! What did he have to be afraid of?

He stepped into the strange place, glancing about the graveyard he'd ended up with and frowning. No, he wasn't scared... at least until a ghost popped out from behind a grave and wailed, causing him to jump about ten feet high. "STOP THAT!" he yelled, face turning redder than usual at the ghost's chuckle, and turned to stalk off - anywhere but here wouldn't be as bad as this, right? He muttered to himself - half-angrily, half-nervously, although he'd never admit it - as he moved, staring determinedly at the ground, but something was off: when did he turn greyish-green? And why did he have stitches all over him? The echidna paused, staring at his hands. "Great," he muttered, "just great." How the heck had this happened? And more importantly, could this day get any worse?

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Not too far away from Knuckles, someone else was thinking the same thing.

The place hadn't seemed too bad at first. A giant graveyard? Splendid! He wouldn't have to walk very far if he wanted to bury any bodies. Not that he would. Cremation was always so much more satisfying. Nothing beat the sweet smell of burning flesh in the morning, especially when it was mixed with a soundtrack of screams from the not-quite-dead.

But then there were all these creatures. Heartless, weren't they called? It didn't matter. They kept appearing in front of him, and attacking him, and getting in his way. He only had so much magic to spare!

"Die you miserable, useless, insects!" Kefka shrieked, flinging spell after spell at the Heartless that surrounded him. "Go bother someone else for a change! I'm sure there are plenty of weaklings you can tear apart somewhere else around here!" In fact, he wouldn't mind seeing that. It would give him something to laugh at for a change. The mage smoothed his colorful--though more muted and torn--robes as the Heartless disappeared into wisps of darkness, uttering a small "Hmph!" as he continued through the woods and entered the graveyard area.

Knuckles caught Kefka's eye almost immediately, and he broke into a grin much wider than was possible for any man, the blood red stitches at the corners of his mouth straining to keep the skin from splitting. "Well, well, well... Look who we have here," Kefka sang, stepping closer. He absently shooed away a ghost with a wave of the hand.

A finger went to Kefka's temple as he cocked his head to the side, his grin fading into a small, overly troubled frown. "My, I seem to have forgotten your name. What was it again? I haven't a clue." And suddenly, the smile was back, the singsong quality of Kefka's voice fading into a deeper tone as he regarded Knuckles with a half-lidded gaze. "Must not have been very important."

At that all-too-familiar shriek, the guardian turned. Great, just great; as if this place couldn't get any weirder. Knuckles sighed in exasperation, but at least Kefka wasn't setting buildings (and people) on fire again. He growled under his breath as the clown approached, drawing himself up to his full, if unimpressive, height when he spoke. "It's Knuckles," came the near-snarl, "and I've beaten you twice before." He smirked. "I guess I must've busted more brain cells than I thought."

Knuckles eyed Kefka, the clown looking even freakier than he normally did in the dim light. Were those stitches holding his mouth together? Then again, Knuckles had those all over his body, for whatever bizarre reason. Maybe this place changed people; he hadn't heard anything of that sort, but on the other hand, Knuckles spent most of his time away from Paixao. Pushing those thoughts aside from now, he frowned. "What are you doing here?"

A derisive snort followed Knuckles' reintroduction. The nuisance could call himself whatever he wanted to as far as Kefka was concerned, he'd just "forget" and call Knuckles whatever he wanted. "You'll have to forgive my poor, poor memory," he said in sweet, saccharine tones. "The less important something is, the more likely it is to disappear." He shook his head with a soft, sad sigh. "A mind like a sieve, you see. I'm sure you know the feeling well."

Whether or not the change in Knuckles' appearance bothered Kefka was hard to say, though he seemed for all the world to be unaffected by both it and his own transformation. As far as he was concerned, the Heartless were more annoying than the wardrobe change.

"Oh nothing at all. Just out for a stroll," he explained. "Out to see the sights, if you will. Who would have guessed there was something more to this wretched heap after all?" And for once Kefka was telling the truth. He had made his way out more out of curiosity than anything else, and while he was convinced that this place was just as worthless as the others, it was at least something different to look at and a sight better than that happy, sunny, sandy waste of space on the floor below.

Knuckles snorted. "Yeah, right," came the retort, the echidna smirking as he said it. "More like your brain's the one with holes in it." Kefka was insane; there was no need to pay attention to his remarks. Nevertheless, Knuckles felt his temper already beginning to rise. Maybe it was due to his growing dislike of this place, even though he hadn't been here long, but the guardian's temper seemed to be sharper than usual - and Kefka definitely wasn't helping matters. And the change in his form! What in the world was that about? Knuckles hoped it wouldn't last after he left this stupid place.

"Hmph. Well, just stay out of my way," Knuckles grumbled, "and I won't have to beat you into the ground." Again.

Oh, now that was amusing. Kefka chuckled darkly. "What a hoot! You? Really? A hothead like you would be simple to destroy... if you were worth the effort. Don't think I haven't learned from before. I don't think there's anything you can do that'll manage to surprise me." And then, realizing the challenge in his words, "And even if you do, I have a few surprises of my own."

At the obvious insult, Knuckles growled. "Would I?" he replied, baring his teeth in response. "I never use all my tricks in one fight." Kefka had yet to see him glide or climb, and he definitely hadn't seen Knuckles throw anybody around. Still, he knew more about Knuckles' fighting than the echidna would have liked; the first time they fought, Knuckles had been too angry to hold back, and had charged at him again and again in rather simple-minded determination. The second time, well... Sonic had been around back then, and Knuckles doubted Kefka had learned much about him from that encounter. He scoffed at the clown. "You're not even worth my time."

"Neither do I," Kefka replied, his confident tone bordering on arrogance. "What do you think you can do against me, hm? A little jab here, a swing and a miss there? Go ahead, pea-brain! Let's see what you can do." His fingers twitched with anticipation, sparks dancing around his hands. The mage's eyes widened with a growing bloodlust and he waited to see if Knuckles would make his move.

Knuckles twitched. "Did you forget," he replied, speaking slowly in an effort to control his temper for once, "that I've pounded you into the ground twice already, Chuckles?" Gloved hands curled into threatening fists, and the guardian's stance gradually shifted into a more ready pose, as though he were expecting Kefka to strike first. "I've done if before, and I'll do it again if you don't shut your mouth."

If Knuckles' shift to a fighting stance worried Kefka any, the mage didn't show it. "Would you really hurt..." he began, and Kefka's form seemed to shift and flicker, eventually disappearing to be replaced by that of a certain blue hedgehog. "A dear friend?"

The guardian was about to reply when he saw Kefka disappear, Sonic seemingly taking his place. "Sonic...?" Nevertheless, Knuckles heard Kefka's talk and knew it couldn't be his friend. He'd been gone from the city for awhile, now, and he'd shown no signs of being back. "I'm not that gullible," Knuckles growled. Nevertheless, he didn't move for a moment, watching to see if he'd move like his friendly rival did.

Though the Kefka's appearance had changed, his cruel smirk remained. "Really? You could have fooled me," he replied, attempting to disguise his voice as well. It was unlikely to be exactly like Sonic's, since Kefka could only go from memory, but it was similar.

"What are you doing all the way out here, anyway? It's a little creepy isn't it?"

The other did sound like Sonic, but something was off. While Sonic and Knuckles teased, argued, fought and picked at each other, there was never that undertone of cruelty to the Blue Blur. Knuckles bared his teeth, his anger growing with each word the other spoke. "Shut up." Sure, it was a creepy graveyard with ghosts, but Knuckles could handle it. He was the guardian of the Master Emerald! He could handle anything!

Ignoring the chill that creeped its way up his spine, the echidna kept his eyes on "Sonic", glaring heavily at the other.

"Testy!" Kefka exclaimed, sounding more amused than offended. "Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He took a few steps forward. "Cheer up a little! Your face is going to stick like that."

He was quickly running out of cliche friendly things to say. Hopefully Knuckles would be so kind as to give him a few more ideas. ...Or an excuse to attack. Personally, Kefka would prefer the latter.

"Shut up, hedgehog," Knuckles grumbled before he could stop himself. He couldn't help it; it was something Sonic would have said - and besides, he'd missed his buddy more than he would admit. For a moment, Knuckles was almost fooled - but even he wasn't so gullible as to be fooled when someone transformed right in front of him. He looked down, still unwilling to take the bait, but it wouldn't take long before he completely lost it, and he was sure the stupid clown in front of him knew it.

"There, see? Was that so hard? You're much too suspicious," Kefka continued with a small gesture of his hand. Still he drew closer. "Now, how about we get out of this place? I'm getting bored."

"Why don't you get out of here?" Knuckles was in no mood to deal with Kefka now. "Don't think your stupid magic tricks are gonna fool me, Chuckles." He wasn't an idiot; he knew all too well what Kefka was doing. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave before I clobber you."

Immediately, the smile left Kefka's face. "Think you're smart, do you?" he asked, his voice returning to his own. "If I remember correctly, you're not as fast as your little blue friend here. Maybe I'll reintroduce you to another old friend of yours?"

Sparks danced along the mage's fingertips, growing more and more intense as the seconds passed until finally they leapt off, each carrying a bolt of lightning with them. As lightning hit the ground, Kefka's illusion completely disappeared, leaving Kefka himself in all his glory.

As much as Knuckles had been expecting a fight from Kefka, he hadn't expected the lightning, and although he managed to dodge, it stuck one of his dreadlocks, causing the echidna to stumble and his ears to ring. He winced, trying to shake it off, and rushed at Kefka, angrier than before and wanting to work it off by beating this idiot into a pulp in order to teach him a lesson.

He let out a loud cackle as Knuckles closed in. It was a minor hit, but a hit nonetheless, and one he hoped would be the first of many to come. And look at all that anger! All it would do would be to make the red idiot more reckless and easier to hit. And even if Kefka would probably get hit a few times himself, just imagining the look of pain and suffering on the creature's face was worth it.

"Faster, faster! Let's see you run!"

Knuckles had to remind himself, silently, to keep his temper. Becoming reckless wouldn't help him. He knew all too well how dangerous Kefka was, and how much his spells hurt when they hit him. He had to survive this - not only so he could get home, but so he could protect the people stuck here with him. "I'm not gonna run, Chuckles," he growled in reply, "but I suggest you do it."

Knuckles took a running start towards Kefka, using a gnarled tree branch (great, even the trees here were creeping him out) to leap into a glide. It would be easier to dodge Kefka's spells in the air, but that was secondary. The echidna headed straight for the madman, fully intent on returning what little damage had just been done to him - and then some.

Run? Him? But he hadn't even gotten started yet! There was still so much fun to be had at the expense of this annoying red trash. With his eyes, Kefka dared the echidna to come at him, flames licking his fingertips when Knuckles finally did.

Laughing, he waited until the last possible second to spin off to the side as Knuckles glided toward him, deciding to turn the fight into a sort of game of chicken. Unfortunately, the decision turned out to be a poor one, and the mage's laugh was cut short as Knuckles smacked right into him.

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What Goes Down in Halloween Town [Closed, Active]

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