Except the ones who are dead (Open/Active)

[trademark_skull]

Character(s): Emizel, some nameless corpses
Content: Just picking through some of the leftovers, if there happens to be any.
Setting: Ruins of Paixao
Time: Early-late evening to night, week 42
Warnings: Death doing what Death does.
Note: This is gonna be a thing for quite a few hours and possibly over a wide surface area. Therefore I'm gonna use a 'party'-style format for once. Feel free to pick a location and time.

The bustling city had fallen so silent now. Streets that were filled with noise and words were now buried under a thick layer of rock and steel. With only a few landmarks managed to stay standing the city looked nothing more than a barren wasteland, surrounded by broken walls. So eerie, so surreal, it could give almost anyone the creeps just by stepping foot in it. But that was exactly why Emizel had to be here. After all if something isn't done too soon, this place literally will turn into a ghost town. There was little he could do for those that were still alive and kicking, and there was plenty around who could handle that better anyway. But there must be a lot fewer that can actually 'treat' those that didn't make it.

It definitely crossed his mind more than once about how death actually did work here. Did everyone just go to their respectful afterlives or something? Did the castle somehow have one of those too? Did some of the things here even have souls to begin with? Although the further Emizel went, the less sure he was. He started to grip the scythe over his shoulder tighter each time he came across a new body. Crushed, bled to death, all of them died just about the same way. And the number seemed almost endless.

And this... all of this, it all could have been so easily avoided had he not been so careless.

"... I'm sorry," he choked and stopped fidgeting with the scythe so he could tug the hood further down, and not look at the sights anymore. He was supposed to be hunting down spirits, not bodies. They're not going to rest in peace otherwise, not in a hell hole like this. "So, so sorry."

Comments

[trademark_skull]

He wasn't a friend, not anywhere close to that. But whatever, he will let him think whatever he wanted for now. There were more important things to be worried about right now.

Emizel was on guard the entire time. More than anything, he wanted to gain some extra distance. He hated being to close to someone when he knew they could easily strike at any moment and it was nerve wracking. Making any kind of notion he was feeling unease would only give Xigbar more leverage however. He needed to keep a straight face as possible, especially with this quickly turning into fight. Emizel already knew what sort of horrific things the Organization was up to, he saw the reports. Whatever it was this 'he' wanted from him, 'he' could go to hell for all he cared. It was better to try to take out one of their numbers than agree to hand himself over to them.

"... As if. I'm staying here," Emizel had decided and glared back. "How about you send back a message that I'm not interested."

Oh he knew that wasn't going to happen. But since there was no turning back now might as well go in all the way.

[graviga]

As if.

He laughed at the Emizel’s response. “Do I look like a messenger to you, kiddo?”

Had he a heart, Xigbar was certain he would have liked this boy. Though unintentional, he had come across as a comedian of sorts. It was almost a shame they could not speak longer. Circumstances being what they were, humor it would do nothing in Emizel’s favour. Only the reapers skill alone would save him as he stepped across thin ice. Xigbar may not have been capable of feeling emotion, but he could feel the tension in the air with ease. The moment a crack appeared under the boy’s feet Xigbar would make his move.

His fingers twitched in anticipation, ready to summon his arrowguns at moment’s notice. “It don’t work that way.” The Nobodies eyes narrowed. “Besides, someone is waiting for you. Someone you lost at the gates… You don’t really want me to tell them you gave up on them, do you?”

[trademark_skull]

"Wh.. what?" that fearless facade had about dissipated by now. Uneasiness sunk in more and he was scared, and it was showing as he finally did cower back. But try as he could he needed to fight it.

"You leave them out of this!" it was a lie, Xigbar had to be lying. No one he knew would ever want to hang around them. Not even NiGHTS.

[graviga]

There it was, the crack he had been waiting for. Lie or not, his words had proven very effective. Emizel had clearly not expected him to have known about his missing friend. He had caught the boy completely off guard. That moment of distraught was all Xigbar required when calculating and making his next move. He could see the fear flowing out behind the reaper, the exact place where he would strike.

Xigbar wasted little time in his attack. Teleporting out of sight, he reappeared behind Emizel levitating upside down. Both arrowguns in hand, the sharpshooter took aim.

“Gotcha now!” he called out, the only warning the reaper would receive before a storm of bullets rained down on him. So long as the boy was still in one piece, what were a few scratches?

[trademark_skull]

All Emizel saw was a flash and then the Nobody was gone. Despite frantically looking everywhere to see what happened to him that verbal warning was still a saving grace.

It was too late to dodge a storm of bullets now, the best he could do was use the scythe to deflect as many of them as possible. But even that won't last for long. Something else had to be done to get him to stop.

It would've been easier if he had his staff out and it wasn't multitasking, but a large ice crystal was forming around Xigbar with the intention of trapping him inside. Hopefully it would at least be distracting enough so he could move out of the line of fire.

[graviga]

He may have been able to teleport out of the crystal but his shots would not. “Clever little sneak!” Xigbar called out, impressed but for the most part annoyed by the reapers strategy. He just had to make things difficult, didn’t he? Xigbar drew a heavy sigh, the chill from the crystal enough for him to see his breath as he fired his final shots at the boy.

Reload.

Teleporting out of the crystal, Xigbar chose to distance himself from Emizel and charge his arrowguns. “So that’s how you wanna play, huh?” Combining his two guns into a single sniper rifle, he took aim at the boy. “Alright, let’s see what you can do!” he cried, firing a total of three powerful, large bullets at Emizel. “Take this!”

[trademark_skull]

Geez, was he trying to persuade or kill him? Almost questionable at this point, but either way.

He was able to switch weapons now from the little breather he got by stalling Xigbar. It would seem that ice was going to be his friend during this fight as Emizel used it again, only this time the ice rose up from the ground as a wall with frozen bits on debris inside it. Hopefully just in the nick of time and hopefully strong enough that the bullets couldn't still shoot through it. It was nothing more than another stall again, he will have to start being offensive soon. Perhaps a well aimed fire will do the trick.

The little demon was already starting to pant though, and having to ignore the stinging pain in his left shoulder which is easier said than done. Emizel wanted to do something to help it but he knew Xigbar would be making another move soon, probably from behind now that his angle was obstructed, which Emizel needed to be ready for.

[graviga]

There was a brilliant burst of light for each time his bullets met with the wall. Such light was enough to reveal the cracks they had made along its surface, slowly crawling further across the ice and weakening it with every blow. All the while a dark blurred figure could be made out just outside the wall, slowly drawing closer. Xigbar, who had only been warming up, separated his weapons and prepared to strike again.

“You can’t hide forever.” He called to Emizel tauntingly.

The wall separating them shattered into pieces upon meeting with Xigbar’s third and final bullet, the reaper left exposed once again. Xigbar, however, would attack from behind, hoping to catch the boy off guard. “Why don’t you just quit now like you did on your friend?” he asked, another round of bullets ready to convince Emizel to come with him.

[trademark_skull]

He saw Xigbar disappear again, which really could only mean one thing.

"Never!" Emizel cried back and attempted to duck and roll to the side to avoid those hits, even though it wasn't all of them. It was time to start fighting dirty. Literally. A gust of wind kicked the ground to shoot some dust gravel and plaster into Xigbar's eye. Going to be hard making more shots if he couldn't even see.

"And shut up!" even if the wind trick didn't work as planned, a fireball was shot as well just for good measure.

[graviga]

Blinded, Xigbar hissed in pain and turned his back to the reaper. Why that dirty little…! He rubbed his face clean and stumbled back to gain some ground. So, he thought he could get off playing dirty, did he? Xigbar could do that. Xigbar could do that better than anyone as far as he was concerned. The Nobody grinned and raised his arrowguns to block the oncoming fire. It was too late for Xigbar to teleport out of the way but that did not mean the fight had ended yet.

The heat against his skin made his blood boil and adrenaline alleviate the pain. His coat would be ruined, both his gloves and sleeves consumed by the flames. But it was far better them than his face. “Whoa! Sounds like someone’s a little riled up.” Xigbar lowered his weapons, his grin yet to stray from his face. “What’s the matter, I hurt your feelings?”

A lot more than Emizel‘s feelings would hurt when he was through. The Nobody tightened his grip on his Sharpshooters and teleported out of sight. It would do him no good to attack from behind – the demon had clearly expected it. He needed to be somewhere Emizel wouldn’t think of. Somewhere like above.

“Let’s see how you dance!” Xigbar cried from above, levitating just out of reach of the reaper. A storm of bullets quickly began to rain down on Emizel from every direction, the Nobody having masterfully warped his shots to prevent an easy opening.

[trademark_skull]

Oh damn, that was way too many bullets.

His breath hitched into a gasp at the initial sight of the attack. There was no where to run, nothing he could do, practically paralyzed to try anyway. And took all of it head on.

No good could come of this. Taking just a couple of those hits already stung enough, it's hard to imagine what hundreds of them must feel like.

[graviga]

“Tch, is that?” Xigbar asked, standing just beyond the reducing storm of bullets. “Talk about a disappointment. You’ve not even half as strong as the others were.” He shook his head and dismissed his Sharpshooters. Xigbar had so much more planned for the demon, especially after he had ruined his coat. However, this battle was clearly over. It appeared he would need to return the favour of a tarnished wardrobe another time.

He turned his back to Emizel and drew a sigh. “Looks like the only thing I found here was a failure.” The Nobody said in disappointment. “Just how do you intend to save anyone when you can’t even save yourself?” Xigbar looked back to the demon and wagged a finger at him. “Consider this a lesson: never bite off more than you can chew.”

[trademark_skull]

Emizel had kneeled down to catch his breath and subside the stinging pain everywhere. However the slew of words from the Nobody was enough to get him riled up again, even if he was reaching his limit.

"... I-I'm not.." the voice was a bit weak and hardly audible. The only way to beat Xigbar it seemed was catching him off guard, keeping up with that speed was outright ridiculous.

"A failure!" with little strength he had left he cast another fire spell to engulf the Nobody. If he was to go down, Emizel planned to at least keep on fighting.

[graviga]

The Nobody leaned forward, his hand cupped over his ear. “What’s that?” he asked, straining to hear Emizel’s voice. “Gonna have to speak up or can you not even do that?”

Apparently he could.

Much to Xigbar’s misfortune he was greeted by the same flames he’d faced before, this time unarmed. He turned his back to them while attempting to teleport, however he could not fully avoid the spell. His coat set aflame well before he vanished from Emizel’s line of sight. The only trace left of the Nobody was the echo of his pain filled cry.

He appeared again behind the demon, dropping from midair and clumsily onto the ground. From there he went on to roll against it in an attempt to put the flames out. A string of groans followed Xigbar while he moved before finally he drew to a stop. Smoke rose from the Nobodies mangled coat as he sat up and brought his hand to his face. Between exposed fingers, Xigbar’s golden eye flashed open and stared at Emizel.

It looked as though the boy would need to learn another lesson: when to admit defeat.

Xigbar could not have looked happier to teach Emizel this, having suddenly risen to his feet with unnatural speed. A hand gripped the back of Emizel’s head – Xigbar moving too quick to track his movements. But it did not matter; Emizel would not be awake to do so for much long anyway. The last thing the demon would see was the pavement as his head was forced against it.

[trademark_skull]

Was he... gone? Emizel was a little surprised to see the Nobody disappear like that after getting hit. Sure the spell worked about as well as he hoped for but something wasn't right. The demon wished he was that strong to defeat an enemy in one attack like that, but that was way too easy. Especially after the hell he had given him prior.

Nope, Xigbar was indeed still alive. Perhaps Emizel would have tried to escape while the Nobody was still recovering but he wouldn't have gotten far. And before long it was too late anyway.

"--igrrrk!" the last thing he remembered was getting slammed, hard. The flame on his hood burst in retaliation to the impact, however since he blacked out rather quickly, it sizzled down to a slow and weak flicker in seconds. But it was still burning, which was possibly good news for everyone. The bad news though was that Emizel had stopped moving. Helpless, beaten, KO'd.