Main Event Genesis

[Capri]

"Ouch... Okay, I saw that coming."

Blake flinched a bit when it came to the finger flicks. Anyone could've seen that coming, considering his behavior around other girls. However, he figured he could drop the flirty air he had around him for a bit.

"Sure, I wasn't serious all those times before. What did I appear to be in those moments? A womanizer? A hopeless romantic? It's difficult to see and hear particular things firsthand, all that dirt hidden away..."

The beeping of his PWM cube broke the icy air that settled in with his words. Readjusting his glasses, Blake saw on the glass that his weapon was ready for use again.

"A-Ah, don't take what I said into all seriousness. As you said, I'll try better than that... well, after getting a feel on everyone else's plate first and getting some smiles around too. Besides, I may be up for a spar, a quick one at that."

Changing the subject as soon as he returns to his laid-back self, Blake rested his hand near his PWM cube, offering a quick spar to the Soul Reaper. Especially after their little exchange, Blake hoped Senna wouldn't take this chance to tease him more. He had no idea what she could do as a Soul Reaper anyways other than the wind and tornado stuff like she said.​

 

[Capri]

Even after Alucard had allowed her to lay the first strike, Hakuei remained still for a few seconds, just gauging the other's stance. His sword had a longer reach than hers, which was something she would have to be careful about, but she had already sparred with her own brother. Hakuryuu preferred to use polearms, which had yet an even longer reach. However, she reminded herself, the dhampir had different abilities.

She had no plans of immediately using Paimon until he forced her hand. The ornate white feather fan was placed at her hip, tucked against her side, until she needed her.

People tended to underestimate Hakuei due to her gentle appearance. In contrast to Kouen whose talent was war and practically thrived on the battlefield, or Koumei who was considered lazy but hid a most cunning mind perfect for strategy, or even Kouha who enjoyed the thrill of the fight, Hakuei was the gentlest of the five dungeon conquerors among the Kou family. Even Kougyoku seemed to revel in fighting more than the other princess.

People also tended to forget that she had lived through a horrific rebellion that ended in the death of two of her brothers and her father, the current emperor's older brother. They tended to underestimate her bravery, which was precisely why Ryosai had even thought to...

The raven-haired woman's sandaled feet shifted slightly on the ground before she flew across the distance between her and Alucard, bringing her sword upwards to catch across his chest, though she anticipated his retaliation far before it would even connect and was already planning her next course.​

 

[Capri]

His opponent moved quicker than he expected, not thinking she would be able to cover the distance between them so quickly in just a few seconds. To any normal foe, they would have halted, enough for Hakuei to deliver her one and final strike, but Alucard was no normal opponent. At her charging figure, the dhampir took a quick step backward to avoid the swing of her sword, not even raising his own blade to deflect it. No, he had something else prepared for her.

Sword held to point at the woman, the man took one step forward, almost as if he was preparing to spear her where he stood. But if she were to try and defend herself, she would find that the dhampir had simply disappeared into thin air, his blade nowhere to be seen as well.

He reappeared right behind her as if he had phased right through Hakuei, flicking his sword upwards for a surprise back slash.​

 

[Capri]

Hakuei was having similar thoughts as she almost reared back to defend herself from him as he moved one step forward - only to disappear. She had anticipated some form of evasion from the dhampir, the simple step back unsurprising to the woman. He wouldn't simply be run through with a sword. But the way he suddenly stepped forward and thrust his blade towards her nearly caught her off-guard. He was fast...! Only her ringing danger sense let her whip around to bring her own blade downwards, sparks flying from between the two swords where they met.

She had to yield her own sword before his, surprised at the strength. It nearly sent her sword flying if she hadn't had the sense to leap back, holding it now with both hands.

Bringing the sword back up and horizontal in front of her, she backed away a few steps. Hakuei smiled at Alucard, and with a laugh, commented, "... Alright. I may be at a disadvantage to your speed and strength. Is this a part of your race?"

"Time to even the playing grounds, if only just a little." Assuming a partial Djinn weapon equip, Hakuei had sheathed her sword and grabbed her white fan. The winds around the area picked up, whipping past Alucard and Road and eventually spinning like a whirlwind to surround the princess. Concentrate the wind around my metal vessel and condense it... After the small whirlwind had passed, the fan in her hand had elongated into a weapon akin to a spear, the white feathers distinctively still at the top.

Paimon, being a Wind Djinn, had secondary advantages beyond just casting powerful winds and tornadoes. It lightened the princess's feet and increased her agility, though now her weapon was a spear instead of a sword. Not pausing after her weapon equip, she lunged towards the dhampir with winds at her heels, thrusting the metal vessel forward.​

 

[Capri]

"Some of it. The rest comes from this sword."

His mother may have been a human, but she had something that both he and Dracula did not have. And that was embedded in this sword. He had lost it once to the reaper, but now wielding it, the dhampir felt powerful once more. Unfortunately, as he kept a close eye on both Hakuei and Road, he was unsure that he would be able to continue the battle with his sword alone.

The woman sheathed her sword, and slowly, the man followed suit. It slid soundlessly back into where it lay sleeping, but he did not break eye contact with the woman he was sparring with. He had learned not to underestimate the powers of women, not after he had met Maria. For someone his age, she was capable of so much. And now this Hakuei, brandishing her fan, was about to show Alucard something he had never seen before. The wind seemed to swirl around her, so much that it rendered Alucard unable to see what was going on in front of him. He shielded his face with a hand and squinted, watching as his opponent seemed to be glowing with white light, changing... form? Her clothes were different. And so was her weapon. It was still reminiscent of what it was previously, but it appeared to be a deadly spear now. With the wind at her side, Alucard knew they were going to match in speed. But strength...? He would have to see.

As Hakuei charged forward, he held his arm out, a heavy spear twice his height materializing out of thin air at his command. This was his own creation, and if not the sword, he would rely on his spear. Knowing he would not have enough time to swing and deflect her blow, Alucard slammed the spear downwards, using its weight to throw himself upwards away from her lunge. Releasing energy from the tip of the spear, with a loud 'boom', the dhampir flipped to the other side where Hakuei stood just moments ago.

She wasn't too disappointing, he had been surprised with that transformation.

He pivoted quickly, bringing the spear over his head and sharply downwards where the lady was standing.​

 

[Capri]

The raven-haired woman had caught Alucard changing his weapon into a spear just in time as he slammed it down on the ground, sending shockwaves and tremors that ran right up her legs. She could feel the ground shake underneath the heavy blow, her eyes widening. So this was the extent of his strength, and likely more? Hakuei spun around as she felt him land just behind her, throwing herself out of the way of his downwards swing just in time, urging Paimon to lift her quickly backward out of harm's way. She felt the wind shift just from the shockwaves it once again caused.

"You are formidable, Alucard," the princess admitted, honestly, as she called out to him across the distance again. "You might be able to go up against the stronger of my brothers!"

No, Hakuei wouldn't have been a match for Alucard had she not been borrowing Paimon's strengths. She summoned a gust of wind around her vessel and swung, unleashing a sharp blast of air on Alucard. The wind was powerful enough to blow full-grown men away and impact the earth and solid walls, but she hadn't been using too much force, mindful of her magoi. I have to limit the use of that. Her magoi wasn't as large as Kouen's or Kouha's, and just underneath Kougyoku's.

While she had been training herself to better use her weapon without expending too much magoi in the aftermath of the attempt on her life, Hakuei was still wary of using more than half of her magoi in one fight. She didn't want to be left without a good defense again like that time.

Following up after the razor gusts of air the princess flew upwards, supported by the bursts of air underneath her feet. She raised herself high above Alucard before plummeting downwards, swinging her spear down at him.​

 

[Capri]

He nodded in response to her compliment. "And you."

But he had no time to dawdle, nor did he have time for idle chit-chat. The magic gathering around the fan atop of spear caught his attention, and the wind began to swirl around it as she gathered the element she had power over. He lowered his spear to grab hold of his sheathed blade, pushing it up with his thumb and drawing it in one swift motion as he dropped his previous weapon, the latter disintegrating until it looked like it never existed.

Running headfirst into the whip, like gusts of air, he lunged towards it sword-first, disappearing as he had before as he phased through her attack. Even as he did so, he could feel it push him back, heavy pressure that would have sent him back flying if he had not used his blade. But as soon as he re-materialized with a huff and a slightly startled look, he looked up just in time to see Hakuei's figure leap high into the air.

With no time to counter - again - the dhampir resorted to magic instead. Focusing on the blood that flowed in his vein, a technique that only his father knew, his body quickly became lightweight. Like it was rid of bone and flesh until - he was nothing. No, not nothing entirely, but mist. Alucard had become an intangible white haze, leaving Hakuei's spear to slice right through him... without actually harming the man. Although in this form he was not able to physically harm her... and the fact that this took up more of his energy than he had thought, the mist quickly slipped behind the woman before taking shape, with the dhampir's sword pressed right against her throat.

"One hit."​

 

[Capri]

Watching the two exchange blows had been rather enlightening, but as the kerfluffle became increasingly more and more intense, the young Noah found herself becoming excited in a direct correlation. Little Haku had struck first, oh, but Alley had been so fast! Oh!? Haku was quite speedy herself! Now a pause in the battle, then Haku released that little djinn of hers - the winds picked up and Road felt Lero shift in response to them. The first sway nearly caused her to tumble from the thin parasol, which she had moved to take a prone position upon, and now moved to be seated on - not letting her eyes stray from the two's abilities for a moment.

Now Alley had a spear! When the new weapon the vampire wielded was crashed into the ground with momentum, Lero instinctively carried her a bit higher to avoid the shockwave, and this was the first instance in which she took her eyes from the fight. When they returned, it was to the area being covered in mist, and before anyone could be any the wiser, it seemed Alucard would clutching victory with his sword to little Haku's throat.

Perhaps not, however.

Road's physical form suddenly flickered - like a radio connection that had been struck with interference - for an instant. In that instance, however, a single moment before that blade came in contact with Hakuei's skin, little Haku would flicker in likeness to Road.

To Hakuei, the training room suddenly vanished, along with Alucard. Though a projection of her physical visage lingered in the room, a strike would be much akin to when Alucard had become mist. The room she would find herself in now seemed like an infinite void of black, accented by purple clouds with an endless, checkered floor. Blue candles hung in the air like stars and a dark aura covered the area like a plague. Haku's time in this place though was temporary. In another moment, the visage of Hakuei vanished and her physical form would manifest behind this vampire.

Only after Hakuei had seemingly moved through space and time, did Road readjust her position upon the parasol, now lying upon her side, her head perched upon her palm and one leg hanging towards the ground.

"One hit, Alley? Oh, my, it seems to me little Haku evaded it."

 

[Capri]

"Well... I like all kinds of music! Classic, pop, tango, name any!" Doremi happily responded.

Meanwhile, Jabber would be around the corner, intensely watching the two converse.​

 

[Capri]

Alucard stared at Road with visible annoyance, though unfazed Hakuei had disappeared in front of him for a few seconds.

"If not for your interruption, I would have won, Lady Road."

"I will consider it my victory. Am I wrong, Lady Hakuei?"​

 

[Capri]

Schala Zeal

Schala finally arrived at the training facility... And attempted to start off with some target practice, but unfortunately... As much as she tried, she wasn't able to pull it off.

Every time she tried to build up some magical energy for some sort of offensive attack, her hands shook and, in a way of looking at it... She got cold feet, as the worries that she might use up too much mana, or even hurt someone by accident, seemed to prevent her each and every time.

Perhaps she was just not much of a fighter...

Well, maybe she'd better grab a weapon from the armory after all.

With a small, defeated sigh, she walked off to do just that, but... In the process, she appeared to have run right into Blake in her haste, causing her to stumble a bit, catching herself just in time to prevent either of them from being toppled from this sudden collision.

Clasping a hand over her mouth in surprise, she sought to find the right words to somehow apologize for this... But it appeared that despite her efforts, she simply wasn't able to muster even a single word, despite opening and closing her mouth a couple of times.

After a while, she became more fixated on exactly who she bumped into; a young man, not far from her own age, and what's more is... He... Actually looked kind of cute, and seemed to contrast any person close to her age she had encountered back before she had been tossed here by the Umbrella corporation.

Looks like she had forgotten to say anything altogether at this point, seeming to be staring at Blake in quite a curious manner, and while her gaze, for the most part, seemed gentle... It seemed quite fixated on his facial features.​

 

[Capri]

"I mostly prefer rock and metal myself. I know I may not look like it, but I really love a good guitar solo,"

"It's strange how some of the same tastes in music are present between worlds. Know any good songs?" ​

 

[Capri]

Watching Naomi go first, Miku slipped on her own protective ear-muffs. Keep your cool, move like clockwork. The bangs these guns gave off, followed by the apparent recoil, was a little bit startling; but thankfully muffled by what she had over her ears.

Letting her rifle rest on the shooting range table in front of them, she tried to get herself into a good position to look down the crosshairs. She needed to learn. This was going to be her eye into the battle she was discreetly fighting. It took her a good minute or so to get how to look down the scope properly and keep it steady. But once she did, one might say she appeared to have the steadiness of a machine.

BANG!

The bullet went whizzing by the target dummy's head, missing it by a few inches. Miku looked up from her crosshairs, mumbling "Too far left," quietly before looking down the scope again. A few moments pass, then another BANG! This time the bullet went right into the target's head.

Looking up again, Miku stared at the target dummy for a second before looking at both Alice and Naomi.

"Did I do it right?"​

 

[Capri]

"Maybe the same music is born to us all!" Doremi cheerfully said.

"As for good songs..."

"I just know too many!"​

 

[Capri]

"Hitting the target at all on your first couple of shots is impressive. I think you'll do great," Naomi said, removing her headphones to hear Alice and Miku talk more clearly.

"We just need to have each other's backs. Stick together like the gears in a clock. Just because you're farther away doesn't mean that we won't cover you, right... I don't think we've been introduced,"

"Naomi Kimishima. What are your names?"

---

Navel smiled and laughed at Doremi's response.

"Well, if we don't have to worry about stealth, I'm sure I'd enjoy your songs on the battlefield. They'll be good for morale."​

 

[Capri]

"Huh?"

Blake mumbled in surprise as he turned around to see who bumped into him. Upon seeing Schala, he got himself together with his usual casual tone.

"Hold that thought, Senna... we have new company."

He could already tell that Schala was unsure of how to speak up, possibly shy given her silence. Looking over to her, he couldn't help but give a friendly greeting.

"Hey, don't be shy... I promise that I won't bite... because that's actually unsanitary. Well, for starters, my name's Blake Dormi, feel free to call me the Black Raven if you want. I wouldn't mind hearing either name, considering that you haven't shared your wonderful voice yet, ma'am."

This was either going to work up a response from Schala... or make her even more timid and shy to even say anything.​

 

[Capri]

"Oh, Fate. Fate, fate, fate." Jinx was tempted to reach out and pat his cheek condescendingly. "I'm not hiding a thing. And they're staying right where they are for reasons. C'mon. Surely you didn't really expect me of all people to play fair, now did you?"​

 

[Capri]

"Umm..." Doremi would say. "When you say battlefield, you mean fighting right?" Meloetta looks somewhat sad.

"I would like to sing, but I don't want to sing for some senseless violence. If we're in danger, maybe, but I don't want to see people fighting for nothing..."

Meanwhile, one can hear a slight "grr" from the background. Or more specifically, from Jabber.

"What was that?"​

 

[Capri]

Zerberus then lowered his Keyblade from Azura's neck. The armor then faded away. Zerberus had a big smile on his face. He then looked confused.

"I didn't have any emotions on my face during the spar? I don't remember that. I know emotions in battle give us strength. Though I did blackout for a few seconds during the spar, that's it,"

Zerberus then rubbed the back of his head. He didn't seem to have any memory of not showing any emotion. He then looked at Azura.

"Well, you see Azura, in my world... I have to fight multiple creatures in the dark and most of the time I'm either outnumbered greatly or they play unfairly. I could show-"

Zerberus then backed up dodging the wild grab from Domon and trips him.

"It's rude to interrupt someone talking. Now back to what I was talking about... the creatures I fight are called Heartless. These were once human beings that had lost their heart to the darkness. They will do anything to steal your heart so you would become one of them, so sometimes I wear that armor to protect myself from them. Does that explain everything?" ​

 

[Capri]

T.F wasn't exactly a fair player when it came to games like these either. He grabbed a nearby chair and angled it so that when he sat down, his cards would be visible to only him.

"You're not hidin' a thing, and yet you won't tell me what your 'reasons' are? Sounds about right. Looks like we're goin' to have two cheaters. This'll be fun."

The cards in his hands shimmered for a moment.

He threw a die on the table and it landed on two. He smiled and moved some of his chips over to the pot, raising it by 2,000. The pot now had a value of 3,000.

"Let's raise the stakes,"​