Those sorts of Magics [Altima | Pete | Invite]

The magic was not all that was there to find. When coming so close to the epicenter of the grand spell, those aboard the ship may have seen the still-glowing object in the middle. They may have for a moment, but in the next it shot upward, shining a bright green as it soared toward the sky, its trajectory curving to intercept the floating machine until, a few seconds later, it collided with the underside of the prow with a force to tip it upward. The object didn't stay lodged for long, zipping up to the fore and quickly bypassing the railing to land on the deck. Only then was it clearly visible, without the speed and distance to blur its form.

Where boots hit the ground, claws clenched to dig in, securing the footing. Jagged armor covered its legs, making shins into mauls. The rest of the way upward was little different, a number of meticulously-assembled plates overlapping with a black cloth which bore veins and conduits to serve some unknown purpose as part of the greater machine. In its hands and its abdomen were circular ports that shone with a blue-colored magic that seemed ready to fire on demand. Behind its hands, trios of additional fingers extended past with claws that seemed much too sharp to be ornamental. High-rising pauldrons concealed its shoulders, behind which a broad set of wings was still extended, the gold frames bearing sails too small to carry such a load. They were likely enchanted, as only magic could explain this object having traveled so swiftly through the air. Behind those wings curled the largest piece of all, that being a freely-moving tail that curled in the air behind its idle carrier. Though it was by far the most heavily armored component, it moved with an unnatural ease, speaking of either more magic or an undemonstrated strength.

In the center of its chest was a component that seemed out of place, however. There sat a single, massive gemstone, set firmly and precisely into a mechanism protected by the only engraved plate in the whole machine. Though its glow was dimmer than that of the ports seen elsewhere, even those without magical attunement could feel the dense air of power the stone exuded. If anything in the immediate vicinity was responsible for the magic which tore the horizon, there was no better candidate than this.

The stranger stood taller from what was first a hunch, though it was less for presentation and more to stretch, rolling her shoulders and flexing her gloved fingers. The claws looked as if they moved just as naturally, and even the tail twisted in sync with her exercise. Her face, framed with a black-horned headdress, bore closed eyes that only blinked open once she was finished. The orange orbs scanned the deck with an unmistakable enthusiasm, making it clear that their owner was readily anticipating what they expected to find. "Where is it, then..?" she asked, speaking for the first time since her arrival with a firm tone, indicating that it wasn't really a question so much as it was a demand what 'it' be clearly presented.

It took a few moments for her to respond to the question. A few too many, perhaps, as she stared blankly at nothing while considering what should have been a rather simple query. When understanding seemed to come to her, she lit up again with that eagerness she showed before. "So, you mean Ultima?" she clarified, slowly turning her head to look back at the epicenter through the corner of her eye. "Pretty, wasn't it? It took so much thinking to make it happen." Though her words were simple, the feeling in them was clear. She took pride in... whatever it was she did. "I want to do it again, but it's got me so dizzy," she confessed, putting a palm to her forehead and steadying herself with a broader stance. "I came here for that thing I saw, but you're not it. Too dim, y'are."

Her sluggish movements were becoming more coordinated. When she shook her head, the second swing was much swifter than the first, and upon looking at the witch a second time her gaze had become a searching glare. "Is it gone, or are you hiding it..?" she pondered aloud, tipping her head to inspect the crew members from a different angle. "Dim, dim... That one's dim too; Where's the bright one gone? It was here, then..." Hunching down to look closer at the deck, she even went so far as to sniff at the air, but apparently found none of what she was looking for. In the end, she didn't seem to understand the person who was standing in front of her, and how significant the witch really was, as both a person and an entity. She didn't understand darkness.

The stranger perked up once more when the spell of light was cast, watching intently as she waited for what she saw to grow brighter... only for it to remain as a small, insignificant lamp among a great black wall of nothing. "Oh, but it's still so weak. That's not it," she complained, disregarding the display to continue her search. "If it was up before, and it's gone now, then..." She finally seemed to reach some kind of conclusion, and was quiet once more as the metaphorical gears turned in her head. Looking down to the ground, her eyes fixed on something, looking not at the deck, but through it to whatever was beyond.

"There ye are." Her wings spread wide behind her as she stepped back, the ports in her palms suddenly glowing brightly while her tail swayed for a point of balance behind her. Though one could see the signs, and someone may have even spoken out, those wide eyes were now set on a target. She didn't risk looking away again. That tail whipped around and jabbed downward, punching cleanly through the floor of the deck and tugging itself free to leave behind a broad hole. The jets of her wings came to life and she shot forward, Hands on the edges of the opening to pry it wider. It was absurd how easily the deed was done, metal and wood giving way with nary a fight at all, to the point in which a large chunk was torn off by accident, only to be tossed away with just as little ceremony as the rest.

At first, her focus didn't budge. With the witch shouting and the shadows taking form, she gladly ignored it all and tore at the deck, but there was a shift when the fire came to be. Her giddy mumbling ceased and her head turned up in time to see the bolt of flame approaching, at which point there was little time for her to put her hands up in defense, likely attempting to catch the incoming projectile, but failing to do so as it simply exploded against her, engulfing her in flame and smoke as the Neoshadows charged in to join the fight... only to be thrown back out immediately afterward when a hunk of living metal barreled against most of their chests, that being the massive tail that had already proven its strength in piercing the ship's hull. Five of the offending creatures were tossed away from the dissipating soot, though one hadn't been. With the air clear, it was easy to see why.

The stranger, obviously just as offended by the developing situation as the witch was, had taken the sixth Neoshadow by the neck (Well, partly its neck and also its chest, since her claws encompassed quite a lot of its scrawny body) when it charged into the cover of smoke. "Stop moving so much," the armored whatever-she-was insisted as the Neoshadow clawed at her gauntlets, which still glowed a bright orange from the lingering heat of the previous fire spell. "It's harder to hit the ones that move." Then, the gem in her chest came to life, and she gave a wide grin as a green flame seeped from it to overtake the creature's shape and engulfing it entirely before slipping away to be sucked back into the stone. With the flames gone, something had been done that may have seemed impossible: The Neoshadow had been sapped of its color. Though it had already been nearly black before, the flames had left it as an unsaturated gray. When its grappler swung her arm to toss him onto the deck with the rest, it seemed frail next to its brothers.

She, meanwhile, looked just as lively as ever, and the crystal jutting from her chestplace buzzed with a stolen energy. The various ports on her body also seemed to be shining brighter, invigorated by that same energy. "Not so dim as I thought," she remarked in a somewhat confused tone, apparently having mistaken darkness for being nothing more than a lack of light. With her mistake corrected, though, there was reason to take much more interest in people she otherwise would have disregarded. "You'll feed it just fine." Her eyes zipped between the different entities on the deck as her wings flared to life once again, ready to propel her once more.

The fireball burst right into the creature and Maleficent smirked gleefully as her Neoshadows began their most wicked claw baring decent upon the foolish interloper. That smirk became a heavy scowl of disbelief and rage when five of those Neoshadows were sent flying to the deck in all directions twitching on their backs pathetically disoriented. "Leave my ship at once you..." the dark fairy started to bellow only to falter when she noted that the creature had hold of one of the heartless.

Maleficent as a fae could see the subtle things that most couldn't the ebb and flow of the magics that made life what it was, and now she saw something leaving that heartless and fading into that creature through the gem on its chest. What was left behind was an impossibility the sorceress had never seen before...at least not in interaction with the heartless. The creature, it drained the heartless...or that gemstone did rather and of course the creature bearing that item looked more animated than ever. The mistress of all evil equipped with a devastating item such as that? Truly it was made to be hers.

As her vision was zeroing in on that glowing gemstone, she'd nearly forgotten about the hole left in the floor of the deck and she realized that it was right about where she'd left him. As though the little rat had read her mind he swung up from the hole torn in that deck and he bolted off toward the side of the ship. Surely he wouldn't dive from it but she couldn't risk it. "NO! I HAD HIM!" Maleficent roared with a voice far too thunderous to have come from only her. She was changing shape right there on the deck, her headdress becoming lengthy sharp horns, her robes swallowing her up and morphing. Her arms lifted grace fully to her sides before arching back in a blast of green fire only to emerge as colossal batlike wings and from that fire, her feminine face emerged to reveal the vicious snout of a large black dragon. The airship groaned in protest and slowed as her talons moved to drag her belly across the deck after the mouse.


TAG: @pete | Altima

Maleficent's Alternate form has [Charge 3][Duration 6]
[Useable once per thread and only with permission]

Firaga A devastating bolt of flame is cast.
[Cooldown 2]

Neo Six- Summons forth six Neoshadows from the Realm of Darkness.
[3 HP x 6][Cooldown 2]

King Mickey had only seconds to gaze back behind him and note the pursuit of the colossal black dragon that was slithering over the deck after him. Its talons raked and splintered the wood of the deck as it moved and its tail whipped behind it hurling objects across the deck. This ship was not going to be...AIRBORNE much longer. Then there was whatever had burst through the floor trying to get at the brig. Mickey had never seen a creature quite like her. She looked wild, deranged even! Oh boy was he in really hot water!

Those limited seconds passed by unbelievably quickly. Some sort of beam traced a line upon the deck and though he couldn't think of where in that short amount of time, Mickey had seen magic like this before. He placed his gloved hands out in front of him, his eyes shutting tight as he anticipated impact be it the jaws of the dragon or the force of the cast magic.

The Kingdom Key shimmered outward into existence providing seemingly slim cover over the mouse's body so when the laser line quite suddenly burst, Mickey was sent flying off the ship in a hurtling screech, his key blade an arching shimmer in the sky as he plummeted.


TAG: @pete | Altima