Not-with-a-whimper

"Alexis, huh? That's funny. I used to date an Alexis for a bit until one day she up and left. Well, maybe "date" isn't the right word. Not sure if it was you, though. It's been a while, after all. The name's Ethan. So tell me, Alexis, who's the inhabitor and how've you been using all that power?" Ethan smirked. He knew one thing for sure, this girl had an inhabitor like him, and one way or another, things were about to get really interesting around here.

Seems legit.

Waiting? WAITING? Go out and steal yourself one, gosh dang it! P.S. Don't forget to wear bow-ties. Bow-ties are cool.

(OOC: Dang. I was only out for a moment and "BAM!" all of this. I like the developments though. The story's never boring.) Troy looked down to find that Keilani had pulled him down to where he was nearly on top of her in the bus. His face turned a deep crimson. "Umm, we should probably go and fight that guy outside who attacked our bus. You know what, I'll just head out and face him right quick and you can come on in whenever you're ready." Then, turning to face Felix, he shouted "Hey Felix! Let's go take this guy down." Felix smiled from ear to ear. "Man, I've been itching for some action for a while now! Let's go whoop some ass!" the two of them leapt out of the bus and summoned their respective weapons in a flourish. Ethan was tired of all of the effort he'd been having to go through lately. Sure, the other inhabitors made his life more interesting, but Scott wasn't nearly as effective an ally as Ethan had first thought he would be. He leaned back in the hot tub, thankful for the relaxation provided him at the spa and for his astounding restorative capabilities gained from having an inhabitor. Peaking through closed eyelids, Ethan noticed a rather attractive and somehow familiar figure. "Well hello there...?" Ethan began, begging the question of her name, his charmingly devious grin on full display. Once Zack and Avan left Scott decided to take his leave as well. He sensed enough hostility in the air that he was confident that they would kill one another or at the very least wear themselves down. The last thing he needed was for them to unite against him as a common enemy. No, sitting by as they tore each other down would be much more satisfying and effective. To think that most of the hostility stemmed from love! Ah, love is such a delicate flower, but like any other rose, its thorns should be feared. With those thoughts in mind, Scott vanished once more into a burst of petals.

(OOC: Your Roxas character? Yeah. It may be interesting to have him talk to either Troy or Felix, so feel free to start up a conversation. Also, sorry Troy stole Keilani. If you want you could have Alex fight for her, but since the two of them are pretty much a done deal it might be difficult. Does anyone have a Xion character yet? I think I might want to make a female character, and Xion would make as good an inhabitor as any.)

I covered most of the "struggling inside" under the section where I referred to the immense amount of angst. About the Vanille flirting thing, she just seemed to have a really flirty behavior and threw herself at both Hope and Sazh on multiple occasions. It wasn't that she necessarily liked either of them or that she wanted to be with them, she just acted very flirty around them. I thought that she seemed incredibly flirty around the entire cast, but that may have just been my perceptions. I certainly hope you meant the "first" and not the "worst". If so, then you're very welcome. If not then I apologize.

(OOC: Um, I'll just wait for Noel to respond to Scott's attacks or for Felix and Troy to arrive at the location, both of which hinge upon Xeveemon.)

I understand about the mixed reviews thing. I'll do my best to give you an unbiased answer that covers the most important topics and the pros and cons of each game. First, Final Fantasy XIII. Final Fantasy XIII is rather unlike many of it's predecessors, for better or worse. Lightning is often hailed as a female version of Cloud from FF VII, and with good reason. Vanille is incredibly ditzy and flirts with everyone at all times. Fang is serious and a little arrogant, but one of the more interesting characters. Hope is annoying for a while in the game, then he's fine (not just a personal opinion, nearly everyone agrees). Snow is arrogant and thinks himself a hero, but is struggling on the inside. Sazh is a good, happy, fatherly character. All of the characters have moments of lightheartedness, but mostly there's just a ton of angst. Not that there's anything wrong with any of the characters or that the angst is unfounded, but there is a considerable amount of it. The weapon upgrade system is a little lacking and the excessive useless loot becomes annoying.If you're a fan of fast paced and energetic combat then you'll love FF XIII... after you've gotten through the first several hours of cutscenes and tutorials, that is. The story moves along at a good clip, but your characters can't do much until nearly halfway through the game. There isn't much exploration until after Alexander is defeated, but then there's almost too much all at once. The game does have a slight pacing issue in terms of many things such as the exploration, battle mechanics, battle difficulty, and character development. Many people dislike the summons of the game, but that's a matter of personal opinion. The story has real weight behind it and manages to have a heavy impact on the entire world the characters inhabit, but still focuses on the six characters in your primary party. Many people dislike the "auto-battle" feature, but considering most of the strategy comes from the paradigm shifts, it really doesn't make the game as unnecessarily simple as people believe it would. Additionally, you may chose to hand select the abilities you use in battle. Due to the lack of mp, spells may be cost freely to flashier extent than in previous games, but it isn't made cheap nor overpowered. The game is also stunning to look at, and the voicing is comparably good. Final Fantasy XIII isn't at all necessary to understand the events of Final Fantasy XIII-2. It's included well within the story, and even more so in the menu at the title screen where it has some things you can click on to read about the events of Final Fantasy XIII in preparation for Final Fantasy XIII-2. The game moves at a much nicer pace than it's predecessor and has a cleaner and more simple feel to it. The battle system for both is one of those "easy to learn, hard to master" things. The sheer amount of things you can do and branching paths may confuse you in Final Fantasy XIII-2, but momentary hiccups such as those are easily fixed with the help of an internet guide or walkthrough. That's as much info as I can give you.

Welcome to the site! Feel free to join the forums. This site has one of the most positive communities on the web and you can find just about anything to talk about on the forums. If nothing there suits your fancy, then you can always start your own thread. I hope you enjoy your time here!

(OOC: I'm a tad bit confused about how Zack went from being lifted into the air by a rising column of earth to being behind Scott and slashing at him, but okay, I'll run with it. Also, I'm about to be out for the next four hours at least, so... yeah. I feel that by this point there are enough people missing that slowing the story, or at least the parts with the missing people, might be a good idea. Number XV, Damion Strife, and Azure Flame have my permission to control my characters, though, if need be.) Scott turned around and blocked the attack behind him with his scythe, the pools of energy slowly fading around him. Still wearing his confident smirk, Scott used an ability of Marluxia's and faded into the ground, spinning the scythe above him like a chain saw, ripping through the earth to shred its next victim. 3:20 to 3:30 for reference

Kingdom Hearts. Not CoM, not II, not BBS, not 358/2 Days, not Re:Coded, but the original Kingdom Hearts. That's right, I'm legit. (Lol, just kidding. I did play the first one first, though, and ever since I've been hooked.)

Rant aside, I do agree with your point. It's especially bad with fanboys who grow tired of a series (such as Call of Duty) but somehow feel as though they must buy every game in the series. Why? I love the Kingdom Hearts series, but the "Tales of" series has a special place in my heart as well.

(OOC: It was at the bottom of page 34, you may have lost it in the page shift. It looked like this.) Scott's face became infuriated for a moment, then he simply chuckled and regained a confident and amused expression. "Go through you? Hmph, very well then, if you so desire death then I shall deliver it gladly." Scott then released the pent up energy within his scythe towards the blocking Noel in attempts to knock him back towards the nearby energy pool. Felix sighed, "Yeah, yeah, whatever. I won't go bossing the big guy around. He seems pretty legit," he responded, then turning to Big Man he said, "You're gonna want to take that turn up there, then it's a straight shot to the forest with the others." Troy sat in his seat, his foot tapping restlessly. "Don't worry guys, we're on our way."

"Oh? She stands, does she? Please don't tell me you're that annoying girl that Cain told me about. Mariah, was it? Killed a boy who'd fallen in love with her and ripped the heart out of another, yet still she was seen as perfect in the eyes of so many. Looks like you didn't kill that one good enough. Don't worry though, you won't have to deal with your hypocrisy for long. When you fade to oblivion it will all just pass away," Scott finished. As his rant came to a close, a storm of rose petals began to swarm around him and three pools of energy as red as bloody roses formed on the ground in a triangle around him. Finally, energy gathered around his scythe. "Now you DIE!"

Suddenly, Scott appeared in a burst of rose petals from a door to darkness. Making ready to slash at Mariah's side as her body, controlled by Tifa, closed in on James' body, controlled by Sephiroth. "Oh? Another stain? Dear girl, I'll wipe you off of the face of this world. The world shall be cleansed!" he shouted.

"Let's do this!" Axel responded to Roxas before letting Felix take control once more. "Come on Big Man! This bus needs to get going! I'll tell you where to turn to get to them, but since it's in the woods we'll have to get out and hike a bit," stated Felix to Troy's approval. (OOC: Dang. This is more people than ever before that will be facing off against James/Sephiroth at once. Should Scott jump in to draw a little of the aggro so that the fight doesn't get to be too cluttered? He was going to attack the CIA base and basically cut all of the resources that Victoria and the rest had, but this falls under his plan as well, so he could sense Sephiroth and chose to join in. Thoughts? Oh, and Damion should be back tomorrow.)

"Let's get this bus to moving then!" shouted Felix. He looked around at all of the people on the bus. "Tudi? You coming or what? I'm sure Yuffie would like to see Tifa, Cloud, and Aerith again, even if it means facing some danger. I can't quite tell who that main bad guy is from here, though. It's too muddled because it's mixed in with someone else. I can feel that Avan fellow, though. He's a real peace of work." Troy had an idea. He wasn't sure if it would work, but he'd suggest it anyway. "Hey Keilani, why don't you see if maybe you could learn some other magic too? Not anything major, but if you could learn some holy based magic like Pearl or Holy Burst, or if you could learn the spell Reflect, that could help you out a lot. In fact, Aqua's standard guard is a reflect spell, so I'm sure she should be able to teach you that much." (This is all totally up to Azure Flame and/or Number XV to accept, though. It's just a suggestion.)

(OOC: Then say that he likes to trick people straight up and that that was his intention at the time. The thing about rps is that you everyone's character can do a lot of different things, including trick other characters and use illusions, but all of those tricks and illusions must be made clear to the other rpers so that they may figure out what they want to do or how to handle the situation. I don't want to have another instance of someone saying that they used an all powerful move, then everyone jumping on their case, then them saying that it was just an illusion like I had to deal with in another rp. We say what characters are thinking and planning, or else this situation won't work. Other role players should be mature enough to go with what you try to do if it's a good idea or won't mess anything else up. Also, I don't have much if any say in this, but I think Big Man's fine. He's like hammer space, so as long as he doesn't use any devices or attack anyone or anything like that then I think he should be okay.) Felix knew his answer as soon as Rebekah spoke up. If she was going to the fight, then so was he. To fight, that is *cough cough* because he loved... fighting. Yeah. Axel sighed in defeat inwardly. "I'm there," responded Felix. "If I get a chance to beat someone's face in without getting in trouble for it, I'm totally there." Troy looked down at his empty hand and summoned his keyblade in it. He had failed to protect anyone before, and he would not fail again. Turning to Keilani, he said "I'm going to fight. I know that we keep getting separated, but I want you to stay back. I'm sorry, but that's the best way I know to keep you safe. If you really want to join, I won't stop you, though."

(OOC: I'm so confused right now.) Felix smiled as the vehicle showed up and Troy was finishing with his cure spell, healing him. "Alright! We can finally get this show on the road!" called out Felix. "Yeah, but where should we go?" asked Troy. He didn't know what to do next, really. He'd been so consumed with finding and saving Keilani that his view on the future totally fell out of wack. Instinctively, Troy reached for Keilani's hand. "Ehh, haven't thought that far yet. Back to Mariah's house, I guess, to rest up and train for the next battle. Either that or we can get involved in the massive fight I'm sensing out in the woods. That's if you all feel up to it, that is. I don't understand everything that's happening out there, but it looks like Final Fantasy VII is well represented."

I'm so firetrucking in. Here's how much I give a firetruck. Bet you've never seen a firetruck like that before, huh?

(OOC: Dang it. Time's basically stopped at the other location because no one there is posting really, except for Yuffie. I really wish I had another character who could be there in the middle of mess right now.)

Troy, for his part, was practically unscathed. He considered it odd due to the fact that if the plan had played out he would have faced the two in heated conflict while the others prepared to sneak attack, but seeing as Scott and Ethan had both left just a little after they had arrived, followed by two other fellows, one with Ansem Seeker of Darkness and the other with Master Xehanort himself, along with the revelation of Vanitas's true colors in taking over the person he had been inhabiting, things got really out of hand really fast. "Who here needs medical attention?" he called out after Keilani had joined him.

I'll be 23 *shudders* and out of college, hopefully teaching children somewhere and hopefully with a wonderful woman by my side (except in the classroom, that'd be akward).

Axel took over Felix and shouted towards Seichi and Arina. "Hey, Kairi! Glad to see another good guy on our team. Sorry about that whole "kidnapping thing", ya know? But I did kind of save your boyfriend there or whatever, so I say that makes us about even, right? And Sora, we're good, right buddy?" Axel knew that being involved with the Organization had caused him a whole lot of animosity, but he'd met Roxas, so it couldn't be all bad, and he got to meet Sora twice. Besides that and being able to help out Namine, he couldn't quite bring himself to regret it fully. He also felt like there was someone he was missing, and suddenly thoughts of sea salt ice cream came to mind. At the beginning, even he and Siax had been good friends, until recently. That's when he realized that he felt Siax inhabiting someone in this world. Troy was conflicted. Of course he'd like to be able to heal Keilani, and he did know how to use a cure spell, or Ven did anyway, but he also knew that Aqua would be much better at it than him, and by extension Rebekah. He wanted Keilani to get the best treatment possible, not that he thought the others deserved any less until the "special vehicle" arrived, but she held a special place in his heart. He didn't know if Keilani would take offense if he didn't heal her though. Confused, as boys often are with girls their age, he decided to simply ask her. "It's up to you, Keilani. Would you like for Rebekah to heal you, or me? She's probably a lot better at it than me, but I promise to do my best." Ethan was ticked. That snotty girl was a lot more of a threat than he'd imagined, especially for one who'd looked so weak and vulnerable. "Relax, Ethan!" began Hades, "that's what we have that Scott character for! He's working hard over there training in that other room so that he can take some of the heroes down. When he's outlived his purpose and become all tuckered out, we'll swoop in and take him out, then we'll turn all of those so called "heroes" into zeroes!" Ethan sighed. Hades was right, but still, he couldn't wait to be rid of them all, that way nothing would ever be a challenge again and he could do whatever he liked. He just needed to heal up first. Meanwhile, Scott was nearly done preparing to break into Langley. The CIA would never know what hit them.

Troy blushed at the kiss and then rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. He'd actually meant for everyone to help Keilani, but looking around he noticed that a lot of people needed medical attention. "Um yeah, of course that's what I meant to say. While you help Keilani, Rebekah, I could probably help someone who just needed a cure spell or two."