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Shadow Network: Virus Infestation
Tokyo was a bustling city, and as such, any problems with transportation threw a wrench into the works of this well-oiled machine. For the past day, the entire subway line has been shut down. The official statement claimed this was due to a major gas leak, but over time, that was becoming harder to believe. A green mist flowed out of any opening it could find. It was contained in the tunnels for now, but rumors of creatures within surfaced.
By noon of the following day, the guards at one of the subway entrances had inexplicably vanished. Yellow tape was the only thing between everyone else and the tunnels, yet few dared to venture close... much less inside.
A man in blue overalls wearing a red and orange checkered shirt and a yellow safety hat approached the site of the wreckage. He surveyed the yellow tape and green mist, waving to anyone that would pass by.
"This seems pretty bad, but i'm sure we can 「Fix It」"
He approaches the tunnel caustiously, a white mask appearing on his face as he comes close.
The gas, if breathed in, caused a wave of dizziness that quickly faded, but was otherwise not harmful. More importantly, a pair of glowing green eyes peered out from the darkness of the tunnel before their owner ran back inside with a little "hee-ho." A closer look would reveal that deeper inside, there were green, pulsing lines that ran throughout the length of the passage.
Bob heads deeper into the tunnel, covering his mouth and nose with his elbow when he gets near the gas. After hearing the noise ahead, he tried to shout out to the speaker
"Hey, wait!"
If the being didn't respond, Bob would run closer for a while before stopping to catch his breath, ultimately losing track of them.
The green-eyed beast had fled, leaving only the green-lit tunnel. Bob had gone far enough that the normal subway was gone, replaced with black halls lined with those same green lines. The lines resembled veins, covering every surface. In front of Bob was a door with a green gem in the center that resembled an elevator. To the left and right, there were paths running straight ahead, although they turned a corner to form a loop enclosing the pillar housing the elevator. Aphrodi, coming in second, would see part of this through the mist, and the lines pulsed with each step they took.
(edited by Hundred-S)
"Hmmm..."
Bob stroked his chin for a moment before continuing til he reaches the elevator, pressing the button to open it and walking inside should it work
The elevator opened with a creak. Inside, the same green lines covered every surface except for a pad with buttons for different floors. The current floor is B1, and B2 and B3 can be selected, but buttons B4 through B8 are not lit and, when pressed, do absolutely nothing.
A trio stared into the tunnel, one of them was a boy wearing casual clothes who had black hair with a blue streak and yellow eyes, to his left was a girl with long light brown hair and cold blue eyes, wearing all black, and to the boy's right was another girl with blonde curly hair and brown eyes, she wore a slightly fancy pink outfit and pigtails,
"Maybe the Masquerade should head down there" the boy chimed lightly and quietly
"Yeah, maybe they should" the girl in pink giggled
"I believe you both are right" the girl in black
The narrator must leave briefly, but have this for now.
Inside, the Masquerade would see the scene previously described if they went far enough in. Strangely, though the brief dizziness from the fog was not pleasant, it somehow allowed their Metaverse outfits to manifest in this odd place.
*Inside the fog, the Masquerade would hear laughing. Stepping into view, Shakespeare would step out, revealing himself to them. He would spin his quil between his fingers and close the book he held in his other hand.*
Greetings, heroes of the mist. What a wonderous day for an adventure Stories wait to be told. I'm sure that you, fine fellows, are the ones who will solve this crisis and bring a new grandious tale to life! Allow me to chronicle this adventure. Of you, I shall make Heroes equivalent to Hamlet and Macbeth! Onwards, dear fellows! And forwards. Ya ha ha ha!
*Shakespeare would bow to Twilight and her companions, his speech done.*
"Looks like it's time to get to the... bottom of things"
Bob says this with a frown as he pushes the button for B3, slowly stepping out of the doorframe when it reaches the destination
[A hero would appear. They were a blank empty stare and a permanent smile on their face. They showed no resistance at entering into the tunnels as well and though the mist made them dizzy it would be difficult to tell since their eyes didn't even squint at the sensation.]
"My name is Son Goki. I am here for expierence and gold."
(edited by DQ_Hero)
Haley, the one who took the codename of Twilight, was slightly caught off guard, another girl walked up, being the fourth member to The Masquerade, she had red hair with blue highlights, wore pretty casual clothes and had yellow eyes,
"How did you know?" The girl in pink would ask
The one girl looked around and pretended she saw a dog, she pulled a ball out and threw it, then it exploded into smoke, catching the attention of the crowd, by the time they would look back, the four were already waiting inside the tunnel, now each of them having a slightly different look, the boy now had black and blue wings and wore a suit, and the new girl now wore a long gown, Haley was then wearing a purple outfit, being a muscle shirt and shorts and running shoes, and the girl in pink was wearing a glittery pink jumpsuit and boots to match, the boy and Haley were both wearing a black mask, the girl in the gown had a blue mask, and the girl in pink wore a glittery pink mask,
*Shakespeare follows the group, completely ignoring the smoke bomb except for a small quote after it was thrown.*
I don't believe that was entirely necessary.
*As the groups form change, Shakespeare would laugh heartily.*
Ya ha ha! How did I, William Shakespeare, know of your true identies as Masquerade, you ask? Well, that is quite the simple question to ask. For you see, you said it out loud as I was walking by and , being the great playwright that I am, I couldn't let this oppurtunity to write a good story go to waste! Though you were speaking in third person, it was quite obvious by your expression that you were indeed talking about yourselves. And it would seem that I was prooven correct. Now, lead on great heroes. A story awaits!
*Shakespeare grins as he finishes, getting his book and quill ready.*
But first, a question. Your names, great heroes. I require them for my story!
(edited by Shakespeare)
I thank you for your patience. Now, allow me to continue the tale...
[B1]
The smoke ball mixed with the green smoke, disorienting the crowd. With the Masquerade, fellow storyteller, and Son Goki safely in the tunnels, only the green, pulsing lines beckoned this party...
The elevator sat in front of them. There were paths that allowed them to go around the pillar of said elevator, but what's behind?
---
[B3]
This floor was more populated than the first. Many shadowy creatures roamed around, but none had noticed Bob yet. Parts of the floor were missing, forcing anyone to jump over to cross certain sections. Of course, this was no problem for the green-eyed stingray-like Forneus, who took one look at Bob and flew to the northmost room.
Bob jumps through in front of the elevator, turning from left to right to get a good look of the room
"Tch, if I wanna 『Fix It』, looks like i'll have to get to the root of the problem."
Bob faces to his left and buries his forehead in the palm of his right hand, two fingers pointed to his hairline
"For order and stability of this and all other nations, I won't allow such mayhem to continue!"
Bob marches steadily forward, making calculated movements and jumps in order to pass through the obstacles ahead and out of the line of fire.
[They wouldn't stop to mingle with what they believed to be idle npcs. They were on a hunt and so they would continue forward, their sword dripping with something red and their blank eyes aimed forward.]
"I will slay them all."
[B1]
Continuing forward into the elevator would allow them to access either B2 or B3... but if by forward they meant around the pillar, they would find another room with a large computer. Behind the chair was a cowarding green-eyed Jack Frost. It peeked out and, upon seeing the terrifying hero, hid behind the chair again.
---
[B3]
Some of the shadowy creatures lunged at Bob, but were ultimately foiled by the very gaps he crossed. He dashed into a room with a button on a small stand. Said button was at the other end of the room, but judging by the two High Pixies and the green-eyed Forneus circling around it, it was important.
[The hero would pull out their sword and begin hacking away at the chair with impossibly swift movements, the movements of a natural killer. There was no hesitation in their actions just a desire to remove the obstacle that stood between them and their foe. Their face remained smiling and staring as usual during this entire process.]
"Come out and face me, special encounter."
"Alright, time to lay some ground work."
A yellow, personified digging machine appeared behind Bob and rushed forward to dig deep into the ground near the demons, quickly lifting a huge chunk of debris towards the enemies to cloud their view. Following this attack, Bob lunged at Forneus, striking overhead with an iron hammer.
[B1]
The chair was hacked to pieces. The Jack Frost tried to run, but there was nowhere to hide with the computer taking up the room. It launched an icy spike at the hero in a futile attempt to save its weak self. Though its expression was robotic and blank, pure fear could be seen in its eyes.
---
[B3]
The three flew around in confusion, trying to locate the source of the debris, yet Forneus was unlucky enough to find that source very, very painfully. The iron hammer connected with its head and sent it spiraling into the ground. This strike caused the green lines in the room to pulse. Perhaps there was a connection between this creature and the structure?
The two High Pixies, with their leader downed, retaliated with incredible fury. One sent a green whirlwind at the builder, while the other cast a healing light on the dazed beast.
[The icicle would stab right through the hero's chest but they kept moving forward.]
"Heal."
[The ice spike would be ejected out of them and onto the floor as the wound began to rapidly close, the hero's flesh molding together in an unnatural way before regenerating completely.]
"My name is...
Son Goki and I have come for your gold and expierence."
[They raised their blade and brought it down on the creature, trying to cleave it before it could get away.]
(edited by DQ_Hero)
Bob is sent spiraling back by the the High Pixie's gust, being knocked into the wall and falling to the floor. He quickly pulls out a shovel and bends it at a rectangular angle, forming the shape of a boomerang.
"This won't do at all, i'll have to knock you three out before anything else gets destroyed."
He puts his left foot forward and tosses the boomerang with his right hand, lining up what he expected the trajectory to be with the position of both High Pixies. After doing so, he begins running straight forward.
[B1]
The Jack Frost was cleaved in two, then dissipated into a fine mist. Some yen and, of course, experience were all that remained of it. The lights of the lines running all throughout this floor dimmed, and the brightest light was the computer monitor now.
---
[B3]
The High Pixies began channeling a spell, and though the first one prematurely ended it to dodge, the second one was taken off guard and was sent flying into a wall. The Forneus lifted its head and weakly sent out a spinning ray in an attempt to confuse its attacker. Pulinpa, of course.
(edited by Hundred-S)
[The hero would fist pump briefly before picking up the yen.]
"Not gold. Maybe I can sell this for gold."
[They would also aproach the moniter and check it but not to any great detail besides seeing if the monitor visibly said anything.]
The narrator has returned, and deleted the previous post because double posting is not super cool.
[B1]
The monitor was riddled in error messages.
"SHADOW OVERFLOW"
"MERGE WARNING"
"CORE SUPPRESSION ADVISED"
There were also some icons along the side of the screen, mostly for various functions of the computer.
[The hero would ignore such a message since the couldn't get any immediate meaning out of it. Instead, they'd focus on finding more monsters to slay. They'd head down the stairs now, looking for more gold and expierence.]
"I'm not done grinding yet."
There are no stairs. However, an elevator allows access to the floors B2 and B3.
Bob was left in a daze after being hit by the creature's hypnotic rays, finding himself striking thin air with his tools. If it weren't for the machine accompanying him, Bob would be completing defenseless. The digging machine rushed in front of Bob and held up the large bucket-like tool high up to shield him and Bob from any attacks.
[The hero would not be satisfied with this "elevator". They'd pull their sword out once more and begin cleaving away at the ground, trying to cut their own staircase as they slashed away with furious blows.]
"Out of my way, obstacle."
(edited by DQ_Hero)
[B1 -> B2]
Through the sheer force of anger and a really sharp sword, the hero fragmented the floor with one last strike. A floating jack-o-lantern, Pyro Jack, stared in absolute shock. Its flaming eyes were green rather than orange. It floated over to a doorway, then sent out three flames before closing it. There was a button by the door which, when pushed, would cause a light to appear above said door. It could be pushed any number of times, but only a maximum of five lights would appear.
---
[B3]
The Forneus flapped its "wings" and somehow got itself aloft. It flew away from the button and towards one of the High Pixies to get healed. The other one, which had been hit by the shovel, pouted and healed itself.
[The hero would slash away at the flames either to try and bat them away or to simply sever them before the hit. They'd move towards the door and take a moment, staring at the door and the button. Their head would move between the two for a moment as the brought one hand up to the button.
A pink aura seemed to flow around their body for a moment.]
"Tension."
[They'd then strike the button with a single finger, applying the kind of force that might shatter a boulder if struck directly.]
(edited by DQ_Hero)
Shall update now as it's been a sufficient amount of time.
[B2]
Good job, genius. You broke the button. And that wasn't the correct number of presses, so a siren sounded, and three Mothmen burst out of the shadows.
[The hero would turn to face the mothmen, his expression remaining as usual. He'd hold out his other hand that wasn't currently on his sword, his palm open.]
"Oh good, more monsters to slay. Kaswoosh."
[From his open palm a vortex of wind would come forth, expanding to try and swallow all the mothmen. The torando would contain blades of solid wind within, threatning to tear anything it took in to pieces.]
This shall be the night’s lsst update.
The Shadows were torn to pieces, leaving behind some more yen. And the button’s still broken.
Apologies for the short update of last time. But the narrator is back from work early, so you get the full snake experience tonight.
A quick recap for newcomers and old friends alike:
[B1]
The Masquerade is still here. There's an elevator in the center that leads to floors B2 and B3 at the moment. Also, there's a recently-made hole in the ground made by the same person who caused the lines on every surface to dim.
[B2]
With one fell swoop, the "hero" annihilated a group of Mothmen. Unfortunately, he broke the way in through a door.
[B3]
One of our heroes, Bob, is fighting against two High Pixies and a Forneus. Currently, the button they're guarding is vulnerable, although Bob has been rendered vulnerable by Pulinpa.
Still in a daze, Bob begins muttering incomprehensibly while his machine is keeping up a defensive stance.
The narrator shall vanish again to run a few quick errands, but expect a return. Apologies for the delays.
[B3]
Now recovered, Forneus unleashed a powerful Psiodyne against the machine, accompanied by the Mazios of its allies. Fortunately for Bob, the Mazio attacks didn’t hit him, as the machine acted as a kind of lightning rod.
The machine flinched from the force of the attacks as Bob wipes his eyes and faces the enemies once more
"Tch, cheeky bloke. It's gonna take more then that to take me down."
Bob fetches a nail-gun out of his toolbox, stepping through the machine as it dissipates into thin air. He loads the weapon like he would any other firearm and shoots out a volley of nails at the high pixie on his left.
[The hero would walk over and pick up any Yen he could find, storing it in his pockets that oddly seemed to be bottomless when it came to collecting currency. He'd then stiffly turn to the door and stare at it blankly, wiping his sword off against the ground, leaving behind a trail of red fluid.
He'd move towards the door, his eyes devoid of any mercy or regret. He'd begin wildy swinging at the door, trying to break it down. He hadn't forgotten that his next prey lay in wait on the other side.]
[B2]
Little by little, the door cracked, although it had some metal to back it up so smacking it with a sword wasn't effective. The faint sounds of more Shadows began to grow in volume. Continuing this course of action would attract lots of attention.
---
[B3]
Like a butterfly pinned to a display, the High Pixie was pierced by the needles and stuck to the wall, the last needle piercing her chest and causing her to dissolve into a black mist. The other High Pixie attempted to avenge her friend with a powerful Zionga bolt, but the Forneus, rather than Psiodyne, used another Pulinpa... which missed.
[The hero would put his sword away seeing as the door seemed to be tougher than it originally appeared. He would roll up one hand into a closed circle and put it up to his face.]
"This door is a worthy foe but can it handle my Hot Licks?"
[The Hero would blow into his hand causing a furious jet of flames to come out the other side. The torrent of flames would strike at the door with an intense amount of heat that would be concentrated onto one point.]
Bob was shocked by the lightning bolt, his nail gun being fried and eratic. He quickly disposed of it, throwing it behind himself and quickly searches for another tool. Finding a wrench, he quickly leaps across the room and thrusts it into the side of the High Pixie.
[B2]
The door began to melt. Distressed "hee-ho"s came from the other side. The Pyro Jack decided against fleeing and instead retaliated with as many Agilaos through the newly-formed molten hole as possible.
---
[B3]
The wrench knocked the High Pixie out of the air. It would heal, but it was too stunned to do so. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over Bob. The green-eyed Forneus stared directly at him. Its "wingtips" pulsed with psychic power...
...yet it only did a simple ramming attack. The momentum caused it to fly past Bob after the strike, leaving the button unguarded once again.
[The hero in response to the attacks would...tap dance. He'd begin moving in rythim, tap dancing like a pro which seemed to somehow make him much more quick and nimble than before. He'd dance to try a dodge each of the fire attack aimed at him.]
"Name's Haley, or better known as Twilight" Haley replied
"Eh... for now let's keep my real name a secret, not wanting to freak anyone out... but you may call me Blaze, as I have mastered fire" the girl in the gown said
"Ela Continia, better known as Dazle" the girl in the pink jumpsuit giggled
"For now, let's stick with Flame" the boy chuckled
The duo with blue streaks in their hair seemed the most secretive... a odd fact indeed,
Good morning. I hope everyone has had a nice night. I took a wonderful nap then ate a mouse. Oh... right, narration. Here we go.
[B1]
Once the Masquerade introduced themselves, they took in the sights of this floor. The elevator stood proudly in front, and whatever the "hero" from earlier had done caused the lights on this floor to dim. Sounds of crackling flame could be heard faintly from a hole in the floor.
---
[B2]
With a dance sequence that eerily resembled Space Channel 5, the hero managed to mostly match the rhythm of the Pyro Jack, coming away with some burns. The hole in the door was now wide enough to go through. As for the Pyro Jack, its assault stopped while it tried to recover its magical energy.
Blaze looked around, a small fire danced above her hands, like a candle light, giving them some guidance through the dark,
"If we can find the digital core of this place I can light it up better so we can figure out what's going on," Dazle chimed
"Good idea, though... is there one?" Twilight asked
They hear the fight between the Pyro Jack and hurry there, seeing the fearful creature Flame sends another smoke bomb to stun the "hero" and slid between the Pyro Jack and the "hero",
"Get on out of here little guy" Flame said
"You're in the clear" Blaze said
[The hero would stop dancing and pull their sword back out. They'd stare at the newcomer with an empty gaze before their eyes seemed to go slightly bloodshot.]
"Standing in the way of me and that monster. You must be...a special encounter. My name is Son Goki, give me your gold and expierence. Crackle."
[They'd point the blade forward. A torrent of large icicles and cold air would fly forward towards his new foes.]
[B2]
The green-eyed Pyro Jack took this opportunity to fly away, hiding behind another door which locked. The green light, which was brighter here than the floor above, illuminated the four adventurers.
Fire danced in front of Blaze, melting the icicles and keeping the cold wind from reaching them, lightning bolts would suddenly strike the "hero" as Twilight whipped out her gun and started shooting at their opponent,
"Persona!" Dazle called out as she ripped off her mask,
A robot like persona appeared behind her, the persona did a scan sort of thing, identifying their opponent's weaknesses and strengths,
(You can't not have weaknesses, it's cheating)
[B2]
No weaknesses. No resistances. Only pure desire for gold and EXP. Run.
That's what the scan reveals.
Laughs in Null-All except Almighty
Laughs in undeflectableness
Bob was hit by Forneus, planting his feet firmly in the ground to reduce knockback. His enemy landing behind him, Bob throws the whole toolbox at it in an act of desperation, running straight towards the button and slamming his fist down on it afterwards
"What does this button do?"
"What the? That can't be..." the persona murmured
"No weaknesses? I guess instead of worrying about him not having a weakness... let's show our true strength!" Ela said
Flame pulled out a stone, as did Blaze, they crushed it in their hand and are immediately embraced by blue light,
With the blue light around Flame
He had his hand away from himself as a brightly colored jacket appeared over his arms, his gloves turning bright red instead of their usual black, his black suit soon was replaced by a bright outfit, he lifted his hand in front of his face and a hat appeared which he put on his head, his wings were twice the size they were,
Within the blue light around Blaze
She was dancing with fire around her, her gown that was more like something you wear to a not so fancy dance was switched with a dress that could be worn to a ball, her dark blue gloves were switched out with pink ones,
Back with everyone else in that area
The light disappeared, revealing the new looks,
Some time after the others had entered, a tall, red-haired woman would approach the subway entrance. She holds what looks like a smartphone, though its in rough shape by now as she starts to head down.
"No guards, the smell of gas, starting to feel like home already."
The woman grins as she makes her way down the staircase, though she doesn't seem to be armed at first, upon closer inspection one might notice the tip of a gun hiding in her long, black coat.
An update, as something significant has occurred.
[B3]
Bob pressed the button, sending a wave of green energy throughout all the lines littering every surface. As the Forneus nudged the High Pixie out of the room so they both could escape, the rest of the floors' lines pulsed, too...
---
[All floors]
An announcement crackled over some hidden speakers.
"Floors B4 through B6 are now open. All Shadows, be on alert."
The voice wasn't human. It was more of something you'd get out of a text-to-speech device.
---
[B1]
There is no stairs the rest of the way down despite the hole in the ground the Hero made. However, there is an elevator allowing access to floors B1-B6.
---
[B2]
The door the Pyro Jack was hiding in opened. The Shadow flew out to observe what was going on.
(edited by Hundred-S)
"Heh, guess I'm late to the party."
The red-haired woman carefully walks around the hole in the ground, taking a brief glance down before deciding she wants nothing to do with it. Instead she would calmly enter the elevator, hit the button for floor B4, and light up a cigarette, taking a deep breath of smoke before puffing out as she waits
"Lets see what kind of monsters this place has."
Bob, noticing the shadows had retreated, attempted to bolt after them. Losing his preys, he instead opts to head towards the elevator. Making sure there weren't any loose threads (i.e. having a strategy guide so he knows exactly what's going to be there), he presses the button for floor B2, totally oblivious as to what was occuring there.
[The lightning would hit the Hero but they seemed unphased by it. The bullets seemed to leaves holes in them but the bullets would simply fall out as the wounds closed themselves back up. The hero stared forward with a blank stare and a smile.]
"I see. So, you too haven't been using your full power. As you see me now I am merely a hero but if I were to push myself even harder then I can ascend beyond and become a hero who has ascended being a hero."
[A pink aura would seem to twirl around the Hero. It would cling to them before fiercly glowing and surrounding them. Their hair and eyes would glow with a pink light. The ground itself seemed to shake as an intense pressure caused even the Heros hair to stand up completely.
Rubble seemed to float in the air slightly as the Hero approached it.]
"High...Tension..."
[They would walk forward, each step seeming to make the world itself quiver. In a mere second the Hero would seem to have disappeared from sight but in truth they merely leaped forward faster than the eye could process.
They slashed with both their sword and the pink aura which extended their blade's reach to strike at both of them at once.]
[B4]
Kali was the first to use the elevator. Once she stepped out, it closed and started heading up to the floor directly above for Bob to ride.
In front of her was a room that resembled a lab. Rusted metal tables and broken machines were scattered around.
"I - I said, let me go! You're my friend, right?!"
A male voice echoed from down the hall.
---
[B2]
The Pyro Jack stared in absolute fear and, in a desperate attempt to save itself, rushed through the hole, past the Hero, and towards the elevator. The door would open in time for Bob to see... whatever the hell was happening here. The Pyro Jack flew inside the elevator and hid behind Bob with a meek "hee-ho..."
"Looks like some sort of outbreak."
Kali would take another puff of smoke as she reaches down for the gun beneath her coat. Can't be too careful in a situation like this. The woman pulls out her weapon, its a long rifle, about as long as her arm and a little thicker. on the side is a strip of light that glows a light red.
"Whoever's there, stay where you are. No one has to get hurt."
Kali spits out her cigarette, with no trash cans visible nearby she'd simply let it hit the floor as she proceeds forward, gun out and to the ready as she heads down the hall towards the sound of the voice.
"Can we 「Fix It」?"
As Bob saw the lantern wielding demon fly towards him, he held up his nail gun and frowns as it fails to work properly. Just then, a yellow mechanical humanoid held Bob's gun with his right hand, helping Bob to steady it. The newly appeared entity's grip on the weapon tightened, causing the electricity which had previously shot out the machine to disperse, allowing it to function properly once more. With a press of a button, nails shot out one after another at the speed of light, piercing through the demon and into the field of range where the Hero and his opponents stood, albeit headed away from the direction of the Hero.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes we can!"
[B2]
The Pyro Jack was sent spiraling backwards, leaving it open to a strike from the Hero. Its hat nearly fell off its head as it tried to right itself, and the nails in its body kept it dazed from pain.
---
[B4]
After some good ol' fashioned littering, Kali ventured down the dark hall. Despite the run-down nature of this floor, the lights were in working order. One in particular cast a shadow across the floor. At first glance, it appeared to be a mass of tentacles, but rounding the corner revealed a mass of eight serpentine bodies, each with a fanged and fierce head with glowing green eyes. Three of these snakes were coiled around a man, presumably the one who had been shouting earlier. Another snake held a gun-like object tightly in its mouth.
Kali lets out a sigh, she's actually a little surprised the guy hasn't been eaten yet, but there's never been any reasoning with these monsters, so she has no reason to wait or give it further warning before firing a burst of conventional bulets at the snake head that seemed to be holding a gun, as it was the only one with any indicator of being a bigger threat than the others
"Whoever that used to be, its just a monster now. Sorry, looks like I came a little bit too late."
(edited by Kali)
[B4]
The gunfire caused the snake head to drop the gun-like object. With a hiss, it weaved behind the other heads for protection. Sixteen green eyes stared at Kali for a moment.
The creature's prey was shoved into the care of only two of the heads. The remaining five snakes lunged at Kali in a weaving whiplike fashion. Rather than bite, they attempted to pound her right into the ground. Not a fatal attack, but still a disorienting and painful one.
As soon as the snake moved to attack her, Kali would start jumping back, taking long, rough steps to remain ahead of the creature's... Heads. It was obvious that the creature was going to be stronger than her, which means she'll simply have to get more creative. First was seeing if it could follow her down the hall. Once she was a short distance out of its heads' reach, Kali would fire another couple of rounds at the snake-like creature, slowly backing away in case it moved.
"Lets see what you've got then. Try not to be a disappointment."
[B4]
The creature slithered forward a good distance, knocking aside the gun-like object as it went despite its cargo desperately attempting to reach said object. It hissed at both the new holes being torn in its body and its prey's struggling. Two of its heads sunk their fangs into the man's clothing, while the other six opened their mouths. Six large ice crystals flew at Kali in a burst of freezing wind. A powerful Mabufudyne, and an excellent ranged attack.
As soon as the snakes start to open their mouths, Kali sees her chance, she slips out a small, round bomb from under her coat, presses a single button on it which gets it to start beeping, and throws it, hard, at the creature's mouth, hoping to land inside its gaping maw and blow it from the inside. Of course, even if she misses its mouth, it'd still get pretty close to the cluster of heads and cause a nice explosion.
Kali had thought it was simply going to hiss at her, or perhaps spit acid. She was not quite prepared for the burst of cold wind. Her first reaction is to bring her gun back up with the hand not prepping her grenade, only to hear the click of an empty magazine. With that out of the question all she has left is to brace herself, using the weapon to blockk some of the ice as she's chilled and knocked on her back.
"Gotta say... That's a neat trick."
[B4]
The attack partly froze the gun, but not enough to render it useless. However, while the ice did some good damage to Kali, Kali's own maneuver returned the pain threefold. One of the gaping maws couldn't spit the bomb out. The explosion absolutely decimated the head, leaving only a bloody stump that expelled a black substance. This caused the grip on the man to lessen.
"Got it!"
He smiled and wriggled out of the serpent's grip. Despite more coils rushing towards him, he picked up the gun-like device and fired it at his head.
"Persona! Aegis, a little help?"
A copper snake, with a shield that wrapped around its head like a cobra's hood, appeared with the sound of shattering glass. It glared at the now-seven-headed creature and used its hard shield to deflect the larger serpent's blows. After a few more strikes, the seven-headed creature gave up and made a mad rush for Kali.
Kali would raise an eyebrow at the kid's... Combat method. It wasn't any tech she'd seen before, but really who knows what all the Wings are up to these days? Either way she takes the kid's distraction as a chance to get back up.
"You some kinda monster yourself kid? Don't answer that until the fight's over."
Kali reloads as she talks, bringing out another clip, once inserted into her gun it causes the light along the side to start glowing white. Once the creature's attention is back on her, she simply runs. No reason to risk hitting the kid when she can't brace herself to fire. She'd head back towards the lab area, jumping over one of the seemingly broken machines to give her some cover, hopefully while the snake's momentum leads it to rush past.
[B4]
The man nodded, although kept "Aegis" coiled around him in case the beast came back. He followed the creature as a slower pace to stay out of any crossfire.
The seven-headed snake, as expected, slithered right past the machine before coming to a complete stop. Its heads scanned the area until one spotted a flash of red. All seven breathed out, releasing more icy mist, before launching another icy assault against the machine. Two of the heads aimed a little higher in an attempt to hit Kali with a ricochet off the ceiling, but it wasn't as accurate.
Last time Kali attacked it, the creature had a slight delay after using its ice attack, so the woman waits until she hears the sound of its launching to roll out of cover, one of the ricocheted icicles shattering into the ground beside her, resulting in a few of its larger ice splinters piercing her jacket.
But with the opening found, Kali would open fire, unloading a full clip of her new ammo type into it. While her red bullets had attacked the body, these new white ones would seem to pass through its scales, making an attack on the creature's soul itself.
[B4]
These new bullets had a different effect on the multi-headed serpent. It thrashed wildly with its eyes flickering. At the same time, the green lines in the room flickered as well. The snake eventually composed itself and glared at Kali. It let loose another attack, this time stronger than its last physical strike. With two powerful swings, its Deathbound shook the very floor if it missed its target. However, this power came at the cost of more of its energy.
Once she's unloaded a full clip, Kali would find an undamaged machine to hide behind and reload, however the serpent's deathbound would shake the machine she hid behind, pushing it into her and causing her to drop the clip, another white one like she had used before, its shells spilling out of the casing. Since she didn't have the time to gather it up right now, she'd instead pull out another bomb, activating it before tossing it at the snake's center of mass, where its heads met up, and reloading her gun with more conventional rounds, causing the side of it to glow red.
"Durable little thing aren't you."
[B4]
The beast panted and backed up. Its heads were starting to droop, but it was stubbornly fighting nonetheless. Adding to the pain was a sudden burst of flame from Aegis, as it and its master had finally caught up.
This distraction was enough for the bomb to safely land in the creature's coils. It thrashed around, but the bomb was so snugly tangled that this only made the situation worse. With a loud explosion, the creature's heads finally became severed from its body, and the entire beast dissipated into black goo that soon evaporated. Like on floor B1, the green lights on this floor dimmed.
"That... it's over then. Thank you, ma'am. I suppose I owe you an explanation."
The man stepped forward and gave Kali a weak smile. Aegis, its duty done, bowed its head then faded.
Not wanting to waste any, Kali would quickly gather up the bullets that had dropped earlier, storing them back into her fallen clip and storing it away in one of her jacket pockets as she stands up
"That you do kid. Lets start with that monster you have working with you. What're its conditions?"
Kali wouldn't return the man's smile, keeping up a curt, businesslike response as she hides what injuries she got under her jacket.
The man laughed a little.
"Wow, you've got some competition with Suni for being the most serious person I've met. But anyway... that 'monster' is my Persona, Aegis. I guess you could call it a monster based on my mind that I can summon. Don't worry, he's friendly. I'm him, and he's me, to put it simply. And as for me, I'm just an ordinary guy otherwise. Kaito Tarumi, pleased to meet you."
Kaito smiled and held out a hand. Now that he wasn't being held hostage by a snake, he was surprisingly relaxed.
"Don't get ahead of yourself kid."
Kali would crack a grin as she lights another cigarette, with the fight over it'd be good to get her mind off it for a bit so she can take the second we've got to relax.
"Name's Kali, mercenary for hire. Though you'd've likely heard of me as Red Mist."
Kali takes a quick smoke as she thinks about his "Persona". Part of his mind eh? As expected, she didn't know much about it.
"Long as you've got that thing under control I guess we don't have any problems."
"'Red Mist'? Never heard of you, but I kinda live under a rock when it comes to news."
Kaito put his outstretched hand back into the pocket of his jeans. He also took this moment to holster the gun-like device.
"Aegis is well under control. I don't even need to take pills like some Persona-users do. But that's not what you should be worried about. The whole reason I'm down here is because of the gal controlling Shadows like that Orochi we just fought..."
He stared down at the last few wisps of black smoke, which mingled with that of Kali's cigarette.
"I should probably explain that part. Long story short, she's controlling the core of this place. She's kind of its central command. But if things are out of control like this, then... she's gone from a safety feature to a force to be reckoned with. That's the only reason I can come up with. I mean, the Orochi she was using didn't really rough me up too badly, but it trapped me the second it realized I was gonna tell everyone about the problem."
"Don't sweat it kid, just further confirmation that I'm not in Kansas anymore."
Kali takes another puff of smoke as she cleans the last of the ice off her gun. Monster mind control? A logical next step from what Kaito was doing. If this facility keeps going haywire, then it could mean a lot of trouble for the people above. A kind of trouble she was all too familiar with.
"So the plan is to make it to this core and get your girlfriend out of there? And just how much of a reward is this mission gonna run? I've already used 8 psyche bullets and a pair of grenades."
When clear for a second, Blaze bolted to the injured Pyro Jack and healed it with Media... but she didn't summon a persona?
Not wanting his prey to get away once again, Bob bolts after the weakened demon and pulls a hammer out of his toolkit. He thinks of slamming his tool into the head of the monster, when he notices a stranger giving it aid. Taking the advantage of the fact that Pyro Jack would surely turn to greet his benefactor, Bob lunges straight forward and jumps up in the air, driving the remover edge of the hammer underhand so it may pierce his foe's chest.
"Omae wa mou shinderu!"
[Since nothing was done to impede their blow the Hero would assume that they hit Fire and cut them cleanly. They'd turn to where the Pyro Jack had fallen, noticing Bob.]
"I see, this must be a scripted event. Are you a guest party member?"
[The hero would point his sword towards the Pyro Jack and swing it down, slashing at the air.]
"Crackle."
[Icicles would fly down from above, aimed to stab the Pyro Jack while avoiding Bob.]
The narrator, done with errands for the most part, returns to continue the tale for the day...
[B2]
The Media heals the Pyro Jack a little, but it's just enough for it to stabilize its flight. The pumpkin-headed Shadow stared at Blaze with its flaming eyes before...
Nani?
It stared down at the metal piercing its chest. A second after the realization, an icicle pierced its head and it exploded into a slimy black substance. The lights on this floor dimmed. All that was left of the shadow were an Agilao Gem and some money.
---
[B4]
"Not sure about 'out of there.' The moment she's either killed or taken out of the core, this whole place'll start to collapse, so saving her's risky but possible... although I wouldn't want to risk a stranger's life just because of my feelings. Besides, if she's controlling the Shadows, then she's probably the 'final boss' of this place, ya see? And trust me, she's not my girlfriend. She's turned me down at least thrice by now."
Kaito let out a small laugh at that. He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"I'm not the richest guy in the world, but I should be able to scrape something together. Also, I'll let you have everything the Shadows - creatures like the thing you just fought - drop. For some reason, these guys have cash on them, but also unique materials like this ol' thing sometimes."
He picked up a rock and rubbed the shadowy substance off, revealing a light blue sheen.
"This Bufula gem'll let you use some ice magic like Orochi was firing at you. Not as strong as him, but still useful. But anyway, that's all I can offer. In a nutshell, the plan's to get to the bottom floor and disable the core of this place, then clean up any collateral damage that leaks outside. I can probably call some friends to help with that last part, so you can just help with the core if you'd like."
(edited by Hundred-S)
[The hero would move at an alarming rate to gather the loot the monster had dropped. They specifically aimed for the money, not even hesitating or paying any remaining foes any mind.]
"Listen kid, your reasons don't matter to a mercenary. Long as you've got the goods, I'll do the work. Whatever the danger."
Kali breathes out another puff of smoke before looking at the Bufula gem, it kinda looked like one of her grenades. If it really shoots ice like he said, that'd help to conserve her ammo, not all of which can be easily recovered.
Kali grins before grabbing the gem.
"We've got a deal then, operation's to sweep to the bottom floor, let you handle your girlfriend, and as for any shadows."
Kali cocks her gun with a fire in her eyes.
"I'll show you why they call me Red Mist."
A strange announcement is heard throughout. Almost as if there was a narrator. They say: "And so, John Freeman looked around and the pants were dead, he goes very fast to the location of fighting, coming across some good guys, one of them named sun goko, and there is teh evil boss named twologit!"
i am john freeman, gordon freemans brother, now i shall defeat teh evil boss and live up to my family name and face full life consquences
[B2]
Son Goki has gotten experience and money. Yet it is not enough to fill the endless void in his soul.
Oh look, it's John Freeman, Gordon Freeman's brothe- hey! I'm the narrator here! Get out or I'll bite you!
---
[B4]
Kaito smiled back and pulled out the device again.
"Thanks. I'm counting on you. Something the other visitors did opened up more floors, but the bottom floor's still accessible. We'll probably have to see if there's a way to unlock it in another place."
The elevator's nearby, as this was the room Kali started in on this floor. In the distance, the sound of more Shadows echoed down the halls.
(edited by Hundred-S)
"In that case, no reason to hang around here any longer."
Kali cocks her rifle, looking down the hall in the direction of the shadows as she back into the elevator
"Just gotta perform a quick sweep of the next two floors then. You can either wait here, come along, split up, doesn't matter to me."
After giving Kaito a moment to pick their poison, Kali would hit the button for floor B5, rather than wait for more of those monsters to show up.
[B4->B5]
Kaito ended up following his new companion down to floor B5. This floor, similar to B3, had many gaps, but these were more rectangular and intentional. Most catwalk-like areas were as wide as a normal hallway, but some had sections where one had to put one foot directly in front of the other to cross. As for the layout, the floor was shaped like a plus sign, with pillars scattered throughout. On one broken pillar perched a feathered humanoid surrounded by yellow and blue birds. Its massive wings and piercing green eyes commanded respect from its companions. For now, the avians stayed still, watched, and waited.
[A bit of fanfare began playing. It seemed to originate from...the hero.]
"Level up.
+3 to strength
+2 to defense
+4 to magic might
-666 to charm
I have gained 5 attribute points."
"Good choice kid, just stay behind me while I work."
Kali would comment on Kaito's choice while hey're in their short elevator ride. She'd once again snuff out her cigarette as the elevator doors started to open, ready to face whatever may come.
Upon their arrival, Kali would peek out from the elevator, given the creature's winged nature, it likely intended this place as a sort of combat arena to use its abilities to the fullest. That ability being flight. Kali swaps out her ammo, leading the gun to start glowing red once more before moving in.
Kali starts by taking a few steps out of the elevator, sticking only to the wider walkways as she tries to get closer to the center of the arena, and thus closer to the creature so she can open fire.
[B5]
At Kali's approach, the birdman snapped open its wings, but didn't take off just yet. The other birds took this as a signal to start moving. There were three in total, and they appeared rather strong for minions of this larger Shadow. One screeched at Kali, causing a fog to cloud her mind. She'd be unable to speak, although this wasn't a major inconvenience, as she didn't rely on magic for attacking. The other flapped its wings to send a green whirlwind at her. The third and final one, which had flown the highest, instead targeted Kaito with another Garudyne spell. He managed to avoid the brunt of it, but it knocked him back into the still-open elevator.
"Ow... Wind. It's always wind. I - I won't be much help against these guys. I'll think of something!"
He shouted this as the doors closed once more. The bird Shadow that had attacked him, seeing its reflection in the door's green gem, pecked at the reflection angrily.
There wasn't much in the way of cover here, and the walkways were narrow enough that dodging was... Iffy at best. So instead she elected to dive down low to the ground, so as to be less of a target. This causes the worst of the windstorm to pass over her, leaving the sharp gust to mostly shave off some of her hair, leaving it in the red whirlwind as she takes aim at the bird who fired the gust.
"........."
She tried to say something, only to find nothing was there. Probably for the better so she doesn't end up distracting herself.
Kali goes ahead and unloads a full clip of eight conventional bullets at the bird who targetted her, aiming primarily at its wings. Getting rid of their flight advantage would be the first priority
[B4]
The shots caused the bird to screech and flutter around wildly. It made a not-so-graceful landing on the edge of one of the walkways. It seemed that guns were its weakness. The other two birds, suddenly realizing the threat, took to the air and circled around Kali. This time, they sent a combined six tornadoes out, although their aim wasn't the best - one tornado even veered off towards the edge of the room. Still, their logic was simple: if they sent out enough confusing attacks, one would be bound to hit eventually.
(edited by Hundred-S)
'Everything is weak to gun.'
is what she would have said were she able to speak. As it is, with their scatter fire were she to try dodging a simple way one of them would be likely to hit her. Emphasis on simple way. She's already near the ground on one of the wider walkways, so she simply holsters her gun back in her jacket and rolls to her right off of the walkway, grabbing the edge of it as she slides off. The woman hangs for a second, waiting for one gust to get near her, before swinging under the walkway with practiced grace, catching the edge on the other side and using her momentum to help climb back up.
Rather than wait to reload after that maneuver, Kali pulls out her sidearm, a magnum-like pistol painted a sleek shade of blood red, and fires a single bullet at each of the two remaining birds
[B5]
This caught both of the birds off guard. By the time they realized where their target was, they had already been hit - one in the wing, and one in the chest. The former fell down onto a walkway, but was thrown enough off-balance that it fell right off the edge. A splash was heard a second later.
The two remaining birds decided to act. The one that had been hit in the chest dove under the walkways and began circling there, using the walkways themselves as cover. The other flapped its damaged wings to send out another Garudyne tornado.
The birdman watching this unfold began to stand up.
(edited by Hundred-S)
Given that one of the birds decided to head under the walkways itself, its safe to assume they're going to keep Kali from pulling the same kind of maneuver. Not that she intended to try it now that they're wary. Instead she'd pull out another one of those red clips along with one of her bombs. She quickly loads the gun and, rather than activate it properly, throws the bomb a fair bit up into the air with the tornado. Once her explosive's been swept up, she shoots it, causing it to burst and hopefully disrupting the tornado in the process.
Whatever happens with the tornado, the rest of her clip would be spent firing at the bird circling below, hoping to strike its wings and send it plummeting into the abyss while the smoke from her explosion clears up.
[B5
The tornado destabilized and became no more than a few strong gusts of green wind. As for the bird below, it avoided most of the shots, but took enough damage to force it to land on whatever it could down there.
The elevator door opened, and a burst of flame struck the final bird. Kaito stepped out, with Aegis coiled around him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Figured it would be risky to fight with all three of them blowing at us.”
The remaining bird backed up with singed feathers. It was outnumbered... at least, until the birdman took to the air. The green-eyed creature crossed its arms and glared down at the humans.
(edited by Hundred-S)
"....."
Kali would just glare at Kaito, not for a lack of trying, but rather she was still silenced and thus couldn't use words to make her hard look any less... Harsh. Rather than ponder what to do next, she ejects her previous clip, tossing it off the walkways and into the water below, before putting in a third, dark black cartridge. Rather than glow like the previous two, this one would cause the stripe along the gun's side to seem to absorb light, giving off the impression of an abyss as she aims her gun at the birdman.
"....."
she leads with a pair of her 8 bullets, though these ones almost seemed to grow thorns while in the air. Any target that was struck would find the bullets decaying both body and spirit from the wound.
[B5]
After firing her gun, Kali would feel the fog in her mind disappear, allowing her to speak again. The birdman flinched from the bullets, but spread out its wings anyway, coating it and its remaining ally in a green light. The other bird screeched and attempted to silence Kali again, but its focus was too broken to actually do anything.
Kaito took a step back, further into Aegis's coils.
"Er, sorry. I'll try to stay out of the way. But I at least have that wind weakness thing covered on me for the time being. Speaking of which, Makarakarn!"
Aegis's shield-hood glowed, and a blue barrier formed around Kali.
"That oughta keep away one magic attack, so go wild!"
Now able to speak again, Kali makes a growling sound as merely one hint of her growing frustration as she addresses Kaito once more.
"I couldn't talk idiot. This thing better work."
Kali proceeds towards the middle of the arena, so as to have a decent shot at the birds no matter where they turned. As she does so she'd proceed to fire the remaining six bullets, three aimed at the wings of both current enemies, bird and birdman, in part simply to busy them in order to reach the center once more and reload, returning to conventional rounds once more.
[B5]
The birdman, with newfound agility, flew to the left to dodge, coming away with a few scratches but still being successfully distracted. The other bird stumbled, but managed to screech at Kaito and lock up his voice seconds before another flame from Aegis finished it off. The Persona vanished. Kaito shrugged and gave her a sheepish look, as if to say "yeah, I see that now," before backing up a bit.
The birdman considered its options for a moment before launching multiple tornadoes. Once its attack landed, the winds would be reflected right back at it - although the damage was very low. Kaito's Makarakarn, applied earlier, would then fade, but the same would happen for Kali only if she was hit.
Trusting this Kaito kid's monster to do as he said, Kali wouldn't even pay attention to the winds, instead, she switches back over to her magnum, waiting for the wind to bounce off of her, before firing the last 4 rounds of its clip into the tornado, letting them be carried by the winds so they could strike around the same time as the creature's own gust. She reloads immediately after firing, ducking behind a pillar for cover as she does so.
[B5]
Despite being tougher than its minions, the birdman was still rather vulnerable to the bullets. Its feathers flew out as its body was pierced yet again. However, it wouldn't stop there. Using its momentum from its current fall, the bird screeched and struck the ground with incredible force, cracking the walkways and any nearby pillars. Not only did the blow send Kaito flying back before he could strike, but it also rendered anything within a few feet of the epicenter prone to breaking if stepped on. This came at the cost of the birdman having to take a moment to get itself back above the walkways with some flaps.
"shit."
Kali lets out a curse as she finds the ground near her starting to crack. She was near the middle of the platform, so in spite of her best efforts, she'd find the force sending her sprawling backwards into one of the pillars.
"You alright kid?"
After checking on Kaito, Kali would take a few seconds to regain her bearings, before finding one of the less crumbly pillars, and climb up it after the birdman, hoping to get either at or near the top of one of the pillars so as to be able to face the creature on relatively equal footing.
[B5]
Kaito stumbled to his feet, taking a few steps back to avoid the cracking ground, then gave Kali a shaky thumbs-up. He still couldn't speak, but it was enough of a reply to go off of.
The birdman flapped its wings a few more times to face Kali. It was dead set on taking out the most threatening person. Though its speed boost was fading, it went for another attack, this time diving at Kali... and missing. However, that wasn't its target.
The target was the base of the pillar. Both pillar and ground would crack and, within moments, shatter.
Kali fires a few quick shots from her magnum at the birdman before she notices where its aimed. Rather than plummet into the abyss like it had intended, she'd jump over to the next nearest pillar, trusting the creature's reckless maneuver to have damaged itself if nothing else. Of course, she wouldn't have long to congratulate herself before the pillar she was standing on was shaken by the shockwaves of the others crumbling, giving her a hint that she needed to get somewhere more stable, jumping to the next nearest pillar towards the door and sliding down it to reach the floor again relatively safely.
[B5]
The birdman had taken a gamble, and it had lost. Its tattered wings were little use as it clawed at the crumbling stone. With a screech, it plummeted down, landing in the watery abyss below. The dark water turned black from the Shadow's melting form. However, from the darkness, a light emerged. Specifically, a pair of eyes glowing with green light.
Out of the water came a golden-scaled eastern dragon. In its jaws was a small device - a remote, actually. Kaito raised the gun-like device to his head, but to his surprise, the dragon slowly and casually floated in front of Kali, then deposited the button at her feet.
Kali would bring up her actual gun as well, pointing it at the creature as well in case it made any sudden moves, but with its mostly benign motions, she decides to save the ammo, instead picking up the remote it drops at her feet.
"Thanks, I guess. Either way looks like there's not much more to do here."
Kali kinda... Awkwardly strokes the dragon thing's snout before heading back for the leevator, nudging Kaito as she goes.
"Think you're still good kid? Looks like we've got a while to go."
Kali would wait until they're both safely inside the elevator to try hitting the button, just in case it ended up collapsing the rest of the floor somehow. At least, in there was safer than out in the open.
Last update of the night. But an important one.
[B5]
The dragon let out a rumbling sound then descended back into the waters below. Kaito watched it go with a blank stare, only snapping out of his trance when Kali addressed him.
“Oh, y-yeah. A few aches here and there, but I’m fine. I wonder why she didn’t put up more of a fight after that... did she just give up? Easier for us, then.”
As the two stood inside the elevator, a button press triggered another announcement...
—-
[All floors]
“Floors B7 and B8 are now accessible. Guard with increased vigilance and resistance.”
The message, with the same robotic voice, rang throughout the complex...
Bob ignore Twilight for now, instead heading back towards the elevator and gazing over the entirely of the room
Twilight coughed lightly, blood dripping from the gaping hole in her chest, she had lunged forward to block the attack from hitting any of her allies, Flame bolted up to her, though the distance was small, he was running like they were on opposites ends of a football field and he needed to get to her then,
"Twili? Are you alright?!" He asked
"Flame, love, I have survived a lot worse, you worry about me too much" she said
Flame blushed,
"I worry with good reason, you're not indestructible" he said
Twilight stood up as Flame used Media, but like Blaze... without a persona? Twilight then faced the "hero" and ripped off her mask, summoning her persona Evy,
"Wing 'em!" she called out
Evy's wings turned to iron and she slammed them into the "hero" dealing heavy damage, Dazle summoned her persona again who kicked the "hero" in the chest, followed up by Blaze sending fire at the "hero"
[The hero would be struck with the wings that would knock them back and cause bruises to appear on their body. The fire as well would strike them...if not for a stranger in heavy armor stepping out in front of them and holding a shield. The fire would seem to do little to nothing to them. They'd defend against the kick as well as their iron helmet got shaken from the impact, causing the visor to lift up to reveal another empty stare and smile similar to the heroes.]
Son Goki: "Ah, it is your Trinks. You have arrived at the optimal time."
Trinks: "Yes. My name is Trinks. I have come for experience and tank."
???: "Yes, midheal."
[Another figure arrived from behind Trinks and Goki. They had a bald head and worse a long robe. Their face as well was the same. They'd wave a staff towards Goki causing their injuries to close up at an accelerated rate.]
Kriller: "My name is Kriller. I have come for experience and heal."
[Finally, a smoke bomb would go off in the middle of everything, blinding any in the area. Another figure came out and lead the others towards the elevator. They would have black messy hair and wear a leather suit.]
Yimcha: "My name is Yimcha. I have come for experience and steal. Come, allies. Let us go find more monsters to slay."
[Once back in the elevator they make sure the door closes first before pressing a button to go to floor B4, trying to through anyone off their trail by going to a random floor.]
(edited by DQ_Hero)
"They aren't getting away on my watch! Elorna, you know what to do!" Dazle stated
The elevator came back up and opened, Twilight approaching, the four all came forward, Elorna had forced it to do that, as Ela was a known tech expert and a great hacker and Elorna had great control of technology,
"Four of you, five of us, who do you think will win?" Twilight asked
Though it seemed she had trouble counting at first, a 5th girl would approach, Phoenix they called her, she was always backup to the group, but that was because she was so powerful she couldn't control her powers that well, she couldn't heal and wasn't strong when it came to attacking with her dagger, and some of her attacks left her vulnerable for a little, being her charge-up attacks and physical attacks, but otherwise she was extremely powerful, she wore a bright red and orange outfit and a Phoenix mask, she had flaming wings, she handed Dazle her dagger,
(I will be back tomorrow)
(edited by MaskedTwilight)
no, not for
"John Freeman steps beside the band of heros (sun goko and his parti) to face teh evil bosses."
we toghter are 5
Just a morning update to say that I shall be gone most of the day. Updates, if any, for most of the day will be sporadic.
[B2]
This floor would be one with simple door puzzles... had SOMEONE not burned a hole in the only closed door. The lights here were dimmer than other floors Bob had seen, too.
The antivirus system on Ela’s computer began to go haywire during hacking. Something was messing with it.
As for the elevator’s other two occupants, they were witness to this whole charade. Kaito stared at Kali, then the scene outside, then at Kali.
“You know, I’m not sure I WANT to know. Uh, JRPG party, it’s a bit crowded in here. Could you... uh... move outside unless you wanna come along?”
He then nodded to the Masquerade.
“Kiddos, now’s not the time to play superhero, or fight JRPG cosplayers. It’s dangerous here with all the Shadows. Go home.”
[The hero would turn to Kaito, his expression unchanging as usual. For a moment he seemed to just stare at him as if gazing into his soul before finally replying.]
"Yes, of course, my apologies. Everyone get into cutscene mode."
[All his party members just looked at him for a moment before walking into him and seeming to just phase into his body before disappearing.]
"I will come with you. You seem like essential characters."
[Finally, the hero would to John Freeman as well.]
"Thank you. I will be sure to count you among my allies."
Kali would be rendered speechless for a few moments, both at the elevator opening seemingly on its own to two groups of freaks, and then as one of those groups seemed to merge into one person.
She’s seen a lot of weird things, but this, this is new.
After taking a moment to orient herself, Kali wold calmly address both the medieval warrior and the superhero style freaks
“Kid’s right. We’ve got some mid-class monsters on the lower floors, and odds are that’s only the tip of the iceberg. I can handle the situation just fine, but I can’t exactly guarantee the safety of anyone who comes.”
Kali briefly makes eye contact with Goki, only to shudder and go back to looking at the elevator buttons. Once everyone has decided, she’d hit the button for floor B7, probably no need to visit 6 now that they’ve gotten the key to go lower.
(edited by Kali)
Bob hurries into the elevator as soon as Son Goki and his party does, summoning Spud Frost to use Cold World, a giant glacier dropping through the ceiling and ensnaring the Masquerade in the shards of the glacier. It spanned well enough to prevent them from reaching the elevator in time, Bob giving Spud Frost a thumbs-up
"Can we freeze it?"
[B2]
“H- another Persona-user. Interesting. Aegis?”
Shooting himself in the head, Kaito summoned Aegis to partially melt the ice as the doors began to close.
“That’ll keep those kids busy for a bit. If they’re just normal kids, it’ll take a few minutes for them to break that open and get outta here. Don’t want ‘em trapped here.”
The elevator began to move downwards. He waved at the new people accompanying them.
“I’m Kaito Tarumi, by the way, and this here is Kali. I can answer any questions about this place while things are a bit quiet.”
Outside the elevator, the Masquerade would be able to break the ice with their Personas, but it was too late to stop the elevator from descending...
—-
[B2->B7]
The door opened to a long hall. The elevator was in the middle, and at each end there was a metal shutter. Strangely, something was leaking out of the door to the north end of the hall... and the lines on this floor were a deep red, rather than green.
Blaze sent a burst of fire through the icicle, Flame then started shooting at the doors until it eventually broke, at which point Flame grabbed his friends and flew through the broken door, going straight down towards the elevator, then he waited outside of the area for the elevator and pushed the button then went in, all five of them, then they went down, they came out, mad as a bunch of wet cats, which was ironic since they all had water on them from melting the icicle,
*It was a glacier, much larger than an icicle
(That's what I meant, *facepalm* I am such an idiot)
Which floor are they going to? B3-B8 are available. The Masquerade may not know where the group is going besides down, but this may have an interesting result. That, or they test floors at random till they find the right one.
(Eh... since Flame went in after the elevator he saw where it was and just went to the right floor because of that)
Very well.
[B7]
The scene described previously greets the Masquerade about two minutes later.
"A giant glacier? Was that necessary? You know we are the good guys, right? That shadow was scared to death and trying to get away, which is why we came forth to defend it, not because we are villains" Blaze said
Flame shook some of the water off of his wings and out of his hair, getting everyone a little wet, especially since his wings took in a LOT of water,
"Didn't know I could fly with that much water on my wings, did ya?" He asked his teammates with a chuckle
Kaito sighed and shook his head.
“Green eyes? Whether scared or not, a Shadow’s a Shadow. It’s a dangerous thing. Hell, the Shadows here have been attacking us for the most part. So...”
He turned around and put a hand on Blaze’s shoulder.
“What are you kids? Persona-users? How strong are you, anyway?”
Bob narrows his eyes, furrows his brow and crosses his arms during Blaze's speech, interjecting at the end
"With all due respect, the feelings of these monsters aren't important. I'm a builder, and they pose a threat to the reparation of this subway. As such, they must all be indiscriminately eradicated. If you chose to stand in defense of them, then that makes you a problem for me."
Bob finishes his explanation with a light grunt before turning towards the north end and running to where the leak is. He turns back and shouts to the group.
"And you can call me Bob!"
"Lupin" Flame said
Twilight seemed surprised by him saying that, but shook it off, Blaze shook her head,
"Only Dazle and Twilight have personas" she said
Her yellows eyes glimmered mysteriously, as do Flame's,
“Dazzle? Twilight? You kids really are odd... Alright. You’re free to tag along if you really want to. But the second I think you’re in over your head, I’ll be dragging you back to the elevator. Got that? Aegis, do your thing!”
Kaito flashed them a smile, then fired the gun-like object at his own head. The snake-like Persona Aegis appeared and put itself in front of the Masquerade to act as a shield for them.
The leaking fluid was a black, gooey substance, similar to the gunk from a defeated Shadow. It seemed to be coming from where the door met the floor. The door itself was battered, but still functional enough to be locked.
(edited by Hundred-S)
Bob tries to open the door, but finding it to be locked he instead pulls a jackhammer out of his toolkit and set it up in the middle of the door. He turns it on and pushes it in while it drilled rapidly, attempting to break through the barrier.
"Alright, let's see how things are looking behind this!"
Twilight watched him carefully,
"Step aside" Blaze said as she stepped forward
She sent a burst of fire at the door,
"This dialogue is non-essential. Let us move forward. I will keep my party members stored away to minimize the size of the group. More than four people fighting at once is less than optimal as it is."
[The hero would continue forward, looking with more intrest in what monsters would be lurking nearby while making their way to the door.]
"John Freeman introduces himself and follows teh party close."
my name is john freeman, i am gordon freemans bro and the saver of humens
The fire did next to nothing, but Bob’s jackhammer created a few cracks. The red lines in the room pulsed.
”Don’t touch me.”
From the black liquid pooling at the door’s base, something rose up and hardened into a scythe-like appendage. It swung at the jackhammer in an attempt to hook onto it and pull it away.
[The hero...was triggered. They'd sem to begin nearly flying as they jumped, reacting like a predator who had just spotted its new prey. Sword in hand they aimed a precise slice at the appendage as they landed next to Bob, attempting to cleave it at its base.]
"I bet you'd drop a new weapon for me."
(Note: update will happen tomorrow once Kali’s writer is not dying from being sick)
OOC: that’s my secret kid. I’m always dying of the sick.
IC: Once the Masquerade rejoins the group, Kali let’s out a sigh, lighting up another cigarette, as this mission seems like it’ll be a long one
“Sure you kids should be coming on a dangerous grazing op? You look like some circus sideshow, not elite agents.”
Kali lets out a puff of smoke as she examines the door before nodding to Kaito
“Still, seeing as he’s the one writing my paycheck for today anything fine by him is fine by me. Just don’t expect me to save you.”
While the others check out the leaking door, Kali heads to check the one on the south end, in part just to see if it’s unlocked and in part to consider opening it as a back way
A fast update from your lovely narrator, partly to convey that they will be busy yet again today... although will probably be available later tonight. But let us continue...
The appendage fell, although much to the hero's disappointment, the severed blade became a puddle of black goo. The leaking substance shifted again, then began to retreat back under the door.
"Don't bother me."
Meanwhile, the door Kali opened was unlocked. Inside was a beast that was a maned mix between a dog and a lion. Though its white-furred body was littered with wounds to the point of one of its back feet and part of its tail missing, its green eyes stared defiantly at her. It was the only thing between her and a room that contained an array of devices that would remind someone of some of the oldest computers, which took up entire rooms.
Blaze came up and stared,
"Hey there big guy, you gonna let us pass?" She asked
“That was easier than expected.”
Kali breathes out another puff of smoke as she looks inside the computer room. It’s probably pretty important based on the lights and the permanent guard stationed here. Since it should be under someone’s control, Kali would talk to it as she takes her first few steps into the room
“Alrighty then. There are two ways this can go. The easy way. Or if you’d prefer.”
Kali whips out a wide police baton, which crackles with electricity
“The hard way. Just keep in mind I’m not the one who’ll need a body bag.”
The beast stared at Kali for a moment, then let out a long, painful breath and laid down on its side. A search the room would reveal the remains of many other Shadows scattered about... and deep slash marks on the machines. It wasn’t enough to render the devices completely useless, but it was a miracle that they were able to perform any kind of function.
Whatever happened here wasn’t just a core malfunctioning. Whatever happened here was deliberate and without mercy.
"John Freeman remained suspicos of Teolight, John new something the others dont."
twiloght is teh evil boss that killed my dad
"Huh, wise choice."
Kali would put away her stun baton, once again hiding it in the inner pocket of her jacket as she tries to get a read on the computer, though she hadn't worked with anything htis ancient before, and is careful to keep one eye on the chimera-like creature just in case it were to try anything funny.
[The hero would simply seem to remain near the outside of the room where Kali was looking at the computers. They would stare at the monster as if contemplating something. Perhaps they were thinking about wether they should cook it alive or simply disembowel it.
Their eyes seemed to light up with these thoughts as they stared onward.]
"Let us hurry. We must hunt more monsters."
The beast shot to its paws and backed up the best it could on three legs in absolute terror. It had not shown much emotion before, but the hero alone triggered this reaction. Whoever was controlling it knew exactly who the hero was.
The devices in this room had green wires that matched the green lines of the other rooms, although these wires had some red hues around where the slash marks were. Based on the structure of the machine and the bits of text scrolling on small screens on the sides, this appeared to be some sort of complex machine that coordinated various aspects of the entire dungeon.
Blaze shook her head at the "hero"
"He isn't doing anything wrong, leave him alone" she would say to the "hero"
Flame approached the beast and petted it, he used Media on it, this seemed to drain his energy a bit, but that didn't stop him,
"You're alright big guy, as long as Goku doesn't act out, we will do our best to make sure you're alright as well" Flame said
"He's soooo cute!" Dazle said
“I wouldn’t get close to that if I were you. Most monsters see empathy as a sign of weakness, and it’s still fully capable of biting your arm off.”
Kali casually warns the circus troupe as she continues looking at the computer, she can tell it’s general purpose, but with no idea how to activate it, she’s not going to get much of anywhere. So for now she leaves it with a sigh before shouting out into the hallway at Kaito
“Hey, kid. You know how to work this place? I found a control panel you might want to look into.”
The Media did little to soothe the Shadow’s wounds, but it was enough to help it start to limp away. Kaito grabbed Flame’s shoulder.
“Lupin, Kali’s right. I know this Shadow’s being controlled, but it’s no reason to not be cautious. And... Media? Really? I... well, it’s better than nothing. Mind using it on us, actually?”
Kaito gestured to himself and Kali. A bit of free healing wouldn’t hurt, especially after fighting those other Shadows. At Kali’s question, he shook his head.
“Nope. But maybe... hey, Kaori, do you know?”
The green-eyed beast stayed silent.
“Yes? No? I guess I shouldn’t have expected an answer... she’d only be familiar with working from the core, I guess.”
(edited by Hundred-S)
"You speak to the monster...as if you know it..."
[The hero would aproach Kaito, staring directly at him as he got closer. Their expression seemed to change but it was hard to tell how with their constant gaze and eerie smile. They spoke plainly and without any restriction, as if they didn't even register Kaito as a living thing but rather as something to simply interact with.]
"Do you know this...monster?"
r u teh evil boss?
Flame used Media on Kaito and Kali,
"For now, call me Flame, Lupin is only what Goku will call me, since really he annoys me as much as being called Lupin does, so it really doesn't make much of a difference to me when it comes from him, I wouldn't allow him to know my real name unless I had to, none the less let him call me by my real name" Flame said
He seemed perky but cold, a weird mixture, he seemed fine with Kaori,
"Can we keep him? Pleaseeeeeee?" Dazle asked
"You turn into a child over certain things... but that little guy is very cute" Twilight said
That's when Dazle looked to the computer,
"Oh? I have been soooooooooo wanting to work with one of these! I have heard much about them but never used one, I can probably figure it out" she said with a giggle
"She's our fairy of technology" Twilight said
Dazle went to work on figuring out how to work the computer, standing (or sitting if there is a chair) in front of the system,
(edited by MaskedTwilight)
Kaito took a few steps back. The hero’s gaze burned into him.
“Kaori’s just the person controlling it. This Shadow’s just a Shadow otherwise. And - no, you can’t keep the Shadow. But thanks for the heal anyway.”
Dazzle would slowly be able to work things out despite the numerous error messages. There was a part that regulated the elevator, and another folder
labeled “Node Shadows” that was password-protected. Some other files were either corrupted or missing. Overall, this device’s function seemed to be to act as a connection between a main operator elsewhere and the rest of the building - hence the guard.
(Dazzle with only one z)
"Found something, but it's protected with a password... you seem to know the person controlling all of this, wanna help me try to crack the password?" Dazle asked
Flame messed around with his gloves a bit, which was a little odd, since he didn't seem nervous,
"I get the feeling this isn't gonna last much longer" Flame said
"Yeah, I noticed, but we can still fight pretty well afterwards if need be," Blaze said
"That does suck, Flame looks very awesome with that hat and the bright colors, the black suit is so plain" Phoenix said
"For your information I still chose the suit as my main uniform or costume... which would you call it?" Flame asked
[The hero would begin tensing up. His hand seemed to grasp his sword tighter as he aproached Kaito. His eyes, souless as he stared into their soul. Finally, after moments of lingering on their words they would speak.]
"Why...?
Why didn't you say so sooner?"
[He'd raise his hand and bring it down on Kaito's shoulder.
To pat him lightly and in a friendly manner.]
"Monster Tamers are quite useful. I look forward to working with you."
Kali would simply wait by the doorway, lighting up another cigarette to occupy her as she stands guard over the group, not that there was much to look for. She'd find herself feeling a bit more relieved from the healing, a sensation she was more used to than she'd've liked. Kai slowly brings her hand closer to the pistol at her waist as the hero approaches her employer, only to let out a sigh of relief
"If we're just about done here it might be good to move on to the next floor. Or rather, maybe it'd be good for that... Guy, and I to go ahead and check it out while you kids see what you can do with this?"
Kali would glance over at Goki, gesturing for him to come with, although she doesn't like the prospect of being alone in an elevator with him, its also better to keep an eye on them rather than hope for the best.
Kaito laughed nervously. For some reason, it felt like he’d just avoided Death himself.
“Yeah... you too, dude... anyway, since I’m watching these kids, I’ll stay up here while you guys move on.”
He then frowned at the screen.
“Hm... no passwords come to mind really. I’m not close enough to know what kinds she uses. Is there anything else unlocked that you might be able to look for?”
[The hero would look over to Kali before following her into the elevator. He didn't seem to say much apart from a single word, as if simply confirming whatever they were asked.]
"Yes."
with both her and Goki back in the elevator, Kali would go ahead and hit the button to go down to floor B8, a little legwork for the pair while the others try their luck with tech.
As they wait for the elevator to go down Kali looks at Goki again, before immediately shifting their attention to the door once more. Guy is all sorts of creepy, reminds her of some monsters if anything
[B7->B8]
The elevator slowed to a stop at this bottom floor. The doors opened tp reveal a room much larger than any of the ones they’d seen previously, even the birdman’s battlegrounds. The green lines that ran throughout the floor converged like roots at a structure at the far end straight ahead. There, held in stone, was a green orb that filled the room with a pulsing light. Floating in its center was a woman with long, brown hair in casual clothes - a simple long-sleeved shirt and skirt. She appeared to be in a deep slumber, although the half-bird, half-woman creature embracing her from behind was wide awake. Its green eyes matched those of another monster sitting in front of the massive orb: a horned beast, its full appearance obscured by the coffin it was in.
The movement of many Shadows could be seen and heard in the far reaches of the room. They were passive for now, but perhaps just haven’t noticed the two.
"I should go help, if something happens I have some nice healing abilities and I am also a pretty good fighter, and don't worry Elorna I have a stone in my pocket in case I need it" Flame said
He walked out of the room while Dazle tried to crack the password, every now and then checking if there was anything else unlocked that could be a clue to what the password was, but she was focused on cracking that password,
"Whatever is in there is undoubtedly important" she thought to herself
[B7]
“Lupin, wai- he’s gone already. Kali’s gonna kill me.”
Kaito sighed and looked over Dazle’s shoulder.
“We’d better finish up soon. I can’t just leave you kids here.”
The non-corrupted files had info about Node Shadows - a Shadow that acted on limited commands from the “Network Core.” There were also floor layouts, Shadow counts, and other general information about the structure. Worryingly enough, floor B8 had the highest Shadow count.
Unfortunately, any things that seemed like clues didn’t work. The password must have been set by the Network Core’s controller herself, based on something outside the machine’s files.
—-
[B8]
Ding. Flame has joined the party.
"Guess that makes this the core."
Kali cooly notes as she steps out of the elevator. Kali brings out her rifle, its side glowing red as normal,before firing a single warning shot towards the ceiling to announce her presence in the room.
"Consider yourselves lucky to get even this much warning. Party's over, we can shut this place down either quietly, or with a little bit more enthusiasm. Think my friend here would prefer the latter."
Kali briefly gestures to Goki, only to glance back and see the elevator doors opening once again
"For crying out loud, what part of 'I'll handle this' do you amateurs not understand?"
[The hero would look at the shadows surrounding them in the distance before focusing on the one directly in front of them. Their soulless eyes would focus in on them, not even turning to look at Kali as they spoke.]
"This should be a good mid-boss before the final fight. I'll leave the decision to you though, as a minstrel I am a balanced fighter who can use magic, physical abilities, and healing. Minstrels mainly play whatever role they need to fill so I shall work to satisfy whatever role you require me to for."
[B8]
The green-eyed Shadow closed its coffin, surrounding itself in a sparkling blue aura. However, the others took Kali's warning as a signal to get moving. They rushed forward in a swarm.
The first Shadows to put themselves between the party and the coffin Shadow were a goat-creature with a flame on its forehead, a furry four-legged beast with a large mouth of sharp teeth, and the same yellow and blue bird Kali had fought on B5. It was possible to run past them, but retaliation would be expected either way.
The stage is all yours. Once all three of our party have put in their actions, the battle shall flow.
Kali raises an eyebrow at Goki as she cocks her rifle again, she's already fired one bullet, leaving only seven for now
"Oh, you're looking for my lead? At least someone can listen. Orders are simple."
Kali fires out the rest of her clip, seven shots aimed at the bird creature she'd fought earlier. They seemed to take a lot of damage from the red types, so it made sense to try removing it from the fight first
"Make 'em bleed."
"I see, that's something I'm good at."
[The hero would rush forward, sword drawn. They'd head towards the goat creature, charging right at it with no sign of stopping. They'd finally halt their movement right in front of it, staring deeply into its eyes before jumping into the air.
Their sword would point downwards from where they were in the air as they uttered one word.]
"Crackle."
[From the tip of their blade, a flurry of sharp icicles would flow, aimed at the goat.]
"Alright" Flame said
He ripped out a gun and started firing, he was known for his magic attacks but he seemed very good with a gun,
It has been a while, so I shall update. Sometimes, time waits for nobody.
[B8]
These Shadows were not as tough as the ones with the birdman, so a simple shot to their weakness would take them down. The goat demon exploded with the shattering ice, and the bird took six shots to the body before the seventh shot to the head ended its life.
However, the fluffy beast remained unharmed aside from a few stray gunshots. Its fur standing on end and a roar like thunder were its only warnings before multiple lightning bolts arced out towards the entire group. This flurry of sparks also gave some cover for more Shadows swarming in: a black warrior with a staff that had blades on each end, an angel cloaked in red, and a fairy in a flowing green dress.
(edited by Hundred-S)
Fortunately Flame was at least good enough to not hit Kali as he fired at random shadows, mostly ones along the walls. Kali briefly growls as she notices the shots
"Have you tried aiming at something kid? I don't need any dead weight."
But she wouldn't have the time or energy to actually lecture them, not when the fight's just starting. Her rifle's out of ammo and there weren't many places to use as cover here so she'd simply stash it away for now as she runs towards the gathered shadows.
She'd replace the weapon with a sword, its similar in build and design to her gun, short and with a clear stripe running down the middle that would glow to indicate its damage, though none of this gets in the way of its gleaming sharp edge.
Kali brings the sword out in front of her, to block the lightning, or rather block isn't the right word, the woman winces as she feels the tingle reverberate through her weapon as she swings around and tosses what lightning had struck her off the blade and back at the black warrior, before going to slash at the fairy's chest herself.
Flame lifts up on his large wings, he hit the creature with the stronger version of eiha, (don't remember how to spell it...)
"Sorry, didn't have much of a target" he chimed lightly
He flashes a cute smile at Kali before his form reverted back to the one he was in when he first entered, the black suit and smaller wings, he fell do to his wings suddenly switching while he was in the air, but he quickly got back up,
"Eh... was expecting some sort of warning..." he said
His cheeks turned bright red, which was mostly hidden by his mask, but not all of it,
OOC: There are currently 4 creatures the GM has described in their post, you might want to go back and read theirs a bit more carefully, most of them are described in the last line.
[The lightning runs through the heroes flesh leaving them with singe marks all over but they seemed to simply try and shake off such an effect. They'd face their 4 new opponents, rage hidden deep within their eyes.
They'd quickly put their sword back into its hilt before reaching into their pockets. Out of their pockets they'd pull out...balls...
The balls would immediately begin expanding to the size of cannonballs but they still just seemed to be normal inflatable circus balls. The hero would begin juggling them quickly to try and entertain the monsters at first. But rather quickly rage would return to their eyes as their juggling act got faster and faster before they threw the balls forth.
They'd bounce around at high speeds, striking at each of the monsters as they moves around. The balls would strike as if they were as hard and heavy as cannonballs despite seeming light mere moments ago while the hero was holding them.]
"I hope you enjoy this show. It will be your last."
[B8]
The combination of the sword slash and balls sent the fairy flying into the Shadow swarm, disappearing in a black mist. The furry beast, too, was destroyed, the black tendrils taking it to the darkness from whence it came. However, the red angel withstood the barrage just barely, and the black warrior’s resistance to the physical attack kept it from being destroyed after electrocution.
The black warrior spun its double-bladed staff around. It sliced the very air in two, and its attack aimed to hit the entire party twice - with considerable power behind each strike. Meanwhile, the angel raised its spear, creating a circle of light around Kali. If she didn’t act fast, the talismans floating out of the circle would take her down in one hit.
The third group of Shadows arrived, although slower as the bouncing balls had knocked a few of the swarm away. It was a pair: a man in samurai armor that gave off an aura of power, and a black and purple snowman that looked like a Jack Frost but evil. The latter let out a battle cry about something like love and rage, whatever that meant.
The coffin Shadow surrounded itself and them in a red aura.
(edited by Hundred-S)
Flame knew he was taking an extreme risk, but he quickly grabs Kali, pulling her out of the way of tailsmans, and shielding her from the staff, his wings started to bleed rather badly, he let go of Kali and fell, his wings being his weakness, as he laid on the ground, he lifted up his gun and fired at the black warrior three times, his arm then fell back to the ground as he lost consciousness,
Dazle started taking snapshots of all of the important information, then handed the odd device she used to Kaito,
"There, the info I could gather is all on that" she said
It was holographic, and one of Dazle's inventions
"The hell you doing kid?"
Kali shouts to Flame, genuinely angry that she'd been pushed out of the way. With Flame taking the hits for her she wouldn't need to do anything but bring out and reload her pistol, which begins to glow with a pale blue light. With the number of enemies they were at now, and more coming in, she'd have to act pretty fast.
"tch, bad time to get yourself hurt. Lets keep it up Goki."
Kali wouldn't really worry about the injured too much, that can happen after their not dead. For now she brings out another bomb, her second to last one, and strafes the edge of the arena before throwing her firebomb at the samurai, it was a conventional weapon, meant for indoors, so it would likely only hit the samurai and one or two of the demons closest to it.
[The hero would feel the impact of each blow from the attack. For once they seemed to react a bit, being unable to shurg off the attack as usual. They'd point there sword forward, considering wether or not they'd need to heal themselves soon.]
"There are even more than anticipated. Perhaps I will need to call for my party members soon. Kaswoosh."
[The Hero would swing their sword around again, treating it as a fan as they summoned a flurry of small tornadoes to cut into the foes in front of them with no clear discretion for who it was aiming for.]
"I've been using a lot of my MP as well..."
[B7]
“Thanks. Now let’s hurry. If Lupin’s left alone any longer I’ll be on the other end of that Red Mist’s gun.”
Kaito stuffed the device in his pocket and ran for the elevator while gesturing for the others to follow...
—-
[B8]
The angel took little damage from the tornadoes, but its proximity to the bomb gave it an explosive end. The samurai himself took the blast scarily well despite the wind attack fanning the flames. Even the shrapnel didn’t pierce his armor. All that was left standing as the shots and whirlwinds finished off the black warrior were the black Jack Frost and the samurai.
With a mighty “hee-ho” and a stylish pose, the Black Frost launched a flurry of ice similar to that of the earlier Orochi. It thankfully missed Flame’s limp body, although it still arced towards the other party members with boosted power from the coffin demon’s buff.
The samurai was determined to outdo his companion, however. He drew his sword and unleashed eight powerful slashes, dashing with incredible speed as he did so. Unfortunately for him, the accuracy of the attack suffered due to how far apart his two targets were.
The samurai returned to his original position, if able, by the time the elevator doors opened, allowing anyone who had entered to step out. Kaito cursed under his breath and rushed forward, summoning Aegis with one hand and grabbing Flame with the other. The snake wrapped around the two of them and set up a gleaming orange barrier.
“Shit, I had a feeling this would... nevermind, that can wait. Be careful!”
Many more Shadows began to file in, but that wasn’t the worrying part.
The coffin demon was forming an orb of light above itself. It began to crackle with pure energy as it was launched upwards.
"Ar- I mean Flame!" Twilight exclaimed
She had of course followed Kaito onto the elevator, as did Dazle and Phoenix and Blaze, Twilight rushed forward, suddenly there was an almost evil look in her eyes as she glared towards their enemies, her persona appeared, but with darkness floating around her and her one giant sword had been replaced with two large spears,
"Rip them to shreds, Evy!" Twilight shouted
Evy launched a number of attacks on the samurai and Jack Frost,
"Okay... be sure not to get between her and those shadows" Dazle said
"It seems she's enraged, meaning she is also irrational, we better be ready to back her up" Blaze said
Blaze stood beside Kaito, preparing to attack after Twilight would pull back, Twilight jumped away, at which time Blaze sent a ball of fire, followed by Dazle using some healing skills on the rest of the party,
Kali brings up her sword to match Yoshihitsune's strikes, though she can't expect to beat the persona in any sort of duel, with the distance it has tot ravel between targets she can deflect or block each of its atacks, however having to focus on this leaves her unprepared for the Black Frost's ice attack, which knocks the woman on her back, a little red showing in her jacket as she gets back up.
Kali readies her pistol, pinting it first at the Yoshihitsune, only for the ding of an elevator and one of the kids to throw her off
"Don't run ahead into crossfire, idiot!"
Kali would shout as she is forced to stow her gun away. She wouldn't want to hur the kid if it could be avoided, especially not with something that dangerous. Instead she's able to do little more than reload her rifle, whose side begins pulsing with a faint blackness, and keep wary of the situation. While she was.... Never particularly patient, having her warnings and orders ignored over and over again would finally bring her to snap
"You stupid kids get out of here before I shoot you myself! You have ten seconds."
Twilight had some dark aura around her, it wasn't normal, and it was almost terrifying for Blaze and Dazle, who both knew her fairly well, saying that messing with her then could cause something bad to happen, she glares at Kali for a moment when she yelled at them, her eyes showed she wasn't in a "show mercy" mood, more like a "Rip them apart and make them pay!" Mood, there was a bigger connection to Flame than she was wanting to let on, but with him being hurt you could see she had a... little psycho in her,
(edited by MaskedTwilight)
(Can you all do me a favor and pretend I didn't say anything today? I have had a bad day and my roleplaying seems to be showing that... with how erratic it is)
OOC: Honestly, I didn't even notice a difference, still it does sound like you're best off chilling for a bit, maybe take a nap or whatever, I dunno your timezone.
(Its midnight, and well... I normally wouldn't make Twilight go completely crazy, and turn on people she sees as friends for just saying the wrong thing... though it did give me an idea for a turning point in the story of the Masquerade...)
(I didn’t notice much of a difference either, and it’s a bit too late to retcon everything that happened today, so everything will probably stay - although I can retcon Twi’s outburst I suppose. However, I do suggest you rest if you still feel on edge today. Sometimes your mental health comes first.)
(edited by Hundred-S)
(It sure seemed different to me... but yeah, that would work, I will redo when the Masquerade came off the elevator)
Twilight gasped, running up to Kaito and Flame, trembling,
"Is Flame okay?" Twilight asked
She was shaking like a leaf, which was odd concerning what was seen of her earlier, there was a bigger connection to Flame than she was wanting to let on, but it was then obvious, could they be more than just allies and friends? Blaze sends a burst of fire at the black Jack Frost while Dazle uses a healing ability on the entire party, which didn't seem to effect Flame, Twilight used a ability that upped the strength of the rest of the party,
[The hero tried to stand but the flurry of ice and the strikes as inaccurate as they might have been had whittled them down.
The healing would help them recover some but it was clear they had begun to run out of energy as well.]
"No good, my MP is low...
Time for a beverage."
[They'd step back, letting the others who had just entered take the field as they pulled out a bottle of...water? The water seemed to be sparkling as if someone put glitter in it.
They'd begin drinking the water as if they were unhindered by a need to breath at all.]
The party-wide healing was helpful, although didn’t fully heal everyone. The buff was also a major asset against the growing horde. As for the enemy Shadows, the samurai readied himself for another strike, and the flames that hit Black Frost bounced right back at their caster. And many more Shadows began to join the front lines...
“Hee-ho! We have the upper hee-hand in numbers, ho! Mabufudy-“
Whatever the Black Frost was saying was drowned out by the roar of an explosion. The coffin demon’s orb had finally landed and burst. The powerful Megidolaon covered everyone’s vision in a blinding white. Not even the Shadows in the blast radius could resist it...
...
The dust cleared, revealing a crater where the epicenter of the explosion once was. Though the main point of the damage was where most of the Shadows were, the spell was still powerful enough to harm the party and anyone else unlucky to be too close, although they weren’t nearly as harmed as any of the Shadows right within the center of the explosion.
Kaito, with Aegis fading, pushed himself to his feet and squinted at the coffin. Though obscured by some lingering dust clouds, its green eyes made its presence very clear.
Most of the Shadows were either dead or too dazed to act. This created a path to the coffin Shadow and the core.
"Things are starting to look bad."
Kali takes a deep breath, bringing up her rifle with both hands, she was ready to take aim once more, only for her to be interrupted by the sight of the orb bursting. Without wasting a second, she brings out the Bufula stone she had been given earlier, and tosses it onto the ground, giving her a nice, if somewhat small, sheet of ice to act as cover. For a few seconds anyways, this little ice wouldn't be enough to stop the explosion completely, but it does soften the impact so she can get back up again little worse for wear.
"That your girlfriend?"
Kali asks Kaito in a guess before she starts walking towards the core, keeping an eye on all the previously dazed shadow, gun loaded with black ammo in case any of them try to make any sudden movements.
Dazle fell back on her butt, then started laughing, Twilight however had taken more damage than Dazle or Blaze, who was currently putting out a fire in her red and blue hair, Twilight had been launched back into a wall, a bandage fell from her neck, which would reveal that before she even came in she was hurt,
"Thought that would have healed by now" Twilight lightly coughed
She stood up and walked forward,
[The hero had backed away before the explosion had gone off. The damage was minimal from being so far back but even they felt the impact of the explosion. They stood behind the others, a pink light beginning to form around them.]
"High...Tension...
This is the power that I posses, the power of a hero who has ascended beyond a hero. However, this is not the true limit to this power.
Now, I'll show you, what it means to go even further beyond...
Psyche up!"
[The hero's power began to build as the pink light seemed to spike. The ground around them began to shake as their hair, eyes, and the air around them filled with pink light.
They continued charging their power...getting ready to unleash...something...]
"If need be I can use another stone, this seems like a fight where my full strength would be very helpful" Blaze said
She looked to the rest of the party, her stone boost having left her the same time Flame's left him, she looks at Flame for a moment, then towards Twilight,
"So many memories of moments like this... one of them hurt anf unconscious on the ground while the other fights" she said quietly
“Yeah, that’s Kaori... and the bird-woman holding her is her Persona, Siren. But...”
Kaito trailed off, then shook his head and picked up Flame.
“Oi, one of you kids, get Lupin to somewhere safe. I don’t know what she’ll do.”
The coffin demon moved aside to let Kali reach the core. However, when the hero began to charge up, it moved back to its original position once Kali passed and started charging another attack.
The core was a vibrant green, and its surface a clear substance like glass. From the green liquid within, Siren’s eyes followed Kali’s every move.
"He said for you to call him Flame..." Twilight said as she approached
She and Dazle picked Flame up and carried him to safety,
Kali would look over the core carefully, this was the person they were here to help after all... But how? Breaking the core would be easy, but then they''d have to run, and with some of the kids still here and injured that didn't seem like a great plan. For now, she'll settle on trying to touch it.
"There there, looks like its just about over now. Can you hear me Kaori? I don't mean any harm, just to get you out safely."
in contrast to her normally harsh exterior, Kali'd speak like she's consoling a child, letting her expression relax a bit as she tries to figure out how this core thing worked.
"Guys, what do we do? That blast can do some very heavy damage as we just experienced, how do we stop it?" Blaze asked
[The Hero had finished charging, their body now completely enveloped in pink and an aura flowing off them. Spark of energy seemed to flow around them occasionally as their hair stood completely on end. They stepped forward once before disappearing.
In the next moment they were standing before the coffin demon.]
"This is...the power of Super High Tension."
[In what seemed like a second, the hero pulled out their sword, a shining metal gleam around it. Their blade seemed to modify itself to deal with enemies who were extra hard skinned.
They'd slash at the coffin swiftly and with the force of there new form.]
The girl within didn't react, but Siren kicked its taloned feet to bring them both closer to Kali. The Persona brought itself and its master to a stop by bracing one hand against the core's surface.
Unfortunately, this movement came at a cost. The green light momentarily dimmed, causing the coffin Shadow to freeze in place. This left it completely open to the hero's sword strike. Not only did the attack cleave the coffin lid in two, but it also damaged the Shadow to the point where it had trouble holding its form, much less casting a spell. Kaori winced at this, although not much else came from her seemingly-sleeping body as the core regained its power.
"Alright, I get it, breakout time it is I guess."
Since they didn't seem to be able to get themselves out, and Kali had no idea how to release them with the control panel, Kali would first turn back to the team who had gathered with her, Goki, the Masquerade, and Kaito
"You guys get to safety, once I bust the core here the place is gonna start collapsing, it doesn't make sense for everyone to have to try an epic escape sequence when just one will do, and sience I'm the oldest and most experienced that makes me the best candidate. So get back up to the surface, send the elevator back down, then await further orders. Understood?"
Kali would tap the but of her sword against the glass, testing its durability so she'd know better how to break it when the others were gone.
The glass was decently thick, but enough powerful strikes would break through it. A bullet would fare much better than a sword strike, although blunt hits were the next-best thing.
Siren shook its head at Kali's words. It stubbornly remained right near the glass.
"I refuse. Yimcha has an Evac spell."
[For a moment something in Goki's eyes would glimmer. For a second, only a second something...heroic would glimmer in their eyes as they looked back up.]
"I will see things out until the end."
"I'm staying here, the chances of us all getting out are greater when we can depend on one another" Twilight said
Kali lets out a sigh, slowly shaking her head, though her hair hides a bit of a grin
“Suit yourselves. Can’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Kali wouldn’t want to end up hurting its occupant by accident, so she takes a deep breath, before striking the sphere. Once, twice, three times, as many as are needed until it finally breaks
“Then get that Evac spell ready. We’ll need it.”
Kaito nodded to the hero. Siren, while still on edge, silently accepted this choice.
There’s little turning back now.
Cracks form on the core’s surface. Though the material is strong, even it cannot hold its form with the blows breaking its shell apart. With one final strike, the glass burst, leaving a hole a few feet in diameter that Kaori and a sizable amount of green liquid escaped through. The Persona disappeared with what seemed to be a sigh. As for its master, she didn’t move much, as if she was slowly awakening from a deep sleep. Anyone that touched the liquid she had been in would feel a tingling sensation in their head - although not severe enough to cause more than annoyance.
The green lines in the room began to dim. Tremors shook the floor and slowly but surely intensified. The few Shadows that remained began to scatter in a panic.
"Yimcha. It's time to activate your spell."
[Yimcha would seem to step out of the hero from nowhere. They'd push their hand forward as a massive golden sphere began to form around them and the hero.]
"I'd suggest stepping into the sphere quickly if you wish to escape with us."
“Beats the elevator.”
Kali would grab Kaori, dragging the mostly unconscious girl with her to the sphere of light. Kali simply trusts the hero for now, got this far together at least and they didn’t seem to have a death wish.
As Kaito and assumedly the Masquerade entered the sphere of light after the others, the party vanished from this strange underground world, just as the stone ceiling gave way. They found themselves at the subway entrance which was now clear of the odd green mist. A few scratches and broken areas of the subway suggested that at least some things had gotten out. However, the current danger for those present has subsided.
Kaito let out a sigh and slumped against the concrete wall. “Now that... was something. But I guess it all turned out somewhat alright... But Kaori and Flame, we should-“
“...mfine...”
The tension in Kaito’s body faded when he heard Kaori’s mumbling. The girl slowly opened her eyes, although she had trouble focusing her gaze.
“Jus’ tired. Sorry for... making things so hard. I’ll have to ‘xplain later but... thank you.”
Though she had too little energy to do much besides talk, Kaori gave everyone a small smile.
Blaze quickly snapped her fingers and switched to her casual clothes, Twilight was already back to her normal outfit, as was Dazle, oddly enough Flame still remained in his suit and mask, he started to wake and sit up, then his yellow eyes wife and he snaps his fingers, switching his outfit like Blaze did, he looked around, somehow no one seemed to notice, he sighed a breath of relief and stood, a little off balance but he seemed mostly fine,
"When did we leave?" He asked
"Just a few seconds ago, love" Haley giggled
"Alright now, time for introductions! I'm Ela," Dazle said
"Haley, I know... pretty bland" Haley said
"Carmen!" Blaze giggled
"Arsene" Flame said
(Yes, that's why they had persona moves but no persona and have yellow eyes and blue streaks in their hair and the more powerful form, they are Arsene and Carmen, the personas)
[The hero just stared blankly before speaking.]
"I do not care for your weird exposition.
My name is Son Goki. I came for gold and expierence and now that I have obtained those things I must continue on with my quest.
Later, losers. Zoom!"
[A light wind would surround the hero before they launched into the air and flew away at a high speed.]
“Guess that makes mission accomplished.”
now outside of the subway, Kali would light up another cigarette, leaning against the guardrail as she talks
“Long as you two kids are safe that’s what matters. This was the last gig I had for the day so I’ll go ahead and head out.”
Kali would start walking away, with no further need to hang around, though she would briefly glance back at the Masquerade
“Carmen eh? Feel like I’ve heard that name before... Anyway, my name’s Kali. Don’t forget it.”
before heading out herself, half-convinced that the hero was a hallucination
(edited by Kali)
"Got it, Kali" Carmen would call out
“Ah, hold on.”
Kaito stood up and fumbled with a bag of some sort before pulling out some yen and a few items.
“Nearly forgot I’m supposed to be paying you. Here’s all the stuff I could gather from the Shadows on the way. It’s mostly materials that you could probably make something useful out of, but there’s also some stones in the mix. That white one’s a Megido Stone, and looks like there’s two Bufula Stones and... wait, there’s a smoke ball too.”
After giving everything to Kali, he stepped back and gave her a smile.
“Well, that’s my end of the deal completed. Thanks again for everything.”
He then lifted Kaori onto his back and waved at the Masquerade.
“Get home safe, kids. Was a pleasure to meet you.”
The man departed to wherever the two called home...
Perhaps those present would cross paths in the future. But for now, some well-deserved rest.
"Home? How far away is home, Haley?" Ela asked
"Over a few thousand miles away... maybe we will return there someday" Haley said
"I hope you guys do, I know that you wanted to visit Japan, but not live here" Arsene said