Endgame: In This Last of Meeting Places

[animusmods]

Characters: Aria, Zo, open
Setting: floor 001 for now
Format: action brackets
Summary: Aria and Zo reappear quite suddenly.
Warnings: standard animus event warnings

Aria and Zo tumble out of the elevator more than they step out of it. They look worse for wear; Zo's covered in minor scrapes and bruises, and Aria'a left arm hangs at her side uselessly, bloody and mangled. As soon as they're on solid ground, Zo turns and forces the elevator doors shut without touching them, leaving the broken car lodged in place behind it, and Aria slides to the floor, gasping for breath. They're both on high alert even for all their exhaustion.

SPEAK TO ARIA
SPEAK TO ZO
ESCAPE
-FLOOR EIGHT

Comments

ESCAPE

[animusnpcs]

[The doors of the elevator shaft burst open, and Aria and Zo take off running up the stairs. The retrieval units pour out of the elevator shaft, having apparently climbed up it and torn through the elevator car blocking the way by force. They won't attack anyone who doesn't get in their way, at least for now.]

Re: ESCAPE

[greyerrant]

[ Loken clamps his helmet on, leading the way up the stairs with long, step-eating strides, a translucent green battle-brother by his side holding a massive cannon in two hands. His chainsword is out and growling, on low charge for the moment. ] How far?

[no_longer_a_king]

[Arturia is right beside him, glancing around for something to put in the retrieval unit's path.]

All one hundred and one floors. We stop for nothing.

[fionnuisce]

Well, fuck me. [Waver really hated being right sometimes.]

Dilectus incursio--scalp! [At his order, the maid dissolved into a serpentine shape again, splitting into a number of tendrils and lashing out at whatever was closest to him. He'd wagered on two things: that the others would draw as much attention as him and that Diarmuid was close enough at hand. otherwise, the magus was aware he was in a lot of trouble.]

[animusnpcs]

[The retrieval units are thrown back by the attack and respond after a moment--their hands warp and shift in a way that hasn't really been seen before, turning into cannons, before they begin firing with energy blasts.]

ARIA+ZO ESCORT

[sageprincess]

[Zelda will trust the other residents to put up a hell of a fight - her priority is seeing Aria and Zo safely into the hidden room. Of course, this involves climbing 101 floors, but hey, it's nothing she hasn't done before at this point.

She follows after them, hands aglow with magic and ready to fight off whatever might slip through the others' defenses.]

[wegotlucky]

[If they have a prayer of making it to June alive, Neal knows it's going to rest on keeping Aria and Zo safe. Here's to hoping that they can do it.

He's gotten this far, he's survived this long enough in this damn tower and like hell is Neal going to let a swarm of retrieval units stop him now. He might not be able to fight them all off, but if they can get to the hidden room...

Well. He's done it before and he can do it again. He follows Zelda close behind, sword drawn and ready.]

[keybearer]

[Riku's been hard at work using Firaga to melt the tables against the walls. When he sees the retrieval units coming, he winces. It'd be reckless to dive right in for a direct assault. So what are his other options?

He'll start by ducking behind one of the tables and shooting Thundaga from a distance.]

[animusnpcs]

[The retrieval units jerk and spasm with electrical damage before shifting and becoming coated in something that looks like rubber.]

[septette]

[ Remilia is sticking a few floors behind Aria, Zo, and co., in a paranoid attempt to catch any straggling 'bots the cafeteria crew couldn't weed out.

The prospect of flying up 101 flights of stairs possibly being chased by the retrieval units actually doesn't seem very daunting to her, at least outwardly. In fact, she seems kind of excited. Borderline bloodthirsty, even. So she'll immediately start firing off bursts of danmaku at any retrieval units or other hazards that come near. ]

[colorfulbrilliance]

[And not far from Remilia is Meiling, going more hand to hand with the ones that got too close. Her face is strangely calm, keeping her guard up for her neck more then anything. She remembers what happened the LAST time.

But She's not going to let too many get close, firing of rounds of rainbow colored danmaku to try and give them some distance.]

[wrigurun]

[Wriggle may have been one of the few people who wasn't in the cafeteria at the time, instead she had been mostly hanging out on the forty-first floor and hadn't heard the commotion down blow. When one person passed by her she didn't think much of it but as resident after resident hurried up to the floor above it was clear something was wrong. In confusion and concern Wriggle called out to the nearest person]

Hey! What's happening? Where's everyone going?

[myblueskies]

You got to run Wriggle! And we got to stop these things getting Zo and Aria! [Romeo looked behind him at the retreival units, some had broken past those fighting in the cafeteria. He scowled and reached into his bag at his side to take out one of his sootbombs. They were simple, just soot in cloth tied at the top.] Take that! [He threw one towards the nearest retreival unit, it landed at it's feet and soot billowed upwards into the units face.

He only realised after he had thrown it that he didn't know if they would be affected by it, they weren't like humans and so it might not work.]

Yup. I'm doing this.

[falseidentity]

Not while I'm here!

[It's perhaps the most reckless thing. But with the only a Key that can change into a dagger, all she has left is her brain and her super strength. So she's going to use it, by god. Meaning that she is going to be grabbing retrieval units and hurling them into each other with all her strength to try and take out as many at a time as possible. She's aware it could backfire--badly--but if it can buy time, she'll do it.]

[evokingfool]

[A moment later, a soft light surrounded Kachessa and she would notice the force behind her blows and throws feel stronger than before.

Not that far from her was Minato, with a focused expression as Cu Chulainn finished casting the spell on her. Only for the warrior to rush in to take care of the closest straggling units.]

Re: ESCAPE

[evokingfool]

Cu Chulainn!

[A gun shot later and the white clad Persona can be seen boosting anyone's offensive attacks with a spell. Minato had opted to stay behind, knowing the others can handle with escorting Zo and Aria. For him, he can at least assist the fighters with the barricade and support their abilities.

A little extra oomph to their blows, an increase in how fast they can move, how much they can endure the attacks, he's tossing the buff spells as quickly as he can. Cu Chulainn was dismissed for Lachesis's Masukukaja, only for Parvati to emerge for Marakukaja. If necessary, he can and will throw out the healing spells as well.

Anything to give the escort team as much time as possible.

Between the buffs, Minato would jump in and attack the nearest retrieval with his Persona. Either with his sword joining his Persona's preferred way of attacking physically, or after they cast a spell.

Such as the strong forceful winds of Titania's Magarula, in hopes of tripping them up and disoriented them for the others to attack.]

[animusnpcs]

[The retrieval units are sliced up with Minato's blade until they harden enough to resist the strikes. The wind is a quick disorientation tactic, even scattering them and hurling them into the air, until they grow thick and metallic, too heavy for the winds to toss about.]

[notachickenhawk]

[It worked before, maybe it'll work again. Tobias plants himself in front of the stairs once the escort team has gone through, over two tons of massive angry elephant. He stares down the retrieval units, knocking some over with his trunk if he can and stomping on more once they've fallen.]

[animusnpcs]

[Tobias's blockade is very effective as the retrieval units throw themselves at him. At first it's easy enough to scatter and crush them, but the retrieval units begin to gain sharper edges and heavier bodies, making them more difficult to throw and impossible to crush as they try to cut through Tobias by force.]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[And as soon as Aria and Zo take off running, Veronica follows, staying in close proximity with them but also a few feet behind. She gripped her only blade tightly in her hands. She would have rather been carrying her entire set, but it would have to do.]

Keep going! Don't stop for anything.

[Dammit, why did Riki have to keep trying things on them? Gritting her teeth, the bodyguard slashed wildly at any unit that managed to get close.]

[animusnpcs]

[The retrieval units closest are struck, but their tactics seem to evolve as she continues to fight--they dodge and leap around her movements to try and outpredict her.]

[puppy_lancer]

[Now that the escort group is leaving, Lancer turns his attention to the retrieval units. Instead of pushing up close to them, he keeps his distance and focuses his prana into his Noble Phantasm.]

Gae Bolg!

[He's used this on monsters before. If it works, it should impale the lead retrieval unit in the heart.]

[animusnpcs]

[The lead retrieval unit is pierced--but before it can reach the heart, the unit's body hardens, and for a long moment it is stuck. There's a beat, and it is repelled back toward Lancer.]

[idkworldruler]

[Oh dear, that was quite a few. Hopefully his trap runes would last. Anything that crosses them were meant to be shocked into oblivion after receiving a very shocking surprise that would light them up like a Christmas tree. In the meantime he is going to kind of retreat further up.]

Zelos + Sheena versus everything else!

[cursedchosen]

[There were no small number of things about these bots that pissed Zelos off; it took a pretty depraved anything to attack a woman and child like that. And breaking the elevator too? That was just bad form.]

[As the retrieval units start pouring out, Zelos will stand in place, flourishing his sword.]

Come and get some!