i'm your source of self destruction

[restitchtime]

Characters: Rose Strider, her shadow, and anyone who wants to beat the shit out of it.
Setting: Floor 28 (september thirteenth)
Format: Action spam.
Summary: Rose finally tracks down her shadow. She doesn't waste any time getting on with things.
Warnings: Violence, blood, cursing, all that fun shadow fight stuff.

[it didn't take very long for Rose to find her shadow.

how could it have? ever since she'd realized just what these things were she'd been on high alert for her own, patrolling the tower with time clones to check for its inevitable appearance. she can't help but wonder if it had waited so long simply to spite her; it would certainly be something she'd expect from a thing wearing her face.

none of that mattered now, however. she'd finally found her, and in the blink of an eye had flash-stepped right in front of it. the shadow's taken aback despite itself, immediately tensing up.]

You-

[the shadow only manages to get a single word out before Rose's foot connects with its jaw, the sickening crunch confirming that the blow has done its job well. Rose shifts a little in place, entire body on high alert even as her expression screams smug confidence. no need to show any weakness, even towards a thing that claimed to be herself.]

Come on, we both knew that neither of us were going to be able to talk this shit out. Cut the crap and get on with it.

[that prompts the shadow into laughter, the sound harsh and dissonant through the broken bones. fogs rolls in thick and ominous as it steps back into the newly formed cover and begins to morph, the shape rising up like a monstrous shadow puppet.

after what seems to be an eternity it steps back out of the obscuring scenery, and only then does Rose allow herself a brief flash of fear and uncertainty as she grips her seam rippers until her knuckles turn white. this...thing may have been more than she'd bargained for.]

Fuck.

Comments

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[warriorscribe]

*Most Shadows seemed to be under control. There were already people fighting them. It wasn't normal for Enoch to just let things be, but after the Shadows he'd fought and the way this month had begun, a form of apathy had started settling in to protect the cracks until they mended.

But a Shadow, alone with only its other? And she looks so young, too... Enoch is too much the hero to be that apathetic. Out comes the Arch, opening with an electric-sounding hum, and he rushes to Rose's side.

He doesn't say anything, but it looks like Rose has an ally.*

lmao i think everyone's still buried under their other shadow obligations atm

[restitchtime]

[the hum is enough to finally tear Rose's horrified gaze away from her doppelganger bound and strung up like a puppet and to the noise's originator. she doesn't know this man and pride screams out at her to drive him off, handle this trainwreck on her own. it's her problem, literally.

but then the monstrous puppeteer swings out at her with his living marionette, sending her flashstepping back a few feet. Rose is proud, but she isn't stupid - she can't handle this on her own.

so she sets her jaw and meets Enoch's gaze behind her sunglasses.]

Don't turn into a fucking liability on me, alright?

[it's as close as she'll ever get to a thank you, even now]

Re: lmao i think everyone's still buried under their other shadow obligations atm

[warriorscribe]

I won't.

*With that phrase, softly spoken, he rushes in to try and get in behind the marionette, leaping once, and again off the air. He rolls forward midair and brings his Arch out, to try and bring its energy blades down on the Shadow, wherever on its body he's managed to jump to.*

[restitchtime]

[the puppeteer twists and blocks the blades with shadow!Rose - it's fast, far faster than something of that size has any right to be. Rose takes advantages of its momentary distraction to summon up several time clones and try to rush it from multiple angles, but they're thrown back with a sweeping hit from its free hand.

this is going to be a lot more difficult then she anticipated.]

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch pushes himself backwards with the Arch, away from the thing. It's fast...if only he had a Gale instead, as much as he prefers his trusty Arch.

But he'll have to work with what he's got.

He runs at the Shadow again, but instead of leaping up to it, he skids into a slide, trying to catch its ankles as he slides between its legs. Hopefully, it won't have been expecting that...*

[restitchtime]

[it's not, which means that the marionette doesn't lash out in time to stop him. instead its free hand flickers for a moment before lighting up full of fire, obviously intended for Enoch.

Rose doesn't catch it immediately, as she's trying to use the confusion to actually do some damage. but as she bounces back from an ineffectual blow to its shoulder she certainly sees it, prompting her to yell out]

Fuck, watch out! It's got magic!

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch looks up as Rose calls out to him, and his eyes are drawn to the flickering of the fire in the fog. He quickly ducks aside, hoping to avoid it while lashing out with the Arch for another low strike, turning on one foot to try and get to the puppeteer's side.*

[restitchtime]

[he manages to avoid the flames, although several Roses bear the brunt of the blast when the puppeteer shifts suddenly to try and avoid the hit (which lands anyway with a dull clang) and keep everyone on their toes. the alpha Rose mumbles another curse under her breath - as if this monster wasn't difficult enough without throwing magic at people.]

[knightime]

[Oh hey Rose. Oh hey...oh that's not the most pleasing sight.]

Oh fuck.

[Astute observation. So, he's guessing you didn't play friendly like basically everyone else who ran into their shadow.]

You know how we're supposed to beat it?

[restitchtime]

Do you really think it'd still be here if I did?

[the answer is snappish, but Rose is honestly pretty damn relieved to see Dave here. she isn't stupid when it comes to fights and knows that there's no way she can take this thing down on her own.

besides, he's a Strider. she's fairly certain he won't bring this up again after everything is said and done.]

[knightime]

Dramatic pause for build up would have been nice.

[He'd be more offended if it weren't for the fact that they probably have no idea how to actually take this thing down.] Don't bosses have like, ridiculous weaknesses we can exploit? A guide would be nice right about now.

[restitchtime]

This just had to happen on the one day I left my roleplay manual in the trunk, didn't it? Guess that's what I get for skipping all the cutscenes.

[she runs a hand through her hair, then mumbles a stunning admission for her so lowly that in all the chaos it might be missed:] I have no idea what to do.

[the shadow doesn't seem to mind their lack of preparedness, though - it's tossing a fireball their way as soon as it locates them through the fog]

[knightime]

Wasn't really that interested in watching a cutscene that was an hour and a half long speech about some bullshit I'd forget about.

[Well. Rose didn't know. He didn't know either. He guesses that the best thing to do was to attack instead of just letting it attack them.

He jumped out of the way, before tumbling back to his feet.] Welp. This is the part where we do ridiculously dumb bullshit to try and find a weakness. [Dave is going to be the idiot who runs forward, sword at the ready, and attack. The worst that happens is he gets some ultra beatdown right? Right.]

[restitchtime]

Let's just hope we come out on the winner's side rather than the dead one because of it.

[while Dave rushes forward Rose uses the distraction to come around from the back and see if there was anything vulnerable there. the puppeteer hurls its marionette at Dave, intending to smash him against the wall with it.]

[knightime]

I knew thee well.

[Dave easily dodges that one. This isn't so bad. That wasn't too scary. Bring it on bitch. Hurl at him what you got. Oh wait, you already did.

Yeah, this is gonna end terribly.]

[restitchtime]

It's covered in armor, I don't think we're getting thr- oh for fuck's sake.

[Rose cuts herself off as the shadow whirls with surprising speed for something of its size to try and smack her down - she manages to get out of the way for the most part, but she's pretty sure something bruised. what a great fucking start they've got.]

[knightime]

Then aim for something that isn't armor?

[That...isn't really a lot of things is it? What do you even aim at in this situation?] Why does everything but the protagonists have armor anyways? What type of fucked up bullshit is this?

[restitchtime]

I think it's supposed to encourage creative thinking or some bullshit. I don't know, I don't play video games that often.

[she sidesteps another swipe from the shadow, the action as much a test of what got hit as dodging the blow. nothing she can't ignore, it seems. awesome.]

If we're aiming for something that's not armored all that's left is her.

[she still can't bring herself to call the marionette strung up and gagged there 'me']

[knightime]

I thought they always said video games rot the mind. That's why parents have hissy fits over this shit.

[Dave doesn't say anything about that. He probably would be in the same position.

He attempts to get closer before trying to aim a swing at her. This can either end great or end terribly.]

[restitchtime]

They also said not to play with pointy objects and look at us now.

[the blow lands, in part because the puppeteer is more than happy to use her as a living shield. the shadow Rose is obviously in pain from the hit but unable to say a word thanks to the gag, instead writhing in agony.

the hurt only multiplies when the real Rose decides to take advantage of the opportunity and come crashing down on it with a blow of her own.]

[knightime]

Playing by the rules is for chumps anyways.

[Dave backs off and boy does he feel like shit for doing that. Sure, it's her shadow, but that didn't seem to work. This whole thing seemed off.]

I don't think that helped, honestly. I kind of feel like I just kicked a puppy or some shit. New idea?

[restitchtime]

[speak for yourself; Rose feels grimly satisfied at making her doppelganger hurt, although the only way to tell is the faintly satisfied way her mouth sets for a brief moment. she's knocked off the shadow in short order and skids to a stop, looking the thing over again as it readies more fire magic]

You could try not getting your bleeding heart over everything for starters. But the thing's still in the way of us nailing the big target, so we might as well cut it down and get it out of the picture.

[at the very least it would be one less thing to have to dodge]

[knightime]

[Yeah, well it's also like seeing two of you in one place and one of you are getting hurt- oh wait. Also the whole, that's technically you bullshit or whatever.

Hurkkkk. Why does everything here have to involve fire. Why is this an actual thing?]

Ok. But who's going to cut her down? [Because one of them was probably going to be a decoy. Like hell they were just going to be allowed to do it without hassle.]

[restitchtime]

[because Striders are associated with fir by nature and the tower can sense this with its amazing karmic retribution powers]

Probably going to have to be me. It's my bullshit to begin with and god forbid anybody else do the heavy lifting.

[as if she'd have let them anyway]

[knightime]

[Fuck you Tower. Fuck you.]

Well, hop to it. I'll play the role of the shitty decoy who's badass but being a decoy still sucks dicks. Shittiest casting.

[At least Dave makes for a great one.]