towerofanimus | The Abyss Gazes Also

Entry tags:

The Abyss Gazes Also

Characters: Jason, open
Setting: starting on floor 23 and moving downward
Format: action
Summary: Jason arrives, and he's not happy. Zo has promised his help, but he can't come right away, and he won't strike any direct attacks. It will be up to the characters involved to do what they can.
Warnings: gore and violence

[Jason pulls himself up out of the void with arms much too long and strong to support his odd body, so similar to that of the smaller plague doctors who crawl out and about. The glamour seems to fail around him in an approximate five meter radius. Even with his inhuman face, the human eyes that stare out are cold and furious. Countless scalpels line his six arms, glittering and ready to be yanked out.]

I can't stand interruptions, you know.

[Jason's voice is undoubtedly his, but there's something twisted and odd about its tone with the glamour removed.

He begins to rapidly descend the Tower staircase.]

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[Somewhere in the Tower, an ambush is waiting.

This is not that ambush.

Lorelei and others had been assigned to delay Jason. Run him in circles if necessary, taunt him into blind rage, whatever it took to slow him down and keep him from doing anything until Zo arrived. Lorelei himself mostly just to make sure those with fighting capability and ranged skill survive running and fighting.

That didn't mean he wasn't up to things anyway. As Jason stalks down the staircase, he waits further down, at the base of a nondescript carpet that now lined the stairs for an entire flight. How do you make an administrator angry, and survive it? That's the hard part.]

Here he comes.

[He had a bag of broken metal scraps, from other people's forging attempts. They're only a distraction, flung with vicious accuracy - but they probably won't do much harm. Get the scalpels flying, get Jason's attention off the floor.

Because if Jason steps on that nondescript ordinary carpet strip, Lorelei's going to attempt to yank it right out from under his feet and turn that malevolent stalk into a headlong tumble. (Hopefully with a little help from someone else willing to pull too.)

Make him mad, with luck.]

[ Cid wasn't sure how he had ended up with these people. Probably that he had just been at the wrong place, at the wrong time. But heh, it was better to help them out than just stand by the side and watch. He had never dealt with Jason personally, but he had heard enough to know he was on a Hojo scale of crazy. Even if this team was essentially there to distract and lure him, that was good enough for him.

Besides, that wouldn't the first mad scientist he fought.

Cid nodded when Lorelei spoke. About time. It felt as though they had been waiting for an eternity. ]

*$^ù@&! Let him come!

[ The spear Cid was holding wasn't his usual one; that one belonged to a monster that had attacked him earlier today, and he moved into his battle stance, ready. ]

[Veronica was sure how she ended up with these people. She was here for the same reason they were, even if they didn't know it. Jason. He was coming, and they were going to hold him back, and cause as much damage as possible on the side.

She didn't say anything, simply nodding to the others, one of her blades in one hand, and a grenade she had been saving for a special occasion in the other. Both were her own. And she was going to use them.]

[She knows the plans people have laid (sort of). She knows what Reno has in mind. She's not planning on interfering with those in the slightest. But there's still something that she has to do. She doesn't really know why. Maybe this was a horrible, awful idea.

But she needs to do it.

She asked Ira, who she suspected would understand all too well, for help, and Amelia ran into them on the way up. Together, they wait on Floor 20, Ira without powers, Amelia as an orange collar, and Xion prepared to lose her abilities either way.

Xion holds her sword at the ready, eyes trained on the stairs.]

We... we all know what to expect, right?

[She'd have briefed them over what Jason could do, but it helped her feel more confident]

[Her own eyes are glued to the staircase, gripping the hilt of her monster-obtained sword as tightly as she can. Fake bodies or not it certainly feels like her heart is threatening to pound out of her chest any second and she takes a deep breath to steady herself, calming herself and focusing. The words of a dear ally from home echo in the back of her mind, a fellow knight of the Grado Empire...

"Defeat the foe, nothing else matters."

She's considered the possibilities, weighed the odds. If Jason falls today, there's little reason for her to believe the dead will return. And fighting him directly is incredibly dangerous, the possibility she might die and simply never come back has crossed her mind. But if she can protect others, if they can strike a meaningful blow against the Admins here and now... it would be worth it. Which is why she didn't hesitate to join Xion and Ira on their way up.

This probably being a horrible idea isn't going to stop her.]

Yeah. [Her tone is even, controlled once again and deadly serious.] Just one question. Are we holding the floor to the end [Until either they're dead or he's defeated being the implication.] or falling back if he proves to be too much?

[Oh, he knew alright. And that's exactly why he tagged along, monster-obtained sword and chestplate and all. He wasn't doing so well with the whole lack of being able to use the darkness at all, but the very thought of Xion going alone-

'I will... protect you.'

He nods slightly, kneeling as his grip on the formerly-orc-sword tightens.]

It's Jason. Best we can do is hold him off unless we can knock out his powers. Even then, I-

[He trails off a second, shaking his head.]

Do what you want. I'll cover the rear if you decide to run.

[Archer smirked as he inclined his head, looking up the staircase. Delay maneuvers were far from his choice of designation, but he was in charge of this team -- an important part to play that he would of course handle with skill and confidence. He readied his bow for now, though he still carried some other real gear to sort through as became necessary.]

Remember that anything is a weapon. Lose one, gain another. Throw it, shoot it, whatever it takes.

[He had yet to see Jason. What a way to finally meet this particular administrator.]

[Lancer scoffs.]

Typical Archer logic. You're used to unlimited weapons.

[He's shifting from one foot to another, impatient for Jason's arrival. The Uruk-hai spear is carried over his shoulders.]

Reno said to try not to die.

[Her voice says she's not sure how much she's going to be able to or even want to follow that order.]

But... Ira's right. We won't be able to kill him, or anything like that. And we're not supposed to anyway.

[Truth be told she doesn't know what to expect at this point. She isn't even sure what she really wants to do. Just that she needs to be here.]

Just... be careful.

[Pot, meet kettle]

Edited 2013-12-23 16:12 (UTC)

[Jason descends the staircase like a spider, arms on the sides and legs taking the steps rapidly--too rapidly for a human, as he propels himself forward. The first sign of movement will be met with a barrage of precisely aimed scalpels.

He steps onto the carpet, of course.]

[Jason remains on the staircase as he descends--he doesn't seem to want to spare the floor itself a second glance. Still, anyone capable of seeing the staircase in the dark would spot the outstretched limbs and beak, would see how the world falls away into cold, harsh metal around him where the illusions fail.]

[Lorelei glances back as Lancer speaks, frowning a little. He didn't know these people! But that was fine, he didn't have to. Archer seemed competent enough.]

Put away the sarcasm and rudeness til we survive this, or get killed. Now is not the time.

[They have been told - get out of Jason's deadzone if they get hurt and Lorelei will heal it, for as long as he still has the power to do so. Thrown scalpels shouldn't be terrible to deal with so long as nobody catches one in the eye.

Jason's arrival goes unremarked upon further. He has things to do. Like deliberately step into the open (which means he's going to catch a lot of those scalpels the hard way), and immediately afterwards forcefully yank the carpet and anything on it further down the stairs.

The rest of the team will hopefully be ready to pounce as he does so, because he's become a very obvious target suddenly.]

["Be careful." She's not sure she can make any promises, it's something they as a whole have gotten pretty bad at lately... but she's going to do her best.

And that's when she realizes she sees movement. That's him. That has to be him, Jason in the flesh. And that means the time for thinking, the time for anxiety and worrying and going over a dozen what-ifs is behind them. Quickly she brings her sword up, gripping the hilt firmly in both hands before breaking out into a straight line sprint towards the staircase, sword raised to the side in anticipation of getting into striking range.

But she's not being foolish about this, she's heard of what he can do and she's fully aware Jason will have plenty of time to engage her at range, so as she's running she's tense, focused. Waiting for the inevitable blades that she knows are coming, ready to bolt off towards either side or bring her weapon up in an attempted parry.]

This is as far as you go, Jason! [True, they're a distraction. But Jason doesn't need to know that.]

[He simply nods once, but not really going to make a promise on whether he will be careful or not. Nothing in his fighting style is - it's raw power, refined only slightly from real practice. In this case? It was more than likely that they'd all die in the attempt to delay him.

When they finally see him, he inwardly grimaces. If there was any way to describe just how messed up he thought scientists were... this would be it.

He follows the charge, sword held in one hand as he charges forward just as tensed and prepared to dodge.]

[There he was. Veronica had to admit, the apparent controller of all things medical in the tower certainly looked the part to her. Maybe she had just been spending too much time with Fran nowadays but it didn't exactly put fear into her heart.

The moment he steps out she does as well. While Lorelei goes for the carpet, Veronica starts hurling scraps of metal at the spider-thing, reading herself for when everyone else starts running in.]

[She can see the glamour flickering, see how it has no effect. It's no real surprise, though it does make her grimace. That'll make things harder. Not that it was ever going to be easy.

At Jason's actual appearance and Amelia's shout, she hesitates for a half a second then charges forward herself, though not quite straight at him the way the other two are. She aims to get between him and the way down or at least intercept him on the way there. She's not being cheated out of the reason she came here.]

Hey!

[The moment he sees the monstrous Jason appear, Archer raises his bow and draws its string back. He sees the scalpels glint as they rain down, and minutely adjusts his aim before loosing an arrow that deflects one scalpel and sends a few others off-course.

Jason was faster than he had expected. If they were to retreat, they would need to physically hamper him in order to put any distance between them.]

Stop him!

[Not the most memorable of orders, but there was not yet evidence anything they were doing was even fazing the administrator.]

[ What was it with mad scientists and looking like Eldritch Abominations behind their seemingly human appearance. At least this whole situation felt vaguely familiar.

Either way, Cid nodded at the order, ready to pounce and attack Jason-- He didn't attack just yet though, awaiting to see the carpet tactic. If it worked, he would leap to try and drive his spear through him within seconds. ... If it didn't work he would do it as well, just more cautiously. ]

[Lancer lifts his spear to deflect the scalpels, though one still ends up lodged in his left arm. He pulls it out without a second thought and flips back, waiting to see if Lorelei can create an opening with the carpet.]

[Jason stumbles when the carpet is yanked, but his hands make up for it, and he clutches onto the staircase.]

I don't have time to play with you all right now.

[Another barrage of scalpels--he aims for major tendons and muscles with supernatural precision. He aims also for anything flying at him, deflecting projectiles with his pinpoint accuracy.

Cid's approach is noted and Jason backs up the staircase before attempting to pull himself up and over top.]

Can't you do this tomorrow? [Jason seems annoyed, whipping scalpels out aimed to disable their attacks. He pulls back and attempts to scale over top, using his arms to support his weight.]

[Not quite as expected, but with the carpet freed, Lorelei snaps it up to ensnare at least a couple of the flying blades. It doesn't spare him or the team everything, but even a couple turned awry is better than none.]

Not even for a little while? Some of us haven't met an administrator before!

[He sounds disappointed, backpedaling rapidly at an uncoordinated stumble to wrench the scalpels that DID find their mark back out and deal with the wounds. Being crippled was not ideal right now. The heaviest burden of distraction relied on everyone else; he's going to get to the job he signed up for.

Namely, healing. He's keeping VERY close track of that five meter null zone, and anyone OUTISDE it will gain the benefit of Lorelei's quick and accurate healing artes. Jason didn't seem to be aiming to kill yet, so it's so far not hard to keep up with.

So far.]

[Veronica grunted in pain as a few scalpels found their marks in her shoulder. Her cloak did well to cushion them though, and with Lorelei's healing magic, she was already healed the moment she yanked them out and hurled them back at the spider-thing.]

Come on, we have all the time this world has left.

[She made her way towards Jason, both swords out and carefully deflecting scalpels. She wasn't in the dead zone yet, but she was close.]

Edited 2013-12-24 22:52 (UTC)

[Lancer yanks the scalpels that did hit their mark out of his limbs, letting his natural healing abilities do the work. Once his injuries have closed up, he dashes forward, ready to stop at a distance close enough to thrust his spear. Unfortunately, this gets him very close to the dead zone.]

Edited 2013-12-24 23:02 (UTC)

[Stubborn. Archer scowls as he sees his arrow deflected by Jason's scalpel, reaching down to carefully note how many arrows he has in his quiver. He pulls out two scalpels from his shoulder but still raises his bow again, continuing to fire arrows.]

Edited 2013-12-24 23:46 (UTC)

[At being so casually dismissed it's hard not to feel a slight jolt of anger, but she does her best to keep it suppressed, a little more concerned about the scalpels headed her way. He's awfully damn fast and the precision with which he threw those with isn't lost on her. To her credit, she's awfully quick on her feet and was anticipating that, halting her charge and managing to break her sword up to deflect the first few before suddenly stepping off towards the side, twisting out of the path of a few more. Fortunately, she's managed to avoid getting stabbed thus far.

Unfortunately, this does has the effect of stalling her charge for the moment, which denies her the chance to try and actually attack right this second.]

[Thankfully Xion hadn't moved to attack Jason directly, which made dodging his attacks slightly easier. Him pulling back, for whatever reason, gives her the chance to place herself firmly in front of the stairs. She holds her sword out in front of her, a warning more than anything, that she's not letting him pass so easily.

She keeps her eyes out though, fully aware he might use one of his many arms to grab the sword or her or knock either out of the way. Or worse.]

No, we can't.

[Somehow this callous dismissal was worse than anything else he might've said. This couldn't be it.]

[ Unsuccessful approach. Even though Cid tries to avoid and deflects as many scalpels as he can, he can hardly avoid them all, especially given how mostly human he is. He grunts in pain as he yanks out the ones that hit him in his limbs-- Yet, he doesn't let go of them.

Instead, he casts an enemy skills toward Jason-- Laser to be specific; which as its name implies, is a laser meant to harm the enemy, and using the scalpels as catalyst. The magic should fade before reaching Jason, but that doesn't matter.

The idea is to use the magic so as to send the scalpels back to Jason with the speed of bullets; even if the magic fades the scalpels should still be enough of an annoyance. ]

[Ira moves is left arm to cover his face as he steps to the right, wincing as he feels at least one scalpel strike true and stick out of his "skin." Damn. Faster than he thought. Somewhere in the raw and seething hate, he files that away for later.]

Tomorrow's booked. Besides... [Something akin to a mixture of a feral grin and a sneer crosses his lips. Or would were it not for glamour.]

You never explained what a simile or metaphor was.

[And he was intent on at least getting an answer for that with the side of an attempt to distract.

[Sheena hadn't seen Jason before, and probably for the first time in her life, she had held back on her own. To someone who doesn't know her, it may appear that she's been paralyzed by shock or fear, but upon closer inspection, they'd see muscles tensed for action and eyes narrowed in concentration.

She's been watching Jason, learning what she can before springing into action. Leaping forward, she barely winces as a scalpel on its initial trip lands in her arm as she picks up several scalpels and hurls them back at Jason one by one in a steady rhythm towards his hands.]

Edited 2013-12-26 09:45 (UTC)

[After confirming with some things, Minato found himself on this team as their medic. With the results of the collar checkup, he's been carrying whatever first aid items he can find.

Otherwise, well, he can throw things at Jason with a bag of scraps, not unlike Lorelei's. When he can see an opening--and none of his allies are in his line of sight--he would start throwing scraps at Jason.

The flying scalpel forced him to stop and dodge, but one managed to dig into his arm. Suppressing his wince, he endure the pain and pull it out.

Only to throw it back at Jason.]

[The last scalpel in Sheena's arsenal is the one in her own arm, and she pulls it out with a slight wince and grunt before letting it join the others aiming at Jason.

Placing her hand over her arm to staunch the bleeding, she steps forward and glares at Jason.]

You know, that's a pretty bad way to greet someone you've brought here.

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The Abyss Gazes Also

Distraction Team

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Floor 20 - Independent Distraction Team 1

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Ready for Jason whenever

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It begins!

"Don't cry."

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But Tidus always cries

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/late sorry. Hope it's okay to jump in here.

/always okay fellow latecomer

Thanks!