Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

[animusnpcs]

Characters: open
Setting: floor 101/hidden floor; June 2
Format: action brackets, please
Summary: Something arrives.
Warnings: psychological horror, physical horror, violence

[The thing arrives on the twenty-third floor where no one is around to see it. But even if there was anyone except the retrieval units there, they would hardly have a chance to spot a single shadow, as the Tower pushes around and caresses the thing, hiding it away. The Tower ripples, then, and delivers the thing up and up, skipping floor after floor.

Floor one-hundred and one goes dark, and the glamour fails entirely. There's a thing lurking about in the darkness, approaching the way to the hidden floor. It can't be seen in this gloom, but it can be heard taking heavy, laden footsteps.]

Comments

[warriorscribe]

*Whatever he was planning, it certainly hadn't involved predicting the future. Enoch freezes for the moment, watching through film leaves as Riki turns Ken's attack against everyone.

He doesn't even know what he's doing anymore. Why he thinks this will even work. That bubble of film protected him completely.

But no...even with the tower's architecture and the glamour at his disposal, everything he'd formed against them before had some way around it. Did that mean he'd been holding back in trying to take back the machine room? Or was there a weakness even here they hadn't found yet?

He climbs higher. He's got to find the highest point that will support his weight.*

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Another roar like scream comes from Meiling as she's held in place by her fist and hurt by the blades and electricity. At this point, She's hurt enough to try and back off as far a she could.

Only problem is the holding. She tries to pull herself free, to run back with the rest of the line for the time being.]

[animusnpcs]

[The film holding Meiling has been re-purposed for the barrier, so she is able to escape for now.]

[keybearer]

[...Stupid electricity. Riku tries to high jump out of the way, but he manages to take some of the shock before leaving the ground, writhing as pain surges through him. He'll try and hover over the floor for a few seconds via his gliding ability, and once he lands, he eyes the barrier.

Eyes narrowing, he steps back, hurling his Keyblade into a Strike Raid. If magic won't work, what about throwing a real weapon? Maybe it's like what happened with the wall jacks. If not, he can at least say he tried.]

[miseris_socios]

[Ken growls in pain from his own attack being turned on him. Why Dike doesn't have an electricity immunity he doesn't know. But he keeps standing, albeit uneasily, taking a moment to step back and use Dike to cast a healing skill on himself.]

[evokingfool]

[Minato winces when the shocks hit him, taking in the electricity fully as Suzaku is neither strong or weak against it.

He steps back and have his Persona casts Mediarama over the group. It's not as powerful as Mediarahan's full heal, but it should alleviate some of the pain. Plus, it's faster than taking the time to switch his Personas around.]

[animusnpcs]

[Riku's Keyblade doesn't get a chance to hit the film. It's knocked off-course by a spike that surges down from the ceiling, which then sprouts sharp metal tendrils that head towards those who have stopped to heal themselves.]

[keybearer]

[He catches his Keyblade on his way back and then, rather than persist, bolts off, aiming for a tactical retreat.

He doesn't want to ditch the others, but with the way things are going, somebody's gotta go look for backup, and he's already had a couple close calls.]

[warriorscribe]

*The higher he climbs, the more uncertain of this he is. The more unstoppable Riki seems...

But since when has he let that stop him from attacking?

When he reaches the highest point that will hold his weight, well above Riki and the battle, he edges forward as far as he can. He'd seen it, he was holding two people, but had to use the film holding them for the bubble. It means he can be overwhelmed...

He jumps. As he falls he grips one Arch handle with both hands and brings his feet up to the other, keeping the circuit closed, so to speak, to keep his descent slow. And he begins to spin, turning the circle he's formed with the Arch into an energy-bladed saw, a whirl of blue-white beam and shining blue soul wrapped in glints of white armor, the glow only broken where his jeans covered him. The Arch buzzes as it always has, each rotation a swing. He was hardly discreet. But that had never really been his style, when it came to actually attacking.

All he needs to do is either distract him, or damage his spine. Preferably both. He may not know the science of it, but he does know that back injuries can result in crippling immobility.*

[miseris_socios]

[Ken cries out in pain as a tendril wraps around his leg and trips him, slamming him against the floor. He kicks, trying to get it off of him.]

Damn it!

[colorfulbrilliance]

[Meiling takes off, back to the back line for now and staying close to her family, punching at the tendrils that get to close to them. She wanted to protect them now. She was still hurting and had at least caught on that getting close at the moment was a bad idea.

For now she was just going to play defense..]

[greyerrant]

[ Loken steps up, and tries to cut Ken free from the tendril, both his chainsword and the orc sword he'd salvaged flashing down. ]

It will be all right. This isn't the end, not yet.

[animusnpcs]

[Enoch's abrupt assault doesn't reach Riki himself, but it does serve to burst the bubble of film that had been protecting him.

In surprise, Riki throws an arm out towards Enoch, his limbs still augmented by blades constructed from the metal of the Tower. For the moment, his full attention is not on the others, though the structure of the Tower continues to warp and spike dangerously around them.]

[witchoftheweek]

Now's our chance -

[Time to aim a laser at that hole in the bubble, and fire.]

[warriorscribe]

*Having hit something solid and been unable to saw through it, Enoch is sent tumbling in free-fall. Before he can right himself with a midair jump, something metal and heavy and sharp slams into him, a good deal of his armor shattering and raining down a trail of white shards as the strike sends him flying like a living baseball; a heavy thud and more armor shattering marks him slamming into a tree.

More armor trickles down the film trunk, but Enoch doesn't follow, his fall broken by a well-placed fork. His armor is mostly gone; only a few pieces on his torso and one of his legs remain, and those are cracked.

At first, he doesn't move, still processing what had just happened, but then he hears someone speaking in his head. Tobias. The elevator...there was a plan...

Dazedly, he pulls himself upright and slides out of the tree, kicking himself free of obstruction as he uses the Arch to glide down to the ground, in the general direction of the elevator to try to meet the group gathered at it.*

[animusnpcs]

[Riki starts towards Enoch, but Patchouli's laser attack distracts him, causing his bones to scrape and creak as the force of it pushes him along the floor.

He turns towards Patchouli, allowing Enoch to escape, and targets her with the film--no longer a barrier, but split into electrified tendrils that head for her at different angles.]

[evokingfool]

[He can feel the mental strain of his constant casting for support spells wearing down on him. At this rate, while he can still attack, he would be too weary. But he have enough juice to cast one or two spells.

Minato dismisses Suzaku and use this time to bring out Throne. The angel spins its wheel and cast Mediarahan, granting full healing over the group again. Followed quickly by, once he caught sight of those tendrils heading for Patchouli, renewing their defence buffs again.

He'll retreat to recover after that.]

[witchoftheweek]

[The defense boosts help, but it's not quite enough. The constant need to move and dodge while casting is taking its toll on Patchouli - she's almost forgotten she's asthmatic, at least until she feels her chest start to tighten up.

That means she's unable to dodge the tendrils shooting towards her; one pierces right through her right shoulder, leaving that arm useless.

Everything's dizzying, but she manages to at least back out enough to try for one more spell; she gets out one more laser, aiming to push Riki back before she passes out.]

[imperialsun]

[He was down at certain parts during the fight, but Naoya's not out yet. As he switches over to Kamakura Gongoro, as he rises up once more from a healing spell (he's not sure whose at this point) all business and ignoring the blood running down his forehead. The same look on his face that had fought Pandora and the Night Queen. One hand still held on to his sword, the other his gun. There's barely any bullets left, and no reserves anywhere, but that won't stop him. He'll pistol-whip the admin with the last of his strength if he has to.]

...Sorry. Wish it didn't have to end like this...

[It's like Pandora and Aki over again. Hoping that the fire from Xion distracts him enough, Naoya summons all the might of his Persona in a scream of primal anger and fury.]

AAaaaaa! Now Kamakura Gongoro! Sonic Bullet!

[In theory? It's a very stupid idea, but they don't have time to make plans at this point, it's do or die. The words having barely left his mouth, the Persona lands on the floor, running towards Riki in silent steps, all in the blink of an eye. The monster may be huge, but his Persona is impressive in itself. The pieces of cloth snap as it attempts to grab the admin upwards, and if that connects, try to violently push him downwards towards the elevator, much like a traditional sumo move. All the while, the persona's scream is a distorted one echoing Naoya's own.

Yet the Persona user can't help but utter as he watches, caught in the moment perhaps due to the loss of blood catching up to him, one of his favorite movie quotes...]

Hasta la vista, Riki.

[animusnpcs]

[Riki turns his head in Xion's direction. He fends off the fire with an easy wave of his arm. However, he is caught by Patchouli's laser while his attention is on Xion's attack.

The force of the laser unbalances him just enough that he's caught up in the Persona's grip. He's quick to almost disassemble himself, his bones shifting just so that he's harder to hold on to.

As a result, when he's thrown, he lands just short of the elevator, the floor of the Tower rippling violently underneath him to try to cushion the blow. His massive metal limbs tremble and turn back into place as he tries to regain his bearings.]

[imperialsun]

[This idea is terrible and he knows it. But still, after that connecting, and his rapidly digressing health, another idea grows in Naoya's mind and before long, the form of his previous persona gets replaced with a jolly blue imp]

Jack Frost! Hapirma!

[The Persona does a dance before it advances towards Riki, attempting to bop him like it was playing a game of tag, but its real objective is to try and hit him with a happy status...]

Hiiii-hooo, let's go!

[Maybe it will distract him enough for the others to do him in. If not, he's already preparing to switch to Lucifer...it's literally been begging him to let it out and play.]

[animusnpcs]

[Riki's entire body seems to pulse upon contact with Jack Frost. He briefly glows with the energy from the spell. Then, there is a sharp and violent crack as the spell sparks in the air and rebounds back onto Naoya.

It happens quickly, before Riki has even finished righting himself.]

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch sees him reeling, and knows this is his chance. He gets a brief sprinting start and leaps into the air, once, twice, and curls up (or curls out, as the case may be) into the buzzsaw again - it's got the most force of any of his attacks, especially when he forgoes most of the actual sawing, only using a couple of rotations for momentum before he goes straight for a dive onto Riki's torso, Arch-first. If all goes well, he'll have knocked Riki into the elevator and rolled off into it, himself.*

[imperialsun]

[Meanwhile, in the nearly useless corner, someone is laughing. From his view, it's all rainbows and unicorns! Woooooooooooow. So cool. Much tower. Elevators.

At one point as Enoch is doing his thing, he threw his gun at it, harmlessly bounding of the creature's head before landing on the floor again. Well so much for that.]

[keybearer]

[Enoch isn't the only one leaping into action. While Riku holds the fort inside the elevator, his Ryu Dragon flaps into the air, then dives at Riki for a bodyslam, followed by an attempted whack from his spiky tail.]