towerofanimus | Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

[They've slowed a considerable amount now that they've been braking for some distance, though Riki is still suspended by the Magnega spell. Riku's attack disturbs the spike only slightly, just enough to keep it from being a fatal attack as it slices over his arm and then doubles back in a hairpin turn to go for the others.

Riki lets out a groan, somewhat pained but mostly exasperated as he's chewed on and assaulted by dark flames. He shifts his limbs against Kyoko's chains, not entirely breaking the hold but weakening it enough to give him a greater range of motion as he swings his body to try to bash Minato's Persona against the ceiling. For the time being, there is only residual static in the elevator, as far as electricity goes.]

[When the spike whips around, Xion isn't able to react quite in time, and since the elevator is slowing down she doesn't have as much room to move. It slices its way across her forearm, causing her to let out a yell.

She falls to her knees, fighting to keep her focus. In the end, she lifts her Keyblade in her other hand and fires off another Blizzard, making two of them flying towards Riki repeatedly.

There's too much time to heal now, she feels.]

[Riku lets out a sharp, painted gasp when the spike slices his arm. His grip on his Keyblade loosens at first, and he takes slow, staggered breaths before coating himself in a Curaga spell.

He'll fire off another spell at Xion. At the same time, his Ryu Dragon spews a stream of fire straight at Riki.]

[The fact that Riki is beginning to weaken her grip on him doesn't go unnoticed. Kyoko will try to tighten the chains once more--more than that, even, a few stray chains begin to try and wrap around limbs and extremities. They're not particularly sharp and there's little hope of cutting through it, but maybe she can get something to pop off.]

[The Blizzard spells catch Riki along the forearm and chest, causing ice crystals to erupt along his bones. However, thanks to the Ryu Dragon's maneuvers, the ice melts off of Riki easily enough.

Kyoko's redoubled efforts seem to be effective, drawing Riki's limbs back in towards his body. He lets out a low sound of displeasure; there is no longer any trace of electricity in the elevator.

However, that was never the only danger. The spike melts back into the wall it came out of, only to reappear from the opposite wall, trying to pierce the fighters it hasn't yet struck, while the screeching outside of the elevator gets louder and louder.]

Hey! Watch where you aim that fire.

[Riku grumbles and rolls his eyes. Yeah, he can't really blame his doofy dragon, but darn it. That ice would've really helped.

But right now they've got more important matters to attend to. Cloaking himself in wind, he narrows his eyes and...]

Get down!

[He hurls his Keyblade into a strike raid in hopes of once again hitting the spike.]

[This is maybe dumb. This is maybe a bad idea. But the others are being targeted and they can't afford to get too hurt right now.

She dismisses her Keyblade and uses dodge roll to roll across and underneath Riki, then, straightening herself on the other side of the elevator, Xion calls to the people nearest to her]

Get close!

[Should anybody get close enough, or should the spike aim for her, she'll toss up another quick barrier, to try and protect them]

[Kyoko tries to dodge out of the way of the spike that juts out from the wall, a difficult task in as tiny and cramped a space as this, shifting closer to Xion in the process.]

*So long as Riki is focused on the other people here, Enoch realizes there is something he can do. He breaks his descent with an attack, hanging in the air as he lashes out at Riki with the Arch's blades, two short swipes in quick succession and a larger sweeping one if he hasn't been hit in retaliation. Rather than remain where Riki can easily grab him, or even bite him if he leans down, he would drop after that if he hasn't attacked already. Anything to weaken him so long as they can.*

[The spike is stopped in its tracks by Xion's barrier, but it continues to press into the magic, forcing against it as if in the hope of eventually piercing the spell. As predicted, Riki snaps his teeth at Enoch, though he doesn't get the chance to trap Enoch between his jaws. With the violent crunching of metal, the elevator finally hits the ground with bone-breaking force. The crash is painful, but not fatal.

The ruined elevator opens up into a lobby of some sort, a reception area with a front desk and chairs, presumably meant for waiting in. On the front desk is a computer, though it has begun to crumble in its age. There are real corpses littering the area with minimal decomposition, unrecognisable with their bodies turned inside-out, their organs pulled out through their mouths.

Opposite the front desk is the exit to the Tower, and crumpled in front of the door, one dilapidated wireframe body with no soul and the fluid inside boiled and burnt to a blackened red. It's not any color that can be found inside a normal wireframe.

Riki, unfazed by the unfortunate effects of gravity in the Tower, quickly tries to use this opportunity to free himself from the elevator and flee into the lobby proper.]

[Fleeing into the lobby is fine by Riku. What isn't fine is the sudden force of gravity. His Ryu Dragon's flight at least managed to cushion the blow, but he doubts the others were quite as lucky. Gripping at his ribs, Riku blasts another Curaga spell, hoping to heal any others in the vicinity.

But once he's gathered his bearings, he pushes himself up on his feet. His dragon, still far too eager to help, dashes on ahead in an attempt to ram Riki towards that door. Because that's the plan, right? Right? It's helping, isn't it?

At the same time, Riku pokes his head out the door, cringing at the sight of the bodies but quickly turning his focus on the door and, more importantly, the lifeless wireframe.]

...Okay, this is it. Get ready.

[Gripping his Keyblade tight, Riku leaps out of the elevator and takes a defensive stance.]

[The force is enough and Xion is small enough that she crumples when she hits the ground, though at least it saves her from further damage from the spike when her spell fails . There's a sharp pain in her leg (on top of the pain everywhere else), one that Riku's Curaga isn't able to completely dispel.

Even as she's sucking and coughing, trying to pull air back into her lungs, she starts trying to push herself upright. It's a challenge, and takes her summoning her Keyblade to help pull herself up, before leaning on the wall.

She turns to Kyoko, since she's closest and helped with this before.]

Once everyone's out, we gotta keep him out of the elevator.

[Somehow. Xion isn't sure how well she'll be able to fight now besides magic, and she knows she won't be able hold off Riki alone. For now though, she lifts her Keyblade, aims towards the open door, and casts a Blizzaga over in Riki's direction, before starting to try to edge her way out of the elevator.

Worst comes to worst she could probably do a Limit Break now, though that might end up doing as much damage to her as to him. Desperate times, she supposed.]

[It's far not the first time she's suffered a heavy landing, but that doesn't make the impact any less painful. Kyoko slams against the floor, her spear and barrier disappearing as the wind is knocked out of her.

She pulls herself off of the floor, using magic to speed up the recover from both the impact and the healing damage the spike had done. She takes a moment to nod to Xion. Despite the gravity of the situation, she manages a grin.]

Second he gets away this all turns into a waste of time, right? Heh, sure, I got it.

[Kyoko is quick to make her way out of the elevator. She remains to the side of the entrance, spear reappearing in her hands. The sight of the wireframe fixture and corpses are nauseating, but she chooses not to focus on them, instead training her eyes on Riki.]

[Riki seems to hear the approach of the dragon, because he rattles out of the way before it can ram him. As he puts some distance between himself and the elevator, the lobby chairs begin to float, warping into sharp, shapeless tangles of metal that fling themselves at those emerging from the elevator.]

[Ack! Of course he'd make things difficult.

Well, times like these make Riku grateful for his ability to use Dodge Roll, so when the metal approaches, he rolls across the floor before slamming his weapon into the ground to try and nail Riki with a Quake spell.

The dragon huffs and tries to go for another lunge, avoiding fire because apparently that's a very bad thing. But what about a swing of the tail?]

*He'd still been in the air when the elevator hit the ground, though even if he hadn't, it certainly couldn't have been as powerful as the fall he'd suffered at the hands of Azazel's machines. He could survive. But when the lobby beyond the doors was revealed, his mind was jerked away from the fight. The sight of the corpses alone was enough to make his steps falter as his attempt at following Riki and his allies out died just outside of the elevator. It might have started up again, just a momentary pause, but then he saw it.

The sight of the soulless wireframe on the other side of the room, with that fluid...that red-black color he has only ever seen in one place - his homeworld.*

It looks like vileness...

*His free hand unconsciously comes up to rest over his chest, where his soul might be were it still restricted. The fluid that stabilizes their souls...why can it look like that? Why can it resemble what he knows to be the essence of corruption itself?

He isn't paying attention. One of the tangles of metal lands a glancing blow off the top of his head, its force still knocking him right back into the elevator, surrounded by the shards of a bit of his armor, which had protected it from cutting up his scalp, at the very least.

Still, not the best start to this final stage of the battle.*

[Xion is almost at the door when Enoch comes flying back through it and she slips back a bit, before looking out after him, seeing the projectiles following. She has to move fast.

For the second time within as many hours she ends up throwing herself into a dodge roll to try to move quickly while preventing further damage to her leg. She lands roughly, fighting back a wince, and throws up a momentary barrier around herself to deflect any projectiles aimed at her.

While she's protected she turns, wincing, and as the barrier falls she aims another Blizzard. It seemed to work before, and if she can slow him down at all...]

[Caught by the Quake spell, Riki is unbalanced enough that the Ryu Dragon's bodyslam sends him skidding towards the far wall with a metallic screech as his heavy limbs drag across the floor. The ice from the Blizzard blasts him and crawls up his bones, but it doesn't hinder his movement as he slowly rights himself with a reverberating scoff. Behind him, the floor bubbles and sparks with electricity.]

So what are you planning to do down here, besides give me more work?

[Well, if ice spells are the way to go right now, then who is Riku to argue – especially if he might have the means to somewhat insulate the bubbling floor for a little time, even if being frozen over doesn't exactly hinder Riki. With a little luck, they can make him slip.

It takes a moment to charge this particular spell, one of it's downsides definitely, and that among other reasons is why it's really a good thing that he isn't fighting alone here, but the second Riku is ready to cast Deep Freeze, he darts forward, Keyblade ready to unleash a spell that, if successful, should cover most of Riki and the floor in a thin layer of ice, quipping in reply as he releases it:]

Wait and see.

[Her dagger missed, of course it did. At this point Nesir was getting frustrated, not too sure why she was here. She had wanted to help but it was quite clear that non magical attacks were going to get her nowhere.

Nesir had never really wished for power, it had always seemed a pain, but now facing one of her captors, someone who had caused her pain. She couldn't help but wish for something that could actually damage him, instead of feeling like a buzzing insect, annoying at best.

The impact hurt but she let it, not allowing herself to flee into the emptiness. There was nothing that specificially needed her full focus, she could do this while in pain and she didn't want to lock her other feelings out. Maybe Diarmuid had had a point, this battle was personal and she wanted to feel it.

She followed the others out, making sure to grab her dagger as she did so. She looked at the others and back at Riki, then at the lifeless wireframes, at the door beyond.

She took a step forward, carefully due to all the ice and the electricity sparking from it sending another dagger in Riki's direction, a distraction if anything. Annoying insect she might be but she wasn't going to stand by and let him have any chance of gaining the upper hand.

The moment it left her hand she ran, trying to break around him to the doors behind, hoping that it was just a case of pulling them open.]

Edited 2014-07-14 05:21 (UTC)

[Xion sees Riku go, and then her eyes widen as Nesir bolts for the doors. That was a good idea - get them open so that they could knock Riki straight out them. But it wouldn't help at all if Nesir were attacked.

Xion pulls her Keyblade back and throws, it in a Strike Raid, trying to keep Riki's attention off the other girl.]

Have you ever even been down here?

[It was dumb, stupid, the first thing that came to her head but her priority was to keep his focus off Nesir, and maybe the others too. So they could get him outside.

She knows this is very likely suicidal if he takes the bait, though, and the barrier spell Aqua taught her can't work forever.]

[Between Riki's earlier attack to bash away Barong and the incredibly rough landing, the pain and sudden movement was strong enough to force Minato to recall his Persona. Riku's Curaga, fortunately, ease off most of his pain and injuries, before Minato pushed himself up and rejoin the battle outside of the elevator.

Now that they're out of the cramped space, there's enough room for all of them...and he can use his other Personas. Minato had immediately noticed Matarunda wore off already, which helped with his next decision.

Bang. Out comes Cu Chulainn and boosted everyone within his range with Matarukaja. Maybe the ice spells would be more effective if they're more powerful?]

[Riki is more occupied by the magical fighters, but it works to Nesir's advantage this time. He doesn't notice her sneaking towards the exit.

The doors are smeared with dried blood and gore on both sides. Despite their intimidating appearance, Nesir meets no resistance in attempting to open them. Upon opening the doors, Nesir will be met with the sight of a city that extends far, far out, touching the horizon and disappearing over it in tall, abandoned buildings. Hanging just over the skyscrapers is the thick fog that has always been characteristic of the exterior of the Tower, when it could be seen, anyway. There are mangled corpses piled just outside of the door, a parallel to the boiled wireframe that rests just inside the threshold.

Riki turns his head toward Xion upon being struck with the Keyblade, his eyes glowing dangerously bright.] Have you?

[But Minato's strategy is effective, and unforeseen; the boost to Riku's ice attack ensures that the ice coats all of Riki, leaving him frozen and eerily staring in Xion's direction.

It won't last long, though. Already, there's the sound of ice cracking as Riki begins to try to free himself. Even immobilised, he's still dangerous; the floor ripples and then folds up in a wave of spikes beneath everyone, save for Nesir, who is out of his field of vision.]

[With the floor spiking, all Riku can really do is High Jump and glide, hopefully at least missing the brunt of the damage. The Ryu Dragon, still eager to help, flaps his wings to get off the ground and then bolts at Riki, aiming to shove him out the door with the force of one good, hard headbutt. Or something. He's covered in ice! This is good, right? No fire.

Provided the spikes don't jab him too badly, Riku's gonna follow this up with a snap of strong wind.]

*Enoch had gotten to his feet and taken stock of the situation from the elevator, now focused on the battle after that little mishap. He could focus on the unfortunate wireframe later. For now, there was Riki. He rushed out of the elevator, Arch drawn and ready and looking for all the world like it was any of the Watchers or their minions he was charging to fight.

At the sight of the wave of spikes, he leapt into the air, once, twice, and once again began to glide down, still ever towards Riki's frozen form as he travels over the wave.

Halfway across the room, he lightly tosses his Arch to the side, where it skitters across the floor to bump up against one of the corpses. And now with his hands free of the large weapon, he can gather holy energy in his foot and turn his momentum into a diving kick - unfortunately, he's not high enough to strike Riki in the head or chest, which might be more effective, but at his ankles and feet, which might interfere with his ability to stabilize himself in the wake of the other attacks.*

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