towerofanimus | Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

[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.*

[When the floor spikes up, Riku immediately pushes out his hands, calling onto Dark Barrier in order to shield himself and Minato.

Highwind meanwhile follows his fellow Dream Eater's example – he may be small, but he can help too! – and enthusiastically body-slams into Riki.]

[It worked. Seeing that Riki's successfully frozen, even temporarily, Minato quickly send Cu Chulainn out and help the Dream Eaters with by tackling Riki. There's a chance Riki would break out and attack his Persona (again, and Barong's backlash was still fresh on his mind), but they could also get him out the door in time.

Push. Go, go go go go.]

[The force of the Dream Eaters, Cu Chulainn, and Enoch slamming into him serves to push Riki towards the door until he's mere feet away from it, though it also shatters the coating of ice keeping Riki immobile. There's an attempt to catch himself, wherein the floor bubbles as if to mold around Riki's feet--but there's a sheet of ice and one burnt wireframe corpse in the way that disrupts the base Riki tries to create for himself, and he's sent tumbling backwards without that purchase.

He lets out a shrieking hiss as he collapses back through the doorway. It's only a second before a blinding spotlight turns on overhead and almost obscures him with its powerful glow. In that time, Riki has started to push himself up off the ground, but it's too late. There's a sizzling sound as the metal of his body begins to burn; whatever that light is, even Riki's body is not immune to it.

Thick black smoke rises off of him as his bones buckle, scorching and boiling in a way that no normal metal does. The sound Riki makes isn't quite a groan--it's too primal, too pained and desperate as the light slowly rends his bones and reduces him to a smouldering, unrecognizable pile of unearthly metal. Even still, with his last dredges of life, he reaches what was once an arm out towards the Tower, until his joints are compromised so thoroughly that the limb simply falls off and clatters to the floor at the threshold.

That is the last evidence of motion from the smoking debris that was once Riki.]

[Xion managed to jump out of the way of the wave of spikes headed in her direction. However when she landed, her bad leg crumpled, causing her to hit the floor roughly with a cry of pain.

However, hearing Riki outside the door, hearing and to some extent seeing the motion come to a halt, she doesn't make any immediate effort to push herself back up, though she does shift into a position that is less immediately painful for said leg.

For a few moments she doesn't say anything, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then...]

Is that it?

[Is he really gone?]

Edited 2014-07-14 07:39 (UTC)

*Enoch found himself backing up, backing away as Riki struggles for his life, adrenaline still clouding what he's seeing, his pulse still pounding in his ears, even if his blood does not flow through veins in this body.

The blue light of his Arch's beam catches his attention, and he goes to retrieve it, numbly, the finality of what had just happened settling in as he straightens up with it to see Riki's hand fall at the door.

He lets out a breath, unable to feel relieved at such a horrific death, but unable to feel properly horrified at the end of such a battle, his mind still coming out of that mode.*

We...

[Riku slowly lowers his arms (and the barrier) as Riki struggles for his life, feeling tense with anticipation while watching him die. It's unlike any other death he's ever witnessed, there is no despair or grief or regret left in the wake of it.

Just numbness and relief.

They've done it.

Riki is dealt with.

He doesn't dare to fully relax or to dismiss his Keyblade just yet, but his shoulders slump just a little as he releases a shuddering breath before replying to Xion's question:]

...I think so.

[Honestly he hopes so, because if Riki gets up now he has no idea just what else they could do to take him down for good. Anyway... the battle isn't over for good just yet, there is still Ruana, but...

Well, for now they can take a moment to pick themselves up again.

He moves around the spikes to get to where Xion collapsed, quietly casting Curaga once he's by her side and offering her a hand to pull her up.]

Are you all right?

[The tower doors creak loudly and slam shut.]

[...This isn't good.

The moment those doors shut, Riku's whole body stiffens. His Keyblade shakes in his grip, and his eyes dart around the room, half-expecting something else to appear. Retrieval units? Ruana? Monsters?

He clenches his teeth, once again wrapping himself in wind and turning in a circle, bracing himself for whatever's coming next. Because there's no doubt in his mind that something is coming.]

...Guys, we should stick close together. I don't like the look of this.

[His dragon's already flopping down at his side, sniffing the air.]

I think so... I think just I landed wrong, when the elevator did...

[All the same, Xion takes Riku's hand and lets him pull her to her feet. The Curaga helps, and she's able to stand without her leg shaking too much or being too painful, though she still isn't sure how much walking she should be doing this point. For that reason, she doesn't let go of his hand after he's done, even reaches her other hand out to grip his forearm, if he'll let her.

At that moment though, the doors shut, and like the other Riku, Xion freezes.]

Me either. Maybe... we should try to figure out a way back up.

[And more importantly, out of here. A quick glance around tells her there were no stairs, which was a problem in and of itself, with the elevator destroyed...]

Edited 2014-07-14 08:12 (UTC)

[The sight of Riki's death is far more disturbing than Kyoko cares to admit, but she barely has time to process the sight before the tower doors are slamming shut once more.

That one movement makes every hair stand on end. Kyoko grips spear, scanning the area cautiously as she moves out of habit, as much to keep herself from being distanced from the rest of the group as to keep from being a sitting duck. She huffs out a breath, trying to brush it off, but there's a clear wariness to her tone.]

Tch. It's just one thing after another...

[To Xion's statement, she nods.]

... Better find one fast.

[Unfortunately, she's having the same problem of not being able to immediately sight a solution.]

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