towerofanimus | Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

Entry tags:

Endgame: Eyes I Dare Not Meet in Dreams

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.]

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[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.]

*The doors closing makes Enoch jump, and he's back in battle mode, both hands on the Arch, ready to swing, block, or dodge as necessary, as he backs towards the group.*

Do we have some way of lifting the elevator? Or scaling the shaft? Or-...

*His eyes go to the dragon. How many could that dragon carry?*

[There's a sound like nails clawing a chalkboard outside but far up the Tower. Then, in a rhythmic pattern, the sounds grow closer. It's impossible to see through the stained doors of the Tower, but something lands just outside.

Then there's the sound of crunching, tearing metal just outside the closed doors.]

[Riku is happy to let Xion use him as a crutch; at the first sign that she needs to, he crouches slightly to slip one arm beneath hers and around her waist to help support her further. it's probably not exactly ideal given their difference in height, but they'll make due.

He flinches faintly and tenses again when the doors slam, nodding in agreement to the general assessment that they need to get out, but...]

I don't think we should attempt climbing the shaft until we are sure there's no alternative.

[Especially considering how that had ended the last time around.

He shivers at the sounds on the outside, alternating glances between Xion and the door. There is little doubt about who is currently outside and as they are now they are very ill-equipped to fight. They really do need to get further up again. Right now.]

[The sounds outside make Xion shudder and look away, eyes closing tight with frustration and anguish. She was going to take his powers away wasn't she. After all they'd done to try to keep them away-

She swears quietly under her breath.

They can't focus on that now. They have to get out of ehre before Ruana comes to call. She lifts her head, opening her eyes]

Agreed. There's too much of that... psychoradiation stuff. We'd have to be protected from it somehow.

[The only other thing she can think of is teleporting, but they don't know if that's okay to use yet]

*The sounds from outside...that couldn't be...*

He was...no, he was...we destroyed him...

*They couldn't let her have control over the tower itself on top of everything else. Enoch rushes towards the door. If he can just interrupt her, find some way to keep her away, even if it means passing through that terrible light...*

Enoch, stop! You'll die out there!

[In fact, Riku swiftly dashes for him, attempting to grab his arm and pull him away. Still, the sound of crunching is foreboding. Opening a corridor runs a collosal risk, but what other choices do they have? Do they fly up one at a time? But Ruana's there, which spells certain doom. Do they hunt around for stairs in vain?

Gulping, he does the only thing he can feasibly think of and pushes the darkness pent upside him to the very surface of his heart. Or soul. But rather than make a full-blown corridor, he opens a small tear on the other side of the room, no bigger than a mouse hole. Its destination? The cafeteria. His quiet hope is that the distance coupled with the small size will give them a hint at the potential dangers. He'll only keep it open for a second or two, and hopefully that'll be enough to clue them in.]

[The tear opens wide, as if it had a mind of its own. Impossible to close, those in the bottom floor of the Tower find themselves staring into the unforgiving light that destroyed Riki.

It strikes everyone in the room. The fluid beneath their film skin begins to bubble and broil as it grows tainted and pain stabs through them as their souls begin to die.]

[Cu Chulainn disappears in a brief flash of blue light, barely visible in the harsh, bright light. Minato keeps his grip tight on his filmy evoker, but he almost keels over and clutching his head from the pain.

It's unlike any pain he have experienced in the past, not even when his connection to his Personas getting struck would compare to this.]

[The pain in her knee a scant few minutes ago, couldn't even begin to compare to this. Light, even the pain of most things she could remember in the Tower were nothing.

Maybe because there was something real behind it that there wasn't behind anything else. This wasn't just an injury. This wasn't just torture. This was real. Almost everyone who'd been in the Hidden Floor when the plan had been formed had been warned about the light.

And it terrifies her. She's crying in pain and she's clinging to Riku harder than ever and she's so terrified. She'd fought so hard and won so much, she can't die now please. Please.]

Edited (forgot to close the bracket AND NITPICKING SORRY) 2014-07-14 09:27 (UTC)

N-no...

[It comes out in a whimper, and he falls to his knees. No, no, no! This can't... he can't...

But he did.

Just when he thought he'd finally done something right, he just sentenced the others to their deaths. Just when he thought they stood a chance at turnings around, he went and blew it.

And now, all he can do is suffer the full brunt of the pain, even as his dragon staggers close and tries nudging him back on his feet. He can't even look the others in the eyes as shame washes over him.

This is all his fault.]

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