melodiesofeternity | Player Plot: A (skele)ton of Work

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Player Plot: A (skele)ton of Work

Who: [AU] Papyrus and everyone else attending the expedition
When: January 7th
Where: The I.B. Magitek Tower
What: The I.B. Magitek Tower may rest on top of the ruins of Asura's temple. Thus, it's up to our heroes to investigate the tower in hopes of finding the great Eidolon within.
Warnings/Notes: Let's just say it's gonna get... topsy turvy. ;)

Everything is pre-arranged. The flight to the tower. The appropriate waivers. Naturally, everyone who accompanies Papyrus will have to sign to gain access- the Triumvirate was rather adamant about preserving the more confidential secrets within the tower, after all.

But once the appropriate paperwork gets signed away, the tower staff escorts the group toward the elevator. Though with the sheer turnout, it may take a few trips to get everyone down below.

[ooc: Info and sign ups are here!

As a quick clarifying note, here's the gist of how the temple and tower relate.

- Characters can access terminals on specific floors, which will open up stairways to an upside down and photo negative version of the I.B. tower without any people in it. Characters enter on the ceiling, which is now the floor, but must proceed to doorways that are on the floor (now the ceiling).

- The elevator does not function on these flipped floors, but it does function on the regular floors, which is what will allow them to skip around to key areas.

- For the trials, there are only terminals within three floors of the destination (as outlined in the comments).]

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Megatron joins the two of them in the huddle, creating a sort of triangle and quickly assesses the situation. It's a problem to be sure, but also a solvable one. However, for the time being, holes in their defense need to be patched. As Tyzias quarters her defense, she will find a magical shield quickly erected around her by Megatron, courtesy of his [Adloquium] Scholar ability that will absorb damage up to [7% of her maximum health].

"I need a moment to prepare but I'll be enchanting your spear with water next, Richard." He says as he finishes the spell. A clear battle plan is always helpful, he's found. "That should help us clear these beasts faster.

Physical power: D
Magical power: B
Attack potency: C
Healing potency: A -> S
Physical defense: D
Magical defense: C
Speed: B

Edited 2019-01-09 00:52 (UTC)

"The parts are being taken further in, I think. Not sure I like the implication of what we may find at the end, but that's for future us to worry about."

A pause.

"Oh! I think there's a control panel over there. Why don't you poke at it? Perhaps we can stop the operations from it, lessen the chance of an army of magitek soldiers on the other side."

So he was moving the hook in there, and it was moving the hook in this room.

"Whatever you move in there also changes the room in here. We'll have to be careful manipulating one room in order to traverse this one." Not that traversal was her issue, but if they were going to move forward as a group, they needed to find the solution.

"Magitek soldiers, huh? Definitely sounds like something we want to avoid..."

And, changing his Job to Spellbinder, he too would open Dimension Doors in order to appear next to the control panel. Taking a look over it, he soon decided to see what would happen if he fiddled with it.

Papyrus has been quiet up until now, mostly because he's been busy soaking in the surroundings. So many amazing, mechanical pieces! But Madhuri has a point. These pieces could prove a problem, especially with a mirrored temple awaiting them.

But hmm, there are switches, too. And surely they have some connection to the machinery...

"I THINK WE ALSO SHOULD CONSIDER WHAT THINGS'LL LOOK LIKE WHEN FLIPPED! BUT I AGREE THAT THESE LITTLE BITS AND PIECES COULD CULMINATE INTO SOMETHING BIGGER..."

He paces around, then stops to tap his foot. "DO YOU THINK IT'S WORTH TRYING TO DISABLE THE CONVEYOR ALTOGETHER?" Or do they try to ride it?

Well, it looks like Adrien's already on the case, anyway. And as he fiddles with the first control panel, the machinery responds in turn. Specifically, the mechanical arms, which halt their movements briefly. Some extended. Some withdrawn.

They look study enough that one could probably use them like poles to descend- or ascend, for the mirrored room.

The first thing Kanji will notice as he turns the crank is that the hook unfurls and drops closer to the floor. It could serve well as a climbing rope, and with enough force, even be used to swing.

As for the crates- should either inspect them, they'd find that for the most part they are light enough to push. With enough effort, they could be lifted, or the device on which the hook is attached could turn to manipulate the boxes as well. Just a matter of fiddling with more knobs along the wall.

For the most part, it seems like an ordinary room, though. At least for now, the path to the next floor in the non-flipped tower is more or less a straight shot to the door.

The trick is getting there while upside down given their abilities and the supplies provided. It'll be a bit of a climb.

"I AGREE! THE FACT IS, THE ONLY WAY TO GO IS DOWN. AND IF IT REALLY IS THAT DANGEROUS, WELL, WE'VE GOT MANY HELPING HANDS!!!"

Which is precisely why Papyrus opts to march down there himself. For adventure! For glory! For the future of Vaikuntha!

Anyone who follows will be greeted to a... peculiar sight. First of all, the floor is far less stable than before, consisting of crisscrossing beams and even lights. In fact, a quick inspection would reveal that it's less of a floor and more of a ceiling.

As a matter of fact, the ceiling looks identical to the previous room's floor! The only difference is that everything is inverted colorwise. Even the elevator can be spotted way up there.

How strange. So strange that Papyrus, at least, spends a few moments gawking.

Unlike for many of the poor plebes stuck on this insane mirror world expedition, Frisk was having the time of their life jumping and flipping around the upside-down tower, quite possibly making anyone with a less sturdy stomach queasy. Forget Hellfrog, Parkour was the best Ninja skill.

Thankfully, they have enough control over their hardcore parkour to come to a perfect stop when the turrets activate. Frisk groans, slumping. "Oh, dangit. Really? We're doing this again? Ugh, I knew you'd be clingy, Accursed Motion Activated Turret Puzzle."

FILE ACTIVE: Frisk, Bravery (DT: LATENT)
FILE ACTIVE: Frisk, LOVE (DT: LATENT)
FILE ACTIVE: Frisk, Justice (DT: LATENT)
FILE ACTIVE: Frisk (DT: LATENT)
FILE ACTIVE: Frisk (DT: LATENT)
FILE ACTIVE: Frisk (DT: LATENT)

Speed up +50%, Attack Potency up +50%, Justice Mode Active, HP up +30%, HP down -10% every turn, Healing Potency down -50%, healing efficacy down -25%!

There's a blur, and--

--HOLY SHIT WHAT

Frisk is... somehow... already up next to the nearest turret, spearing their ninjato straight through the gun's chamber with eerie precision in an Assassinate.

Edited 2019-01-09 03:18 (UTC)

Four fiery foes foiling their foray? Finally, the sort of puzzle Red could get behind: The kind that called for less thinking and more doing. By the time Red arrived at his corner of the triangle-now-quadrangle that formed the party's defensive core, he was already at the controls of his •Magitek Armor-- except now, he had the chance to warm up his weapons.

"Don't worry. This won't take long."

Not that he'd be firing them just yet, though. Opening up with •Sentinel was starting to become a force of habit for him; and while he normally wouldn't consider some kind of awesome sentient battle robot as requiring the extra bit of cover, Red knew what a scholar's spell list looked like-- and that Megatron would be the one in need of a little shielding, himself.

And with the new tricks he'd picked up recently, he was almost hoping they'd be stupid enough to send a hit or two his way.

physical power: A
magical power: C
attack potency: A
healing potency: C
physical defense: A
magical defense: D->C (Paladin)
speed: D->C (Sky Pirate)

•Sentinel: Covering Megatron
•Magitek Armor: Increased defense, doubled effectiveness on all skills

So it's.. basically just the core, right?

Asriel follows along, going slow and making ample use of both outstretched arms and Prescience to not fall over with his gangly physique. Seriously, it's a literal lifesaver. Once he actually manages to get somewhere a bit more stable, he glances up and.. blinks.

Although "Well this looks freaking familiar" was ready on his tongue, it has now been utterly transformed into the unrecognizable as he raises an eyebrow. He slowly sidles up next to Papyrus, looking upwards with him and squinting.

"...Huh. Is physics supposed to work like that?" He asks the science skelly.

Klonoa holds out the Wind Ring as it transforms into a Windy Shield, preparing for the worst as he waits for either Frisk or Finn to get horribly shot.

"Frisk, watch out! They're not happy we're here!" He calls out, looking at the four turrets--and the one that has been stabbed. Well, his primary weapon is balloons, far be it from him to criticize the efficacy of a sword against metal robots.

Edited 2019-01-09 04:16 (UTC)

Sasami looked over at what she was dealing with. With Frisk moving, she'll need a little bit of help. Gourmand won't help here at all. She's going for her Slate and swapping over to White Mage

"Let's shut down this operation. I'm going to move ahead and see where the belts lead."

With a burst of magic, she proceeded to a nearby belt and headed forward on foot. Her hand snatched for the rolled-up whip at her belt, just in case.

"Always wanted to play with magitek, anyway!"

An unorthodox party for dealing with elementals, but if they can exploit the fire elementals' ice weakness, they should be in solid shape.

Better hurry, though. Elementals, pesky little buggers, possess an immense physical defense. Tyzias' attacks do hit, but the elemental seems to shake it off fast enough- in fact, it launches a fiery counterattack while its comrades fan out. However, with Tyzias' increased evasion and Megatron's protection, she stands a decent chance against the flames.

Two of the elementals begin bombarding fireballs at red. Another aims its fury at Megatron- though with Sentinel at play, the attack redirects to Red as well.

For now, Richard is unharmed.

"Alright! Just tell me if anything needs to be moved specifically!"

Adrien would take a few more seconds to slightly fiddle with a panel, just to memorize which buttons and levers exactly controlled each mechanical arms. He'd move over to the next panel in a moment, but for the puzzle, they'd have to know which one to mess with.

"Oh, seriously?" Weird. So maybe the other room was weird and needed to make a path to get deeper than they could before.

"Okay, uhh... I think I got a handle on these boxes n' hooks. Lemme know which ones to move and where!"

Where Frisk goes, Papyrus goes, so naturally, he's not far behind. Though for now he remains still, he watches as the others ready their jobs and prepare their skills. Fortunately, minor movements like slate manipulation fail to trigger the turrets' sensors. Frisk's sudden speedy movement?

Needless to say, the turret's processors can't account for it. Assassinate does its job in severing the barrel! However, the sudden movement does register, if only for a moment. The remaining turrets whir and swivel, trying to find the assailant.

And firing their magic bullets along the way.

It's at that point that Papyrus grimaces and launches a Blue Attack to stagger one of the turrets. As the bones hit their mark, the turret halts- it'll remain that way until the next turn. That combined with Klonoa's Windy Shield spare Frisk from at least two of the turrets' fury.

That just leaves one assailant to dodge for now. It's a small window for our fighters, but remember- movement will still attract the fire from all but the stunned turret.

For the time being, the other fighters remain untouched.

Edited (clarification!) 2019-01-09 06:25 (UTC)

Maddie's already moving ahead, and Adrien's working at the machinery. So what does that leave a skeleton to do? Papyrus folds his arms and narrows his sockets. Logically speaking, those parts must be assembled somewhere, right? The arms assist in that process...

He looks up, trying to visualize the situation.

"WHAT IF WE ARRANGE THE ARMS IN SUCH A WAY THAT WE CAN SHIMMY DOWN AND HOP FROM ARM TO ARM? THAT COULD MAKE TRAVERSAL EASIER..."

He pauses. "OR WE COULD USE MY HOVER BOARD, BUT THAT'S JUST TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT!!!"

Either way, he'll move to the other panel, though he's wary of pressing anything until Maddie is safely on the next floor. "OH! AND MADDIE, FEEL FREE TO USE THE IMOG SLATES TO REPORT BACK! WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE DON'T INCONVENIENCE YOU, AFTER ALL!"

Madhuri and anyone else moving on to floor 40 will find further conveyors with more Maigtek armor components. Where the previous floor contained the base components, this floor sees the attachment of the ranged artillery to go with those big, hulking claw arms. She'd best be careful, though, lest she get in a tangle with the automated mechanisms!

Floor 41 will bring further progress on the Magitek armors, as the arms plant additional armored plating on the mechs to fortify their defenses. These armors continue upward and through a chute, leading to floor 42. This, like the previous floors, contains further control panels, to halt, speed, slow, and even reverse the flow of the machines.

But if left to their own devices, the Magitek armors will continue to floor 42 where sparkling power crystals are inserted inside the hulls of each machine. Some kind of enhancement, perhaps? A monitor up above flashes and states: "To testing bay. F90."

Interestingly, there seems to be an idle Magitek Armor stationed at the center of the room, surrounded by caution tape and a sign that reads, "Unstable prototype. DO NOT REACTIVATE. Further testing is required."

There is another set of control panels- three this time. One for the arms, one for the conveyors, and one to control the shutters for the door through which the Magitek armors are headed.

All of these will remain on the inverse floors if not tampered with, and who knows how they'll fare in the mirrored temple?

[Other characters are still welcome to join in! This is mostly just to provide context for what's ahead during Madhuri's scouting mission. This also applies only to the Magitek Tower version, since that is what is currently being explored."

"NYEH HEH HEH!!! OF COURSE. THERE MUST BE SOME SORT OF CORRELATION. AND THAT SYMBOL..."

Upon further inspection, there's an emblem on the door. Faint as it is, it bears the mark of Asura. Clearly, it's a sign that they're very, very close.

Though as promising as that is, they still have floors to visit. "HMM. I JUST WONDER- THAT FIRST FLOOR WE VISITED WAS ALL UPSIDE DOWN. THAT MEANS WE'RE LIKELY GOING TO HAVE TO TRAVERSE THROUGH RATHER INCONVENIENT TERRAIN.

Which is fine for him- if nothing else, he has his hover board stored in pocket space, and that aside, it's like a puzzle! "WE'RE PROBABLY GOING TO WANT GROUPS WITH AT LEAST A FEW SKILLS CATERED TOWARD MOBILITY. OBVIOUSLY A GOOD MIX OF COMBATANTS IF THINGS GET DICEY, AND I, FOR ONE, THINK WE SHOULD KEEP A CLOSE CORRESPONDENCE VIA THE SLATES!"

They can't use the elevator while in this temple, but they can always use it in the Magitek Tower to get close at least. And it never hurts to call for backup!

"Would ye believe this ain't the first time I've seen sommat like this?"

Castor made her way down slowly after Asriel, and is currently peering into the inverted room from the threshold of the doorway.

"The Antitower'd been built like that though. This...doesn't seem like it was the plan."

Stunned target? What about an inflated target? Klonoa leaps into the fray, holding the Wind Ring out in front of him as he unleashes a Wind Bullet towards the one remaining active turret, running directly towards it!! "Rupah!"

Tyzias's hail of gunfire strikes true, each bullet scoring a critical hit on the elemental. Thanks to Sunslammer, Tyzias can keep up her momentum, and she turns on a second monster, letting loose a second Deduction Cutter with her pistol, studying it, and scoring another critical hit with one of her bullets.

The troll sees the fireball out of the corner of her eye just before it hits her, but it's too late to dodge. Tyzias braces against the searing flames, growling ferally as the elemental's attack hits her. Megatron's Adoloquium Shield absorbs a good portion of the damage, but Tyzias still takes the brunt of the damage.

In retaliation, Tyzias holsters her pistol and draws Redglare's Cane in one smooth motion, springing forward towards the elemental that burned her with a Judgment Piercer, dealing strong physical damage that ignores defense and evasion.

An instant later, Tyzias is behind the monster, a blade in each hand and extended on either side.

"Ehee. What a bizarre phenomenon!" Plague Knight says, following after Papyrus and the others. Looking around the inverted version of the room they'd only just come from with a faint air of bemusement.

He jumps, once, just to make sure that he's not about to fall off the ceiling... Floor, and reaches into his pocket, too, to produce a one gil coin and drop it- to see if it falls towards the floor, or stays on the ceiling with him. These are important tests!

Quiet and hyper-attentive as ever, Sephiroth slipped down (up?) the stairwell once there was enough room for him to do so and paused just a few feet into the inverted room while he took one of his signature long looks around.

It was the position of the elevator -now on the ceiling adjacent wall to what it was in the other room- which gave it away. Silver hair shifted at his back as he looked up and over before deepening a curious expression and he turned back the way he came for a few moments. To verify; in case it was somehow tricking him into thinking-

"Seems to be literally inverted." He somewhat stated the obvious when he returned to the flipped room. "Wonder why though-"

There's another blur, and just before the bullets reach them--thanks to the Windy Shield and Blue Attack--Frisk is gone. In their place is six kunai, two of each flying towards the turrets in a weak physical combo at each of the turrets. JUSTICE MODE is putting in work.

Before the kunai even reach the turrets, Frisk reappears behind another one and buries their blade in its guts in another Assassination.

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Player Plot: A (skele)ton of Work

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speeding running wahoo (HP 240/267)

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Protect the frisk, no death warps today

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HP 64/75 (zantetsuken for the win)

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