Player Plot: A (skele)ton of Work

[einspine]

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).]

Comments

[peace_through_empathy]

Normally, Megatron tries to avoid direct violence whenever possible. Healing and support, yes. Directing the flow of a battle, yes. These are things he feels comfortable doing. But he survived-thrived-on violence, on anger, and hatred for so long that even though he's more relaxed now in his vow of pacifism, it's still not something he likes to engage in. His indulging in violence led to far too much death and destruction, and now, as a medic, an Autobot and the leader of the Anti-Vocationist League, it's not something he wishes to continue to do if at all possible.

But these creatures are already dead. Putting them down is a kindness, a grim necessity in the face of this perversion of life. So Megatron feels no shame in charging up a [Shadow Flare] and aiming it at the approaching horde of undead. He doesn't aim for any specific abomination; but the group is large enough that he's guaranteed a hit regardless.

[waningsigns]

[Frisk gives a thumbs up, staying rooted in the best position they can find for keeping an eye on the situation and staying within hearing distance so they can direct things. Although, that'll be difficult if they're too far apart...]

"Doubt we could shout across the floors. Text?"

[They wave their iMog slate for emphasis.]

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias tilts her head back and unleashing a gut-deep frustrated moan as she sees the undead horde assembled before her. "This is gonna be such a fuckin' chooooooore," she groans. Even if the monsters wouldn't take much effort to take down individually, it's still going to be a massive pain to clear out the entire room. Sighing dramatically, Tyzias leaps into the fray, slicing and dicing into one of the skeletons with a Deduction Cutter, scoring one critical hit, and using the burst of energy provided by Sunslammer she quickly moves on to another skeleton, attacking it with Deduction Cutter once more and scoring two more critical hits.

[acapriciousreaper]

Kuja almost smiles. Here, here is what a soldier might call a 'target-rich environment'. As Sephiroth and Megatron add their attempts to control the crowd, admirable though they might be- he wonders- Is there really going to be an opportunity to use it better than this one?

Time to show the fruits of all that labor. He rises into the air, azure fire gathering, swirling, forming into orbs of raw magic that rise into the air- and then explode, bathing the rabble in a thousand bolts of light.

He's left breathless, at the end of it, touching back to the floor and having to adjust his hair. It'd always been a rush like nothing else, casting [Ultima]. "Minor time-saving measure. Goodness, it's been too long since I've used that spell."

[einspine]

The combined attacks send sparks flying. Even the Magitek armors, durable as they are start spewing electricity before collapsing in a lifeless, metallic heap. Normally, Papyrus would take this opportunity to run closer and examine, but instead, he opts to hop on board his hover board.

Though before he gets too far, the metallic hatch up above opens, and a ladder drops down. Those lacking in mobility will find it a much easier way to proceed to the next doorway. In fact, Papyrus halts in his hovering for a moment.

"WELL, THAT'S CERTAINLY CONVENIENT!!!" That being said, he turns to Frisk. "BUT FRISK, I'M ALL FOR CLEVER QUIPS AND FLASHY MOVES! I JUST THINK IT'S IMPORTANT NOT TO LOWER YOUR GUARD. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT WILL BE WAITING FOR US ON THE NEXT FLOOR..."

On the positive side, they'd find no turrets this time. On the negative side, something far bigger awaited them. A large, scorpion-like robot, joined by two more Magitek armors.

As the group progressed, they'd find the Scorpion robot readying its Search Scope for any convenient targets.

[einspine]

Wow, okay. There was no way those undead would have a chance, especially once Kuja unleashed his Ultima. With so much power, those foes crumble to ashes, leaving a clear path to the final room. Well played. Very well played.

Best enjoy the victory while it lasts, though, for as they make their way to the final floor, they'll definitely see a chest. Unfortunately, said chest rests behind a snarling Chimera. It sniffs the air as its challengers arrive...

That's the last warning before it charges forth. Better prepare for a brutal battle, folks! Unlike the previous fights, this is a foe with strong magic and physical defenses and a nasty bite to match.

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias puts a hand on Kuja's shoulder, a serene, contented smile on her face. Zombie viscera drips from her hand onto his outfit. "Thank you. So. Fuckin'. Much." She pats him on the shoulder again, breathes a sigh of relief, and trudges down the stares. Ah, Black Mages. When you have an Ultima, everything looks like a trash mob.

Her smile drops when she sees the chimera, though. "Well, shit." She sighs, flicks her blades free of gore, and directly charges the beast with a Deduction Cutter, getting three critical hits, and immediately follows up with another Deduction Cutter thanks to Sunslammer, scoring two critical hits. Tyzias darts all around and even on the chimera as her blades flash through the air almost too fast to track, cutting deep into its hide.

[colzionetradingco]

[Frankly, most of this stuff was going right over Tressa's head. She was not very knowledgeable on tech-y stuff, relying mostly on others for that sort of knowledge. However, she figured it would probably be a good idea for her to learn some of this stuff herself. It sucked being left in the dark.

So, she followed Pidge to Floor 42 , and noticed how interested she seemed to be in the Armor in the center of the room. The sign confused her, though, how could a suit of armor be unstable? How curious... maybe this girl knows something about it, since she seems to be so interested.]

"Do you know anything about this thing?"

[whirluendo_of_puns]

"Alright! Nice one, Kuja!" Uendo had wondered whether he should use his one full summoning to clear up the undead horde. Thank goodness it wasn't needed.

He's especially glad he saved it when he follows the others to the final floor and sees what awaits them. Oof, this looks like a nasty one... Time for him to bring out the big guns as well. No settling for a partial summoning this time.

"O Sage of the Storm, let loose your divine lightning! Come to me, Ramuh!"

Dark clouds gather in the ceiling and Ramuh arrives in his true form, looming over the Heroes and the Chimera alike. The Eidolon raises his staff and brings down Judgment Bolt on the monster, not only dealing some serious lightning damage but hopefully also leaving it electrified and taking additional damage for the next two turns.

[sassafrisk]

Frisk holds up their hands as they stroll towards the ladder, giving Papyrus a disarming smile. "Trust me, Papyrus. Seriously, I'll be fine." And if they threw themself into each fight with everything that they had, they were able to forget everything that... well, just a lot of things. With that, they flashstep up to the next floor, where a yelp of alarm can be heard. "OKAY WAIT MAYBE NOT CRAP" Frisk lays down a Smoke Screen as soon as the Guard Scorpion turns its gaze on them.

[peace_through_empathy]

Well...Megatron was expecting that to be more of a fight, but he's not going to complain.

The Chimaera though, that presents a real problem. A high magical defense means that as a Scholar, Megatron will have to switch back to focusing solely on support and healing; as a Chemist there still isn't much he can do.

He casts [Fae's Blessing] and summons [Eos] as her healing spell, weak though it might be, can be a useful supplement for the time being. Shields can come later, but now they'll be better prepared when the chimaera makes its counter-attack.

[pishirogane]

"Sounds like the best course of action. We can stay in contact over the iMog Slates and update everyone on progress in each section. If any issues come up, it's possible to send images or videos - that way, we don't need to necessarily keep using the elevator."

It would become an issue if they clogged up what seemed to be their only way between floors. "Let's try to keep it free in the event of any monster encounters that might require back-up. Any other suggestions?"

[topgun_textiles]

"Slate out!" He just propped it up within arm's reach, no problem.

"I'll stay here just in case, then. If there's trouble, gimme a holler," he answered Sephiroth in kind, focused on maneuvering the hooks and working to visualize the place in the reversed position.

All the while he looked for something to indicate there would be screens for the different floors, so that he may switch controls to each in kind. Maybe Sephiroth was onto something.

[mech_and_mutt]

Finally-- no more brittle golems or elementals. This was an enemy he could actually sink his teeth into... but, unfortunately, it also seemed very much willing to return that favor. And it had a lot of teeth.

"Tch...!"

New floor, new fight, new friends-- But if he was going to take a hit or two, had to get back into some sort of order with the others while they dashed around slinging spells. Megatron's summoning made it easy to go back to keeping a •Sentinel position in front of him; he may not have been the only fragile one here, but he was the one doling out heals. Some things you just don't mess with.

But just to make sure he kept the Chimera's attention, he'd fire off a few •Water Bullets into its maned mug. Unfortunately not nearly as flashy or impressive as a summon or a dancing flurry of swords, but at least it got the job done.

[defenestraighttomyheart]

Richard was done with this nonsense. And there's a way out, right past this chimeric thing. He wished that there were fewer people here. But then again, if Tyzias, Red, and maybe even Kuja weren't there, he wouldn't ever do this. He wished he could say that what was to happen next was entirely a matter of protective rage, but in truth, he was also tired of fighting and frustrated with yet another god damned thing in their way.

He could feel the Dragon Heart's loosening grip, so before the zombies went down in a blaze of horror and gore, he'd [Spirit Charge]d and pumped the mana into the batteries hoped that it was for naught.

It wasn't.

He dropped his spear into the ground and marched up like a predator. His movements were steady, punctuated by the unnatural twitching of his arms. Eyes hidden behind the rim of his fedora. Face tucked into a disgusted scowl. The seam of his trousers glowed brightly. And for a short time, the environment seemed to take on a faint blue pall. He stood in front of the beast and his head bobbed slightly, like he was looking at this thing three times his size and only finding something worthy of utter contempt.

And then it began.




It was a beat down. It lacked all virtues of proper fighting, every measure of politeness or reason was no longer participating. Richard had grabbed the Chimera's ears, dragged them down, and stuck his boot over the creature's head. There was a bright blue flash as his Gatecrasher let loose an explosion, a foot-mounted shaped charge usually meant as a breaching tool, now repurposed to drop a monster. In the midst of the smoldering, before the beast could even react, he grabbed the creature's mane, yanking it violently. Then he proceeded to just start pummeling it with clenched fists. At first it was somewhat normal, as normal as such an absurd picture could be. But then the blows increased in frequency into something utterly inhuman. It stopped being evocative of a man punching something and began to evoke a measure of a machine that required logistics to operate. A machine gun. A jackhammer. The piston off of an old engine in action. It seemed to go on forever, captured in the span of around an uncomfortable thirty seconds.

When Richard stopped, the batteries had stopped discharging. A very discerning eye could see smoke or vapor lifting off of his heaving body. He took a moment to catch his breath, then planted his boot once more into the creature's face, and shot it away with another explosive kick.

[hatejakku]

Oh. Fantastic. No sooner than stepping on to the next floor, Finn was able to catch a glance at this new enemy before smoke surrounded them. "It might be able to pick out heat signatures. Ramuh, can you do this?"

The Eidolon was pretty beaten up from their last fight, not nearly at his full strength, but he nodded anyway. One more hit and he'd probably be out, though.

Regardless, he and Finn split from the group to get on the edge of the smoke screen before casting another Thunderstorm at the target. It could paralyze it or something, sure, but Finn was more keen about getting the thing's attention away from the others.

go team villains

[bleating_heart]

"...I kind of wish Kuja was here right now." He says. That's a weird thing to say, but...

"I mean, he can fly."

Asriel walks over to stand next to Sephiroth and help out. He's spent a lot of time in the core. If nothing else, he can.. try and see if he can find an access panel to that elevator. Maybe they can get it called down without activating any alarms.

And if not, well, at least he's got that whole time mage thing maxed. Do-over.

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa steps in--and then immediately ducks behind a piece of metal, pressing flat. That doesn't look friendly. He glances out, studying the positioning of people... uh oh. Ramuh doesn't look very good.

Klonoa takes a deep breath... and flicks on that unassailable smile. Just being around him, everyone can feel his Inspiring Presence, making them able to take more punishment.

"You can do it, Finn! We know you can pull through where it counts! Frisk needs help, give it everything you've got!"

The Inspiring Cheer fills Finn and the eidolon with the most powerful kind of strength there is: emotional. They gain an extra action.

[bleating_heart]

From far away at the door of the final room, Asriel's head pokes out.

"...Holy s."

tiniest sneak tag

[fixed_destiny]

"It's okay," Xehanort mutters, just failing to be quiet enough to not be overheard, "Papyrus has a flying skateboard thing."

Extra Action!!

[hatejakku]

O- Oh... Finn takes a moment to blink back at Klonoa then grins to himself. "Yeah, okay. One more time, all you've got."

Ramuh, apparently affected by Klonoa's sheer existence, too, hummed deeply to himself before striking another Thunderstorm harder than the first, raising the chance of paralysis from 10% to 20%.

Re: Extra Action!!

[saint_sami]

"More robots?! How many of these things are there?!" Sasami cried out. Oh, well, time for another Protect Because the old one had just ran out!

[einspine]

While Frisk's invisibility allows them to evade detection, the same can't be said for the others. The Guard Scorpion raises its guns and fires toward Klonoa. He was smart to duck behind some metal, at least, but he'd better stay sharp!

Unfortunately, one of the Magitek Armors decides to pursue, firing off any icy Magitek Beam. The other tries to rush at Klonoa. However, as the enemies launch their attacks, Papyrus unleashes Bone Barrage, sending magical bones flying across the field!

The first Magitek armor staggers midway through launching its Magitek beam. A close call, to be sure! All the while, Papyrus' gaze darts around the arena.

"FRISK! FRISK? ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?" Wait. Maybe he shouldn't be so loud. Who knows how smart the AI is?

As for the Thunderstorms, the electricity makes the Guard Scorpion twitch and whir, but while both attacks land hefty damage, they aren't quite enough to paralyze. Drat!

"I WONDER... DO YOU THINK IT'D BE WISE TO WORK ON BOOSTING OUR PERFORMANCE? I COULD TRY TO WHIP UP SOME CONCOCTERESTS IF NEED BE."

[hashtagdaddy]

The noise and the surprise staircase draw Gladio's attention and he abandons the computer, huffing at the seemingly useless information it had given him.

He pauses as he jogs down the stairs, needing a moment to orient himself in the upside-down room, before heading towards the elevator. Pulling out his slate, Gladio switches his asterisk to Monk and draws closer to the crowd growing around the elevator.

"Lemme try. I might be able to pry it open if anyone has a hunk of metal they don't mind not getting back."

[einspine]

The bombardment of attacks makes the Chimera screech, roar, and hiss. Its eyes light up in fury, and it prepares to retaliate-

...And then Richard's melody kicks in, not only dealing hefty damage but stunning the darn beasty.

Seems you guys have another round to prepare before this thing snaps back into action. Use it wisely.