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

Protect the frisk, no death warps today

[wind_in_my_ears]

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.

[saint_sami]

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

[einspine]

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.

[wind_in_my_ears]

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!"

[sassafrisk]

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.

[hatejakku]

Well... clearly Finn underestimated his team and now he was being left out of the action. While Frisk could probably handle this on their own, he supposed he might as well provide some aid.

With the turrets a little distracted, Finn figured he could probably get away with it. If not, worth it. "Ramuh!" A Partial Summoning (which would take enough motion to get a free turret's attention) called the translucent Eidolon to his side before the old man struck Thunderstorm at the remaining turret.

[saint_sami]

The others were handling this quite well, so there was something Sasami could do to help out in a little way. With all of them attacking, she's going to use her Protect spell to give everyone a chance to have a measure of protection before they can get hit.

[einspine]

Well, that... happened rather fast, now, didn't it? Papyrus watched as the others went to town on the turrets. And did one of them just inflate? He opened his mouth, but before words could form, Frisk cleaved through yet another turret! And Finn's electricity made short work of the remaining target.

The alarm stopped. The previously shut hatch opened, and a ladder emerged, giving those less capable of floating a closer means to reach their destination.

"WELL... THAT WAS INTENSE, BUT I THINK WE SHOULD KEEP OUR GUARDS UP, JUST IN CASE. I HAVE A BAD FEELING ABOUT THOSE ARMORS..."

Especially given what he'd seen with Maddie and the others, it was best to stay sharp.

At any rate, the ladder would provide some ease in reaching the door. Mounting his hover board, Papyrus offered assistance to anyone else who needed an easier transport.

Once everyone was ready, they could proceed to Floor 88.

But just like the previous floor, alarms blare the moment the party moves. But this time, it's not just turrets they have to worry about. While this room contains four more motion-detected turrets, something perhaps more troubling arises in the form of two Magitek Armors.

The conveyors continue to shepherd more armors further up. A control panel rests on the wall high above. Another sealed hatch may catch people's eyes, along with a curious switch.

It's a good thing Sasami cast that protect spell, too, as these armors will begin their assault shortly after the party arrives. And these pesky machines can move, to make matters worse.

[hatejakku]

Ramuh, looking about as stunned as he could look, quickly attacked one of the armor suits with Thunderstorm again. Unfortunately, he had already moved around quite a bit and seemed to be taking damage. He likely wouldn't be with them for much longer.

Finn had unsheathed his lightsaber and stayed close to Sasami to attempt to protect both of them, but the best defense seemed to be remaining still. "Should we go to the other side?" he yelled to the rest of the team. "We can take them much easier if they're not shooting at us!"

[timecrash]

That's... worrisome. "I have a kiiiind of stupid idea. On the other side, it's just a button to push, right? I can totally make it if I run."

He switches Jobs to [Time Mage], looking out at the field of turrets. Yeah, he could totally manage that.

Class: Time Mage
physical power: D
magical power: S
attack potency: C
healing potency: B
physical defense: D
magical defense: D
speed: A

Support Ability: Stave Mastery

[sassafrisk]

When the last turret falls, Frisk springboards off the floor/ceiling, does a flip, and lands in a bow. Were they showboating? Definitely, but it looks and feels very, very cool. It felt nice to be back in the swing of things, even if it was somewhat worrying that this was the fastest way to get out of their funk. "Thank you, thank you," they say, before snapping their fingers and summoning a luminescent SAVE star.

FILE OVERWRITTEN: Frisk, Patience (DT LATENT)
FILE LOADED: Frisk, Patience (DT LATENT)

Skill damage up +50%, Physical Defense and Magical Defense down -50%!

Chugging a potion to recover some of their health, Frisk dives down to the next floor, and has to flashstep to cover as the turrets unleash a hail of magical bullets on them. "Okay, I'm writing a complaint to the tower's staff. These turrets are getting super old! Try to spice up your security system a little bit, c'mon. I already had to deal with way too many of these back home. Remember Fort Aquarius, Paps? Man, this trip is giving me nostalgia. Anyways, I'll take out the turrets. Cover me!"

Frisk once more flashsteps to a turret, chopping it into pieces with another Assassinate.

PHYSICAL POWER: A
MAGICAL POWER: B
ATTACK POTENCY: A (+50%)
HEALING POTENCY: E (-50%)
PHYSICAL DEFENSE: C (-50%)
MAGICAL DEFENSE: D (-50%)
SPEED: SS (+100%)

PASSIVE SKILLS
Soft Prescience
Willpower

STATUSES
+50% skill damage
Justice Mode
+20% health
-5% health every turn
-25% healing efficacy

[saint_sami]

"That might help us, but who knows how long it'll last!" Sasami said. Okay, everyone's getting hurt. Protect was nice, but now they'll need something else. She's going to use Medica on everyone right now, hoping that'll give them some breathing room to act better.

[einspine]

The Magitek Armor shudders at Finn's magical assault, but retaliates with its own Magitek Wall. Better think fast! Those robotic swords are mighty pointy. On the positive side, the sudden flash of lightning does briefly draw the turrets' focus away from the party as they try to seek out the source. The other Magitek Armor, in the mean time, sets its sights on Serge as it fires off a laser.

Of course, Frisk's assassinate deals another hefty blow to one of the turrets, even if it's at the cost of drawing the turrets' attention yet again.

Papyrus winces. This seems like another good opportunity to use Blue Attack, though this time around, he aims for the other Magitek armor. It seems the bigger threat- plus, it's kind of interfering with whatever it is Serge is planning.

"FRISK, WHATEVER YOU DO, BE CAREFUL!!! I KNOW YOU'RE VERY SKILLED, BUT WE DO NEED TO TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. AND I'M INCLINED TO THINK FINN HAS A POINT..."

As it stands, they're fighting on rather awkward terrain.

[sassafrisk]

"Don't worry, Paps! I got this." Frisk kicks the corpse of the turret they gutted into the air to intercept one stream of bullets, flashsteps out of the way of another, and backflip away from the final attack. "Jeez! One at a time, turrets! I know I'm attractive, but there's only so much of Frisk to go around!" they joke as they fling two more kunai at each of the turrets in a weak physical combo, aiming specifically for their supports.

They disappear once again, flashstepping to the exact point between two of the turrets, giving each a wave and a bow. As they rev up to shoot at they, they flashstep up to the ceiling, spin, and toss the severed barrel of the first turret they took out at the remaining third turret in a Throw.

[hatejakku]

Ramuh attempted to back away from the attack while Finn fired a Ruin spell at the armor, hoping to deflect and block the blow somehow.

Serge turning to Time Mage didn't escape his notice, nor did the turret pinpointing the other's position. "If you're going to run, you need to go!" There was no cover where they were, but Finn could try to guard the position as best he and Ramuh could. This didn't seem to be going well, even with Frisk's abilities.

[saint_sami]

"I kinda wish I had focused a bit more on Magitek Knight." Sasami said. She figured the Protect spell would wear off soon, so she had room to attack. She used her Wind Mastery to help attack the Magitek Armor. And being a maxed out White Mage, that would hurt.

"If anything, maybe I could have controlled it..."

[timecrash]

Serge takes a deep breath, ducking the turret's attack with the aid of [Prescience]- and makes a break for it. He's probably attracting all sorts of unwanted attention as he barges towards the switch, but that's okay, probably.

Even if he takes a massive amount of hurt from this stunt, that's alright, because he can mitigate that. He's charging for the control panel as fast as he can, zigzagging across the floor and slapping his fist on the big button! There's a big button, right? There's always a big button. If there isn't a big button, that would mean Serge has just done something extremely stupid for no reason.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

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."

[wind_in_my_ears]

Klonoa shivers as he's clipped with the ice beam. Brrr! But it's going to take more than that to take him out! ... Though the second armor charging at him does make things a bit more precarious. Klonoa blinks as bones prevent the charge, and he calls out.

"Drupah, Papyrus! I don't know what that is, but go for it!"

Klonoa then makes a break for it, leaping at the ice beam armor and firing a wind bullet! That's an amusing sight, the armor turned into a balloon, held suspended above the wind ring as Klonoa dashes back into cover as best he can!