Conquestum Paradisi

[stringmods]

Conquestum Paradisi

☢

What: Closing Arena Ceremonies, Part 2
Where: Aries Arena & Televised
Summary: 1/24/10AC
Warnings: This could get serious...but who knows.

Finally it was time for the mayor, Kazuki Sakahagi, to speak up. Not even an thirty minutes left to the celebrations, but seeing him go appeared to be lighting up a spark in the citizens. It wasn't too hard to see why; his enthusiastic grin and way of walking could easily melt anyone's worry away.

He walked to the center stage as cheering broke out, two men in black and Junko Tanako behind him.

[OOC - GO FORTH AND TAG FREELY]

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[all_wound_up]

"Atsuro-san!"

Well. That certainly went poorly. Nano's face turns white as Atsuro falls over, panicking for a moment while Misery lashes out with her own Persona. Unfortunately, this Anoli seems to be using a Persona that renders him resistant to Physical damage. Blood trickles down from behind the Anoli's mask, but it's accompanied by a sick grin at the edges as he staggers back and readies his next attack.

"Ah... P-Pinocchio, please help!"

Just as Nano said earlier, the little puppet has one more Marakukaja left in him. It's all she can do to help at the moment, as golden light washes over her group, raising their defense and protecting them from further attacks. Which is definitely a good thing for Atsuro, since the Anoli seems to be honing in on him as the singular target of his wrath.

Cruel Attack, he commands, the words ringing through the air as the Anoli's Persona shoots forward to strike another blow at the unconscious hacker.

[otakuro]

" -- Ow!"

Atsuro is knocked out of unconsciousness by what more or less amounts to a heavy stomp on his body. The idea of Cruel Attack was to inflict extra damage to those who were already Down, but who knew whether or not Sleep had the same mechanics?

Either way, it kind of really hurt. Instinctively, he rolls to the side, though it seems the Anoli has used up his turn for the moment. He is unaware, of course, that the damage was heavily mitigated by dint of Nano's defensive spell.

"Wha -- How long have you guys been fighting?!"

Ten years, Atsuro. You've been gone for ten years. It seems as if he's still struggling to become oriented, though he has the presence of mind to stand and position himself in front of Nano in case of any further attack... He fiddles with his COMP for a moment while simultaneously calling forth his Persona.

"Enki!"

[misery_hates_company]

Tch. This man. How obnoxious. Focusing on a downed target? Even she's not that classless. She orders the Golem back, then switches to her own magic, firing dark bolts at the man instead. See how you like THEM apples.

[all_wound_up]

Guh...!

The Anoli lets out a cry of pain as the dark magic collides with his body, his Persona unable to shield him from the attack in time. A hand comes up to clutch at his chest, his breathing heavy and ragged. But rather than run, this one apparently intends to go down fighting, righting himself as he readies his trump attack. The Persona reels back with its fist again, ready to deliver a devastating Earth Punch attack, when Nano cries out.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!"

And then, just for a moment, time seems to dilate around the four of them. The faint sound of clockwork gears and cogs can be heard as a light envelops Pinocchio and Enki, and for a few moments Nano and Atsuro are frozen in time and space to witness what happens next.





Before the two of them floats a creature composed entirely of clockwork gears, dressed in tattered rags and bearing a majestic crooked staff. The sound of grinding gears is much louder now, and the Clock Tower Manager regards the scene impassively as time once again begins its inexorable march.

All at once, several things occur: the Anoli's Persona rushes forward, its fist encased in jagged rock. Nano dives between it, Atsuro, and Misery. The Clock Tower Manager glows magnificently, showering Nano in the same protective light. And as the Anoli's attack explodes forth, the jagged rocks that are thrown in every direction come shooting back toward Nano, most of them disintegrating before they even reach her.

"I... I won't allow you to hurt my friends!"

The little robot glares at the Anoli for a moment before turning back to Atsuro and Misery, instinctively aware of the capabilities of this new Persona birthed from her desire to protect her first and one of her most precious friends in Hinoto-Ri.

"Finish him off! I can protect you!"

[otakuro]

"What -- "

Atsuro is steeling himself for the coming attack (crap it looks like it's earth-based...) when a sharp cry stops him in his tracks. He half-whirls to see what's happened.

"Nano!"

Nothing has happened. ...And nothing is happening. Atsuro almost freezes into place himself, unnerved as he is by the strange pocket of time they had entered; he almost fails to realize that he is sharing this moment with Nano alone, rather than with every combatant in this battle combined. But when the words spoken by a strangely familiar voice sound in his head...

"The Clock Tower Manager...?"

Nano, somehow, seems to instinctively understand what to do. Before he can stop her, the moment is over and she's leapt forward, taking the brunt of the Earth Punch before it can reach him. The information comes to him a little more slowly, but he is aware, in the back of his mind, that she has just used one of their joint abilities...

"Bastion...?"

And he is aware, too, that the thoughts he forms in his mind are words she can clearly understand. For Misery's sake, though, he continues to speak aloud.

"A-Alright...! Hang in there, Nano!"

The Clock Tower Manager glides towards Atsuro now, its gear clicking and whirring into place as it prepares itself to execute the command it knows Atsuro wishes to issue. This would be, he understood, an attack that had no equivalent in this city, an attack forged from the link they had created between their worlds...

It only takes a few moments before the gear underneath the Manager is revolving at an incredibly fast speed; up and down its metallic body, sparks and crackling electricity begin to fly... Atsuro can't resist a brief quip before he unleashes the attack.

"Hope you didn't find all of this too... shocking."

The attack shoots straight up into the sky. A ball of lightning that ascends up to the clouds.

...
...
...

It takes three ticks of the clock before the heavens respond in kind, unleashing an immense electrical storm that descends in the blink of an eye to slam into the Anoli with incredible force. Atsuro instinctively shields his eyes from the blinding flash and takes a step back.

[misery_hates_company]

Misery isn't exactly sure what just happened. One minute, there's three Persona, and the next there's two. And one of them just prevented her from getting smacked. That was... unexpected, to say the least.

As opposed to Atsuro's quip, anyway. "Oh that was bad even for --"

She shields her eyes as well at the flash; whatever that attack is, it's dramatic, and powerful. She'd almost admire the attack if it didn't require, you know, acknowledging something at or above her level. She peers over her arm to see the results.

[all_wound_up]

When the storm clouds clear and the flash has faded away, the enemy Persona is gone and the Anoli is lying there in front of them, smoke rising from his body. Nano glances sharply away, still unused to combat this brutal. The Clock Tower Manager, for its own part, nods sagely at Nano and Atsuro before splitting apart into Pinocchio and Enki once again, and the refreshing energies of Relaxing Wave and Healing Wave wash over the three, restoring some of their vigor for upcoming battles.

"Is... is it over?"

[otakuro]

"...Yeah."

Atsuro has long experience with fighting with both monsters and humans alike, as much as he disliked it. He was used to exercising restraint, knowing the amount of force a human could take before they were passed out as opposed to passed on. Similarly, his demons had always been good about using non-lethal force when he gave the command...

He takes a few steps forward to feel the vitals of the man on the ground before he stands up with a slight frown. Might have overdone it...

"He'll be OK. His Persona took the brunt of the attack, I think, so the damage is more... spiritual.

"Are you both alright?"

[misery_hates_company]

Misery dusts herself off. "Fine, fine. I must say, that's a pretty impressive trick you two pulled. Didn't even know you had something like that, she replies, smirking. "Could've dimmed the lights a bit, though."

[all_wound_up]

Nano lets out a long, deep breath that she wasn't even aware she'd been holding in the entire time, relieved to hear that they hadn't finished the man off for good.

"I... I'm all right. What... was that, anyway?"

[otakuro]

"...A big gear monster thing?"

Atsuro laughs a bit awkwardly.

"I have no idea. ...It kind of appeared as soon as you started screaming, right?" Well that wasn't phrased very well. "...That was really brave of you, Nano!"

[misery_hates_company]

"To be fair, I think ANYBODY would be brave with firepower like that. Goodness, and here I just thought you were a simple backup!" She chortles.

[all_wound_up]

Nano smiles, rubbing at the back of her head and blushing just a little. She isn't used to praise like that.

"Thank you...! I'm not sure what it was either, but I'm glad it happened when it did."

[otakuro]

"...Yeah. It was a close call there..."

He didn't think he would've been killed or anything, but certainly, he would've had to break out some serious Diarahans.

"We'll have to try and see if we can do it again sometime. ...........No, seriously, though, how long were you two fighting while I was out?"

TEN YEARSSSSS