destinystrings | [OPEN] Rooftop Chillin'

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[OPEN] Rooftop Chillin'

Who: Neige and OPEN
Where: Pisces District (Evening of the 20th; later, the 13th Hour)
Summary: Random lady uncharacteristically hanging out on a rooftop watching people? That's bound to be noticed by someone at some point, right? (In other words, Neige is feeling the effects of the Memory Swap event.)
Warnings: Wartime violence and death-related memories.

Evening of the 20th:
During Neige's first week in this city, she'd been tirelessly exploring and hunting for every scrap of information that she could get her hands on, especially about the city's media outlets. She's had a chance to visit every district by now to get an idea of what each one has to offer, and had been planning on talking to more people about this place in the coming days.

That all changed since her second week started, however. It's like her normally social personality has just been magically switched off somehow, and more and more, she's started avoiding people for no real reason. For instance, right now - here she is, just sitting on this rooftop, watching the world go by down below. Any possible danger of falling is of no concern to her at all, nor is the implications of her having her camera up here with her (though she's really spending more time thinking than bothering with it).

How can she get back home? Why does she keep thinking about the four highly respected generals of Neo Arcadia, as if she'd fought them up close? Why does she feel like she personally witnessed the death of her leader X when she's pretty sure she wasn't there? (Or was she?)

Well, at least the sun is starting to set, so she can stargaze in not too long. Maybe that will help clear her mind. (And no, for some reason, the possibility of staying up here all night and through the 13th Hour doesn't bother her at all. Or maybe nothing that's actually happening to her beyond whatever's going on in her head is of any concern anymore...)

13th Hour:
So it seems she's decided to stay out past a reasonable safe hour after all, possibly very unwisely. Not that she's frightened about this turn of events at all; in fact, if one happens to run into her during this time, they'll see she's looking more stoic than she probably ever has in her life, seeming completely unconcerned with the danger at hand. If you're in trouble during this hour, she'll be looking to help you out, whether she can actually do anything about it or not...

On top of it all, she doesn't seem to notice that she's currently being stalked by one of these...

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"Thanks. I'll leave it to you!"

Atsuro wasn't too terribly worried. The Cerberus had taken enough damage now that finishing it off ought to be a cinch for even the weakest of spells - save for Fire, of course. Still, he had no doubt that this woman, whoever she was, could easily handle the beast in its current state.

...At least, until he realizes her plan. Atsuro halts halfway in his stagger away from the danger zone and stares dumbfoundedly at the plank of wood that Neige holds in her hands. There was no way she could possibly mean to challenge a high level demon with a piece of wood, right? It was just for extra security or something. .......Right? ...As he watches, the reporter continues to advance.

"W-What are you doing?! Don't you have a Persona...? You can't hurt it that way; a human doesn't have a chance against a demon!"

He reels back in her direction and manages to trip over his own feet as the Cerberus begins to stir. He never would have dared to use such a potentially debilitating move if he hadn't thought someone could back him up. ...And to his horror, out of the corner of his eye from his prone position, he can spot something quickly scuttling forward from out of the shadows...

"This is bad... Hngh... Seiten Taisei, Power - you're up!"

With two bright flashes of light, Atsuro is joined by two creatures - one obviously an angel, if a bit more metallic than one would expect an angel to look, the other also likely familiar if Neige knew anything about Chinese or Japanese literature.

"Don't worry about me, just take out the enemies!"

Edited 2013-05-27 22:11 (UTC)

"I don't have a Persona," Neige calls back to the boy, "but I have to do something!" ...Part of her does know that this is a dumb idea, honestly, but what else can she do? No matter what, she feels the need to protect this boy, even if it comes at the cost of her own life. Even if she might be behaving recklessly--

Like a certain someone else? Similar to those memories that might also be connected to him?

...Before she lets herself get too caught up in that realization, she hears the boy fall, and lets herself glance back at him just before she tries to hit the white beast. Wait--he's coming back? "What are you doing?! I told you to run!" Why is he wasting this opportunity to escape?! At this rate, the beast is--

Already stirring. Neige looks back at it, gritting her teeth, then doesn't hesitate to swing the wooden plank at it, even if it might not do anything. Her focus on this makes her not notice the new approaching enemy, and it almost makes her miss the two new creatures that the boy summons. (And even then, she's paying them little mind at the moment.)

The wooden plank is slightly more effective than Atsuro had predicted. As Cerberus's muscles tighten to spring, the plank catches it squarely in the face with the effect of knocking it back to a prone position. A few precious seconds had been gained. ...Still, Neige may notice now that a visible trail of smoke emits from its nostrils; this was not, unfortunately, anything like the clouds of smoke that a demon dispersed into whenever one was defeated.

Cerberus opens its mouth and for a split second, there comes the scent of brimstone before the hellfire pours forth.

......Or, well, that's what it meant to do. Instead, in the space between seconds, the monkey creature appears between Neige and the white beast and rams its staff straight down Cerberus's open throat. This action is probably exactly as gruesome as it sounds; the fire is split into two waves as it flows forth, diverted by the staff and with Seiten Taisei's body in the way as well, Neige should be largely shielded from the brunt of the Maragidyne.

Off to the side, the angel has hefted its lance and quickly flown to engage the new creature in combat- Atsuro hadn't the least idea what it was, but he would have to trust the Power to take care of the situation for the moment.

At least the wooden plank has somewhat worked, but of course, it isn't enough. Fortunately, the monkey creature summoned by the boy narrowly saves Neige's life. Lucky - she'll admit to being grateful for the help, though she still wishes the boy had actually listened to her instead of now endangering himself to save her own reckless hide.

...It's kind of funny, though. Any fear of the white beast nearly burning her to a crisp is suppressed once again, along with the feeling of the hot fire passing too close to her body for comfort, but for a moment...there's almost...something. Like something deep within her almost just...

--Oh, there's no time to think about that. She's about to throw the wooden plank at Cerberus before thinking that the fire coming from the beast would most likely get it first. So she takes a few steps back and waits for the fire to stop so she can go through with her next probably stupid idea. Maybe it would be another good distraction.

In the meantime, the Pantheon Guardian, at least, is low-leveled and nothing compared to Cerberus. But that doesn't mean it can be ignored. Its electric rod comes alive with electricity as the angel flies near, but it doesn't attack right away. It instead, recognizing how outnumbered it is, sends out a distress call, which just might bring other Pantheons - or even a Golem - into the area. Then it raises its electric prod as a warning to the angel should it be attacked.

Seiten Taisei steps back and pulls a face as it removes the staff from the Cerberus's mouth. Neige didn't have to worry about what to do with the wooden plank anymore; it seems part of the fire had redirected inwards courtesy of being blockaded by the projection. While Cerberus was generally immune to fire attacks, torching its insides didn't do much for its general well-being. ...As a matter of fact, it looked rather... imploded. The sight of lion guts is thankfully brief, though, as the remnants disintegrate rapidly, leaving nothing behind save a few glinting coins lying on the ground. Macca.

"What manner of aberration art thou...?"

The angel circles around the Pantheon Guardian warily as the robotic creature sounds forth its cry. Evidently, it had mistaken this as an attempt to communicate.

"Cease thy mewling. It shalt avail you not in the courts of the LORD; for lo, it is written: 'Who can stand before His indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and -- '"

"Just kill it already!"

It seems Atsuro still has the strength to yell, anyway.

...Oh, well then. That takes care of that. "Thanks," Neige says to the monkey creature in front of her once the white beast disintegrates (thankfully - she's got a rather strong stomach, even more so when her emotions are unusually repressed, but it's not like she wants to stare at guts all night either). Now she can breathe a little easier, but she holds on to the wooden plank anyway. No telling when it might be needed again.

Sort of like right now, maybe. The angel's voice catches her attention, and she turns to look, seeing the new threat. And...if she'd been feeling a little more normal, she'd probably be looking quite shocked. A Pantheon? What's it doing here, of all places?

But she's in no normal mood tonight, of course. "Don't get too close!" she calls out instead. "That Pantheon's only good for close-range attacks. It's not much of a threat otherwise."

As if to prove her point, the Pantheon makes no move, still waiting for it to be attacked first. Fortunately for it, though, it may not have to worry about fighting alone. In the distance, a Pantheon Hunter and another Pantheon Guardian have heard the distress call and are moving in quickly to provide back-up to their comrade. It won't be long before they arrive.

Seiten Taisei isn't as talkative as its angel companion, it seems, and the monkey creature only makes a grunting sound before it turns around and vanishes just as quickly as it had appeared in front of her. ...Apparently, it could teleport.

"You know that thing...?"

Atsuro remains on the ground a short distance away, prodding at the deflated paper lantern that was his Persona.

"Come on; I know you have a spell for this... Tch... Power - go ahead and take her advice."

The angel's expression does not change, but one gets the feeling from its metallic face that it wasn't too happy about having been interrupted. Regardless, it holds its spear high and sends a jolt of lightning force at its robotic enemy.

Edited 2013-05-30 04:58 (UTC)

"Yeah," Neige replies, glancing at the boy only momentarily as she wants to keep an eye on the new enemy. "It comes from...my world." (Why the pause? Well...it's still a little weird, admitting how people here all come from not just different countries, but also different worlds and times. Neige is far from used to it, but not acknowledging it would be silly, right? But at least that means she can help another face an enemy that she alone recognizes, even if its reason for being here is...wow, she doesn't even know.)

The Pantheon in question can do nothing against the angel's attack, especially when its opponent is out of reach. The force of the lightning makes it body go rigid for a moment, its circuits unable to handle the intense electric power, and then it falls backward to the ground, stunned.

It might just have a second chance, however, as its backup finally arrives on the scene. The second Pantheon Guardian, of course, is no more useful than the first...but the Pantheon Hunter is another story entirely, as Neige also knows.

There's more?! Somehow she feels she shouldn't be surprised; Pantheons are very rarely seen alone back home, as they're really only useful in huge packs. But regardless--"The one with the arm cannon is more of a threat! Watch that one!"

Indeed, said Hunter immediately raises its weapon at the angel that brought down its comrade, then fires three shots in succession at it. Should they meet their mark, they're at least rather weak and aren't lethal on their own.

The Power is caught off-guard by the appearance of the new enemies; the shots strike true and send the metallic angel crashing against a wall in dramatic fashion. Atsuro has only the strength to stare with a slightly dumbfounded. Where were all these things coming from? On a good night - good being relative - he rarely ran into more than one monster stalking about the town. With a shake of his head, he redoubles his efforts in prodding his Persona back to action.

"Tch... C'mon c'mon c'mon... Energy Shower!"

With a splutter almost like an engine coming to life, Chouchin-obake finally reinflates as its flame catches alight once more. Though it still hangs wearily in the air, this is almost immediately remedied as it concentrates and sends a shower of sparks in every direction. As it falls upon Atsuro, his fatigue lifts instantly; indeed, he even feels much more energetic than he usually does during his 13th Hour foray. Neige will likely feel similar effects, though the difference will likely not be as striking. The boy breathes a sigh of relief as he quickly clambers to his feet to face the new opponents. Beside him, Seiten Taisei reappears in a flash of light; the Power detaches itself from the wall to hover overhead as well.

"OK. We'll take care of this! ...Do you know if they have any weaknesses?"

Neige winces when the angel gets hit, but then becomes pleasantly surprised when the boy's paper lantern Persona is not only able to get back up, but also heal itself, the boy, and Neige somehow. (Even if she didn't really need it like they did.) The refreshing feeling probably isn't as nice for her as it is for the boy, but nevertheless, it's enough to make her even more ready and willing to do something else for the ones who...er, she can't exactly call them the people she's helping anymore when they're the ones helping her, can she...

"Nothing specific that I know of! But I do know that they're not as tough as they look, especially when they're alone. Just watch out for the cannon." Yes, that cannon on the Pantheon Hunter by itself may certainly cause trouble, being the decent long-ranged weapon that it is. But at least there's only one of it to worry about.

The Hunter and one properly functioning Pantheon Guardian suddenly split up, one circling the group on the left and the other on the right; once they've managed to surround the group as best as two soldiers can, the Guardian starts edging closer, electric prod at the ready, while the Hunter stands still and takes aim at everyone standing on the ground. If anyone tries to move, it will shoot. If no one moves...then the Guardian will electrocute the closest target with its own weapon.

Neige still has that plank of wood at the ready in case it's needed, at least, but she decides to wait on that in case the boy has any better plans in mind. (Or if that Guardian decides to get too close.)

"...OK." Atsuro pauses for a moment before he raises his fists. "Then... I'll go with the 'kick 'em until they stop moving' strategy." This generally worked for him, although it was a wonder how he managed to generate any force at all what with the slender frame and nonexistent muscles. He takes a step forward with his demons and Personae flanking him. Truly a heroic sight.

"Seiten Taisei - take the cannon. Power - hang back, be ready to heal. We'll go for the other!"

In truth, he had ordered the angel to stay put out of concern for the Persona-less woman's safety. The demons from his world, he knew, instantly slaughtered anyone without a COMP and a Harmonizer of their own. While these enemies might not be up to the same degree of brutality, it wasn't a chance he was going to take.

In the blink of an eye, Seiten Taisei appears in front of the Hunter to attempt to smash its main weapon with its rod, preventing it from shooting. Atsuro and Chouchin-obake turn towards the Guardian and release a intense blast of flame.

'Kick 'em until they stop moving', huh? Well, replace 'kick' with 'slice' and Neige can picture a certain red Reploid in Atsuro's shoes... (In fact, the image goes far enough to suddenly trigger another memory of fighting Neo Arcadia's Pantheons and one of the Guardians - but she shakes her head and stops herself from dwelling on it too long. The timing couldn't be worse.)

She decides to stay put with the angel - probably the wisest choice she's made all evening, really - and wait until she's directly attacked before trying anything with the wooden plank in her hands. The boy and his allies seem to have it covered, anyway. The monkey creature disables the Hunter by almost completely smashing its arm cannon; said cannon cracks and temporarily stops functioning, leaving the machine defenseless for a short while. Meanwhile, the Guardian, similarly, is knocked off its feet, the flame partially melting its armor in places. It, like its other Guardian ally, is now lying on the ground, stunned.

Though as for that ally... Having had a moment alone to somewhat recover, the previously knocked-out Guardian rises to its feet, knowing it needs to keep fighting. Then it starts moving toward everyone else in an attempt to offer some help. Considering how well its comrades are doing against Atsuro and his own allies, though, how much help it can offer is probably very minimal...but nevertheless, it's going to try.

The angel levitates in place next to Neige, seemingly unconcerned with the battle roaring around it. "Be at ease. Those who walk under the banner of the LORD shall come to no harm." Somehow, this message was less than reassuring when delivered in the rigid, mechanical manner that issued from the metallic creature's mouth.

In the meantime, Atsuro and his demons appear to be doing fairly well for themselves. Seiten Taisei isn't quite one for fair play and continues to beat the downed Hunter with the legendary jingu bang; on Atsuro's end, Chouchin-obake cools down for a moment or two as the boy rushes forward towards the Guardian flambe.

The original Guardian, though, had seemingly been forgotten...

...Yeah, Neige can agree that the angel's message isn't the most reassuring in such a voice. But it's not exactly creepy or anything either, probably because she's more used to metallic lifeforms than some others.

Speaking of metallic lifeforms, the two currently being pummeled by Atsuro and his companions stand absolutely no chance against them. The Guardian, still stunned, can do nothing to protect itself from whatever Atsuro's going to give it; it can only lie on the ground motionless for now. The Hunter, meanwhile, is also helpless against Seiten Taisei's beatings and eventually falls to the ground as well, its body sparking where it's been hit. Neige notices this, remembering what this means while recognizing she probably should've mentioned it earlier, and calls out to the monkey creature, "Be careful--they like to explode when they've been destroyed, but if you give them a little bit of distance, you'll be fine!"

In a few more moments, the Hunter will explode, but it's not a very big or powerful explosion at all; as long as Seiten Taisei is standing at least two or more feet away from it, it may only be minimally affected (if even affected at all) by any bits of metal that might fly off from the Hunter's body. After the explosion, a Small Power Capsule will be left behind on the ground as a sort of reward.

All of this distracts Neige from noticing (and therefore being able to warn anyone about) the original Guardian, who is still trying to provide back-up on its own. Seeing its other Guardian in trouble, it moves toward it first, eventually approaching Chouchin-obake from behind. Then it tries to deliver a sneak attack with its electric prod.

Seiten Taisei acknowledges the advice with a grunt, giving the downed enemy one more good smack in the head -- the head... area -- before leaping backwards. Out of nowhere, a miniature cumulonimbus cloud appears and bears the Monkey King upwards into the sky. ...The demon had way too many tricks up its sleeves.

Atsuro, meanwhile, is readying a Holy Strike. With a palm beginning to glow with the force of the Almight-based attack, he is on the verge of thrusting it forward when the first Guardian rears its head once more. Chouchin-obake is hardly paying attention during the best of times, and the Persona receives the full brunt of the attack.

"Gah!"

Just a few moments before obliterating the enemy, Atsuro falls over and Holy Strikes the ground quite accurately, leaving a small impact crater and sending himself bouncing off to the side. It appears there was a certain degree of connection between Persona and master...

If the Guardian had an actual face, it would probably look rather proud of itself for succeeding in that attack. Why wouldn't it be proud? It just managed to save the other Guardian from being destroyed. Now it can maybe succeed in avenging the loss of its fellow Hunter. It starts to move forward again, aiming to attack the boy's Persona a second time.

In the meantime, Neige has finally noticed this going on just as the boy falls to the ground. Dang! She hadn't thought the original Guardian would recover so quickly. What can she do? The wooden plank in her hands, maybe...she could sneak up behind it and smash it in the head? Or the plank might have more power if she throws it, enough to knock the Guardian over? Plan in mind, Neige readies her makeshift weapon, aiming it carefully at the Guardian's back, then gives it her best throw--

...and it flies mere inches past the Guardian's body, bouncing off the ground and coming to a rest some distance away. It pauses to notice the failed attempt of an attack, but doesn't allow the plank to distract it from its mission for too long, quickly resuming its advance and prepared second attack upon Chouchin-obake.

Well that certainly went well. Now Neige has no weapon period. It's tempting to run out there and retrieve it, but she knows such an action might just cause more problems. Hopefully the boy can fight back on his own...

Thankfully, the electric prod didn't do much but stun Chouchin-obake momentarily; the reaction was more out of surprise than out of incurred damage. Still, it had been an extended battle against multiple enemies - Atsuro and his Persona were tired at this point, and they were quite ready to sit down and take a break.

So it was that the Persona manifests an ill-tempered response to the advance of the Guardian. The tear in the lantern rips open once more as flames spew again from the mouth of the spirit... They are not directed as an attack against the Guardian, though - this time, they are directed at the ground. Around the two Guardians and Chouchin-obake, a circle of flames arises, growing higher and higher as the lantern adds fuel to the flames. Soon, a great wall of fire prevents anyone from being able to see what lies within.

It appears to be attempting to roast the enemies alive. Given its own ability to absorb Fire, it was in no danger at the moment.

Outside the Flame Wall, Atsuro picks himself up and hobbles a short distance towards Neige and the Power.

"It's probably going to explode or something. ...We'd better stand back."

Thankfully, it seems Neige has no need to go get that wooden plank after all, not when the boy's lantern spirit is able to create a huge wall of fire. ...Yeah, Atsuro doesn't need to tell her to stand back twice. She listens, but of course, keeps her eyes locked on the action in the process. (Even if she can't actually see beyond the flames to know what the lantern spirit is doing.)

It's clear that the vengeful Guardian didn't expect this at all, meanwhile, as the sudden large wall of fire temporarily distracts it from its enemy. The heat from the flames makes its own movements more sluggish, though it helps that it isn't actually sitting in the fire. That, and its armor is able to protect it somewhat from the intense heat...unlike its ally, whose delicate circuits are more exposed to the heat thanks to its partially melted armor. Give it some time, and that Guardian won't be able to function properly anymore.

But as for the one who can still stand, it's once again attempting to move (slowly) toward Chouchin-obake for another attack, however futile it might be at this point. It isn't in its programming to give up, after all.

Atsuro seems a bit resigned about the whole business as he edges backwards with Neige, though he does strain a bit to try and see what his capricious Persona was attempting to do. Honestly, sometimes, it was more trouble than it was worth. He wonders, perhaps, if Personae from the Velvet Room were just generally more temperamental and more prone to acting out by themselves; this was hardly the action he would have chosen to take had he had his druthers. Enki never decided to explode out of the blue; least of all when --

His thoughts are interrupted by that point by the fulfillment of his prophetic words.

The fiery explosion is enough to be uncomfortably hot on Atsuro's flesh even at the distance they are standing; he throws his arms up instinctively to defend himself, but finds that he is experiencing no real pain or discomfort. Chouchin-obake, it seems, had not been injured in all of this. Perhaps the same couldn't be said for the Guardians...

Well, that explosion certainly makes Neige glad she listened to the boy, even if the threatening wall of fire had been enough reason to be cautious. Like Atsuro, she also uses her arms as a shield against the intense heat out of reflex, even if it might not really protect her. It's probably better than nothing, anyway.

Fortunately, she doesn't have to share the same fate as the two Pantheons trapped directly inside of the explosion. Armor isn't enough to save either of them from the extremely hot blast, which not only rips them apart, but also melts the metal and circuitry inside of their bodies. Needless to say, there's not much left of them when all is said and done; one can see some smouldering pieces of metal strewn about, along with a Power Capsule (similar to what came out of the Hunter's body) and a small Energen Crystal where the Guardians had once been standing, but that's about it.

For now, it seems the threat has been successfully neutralized - something that brings relief to Neige, definitely. This could have gone so much better, but at the end of it all, she's at least glad that the person she'd tried to rescue (who...had ended up rescuing her) is okay.

"...Well."

The leering face of the lantern appears from the flickering flames until, like magic (it practically was magic), the flames all die away at once, leaving behind the two charred robotic bodies. Chouchin-obake grins brightly at its master before the face fades away, leaving Atsuro holding a normal paper lantern once again. ...He sighs.

"That could have gone better."

"Trust in the LORD always; be thankful for all blessings He sees fit to bestow."

"That's what we call a rhetorical statement, Power."

As Atsuro taps a few buttons on the game device he had used earlier, the angel vanishes in a flash of light. Assumedly, Seiten Taisei, wherever he had disappeared to, had returned to standby duty as well.

"Are you OK, miss?"

That could have gone better - yeah, he could say that again. Neige is less than thrilled with the way things turned out, too, especially since it had ended with her needing to be rescued herself...

But hey, at least they're both still alive, and all of their enemies were defeated. That proves it could have gone much worse.

...But in the future, I'm going to invest in an actual weapon. And not try to help someone without one.

"I'm fine," she replies in the meantime. Normally, she probably would've added a smile or a half-joke to that, but the more-serious-than-usual mood still seems to be affecting her even now. "More importantly, are you okay?"

"Yeah! ...Definitely not the worst I've ever come across."

Atsuro tries to grin, though his efforts could use a little bit of work. He assumes a more serious expression shortly.

"But... I guess you haven't been in many fights here before, huh? You can't throw yourself in like that without a Persona... Do you know how to unlock yours?"

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[OPEN] Rooftop Chillin'

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ooc; correct link for the Pantheon this time...how did I mess that up before OTL

Haha, no problem! I saw where you originally linked it in the post, anyway.

aah good |'D

Re: aah good |'D

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