Post by TimePuppy on May 4, 2015 22:07:24 GMT
Chapter 1: Abandon All Hope All Ye Who Enter Here...
Disguised as a large, imposing manga library is the world's first Hellscraper: An underground complex that stretches down underground for over seventy five storeys, and his home for more than its fair share of dodgy dealings.
Each floor underground belongs to another ruthless criminal organisation- or perhaps, some groups that like not to be known about. Those involved in the occult, or extra terrestrial activity. Denizens from the future have been known to reside in this submerged tower, a cower if you will, although none know what resides on the 77th floor.
This changes tonight.
SamJaz strode into the foyer, waiting to see how many would reply to the advert he'd posted online. He'd posted a letter into Crown's actual mansion to get his involvement, as the only other ally he had at the moment was brawling in Osaka, slightly out of place.
The room looked welcoming. There was a pleasant water feature amongst the dark tiled floor. Behind it was a large counter where a receptionist sat at her computer, ready to talk to any visitors. There was a staircase up to the manga library that ran as the front of this place, but there was another staircase down, these guarded by large men in dark suits and sunglasses. And a velvet rope. Always a velvet rope.
On either side of the receptionist were elevators, which were what SamJaz strode for. Drawing his keyblade, hey aimed it at the metal doors and fired a beam of light, before lowering his blade in frustration.
"The doors aren't locked sir." The receptionist pointed out. "But I must warn you that there is only one button inside, and that leads here. If you have an appointment, I can operate the lift for you."
SamJaz smiled and walked over to the counter. "I would like to visit the bottom floor." He said charmingly.
The receptionist pressed a button on her desk, and a large screen opened up on the wall behind her.
[ TEAM PROGRESS - CURRENT FLOOR = GROUND ]]
[ TEAM COUNT - 0001 ]
[ HEAD COUNT - 000000000 ]
When SamJaz lowered his head from the screen, a second woman was sat at the counter, a nurse this time. She certainly had a lot of medical supplies on her person. "Feel free to return here for medical assistance whenever you require." She assured him sweetly. "I can assure you that I can heal any wound, injury, poison or debilitation quickly and efficiently so long as my patient is not deceased, although I must warn you that unless at least one member of the party remains inside while the injured come for treating, then you must start from the beginning."
SamJaz nodded, noting the large banner that dictated the rules of the Hellscraper Challenge. He was grateful for the rule that allowed for new team members to be allowed to join at any point, even skipping straight to the rest of the team via lift regardless of how deep the exploration got. "I'd like to wait here for my entourage to arrive. Is that agreeable?" He asked, not willing to show how much he was bricking himself at the moment.
"Of course." The receptionist replied with a smile. "Take as much time as you like."
SamJaz thanked her, then sat by the water fountain, looking at the door. He hoped Phantom took the bait.
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Phantom's driving down a road. A rather nice sports car, white in color with golden details. Paired up with his outfit as Phantom would surely make him stand out, but he doesn't worry about that. It's a rather simple illusion for him to change the appearance and his clothes. He parks it in front of a building and leaves, the same instant his car and appearance revert to what they really are. He enters the building with a look on his face (or rather the part of his face that wasn't obscured by the mask) that screams disappointment.
Quickly he walks up to the man familiar to him, completely ignoring any other person in the room. Not even wasting a second on greetings of any kind he speaks up "This is supposed to be that Sam? Looks unimpressive to me. And besides, i'm not a vulture, someone who'd rip apart a corpse and feast of it's remains. I take what i want unseen under the cover of darkness. But as you see i'm here, and i wouldn't be here if i wasn't interested, so congratulations you made me curious." he shifts his face of disappointment into a friendly grin as he finishes the last sentence.
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SamJaz grinned, standing up and heading for the stairs. "Send the rest of the team after us." He told the receptionist, indicating that more would follow. "We'll head the way."
The muscled guard stepped aside, moving the velvet rope to allow SamJaz and the Phantom down the stairs.
[ FLOOR B01 ]
SamJaz did not expect this.
He came down the elegant, carpeted stairs which faded into creaky, wooded stairs that threatened to collapse at any minute. The air grew dry and hot, and by the time the team reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed the wooden doors open, their jaws dropped.
The sky above them was bright, and the sun was scorching the place without any cloud cover. A tumble weed rolled across the desert floor as the cheers of cowboys burst from the many buildings around them.
"LOOKS LIKE WE GOT ARSELVES SUM YOUNG 'UN'S!" A chinese man in a cowboy get-up shouted, pointing a revolver at each of the men as his comrades cheered, dancing as their shot their pistols into the air enthusiastically.
SamJaz almost missed the balls ricochet against the sky. 'Ah. Artificial lighting and atmosphere.' SamJaz thought to himself with a grin, wiggling his fingers as the keyblade materialised in his grip.
With a smooth motion, he switched the chain at the bottom into one resembling two boxing gloves at the end of a rope- His keyblade turned into a thick red pole clumsily wrapped in bandages. Extending from the handle was a blue dragon, encircling the bandaged blade as it rose up and roared, its head forming the key of the blade.
The grip was covered in hand wraps and the handguard resembled the ropes of a boxing ring.
"Undying Soul." He explained with a grin, swinging it powerfully and launching a blue shockwave into the dusty street. "Makes me a little tougher to kill."
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"Looks more like a 10 year old's birthday party to me" Crown says as he looks around and analyses the situation. While Crown was still frowning at the disappointing scene, Sam was already prepared to engage in combat. "Guess he's just that enthusiastic." a comment made in Crown's mind as he observes Sam's new combat equipment which he not seen before. The shockwave he sent, serving as nothing more than a casual demonstration made one or two of the wannabe cowboys drop from their feet, get up and start running in the opposite direction.
The rest of them seemingly wants to play western heroes and they point their various weapons at the two intruders. "GO GET 'EM GUYS!" a rather generic battle shout by the same loud man that made the previous statement. They open fire from everything they got, from sixshooters over Winchester rifle to even the very first model of a gatling gun.
Aliester quickly brings up a large card that can cover his whole body, right in front of him to act as a shield. It has a red glow on the edges and the actual picture of the card while the rest of it is semi-transperant allowing him free vision of what is in front of him. With another hand gesture he creates three normally sized cards in front of the shield and then launches them at the opposition but with a wide spread. They are just meant for cutting as he doesn't want to go overkill on them. "Worthless trash." he murmurs as he sends the cards the bunch of enemies.
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Continued fire rained down upon the two intruders, at least from the gatling gun. SamJaz charged into the fray- covering himself with a reflega spell- one that remained in place longer thanks to his new Keyblade. Each swing made the slash hit everything within ten feet, of the cut, as if extending the blade, but as the men with the smaller arms went down, it was clear that the man with the gattling gun was not going away.
Frowning, SamJaz picked up a smith and weston from the floor and took cover behind a metal barrel, looking at the gatling gun. He aimed for the man's shoulder, primed the revolver, and pulled the trigger.
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She arrived amidst the maelstrom exhibiting a calm composure, despite the pandemonium. Casually, the kagedeshi strode forward with light steps, observing the bedlum, unsure of which side she was supposed to partake in the matter. Through her peripheral vision she spotted a man whose face was concealed behind a mask. He was protected from the bullet storm by a large hologram-like manifestation which resembled playing cards. Materializing in front of his shield was a trinity of similarly designed projectiles which he proceeded to hurl at the cowboy party, reducing their numbers by three. Another individual brandishing a blade which bore a likeness to a key had weed-whacked his way through a set of cowboys just then, picking up a Smith & Wesson from the ground after laying them to waste, and taking cover behind a metallic barrel. His eyes peered through the cross hairs as he aimed for the shoulder of the remaining cowboy manning a gatling gun.. BANG!
A sharp shooter, the kagedeshi kageane silently noted after witnessing the gatling gunner fall to his knees with a grimace on his face and his hand wrenching the flesh on his chest as he experienced an agonizing death. Her patient observation of the situation had revealed to her who the allies and foes were but in waiting she seemed to have missed out on the fun. "I guess I'm late for the party.." she finally said to the others.
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Arthur stoped infront of the Manga library. "This... is not what I expected." He was not even sure if this was the right place. "Nah, this is where the webpage said to go."
He entered the building expecting to see at least a few people inside, however it was pretty much empty. "God I hope this is the right place." He went over to the receptionist. "Excuse me..."-Arthur started saying, before he was interupted. " Ah, you must be one of that guys group."-said the Receptionist. Arthur wasn't sure what she ment, but he guessed he was at the right place. "You can take the elevator to the the floor they are at." "Er, and what floor would that be?" He wasn't even sure what she was talking about, but he was about to find out. "Oh, they are just at the first floor." "In that case, I don't think I need the elevator to go there." He had a better plan, hoping to maybe impress the people who were already there.
Arthur got to the guard at the door. The man moved out of the way. Arthur started freezing the stairs. He was planning on sliding his way overthere. That made his trip down there much faster. He was there in less then a minute. As soon as he got there he saw a woman, a little bit taller then him, saying something about being late for a party of somekind. She seemed preoccupied and didn't see a man dressed in a cowboy costume getting ready to shoot her. Arthur quickly made a wall of ice to protect her, and fired an ice shard at the man.
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The cowboys were going down easily, especially with the new arrivals. "WELCOME ABOARD!" SamJaz shouted over the gunfire, making his way to the disabled gatling gun and smashing it with his keyblade. "I'm SamJaz and cape's Phantom! Welcome aboard ninja-girl and iceman!"
He planted his keyblade into the chest of the one who was operating the gun before receiving a hole in his chest. "Stairs." He stated, glaring at the sheriff. "We've one, now let's move on."
The indian man with the star-shapped badge pointed towards the saloon with a trembling hand. "But... the outlaws are in there... they have AK-47's..."
SamJaz knocked the man out with a kick to the rips. "Great." he grunted as the gunfire died down. "GUYS IN THE SALOON HAVE HEAVY-DUTY WARES, BUT THEY'RE GUARDING THE STAIRS!" He shouted. "ANY VOLUNTEERS FOR CLEAN-UP?"
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The master thief looks around. The opposing forces numbers seem to have been cut down while the number of the time got increased by two. That would be wonderful news for most people but... "What's up with this Sam? It's getting crowded here, i didn't know you invited some more guests."
Crown sends an unfriendly glare to the two newcomers. It wasn't that he had anything against them personally, more than that the idea of having to share anything they might find here was just absurd to him. He sighs and then pays attention to what his hotblooded friend is saying. "Hmm, more maggots infesting this place? Fine then, i'll make quick work of them."
He makes his way to the saloon not paying attention to his teammates.
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SamJaz grinned. He trusted the Phantom to get things done. In the mean time, he went over to the new guys.
"Don't mind, him, he's just moody because he doesn't want to share any sweet loot. And I think he has a crush on me, but more likely the loot." SamJaz told them with a grin as he raised his hands to shake. "Persona user and keyblade herotype person. Nice to meet-"
He was, however, interrupted by a most inconvenient explosion from within the saloon, knocking him and everyone within a twenty-foot radius off their feet.
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The kagedeshi returned SamJaz's western formal greeting of a handshake then scoffed, "I'm not particularly interested in loot. I deal in information," she revealed. "Thanks, by the way," she offered the man who saved her from an ambush earlier. "My name is Yei.." just then they were all knocked back by an explosion.
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Gen was in the lift punching the air doing some shadow boxing as he always did when he got over excited about something. A door opened and 3 strangers and a familiar face were fighting a group of heavily armed cowboys. The Battle Hunting Brawler heard about this thanks to another Spirit Boxer that once was part of one of the organizations inside. Gen looked at the heavens and exclaimed ?God Exists! And he guided me to Heaven!- a bullet flew right beside the Hot-blooded Delinquent, that rushed away from the lift and moved towards Samjaz, that was greeting a ninja chick. ? Hey key-aniki! Fancy meeti….BOOOM!- A massive explosion shook the floor. Gen managed to stay standing thanks to his inhuman balance, thanks to his boxing training and with a puzzled face he asked to nobody in particular ? What the hell was that?
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SamJaz crawled out of the undertakers, nursing his head from the explosion. His vision was a little blurry, and he was pretty sure that his head was bleeding. One Cure spell later, and that problem was remedied, but what he saw was a whole new problem.
The explosion had obliterated the saloon, revealing the stairs down. It also brought a lot of the other buildings down, but that showed the corpses.
A lot of dead indians.
They weren't native americans.
They were people who had been kidnapped, shoved into feather headdresses, and forced to fight these gun-toting businessmen while holding a bow and arrow they barely knew how to load.
These were bloodsports. With human beings as the game.
Any reservations SamJaz had about wasting every single person inside this building evaporated. Casting a wide-spread cure spell onto his allies, he made his way to the stairs, ready to bring these organisations down. "Sup Gen." He said, fist-bumping the boxer as he walked past. "Glad you could make it. Ready to smash some faces?"
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Just as he was ten meters away from the saloon, Crown's senses were invaded. A flash of light blinded him, thunder was ripping at his ears, even on his skin he could feel the shockwave. It was all over in an instant, the saloon was nowhere to be seen.
Near the stairs leading down stood two men. The one of the right was the perfect image of a cowboy. Leather pans, a red shirt stained with sweat and alcohol, over it a brown west and black cowboy hat. He had a scar on his left cheek and on the height of his hip you could spot a shiny Colt with an extravagant design as well as a few bundles of dynamite. He notices Crown and then starts speaking "Howdy there greenhorn, hope we didn't scare ya." he lights a cigar and starts walking around. "The name's Frank, the the fellow to my left's my brother Bill."
Aliester shifts his gaze to where the man is pointing. What he sees is rather unusual. There stands a man, his height way below average to the point that some might consider him a midget, an eyepatch and wavy and unkept beard can be seen. All of that wouldn't be too strange if not for the fact that the man was sitting in a giant metalic suit, him only being visible through the protective glass. The machine was nearly three meters tall, had long two long arms with claws and four legs supporting it's massive weight. The man known as Frank continues. "Sorry for the mess greenhorn, but you know we just got this baby today and Billy wanted to see if it could take a punch or two."
The machine slowly turns around and faces Phantom. As a response Crown raises his eyebrow and then replies "You're totally messing up the setting with that thing, you know?" he makes a card appear in his hand as he prepares for a fight.
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SamJaz sidled up to phantom, dodging the metal monstrosity's claws as he swung his keyblade- unleashing a wave of ki onto the remains of the bar. With Gen in the same area as this Keyblade, the waves of ki grew stronger, some of the slashes taking the form and fury of dragons as they ravaged the last stand of the few dozen cowboys hiding behind Frank and Bill.
Unfortunately, this robot seemed unfazed by these ki attacks, and Frank seemed more than capable of shrugging off the worst of them.
"Not bad at all, but down here, yer gonna need something with a bit more lead!" Frank shouted, drawing his guns and opening fire, each bullet swelling to the size of melons as they engulfed themselves in flames, flying towards the invading team like meteors.
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Gen replied with a Slasher Smile from ear to ear while fist-bumping Samjaz ? I’m always ready to rumble Key-aniki- The Hot-Blooded Boxer didn’t care much for the dead people, he felt bad for them but he wouldn’t raise his fist to the heavens and swear eternal vengeance upon the ones that caused this, he would punch them to hell. The explosion was strong enough to make some of the cows locked in a nearby corral to go berserker and start crashing against the wooden bars that kept them closed in. Their lowing could be heard even as far as Gen and the others were. ?I’m not good with guns key-aniki, I think I’m going to pacify some cows and bulls- The Battle Hungry Boxer rushed towards the Corral and jumped in raising his guard ? Aniki, I’ll take on this horned bastards while you, the hot ninja chick, the weird masked guy and wolf coat guy take on the others-
Frank and Bill moved to attack, as the volley of melon sized flaming bullets felt over the group, Frank moved to take cover while he kept making rain fire over them. He lighted a stick of dynamite with his cigar and flinged it to Phantom. Bill rushed foward and tried to trample over Samjaz and Yai using his robot claws to grab them and it's weight to crush them
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Crown ignores the opponent for a second and turns around to look at yet another new member to the team. But unlike the other two this one made him smile, he'd be funny. A jester to entertain them to say so. And going by the man's wording, he probably had a simple mind and light spirit, not caring about money or other valuables. That was the perfect teammate for Phantom.
His thoughts get cut of when he fells the sensation of hot lead coming closer. Just before it makes contact Crown blinks away in a blue flash appear ten meters away from the trigger happy Frank. "Nice try there buddy, you might be a quickdraw and all, but that lump of metal won't be touching me anytime soon." Crown throws one of his razor cards, rather casually as if not taking it serious. He aims for Frank's head but the cards only hits his hat. Frank dodged it and then he catches his hat in mid hair, now with a narrow slice hole on it. "Hah, seems like i have underestimated you there, my hillblilly friend." Crown tries to provoke the man, simply to get the chance to fool around with him.
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Moments after the explosion Yei emerged from the rubble and debris, her keikogi torn and stained with fresh blood. "Nngh.." she winced at the pain with a grimace spanning the youthful features of her face. Injured she was, but not for long. Not with the help of a regenerative kido spell. A hail of swelling bullets set ablaze shot across the way towards her and her allies. Feeling confident in their abilities to hold their own against the onslaught, the kadeshi opted to save herself, resorting to a kuutaiku flash to teleport high above the opposition, where she she would rain down with furry a hail of supido-enhanced shuriken into the enemy ranks. The caped man had engaged himself in a projectile vs. pistol battle with Frank.
Meanwhile, the mecha machine continued to assault, launching several grenades in the direction of SamJaz and Gen.
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Death rained from above, as the strange bullets shot by Frank crash against the artificial ground creating small detonations of flames. Most of the cows got hit by them, one even used as meat shield by Gen, that lifted the surprised animal and placed it in-between him and the hail of flaming bullets. Frank hat flew away as one of the cars launched by Phantom got to him. The Cowboy rolled in the floor away from Crown, as the dynamite stick he threw was about to blow nearby Phantom. ?Get ready for some fireworks ye spoiled city brat- His eyes were focused on the environment waiting for the next blue glow ready to shoot Crown either when he moved or when he just reappeared from his blink.
Meanwhile Gen took some of the pieces of burnt cow from his clothes as he watched how Bill charged through the magical attacks thrown by Samjaz, the same attacks he took during their fight. Yei vanished only to reappear over them, standing in the water tank. She threw several shurikens towards the rampaging mecha, tanking their impacts, that only resulted on small punctures on its hull,while with one claw he shoot grenades towards Gen and with the other he punched Samjaz, that unable to dodge thanks to the fiery bullets aftereffects and the nearby grenades tried to block it with the keyblade only to be thrown away and shot through the support beams of the water tank where Yei was standing, making it lose stability.
The explosions almost got Gen that rushed through them while watching how Samjaz fell knocked out cold ? Aniki! I’m going to trash that thing for you!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer prepared his introduction card a combination of Raijin Step with Ghost Jab Hurricane while barking an order to Yei ?Ninja Gal! Give me some cover!- He appeared in front of Bill and punched him a hundred times, only to find that not only his exoskeleton hull was too thick and dense, but also that his hands weren’t. With his knuckles pulverized he stood in front of the Mecha-hillbilly that with incredible switfness took advantage of his sudden pain and crashed his claw against him knocking him to the ground
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From the looks of it Same and his new "friends" were having trouble with the mechanical maniac, but right now he couldn't waste any time on that. Beneath his feet was a dynamite stick and Phantom just had a few seconds before it blows. He could just shield himself with four giant cards from all directions, but going by the expression on Frank's face the man was expecting Phantom to teleport away. Well where is the sport in it if he doesn't give him what he wants? But if he does it he's gonna do it his own way.
Phantom starts blinking like a maniac, the second he appears in a flash and disappears again in the same manner. He's using the full specter of the ability in one moment appear as close as one meter away from Frank while in the other he takes on the maximum distance of 15 meters. It's all happening so fast that one could think that there was more than just one Phantom. He was surrounding him form all sides. "Well let's see if you can keep up."
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Arthur was a bit stumped at everything that was going on. First he saw some guys dressed in cowboy suits, then there was a big explosion, and now there was mecha that needed to be made into scrap metal. It seemed impervious to everything his comrades threw at it. Oh, and his comrades were even weirder. There was a boxer of some kind, a ninja chick called Yei, a rude guy in a fancy suit that throws cards called Phantom, and some guy with a magic sword of some kind called SamJez. He didn't even get a chance to introduce himself. "Oh, well, I guess formalities are going to have to wait"-Arthur decided to join in the fun. He fired a few ice shards at the mecha. That made the mecha release the boxer it was holding down, but it also made the mecha concentrate on him. It fired a few granades at him but Arthur made an Ice barrier to protect himself.
That didn't accomplish much, as the granades destroyed it. However, Arthur was prepaired. He made a frozen mallet. He was sure it would at least make a dent in the giant robot. And he was right. A dent, however, wasn't enough to call that thing destroyed, by any stretch of the imagination. It fired it's claw at Arthur, who would be able to defend himself in time with a giant mallet, nor did he have enought time to make an ice barrier. However he did have enough time to transform the mallet into a sword and block the claw at the last moment. Arthur needed a better plan. At that moment he noticed a computer. If he was right, that had to be connected to the monstrosities power supply. He quickly ran to it, protecting himself from bullets via a shield he made for himself. He just hoped his teammates would protect him long enough to disable the machine, or at least open a hatch exposing Bill for them to take him down.
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SamJaz blinked, rolling grumpily to his feet.
He'd been knocked out twice in this fight so far. If these guys hadn't shown up in his defense, he would be dead.
Time to stop messing around.
He could see Phantom taking the big guy with the big gun, and everyone else seemed to be focusing on the machine. Yei's providing shuriken fire, Gen's toe-to-toe- no, Gen just got knocked flying, and the ice dude's running around behind the machine.
SamJaz reached down and picked up a discarded gun- a magnum, one more offence against his whole cowboy fantasy, and pulled the top bit, bringing a bullet into the chamber. SamJaz didn't know that much about gun's, and he wasn't anything close to a sharpshooter, but he knew this much.
He raised the gun to his temple. "JACK FROST!" He shouted, pulling the trigger and clenching his eyes shut at the sound of the gun launching a bullet into his brain.
There was no blood, only broken glass flying from the other side of his head as the white imp charged forwards, laughing as snow descended upon the desert as it flew towards the mecha. "ZIO!" SamJaz shouted again, and lightning struck Bill's machine, paralysing it as its rider suffered a thousand volts charging through his body, burning his skin and causing irreparable nerve damage.
Gasping for breath, SamJaz turned to see Phantom using some after-image type technique on Frank, who was quickly getting irritated and firing his meteors left, right and centre, then his guns just started clicking, nothing firing. Frank shouted something, probably a curse, then scrambled for cover as he hurriedly tried to reload his revolvers.
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Arthur was just about to reach the computer when he heard thunder behind him. It seemed to have been made by SamJez. Arthur thought to himself That guy is powerfull. The man in the mecha probably couldn't survive being hit by lightning . I guess there is no point in me weakening the thing then. Truth be told, he wasn't even sure if he could accomplish that. He should probably concentrate finding weak points. The thing is probably weaker from behind.
Arthur made a frost lance in his hand. He saw a part he thought was a weak spot and thrust the lance in there. He made a crack that lead to the top of the mecha and reached right to the giant claw. Arthur made a mallet in his hand and wings on his back. He flew to the mechas claw quickly and struck at the part that held the claw with all his might. There was an even bigger crack there now. Arthur hit it one more time, and the claw fell of. This should weaken the structural integrety of the mecha and give those guy an opening to destroy the whole mech. Arthur hoped he was right. But then again, when was he ever wrong.
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Gen hands were damaged yet his spirit was still burning. After taking the blow of the Mecha piloted by Billy, he was on the floor and the suit crushed him under a metal claw. The ice guy, that was called Arthur yet that fact was unknown the Hot-blooded Boxer, managed to use some kind of magic attack of ice to get the Armored Redneck attention, releasing Gen, that gasped for air. Samjaz got up from the attack and without warning picked a gun from the floor and shot himself. Instead of a gush of blood, the attack only made some kind of ethereal glass around the Keyblade wielder explode around him summoning a creature that seemingly was made of snow and had a blue cap. Gen knew that thing from somewhere else but couldn’t quite remember it; maybe he was still confused by the blow to the head.
Samjaz summoned some kind of lighting magic that severly damaged the mecha and the pilot, thanks to the cracks on the hull created by Yei mystically enhanced shurikens. Arthur followed the attack momentum and attacked one of the claws, taking advantage of the previous attack and causing a malfunction on the mecha that swung its arms wildly. The Battle Chasing Brawler took this opportunity and locked his sights on cracks in the window of the cockpit, as his hands were too damaged he decided to fight with his head, literally. Rushing forward with determination he ran towards Billy and avoided the sluggish yet frenzied attacks of the machine.-I’m going to knock you down- he roared and with one lunge he head-butted the glass shattering it but failing to get directly to the robotic suit pilot. Some of the glasses damaged the pilot and the window had an opening big enough to attack him.
Gen rolled out of the range of the robot and stood up ready to react to any new threats
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SamJaz jogged tp where the rest of the team were, casting a wide-spread cure spell to heal the team's wounds as they turned their attention to Frank. One well-aimed fire spell later, and the both cowboys were down.
"Glad you all made it." SamJaz said, before making introductions to everyone."So, we're gonna keep moving on this thing. That cure spell should have given you everything a break will, and I don't want to stick around for when they fill this floor with liquid concrete."
With that, SamJaz headed down the stairs, leading the way to the next floor.
Floor -02
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The team slowly goes down the stairs. They had just finished the first floor and Phantom was already annoyed, not only did he not find anything interesting up there, but now there was a bunch of people following him around. He wanted to say something on that matter, but before he could do so they were already at the second floor. "The hell..."
It was a giant arena, mostly made of scrap metal and it was inside a steel cage covering all of it. Beyond the cage there were crowds of people sitting, eating, enjoying themselves and cheering as it seems now what was a reaction to the team entering. Before anything else could be done or said, metal blockades fell down separating the team.
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SamJaz knocked at the metal wall of his cell. Individual battles. This could be problematic.
He turned around to see twelve large metal crabs fall and land in the area around him. They were about three or four feet tall, red, and one of their claws must have weighed more then the average human.
He heard someone shout about the ladybird robots they had to fight, and Grinned, summoning his Keyblade.
Ki wouldn't work too great against robot crabs, so he switched the chain to Shufflecast. The blade looked like a two-edge european sabre, bone white and with a long, straight blade. Towards the tip was an ornate structure on one side, looking like an alchemic seal, with three red cards spread out behind it, forming the key of this blade. The hand guards were red and bore resemblance to clock-like roses.
SamJaz roared, charging at the crabs and slashing furiously.
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As they were going down the stairs Arthur decidet to intruduce himself "It seems I didn't have a chance to introduce myself before. My name is Arthur, but some people call me Frost Wraith. You can call me whatever you want to..." At that moment They entered a room that looked like a giant arena. Before Arthur could finish sentence giant blocades fell from the sky and separated the team. They were in something reminecent of cells now. He could hear something that reminded him of crab claws, but somehow metalic. The next second, he heard a blade hitting metal. Arthur didn't know that at the moment, but that Was SamJaz fighting robotic crabs. He was doing quite well, actually.The robotes tried to cut him in half with their blades, but SamJaz was too quick. He was even able to slice through their metal skin.
Before Arthur could hear anything more, 5 metalic wolves fell infront of him. "Oh, come on. I love wolves. Must you do this to me?" He made two frost swords, one in each hand. "Prepaire for some punishment, you bastards"
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Two of the metallic crabs were helplessly suspended as SamJaz slashed at them, strike by strike they were reduced to their components which by the looks of it were nothing more than scrap. And while those two were done for the others did not share the same fate, the tend of them lowered themselves to the floor to the point that one could think that they shrunk and then they scattered. For their size they were rather fast. It looks like they wanted to use Sam's occupation with slashing and start an attack and a few of them approached him from both sides, they were aiming for his legs.
In the meantime Phantom was in his own cell. Unlike Sam he only had one opponent, a giant lizard like entity. It was covered by steel like scale, had a long segmented tail and sharp, thin and long claws, it was taller than the mecha they faced on the previous floor. Not even a moment passes. Phantom had already made ten cards float around him and was holding five in each hand, they were all meant for cutting. Normally he would take it slow when dealing with "canon fodder" one card at them time, but right now he was furious. For someone who deemed even diamonds to be worthless, being presented by a level made out of scrap and trash was outrageous. Without a second thought he throws all his cards at the opposition, hoping that it will reduce the ugly sight before him to nothing.
Yet in another cell, the new member of the team who introduced himself as Arthur just a moment ago (not that Phantom cared) was being surrounded by five wolves. They were spread in a circle around him and started pouncing at him one after another.
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Having played a more conservative role on the previous floor, Yei had discovered SamJaz's ability to heal the party. That was good. She could get creative here without exhausting her ki-reserves, or so she thought. "...My name is Arthur but some people call me Frost Wraith," the Ice Wielder spoke up as they proceeded to the next floor. Yei shot him a glance, an indication of acknowledging his formality, then sauntered on.
Upon their arrival to the next floor they were met with the cheers of an audience while they made their way onto a stage in the center. A pleasant greeting, indeed, but like all good things it didn't last long. Cages fell all around the arena, effectively separating Yei from the others. Again, feeling confident in the boys and their abilities to hold their own she reserved any concerns for them. Still, her keen peripheral perception was able to vaguely detect the foes they faced.
In the other cages her allies were ambushed by metallic crabs, wolves, a giant metallic lizard, and more which was just out of her visual scope. She didn't have time to see what it was, however, since a swarm of ladybird robots alighted onto her cage. A quick head count revealed a total of 9 of them.
SamJaz had already moved to make quick work of his designated opposition with a series of slashes, as did Phantom, utilizing his signature card attacks while the Ice Wielder, Arthur, had materialized a pair of Ice blades to combat his own enemies. Gen was out of Yei's peripheral range but she wasn't worried about the hot-blooded brawler.
The crowd roared, applauding the boys for their marvelous display of might and valor, then shifted their attention briefly to the shadow mistress.
Reaching back behind her waist, the kagedeshi slowly drew her mystical wakizashi blade, which sang a high note into the air, serving as a segue to her kata exhibition. Raising the majestic blade to rest horizontally in front of her face, she lunged forward with unreal speed then seemingly vanished, only to reappear as a black and white blur dashing throughout the cage as the dreadful screeching and crunches of metal cutting metal filled the arena.
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The lizard crumpled to pieces, the lady birds fell to scrap. The wolves circled the Frost Wraith, two leaping forward with their teeth to hold him down while the other three let loose with their laser cannons, hoping to make short work of the ice user.
As SamJaz slashed, each swing left a floating blue card. The crabs wised up, beginning to go for his legs, but it was too late for them.
There were already seven cards spread across the room.
SamJaz jumped over one claw and raised his keyblade into the air. An indigo seal formed around the keyblade as the cards flew towards it- the cards fusing together in a flash of light before shattering to summon a teenage girl, her pink hair tied loosely into two long ponytails, and dressed in a little black dress. These details, however, paled to the skill and efficiency that this girl swung the axe that she carried, bringing the remaining crabs down in seconds before smashing through the steel barriers.
The girl vanished with a haunting laugh, and all that was left to face were Arthur's wolves and Gen's machines.
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The fight with the cowboy brothers ended as brutally as it started and the group moved one. Ice Wolf Coat guy as Gen decided to call him, presented himself as Arthur, sometimes called Frost Wolf. So The Hot-Blooded Boxer mentally decided to shorten his nickname to Wolf-san. Samjaz healed their wounds thanks to his magic and before Gen decided to thank him the next level of the gauntlet like maze appeared, a massive arena made with pieces more befitting a scrapyard than a stadium with jagged and rusted metal pieces forming a makeshift circle that was surrounded by a cheering crowd, as the Battle Chasing Delinquent and the rest of the group advanced and inspected the place, five cages fell from above, with Gen barely avoiding the edge of the one that closed over him. The rest of the group was attacked by mechanical beasts and the Brawler from Tokyo wasn’t the exception.
Made from pieces of metal similar to the ones forming the arena, only that sculpted to seem like body parts, a massive bear made completely out of metal, with sharp and cracked fangs, long metallic claws and bright red eyes came down from an opening in the top of the cage, causing a small tremor when landed. The bear charged towards Gen that using fluid footwork avoided the rush and moved to the left, making the bear crash against the cage bars, that even bended a bit after such and impact. The almost psychotic smile plastered in the Hot-Blooded Boxer widened a bit as the bear charged again. Summoning his fighting spirit, Gen covered his body in a bluish aura that barely was visible over his skin. This instead of meaning it was weak, it was a proof of Gen’s training regime efficacy as he was able to concentrate his Spirit much more effectively.
This aura increased his strength and with that sudden boost he decided that if he was going to defeat this he would do it the hard way and he locked hand against paw with the mechanical abomination. A struggle of pure might was ensuing between the Spirit Boxer and the Mecha-Ursa. The delicate balance was broken by Gen that started to lose terrain over the ground splitting strength of his mechanical foe. The Brawler from Tokyo shifted his balance, making the Bear incline forward and lose balance. Gen released his grip from the beast paw and curled down the Mecha-Ursa massive body. ?Eat this you scrapyard reject!- Gen jumped upwards aiming for the chin ? Drill Dragon Uppercut!- The aura covering his body focused on his hand that spinned clockwise while his shoulder did the opposite.
With his spirit taking the shape of a pair spectral dragon fangs opened with a drill coming from inside the mouth Gen removed the head of the Mecha-Beast with one clean blow, which made the crowd go mad and cheer their hearts out. With a certain flair for showmanship Gen took the head from the ground and threw it into the air, punching it when it was right over his head, making the metallic replica of a Bear head explode over him ?What’s next?- He asked with a blood thirsty grin in his face.
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SamJaz laughed.
These robots were a joke to everyone. Arthur seemed to be having the most trouble with his wolves, but he had no doubt that he would make short work out of them.
He didn't even need to heal anyone.
"Moving on." SamJaz declared, turning round to Arthur as the stairs lowered from the middle of the ruined battlefield. "ARTHUR! WE'LL GO ON AHEAD, SHOUT IF YOU NEED A HAND!"
Turning on his heel, Samjaz headed the way down the flight of stairs, knowing Arthur would catch up soon.
Floor -03
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Having swiftly dealt with the mechanical creatures, the team found themselves already on the way to the third level. Being a disciple of the shadow, Yei took on the responsibility of scouting ahead since she was petite and nimble, and could use shukuchi to escape any binds or cages. Speeding ahead of the party with supido she came upon the outer rim of a volcano, unusually large with lava boiling at the bottom and many earth-like platforms, each at various elevations and replete with their own set of mythical creatures. Orcs with monstrous strength upwards of the 30 ton range, goblins with acidic saliva and blood, imps who breathe fire and finally dark elves who are gifted with speed and agility but also skilled in the arts of melee combat as well as magic. As the kagedeshi entered the volcano simulation she dug her feet hard into the ground, skidding to a stop just at the edge of the rim. "Watch your step, boys.." She gave a vague warning of the dangers ahead to the others, accompanied by a wink, before letting herself fall to one of the earthen platforms below.
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Gen followed Samjaz lead towards the next floor with the other joining in; except for that Wolf guy that was still fighting his mechanical namesakes. Yei moved forward to scout, while Gen was trying to develop some kind of makeshift gauntlets from the Mecha-Ursa paws. ?How’re you doing key-aniki? Weird meeting you here- Gen talked to the only one he had familiarity to. ?Quite the weird group we are, but the most I have to say is…- Gen looked at Yei, checking she was beyond earshot ? What’s the story of nice-ass ninja chick there? If you know what I mean…- the Hot-blooded boxer placed some emphasis by doing a light elbow strike to Samjaz.
The climate got warmer the more they descended, finding up front with a volcano, with several platforms coming out from the red hot magma. Flocks of weird monsters were standing in each platform, and in the other side of the volcanic lake the exit could be seen between the gas coming from the magma. Gen smiled once again with his characteristic Slasher glee ? This seems to be fun! Let’s bash some skulls and get to the next floor- The Brawler from Tokyo clashed his now metal covered hands with a loud sound, like a bell and jumped to the same platform as Yei ?Ninja-chan! Let’s do a quick job of these weird-ass monsters- A group of grey skinned humanoids with dirty locks of black hair and yellow tusk came towards the pair with their stone clubs risen over their heads ready to strike, Gen lifted his guard up to protect himself from the incoming attack
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SamJaz whistled as Yei jumped over the ledge, falling towards the lava to enter the combat. "Mate, I have no idea who she is either, but I know she goes by Yei. More importantly, this place is full of beasties and lava, neither of which are good things."
SamJaz moved over to the ledge, before kneeling down and clicking a different keychain onto his keyblade. This one was dark green with silver highlighting, representing a horse and a star, though the weapon itself seemed to look more like a rifle than a sword, although the key motif was still very much present.
"I'll offer support fire from here, I don't like my chances jumping over lava with orcs about." SamJaz said with a frown, raising the keyblade to look down the scope. He wasn't used to this weapon, it's one he obtained very recently. "Gen, Phantom, you two jump in and give Yei some muscle as she carves our way. Me and Arty will provide cover."
He turned around with a smile as Gen dived forward. "Great to see you again, Gen. Welcome aboard."
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Next stage was made of molten rock and molten face, or at least they appeared like that if that was the right phrase to describe the ugliness. Phantom sees that Yei and the now metal-claw clad boxer went straight for the monsters while Sam remained at the edge offering support. Crown decides to head to his friend first for a question or two, ignoring the demand to support Yei. "Hey Sam, you know that muscled fellow?" Phantom asked as he noticed that they talked a few times in a rather familiar manner. "And i better hope for you that these guys know that all treasures here belong to me." it's stated in a demanding tone. "Well i'll be going up, if you remember well, ash and my suit don't go well together." Phantom's feet lose contact with the ground as he says so, in the same manner they did the nigh he met Sam for the first time.
From up there he had an perfect view of the battlefield and he could target any enemy around. He decides to target platforms that are further away from his allies as he was going to use his explosive cards which meant that even his superb precision and accuracy couldn't prevent friendly fire. On the other hand when he thought about it, perhaps that wouldn't be too bad. He quickly forgets about something like that, he wasn't evil and surely didn't want to present himself in that light. He creates three of his exploding cards, as always on the lowest setting comparable to the condensed power of a few hand-grenades and sends them towards three platforms occupied by the monstrous enemies.
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The wolves pounced on Arthur. He quickly slashed the two that were attacking from the front, and sent an ice shard flying towards the one attacking from the back. He quickly avoided the two that were attacking from the sides, quickly slashing the one on the left and impailing the other one with with six ice shard.?"Great, that takes care of that." As he turned around he saw that the otheres were gone. "Oh, gee, thanks for waiting up guys. Assholes. Well there's no point in crying over spilt milk." He went after the others. As he was going further downstairs, it was getting hotter, and as he entered, he saw that his teammates were fighting over a pit of lava. "Thanks for waiting up guys. I hope I didn't take too much of your precious time." And now we are fighting over a pit of lava. Great. I just hope my attacks don't melt away. Well, no matter. Frost wings materialised on his back. I guess I should stay high and just throw ice shards.
That position, high above everyone else allowed Arthur to see everything that was going on there. Yei and Gen were sorrounded by orcs. Thankfully those orcs seemed too dumb to attack all at the same time, and went in, one at a time. SamJez was charged by dark elves, who seemed ready to rip him to shreds. Phantom just levitated in the air next to Arthur and threw exploding cards. Arthur decided to help Sam who had a sniper, meaning not a good close range weapon, and then help the rest. Maybe he would even get a chance to talk to Phantom.
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SamJaz rolled into a crouch and surrounded himself with fire, before getting clawed again in the face. Rolling back, he shoved a palm out, grabbing a dark elf by the shoulder and forcing it to the ground. SamJaz stamped onto it, gripping its arm between his legs as he grabbed another elf by the neck and shoulder. With a twist of his legs, hips and shoulders, he crunched one arm and snapped another neck.
By now, SamJaz was covered in blood, burns, has a gash up his jaw and almost reaching his eye.
And he was angry.
Angrier than was healthy.
His eyes bled to red.
His hair burned dark.
And dark mist hissed from his finger tips.
He let out an animalistic growl as he began to tear through more skulls like they were styrofoam. He roared in hate, leaping forward like an animal as he tore through body after body.
SamJaz wasn't there anymore.
-[ THANATOS MODE ]-
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Having taken care of three groups of enemies Phantom was satisfied. Then he noticed Sam in a strange state, he was more akin to the monsters they fought right now than to a human and it seemed like he was out of control as well. "The hell is wrong with him now?" Phantom rapidly descends down to ground again standing just across Sam. "Get a hold of yourself man." Crown says in a casual manner and slowly walks up to his friend hoping that he'll stop his rampage.
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SamJaz roared, swinging an arm wildly at the Phantom. While the blow missed by a large margin, it tore through the enchantments around him like they were nothing. The infection seemed to spread, SamJaz's mere presence seemed to eat magic, ki, spiritual pressure, any sort of fantastic was denied by this current form, and his hands could tear through concrete.
He was hunched over, growling like he was some sort of animal. He snarled at the Phantom, glaring at him to assert his dominance, but his rampage seemed to be stayed at the moment.
Meanwhile, the other creatures seemed to reconsider their rapid retreat. Maybe they had an opening to attack the strange beast?
A dark elf threw a flaming spear at SamJaz, who caught it before it collapsed into dust.
All magic would be powerless in stopping this embodiment of rage.
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The stone club crashed against Gen’s guard, and bounced back as the sound of stone pounding metal filled the platform. Not losing a second the Hot-Blooded Boxer charged forward and with the side of his face almost touching the next attack from the grey skinned monster, a brutish punch with his free hand, Gen reached to him with a lighting fast combination, a precise jab to the nose, a powerful left cross to the temple and a massive uppercut to the chin, knocking the monster down. Not stopping there he aimed to a cluster of enemies and used his Raijin Step with a faint sonic boom following him. In a split second he was in front of most of them, except one or two that were closing in Yei, and without doubting for a second he unleashed the combo technique Raijin Jab Hurricane, using the momentum from his sudden dash to increase the damage of his regular Ghost Jab Hurricane.
Thanks to his makeshift gauntlets he didn’t injured his hands as he usually did while using this technique and 5 of the grey skinned beast fell with bruises all over the body and a lot of crushed bones. The Brawler from Tokyo was ready to make his next move when his intuition warned him about something, turning around he saw Samjaz sinister transformation and intuitively his smile got wider ?Seems that key-aniki was holding back in our last fight, I think I should ask him for a rematch- But that moment of inner reflexion took his toll, as one of the beast he knocked down sneaked to his back and pummeled him with a stone axe. Gen went flying sideways and started to fall, luckily his reflexes kicked in and he grabbed from the ledge of the platform
-Hey ninja-chan, give me a hand or I’ll get roasted- shouted Gen barely gripping to the stone ledge
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Crown looks at his enraged friend, he wasn't exactly sure if this was a state caused by an enemy or was it just another mode of Sam. Either wa- "Hey, easy there boy." Phantom jumps back dodging a strike of Sam. He turns his attention to the leftover enemies which have stopped their retreat it seems. But Phantom didn't care about them, they weren't really above canon fodder anyway so taking care of them should be easy enough at any time given. Monster Sam on the other hand...
Seeing that he's ignored Phantom tosses one of his sharp cards at him, he aims at the side of his head to prevent any serious damage but to cause enough pain to get his attention. The second it touched the card evaporated in the same manner it would if Crown had ordered it to disappear. "Immune to magic are we? Well in that case i might as well try to fight hellfire armed with a glass of water." Phantom blinks away as he says so. He finds himself in front of Gen, handing on the ledge, gripping it with both his hands. "Hi there my name's Phantom nice to meet you. And by the way, i'm gonna have to burrow you for a second." Crown takes the man's hand as the says so and then blinks again, teleporting both of them.
They are in front of Sam again, who seems to be busy with ripping apart the opposition. "How about you beat some sense into him eh?" he suggests to the boxer with a warm smile on his face.
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SamJaz roared, lunging forward to smash their skulls together, arms spread wide as he charged.
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"Oh, seems like he wants to give you a hug. I'll be out then." Phantom taps the boxer's shoulder as he says so and then blinks once more leaving the boxer alone to face their fellow friend. He levitates himself as well as a throne that he transformed out of cards to watch the match. It might seem cruel, but hey he couldn't do anything to help, so he'll just watch.
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In a whirlwind of Darkness, SamJaz wasn't there, and then he was, tearing chunks out of the Phantom's throne of cards- which was rapidly falling.
His hands operated far faster than human hands should, a flurry of bestial rage that ate at the phantom's magic.
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"The hell is wrong with you?" Phantom jumps up from his throne when he notices that Sam is clawing at his throne, returning it to the state of the cards which then disappear. Slightly annoyed Crown stands up, the thing about to do he's to do something unusual. Phantom is used to fight with his cards and the cane at times, but as such things would not do any good here. He raises his leg and builds up for an axe kick.
Hitting Sam's as hard as he could he blinks away once again and levitates now at a higher level. "Hope he's gonna get to himself soon enough, this area is getting boring and i'm starting to sweat."
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SamJaz screeched, crawling out of the crater he'd been forced into, before whimpering as he nursed his bloody head, his eyes returning back to the normal brown as he touched his own wound.
"What the..." He asked himself, lowering his hand before letting out another bloodcurdling roar, his eyes flaring back into their bloody red, wounds closing up as he burst into the air, screeching as he tore chunks of stone from the wall and hurled them at the phantom.
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The sight before him made Phantom said. Truth be told he liked Sam the most out of this group here and he considered him a friend of his. Inflicting so much pain and damage certainly wasn't his plan but he just didn't expect his kick to be this effective, after all Phantom's strength barely went beyond that of a human. But there was no use in thinking about it now, a sorry later should be enough. Though there was some happiness in the scenario, Sam look like he was going back to normal. Or at least he did for a moment as he's back in the bloodlusted state again, throwing stones at Phantom who was floating in mid air.
"Give me a break." he sighs as he dodges the first stone. Well at least the wounds were closed and with some luck he wouldn't even remember that little kick when he's back to being himself. Seeing as magic and brute force won't work Phantom decides for an approach which even made him ashamed just because he thought of trying it. He teleports down facing Sam still dodging the projectiles thrown at him. Phantom brings out his biggest illusion yet, he recreates the museum of that night. He probably didn't have much time as it was already being eroded at the place where Sam's feet were touching the ground, but he was gonna try. He walks up to him with hand stretched out like that time. "Name's Phantom, mind telling me yours?" it was the best he could get together. It felt cheesy as hell and he doubted that a cliche as that would work, but hey, the worst that could happen was getting a pretty hard smack to the head, looking back at the kick it would probably be one he deserved.
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Gen was still shocked by the teleportation and his reaction time dropped down, but the moment Samjaz was aiming to throw chunks of stone wall, the Hot-Blooded Boxer got his senses back and his grin widened once again ? I think I’m going to have this fight much sooner that what I expected- Gen whispered just before using the Raijin Step to land right beside the key-blade wielder-Get your **** together aniki! And clench your fangs! - The Battle Chasing Brawler threw a massive haymaker to the unguarded cheek of Samjaz, hoping to knock some senses back on him. He was ready to follow up with a jab, a cross, and uppercut and to end an overcut. His body was completely surrounded with Spirit so he was ready to make some real damage, even if he hoped that his attacks wouldn’t be as effective as he expected them to be. The Brawler from Tokyo completely and utterly ignored Phantom attempt to reconcile with Samjaz, Gen thought that the simpler the solution the faster the recovery and he didn’t knew a solution simpler than slugging things up. He was so into the attack that he didn’t even noticed the illusion casted by Phantom as he rushed with a Slasher Smile.
Gen wasn’t a very friendly guy, but he usually considered those who battled him and gave a good enough fight comrades
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SamJaz was out cold, on the floor. The mist dissipated, his hair and eyes trurned to normal, and the stairway down to the fourth floor opened up.
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Arthur wanted to cast a calm spell on SamJaz, but he knew his attempts would have been futile. Sam was highly resistant to magic. Phantom was making a n illusion of some kind. Arthur had no idea what he was trying to accomplish. Gen was attempting to KO Sam, and Arthur had no idea what he was hoping to accomplish with that. Yei was fighting of hords of monsters. I know she's fast, but I don't think she will be able to last long if I don't help her. Arthur decided to do semething he has never done before. Arthur made many ice shards. Enough to cover the whole battleground and covered the cealing with them. He made sure to leave empty space where Y, Sam, Phantom and Gen were. The Ice shards were thick and long, and you could see a reflection of the lava at the bottom. He then let them all fall. Every monster that would get hit by one of these would die. And there was no way of dodging this many of them. Now that the place was clear, he could help Phantom and Gen. That shard storm left me drained. I preetymuch can't do anything now. As luck would have it, he didn't have to do anything, as Gen's punch left Sam unconcious. Well, that was disappointing. And I exhausted my self for nothing. Arthur flew near the rest of the team. Arthur landed near Sam and the rest of the team so he could rest for a few seconds. He cast a healing spell on Sam with what little power he had, and just sat there, resting.
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Revitalised, SamJaz jumped to his feet. "WHOOO!" He shouted. "Yes, awesome. I got healed and I didn't do it. What happened while I was out and why does everyone look like they crapped a brick?"
This was when SamJaz noticed that his hands were drenched in blood.
Then he saw the hand-shaped holes in the walls.
He put two and two together.
"Alright, explanation." He decided. "Under a hell of a lot of stress, I have drive former based on suppressed parts of my Psyche. You just fought Thanatos, the fastest and weakest one. He's also the stupidest, and the only one you can't talk to. If I ever do that again, point me at the other guys and stay the hell back, then throw a chunk of meat at me when you want me to calm down. When I'm distracted, grab my arm and shove my hand into my face for a few seconds. Probably should have told you about that earlier, but I honestly didn't think that was going to happen. My bad, I'll buy everyone lunch later."
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Phantom sees that he was ignored and that the boxer went with the beat him up method... finally. "Took you some time." Phantom says as he makes his illusion completely disappear to avoid Sam seeing it. It wouldn't have lasted long anyway, it was one of his biggest illusions yet. He walks up to the now normal Sam. "A piece of meat eh? Wish we knew that before." Phantom then starts slowly walking in circles looking at Sam's head. "By the way, how's your head doing?" an innocent smile on his face.
He starts making his way to the stairs, slowly descending.
Floor -04
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Samjaz was on the floor after the first three punches ?Well that was anticlimactic- said Gen with a disappointed look on his face while he cleaned the makeshift gauntlets on of the defeated enemies. Frost Wolf got moved nearby and healed with some kind of magic ?That’s pretty useful, I’ll ask my sensei if I can do anything similar with my Fighting Spirit- the Hot-Blooded Boxer heard Samjaz explanation and watched how the next flight of stairs was available. Most of the monsters in this level ran away after witnessing the display of power that Samjaz demonstrated. Thus Gen was even more disappointed hoping to find a real fight next floor.
The Hot-Blooded Boxer rushed down the staircase, getting ahead of the others. Each step he moved down the place grew darker, until he reached the end of the stairs, were the whole room was pitchblack. He could sense that something was hiding in the dark, but he never expected what was that. A sound started raising it’s volume and sounded all over the place. Flickering lights started to descend from a metallic rig in the ceiling, getting closer to the floor, slowly illuminating by a split second each time, the obstacles in this floor. A mix between dance floor and Japanese garden filled up with ninjas using black outfits that had pyschodelic paint on them that only was visible for a split second each time the black lights flashed. The music was now roaring.
The room had to be forcibly roamed on land, as the rig for the lights stopped any attempt of flying, a voice boomed from the amplifiers to all the newcomers ?WELCOME TO THE RAVE OF A HUNDRED NINJAS! IF YOU WANT TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE KEY FOR DJ HANZO- a beacon of light showed the location, in the other side of the room, of a tower like structure, disguised as a Sakura tree, with the DJ box up there. The music kept playing with intensity and the ninjas, only visible under the split second of black light charged towards the group. ?This is what I wanted!- Shouted Gen as he punched the first ninja that came towards him and prepared to block a blade from the second with his gauntlets
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SamJaz laughed, switching the keychain on his keyblade back to the standard Kingdom Key form. Oh, Yei was gonna love this.
As for how to proceed, it was an interesting situation for SamJaz. He had to take a key to win. Not unlock the door, something he could always do, but actually retrieve a physical key from someone else.
Ninja's began to surround Gen as one fell to his fist and another's blade was blocked by his gauntlet'd fist. Twelve remained a good distance away and began launching shot-glass shurike,- bladed glasses each carrying an intoxicating liquor that, if not getting you wasted, will certainly sting like crap as they pour into your wounds.
SamJaz went for a different strategy. Banishing his keyblade, he weaved past the first wave of ninja and began dancing towards the tree, covering his face with the black bandages he'd used to treat his head injuries. What with the multicoloured blood already sprayed onto his clothing, he should fit right in with the party folk.
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The previous floor proved to be a synch, regardless of SamJaz's compromised state. Gen was the first to the next room and the others soon followed.
This floor would be the perfect opportunity to utilize some more advanced ninpo skills. The first skill, Unshinjutsu, would grant her invisibility and allow her to slip passed the opposition. The second, Ankokutostoshijutsu, would give her sight in the darkness. "Get your 'groove' on, boys." She commented as they entered the venue. "I'm gonna dance with the DJ.. "
Nonchalantly, she shuffled her way through the garden dance floor, sliding past a multitude of ninjas like a whisper of air, as she continued on to DJ Hanzo.
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Gen was in paradise with a smile that could scare of a monster, dozens of slashes and small streams to blood coming out of them covered his body, but he was happy. Some mindless fighting was what he needed, and this Rave Ninjas were providing more than enough enjoyment. - ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA- The Hot-Blooded Boxer shouted as he punched shinobi to submission, thanks to his skills to detect fighting spirit, even crude as his, he could focus on the enemy location even with the flickering lights and laser show that polluted the line of sight of anybody in this floor. Piles of wounded ninjas were forming around him as he gleefully roared with each punch, sometimes even using a much more old-school ?CHESTO!- to remark each punch that threw a ninja like a projectile to his charging comrades. Gen didn’t even bothered to move towards the DJ booth, he was having too much fun, even if he was getting more wounds with each moment that passed, he smiled with sinister joy and a red, bloodthirsty glow in his eyes.
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Samjaz laughed, dropping the dance and walking nonchalantly to the speakers. The whole rave was focused almost entirely on the beast that was Gen. He had to have taken, what, forty-seven down now?
And Yei was headed for the DJ. This wouldn't take long at all.
There was only one thing left for SamJaz to do.
Summoning his keyblade, SamJaz plunged it deep into the speaker, somehow not affecting the bassline it pumped out, until he turned the key.
With a click, the whole song changed key, and increased in tempo.
Samjaz grinned, then began making subtle movements with his hands on the keyblade's handle, an intricate dance that controlled the whole club's sound system.
DJ Hanzo was not in control anymore.
These disks were being ridden by a new jokey.
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The party had already started without him. The ninja chick and Sam advanced to the objective while the boxer was having a good time as it seems. Phantom wasn't really the type of guy who'd just sit around and let others do the work. He makes a few cards appear and cuts down the ninjas that were progressing towards him.
With that he blinks, no more than twice is needed to reach the destination he desires which was next to Sam. "What are you doing?" a rather blunt question but as Phantom couldn't make anything of his movement so he had to ask.
"Well whatever it is, don't have time." he says it without even bothering with the possible answer he could get. Instead he blinks to Yei who was coming closer to the DJ and their target.
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A ninja rave party? Can these floors get anymore crazy. Well, there are 72 more to go. Wonderfull. Just wonderfull. That music was raping Arthurs ears. It seemed everyone was doing something usefull, but Arthur was still weak. Even with his quick recuperation it would take at least a few more minutes for him to recovere completely. Gen was fighting of ninjas, but was getting very damaged in the process. Arthur cast a healing spell at Gen, and made a frost sword in his hand. Yei was sneaking towards DJ whats-his-name, and Sam was... Sam was dancing? But it seemed somehow wierd. Like he was controling the music through that dance. Some ninjas noticed that as well and ran towards Sam, but Arthur gave himself wings and flew infront of him to protect him. He didn't know what exactly Sam was doing, but it doesn't matter. Sam is rather powerfull, so if he's doing something, it's very important.
--------
SamJaz turned around, spinning a wheel of magic, not unlike a record, on the handle of the keyblade that remained in the speaker.
He controlled the dance.
He ducked under the first ninja's sword strike, then leaned forwards and launched a kick into her chin, rolling back to twist his legs around her outstretched arm. Flexing his thighed, he splintered the bones and took her sword, before weaving his way around the next opponent.
He controlled the dance.
SamJaz jumped up, landing on another ninja's shoulder. He kicked this one's face with his heel, before dropping into a roll where he cut the tendons in the legs of three other ninja then rising up to slice another ninja's torso, gutting them like a fish before casting a Cure spell, healing the wound but leaving them unconscious from the pain.
These were rave ninjas.
Their movements were entirely reliant on the beat of the music.
And thanks to taking control of the music, Samjaz controlled the ninja's rhythm.
Making them easier to predict than a controlled landslide.
To the Lord of the Dance, the other dancers may as well be sitting ducks.
He weaved to the side of Arthur, bowing under his frozen wings and kicking another ninja face. "Thanks mate." SamJaz told the frost wraith with a smile, tossing him an ether. "Take care not to burn out. Phantom and Yei should finish this up pretty soon."
--------
It seems Arthur was right. Sam's controling the music and with that the movements of the ninjas. "No need to worry about me. I rest best while in action." He smiled back at Sam while some ninjas attacked Arthur. Studying the rhythm of the music, Arthur was able to predict the movements of his opponents. He blocked one sword with his bing.
The wing broke, but it gave Arthur enough time to run his sword through the ninjas heart and hit another with the other wing, which broke aswell, leaving the ninja unconcious.
He parried the next attack, and sliced the man's throat. "I kind of fell bad for killing these guys. Can't we get to a floor where we are treated like guests, and maybe offered cake. I would never leave that floor."
The next ninja's attack broke Arthur's sword, and Arthur could swear he saw the mask on his face showing a smile. He puched the ninja in the face, which resulted in an instant KO. "Don't get so cocky, weakling." Arthur took a battle stance he learned a while back. He could dodge any attack the ninjas attempted and quickly retaliate, even if he didn't predict their movements. "At least this stuff is getting more and more fun the further down we go, and we're just on the fifth floor."
--------
SamJaz laughed, despite the near-imminent problem.
Gen was running out of ninja's to pummel.
Once he ran out, he'd be coming here for a fresh supply.
Then he'd be looking for some other ninja, but there would be a famine of ninja in the land.
Who's stupid idea was it that a mere hundred would be enough to keep him entertained?
Well, SamJaz supposed that they were never meant to stay on one floor for too long. They'd be moving on soon.
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Phantom was coming closer to the location of the DJ. The tower, looking like a cherry blossom tree was in front of him. Instead of going through the trouble of climbing it or blinking up there Phantom decides that one card will be enough. The force of the explosion caused by the card rips a good part of the tower away making it start collapsing. Before the whole structure crumbled down Crown spotted a shadow leaping off the top. As the dust settled it revealed a muscular figure standing admits the ruins. He had a red scarf, a green outfit, brown hair and a big nail bound to his back. A closer looks also revealed a x-shaped scar on his face as well as a key hanging around his neck.
He was smiling, but he did not say a word. Phantom didn't want to play around for too long so he throws three cards, meant to cut off the ninja's arms and head. But the cards did not connect, they were caught in mid air. Phantom makes them disappear out of the ninja's hands. "Hm, a skilled one it seems." a broad statement made by Phantom, the man only replies with a sharp gaze to signify that he acknowledges Phantom's skill as well.
--------
The Keyblade reformed in SamJaz's hands.
The music changed.
SamJaz turned to see the DJ.
This was no ordinary ninja.
Keyblade held wide, SamJaz charged, preparing to launch his thunder magic at the massive nail on his back.
--------
Phantom tilts his head to the side and sees Sam charging in. Phantom already had an idea how to deal quickly with this so he wouldn't tolerate his friend jumping in. But before he could do lighting raced past and struck the ninja's nail. It seemed like he was going through great pain yet his face expression did not change. After the shock finished he was still standing, some burn wounds were visible and it seemed like his reaction time was down and he couldn't move his hands accordingly to his will but he was still standing. Phantom was gonna end the fight quickly enough. Four cards appear in his hand, though only three are seen by the silent ninja. The fourth one unlike the others was an explosive one and it was covered by an illusion. He throws them in a manner close to that of before. The three razor cards are aimed at the shoulders and the neck, but the fourth one went straight for the ninja's abdomen.
It happens all again, a spinning motion to catch the three incoming cards, all of the are snatched out of the air before they can do any harm. Despite the conditions he is in the ninja managed to do that much, but Phantom was sure that he could tell anyway that the cards were not thrown with the same speed and force as the previous three, after all that wasn't needed in this scenario. The fourth one was thrown just a second after the three making it so that it's impact is going to "lag" when compared to the other three. Another confident smile on the man's face which was full of pride now, trying to signalize that Phantom should stop trying and that this move won't work of him even in this state, but that expression changes in just a split second. A violent explosion on the ninja's chest and he's sent flying across the floor, crashing into the ruins of his DJ temple.
Phantom walks up to the body and uses his cane which he had just made appear to lift the key from the ninja's unmoving body. "That was easy." a simple statement full of arrogance as Phantom catches the key in his hand and makes his way to the next floor.
Floor -05
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50 bloodied and bruised ninjas lied under Gen feet, he was completely and utterly filled with small cuts and bruises, yet his almost dumb blood knight smile was so large it seemed he would eventually pop out a vein. Covered in blood and teeth from ninjas, even with a couple of neon shurikens piercing the skin of his arm, only shallow wounds. With a yank and a squirt of blood the shurikens were off his arm, and the Burning Soul Boxer rushed forward like a bull punching anything in his way searching for another cluster of enemies, only that most of them were trying to run away from him rather than facing him. Either way he wasn’t impressed by them he hoped to find a more difficult fight next level, for some reason he could smell it.
As the DJ was defeated, the group moved to the next room, only that Gen took a time as he had some other things on him and slowly walked towards the exit while deattaching a couble of blade chips, a chain around his left leg and a dart in the back of his neck, thus he was last in line for the next level -**** this was a great fight, I hope we get more like this, or even harder!- Gen exhaled before speaking to nobody in particular, thinking out loud.
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Arthur and the rest of the team went down the stairs. "That was fun. I wonder what's next in this crazy place."
As the team stepped on the next floor, they were greated by an anouncer "It seems, we have some last minute enteries. Well, ladies and gentleman we should give them a quick rundown of the track. First, you will race down a path filled with swinging guitars. Make sure you don't get hit by these, or you will be cut in half.Second, you will have to jump across these very bouncy balls. Falling off of the balls means falling onto a bunch of spikes and you wouldn't want that now, would you. Third, you will have to outrun our spiky balls. I beleve that tells you everything you need to know about that obstical.Next, you have to run through big gilotines. Don't you just love the french and their beheading techniques. As your final obstical you will have to ride these spining logs, across this pit of flames , and then you will reach the finish line. All this while listening to some good old metal from these speakers on the sides. You also have to race against other participants. The speakers don't only serve to play awesome music, but will shoot you if you attempt to leave the race track. Don't think you're through just yet, however. At the finish line awaits you a floor made out of speakers that play very,VERY, loud music. There you have to fight Otto , and everyone else who reached the finish with you. If there are such people. Otto isn't a pushover, so don't think this will be easy. And the vibrations made by the speakers/floor don't make the thing any easier for you. If you kill Otto, only 6 of you can pass through, so don't think you don't have to kill the other participants. Have fun and a good race."
That was a long speech-Arthur thought. So, now they had to race through the track and kill some guy called Otto, who has machine gun guitars. And the worst part is that there is another fire pit. Like the volcano wasn't enough. "I think we should get this over with."
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SamJaz frowned a the rules. There wasn't a team number limit in the rulebook he read, but he supposed that this was a floor only rule. But on the bright side, there was only five in the party right now.
He couldn't wait to get to the foot court floors. Those apple judges sound like a right barrel of laughs
"Might be worth pointing out that the more I use my drive forms, the more I can use their abilities untransformed." SamJaz told the team as he began bouncing on the balls of his feet. "In fact, the more I use Thanatos mode, the more I am able to speedblitz across short distances."
He sprinted forward, then leapt into the air and vanished.
"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!" SamJaz shouted playfully, squatting on top of one of the giant guitars as it swung over the race track, before turning and jumping ahead.
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"Quiet arrogant of you Sam. After all if anyone, i'm the acrobat here." Phantom dashes after him as he says so. He literally lets himself fall backwards right into one of the guitar shaped axes. Just as it's about to separate his head from the rest of his body, his whole being is replaced by a blue flash. In the next moment he was sitting on the second axe while it was swinging back and forth. "This is gonna be a walk in the park." he says to no other than himself it seems. He has to blink yet another time, this time appear on the other side of the swinging axe. The reason for this was not a hazard that was mentioned to be on the track.
A huge guy, long raven black hair and a beard just like that. He had leather jacket with spikes on it and a skull on one shoulder. In his hand he had a huge hammer, a face on one end. Each time he swung it the face opened it's agonized mouth and released a fireball, which is what happened just a moment ago. It was aimed at Phantom of course, but he took it rather playfully. "Hey, isn't that cheating?" Crown asks in an innocent tone while giggling, obviously invoking a case of hypocrite humor as he was blinking all over the place just a second ago.
Uninterested in the long haired fellow Phantom stays true to his scheme of this floor and blinks once again, placing himself exactly in front of Sam on the bouncy ball, facing towards him. "Guess you have to keep up with me on this one Sammy-boy." he jumps backwards making a roll in mid air landing safely on the next one. "I'll be waiting for you at the finish." he shouts to both Sam and the whole team and than teleports further away.
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SamJaz laughed, bouncing across the last of the balls before slamming his keyblade into the ground. With a twist of the handle, the metal structure opened at the seams, and the tube became two swinging quarterpipes, with a large gap between them for the large spiky balls to fall into.
It would also have the nice advantage of ruining life for any other racers behind him and Crown, except for ninjas, frost wraiths, or hot-spirited teenage brawlers, since they would be able to jump from the bouncy balls to one of these bridges easily enough. The rest of the racers? not so much.
Now for the nice, pleasant waltz to the guillotine.
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Phantom watches Sam from afar, it seems he'll be the second one to arrive as he could not spot any other member of the team yet. He was at the finish sitting at makeshift table obviously made out of transformed cards. The tea he was drinking was also made the same way. It was a crude way, despite the cards being able to change into anything that wasn't too complex or too big Phantom couldn't still couldn't enjoy it as the real deal.
"Wonder how he's gonna deal with that beheading machine." Phantom murmurs the words as he takes a sip from the tea cup. In his case the guillotine didn't even move as he teleported through it. It didn't really matter, compared to some of the places he robbed this whole thing felt like a child's playground to him and he was sure that Sam wouldn't have much more trouble either. The other ones were the ones that worried him though, could a bulky boxer really handle acrobatic acts such as these? Crown even felt a little bit bad, maybe he should teleport back and carry some of his allies over with his powers. But when he thought about it, he'd rather wait here to smash his win into Sam's face and the others in the team were competent enough not to die... probably.
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Gen got there last and barely listened to the rules, as he was more focused in removing the dozens of ninja equipment still attached in some manner to his body. Thanks to his Fighting Spirit most of the wounds were already closed and as not one of them was deep enough scars wouldn’t be an issue, yet the stench of blood covering him was quiet powerful. He started late and rushed through the obstacles with more luck than skill. His keen, even superhuman senses warned him about the incoming danger, such as sharp blades, and the Battle Chaser Boxer avoided them by a hair, sometimes even getting small slashes as he didn’t evaded the full blade. Gen’s strength was always the offensive and he didn’t give dodging too much thought. He was almost sorry for not listening to his mentor ?That Wind-aniki would murder me if he saw how crudely I’m evading this attacks.-
Gen thought that as one of the makeshift gauntlets was sacrificed to block one of the blades. Then he jumped in the bouncy walls with ease, this was just simple footwork for him. The Spiky balls parts was a tad more complicated that what he thought, as the massive spheres clashed into each other changing their trajectory- **** this ******* things- and other insults came from Gen’s mouth as he dodged with extreme effort the ever changing trajectory of the Spiky Balls. The guillotines were easy, except for the last one, that ended up taking away the other gauntlet, as the Hot-blooded Boxer was about to get hit and tried to punch the blade, thankfully the recoil sent him towards the correct side, but he lost the gauntlet and ended up with a big cut in his hand. Gen got to the platform ready to fight with his guard up even with his right hand bleeding out.
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"AW COME ON!" SamJaz shouted in anguish as he rolled through the guillotines, summoning a small dragon to carry him over the flames and landing on the speakers before confronting the master thief. "Can't you let me enjoy my newfound super speed in PEACE?!"
He sighed, sitting down at the makeshift table as he turned around to face the rest of the group. They shouldn't be that far behind, but still.
--------
"Come on now, don't be a bad loser." a grin appears on Phantom's face as he speaks the words and hand Sam a cup of the tea.
"Hope the others will arrive soon, i'm burning to see what kind of freak this Otto is." Phantom raises his cup, thinks for a second and then speaks up again.
"You know, you promised me all kinds of treasure here, yet all i found was scrap and trash. Think you owe me one if you don't get lucky during the next 72 floors." despite the "serious" matter (serious for Phantom) he says it in a casual and calm tone.
--------
SamJaz grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a packet of tictacs.
"Ultimate weapons my friend." SamJaz said with a smirk. 'Fancy an invisibility cloak? Or how about a hat that shows you a full sonar scan of everything within half a mile radius? Maybe you'd like a swing with excalibur itself?" He chuckled. "I get dibs on any keyblade related merchandise we find, and I get lunch along the way. Let everyone else get at least one ultimate weapon each, and you can have whatever else takes your fancy as far as I'm concerned. Which reminds me, who owes who lunch now?" He asked Crown. "I keep losing track, though I think I owe you pizza?"
He shrugged. "Either way, you asked how I know Gen. I kicked him in the head in an underground fighting arena over in Osaka, then refused to finish him off. Then I took out the machinegun referee. Then we fought to a tie. Good times."
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Hey that wasn’t what exactly happened!- Gen roared to Samjaz ? I gave you a serious whopping and you just kept using those fancy magic tricks of yours to heal yourself!- The Hot-blooded Boxer moved until he was face to face with the Key-Blade owner ? Want to give it another go?- Gen eyes were serious, but after a second of tension he softly, for him, punched Samjaz in the shoulder and his expression lightened ?I was just messing with ya Aniki, but you owe me a proper rematch, no freaking magic next time- The Battle Chasing Boxer looked around and asked them- So what’s our next move? I didn’t quite get the rules before…-
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SamJaz laughed. "We wait for three more people to come through the finish line, then we fight Otto. I'm gonna head back a little to make sure the right people come fourth and fifth place, then we'll get this done."
He smirked back at Gen. "And me? Fight without getting healed every two minutes? You're having a laugh."
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Yei casually darted past the swinging guitars, only having her keikogi grazed by their sharp edges from time to time, then leaped across the bouncy balls with little difficulty. She could see the others ahead but she was in no hurry, they had to fight some boss at the end, anyway so getting there first potentially meant wasting more energy and she wasn't sure if SamJaz would keep healing the group. Especially since the potential to get into internal strife was rising with the rules changing.
The spiky balls wouldn't present much of a threat either as she could easily resort to Bakemonnojutsu, the ghost art that would allow her to phase through solid objects. The same could be said of the guillotines but the spinning logs, however, she decided she would entertain those obstacles rather than use shukuchi. Employing supido, she accelerated across the fire pit on her spinning log at an unreal rate and found herself among the others who had gotten there. A few of them seemed to already know each other and it was evident by the conversation they were having as she approached their position.
"Congratulations, boys. You managed beat a ninja in a race to the finish line."
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-Bah it wasnt that much of a challenge Ninja-chan, but truthfully after seeing you in action I wouldn’t say no to a fight with you, what do you say? After this is over we can rumble a couple of rounds?- Gen smiled smugly to the deadly ninja, not really knowing how utterly moronic or dangerous place he was getting too. But that was Gen always thinking with his fists rather than his head
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SamJaz wasn't sure how much longer he could hold the gate for Arthur. He'd already left him behind once in this expedition and he didn't want to do it again.
Still, time was moving on, and he could feel the speakers beneath his feet begin to pulsate.
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"Are you hitting on me by asking me if you can hit on me, Gen-san?" Yei said with a titter. "Well, you're not bad yourself, I suppose. I'm just worried that if we scuffle you won't know when to call it quits," she teased back. After all, he did ram his head into the mecha on the first floor when he couldn't use his fists anymore. A fight with the shadow princess would require a little more tact.. Turning to SamJaz she offered a quick reassurance of the remaining party member,"I think Arthur can make it, he seems just as capable as anyone here if he really needs to be."
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Arthur had no problem with the obstacles. All it took was some ice barriers to stop the guitar axes from spliting him into two, wings to fly over the bouncy balls, more barriers to stop the spiky balls. The gillotine and the fire pit weren't much problem either. When he finally arrived he saw that the rest of the team was already there. "Sorry I'm late guys." Arthur however wasn't alone. At least 15 more guys survived the obstacles. And they all looked like metalheads. "This will be tough. We could try and make these guy our allies untill we kill Otto and then kill th..."
He was stopped by the voice of the announcer coming from all sides, even from underneath. "Well, well. It seemes our obstacles weren't enough for you guys. Well no worries. Please give a worm welcome to our favorite musitian, Otto." Suddenly, a door on the other side of the speaker floor opened. Out came a tall man with long red hair and two guitars in his hands. "If his solo performance doesn't blow you away, the his machine gun guitar and axe guitar, will. Now let's crank this into high gear!"
Suddenly, loud music started playing. The floor was vibrating underneath them, and it seemd like they were standing in the epicenter of a level 9 earthquake. At least the music is better then at the rave - Arthur thought.
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SamJaz glared, bracing himself against the floors vibrations. He switched the chain on his key blade, andit became a long, silver pole with a criss-crossing symbol to form the teeth.
The hand guard was rounded, one side white, and the other black. The chain was made of velvet, and a small mask dangled at the end.
SamJaz stabbed this new key blade- the Velvet Key- into the air by his side, and a blue door formed in the air, then vanished as soon as he touched it.
But there was a different look in his eyes now.
Still arrogant. Still guarded. Still observing.
But the change, while subtle, showed what had changed.
He had obtained a new Persona.
"Who wants to see a real earthquake?" He asked, summoning a card as he switched the chain to Undying Soul and slammed his keyblade through the floating card. "RUAUMOKO!"
The little copper maori god strode forward amongst the speakers, uncaring about the vibrations, then drove his spear into the metal, and then all the room began to shake.
Guitars fell into lava.
The audience pit began to sink.
The lighting began to flicker.
The music jarred, and the heavy speakers began to sway.
"IMITATIONS PALE TO A REAL EARTH SHATTERER, DON'T THEY?" Samjaz shouted over the noise. "YOU'RE LOOKING AT A MAGNITUDE ELEVENER HERE! NICE AND CONTAINED THANKS TO ME, BUT DO YOU THINK I AM IMPRESSED?"
SamJaz was silenced to a bullet in his shoulder, followed by one in his ribcage, then another in his collar, then his neck, and then the middle of his face.
At this point, SamJaz stopped falling an his wounds vanished.
A second bullet went through his head, and Ruaumoko charged forward with his spear, ready to impale Otto.
Then the third, fourth, fifth and sixth bullets came through, each shot warranting another wave of Ruaumoko's ice, fire, and spear attacks.
The pity with automatic weapons is, once you pop, you just can't stop.
And SamJaz is immune to headshots.
--------
Yei was glad her teammates weren't holding back on all their abilities. SamJaz uttered some words that Yei didn't hear. It became apparent very soon that he was able to summon. The Ice Wielder, Arthur, could formulate all sorts of ice constructs. Phantom could teleport in addition to his card projectile manifestations and Gen was.. well, he didn't seem to have anything to hide. The shadow sister removed a digital diary from her keikogi and punched in the information she learned up to this floor.
An earthquake erupted then, nearly sweeping her off her feet. SamJaz's repertoire of skills and abilities were remarkable, he was able to summon a god to do his bidding!
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG BANG BANG BANG*
For a moment Yei's composure was rocked by the sight of SamJaz taking several bullets, more than one of them to the head, but the Key Blade bearer remained on his feet, seemingly unhurt.
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Crown watches Sam's little show. It was nice to look at it though Sam was getting rained down with bullets, not that he cared as it seems. Otto stops for a second, operating a quick switch on his trusty weapon. "This might be a shock for you." he twists his head and a maniac grin appears on his face as he says so.
The result when he pulled the trigger this time was quiet different from before. Instead of bullets came small concentrated balls of electricity. Which disappeared when they hit a surface delivering quiet the shock in the process. Phantom throws a card at him casually, aiming for his head as he's concentrating on Sam, but it never reaches him. It was shot down mid air by one of the lightning bullets. The man was a better quickdraw than Frank from the first floor was.
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SamJaz was sent flying by the electrical attack- one that his current Persona had a weakness to.
Thankfully, Phantom had otto distracted long enough for SamJaz to switch Persona to Unicorn- not one of his more powerful Personae, but one with numerous advantages. It could cure almost any poison, it increased his speed, made it easier to dodge bullets and escape from stucky situations, but these weren't what SamJaz had in mind for this battle.
This Persona made SamJaz completely immune to electricity.
He took a ball of electricity to the shoulder and shrugged it off. Granted, this made him a lot more susceptible to the cold in this state, but it wasn't like he was now made of rubber. It's just electricity couldn't hurt him. And cold could hurt him a lot more.
Hopefully Arthur wouldn't decide to turn traitor, but SamJaz chose to ignore that unlikely scenario, walking slowly towards Otto with his keyblade in hand, hoping to fuel his distress at finding his weapon useless against this foe so he would be in an absolute state of panic when the melee came.
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Otto switches back to normal bullets when he notices that the electricity has no effect. He wasn't panicking at all, but was spraying bullets all over the place like he's mad, now using the second guitar as well. Phantom sees his chance this time and throws a card now with more speed and power. The result is one the guitars being cut in half. The fire stops. Otto is down on his knees crying tear after tear.
"You'll pay for this." is all he says as he literally plugs himself in. His muscles grow to twice the sizes and he looks more like a gorilla now, unable to given anything from himself than screams and cries. His other guitar went from a gun to a massive giant axe for close combat purpose.
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-Hitting on you or hitting you? I want to fight you Ninja-chan, ya seem strong and that’s the only thing I care about fighting people that may be or are stronger than me, or much more skilled.- Gen cracked his neck and knuckled advancing towards the enemy and when he was giving his back to Yei he finished ? And about the first option, ye aren’t my type, you lack two important attributes- And turning around he gestured a as if was copping a feel of imaginary and ridiculous big breasts. The Hot-Blooded Boxer once again turned to face Otto, he didn’t seemed impressing , yet the moment Gen was about to charge and punch the living daylights out of him a sudden tremor shook the whole Level, and seemingly the epicenter was Samjaz. While trying to stay standing the Battle Chasing Delinquent shouted at his comrade ? What the ****? Are you doing key-aniki? Are you trying to get our asses killed?- Gen would have continued insulting but Samjaz suddenly got shot by Otto.
Burning rage filled Gen mind, clouding his judgment. Even if he didn’t look like he cared, the Hot-Blooded Brawler was loyal to the ones he fought in the past and end up in good terms, like Samjaz, that he considered a friend, and he was easy to get pissed. With a savage roar he advanced towards Otto that was shooting balls of lighting to anybody that dared to advance towards him. Unlike his calmer companions Gen didn’t had time for finesse and instead of avoiding he was hit consecutive times pushing him backwards, while leaving a trail of his feet clenching to the metallic floor, friction burns on the floor. The Spirited Boxer was too immersed in rage to even notice that Samjaz was okay and attacking Otto. Gen rushed once more towards Otto with death glowing in his rage filled eyes, he sustained an incredible amount of wounds after the lighting balls and now Otto was changing to regular ammo.
That didn’t even last long as Phantom destroyed one of the Level Boss guitars, something that made him angry. He plugged himself and gained a massive boost in musculature and size, using his remaining guitar as a battle axe. At that point he noticed Gen rushing forward, roaring like a wild beast. The Fighting Spirit around Gen, which usually was a skin thick layer of heavily concentrated Spirit just over him now seemed like a unbound flame completely soaking the Battle Chasing Delinquent like if he was aflame. Otto used his newfound strength to punish Gen for the insolence of getting near him and with three swings to the face he stopped the Boxer in his tracks. The attacks were more than enough to take Gen out from his frenzy and allowing him to notice that all his comrades were okay. He saw the fourth swing coming and rolled away from the attack, which landed in the floor causing a massive dent. ?What the fuck just happened?- Asked Gen puzzled while feeling the pain beating in his head.
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SamJaz put a hand on Gen's shoulder, staying his approach as he observed the transformed Otto. "Gen, I'm going to pump you up with healing magic." He warned. "Don't move or that concussion might move. I'm then going to switch to a support Persona and get a scan on this guy to figure out his weak spot. You aren't able to get close enough to deal any damage, Phantom's cards aren't doing enough damage for him to care, and I'm running low on mana. Now, when I hit zero, I get wicked fast and damn near impossible to see for a few seconds while I recharge, but I'd rather not do that here on something with massive armour and can crush me in a single hit. We're leaving this one to the fast, agile guys that can deal heavy piercing damage." He concluded, nodding towards Yei and Arthur.
Again, SamJaz's personality had changed slightly. Each Persona represents part of his fractured psyche, and as he switches which shard has prominence over another, his personality changes. WIth the focus away from the fun-loving Jacks and based on the calm, analytical Unicorn, SamJaz is figuring his opponent out and working out how best to use the team around him.
Unicorn's a team player.
"Yei, Arthur, sorry to give orders like this but you need to get up close and shove lots of stabby into his torso, under those gaps. Phantom, keep providing cover, Gen, stay and be healed. Let's do this."
--------
Arthur listened to Sam's orders. He smiled at Sam "Well, well. I didn't expect such a level of planing. You are really full of surprises." Time to get this performance to a close. Arthur quickly ran towards Otto. Otto tried hitting him with the axe, but Arthur was too fast. "What's the matter you big ape. Can't hit me?" Arthur made a frost lance and stabbed Otto in the chest. Otto grabbed the lance and crushed it with his hand. He swung his axe, but Arthur ducked at the last moment.
Arthur made a frost sword and stabbed Otto again. With the sword still in Otto, Arthur made another one in his other hand, and was about to stab Otto, but Otto grabbet him by the neck And held him up high. Arthur was trying to get some air into his lungs, but Otto was holding him too tightly. Just as Arthur though he was about to pass out, he saw a smile forming on Otto's face.
Otto threw Arthur up into the sky and got ready to swing the guitar upwards at Arthur. Arthur knew he saw going to be split in half if he doesn't do something right now. At that moment a metaforical light bulb appeared above his head. He made wings on his back and flew right above the guitar. He cut of Otto's hands witha frost sword, that quickly turned into a mallet. Arthur pushed the axe at Ottos head with his foot using the momentum of Otto's swing. He hit the guitar/axe with the mallet.
The next thing that happened was, Otto being split in half. Each half fell to the other side. Arthur felt proud of himself. He wasn't as weak as he though he was. But I probably would have been able to do this if the rest of the team didn't help me. Arthur picked up the guitar that reverted back to it's old form. He was going to keep this as a suvenier. Arthur was able to sense some magic coming from the axe and he guessed that was what let Otto transform it. Arthur reached out with his own magic, and set it to the frequency of the guitar. Arthur felt more powerful now. The control over his ice magic was better and the ice got an improvement to durability.
--------
Floor -06
And here they were going down the stairs again. Phantom was the last on this time. He was occupied by thoughts, focusing his gaze on Arthur. Before he even noticed they were in an open and wide room again, out of the dark staircase. The area before the was a beautiful landscape. Hills, a forest, a river and many animals. And it wasn't even an illusion or special effect it was all real except for the sun and sky which were arteficial. A little bit strange to make something like this in a room beneath the earth, but looking back at all the other floors, this one wasn't the craziest anyway.
It was a scene everyone could enjoy, they probably wouldn't even start looking for the enemies straight away. That wasn't on Phantom's mind though. Already for some time he had a face that was showing open displeasure. He looks at a bird in a tree nearby and creates one of his cutting cards with no apparent reason. Just as there was no reason for it's creation there was non for throwing it either, yet both happened. While reason was not that a target surely was. The card passed most of his teammates, cutting something off. On the ground was some black hair, from the looks of it, it belonged to no other than Arthur. "That guitar there, i would be thankful if you put it down on the ground." it's said a cold and monotone voice yet still making the hostility and threat of it clear.
--------
Arthur stepped on to the next floor. He was stunned by how the floor looked. It was beautiful. Arthur was amazed and didn't pay attention to anything around him. If there were enemies here, they could hace killed Arthur and he wouldn't have even noticed. But a few seconds later he hear a sound passing right next to him.It sounded like it came from behind him. Arthur noticed something black on the floor. It seemed like his hair. He also noticed a card stuck into the ground not so far away. The card disappeared. It could have only belonged to one person. Arthur turned around. "What's the big idea." Phantom wanted Arthur to give him the guitar. "No way. It's mine. If you wanted one maybe you shouldn't have destroyed the other one."
Phantom was just stairing at Arthur. Arthur could see the killing intent coming from Phantom. What's this guys problem? I was about to change my oppinion of him and he trew a f***ing card at me. Not only that, but he cut my beautiful hair. If he does that again, I'm shoving this thing right up his a**.
--------
Gen finished healing, and unluckily for him the fight was over. He stood up with evident disgust and went directly to the next stairs. Pleasant scenery more akin to a shoujo anime than real life was visible from the stairs, just like in the first level; the sun and sky were artificial, yet the ground and the vegetation were quite real. Phantom attacked Frost Wolf, something about the guitar Arthur took from the last Level as spoils of War. The Hot-blooded boxer didn’t care he was looking around searching for the next fight, when from one of the sides a door opened, falling like a drawbridge into the level grassy land. A group of heavily armed knights came out and took a perfect formation, even starting to prepare some fortifications. In the other side of the vast level, from a wall that mostly touched a lake inside the massive room, sliding doors opened revealing Viking Drakkars barging into the waters accompanied by the sound of Battle Horns. The horde of Vikings jumped from their boats, at least most of them, as some stayed in the largest boat.
As The Vikings charged and the Knights prepared for the clash, a powerful bell-like sound reverberated all around the room and both sides of the incoming confrontation suddenly stopped, as if time itself had decided to take a break. Only the group was out of this temporal stasis and a voice coming seemingly from everywhere talked with a sing-song voice.
To cross this ancient battlefield and get to the next stairs, the marked enemies you must face.
Each one with a red cross in their body, each one holds the currency of this battle.
Each one you need to defeat, after finding them in this warring field.
Each one holds a coin, get a dozen and faces their lords, one in room and one in boat.
Each lord holds a ring, that’s your key to get the hell out of here.
But beware if the opponent holds no cross, a torrent of fire will scorch your bones-
The voice stopped and time once again moved forwards with the troops charging in to each other. ?No races this time! Another brawl!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer happily rushed to battle without caring much about the rules. That would prove to be his undoing….
--------
Arthur turns around and says something, but Phantom does not play any attention to it. Instead another card is sent flying, this time cutting the man's cheek. "Didn't you hear me, i said leave it there." again it's said in the same robotic voice.
"That guitar is the very first thing i encountered here and that has a value of any kind for me, leaving it to you is out of question. And more importantly, i'm sure Clare would love to see that, she always had love for toys like that."
He was dead serious about this, he was going to kill that man if things don't go as they should. It's a pity that Phantom has to display this much hostility towards the others. He was actually quiet eager to make friends and he would rather have situations like this end like that night with Sam but the situation at hand did not allow for that.
--------
Phantom threw another card at Arthur, this time cutting his cheek. This man really want's to fight me, doesn't he. Then I'll give him what he wants.
"You want the guitar? You really want it? Then come and get it."
Arthur sent a shard at phantom. He didn't care where it would hit him. He tightend his grip on the guitar and it turned into the axe Otto used. Arthur then ran at Phantom. He was going to cut him in half. He knew Phantom could telepot so he mate sure not to lose site of him. If Phantom suddenly disappeared Arthur would fly up into the air and send shards at the place he was at the moment of lift off.
--------
Phantom threw another card at Arthur, this time cutting his cheek. This man really want's to fight me, doesn't he. Then I'll give him what he wants.
"You want the guitar? You really want it? Then come and get it."
Arthur sent a shard at phantom. He didn't care where it would hit him. He tightend his grip on the guitar and it turned into the axe Otto used. Arthur then ran at Phantom. He was going to cut him in half. He knew Phantom could telepot so he mate sure not to lose site of him. If Phantom suddenly disappeared Arthur would fly up into the air and send shards at the place he was at the moment of lift off.
--------
Phantom notices that Arthur's gonna be stubborn on his part. He was fine with it, forcing him shouldn't be too hard. He throws a card that cuts the shard flying at him in half, the card continues, it's new target being Arthur himself. Crown then makes his cane appear, and dashes off right after the card, he'd teach the man a lesson or two when it comes to taking treasures he and even more Clare might like.
--------
Phantom decided just to cut the shard in mid flight with a thrown card. And the card was still going, It would have probably hit Arthur if he hadn't rolled right under it. Phantom was right behid The card. He had a cane in his hand. Arthur didn't remember seing it before, but he might have just not been paying attention. So he want's to give the guitar to some girl called Clair. That doesn't give him the right to throw cards at people.
"Can't you just go to a flower shop or a jewelry store and buy her something?" Arthur swung the axe upwords, hopeing Phantom wouldn't have enough time to teleport away. He was probably wrong. Then again that cane might be very durable and block the axe. "Would you really kill me just to give a girl something she hasn't seen before. You must be terrible in bed if that's the case." There's nothing like taunting to make someone lose focus and make a mistake. Arthur hoped that's exactly what would happen.
--------
While both of his comrades were fighting Gen rushed through the battle avoiding Vikings and Knights searching for one with the Red Cross, he found a knight that used a white surcoat with the cross in the middle. ?Hey you with the cross in the chest and the tin in the head, come to daddy!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer rushed forward and with perfect coordination he delivered a 1-2 combination while avoiding being skewered by the lance the Red Cross Knight was carrying. The Knight was pushed backwards by the intensity of the blows but his armor, which seemed old, managed to withstand a hit that would punch a hole through a brick wall. Gen noticed that something was off right away as the man should have been thrown at least a couple of meters in the air after his straight, but sheer weight was what left him standing, only moving a meter backwards.
That tipped him off, yet Gen didn’t understood. All the warriors in the mock battle were robots with hyper dense armor-like Chassis. The Battle Chasing Boxer only thought was that the opponent was a tough guy rather than anything more deep and once again he attacked, releasing a barrage of attacks that only caused minor dents and scratches to the armor surface. Nobody was attacking him, all the other warriors were programmed to fight only if fought against. Another spear attack and this time Gen had the awful idea to block it, as it wasn’t a piercing lunge, but a attack with the spear shaft. The blow send him flying over the battlefield, even breaking through some of the lances of the Knights, landing nearby the entry ladder with all his body hurting like hell.-Fuck! That was fun, I may need to go again to ask him to teach me how to do that- Gen spoke in a strange sing-song voice, but when he stood up and tensed his body and his expression changed from innocent to sinister and his ever present battle grin appeared.
-Better yet, I’m going to teach him how you do it right, by pummeling him through the ceiling.- The Battle Chasing Delinquent rushed into the battlefield hoping to get the Knight location right and find him. His eyes didn’t caught the details of the other fights in the battle, were oil and machinery were spilled instead of blood and guts
--------
SamJaz slammed his keyblade into the flying card, then launched a beam of light at Arthur, then span around to launch another beam at Phantom.
Muscle lock. This technique gave every single muscle in the target's body horrendous cramp for a few seconds, longer if SamJaz kept it focused on the target, like in his battle against Gen.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" He roared, titling his head to dodge an arrow before turning around to point the weapon at the knights. "DON'T YOU START AS WELL! I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE!" SamJaz flung a hand, levelling it above his head. "WITH YOU PEOPLE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN!"
SamJaz pointed at Phantom. "You. Get dibs on non-keyblade related sweet loot. Plundering trophies from individual battles is free game to the one who claimed the kill. Grow up."
He turned to Arthur. "YOU!" He shouted. "HAVE BETTER TASTE IN WEAPONRY! SERIOUS!"
Another arrow was launched at SamJaz, and he shot a fireball back. "WAIT JUST A SECOND!" He shouted back at the knights, exasperated.
He turned around to his teammates. "Now. Either you settle this the way we did back in nursery, or NO ONE. Gets. The guitar."
SamJaz had switched Persona again. Titan. He was not in a mood to mess around and he was willing to smash some skulls together if it meant getting people to calm down. "I've had one team turn on each other and fall apart. Now believe me when I say I will not hesitate in bringing this entire hell scraper down if it cools your heads. Gen, back me up on this and oh hell he's already fighting the robots isn't he... DAMMIT!" He shouted, throwing his keyblade to the floor, only for it to reappear in his hand with a cloud of red sparkles. "AND NOW I'M OUT OF MANA! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAPPY!" He shouted, turning around and charging into the fray slightly faster than the human body should be able to run.
---------
Arthur rolled to the side to avoid the card flying at him, an expected outcome. Phantom was already above him and as a means of defense the man swung the newly recovered weapon at him, while giving off some cocky provocation try. It wasn't very effective though, Phantom was never impressed by verbal insults and it wouldn't change now. Sam's lines from that night even had more wit, yet they didn't throw Crown off balance so there was no hope for this one to do something like that.
The axe was blocked by Phantom's cane. Before he does anything else Sam jumps into the fray and tries to stop the fight. An impressive speech is given by him as he tries to calm the two of them down. Phantom looks at the scene for a second and then without changing his tone or expression replies. "I am sorry Sam, you a friend of mine and it would be sad if i caused you any trouble but there is no help to it. If the weapon was less generic and something i already have i wouldn't bother, but this is the only thing worth something so far and as i said it's more a gift for Clare than something for me and i believe you know how i act when she's involved." Phantom spins backwards and throwing five cards at Arthur, a sixth one hidden by an illusion, none of the would cause explosion a sign that Phantom wasn't serious yet. As he the spin finishes, he disappears out of Arthur's sight. He blinked 15 meters up in the air. From there he creates and throws 10 additional cards with telekinetic power without touching them, they were meant to seal off the man's possibility to dodge the other two. Phantom once again sits in his makeshift throne crossing his legs and looking down upon Arthur.
"You picked the wrong fight, boy." a arrogant grin on his face as he declares.
---------
The guitar was blocked. Bah, the guitar is a bit too slow for me. And Phantom ignored Arthurs taunts. Maybe I should try again, only this time I'll ame at somehing he is weak. "Look, I don't think I should tell you this, but... The reason you have to do this isn't that you're bad in bed, but it's just that I'm that good. Just tell Clare Frost said high. She will know who I am." Before Arthur even said the whole thing Phantom threw five cards at Arthur. Before Arthur could do anything Phantom disapeared. Arthur couldn't see where Phantom was so he decided to protect himself from all sides.
Arthur made a frost dome around himself. Just as he did that he heard a muffled voice coming from above. "That's what you think. I'm just warming up." Arthur made a lot of shards right above the dome and fired them at the place where he thought Phantom was. At that moment he figured out that Phantom might just teleport into the dome. Just incase he made a bunch of ice shards around himself and and the inside of the domes walls. Let's see him try and get in here now.
---------
"OI!"
SamJaz slammed his foot into the dome wall.
"DON'T!"
SLAM
"YOU!"
SLAM
"IGNORE!"
SLAM
"ME!!!"
SLAMSLAMSLAMSLAM
"I'LL GET BACK TO YOU IN A SECOND AL!" He barked, pointing his keyblade back at phantom. "NOW YOU WILL CEASE AND DESIST NOW, STOP SCREWING US ALL OVER FOR YOUR STUPID GUITAR AND MAYBE I'LL GO BACK UPSTAIRS AND SHOW UP MY LEET GUITAR-GUN REPAIR SKILLS, BUT FOR NOW, SHUT IT!"
He slammed his boot again into the dome. "ARTHUR! OUT! NOW!"
--------
Some more insults, this time probably aimed at a nerve of Phantom as Clare's name was said. But things as such wouldn't throw him off balance, he could deal with that after he reduced the man to a corpse like state. A dome is formed around the man protecting him form the incoming cards which cut themselves into the ice but don't penetrate it. A few shards of ice are launched again, Phantom casually tilts his throne to the side dodging them.
"Guess i'll just have to smoke you out, little rat." he creates six cards, all of them explosive but not as his previous ones. So far he has only been using the weakest ones, this was the next level they made everything used before look like children's toys when destruction was concerned. He sends all of them towards them dome. One is them is faster and it's used to create a hole in it for the others to enter. After that happens there won't be anything left of them dome, nor Arthur, but he also feared that the no parts of the guitar could be ever found again either.
--------
Something snapped in SamJaz's head.
"FINE!" He shouted, stomping off from the two guitar-obsessed idiots and looking to find Gen. Yei was most likely doing something useful. That's what she would be doing in this situation.
It's what SamJaz should be doing, but he's just too mad to care.
"Red crosses are extra points, kill the robot knights, hunt down their bosses." SamJaz said, switching his Persona to pyro jack, giving him a full immunity to fire before slamming his blade into the neck of one knight that burst into flames.
SamJaz walked through it, not caring only to charge in like a madman, storming the battlefield like a typhoon.
--------
Phantom threatend to smoke Arthur out of the dome. That gave Arthur a bad vibe. He decided to strengthen the dome just incase. That turned out to be a good idea. Arthur heard a lot of explosions around himself. The dome was no more. If he hadn't strengthend it he would have probably been a gonner. This was madness. He could have kept this up for much longer. But Phantom didn't appear to have been getting tired either. I'll try one more thing.
Arthur suddenly put ona relaxed posture. He wanted to make Phantom relax a bit too. That would make him just enough suspectable to a surprise attack.
And a surprise attack it was. There is no way Phantom could have predicted Arthur would create a ten ice sharde right beind his floating throne. The shards started flying at Phantom. Either he was going to dodge them somehow, or he's going to be turned into swiss cheese. If I hit him I'll just heal him. Or Sam will do that. It doesn't matter. He's sure to give up if his hit. Then again if his hurt I might feel bad for doing that to him. But if he isn't he'll probably still insist on Arthur giving him the guitar. It's a lose/lose situation for Arthur.
--------
The blast is gone and Arthur is still standing as it seems, the dome is gone though. Didn't really matter to Phantom, he remembered that back at the volcano feats like this would tire him out. Phantom on the other hand did not have to worry, unlike Arthur and Sam he was not limited by any kind of mana supplies. Filou would always take care of anything, it didn't matter how many cards he created they were endless.
Arthur took up a stance that looked like he was ready to stop the fight, a lie it seems. The moment he done so Crown's left eye reacted, changing in color and exposing the true nature behind Arthur's action.
A giant card covering his whole back and throne is created behind Phantom, the sound of shards shattering behind him can be heard.
Two cutting cards are created. The two are hidden behind an illusion making it look like no have been created. After that three ore explosive ones, now visible to the eye of Arthur. All of them are floating in the air with the two cutting ones one the left and right side of his throne. All five start racing down to Arthur. The two cutting ones are considerably faster and will arrive before the other three and also have a spin to them which will allow Crown to alter their course, they were aimed at the edges of Arthur's legs, he was gonna make him kneel. The explosive projectiles had two were not only cover up but would also damage Arthur, even if he dodged the invisible pair, because of their area of effect.
--------
Gen once again was flying over the battle this time landing in the opposite side of the room, near the two sockets for the rings to be placed in. This time around he managed to score some real blows against the opponent, but this time around the lack of articulations in the Knight-like robot catch him by surprise and by doing a 180 degrees turn with its waist the opponent managed to score another blowback enhanced strike that pushed Gen out of the battlefield. The Hot-Blooded Boxer was beyond rage he was even leaking Fighting Spirit like a raging flame around him. ?I’m going to deck ya in the schnozz!- Gen roared as he rushed towards the last place he saw the Knight as he flied away.
He found it as he recognized its back. Without doubting for a second he attacked with all his might, only to find out as the mechanical warrior turned around, that it was the same one but lacking the red cross. A piping sound started and a massive explosion engulfed him and several other robots that exploded with equal strength. The blaze of fire and the kinetic energy released by the explosion sent him in a flaming arc, landing exactly in between Phantom and Frost, first getting hit by a couple of exploding cards and then crashing against the floor. Gen was completely K.O and covered in black ash.
--------
SamJaz strode through the warzone, the knights were actually backing away from his as he approached the two pilllars.
He looked at the ring shaped holes inside of them.
Key holes. That's all they were. Unordinary shaped keyholes.
Well, he'd been ignoring the rules so far. Why start now?
He raised his keyblade over the first pillar, then stabbed it right in the hole, turning the key in before drawing it out and repeating the process with the other pillar.
Blue sparks danced around SamJaz and he knew his Mana was restored, even to the point where he could cast a projectile revival spell, locked onto Gen.
Locking on was a double edged sword. On one hand, the spell would home into the target. On the other, everything he wasn't that concerned about became an unimportant blur.
Still, everything on this floor that would want to hurt him treat him as death incarnate. He would survive this one.
----------
The guitar is thrown towards Phantom, but he just makes it float in the air using his levitation ability. The two cards perfectly hit their target, cutting Arthur just above his ankle on both sides of his legs, serving his nerves. In that state he would be helpless, a half decent dodge couldn't be made. Phantom's face goes further into a sadistic grin. He was gonna use this before the rat can react, he creates an explosive card stronger than the weakest ones. Instead of the usual telekinesis used from card throwing he throws this one by hand. As soon as it leaves it's hand a massive explosion can be heard, it's not an effect of any of the card but just the shockwave created by the force of the throw.
The card races past the other weaker three as if they were standing still. They are scattered around and disappear just from it passing by. It was a sure kill, there was no escape. But then Phantom's realizes something. Was he really doing this for Clare? Yes he loved her to the point that he'd do anything for her, but was it really that? Perhaps the Filou was affecting him too much. He was about to kill a man, a man who was his ally just a moment ago and he didn't even have a reason to do so. Not only that but the seemingly wounded and unconcious Gen was there as well. He was about to take two lives for nothing. It made him feel ashamed, even if he needed there were better ways to get that damn guitar.
He snaps out of his thoughts and does it as fast as he can, he makes the card that is about to spell doom for Arthur and Gen disappear. Just in time as it was no more than a hair away from striking it's target.
"Guess i went a little crazy there."
----------
Ignoring the drama, Yei focused a concentrated on assaulting the knights with her Wakizashi, employing the use of supido and shukuchi to speedily deliver a series of slashes followed by teleports and more slashes. She was taking measures to reduce any chances of the others being surprised by the fodder so they can freely work on the bosses. After successfully reducing their numbers she appeared by Gen's side and remained there to provide him cover.
----------
"Happy now?" SamJaz asked Phantom, watching Gen and Arthur bleed out. "Do you honestly feel like a better person after what you just did?"
Samjaz sent healing spells into Gen and Arthur, before picking them both up and hauling them towards the elevator. "You know what? I don't want to hear it. I'm gonna ship them up to the medics up top and when they come down again just hope they don't ask me to tie you down so they can have their pound of flesh."
He pushed the button with his kneecap, then shoved the two bodies into the lift, letting the door close on them and taking them to the top floor. "I doubt that they will, but seriously. Don't do that again."
He put a hand on Phantom's shoulder as he walked past, however. "Thanks for stopping before you did something irreparable. I mean that. Thank you."
Now what else needed to happen before they went down? Well, whatever it was, Yei looked like she had it under control. By that he meant that he couldn't see her anywhere, but a lot of robot corpses. Yep, she had it totally under control. Now where were those stairs down?
----------
Phantom comes down from the skies as his throne disappears.
He knew that he wasn't exactly himself back then but that was hardly an excuse. It scared him a bit, he wasn't like this usually. It was the same worried expression he had because of what Sam said back then in the bar, just more intense. "I guess i owe the two a big sorry from my side of things." he says it in a voice full of shame contradicting his usual pride self. He hears the words of thanks from Sam but they don't really help. "Yeah, i wouldn't be able to face myself, you or anyone here if i went beyond that."
He walks over and picks up the guitar still in axe form with it's blade buried deep into the ground as it had stopped levitating a while ago. "At least i got a present for Clare." said in a disappointed tone. He starts walking next to Sam looking for the stairs leading down.
Floor -07
----------
There was a screech of excited young ladies.
"Now girls, calm down." A larger, yet very short older woman declared. "You are not to harrass our guests. You are still students here at the fashion fairy academy and you are to treat our models with respect."
She turned to face the newcomers. "WELCOME!" The lady shouted, fluttering her wings. "My name is merryweather and oh my WHAT are you wearing?" She asked. "No matter, we'll have you looking absolutely MARVELLOUS in just a jiffy!"
----------
Gen woke up in the hospital up in the main building as they finished patching him up. ?Get up you’re ready to go- The doctor, or at least he seem so with the scrub and the chinstrap, said to him as he helped him to get down from the bed. Most of his wounds were healed, only the deepest had some bandages. Even some old wounds were healed as the pain he felt in humid environments was gone. He thanked the medic and took the lift. He peeked under his bandages ?Fuck yes! I’m going to have some wicked cool scars after this- For him scars were more like achievements from a videogame than traumatic injuries. The door opened and he got once again into the battlefield. ?You’ve been waiting for me? How sweet of you- Gen spoke with noticeable sarcasm ? We should be sluggin’ this fuckers not standing here with our arms crossed- The Hot-Blooded Boxer walked towards the battlefield but he stop in his tracks and turned around facing Phantom ?Hey, next time I get hit by one of your cards I’ll knock yer teeth out! Understood?- Gen eyes shifted from playful to sinister with a smile to match the glare he gave Aleister. He then gave his back to him and moved towards the battlefield with his Fighting Spirit forming around him stronger than before. Every time you knocked him down, Gen only came stronger. He found that the battlefield was calm and the stairs were activated so he followed Samjaz towards them, flanking him, he seemed pretty pissed about losing his opportunity of slugging Knights and Vikings, but at least he was ignorant of the fact that the quick resolution of the level was Samjaz doing.
----------
An innocent smile and slow laugh escape Phantom at Gen's comment, sweat going down his forehead. He was about to say that it wasn't really his fault that Gen got hit, but Phantom wasn't in the position to try and shift blames. He slowly walks up to the massive man and then speaks in a low melodic yet determined voice. "Don't really want there to be any hard feelings here, i'm deeply sorry for what happened."
Phantom then takes a step back and creates some room between him and Gen. He stands there completely still, his body firm and tense as if he was a solider in front of his general.
"Here, a free punch on me wherever you desire." a very calm statement considering that he's expecting to be run over by a raging bull in a few seconds.
----------
SamJaz blinked at the absurdity of the situation. Ignoring the fact that Crown just asked for his livelihood to be pulverised, he was more concerned about the nature of the level.
The place was stark white, and there was a lot of faries, maybe two dozen, and they were flitting around taking measurements of himself, Phantom, Gen and Yei. "Alright, what is going on here." SamJaz asked. "What the hell do we need to do to proceed?"
"You sirs, need to take more pride in oyur appearance!" One fairy, the one called Merryweather, wearing blue, declared, jabbing him in the chest. "Honestly, tattered clothing, bloodstains, dirt, you look an absolute disgrace! You can't be running around this tower looking like that! It simply will not do!"
Other fairies berated Gen for similar problems, although Yei and Phantom seemed to be getting off lightly, as they still seemed to look presentable.
"Now, both of you, go get a wash, your new attire will be prepared shortly." Merryweather ordered, her fairy lackeys starting to push SamJaz and Gen towards a side room. "Out, out out! And make sure to wash behind your ears!"
With that, she turned to Yei and Phantom with a smile. "Now, sir and madam, could I perhaps offer you something to drink? I assure you we won't keep you long."
----------
Gen stopped in his tracks when he heard Crown proposition. He turned around with a deadly glow in his right eye and moved towards him with a smile more creepy than sinister. ?Ok, if you ask me so kindly to punch you I’ll do it- The Hot-Blooded Boxer firmly stood in the ground taking a stance to help him send a powerful straight directly to Phantom’s face. Fighting Spirit focusing in his fist that was covered by a dense and radiant blue aura, that fluctuated around the hand of Gen ?You asked for it Kamen-chan! Torauma PUNCH!- The Brawler From Tokyo sent a might strike aimed directly to Phantom temple, a powerful wind raised up around them as the strength behind it was more than enough to shift the pressure in a small area, even some cracks in floor showed the blow strength. An attack like this would surely decapitate an elephant or something even bigger, and Gen knew that well. But at the last moment he stopped his blow and only a massive wind current, powerful but inoffensive was shot towards Phantom face, pushing his hair backwards with a might gust.
Gen started laughing out loud, all the tension broken after that “attack” and as he did with Samjaz he lightly, for his standars, punched Aleister in the shoulder ?You really thought I was about to slug ya man! HAHAHA! I wouldn’t do that we are in the same side! And I’ll remember that until you make me forget it by attacking somebody in the group again….- His eyes went sinister again - Ya understand me Kamen-chan?- Gen left chuckling while he moved once again to Samjaz side. There he was guided by some really annoying fairies he wanted to slug, yet at this point he had learnt enough of Samjaz to know when to exercise some finesse. Gen didn’t had friends, yet now he was in this place, one of the funniest places he had ever visited with a bunch of people he was starting to care about. His mentor always told him that a Spirit Boxer path is always lonely, but the Hot-Blooded Boxer never took great care to follow the rules or traditions. Having some people to relay on and spar from time to time wouldn’t be so bad.
He was taken to a shower were he cleaned hectoliters of blood from his skin while new clothing was being prepared by the fairies. After a good shower, Gen took the clothes left for him. A sleeveless white shirt with a Tiger on it, a couple of light gloves that let his fingers out, but with some kind or reinforcement under the fabric and Black cargo pants with combat boots. He was good to go and ready to keep punching people to the floor.
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And wouldn't you know it, but in the cubicle next to the boxer, it turns out that someone liked to sing in the shower.
"I hate a moral coward, one who lacks a manly spark, I just detest a man afraid to go home in the dark, I always spend my evening where there's women wine and song, but like a man, I always bring my little wife along!
"I'm a member of the Midnight Crew, I'm a night owl, and a wise bird too, Home with the milk in the morning, Singing the same old song! Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun Bring your wife and trouble, it will never trouble you Make her a member of the Midnight Crew!"
The music, however, was interrupted by SamJaz turning off his water and leaving to get dry, before the song resumed as he dressed again.
"I never shall forget the night I made Six Rapper's Run, Although I didn't have a knife, a blackjack, or a gun, I proved myself a hero of a very high degree, I ran for home, and six of them, were running after me! Iiiiii'mmm, a member of the midnight crew..."
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Yei found herself in a white room full of fairies whom began taking her measurements. Merryweather, a fairy in blue, offered Yei and Phantom a drink then. "That would be delightful," Yei responded to the madam politely. "It'll keep me occupied while the boys get cleaned up." Revealing her digital diary she took note of the altercation between Arthur and Phantom. From that experience she learned that he had a soft spot after all.
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Already clean and clothed Gen came out to find Yei and Phantom. With his characteristically lack of finesse he moved towards Yei. ? Hey Ninja-chan! What’s your story? What are ye doing here?- The Hot-Blooded Boxer added ?My name is Gen by the way, Gen Shishioh-
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"My story? If I told you that, dear Gen-san, I'd have to kill you." The shadow princess remarked as Gen came up on her, freshly bathed and dressed. Knowing the statement wasn't something he'd never heard before she continued, "As overused as that line is, it's the truth. In any case, you clean up rather well." She took a sip of her beverage then, silently giggling at the sound of someone singing in the showers.
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-Bah, I like the scent of blood, but truth to be told sometimes the blood makes you lose friction and connecting punches while your knuckles are slippery is kinda tricky…. Only overcuts work fine and those cause a bitch of a strain to yer hands- Gen talked about something so horrible with calm voice, even bored. He may be a good guy deep down, but that was under several hundred layers of grade A Blood Knight Tendencies. Sniffing the air and with another classic display of a brutish lack of manners the Spirited Boxer said to Yei. ?Ya could use a bath yourself Ninja-chan, ya stink like a dead dog or something…-
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The brawler was either crazy, stupid or trying to gauge the shadow sister's patience. It didn't matter. the 'nin' in 'ninja' has many translations, one of which happens to be patience. Nonchalantly, Yei simply ignored the disrespectful remark and resumed typing into her digital diary.
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Arthur woke up in a bed."What the..." How did I end up here. Let me guess, Sam though I needed to get pached up. I guess he was right. That Phantom is a beast and possibly a moron. Then shouldn't I hate him or something? That is not what Arthur felt towards Phantom. Quite the contrary. He felt respect. Even though he's just an acrobat he was able to almost kill Arthur. "I think I actualy like the guy. " Arthur thought that he should ask his teacher to train him osme more. He really needed to get stronger.
Arthur got up. He left the room he was in. He was it the receptionist again. "Ah, I see you're feeling better. The boxer that was with you already left." That was something Arthur expected. Gen doesn't know when to stay down. "Thank you for healing me." Then he got into the elevator and the receptionist lowered it down to the floor his allies were at.
There he saw a room filled with fairies. "What is going on around here." The fairies were taking measurements of Phantom and Yei and Arthur could have sworn he heard water coming from the a room near by. He heard Sam singing in there. That almost made Arthur laugh like a maniac. Instead he just put on a grin. Some fairies started taking Arthur's measurements. "Hey, what do you think you're doing." "We're doing something you should have done yourself." "It's not my fault we have a blood thirsty maniac in our team." Arthur didn't really mean to say that, but he said it. Actually, he would probably call Phantom that until they leave this place, not as an insult, but as a joke. Phantom probably wouldn't give a damn if he ignored comments about Clare, so there won't be any hurt feelings.
"Hey, no daydreaming. Go take a shower." " That might be a good idea. I reek. Hey, why are you doing this? I though every thing here was out to kill us." Arthur didn't mind that very much. As he said, he wanted a floor where he could rest, drink tea and possibly eat something. Maybe chocolate. The fairies didn't answer his question. Instead they just pushed him into the shower room. "I hope those guys don't mind waiting for half an hour. I really like my showers."
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"Yeilin Kichise, daughter of a Korean Businesswoman and a Japanese policewoman, raised by her grandmother until her death, then shifted around through various boarding schools throughout her life, most recently the Kashima Shrine Academy, where you obtained the rank of Delta Kageshojo. You've been there about ten years, and it shows." SamJaz said, walking out and towelling his hair, dressed in his new combat fatigues. "The moment you locked away your identity, I was able to unlock it, as Al over there can testify. Ooops," SamJaz said, looking at Phantom, then shrugging. "Eh, Al's fine. Secret identity's safe and to be honest, who cares? Thanks for the get-up Merryweather." He added, turning around. This cstume was black and red and yellow, with far too many zips, straps and pockets for his own good, but either dispite or because of that, he looked pretty damn good in it, albeit someone who looks damn good at his final fantasy convention.
"Oh, don't worry about it, it's our pleasure." Merryweather said, waving the compliment aside. "That will be ten thousand dollars, if you please."
SamJaz paled. He should have known. These were ruthless businesses and were there to make a profit. That said, this was too awesome to pass up on. It felt good to be wearing something fresh and clean for once, but he wasn't about to ask for help, despite the fact that money was one of Phantom's superpowers.
He dug into his pockets. "I have... two thousand, five hundred and sixteen munny aaaand.... a lot of yen." He said. "Will that do?"
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Arthur finaly got out of the shower. Steam was coming from his body. Arthur always though it was ironic that a frost mage likes warm showers. As he got out of the shower he was handed clean boxers, jeans an a shirt. Arthur got dressed but left the shirt unbuttoned.
The fairies asked him for 5000 dolars. "What?! You just gave a shirt and jeans. I could buy those for 500 dolars. This is a ripoff. Damn you." Arthur handed them, 5000 dolars and noticed that Sam was having the same problem only they were asking for 10000. Sam disn't have enough. The faries were about to say something to Sam and they didn't look too happy. Arthur stepped in. "Wait, wait. There's no reason for this to turn into a battle. I was really hopeing we would get to relax. I'll add my money to his." Sure I'll be pritty much broke, but at least I get to rest. Besides my teacher will give me back what I spend. She'll probably make me run a million laps around her house, but it'll be worth it."You guys wouldn't by any chance have any chocolate, would you? I'm really hungry."
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SamJaz looked ready to bake Arthur a cake and name his first born child after him.
Then the panic sunk in.
"What about Gen?" He asked, clearly panicking.
"Oh, we just needed him to model a few other outfits with his incredible physique, he's earned his pay." The fairies announced with glee, two of them opening the stairway downwards. "And don't worry Mister Arthur, all our services come with a complimentary fruit basket, free of charge! Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you again here at Merryweather Designs."
SamJaz took his fruit basket carefully, subtly sniffing it, and began to tear into a pear. "Thanks ladies. Autobots! Roll out!" He shouted, leading the way down the stairs.
Floor -08
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"A fruit basket? But... but... I wanted chocolate." Arthur started tearing up. Why must they be so evil. Arthur took his basket and started going down the stairs.
As he stepped on to the next floor he saw a cave. What's a cave doing here? Arthur went inside to check it out. The cave was filled to the brink of exploading with gold. Arthur was overjoyed. He would get all his money back. Unless Phantom doesn't take it for himself. At that point Arthur realised Phantom didn't talk to him since he came down the fairy place. But he didn't care. He was about to get rich. YAY! And then he noticed that the cave was filled with pirates, aswell. Less yay. At least they aren't mechanical pirates. We had way too many robots.
Arthur made a lance in his hand and ran towards the pirates who drew their cutlasses. Some even drew their pistols, but Arthur wasn't worried. I won't let them deny me the gold. I didn't give away all my money for nothing.
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"PARLEY!" SamJaz shouted, stepping aside with his hands in the air. "We don't want any trouble. Just your money."
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Phantom, still at ease that his face didn't end up worse than that one time when he was locked up somewhere in South America and where they were beating him for 24 hours straight with no apparent reason... other than being suspected to have stolen the Portrait of Suzanne Bloch. Well it seems the thing with Gen was settled and he could move on with it.
And Arthur arrived as well as it seems. They were already advancing to the next floor and Crown decides to speak up now. He slowly approaches Arthur and taps him on the shoulder once, he moves his hand behind his head and says the words in a rather nervous tempo "Hehe, sorry for that thing a while ago buddy." he extends his hand after that, while putting the other inside his suit. "Noticed you had some money problems up there, this might help and it's the least i can do." he throws a bundle of cash at Arthur.
Now that this was done he could move on with slaughtering whatever was on the floor but he wouldn't forget the strange incident any time soon. "Perhaps i should tell it someone..." Phantom thinks to himself, regarding the fact that he's hiding that he wasn't quiet himself back then.
He blocks a few bullets fired at him with five normally sized cards and then throws them using telekinesis, his hand still being on his chin and him being lost in thoughts.
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Arthur impaled a pirate with his lance and used him as a human shield. When a pirate stopped to reload, he pushe the end of the lance that was sticking out of this guy into him. Then he jumped back slashing any pirates that attacked him with their cutlasses with a frost sword.
As he stepped out, Phantom tapped him on the shoulder. He apologised to Arthur and even gave him a large sum of cash. "Er... Thank's, but you didn't have to do that. I'd forgive you even without you bribing me. Besides, The cave is filled with gold. I'll get all my money back and then some." Phantom didn't seem to notice what Arthur said , so Arthur just ran back into the fray.
He parried a pirates sword with his own, and threw a shard at another one that was about to shoot him.Then he quickly pulled his sword across the neck of the previous one. He turned around and stabbed one in gut. At that moment a fireball exploded behind him. The gold started flying in all directions. "Damn it Sam, what are you doing. That's precious money."
However he heard a man saying something behind him "NO, MY BOOTY. YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YOU SCURRRRRRRRRRVY DOGS. I, CAPTAIN SCURVYBEARD, PROMISE YOU THAT."
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"NO, MY BOOTY. YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YOU SCURRRRRRRRRRVY DOGS. I, CAPTAIN SCURVYBEARD, PROMISE YOU THAT."
SamJaz lunged over the pile of gold and parried the flintlock out of the way, then locked blades with the captain's cutlass as the gun went off harmlessly. "A duel then." SamJaz grinned. "One swordsman against another. Your flintlock against my magic, my keyblade against your cutlass." He grinned, pressing the advantage. "Consider this a mutiny."
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"Yee watch too much Pirates of the Caribbean if yee think yee scurvy dog can beat me." Scurvybeard said. he fired his gun at SamJaz and attempted to hit him with his cutlass from the side.
Arthur was trying to catch as much gold as he could while it was falling down from the sky. So much that he didn't notice when he bumbed into something. Unfortunately, the thing he bumped into was Scurvybeard himself. Scurvy fired a bullet at him as well, but Arthur got out of the way too quickly. He made a sword in his hand expecting the pirate captain to attack him but he was too busy fighting Sam to pay much attention to Arthur.
At that moment Sam was attacked from behind by a pirate that survived Sam's fireball. Scurvy said. "Yee fool, did yee really think us pirates fight fair. Yee shoud go back to school, lest yee be robbed at sea."
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SamJaz dropped his keyblade, raising his hands in submission. "You win." He said, his face calm and fearful. "Just... make it quick. One bullet through the head. That's all I ask."
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"What are you talking about? Kill you we aaren't going to kill. This is just a show." Scrvy said. "Did you really think we were real pirates? Oh, come on, pirates are sooo out of style. If you want to go further down you can just take the stairs. And bring as much gold as you want with you. We don't need it. We have tons."
Well that was weard. Arthur didn't know what to say to that, and was pritty sure no one else knew what to say.
"Er... Sorry for killing your friends in that case. We though you were trying to kill us." Arthur said once he regained the ability to talk.
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SamJaz blinked. That... was odd.
"You won." Captain Scurvybeard explained as medics ran into the room, casting healing magics and performing surgery on the corpses. "No worries, but the pirates would have blown your head clean off key man. And we all know what happens when someone shoots you in the head."
SamJaz put his hands down, slowly. "We're not like those cowboys from up top." The pirate behind him said, lifting his eyepatch to reveal a perfectly good eye. "We're just here for the game. No need to go overboard. Badum, tish!"
The captain groaned. "Johan, that pun was so awful, you're getting the first round tonight." He grunted, before leading the pirates away. "Carry on kids, have fun! And watch out for the tenth floor. That one's a doozy."
Floor -09
The stairs went down through another artificial sky, but all that was visible was a lot of water.
Lots of water.
The stairs continued down, well below the surface of the water, and a stone structure was visible below the waterline.
Switching his Persona to Oracle, SamJaz could see that it was a maze, some parts completely waterfilled- although there were air pockets throughout.
The labrynth itself wasn't too difficult, the problem was the water. Lots and lots of water.
"Alright." SamJaz eventually said. "Who can swim?"
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SamJaz left the showers and revealed some of Yei's personal history. She wanted to clock him for it but stayed her hand, "You're ruining my mystique, Sam." Instead she jested. The boys paid their fees for new clothes and the group moved on to the next floor which was filled with pirates and gold. Rather than fight the pirates, the kagehime looted. That wasn't what she came for, and she wasn't that interested in prizes or money, but it was all there, so she took some. She didn't even bother to see what the others were doing until Captain Scurvybeard revealed it was all fun and games, causing some of the others to apologize for killing his friends.
The ninth floor was comprised mostly of water. The shadow disciple twisted her fingers into various forms of the 81 sacred seals which opened her conscience up to higher levels and allowed her to hold her breath for extended amounts of time and see with clarity. She then relied on Bakemonnojutsu to raise her vibratory rate, and phase through the physical plane as if a ghost. Moving through water was as simple as moving through air.
The seaworld maze was littered with old water mines, resembling those from World War II, and sharp reef at the bottom.
Yei was confident in her own ability to navigate the intricate labyrinth so she turned to her companions and offered a nod of good luck.
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SamJaz watched as Yei swam down, effortlessly reaching the maze's entrance as if she didn't need to breathe.
"Any other ideas?" SamJaz asked the team, before putting his hand into the water.
Warm, slightly salty, not chlorinated. So freezing it and smashing it isn't an option, neither him nor Arthur have that much freezing power. Also, Yei wouldn't take kindly to being made into an icecube.
"Nothing for it then." SamJaz said, banishing the keyblade and, with a deep breath, dove into the water, swimming downwards and relying on Oracle to lead him to the entrance with the most air pockets near it.
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-I don’t think I could punch it right?- Gen said joking as he gestured a punch to the surface - I know a guy that can punch holes in oceans a let them stay like that but he is in Indonesia or something like that, and I don’t have the same rank in the Spirit Boxing Federation- Once again Gen broke the rules of the SBF, as like Fight Club you couldn’t talk about the SBF to outsiders. The Hot-Blooded Boxer talked about Bal Kajid an Indonesian Spirit Boxer that had a lot of tricks with water, such as punching the humidity from an opponent until he fell from dehydration. -I can hold my breath for 15 minutes if needed and I know how to swim- The usually confident face of Gen changed when a goose bump ran through his body as he remembered the hellish training he was put to by his Mentor to swim, like crossing from the main island to Hokkaido by swimming.
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The shadow sister descended into the deep, cool waters. Her Bakemonnojutsu gave her free movement in the brine, as it significantly lessened her material density. Water became like air, and though it was cold, part of a ninja's training involved achieving a meditative calm and poise after enduring hours of the gelid downpour of a certain waterfall deep within Japan's wilderness. There was also the 5th gesture of the 9 sacred hand seals which represented complete control of the body's functions. By invoking it, a ninja may withstand extremes that no normal human could fathom.
As if that weren't remarkable enough, the shadow disciple's digital diary also possessed preternatural qualities. The ninja have long been a part of Japan's obscurities. In the old days they served feudal warlords as weather forecasters, star readers, time tellers, fortune readers, spies and assassins. Now they're involved in some of Japan's industries. With their metaphysical understanding of forces, energies and nature, the ninja have knowledge that traditional science, especially western science, has yet to discover. In this, Yei's digital diary could withstand an impressive amount of pressure or energy; and could even phase through matter just as she could. So like the shadow, it remained fully intact and operative.
As she delve deeper, the kagehime held up a closed fist to indicate to those who were not readily able to proceed that they should wait for her report of what lay ahead.
Winding through the maze she came upon the first air pocket at 15 meters from the beginning. The second appeared approximately 30 meters from the first. The maze seemed to go on forever, she noted, as she continued. Air pockets would usually come every 10 to 35 meters and the paths of the enigmatic labyrinth were laden with mines that one would have to carefully weave through.
45 minutes after her perambulation she returned the surface of the entrance where the others were and delivered her report.
"If anyone needs help getting to the other side now's your time to speak up. Once we're in there you boys will most likely have to keep moving if you wanna make it to each air pocket alive. I have some degree of elemental control, if you need fire for warmth I can provide it, but again, let me know before we begin. You won't be able to talk in there unless your lungs are big enough to hold enough air."
(She's probably talking to everyone except SamJaz here
)
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Phantom looks at the watery scene before him. He pretty much didn't do anything on the last floor and it didn't look like he'd have to deal with any kinds of enemies here either. He listens to Yei's report of the water floor and her offer to help anyone who needs to be helped. "Thanks but don't need it, i'm sure i'll deal with this." Phantom replies nearly instantly.
It wasn't like he had no reason to do so, on his little theft travels over the world he swum in every ocean and while searching old ship wrecks he ended up with no oxygen more often than not. He had to avoid enemies under water a few times too so the mines shouldn't be too troublesome as they were static. The only worry he currently had was the fear of not being able to dry his suit after this and that it might get dirty if he encounters something underwater. Even if there was some kind of problem he could always blink in one direction till he doesn't get to an exit or air pocket.
Shortly after he jumps into the water, he decides that following Sam is the smartest thing he can do.
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"Good luck Phantom. I highly doubt your cards can help you breath under water."
Arthur made a helmet out of ice. He made it transparent, and there was enough air in it for Arthur to last long enough. This will be easy.
He dove beneath the water. Apperantly, Yei forgot to mention the underwater charges in her report. Arthur though he could just throw shards at them and make them explode. That might be exepatble on air. But, water is much different. Doing that would mean damaging all his internal organs. That is not something he would want. I just have to avoid them then. Easy.
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SamJaz burst into the first pocket, gulping the delicious air as he climbed onto the stone.
He'd been thinking.
This was where the pirates had their sea battles. So some organisations used multiple floors.
He put his hand out and launched a fireball, starting a small campfire to warm himself up with. He'd wait for others before moving on ahead. A quick feel of the air vents told him that he wasn't in any danger of suffocating from stale air down here.
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Gen jumped in the water and easily stroke under water. After training in the icy waters of Hokkaido, water like this wasn’t a problem. He used Breaststroke style to swim and with his amazing musculature the task was easy as pie. He reached the first air pocket and got up, warming himself with the fire ?Hey Key-aniki, how many levels had this place?- Asked Gen as he, in a classical move, ignored most of the explanation in the first floor
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"Very well," she acknowledged Phantom's confidence with a nod and saw the rest of the team were already on the move. Waiting for the rest to proceed, the kagehime tailed them from behind. After considering their impressive feats up until this point, she decided the mines weren't noteworthy for her to report.
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Arthur got out of the water into the air pocket. His helmet disappeared. Sam was sitting next to fire. "Mind if I join you stranger?"
Arthur sat next to Sam. "So Sam, what do you think. We've only beaten 8 floors not counting this one. If we keep going at this rate, is there a chance we will be done in only one day?"
Arthur highly doubted they would run into more floors like the fairy one. And even if they do, Phantom probably wouldn't be willing to pay for any food or drink there. "I also might need some better clothes. This shirt is nice and all, but it isn't very warm. Ice mage or not I'm still human."
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Yei allowed herself to densify back to a normal human state and popped up into the air pocket with Sam and Arthur, "Not bad so far.. Thanks for the fire, Sam." It was unnecessary but she was never one to dismiss kind acts. Phasing to a higher vibratory rate once more she sunk down to the bottom where the sharp reeves were, unharmed as her weight was significantly reduced by the lessening of her density. She removed her digital diary and began snapping images of the environment for her final report back to the Iga doshu.
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Phantom blinks into the air pocket, just to see all members already there. "Sorry to keep you waiting guys." he spreads out his arms trying to show something that will justify the fact that he was late. On the floor were many pearls of different shapes and sizes, Crown collected them when he spotted them near on the bottom while he was on his way to the air pocket, he just had an eye for stuff like that. They weren't special, Phantom had some of the most perfect and some of the largest pearls in his possession but none of them could be used in a practical way as they were stolen and letting anyone wearing something made of them would be suspicious.
But these ones were simple and he could make something like a necklace for Clare. He could afford himself to by her much more expensive things and he certainly did that often, but he wanted to bring something for her from this travel, other than the guitar which he's been making levitate for the past two floors now.
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Yei and Phantom got into the air pocket along with Arthur, Sam and Gen. "Hey, Phantom. Why don't you play a few cords for us, now that we're all around the camp fire. You can play the guitar, right?"
That might have seemed like a joke, but Arthur was completely serious about it. The fire was warm, but it would take a few more minutes for the team to warm up completely. A guitar is a nice instrument to play as long as you can sing together with it. A violin wasn't bad either. Arthur had to learn to play both under his teacher
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The Kagehime finished up her photoshoot at the bottom and returned to the top to witness Arthur suggesting Phantom to play some chords on the guitar they once fought over. "As long as it isn't kumbaya, I'd tolerate it." She said, snapping a photo of the four men in her company.
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Gen without waiting for Phantom to start said ?But I wont, and as I don’t want to go Animal House on that guitar I’m going to the next pocket- and with that he plowed himself into the cold water.
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Phantom a little bit surprised by the request, was about to start playing something. Though he could only play the piano he was sure that he would be able to make of the guitar as well when he noticed that Gen is already leaving, but he didn't mind.
"Oh well, i'm not used to such a small audience but alright." he says half-jokingly. He plays something classical and simple. It's not really impressive on any level and nothing outstanding but at least it sounded like something and it didn't hurt the ears either. Phantom actually wanted to follow Gen's example and leave but he decided to stay a bit longer, it was warm and he could think about what happened on the seventh floor, it was something that just didn't let him go.
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"Surprisingly, that wasn't that bad. Needs work, but it's not bad." Arthur said in a friendly tone. Phantom seemed to be in deep thought. Arthur pondered what he could be thinking about.
Whatever it was, it probably wasn't important. If he was right about Phantom, the man only though about valuables and his girlfriend. Well, that's not exactly what Arthur thought about him, but it was what people who didn't spend some time with Phantom would.
"I think I'll be leaving as well. Gen might want some company at the next air pocket" Arthur made another helmet and jumped into the water. He wanted to catch up to Gen as soon as possible so he made himself wings. That would atleast double his speed if he used them correctly. Just as he was bout to reach the next air pocket, one of his wings scratched a mine. Arthur had only barely enough time to protect himself with his wings. He was blown out of the water and into te next air pocket. He hit a wall and was passed out.
The mine set of a chain reaction. Anyone swimming behind Arthur was going to have a bad time. At least all the mines going to the next air pocket were destroyed, but that would probably attract attention if there were any enemies nearby.
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The classical piece played by Phantom was serene but it was interrupted by a deep rumble fulminating from below minutes after Arthur descended, "Not good." Yei remarked. Once again resorting to Bakemonnojutsu to shift density, she dropped down to the reef at the bottom of the water labyrinth and saw that a vast number of mines had been set off. No blood, no bodies. Just a clear path. Still, the shadow sister remained submerged in the abysmal gas-like brine and walked along the floor in the direction of the next air pocket to see what happened anyway.
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Gen just reached the Air Pocket and was starting to dry off when a massive explosion shook the whole level and a torrent of water came in carrying Arthur within. The Ice Magician slammed into the cave ceiling and fell; The Hot-Blooded Boxer did a one handed catch and placed him lying down in the floor. He had some nasty bruises in the head and all over his. For a second Gen stayed still until he had an idea ?I did said I wanted to try if I can heal wounds with my Fighting Spirit, and now I have a practice subject.- Focusing his Spirit in his hand but with the same disposition as he used it to help heal his own wounds, Gen moved it near the wound in Arthur head, that for a second was unaffected until it started to heal, not like magic healing but more akin to a boost in regenerative capabilities. Almost as if Gen was transmitting his Fighting Spirit into Arthur system. As nobody had tried something like this, akin to the lone nature of the Spirit Boxer nobody could expect if this could or couldn’t have any side effect. When Yei reached Arthur was in the floor and Gen was sitting against a wall in silence, thinking about the implications of his discovery, not very deeply but he noticed that what he just did was something significative, maybe an instinctive knowledge.
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Arthur woke up. He had a terrible headache and had a strange desire to fight something. He saw Gen standing above him. "Well if it isn't my favorite boxer. What the hell happened to me?"
Just as he was saying that his head hurt and he remembered the mine he hit. he noticed that not only did his head hurt, but the rest of his body as well. He hoped Sam would heal him, but as he was nowhere in sight Arthur had to do it himself. "Whose idea was it to put mines into an underwater labyrinth anyway?"
At that moment he noticed Yei coming out of the water. "Hey cutie, what brough you here?" He put a smile on his face. He still had the urge to fight and wanted to punch something, even considering punching Gen in the face, but he resisted it.
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The kagehime arrived to the scene in time to lay eyes on an freshly awoken Arthur and a numbly silent Gen. "We heard some mines go off. I came to see what happened." she said in response to Arthur.
(Whoops. Lots of fixes lately lol)
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Phantom finishes with his playing as the person who requested it leaves. Just a few moments later a huge explosion can be heard. Soon after Yei leaves. Now only him and Sam remain in the air pocket. Phantom wants to leave as well figuring that it would be best for them to check the situation out as well, but then he turns around for a second. Phantom played with the idea to ask him about what he thinks about the moment when he nearly killed Arthur and Gen.
Perhaps Sam would say something to make him feel better, his face looked like he was about to say something and his lips already have the first word formed on them. But then he decides to leave it be and he just jumps into the water, deciding that he won't bring it up again.
He's searching for the next air pocket absentmindedly, still thinking about what he thought back then. He finally gives it some rest as no matter how much he thinks about it, he can't go further with it and that there is no use to it. He just had to accept that mistake of his and move on, he couldn't change it now. While doing that he notices two red orbs in the deep darkness, he moves on paying no attention to it. After some swimming he finally gets to the next air pocket. He gets out and looks around, instantly he sees that something's not alright, he's alone in there. Either something happened to the others or he just ended up in a different air pocket. He decides to wait for a bit and see if someone will show up.
Then he notices that the color of the water has changed. It's has a ghostly green glow to it but it's not bright but rather dark. He walks up to it and tries to touch it with his hand, but he can't. It's not solid, it's clearly water and he can see it moving lightly but he can't interact with it in any way as if it was a whole different plane of existence. He could even stand on it as if it was glass.
Phantom does not notice but deep down where the mud green water fades into night black darkness three pairs of red orbs have appeared, watching him from below.
-----------
"Mumble.... mugguh... marshmallow... nazi MUH I'M UP! I WASN'T SLEEPING!"
Quick glance around his surroundings, and SamJaz found himself alone, sat in the air pocket, but the others had already gone. "Thanks for waking me up guys..." he muttered, switching his keyblade to Shuflecast and holding it out in front of him.
He closed his eyes, and it span him in one particular direction. SamJaz dove into the water, swimming to follow that trail of light until he came up in the water behind the master thief.
"Thanks for waiting for me, though I guess that... where's Gen?" SamJaz asked, concerned. "And Arthur and Yei?"
That's when he noticed the eyes glowing from the green water in the other pocket. "And, what's that?" SamJaz asked, switching keychain to Sweet memory, a short keyblade with a hollow tree trunk for a shaft and a bees nest for teeth. This was his lucky keyblade.
-----------
Phantom finally notices it. He looks down and notices three pairs of eyes watching them, the same kind he saw a while ago. Before he even notices one of the pairs is close to the surface which reveals an ugly fish-like face as if it teleported. Sam and Phantom are grabbed by their legs and pulled inside the ghostly water.
But it's strange, their bodies are still there yet Phantom clearly feels being pulled and dragged down, looking at his body which collapsed in the air pocket. Even more strange he can breath underwater, or rather he can just breath as this did not feel like water at all, it was like he was floating in zero gravity. And then he notices that both he and Sam are nothing more but transparent images of themselves. Below them there was no longer a maze, the walls are still there but on them rest giant buildings made out of an unknown gem like material. It was an entire city, filled with strange fish like creatures.
Phantom was vaguely getting an idea of what is happening...
-----------
SamJaz, however, had no idea what was happening, but he had two general guesses.
He'd narrowed it down to these two possibilities after seeing his own body standing outside the water he was being dragged into.
So, he willed a rocket launcher into his hand.
Nothing happened.
So they were on a spiritual plane, not a mental plane.
That still left SamJaz with a large pile of options called Personae.
He put raised his hand, summoning Forneus to ride ahead, launching ice and lightning at their assailant.
-----------
"I was being an idiot, is what happened. But, don't worry, it won't happen again." Arthur told Yei. He was feeling better right now. He though that when Sam showes up, he's either going to scold Arthur for being an idiot or he will make a reference to some movie or something. Arthur didn't want to risk it.
"I'll be going now, you two can have as much fun as you want, alone, together, in a cold empty room, where you have to cuddle up for survival." And with that Arthur jumped back into the water. He was swimming, makig sure that he doesn't hit any mines, but soon, the mines were gone and the water became greenish. Arthur had a hard time swimming, because it felt like he was swimming through green jelly. He saw the air pocket and swam towards it. As he started getting out of the water, he saw two bodies on the floor. Phantom and Sam.
Before Arthur could do anything he was grabbed by his leg and pulled down. The water now felt like there was none. Arthur saw that his legs war still in the water, but the rest of his body was in the air pocket. "But, how is that possible." Then he noticed that he was still being pulled by his leg. He looked over there and saw a fishman dragong him towards a city and... Sam and Phantom! "Hey, do you guys know what's going on around here? Why can I talk and breath underwater, and how come the water feels like it's not even there?"
-----------
SamJaz's Persona Forneus latched onto the fish monster. Despite its appearance, Forneus was a persona skilled at debate, so while its magic was tearing into the fish's physical body, it's mind tore down the creature's mental defences.
Within seconds, Arthur, Crown, and SamJaz were lurched back onto land, in their bodies, and everyone was very confused as the blue water began to be stained by clouds of red blood.
SamJaz rose back to his feet. His combat skills were almost entirely offensive in one way or another. Apart from Cure and a few persona abilities, defensively SamJaz may as well be the average human.
But he excelled in psychological combat. It's the only way he managed to convince Crown and Gen that he was so powerful when he faced them.
Switching Persona back to Oracle, SamJaz began to look at the way ahead. "Let's go." He said, diving ahead.
He was going to have to take a trip to the Velvet Room soon. Between Oracle, Forneus, Ruaumoko, Unicorn, Pyro Jack, and Titan, he'd used six of his eight current Personae. He liked to keep more tricks up his sleeve than that.
On the bright side, that battle unlocked a few gates so he should be able to fuse some of his weaker Personae into stronger ones, so it wasn't the end of the world.
Still, next time he surfaced, he'd found the stairs room. There were three or four ways in here, so he just needed to navigate the rest of the team here.
Oracle was also warning him that whatever was below, it was going to be tough. Every Eleventh Floor, IE 11, 22, 33, etc, Hellscraper reserved to host something dangerous to maintain the equilibrium between the residents of the tower. Floor ten was tough, but they were kept in line by whatever was on floor eleven.
Now would be a good time to start fusing those Personae together.
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Yei blinked a few times, revealing her shock at Arthur's casual reaction to the event. "Well at least you're okay.." Arthur then made a comment to Gen and Yei, a reference about the cold, and body warmth. She shook her head but a titter escaped her lips. Suddenly Arthur collapsed, causing the shadow princess to rush over to his flimsy frame and examine his vital signatures. He seemed to be in some sort of comatose state. The water then shifted, changing in color and developing a more gelatin-like physiology. The shadow disciple refrained from touching it and instead waited from a sign from those already submerged.
It came from none other than Sam. Who was able to deal with whatever had halted the group from moving forward. She figured Gen and Arthur would know that they should move on once they came to and found themselves to be isolated from the rest so she continued, diving into the waters and following a trail of bubbles left by Sam's movements until she found herself in his company at the end of the water maze.
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Arthur woke up. That was a wierd dream. There was no one around Arthur. And they left again. I might get used to that.
Arthur went into the water again. He popped out of the water again, only this time he was at the end of the maze. Sam and Yei were there. I guess they actually decided to wait for me.
"Yay, we finished 9 floors. Only 68 more."
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Phantom having returned to his body stands up. From what he could tell Sam took care of most of the fish like enemies and they could probably move on. He blinks a few times into the direction where he saw Sam go off.
Three blinks later and he's at the end of the maze everyone else but Gen being present there as well.
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SamJaz drew his keyblade out of the blue light and returned from his trance state. "Everyone, the next two floors are going to be city-buster level fights." He warned, feeling ahead with one of his new personae, Io. "They are going to be hardcore, so get ready. I've got a new hand of stronger Personae, but that means I'll be relying on the rest of you for money from now on until I restock on funds. Wait, I should probably explain that..." He sighed. "I get new Personae by going to a place called the Velvet Room with my keyblade. There I can fuse my existing Personae together to make stronger ones, but I can also buy back old ones, either to use in battle or as more raw material. So fusing a whole new set is an expensive process. This new team cost me over two thousand US dollars, so it's going to kick all kinds of face."
SamJaz glanced at his watch. "Three in the afternoon." He said. "Six more hours, so in theory we'll set up camp for the night somewhere in the thirties. The fairies shoved tents in my pockets, so that problem is out of the way. We'll head out when Gen runs off ahead. Or when we get bored of waiting for him.
Floor -10
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The last floor was like a blank in Gen’s memory, maybe after taking too many blows to the head he was starting to get a little bit stunned. Without even noticing he was on the stairs, but as we already know Gen isn’t one of the Thinking bunch, thus he shrugged off any weird feelings or doubts he felt after the sudden blank in his memory and ran down the stairs. To greet him a ruined patch of urban environment was there, broken buildings, cracked streets and smashed cars. Some fire gave the scene a much eerie atmosphere, as the stairs descended more than ever giving the level the highest ceiling yet. In the middle of the room, attached to the walls, the floor and the ceiling, there was a giant cocoon suspended mid-air, made of some sort of silky white material. But that wasn’t the worst part, as in the moment they started going down the stairs inside this floor the Cocoon started beating, almost like a giant heart.
For a second Gen stopped running and saw it, he was amazed, as he had never seen or hear about anything like it and was truly baffled about the size of it, almost as tall as the Tokyo Tower. ?What the royal **** is that thing!?- asked Gen to nobody in particular, and as he said those words, maybe even in response to them the Cocoon started to break releasing incredible amounts of steam into the ruined cityscape. Pieces of the cocoon started falling apart crashing against the ruins under it lifting a massive dust screen, obscuring the shape of the monster hidden inside, The Hot-Blooded Boxer tried to see through but he only detected the monster silhouette, vaguely humanoid. As the dust set, the monster was visible, with white skin, long arms and legs and small head, the being of gigantic proportions seemed to lack any distinctive markers, as his skin was white and smooth, with not even a spot or an alteration. Its eyes glowed with a red light and its mouth was closed, his face an emotion less mask.
Without even stopping for a second after his birth, this fierce creature moved with slumbering steps towards the group location and with the same speed he raised his arm ready to attack. But this sluggish behavior was either and act or a secondary effect of its slumber as he moment he attacked his speed was much greater than what Gen thought and he had barely time to jump from the staircase to land safely over a building, as the Giant Hand of the monster destroyed the spiral staircase that was letting them in. The Brawler stood in a rooftop hoping that his comrades were okay, and secretly wanting them to not be okay so he could have all this fight to himself. Luckily Gen unconscious didn’t ruled the world, can you imagine how dreadful would that be? The Spirited Boxer decided that he had to help them until they got down so he shouted at the monster hoping to gets its attention.
-Hey! You failed attempt of a Kaiju! Come here and I’ll punch yer guts out!- Gen shouted as loud as he could getting the attention of the being, that sent another hand towards him, as he ran over the ruins hoping to get enough time for the others to get a plan together and descend from the remains of the staircase. At least that was what he hoped.
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SamJaz rode a chunk of ruined staircase to the ground, mentally kicking himself for not preparing something capable of flying. "OUMITSUNU!" SamJaz shouted, crushing a card in his hand as he jumped to the remains of the actual staircase, summoning a thirty-foot tall stone soldier to charge at the large creature with it's swords, ready to slash.
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Arthur was going down the stairs when suddenly a loud crash happened. The stairs were pritty much destroyed. He made his dear wings and flew down to the floor. And there he saw true destruction. There appeared to be a whole city there, but it was in ruins, as if Arthur was a movie depicting the apocalyps. There was a giant cacoon in the middle of the room, but it seemed to have been opened. And then there was a giant monster. The monster was completely white with long legs and arms, yet a small head. It's eyes were glowing red.
Gen was trying to attract the monsters attention while Sam summoned a giant soldier made out of stone to fight the thing. Arthur wished he was good at making familiars, or that he had any blueprints for familiars. Arthur though he couldn't do anything, but he sensed magic eminating from the monstrosity. A great amount of magic. Probably enough magic for Arthur to gain enough power to fight the monstrosity.
Arthur lashed out with his magic and connected to the monstrosity. It would take some time to properly connect to magic of such a magnitude and the only thing Arthur will be able to do during that time is dodge the things attacks.
During that time the monster attacked Sam's solder attempting to grab it's head and crush it, but the solder was able to deffend himself with his sword. The monster used it's other hand to punch the solder in it's stomach and a crack was visable at the part where it hit. The solder slashed at the monster and the monster deffended itself with its hands. At the part where the sword hit black blood was visable. However, the wound quickly dissapeared. The monster had very fast regeneration. It hit the solder in it's head. The solder fell and the ground shook. The solder got up and got it's sword ready for another attack.
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The next floor was a going to be a city level clash according to SamJaz. This became evident when Yei descended the flight of stairs only to be ambushed with a crushing blow from a pale gigantic humanoid's hand. Though the assault came as a surprise her quick reflexes went to work, allowing her to dodge the impact and alight unscathed on a building roof to the side of the damaged stairs. She removed her digital diary and snapped a photo of the creature; a mere submission of the image of the colossal beast would add a bonus to her overall evaluation back at the institute.
"Gen!" she shouted over the pandemonium, "you and me create a diversion for Arthur and SamJaz work out some of their magic." With that, the Kagehime unsheathed her mystical wakizashi blade and proceeded with a medley of sword kata to the beast's legs whilst launching a series of supido enhanced kunai at roughly 3,500 feet per second. A rate faster than a typical bullet.
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They all arrive at the next floor. The scenery is that of a ruined city. In the middle was a giant cocoon. It was beating like it was alive, faster and faster. It might have been just coincidence but after the question asked by the hotblooded boxer the cocoon burst. The thing born from it didn't resemble anything even close to an insect. It's size was enormous to say the very least. It's body had a humanoid shape and was completely white and had a silky feel to it. It's limbs were very long going against the regular proportions of a human which was also supported by the proportionally tiny head. Lastly it had a pair of small and narrow red eyes shining admits the ruins of the city.
Combat was engaged with the first swing of the monster. It was rather fast considering it's size. Gen dodged the attack and tried to get it's attention. Arthur was doing some kind of channeled spell and Sam summoned a golem to fight the monster. It landed a hit on the monster but there was no lasting effect. The golem got knocked down for a moment but seemed to be capable to get up. This seemed like a good situation for Phantom's most destructive trick, his ace so to say, but he wanted to keep it hidden for a little bit longer. Instead he blinks up the air and levitates, around twenty meters away from the white giant.
Phantom creates twenty of his Mark One (weakest) explosive cards. They are split up in four groups with each group having five cards. Phantom shoots them towards the monster, each group aiming for one limb. He creates one more of the cards and throws it himself with a force comparable to that of the final throw against Arthur. One explosion can be heard (the throw card was faster) and then four follow. The limbs of the monster sustained some damage on the shoulders and knees but just enough that it can even be noticed. The neck of the other hand had a bigger wound. It wasn't life threatening but if more focused force was applied to that spot the monster's head would surely fall off. That scenario could have been a valid plan if not for the fact that the white flesh reconnected just a moment after the explosion.
"Damn, i guess i'll have to step it up." a grin on Phantom's face, suggesting joy that he will be able to go out more o this guy rather than limiting himself to hi weakest like with the fodders on the other floors.
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SamJaz stared agape at the giant monster, then laughed.
He couldn't believe it.
He honestly could not believe his luck.
Yei shouted some orders at him before charging forward, but he couldn't hear her over his hysteria.
This thing had rapid healing.
This thing actually had rapid healing.
He actually created a persona specifically to counter this, and it's the first enemy he faces after it's creation.
SamJaz raised his hand, spinning a card in front of him, with glee, Oumitsunu vanishing as it swung its blade, before SamJaz summoned his next Persona. "POLYDEUCES!" He shouted, summoning the armoured hero.
Polydeuces was an electrical and physical type Persona, but that wasn't what made him amazing.
Polydeuces had the power to drain mortality from his enemies.
He had the power to block his opponents ability to heal themselves.
More than that, the more they tried, the larger their wounds grew.
Like a self-eating meal.
"BLOOD BREAK!" SamJaz roared, and Polydeuces raised it's cannon arm towards the behemoth humanoid and launched its curse, light bursting briefly from its muzzle and an aurora descending around the massive creature in the distance, but no other sign towards what kind of mess it was in.
Now, whatever wound they inflicted, no matter how small, would grow and grow like worms were eating it alive, so long as he didn't change his Persona and kept his focus on maintaining that curse, they had won.
Yei and Arthur were already, unwittingly, dealing the death of ten thousand cuts while Crown administered the explosions.
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Without thinking it twice Gen took Yei order and tried to fulfill it, a fact that was amazing as if he was ordered like this at the start of this place he would have rebel against somebody bossing him around or even punching him, yet he was starting to get friendly with this irregular bunch of misfits, heroes and mercenaries. ?I’m on it Ninja-chan!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer roared as he ran over the ruined rooftop towards the monster knee. Using Raijin Step to impulse him, Gen jumped with a powerful straight punch soaked in Fighting Spirit and ready to go. His fist collided against the hard material its flesh was made of and managed to crack it. Differently from the rest of his companions, Gen’s fighting style forced him to go up close and personal and thus he detected something they missed.
The White Skin wasn’t such thing, it seemed to be some kind of protection, not for the inner body of the thing, but for those around, as his crack reached to a point so deep that made contact with the real monster skin, and some kind of geyser-like vapor was shot from it right into the Brawler’s face, with enough force to stop his momentum and push him backwards blistering his face with a heat much more powerful that just fire, something more powerful and dangerous lurked inside that White Containment Skin. ?My eyes! I’m blind, this fucking thing blinded me!- Shouted Gen as he land heavily against a large piece of concrete debris. The Delinquent Boxer didn’t need his sight to notice what was happening as the skin that surrounded the leg started to fell off after being affected by Samjaz spell.
Under it skin like the boiling surface of the sun, shining brightly and lighting up the ruins appeared, the heat started covering the room. This creature is a Solar Titan, caught by a tech based organization and placed here as one of the power sources of this maze, the Cocoon also served as energy transmission device, but as the group activated the mines underwater in the previous level, the strings grew loose and the small movement awakened this monster from the stars.
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The tides of battle turned quickly, and that just as Phantom wanted to go to the next level. The monster's ability to recover from wounds, taking away one of it's key advantages that kept it in the battle so far. Gen was assaulting the thing with all he's got. But he's being repealed by the inside of the Monster, light was coming out of every tiny wound.
Phantom does not hesitate, he didn't know how long the effect will last so he was going to make use of this chance.
He creates a Mark Two cutting card (first time he uses these, the speed and sharpness are vastly improved when compared to the previous ones). It's not a regular card, but his biggest creation so far. With a size like this it could actually compete with the monster to a certain degree. But size wasn't that important right now, it would get the job done even if it was smaller, this was for show only. There was no way that Phantom could throw that monster himself, hell he couldn't even grip the card in any way possible. But it was obvious to being with that it wasn't meant to be thrown by anything that was smaller than the white giant anyway. Phantom uses his control over the cards manifesting in the form telekinesis to move it. It flies into the air while spinning stopping exactly over the monster. The it comes down at it like a Jester's guillotine. The monster gets split in two, all the way from his head down to the abdomen crating two symmetric halves. Or they would be if not for the fact that both of them were being eaten at from all sides by all kinds of small wounds. Light was leaving the large clean sliced area in great amounts, alongside the liquid insides of the giant.
It looked like the fight was over but just before the remains of the massive body collapse something bursts out from the place where the heart of the thing was supposed to be. It lands on the ground. The thing born for that event is quiet different from what the giant was it. It was still mostly white with a humanoid body, but now it had many pairs of wings with heads on each end. There was a pair of big eyes on the wings as well. It's face was black with sharp teeth coming out of the mouth. A blade was attached to it's arm. The long hair of the beast was nothing but fire dancing around in the wind. The size was also much closer to that of a human being (it would still tower over any normal human thought). It was probably the actual core of the monster all along and despite the smaller size, the heat and energy radiating from it were far greater than with the previous form. The newly born being was slowly getting up...
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SamJaz paled.
That was not supposed to happen.
He switched Persona to Black Frost, not even caring that the anti-healing spell was broken, and ran as fast as he could towards Gen, using his new short-distance warping technique to get there as fast as he could.
Quickly, he grabbed the massive boxer out of the burning haze and pulled him to safety as the monster's wound began to close.
"Hold on there." He told the boxer, switching persona to Undine as he began to placed his hands on the boxer's face. "Just hold on a second... It's gonna be okay..."
Water began to seem from his hands as Undine began to nurse the burns, and repair his eyes. He'd be stuck here for a good thirty seconds, but Gen was going to be able to see after this. Any shorter and he'd definitely need corrective lenses in the very near future, and as a boxer, that wasn't going to help him.
Undine told SamJaz about the internal head injuries Gen had gathered from within the day. He was surprised that his cure spells hadn't sorted that, but he supposed that cure was for injuries, not internal organ damage. Undine, however, took those concussions under her workload, and she'd only need a minute before Gen was fighting fit again.
But that didn't take away the problem they were facing. They were fighting a sun incarnate. Using Black Frost, SamJaz might be able to enter it unscathed, but even with its incredible firepower with that Persona, he had no idea how he was going to take that thing down.
But he wouldn't let himself panic.
He had to heal Gen.
Then he'd panic.
And that was when the newborn monster began walking towards the two of them.
If the queen before was a sun, this thing was a white dwarf.
Just being in its sight made SamJaz's skin begin to blister, thanks to Undine
"Flipflipflipfliiiip..." SamJaz grunted under the pain, glancing at the oncoming beast as he tried to rush Undine's repair of Gen.
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Magic Synced. Magic blueprint created.
Those words echoed inside Arthur's head. A new blueprint. And a usefull one.
Magic Blueprint activated. New spell gained.
Let's see what this baby can do then. Magic started swirling around Arthur. And became colder and colder. At that moment an armor of ice was around Arthur. At the very same moment the monster was split in half by a giant card right above it's head. But the monster wasn't done yet. A humanoid creature jumped out of the place where the things heart should be. The monster was radiating heat like crazy. But Arthur couldn't feel it through the cold armor he was wearing. Actualy, all the heat did to Arthur was help him not get frost bite from the armor he was wearing.
A frost sword appeared in Arthurs hand. He lunged at the opponent. His armor wwas going to protect him from the heat and the blade on it's hand. He swung his sword, but it was stopped by the things blade. A second later, the sword melted. I expected that. I put enough magic into the sword so that is doesn't melt ni the things proximity, but the thing was just so hot the sword melted upon contact. Arthur's armor was a different story. It could witstand the heat of a supernova and possibly more. Arthur just had to keep creating swords whenever one was destroyed. That would drain him since he had to use more magic so they wouldn't melt easily.
Arthur made two swords in his hands. He slashed at the monster from the left and tried to cut the thing in two from above, with his other hand. The thing dodged his lash while protecting itself from the chop. Arthur quickly made another sword and lunged at the monster with both his swords. He pierced the monsters chest, but his swords melted and the monsters wound closed. "But, didn't Sam do something to stop your regeneration?" Then Arthur noticed that Sam was busy healing Gen. Great. Sam has terrible timing, doesn't he.
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They were saved.
Arthur was buying them time.
Time was being bought for them.
Time enough to finish Gen's healing. "Feeling better?" SamJaz asked, Pushing Gen behind a ruined building. "Thank you Gen. you saved our asses, but I need to figure out a way to keep you alive in this fight before I let you get back in there. I can give you an immunity to heat that will last you exactly two hundred seconds, so if you want to use that you need to keep very good time, understand?" He asked, switching to Eligor and getting ready to cast Red Wall.
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Samjaz managed to heal Gen with his powers. The Hot-blooded Boxer stood up with the help of the Keyblade Wielder ?Feeling better?- Asked the Persona User. Gen replied instantly ?Yes I’m a am. Now to punch the fuck out of that giant!- The Battle Chasing Brawler looked up only to find nothing. ?Did ya beat the monster while I was out?- Asked with disappointed eyes, but the look on Samjaz face and his eyes were more than enough for him to notice the new location of the monster.- "Thank you Gen. you saved our asses, but I need to figure out a way to keep you alive in this fight before I let you get back in there. I can give you an immunity to heat that will last you exactly two hundred seconds, so if you want to use that you need to keep very good time, understand?- Samjaz talked seriously and Gen understood that the situation was dire. ?Okay, I’ll keep it as busy as I can but you and the others better get some planning done or I’ll scorch to death- The Burning Soul Boxer rushed forward hoping that Samjaz could cast as he was moving and jumped towards the abomination using a Raijin Step the moment he landed to appear just under him ?Hello ugly, I’m gonna deck ya in the schnozz!- With that said Gen started with the Drill Dragon Uppercut and followed with twin Ghost Jab Hurricane and then just kept pounding the monster that was being pushed to the defensive by Gen’s barrage of hits. But the Hot-Blooded Boxer knew that his attacks were only bothering the creature rather than damaging it, as it skin seemingly absorbed the kinetic energy of the attack like a sponge.
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Samjaz cast Red Wall on Gen, then switched to Black Frost to join him. Physical attacks didn't seem to work too well, but Ice, fire, and just about everything else seemed out of the question.
Thankfully, Black Frost had inherited a few lightning skills from Jack Frost, but that wasn't going to cut it here. He was going to have to be tricky.
Thankfully, Gen and Arthur were doing fantastic at buying him time to think.
And think he did, setting up the draft of a combo attack, using two magnet spells set up in the arena with a collection of Gravity spells between them should trap this thing in one place for everyone to take pot shots at it, but it was a long shot.
But, it was the only shot he had, casting the first magnet spell above him then sprinting to the other side of the creature to cast the second.
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Matt was in the elevator, his hand in the pockitof his pants. He came here as fast as he could. He hoped the other participants weren't far. Then again, the receptionist did say they're only on the 10th floor. "They made surprisingly little progress. Maybe they're i some kind of trouble. But come on, they're only on the 10th floor, it's not like they are fighting a giant monster or a titan or something."
The elevator stopped. The door opened. What Matt saw was ruined buildings. Ruined buildings all around him. And between the building he could see a monster, whose hair was made of fire. It was completely stationery, but not by it's own will it seemed as it was stuggeling. It was attacked by a man and someone who appeared to be a boy. Near them were a ninja chick, a man in a fancy suit and a man with a sword of somekind.
"I might have misspoken earlier." As he stepped out of the elevator and was hit by a wave of heat.. The heat must have originated from the monster. Matt decided to help the two man fighting the monster. As he decided that the digivice on his hip started glowing. Matt felt energy eminating from it. "Digivolution! Wolfion!" Wolfions frozen missiles (Bad pun incoming) should be able to (Bad pun imminent) cool that thing down.
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SamJaz set up the second magnetic gravity well, then paled as the missiles came in and exploded, launching a wave of cold over the monster. While the chill healed the scrapes SamJaz had encountered, he really, really hoped for Gen's sake that they hadn't killed the monster.
When the steam cleared, he wasn't disappointed. The monster's heat had kept a radius of warmth within the blast of winter, and Gen was still fighting alongside Arthur.
"HEY NEW GUY!" SamJaz shouted. "THANKS FOR THE HELP, TRY TO AVOID FRIENDLY FIRE! NAME'S SAMJAZ AND... I JUST HAD THE BEST IDEA IN THE WORLD!"
"GEN! GET OVER HERE AND BEGIN SPINNING AROUND THIS THING FOR CENTRIFUGE! WOLFMAN, GET THAT THING BETWEEN ME AND THAT BIG COCOON OVER THERE!!!"
Trusting his team, SamJaz got his keyblade, ready to seal that hole shut.
------------
Assuming he has nothing to do Crown blinks next to Sam.
First thing to came to his mind is to ask Sam what he was planning with this whole thing but after a better look at it, it became clear for Phantom. A grin appears on his face he liked the idea. A little bit strange, just a moment ago he had something like that in mind as well, looks like Sam was just faster when it comes to executing things. He leans on Sam's shoulder still grinning.
"I see what you're doing there. If you need another helping hand, i'm free." Phantom says simply to offer help though he doesn't really expect that he will have to do anything here.
------------
Arthur was shockedwhen some missiles exploaded near him. He barely had time to dodge. At least the monster is going to die. Arthur though. He was wrong. The monster srugged of the missiles even though everything the missiles hit turned to ice. He looked behind to see where the missiles came from and there stood a robotic wolf. Arthur wondered where the thing came from. Was it something Sam made? If so, Sam was full of surprises. Then he heard Sam shout something. So that thing wasn't one of Sam's creations, but a new member of the team. Then Sam shouted "WOLFMAN, GET THAT THING BETWEEN ME AND THAT BIG COCOON OVER THERE!!!" Arthur wasn't sure if Sam was talking to the wolf or if he started imitationg Gen. It didn't matter. If Sam said it, Arthur was going to do that. Suddenly the wolf transformed intoa man. The man couldn have been above 19 years old and had long blond hair.
"Hi, my name's Matthew, Matt for short." The man said, before shouthing "Digivolution! Tentos!" Suddenly he turned into a humanoid bug, with very thin arms.
He flew up into the air and yelled "Hey creep, over here!" The monster didn't seem to pay any attention as it charged towards Sam for some reason. Maybe it knew what Sam was planning.Arthur decided to stop the monster and charged at it with a lance. His armor was still sturdy and provided good protection from both the heat and the attacks. Arthur's attack stopped the monster and gave Matt an oppertunity to use an attack."Electro Shocker" A bolt of electricity went hurling towards the monster and it enraged the monster. Together, Arthur and Matt were able to get the monster between Sam and the cacoon. Whatever Sam was about to do he better do it quickly, 'couse Arthur and Matt aren't going to be able to keep the thing there for long.
-----------
"YES!" SamJaz shouts. "Start sealing that cocoon up, starting from the top, leave a hole big enough for Gen to comfortably shove monster in. Then work with wolfie to guide it to the line of fire GET DOWN!" He shouted as the monster charged towards them.
BY the time he got up, Arthur and the new guy, a bug now, had got the beast in position. "Alright, new plan. Feed this with magic and start closing that hole." SamJaz growled, jumping into the spinning sphere of gravity and launching himself at the monster, roaring as he flew towards it and slammed his keyblade right into its torso, sending it flying into the cocoon.
He rolled to the ground and quickly righting himself, pointing his keyblade at the cocoon, launching a beam of light to hopefully seal that monster back into it and get this tower's electricity back online.
-----------
Things go as Phantom expected them to go, well more or less anyway. The monster is sent flying directly into it's home from which it once burst and is sealed by Sam just a moment after.
As a result power returns to the whole tower, not that the change can be seen or felt on this floor though as it was nothing more than ruins and the only form of light present there, that kept the place from falling into complete darkness was coming from the cocoon itself. But Phantom couldn't care less about the state of this floor, the monster being sealed again they could move on to the next one. From what he got the next one would be the biggest fish so far and was in fact what kept the others in line. Crown was keeping the usage of his power to a minimum up till now, but he already made the decision that the next floor he'd show more of what he could do. He was going to have to anyway if the thing was stronger than what they have faced now.
"Well, we can move out?" he asks Sam in a casual manner acting as if nothing happened before something that was intended as a joke, but it was questionable if Sam and the others would take it with humor when one looks back at the events.
Floor -11
----------
After casting heals and having Undine take care of anything more serious, SamJaz led the way down to the eleventh floor, tapping Matthew on the shoulder along the way. "Welcome to the team." He said, before stopping dead at what he saw.
A girl's bedroom.
It was massive, it was fluffy, it was frilly, there were teddies, bows, a four-poster-bed, there were ribbons and bunnies,
It was very pink.
"Oh, hello!" The little girl in question said, jumping off her bed.
She looked about nine, long blonde hair with red eyes, red dress, holding a pink staff and wearing a large white hat with a red ribbon. "My name is Loveline the witch!" She shouted. "And the only way past is to defeat my all-powerfull dragon!"
She pushed a button on the staff, and it lit up, making wooshing noises as it did so.
"Go, Draco the majestic!" She shouted, forcing her staff forwards. "Strike! Heart flare attack!"
...
"Alright, little girl?" SamJaz asked, clearly confused. "What is going on here-"
"DON'T TRY TO PRETEND YOU'RE SO TOUGH!" The girl shouted, stamping her foot. "I can already see you burning to a crisp in her flame. You're no match for Draco the Majestic!"
"What dragon?" SamJaz asked, looking around, clearly getting annoyed. "Look, what is going on here-"
He fell onto one knee, trying to breathe as the girl raised her hand. She let him go once she'd made her point.
"You can't get through unless you can defeat Draco the Majestic!" She shouted, smiling devilishly, happy that she'd made her point. "Well? What're you gonna do? Draco the Majestic is ready to take on any challengers!"
-----------
Phantom is surprised, before them stands a little girl in a room fitting for someone of her age. It's hard to believe that this is what holds everything in line. But soon the girl destroys Crown's doubts as she forces Sam to his knees, all while prasing her pet dragon as it seems.
Phantom activates his left eye forcefully, making it change in color just like in his fight with Arthur. If there was anything like an invisible dragon or spirit that was affecting them Phantom would be able to see it clearly now. But nothing happens, Phantom's seeing of the room does not change, all stays the same. That could have been expected, if there was something invisible to begin with the eye would have reacted on it's own and there would be no need for it to be activated by Phantom himself.
Looking at that outcome and at what had happened to Sam, Phantom came to vague conclusion of what was going on. The girl simply let her imagination go rampant, her will happened inside this room. There was literally no way for them to defeat the non-existing beast. The mind of this little girl already decided that her Draco the Majestic was unbeatable so there was no point of trying.
But Phantom had a better idea anyway. Phantom slowly walks up to her and then does something unexpected. "Oh my princess, please save me from theses flithfy villains. They have kidnapped me, a poor young man with a pure mind and soul. Yet seeing your majestic image and your loyal servant, the great dragon has given me new hope." Phantom falls to his knees while he says so literally begging her. "Here, a token of my thankfulness." he shifts one of his cards into a huge lollipop and offeres it to her. For an actor like him this was child's play.
After a critical look the girl smiles and accepts the candy offered to her. "I like you mister, you look noble unlike those fools that have invaded my kingdom." She gives him a sign to come closer. "Here, you can be my pet." a colar and chain appear around Phantom's neck as she says so. She yanks him towards the bed and makes him sit down on it, on all fours like a dog. "I think, i'll call you Fluffy from now on." by the time that was spoken dog ears and a tail have grown on Phantom's body.
"Now, that went smooth." Phantom thinks to himself, with a sarcastic tone to it, signifying the annoyance he felt. Crown was still happy... kinda. He wasn't really good with children and wanted to strangle the life out of her for this, but he just had to endure it a bit more and he'd be able to get them all out.
----------
-Draco the Majestic!? That sounds awesome!- Gen shouted with a complete an utter lack of manners, in other words, as always. He was a little bit disappointed in doing so little last level and now he wanted to punch something with all his might and had a new idea for a technique, a new move for his Winning Combination, finally he had an idea for the Straight Punch of his WC. ?Little girl bring forth that Dragon, I’m gonna deck him in the schnozz!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer roared as he swinged his arm in circles warming up the joints while having one of his trademark slasher smiles stamped on his face. -You insolent fool! How dare you order me to do something! I’ll make Draco burn the meat out of your bones!- The girl shouted as slowly the silhouette of a Dragon materialized in the room, it seemed to be made of some kind of spectral substance.
Draco! Kill them all except for Fluffly! He will be my pet forever!- The barely recognizable dragon attacked with invisible flames launched over the whole group. Gen coated himself in Fighting Spirit and survived most of the blast only with minor burns that shined with some kind of otherworldly light, like green sparkles. Without even checking on the rest of the group the Hot-Blooded Boxer rushed forward and tried to punch the monster only phasing through it, even with Spirit coating his fist. Whatever this thing was he couldn’t hurt it by conventional methods. Without losing a second Gen tried to get into a defensive position but a whiplash of Draco’s invisible tail threw the Brawler over the group and against a wall, slamming with enough force to make a crater. Gen was basically dug into the wall, that had a perfect boxer shaped crater to fit him in.
----------
SamJaz was flabbergasted.
Not only has Phantom completely humiliated himself to get this girl's favour, but Gen was actually fighting an imaginary dragon. He was getting really into it, using his spirit to fight the 'spectral' lizard.
Lizard.
That gave him an idea.
"You're right, Loveline the witch." SamJaz said. "I am evil. I had kidnapped fluffy for my own ends, because I am the Dark Lord Marvolo The Sly!" He shouted. "And I speak parseltongue, so no matter how much any dragon loves its master, it has no choice but to be completely submissive to my words! SAI-RATH SIETH! SEEKUNTRAKA! SHAIRATH SHUUKON!"
"SILLY!" Loveline shouted. "Draco the majestic is deaf! He can only respond to my secret sign language."
That annoyed SamJaz. This girl was cheating.
"Well, Gen's a dragonborn, just like in skyrim, so that's fine." SamJaz shrugged. "He's gonna beat that dragon to death because he can shrug off everything they can do. Then he's going to absorb Draco's soul and add it to his own powers, he should be done in about... thirty seconds?"
"NO!" Loveline shouted, pulling on her chain. "Fluffy! Stop them!"
------------
Phantom was about to bring an end to the game when ne notices two horrible things. First of all, the couldn't do anything, the binding around his neck completely stopped his powers from working. The second one was the order that came from the insolent brat (Phantom's personal nickname for her). No matter how one looked at it she could kill all of them in the next second so playing along was the only option. He gets up, shamefuly covering his ears while doing so, and slowly walks to the group.
He signalizes to them that he needs the colar removed in the most violent looking and pianful way possible... but still not leathal (yeah he knew sign like this). Phantom as going to stage a fight till the restrain was destroyed. It would probably take a while to make it look convincing and Phantom's gonna have to take a beating here, but hey everything for the crew.
------------
Arthur saw what must have been the strangest thing ever. A little girl was pretending to have an imaginary dragon, Gen was pretending to fight the imaginary dragon, Phantom appeared to betray them, but then signaled for another one to get a collar off of him, and SamJaz hit the him with a blade. Then Sam signaled Arthur and another man who he guessed was Matt to help Gen. It all made no sense. But Arthur did as he was told. Apparently the girl believes that everything imaginary here is real. Then Arthur is going to imagine some butt-kicking.
"Not even Gen can fight the dragon on his own. But not to worry, I have a giant atomic bomb launcher that only hurts dragons."
"Nu-ah, explosions can't hurt Draco." said the little girl. "Well, this one can hurt all dragons no matter what." The little girl seemed angry. "Then he'll swallow it before it explodes."
"No, because it's too big for him to swallow it." Arthur said. "Draco can grow 10 times his size." Arthur felt like an idiot. He was fighting with a little girl over who has a better weapon. And the weapons weren't even real."The bomb is always 50 times bigger then your dragon."
"NOOOO, DRACO IS TO POWERFULL FOR THE BOMB TO HURT HIM! Fluffy, what are you doing? You're supposed to help Draco, not join the other team."
Damn, this girl is annoying. Why can't she be mute.
--------------
SamJaz smirked. "Not only that, but my Pale Rider can tear down anything's defences." He said, summoning said Persona. "FIRE BREAK!" He shouted, having the grim reaper cast Delibate into the air. It looked impressive enough, but it got the point across. "Now Draco is weak to explosions, a firecracker would send him to the vet! GEN! ARTHUR! FINISH HIM!"
-------------
Gen took a firm stance and placed his left arm in his side, with the right hand covering the left. Spirit engulfed both hands and slowly the Fighting Spirit from the right hand moved to the left. His hand started to shake as the energy focused on it ? Imaginary or not this is going to blast ya away! ya fucking dragon, eat this this and fucking die!- Gen’s Fist was shining brightly as he motioned a punch from a distance, and as in the Drill Dragon Uppercut his spirit took a spectral form, in this case a lion’s head with it fangs wide open. ?Lion Roar Cannon!- A massive booming sound filled the level and a pillar of Fighting Spirit vaguely shaped as a giant fist came out from the lion’s fangs like a shooting star, only that going diagonally upwards. This wasn’t a straight, this was a smash and God almighty it was powerful. The discharge of Fighting Spirit was too large, even for the Spirited Boxer and his left hand was not only numb, but most of it veins popped out damaging his skin. His left hand bones were almost reduced to dust and the skin of his knuckles peeled off. The ceiling had a massive fist shaped crater that almost reached the upper level floor. ? Okay I’m not doing that again for a whi….- Gen tried to quip but fell backwards unconscious
------------
With a spin of his keyblade, Gen's leg muscles locked together, and he was forced to remain upright.
"You see that?" SamJaz asked Loveline. "That is a warrior who crushed a dragon and is absorbing its fighting spirit." He cast a small series of cure spells to add the effect of light shining around Gen, as well as healing his wounds which seemed to be focussed on his hands.
"Draco The Majestic has been devoured, his spirit lives only within Gen's fighting spirit, which is indomitable and has subdued the dragon within. Draco has been defeated. We win." SamJaz smirked. This girl had better accept those conditions or he was going to show off his ability to fight without breathing. Which meant he was going to have to learn how to fight without breathing.
------------
"NO, NO, NO!" the girl was screaming. Even if she accepted the defeat of her dragon she doesn't want to let them go. "Fluffy! You will be the new Draco!" she yanks Phantom back to her again, this time dragon wings and a tail have grown on him. "I'll just kill you like the rest that wanted to cheat." The girl makes something like an invisible wall between her bed and the rest of the room. In the same instant the other side loses air and the temperature starts rising. They were going to be boiled alive and Crown would have to endure a fate worse than death for the rest of his life at the side of this little brat.
But one thing was different, the collar belonged to Sam and not to her. Phantom had full access to all of his powers. A sadistic grin, appears on his face as he's standing behind the girl. "You'll all burn for what you did to Draco" she drys her eyes as she was crying just a moment ago. The temperature kept increasing, but then it all stops. The wall disappears and the parameters in the room become normal again. The girl has a blank stare on her face in front of her a finger is circling. This was one of the rare moment when Phantom could use his hypnotism as he was not in a combat situation. The finger movement wasn't needed but it help Crown concentrate. "You're just a normal little girl. You don't know where your parents are and strangers have broken into your room. You're very scared and just want to be alone." finishing Phantom only snaps his fingers. The girl blinks a few times.
And then she just starts crying. "Oh, i'm gonna enjoy this." Phantom says as he stands up from the bed, his body already returned to normal.
------------
SamJaz smirked, walking away from the clear case of child abuse, before paling at the family picture on the wall.
There was Loveline. She was younger in this picture.
There were five other siblings, three women and two men.
And their father with his arms around each one of them.
The head of the HellScraper, who resides on the bottom floor.
Mr Vincentsson.
He checked the violin certificate on Loveline's desk.
Loveline Vincentsson.
Every eleventh floor was the penthouse suite of one of Mr Vincentsson's children.
That's how that little girl was able to suffocate him and create that deathtrap for Crown.
"Go easy on her Al." SamJaz warned. "Actually, be very civil and pleasant, because her father runs the place and he does not mess around."
He instead, walked over to the rug, pulled it up and revealed the staircase down. "Fix what you've done and we'll head on down." He ordered, a dark look on his face. "This family is one we don't want to personally offend while we raid their home."
Disguised as a large, imposing manga library is the world's first Hellscraper: An underground complex that stretches down underground for over seventy five storeys, and his home for more than its fair share of dodgy dealings.
Each floor underground belongs to another ruthless criminal organisation- or perhaps, some groups that like not to be known about. Those involved in the occult, or extra terrestrial activity. Denizens from the future have been known to reside in this submerged tower, a cower if you will, although none know what resides on the 77th floor.
This changes tonight.
SamJaz strode into the foyer, waiting to see how many would reply to the advert he'd posted online. He'd posted a letter into Crown's actual mansion to get his involvement, as the only other ally he had at the moment was brawling in Osaka, slightly out of place.
The room looked welcoming. There was a pleasant water feature amongst the dark tiled floor. Behind it was a large counter where a receptionist sat at her computer, ready to talk to any visitors. There was a staircase up to the manga library that ran as the front of this place, but there was another staircase down, these guarded by large men in dark suits and sunglasses. And a velvet rope. Always a velvet rope.
On either side of the receptionist were elevators, which were what SamJaz strode for. Drawing his keyblade, hey aimed it at the metal doors and fired a beam of light, before lowering his blade in frustration.
"The doors aren't locked sir." The receptionist pointed out. "But I must warn you that there is only one button inside, and that leads here. If you have an appointment, I can operate the lift for you."
SamJaz smiled and walked over to the counter. "I would like to visit the bottom floor." He said charmingly.
The receptionist pressed a button on her desk, and a large screen opened up on the wall behind her.
[ TEAM PROGRESS - CURRENT FLOOR = GROUND ]]
[ TEAM COUNT - 0001 ]
[ HEAD COUNT - 000000000 ]
When SamJaz lowered his head from the screen, a second woman was sat at the counter, a nurse this time. She certainly had a lot of medical supplies on her person. "Feel free to return here for medical assistance whenever you require." She assured him sweetly. "I can assure you that I can heal any wound, injury, poison or debilitation quickly and efficiently so long as my patient is not deceased, although I must warn you that unless at least one member of the party remains inside while the injured come for treating, then you must start from the beginning."
SamJaz nodded, noting the large banner that dictated the rules of the Hellscraper Challenge. He was grateful for the rule that allowed for new team members to be allowed to join at any point, even skipping straight to the rest of the team via lift regardless of how deep the exploration got. "I'd like to wait here for my entourage to arrive. Is that agreeable?" He asked, not willing to show how much he was bricking himself at the moment.
"Of course." The receptionist replied with a smile. "Take as much time as you like."
SamJaz thanked her, then sat by the water fountain, looking at the door. He hoped Phantom took the bait.
--------
Phantom's driving down a road. A rather nice sports car, white in color with golden details. Paired up with his outfit as Phantom would surely make him stand out, but he doesn't worry about that. It's a rather simple illusion for him to change the appearance and his clothes. He parks it in front of a building and leaves, the same instant his car and appearance revert to what they really are. He enters the building with a look on his face (or rather the part of his face that wasn't obscured by the mask) that screams disappointment.
Quickly he walks up to the man familiar to him, completely ignoring any other person in the room. Not even wasting a second on greetings of any kind he speaks up "This is supposed to be that Sam? Looks unimpressive to me. And besides, i'm not a vulture, someone who'd rip apart a corpse and feast of it's remains. I take what i want unseen under the cover of darkness. But as you see i'm here, and i wouldn't be here if i wasn't interested, so congratulations you made me curious." he shifts his face of disappointment into a friendly grin as he finishes the last sentence.
--------
SamJaz grinned, standing up and heading for the stairs. "Send the rest of the team after us." He told the receptionist, indicating that more would follow. "We'll head the way."
The muscled guard stepped aside, moving the velvet rope to allow SamJaz and the Phantom down the stairs.
[ FLOOR B01 ]
SamJaz did not expect this.
He came down the elegant, carpeted stairs which faded into creaky, wooded stairs that threatened to collapse at any minute. The air grew dry and hot, and by the time the team reached the bottom of the stairs and pushed the wooden doors open, their jaws dropped.
The sky above them was bright, and the sun was scorching the place without any cloud cover. A tumble weed rolled across the desert floor as the cheers of cowboys burst from the many buildings around them.
"LOOKS LIKE WE GOT ARSELVES SUM YOUNG 'UN'S!" A chinese man in a cowboy get-up shouted, pointing a revolver at each of the men as his comrades cheered, dancing as their shot their pistols into the air enthusiastically.
SamJaz almost missed the balls ricochet against the sky. 'Ah. Artificial lighting and atmosphere.' SamJaz thought to himself with a grin, wiggling his fingers as the keyblade materialised in his grip.
With a smooth motion, he switched the chain at the bottom into one resembling two boxing gloves at the end of a rope- His keyblade turned into a thick red pole clumsily wrapped in bandages. Extending from the handle was a blue dragon, encircling the bandaged blade as it rose up and roared, its head forming the key of the blade.
The grip was covered in hand wraps and the handguard resembled the ropes of a boxing ring.
"Undying Soul." He explained with a grin, swinging it powerfully and launching a blue shockwave into the dusty street. "Makes me a little tougher to kill."
--------
"Looks more like a 10 year old's birthday party to me" Crown says as he looks around and analyses the situation. While Crown was still frowning at the disappointing scene, Sam was already prepared to engage in combat. "Guess he's just that enthusiastic." a comment made in Crown's mind as he observes Sam's new combat equipment which he not seen before. The shockwave he sent, serving as nothing more than a casual demonstration made one or two of the wannabe cowboys drop from their feet, get up and start running in the opposite direction.
The rest of them seemingly wants to play western heroes and they point their various weapons at the two intruders. "GO GET 'EM GUYS!" a rather generic battle shout by the same loud man that made the previous statement. They open fire from everything they got, from sixshooters over Winchester rifle to even the very first model of a gatling gun.
Aliester quickly brings up a large card that can cover his whole body, right in front of him to act as a shield. It has a red glow on the edges and the actual picture of the card while the rest of it is semi-transperant allowing him free vision of what is in front of him. With another hand gesture he creates three normally sized cards in front of the shield and then launches them at the opposition but with a wide spread. They are just meant for cutting as he doesn't want to go overkill on them. "Worthless trash." he murmurs as he sends the cards the bunch of enemies.
--------
Continued fire rained down upon the two intruders, at least from the gatling gun. SamJaz charged into the fray- covering himself with a reflega spell- one that remained in place longer thanks to his new Keyblade. Each swing made the slash hit everything within ten feet, of the cut, as if extending the blade, but as the men with the smaller arms went down, it was clear that the man with the gattling gun was not going away.
Frowning, SamJaz picked up a smith and weston from the floor and took cover behind a metal barrel, looking at the gatling gun. He aimed for the man's shoulder, primed the revolver, and pulled the trigger.
--------
She arrived amidst the maelstrom exhibiting a calm composure, despite the pandemonium. Casually, the kagedeshi strode forward with light steps, observing the bedlum, unsure of which side she was supposed to partake in the matter. Through her peripheral vision she spotted a man whose face was concealed behind a mask. He was protected from the bullet storm by a large hologram-like manifestation which resembled playing cards. Materializing in front of his shield was a trinity of similarly designed projectiles which he proceeded to hurl at the cowboy party, reducing their numbers by three. Another individual brandishing a blade which bore a likeness to a key had weed-whacked his way through a set of cowboys just then, picking up a Smith & Wesson from the ground after laying them to waste, and taking cover behind a metallic barrel. His eyes peered through the cross hairs as he aimed for the shoulder of the remaining cowboy manning a gatling gun.. BANG!
A sharp shooter, the kagedeshi kageane silently noted after witnessing the gatling gunner fall to his knees with a grimace on his face and his hand wrenching the flesh on his chest as he experienced an agonizing death. Her patient observation of the situation had revealed to her who the allies and foes were but in waiting she seemed to have missed out on the fun. "I guess I'm late for the party.." she finally said to the others.
--------
Arthur stoped infront of the Manga library. "This... is not what I expected." He was not even sure if this was the right place. "Nah, this is where the webpage said to go."
He entered the building expecting to see at least a few people inside, however it was pretty much empty. "God I hope this is the right place." He went over to the receptionist. "Excuse me..."-Arthur started saying, before he was interupted. " Ah, you must be one of that guys group."-said the Receptionist. Arthur wasn't sure what she ment, but he guessed he was at the right place. "You can take the elevator to the the floor they are at." "Er, and what floor would that be?" He wasn't even sure what she was talking about, but he was about to find out. "Oh, they are just at the first floor." "In that case, I don't think I need the elevator to go there." He had a better plan, hoping to maybe impress the people who were already there.
Arthur got to the guard at the door. The man moved out of the way. Arthur started freezing the stairs. He was planning on sliding his way overthere. That made his trip down there much faster. He was there in less then a minute. As soon as he got there he saw a woman, a little bit taller then him, saying something about being late for a party of somekind. She seemed preoccupied and didn't see a man dressed in a cowboy costume getting ready to shoot her. Arthur quickly made a wall of ice to protect her, and fired an ice shard at the man.
--------
The cowboys were going down easily, especially with the new arrivals. "WELCOME ABOARD!" SamJaz shouted over the gunfire, making his way to the disabled gatling gun and smashing it with his keyblade. "I'm SamJaz and cape's Phantom! Welcome aboard ninja-girl and iceman!"
He planted his keyblade into the chest of the one who was operating the gun before receiving a hole in his chest. "Stairs." He stated, glaring at the sheriff. "We've one, now let's move on."
The indian man with the star-shapped badge pointed towards the saloon with a trembling hand. "But... the outlaws are in there... they have AK-47's..."
SamJaz knocked the man out with a kick to the rips. "Great." he grunted as the gunfire died down. "GUYS IN THE SALOON HAVE HEAVY-DUTY WARES, BUT THEY'RE GUARDING THE STAIRS!" He shouted. "ANY VOLUNTEERS FOR CLEAN-UP?"
--------
The master thief looks around. The opposing forces numbers seem to have been cut down while the number of the time got increased by two. That would be wonderful news for most people but... "What's up with this Sam? It's getting crowded here, i didn't know you invited some more guests."
Crown sends an unfriendly glare to the two newcomers. It wasn't that he had anything against them personally, more than that the idea of having to share anything they might find here was just absurd to him. He sighs and then pays attention to what his hotblooded friend is saying. "Hmm, more maggots infesting this place? Fine then, i'll make quick work of them."
He makes his way to the saloon not paying attention to his teammates.
--------
SamJaz grinned. He trusted the Phantom to get things done. In the mean time, he went over to the new guys.
"Don't mind, him, he's just moody because he doesn't want to share any sweet loot. And I think he has a crush on me, but more likely the loot." SamJaz told them with a grin as he raised his hands to shake. "Persona user and keyblade herotype person. Nice to meet-"
He was, however, interrupted by a most inconvenient explosion from within the saloon, knocking him and everyone within a twenty-foot radius off their feet.
--------
The kagedeshi returned SamJaz's western formal greeting of a handshake then scoffed, "I'm not particularly interested in loot. I deal in information," she revealed. "Thanks, by the way," she offered the man who saved her from an ambush earlier. "My name is Yei.." just then they were all knocked back by an explosion.
--------
Gen was in the lift punching the air doing some shadow boxing as he always did when he got over excited about something. A door opened and 3 strangers and a familiar face were fighting a group of heavily armed cowboys. The Battle Hunting Brawler heard about this thanks to another Spirit Boxer that once was part of one of the organizations inside. Gen looked at the heavens and exclaimed ?God Exists! And he guided me to Heaven!- a bullet flew right beside the Hot-blooded Delinquent, that rushed away from the lift and moved towards Samjaz, that was greeting a ninja chick. ? Hey key-aniki! Fancy meeti….BOOOM!- A massive explosion shook the floor. Gen managed to stay standing thanks to his inhuman balance, thanks to his boxing training and with a puzzled face he asked to nobody in particular ? What the hell was that?
--------
SamJaz crawled out of the undertakers, nursing his head from the explosion. His vision was a little blurry, and he was pretty sure that his head was bleeding. One Cure spell later, and that problem was remedied, but what he saw was a whole new problem.
The explosion had obliterated the saloon, revealing the stairs down. It also brought a lot of the other buildings down, but that showed the corpses.
A lot of dead indians.
They weren't native americans.
They were people who had been kidnapped, shoved into feather headdresses, and forced to fight these gun-toting businessmen while holding a bow and arrow they barely knew how to load.
These were bloodsports. With human beings as the game.
Any reservations SamJaz had about wasting every single person inside this building evaporated. Casting a wide-spread cure spell onto his allies, he made his way to the stairs, ready to bring these organisations down. "Sup Gen." He said, fist-bumping the boxer as he walked past. "Glad you could make it. Ready to smash some faces?"
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Just as he was ten meters away from the saloon, Crown's senses were invaded. A flash of light blinded him, thunder was ripping at his ears, even on his skin he could feel the shockwave. It was all over in an instant, the saloon was nowhere to be seen.
Near the stairs leading down stood two men. The one of the right was the perfect image of a cowboy. Leather pans, a red shirt stained with sweat and alcohol, over it a brown west and black cowboy hat. He had a scar on his left cheek and on the height of his hip you could spot a shiny Colt with an extravagant design as well as a few bundles of dynamite. He notices Crown and then starts speaking "Howdy there greenhorn, hope we didn't scare ya." he lights a cigar and starts walking around. "The name's Frank, the the fellow to my left's my brother Bill."
Aliester shifts his gaze to where the man is pointing. What he sees is rather unusual. There stands a man, his height way below average to the point that some might consider him a midget, an eyepatch and wavy and unkept beard can be seen. All of that wouldn't be too strange if not for the fact that the man was sitting in a giant metalic suit, him only being visible through the protective glass. The machine was nearly three meters tall, had long two long arms with claws and four legs supporting it's massive weight. The man known as Frank continues. "Sorry for the mess greenhorn, but you know we just got this baby today and Billy wanted to see if it could take a punch or two."
The machine slowly turns around and faces Phantom. As a response Crown raises his eyebrow and then replies "You're totally messing up the setting with that thing, you know?" he makes a card appear in his hand as he prepares for a fight.
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SamJaz sidled up to phantom, dodging the metal monstrosity's claws as he swung his keyblade- unleashing a wave of ki onto the remains of the bar. With Gen in the same area as this Keyblade, the waves of ki grew stronger, some of the slashes taking the form and fury of dragons as they ravaged the last stand of the few dozen cowboys hiding behind Frank and Bill.
Unfortunately, this robot seemed unfazed by these ki attacks, and Frank seemed more than capable of shrugging off the worst of them.
"Not bad at all, but down here, yer gonna need something with a bit more lead!" Frank shouted, drawing his guns and opening fire, each bullet swelling to the size of melons as they engulfed themselves in flames, flying towards the invading team like meteors.
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Gen replied with a Slasher Smile from ear to ear while fist-bumping Samjaz ? I’m always ready to rumble Key-aniki- The Hot-Blooded Boxer didn’t care much for the dead people, he felt bad for them but he wouldn’t raise his fist to the heavens and swear eternal vengeance upon the ones that caused this, he would punch them to hell. The explosion was strong enough to make some of the cows locked in a nearby corral to go berserker and start crashing against the wooden bars that kept them closed in. Their lowing could be heard even as far as Gen and the others were. ?I’m not good with guns key-aniki, I think I’m going to pacify some cows and bulls- The Battle Hungry Boxer rushed towards the Corral and jumped in raising his guard ? Aniki, I’ll take on this horned bastards while you, the hot ninja chick, the weird masked guy and wolf coat guy take on the others-
Frank and Bill moved to attack, as the volley of melon sized flaming bullets felt over the group, Frank moved to take cover while he kept making rain fire over them. He lighted a stick of dynamite with his cigar and flinged it to Phantom. Bill rushed foward and tried to trample over Samjaz and Yai using his robot claws to grab them and it's weight to crush them
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Crown ignores the opponent for a second and turns around to look at yet another new member to the team. But unlike the other two this one made him smile, he'd be funny. A jester to entertain them to say so. And going by the man's wording, he probably had a simple mind and light spirit, not caring about money or other valuables. That was the perfect teammate for Phantom.
His thoughts get cut of when he fells the sensation of hot lead coming closer. Just before it makes contact Crown blinks away in a blue flash appear ten meters away from the trigger happy Frank. "Nice try there buddy, you might be a quickdraw and all, but that lump of metal won't be touching me anytime soon." Crown throws one of his razor cards, rather casually as if not taking it serious. He aims for Frank's head but the cards only hits his hat. Frank dodged it and then he catches his hat in mid hair, now with a narrow slice hole on it. "Hah, seems like i have underestimated you there, my hillblilly friend." Crown tries to provoke the man, simply to get the chance to fool around with him.
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Moments after the explosion Yei emerged from the rubble and debris, her keikogi torn and stained with fresh blood. "Nngh.." she winced at the pain with a grimace spanning the youthful features of her face. Injured she was, but not for long. Not with the help of a regenerative kido spell. A hail of swelling bullets set ablaze shot across the way towards her and her allies. Feeling confident in their abilities to hold their own against the onslaught, the kadeshi opted to save herself, resorting to a kuutaiku flash to teleport high above the opposition, where she she would rain down with furry a hail of supido-enhanced shuriken into the enemy ranks. The caped man had engaged himself in a projectile vs. pistol battle with Frank.
Meanwhile, the mecha machine continued to assault, launching several grenades in the direction of SamJaz and Gen.
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Death rained from above, as the strange bullets shot by Frank crash against the artificial ground creating small detonations of flames. Most of the cows got hit by them, one even used as meat shield by Gen, that lifted the surprised animal and placed it in-between him and the hail of flaming bullets. Frank hat flew away as one of the cars launched by Phantom got to him. The Cowboy rolled in the floor away from Crown, as the dynamite stick he threw was about to blow nearby Phantom. ?Get ready for some fireworks ye spoiled city brat- His eyes were focused on the environment waiting for the next blue glow ready to shoot Crown either when he moved or when he just reappeared from his blink.
Meanwhile Gen took some of the pieces of burnt cow from his clothes as he watched how Bill charged through the magical attacks thrown by Samjaz, the same attacks he took during their fight. Yei vanished only to reappear over them, standing in the water tank. She threw several shurikens towards the rampaging mecha, tanking their impacts, that only resulted on small punctures on its hull,while with one claw he shoot grenades towards Gen and with the other he punched Samjaz, that unable to dodge thanks to the fiery bullets aftereffects and the nearby grenades tried to block it with the keyblade only to be thrown away and shot through the support beams of the water tank where Yei was standing, making it lose stability.
The explosions almost got Gen that rushed through them while watching how Samjaz fell knocked out cold ? Aniki! I’m going to trash that thing for you!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer prepared his introduction card a combination of Raijin Step with Ghost Jab Hurricane while barking an order to Yei ?Ninja Gal! Give me some cover!- He appeared in front of Bill and punched him a hundred times, only to find that not only his exoskeleton hull was too thick and dense, but also that his hands weren’t. With his knuckles pulverized he stood in front of the Mecha-hillbilly that with incredible switfness took advantage of his sudden pain and crashed his claw against him knocking him to the ground
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From the looks of it Same and his new "friends" were having trouble with the mechanical maniac, but right now he couldn't waste any time on that. Beneath his feet was a dynamite stick and Phantom just had a few seconds before it blows. He could just shield himself with four giant cards from all directions, but going by the expression on Frank's face the man was expecting Phantom to teleport away. Well where is the sport in it if he doesn't give him what he wants? But if he does it he's gonna do it his own way.
Phantom starts blinking like a maniac, the second he appears in a flash and disappears again in the same manner. He's using the full specter of the ability in one moment appear as close as one meter away from Frank while in the other he takes on the maximum distance of 15 meters. It's all happening so fast that one could think that there was more than just one Phantom. He was surrounding him form all sides. "Well let's see if you can keep up."
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Arthur was a bit stumped at everything that was going on. First he saw some guys dressed in cowboy suits, then there was a big explosion, and now there was mecha that needed to be made into scrap metal. It seemed impervious to everything his comrades threw at it. Oh, and his comrades were even weirder. There was a boxer of some kind, a ninja chick called Yei, a rude guy in a fancy suit that throws cards called Phantom, and some guy with a magic sword of some kind called SamJez. He didn't even get a chance to introduce himself. "Oh, well, I guess formalities are going to have to wait"-Arthur decided to join in the fun. He fired a few ice shards at the mecha. That made the mecha release the boxer it was holding down, but it also made the mecha concentrate on him. It fired a few granades at him but Arthur made an Ice barrier to protect himself.
That didn't accomplish much, as the granades destroyed it. However, Arthur was prepaired. He made a frozen mallet. He was sure it would at least make a dent in the giant robot. And he was right. A dent, however, wasn't enough to call that thing destroyed, by any stretch of the imagination. It fired it's claw at Arthur, who would be able to defend himself in time with a giant mallet, nor did he have enought time to make an ice barrier. However he did have enough time to transform the mallet into a sword and block the claw at the last moment. Arthur needed a better plan. At that moment he noticed a computer. If he was right, that had to be connected to the monstrosities power supply. He quickly ran to it, protecting himself from bullets via a shield he made for himself. He just hoped his teammates would protect him long enough to disable the machine, or at least open a hatch exposing Bill for them to take him down.
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SamJaz blinked, rolling grumpily to his feet.
He'd been knocked out twice in this fight so far. If these guys hadn't shown up in his defense, he would be dead.
Time to stop messing around.
He could see Phantom taking the big guy with the big gun, and everyone else seemed to be focusing on the machine. Yei's providing shuriken fire, Gen's toe-to-toe- no, Gen just got knocked flying, and the ice dude's running around behind the machine.
SamJaz reached down and picked up a discarded gun- a magnum, one more offence against his whole cowboy fantasy, and pulled the top bit, bringing a bullet into the chamber. SamJaz didn't know that much about gun's, and he wasn't anything close to a sharpshooter, but he knew this much.
He raised the gun to his temple. "JACK FROST!" He shouted, pulling the trigger and clenching his eyes shut at the sound of the gun launching a bullet into his brain.
There was no blood, only broken glass flying from the other side of his head as the white imp charged forwards, laughing as snow descended upon the desert as it flew towards the mecha. "ZIO!" SamJaz shouted again, and lightning struck Bill's machine, paralysing it as its rider suffered a thousand volts charging through his body, burning his skin and causing irreparable nerve damage.
Gasping for breath, SamJaz turned to see Phantom using some after-image type technique on Frank, who was quickly getting irritated and firing his meteors left, right and centre, then his guns just started clicking, nothing firing. Frank shouted something, probably a curse, then scrambled for cover as he hurriedly tried to reload his revolvers.
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Arthur was just about to reach the computer when he heard thunder behind him. It seemed to have been made by SamJez. Arthur thought to himself That guy is powerfull. The man in the mecha probably couldn't survive being hit by lightning . I guess there is no point in me weakening the thing then. Truth be told, he wasn't even sure if he could accomplish that. He should probably concentrate finding weak points. The thing is probably weaker from behind.
Arthur made a frost lance in his hand. He saw a part he thought was a weak spot and thrust the lance in there. He made a crack that lead to the top of the mecha and reached right to the giant claw. Arthur made a mallet in his hand and wings on his back. He flew to the mechas claw quickly and struck at the part that held the claw with all his might. There was an even bigger crack there now. Arthur hit it one more time, and the claw fell of. This should weaken the structural integrety of the mecha and give those guy an opening to destroy the whole mech. Arthur hoped he was right. But then again, when was he ever wrong.
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Gen hands were damaged yet his spirit was still burning. After taking the blow of the Mecha piloted by Billy, he was on the floor and the suit crushed him under a metal claw. The ice guy, that was called Arthur yet that fact was unknown the Hot-blooded Boxer, managed to use some kind of magic attack of ice to get the Armored Redneck attention, releasing Gen, that gasped for air. Samjaz got up from the attack and without warning picked a gun from the floor and shot himself. Instead of a gush of blood, the attack only made some kind of ethereal glass around the Keyblade wielder explode around him summoning a creature that seemingly was made of snow and had a blue cap. Gen knew that thing from somewhere else but couldn’t quite remember it; maybe he was still confused by the blow to the head.
Samjaz summoned some kind of lighting magic that severly damaged the mecha and the pilot, thanks to the cracks on the hull created by Yei mystically enhanced shurikens. Arthur followed the attack momentum and attacked one of the claws, taking advantage of the previous attack and causing a malfunction on the mecha that swung its arms wildly. The Battle Chasing Brawler took this opportunity and locked his sights on cracks in the window of the cockpit, as his hands were too damaged he decided to fight with his head, literally. Rushing forward with determination he ran towards Billy and avoided the sluggish yet frenzied attacks of the machine.-I’m going to knock you down- he roared and with one lunge he head-butted the glass shattering it but failing to get directly to the robotic suit pilot. Some of the glasses damaged the pilot and the window had an opening big enough to attack him.
Gen rolled out of the range of the robot and stood up ready to react to any new threats
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SamJaz jogged tp where the rest of the team were, casting a wide-spread cure spell to heal the team's wounds as they turned their attention to Frank. One well-aimed fire spell later, and the both cowboys were down.
"Glad you all made it." SamJaz said, before making introductions to everyone."So, we're gonna keep moving on this thing. That cure spell should have given you everything a break will, and I don't want to stick around for when they fill this floor with liquid concrete."
With that, SamJaz headed down the stairs, leading the way to the next floor.
Floor -02
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The team slowly goes down the stairs. They had just finished the first floor and Phantom was already annoyed, not only did he not find anything interesting up there, but now there was a bunch of people following him around. He wanted to say something on that matter, but before he could do so they were already at the second floor. "The hell..."
It was a giant arena, mostly made of scrap metal and it was inside a steel cage covering all of it. Beyond the cage there were crowds of people sitting, eating, enjoying themselves and cheering as it seems now what was a reaction to the team entering. Before anything else could be done or said, metal blockades fell down separating the team.
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SamJaz knocked at the metal wall of his cell. Individual battles. This could be problematic.
He turned around to see twelve large metal crabs fall and land in the area around him. They were about three or four feet tall, red, and one of their claws must have weighed more then the average human.
He heard someone shout about the ladybird robots they had to fight, and Grinned, summoning his Keyblade.
Ki wouldn't work too great against robot crabs, so he switched the chain to Shufflecast. The blade looked like a two-edge european sabre, bone white and with a long, straight blade. Towards the tip was an ornate structure on one side, looking like an alchemic seal, with three red cards spread out behind it, forming the key of this blade. The hand guards were red and bore resemblance to clock-like roses.
SamJaz roared, charging at the crabs and slashing furiously.
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As they were going down the stairs Arthur decidet to intruduce himself "It seems I didn't have a chance to introduce myself before. My name is Arthur, but some people call me Frost Wraith. You can call me whatever you want to..." At that moment They entered a room that looked like a giant arena. Before Arthur could finish sentence giant blocades fell from the sky and separated the team. They were in something reminecent of cells now. He could hear something that reminded him of crab claws, but somehow metalic. The next second, he heard a blade hitting metal. Arthur didn't know that at the moment, but that Was SamJaz fighting robotic crabs. He was doing quite well, actually.The robotes tried to cut him in half with their blades, but SamJaz was too quick. He was even able to slice through their metal skin.
Before Arthur could hear anything more, 5 metalic wolves fell infront of him. "Oh, come on. I love wolves. Must you do this to me?" He made two frost swords, one in each hand. "Prepaire for some punishment, you bastards"
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Two of the metallic crabs were helplessly suspended as SamJaz slashed at them, strike by strike they were reduced to their components which by the looks of it were nothing more than scrap. And while those two were done for the others did not share the same fate, the tend of them lowered themselves to the floor to the point that one could think that they shrunk and then they scattered. For their size they were rather fast. It looks like they wanted to use Sam's occupation with slashing and start an attack and a few of them approached him from both sides, they were aiming for his legs.
In the meantime Phantom was in his own cell. Unlike Sam he only had one opponent, a giant lizard like entity. It was covered by steel like scale, had a long segmented tail and sharp, thin and long claws, it was taller than the mecha they faced on the previous floor. Not even a moment passes. Phantom had already made ten cards float around him and was holding five in each hand, they were all meant for cutting. Normally he would take it slow when dealing with "canon fodder" one card at them time, but right now he was furious. For someone who deemed even diamonds to be worthless, being presented by a level made out of scrap and trash was outrageous. Without a second thought he throws all his cards at the opposition, hoping that it will reduce the ugly sight before him to nothing.
Yet in another cell, the new member of the team who introduced himself as Arthur just a moment ago (not that Phantom cared) was being surrounded by five wolves. They were spread in a circle around him and started pouncing at him one after another.
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Having played a more conservative role on the previous floor, Yei had discovered SamJaz's ability to heal the party. That was good. She could get creative here without exhausting her ki-reserves, or so she thought. "...My name is Arthur but some people call me Frost Wraith," the Ice Wielder spoke up as they proceeded to the next floor. Yei shot him a glance, an indication of acknowledging his formality, then sauntered on.
Upon their arrival to the next floor they were met with the cheers of an audience while they made their way onto a stage in the center. A pleasant greeting, indeed, but like all good things it didn't last long. Cages fell all around the arena, effectively separating Yei from the others. Again, feeling confident in the boys and their abilities to hold their own she reserved any concerns for them. Still, her keen peripheral perception was able to vaguely detect the foes they faced.
In the other cages her allies were ambushed by metallic crabs, wolves, a giant metallic lizard, and more which was just out of her visual scope. She didn't have time to see what it was, however, since a swarm of ladybird robots alighted onto her cage. A quick head count revealed a total of 9 of them.
SamJaz had already moved to make quick work of his designated opposition with a series of slashes, as did Phantom, utilizing his signature card attacks while the Ice Wielder, Arthur, had materialized a pair of Ice blades to combat his own enemies. Gen was out of Yei's peripheral range but she wasn't worried about the hot-blooded brawler.
The crowd roared, applauding the boys for their marvelous display of might and valor, then shifted their attention briefly to the shadow mistress.
Reaching back behind her waist, the kagedeshi slowly drew her mystical wakizashi blade, which sang a high note into the air, serving as a segue to her kata exhibition. Raising the majestic blade to rest horizontally in front of her face, she lunged forward with unreal speed then seemingly vanished, only to reappear as a black and white blur dashing throughout the cage as the dreadful screeching and crunches of metal cutting metal filled the arena.
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The lizard crumpled to pieces, the lady birds fell to scrap. The wolves circled the Frost Wraith, two leaping forward with their teeth to hold him down while the other three let loose with their laser cannons, hoping to make short work of the ice user.
As SamJaz slashed, each swing left a floating blue card. The crabs wised up, beginning to go for his legs, but it was too late for them.
There were already seven cards spread across the room.
SamJaz jumped over one claw and raised his keyblade into the air. An indigo seal formed around the keyblade as the cards flew towards it- the cards fusing together in a flash of light before shattering to summon a teenage girl, her pink hair tied loosely into two long ponytails, and dressed in a little black dress. These details, however, paled to the skill and efficiency that this girl swung the axe that she carried, bringing the remaining crabs down in seconds before smashing through the steel barriers.
The girl vanished with a haunting laugh, and all that was left to face were Arthur's wolves and Gen's machines.
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The fight with the cowboy brothers ended as brutally as it started and the group moved one. Ice Wolf Coat guy as Gen decided to call him, presented himself as Arthur, sometimes called Frost Wolf. So The Hot-Blooded Boxer mentally decided to shorten his nickname to Wolf-san. Samjaz healed their wounds thanks to his magic and before Gen decided to thank him the next level of the gauntlet like maze appeared, a massive arena made with pieces more befitting a scrapyard than a stadium with jagged and rusted metal pieces forming a makeshift circle that was surrounded by a cheering crowd, as the Battle Chasing Delinquent and the rest of the group advanced and inspected the place, five cages fell from above, with Gen barely avoiding the edge of the one that closed over him. The rest of the group was attacked by mechanical beasts and the Brawler from Tokyo wasn’t the exception.
Made from pieces of metal similar to the ones forming the arena, only that sculpted to seem like body parts, a massive bear made completely out of metal, with sharp and cracked fangs, long metallic claws and bright red eyes came down from an opening in the top of the cage, causing a small tremor when landed. The bear charged towards Gen that using fluid footwork avoided the rush and moved to the left, making the bear crash against the cage bars, that even bended a bit after such and impact. The almost psychotic smile plastered in the Hot-Blooded Boxer widened a bit as the bear charged again. Summoning his fighting spirit, Gen covered his body in a bluish aura that barely was visible over his skin. This instead of meaning it was weak, it was a proof of Gen’s training regime efficacy as he was able to concentrate his Spirit much more effectively.
This aura increased his strength and with that sudden boost he decided that if he was going to defeat this he would do it the hard way and he locked hand against paw with the mechanical abomination. A struggle of pure might was ensuing between the Spirit Boxer and the Mecha-Ursa. The delicate balance was broken by Gen that started to lose terrain over the ground splitting strength of his mechanical foe. The Brawler from Tokyo shifted his balance, making the Bear incline forward and lose balance. Gen released his grip from the beast paw and curled down the Mecha-Ursa massive body. ?Eat this you scrapyard reject!- Gen jumped upwards aiming for the chin ? Drill Dragon Uppercut!- The aura covering his body focused on his hand that spinned clockwise while his shoulder did the opposite.
With his spirit taking the shape of a pair spectral dragon fangs opened with a drill coming from inside the mouth Gen removed the head of the Mecha-Beast with one clean blow, which made the crowd go mad and cheer their hearts out. With a certain flair for showmanship Gen took the head from the ground and threw it into the air, punching it when it was right over his head, making the metallic replica of a Bear head explode over him ?What’s next?- He asked with a blood thirsty grin in his face.
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SamJaz laughed.
These robots were a joke to everyone. Arthur seemed to be having the most trouble with his wolves, but he had no doubt that he would make short work out of them.
He didn't even need to heal anyone.
"Moving on." SamJaz declared, turning round to Arthur as the stairs lowered from the middle of the ruined battlefield. "ARTHUR! WE'LL GO ON AHEAD, SHOUT IF YOU NEED A HAND!"
Turning on his heel, Samjaz headed the way down the flight of stairs, knowing Arthur would catch up soon.
Floor -03
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Having swiftly dealt with the mechanical creatures, the team found themselves already on the way to the third level. Being a disciple of the shadow, Yei took on the responsibility of scouting ahead since she was petite and nimble, and could use shukuchi to escape any binds or cages. Speeding ahead of the party with supido she came upon the outer rim of a volcano, unusually large with lava boiling at the bottom and many earth-like platforms, each at various elevations and replete with their own set of mythical creatures. Orcs with monstrous strength upwards of the 30 ton range, goblins with acidic saliva and blood, imps who breathe fire and finally dark elves who are gifted with speed and agility but also skilled in the arts of melee combat as well as magic. As the kagedeshi entered the volcano simulation she dug her feet hard into the ground, skidding to a stop just at the edge of the rim. "Watch your step, boys.." She gave a vague warning of the dangers ahead to the others, accompanied by a wink, before letting herself fall to one of the earthen platforms below.
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Gen followed Samjaz lead towards the next floor with the other joining in; except for that Wolf guy that was still fighting his mechanical namesakes. Yei moved forward to scout, while Gen was trying to develop some kind of makeshift gauntlets from the Mecha-Ursa paws. ?How’re you doing key-aniki? Weird meeting you here- Gen talked to the only one he had familiarity to. ?Quite the weird group we are, but the most I have to say is…- Gen looked at Yei, checking she was beyond earshot ? What’s the story of nice-ass ninja chick there? If you know what I mean…- the Hot-blooded boxer placed some emphasis by doing a light elbow strike to Samjaz.
The climate got warmer the more they descended, finding up front with a volcano, with several platforms coming out from the red hot magma. Flocks of weird monsters were standing in each platform, and in the other side of the volcanic lake the exit could be seen between the gas coming from the magma. Gen smiled once again with his characteristic Slasher glee ? This seems to be fun! Let’s bash some skulls and get to the next floor- The Brawler from Tokyo clashed his now metal covered hands with a loud sound, like a bell and jumped to the same platform as Yei ?Ninja-chan! Let’s do a quick job of these weird-ass monsters- A group of grey skinned humanoids with dirty locks of black hair and yellow tusk came towards the pair with their stone clubs risen over their heads ready to strike, Gen lifted his guard up to protect himself from the incoming attack
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SamJaz whistled as Yei jumped over the ledge, falling towards the lava to enter the combat. "Mate, I have no idea who she is either, but I know she goes by Yei. More importantly, this place is full of beasties and lava, neither of which are good things."
SamJaz moved over to the ledge, before kneeling down and clicking a different keychain onto his keyblade. This one was dark green with silver highlighting, representing a horse and a star, though the weapon itself seemed to look more like a rifle than a sword, although the key motif was still very much present.
"I'll offer support fire from here, I don't like my chances jumping over lava with orcs about." SamJaz said with a frown, raising the keyblade to look down the scope. He wasn't used to this weapon, it's one he obtained very recently. "Gen, Phantom, you two jump in and give Yei some muscle as she carves our way. Me and Arty will provide cover."
He turned around with a smile as Gen dived forward. "Great to see you again, Gen. Welcome aboard."
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Next stage was made of molten rock and molten face, or at least they appeared like that if that was the right phrase to describe the ugliness. Phantom sees that Yei and the now metal-claw clad boxer went straight for the monsters while Sam remained at the edge offering support. Crown decides to head to his friend first for a question or two, ignoring the demand to support Yei. "Hey Sam, you know that muscled fellow?" Phantom asked as he noticed that they talked a few times in a rather familiar manner. "And i better hope for you that these guys know that all treasures here belong to me." it's stated in a demanding tone. "Well i'll be going up, if you remember well, ash and my suit don't go well together." Phantom's feet lose contact with the ground as he says so, in the same manner they did the nigh he met Sam for the first time.
From up there he had an perfect view of the battlefield and he could target any enemy around. He decides to target platforms that are further away from his allies as he was going to use his explosive cards which meant that even his superb precision and accuracy couldn't prevent friendly fire. On the other hand when he thought about it, perhaps that wouldn't be too bad. He quickly forgets about something like that, he wasn't evil and surely didn't want to present himself in that light. He creates three of his exploding cards, as always on the lowest setting comparable to the condensed power of a few hand-grenades and sends them towards three platforms occupied by the monstrous enemies.
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The wolves pounced on Arthur. He quickly slashed the two that were attacking from the front, and sent an ice shard flying towards the one attacking from the back. He quickly avoided the two that were attacking from the sides, quickly slashing the one on the left and impailing the other one with with six ice shard.?"Great, that takes care of that." As he turned around he saw that the otheres were gone. "Oh, gee, thanks for waiting up guys. Assholes. Well there's no point in crying over spilt milk." He went after the others. As he was going further downstairs, it was getting hotter, and as he entered, he saw that his teammates were fighting over a pit of lava. "Thanks for waiting up guys. I hope I didn't take too much of your precious time." And now we are fighting over a pit of lava. Great. I just hope my attacks don't melt away. Well, no matter. Frost wings materialised on his back. I guess I should stay high and just throw ice shards.
That position, high above everyone else allowed Arthur to see everything that was going on there. Yei and Gen were sorrounded by orcs. Thankfully those orcs seemed too dumb to attack all at the same time, and went in, one at a time. SamJez was charged by dark elves, who seemed ready to rip him to shreds. Phantom just levitated in the air next to Arthur and threw exploding cards. Arthur decided to help Sam who had a sniper, meaning not a good close range weapon, and then help the rest. Maybe he would even get a chance to talk to Phantom.
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SamJaz rolled into a crouch and surrounded himself with fire, before getting clawed again in the face. Rolling back, he shoved a palm out, grabbing a dark elf by the shoulder and forcing it to the ground. SamJaz stamped onto it, gripping its arm between his legs as he grabbed another elf by the neck and shoulder. With a twist of his legs, hips and shoulders, he crunched one arm and snapped another neck.
By now, SamJaz was covered in blood, burns, has a gash up his jaw and almost reaching his eye.
And he was angry.
Angrier than was healthy.
His eyes bled to red.
His hair burned dark.
And dark mist hissed from his finger tips.
He let out an animalistic growl as he began to tear through more skulls like they were styrofoam. He roared in hate, leaping forward like an animal as he tore through body after body.
SamJaz wasn't there anymore.
-[ THANATOS MODE ]-
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Having taken care of three groups of enemies Phantom was satisfied. Then he noticed Sam in a strange state, he was more akin to the monsters they fought right now than to a human and it seemed like he was out of control as well. "The hell is wrong with him now?" Phantom rapidly descends down to ground again standing just across Sam. "Get a hold of yourself man." Crown says in a casual manner and slowly walks up to his friend hoping that he'll stop his rampage.
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SamJaz roared, swinging an arm wildly at the Phantom. While the blow missed by a large margin, it tore through the enchantments around him like they were nothing. The infection seemed to spread, SamJaz's mere presence seemed to eat magic, ki, spiritual pressure, any sort of fantastic was denied by this current form, and his hands could tear through concrete.
He was hunched over, growling like he was some sort of animal. He snarled at the Phantom, glaring at him to assert his dominance, but his rampage seemed to be stayed at the moment.
Meanwhile, the other creatures seemed to reconsider their rapid retreat. Maybe they had an opening to attack the strange beast?
A dark elf threw a flaming spear at SamJaz, who caught it before it collapsed into dust.
All magic would be powerless in stopping this embodiment of rage.
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The stone club crashed against Gen’s guard, and bounced back as the sound of stone pounding metal filled the platform. Not losing a second the Hot-Blooded Boxer charged forward and with the side of his face almost touching the next attack from the grey skinned monster, a brutish punch with his free hand, Gen reached to him with a lighting fast combination, a precise jab to the nose, a powerful left cross to the temple and a massive uppercut to the chin, knocking the monster down. Not stopping there he aimed to a cluster of enemies and used his Raijin Step with a faint sonic boom following him. In a split second he was in front of most of them, except one or two that were closing in Yei, and without doubting for a second he unleashed the combo technique Raijin Jab Hurricane, using the momentum from his sudden dash to increase the damage of his regular Ghost Jab Hurricane.
Thanks to his makeshift gauntlets he didn’t injured his hands as he usually did while using this technique and 5 of the grey skinned beast fell with bruises all over the body and a lot of crushed bones. The Brawler from Tokyo was ready to make his next move when his intuition warned him about something, turning around he saw Samjaz sinister transformation and intuitively his smile got wider ?Seems that key-aniki was holding back in our last fight, I think I should ask him for a rematch- But that moment of inner reflexion took his toll, as one of the beast he knocked down sneaked to his back and pummeled him with a stone axe. Gen went flying sideways and started to fall, luckily his reflexes kicked in and he grabbed from the ledge of the platform
-Hey ninja-chan, give me a hand or I’ll get roasted- shouted Gen barely gripping to the stone ledge
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Crown looks at his enraged friend, he wasn't exactly sure if this was a state caused by an enemy or was it just another mode of Sam. Either wa- "Hey, easy there boy." Phantom jumps back dodging a strike of Sam. He turns his attention to the leftover enemies which have stopped their retreat it seems. But Phantom didn't care about them, they weren't really above canon fodder anyway so taking care of them should be easy enough at any time given. Monster Sam on the other hand...
Seeing that he's ignored Phantom tosses one of his sharp cards at him, he aims at the side of his head to prevent any serious damage but to cause enough pain to get his attention. The second it touched the card evaporated in the same manner it would if Crown had ordered it to disappear. "Immune to magic are we? Well in that case i might as well try to fight hellfire armed with a glass of water." Phantom blinks away as he says so. He finds himself in front of Gen, handing on the ledge, gripping it with both his hands. "Hi there my name's Phantom nice to meet you. And by the way, i'm gonna have to burrow you for a second." Crown takes the man's hand as the says so and then blinks again, teleporting both of them.
They are in front of Sam again, who seems to be busy with ripping apart the opposition. "How about you beat some sense into him eh?" he suggests to the boxer with a warm smile on his face.
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SamJaz roared, lunging forward to smash their skulls together, arms spread wide as he charged.
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"Oh, seems like he wants to give you a hug. I'll be out then." Phantom taps the boxer's shoulder as he says so and then blinks once more leaving the boxer alone to face their fellow friend. He levitates himself as well as a throne that he transformed out of cards to watch the match. It might seem cruel, but hey he couldn't do anything to help, so he'll just watch.
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In a whirlwind of Darkness, SamJaz wasn't there, and then he was, tearing chunks out of the Phantom's throne of cards- which was rapidly falling.
His hands operated far faster than human hands should, a flurry of bestial rage that ate at the phantom's magic.
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"The hell is wrong with you?" Phantom jumps up from his throne when he notices that Sam is clawing at his throne, returning it to the state of the cards which then disappear. Slightly annoyed Crown stands up, the thing about to do he's to do something unusual. Phantom is used to fight with his cards and the cane at times, but as such things would not do any good here. He raises his leg and builds up for an axe kick.
Hitting Sam's as hard as he could he blinks away once again and levitates now at a higher level. "Hope he's gonna get to himself soon enough, this area is getting boring and i'm starting to sweat."
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SamJaz screeched, crawling out of the crater he'd been forced into, before whimpering as he nursed his bloody head, his eyes returning back to the normal brown as he touched his own wound.
"What the..." He asked himself, lowering his hand before letting out another bloodcurdling roar, his eyes flaring back into their bloody red, wounds closing up as he burst into the air, screeching as he tore chunks of stone from the wall and hurled them at the phantom.
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The sight before him made Phantom said. Truth be told he liked Sam the most out of this group here and he considered him a friend of his. Inflicting so much pain and damage certainly wasn't his plan but he just didn't expect his kick to be this effective, after all Phantom's strength barely went beyond that of a human. But there was no use in thinking about it now, a sorry later should be enough. Though there was some happiness in the scenario, Sam look like he was going back to normal. Or at least he did for a moment as he's back in the bloodlusted state again, throwing stones at Phantom who was floating in mid air.
"Give me a break." he sighs as he dodges the first stone. Well at least the wounds were closed and with some luck he wouldn't even remember that little kick when he's back to being himself. Seeing as magic and brute force won't work Phantom decides for an approach which even made him ashamed just because he thought of trying it. He teleports down facing Sam still dodging the projectiles thrown at him. Phantom brings out his biggest illusion yet, he recreates the museum of that night. He probably didn't have much time as it was already being eroded at the place where Sam's feet were touching the ground, but he was gonna try. He walks up to him with hand stretched out like that time. "Name's Phantom, mind telling me yours?" it was the best he could get together. It felt cheesy as hell and he doubted that a cliche as that would work, but hey, the worst that could happen was getting a pretty hard smack to the head, looking back at the kick it would probably be one he deserved.
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Gen was still shocked by the teleportation and his reaction time dropped down, but the moment Samjaz was aiming to throw chunks of stone wall, the Hot-Blooded Boxer got his senses back and his grin widened once again ? I think I’m going to have this fight much sooner that what I expected- Gen whispered just before using the Raijin Step to land right beside the key-blade wielder-Get your **** together aniki! And clench your fangs! - The Battle Chasing Brawler threw a massive haymaker to the unguarded cheek of Samjaz, hoping to knock some senses back on him. He was ready to follow up with a jab, a cross, and uppercut and to end an overcut. His body was completely surrounded with Spirit so he was ready to make some real damage, even if he hoped that his attacks wouldn’t be as effective as he expected them to be. The Brawler from Tokyo completely and utterly ignored Phantom attempt to reconcile with Samjaz, Gen thought that the simpler the solution the faster the recovery and he didn’t knew a solution simpler than slugging things up. He was so into the attack that he didn’t even noticed the illusion casted by Phantom as he rushed with a Slasher Smile.
Gen wasn’t a very friendly guy, but he usually considered those who battled him and gave a good enough fight comrades
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SamJaz was out cold, on the floor. The mist dissipated, his hair and eyes trurned to normal, and the stairway down to the fourth floor opened up.
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Arthur wanted to cast a calm spell on SamJaz, but he knew his attempts would have been futile. Sam was highly resistant to magic. Phantom was making a n illusion of some kind. Arthur had no idea what he was trying to accomplish. Gen was attempting to KO Sam, and Arthur had no idea what he was hoping to accomplish with that. Yei was fighting of hords of monsters. I know she's fast, but I don't think she will be able to last long if I don't help her. Arthur decided to do semething he has never done before. Arthur made many ice shards. Enough to cover the whole battleground and covered the cealing with them. He made sure to leave empty space where Y, Sam, Phantom and Gen were. The Ice shards were thick and long, and you could see a reflection of the lava at the bottom. He then let them all fall. Every monster that would get hit by one of these would die. And there was no way of dodging this many of them. Now that the place was clear, he could help Phantom and Gen. That shard storm left me drained. I preetymuch can't do anything now. As luck would have it, he didn't have to do anything, as Gen's punch left Sam unconcious. Well, that was disappointing. And I exhausted my self for nothing. Arthur flew near the rest of the team. Arthur landed near Sam and the rest of the team so he could rest for a few seconds. He cast a healing spell on Sam with what little power he had, and just sat there, resting.
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Revitalised, SamJaz jumped to his feet. "WHOOO!" He shouted. "Yes, awesome. I got healed and I didn't do it. What happened while I was out and why does everyone look like they crapped a brick?"
This was when SamJaz noticed that his hands were drenched in blood.
Then he saw the hand-shaped holes in the walls.
He put two and two together.
"Alright, explanation." He decided. "Under a hell of a lot of stress, I have drive former based on suppressed parts of my Psyche. You just fought Thanatos, the fastest and weakest one. He's also the stupidest, and the only one you can't talk to. If I ever do that again, point me at the other guys and stay the hell back, then throw a chunk of meat at me when you want me to calm down. When I'm distracted, grab my arm and shove my hand into my face for a few seconds. Probably should have told you about that earlier, but I honestly didn't think that was going to happen. My bad, I'll buy everyone lunch later."
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Phantom sees that he was ignored and that the boxer went with the beat him up method... finally. "Took you some time." Phantom says as he makes his illusion completely disappear to avoid Sam seeing it. It wouldn't have lasted long anyway, it was one of his biggest illusions yet. He walks up to the now normal Sam. "A piece of meat eh? Wish we knew that before." Phantom then starts slowly walking in circles looking at Sam's head. "By the way, how's your head doing?" an innocent smile on his face.
He starts making his way to the stairs, slowly descending.
Floor -04
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Samjaz was on the floor after the first three punches ?Well that was anticlimactic- said Gen with a disappointed look on his face while he cleaned the makeshift gauntlets on of the defeated enemies. Frost Wolf got moved nearby and healed with some kind of magic ?That’s pretty useful, I’ll ask my sensei if I can do anything similar with my Fighting Spirit- the Hot-Blooded Boxer heard Samjaz explanation and watched how the next flight of stairs was available. Most of the monsters in this level ran away after witnessing the display of power that Samjaz demonstrated. Thus Gen was even more disappointed hoping to find a real fight next floor.
The Hot-Blooded Boxer rushed down the staircase, getting ahead of the others. Each step he moved down the place grew darker, until he reached the end of the stairs, were the whole room was pitchblack. He could sense that something was hiding in the dark, but he never expected what was that. A sound started raising it’s volume and sounded all over the place. Flickering lights started to descend from a metallic rig in the ceiling, getting closer to the floor, slowly illuminating by a split second each time, the obstacles in this floor. A mix between dance floor and Japanese garden filled up with ninjas using black outfits that had pyschodelic paint on them that only was visible for a split second each time the black lights flashed. The music was now roaring.
The room had to be forcibly roamed on land, as the rig for the lights stopped any attempt of flying, a voice boomed from the amplifiers to all the newcomers ?WELCOME TO THE RAVE OF A HUNDRED NINJAS! IF YOU WANT TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL YOU HAVE TO TAKE THE KEY FOR DJ HANZO- a beacon of light showed the location, in the other side of the room, of a tower like structure, disguised as a Sakura tree, with the DJ box up there. The music kept playing with intensity and the ninjas, only visible under the split second of black light charged towards the group. ?This is what I wanted!- Shouted Gen as he punched the first ninja that came towards him and prepared to block a blade from the second with his gauntlets
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SamJaz laughed, switching the keychain on his keyblade back to the standard Kingdom Key form. Oh, Yei was gonna love this.
As for how to proceed, it was an interesting situation for SamJaz. He had to take a key to win. Not unlock the door, something he could always do, but actually retrieve a physical key from someone else.
Ninja's began to surround Gen as one fell to his fist and another's blade was blocked by his gauntlet'd fist. Twelve remained a good distance away and began launching shot-glass shurike,- bladed glasses each carrying an intoxicating liquor that, if not getting you wasted, will certainly sting like crap as they pour into your wounds.
SamJaz went for a different strategy. Banishing his keyblade, he weaved past the first wave of ninja and began dancing towards the tree, covering his face with the black bandages he'd used to treat his head injuries. What with the multicoloured blood already sprayed onto his clothing, he should fit right in with the party folk.
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The previous floor proved to be a synch, regardless of SamJaz's compromised state. Gen was the first to the next room and the others soon followed.
This floor would be the perfect opportunity to utilize some more advanced ninpo skills. The first skill, Unshinjutsu, would grant her invisibility and allow her to slip passed the opposition. The second, Ankokutostoshijutsu, would give her sight in the darkness. "Get your 'groove' on, boys." She commented as they entered the venue. "I'm gonna dance with the DJ.. "
Nonchalantly, she shuffled her way through the garden dance floor, sliding past a multitude of ninjas like a whisper of air, as she continued on to DJ Hanzo.
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Gen was in paradise with a smile that could scare of a monster, dozens of slashes and small streams to blood coming out of them covered his body, but he was happy. Some mindless fighting was what he needed, and this Rave Ninjas were providing more than enough enjoyment. - ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA- The Hot-Blooded Boxer shouted as he punched shinobi to submission, thanks to his skills to detect fighting spirit, even crude as his, he could focus on the enemy location even with the flickering lights and laser show that polluted the line of sight of anybody in this floor. Piles of wounded ninjas were forming around him as he gleefully roared with each punch, sometimes even using a much more old-school ?CHESTO!- to remark each punch that threw a ninja like a projectile to his charging comrades. Gen didn’t even bothered to move towards the DJ booth, he was having too much fun, even if he was getting more wounds with each moment that passed, he smiled with sinister joy and a red, bloodthirsty glow in his eyes.
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Samjaz laughed, dropping the dance and walking nonchalantly to the speakers. The whole rave was focused almost entirely on the beast that was Gen. He had to have taken, what, forty-seven down now?
And Yei was headed for the DJ. This wouldn't take long at all.
There was only one thing left for SamJaz to do.
Summoning his keyblade, SamJaz plunged it deep into the speaker, somehow not affecting the bassline it pumped out, until he turned the key.
With a click, the whole song changed key, and increased in tempo.
Samjaz grinned, then began making subtle movements with his hands on the keyblade's handle, an intricate dance that controlled the whole club's sound system.
DJ Hanzo was not in control anymore.
These disks were being ridden by a new jokey.
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The party had already started without him. The ninja chick and Sam advanced to the objective while the boxer was having a good time as it seems. Phantom wasn't really the type of guy who'd just sit around and let others do the work. He makes a few cards appear and cuts down the ninjas that were progressing towards him.
With that he blinks, no more than twice is needed to reach the destination he desires which was next to Sam. "What are you doing?" a rather blunt question but as Phantom couldn't make anything of his movement so he had to ask.
"Well whatever it is, don't have time." he says it without even bothering with the possible answer he could get. Instead he blinks to Yei who was coming closer to the DJ and their target.
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A ninja rave party? Can these floors get anymore crazy. Well, there are 72 more to go. Wonderfull. Just wonderfull. That music was raping Arthurs ears. It seemed everyone was doing something usefull, but Arthur was still weak. Even with his quick recuperation it would take at least a few more minutes for him to recovere completely. Gen was fighting of ninjas, but was getting very damaged in the process. Arthur cast a healing spell at Gen, and made a frost sword in his hand. Yei was sneaking towards DJ whats-his-name, and Sam was... Sam was dancing? But it seemed somehow wierd. Like he was controling the music through that dance. Some ninjas noticed that as well and ran towards Sam, but Arthur gave himself wings and flew infront of him to protect him. He didn't know what exactly Sam was doing, but it doesn't matter. Sam is rather powerfull, so if he's doing something, it's very important.
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SamJaz turned around, spinning a wheel of magic, not unlike a record, on the handle of the keyblade that remained in the speaker.
He controlled the dance.
He ducked under the first ninja's sword strike, then leaned forwards and launched a kick into her chin, rolling back to twist his legs around her outstretched arm. Flexing his thighed, he splintered the bones and took her sword, before weaving his way around the next opponent.
He controlled the dance.
SamJaz jumped up, landing on another ninja's shoulder. He kicked this one's face with his heel, before dropping into a roll where he cut the tendons in the legs of three other ninja then rising up to slice another ninja's torso, gutting them like a fish before casting a Cure spell, healing the wound but leaving them unconscious from the pain.
These were rave ninjas.
Their movements were entirely reliant on the beat of the music.
And thanks to taking control of the music, Samjaz controlled the ninja's rhythm.
Making them easier to predict than a controlled landslide.
To the Lord of the Dance, the other dancers may as well be sitting ducks.
He weaved to the side of Arthur, bowing under his frozen wings and kicking another ninja face. "Thanks mate." SamJaz told the frost wraith with a smile, tossing him an ether. "Take care not to burn out. Phantom and Yei should finish this up pretty soon."
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It seems Arthur was right. Sam's controling the music and with that the movements of the ninjas. "No need to worry about me. I rest best while in action." He smiled back at Sam while some ninjas attacked Arthur. Studying the rhythm of the music, Arthur was able to predict the movements of his opponents. He blocked one sword with his bing.
The wing broke, but it gave Arthur enough time to run his sword through the ninjas heart and hit another with the other wing, which broke aswell, leaving the ninja unconcious.
He parried the next attack, and sliced the man's throat. "I kind of fell bad for killing these guys. Can't we get to a floor where we are treated like guests, and maybe offered cake. I would never leave that floor."
The next ninja's attack broke Arthur's sword, and Arthur could swear he saw the mask on his face showing a smile. He puched the ninja in the face, which resulted in an instant KO. "Don't get so cocky, weakling." Arthur took a battle stance he learned a while back. He could dodge any attack the ninjas attempted and quickly retaliate, even if he didn't predict their movements. "At least this stuff is getting more and more fun the further down we go, and we're just on the fifth floor."
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SamJaz laughed, despite the near-imminent problem.
Gen was running out of ninja's to pummel.
Once he ran out, he'd be coming here for a fresh supply.
Then he'd be looking for some other ninja, but there would be a famine of ninja in the land.
Who's stupid idea was it that a mere hundred would be enough to keep him entertained?
Well, SamJaz supposed that they were never meant to stay on one floor for too long. They'd be moving on soon.
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Phantom was coming closer to the location of the DJ. The tower, looking like a cherry blossom tree was in front of him. Instead of going through the trouble of climbing it or blinking up there Phantom decides that one card will be enough. The force of the explosion caused by the card rips a good part of the tower away making it start collapsing. Before the whole structure crumbled down Crown spotted a shadow leaping off the top. As the dust settled it revealed a muscular figure standing admits the ruins. He had a red scarf, a green outfit, brown hair and a big nail bound to his back. A closer looks also revealed a x-shaped scar on his face as well as a key hanging around his neck.
He was smiling, but he did not say a word. Phantom didn't want to play around for too long so he throws three cards, meant to cut off the ninja's arms and head. But the cards did not connect, they were caught in mid air. Phantom makes them disappear out of the ninja's hands. "Hm, a skilled one it seems." a broad statement made by Phantom, the man only replies with a sharp gaze to signify that he acknowledges Phantom's skill as well.
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The Keyblade reformed in SamJaz's hands.
The music changed.
SamJaz turned to see the DJ.
This was no ordinary ninja.
Keyblade held wide, SamJaz charged, preparing to launch his thunder magic at the massive nail on his back.
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Phantom tilts his head to the side and sees Sam charging in. Phantom already had an idea how to deal quickly with this so he wouldn't tolerate his friend jumping in. But before he could do lighting raced past and struck the ninja's nail. It seemed like he was going through great pain yet his face expression did not change. After the shock finished he was still standing, some burn wounds were visible and it seemed like his reaction time was down and he couldn't move his hands accordingly to his will but he was still standing. Phantom was gonna end the fight quickly enough. Four cards appear in his hand, though only three are seen by the silent ninja. The fourth one unlike the others was an explosive one and it was covered by an illusion. He throws them in a manner close to that of before. The three razor cards are aimed at the shoulders and the neck, but the fourth one went straight for the ninja's abdomen.
It happens all again, a spinning motion to catch the three incoming cards, all of the are snatched out of the air before they can do any harm. Despite the conditions he is in the ninja managed to do that much, but Phantom was sure that he could tell anyway that the cards were not thrown with the same speed and force as the previous three, after all that wasn't needed in this scenario. The fourth one was thrown just a second after the three making it so that it's impact is going to "lag" when compared to the other three. Another confident smile on the man's face which was full of pride now, trying to signalize that Phantom should stop trying and that this move won't work of him even in this state, but that expression changes in just a split second. A violent explosion on the ninja's chest and he's sent flying across the floor, crashing into the ruins of his DJ temple.
Phantom walks up to the body and uses his cane which he had just made appear to lift the key from the ninja's unmoving body. "That was easy." a simple statement full of arrogance as Phantom catches the key in his hand and makes his way to the next floor.
Floor -05
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50 bloodied and bruised ninjas lied under Gen feet, he was completely and utterly filled with small cuts and bruises, yet his almost dumb blood knight smile was so large it seemed he would eventually pop out a vein. Covered in blood and teeth from ninjas, even with a couple of neon shurikens piercing the skin of his arm, only shallow wounds. With a yank and a squirt of blood the shurikens were off his arm, and the Burning Soul Boxer rushed forward like a bull punching anything in his way searching for another cluster of enemies, only that most of them were trying to run away from him rather than facing him. Either way he wasn’t impressed by them he hoped to find a more difficult fight next level, for some reason he could smell it.
As the DJ was defeated, the group moved to the next room, only that Gen took a time as he had some other things on him and slowly walked towards the exit while deattaching a couble of blade chips, a chain around his left leg and a dart in the back of his neck, thus he was last in line for the next level -**** this was a great fight, I hope we get more like this, or even harder!- Gen exhaled before speaking to nobody in particular, thinking out loud.
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Arthur and the rest of the team went down the stairs. "That was fun. I wonder what's next in this crazy place."
As the team stepped on the next floor, they were greated by an anouncer "It seems, we have some last minute enteries. Well, ladies and gentleman we should give them a quick rundown of the track. First, you will race down a path filled with swinging guitars. Make sure you don't get hit by these, or you will be cut in half.Second, you will have to jump across these very bouncy balls. Falling off of the balls means falling onto a bunch of spikes and you wouldn't want that now, would you. Third, you will have to outrun our spiky balls. I beleve that tells you everything you need to know about that obstical.Next, you have to run through big gilotines. Don't you just love the french and their beheading techniques. As your final obstical you will have to ride these spining logs, across this pit of flames , and then you will reach the finish line. All this while listening to some good old metal from these speakers on the sides. You also have to race against other participants. The speakers don't only serve to play awesome music, but will shoot you if you attempt to leave the race track. Don't think you're through just yet, however. At the finish line awaits you a floor made out of speakers that play very,VERY, loud music. There you have to fight Otto , and everyone else who reached the finish with you. If there are such people. Otto isn't a pushover, so don't think this will be easy. And the vibrations made by the speakers/floor don't make the thing any easier for you. If you kill Otto, only 6 of you can pass through, so don't think you don't have to kill the other participants. Have fun and a good race."
That was a long speech-Arthur thought. So, now they had to race through the track and kill some guy called Otto, who has machine gun guitars. And the worst part is that there is another fire pit. Like the volcano wasn't enough. "I think we should get this over with."
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SamJaz frowned a the rules. There wasn't a team number limit in the rulebook he read, but he supposed that this was a floor only rule. But on the bright side, there was only five in the party right now.
He couldn't wait to get to the foot court floors. Those apple judges sound like a right barrel of laughs
"Might be worth pointing out that the more I use my drive forms, the more I can use their abilities untransformed." SamJaz told the team as he began bouncing on the balls of his feet. "In fact, the more I use Thanatos mode, the more I am able to speedblitz across short distances."
He sprinted forward, then leapt into the air and vanished.
"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!" SamJaz shouted playfully, squatting on top of one of the giant guitars as it swung over the race track, before turning and jumping ahead.
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"Quiet arrogant of you Sam. After all if anyone, i'm the acrobat here." Phantom dashes after him as he says so. He literally lets himself fall backwards right into one of the guitar shaped axes. Just as it's about to separate his head from the rest of his body, his whole being is replaced by a blue flash. In the next moment he was sitting on the second axe while it was swinging back and forth. "This is gonna be a walk in the park." he says to no other than himself it seems. He has to blink yet another time, this time appear on the other side of the swinging axe. The reason for this was not a hazard that was mentioned to be on the track.
A huge guy, long raven black hair and a beard just like that. He had leather jacket with spikes on it and a skull on one shoulder. In his hand he had a huge hammer, a face on one end. Each time he swung it the face opened it's agonized mouth and released a fireball, which is what happened just a moment ago. It was aimed at Phantom of course, but he took it rather playfully. "Hey, isn't that cheating?" Crown asks in an innocent tone while giggling, obviously invoking a case of hypocrite humor as he was blinking all over the place just a second ago.
Uninterested in the long haired fellow Phantom stays true to his scheme of this floor and blinks once again, placing himself exactly in front of Sam on the bouncy ball, facing towards him. "Guess you have to keep up with me on this one Sammy-boy." he jumps backwards making a roll in mid air landing safely on the next one. "I'll be waiting for you at the finish." he shouts to both Sam and the whole team and than teleports further away.
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SamJaz laughed, bouncing across the last of the balls before slamming his keyblade into the ground. With a twist of the handle, the metal structure opened at the seams, and the tube became two swinging quarterpipes, with a large gap between them for the large spiky balls to fall into.
It would also have the nice advantage of ruining life for any other racers behind him and Crown, except for ninjas, frost wraiths, or hot-spirited teenage brawlers, since they would be able to jump from the bouncy balls to one of these bridges easily enough. The rest of the racers? not so much.
Now for the nice, pleasant waltz to the guillotine.
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Phantom watches Sam from afar, it seems he'll be the second one to arrive as he could not spot any other member of the team yet. He was at the finish sitting at makeshift table obviously made out of transformed cards. The tea he was drinking was also made the same way. It was a crude way, despite the cards being able to change into anything that wasn't too complex or too big Phantom couldn't still couldn't enjoy it as the real deal.
"Wonder how he's gonna deal with that beheading machine." Phantom murmurs the words as he takes a sip from the tea cup. In his case the guillotine didn't even move as he teleported through it. It didn't really matter, compared to some of the places he robbed this whole thing felt like a child's playground to him and he was sure that Sam wouldn't have much more trouble either. The other ones were the ones that worried him though, could a bulky boxer really handle acrobatic acts such as these? Crown even felt a little bit bad, maybe he should teleport back and carry some of his allies over with his powers. But when he thought about it, he'd rather wait here to smash his win into Sam's face and the others in the team were competent enough not to die... probably.
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Gen got there last and barely listened to the rules, as he was more focused in removing the dozens of ninja equipment still attached in some manner to his body. Thanks to his Fighting Spirit most of the wounds were already closed and as not one of them was deep enough scars wouldn’t be an issue, yet the stench of blood covering him was quiet powerful. He started late and rushed through the obstacles with more luck than skill. His keen, even superhuman senses warned him about the incoming danger, such as sharp blades, and the Battle Chaser Boxer avoided them by a hair, sometimes even getting small slashes as he didn’t evaded the full blade. Gen’s strength was always the offensive and he didn’t give dodging too much thought. He was almost sorry for not listening to his mentor ?That Wind-aniki would murder me if he saw how crudely I’m evading this attacks.-
Gen thought that as one of the makeshift gauntlets was sacrificed to block one of the blades. Then he jumped in the bouncy walls with ease, this was just simple footwork for him. The Spiky balls parts was a tad more complicated that what he thought, as the massive spheres clashed into each other changing their trajectory- **** this ******* things- and other insults came from Gen’s mouth as he dodged with extreme effort the ever changing trajectory of the Spiky Balls. The guillotines were easy, except for the last one, that ended up taking away the other gauntlet, as the Hot-blooded Boxer was about to get hit and tried to punch the blade, thankfully the recoil sent him towards the correct side, but he lost the gauntlet and ended up with a big cut in his hand. Gen got to the platform ready to fight with his guard up even with his right hand bleeding out.
--------
"AW COME ON!" SamJaz shouted in anguish as he rolled through the guillotines, summoning a small dragon to carry him over the flames and landing on the speakers before confronting the master thief. "Can't you let me enjoy my newfound super speed in PEACE?!"
He sighed, sitting down at the makeshift table as he turned around to face the rest of the group. They shouldn't be that far behind, but still.
--------
"Come on now, don't be a bad loser." a grin appears on Phantom's face as he speaks the words and hand Sam a cup of the tea.
"Hope the others will arrive soon, i'm burning to see what kind of freak this Otto is." Phantom raises his cup, thinks for a second and then speaks up again.
"You know, you promised me all kinds of treasure here, yet all i found was scrap and trash. Think you owe me one if you don't get lucky during the next 72 floors." despite the "serious" matter (serious for Phantom) he says it in a casual and calm tone.
--------
SamJaz grinned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a packet of tictacs.
"Ultimate weapons my friend." SamJaz said with a smirk. 'Fancy an invisibility cloak? Or how about a hat that shows you a full sonar scan of everything within half a mile radius? Maybe you'd like a swing with excalibur itself?" He chuckled. "I get dibs on any keyblade related merchandise we find, and I get lunch along the way. Let everyone else get at least one ultimate weapon each, and you can have whatever else takes your fancy as far as I'm concerned. Which reminds me, who owes who lunch now?" He asked Crown. "I keep losing track, though I think I owe you pizza?"
He shrugged. "Either way, you asked how I know Gen. I kicked him in the head in an underground fighting arena over in Osaka, then refused to finish him off. Then I took out the machinegun referee. Then we fought to a tie. Good times."
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Hey that wasn’t what exactly happened!- Gen roared to Samjaz ? I gave you a serious whopping and you just kept using those fancy magic tricks of yours to heal yourself!- The Hot-blooded Boxer moved until he was face to face with the Key-Blade owner ? Want to give it another go?- Gen eyes were serious, but after a second of tension he softly, for him, punched Samjaz in the shoulder and his expression lightened ?I was just messing with ya Aniki, but you owe me a proper rematch, no freaking magic next time- The Battle Chasing Boxer looked around and asked them- So what’s our next move? I didn’t quite get the rules before…-
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SamJaz laughed. "We wait for three more people to come through the finish line, then we fight Otto. I'm gonna head back a little to make sure the right people come fourth and fifth place, then we'll get this done."
He smirked back at Gen. "And me? Fight without getting healed every two minutes? You're having a laugh."
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Yei casually darted past the swinging guitars, only having her keikogi grazed by their sharp edges from time to time, then leaped across the bouncy balls with little difficulty. She could see the others ahead but she was in no hurry, they had to fight some boss at the end, anyway so getting there first potentially meant wasting more energy and she wasn't sure if SamJaz would keep healing the group. Especially since the potential to get into internal strife was rising with the rules changing.
The spiky balls wouldn't present much of a threat either as she could easily resort to Bakemonnojutsu, the ghost art that would allow her to phase through solid objects. The same could be said of the guillotines but the spinning logs, however, she decided she would entertain those obstacles rather than use shukuchi. Employing supido, she accelerated across the fire pit on her spinning log at an unreal rate and found herself among the others who had gotten there. A few of them seemed to already know each other and it was evident by the conversation they were having as she approached their position.
"Congratulations, boys. You managed beat a ninja in a race to the finish line."
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-Bah it wasnt that much of a challenge Ninja-chan, but truthfully after seeing you in action I wouldn’t say no to a fight with you, what do you say? After this is over we can rumble a couple of rounds?- Gen smiled smugly to the deadly ninja, not really knowing how utterly moronic or dangerous place he was getting too. But that was Gen always thinking with his fists rather than his head
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SamJaz wasn't sure how much longer he could hold the gate for Arthur. He'd already left him behind once in this expedition and he didn't want to do it again.
Still, time was moving on, and he could feel the speakers beneath his feet begin to pulsate.
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"Are you hitting on me by asking me if you can hit on me, Gen-san?" Yei said with a titter. "Well, you're not bad yourself, I suppose. I'm just worried that if we scuffle you won't know when to call it quits," she teased back. After all, he did ram his head into the mecha on the first floor when he couldn't use his fists anymore. A fight with the shadow princess would require a little more tact.. Turning to SamJaz she offered a quick reassurance of the remaining party member,"I think Arthur can make it, he seems just as capable as anyone here if he really needs to be."
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Arthur had no problem with the obstacles. All it took was some ice barriers to stop the guitar axes from spliting him into two, wings to fly over the bouncy balls, more barriers to stop the spiky balls. The gillotine and the fire pit weren't much problem either. When he finally arrived he saw that the rest of the team was already there. "Sorry I'm late guys." Arthur however wasn't alone. At least 15 more guys survived the obstacles. And they all looked like metalheads. "This will be tough. We could try and make these guy our allies untill we kill Otto and then kill th..."
He was stopped by the voice of the announcer coming from all sides, even from underneath. "Well, well. It seemes our obstacles weren't enough for you guys. Well no worries. Please give a worm welcome to our favorite musitian, Otto." Suddenly, a door on the other side of the speaker floor opened. Out came a tall man with long red hair and two guitars in his hands. "If his solo performance doesn't blow you away, the his machine gun guitar and axe guitar, will. Now let's crank this into high gear!"
Suddenly, loud music started playing. The floor was vibrating underneath them, and it seemd like they were standing in the epicenter of a level 9 earthquake. At least the music is better then at the rave - Arthur thought.
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SamJaz glared, bracing himself against the floors vibrations. He switched the chain on his key blade, andit became a long, silver pole with a criss-crossing symbol to form the teeth.
The hand guard was rounded, one side white, and the other black. The chain was made of velvet, and a small mask dangled at the end.
SamJaz stabbed this new key blade- the Velvet Key- into the air by his side, and a blue door formed in the air, then vanished as soon as he touched it.
But there was a different look in his eyes now.
Still arrogant. Still guarded. Still observing.
But the change, while subtle, showed what had changed.
He had obtained a new Persona.
"Who wants to see a real earthquake?" He asked, summoning a card as he switched the chain to Undying Soul and slammed his keyblade through the floating card. "RUAUMOKO!"
The little copper maori god strode forward amongst the speakers, uncaring about the vibrations, then drove his spear into the metal, and then all the room began to shake.
Guitars fell into lava.
The audience pit began to sink.
The lighting began to flicker.
The music jarred, and the heavy speakers began to sway.
"IMITATIONS PALE TO A REAL EARTH SHATTERER, DON'T THEY?" Samjaz shouted over the noise. "YOU'RE LOOKING AT A MAGNITUDE ELEVENER HERE! NICE AND CONTAINED THANKS TO ME, BUT DO YOU THINK I AM IMPRESSED?"
SamJaz was silenced to a bullet in his shoulder, followed by one in his ribcage, then another in his collar, then his neck, and then the middle of his face.
At this point, SamJaz stopped falling an his wounds vanished.
A second bullet went through his head, and Ruaumoko charged forward with his spear, ready to impale Otto.
Then the third, fourth, fifth and sixth bullets came through, each shot warranting another wave of Ruaumoko's ice, fire, and spear attacks.
The pity with automatic weapons is, once you pop, you just can't stop.
And SamJaz is immune to headshots.
--------
Yei was glad her teammates weren't holding back on all their abilities. SamJaz uttered some words that Yei didn't hear. It became apparent very soon that he was able to summon. The Ice Wielder, Arthur, could formulate all sorts of ice constructs. Phantom could teleport in addition to his card projectile manifestations and Gen was.. well, he didn't seem to have anything to hide. The shadow sister removed a digital diary from her keikogi and punched in the information she learned up to this floor.
An earthquake erupted then, nearly sweeping her off her feet. SamJaz's repertoire of skills and abilities were remarkable, he was able to summon a god to do his bidding!
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG BANG BANG BANG*
For a moment Yei's composure was rocked by the sight of SamJaz taking several bullets, more than one of them to the head, but the Key Blade bearer remained on his feet, seemingly unhurt.
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Crown watches Sam's little show. It was nice to look at it though Sam was getting rained down with bullets, not that he cared as it seems. Otto stops for a second, operating a quick switch on his trusty weapon. "This might be a shock for you." he twists his head and a maniac grin appears on his face as he says so.
The result when he pulled the trigger this time was quiet different from before. Instead of bullets came small concentrated balls of electricity. Which disappeared when they hit a surface delivering quiet the shock in the process. Phantom throws a card at him casually, aiming for his head as he's concentrating on Sam, but it never reaches him. It was shot down mid air by one of the lightning bullets. The man was a better quickdraw than Frank from the first floor was.
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SamJaz was sent flying by the electrical attack- one that his current Persona had a weakness to.
Thankfully, Phantom had otto distracted long enough for SamJaz to switch Persona to Unicorn- not one of his more powerful Personae, but one with numerous advantages. It could cure almost any poison, it increased his speed, made it easier to dodge bullets and escape from stucky situations, but these weren't what SamJaz had in mind for this battle.
This Persona made SamJaz completely immune to electricity.
He took a ball of electricity to the shoulder and shrugged it off. Granted, this made him a lot more susceptible to the cold in this state, but it wasn't like he was now made of rubber. It's just electricity couldn't hurt him. And cold could hurt him a lot more.
Hopefully Arthur wouldn't decide to turn traitor, but SamJaz chose to ignore that unlikely scenario, walking slowly towards Otto with his keyblade in hand, hoping to fuel his distress at finding his weapon useless against this foe so he would be in an absolute state of panic when the melee came.
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Otto switches back to normal bullets when he notices that the electricity has no effect. He wasn't panicking at all, but was spraying bullets all over the place like he's mad, now using the second guitar as well. Phantom sees his chance this time and throws a card now with more speed and power. The result is one the guitars being cut in half. The fire stops. Otto is down on his knees crying tear after tear.
"You'll pay for this." is all he says as he literally plugs himself in. His muscles grow to twice the sizes and he looks more like a gorilla now, unable to given anything from himself than screams and cries. His other guitar went from a gun to a massive giant axe for close combat purpose.
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-Hitting on you or hitting you? I want to fight you Ninja-chan, ya seem strong and that’s the only thing I care about fighting people that may be or are stronger than me, or much more skilled.- Gen cracked his neck and knuckled advancing towards the enemy and when he was giving his back to Yei he finished ? And about the first option, ye aren’t my type, you lack two important attributes- And turning around he gestured a as if was copping a feel of imaginary and ridiculous big breasts. The Hot-Blooded Boxer once again turned to face Otto, he didn’t seemed impressing , yet the moment Gen was about to charge and punch the living daylights out of him a sudden tremor shook the whole Level, and seemingly the epicenter was Samjaz. While trying to stay standing the Battle Chasing Delinquent shouted at his comrade ? What the ****? Are you doing key-aniki? Are you trying to get our asses killed?- Gen would have continued insulting but Samjaz suddenly got shot by Otto.
Burning rage filled Gen mind, clouding his judgment. Even if he didn’t look like he cared, the Hot-Blooded Brawler was loyal to the ones he fought in the past and end up in good terms, like Samjaz, that he considered a friend, and he was easy to get pissed. With a savage roar he advanced towards Otto that was shooting balls of lighting to anybody that dared to advance towards him. Unlike his calmer companions Gen didn’t had time for finesse and instead of avoiding he was hit consecutive times pushing him backwards, while leaving a trail of his feet clenching to the metallic floor, friction burns on the floor. The Spirited Boxer was too immersed in rage to even notice that Samjaz was okay and attacking Otto. Gen rushed once more towards Otto with death glowing in his rage filled eyes, he sustained an incredible amount of wounds after the lighting balls and now Otto was changing to regular ammo.
That didn’t even last long as Phantom destroyed one of the Level Boss guitars, something that made him angry. He plugged himself and gained a massive boost in musculature and size, using his remaining guitar as a battle axe. At that point he noticed Gen rushing forward, roaring like a wild beast. The Fighting Spirit around Gen, which usually was a skin thick layer of heavily concentrated Spirit just over him now seemed like a unbound flame completely soaking the Battle Chasing Delinquent like if he was aflame. Otto used his newfound strength to punish Gen for the insolence of getting near him and with three swings to the face he stopped the Boxer in his tracks. The attacks were more than enough to take Gen out from his frenzy and allowing him to notice that all his comrades were okay. He saw the fourth swing coming and rolled away from the attack, which landed in the floor causing a massive dent. ?What the fuck just happened?- Asked Gen puzzled while feeling the pain beating in his head.
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SamJaz put a hand on Gen's shoulder, staying his approach as he observed the transformed Otto. "Gen, I'm going to pump you up with healing magic." He warned. "Don't move or that concussion might move. I'm then going to switch to a support Persona and get a scan on this guy to figure out his weak spot. You aren't able to get close enough to deal any damage, Phantom's cards aren't doing enough damage for him to care, and I'm running low on mana. Now, when I hit zero, I get wicked fast and damn near impossible to see for a few seconds while I recharge, but I'd rather not do that here on something with massive armour and can crush me in a single hit. We're leaving this one to the fast, agile guys that can deal heavy piercing damage." He concluded, nodding towards Yei and Arthur.
Again, SamJaz's personality had changed slightly. Each Persona represents part of his fractured psyche, and as he switches which shard has prominence over another, his personality changes. WIth the focus away from the fun-loving Jacks and based on the calm, analytical Unicorn, SamJaz is figuring his opponent out and working out how best to use the team around him.
Unicorn's a team player.
"Yei, Arthur, sorry to give orders like this but you need to get up close and shove lots of stabby into his torso, under those gaps. Phantom, keep providing cover, Gen, stay and be healed. Let's do this."
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Arthur listened to Sam's orders. He smiled at Sam "Well, well. I didn't expect such a level of planing. You are really full of surprises." Time to get this performance to a close. Arthur quickly ran towards Otto. Otto tried hitting him with the axe, but Arthur was too fast. "What's the matter you big ape. Can't hit me?" Arthur made a frost lance and stabbed Otto in the chest. Otto grabbed the lance and crushed it with his hand. He swung his axe, but Arthur ducked at the last moment.
Arthur made a frost sword and stabbed Otto again. With the sword still in Otto, Arthur made another one in his other hand, and was about to stab Otto, but Otto grabbet him by the neck And held him up high. Arthur was trying to get some air into his lungs, but Otto was holding him too tightly. Just as Arthur though he was about to pass out, he saw a smile forming on Otto's face.
Otto threw Arthur up into the sky and got ready to swing the guitar upwards at Arthur. Arthur knew he saw going to be split in half if he doesn't do something right now. At that moment a metaforical light bulb appeared above his head. He made wings on his back and flew right above the guitar. He cut of Otto's hands witha frost sword, that quickly turned into a mallet. Arthur pushed the axe at Ottos head with his foot using the momentum of Otto's swing. He hit the guitar/axe with the mallet.
The next thing that happened was, Otto being split in half. Each half fell to the other side. Arthur felt proud of himself. He wasn't as weak as he though he was. But I probably would have been able to do this if the rest of the team didn't help me. Arthur picked up the guitar that reverted back to it's old form. He was going to keep this as a suvenier. Arthur was able to sense some magic coming from the axe and he guessed that was what let Otto transform it. Arthur reached out with his own magic, and set it to the frequency of the guitar. Arthur felt more powerful now. The control over his ice magic was better and the ice got an improvement to durability.
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Floor -06
And here they were going down the stairs again. Phantom was the last on this time. He was occupied by thoughts, focusing his gaze on Arthur. Before he even noticed they were in an open and wide room again, out of the dark staircase. The area before the was a beautiful landscape. Hills, a forest, a river and many animals. And it wasn't even an illusion or special effect it was all real except for the sun and sky which were arteficial. A little bit strange to make something like this in a room beneath the earth, but looking back at all the other floors, this one wasn't the craziest anyway.
It was a scene everyone could enjoy, they probably wouldn't even start looking for the enemies straight away. That wasn't on Phantom's mind though. Already for some time he had a face that was showing open displeasure. He looks at a bird in a tree nearby and creates one of his cutting cards with no apparent reason. Just as there was no reason for it's creation there was non for throwing it either, yet both happened. While reason was not that a target surely was. The card passed most of his teammates, cutting something off. On the ground was some black hair, from the looks of it, it belonged to no other than Arthur. "That guitar there, i would be thankful if you put it down on the ground." it's said a cold and monotone voice yet still making the hostility and threat of it clear.
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Arthur stepped on to the next floor. He was stunned by how the floor looked. It was beautiful. Arthur was amazed and didn't pay attention to anything around him. If there were enemies here, they could hace killed Arthur and he wouldn't have even noticed. But a few seconds later he hear a sound passing right next to him.It sounded like it came from behind him. Arthur noticed something black on the floor. It seemed like his hair. He also noticed a card stuck into the ground not so far away. The card disappeared. It could have only belonged to one person. Arthur turned around. "What's the big idea." Phantom wanted Arthur to give him the guitar. "No way. It's mine. If you wanted one maybe you shouldn't have destroyed the other one."
Phantom was just stairing at Arthur. Arthur could see the killing intent coming from Phantom. What's this guys problem? I was about to change my oppinion of him and he trew a f***ing card at me. Not only that, but he cut my beautiful hair. If he does that again, I'm shoving this thing right up his a**.
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Gen finished healing, and unluckily for him the fight was over. He stood up with evident disgust and went directly to the next stairs. Pleasant scenery more akin to a shoujo anime than real life was visible from the stairs, just like in the first level; the sun and sky were artificial, yet the ground and the vegetation were quite real. Phantom attacked Frost Wolf, something about the guitar Arthur took from the last Level as spoils of War. The Hot-blooded boxer didn’t care he was looking around searching for the next fight, when from one of the sides a door opened, falling like a drawbridge into the level grassy land. A group of heavily armed knights came out and took a perfect formation, even starting to prepare some fortifications. In the other side of the vast level, from a wall that mostly touched a lake inside the massive room, sliding doors opened revealing Viking Drakkars barging into the waters accompanied by the sound of Battle Horns. The horde of Vikings jumped from their boats, at least most of them, as some stayed in the largest boat.
As The Vikings charged and the Knights prepared for the clash, a powerful bell-like sound reverberated all around the room and both sides of the incoming confrontation suddenly stopped, as if time itself had decided to take a break. Only the group was out of this temporal stasis and a voice coming seemingly from everywhere talked with a sing-song voice.
To cross this ancient battlefield and get to the next stairs, the marked enemies you must face.
Each one with a red cross in their body, each one holds the currency of this battle.
Each one you need to defeat, after finding them in this warring field.
Each one holds a coin, get a dozen and faces their lords, one in room and one in boat.
Each lord holds a ring, that’s your key to get the hell out of here.
But beware if the opponent holds no cross, a torrent of fire will scorch your bones-
The voice stopped and time once again moved forwards with the troops charging in to each other. ?No races this time! Another brawl!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer happily rushed to battle without caring much about the rules. That would prove to be his undoing….
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Arthur turns around and says something, but Phantom does not play any attention to it. Instead another card is sent flying, this time cutting the man's cheek. "Didn't you hear me, i said leave it there." again it's said in the same robotic voice.
"That guitar is the very first thing i encountered here and that has a value of any kind for me, leaving it to you is out of question. And more importantly, i'm sure Clare would love to see that, she always had love for toys like that."
He was dead serious about this, he was going to kill that man if things don't go as they should. It's a pity that Phantom has to display this much hostility towards the others. He was actually quiet eager to make friends and he would rather have situations like this end like that night with Sam but the situation at hand did not allow for that.
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Phantom threw another card at Arthur, this time cutting his cheek. This man really want's to fight me, doesn't he. Then I'll give him what he wants.
"You want the guitar? You really want it? Then come and get it."
Arthur sent a shard at phantom. He didn't care where it would hit him. He tightend his grip on the guitar and it turned into the axe Otto used. Arthur then ran at Phantom. He was going to cut him in half. He knew Phantom could telepot so he mate sure not to lose site of him. If Phantom suddenly disappeared Arthur would fly up into the air and send shards at the place he was at the moment of lift off.
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Phantom threw another card at Arthur, this time cutting his cheek. This man really want's to fight me, doesn't he. Then I'll give him what he wants.
"You want the guitar? You really want it? Then come and get it."
Arthur sent a shard at phantom. He didn't care where it would hit him. He tightend his grip on the guitar and it turned into the axe Otto used. Arthur then ran at Phantom. He was going to cut him in half. He knew Phantom could telepot so he mate sure not to lose site of him. If Phantom suddenly disappeared Arthur would fly up into the air and send shards at the place he was at the moment of lift off.
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Phantom notices that Arthur's gonna be stubborn on his part. He was fine with it, forcing him shouldn't be too hard. He throws a card that cuts the shard flying at him in half, the card continues, it's new target being Arthur himself. Crown then makes his cane appear, and dashes off right after the card, he'd teach the man a lesson or two when it comes to taking treasures he and even more Clare might like.
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Phantom decided just to cut the shard in mid flight with a thrown card. And the card was still going, It would have probably hit Arthur if he hadn't rolled right under it. Phantom was right behid The card. He had a cane in his hand. Arthur didn't remember seing it before, but he might have just not been paying attention. So he want's to give the guitar to some girl called Clair. That doesn't give him the right to throw cards at people.
"Can't you just go to a flower shop or a jewelry store and buy her something?" Arthur swung the axe upwords, hopeing Phantom wouldn't have enough time to teleport away. He was probably wrong. Then again that cane might be very durable and block the axe. "Would you really kill me just to give a girl something she hasn't seen before. You must be terrible in bed if that's the case." There's nothing like taunting to make someone lose focus and make a mistake. Arthur hoped that's exactly what would happen.
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While both of his comrades were fighting Gen rushed through the battle avoiding Vikings and Knights searching for one with the Red Cross, he found a knight that used a white surcoat with the cross in the middle. ?Hey you with the cross in the chest and the tin in the head, come to daddy!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer rushed forward and with perfect coordination he delivered a 1-2 combination while avoiding being skewered by the lance the Red Cross Knight was carrying. The Knight was pushed backwards by the intensity of the blows but his armor, which seemed old, managed to withstand a hit that would punch a hole through a brick wall. Gen noticed that something was off right away as the man should have been thrown at least a couple of meters in the air after his straight, but sheer weight was what left him standing, only moving a meter backwards.
That tipped him off, yet Gen didn’t understood. All the warriors in the mock battle were robots with hyper dense armor-like Chassis. The Battle Chasing Boxer only thought was that the opponent was a tough guy rather than anything more deep and once again he attacked, releasing a barrage of attacks that only caused minor dents and scratches to the armor surface. Nobody was attacking him, all the other warriors were programmed to fight only if fought against. Another spear attack and this time Gen had the awful idea to block it, as it wasn’t a piercing lunge, but a attack with the spear shaft. The blow send him flying over the battlefield, even breaking through some of the lances of the Knights, landing nearby the entry ladder with all his body hurting like hell.-Fuck! That was fun, I may need to go again to ask him to teach me how to do that- Gen spoke in a strange sing-song voice, but when he stood up and tensed his body and his expression changed from innocent to sinister and his ever present battle grin appeared.
-Better yet, I’m going to teach him how you do it right, by pummeling him through the ceiling.- The Battle Chasing Delinquent rushed into the battlefield hoping to get the Knight location right and find him. His eyes didn’t caught the details of the other fights in the battle, were oil and machinery were spilled instead of blood and guts
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SamJaz slammed his keyblade into the flying card, then launched a beam of light at Arthur, then span around to launch another beam at Phantom.
Muscle lock. This technique gave every single muscle in the target's body horrendous cramp for a few seconds, longer if SamJaz kept it focused on the target, like in his battle against Gen.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" He roared, titling his head to dodge an arrow before turning around to point the weapon at the knights. "DON'T YOU START AS WELL! I HAVE HAD IT UP TO HERE!" SamJaz flung a hand, levelling it above his head. "WITH YOU PEOPLE ACTING LIKE CHILDREN!"
SamJaz pointed at Phantom. "You. Get dibs on non-keyblade related sweet loot. Plundering trophies from individual battles is free game to the one who claimed the kill. Grow up."
He turned to Arthur. "YOU!" He shouted. "HAVE BETTER TASTE IN WEAPONRY! SERIOUS!"
Another arrow was launched at SamJaz, and he shot a fireball back. "WAIT JUST A SECOND!" He shouted back at the knights, exasperated.
He turned around to his teammates. "Now. Either you settle this the way we did back in nursery, or NO ONE. Gets. The guitar."
SamJaz had switched Persona again. Titan. He was not in a mood to mess around and he was willing to smash some skulls together if it meant getting people to calm down. "I've had one team turn on each other and fall apart. Now believe me when I say I will not hesitate in bringing this entire hell scraper down if it cools your heads. Gen, back me up on this and oh hell he's already fighting the robots isn't he... DAMMIT!" He shouted, throwing his keyblade to the floor, only for it to reappear in his hand with a cloud of red sparkles. "AND NOW I'M OUT OF MANA! I HOPE YOU'RE ALL HAPPY!" He shouted, turning around and charging into the fray slightly faster than the human body should be able to run.
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Arthur rolled to the side to avoid the card flying at him, an expected outcome. Phantom was already above him and as a means of defense the man swung the newly recovered weapon at him, while giving off some cocky provocation try. It wasn't very effective though, Phantom was never impressed by verbal insults and it wouldn't change now. Sam's lines from that night even had more wit, yet they didn't throw Crown off balance so there was no hope for this one to do something like that.
The axe was blocked by Phantom's cane. Before he does anything else Sam jumps into the fray and tries to stop the fight. An impressive speech is given by him as he tries to calm the two of them down. Phantom looks at the scene for a second and then without changing his tone or expression replies. "I am sorry Sam, you a friend of mine and it would be sad if i caused you any trouble but there is no help to it. If the weapon was less generic and something i already have i wouldn't bother, but this is the only thing worth something so far and as i said it's more a gift for Clare than something for me and i believe you know how i act when she's involved." Phantom spins backwards and throwing five cards at Arthur, a sixth one hidden by an illusion, none of the would cause explosion a sign that Phantom wasn't serious yet. As he the spin finishes, he disappears out of Arthur's sight. He blinked 15 meters up in the air. From there he creates and throws 10 additional cards with telekinetic power without touching them, they were meant to seal off the man's possibility to dodge the other two. Phantom once again sits in his makeshift throne crossing his legs and looking down upon Arthur.
"You picked the wrong fight, boy." a arrogant grin on his face as he declares.
---------
The guitar was blocked. Bah, the guitar is a bit too slow for me. And Phantom ignored Arthurs taunts. Maybe I should try again, only this time I'll ame at somehing he is weak. "Look, I don't think I should tell you this, but... The reason you have to do this isn't that you're bad in bed, but it's just that I'm that good. Just tell Clare Frost said high. She will know who I am." Before Arthur even said the whole thing Phantom threw five cards at Arthur. Before Arthur could do anything Phantom disapeared. Arthur couldn't see where Phantom was so he decided to protect himself from all sides.
Arthur made a frost dome around himself. Just as he did that he heard a muffled voice coming from above. "That's what you think. I'm just warming up." Arthur made a lot of shards right above the dome and fired them at the place where he thought Phantom was. At that moment he figured out that Phantom might just teleport into the dome. Just incase he made a bunch of ice shards around himself and and the inside of the domes walls. Let's see him try and get in here now.
---------
"OI!"
SamJaz slammed his foot into the dome wall.
"DON'T!"
SLAM
"YOU!"
SLAM
"IGNORE!"
SLAM
"ME!!!"
SLAMSLAMSLAMSLAM
"I'LL GET BACK TO YOU IN A SECOND AL!" He barked, pointing his keyblade back at phantom. "NOW YOU WILL CEASE AND DESIST NOW, STOP SCREWING US ALL OVER FOR YOUR STUPID GUITAR AND MAYBE I'LL GO BACK UPSTAIRS AND SHOW UP MY LEET GUITAR-GUN REPAIR SKILLS, BUT FOR NOW, SHUT IT!"
He slammed his boot again into the dome. "ARTHUR! OUT! NOW!"
--------
Some more insults, this time probably aimed at a nerve of Phantom as Clare's name was said. But things as such wouldn't throw him off balance, he could deal with that after he reduced the man to a corpse like state. A dome is formed around the man protecting him form the incoming cards which cut themselves into the ice but don't penetrate it. A few shards of ice are launched again, Phantom casually tilts his throne to the side dodging them.
"Guess i'll just have to smoke you out, little rat." he creates six cards, all of them explosive but not as his previous ones. So far he has only been using the weakest ones, this was the next level they made everything used before look like children's toys when destruction was concerned. He sends all of them towards them dome. One is them is faster and it's used to create a hole in it for the others to enter. After that happens there won't be anything left of them dome, nor Arthur, but he also feared that the no parts of the guitar could be ever found again either.
--------
Something snapped in SamJaz's head.
"FINE!" He shouted, stomping off from the two guitar-obsessed idiots and looking to find Gen. Yei was most likely doing something useful. That's what she would be doing in this situation.
It's what SamJaz should be doing, but he's just too mad to care.
"Red crosses are extra points, kill the robot knights, hunt down their bosses." SamJaz said, switching his Persona to pyro jack, giving him a full immunity to fire before slamming his blade into the neck of one knight that burst into flames.
SamJaz walked through it, not caring only to charge in like a madman, storming the battlefield like a typhoon.
--------
Phantom threatend to smoke Arthur out of the dome. That gave Arthur a bad vibe. He decided to strengthen the dome just incase. That turned out to be a good idea. Arthur heard a lot of explosions around himself. The dome was no more. If he hadn't strengthend it he would have probably been a gonner. This was madness. He could have kept this up for much longer. But Phantom didn't appear to have been getting tired either. I'll try one more thing.
Arthur suddenly put ona relaxed posture. He wanted to make Phantom relax a bit too. That would make him just enough suspectable to a surprise attack.
And a surprise attack it was. There is no way Phantom could have predicted Arthur would create a ten ice sharde right beind his floating throne. The shards started flying at Phantom. Either he was going to dodge them somehow, or he's going to be turned into swiss cheese. If I hit him I'll just heal him. Or Sam will do that. It doesn't matter. He's sure to give up if his hit. Then again if his hurt I might feel bad for doing that to him. But if he isn't he'll probably still insist on Arthur giving him the guitar. It's a lose/lose situation for Arthur.
--------
The blast is gone and Arthur is still standing as it seems, the dome is gone though. Didn't really matter to Phantom, he remembered that back at the volcano feats like this would tire him out. Phantom on the other hand did not have to worry, unlike Arthur and Sam he was not limited by any kind of mana supplies. Filou would always take care of anything, it didn't matter how many cards he created they were endless.
Arthur took up a stance that looked like he was ready to stop the fight, a lie it seems. The moment he done so Crown's left eye reacted, changing in color and exposing the true nature behind Arthur's action.
A giant card covering his whole back and throne is created behind Phantom, the sound of shards shattering behind him can be heard.
Two cutting cards are created. The two are hidden behind an illusion making it look like no have been created. After that three ore explosive ones, now visible to the eye of Arthur. All of them are floating in the air with the two cutting ones one the left and right side of his throne. All five start racing down to Arthur. The two cutting ones are considerably faster and will arrive before the other three and also have a spin to them which will allow Crown to alter their course, they were aimed at the edges of Arthur's legs, he was gonna make him kneel. The explosive projectiles had two were not only cover up but would also damage Arthur, even if he dodged the invisible pair, because of their area of effect.
--------
Gen once again was flying over the battle this time landing in the opposite side of the room, near the two sockets for the rings to be placed in. This time around he managed to score some real blows against the opponent, but this time around the lack of articulations in the Knight-like robot catch him by surprise and by doing a 180 degrees turn with its waist the opponent managed to score another blowback enhanced strike that pushed Gen out of the battlefield. The Hot-Blooded Boxer was beyond rage he was even leaking Fighting Spirit like a raging flame around him. ?I’m going to deck ya in the schnozz!- Gen roared as he rushed towards the last place he saw the Knight as he flied away.
He found it as he recognized its back. Without doubting for a second he attacked with all his might, only to find out as the mechanical warrior turned around, that it was the same one but lacking the red cross. A piping sound started and a massive explosion engulfed him and several other robots that exploded with equal strength. The blaze of fire and the kinetic energy released by the explosion sent him in a flaming arc, landing exactly in between Phantom and Frost, first getting hit by a couple of exploding cards and then crashing against the floor. Gen was completely K.O and covered in black ash.
--------
SamJaz strode through the warzone, the knights were actually backing away from his as he approached the two pilllars.
He looked at the ring shaped holes inside of them.
Key holes. That's all they were. Unordinary shaped keyholes.
Well, he'd been ignoring the rules so far. Why start now?
He raised his keyblade over the first pillar, then stabbed it right in the hole, turning the key in before drawing it out and repeating the process with the other pillar.
Blue sparks danced around SamJaz and he knew his Mana was restored, even to the point where he could cast a projectile revival spell, locked onto Gen.
Locking on was a double edged sword. On one hand, the spell would home into the target. On the other, everything he wasn't that concerned about became an unimportant blur.
Still, everything on this floor that would want to hurt him treat him as death incarnate. He would survive this one.
----------
The guitar is thrown towards Phantom, but he just makes it float in the air using his levitation ability. The two cards perfectly hit their target, cutting Arthur just above his ankle on both sides of his legs, serving his nerves. In that state he would be helpless, a half decent dodge couldn't be made. Phantom's face goes further into a sadistic grin. He was gonna use this before the rat can react, he creates an explosive card stronger than the weakest ones. Instead of the usual telekinesis used from card throwing he throws this one by hand. As soon as it leaves it's hand a massive explosion can be heard, it's not an effect of any of the card but just the shockwave created by the force of the throw.
The card races past the other weaker three as if they were standing still. They are scattered around and disappear just from it passing by. It was a sure kill, there was no escape. But then Phantom's realizes something. Was he really doing this for Clare? Yes he loved her to the point that he'd do anything for her, but was it really that? Perhaps the Filou was affecting him too much. He was about to kill a man, a man who was his ally just a moment ago and he didn't even have a reason to do so. Not only that but the seemingly wounded and unconcious Gen was there as well. He was about to take two lives for nothing. It made him feel ashamed, even if he needed there were better ways to get that damn guitar.
He snaps out of his thoughts and does it as fast as he can, he makes the card that is about to spell doom for Arthur and Gen disappear. Just in time as it was no more than a hair away from striking it's target.
"Guess i went a little crazy there."
----------
Ignoring the drama, Yei focused a concentrated on assaulting the knights with her Wakizashi, employing the use of supido and shukuchi to speedily deliver a series of slashes followed by teleports and more slashes. She was taking measures to reduce any chances of the others being surprised by the fodder so they can freely work on the bosses. After successfully reducing their numbers she appeared by Gen's side and remained there to provide him cover.
----------
"Happy now?" SamJaz asked Phantom, watching Gen and Arthur bleed out. "Do you honestly feel like a better person after what you just did?"
Samjaz sent healing spells into Gen and Arthur, before picking them both up and hauling them towards the elevator. "You know what? I don't want to hear it. I'm gonna ship them up to the medics up top and when they come down again just hope they don't ask me to tie you down so they can have their pound of flesh."
He pushed the button with his kneecap, then shoved the two bodies into the lift, letting the door close on them and taking them to the top floor. "I doubt that they will, but seriously. Don't do that again."
He put a hand on Phantom's shoulder as he walked past, however. "Thanks for stopping before you did something irreparable. I mean that. Thank you."
Now what else needed to happen before they went down? Well, whatever it was, Yei looked like she had it under control. By that he meant that he couldn't see her anywhere, but a lot of robot corpses. Yep, she had it totally under control. Now where were those stairs down?
----------
Phantom comes down from the skies as his throne disappears.
He knew that he wasn't exactly himself back then but that was hardly an excuse. It scared him a bit, he wasn't like this usually. It was the same worried expression he had because of what Sam said back then in the bar, just more intense. "I guess i owe the two a big sorry from my side of things." he says it in a voice full of shame contradicting his usual pride self. He hears the words of thanks from Sam but they don't really help. "Yeah, i wouldn't be able to face myself, you or anyone here if i went beyond that."
He walks over and picks up the guitar still in axe form with it's blade buried deep into the ground as it had stopped levitating a while ago. "At least i got a present for Clare." said in a disappointed tone. He starts walking next to Sam looking for the stairs leading down.
Floor -07
----------
There was a screech of excited young ladies.
"Now girls, calm down." A larger, yet very short older woman declared. "You are not to harrass our guests. You are still students here at the fashion fairy academy and you are to treat our models with respect."
She turned to face the newcomers. "WELCOME!" The lady shouted, fluttering her wings. "My name is merryweather and oh my WHAT are you wearing?" She asked. "No matter, we'll have you looking absolutely MARVELLOUS in just a jiffy!"
----------
Gen woke up in the hospital up in the main building as they finished patching him up. ?Get up you’re ready to go- The doctor, or at least he seem so with the scrub and the chinstrap, said to him as he helped him to get down from the bed. Most of his wounds were healed, only the deepest had some bandages. Even some old wounds were healed as the pain he felt in humid environments was gone. He thanked the medic and took the lift. He peeked under his bandages ?Fuck yes! I’m going to have some wicked cool scars after this- For him scars were more like achievements from a videogame than traumatic injuries. The door opened and he got once again into the battlefield. ?You’ve been waiting for me? How sweet of you- Gen spoke with noticeable sarcasm ? We should be sluggin’ this fuckers not standing here with our arms crossed- The Hot-Blooded Boxer walked towards the battlefield but he stop in his tracks and turned around facing Phantom ?Hey, next time I get hit by one of your cards I’ll knock yer teeth out! Understood?- Gen eyes shifted from playful to sinister with a smile to match the glare he gave Aleister. He then gave his back to him and moved towards the battlefield with his Fighting Spirit forming around him stronger than before. Every time you knocked him down, Gen only came stronger. He found that the battlefield was calm and the stairs were activated so he followed Samjaz towards them, flanking him, he seemed pretty pissed about losing his opportunity of slugging Knights and Vikings, but at least he was ignorant of the fact that the quick resolution of the level was Samjaz doing.
----------
An innocent smile and slow laugh escape Phantom at Gen's comment, sweat going down his forehead. He was about to say that it wasn't really his fault that Gen got hit, but Phantom wasn't in the position to try and shift blames. He slowly walks up to the massive man and then speaks in a low melodic yet determined voice. "Don't really want there to be any hard feelings here, i'm deeply sorry for what happened."
Phantom then takes a step back and creates some room between him and Gen. He stands there completely still, his body firm and tense as if he was a solider in front of his general.
"Here, a free punch on me wherever you desire." a very calm statement considering that he's expecting to be run over by a raging bull in a few seconds.
----------
SamJaz blinked at the absurdity of the situation. Ignoring the fact that Crown just asked for his livelihood to be pulverised, he was more concerned about the nature of the level.
The place was stark white, and there was a lot of faries, maybe two dozen, and they were flitting around taking measurements of himself, Phantom, Gen and Yei. "Alright, what is going on here." SamJaz asked. "What the hell do we need to do to proceed?"
"You sirs, need to take more pride in oyur appearance!" One fairy, the one called Merryweather, wearing blue, declared, jabbing him in the chest. "Honestly, tattered clothing, bloodstains, dirt, you look an absolute disgrace! You can't be running around this tower looking like that! It simply will not do!"
Other fairies berated Gen for similar problems, although Yei and Phantom seemed to be getting off lightly, as they still seemed to look presentable.
"Now, both of you, go get a wash, your new attire will be prepared shortly." Merryweather ordered, her fairy lackeys starting to push SamJaz and Gen towards a side room. "Out, out out! And make sure to wash behind your ears!"
With that, she turned to Yei and Phantom with a smile. "Now, sir and madam, could I perhaps offer you something to drink? I assure you we won't keep you long."
----------
Gen stopped in his tracks when he heard Crown proposition. He turned around with a deadly glow in his right eye and moved towards him with a smile more creepy than sinister. ?Ok, if you ask me so kindly to punch you I’ll do it- The Hot-Blooded Boxer firmly stood in the ground taking a stance to help him send a powerful straight directly to Phantom’s face. Fighting Spirit focusing in his fist that was covered by a dense and radiant blue aura, that fluctuated around the hand of Gen ?You asked for it Kamen-chan! Torauma PUNCH!- The Brawler From Tokyo sent a might strike aimed directly to Phantom temple, a powerful wind raised up around them as the strength behind it was more than enough to shift the pressure in a small area, even some cracks in floor showed the blow strength. An attack like this would surely decapitate an elephant or something even bigger, and Gen knew that well. But at the last moment he stopped his blow and only a massive wind current, powerful but inoffensive was shot towards Phantom face, pushing his hair backwards with a might gust.
Gen started laughing out loud, all the tension broken after that “attack” and as he did with Samjaz he lightly, for his standars, punched Aleister in the shoulder ?You really thought I was about to slug ya man! HAHAHA! I wouldn’t do that we are in the same side! And I’ll remember that until you make me forget it by attacking somebody in the group again….- His eyes went sinister again - Ya understand me Kamen-chan?- Gen left chuckling while he moved once again to Samjaz side. There he was guided by some really annoying fairies he wanted to slug, yet at this point he had learnt enough of Samjaz to know when to exercise some finesse. Gen didn’t had friends, yet now he was in this place, one of the funniest places he had ever visited with a bunch of people he was starting to care about. His mentor always told him that a Spirit Boxer path is always lonely, but the Hot-Blooded Boxer never took great care to follow the rules or traditions. Having some people to relay on and spar from time to time wouldn’t be so bad.
He was taken to a shower were he cleaned hectoliters of blood from his skin while new clothing was being prepared by the fairies. After a good shower, Gen took the clothes left for him. A sleeveless white shirt with a Tiger on it, a couple of light gloves that let his fingers out, but with some kind or reinforcement under the fabric and Black cargo pants with combat boots. He was good to go and ready to keep punching people to the floor.
----------
And wouldn't you know it, but in the cubicle next to the boxer, it turns out that someone liked to sing in the shower.
"I hate a moral coward, one who lacks a manly spark, I just detest a man afraid to go home in the dark, I always spend my evening where there's women wine and song, but like a man, I always bring my little wife along!
"I'm a member of the Midnight Crew, I'm a night owl, and a wise bird too, Home with the milk in the morning, Singing the same old song! Rise with the moon, go to bed with the sun Early to bed, and you'll miss all the fun Bring your wife and trouble, it will never trouble you Make her a member of the Midnight Crew!"
The music, however, was interrupted by SamJaz turning off his water and leaving to get dry, before the song resumed as he dressed again.
"I never shall forget the night I made Six Rapper's Run, Although I didn't have a knife, a blackjack, or a gun, I proved myself a hero of a very high degree, I ran for home, and six of them, were running after me! Iiiiii'mmm, a member of the midnight crew..."
----------
Yei found herself in a white room full of fairies whom began taking her measurements. Merryweather, a fairy in blue, offered Yei and Phantom a drink then. "That would be delightful," Yei responded to the madam politely. "It'll keep me occupied while the boys get cleaned up." Revealing her digital diary she took note of the altercation between Arthur and Phantom. From that experience she learned that he had a soft spot after all.
----------
Already clean and clothed Gen came out to find Yei and Phantom. With his characteristically lack of finesse he moved towards Yei. ? Hey Ninja-chan! What’s your story? What are ye doing here?- The Hot-Blooded Boxer added ?My name is Gen by the way, Gen Shishioh-
----------
"My story? If I told you that, dear Gen-san, I'd have to kill you." The shadow princess remarked as Gen came up on her, freshly bathed and dressed. Knowing the statement wasn't something he'd never heard before she continued, "As overused as that line is, it's the truth. In any case, you clean up rather well." She took a sip of her beverage then, silently giggling at the sound of someone singing in the showers.
----------
-Bah, I like the scent of blood, but truth to be told sometimes the blood makes you lose friction and connecting punches while your knuckles are slippery is kinda tricky…. Only overcuts work fine and those cause a bitch of a strain to yer hands- Gen talked about something so horrible with calm voice, even bored. He may be a good guy deep down, but that was under several hundred layers of grade A Blood Knight Tendencies. Sniffing the air and with another classic display of a brutish lack of manners the Spirited Boxer said to Yei. ?Ya could use a bath yourself Ninja-chan, ya stink like a dead dog or something…-
----------
The brawler was either crazy, stupid or trying to gauge the shadow sister's patience. It didn't matter. the 'nin' in 'ninja' has many translations, one of which happens to be patience. Nonchalantly, Yei simply ignored the disrespectful remark and resumed typing into her digital diary.
----------
Arthur woke up in a bed."What the..." How did I end up here. Let me guess, Sam though I needed to get pached up. I guess he was right. That Phantom is a beast and possibly a moron. Then shouldn't I hate him or something? That is not what Arthur felt towards Phantom. Quite the contrary. He felt respect. Even though he's just an acrobat he was able to almost kill Arthur. "I think I actualy like the guy. " Arthur thought that he should ask his teacher to train him osme more. He really needed to get stronger.
Arthur got up. He left the room he was in. He was it the receptionist again. "Ah, I see you're feeling better. The boxer that was with you already left." That was something Arthur expected. Gen doesn't know when to stay down. "Thank you for healing me." Then he got into the elevator and the receptionist lowered it down to the floor his allies were at.
There he saw a room filled with fairies. "What is going on around here." The fairies were taking measurements of Phantom and Yei and Arthur could have sworn he heard water coming from the a room near by. He heard Sam singing in there. That almost made Arthur laugh like a maniac. Instead he just put on a grin. Some fairies started taking Arthur's measurements. "Hey, what do you think you're doing." "We're doing something you should have done yourself." "It's not my fault we have a blood thirsty maniac in our team." Arthur didn't really mean to say that, but he said it. Actually, he would probably call Phantom that until they leave this place, not as an insult, but as a joke. Phantom probably wouldn't give a damn if he ignored comments about Clare, so there won't be any hurt feelings.
"Hey, no daydreaming. Go take a shower." " That might be a good idea. I reek. Hey, why are you doing this? I though every thing here was out to kill us." Arthur didn't mind that very much. As he said, he wanted a floor where he could rest, drink tea and possibly eat something. Maybe chocolate. The fairies didn't answer his question. Instead they just pushed him into the shower room. "I hope those guys don't mind waiting for half an hour. I really like my showers."
----------
"Yeilin Kichise, daughter of a Korean Businesswoman and a Japanese policewoman, raised by her grandmother until her death, then shifted around through various boarding schools throughout her life, most recently the Kashima Shrine Academy, where you obtained the rank of Delta Kageshojo. You've been there about ten years, and it shows." SamJaz said, walking out and towelling his hair, dressed in his new combat fatigues. "The moment you locked away your identity, I was able to unlock it, as Al over there can testify. Ooops," SamJaz said, looking at Phantom, then shrugging. "Eh, Al's fine. Secret identity's safe and to be honest, who cares? Thanks for the get-up Merryweather." He added, turning around. This cstume was black and red and yellow, with far too many zips, straps and pockets for his own good, but either dispite or because of that, he looked pretty damn good in it, albeit someone who looks damn good at his final fantasy convention.
"Oh, don't worry about it, it's our pleasure." Merryweather said, waving the compliment aside. "That will be ten thousand dollars, if you please."
SamJaz paled. He should have known. These were ruthless businesses and were there to make a profit. That said, this was too awesome to pass up on. It felt good to be wearing something fresh and clean for once, but he wasn't about to ask for help, despite the fact that money was one of Phantom's superpowers.
He dug into his pockets. "I have... two thousand, five hundred and sixteen munny aaaand.... a lot of yen." He said. "Will that do?"
----------
Arthur finaly got out of the shower. Steam was coming from his body. Arthur always though it was ironic that a frost mage likes warm showers. As he got out of the shower he was handed clean boxers, jeans an a shirt. Arthur got dressed but left the shirt unbuttoned.
The fairies asked him for 5000 dolars. "What?! You just gave a shirt and jeans. I could buy those for 500 dolars. This is a ripoff. Damn you." Arthur handed them, 5000 dolars and noticed that Sam was having the same problem only they were asking for 10000. Sam disn't have enough. The faries were about to say something to Sam and they didn't look too happy. Arthur stepped in. "Wait, wait. There's no reason for this to turn into a battle. I was really hopeing we would get to relax. I'll add my money to his." Sure I'll be pritty much broke, but at least I get to rest. Besides my teacher will give me back what I spend. She'll probably make me run a million laps around her house, but it'll be worth it."You guys wouldn't by any chance have any chocolate, would you? I'm really hungry."
----------
SamJaz looked ready to bake Arthur a cake and name his first born child after him.
Then the panic sunk in.
"What about Gen?" He asked, clearly panicking.
"Oh, we just needed him to model a few other outfits with his incredible physique, he's earned his pay." The fairies announced with glee, two of them opening the stairway downwards. "And don't worry Mister Arthur, all our services come with a complimentary fruit basket, free of charge! Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you again here at Merryweather Designs."
SamJaz took his fruit basket carefully, subtly sniffing it, and began to tear into a pear. "Thanks ladies. Autobots! Roll out!" He shouted, leading the way down the stairs.
Floor -08
-----------
"A fruit basket? But... but... I wanted chocolate." Arthur started tearing up. Why must they be so evil. Arthur took his basket and started going down the stairs.
As he stepped on to the next floor he saw a cave. What's a cave doing here? Arthur went inside to check it out. The cave was filled to the brink of exploading with gold. Arthur was overjoyed. He would get all his money back. Unless Phantom doesn't take it for himself. At that point Arthur realised Phantom didn't talk to him since he came down the fairy place. But he didn't care. He was about to get rich. YAY! And then he noticed that the cave was filled with pirates, aswell. Less yay. At least they aren't mechanical pirates. We had way too many robots.
Arthur made a lance in his hand and ran towards the pirates who drew their cutlasses. Some even drew their pistols, but Arthur wasn't worried. I won't let them deny me the gold. I didn't give away all my money for nothing.
-----------
"PARLEY!" SamJaz shouted, stepping aside with his hands in the air. "We don't want any trouble. Just your money."
-----------
Phantom, still at ease that his face didn't end up worse than that one time when he was locked up somewhere in South America and where they were beating him for 24 hours straight with no apparent reason... other than being suspected to have stolen the Portrait of Suzanne Bloch. Well it seems the thing with Gen was settled and he could move on with it.
And Arthur arrived as well as it seems. They were already advancing to the next floor and Crown decides to speak up now. He slowly approaches Arthur and taps him on the shoulder once, he moves his hand behind his head and says the words in a rather nervous tempo "Hehe, sorry for that thing a while ago buddy." he extends his hand after that, while putting the other inside his suit. "Noticed you had some money problems up there, this might help and it's the least i can do." he throws a bundle of cash at Arthur.
Now that this was done he could move on with slaughtering whatever was on the floor but he wouldn't forget the strange incident any time soon. "Perhaps i should tell it someone..." Phantom thinks to himself, regarding the fact that he's hiding that he wasn't quiet himself back then.
He blocks a few bullets fired at him with five normally sized cards and then throws them using telekinesis, his hand still being on his chin and him being lost in thoughts.
-----------
Arthur impaled a pirate with his lance and used him as a human shield. When a pirate stopped to reload, he pushe the end of the lance that was sticking out of this guy into him. Then he jumped back slashing any pirates that attacked him with their cutlasses with a frost sword.
As he stepped out, Phantom tapped him on the shoulder. He apologised to Arthur and even gave him a large sum of cash. "Er... Thank's, but you didn't have to do that. I'd forgive you even without you bribing me. Besides, The cave is filled with gold. I'll get all my money back and then some." Phantom didn't seem to notice what Arthur said , so Arthur just ran back into the fray.
He parried a pirates sword with his own, and threw a shard at another one that was about to shoot him.Then he quickly pulled his sword across the neck of the previous one. He turned around and stabbed one in gut. At that moment a fireball exploded behind him. The gold started flying in all directions. "Damn it Sam, what are you doing. That's precious money."
However he heard a man saying something behind him "NO, MY BOOTY. YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YOU SCURRRRRRRRRRVY DOGS. I, CAPTAIN SCURVYBEARD, PROMISE YOU THAT."
-----------
"NO, MY BOOTY. YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT YOU SCURRRRRRRRRRVY DOGS. I, CAPTAIN SCURVYBEARD, PROMISE YOU THAT."
SamJaz lunged over the pile of gold and parried the flintlock out of the way, then locked blades with the captain's cutlass as the gun went off harmlessly. "A duel then." SamJaz grinned. "One swordsman against another. Your flintlock against my magic, my keyblade against your cutlass." He grinned, pressing the advantage. "Consider this a mutiny."
-----------
"Yee watch too much Pirates of the Caribbean if yee think yee scurvy dog can beat me." Scurvybeard said. he fired his gun at SamJaz and attempted to hit him with his cutlass from the side.
Arthur was trying to catch as much gold as he could while it was falling down from the sky. So much that he didn't notice when he bumbed into something. Unfortunately, the thing he bumped into was Scurvybeard himself. Scurvy fired a bullet at him as well, but Arthur got out of the way too quickly. He made a sword in his hand expecting the pirate captain to attack him but he was too busy fighting Sam to pay much attention to Arthur.
At that moment Sam was attacked from behind by a pirate that survived Sam's fireball. Scurvy said. "Yee fool, did yee really think us pirates fight fair. Yee shoud go back to school, lest yee be robbed at sea."
-----------
SamJaz dropped his keyblade, raising his hands in submission. "You win." He said, his face calm and fearful. "Just... make it quick. One bullet through the head. That's all I ask."
-----------
"What are you talking about? Kill you we aaren't going to kill. This is just a show." Scrvy said. "Did you really think we were real pirates? Oh, come on, pirates are sooo out of style. If you want to go further down you can just take the stairs. And bring as much gold as you want with you. We don't need it. We have tons."
Well that was weard. Arthur didn't know what to say to that, and was pritty sure no one else knew what to say.
"Er... Sorry for killing your friends in that case. We though you were trying to kill us." Arthur said once he regained the ability to talk.
-----------
SamJaz blinked. That... was odd.
"You won." Captain Scurvybeard explained as medics ran into the room, casting healing magics and performing surgery on the corpses. "No worries, but the pirates would have blown your head clean off key man. And we all know what happens when someone shoots you in the head."
SamJaz put his hands down, slowly. "We're not like those cowboys from up top." The pirate behind him said, lifting his eyepatch to reveal a perfectly good eye. "We're just here for the game. No need to go overboard. Badum, tish!"
The captain groaned. "Johan, that pun was so awful, you're getting the first round tonight." He grunted, before leading the pirates away. "Carry on kids, have fun! And watch out for the tenth floor. That one's a doozy."
Floor -09
The stairs went down through another artificial sky, but all that was visible was a lot of water.
Lots of water.
The stairs continued down, well below the surface of the water, and a stone structure was visible below the waterline.
Switching his Persona to Oracle, SamJaz could see that it was a maze, some parts completely waterfilled- although there were air pockets throughout.
The labrynth itself wasn't too difficult, the problem was the water. Lots and lots of water.
"Alright." SamJaz eventually said. "Who can swim?"
-----------
SamJaz left the showers and revealed some of Yei's personal history. She wanted to clock him for it but stayed her hand, "You're ruining my mystique, Sam." Instead she jested. The boys paid their fees for new clothes and the group moved on to the next floor which was filled with pirates and gold. Rather than fight the pirates, the kagehime looted. That wasn't what she came for, and she wasn't that interested in prizes or money, but it was all there, so she took some. She didn't even bother to see what the others were doing until Captain Scurvybeard revealed it was all fun and games, causing some of the others to apologize for killing his friends.
The ninth floor was comprised mostly of water. The shadow disciple twisted her fingers into various forms of the 81 sacred seals which opened her conscience up to higher levels and allowed her to hold her breath for extended amounts of time and see with clarity. She then relied on Bakemonnojutsu to raise her vibratory rate, and phase through the physical plane as if a ghost. Moving through water was as simple as moving through air.
The seaworld maze was littered with old water mines, resembling those from World War II, and sharp reef at the bottom.
Yei was confident in her own ability to navigate the intricate labyrinth so she turned to her companions and offered a nod of good luck.
-----------
SamJaz watched as Yei swam down, effortlessly reaching the maze's entrance as if she didn't need to breathe.
"Any other ideas?" SamJaz asked the team, before putting his hand into the water.
Warm, slightly salty, not chlorinated. So freezing it and smashing it isn't an option, neither him nor Arthur have that much freezing power. Also, Yei wouldn't take kindly to being made into an icecube.
"Nothing for it then." SamJaz said, banishing the keyblade and, with a deep breath, dove into the water, swimming downwards and relying on Oracle to lead him to the entrance with the most air pockets near it.
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-I don’t think I could punch it right?- Gen said joking as he gestured a punch to the surface - I know a guy that can punch holes in oceans a let them stay like that but he is in Indonesia or something like that, and I don’t have the same rank in the Spirit Boxing Federation- Once again Gen broke the rules of the SBF, as like Fight Club you couldn’t talk about the SBF to outsiders. The Hot-Blooded Boxer talked about Bal Kajid an Indonesian Spirit Boxer that had a lot of tricks with water, such as punching the humidity from an opponent until he fell from dehydration. -I can hold my breath for 15 minutes if needed and I know how to swim- The usually confident face of Gen changed when a goose bump ran through his body as he remembered the hellish training he was put to by his Mentor to swim, like crossing from the main island to Hokkaido by swimming.
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The shadow sister descended into the deep, cool waters. Her Bakemonnojutsu gave her free movement in the brine, as it significantly lessened her material density. Water became like air, and though it was cold, part of a ninja's training involved achieving a meditative calm and poise after enduring hours of the gelid downpour of a certain waterfall deep within Japan's wilderness. There was also the 5th gesture of the 9 sacred hand seals which represented complete control of the body's functions. By invoking it, a ninja may withstand extremes that no normal human could fathom.
As if that weren't remarkable enough, the shadow disciple's digital diary also possessed preternatural qualities. The ninja have long been a part of Japan's obscurities. In the old days they served feudal warlords as weather forecasters, star readers, time tellers, fortune readers, spies and assassins. Now they're involved in some of Japan's industries. With their metaphysical understanding of forces, energies and nature, the ninja have knowledge that traditional science, especially western science, has yet to discover. In this, Yei's digital diary could withstand an impressive amount of pressure or energy; and could even phase through matter just as she could. So like the shadow, it remained fully intact and operative.
As she delve deeper, the kagehime held up a closed fist to indicate to those who were not readily able to proceed that they should wait for her report of what lay ahead.
Winding through the maze she came upon the first air pocket at 15 meters from the beginning. The second appeared approximately 30 meters from the first. The maze seemed to go on forever, she noted, as she continued. Air pockets would usually come every 10 to 35 meters and the paths of the enigmatic labyrinth were laden with mines that one would have to carefully weave through.
45 minutes after her perambulation she returned the surface of the entrance where the others were and delivered her report.
"If anyone needs help getting to the other side now's your time to speak up. Once we're in there you boys will most likely have to keep moving if you wanna make it to each air pocket alive. I have some degree of elemental control, if you need fire for warmth I can provide it, but again, let me know before we begin. You won't be able to talk in there unless your lungs are big enough to hold enough air."
(She's probably talking to everyone except SamJaz here
)----------
Phantom looks at the watery scene before him. He pretty much didn't do anything on the last floor and it didn't look like he'd have to deal with any kinds of enemies here either. He listens to Yei's report of the water floor and her offer to help anyone who needs to be helped. "Thanks but don't need it, i'm sure i'll deal with this." Phantom replies nearly instantly.
It wasn't like he had no reason to do so, on his little theft travels over the world he swum in every ocean and while searching old ship wrecks he ended up with no oxygen more often than not. He had to avoid enemies under water a few times too so the mines shouldn't be too troublesome as they were static. The only worry he currently had was the fear of not being able to dry his suit after this and that it might get dirty if he encounters something underwater. Even if there was some kind of problem he could always blink in one direction till he doesn't get to an exit or air pocket.
Shortly after he jumps into the water, he decides that following Sam is the smartest thing he can do.
----------
"Good luck Phantom. I highly doubt your cards can help you breath under water."
Arthur made a helmet out of ice. He made it transparent, and there was enough air in it for Arthur to last long enough. This will be easy.
He dove beneath the water. Apperantly, Yei forgot to mention the underwater charges in her report. Arthur though he could just throw shards at them and make them explode. That might be exepatble on air. But, water is much different. Doing that would mean damaging all his internal organs. That is not something he would want. I just have to avoid them then. Easy.
----------
SamJaz burst into the first pocket, gulping the delicious air as he climbed onto the stone.
He'd been thinking.
This was where the pirates had their sea battles. So some organisations used multiple floors.
He put his hand out and launched a fireball, starting a small campfire to warm himself up with. He'd wait for others before moving on ahead. A quick feel of the air vents told him that he wasn't in any danger of suffocating from stale air down here.
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Gen jumped in the water and easily stroke under water. After training in the icy waters of Hokkaido, water like this wasn’t a problem. He used Breaststroke style to swim and with his amazing musculature the task was easy as pie. He reached the first air pocket and got up, warming himself with the fire ?Hey Key-aniki, how many levels had this place?- Asked Gen as he, in a classical move, ignored most of the explanation in the first floor
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"Very well," she acknowledged Phantom's confidence with a nod and saw the rest of the team were already on the move. Waiting for the rest to proceed, the kagehime tailed them from behind. After considering their impressive feats up until this point, she decided the mines weren't noteworthy for her to report.
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Arthur got out of the water into the air pocket. His helmet disappeared. Sam was sitting next to fire. "Mind if I join you stranger?"
Arthur sat next to Sam. "So Sam, what do you think. We've only beaten 8 floors not counting this one. If we keep going at this rate, is there a chance we will be done in only one day?"
Arthur highly doubted they would run into more floors like the fairy one. And even if they do, Phantom probably wouldn't be willing to pay for any food or drink there. "I also might need some better clothes. This shirt is nice and all, but it isn't very warm. Ice mage or not I'm still human."
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Yei allowed herself to densify back to a normal human state and popped up into the air pocket with Sam and Arthur, "Not bad so far.. Thanks for the fire, Sam." It was unnecessary but she was never one to dismiss kind acts. Phasing to a higher vibratory rate once more she sunk down to the bottom where the sharp reeves were, unharmed as her weight was significantly reduced by the lessening of her density. She removed her digital diary and began snapping images of the environment for her final report back to the Iga doshu.
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Phantom blinks into the air pocket, just to see all members already there. "Sorry to keep you waiting guys." he spreads out his arms trying to show something that will justify the fact that he was late. On the floor were many pearls of different shapes and sizes, Crown collected them when he spotted them near on the bottom while he was on his way to the air pocket, he just had an eye for stuff like that. They weren't special, Phantom had some of the most perfect and some of the largest pearls in his possession but none of them could be used in a practical way as they were stolen and letting anyone wearing something made of them would be suspicious.
But these ones were simple and he could make something like a necklace for Clare. He could afford himself to by her much more expensive things and he certainly did that often, but he wanted to bring something for her from this travel, other than the guitar which he's been making levitate for the past two floors now.
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Yei and Phantom got into the air pocket along with Arthur, Sam and Gen. "Hey, Phantom. Why don't you play a few cords for us, now that we're all around the camp fire. You can play the guitar, right?"
That might have seemed like a joke, but Arthur was completely serious about it. The fire was warm, but it would take a few more minutes for the team to warm up completely. A guitar is a nice instrument to play as long as you can sing together with it. A violin wasn't bad either. Arthur had to learn to play both under his teacher
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The Kagehime finished up her photoshoot at the bottom and returned to the top to witness Arthur suggesting Phantom to play some chords on the guitar they once fought over. "As long as it isn't kumbaya, I'd tolerate it." She said, snapping a photo of the four men in her company.
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Gen without waiting for Phantom to start said ?But I wont, and as I don’t want to go Animal House on that guitar I’m going to the next pocket- and with that he plowed himself into the cold water.
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Phantom a little bit surprised by the request, was about to start playing something. Though he could only play the piano he was sure that he would be able to make of the guitar as well when he noticed that Gen is already leaving, but he didn't mind.
"Oh well, i'm not used to such a small audience but alright." he says half-jokingly. He plays something classical and simple. It's not really impressive on any level and nothing outstanding but at least it sounded like something and it didn't hurt the ears either. Phantom actually wanted to follow Gen's example and leave but he decided to stay a bit longer, it was warm and he could think about what happened on the seventh floor, it was something that just didn't let him go.
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"Surprisingly, that wasn't that bad. Needs work, but it's not bad." Arthur said in a friendly tone. Phantom seemed to be in deep thought. Arthur pondered what he could be thinking about.
Whatever it was, it probably wasn't important. If he was right about Phantom, the man only though about valuables and his girlfriend. Well, that's not exactly what Arthur thought about him, but it was what people who didn't spend some time with Phantom would.
"I think I'll be leaving as well. Gen might want some company at the next air pocket" Arthur made another helmet and jumped into the water. He wanted to catch up to Gen as soon as possible so he made himself wings. That would atleast double his speed if he used them correctly. Just as he was bout to reach the next air pocket, one of his wings scratched a mine. Arthur had only barely enough time to protect himself with his wings. He was blown out of the water and into te next air pocket. He hit a wall and was passed out.
The mine set of a chain reaction. Anyone swimming behind Arthur was going to have a bad time. At least all the mines going to the next air pocket were destroyed, but that would probably attract attention if there were any enemies nearby.
----------
The classical piece played by Phantom was serene but it was interrupted by a deep rumble fulminating from below minutes after Arthur descended, "Not good." Yei remarked. Once again resorting to Bakemonnojutsu to shift density, she dropped down to the reef at the bottom of the water labyrinth and saw that a vast number of mines had been set off. No blood, no bodies. Just a clear path. Still, the shadow sister remained submerged in the abysmal gas-like brine and walked along the floor in the direction of the next air pocket to see what happened anyway.
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Gen just reached the Air Pocket and was starting to dry off when a massive explosion shook the whole level and a torrent of water came in carrying Arthur within. The Ice Magician slammed into the cave ceiling and fell; The Hot-Blooded Boxer did a one handed catch and placed him lying down in the floor. He had some nasty bruises in the head and all over his. For a second Gen stayed still until he had an idea ?I did said I wanted to try if I can heal wounds with my Fighting Spirit, and now I have a practice subject.- Focusing his Spirit in his hand but with the same disposition as he used it to help heal his own wounds, Gen moved it near the wound in Arthur head, that for a second was unaffected until it started to heal, not like magic healing but more akin to a boost in regenerative capabilities. Almost as if Gen was transmitting his Fighting Spirit into Arthur system. As nobody had tried something like this, akin to the lone nature of the Spirit Boxer nobody could expect if this could or couldn’t have any side effect. When Yei reached Arthur was in the floor and Gen was sitting against a wall in silence, thinking about the implications of his discovery, not very deeply but he noticed that what he just did was something significative, maybe an instinctive knowledge.
----------
Arthur woke up. He had a terrible headache and had a strange desire to fight something. He saw Gen standing above him. "Well if it isn't my favorite boxer. What the hell happened to me?"
Just as he was saying that his head hurt and he remembered the mine he hit. he noticed that not only did his head hurt, but the rest of his body as well. He hoped Sam would heal him, but as he was nowhere in sight Arthur had to do it himself. "Whose idea was it to put mines into an underwater labyrinth anyway?"
At that moment he noticed Yei coming out of the water. "Hey cutie, what brough you here?" He put a smile on his face. He still had the urge to fight and wanted to punch something, even considering punching Gen in the face, but he resisted it.
----------
The kagehime arrived to the scene in time to lay eyes on an freshly awoken Arthur and a numbly silent Gen. "We heard some mines go off. I came to see what happened." she said in response to Arthur.
(Whoops. Lots of fixes lately lol)
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Phantom finishes with his playing as the person who requested it leaves. Just a few moments later a huge explosion can be heard. Soon after Yei leaves. Now only him and Sam remain in the air pocket. Phantom wants to leave as well figuring that it would be best for them to check the situation out as well, but then he turns around for a second. Phantom played with the idea to ask him about what he thinks about the moment when he nearly killed Arthur and Gen.
Perhaps Sam would say something to make him feel better, his face looked like he was about to say something and his lips already have the first word formed on them. But then he decides to leave it be and he just jumps into the water, deciding that he won't bring it up again.
He's searching for the next air pocket absentmindedly, still thinking about what he thought back then. He finally gives it some rest as no matter how much he thinks about it, he can't go further with it and that there is no use to it. He just had to accept that mistake of his and move on, he couldn't change it now. While doing that he notices two red orbs in the deep darkness, he moves on paying no attention to it. After some swimming he finally gets to the next air pocket. He gets out and looks around, instantly he sees that something's not alright, he's alone in there. Either something happened to the others or he just ended up in a different air pocket. He decides to wait for a bit and see if someone will show up.
Then he notices that the color of the water has changed. It's has a ghostly green glow to it but it's not bright but rather dark. He walks up to it and tries to touch it with his hand, but he can't. It's not solid, it's clearly water and he can see it moving lightly but he can't interact with it in any way as if it was a whole different plane of existence. He could even stand on it as if it was glass.
Phantom does not notice but deep down where the mud green water fades into night black darkness three pairs of red orbs have appeared, watching him from below.
-----------
"Mumble.... mugguh... marshmallow... nazi MUH I'M UP! I WASN'T SLEEPING!"
Quick glance around his surroundings, and SamJaz found himself alone, sat in the air pocket, but the others had already gone. "Thanks for waking me up guys..." he muttered, switching his keyblade to Shuflecast and holding it out in front of him.
He closed his eyes, and it span him in one particular direction. SamJaz dove into the water, swimming to follow that trail of light until he came up in the water behind the master thief.
"Thanks for waiting for me, though I guess that... where's Gen?" SamJaz asked, concerned. "And Arthur and Yei?"
That's when he noticed the eyes glowing from the green water in the other pocket. "And, what's that?" SamJaz asked, switching keychain to Sweet memory, a short keyblade with a hollow tree trunk for a shaft and a bees nest for teeth. This was his lucky keyblade.
-----------
Phantom finally notices it. He looks down and notices three pairs of eyes watching them, the same kind he saw a while ago. Before he even notices one of the pairs is close to the surface which reveals an ugly fish-like face as if it teleported. Sam and Phantom are grabbed by their legs and pulled inside the ghostly water.
But it's strange, their bodies are still there yet Phantom clearly feels being pulled and dragged down, looking at his body which collapsed in the air pocket. Even more strange he can breath underwater, or rather he can just breath as this did not feel like water at all, it was like he was floating in zero gravity. And then he notices that both he and Sam are nothing more but transparent images of themselves. Below them there was no longer a maze, the walls are still there but on them rest giant buildings made out of an unknown gem like material. It was an entire city, filled with strange fish like creatures.
Phantom was vaguely getting an idea of what is happening...
-----------
SamJaz, however, had no idea what was happening, but he had two general guesses.
He'd narrowed it down to these two possibilities after seeing his own body standing outside the water he was being dragged into.
So, he willed a rocket launcher into his hand.
Nothing happened.
So they were on a spiritual plane, not a mental plane.
That still left SamJaz with a large pile of options called Personae.
He put raised his hand, summoning Forneus to ride ahead, launching ice and lightning at their assailant.
-----------
"I was being an idiot, is what happened. But, don't worry, it won't happen again." Arthur told Yei. He was feeling better right now. He though that when Sam showes up, he's either going to scold Arthur for being an idiot or he will make a reference to some movie or something. Arthur didn't want to risk it.
"I'll be going now, you two can have as much fun as you want, alone, together, in a cold empty room, where you have to cuddle up for survival." And with that Arthur jumped back into the water. He was swimming, makig sure that he doesn't hit any mines, but soon, the mines were gone and the water became greenish. Arthur had a hard time swimming, because it felt like he was swimming through green jelly. He saw the air pocket and swam towards it. As he started getting out of the water, he saw two bodies on the floor. Phantom and Sam.
Before Arthur could do anything he was grabbed by his leg and pulled down. The water now felt like there was none. Arthur saw that his legs war still in the water, but the rest of his body was in the air pocket. "But, how is that possible." Then he noticed that he was still being pulled by his leg. He looked over there and saw a fishman dragong him towards a city and... Sam and Phantom! "Hey, do you guys know what's going on around here? Why can I talk and breath underwater, and how come the water feels like it's not even there?"
-----------
SamJaz's Persona Forneus latched onto the fish monster. Despite its appearance, Forneus was a persona skilled at debate, so while its magic was tearing into the fish's physical body, it's mind tore down the creature's mental defences.
Within seconds, Arthur, Crown, and SamJaz were lurched back onto land, in their bodies, and everyone was very confused as the blue water began to be stained by clouds of red blood.
SamJaz rose back to his feet. His combat skills were almost entirely offensive in one way or another. Apart from Cure and a few persona abilities, defensively SamJaz may as well be the average human.
But he excelled in psychological combat. It's the only way he managed to convince Crown and Gen that he was so powerful when he faced them.
Switching Persona back to Oracle, SamJaz began to look at the way ahead. "Let's go." He said, diving ahead.
He was going to have to take a trip to the Velvet Room soon. Between Oracle, Forneus, Ruaumoko, Unicorn, Pyro Jack, and Titan, he'd used six of his eight current Personae. He liked to keep more tricks up his sleeve than that.
On the bright side, that battle unlocked a few gates so he should be able to fuse some of his weaker Personae into stronger ones, so it wasn't the end of the world.
Still, next time he surfaced, he'd found the stairs room. There were three or four ways in here, so he just needed to navigate the rest of the team here.
Oracle was also warning him that whatever was below, it was going to be tough. Every Eleventh Floor, IE 11, 22, 33, etc, Hellscraper reserved to host something dangerous to maintain the equilibrium between the residents of the tower. Floor ten was tough, but they were kept in line by whatever was on floor eleven.
Now would be a good time to start fusing those Personae together.
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Yei blinked a few times, revealing her shock at Arthur's casual reaction to the event. "Well at least you're okay.." Arthur then made a comment to Gen and Yei, a reference about the cold, and body warmth. She shook her head but a titter escaped her lips. Suddenly Arthur collapsed, causing the shadow princess to rush over to his flimsy frame and examine his vital signatures. He seemed to be in some sort of comatose state. The water then shifted, changing in color and developing a more gelatin-like physiology. The shadow disciple refrained from touching it and instead waited from a sign from those already submerged.
It came from none other than Sam. Who was able to deal with whatever had halted the group from moving forward. She figured Gen and Arthur would know that they should move on once they came to and found themselves to be isolated from the rest so she continued, diving into the waters and following a trail of bubbles left by Sam's movements until she found herself in his company at the end of the water maze.
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Arthur woke up. That was a wierd dream. There was no one around Arthur. And they left again. I might get used to that.
Arthur went into the water again. He popped out of the water again, only this time he was at the end of the maze. Sam and Yei were there. I guess they actually decided to wait for me.
"Yay, we finished 9 floors. Only 68 more."
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Phantom having returned to his body stands up. From what he could tell Sam took care of most of the fish like enemies and they could probably move on. He blinks a few times into the direction where he saw Sam go off.
Three blinks later and he's at the end of the maze everyone else but Gen being present there as well.
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SamJaz drew his keyblade out of the blue light and returned from his trance state. "Everyone, the next two floors are going to be city-buster level fights." He warned, feeling ahead with one of his new personae, Io. "They are going to be hardcore, so get ready. I've got a new hand of stronger Personae, but that means I'll be relying on the rest of you for money from now on until I restock on funds. Wait, I should probably explain that..." He sighed. "I get new Personae by going to a place called the Velvet Room with my keyblade. There I can fuse my existing Personae together to make stronger ones, but I can also buy back old ones, either to use in battle or as more raw material. So fusing a whole new set is an expensive process. This new team cost me over two thousand US dollars, so it's going to kick all kinds of face."
SamJaz glanced at his watch. "Three in the afternoon." He said. "Six more hours, so in theory we'll set up camp for the night somewhere in the thirties. The fairies shoved tents in my pockets, so that problem is out of the way. We'll head out when Gen runs off ahead. Or when we get bored of waiting for him.
Floor -10
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The last floor was like a blank in Gen’s memory, maybe after taking too many blows to the head he was starting to get a little bit stunned. Without even noticing he was on the stairs, but as we already know Gen isn’t one of the Thinking bunch, thus he shrugged off any weird feelings or doubts he felt after the sudden blank in his memory and ran down the stairs. To greet him a ruined patch of urban environment was there, broken buildings, cracked streets and smashed cars. Some fire gave the scene a much eerie atmosphere, as the stairs descended more than ever giving the level the highest ceiling yet. In the middle of the room, attached to the walls, the floor and the ceiling, there was a giant cocoon suspended mid-air, made of some sort of silky white material. But that wasn’t the worst part, as in the moment they started going down the stairs inside this floor the Cocoon started beating, almost like a giant heart.
For a second Gen stopped running and saw it, he was amazed, as he had never seen or hear about anything like it and was truly baffled about the size of it, almost as tall as the Tokyo Tower. ?What the royal **** is that thing!?- asked Gen to nobody in particular, and as he said those words, maybe even in response to them the Cocoon started to break releasing incredible amounts of steam into the ruined cityscape. Pieces of the cocoon started falling apart crashing against the ruins under it lifting a massive dust screen, obscuring the shape of the monster hidden inside, The Hot-Blooded Boxer tried to see through but he only detected the monster silhouette, vaguely humanoid. As the dust set, the monster was visible, with white skin, long arms and legs and small head, the being of gigantic proportions seemed to lack any distinctive markers, as his skin was white and smooth, with not even a spot or an alteration. Its eyes glowed with a red light and its mouth was closed, his face an emotion less mask.
Without even stopping for a second after his birth, this fierce creature moved with slumbering steps towards the group location and with the same speed he raised his arm ready to attack. But this sluggish behavior was either and act or a secondary effect of its slumber as he moment he attacked his speed was much greater than what Gen thought and he had barely time to jump from the staircase to land safely over a building, as the Giant Hand of the monster destroyed the spiral staircase that was letting them in. The Brawler stood in a rooftop hoping that his comrades were okay, and secretly wanting them to not be okay so he could have all this fight to himself. Luckily Gen unconscious didn’t ruled the world, can you imagine how dreadful would that be? The Spirited Boxer decided that he had to help them until they got down so he shouted at the monster hoping to gets its attention.
-Hey! You failed attempt of a Kaiju! Come here and I’ll punch yer guts out!- Gen shouted as loud as he could getting the attention of the being, that sent another hand towards him, as he ran over the ruins hoping to get enough time for the others to get a plan together and descend from the remains of the staircase. At least that was what he hoped.
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SamJaz rode a chunk of ruined staircase to the ground, mentally kicking himself for not preparing something capable of flying. "OUMITSUNU!" SamJaz shouted, crushing a card in his hand as he jumped to the remains of the actual staircase, summoning a thirty-foot tall stone soldier to charge at the large creature with it's swords, ready to slash.
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Arthur was going down the stairs when suddenly a loud crash happened. The stairs were pritty much destroyed. He made his dear wings and flew down to the floor. And there he saw true destruction. There appeared to be a whole city there, but it was in ruins, as if Arthur was a movie depicting the apocalyps. There was a giant cacoon in the middle of the room, but it seemed to have been opened. And then there was a giant monster. The monster was completely white with long legs and arms, yet a small head. It's eyes were glowing red.
Gen was trying to attract the monsters attention while Sam summoned a giant soldier made out of stone to fight the thing. Arthur wished he was good at making familiars, or that he had any blueprints for familiars. Arthur though he couldn't do anything, but he sensed magic eminating from the monstrosity. A great amount of magic. Probably enough magic for Arthur to gain enough power to fight the monstrosity.
Arthur lashed out with his magic and connected to the monstrosity. It would take some time to properly connect to magic of such a magnitude and the only thing Arthur will be able to do during that time is dodge the things attacks.
During that time the monster attacked Sam's solder attempting to grab it's head and crush it, but the solder was able to deffend himself with his sword. The monster used it's other hand to punch the solder in it's stomach and a crack was visable at the part where it hit. The solder slashed at the monster and the monster deffended itself with its hands. At the part where the sword hit black blood was visable. However, the wound quickly dissapeared. The monster had very fast regeneration. It hit the solder in it's head. The solder fell and the ground shook. The solder got up and got it's sword ready for another attack.
----------
The next floor was a going to be a city level clash according to SamJaz. This became evident when Yei descended the flight of stairs only to be ambushed with a crushing blow from a pale gigantic humanoid's hand. Though the assault came as a surprise her quick reflexes went to work, allowing her to dodge the impact and alight unscathed on a building roof to the side of the damaged stairs. She removed her digital diary and snapped a photo of the creature; a mere submission of the image of the colossal beast would add a bonus to her overall evaluation back at the institute.
"Gen!" she shouted over the pandemonium, "you and me create a diversion for Arthur and SamJaz work out some of their magic." With that, the Kagehime unsheathed her mystical wakizashi blade and proceeded with a medley of sword kata to the beast's legs whilst launching a series of supido enhanced kunai at roughly 3,500 feet per second. A rate faster than a typical bullet.
---------
They all arrive at the next floor. The scenery is that of a ruined city. In the middle was a giant cocoon. It was beating like it was alive, faster and faster. It might have been just coincidence but after the question asked by the hotblooded boxer the cocoon burst. The thing born from it didn't resemble anything even close to an insect. It's size was enormous to say the very least. It's body had a humanoid shape and was completely white and had a silky feel to it. It's limbs were very long going against the regular proportions of a human which was also supported by the proportionally tiny head. Lastly it had a pair of small and narrow red eyes shining admits the ruins of the city.
Combat was engaged with the first swing of the monster. It was rather fast considering it's size. Gen dodged the attack and tried to get it's attention. Arthur was doing some kind of channeled spell and Sam summoned a golem to fight the monster. It landed a hit on the monster but there was no lasting effect. The golem got knocked down for a moment but seemed to be capable to get up. This seemed like a good situation for Phantom's most destructive trick, his ace so to say, but he wanted to keep it hidden for a little bit longer. Instead he blinks up the air and levitates, around twenty meters away from the white giant.
Phantom creates twenty of his Mark One (weakest) explosive cards. They are split up in four groups with each group having five cards. Phantom shoots them towards the monster, each group aiming for one limb. He creates one more of the cards and throws it himself with a force comparable to that of the final throw against Arthur. One explosion can be heard (the throw card was faster) and then four follow. The limbs of the monster sustained some damage on the shoulders and knees but just enough that it can even be noticed. The neck of the other hand had a bigger wound. It wasn't life threatening but if more focused force was applied to that spot the monster's head would surely fall off. That scenario could have been a valid plan if not for the fact that the white flesh reconnected just a moment after the explosion.
"Damn, i guess i'll have to step it up." a grin on Phantom's face, suggesting joy that he will be able to go out more o this guy rather than limiting himself to hi weakest like with the fodders on the other floors.
---------
SamJaz stared agape at the giant monster, then laughed.
He couldn't believe it.
He honestly could not believe his luck.
Yei shouted some orders at him before charging forward, but he couldn't hear her over his hysteria.
This thing had rapid healing.
This thing actually had rapid healing.
He actually created a persona specifically to counter this, and it's the first enemy he faces after it's creation.
SamJaz raised his hand, spinning a card in front of him, with glee, Oumitsunu vanishing as it swung its blade, before SamJaz summoned his next Persona. "POLYDEUCES!" He shouted, summoning the armoured hero.
Polydeuces was an electrical and physical type Persona, but that wasn't what made him amazing.
Polydeuces had the power to drain mortality from his enemies.
He had the power to block his opponents ability to heal themselves.
More than that, the more they tried, the larger their wounds grew.
Like a self-eating meal.
"BLOOD BREAK!" SamJaz roared, and Polydeuces raised it's cannon arm towards the behemoth humanoid and launched its curse, light bursting briefly from its muzzle and an aurora descending around the massive creature in the distance, but no other sign towards what kind of mess it was in.
Now, whatever wound they inflicted, no matter how small, would grow and grow like worms were eating it alive, so long as he didn't change his Persona and kept his focus on maintaining that curse, they had won.
Yei and Arthur were already, unwittingly, dealing the death of ten thousand cuts while Crown administered the explosions.
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Without thinking it twice Gen took Yei order and tried to fulfill it, a fact that was amazing as if he was ordered like this at the start of this place he would have rebel against somebody bossing him around or even punching him, yet he was starting to get friendly with this irregular bunch of misfits, heroes and mercenaries. ?I’m on it Ninja-chan!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer roared as he ran over the ruined rooftop towards the monster knee. Using Raijin Step to impulse him, Gen jumped with a powerful straight punch soaked in Fighting Spirit and ready to go. His fist collided against the hard material its flesh was made of and managed to crack it. Differently from the rest of his companions, Gen’s fighting style forced him to go up close and personal and thus he detected something they missed.
The White Skin wasn’t such thing, it seemed to be some kind of protection, not for the inner body of the thing, but for those around, as his crack reached to a point so deep that made contact with the real monster skin, and some kind of geyser-like vapor was shot from it right into the Brawler’s face, with enough force to stop his momentum and push him backwards blistering his face with a heat much more powerful that just fire, something more powerful and dangerous lurked inside that White Containment Skin. ?My eyes! I’m blind, this fucking thing blinded me!- Shouted Gen as he land heavily against a large piece of concrete debris. The Delinquent Boxer didn’t need his sight to notice what was happening as the skin that surrounded the leg started to fell off after being affected by Samjaz spell.
Under it skin like the boiling surface of the sun, shining brightly and lighting up the ruins appeared, the heat started covering the room. This creature is a Solar Titan, caught by a tech based organization and placed here as one of the power sources of this maze, the Cocoon also served as energy transmission device, but as the group activated the mines underwater in the previous level, the strings grew loose and the small movement awakened this monster from the stars.
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The tides of battle turned quickly, and that just as Phantom wanted to go to the next level. The monster's ability to recover from wounds, taking away one of it's key advantages that kept it in the battle so far. Gen was assaulting the thing with all he's got. But he's being repealed by the inside of the Monster, light was coming out of every tiny wound.
Phantom does not hesitate, he didn't know how long the effect will last so he was going to make use of this chance.
He creates a Mark Two cutting card (first time he uses these, the speed and sharpness are vastly improved when compared to the previous ones). It's not a regular card, but his biggest creation so far. With a size like this it could actually compete with the monster to a certain degree. But size wasn't that important right now, it would get the job done even if it was smaller, this was for show only. There was no way that Phantom could throw that monster himself, hell he couldn't even grip the card in any way possible. But it was obvious to being with that it wasn't meant to be thrown by anything that was smaller than the white giant anyway. Phantom uses his control over the cards manifesting in the form telekinesis to move it. It flies into the air while spinning stopping exactly over the monster. The it comes down at it like a Jester's guillotine. The monster gets split in two, all the way from his head down to the abdomen crating two symmetric halves. Or they would be if not for the fact that both of them were being eaten at from all sides by all kinds of small wounds. Light was leaving the large clean sliced area in great amounts, alongside the liquid insides of the giant.
It looked like the fight was over but just before the remains of the massive body collapse something bursts out from the place where the heart of the thing was supposed to be. It lands on the ground. The thing born for that event is quiet different from what the giant was it. It was still mostly white with a humanoid body, but now it had many pairs of wings with heads on each end. There was a pair of big eyes on the wings as well. It's face was black with sharp teeth coming out of the mouth. A blade was attached to it's arm. The long hair of the beast was nothing but fire dancing around in the wind. The size was also much closer to that of a human being (it would still tower over any normal human thought). It was probably the actual core of the monster all along and despite the smaller size, the heat and energy radiating from it were far greater than with the previous form. The newly born being was slowly getting up...
----------
SamJaz paled.
That was not supposed to happen.
He switched Persona to Black Frost, not even caring that the anti-healing spell was broken, and ran as fast as he could towards Gen, using his new short-distance warping technique to get there as fast as he could.
Quickly, he grabbed the massive boxer out of the burning haze and pulled him to safety as the monster's wound began to close.
"Hold on there." He told the boxer, switching persona to Undine as he began to placed his hands on the boxer's face. "Just hold on a second... It's gonna be okay..."
Water began to seem from his hands as Undine began to nurse the burns, and repair his eyes. He'd be stuck here for a good thirty seconds, but Gen was going to be able to see after this. Any shorter and he'd definitely need corrective lenses in the very near future, and as a boxer, that wasn't going to help him.
Undine told SamJaz about the internal head injuries Gen had gathered from within the day. He was surprised that his cure spells hadn't sorted that, but he supposed that cure was for injuries, not internal organ damage. Undine, however, took those concussions under her workload, and she'd only need a minute before Gen was fighting fit again.
But that didn't take away the problem they were facing. They were fighting a sun incarnate. Using Black Frost, SamJaz might be able to enter it unscathed, but even with its incredible firepower with that Persona, he had no idea how he was going to take that thing down.
But he wouldn't let himself panic.
He had to heal Gen.
Then he'd panic.
And that was when the newborn monster began walking towards the two of them.
If the queen before was a sun, this thing was a white dwarf.
Just being in its sight made SamJaz's skin begin to blister, thanks to Undine
"Flipflipflipfliiiip..." SamJaz grunted under the pain, glancing at the oncoming beast as he tried to rush Undine's repair of Gen.
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Magic Synced. Magic blueprint created.
Those words echoed inside Arthur's head. A new blueprint. And a usefull one.
Magic Blueprint activated. New spell gained.
Let's see what this baby can do then. Magic started swirling around Arthur. And became colder and colder. At that moment an armor of ice was around Arthur. At the very same moment the monster was split in half by a giant card right above it's head. But the monster wasn't done yet. A humanoid creature jumped out of the place where the things heart should be. The monster was radiating heat like crazy. But Arthur couldn't feel it through the cold armor he was wearing. Actualy, all the heat did to Arthur was help him not get frost bite from the armor he was wearing.
A frost sword appeared in Arthurs hand. He lunged at the opponent. His armor wwas going to protect him from the heat and the blade on it's hand. He swung his sword, but it was stopped by the things blade. A second later, the sword melted. I expected that. I put enough magic into the sword so that is doesn't melt ni the things proximity, but the thing was just so hot the sword melted upon contact. Arthur's armor was a different story. It could witstand the heat of a supernova and possibly more. Arthur just had to keep creating swords whenever one was destroyed. That would drain him since he had to use more magic so they wouldn't melt easily.
Arthur made two swords in his hands. He slashed at the monster from the left and tried to cut the thing in two from above, with his other hand. The thing dodged his lash while protecting itself from the chop. Arthur quickly made another sword and lunged at the monster with both his swords. He pierced the monsters chest, but his swords melted and the monsters wound closed. "But, didn't Sam do something to stop your regeneration?" Then Arthur noticed that Sam was busy healing Gen. Great. Sam has terrible timing, doesn't he.
----------
They were saved.
Arthur was buying them time.
Time was being bought for them.
Time enough to finish Gen's healing. "Feeling better?" SamJaz asked, Pushing Gen behind a ruined building. "Thank you Gen. you saved our asses, but I need to figure out a way to keep you alive in this fight before I let you get back in there. I can give you an immunity to heat that will last you exactly two hundred seconds, so if you want to use that you need to keep very good time, understand?" He asked, switching to Eligor and getting ready to cast Red Wall.
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Samjaz managed to heal Gen with his powers. The Hot-blooded Boxer stood up with the help of the Keyblade Wielder ?Feeling better?- Asked the Persona User. Gen replied instantly ?Yes I’m a am. Now to punch the fuck out of that giant!- The Battle Chasing Brawler looked up only to find nothing. ?Did ya beat the monster while I was out?- Asked with disappointed eyes, but the look on Samjaz face and his eyes were more than enough for him to notice the new location of the monster.- "Thank you Gen. you saved our asses, but I need to figure out a way to keep you alive in this fight before I let you get back in there. I can give you an immunity to heat that will last you exactly two hundred seconds, so if you want to use that you need to keep very good time, understand?- Samjaz talked seriously and Gen understood that the situation was dire. ?Okay, I’ll keep it as busy as I can but you and the others better get some planning done or I’ll scorch to death- The Burning Soul Boxer rushed forward hoping that Samjaz could cast as he was moving and jumped towards the abomination using a Raijin Step the moment he landed to appear just under him ?Hello ugly, I’m gonna deck ya in the schnozz!- With that said Gen started with the Drill Dragon Uppercut and followed with twin Ghost Jab Hurricane and then just kept pounding the monster that was being pushed to the defensive by Gen’s barrage of hits. But the Hot-Blooded Boxer knew that his attacks were only bothering the creature rather than damaging it, as it skin seemingly absorbed the kinetic energy of the attack like a sponge.
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Samjaz cast Red Wall on Gen, then switched to Black Frost to join him. Physical attacks didn't seem to work too well, but Ice, fire, and just about everything else seemed out of the question.
Thankfully, Black Frost had inherited a few lightning skills from Jack Frost, but that wasn't going to cut it here. He was going to have to be tricky.
Thankfully, Gen and Arthur were doing fantastic at buying him time to think.
And think he did, setting up the draft of a combo attack, using two magnet spells set up in the arena with a collection of Gravity spells between them should trap this thing in one place for everyone to take pot shots at it, but it was a long shot.
But, it was the only shot he had, casting the first magnet spell above him then sprinting to the other side of the creature to cast the second.
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Matt was in the elevator, his hand in the pockitof his pants. He came here as fast as he could. He hoped the other participants weren't far. Then again, the receptionist did say they're only on the 10th floor. "They made surprisingly little progress. Maybe they're i some kind of trouble. But come on, they're only on the 10th floor, it's not like they are fighting a giant monster or a titan or something."
The elevator stopped. The door opened. What Matt saw was ruined buildings. Ruined buildings all around him. And between the building he could see a monster, whose hair was made of fire. It was completely stationery, but not by it's own will it seemed as it was stuggeling. It was attacked by a man and someone who appeared to be a boy. Near them were a ninja chick, a man in a fancy suit and a man with a sword of somekind.
"I might have misspoken earlier." As he stepped out of the elevator and was hit by a wave of heat.. The heat must have originated from the monster. Matt decided to help the two man fighting the monster. As he decided that the digivice on his hip started glowing. Matt felt energy eminating from it. "Digivolution! Wolfion!" Wolfions frozen missiles (Bad pun incoming) should be able to (Bad pun imminent) cool that thing down.
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SamJaz set up the second magnetic gravity well, then paled as the missiles came in and exploded, launching a wave of cold over the monster. While the chill healed the scrapes SamJaz had encountered, he really, really hoped for Gen's sake that they hadn't killed the monster.
When the steam cleared, he wasn't disappointed. The monster's heat had kept a radius of warmth within the blast of winter, and Gen was still fighting alongside Arthur.
"HEY NEW GUY!" SamJaz shouted. "THANKS FOR THE HELP, TRY TO AVOID FRIENDLY FIRE! NAME'S SAMJAZ AND... I JUST HAD THE BEST IDEA IN THE WORLD!"
"GEN! GET OVER HERE AND BEGIN SPINNING AROUND THIS THING FOR CENTRIFUGE! WOLFMAN, GET THAT THING BETWEEN ME AND THAT BIG COCOON OVER THERE!!!"
Trusting his team, SamJaz got his keyblade, ready to seal that hole shut.
------------
Assuming he has nothing to do Crown blinks next to Sam.
First thing to came to his mind is to ask Sam what he was planning with this whole thing but after a better look at it, it became clear for Phantom. A grin appears on his face he liked the idea. A little bit strange, just a moment ago he had something like that in mind as well, looks like Sam was just faster when it comes to executing things. He leans on Sam's shoulder still grinning.
"I see what you're doing there. If you need another helping hand, i'm free." Phantom says simply to offer help though he doesn't really expect that he will have to do anything here.
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Arthur was shockedwhen some missiles exploaded near him. He barely had time to dodge. At least the monster is going to die. Arthur though. He was wrong. The monster srugged of the missiles even though everything the missiles hit turned to ice. He looked behind to see where the missiles came from and there stood a robotic wolf. Arthur wondered where the thing came from. Was it something Sam made? If so, Sam was full of surprises. Then he heard Sam shout something. So that thing wasn't one of Sam's creations, but a new member of the team. Then Sam shouted "WOLFMAN, GET THAT THING BETWEEN ME AND THAT BIG COCOON OVER THERE!!!" Arthur wasn't sure if Sam was talking to the wolf or if he started imitationg Gen. It didn't matter. If Sam said it, Arthur was going to do that. Suddenly the wolf transformed intoa man. The man couldn have been above 19 years old and had long blond hair.
"Hi, my name's Matthew, Matt for short." The man said, before shouthing "Digivolution! Tentos!" Suddenly he turned into a humanoid bug, with very thin arms.
He flew up into the air and yelled "Hey creep, over here!" The monster didn't seem to pay any attention as it charged towards Sam for some reason. Maybe it knew what Sam was planning.Arthur decided to stop the monster and charged at it with a lance. His armor was still sturdy and provided good protection from both the heat and the attacks. Arthur's attack stopped the monster and gave Matt an oppertunity to use an attack."Electro Shocker" A bolt of electricity went hurling towards the monster and it enraged the monster. Together, Arthur and Matt were able to get the monster between Sam and the cacoon. Whatever Sam was about to do he better do it quickly, 'couse Arthur and Matt aren't going to be able to keep the thing there for long.
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"YES!" SamJaz shouts. "Start sealing that cocoon up, starting from the top, leave a hole big enough for Gen to comfortably shove monster in. Then work with wolfie to guide it to the line of fire GET DOWN!" He shouted as the monster charged towards them.
BY the time he got up, Arthur and the new guy, a bug now, had got the beast in position. "Alright, new plan. Feed this with magic and start closing that hole." SamJaz growled, jumping into the spinning sphere of gravity and launching himself at the monster, roaring as he flew towards it and slammed his keyblade right into its torso, sending it flying into the cocoon.
He rolled to the ground and quickly righting himself, pointing his keyblade at the cocoon, launching a beam of light to hopefully seal that monster back into it and get this tower's electricity back online.
-----------
Things go as Phantom expected them to go, well more or less anyway. The monster is sent flying directly into it's home from which it once burst and is sealed by Sam just a moment after.
As a result power returns to the whole tower, not that the change can be seen or felt on this floor though as it was nothing more than ruins and the only form of light present there, that kept the place from falling into complete darkness was coming from the cocoon itself. But Phantom couldn't care less about the state of this floor, the monster being sealed again they could move on to the next one. From what he got the next one would be the biggest fish so far and was in fact what kept the others in line. Crown was keeping the usage of his power to a minimum up till now, but he already made the decision that the next floor he'd show more of what he could do. He was going to have to anyway if the thing was stronger than what they have faced now.
"Well, we can move out?" he asks Sam in a casual manner acting as if nothing happened before something that was intended as a joke, but it was questionable if Sam and the others would take it with humor when one looks back at the events.
Floor -11
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After casting heals and having Undine take care of anything more serious, SamJaz led the way down to the eleventh floor, tapping Matthew on the shoulder along the way. "Welcome to the team." He said, before stopping dead at what he saw.
A girl's bedroom.
It was massive, it was fluffy, it was frilly, there were teddies, bows, a four-poster-bed, there were ribbons and bunnies,
It was very pink.
"Oh, hello!" The little girl in question said, jumping off her bed.
She looked about nine, long blonde hair with red eyes, red dress, holding a pink staff and wearing a large white hat with a red ribbon. "My name is Loveline the witch!" She shouted. "And the only way past is to defeat my all-powerfull dragon!"
She pushed a button on the staff, and it lit up, making wooshing noises as it did so.
"Go, Draco the majestic!" She shouted, forcing her staff forwards. "Strike! Heart flare attack!"
...
"Alright, little girl?" SamJaz asked, clearly confused. "What is going on here-"
"DON'T TRY TO PRETEND YOU'RE SO TOUGH!" The girl shouted, stamping her foot. "I can already see you burning to a crisp in her flame. You're no match for Draco the Majestic!"
"What dragon?" SamJaz asked, looking around, clearly getting annoyed. "Look, what is going on here-"
He fell onto one knee, trying to breathe as the girl raised her hand. She let him go once she'd made her point.
"You can't get through unless you can defeat Draco the Majestic!" She shouted, smiling devilishly, happy that she'd made her point. "Well? What're you gonna do? Draco the Majestic is ready to take on any challengers!"
-----------
Phantom is surprised, before them stands a little girl in a room fitting for someone of her age. It's hard to believe that this is what holds everything in line. But soon the girl destroys Crown's doubts as she forces Sam to his knees, all while prasing her pet dragon as it seems.
Phantom activates his left eye forcefully, making it change in color just like in his fight with Arthur. If there was anything like an invisible dragon or spirit that was affecting them Phantom would be able to see it clearly now. But nothing happens, Phantom's seeing of the room does not change, all stays the same. That could have been expected, if there was something invisible to begin with the eye would have reacted on it's own and there would be no need for it to be activated by Phantom himself.
Looking at that outcome and at what had happened to Sam, Phantom came to vague conclusion of what was going on. The girl simply let her imagination go rampant, her will happened inside this room. There was literally no way for them to defeat the non-existing beast. The mind of this little girl already decided that her Draco the Majestic was unbeatable so there was no point of trying.
But Phantom had a better idea anyway. Phantom slowly walks up to her and then does something unexpected. "Oh my princess, please save me from theses flithfy villains. They have kidnapped me, a poor young man with a pure mind and soul. Yet seeing your majestic image and your loyal servant, the great dragon has given me new hope." Phantom falls to his knees while he says so literally begging her. "Here, a token of my thankfulness." he shifts one of his cards into a huge lollipop and offeres it to her. For an actor like him this was child's play.
After a critical look the girl smiles and accepts the candy offered to her. "I like you mister, you look noble unlike those fools that have invaded my kingdom." She gives him a sign to come closer. "Here, you can be my pet." a colar and chain appear around Phantom's neck as she says so. She yanks him towards the bed and makes him sit down on it, on all fours like a dog. "I think, i'll call you Fluffy from now on." by the time that was spoken dog ears and a tail have grown on Phantom's body.
"Now, that went smooth." Phantom thinks to himself, with a sarcastic tone to it, signifying the annoyance he felt. Crown was still happy... kinda. He wasn't really good with children and wanted to strangle the life out of her for this, but he just had to endure it a bit more and he'd be able to get them all out.
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-Draco the Majestic!? That sounds awesome!- Gen shouted with a complete an utter lack of manners, in other words, as always. He was a little bit disappointed in doing so little last level and now he wanted to punch something with all his might and had a new idea for a technique, a new move for his Winning Combination, finally he had an idea for the Straight Punch of his WC. ?Little girl bring forth that Dragon, I’m gonna deck him in the schnozz!- The Hot-Blooded Boxer roared as he swinged his arm in circles warming up the joints while having one of his trademark slasher smiles stamped on his face. -You insolent fool! How dare you order me to do something! I’ll make Draco burn the meat out of your bones!- The girl shouted as slowly the silhouette of a Dragon materialized in the room, it seemed to be made of some kind of spectral substance.
Draco! Kill them all except for Fluffly! He will be my pet forever!- The barely recognizable dragon attacked with invisible flames launched over the whole group. Gen coated himself in Fighting Spirit and survived most of the blast only with minor burns that shined with some kind of otherworldly light, like green sparkles. Without even checking on the rest of the group the Hot-Blooded Boxer rushed forward and tried to punch the monster only phasing through it, even with Spirit coating his fist. Whatever this thing was he couldn’t hurt it by conventional methods. Without losing a second Gen tried to get into a defensive position but a whiplash of Draco’s invisible tail threw the Brawler over the group and against a wall, slamming with enough force to make a crater. Gen was basically dug into the wall, that had a perfect boxer shaped crater to fit him in.
----------
SamJaz was flabbergasted.
Not only has Phantom completely humiliated himself to get this girl's favour, but Gen was actually fighting an imaginary dragon. He was getting really into it, using his spirit to fight the 'spectral' lizard.
Lizard.
That gave him an idea.
"You're right, Loveline the witch." SamJaz said. "I am evil. I had kidnapped fluffy for my own ends, because I am the Dark Lord Marvolo The Sly!" He shouted. "And I speak parseltongue, so no matter how much any dragon loves its master, it has no choice but to be completely submissive to my words! SAI-RATH SIETH! SEEKUNTRAKA! SHAIRATH SHUUKON!"
"SILLY!" Loveline shouted. "Draco the majestic is deaf! He can only respond to my secret sign language."
That annoyed SamJaz. This girl was cheating.
"Well, Gen's a dragonborn, just like in skyrim, so that's fine." SamJaz shrugged. "He's gonna beat that dragon to death because he can shrug off everything they can do. Then he's going to absorb Draco's soul and add it to his own powers, he should be done in about... thirty seconds?"
"NO!" Loveline shouted, pulling on her chain. "Fluffy! Stop them!"
------------
Phantom was about to bring an end to the game when ne notices two horrible things. First of all, the couldn't do anything, the binding around his neck completely stopped his powers from working. The second one was the order that came from the insolent brat (Phantom's personal nickname for her). No matter how one looked at it she could kill all of them in the next second so playing along was the only option. He gets up, shamefuly covering his ears while doing so, and slowly walks to the group.
He signalizes to them that he needs the colar removed in the most violent looking and pianful way possible... but still not leathal (yeah he knew sign like this). Phantom as going to stage a fight till the restrain was destroyed. It would probably take a while to make it look convincing and Phantom's gonna have to take a beating here, but hey everything for the crew.
------------
Arthur saw what must have been the strangest thing ever. A little girl was pretending to have an imaginary dragon, Gen was pretending to fight the imaginary dragon, Phantom appeared to betray them, but then signaled for another one to get a collar off of him, and SamJaz hit the him with a blade. Then Sam signaled Arthur and another man who he guessed was Matt to help Gen. It all made no sense. But Arthur did as he was told. Apparently the girl believes that everything imaginary here is real. Then Arthur is going to imagine some butt-kicking.
"Not even Gen can fight the dragon on his own. But not to worry, I have a giant atomic bomb launcher that only hurts dragons."
"Nu-ah, explosions can't hurt Draco." said the little girl. "Well, this one can hurt all dragons no matter what." The little girl seemed angry. "Then he'll swallow it before it explodes."
"No, because it's too big for him to swallow it." Arthur said. "Draco can grow 10 times his size." Arthur felt like an idiot. He was fighting with a little girl over who has a better weapon. And the weapons weren't even real."The bomb is always 50 times bigger then your dragon."
"NOOOO, DRACO IS TO POWERFULL FOR THE BOMB TO HURT HIM! Fluffy, what are you doing? You're supposed to help Draco, not join the other team."
Damn, this girl is annoying. Why can't she be mute.
--------------
SamJaz smirked. "Not only that, but my Pale Rider can tear down anything's defences." He said, summoning said Persona. "FIRE BREAK!" He shouted, having the grim reaper cast Delibate into the air. It looked impressive enough, but it got the point across. "Now Draco is weak to explosions, a firecracker would send him to the vet! GEN! ARTHUR! FINISH HIM!"
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Gen took a firm stance and placed his left arm in his side, with the right hand covering the left. Spirit engulfed both hands and slowly the Fighting Spirit from the right hand moved to the left. His hand started to shake as the energy focused on it ? Imaginary or not this is going to blast ya away! ya fucking dragon, eat this this and fucking die!- Gen’s Fist was shining brightly as he motioned a punch from a distance, and as in the Drill Dragon Uppercut his spirit took a spectral form, in this case a lion’s head with it fangs wide open. ?Lion Roar Cannon!- A massive booming sound filled the level and a pillar of Fighting Spirit vaguely shaped as a giant fist came out from the lion’s fangs like a shooting star, only that going diagonally upwards. This wasn’t a straight, this was a smash and God almighty it was powerful. The discharge of Fighting Spirit was too large, even for the Spirited Boxer and his left hand was not only numb, but most of it veins popped out damaging his skin. His left hand bones were almost reduced to dust and the skin of his knuckles peeled off. The ceiling had a massive fist shaped crater that almost reached the upper level floor. ? Okay I’m not doing that again for a whi….- Gen tried to quip but fell backwards unconscious
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With a spin of his keyblade, Gen's leg muscles locked together, and he was forced to remain upright.
"You see that?" SamJaz asked Loveline. "That is a warrior who crushed a dragon and is absorbing its fighting spirit." He cast a small series of cure spells to add the effect of light shining around Gen, as well as healing his wounds which seemed to be focussed on his hands.
"Draco The Majestic has been devoured, his spirit lives only within Gen's fighting spirit, which is indomitable and has subdued the dragon within. Draco has been defeated. We win." SamJaz smirked. This girl had better accept those conditions or he was going to show off his ability to fight without breathing. Which meant he was going to have to learn how to fight without breathing.
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"NO, NO, NO!" the girl was screaming. Even if she accepted the defeat of her dragon she doesn't want to let them go. "Fluffy! You will be the new Draco!" she yanks Phantom back to her again, this time dragon wings and a tail have grown on him. "I'll just kill you like the rest that wanted to cheat." The girl makes something like an invisible wall between her bed and the rest of the room. In the same instant the other side loses air and the temperature starts rising. They were going to be boiled alive and Crown would have to endure a fate worse than death for the rest of his life at the side of this little brat.
But one thing was different, the collar belonged to Sam and not to her. Phantom had full access to all of his powers. A sadistic grin, appears on his face as he's standing behind the girl. "You'll all burn for what you did to Draco" she drys her eyes as she was crying just a moment ago. The temperature kept increasing, but then it all stops. The wall disappears and the parameters in the room become normal again. The girl has a blank stare on her face in front of her a finger is circling. This was one of the rare moment when Phantom could use his hypnotism as he was not in a combat situation. The finger movement wasn't needed but it help Crown concentrate. "You're just a normal little girl. You don't know where your parents are and strangers have broken into your room. You're very scared and just want to be alone." finishing Phantom only snaps his fingers. The girl blinks a few times.
And then she just starts crying. "Oh, i'm gonna enjoy this." Phantom says as he stands up from the bed, his body already returned to normal.
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SamJaz smirked, walking away from the clear case of child abuse, before paling at the family picture on the wall.
There was Loveline. She was younger in this picture.
There were five other siblings, three women and two men.
And their father with his arms around each one of them.
The head of the HellScraper, who resides on the bottom floor.
Mr Vincentsson.
He checked the violin certificate on Loveline's desk.
Loveline Vincentsson.
Every eleventh floor was the penthouse suite of one of Mr Vincentsson's children.
That's how that little girl was able to suffocate him and create that deathtrap for Crown.
"Go easy on her Al." SamJaz warned. "Actually, be very civil and pleasant, because her father runs the place and he does not mess around."
He instead, walked over to the rug, pulled it up and revealed the staircase down. "Fix what you've done and we'll head on down." He ordered, a dark look on his face. "This family is one we don't want to personally offend while we raid their home."
