Tower of Hope [Mod]

[Pyxis]

Pyxis's records indicated this tower to be the tallest in the city, inside or outside the shadow-infested zone. Once an office building for a powerful corporation, it now sat abandoned save for the shadows crawling through its depths. And what a number there were. While shadows were (most of the time at least) sparse on the streets of the ruined western city, there were several hotspots of activity that could be separated into distinct layers based on their apparent strength. Strata, for lack of a better term. This building was one of them, In fact, it was the densest hotspot Pyxis had come across yet.

She stepped inside, cautiously looking around. Her sensors were operating at full capacity again, doing broad sweeps of the first couple floors, but visual input also had its uses. Her sensors confirmed, almost immediately, that the entryway was clear. Her optics, however, picked up what they couldn't: signs of a large number of battles in that area. This building was well-traveled by other Persona users. Although, there was no telling how far up any of them got. Perhaps she could be the first to reach the top then. But she could tell, both from the large number of shadow readings above her and the sheer height of the tower that it would be a very long, arduous trip.

Detecting shadows nearby, Pyxis braced herself for a potential ambush and moved through and out of the lobby, toward the source of the readings.

[Erithania]

Beware the mesu!

Business Wheel

Skills
Viper Smash
Mudo

Resists: Darkness
Weakness: Light

[Pyxis]

Noticing a blip on her sensors quickly drawing closer, Pyxis quickly turned toward the source. The weapon ports on her fingers opened, exposing rapid-fire spread guns. She only caught sight of the approaching shadow for a second: a large Wheel-type with a lion's head mounted on the front. Dollar signs were in its eyes and a number of indistinct charts hung off its frame. The next second, Pyxis had already opened fire, riddling the wheel's frame and surrounding walls with bullet holes. As agile as the wheel was, turning to duck down a hallway the moment Pyxis started shooting, it still took several hits before finally getting out of the line of fire. Not for long, though, as Pyxis chased after it, digging into and breaking the ceramic floor with each step. She rounded the corner and was immediately faced with a burst of dark energy shooting straight at her. Mudo. No matter. She charged straight through it, only momentarily noticing the damage she sustained from the skill before firing again. This time the wheel had nowhere to go except straight through a door, which it did with all the finesse of a sledgehammer. The wall around the door tore apart and collapsed as the wheel rolled into a room full of cubicles, knocking over dividers as it went. It sent another Mudo skill in Pyxis's direction, but again she charged straight through it. Any damage she took could be dealt with after the shadow was dead.

She skidded to a halt inside the office space, and so too did the shadow. The only exits, without going back through solid wall at least, were either behind Pyxis or at the far end of the room, leaving the shadow with no room to avoid her. It seemed to recognize this, as it turned back around and charged directly at her. Pyxis fired on it a third time as it charged, doing little to slow it down but plenty to set it off-balance before it finally collided headlong into her.

But, as it ground to a stop, Pyxis remained standing, arms braced against the Wheel shadow and easily holding it back while taking minimal damage in return.

Wrong move.

"Pandora," Pyxis called out. A feminine figure with a silver-plated, mechanical body materialized behind her, holding a cylindrical box in both hands. The lid of the box slid off, and a ghastly ethereal hand emerged from it. The hand clenched into a fist, and slammed down on top of the shadow, destroying it.

[Erithania]

We'll outnumber you next time.



Be warned. You are doomed.

[Pyxis]

Although the building was in a bad state before, the Wheel-type had still managed to leave a huge mess in its wake before Pyxis finally defeated it. She found herself carefully stepping over the remains of cubicle dividers as she approached its remains, before briefly wondering why she even bothered and just walking straight on top of them. As she reached what was left of the shadow: discarded bits of its frame including the dollar sign eyes and a few of the charts that had been hanging off it, she picked up one of the charts and examined it. It was a graph stretching back several years, showing sales figures on a steady incline up until the present day, but nowhere as steep as in the last year. The words "Sales are up! Keep up the good work!" were printed at the bottom.

"Hah," Pyxis said, smiling as she discarded the chart and let it float back to the floor. Even when overrun by shadows, it seemed like the wheels of human business just kept turning. Well, until they got shot full of holes, at least.