Scaling Etemenanki[Mod]

[Takeda]

Wandering in the cold night air, with a purple colored sky overhead and a pistol at his side, Takeda felt like he was strolling right off of the set of some cheap action flick. Usually, it was Seiji who explored outside the walls of the blockade, but tonight...tonight was different. Tonight he had a shot of liquid courage to steel his spine, a 9mm Browning to steady his thoughts, and a goal to set his eyes on. Seiji had told him of the old office building when recanting his journeys outside of the barrier, and had told him of the unnatural areas that lie beyond the veil  pulled over the eyes of the common folk of the city. Tonight, he planned on surveying the area himself so that Seiji could maybe get a night's rest, and so that maybe he could learn to better combat these things. Fog had encroached upon Takeda from almost every side since he had lifted himself from the rank depths of the sewer, and needless to say, visibility was low. Towering structures and lightless business fronts added to the haunting, oppressive feeling of loneliness that dominated this place. No doubt was in Takeda's mind...this was where they lived. He knew next to nothing about the things, other than his and Seiji's mutual opinion that each creature had it's own individual weaknesses, meaning that battle strategy would have to be adopted on the fly. The pistol stirred within his leather jacket, practically begging for him to pull it out and proceed onwards with even more caution. Eventually, he obliged, taking the pistol into hand and cocking it. A faint chik-chik resounded throughout the entirety of the street, and affirmed Takeda's suspicions...he was the only thing making noise out here other than the occasional gust of wind.

Pistol in hand, he proceeded to follow Seiji's directions to the letter, remembering mentioned street names, buildings to avoid, and general advice on how to enter and leave the tower without being bled dry. Takeda was equipped only with his pistol, the clothes on his back, an empty backpack, and a flask...he knew better than to drink now though. He needed his senses, he needed to be fully awake. These things didn't seem like the type to show mercy on a pitiful drunk stumbling around in the streets. Eventually however, through following Seiji's directions, and drawing on his own memory of this place, he found his way to the base of the tower. Instantly, imagery of Babel came to mind, though he knew not as to why. Having seen the building in it's hay-day, it was almost sad to behold it in this shape. Abandoned, with a few of it's windows busted open...and the thoughts of other cities came to mind, what if Mosaic wasn't the only city having these things show up? Part of him just wanted to think it was him being paranoid, and that part eventually won out as he proceeded to crawl through a window, into a manager's office, just as Seiji had. A musty smell filled the air of the office building, and Takeda raised his gun up to look down the sights. Perhaps he was just being crazy, but he could swear that he heard the pitter-pattering of little freakish feet through some parts of the building. Wind blew in through the window, and he began to rummage about in the office. No supplies, naturally, but there was at least a phone...he tucked that into his backpack right away, seeing as the one at home was busted.

Heading down endless dark hallways, and looting some rooms for base supplies for the house, Takeda found himself pleased with the relative lack of activity in the area, though, it also troubled him, for he felt as if he was being watched. With a microwave and coffee maker placed in his backpack alongside the phone, he had at least found some basic things to make living in his apartment tolerable. In his desperation, Takeda had occasionally thought of taking up burglary, but...well, he didn't figure he'd do well in prison if he got caught. Stepping out of one of the hallways, he found himself in the lobby of the immense building. It was then that he noticed something had appeared out of his peripheral vision. Hoisting his left hand up, after having decided to lower his gun after the past few rooms came up clean, he saw floating above his hand, a card. The same card that he had encountered in the sewers...his persona. Beneath a hood, old white hairs jutted out from a concealed face, with monochrome hands gripping the borders of the card. It spun about in place for a time, as he was mesmerized by it. Unable to get a good look at the back of the card, he simply held it aloft whilst heading through the lobby...but something seemed wrong. The darkness in this place seemed to actually move, following his movements in a mocking gesture. Takeda swore that he could see things moving in the darkness, and this time it wasn't his paranoia. Readying his pistol in one hand, and holding up the card in the other, he aimed down the sights and whispered, in the cold, lonely lobby, now ready to fight.

"I'm ready for you...pray to god you're ready for me, bitches."

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

A pack of Shadows appeared!

Useless Maya

• Cleave

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Ice
Crying Maya

• Zio

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Fire
Devious Maya

• Garu

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Wind

[Takeda]

As if summoned by his taunt, a mask plopped to the floor but six feet before Takeda, followed by an amorphous ooze that seemed to take shape before his very eyes. T'was not an intimidating creature, truth be told, as it merely formed a stump-like neck to hold up it's mask, and a pair of hands that it used to scoot it's body around whilst on the ground. At first, Takeda was relieved by the introduction of such an enemy, believing that it would be physically weak, and therefore incapable of taking more than one or two direct shots, despite it's gelatinous form. Then, a faint thud resounded throughout the lobby, followed by another, as two more of the beasts fell on either side of Takeda..."Well...shit." Takeda moved quickly and began to run past the beasts towards an overturned desk, before a gust of wind, launched by one of the creatures, slammed him over it. A bolt of lightning nearly grazed his head as he tumbled, and then scrambled to his feet with his back to the desk proper. As if on it's own, the card in his left hand descended, and shattered in Takeda's palm. In a flash of brilliant light that temporarily blinded him, Faust emerged in all of his macabre glory, with monochromatic ooze dripping from his outstretched index finger. With a sigh of relief, Takeda checked his pistol, for a moment wondering if the weapon would even harm such a an enemy, somehow, he figured t- *Crack* Splinters flew into the air as one of the shadows made a brazen attempt at killing Takeda whilst he was behind the wooden desk. Utilizing it's amorphous hand, it had somehow garnered the strength to cleave right through it, nearly impacting Takeda's head, instead, it clipped his left shoulder. As blood dripped from his wound, he lifted himself to his feet and clutched his wounded shoulder, sprinting down one of the dark hallways that was connected to the lobby proper.

His Persona followed in tow, floating behind him as if connected to him by an invisible chain. With nary an idea as to how the being worked, Takeda found himself surprised that the avatar floating above him seemed to have taken an attack similar to his. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, it felt as if he was channeling the energy of the spirit, and himself. Around the corner, the beasts drew nearer and nearer, before a brief flash of green light illuminated the darkness, followed by muzzle flashes. Gritting his teeth, Takeda's face was lit up by the various gunshots, showing him with a torn jacket, but no gaping wound. Faust lingered over his back, as the bullets struck true in one of the shadows that tried to come into melee range. At first, it was pushed back by the relatively low caliber rounds, recoiling in what could only be examined as pain, before one struck it's mask, hitting where it's head would be. It's humanoid hands reached up for it's face as it began to deteriorate, but not before one of it's compatriots launched forth another bolt of lightning. Only through rolling behind the corner again did Takeda avoid getting twelve or so volts delivered straight to his chest, and his mage-like  persona, hovering over him in the darkness, stood deathly still, following his movements. Dripping the dark fluid from it's revealed arm, and with it's black cloak blowing in the non-existent breeze, it mystified Takeda how something so strange could feel like it was a part of him. Quickly, he moved towards a turn that would lead back into the darkness of the tower's lobby, for there was more light in it.

Scanning the ceiling for any signs of movement, and darting his eyes between the hallways the connected to the ground floor, Takeda's mind raced with thoughts on how to best isolate that god damned lightning shadow. Sure, the wind could knock him to and fro, break a bone, but that damned lightning one could spell lights out for him in one solid hit. A receptionist counter lined one of the walls, and Takeda rushed behind it to put some cover between himself and the electricity lobbing bastard that kept causing him to have to run, rather than fight. From the darkness of one hallway, a bolt flew out, lighting up the hallway proper, and then the lobby before striking the upper edges of the counter. With his right hand outstretched, gun in hand, and with Faust doing the same, Takeda said a silent prayer, hoping that the gods of shoddy seventies gun instruction movies would smile on him. As he steeled himself to take a shot, waiting for the beast to singlemindedly approach, something seemed to be stirring within him, and subsequently, on Faust's fingertips, as they reached out towards the darkness. Like had been anticipated, one of the creatures slithered from the darkness, and thankfully, it was his target.  As he saw tiny sparks form in one of the beast's hands, he squeezed the trigger. Glowing in Faust's hand, specks of purple energy swirled and gathered into a defined orb-like pattern, before shooting out alongside the bullet, forming a beam that raced the lead there.

Something told Takeda that his focus, that this thing that was now a part of him, came naturally...his intent to aim and fire at the beast translated over to Faust, who's icy chest seemed to take a deep breath, exuding a puff of visible air. The bullet struck true first, hitting the shadow's neck, and forcing it to recoil before forcing itself back up. It did not get up again, when Faust's dark beam, the purple energy gathered before, seemed to corrode it's mask, along with the bulk of it's body. Though lasting for only a moment, Takeda swore he could see faces within the torrent of dark energy launched from Faust's hand, screaming in torment, much as he thought the shadow wished it could do, though, now it lacked any means. He gazed up at Faust's outstretched hand, then down at his gun before muttering a quiet "Damn..." to himself. The reverie didn't last long, as the other beast distended it's neck from the middle of the lobby's ceiling, and stretched out one of it's hands. "Oh fuck you!" Takeda yelled out, opening fire before finding himself thrown up against the wall by another gust of wind. Faust seemed to impact the wall with him, and as Takeda stood up, he found that it hurt to even breathe. The thing had cracked one of his ribs, and by extension, had harmed Faust. His gun was knocked aside in the impact, and Takeda fell to his hands and knees, moving towards the pistol as the shadow drew closer. Falling to his back, he took aim and focused intently on the wound, placing a hand to it.

Just as he had done in the sewers, and behind the corner, he looked up Faust, and within no time, green light was flowing betwixt the two of them. Faust placed his right hand on his frostbitten chest, and in a flash of green light that overwhelmed them both, Takeda and Faust found themselves healed...but things were different. Stumbling to his feet, Takeda felt immensely drained from the healing process, and from the immense energy expunged throughout the battle. Gripping his pistol firmly in his right hand, he took aim and fired at the amorphous blob upon the ceiling, watching as it's masked head seemed to bend and shape itself to avoid the bullets. A faint click resounded throughout the lobby, as he stared up at the damned thing, dropping his pistol to the ground. The beast seemed to be mocking him, and in one last fit of desperation, Takeda focused what little energy he had left. The beast blew him down onto his back, but not before Faust stretched out it's hand at the beast, gathering spheres of purple energy into it's hand, before firing a beam...this time, Takeda heard the sound. An inhuman scream seemed to sound with the firing of the dark beam of energy, and the beast knew not what hit it.

The shadow did not seem to disintegrate as the other did, rather, it seemed to corrode, it's mask slowly cracking as it was destroyed. Lifting himself from the floor, Takeda found himself breathing heavily, out of energy. Picking up his pistol, he exhausted walked over to the fragments of the monster's mask, before grinding a bit beneath his heel.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

Success!

You defeated the enemy!

[Takeda]

With a deep breath, Takeda wearily exited the building with nary a look back. Following the roads back to the manhole, he found himself hearing a faint sound of rattling coming from his backpack. Leaning down, he opened it up to find that the coffee machine had shattered it's glass container. With an angry grumble, he tossed out the shards and bits of plastic, and found the microwave to be missing it's handle, which was much less horrible. Opening the manhole cover, he said a few last audible words before trailing back to Mosaic wearily, requiring rest, and food, popping expletives from the outer circle, all the way back to Mosaic.

"Never gonna find a working coffee machine again, god dammit."