Arcade Machine Get (Phoebe/Mission)

[Nisha Dovickssen]

Apparently, the blonde woman had contacts within the main stretches of Mosaic City. While it was not necessarily shocking, Nisha did have to admit, if only to herself, that she was curious about the woman's relationships. Still, it would have been rude to ask. More than that, it really was none of her business. What the blonde woman did was entirely her own business. So, rather than worrying about the finer details, the giant focused on the task at hand. There was apparently an arcade machine that she and her unknown partner would be acquiring and transporting back to the Gap. The whole reason she took the mission was because it was open for two. While she wasn't necessarily fond of being around others, she didn't believe that tasks like these should be undertaken alone.

She had come dressed for work. Ragged blue jeans and a gray jacket stained black at various points made for the ideal battle get-up. They were somewhat tough and nobody thought it was suspicious, even when they were damaged. Armed with her crowbar, the woman was more than ready to take care of any Shadows around, but that wasn't all she brought with her. Figuring that the machine would be too large to comfortably carry around, she brought some cables. If there were mounting points, she could have likely carried it on her back. While it would have slowed her down, it would at least allow for her to fight while carrying it.

With a sigh, the giant crouched. The pizzeria was in sight, but she wasn't just going to go in by herself. It would be easy to go in and wipe out the resistance, but she ran the risk of accidentally destroying the objective at the same time. It was safer to just wait on her partner and work together.

. . . then again, working together suggested the exchange of words.

At that point, the woman, who had already had her fair share of battles, felt a bit uneasy. It was embarrassing, but even a force of nature could be anxious to be expected to speak to others. She just hoped her partner wasn't mean.

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe knew she was late. It had to happen, the one time she did not want to be late, that her cellphone would decide it didn't like its battery enough and die on her. She hauled her plump ass down the street at as much speed as she could manage. Mostly, she did not want to appear unpunctual and rude to her unknown partner. A partner! When she had found the rumors about the mysterious blonde woman and her job postings, Phoebe had been dubious. But they seemed tailor-made for Persona users, which she now was.

Plus, it paid money. And she needed that.

Besides, she figured it'd be a way to meet other users and maybe expand what she knew of the situation in the city. If more battles came along, it'd be good to have allies.

But the nature of the mission puzzled her. Retrieving an arcade? How would they carry it, even between them? She'd gone looking for a cart of some kind but had been unable to find something suitable and she couldn't take her car-- try fitting an arcade machine in a tiny little hatchback. That's why she was late. She'd been fretting. She decided that they'd have to wing it; with any luck, they'd find something in the area to help transport it. Just in case, she'd brought with her duct tape, a multi-tool and a sturdy flashlight.

She made her way to the location of the pizzeria, using the map she'd drawn for the purpose. At last it was in sight and--

Holy hell, who is that? she thought, confused.

There was a person crouching not far from the pizzeria and even crouched Phoebe got the impression they were very tall and dressed for business. Oh, that's right. They must be her partner. The woman had said that the job was for two. She'd been partnered up with someone. She felt very awkward suddenly. Supposing they took one look at her, pudgy and awkward, dressed in battered jeans and a "Keep Out of Direct Sunlight" T-shirt -- and just laughed? It'd be easy for an experienced fighter to dismiss her as a 'nooblet' with pretensions.

She shook herself down, gulped and hauled her messenger back further up her shoulder and gripped her crowbar tighter. And she put on a brave smile. Whatever they said, they had to do the job together and Phoebe was mentally preparing herself for anything.

"H-hello!" she said and cringed. She'd squeaked. She cleared her throat and tried to look serious. "You must be my partner for this. I'm Phoebe. You can call me Feebs."

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

As you make your way over to the abandoned pizzeria, you spot what seems to be the arcade machine that you were looking for in the window. By glance alone, you notice that the machine looks rather heavy. Somehow you're going to have to find a way to bring it back. But that shouldn't be too big of an issue for you, right? Ah, anyway, you're attacked by some shadows at you make it to the building. Have fun.

Magic Hand

• Agilao
• Bufula

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Wind, Elec

Grand Book

• Garula
• Zionga

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Fire, Ice

Magic Hand

• Agilao
• Bufula

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Wind, Elec

Grand Book

• Garula
• Zionga

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: Fire, Ice

[Nisha Dovickssen]

Nisha heard movement behind her after a while and slowly looked over her shoulder before finally standing straight. It looked to be a human. An especially. . . normal human. That was nice. At first, the woman stuttered. She greeted and introduced herself. She was. . . very normal. If that stuttering was from anxiety, then there was a good chance that she wouldn't be bothering Nisha any time soon about her size or strength. That made her relax. Though only just a tad bit. She had been socially estranged for the longest time, after all. She wasn't going to be completely at ease with others for a while. Even if they were working together. Slowly, the giant nodded in acknowledgment. For a moment, she stared. She was being rude, and she knew it, but it still took her a moment to find her words.

”Nisha.” She quietly responded at first before letting her eyes drift down. Staring at the ground might have been a little rude, but it was much easier than making eye contact. It wore her down, after all. ”It's a. . . pleasure to meet you.” While she did not stutter, her own social ineptitude was obvious. Following that, she nodded again. ”We'll be . . . working together for this. Let's. . . do our best.” She concluded after a moment before looking back to the pizzeria. Ah, that was way more unsettling than it should have been. She was honestly looking forward to the fight. It was easier to focus on work than it was to talk. ”Let's go. . . before too many appear.” She began to proceed onward. It was probably rude, but there was little she could do about that. They were on a job, after all.

And, as she made her way closer to the target location, four Shadows appeared. Two looked like books. Two looked like hands. For a moment, she remembered the golden hands she encountered in the mines. Were they anywhere near that level? If they were, then it would be best for her to take them. She handled a batch of three on her own before, so there was little doubt that she could deal with them. She just hoped her partner could handle the books. Willing for her card to appear, the giant reached forward and shattered it in her grip, Shango materializing next to her and towering over even her.

”I'll get the hands!” She said with a renewed confidence. Gone was the anxiety from before. It was time to fight. She couldn't afford to be misunderstood. ”Please take the books! I'll assist afterward if necessary!” And then her tunnel vision began. She'd have to trust in her partner. Last time, she was ambushed. This time, she could take them head-on. She willed for an attack. Mustard Bomb was. . . she was beyond Mustard Bomb now. Instead, something new had formed within her mind. It was a wave of destruction- a surge of damnation to pummel her enemies. It was violent and destructive. She didn't. . . like that, but, against inhuman enemies, power was necessary. She willed for it to come into being.

Akasha Arts! The concept echoed through her being, and Shango surged forward. With a powerful sweep of its arms, the entity produced a wave of pure destruction on the two hands, blowing one away entirely. The second, though badly injured, was still there. It fired off a. . . well, a giant fireball. The woman charged in, taking it head on, and then swung her crowbar down with the same force she typically did. The tip lodged itself within the Shadow. Then, planting her foot atop the hand, she ripped her weapon free, effectively splitting its “face” open and causing the black, inky “blood” to flow out. It then dissolved into nothing. It was quick and easy. Clean, outside of the spurting blackness.

She then turned to observe her partner.

[Phoebe Minola]

Phoebe's eyes widened when the woman stood up. She was so tall! And yet very strangely graceful in her movements. It was really impressive and made her even more conscious of her compact awkwardness. However, when she spoke and then looked down, Phoebe's look of surprise softened. She sounded almost as awkward as Phoebe felt. Maybe they'd get along very well indeed.

"Yes! I'll do my best to have your back," she said kindly. "Let's go."

Even though I'm just about to piss myself.

She followed Nisha without complaint, keeping her eyes open for danger. She obviously had done this before given how comfortable she looked in this environment. That made Phoebe feel more secure, since this was her first foray so deep into the outer circle, and her first mission. They could get attacked at any moment -- and lo and behold, Shadows! There were four of them, more than Phoebe had fought before and she felt a bit nervous. Their shapes were intriguing, or so she thought as she dropped into a stance without even realizing it, upon seeing them. Two looked like books and the other two like hands. How peculiar.

Nisha's orders snapped out of her musing and she shook herself down. "You got it! Watch yourself!"

She caught a glimpse of Nisha's Persona and her jaw almost gaped. It was taller than even her and quite intimidating. It also looked African in appearance-- she'd have to ask Nisha later about it, she was intrigued. But now, she had to keep her head in the fight. She was likely fighting stronger stuff than she'd faced before. She willed the card to appear, whispering "Persona" under her breath and then tapped it with her crowbar. It shattered, and Antiope's sleek form appeared beside her. The Amazon brandished her spear and looked ready for battle.

She'd have liked to watch how Nisha fought but she had to focus now or she was toast. And then it occurred to her that she was fighting books. That was a little sad-- but then again these were homicidal, evil books and she suddenly felt a lot less guilty about it.

The first book surged forward and with it came a kind of force. It'd hit Phoebe before she knew what it was. It was a blast of incredibly powerful wind and it actually felt like a million tiny blades going over her. It really hurt but Phoebe had the impression it could've been a lot worse if she hadn't seen the book surge forward and raised her arms. The defensive act seemed to make Antiope react because she raised her shield in front of her and put her spear forward. Phoebe grit her teeth and stumbled backwards from the force. Her whole body hurt, like someone had beaten her up and she felt a bit breathless.

But it actually made her quite mad.

You want to play nasty, eh? Well guess what, books burn.

"Agi!" she shouted and Antiope struck her shield with her spear, before pointing it ahead at the first book.

A burst of fire exploded on the book and it staggered in midair, hitting the ground before getting up with a drunken wobble.

Oho, so you don't like fire, after all!

She rushed the book and swung her crowbar. With a satisfying thwack! and a crash, the book dissolved. Phoebe grinned. This wasn't so bad--

ZAP!! CRACK!

"Ow ow ow!"

Phoebe felt awful. She was paralyzed for a moment and a wave of harsh heat washed over her, along with a sharp pain that made all her muscles tense. She heard the crackle of electricity and felt her skin burn. Her hands in particular hurt the most, as the skin in contact with the crowbar actually developed a few small open wounds where the electricity hurt the worst. She almost dropped her weapon. When she could see straight again she whirled around and faced the book. A few remnant cracklings of electricity told her that she had been the target of some electric spell. It had been terribly painful! Her whole body ached worse and she felt stiff. Plus... she'd acted really girly when she jumped up and flailed from the hit. The book spun around, seemingly in delight and Phoebe realized it was about to drop another spell on her.

"Oh no you don't..." she growled.

As if responding to her feelings, Antiope surged forward. She struck her shield again and pointed at the book and Phoebe just knew what she would say.

"Makajam!"

Green ethereal chains swirled around the book and when it made a flourish that was probably it's cast... nothing happened. The book paused in mid-air, apparently puzzled. It worked!

Though she felt a little tired, Phoebe sent another fire blast at the book. It flailed in mid-air at the hit and the next thing it knew, Antiope was on it her spear pulled back and then slammed forward into it, pinning it to the ground with a thundering thud, where it exploded into nothing. Skewer, that's what she'd thought, and Phoebe felt quite exhausted. She was sore all over, her skin was red and raw at places and her hands had small, open sores. She also had a small spear of headache in her forehead. She was pretty sure now that she couldn't cast fire spells willy-nilly. It had an effect on her. She smiled at Antiope gratefully. She kind of knew that if her Persona hadn't been such a tank, it would've been a lot worse.

She wiped her hands on her shirt and looked at Nisha. Whoa. She was a real beast! Well, of course she would be, she must've been much more experienced and stronger than her. She felt better about the mission; having a skilled partner took some worry off her shoulders.

"Wow!! That was awesome!" she blurted. "Oh, but are you alright? You look a bit... singed." 

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

You managed to beat the shadows fairly easily. That's good I guess. Anyway, you decide to walk into the pizzeria and get ready to take the machine. Its fairly dusty on the outside, but just like the woman said, it seems to be in seemingly good condition. Perhaps you should try and keep it that way, hm~? Oh, and you have some more company. Try to keep that box safe while you deal with them.

Pizza Maya

• Agilao
• Fire Boost
• Fatal End

Absorb: Repel: Null: Fire Rs: Wk: none
Pizza Maya

• Agilao
• Fire Boost
• Fatal End

Absorb: Repel: Null: Fire Rs: Wk: none

[Nisha Dovickssen]

It seemed that the other woman was still fighting. While she was having some degree of trouble, it looked as though she was properly taking care of both the enemies and herself. Phoebe then commented on Nisha's well-being. The giant just looked down at her darkened clothes. It had happened so many times by then that she didn't really bother to take it into consideration anymore. Sure, it hurt. A few of them, and she'd likely have problems standing. But she'd dealt with worse. The golden hands from the mines certainly took the cake. Dismissing her memories, she slowly nodded. No need to worry her partner over something so minor.

”I'm fine. I've dealt. . . with worse.” She verbally responded, the confidence and directness from before having completely vanished. Talking was all well and good (figure of speech, mind you, as, for her, it really wasn't), but it would have been safer to get what they needed and escaped before the Shadows returned. ”We should. . . hurry. If we wait. . . too long, others may. . . appear.” It was probably rude, again, but she had her reasons. The giant made her way into the pizzeria and finally got a good look at the machine. With luck, she could just strap the thing onto her back and walk on out with it. She doubted it was too heavy for her. The issue was its size. And then some Shadows appeared. Grabbing a nearby table- yes, the whole table- she lobbed it at the Shadows to stun them. She needed a second to talk, after all.

”I'll take the one on the right! Please get the left!” Again, clear and concise, she dictated the flow of battle. The area was too small to safely use Akasha Arts, and, considering that the machine would likely stop working if a blast of lighting bounced around, she decided to keep things nice and simple. So, she ran at her target. By the time it was fully aware of what was going on, the Maya was lurking in the giant's shadow. Did Shadows feel fear? It was a relevant intellectual curiosity. However, that thought was not in the giant's mind. No, the only things she worried about were her partner and how many strikes with her crowbar would finish her enemy.

The crowbar pierced the flesh on the Shadow, hooking just behind the thing's mask. It was wedged in there pretty well. Nisha began to tug on it, trying to free the crowbar, and caused the Shadow to gurgle and squirm in pain. In response, the Shadow let off a blast of fire. It was stronger than before and drew a faint grunt from the woman. Still, her tugging did not stop. That got her the equivalent of the Maya's claws as it swiped at her leg, ripping a little of her pants leg and getting into the flesh. But the tugging continued. And the mask began to wiggle loose. Eventually, it snapped free, and the Shadow spurted blackness as it wriggled in pain before dissolving. It was messier than necessary, but she couldn't use Shango, so it was kind of necessary.

[Phoebe Minola]

Nisha seemed to be alright despite taking a fireball head-on, so Phoebe followed her obediently.

"You're right, let's hurry this up and get out. We can patch ourselves up later. I've got a small first-aid kit with me."

They inspected the place and the machine. It really was big and Phoebe had no idea how they'd get it out between them. Nisha looked like she was very strong but even so... Maybe if they wrapped it in tablecloths from the remaining tables... "How are we going to carry this thing? It looks like it weighs a ton..."

Just as she was puzzling it over, more Shadows appeared. Phoebe whipped around to face them just as Nisha tossed a table at them, making Phoebe gape at her strength.

"O-Okay! Be careful!" she said and shrugged off her fear.

Phoebe had to fight carefully here. After all, the machine might get damaged and then they'd never get paid. She'd have to do this up close and personal.

She charged the Shadow and then on a sudden inspiration, feinted left. The Shadow fell for it and she managed to guide it further away from the machine. Before she could rejoice in her success, a plume of fire hit her. The roar of flames rushed past her and fire licked at her exposed skin. She crossed her arms over her face again.

"YAAA--oh hey. This isn't so bad," she blurted.

Yes, it had stung, her skin felt even more red and raw than before and she smelled singed hair and clothing from her person. She actually put her hand out and put out a tuft of her hair that was smoldering. But it was by far and away not the second and third degree burn disaster she had expected. Again, Antiope stood with her shield raised. Realization dawned on her.

Of course! She's fire oriented, she must have a resistance to fire. Even though the Shadow seems to have packed more punch than Antiope's Agi spell does, I still didn't get seriously hurt. Interesting!

Phoebe dodged a swipe of the Shadow's claws, amazed at her nimbleness and swung her crowbar. Crack! She jumped back and out of another swipe. She was getting the hang of this now! She swung again and again. Crack! Crack! Craaaack!

With the last swing, half of the Shadow's mask went flying and shattered against the wall. The Shadow flailed, raising one claw to bring it down on her hard, with a gathering darkness swelling around it. Phoebe just yelped and crossed her arms again. The claws hit Antipe's shield and Phoebe winced. She felt that go right through her, in a way. But again, she felt as though it could've been a lot worse, had Antiope not been there. She grit her teeth and struck out again, smashing the crowbar into the Shadow's face. The mask shattered and the creature dissolved into nothing. Phoebe couldn't help but cheer.

"Oh yeah! I did it!" she blurted and almost jumped up, although she stopped right away when her shoulder disagreed very strongly with the motion. "Ooh, ay ay ay... I'm gonna feel that in the morning. Are you okay, Nisha?"

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

With those shadows taken care of, you are now free to take that arcade machine back to The Gap. Naturally, your success in that regard is reliant on your ability to pick the damn thing up. But, that shouldn't be too much of an issue, right? Anyway, after you bring it top the woman, you collect your reward.

Mission accomplished!

You received your reward: 1,000 FP