Need for Speed [Mission/Awakening]

[Layla Amare]

Layla had planned, at least, on taking this mission alone. It was a simple 'fetch quest' in a familiar area. Not much was likely to go wrong. But someone else had also signed on. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't quite place who it was. She didn't mind the extra help. In fact, as long as the other person could take care of himself, she welcomed it. That wasn't what bothered her. No, it was the fact that such a simple-sounding mission was open to two people.

That meant either that someone had overestimated how much trouble would be, or that she was underestimating it.

As she reached the car factory, she looked the place over. As gloomy as ever, much like everywhere in the outer circle was. No signs of heavy cannon fire or fresh trails of destruction leading away, so if there was another tank shadow lurking around it was doing a good job of being subtle. No other immediate loud noises within the factory either. So, most likely, nothing highly unusual was going on. Upon coming to that conclusion, Layla let out a sigh of relief, then started doing stretches while waiting for her partner for this mission to show up. If anything did go wrong, after all, she wanted to be ready to move on a moment's notice.

[Ringo Shiro]

Ringo accepted yet another job from the blonde haired woman. Come to think of it, even though she was helping out so much, who in the world was she? He was sure he asked himself this question before and he was plenty sure other people wondered who in the world was she but none the less he still had to ask. Yet he doubted he would get an answer. Oh well, he might as well complete this job and ponder about it later. Besides apparently he was going to get help for this one.

Ringo started to walk up over to the dark skinned girl doing stretches, finally arriving at the old car factory where they are suppose to be. He recognized her as one of the Persona users present during those shadows that appear when everyone around them transform into coffins. This must be Layla then?

"Hello, I'm Ringo,you must be Layla?" Ringo asked in confirmation.

[Layla Amare]

It didn't take too long for the boy to show up. Actually, he had perfect timing, arriving just as Layla was finishing up her stretches. She recognized him almost immediately, too. Although she couldn't put a name to him until he said it, she remembered the faces at least of everyone who had shown up to fight the shadows that had appeared under the full moon. Especially the ones who were at the scene for both of them. Although, now that she thought about it, he had never used a Persona in either of those fights from what she had seen, and had taken some really nasty hits. Was he even a Persona-user at all?

"Yep, that's me," Layla said. "Layla Amare. Nice to properly meet you." That much, at least, was cheerful. But her tone became much more serious as she continued. "Hey, not to criticize, but...you can't use a Persona, can you? Are you sure coming out here like this is a good idea?" If she was wrong, he could correct her, and that would be the end of it. But it was her own habit of putting herself in danger in the place of others that prompted her to ask in the first place.

[Ringo Shiro]

"Yep, that's me," Layla said. "Layla Amare. Nice to properly meet you." She seemed like a cheerful girl. However, her tone became serious and not without reason. "Hey, not to criticize, but...you can't use a Persona, can you? Are you sure coming out here like this is a good idea?" Ringo smiled and shrugged.

"I'm going to be fine. I survived more than I thought I would without a persona..." Granted Ringo nearly fainted when he was hit with those ice shards from that school girl and nothing needs to be said about the number of times he got hit by that reaper like shadow. "I'm going to be fine. Besides, it's not like I can sit around and do nothing now that I have witnessed all these things around me." Ringo started to look around. "I only explored a small section of this factory. Got any ideas?"

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

You begin heading through the factory, hoping to locate the plans that you needed to bring back. You were given a very good idea of where they could be found as well as information that would allow you to recognize it when you saw it. Naturally, you are heading in the direction towards the objective.

As you were talking though, you're faced with some shadows.

Full Metal Gigas

• Fatal End
• Revolution
• Viper Smash

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Phys Wk: Fire


Full Metal Drive

• List item 1
• Revolution
• Twin Shot

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Phys Wk: Elec

[Layla Amare]

"Well, stay close to me, at least," Layla said. She wasn't going to try to talk Ringo out of it. Would he be fine? No, probably not. But she could at least heal him if anything went too badly wrong, and shield him if it looked like he was going to get severely injured by an attack. That just left the matter of who would deal with what. Although, most likely, Layla would end up dealing with both of them in the end, Layla did want to at least give Ringo a chance.

She turned toward the shadow with the three-legged wheels, summoning Yamantaka to unleash her strongest attack on it. The Terminator of Death raised his vajra high, calling down a lightning strike on the machine. It locked up for a few seconds as the lightning bolt hit, nearly falling over as a result. But, miraculously, it recovered soon after, then spun in place as it released some sort of wave of energy. Layla couldn't quite tell what it was doing though, just that it had hit both her and the machine without damaging either. Shrugging it off, she called down a second lightning strike on it. Again, the machine nearly collapsed, but managed to stay standing long enough to lunge forward and nail her with two thrusts from a spearhead mechanism in its chest. Despite having taken several such attacks before, this one threw Layla on her back with the sheer force of it.

She sat, dazed, for several seconds before slowly managing to push herself to her feet. Her entire body was already screaming in pain from a single attack. It wasn't even something she was weak to. Was that what the initial wave of energy did? If so, then she absolutely could not afford to get hit again. She blocked out the pain long enough to fire off one more bolt of lightning, finishing off the mechanical shadow.

That just left the wrestler shadow, and a boy who couldn't even use a Persona against it. Crap, this was already not going well.

[Ringo Shiro]

Well, stay close to me, at least," Layla said. Ringo nodded in agreement before exploring with her. However, it didn't take long for shadows to appear. He slowly began to draw his sword. They were two shadows. One large one that resembled a wrestler. The other is...some kind of weird thing. It was hard to describe but its legs consist of three wheels with three on each of them. Its body resembled a suit of armor and it had huge arms. However the latter shadow is being taken care of by Layla.

Ringo managed to avoid getting crushed as the wrestler slammed down. He made a quickly slice on its leg and another slice on its lower back. His slices were only doing minimal amount of damage. The shadow swung its arms. Ringo managed to duck but was soon tossed by the force of the attack itself and slammed against the wall. He looked up at the wrestler only to see it starting to glow yellow. Oddly enough, Ringo started to do the same. The wrestler began to charge but Ringo quickly got up and jumped to stab it's chest. He watched as the shadow went down after the impact of the strike.

"Was...not expecting that to work." Ringo quickly pulled out his sword and sliced its face before jumping off the shadow and looking at it to see it dissipate. He took a moment to look over at Layla. He waved his sheathe in greeting to check if she was okay. "Hey are you alr-!" Suddenly Ringo collapsed on his knees. Looks like the pain caught up to him.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

After defeating the two shadows that you were presented with, you continue towards your destination. As you recall from the blonde woman's description, there should be a storage locker containing the plans somewhere around here. But as far as you can tell, there are a very large amount of lockers to look through! Not only that, but there are a few stray shadows that might find you as well.

You can either choose to deal with them now, or try and sneak by them while searching the lockers.

A) Check the lockers while sneaking. (Roll D-20)

B) Fight the shadows first.

Crawling Maya x6

• Mudo
• Bufula

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: None

[Layla Amare]

"I'm fi-hey, hold on," Layla said, quickly summoning Yamantaka as Ringo collapsed to heal the two of them. "Better?" she asked as the healing wave subsided. "If it gets to be too much, just get out. I can handle this...probably." Actually, after the surprisingly effective attack from the machine-like shadow, she wasn't too sure anymore. But it would be better to fall herself than to let someone else fall because of her own neglect, right? She, at least, had already died once. Ringo presumably hadn't.

Once she was satisfied, they pressed on, finding the lockers where the plans were supposed to be hidden. They would be in one of...quite a few lockers. That would take some time to search through, and all the while they would have to avoid several shadows dragging themselves through the area. But they had to try, at least. Six shadows was more than Layla was confident about handling at the moment.

She held a finger to her mouth as she looked toward Ringo. She gestured first at either end of the row of lockers, then at the shadows. Then, she quietly made her way toward one end to check the lockers and started checking them.


mPJpI4Dj1-201-20

[Ringo Shiro]

"I'm fi-hey, hold on," Layla used her persona to heal him. It only helped with the pain a little but Ringo himself thinks he should still be able to fight. "If it gets to be too much, just get out. I can handle this...probably." Ringo gave her a smile to reassure her as he started to get up, using his sheathe as a temporary crutch as he pushed himself up.

"It's alright. I'm going to be fine." Ringo and Layla started to continue onward into the factory. They entered what appeared to be a large locker storage. Ringo began to wonder for a moment just how big was this factory with it needing so many workers. He then heard movement. It appeared shadows were here too. Layla appeared to notice this too as she looked over to Ringo with a finger over her mouth to signify silence. He nodded as he went over to check a locker not too far from Layla's.

jerrCa|S1-20
1-20

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

You begin looking through the lockers one by one, searching for the blueprints that you need. It takes quite a bit of looking, but eventually, you do indeed find the plans! With them in hand, you decide that its time to head out. Only, as you do, you seem to have alarmed the horde! Not only that, but they seem to have brought some friends.

Crawling Maya x6

• Mudo
• Bufula

Absorb: Repel: Null: Rs: Wk: None

Iron Gigas x2

• Gigantic Fist

Absorb: Repel: Null: Phys Rs: Wk: None

Now seems like a good time to run since you have the plans. Sound good to you?

[Ringo Shiro]

Ringo and Layla managed to search through the numerous lockers and found the plans. Ringo smiled at the sight of them. Welp this was mission accomplished. Now all they have to do is sneak out on out of here. However, what Ringo is hear is not exactly pleasant. Ringo quickly peaked out of where they were and heard the sounds of movements coming towards them. The loud stomping also implied that they were no shadows. He also peaked one of the Mayas heading over. He quickly went over to Layla.

"Layla, take the plans and go. I'll hold them off here. I should be able to give you enough time to get out." Ringo drew his sword. "Don't worry, I'll figure out my own way out as soon as you leave." Ringo started to dash out, regardless of what Layla had to say. He got the attention of the Maya. He smirked as he allowed it to follow him. However he stopped when he saw one other Maya intercepting him.

Ringo got out of the way from one of their Bufulas and then sliced it across the face...slice would be a generous description since it was more a scratch. He backed away from the hazes of darkness from the other mudo spells the best he can. However he latest dodge slammed in the back against a locker. His current problem is that there isn't much room. There was good news, as Ringo sliced one in half as they were about to cast a spell, was that they had the same problem.

This time around instead of dodging, due to lack of time, Ringo endured the mudo spell from the second one. It was agonizing yes but he got hit by a much stronger dark elemental attack back during that reaper fight. He charged and sliced the final one apart. Ringo looked left and right. He sighed in relief and wondered if Layla made it out?

Those thoughts had to be cut short. Ringo heard stomping. They were close. He readied himself and looked left and right. Where was it coming from. The stomping stopped for a moment before then he felt a large impact. A large wrestler like shadow crashed through the lockers with an intense amount of force, sending Ringo flying and crashing into another set of lockers and collapsing on to the ground. At least this answered his question about what those other shadows were...

The giant was ready to launch another destructive fist. If it can obliterate those lockers Ringo would hate to see what it would do to a human body. He started to use his sheathe as a crutch but pain shot through his body. He might've managed to avoid dying but he was till more or less within the blast of the earlier attack. Was he going to die? The giant began to charge. Ringo felt the world stop for a moment.

"I..." Ringo watched as the giant draw closer. He tried to push himself to at least move out of the way. But the giant was only about three seconds away. "I'm..." The giant was now two seconds away. "...not going to die here!" Suddenly the giant was sliced in half, stopping its charge. Ringo's body was no longer felt pain but rather it felt a surge of great power. His eyes widened as he looked at the katana blade that sliced it half. Before him was a being wearing a traveler's hat. It turned toward Ringo before fading away into a persona card...that formed in his hand. "This is..." Ringo winced in pain once more and collapsed back on his knees, the persona card fading away. His vision was blurring. "I...I need to check on Layla..."

[Layla Amare]

((Music: Beyond the Bounds))

No. No way. Absolutely not. There was no way Layla could just run and leave Ringo here. She turned and ran, but not to leave. There was a good place right at the entrance to the factory where she could hide the plans until they were done. Then, at least, in the worst case scenario she could come back, drag Ringo away from the fight, trade places with him, and tell him where the plans were so that he could finish the mission. But she didn't even get that far before hearing something smashing through solid metal, coming from right back where she had just been. She turned, abandoning her earlier plan and running right back. At this rate, she wouldn't have time even to hide the plans.

She got back in time to see Ringo on his knees, a Persona fading from existence. A couple of the formless shadows were down, as well as one of two wrestler-like shadows, but even if he had just finally awakened a Persona, he was clearly at the end of his rope. Layla summoned her own Persona, hitting all of the remaining shadows at once with a flare of light and turning their attention to her.

"Leave him. Your opponent is me," Layla said. The remaining formless shadows immediately sent blasts of ice and darkness in her direction. The dark attacks were all but negligible, but the ice chilled her to the bone, bringing her to her knees as well. "This...is nothing," Layla said, directing Yamantaka to heal the two of them. She forced herself back to her feet, then turned to Ringo. "Don't ever do that again," she said. "Take these and go. My life isn't worth any more than yours..." She handed off the plans, then turned to stare down the remaining shadows.

The formless ones wielded the one thing she was weak to. The wrestler had just smashed through several lockers in what she had to assume was one go. Her chances of surviving were very slim. But still, Layla held her position. Yamantaka continued to tower behind her, preparing another light attack. Layla, meanwhile, whispered a chant her mother used to say all the time.

"Jarādhammomhi jaraṃ anatīto....
Vyādhidhammomhi vyādhiṃ anatīto....
Maraṇadhammomhi maraṇaṃ anatīto....
Sabbehi me piyehi manāpehi nānābhāvo vinābhāvo....
Kammassakomhi kammadāyādo kammayoni kammabandhū kammapaṭisaraṇo yaṃ kammaṃ karissāmi kalyāṇaṃ vā pāpakaṃ vā tassa dāyādo bhavissāmī....

Abhiṇhaṃ paccavekkhitabbaṃ itthiyā vā purisena vā gahaṭṭhena vā pabbajitena vā."

Then finally, in English again, "I am already dead."

That was right. She was already living on borrowed time. She wasn't going to steal more from anyone else. If she was going to survive this mission, it would be through her own will and strength.

The golden skin and finery of Yamantaka started to fade away as Layla resolved herself. The mask the Persona wore fell away, revealing a bull's head and several more faces projected around its sides. Its many arms remained, but now all of them wielded weapons, some of which Layla recognized and some of which she didn't. Its skin was now midnight blue, fitting with the typical image of the Terminator of Death rather than golden statuary. Although the figure itself remained the same, Layla's Persona had very clearly changed right before her eyes. A new name appeared in her consciousness: Vajrabhairava.

"My life is in your hands. Free me from Yama, and guide me toward the path of wisdom," Layla said. The light attack she had already been preparing surged forth, erupting from the ground in a massive flare that overwhelmed the lesser shadows present. All of them were wiped out in an instant, leaving only the remaining wrestler shadow. It charged at Layla, slamming its fist into her and knocking her back into a nearby wall. But she remained standing, directing another flare of light at the wrestler to finish it off as well.

[ChromaticTruthsayer]

With the enemies defeated, you are able to simply leave and collect your reward.

Mission accomplished!

You received your reward: Level 3 Weapon