Fine Art is Such Sweet Sorrow [Akira]

[Akira Nakajima]

And so the Shadow did speak, and speak some big things did he. He called himself a gentleman. A scientist. Big words from a person that attacked without words to begin with. Then he suggested surrendering. And in the same piece of dialogue as the dismissal of the situation being anything about victory or defeat. Then some flattery and a dismissal. The boy in drag shook his head slowly. Wow, this guy was really a goofball. Then, taking a deep breath to ensure that he didn't laugh again, the boy just smiled and waved the scissors around dismissively. This one suddenly didn't want to fight. So he claimed, anyway. Still, there was plenty to call this guy out on.

”Okay, let me set some things straight. I'll neglect to give my opinion on the fact that you think you're a gentleman when you attacked first. I'll even leave the bit where you claim it's not about win or loss, but mention surrendering, alone. Hell, flatter me, or slander me, all you want. That's cool. Instead, I'll focus on the fact that you basically admitted to being a trickster, being weak, and then suddenly wanting the fight to end after all of your attempts to attack me. Sounds like the words of a coward trying to cover their. . .” He paused, gesturing at a certain long, thin appendage that was wrapped around the man's waist. ”. . . literal tail. So, tell me, Mister, exactly what is there for me to stop attacking you? What reason would I have to stop when you seem to be, in every way, stuck in a corner?” He wasn't going to attack just yet, either way. He wanted to see how this person ticked.

”And please don't play the cards of morality or mercy. Motives like those won't sway me.”

[Isaac Strazos]

Well, the girl was no fool. At least, not in the literal sense. But there was still much that she didn't understand. "Weak compared to other Shadows of my caliber, of course. The term is relative. I'm still very much more than a match for any human." It was a bluff, but a minor one. He was fairly formidable in certain situations- although this wasn't one of them. Still, he smiled. "I apologize for not being up to conversing earlier, but I was merely studying you. This encounter could go either way, I imagine, but for next time, I assure you that you will not be so fortunate." This one was truth. If nothing else, Isaac's strength lay in his adaptability. Those carefully laid buffs granted the girl an edge to be sure, but once he had a moment to himself, he would develop a spell to shatter those walls as glass. Or perhaps even take them for his own. Still, the Shadow's smile only widened as the crystal orb once again was filled with a purple mist, although it was hidden from sight behind his back. "You've yet to land a meaningful blow on me, you know. Every attack thus far has been countered or regenerated... and I haven't even needed to bring out any healing magic. You might have a trick or three hidden up your sleeves, but we'll likely be fighting well into the night if you choose to continue this conflict. But, I suppose the choice is yours, my dear. I pray you do not make one you will come to regret."

Action: Makarakarn (Self)
Buffs: Makarakarn (1 Turn)

[Akira Nakajima]

It seemed the Shadow was now conceding on a number of points? Honest submission, or another ruse? That was the question. He seemed very confident in his abilities for their next battle, if there was a next. The man's words were mixed. Part of them seemed directed to deter him from attacking. The other part was a roundabout encouragement, or provocation, to continue the battle. Frankly, the crossdresser did not buy into it. Simply leaving would be boring. On the other hand, trying to blindly toss spells at the man would likely not go over well- not like this. He was leaving himself oddly open. His staff was even- . . . his staff was even still hidden. Oh, hell no. A game like that, with a trickster? Akira began to shift to the left. Alma Elma began to shift to the right. There was obviously something up.

And the boy could've sworn he felt the aura of a barrier being put up.

”You seem very confident in yourself, overall, for a person not fond of combat. But, again, you admitted to being a trickster.” The boy in drag laughed lightly. Both he and his succubus were walking towards, and around, the man. They planned on circling him. One on one side, one on the other. ”But. . . tell me, Mister. Who's the bigger trickster here right now? You? Or. . . is it me? Who's playing the other for a fool?” He didn't explain. What purpose was there in that? But his words had credence, and the belief and substance behind them was evident in the playful, amused expression on his face.

After all, he was not a “she” at all.

[Isaac Strazos]

When the pair split up, Isaac hesitated. It would have been rude to take his eyes off the User in the middle of their conversation, but the only real danger came from her Persona. There was only a moment of hesitation before the Shadow returned his gaze to the girl, not wanting to show any sign of worry- after all, where there was concern, there was weakness. And he was determined to demonstrate that he had none. All he offered the girl was a sly smile, rolling his shoulders a little, "So, you do have a trick after all. Or three. Or perhaps it's just a bluff. But no matter, your essence is delectable either way." The Shadow twirled his cane out of it's hiding place and pointed it at the girl, the crystal glowing blue once more as he attempted to tear away another piece of her spirit.

Action: Spirit Drain
Buff: Makarakarn (0 Turns)

[Akira Nakajima]

Seemed that the Shadow was just a little worried. He didn't let it show for long, though. In fact, if not for staring at the Shadow, Akira might have missed it entirely. Again, the Shadow attacked, attempting to drain his energy. The boy? He just sighed and shook his head. He then smiled almost sweetly, triumphantly, as if saying “I knew it”, before reversing his grip on the scissors and charging in. He half-swung, but it was a feint. A flash of light and a sleight of hand to repay the Shadow for his similar treatment during the full battle. The real attack? Well, that came from behind the Shadow, naturally. It came in the form of a gaping maw spewing forth the flames of hell. That is, Alma Elma was floating over the Shadow, tail outstretched and end fully opened. The three-pronged appendage had released a blast of Agilao aimed at the Shadow's head before closing.

The succubus then pulled away, regardless of connection or no. Akira, on the other hand, was gauging his own shape. Certainly, he doubted that this Shadow could actually defeat him, but there were two issues. If the thing nullified fire, then his advancement was a no-go. Likewise, if he ran out of energy to put out fireblasts, it was just the same as fire being nulled.

In other words, even if he sincerely doubted the Shadow could defeat him, if he himself could not defeat this so-called gentleman, this trickster of Shadows, it was as good as being defeated.

Action: Agilao
Notes: Heat Riser x3 (Maxed)


HsrWtvOk1-5

1-3, huhuhu.1-5

[Isaac Strazos]

The Shadow's eyes narrowed as the girl ran in for yet another attack. She knew it was pointless, so he correctly called the feint. Sadly, it didn't help much. When the fireball hit him from behind, the Shadow immediately raised an arm to his head and hunched over to avoid as much of the blazing flames as possible. Compared to other attacks that he'd experienced, this one was on the low end of things... but still, fire was hot regardless. The flames quickly died out, but the damage was done. There were some scorch marks burned into the nape of his neck. Still, the girl was close. Isaac thrust an arm out to grab the girl, attempting to restrain her for a moment. The attack missed!

Action: Grapple

[Akira Nakajima]

Fire worked, it seemed. Good! The boy still had a means of dealing damage to the Shadow. One out of four was kinda crappy, considering the circumstances, but it was still infinitely better than zero. The man-Shadow reached in in an attempt to grab Akira. With a lean and a quick double-step backwards, the boy avoided the grip. He giggled and smiled. Then, he twirled around, weaving closer and further away from the enemy, while Alma Elma floated around above, mirroring the boy's movements. There was no need to verbally taunt the enemy. Just a bit of motion would provide the same result. His giggle, though, spoke enough.

With a will from Akira, the succubus opened her tail and twirled in the air, lobbing another Agilao at the man in mid-spin.

Action: Agilao
Notes: Heat Riser x3 (Maxed)


iJfYTdw31-5

Doki-doki dodgy on 1-3.1-5

[Isaac Strazos]

Almost as soon as Isaac had overextended to grab the human, another fireball smashed into his back. He let out an annoyed grunt and whipped around towards the Persona, holding his cane up to erect another barrier. This situation was getting a little bothersome. Attacking the Persona itself would do no good, but the aura enhancing the girl's power made direct attacks on her meaningless as well. Essentially, Isaac was stuck. Next time he would be more than prepared for the girl's annoyances, but for now? He merely had to wear her down until it was appropriate to withdraw. Even if he could win this fight- which there was still a fair chance of, it wasn't worth the amount of time and energy to see this through to the end.


Action: Makarakarn (Self)
Buffs: Makarakarn (1 Turn)

[Akira Nakajima]

It seemed that the boy's taunting only got him a barrier to deal with. How bothersome. That was the third time that technique was used. Now, while fire was not going to bother the boy, he saw no reason to waste the energy on an attack that would just be bounced back at him. His movements came to a stop in front of, but a few feet away from, the man-Shadow. His scissors swished through the air with the impatient swings of his arms before he crossed them over his chest. He rocked on his heels before finally slamming them into the ground with a small thump. Alma Elma just circled around, brushing over the ceiling. Maybe they could cause the ceiling to collapse on him? That'd be fun. Definitely an option. He'd keep it in mind.

”Tick-tock, Mister. Isn't it time for your clock?” He giggled again, uttering his next words in Japanese. ”To get cleaned, of course.”

Action: Pass
Notes: Heat Riser x3 (Maxed)


OuLNUyvu1-5

Behold, the numbers 1, 2, and 3 are the devils of victory.
1-5

[Isaac Strazos]

How troublesome. He wondered just how long that ability would last. Perhaps after he came up with a method to counter it, he would create a version for him to use for himself. After all, that was his specialty. Still, he watched the girl's little demonstration before smirking again. Perhaps it was time for a new kind of attack. He definitely heard the girl mutter that last part in Japanese- one of the many, many languages that the original Isaac had learned as part of his tutorage. As such, the Shadow responded in Japanese as well, "Wordplay in two different languages? Cute. But difficult. You're quite the linguist." The Shadow held his cane up yet again, the orb filling with gold energy as sparks flared off the crown for a moment before a lance of lightning was called forth, aiming it directly at the girl. The attack missed!

Action: Zio
Buffs: Makarakarn (0 Turns)

[Akira Nakajima]

”Yay, I got praised.” While his words were light, even childishly cute, the tone they were delivered in was a very bland monotone. And it was all muttered while the boy jumped to the side to evade the bolt of lightning. Small scale. Definitely a single-target. Pretty small in general, so either Zio or Zionga. In other words, this guy had a very small and very weak offensive set. Well, the Shadow admitted to that already, but still. Still, this was rather boring. What the man did use effectively was weak, except for the annoying drain. Likewise, only his moderately-powerful spell (even if it was enhanced by Heat Riser), was effective.

Old man, I'm getting bored.” He complained in Japanese before Alma fired another Agilao.

Action: Agilao
Notes: Heat Riser x3 (Maxed)


Nf1hzgRD1-5

Wee.
1-5

[Isaac Strazos]

Yet another fireball battered the Shadow, and yet again he formed another shield to defend himself against a followup attack despite the fact that it drained even more of his dwindling reserves of energy. He couldn't keep making barriers forever, even though it seemed like the girl's power up was permanent. Well, he might have been able to keep this up for the better part of the day if he could drain more of her energy to sustain himself, but she moved so quickly... Isaac did have an escape plan ready, but he didn't want to use it so soon. The weaker the girl was, the better chance of success his little ploy would have. He could take a couple more fireballs at least, so unless she suddenly pulled out some kind of super attack that she had been holding in reserve, that part of the fight wouldn't be a problem. Still, how could he weaken her if nothing worked? He'd try again once the barrier faded, but doubted that anything would be accomplished on his end... "Surely you're growing as weary of this as I am. Do you really plan to just go back and forth until one of us drops from exhaustion?"

Action: Makarakarn (Self)
Buffs: Makarakarn (1 Turn)

[Akira Nakajima]

”Well, in all actuality, I don't like losing in things when I feel I have every capability of winning. It's bothersome, you know? Like a nasty splotch on a stainless record. So, uh. . . yeah, that was kind of my plan.” The boy in drag shrugged slightly. He then smiled. ”Of course, if you wanted to retreat, I'd let you. I wouldn't care too, too much. I'd probably stalk you until you dropped some reward, like in an RPG, or something like that, though. Or perhaps if you gave me information.” The boy chuckled slightly before twirling on his heel.

”Otherwise, I will likely be required by my most basic drives to stick here until you're defeated or until I feel that defeating you is an impossibility.” He didn't utter a word about actually being “defeated”, though. ”Questions, comments, suggestions, requests?”

Action: Pass
Notes: Heat Riser x3 (Maxed)


1XXK2cfI1-5

1-3, buraku magico occurs.
1-5

[Isaac Strazos]

The Shadow smirked a bit as he held the staff out, vying for another Spirit Drain... and it caught! Yet more of the girl's energy was siphoned into the man's cane. For whatever reason, he seemed to be having a lot of luck with that particular spell... and nothing else seemed to be taking effect. Perhaps he shouldn't bother with Hama or Zio at all. Once his own energy had been regenerated a bit, he started paying attention to what the girl was saying. When she finished, he merely chuckled in response, "RPGs? Don't you know that video games rot your brains? Ah well, you've come this far. It would be a shame to let you leave empty handed I suppose." The Shadow quickly patted himself down for any trinkets that he could hand over, but upon finding nothing, he turned his attention away from the girl and walked back over to the two bodies laying in front of the smashed, empty display case. He picked something up from between the two before returning to the User, lobbing the Hero's Medal at her with a slow, underhand toss, "Maybe you'll find some use for that thing. Those kids came here for it, but, I don't think they'll be needing it anymore." After giving her a moment to inspect the award, if she chose to do so, he crossed his arms over his chest and let his head list to the side, "What kind of information do you want? I happen to know quite a lot. It doesn't usually come cheap, though."

Action: Spirit Drain

[Akira Nakajima]

Akira just blinked as the Shadow drained him again. That was boring. So boring he actually didn't try to dodge that time. Though he wondered if it would have worked at all. He felt a little drained in terms of mental capabilities- or magic, rather. Either way, the Shadow looked about and tossed him the medal that was near the corpses. Were the two trying to rob the exhibit, then slain by the Shadow? Or was it something else entirely? Whatever the case, the boy wasn't entirely sure what he'd do with the item. Still, no harm in holding onto it for the time being. Maybe it'd give him the right to wield a four-syllable legendary sword?

”You say information doesn't come cheap?” The boy smiled innocently at the man as Alma Elma fired an Agilao off in response to the Spirit Drain from a moment ago. ”I'd have to say that getting out of your hair doesn't come cheap either. I propose a trade. Your information for my not chasing you down. Anyway. . . I won't ask for major things. Just give me information on you sentient Shadows. What are your goals? Are you in any way tied with the barrier around the city?” He shrugged slightly. ”See? Pretty small stuff. I didn't even ask what color your underwear was.”

Action: Agilao
Notes: Heat Riser x3 (Maxed)


pF8NChU_1-5

1-3, lalala.
1-5