Isolation... Not [Mod]

[Crux]

Inactivity was bad for an Anti-Shadow Weapon such as Crux. The more that he stood idly by while scary things happened outside of the safe zone, the harder that the hammer in his ego known as 'duty' would hit him. His head always throbbed when he remembered his assigned mission: eliminate the Shadow threat in Mosaic City. Nights would be spent in emotional anguish, and they only got worse as the weeks went by. He just couldn't take any of it anymore! He must at least make an effort to do something  that was relevant to the mission. An investigation was the least he could do, and it would reduce the loud banging in his head.

Crux made a journey back into the outskirts, avoiding as much as he could. That building over there looked attractive enough, though. There was no guarantee that there aren't any shadows inside, but it was a museum! It is a place of knowledge, of history, and of the potentials of the future! Crux opened the door, and saw through it a gallery. It was in an alright shape, the paintings being in perfect shape. He walked through the entrance and started admiring the paintings. 

Like every book, each painting had a message to be delivered to the observer. This particular piece of abstract art was a bit more difficult to interpret. It was a portrait of... sticks lined up on the floor. Too long to calculate! Crux moved on.

[Erithania]

Behold, the immortalized desu!

Paint-covered Maya

Skills
Agi
Cleave

Resist: Fire
Weakness: Ice

Splotchy Tiara

Skills
Zio
Assault Dive

Resist: Lightning
Weakness: Wind

[Crux]

More abstract paintings. Wracking his brain over these things wasted his time. He was supposed to be investigating the Shadows anyway. Irritated with himself and these distractions around him, he let out a very audible sigh. Crux's feet kept moving along, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets. More and more paintings, some of them pictures of blobs, others pictures of... black shapes leaking out from the fr- wait a minute.

The head of a princess in a portrait fell out from the frame, rolling onto the ground toward him. It was a black shape, making a trail of ink while it moved. As it reached the point where it was two feet away from him, the Shadow floated up in front of him with its ink-blotched mask gazing at him with empty eyes. He was very close to angrily stabbing the demon in the space between its 'eyes' before he heard a 'bubbling' noise from the painting behind him. Two hands extended out to grab his back, and he side-stepped before they touched him.

A blob splattered itself on the floor below the painting, also equipped with a mask. Two pitch-dark hands emerged from the pitch-dark puddle that made up its body. The ink-covered mask was set on top of it carelessly, like a lid placed onto a filled garbage can. One of these enemies couldn't possibly be a challenge, but there were two. He was outnumbered, a cruel thought that came to his mind as he backed away. 

Whatever.

The Tiara was the first to begin attacking him, glowing blue in preparation for a spell. A buildup of energy emerged from above, and a lightning bolt was swiftly sent down from the energy orb, similar to juice squeezed out of a lemon. Making sure he was unobstructed from the Tiara, Crux rushed the Shadow as the spell fired off behind him. His hands were flattened out like they were the blades, and his arms were arranged in front of his chest in the shape of an 'X'. When he was in range, the cutters protracted from his forearms. He swung them up and stepped out of the way when he felt his weapons make contact. Immediately, they retracted back into his arms.

This kind of attack would, of course, not be enough to finish off these monsters. Before the Tiara could have time to recuperate, Crux stretched an arm upwards. "Persona!" Darkness pooled onto the space where he would've been hit by the Zio should he have still stood there. Out from it rose a larger man coated in pinstripe. Spilling out from his golden head was a crescent-shaped plume of dark fire. Tsukuyomi pulled his blade out from some sort of fabric in space, and sliced down on the disembodied shadow head. 

As Crux was about to make the finishing blow upon it, his foot was grabbed by the Maya. Its other hand transformed into claws and they ripped into the machinery of his leg. A slight jolt of made him shiver and shake for more than a few seconds after it let go. How dare he let something like that scar his body like that! He swept his arm out as he made the command for Tsukuyomi to finish off the Tiara with a horizontal Cleave.

Injured, he leaned and hopped upward on his untouched leg. The blades protracted from his forearms again, and he slammed both of them down on the Shadow's mask. Crux stumbled off sideways, while his Persona pulled its sword behind him. Darkness smothered the blade and oozed out from its blackness. With great strength, it slashed the blade diagonally upwards, sending a crescent-shaped wave of darkness at the Maya. The blob was pushed a ways back, but it did not yield. 

"Tsukuyomi!"

Tsukuyomi stepped in front of Crux and waited for the blob to enter his attack range. He held his sword in both hands and slashed down on its broken mask. It shattered, and the Maya faded into nothing. The battle was over, and the android recalled his Persona back into the depths of his 'soul'. The god of the moon dissipated into blackness, and all parties in the conflict seemed to be lost save for the young 'man' with a ripped-up pants leg.

[Erithania]

Feel the glory of victory!



But dread the uncertainty of future defeat. . .

[Crux]

There was a great, great desire to continue onward, but there was a conflicting desire that made Crux feel like leaving right this minute. He was only one Unit, and the odds of encountering a whole lot more in the future seemed quite likely. The 'student' clenched his fists, narrowing his eyes at gallery with scorn. The root of all of his problems lay with the existences of Shadows. However, so long as the human race continued to suffer, they would keep appearing and causing havoc. His 'mission' would have no end.

Should he just kill himself here, letting the Shadows consume him whole? That would be the easy way out, definitely. With death came peace. "Death, the only immortal who treats us all alike, whose pity and whose peace and whose refuse are for all -- the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved”, said Mark Twain as he was dying. How sweet the embrace would be, Crux imagined. 

Another surge of pain struck him down. His own mind had started pulling at his leash again, forcing him not to think these thoughts. To die would be to quit walking down the tunnel without even seeing what is beyond it. In life, answers to his own humanity would have the opportunity to be answered, and in life, he could see things through with his little sub-objective concerning humans.

Crux gripped at his face, limping out the door and back to the safe zone. Was he a coward to run from death, or was it admirable to resist the strong temptation? He answered the former.