Assault on Everyman: Kazuya Tower

[jerks22]

The time had finally come. The collective guardians of Genessia had had enough of being "exposed", and had set out to nap this intrepid reporter.

Kazuya would not make it easy for them. His massive, multi-story building stood to a testament of both his wealth and his might. Outside the tower walls, security bots stood placidly, ever-vigilant should intruders wish to make a mess of things. Boy, did they ever...

OOC: Now is the time to capture Everyman! Sort of. Once Kazuya's outer defenses have been breached, the tower will have 5+ (depending on participation) one-shot baddies to chew through. If you're someone even remotely interested in capturing this ne'er-do-well, now's your chance for a gratuitous action scene. I'll be putting up the bad guys in the comments section shortly; feel free to tackle them in any order you want, though keep in mind they're strictly 1v1. They will not let the group pass until sufficiently occupied!

Comments

Rude you don't own him, Stein, he isn't *yours*

[notsoholyspirit]

"We really have to open it, don't we?"

He totally ignored Stein's comment at least at first, though he's aware of the familiar pressure of a soul ready for resonance--preparation for battle. It's been a very long time since he's fought with Stein when Stein was still this small, of course. They haven't attempted resonance since Stein's arrival, and Kid had mentioned more than once that perhaps they should attempt doing so before the need became urgent. They have not.

Spirit is afraid of what might come of the attempted resonance, but there's no choice. Regardless, he reframes his own thoughts, ready to resonate while also ready to carefully manipulate the generally unstable wavelength of his young meister.

"I'm ready when you are."

Keep telling yourself that

[tinystitches]

Stein's wavelength is as steady as it usually is before a fight, laser focused and hungry. Pushing up against the edge of insanity without him even recognizing it. There's no resonance yet, not this early. Stein doesn't want to kill the thing in the box before he gets a chance to look at it.

He steps around the junk in the middle of the room on his way to the tank holding the sarcophagus. It's under the water, which means Stein can't just smash it open with Spirit unless he wants to deal with the problem of hundreds of gallons of water and shards of aquarium glass.

If it does break out, this fight will provide him a prime opportunity to test what he's researched about the properties of water in wavelength conduction. If Stein can hold his breath for long enough (and he thinks that he can) the creature might get to experience an onslaught of energy ten times more than what Stein can create on land.

But however this fight is going to go, first Stein needs to figure out how to make it happen. He walks up to the glass, trying to get a good view of the box.

Re: Keep telling yourself that

[jerks22]

Several ports on either side of the tomb opened up, letting out an exhaust of tranquilizing gas and other things meant to keep the monster sedate. That time had passed. The tomb rustled, brimming with rage, and then it began. But first, a biology lesson.

The mantis shrimp, sometimes referred to as "thumb splitters" by those who carelessly handle them in the ocean, are strange crustaceans who, at their normal size, "punch" at a speed of 23 m/s, easily breaking shells and other hard surfaces of prey. They do this by rapidly unfolding their appendages, a club/spear combo in this case, which in water is so fast as to both produce a painful strike and a cavitation bubble, or shockwave that makes for a stunning one-two combo.

For a man-sized versions, well...only G-corp scientists really knew what might happen. The lid of the tomb broke apart, then flew out of the cage, instantly shattering the aquarium. Shards of glass and gallons of water were spilling in, fish thrashing about the room. The creature emerged from its cage, anger increasing with consciousness. Fluorescent patterns across its carapace glowed; it was ready for round one.

This is going swimmingly and yes I went there

[notsoholyspirit]

"Shit--watch out, Stein!"

For what it's worth he harbors no fear of being submerged entirely--there's no need for him to breathe in this form, though there would be definite limitations with their speed.

Stein however does need to breathe. The weapon is looking for an out already. The weapon is looking for a weak spot--a crack or a window, anything--and thinks he might see one in the opposite corner.

"There's a crack in the wall. If we can break it you won't have to worry about drowning. I bet that thing can swim and we don't want to fight it on its territory!"

[tinystitches]

The tank explodes, inches from his face, smacking him with mingled glass and water and sea life. He jumps back as soon as it happens, but his reactions are only human. It's like being punched, but worse because there's water forced up his nose and into his mouth, and shards of glass stuck into the skin of his face. A splinter cuts open his upper lip and his mouth fills with blood, and there's another gash in his right eyebrow that's sending a red film across his vision. He spits out blood and glass and fishy-tasting salt water.

Spirit's concerned about fighting the thing (some kind of shrimp) on its own territory. Stein isn't. Stein's excited, because now he'll have the chance to test what happens when a soul force attack is amplified by sea water.

"Soul Resonance!" He commands, taking a deep breath and reaching out for his weapon's soul.

[jerks22]

Water had filled the room halfway to the ceiling, and it was rising. Security protocols were now enforced, sending sirens throughout the building, and locking the doors behind them. Extra-reinforced, given what the doors were meant to contain.

Speaking of that "what", it was sizing up its enemy, a delicate bobbing and weaving as its feet splashed throughout the water. It aimed, then let loose a punch faster than the eye could see, with the force of a shotgun blast. Several things would happen with that punch. The force was substantial, but beyond that, there was the bubble it created, sending out a rippling, stunning wave hit or miss. Then there was the boiling; both the speed and the friction of the blow would put the waters up to a scalding heat. Can little MacStein take home the belt?

[notsoholyspirit]

He hasn't fought with Stein in quite some time, but a meister hardly has to suggest a command to a weapon and they oblige--is a trained response and one that could be triggered almost in the scythe's sleep at this point.

Spirit can feel himself bracing for impact anyway; soul resonance has a tendency to be intimate and personal. There isn't much to hold back in resonance. Your soul is who you are and at that level there is very little that can be done to hide things if one's partner chooses to look. Resonating with Stein perpetually feels like being studied on a microscope.

The familiar feel of his meister's soul synchronizes with his own, and he acts on instinct before anything else as the shrimp attacks. "Experimental ectoplasm!"

He isn't even sure if this will work but he has to try. Success will leave Stein protected with a marshmallow type image, a manifestation of their souls.

[tinystitches]

Spirit's soul is subtly different from what Stein knows, fascinating and confusing and incredibly distracting. There's a giant monster bearing down on him, water everywhere, and broken glass in his face. But there's a soul that should be familiar being incredibly different instead.

And an attack he's never heard of before. Spirit knows what to do, and Stein just lets his soul follow his weapon's. Their souls sync up and glow, manifesting a vague shape around them, a protective wall that takes the punch and absorbs it. Stein's flung back, but the punch, the shockwave, and the heated water are blocked and cushioned. He laughs, a bubble of air escaping him as he's shoved up against one of the remaining tanks.

Stein swings Spirit around in an arc, trying to catch the monster in the side with the scythe's razor-sharp blade. The shrimp creature does have a protective exoskeleton, but chitin shouldn't be able to stand up to demon steel.

[jerks22]

Mantis shrimp, as a rule, typically sought prey which withdrew; certainly none that effectively fought back. Seeing Stein do exactly that was a shock, and its reflexes failed it. It raised its crystalline fists and took half the brunt of the blow. The blade was repulsed for a moment before reinvesting itself into its side, mutant blood coloring the water. An inhuman screech was let out. Its carapace was cracked, and it focused its attention now on the scythe in its side.

To that end, it would try to rain as many blows as it could on the weapon, shock wave after shock wave exploding in the water as it tried to dislodge the impertinent blade.

[notsoholyspirit]

Rude. It isn't painful, but there's a familiar sense of discomfort--shockwaves of dull vibrations running through him. At worst, they feel like they're scrambling his thoughts, like being violently shaken.

He's distracted just the same, but not by the mantis shrimp. It's the familiar-yet-unfamiliar wavelength of his meister that takes up more of his attention than it should. It isn't that Spirit can't adapt: adaptability of his own soul wavelength makes him a very good weapon partner, after all, and manipulation of others' soul wavelengths made him a good weapon partner for Stein--but it's so incredibly distracting. Something about Stein's wavelength, when they were children, makes him incredibly uncomfortable.

The weapon forces himself to focus. His voice, tinny in weapon form almost vibrates with the continue rain of blows.

"Stein, we have to get some of this water out of here!"

[tinystitches]

Stein yanks on the weapon, trying to pull in through the shrimp's body as he pulls it out. His lungs burn and he tries to get over to the crack Spirit saw before. If he can just breathe, he can kill this monster in a heartbeat.

I've been driving for an hour, just talking to the rain

[jerks22]

The combined forces of its tough shell, and the momentum-dampening effect of the water made it a struggle, but eventually the blade was out, monster gore along with it. The water had absorbed a lot of heat from the flurry, and even now its level had diminished, turning into steam. There was enough at the top of room if one brought their mouth to the ceiling.

Monster mantis clutched its gaping chest wound with one arm. True to form, the scientists had twisted nature even more, resulting in its other arm having something of a Swiss army knife capability. Most mantis shrimp had either clubs or "spears" for hand implements. They gave this one a laser drill. With a "shink-shink", it traded out its blunt instrument, and produced a spiraling, crystal tool with a bright-red laser tip. Exhaust ports opened up on the soles of its crustacean feet, where it would produce cavitation bubbles and use the shockwaves for propulsion.

It was rapidly losing energy thanks to the wounds; still, it knew only violence and the will to survive. With all it could muster, it shot towards Stein.

I GIVE UP THIS IS THE TAG HUFF

[notsoholyspirit]

"I'm not going to drain this room on my own!"

He would refocus his meister the best he could, shifting his attention to the wall with the crack. He and Stein could break the wall, he thought--but perhaps an even better use of available energy would be to allow the mantis shrimp monster to go for them and move out of the way to allow the blow to go for the crack.

With any luck, he knows his meister well enough to expect that he'll take the hint. Let the enemy do the brunt of the work!

[tinystitches]

Stein shoves away from the wall, dodging out of the way of the monster's attack. His vision's going dark on the edges and his entire body is starting to focus in on just the desperate need for air. Hopefully, the shrimp will hit the wall and break through it.

[jerks22]

Like a classic matador bull, it had seen red, and sacrificed accuracy for strength, crashing into the wall in a flash of force. Even Kazuya's reinforced plate glass wasn't a match for the power of the creature's assault, and it gave way. There was an explosion, a cracking, and a bursting as water rapidly drained out of the room, spilling out into the streets far below.

They'd find the creature hanging on with its claws, digging into the edge of the floor. It had caught on at the last second, once it knew the folly of its flurry. With a wheeze, it pulled itself back up, and readjusted its bearings now that it was out of its preferred environment. No cavitation bubbles, no boiling water, no maneuverability advantage. It traded out its claws for the club implement again, then lunged for Stein, heedless of the damage it had taken thus far. It could still fight.

[notsoholyspirit]

Thought the weapon felt none of the oppressive weight of the water and had not himself been near faint from lack of oxygen, he was relieved that the water was gone.

Spirit is silent, but the question is palpable among the shared wavelength of resonance: are you okay?

In some ways it doesn't matter. With solid ground beneath them and the monster about to attack again, it's time for Stein to do what he does best.

[tinystitches]

Stein stabs Spirit into the floor, using the scythe as an anchor so he doesn't get blown out of the room with the water. He sucks in air too quickly and coughs, but they don't have time for him to really clear his lungs. He doesn't have time to respond with anything more than just a vague acknowledgement that he's alive and okay.

Stein pulls Spirit out of the floor and swings it back around at the creature in a wide arc that should hopefully take off at least one of those arms.

[jerks22]

It struck out its club, only to have it lashed off by Spirit. Blood spurted out of the wound, creature kneeling down and screeching. With but one arm left, it put all its remaining strength into a final blow, a brilliant flash of light accompanying its momentum.