::Final Destination:: [Floor 101]

[Arena Emperor]

~::The Tower of Babel - Final Destination [Floor 101]::~

Throughout the Tower of Babel rest floors which reflect the darkness inside of humanity...when humans venture within, their shadows come out to play, changing the very face of certain levels within into the dungeon of their nightmares, putting on display that which they don't want others to see. But for those whose shadows have already taken control, whose darkness rules and acts according to its own design, there are unique floors entirely under their command, bending to their will as they seek to ascend to the top of the Tower.

Floor 101 is known as the Final Destination and acts as the battleground for the Investigation Team in their fight against the Shade of Zeo Kirijo. The ground itself is a twisted and decaying version of the Shadow World of Zeo Kirijo, a raised platform in the middle of a 'passing space' upon which combatants duel until a person is either knocked out, killed, or sent flying from the platform (and falling back to Floor 100)! However the stage itself is slowly decaying, and chunks of debris fly through the air, endangering all who stand upon it.

...

Upon the formation of Babel on [9/13 - Dark Hour], those fighting against Shade Zeo are deposited onto this level for that final confrontation. The battle begins and continues until one or all combatants on either side are defeated...

...

Here is the Final Destination, a battleground for heroes. Here, Zeo Kirijo and his darkness make their final stand against one another...to decide who the android really is!

 

[Arena Emperor]

Quote:

[9/13 - Dark Hour]

Yosuke, Chie, Kanji, Teddie, Naoto, Rednal, Zeo, Nix, and Crowley have been drawn into Babel and landed at the Final Destination!

Shade Zeo lands on the Platform, opposite you.

The fight continues...

 

[Necromonium]

Teddie! Rawr! and Naoto Shirogane
Flames circled around, shattered her shield, and burnt at most of their bodies. She winced, cringing in pain, before everything started to move....
Naoto had gripped the hand of Kanji as Junes shifted, holding on tight as the world started to change. She flinched when hearing a second voice, and watched as the black monstrosity tore at Faust and some others, tearing them down from the Building.
"E..Everyone!" she called, before they had finally met their destination. They were deep into Babel...And as she glanced, it seemed they only had one foe here...In the middle of a...strange Arena.
Be safe.. she thought to the others, before she focused her energy, turning into her Persona Fusion form, and holding up the large gun.
"I'll fire an opening Volley!" she called, before sending out a burst of energy...Her Starlight Breaker.
Teddie cried out as the flames burned at them, before hearing Soji's command to grab onto someone. He suddenly clung to Nix, holding onto her.
"Protect meeeee!" he called, before smelling another...overpowering force. He quivered, before the world around them shifted, and Junes was suddenly engulfed in energy. It grew...It shifted, and as the green dark other Faust tore at the others, he held on tightly to Nix. Things rumbled, the others seemed to crumble...But, Sensei was with them! And they had plenty of people!
"Gotta be brave...gotta be brave." he called, before forming into Kintoki- Douji, Reborn. "Bear...Sona!"
He shattered his card at this, and sent out a burst of Ice towards the other Zeo! They had to be brave..They had to handle it...And he had to be careful not to fall!
Oh Gods It's Beary High!

Quote:

Naoto: Starlight Breaker (Charging her magic within the barrel of her pistol, Naoto fires her weapon at a single enemy. Roll 3 dice 1-10. What each dice rolls will result in a broken resistance on the enemy. [1 = Fire, 2 = Ice, 3 = Elec, 4 = Wind, 5 = Light, 6 = Dark, 7 = Water, 8 = Earth, 9 = Nuclear, 10 = Phys]. Deals Medium Non-elemental Damage. )
Teddie: Bufudyne. [Ice boost, Ice Amp]

Teddie's gear: Nightstalker: [Raise Evasion by a respectable amount]
Lord Flauntleroy's Rose: Life Surge, Mana Bonus
Naoto's Gear: Leon's Revolver: [1/6 odds of Stun]
Detective's badge. [Cast Makarakarn]

 

[Zeo Zaggart]

Zeo

"Tch, what are these suppose to be, my suppressed thoughts? More like things that never occurred to me at all." Zeo heard that Shadows were suppose to be the things you couldn't accept, but this thing was spouting off one-liners that Zeo hadn't even been burying. And he'd already told Soji that he considered him an equal, a hero capable of bringing down the Shadows! That was the entire reason he accepted following him, instead of just forming his own team! With black jack! And hookers! In fact, forget the-wait, why was the earth shaking? "Oh cra-Soji!" Zeo shouted, throwing out a hand to grab the team leader after he saved him from the attack, and then when Babel started to form around them. He'd heard how dangerous that could be from Mitsuru, who's own team had once tried to enter Tartarus through such a method on purpose, and he knew that if they didn't connect hands then they could all wind up separated. But even though he tried to reach out and grab the silver haired squad leader, his reach was too short..."Damn it...DAMN IT!" The walls jutted up between them, and Zeo was thrown about, disoriented by the shifting atmosphere as the tower took it's rightful place over what was once the local everything-store.

Zeo put his knuckles to the ground, kicking up dust from the ruined floor. He recognized this place...this farse of an inner world, the place where his Shadow had once been. It wasn't a place he wanted to revisit...the entire scenario had made his life seem like a joke, and he didn't want to accept that he'd been taking things so lightly. And it reminded him of his feeling of helplessness, when he thought that his life was probably controlled by a single flick of the switch by Mitsuru...like a character in a game, he thought he was at her mercy. It was Soji and the others that assured him he could be free, and that he didn't have to feel like he owed anyone anything for it. He could be himself, and if the Kirijo had tried to put him back in the can...he knew they would stand beside him and oppose it. It was that sort of help that let him overcome this place, and enjoy it for what it was; a world with sweet as video game rules where Falcon Punches weren't totally out of place like they were in the real world! Seriously, he knew he was getting odd looks. But whatever!

Unfortunately it was falling apart now, probably caused by the freak in front of him. There were holes here and there in the stage, and the space around them was no longer a void one could comically go flying off into; it was filled with debris, and as ruinous as the rest. This was all his fault. "I don't care about the bullsh*t you've been spewing towards me, but you've crossed the line!" Zeo stood up, pointing a finger towards his own Shade. That creature had tried to finish him once when he'd lost his cool, and Soji had bailed him out, but now there were teammates standing behind him who were putting their lives on the line as well. For Soji's sake, he had to stand up and put this thing down before anyone else got hurt due to his hot headedness. "Soji's out there somewhere, and I'm gonna find him to repay him for saving my bacon just now. If you stand in my way, then you're entering into..." Suddenly Zeo spread his arms out and shouted, electricity bouncing around and shooting up his body as his hair started to stand on end, and then change color. Finally, the golden spiky-haired warrior flexed, muscles bulging, and thrust his finger towards the fake again. "...the DANGER ZONE!"

As he roared the sound of two sonic booms rang out, a pair of jets appearing in the abyss of space his Shadow had created. The two planes each made for the platform they were standing on, and criss-crossed just above Shade Zeo, engines letting out a fiery tornado and an enormous electrical storm in turn. "Faaaalcccoon PPUUUNNCCCHH!" Fitting for the area or no, Zeo shot forward, drawing his fist back as he called out that most memorable of moves from the Captain of the same name, and threw a fist at the Shade's face that would have blown away some of even the mightiest enemies! He wouldn't let this NON-pimp win; he'd made a promise to himself, and to Soji, and to the entire Investigation Team gathered behind him or not! And he wasn't going to let anyone down, because while Zeo Gary King was never wrong, he was definitely going to do something right for once! Which didn't imply that he did things wrong the rest of the time, exactly. It was complicated, watch The World's End, you'll understand after that. "You stupid Blank!" Fyi, that was a reference too.

Quote:

Top Gun (Persona Fusion): Opponents around Zeo are Debilitated from his awesome aura of superioritude! Or it could be his spiritual dampeners. One of the two. (Passive)
Boss Mode: Replacing Orgia Mode, Zeo activates all boosts at once, raising his stats to their maximum values. The mode cannot be shut off though, ensuring he overheats after 3 turns.
Iron Gauntlets: Constant Power Charge

Danger Zone: Two jets fly over the battlefield, unleashing High Electric and High Fire Damage (one from each). Zeo finishes with a Severe Phys Damage attack.

 

[Great Ryoman!]

Aleister Crowley

"Careful, it looks like we've ended up in a new area. If this is Babel, then we can't expect that the rules of this world will actually obey those of the outside world." There was a mix of old and new to this battle, which Crowley's mind raced to analyze as Zeo's shadow called them all down. On one hand, he'd already seen the danger of these Shades, though this one seemed as different from the last as any other. And although he'd been near Babel, and seen a few floors of the old Tartarus, he was unfamiliar with this particular area and it's spacious nature. Literally space-natured, as it was, but the fact that they had a rare piece of earth to stand on and weren't dying from lack of oxygen was a small wonder that could only be experienced in this tower, and so he cast his worries aside. Finally, the entire transformation of the tower was strange; he'd hypothesized that the tower's appearance was more like a meshing of dimensions, in the same way that he had once broken the barrier to the realm of the Akasha Corridor and gone inside. But his theory that Babel was like a doorway between dimensions was thrown out by it's shifting, melding form that had ended up dragging them inside, which proved that there was some sort of physical connection between the Junes Department Store and the tower...even if it was adding mass and matter in a way that defied old science. This was the purpose of his pseudo-science, his understanding of magic, and he would learn how it worked eventually in order to make that knowledge of benefit to humanity.

But he was losing sight of what was important right now, so he needed to focus. "The last creature like this disappeared after we beat it, so it might be a brutish, but I think violence may be the solution to our problem. I do wish I could get a live sample though, to figure out what we're up against..." Crowley spread his arms and summoned his card, slashing his claws through the floating blue representation of his soul. His Persona began to appear through the floating blue diamonds, and a spell was sent in the direction of the defunct robot (the Shade, not Zeo), sapping it of some of the strength that it had when it rendered it's last assault on them. Hopefully that would take some of the edge off of it's future attacks, and help to relieve the team; he was after all a doctor, so he didn't want to end up patching too many wounds when the battle was over. Still, he knew that things wouldn't be easy, and he was prepared for whatever came next as a man with experience against the supernatural.

Quote:

Crowley used Debilitate.

 

[Rednal]

Rednal Ak'Thias

"..." There were some things even he couldn't come back with a dry, sarcastic comment to. Two Shades in one night? The team separated and getting pounded? Yeah, this was all kinds of bad, no matter how you tried to sugar-coat it. His health recovery helped slightly, but it was a long ways from undoing the damage that had already been done. And had that been Faust's Shade? ...............In a way, he was sort of glad he wasn't going to see that one as much. Not unless they all made it through this one and made it back early - Teddie and Naoto being here was quite a lot of comfort to him. Right. We can do this... all of us, together. He glanced over at Yidhra, who simply grinned at him and gave a thumbs-up. Three bursts of blazing light shot out of Rednal's gun a moment later, heading for Zeo's Shade. "Y'know, Zeo... you're almost as crazy as Yidhra is, but you're right. Let's trash this thing and get back to our other friends."

Quote:

Rednal:
Nuclear Boost: +25% Nuclear Damage
Nuclear Amp: +50% Nuclear Damage
Magic Incense: Small increase to Magic power
Ari Dance: Reduce Power/Accuracy of Enemies
Regenerate 1: +2% HP each turn

Action: Fire Regulus EX [Target: Shade Zeo] (3 Hits of High Nuclear Damage) (Nuclear Boost) (Nuclear Amp) (Magic Incense)

 

[Arena Emperor]

Shade Zeo, the Broken Toy and Soji Seta aka "Feather Hawk"
"...I'm no pimp; I'm not even human..." "Phoenix Rangers Featherman R!"
SHADE BATTLE THEME

The landing on the Final Destination was anything but gentle; each member of the team deposited landed with a thump, rolling up to their feet and settling in, preparing for the next round of attack while their eyes took in the sight of the world that had changed around them. This was the field that they had fought on not so very long ago, the field where Zeo Kirijo had officially become one of them by facing his true self. Now, he faced the truth that he couldn't face at that time...they faced the darkness which had grown inside of him, the truths that he couldn't admit, even to himself in the deepest parts of his mind. He came to his feet and before him, in a ball of electricity and golden power, the mangled form of his Shade descended before them and landed on his one good leg, the other pressing down at the ankle and twisting his already-wrecked-looking foot out to an even more extreme angle behind him. Its arm crackled with power that ran the length of his body, and the emptiness in his eyes as he looked at them was haunting, dark, threatening. Even though he was shorter than many of the team's members, and even though he looked torn apart to begin with, there was an immense power inside of him that would make each and every one of them shudder. They had felt it in the Meltdown before...they had felt it in every move that he had made thus far...and as he focused his attention on each of them again, the promise was implied that they were going to suffer...to feel every last bit of wrath inside of him. They were the ones that had made him this way, after all, weren't they? Rejecting him, pushing him away, and the women who had made fun of him, refused his proposals...in this darkest part of him he knew the truth, though it made him hate them all the more for simply playing along with his ruse. He wasn't loved; he wasn't accepted. He wasn't a pimp and he wasn't any sort of a hero, no matter how much he wanted to pretend and how much they let him. A true hero was the silver-haired Senior in his ridiculous costume that had thrown himself in the path of the attack that had been meant to crush Zeo's original body and remove him from the world once and for all...to end the farce that his life had become. Now Soji was gone, and it was only Zeo and the rest of the band that had fallen into the Tower of Conceit left to contend with him here, at the edge of his own little world. Power pooled in his fist; it crackled through his body in a golden light, in blue-lightning sparks that traveled the length of his body, and even his hair flickered gold and stood on end, mimicking a form which Zeo himself had mastered not so very long ago. There was no laughter, no screaming, no tasteless jokes coming from the lips of the shade; only the trickle of black liquid from the corner of his eye every so often, only the sparks of broken power before them, only the stern, empty, unflinching gaze of an enemy that was devoid of all that made the android good...and a reflection of the part that was fed up with the roleplay of good and evil, of heroes and villains, of pimps and losers.

His fist clenched and power filled the steel running through his fingertips; his mechanical voice filled the air, taunting and yet somehow emotionless, save for a faint mixture of anger and sadness.

"He's gone now," the android's darkest reflection spoke loudly on the platform, glaring at the team with that same, empty, unfettered expression, "You wanted to show off, to be the hero...and you were saved by the real thing. It's no wonder he gets the girl. It's no wonder he is so well-loved. It's no wonder I'm nothing but an empty husk pretending to be human. I'm nothing...a broken toy that nobody wants to play with. A bad joke..." The team all stood up now and prepared for the next volley, but the Shade had already assessed them all, an unimpressed snort of air escaping its lips in its distant, static-filled, mechanical voice. It was a wonder that any of these people would stand up beside the ludicrous android that had been pretending to be one of them for all of this time. It was a wonder they didn't simply leave him in the dumpster and be rid of his over-the-top antics long ago. His arm's empty slot sparked and he lifted his broken-footed leg and with a practiced sort of ease, gripped the foot with his good hand, cracking it back into position. It was still loose and broken, but he set it down and the base of the foot settled onto the platform, which was good enough for him. The fingers curled back into a fist as he watched the team begin to prepare their attacks; the monster's lips curled into a slight, nonplussed frown. "And this is the worst punchline of all. Look at you, pretending that you care about a teammate you can barely stand to be around. You wish that he would go away, don't you? He's ridiculous, obnoxious...he always shows up when he's not wanted, asking for things you don't want to give him...it's annoying, don't you think?" the Shade spoke with a severity and finality that made it clear he wasn't asking...he was telling, because he knew...deep inside the heart of the android where he couldn't bring himself to look, he knew the truth about his teammates, how they felt about him, and it was those thoughts which gave rise to what they saw before them now... "He'll never be the pimp he thinks he is. He's not a hero, either, not when the likes of you are around. He's only strong because he's a machine...because Soji and the others are there to save him when he screws up, just like now..." It was a ruthless and emotionless dissection of the android, his place in the team, and just how little he really contributed. Thoughts that Zeo couldn't acknowledge...that the team knew in their heart of hearts to be true. "Admit it. Inaba would be a better place without Zeo Kirijo," it spoke simply, coldly, eyes narrowing...the sound of the distant, crackling voice suddenly taking on a sharper, angrier edge, "ADMIT IT! I'm of no use! I'm not a pimp! I'm not a hero! Everybody just wishes I'd be more NORMAL! EVERYBODY WISHES I WERE GONE! I'MNOTI'MNOTI'MNOTI'MNOTI'MNOT...!"

It's madness mantra began anew, the power crackling in its fist growing with every moment, ready to spill out at any moment!

"I'M NOT A PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMP!"

Before it could dig its feet in to attack, however, the team's haste to turn the tables in the fight lead to their preemptive strike; a shot from Naoto's gun, the Starlight Breaker, crashed into its chest and struck with a resounding force that nearly pushed the Shade back...but couldn't quite move it from where it stood. The power washed over it and a powerful block of Ice followed, smashing into the derelict-looking fiend with a crack, followed by three hollow impacts of nuclear light that shuddered against its body and left the power washing past him...before each attack shattered away to either side of the mechanical monster, the Shade looking singed, scuffed, scraped, but otherwise no worse for the wear. "That's not enough," the Shade taunted calmly, taking a step forward across the platform, closing down the space between the team and their foe...as the stars and debris of the Final Destination flew past them, all around them, the platform seemingly streaking through the endless night. "And you...will accept the truth..." the Shade began dangerously as Zeo rushed forward at last, the first of the two jets unleashing a powerful torrent of electric upon him, "...and you will die here." The second jet flashed past and fire struck the shade, pausing its unflinching walk for only a moment...the Shade's unblinking eye, its powerful, crackling aura never giving way even as the blue-haired android prepared the final stage of his attack. Its fist clenched as Zeo's began to clench; when he threw his punch the Shade simply waited...and when Zeo's fist landed on its face it hit with enough concussive force that the two of them skidded together back towards the edge of the platform. Dust kicked up from the feet of the Shade as the android poured his heart and his anger into the attack, attempting to drive him from the edge and end the battle between them once and for all. Everything that the Shade said, everything that Zeo heard, must have been a mockery to everything that he wanted to be and everything that he stood for. But in a dark, painful way, there was no lie in its words...and despite being driven back, the Shade never blinked, it simply applied the pressure of its own force of nature...its own darkness against the fist. It pressed forward as the tug of war between them slowed...its feet skidding to the very edge of the platform, so close it looked as though it might even from the edge after all...!

...And it stopped cold, an unflinching, enraged glare returned to its other self. Its fist practically pulsated with a power that he could only barely hope to comprehend as he was now.

"All this time, you've been using that technique...but you don't even know the beginning of it," the Shade spoke with a cold, collected anger that threatened to boil over...as though the lid could blow at any moment, any second! "I'll show you...how to use it properly! The last thing you'll ever see...!"

Could it be...would it...?!

"FALCOOOOOOOOOOOON...!"

The very air shook, bits of debris in the air disintegrating into nothing as they passed through the crackling, terrifying space of its golden aura...and with a press of its head Zeo was tossed backward, just an arm's length away...

"PUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNCCCHHHHH!"

...The power exploded into his face and reverberated throughout the Final Destination, the platform itself rocking beneath the sheer concussive force; the android was tossed like a baseball rocketing from the barrel of a bat and crashed into Teddie and Naoto with enough force to knock them both to their backs and skid to the edge of the platform, only their fingertips catching the edge perhaps enough to keep them from falling over the edge! And as for Zeo himself, he was saved once more merely by the presence of his allies...their taking the blow allowing him to fall back to the floor of the platform, to recover and realize just what had hit him a moment earlier. A technique that he had used so many times...now, its full power revealed, its terrifying might enough to rattle even his brain and shake the foundations of the world upon which they now found themselves. ...But even as he might look up through blurred eyes, the ragged form of his deepest darkness disappeared from sight, flashing behind the entire team and cocking back its arm, eyes emptily glaring at one of the team members that Zeo had insulted the most...that likely wished him gone more than any other. "FALCON...PAAAAAAAAAWNCCCH!!!" a fist crashed mercilessly into the face of Kanji Tatsumi, his shades shattering into pieces as he was launched like a rocket from the Final Destination and fell, screaming into the abyss below...gone. A moment later, the Shade had moved again, fist crashing up and into the guarded stomach of a green-clad girl, dancing in place...but even her skill wasn't enough to save her from suffering the same fate as the ex-delinquent before her. "FALCON PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWNCH!"

...In the mere blink of an eye, Zeo, Teddie, and Naoto had been knocked down; Kanji and Chie were gone, lost to the abyss of the Tower below. Its fist drew back into its body, a mechanical whirring beginning as he stood slowly up to his full, albeit not very-imposing height...and as it turned its head to look over its shoulder at the team, its eyes changed from their usual color into a murderous red...two more waves of fire erupting from the form of a persona that hovered over him...a dark version of Zeo's Cerberus...burning everyone and anyone in its path.

"I'm not a hero, and I'm not a pimp," he told them all coldly, its mechanical voice haunting and dangerous, "But if I can't be one...neither can you. I'll kill every last one of you...first. And then, you can be as empty as I am..."

---------------------------------------------------------

"Dorzon! Dorzon, come in!"

...Somewhere in the Tower, rushing through the winding corridors of a level much different from the Final Destination, a costumed-hero called into his communicator mounted on his wrist but heard no reply. He was trying to contact...wait, Dorzon?! Was he still thinking he was playing Featherman R?!

"...Rise, Minori, Teddie...if you're out there, I need your help! Everyone's fighting...I can feel it. I have to get to them, somehow, but I can't find the way! Just give me a direction," he muttered quietly into the wrist communicator, hoping against hope that somewhere in this tower there was somebody who could hear him, who could smell him...and could show him the way to get back to his friends and the battle before it was too late. That Shade of Zeo was immensely powerful...his torn suit and the damage, the blood that leaked beneath was evidence of its ability to pack a punch. He didn't want to leave them alone to fight it...and though he had faith in their strength when backed into a corner, if there was anything he could do to help them, to save them in case the worst should come to pass while he wasn't around...he had to do it! His feet kept running, before suddenly he paused...as though hearing a voice of some sort inside of his head, raising his communicator to his wrist instantly, "I hear you! This is Feather Hawk! Dorzon, is it you?!" The voice was muffled, too much for anyone else to hear...but he listened intently, right until the very end...

"Right...thanks," he muttered darkly, a sudden seriousness filling his voice...gravity evident as he let the communicator fall away, eyes shifting until he found a path with a little more light to one side of him, "Everyone, hand in there...I'm on my way!" He launched himself down the hall in a flash, looking for the exit...looking to get back to his team.

But even if he made it, something seemed strange...who had called him, after all? What had they said?

...

But in the end, those questions paled in comparison to the most important information of all...Soji was coming...they merely had to hold on until he could get there.

...Easier said than done.

Quote:

Shade Zeo

Falcon Punch - Supercharged fist, encased in a blue light that can be used to punch an enemy for incredible, concussive damage that will send even the most powerful of enemies flying. [Deal Power Charged - Severe Phys Damage. Break Phys. Break Tetrakarn. Break Phys Reflect. 1/6 odds of Non-Elemental KO] [Target: Zeo, Kanji, and Chie]
Meltdown (x2) - Severe Fire Damage [Target: All]
[All passive skills belonging to Zeo are active]

Kanji and Chie have been KO'd and knocked off of the Final Destination and cannot return!


==================

Soji Seta aka "Feather Hawk"

Returning to the Battle: Soji is navigating Babel to try and return to the fight! [None] [Target: None]

 

[Great Ryoman!]

Aleister Crowley

"Falcon? Falcon what? The falcon is a dangerous symbol, a bird of prey once worshipped by the-" Crowley had not actually gotten the reference, as one might surmise when he started putting together theories about the Shade's attack. Such theories...did not mean much, when he saw the android they were all fighting for, and his senpai in Shadow-fighting go flying. "Ms. Shirogane! Tatsumi-san!" Crowley twisted this way and that as he watched, unable to intervene and save his teammates from being ejected from the battlefield. This space was strange, and he worried that if they didn't catch them, they could fly off into oblivion! Or worse, fall to their death! But even though he wanted to catch them he was unable to do so, pushed back by a sudden wave of fire that singed hide and hair. A second rolling wave followed, and although he'd done his best to weaken the Shade, it's power was extraordinary compared to the creatures he'd fought before, and it seemed that it's ability to copy Zeo would only make that worse. His clothes were made by the Yatagarasu, and resilient (as well as flame retardant), but the man underneath was only a little of the former and none of the latter, practically boiling beneath the skin.

"Zeo, whatever you're doing, stop. doing. that. That...golden form, I don't think I've ever seen anything like it." The aura radiating from the Shade made it seem impossible to defeat, certainly while it had the designation of shiny-golden-god. They needed to end that form somehow, or they would just be casting glass in a stone house. Or however that new saying went. "And you...you'll pay for harming our friends! We'll find them, and we'll recover as friends do. Because we're not empty, we can be this strong!" Crowley spread his arms and darted forward, leaping in the air and spinning over Shade Zeo before twisting with acrobatic precision just as he passed overhead, and thrusting his claws downwards. "Eliade, give me strength...Crimson Shredder!" As he shouted the name Crowley drew upon the power of his Persona, unleashing a barrage of cutting strikes in an attempt to rend metallic limbs, and cords or whatever drove this thing to pursue it's dark desires.

Quote:

Crowley used Crimson Shredder.

Crimson Shredder: Crowley's blades drip with dark energy that looks like blood, which he uses in a combo to shred his enemies to pieces. Deals 4 hits of medium Phys + Dark damage, and recoups a small amount of health to Crowley.

 

[Great Ryoman!]

"You just came because you thought it sounded like a good time!"

"Maybe if you got lucky, you could be a hero."

"Captain Ressentiment"

"Partner!" Yosuke couldn't stop himself feeling guilty when Soji was sent flying for them. "Naoto! Teddie!" He could hardly believe how fierce this thing was when it caught the 2000 IQ Detective Prince and Teddie's nose off guard, sending both to the edge of ring. But before he could gulp down a breather, it was Kanji and Chie next; jeez, that was half their original team in no time flat! "Chie, grab on to sooometthiiing! Kanji, find something for Chie to grab on to!" Yosuke shouted as the two were launched into the air, reminding him of just what kind of world this floor was. He couldn't lie, it was a little cool...but the Shade trying to blow them all to smithereens definitely wasn't. 'Huh. I suppose I should way my options. On one hand, it's trying to kill my friends. On the other hand though, my friend is Zeo. And he DID just nearly ruin the Featherman show at Junes...and if Chie has to call me late at night to complain about ONE MORE failed attempt by him to ask her out...and there was that time when he tried to bill Junes for one of his ridiculous Kirijo expenses, and he made my freaking dad end up speaking to Mitsuru Kirijo directly to settle things! Buuut...' A whirlwind surrounded Yosuke, blowing away the flames and transforming the highest ranking member of the Investigation Team into something new and awesome; half human, half Persona, but all hero baby!

"Sorry buddy, but you made the mistake of looking down on us. And while that might be something you two have in common, Zeo still thinks of us as friends, and we feel the same way! Uh, only minus the looking down thing. Damn it, I knew I'd screw this up." Yosuke stuck his tongue out as his kind of cool, 'we accept you for you' speech took a turn for the worse. "Hey Red, this thing's been bringing the heat for a while now; why don't you show it how you really make an opponent sizzle?" Yosuke quipped to the nuclear wielding nutjob of their own; though in my defense! ...they're all a little nutty. Meanwhile Yosuke raised his daggers and slashed through the wind in his old familiar style, if only because he was so use to it, and the so-called void around them got a little less empty as a wind blew through with lightning speed. His blades criss-crossed, and came in to slash at the Shade from either side, their speed only adding to their power.

"Everything that bores me has got to go!"

Quote:

Sage Mode: In this mode Yosuke's stats are boosted, and stat reducers are prevented from effecting him.
Auto-Sukukaja

Wind Dance (Jiraiya Form): Severe Phys + Severe Wind Damage.

 

[Zeo Zaggart]

Zeo

"Oh, thanks Rednal. You know, you're alright; I mean, you talk to yourself and I'm pretty sure you hallucinate your Persona outside of the Dark Hour, but I-" Zeo suddenly froze as he heard the sound of the f(alcon)-word coming from nearby. "Nooo..." And then came the p(unch)-word..."Noooooooo..." And suddenly a fist smashed into Zeo's face, nearly breaking his jaw with the impact as a storm of power drove him into the ground and skidding across the entire platform, into his teammates who went flying backwards from the impact in their own right. Zeo shook his head, wincing and raising a hand to his cheek as he tried to push up off the ground with his other arm, though it was REALLY hard. "Aw, d**k. You know, I was TALKING to someone!" Wait, had he been tuning out the Shade until it stole his signature move!? The answer was yes, but since you didn't actually ask that question, Zeo wasn't going to verbalize the answer, either. At this point he knew that whatever this thing said was intended to get under his skin, and unlike his Shadow, he didn't believe a word coming out of it's mouth. In that case, he'd just rely on the friends he believed in, and the path he'd chosen, and face this thing in a head to head battle with those beside him. He'd let them set him on the right path if he was doing something wrong, not this evil twin brother who was separated at birth and had returned to kill Zeo, replace him, and steal the Kirijo Group's legacy! He wasn't even sure that Mitsuru had left everything in her will to him yet, damn it! There was NOTHING TO STEAL, EVIL Steve!

Zeo stood up, brushing the back of his hand against the side of his face again as he wiped away some blood. That was the second difference here...this thing might be nothing more than a machine, but he still bled, and that made him human damn it! Or, well, it at least meant he still had blood in him. Which to be honest, he'd asked the lab guys if he could have his veins and blood removed and replaced with high speed centrifuges instead, which would be like fifty times cooler. They said no. Then he asked them to explain what a centrifuge was. They said no. "Anyway, you total d**k. That was my attack! You can't just go using the same character! It's in the tournament rules! I got copyright! Play fair, man!" I thought that Captain Falcon's designer had copyright on that? "Shuddup man." Zeo took a deep breath, lowering himself into an overly cool martial arts stance as he placed one hand forward, back to the Shade, and beckoned it to bring it on Bruce Lee style. "You think I'm all out of tricks? Just try copying this one! Blue Dragon Punch!" Zeo spun as a spout of blue energy shot up around him, and suddenly appeared in front of Shade Zeo, crouching, and threw a powerful uppercut towards the jaw of the Shade. It wasn't the Falcon Punch, but it was still from a video game and he was still committing copyright infringement in order to defeat this Shade! Also, thx for the healz, Nix.

Quote:

Top Gun (Persona Fusion): Opponents around Zeo are Debilitated from his awesome aura of superioritude! Or it could be his spiritual dampeners. One of the two. (Passive)
Boss Mode: Replacing Orgia Mode, Zeo activates all boosts at once, raising his stats to their maximum values. The mode cannot be shut off though, ensuring he overheats after 3 turns. (2/3)
Iron Gauntlets: Constant Power Charge

Blue Dragon Punch: Severe Non-Elemental Damage.

 

[Necromonium]

Teddie! Rawr! and Naoto Shirogane
Naoto had tried to brace herself when the doppelganger lunged forward, punching at her with an overdone fist...That hit harder than anything she'd felt before. She caught the edge with her hands, and pulled herself back up, cringing.
"Wh..What the Hell....." she called, before watching Chie and Kanji Fly off. She winced as they fell off, as Teddie had stuck his claw into the edge.
"NoNoNoNONoNO!" he cried out, tumbling, before he'd caught on, flailing about comically for a bit, before pulling himself back up. "That was close.....could have been Grizzly right Chie?......Chie?"
He looked around, before noticing that the girl wasn't around..and neither was Kanji! "Ohhhh! Now I'm mad as a Grizzly! Take THIS."
And, in a moment, he rocketed forward, launching himself towards the doppelganger with a vicious, Ice-and bear Force, RAWR!
Naoto cringed, before feeling Nix's healing energy wash over her.
"Have to play it careful.." she called, before raising her Gun at the monster. She focused energy, and blasted at the mechanical doppelganger with Almighty energy. They had to finish this quickly.....Or at least, hold on...
Before he blasted them off to oblivion again.

Quote:

Naoto: Megidoloan. [Shade Zeo]
Teddie: Polar Bear! Teddie encases himself entirely in a 'skin' of powerful ice, his fluffy bear fur becoming pure snowy white. Rushing at the enemy head-long, he wildly crashes into a foe for Piercing Severe Ice and Physical Damage! Must recharge 3 turns for second use. [Shade Zeo]
Teddie's gear: Nightstalker: [Raise Evasion by a respectable amount]
Lord Flauntleroy's Rose: Life Surge, Mana Bonus
Naoto's Gear: Leon's Revolver: [1/6 odds of Stun]
Detective's badge. [Cast Makarakarn]

 

[Arena Emperor]

Shade Zeo, the Broken Toy and Soji Seta aka "Feather Hawk"
"...I'm no pimp; I'm not even human..." "Phoenix Rangers Featherman R!"
SHADE BATTLE THEME

No matter how serious the situation became, nor how many of his friends were injured by the Shade that had been born from the very worst inside of him, it seemed as though Zeo had no intention of even considering the words that the immovable, evil force before him had to say. Whether he was willfully ignoring the thing or simply couldn't bring himself to believe anything that the fiend insisted was true about him was a matter to be debated by those who watched the two of them...and yet, it didn't seem like simply refusing it or turning a blind eye was going to make its assault upon the Investigation Team stop. If anything, the Shade's empty eyes only grew more angry, its crackling of power along its body all the more violent and dangerous. It had sent two of the team's most powerful, most experienced members flying from the battlefield with just a single punch each, and nearly toppled three members of the team with one more...it was a monster, a twisted, mechanical terror that spewed fire upon his friends and ruthlessly tore through their defenses as though they were paper thin. Somehow, some way, the Shade seemed insistent about one thing, and one thing only...Zeo was going to acknowledge the truth, or everyone upon the Final Destination was going to die. It listened as the team recovered with great pains from the last wave of fire that had washed over each of them; their groans of pain and struggles to stand meant nothing to the being that had been born from darkness itself. One foot stepped towards the team, power crackling, the platform shaking beneath the incredible might...and the scraping of the back foot, twisted disgustingly out of place again, wires jutting out from the side of the ankle, filled the air with an ominous sound that chilled down to the very spine. It was coming for them again, its unstoppable march careless to the time that they might need to recover from its last charge. It had promised death...and nobody standing before it had any reason to doubt that it would deliver that upon them. It was a juggernaut, twisted and broken, and it was utterly without remorse. It was almost like Zeo himself in that respect...acting, never considering the ramifications of what he had done. And while his own actions were never done with the ill intent that the Shade reflected in its every move, its every word, in its very eyes as it gazed scornfully upon them, there was also a sort of carelessness in the way that he caused destruction and spent money without consideration for the people that he might be inconveniencing along the way. All in the name of womanizing? In the name of comedy? What was it all for?

"Have you ever even thought about why you call someone like him a friend?" the Shade's dangerous voice sounded out upon the platform, echoing out into the space that passed them by, an ominous sharp edge that spoke to the power that was building once more inside of the fiend. Golden energy surrounded the form of the villain, blackness seeping into the aura every now and then as though reflecting some deep sickness within, an infection that had spread throughout the very fiber of its being...but then, they knew that this creature was black to the very core. Even its power was twisted, derived from the worst in people, wrong. Still, to see it crackling so plainly within his aura was startling...and the blue electricity that sparked and singed the very ground beneath his feet, set his hair standing on golden end, reminding them of just how much damage this thing was still capable of...how much it still intended to do to each and every one of them. "Your entire life is a selfish joke; you don't have friends, you have a group of good people who tolerate your selfishness. You have enablers. Careless idiots who simply let it slide when you destroy windows and entire sections of the Junes Food Court in the name of fruitless romantic conquests. You are not a pimp. You're a criminal. A criminal whose M.O. is little more than slapstick humor at the expense of others. You're a disease infecting the people around you. Nobody really likes you...they merely put up with you because you're useful. They deal with you because you are strong...but ask them, ask any one of them...which of your friends is going to hang out with you when the fight is over? Which of these girls is going to consider dating you when you 'heroically' defeat the villain? Which of your so-called friends treats you with anything less than annoyance and contempt for all the destruction, violence, frustration, harassment and terror that your antics cause? Even now, I bet they're remembering the show at Junes just now that you completely ruined...I bet they're weighing the 'Pros' and 'Cons' of fighting beside you, of saving you, even as we speak. And only a misplaced sense of 'justice' will keep them from letting you burn. That is the truth about your friendship. It's hollow, empty...just like you and me. ...But I'll end the farce for both of us...I'll end you...and all of them...so at the very least, we won't die alone."

It was a scathing, unforgiving portrayal of the team and their friendship with the android...but if they looked deep inside of their hearts, would they find out that they felt any differently from the relationship that it described? Who among the team really spent any time with Zeo outside of events? Who even could claim that they liked him...so much as they simply tolerated him, some of the women even treating him with a rather open scorn? The team protested against him; their attacks were the answer that the Shade received first, a crimson-tipped set of claws tearing across the front of the Shade's body, tearing clothes and thin lines across the monster's chest...it jerked back at the strike, more a reaction to the impact than the damage...but when Yosuke's fused form joined the fray and the Wind Dance hit home, the Shade jerked a little more sharply backwards, its ankle cracking as it leaned back, before it lifted it and set it down more properly again. "It's useless..." the Shade ground out, but no sooner had it done so than Nix cast a spell to keep the team going...at least for one more turn...and a blue power washed over him, Almighty energy from Naoto...a white, thick ball of fur and ice crashing into its chest before bouncing back and away from the Fiend, the thundering impact pausing the monster's mighty walk for just a moment...the team recovering from their attacks just then to see that the monster's clothes were torn in many places now...black, oily blood trailing from little nicks and cuts and slashes upon its arms, its chest, its stomach, even a thin line that graced its cheek apart from the visible damage it had started it. And yet it stood there unmoved, unflinching...as though nothing that they had done to it even mattered. It stared at them with an indifference that was both terrifying and cold...but with a malice reflected in the eyes that promised each and every one of them the death that a Shade's mere existence would portend.

And as the team recovered, the last of them...the subject of this dark reprisal...shouted his protests to the Shade's words, to its actions, its very existence. Infuriated that the Shade had copied his signature punch again, Zeo resorted to a different sort of martial art...and with a flash of blue the uppercut he threw landed flush against the jaw of the Shade, bending its head upward with an immense concussive force...! ...And yet, it remained rooted there, letting the fist rip and fly by...a deep, black circle forming at the chin from the punch but doing nothing more than that. Its head remained turned upward for just a moment as Zeo landed...before slowly cracking itself back into place, as if completely no-selling the attack that had just smashed it with a force that would have made the most staunch of shadows wilt. Whatever this monster was, it was soaking up their damage...no matter what they threw at it, it was like chipping away at a cinder block...and with their round of attacking completed the Shade seemed nonplussed by the entire effort. Its fist glowed in retaliation to Zeo's attack, as if answering the challenge that the android had levied. The power that crackled from its body changed into red...and in a flash of fire, the team was engulfed in the flames of his rage once again, twin Meltdowns burning and singeing them...the assault that tore away at their health, their resistance, their very sanity at this point never relenting, not even for an instant.

"I am not your shadow. I don't need you to accept me," the Shade answered all of Zeo's protests simply, its body shifting, twisting...mimicking the form that Zeo had taken only a moment earlier...its face twisting into a mirror of empty, mechanical rage as it looked him dead in the eye...a reflection of what he might have been, "I only wish for the end of this laughable joke. And the joke is you..."

Suddenly the platform beneath the team shuddered downward, as though pressed by the Shade's feet...the very force that it was building up inside of its fist. The power around it reached a fever pitch...and its entire body became encased in a brilliant blue.

"Blue Dragon..." and as the words echoed, a shadow of the monster seemed to appear out of nowhere before each of the team, coiled beneath them...fist clenched tightly...angrily...copying the move that Zeo had dared it to mimic only a few moments earlier...only different, more terrifying...better, "PUNCH!"

Each shadow of the Shade erupted upward...the original bringing its fist violently into the chin of the blue-haired android...rocketing him into the sky overhead, as if preparing him for a Final Smash that would send him flying from the Final Destination...and finish him once and for all.

...

"No more jokes," its hollow voice rang out mechanically, distant...the shadows disappeared and the singular Shade's aura grew even more terrifying...the powerful glowing in its fist returning from before...its ultimate technique, "This is the end..."

---------------------------------------------------------

"My Feather Sense is tingling...something's going on at the battle...something bad!" the crimson-clad hero spoke more to himself than anybody who might have been listening. Whatever the call had been before clearly had shaken him into something of a more serious streak through the hallways, looking for the door that would allow him to navigate towards the field where Zeo's Shade and the others were fighting. Even so, he had still rather admirably (and rather foolishly) not broken character since he had appeared inside of the Tower in his full Featherman costume. But that didn't mean that he wasn't desperate, the speed at which he rocketed down the halls nothing short of breakneck. Another twist brought him into an empty hall and he shot down the length of it in a flash, twisting through another hall that looked exactly like the one that had came before it. Even the stories of Tartarus told by the members of the original SEES had shown significantly more variety than this one; Babel seemed to be of an almost identical, albeit changing and labyrinthine design on every single level that hadn't been formed out of the consciousness of someone else. It wasn't just boring, it was almost dazing...enough to make you lose control of your senses for a brief moment and carom into the walls by sheer accident, a loss of focus. Fortunately for everyone, his focus was at a peak; his friends were somewhere inside of this tower against an enemy that could put even him through such an immense amount of damage. They needed him...they needed the reinforcement that simply having another member of their team present would bring to them. The Shade, whatever it represented about Zeo, it seemed to only grow more and more upset, more powerful, more serious the more that the blue-haired android ignored and resisted it, and given the things that it was saying about the deepest, darkest parts of the android's heart...there was no way in Hell that Zeo could ever begin to accept that those thoughts, those words, were a part of who he really was! It was upon these darkest, most negative feelings that the Shades drew their strength, after all, and the more he denied it, the stronger it would surely become. It was almost like a shadow, except that there was no bargaining with it...no reasoning with the fiend, and there was no chance that they were ever going to accept the words which came from the lips of the monster. All they could do was fight...all they could do was endure, until the very bitter end of the battle...and hope against hope that somehow, they could win.

He had heard the stories, but this was the very first time that he had stood before one and seen it with his own eyes, fought with it under his own power. These creatures were...awful, in more ways than one...and there was no way that any one of them should have to face these things alone. Once again, Soji found himself grateful for the companions that had stood alongside him all this time, and he hoped that the others could support Zeo even now, even seeing this terrifying blackened inside spewing out from him, spitting its venomous words. He was going to need their support until the very end if they were going to escape this battle alive. ...And that of the team's leader as well...which was why he kicked up his rush all the more, moving all the faster through the corridors until at last he came to a stairway that lead down...an empty, black space at the bottom of it that looked like a drop straight to his demise...but felt like just the place that he wanted to go. It was thick with evil darkness, and peals of immense power rumbled the very floor beneath his feet. White boots stepped forward to descend the stairs, to reintroduce himself to the fight...when all at once the stairs folded in upon themselves...and the descent into the lower level seemed to disappear entirely.

"What?! That's not fair!" the Feather Ranger grit out bitterly, looking back behind him and deciding all at once that he couldn't go back...wouldn't, not after he had found the exit and come so close, "Somebody doesn't want me down there...and they're taunting me about it. But I'm not going to let that stop me...not while my friends are down there, risking their lives! That's the Featherman Way! Everyone fights together!"

Power began to build inside of the red Feather Hawk; he took a few steps back and eyed the closed entrance where the stairs had been only a few moments earlier. A theory was beginning to form in his mind...a very loose one, a very simple, unlikely one...but as his power began to grow more and more immense, more incredible...he decided that it was either this or going the long way.

And Zeo might not have enough time left for the long way...

"Here goes nothing..." he pumped his fist at his side and took off running, one giant leap found his feet flipping upside down, catching himself upside down on the ceiling of the corridor in a coiled, ready-to-spring position that aimed now at...the floor?!

"FEAAAATHEEEEER...!" the ceiling quaked beneath his feet as he built all his power into that one move...and sprang down! "KIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!"

Quote:

Shade Zeo

Meltdown (x2) - Severe Fire Damage [Target: All]
Blue Dragon Punch (All) - Severe Non-Elemental Damage. [Target: All]
[All passive skills belonging to Zeo are active]


==================

Soji Seta aka "Feather Hawk"

Returning to the Battle: Soji is still navigating Babel to try and return to the fight! [None] [Target: None]

 

[Necromonium]

Teddie! Rawr! and Naoto Shirogane
More......More and more the monster assaulted them, mimicking the move of Zeo's...And then more surges of flame. She bit her lip, before raising her Fusion's gun again.
"I'm going to have to.." she started, pooling up energy, as a figure seemed to dart about.
"Nixxy-Baby"! Teddie cried out on the rebound, watching as the evil Zeo was starting to assault them again. He knew she was weak from what she was doing, and he couldn't let the attacks hit her like this! He rolled as fast as he could, being thrown off balance by the shockwave from the punch hitting the ground, but he threw his arms up to protect her from what would have likely been a lethal blow. Flames scorched at his body, and the temperature was Insanely Hot! It was unBEARable....but he couldn't let Nix be killed after all of her help! The flames singed at his very being, and it was all practically too much, but as the singing of his fur would move out, he looked up at the girl he'd protected.
"A...Are you okay....N..Nix?" he called, weakly. "Ish....so dark.."
He raised and flailed his hands dramatically, before flopping down onto the ground with a light boing.
"Teddie! Dammit.." Naoto called, before leveling her gun at Zeo's evil doppelganger. She had charged up her energy enough....so it was time to FIRE!
"Starring....Inferno!" she called, before Blasting him with just about everything she could muster. With the way he could handily knock off the others from the platform, it was best to use maximum force, before the same could happen to her. at the very least, it would help the others, even if she was drained of energy afterwards...

Quote:

Naoto: Starring Inferno! Naoto charges her magic to its absolute maximum (Double Mind Charge) and then unleashes an incredible column of Almighty Magic for Severe Damage to fall enemies. Drains magic greatly (MP must be restored after each use). [Shade Zeo]
Teddie: Dive to Protect Nix! [and take INSANE amounts of damage],
Teddie........has been knocked out

Teddie's gear: Nightstalker: [Raise Evasion by a respectable amount]
Lord Flauntleroy's Rose: Life Surge, Mana Bonus
Naoto's Gear: Leon's Revolver: [1/6 odds of Stun]
Detective's badge. [Cast Makarakarn]

 

[Rednal]

Rednal

Blazing light erupted from another part of the battlefield - despite the healing, Rednal seemed distinctly worse for wear after all the power that had been thrown around. If nothing else, though, he could at least get in a little magic of his own before his consciousness deserted him entirely... and his ultimate spell was the perfect choice.

Quote:

Rednal:
Nuclear Boost: +25% Nuclear Damage
Nuclear Amp: +50% Nuclear Damage
Magic Incense: Small increase to Magic power
Ari Dance: Reduce Power/Accuracy of Enemies
Regenerate 1: +2% HP each turn

Action: Nuclear Winter [Target: Shade Zeo] (Nuclear/Non-Elemental Damage) (Nuclear Boost) (Nuclear Amp) (Magic Incense)