bitpartgod
in
damned
Nightshift 41: Entry Room
[From here]
Kibitoshin stepped into the room, hope renewed. It looked like some kind of reception area if the two desks on either side of him were anything to go on, both absolutely pristine as though everything had been tidied away only seconds before he'd stepped into the room. On top of that there were enough doors here to keep him busy for hours ( Read more... )
"K-Kite...?" He stammered out the name, clearly taken aback. "What...what did they..." He shook his head, brushing his bangs out of his eyes so he could get a full view of the AI. There was no question that the -- person? program? being? -- was based on his old friend's appearance, with the way he looked. Only...it was like looking at a caricature. No. Not a caricature, a...a bad parody. This isn't Kite, this is...
He was forcibly snapped out of his thoughts by that sharp yell. "Haseo, be careful!" I don't want to hurt you, Kite, but I've got someone more important to protect. I'm sorry, but this is how it has to be. With that, he moved into a defensive stance, ready to jump in if and when he was needed. He briefly looked back to the other two, his look clearly stating "Stay behind us and wait to cast anything unless you absolutely have to," then focused his attention once again on the AI.
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He nodded in acknowledgement of Endrance's look, moving back a few paces and preparing himself to cast a spell if need be. Assuming he could even cast spells. He didn't have a staff and these wasn't exactly a normal situation.
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The young mage gave an exasperated growl. He knew even as he gave the warning that they weren't going to listen to him at all. Not all of them, at least. They hadn't been here long enough to understand.
Well, if they were going to get him involved... "Haseo!" he cried out, tossing the short sword he'd been carrying right in the young man's direction. It would only get in the way of spellcasting anyway.
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Up until that, the state of his companions had remained pushed to the side, their warnings and exclamations of familiarity just barely acknowledged beyond what was important right then. Fortunately, when Haseo's name was called by itself, in a voice he was not yet used to, he looked back- just in time to process Leon tossing that short sword. Haseo was forced to make an emergency decision, reaching out his free hand automatically and catching the weapon. The blade was facing the opposite direction than it had probably been intended, but it wasn't like that mattered, considering the way Haseo as a 'Twin Blade' generally wielded something like that....
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The appearance of those blades meant that things were getting serious fast. If the false Kite's attention was drawn towards them by the flashlight beam, that made things a whole lot easier for the other group. He glanced over to the dark-haired man in the group, and with a toss of his head and a look, said, "We'll handle this...". It wasn't that he particularly cared about any of them - if anything, he was indifferent at best towards the other group, particularly towards the red-haired girl who kept screaming her head off. But having more room in the area would definitely make the fight easier for the rest of them.
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Eyes wide and glowing with fury at whoever had cracked his face-display, he jerked his head around to see who had interrupted his attack pattern. Before he could even see who it was, his visual display was filled with three large red circles and urgent messages:
ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK
ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK
ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK
It wasn't in his nature to question why--just to do what his program told him.
With a feral, unintelligible yell, he charged forward, fangs bearing down on Haseo with unflinching ferocity. He wasn't just aiming to get them out of the room--it looked like he was attacking to kill.
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Tsukasa pressed back against the wall, keeping out of the way and ready to cast a spell if it became needed, but he'd just get in the way of physical combat.
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Like Tsukasa, Leon also fell back. He was a spellcaster too, and he came prepared. His book was open in an instant, and the mage prepared to cast an offensive spell whenever he saw an opening. For the moment, the patient's(?) attention wasn't on him.
"You know this guy?" he called to the others. "What are his weaknesses?"
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Azure Kite was fast, and although the thought of fighting him again under what might be another mistaken premise was unappealing, there wasn't any leeway to reminisce on those occasions he or someone he knew had faced off against the being, and what it meant to find it here. When you'd managed to attract and enrage something like that, context was an unnecessary detail. With that kind of reaction, Haseo had only a moment, filled with that bizarre clarity typically present the instant before something truly terrible happened. If he kills me they'll never get Endrance to come out from under the bed and if Atoli comes back she'll have to annoy some other guy goddamn it...!
Fortunately, instincts and the drive for self-preservation were things not easily ignored. Defend! Defend yourself! something far more visceral screamed, and even if really so much should have been different between now and the times battles were fought in-game, all the same Haseo was already trying to move to one side and that blade was up in a flash, counterbalanced with the pole in his other hand. He knew he had to attempt to defend and parry against what little he could of the impending attack, but... even at Haseo's best, fully armed and armored, this guy was a handful for sure.
What was he weak against? Hell if Haseo knew... "Just attack!!" he managed.
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Despite his injuries, he jumped into the fray without a second thought, a swirl of rose petals following in his wake. The important thing here wasn't to avoid getting hurt again - that much didn't matter, either. It was to draw attention away from Haseo long enough for a counterattack.
"How unlucky for you to have met me," he said in a low voice as he rushed forward with the pipe out, striking at the right side of Kite's body. It wasn't the sword he was used to - something he was going to have to remedy at some point in the near future, he thought dimly - but it would need to do a little longer, and it wasn't as if he'd had much of a choice in weaponry.
Endrance was aiming to knock one of those twin blades away if he could, or at least pause that attack pattern so he and Haseo could coordinate their attacks. If that gave the spellcasters a moment to work, then so much the better.
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For a second, he looked up through his pointed, sparse bangs at the defender. How did he know the type of weapon this unidentified target would be carrying? Normally his program would identify these things on a case-by-case basis, instead of feeding him information immediately. When the defender came into his display, the same red circle and command pattern reinitiated.
Dragging his sword along Haseo's sword, more sparks jumping from his Fang, he moved it into a blocking position moments before the pipe could strike his side. His block was about as firm as if Endrance had hit a wall with his pipe. But they were both good, he knew that much. He would have to overclock his program in order to fight all four of them. Not that his data readout was warning him not to do that...
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"Try anything," he said firmly in response, and then the order from Haseo came and it was easy to pretend that this was just a normal party event like the time with Bear and Mimiru. This was just another monster and this was still The World.
"Rai Rom!" Tsukasa called out, calling out the spell name and waiting for it to take effect. He wasn't prepared for the feeling of it being dragged out of him, actual strength and energy, as opposed to SP. The lightning formed, coiling around the target, and Tsukasa squeezed his eyes shut, willing it to work.
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Haseo's proximity to Kite wasn't a problem, as Leon's spells were designed to hit only those he wanted them to hit. It was a couple moments before he could decide what spell to use, however. Black Saber was the most powerful one he could cast right now, but it would leave him with nothing else. He might be better off casting something weaker and relying on the others to back him up.
"WOUNDS," he decided at last. Dark energy appeared in his hand before moving to encompass their opponent. It wasn't a strong spell, but it should cause some pain - hopefully enough to be a distraction.
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But if nothing else, this definitely proved that "Tri-Edge" wasn't anything like them, Haseo and Endrance and Tsukasa, somehow changed from digital to flesh and blood. That crack.... The trick seemed to be getting in strikes around the weapons. But the question was how? Once more Haseo started to move, this time to the side opposite Endrance, and to the same as his wooden pole still mostly caught up with one of those strange dual swords. When the block to Endrance's attack was initiated, Haseo struck with the freed sword... just as the spells hit.
Haseo fell back several steps, half in surprise, but then quickly regained his senses, repositioning his weapons. If he continued to be the one drawing out the aggression, then hopefully the others could get something more damaging in. It was just a matter of continuing to fend off the guy without being cut to ribbons in the process... easier said than done. "Try to hit something besides his arms," he snapped at Endrance, then moved as to strike with both "weapons."
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With that, he took a deep breath, drawing himself back up to his full height and watching Haseo and Azure Kite's movements just long enough to get the gist of the pattern. It was something he had gotten very good at doing in the Arena, and it was - to mild surprise - just as easy as it had been before. Endrance nodded at Haseo's words. Even though he didn't particularly like the idea of the Adept Rogue taking most of the aggression, if that was the plan, this was no time to argue it.
He then moved back to striking distance with steps that were almost like a dance. If you're going right, then I'll take the opposite side... That was what he proceeded to do then, first mimicking a move to the left, then moving fast towards the right side, aiming the pipe at the back of Kite's head. It felt almost like a cheap shot, but if their opponent was this formidable, that could be forgiven.
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There was no point to having pain sensors in his program. Pain detracted from his running processes. Pain was something for players, not for him. It was what separated him from everything else that populated the servers of R2. Therefore, while Leon's attack was accurate and probably well-chosen for an entity that could feel pain, he shook off the black cloud with a few swipes of his fangs.
It had served its purpose, though. The Wavemaster's spell curled around him, causing his limbs to lock in place. Electricity coursed through his mainframe and control center, preventing movement. For a moment, though, he made a sound that almost sounded as though he were in pain instead of ready to kill something.
In that moment, both Haseo's and Endrance's attacks struck him. Unable to move due to the electric current, he took both of them--Haseo's sword running him through and Endrance's strike breaking a hole in the back of his head and hat. Black and green code was left where the back of his skull should have been.
For a moment he was silent, one of his arms crackling with residual energy from Tsukasa's spell. Suddenly, his head snapped up, eyes flashing blue. Weak as his arms looked, he was still able to leave his fangs in mid-air and shove Haseo back violently, removing the sword from his midsection and throwing the Adept Rogue back nearly to the back of the room. Next was the one who'd damaged his code.
The circles weren't even appearing and the command to attack wasn't even being given--that was all that was left that he could read. Head snapping around, both blue eyes fixated on Endrance, he moved.
Faster than could be followed by the human eye, his hand was around Endrance's throat and the pair of them had hit the wall opposite Haseo with enough force to run a crack up the wall. Transparent polygons began shifting around his wrist as he held Endrance in place with a grip equivalent to a steel cable. More cracks slowly formed along his face and eyes, which were locked with Endrance's.
He needed data to repair his program. He NEEDED IT.
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