Floor Plans, Take Two [OPEN, party of 2]

[Lucretia Odovacar]

As expected, such a thorough examination of the structure of this building was going to take quite a bit of time given how bit it was.  She already noticed some differences, but there were a lot less than she expected so far.  It would likely diverge more near the top, so she wasn't looking forward to that part.  Having to to write notes instead of type them was rather annoying.

Regardless, she was still trying to get into what would be the employee areas in the normal world.  Her last attempt to do so ended with a demon chasing her, and it felt emptier than usual today.

[Akira Nakajima]

Thanks to a new passive, and active, ability he had recently gained, Akira felt a little more comfortable exploring some of the more dangerous places. He opted to use the portals in Shibuya to find other places, coming to find the demonified- was that a good term for it?- 109. Along the way, he found out two things. One, not all demons were inherently hostile. A couple had propositioned him. Two, not all were straight. As the Oni he rejected seemed to be more than all right with his being a boy. Still feeling a sort of chill going down his spine, the boy had made his way into the spire.

Hayagriva went trotting around the lobby area first. While it did, Akira took a good scan of the area. The presence of demons had kept him far away at first due to the inherent threats. Now, though it was dangerous, it felt like an obstacle he could at least challenge head-on. His halberd pointed towards the floor. No need to incite the more violent demons to action. Actually, that'd be pretty bad. Last thing he wanted was to deal with a crowd of annoying enemies. What should he have done? There seemed to be shops. Alternatively, heading upwards was also an option. Clicking his tongue, he looked around one last time before heading towards the path up. For the time being, he'd try to get a decent grip on the area.

And if it seemed too dangerous, he'd regulate his activities to the lower region of the tower.

[Alice]

Surprise! But it's the one-headed variety.

Cerberus
Repel: Fire
Null: Dark
Weak: Ice
Skills: Agidyne, Brave Blade, Fire Break, Regenerate 2, Counterstrike

[Lucretia Odovacar]

Lucretia sensed another human come into the building.  It looked like they were gradually getting to her position as well.  It was always nice to have more company, though she was pretty sure this person was a more supportive type like her, and thus fighting would be very annoying.  Sadly, it looked like a fairly strong creature was approaching the other person's position.  She could tell the other user was moving very cautiously and slowly, likely to avoid detection, but the creature was doing the same thing.  Those things could be surprisingly stealthy when they wanted to be.

"You have a somewhat strong creature getting close to you," she spoke to him mentally.  "I will come help soon."

She wasn't sure if this person even needed it, but it should at least make the battle somewhat easier on him.  It was important to make allies in times like this.  With her abilities alone she was unlikely to be able to do much at all.

Lucretia was surprised to see just what it was though.  That certainly brought up some bad memories, even if that fight did end up okay.  A quick scan revealed that this creature was, unsurprisingly, much weaker.  The fire wouldn't be much of a problem, though she supposed it could be if it got rid of their resistances.  But with two healers it shouldn't be much of a problem.  Same with the powerful slashing attack.  Would would be a problem, was its ability to counter physical attacks.  She was pretty sure both of them could only use those kinds of attacks, so even if they could heal over it, it would still be inconvenient.  She relayed all this information to the other user and started preparing her attacks.

Sadly, most of these clothing stands weren't sturdy enough to do much of anything with.  There were still some hanging lights in here, so she could resort to the tricks she used at the museum, it just didn't seem like such tactics were going to cut it anymore.  Well, she didn't have any better ideas for the moment.  This area was just not favorable.  So, she started using clothing, string, and whatever else she could find to lasso around the lights and pull them down on the thing.  From there, she'd just start pushing clothing racks and whatever else she could find that she could actually lift into it.

[Akira Nakajima]

Right-o. Got it. Thanks for the head's up. Under normal circumstances, a voice suddenly popping into his head would have made him just a little bit concerned over his mental health. Fortunately, not only was he fully aware of the capabilities of the “Scanner-type”, but it wasn't the first time he had dealt with the girl's telepathy. Was it entirely welcome? No. Was it a necessary evil, and one that helped? Yes. So long as he didn't think about unnecessary things and send them her way, it'd be fine. The girl sent him the information on the enemy. It must've been one of the nastier things in the area. The name matching up with the beast they had battled not too long ago was amusing in a morbid way, but it was otherwise “routine”. Still, he'd have prefer to fight it in a manner that didn't leave him vulnerable to that counter.

All right. I'll see what I can do about him. With that, he assumed “radio silence”. Lucretia had engaged the beast in a roundabout fashion. It was amusing to watch, in some ways, but it was definitely not the ideal means of engagement. He figured it'd be particularly nasty under circumstances where nothing was around. Akira leveled his halberd. First, the point was to draw the beast's attention. This wasn't to defend Lucretia- though he'd prefer it if she didn't receive terrible injuries, obviously- but to facilitate his methods of neutralization. The first swing connected properly. That was all he could ask for. The beast whirled as he passed and spat a ball of fire at him. Naturally, that did nothing, but if it used that negation skill, things might have gotten annoying.

Either way, his attempt worked, and the beast was slowly closing the distance between them. There was one thing that was extremely beneficial about the structure and make of the area. Only one, though. And that? That was the height. While he was no expert on demonology, he was pretty sure, assuming that Strike wasn't nullified- if that even counted as Strike?- that a fall from a sufficiently high spot would do them in. That was why Akira had Hayagriva hug the edge of the walk way. If that thing charged at him angrily, it'd be the end. For the beast, that was. The boy donned a grin. It wasn't the sort of smile he'd normally wear. In fact, it was an entirely loathsome expression, seemingly oozing with cockiness and belittling whatever his gaze had fallen on. That seemed to have distracted the beast. Had it picked up on the apparent emotions behind that expression? Or was it simply confused? Either way, the boy jerked slightly as Hayagriva leaped in. A second slash, also fortunately safe, rewards the beast for its hesitation.

The expression probably didn't have that much of an effect on the beast, initially. It was unlikely that it had a lasting effect, as well, as the boy's expression had regained its previous stoicism. However, that sudden attack seemed to set the Cerberus off, as though it felt betrayed for some reason. Akira led it to the ledge. What occurred next was something that belonged in a 1960's cartoon strip. The beast tried to pounce the boy. The boy? He urged Hayagriva forward. Cerberus took the fall. Truly, the resounding “whump” that followed a few seconds later was as much a fanfare as could be. Akira leaned over, looking at the sight. He then shook his head.

That was nasty.