Closet Biology (Party of 2; open, view notes)

[Frederick Cooper]

Up until the present, curiosity had never really struck Fred to the point that he would be willing to go and explore through the school when that midnight hour hit. In fact, even now, it hadn't really struck him that hard. At least, not to a degree that it, by itself, would drive him to the point of going to go investigate things. However, lately, he'd found himself dealing with some rather interesting treatment from a professor at the college. Now, Riki wasn't one to pursue conflict beyond a certain point. So long as people left him alone, he was generally not too worried about whatever other people said or did regarding him. If they were up close and personal, he'd handle it just fine, but, anything else, he typically left alone. Call it laziness, but it wasn't worth the effort, typically.

Back to the point, a particular professor had been doing some. . . rather off things regarding him. Sure, maybe it was wrong to go breaking into the property in the middle of the night, but he wasn't the only one that had done so, at least not in general. He remembered certain unsavory entities he had encountered in the supermarket. Well, entity, really. To date, he'd only encountered one really annoying person. And that was a special case he didn't want to revisit, mentally or otherwise. Anyway, sure, it might have been bad to enter, using his additional hour and powers to do things most wouldn't have been able to, but he wasn't the only one, not by any means. And he wasn't a saint.

Plus, it wasn't like he was going to go ruin or break things. Or cheat. He was just curious about one guy's skeleton-loaded closet. That was all. Nothing too terrible. Didn't matter too much if he just made a few copies for the sake of. . . well, conversational leverage. That was all. He wasn't a monster.

He was just the average human.

Still. He didn't think those sludge piles would be lurking through the building. That was interesting. Fortunately, they weren't too bothersome. Not with Mechazou's huge hands. So long as he didn't get ahead of himself, there was no real threat to be found.

. . . didn't make it any less scary when one popped out from nowhere, though. Fortunately, nobody heard him screaming like a girl.

Notes: Looking for anybody that hasn't actually been in an explore with Fred yet. Note: Those in the Skelerex boss-fight are still a-okay, if that's the only thing they've been in with him. Social follow-up possible, if desired.

[Kate Minola]

Kate wandered through the university in the dark. Why the hell was she feeling like doing this? It was a ridiculous fascination, almost like her behavior in Skyrim - didn't matter what her main quest was, she always, always had to poking around any random dungeon she encountered. It felt like that and it was embarrassing to admit.

She just found this Dark Hour so incredibly fascinating. Yes, it was dangerous as hell but it had a weird attraction for her. She hadn't quite gotten around to drawing again - at least, not properly, but she had been doing hesitant doodles of the things, creatures, Personae and even people she'd encountered so far. Maybe she'd develop those doodles sometime.

Visiting the university was a way to explore new locales. Plus she could study the place for material for backgrounds. She liked the quiet of it but if she stayed too long it would probably start getting on her nerves long before any creatures attacked her.

She heard a rustle nearby and tensed, grabbing her bow even though her new warhammer was secured to her back with a holster. She didn't summon Antiope immediately but she was ready to, at the first sight of danger.

As she carefully tread around a corner, she came face to face with another person, someone she hadn't met before. It was a tall and stocky young man with glasses.

"Oh! Er, hello," she said after her initial surprise.

[Alice]

Oh my. Big things are happening here.


Devilish Raven
Resist: Fire
Weak: Ice
Skills: Agilao, Mamudo Matarukaja

Griping Idol
Resist: Dark, Pierce
Weak: Light
Skills: Mahama, Diarama, Foolish Whisper

[Frederick Cooper]

Sounds were coming. Frederick hadn't been surprised this time! No, quite the contrary. The sounds were coming closer, from behind the next corner. He straightened his cap, gripped his ax, and held it ready. His expression clearly screamed "I've got you now!", though it gradually sunk into a depressed "Or not" when the source of the sound came around the corner. The woman even greeted him. The woman. Not a monster. For a moment, his body remained ready to swing. But his shoulders gradually slumped, the ax lightly bumping his leg. It was the flat side, so no worries there.

"Hey, yo." A double-greeting. His expression gradually recovered into something more sociable, up until a sudden burst of fire lit his cap on fire and made him scream like a bitch again. He had let his guard down! The one time he was truly ready, it was a person, and then the monsters attacked! Son of a bitch! He tugged his cap off, brown locks flopping upwards as he beat the fire out of it. He whirled on his heel, summoning Zouchouten as he did, and pointed at the still-glowing bird almost dramatically.

"You don't even know you're dead!" Mechazou flew in, its fist growing exponentially, and swung at the bird. The bird, however, flapped away. Instead, that fist slammed into the stone-thing behind it. Well, whatever. He'd focus on the statue. If the bird was still alive by the time he was done- he assumed the woman could fight- then he'd take care of it then. With a small whirl, the man sent his ax flying at the statue. The thing tried to heal itself, but it certainly wasn't going to survive. No, his hat smelled like burnt shit. And he was sick of that. He was filled with rage.

Zouchouten responded to the brimming passion of its master, slamming the gigantic fist downward and shattering the idol. One down, one piece of shit bird to go.

[Kate Minola]

Kate couldn't fight back a small smile at the other guy's... er, enthusiasm for battle.

"I'm Kate, nice to meet you - given the circumstances!" she said, summoning Antiope and sending her for a first attack on the bird while she nocked an arrow.

The amazon rushed in, swinging her spear at the bird and catching it in her nasty vertical slash that almost knocked it to the floor. It sprang back and cast a big burst of fire at her, but Kate braced herself and let it wash over her with a roar of flames. She didn't flinch, grit her teeth... and found that she hadn't felt a thing.

"Ah-ha, so that's how it is," she said with a grin. "Seems I'm a little stronger. Fire doesn't hurt me anymore!" she giggled.

She drew her bow back and although the bird made a valiant effort to get out of her target, she let loose an arrow that struck it squarely in the wing. It didn't give any indication of slowing and just powered itself up with a yellow glow. It crowed and tried to cast a dark blast at her, but Kate had already shot it with another arrow and weathered the assault like a champ. Antiope finished it off with one more of her overhead vertical slashes, dissolving it to bits on impact.