Fandom Persona 5: The Meta War CLOSED

[Nellancholy]

The Path of Kaitul was just that little bit more dramatic than the sections of Mementos that they had traversed before. A less foolhardy person might consider themselves a little in over their heads here, but Shiro was quite used to pushing her limits. That didn't change the fact that they were pushed onto the back foot right off the bat. The trains were operational, and even the mercs were quite capable of using them to move around. And here the Thieves were trundling around in the Mona bus. Or walking.

Not only did the mercs have the advantage of movement in this environment, they even had low-ranked Shadows at their command. And they still thought they could argue their moral position? Exploiting monsters and the subconscious thoughts of people like that...they were indeed no better than the Matriarch.

And speaking of the devil, some misguided avengers arose, only to be distracted by Baron right on time. Shiro could only hope in the moment that the two who had aided them in battle against Metatron were not among their ranks. Surely they wouldn't fall back into that life.

Even the mercs had to take a moment to regain their composure after that baffling interruption, but only a moment.

Phoenix took flight, his attempts at invective not quite as hot as the fire raining down on Shiro right at that moment. Because of course it was fire.

"Do not attempt to cast the doubt in your heart towards mine, Phoenix. If you have a score to settle with me, settle it in silence."

Shiro slid sideways, her boots kicking up gravel as she jumped off a derelict train car and flipped into the air.

Pushing her visor shut, blue flame swirled for a moment as Thrud emerged, immediately igniting her jets and launching herself and Shiro into the air.

Fire would easily sear her armor, whereas it would almost entirely nullify electricity.

So it was very unfortunate that she would have to deal with Phoenix, and the others with Frostbite, before Rex might present an opening. Nevertheless, she took it head on. Thrud's flight was fast but not the most precise, having the advantage in evasion in more open areas but not so in tight quarters. And neither was she capable of attacking at range...

Thrud cut the engines for a little short of two seconds, allowing herself to dip and put a few more feet between her and Phoenix...then blasted straight upwards. Shiro leveled her lance just as a knight would, preparing to strike him as if at a joust. Even if she couldn't put him out of commission in a single strike, she might knock his flight off balance. By some miracle, if he hit the ground, then the heat issuing from him might even negate Frostbite's ice?

 

[Azurian Dream]

"Better than you killing yourself no," Prophet joked back to Tragedy as the trio discussed future tact. From the props given Tragedy, and Heartbreak were, in fact, the type who could work off each other as a glass cannon, and an aggressive shield. Formulating what position he needed to take for this particular set was easy. Noting the unknown sigils on the entrance it was clear multiple groups were aiming to claim this newer sector of Mementos. Heartbreak was revving to go like her mechanical persona yet before any further expression could be made Oracle radioed in as a train came passing by grabbing their attention in half

"Oye team watch out I am seeing five hostiles coming from an unknown entrance... wait that can't be right. Guys be extremely careful I am reading more than just them closing in," upon those words alone Prophet readied his hidden arm shot with a Hell Magatama for precaution as he spun his police baton to full length at the ready. At first two shadows with noticeable presence made their exit dressed up ironically in police force garb. No doubt the new staple of what to expect further in they themselves would not be the concern. No that honor of warrant would be given to the three after them... almost perfectly on time... Meta-Mercs.

"Well, we must admit you are rather punctually, almost obsessively on time to run aground with us protagonist. By all means direct yourself to me avian," Prophet countered words with Frostbite finding his mannerism an almost refreshing take to the lot thus shown so far by the Meta-Mercs... well along with that blue female... Siren... she had been plaguing his thoughts a bit of late with their unusual encounter. He also gave a snippet response to Phoenix's hostility seemingly in an attempt to abate some aggro on the boy as well. The third one however much like the first was new to him. It seemed he had the disadvantage with this lot only familiar with one, but while the golden one seemed to have some familiarity the looks of Heartbreak, and Tragedy had to the frost tiger one was of a new face as well.

"Thief work is hard to find have to toss the net around you know can't just gallivant one job at a time have to keep the heating bill on clearly," Prophet mused in response to the frost ones questioning of the team count. Good it was clear they had no idea what they were up to here that was solid grounds that they were not aware of the more direct reasoning for the attack on the recent palace. However, the word "they" was a concerning factor, also was the drastic change in temperature as even icicles were starting to form all around.

"Precaurios my friends you have a wide berth of added trouble coming in from yonder," Isao issued a warning as Oracle was busy scanning the Meta-Mercs at hand unlike in the chaos of last time these three couldn't run around given enough time she could scan all their states for future use Cryptid, however, bit his tongue knowing he could have been extremely useful against the ashy firebird present. In sequence with both warning the doors to Kaitul opened revealing a heavy frontline of stage gear-wearing metaverse users almost rather old school tech looking in design like the virtual boy from Nintendo.

"..And Baron says I have brought the hammer down upon you. Prior friends from past exchanges I assume," Prophet asked Heartbreak, and Tragedy with a hint of humor in his robotic voice coming to the obvious conclusion this had something to do with a prior palace ruler specifically the one involving the cultist leader he had heard awhile back that had turned herself in... he really needed to hear their prior accomplishments to know what other surprises were no doubt in store for the surprising wall of a future.

"THEY GOT ROCKET LAUNCHERS," Oracle's voice rung out in warning before said rocketeers could be called in Prophet was about to trigger a persona call yet before the rockets could even get a fourth of the way out they prematurely exploded leaving a wave of dusk. It seemed Investor Baron had a hero stage light obsession. Chuckling as the sight played out as the doors closed he watched the Meta-Mercs take a breath after watching everything play out... made sense from what he could tell of the Kamoshido palace Baron was not someone they took lightly by any means which was easily added upon by the cultist's reactions. Yet any further thought to that was thrown to the wind this wasn't exactly a time to wonder about allies not present.

Upon the forthcoming call to action Prophet immediately reacted to the sight of King Midus, and the extending out the gold transformation of the stage by diving off target on top of the very train they had arrived on. The instinctive reaction proved valid as the golden hue was followed by sporadic bursts of electricity spewing off in all directions. The weather effect from the tiger man also was building up icicles all around. It seemed they were dealing with a terrain strategy. The Tiger man in turn tried to catch them in a circle though thanks to the reflex Prophet had avoided the encroaching attempt. As the tiger made his words known it became clear he truly saw this as a form of story where he was the protagonist... well Prophet had to admit that was an interesting approach. Upon Phoenix's entry icicles would start raining down pulling out his Tri-Barrel Shotgun Prophet would annihilate all the one in a few spray shots from nearing Tragedy this in turn however left him open to receive a few hits of bufu himself as he felt the icicles ram and shatter against his robs. After taking a few hits Prophet huffed a bit... this was going to be a heavy-handed scenario if the golden one wasn't disrupted soon.

"Hm gimmicks? A bizarre request from a bizarre entrance. Well, let's see if we can oblige shall we," Prophet directed more to Tragedy, but to Heartbreak as well. Reloading his shotgun he started to run along the train barraging the White Tiger with bullet fire as he waited for Tragedy to take action first before he started to lay out further supportive measures. One would not get the fancy works right out the door their opponent would have to earn it first.

 

[That Weird girl]

"Yeah I gotcha," Morgana responded to Masami when she told him about the plan, the cat was in Ann's bag and was peaking out. He noticed the armed guards and figured that Ann shouldn't pull one of her ditsy cards and go crazy demanding to see the owner or something. This was real life and they could not defend themselves against some armed guards, even the prideful Morgana had to admit defeat at that. The cat wanted to get a layout of this office space so when Masami wanted him to get something, he could do so with ease.

"Lady Ann, walk around and get a feel for this office," Morgana said to her, and Ann nodded. "Alright that sounds good," she said to Masami before they entered, "I like the sound of that...reminds me of modeling with Sadako." She was referring to the time where Dascal was being pulled around like tug of war between them. Ann would have a flashback of her previous attempt at infiltration and knew that she would not try that again.

Instead, she walked around the office so Morgana could get a feel for the layout, from the bag. Ann approached one of the guys who looked to be one of the set designers by the way he looked. She made sure to look presentable as she smiled like a sweet girl would do, "Hello I was wondering if you could tell me about working at Kongo Burst...you do work there right?"

Maeve Valor Azurian Dream

 

[Anthem]

Why couldn't anything go smoothly? At this point it felt like each and every thief had a magnet for danger or nuisances, in and out of the Metaverse.

Tragedy stood his ground as he took view of the encroaching danger, at first when it took form of the cultists the horned thief was admittedly a little annoyed that remnants of the Matriarch still dared to show their face after their leader's fall. But thankfully any threat they could have forced upon them was going to be dealt with by the "clock-faced demon" or more accurately known as Baron. A small smirk came to the boy's face from this as he knew the cultists would have little to no remains once their judgement via Baron was finished. But then came the problem of the Mercs who stood before them, at least two of them had been familiar faces. The little worry Tragedy held wasn't in the likes of Aureus Rex or Phoenix, but rather the chilled "protagonist" that had come alongside them.

"Just another one who'll bite the dust eventually. Brutality will get that so called heroism out of his brain, now get to it."

After zipping up his coat, Tragedy would feel the boost of Tarukaja enter his veins once more as this new brawl began. As King Midas cursed the ground below them, many had taken methods to avoid the effects of the curse but the horned thief hadn't done such a thing. "This electrotherapy was only painful the first time... Now it's just a nuisance." Gritting his teeth, Tragedy hadn't even flinched as the icicles intended for him were destroyed via Prophet's quick thinking. The electric shocks were certainly slowly ticking away at the horned menaces' physical stamina, but it seemed to be hyping him up even further every time another jolt shot through him. Loki soon floated behind Tragedy, cackling like usual as the thief entered a readied stance.

"Gimmicks..? I suppose that can be arrange, can't it... Loki?" A dark aura enveloped the horned thief, pushing a cold and hopeless feeling upon his foes. More accurately, Loki had casted Abysmal Surge upon the mercs before enchanting the boy's ranged weapon. Whilst Prophet had been barraging the icy-merc, Tragedy had his eyes on taking down the gold-plated warrior he knew he had an affinity against. "Hunt the cat all you like, Prophet. The King, however... must fall." So the fool would begin his approach, and despite the electric flooring he was rather quick on his feet.

Like a wounded beast, Tragedy was relentless as his first two shots were aimed for the heads of shadows protecting Rex before the thief shot the rest of his nuke-empowered magazine at the merc directly. This was quickly followed up with a quick casting of Mafreila, intended to hit all three targets with one brutal explosion. "We never did get to finish our last bout... So let's see how you handle yourself this time Goldie!"

 

[TreasureSniper]

"For someone associated with a Valkyrie, you lack the ferocity of one!" Phoenix taunted the girl back, without hesitation, raising his shield up to meet the lady head-on. Summoning Suzaku, Phoenix would use his persona to once again assume his crimson form, greatly increasing his speed and his offensive capabilities. Suzaku, the legendary phoenix would explode into the scene, buffing up its master, and transforming into flames that flow into the main body. "Oh believe me I would...but you're already living on borrowed time." Avian merc turned to Prophet, responding to his attempt at drawing attention to him. While he would like nothing more than to reduce this one to cinders, Phoenix knew doing so would lead to the merc suffering a similar fate if not worse.

Turning his focus back to Heartbreak, the bird warrior proudly clash with Valkyrie. His shield aggressively pushed against the tip of her spear as his thrusters and wings struggled to push back against the opposing force. To think, someone like her could get this much stronger in such a short amount of time, if not taken care of soon, they would indeed be a threat to their operations as a whole.

Grabbing hold of the spear with his free hand, Phoenix wrestled with Heartbreak, with him trying his best to stay above ground level. The two tossed and tumbled around the small space, narrowly avoiding the electrified ground. At this range, the heat felt by heartbreak would be almost unbearable, likely feeling like she was in a sauna. In terms of raw strength, they were about equal, but the red-flying merc had an edge with being a much more experienced flyer. Flying closer and closer to the floor, the tips of phoenix wings would touch a bit the floor, giving him a brief but nasty shock. This, unfortunately, gave the merc a very devious idea. Using his superior thrusting power, the avian merc would turn Shiro towards the bottom, attempting to force the phantom thief to touch the electrified floor below them. He even went as far as to spread his head throughout his own body, attempting to overheat Thrud's thrusters. "Up close, you honestly don't look half bad. But you'll look a lot worse if you don't let go." But then again, being electrocuted isnt exactly known to improve one's beauty.



Nellancholy

Frostbite was quickly disappointed by the lack of interesting action from the one known as the Prophet. In fact, he thought it was a completely tactical blunder on his part to completely ignore an enemy that was in front of him. Prophet seemed much more interested in the environmental hazard instead of the true threat in front of him. "I suppose not all antagonists are made equal." The merc sighed, realizing that if it wasn't for the blood debt this particular thief member owed, he would have cleaved him in two for being so arrogant.

The tiger merc did not bother to face the direction of the shotgun, simply allowing Prophet to fire at him to his hearts content. However, once the pellets reached a certain proximity, their velocity would significantly decrease. A layer of ice formed around them as they fell short of their intended mark, simply falling down harmlessly onto the ground, looking like frozen hail balls. "Are you like a starter villain or something? Seriously a gun thats it?" The merc sounded almost insulted by the lack of interesting quirks from this encounter. He was tempted to trade opponents with Phoenix considering the winged fighter seemed to be a much more interesting adversary. "Hey fly boy! Wanna trade?" His question was met with the noise of two flyers wrestling each other for control. "Alright..guess its a sausage fest then..." Frostbite let out a sigh, playing around with his hatchet for a bit before throwing it in Prophet's direction.

The hatchet flew towards Prophet with unnatural speed, but instead of impacting him, the flying piece of sharp metal would instead wedge itself into a pipe above him, causing it to burst, spewing forth water on top of the prophet. Thankfully the water sprayed onto him was clean, indicating that it was a sprinkler pipe rather than sewage. However, the increase in moisture of Prophet's clothes along with the cold atmosphere resulting from Frotsbite's powers would lead to an unpleasant experience. It likely felt like the young man had just taken a deep ice bath. And now the true cold would begin to set in, as his core body temperature begins to drop rapidly.

While all this transpired, Frostbite quietly leap onto the train to meet with his unwillingly designated opponent. "So...any more interesting tricks?" He was hoping he did, though if it was just another gadget type of trick he would be thoroughly disappointed. By now the frost would also begin to set in on his equipment. Unless they were specifically made with the cold in mind, it unlikely that they would function under such extreme "weather" conditions. Even if he wasn't banish Prophet he'll at least get to have some fun. But instead of priming himself for an attack, he just stood there...menacingly.

Azurian Dream
And now there was Tragedy, a thief who did what he did best, pursuing the path of most resistance. Seeing the oncoming threat, the two soldiers brought their arms forward, deploying a collapsible riot shield to protect the stationery golden merc. "Tch." The merc themselves seemed to only be briefly affected by the surge of sorrow, but both the shadows seemed to temporarily knocked out of commission, with falling on their knees and clutching their heads. "Huh..guess they haven't been tested for that..." Seeing that Tragedy was a much more immediate threat to him, Rex pulled out his sword from the ground, halting the electric current from the floor.

Watching the horned thief raise his pistol, King midas grab hold of the depressed shadow, and forcefully turned it into a golden statue, using the huge mass of humanoid gold to defend himself against Frei-empowered bullets. As strong as Tragedy was, the shadows that Rex cleverly used as meat shields were incredibly resilient to both the physical and magic damage side of the attack. Continuing to use the golden soldier as a shield, Rex pushed forward, powering through the Friela explosion. Putting the golden soldier aside, Rex couldn't help but find Tragedy's words, strangely endearing. "I honestly doubt that we would be able to finish it here. But sure...why not. I've got time to kill."

King Midas materialized beside Rex, casting Sukukaja and Mind Charge on himself. While he recognized Tragedy's allegiance is under assessment, that doesn't he had to take it too easy on him. Even so, he would try his best to make this next strike only wound him instead of banishing him. There was a brief pause within this battle, a short moment where both fighters were sizing each other up. He recognized the fighter's strength, his determination, and his ferocity in combat. Unfortunately, as powerful as this fighter is..he had one crippling weakness.

Rex took deep breath while King Midas created a path of gold towards Tragedy. This time, the speed of the gold spread was much faster due to its concentrated nature, giving Tragedy little to no time to respond. The horned thief would immediately feel the paralyzing sensation of electricity, locking him in place for the oncoming attack. Rex along with his persona stepped forward and performed multiple rapid thrusts towards Tragedy, attempting to stab the boy's chest numerous times. With each forward motion, his thrusts became faster and faster. Of course, was deliberately holding back. While this attack was weaker than what he would normally, use, it certainly did put on a good show.
Anthem

 

[Nellancholy]

TreasureSniper

Shiro had rarely felt this terrible since the time she and Ann were caught in the burning kitchen of Kajiki's palace months ago. The mystical fire conjured by the immensity of Phoenix's will felt close to a furnace, but that wouldn't stop her just yet. No matter how unbearable the pain seemed, her flesh and Thrud's armor would not yield, just yet. His shield had stopped her lance, but he was clearly struggling. To call him desperate may have been an overstatement right at that moment, but it was clear that things were not going quite as he planned thanks to her judicious application of strength.

That was not to say that she could easily wrest back the advantage, either. Looking for his advantage, Phoenix swooped them both low to the ground, that surface seeming to be firmly under Frostbite and Rex's control.

Another explosive roar and a screeching noise echoed through the corridor as Thrud's jets ruptured, sending chunks of metal flying forth. They would not function again until proper healing was applied.

But their combined momentum kept the group aloft for a few more precious moments. She would not dignify Phoenix with any further retorts, nor would she strike to kill, but she would make sure he felt the next hit.

Thrud spread her loosened wings as Phoenix forced her to the floor, allowing Shiro an improvised barrier to stand on to avoid the electricity as she slipped out from Phoenix's grasp. If she did that to anyone else, it'd be more than a little awkward, but for one's own Persona to do it was only natural.

With that, Thrud allowed herself to fall onto the layer of electrified gold. The current coursed through her, causing her pinpricks of pain, but the vast majority of it conducted through her dented and pitted armor instead, potentially wounding the opponent grappling with her.

And while close quarters gave her lance the disadvantage, Shiro instead held both her fists together, swinging them sideways at Phoenix's head in a bid to finally knock him flat.

"ORAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

 

[Azurian Dream]

TreasureSniper Anthem Nellancholy

~Flash Freeze, Spurned Gold, & Flattened Ashes~

As Tragedy made extreme use of the opening given to him by Prophet the holy-garbed metaverse user watched as the bruiser made a beeline straight for Aureus Rex watching as a very strange interaction kicked off between the trickster god and its user going into a deep cackle. That was indeed a dedicated march to the domain of intimidation tactics, and had Prophet not been busy laying cover fire he would indeed be tipping his hat off to the mad lad. Even further adding a chess joke in the middle of it all brought an amused smile to the green interlopers face. In the midst of running along the train car Prophet had caught enough sight of the Heartbreak fight to see get a general synopsis of how it was going. Even with Phoenix's heated line the goal of testing the wits of his opponent aided in understanding the firebird. Oddly in measure, Prophet halted his gunfire spinning to swap out his attack grenade for a healing item into his arm slinger. Halting in his momentum at the end of the train car a small notable glint would be barely noticeable along the top of it among the route he had taken.

"Most protagonists don't ever really catch on to the grandeur plans of their antagonists," Prophet peacefully hummed in response having given Oracle enough eye time to build enough recordings of his gun attacks being halted in their tracks... his chill factor exertion ability being a valid concern from the start. Seemed the man thought people were idiots expecting them to charge something like that as well as a floor of electricity at the same time in some moronic bravado of beef-headed failure of tactical fault. It may have worked in video games or other works where people were written to be fools, but Prophet was not such an entity.

"No my dear I am learning all I can about you bit by bit," Prophet answered in humored truth not even flinching as the white tiger finally took action after his bore of an attempt to swap acts revealed further this meta-merc inability to realize he was being analyzed beyond just stats, but etched into the territory where his own lack of interest and overestimation of himself was about to be flipped over. Prophet could tell by the arch of his enemy's swing that the hatched wouldn't make it to him... no it was meant for a wider longer birth. Yet before the hatchet would make its mark the holy man moved his non-firearm hand revealing the small shimmer of a wire. With a hefty pull, a series of agi grenades were let loose ripping a melting line along the car side Frostbite was on. Yet in that same instance, patches of ice erupted off the shawl of his uniform where the icicles from earlier had hit forming a heft that immediately started to sap his energy... an acidic cling quality? With little time to act before the ice advanced past the shawl Prophet snatched the shawl ripping it off as the ice grew freezing the shawl into a solid chunk of ice shattering easily upon impact with the tracks below... yet even in those few seconds of contact proximity, the young male felt like he had just been hit by a truck. Touch alone was now an extreme hazard with this new meta-merc. One step backward from the sudden lack of vitality informed the green monk further attempts to fight were not optional solo... ironic how his own words came back to him in the moment.


A burning mask hiding a befouled faulted frown of arisen unexpected pressure let loose the sound of the mad monk's laughter as on the other side a saber pierced through from the inside slicing all the way through in the opposite direction from Prophet. As the hatchet made its marks a single persona strengthen punch broke apart the top back end sending it bending and warping with the rest of the severed top over like a bridge blocking the wave of water that now careened for Prophet. As well as blocking the now-atop Frostbite view from what he had considered a fool fooling him.

For all Frostbite's looming boredom, it had now stabbed him figuratively this meta-merc group had overextended its playing cards too fast showing off their perfected synergy to use terrain tactics as such Prophet had been calculated what else they could work off, and for a bufu user, water was an obvious factor of terrain control. Yet the water all around in that instance had frozen no doubt he had still imprisoned him in the now ice-cubed pseudo bridge. Before Frostbite could make a move to gauge if he had indeed frozen the wondering soul to death a Triple Down was ignited instantaneously blasting all around Frostbite dropping him inside the car nary a minute to catch his breath before Prophet all the way at the other end burned his mask again revealing a face blocked by a black haze obstructing his identity in a unique way that no doubt had to be some sort of mental trick.

"Mapsio," upon the attacks call there was for a moment of confusion would be no purple spheres that appeared around Frostbite or anywhere inside the car, but it would only take one glance to realize that the attack had instead been summoned all around the outside of the train car. Taking one careful step out Prophet bowed politely as Frostbite would feel a Psy Boost kick in around his opponent gauging the attack dangerously close to his own level of attack.

"Asunder to the weight of your wishes," the psionic explosion that followed caved in the train car all around Frostbite threatening to flatten or trap him into tight quarters. With a jump off the train, Prophet kept to the lower area avoiding the Gold hue manipulated by Aureus Rex. While this was all going down Oracle kept simulating and reading the data coming off all three meta-mercs from the three allies. Phoenix was the one giving the most moxie making the breakdown of his stats the quickest to interpret.

"Heartbreak his flight's equilibrium comes off his legs the wings are just a flashy show just like Thurd he's just being propelled with the wings giving a form of guidance. Taking out his feet or force him to facedown AND THAN SLAM HIM DOWN," Oracles fueled into Heartbreaks stratagem onslaught giving her the knowledge of familiarity to what the Phantom Thief actually had over the not as superior as he thought flight fighter.

"A thought just occurred to me Tragedy-san in the stupor of analysis. If Aureus Rex can transmute everything to gold and that gold reacts to its elemental property of law in the conduit of electricity does that not mean it must follow the rest," Cryptid pointed out to Tragedy aiming to give him some beneficial theorem of advantage against the statued shields Aureus Rex had made of the shadows. If it conducted electricity it meant its shattered point of a flash freeze or melting point existed which meant if Tragedy could throw enough force with one of afflicting forms of heat or cold he could in fact overtake the Midas user... a irony that the environment had to such resources in mass... he just had to get him close to one. Or overpower him with his own gear/spells in an intense moment, but that risked Midas getting close as well. Yet before a tactic could be born of that Auerus Rex took the field again encroaching upon the frei user.

"MAKARAKARN," Prophet called out shielding and breaking free Tragedy from the wave of electrical energy as the Meta-merc closed in giving Tragedy what he needed most up close and personal opening. Frostbite would no doubt be weighing back in soon so in a frontal charge Prophet aimed out his arm launching his healing sphere right at Thurd recollecting its damaged thrusters giving back the equilibrium of force and assistance Heartbreak had wanted without asking. Prophet was learning their mannerisms quickly, and how best to interlock with chaining onto their tactics. They were simple in tact which was an extremely good methodology to work off of yet for now that was all he could do for them as the crunching of ice and bending metal made him turn his attention back to his opponent. At that same moment, a deathly familiar cold overtook his right hand that had originally drained him, in a few seconds snow-like crystals sewed into existence upon his glove. With a quicker reaction to a new understanding, the persona user snatched his hat using it as a glove to rip off the glove before the ice would bleed pass the fabric into his skin. Given no second opportunity he flung the hat away as once again the cold claimed it in a solid chunk of ice shattering a bit away.

"Ah even against the insurmountable odds the protag returns how ~vexing~," clearly without a doubt this was coming Prophet exerted even more insanely bearing a tone of calm, but now with the weight of understanding, it would only get rougher herein if he wanted to line up the impossible task of pushing the mercs back.
...............................................................................................

Maeve Valor That Weird girl

~The Weight of Knowing~

As Masami walked in a strange greenlit lit upon her passing it seemed the security system was reacting to her worker's badge releasing a peaceful chime along with a green lite bulb signaling the pass was good allowing Masami, Ann, and Morgana no further reaction from the guards who lightly nodded at them with proper peaceful smiles. Coming straight to the counter the secretary was busy at work seemingly cleaning up shop as her desk was strangely bare for a work space. frantically placing a newly filled box atop a few others behind the desk the Secretary perked up upon hearing Masami's voice a bit confused, and somewhat startled.

"Huh? Miss we are already in the process of moving out I don't know who scheduled you for today, but records keeping has already been removed from this building to get digitally processed, and shredded for the new building," that was no doubt an immediate red flag not just in one lack of knowledge, but to areas of the unknown Masami had just triggered as the secretary looked at her funny, and confused to why she would be here for stuff already removed. Masami's badge couldn't save her now as the secretary had now growing stern look almost as if she was about to turn her attention to the guards. However in a split second Masami would get a view of some pictures still hung off school students from journal clubs taking pictures with the staff, and even more promptly a potential in.

In turn, Ann was now running up straight to an executive designer member of Kongo Burst an elder man who had spent most of the day bored out of his mind yet at the same time spent on any energy potential from insurmountable work. The man was heading for the exit before Ann cut him right off full of vibrant youthful energy, and a desire to work something that many Japanese youths lacked as of lately. The man gave a genuine smile as he placed an arm on the young girl with a full brimming thumbs up he responded.

"Young lady... don't waste that passion here," the response was completely left field for what one would expect of a higher-up, and even more so from a set designer to a beautiful girl who could easily floor the competition as an actress even if she couldn't act which she could, or be spontaneous which she was very well known for.

"It's not like how it was ten years ago the whole company use to be inflated with talent as far and wide as the ocean. We had so many hopeful future talents coming from all sides to join our unique aggressive venture to storm the beaches of filmmaking, but now... all Kongo Burst cares about is gliding on the tailwind from the next Yua Sakura team project. No one wants to take any chances on any new teams they just want to concentrate all their investments on the one shiny pearl we got... no thanks to Kagua Koga herself no doubt," he sighed.

 

[Anthem]

The guarding shadows were certainly a nuisance to say the least, but an expected one that the horned thief thought he had properly dealt with thanks to the Abysmal Surge. Rex had other plans of course, putting them to a final use with that golden touch that Midas was infamously known for. Tragedy was stunned by the initial shock of the golden path created by the merc, but thankfully a well-timed Makarakarn had broken the boy free in time to react... but he hadn't. The thief endured the first few hits before grabbing the blade directly, his grip tightening even as Rex's weapon started to cut his hands. The two had been put into a locked position thanks to this, since the crazed boy wouldn't let go of the sword as it became stuck.

"We're meant to put on a good show... right?" Keeping his communicator muted for a moment, Tragedy lightly spoke to Rex before returning to the fight at hand. The horned thief would start to chuckle before erupting into a loud laughter, unhinged even as Rex's blade was piercing slightly into his upper torso. Loki appeared, sending a quick blast of Frei into the golden merc's chest to drive him away as the thief pulled the sword out of his body. Dark blood lightly dripped from his hands, chest and mouth but he still stood tall as his ruby red eyes glared at Rex, like knives. Now he looked the roll of a wounded beast, but how well could he fight with these new injuries?

"Solo fighting is not recommended past this point."

Spitting some blood to the ground, a wide grin grew on Tragedy's face as he pointed Rex's own blade at him. "I admit... your defensive capabilities are quite great, but how long will it hold?" Flipping the grip of the sword, the horned thief held the weapon like he was ready to throw it like a spear but with some added explosive power behind it. With a single step forward he chucked the blade, completely missing Aureus Rex as his target had instead been a certain mythical bird. He hoped it would be a good assist to Heartbreak, to hopefully turn the flaming Phoenix into a flightless fowl.

"My apologies, I just find pigeons such as him a bit of a nuisance to have in the vicinity." Tragedy quipped as he refocused on Rex, pulling out two items, one for each hand. He started to walk towards Aureus Rex, crushing the first item in his left hand, a Life Stone. The wounds the thief had sustained lessened a tad thanks to the item, but that was to only prepare him for the plan that had formed within his mind. "You really thought a few stabs wounds could keep me down? I suppose I'll have to teach you and that so called "King" a lesson... After all-" Crushing the item in his right hand, a Frost Magatama, Tragedy's fists gained an alignment to Bufu at the cost of some health due to him lacking a resistance to the element. Loki followed behind Imato, the blood-lusting aura they had filled the air around them to the point it was almost suffocating.

"What's a king... TO A GOD?"

The thief and persona spoke in tandem before starting to barrage Rex with a flurry of bone-chilling melee attacks. Tragedy's jabs and hooks felt like hammers of ice as they met with the golden merc's body, as Loki's just assisted in pushing him further back. Taking note of what Cryptid had advised, the brute's assault was pushing Rex deeper into Frostbite's chilling area to hopefully render his gold frail and easily-destructible.

 

[Maeve Valor]

Based off her past experience dealing with trying to be convincing with an act, she was losing her "target". Now reading the secretary's facial expression and body language, Masami felt that if she didn't think of something quick the situation would start going downhill real fast. The way her eyebrows moved, how her body subtly stiffened while slightly turned away, the fact that she still kept her hands in a hold over her belongings, all were telling signs that she become distrustful of Masami. Just when Masami believed that suspicion of her would be unavoidable, she overheard Ann from across the room speak to a jovial man. From his statement, it reminded Masami of how the other people at the studio spoke of how she was someone that greatly influenced the company. Masami was also able to catch a glimpse of the hanging pictures of students giving her an idea.

"Oh my apologies, I recently started working with the company so I had no idea. I was just told to come here for an appointment with Miss Koga," the ex-swindler fibbed, hoping that name-dropping someone like Kagua Koga would get her somewhere. Having noticed that the secretary's desk has already been cleaned out, looking up something like an appointment would make it a bit inconvenient for her to check on and if there was one thing that Masami knew this industry didn't have, it was time to spare.

In the meantime, down a nearby hallway the sound of a door open and shut followed by a man scoffing was within earshot of Ann and Morgana. The disgruntled man that went through looked to be a bit on the older side in terms of age with the few wrinkles he had and streaks of white hair. With his tall, imposing stature, it gave him an air of authority as he slammed the side of his fist onto a nearby wall and then mumbled deeply, "That damn conceited woman. Just who does she think she's dealing with by signing that contract? After all I've done..."



It was then that the man looked up to see Ann nearby and his demeanor changed naturally to a surprisingly apologetic expression with a warm smile to the girl as he began to walk by her. "Everyone has one of those days, right? I'm sorry you had to see that. Please do continue your conversation you two, I didn't mean to disrupt it. Also, I do hope your day is going better than mine has young lady."

As he continued on towards the exit, he overheard the tail end of Masami's statement on how she had an appointment with Koga causing him to stop in his tracks as he turned his head to ask the green-haired girl, "An appointment you say, scheduled for this very moment?"

Masami looked over the man and could instantly tell that he was not just some regular employee if an employee at all to Kongo Burst due to his finely tailored suit and accessories such as his cuff links, tie, gloves, etc. She warily responded with, "I like to show up to appointments a bit earlier, but yes. It's supposed to be in about 15 minutes from now. It's for a school article my friend and I are working on"

The man smiled once more but unlike the kind one he gave Ann not too long ago, this smile was almost serpentine in nature. "What good timing, I just finished my meeting with Miss Koga. You're free to send them in whenever they like," he gestured to the secretary speaking to her as though she is familiar with him being there in the past as well as seemed confident that she'd listen to him. "Good luck in there, gather as much as you can for your... article," he said to Masami casting one more knowing smile before leaving that left her confused. She faintly saw the same telling signs of distrust from this man like the secretary did while she was speaking to him. Albeit, they weren't nearly as noticeable as her body language was, but they were there. It seemed that this man was quite the actor himself. But what puzzled Masami most was that if he didn't believe her, then why did he help her have an audience with Koga? And just who was he? Masami didn't have much time to ponder before averting her attention back to the secretary.

Azurian Dream That Weird girl

 

[TreasureSniper]

Rex, the stoic golden soldier was caught off guard by Tragedy’s fairly aggressive move, grabbing hold of his sharp blade with little to no sense of preservation. Thus far, Rex had been treating this bout with Tragedy as a sparring match rather than a true battle. As the stronger party, he had the responsibility to show a reasonable amount of restraint in his power. Being very careful not to cause any permanent damage to their future recruit. Little did he know, the person he was facing had no such qualms. Going as far as to reduce the electric current in his blade to prevent more serious injury, Rex would soon find out that this would be his undoing. In a brief moment of hesitation, Rex had loosened his grip, allowing his opponent to rip his treasured weapon away from him.

Meanwhile

Dazed and unbalanced, Phoenix was already steadily losing his fight against heartbreak. Her cleverly executed maneuver of letting herself fall on purpose and using herself as a conductor was effective in finally tipping the balance to her favor. Feeling the lightning running through his body, Phoenix was momentarily stunned from the daring gambit, just long enough for her to strike a powerful blow to his head, sending red hot merc flying wildly off course and into one of the nearby pillars.

The radiant red aura that once covered the bird merc began to dim, signifying that he was in a weakened and tired state. But even so, he did not relent. The aura pulsated at first before stabilizing, rejuvenating a portion of his energy and healing the injuries he suffered. Unfortunately for him, he would be given much time for respite. The avian merc would soon feel a sharp pain originating from his abdomen. Black blood began to seep out of the wound, as the scream of the pained merc echoed throughout the subway.

The voice loud enough to temporarily overpower his voice modulator, revealing his true voice. Much to no one's surprise, he sounded just like a normal person. A person that was in great pain. "Phoenix!" Rex shouted, turning his attention towards his injured comrade. A grave mistake that easily allowed the vicious thief to get a few cheap strikes onto him.

With his attention returned to his opponent, he raised his hands in defense trying his best to block the stone cold hits onto his armor. "What are you doing?!" Rex asked in a confused state. Isn't this person supposed to be a possible ally? Why was he fighting tooth and nail against them?! So many questions, but no answers were present. His instincts were to lash out against this wounded beast, halting its insanity fueled attack. But even so, despite all that was happening, he mentally reminded himself of the orders given to him personally from second in command of the mercs.

Rex was conflicted, he knew the importance of carrying out his orders, but he couldn’t see himself letting an ally suffer. His eyes studied the movement of Tragedy, noticing how erratic he was acting but also what was on his body. As expected, his armor did indeed begin to become brittle upon excessive contact with the cold fists. Rex, using his next few steps to move forward, enduring the punishing strikes before taking a page from his opponents book, stealing one of his weapons. A cane.

Grabbing hold of the cane, with one hand, Rex slammed his palm against Tragedy’s torso, pushing him away with a reverse charge of electricity. While not damaging itself, the push did push the thief noticeably further than his usual attacks. "If you wish to act like a beast, then I shall treat you like one. Midas!" Ripping his mask apart, he would reveal the determined look of a young man. Both Tragedy and Heartbreak would notice that he had a vaguely familiar face.

Midas would place his hand on Rex's freehand, turning it into solid gold. Meanwhile the cane wielding arm would begin running a strong current into the metallic weapon while shifting into its whip form. Enough was enough. He had a duty to the meta mercs, but he also had a duty to protect his comrades. Rex would perform two powerful zio charged lashes at Tragedy, and promptlly followed it up by wrapping the electrified metal whip around his opponents neck.

Now having a firm hold around Tragedy's neck, Rex would yank at the metal chain, forcefully pulling his opponent towards to deliver a well deserved solid gold punch to his face and released the chain, sending the young man freely flying towards the opposite direction. Urgently, Rex made a beeline towards his injured comrade, pulling out a lifestone from his pouch and giving it to the injured bird. "Phoenix, are you alright?" The merc spoke with a noticeable caring tone as he carefully pulled his weapon from his comrades abdomen.

Thankfully, Phoenix's self healing abilities were already helping him make recovery but that didn't mean he was completely out of the woodwork. When Rex pulled his friend out of the pillar, he noticed that his ally could barely stand and was still recovering. To think, they would be pushed back so much from the phantom thieves. It wasn’t too long ago that Rex himself was able to take them all down with ease, but now he could slowly realize how fast they were growing in strength and skill.

Frostbite, being the self indulging individual he was known for, focused more on the fight between his teammates rather than his own opponent. A rather hypocritical gesture considering he had criticized such actions just a moment ago.

"Damn, these guys are really going all out." The icy merc muttered to himself, still fixated on the battle of his comrades, secretly wishing he had gotten either of them. This brief loss of focus was enough for Prophet to capitalize on, launching a more indirect attack. Frostbite’s powerful senses would kick in, instantly turning to face his opponent again just in time to see the line of powerful grenades being used to chew through the train's exterior shell. Frostbite was confused at first, wondering why the thief was attacking the train instead of him. He didn't take the phantom thieves as some sort of vandals that would damage public property. But then again, this specific train is pretty old, so he's probably doing the public a favor.

It wasn't until Rasputin followed up with a slash of his sword from underneath the carriage that he fully understood what he was trying to do. Almost immediately, Frostbite jumped upwards just as the roof below him collapsed downwards.

"Phew...almost got me with that one..." the merc clung onto the pipe above with his claws. "You're gonna have to try better than-" Before the young man could finish his sentence, he looked down and noticed that the train was currently occupied and had civilian shadows that were trapped under the debris. "Damn it." Without a second thought, Frostbite released his grip and jumped down into the now open top carriage.

Carefully, the tiger themed merc lifted the debris off the shadows, allowing them to escape to the carriage next to them which was intact. "Well, you'll have to learn later!"
He replied, choosing to prioritize the safety of the shadows first over his own desire for entertainment. "Now then.." letting out a sigh of relief, he would turn his attention back to Prophet. "Where was I.." Frostbite said to himself as he noticed the walls around him began to contort and bend with an unpleasant ear piercing creak. "Heh...played like a damn fid-" the merc wouldn't get to finish his sentence before he was completely smothered in debris made from the walls of the train.

Now trapped inside a coffin made from rusted metal, Frostbite lied down in disbelief of what just happened. "How....how can this be...." He was in shock, and completely stunned on what had just transpired. His thoughts went back to his training, his experience. Everything had faced up to this far......and he fell for the oldest trick in the book! Using civilians as bait is villainy 101!!! Unbeknownst to the young merc, Prophet was not using said trick on purpose.

"Arghhh! This is so embarrassing!!!!" Frostbite was lying on the floor of the train, burying his face into the palm of his hands in embarrassment . "Maybe I should just leave and come another day...." He contemplated on retreating to hide his shame, if wasn't every day that he fell for a trick like that. Even if he went back now, he's going to be the laughing stock of the entire place.

Frostbite's vulnerable thoughts were interrupted by the scream of his ally. He recognized that voice, it was Phoenix. Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself down, remembering the importance of remaining calm, cool, and collected in times of crisis.

"Alright...time for the highlight reel." Frostbite steadily stood upright, effortlessly pushing the wreckage around him. Now was not the time to care about pride, not when the lives of his comrades are at stake. While the general area already had unnaturally cool air surrounding it, the temperature would soon have an even more dramatic shift, resembling the coldness of a winter season.

"Byakko."

The long terrible claws of the cold persona extended from the pile of debris before ripping it asunder, revealing Frostbite. The young boy stood tall alongside his persona, a humanoid white tiger that had blue stripes, a representation of the legendary beast Byakko. An alarm could be heard from phones of Heartbreak, Prophet and Tragedy, with all three of the devices announcing in unison. "META DUEL COMMENCING."

"You guys take five. Leave the rest to me." Frostbite gave his team a confident and comforting thumbs up before turning to face the trio thieves. "Actually...could lend me a few things.. " Frostbite walked towards his teammates, grabbing an item from both of them, Phoenix's shield and Tragedy's cane sword. "Yes..this will do nicely." The frosty one came forward, swinging around his newly acquired cane before tapping it on the shield, akin to a warrior trying to intimidate his adversaries. "Actually...one more thing...could you heal everyone up for me..." While reluctant at first, Rex nodded to Phoenix, convincing him to cast Mediarahan on all parties present, including the thieves.

"Now then….let's begin. Byakko!" Frosbite yelled with maximum vigor and bravado, materializing the white tiger in front of them. Byakko took a deep breath before blowing a blinding blizzard towards the trio, enveloping them in all in thick snowstorm. Using the oncoming white storm as smokescreen, Frostbite flew forward, delivering a powerful knee strike to Heartbreak's face, knocking her onto the ground on her butt. Continuing his forward momentum, Frosbite, lunged forward slamming his shield onto Tragedy's face, launching him skywards onto the ceiling. The Phantom thiefs body would slam hard against of the thicker pipes, causing it to burst with water only to be immediately frozen in place. And last but not least, Frostbite swung chain onto Prophet, wrapping the piece of cold metal around him.

"Bufudyne!" The merc shouted, allowing his persona to cast a higher tiered freezing spell, encasing the thief in thick block of ice. From there, Frostbite began spinning the block of ice around, treating it like a flail, spinning it with an ever increasing momentum. Once he was satisfied, with speed, he would slam the weighted block onto Heartbreak and Tragedy. With all three thieves now attached onto the block, Frostbite made a few more rotations before releasing his grip on the make shift flail, allowing the gravity to take over. The frozen block went flying a few meters before impacting the large gate, shattering the ice that encased the thieves. The thieves at this point will likely be feeling a combination of hyperthermia, nausea and concussions from the whole ordeal.

 

[Anthem]

A moderate amount of cursing fell from Tragedy's lips as Rex was able to reverse the stealing of the opponent's arsenal, it was rather sloppy to re-arm the enemy in such a manner. But of course the real punishment of this mistake came in blood, as the horned thief received the zio-empowered cross slash to the torso. The punch that followed nearly knocked the fool out completely, but luckily the shock of it all had kept him conscious enough to stop his momentum before the subway's wall became his resting place. Swearing he felt a few ribs popped out of place, Tragedy took a knee in an attempt to allow himself some well needed rest. At least it wasn't a blade through the abdomen, like a certain chicken had received.

* "META DUEL COMMENCING." *

Nonetheless, all rage he had was quickly replaced by shock as Mediarahan was used to completely heal all available parties of their physical damage. "What the hell-" Making the deadly mistake of putting his attention elsewhere for even just a moment, Tragedy's eyes widened as he saw the icy-merc's silhouette rapidly approach. But before any action could be made, he went skyborne with an audible whack from the shield. Hitting the cold pipes above with such force felt like getting rammed by a car speeding through the streets, the fall wasn't the greatest either. Well, if the fall had actually led to him hitting the ground it would have hurt but instead he was brought upon the icy whirlpool of spinning. It felt like the fight against Abyss all over again, but with especially more pain and nausea from everything happening.

Static.

The horned thief's mind felt like it had been occupied by it the very moment the trio had struck the gate upon Frostbite's release of the frozen wrecking ball. As quickly as he had been healed to peak physical condition, groans came from him as it was quickly brought back down to a lower degree. Through the static of his brain, Loki's voice called out even though it felt like nails on a chalkboard for the poor fool. "You better get up, you want to keep using my power, yes? Then get up and do the one thing you're good at... and Fight." After a few moments, Tragedy started to rise to his feet and if one were to listen close, they could hear the cracks as if it were his shoulder and few ribs being put back into place rather... painfully.

"You're a real pain in the ass..." The horned thief spoke before a light smile came to his face, despite how desperate the situation was becoming by the moment he just couldn't help it. He stood like the gashes in his body were mere scratches, as if his cracked bones and battered exterior was just another obstacle. "It's going to be fun to watch you bleed, damned icicle." Taking a few steps forward, Tragedy removed his coat and threw it aside before picking up his chained weapon off the ground. The freezing air was certainly discomforting, but that toothy smirk didn't falter for even a moment. Neither did his dagger-like gaze, the boy's eyes going nearly bloodshot just from how little he was blinking at this point. "Now... allow me to teach you a lesson on how to properly use this little gadget of mine..."

With a small chuckle, the fool started to walk forward once again through the ever-thickening storm before breaking out into a mad dash towards Frostbite. The chain of his weapon dragged behind him before being brought to life via a sudden jolt of movement, marking the start of the assault. The first few strikes didn't land close to their intended target as well, as they were meant for the thief to start building momentum before the real hits were brewing. "Megido." A violent energy surged from Tragedy's arm and into his whip-like weapon but not the same as his notable Frei energy. Whatever this new card he had played was, it was matched well with his deadly dance as the chain swung around faster with every attempted strike. If one were to pay attention closely to where the crazed teen was striking, they would notice his frequency to attempt striking the shoulder and ankles.

"Come on! Go ahead and dance you hypothermic buffoon!" Tragedy laughed as he continued, hoping this assault would lead to good openings for his allies.

 

[Nellancholy]

Finally, something was going their way. Or at least, her way. Her furious blow, delivered with her own strength, sent the otherwise-determined Phoenix careening off course like a plane with its wings blown off, tumbling head over heels into a crumbling pillar. That would be more than enough to keep him out of the fight for a good while...if not for the grievous wound that he sustained from the impact, bleeding gratuitously in a way that Shiro had seen only briefly before. A scream like that of a dying animal escaped him, and Shiro slowed down, for just a moment.

But she couldn't back down now. No matter how "human" they were, the mercs' goals for the whole Metaverse (and therefore the minds of everyone in the city) whether at the behest of their clients or the Allfather were far worse than any harm they themselves could sustain in battle.

Phoenix's severe injury led to the other two mercs momentarily closing ranks, as Rex took an opening to stabilize Phoenix and relieve the worst of his pain. While Frostbite...asked Phoenix to heal them?

Frostbite's Persona, Byakko, proceeded to blanket the area in snow, hindering his opponent's vision.

"Do you aim to acquit yourself of your sins with that gesture? Fie upon your foolishness!" Even in this state, Shiro and Thrud held their position. "Honor is in your ends, not your means-"

Before she could goad their opposition further, Frostbite struck from the swirling storm. Her helmet took the worst of the blow, but that didn't stop her neck from snapping back quite unpleasantly, nor the visor from cracking like a bullet struck it, impeding her vision further.

This was followed by a freezing assault that smashed the Thieves into one another, sending them sprawling all over.

She certainly wished they had had a chance to replenish their supply of Magatamas.

Tragedy and Loki, for their part, wasted no time going back on the offense, aiming a storm of whips that seemed to strike Frostbite from multiple angles at once.

"Alright. Let's..." Shiro grit her teeth.

Still aware only of Frostbite and Byakko's general location, Shiro held onto Thrud again. With her armor restored, Thrud could rocket up into the air again, dominating the space in Phoenix's absence.

Leveling her gun at the space below her, Shiro clamped her finger over the trigger, showering it with bullets. Her aim was to restrict Frostbite's movement: either he would avoid along a predictable trajectory or he would hold still and use some kind of defensive tactic. Either way, Prophet might have a chance to take.

 

[That Weird girl]

Ann listened to the old man, curious on why Kongo Burst was that way. It seemed like the company was even supporting the palace ruler in her power. This was going to be a hard battle to win, because Yua Sakura had a green light to keep going from Kongo Burst. Ann felt a little bad for the old man who seemed a little burnt out from working here. Most adults were burnt out but this guy seemed to be crushed. Ten years ago it used to be a pinnacle of filming but now it had shifted to the one and only Yua Sakura for her projects, why?

Before she could ask, a man who was dressed nicely apologized for his behavior. Ann heard him saying something about a contract? She smiled back at the man, as if accepting his apology. She then returned to her conversation with the old man like nothing had aroused her curiosity, which was untrue. She had not wanted to be rude to this kind old man who had decided to talk to her. "Why is that?" Ann asked him, "does Yua bring in the sales with her movies? I know that a lot of companies love to make money and will follow whatever makes them the most."

Morgana was interested in what the strange man was saying, he had guessed that he had signed a contract with Yua. What contract was it? Well, Morgana wanted to follow the man to find out more! But of course he had his obligations here and could not follow him.

The strangest thing was that the guy had went up to Masami and helped her get an appointment with Miss Konga...Mona had been really suspicious of the guy now and watched as Masami seemed puzzled too. He wanted to jumpsuit of the bag and investigate but people would see him and blow their cover. So, the cat had an idea and tugged on the bag to get Ann's attention, realizing that would not be enough, he started to move around in the bag. Ann finally noticed and smiled at the old man, "I am sorry, I have to get back to my friend about working for this place. Thank you for talking with me." She then walked away and looked at Morgana, "what?"

"Masami could get an appointment," Morgana said, "if she does then I need to be able to sneak in...to find out stuff that can help us. So, I need you to make sure no one sees me."

"How?" Ann asked.

"By being you," the cat said to her, "there is a reason why you and that hot girl stole the show...you'll find a way."

Maeve Valor Azurian Dream

 

[Azurian Dream]

Maeve Valor That Weird girl

~What Once Could Be~

"Cause there for sure wins. None wants to take a potential risk if there is a surefire hit. Thus many forget that the best pieces of art were massive risks that had no way of knowing the reward or loss. Or for better went against the grain of what others said would never work due to the system of success in place," the elderly man sighed as he watched one of his more well-known thorns come out angered by the result of a deal that he had no doubt just been informed about himself. The younger man's anger seemed to wet the whistle of the old timer a bit in irony causing a low chuckle from the elderly as the younger man caused some back pedal trouble right back to the one who miffed him off. That was when Ann reasked her question pulling his attention back.

"Of course, she's never failed but that's the problem how can art grow if it always goes for the expected result when there is no challenge there is only ironclad dominance with no freedom to speak of," the older businessman asked of Ann but turned it more to a rhetorical question when he further explained.

"Don't mistake me for disliking Mrs. Sakura, or her work. I love it fact find it to be a top shelf with the team she picked out from the most unexpected places. Yet back then we had more who could have just been as successful as her. Alas, we tore money from their projects, ripped away their options, and even absconded with their resources just to higher elevate her, and now it's time for her to go. Her contracts up after this film, and I don't doubt she will move on from us as she should. It's our punishment after all to all those potentials we failed to protect for a sure thing we must now pay the price with nothing left to grow," it was rather strange it almost seemed like he was hinting they all saw this coming as if something rather detrimental would take place once this film was done. Yet Ann was ushered back to her friend with the old man giving one last solemn smile before disappearing into an aging empire of business.

"Uh... of course they didn't fix the school journalist scheduling... why am I not surprised they dropped the ball on something so simple," the Secretary took the bait with Masami landing a critical pull-in success with her gamble as Ann came over the snake of a man aided in the fuel as the secretary upon seeing his face shot up almost in a barely noticed panic of attention. Without a doubt, he had pulled as the secretary without trying to confirm any more information out of Masami looked straight at her with acute lack of hesitation.

"I apologize for slowing you down you can head right in I insist just head straight down, take the first left she will be the third door on the right," the woman almost seemed to be pleading with them to go as quickly as possible not wanting to stall them any more than she had... almost like she was now scared of them.

...

In the very room mentioned the icy piercing eyes of Koga seemed to be rather unnaturally amused with how her current "meeting" had gone. Things had been building up between her and that man for a long time so to finally have an up on him to remove herself from his ledger of colleges was... invigorating, to say the least.

"Borish Oaf did he really expect to devour my half of this without resistance? Hmph how amusing to be the one who didn't reads the dotted line circus freak," Mrs. Koga hissed in delight looking at a rather old folder filled with event tying her to that man that no one would ever be able to crack. Her servitude to that life was hell, but she had serviced well damning many others to build that golden brick row that man walked. It was simply now time for her to do the same and feast upon the backbreaking work she had performed.

"What do you want I am not to be bothered right now Megumi... who are you," her voice pierced behind the wall having noticed a change to the air as if someone was nearby coming out of her office after lightly tossing the big file back into the secure bin underneath her desk with a soft latch of the lock she pivoted menacingly with a bit of annoyance with her victory interrupted to find two Shujin students right out her door.

"...State your business quick before I get security to ring you dry," she clearly was not amused.
.........................................................................................................................................

Prophet's use of the shadows to pull in Frostbite fed quite a bit of info it seemed Frostbite was all into his protag related to the idealistic hero the savior of the world. Of course, none of those shadows were in danger Prophet's own ideology clearly was against ever using people as a stepping stone, but in the veil of disorientation making it look like such was happening was not above the options bar.

"Great... boys and their heroics... that the worse type to plan against with a level disadvantage," Prophet mulled over to Oracle to feed her the info Rasputin had given. Profiling these Meta-Mercs was going to be needed if Prophet was to be of future aid against them. What was even more vital was the persona itself Byakko. Yet it also signaled a troubling time as the clatter of sword against shield was initiated after they were trapped in a meta duel... intriguing that it seemed the meta-duel sequence of rules had a nasty way of trapping people in unusual counters.

"Quite a nasty tool to use hero. So much restraining for someone over prepared," Prophet mulled as Frostbite's profile morphed with each new action taken, but now Prophet was starting to get an idea of what he was dealing with. From what break there had been before Prophet was able to see the damage Heartbreak, and Tragedy were able to lay on Phoenix, and Aureus Rex. It seemed the meta-mercs were a bit more surprised this time... but why? It was obvious from the Kamoshida exchange they were on the heels of the lower ranks so why did Aureus Rex seem so shocked by what Tragedy had done to Phoenix? They had pushed for this fight it was bizarre to see them appalled by the nasty nature that a conflict could take without warning. This whole encounter was starting to become vexing as it were hell the most normal thing was the fact they were healed in honesty given the mental profile he was building on Frostbite making the white tiger the one acting sane surprisingly of the meta-mercs.

Yet just like Frostbite's disinterest, Prophet disinterests backfired as well as frosty brains caliber in speed came knocking in a flurry of a snowstorm... this guy was rather contradictory wasn't he? Prophet was about to dictate some tacts, but before words could escape anyone's mouth Heartbreak was hit grievously with a snapping pop upon her neck making it clear the chaos was among them. Tragedy was next in sequence taking a worse-for-wear hit as he was sent off like a homerun hit. Prophet would have enough time to gauge what was next with this blitz.

With little time to react Prophet was barely able to clash steal against steal catching the can sword whip with his baton avoiding his torso from experiencing numerous brutal gash wounds. Unfortunately, the baton arm could not say the same Prophet fought back letting a scream escape his lips, his opponent wouldn't gain pleasantries from him. As the high-tier ice casting encased him his thoughts went spiraling just as quickly as his body as he was turned into a bludgeoning mace ramming into his allies sending them all careening into massive icy-cracking blizzard bash. How nasty for one to use a meta duel net trap like this... heh, Prophet would definitely add that to future formulas.

As he coughed out some blood from the internal damage he found himself in sync with spirits of Heartbreak and Tragedy... he was pissed. With Fixer at least it was acceptable as they were both beaten down to the same end wire in respect, with Slayer there was at least an understanding he was an ant against a meteor. Yet this maniac... no Prophet wasn't going to get bested by a hero wannabe 3 v 1. Prophet watched as his allies charged in... so this was the Phantom Thieves unbreakable spirited into the throws of insanity.

"Why do I feel so at home... Amrita Drop," he called out as Rasputin very unamused and set with a disturbing pensive glare came to life behind him casting it upon the last moment of both Tragedy and Heartbreak assaults. The momentum of both at the apex of dodging would be ruptured past what Frostbite would have projected as Prophet removed the Nausea, and Hypothermia from them unfortunately a concussion wasn't something a status effect removing could cure. Yet their output and speed would return. Got back up as he ran right after them not casting the status remover on himself no he needed the disorientation for the moment the affliction of damage the reminder that he was about to return to this presumptuous hero... he thought he could downcast the villains of his story?

"We're not the side villains, were the creeping void that will swallow you whole in time," Prophet hissed like a snake as he slithered wide dropping into a slide kick using Frostbites winter effect to the advantage sliding with Rasputin flying behind him using Frostbites own smokescreen as he was sliding past the initial target in a slingshot effect Propet was caught by Rasputin who swung him right back straight into the back of Byakko bashing his Baton straight down upon the persona's head fueled by the pain from the nausea and the limiters of muscle halting thanks to the hypothermia, and concussion. As Rasputin would go for a slide slash of Byakkos's left side aiming to disperse the persona with duo damage as he extended his hand out to Frostbite's direction

"PSIO," the psychokinesis blast at point black at Frostbite's blind side would blast the Meta Merc straight into the middle of Tragedy, and Heartbreaks attack. This wasn't about winning this was about making a point now if they were going to come looking for fights for now own whether they would come back in one piece would no longer be a for sure venture a deterrence to these unpredictable strikes would now be in effect.

 

[TreasureSniper]

Seeing all three of the thieves' ire fully directed at him, he couldn't help but smirk under his helmet, fully enjoying this moment. The spotlight, the emotions, the action. He enjoyed all of it! Watching shows, and roleplaying with his friends in the forums, it was nothing compared to experiencing all of it firsthand. The icy merc closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, allowing the thieves to close in on him without resistance. "This is a perfect time for a flashback!" Frostbite thought to himself, as his thoughts wandered off.

His mind drifted towards a simpler time, where all he had to worry about was fighting the good fight. Like many of the younger mercs, he was handpicked by one of the founding members of the meta mercs. In this case, it was Strider, who at the time was his kendo instructor. He was able to see his talent and natural aptitude. He recognized that potential within the young man, and brought him into the fold. Despite being the youngest of the meta mercs, he quickly grew in both skill and levels. He was different from the others, while strong, he often held back and instead prolonged his battles not unlike Slayer.

However, they were not the same, with the main difference being he believed he could learn more from his opponents this way as opposed to his Slayer who did so to inflict more pain on his opponents. However, he had some crippling flaws. His desire to prove himself. His love for theatrics and showmanship often leads him to take unnecessary risks, much to Fixer's disappointment. Even with these shortcomings, he easily qualified to become a potential elite and thus was selected for special training. While it was obvious that Fixer did not fully approve of the young merc, for better or for worse he often compared him to the second coming of Kaiser.

Before he could think further, he was interrupted by a tingling sensation from his spine, what some would call an imminent "sense of danger". "This feeling....its sending a chill down my spine...and that's saying something." The merc quietly thought to himself, his head turning left and right, trying to spot where the anomaly was. While his focus was somewhere else, his reflexes were as sharp as ever, with him dodging the first few strikes from his whip, before switching to a blocking stance, leaving his comrade's shield to absorb the punishing strikes from Tragedy and the bullets of heartbreak.

"I don't understand.." Phoenix spoke, watching from the sidelines alongside his comrade, Rex. "He has the strength to end this fight with one strike...so why is he..." the avian merc was baffled by Frostbite's methods. "Because he is not like us...victory alone is not enough for an individual like him. He desires more from his encounters.." Rex was already familiar with the eccentricities of this merc. "For a person as skilled and strong as he is, victory is a foregone conclusion, but there was only so much one could learn from winning. And so..he prolongs his fights, hoping to learn as much as he can from his opponents." Rex understood the reasoning behind his methodology, he did not fully support it as it often lead to taking needless risks.

"Not much of a dancer....unless you count ice skating." While the bullets themselves did little damage, the almighty empowered whip strikes ate into the surface of the shield with each strike, however, Frostbite was much too distracted by his own senses to notice. Meanwhile, Byakko remained in a neutral stance in keeping with his master's wishes to prolong the battle. Like a cat who did not like being touched, he grew annoyed when Prophet latched onto his back and started bashed his head with a baton. If he wasn't cold before, he would feel his core body temperature rapidly drop to a point his heartbeat would slow down. Whatever external fluids he would have on his body, be it sweat or saliva, began freezing as well. Finally, his baton would become brittle, bending in the opposite direction as it struck.

"Alright..not gonna lie that does sound kinda cool!" While he was only half listening to Prophet, even he could appreciate edgy lines like that from a villain. And with that statement alone, Prophet was promoted from side villain to arc villain in his mind. Byakko snarled in annoyance, shaking the Prophet off his back before feeling a sharp cut on his leg earning the mad monk an aggressive growl from the cat, but nothing more. In the aftermath, Rasputin's blade would have a noticeably thick layer of ice covering it. As Rasputin prepared for one more attack, Frostbite reacted with incredible reflexes, turning to face the persona with the battered shield raised to intercept the attack.

Spoiler: Byakko

Unfortunately for him, his lack of complete focus had made him careless, as he did not notice that the shield was well worn out at this point. Rasputin's attack would be the final nail the metaphorical coffin, causing the buckler to completely fall apart, pushing him back just enough toward's Tragedy's melee range, giving the thief enough time to deliver his punishing strike with little to no contest. With each strike, sparks would fly chipping away a bit on his armor. It was just as Fixer said, his lack of proper focus would often lead to...undesirable outcomes. "Damn it! Fixer's probably rolling in his grave right now. Oh wait he's not really dead.." Having felt that he had learned enough from this group, Frostbite commanded his persona to retaliate. "Alright Byakko, let's stop playing around." Byakko immediately tensed up, slamming one of his paws onto the ground, causing the entire floor to be coated with a thick layer of ice. This ice would rapidly freeze the feet of Tragedy, Prophet, and Rasputin. The ice would form around his feet before climbing up to their waist.

The frosty merc leaped up to retrieve his axe before returning back to ground level, dismissing his persona. Frostbite wiped his axe for a bit before he spoke to the group once more. "Alright, I admit, you got me with that one." He gave credit where credit is due, they did in fact catch him flat-footed in this instance. "I can't banish you...or you.. so..." He pointed to Prophet and then to Tragedy before finally turning to face Heartbreak. Silently, Byakko, materialized behind the flying Valkyrie andwithout warning, slamed the girl and her persona onto the frozen ground with great force. While pinning the two onto the ground, the humanoid tiger would drag them both across the frozen surface with great speed. Placing his axe on the back holster, ice began covering one of his arms only to shatter moments later to reveal a metallic gauntlet encassing one of his hands. Large claws extended from the slits of the gauntlet, envelop with a deadly blue aura significantly more potent than anything that he had done before. A small glimpse of his true power as he prepared for the coup de grace, his arm claws at the ready to impale the winged persona and thief, all in one go.

Spoiler: Gauntlet

However, right before Byakko could fully execute the move, it would stop on its track, releasing its grip with his focus now shifted towards an unseen threat, just like before. There it was again, that feeling of uneasiness, an underlying danger. Freezing his other arm, Frostbite summoned another gauntlet onto his arm, mirroring his previous weapon. Now wielding his true signature weapon, he took a battle stance and took a deep breath, trying his best to locate this unseen threat with his enhanced senses. "Come out...I know you're here..." This feeling...it was rare for him, it was telling him to run, to flee the area, but his challenge seeker's bravado was strong enough to overpower this instinct. "Is that you Baron?"

 

[Nellancholy]

Who was he to challenge them like this? His pride was par for the course for the meta mercs really, most of them quite confident even to a perverse degree in the exercise of their abilities for their own goals. As the bullets from Shiro's gun grazed him and Tragedy's whip smashed his shield apart, his confidence seemed to have backfired. While Prophet distracted Byakko, Tragedy's head-on attack resulted in several clean blows on Frostbite's body.

But then-

An almost mechanical roar of pain escaped from Thrud, like a car whose engine had ignited. Even without a specific weakness to it, Thrud's armor grew brittle in the face of Byakko's freezing assault, tearing and rending as it ground them against the frozen terrain.

Back and forth like this, it was getting tiring. Why couldn't these mercs just stay away for once? Even with her helmet's visor broken through, Shiro's face barely betrayed fear as Frostbite began to strike.

And then...he was the one to stop instead, Byakko loosening its grip on Thrud and Shiro while Frostbite probed his surroundings. Was it fear that struck him? A desire to strike an opponent that wasn't yet wounded? Either way, the pendulum swung again.

"Do you fancy yourself a hunter? Then keep your eye on someone if you would make prey of them!"

Despite her wounds, Thrud was quite capable of resuming the offensive. Pulling both legs back, she delivered a fierce kick to the distracted Byakko, hopefully enough to send it flying.

 

[Maeve Valor]

Bearing in mind how Koga acted back at the studio, Masami was already expecting this kind of reaction from her upon approaching. In this case she felt it was best to keep going on with her previous lie so as not to cause any contradictions since the secretary was still present. "Um, we are from the Shujin Academy journalist club. We were told to show up at this time to speak to you for a meeting regarding an article covering Kongo Burst. But if the scheduling was wrong somehow, I can always make note of your operations here and reschedule for a different time," Masami spoke as she feigned being a confused student and was very careful to not outright say their names to her.

Koga seemed like a keen person so she hoped that the woman would latch onto her wording and read between the lines of her recording essentially the fact that their offices are disorganized. No matter what kind of office it was, bad reviews are never welcome so by doing this she could possibly get an actual meeting out of this charade as well. Meanwhile as she was speaking to Koga and referred to Ann as a fellow student, she looked in Morgana's direction, giving him a wink to signal him to get ready to sneak into Koga's office while everyone was distracted. "Otherwise, we can also make this meeting quick if that would make the situation better. We can shorten the amount of questions we'd like to ask, right?" Masami finished by confirming her question to Ann.

That Weird girl Azurian Dream

 

[Anthem]

Tragedy kept the assault with his Almighty-Infused weapon as long as he could and then some, wanting to break down the foe that stood before the thieves despite the advantage he took when it came to the their threat levels. First seeing the buckler break under the pressure of all the oncoming blows, and then the sparks that started to emit from the frosty merc's armor, the fool simply laughed during the moment. Being fueled by the general violence of the whole situation, he was only finally stopped when the ice crept up past his legs. Struggling like an animal stuck in a trap, Tragedy was more insistent on brining harm to Frostbite more than anything else until the merc had made a target out of Heartbreak. This had broke the boy out of his violent trance, realizing that if this battle wasn't brought to an end soon their end would be more than ensured.

His fists started pounding at the ice that entrapped him, not doing a single crack of damage at first until he took both of his hands and slammed them into the ice at once. This strike was the last piece needed to set himself free, and with no hesitation his eyes scanned the room for the best plan of action. Tragedy's eyes lit up when he had realized his next course of action, immediately starting to move along the ice, effectively skating at this point despite his lack of proper skates.

'You have enough juice for two more Nuclear... or one more Almighty. Then this shows over for you, boy.' Loki spoke in the back of the fool's head like usual, interrupting his focus for a few moments before he started speeding up thanks to the reduced friction of the icy ground. "Cyclone." Tragedy calmly said as he crushed a green magatama, releasing a burst of Garu Energy. The clever thief used that with the icy ground to propel himself at Byakko at great speed without the need of jumping around like a madman to build momentum. As Thrud struck Frostbite's persona with an explosive kick, Tragedy assisted with his own flying dropkick to the tiger. "And one last time... MEGIDO!" The fool called out as he pointed a finger gun towards Byakko, and a piercing beam of energy shot from his fingertips, striking the Persona's center mass with almighty force.

 

[Azurian Dream]

Frostbite was enjoying this, even at the point of below zero Prophet could feel his blood boiling from this guy... the meta-merc just saw them like dancing monkeys he could potentially learn a thing or two from. It was coming full circle now as Prophet could see the script laid out by this man, it had played a well-formulated reaction the fight started as a branch out to handle them yet when it turned out it could end up with them hurting his allies Frostbite had literally brought the gloves on to play with them. Yet now... it was serious and the cold hard facts were starting to crash on them, however, in the midst of all this something had distracted the Meta-Merc. Prophet could feel the chill factor creep up his soul with sweat brittled turning into icy dust as he kept on Byakko until the consecutive ring of his baton brittled, and broken rang hard in the green youth's ears. Frostbite's words were nearly a second thought as reality came collapsing down as he fell off shaken like a flea off the feline persona slamming into the ground as his weapon shattered to pieces.

The words that hit the hardest though were the sentences that escaped Aurues Rex's lips as Prophet's legs were frozen solid. He could feel it... that same snaking feeling of acceptance when he had fought Slayer. This was an individual who studied others and things just like Prophet did. He had thought during the fight he had a giving him Frostbite's mannerisms feeding him knowledge how to counter the meta merc... he hadn't registered that what he was reading was only the outer layer. No, he had been busy and distracted by what he thought was keeping them up, but now it was clear he wasn't the one testing the mettle of his enemy... no it was instead Frostbite gazing in the distance of the potential of his prey. Prophet was being bested at what gave him his edge... analysis. That snaking feeling was now seeping into the memory of knowing death was approaching... whereas Prophet's goal had been to make it to where the meta-mercs wouldn't attack without thinking... it was Frostbite's goal to whip them into line with the rules of the realm he held to resulting in one undeniable fact... Prophet could no longer see a victory path. His process of options was whitening out in his mind as the hypothermia started to further wreck his sense using it as a double edge sword had cut him rather than procure a lucky result.

"OYE SNAP OUT OF IT BRO VICTORY ISN'T THE ONLY ROUTE REMEMBER? IF YOU CANT WIN YOU IMPROVISE A NEW CONDITION OF SUCCESS," Oracle's voice rung loud in his ears snapping him back to attention with the minor flash of memory returning his senses long enough to register his psio's impact with Aureus Rex's shattered shield loud enough to garner the monk a new route... if the board was clear, and no equations worked out you started back at the beginning.

"Rasputin," the psi user proclaimed with haste.

"With pleasure... though be warned I only have two more desires left to give," the mad monk swung his ice blade straight into the chunk of ice that held Prophet in place shattering both encasements apart. Two spells left, if victory was unreachable then the next step to achievement would be to regroup and replan. Yet as quick as Frostbite pointed them out a stranger notion came forward... Prophet was aware he was labeled as untouchable for a higher crime, but why had Tragedy been motioned as such? The words would vex Prophet long enough for Frostbite to turn his attention to Heartbreak. The new timer of panic also gained Prophet's freedom garnering why Frostbite wouldn't notice immediately. No, no, no Prophet's mind hastened he couldn't interrupt or intercept Byakko in time... Tragedy first. As the beatdown was thrown into Thrud, Prophet went straight for Tragedy who was already on a steamroll himself picking up more speed than the monk.

"Rhetorically given the gap of his birthed stretch I would summarize the... what's this then," Cryptid had chimed in to give some idea of assistance but had been interrupted by something needing his attention. Prophet didn't have time to ask what was happing as the window of saving Heartbreak was all Prophet would concentrate on for now, wounded pride in analytic knowledge consumption would be saved for another day. As Frostbite bared his claws from his side view Prophet was able to finally see a new route write itself out as Tragedy attacked Byakko.

"GLASS BOAR CATCH," Prophet pointed his tri-barrel giving Tragedy quite the bizarre nickname as a grappling hook launched off towards the still airborne Phantom Thief Tragedy turned with a huff interrupted by his epic kick moment as he lashed out a jaded response. (Thanks Anthem )

"Call me that again and you're getting BLOWN UP WITH THESE IDIOTS!!" The bruiser of the Phantom Thieves roared as he shifted in an aerial recovery catching the grapple hook with style before proceeding to enter a spinning kick to latch the rope line with one of his feet spinning with all he had to pull Prophet right off the icy ground. So they couldn't win, but by hell if that meant they would see even one of them be snuffed out to overwhelming odds. All the routes and chalked-up sub-routes started to expand again in Prophet's mind as he smiled at Tragedy's response before being flung right over Frostbite. In what felt like a slow down of time he would have one moment of sight with the Meta-merc... he might have pulled the rug from under Prophet, but in time he would return that favor.

"Amrita Drop," Prophet cast upon himself removing the ailments that he had let plagued him long enough. The green drop of dew revitalized his sensibilities... wait what had caused there to be an opening? Now with nothing left plaguing his mind, he realized not only had Heartbreak, and Tragedy's attack landed, but his escape had been unembedded. Twisting mid-air he turned to see a perplexed Frostbite looking for something no there was a reason he could feel it... something had joined the fray.

"GUYS MOVE AWAY FROM BYAKKO SOMETHING HEAVYS COMING FOR IT," Oracle gave just enough warning as Cryptid could be heard in the back nonsensically writing while mumbling about something fascinating along the lines of bygone ghost ships. Oracle hadn't noticed it at the same time, but as soon as it had come into proximity of Heartbreak its project easily lined up with the tiger persona. Swapping from attack to maneuver it was Prophet's turn to pull on the grapple wire as hard as possible sending Tragedy down fast just quick enough to snatch arms with Heartbreak sending all three metaverse users hurtling away as Byakko would suddenly come under bombardment as cannon fire would blitzkrieg the persona forcing it back as what appeared to be too small ships seeping out of the ground revealed themselves to be the shoulders of a well-sized shadow splashing out of the ground. In front of the imposing samurai-like machine made up of a ship was an ominous appearing feminine figure with a floating sword. As the hellfire stopped Byakko would find itself now near its master as the shadow released a mechanical roar.








"What am I looking at," Prophet asked bewildered as the shadow not only pushed back their enemy, but was now floating in a position where it stood between them, and the meta-mercs. For all Prophet's worthwhile understanding of things a shadow seemingly coming out of nowhere looking for a fight would no doubt just attack anything, but in this one instance instead it seemed to be protecting them... that couldn't be right though... right? Just as baffled as Prophet, Oracle was somewhat gleaming in confusion.

"Apparently, you are being saved by one of the most decorated battleships of the Japanese fleet The Musashi... cool... I think," Oracle spoke just as confused as her counterpart as the data being shown was also suggesting something else that seemed not so probable, but at this point maybe more so right. Their solution, problem, and answer came looking for them.

 

[TreasureSniper]

"This is bad..." Rex muttered while watching his colleague fight. Based on what he has seen, Frostbite was finally getting serious, a worrying sight for the golden merc. While he had no doubt that Frostbite was the better fighter, he had a tendency to overdo things. Rex's thoughts went back to a sparring match between Frostbite and Slayer. Maestro had to step in as the violent merc was inches away from being banished. Slayer is still looking for a rematch to this day. Knowing full well, what Frostbite was capable of, he knew he had to intervene before things get out of hand.

"Phoenix...we need to stop this.." The golden soldier placed his hand on his comrade, giving him a nod which was reciprocated almost immediately. Phoenix knows he's currently the weakest link in the team and organization as a whole, but even someone like him understood the stakes that were involved here. While the cult folk did in fact come here to avenge their Matriarch, the mercs were only there to test the mettle of thieves. "On your mark..." the fiery avian summoned his persona, channeling its flames into a potent ball of heat.

Rex commanded King Midas to touch the ground once again, causing a small but fast path of gold to grow toward Frostbite from behind. Frostbite, having been distracted by the unseen threat and, the band of thieves, was caught off guard, allowing the golden surface to make contact with his feet, causing the icy merc to be violently electrocuted, stunning him in place. Follow up on the stunning attack, King Midas matarukaja onto the thieves, giving them a significant boost in their offensive capabilities. At the same time, Suzaku cast Rakunda onto their own ally, allowing whatever attack did hit him to have a much greater impact. Having sufficiently softened his target, the avian threw the massive fireball toward the tiger merc, engulfing his ally in a blaze. While Phoenix was no way near as strong as Frostbite, his weakness towards the firebase spell could still be exploited by him.

"Alright, you guys are starting to bore-" Frostbite wouldn't get to finish his sentence, having been zapped with the full might of the golden soldier's persona. While he was indeed paralyzed, the icy merc's body would begin slowly moving, powering through the lightning that coursed through his body. Thankfully, Phoenix's fireball and debuff would stagger him long enough for thieves to take advantage of the moment to land their own attacks. With Byakko weakened and vulnerable, Thrud was able to land a powerful blow on the feline's faceplate, causing the persona to stagger a few steps backward from the strike. Unlike the attacks from before, this one actually caused some pain in the persona, letting out an animalistic growl while recoiling backward. Meanwhile, Frostbite himself took Tragedy's almighty attack head-on, pushing him further than before, forcing him to use his claws to slow his backward momentum. The sharp metallic blades dug into the ground, ripping the surface apart with ease before eventually grinding to a halt.

"ALRIGHT! Thats it!" The icy merc was feeling all sorts of emotions, anger against his allies for sabotaging him, disappointment from his own shortcomings, and hatred for himself for being so short-sighted. How dare his allies ruin his highlight reel! Why was he acting like such a greenhorn in this encounter? This going to ruin his perfect victory streak! On top of all of that, his senses went hayfire as the threat he was detecting before finally made itself known in a bombastic way. Frostbite and his persona were suddenly bombarded by a barrage from the unknown assailant, pushing the duo back even further. With the true worthy opponent finally revealing itself, Frostbite's desire for a good challenge overcame whatever hostile feelings he had towards both his fellow mercs and the thieves. "Hahaha finally, something worth my time.." After receiving an extensive amount of punishment from three parties, he got back up, slightly winded but very much still capable of fighting. There were noticeable cracks that had formed throughout the merc's silver armor and yet, this did not dissuade him from continuing the battle. Concentrating dense icy aura around him, the energy that surrounded him, condensing into a jagged coat of ice. Slowly, but surely, the cracks on his armor would slowly fill themselves, indicating that he was being healed while encased in this icy armor. By the end of it, the merc had a silhouette of an imposing demon of frost.
Looking much more feral and vexed, Frostbite grinded his claws against each other, while Byakko growled angrily, its eyes locked onto this new opponent that resembled a battleship. "You're quite a pretty battleship. I hope you fight as good as you look!" In his experience, these impressive-looking enemies tend to be a bit of a letdown. After all, the will of shadow was nothing compared to the will of metaverse users. Her threat level was close to his, but at the same time, he was very confident in his own abilities. His allies on the other hand did not share the same enthusiasm. "That's enough, Frostbite. We've seen enough." Rex called out to his comrade, knowing full well that things would get a lot worse if they did not vacate the premises immediately. This of course did not sit well with Frostbite who was very reluctant to leave the battlefield so uncereminously. "Hell no! You wanna leave? Go! I'll take them on myself!" And there it is again, the need to prove himself clouding his better judgment.

And right on cue, the doors of mementos would slide open, revealing dozens upon dozens of bodies and debris of the cult folk splayed out all over the ground, the wall, and even the ceiling. Baron himself was unsurprisingly unscathed, with the champion of the cult folk being the only one left standing. Based on the impact craters on the armor of the poor misguided cult folk, it was likely that they were all defeated with single blows that either knocked them out or shattered enough bones to render them completely immobile. Black blood was seeping from quite a few of them, but thankfully, he held back just enough to keep them alive, if only barely.

Despite the overwhelming odds, the cult leader stood against Baron, with a noticeably shaky grip and stance. Was his faith in the matriarch finally faltering? Was he realizing the foley in his ways? Perhaps. But the desperate tend to cling to whatever they have left. "So long as I stand and draw breath....I will..." His speech was cut short, with Baron grabbing the last man standing by the head and grinding it across the surface of an oncoming train. The "champion" screamed for a bit shortly before losing consciousness. With his enemy incapacitated, the masked man threw him to the side, having had enough of hearing about the nonexistent matriach. "I don't wanna hear it." Baron muttered to himself, dusting his hands before turning to face the scene in front of him.

It didn't take long for him to realize what had transpired. While he wasn't sure about the allegiance of the battleship shadow, he did recognize the mercs that were present. He was impressed by how much the thieves managed to push the mercs to fight seriously enough despite the large disparity in some of their levels. If this was boxing, they were truly punching way above their weight class. However, he could see that they are almost at their limit. He was especially surprised to see Prophet exhaust himself to this extent, considering he wasn't truly part of the group (yet). Baron's opinion of him had improved, perhaps there is some truth in what he spoke about before. Seeing no reason to prolong this conflict any further, he decided to step in and finish this fight there and then.

Phoenix and Rex were absolutely mortified to see Baron had made mince meat out of the cult folk army. While they had little doubt that he was capable of such feats, they didn't think he would go through so many of them at such staggering rate. "Frostbite..we need to leave..." Phoenix added, already taking a few steps toward an oncoming train. Frostbite however did not see that way. If nothing else, he wanted a rematch with Baron. "And miss a chance for a rematch I think n-" like the opponent before him, he too did not get to finish his sentence. Baron would appear right in front of icy merc and grabbed him by the face, slamming his palm onto his faceplate with his fingers slowly crushing his helmet.

Frostbite would repeatedly swing his claws at Baron while also intensifying his freezing aura. The frost would form around's Baron's armor at first but would quickly melt away. Golden energy began to course through Baron's hand, directing all of it into Frostbite's face. He screamed and screamed, his attacks becoming more wild and uncontrolled. The other mercs could only look in horror towards their ally who was being slowly squeezed to death. Eventually, he would lose consciousness, his whole body going limp. Knowing that the banishment of this merc would prove troublesome, Baron threw the unconscious merc towards his allies with great disgust. "Second coming of Kaiser?" He muttered sarcastically, watching the two scramble towards the body of their ally, checking his vitals while slowly backing away from Baron and the thieves. "Get out of my sight." Baron scoffed, turning away from the mercs that wasted no time in leaving the scene using a train.

And now, there was another potential opponent he needed to worry about. Thankfully, he did not resort to any sort of violence and instead spoke to his allies. "A psycho shadow...I haven't seen one for a while." He knew that these things didn't always obey the conventional laws of the metaverse and thus was cautious with his actions. "As always, all of you have done well in holding your own despite the overwhelming odds," Baron mentioned offhandedly, crushing a bead chain to restore all of their vitality as he slowly walked towards the shadow that stood before the group. "Hmm strange, this one doesn't to be as hostile as the usual ones out there...do you perhaps have an explanation for this, Oracle?" At times, there are anomalies within the metaverse that even Baron is not too well-versed in.

Azurian Dream Nellancholy Anthem

 

[That Weird girl]

It was time for Morgana to use his infiltration skills that he learned from his time working for the fox. He was however waiting for the signal for Masami to give, so he could act. The cat had wondered what juicy intel he might find in this office, he just needed the contestants list and the mission would be a success. Perhaps he could also find some other intel that would aid the thieves in their investigation. But, Morgana did not know how much time he would have to look around, as she seemed like a busy woman who wanted to hurry this up as much as possible. He heard Masami offer to make the questions shorter, always an improvisor Masami he thought to himself. It was no doubt that Masami had skills when dealing with adults and most people.

Ann thought about what the old man said, that was a little sad to see that they relied only on the golden egg for so long. The golden egg just being Ms. Sakura's projects. Ann wondered if they could do anything to help, it wasn't fair that these people had to suffer. But, alas, Ann was only just a student and did not have that kind of clout or money, but if she was still with Kajiki he could probably do something. She doubted he would, because he is a bastard but there was an option.

"Oh," Ann snapped out of her thoughts, "yeah, we can definitely shorten the amount of questions!: She flashed a smile at the woman, trying to win her over. Ann was going to attempt to act like a chipper young woman who was really excited to see her hero.

Maeve Valor Azurian Dream

 

[Anthem]

After assisting Prophet, Tragedy was basically all out of juice and was slowly becoming more and more of a sitting duck since his physical stamina was nearing it's end while his ability to cast spells had run dry. Daring to summon Loki even for a physical attack at this point would prove to be nigh impossible, so to say that the fool was grateful for Prophet pulling him and Heartbreak out of harm's way would be an understatement. Though the escape was paired with an unceremonious hit with the ground on Tragedy's behalf, as the thief was sent skidding and sliding until all the momentum had been taken away from him.

By this point the craze that had been fueling the crazed fool to push himself beyond the pain of his wounds had run out just like his magic capabilities. If anyone had been paying attention, they would've been able to hear pained groans coming through Tragedy's gritted teeth. The boy would sit up, using one hand to keep himself up as the other held one of the various wounds he had taken to the chest. At least with the lack of energy, physical and spiritual, Loki was silenced once again which allowed the fool to keep his eyes on the new target on the battlefield. "Being saved by a battleship..? Cool..." The thief exhaustedly mumbled and chuckled before his focus had locked onto Baron. It seemed he had finished off the Matriarch's followers and Frostbite, which admittedly caused Tragedy to let out a small sigh of relief.

Even after receiving the revitalizing feeling that came from Baron using a bead chain to restore their health, Tragedy stayed seated for a few minutes to officially regain his breath and fend off an oncoming migraine before finally standing. With the mercs no longer being an active threat thanks to Baron's presence and the bombardment that had come from the battleship shadow moments before, the fool would holster his weapons. While his guard was still up without a doubt, he was a bit more lenient in this moment.

 

[Nellancholy]

It was the slightest bit amusing to see Rex restrain Frostbite, the two of them bickering before Baron returned to emphasize the point. Shiro for one, wasn't a stranger to being able to rise to a challenge with force, even in the real world. But no one who went around picking fights for some idea of "challenge" or "excitement" would stay alive for long. At least the mercs seemed to have the humanity to rein in their ally before the thieves would have to teach him that lesson.

For the second time on this very long day, Shiro and Thrud felt the benefits of healing, Thrud's armor being filled up as if with plaster and regaining its strength while remaining tarnished by its exertion. Their objective seemed further and further away as they needed to deal with diversion after diversion on what seemed to have been a fairly straightforward excursion. So when yet another obstacle appeared, Shiro grit her teeth as she felt impatience well up inside her.

Positioning herself in front of the fatigued Tragedy, she leveled her lance at the humanoid apparition before them. "Are we to fear these cannons?" Her tone betrayed her unwillingness to let her guard down. "If this thing intends to stand in our way as well...we'll have to go through." This statement was more to her allies, than to the being who might not even acknowledge her address.

 

[Azurian Dream]

Maeve Valor That Weird girl

"Are you telling me you joined the stunt double casting as a joint op of your studying/research for a school article," Mr. Koga asked rather hostile as she folded her arms in front of her leaning with her right hip out like a prominent woman, not in the mood for something so farfetched that it could be its damn own fictional script. As her long nails patted against her elbows she seemed to mull it all over whether or not the lie would hold, or fall apart was now dependent on this moment. Yet before the woman could fully fixate on the likelihood she paused, and narrowed her eyes on Ann.

"Don't I know you? Yes, yes you're that teen model... Ann Takami right," A sharp needle would no doubt hit both girls as Koga recognized the blonde now having her full attention yet in the crux of the distraction the cost of Ann's secretive nature opening struck wide another opening allowing the lie to take full hook.

"That's right you do go to Shujin I remember reading that in the latest issue of Serenade in their callback catalog. You were with Sadako and that... American boy. Hmph, a girl of class branching out how viciously smart of you knowing all sides of the business you work," Koga spoke with a viscous smirk with Ann earning some respect... on accident. In combination with Ann's notoriety, Masami's lies had rooted in full. In a strange way the duo had accidently worked off each other it seemed in sync just by their natural nature. It seemed Koga was under the impression Ann was working all angles of the fashion industry with Masami just happening to be a legit Journalist club member who was very passionate about her work, In tandem what seemed extremely unlikely had now been executed into false fact by several spin-offs.

"Very well you have fifteen minutes of my time, and five questions max, and you're already down a minute," Koga mulled still annoyed by this happenstance, but impressed enough to let it continue. With a wave of her hand, she shooed away her secretary leaving the two girls completely in the confines of one intense adult. If they weren't careful or tried to distract too long it could no doubt turn nasty quickly for them. Especially if for any reason Koga wanted to contact the school or worse ask Masami for her real name as her work badge, and her student badge by no means matched up. However, if Morgana was to attempt to slip into Koga's office now would be the time to strike.

The office was heavy with the scent of lavender mixed with herbal ingredients no doubt from a potent tea the smell would no doubt affect the cat with its heavy wave of aroma. The interior had a strange fung shui feeling almost like it was meant for another job description with items all around that would no doubt distract one with ADHD, or OCD lined with small fidget attention-grabbing items like a liquid oil bubble flask, a metronome, and a collection of hanging pearl ornamented pendulums. The most notable though was a rather light-absorbing black pearl placed in a glass box holding some form of importance to Koga.

The furniture was also strange with very soft fabrics, and a satin-covered couch that appear more like a bed couch found in a psychiatrist's room. Was this a movie company CEO's room? Well, the pictures all along the wall gave that feeling a bit better filled with theater art of all of Sakura Yua's movies along with articles of the records and notoriety they all broke and brought in. Seemed the woman was rather proud of the company's accomplishments or more so Sakura's as no other Kongo Burst movie director's project was to be seen. Behind the woman's mahogany desk, there was a series of cabinet files for Mona's eyes to latch to. Three to be exact each rather tall, and heavy in design though the one on the far left was much older than the other as the middle one looked extremely more secure with numerous locks, and security to its name all ending with the one on the far right being more recent, and generic a model. Morgana would have to be careful in their decision-making of which one to attempt ransack of as the fourteen-minute clock had now just started.

........................................................................................................................................................

Anthem Nellancholy TreasureSniper

As the dust cleared from the intervention of Frostbite's allies, Frostbite himself, the ending result of the cultists, and Baron's casual takedown of Frostbite it was weird to say everything now felt... anticlimactic. It was a strange feeling, to say the least Prophet should have felt relief over something that had been so big a threat so easily humbled yet with the fact that entity had nearly done much worse to them it felt... like switching to easy mode after a hard boss fight. So this was Baron than.

His thoughts didn't linger basically breaking from it all as Baron spoke healing them all... who was Kaiser, and more importantly why did Baron sound, and act so strange with the result given to him by the three. People being happy their team survived was normal, people being impressed by people's words being kept were expected sometimes... yet there was something strange in the underlined language of his words and body especially once talking to Frostbite about a second coming. Though maybe what made it so notable was as they were healed Prophet realized he couldn't explain what bothered him so slightly.

"Believe it or not we found our target... that shadow belongs to Asahi," Oracle expressed clearly in her surprise as she answer Baron's question. It was clear from her words, and Prophet's body language in response as he to know was looking at the shadow in surprise that they hadn't expected this outcome either especially for it to be a psycho shadow it seemed no one in the room had an answer to this phenomenon. When the stage was clear of the meta-mercs though the shadow itself would start to bubble and boils down smaller, and smaller as it softly floated down to the ground before popping into the shadow humanoid that was Asahi Beppu...

"I think we can confirm that's not necessarily a thought to have anymore. You did outstanding as our shield Heartbreak. Oracle, Cryptid what are the scans saying," Prophet spoke patting Heartbreak on the shoulder to let her know she could lower her arms, and recover peacefully like the rest as his opinion of her had changed with this excursion. She came off as heated, but was just that passionate about her role, and teammates she was a Valkyrie in full just like her persona. He had seen her fight and heard her words ring her only crime was wanting to care, and no one would arrest her on that.

"Quite the wild ride through good thing we share a love of insane ideas," Prophet chuckled offering Tragedy a hand up as the boy seemed to be near the end of his much-needed recovery and probably would like to not be on the floor anymore now that things had calmed down. However, no immediate response was given from the analysis team as the hardcore typing of an elite hacker at work could be heard over the comms mixed with the excited mumbling of a supernatural hunter getting way too excited over results.

"I.... can't scan anything he has no stats. Nothing, there's nothing I am not even being blocking he just has nothing," Oracle spoke mystified by the result of her scan as nothing was blocking her Necronomicon nor negating her navigator ability it was like he was there, but not constantly phasing in, and out of being cognitive. The ground team would start to see the shadow start to warp and phase like static on an old tv. It's like he was fighting just to be there in particular yet they had just seen him take a shadow/persona form, and fight Frostbite without much problems.

"I would gander it's like a reclusive effect of some real-world effect. I mean collectively we have observed it before. The metaverse has a sway on the stimulus of the real world. I conclude that the reverse must be true as well maybe were witnessing a transition of a mental state. Though what could cause this deficient state is the real wonder to unlock," Cryptid mulled giving a thought that triggered a worrisome sigh from Prophet.

"People can go back and forth between the vegetative state and minimally conscious state, sometimes for years after a brain injury. The problem is Asahi suffered no brain damage from his wounds which means like your good Crytid speculates were dealing with a metaverse effect being disguised as a real-world effect... someone like us had a hand in this," Prophet closed his fists as the words escaped his mouth. His mind went back to what the watery wretch had to say to Tragedy... it was supposed to be without harm... if that was the case then what had happened to cause such an extreme turnout.

"The areas completely void of anyone else... might be a good time to call in this secret person," Oracle advised.

 

[TreasureSniper]

To see a shadow that was beyond his knowledge and understanding was a perplexing sight. It seems the metaverse still had a few mysteries that he has yet to uncover. Baron calmly walked towards Shadow, crossing his arms while gazing at it with unflinching focus. To think even someone like Oracle couldn’t detect anything from the shadow was a worrying thought. Listening to the support thoughts vocalized, Baron decided to chime in on the matter with his own thoughts.

“Hmm it seems it can be helped..” Baron unholstered his pistol, twirling the gleaming gun around his fingers before turning the barrel of the gun on the battleship. In truth, he was just testing the strange being, seeing if it could detect hostile intent innate or was simply a being of instinct. After a few more seconds of careful observation, Baron turns his aim towards one of the shadow soldiers who had just fully recovered from becoming a statue. The was powerful enough to completely eviscerate the target, leaving nothing but a black goo residue.

"Prophet is right, Heartbreak. This shadow is different from the ones you've faced before. I fear that defeating it will lead to further complications." When dealing with these psycho types, defeating the shadow could have disastrous results on its owner. As such, the situation required a much more delicate touch, much to Baron's annoyance. "A little sense of self-preservation goes a long way." Baron chimed in on Prophet's comment. While he didn't see the full fight, from how badly hurt they were he could tell that they were at their breaking point. Thankfully, the mercs weren't there to exterminate them. "All of you are gonna need some extra training after this. I think I've been too soft on all of you as of late." While they were indeed getting stronger, he was very much still worried about the large gap between their levels and the metamercs.

After hearing an extensive explanation from both the Cryptic and Prophet, he had to agree with the conclusion that this was done by a metaverse user. "Hmmm I've known only a handful of individuals who are capable of inflicting such conditions, they are even less of them now." He recognized this handiwork...but he couldn't be too sure. "Why would someone like him be involved in this?"

Sighing, he reluctantly agrees to call in his mysterious contact to further investigate this matter. "Very well." Baron nodded, agreeing to call in his third party. Like it or not, he had to admit that outside his expertise and he needed to rely on the accursed eccentric Doctor to resolve this case. Taking out his phone, he speed-dialed an unknown contact that simply had the contact name "Sage". "Sage, I have need of your expertise."