Fandom Persona 5: The Meta War CLOSED

[accursedjobber]

Soda truly was the most refined gentleman's drink. Isao felt his reserves fully replenish themselves as he got back up to continue the fight, well that was original plan as peeking out of the window of the barely manifested 1st floor of a side building to observe the speedster cycle through his teammates. Before he disappeared from Isao's sightline, wait did that me-. Isao then got hit like the others before he could finish that thought process the fiery power pushing him into the battlefield from the overlooking window while flailing about for his persona's hand.

"Count! Catch me! Catch Me!"

Isao's incessant scrambling to his persona worked, slowing his fall with the ghostly cold hand grasping his own and slowly hovering downwards on the floor in a slump leaving his advantageous position and entering the fight on equal footing, the fiery effects of the punch despite's Ann's buff still hit his weakness, so it left him knocked down for a turn of time. Though from his slumped position he attached one end of the handcuff to himself leaving the end dangling from it in in preparation for a repeated attack in an attempt to not make the same mistake twice.

"Ha, you punch like wuss!" This was not true and if he was being honest being slumped against a wall didn't really paint this lie, but Isao went for the only option he could conceive as he recovered from the knockdown.

 

[Anthem]

Imato was impressed by Swan's movements, even if near the end of the 'performance' her clothing almost ruined everything. He would slowly clap with an impressed smile behind his mask. "Yes, lets get going before any-" As he spoke that's when the lights within the corridor dimmed, and all noise had come to a close except for one.

The sound of chains rattling, getting closer and closer to the pair's current location.

Imato had only been warned of what this meant by Baron and the thieves who had more experience than him, but he knew that it was no longer safe to remain there. Not wasting a single moment he would use the observation ability once more whilst peering up the elevator shaft, trying to spot anything of use. "I'm going up a few floors, maybe there's a way another way to sneak in that's not compromised." Imato explained as he got ready to move out, he stopped in his tracks to look back a bit. "However you choose to get to the lab, be safe. Alright, Swan?" He would say with some genuine care for his teammate before going up the shaft first on his own, ready to find a way to the lab with or without anybody there for back up. Now, he was determined to get the job done no matter the cost that may become present over time.

 

[That Weird girl]

Morgana had taken the option that Suzuki had presented to him and climbed into the vent. He didn’t know why she would even do that because he would just let him die. “God what an idiot…” Morgana muttered to himself while traversing through the vent and finally jumped out back into the palace showing himself to the Matriarch through cameras. He thought he was being so sneaky too. He walked down the hallway of the 1st floor keeping away from traps that would capture him.

Morgana had a feeling she would send some backup after him but nope nothing. It seemed like the tulpas were inactive which meant Morgana was free to roam around for the time being. But a gold statue caught his eye before he walked up the stairs. He purred and walked over to it and tried to carry it with him. It was a little too heavy to carry so Morgana made a note to grab it when he was leaving. “Such a shame this place has to go,” Morgana sighed and stood there for a moment before heading up the stairs.

He hoped Swan and Tragedy were ok and could take on her. He was going to be awhile…still were a lot of traps to avoid and plus with Suzuki seeing his every movement that was a bad thing…

 

[TreasureSniper]

"Gonna take more than a punch to take me out of the game," Ann said to the Hellbiker and peppered him with bullets from her gun not wanting to hurt Roadkill but she had to for her team. Ann was hoping she could distract Roadkill enough for Isao to land an ice attack but was thinking maybe he would too fast so perhaps she would have to fight him with fire since it might overheat him. He could obliterate Carmen easily but Ann decided to fight fire with fire. Carmen shot a fireball at Hellbiker and then followed up with another one.

"THATS WHAT I AM COUNTING ON!" Roadkill yelled in excitement, clearly enthralled by how much stronger everyone was. Back then, this group could barely stand up to him, even without his persona. Now, they were opponents he needed to take seriously. Seeing the group take down the missiles from his fellow MetaMerc was impressive, seeing as most people would be too busy running from them to actually intercept the attack. "Tch." Haze was annoyed that they found the Achilles heel of his attack so easily. Or perhaps they had little help. "I hate it when they know how to fight..." The Metamerc muttered while hiding behind his persona. This was the weakness of hyperspecialization, which was also why he couldn't fight alone most of the time.

"Haze. Go for the eyes. Time to take the training wheels off." Roadkill was unusually serious, his carefree tone was gone, and now all that remained was a cold-hearted merc. "You're right, soda boy. You guys are big boys and girls now. And I can't afford to hold back anymore." The merc replied to Isao's taunt while cracking his knuckles and neck, clearly preparing for something. Thanks to Ann's attack, he knew he was on the verge of overheating. But if he was gonna go out, he might as well do something useful first. Summoning his persona to his side once more, the aura of fire around the two intensified. Roadkill gave a brief nod towards Haze, indicating he was ready.

At that moment, Arahabaki's eyes widened and unleashed a blinding light in the direction of the phantom thieves. While Baron did mention that Haze had this ability, he wasn't sure how many of them were listening since he was pretty sure he could hear some of them snoring during his debrief. As soon as the blinding light flashed forward, both Roadkill and Hellbiker took off at blinding speeds, burning a noticeable trail onto the ground. "OH YEAAA!!! I AM GOING ALL INNNNNN!"

Baron contemplated on whether he should take the shot to disable the speedster, but decided against it, believing the team will pull through regardless of his help. Hellbiker sped ahead, leading the charge while Roadkill was just a few feet away from him. As soon as they got close enough, Hell Biker began circling the team, preventing them from escaping the real meat of the attack. Roadkill himself would jump upwards to deliver a flying kick to one unlucky member of the team. Upon landing the kick, he would shift his direction so that he impacts against Hellrider and use that momentum to kick himself back into the team to deliver another kick. This repeated a total of 33 numerous times until he finally burns himself out, skidding across the floor, glowing red hot. He called this move, "Redline Burnout" A few seconds later, the MetaMerc, collapsed onto the ground as expected. Haze observed the aftermath, still cowering behind his persona. He could probably finish them with a few potshots, but he knew without another MetaMerc by his side, he likely wouldn't win a direct confrontation.

Nellancholy That Weird girl accursedjobber

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[Nellancholy]

A whooping and hollering ape, with not a semblance of decency. That was the kind of opposition the mercs could field.

"Ghk!" Things were going just lovely. Instinctively, Shiro turned away from the blinding light unleashed by Arahabaki; while her comrades might have been affected more harshly, her helmet and Thrud's managed to shield them from the worst of it. In light of that, Thrud was able to brace herself in a defensive position again, making herself the biggest target.

If Roadkill bothered turning up the heat, even Thrud might end up being cooked in her armor. It was therefore befitting his usual foolishness that he chose to launch a physical attack instead. Digging her lance into the ground, Shiro dropped into a low stance,holding her arms over her upper body in an approximation of a boxing guard.

His blows were blindingly fast and no slouch in terms of power, and the others might have had to endure a few of them. But two out of three struck Thrud or Shiro, just as planned. His foot clanged off steel, fiercely enough to leave a dent in Thrud's armor each time. With no opening to attack, the duo held fast, stubbornly withstanding the torrent of kicks.

And just when it seemed like they would buckle...he fell, the flames receding like water through a drain.

"Grrrrrh..." Shiro took a knee as well, Thrud's armor dented and charred. He had broken himself against her, his own strength driving him to ruin. She was not much better off...but she'd definitely be getting up first. This wasn't going to be a double knockout.

"W-where's all that bravado from before, ape?" Her body felt quite heavy, as if boulders were tied to her shoulders. Clenching her fists around the handle of her lance, she dragged herself to her feet. Staggering over to the temporarily incapacitated merc, she kicked lightly with her foot, scattering a handful of dirt over his face. "Consider this a mercy."

As much as she didn't want to owe more to the Baron, this was no way to continue. She opened another bottle of medicine and gulped it down, in clear defiance of the "not for internal use" label. The worst of the weight was lifted, and the dents in Thrud's armor popped out with a clang, too.

Strength renewed, Shiro cast her gaze to the wall again, narrowing her eyes at Haze.

"Look at yourself, coward. We hardly need to breach your fortress to pick the lot of you off if you're dull enough to venture out here yourself! What'll it be?"

She could only hope the infiltration team was doing better. And if they needed her to keep fighting here...well, she would.

 

[Maeve Valor]

By "compromised" she immediately understood what he meant; she concluded that he probably believed that the Matriarch already knew they were there and that's why a Reaper was let loose on their floor. Meaning that things wouldn't be as simple as just going straight up to the lab through the elevator shaft. Masami heard the concerned tone in Tragedy's voice so she tried to steel her nerves for what she was about to do. "Okay, you too. I think we passed by an office on this floor. I'm going to see if I can access anything from there. Don't have too much fun without me," she winked and then ran the opposite direction away from where the chains were coming from.

As she rounded a corner she heard two shadows talking to one another so she stopped to eavesdrop. "Oi, do you have any idea why my office is locked up?"

"No one told you? Matriarch Suzuki ordered all rooms that has server security clearance to be locked up. She even changed all our passwords," one of them stated.

"Oh that's pretty smart of her. That's our brilliant ruler for ya', always thinking ahead. What's the new password?" the other one asked as Masami peaked over to see that the one speaking was pretty strong since they had a red aura around them.

"Capital S-a-v-i-0-r. That's Savior with a '0' instead of an 'o'."

"Got it, thanks."

The two walked away and down a different hallway, so Masami hurried over to the door picking the lock with ease before going in. She then turned on the computer with the dual monitors and clicked on the program that she assumed linked up to the security measures of the building. Once on there, she entered the password she overheard and was logged in. The only problem was that the user she logged in as had access to only the floor she was currently on and the few floors above her until the lab floor. Masami cussed as she wondered what to do next.

The sight of the Reaper on the surveillance footage caught her eye as she thought, "Well, at least I can use security doors to cut him off from us."

With a simple click of the mouse, she was able to summon gates to trap it in only one area of the floor away from the elevator shaft. She then got an idea and got onto the communicator to speak, "Tragedy, I'm in and I have a plan. I can't get you into the lab, but I can make things easier for us and make a safe passage on the way up there so we don't have any more setbacks. I'll catch up to you, go on ahead while I work on it."

Masami clicked away as she closed some places and opened up other ones all while looping the footage so that the Matriarch didn't get suspicious of what they were doing. Once she was done she took note of one hallway she didn't put on a loop and crawled into a vent that would be shown on the camera to make her think that they chose to use the vents to get to the lab. Instead Masami was making her way to a different room on the same floor that did have the loop going on.

 

[Anthem]

"Sounds good, I'll take down as many defenses as I can to make things easier on the way out. Don't be frightened if you hear a bit of ruckus ahead." Imato joked with a small snicker at the end of his sentence before his quick stride jolted to a run. With the items he had at his disposal thanks to their provider, Baron, the teen didn't mind using some energy to take care of some shadows or tulpas if it made their overall time at this palace easier, plus free training before the fight with the Matriarch. Placing his trust in Swan's plan, he kept running to not waste anymore time though as he expected he eventually ran into a problem, a tulpa with some shadows for back-up.

"An intruder? The Matriarch will want you disposed of quickly..." One of the shadows sneered towards Imato, as the tulpa behind it bellowed out a vicious roar. "For the order, kill the intruder, Myrmecoleon!" The shadow cried out to it's tulpa ally before all of them proceeded to charge down the long corridor. Imato would stop, smirking under his mask as this would be the perfect time to practice a new spell Loki had gained from the training the thieves had indulged in. With a swift movement of his hand, his mask was removed and Loki was unleashed to face their foes.

"Hehehe... Let's not leave a single scrap of them, Loki!" Imato called out with a crazed grin before dashing towards the enemy, blue sparks being emitted from his hands as he moved. The sparks would attach to the ground, walls, and to any shadow that wasn't cut down by Loki as they ran by. The tulpa didn't allow such an easy move, getting a clean strike on the thief's face and arm as he dashed by.

"Damned... Tulpa." Imato cursed as he made it to the opposite end of the corridor, holding his right arm in pain from the slash from Myrmecoleon. Though, his grimace soon turned to another crazy grin of delight as he and Loki looked back at the sparks left behind. "Jackpot..." He would mumble before popping his thumb knuckle, and as if it was a detonator... "Ma...frei!" The corridor lit up with a blue hue as the sparks detonated, killing the shadows and tulpa.

"Tulpa... eliminated. I'm moving ahead." Imato groaned, notifying the others of the infiltration team of the kill before taking the time to chug a soda and some medicine. After a minute of letting both items take effect, Imato placed his mask back on his face before moving ahead in the palace.

 

[Nellancholy]

"Hmm..." The normally serene Matriarch was quite engrossed in the screens before her, almost as if she was playing a game or watching a movie. In a way, she was. The best games had some stakes to them, and the continued unity and strength of the Order was quite a prize. Those dull Shadows were barely more intelligent when squeezed and molded into human form, and they so easily gave away an opportunity to one of the thieves to breach the security system. They were good enough as an army, or at least a horde of hunting dogs. But for anything that needed more than "kill"? Utterly unreliable.

Nevertheless, the Matriarch was more than ready for a hands-on solution. Oh, and Rex too, if he cared to stick around.

As for the current status of the infiltration...the thieves should know better than to assume they were safe simply because of a little smoke and mirrors in her domain. The unseen could tell as much as what was before one's eyes...but they wouldn't live long enough to learn that lesson.

The Reaper had served its purpose for now, and the drone deactivated, receding into the walls. The two locations of the human thieves...one thought she was so clever, to leave an open vent clearly in view. The other had carelessly gotten into a fight, blasting through his opposition with a certain bold flair. Admirable, if futile. The Matriarch leaned towards the microphone, speaking again.

"You should know better than to try to mess with things you don't understand, Thieves. You may be right outside of my watchful eye...but I don't need to see you to find you."

Indeed, she was unable to pinpoint their exact location and could not direct her remaining forces as precisely as she would like. But their attempts to fool a careless observer would do little to help them against a properly attentive guard like herself. The sections where the camera footage were looped showed where they would head next. And when triggering the blast doors, it was clear that the thief who did it would avoid activating them in places that would obstruct herself. Therefore...

"My faithful army..." She addressed the shadows through the microphone, making sure the thieves could hear her. "Sweep the third floor, sectors B-3 to 7. Destroy the heathens and prove your worth to me...or be purged."

"Understood, Matriarch! We'll take their heads at once! Kehehehehehe!" The march of the Shadows echoed through the corridors.

But that wasn't quite all. The Matriarch pulled a lever, draining some of the empty tanks that would have stored tulpas...

In the next second, sprinklers on the third floor gushed out a thin red mist, saturating the air around the thieves.

The vapor seemed quite harmless to them...but the surviving Basilisk and Orthrus perked up, sniffing the air for a moment...and their veins swelled with rage.

Following the scent of the mist, the tulpas' claws and paws battered the ground as they ran towards it in a mad fury, bearing towards their target.

Whatever plan the thieves had to reach the lab, it had better be fast...

Maeve Valor Anthem

 

[That Weird girl]

Morgana was quiet hoping that Suzuki would not focus on him as much as he wanted to say something snarky back. He avoided the poison arrow traps and dodged the arrows being sent at him with a swish of wind by Zorro. The small animal managed to make it into a large room where he was sure the will seed was being held. Then gates shut down all around him locking him in, Morgana noticed that a spotlight was shining on him and swore silently to himself. "Oh look a little cat," A shadow guard looked at him, "really? You're the intruder! Well I don't hurt animals-"

"Cut the shit and give me the will seed," Morgana said aggressively, "or I will kill you." The shadow held his hands up sarcastically like he was surrendering to the cat. "My what a horrid little beast," he said and crossed his arms, "still the same animal from that palace huh?" The shadow was interested in their lives unlike other shadows in this palace. He quickly dispatched the other shadows with ease and bolted the door shut so the Tulpas could not just come in yet.

"Look, I am willing to make a deal and betray Suzuki," The shadow said to the cat, "but you have to promise me that the mask of metatron is mine." The shadow grinned showing that this was what Suzuki thought about meta mercs


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

The attack did knock Ann off her feet and even though she did not take the blunt of the attack it still hurt. The girl quickly drank a soda and got up to her feet glancing over at her teammates. Shiro was of course the one giving Roadkill and Haze a taunt and she thought maybe they would give up the fight now. "I wouldn't mess with her if I were you," Ann said to Haze, "especially at full strength...you want to give up now?"

Ann let the mercs sulk in their defeat and looked to find her other teammate who she hoped was ok. They have seemed to have bested the mercs this time. "You guys want a round 2?" Ann asked taunting the mercs, she could not help it it was so fun to do. Ann pointed her submachine gun at Haze in case he tried to do anything but then realized that Shiro had him and moved her aim to Roadkill not believing for a second he would stay down.

"Roadkill" she said to him, "we will give you a chance to escape like Heartbreak said consider this a mercy..."

TreasureSniper Nellancholy accursedjobber

 

[Maeve Valor]

After Masami climbed the shaft to the third floor, she was met by hearing explosions in the distance thinking with a smile that it was probably Tragedy trying out his newest ability. Then she was blessed by the voice of the ever so benevolent Matriarch Suzuki. At hearing her orders through the intercoms, she reacted with a string of colorful cuss words towards the woman wishing she could hear her now as she booked it down the hallway. Once the mist started coming from the ceiling she tried to cover her mouth as she ran, but when she noticed there was no effect she stopped. This did not set her at ease though, she assumed it must affect others such as the Shadows or something which was just as worrying to Masami. Thankfully, Tragedy made do with his words and cleared the way for her as she sprinted as fast as she could before any of the Shadows or worst bumped into her.

Even with all her efforts to not run into a shadow she still ended up doing just that as one blocked her path and said, "I will prove my worth to the great Matriarch Suzu- wha?!" The shadow was promptly cut off when Masami never stopped running and threw down a smoke bomb trying to conserve her stamina as well as not waste any more time. She then twirled around them while having the gall to swiftly pickpocket from them grabbing a vial. As the shadow was still confused and looking for her, she was already long gone looking back at him with a smirk. She looked down at the vial and by the consistency and color of its contents, it looked like a "soul drop" so she put it away for later.

Ash stained the walls on some parts of a hallway so she knew she was getting close to catching up to Tragedy until finally she saw him within view and yelled over, "I thought I told you not to have too much fun without me!" A mischievous smile pulled at her lips as she headed for the destination alongside him.

 

[Anthem]

Imato would sigh upon hearing the Matriarch's voice calling out to her forces, calling for a directed sweep of their location as an attempt to be rid of the human thieves. He'd continue down the hall despite the mist flooding the air, the teen was much more focused on finding a way to get up to the lab to the point he was sweeping the area with heightened observation to see if anything would be of use. He'd only stop once he heard a familiar voice call out before running to join him, a small smile would form despite being obstructed by his mask.

"Oh, so no 'Thank you Tragedy for clearing the way'? It's fine, just be a bit faster next time and I might just let you get some of the action." Imato snickered a bit, before continuing his search for a way up. Time was running short before the Matriarch's forces arrive and surround the two, which didn't help either since that panic started to fill him just a tad. Though the panic that was filling Imato's veins quickly drained away as he saw an air duct, one that extended to the lab above them. He would walk over to the vent, quickly taking off the cover before taking a deep breath. "Well, it's do or die now. So let's get this done and over with so all of us can get out of here."

Imato would then enter the duct, swiftly making his way up to their destination before entering the lab through the duct. Since he assumed Suzuki was aware of their entry due to the noise that came from climbing the air duct, he wasted no time to speak out to the Matriarch. "Suzuki! I believe you know why we are here, so I offer you a simple way out. Give up on building the Order and hand over the treasure. Then we might go easy on you." Imato yelled out, knowing that it would most likely be futile but still worth a fair try. Though just in case it didn't work, he had his weapons at the ready.

 

[Nellancholy]

Excitement and frustration warred within the Matriarch as the Thieves slipped away. The tulpas she had released felt much the same. Unable to reach the initial targets of their rampage, they soon turned and began tearing apart the Shadows that were meant to help them corral the intruders. Their programmed bestial nature had gotten the better of them, and for the moment Suzuki had better things to do than rein them in.

A supposedly spiritual, benevolent woman, salivating at the prospect of battle. If her followers could see this, would their faith in her be shaken? Probably not: as egalitarian and self-sufficient her ideals supposedly were, she made sure to direct all their devotion and gratitude ultimately to her.

And there it was, the sound of the grate opening and the thieves presenting themselves to her, foolish as they were. To think these mangy stray dogs had the audacity to barge in and start yapping at her...

She turned around, clasping her hands hospitably as she resumed her calm, upright demeanor. "Go easy on me? Hm. I don't believe you're in much of a position to be making demands here, young man. And neither I nor our lord Metatron have any intention of putting an end to the Order's activities. So many downtrodden, so many people starving and poor, diseased and wounded. In fear of crime and war, the worst extremities of their fellow man." She took a few firm steps towards the intruders, not waiting for Rex to confront them. "And in the face of all that you choose to fight me instead? All I ever did was offer them the means to overcome the adversities before them. No need for money, no need for violence or deception. Simply...change the hearts of those who oppress them through the Metaverse. And the obstacles that face them will fall away, one by one..."

"When I offer them such a gift, can you blame me for asking for just a little in return? To signify their devotion, their willingness to make sacrifices in the material world for power in the Metaverse..." The tailored suit, large office building, and high-tech facilities certainly seemed like more than "just a little". The cracks of greed were showing in her sanctimonious mask. "I was given...this gift for a reason." She raised the mask of Metatron to her face. "And all you can think of is to stand in the way of my glorious purpose. Well then..." She set the mask to her face, a hissing sound issuing forth alongside dark red smoke as it bonded to her. "...the perfect world won't miss a few leeches."

In a flash, the robotic body of Metatron formed around the Matriarch, encasing her in a gleaming facsimile of angelic armor that emanated a perverse imitation of holy light.

The next voice that spoke was not that of the Matriarch...or at least not her alone.

"MASAMI. OGAWA. YOU HAVE REFUSED MY GIFT ONCE. YOU HAVE RETURNED TO MAKE A MOCKERY OF ME AND MY ORDER. IN MY BENEVOLENCE I OFFER YOU A FINAL CHANCE. SUBJUGATE YOURSELF AND BANISH YOUR UNDESERVED PRIDE OR PERISH LIKE YOUR FILTHY COMRADES."

Not missing a beat, Metatron's wings spread, each feather firing a beam of light in the manner of the Makougaon spell. Each beam curved, firing into the ground surrounding the Thieves. But the mass of the attack was concentrated on Swan, attempting to surround her like a clump of thorns or a barbed cage. And as they struck...each beam did not dissipate, but instead slowly crept along the ground like the blades of a combine harvester.

Maeve Valor Anthem TreasureSniper

 

[That Weird girl]

"I don't have time for this," Morgana said and sent out Garula towards the stronger shadow who got knocked back into one of the columns but managed to recover fast and quickly fired two bullets at Morgana. "You will regret this cat!" The shadow yelled and began to transform into a giant knight on a horse facing Morgana. Morgana did gulp a little bit but got back confident when he thought about how much sushi he could get with the treasure and that made him happy. Morgana pulled out his slingshot and shot the knight several times which did nothing to him.

"Heh! I am resistant to physical damage," The knight said and slammed his lance down on the ground creating a shockwave towards Morgana.

The shockwave hurt and Morgana was flung into a table breaking it. The cat got up and took note of the stronger shadow being resistant to physical damage and wished Tragedy and Swan were here to help. He didn't think he could take him on alone but he would never admit it to them. He would also never let Baron know that he was thankful for him and his supplies either.

"Have fun getting crushed by the palace," Morgana said as he threw down a smoke bomb on the ground and smoke filled the room as he made a dash towards the room holding the second will seed and got inside snatching it for himself and this time the room did not close on him.

 

[accursedjobber]

Isao forgot how much it hurt to have your ass kicked in seven ways to Sunday, even to a degree where he couldn't even recognize the style of kick and like the others was left to the strike's lack of mercy, though he did take a mental note to rejoin a boxing club after this, he was acting like an amateur. Getting back up from the combo issued by Roadkill in the levity and unchained the handcuff from himself to approach the downed stun kicker before backing up in response to the words of the other members of the team "Ah, yeah that is a thing we do".

Still didn't stop him from freezing an empty can to press against his jaw in place of medicine as he shimmied over to the other members of the distraction and spoke to them in an attempted theater whisper "Are you guys sure about this? shouldn't we like restrain or disarm them, not let them go to do this all over again?"

Even if Isao had no belief in the so-called honor among thieves believing that the darkened minds of thieves couldn't hold themselves to a code. Though it would curious if that was a custom developed over time it would mean that. Isao just decided to stop overthinking things as he just offered up the handcuffs along with a grin filled head tilt and attempted to hint at his own preference to cuff them. After all the fight wasn't exactly one sided enough to warrant actions done out of pride, that'll come later hopefully.

 

[TreasureSniper]

"Look at yourself, coward. We hardly need to breach your fortress to pick the lot of you off if you're dull enough to venture out here yourself! What'll it be?"

"You're lucky Slayer isn't here. He would have made mince meat out of all of you!" Haze replied in annoyance towards how cocky they'd gotten as a result of their increase in strength. This was bad. If he just fled, the MetaMercs would likely punish him for his cowardice. Is that any better than being held hostage by these vigilantes? Handcuffs? "Don't pretend to care for us! Even a defeated enemy has dignity!" Haze responded to Ann with disdain.

Roadkill was unresponsive to the taunts of thieves. Likely because he was completely unconscious at this point. Haze clenched his revolver with a death grip before turning his gun towards his enemy. "Fixer! Do you read me? Things have gone south out here, we need your assistance...." However, his pleas for assistance were met with nothing but silence. He wave of despair struck the lone metamerc. Fixer was supposed to be their ace in the hole for this mission, where was he? A few seconds later, his question would be answered. Fixer's beloved steel bat came flying across the battlefield. Prompting Haze to turn his head back to see what was going on. A moment later, the metamerc's body would come flying out of the gate, battered and bruised with a broken mask to boot.

The doors of the gate collapsed, revealing the culprit of the brutality. It was Baron, covered it copious amounts of black liquid, the blood of his enemies. To think that he would slip in throughout the commotion deal such a serious blow without so much as a sound. Truly a dangerous man. The lone standing MetaMerc, seeing no other option, turn to his persona and initiated his final command, "Arahabaki.....self-destruct..." Haze spoke in a sorrowful tone, prompting the persona to open its chassis, revealing a large digital timer set to 10 seconds. "...What the hell are you doing?!" The downed metamerc spoke, clearly still injured by Baron's brutality. "Scorched earth!" He pointed his staff all around the phantom thieves, casting Masukunda, lowering their mobility significantly. "GLORY TO THE ALLFATHER! HAHAAHAHA" Haze cackled, seemingly losing his mind in the process. Despite the gravity of the situation, Baron seemed unfazed, mere crossing his arms while observing the madman, curious to see how the thieves would react.

Nellancholy That Weird girl Anthem

///////////////

Rex stood by the Matriach side, though he was somewhat annoyed the by theatrics, he understood that it was important for her to do so to raise the morale of her followers. The metamerc brandished his blade and summoned King Midas to his side, preparing for what was to come. The king would slam his right hand onto the floor, creating a wave of gold that propagated toward the thieves. The floor below the thieves briefly transformed into gold and shortly after that, electricity began running through it, shocking anyone still touching it in an attempt to paralyze them. He wasn't sure if any of them were resistant to electricity, but he thought this was a good opportunity to find out.

"Lets see what you're made of, Phantom thieves." Rex uttered, jumping onto the golden path he had created and using the electric current to propel himself forward, literally riding the lightning. The experienced MetaMerc easily avoided the Matriach's rays of light, dancing around them before striking them with his blade, specifically aiming at their legs, trying to trip them to fall onto the golden floor, possibly electrocuting their entire body. He was as brutal as they come, striking both thieves with the pommel of his blade and kneecapping them in the gut. Each time they made contact with his body, they would get a jolt of electricity.

Rex was fairly similar to Roadkill in terms of power level. And unlike Roadkill, he doesn't waste time joking around and is generally more professional when fighting. Also unlike him, he doesn't have a burnout timer and instead forces his enemies to fight him in an electrified field. His "domain" is where he has boosted stats while his enemies are weakened and at a disadvantage. Based on the debrief Baron gave them, he wanted the team to fight him together instead of alone.

Maeve Valor accursedjobber

 

[Maeve Valor]

Pain shot through Masami from Metatron's "blessing" and then from Rex's attacks, but she didn't want to give the bitch the satisfaction of seeing her in pain as she gritted her teeth to keep from yelling. Her legs buckled to prevent her from falling. She wavered for a moment, but what mattered is that she was still standing, ready to fight as she spoke back to the woman before her, "You who parade yourself around like some messiah. Promising people salvation, deliverance, reclamation, whatever the hell words it takes to get people to follow you..." Masami straightened herself out as she took off her mask releasing Scheherazade finally during this infiltration. Her persona's grin seemed to be wider than usual as more and more cracks formed on her like a volcano crater about to erupt.

"You act like by giving people Tulpas, it solves all their problems. All it does is distract them from their own flaws that they need to work through. I may have my own demons and in a mindset of desperation, but one thing is for sure... I will not follow and rely on someone let alone the likes of you to dictate and change me!" She pointed at the Matriarch as Scheherazade summoned her giant sword from a cursed red pool she formed from the ground up and slammed it on the floor creating her own cursed energy to snake its way to Suzuki.

"Consider this my last declination. Maeiga!" The attack swirled up to hit its targets. Since she knew the ability wouldn't affect Rex in his current state, she then unsheathed her own saber running it along part of the floor that showed red cursed energy still, using it to transfer to her blade to jump and slash at him, engulfed in rage that she had for Suzuki letting her emotions get the best of her.

 

[Anthem]

Due to the Matriarch's attack focusing on Swan more than him, Imato dodged the beams of light with relative ease before finally being caught by Rex's electric terrain and barrage of attacks. The teen faltered for but a moment before forcing himself to make a move. He would stay silent for the initial moment of his attack, ripping off his mask swiftly to unleash Loki back into the fray of battle. Both Imato and Loki would cast out the blue sparks from before along the electric pathway made by Rex, making sure that the sparks also reached the Matriarch. "Damned fools, Mafrei!" Imato finished casting the spell, detonating the sparks in an attempt to slow down Rex and injure the Matriarch.

Once the spell had been finished, Loki had already faded away as Imato's mask returned to his face. He would pull out his pistol and saber before dashing at the Matriarch, deciding to attack her while Swan attacked Rex. "Scum like you don't deserve to have power, not when it blind people from the truth of reality. When this is over, not a single person will be affected by your damned Order again!" Imato yelled out, blasting away at Suzuki with his pistol as he closed the distance between himself and his foe. When in range, Loki was summoned once again as both him and Imato slashed at Suzuki with their bladed weaponry. The craze of battle once again left a sinister smile on Imato's face, while Loki seemed to now be the serious one out of the two of them.

 

[Nellancholy]

"IMPUDENT." Despite his unchanging expression, the rage in Metatron's voice was evident as he clenched his metal fists. "YOU DARE TRAFFIC IN SUCH VILE SORCERY? YOU TRULY ARE LOST." As the tendrils of darkness conjured by Swan snaked around him, it merely took a shrug of his shoulders for a wave of light to burst forth from him, evaporating them like so much morning dew. Even that took more effort than it would for him to resist any other attack. If only his radiance could be weakened somewhat, those cursed attacks might be the perfect means to disable him...

The tendrils of light dissipated for the moment as Metatron hovered closer to the ground, taking advantage of Rex's aggression. This would appear to be a mistake as Tragedy and Loki set upon him relentlessly, their blades slicing dexterously and relentlessly at his armor. But that was all they could do. Metatron's steel fist rose and shot forward like a cannonball, easily blasting Loki aside. "TO RAISE ARMS AGAINST AN INSTRUMENT OF DIVINE WILL. THESE HUMANS ARE TRULY NO BETTER THAN ANIMALS." He raised his arm again to deliver another blow, but...

"Stop them, Beowulf!" The hulking warrior tulpa that Shiro had made conversation with on her last visit lunged forward, a fearsome sword wrapped in chains smashing down on Metatron's arm in a ferocious blow that relied more on its weight than sharpness.

"My...tulpa?!" Suzuki's astonished voice broke through Metatron's facade for a moment before the angel swung again. Staggered but undamaged, it wasn't hard for him to swat Beowulf back.

It was then that dark clouds began to gather on the ceiling of the lab...inexplicably allowing a few beams of moonlight to shine through.

"Protect them, Hecate!" While not quite able to extinguish it completely, the beams of moonlight were able to weaken Rex's field of lightning wherever they struck, creating patches within it where his attacks weren't as potent.

"Impossible...how?" Suzuki glanced back at the tubes the tulpas were held in...and just as she feared, two of them had broken open. Someone had somehow commandeered her creations, those things that were supposed to obey her absolutely.

"Sorry I'm late, Matriarch." Mina, the cheerful woman that the Thieves first met in the subway, stepped out into the open. "Now that we've got help from the outside, I think it's about time we take our leave too!"

Jiro, her brother and the Order's enforcer who had tried to ambush Morgana's group during their first infiltration of the office, took his position beside her. Both of them had discarded the Order's raiments for more ordinary attire, but the goggles given by them still sat on their faces. It seemed they couldn't enter the Metaverse without them, and their ability to exist here and control the tulpas couldn't last long..."Sorry for what I did to your friends the other day..." Jiro frowned at Masami. "I don't know how to make it up to you...but I'll start by helping you take her down. Sorry, Matriarch." He turned to face the furious angel. "You've promised us a lot, but you've lied to us as much too."

"TRAITORS!" Metatron roared. "YOUR SIN IS THE GREATEST OF ALL. NOW THAT YOU HAVE REVEALED YOURSELF TO ME, THE ONLY FATE FOR YOU IS TO FALL BENEATH MY BLADE." With that declaration, Metatron raised his hand, a glowing spear materializing in his grip. In a flash of light, he hurled himself at Beowulf first.

His anger at the traitors drove him to recklessness as he clashed with the statuesque swordsman, his wrath directed away from the thieves for a moment. Even so, Metatron's strength and invincibility would eventually win out, unless Morgana did his job...

Maeve Valor Anthem TreasureSniper

 

[Nellancholy]

Meanwhile, on the outside...

The section of Shadows that had ventured out of the base to engage the diversion team had been severely cut down. Most of the creatures who hadn't been pulverized acted on animalistic or demonic instinct, fleeing with their tails between their legs to take up residence elsewhere in the Metaverse, either in Mementoes or the palace of the next underhanded bastard to rise.

As for Haze, he was either a sore loser or a serious fanatic, apparently daring to activate a self-destruct sequence with his Persona that threatened to blow out the exterior walls of the base and likely wipe out some of the surrounding area as well. And to top it all off, he tried to entrap the Thieves there to ensure their doom.

But that wasn't going to happen...not this time. "Your 'Allfather' wins no glory here today, coward." Shiro spat. "Your mission is a complete failure, and it would be either a fool or the most bald-faced liar who says otherwise."

Thrud knelt down, crossing her arms. It took two precious seconds for her to summon her concentration, manifesting it as an array of spikes that burst forth from her armor, shattering the gravitational aura that weighed the team down and would have prevented them from escaping the blast radius. A more tenacious opponent could have attacked her in this opening, but Haze was committed to his little dramatic act.

"Now then..." Shiro clambered onto her back, holding tight onto her like some colossal bird. There were two...no, three people to save. And despite the urgency of the situation, only two hands...

"Shit..." Instead of holding them up individually, Thrud opened her arms, pulling Ann, Isao, and Roadkill into a hug before firing her jets and launching straight up into the air.

Hopefully, it'd be just enough to get them out of the blast radius...

That Weird girl accursedjobber

 

[That Weird girl]

Most of the shadows were gone or dead so Morgana had no trouble with transversing through the palace. He heard a big explosion happen and the walls were blown apart threatening to crush the little creature. He quickly moved behind a big crate that shielded him from the roof debris collapsing. Morgana was very worried about what that was and wondered if his teammates were still alive…because it really seemed like they got exploded into bits.

Seeing the familiar appearance of Thrud fly up through the decaying walls answered his question and Morgana smirked. Shiro definitely was quick at thinking, Morgana had to give her that. But now he couldn’t dwell on that cool moment because he had to weaken Suzuki before the palace collapsed from the explosion. Transforming into bus mode to be able to tank falling debris, Morgana drove down the hallway and past the falling pillars into a room where there the seed was. He transformed into his Bakneko form again and ran towards the table where the seed was and grabbed it.

“How am I going to get out of here?” He muttered to himself knowing full well that he knew what to do. He could crash into the lab and help his friends out but he wasn’t exactly sure what was happening there. So he quickly made his way to the lab by jumping in a vent and seeing how he could get the treasure.


“Oh my god!” Ann was shocked to see Haze acting like a crazy person and trying to trap them and then explode with his persona. She was thankful for Shiro being there and lifting them out of danger, even Roadkill because he didn’t deserve to die either.

To say she was traumatized was an overstatement. The meta mercs really were killers…she had never faced someone who really wanted her and her friends dead and would do anything to achieve it. After this they would have to get stronger or else they would be hunted down and killed. She did not know this all father but he sounded similar to Suzuki in that his name was used in glory.

 

[Maeve Valor]

It warmed Masami's heart to see these ex-followers of Metatron come to their senses seeing the blindfold of deception that kept them from seeing the cult that it truly was. She nodded in appreciation at the words Jiro expressed right before Metatron charged at him. Masami knew that he wouldn't stand a chance against Metatron, not to mention that her and Tragedy took quite the heavy hit earlier from Matriarch Suzuki so Masami did her best to defend everyone for the time being until Morgana got there to help.

"Marakukaja!" Masami commanded to her persona and with the claymore facing downward touching the ground, she propped it up with an arm as she made a sweeping motion across the room with her other hand raising the defenses of all her allies within the room. Masami did not notice that Morgana was nearby yet so unfortunately, the ability was unable to reach him.

Right after her command she then focused on what Rex was doing while Metatron was distracted. In hopes of staggering Rex, she took out a Psy Magatama raising it to use the psychic power that resided inside. "Let's see how you fair against this!" Magenta streaks of energy shot out of the stone to all hone in on Rex.

 

[Anthem]

Imato was more surprised than anything to see the former followers of Metatron's Order rebel against what use to be their leader, but was glad to see that even without taking down the Matriarch that some had strayed away from the Order's cultish activities. Though his feeling of gratefulness quickly faded once he got his mind set on the battle again, using this chance to get away from Metatron and regroup with his injured Persona. While the hit from Metatron caused quite a lot of damage to Loki, it wasn't enough to keep him out of the game quite yet.

"Our primary target has been changed for now." Imato calmly said as Loki returned to his side, the two onlooking the terrain that had been weakened in some areas by another Tulpa user. The teen felt the boost in defense while observing what to do next, smiling just a tad before deciding what to do. "Divide and conquer." Imato commanded and Loki would immediately follow the plan, separating from Imato so both could attack the Meta Merc from different angles.

Loki navigated to one of the beams of moonlight further away from the center of Rex's attacks, now relying on distance instead of getting up close and personal for combat. The persona would start using gun skills such as 'Snap' to inflict damage from the distance. Since it wasn't known by him what Rex was weak to, Imato would do the same thing that Swan had done and use a Psy Magatama to barrage Rex with multiple bolts of energy.

 

[accursedjobber]

Haze's declaration of preemptively suicide stunned Isao out of his smug victory lamenting, so he did what came naturally as Shiro wrapped them away from the scene of cultish declarations.
"Count, freeze the bomb or something" aiming a Bufu at the timer in a shallow attempt to prevent the bombing taking a life or metaverse knowledge as he grabbed away. Either was amount to murder and it be damned if Isao was going to bring in burned corpses without trying something.

Leaving him to stew in this new development of each merc possibility being cult members perhaps similar to the palace ruler's followers. Fanatism to commit suicide a large amount of commitment for failure so they probably didn't have many defeats, though the question of why sell yourself if you had a monopoly of the metaverse so the buyer or backer may also be attuned to the metaverse.

"Roadkill, is the Allfather with us right now?" Isao asked straight faced in the rather cramped embrace of Shiro's persona towards their shared captivity, better to keep active then think about the morality of what just happened even if it was their choice and decision that lead them down that path.

 

[TreasureSniper]

Isao's attempt to freeze the timer had worked, for about a few seconds, but the timer eventually continued to tick down along with the insane cackle of a man who had lost his mind. "FOOLS! To die a meaningful death is preferable than to live a meaningless life." In truth, he was just afraid of what they would do, if were to be caught lacking on the field. A split second later, Baron disappeared from sight, and reappeared right in front of Arahabaki, tearing out the timer along with the innards of the persona with his bear hands before tossing them high up into the Metaverse sky, resulting in a massive explosion. that left everyone unharmed. Arahabaki laid onto the floor, its innard having been emptied out, looking like an empty tin can. Shortly after this, the Persona faded away, back into its master. "W-What have you done!?" The metamerc was practically on the verge of tears, as Baron lifted the man onto his feet with the neck lift.

"Wait you don't have to do this!! I can be a useful ally! It'll be just like old times!" Haze continued to beg, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Baron finally responded with a single. Word. "No." He uttered coldly before plunging his hand into his chest. Black liquid began spurting out from the "wound" for a few seconds before Baron pulls out a diamond-like object with a shape that resembled a heart.

The masked figure turned his attention to the object his pulled out, casually tossing aside Haze's body like an empty container. The metamerc's attire evaporated, leaving behind a mundane looking young man with casual attires. The young man panic upon realizing what just happened, reaching out to Baron, trying to reclaim the object before finally collapsing.

"Farewell, Haze." Baron gave the fleeting Metamerc a goodbye before crushing the object, causing its power to flow into him. Right after, the young man's body became gradually translucent before completely fading away.

Baron turned his attention to the merc closest to him, Fixer. But before he got close enough, a large humanoid bird came swooping in whisking away the whitesuited merc with its talons.

On the other side, the crimson speedster had finally regained his consciousness just in time to realize what was going on. "...No he's not... but he is always watching..." Roadkill took short moment to admire Ann's....physique. It wasn't everyday that he got a good look at her. He smiled underneath his mask as he saw another bird humanoid come his way. With swift kick, he broke himself free from Thrud's hold, sending himself flying to the talons of the second birdman.


Baron was surprised, he didnt he would see two of the All-father's personnel attendees at once place. But he knew one way or the other that they were always watching them in the first place. Nonethless, he stood his ground, preparing to fight the two and yet they just hovered over them for a bit, observing them with their unblinking eyes. "Hehe....well, I guess you guys win this time..but....I have this strange feeling that won't be the last we she each other... call it a hunch..." Roadkill winked at the team. He wasn't really sure what just happened, all he knew was it was time to go. "I look forward to our next fight. Especially with you... Panther... mwaaa!~" Roadkill blew panther a farewell kiss before preparing to take off. However he had one last message to impart. "Oh...one more thing....don't trust Baron." And with that, the two birdmen flew off into the distant horizon.

"And that takes care of that.." Baron sighed in relief and motioned the others to enter the fortress. "Come on then. That treasure isnt going to steal itself!" In spite of everything that had transpired, Baron seemed none worse for wear.

Nellancholy accursedjobber That Weird girl
//////////////////

Back at the Matriach throne room, Rex was both impressed and surprised by the sudden reinforcements as well as the techniques employed by these adversaries. At first, Rex was struck by Imato's "Snap" attack, leaving a noticeable mark on his chest guard. The psionic energy produced by the consumables hit its mark, striking Rex, and downing him for a moment. It felt like he was hit by a truck. While psionic wasn't his weakness, he didn't have any resistances towards it either. On top of that, these items were allowed to hit way above their weight class. "These items....they're from...Baron aren't they?" Rex was frustrated by his current situation. After all, no metaverse user of their caliber should have access to such items. "Not bad...." Rex pushed himself back up with sword, eager to return the favor to the thieves and traitors alike. Tossing aside his cloak, he summons his persona beside him to empower his weapon with electricity. With his eyes glowing purple, he points his sword at Masami.

He called this move, "Lightning waltz". Without further delay, a bolt of lightning burst out from the point of his blade, shocking Masami. Regardless of its effectiveness, lightning would chain onto the Imato, Mina and Jiro respectively. The lighting itself wasn't highly damaging but it did have a strong paralyzing effect. A line of gold would manifest just below the path of the chain lightning, looking like a thin line that connected the dots. Rex would then follow up this attack by transforming himself into a literal bolt of lightning, entering the line of gold to travel through it. Upon reaching each target, Rex would reappear in front of them and deliver a devasting slash onto them before moving to the next person in line. In truth, their powers were close in strength but had a noticeable gap in experience and technique, which isn't something that can be taught within a week. "Strenght without purpose....is meaningless..." He recited has master's mantra before to his opponents once more, to see how many of them still stood.

Anthem Maeve Valor

 

[Anthem]

Imato smiled when seeing the effective attacks strike Rex, marking his armor and sending him to the ground, even though it was barely effective in the long run. Though his joy quickly faded when Rex stood back up, noting that the items were most likely from Baron and not collected by the thieves. Being paralyzed by the chain lightning was more painful than the shocks from the lightning terrain, since he couldn't move no matter how much he struggled. Then that's when the destructive attack hit him, he felt the little will he had left drain away in nearly an instant. Imato would cough out in pain, holding his chest as his vision wavered in and out of focus.

"L...oki." Imato called out to his persona, and Loki dashed forward to hold Imato up before he fell forward into the electric terrain. His pained face faded back to a confident glare, beaming towards Rex. "And, not being aware of your surroundings... Is deadly." Imato simply said to Rex before doing his usual cracking of a knuckle to signify a detonator. Blue sparks would flare to life and explode suddenly around Rex. "Freila..!" Imato called out the name of the spell before exhaustion finally hit, as he fell forward. Falling somewhat into electric terrain, a singular shock from the environment knocked the theif out, and Loki would disappear.