Controlling the Beast [Analee/Joshua]

After a slightly longer rush than what he had first anticipated, Phalanx found himself with Joshua and Azami just outside the ruined village. The unconscious girl rested her back on a nearby tree-trunk while Phalanx sat on a paticularly mossy rock. Joshua, as he had expected, was livid, and the android was waiting for the man to calm down... Not that he would do so anytime soon. "You want answers for what I did, and why I did it, no?" Phalanx asked him after a while, breaking the awkward silence that was hanging over them like the plague. He couldn't blame Joshua for being angry, as anyone would've been that way in his situation. "First off, I've noticed you've been quite confused on why your persona has changed... I know why." He'd start cryptically. "You, Just like me and Azami, have been embraced by the Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep... He's the antithesis of the one you originally got your powers from. It's a persona not originally stemming from your own soul, and is more of a "gift" from him to you, in exchange you'll have to follow his orders, or be punished accordingly. I have no doubt in my mind that Simon has already caught on." He'd take a deep breath before continuing on.


It was regretful to mention this now, but it had to be done. "There's no surefire way to rid yourself of it's influence... but I can teach you how to control it. And I will, by force if necessary. We can't have you acting on Yamato Takeru's whims in critical situations." His tone got very serious by the end there. His eyes would scan the surrounding areas for Analee... She was bound to come any minute now. He'd summon his red lance, and let it rest against his shoulder while he awaited Joshua's eventual reply.

Rage.

It was what Joshua truly felt when he finally was on his feet. Or at least that's what he initially felt. Strangely enough, it waned away the further they got away from Simon and the group. Yet, he still felt anger towards the one named Phalanx. But under that, there was a sense of gratitude. He didn't have to kill Ariston, at least not right now. Yes, it may have been wise to stay back and not fight with Sharaku. Joshua didn't care too much of the danger, but he didn't want to hurt Rinna and Simon by killing one of their friends. Which is why he was going to hear Phalanx out.

Joshua felt the name "Nyarlathotep" was familiar. Someone once mentioned it to him two years ago. But where and who? He didn't care right now, that wasn't important. It sounded like he was forcibly given some kind of "gift", a troublesome one. He thought about it, despite his head throbbing in a painful pulse. There really isn't a whole lot what he can do about controlling the Tainted Persona. But... if there was an option to keep in control, he would...

He had expected Analee to pull something like this, and quickly moved out of the way of the punch she threw. Phalanx understood her frustration with him, and it was warranted, but he'd rather keep his own jaw intact. "With someone like me? I was just ensuring my investment wouldn't get himself killed, that's all." Phalanx replied with a shrug. "Anger isn't going to solve anything."

His gaze would then fall back upon Joshua. "From what I've learned, there are two ways to quell your Persona's influence over you." He started. "One being to deal with some issues regarding your past, be it some form of injustice or something else that heavily plagues your psyche. Being in this state makes you vulerable to your Personas control, and by Strengthening your state of being, you get a stronger foothold in the internal struggle between you and your persona. This was how I did it." By accepting his role as a tool for Nyarlathotep had been the first step in that direction. It had taken him months to truly get the control he had today. "The other approach is much more direct, tackling the source of the problem itself. Your Persona." He paused for a moment, allowing Joshua to ask any questions he might've had until now. "This method may be the faster one, but control is not garantueed. I need to physically Beat down your persona, Breaking it, if you will."

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, Joshua turned around to see Analee. She didn't seem like that "corrupted" self when they met with Sharaku and Ariston. He gave a small smile at her, still not sure about the former Primordial. But, that fell when she was going to punch Phalanx, causing him to move between them. Joshua firmly spoke to her, "Alright, stop that. I want to hear him out."

He was angry at Phalanx, that much was certain. But, right now, the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon knew about something he wanted to know. Joshua nodded at him to continue, and he did. Yet, what he wanted to hear and what he actually heard were two different things. That fact caused him to grimace, but not surprised. Then he closed his eyes as if to ponder his choices.

There was considerable pain. It latched onto him like a parasite. It wasn't so much that Yamato-Takeru was the actual parasite, no he was a result of the parasitism on his self. Joshua gripped his fists tighter than ever. They had little time and this wasn't the ideal situation right now, so his choice was obvious.

He opened his eyes and the Persona was summoned once more. The aches in his head intensified deeply, but Joshua did all he could to keep in control.

So, he had made his decision... Fighting huh? Well, that was certainly going to be more efficient, if nothing else. He even summoned his persona... Excellent. "Well, then. Looks like you've made your Decision. Neptune." The familiar shape of Phalanx's Persona would manifest behind it's master, narrowing it's eyes at his foes.


Right now, the goal was to Subdue the Persona, and not Joshua, and thus, his actions had to be aimed accordingly. Phalanx himself Summoned his Soulbound, readying his first strike. In tandem, both the Android and the Persona attacked. Neptune concentrated a blue of light in his hand, and threw it up in the air a good 10 meters above Joshua and Yamato.


Once it reached it's target height, it would explode into a massive rain of Light arrows, spreading over a circular area of 16 meters in diameter, tearing the ground up as the arrows dug deep within the earth before finally bursting in a flash of energy.  Phalanx hurled himself about a meter to his left, while throwing his Soulbound like a Javelin towards Yamato Takeru, charged with the same Physical Energy used to fuel Physical Persona Skills. If it hit, the attack would strike the persona right in it's abdomen, before continuing on it's journey, jamming itself into a nearby tree.

Phalanx:

Joshua summoned his spear, there was no point in hiding it. Yet, as he summoned the weapon and with the Tainted Persona still existing, he could feel his very skull feel as if nails were being drilled through the cranium. He grit his teeth to stay focused and not to give in. The man noticed his opponent's Persona was going to throw something up.

Immediately Joshua started to move. He knew from experience and prior training that to be stationary was not wise. He started to lunge and sprint towards his left. While he got as far as five meters from the center of the attack spread, he was 3 meters away from leaving the radius, the Nyarlathotep Child decided to jump and roll the rest. Both entities would have escaped, but Yamato-Takeru found itself impaled with the blades of light.

It roared angrily while causing Joshua to wince at the contact. The Tainted Persona would have dodged that, but the conflict between user and Persona slowed them. But he had even more cause to wince as he heard Yamato-Takeru scream in his mind.


It was angry, enraged. Its master had no words, he had to focus on subduing it. But try as Joshua may, Yamato-Takeru would fight back. With sword already drawn, it swung the blade in a flurry of slashes at Phalanx's and his lance's direction.

Each slice was "projected" as a projectile, granting arcs of slashes to cause damage with a wall of slices spanning fifteen meters in width and ten meters in length. The attack was positioned so that Phalanx would be in the center of it. It'd reach Phalanx and Neptune if he did not act quickly. But his lance was knocked aside away from its owner.

Action:

Stats:

Human Strengths:

Yamato-Takeru Hit (1/3)

Now he had expected something like this... The attack had successfully found it's target, but as he had anticipated, this would just anger the persona even further, and that was made obvious with it's erratic, almost desperate attack, trying to cut him down along with a good chunk of the forest behind him. Neptune was quick on the ball however, and covered Phalanx using the Persona's own body to shield it's master from harm. The persona would then charge it's whole body up with Electrical energy this time around, before releasing it as a 6 meter large Panther, Crackling with energy towards Yamato, pouncing it in one bound from where it was, right through the attack, shocking the persona on contact. Neptune's eyes would flicker with pain as the cuts tore into it, but it would persevere... For it's master, Neptune would do anything. The remaining bits of the attack would miss the two and cut the trees behind them instead. After Neptune took the hit for it's master, Phalanx himself resumed his circulation around Joshua, his eyes locked on his enemies as he moved 4 meters to the left, in a circular motion before Re-summoning his soulbound weapon, having it at the ready in case things went south.

Phalanx:

While the attack made its hit, so would the counterattack. Both Yamato-Takeru and Joshua knew it was coming and would have moved away, but they didn't. The Tainted Persona growled at Joshua. As a testament of having growing control over it, Joshua have forced it to stand before the lightning and shield its master. Soon, it would roar again in pain as it felt electricity coursing through its figure. There was a growing ease in Joshua's mind, but it wasn't enough just yet. It needed a little bit more.

The Tainted Persona held up its sword and plunged it deep inside the earth before it. Double shock waves of force, width of seventeen meters and height of ten meters, would rapidly slither towards Phalanx and Neptune from the left and right.

Action:

Stats:

The duo acted instinctively as one cohesive unit in response Takeru's outburst. Neptune quickly picked up Phalanx, and hurled him towards Yamato with Incredible force, charging the android's Metallic skin and soulbound with Electricity before letting Phalanx fly towards Yamato. In the midst of this, Phalanx himself readied his weapon in case the Persona would dodge, and if he flew past his target, he would throw it backwards, hitting his target's back before making a less than stellar, but functional roll to lessen the impact. If either of these attacks hit, the battle would be over, and the persona officially subdued.

Phalanx:

Yamato-Takeru's previous attacks would hit Neptune as he evidently didn't try to move, rather counterattack. Neither Joshua nor the Tainted Persona expected Phalanx to be this reckless, in fact it did catch them both off guard for now. Even so, Yamato-Takeru was able to barely sway to the right, dodging the attack. Yet, Phalanx was able to hit it from behind after passing through. One final angry and pained howl caused it to collapse on its knees. Its very form started to sizzle like an interference of a television.


It finally broke away and dissipated into red smog. And even that disappeared. Joshua felt the pain disappear from this head, his eyes back to their normal hue. For once, he felt his skull clear up. But, he knew better that this was only a temporary measure. Yamato-Takeru was going to rebel again one way or another.

"Guess that does it. Thanks," he sighed and gave a wave towards Phalanx, "You're doing alright?"

He was starting to be more indebted to this guy. Maybe after finding Rinna, he definitely would try to help him on what the robot needed to do. Funny how he had to rely on a robot. Joshua is pretty much used to this by now, shit's weird as hell.

He looked back towards Analee who would be waiting, if she hasn't left yet, "We're going to head back to them. But we're going to talk first. Alright?"

"I didn't mean talking with him, I meant with Ariston and the rest. I want to hear more from him first and this time, don't start the fight unless they do," Joshua explained with a raised eyebrow, "So we're leaving now. But first..."

He went over to Azami and rummaged for her belongings, perhaps looking for something valuable that they may have to use. After that, he started to hold her up and gestured both Phalanx and Analee to start heading out.

Joshua asked the A.S.S.W. while a hopeful look, "You wanna hold her?"

If Phalanx didn't want to, the guy shrugged and would start to head out.

Received From Azami:

[Exit]

OOC: