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The doctor simply stands there, completely dumbfounded, as Ai saunters away towards the site of her next fight.

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Turn 1
[Now Playing: Ophiuchus Zoanthrope Theme ~White Fatalis~]
The party wastes no time dealing with the monster before them, none at all.

Good. You'll need it.

Kiyo manages to land several hits first, several laser shots sinking into the Zoanthrope's tough flesh. The snake roars, but Kiyo is un-intimidated by the roars, taking the time to sink some more shots into the beast's open mouth. But whether through sheer bulk or just sheer adrenaline, the creature is about as fazed by Kiyo's attacks as the average human is by the movement of an ant by its foot. As if taunting Kiyo, the beast waits for Kiyo to run out of shots, realising her barrage isn't significantly hurting the beast. Once the barrage stops, however, the beast moves swiftly, its heavily muscled legs crouching, winding up like a spring, before blasting off of the ground, shattering the asphalt beneath it as if it were but glass to the Zoanthrope, clinging to the nearest wall, orienting itself to leap towards Kiyo. Calculating how fast that creature leaped, you figure that if it pounces towards you, you're going to need to be as fast as possible to just barely evade it. This thing is more than large, it's fast. Amelie takes this opportunity to heal Maki somewhat, retreating behind the others to rev up for a powerful kick.

Before it can leap towards Kiyo, however, Maki's lightning-infused fist smashes into the snake's side, Maki letting out a courageous yell as she lands a massive punch on the creature's side, taking out chunks of the hospital's walls as she smashes it into the side with their combined momentum. The beast, however, takes the opportunity to grab Maki, who is unable to get away in time, and begins crushing her against in its large fist, causing her to yelp in pain as the Zoanthrope entraps her. Maki will take damage every turn until she is freed from the grasp of the Zoanthrope.

Ito takes this time to retreat with Yamato, Ito steeling himself for the fight ahead. By now, Ito's used to fighting these things, if only a little bit. Tough bastards, Zoanthropes were, but mortal nonetheless. And this one might have been big, but that meant it would just fall harder.

A horde of insects blinds the beast temporarily as Ragnar advances and smashes his shield into its face; the Zoanthrope, in its blind rage, lashes out and smashes him with the hand it has Maki held in, throwing him aside but otherwise mostly fine. However, it leaves the Zoanthrope open for a burst of plasma from Haruko; unable to dodge, it takes the full force of the blast, screeching in agony as the fire seems to do more than most of the others have. A cooling breeze blows over Haruko, Spica doing her best to keep her topped up.

The beast, however, thanks to Ragnar, is now lashing out randomly, hitting whatever and wherever it can, while Maki is taking the brunt of most of its rage. Someone might want to do something about that.

H4, use the armorslayer and beat up a cutthroat

Minato slings his sword back over his shoulder with a smirk.
"A few guns and a forcefield? That's nothing."

So this was it. Minato feigns a sigh.

Just act natural. Just stay cool.

He waves his hand at Faith, holding up the false key he'd formed in his hand. He didn't exactly know what it was, but it definitely wasn't Shou's key. Akasha didn't need to know that, of course. All part of the play.
"Good grief. Key's broken. Faith, don't worry about it, honestly. The system thinks I'm trying to break in or something because I'm supposedly unauthorised personnel. I got authorisation right here."
Just to continue the play, he waves the key he's got at the machine guns, rubbing the back of his head to sell it more. To play it off as a minor inconvenience that would surely get sorted out if he talked to the right people.
"You mind? I got the key right here. Can't even make a sealing field that picks up its own stuff right, good grief."

Try, try again. He had the key, after all. That's all he had to know. He had it.

Confidence was something Minato could show off, but determination was something he had well in spades.

Right. Not great. The sword was too big. Too large. He couldn't exactly shrink the thing, either.

Summoning it wasn't going to work, not directly. The only thing Minato had ever summoned that wasn't a direct weapon was Vimana, and Minato had to wrangle it into existence. Visualising it wasn't going to completely work, not at all. He grumbles, discarding the giant key-sword.

Shou's words ring in his head; he talked about persona, about audacity, about confidence.

Persona. That was the word for a mask in Latin. Minato had learned that one in class. Masks and deceptions and smoke and mirrors.....all things Minato knew scant little about. But not confidence. Confidence was something Minato knew a lot about. It was his very essence, his personality.

Audacity, confidence and determination. Three words that would sum up Minato Kumon in a nutshell. He had much of the first, a lot of the second and too much of the third.

Confidence, huh? Alright. I have the key. That's all I have to think. I have the key.

Clenching his fists, Minato picked up the key-sword. He was going to go through that shield, no matter what. He continues attempting to project the key, the flames of determination fuelling his attempts. He breathes in deeply, projecting something, anything. It didn't matter.

As long as he acted like that was the key, it was the key. It was a con he was running, after all, and Akasha was the mark.

1-16
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