Aina walks through the mall as her gaze wandered from store to store. Eyes filled with wonder as she took in the surroundings. "Impressive." she said as she saw the numerous quality merchandise around. She herself had a small bag in her hand with a extendable umbrella in it. She would see the fountain and walk over to it as she admired how clean the water was compared to the fountains of her age. She would find a bench to sit on as she watched to passerby, wondering to herself if it was normal for there to be so few people in such a magnificent place.

“Personally, I like when it’s quiet.” A young, black-haired girl takes a seat next to Aina, calmly smiling at her, the girl doesn’t have any bags, and doesn’t look to be older than maybe 16, the girl casually leans her head on her own shoulder “Weird isn’t it, how much harder it is to really talk to people the more there are?”

A man with glasses and very casual looking clothes would walk into the mall. His eyes seemed vigilant as if ready to spot something out, he would almost look overly serious but the image of a serious man was broken by the big goofy smile across his face. He'd begin walking around, investigating both the stores and the people as well. "Looks like as good a place as any to start! Wonder if they sell fireworks here?" One thing that seemed slightly odd about his appearance was a oddly complex looking watch on his right wrist. It would have the word "HOPED" written on a screen in the middle in glowing blue letters.

Aina would looked towards the girl with a friendly smile. "I admit. I do at times miss the solitary silence of the place I was born. The more people tend to mean prosperity but also isolation." she would say as her gaze wandered around the surroundings once more. "Even in such peaceful times hu- people still pursue the idea of happiness. No longer finding such joys in the company of others. In the grand scheme of things I wonder if things truly change even as people advance or if that advancement is merely a sign of their degradation?" She would then shake her head before giggling to herself. "It would seem I merely filled your ears with the philosophical ramblings of a curious observer without even asking for your name. My name is Aina." she would say with a smile as she turned her attention back to the girl

Though summer is start My yo wrap up, Akio would still manage to find a few stores holding fireworks, mostly firecrackers and other small things, but he also manages to find a few full firework batteries. As for people he finds a few couples, one of whom considers buying one of the batteries, but decides against it at the last minutes, and a solitary pair of people sitting by the fountain James would probably be most interested in the food court, which contains the usual assortment of food from all around the world, including a single joint focused primarily on American burgers The girl next to Aina giggles, covering her mouth with one hand “Don’t worry about it. You can call me Shizuoka.” The girl extends her hand for a handshake, and would ramble on herself whether or not Aina accepts it “People always end up chasing after something they can’t achieve, or competing for the same spot in life. So they end up fighting each other over it, every time.” Shizuoka would gesture to the world around them, as though drawing attention to the entire city “Every day people chase after some silly dream when they’d be much better off staying where they are, or starting wars because they want what the other has. I think the world would be a better place if it were quieter. If they could just calm down.”

Aina would give a giggle at the girls words. "Indeed. Tis strange really. Humanity would have gone extinct long ago if not for their ability to come together and cover the others weakness through adversity and yet it seems the more they advance the more they isolate themselves." she would say as she gestured her head to the few people who were in the mall. Even with groups that walked around they were extremely small, number 2-3 at best. "Jealousy, hate, anger, desperation, greed. There are many things that cause people to succumb to their most basic of negative instincts in hopes of taking that which does not belong to them. In that process, they burn not only the world around them but themselves as well and when the dust settles and the ashes spread they blame not their own actions but the actions of those whose way of life was different. Tis truly a despicable side of man." Even as she spoke there didn't seem to be any hint of anger or disgust in her words or actions. As if what she said was merely fact that could not be overturned.

"And you seem to have accepted this too. I knew we could be friends. The problem is that they keep believing they can somehow create a better place for themselves than the world has room for, if these people would just accept their role in life, the world would be much happier." The girl stands up, still smiling, and takes Aina by the hand, trying to get her to stand too "We should go somewhere a little more private. It'll only take a moment, then we'll be ready, alright?"

Aina tilted her head in confusion but decided to comply. Still, the word friend was foreign to her. Something she hadn't been called in many years. She would nod her head to the girl and silently follow.

The young man would excitedly go up to the clerk at the counter at the store he could find with the best quality fireworks. He'd slam his fist onto the counter with a confident smile before speaking in a similarly times voice. "Hey, I'd like to buy any fireworks you have left! How much would it be for all of them!"

The girl leads Aina off to the side, down one of the mall's many passages offset from the main floor, she waves politely at a few passing groups, before finally stopping in an that still seems to be under construction, what few storefronts there are are all gated closed, with a mostly empty area visible behind the slotted metal gates "there we go, this should be good enough. You might want to close your eyes for a second, its a little intimidating at first, but once we're done you'll be a lot better off." The girl continues smiling as her shadow seems to grow, expanding along the nearest wall, before peeling itself off and rapidly expanding to engulf the pair. Of course, she wouldn't see that if she closes her eyes like asked. The shadow would feel stifling at first, but in a few moments bring about a faint sense of melancholic peace Akio finds most of the fireworks in a fairly well-off store for trending objects, mostly stuff from games and shows but a fair selection of more typical clothing and, as it would seem, a brief venture into selling fireworks too. There aren't too many left, so the clerk, a middle-aged man whose exhaustion seems almost equal to Akio's energy "Huh, guess you're looking to send the season off with a bang huh? Well, we stopped buying them a few weeks ago, but there's still about 14,000 Yen's worth left... OH, right, we've got a buy one get one sale going on so that's closer to 7,000 then."

Akio would quickly pull out his wallet and check how much yen he actually had on him. His sigh of relief could almost be visibly seen as he realized he had at least 10,000 on him. He'd pull out 7,000 yen from his wallet and slam that down on the counter as well. "I'll take them all then! I've always been one to try to make as big of a bang as possible!"

Aina would simply watch as the shadow tore itself from the wall in intrigue. This era certainly had far more people with supernatural abilities than the one she was accustomed to. Was it also a sign of advancement? She wouldn't resist as the shadow engulfed the two, even ignoring her better instinct to. Allowing such a feeling to wash over her felt blissful only for a moment before the discomfort of such peace began to scratch the back of her mind. Was this girl a demon? That thought stuck in her mind as she did her best to suppress her paranoia.

The exhausted clerk chuckles, taking a few steps behind the counter to retrieve the fireworks and set them back near the register, one at a time, before finally accepting the cash and finishing the transaction "Alright, suit yourself. Honestly they were starting to get a bit old anyways so you're really doing me a favor here. Please come again" Though it sounds like he couldn't care less if you ever returned, the man does manage to crack a slight smile as he finishes putting the 7,000 in the register, and takes out about 20 yens worth in change to hand back to Akio After a few seconds the air would seem to lighten up, or rather become less oppressive as Aina gets used to it, its impossible to see much of anything at this point, though the girl's voice still rings out "You get it now right? That sense of peace and acceptance, the calm that comes whenever you've given up hope? Much better than struggling isn't it? If everyone knew that peace, the world's problems would be over. No one would suffer, no one would fight, there'd be no need for it. But you already understand that, don't you?" It would become somewhat harder for Aina to think as the girl finishes, if she still doesn't resist, her breathing would become heavier, more exhausted, and even thinking positive thoughts would become harder. However, beneath all of that she'd feel a faint sense of empowerment, as someone with a mission to do

Akio would grab all the fireworks at once despite how difficult it may be to carry them all. He'd begin leaving with all of them at once before shouting back to the man one last time. "Keep the change! You've already done me a great service!" He'd walk out of sight just outside the store and a moment later all the fireworks would be gone, as if they were stored somewhere else almost instantaneously. The man would sigh in peace hoping nobody saw the exact method by which he got rid of the fireworks. It was then he'd also noticed the people by the fountain had dissapeared. He would look around once more to see if they had moved somewhere else. It seemed slightly suspicious for two people to leave that quickly.

"Ah." a sudden realization dawned on the girl as she stood in that darkness. "Now I see. T'would seem we are parallels." she said as stared into the never ending darkness that spread out before her "You who brings peace by devouring human ambition and I who brings chaos by granting their wish." I slight chuckle would escape her lips despite the difficulty she felt breathing. "I agree that humanity would be much happier if they simply gave up their ability to dream." Within that darkness, at her feet, a single eyeball would appear, opening up and gazing directly at where ever the girl was now. "But that is a world I cannot exist in and I do not plan to die a second time if I can help it." Three more eyeballs opened near her feet as a bewitching smile curved onto her face. She wasn't angry, no disgust at what was being done to her, she gave an enchanting smile as she put her hand out into the darkness. "Since we both are not human can we forego these silly games."

The storeworker waves at Akio as he goes, feeling no need to shout anything in his own place, the man absentmindedly looks back into the store, yawning as he tries not to fall asleep. Afterwards, Akio begins looking around the mall, at first nothing seems off, aside from the sudden disappearance of a the two, but as he looks around, he would hear a faint, whispering sound, getting slightly louder as he goes towards what seems like a newer area of the mall, one still partially under construction. Following the sound would soon bring him to where Aina and Shizouka were The darkness recoils from Aina, almost as if surprised as she simply reaches straight through it to Shizouka, the whole area would return to its normal lighting, with the girl's shadow stretched out on the wall behind her. Shizouka takes a step back to try getting out of arm's reach as she sighs "And here I thought we could be friends too. There's no point in a fight is there? I can't really kill you, and there's no point to killing me here. Despair's everywhere after all." The shadow behind her begins bubbling, almost as though made of some dark liquid, some of which begins to pool on the floor. This stuff would slowly shape itself as more darkness was added onto it, taking on a humanoid form. The creature would resemble a shadow itself, with two glowing blue orbs where its eyes should be, and claws in the place of fingers. The girl grins "I say we simply watch, see who wins, your humans or my shades?"

Aina would laugh at the proposal before looking into Shizuoka's eyes. "I honestly don't care either way. But it does sound fun. I haven't had such a show in a long time." The same enchanting smile on her face as she looks at Shizuoka. A smile that would make even a womans heart flutter. She would then look at the shadow with intrigue. "Tis truly a marvel of todays abilities. I my be able to reap a big harvest today." she would say with an amused smile

Seeing the two girls Akio of course would immediately begin shouting not yet being able to hear what they were talking about or being able to even make sense of what they were saying. "Hey, are you two all right? I'm not sure this is an area you should be in. It looks like it might still be under renovation!"

Shizouka grins back at Aina, taking a few steps towards an exit on the end of the hallway, just as Akio comes into earshot. "Lets get one thing straight, we're enemies, in a way. And I look forward to stepping over you." With that said, her shadow would leave the shade behind, instead moving to block the girl from sight long enough to allow an escape, unfortunate that she didn't find anyone, but it might not be completely lost yet. Akio's attention might be caught by the humanoid monster, which almost seems like a silhouette of a person. At least for a few moments before its form twists, folding back into itself and finally righting itself as.... A girl, fairly young with long, grey hair tied into twintails, a black dress, and a set of long gloves and socks that go over her elbows and knees respectively. It would ignore Aina, as promised, instead turning towards Akio, the closest human. "Only care for themselves.... Never going to change." and similar phrases, on repeat as a set of strings, faintly glimmering in the light extend from the girl's fingertips.

Akio would begin to panic slightly at the sight, he hasn't been expecting something like this out of the blue. He'd quickly look over at his watch before calming himself down, as much as the guy shouting could be calm. "Alright! Time to test this out! There's gotta be a first time for everything after all! HOPE Device! Activate!" He'd quickly wave his hand over the watch as it began to glow with a blue light. A robotic sounding voice would begin speaking from the watch. HOPED: "Hyper Oriented Persona Emulation Device...Online. First time user detected. Please input proper phrase..." Akio: "Oh right, never used this one before. Need a phrase look no further! Come forth, Persona!" The watch would seem to respond almost immediately to Akio's words as his whole body seems to glow and wind spiraled around him. Suddenly the casual clothes he was wearing before would be replaced by a leather suit with bits if metal strewn about it. It would be both yellow and white and seem to cover almost the entirety of his body. A red visor would begin to form over the front of his face almost completely bluring it out. Finally two yellow gauntlets would form on his hands. The one on his right arm would have a long metal blade extending from it that was also painted yellow. The one on his left hand seemed to have nothing but there was a compartment at the top of it. HOPED: "Beginning Persona summoning sequence...I am thou, thou art I...Arcana Type: Justice! Momotaro!" A warrior clad in a heroic garb would suddenly appear behind Akio. They held a single long blade in their hand and seemed to be bathed in a holy burning light. On their faces was a mask that looked almost like a metallic peach that had been cut in half. "I am the blade of justice! The light that cuts through all evil! I am the Divine Ranger!" Finally, He'd begin posing with his fist held high in the air almost completely stopping as the strings approach him.

"Tis a shame. I started to like the idea of us being friends." she would say as she watched Shizuoka walk away. "Also one last thing. I am no ally of humanity. If you ever have a wish you want fulfilled then come find me again. If it is within my power then I will see it through my future client." she would say with a giggle to no one in particular since the girl had already left. Instead she would turn her attention to the boy who suddenly transformed into what seemed like a weird jumpsuit. Readying herself to enjoy the show and if possible find a new client among the chaos.

The shade doesn't seem even remotely impressed by all of his posing, instead it takes advantage of the chance to do something incredibly rude and swing its strings, aiming to wrap those on its right hand around Akio's left arm, then drag him forwards as it swings down the five on its left, which would try to simply cut through his helmet "Miserable forever..... No use in resisting."

Akio would suddenly stop posing as the strings wrapped around his arm. He'd be dragged forward before using the blade of right arms to try to cut the strings. His Persona on the other hand would attempt to lunge forward with a divine light surrounding it's blade to cut away the strings coming down on top of Akio's head. "Don't you know it's rude to interupt someone's intro! Guess I shouldn't expect manners from evil monsters though!" The compartment on his right wrist would suddenly open to reveal a firework that was already lit. He'd try to hold his wrist steady even through the strings to ain the firecracker at the shade.

After being cut the strings would fade into a dark mist, the shade doesn't seem to learn its lesson from its failing, instead simply trying to swing its left handed strings once more as Akio begins to slow down from its initial tug, giving him a fairly easy shot on the shade "Unsavable.... Crush everything...."

"I don't know what all this negative talk is about but there's nothing that I can't save. I'm a true hero and don't you forget it. If there's no way forward then I'll just make my own! Even if I'm knocked down I'll never stop getting up! Now, time to end this! First Star of the Divines: Blazing Glory!" The firecracker would launch forward towards the shade. Whether it ended up landing it would explode into a brilliant display of light and fire. Meanwhile, his Persona would rush forth with it's shining blade to try to cut down the strings from the shade's left hand.

The shade doesn't make any effort to dodge the attack, instead getting struck directly by the fireworks, which causes it to writhe in place momentarily, its strings getting shredded as it goes down. Finally, the creature would twist back into its original, silhouette-like shape, before dissolving back into the ground with a screech. and now I'll be going to bed, but I did make a discord for organizing and explaining this, so by all means ask any questions there, and I'll get to them in the morning https://discord.gg/JgCB2V

"I-I won?!? J-JUST mean, of course I did! I'm a hero just like in TV! Except I'm real, uh, think it's time to go. Still gotta see if I can find that guy from before with the weird wires coming out of his arms. Never got to thank him for the HOPE device." The compartment would once again open, this time with what looked to be a smoke bomb. Akio would drop the already lit bomb on the ground as the room filled with smoke. While the smoke screen was up, He'd deactivate the device causing his casual clothes to reappear and his hero outfit to fade away. He'd then run out of the mall in a hurry before the smoke cleared.