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Star's Dojo 1: Class is in Session
Star stands at the entrance her newly built dojo. To her left is a classroom setup for teaching, while to her right is a room covered in mats.
"Ahh, there we go! Finally done! I probably don't even have to put out an add for this, people will just show up anyway! It's about time I teach some people, show this and the next generation how to keep the balance, because I ain't always gonna be around to keep it for everyone."
She walks over to her desk and picks up a book sitting on the desk.
"Well then, class is in session. All I need now is students. Won't be long before I officially become a mentor."
"Damn skippy it is! Welcome to my dojo! What can I, the goddess of balance, do for ya on this fine day?"
"I know I'm supposed to be taking a break, but I'd like to train here, if that's alright with you. I'm not entirely sure where to start, though..."
A white car drives through the wall of a dojo, it's driving stepping out of the car door sucking on a lolipop.
"This a dojo? Yeah, I think it is. Hey, you got a course on murdering people in here?"
"Yeah sure, take a seat. I accept everyone here, because I give no shits if you're good or bad. Balance is a crazy domain to be a part of, so if ya wanna join, then shut up and take a seat."
Akia stares at the self proclaimed murderer even as she takes a seat. The idea of using that strongly comes to mind, but anyone who's so willing to walk around proclaiming murder... Might have one too.
"I see then. I'll just leave it alone then, Mr. Murder."
She stares towards Star curiously.
"So what exactly do you teach then, if you don't mind my asking?"
"I teach whatever the hell you want me to cause I'm a jack of all trades. Of course, I do have a specialty. It involves tapping into the very energy of the multiverse and the infinite to fight, changing reality to whatever floats your boat, and just generally giving physics and life as you know it the bird."
She flips the bird and it starts flapping wildly before flying out an open window.
"Where the hell do these birds keep coming from!?"
"...Sweet. Now, what to do...?"
Initially being worried about letting anyone, regardless of their crimes, he shrugged it off. He hadn't been here in so long that it was practically culture shock to him. Taking a seat, he waits patiently, trying to ponder on what he needs to work on, as well as what she means by the energy of the multiverse.
"Ah, alrighty then."
Yashiro then pulls out a chair and leans back in it, holding the stick of his lolipop and playing with it how he speaks.
"Personally, i'm a little curious how my archenemy always knows my moves before even I do. He a mind reader or something? Know any good strategies to work around that?"
"Mind reader? Well, the obvious solution would be to use a tin foil hat, but he's probably just good at reading and predicting people. I got a few things to help with that, but first I'mma need to know where you guys are at exactly to start teaching. Now, tell me what you guys can do. What are your skills, your pros, stuff like that. Any achievements, powers, weapons? I need to know what I'm working with here."
"Well, to be honest most of my skills are purely intellectual. I had some good schemes, I think. But somehow that damn kid always gets involved with the planned victims before I even do. The funny thing is he didn't even suspect me the entire time. Anyways, as for weapons I like to get creative. It's all about the thrill for me, you know."
”I wonder...” He thought to himself. Tying the hoodie around his waist like a belt, he came to a few conclusions on what could help him and his friends.
“Well, I’ve mostly had to rely on mind games and zoning people out when it comes to fighting. At the end of the day, my friend always seems to close the gap and finish the job. I need to defend myself...” His face darkened slightly as he continued.
“Oh, and... I might need help containing something as well. An entity, so to speak.”
"Well, knowing is half the battle, and the other half is violence! So, just say what ya wanna learn and i'll try to put that knowledge in your head the good old fashioned way! I mean, I would just beam the knowledge directly into your head, but I'm on a tight budget and those machines cost a lot. Also, I've got experience with entities, so i'll be able to help ya there."
Akia sighs and stares the woman over. Telling... Her powers... That goes against every instinct she's got. But perhaps a watered down version, tell one part but not the whole thing.
"I... Shapeshifting of a kind. I replace my body with cybernetics, that's the gist of things anyways. The biggest limitation is really in what I'm capable of imaging that's workable, so I've gotten pretty good at mechanical engineering."
She shrugs slightly with that statement. Already feeling like far too much has been said. If they're [Like Her] then they'll already know, but there's still a big card up her sleeves if they aren't.
"Anything you can suggest for working with that?"
"Shapeshifting cybernetics? Oh boy, do I have suggestions. First thing that comes to mind is a rail gun, but there's plenty of things I can suggest. With that, let's see here...right, we'll be working on self defense today, both physical and mental! That sound good for everyone?"
The young woman raises an eyebrow, a rail gun huh. She's considered such a thing before, but never figured out a design that worked for more than one shot.
"That could work, I've tried it before but all the designs I've come up with fall apart too fast. It takes too long to repair afterwards so I've never considered it's use in a real fight."
She'd then nod at Star's suggestion. That sounds like a fine thing to start off with, though she'd a bit curious how mental self defense works out.
"Fine with me. I can't say I've ever met someone who teaches mental self defense, so maybe this'll be pretty interesting!"
"Eh, we'll have to see what we can do then. Anyways, most people don't realize how important their mental state is in a battle, which is part of the reason battle illusionists are so effective. Usually, you keep your eyes on the opponent, so you don't really realize that their pulling a trick using some slight of hand until it's too late. You could say the battle is always being fought on two fields, though occasionally it'll be more than that."
Waiting until they have finished their piece, Ryoma speaks up.
“Well, my Persona is a long-ranged cryokinetic, but due to some kind of... side effect, illusions seem to come naturally to it. That’s the main problem. The more illusions that I manifest, the more I lose my senses, and I succumb to something strange... As cliche as it sounds, it’s a huge liability to my teammates.”
"Illusions, eh? I'll have to see it for myself, but that'll have to wait for later. So, mental self defense is more along the lines of noticing tricks and not being caught off guard most of the time. There really isn't much to do to train this normally other than becoming more aware of what's going on. With powers it's a different story, but we'll just focus on the normal way to train it."
Illusions and slight of hand... So she meant that kinda mental defense, now there's something she can work with.
"Hah, getting possessed or something? Can't say my powers have ever done that man. Anyways yeah, illusions are... A hobby of mine, not magical ones or anything. I just enjoy tricks and such is all. So yeah, I get what you're saying there. It's amazing how often a simple distraction can do so much."
She cracks her knuckles slightly at that point, yeah that sounds about right... In some types of fights, if you can't think fast and smart then you've already lost.
"Yeah I can do that. I'd like to think I'm decent at that kinda stuff already, but you can always get better with it."
"Right then, let's start with something simple."
She pulls a nuclear bomb up from under the desk.
"There's three wires here, all black. Cut the wrong one and we all die. Normally, you would probably pay more attention the bomb than me, and I don't blame you, but suddenly, you realize this bomb is a fake and that while you were paying attention to the bomb, i got away. So, i'm going to show you guys a bunch of items for you to determine if they are real or fake. Interesting exercise, right? So, number one! Real or fake?
She pulls out a grenade with the pin already out of it.
The woman's eyes gleam just a bit more, from her current vantage point they're entirely capable of examining the inteneral workings. Given the fact they aren't even human eyes, to begin with, and have a fairly wide range of options to detect the chemicals within. She'd also even take a brief second to examine the bomb like that too, not that her eyes move visibly on that one.
The grenade is a complete fake, but the bomb is...different. It's not nuclear, but it's certainly an explosive of some kind.
Akia chuckles slightly upon realizing the true levels of misdirection going on here. That's pretty clever, but against her eyes...
"The grenade is fake, obviously so even. But that bomb... It isn't nuclear, it's some kind of explosive I've never seen before. I do hope you weren't planning to fire that thing off though sensei, that would be rather dangerous to most of us. Clever though, saying the real one is fake then tossing something else out."
She slow claps.
"Oh, don't worry, it just covers everything in ice and snow. How else would I be able to make three ice castles over the span of two year? Still, it was only easy because it's round one.
She tosses the fake grenade out the window. A faint explosion can be heard as she pulls out another item, this one an AK-47. She waves it around with ease.
"Noisemaker grenades, great way to break up parties. So, round two, real or fake? Oh, and don't think those eyes will help this time. A trick can only be used so many times before the other party catches on, you know. I'm sure if you pay attention, you'll figure out the answer."
A trick can indeed only be used so much... But she doesn't really need high tech to figure out if a gun is real, there's a far more simple solution here. That solution being to walk closer and simply run her hands along it.
It'd be a subtle difference, but if the thing is fake then she'd be able to feel out a minor difference in its texture... Assuming she was able to touch it at all.
"Heh, so you caught onto that one huh? I guess I'm not too surprised, but most people never even notice that my eyes aren't usually human."
"Oh please, you're not the only one with cool eye powers. I can actually see weak points rather easily, but that was from all the gaming i've been doing in my spare time. Oh, and don't go thinking that you'll be touching this gun here. After all, in a fight you probably wouldn't get the chance. Of course, there's a few differences between a real gun and a fake gun, like weight and material. Try to think about how they're holding it, maybe it'll clue you in."
In a fight she couldn't huh... Perhaps it'd be best to put that to the test though, but of course that wasn't the real point here. She just needed to get closer to do something else entirely.
Namely the simple normal trick of taking stock of its weight just as the woman had said. She's got a backup plan in mind though, though she's ruled out her eyes, her other trick for this one is a simple examining of the thing's barrel, a gun that's been fired much would look the part even with cleaning. But a toy, even an airsoft toy that's been fired wouldn't.
"Haha, that's less true than you might think in some cases. But fair enough. Though in a real fight, guns are far from my first worry."
"Fair enough. Most people pay attention to weapons rather than the people using the weapons. A sneak attack using a hidden dagger is always a possibility."
With the way Star is holding it, she'd be able to tell that there was no damage to the barrel.
No damage... Could be a new weapon, something freshly made. But that's unlikely.
"Hah, for me the people using than them are usually the real issue. And I'm going to say fake, it's gotta be either fake or amazingly new because I can tell that barrel's seen no use."
"Fake. I thought you'd tell from the way i flailed it at the start, but there's more than one way to skin a cat. okay, final round for today."
Star puts the gun away and brings out a crystal ball.
"Here's an interesting one. Magic items can sometimes be fakes, but more often than not they're the real deal. The only hint i'll give is that you'll have to take a real hard look at it. So, real or fake?"
Magic items... This woman so casually tots out a mystical object? The rational part of her mind wants to say it must be fake.
"Hahaha, the flailing? Sorry to say, but you strike me as crazy enough to do that with a real gun. I could be a false impression, but I don't think so sensei."
She's far from an expert in this kinda stuff, unlike the tech which she actually understood quite well. The magic item she's simply staring at very carefully and hope for the best.
"I'ma be real, I don't really deal in this kind of magic stuff very often. So I'm sort of winging it here. The tech I'm great with, but this... Outside my ballpark."
"Well, I was the local goddess of chaos before i decided to change domains. I thought it would be interesting to throw you for a loop on this one."
Looking at the ball, it almost seems like something is moving inside...no, something is definitely inside. Some kind of glittery cloud?
Goddess... There's that word again. And something moving around inside it, how curious. She almost wants
to take this thing apart and see how it works. But that'd be rude.
"I'm going to guess fake, because I wouldn't expect there to be some weird glitter cloud floating in an actual mystical object. But I could be totally offbase here."
"Oh, you'd be surprised...but yeah, fake. Just a glass ball I put some glitter, glue, and food coloring into. Three for three. Congrats, you passed. So, any questions before we move on?"
She rubs the back of her head. This might be a bad move, but if she's really gonna be training with this woman... Might as well throw it on the table.
"A few, but for a big one... Can you see this?"
A woman wearing a high tech visor would appear floating behind Akia, dressed though the figure's gender is rather unclear even wearing a black bodysuit with glowing lines over it. Her hair appears to be made of long wavy cables.
"I guess I can share the basics of my gimmick, not as if it's some subtle power that relies on being unseen or anything. If you can see that, then I'd assume you know what it is... But maybe being a 'goddess' does it too? Either way, that's my [Stand]. And if I just sound like a madwoman... Eh, I doubt that."
"A [Stand]? Eh, you're not the first user I've seen. Even got one myself. Check it."
Suddenly, a second Star appears beside the first one.
"[Mystic Mirror], my stand. Being in two places at the same time has never felt so good. Also, being a goddess might help, but I have no idea since I have one too. Also doesn't help that I'm one of the strongest forces on the planet, even with my goddess status. Still, love the style your stand has going for it."
The being would vanish as Akia chuckles. Another one huh... But she doesn't seem like an enemy stand user, perhaps an ally.
"Hah, thanks. I'm sure you realize why I'm not too comfortable handing out info on this thing, but eh. She's... Pretty distinct, and thanks to my fighting style there's no avoiding people learning about her eventually."
She'd yawn a bit, having not really slept any since drifting into this bizarre Tokyo. Ah well.
"Anyways, I'm sure I'll ask more later. But for now... I think I ought to get some sleep before engaging in any crazy fights. You got any planned meeting times, or should I just show up whenever later?"
"Just show up whenever, and welcome to the multiverse, where reality is both shattered and expanded simultaneously. You get used to the insanity eventually. Oh yeah, one more thing. Try these later."
She tosses a flash drive containing designs for different rail guns made for different purposes at her.
"Remember, if you ever need heavy weaponry, then just come to me. Because there's nothing more destructive than a madwoman with far too many resources and far too much time on her hands."
The woman would catch it with ease, glancing down at the flashdrive curiously. Just handing out something like that... This woman must be mad, but she just said that. Either way, she gets a nod of thanks.
"I see then, I'll keep those offers in mind. And thanks for these~! As for insanity... Well, stand users beget stand users right? I'm used to some of that, but this might be a new level I'll admit. See ya around sensei."
With all that said and done, she'd quickly begin walking with hands in her pockets. She's got no real clue where the hell to go, but eh. That's life for a drifter all the time, so with a spring in her step and a smile on her face, Akia Fujiwara departs. Searching for food, a place to rest, and some spare time to muck about with her new toys to see how they work out.