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Crucible of Conviction
I suppose we've put this off long enough, so its finally time for the next chapter of our play to begin. For those who seek to follow through I assure you that I aim to make our little play.. Interesting, if nothing else.
And for those in the audience who would rather stand by and watch... Well the words of a certain flower come to mind, but none of that matters in the end.
So without further ado.
It had been a long time since rumors of the midnight channel had come and gone, fading into obscurity. For some time it was as if the worst was over.
you'd have to be paranoid to continue checking it after all this time. Even those who knew the true secrets of the realm. Yet, for once, it seemed, such persistence would be rewarded.
Seemingly of its own accord, the channel lights itself back up, showing a high-school age girl with long black hair walking towards what seemed to be a massive courthouse. The girl looks to the side as something catches her attention, but continues onwards regardless.
Some might recognize the girl as a classmate, others may have heard of her as the sole survivor of a mysterious bus accident a little over a year ago. Still others may not have heard of them at all, drawn by nothing more than their own foolishness.
I suppose that's where the question begins. Just who are you?
OOC: Sorry to ask, how do I go about writing the first post? I imagine... basic introduction + checking the midnight channel, right?
Your impression is essentially correct. I don't aim to narrarate further until people decide to enter, which will be a fair bit after our poor miss Megumiba has entered.
I'm afraid I don't know exactly how you people have handled this idea before so if there are any pre-existing groups you can have your meetings or whatever it is you do without me.
I guess one final note for the author is that this will be a series of encounters, not just one. So let that serve as a warning that it will likely take longer than the previous attempt.
The midnight channel. Over the years Yu has had many encounters with this strange phenomenon that once plagued Inaba. He was aware that it had been mostly inactive over the years, only showing up occasionally whenever someone was either brave or foolish enough to enter that place.
Despite that he still had the habit of occasionally checking it whenever it was especially rainy at night. It was because of that habit that he caught the rather strange image. It was just like back then for him, a rare incident these days. Yet he didn't have time to ponder what was happening.
First, he had to head to the nearby electronics store. It would be easiest to asses if anyone else had seen the image from there. The last thing he wanted was people getting involved without his knowledge.
A young woman would longue in her bed, absently staring at the screen with a curious look on her face.
"Geez... What am I even doing? This thing has been dead for years after all, chances of anything els-"
Her words are cut off by the TV crackling to life, an event which causes her eyes to narrow and the woman to begin standing up from bed without a second thought as she watches. The girl on the screen looks... Vaguely familiar, something about an accident one of her coworkers responded to? That was a bit ago though, she can't recall too much. And it doesn't matter now.
Chie would grab her phone, calling a number she knows all too well and if he answered greeting in a tired voice.
"So... Did you see the Midnight Channel, Yu? I could get in tonight if you want to get involved, though it'd be nice to have at least a little more backup. Anyway point is, count me in if you're planning anything. I'm not about to sit by and let some kid get killed by her shadow eventually. "
Frankly she's planning to get involved either way, pulling out her equipment from a closest and grabbing her at the time locked up service revolver. Assuming the wildcard wanted to meet up, heading to him would be a natural next step.
Life in this strange country has its ups and downs. The cat misses his previous owners, but living with two young human girls isn't bad. He probably worries them by not eating anything. He'd apologize if he could, but cuddles are a good replacement for words for now. Without the fatigue of a normal cat, he's been up at odd hours nightly. Hence him noticing something on what should have been a powered-down TV...
After some searching around through phone lines and on foot, the feline eventually arrives at the shopping district. This kitten, by chance, has a route that leads him near Yu as he silently ponders what that thing on TV could have been.
...Midnight Channel? What that loud girl said was interesting. He lingers around to listen.
(edited by Black-Cat)
It was a dark and stormy night when MUSE saw it. A staticy image from a store shop TV suddenly showing a ghostly image. Curious, MUSE searched up such a phenominon, quickly finding a match to what she had seen. A rumour from a rural Japanese town known as "Yaso-Inaba" of a person appearing on TV in the middle of the night and that person beng your soul mate. Rumour was registered as Debunked a year later but before that it had been connected to a pair of murders. MUSE grinned before darting off.
Yo. This could be fun. Ah ha ha.
First order of business. Finding a way to hack into the TV network. A simple visit to a 24/7 electronics store should solve that. And so, MUSE finds itself heading in the same direction as everyone else.
"Yeah, I'm already at the electronic store...what was it called? Yunes? Doesn't matter. I'm just keeping an eye out for anyone who might be trying to get in on their own. The last thing we want is someone inexperienced going in on their own to save her.
That being said, yeah. We need to do something about this before things get ugly. The sooner we save her the better for everyone involved."
Yu would continue looking around the store until he found a suitable TV. Not having anyone to navigate the oddity that was the TV world might've been a problem but he was used to doing so on his own now. Not as effectively as someone like Rise but well enough.
[It has been a few days since the incident at school already. The encounter with that demon alongside most of the Occult Club was an experience... that he didn't want to go through again, at least not too soon. It had been scary enough, more than he anticipated. Not being able to keep control of a situation is unpleasant. Even so... now rumors of all kinds were of interest to him. Reading through old website and occult-focused blogs, he came around one originated in a small rural town outside of the city; "The Midnight Channel". On a rainy night, while staring at an unplugged TV during midnight, your soulmate would appear. Kazuo knew about the TV World and Persona, but it was only after coming across this rumor that he had a crazy idea. "Weird always attracts weird", so why wouldn't the TV World and the Midnight Channel be connected? At the very least, it could be fun to imagine.]
"Even if it works... I can't simply assume they are connected. But who..."
[The TV goes on, revealing an all too familiar figure.]
"...knowssssSen!?"
[He would keep quiet as he watches it all go down. Her appearance there surely wasn't a coincidence, right? He remembers her looking into all this stuff, so would that be reason enough to imagine that maybe the channel and that world are both connected. Worst case scenario, she ended up inside of that place.]
"...It's always the same. If I go out, chances are I will run into some weirdo and find something more. Right...?"
[Kazuo closes his eyes before taking a deep breath, truly believing his own mantra at this point, which used to be nothing but a joke. He would go over to his closet and reach out to his coat and hat... but decided to leave them there. It's not like he needs to hide anymore. Instead, he grabs the only jacket he has, a green and black leather jacket. He heads out to the nearest shop, whichever has the bigger TVs. And so...]
"There they are..."
[It was both his gut instinct and the same feeling he had the moment he helped rescue Madoka in the past. Those two, they are Persona-users.]
"Something about the man... it feels familiar."
[He says to himself, trying to check the area near them to eavesdrop on whatever it is they say or do. Pure chance and instinct guiding him, and an inner voice. If for whatever reason, they go into the TV, then he would have to follow right away.]
The black kitten darts under a table to continue his spy work. Just curl up at one spot in the shadows, then close his eyes...
Within another world that's intertwined with this one, a blue flame leaps through the computers and phones within the store until it's in the phone. Yu wouldn't notice anything, but the soul inhabiting the phone Yu holds would be able to listen in with less risk of being caught.
(edited by Black-Cat)
{The girl woke up in the apartment, making sure that the other 3 stay in bed as she would try to go for a midnight snack. The TV flashing and showing the girl as she goes towards the courthouse. Now, she snickers to herself, not to go save an unfortunate soul, but because she KNOWS that some other idiots will go and try and save that unfortunate soul for her.}
"Even if that asshole isn't there, looking at another one of these is going to be sooooo fun."
{She grabs her coat and heads out towards the night, listening in everywhere that's making the most noise at the midnight hour. Her searches lead her towards the electronics store with a bunch of TVs. Yunes, Junes, Punes, whatever it was called, she was there. The girl wouln't want to interrupt anyone, but when she saw the boy, she rolled her eyes in disgust.}
"I knew that self-centered idiot came here as well. He was there last time anyway."
{Sana makes her own cover, putting one finger over her mouth to make a "shhh" sound. Now that her presence made no noise at all, the girl was free to do what she does best. Stalk. As always. The girl doesn't even need to be close to hear any of what they're saying, but does so anyway. At least a bit away from Kazuo. Whenever he went in after the two that first came to the store, she'd follow.}
Asami would enter the department store carrying her staff behind her, aimlessingly moving around until she notices Yu. She then looks up at the youth and smiles.
"Hey, mister, you have nice hair!"
She then giggles a little before turning to the TV, blissfully ignorant to the current scenario. Without any regard to the possible dangers that lurk, she casually holds her hand out towards the screen, curiously tilting her head as she admires the piece of technology.
*MUSE would enter a glitchy state, appearing almost invisible, when she reaches the electronics store, seeing a small group forming. She would slip in and watch closely from nearby as everyone discusses their options*
"Gotcha, I'm on my way over then! Let's try and make sure this one doesn't go like well, the first two..."
She'd sigh and hang up the phone, now dressed in a police uniform which seems to be interlaced with some sort of strange armor. Shadow ops are interesting people to know sometimes, and with how this is she needs it. It wouldn't be too long before the young officer shows up with her gun strapped in a holster and a grimace on her face.
"Jeez, been a while since we've had to do anything like this huh? I kinda hoped it was over, but nothing to do except solve this case right."
She shrugs a bit at that point, eyes darting through the dark area and pulling a flashlight. It'd be nice to avoid anyone following after without knowing the risks at least, or better yet, to avoid anyone who really doesn't need to be here coming in at all. Either way, she's there and ready to advance at any moment.
Yu looks back at Chie before noticing that things felt more crowded suddenly though he wasn't specifically sure in what way. Of course he doesn't notice any change to his phone as he simply hangs it up.
"Right...I hope we're not being followed too much. No telling what might be waiting for us in that world. We better get moving anyway. The girl's life could be in danger otherwise."
He wouldn't take much heed of anything else at the moment. Too much on the line.
Without thinking about it anymore he'd reach out towards the largest TV he could find and open the way. It would take a moment but after a bit of stretching he would eventually be able to pass through the TV completely. The screen would still be wavering as he did so.
All that was left was to wait for Chie.
Heh. Now don't that look like an open invite.
*Seeing Yu pass through the TV, MUSE would grin before launching herself after him, appearing like a thin blue line, ricocheting off of thin air and then zipping inside the TV. Once firmly inside, she would reform and uncloak herself.*
["There it is!" he thinks. Kazuo watches Yu go through the screen and immediately makes a rush for it before jumping into the TV screen, which should allow him to be able to access the TV World. He had no Persona, so he couldn't do it on his own. Him copying Madoka's Persona summoning ability wasn't enough.]
"Lucky...!"
[And the best part was that he hadn't even flipped Gad's coin. Onto the TV World it is then. He overheard the man talk about the girl on the TV. At the very least, he knew it had something to do. Luck, lucky indeed.]
Asami frowns at the sight, staring in confusion at the tv Yu had passed Through.
"Oh boy, looks like i've got another adolescent male to look after. I could have a reverse harem at this rate!"
She lightly giggles, quickly following after Kaz after he goes in and admiring the TV portal before falling backwards into it carelessly, blissfully cheering on her way.
"Maybe I can even get a little piece of the action for myself this time!"
The young looking fox girl had heard of these rumors a few years back, but didnt expect them to return today. It was almost a bit too strange, even for her. I mean, a tv channel that kills people? And it only shows up at midnight? Sounds like something straight out of a creepypasta. Nevertheless, she figured it can't hurt to look into it herself. So, she made her way to Yaso-Inaba and found her way to the oh so popular electronic store, only to find a large crowd of people standing near, or inside it. Shes surprised, but very pleased.
"Well, definetly didnt expect that. But if its real, then i finally get to do something! Its been forever since anything exciting happened!"
After the phone was hung up, the spirit returned to its body. As the crowd gathers, the feline crawls out from under its table. It stares at the people jumping into the TV with wide eyes and a surprised "mrrow?"
Is this TV a portal? He has no idea. He just flattens his ears. It looks like he's intimidated, but upon closer inspection there's a gleam in his eyes and a small kitty butt wiggle. The kind before a pounce.
"Everybody's going in already?"
{The girl says from behind, not at all prepared for how quick everybody was moving. She still woke up from her beauty sleep, so feeling sluggish was normal. This needed to be fixed with something nobody will hear anyway.}
"Stupid bitches, move out the way."
{With an automatically quiet announcement that she decided to yell anyway, Sana dives sideways into the TV portal, making sure to move at least as quickly as possible so as to not draw too much unsilent attention to her quiet presence.}
And so our journey begins, with the most experienced of the fools running in first followed by some number of others. What order didn't really mean much. Not for the sake of our little play anyways.
Our wonderful heroes emerge at the entrance of the massive courthouse they saw in the midnight channel, yet its walls seem formed of sturdier bricks and mortar, with bannerettes marked with the symbol of a lion and shadowy sentries patrolling its outer walls.
Something the most experienced members might notice is an almost complete lack of any sort of fog. As if the way was lit, a path already cleared.
Though the court is built like a fortress, its first set of gates is left wide open, giving a glimpse of its ornate, ivory interior.
Before that though, is a collection of nine beings standing a short distance outside the gate. Their size varies, from that of a child to a fully-grown adult man, but they are all draped in a white cloth covered in eyes. There's something... Unsettling and foreign about these creatures. Strange creatures were the norm in the world of shadows.
But these seemed disturbingly close to human..
Yu would first look over all that had followed. He had a feeling they might be being followed but he sighed regardless.
"Well, guess it'd be too late to tell everyone here to go back the way they came. I was more afraid people would find a way to enter on their own anyway.
I don't mind others being here but stay behind the people who know what they're doing. No offence but this world is a lot more dangerous then it may seem."
No fog, then maybe he didn't need any glasses after all. They were only there to protect against the energy draining effects of it anyway.
He'd start by approaching the figures near the entrance. He was immediately wary of them. Typically only shadows could appear in this world but these ones seemed different. He would keep one hand on his sword even when trying to speak to them.
"Well, who are you? Friend or foe?"
As she follows behind Yu and looks around Chie would indeed note the lack of fog, she brought glasses but seems they aren't needed this time... She also notes, far more worryingly, the rather large number of people who followed them in for reasons she can't even begin to understand. The young officer just groans and looks at all of them, asking a simple question before even pondering moving forward.
"Why are all of you here? I would really suggest leaving while you can, unless you feel like risking your lives. We're kind of professionals at this, but you kids don't need to be involved right?"
Not so long ago they were the kids rushing in of course, but those days are gone. Now she just stares at the group with the exception of Yu, arms crossed and feet covered in heavy metal greaves tapping against the ground.
"On the other hand, Yu is probably correct I guess... Odds are, none of you would leave anyway, right? So with that in mind, just be aware if you've never come here before. The shadows will kill you if given a chance, and we can't protect you at all times. Be ready to fight if you can..."
As an officer of the law endangering these people doesn't please her, but stopping such a large group on their own isn't reasonable even if they wanted to.
(edited by Chie-Satonaka)
Boing! Cat going in! The kitten lands squarely on top of Chie's head.
"Meow..."
With that "apology," the feline searches takes in his surroundings. It's honestly beautiful, but something feels off about it. He doesn't understand this place or the figures, but some of these humans appear to be familiar with this place. He'd ask about it if he could but picking up clues from the conversations will do. He scrambles to get his footing so he can hop off the girl's head.
*MUSE would stretch as she hit the floor, taking a few steps forwards and looking around. She would whistle, long, sharp and loud, as she looked at the architecture.*
Damn. Looks like 16th sentury stone masonary up in this bitch. Not bad at all. Dunno why it's in a TV though. Seems a bit whack.
*MUSE looks over at Chie, while walking backwards towards the Courthouse after Yu.*
Let me think on that one, little Red. Uuuuuuuuh. Nope. No. Don't think I will be leaving this joint. Thanks for the offer though.
*She spins on her foot.*
Yo, White Sheet Brigade. What up? Neat Haloween Costumes.
Ina, seeing that so many people were going through some sort of TV portal, became curious and tried going through it, head first. Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly the best idea, as she ended up falling face first. She gets up, wiping her face of any dirt, not looking very amused at all. But as she does, she sees her surroundings. She did enter the TV, right? Certainly not as colorful or electrifying as she hoped it would be, but without a doubt, its impressive. And somewhat unsettling
"So this is that world inside the TV huh... Seems eerie."
The girl gets excited, finally being able to spring into action. But shes somewhat creeped out by the robed figures, so she tries to move out of their sight.
Several days after the Kosei High incident, Miss Sumeragi was lounging in her average suburban apartment, half asleep and lounging on her sofa, looking like the very picture of sloth when she saw the Midnight Channel, a phenomena she'd never seen herself but had heard of countless times. Whether or not it was relevant to the mysterious that plagued her mind every day had yet to be seen, but she knew there was a reason she was drawn to the television. As she noticed the face on the TV, she dropped everything she was doing to investigate.
She sped across the city streets in a motorcycle until she found a particular electronics store. Her hand rested over her chest, anxious of what she was walking into, but something deep inside told her that this is where she needed to be.
"Yunes? Isn't that like... borderline copyright infringement? Whatever... it's now or never."
She stepped into the store, clutching a rather over-sized shinai casing. As she stepped in she was appalled to find other people, her eyes wide and filled with confusion, most of all at the appearance of one Kazuo Takahara. She decided not to draw attention to herself though, stepping behind a few of the large shelves to eavesdrop, but not exactly putting a lot of effort into hiding, a long crimson scarf extending past the shelf to conspicuously hint at her presence.
As the group started stepping into the TV she let out an audible gasp. She'd certainly seen a number of odd things in the last few days, but this one might take the cake. When she saw an opportunity, she'd jump into the TV screen and be greeted with the strange world for the first time.
"W-Whoah... And this was hiding inside the TV the whole time...?"
She covered her mouth after a gasp of surprise, giving her position away for sure with her voice.
"W-What just...?"
[Kazuo came to be on the ground, unaware if he just hit it too hard or he just suddenly went into some crazy frenzy like with Kokoro. Didn't matter, at least not after he looked ahead. It was the same place he had seen Sen at before. This settles it. Both are connected. At the same time, this felt like it was obvious to begin with. The girl in green then speaks; Kazuo barely pays attention to the rest at this time.]
"My friend is inside that place. I wouldn’t leave even if you tried to kill me. Now, if you would-"
[Kazuo takes notice of Sana being there too, and Asami, and... Sensei!?. Great. There's even more people than that.]
"Look, either you hurry up or stand aside. That's all that matters here. Purgatorio!"
[Kazuo extends his right hand as his "Sleeping Glove" appears. Knife-like fingers replace his own, his hand becomes metallic and more like a gauntlet; a manacle without chains covers his wrist and a reverse "arm blade" long enough to reach his shoulder covers the back of his arm. It emanates a demonic power.]
"She doesn't even have powers! I'm sorry, but I'm going!"
[That said, Kazuo turns around and recklessly decides to rush straight towards the entrance. He wondered, at that moment, if Sen really was powerless. She was friends with Kokoro after all. Could she have similar abilities...? Regardless, he would try to get past the annoying figures, prioritizing moving ahead over battle. However, if this is impossible then... he will be ready to block anything that comes his way, or at least try to, by using his Sleeping Glove as the shield. Something tells him, deep down, that he should really sit down, take a deep breath, and not rush in mindlessly. However, he was already doing that. No brakes.]
this is definitely a larger crowd than prepared for. No matter, that just means I'll be able to proceed regardless of the results. Such is the stageplay.
As Yu approaches the figures, they turn to face him in unison, forming something resembling a V-shape. Yet their voices are fractured, with the individuals overlapping each others' words. For convenience sake we'll label them in order of their proximity to Yu.
1: The trial is about to...
2: None may interrupt the...
3: Our master willed....
4: Fresh souls...
5: Souls for master?
6: Living souls
7: The trial is about to begin.
8: None may interrupt the trial.
9: An offering....
However, once Kazuo tries to burst past them, a twisted staff forms in each of their hands, seeming to materialize out of the fogless air.
3 waves his staff and sends a wave of fire to cover the space between Kazuo and the group, while 7 uses a wave of ice. Both of the figures clearly more interested in keeping him away
4 doesn't seem to have the same opinion though, they slam their staff into the ground, forming a faint magic circle around him before sending a blue projectile resembling a sound wave at Kazuo. Although the projectile wouldn't do much damage on a hit, it would make him significantly more vulnerable to future attacks
Though they clearly have fractured voices and opinion, there was at least one thing they could agree upon, chanting in unison.
Bourbaki: "We are Bourbaki. We are many and one."
Asami rolls her eyes at the so-called "professionals"
"Can you even protect yourselves? You're just humans, after all. I mean, i'm a human too! Just... a very special one."
She then steps forward, walking slightly past the group.
"Here's the deal, my power more than makes up for my inexperience. I'll make sure my friend gets through alright, so just make watch out for the rest of these guys. One more thing, don't get cocky just because you're high level. Death doesn't discriminate."
With that said, she runs off after Kazuo and shouts out to him.
"Hey, Kazzie, wait up!"
Wasting no time, a great force is applied on the back of Kazuo's clothes, pulling him out of harm's way.
"Hey, try and be more considerate. Your approach had a minimal chance of success, your friend would surely perish if you did this on your own."
A large man watches with amusement as one by one the wayward souls make their way into the television.
"Oh, now this takes me back."
He tosses a black orb up and catches it in his off hand. The orb pulses with a faint red glow.
"If memory serves, I can definitely get something out of this endeavor of theirs."
The man makes his way towards the television, pocketing the orb as he does. With ease he slips through the screen and lands a ways behind the first group upon a bed of fog.
Just his luck, someone's already rushing ahead. Perhaps he should've started by explaining things a bit better. He wasn't used to working in a group where everyone wasn't on the same page.
"There's no need to rush ahead! She'll be fine until we get there! Shadows don't normally attack people unless they see them as an intruder!"
Perhaps that wasn't enough but for now he had to try and do what he could about their current enemy.
"Yoshitsune!"
Yu would crush a glowing card in hand as a warrior clad in red armor appeared. They carried two blades, one long and one short.
He'd direct the newly summoned Persona towards the group of figures. Electricty would spark around its two blades before it would point them both forward and unleash a large arcing burst of lightning at each of the figures.
As the boy, or man, or male figure or whatever gets knocked back, Ina couldn't stand back and hide. It was finally her time to fight, as she reveals herself, fireballs in hand, with a look of pure excitement in her eyes.
"Alright, whatever you are, if you're even thinking of taking souls then you're itching for a scorching, creeps!"
Bourbaki. Searching.
*MUSE's eyes glowing lighly as she searches through her archives in the super computer like mind of hers, her voice becoming unusually stilted.*
Nicholas Bourbaki is the Collective Psodymn of Seven French Mathematicians that worked throughout the 20th century. The namesake of the group was Charles-Denis Bourbaki.
*MUSE's eyes return to normal.*
So, you named your asses after a Maths class. Ah ha ha. What fuckin nerds.
*MUSE forms a baseball bat in one hand and a small, floating orb in the other, both appearing glitching upon their summoning and sometimes flickering as if threatening to vanish. The small orb rises into the air.*
So, we're just jumpin straight to killin shit, eh? Sure, what evs. Go 0RB.
*The Floating drone would light up the small camera lense looking canon on it's front and fire a long line from it at the group of cloaked figures, the ground detonating into flames where the laser hit. However, the fire, like the drone, looked glitchy and the groun remained undamaged, as if it was just a hologram, despite the very real burning pain it dealt.*
Muse: Command 0RB-1: Laser
0RB-1: Laser (Heavy Fire damage to all foes)
Seeing Kazuo rush in and immediately be attacked, she rushed in instinctively not long after, clutching her bag as it burst into a deep, dark-red fire, the bag disintegrating and revealing a huge gothic messer sword, giving it a quick boisterous twirl before stepping in front of her student, Her stance was defensive and wide, taking up a large and rather distracting presence, her blade raised in preparation for a parry should any enemies target her.
“Takahara-kun, stay behind me!! I know how much you want to help, believe me! That’s why I’m here too!! But you can’t just rush in like that, you’ll get yourself hurt! Everyone!! Stay behind me, I’ll have your back while you go on the offensive!!”
The woman slashed her large blade at the entities, more to provoke them than cause any actual damage.
OOC: The good thing about using a canon character, I can just use an image instead of describing a persona.
As the cat lands on her, the woman just smiles a bit and picks it up. Setting the creature down gently upon the ground with a grin.
"Aw, cute! I don't know if this is the best place for you though... Anyway, how are we gonna dea-"
Her words are cut off as she notices the attacks, and Chie doesn't quite feel like rushing ahead at this point, the woman instead spins with a groan, one of her feet slams into a glowing blue card. The wave of ice she'd merely allow to slam into her, grinning a bit as her strength seems to grow greater from it.
The fire on the other hand is something Chie and the tall glowing weapon holding woman now behind her scramble to avoid, rushing over it with a large jump.
"Oh come on! We haven't even talked about who's doing what or how our group is planning to engage in these fights yet, aggggg! Freeze em all though!"
If their leap was fast enough to actually avoid the fire, the pair would throw their hands forward, ice forming above the enemies as magic focuses. Magic was never her biggest strong suit, but she's gotten better.
And the rain of spikes trying to crash down their foes that would be aimed to avoid any allies regardless of where they moved might do some good at least. Though it is no doubt, less powerful than the raw physical blows she prefers.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DwPgFJfXgAAi6Lc.png
(edited by Chie-Satonaka)
{The girl takes herself out her invisible sound surround, making her presence known to whoever could hear her. Which was basically everyone. Sana's oversized coat now hangs on her shoulders like a cape, a severed eye acting as if it was the accessory that keeps it together.}
"What professionals these loons are, can't even keep these rowdy kids under control."
{She raises her right arm, pointing a finger at number 7, the one that shot an ice spell at Kazuo for some reason. With a blank gaze, she sarcastically berates him as she makes a motion that alludes to a finger gun.}
"I guess we can all just start now. Hey you, idiot, make me look useful."
{The girl doesn't go melee just yet, since everyone is throwing around spells. The one teacher there is at least ballsy enough to do it first so she doesn't have to. Hopefully number 7 isn't near her. As the eye opened, two eyes of the bewildered that looked almost identical to the one keeping her coat together.}
{The eyes around her circle the girl like they were moons around a planet, and Sana makes an exploding motion with her hands, mimicking the mental landmines around her opponent that appeared as purple glimmers. These purple glimmers in turn do exactly what she gestured, burst into a mix of light and glitter that leaves behind a fragrant sense, aiming to disorientate the figures if they really were as human as they looked. Otherwise, the burst only serves to do actual damage to number 7 only and spread the enemy's field with purple perfume that lowers their defenses and acts like a euphoric cloud of poison.}
(edited by _Sana)
The cat purrs as he's set down, then darts back to avoid the crossfire. Despite actually having fighting capabilities, he would rather observe everyone and go from there. He hides behind Fakelib's leg, arches his back, and glances around the battlefield. He's looking out for both the combatants and any objects or features of this area that could be of use.
[Fire and Ice magic, quickly followed by a debilitating spell. Kazuo cursed under his breath until Asami pulls him back. He tries to take a deep breath as he listens to what Yu has to say. So... Sen is okay now...? He does look like the professional here and all, and his own experience is limited. He looks down at his Sleeping Gauntlet as his teacher takes a stance as well.]
"...Right. I just… kind of panicked for a second there. Not sure why."
[Then seeing everyone make their moves... he decides to take his usual approach. Slow, methodical, and setting up his victory from the beginning.]
"Which means I shouldn't be using you for now..."
[The Sleeping Gauntlet disappears, and instead, a singular void vortex would appear right above Kazuo.]
"Highspeed Alloy!"
[He points his index finger at "4" while the vortex releases gears and pieces of metal at incredible speed, looking to impact the enemy with his projectile, but also to set up his more powerful companions. He remains near Emi, behind her.]
while any of those gathered here might be more powerful than an individual Bourbaki, our "heroes" were fighting individually at random, while the Bourbaki are a unified whole. Though Bourbaki may not outnumber their opponents for once, the more that gather the greater they become.
So lets resolve this chronologically, for convenience sake.
Yu responds to the Bourbakis' aggression with a burst of lightning. The one up front, #1, slams his staff into the ground, forming the same circle that 4 had created earlier. Instead of an attack, they form a transparent barrier to cover itself, the two adjacent to it, 2 and 3. This barrier begins to crack, but manages to protect the three.
6, three Bourbaki down to Yu's left, does the same, creating a shield to protect its neighbors, 4 and 8.
Finally, rather than raising a barrier, 5 steps out from its position behind 3 to raise his staff high, absorbing what was left of the lightning aimed at the right side. This part of Yu's lightning is drawn into 5's staff, before being directed to Chie, the one who dared to leap towards them.
Muse's beam finishes off 1's barrier, however 4 steps forward to absorb the flame aimed at the other left-side barrier, taking and harnessing the power to use for its own attack.
In this case, 4's attack is launching a blast of fire at Sumeragi, in the form of an intense wave of flame that reaches up towards the sky in an attempt to keep them well away.
As with the few before it, 7 raises its staff to absorb Chie's ice, protecting its neighbors 5 and 9 while powering up its next attack.
the ice finishes off 6's barrier, leaving 4, 6, and 8 vulnerable to future attacks this round, but those seemed to be few and far between.
Meaning that, 1, 2, and 3 are defenseless. Their robes are pierced by shards of ice, but the figures don't seem to respond in any meaningful way. As if there were nothing left of them but their devotion, they seem willing to push on despite injury.
Since 7 is already busy, it doesn't protect itself from Sana's psychic? Attack. However, 9 is under no such restrictions. As 7 had protected it from the ice, 9 protects 7 from the psychic attack, with the mist and force all being absorbed into its staff.
Finally, Kazuo aims his gears at 4. With their barrier down, the gears are able to strike through 4's robes. Though its form is battered, leaking out some form of.. Purple-ish energy, its not yet defeated, eager to join its companions in their counterattack.
And this is the fun part dear viewers. Where the Bourbaki unite their counterattack
Since Sumeragi is the closest, 2 decides to focus on them. The creature strikes the ground like 4 had last turn, charging for only a second before launching a green, energy projectile at Sumeragi. Like the blue one aimed at Kazuo earlier, it wouldn't hurt much, however Sumeragi would find their movements slowed to a crawl.
7 retaliates at Sana's attempt to strike them, forming Chie's shards into a single, massive spear aimed to impale Sana in a single strike.
9 takes after 5's target, aiming Sana's disorienting psychic blast at Chie, aiming to deal serious mental damage as well as debilitate their foe.
as one left undisturbed, 3 waves its staff in a circle to whip up a breeze before sending a small tempest at Kazuo. This tempest may pick up some of Kazuo's leftover gears while aiming a slicing breeze at him
Finally, 8 doesn't make an attack at all, keeping watch over the conflict as he continues rambling
8: Souls... Fresh souls for master...
2: More souls...
3: Fresh offerings....
Whenever one of the creatures speaks of "master" their voice becomes almost euphoric, with their movements becoming more energetic, eager to serve their only care.
For the cat, there are a pair of lion bannerettes hanging on the wall a fair distance away from the Bourbaki. Aside from that nothing seems movable. However, the front of the courthouse is upheld by several concrete pillars, like many famous monuments. It might be possible for someone small enough to sneak around while the Bourbaki are busy.
In summary.
1, 2, 3, and 4 injured.
1 forms defensive barrier
2 attempts speed debuff on Sumeragi.
3 Attempts Garudyne on Kazuo
4 Attempts charged Agidyne on Sumeragi
5 Attempts Charged Ziodyne on Chie
6 forms defensive barrier
7 Attempts charged Bufudyne on Sana
8 Speaks
9 Attempts charged Psidyne on Chie
Looks like I neglected to aim one at Yu. Ah well, we can't win them all.
The large man crouches down and provides some scratches to the fuzzy head of the black cat.
"Well aren't you just the most adorable little bad luck charm!"
He turns his attention back to the group, his eyes jumping from each wannabe hero to their targets. The scratches continue.
"Just my luck that the vanguard aren't the weak minded type. I've just about had my fill with these 'this is just a typical Tuesday' types."
He lifts up the cat and cradles it.
"What's a guy to do?"
*MUSE takes the oppurtunity she has of not being targetted to summon a second 0RB drone to her side. As she's doing that, the first Drone repeats it's last action automatically. It traces it's laser across the ground between the nine, the line being followed by anotehr round of glitching explosions. The second drone levitates unmoving as MUSE despawns her baseball bat baefore looking over the battlefield through a square made of her thumbs and forefingers, like a photographer lining up a shot.*
Ah. I missed this carnage.
MUSE: Summon: 0RB-2
0RB-1: Automation (Repeats last action automatically as part of it's programming. Heavy Fire Damage to all Foes)
0RB-2: Stand By (Standing by for Orders.)
It seemed that these enemies were more prepared than he had anticipated. No attacks were being aimed at him but that meant he needed to prepare for what was to come now.
magic attacks seemed to have mixed results so it might be time for some more brute force. He was better at those types of attacks anyway.
Yoshitsune would appear once more as Yu crushed the card in his hand once more. This time however it would take a stance behind Yu, charging up its power in preparation to strike.
He'd observe the situation while this was happening, knowing he'd have to wait a moment before his next strike.
(ooc: I appear to have posted early. Oops. Old post deleted. At least this will give me a better plan.)
The cat watches this all unfold from the comfort of gentle scritches. All nine Bourbaki complement each other. Together, they are a well-oiled war machine... but what if one is alone? The kitten ponders his next move.
As reluctant as he is to move from this comfy spot, the kitten has to move sometime. He lets out an amused mrrow at his holder’s remark. Too many people are used to this for your taste, huh? Well, I’ll help them out if you’re that bored. It should speed things up.
He leaps out of Fakelib’s arms and dashes forward. Rather than attack, the feline runs low to the ground and darts between the pillars. His tiny black frame keeps him hidden. After getting behind the Bourbaki formation, he peeks out from behind a pillar. His pendant glows green under his scarf.
Garula.
A small tornado howls, speeding towards the leftmost Bourbaki, whichever our host deems is leftmost. It’s not aimed directly at it - rather, it’s aimed somewhere between it and the adjacent one in an attempt to blow the two apart, separating the leftmost one from the group.
Moments after that, the kitten makes a break for the courthouse entrance, using any other pillars as cover for any attacks.
The Persona manages to stand in the way of the attack aimed at its master, blade blocking it and merely sending the energy flowing through its body evenly. The two do take some damage, but it isn't a great deal, and as the red blade spins wildly Chie's magic would focus. Rushing all around and engulfing the group in a glowing green light which enhances all of their attributes for a time.
"Okay that... Kinda hurt, but not a ton. I'm good! Anyway, we need to come up with a plan here... And I don't even know what most of you are good at..."
That's the trouble with this mess, with the sole exception of Yu and herself they aren't a team in the least bit. And these things are, which makes it a pain. Enhancing them all will have the side effect of boosting whatever Yu does next though, so there's that.
Asami looks at Emi suspicious, her gaze falling between Emi and Kazuo.
"Takahara... -kun? Takahara-kun, how does this woman know you? I thought you were a loner. How many other girls do you know?"
Asami would look slightly worried as she said this up until the assault began. When the attack was directed at Kazuo, Asami clutched him tightly in her arms and forms a fire red dodecahedronal barrier around themselves.
"Hey, Professionals, we should aim for an concentrated assault so we can pick them off one at a time!"
"Do Re Might!"
[He is at least able to realize that an attack was coming his way. However, he cannot block out magic with the vibration field he was casting around his body. Therefore, Garudyne is able to leave some superficial cuts around his body and some of his clothes. It's nothing too bad, as his body is covered by the almost invisible figure of a Hawk of massive wings. The damage reduction is minimal, and it won't do anything with the pain, but it would allow him to keep going for a bit. When it came to the gears, he himself had created is when things get interesting. A white aura covered his body as the pieces clash against his body. Kazuo is forced on his feet the moment he is impacted by the winds, but gets up fairly quickly.]
"Level 2, which means my next move is going to be interesting. If physical impact was enough to leave you like that, you focus on attacking from far away, and would rather keep us away...!"
[Do Re Might absorbed the vibrations all around the area the moment it was cast, but it also absorbed the impact of his own gears, raising his defenses to Level 2 and reducing his speed greatly. Kazuo smiles the enemies, enjoying the sudden thrill of battle.]
"Highspeed Alloy! Let's see if I'm right!"
[Kazuo repeats the same attack against 4, but this time, the gears and bits of metal not only are bigger, they also reach higher velocity. He was about to say more but...]
"Huh...?"
[Kazuo's darkened eyes and sinister smile disappear the moment Asami speaks to him about Emi, going back to his usual demeanor.]
"Her...? That's a teacher at my school, Sumeragi-sensei. Why...?"
[Kazuo stares at Asami somewhat confused.]
(edited by Kazuo_Takahara)
As 2 fired its slowing projectile, Sumeragi raised her sword in an attempt to block, taking the status effect head on, her movements slowing to a crawl. She didn’t think much of the attack initially, but as 4 started charging its Agidyne with her as the target, she had few other options...
“D-Damnit!! This soon, huh...?”
She clutched her head for a moment in clear distress, letting out a loud grunt of agony as a sudden dark silhouette appaeared behind her. Its appearance was incredibly brief, its vaguely humanoid form the only thing that could be perceived, but its presence was certainly noticeable, a deep, otherworldly howl emitting from its maw, the energy spewing from its jaw creating a barrier in front of Sumeragi, blocking the oncoming fire.
She shook her head as if snapping out of a daze and assumed her combat-ready stance once more but took no further action, instead remaining in defensive form.
“I can’t slip up like that again...!!”
"All-Silent Protocol: Missing Redacted"
{Sana utters under her breath the wrong name of her power like she usually does, merely turning away from the blast of ice coming her way and snapping her fingers. As she does so, she creates yet another powerful vibration in the area, leaving the ears of anyone who had heard it ringing. Though it's area of effect is limited, it didn't have to reach anyone but the projectile that was going towards her.}
{By a snap of her fingers, the sound that was created was strong enough to repel the spear of ice, making it stay stagnated in the air aiming at the girl looking at it with a bored expression. Using this time, she sighed before disappearing, the eyes that previously rotated around her only serving to create dark energy constructs that break the ice before it strikes at something else that was near her.}
"These cowards just had the gall to be so coordinated as well."
{Trusting almost nobody here, she decides to give up on finding a safe spot and goes towards the next best location. The girl reappears, cloak first, into Kazuo's line of sight, maintaining a distance of about 3 feet as she taunts him for all the girls that he scored.}
"Oooooo, you're cheaaatiiiing..."
(edited by _Sana)
As before, 1 creates a barrier to block the drone's attack aimed at the left side shielding 1, 2, and 3. While 4 absorbs its sweep across the back end of the left flank, while 7 shields what's left of the right. At least, that was the plan.
The one furthest to the left, 8, in his eagerness to address "master" doesn't notice the breeze pushing him out of formation, resulting in the Bourbaki getting scorched. Its robes set alight, but it doesn't seem to mind the damage much.
With only one attack aimed its way, 6's barrier manages to absorb most of the damage caused by Kazuo's
This time there was no barrier to block Kazuo's attack, forcing the Bourbaki to release its charge, sending a powerful blast of fire to melt the gears as they approach.
With 1, 7, and 4 busy blocking, that leaves 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 free to move. the 6 remaining Bourbaki prepare to attack, only to be interrupted by what sounds like a trumpet echoing from inside the palace.
A shadow stands up on the ramparts, unraveling a scroll. Though the shadow has no voice, the scroll simply reads itself in a voice Kazuo, Sumeragi, and Sunna would likely find familiar.
Scroll: "A new ruling has emerged, due to needlessly prolonging a conflict to the detriment of all involved, defending is now ruled illegal. Stand and fight."
In response to the new decree, 1 and 7 drop their shields immediately, so as to avoid breaking the law. Sumeragi finds her guard quickly dropping as well, as if it was simply impossible to disobey the laws of this land.
For those of you who have played Final Fantasy Tactics, this gimmick might come off as vaguely familiar. Though taken to a greater extreme.
Now unable to block, the Bourbaki focus on the offensive, with 2 raising its staff up high to summon a stream of black tendrils to strike at Muse
3 notices Yu's charge and decides to slam his staff into the ground as the other debuff attempts had done. this time the resulting wave is red in color, and would seriously debuff Yu's attack.
Seeing the success of its previous attack, 5 aims another bolt of lightning at Chie, hoping to continue whittling down their opponent.
Running off of 2's idea, 6 raises its staff high before gesturing it towards 0RB-1. At first nothing happens as a beam of light focuses on the drone, before crashing down with a burning intensity.
Having been struck by Muse's drone, 8 wishes to get even as well. However, this one seems to interpret the new rule differently, slamming its staff down before launching an attack to debuff Muse's defense
That leaves number 9. Without any obvious tactical targets, 9 decides to assist 4, using the opening 4's fire would bring to launch a psychic attack on Kazuo, aiming to disorient their opponent.
In summary
1 shielding
2 Eigaon targetting Muse
3 attack Debuff targetting Yu
4 shielded itself from Kazuo
5 Ziodyne at Chie
6 Hamaon at 0RB-1
7 Shielding right side
8 defense Debuff targetting Muse
9 Psydyne targetting Kazuo
Guarding, blocking, defending, etc. is now forbidden.
With the Bourbaki busy, the Cat would be able to slip behind them into the building, reaching the lobby first.
the lobby is excessively large, branching off to two paths, one to the cat's left and one to their right. The leftmost path seems to become more overgrown as one looks further down it, while the right maintains the purest white appeal of the lobby.
Straight ahead, they can already see the massive doorway leading into the main courtroom. Though there's no label, the sheer size and presence of guards indicates some degree of importance
Ah right, the guards. Though they're not much larger than a human, the two dog-like creatures standing guard at the door are quite capable of intimidating such a small cat. Both figures seem to be clad in an armor that leaves only patches of fur visible as an indication of their canine forms.
That and the snapping of teeth that are barely restrained by chains wrapping around the creatures' armor. Neither of them seem interested in the cat at the moment, but there's no telling when that will change.
The cat’s ears flatten and he tries to move as quietly as possible. These dogs could easily turn him into a chew toy. Leaving the courtroom alone, the feline pads down the leftmost path. He notes the overgrown hall’s appearance. What could have caused this to become so neglected? Regardless, he moves on.
OOC: Sleep approaches. Good luck with the white robe dudes.
*As the tendrils strike at MUSE, the 0RB Drone that was just constructed flies into it's path, taking the blow but imeddiatly glitching out and fading from existence. MUSE clicks her tongue.*
C'mon. I just summoned that. Yo 1. Gun that bastard down.
*Reacting MUSE's will, 0RB-1 turns slowly to 2. However, as it's about to fire, it's shot out of the sky by Hamaon. She seems unaware of the defence down.*
Shit. Fine then, you pricks. I'll deal with you myself.
* MUSE walks forwards glitching, swinging her bat in circles as she did. She vanishes, before reappearing in a place a few steps to the left. The she vanishes again. This time she appears, swinging at 2 from the air before vanishing again, appearing next to 6 and swing her bat at the back of it's head. After impact, she vanishes again before reappearing back in her original spot.*
MUSE: Swing Batter Batter (Medium damage to one foe that is difficult to dodge. Target: 6)
0RB-1: Destroyed
0RB-2: Destroyed
(edited by -MUSE-)
Chie's buff from before had now been undone by the strange red wave but Yu had still been charging. There was no time to wait for another boost to his attack. Defending had been ruled out which meant this was his chance.
"Yoshitsune...Now's the time! Hassou Tobi!"
His enemies would soon find themselves being slashed numerous times in a circular pattern. Eight well coordinated cuts all aiming to cut them to pieces. The attacks wouldn't exactly be anything too crazy on their own but all together after having been charged up they'd be sure to have some impact.
Much to the man's chagrin, he lost what he had hoped to be a confidant in his feline companion. Clearly there were bigger fish to fry. He turns his attention to the shadow's decree.
"Now this is new."
The thought of trying his luck against a silly decree definitely crossed his mind, but now wasn't the best time to risk the potential repercussions. A large grin spans across his face.
"This person's shadow has some fun tricks up their sleeves! Let's see what else they've got to offer."
He produces a small black orb from his pocket. Running a finger along the top would cause it to unfurl and reveal a small black chameleon with red eyes.
"Chameleon: Armed Mode."
The small shadow of a creature would walk over to the man's right index finger and grip around it. Its body would seem to adhere itself to his hand while the head begins to morph into what could only be called the barrel of a gun.
"Let's follow the lead of our unlucky charm. Chroma Camo!"
The eyes of the chameleon glow for a moment as the man begins to blend into his surroundings, little by little. At which point he would try and make his way along the outskirts of the skirmish and into the building.
"I'm not cheating on anyone, I don't even have a girlfriend, and besides...!"
[The shadow speaks in the all too familiar voice, completely taking his attention.]
"...!? That voice...! That must be her-"
[And at that very moment, Kazuo is hit by Psydyne. Even though he had this shield up, once again, it cannot protect him from magic, only physical impact. Kazuo clutches his head and drops to his knees, feeling a sense of confusion for a moment... that is, until he focuses again on the prospect of battle. His previously confused look would darken quickly.]
"Fine then, I'll play with this rule...Release!
[Kazuo releases his Level 2 Vibration Field directly onto the ground. His defense goes back to the state it was previously, but so does his speed. After this, he smiles defiantly.]
"But now...! IMAGINARY 2.0 - DEEP TRANSMIGRATION!!"
[He claps his hands together as red markings cover his body, similar to stripes. He presses both hands against the floor as the vibration he had released are trapped by the markings, which would then join with the first set of gears and pieces of metal he released, melting and then gaining the shape of a massive quadrupedal beast, twice the size of a bear.]
"I call upon your name, Bearer of the Mark. Manifestation of War, scorch the land!"
"2.14 – Deep Gear Tiger!!"
[The metallic, skeletal tiger with a cannon hidden within its jaws would appear right behind Kazuo as he laughs loudly and the Chimera roars. The red markings shine brightly all over the Chimera's body as it stares down with empty sockets at the enemy. It claws itself against the ground before rushing at the group of enemies. Right before getting to them, it would take a leap above, and then generate an explosion from its mouth to force itself down with its own body for some heavy damage; this is Canyon Press; even if it doesn't impact directly, the shockwave alone should generate enough damage to hit all nearby enemies. All in all, it's looking to prioritize the furthest current target.]
"Let me give you a heads up, bastards! Deep Gear Tiger has a trick of its own. It's like a law, it keeps going, whether you like it or not!"
[Tiger automatically absorbs any kind of Fire and heat in the area. If Fire magic is used, then it automatically targets Tiger, which it will immediately absorb, heating its own body up in the process.]
Asami sighs with relief
"Heh, I was worried for a second there. But don't worry."
Once her barrier ceases to function, she focuses on spreading out, distancing herself from Kazuo and moving towards Emi.
"Nice to meet you, Sumeragi-sensei. My name's Asami!"
She then steps back as Yu goes through with his assault, keeping track of where the targets are knocked towards. Once he finishes, she picks up by slamming the bottom of her staff into the ground with both hands, fire conducting through it as the little girl's eyes glow white hot. Suddenly, a giant mass of hot matter materalizes into a burning small meteor, striking the general area in which most of Bourbaki are locating, causing massive impact damage to anything struck and heating up the space surrounding.
"Alright! Everyone okay?"
OOC: By all means, Tiger's passive power works against both enemies and team members. You figure this out Ally lmao
“That has to be her!!! She’s gotta be in here somewhere!!”
With the rule change, her stance changed, raising her blade above her head, the tip pointed directly at 3, With a deep breath and a focused glare she thrust her left fist forward, a black flame of curse-aspected energy forming in her palm. She dragged the energy across her curved blade, imbuing the steel with its power and creating a loud hum.
“You speak like this is a game to you! So come, let’s spice up the playing field!!! Maeiga Saku!!
She spun the curse-imbued curved great sword in a circle before leaping into the air, firing several dark blade-shaped projectiles at 3 and their closest allies. While the power of the strike wasn’t spectacular, the blade-like projectiles would strike a multiple times, damaging 3 and any enemy near them a handful of times.
“Nice to meet you, Asami-Chan! We’ll talk more after this, promise!”
She took a brief moment to offer a wide smile to the girl before returning to her scowl in combat.
(edited by Emi_Sumeragi)
[i]Chie would grin a bit as the bolt of magic rushes towards her, the last one wasn't expected, and she didn't have magic of her own making evading it easier. This time?
Simple enough to just dodge the whole thing, rushing with inhman speed as it barely misses her face and advancing further to hopefully take advantage of the attacks Kazuo and Yu have unleashed.
"Yeah yeah, I was kind of planning to attack soon anyways!"
She knows Yu's Persona well, and the eight cuts it sends flying with improved accuracy and speed would hopefully distract. Combine that with the tiger aiming to smash their foes to bit, and she grins while her Persona tosses its blade into her hands, now split apart into two halves.
"Orbital Slicer!"
The Persona doesn't match that name at all, instead sending a flurry of its feet rushing straight at the 3 of them nearest the front. Chie on the other hand, uses her temporary weapons with deft skill, aiming to slice straight into their bodies with her own blur of speed and hopefully cut straight through their heads.
Before the blade appears in her Persona's hands again, reconnected. With any luck the brutal follow up to her friend's attack will do some damage.
"Wow, all of these rules fucking suck."
{While Sana was going to attempt to go rush in for melee, the so called professionals have that area handled. Plus with a cute kitty running around going to kill things, there's no reason to expend any effort going in herself. Instead, Sana sticks with cheering Kazuo on in an extremely depressed tone.}
"Yeah Kazuo, go get your crush. I totally believe in you."
{Since two compelling sentences is all she feels is good enough, the girl decides to do something that might be able to actually help in this situation. Behind Kazuo, Sana levitates slightly in the air, summoning a giant spork appear in her hands, one decorated with a purple bow that has a blue crystal flower.}
"As for me..."
{She elevates a bit higher to at least see more of what is happening to the bourbaki. She decides to flick the roundest part of her spork, causing a little sensation similar to silverware dropping onto a wooden ground. Afterwards, Sana throws the polearm right in the middle of 4 and 5, the flower glowing faintly before summoning green vines that wrap around the purple ribbon before growing even more. These vines would attempt to block any escape routes that they would normally have, or at the very least, distract them so that they'd be open for a direct attack.}
Funny you'd make the game comparison. I'm just looking for something fun. Not a bad start so far but I really can't wait for the climax.
Laws are universal, and this decree is no different. That means the Bourbaki are incapable of defending themselves either, and as they're not swift enough to evade much, that means they're little more than sitting ducks. One may wonder if that was the plan.
Hassou Tobi shreads the robes of all 9 Bourbaki, leaving their shadowy interior to leak out into the field around them. The 9 don't last long under the group's combined assault, fading into darkness one by one until the field is cleared.
As Bourabaki 1 is defeated, it leaves a dark halo behind. There's something ominous about this halo, but it simply remains on the ground, waiting for someone to collect it.
The man with the chameleon sneaks in while the others are pummeling what's left of the Bourbaki into oblvion. As Cecil found earlier, the court lobby is large, offering plenty of space for a group to rest, before splitting into a leftward path that rapidly becomes more overgrown, a rightward path that remains as clear and clean as the ivory lobby, and a massive doorway guarded by two large, dog-like shadows.
“MINE!”
The girl uses her levitating as a means of momentum, flying forwards to retrieve the seemingly ominous halo and rolling towards the ground. She grips it hard, not caring what bad may happen worth this thing, but Sana doesn’t seem to care one bit.
“And if any of you losers want this shit, take it from me idiots!”
{But if nothing suddenly awful truly happens, she just flaunts the halo and yells at everyone else since she feels like she desserves something for participating. After flexing her newfound halo in her hand, the girl is also the first to decide to enter since that’s where they’re supposed to go.}
The halo dissolves in Sana's hands. Though it vanishes for now, they get the feeling it'll be important later
Fanatical Devotion attained
You might wanna make note of this. We've got a long way to go
(edited by Ally_of_justice)
*MUSE spins her baseball bat in her hand before resting it on her shoulder before dispelling it, causing it to vanishing in a cloud of blue code.*
And stay gone, shitheads.
*She looks over to Sana as she scoops up the halo.*
Yo? Think that's smart? Well whatever.
*She claps her hand.*
Yo. You guys notice something whack about that ending there. How they just stopped defending once that knight guy decided guarding was illegal or whatever? What was that about? Totally worked against them.
Asami shakes her head at the girl rushing ahead.
"My, how reckless. Kazzie, did you teach this girl to act like this? ...Nevermind."
Asami then approaches Yu, smiling at him.
"Hey, mister professionals, why don't you guys start off the introductions?"
{As Sana's pretty little halo dissolves in her hand, she feels immense disappointment. A fact that makes her rolls her eyes as if her day was ruined. She sighed out, feeling a bit regretful for expending all that effort looking selfish for wanting a reward.}
"Wow, thanks. This was so worth insulting everyone over."
{Since there's nothing left for her to hold, she strolls back outside for a little bit, whistling and casually speaking towards everyone as she gets hold of her spork, making it vanish once more.}
"You know guys, if I knew that would have happened, I would've just said "you can ask nicely". Oh well."
{The girl thinks nothing of it, heading inside as she first planned.}
Yu would continue onward after making sure everyone else looked ok to keep going. He wanted to at least try to keep a lead here and with such a large group he knew that would be difficult
"Grabbing a Halo just for it to disappear. Well, you're probably cursed now, good work."
He'd respond to Sana with words that seemed mocking but his tone was void of any true emotion to indicate whether or not he was actually being serious.
Right, left, or forward? That seemed to be their next decision. The door seemed important but it was being guarded but it also might not have any relevance at all. He'd wait for Chie before making a decision.
"This might sound like a dangerous suggestion but maybe we should split up into smaller groups, just for the sake of exploration. I'd rather not just tackle things one at a time here.
Obviously you'd lead a group while I lead another, though that does leave one more path...Maybe we should let that teacher be the third leader. I'd feel better leaving someone responsible in charge."
He'd also have to acknowledge the one asking for introductions. He was unsure if this was really the time for that but better now then later.
"If that's what you want, just calm down with the 'professional' stuff. Yu Narukami, I've been saving people from this world for a while now. Though I have to admit, it's been a few years since someone actually ended up trapped in this place. Guess you could say at this point I have more experience using a Persona than exploring the TV world.
That being said Chie can attest to the fact I still probably have the most experience in this world."
(edited by Yu-Narukami)
"Tch. Those mutts should be mincemeat if I wanted them to be... but I'm not able to pull out the big guns just yet."
The sound of death and excitement behind him offers a new plan.
"I guess even he wouldn't be able to take out those mutts without his pathetic little posse."
With a reluctant sigh the man exits the building and removes his camouflage. The chameleon still mounted on his finger.
"Well if it isn't Yu and what I can only call a ramshackle approximation of the fabled Investigation Team! You all handled yourselves wonderfully! I loved the part where it went all according to plan!"
He smiles and claps his hands together.
"Now this team business is something I can get behind!"
As the fighting settled down she slammed her greatsword into the floor, letting out a loud sigh of relief and leaning on the handle. She turned to her newfound allies and offered them all an enthusiastic grin with a jovial finger waggle for a greeting.
“I think she’s right! We should probably at least know each other by name. My name’s Emi Sumeragi, I’m a teacher at Kosei High School, and I’m here because I think I saw one of our students on the TV. Turns out, there’s more than one here.”
She gestured to Kazuo briefly before bowing towards the group. She couldn’t help but glance at Yu, giggling softly and twirling her pale locks.
“Hey! I like your hair! Very nice!”
She started walking with the party and rested her large blade on her shoulder, carrying it gingerly like a parasol.
“If you have the most experience around here, I’ll follow you! Seems like you’ve got a better handle on that... thing, too. Your Persona.”
(edited by Emi_Sumeragi)
[Tiger would shake itself off after its attack, also having absorbed part of Asami's own attack, raising its own Heat to Level 1. Kazuo walks up to it and decides to keep it around. If the halls of the place ahead were open enough, and given the current size, which is relatively small compared to all the other Chimera he has, but also the smallest possible size for this being, given only one set of gears was used... it's better to have some extra damage dealer around. He decides to speak to... Muse?]
"If this was a game, then it would be the equivalent to having Easy Mode forced on us because we sucked. Just follow a rule, good for them or not..."
[Kazuo pets the metallic beast; although it is now hot to the touch, it doesn't seem to affect its master at all.]
"...that's something she would do."
[Moving forward while listening to Yu's words, he comes to understand it may be for the best.]
"I can only use Tiger here, and it will absorb Fire from anywhere, but it can also release it. The absorption works against both ally and enemy, so anyone who will have me should consider that. After we decide the teams, we should move forward."
[Kazuo turns to the...new guy who just came from the door.]
"Are you like...who are you again?"
The young woman would nod to Yu.
"Yeah I was gonna suggest something like that, all of us fighting at once is frankly a chaotic mess. Might be best to just keep it at two, we usually fought in groups of four or so and there's what, maybe seven of us here?"
She isn't sure on the exact number, but it seems small enough for two teams to work. Probably.
"Anyways yeah, doing things one at a time is madness. We probably aren't finishing this in one day, you all have school or work or something to deal with. And for that matter I have work too, more importantly? I can't toss around magic and inhuman physical might all day, doubt you all can either right?"
Trying to deal with this in a single day would be... Folly, nearly unavoidable death by past experience even with people who know what they're doing.
"As for introductions, I'm Chie Satonaka, my silver-haired friend over there is Yu Narukami. We've done this... A lot before, not the first time someone's been in here. Don't keep rushing ahead when it'll get you killed, because nobody else is picking up this case if we die. And that's sure doom for the victim, so lets be careful okay?"
With that said, she just sighs and looks over to Kazuo.
"Also, I take it this is a friend of yours? If so I know the feeling, but like I said us dying would mean... Very bad chances, so don't rush ahead again. For your friend's sake if nothing else."
Finally...
"As for who's working with who, I'd like to talk about what we can do first. Yu has... Everything last I saw? Yeah everything. I can enhance people obviously, hit real hard, and I'm decent at ice magic, can kill things with light sometimes, and break barriers that reflect physical skills too. The rest is just spins on those core things really. Oh and I have my service revolver! Who wants to go next?"
With that said, she'd go quiet with a smile on her face, absently leaning back against a wall and observing the group curiously.
The man grins at Kazuo.
"The name's Kalib. I'm nobody really. Yu and I go waaaaay back though. So that's at least something."
Ooh. Are we doing team building exercises now?
*MUSE grins.*
Well, I'm MUSE, all caps, and I like music. OK, someone elses turn.
"Yu-Onii-San? Chie-Onee-Sama?"
Asami tilts her head, nodding.
"Cool names! As for me, it's Asami Sonnenschein."
She smiles gleefully, turning around to face the rest of the group before turning to face the new man who just arrived.
"He's shady, is he a shadow? Ah, wait, my powers! Well, let's see, I can cure any disease or injury and I can revive people if it's not too long since they died. I can also generate infinite heat energy, and I constantly emit sunlight. Besides that, I would have excellent barrier capabilities if it wasn't for that rule."
She then sighs, slightly disappointed.
"Kaz, that power's really inconvenient for me. Did you do that on purpose or something?"
The man turns to Sunna with a furrowed brow.
"How rude to just call someone you've never met in a strange world where shadows reside, a shadow! The youth of today are so uncouth."
Yu would look at this...Kalib? With a questioning gaze. Were they the real deal? This wasn't the time for that. As long as they seemed to be on their side for the moment it'd be better not to cause any fighting.
"yeah, I've known Kalib for a couple years at least. We shouldn't concern ourselves too much with those smaller details for the moment. It's more important for us to decide how we'll be proceeding ahead. Well, since as Chie said, I'm not really limited to one skill set anyone should be alright coming along with me."
He, also wasn't sure how to respond to having someone compliment his hair again.
"I was kind of thinking that you should lead too but if you want to follow me then I guess we could have someone else do it. I'm just not too sure on who else could right now."
He'd look over at Kalib. They had a decent amount of experience too but...hard to say he could outright trust them given their fake also had been around in the past. He already made the decision to ignore those details for the moment though.
"Maybe you, Kalib. You've been here before too, afterall."
"Kalib huh. Weird name... to say something about it."
[Kazuo shakes his head as he catches everyone's names, then to address Asami's one words.]
"Tiger was the only Chimera I could access at the time without much set-up. Furthermore, they are all quite big... I can't really use the others. This is all I have."
[Kazuo would then clear this throat and point at himself with his thumb.]
"My name is Kazuo Takahara, I'm a third-year student at Kosei High School. The person who you saw is called Sen Megumiba, first-year at the same school, member of the student council, daughter of Seishiro Megumiba, a prosecutor."
[He rubs the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed.]
"...That's how she always introduces herself anyways. I don't mind who I team up with right now. I just care about reaching her. She's my friend... and all that. So, whoever needs me in their idea of a team, just pick me, I don't mind. I can always figure something out, even if things get bad."
There was a glimmer of something in his eyes as he turned back to face Yu.
"Oh yeah! I wouldn't mind shepherding these newbies to the big bad! But I have to admit that this place really put mine to shame. Not sure if shadow dungeons should be a measuring contest but..."
He shrugs.
"If anyone is looking to follow me just keep in mind that I've got a grab bag of goodies to pull out for every kind of rainy day. But I'm mostly keen on being up close and beating the snot out of what's in the way."
He cracks his neck and then a smile.
"Which means if you like letting loose, I'm the guy you want!"
Upon hearing about Kazuo's ties to Sen, he perks up and walks over. He places a cold hand on the young man's shoulder.
"You're mighty straightforward. I like the cut of your jib, kid! Hey, Yu! Dibs on Tigger over here!"
Asami chuckles, excited by the introductions. When talk of what teams to form come up, however, she steps in. First she grips Yu's right hand gently, draging him towards Kazuo with her abnormal strength. She then curls the fingers of her right hand around Kazuo's left hand.
"You two should go together, your powers would compliment each other really well!"
She smiles innocently, hiding an alterior motive.
{Sana rolls her eyes as she is in the middle of everyone introducing themselves as if they were all trying to sell themselves.}
"Oh boy, we can play follow the leader. And the best part is, Emi the responsible teacher can act as another leader if needed since Kazuo seems to have bagged her as well. Since these are all introductions, this is more like auditions or some stupid job interview. But I'll play along."
{The girl clears her throat before she speaks up to everyone present.}
"My name is Sana, or moreso, Sana Mai-lastnameisnotimportant and I have a weapon whenever I feel like it. Otherwise, just count on me throwing mentally dark magic attacks and vibration sound blasts and the like from the back, and we'll be good."
{The girl starts to gain a smile on her face as she says this last statement.}
"Oh, and since I'm cursed or whatever, I might as well go with the boy who's also cursed...by love. Hopefully whoever they are, and they know who I'm talking about, because it's painfully obvious to everyone but yourself."
"...Don't touch me."
[Is all Kazuo says to Kalib. But then Asami takes him towards Yu. Again, Kazuo just releases his own hand.]
"Look, is any of you going to decide on anything? Your lack of initiative right now is getting on my nerves. Either you guys pick something or I'm off and then whoever the hell wants can follow me."
[Kazuo then goes back to stand next to Tiger, stressed out by the situation. He scoffs.]
"Who is Sana even talking about, I swear... It's all a waste of time."
(edited by Kazuo_Takahara)
Chie cracks her knuckles and nods.
"Alright that's... Good, we have a better idea now. And with three paths, well, I'm thinking... I'll go with Kazuo and Sana, that fire absorbing tiger helps me since fire damage hurts me a lot more than it does most people."
Then she'd point to Yu, eyes narrowed a bit.
"Also thinking you and Emi, you can handle a lot more than most. And if we're splitting into three groups one ends up with two, unless the cat can fight and goes with the two? Possible, but I doubt it."
She has seen a persona using dog though, it isn't totally impossible to believe. Then lastly...
"Kalib, Muse, and Asami, you say you have lots of options Kalib and Yu thinks its true so I will too. Muse you... Well I'm not gonna try to give you orders, frankly. But if you wanna cut loose Kalib said he's the guy right? And you can keep em all healthy Asami, seem good to everyone?"
With that she'd sigh a bit at Kazuo, not that she can't understand. But rushing like this doesn't help anyone. It hasn't been that long they were considering things. At any rate, the officer waits for everyone to agree before heading out.
Are you saying I'm a Wild Card, Miss Chie? Eh heh heh.
*MUSE flashes a cat like smile, stretching.*
I'm game with hanging with Libby and Sami. This is getting interesting after all.
(edited by -MUSE-)
He flashes finger guns towards Chie after getting the cold shoulder from Kazuo.
"Love me a gal that can make a decision! I won't let you down!"
He turns to face Muse and Asami.
"You two ready to rock this joint?"
*MUSE winks at Kalib, grinning and chuckling while flashing a "rock out" hand gesture, thumb and pinky raised.*
"Let's move already, I don't feel fine just standing around anymore. Hurry up."
[Kazuo taps Tiger as he walks into the court; Tiger would follow as well.]
"Best possible result that could've been came up with. And you figured out who I'm talking about. Good for you, miss cop."
{For once, in her life, she feels refreshed to give her higher up a bit of respect. But mostly because she solved who she was just insulting about being extremely dense on pure coincidence.}
"Don't mind him about his excitement. He just has an intense desire to save the princess that got here in the first place. You know how it is with these types, usually."
{Sana says to her with an almost genuine but mostly smug smile. With the teambuilding out of the way, the girl follows the group she got assigned to once they leave.}
Asami crosses her arms and pouts turning her head away from Kalib.
"My powers are for protecting cute young boys, not creepy old dudes."
She then stares at Kazuo, pleadingly.
"So, you see, I have to go with my Kazzie... he's gonna do something stupid, otherwise, and I don't want him to get hurt!"
She then clingingly follows close to Kazuo while ignoring everyone else, trying her hardest to remain hold of his left hand.
The man starts rocking out as he enters the building once again.
"You do you sweetheart, cause I'm about to go in there and do me. Let's roll, Muse."
Yu would enter assuming Emi was fine with their line-up. It seemed there was already some problems with the decided line-up but all he could do was wait and hope the others could figure it out. They'd spent enough time planning things out.
"I'm thinking the leftmost path. would be better to get the harder to trek area out of the way first."
She practically jumps with surprise hearing Chie suggest her as a leader.
“Me? Well I guess being an educator gives me some leadership skills, but I think knowledge of this world is a bit more important.”
Hearing Kazuo suggest going off on his own again, she calmly stepped towards her student, her hands behind her back and her voice growing softer, more motherly.
“Takahara-kun, you need to be more patient. I know how you feel right now, you must believe me! It pains me to see one of my students in strife, especially in such an unpredictable environment such as this! But if you lose your composure you are begging for destruction. Please. Try to stay calm so you can think clearly.”
Sumeragi crouched down a little to make eye contact with her student, offering him a gentle smile.
“I’ll stay with Kazuo to make sure he doesn’t get hurt. You all go ahead and try to help however you can. If you’ve been into this world several times, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure something out.”
*MUSE rests her arms behind her head and begins to follow Kalib.*
Right behind you, Libby. Come on Sami. Let's party! Nyah ha ha!
He points towards the guard dogs between them and adventure.
"I propose we go let the dogs out while the others do the more labor intensive jobs. I'm sure there's more than one way to skin one of those bad boys."
*MUSE smirks, summoning her baseball bat.*
You're the boss, Libby. At your mark.
The woman just sighs as her... In her opinion decent suggestion falls apart.
"Sure okay, Kalib, Muse, you two gonna be okay alone? Yu and I can handle it by ourselves, Emi make sure they don't get into too much trouble, please. Anyway, with all attempts at order defeated, I'm with you 'Leader'."
There's an amused smile on her face while saying that, order falling apart in the face of teenagers is... Fairly expected. So sure, she can work with it. Kazuo has more than the rest, and the two pairs will just have to make it work. As she heads down the leftmost path she'd whisper to Yu.
"Well, that could have gone better. But I'm not shocked either... Really hoping that cat goes with the other team that got cut down to two though, we should be fine, right?"
That said, she advances with the now drawn gun in her hands and her greaves ready to smash anything in their path. And with them fairly our of earshot for the rest, she'd just casually keep on guard while chatting a bit.
"Ignoring all that though, how have you been man? Like, really not just polite someone asks at the store. It's been way too long and all seriousness aside, I am pretty sure we'll do alright."
She can't help smirking a bit, presenting a deadly serious face to those who mostly don't know does seem needed. But even so, Chie can't keep it up with just her old friend around.
{Though the girl was fully prepared for being with Chie, and more importantly Kazuo, she is left surprised as hell breaks loose. Loosely, at least. It's not all bad when the harem curse sticks on like glue.}
"This is very funny. I blame you for this team, Kazuo."
{Since Sana has almost no hope for reconciling with Sunna, she shrugs with what she's left with and goes to Emi. Being nice to one higher up wasn't that bad, we can always continue the streak by appreciating another one.}
"By the way, Miss Teacher Emi, I sorely hope you won't hate us after any of this."
All semblances of order gone, huh? Yu would be worried about the others, he hand't wanted to separate like this but there wasn't a lot he could do anymore. He just hoped they wouldn't find anyone's corpse strewn across a TV antenna later.
"I hope those guys know what they're doing."
How has he been doing, huh? It's been a while since he thought about that.
"Mostly just been trying to get stronger. Not sure if I've made any progress but with all the amazing people here I started to feel like I was falling behind a bit.
Guess that's a bit too humble though. I still don't feel like I've gotten too serious yet.
But if that encounter form before with nine was just the beginning I think this dungeon is going to be a lot more similar to the old days.
I wonder what kind of repressed feelings someone has to have to make a courthouse like this though."
The other investigation team member just sighs and nods a bit.
"Yeah I know the feeling... Jeez, I've had to spend a bunch of time on training just to keep up with being a cop. Half of us or more are too scared to deal with anything weird and occult, and there's a lot of occult stuff to go around. Too much to get comfortable."
She'd pause a bit, gun aimed forward and eyes scanning the place.
"Kazuo though, he said she's the kid of a prosecutor right? That explains a good bit of it, and the rest... Well if its anything like the old days it'll become clear in good time. I hope they have a clue too though, if we all survive to group back up then I don't think Kazuo is gonna react well to leaving..."
A worrying thought, to be sure. But for now all they can do is focus and keep heading forward in this 'dungeon' as they'd call it.
Asami remains right by Kazuo's side, ignoring the other girls at the moment.
"I want... a piggyback ride."
She looks at Kazuo pleadingly, paying attention only to him.
OOC: Holy shit does this thread go hard. I haven't had this much fun in years.
While the narrator was away, it seems we have made much progress. Excellent job.
The cat, while wandering down the left corridor, hears a barrage of noises outside - then silence. He hopes it was signifying his allies’ success. He sits down in the middle of the left corridor, both to see if anyone enters the lobby and to get a better look at the hall he’s in.
Admittedly, the narrator somewhat lost track of exactly how groups formed, but as long as you all remember who you're grouped with I'm sure we'll be able to continue just fine.
Lets start with the ones brave enough to approach the central door. Unsurprisingly, the two dog-like creatures step forward to intercept their path. However, they don't make any motions to attack, instead a voice echos out from their empty interior
Red dog: "What is thy purpose?"
Blue: "State thy desire."
Those who walk down the left path find the ivory walls quickly becoming more overgrown with trees and vines until they finally find an opening leading outwards into a dark and twisted forest.
At the forest entrance proper are three signs.
The first sign looks to be badly damaged, with most of the sign's words being clawed out, with massive gouges into the wood left as an indication of what the sign used to read.
Only a single word remains legibile. A simple "run".
The second sign has a picture of a creature with long, twisted legs that lead upwards into a body that almost resembles a clamshell, at least in the poor, sketchlike manner its drawn here.
Below this picture are the lines
"Warning: Dangerous criminal ahead. If seen, report to the nearest authority. Engaging is not advised."
Finally, the third sign simply has a large number "3", with no further context to it.
The rightward group continues on into what resembles an office. Some shadows are flittering about, carrying papers here and there, but none of them seem capable of noticing the group, or perhaps they'd simply rather avoid it.
Soon, they emerge into a massive library, somewhat resembling the city's central library that one could catch Sen at on occasion.
One of the first things they'd notice is a person who looks exactly like Sen, save for their updated formal business attire over the cute girl's regular school uniform.
Like the shadows the group saw earlier, Sen seems focused on searching the library for books and papers, for whatever purpose they may have.
Asami continues forth until Sen comes into sight. Hastily, she presses the end of her staff to Kazuo's chest to hold him back.
"I forgot to mention earlier, but I can also dispell illusions."
She then holds her free hand forward, a light wave washing over the area and allowing everyone to see through any disguises, magical or otherwise.
"Let's take caution, there's no telling what's what in this world."
This is a simple enough one for me to go ahead and state.
Asami's little light trick doesn't seem to affect anything. For better or for worse it looks like the being wandering the library is Sen, with no disguises or illusions needed.
[Kazuo keeps walking forward as the shadows ignore them; he ignores them back. For as long as they don't get in the way, they don't matter to him. He keeps a steady pace, walking fast and firmly. Not even when Asami asks him for a piggyback ride does he shift his gaze.]
"Later. Busy."
[He is not in the mood to take things lightly, and only Tiger seems to remain mostly calm as it follows behind the group, minding its own speed and strength at which each step goes, just enough so the ground doesn't shake or get too much attention, despite it being so big and intimidating. Finally, he reaches a somewhat familiar area with the rest of the group, the massive library. At first, Kazuo would look around, amazed. He was somewhat of a fan of those after all. However, his wonder quickly turns into stress the moment he notices Sen, or "Sen".]
"No way, she's really...!?"
[Asami would immediately stop him to check for any kind of illusion. It's true, that could be the case but... at the very least, it doesn't seem to be for now. Kazuo taps his foot impatiently as he waits for Asami to be done for, and then, he would move to the side to get out of the staff's way.]
"Sen!"
[Kazuo would not run because she wasn't too far away, but the way he was stomping his entire way towards her made it clear he wasn't exactly composed. Tiger looks on, almost weirded out as the young man tries to reach to the girl, turning her to face him.]
"How did you get in here!? Are you alright? You are not hurt, are you?"
[He then forces himself to take a deep breath and take a step or two back; he wasn't thinking straight anymore.]
Unfortunately, the kitten can’t read, but the clawed sign and drawing give him enough context to know danger is ahead. Rather than move on, he sits down by the entrance and faces the way he came. He takes as deep a breath as his lungs can take.
“Meooooooow...”
His call attempts to get the attention of anyone near this leftmost passage. He’ll be meowing like this for a few minutes. If nobody notices, he’ll eventually give up and move on, but it’s worth a try.
The man raises a brow at the dogs as they begin speaking.
"Certainly wasn't how I expected this to go, but it's a welcome surprise."
He grins at the pair of guard dogs before replying.
"My purpose is something that may keep us here for awhile, but my desire... that's an easy one."
He snaps his fingers.
"I'm here for an audience with the master of this domain. I believe they have something I've been looking for and I would so appreciate getting to them before anything untoward happens to her."
*MUSE leans on her bat, tapping her finger against the handle as she lets Kalib talk. He seems experianced in this sort of thing. Might as well let the veteran try diplomacy before she tries to cave the puppers heads in like everyone did with the robed figures outside. As such, she simply nods along.*
Yep. What Libby said. We wanna see ya manager.
Chie would pause for a moment before getting to the sign, hearing the sound of... The cat, of course. She calls out to it in a curious voice.
"Hey, were you waiting there for someone to come along? Wouldn't be the first really smart animal we've met... Well if you wanna help, just hope ya know how little buddy."
She'd then glance over the signs, those are... Strange. run, a bad wanted poster, and 3?
"Good to know the shadow world hasn't gotten any less cryptic than usual I suppose, 'run'. Hah, second one says criminal wanted, report to the nearest authority! Guess that'd make it my problem right? And a three."
Yu could read it himself of course, but she's starting to get the sense the cat may be smarter than one might expect. That's for its benefit in the event she's right, really.
"Anyway, not much to do except try and go further in right? Unless we want to just start tossing bullets or magic in there and see if any shadows come rushing out, but that seems wasteful."
"Mew."
The kitten approaches when Chie gets near then continues following right behind her. It listens attentively to her description of the signs. Is the monster on the sign the "dangerous criminal" the sign warns about? Oh well. He'll keep in mind that symbol of "three."
He lets out a "mrrap" in agreement and takes a few steps forward into the forest. Its cluttered nature compared to the pristine building would normally be worrying to anyone else, but this just presents countless opportunities for the cat. If all else goes south, he can hide and mess around with things in the safety of leaves.
When Sen is turned around Kazuo finds that her eyes have a bright, golden sheen. The girl pulls away with an irritated sigh
Sen?: "Not now, I don't have time to deal with..."
Sen? recognizes Kazuo and Asami and replies with a smirk
Sen?: "Oh, hello again Kazuo. Shouldn't you and those freaks you call friends be off chasing ghosts?"
The two dogs keep their "eyes" trained on Kalib, the closest one and the one to answer them.
Blue: "The trial is about to begin"
Red: "You seek to speak with the master?"
Blue: "That wish is beyond my power."
Red: "Do you wish to enter the trial?"
Blue: "Master will return before the trial. Wait, and your wish shall be granted."
the dogs don't have any problems with people loitering in the lobby before the trial. As gatekeepers, their primary concern is the gate.
Whenever the cat and any of their companions enter the forest, they find themselves in a clearing that's been scattered with rubble, logs, and several other things to hide behind.
The forest is arranged into a 3 by 3 grid, with the team in the bottom-middle of the area. This leaves them with three paths, one to the left, one to the right, and one straight ahead.From here it is difficult to tell the difference between the two side paths.
However, they can hear an almost childlike giggling coming from the middle path, followed by a single sentence.
Wheeere arrre youuu? Hehehehe.
This setup reminds him of the board games he would watch his original household play. The cat flattens his ears and glares at the middle path. He doesn't trust it. The kitten hops up onto a log to get a better view, but there's no real defining thing he can see between the two paths. With those observations done, he meows and hops back onto the ground. He'll stick with whatever path the policewoman takes.
Hmm? Trial? Oooh. Who's the culprit? What's the crime? I do love Crime dramas
*Muse smiles widely at the canines.*
(edited by -MUSE-)
The man crosses his arms and mulls over the mutts' words.
"Honestly, a trial could get me what I'm looking for either way."
He begins to rhythmically tap his foot as his eyes close.
"I suppose I can wait for your master. But color me interested in this trial, I don't care for the cheap seats either! I'd like to be up in the splash zone!"
His eyes open with a cold gaze and the tapping stops.
"Now, I've a question about your master. Are they judge, jury, or executioner?"
Sumeragi looked absolutely dazed by the vast library they'd approached.
"Whoah! It's a lot like the local library, but it seems... different. For starters, we'd probably have been tackled at the door for being too loud."
She had to double-take at the sight of Sen, especially in such a drastic change in attire. She didn't want to be hasty, however, keeping a couple meters of distance while she continued to observe the surrounding area, this time less out of curiosity and more for any sort of danger or suspicious activity.
"Something's up here. Why does she have that attire in the first place? It's like she's supposed to be here."
Sen's reply only made her more suspicious, her blade lowering off her shoulders and taking a couple steps forward as not to be so far behind Kazuo and Asami.
"Stay back, she doesn't sound pleased about having visitors. And those yellow eyes... Did this place do something to her?"
"Freaks...? What are you even saying...?"
[Something was off about her, that much was obvious. Kazuo had to close his eyes and think the current situation through. He remembers when he entered the TV to help rescue Madoka; although he only did it in order to copy the ability to summon a Persona, which he did. But when they fought her Shadow, before she became a monster... she had the same eyes as Sen did now, and a different attitude.]
"You... you're Sen's Shadow."
[He hardens his gaze and ignores her attempt at a taunt.]
"I came here looking for you, thought you might be in danger. This world is like that..."
[What else could he possibly ask her right now? He didn't know what to expect. Even so, he prefered not anger her. Who knows how strong she could actually be if she were to attack.]
Asami clutched her fists in a brief moment of anger, calming down and staring at the shadow, intrigued.
"Sen's... shadow? I knew that the monsters we fight were called shadows, but... It has been awhile, I think I may be forgetting some important details of the shadow world."
She sighs, staying a comfortable distance away from Kazuo as she eyes the mysterious shadow.
"Damn bro, she thinks you're weird. That's unfortunate."
{The girl says from behind, whistling casually as she snuck up on Kazuo and his two other girls. When Sana sizes Sen up for the first time, she can see a lot of stuff that would be considered different. Well, shadow or not, this girl was very uptight. If a shadow can't get into the skin of a dense cinderblock like Kazuo, Sana might as well try herself.}
"Ah, so the shadow's speaking that way. Damn bro, that means her own inner conscience thinks you're weird. Super unfortunate."
{Of course, she was talking about the dumpster fire demon hunt that had happened back at the occult club. Even if Sana wasn't there herself, she knew just how rowdy it was. Thankfully, if Sen has eyes, she'd be able to note that she was the stalker Kazuo has around. Even though everyone's keeping their guard up, the girl shrugs and makes nonchalant comments.}
"And here I thought the love story would be settled easily. Guess I should've expected this to happen anyways."
"We're...trusting a cat to be able to handle itself...I thought we we're already being reckless letting those kids fight on their own..."
Yu would question Chie's exact logic here but now didn't seem the time for that anyway.
"Signs telling us to keep out. Well, that's pretty normal for this world. Could be the shadow of the girl trying to keep us away or maybe it's more literal. Either way seems best to look around for now. This could be one of those situations where there actually is a monster in there that can't be killed.
Won't know until we try though."
He felt he might be grasping at strays but it was better to be prepared for anything. That being said it was kind of funny that they might very well be the authorities in this case. He wasn't a cop like Chie but he has at least assisted the Shadow Ops before. In some ways he could be seen as the authority on shadows.
Shadow Sen: "Isn't it obvious? There's nothing about any of you that could be called 'normal'. You're a bunch of circus sideshows trying to fit in."
The shadow speaks in a simple, matter-of-fact manner of speech that anyone present would easily recognize as Sen's, though typically without anything so scathing.
The shadow first looks at Asami.
SS: "You're some out of touch god playing human, and for what? Love? You've never fit in, and you never will."
Their eyes next turn to Sana
SS: "You're a stalker abusing your power in hopes of getting someone to actually like you. As if that were possible."
and to Kazuo
SS: "You're someone who's delved so far into the supernatural that you don't have the slightest chance of connecting with society. Forever stuck in your own self-imposed circle. Its sad really."
Finally, the Shadow doesn't really have much to say about their teacher, miss Sumeragi
SS: "And I had hoped you'd know better than to let these people drag you into something so ridiculous, but it seems I was wrong."
her piece said, The shadow attempts to walk past the group, out of the library and towards the way they came
SS: "If you don't have anything important to add, I have a trial to get to."
Blue dog: "Prosecutor Megumiba shall soon return. Only then shall the trial begin."
Red: "Thou seekest to know the trial?"
Blue: "The trial of Sen Megumiba for crimes most severe."
The two guard dogs seem courteous for a while, until Kalib expresses any interest in viewing the trial hidden behind the door they protect. As soon as he asks, they take a stance lower to the ground, growling at the two in front of them
Red dog: "Thou seekst entry?"
Blue dog: "None shall pass."
Red dog: "Thou desirest interrupt the trial?"
Blue dog: "Those with nothing to contribute cannot be allowed to enter the courtroom."
And to clarify for the forest group, there are three paths available to them in total. Two, one each to the left and right, are functionally identical, while the path straight ahead leads towards the sound of a child's voice.
[Kazuo is at first taken aback by Shadow Sen, not really knowing how to react to her words. He knew what this all was, an actual part of her, in the rawest possible form. Sen thought he was weird but, then again, what about him was normal? Maybe there was something like that in him, at some point in the past. He didn't exactly remember, and what he did remember, he wasn't even sure of.]
"...Do you really believe...?"
[Now isn't the time. Kazuo turns around to look at Sen once again. At least to the rest, it would be obvious the girl's words cut him.]
"Trial...!?"
[Confused by her words, he wouldn't pay any mind to the rest as he quickly follows right behind the Shadow. His tunnel vision is triggered once more, Tiger finding no better thing to do than to follow after its master.]
"...That gives me a bad feeling, so I'm going to be following you. If this is what I think it is then I'm not missing the chance to get to the real Sen."
She shrugs a bit at the cat... Trust is maybe a strong word, but what can they do?
"Well, I don't have a cage for them. And I don't wanna go back to bring them out right now. So we really can't do much except hope they'll be fine from where I'm standing. It is kinda reckless, but lets go. Creepy kid voice is worrying, but seems most likely to hold something useful, unless you object I say we go there first."
Assuming Yu were willing she'd begin heading down that middle road, absently looking at the cat a bit and hoping it'll be fine. She really can't control the thing though, and going back now seems a waste so onward is the only option.
"No objections here. I think we can handle most things that come our way."
He'd look back at the cat as he moved forward as well. He wasn't sure if they'd follow and...well, they were a cat. There wasn't much he could do to stop it anyway.
"I doubt anyone will acknowledge what you bother to say in that trial, and no one ever will. At least, in the real world. You're stuck in this glorified echo chamber. The fact that you think I wanted to fit in proves your head is only shoved up society's ass. Eat your heart out, bootlicker, you're a nobody just like us."
{Shadows usually aren't that triggered unless met with their true self. Or whatever. However it was last time with Madoka, surely it isn't at all different this time. So naturally, this shadow is a wonderful source of the bullying Sana longed to be able to perform back home where she actually can't.}
"Though everything else you said was true! That was great detective work. Go get your false appreciation, bottom-feeding peasant!~"
{Practice on mocking them is also kind of fun, but it also seems less effective. At this point, that walking stoplight for all things fun might as well just be a brick wall that makes you inadvertedly furious. So when she recollects her surroundings, Sana decides to breathe out and look around, putting a finger on her chin.}
"Ok, what were we supposed to do again?...oh. You know, knowing us, we're just going to all follow him, aren't we? That's what I'm going to do. If you don't, good luck without your boy toy."
{Sana waves goodbye to the other two before making intentionally backwards progress, knowing that the two girls probably like Kazuo enough to make sure that he stays safe regarding this awful job at advancing towards where he's supposed to go.}
At the word ‘trial’ an urgent scowl spread across her face. This is what she was waiting for, no doubt. Still, she had doubts about the nature of the trial. Who was being tried? For what? Would this even be a normal trial? She began to speak in a hushed tone, urging the group together to hear her.
“In a world like this, a trial is never going to turn out well, I’m sure of it! And if it’s anything like an actual court the defendant is going to be guilty no matter what. And considering we were attacked just for entering this world, there’s no way anything short of a gruesome fate lies in wait for the end of that trial. W-What I’m trying to say is we have to stop that trial no matter what it takes! That’s our ticket to Sen, and our ticket out.”
“We need to approach this carefully... very carefully.”
As best she could she tried to lower her sword into a sheathed state, or at least resembling one, making sure not to pose any sort of threat visibly. She followed Shadow Sen, but at a sizable distance, as not to attract any attention.
The cat glances at the left and right paths, debating whether he should follow or just go off on one of these less suspicious paths. He flicks an ear and starts following the two. As the trio move along, the kitten keeps an eye out for any new routes or signs of the “wanted criminal.”
"Tch."
He clicks his tongue in annoyance as the dogs take up a more threatening position.
"I'm certainly beginning to feel some contempt for this court. You really think you can advertise such a spectacle and not let me in?"
The man retrieves another black orb from his pocket.
"Looks like we're going to get to blow off some steam until Ms. Prosecutor gets back, Muse."
He runs a finger down the center of the orb and it begins to unfurl and reveal an abnormally large earwig.
"Even in a weakened state, my Despairasite should be more than enough for you lot. Earwig: Armed Mode!"
The large earwig affixes itself to his left hand. It melds in such a way that it becomes a gauntlet of black chitin with large pincers above the wrist. A pair of beady red eyes stare at the beasts with unwavering focus.
"Showtime, Tongue Twister!"
He launches forward with his right hand raised to aim at the Blue Dog's front legs. From the chameleon on his finger comes a high velocity tongue that spirals towards its target as it attempts to bind around the Dog's legs somewhat.
Asami blushes, her gleeful smile not wavering.
"And what exactly is your claim to normalcy? If you think the circumstances one finds themself in determines their ability to connect to the society in which we live in, you're not one to talk, even knowing about all this strips you of your right to call yourself normal. Just imagine if you tried to tell anybody else you're friends with a goddess! ...That'd be a win-win situation for me, at any rate."
She shrugs before continuing with the rest of the group
SS: "That's a bold accusation miss Sumeragi. I assure you that, as always, I will be sure the punishment fits the crime. Here we do nothing more than carry out justice.
That said..."
The shadow snaps her fingers, and the nearest five shadows drop their paperwork to intercept Kazuo and the others and prevent them from following
SS: "Those with nothing to contribute have no business being anywhere near a courtroom. Please remove these intruders."
The five shadows remove their masks, losing their human appearances and showing their true forms.
The first, an angel with metallic wings and a gold-and-blue body adorned with rubies. This shadow stands behind the other four, ready to command.
https://i.imgur.com/lyHKTSc.jpg
The other four, smaller angels clad in red armor wielding a shield and long, red spear. These shadows move between the larger one and the group, forming a bit of a shield wall to obstruct their path
https://i.imgur.com/dlDyqvW.jpg
SS: "Remember that its illegal to harm the books. This place must be protected."
is the last thing Shadow Sen says before leaving the group to fight their bodyguards.
Do note that, since Shadow Sen was doubling back towards the entrance, if Sana truly intended to head back they'd be stuck in the same situation as the rest.
Yu, Chie, and the Cat head towards the sound of laughter, following along a thin, dimly light path with murky water on each side. The sound gets closer, and closer as they proceed, before the group finally arrives at the next clearing.
This clearing is much like the first, with logs and debris scattered about to provide an opportunity to hide. It also opens up in all four directions, giving the group an opportunity to move to any of the sides.
Or rather it would, were it not for the sizable creature stalking this part. The monster has long, spindly legs leading into a main body that is... Somewhat difficult to describe. Its as if the creature has long, constantly shifting hair obscuring the true monster beneath. Whatever it might be, it gives off the same aura as the Bourbaki outside, as something closer to human, but clearly not.
Finally, it has two long, twisted fingers that don't seem obviously useful. Despite how lopsided the monster is, it has no problem moving throughout the environment.
Monster: "Now now... No need to hide..."
The monster says before wedging a long finger beneath one of the logs, and sending it flipping into the darkness of the forest. Hiding beneath the log is something that looks like a butterfly, glowing a bright blue and bringing light to the dark forest.
But it only lasts for a second before the monster brings down its second finger and slashes straight through the butterfly, extinguishing it in an instant.
Monster: "Oops. I forget how fragile you are. Now we can't play anymore."
"Heh, guess we don't have much choice but to fight."
Asami steps in front of the party, getting up close to the group of shadows and making up the vanguard, most likely besides Sumeragi.
"This time, let's all try and focus on the same target. Taking down the grunts first would be most effective. These guys look weaker than the last, so let's try to end this quickly with a rapid assault!"
She then runs up to the second shadow on the right, jumping up high into the air and swinging her staff down at it from a distance, the sharp ends of the top colliding with the chest of the shadow like a blade.
"Sumeragi-san, try and keep the shadows to my left distracted."
[The Shadows reveal their true selves as a group of five angelical beings appear. Kazuo had a sudden rush within him. Not only did he know these beings, he knew enough that, if these were mere copies, then he could face almost on his own. As he sees Shadow Sen keep going, Kazuo considers the facts. Law is absolute in this place, and that are all stuck up, ready to break down the moment anarchy is introduced.]
"Law aligned, are you. Too bad your god abandoned you in this crappy place. I don't remember the name of the one in the back, but the other ones are called Power, part of God's Nine Orders of angels. Don't worry, I'm sending you back home."
[Tiger would keep its focus on the Power shadows and would then unhinge its jaw, revealing a cannon charging up energy. Each moment that passes fills the young man with adrenaline once again; the dark, sharp eyes are back, as well as the joyful smile.]
"I'm not holding back, PURGATORIO! STAR SCORCHER BARRAGE!"
[First, Kazuo's right hand would be covered again by the demonic "Sleeping Glove", and then Tiger would finish loading up its fire, releasing it in the form of 6 continuous projectiles aimed at random at all the enemies; they may all be hit at once, or one enemy could be hit 6 times, this Gun + Fire attack goes as such with the number of hits and targets.]
"If I had to guess... then all these bastards are susceptible to Darkness!"
"Mrr..."
The cat flattens its ears and darts behind the closest log. He's not sure if it'll work, but it'll give him enough security to think. How strong is it? How good are its senses? It's able to find a butterfly under a log. Even a cat wouldn't notice something like that. He gets his body low enough where his belly is touching the ground. His yellow eyes lose their gleam as his spirit's senses come to the forefront, watching the monster from the "core" of the log.
(edited by Black-Cat)
"Well, Ms. Officer, I think this might be the suspect we're looking for?
Shadows speaking isn't too common. We might be able to learn something if we use some interrogation first. Hopefully, more than those nine at the entrance gave us."
Yu wasn't approaching yet, but he had a hand ready over his weapon just in case. It was likely this would end up with a fight anyway but for now they had to gather information where they could. He'd approach only when Chie did. His defenses were probably better at the moment so it might be better for him to take the first hit if it came down to it.
Wasting no time, Sumeragi raised her sword and dashed into combat, making sure to put herself in front of her party.
"My lovelies, you're going to see something today that I have kept hidden for a very long time... but if I am to protect my students it cannot remain in the shadows!! I only hope this doesn't change what you think of me... Now! Come forth!! Scáthach!!!"
She clutched her head and groaned with intense pain, and in response her Persona appeared behind her in an instant. Its appearance was shocking to say the least, hunched over like a wild animal, and breathing as heavily as a hungry predator. While Sumeragi was always a mildly intimidating looking woman, her Persona was nothing short of ferocious in appearance, clad in pitch black, spike-riddled armor, sharpening every one of its barely feminine contours like teeth. Draped over its back was a blue cloth, granting the humanoid an almost knightly appearance, but its armor twisted that chivalrous silhouette into something darker, more vicious. Its face was barely visible apart from two beady, white eyes and a white mist that seemed to punctuate its heavy breathing. Curiously enough, the Persona's hands were bound by two spiny shackles, like a prisoner.
"Darkness, you said? I must be lucky... Scáthach! Erase them!!!"
The Persona lifted its bound hands to its mouth, from which it pulled out a huge greatsword comprised of pure curse energy, almost cradling the destructive mass of magic in its hands. With a savage leap, the twisted knight threw the blade of darkness at the largest angel, piercing through its core, though not causing any damage yet. When the Persona landed, it let out a fearsome howl, and in response the blade of darkness which previously had done nothing exploded, dealing severe curse damage directly to the angel.
This is the persona but just slightly more slim and feminine. Also with its hands bound together. https://i.imgur.com/LtlddsH.jpg
(edited by Emi_Sumeragi)
The woman nods to Yu, yeah that makes sense. And considering what Persona he's using, it does make sense for him to take point all told. She'd stay behind Yu while magical power flows her to enhance the next physical strike she makes.
"Yeah, it does seem... Similar to them somehow, so with any luck we can get something useful."
With that said she'd call out from behind the sword user, eyes staring at their suspect with an impassive gaze.
"Excuse me, could I ask you a few questions? I'm searching for infomation about a trial that's supposed to happen soon if you've heard of it. And I'm also curious about a wanted poster I saw not too long ago, says there's a dangerous criminal around here, are you sure it's safe to be wandering around for a civilian?"
She's actually given spiels like this before after all, and with the full uniform of Tokyo PD on, Chie does indeed seem like an authority outwardly.
This whole place seems to care about law and order some, so she's hoping that will help them a bit. On the other hand, if this is their criminal then it likely won't care.
Heh. Gotcha, Boss. Program Shift.
*The blue bat in MUSE's hands shatteres into code before swirling around her and reforming into two daggers, the code now glowing green. She flips back and throws a wave of knives at the dogs, giggling manically.*
MUSE Passive: SP33D C0D3 (Increases Agility by 1 stage when entering ASSASSIN Program)
MUSE: Throwing Knives (X3 Light Gun damage to random foes)
{Sana watches the party from behind. Sunna's pretending to be a shot caller, Kazuo is basically the beacon, and Emi eventually showed off that thing everyone seems to have by now. The girl only laughs as she gets to do nothing once again, shrugging off regret of not being able to join in on the fun and just letting herself be lazy.}
"Wow, everyone's just wanting to be flashy today."
{Though she took one step forward, wanting to contribute to beating an angel's face in, she hesitated, glancing behind her. At the end of the day, even if she made herself join first, she's the one that cares the lease about this girl. It all just chalks up back to one person, and that person is basically doing nothing. So that person is free to get her recon info.}
"...but for once, I feel like that's not my problem."
{Using her sluggishness to her advantage, Sana decides to try and adventure outwards, away from the current commotion. Before she does so, however, the girl summons an eye that goes towards the conflict, stopping at Kazuo, who it looks at intently. In his head, he also hears Sana's girlish voice say things like, "you're so in love" "you don't need me" "dense brick dumbass" all in different tones that range from her showing emotions of joking and happy, almost sad, and then angry again.}
(edited by _Sana)
The cat does the wise thing and hides inside a log himself. As he goes inside he finds another one of those butterflies, identical to the one the monster had just slain. It flutters away a little to give the cat space, but otherwise seems to prefer standing put.
He also finds something... Interesting, with his spirit's sense. He can see roughly a dozen more butterflies scattered around the area, all in hiding. Its possible that the monster had just been flipping things at random until they found one.
The other, more intriguing note, is that the monster's soul feels somewhat similar to that of a human's, only badly damaged, whittled away to one, singular obssession.
Monster: "A volunteer? There aren't many people who want to play with me."
The monster speaks as Chie catches its attention. though it heard her loud and clear, it seems to disregard their words, as if their desires were utterly irrelevant to it.
Monster: "What should we play first?.... I know, how about tag?"
With that, the monster lashes out with its left finger, quickly dragging its limb across the floor before aiming a powerful uppercut at both Chie and Yu.
While the physical impact might be bearable, its attacks seem to lash out at the souls of their targets as well, resulting in an intense burning sensation as well as likely sending them flying if it connects.
After all, the sign did warn you not to engage it.
Red dog: "So thou desirest destruction?"
Blue dog: "very well."
The blue one doesn't move as Kalib's chameleon wraps around its legs. Though its front legs are brought closer together, its not yet enough to topple the creature.
Neither of the dogs put much care into avoiding the knives, with two of them piercing the red one's armor while the third gets caught in the blue's helmet. Like the Bourbaki they demonstrate damage by leaking a small amount of reddish gas, but their performance doesn't seem hampered in the slightest.
Blue dog: "May your wish be granted."
The blue dog lets out a howl and opens its mouth, launching a massive, purple chain directly at Kalib. A chain almost as large as its target that seeks to smash into him while providing a feeling of heaviness.
The red hound charges at Muse, opening its jaw wide in an attempt to take a bite out of its target's leg.
The second Power to the right has to bring up his shield to block Asami's strike, leaving him wide open to be struck down by two of Kazuo's tiger's bullets, his gun-based weakness doing him no favors.
Melchizedek: "Form up!"
The largest shadow says, bringing the rest of the Powers to form a shield wall to protect their leader. Though under normal circumstances the bullets would likely shred them, here they wind up bouncing off the three remaining angels' shields, dissipating before they would bounce into any of the bookshelves.
However this wall only applied to attacks on a plane similar to theirs, Scathach's leap enables them to get over the shield wall to launch their weapon directly at the leader in the back. The angel looks up at the blade, but seems to be too late to actually avoid it.
Scathach's burst of darkness blankets the area around Melchizedek, the leader, obscuring everyone's vision. The three remaining Powers look back as the smoke begins to clear....
With Melchizedek rushing out at Scathach to deliver a powerful punch that seemed like the will of God himself.
You see, while most versions of Melchizedek are weak to curse, the Persona 5 one is actually immune, probably due to being a much higher-level enemy than the other versions.
Melchizedek: "Rally brethren! Route them all!"
their leader's condition seems to hearten the lesser angels into making attacks of their own.
One of the Powers decides to take on Asami, as the nearest target. It makes a quick lunge at the girl in an attempt to get revenge for his brother.
A second one moves closer to the center of the field, raising his spear and sending out a faint light that coats his brethren, making all the Powers and Mel faster.
Finally, the third goes after Kazuo, quickly thrusting at him with its spear, only to stop a few feet away and sending out a moderate blast of light instead.
Summary:
Mel: God's Hand on Scathach for colossal phys
Power 1: Defeated
Power 2: Normal attack on sunna
Power 3: Masukukaja
Power 4: Kouga on Kazuo
Finally, there's Sunna. As long as she's not seeking to follow Shadow Sen, none of the other shadows seem to mind her presence. She's free to wander the library for some time, looking at the books.
Sana might notice one of the books seems to have a faint, blue glow, and an ephemeral feel to it as if the book isn't quite real.
*Using her enhanced agility, MUSE is able to easily able to flip over the red hound. As she does, she makes sure to drive an unusually shaped dagger into the dog's hide. If affected, the dog may start to feel off as poison begins seeping into it's veins in the form of MUSE's code, holographic and staticy as her other creations and projections yet as real and life threatening as ever. As MUSE lands behind the dog, she blows it a kiss, taunting it.*
MUSE: Poison Dagger (Medium Physical Damage to one foe. High Chance to inflict Poison)
Yu initially would push Chie out of the way, believing the attack would do nothing but when he was knocked back and left in pain he'd be surprised. Was it fire damage? Know, the effect of that would be mitigated as well.
He'd look over to Chie before getting back up and beginning to back away.
"Looks like this was a bust, after all. That's not a normal attack so fleeing is looking like the better option."
Of course, he'd wait for her response before moving himself but he'd begin backing away from the creature regardless.
Asami would attempt to parry the attack against her with her staff with adequete reaction timing. Regardless, she would step back and take a deep.
"Kazzie, what's with the allignment talk? This isn't SMT!"
She would then gather a sizable amout of heat energy in her right fist, delivering a swift punch to Power 2 which erupts in the form of a burst shot of burning gas.
"Sumeragi-san, Kazzie, we should try to work as a team like Yu and Chie said!"
*note: To avoid paradoxes, she is referring to a parody game with the same initials.
The cat is at first confused by the color of the creature's spirit's figure - the color of a living being. It's faded, as if broken down to a basic desire. A mindless search for a playmate. Those poor butterflies. His spirit returns to his body and he bounds over to another log, careful not to step on any butterflies. He refrains from engaging the beast and instead continues this cover-hopping to get past the monster. I might be able to distract it, but something tells me that's not going to go well. Silver-hair has the right idea. I don't know what that thing could do to me if a tap like that could hurt a human that much.
"SMT? The hell are you on about, brat!?"
[Kazuo is barely affected by the Light attack, as his body had a natural resistance to such magic. However, his right hand, covered by Sleeping Glove, reacts differently. He feels his right hand burn hard as the Light reaches every area of his body. He is forced to take a step back and wave his hand in pain, the blade connected to it also moving wildly. This fully sets his sights on the enemy ahead.]
"Bastard...! But, lucky for us, the Power are weak to projectile damage. Tiger, tear them to shreds!! We will have issues moving forward for as long as the underlings remain!"
[Tiger this time roars as it charges up the same Star Scorcher Barrage, but this time, it leaps backwards, almost ensuring that redirecting or dodging the attacks will mean in the library catching on fire. At the same time, Kazuo holds his right arm with his left hand while pointing the palm of his Sleeping Glove at Melchizedek, a small blue orb appearing as sparks are released wildly.]
"I still can't tap into the full power of the Purgatorio I took from Kokoro, but this may be enough... so I'll use you bastards as my guinea pig!!"
[Tiger finally releases its attack while the orb Kazuo was creating momentarily becomes a pair of kanji, "千載", which would then deform into a serpentine figure made out of thunder.]
"SENZAI SPARK!!"
[The blowback of the attack forces his arm back and Kazuo has to use his feet to not lose balance as the electric serpent is released straight towards Melchizedek. The damage is barely around Medium tier, but it can also Pierce through any resistance. The electric move releases a loud hissing noise as it moves through the air.]
"I'll make it easy for you lot, I will shread all the Power into nothing with Tiger and you can focus on the big guy. It has to have some weakness. Now, get to it!!"
[Says Kazuo to the rest of the group, unable to get rid of his own smile while fighting.]
"Despair is my desire. Destruction may just be the ticket getting me there!"
The man winds up and attempts to meet the chains head on with the large pincers, trying to tangle them. The feeling of heaviness would definitely cause him to stagger a bit, but he'd stand firm for the moment.
"Chains, huh? What else you got in that mouth of yours?"
Should the chain still be connected to the dog, he would make an attempt to yank the dog down with both arms. Otherwise, he would simply try and pull the dogs legs out from under it. Granted, the added heaviness would certainly make it an arduous task.
Tch, what a problem... She'd nod to Yu, this could get quite messy it seems, the punch is only able to graze her, but even that tells the woman fighting would be unwise given the burning pain shooting through her body.
And moments later her Persona would appear, spinning its blade and causing ice to burst from the ground and form a wall between them and their enemy. With any luck it'll buy them a bit of time.
"Yeah leaving seems best for our health!"
She doesn't waste much time on speaking, instead running off to the left path and hoping to use the forest as cover. With any luck the ice wall her now vanished Persona had created would give them enough cover to become unseen for the moment. But either way, getting away from this thing has now become her top priority.
{The girl sighs to herself as she lets the eye keep check of Kazuo, knowing that he's actually having a lot of fun. A fact that makes her roll her own eyes. Knowing the route he's going, it might not end up that way once he sees the girl that he actually loves. Sana hums to herself, thinking about how Kazuo has no foresight, and will likely never even try to comment about how he has this love...hexagon occurring wherever he goes.}
"...Will this book be fun so I can obligatorily reminisce about my childhood?"
{Sana attemps to examine the book that stands out from all the ones in the library. The one glowing blue, somehow matching her own color scheme. The one that might as well just hurry up and vanish like that halo. If it didn't though, good for that book. Because if it was still in her hands then she'd try and read the pages and see what it would be able to tell her, whether it was some useful info or not.}
Asami glances at Kazuo, confused.
"Bastard? Kazzie, what's a bastard?"
She then gives him an accusing glare, frowning at his plan.
"Also, Kaz, from what i've seen of your fighting you're just a reckless showman. Your strategy has no logic behind it at all. For example, if the Powers huddle up in front of the commanding unit, any attacks directed towards it would be in vain. Whittling down their defenses should be a group effort."
Scáthach managed to handle the colossal physical blow, still standing up but having taken significant damage. It lowered itself into an offensive stance, prepared to counter-attack at any moment.
"Tch... You think that's enough?! C'mon, you're gonna make me yawn here!!"
Sumeragi's ears perked up at Kazuo's suggestion and dramatically raised her hands outwards, a devious grin spreading across her face.
"It's immune to my magic, but let's see if it has the strength to match me! Scáthach, let's go! Vicious Rend!!!"
Scáthach lowered further, dragging its bladed boot around until it slammed its spiked heel into the angel's head, dealing heavy physical damage to the larger creature, and while its damage wasn't entirely significant, Melchidezek would feel an inexplicable and inescapable rage towards Scáthach and Sumeragi, likely provoking another attack towards them.
Monster: "Yes... Yes. Keep running. Hehehe...."
Chie's wall of ice obscures the creature's vision for a few seconds. Though it only takes a flick of the creature's limb to shatter the wall, it gives Chie and Yu extra time to run towards the left-facing path.
The monster doesn't seem to be in a rush, slowly, walking after its "playmates" as if savoring every second of the chase. As such, it doesn't notice the cat's movements, focused on following the two who ran away.
This leaves the cat free to choose whatever path it wishes to go down, whether it be back towards the entrance, towards the north side, or the east.
Or it could follow after the monster and the others moving west, but that might prove difficult.
Chie and Yu flee across the westward pathway, emerging into another clearing. Like the two before it, there's various pieces of rubble and woodwork large enough to be hidden in, if one were to put forth the effort.
More interestingly, at the far end the pair can see a typical, commercial bus that's halfway sunk into the forest's murky water. The bus has a faint, bluish sheen that somewhat reminds the pair of the butterfly they'd seen earlier.
Monster: "I'm coming for you...."
Though they might not have the time to worry about it. The pair can either continue running along the paths to the north or south, investigate the crash, attempt to hide, or try fighting again. Or at least that's what comes to my mind.
As Muse digs her dagger into the red dog, it lets out a wild cry. Not one of pain, but rather a cry that fills the very air around it with a dark energy, knocking back any who'd gotten too close to it.
Regardless of if Muse is blown back, they'd notice their opponent starting to slow down, getting more tired as the fight goes on.
Once the chain's attack has been made, it vanishes from existence, leaving Kalib to trip up the dog's front legs. Irritated, the blue dog has to waste its turn biting the line connecting him to Kalib, severing it with a single snap of its powerful jaws.
Kazuo's tiger leaps back, ready to shoot out another barrage..... But this time nothing happens?
Shadow Sen's parting words were "Its illegal to harm the books." And in a house of law, the rules are everything. So when the tiger aims with harming the library in mind. It simply finds itself unable to fire.
Power 2 brings up its shield to block the punch, however it wasn't expecting an explosion to blast around it. His response is to slam his shield into Asami, hoping to knock his opponent down while the Power is still standing.
Melchizidek brings up its arm in an attempt to block Scathach's attack, while he slows the blow down, its not enough to keep the blow from landing.
Melchizidek: "Insolent wretch! I'll see you all-"
The angel's speech is interrupted by a blast of lightning that knocks him off to the side. The angel goes careening towards one of the bookshelves, only to suddenly stop a few inches away from it. Melchizidek pushes off this invisible barrier in order to get close to Scathach again. He brings his right fist forward, but rather than striking, he stops a few inches away to launch a burst of bright light.
Mel: "Lawless heretics!"
Though their commander is in no position to be giving orders, Powers 3 and 4 notice the tiger's inability to fire. The two momentarily pull away from the main cluster of combat in order to throw away their shields....
And calmly pick a book off the nearest shelf to hold in their left. Making it much more difficult to try to attack them without harming the library.
Summary:
Mel: After taking moderate damage, Kougaon on Scathach
Power 2: Shield bash on Asami
Power 3: Rearmed with a book.
Power 4: Rearmed with a book.
When Sana touches the book, it seems to resonate with something leftover on her hand. The book opens, automatically turning its pages until it reaches a chapter titled "Fanatical Devotion."
The chapter opens on a sketched scene of young Sen talking to her father
Sen: "Well then, what do you do all the time?"
Seishiro: "As a prosecutor, I have to gather evidence, research the case as well as any of the laws that correlate, then.."
Soma: "Seishiro, you're talking to a child."
Sen's mother notices their daughter's eyes starting to glass over, and puts her hand on Sieshiro's shoulder with a gentle smile
Seishiro: "Right.. Right. I help to make sure criminals are punished whenever they break the law."
Soma: "He's like a superhero."
Sen: "Wow, that's so cool!"
Finally explained in a way the child can understand, Sen's eyes visibly light up.
Seishiro put his all into his work, which left him an extremely busy man. Still, that's part of what I admired about him. He was devoted in his pursuit of justice and wouldn't let circumstances stop him from doing what was right.
The cat stares back at its fleeing allies for a few seconds, then rushes off towards the north side, which would lead to the top middle square of this grid if he’s not mistaken. He’s glad the beast ignored him, but... ah, teammates can handle themselves. Probably. After the monster is out of sight, his run slows to a more relaxed trot.
"How I do things is none of your business, Asami! Focus on staying alive, I'll take them out on my own if I have to, no matter what I have to use!"
[Kazuo remained joyful at the prospect of Melchizedek getting hit by his new attack. What more could he want? However, Tiger's refusal to attack put him off. Obviously, it will ALWAYS follow its master's command. If it meant damaging the library, and if intent alone meant they could be limited by action, then what he had to do was obvious. He would abuse the law; no law is perfect.]
"Check."
[Tiger would move towards the closest bookshelf and would then use its paws and tail to throw the books all over the floor, then move to the next one, and the next, making sure they all remained all around the group, that is, Kazuo, Emi an Asami. Tiger would put care into not leaving a single scratch on any of the books, merely focusing on scattering them. Just them falling on the floor would not ever be enough to damage any book.]
"The law says you cannot harm the books. However, it says nothing about throwing them off the bookshelves and making a mess with them, or merely taking them as the angel just proved. For as long as they do not become harmed, it is all permitted. Furthermore... there is nothing about not harming the bookshelves."
[Kazuo taps his head with his left index finger.]
"You may want to mind where you attack now, because I assure you there is no way us being attacked will not end in the books getting destroyed. It won't be me who does it, but it'll be because of you!"
[Kazuo lifts his right hand in order to show off his Sleeping Glove; fingers that became sharp claws, and a long blade pointing up from his wrist to his shoulder.]
"I may end up on the floor and cut them if am struck in any way. Asami's powers may appear and incinerate them. Emi's own weapon and Persona could end up impacting the floor a little too hard. Tiger's body is full of pointy, sharp areas too. The destruction of these books will only happen if we become harmed, I would be careful."
[Kazuo would then point his right hand palm once more towards Melchizedek, charging up the same electrical attack before firing it.]
“Consider this now! If any of you bastards use a book to defend yourselves, then it’s clear your intention is to allow harm to come to them. In the current context of a battle, harm is to be expected, and changing your shield for a book is only saying “Yes, I would rather have the books be damaged over me being a target”. Not only is that irresponsible behavior, but it shows willingness to allow harm to the books, despite knowing very clearly how the law works and what it does!! Intentional or accident, it all falls on your shoulders!! Even deciding to fight us within this place is the clear acceptance of breaking the law as a possible consequence!! I didn’t know the guardians of the law could be this crooked!!!”
*MUSE would grunt slightly as she's blown back, though she quickly recovers, flipping off one hand and landing on her feet.*
Damage minimal.
*She mutters robotically before smirking. She'd move sporadically, glitching around, before charging suddenly, running by the beast and driving her knife across it's side with a jagged edged dagger sure to leave a deep wound if the red beast didn't react fast enough, sliding across the ground after her attack was done to stop herself and admire her handywork.*
MUSE: Sickening Strike (Medium Physical Damage to one foe that lowers their resistance to Physical attacks)
(edited by -MUSE-)
The chameleon shrieks before falling of Kalib's finger, landing on the ground and disappearing in a cloud of dark fog. He winces slightly as the creature expires.
"Bastard! I just finished raising that one! Fine..."
He raises his left arm and the pincers grow in size.
"I'll just neuter you and call us square. Let's start with a little off the top!"
He begins rushing towards the blue mutt with some difficulty due to the added heaviness. Regardless of his speed, he would raise his left arm and prepare to catch the dog's neck between his pincers in a downward strike.
As Mel charged his Kougaon, Sumeragi's eyes widened, knowing well that he was using the one type of magic she couldn't reliably defend against. With no other options, she put her faith in Scáthach's defenses, which could only do so much. The light chipped away at the twisted knight's sharp armor, the dark aura surrounding it flickering like a broken lightbulb. While the burst of light wasn't enough to topple the Persona, Scáthach was clearly very close to being Persona-broken.
"Shit...! I'm getting carried away... But I'm not done!!"
In one last act before disappearing, Scáthach let our a piercing howl, green energy swirling around Sumeragi, greatly increasing her master's capabilities. The grim knight knelt down, dissipating into dark blue energy for now to replenish its defenses.
Meanwhile Sumeragi was just barely picking herself up from the floor, holding her head like she just had a migraine. She pointed her massive curved sword at Mel one more time, a mischievous sneer painting her complexion as she stepped into the pile of books that Tiger spread across the floor. Her body was surrounded by a blue-ish smoke, and any of the Powers who gazed upon her would be filled with a similar rage as Mel would've felt before, an almost inescapable urge to strike her down.
"You may have caught me off guard, but I'm not through with you! Don't forget! This is our dance! No one else's!!!"
Should any choose to attack her, they'd struggle to damage her unless their attack covered a wide area.
Asami is knocked back by the assault, taking slight damage from the impact and mostly just losing her balance, falling on her butt. While this would temporarily throw off her ability to attack, she was still more focused on Kazuo's words, her voice being more intense as a result of her frustration.
"How can you even say that? Do you have any idea how it feels to have someone you care about die!? Do you think you can't rely on me because i'm a kid, or something?"
Rather than continuing the assault, Asami would look down as tears well up, obscuring her sight. She hides her eyes behind her right upper arm, a weak feeling overcoming her and preventing her from acting
Summary:
Asami: Cries uncontrollably
The red dog bites the air fruitlessly in an attempt to catch Muse before they slash a hole in the
side of its armor before the beast manages to jump away.
When Kalib charges the blue dog, it pauses, digging its claws into the floor before letting out a fierce howl. Like the red one before it, this has little effect beyond creating a burst of shadow that makes approaching the blue one difficult.
Finally, the group hears the sound of heels clacking against the floor as a high-school age girl with long, black hair wearing a business suit emerges from the rightward path. The very same path where Kazuo and group had gone earlier. The girl might be recognized as the one on TV, save for their fierce yellow eyes.
SS: "That's enough. Do avoid petting the dogs. They bite."
At the girl's command, the two beasts cease their attack, returning to their post directly outside the doorway, the red one limping.
The girl doesn't seem to pay Muse and Kalib much attention, adjusting the papers in their hand as they head for the doorway.
The library doesn't do anything to stop Kazuo and the tiger from dumping books everywhere, indicating that it was clearly a legal action.
The four angels glare at Kazuo and Sumeragi, clearly incensed, yet unwilling to do anything... Or perhaps he was right and they were simply unABLE to attack the ones within the books.
Regardless, Mel gets the chance to calm down a little, nodding to his three subservient angels, who begin to fly back and forth between the shelves
Mel: "We treat the books within with respect. There's no point to a library in which one cannot touch the books after all. We fight to defend this place and everything it holds sacred. The only rule is for the books to remain unharmed, so as long as we're careful there is no issue."
While Mel is talking, the three Powers are using the books to form something more... Orderly. hardbacks becoming hardened walls as the angels work to build a small fortification out of the books. Its rather impressive how they're able to balance the works into archways, with walls tall enough to obscure the Powers from view occasionally
Mel: "Where you carelessly throw them around, us guardians treat each piece of wisdom with the respect and care they deserve. We cannot be blamed for your decision to attack."
And thus, the fight devolves rather quickly. What was once a war of swords has become... Sort of? One of words? While the Powers build a gated wall to act as a fortification for the angels, since they're unable to fight at the moment.
This didn't seem like the type of thing they would easily handle. There wasn't a lot Yu could think to do. Perhaps approaching it wasn't the best choice but if Chie wasn't a proper authority here then who was?
Regardless, he had to think fast now. The strange bus, it looked suspicious. Hiding probably wouldn't help that much and fighting might prove difficult given the creature's strange attacks.
"We have some time before it catches up. I'm going to see if that bus might hold any hints for us. Keep an eye out for when it starts to get close."
[Kazuo sighs as Asami begins crying. However, as the angels all work together, an idea comes to his head. Clearly, he can abuse the law, that much is certain. And since they are fairly limited in what they can really do, it could be better if he could talk his way out of the situation.]
"If that's so then let's consider what has happened so far. It is for sure that you were ordered to get rid of intruders, but I believe that so far this has been nothing but a misunderstanding. You see... it is not with the intent to battle, kill, destroy and interfere with the order of this place. Rather, we are here exactly because someone is being trialed!"
[Kazuo orders Tiger to stand down from now as he speaks to the boss.]
"Our actions so far have been with the perception that we are being unlawfully executed without being restrained first, then trialed under the eyes of the law. Instead, it seems to me like we are just being murdered through abuse of power. Would you behave in such a manner, in the most sacred place of the law? Would you truly disrespect due process after showing great devotion to the law of books receiving no harm? In short, us attacking was with the sole purpose of self-defense!"
[Kazuo shakes his head, trying to slowly make his way out as he speaks. He had to make a gamble, even if it was obvious. If Shadows attack their counterpart, then Sen is the only person about to be judged.]
"I truly believe we can fix this through non-violent means. I mentioned before we were here due to a trial, and Miss Sen previously stated that those who have nothing to contribute to it have no place here, but that is a false statement! My name is Kazuo Takahara, a friend of Sen Megumiba, who is by all means interested in the outcome of this process! I have come here as a witness! So has miss Emi Sumeragi, a teacher at her school! Asami and Sana are all the same, friends and important individuals who have gathered to help reach a just and perfectly lawful solution!"
[Kazuo is deliberately rising the tone of his voice and changing the way he speaks in order to show how honest he was being. And he was being honest, just disguising the absolute truth of what he was saying.]
"We will leave this library intact and will help put all the books back to their rightful place if that will allow us to make due for this severe misunderstanding, and then, you will allow us to go inside the courtroom to fulfill the duty we have been given as citizens of Japan! It is in both our interest that we do what we have to do, not just because it is right but because it is the law!"
*MUSE goes silent for a bit before clicking her tongues and crushing her daggers, causing them to vanish in cloud of green code.*
So. Are you the prosecutor lady the puppers mentioned?
At this point, Asami hadn't been able to focus on the fight. She hadn't noticed that the books weren't able to attack, but that wouldn't have been a problem for her anyway. She calms down a bit, her eyes still moist as she rises. Despite not being able to see him, she takes a depressing glance at Mel. By devoting her focus to the commander, she was able to inflict a fatal wound on the being through divine might. The damage could be compared to if it's torso was sliced through with a blade made out of a metal sharper and harder than anything known to man. It would take a being of no small measure to survive such an attack, yet alone shrug it off completely.
She takes a step to the side, looking around the fort of books the angels made.
"Ugh..."
She then makes a mad dash towards the way she last saw Shadow Sen exit through, her hands clutched tightly around her staff and her line of vision kept on the ground.
By devoting her focus to the commander, she was able to inflict a fatal wound on the being through divine mightOOC: Refrain from godmodding, please. At least change the way you write it
It’s fine. I’m definitely curious to see where they’re going with this. Besides, the encounter was practically over anyways.
As you could probably tell from the defensive-focused shadows and the silly book mechanic, it wasn’t meant to do much beyond take time anyways.
Chie would nod to her friend, the bus stood out as odd to say the least. And that blue is... Something about it feels important, but hell if she can explain exactly why.
"Yeah I can manage that. It does a lot of damage, but I'm not sure if we can hurt it or not yet. Leaning towards no though, even if it is at least possible to distract a bit."
The ice didn't buy much time, but it bought them a few seconds at least. Which implies this thing is somewhat bound to physical laws if nothing else, horribly strong though, so she'd rather not bet on winning easily even if it can be harmed.
For the moment however her focus is merely on staying wary and preparing to buy them enough time to move away when needed, hopefully Yu gets something useful in there.
OOC: Ah, sorry! I'll work on the way I phrase attacks to make them more avoidable, then.By devoting her focus to the commander, she was able to inflict a fatal wound on the being through divine mightOOC: Refrain from godmodding, please. At least change the way you write it
As Yu gradually approaches the bus, the sounds of the monster’s childish giggling gradually grow closer until he finally gets close enough to investigate it.
Once he does, the Forest seems to grow silent as the soft blue light envelopes their section of the forest.
Six humanoid shadows seem to drag themselves out of the rubble, forming a bit of an arc around the bus. Their exact form is still somewhat obscured, but they seem to move with purpose, as actors upon a stage.
None of them approach Yu or Chie directly, rather looking around and murmuring amongst themselves.
A seventh shadow can be seen hiding in the rubble near the bus. It’s much smaller and weaker than the others, leaking an inky black substance out the side of its face.
Once the shadows have all gathered, the monster’s familiar, childlike voice rings across the clearing.
Princess: “How about we play another game? There are still eight of you left, and I’m feeling generous. So the rules are simple. All you have to do is pick one person from among you, and I’ll let them go free. Any others left alive will become my playmates hehehehe.... I’ll be back soon....
With that somewhat ominous remark, the Forest grows silent once more, leaving Chie and Yu among a group of six shadows. While the shadows seem to be growing more agitated, none of them have moved to attack yet.
It doesn’t take long for the cat to get away from the creature, following the northward path through the forest.
As he might expect, they soon find a clearing in the topmost part of the forest’s grid. Like all the other areas before it, this section has several logs and piles of rubble that a cat could easily hide in, as well as paths leading to both the east and west.
What makes this segment unique, is a large, circular indentation at the north end, within which a twisted flower has begun to grow
The flower isn’t much larger than the cat is, with a series of outer petals blooming as red as blood.
Within the petals lies, not the stamen and other organs typical of flowers, but rather what look to be rows of teeth arranged in a circle.
This flower gives off a faint blue aura, like that of the butterfly’s but otherwise doesn’t seem to react.
When Sana attempts to turn the page, they find the entire book shutting on them. Whenever they attempt to open it, they receive only the chapter entitled “fanatic devotion.” For better or for worse, it appears that’s all they have access to for now.
As Asami slew Mel easily and simply, she let out a loud sigh, falling to her knees and finally taking a moment to relax. She'd brush her now fairly messy pale hair back over her head before using her greatsword as support and standing right back up.
"Well, let no one say we didn't attempt diplomacy..."
She gave the remaining powers a hostile glare while they assembled their fortress of books, a small ball of curse energy accumulating in her hand.
"So, what'll it be? You have a chance to drop this and walk away now. Or you'll force our hand, and I can't assure Scáthach will leave a scrap."
Compared to the bouncy and enthusiastic Miss Sumeragi that her students were used to, she seemed to be a totally different woman now. Hidden deep in her predatory glare was a small hope, that even if their enemies were mere shadows they'd be spared.
[Kazuo takes a deep breath and presses his left index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose, looking down with an annoyed expression.]
"...Yes, it is because you are a child. I swear I'm starting to miss Sana of all people now..."
[As long as they get to keep moving... even Tiger was just waiting now, sitting on the floor, moving its tail around.]
Yu would take a deep breath. This seemed to be some kind of recreation, perhaps of some past event. Could they stop a monster like the if it came down to it? Was it fair of him to even ask Chie to stay?
"Chie, if you're having any doubts now's the time. Though knowing you I doubt you'd leave anyone behind right?
I don't know if we can trust them but I think the most vulnerable should be the one to be set free. However, that doesn't mean we're going to die here to that thing."
He'd turn to face the injured one hiding in the bus.
"Well? If they find you well...I think you can understand what might happen. If you can walk I'd recommend running while you can."
He'd look over all of the shadows. He wasn't sure if his voice could reach them but he had to at least try.
"Do you all simply want to accept that monster's proposal? You all must know trusting a word that thing says isn't going to help you. Even if it does there's still 7 of us left. Either we can try to fight back or all of us but one can die here.
The possible salvation of one or the possible freedom of us all. I'll let you all figure out the math there."
{Sana sighs as every little thing has to be complicated when it comes to shadows. Even the book that only seems to have only one actual page wants to be stubborn. She darts her eyes around before trying to carry the book with her, leaving and uttering to herself since nobody seems to care about her as of now.}
"Hope this library likes me renting their books for free."
{The girl closes her eyes and breathes in to focus. Though it looked as if she was merely taking a quick mental break, in actuality, the eye that followed around Kazuo would merely warp away when it's seen enough, knowing the battle is basically over. Now that she knows this information, as well as what he said, the girl can violate his privacy by speaking in his mind.}
"Aw, that's so sweet of you, Kazuo! Are you practicing on me for when you get to meet the girl you actually like and the only real reason you're here right now?"
The woman would shake her head, leaving... As if.
"Please, you know I'm not about to just run for it if you're staying. No way, I didn't quit when we had to fight a goddess and I'm not quitting now either."
Trusting shadows... Well, she's only met the one shadow that didn't try to kill her before. But in theory others could exist too right?
"We might be able to, and if we can't we can probably take em on..."
Chie smiles a bit and nods to the man's words, cracking her knuckles slightly.
"Yeah! Just rolling over and dying would be crazy, I can't possibly see any reason we should trust it. Like Yu said, better to take our chances and try to survive rather than just doing nothing!"
Hopefully trying to inspire these shadows isn't the wrong move here, but if it is well. They'll just have to improvise again she supposes.
This flower disturbs him, but curiosity killed the cat. The feline hesitantly approaches the plant with his fur raised. Once he’s close enough, he bats one of the petals then leaps back. If there’s no reaction, he’ll huff and pad to the west. If there is... well, let’s just hope that flower doesn’t have a taste for cats.
Kalib grumbles as the howl knocks him back from his target. However, his tune quickly changes as he hears a pair of heels clacking behind him. He dusts himself off and the gauntlet on his left arm would disappear into his skin.
"Their bark is far worse."
He grins as the girl makes past them, shortly following suit. His gaze shifts about the shadow.
"My, my. I knew this was going to be worth my time looking into. So what'd the perp do? Crimes most severe wasn't exactly the clip notes I was looking for from those mutts."
Sorry for the delay.
SS: "This again?"
As soon as Kalib tries to walk past the dogs the blue one snaps at him to keep him at bay while the Shadow lets out a sigh.
SS: "To answer your question, yes. I am the Prosecutor in this case. And no, according to privacy laws I can't tell you what the perpetrator did until they are found guilty."
As the Shadow talks, they bring out a pen and begin writing on one of the sheets of paper they brought. A few seconds later the girl simply sticks the paper, which reads "Do not pet the dogs," next to the doorway. From here on, it becomes impossible for anyone to touch the door's injured guardians.
SS: "Thank you for reporting their insubordination, we'll be sure to punish them accordingly at the first opportunity.
Now then I'm already cutting it close, so do you have anything actually important to ask of me or am I free to move on?"
The shadows couldn't have agreed with Chie more. After all, none of them wanted to die either.
And if they couldn't defeat the monster, then at least one of them should have a chance.
The monster's voice rings out again
Princess: "I forgot to mention. Humans are really fragile here, it should just take one good hit to make them go pop! But I guess you've already seen that hehehehe...."
Like a test, one of the shadows furthest from Yu and Chie manifests into its proper form as it launches a punch at its adjacent brethren.
All six of the standing shadows lose the coating that guarded their real form, that of a dessicated body with sharp fangs. These Ghouls are rather weak, but if what the monster said is true it might not matter....
The furthest two Ghouls begin fighting each other while the other four turn towards Yu and Chie.
Two of them run at Chie, one of the two brings back its arm for a punch while the other seems to... Sort of trip over itself, landing a short distance away from them.
The third one makes an awkward, shambling attempt to tackle Yu.
Finally, the fourth ignores the other in favor of walking towards the hiding spot of the weakened shadow. After all, if they wanted to "guarantee" their survival, they needed to be the only one left....
The weakest shadow simply freezes, as if it couldn't fully comprehend what Yu was asking of it. It watches for a short time, only to close its eyes and turn away, doing its best to become invisible within the rubble.
Once the cat bats at the flower, it responds by lunging its stem forward to snap back at him. It wouldn't do much more than injure a paw, but the flower clearly isn't very friendly.
Melchizidek considers Kazuo's words for a few moments, deep in thought before giving his reply.
M: "Knowing the perpetrator isn't good enough. These are closed trials, the only ones who can enter are those with relevant evidence to present, either to proclaim their innocence, or prove their guilt. Unless you can provide testimony beyond your friendship...."
He doesn't get any further before Asami's outburst. With his defenses down and attention elsewhere, Melchizidek doesn't exhibit any resistance to the attack, getting cut through, shadow pouring out of the wound until the higher angel had largely dissolved. Leaving little more than clippings from his wings. Clippings that give off a faint, dark glow like the halo Sana collected outside.
As well as a few small, dim crystals left on the ground near where Asami's tears struck.
With their leader defeated, the remaining three Powers panic, doing nothing to stop Asami from fleeing as they instead rush to put all the books back in their proper place, as if they could pretend they were never there.
Although one might have to watch their head to make sure one of the angels doesn't accidentally bump into them in their haste, the group would be able to move freely once more.
As Asami runs down the hallway, it almost feels as if the hallway had gotten longer, stretching on and on.... Soon, they'd be able to hear another childish, playful voice.
???: "Awwww... What's wrong? You look oh. So. Sad."
The voice originates from someone who appears to be a middle-school aged girl wearing a simple, dark dress. The girl carries around a black and green bunny, one of her favorite toys, wherever they go. They'd almost look innocent if it weren't for the almost creepy grin they always wore and the single, blackened wing protruding from the right side of their back. And the similarly dark tail curling around from behind them.
???: "You can trust me. I've got a REAL soft spot for cute girls like you."
the library offers no resistance to taking the book. So long as they remain in this world it would act like any other book, though she only has access to one of the chapters. Unfortunately for her, the library only has the one exit, back the way they came. Leaving would require going back past the rest of her group. With how far she wandered it would take a little time either way,
"Eh? Well..."
Asami dries her eyes, looking up at the middle-schooler with vague unease. She would take a moment to think, faking difficulty speaking so as to give her some time.
"I... She -Someone important to me, they... the trial, I just need to know where it's being held. I can't... bare the thought of not..."
Her lip squirms as her voice trails off, the little girl collapsing to her knees in a bid to garner sympathy.
Kalib raises his hands and takes a few steps back from the shadow.
"Yeah, yeah. Cool it, Fido."
He turns his attention back to the girl.
"I was just wondering what type of kangaroo court this is. I've heard all about the prosecution and the prosecuted, but nothing about the jury or the defence."
He moves walks back to Muse and turns on his heel.
"Care to enlighten us on that front?"
"Damned angels... I can't believe that actually work..."
[Kazuo lets out a very long sigh of relief before his expression goes back to a more calm state; he keeps tapping his foot however, as he want to keep moving. First, he had to deal with Sana, at least.]
"You're so funny. If I didn't know any better, I would think you like me or something. I'm available for dates if that's what you want."
[He doesn't know where the hell it is she is currently, but he knows she can hear him, and so he speaks to her in a mocking tone. Kazuo would turn to Emi and nod.]
"Thank you for your help. But now I guess we should hurry, I'm worried about Asami."
[He would walk a bit forward and kneel near the crystals that just showed up, not exactly sure what they were all about but... it's better to get a closer look either way, it stood out too much. As he does this, trying to touch them with his right hand, covered in the demonic metallic glove, he would turn to his teacher with a certain glint in his eye, trying to take in every single detail about her.]
"...I didn't know you were a Persona-user too... I would like to ask more about this when you have the time but...I guess it's not the time or place."
[He chuckles. Now, his part done, he would move out the library and go back the way they came from.]
"You too, Sana. You may end up trapped in here."
The cat hisses and retreats, his unsteady injured paw causing him to stumble. There was no pain from that bite. Just surprise and a spark of fear. The cat grumbles and examines the bitten flesh that’s gradually knitting back together. No blood falls onto the ground, but that’s just yet another oddity of his half-dead body.
Well hello to you, too, he thinks sarcastically at the plant. He turns up his nose and pads to the west. Maybe if he heads the right way, he can loop around to meet the humans.
With a loud sigh and rested her greatsword on her shoulder, wiping sweat from her brow and continuing after Asami, albeit a little sluggishly. There was certainly a relief of not having to kill anyone else, despite them not even being truly human.
"I'm not even all that old and I can feel the energy of youth escaping me! Since when were little girls so fast...?"
Kazuo's comment prompted a visible grimace, though it almost seemed to be an instinctual response from the teacher. Her voice was unusual in her response, quiet and timid, and she was barely even capable of making eye contact.
"Yes, I am... if I had it my way, no one would ever know. But the safety of my students is much more important than hiding the skeletons in my closet. I'll explain it all eventually, but I doubt we even have the time to talk about it right now. Let's go, quickly!"
She followed after Kazuo, and presumably Sana, exiting the library and running back towards where they came from, though compared to Kazuo and Sana it'd look more like a leisurely jog than a run.
(edited by Emi_Sumeragi)
"Shut it, osmium. I'm talking to you because I found some important book, not because I want to suck you off tonight."
{Well he was right about something, and it's way more than she would have liked. Kazuo wouldn't know anyway. That's what Sana would think as she replies to him in his head, clearly letting it known to him that she could hear what he said. Due to how far away she was from everyone, the girl was forced to run. Though she still wasn't above not taking her time, as even her run made it look like she was not too serious.}
"Stupid ass librarians. Aren't I lucky for being so selfish..."
{Nevertheless, being alone is not the best thing in the world. Even with how slow she deliberately ran, it was still enough to get past Emi who was merely looking to jog their way around the courthouse. Sana would quietly sneak up behind Kazuo, hitting him in the back of the head with the book before presenting it to him. If he didn't take it at first, she'd shove it in his hands anyway.}
"Take this thing and see if it lets you do anything with it. There's only one chapter so far, and I'm sure I know why. I just want to see you look stupid first."
Strange girl: "Awww... I love it when people pretend to be clever... Hehehehe////."
The girl floats a few feet away from Asami, unmoved by the other girl's "confession." The girl with dark wings lets out a playful chuckle before she asks
Strange girl: "Is that really all you were looking for? It would ahve been easy to just stay with the group and wait until the script lead you there. Hehehehe...
Just what makes you think I know that kinda stuff anyways?"
Bringing the crystals up to the light, Kazuo finds they have a faint, internal glimmer within them. Otherwise they don't seem to react to his or anyone's touch. The only peculiar thing about them is their source....
The shadow gives off a smirk as they slowly shake their head
SS: "We'll simply have to appoint a lawyer when the trial starts. Apointees don't have much of a reputation to lose. Unless you're volunteering?"
The shadow looks Kalib straight in the eyes, as if daring him to make some kind of move.
[Kazuo would take the book and try to check it as per Sana's tactful advice.]
"Like you know how to use your mouth for anything but talking trash."
[Is all he would say as he makes his way back towards the big gate were he assumed was the courtroom proper. As he does this, he would try and check the contents of the book to see what all this is about.]
"Sumeragi-sensei, don't worry too much about me. I can hold my ground just fine most times, you should probably worry more about Sana of all people."
[He looks back at the two as he picks up his pace, smiling gently. Grateful for her worry but also trying to keep them at a certain distance from himself. After the last fight, he's been feeling somewhat weird. He considers that he may be just moody because of Sen but...]
"I'm just saying, so you don't get caught up in my... style of doing things. I’m starting to believe I get carried away. I’m not really sure what happens when a fight occurs."
[Tiger had been lazily following the group, acting more like a massive metallic cat than the monstrosity it actually is.]
"You know without context, all you're doing is replying to something I never even said to you."
{The girl rolls his eyes at Kazuo, letting stuff she didn't ask for come in one ear and go out the other. When he tries to let Emi know he doesn't need her care and attention, all she can do is laugh out loud.}
"Suggesting the teacher to care for the girl that stands next to their student instead of their actual student? Your logic is so backwards."
{Sana sighs before glancing at the metallic cat that's been following him around. She yawns before looking the other way, following the rest of the group towards whatever the objective was, not caring that one of the girls Kazuo bagged was absent.}
"I'm bored again. I would try to pet your cat but since he's under your care, I'd doubt it's friendly towards me..."
Hearing Kazuo's statement, she couldn't help but let out a hearty chuckle, waving her hand dismissively and offering the widest smile she'd given all day.
"You know I can protect you both, right? Whether you're my student or not, you're still young, and it's the job of people like me to protect and nurture the next generation! And besides, no matter what way you do things, there's no way it's bad enough to scare me away."
With that, she started walking a few steps ahead of Sana and Kazuo, investigating the area surrounding the gate that was presumed to be the courtroom. Being absorbed with curiosity, she approached Tiger, giving it a respectable distance but still offering it a warm and friendly smile.
"I'm sure you could pet it, but much like real animals its size, you have to show it respect, but you also can't show it fear either! Not that there's much to fear, he's on our side!"
"Not much of a reputation to lose, huh?"
Kalib begins to laugh as he brings a hand to his face.
"You know what? That suits me just fine. It's just like that idiot loved to prattle on about..."
He removes his hand from his face to reveal a twisted grin.
"Everyone loves an underdog story, or some nonsense like that! So if you're willing to take a volunteer then let's have at it."
Oh ho ho. You HAVE to let me watch this. It sounds like a riot.
*MUSE smirks, a determined glint in her eyes.*
I know a bit bout Law and Order.
Asami would stare at the girl, dumbfounded. Curiosity would override her sorrow, allow her to speak clearly and honestly. She wipes her nose on her sleeve and stands up, shooting the stranger an inquisitive look.
"I- Just who are you, anyway? You're not here for the same reason as us, are you?"
While untrusting of the stranger, Asami would make no attempt to instigate them. Instead, she would simply gently fidget as if having casual banter.
Strange girl: "Awww... I liked your other face better...."
The girl blows some of her hair back, only for it to fall over her eyes again in a somewhat childish display. They're constantly fidgeting around, but their main focus is on Asami
Strange girl: "I'm just here because I was passing by and thought it'd be fun. You've turned out to be a bore though.... Honestly I'd be better off listening to one of Mephis's lectures.,,,,"
The girl holds tightly to her rabbit in one hand while making a shooing motion with the other
Strange girl: "Go on. Weren't you in a rush to catch up to everyone?"
The shadow raises an eyebrow at Kalib, not expecting such a.. Bold answer, but it doesn't really bother them. After all, there was no hope of changing the result.
SS: "Very well then. But know that the defense will suffer the same punishment as the defendant. We still have a few minutes before the trial proper begins. You might want to find some really solid evidence before then."
With that, the shadow proceeds through the courtroom door, leaving it to slam shut behind her.
The book doesn't open for Kazuo at all. He doesn't have anything on him that would resonate with it after all.
The group walks past Melchizidek's wing-clippings, the only thing left of the high angel, in order to leave the library.
Once they leave, it wouldn't take very long for them to reach the main gateway, arriving shortly after Shadow Sen closes the front door. The gate would be the same as they remember, with the twisted, forested path branching off to their left, and a massive doorway in the middle.
Well, identical save the fact both of the guard dogs look significantly worse for wear and a "do not pet the dogs" sign posted on the wall adjacent the courtroom doors.
Also for the record, I haven't forgotten about the cat. I'm simply waiting on your companions a bit longer.
Yu would do his best to dodge the tackle. He had something more important to handle right now and so instead of taking on his assaulter he'd head for the fourth ghoul. In his hand a new tarot card began to glow. He'd crush the card in his hand only allowing those directly observing it to see the shattering image representing Justice.
"Sraosha! It's time to punish evil!"
Yu's inherent ability to dodge seemed to increase as a large winged figure appeared behind him.
https://i.imgur.com/5h8G1b6.jpg
One immediate change from this was that a certain aura seemed to envelop him. An angelic grace took hold, doubling his ability to dodge against most attacks.
Yu wouldn't even bother speaking instead pulling out his sword directly and attacking the shadow while it was facing the weakened shadow.
Asami sighs and nods, defeated. She would then turn her back to the girl, dropping her arms towards the ground and merely waiting. She would pace about the area while she waits for her friends to catch up, touching anything that catches her attention.
"The Defence suffers the same fate as the Defendant" huh? That sounds familiar. Think there's some wack ass Asian city that follows the same rule. What was it's name? Curry or something? I dunno.
*MUSE hums, putting her arms behind her head.*
So, what are you gonna do boss? Ain't much ground you can cover in a few minutes. And this seems like the place where requesting shit like updated Autopsy reports is fair game.
(edited by -MUSE-)
[There was no use in trying on even checking the book then. Sucks, but if Sana got anything out of it, it may prove to be beneficial to keep around it case it decides to cooperate with him. Kazuo would try to approach the pair by the door immediately and figure out fairly quickly what had happened moments before to Kalib and Muse.]
"So, you were also forced into playing along. Trying to do things by force here seems impossible, did you guys have the same issue?"
[Tiger too would reach the same area and would sit down near Kazuo. Anyone near it could feel the heat it emanates, and to make direct contact with it would result in that person to be burnt at that very instant. It doesn't seem to affect its master, however.]
"We didn't find out anything but that the Shadow is a prosecutor, someone is getting trialed; probably Sen, and the rules of this place are absolute, but can be played around if you figure out a way..."
[He rubs the back of his head with his right hand and would flinch. He would realize he was trying to scratch the back of his head by using what was essentially knifes for fingers. He keeps the book Sana got on his left hand.]
"Need to be careful, crap..."
[Despite the fact his right hand was exuding a powerful demonic aura, Kazuo would not deactivate his Sleeping Glove. The area directly above his wrist is slowly covered by veins of blue light and a leather-y material, almost like a metallic skin.]
"Oh my god. Forget the rules, just play the fucking game."
{Sana speaks up, rolling her eyes at Kazuo's inability to not bust a load after every single round of combat, and standing in front of him to speak to everyone present.}
"You know, if someone is getting trialed, maybe try to find the evidence needed to plead innocence? Why else would there be only a prosecutor? Unless there's some whackass lawyer alongside Sen—that will do nothing to actually help the defendent in this trial by the way—let me tell you this; they're setting up the stupid rules because we as intruders ARE the lawyers!"
{It was painfully obvious from the get-go, but it might just be a diversion. Either way, somebody needs to explain the gimmick of this sobfest and even though it's only theorycrafting, it might as well make sense enough for it to be that way.}
"Earlier I picked up a halo because I was selfish. That's the only reason why I can open that book. Because I found something that accesses it. If that book keeps track of all the evidence that we've gathered, presumably only by bashing our stupid adversaries in the skull, wouldn't that roughly translate to: every shadow we kill will tend to DROP EVIDENCE? HMMM?!"
{The girl sighs before turning back to Kazuo, raising an eyebrow at him and his cat who she can't help to not fear it because being scared is usually a waste of time. Nevertheless, it's just a theory, so there's always some doubt to lean on when you end up being wrong. So in order to get this specific question out the way, Sana addresses both Kazuo and Emi.}
"Unless this ends up being another traditional blowout mission of "make Sen forgive herself for being a bootlicker whilst beating up some dramatic monster shadow", but we really need to think outside the box this time, yes? Kazuo, Emi, was there something I missed that you two didn't bother to investigate upon?"
(edited by _Sana)
Kalib turns to face Muse, still bearing the same grin.
"You raise a good point but I'm sure we weren't the only ones Ms. Prosecutor bumped into."
Upon hearing Kazuo he'd do a heel turn to face him.
"Oh, I guess you could say we had somewhat different results? Found out the perp's name is Sen Megumiba. So if that's who you're talking about then you're on the right track."
He begins scratching at the back of his head.
"I also asked if she had a defense. Turns out that Ms. Prosecutor was gonna have one of those randomly assigned. So I did some quick thinking and offered to defend on her behalf."
His smile fades as his arm goes back to his side.
"You guys see or hear anything beyond the fact that the shadow is the prosecutor? We'll need every possible advantage if we want to get around these bizarre rules."
"What do you think it means? To be one's own prosecutor. You'd be condemning yourself to death, practically. What could possibly make her shadow behave that way? The poor girl..."
She shook her head and sighed, tightening her fist and letting out a grunt of frustration. When Sana spoke, she perked right back up, rushing towards the girl with enthusiasm.
"You're a genius! If we're the lawyers, we can break her out of this place nice and easy! And Takahara-kun, you know Megumiba-chan very well, don't you? You could make a case for her! And we can be your... assistants? Sure!"
"But I dunno if killing those things necessarily amounts to evidence! Shouldn't there be a few ways to gather that? Why don't we consider the scenery? Back there was the local library, maybe that has some significance to Megumiba-chan personally. So if we can figure out what all these places are supposed to be we may be able to piece something together. But what would a library even have to do with this trial anyways...?"
Sumeragi slumped against the wall, taking the time to pull a small stone block and sharpen her weapon with it. The blade looked surprisingly ornate for something a simple school teacher would own, clearly suggesting it meant something to her, with contours and curves along the edge that gave the blade a baroque feeling.
The Ghoul attempting to punch Chie would be met by Haraedo-no-Okami appearing with a snarl of rage as the officer dodges backward, it isn't as though a single punch she was expecting is too tough to evade. And she never did use that Power Charge before after all.
"Agneyastra!"
The gleaming blade in the armored Persona's hands would swiftly rush forward in a pair of wide powerful sweeps aimed at both Ghouls near her, already strong to begin with, but the magical enhancement flowing through her attack would easily make it enough to rend apart any Shadow save for the most physically resilient or immune.
Assuming of course that the two beings were struck anyway, no telling if they have some hidden knack for dodging or the like.
"Geez, shame on us for thinking that these things could be reasoned with huh? Besides Teddie, when have we ever met shadows that didn't need a good killing?"
Even as she makes that casual observation though, the woman's still prepared to evade at a moment's notice.
"...Your commentary somehow sounds surprisingly meta for a reason I cannot explain, but if we consider the actual meat of this world then what you say is not entirely out of the realm of possibility. The angel we fought dropped some kind of crystal but there didn't seem much of importance with what it dropped, beyond the fact that it dropped something while the other smaller angels didn't."
[Kazuo tries to consider the information he knows, and for once he actually smiles at Sana by forcing him to think this one out. He crosses both arms as he speaks to Emi.]
"I wouldn't say I know her too well, but we've known each other for a while now; I know that she frequents the central library of Tokyo and she has an incredible interest in the law."
[He would turn to Kalib then.]
"But...if what Sana says is 100% correct, then the only other place to have more evidence could possibly be the leftmost path, the one Narukami and Satonaka took. I think that we should wait on them and see if that will register in this book, I hold... speaking of..."
[Finally, Sana.]
"When you opened this book, you basically said you saw something. What was it?"
[After this question, he remains trying to piece all the information together in his head. Really, they had nothing to do but to wait the start of the trial.]
"...Whatever happens, we may have to improvise a lot; I am not too good at making plans, I generally just...come up with stuff as it all comes."
{With a theory only meant to break a stalemate, the girl can't help but feel a bit embarassed for herself when she's met with praise. Sana can only sigh once again before trying to glance away from everyone.}
"I wouldn't put it past the girl to make obtaining evidence not just a fetch quest, but also a dreary collect-a-thon."
{She stretches her arms upwards before clearing her throat, getting ready for another spiel of sending and recieving, stuff that's usually common in conversations with lunatics like these.}
"But since there's more info needed, I bet the library is only there because that's one of the 85 places Kazuo tried to confess to Sen but failed. In fact, I even stalked him there pretending to be a literature addict. Those were some fun times, but if we're talking about an actual reason, I'm sure she only inhabits that place all the time because of her antisocial nature and yearning to increase her knowledge in hopes that she gets more attention at her home life."
{When Kazuo smiles at Sana, she rolls her eyes before giving him a fake smile with her eyes squinted, giving him her answer in an aggravated tone masked in cheerfulness as a means of mocking the boy.}
"By the way, that's what happens in the single chapter the book bothered to show me. Her presumably good-willed and maybe pretentious father looks to be absent for most of her life doing some lawful job that most likely pays the bill a lot but not in a way where he can pay enough attention to Sen."
{Knowing that there's something both Emi and Kazuo forgot to understand, the girl turns around, looking at the route towards the library. She takes a few steps the opposite direction of everyone, turning back to stare at Kazuo directly as she gives a smug smile. By vocalizing her excuse to backtrack to the library, the girl tries to sound as uncharacteristically gleeful as she could be, but it fades the more she keeps eye contact.}
"That being said, I'm done talking. Time to go in the library and brood. My pieces were said, so you and your posse of assistants can solve it, Mr. Lawyer. You don't need me, you have 5 other girls bagged for yourself. Go talk with all your other teammates and save your stupid crush like the heroic jackass you are."
"What is that even supposed to mean? Just having a lot of female friends doesn't mean anything! I still don't understand what this fixation you have on me is and whatever it is I feel or don't feel!"
[It made no sense to him. 5 other girls? Not needing Sana? Why was she behaving in that way? Then there was Asami but she's a kid. Kokoro telling him Sen likes him, which he seriously doubts anyways; he wasn't exactly normal. Emi is just his teacher and helps him run the Occult Club, so there is no chance. Novella he has not seen in a long time. Even with Kokoro, it was more like she would probably kill him next time they meet over anything friendly. He was more interested in her than any possible other way around. Or... so he felt whenever he was fighting anyone.]
"It's... normal, right? I've found myself surrounded more and more by girls and they also tend to focus on me a lot... b-but that's just being friendly at best. That doesn't mean any of them is interested."
[He seriously starts questioning himself about this situation. He figured it was all always a coincidence anyways, or normal. Is he supposed to believe it isn't? He blushes at the mere idea.]
"No, there's no way anyone would like me in that way."
[Kazuo covers his mouth as he says this, looking down and coming to this conclusion by pure logic. Being liked by one girl is one thing, but multiple is a stretch.]
"I can assure you being surrounded by women is quite odd. Most boys your age usually have a few female friends but to have several crowding around you at once is definitely strange."
With a mischievous cackle Emi's voice transformed into a twisted parody of a schoolgirl, her smug grin hidden only by her large red scarf.
"Look at Takahara-senpai, he's so popular and cool! Gee, I wish he'd notice me sometime, but he's too busy being drowned in attention from all the girls! I-It's not like I like him or anything, b-b-baka!!"
She continued cackling into her scarf for a couple minutes before finally settling down, giving Kazuo a wink while her voice changed into a much more mocking version of her normal tone.
"You know, if you ever need tips you can always ask me! I'm a girl after all, I could make the perfect date for you. And I can tug a few strings to get a few good spots too, there's this one fancy cafe I used to visit when I was your age- You know what, we''ll talk later!!"
"Are you kidding? I'm pretty sure they all have some inner desire to bang you whether they know so or not. Plus, even the ones that are way above your league in terms of maturity you still manage to win over anyway. How in the world is that normal to someone like you?"
{She breathes out for yet another long winded spiel since Kazuo is asking the stupid questions. At this point, Sana can't help but feel bad for his ignorance, it's gone on for a veeerrry long time.}
"I'll lay it to you in a simple way since I know for a fact you're thinking about them in hopes you look smart with your decisions. Asami is moral support. Sen is a mutual support, but with Kokoro that might just be a kink. Emi is basically parental support at this point. Novella is...absent support. And I'm a battery."
{Since he wanted to talk about friendship, the girl just lists their methods of appreciation in very vague terms. Afterwards, she whistles, turning back and walking to where the library is despite his confusions, as there's still something that needed to be done with or without his consent.}
"Take it as you will, but there's a lot here that I don't want to pretend I have. Too much effort. So I'm going back to the library. And because you left something there, dumbass. Bye."
Asami would heard the whole conversation between Kazuo and his gfs, whether he had noticed her or not. Once her name came up in the conversation, though, she had no choice but to pipe up in a sudden outburst at Sana as she walks away.
"H-hold on! Who I love or don't love is none of your business, anyways!"
She would then turn to face Kazuo, her face gaining a slight blush as embarrassment overtakes her.
"And, even if I did feel that way about... him, that'd still be completely innocent and normal for a girl my age! At least, I think so... I'm only..."
She appears to be lost in thought for a moment before appraoching Sumeragi, touching the tips of her index fingers together and avoiding eye contact.
"Sumeragi-Sensei, can you teach me how to convert days to years?"
Kalib nods at Kazuo's recommendation to wait for Yu's group to return.
"You're onto something there for sure. But I just hope for this girl's sake they don't bite the dust on us."
It wouldn't take long for him to be completely overwhelmed with the sudden high school drama unfolding before him. His left eye begins to twitch slightly as it continues.
"Oh. To be young again. I feel like despair is gonna be my destination if we don't save this chick and get me on my way."
{When interrupted for a second time by one of Kazuo’s many “friend-girls” Sana can’t help but groan in frustration as if they really didn’t know it too. At least Emi was slightly there in admitting it. Well, she actually took it pretty well.}
“Oh my fucking god. Dude, do you think I care at all whether you in particular love him or not? Like I said, whether Kazuo’s not in your league —and that applies to people like you as well—he still bagged you and like 5 other girls. Plus, you’ve been latching onto him this entire time, why wouldn’t it be obvious at this point?!”
{While Sana seemed almost somber when talking to Kazuo, Asami completely ruined a glimpse of her true self, immediately making her revert back to how she’s known and loved. Since she already had her back turned for the most part, she can’t hope to try and look at anyone now, so the girl does the next best thing and seems to stop in her tracks for a quick second as she scolds Asami, glancing heavily at Muse of all people.}
“Oh, and since you’ve been saying absolutely nothing this entire time, I’ll just hope you’re quiet enough to keep secrets. Know that I’m mostly acting and that they all left something I have to get so this isn’t about him at all. Yep, totally.”
{The girl’s voice says in Muse’s mind as she was glancing at her. With a sigh of relief and worry expressing something that might ruin the surprise factor, the girl walks back towards the library for realsies this time. Hopefully nothing got the wing clippings of that stupid angel and his stupid long name because that really is needed for this case.}
Sorry for the long pause, but it did give Asami the hint to move on back to the others at least.
When Sana returns to the library she'd find that all of the books have been replaced perfectly, with the shadows once again pretending they didn't exist.
Lying on the ground near the exit are a few small wing clippings, like feathers plucked from Mel's side. Though the clippings glow faintly, they don't react to Sana's touch like the halo did. Its likely that one person can only be associated with one piece of evidence.
In other words, these are your keys.
With the flower a bust, the cat decides to travel west, putting them north of their companions. This clearing doesn't seem to have any of the proper hiding spots the others did, instead it contains piles of junk and refuse, mostly leftover pieces of cars. Good enough for a cat perhaps, but without a good place for humans to hide.
Despite the place seeming particularly open, a couple dozen of those butterflies from earlier flutter about without a care, and some pleasant flowers can be seen sprouting amidst the debris.
Something of a safe spot if you will. Here the cat is no longer able to hear the sound of the monster's laughter, only noticing a faint glow coming from the south where his companions await.
When the first ghoul's punch misses Yu it ends up falling over, having put too much of its weight into the attack. It would take the creature a few seconds to get up, plenty of time for Yu to strike the second one while its paying him no attention.
As soon as Yu's blade strikes the Ghoul, it pops like a balloon, letting out a breeze as the shadow disappears entirely
Chie's attack is quite frankly overkill for facing some of the weakest shadows out there. With the slightest touch the two ghouls burst apart dramatically, sending out a faint wind as they dissipate into nothingness
Finally, the furthest pair of ghouls are able to end their struggle as well, after grappling for a few moments, one of the shadows manages to bite the other, causing them to burst apart and leaving only the victor.
Now down to a 2v2, the grounded ghoul has to take a moment to get up before lunging at him again.
Meanwhile the second ghoul has to run across a short field at Chie again. They almost seem more desperate than anything.
"Are you kidding? Man, just when I was starting to hate all of them too. Now I have to show my face earlier than expected?...Sorry everyone."
{Sana says, voicing out her frustrations in a library that may as well just be a psychiatric ward or a padded cell. Unfortunately for her, she somehow broke the rule of being quiet in a library herself, so she apologizes to every shadow pretending they don't exist in advance. She stops at the exit and looks down, picking up the wing clippings.}
"This is so awful for the drama, now it'll all seem pointless...oh well. Nothing to it, I suppose. Gregorith, you may just be my living accessory, but you're still my friend, right?"
{The eye that hangs onto her coat to make it look like a cloak doesn't react to her questioning, merely making it's pupils slightly dilated and the iris turn magenta instead of purple. In response, the girl just sighs as she puts the wing clippings in her coat pockets, zipping it so they don't fall out and forcing the eye turn back to normal with the help of magic.}
"Everyone around me is so stupid. Especially that stupid kid and her soulmate who is just me and my stupid friend. Whatever, these wing clippings are going to Asami. Then hopefully she'll be an acquaintance instead of annoying."
{Sana hopes to leave without any problems like the first time she went in, attempting to depart from the library and back to the party but making sure none of them see her immediately by making every sound she makes be deaf silence in their ears like when she first entered the place.}
Just like when she entered, none of the shadows turn on Sana as she leaves. For a short time, it’s almost as if she’s the only one in the world..
But she’d make it back to the others eventlessly, clippings in hand
[Kazuo covers his face with his right armored hand as Sumeragi says her piece, blushing. Then it was Asami's entire reaction and words, which, now that he is somewhat aware of a possibility, made him realize fairly quickly that Sana may be onto something, even mentioning Sen, Kokoro and Novella. He covers the rest of his face with his left hand, unable to possibly blush any harder now.]
"...Do I... really inspire that sort of... frothing desire from some...?
[He takes a deep breath as he drops both arms and keeps his face towards the ceiling.]
"I-I-I'm going to lose all hope of ever having a normal life...!! Apollo, Gad, where are you guys when I need you...!?"
[He says this in a somewhat hushed tone, not too loud but not enough as to not be heard.]
(edited by Kazuo_Takahara)
The cat purrs and strolls into the field. So pretty... so many butterflies to bat at... He shakes his head. Focus! This isn’t the time for playing... even if they’re tempting...
He heads south before he succumbs to his primal desires. As he gets closer to the glow, he shifts into a stealthier approach. He doesn’t know what he’ll be walking into.
She knelt down to match Asami's height, tapping her chin in thought.
"Days to years? Well, most modern calendars use a cycle of 365 days to count them so you just divide however many days you need into 365. I don't have a calculator on me and my phone seems to be malfunctioning, so good luck with that!"
She gave Kazuo a somewhat reassuring yet surprisingly heavy pat on the back, accompanied with a hearty chuckle.
"Ease up, Takahara-kun! Most boys dream of your situation! You look like you're having an existential crisis instead! I guess there might be something to say about reality being crueler."
The pale-haired woman gave a light shrug before leaning on the wall, waiting for Sana to come back with the angel clippings.
Yu didn't want to end the lives of shadows that seemed to be able to be reasoned with but they did strike first. Chie was right though. Shadows typically by nature were violet and unstable things.
He wouldn't hesitate either, he wasn't the inexperienced kid he had been years ago.
"Sraosha! Brave Blade!"
The angelic figure would phase into existence once more as Yu gestured towards the ghoul. The Persona would wave the scroll in its hands forward as it flew towards the ghoul. The scroll in question would suddenly light up and extend into the shape of a sword made from some form of light energy. Despite it's appearance though it was purely a physical attack. One that it would attempt to perform before the ghoul could reach Yu.
"Thank goodness there's no one on my case."
{The girl still didn't want to be necessarily noticed by everyone else, as she worked up a dramatic departure for seemingly nothing. Due to this, she has made it so that nobody can hear anything that comes from her. Sana takes the wing clippings out and rolls her eyes at everyone. In order to make sure she isn't seen right away, the girl summons an eye, giving it the wing clippings which it carries the wing clippings using telekinesis.}
{The eye circles around the group, proceeding towards Asami. With a quiet snap of her fingers, the eye turns into her. Same voice, same looks, and everything. To Asami, it looks like she was holding the wing clippings, but really, she made sure the eye didn't make physical contact with the wing clippings so it wouldn't get absorbed early just in case. Just so it looks like Sana was acting like herself as well, Sana made the eye shove it into her hands whether she'd take it or not.}
"Hi. Take these. Bye."
{Was all she made the construct say to the girl. Before it could stick around for longer than it should, Sana had it vanish into thin, purple air. If anybody was looking at Asami during this, they'd notice Sana giving the wing clippings to Asami.}
While I'd've rather waited on Chie, I figure a full day is enough and making one's not gonna hurt anyways.
As the ones before them, this final Shadow bursts to pieces when struck, fading away back into the nothingness it came from. Once the fight's over, there are a few seconds of eerie quiet, with only Yu, Chie, and the weakened shadow remaining....
But they don't get too long to rest. Once its only them and the weakened shadow remaining, they hear the monster's childish voice reverberating from the east once more.
Princess: "Hehehe.. That didn't take very long. You must have been desperate."
not that it was Yu's fault or anything. After all, they were attacked first, and not really given much of an option. And the Princess knew it.
With the contest all but decided, the creature begins to lumber out of the shaded forest. Its long, spindly... Legs? Yet the creature seems smaller than they did earlier. Down to the size of a human.
A size more befitting their childlike demeanor.
Everything else about their shape is obscured, as if scribbled over or blocked out.
Everything save the long, fingerlike apendage they had attacked with earlier.
Princess: "That just leaves you, and the child trying to hide from me. Which one of you little scamps gets to go home?"
When the cat delves southward to the other clearing, they find it strangely empty. That is, the clearing possesses the usual attributes, a few good hiding spots, a bus sinking into the water's depths. But none of their companions can be seen.
Instead there are a couple dozen more of those blue butterflies fluttering around the place, apparently at ease, unaware of the danger lurking among them
(edited by Ally_of_justice)
The cat arches his back slightly. He’s certain he went the right way, but his companions aren’t here. He treads forwards slowly towards the bus. As he approaches, his eyes glaze over, sending his vision to the realm of spirits. To him, all forms of life are blue (save for purplish corpses, if any), so camouflage won’t fool him now. If there really is nobody here, I’ll run a quick test...
"Ah!"
As soon as Sana appears in front of her, Asami stumbles backwards in shock, nearly fallling.
"W-why?"
She finds her balance again, holding her right palm directly on the wings and pushing them away, letting them fall to the ground (assuming they don't immediately get absorbed) once the construct disappears.
It seemed the monster was counting Yu and Chie as one person. That was an odd thing to factor in but irrelevant regardless. They couldn't trust this monster anyway and it was against his nature to simply leave someone behind.
"Just let the kid go. If you can keep your word then I'd be more than happy to play with you. Though don't think I'll just let you do as you want."
He wasn't sure what to say at this point otherwise. Could they beat that monster? No, they had to. It wasn't a matter of do or don't. Nobody else should have to die here.
Chie would nod to her friend and focus her Persona once again, quickly applying some sort of healing gel at the same time. Even if one hit will end them, she still needs energy to attack with after all.
"What he said, I'm not gonna give up and die easily either after all. We've fought worse than you and come out alive!"
There isn't enough time for her to strike just now though, but she does settle into a stance focused entirely upon evasion while aiming her gun at the thing.
If it really comes to trying to fight, their Personas will be doing most of the work considering getting close seems very bad indeed. May have to toss the blade mostly even.
At first I put this down towards the bottom before realizing it would ruin the mood, so we're gonna arrange Asami's piece up front to make it more gradual.
Also, you guys... Have heard of clippings before right? Like hair clippings? Only small pieces the size of feathers cut off from the main part rather than an entire wing.
Ah whatever, I'm rambling now. What matters is that at a touch the clippings seem to disintegrate, swirling around Asami before fading into dust. This inevitable parting now resonates with Asami, for better or for worse. The book now seems to resonate with them as well, indicating a willingness to divulge its secrets.
The dogs guarding the entry to the courtroom notice this change too, looking up and becoming more active now that a piece of evidence has been gathered.
Red dog: "Hast thou prepared thyself?"
Blue: "Once the defense is ready the trial of Sen Megumiba will begin."
Even with his spectral eyes the cat doesn't notice much different. He can see a livelier glow from the sinking bus, as well as some faint memory of a life from the butterflies fluttering around him. But it all seems so.. Ephemeral, temporary. As if it was little more than a trick.
The creature remains silent for a few seconds, staring down the space between Yu and Chie. The silence quickly becomes more and more awkward as it drags on before the monster finally spits out
Princess: "I guess that is what a good mother would say, wouldn't they? I'll at least make this quick."
any sense of joy or playfulness has completely vanished, replaced by a tinge of bitterness as the monster's mood is ruined.
But its attack passes harmlessly through Yu and Chie. After all, they were never really part of this memory. They were only ever standing in for the main character. And now that the show is over, it only had to wrap itself up.
The creature calmly walks by where Yu and Chie are standing, still fuming as it approaches the weakened shadow.
Princess: "It looks like you won. As promised, you can go back now.
I don't wanna look at you anymore."
The show over, both the shadow and the Princess disappear, leaving only a few long, silver hairs. shining like the moon, to flutter down from the monster and towards the floor
Once one of them collects the legacy of sacrifice, the area would fade away once more, leading them back to the forest's entrance where the signs have changed.
"Sana was right. I really... need to sit down and calm down. So far, I've just been acting irrationally and suddenly. That's..."
[Kazuo says this to himself as the book seems to resonate, ready to work its magic. Not only that, but the trial was about to start too. Kazuo would scratch the back of his head and look down the left path, trying to see if the others are coming.]
"I hope they are just around the corner. This has to work."
[That said, he would open the book and check it, hoping to see something this time around.]
Once again, the book refuses to open for Kazuo. After all, he doesn't have anything to offer, nor evidence to comb through
Asami chuckles, reaching out to the book with her right hand, tugging on it. Should Kazuo allow her to have it, she would open it and read whatever it says out loud.
"Does the world hate me? I feel like it hates me."
[The rules are the rules. Given that he had no choice, he decided to approach Asami and hand the book over to her.]
"It's important that we know what's this is all about. Here you go."
[He clears his throat while handing out the book.]
"...Not like I wanted to check out her past or something. I could ask her myself."
[He looks to the side, almost pouting.]
The cat takes in the sight for a little longer before snapping back to reality. It’s best for him to get his bearings, then - go to the start. First, however, he attempts to enter the sinking bus. He can’t swim, but he doesn’t need to breathe either, so it’s no huge deal if he gets caught in what the bus is sinking into.
The purpose of everything is unclear. It feels like a child’s dream, edging into a nightmare.
Chie would stow her gun away and grin before picking up the hairs, laughing a bit upon realizing what just happened.
"Hah! I remember these places showing us memories of the person inside, but never so layered in metaphor before this time. Or so dangerous either, but that's the only thing I can think of this being anyway. I guess we should try and meet up with the others now huh?"
Something tells her the hairs are important, just a sense she gets that its a 'key item' as a game might call it. Such things have come up before after all, though perhaps there's more to find further in?
"Your call, I'm good to keep going further if you want. Though getting back and seeing if anyone else is done might be a good idea too."
"I have a feeling those hairs are important. Maybe they work as a key of some sort. That's how this stuff usually goes."
Yu would look over at the changed sign. He wasn't sure of the significance of this but he felt as though it might at least give them some closure.
Otherwise, it seemed that they should both get back soon. The others might be waiting.
With not much else to do, she knelt down next to the wall and took a deep breath, contemplating the evidence they had gathered so far.
"I really hope someone here has a plan for this trial. As much as I want to protect Megumiba-chan, I don't have a single clue how wing clippings are related to her, let alone what they'd have to do with whatever crime she committed."
Despite her optimism wavering, there was intense glare she was directing at nowhere in particular, a small glow of curse energy forming in her palm that grew and dimmed with each deep breath she took.
The water is almost as cold as death itself but it doesn’t bring the cat much more than discomfort. They could slip into the bus as they pleased.
Though there’s not much worth talking about in the bus. Many of the passengers brought bags with that whose contents would be made rotted and useless by time and water. Whatever happened to their owners seemed to be lost to time.
Looking back at the sign, the first thing Yu would notice is that the monster’s sign has changed its picture from the towering menace to one closer to the kid they saw at the bus crash. The warning written on it has changed too.
“Warning, revenant feeding ground.
The Revenant Princess is the most powerful monster in centuries, and known to visit this area. If sighted, please inform the nearest authority.”
In addition, the third sign now reads “1”, having gone down since they last visited.
To those accompanying Asami, it appeared as if nothing had happened. But Asami knew better.
The book opens itself for her eyes and her eyes alone, rapidly turning pages to a chapter titled “inevitable parting.”
The chapter opens on a roughly drawn scene with four girls, one of whom Asami would easily recognize as Kokoro from the time incident. The woman’s revealing Executor garb with the wolf’s tail was rather difficult to forget.
A second sketch resembles Sen somewhat, with her long, dark hair tied in a ponytail. But their outfit is somewhat peculiar, a long black cape flowing over their left shoulder, while their right displays a brand that resembles the lion-symbols fitting the outside.
The last two she has no chance of recognizing. One who looked around Asami’s physical age and word a shirt with incredibly long sleeves.
This girl is burdened by a pitch black halo hung over her head, one whose sinister presence can be felt even through the pages of a book.
Finally, there’s a girl around Sen’s age wearing what would best be described as an armored dress, with white wings branching out from its back.
Though there are no words, Asami can clearly see the girl with wings berating the others, aggressive movements and stern tones that might seem familiar. After Kokoro argues back, the winged girl splits off, heading deeper off the page.
The child with the dark halo casts Kokoro a nervous glance back, before following after the girl with wings.
After that, the chapter ends.
"Chie, you should get back to the others with that hair. I actually think I'm going to go back in. I'm not sure but I think there might still be something to find here. More importantly that cat might still be in there.
I'll come back after I find them."
Regardless of her response Yu would start heading back into the forest. He wasn't sure what the number on the sign meant or why it might be counting down. He had a couple idea but nothing solid. Either there was something left to find or something was about to happen. Either way it seemed quick action was necessary.
The officer sighs a bit and nods to her friend, she doesn't like it. But they may end up needing this thing sooner than later if its evidence for the 'case'. Or more help over there for that matter.
"Alright, you better come back though or I'll... I don't know what I'll do, but it won't be pretty."
With a smile on her face while making that 'threat', the investigator would begin departing and aiming to head back to the central room. With any luck she can find out where the others are for the moment. And hopefully isn't making a grave mistake by letting Yu go on ahead without her.
[Kazuo would cross his arms and tap on his right amr with his left fingers, patiently waiting for anything to come out of Asami's mouth, as nothing seemed to have happened in his eyes.]
"...Did that work? Did... anything at all happen?"
Kalib takes to juggling a couple of his black orbs as he faces the dogs once again.
"You can't rush perfection, so the defense will be ready when the defense says it's ready."
*A game of Pong seems to flash in MUSE's eyes as she keeps herself occupied while waiting.*
Patience is a virtue or whatever. But if you wanna finish our game, Fido, we have time to kill.
*MUSE smirks.*
The cat exits the bus, soaked and with little progress. If his mental map is correct, he’s explored all but the third column of this place. He heads east in hopes of reaching the entrance to the forest. Maybe it’s a good thing they weren’t here. If they were still here, it’d possibly be just their corpses.
Asami tilts her head at the book, confused. She continues to stare at it, speaking to Kazuo simultaneously.
"Um, it showed Sen, that lady who almost killed you that one time and two others."
She then giggles at Kalib's statement.
"But they're not rushing perfection, silly. They're rushing you."
The orbs come to a halt and hang in the air as Kalib turns to speak with Asami. His hands are brought together with a considerable amount of force before he speaks.
"Oh very clever! I'm sure you're very proud of that one."
Kalib turns on his heel and the orbs are once again flung into juggling.
[iHer head bends to the side as she gives a sly smile.[/i]
"Well, for an... almost 9-year old, yeah it is. Or do you think you can do better?"
She had an almost arrogant air about her, taunting the older man with a challenging sneer as she bends forward, holding her arms together behind her back.
"How about it? Why don't you tell a joke of your own?"
Turning to Asami, she started pacing around the girl in a wide circle, staring very closely at the book that apparently only she could read.
"So you can see what's in there? Perfect! That's our key to winning the trial! Our defense is in there! Probably... But surely there's more details than just a picture, right? Hopefully something we can connect the other pieces of evidence to?"
(edited by Emi_Sumeragi)
Yu returns to the woods, starting in the central bottom area. Its oddly silent now, with the monster's laughter nowhere to be heard.
There's no longer anywhere to hide for there's no reason to conceal oneself. Instead there are roughly a dozen of those faint blue butterflies he'd seen get destroyed by the monster. Now apparently at peace.
The butterflies almost seem to be whispering to each other, but nothing concrete can be heard.
Soon, that familiar black cat comes padding out of the west path, now soaked to the very bone.
As before, that would leave the pair at the start of the forest, with a path leading northward, westward, eastward, and finally the one leading back to the central room.
Chie has no problem returning to join the others, in time to see many of them crowding around Asami at least. The central room hasn't changed much, save for the fact the guard dogs look a fair bit worse for wear and there's a simple, handwritten side beside them saying "Do not pet the dogs."
As silly as it may seem, the sign good enough to render the guards untouchable.
The Red dog gets low to the ground and growls at Muse once more, apparently willing to restart their fight now that it knows its untouchable, but the blue one need only glare at the other to bring it back in line.
Blue: "Very well, approach us when thy preparations are complete."
“Meooow.”
The soaked kitten calls out to Yu and rubs his face against the man’s leg. This silver-haired person appears unharmed, so the energetic girl might be safe too. Good. He looks to his left, then to his right. To go back, or no...?
“Mrra.”
He stares at the eastern path. The flower and unexplored areas still bug him. Too many mysteries, too few answers.
[Kazuo shakes his head, he felt as if had been dozing off for a while now. However, he was back and ready to get through what they needed. He would take the book from Asami and quickly move towards Chie.]
"Satonaka, it's important you try to read this book if you picked up anything like Sana did a while ago. It should give us some important context as to what's happening."
[The young man would offer the book to her.]
"Only you will see what it'll show so... make sure you tell us about it, we are about to move on to the next area."
[Kazuo would point at the guards, as the trial was about to begin.]
"We should get back to the toehrs soon...
but...
It seems you might know something I don't."
The cat was staring down the eastern path. On top of that there seemed to be an increase in the number of butterflies. He thought they might know something. Still might be a waste of time for Yu to try to get anything out of them.
"Maybe just a quick look. I'm not sure how much is left here."
That said, he'd begin heading towards the eastern path. Chie might be waiting for him but this might prove worthwhile.
The police officer takes the book with a nod to her younger ally, smiling slightly while cracking it open.
"Haha, good thing I'm not a kid anymore. Back when we used to do this stuff I'd probably have kicked ya for asking me to study, but eh. Had to study a lot learning how to be a cop so I'm used to it these days."
She would begin reading through it fairly quickly, only taking enough time to go over all the details and keep them in mind. But no more than strictly needed, assuming she got done before Yu returned, the woman would then begin recounting them to the gathered group.
The eastern segment of the forest is a lot brighter than the main piece, almost as if it represented an entirely separate world. What was once dull, dark woods have now become bright and colorful, as if from the dream of a child.
This beautiful and cheery atmosphere is only ruined by the shreds of ribbon strewn about the clearing. The ribbon faintly pulses with an energy similar to that the cat would have felt from the flower, or Yu from the bus. But unfortunately it seems damaged beyond usefulness.
As with Asami the book opens automatically at Chie's touch. Its pages rapidly turn before landing on one titled legacy of sacrifice
The scene opens up in a dark forest that Chie finds unfortunately familiar. After all, she was just in that oppressive atmosphere.
Only nine people managed to drag themselves out of the wreckage, most notably Sen is still recognizable from when Chie saw them on the television, although they were a year younger.
A girl and her mother, a younger, gentler woman who drags her daughter out of the wreckage, standing.
Once the nine survivors have had the chance to catch their breath, a monster comes lumbering out of the woods. The Revenant Princess that had briefly hounded Chie and Yu in the forest, now come to collect the fruits of its labor
Princess: "I'm surprised so many of you made it. I might get to have some fun with this after all. Now then... Who's first?"
One of the nine survivors steps forth, a girl with long, brown hair and emerald eyes who looked to be a couple years older than Sen. They can be seen breathing heavily as they try to take everything in
Emerald Eyes: "Where are we? We were just about to enter the city. And who do you think you are anyways?"
Princess: "Ah, a volunteer."
It only took a second for the girl to be impaled, torn apart, and dead. It was probably good that Asami and the others couldn't watch, though it couldn't have been easy on any of the people in the memory.
Ah, but we already know how this ends, don't we? The sight makes the remaining survivors freeze in shock. Taking in their silence, the Princess only lets out a chuckle.
Princess: "I'm glad we understand now. So then, why don't you do something to entertain me? I could pick any."
Sen: "You can't do that. You can't just kill people whenever you feel like it!"
Sen, the youngest person still here, is also the first to stand up. Their interruption brings the monster shock, more than anything else. Shock that fades away to nothing more than annoyance. After all, the kid was nothing more than a nuisance to them. And it was the second time the Princess's thoughts had been interrupted by those who were nothing more than their prey.
With a flick of their finger Sen was knocked onto her back, the girl's right arm bleeding some strange.. Bluish substance, rather than blood. And bleeding it badly.
This action snaps her mother out of their stupor, the older woman instinctively coming over to Sen, holding their daughter back from doing anything else stupid.
Princess: "Oops. I forgot how fragile you humans are. All I wanted was to pinch your cheek. But if you like rules so much, how about we play a game? To make it up to you.
Its simple really. There are eight of you still standing, and it really wouldn't be fair for me to kill all of you. So how about this? I'll leave you be, and the last person left alive gets to go home. I don't care who. You can figure out that part on your own."
The other survivors begin whispering amongst each other while the monster slowly leaves, watching the entire time. With wording like that, it was only really a matter of time.
So Soma brings her daughter Sen to a hiding spot amongst the scattered debris
Soma: "Everything will be alright. Just close your eyes Sen. You'll be home soon."
seriously weakened, Sen has no real option but to follow her mother's orders, hiding while their parent moves out to protect them.
And you know how it goes from here, don't you? The seven fight, and only Sen and Soma are left. From there it was really only the Princess's whim that Soma was killed and not her daughter. A burst of fury after Soma's selflessness brings up the Princess's own bitter memories. The monster takes a few seconds to compose themself, breathing out a sigh as they approach the pile where Sen was hidden
Princess: "It looks like you won. As promised, you can go back now. I don't wanna look at you anymore."
And thus, Sen was the only one to return to be returned to the human world, the very same way the Princess had dragged her out of it. Everything that happened after that, the girl being found as the only survivor of a mysterious accident. It would all be public record. Perhaps its how she ended up in the TV world to begin with....
[Kazuo stares at Chie expectantly.]
"So, did you see anything? It's better we know the details as we move on."
The woman would nod, speaking up in a shakey tone while cracking her knuckles.
"Yeah it... I'm not sure how much you know about your friend, but long story short. She was in a 'bus accident' about a year ago. It was... Not actually an accident it seems."
The persona user's frown turns to a grim glare as she goes on.
"Her mother was on that bus, and it wasn't an accident. Some sort of monster, almost like a shadow I suppose but... Not quite the same. It dragged the bus into another world, this one perhaps even. And threw her back out into the human world when it killed everyone else... Her mother meant to die... It just killed them all, and for what? fun? I couldn't tell you why that was done, but hopefully, this information will be useful. "
With that she hands the book back to Kazuo, just going silent and leaning back against a wall after having explained what was seen. The ghostly image of her persona faintly hovering above the woman as she seethes with anger at what was witnessed. She had a guess before, but seeing it like this is... Worse than expected.
"Are...are you serious...? She went through something like that...?"
[There was no proper way to react to that kind of information. Kazuo would hide his face under his armored hand while he takes the book back with his left, just trying to take it in. At that time, he remembers a conversation he had with Sen at school some time ago.]
"Once, she told me just a bit about her parents. She had chosen her father's justice, one that is impartial about law, no matter what, even against family. Her mother didn't fully agree with that, that she saw thought it was her duty to protect her."
[Kazuo would let his right arm drop and then would look towards the court and the guard dogs.]
"...That's why she looked so sad then..."
[He realized then why the girl looked so sad back then. Regardless, he felt the need to move forward. He didn't want to risk her life by taking too long to act. Kazuo would begin walking towards the court, with the intent of going in.]
"I guess this is as good as it gets. I'm ready to go now."
[The young man would turn around to face the rest of the group. If most people were ready, then he would not hesitate to try and walk in immediately.]
"I think it's time we figure this out."
The kitten flicks its ears after examining the scraps of ribbon. Another piece he doesn’t understand. Ah well, he’s done here then. He picks up a piece of ribbon with his mouth just in case. He’s content with just holding this and going back. Still, wherever Yu goes, he’ll follow.
(edited by Black-Cat)
Asami gives Chie a gleeful smile upon her rearrival and as she surrenders the book over.
"Hehe, you know, I do a lot of studying too, onee-sama!"
She then crosses her arms in a show of confidence before dropping them as a gloomy feeling overcomes her.
"I'm not allowed to go to a human school, so I try my hardest to learn all the same things. On top of that, I go through a lot of training to know how to properly use my powers."
Most of her face had sunken into her scarf after hearing what Chie had seen, her eyes giving off a solemn, timid gaze.
"The poor girl... what kind of sick creature torments people like that? I'm not sure I'd ever want to know."
Her somber expression turned into a fierce glower, her voice getting much more intense as she clenched her fists and stomped on the floor.
"We're going to get her out of here no matter what happens! No one, not a soul deserves to face what she has! And there's no way in hell I'm going to let this disgusting world swallow her up! With every piece of evidence we have, there's not a shred to suggest she's responsible for any crimes! I'm ready to finish this!!!"
"Something definitely happened here. Or at least that is to say that this area seems to reflect another memory."
He looks down at the cat now with a piece of ribbon in it's mouth. It seemed like that was all they'd be getting here. No telling if it was even worth anything though.
"Time to go back, huh? Maybe the signs will change again."
He'd begin heading back to the entrance and then to the area he'd sent Chie to before. Hopefully everyone would be waiting there.
As soon as Kazuo approaches the door, the two dogs step into his path before taking a defensive stance and beginning to growl.
Red: "The trial is about to begin."
Blue: "Only those with evidence related to the trial may pass."
Red: "If thou seekst destruction. Step forth."
Blue: "If not. Step back."
A bit convoluted perhaps, but it seemed Kazuo would not be able to proceed. The only ones who wouldn't receive this kind of reaction, are Kalib, the defense attorney, and the three who've gathered relevant evidence. That is, Asami, Chie, and Sana. Any others would get stopped as soon as they try to step by.
Nothing changes when Yu and the cat each pick up a piece of the ribbon. They can almost hear the distant sound of a child's laughter, but its faint, and fades away before anything more substantial can be grasped.
With ribbons in hand, they'd arrive back at the central room to hear the end of the dogs' warning. For better or for worse, it seemed the defense team was set for now..... Hehehehe....
[Kazuo would smile with closed eyes as his right armored hand lights up in sparks. The group probably didn't know but he was clenching his teeth so hard, and wanting to strike them so badly, that it was some serious luck the young man knew better.]
"R-Rules... rules are rules. They very much are."
[He would then calmly walk towards the nearest door, electricity still covering his claws. He would take a deep breath, prepare his head, and hit the wall with his forehead in frustration. He would stay in that position as the Sleeping Glove goes away completely, and Tiger stays near the young man as if to console him. The mood around him suddenly got all gloomy.]
"Just go... I'm counting on you guys."
[Tiger sit right next to him.]
{Knowing that she had unintentionally skewered Kazuo's chances of taking any part in this trial, the girl can't help but laugh at the irony that is this extremely stupid defense team. Well, maybe if someone else comes in, they'd balance it out somehow. Sana chuckles to herself as she reappears, a thin hazy cloud of perfume emanating around her, standing right in front of Kazuo glancing back at him.}
"Aw man, that's so unfortunate, Kazzie. If I would have known, I would have made sure you would have a role in this trial instead. Alas, life must be hard. Don't worry though, you'll probably be satisfied anyway."
{The girl sarcastically remarks towards him, mocking on top of mocking as the world they've been placed in truly seems to hate him. Before she leaves with her defense team though, the girl attempts to crouch to the dog's level and look at them with no fear at all. Given, if they tried to strike at her, she would move out of the way one way or another, but her method of doing so isn't clearly given at the moment. Whatever the case, she'd proceed onwards to the trial after conversing with guard animals.}
"Oh, and mister doggie, please leave room for a person if they decide to try and join the case. You'd be able to sniff out if they have relevant evidence, since you're canines and all. Otherwise, I hope you two have fun standing out here."
Asami nods to Kazuo, standing right beside Chie. She nervously grips the hand of the older woman, walking beside her.
"So, if the 'evidence' is the stuff the book shows us that means we'll be working together. We should go over everything we're learned, in that case."
Ah, so he won’t be able to go in. Disappointing. He’ll have to witness the action from here. The damp kitten pads up to the others and sits down by Kalib, finally dropping the ribbon. This setup is for the best. I’d be little help anyway. This reeks of a mystery though. This place and its trial... I have no relation to it, but I’m curious nonetheless.
Right then, a defense team of four huh... They'll probably end up having to fight the shadow, maybe. She wasn't expecting to get this over with in just one day but perhaps they'll manage, it would be for the best at least. At any rate, upon realizing that Kazuo won't be joining them she'd casually take the book back and nod to those who will be going in as well.
"Yeah, it'd be best to go over everything. I've explained my bit, but what have you two got?"
What a pain though, having to go into this place with people she only barely knows as her backup. It'll work, but it's gonna be tricky.
"Beyond that, I suspect we're nearing the end of this case. One way or another, so be ready to face her Shadow if this trial goes like I think it will."
Kalib cracks his neck as he pockets the orbs he was juggling.
"Well I suppose it's time to nut up or shut up."
He looks down and shakes his head just in time to notice the return of his feline friend.
"Well what have we here? You may have brought me a secret weapon, Kitty!"
He stoops down and pockets the ribbon that the cat had and quickly ruffling his head. With that he stands back up and makes strides towards the courtroom.
"Alright! Let's rock and roll ladies. We've got a damsel to destress! Come hell or high water, this is it!"
before we get the show rolling would you like the night to make sure everyone's on the same page before starting, or would it be better to get the ball rolling? I have been paying attention of course, so I'd like a consensus before its too late.
Sumeragi grit her teeth, letting out a deep, frustrated sigh. She couldn't even maintain eye contact, but she still did her best to be optimistic.
"Dammit! I guess we've got no choice. Yell if you need absolutely anything, okay? I don't care who's in the way, I'll be right there for all of you if it's necessary. Now knock 'em dead for me!!!"
She decided to take the time to at least try and get the sleep she was losing in, though her sleep was light at best, being kept awake by the sheer anxiety the trial was giving her.
before we get the show rolling would you like the night to make sure everyone's on the same page before starting, or would it be better to get the ball rolling? I have been paying attention of course, so I'd like a consensus before its too late.Ooc: go on without me for now, i'll just follow the others
OOC: I'm fine with keeping moving, generally best to keep up momentum in RP in my experience at least. we're practically moving at record speed for these days, shockingly.
OOC: I'm down with getting a move on
OOC: Showtime.
If you insist...
The two guard dogs step out of the way for the team of four, Kalib, Chie, Sana, and Asami. The doors open wide, allowing the group to continue unhindered through a long, tense hallway before finally entering the courtroom.
What they come to is more like a spectacle, or a colosseum from the old days. With a shadow acting as judge sitting atop a podium that stretches several stories high, with Sen's shadow sitting at their own podium just to the judge's left, and a few feet below them.
SS: "Took long enough. You must have been trembling in anticipation."
The shadow remarks to Sen, sitting in their place at a much smaller podium opposite their shadow, to the judge's right. The real Sen Megumiba lets out a sigh, crossing her arms as she looks over to the others.
Sen: "This is the defense team you were talking about? I'm... Not sure if any of them know what they're doing."
at least two of them were around Sen's age, with two adults she couldn't remember hearing about in any case. Not the greatest vote of confidence, though perhaps if she knew Chie was an officer that would give the girl some relief.
Whatever the case, the shadow snaps their fingers for four chairs to form near Sen's podium, giving their defense team a place to sit.
Shadow Sen: "Now then, if you would be so kind we can finally begin the case. Citizens of the world vs. Sen Megumiba."
Sen: "Are you finally going to get to the charges you keep hinting about?"
Shadow Sen: "Patience. Justice will persevere, however long it may take."
They're not even pretending to let the judge run the show. Probably not a good thing. But at least this way we'll finally get to the confrontation.
By this point the door outside has already slammed shut, leaving the group split pretty nearly in half. Remarkable coincidence, isn't it?
Kalib whistles at the spectacle as he waltz in with purpose. He rolls his eyes at the prosecutor's jab.
"Yeah, yeah. I was definitely trembling in anticipation. You law types sure do like blowing hot air."
Making his way towards the four seats, he waves at Sen.
"Hey toots, maybe don't call our skill into question before we get things going? Real great way to kill the vibe I'd worked up coming in here. Honestly..."
He would then take his seat and await his comrades to do the same.
“Mrra.”
The kitten purrs, happy to help and also happy from being pet. As the four humans (to him) leave, he lies down with his paws tucked underneath his body. All that’s left to do is wait. He watches the dogs cautiously while time ticks by. He may be friends with a dog, but these puppies kick his innate “big scary canine” senses into overdrive.
[Kazuo keeps his arms crossed while his back is pressed against the wall, looking at the door close.]
"...You know, if things get ugly somehow... there is no rule about not breaking down the door and interrupting the trial."
[Weird as he was, he was already scheming something… as usual, and as such, he said this out loud, to whoever would listen to him from the ones still around the center area. Really, they had nothing better to do but to wait at this point. To pass the time, Kazuo would make a vortex appear in front of him, and would then drop a small knife.]
"Lawful Blades."
[He sighs. Next chance he gets, he'll be able to release 2 of those.]
"I never thought about the way I named these skills, just figured they sounded cool..."
{Though she wasn't listening, Kalib made it look like they were getting insulted again by this shadow. To which Sana could give an eyeroll, they're usually meant to do that anyway to get on people's nerves. It works, but it's a real waste of time to feed into it. So what the girl does is give the shadow a fake smile.}
"Not that big a deal, really. I had a bit of trouble collaborating with Mr. Lawyer to get the team ready. In fact, maybe this still wasn't the best choice considering who's waiting patiently outside, heh."
{The girl acts shocked, putting her hand over her mouth as she talked with wide-eyes. However, this was mostly a lie that was intended to give the shadow...mostly false confidence, as well as a way to give a laugh to herself considering the irony of the situation. At the same time, these words ring in Kazuo's head so as to add salt to the wound. The girl clears her throat before turning to the defendant in question.}
"And don't worry Sen. My deceased older sister's would-be boyfriend participated in approximately 6 classroom trials where he worked against a mechanical bear to defeat Despair itself and became an employee of the Future Foundation because that's how hope works. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."
{Sana says to Sen with an extremely blank face, but also a very sarcastic tone. It was the truth to her, but to everyone else it might as well be a lie. No matter what they thought about her lying, it's a good way to poke a hole into her credibility, which is funny enough. The girl smiles to herself for enhancing her professionalism before following Kalib to sit down next to him so that Asami doesn't have to, considering how badly the child and the "old man" synergize.}
"That's like saying there's no rule about breaking the rules! They told us to stay out here. But to be honest, rule or not, I'm not gonna let some stupid mutts keep me from making sure we win that trial, whether it be through wit or force."
Despite totally looking asleep, she was wide awake, her foot tapping against the floor rapidly and quite impatiently. As Kazuo speaks, her foot stopped tapping, her voice slowly easing back to normal.
"Well, it does make you seem pretty cool in a fight, so I think that worked out. You have a pretty unique set of abilities don't you? Before I decided to supervise the occult club, I'd only known about Personas! Now there's all sorts of demons and ghosts."
Asami would follow along with the group, making an apathetic glare at Sen.
"Sen Megoomiba... Long time no see."
She then makes her way over to her seat, an aura of smugness coming off of her.
"If I had to take a guess, Sen is suffering from some form of survivor's remorse. While we make a case for her innocence, we should also make sure we're ready just in case this devolves into a battle."
[Kazuo shakes his head at Emi's comment, and is about to speak up until the moment Sana's words get to him from beyond the gate. He hits the wall behind him for a moment before looking casually at his teacher.]
"That's right, you're a Persona-user, Sensei."
[Weird really does attract weird.]
"The world is rather... big if anything. There are a lot of powers out there. I don't really know how I got mine and how I realized how it worked. I woke up one day just knowing how to do it... if that makes any sense."
[He awkwardly shift around before staring at the giant metallic Tiger by his side, and then back at Emi. Another knife drops right next to the one he made appear. He had 1 blade in stock now.]
"Uhm... thank you for helping me back there, and also for the other night at school. It may sound weird but... I really enjoyed myself, despite it all."
The police officer sighs while walking forward, Kalib is fine. She can work with Kalib. But Sana... The girl gets a glare from the uniformed woman as she takes a seat on Kalib's other side, away from Sana.
"Citizens of the World vs Sen Megumiba? That seems like a pretty extreme case in my professional opinion, I've never heard of any teenage girl managing to commit crimes against the whole world. Curious to hear these charges."
She'd state that with a raised eyebrow, clearly dubious of the obviously false charges. Even by the standards of Japan's... Brutal court system, this is already off to a bad start. Of course in the end it can likely only go one way.
With Sen screaming 'you're not me!' and the splintered off bit before them becoming a terrible monster. But maybe things will stun her, or maybe this is just the start of this adventure... Either way, with her remarks made the woman would simply rest in her seat for now.
With nothing to do but wait Yu would just find a spot on the ground that looks comfortable and sit down.
"Seems I went the extra step for nothing. Still, wonder what those ribbons were about anyway. No good all torn up anyway."
The cat probably still had a piece of that ribbon but it was unlikely to be considered evidence at this point. Not that it would really make much diffrence as to who went inside. Chie at least had more expierence with the formal law than he did.
"It's only been a few minutes, had you really forgotten that quickly? Well that's a relief! Here I thought I'd scare you all with that... thing."
She spoke with a clear disdain, but she brushed it off quite quickly. She reached into her bag and pulled out what looked like a fruit snack.
"Hey, does he eat? The big cat, I mean. I realize I probably can't pet him but maybe he'd care for a treat?"
She tossed the fruit snack at Tiger, hoping it'd humor her at least.
"It's weird for someone to enjoy such life-threatening situations, but admittedly I also had fun. Specifically with the ghost hunting! I felt well... normal! At least in comparison to some of you, who can turn into glow sticks!"
Sen: "At least you're probably better than whatever they had planned."
Shadow Sen: "Now now, don't go doubting yourself yet. The trial hasn't even started."
The shadow speaks with a grin. The real Sen just glares at them. As much as they may want to speak out, they've already been told of how dangerous shadows were.
Sen: "Its just trying to provoke you. Rekax."
the real Sen takes a deep breath after whispering this to herself. Their shadow pretends not to notice, instead looking up at the judge.
Judge: "May the trial commence. The prosecution may begin reading their charges."
Shadow Sen: "Thank you your honor. Its a rather long list, so let us start at the beginning, and proceed."
The lights dim in the arena, leaving the central area in complete blackness. Black, save for the light that shone upon Sen, her shadow, the judge, and our protagnoists. The Shadow stands up, straightening their papers before reading out.
Shadow Sen: "Lets start with your family. As I'm sure you're aware, Soma Megumiba, hereafter referred to as the Defendant's mother, was well-known for being a quiet and unobtrusive woman. One could even describe them as the perfect wife. That is, until the defendant showed up. Ever since then they got into arguments more and more frequently, finally culminating in the end of a happy marriage.
In summary, our first offense is ruining the lives of your parents and putting an end to their happiness. As we can see, injustice starts at a very young age."
Regular Sen manages to avoid saying anything, knowing the Shadow was likely to use any rebuttal as an excuse to attack. This, of course, leaves their defense team to say it for her.
Evidence gathered:
Fanatical Devotion
Inevitable Parting
Legacy of Sacrifice
Outside the courtroom, the dogs eye Yu's ribbon suspiciuosly. After a few seconds they sniff the air, only to cower from the ruined piece of evidence. Having found something... Terrifyingly familiar to them.
"Sore wa chigau yo!"
{The girl exclaims as clear as day, getting up from her chair and slamming the desk. The girl glared at the Shadow as if life actually flashed in her eyes. Yet when she saw how serious she got, all she could do was nervously glance at the others for an uncharacteristic outburst.}
"...erm...since you're all Japanese...you'd know what I said translates to..."no that's wrong"...uhm...anyways."
{Sana clears her throat before sighing as she starts to go on a spiel once more, just like how Asami and probably Kalib saw her back then when trying to mentally shock Kazuo as amusement. Whatever the case is, her tone now becomes almost monotone, yet her suposed boredom hides behind intense sardonicism.}
"Sen's mother might have been that. I have nothing to say about that, since I didn't bother to try and pry that specific information out of anywhere. Everything else however, is a contradiction. Sen's birth wasn't what caused any type of rift between the two. In fact, I really don't know nor care whether her dad ended up being a deadbeat or not. What matters here is that her family life isn't filled with daily arguments, like you say they are. That contradiction is obvious, and the fact that you even tried to slide by with something like that makes you legible for committing perjury."
{In order for her case to look better with some of her allies, mainly the stupid police officer, the girl throws in law vocabulary in hopes she looked more credible than when they all started. As she does this, she calms down before lowering back to her seat, glancing at Sen rather than the prosecutor.}
"There's no injustice in trying to ask what your dad's job is. That much is certain. Sure her dad might have been pretentious about it, but it's not like he lashed out to anyone in any way, shape, or form. You're just misinformed, like you shadows always are. That being said, if one's shadow is their repressed inner thoughts, I have to say this to Sen. Because my god. You're absolutely fucking stupid for thinking that you caused something that improbable."
{Though she was more angry at the shadow, the defendant themselves actually ignited something in her she forgot she had. Sana gave an unreadable glare towards Sen that almost seemed like it was empathy were it not for her berating her verbally. Even though she could decide to try and give motivation to Sen no matter what, the girl relaxes in her chair, almost wanting to take a nap in the middle of the courtroom were it not for her teammates. She looks back at everyone present with another fake smile, now speaking in a joyous voice that was evidently meant to symbolize something faker than plastic.}
"Ok, so what else are you going to say? I'd love to hear more from you!~"
(edited by _Sana)
Yu of course would notice their reaction pretty clearly. It was strange they'd react in such a way already. He'd sigh having just sat down but now he'd get back up and approach the cat, kneeling to its level.
"Mind if I burrowed that ribbon piece? I think this might be worth something after all."
Kalib leans back in his chair with his arms behind his head. He simply nodded along to Sana's rebuttal, especially the parts where she yelled at Sen herself. He would then speak after Sana quiets down.
"Damn. I must say that was a stronger open than I would've wagered on, but call me pleasantly surprised! You did good, kid."
He sits forward and folds his hands on his lap, the torn ribbon resting between them.
"Let's keep it up."
[Tiger would open its jaw and merely allow the fruit snack to enter. The snack would slowly begin to melt. Kazuo kept shifting around as he gazes at his Chimera.]
"Deep Gear Tiger, or rather... Dawon, doesn't need to eat at all, nothing other than Magnetite, if anything really. This body is just an avatar that it can use in order to have an effect in the physical world. The spirit of it and other 5 lives within me and remain alive, and in turn they give me the chance to bring them out as familiars."
[He rubs the backs of his head and would clap his hands together.]
"I just need to invoke them by placing the right materials, fuse them together and then add the individual spirits within these husks."
[After this, he would look at the woman, thinking about what she just said.]
"Maybe it's just me but I never thought of you as weird, Sensei. It was more like... you just had an air and rumors about you that give off that impression."
[He stares at her awkwardly before looking down.]
"I think the same despite the Persona. I'm sure you have a history, but I won't ask. Even so, it's fortunate you have that kind of power with you at a time like this."
Ah, the cat’s piece had been given to Fakelib. But for the sake of making our dear host’s misstep of thinking Yu had a piece cause no disruption, let’s say the feline had more than one ribbon piece with him. The kitten meows and pushes forward the scrap of fabric towards Yu. It’s worth a shot if the dogs react like that.
Sen: "I've never said anything like that. And how would you even..."
Poor Sen has kinda been left out of the loop of what's happening, but if anything that just makes their shadow self more.. Excited, lets say. Or at least as excited as they seemed to get. Their tone is still rather dull and meaningless.
Shadow Sen: "I trust the defense is aware that Perjury involves breaking an affirmation. And since it seems such an affirmation was never given, I haven't committed any such crimes. That would be wrong."
Sen: "Yeah, sure."
The real Sen rolls her eyes, as one of the minor shadows brings up a small book for Shadow Sen to place a hand on
SS: "I solemnly affirm that the evidence to be given by me shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
Her affirmation complete, the lesser Shadow once more vanishes into the crowds, leaving Shadow Sen with a smug grin
SS: "There, no more tricks out of me. If we're all ready to move on to crimes more recent in memory. As a prosecutor, its my duty not to stop until everything's revealed."
The Shadow turns over to the next page in their manual, clearing their throat before moving on to the next charge
SS: "You're the kind of person who'll gladly talk about justice and standing up for what's right, but as soon as you're forced out of your comfort zone its just about time to retreat. You're perfectly willing to hide while everyone around you is hurt. It doesn't even matter if its your own mother.
How can one claim to follow justice if they fall apart as soon as they're challenged?"
Sen: "Now you're..."
Sen catches herself before actually making a disagreement. As frustrating as it is, she can't really afford to deny it. After all, that's doubtlessly the entire plan
Chie would step up with her evidence in hand, staring forward at the shadow with a smile on her face as she recalls the scene which had happened.
"I'd like to place an objection to the statement about the defendant simply hiding, she was at the time gravely injured. Calling it merely out of her comfort zone is heavily underselling the severity of that issue, and her own mother wasn't just hid behind.
The defendant's mother acted of her own violation to protect her daughter from an assilant nobody at the crime scene could have truly stopped. She only survived the event in question due to the assailant getting bored and leaving."
The officer would pause a bit before going on, just presenting the facts isn't quite enough. Is it?
"Claiming to follow justice despite being scared for one's life is fine, even police like me get scared sometimes. And children shouldn't have to enforce the law, a wounded teenager has no duty beyond making sure they don't die as best they can.
And quite frankly no mother worth speaking of would have preferred their child instead of them, to call that a fault of the defendant is complete madness. It's merely a sign of her late mother's good character, not some malicious ploy upon the defendant's part."
With her evidence given out as it were, the cop would simply sit back down and go quiet. Looking curiously towards Sen with a slightly worried face, if they're lucky maybe this can end without violence... But somehow she doubts it... Oh, but there's one last thing, one direct massive flaw that Chie can point out. So she'd stand again for merely a few moments with a smirk on her face.
"Ah right, almost didn't remember to mention it. The fact that our defendant did in fact, not merely do nothing. She stood up and question the assailant despite the dangers to herself in doing so after all. It would have been fair not to do anything, but in fact you can't even say she wasn't willing to speak out against their attacker either."
And with that, she's truly finally done. Sighing in relief at having recalled to mention that last tidbit.
(edited by Chie-Satonaka)
Asami notices Sana slam the desk, awestruck. For a moment, she loses track of the case and repeatedly raps the desk with the palm of her hand, becoming increasingly loud and obnoxious. After awhile, she suddenly stops and looks up at Chie, fidgeting nervously.
"Uhh... umm... i'm hungry..."
She then stands up, leaning on her staff
OOC: may I join? if so can I get what is up in this story so far in short or is it ending soon?
OOC: We're getting pretty close to the end I'm afraid. This actually is sort of the last theoretical point one could jump in.
The story not that complicated, just a Persona 4 style shadow dungeon for one of the characters I play, Sen Megumiba. A courthouse where any rule has to be followed to the letter, no matter how ridiculous it might seem. The group ran around, gathered some evidence, and so Chie, Kalib, Asami, and Sana, were allowed into the courtroom for the showdown.
You'd likely be entering the TV world then starting in the main antechamber where everyone else is waiting on account of the guard dogs preventing entry to the main courtroom
A grin spreads across Kalib's face upon hearing Chie's masterful counter.
"We're really on a roll here!"
His eye begins to twitch as Asami begins doing her thing. He turns his head to face her with a cold glare.
"You'd best sit down and shut up or being hungry is gonna be the least of your worries."
"Fortunate, huh? That's a first. You're right though. This power... I can use it to help people like Megumiba. Well... when we're not being blocked off by two candy-colored mutts."
Sumeragi started chuckling and playing with her snow white hair, the scar over her eye more visible.
"How could I not be the center of rumors? A tall lady with an exceptionally unusual appearance and a scar over her face is bound to attract attention. Though, I'm not particularly bothered."
She created another ball of curse in her hands, the dark energy spiraling into the air like an ember of black flame.
"If we're to continue working together I'll have to tell you how I got these powers some day. But it might be best to save such discussions for another time. Despite our limited circumstances, I'd hardly call this a proper story time. We don't even have any marshmallows!"
Sen: "I have..."
The real Sen simply casts a pained glance downward, unwilling to meet Chie's eyes. Though she couldn't quite remember why her chest hurt so badly. It must have been the accident. A recent incident that anyone was bound to still be feeling.
But the Shadow doesn't care for Sen's feelings. First, they glare at Asami
SS: "Do try to control yourself miss Asami. We are in a court after all, speaking out of turn will be punished. Now then..."
The Shadow flips over to the next page on their ledger, their lips twsiting into a smile
SS: "Thank you for leading into my next point officer. I'm sure the court will take all of your opinions into consideration.
Its true that the defendant's mother sacrificed themselves willingly to save her. But what have they done with this chance they were given? Nothing. All they've done is go through life imitating their father's justice as if that could possibly allow them to repent. Shameful at best, self-absorbed at worst."
Strange Girl: "Awww... How touching. I'm glad you got to share this.. Special moment... Hehehehe..."
Outside the courtroom, the voice of a young girl dressed entirely in black and green emanates from just a few feet away from Kazuo. They almost would have looked innocent, if somewhat creepy, were it not for the single black wing that branched out from her back, and the long, slender black tail that outed her as inhuman.
Strange Girl: "Still, I would have thought you'd be a little more concerned. Are you really fine just standing here?"
Though Asami would easily have recognized me by my rabbit dressed in a similar color palette, as luck would have it, Asami wasn't here right now. Isn't that a coincidence? It didn't really matter though. My tail flicks back and forth in the air as I await an answer from someone. Anyone, honestly.
The dogs seem to grow more uneasy in my presence too. Must be something about my gentle demeanor throwing them off...
The cat gets to his paws and points his ears forward. The fur along his spine rises, but he neither approaches nor runs from this strange girl. He gives her a firm, accusatory look. A “Who are you?” that’s demanding an answer. Friend or foe? It’s impossible to tell.
[Kazuo nods as he looks up, about to say something to Emi... until he interrupted by someone. Could it be a shadow? It didn't feel like it, he thought that it felt more similar to... He shakes his head, he couldn't put his finger on it right away.]
"What the...? Who are you...?"
[Tiger glares at the newly arrival. Kazuo merely get serious, breaking his casual stance.]
"Of course I'm not okay just standing here! But I... also cannot risk making the current situation worse for the other inside. It's not about what I can do, it's about helping Sen no matter what it takes. If things go south for them then I’ll burn down this entire place myself!"
[He says as his stress takes over, at least momentarily, as the idea he had before passes through his mind, and this may be a good moment to figure something out.]
"You. Are you in any way related to Miss Koko-...Kokoro Fudoji? How about Sen?"
Asami pouts, placing her staff on the desk and crossing her arms as she forces herself to listen to the shadow. As they bring up the point about Sen doing nothing with her life, however, Asami's mouth hangs open before she raises her hand and speaks up.
"Uhh... I need to say something! I don't think she did nothing, shadow person! The book showed her alongside her allies, such as the woman Kazzie said was named 'Kokoro'. They were all dressed up, too, so they must have been able to fight like all of us. So... so... I don't think that's anywhere near an imitation of her father, she was fighting for justice in her own way!"
She giggles, starting to fidget around more excitedly, jumping up and down.
"That's a good point, right? Right?"
Kalib raises an eyebrow before turning his head to face Asami once again.
"Tch. Y'know what, brat? You may be annoying, but you didn't fumble too bad. Heh!"
There was not even a moment's delay between the stranger appearing and Sumeragi drawing her sword.
"The hell? You're awful presumptuous for assuming what we're even doing out here. Besides, if we could do something, we absolutely would! Now how do you even know what's going on in here?
She lowered her sword, no longer posing a threat, but still glared at the girl. There was something ominous about this girl, especially the odd black wing.
"Careful! I'm pretty sure none of us are expecting visitors. And this girl doesn't sit right with me..."
Ooc: alright, even though it'll end and I didn't even hurry but I may even have mistakes so bear with me, please.
IC:
the boy, found himself on this antechamber after he got out of the tv, before he was at an abandoned electronic shop after he touched a tv screen, he thought that this is could be where the last portal key would be, he conquered 4 purple keys as it switched to blue keys so far, leaving the last one, he worked hard to find all the portal keys so he could either return to his world forgetting all of this or having to go to another world.
as he stepped on an antechamber and looked around, he thought that it could be another world, but he is wrong because he can still feel the 4 keys all together, as he looked around more of what in the world is this.
as he saw some black dogs and a strange black-dressed girl which they looked as if they are cautious and wouldn't let anyone in, he then saw other familiar faces that he interacted before--- no wait, he actually knows the two's faces back in kosei high.
"Kazuo and you from before?" Thorne reached to Kazuo and Emi by their side against the black dogs and the black-dressed girl, "Could you fill me the situation and what's going on?" as he titled his head to Kazuo and Emi, he then narrowed his eyes what is he against to.
(edited by Thorne-yuriev)