2025-09-13: Here Comes The Cavalry

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<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

It is the Dark Hour, and it is time for an expedition.

SEES has explored Tartarus a bit recently, but not in a full expedition. As such, tonight on a Tuesday, they've decided to venture forth and try to clear some more floors.

Gathering was done at the base of Tartarus after leaving the dorm. Since a new member of SEES was part of the expedition, one Sadakazu Mori, the basic rundown was likely given. A trial by fire, so to speak.

That was the only person that most of them knew would be coming. Mitsuru would know that *someone* was running late, and they couldn't wait all night for him, so it was time to go in.

The teleporting up to Arqa Block was as smooth as usual if disorienting, before the expedition would begin proper. Shadows went down fairly smoothly, with maybe one or two hitches, as the team got to show themselves off against random pieces of mindless evil furniture and other weird shapes like birds and beetles.

That was then.

This is now.

They were after the middle hump of their investigation when they found a floor with the usual corridors, but no Shadows, as if they had run off in fear. That's when they heard the thundering of hooves.

A Guardian had arrived.

Despite the thundering of hooves, what showed itself had none. A strange Shadow-y unicorn rode forth, with some sort of cloth covering (or perhaps being?) its body and a mask on its face. Riding it was a tall Shadow with green and purple knightly armor, a five-point tipped Shadow mask depicting it as an Emperor Arcana, holding a silver lance.

BGM: Master of Tartarus - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpIq-YDGP5U

The Intrepid Knight danced forward through the corridors, turning on a dime and moving to rush the entire group into battle. There was barely enough time to prepare before it moved to bulldoze forward, a Heat Wave creating a powerful shockwave as it pushed forth.

The Navigators will be able to tell: this is a fearsome foe, and there's no way out but to fight it!

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

        Minato Arisato is one of the Team Leaders of SEES -- and the reason why becomes clear as they proceed through Arqa Block, and not only Orpheus but Jack Frost and Tam Lin come forth from him to defeat those Shadows. He's a more defensive leader than his sister (girls are dangerous, don't you know?), but he's still able to support everyone up the tower --

        Until --

        OH SHIT IT'S A GUARDIAN

        "Get equipped," Minato says, mildly, as he grasps his broadsword and calls Jack Frost to the forefront of his heart. (Switching Personas more than once in a turn can be a real trial, depending on which version you're playing. Best to be prepared.) And then -- "Right. It's coming!" -- he was surely warned, by Fuuka or Ririka.

        Out he charges, with defensive barriers cast across his most vulnerable party members as he draws the Knight's eye. (Jack Frost bounces, merrily, as he's summoned, before he disappears in the blink of an eye.)

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Suzume Fukura has been on several smaller expeditions lately, but one of the more recent ones that she'd been worried about was to Mementos, not Tartarus; when she had brought it up at that meeting she wasn't expecting to get approval from Mitsuru Kirijo, and perhaps surprisingly she'd actually stepped up to the challenge of doing so.

Maybe she is more responsible than she looks. It sure taught her some things about what SEES needed to do before they dove deeper there... dealing with the Shadows there is pretty different, in some ways, than dealing with them in Tartarus.

But that was then, and this is now. It was time to make the mental shift to exploring Tartarus instead of Mementos.

Suzume has taken to wearing her gym clothes as Tartarus gear, because she finds it more comfortable than her uniform for physical activities: grey pants, with a white stripe down the side; grey and red jacket, a matching white stripe down the sleeve; a white top. She also has her tonfa, already out, and her Evoker, shoved back in its hip holster.

She *also* has a cat-ear headband. The band vanishes into her somewhat voluminously shaggy hair. The ears do not. They stick up. She scowls if anyone brings it up and has not explained why she is wearing it.

"I'm ready," is her response to Minato, shifting to her combat stance; lighter on her feet, not *quite* boxing with how she raises her arms but something related. Reiya would recognize it if he was here since she's been practicing with him; to everyone else it just seems that Suzume has been putting in some sports time.

And so when Minato handles barriers, Suzume handles a more physical defense, stepping forward in front of the inevitable back line. (SEES has a lot of back line; Navigators, archers, mages...) She bounces on her feet once as if loosening up before going for a fast flurry, using her tonfa with the length braced back along her arm for defense - she can parry like that - while she punches with the reinforced end!

<Pose Tracker> Sadakazu Mori has posed.

That's right: there's a new guy. He's late too, actually.

Sadakazu Mori has been in Japan for roughly fifteen minutes and he's already getting dragged into something perilous. Okay, it's *probably* been most of the evening, but the fact remains that he's had none of the preparation and only a brief explanation about what he's getting into on his first night back in town. That's okay, though; he was expected at the dorm, even if the expectation was that he'd have landed and arrived most of a day ago. Travel delays are unfortunately presently beyond any of their abilities to control. And if he was already going to be late, he might as well have spent some time wandering around a little...

Nonetheless, when confronted with the SEES squad departing just as he was arriving, he just said, "It's fine. I'm ready," and fell into step. He had a backpack, but he abandoned it at the front door rather than spend the time going into the dorms. It'll be there when he gets back. Besides, he only needed the one thing out of it for this: a brown-wrapped box, fresh from the store.

Sadakazu's expression has been slightly wide-eyed and curious through the whole trek into Tartarus. He doesn't look nervous; he looks like he expected one thing and is getting something only tangentially related. He's been picking at the wrapping on the box on the way in, rolling up little pieces of it and tucking it into his jacket pocket. Actually, he seems kind of... fidgety? Antsy, maybe?

Once they're actually inside and confronted with their first Shadow, he seems a little less whatever he was. He finally gets the box open with a quietly pleased exhalation, reaches inside, and pulls out a god damn gun.

Okay -- it's a little bit unrealistic. It looks kind of like the archetypical sidearm from modern police shows, but made slightly sleeker in places, because someone thought it was cool. Also, he loads it with a little metal cylinder and a slide full of tiny metal pellets, which is honestly the most dead giveaway he can possibly give that it's airsoft instead of terribly real. Still...

The Intrepid Knight charges them, heat and force rolling off of the thing right at them. Sadakazu throws himself into a sideways roll the instant it starts, barely putting himself hard up against the wall and getting merely grazed instead of bowled over. He raises his little gun with both hands, sights the Knight, and quickly pulls the trigger twice -- and the sound and flash, while still not *quite* correct, are a far cry more realistic than the toy he brought in here ought to be able to produce.

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

         Shizuka freezes in her tracks, hardly able to react until the shockwave the Knight brings forth knocks her on her butt. Damn, how many times in Tartarus and the fear of it still got to her? Her knives fall out of her hands and onto the floor, causing her to furiously fumble around on her hands and knees until she grabs them and manages to pull herself back up!

         "I-I'm okay!"

         She takes point in the rear, bringing out Galatea and shooting off a barrage of stone towards the Shadow!

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

Exploring Tartarus has become a familiar occurrence at this point. Testing themselves against what it has in store, gradually pushing themselves further and further in... But Tartarus is still dangerous and unpredictable.

"I'm not getting any signals on this floor - it's as if all the Shadows fled..." Fuuka starts hesitantly. And then - something tugs at the edge of her mind. It reminds her of the giant Shadow they fought on the night she was rescued. It's of the same essence, but different. "Wait! I'm sensing... is that the Emperor? Everyone, be careful!"

The Intrepid Knight charges in. The sound of an Evoker firing and shattering glass heralds the appearance of Lucia, and Fuuka winces as the powerful striking force of the Heat Wave washes over her protective bubble. Lucia might excel at mitigating harm, but it doesn't mean she doesn't feel the effects like an ache in the back of her head.

"It's really powerful... Watch out for its physical attacks. It's capable of covering great distance, too - I'm not seeing any openings for retreat... Try to hold it off as best you can!" Fuuka calls out.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

Hitomi Mandai has been here for a while, and she is not a team leader. Some of this is probably because of how she fights.

BEHOLD:

"Hyah!" Hitomi says, whipping small objects onto the ground in front of a Shadow. They rebound upwards and smash inwards with a rattling BURST, toppling backwards at her; this time, she catches them rather than having to dive for them. The Shadow lurches back.

The small objects are six-sided dice.

HOWEVER

The passage of the surging and simmering heat (feel the heat!!) makes Hitomi grunt in outward discomfort, swaying somewhat afterwards. Suzume and the new guy (Sadakazu) happen to be closest when she cries out, "Tyche!" and the statuary Persona rises above her, hands spread out in benediction. A reckless surge of inspiring energy washes over the two of them, over Hitomi herself, and perhaps over others -- the urge to strike, to fight, to win! (also, to get more critical hits than usual)

"Ugh-- why do they get to have HORSES in here!" 

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuru Kirijo has posed.

The deeper they delve into Tartarus, the more questions it poses.

The deeper they delve into Tartarus, the more Mitsuru Kirijo needs the answers to those myriad mysteries.

The Kirijo heiress is determined, and comes equipped with a will of steel, if nothing else. While she's obliging of people's schedules and needs in the real world (especially studying (SHE'S LOOKING AT YOU, <INSERT YOUR NAME HERE>)), Mitsuru never fails to remind the rest of SEES that they must ascend further into Tartarus' macabre heights. Every evening. On the dot.

Fuuka taking over Tartarus monitoring duties might have been a blessing in disguise really.

Today, however, is different. Today they have a newcomer, and it's imperative to at least -try- to ease Sadakazu Mori into the existential rigors of Tartarus, as much as is humanly possible. But also...

...

For some reason, Mitsuru is frowning as they assemble at the entrance of Tartarus. She looks to the great doors leading into that ethereal lobby, and frowns.

"... Alright. Let's begin."

Somehow, she sounds both subtly exasperated and completely expectant before they start their ascent.

Really, she's not sure why she expected different. Like -punctuality-.

More the fool's her!!

But now, well. Progress is good. They help Mori adjust to the Tower as much as is realistic. They ascend higher.

They reach an impasse in the form of phantom hooves.

"Everyone! Ready yourself!"

It arrives, a knight-type Shadow on its floating steed. Minato takes the lead, and Mitsuru follows their field leader with a narrow-eyed gaze of steel: where Minato offers protective barriers to those in need, Mitsuru pulls the trigger on her Evoker with a powerful cry of, "COME, PENTHESILEA!", her royal blue-wrapped manifestation of her soul surging forth to swing its rapier forth and conjure a great, violet sphere of simmering magics, pulling in insipid streams of energy towards the Intrepid Knight to weaken its own defenses.

"Yamagishi! Kawase! What are we dealing with here??"

Compared to her time serving as their pseudo-Navigator from the backlines, Mitsuru seems truly in her element here, her eyes alight with violent life as Fuuka relays information to them, her entire body language radiating subtle battle lust.

It's.

It's a little frightening maybe.

Just a li'l. 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko's gotten herself a proper weapon at some point. And she had joined the gathering leaning heavily on it like she was about to fall asleep against it. She'd had some late nights catching up on work. In more ways than one. It'll be fine though. She'll be awake when it matters!

 She's still wearing her uniform. More or less.

 Snapping awake as everyone gathers and gets ready to move on, she shakes her head vigorously, grins and says, "Ready." With a less than.. friendly look. Unintentional, for those that know her. "Why would the run? I thought they didn't worry about us?"

 Bringing the polearm around, she slings it up, and over her shoulder and follows the group in.

 She tilts her head though, frowning briefly at the sound of hoofbeats, slinging the bladed polearm around and setting it like a spear in time with Fuuka's warning.

 "Wasn't planning on running anyway." Which.. is probably a problem. She's hard headed though. Not that she's feerless. It shows in her eyes. There's no fully hiding it, no matter how much you force yourself into it.

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka had greeted the new member, friendly if a bit awkward.

Teleporting was fine if disorienting... and she summoned her Persona Amphion to get some more practice with Navigation, the summoned Persona placing a pair of headphones on Ririka's head to help her focus her senses.

Shge'd mostly stuck to support, though she was trying to get some practice in with her katana when the threat wasn't too dire. But otherwise she'd focused her talents on keeping everyone's energy up.

The thundering of hooves. "I hear something coming!" she reports, possibly along with Fuuka.

"Yamagishi-san, can you keep analyzing it? I'll focus on finding a path to retreat, or a way to position ourselves!" She's playing at a holographic keyboard in front of her, sending sound waves out to try and map the floor.

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Minato's defensive barriers go up, and the Intrepid Knight watches. It doesn't get a chance to respond first to Jack Frost's Jack Frost, as Suzume's tonfa punch comes out.

It hits, and the knight does take damage, but it's clearly resistant, tonfa bouncing off armor and horse alike with recoil.

Similarly, Sadakazu's bullets clearly *pierce*, but they don't cause it to quite stop moving on that horse. The Navigators, at this point, could tell it's definitely physical-resistant...

Especially when Shizuka's Galatea shoots off that stone. *That* does some damage, not resisted or super-effective, as the stones smash across it.

Fuuka's scanning will give her the fact that the Knight also may have other tricks up its sleeve beyond physical damage. It seems to have two additional magical elements, but it's not yet clear which.

As Hitomi speaks, the unicorn the Shadow is riding glares at her. Well, excuse you. But her energy washes over her, and it doesn't quite get a chance to respond with violence.

Because Mitsuru weakens it quickly, lowering its defenses! Even so, it's still preparing its turn...

Ririka's scanning finds two things: one, retreating may as well require *killing it*, as it guards the path to the next teleporter. Two...

The hallways are their best bet for maneuvering. If they can use corridors against it, they may be able to manipulate its movements.

When Moriko prepares, the Shadow watches her, before stepping backwards. Is it afraid of her...?

No.

Instead, it raises a hand to the air, and light begins to manifest, raining down on the entire SEES team.

Then, it lunges forward, moving to strike Sadakazu and Suzume with that lance! It's stronger than it looks for such a 'basic' lance, and indeed should probably not be tanked head-on too frequently.

As it gallops around and returns to its position, waiting for another chance to charge, it glares. As mindless as it is, it's still a killer.

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

        BANG! That's a real gun.

        "Don't mix it up with the Evokers," is Minato's award-winning advice.

        He sees Shizuka freezing, though, and tosses a Rakukaja over her to help her recover. At Fuuka's advice, he lifts his Evoker to his head, and invokes:

        "Orpheus!"

        The lyreist rises, and Tarunda washes over the Intrepid Knight, to decrease its might as surely as Mitsuru decreases its defences.

        Light rains down, though, and Minato shows off his Track and Field experience by running through them. Some do scour his skin, but he doesn't cry out.

        "Mori-san," he wheels around, to offer a hand up to Sadakazu. "Can that gun pierce its armour?"

        He tosses a piece of fried bread to Suzume, too, to make sure her health stays up just the same. "Catch."

        And now, time to keep running down those corridors. Helpfully, he advises Moriko: "Looks like running's part of how we win this one." It's distinct from running away. It's fine.

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

Mitsuru being here is a little ... uncomfortable's not the word, for Suzume. But she feels the regard of one of SEES' leaders. Of course Minato's a leader too, but Suzume's a lot more comfortable with Minato - look at how she works with him, automatically! But Suzume's been living up to expectations, mostly (don't ask about her math marks) so maybe she's safe today.

Though she is really, *really* hoping that Mitsuru doesn't ask about the cat-ear headband. Or Minato, Moriko, or Hitomi, all for different reasons. Or anyone, really, but them the most. Embarrassing...

Suzume really wants to know the story of the new guy. How'd they recruit a foreigner who didn't even live here? (Tyler doesn't count, he went to Gekkoukan before he joined SEES.) And why'd they drag him here right after he landed? Doesn't he have jet lag? Suzume has never flown internationally, or indeed at all, but is pretty sure that's a thing.

Though, she thinks with a bit of discomfort, it's good they got him off the plane before the Dark Hour hit. That would have been awkward...

"They *don't*," Suzume calls back toward Hitomi, "it's like they have a non-horse!" It has the shape of a horse (or a unicorn, assuming that spike isn't part of the helmet) but there's no horse actually there, just the place where a horse would go. And, presumably, is, because the helmet is staying up somehow.

To be fair, the Shadow itself is the same way. There's armour there, at least. Suzume is restraining herself to only hit places where the armour is, as she suspects the other places aren't going to take damage at all... which makes it hard because she's on foot, she can't *reach* half the rider.

Sadakazu fires past her, and Suzume flinches at the sound. That's not an Evoker. "Of *course* the American has a gun!" she blurts out, once she realizes who's shooting it and that he's behind her. "Just don't shoot me in the back!"

That he's behind her is good for when the Shadow charges again. It comes in, lance-first, and Suzume is not going to soak that if she can help it - she rolls forward, coming up under the point of the lance and batting it aside with the tonfa weight to try to divert the charge, keep it from continuing onto Sadakazu - there's no way she can STOP it but she might be able to deflect it. This means she gets smacked in the shoulder by the length of it instead, hard enough she staggers - but bruises are probably safer than getting stabbed, Persona or not.

Speaking of Persona...

"Atalanta!" Suzume has her Evoker in the hand that she didn't just use, and she fires it. Atalanta is quick to respond; a woman with a decorative silver-and-steel breastplate, armed with a bowgun, a lionskin cloak, and cats'-pupiled eyes. She raises her arm, and a whirling vortex of wind appears with Suzume at the center of it, in the eye of the storm, as she continues to try to press the Knight off-balance and out of line.

She catches the bread on the way down, too. Delicious! Even if it has been in someone's bag for a while. (Fortunately, Suzume is an active teenager and thus basically always has room for something.) She gives Minato a thumbs-up afterwards.

<Pose Tracker> Sadakazu Mori has posed.

                SLIGHTLY EARLIER

They've just defeated a Shadow. Sadakazu proves that he knows how to stay the heck out of the way while he's still acclimating to the way they fight, and the state of things inside the strange space that is Tartarus. He watches, and learns, and picks at the paper on the parcel. A strip tears off in a satisfyingly straight stripe. He mulls over what just happened (and continues to repeat peoples' names in his head; his "hello" might've been repetitive but he wouldn't turn down a polite greeting), and then asks:

"A team this big... isn't that a little bit of, ah -" A searching pause to his sudden interjection. "- overkill? For these?"

                RIGHT NOW

For *those*, Mori? Yeah. Absolutely overkill for those. For this, though?

Sadakazu glances over when Mitsuru employs her Evoker. His grip on his weapon tightens fractionally, and his mouth presses into a thin line. He nods, mostly to himself -- and there's a feeling of energy washing over him, making his heart beat faster and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. His search for the source finds Hitomi and Tyche. He blinks, and then, for the first time tonight, smiles. It's full, and real, and a little bit intense to be coming from someone you just met. He is clearly not one of those people who avoids all but the quickest eye contact.

"What was that? I -" Bright light, from above! Sadakazu glances up, then forward. He lowers his pistol halfway, looking into the helm of the thing as it angles straight for him and right through Suzume in front of him. His left hand drops, the pistol gripped firmly; his right gets thrust out in front of him, fingers spread. Hot air makes his open jacket ripple, sleeve dragging partway up his arm. A black mark coils around his right wrist, angled towards the back of his hand --

There's a sweep of dark and ragged cloth. A figure pivots out from against the wall on Sadakazu's left and whirls on its heel as it settles on his right. An old and stained cloak with a mantle bearing its shares of stitches and tears briefly passes over Mori's head, intercepting the shards of light and subsequently gaining even more holes in its substance for its trouble. The silhouette of someone wearing the mantled cloak briefly overlaps with its summoner. It swings up a gloved left hand, shoving at the partially-diverted lance Suzume intercepted and giving him a chance to scramble forward on his hands and knees underneath it.

Minato offers him a hand, and he grasps his forearm and pulls himself up. A quick nod in thanks; then, a look at the creature chasing them. He puts some distance down the hallway, not thinking too hard about the way space works in here, but definitely considering the question.

"No," he says. "I need something else. But I've already got it." He flexes his fingers. Sadakazu takes a breath, raising his right hand again --

        "Freischütz!"

The cloaked figure comes back, fading in as it steps forward and over him. This time it isn't unarmed; this time, it's bearing an antique rifle, wreathed in gearworks and levers, knobs and switches. Each piece of it shifts and twitches under observation. It raises it one-handed, gripping it with its right hand, bleached white bone showing as its skeletal finger brushes the trigger. Something black and rubbery coils around the exposed, bony wrist of the Persona, pulsing like overactive muscles.

Something weird ripples through the air. It's a sensation like someone walking on your grave; subtle, unsettling, and unfocused. It's hard to parse it in the heat of battle. Navigators have much less trouble pinpointing Sadakazu as the source, and experience a more intense unease than the rest. But it comes, and then it goes. What was that?

Sadakazu raises his gun and the Freischütz does the same. The figure fires, the report echoing in the enclosed space longer than it ought to, mirroring the sound and flash from Sadakazu's weapon. Both fire what look like fragments of moonlight, and both shots arc on impossible curves towards the Knight's steed, crippling blows backed by dark energies aimed to slow it down and give them time to figure out how to really deal with it.

"And," he says, with a hint of pique at the American-with-a-gun comment, "we *don't* miss."

</poem> 

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

         Shizuka clicks her tongue as the stones smash into the Knight without much reaction. Though, what was she really expecting, with armor like that? Guess it's support duty this time, she thinks.

         And no sooner than that, the team gets hit by a wave of light, Shizuka crossing her arms and the stone form of Galatea appearing in front of her to try to mitigate any damage. Before she can get her wits back about her, Sadakazu and Suzume get an additional attack with that lance!

         "Hold on! I've got you!" Galatea appears high above the team, letting off a wave of healing energy across the entire group as they attempt to make some distance.
 
 <Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
<poem>
If you don't try to hit the Shadow, the Shadow won't counterattack and immediately murder you to death! That's Hitomi Mandai's philosophy, friends, and she's stuck to it. There's incoming damage, at least: Shizuka, Suzume, and Sadakazu. With his... pistol...?

Minato says it, but from Hitomi's c_c; face, she agrees.

Mitsuru's pouring in the weakening. They're all getting good leverage BUT the enemy gets a vote too, and that enemy is voting hard and voting fast on a strong and direct anti-Fukura and anti-Mori ticket. "Gah!! New guy, Fukura, you have to roll with it--"

But he seems to know what he's doing.

The dark cognitive ripple makes Hitomi grimace a little - at this point, perhaps in counterpoint or because of the fusillade coming in, she says, "Blast 'em, Tyche!" Notable perhaps she isn't getting out an Evoker when she does it, but even so the Persona manifests, a short shrieking barrage of something that rumble-THUMPs like fireworks as it fires upon the Shadow.

"... ehehe!!" she answers Sadakazu's concluding assertion.

Hitomi, on the contrary, does not feel fully as if *she* knows what she is doing. At any time! 

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

Mitsuru calls out and Fuuka focuses. Ririka asks her to keep analyzing the enemy, while she focuses on the terrain.

"Understood!" Fuuka calls back, turning her attention onto the Intrepid Knight. "Give me a second..."

She studies it - trying not just to look into it but through it, to understand it and its nature down to the core.

"It resists physical attacks, but it isn't immune... Try magic if you can, but with its defenses down you might be able to find purchase." Fuuka observes. "...And, there's something else... It has an affinity for magic! I'm detecting two different kinds..."

She tries to see further - but it helpfully answers one of the questions for her. Light rains down on SEES - light that Lucia is, helpfully, resistant to.

"Remember - it might appear to be two separate creatures, but it's only one entity." Fuuka observes. "Don't let yourself be distracted or intimidated - think of it more like a two-headed dragon than a horse and rider."

Their newest member calls upon his Persona, then - and Fuuka can sense that weirdness in the air. She feels it keenly - it throws her off, briefly, but she's able to recover quickly. That strange sensation... It's unsettling, but right now, they have to focus on the enemy.

And so does she.

"Tell me, Lucia... What does it fear?" Fuuka murmurs, as she tries to divine a weakness.

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuru Kirijo has posed.

Soles of her shoes squealing across Tartarus' occasionally blood-soaked floors, Mitsuru Kirijo digests the information that Fuuka offers -- and Ririka, after her. A thoughtful frown presses on scarlet lips as she considers the operatives available.

Movement, it seems, is going to be their play, judging by Minato's actions. And in that case...

The Intrepid Knight finally strikes, light pouring upward before coming crashing down like rain from heaven above. Mitsuru grits her teeth, attempting to weave through the onslaught of magic; it explodes across the ground near her, sending her launching through the air, only for Penthesilea to sweep in and catch her, both skidding across the ground with the impact. By the time it ends, Mitsuru drops to the ground, ignoring the strain as her eyes narrow on the Knight.

Well -- that's -one- of the magical affinities, it seems. Good to know. What else...

Using movement. Its strength is already being sapped. The others are pushing an offensive. Fukura is working to keep it off-balance and disoriented with her attacks. Therefor...

"Shadow!" Mitsuru suddenly calls out, her voice fearless and booming as she snaps her rapier to the side. Penthesilea echoes the movement -- and with the stroke of its blade through the air, the very molecules that surround them condense into a jagged shard of ice that hurls towards the Intrepid Knight.

The intent is less to do -damage-, and more to get its -attention- through direct, aggressive action. To bring its focus on -Mitsuru-, her rapier lifted in front of her, her entire body braced like someone prepared for a hilariously lopsided game of chicken.

"Face me!"

To get it to -charge- at her, with any luck. If it does -- Mitsuru will stand there, prone. Waiting. Waiting. Until the very last moment--

--where she'll spring, to try to vacate the area and leave the Knight to - hopefully - crash into the wall that was immediately behind her, and leave it - ideally - vulnerable to the others.

Speaking of which, as Mitsuru makes a sweep of the area to assess how the others are doing -- she pauses, and blinks.

And stares.

Right at Suzumu, around the scalp region, specifically around the 'cat ears poking out' scalp region.

Alas, Suzume. Sometimes the more you wish something is not seen--

"... Ah?"

-- the greater the odds of the All-Seeing Eye of Kirijo gazing upon you.

This, in fact, is Mitsuru Kirijo, taking a brief detour from combat to stare, clearly bemused, at Suzume's headband. Her head tilts.

Is it worrying, that Mitsuru looks more alarmed about the cat ears than she is about a REAL-ASS GUN BEING FIRED IN TARTARUS

Why, of course it is!

But as long as you don't think about it too hard it stops being a problem, so. There's that. 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

"Yeah. Mixing that up would be bad." Moriko deadpans when advised avoiding the real gun. Though with the horse charging, she's not using.. a true spear, so she's not going to stand in the way of a horse. Rolling to the side gracefully. That had been the attempt at least. She instead leaps away at the last minute, realizing she might have been trying to be 'cool'. This is stupid. She should know better.

 Scrambling to her feet without any prior decorum, she works on getting her feet moving! "There's a difference! We're not abandoning anything!"

 She doesn't seem as bothered by the gun, aside from a flinch when it's fired! She hadn't been expecting it. Swinging the glaive around, she hasn't commented on the cat hairband. That's for later! Because of course it is.

 She's thankful for the support, running along. "You miss all the time!" she calls out, "Everyone does. It's like that one game!" Which is.. probably not the right time to be joking. She decides this on her own even!

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

"I can sense... a teleporter..." Ririka announces, as she concentrates. "... but it's cutting us off!" She turns her head to listen. "But there's... hallways, corridors. It can't fit through those, we should use those!"

But ilght comes, and Ririka stops playing to cross her arms in front of herself. "Nggh. This guy's strong..." She glances around. "Hey, front-liners. I got something for you. Amphion, Rakukaja!"

One by one Amphion plays his golden lyre, and steadying, fortifying earth power flows into them to help bolster their defenses.

But then she's edging herself and Amphion towards a corridor, reaching out to try and keep everyone connected and organized. It's only a stroke of good luck that Ririka doesn't broadcast a 'What the heck was that!?' to everyone, just to herself. She listens for that weird (to her) dissonant sound and finally pinpoints Sadakazu.

That's weird but--it passed, and the Guardian is still an active threat. Save that for later.

"Thank you, Yamagishi-san!" Ririka calls as Fuuka agrees to her division of labor.

She keeps shouting out updates in the Guardian's position, to try and make sure nobody is taken off guard by it.

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

ELSEWHERE, EARLIER:

Shinjiro Aragaki was never much for praying. He liked the tranquility of shrines, but actual prayer? What did it matter?

Even so, tonight he was at Naganaki Shrine, praying before the tree. He had his steel battleaxe at his side, as he prayed that he was doing the right thing and to succeed in it. What he was about to do had no going back, and indeed, he had to stick it through this time. Once he was done, he took his time getting to Tartarus...

And when he finally got there, learned they left without him. Oops. He sighs guiltily, muttering out loud to the empty lobby.

"Fuck."

NOW:

Minato's power washes over it, and once again, it's weakened, strength sapping.

Suzume's winds blow out at the same time, but there's a problem.

The winds do practically nothing. Well, not quite. They *do* knock it off balance, but the damage is so miniscule as to be useless in that sense.

But it does allow Sadakazu an opening. The dark fire washes over it, damaging it greatly and almost sending it over, but not in a 'weakness' way. It burns much like the earth shattered, and turns its attention on him.

Shizuka's healing is probably appreciated by everyone but the Shadow, who glares again.

The Intrepid Knight turns to Hitomi as she sends out that blast. Once again, it's normally effective, but the firework rumble of the attack sends it skidding backwards.

Fuuka's scans ring true. What is it afraid of? The sizzling conductivity of the sky. The zap on the back of your neck. Ten thousand volts, all through it at once.

Electricity.

Moriko's glaive strikes true, but once again it's resistant. They'll need to continue chipping through that durability, even as it does more damage than before.

As Ririka leads the group through the corridors, the Intrepid Knight follows, though it's slowed down. However... as Mitsuru taunts it, firing that ice shard, it turns towards her. It seems to seethe, as much as it can without a mind.

That lance is pulled back and *coated* in that light. It readies to charge. It's going to try and do what we call a 'big deal' move on her!

And then it's forced to cancel it, because footsteps can be heard past it, back where they were before. Someone calls out, and it distracts the Shadow...

"Hey, asshole!"

Shinjiro Aragaki stands in Tartarus. He's clad in a greyish-black t-shirt, his new beanie, and the SEES armband over his bicep. He's wielding that battleaxe, but that's not what he strikes with, as the evoker confidently moves up to his head.

Without even a recoil of the head from the force, he pulls the trigger. In a flash of blue, Castor appears, riding its own hobby unicorn, but otherwise weaponless.

The Intrepid Knight charges forth, trying to skewer Shinjiro and Castor alive. Castor rides forward, rips that spear-tip out of its chest, and moves to strike it straight at the knight's lance, a shockwave knocking both of them back as the two physically potent forces clash.

Shinjiro takes this time to rush forward towards SEES, skating past the knight, and fire off a burst of energy from his Persona. The aura washes over the knight, and Fuuka will find it's now strike-neutral thanks to his guard being broken.

"Sorry I'm late," he says to Mitsuru, before turning to the others, nodding once, and then Minato. "Fire me and forget." That's how it always worked.

The knight, regaining its footing and direction, turns to the ground and channels energy into itself, increasing its magical attack. It then twirls that lance...

And a massive blast of wind rushes forward, moving to try and force everyone back and give it the footing advantage!

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

        Americans with guns...

        Something is strange, and Minato notes it, distantly, midst the battle. It is not the feeling of death, the greatest friend; more the feeling of biting into a baked potato only for his back teeth to become intimately familiar with aluminium foil.

        More the taste.

        It must be the cat ears, he decides, a moment later. Yes -- reality has bent such that Suzume's cat ears are a harbinger of eternal doom.

        Having determined the logic of the situation, he proceeds. The cat ears... will not force them to retreat through the path Ririka found for them, just yet. The Knight is still a problem, though, and -- "Kirijo-san, look out --" he calls --

        But someone swears, and --

        "Aragaki-san," Minato looks to him, with that same dull expression he wears everywhere, as Castor interrupts the Knight's charge. Fire and forget...

        "Do it," he nods, once, firmly.

        Wind pours out, and Minato is blown backwards, tumbling; he hits one of those little statuettes, and it shatters. A blue shard falls upon his head, and then, down into his lap.

        "Lucky," Minato remarks, as he pockets the Twilight Shard, like he was never bowled over.

        Shizuka is handling their healing, so Minato, instead, stands up and fires his Evoker again. "Persona," he invokes, as Orpheus rises and strums the song of Dekaja to erase the Knight's statistical enhancements as soon as they arrived!

        He turns to Moriko, as the camera pans to her. "You're up," he says, passing his action to her in the process!

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

"Of course. I'm counting on you, Kawase-san!" Fuuka calls back to Ririka. Between the two of them, nothing will escape their eyes - if there's any advantage to be found, they'll find it.

"I see... I understand you, now." Fuuka murmurs, as she studies the Intrepid Knight. She sees it for what it is. "Everyone! Its weakness is electricity! Give it a good shock!"

Knowing that helps - but is it going to be enough? It's still a powerful foe, and there's the question of if they'll even be able to capitalize on it. The Intrepid Knight doesn't yet seem so much as winded - but it does bring the wind against them. Fuuka winces, bracing herself. Lucia's hair flutters in the breeze, as she braces Fuuka against the impact.

The situation is looking bad... But things are about to turn.

"I'm detecting another signal!" Fuuka calls out. "But... It isn't a Shadow. It's-"

She doesn't even have to announce his presence, because Shinjiro does a good enough job of that on his own.

"Aragaki-san?" Fuuka gasps. That's a surprise. But, what's more, that armband... So he's with them, now. She breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're here..."

This may be just what they need to turn the tides. He charges down the Shadow, and energy emanates off of Castor. She feels a sudden change. "Its defenses are down - Strike attacks should be effective now, too! Hit it hard!"

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

"Just so long as you're sure, <Mister American>!" Suzume says those last two words in English, if accented - she's someone who learned mostly by reading, and doesn't actually speak it as clearly as she thinks she does. "It's a lot more chaotic in here than the target range!"

Though, what was that sensation? She feels a prickle down her back, and the hair on her arms stands up. She doesn't know what it is, and isn't facing Kazu; she doesn't associate it with him immediately, though she heard that Persona and realizes *it* has a gun, too. Great, she thinks, to herself. She doesn't say that part out loud.

...

Oh wait that prickle was maybe from Mitsuru looking at her as if she grew an extra head, or possibly extra ears. Suzume darkens slightly as she tries to not blurt something out and look extra-defensive about it. Her expression says enough.

Anyway, she's busy. She has a new problem: Wind doesn't do a damn thing to this Shadow! It's not the first time Suzume has experienced this, but it's the first time she couldn't hit it AND she couldn't get out of it with her variant Garu. Well what is she supposed to do now?? And it's focusing on Mitsuru, who is - even if she's more experienced than Suzume is - not as tough. Probably. Shit, Suzume thinks, as it winds up its shining lance -

"Beanie-san? *Aragaki-san*?"

Suzume had heard he'd been at the dorms briefly a few days ago (when Ken arrived, which she wasn't around for) but she hadn't known he'd been planning this. To come back with a brand-new SEES armband -

She knew he left. She didn't know the circumstances. But she is not objecting to seeing him back.

"Aragaki, gonna back you up!" Suzume has seen Shinjiro weaken armour just like this before, and Suzume - well. Suzume is good at striking things. So when there's an opportunity, she knows how to take advantage of it, and she's going to.

And the problem with wind goes both ways. Suzume braces, holding both arms in front of her, fists up like a boxing guard - it's very similar to Akihiko's, though she has the length of the tonfa against her arm as an additional shield. She fails to slide back very far at all, though it sure makes a mess of her hair.

Suzume takes advantage of still being in close range and steps in, Atalanta reappearing above her. Atalanta drives her fist downward, striking from above with significant force - and the impact when the Knight hits the ground (if the Knight hits the ground) sets up vibrations, continuing to do damage over time!

(It doesn't hurt that Suzume delivers a punch too. Sometimes you just have to add a little more.)

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

         Shizuka pants, running out of breath as the crew dashes madly through the halls. Dammit!, she thinks, I should really be getting more exercise! She's trailing a bit too far back from the group and a little too close to the Knight for her liking...!

         "Hah... Dad, if I get out of this alive, I'll go to art school like you want me to...!" She mutters a bargaining prayer to herself, low enough to probably go unheard in the chaos. Probably.

         As Shizuka stares at the lance coming her way and fully accepts her death, their own knight in shining armor arrives!

         Well, a knight in a ratty black beanie, but you get the idea!

         "Aragaki-san!" The prodigal classmate has returned! And not a moment too soon! "I never thought I'd be this glad to see you! N-Not that I'd ever be unhappy to!"

         Before any further pleasantries can be exchanged, a burst of wind washes over! Shizuka manages to keep her footing, but just barely, being knocked down to one knee and slowly pushing herself back up. She pulls her Evoker out of her shoulder holster and primes it.

         "Okay, we'll save the hellos for later! Galatea!"

         The woman cast in stone apparates, slamming onto the floor and summoning a cascading wave of stalagmites to emerge from the floor, making its way to the Knight and shooting up directly under it!

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

With some breathing space, Moriko gets her head in order! Mostly. As much as it ever is. Whipping her evoker out, she places it against the underside of her jaw and calls out, "Persona!" With the crack. The fox appearing briefly, dressed in clean robes as it always is. Darting forward past her the tails fan out and the figure first with Tarunada. Then she's unceremonoiously sent head over heels a few times. Maybe with some colorful, rather impolite language as she rolls. She gets the haft of her polearm under though, forcing herself back up! "Hey!" She shouts out. About to go on a bit of a rant!

 Instead, the camera's on her, or at least someone's attention is on her and she quickly sorts herself out. Suddenly standing up and trying to look proper! "That.. is a strange feeling." is all she can say to it. Working her shoulders, shaking herself off. "Thanks. I- Uh. Think." Minato's helping! But she's not used to the assist!

 She leans into it though. "Otohime!" Following up the attempt to slow the enemy down with a literal attempt. Casting Magna as the knight gets ready. The horseknight? "Is it a centaur?" She blurts out before catching herself. She'd been thinking on it, what with the rider and horse being the same thing.

 "Welcome to the fun!" she calls out to 'Beanie-san' and Aragaki. Her tone doesn't make it sound as fun. She's clearly blowing off some steam. Stress? Both?

<Pose Tracker> Sadakazu Mori has posed.

Sadakazu takes a second. He feels pretty cool right then. Even if he's about to get trampled by a centaur-knight-demon-thing, at least he got to feel like he *did* something to it. The feeling of wielding this strange power against something so obviously monstrous... is there anything like it?

Well, the doubts about firing danger close maybe takes the wind out of his sails. And maybe the suggestions he keeps the gun away from his head. "That's what all the practice is for," he protests, though not terribly hard. "And, in here -- it's strange, isn't it? Don't you feel like you can just *do* it?"

He backpedals as the Knight ceaselessly chases them. Sadakazu doesn't seem concerned about being on the 'front line,' per se; more, he's concerned that the passages they're apparently actively mapping up here are going to be more unreliable than they've told him, and they're going to get split up. It comes, and he takes a snapshot at it when he's got a clear line of fire, and he keeps on going, just like that: shoot, run, turn; shoot, run, turn.

'Is it herding us?' he thinks, suddenly. A moment of alarm passes over and through him. He looks -- and they're neatly lined up for a deadly charge. Sadakazu bends his legs at the knees, ready to spring, suddenly certain that he needs a better plan than rolling and hoping he ends up missing being crushed by monster-hooves or whatever else it has in the process.

Shinjiro appears. Sadakazu has no idea who this is, but he can recognize an ace in the hole when he sees one. He immediately dashes backwards to put the guy with the battleaxe between himself and the Knight, and not a moment too soon. A counter-charge from one end, and then a rush of wind from the other, and unlike some, he's not so solidly planted (or supernaturally gifted) that he can just lean into it. Sadakazu gets swept clear off his feet and lobbed down the hall, clipping a corner of the next turn and tumbling to the ground.

He does not stay there for very long. He scrambles back to his feet, swinging his legs in a funny spinning kind of way to get them reoriented properly under him and make it all faster and smoother. He gets his gun back up, except he's now on the far side of most of the group. So, rather than wait, he raises it more, steadying it in both hands and trying to ignore the throbbing in his left arm. Freischütz solidifies again, and its own rifle does the same, the faceless figure seeming to wait for Sadakazu's cue.

"You've just got to *do* it! <Like this!>" His English is, of course, just fine. The gunshots this time strike the walls above and around the rest of the group, kicking up sparks in lambent silver. There's a distinct '*ping!*' sound to each hit, and then the impossible ricochets of the dark magic bullets plunge downward from above the Knight!

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

The bombardment helps! Does it help MUCH? Frankly, Hitomi can't really tell. The fact that the thing LOOKED at her, though, is making a shiver run down her spine. She is pretty sure it's fear. She feels a stupid smile tugging at her lips -- but it fades when the Shadow turns--

BUT!!

There is an intervention. In the darkest hour of SEES - in the moment when, perhaps, Mitsuru Kirijo, their fearless and stylish leader and perhaps the most important person in the group, is in peril - a hero will rise.

Also, Shinjiro Aragaki.

"Eeeh???" declares Hitomi at the sight of him. Her lips thin to a press when Suzume says it too, giving her a single nod as if to say 'yeah right, you know what, me too on this front' -- but the battle's pouring forwards. Rather than call upon her Persona again, Hitomi clacks the several dice in her hand -- notably, they are not the beensy little cute things you may imagine people rolling for RPGs, but the fat and sharp-edged dice they give you at casinos --

Before she whips them down into an open space. The dice hit the ground and rebound upwards, tumbling. Do their number faces mean anything?

She tells Sadakazu, perhaps more out of gabbling anxiety-expression than anything - "Aragaki's an old hand, he was here even before me -- we'll tell you later." Back to Moriko. Is it like a centaur. "I guess????" 

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuru Kirijo has posed.

The knight rears up.

Kirijo-san--

Eyes narrowed, Mitsuru Kirijo braces in preparation.

look out --

She does not move. It's not the right time. She knows, full well, the target that's been plastered on her -- she put it there on purpose, after all. It's certainly a risk, but a calculated one. Is it foolish? Reckless?

There's no way of knowing until the play has been made and the dust has settled, is there?

And yet -- just as the charge is about to start--

Hey, asshole!

Mitsuru Kirijo never gets an answer to that question. That voice. Those footsteps. A battleaxe glints in the sickly light of the Dark Hour. And with the pull of a trigger--

The familiar form of Castor collides head-on with the Knight with an impact so profound the aftershocks send long royal red-hair whipping backward in the wind as Mitsuru lifts her hand to shield her face from the blowback.

Just like she remembered.

Shinjiro apologizes. And Mitsuru?

"Hmp," Mitsuru just scoffs, eyes shut and a smile on her lips as she finally straightens back out, flipping a mass of red locks back over her shoulder.

"It's hardly the first time, Aragaki."

A small smile curves on scarlet lips.

"I'm certain it won't be the last, either."

Yes. Just like old times.

... Or... as close as she could hope for.

Minato gives their - second - newest addition his marching orders. The others launch into their own assaults. And Mitsuru, still smiling, brings that Evoker to her head.

"Force it on the defensive! Do not let it recover!"

S H A T T E R

A thousand thousand shards of cognitive glass blow past Mitsuru's head, reforming the duelist silhouette of Penthesilea just in time to interject itself between Mitsuru and that massive wall of wind. It blows backward - and so too does Mitsuru - a grimace plastered across her lips as she weathers the brunt of that attack as best she can. But when it's over?

The swing of Penthesilea's rapier sends the congealing orange light of Pulinpa sparking into being, two streams of maddening magic curling into each other and into the Intrepid Knight in opposing spiral patterns that suffuse through that empty armor to supply that mindless shell with thought:

Pure, disorienting, terror-inducing panic.

For now, by some miracle, Suzume's Cat Ears are temporarily forgotten. She can probably thank Shinjiro for that one.

(there's a non-zero chance mitsuru has assumed they are some manner of combat cat ears) 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

That 'big deal' move-- Ririka calls out, "Careful, Kirijo-senpai!" She's doing her best to keep track of everything, and her attention is so focused on the teammates she already knows are here...

... that she misses someone new approaching. Not until

'Hey, asshole!'

She blinks, her head snapping in Shinjiro's direction. "Aragaki-senpai!?" She watches that Persona get summoned, sans weapon, and get right to work. She sends the thought to everyone, "We've got backup!"

"Amphion, protect him, too!" With a strum of his lyre, Amphion sends the defensive magic of Rakukaja for Shinjiro and Castor, too.

Winds come, and Ririka tries to hunker down and guard herself as Amphion steps in front of her. "Ngggg-- this thing's still too strong..."

"Gotcha!" Ririka replies to Fuuka, of being counted on. The verdict is in: Electricity, something Ririka doesn't have in her arsenal. So instead: "Everyone, hang in there! Amphion, Relaxing Wave!" (Ignore the fact that this attack will probably get renamed soon.)

Amphion plays his lyre, sending out waves of sound and magic to settle over everyone, to try and help replenish their energy (SP) and keep them in the cight.

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Minato strips the Knight of its newfound strength, sapping it out. As he does so, he fires off Shinjiro, who nods once, planting his axe and boots into the ground and resisting that wind blast, even as it nearly knocks his hat off and does clear damage to his skin.

Fuuka may notice that the Shadow isn't weary... yet. It's so debuffed that some good hits will put it down sooner than later. And indeed, now that it's Strike-Neutral, perhaps their physical attackers can do some good damage.

Suzume calls out to Shinjiro. He tosses a thumbs-up as she says she's going to back him up, while Atalanta strikes from above, strong enough the vibrations are still doing damage when her powerful impact rolls off it.

Shizuka's stalactites blast into it, reeling it backwards with the shattering of stone, and forcing it further back. Her words cause Shinjiro to laugh. "Don't need to be nice to me."

More earth slams into it from Otohime, as Moriko tells Shinjiro 'welcome to the fun'. "Tch, this isn't fun at all." He says, starting to walk forward with that axe.

Sadakazu's bullets ricochet around. The Shadow tries to predict them, but isn't imagining them coming from above, piercing into its armor from the top down with that dark power.

Hitomi's dice bounce into the Shadow, meanwhile, causing the same damage, and indeed, it's starting to show 'fatigue' in the only way a suit of empty armor can: slowness. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mandai." Shinjiro calls out, putting the Evoker to his head.

Mitsuru tells him it's hardly the first time, and Shinjiro's own slight smile grows. "I'd say I wouldn't do it again, but I'm not much of a liar."

The panic washes over the Shadow, which causes it to reel back, trying to briefly get *away* from these attacks. That's when Shinjiro does it.

A bloody red aura manifests over him, clearly paining him, before he calls out. "We don't need a weakness! Castor! Knock it down!"

Ririka's supportive boost helps Shinjiro a little too, as Castor moves forward, trying to slam straight into the Intrepid Knight. The sheer strength of the inevitable clash creates another big shockwave, though it's unlikely to harm SEES with Shinjiro's current sense of control. "Thanks, Kawase."

The Intrepid Knight, for its part, is sent sliding down half the length of the corridor, and when it comes to a stop, it's knocked down, unable to move with that panic over it and the damage SEES has dealt so far, rocks having shattered its armor and bullets and vibrations alike doing it damage, the vibrations still active.

"Leader, ready to call it?" Shinjiro calls out to Minato. It's time for them to finish this.

<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.

        Thanks to Fuuka, they know its weak point -- and thanks to Ririka, they have the energy to use it. The team all lend their strengths to the Knight, and...

        "Tam Lin," Minato invokes, as he fires again, summoning the fairy warrior's lightning to the field, to assist Castor's sheer strength. Fuuka's insight informs the battlefield, though he sees Shinjiro's strength, too.

        He looks to Shinjiro, then.

        "You've done this before, Aragaki-senpai," and it's a statement, because if you don't use a rising tone at the end of a sentence that makes it a statement, not a question, Minako's been over this.

        "All right."

        Minato's face cuts in, across the screen.

        "It's time for an All-Out Attack!"

<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.

Shinjiro's presence turns the tides of battle in their favor. The Intrepid Knight quickly begins to tire - and finally, is knocked down. Minato calls for an All-Out Attack.

Fuuka clasps her hands in front of her, closing her eyes.

"You're all so powerful... Good luck, everyone." She says. Her contribution isn't a direct attack - she doesn't have much to offer, in that regard.

But as she concentrates, she sends images over the Navigator link - identifying weaknesses in the Intrepid Knight's armor formed through repeated strikes during the battle, spots where it's most vulnerable, highlighting key points to help them all better coordinate their joint attack. With their combined might, she knows they can seal the deal.

<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.

They *could* be combat cat ears. And all you have to do to find out...

...is ask. Suzume isn't volunteering. But maybe ask when SEES is not in a fight for their life??

Suzume stays close after her strike - whether that's to tank another shot (she hopes not; her shoulder still aches from the first hit) or simply keep pressing it with violence is an open question, it could be either or both.

And it may not be talking time quite yet, but: "Nice of you to come by," is what Suzume calls to Shinjiro as he rushes in front of her. She may be strong too, but she didn't commit quite that much to the sheer force of that blow - she can't do anything like that red aura, and she's not sure she wants to.

But she *can* take advantage of it. Especially when Minato calls for an all-out attack.

"You got it! <Mister American>, let me show you how we do it out here in Japan!" She stretches for a moment before tearing forward, down the hall after where the Knight has been smashed.

She leaps, springing forward as she comes down in a two-fisted smash, joining in the inevitable close-quarters scuffle and giving a pretty good account of herself with fists, tonfa, feet, and in one case head, aimed at least some of the time where Fuuka is pointing. Not always, though - sometimes other people are in the way!

(Suzume regrets head. You should not headbutt armour even if it is empty. ow)

<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.

         "But I want to! We're teammates, so we should get along!"

         It may seem a bit naive, especially with a lot of the tensions SEES has been having lately, but she really believes it. And Shinjiro, despite his reputation, seems reasonable enough to get that.

         Minato calls for an all-out! Shizuka spins her kives in her hands, fumbling as she nearly drops them, then just bringing them up normally.

         "Got it, Nato-kun!"

         She tosses the knives forward, each toss somehow returning to her hand as she lets out a barrage of pierces!

<Pose Tracker> Sadakazu Mori has posed.

Hitomi's anxiety-driven half-an-explanation is apparently enough. This Aragaki guy has been at this a while, so he's pretty strong. That explains it. "Right, okay. Later," Sadakazu agrees. It's an exposition-date.

The energies at play are foreign to the new guy. Revitalizing waves, weakening tremors -- he's never seen such a combination of different powers at play, or such a spread of them. While he's had the phrase 'teamwork makes the dream work' drilled into his head as a matter of course, he's never had a chance to see it in action against a supernatural foe before.

"<Awesome,>" he mutters.

The ALL-OUT ATTACK gets called. Despite being brand new, this is pretty self-explanatory. Sadakazu nods once -- then ejects the magazine from his weapon. It's empty. Above him, Freischütz cradles the rifle with its left arm and holds its skeletal right up to a spot near its receiver. The weird rubbery things that aren't quite muscles unfurl from the arm and snap forward, doing something quick and complex to the intricate machinery surrounding the weapon. When they pull back to the spot around the arm, there's a big gap in the side of the gun, and a revolver's cylinder in the bony grip. Bullets shine from inside like they were reflecting pale moonlight, even in the pools of ominous green they occasionally pass.

Sadakazu reaches into the pocket he's been shoving wrapping paper into. He pulls out little metal balls with the same weirdly reflective quality, sliding them into the magazine, and then pushing it home. He racks the slide. "...Freikugeln."

"Pretty good," he calls forward to Suzume. He's smiling again. Grinning, even. "But, try this!"

Both Persona and summoner raise their weapons. The shots are in tandem, each firing three rounds rapid, then again -- one-two-three, one-two-three. The shots seem to collide in mid-air, twelve turning into six shining points... and then they go completely wild, streaks of ensorcelled silver zipping past the Shadow and apparently vanishing down the hall they just ran through and the ones nearby. He has, it seems, completely missed.

A couple seconds later, the bullets converge from completely different angles. They streak inward at the weakpoints between friendly strikes and around allied bodies. The things leaving the faint silvery trails care less about physics than they do hitting the chosen target and ignoring all the people who might accidentally prevent it. The feeling of imminent peril doesn't lessen, but these six shots are at the control of the marksman, not the vagaries of chance, and they are expended precisely where he means them to be.

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka nods to Shinjiro. "Welcome!"

But she's tracking the Shadow as its sent crashing down a hallway. Ririka pinpoints its location for them, tells them the approaches they can take, because Minato...

... calls for an All-Out Attack. "... Hai, Arisato-san!"

Fuuka is using her Navigator link to show them all weaknesses, cracks in the armor. Ririka doens't have that many attacks herself, but... she's got one good one. "Thanks, Yamagishi-san!"

Ririka repositions herself so she's got a clear line of sight. She brings the Evoker up to her head, her grip trembling just a little. "Amphion!" she shouts as she pulls the trigger.

Amphion surges in blue flame and glass, and Ririka points. "Magnara! Target those weak points!" Amphion strums and plays, and as he does rocks begin to rise and levitate in a cloud in front of him before they all suddenly snap forward to try and strike at those weak points.

<Pose Tracker> Mitsuru Kirijo has posed.

Her disorienting magics deployed, there's a certain satisfaction for Mitsuru in seeing people capitalize on the openings she creates.

This is especially true when it comes to an old friend.

There'll be time to explain to everyone about the fact that Shinjiro has, in fact, rejoined SEES later; perhaps it's fitting that the others end up finding out this much more dramatic way. It certainly is just like Shinjiro, at the very least.

For now?

It's time for an All-Out Attack!

"Understood, leader!"

For now, it's time to clear out this obstacle in the path of their progress.

Mitsuru wastes no time at Minato's prompting. The second Fuuka's combat data starts filtering in, the student council president is -moving- in a blitz of speed to throw herself directly into the melee. She may not be as sturdy as some, but she is -fast-, and she is -frighteningly- capable of digesting combat data and deploying adaptable strategies and attacks based on it in real time. Her movements are ineffably elegant and unerringly precise as she attacks vulnerable points indicated by Fuuka and Ririka with the merciless, stabbing thrusts of her rapier until she leaps back, draws her weapon back to a ready, glinting point--

"Fini!"

--and -surges- forward to deliver a singular, brutally efficient stroke that sends her soaring past, landing with the effortless click of heels on ground.

"It's time for the coup de gras!" 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

"Sure it is." Moriko replies to that dismissal from Shinjiro. "It's like hitting that perfect line to pass someone." She's saying this like she's earnest, then her voice hits a dry tone, "In a typhoon. When I shouldn't be racing." The fox fades away, having helped for a moment. "It needs to be done though."

 She nods her head to both Fuuka and Ririka, "Thanks." As she looks then, to Minato and the all out attack call. She hasn't participated in one of these!

 She chases after the rest. Though she does try to turn it into a leaping attack. She won't admit why. Even if she does try to land pointy side down.

 This is a jarring and uncomfortable attack and will not be repeated.

 She still did it and will be proud of herself for it.

 She might have been keeping a clear lane the whole time for the guy with the gun though!

<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.

Lightning strikes down on the Intrepid Knight from Tam Lin's fairy blasts. It does *colossal damage*, shocking the knight, as Shinjiro runs in there, swinging his axe as more of a bludgeoning weapon than a slashing one. He moves to smash into that armor, hitting those spots Fuuka signals to him, joining with that lightning for a double hit.

Suzume smashes into it similarly, her strikes shattering it. Shinjiro calls out, "You'll be seeing much more of me," a soft (but internally wounded) grin on his face.

"If you want to, I won't stop you," he calls out to Shizuka, as she barrages with her knives, piercing into those same weak points and doing even more damage.

Silver bullets tear forward, impacting hard into the armor and starting to blow it asunder, as rocks smash into the armor from the Magnara. It's almost down...

Moriko comes in with a leaping attack, and it staggers. It's on its final stretch.

Then comes Mitsuru.

Her coup de gras impacts the mask, piercing it straight through. Once it's pulled back, the Shadow lurches as if to get back up...

And collapses, fading into ichor and nothingness.

YOU GOT: a whoooole bunch of cash.

YOU ALSO GOT: Shinjiro Aragaki!

Speaking of which, he turns to the group, stretching out. "Teleporter's ahead, right? Missed all the action, but we might want to call it."

Indeed... they probably can't do much more right now, with their energy levels.

He'll explain about being back later. For now...

Survival confirmed. Mission accomplished.

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