2025-09-27: Atelier Nakata and the Cardboard Dragon
- Log: Atelier Nakata and the Cardboard Dragon
- Cast: Myunghon Yeo, Shinjiro Aragaki, Yukari Takeba, Ichika Kawase, Mio Kazama, Roger
- Where: Taro Nakata's Atelier
- OOC Date: September 27, 2025
- IC Date: July 17, 2012
- Summary: The Cardboard Dragon crew heads into Atelier Nakata.
MONAD: A party led by Myunghon Yeo has begun the event Taro Nakata's Atelier.
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 1: Don't Get Lost - Challenge Level 1 =============================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Skillful - Proficiency Up L1 and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
As you enter the Atelier, fading into the carnival with a red sky and a pale
white concrete footing, you'll see many dilapidated tents, attractions, midways,
and more in your line of sight. But with your goal of getting to the Homunculus,
you'll likely beeline straight to the massive tent in the distance, towering
menacingly over all.
When you get there, however, you'll find the tent barred by a big door. A sign
says 'FIVE TICKETS NEEDED'. You're not getting in without those tickets, but
they seem to be given out by the attractions and employees at the carnival.
First, however, you'll have to find a way to navigate the carnival! A handy map
dispenser sits nearby... if you can get it to work, as it's paid. It's unclear
what currency it takes, though, so you might have to try some things... maybe
you could find a way to unlock it instead?
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
One by one, word goes out about a novel sort of supernatural space and a terrible threat to humanity called the Homonculus, some manner of /thing/ that seems to try to overtake living people to replace them - and a bid to try and save a young man in the process of being overtaken by one. It is an act of immense trust to hand a treasured item of the person in question - a 'Thread' in the vernacular - and then a need to come to a place where people can be 'alone together.' Handily, a net cafe is just the trick. They all have to rent their own booths and pass the Thread between one another as they all log on to a strange place called 'AtelierNEtwork.jp'
It's a strange ritual, and apparently there was a step taken beforehand by Hazuki - visiting the 'Eye,' an important place to the person in question - that enables this. Nonetheless...
One by one, the party appears in a strange supernatural space by the feel in the air. Some manner of carnival, with a red sky and pale white concrete footing. The whole of it feels rickety, neglected, unsafe... and twisted into a surreal, monstrous scene. There's a massive tent in the distance that is the goal, but once approached... looks like one needs 'FIVE TICKETS,' and there's the occasional clash with some dangerous Shadows in the shape of carnival stereotypes and figures.
A strange Shadow - or something Shadow-analogous, this entity is kind of a novel experience - in the shape of a crimson-hued pig-like mascot hops in front of them with gleeful abandon and tears in their eyes.
"Hazuki-chan's friends? At laaaast...! I've been real hog-tied holding the line..." He goes dejected, ears flopping. "...This is Nakata's Atelier. It's in a bad way... they're playing a lot of dangerous games here."
"My name's Roger! I'm a Sanguin Humor! Usually Humors like me are the real go-getters of Ateliers and rally a lot of the others, but... they're not listening to me at all!" He snorts, stomping his funny-looking stilt legs. "I blame the Homonculus! But even then it's... weird. Anyway, you might have run into Coleric Humors along the way. They attack anything and everything not of this Atelier, that's just what they do."
"I'll go over the rest as it comes up!" Roger declares. "Let's go play!"
...
He then taps his fingers together. "Um. It feels like the way changes every time I turn around... we might need a new map." There's a map dispenser right there. It is not free, it wants to be paid. But with what, and how much? (Roger isn't much help here.)
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Even when you've made incredibly questionable choices with your love life, Myunghon Yeo realises that the cold hard truth of material reality is that things continue to go on whether or not you're ready for them to or not. It's how they've, in the span of 24 hours, gone from crying their eye out letting water and disinfectant spill in the bathroom to meeting Hazuki and obtaining the all-important Thread to thread the eye with, and received instructions on how to enter the supernatural space of Taro Nakata, who they'd sensed a spiritual wrongness from.
There's a net cafe not too far in Hirasaka, fortunately -- a dingy little space with outdated computers, but it all still works. Myunghon doesn't appear too certain about what's happening, but as they shut the door to their own booth and type one-handedly towards AtelierNetwork.jp, the sensation of the Meta-Nav app just all comes back to them. Again, there are supernatural forces at play that masquerade as apps, websites, seemingly in their favour... but Myunghon knows this is not necessarily so.
The party appears, a carnival in the twilight hours, white concrete underneath them. They're draped in their Cognitive Coat with their suit underneath as always, and the sling under their right arm is still there.
"Is everyone here? Sound off, please. I think we may have been separated again. I do not see Umie, Shinobu or So-young..." Myunghon frowns deeply. Is this going to be a common occurrence for them from now on? Will these supernatural spaces isolate one of them to pick off, one of these days?
But a strange Shadow appears before long -- Hazuki's informed them of a pig-like mascot before, so they're not quite on full guard. He introduces himself as Roger, and Nakata's playing a whole lot of dangerous games... a 'Sanguin' Humor? As in part of the humoral theory? If there is such a thing as a Sanguin Humour, are there Flegmat, Coleric, and Melanc Humours too...?
But Roger explains, and before long, their hypothesis is confirmed. So that's the 'theme' within this Atelier? Again, the Shadows are different.
"Very well. I'm Myunghon Yeo, from the Cardboard Dragon, and these are my companions, Roger."
They move to follow, using the Cognitive Coat as limbs to just move themself forward rather than use their legs, because since injuring themself and going to Eiji's Palace with Ogre, they've found the new coat much more capable and now they're just offbrand Mimori Tougou. Er, I mean--
"A map? Just a moment. That is a fine idea, but I am a Navigator."
Myunghon concentrates for a while, as they place their one good hand to their lips and starts to lick away -- yes, they can keenly taste the sensations of distant glory, fading joy... a carnival well past its prime, demanding price for their entry... a labyrinth of what once was, joy within the spirit of the game...
They nearly cough for a moment when they hit something deeply unpleasant. Is that the Homunculus Roger was talking about?
With a flicker of their hand and a quick spell, an image of a map is rendered. "There. We can update the map as we go along, and correlate it to the machine's maps if you procure one within."
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with A Fool's Life toward Don't Get Lost! Focus and Find!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
After yesterday, where Shinjiro texted Myunghon and only got More Worried without clarity of answer, he wasn't sure they'd want to see him for a while... but a job was arranged. He's here, because he's not going to leave them behind in a state where they said they were scared.
Shinjiro's holding a battleaxe that he wrapped in cloth and smuggled into the internet cafe. He's got it hefted over his shoulder, sounding off immediately. "Here. Everyone okay?"
When Roger appears, though, Shinjiro peers at him. "This one of the friendly Shadows? Shinjiro Aragaki. Post said a Homunculus is some sort of evil doppelganger?"
He listens to Roger, nodding, but once they reach the map... "One sec, I've seen machines like this. to pry them open, you just..."
He takes the side of his axe, and starts trying to pry the machine open! While he does so, he makes smalltalk.
"Everything doing better, Myunghon...?" He asks, a little tense still, but trying to mask it as best as he can. "Thanks for calling me out here."
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Street Talk toward Don't Get Lost! Focus and Diligence!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
This was Yukari Takeba's first time in a net cafe booth. Which caused her to stare at a few complimentary items within it. Most notably, the big box of tissues.
Groaning, she sat down, and began using her recent lessons to navigate to AtelierNetwork.jp once she had the thread.
"Why is this a thing?" She muttered to herself, as she strapped on her Evoker, and finished stringing her bow. Then, began putting on her SEES jacket and armband.
Once inside... well, Yukari looks different, with the dark jacket as an extra layer over her pink cardigan, the armband more... 'official' and sleek looking at once.
A carnival made her feel like she was competing to be the 'final girl' in a horror film, "I'm here... yeah..." She sounds off, before the combination of unsettling vibe+Roger causes her to almost leap out of her skin.
Fortunately Pernelle had introduced her to the concept of talking things that shouldn't talk. Much less her trip to Kaneshiro's Palace.
"Uhhh no relation to a weird giant pigbot right?" She inquires once she's calmed down. "... Or our Chairman." She says with a groan, after his pun.
"Humors... uhhhh right... is that why you're telling jokes?"
However, they need a map, and there's a map dispenser. Yukari stares at it, then looks at Merry and their map. Then back at the dispenser. Then she strolls right up to it and looks at the slot for currency.
"A hard copy might be nice though..." Which is when she takes her sturdy metal bow holds it by it's end, right as Shinjiro starts trying to pry it open.
He sees a Shadow descend as on the other side, Yukari begins repeatedly whacking the machine like it's a vending machine that's decided to eat her yen.
"... I'll-" WHACK "-take-" WHACK "-ONE-" WHACK "-MAP-" WHACK "-NOW!"
Well it's not a real vending machine! She'd never do this in real life, almost never.
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Mean Girl toward Don't Get Lost! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika has no idea what a Homunculus is. Aren't they supposed to be fine with gay people??
Nevertheless, Myunghon asked her for help, and the Ogre will oblige. She has some trepidation, given how poorly things went at Eiji's Palace... but there's nothing for it but to get back on the horse. She went into the net cafe, but earlier than the others, to conceal her presence. Myunghon helped her set it up.
As for her love life, Ichika's been making good choices lately. ...It does mean less action, though.
But as they appear.. Ichika is not present; instead, a girl in an Oni mask is. Ogre wears heavy armor, riot gear, with roses and thorns over traditional 'samurai' attire--with fingerless spiked gloves and high-tech shoes. Her long, bleached hair cascades down her back.
"Mm," Ogre vocalizes, looking around. "Weird place..."
"Ogre here," she announces to Myunghon. She has a shield on her back, rather than an obvious weapon. And then she sees--
"Uh?" Ogre asks of Roger. "A humor? ...So you're supposed to be funny?" "...Sure, buddy. Let's play."
She walks up after Myunghon, and considers. "We need more than just a map," she reflects. "We need to mark the territory where we've already been. I've got some charcoal for that, I guess."
"What the," she says, seeing Yukari. Then she--
"...Well," Ogre says, "I applaud your spirit."
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Nature Talk toward Don't Get Lost! Diligence and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Is it an indictment of Mio's sensibilities that she's already familiar with the local net cafes in the area? Perhaps, perhaps not. It is, after all, useful to use someone else's connection to do certain types of business from. There's hardly a batted eyelid as the young lady with the pink hair wanders into the establishment in a black Sumaru City Devils baseball jacket and ball-cap, ponytail threaded through the back of her hat. She's carrying a laptop in a cute leather tote bag, and more quizzically, a sports bag containing a baseball bat. The proprietors here know better than to ask questions.
***
In the carnivale fantastique, another realm where the air is supercharged with cryptic energies and anthropomorphic cartoon animals are both real and can talk, one of the Cardboard Dragon's bruisers emerges. Mio, referring to herself in such other worlds as Myo, stalks into existence in her usual regalia: a dreamy blend of a nun's habit, a greatcoat, and half-plate armour which all dizzyingly blurs and shifts, making it hard to tell where the border between one ends, and another begins.
Myo, as it were, eyes the talking pig with a rouge hue as it snorts and chatters at the group while they arrive. Eyes the colour of sheared cherries watch it closely from below her beaked, iron domino mask. "Hi there!" her brilliant and cheery tone is, as ever, at odds with her oppressive appearance. "My name's Myo, Roger. Let's get along!" she cocks her head at an angle and snaps her fingers, aiming friendly fingerguns at the pig afterwards. A little star twinkles out of her eyes. Kirakira~
She watches for a time as Shinjiro and Yukari both, after a moment's deliberation, start violently assaulting a nearby carnival machine. "Gosh." a finger lingers at her cheek. "This place seems kinda DIY, huh? Before we break the machine, though, why don't we try something else...?"
The shadow-nun finds a moment inbetween this violent assault on the map machine to tug on the end of a gauntleted finger. The metal, rippling with dark hues, warps and elongates into a long spike. The kind you could use to, say, jimmy a flimsy lock or mechanism with. "Gimme a shot at picking this sucker."
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Proficiency toward Don't Get Lost! Base!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Don't Get Lost - Round 1 ================================================- Yukari Takeba Proficiency Success Mean Girl Specialty Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shinjiro Aragaki Proficiency Success Street Talk Focus and Diligence Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Proficiency Success Nature Talk Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Academics Success A Fool's Life Focus and Find Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Proficiency Success Proficiency Base Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Skillful-2 and Stupor-2 Final Conditions: Skillful-1 and Stupor-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 1/6 |= | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 0, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 �
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 2: Fried Dough Ready To Go - Challenge Level 1 ====================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Charm |
| Conditions: Lunchbox - Subtract 1 Fatigue., Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana., |
| Skillful - Proficiency Up L1, and Stupor - Academics Down L1 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
As your group travels the carnival, a thin, stick-like Sanguin Humor wearing an
employee's uniform calls out to you, hanging near a tent.
"Fried elephant ears! Free fried elephant ears! Sugar and honey and all that
sickeningly sweet stuff! One ticket for any group who eats an order!"
As you approach, you learn that if you eat them, you'll get the ticket, but they
seem fattening, weird, and possibly supernaturally suspicious. You could stuff
your guts, which could give you food poisoning... or you could convince the
Shadow to give you the ticket anyway without having to eat, somehow. Might have
to let them down gently...
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
Roger greets everyone with requisite enthusiasm thusly!
"...I don't know what a Cardbord Dragon is!" Roger announces cheerfully. He then tilts his head in thought. "Oh, wait. Are they bored of cards...? There's other games we could play later." what?
"Mmhmm! You kinda hit it on the snout!" He says to the standoffish, no-nonsense Shinjiro. "A Homonculus is a terrible thing! They can spring up on an Atelier and take it over by attacking the Shadow of its owner... and we only have so much time to get rid of it!!" Then, a nervous aside. "...They really throw a lot of things out of whack in the process too that make it hard for even us Sanguin Humors to deal with it..."
He unintentially gives ammo to Yukari's mean observations. "Eh? Pig... bot? Chairman? I don't know anybody who's come from outside to just sit around in chairs, but that is a fun game too!" Telling jokes? "What? No! The Homonculus is deadly serious business for Nakata... um."
Ogre catches Roger's eye. Aside from the mask, their appearance kind of reminds them of the form Hazuki took, but that's as far as the curiosity goes. Something about them is hard to read. "Oh! It's not 'humor' as in 'jokes,' I get it now. There's four different kinds of Humors! I already explained two. If you see a bunch of Humors mostly standing around and just there, those are Flegmat Humors." ...Kind of like Cognitions? But no, this is a Shadow, so they must also be some kind of Shadow. "Many of them got twisted by the Homonculus now, but I can call out the ones who haven't been! The last kind... I'll get to soon."
There is another fantastical appearance in Nyo, and he responds to the strange and unsettling appearance with equal cheer like he really is just a talking, walking desire of someone who wants to play. "Hi! ...This place really got wrecked by the Homonculus showing up, but..." He looks down. "If I had to be honest, I didn't... really have much cause to think about that before then. I just know it looks wrong!"
Now, the matter at hand! Put it simply, that dispensing device is no match. There are now maps everywhere all over the ground. Are they going to be in trouble for that?
"It's fine," Roger reassures, as a map is retrieved for Ogre to mark landmarks upon. The lock mechanism has been separated from the rest of it, so Mio gets valuable lockpicking practice if this kind of lock appears later. Myunghon's talent, though, has Roger's attention.
"Navigator...? Wow! That looks like a lot of fun!" Roger cheers. "...Still, this is my Atelier I call home, so even though everything is different and wrong and... a real pile of mud... that I don't recognize..."
He beams. "I'll be your best player!" No, it's probably for the best they have the map and the Nav skills on hand.
Anyway! They progress, and because of Myunghon's navigational skills they manage to avoid a wave of hostile Coleric Humors that would otherwise bear down upon them (and thus spare them rounds of Roger's blow-by-blow commentary about elemental weaknesses, resistances, crits, and misses). Instead, there's a lanky SAnguin Humor selling fried elephant ears! They... seem kind of dubious, nutritionally. In more than one way.
"Oh, oh!" Roger says. "This is like those eating contests except it's only one dish, and... it's a lot to eat, even for me." Roger has a very large mouth. It's kind of unsettling when he opens it, from a human perspective, because it's so large. But enough on that.
"...Don't worry, Sanguin Humors don't fall under a Homonculus' sway! But, if you get them really ticked, they might call Coleric Humors on you," Roger warns. "...N-Not that I would!" Beat. "Or could. They don't listen to me..."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
"Yes, I'm better now, thank you. I'm still counting on your protection," Myunghon gracefully answers Shinjiro. ... they're in full Palace Mode, where Rumourmonger Merry's presence is at their strongest -- the confident strategist who's ready to support the team with the full extent of their wit. But it's still ultimately a mask at the end of the day, isn't it. Perhaps Merry has more of a mask as one of the Will of Rebellion than even they know -- but it's largely a social one that allows them to be far more confident than they normally could.
They do notice Yukari's new outfit. The dark jacket is a nice look, and the armband looks more official, as if SEES is gearing up to be more of a formal paramilitary outfit than before. This does worry them. "That outfit suits you," they compliment Yukari.
Myunghon is pleased to see the Ogre here -- they nod as Ogre sounds off, but both she and Yukari speak about humours being a joke, and they take the moment to Tutorialise. "Yes, that will be imperative. Can I count on you for that, Ogre?" they ask, of marking off where they've been.
"Humours as in a bodily fluid, Takeba-kun, Ogre. The four humours is a system of medicine adopted by Ancient Greek and Roman physicians, not to mention other cultures such as Ayurvedic medicine. They believed that there were four fluids that embodied the temperaments and controlled balance in your body -- the Sanguine representing your joy and extroversion, the Phlegmatic representing the calm rationality within, the Melancholic representing your anxieties and suspicions, and the Choleric representing your need for control... more or less."
Roger explains it himself, and has more information... but Myunghon only has the real-life context.
"From what Roger said, it seems the Shadows may follow this pattern... the 'Coleric Humours' are the aggressive ones. By understanding this, we may have an advantage if we need to Negotiate with some of them."
Merry then watches Yukari and Shinjiro absolutely go to TOWN on that map machine, and looks to Myo as they manipulate metal into something resembling a key. That's very fascinating too... yes, they've seen that power when they transmuted bullets and reflected it back onto Piggytron. "Good thinking, Myo."
Roger admits to not knowing what a Cardboard Dragon is. "It's our store, Roger. I am a purveyor of card games. If you enjoy games, perhaps one day you can visi." But Roger explains more of what a Homunculus is -- they've already gotten an explanation, but it's always better to get more information from others. They're on a time limit... it's different than a Palace, because a soul is on the line.
Roger's enthusiasm, however, is infectious. "Very well, Roger -- please, guide the way."
They come across a tent where an employee is selling tickets. They undoubtedly will need them -- Myunghon understands the Cognitive value of the tickets and how it represents access to an inner chamber, likely where the Homunculus will be. Roger warns that this is like one of those eating contests, but there's only one dish... but it's a lot, even to Roger.
"Very well... I'll play your game."
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDb2MxUl31w
�
"... Kudlak!"
The Cognitive Coat stretches out in a column of Blue as Kudlak manifests, drowned within the expanse of imperishable Black as the coat lurches forward in a manner not unlike a predatory snake, manifesting a stylised head with a row of jagged teeth on its end. It 'sniffs' at the skewer of elephant ears, and then snatches and gobbles their share up in one go, as Myunghon places their hand to their lips and chuckles.
Gained a large quantity of Atma points! (the atma points do nothing. you don't have mantras to learn, myunghon.)
"Most delectable. Our ticket, please?"
This seems flawlessly and impossibly cool at the moment. But...
30 SECONDS AFTER THIS CHALLENGE ENDS
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPuhO1KKCqA
�
Myunghon stumbles forward gently from where their 3D model has gained a shade of purple, face somehow paler and a bit blue. Their Coat is struggling to keep them aloft.
"I may... require a Dis-Ache if someone possesses one... I believe the Coat's blood sugar levels may be spiking... ..."
myunghon are you saying your coat is cognitively diabetic
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with No Longer Human toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Focus and Escape!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"What? No... it means..." She trails off, and stares at Roger, "You know what? Forget it..." Her eyes drift over to Ogre, the one person she doesn't recognize here. "Hm." As she takes a map from the sudden pile. Then looks to Ogre.
"It's not as if we're following the rules of the real world anyway, right?" Is her simple excuse for her 'spirit'.
They move on, and barely avoid that wave of humors that don't look all that humorous.
Then fried elephant ears, dipped in honey... "Well we need a ticket but... I'm not eating anything from here." Yukari murmurs quietly, "I have a plan though."
Merry steps forward and reaps what they have sown!!! Then she steps forward, she says to the stick-like one.
"Wow, it looks soooo good but I'm on a diet. No fried food or sweets for me. And this is both. Gotta watch my figure you know, right? You'd get it being so thin yourself."
Yukari says with a nod and a smile towards the stick-like humor. "So any chance since my friends are all eating, that I could just have a ticket?"
She says with a smile, brushing hair back over her ear. "I'd really appreciate it."
Before looking out of the corner of her eye at Merry, "Only got Patra here. You're on your own."
Not even one Dis-ache!? Well, the thing is... SEES isn't in many situations where someone has an upset stomach due to EATING something in TARTARUS!
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Mall Trawl toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Empathy and Friendliness!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Oh." Ogre doesn't really understand Roger's context, and thus his explanation, but she'd feel sort of stupid asking questions about it, so she just nods along. "Right," she says. "Flagrant." ...Academics is not her strong suit.
But Myo sparkles, and Ogre looks at her in some alarm. "A nun?" Ogre wonders. "...Uhhh I don't really want to confess my sins..." That idea makes her a little nervous.
But Myunghon is counting on her. "Yeah," the Ogre says, straightening her shoulders now that she has a Task. But then Myunghon clarifies bodily fluid...
"Wait, how gross are we going to get here?" she asks. "I wasn't really expecting..." Oh. They explain further. Balance in the body.
"...I like the Sanguine one, then."
Yukari mentions it's not the rules of the real world. "I guess not?" Ogre answers. "Might as well smash whatever, then, yeah."
Elephant... ears...
Myunghon does their best. "I got Media?" Ogre offers. "But that's about it."
Then she considers. The ears, the Shadow...
"Listen up, punk."
Ichika stalks over to the guy. "I'm on a diet and I don't need your half-ass food. Now unless you want that diet to include eating you next, you'll give me a goddamn ticket right now."
"I'm waiting."
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Thorn Boss toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Bravery and Focus!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
"Gotcha. We'll take it out," Shinjiro tells Roger... before nodding to Myunghon. He still wants to know *what* happened, but... if they say they're doing better now, that's enough for him for right now. "Alright... glad you're feeling better. You've got it," he says.
Ogre and Myo get a nod, as do Yukari, though Yukari smashing up that map dispenser gets a look. "Didn't know you had it in you, Takeba."
But once they have the map and reach the food offering Homunculus... he grimaces, preparing for a fight at first. Once it's just 'take the food', though... Shinjiro grimaces, and...
Reaches into his coat for some medicine, handing some to Myunghon before swallowing his nerves.
And then Yukari and Ichika are DIETING so he's not just going to eat it and blow through their plan. Instead...
Shinjiro considers pinning the Shadow against the tent but everyone's never going to let him live that down, including cosmically, so he just raises his axe over his shoulder.
"Listen up. Hand it over or I'll be splitting you straight down the line into two equally stick-long portions. Does that sound fun? You want to make people sick, huh? Bastard."
A sigh, though. They could have probably done that with less risk.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Intimidation toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
With that challenge complete, Myo shakes her gloved hand once or twice. The deformed gauntlet snaps back into shape as if the makeshift pick were no more stiff than an elastic band. In the spaces where the laws of reality bend and shift, this magical gift of power over earth and metal has been proving to be a useful one. Imagine what a more clever wielder could do! "Heh, piece of cake." the young lady with the big spiked mace flashes a V for victory with her fingers. Despite Ogre's misgivings, she turns to them and turns the finger-V into a finger-heart using both hands. "Woah! Don't despair. We're all about forgiveness, you know? Don't stress, don't stress."
Thanks to the group absolutely pancaking that last challenge for free, she's got maps stuffed in her pockets galore. Charged up with this success, there's no way Myo is thinking of trying to circumvent this next challenge via negotiation. Yukari and Ichika might be able to swindle themselves a ticket this way--and good on them, if they do! Thus, the clergy-coded girl is listening to Roger describe the challenge with arms folded and a smug grin on their face. A rebellious sparkle in their eyes.
"Oh, an EATING contest? This is nothing! You should see the junk I gotta put away when I close up at the Famimart on the corner." Myo is confidently marching on up to the pile of elephant ears. "Hey, you'd better get ready. They're gonna name a fifth kind of bodily humour after me when I clean these things up." her braggadocious claim is full of confidence, but might need work on the... factual... implications.
In contrast to Shinjiro in the background, threatening with a dangerous leer and a glinting axe, Myo... sits down at a little carnival table, decorated with a faded flag and slightly off-model mascot artwork, and is soon served a heaping pile of deep-fried carbohydrates, fats, and sugars. She brushes the knife and fork aside, and puts both hands on the table. "Alright, Samson! Let's DO this!"
With a noise not unlike the distant spooling of a jet turbine, a shadowy humanoid figure fades into reality beside Myo with a burning blue flicker of flame. It is the towering, muscular, shackled form of the Persona, Samson. It silently picks up a huge stack of carnival grub with both jet-black hands and, with impressive strength, smushes it all together into a vile, meaty, crusty sandwich dripping with honey and hot sauce, which Myo leans forward to chomp voraciously. That's fucking TEAMWORK.
"Mmmm--oh, that's pretty bad!" she crows happily. "Doing this means the humours are gonna be appeased and not want to kill us, right?" another bite. A huge smile. "God, that's vile!"
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Too Dumb To Die toward Fried Dough Ready To Go! Amrita!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Fried Dough Ready To Go - Round 2 =======================================- Yukari Takeba Charm Success Mall Trawl Empathy and Friendliness Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shinjiro Aragaki Guts Success Intimidation Specialty Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Guts Success Thorn Boss Bravery and Focus Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Charm Success No Longer Human Focus and Escape Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Guts Success Too Dumb To Die Amrita Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Lunchbox-0, Shuffle: Sword-0, Skillful-1, and Stupor-1 Final Conditions: -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 0, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 3: Shootin Gallery - Challenge Level 2 ============================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Charm |
| Conditions: Annoying - Charm Down L2 and Enlightening - Academics Up L2 |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
On the midway, there is a wide shooting gallery with cute little cork guns to
shoot at cut-out targets. The operator offers a ticket for anyone who can beat
him in a shootout, but there's a problem.
The guns have a poor balance and weighting to them, making it hard to gauge
accurately how to shoot them under the time pressure even if you're trained with
firearms. You can use math and angles to try and figure out the best way to
shoot the target without missing, whether via trick shot or sharpshooting, or
you can try and figure out a way to convince the operator to swap guns with one
of you, whether via charm or goading, as their gun works without issues.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
Myunghon's musings has Roger perk up. The most notable one, the idea of leaving. "What? Me, leave? No, no, no, I can't... and I won't! I belong here at this Atelier!" He snorts, stomping his funny stilt leg trotters angrily. "I won't leave Nakata to his fate! Even if it feels like the Homonculus has been singling me out with the way everything's messed up..."
Are all Sanguin Humors like Roger? Maybe there'll be sign of other oppressed Sanguin Humors they could befriend, but, so far it's been just Roger that's outright allied himself to the Persona-user community (at least, what of it he's met - he's been friendly with everyone so far).
Anyway, the ears! Let's be all ears (...or eyes, it's a text-based medium) on this.
Roger claps excitedly when Mio and Kudlak put away their share of it with the strange power of Persona he's seen Hazuki and others use.
"That's right!" Roger pipes in. "You can't reason with Coleric Humors at all... but Sanguin Humors like me, we can be talked to! Oh! I also understand anything being said by any Humor here." Possibly in any Atelier, but Roger probably hasn't thought that far ahead about the very idea he'd be in another Atelier ever. Why? He's a part of Nakata's! (as the kickball, apparently)
His eyes widen as he squeals a high-pitched noise as threats and outright rejections are laid out. As Roger said, you can talk and negotiate with Sanguin Humors, the willful movers and doers of the Humor landscape...
It's not unlike doing that with Demons or Metaverse Shadows, in which sometimes you indeed get what you want by being forceful and threatening, and the beanpole of a Sanguin Humor just places the tickets on the counter for them.
"Say!" Roger chimes in. "How about you come play with us, too?"
The Sanguin Humor responds by closing the entire stall, leaving Roger nonplussed. "Aww."
...They don't have a Dis-Ache for Myunghon then, looks like.
The journey continues, with more tickets in hand, and another stop on the path to that shooting gallery. The operator - who looks an awful lot like the last Sanguin Humor, maybe a coincidence, maybe not - will offer a shooting gallery challenge against himself using adorable cork guns!
They look the part. That's the nicest thing you can say. Poorly balanced, inaccurate, just flimsy pieces of carnival garbage!
"Oh, this one's a lot of fun," Roger says, "but every time he plays he has the only one that works!" ...So how is it fun? It does not seem possible to actually win this with the guns provided. Somehow, something's gotta give in terms of convincing them to give you a fair shake. Or, uh, any kind of shake at all. (It's that bad.)
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon actually looks a little surprised Yukari isn't prepared -- they remember how she had goreisan on hand the last time, but... well, perhaps digestive medicine isn't something that needs to be prepared for on the field. They quietly nod in sorrow, but Shinjiro to the rescue! The Coat quietly sniffs what Shinjiro's offering, before gobbling it up, along with the blister pack and everything, before letting out a happy little purr.
... is the Coat becoming more dog-like? Cat-like?
"It is true... we cannot simply rely on real-world logic," Myunghon chimes to Yukari.
Ichika wonders if it's going to get gross. "I don't... believe so. I hope not," Myunghon does express. "But if we take Roger and that other Shadow as an example, I believe it is more of the temperaments and the lack of balance, than anything to do with physical mediums."
But Ogre has Media. While Media won't heal a stomachache, Ogre's intimidation -- along with Shinjiro's own -- rather impresses them. Damn, they really can turn up the heat when it calls for it, can't they? They're not particular to intimidation themself, given how much they're paranoid a failed approach can trigger Palace alarms, but they know it's a weakness of theirs. They just don't have the guts to do it.
Myunghon spends a bit of time marking their map, drawing walls and filling in floors with their Mappara spell, before Myo's Persona coming into light with the dododododo-- sound of a jet engine absolutely has their attention. Samson crushes the sandwich and... Myo eats it.
"... I saved some of the Dis-Ache for you too, Myo."
Myunghon does look to Shinjiro a moment after they've settled, returning to his earlier words. "I do. An Atelier is no time for doubt. I'll support you to the best of my ability." It feels a little porcelain, the way their confidence just seems incredibly driven, but... it's a good thing at the moment.
Roger expresses how he can't leave -- he belongs to this Atelier, and he'll be here to save Nakata. "I see..." there's a quiet, long moment of melancholy from the vampiric Navigator, and then they do carefully ask: "What about after, Roger? We do plan on succeeding. This place will heal, if we have anything to say about it."
... or will it collapse, like Kaneshiro's Palace? Will Roger die -- return to the Cognitive Unconsciousness -- if they do that? They don't want to saddle themself with doubt. Doubt is a killer in these spaces. Perhaps literally so.
Myunghon's earlier hypothesis on whether or not Coleric Humours can be reasoned with is debunked -- it's like an alert Shadow in Palaces. But Sanguin Humours can be reasoned with... and seeing Yukari earlier, they've definitely gotten their share out of negotiation. That's useful information to now for the future.
They come onto a shooting gallery, and Myunghon looks a bit worried. "This is not exactly my strong suit..." They lift the cork gun with their one functional hand, and finds their aim shaky at best. "Say, did we not see you just before? Are you so overworked you have to man all the stalls, my friend? That simply won't do."
So they butter the Shadow up a little instead. They insist on the challenge, though, so they instead pass the cork gun to... their coat.
Myunghon, your arms are going to fall off from disuse at this point. "Hmmm. You do find a silver lining in everything, do you not, Roger? That does please me. And very well... let us think about this. The weight of the cork on this cork gun is roughly 37 grams... the gravitational constant within this Atelier appears consistent with that of material reality, and thus we can consider the force of gravity, F to be..."
bla bla bla bla
"... I understand now. This should work. Takeba-kun, could you be the shooter for me? You have great skill with that bow of yours, and I believe I understand how the cork should be aimed."
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with Academics toward Shootin Gallery! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
The crew pushes forward, and Shinjiro's looking over the cork guns. He hears Roger say their guns are all fake and grimaces. "What's the big idea, asshole? That's blatant cheating," he tells the Sanguine Humor, before grabbing a gun and trying it out. He's not some math-y guy... but he can try and figure out the recoil of the gun, and use that to get better shots than he would otherwise.
Myunghon, though... "...okay, Myunghon. We'll talk when we both have time." It sounds ominous, left like that, but they'd know it's only because he cares.
"Let's not intimidate every single one, though, we might draw attention," SHinjiro can admit, mostly eying Ogre with that.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Academics toward Shootin Gallery! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Unfortunately for Myunghon... not a lot of call for Dis-Ache in SEES on missions. However - there's FREQUENT calls for the 'Dis-Headache' from goreisan.
Especially for herself.
"There's a lot you don't know about me." Is Yukari's easy answer to Shinjiro regarding the Map Dispenser.
Ogre stepping up with a dueling approach to dieting kinda throws her off-guard. "Whoa..." Then regaining her footing, she peers at her and asks, "You're not some kind of... Yakuza wife, right?"
Shinjiro joins them in the not eating it squad, but then Mio... "Uhhhh... I can't believe you two actually ate it." She sighs, "Don't blame us if you get some weird Circus Disease."
Roger offers some useful device, "Coleric... Sanguin?" There's a light sigh, "What's with these titles?"
The shooting gallery comes up, and Yukari looks at the guns skeptically as Myunghon asks her to shoot for them, "Sure." Yukari steps up, picks up the cork gun, examines it. Seems to be feeling for the weight- "Hmmm." Is she paying attention to Myunghon's advanced sniper calculus?
Then she sets the cork gun back down and without any warning, nocks an arrow and fires it at the Bullseye of the target closest to the Shadow's head.
"Come on, do you think we were born yesterday? This is obviously a scam. Cork gun games always are, no matter where you go."
Then with the ease of someone who practices Kyudo archery, fires off several more arrows, each one hitting the bullseye, except one that's justtttt slightly off center.
"You're right. Let's make this one the last." Is her reply to Shinjiro, because she's already got another arrow nocked. "So, about those tickets? I technically beat you in a shoot out."
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Suspicion toward Shootin Gallery! Focus and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Myunghon reassures the Ogre. "Good," she answers. "Temperaments and lack of balance... So, he's out of whack."
Forgiveness! That's good. Ichika's face can't be seen, but the Ogre's shoulders slink slightly in relief. A heart! "Well, if you say so," Ogre answers. She has a lot of sins to worry about, OK? Speaking of which, Yukari asks if she's a Yakuza wife. "What? No," Ogre says, and quickly clarifies, "I'm not married. ...I mean, my last boyfriend was probably heading that way, but I broke up with him, so..."
But Myo has a very interesting approach to the contest. Ogre is dieting, of course, but apparently not so Myo or her Persona. "...It's that bad?" Ogre wonders of Myo. "You uh... You're pretty bold..."
Ichika has no idea of whether the place will heal or not, or what will happen to Roger if it does or doesn't. "You understand stuff, huh?" she asks Roger. "I guess that's handy."
"It's cool that you don't want to abandon the guy. ..It's important, being loyal to your friends."
But Myunghon explains, and soon...
"Huh. Shooting gallery. That's kinda weird," Ogre says quietly. But then she reconsiders her approach. Roger says it's fun...
"Sure, why not?" Ogre says.
Ogre eyes Shinjiro. "What?" she asks. "If it works, it works." Pause. "..All right, fine," she says. "I got another approach to try."
So, the Ogre walks up and leans on the counter next to the Shadow. "...Hey," she says. "The way you stood up to me before and held your ground... It was pretty impressive."
"But I'm no good at shooting," she says, and reaches up to brush some hair out of her face, conspicuously. "Maybe you could show me how?" she asks. A beat, "...Maybe if you let me use the gun, you could guide my technique?"
She glances at Shinjiro, and back to the Shadow. It's fine if it's cheating.
But she glances at Yukari. "...Huh. Not bad."
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Flirt toward Shootin Gallery! Friendliness and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
With the eating attraction all said and done, Myo accepts an industrial-size dose of Dis-Ache from Myunghon and swallows the remainder of the pack without water. "Cool." she crows proudly, but her voice is also rich with gratitude for the gift she's given. She also hopes nobody can see the Carb Sweats already taking hold under her mask. Ticket in hand, she dusts her hands and mimes coughing into a hand to try and mask an unladylike belch. Keen to change the topic, the hooded lady turns her gaze to Roger. "Say, what's the Homonculus really... do to these Humors of yours, that makes them bad? Does it drive the mad? Or is it something else?" she asks, surprisingly lucid despite... well, everything. "I'm trying to think--like, if it's similar to something else I know..."
Myo's hands are on her hips as she walks, and Yukari (rightly) tells her that any ailments she suffers are kind of her own fault. You know what, that's fair. "Aw." there's a friendly flinch from beneath the mask, and another grin. "Come on--I was like... taking one for the team. Right?" and she turns her head to stifle another burp, eyes narrowing in disgusted frustration.
It isn't long before, passing through the carnival with its slightly dilapidated, creepy atmosphere, everyone has found the next ticket source: a predictably flimsy and rigged shooting gallery, a tradition richly steeped in history both in the state fairs of that land of Freedom: America, and festivals in land of Freedom: Japanimerica. Myo, politely, tiptoes to one side while Shinjiro and Myunghon talk. She hefts a cork gun in both hands, thinking.
Dialogue selector points to: [LIE] "Hey, I'm pretty practiced at this. This will be a breeze."
"Merry-san," Myo asks of the Cardboard Dragon's #1 CEO and coat enthusiast. "Let us know if the space starts to make your head hurt or anything--I've got a weird feeling about this whole place... but so far, so good, right?" she asks while taking up a position at the target row and bringing the cork gun up to her shoulder to aim with. It's kind of hard to bring the crappy ironsights up in line with this big half-mask, but there is a certain early-2000's Aesthetic(tm) to the Nuns with Guns figure going on here.
"Annnd~..." Myo murmurs in concentration. Almost invisibly, almost imperceptably, Myo stakes her ticket's chance on this bold new method of cheating: when she pulls the trigger, Samson phases into being for a fraction of a heartbeat and gives the cork an almighty *FLICK* to propel it on its way. Does she have the control for such a scheme?
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Eclectic Trivia toward Shootin Gallery! Focus and Efficient!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Shootin Gallery - Round 3 ===============================================- Yukari Takeba Academics Success Suspicion Focus and Patra Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shinjiro Aragaki Academics Failure Academics Base Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Charm Success Flirt Friendliness and Patra Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Academics Success Eclectic Trivia Focus and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Annoying-2 and Enlightening-2 Final Conditions: -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 0, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====�
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 4: Employee In Need - Challenge Level 2 ===========================-
| Approach Options: Charm or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Annoying - Charm Down L2, Checkpoint - Cleanse all negative |
| conditions., and Fairy - Subtract 1 Fatigue on success. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
As you're wrapping up obtaining tickets, a Sanguin Humor in the shape of an
employee with many long limbs is having issues getting a ticket dispenser to
work outside a ride under maintenance.
He has access to the tickets, but is very busy... perhaps you can charm him into
giving you one? Or maybe you can help him fix the dispenser and get a ticket in
gratitude, as complicated as it may seem.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
They're not going to win with the guns provided. Shinjiro grabs that gun, tries to shoot, and doesn't quite aim correctly as the cork flies over and...
Totally one-shots a Coleric Humor with a headshot. But that's not ticket-worthy. (Also, the Humor grabs it back with a baleful look.)
"I want to!" The Sanguin Humor says to Myunghon. "So I run these stalls! I run this shooting gallery game too! And you're playing by my rules--"
Here comes Yukari with the sweet arrow shots. Those hit the mark (by and large, with only one imperfect). They're speechless, seeing her forcefully just put her rules on it.
"Titles? There's four different kinds of Humors! Each one plays a different role overall in the Atelier. You've met three different kinds already!" Roger annoyingly doesn't quite get to the point concisely. "Also, that shooting was really cool! You're good at this game!"
Myo helps get to one of the more important points. "Um, you see... there's one kind of Humor that the Homonculus overtakes outright, and causes almost every problem that stops us from being able to take care of them... the Melanc Humors. They tend to carry all the self-doubts of the Atelier's host, and... well, they're kind of what puts us in balance, normally," 'us' being Sanguin Humors.
While this discussion happens, the Ogre praises them for sticking their ground and asks for the gun... "Teach you how to play the game I run?" As if something just clicks, emotionally. "He he he. Why not!"
"Me too, me too!" Roger barges in with happy snorts.
Myo's sketchy but awesome cheat goes off in the distraction, and it is an excellent (cheated) hit.
At the end of all this, with a handful of tickets, to Myunghon's melancholy thoughts about what comes after, Roger turns and answers unflinchingly and without hesitation.
"Silver lining? What I'm going to do after we get rid of the Homonculus...?" Not even a beat later. "I'll play all sorts of fun games!" Roger smiles with his everything. "What else?" His is a simple, charmed existence, but he is some manner of Shadow. Even in the face of implied oblivion to the Atelier, its host, and its denizens... he will play. He is playing with friends right now.
"Oh! About the Melanc Humors! I'll talk more about those soon as we find one," he says.
...The journey continues along to a ticket dispenser.
Correction, the journey continues along to a very loud sound of thumps, smashes, and crashes, and Roger stands alert. "...That's the work of one!!"
They hurry to the site, watching some manner of larger, more mutated-looking Shadow just saunter along just out of view before another Sanguin Humor shaped with so many limbs.
"I want this to work I want this to work I want this to work!" They're frustrated. "But it won't... will it..."
"I-It's like I said," Roger scrapes a funny stilt-leg against the ground while touching his fingers together. "Melanc Humors moderate Sanguin Humors, like if any get really rowdy and make a mess of things." Beat. "N-Not that I remember anything like that happening to me!! But... I don't think I paid much attention to anything until the Homonculus arrived..."
Still, that's a ticket machine, and there's a frustrated Sanguin Humor coming down from the impact of a Melanc Humor just messing their ticket dispenser and ride up.
"...We can't really start playing until we have the tickets we need," Roger thinks, and from that, "oh, what if we could get one from them somehow?"
By which he means 'you,' because it's been established the others aren't listening to him.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon pauses as Shinjiro insists they'll talk when they have time. "... of course," they gently say, with a smile on their face. It is because he cares, they do know... but at the same time, they've arguably gone down in their trajectory due to the amount of things that've happened in both their lives since June.
Yukari decides that cork gun games are a scam, and decides to use her real bow instead and intimidate their way through the shadows. Myunghon blinks once, before chuckling very gently and stepping back. "You heard her," they gently tell the shadow, the velvet glove behind the iron fist of Yukari's arrows.
Myunghon does check on Ogre to see how she's doing -- she speaks of how the Homunculus creates a lack of balance. "That is our working hypothesis, at the very least. Much like how Palaces are created from an extreme distortion between their cognition and reality..." A pause, as they frown inside. They don't want to distract Ichika by speaking of something sensitive to them.
But Ogre moves forward to flirt with the Shadow... so this approach works too?
...
It hurts a lot to think about intimacy right now. Everyone seems to have so much more certainty of how they want to behave. But it's fine. They've got their mask of Rebellion to protect them in this space. The certainty of knowledge will guide them to victory.
Myo's BELCH and subsequent question allows them to offramp off off it easily enough as they hand water to them. "Goodness me..."
... yeah, for all the gothic splendour of their vampire aesthetic, Myunghon is just carrying water on their person to hand to teammates, because they wouldn't have a leader-like role if they didn't spend every new day buying drinks from the vending machine to stretch out the team SP, now WOULD THEY?
Is the Atelier similar to something else she knows? Myunghon wonders what Mio's experienced of the supernatural. They all easily have diferent enough experiences, and the bounds are untested. She asks to let her know if they're feeling weird.
"There has been a low-key distortion and unpleasantness from this entire place due to my senses... but not strong enough to make me ill, fortunately," Myunghon does share, though they doubt that's what Mio's trying to get at. ... strangely, it invigorates them a little, perhaps, because of the association of the four humours as blood... so they're tasting a lot of what their body is suddenly craving a lot of.
...
They're going to have to see if sundae-bokkeum is palatable to them. It might be a breakthrough for Shinjiro if it is a hit.
But Roger ruminates on what comes next after the Homunculus is rid of -- and he insists, with his everything, winning smile: play more games, of course!
Myunghon stares dead centre for about three seconds.
Then they smile in turn, lips almost too V-shaped. "Of course. What else could there be? What a wonderful outlook." This creature, who realistically has no 'freedom' in the way humans would define freedom, seems so free to Myunghon, unaware of their cage. But isn't the manufactured happiness that he's gifted as a Sanguin Humour in a way, freedom?
The journey moves along to a ticket dispenser and... crashing and thumping. A larger, mutated Shadow, frustrated and desperate, wants this to 'work'. Roger explains his relationship to them -- that they're supposed to be the moderators when the Sanguin Humours get too rowdy. Not unlike how the superego, ego and id all exist... if some of these philosophers are to be believed, perhaps it's all just simply different metaphors for what exists within your cognition.
"My my, good sir," Myunghon speaks up gently. "I don't think such brute force will earn you what you need. Please, allow me to take a look."
The ticketing machine before it is in some manner of poor shape, and perhaps applying The Yukari to it will work -- but their coat tendrils slither out and drape over the machine in a fair attempt to work into its internals and feel their way through what's jammed. As they do so, trusting their sense of taste over anything visual -- they feel the tang of metal, disappointment and failure upon their tongue.
Just like Magic River Teleportation.
"Ah, perhaps this is the issue..."
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Ohhhh well. Then... you know what, just forget about it?" She really doesn't want to explain how she parsed her vibe, "And good for you, breaking up with him."
Did anything Ichika say say he sucked? Not really, she just assumes he must have if they were heading towards marriage and she dumped him.
It's more that the words are just unfamiliar to Yukari, like they're weird overseas loan words, or archaic ones from a prior era. Either way words like Sanguin and Coleric and Melanc just kinda go over her head.
"Uhhhh... sure. I guess I have just..." She pauses as he compliments her shooting, "Oh uh, yeah. Though it's not like I played it straight either. I just spend a lot of time at it in Archery Club."
But now they come upon another humor as Roger explains the relationship between the Sanguin and the Melanc, "Seems kinda neurotic...? I guess if you're gonna have someone rein everyone in..."
Then as Merry's cognitive coat starts its work, she makes a little bit of a face. "That just looks wrong." Yukari Takeba, not a fan of Tentacle stuff.
Is she gonna do anything other than throw a comment about what it looks like when Merry is repairing this... dispenser?
Nope. She's not touching it while there's cognitive tentacles tasting it.
MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Mean Girl toward Employee In Need! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro often ruminates about his relationship with Myunghon. Would they be better off had they never met? He can't say. He hopes not, but...
He shakes whatever thought shape out of his head, and continues forward.
"Fair enough," he tells Yukari with a shrug, before turning to Ogre. "Did you just- nevermind. Good job." He means it, at least.
But when they reach the octopus-like Shadow, he's also stepping next to Myunghon, as they move to look before the machine. "I can use some stuff I had to learn on the streets to help you get it together. Just lead me and I'll put my strength towards it," he says.
He is NOT averse to touching cognitive coat tendrils. It's a cost of business!
He turns to Mio as he does so, though. "You think you can give me a hand if we can't get it done?" He at least knows Samson has similar might to Castor, so.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Street Talk toward Employee In Need! Focus and Diligence!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre doesn't get quite what Yukari is getting at with the vibe, but she shrugs. "OK," she says. Good for her? "...Yeah. It was hard, but it was the right call." Ichika doesn't quick up with Yukari put down there--but it amounts to similar.
Mio has good questions, but Ichika isn't thinking that hard about the mechanics of all this. That is to say, the Ogre isn't in this for the smarts. "Uhhh," Ogre says about taking one for the team. "I guess..."
A weird feeling...
Well, Ogre has a lot of weird feelings about this place. But Ogre smiles when the Humor decides to teach her the game. It's nice! Her plan worked! ...Don't think too hard about the implications.
But Roger is all about games. Ogre looks over to him. "...Guess you know what you're about, huh?"
But Myunghon mentions their theories, and Ogre tilts her head. "All this 'balance' stuff... Is supernatural stuff really just like that? Just 'things are out of whack, so weird things happen'?"
Ogre knows what she wants, too--as a rule. Not everything, but she has a better grasp on it than most. "That's... a Melanc humor?" Ogre wonders. "Guess they are kind of grouchy..."
She considers. It's...
"It is a little weird," Ogre admits to Yukari. "...The tendrils, I mean. But I still trust them."
"Hey," Ogre says, "It's important to look around your environemnt to see what you can use. Like, these pieces of the ride over here--if we can see what they're like, we can repurpose them..."
She's handy! "Hey, Aragaki, try some of this stuff."
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Nature Talk toward Employee In Need! Diligence and Efficient!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"You do?" She jolts at Ogre's comment, then sideeyes her, "Uhhhhh... on second thought, don't tell me why."
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre balks. "I mean, I trust the person not the tendrils! Come on!"
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"...Right." She's still side-eyeing her.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Myunghon stares between the both of them and quietly sulks into the collar of their coat. It's fine if no one understands you, Cognitive Coat... there's at least one other person who does.
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Myo is uncharacteristically quiet for a moment as she reflects on Roger's words about the Melanc Humors, finally beginning to knit an understanding of this world's logics and sensibilities together with a point of common reference she's more familiar with. It seems she and Myunghon are, surprisingly, thinking about things from similar angles for once. She self-consciously ceases rubbing her chin and runs her fingertips along the sharp crest of her mask. "So... how do you usually balance out the Melanc Humors when everything's working regularly?" she asks, without any cutesy games or affectations to her tone. "It sounds like when the Homonculus is in control, you can't do anything to it, but it can throw everything else out of whack?"
Without batting an eyelid, Myo accepts the off-brand bottle of water and immediately chugs half of it. Your actions belie your desperation, girl. "Thank you." she rasps to Myunghon, slits of her mask practically upturned with its bearer's relief. She does not needle Myunghon for further information about their status, merely sharing a moment's held gaze. She also leans into view next to Yukari and points at one of the many tendrils creeeeeping along from the bottom of Myunghon's mobility coat. "Hey, don't worry. Those things are under pretty good control, they're not gonna hurt you. Promise."
Gaze flitting between the group's host and the oncoming Sanguin Humor holding the last few good tickets from the ruined machine, Myo moves quickly to make the best of the situation. They need to get ahold of those tickets before the opportunity is lost! She meets Shinjiro's gaze with the smug, fearless, fun-loving energy that's more typical of herself in these cognitive spaces. "Oooh, yeah. If Plan A doesn't work, let's crack this sucker open in one hit."
Plan A, however, is different. It involves flexing social impulses instead of muscular ones. That's why Myo sliiiides on in next to the frustrated ticketholding Sanguin Humour with both arms folded behind her head casually, eyebrows waggling behind her mask. Is her armour-robe-dress more form-fitting than it was a few moments ago? It's hard to tell in the way it swims with shadow, but... yeah, perhaps. "'scuse meeeee." she sticks her tongue out, a facsimile of every would-be young pop star ready to fake it until they've made it. "My name's Myo-Myo, and these are my friends. Can you help us with some of your tickets, Mister? We need 'em to go fix up those jerks who just busted your ride."
One last pose. Double V, one for each eye. "Please~!"
Samson waits somewhere nearby, almost invisible, arms folded and nodding. That's right. That's SO right. Hit 'em with the flash, Mio-sha.
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Moe Moe Kyun~! toward Employee In Need! Focus and Efficient! MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with I Am A Cat toward Employee In Need! Automap! (|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|) -==== Employee In Need - Round 4 ==============================================- Yukari Takeba Proficiency Success Mean Girl Specialty Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shinjiro Aragaki Proficiency Success Street Talk Focus and Diligence Fatigue: 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ichika Kawase Proficiency Success Nature Talk Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Myunghon Yeo Proficiency Success I Am A Cat Automap Fatigue: 0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mio Kazama Charm Success Moe Moe Kyun~! Focus and Efficient Fatigue: 0 -============================= Party Conditions: ==============================- Starting Conditions: Annoying-2, Checkpoint-0, and Fairy-0 Final Conditions: Annoying-1 -======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 4/6 |==== | =====================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ============================================================- Items: 0, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has drawn a new Challenge!
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 5: Big Top Showdown - Challenge Level 2 ===========================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Understanding |
| Conditions: Annoying - Charm Down L2, Boss - Add 1 Fatigue on failure., and |
| Shuffle - Draw 1 Minor Arcana. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
As you return to the big top with your tickets, you find a huge problem,
especially if you have Navigator senses and can detect it early. One of the
Melanc Humors in the form of a barker, corrupted guardians of the Nakata
Carnival, has taken position outside the tent, unwilling to let you through.
While he won't take your tickets, he will give you a thrashing with big claws!
You need to either brave his powerful blows and show fierce determination to
take him down, or show compassion in your defenses and battle, and allow him
mercy before freeing him from his misery.
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
The Sanguin Humor, who is already an incredibly strange creature of willful desire, looks upon the Cognitive Coat. For all one knows there are awesome secret handshakes going on under the ticket machine casing and we'll never know (nor should we, secret handshakes are like that).
"We Humors keep the Atelier in balance so it doesn't become a total sty!" Roger says, almost pridefully, considering everything's fallen apart and he has been especially impotent in terms of getting anything done at all (beyond begging humans for help).
Shinjiro will quickly find that maybe this ticket dispenser is not really made of mechanical stuff so much as it is some sort of bizarre cognitive idea of something that creates tickets.
The Sanguin Humor seems to consider Ogre's words, and just as they start to think of doing something drastic like creating a horrible ticket machine-ride hybrid which would not be that fun but really dangerous and bizarre for all involved...
Mio asks some important, critical questions about how the math does not seem to check out in this crisis. "For the Melanc Humors... if we can catch up to them and all of you tag them with your powers... the Flegmat Humors can take it from there." Roger snorts. "You'd think it's the Coleric Humors, but no, Melanc Humors are a part of the Atelier, so they don't. And reaching the Homonculus without getting the Melanc Humors to stop playing for their team is impossible!"
...
Myo proceeds to just ask for the tickets outright, and Roger nods vigorously behind her. The many-armed Sanguin Humor thinks about it.
NEW PROBLEM(?) - you have an excess of tickets
(it's the good kind of excess but whoever calls 'not it' on the inventory burden last is stuck with them)
NEW SOLUTION - oh, a moment. After the near-miss in encountering them in the lead-up, the Navigator among them will now be familiar with the signal and feel of a Melanc Humor. And if they aren't (yet)...
"Ahead! Just at the big tent in the middle!" Roger's snout flares angrily. "That same Melanc Humor! ...I hate to not get to play like you all do with your 'Personas,' but I don't have one..." He's a Shadow, why would he? "Make them stop roughhousing, and we're one step closer to the Homonculus... and we'll win the long game they've put us through!"
By the way, that too many tickets problem, the Melanc Humor's massive claws - mitigates this by slicing most of them to ribbons, leaving everyone with just enough. Hooray! Kind of! All the while, they shout all sorts of nasty things about Taro Nakata, feelings about himself he hates as if observed by a third party.
"...That's why a Homonculus really likes playing with Melanc Humors, they're trying to turn what they do against who they're trying to replace!" Roger adds, as the fight begins in earnest.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
The Cognitive Coat is dissed! Auuuggh! It's more like ribbons, you know, not tendrils... ribbons are cute. They protect you from status effects. They won't protect you from Depressed, though. That one, even Ribbons can't prevent. The Bad Breath may not affect you, but words will crush your soul...
Shinjiro helps out with the machine repairs -- the best they can do at one point is to just hold it open while he works. Myunghon's gaze has drifted off slightly, perhaps to shy away from Yukari and Ichika, or is there something else on their mind? The distortions in this place make it impossible for them to truly drift off into their thoughts, and there's something else in the horizon that continues to be a bother...
Ogre brings them back to reality with a really good question, though. "... that is a very good way of looking at it, Ogre. A lot of what we've encountered has been manifested from distortion, you are correct. But in Palaces and Ateliers both, the question of whether this is simply a 'hidden truth' and happens due to natural causes, or if there is still yet more sinister hands behind what we are encountering is an important one indeed..."
It seems impossible, for instance, for Tartarus and the Dark Hour to have happened 'naturally'.
They're capable of multitasking, so more of the map gets marked off while they also count their tickets. Ogre's advice gets them to look around as well -- and one ribbon from the coat seizes a part to hand to Shinjiro just like that, to help Ogre along. "Ah, do you have some experience with technical repairs?"
Myunghon does consider Myo's words as well. "The Homunculus is not part of an Atelier when all's running as it should be... perhaps it can be likened to the body experiencing a virus or bateria, and its antigens are not behaving properly, like an illness." Roger has some important clarification, however. So the Melanc Humours have to be convinced to stop assisting and supporting the Homunculus...
But what's bothering Myunghon -- or at least one of the things bothering them -- finally catches up as they suddenly look alarmed. "Hold! Ahead is... yes, that must be the melanc Humour." Roger confirms it just like so. Roger's a Shadow, why would he have a Persona? It's very true... but get them to stop fighting, and they'll be one step closer.
The Melanc Humour, however, starts saying nasty things about Taro Nakata himself, and Myunghon pauses and shrivels inside, since they suddenly realise that these must be the manifestation of the kind of voices that one constructs inside their own head that habitually and repeatedly beats them down.
"... some of us don't need a distortion like a Homunculus. Very well," Myunghon remarks. "I would like to try out a new repositioning tactic before we have to fight a much more dangerous enemy -- I'll call out for it."
The battle begins in earnest, and in the midst of it, their formation naturally starts to break as the enemy begins to push for their own advantage -- people like themself and Yukari more comfortable at range caught in close-range, and bruisers like Shinjiro and Mio far away. Myunghon thrusts their hand out as they narrowly avoid getting sliced by the Melanc's claws and--
"Trafuri!!"
There's a bright flash of light -- and suddenly the team find themselves reshuffled around into MUCH better positions! Yukari with a great vantage point for a killer shot, Shinjiro, Mio and Ogre flanking for their beatdown, and Myunghon in relative safety to consider their next plan.
MONAD: Myunghon Yeo has acted with Understanding toward Big Top Showdown! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As the group gets past to the Melanc Humor, Shinjiro helped by Ogre, Myunghon, and Mio (With Yukari meangirling in the background), he gives a thumbs up. "That should be enough tickets, right?" He says at the massive mountain of tickets.
And then, they get back, and there's a MEAN MEAN MELANC. As those claws come through, and Shinjiro's not close enough, he nods about the repositioning tactic and...
'Trafuri!'
Shinjiro finds himself in a new position. He blinks for one second, and then rushes forward, axe swinging in, before raising the Evoker to his head. "Castor!"
With a pull of the trigger of the pistol, the large hobby-horseman manifests, rips a spear-tip out of his chest, and moves to strike it into the Melanc Humor with the force of a truck.
"Can these things be replaced?!" he only asks after the fact.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Intimidation toward Big Top Showdown! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
They're VAMPIRE Ribbons Myunghon!!! VAMPIRE RIBBONS! Aka Tendrils. Also how do you expect to beat accusations of ~*subtext*~ from a teenage girl when your narrative is Vampire, and you taste things with them?
"I mean I guess that's admirable. Though what even happens if an Atelier becomes messy like that?" She says to Roger, as if not quite understanding what this realm even is, or what would be the consequences. Like Tartarus is always messy, with blood pools everywhere...
Roger notes they don't have a Persona so can't join in, and Yukari offers, "Uh well, of course you don't, you're a Shadow right?"
Shadows can't have Personas. That's factual... to Yukari. It'd be too weird otherwise. No one tell her about Pernelle.
Well, Yukari takes out her Evoker and Myunghon offers a repositioning tactic wherein! "Huh? Oh well sure, you're navigating us..."
TRAFURI! ~*FLASH*~
"What just happened!? Fuuka-chan hasn't ever done that!"
Oh well!
"Come forth, Io!" Trigger pull, her Persona erupts and suddenly windborne arrows are streaming down towards the Melanc Humor at high velocity.
Is she going to show compassion?
"I mean how many Shadows have we seen since we entered? Who'd miss them!?" She shouts back to Shinjiro.
no.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ribbons are cute, but Ichika is a teenager...
The tendrils are apparently under pretty good control, so Ogre nods to Mio. "That's true," she agrees. "I trust Merry." She just finds them weird!!
Still, Mio has a suitable Plan B for Ogre. But Plan A is, uh...
Myo-Myo. Ogre blinks twice. "That's... that's not very nun-ly behavior," she says, a little surprised. Apparently eating the Elephant's Ear was nun behavior, but this isn't???
"...I never knew Christianity was so..."
Myunghon answers her, so that brings things back to 'normal'. "Huh, I got it right?" She seems surprised. "...Hm. Well, this place is weird, but the worst parts of it seem to be things that aren't supposed to be here..."
Ogre though, "A little. Mostly I know how to fix stuff in the field. When you're alone at your camp and your stove doesn't work, you either fix it or eat your food cold."
She looks to Roger. "Yeah?" she asks. "Guess we gotta beat it if we want to get through..."
The Shadow does have a lot of nasty things to say about a boy she doesn't know. But Ichika knows the kind of people who spread talk like that. "Stop being an asshole," she tells the Shadow. "Talking about someone behind his back like that... I hate it!"
She is not the one stuck with carrying all the tickets, by the way.
The battle begins, and Ichika is surprised to be suddenly moved--but not upset. A new position. "Heh. Nice, Merry-san!"
She pulls her shield off her back and SLAMS it straight down for the Melanc Humor, battering before she calls up, "MOMIJI!"
Technically, Ogre's Persona is best at support.
...But they have Yukari for that, so she gets to show off beating the hell out of things instead. "Check this out, Roger!"
She likes an audience. It's part of the benefit of being a gang boss.
"I'll CRUSH YOU!"
MONAD: Ichika Kawase has acted with Thorn Boss toward Big Top Showdown! Bravery and Focus!
<Pose Tracker> Mio Kazama has posed.
Myo contends with the multiple viewpoints and thoughts on offer, here. First, Roger explains the process by which the Melanc can be returned under control. "Okay." she echoes, understanding thus far. It's like flicking a light switch off when she returns from her maximum would-be idol charm mode, returning to the wielder of Samson clad in shadow. "So--the challenge is to get through all the controlled humors and create a weakness for the others to neutralize, huh? That's not too hard to grasp... if I'm right..."
On they go towards the central tent! It feels like they might all have this well and truly under wraps, but what's that unnatural shape in the distance near the entrance flap? Myo hasn't asked the question yet, and instead tacks onto Yukari's question about the Atelier being messy. "--yeah. What she said, what's the consequence? It can't be good, right?"
Less talk, more action. When the Melanc Humour lunges, all razor claws and killing intent pouring from the one-time harmless Barker's body, it's only through quick movement and quicker thinking that Myo ducks the scything arc of the Melanc Humor's claws. Errant tickets and spare maps from the first attraction spill from her pockets, then split into ribboning strips of paper that hang in the air as Myunghon's magical grasp ensnares her and pulls her to safety. The incantation of Trafuri repositions the pugnacious priestess in an irising blip of light, leaving shorn slips of paper fluttering to the ground where once stood the girl with the bubblegum-pink hair.
When Myo reforms from the Trafuri-portation, she's already somehow in the midst of a spinning two-handed blow with a heavy spiked mace gripped in both hands. "Big mistake!" she gleefully calls to the Melanc Humour, bearing down on it from above with hammer-blow force. Samson's ghostly form superimposes over her own for a moment, the mace's head enshrined in the Persona's otherworldly, phantasmal fist. "I'm ALWAYS ready to let off some steam on you jerks!"
Regardless of whatever Myo hits--be it Humor, the ground, the tent, a noticeboard, a mailbox, a fountain, a carriage (you may detect a running theme of collateral damage, here)--the next phase of physical confrontation is joined with a glassy-eyed glee and reckless taste for aggression more befitting a cage fighter than the friendly neighbourhood idol superfan from Sumaru.
I suppose that's a good time for slow-music-only close-up of the robed woman laughing uproariously amidst a floating spray of shattered wood and stone plinking off of her mask in slow-motion, contrasted against Ogre in the background left to contend whether this is more or less Nun-ly behaviour than the kyunkyun~ sugar dose from earlier. Ogre, come sit down and let's start the story where it belongs, back in the Holy Roman Empire in the Year of Our Lord 1250 or so... . . .
MONAD: Mio Kazama has acted with Too Dumb To Die toward Big Top Showdown! Amrita! MONAD: Yukari Takeba has acted with Guts toward Big Top Showdown! Base!
(|============================= Monad - Results ==============================|)
-==== Big Top Showdown - Round 5 ==============================================-
Yukari Takeba Guts Success
Guts Base Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shinjiro Aragaki Guts Success
Intimidation Specialty Fatigue: 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ichika Kawase Guts Success
Thorn Boss Bravery and Focus Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Myunghon Yeo Understanding Success
Understanding Base Fatigue: 0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mio Kazama Guts Success
Too Dumb To Die Amrita Fatigue: 0
-============================= Party Conditions: ==============================-
Starting Conditions: Annoying-1, Boss-0, and Shuffle: Coin-0
Final Conditions:
-======================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 6/6 |=====| =====================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ============================================================-
Items: 2, Money: 1, Gear: 1
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
(|====================== Monad - Taro Nakata's Atelier =======================|)
-==== Round 6: Treasure Trove - Challenge Level 1 =============================-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Revelation - The best result. |
-==== Challenge ===============================================================-
Once inside the big top waiting area after your success at the carnival,, a
Sanguin Humor employee shows up with a cache of treasures, having decided you're
a lucky winner. Containing supernatural pyrite, carnival glass, bismuth
crystals, and clownskin hides, you can likely make this into something very
special with the right craftsman... perhaps Peacock Silk can do something for
you?
Either way, you're ready to face the Homunculus... once the show starts. If it
hasn't, you might be able to save your tickets for later, though if you plan on
coming back for a full expedition, you'll need to replace them then.
Final Loot: 2 Items, 1 boxes of Money, and 1 Pieces of Gear!
(|============================================================= Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
"Weee!" Roger enjoys being Trafuri'd. He is somehow behind the Melanc Humor now. ...He's not going to think too hard about it, as he goes about making calls regarding hitting weaknesses, resistances, knockdowns, misses, and the like. (Unless Myunghon asserts themselves here as a proper Navigtor, but Roger has fun doing this.)
"Um! Just making them cry uncle is okay!" Roger clarifies as Castor manifests with a nervous squeal. That doesn't look fun to do. "If it's a Coleric Humor it's okay!"
COLERIC HUMORS - THE EXPENDABLE HUMOR (they're the actual random encounters in this part of town, it's 'k, Roger says so)
He's no less worried at watching Yukari do the same with Io's might, as rains of arrows move to strike with a massive spear tip, stopping the Melanc Humor from taking another clawful swing (sorry).
With Ichika's shield further pressing the offense with a good defense, and Myo just cutting completely loose (Roger laughs along because it genuinely sounds like she's having fun, but he laughs a little slower as things go more than a little out of hand.)
It's enough to knock the Melanc Humor down, and if you all want to ALL-OUT ATTACK it, well, there's your dust cloud opening. Regardless...
The Melanc Humor collapses in a pitiable pile of mourning and loathing... as Flegmat Humors start to coalesce around them. It's an unnerving scene, to watch, as they murmur to one another.
"You all did it! You woooon!" Roger pumps up a fist, leaping up and down excitedly. "You brought another Melanc Humor to balance! ...Oh. I can understand what they're saying. That's true of all Humors!"
"...Flegmat Humors can help bring Melanc Humors to balance because they're kind of the baseline of an Atelier's feel and vibes, so... as long as we can all hurry to the Homonculus as soon as we can...!"
'CONGRATULATIONS, LUCKY WINNERS! Here's your prize! The show will be starting... sometime! Then you can go watch the ringmaster!'
As the more exaggerated nuances of Taro Nakata's self-loathing fades from the Melanc Humor, Roger waves to the rest. "Thank you so much for playing with me! We'll win for sure, with all your friends!"
...
Still, a curious detail to note. The Flegmat Humors all look like carnival goers and staff in vague abstraction. Roger, going by his back, has an arcade game coin slot and a pinball spring tail. None of the Flegmat Humors, or really any other denizen seen, has Roger's aesthetic.
...Regardless... he'll see everyone out safely, wave them goodbye, and resume playing a very pitched, deadly game of hide and seek until the next group of friends arrive to help.
<Pose Tracker> Roger has posed.
Also there's some treasure here, some materials to sell or... make stuff out of? Supernatural pyrite, carnival glass, bismuth crystals, and... clown... skin hides.
um
maybe not the last one
wow that can only make the worst garment in the game
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
The Melanc Humour is knocked down!
"I've accounted for all the variables... this equation is solved -- let us perform an All-Out Attack!" Myunghon declares imperiously.
(O) Accept (X) Cancel
(what? This is Japan. They press O to Accept there.)
-biff bang boom shaka-laka bling bang bang born!!-
Myunghon lands and lets themself freefall into nothingness -- only for their Cognitive Coat to fold into a throne as they cross their legs elegantly, their mysteriously not slinged right elbow (animation error) on the throne as they cup an empty wineglass with the other -- that is filled as the Melanc Humour's Shadow GUSHES with some fluid that is black due to its silhouette, but is probalby not... black bile, right? Right?
Then they take a sip, and luxuriously chuckle as they're framed by literary quotes raining down around the template of classical top-down writing manuscript, which reads:
You, too... are No Longer Human.
BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7rTk88T8mg
XP: 4,378 (+58% teamwork bonus!)
Yen: 1,132